#Story development

[cuppanova]

Verse Versa 101

Heyo!! I made a little slideshow that gives basic information about VV, its characters, and world! Check it out if you're interested!

[enthuzimuzzyme]

I want to get into the habit of sharing more of my visual development art for my novel — most of it is rough or unfinished, but that’s kind of fun right?

Anywho, my nearly complete cast of characters and a lot of the recent design work I’ve done for them!

[seraphinitegames]

How much of the remaining 4 books do you have planned out? I'm curious to know considering you've mentioned it's 7 books in total and it seems so massive and lore filled. Absolutely love this series!

All the books have a general plan to them- like what the story is going to be, what point I want the romances to be at, etc.

I find having that whole overarching story plot in place, as well as the individual stories, makes it a bit more cohesive. Each book is supposed to be like an episode in a TV show, and the seven books together make the whole season...if that makes sense, hehe! :D

But very detailed plans I do when I come to write the book, as things have definitely changed and adapted as I've written the books!

Thank you so much for the ask! :)

[chordsykat]

How I write action/fight scenes

From a prompt posted by a friend on Discord last night. :3 Just thought I would ramble a bit before getting to work, this morning. If you're a writer and want to know what goes through my head as I come up with combat scenes in my stories, then read on. In this way, I hope we both learn a lot. Because I honestly don't think I've ever laid out my "formula" before...

First, know who you're dealing with.

This tutorial is going to stick mostly to the actual writing aspects, but if you're going to do an action series, you should factor in the combat abilities of your characters as you develop them. This doesn't have to be anything fancy. Keep it to the natural human responses at least. In other words, during a conflict, how will your character react:

Fight: Push back

Flight: Run away

Freeze: Do nothing

Knowing just that will give you enough to start thinking these dances through. And indeed, that's what they are - a dance. If you know more, like, specifically what kind of fighting they do, what their strengths in combat are, etc -- all the better, but know that what I list below goes in order from most to least important, and that stuff won't be on the list until the end.

Second, (and always) make the audience care about the action.

This sounds dumb and counterintuitive but people won't find an action scene compelling just because it's an action scene. Not to knock it, because it was brilliant for a different reason and a lot of the writing staff's hands were tied... BUT... During my time as a fan of, all the way into my employment with, Archie-Sonic, I can't tell you how many action scenes happened just because some executive at Sega was like "I think X and Y need to fight." So they would, and for reasons that were muddy at best. I think at one point, we had Sonic and Knuckles literally exchanging this dialogue:

Sonic: Yo dude, be cool. Last time we met, we left on good terms! Knuckles: Maybe, but you're still an intruder and just because you did me that favor on the day my daughter was to be married does not mean I owe you anything in the way of kindness.

IDK, my memory may be foggy, but that was the gist of it. Point is, don't do that - and first make sure your audience understands the motives behind the action, the potential stakes, and why it's all taking place to begin with. Else, you can make it as cool as you want and people are going to walk away with a sense of "that was cool" instead of "holy shit I was freaking out through that whole scene." If there's any question as to what you should be striving for as a writer, it's the latter.

Third, plot it out like it's a mini-story.

To the point - figure out the end first, and work backwards, just like so many writing tutorials have said before. Again, keep it simple: Who wins? Does the conflict result in a casualty of some kind? Does a character learn something?

Before you show how it goes down, you need to establish what goes down as the action happens, and what happens afterwards. Keeping the ending in mind as yo write a scene is always a good way of making it feel tighter. And throwing littlte twists for interest (maybe a character has the upper-hand for all but the end of the fight - maybe a character is losing until a specific turning point, etc) is made much easier, too.

Fourth, mind the rhythm.

A little weird to explain this, but the back-and-forth nature of the scene needs to flow well. Generally, conflict follows a pattern of:

Character acts

Opposition reacts

Opposition acts

Character reacts

If this pattern looks familiar to you, it should. This is the basic pattern of human dialogue as seen in stories and, YES, real life. Consider your scene like a dialogue all its own (even if the characters are talking throughout). The twists and turns I spoke about in the last point should be "off beat" because there's an unexpected nature to them. When a twist happens, consider breaking the above pattern.

Fifth, showcase character traits and skills (again, always).

Some characters have a high sense of honor and would put down their weapons if their opponent was unarmed. Some of them would fight dirty and hit someone with a chair when their back was turned. Some characters are scrappy and will jump into a conflict even when they're sorely outmatched. Some are straight up cowards who might run away even when there's a good chance they could win. Some are smart enough to bow out and will not engage -- hiding at the first sign of trouble. Some will throw snowballs at the oppressor and be surprised when they pull aggro and the dude comes after them.

You get the idea -- fights, conflicts and action scenes are great ways to show your characters' strengths, weaknesses, traits, and personality. Times of struggle are going to lay emotional responses raw, and it's a great way of showing "who someone really is" as it were.

Sixth, showcase unique defensive behavior.

Some characters have specific training: military, martial arts, street-fighting, etc... which, if you're aware of those, should come out during combat or conflict. Some characters have access to weapons. Some characters' bodies are the weapon. Etc, etc etc...

Whatever you do, about the only time you're going to show off the fact that your character knows Muay Thai is during an action scene. If you yourself do not practice this martial art, then research what you need to incorporate to make it believable when you write. Watch videos and write down the ways you would describe the movement. If you're doing a comic, then sketch the movement. Use that in your story.

Last, create more interest by tying in and highlighting story themes or disparities between protagonist characters, antagonist characters, and/or the conflict as a whole.

A little trickier, but if your story has a central theme or moral, try showing pieces of it shining through the action. Just as one wild example, if you have a theme of "love conquers all" this might mean your fight will end with the two people falling in love, instead of fighting. Think like a dungeon master. If you rolled a natural 20 on "try to woo the orc" in a combat situation (remember that comic?) what do you think would happen?

Too, if your combatants have something in common, or especially something that they are diametrically opposed on, feel free to show that off in these scenes. It'll leave the audience knowing them better (and set them up for further head-butting... or romance(?) down the line. And that's always fun).

Anywho, that's just a few of my thoughts on action sequences in fiction. If this helped you, or you want me to talk about this even more -- send me a message or a note or something. Always up for discussing this kind of thing.

And your reward for reading this far is an invite to join my discord if you wanna hear me ramble on about this sort of thing, in perpetuity. :)

[seeminglydark]

Leaving this here so you can speculate about Mil-Liminal part 2: The Gateway, cuz it’s time for me to start getting into that after a years break from part 1. Are you ready?

Me either 🖤

[rustic-space-fiddle]

Conceptual art of a Mountain Grazer || The Mountain Grazers raise cattle (see cow sketches below the cut), herding them from grassy mountainside to grassy mountainside by season. Sometimes they have to climb to get vantage points, clear pathways (the cows are not as graceful), and rescue calves that have been separated. They’re so strong that most of them can pull off feats like the one shown here: scaling an over-sheer cliff side with a calf dangling from one foot. Incredibly hearty and athletic, these fellas are the most no-nonsense of the Grazer species.

[i-write-comics-not-screenplays]

Tip for Comic Artists+Writers

(If you don't do this already!)

Draw in ballpoint pen. In a notebook.

If you're like me and you struggle to plan your script in a word processor, or you struggle to "storyboard" or even sketch in a digital art program for your comic...

Don't do that part! At least, not yet anyway!

Scribble and sketch and doodle your characters, and their lines of dialogue, wherever you want on a piece of notebook paper, with a ballpoint ink pen. You can try and figure out the comic panel configuration of a page if you want to do that, but otherwise I recommend you don't do any panel-planning yet... in order to not limit yourself to a single page in the story. Draw the first and last scene in the same page, or only draw the witty one lines you had in your head that made you want to make this comic!

The benefit: there's no pressure to get it perfect!

Don't like how you drew the hands? Well scribble it out, or ignore it; it's not the final draft by any means. You're just getting the idea on paper so you can visualize it! It's the best way to practice what emotions you're trying to convey, or the positions of the characters, without worrying about if it's "good" or not. It gives you the freedom to make mistakes, so you aren't paralyzed by the possibility of making those mistakes and the trouble of having to edit them.

You can use a sketchbook or a pencil, but for me, this defeats the purpose of letting myself experiment and make mistakes with the art/dialogue. You get visual representation of what you want to work on (scribbled out hands tells me, "be sure to practice hands and gestures!"; Stricken out dialogue lines tells me, "yep that's not how I want him to say it. Maybe I should practice a few different variations of that line?")

Their faces can look wonky, their word bubbles can be poorly placed, and the dialogue can be absolute "cringe"... and guess what? It doesn't matter because first of all, it's hilarious what you can come up with when you let loose, but second and most importantly, you're getting your ideas down in writing and on paper!!!

--additional note: it gives you so much for you to reference from as well. I recommend letting the notebook be your central spot for experiments, concepts, story ideas, notes, reminders, and important details for your story/comic/graphic novel so it becomes a personal reference guide for you (and maybe somewhat of an encyclopaedia?) :)

I hope this is helpful - it has been for me!

[jellynut]

More Jack & Jill development 🪣

[onlyanotherusername]

OC Questions/Prompts

If your OC has enhancements, or magical powers, how dependent are they on them?

1a. How do their enhancements or powers affect their day to day life? Are there any downsides to them that makes it harder to do certain things?

2. Your OC is watching the trolley problem play out directly in front of them, how do they react?

3. If your OCs moral compass was flipped for a day, what would happen, and what would they be like?

3a. What long-term consequences or regrets would stem from their actions?

4. Write a description of your OC from the perspective of another/several other OCs.

5. What rumours about your OC proceed them? Are they true/false/half-truths? Who started them?

6. How would your OC react if people falsely thought they had died?

7. If your OC was forced to have an animal companion, what would they pick?

7a. Would they grow to like their new pet, and if so how long would it take for them to warm up to it?

8. What skill or hobby would your OC despise learning?

9. How does your OCs behaviour change when they're placed in a professional environment?

[autumnslance]

Ah, the usual "the only one who can truly empathize/care about the WoL" because "X has value to the Scions outside of combat (cuz that's all they like WoL for)" as if flanderizing/crapping on/mischaracterizing/refusing to acknowledge the growth of the rest of the characters is doing any better than poor takes on one's own fave, and stops me from taking seriously the rest of one's analysis about the nuances of their character development through the story.

IMO, if you still think the Scions (and a lot of other characters) only care about the WoL as a murder machine and take their champion for granted post-Banquet disaster, then you haven't been paying attention - especially in ShB and EW and major parts of those stories' themes - to anyone but your own faves, and your analysis is flawed due to a refusal to examine those biases/other perspectives, and give old characters (including some antagonists and other secondary figures who continue to grow) and updated story a chance.

(Also welcome to the flaws in video game storytelling, where the Blank Slate POV character is primarily only allowed to participate in combat scenarios and other immediate, active forms of player input/engagement, and a lot of story is maybe summarized in quick dialogue as it was offscreen and out of said Blank Slate POV character's perception)

[zal-cryptid]

After a long night of writing, I am finally finished the scripts for the first three chapters/episodes of my Misfits in Toyland comic! Here are their titles:

Bonus points if you catch all the references. Now I just gotta, you know, draw it. ✍️

If you like what I do and want to support my project, please consider supporting me over on Patreon:

[night-market-if]

I'm so in love with Mal...

...that's it, that's all...

thanks for coming to my ted talk.

Knowing a lot of the backstory of him and where he is headed makes me so excited. I think there is going to be a rising love for Mal, not that there isn't already. LOL

[midnightconcepts]

“A single touch could Kill you!” ☠️ - Henry J Waterhouse lll

Oh how false and misinformed the monsters have been for over 6 centuries. Of course over time, information and documentation gets switched around by different outlets and opinions, but the monsters were never in any line danger. ☀️

Unfortunately for an early colony of monsters, in a time where medical advancements had not been discovered, sadly caught the wave of the Black illness in Europe from just a ‘regular’ scare, in 1350. Their record inadvertently kicked off the biggest fabrication in Monster History! 💀🚫

[chillwildwave]

Hey guys, since I posted that poster, I decided to do a little rewrite and a redesign of the Seven friends from Asha’s friends group cause personally, I didn't mind them but there was something a bit off about them when I watched the actual movie, I also felt like there were far too many of them together and even though it was nice of them to be referenced as the Seven Dwarfs, that was all we got, so I decided to reduce the number from seven to three!

The first member of the friend group is the leader himself, Leo who represents Mickey Mouse with his kind and determined personality he is known for being calm, reserved and supportive towards Asha especially when trying to hide his wish from being stolen from Magnifico and Amaya, he can be a bit of a liar sometimes which happens in the middle of the story (I won't spoil for obvious reasons) but in the journey to retrieving the wishes back, he learns to tell the truth with his own heart to make his wish come true.

Gillia is the second member of the group and she represents Donald Duck with her short-tempered personality, she also is a bit stroppy and doesn't talk to Asha that much which leads her into big problems that arise as the story progresses, she is also the daughter of the chief of the Hamlet in which she was told to make sure that the village is at peace, but she struggles to do that since she can be lazy sometimes, but later on, she learns to do her own work and to communicate with her friends to form a better relationship with them.

And finally, Dextrous is the third member of the group in which he represents Goofy with his awkward personality but is still friendly towards others including Asha, he is one of the guards of the royal castle which results in him doing the king and queen's duties but is forced to keep a secret from them, but he struggles to do that since he likes to say things out loud without knowing, but he learns how to hide secrets with the help of his friends and Asha as they battle the couple from retrieving the wishes!

Also, the song "Knowing What I Know Now" will be rewritten into a planning song in which Asha, the three friends and Antares come up with a plan to retrieve the wishes from the couple, so basically most of the song will stay the same but with alternative lyrics and a different structure to make the lyrics flow a bit better

Just to conclude, here's a little drawing of each member of the group when they meet Antares for the first time, you could tell that they aren't amused at first but the relationship will grow throughout, so here you go, a friend group that ACTUALLY serve a purpose in a story and not a case of nostalgia, what I did here is base this characters on nostalgia but with a purpose of their personality!

@annymation @uva124 @gracebeth3604 @gracebethartacc @wings-of-sapphire @signed-sapphire @synergysilhouette @thisnameisnotspokenfor @rascalentertainments @emillyverse @oh-shtars @kstarsarts @mythartist21 @mafik-sun @tumblingdownthefoxden @kmixon

[localcryptid95]

hey quick tip for people making a story with any characters who are in high school or middle school (maybe elementary school too) and are figuring out how to develop them

Figure out what career theyll be in when they grow up. Or at least what the trajectory towards a career currently is.

Even if that character themselves has no idea, take an unbiased outside view of their talents and interests and be like “ok if you keep going as you are right now without being thrown into an apocalyptic hellscape, whatll happen to you?” Even if you know they’ll grow up to be jobless. Figure out what their dream career (and the career they’d end up getting and loving later, if that differs) they’d want.

don’t know what that’s character do? Do one of those career quizzes that they made you do in high school.

I will admit the ones I could find of this are a bit long BUT they’re basically a Myers-Briggs test, but instead of telling you what that character thinks about society it tells you how that character would act in society.

I was doing this with one story with a whole class of teenagers and I had one character who is pivotal for plot but all I had was “manipulative bastard” and he wasn’t fleshed out whatsoever which made it hard to figure out what he would want to be, so I took a career test.

I… didn’t end up finishing. It was late and I fell asleep halfway through.

BUT it gave me a lot to think about how he would do in a leadership position, how well he’d submit to others leadership, how he would work in a team setting, and what he’s willing to do achieve a goal.

And with all this in mind the next day I was thinking it over and decided he’d be interested in a culinary degree. Does this matter in the end because he’ll survive the first book? No. Will I mention this at all in the book? Probably not. But it gave me a lot to work with when it came to how he’ll interact with other characters so all worth it. I’m probably gonna go finish that quiz now.