#Writing a Novel

[writers-potion]

MASTERPOST (PT. 2)

If you like my blog, buy me a coffee☕ and find me on instagram! 📸

For romance writing prompts, plotting tips & more, check out: MASTERPOST PT. 1

⭐Dialogue

Writing Dialogue 101

Crying-Yelling Dialogue Prompts

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⛰️Words to Use Instead Of...

Synonyms for "Walk"

Synonyms for “feeling like”

Words To Use Instead of "Look"

Words to Use Instead Of...(beautiful, interesting, good, awesome, cute, shy)

Said is dead

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🔠Vocab Lists

Nervous Tension Vocab

Kiss Scene Vocab

Fight Scene Vocab

Haunted House Inspo & Vocab

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👁️‍🗨️Setting & Description

Common Scenery Description Tips

2012 School Setting Vibes - follower question

Describing Food in Writing

Describing Cuts, Bruises and Scrapes

Using Description and Setting Meaningfully

How Different Types of Death Feel

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🗡️Weapons & Fighting Series:

Writing Swords

Writing knives and daggers

Writing Weapons (3): Staffs, Spears and Polearms

Writing Weapons (4): Clubs, Maces, Axes, Slings and Arrows

Writing Weapons (5): Improvised Weapons

Writing Weapons (6): Magical Weapons and Warfare

Writing Weapons (7): Unarmed Combat

Writing Female Fighters

Writing Male Fighters

Writing Armour

Writing Group Fights

Writing Battles At Sea

Erotic Tension in Fight Scenes

Pacing for Fight Scenes

Writing a Siege Warfare

Different Genres, Different Fight Scenes.

Making Fight Scenes Sound Nicer

Fight Scenes For Disabled Characters

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🌎Worldbuilding

Constructing a Fictional Economy

Homosexuality in Historical Fiction

Writing Nine Circles of Hell

Writing Seven Levels of Heaven

Master List of Superpowers

Magic System Ideas 

A Guide to Writing Cozy Fantasy

Dark Fantasy How-To

Dark Fantasy Writing Prompts

Dark, Twisted Fairytale Prompts

Fantasy World Cultural Quirks 

Fantasy Nobel Ranks: A List

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🌠Symbolism in Writing

Plant Symbolisms 

Weather Symbolisms

Symbols of Death

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🪄Writing Magic

Writing Magicians - the basics

Writing Magic Systems

Magical Training Options for Your Characters

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📋Other!

List of Fantasy Subgenres

Beauty is Terror: A List

The Pirate's Glossary

Storyediting Questions to Ask

Writing Multiple WIPs Simultaneously

Idea Generation Exercises for the Writer

Book Title Ideas

Picking the Right Story For You

What If God Dies in Your Story 

International Slang, Slang, Slang!

10 Great Love Opening Lines 

How to Insult Like Shakespeare

Serial Killer Escape Manual

Best Picrew Character Generators for Your Characters!

How to Write Faster

[penname-tbd]

most useful piece of novel-writing advice i've heard recently: if you're ever stuck on what comes next, just ask yourself what you haven't brought up in a while. is there a character who hasn't been seen in a few chapters? did you offhandedly mention some piece of backstory that could resurface as a subplot? what's going on in your characters' lives that could become relevant again?

i'm drafting with these questions in mind, and now every time i get stuck, i can just be like, "oh, well i guess i didn't resolve that implication from a few chapters ago, let's explore that for a little bit," and usually that gets the ball rolling again.

[hayatheauthor]

How To Accurately Describe Pain In Writing 

Pain can be an interesting emotion to write about. It gives authors the liberty to merge their character’s emotions and surroundings to create beautiful metaphors and graphic descriptions that draw their readers in and convey their character’s struggles. However, if done wrongly reading your descriptions of pain can feel like a chore to your readers. Unsure how to accurately describe pain in your writing? Here are some tips to help you get started. 

Use The Five Senses 

As humans, we possess five senses that dictate our reactions to the world around us. When writing, it is important to use these five senses rather than just relying on what your character can see. Talk about the sound, the smell, the taste, and even the feeling. 

If your character just got burnt, talk about the sound of sizzling flesh and the slight numbness they feel. Mention the terrible smell of burnt flesh, and make your character feel dizzy with fear as their eyes finally land on the horrific wound. 

Internal bleeding makes people spit blood and taste iron and partially healed wounds feel itchy and irritant. 

There is so much more to pain than what you see, and simply talking about your character’s wounds isn’t nearly enough to make your readers wince in second-hand pain. In fact, they are more likely to skim your passages in boredom. 

Show your readers what your character is experiencing, and then go on to describe their reaction to this situation. 

Build It Up, Then Break It Down 

Pain doesn’t just suddenly come from nowhere. It starts with something small, blossoms, and then spreads. Your character won’t just suddenly get a third-degree burn the size of a baseball by leaning against a hot steel wall for the briefest of seconds. It starts with a light reddish-brown mark, then darkens, maybe even blisters. 

You can’t go from 0 to 100 in one sentence. You need to build it up and show your readers how your character’s pain was found. Then, break it down. 

Pain doesn’t come from nowhere, but it doesn’t suddenly disappear either. Show us how your character’s wound heals. Does the wound mark from where they hurt their knee turn into an ugly brown shade for a couple of weeks? Do their burns gradually fade from red to pink, or turn darker? 

It’s important to show your readers the aftermath of your character’s pain. A character who just had a bullet pulled out of their shoulder with a hot knife can’t suddenly just jump up and start firing at the enemy with perfect aim. 

You don’t need to overdo it and constantly mention their wounds during the healing stage, but something as simple as ‘her bandages uncomfortably scratched at her back every time she lifted her hand to eat’ or ‘his fingers subconsciously shifted to run over the remains of his burn mark even as his eyes remained trained on the blackboard’ will suffice. 

How Does This Affect Your Character? 

Physical pain aside, wounds can also have an effect on your character’s dynamics with others as well as your plot. 

It’s important to take into account how they got this wound, how the other characters might react to it, and internalised conflict caused by it. Maybe your character injured their fingers during a game of volleyball and now they’re staring at their final exam paper with tears of frustration brimming their waterline because it hurts too much to write.

Maybe your protagonist suffered a small burn while sneaking out to go to their friend’s house and their parent or mentor saw it. Or maybe your protagonist won against the antagonist but suffered a grave injury to their legs and now cannot fight during the next confrontation, resulting in a chaotic outbreak at their headquarters. 

Think about the internal as well as the external damage your character’s wounds can cause, and then use that as a plot device to further your book. 

Do Your Research 

It’s very important to accurately portray your character’s level of pain and consider whether or not they would realistically incur such injuries from such a wound. When writing about a character’s wound or pain consider doing some research about that type of wound. 

Here are some things you need to check when researching the wound type: 

How much blood would they loose with this type of wound? 

What are the side effects? 

Could this be fatal? 

How long will it take to heal? 

How long does it take for a wound to get to that extent? (for example, if you’re writing about a third-degree burn, research what it takes for a burn to be considered third-degree). 

What are the major veins, arteries, and other important body parts in that part of the character’s body? For example, if your character is supposed to be injured on their arm but it’s not supposed to be serious, you need to consider whether the wound could realistically have ruptured their radial artery, resulting in death. 

Will there be any scarring? What about any long-lasting wound marks? 

You could also take a look at historical events similar to the one you’re writing. For example, if you’re writing about an assassination attempt consider researching the most historically renowned assassination techniques. 

It’s also a good idea to ask your families and friends about their experiences with the type of wound you’re writing about (so long as it’s not a sensitive topic). Maybe you have a cousin who suffered a third-degree burn once or a classmate who has a scar from a graphic wound across their arm. 

I hope this blog on how to accurately describe pain in writing will help you in your writing journey. Be sure to comment any tips of your own to help your fellow authors prosper, and follow my blog for new blog updates every Monday and Thursday.  

Looking For More Writing Tips And Tricks? 

Are you an author looking for writing tips and tricks to better your manuscript? Or do you want to learn about how to get a literary agent, get published and properly market your book? Consider checking out the rest of Haya’s book blog where I post writing and marketing tools for authors every Monday and Thursday. 

Want to learn more about me and my writing journey? Visit my social media pages under the handle @hayatheauthor where I post content about my WIP The Traitor’s Throne and life as a teenage author. 

Copyright © 2022 Haya, you are not allowed to repost, translate, recreate or redistribute my blog posts or content without prior permission

[totisviribus]

My kind, innocent, logic-brained engineer boyfriend: “How’s your writing for your book coming along today?”

Me, cursing at the imaginary people in my head who are currently wrestling in a coat closet instead of solving the mystery, meanwhile my laptop is at 10% battery with 10 tabs open about the structural integrity of a parking garage in Boston, what it feels like to be elbowed in the nuts, Regan’s economic theories, and a Reddit post about why the teacup grip is bad when firing a gun. I haven’t seen the sun in 3 days and if I stop listening to one of my painstakingly curated playlists I might die. I’ve written a handbook for a cultish organized crime company and often have to refer to it like a real handbook because I forgot what I’ve written. The coat closet scene is now 3,000 words and these goddamn characters just need to trust each other for Christ sake-

“Its going great thanks for asking honey🤗💕✨”

[redvioletarts]

[Image ID: A photo of an 11oz black coffee mug with a custom design in white lineart and hand-lettered text. It says "Dear FBI" in large print over art of an Internet search bar with suggested previous searches below. The text in the search bar says "I'm A Writer I Swear" in all caps, and the previous searches read "detect gps tracker on car," "arsenic lethal dose," and "black market prices for..." with the rest of the text cut off. End ID.]

Lines printed up great on this one! The text came out nice and clear.

Writing research got you looking sketchy lately? Throw the Feds off your trail by also buying this. Guaranteed to not get you investigated for your weird search history. Probably. ...Well, it won't hurt.

(Maybe you should get a VPN in any case.)

The design prints up on both sides, to be fair to the lefties for once. All my mugs do.

Dear FBI, I'm A Writer I Swear <- get yours!

[writing-with-sophia]

English neutral names

Taylor: a tailor or to cut (referring to the profession of tailoring).

Casey: a vigilant or "watchful.

Jordan: flowing down.

Avery: ruler of the elves or wise.

Morgan: born of the sea.

Riley: courageous or valiant.

Alex: defender of mankind (short form of Alexander or Alexandra).

Reese: enthusiasm.

Jamie: one who replaces.

Devon: the poet or bard.

Cameron: crooked nose or bent river.

Robin: bright fame, famous or just robin bird.

Sidney: wide island or wide meadow.

Shannon: small and wise.

Harper: harp player or minstrel.

Logan: little hollow.

Bailey: bailiff or steward.

Dylan: child of the sea.

Quinn: the fifth or counsel.

Skylar: the scholar.

[moody-tortured-artist]

I wanna be in a writers group so bad

[laurachouettepoetry]

October creeps into the room

through faint grey light

that stopped dancing on the windowsill

since July left.

Being haunted by silence

makes the air grow weary

and faintly colder.

I hear the noise of people

walking in solitude,

thinking to themselves about others—

sitting alone in between their steps.

Company of ghosts on lonely eves,

threading through the rustling of leaves.

I can write down what haunts me,

yet I cannot read the ones who do.

October.

- Laura Chouette

[the-ellia-west]

How to make your Readers Feel Emotions for Dummies

(AWWWWW :]]]] Edition)

So... Do you have any cute animals or children in your story?

No?

Then I can't help you go away

Kidding, kidding, you can make AWW moments in your story no matter who or what your characters are.

First

You have to have at least semi-Likable characters (Pets, adorable animals, or children make this wayyyyyy easier)

Likable characters make your readers want the characters to be happy! You can't really get AWWWW moments if you want the characters to suffer

Most AWWW moments come from Shipping or cute baby moments

Second

Decide what Type

whether you want it to be an AWWWW Romance moment, or an AWWWWW Baby moment

There's also #3 I forgot to mention: AWWWWW comfort/sentimental moment

Third

Decide which character the AWWW moment will happen between

Couple, Father/child, mother/child, friends, siblings, doesn't matter - Well... it obviously matters Which AWWW moment you're going for but... yeah

Fourth

What's Gonna happen?

For romance it's usually cute fluff moments - Want examples? Too bad, look it up on Pinterest! No, no, Joking. Here's a list:

Small cheek/hand kisses

A small, 'I love you so much.'

Wearing other's clothes

Forehead touch

Cuddling

Holding BOTH of each other's hands

FACE TOUCHES - Cheek/jawbone is best

Leaning into touch

Careful dancing

For parental figure and Child it's usually a comforting trust moment, a protecting the child moment, or a 'make me proud' moments

I fucking love these and I'm gonna go on a rant Addict, Tired, bitter mentors are so fucking great. There's so much you can do with them Mostly there's 'make me proud moments' The first 'I approve' moment There's 'you've made me proud' moments There's also 'Fine, you're my kid' moments And comforting trust moments hit so much harder when the mentor rarely shows affection.

It's just so... :D

For Friends, You should do with comforting moments, or a 'you don't know how much I care about you moments

Fifth

Soft Phrasing = soft emotions

Use long, calm sentences. No exclamation points or question marks unless it's dialogue. Keep everything smooth and fluid.

Tears are a powerful tool so use them sparingly

Use short words, and use cuter, softer words, metaphors, and adjectives.

Sixth

Have a visible result

Smiles, cute thoughts, cute dialogue, different feelings or actions towards other characters

Stuff like that

AWWWWW moments can be very powerful to characters as they can for real people, they can change so much with little words.

They can be turning points, displays of affection to the audience, turning points of affection, showcases of change, strengthening of relationships, a final goodbye, they can be so much in just so little.

Good Evening and Good Luck with your Writing My loveable Writing friends! you can do this! <3

[novlr]

So, this may be a question there is NO absolutely correct answer to…BUT: How does one now when a novel is finished? Like, how do you know when to stop writing or editing? How does one move on from the perfectionism of a story to just the creation and sharing of one?

Writing a novel is a journey full of unexpected twists, intense emotion, and the perpetual quest for perfection. However, one of the most elusive aspects of the writing process is understanding when to put down the pen or close the laptop and declare the manuscript finished.

As a writer, you may often find yourself tangled up in the pursuit of perfectionism, pondering over the infinite possibilities for your story. But there comes a time when you must step back and share your creation with the world. Here are some tips on how to recognise that moment:

How to know when your novel is finished

The story arc is complete: Your characters have been through their arcs; the conflicts raised have been addressed, and your story has come to a resolution that aligns with the themes you set out to explore.

Feedback is no longer as useful: You’ve gotten feedback from beta readers or editors, and you’ve addressed the critical concerns. If the feedback starts to become subjective or less consistent, it might be a sign you’re done.

Diminishing returns on edits: If your recent rounds of edits are barely producing any changes, or if the changes are not significantly enhancing the story, it’s likely a signal that your novel is complete.

How to know when to stop writing or editing

Trust your gut: Deep down, you often know when you’re making changes for the better or just making changes. Trust that instinct.

Get feedback from readers: Solicit the opinions of readers who represent your target audience. If they’re captivated by your story and satisfied with the conclusion, it’s a good sign that you don’t need any more rewrites.

Professional feedback: If you send your manuscript to a publishing professional, like an editor, they’ll give you a good barometer of whether your manuscript is ready or needs more work.

Be objective: Take a step back from your manuscript and read it like a reader, not a writer. If you find yourself changing things back to how they were in previous drafts, you might have reached the point of over-editing.

How to move beyond perfectionism

Embrace imperfection: Accept that no novel is without flaws, and that’s what makes them unique and human. I’m sure you could pick out flaws in any of your favourite books, but you love them regardless. Give yourself the same grace.

Shift your mindset: Instead of focusing on the perfect manuscript, focus on your readers. If it’s a story you want to tell, readers will want to read it. They deserve to read your words!

Set it free: Sometimes, the only way to move on is to release your work into the wild. Just take a step into the unknown and take a chance. You’ll never feel ready, so sometimes it just comes down to a leap of faith.

[chronicfatalist]

yall know about that novel im writing?

if not: im writing a novel! its very much still in the works but ive been working on it for a while now. i realized i have free will to draw what i think the characters look like so; here they are

Meg Vasques

Soren Harbor(not based off me.)

Charlie Tsuma

if you have questions please send me an ask! im willing to answer any questions about my novel ❤️

[writers-potion]

I’m trying to write my gods, and I’m not quite sure what dynamics I should include that will make them seem as dysfunctional as they are, but not too much that the humans who worship them know that something is wrong, just my protagonist, and one they’re wrong move away from all tearing apart the world in their hate.

Idk if this is too specific or not but any help is much appreciated. Thanks

Writing Hateful Gods

Thanks for the ask! Please refer to my previous post about Writing Deities for more general tips. 

Hateful God - Hero Dynamics

The god just doesn’t appear in front of humans often. Your protagonist knows a special way to summon them, or find them. 

The god has a partner god who holds back the reins. 

The things they do to “destroy the world” are actually loved by humans. For example, the god may create a beautiful phantom so that humans will fall in love with it and die of heartsickness, but turns out humans were just as happy loving someone they can’t touch. 

Your protagonist has a special power where they can read the minds of gods 

The god may appear just fine on the outside, but there’s something about the protagonist that reminds them of the horrible past and their cruel nature is only revealed when the god sees the protagonist. 

The god has set a time/place where he would destroy the world. When the protagonist gets closer to the god, they come to know about the God’s secret plans. 

The god was nervous about their great “Final Doomsday Plan”, so they decide to test it out…on the protagonist

The god is pained by sadness rather than anger, and the hero is the only one who says kind words to them during worship. Other people just make one-sided demands are leave. 

The god wishes to hide his true self, so he hires a powerful advertising company to make false images and statue of him as The Generous Father. Alas, the hero is an employee in the said advertising company who sees through the god’s veil. 

Consequences of Destroying the World 

Once you’ve established a good reason why they’d want to tear the world apart, the next question would be: why haven’t they done that already? 

You must place a plausible barrier that prevents them from making the world disappear on the spot, something that your protagonist can hope to leverage on to prevent the god from doing just that. 

Maybe the god have tried something similar in the past, and it only ended up killing the person they loved. 

There are strict rules about gods meddling with human beings? What would be the consequences of breaking those rules?

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* . ───

💎If you like my blog, buy me a coffee☕ and find me on instagram! 

💎Before you ask, check out my masterpost part 1 and part 2 

💎For early access to my content,  become a Writing Wizard 

[leahnardo-da-veggie]

I'm gonna try to focus on my novel for the next month or so, now that I've got more free time. I wanna be done with the first draft soon, and I'll make sure to keep y'all updated en route!

Current word count: 23k words

Goal: 65k words

[hayatheauthor]

How To Write And Create A Subplot

A subplot is an essential aspect of any book. It helps drive your story forward and hook your readers in with a compelling narrative. A good subplot raises the stakes for the main character by introducing side characters, creating plot twists, adding another dimension to the story or revealing information from the past or future. 

However, if executed incorrectly subplots can overshadow your main plot and deviate from the heart of your story. Unsure how to create and execute a subplot? Here are some helpful tips to get you started! 

Why Are Subplots Important? 

A subplot is a narrative thread that supports the elements of your main plot. They often build conflict or shed light on a secondary character’s story. Subplots help you create multilevel narrative arcs and build complexity and depth. 

Your readers certainly don’t need to know what your antagonists were doing while the protagonist underwent secluded training, but adding this subplot builds tension, heightens the stakes and easily portrays personality traits and character flaws. This is especially true for genres such as SFF or horror where your characters often don’t know their enemy’s plan until the last moment. 

Subplots are often what make your readers connect with your characters and world-building. To put it simply, if Harry Potter was written without any subplots Rowling could have wrapped up the entire series in one book. 

Types Of Subplots 

It’s important for authors to branch out and implement more than one subplot in their manuscript. Sticking to one subplot can often result in a poor portrayal of an important moment or make an interesting arc fall flat. A simple way to avoid this is by combining different subplots when working on your manuscript. 

Mirror Subplots

Mirror subplots are essentially a subplot that mirrors what your protagonist or antagonist is going through in order to illuminate their personality traits and how they dealt with said situation. A great example of a mirror subplot would be Sophie and Agatha’s dynamics during the first book of A School For Good and Evil. 

Sophie and Agatha both start off with essentially the same introduction to characters like Tedros, the faculty, their roommates, etc. but while Sophie uses a negative outlook to harm those around her Agatha focuses more on a problem-solving approach. 

Contrasting Subplot 

A contrasting subplot is when a smaller character faces the same situation as your protagonist/antagonist but handles the situation differently. For example, a protagonist allowed themselves to be injured in order to safely evacuate a nearby citizen but an antagonist in a similar position used the civilian to shield themselves from the attack. 

Contrasting subplots cannot exist unless both characters undergo the same situation, which is why it is important to plan this subplot out before executing it. 

Complicating Subplot 

Complicating subplots are the most common subplot used in literature. They’re pretty self-explanatory and involve a secondary character creating complications for the protagonist. This can be as simple as your love interest’s sister spreading gossip about the protagonist, or as complicated as a grand political scheme created to turn the protagonist’s allies against them. 

Romantic Subplot 

Romantic subplots are often confused with romance written as a subgenre. The difference between the two is simple—a book with romance as a subgenre simply includes romantic themes, however, a romantic subplot uses romance to deviate from the main plot. 

For example, if your protagonist left their usual environment to attend an event with your love interest for a couple of chapters, that counts as a romantic subplot. However, a character simply having a romantic moment does not constitute as a subplot. 

Things To Keep In Mind When Creating A Subplot 

Now that I’ve divulged all of the facts associated with writing a subplot, here are some personal tips writers should take into consideration when creating a subplot. 

A Subplot Is NOT Its Own Story 

This is an important factor many writers often forget when creating a subplot. Subplots are meant to tie into the main plot and move the story forward. They are supposed to be an arc in your story, not a story of their own. 

Subplots are a great way to foreshadow events, drop hints, reveal character traits, etc. however, you need to consider whether or not your manuscript needs to have these characters. Your deuteragonist’s tragic past with the antagonist might make for a good story, but you could probably summarise those events within one chapter. 

The same can be said for past love interests, ex-friends, training arcs and backstory arcs for minor characters. These factors would all propel your plot forward, however, incorrectly implementing them can ruin your reader’s immersion and deviate from the actual plot. 

If you’re unsure whether or not your subplot should be included in your novel, take the time to consider these few questions: 

Does your subplot help your protagonist accomplish their main goal? Or does it drastically deviate them from their initial purpose? 

Does this subplot introduce a new character, a new side to an old character, or the ‘true’ version of a seemingly good/bad character? 

Would your character be unable to attain their long-term goal without this subplot? 

Would your world-building, character development, or a certain aspect of the main plot feel confusing if not for this subplot? 

If your answer to these was yes, then you probably have a valid subplot on your hands. If not, then you should genuinely consider questions and take into account why you want to include this subplot, to begin with. If your answer is something along the lines of ‘it has so and so scene/dynamic which I really enjoyed or think the readers will like’ then your manuscript would probably do better without that subplot. 

Create Conclusive Arcs 

Unlike your main plot, subplots are supposed to have a start and finish. They need to have a complete arc and some semblance of a conclusion. 

For example, if you were writing a contrasting subplot where the side character decided to abandon another character in order to save themselves, you need to consider what happens once you write out this scene. How do the other characters react to it? Does this impact your side character’s position in the story? And most importantly, how does this impact the rest of your plot? 

You need to know where you’re going to go with your story once you have concluded your subplot, and figure out a way to tie your subplot into your main plot. 

I hope this blog on how to create and execute a sub plot will help you in your writing journey. Be sure to comment any tips of your own to help your fellow authors prosper, and follow my blog for new blog updates every Monday and Thursday.  

Looking For More Writing Tips And Tricks? 

Are you an author looking for writing tips and tricks to better your manuscript? Or do you want to learn about how to get a literary agent, get published and properly market your book? Consider checking out the rest of Haya’s book blog where I post writing and marketing tools for authors every Monday and Thursday. 

[byoldervine]

Tip I Wish I'd Known Before I Started Writing My WIP

Act structures work. I started writing Byoldervine after I'd done a bunch of fantacising about the kind of story I wanted, but I never actually structured it out. I still stand by my plotting scheme of plotting out five chapters in advance so I have the space and time to work through things and make adjustments as I go, but because I didn't create an overarching structure to the story I've got a bit of a pacing problem where I'm now cramming everything into the end when it could've been paying off much sooner

Luckily this is a problem that can be handled in the editing phase easily enough, and I've structured the last parts of the story so I know what's still left to go, but it still would've been helpful to have set it out in advance; it would also make the plotting sessions easier too