#like my main WIP includes a redemption arc to a character I don't even like

[unhingedaroaceboi]

I've been writing wholesome fluffy shit recently, I need to write some dark Starker to make sure I'm still an awful person.

[lacependragonwrites]

Hello! Welcome to the blog. This is an updated intro. I've been here for a minute, just wanted to tidy things up.

I am Wallace, but I also like Wally and Lace just as much (and I generally refer to myself as Lace), so feel free to pick your preference! They/Them or He/Him pronouns, in that order.

This is my writing sideblog. My main blog is over at @lacependragon! I will follow, like, comment on posts, and send asks from there, but I post my writing here and I reblog writing stuff to this blog.

I'm a queer, autistic author with chronic illness/pain and a whole lot of wips. I'm Canadian. I've been writing over half my life (and when you're a couple years shy of 30, that's not bad!) and I was reasonably popular as a fanfic author (RWBY fics mostly), something I've largely stopped doing as of September, 2021.

I'm very passionate. Which is to say I have a Lot(TM) of opinions. And I refuse to take personality tests even if I love them for characters.

Also I really love writing programs. I don't think you need them to be a good author, whatsoever, but god I love them so much.

My Writing

I write basically two things: big ass, character driven, SFF series with tightly woven plots & relationships, plus ridiculous amounts of lore and worldbuilding; and romance novels. That's it. I'm pretty sure I'm better at the latter, which I think is cool.

Also: I have a lots of wips. I cycle between them regularly but I always come back around to the others eventually.

I can sum up my writing as such:

Mostly SFF with a focus on fantasy and scifantasy

Character focused and driven

Often relationship driven - family, friendship, romance, etc.

Almost all of my protagonists are they/them NBs or some other flavour of trans

Mainly queer, disabled, neurodivergent characters

Queer and trans focused romances, also polycules

Found family, slow burn romance, platonic bonds, redemption arcs, overcoming adversity & trauma

Gray morality and tough decisions

Intricate world-building, in-depth magic systems, lots of fantasy creatures, and details on how these things interact with everyday and overarching life

Puns. A lot of puns.

A lot of silly combo words I use as a shortcut to avoid conlanging unnecessarily (though I do LOVE a good conlang)

Listen there's a lot of apocalypses in my WIPs. And overcoming them. It's a theme. It's because of the state of the world. Roll with it.

The Blog

What can you expect on this blog?

Character intros, WIP intros, worldbuilding posts, magic building posts, lore posts, and more

Lots of rambling posts about my WIPs, in general, and progress updates as I draft them

Screenshots and discussions of writing programs, including Scrivener, Word, Excel, Plottr, Aeon Timeline, Scapple, Powerpoint, Illustrator (for maps), Clip Studio Paint (for maps), Photoshop (for nonsense), and Notepad++

Snippets and chapters from various drafts of various WIPs

Inspiration posts for various WIPs

Reblogs of other writeblrs I think are great

Tips, tricks, and advice I picked up from my own experiences as a writer

Rambles about writing, the universe, and my process

Non-Writing Tag: #wall talk

The WIPs

[Under the cut because oh my goodness this is getting long]

Main Projects

THE METAHUMAN INITIATIVE Book One: Descent

Series Overview Urban fantasy, mystery/thriller, suspense, adult. Long as fuck.

Nat Carter is drawn to Veda City, a place built to uncover the secrets of superpowers in Metahumans, after the violent and mysterious death of their family. Once there, they set out to uncover who killed their family, why, and how it boosted Nat's own powers, only to realize that the conspiracy is far deeper than they ever imagined. And, somehow, Nat might be at the centre of it all.

Links: WIP Post | Series Tag | Book One Tag | Series Playlist | Book One Playlist | Character Profiles | Book One Excerpts

BEURKRATTI: THE PLACE OF STONES

Series Overview High fantasy, urban/constructed fantasy, adventure, mystery, adult. Multiple connecting series.

The changing world brings forgotten history forward. The Wardens, the protectors of the world, struggle to find the source of the faltering ancient magic that is causing widespread destruction. Old gods and new are risen in the Free Cities, and nothing is as it seems. For a young Warden, Katya, an opportunity arises to seek the answers for her people's inevitable spiral into nothingness, only to find far more than she ever bargained for.

Currently Undergoing Major Revisions

Links: WIP Post [Being Updated] | Series Tag | Book One Tag [TBA] | Spotify Playlist [None]

BOOK OF FARSIDE Book One: City of Fractured Dreams

Series Overview Scifantasy, apocalypse, adventure, mystery/suspense, adult. Series.

A floating, island city suffocated by civil unrest is thrown into deeper and more violent turmoil after the return of the apocalypse kills its elite fighting force in one fell swoop. Everyone seeking power leaps at the chance to seize it, all while ignoring the dark fate that made it possible. Amidst it all, two siblings, separated by eight years and an entire city, struggle to find one another and not lose themselves in the process.

Links: WIP Post | Series Tag | Ramble Tag | Book One Tag | Spotify Playlist

PATHS MADE OF STARDUST

Series Overview Fantasy, magic school, mystery/suspense, young adult. Series.

Every year, new witches flock to one of the many witch colleges across Mokeno. This year, three students arriving at Starmont College will cross paths for more than just classes. Two first-year students discover a third is held captive by her father's illegal curses and fight to free her from his grasp. If they succeed, they can bring down one of the most corrupt men in the country. If they fail, getting caught will be the least of their problems.

Links: WIP Post [Being Updated] | Series Tag | Book One Tag [TBA] | Spotify Playlist [None]

RESTORING MOONBLOOM HOLLOW

Series Overview Romance, fantasy romance, polyamory, adult. Companion series.

A dying trading post on an abandoned road receives new life when a poorly worded ad tricks an alchemist into moving to the town. Unfortunately, Arlo is not the saviour Moonbloom Hollow was looking for. Two townspeople, Samir and Winnie, don't let Arlo's grumpy exterior stop them, however. They are determined to save their town, and Arlo is determined to save themself. Maybe, working together, everyone can get what they need, and maybe fall in love along the way.

Links: WIP Post [Being Made] | Series Tag | Book One Tag | Spotify Playlist [None]

Side Projects/Minor Projects

Supernova | wip post | tag Urban fantasy, contemporary, young adult. Standalone 15-year-old Andie has never belonged. Bounced from foster home to foster home, they figure they’ll leave the system when they age out. An encounter after school one day awakens powers Andie never knew they had and quickly turns their life upside down. A foster home that cares, foster parents who know their struggles, a new school, and even new friends. But where did Andie come from? And how did they get here? They need to know, or they’ll never be able to rest.

Ghostpossible | wip post | tag Urban fantasy, new adult. Standalone When Y2K hit, it tore open a portal through the ether, letting ghosts, spooks, and all sorts of monsters through. Sixty years later, the best people to tackle the dead and ghastly are the young, and Kai Yeung, part time college student and full-time big sibling, is trying to make it big in the ghost hunting live streaming business. Money is tight, and this is their best option. Until a guy named Archie shows up and reveals that he’s been possessed by an ancient magical artifact and the very grumpy warrior trapped inside it. If Kai can get the artifact off, they can sell it and provide for their sister for years to come, but that’s only if they can get it off Archie before those chasing him can catch up.

Demon Fuckers Anonymous | wip post | tag Fantasy, dark academia, new adult, erotica. Standalone. A disabled student in their upper years at a prestigious, elitist, bullshit academy for magical grad school struggles to keep up due to exhaustion and ableism. To get back on track, they summon a demon in hopes of getting him to help. But the summon uncovers a deep conspiracy beneath the bowels of the school, and a long pent up desire to connect with someone, mind and body.

Queer Witch Cozies | wip post | tag Urban fantasy, cozy mystery, romance, adult. Series Ciar Gallagher can find things no one else can, that’s their talent as a witch. So when a frantic man comes to the door one night begging for Ciar’s help, they’re pretty sure they can do it. But there’s two problems. One, the man is a regular human, one with no knowledge of magic, and two, he’s asking Ciar to find his kidnapped daughter, and Ciar’s never tracked a person before.

Care Home for Chosen Ones | wip post | tag Urban fantasy, contemporary, adult. Standalone 25-year-old Marlowe takes great pride in their career as a care worker at Sunrise Elder Care, especially in their chats with the remaining chosen ones of a long finished prophecy. But when strange shadows begin to haunt the care home, Marlowe must summon all their knowledge and their most trusty weapon – the push broom – in order to stop the returning Dark One and save the elder chosen ones and their home before it’s too late.

Persephone Project | wip post | tag Science fiction, mystery/thriller, adult. Standalone Five years ago, Axl Thorn was arrested aboard the U.S.S. Faraday for techno-terrorism and multiple counts of first degree murder. Now, the cybernetic attacks have made a resurgence, but this time someone else is behind the keyboard. Pulled out of holding to help, Axl is kept on a short leash by their pissed off personal guard, whose job is both to keep Axl out of trouble – hah! – and to keep others from attacking them. Yet as the attacks grow stronger, the unlikely allies must cast aside their differences if they have any hope of saving the station and all those it connects to.

[annarts05]

Hi! How do I take inspiration and ideas from a Tv show/book and implement it into my story without making it a cheap copy/ripoff?

E.g

I want my main character to be like zuko from the TV series avatar. How would I be able to write a character that's like him but in my own way?

Ooh, I struggle with this myself, I love this question. Sorry, this might get long ;-;

First, accept that if you're taking inspiration from another character, from a book or movie, from whatever, your own character is going to be colored already with similar ideas as the character you took inspiration from.

And that's totally fine, because it's what you love and if it makes you want to create, that's perfect!

When you say you want to create a main character to be like Zuko, but in your own way, what exactly do you mean? Ask yourself what kind of similarities, and differences, you want the character to have to Zuko. Do you want the character's main motivation to be regaining his honor and making his country/family proud? Do you want to have a villain who was never truly evil, and then give them a redemption arc? Do you want them to be super awesome and have a cool scar? Do you want your character to be hot-tempered, have trouble expressing affection, and be extremely loyal to a cause? Fire powers? And so on.

Pinpoint the ideas you want to put into your own character, and then fill in the blanks with your own ideas (including character design, also important).

So, once you figure out what you like about the original character, you can plant those ideas into your new character.

As an example, Hugo from my WIP is actually inspired very heavily by Varian from Tangled the Series (if you haven't seen it, that's fine). Inventor/engineer character. A li'l bit sassy. Daddy issues. But he's also different, in character design, temperament, and overall, he's a different character. He's a different person, even if he has some shared similarities with another character.

Don't be worried about your character coming off as a ripoff or cardboard cutout of another character, because a lot of characters are similar, just like a lot of people in reality are similar. It's totally natural.

Once you've picked out those ideas you want to put in your new oc, you might feel like you've picked too many from the original character, and then you get stressed that they're way too similar.

Personally, I still think they're a different character and that you don't need to change them if you don't want to since it's your creation. But plagiarism is a thing, so be careful of copying too much.

If you still want to change them, take some of the traits you've picked out and twist them. Make them a little weird, or at least a little different. Think outside the box.

Anyway, that's just my 2 cents. If you have any more questions or want clarification on anything, feel free to let me know <33

[furiouslywriting]

Fixing flat characters

If I'm honest, this isn't something that I thought would be a problem for me. I'm a plotter. A HUGE plotter. I have character profiles for everyone that appears in my wip for longer than a simple name drop (and even one of those guys). So... When my betas said that my main side character (and love interest) was a little flat in his first four or so chapters, I was like:

I was so prepared. And I love him. But there's no denying it when the majority of my betas picked it up. So, I've had to go back and really flesh him out, add some more life to him in these chapters.

So, how do you fix a flat character?

Firstly, what is a flat character. Think, cardboard cut-out. Maybe they're stiff, they feel like they don't have a life outside the scene they're in, they don't show any flaws, goals, interests. They're just...there. This can be a problem for MCs and side characters, not so much the random neighbour that appears in one paragraph in the whole MS.

Have a look at what I've included, and work out whether your character needs one of these things!

So the first thing to look at is!

Motivation/goals

Why is your character doing what they're doing? You mc can't be trying to save the world... Just because. Do they have a loved one they're trying to protect? Do they have a rivalry going with the villain and therefore can't let him succeed out of pure spite? Why why why! That's what you need to think.

Do they have any life goals? Think of it like a job interview. "And where do you see yourself in five years, Darth Vader?"

"I'm sitting at the right hand of the emperor, my son beside me. We're all force choking the same man" (😂 I'm sorry, I do love Star wars).

Background

Where are they from? Where a person is from can affect their views, their language, even their mannerisms. (This isn't always needed for villains, sometimes the mystery is what makes them so good, but their motivations and arcs are strong enough to make up for this! So be careful.)

Think about things like what their family was like (abusive, kind, non-existent). Are they poor? Rich? Royal? While not everything about an oc is always revealed onscreen, it still affects who they are. Killmonger saw his father killed by his own (royal) uncle, this informs why he then takes the route he did. Harry Potter is an orphan who never really had a home or someone to love him, until Hogwarts. Harry dies for his friends and (found)family (this surely isn't a spoiler now?).

An arc

Develop your character throughout the story. If they were a snob at the start, give them a journey where they end as a caregiver or the person with the biggest heart. If a person is kind hearted, make them hard as steel by the end. Characters, like people, are constantly changing! Give them a lesson they need to learn. If they're independent, give them a quest that they physically can't do alone.

This may also lead to some internal conflict. If a bad character is on a redemption arc, maybe they face a moment where they have to decide whether or not to help the main character, knowing the MC doesn't trust them.

Not all characters have to undergo a huge change, some aren't even onscreen (on-page?) long enough, but consider this; they could be undergoing an arc off-screen and we've just caught them at this moment in the journey.

Character profile

Yes, I still recommend this! Those few chapters aren't a failure of the profile but of me.

Include a physical description, a brief background summary, fears/insecurities, motivations/goals, lowest point in their life, favourite memories, their psychology, all the things you need to know about them!

And always listen to constructive feedback (even if you don't change anything). It's hard when people point out a flaw in your baby, but usually it's from a good place, and it can make your work even better.