#novel of development

[literaryvein-templates]

Writing Worksheets & Templates

will update this every few weeks/months. alternatively, here are all my tagged Writing Worksheets & Templates

Chapter Outline ⚜ Character- or Plot-Driven Story

Death & Sacrifice ⚜ Magic & Rituals ⚜ Plot-Planning

Editing: Sentence Check ⚜ Writing Your Novel: 20 Questions

Tension ⚜ Thought Distortions ⚜ What's at Stake

Character Development

50 Questions ⚜ Backstory ⚜ Character Creation

Antagonist; Villain; Fighting ⚜ Protagonist & Antagonist

Character: Change; Adding Action; Conflict

Character: Creator; Name; Quirks; Flaws; Motivation

Character Profile (by Rick Riordan) ⚜ Character Sheet Template

Character Sketch & Bible ⚜ Interview your Character

Story-Worthy Hero ⚜ "Well-Rounded" Character Worksheet

Worldbuilding

20 Questions ⚜ Decisions & Categories ⚜ Worksheet

Setting ⚜ Dystopian World ⚜ Magic System (AALC Method)

Templates: Geography; World History; City; Fictional Plant

Writing References: Worldbuilding ⚜ Plot ⚜ Character

all posts are queued. send questions/requests here.

[luna-azzurra]

Some Tips for writing internal conflict

Wanting Two Things at Once Imagine your character really wants to chase after something big, like a dream school, a major opportunity, or maybe even moving to a new city. But at the same time, they’re terrified of leaving behind everything they’ve ever known. Or maybe they’re in a relationship that’s holding them back, but they can’t bring themselves to let go. Show them getting pulled in two directions, torn between their ambition and their fear of losing the people or places that ground them.

Right vs. Wrong Sometimes, your character will know deep down what the right choice is, but it’s the most difficult one to make. Like, maybe they see someone getting bullied and know they should stand up, but doing so could make them a target. Or maybe they have to decide between helping a friend and doing something that could ruin their own future. These moral dilemmas create intense internal conflict because it forces them to question who they are and what they stand for.

Doubting Themselves We all have moments where we wonder if we’re enough, smart enough, strong enough, brave enough. Let your character wrestle with that same doubt. Maybe they’re the kid who has always been told they’re special, but now they’re in a place where everyone is just as good, and they start to wonder if they even belong. Or maybe they’ve been through something tough, and they’re not sure if they can bounce back. These moments of insecurity make your character feel human, like they’re trying to figure it all out, just like everyone else.

Dreams vs. Fears Show your character dreaming big but getting frozen by their own fears. It’s like wanting to ask someone out but being terrified of rejection, or wanting to move away for college but being scared to leave home. Let them imagine all the things that could go wrong , that moment when fear makes them doubt if they should even try. But also show their desire burning just as strong, making it impossible to ignore. That’s the heart of internal conflict: they’re stuck between wanting something so bad and being afraid of what it’ll cost to go after it.

Beliefs Being Challenged As your character grows, the world will start challenging their beliefs. Maybe they grew up in a family that drilled certain values into them, and now they’re meeting people who see things differently. Or maybe they’re experiencing something new, and it’s changing their perspective. It’s like when you think you have everything figured out, and then life throws something at you that makes you go, "Wait, maybe I’ve been wrong this whole time." This kind of internal conflict is powerful because it forces the character to question who they’ve always been.

Keeping Secrets If your character is hiding something, like a mistake they made, feelings they’re afraid to admit, or a truth they don’t want to face, that secret becomes a huge part of their internal conflict. The fear of being found out or of dealing with the consequences can create a constant pressure in their mind. Maybe they’re scared they’ll lose their friends if the truth comes out, or maybe they’re dealing with guilt they can’t shake. The tension comes from their battle to keep it hidden while knowing they can’t keep it locked away forever.

Pressure from Everyone Your character might feel like they’re trapped between what they want for themselves and what everyone else wants from them. It could be pressure from parents, who have their whole future planned out, or pressure from friends to fit in or follow the crowd. Maybe your character wants to be true to themselves, but they’re scared of disappointing people or standing out too much. This kind of internal conflict is super relatable because, at some point, everyone feels like they’re stuck between living for themselves and living for others.

Fear of Failing Sometimes the biggest obstacle isn’t the external challenge but the internal fear of failure. Your character might have big dreams, but they’re paralyzed by the thought of messing up. Whether it’s competing in a sport, performing on stage, or just trying something new, the fear of not being good enough can be overwhelming. Maybe they’re afraid that if they fail, everyone will see them differently, or worse, that they’ll see themselves differently. The internal conflict comes from their desire to succeed battling against their crippling fear of failure.

[thepedanticbohemian]

[slayingfiction]

Feelings Wheel

This is the feelings wheel by Geoffrey Roberts, shown to me by my therapist. My initial thought was, "what amazing synonyms to use for diverse emotional vocabulary!"

More than that, this wheel is great for understanding your characters inner motivations and reactions to situations. For example, if a character constantly feels helpless, then their overarching characteristics will be that they are fearful.

Characters who are less emotionally aware may use words and act in the inner most circle. Those much more aware of their emotions may describe themselves or express and use words from the outer most circle.

Hopefully you guys find this as helpful as I did! Let me know down in the comments.

Happy Writing!

[kazehita]

The universe is ending, where will you go now?

SPACESONA is a short visual-novel type adventure game about making good choices in the moment and having good luck! It's finally time!!! My game SPACESONA is out (for free!) https://kazehita.itch.io/spacesona Thank you everyone for the support!!!!!!! It means everything to me!!!!!!

[redspringstudio]

September’s Kickstarter Update is now available 🌟 Backers can check out a ton of development sneak peeks at the link below!

Read the full update

[blood-teeth]

"...and, at the end of it all, this is the truth of you. The truth of your ruinous, shaky hands. The truth of you whole, de-fleshed, flayed. Your bones are harbingers, your fingers methods of decay. You are the mouthpiece for death. You remember the Bhagavad Gita and I am become death, destroyer of worlds. Look at me, you say, I am Time itself, and I must one day destroy your world as I have always done. 

In the light of a long dead star, the last astronaut wakes up. After six decades, the worst has come to pass. The earth is dead, the sun has gone, and the mission to find a new, viable home has failed. There are no more horizons for humanity.

This Grave Calls You Home is a sci-fi thriller set in space after humanity is forced to leave Earth's ravaged surface following nuclear devastation and an environmental collapse. You play as an ER nurse aboard the NEW HORIZON, an immense space station courtesy of THE COALITION OF THE LAST FRONTIER. This colossal facility, a self-contained city in orbit, houses the remnants of humanity. And it is here that your days pass in monotony, caring for the irradiated people born from Earth and the critically ill, trying your best to survive the relentless demands of the Emergency Room and your own deteriorating mental health. When a patrol flagship discovers the ARCADIA-II - a long-forgotten relic from humanity's past - and finds within slumbers an astronaut who had failed at delivering humanity from destruction, the routine of your life is throughly interrupted. As the mystery of the ARCADIA-II and PROJECT ODYSSEY unfold, you learn that your part in this could mean humanity's salvation.

Or you could be its extinction.

YOU WILL LIKE THIS IF YOU LIKE: - INTERSTELLAR - THE LOCKED TOMB SERIES - BLADERUNNER - HEAVEN WILL BE MINE - TIME TRAVEL AND TIME LOOPS - GHOST STATION - ALIEN

THE LAST ASTRONAUT(M/F 25)- ALEX STERN "...my love, i no longer know what it is to be warm." The lone ranger, the last star. The failure of deliverance. Feel their breath against yours, cup their ribcage into your hands to feel the long, dead beat of their heart. You know them, you know them. You swear you do.

THE SCIENTIST (F 23) - OPHELIA VALDEZ "...in the wake of dawn," she says, "it has only ever been you." The General's daughter and the brightest mind the world has ever seen. You brush your fingers along the bone of her brow and marvel at her atoms meeting yours. maybe science is religion, you think. maybe you will bend and lick and worship her taste on your mouth.

THE ENGINEER (THEY/THEM 24) - PUCK GOODFELLOW "is that your real name?" "no," they smile. "nothing has ever been mine own. i belong to you. give me a new name. give me a new life. i am yours." The scent of engine oil and gritted teeth. Place your mouth against their neck and taste the blood of a covenant past. They hold you in their palms; you feel the promise of something greater, something before.

THE BOTANIST (M/F 25) - CAIA / CAIUS CAIN "i am no good at words. i'm good in the dirt and the roots and the trees. darling, you've been in everything i touch." the cool touch of water, liberation at their smile. Take the bite and know what it means to become. Dig your hands deep, deep in the earth and feel what it means to love.

THE MAJOR (TRANS M 27) - JONATHAN STERN "i have given my life to duty, to sacrifice, to obligation. i wish to give it to you, now, instead. it has been an honor serving you." A past marked by violence made by hands meant to touch. To soothe. He holds you tight against his chest and if you close your eyes you can still smell the smoke. He holds you like an apology. Like a prayer.

DEMO (coming soon!) - PLAYLIST - FAQ

[meo-eiru]

DUDE I JUST PLAYED THROUGH THE GAME, WHY IS IT SO SADDDD😭😭😭

and why is he hot

Starling went through quite a few redesigns through the entire development process so let me talk about it a bit :3

It all started with this notes app drawing I made with my finger

Right from the start we knew his tail would be made out of tongues but figuring out how many and placed how was quite hard, I really had to girlmath my way thru

This was the first actual drawing I made of him. The story wasn't complete yet but I went ahead and designed something anyway. Here he was definitely "scarier" and his scar was also placed differently. He had gills on his neck but as you will see I changed their location to under his arms later on. We were actually considering not giving him a tongue of his own so I wanted to make his mouth terrifyingly big and empty.

Here I tried giving him bigger eyes like a fish. This was when his playful and childlike personality had started shaping as you can see from the expressions. I definitely liked this direction better but it also wasn't perfect just yet so I went ahead and did a few more changes

I slowed down on trying to figure out his design a bit after that and instead focused on how his sprite would look. He is a merman after all, he can't just stand straight like a lot of the other visual novel characters. This stage was PAINFUL.

These were the first ones I sketched, we ended up deciding we liked the 3rd one the best.

I carried that 3rd one over to another canvas and started playing around with how we could place his tail, we started entertaining the idea of having him sit on a big rock

This is when his pose really shaped up. The animated Little Mermaid movie was actually a big inspiration, I sat and rewatched the entire movie and studied how they animated her tail

And after that I finally finalized his design. We decided to change the end of his tail to be more eel like for aesthetic purposes (normal tail shape looked weird with tongues)

And for anyone wondering this is what Maelyn looked like at first. Since the story wasn't complete yet I thought it'd take place in a more modern setting and designed her with that in mind but we decided to have the story take place in 1800s so I changed the design based on that. I did a lot of research on glasses and corsets to make the design as accurate as I could.

Yes glasses! We didn't use the sprites in the main story but Maelyn does wear glasses and looks very pretty in them if you ask me. You will be seeing more of it in the bonus episodes!

[leoneliterary]

Honor Amongst Thieves (WIP) — UPDATED 8/9/2024

The demo for Honor Amongst Thieves has been updated! Play it HERE!

Long time no see!

I have an update for y'all that will take us out of the city for the first time! There will be more schemes, a few special meetings and alliances formed and strained.

I hope y'all enjoy! Let me know what you think and if you run into any issues!

(Also I'll have a surprise for y'all later tonight!)

FORUM ~ KOFI ~ PATREON

[thewriteadviceforwriters]

50 Dark Academia Names For Your Female Characters + Meanings & Origins

Alecto - unceasing in anger (Greek mythology)

Ariadne - most holy (Greek mythology)

Cassiopeia - she who entangles (Greek mythology)

Circe - hawk (Greek mythology)

Drusilla - dewy-eyed (Roman)

Eris - strife (Greek mythology)

Fionnuala - fair shouldered (Irish)

Galatea - she who is milk-white (Greek mythology)

Hekate - will (Greek mythology)

Idony - ancient wisdom (Scandinavian)

Isolde - ice battle (Arthurian)

Kore - maiden (Greek mythology)

Lenore - light (Spanish/French)

Lilitu - monstrous woman (Mesopotamian mythology)

Maeve - she who intoxicates (Irish)

Nyx - night (Greek mythology)

Orion - rising (Greek mythology)

Pandora - all-gifted (Greek mythology)

Queenie - noble queen (English)

Rhaenyra - dark reign (Game of Thrones)

Selene - moon goddess (Greek mythology)

Themis - justice (Greek mythology)

Ursula - little female bear (German)

Valeria - strength (Roman)

Willow - willow tree (English)

Xanthe - golden flower (Greek)

Yseult - ice battle (Arthurian)

Zelda - dark battle (Germanic)

Zephyrine - from the west wind (Greek)

Aella - whirlwind (Greek mythology)

Brynhild - armored battle maiden (Norse mythology)

Catriona - pure (Scottish Gaelic)

Deirdre - sorrowful (Irish)

Elspeth - God's promise (Scottish)

Felicity - good fortune (Latin)

Gwendolyn - white ring/circle (Welsh)

Harlow - rock clearing (English)

Idalia - from Idalium (Greek mythology)

Jericho - scent of beauty (Hebrew)

Kalliope - beautiful voice (Greek mythology)

Lumen - light (Latin)

Morana - death (Slavic mythology)

Nerissa - mermaid (Greek mythology)

Octavia - eighth (Roman)

Persephone - bringer of death (Greek mythology)

Quintessa - fifth (Latin)

Seraphina - fiery serpent (Hebrew)

Theda - goddess (Greek)

Umbriel - shade (Roman mythology)

Xenia - hospitality (Greek)

[nyaa]

北へ。/ Kita e. White Illumination (1999) Sega Dreamcast

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Villains

To create a villain your readers will care about, you’ll need to define how he is the hero of his own story. If you reduce the villain to a bad guy without taking time to understand from his/her perspective, you’ll cheat your reader.

To create a convincing villain, your villain must have the following:

Motivations that the reader can understand

Moments of relatability that make the villain vulnerable and tragic

7 "Key Ingredients" for your Villain

Consider giving your villain the following:

An obsession

A secret

A wound

A personal connection to the hero

A worthy match for the hero

The villain thinks he or she is the hero

An Achilles heel

Consider the following:

The reader needs to understand the motivation of the villain.

The villain should have moments of vulnerability that make him/her relatable (even if that’s in the backstory).

No villain should be all evil all the time. That makes for a flat character. Don’t create a caricature.

Give the villain characteristics that are desirable, too.

Make the villain the hero of his/her own story.

Use the villain to develop your protagonist.

Use abstract villains sparingly. Try to assign a person to an antagonistic force.

Make the villain a foil of the protagonist. He/she should be opposite to bring out characteristics in your protagonist.

Give the villain a moral code.

Allow the villain to have small wins through your novel to increase tension.

Create a backstory for your villain.

Create an entire arc for your villain. He/she should not just pop up when it’s convenient for your story.

Don’t give the villain unnatural, overly-eloquent language unless there’s a good reason to do so.

Other Qualities for your Villain

Two other qualities that make for a good villain are:

A great name: The Friday the 13th movie franchise proves that you can call your villain “Jason” and get away with it. But that’s the exception that proves the rule. Give your villain a name as memorable as the rest of the character, and the character will stick around in their minds forever.

A cool costume: Even if your villain doesn’t inhabit a sci-fi or fantasy world, spend some time developing a key aspect of your villain’s appearance that makes him or her instantly recognizable and memorable.

Sources: 1 2 ⚜ Writing Notes & References Worksheets & Templates: Villain & Antagonist ⚜ Morally Grey Characters

[luna-azzurra]

your first draft is going to suck. And that’s okay. It’s supposed to suck. Your first draft isn’t about writing something good, it’s about writing something. You’re just shoveling sand into the sandbox so you can build castles later. Get the words on the page, even if they’re clumsy, even if you cringe while writing them. The magic happens in the revision, but you can’t revise a blank page. So let the first draft be messy. Let it be flawed. Just get it down, because that’s where the real work begins.

[rosesrotofficial]

🔪 happy 30k downloads, (killer) chat!! 🩷

the slaughterhouse losers thank you for all your love and support!! we can’t wait to bring you all more Killer Chat! content soon… 👀 and on that note…

help decide the future of Killer Chat!

we heard your cries for more KC! and have some surprises in the works 👀 BUT we would love to expand the KC! verse even further. fill in our survey so we can figure out how to make that happen! <33

[slayingfiction]

Character Flaws

When creating characters, it's all too easy to envision the most perfect people, especially when it comes to creating love interests. Even our loveable morally grey characters are mostly perfect, if only they would stop killing...

So, here are a list of some flaws (based on personality, not appearance) to help round out your characters. While it's nice to be good at everything, it's abnormal. No one is perfect, and your characters will be much more relatable if you knock them down a bit.

Please note, none of these are (specifically) mental disorders, as I don't consider those a character flaw.

The Good (aka little flaw):

Absent-minded, aimless, argumentative, audacious, awkward, blunt, bold, boring, capricious, childish, clumsy, competitive, complainer, cowardly, critical directionally-challenged, dubious, finicky, fixated, flake, flirty, foolish, gossipy, gruff, gullible, hedonistic, humourless, hypocritical, idealist, idiotic, ignorant, illiterate, immature, impatient, impetuous, impulsive, incompetent, inconsiderate, indecisive, indifferent, indomitable, irrational, lazy, lustful, materialistic, meddlesome, meek, mischievious, nagging, naive, nervous, nosey, obnoxious, overambitious, overconfident, overemotional, overprotective, overzealous, passive-aggressive, paranoid, peevish, perfectionist, pessimist, pest, predicatable, pretencious, prideful, rebellious, renege, rigorous, sarcastic, skeptic, seducer, selfish, self-righteous, shallow, slacker, solemn, spacey, spoild, squeamish, stubborn, supersticious, sycophant, tactless, tease, tempermental, tenacious, theatrical, thoughtless, timid, unpredictable, unsupportive, vain, workaholic

The Bad (aka big flaw):

Addiction, adulterous, aloof, anxious, apathetic, arrogant, belittling, belligerent, bigmouth, bitter, bully, callous, deceptive, dependant, deranged, dishonest, disloyal, disrespectful, egotistical, envious, erratic, exploitive, fanatical, fickle, fierce (at the extreme), gluttonous, greedy, harasser, hubris, impious, infamy, intolerant, judgemental, lewd, liar, meglomaniac, morally grey, narcissistic, negligent, obsequious, obsessive, offensive, prejudiced, quixotic, reckless, rigid, self-martyr, self-righteous, short-tempered, spiteful, squanderer, stingy, unethical, unforgiving, untrustworthy

The Ugly (aka cross the street when you see this person):

Abusive, bigot, controlling, cruel, explosive, immoral, inhumane, intolerant, machiavellian, manipulative, murderous, neglectful, oppressive, racist, remorseless, possessive, self-destructive, threatening, treacherous, vengeful, vindictive, violent

The seven chief features of ego: self-deprecation, self-destruction, martyrdom, stubbornness, greed, arrogance and impatience.

Some of these may not even be considered flaws, and some may jump from one category to the next. It's all about how you present these flaws in your characters.

Have any more to add? Did you find this useful? Let me know down in the comments :)

[redclovercasefiles]

Welcome to the Seance Soiree!

Freshly minted occult auditor John Tsukimori receives a strange invitation to where his like isn’t wanted: the Seance Soirée, an event hosting some of the biggest stars in spiritualism. Surely it's some kind of mistake, but John's free, and his sister, Julia, is out of school for the summer. Who knows? Might be fun... ...Until a real murder disrupts the morbid circus! John must now push past the smoke and mirrors of professional psychics to prove the killer is among them, and not the great beyond. Time to get to work, Detective.

The Red Clover Casefiles: Seance Soireê is a 2D visual novel where you will be tasked with navigating a murder-mystery, investigating locales, interrogating a collection of intriguing characters, and evaluate all you learn to name the real killer. 

Or killers.

Support us on Kickstarter! • Linktree