#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

References: Worldbuilding ⚜ Plot ⚜ Character ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

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.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Word List: Psychology

more psychological concepts as reference for your poem/story

Absent grief - a form of complicated grief in which a person shows no, or only a few, signs of distress about the death of a loved one. This pattern of grief is thought to be an impaired response resulting from denial or avoidance of the emotional realities of the loss.

Being love - (or B-love) in Abraham Maslow’s humanistic psychology, a form of love characterized by mutuality, genuine concern for another’s welfare and pleasure, and reduced dependency, selfishness, and jealousy. B-love is one of the qualities Maslow ascribes to self-actualizers.

Cyclopean eye - a theoretical eye, located on the midline between the real eyes, that has access to the functions of both eyes and is used in descriptions of space perception and eye movements.

Dream ego - in the analytic psychology of Carl Jung, a fragment of the conscious ego that is active during the dream state.

Epiphany - a sudden perception of the essential nature of oneself, others, or reality.

Family mythology - the shared stories, norms, and beliefs within a family system. The mythology can be used to deny trauma or pathology within the family or to ascribe meaning to events in ways that suggest their inevitability or importance.

Guilt culture - a trend or organizing principle in a society characterized by the use of guilt to promote socially acceptable behavior. Guilt cultures emphasize both self-control in the face of temptation and self-initiated responsibility for one’s actions if transgressions should occur.

Hedonic treadmill - a metaphor for a hypothesis proposing that people’s happiness tends to return to a preexisting baseline level after positive or negative life events have occurred. According to this concept, positive and negative events may produce short-term shifts in mood, but these shifts tend to erode in a relatively brief period of time. This process of adaptation is thought to be responsible for the persistence of mood states over time, often in the face of considerable efforts to change them. Although there is good evidence for this hypothesis, research has demonstrated that people do not always return to baseline after the occurrence of mood-changing events.

Jactitation - (or jactation) extreme restlessness marked by frequent movements and tossing about.

Leaving the field - the act of removing oneself from a situation when confronted with seemingly insurmountable obstacles, insoluble conflicts, or intensely frustrating problems. It may involve physical withdrawal, escape into psychogenic illness, or some other behavior, such as distraction or changing the subject during a conversation.

Source ⚜ More: Notes & References ⚜ Part 1 2 3 ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

[nyaa]

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

[loverofpiggies]

Hi folks! Sorry I've been a bit awol lately! Holidays and all that. Also I've been going through a bit of a digital detox and I've been feeling INCREDIBLE because of it. It's making me feel more free. Makes me want to step back from the internet even more. I've gotten much more physically active, I've been working out and reading books and learning to cook... developing my own novel that I've been wanting to do for years! MAN. It's been really nice.

I don't have any plans to just stop Something Wonderful and not continue it, but it might be a while before the next post!

[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!

[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!

[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

[rosesrotofficial]

Wishlist Killer Chat! Definitive Edition on Steam Now! 🔪

hello rotterlings!

we want to make KC! even bigger and bloodier in 2025, and have so many exciting stories we want to tell.

thanks to all your support and everyone’s interest in the survey we sent, we are officially planning a kickstarter for Killer Chat!: Definitive Edition early next year!

this version will significantly expand on the game’s content with brand new storylines and more time to spend with your fave serial killer(s) <33

how ambitious we can be will depend on your support 🙏

help us to make Killer Chat! the best it can be by sharing the steam page with your friends, reposting our social media posts and wishlisting now! your support helps us massively :D

more updates on the kickstarter launch coming soon!

and look out for more surprises… 👀

with love, rosesrot and team :D

[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.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Ideas: 200+ Character Quirks

Behavioral Quirks

always wants to sit facing the door

bites lip when thinking or trying to remember something

chain smokes

chews gum all the time

clears throat frequently

eating all of one type of food before moving on to the next item on the plate

flipping hair back over one’s shoulders

grasping a fork or spoon with one’s full fist to eat

jingles keys

laughs very loud

licks lips frequently

makes humming noises

makes very intense eye contact with people

moves around a lot when talking to a group

paces when thinking

points at people when talking to them

prefers to sit on the end of a row rather than between people

sniffs frequently

snorts when laughing

taps chin or nose when thinking

taps fingernails on surfaces

tends to giggle

uses air quotes when talking

very distinctive laugh noises

whistles the tune to songs

Communication Style Quirks

chats nervously when there is lull in conversation

chooses words very carefully; speaks in an exacting way

describes things very precisely

doesn’t speak up unless directly asked a question

embellishes or exaggerates stories or information

enunciates words very precisely

gestures a lot when talking

habitually avoids eye contact

hinting at one wants rather than stating it directly

insists on face-to-face conversations (rather than phone or text)

insists on having the last word

makes up a nickname for everyone

pauses a long time before speaking

restating what other people have already said

speaks in a way such that statements come across like questions

speaks with an accent

talking to oneself

talks very fast

talks with a sing-songy cadence

unreadable facial expressions

uses a particular dialect

very expressive facial expressions

very reserved in demeanor

winks at people when talking to them

Eating- and Drinking- Related Quirks

always orders the same food in a restaurant

barely chews food before swallowing

brings snacks everywhere

burps or belches loudly at the end of meals

constantly talks about dieting

counts the number of chews before swallowing

drinks coffee or tea very frequently

eats while driving the car

extremely delicate eater

grazes throughout the day

makes nasty remarks about other people’s food

makes sure everyone knows they’re vegan

messy eater

only eats organic food

picks food off other people’s plates

prefers junk food to home-cooked meals

pretends to be a dainty eater but pigs out in private

refuses to eat leftovers

snacks excessively

takes huge bites of food

takes other people’s food without asking

tries to win over everyone to their way of eating

tucks a napkin into one’s shirt when eating

wont’ eat in front of other people

won’t eat food that other people cook

Personality Quirks

adrenaline junkie

brags about one’s own accomplishments

high levels of enthusiasm

likes to be the center of attention

makes assumptions about others’ motives

makes snap judgements about other people

needs the approval of others

obsessive about personal hygiene

overly trusting of other people

plans things to the most minute detail

quick to recognize others accomplishments

seeks adventure or new experiences

seeks stability

suspicious or distrustful of others

takes credit for other’s work

tendency to one-up other people’s accomplishments

tendency to pull for the underdog

tendency to react emotionally

tendency to respond objectively

tendency to take things personally

tenderhearted nature

tends to be argumentative just for the sake of arguing

tends to see how things unfold without planning ahead

very outgoing in demeanor

won’t touch people, even to shake hand

Physical Traits and Quirks

a lot of freckles

a lot of tattoos or unusual tattoos

always too cold

always too warm

asymmetrical features

athletic build

different color eyes

distinctive moles

extremely tall or short

lanky build

messy, free-flowing hair

missing or extra appendages

perfectly coiffed hair

red nose

twitchy eye

unique birthmark

unusual color eyes

unusual facial features

unusual hair color

unusual hair style

very long fingernails

weight range

Posture Quirks

crossing legs at the ankle when seated

favors one side vs. the other when standing

frequently shifts from side to side

lays head down on desk or table

leaning back in ones chair

leans in toward people who are speaking

leans on things when standing up

leans to one side when standing

looks straight ahead

propping one’s feet up on furniture

rests head in hands when seated

shifting from one foot to another when standing

shifts or squirms when sitting

sitting with one’s legs crossed

stands or sits extremely still

stands up extremely straight

stands with hands behind back

stands with hands on hips

stands with hyperextended knees

tends to lean away from people

tends to slouch

tends to stretch a lot

tilts head down most of the time

Quirky Movements and Walking Habits

adjusting sleeves frequently

bouncing one’s leg when sitting

bouncy walk

cracking knuckles frequently

determined, purposeful walk

enters rooms hesitantly

extent to which a person’s arms swing when they walk

loose limbed way of walking

meandering walk

often breaks into a jog when walking

picking at nail polish

pulling down on one’s jacket or skirt

pulling sleeves down over one’s hands

scratches one’s head frequently

scratching one’s face

shakes foot when sitting with legs crossed

sidles up to people

takes large steps

takes tiny, mincing steps

tends to push past other people abruptly

tugging a sweater or jacket from left to right

twisting to crack one’s back or next

walks at a very rapid pace

walks with a limp

walks with an even stride

Signature Accessories

always carries an umbrella

always wears a scarf

carries a briefcase everywhere

carries a huge purse

constantly wears a hat

has earbuds in (or headphones on) all the time

is never seen without a certain piece of jewelry

keeps a pocket square in a suit jacket

keeps sunglasses on all the time

never seen without a backpack

totes a pet in one’s purse or other bag

uses a pocket watch

wears a flower in one’s hair

wears a headband

wears a large fitness tracking device

wears a lot of jewelry

wears a nametag

wears an overcoat or other distinctive outerwear

wears bangle bracelets that jingle

wears enormous earrings

wears huge glasses

wears socks with weird patterns or in strange colors

Signature Clothing Style

always looks perfectly pressed

always wears boots

always wears tennis shoes

appears to have been professionally styled

becomes disheveled with very little activity

doesn’t worry about whether clothing items coordinate with each other

dresses in a flashy style

dresses in exercise apparel even when not exercising

dresses in very revealing apparel

overdresses or underdresses for occasions

squeezes into clothing that is to small

wears cheap knock-offs of designer fashions

wears clothes made for much younger people

wears loose fitting clothes

wears only designer labels

wears shorts even when it’s freezing outside

wears socks with sandals

wears stiletto heels all the time

wears the latest styles

wears the same color clothing all the time

wears the same style of clothes all the time

wears very outdated styles

wears wrinkled clothes

Other Quirks to Consider for Characters

answers for other people instead of letting them speak

complains about everything

constantly complains about aches and pains

constantly correcting other people’s grammar

constantly misplaces certain items, like keys or glasses

expects unquestioning loyalty from people

frequently gets hiccups

gets heavily involved in campaigning for political candidates

has hypochondriac tendencies

holds other people to higher standards than themselves

is easily influenced or swayed

makes snap judgements about other people

makes unusual snoring noises

participates in marches and protests

quick to find fault in others

seeks out flattery

seems to turn all conversations political

takes in stray animals frequently

tends to look for the bright side in every situation

tends to make biased remarks about others

Source ⚜ More: References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs 600+ Personality Traits ⚜ 170 Quirks ⚜ 100 Sensory Words

[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

[clairedaring]

Thank you Doctor, for the information.

SPARE ME YOUR MERCY | 1.02