#novel wip rambling

[butterfly-siege]

Ok i was really gung ho about making a few languages for my novel, and i still am largely. But hoooo boy the learning curve. It goes from ‘wow neat!’ To deep philosophical questions about what even is language and also look how we prioritize certain structures and check this out! Hidden metaphor. Rethink everything, you’re biased immensely by the languages you speak.

Im going to keep with it but i am feeling very intimidated and also lots of respect for conlinguists. A++

[ilovedthestars]

there really are few emotions i find more compelling in a story than "you should be afraid of me. please don't be afraid of me"

[dreamtydraw]

Hauting, he's HAUNTING ME. Have you ever been haunted by a character you desperetly want to work on but really need not to ? Well I do... I want to make his game so bad...

At least he might get a name ?

Unsure if Slavic name might turn off players because I remember that slavic sounding name aren't that wildspread so I'm making a poll...

[blu3ha1redbrat]

Writer's Rant: A dilemma

Okay so, I'm writing my main character, and I'm the kind of person who imagines the entire plot of my book like it's a movie and then I start writing. But, my main character is what I see most people in book communities dislike: soft spoken, overly kind and weak-hearted, but she is also very headstrong, intelligent (she has her flaws too ofc) and after the events that happens she does a complete 360.

But, my dilemma is that I wanted to make a "strong" main character from start to finish, to please the audience I'm trying to reach and maybe in some ways in the beginning she is strong but idk.

I guess my main thing is that the FMC is a black woman, and often, black women are portrayed (especially by non-black authors) a certain way (because of stereotypes) and I wanted to make her soft to show something different regarding black characters.

I'm not sure, and I don't know if this is a stupid dilemma I have, but here's my rant for now :)

(also, i've been writing on google docs for years now, and I switched to Microsoft Word and I'm in love.)

[the-ellia-west]

HEY LOSERSSSS

Poll 1/2

This one is for Which WIP I should spend my time on (posting about) for the rest of this week

For TCOT you'd get a few scenes, a lot of progress updates, and I'd actually start getting back into EoW, you'd also get a ton of extra stuff. And if this gets enough votes, I may do a Character Q'nA because I'm bored

StF will get a bunch of Actual Scenes and for once, some actual character profiles, worldbuilding, ect.

J&R will all be hosted on @jakkon-and-rose-topic and have a few more scenes, some possible spoiler alerts, my plans for it as a series, and a ton of character dynamics and specific development to character Relationships we haven't explored yet

Then C4 will have me develop the stuff I do have written and show it to you. Actually make character profiles, maybe a map, and definitely some face claims I have for the characters because those are the most accurate face claims I have.

[Poll 2]

See mentions

@fanntasy131 @alnaperera @clever-naming-convention @pastellbg @smudged-red-ink

@ajgrey9647 @sl-vega @supersoakerfullofblood @jesusfreakspeaks @lunaeuphternal

@agirlandherquill @thepeculiarbird @illarian-rambling @caffeinated-and-annoying-bard @somethingclevermahogony

@phoenixradiant @ryahisbored @latay7 @sunnyjustice @nkikio

@bigwipscholar @kia-is-poisoned @justalittlebuddy @sunflowerrosy @danielleitloudernow

@aalinaaaaaa @corinneglass @mysticstarlightduck @cupandquillcafe @rivenantiqnerd

@katwritesshit @darkandstormydolls @cybercelestian @thelazywitchphotographer @njnetails

@aesthetic-writer18 @kitteafountain @mjparkerwriting @bloodmoonloveletter @artsandstoriesandstuff

@wyked-ao3 @words-on-pa-per @blue-kyber @vyuntspakhkite-l-darling @themortalityofundyingstars

@envycollective @urnumber1star @stars-forever @starmanbutitsregulusblack

I... did not know I had this many moots.... welp

[inkblackorchid]

Been thinking WIP thoughts recently and thought I'd share a bit. (Feel free to ignore this if you're just here for 5Ds silliness, that's fine—and also, btw, this is not an "I'm droping the WIP"-post. Just some stuff I thought I'd want to share.)

I checked a little while ago, and Embers (the current working title of the WIP) is now just over a year old. I've been writing this fic, which currently stands at ten chapters, for a year. That's a lot. And it's not like I want to stop or anything, my plans are solid, progress is steady, and I really, really wanna show everyone this story. I was just... hoping I'd be able to write it faster, I think. Didn't think the outline would explode on me several times because there's so many good character moments begging to be written, didn't think the thing's plot would get so tight that I'd become too nervous to upload any chapters before the first draft is done for fear of contradicting myself on accident, and also didn't think I'd actually be mad enough to write six duels into this.

I think what mainly bothers me is that I just wish it was done, not because writing it is boring, but because I'd love to fucking talk about it already. Which, yeah, I know, not exactly an unusual problem for writers.

I don't really know what the point of this post is (beyond getting something off my chest in the hopes it'll stop rattling around in my head so I can actually think about writing more), but here's something for you all: The current, total word count of Embers.

(The current chapter, 10, stands at 26,562 words.)

I'll probably post another snippet once I figure out which tiny shred of this story I can post without giving away massive spoilers. Anyway, happy (belated) birthday to the longest fic I've ever written. And uh, thanks for your patience, everybody.

[talesofsorrowandofruin]

Important Case-files poll time!

So, to my great displeasure, I've realised Silver Glass's title has nothing to do with the plot.

[reneesbooks]

wip intro/masterpost - the raedoran cycle

hi hello here it is. my baby.

genre: fantasy

pov: third person limited, with various narrators throughout

status: a series of 4 novels/stories, in various states of drafting

summary: in one night, Raedora is thrown into chaos. the royal librarian murders the queen and her youngest daughter with magic and flees, leaving behind the king and the crown princess to pick up the pieces. the princess spirals slowly into madness as her sworn shield tries to save her, terrified of her dead sister's prophecy.

two thieves in the capital set their sights on the crown jewels after attending the queen's coronation. but when one gets a little too reckless and catches the attention of the Mad Dog of Morbhard, their plans quickly go off the rails.

when their parents are killed in the Dragon Purges, two shapeshifters must hide amongst their killers to survive. one, a talented healer, tries to build a life that will be safe for them, but her little brother has his sights set on avenging their parents by murdering the queen that ordered their deaths.

a young witch is raised alone by her father, always in hiding, with strange dreams and visions of the future. when he dies of an illness even her magic can't heal, she must strike out on her own, searching for answers to the prophecy that has followed her for her whole life.

tag: the raedoran cycle

so originally this was one novel following multiple characters, but thanks to a minor plot bunny that greatly spiraled out of control (lacuna) it has become something much more. many of the four novels' events occur simultaneously, with their stories overlapping and intertwining as the character's lives do the same.

the knight of lacuna lake

Keelan: baby boy war criminal. he narrates the story as he tries to save Maura from herself.

Maura: the golden queen of Raedora. she lost half her family in 1 night and handed it incredibly well all things considered (no she didn't)

status: first draft finished(!!), shelved while it marinates and i work on the rest of the cycle. likely going to come back and edit it at some point but for now it is what it is

tag: lacuna

the thieves of morbhard

Arthur: master lockpick and ball of anxiety. he narrates his attempts to get Jack to notice him while also trying to steal the crown jewels.

Jack: cursed damned street rat. born on the night of the triple new moon and condemned to a life on the streets, he's got his sights set on stealing enough to get both him and Arthur out of Morbhard for good.

status: just barely starting to draft. fully outlined.

tag: thieves

the dragons of kiltide

Emilia: the only voice of reason around here. a talented healer fighting to protect her baby brother from both the persecution they face in their homeland and the Purges that killed their parents.

Fabin: teenage ball of rage. his parents died in front of him when he was 13 and he has been supremely chill about it since then and doesn't everybody sleep with their sword under their bed?

status: outlining with the occasional scene.

tag: dragons

the witch of the west

Birdie: a talented witch born under and blessed by the full silver moon. raised by her father in the woods after fleeing the witch trials, she is determined to understand and fulfill her prophecy. her strange dreams of dragons, thieves, and knights lead her to a search for the people who she believes will help her in her journey.

status: it's complicated. this where all the original material lives for the most part so it's outlined(sort of??) and i've been writing scenes for it but idk what the actual timeline of events is and i've changed a LOT since i started. so it's a frankendraft mess. we'll get there eventually.

tag: the witch

and that's it! that's my baby! i think about Them a lot these days.

taglist: ask to be added <3 @k--havok @theharpywrites

links:

lacuna wip intro/masterpost

salt and brine (in the same world but not necessarily relevant)

i will add more as things get posted but for now you can find everything for each story/character through the linked tags up above. i am always available to scream about my children :)

[amberskywrites]

Hello! I return your STS-- I see that you do a lot of fanfic as well as original writing, which is awesome! Engage with what interests you! I wanted to know what your favorite part of worldbuilding was as well, and what worldbuilding is like in fanfic, if there's worldbuilding at all? I hope that doesn't sound rude, I just haven't really engaged with fanfiction on the writer or reader's end too terribly much, and on one hand, you would think the world is already established, but on the other, I feel like there have to be gaps you need to fill in sometimes? Thank you!

Thanks for returning the STS!!

So, first a disclaimer: I am still very new to worldbuilding! At least, worldbuilding in-depth. I used to just make sure I had basics figured out, enough for the story to progress, and then just figure things out as I went. Worldbuilding used to be super daunting to me 😅 and still is sometimes, I won't lie! But recently I've found myself really invested in it, and it's been a lot more fun than I could have imagined!

Alrighty, that outta the way...

A TL;CR as well because I kinda rambled on: favorite part of worldbuilding is magic systems and was the whole reason I began writing Not of This World. As for fanfics, I personally rarely worldbuild with the exception of my most beloved fic (by me. i adore writing this fic) Eternal, where I did quite a bit of worldbuilding especially where the magic system is concerned.

My favorite part of worldbuilding:

My favorite part of worldbuilding is definitely creating magic systems. I love writing high fantasy, and creating a system (or systems) of magic has always been a part of worldbuilding I've enjoyed, even when I was hesitant to do much worldbuilding. Usually, it's the magic systems that get me really invested in a world.

My current wip Not of This World began, really, with the initial thought of "what if magic physically manifested on a person?". Then it turned to considering what kinds of magic would have a physical manifestation, what those manifestations would look like, why would certain manifestations occur (arms vs legs vs hair vs eyes etc.), what are some kinds that wouldn't have much physical manifestation. This then led to considering, okay, what if people practiced more than one kind of magic? What would the consequences be? What would they look like then? And then as I started writing some characters, I also started considering would these characters feel pain when learning magic? Could this lead to these characters becoming disabled? How would they accommodate those disabilities in the world?

And I gotta say, exploring all that has been probably my favorite part of writing NoTW so far. I could talk all day about the magic system beyond like, the questions that led to my decisions, like full on just ramble about the answers to those questions and more, but I shall move on for now ^^

Worldbuilding in fanfics!

By the way, not rude at all to ask about this! Especially if fics aren't something you dabble in, I think it's really great that you asked, cause there are definitely differences I think! Personally, I don't worldbuild too much in my fics unless I am writing an AU and even then, it's still not often. Often I stick with the canon world, and only worldbuild if I am drastically changing the setting. (my awesome friend @hihopelessromantics does some fantastic worldbuilding for fics though!!)

I will talk about the one fic that I have done more worldbuilding than usual for though!! It's my darling child, Eternal. It's a canon rewrite and divergence of the anime/manga Nanatsu no Taizai (The Seven Deadly Sins). In a lot of aspects, I kept what was from the canon world, because I enjoyed how that world was already built. It was one of the things that drew me to the series originally on top of the potential the characters all had.

However, just because I liked most of what was in the world already does not mean I liked all of it. As you mentioned, there are definitely gaps in places, and in others, there are downright plotholes that, when planning a canon rewrite, just... gave me a headache if I'm honest. And then in some instances, I just outright did not like what was in canon.

Ironically, for me, this happened to be the magic system. Specifically how some characters were impacted by magic they either possessed naturally, were bestowed with by higher beings, or cursed with in some way. So, a lot of my worldbuilding for Eternal has focused on this, altering the magic system to make more sense to me but also, in my opinion, utilize potential that was not met in canon. Figuring out these aspects of worldbuilding genuinely makes ne super excited to write the fic, because I'm excited to share my twists with others and get their takes on it, and see how other's may like it compared to the familiar canon worldbuilding.

I think for me, I have two mindsets when it comes to worldbuilding: original fiction worldbuilding and fanfic worldbuilding. For the first, it's more of a sense of "What do I want to see/explore? How far can I take x concept and what would it then influence in culture, characters, and landscape?" For the latter, for me personally, it is very much a case of "What do I want to change?" And I'll admit, for fics? If I worldbuild too much/too far from the original world, I end up wanting to just turn it into an original story instead. That's how I got wips like You're Something Else and The Prince's Guard (which I still need to put info about here eventually lol).

Thank you again for sending the ask!!!

[1nv1s1bl3-r41ndr0p5]

a line from my novel, Sunlight's Shadow.

"Your scars don't show me that you've failed, they show me that you survived. I don't care about the marks on your skin, because they do not define you. It's you that makes me love you- although you are very handsome."

[Ilara, to Brynn]

[whitebalverines]

unfortunately for everyone, i'm gonna start drawing whatever i want whenever i want 😤😤

[butterfly-siege]

It is taking an INSANE amount of restraint for me to not write rn. I’ve been outlining all day, solving all kinds of problems and now that I’ve dome that the inspiration is

Here Right Now

But also ive been outlining ALL day in between chores so like. Im outta gas.

But i crave the To Be Writing activity.

[ichijokaoru]

i do understand the motivation from people in general to think of ships as together during the course of the piece of media, it's fun to think they're kissing and sometimes it's just interesting to cosnider what it'd mean for them at certain plot beats, but for godai/ichijou i really think if they were together, and their feelings were fully realised and fulfilled it kind of just takes the wind out of a lot of moments i find really impactful... not to mention i just don't think they'd act the exact same if they were together at that point

like don't get me wrong i can see how it's fun to explore them as together during x moment or y moment, but i just don't personally find it very satisfying to view them as together at any point during the show as my legitimate headcanon

[maboroshi-if]

Hii are you still writing this?

Short answer, yes.

Long answer is down below in the cut 👇🏿👇🏿👇🏿

I'm working on another game called A trial of horror, or ATOH for short, and trying to prepare it for release for this November hopefully 🤞🏿🤞🏿 with that being said, I've only started writing a teeny bit for Maboroshi. Like maybe 100 words? Nothing substantial ya know?

I'm not gonna give a release date just for my mental health, but I can say that its probably gonna be either the end of the year of Q1 of 2024 😬😬

[blu3ha1redbrat]

My first full week writing my first draft! I'm super excited b/c I feel like I've come so far :)

[shitpostingkats]

Every day I go to work on my wip.

Every day, I go and add a new scene to a completely unrelated wip.