#scriv art

[scrivvle74]

can’t believe there was dsmp lore in 2024

[mage]

i made a cover for my (completed) 300k camileda fic! it's supposed to be for a vanity epub i'm making but i'm predicting that i'll spend the next year trying to figure out how to make scrivener tag custom styles as div rather than span so i can have the fun text message bubbles in the epub as well. (and then i'll learn that kobo doesn't understand that css and it'll all be for nothing but i'm having fun!)

[gehenna-calling]

i’ve already rambled about this in various discord servers but i went to a vtm larp oneshot on saturday (anarch rave) and it was so fucking good. the character i played was intended to be pretty throwaway but i had so much fun playing them that they will now be elevated to ACTUAL OC STATUS.

proper intro post to come when i have art for them but:

scrivener, “scriv” for short

it/they

nosferatu!!

has been a kindred for like 5 years max. acts like it knows everythjng

was a modern history student at uni before getting involved in a mysterious archiving job

they proved to have the right amount of curiosity and stubbornness, and their boss offered them the chance to get *really* involved

they got embraced and discovered their sire’s real project was an archive of kindred history

however, after a few years of working on it, around the time of the shutdown of schrecknet, the camarilla got wind of the archives and burned them down - with their sire possibly still inside

their goal going into the larp was to try and find someone involved in the red question, who their sire had sent a backup of the archives to. things got very complicated and a weird malkavian scrying ritual was required, but they succeeded!

so now their goals are securing the archive further, continuing to add to it, and maybe - just maybe - trying to make it accessible to more kindred in the form of schrecknet 2. we’ll see how it goes 👀

[ahungeringknife]

Nine People I'd Like to Get To Know Better

Rules: answer the questions and tag nine people you'd like to know better.

Tagged by @missionsparrow I just got done filling one of these out and the answers haven't changed so feel free to use these questions or my alternatives

Last song I listened to: Go to your main playlist, shuffle 3 times, what plays?

*slorps up that good Plastic Beach music*

Currently watching: Thing you keep mean to watch but keep putting off:

Nimona keeps showing up on my feed as a 'hey! Watch this' and I'm so stupid and forgetful and bad at watching things I keep forgetting D: I really wanna watch it tho. I'm just stupid as hell.

Spicy/savory/sweet: Soft/crispy/hard

I'm 100% a crispy fan. I'd die if I couldn't eat chips or things that are crispy. Just thinking about crispy shit makes me salivate I could eat chips as my only food and be 100% content

Relationship status: (I really don't like this question because 1. not your business and 2. as an ace person I don't really care if you're in a relationship??? Big weird allo question) Tell me about your friends (you can tag them or not):

My friends are all losers (affectionate). One's a self proclaimed idiot (she's not but we let her pretend). One's a ball of anxiety who I love dearly. One's very frustrating but I love him anyway. One will never fucking answer he god damn DMs (she knows who she is). And the last one if my girlfriend who's the most wonderful person in the whole world but we live apart atm. I just miss her so much.

Current obsession: Whatever is the current word or art doc open, what's its name:

generated title by scriv

tagging: @flowers-of-io @consifs @deadpool-scar-bro @words-after-midnight

[scrivvle74]

Accurate. Here’s a doodle of Hua Cheng as a wet cat I did months ago

[desiderii-fic]

WIP Challenge

Post the latest line from your WIP (or post where you last left off in your art) and tag as many people as there are words in the line. Make a new post, don’t reblog.

Hello! I was tagged by @heavymetalchemist! I waffled a bit on where to post this, but I figured my fic tumblr was...better?

I have. Several WIPs that I am working on very, very slowly. So this has been an excuse for me to update some of the older ones to newer versions of Scriv. XD XD I also have a handful more waiting in the wings, variously, but these are the ones I add bits to off and on.

So!

untitled Monster City Jamjar fic closest to being completed:

From TIM: 🙃🙃🙃 From TIM: this should be fun

Fire Safety (it's still...still being rewritten, but this is the last line of the currently-being-rewritten chapter...):

The hatchling in Tony’s lap cheeped at her, and the emergency lights came on to bathe the room in dull red.

Planetfall (Tentative notions to finish this for the 2024 WIP Big Bang):

“Pendragon. The Captain and Queen of the Camelot is evacuating your father tomorrow.”

Ghost Queen (Calamity Wen Qing):

With Wei Wuxian nowhere to be found despite his offer of being her hands, all Wen Qing could do was zip around in a circle and head for her stocked medicines.

Fuck The Afterlife (Morgana/Wen Qing self indulgent f/f):

“Well,” Morgana said at last. “This city better have answers for us. We’re wasting time we might not even have.”

All bits and pieces midway through. XD However. Looking at the number of words in all the lines and the fact that I only recently started following people on tumblr again in earnest I am, uh. Gonna say that if you see this, I am tagging you! Yes, you! Please tell me about your WIP!

Also let me know if you want me to ramble about any of these projects. I'm enjoying all of them, even though they're all at VERY different stages.

[sophiepatztone]

Week 9: October 30th - Prototype 2

This week I wanted to make a prototype that would explore the scale of my piece. I sized up a portion of the collage I made last week into a large scale painting to see if I liked how it looked. I don't know how I feel about this! Using acrylic on cardboard definitely made it look flat, and I didn't paint in the depth or shadows you saw on the real collage so that definitely didn't help.

Me for scale:

Some feedback I received in class was:

It looks flat, add varnish

Shadows look gray, adjusting could help with depth

Layer cardboard to create depth

Look into Trompe-l'œil, French for 'deceive the eye'

How am I going to set my art apart from my artistic precedents?

Add in photography as a medium... somehow?

Clear up pov

Size looks good

Do I want to recreate the texture of the collage?

Some other research I did this week included talking to artists at an open studio tour. Here are some notes I took from some artists:

Jorge Morales works with a pop art style because it's easier to make than traditional painting. This makes it easier for him to sell his work because he doesn't have to spend as much time on it. The common theme that connects his current series is love.

Jean-Paul Picard works with his iphone to make "sweeps," which are distorted panoramas that he prints onto aluminum and bends to create sculptures.

We also talked about my project and he suggested experimenting with digital in process of cutting and recreating

Also when I talked to them I really saw their passion about their work. Jorge left the military and used some of his retirement fund to become a full-time artist.

Michelle Doll works with themes of intimacy and love and explores that through oil paintings of herself and families. It's about creating spaces through the canvas that invoke a sense of calm and comfort.

One artist I also liked was Owen Gray, he had so many oil paintings with such a distinct style. He paints the Everglades and nature scenes but in a way that finds order in the chaos of the wildlife.

Lou Carbone was another great one. He wasn't there but I saw some of his paintings. I walk past a frame shop every day on my way home and I've seen his work hanging in the window and I've always been drawn to it.

Other artists included Shauna Finn, Deborah Pohl, Elena Samarsky, Len Scriv, Winifred McNeill and a guy named Tim but I couldn't find him on the tour map??? I played mini golf in his studio and got a hole in one but I can't for the life of me find his name anywhere! I really liked his art.

This week I want to explore different mediums. I want to get my hands on some oil paint and I want to explore adding depth to the collage, whether that's through physical layering or visual tricks. I also want to expand my collage and complete my prototyping goal from last week, and maybe try to turn it more into a photomontage with a narrative than just a collage. Overall, this week went very well. I think I have a better sense of direction and purpose, especially having seen so much diverse work.

[wispstalk]

taboo

“Explain to me,” Tanis says, watching the ghost of his ancestor swoop and howl through the practice room, “how this doesn’t count as necromancy.”

Anaht’s nictitating membranes slide over her eyes in exasperation. “You do not want to get into this with me.”

“Don’t tell me what I want to get into,” he insists, and releases his focus, letting the restive shade return to the other side of the veil. “Say I’m attacked— bandits on the road, say, and say I kill the first one and make him get up and defend me against his fellow rogues and blaggards. That’s beyond the pale, and if I’m caught Traven throws me out on my ass.”

The elegant Argonian’s tail swishes impatiently. “Those are the rules, yes.”

“But dredging up my pissed-off card out of the ash is fine, and conjuring daedra— daedra, when they’re running thick as rabbits in the countryside— that’s all well and good.”

“Odd for you to be beating the moral drum,” Anaht says finely, “when I happen to know from Proctor Renault that you put your cohort to shame during the conjuration exams. A flame atronach, no less, while the rest of them were nearly bursting blood vessels just to call up a scamp.”

“Morals?” Tanis blinks. “Who the fuck said anything about morals? I’m a lout with a sword who does what I’m bid. It’s just that I can’t make heads nor tails of how you wizards think.”

Anaht relaxes then. “You will find,” she says, sweeping an arm for him to follow her out of the room, “that if there is a single thing that all wizards think, it is that we agree on nothing.”

In the Archives they find Tar-Meena, harried, drawing one claw down a list of requisitions, muttering to herself. “I need the key to the incinerator,” Anaht announces to the Master Archivist.

Tar-Meena throws Tanis a dubious glance, and speaks to Anaht in Jel, unaware that Tanis can parse it. “You are taking that one? Raminus’s hunter?”

“He was my hunter first,” Anaht sniffs, "and like any good hunter he knows when to be quiet."

With a skeptical lift of the brow ridge, Tar-Meena hands over a jangling ring of keys and returns to her work. Anaht leads him through the darkness and hush of the stacks, all the way to the end of the maze of shelves, to an unassuming heavy door.

More crammed bookshelves, to no one’s surprise. Sealed off from the carefully-controlled environment of the stacks, there is a window letting in the afternoon light, and a large round table scattered with a half-finished card game, books and papers, a mug of cold coffee dregs. It seems this vault of forbidden knowledge serves as a sort of employee break room.

No fires to be found, though, not so much as a reedlight. Like the stacks, this room is only to be lit by spell, with polished steel sconces on the wall to reflect the mage-glow.

“Why’s it called the incinerator?” he asks, drawing his reading glasses from his pocket.

“Yes, Arch-Mage,” Anaht says, taking a posture of mock obeisance. “We've found another treatise on the Black Arts, and we'll throw it straight in the fires.”

Tanis laughs. On the shelf before him, a veritable buffet of taboo: Necromancer’s Moon, Pathway to Lichdom. A journal purported to be authored by the Wolf Queen Potema. Even a title written in Dunmeris, On the Veneration and Summoning of Ancestor Guardians. The very spell he’d just opened his palm and offered his blood to learn.

And, tacked to one corner of the shelving timbers, a small folio: The Black Arts on Trial, by Arch-Mage Hannibal Traven.

“In the interest of being even-handed. A little joke among the scrivs,” Anaht says by way of explanation, then nudges him aside with her hip. “Now move, you big oaf, and let me look for something.”

He takes the folio with him and settles down at the table. The contents of this inflammatory writ are oft-bandied on the University grounds, but he’s never gotten around to reading it, what with all the... everything else.

While he reads, Anaht waltzes around the room, her tail jewelry jangling, occasionally plucking a book like a choice pear and stacking it on her arm.

“This gra-Kogg makes a lot of sense,” he says, holding a finger to mark his place. “Actually think her arguments were better than this other fella’s, but Traven’s conclusion doesn't consider her at all. Why include the debate, then?”

“Keep reading.” Anaht does not look back, but the tip of her tail shakes with mild amusement.

“Oh,” he says, squinting down at the afterword. “Reckon I ought to have seen that coming.”

“These will get you started.” Anaht drops her books to the table with a heavy thump, and delicately pats the top of the stack. Tanis grumbles; there has to be a dozen of them, and he’s already up to his ears in daedric research and restoration clinicals.

She perches lightly in the chair to his left. “Yes, Master gra-Kogg was a necromancer,” she says, and folds her jeweled claws beneath her chin. “But?”

“But,” he sighs, now seeing the point of that menacing bookpile, “that doesn’t make her wrong. Raminus has me running all over Cyrodiil flushing them out of their dens, but I don’t know a damn thing about how to fight them. Can’t interrupt their casting, can’t tell what they’re calling up, don’t know what they’re after.”

“If you insist on being Traven's hunting dog, I will not have you go forth unprepared.” She taps the silvery-thin scar on the side of his neck, the one he’d earned while ambushed in Wellspring Grove, collecting wood for his mage’s staff. “So long as Traven invites the necromancers' wrath, we archivists will maintain this bulwark against them.”

“Oh, I'm sure it's all very noble."

She ignores the barb, tucking the books in her striped haversack and foisting it on him to carry. “Now come. Let us go to the King and Queen. You owe me dinner.”

Tanis follows her out the door. "What for?"

She swats at him with her tail. “You think I do all this tutoring for free?”

[fireworkss-exe]

Since you said art asks are open for LSOH, Can we have some Dr. Scrivs? :-)

Here you go anon!!🛐🛐

[scrivvle74]

very old (like way back in august/september 2023 old) DDVAU fanart that I completely forgot to post until just now

the creators of the DDVAU are @xmaruu11 and @kitsuneisi so you should go check them out!

[the-faultofdaedalus]

i was (honorarily) tagged by @welcomingdisaster to do this!

THE RULES: Post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Anyone can send me an ask afterwards (or a comment in this post) with a title that most intrigues/interests you, and I’ll post a little snippet of it or tell you something about it if it's an art piece!

my wips are all scattered inbetween various scriv docs, gdocs, and other notes apps, so lets see what i can scrounge up. i have likely talked about most of these before.

- time LOOP 616

- uhhhhhh birfday

- mistletoe

- transect

- aiiiii

- casette

- hanahaki

- Like a Phoenix (You Must Burn) (remortal au, of course)

- Longing fic

- CotS (calling of the stars)

theoretically i have a LOT more because there’s like,,,, god so fuckin many oc fics (some of which do feature tony) and then original stuff and then the truly frightening amount of semi-abandoned docs in my drive but because i will drive myself Insane if i count those (considering there’s like fuvking. prob close to 60 of those at this point) i am. only counting the non-oc shit i am actively working on.

i think ive seen most of the people i would tag already get tagged with this so uh,,, if you see this and wanna do it, do it!

[dirt-and-scrivles]

Pinned post Bc there certainly is an amount of people following me now that’s for sure. You can call me Scriv/Scrivs(or anything else you might know me by), any pronouns work for me! @scrivler is my shitposting blog where I reblog a bunch of random stuff so follow that if you like

Redbubble! (Kinda old, just a couple stickers)

Ask me stuff! Happy to answer questions any time and you can suggest doodles but I can’t guarantee I’ll do em every time

Also it should go without saying but do not steal, use, or distribute my art anywhere without my knowledge or proper credit, I do not and never have consented for my art to be used for A.I. art or training A.I. in any way

[rpgsandbox]

‘I do believe in fairies! l do! I do!’

Peter Pan - J.M. Barrie

Experiencing visions of a mythical land throughout your childhood, you are suddenly transported to the Inspirisles, a kingdom ruled by the fey. Responsible for a pact made long ago by your ancestors, you must now earn Belief and the respect of their gods or find yourself trapped there forever.

INSPIRISLES is a completely original tabletop RPG aimed at teenagers. It will promote empathy, life skills and deaf awareness with an emphasis on teamwork and creativity.

Play as teens gifted extraordinary powers.

Meet famous characters and fearsome monsters from Celtic folklore.

Work together to heal a crumbling land and restore a fractured kingdom.

Learn British/American Sign Language as you cast spells and solve puzzles.

Become apprentices to the gods.

Offer Belief to earn your tickets home.

This project came about after running my teen Dungeons & Dragons group Hatchlings for over a year. I wanted to create something for them. Something they could have a hand in building. And something I could take beyond the group to use in schools and communities as a workshop model. Inspirisles is the result of this, a game for young players that reflects my interest in folklore and my ongoing work with the deaf community.

Though Inspirisles is aimed at children, it can be enjoyed equally by adults and we are especially encouraging parents, educators and tabletop beginners to invest in our game. Many of us have fond memories of 80s fantasy classics such as The NeverEnding Story & Labyrinth. Inspirisles aims to capture some of that nostalgic magic and transport its older participants back to a more carefree and imaginative time.

                         Standard & Limited Edition book mock-ups

A5 premium-colour hardback with over 150 pages of material, including...

History of the islands and their Friends.

Creating your Foundling character.

Collection of spell, ability & item cards and the tools to invent your own.

A host of worldbuilding ideas & mechanics to breathe life into your quests, including using the arts in roleplaying, creating challenging environmental puzzles, alternative ways to earn Belief, rules for Inspired apprenticeships, exploration, downtime & Doom.

Scriv’s Tour: Follow the famous bard as she journals the key locations & personalities you will encounter during your adventures.

Scriv’s Story: Fiction retelling the moment our bard met Athelyn for the first time (Limited Edition only).

Menagerie of monsters from Celtic folklore & the tools to invent your own.

Starter adventure: ‘Duster Trials’.

Stunning art from cover to cover, including maps for locations and encounters.

Two page spread of Josh Somerville’s spectacular knot art (Limited Edition only).

Dyslexia friendly fonts throughout to prioritise accessibility.

Handouts: Blank character sheet, Shaping alphabet (BSL & ASL), milestone certificates & Grail template.

* terms in bold explored below.

                    Page sample by Anna Urbanek of Double Proficiency

Belief is the keystone of the Inspirisles. The energy binding all things. In its absence, the land and its children would fade from life and from memory.

If Belief were to run dry, it would have terrible repercussions. Imagine something calamitous like Earth’s polar caps suddenly melting or electricity disappearing from the globe overnight.

Though Belief is generated through such things as exploration, the arts, work and even battle, these pale in comparison to the amount collected from human children.

As children believe in magic less and less, the inhabitants of the Inspirisles must come up with new and increasingly creative ways to convince them otherwise.

Belief gathered from Earth is taken to the World Tree and released over its roots. This energy then spreads throughout the land, healing the foundations of the islands.

                                                          Shaping

A place where the gods walk freely, where dragons are hunted for hoarding Belief, where a war rages between Friends, where reforging an ancient sword can reforge a kingdom, where sign language is used to cast spells, where there is no death, only Disbelief, and where heroes rise and fall together.

It is also a setting to reflect the struggles of our own world. You’ll find environmental calamity, political greed and social injustice to name but a few. Making Inspirisles relatable to our future generations was an ambition from the very start. However, we would never want to push an agenda, so building a platform for whichever stories need to be told has been our sole responsibility.

                                                       Hibernation

Our system and its mechanics are entirely built around the theme of Belief. Players must work together to collect this wondrous commodity, reaching the heights before deciding whether to stay and enjoy the renown or return home and reunite with their true families.

Moving away from systems found in many popular tabletop RPGs, Inspirisles is largely aimed at young adults and does away with traditional mechanics such as racial bonuses, class systems, ponderous combat and even death.

Though our players should expect an open, sandbox experience, it’s nice to have an overall goal in mind. As such, the concept of healing the land as a team for rewards and progression is at the heart of Inspirisles.

As with any roleplaying game, Inspirisles will throw challenges at its players. As well as social and environmental encounters, Foundlings (players) will inevitably come across familiar monsters of Celtic legend, such as the Questing Beast who will stalk them across the land. Within the book, you’ll also discover many nasties of our own invention and the tools to invent your own.

                                                  Don’t go it alone!

                                                        Attributes

Foundlings will have six attributes: sword, shield, speed, smarts, social & survival. When facing obstacles, they can lay down up to three cards representing spells, abilities or items. These cards display unique properties that will have an impact on their attribute bonus. Players then roll 2d6, adding the attribute bonus plus any additions from the cards. If the obstacle they are facing is truly perilous, they may turn to their Grail Pool as a last resort, a resource only carried by Foundlings.

                                     Sample obstacle resolution

Obstacles can include social interactions, puzzles, environmental challenges and battle. Whether the obstacle is resolved through roleplay or combat, if it requires a check, it is always contested between player and Grail Guide (Game Master).

With every failed encounter and instead of suffering injury or death, Foundlings will instead experience Disbelief. If too much Disbelief is accumulated as a group, players must pull together to reduce it using the Belief they may be saving for a rank or new cards. This balancing act encourages empathy between participants, but also prevents Doom from affecting the islands.

                                                Puzzles & predators

                        Guinevere & Arthur, our Grail Guide choices

Our version of a Game Master is called the Grail Guide (GG). A participating adult or teenager will take on the role of GG and become the spirit of King Arthur Pendragon or Queen Guinevere. It will be their task to guide the players on their journey, making decisions on the rules, lending voice to the citizens and fangs to the denizens, and encouraging everyone to work together, share the limelight and have fun.

As the GG, you also have the unique opportunity to gift your players their Grail Pool, a set of polyhedral dice (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12 & d20). Foundlings are the only beings able to carry this water poured from the Holy Grail. Even a sip will offer them an edge when facing the greatest of challenges and most dangerous of foes.

Talking of the Grail, with the book will be a template for the holy vessel that GG’s can cutout before sessions. This prop is then placed in the centre of the playing space and can be flipped whenever a player finds a theme or scenario too difficult. The GG can then move on swiftly without disrupting the overall session.

                                                        Safety tool

It is also the responsibility of the GG to add tension and peril to the experience. If their players accumulate too much Disbelief, they can consult a Doom chart. This will change the Inspirisles in dramatic ways, such as causing a volcano to erupt, introducing the Questing Beast to hunt Foundlings, having Excalibur seized by an enemy or building a troll bridge on the outskirts of a city.

                                                        Spelunking

As a player, you take on the role of Foundling, a human teen drawn by fate to the islands. Instead of selecting a race or class, Foundlings are trained by one of eight fey clans, otherwise known as Friends. The Knockers, Glow, Wyrmbitten, Capra, Piskies, Giantheld and Bucca populate distinct locations from city to forest, tin mine to tundra. Seven of these races work tirelessly to restore Belief and prevent the collapse of the Inspirisles. Whilst the eighth, an exiled people known as Glimmers refuse to help, sheltered far beneath the surface where the cracks go unseen and the tremors unfelt.

                                                        Friends

As a Foundling, once Belief is gathered, it can be used in 3 distinct ways...

Pilgrimage to Avalon where the World Tree sits. Belief is offered to its roots in exchange for training.

Patronage to the Inspired. Belief is offered in exchange for spells.

Provide for the community they were embraced by. Belief is offered in exchange for items.

Regardless of how Foundlings offer Belief, they will earn the favour of the ruling houses and feel their reputation and power grow.

                                           Foundling character sheet

The Inspired are the closest thing the islands have to deities. Their influence can be felt across the kingdom at all times and ultimately players will need to impress them if they are to return home.

As well as being great teachers of magic in the form of Shaping, they have trades in their homelands, allowing Foundling players to become apprentices and earn Belief through hard work and dedication.

Kilna of the Fire has his forge.

Egrain of the Earth has her vinyard.

Athelyn of the Water has their bath house.

Vorm of the Air has his skyship.

                                                    The Inspired

Travelling via All’s Well, a mysterious portal leading to the British Isles, on their 15th birthdays, the brightest and bravest Foundlings are sent Earthwards to collect Belief. These elite are known as Dusters.

With the help of a Wellwisher, a common mammal transformed by Athelyn to be more like you and I, Dusters will be guided to a child without Belief, a teenager struggling to feel magic in their life.

Players will then roll a six-sided Dusting Dice (d6), revealing the target child’s particular sensitivity. 1: Fear 2: Joy 3: Wonder 4: Help 5: Story and (6: Other - determined by GG). Through roleplaying this sensitivity, Foundlings must convince the child that magic exists before collecting their Belief to take back.

                                                      Wellwisher

                                    BSL alphabet by british-sign.co.uk

As well as speaking the common tongue for the sake of interactions with humankind, the fey use a form of sign language they believe communicates right to the heart.

The technique is known as Shaping, a term derived from the hand and finger movements used and a deeper meaning of shaping the world around them. Spells are solely expressed through Shaping, with gestures building energy before being released from the fingertips.

Spells are taught only by the Inspired. Only they know the deeper intricacies of the language necessary to harness magic.

Though optional, we are introducing British Sign Language (BSL) and Sign Supported English (SSE) into our game. We are using it as part of the spellcasting process and to solve some of the setting’s most challenging puzzles, encouraging our young players to learn the alphabet and more as they play.

When you back our core book, whether digitally or physically, you will gain access to a video workshop on the art of Shaping produced by our friends in the deaf community. Whilst not a comprehensive introduction to British Sign (see Stretch Goals), it will teach participants enough to encourage them to pursue the language beyond the game.

The core book will also come with an American Sign Language (ASL) alphabet sheet. The video tutorial unlocks through a stretch goal.

Kickstarter campaign ends: Mon, August 17 2020 12:00 AM BST

Website: Hatchlings

[welcomingdisaster]

i was tagged by @starvels and @veryvincible to do this game!! it looks very fun THE RULES: Post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Anyone can send me an ask afterwards (or a comment in this post) with a title that most intrigues/interests you, and I’ll post a little snippet of it or tell you something about it if it's an art piece!

i do not generally have titles for anything until i publish, so most (basically all?) of my files are just the scriv “first few words as title” format - Manhattan, April 1940 - Wood splinters crunch underfoot - SETTING: Army recruitment hall - Steve found the man suspended -  existence is suffering, etc etc ;) tagging: @oluka @ghosthan @nostalgicatsea @dirigibleplumbing @somekindofsheepl  + anyone else who wants to do it :) 

[nocturnical]

So I guess my NaNo prep is also going here for now until I can get a second to work on my website.

I glanced through my Scriv docs to see what I had partially developed. Here are just really brief descriptions of what I could possibly work on:

Paranormal mythic western set around 1912. (This is book 2 of a series I started a few yrs ago)

Paranormal mystery set in a women's asylum around 1925.  (This is book 3 of the same series as choice #1)

Contemporary paranormal romance, m/c is an alchemist originally born around 1100 (This is book 3 in a different series that I’ve already completed 1&2 in)

Lighthouse horror story set around 1960 with flashback story era around 1880 (Stand alone)

Dark fantasy combat volume resolving character arcs from earlier books in series (Book 3 of 6 in a series where I’ve drafted all the other stories)

Extraterrestrial romance set in regency England. (Stand alone & it’s based on a short story that I’ve already written)

All of these require some amount of research and/or development I’m going to have to do either alongside or like crammed into the end of next week.

So, if all have equal potential to suck all life from me — down to the damn marrow in my bones — which should I move forward on?

Honestly, I guess I’m feeling lucky to even try this now... Next month I’m also continuing to work on:

The GITM podcast which is changing format but continuing. This is going to require research, writing & off-the cuff talking (which is hard for me because I’m an absolute dolt), editing, recording.

SC magazine, while we’re launching a new issue of the mag on Halloween, we will have to shift focus to Yule immediately because we’re looking to change up & streamline some aspects including design. Moving the mag design off of LucidPress and onto Scribus is going to be a big undertaking & ofc there is editing, promo art, correspondence & social media to consider as well.

Transforming myself from root-note smashing riot-grrl/punk bassist to a DGD-style post-hardcore bassist by January. It’s very likely I’m going to be reaching out to an instructor for pro help soon, but I’m also writing vox for another related project & keep falling into that time suck every time I should be researching instructors.

Developing a new yt project with yet another collaborator where I’m point person on art & editing (though she’s learning too so hopefully that will shift soon) & initially producing all tarot content. The worst part of this is that my collaborator is insistent that my face be in some of it which is not a thing I’m particularly comfortable with, but a month ago I was uncomfortable with my voice being out there & now I just don’t have a single fuck to give so I’m willing to concede it won’t end me.

Finishing the Fuck Around & Find Out story before the start of Hanukkah for my BWB (best writing buddies). That’s another maybe 60 segments to write, illustrate, & some external media I still need to finish.

I kind of wouldn’t do this any other way though. This lockdown/fascist regime bullshit has put a lot of things into perspective & I literally don’t give a fuck anymore. So, I’m awkward & I have a low, weird voice & I’m a dweeb. OH WELL, it’s just a bag of bones, my friends.

Something will eventually start pan out & I’ll know where to put my focus, but until then I’m just going to stay stupid busy until I feel nothing because I’m too lame to take drugs like everyone else (my body fucked me over on that one, I will die before I feel anything but anxiety).

[letswritesomenovels]

How to Outline, Brainstorm, and Research Your Novel with Scrivener

A few days ago, I made a post outlining all of the basic reasons to love Scrivener, especially heading into NaNoWriMo. Today I thought I’d follow up on that post by highlighting a few ways to use Scrivener’s unique features to plan your novel. (I’ll follow this up later with short guides about drafting and revising in Scrivener, too.) 

Outlining 

In the binder on the left-hand side of the screen, you’ll see a folder for your manuscript. On the right-hand side of the toolbar, you’ll see a corkboard icon. Selecting both of these options will take you to the screen in he first image. 

Here, you can outline your novel. Clicking the green square on the toolbar will add a new text to your manuscript. An index card representing that text will appear on the corkboard. 

On the index card, there’s space for you to write a title and synopsis. Your index cards can represent chapter ideas or just short scenes. As you flesh out your plot, you can add more index cards, dragging and dropping cards to represent their approximate location in the manuscript.  (This will also change their location in the binder.) 

Here, you can throw every scene idea you have into your outline. Rearranging your entire story, tossing out entire plots, is a matter of a couple of clicks. 

If you have ideas for dialog and descriptions inside of scenes, you can type them up in the notes section in the Inspector on the right-hand side of your screen. 

If you’re not a fan of the corkboard, or want to utilise the space on the screen better, you can also outline in the screen in the second image by clicking the icon to the right of the corkboard icon in your toolbar. 

When you’re ready to start writing, simply click on the text in the binder (to view the text for that chapter alone) or on the text icon to the left of the corkboard in your toolbar (to view the entire manuscript). Your summary and notes will be in the inspector on the right-hand side of your drafting screen, ready for you to implement. 

Brainstorming 

Your manuscript is only the first folder in your binder. Scrivener automatically includes additional folders for character and location sketches. You can create additional folders to meet the needs of your manuscript. 

Characters 

Characters have their own folder in the binder, as well as their own corkboard. As you come up with characters for your manuscript, you can create index cards with their names or roles and a few notes. 

The text files accompanying these index cards will be character questionnaires. You can see an example of in the fourth image. The best thing about these questionnaires is that they are 100% customizable. Simply edit the template in the template folder of your binder before creating the text. 

You can also add images of your characters to their sketches. Simply drag and drop an image file into the box that acts as the ‘synopsis’ box on manuscript text index cards. 

This is a handy location for keeping all of your character brainstorming, where you can easily reference it while drafting. 

Locations 

The locations folder functions the same as the character folder, except with a template for location notes instead of a character questionnaire. Here, you can store information about cities, streets, buildings, etc. here. 

If you have trouble recalling layouts, designs, descriptions, etc., store that information in the location folder and it will always be a click away. 

Other

If there are other elements of your novel you’d like to keep track of you can do so easily. Create a new folder in your binder. In the template folder, add a new text and devise your template. When you want to add a new template text to your folder, click and hold the arrow next to the green ‘add’ button in your toolbar, and select your template. 

Writing a fantasy novel? Create folders for story elements like: magic spells, fantasy cultures, fantasy languages, magical beasts. Create your own encyclopedia of medieval fantasy weapons. 

Writing a murder mystery? Create folders for the different kinds of murders the villain carries out, for different murder weapons, for clues. 

Is your protagonist an art thief? Create a folder for all of the art pieces mentioned in the book. 

Etc.

Research

The research folder is my favorite. You can drag and drop almost any kind of file into it. Honestly, I don’t know of any file types that you can’t simply throw into Scrivener. 

Word docs? Yup. Movies? Yup. In the example above, I have an image, a song, a pdf, and a webpage. 

Yup. You can even save webpages to your Scrivener research folder. (To do this, right-click on the webpage in your browser, select ‘save as’ and save it to your desktop, drag it into your research folder, and you can check it out whether you’re connected to wifi or not.) 

Music and video files will play in the Scrivener window itself. Pdfs and word files can be read in Scrivener as well. 

As you research topics for your manuscript, you can throw literally everything into your research folder. It can act as a mood board with images or it can store a tome’s worth of .pdfs about topics in your manuscript. 

To organize it all, create subfolders for different characters, topics, file types, etc. 

You don’t need to open a bunch of programs to view webpages, images, and pdfs. 

You don’t need to lug around the various notebooks and paper scraps that hold your brainstorming. (Although you can totally brainstorm in a notebook while away from your computer, and type up the ideas you like in Scriv later.) 

You don’t have to worry about ever misplacing your outline. 

With Scrivener, all of your brainstorming, researching, and outlining is integrated into your manuscript file, perfectly organized and easily accessible.

Scrivener has a free NaNoWriMo special edition trial that can be used from now until December 7th. Download it here. 

See my next Scrivener guide “Drafting with Scrivener” here.