#the write collective asks

[the-write-collective]

Sign-up Post for Asks the Week of 1/19-1/25

Asks will be sent by me, at some point on the day of, depending on when I work.

Worlbuilding Wednesday

Blorbo Blursday

Storyteller Saturday

Random ask on no particular day

Asks are non-perishable goods, so answer them when you like. Sign-ups close Sunday at 11:59PM. Please specify in the tags which you would like to receive.

[thegoddesswater]

Blorbo Blursday! Among your characters, what letter is favored to start the name with?

Thanks!

I did a quick-ish brainstorm of as many characters as I could remember and, like the dork that I am, put them all in a spreadsheet so I could count. I knew there would be trends and that it would almost definitely be "A" or "R" as the most common first initial for my characters. (And then NEITHER WAS) I figured "J" was going to have a much stronger showing, but apparently not... Maybe I just feel like there's more Js because they tend to congregate when they're in the same story...

Top 5 initials were:

C - 20 entries (10.7%)

A - 18 entries (9.6%)

R - 16 entries (8.6%)

K - 13 entries (6.9%)

S - 11 entries (5.8%)

Also, I am legitimately surprised that I have used each letter at least once for everyone I came up with.

[did-i-do-this-write]

Storyteller Saturday! It's there an element of story building that you leave to work on last?

Happy Storyteller Saturday, Sleepy friend!!!

The last thing I ever think about when writing is visual description. Character design, details of a room, visuals of a building or outside setting.

The first thing I pin down is action, flow of a scene from one section to the next, and dialogue (not always the exact wording of the dialogue, but the vibes and purpose of a conversation).

Thank you for the ask, dear friend :)

[erasde]

Worldbuilding Wednesday! What is the first piece of infrastructure you put in your world, and was it because you wanted it or because the plot needed it? Or both, I guess.

Hi ! Happy Worldbuilding Wednesday and thanks a lot for the nice ask !

I went to do some gravedigging on the Discord server where I started my worldbuilding four years ago and just as I thought, the first real piece of infrastructure in Erasde was actually the main setting of most of the current action, the Academy-City of Terenta Mari.

It was just called The Academy back then, until I found a suitable name halfway of its creation. Said creation was mostly prompted by the fact I was still in the middle of my own studies, deeply ingrained in the world of academia and always surrounded by scholars and researchers. I wanted to write something easy then, something I knew and could describe at leisure and what a better option than taking inspiration from what surrounded me on a daily basis ?

I was also in an old private and somewhat posh university, something founded in 1875. It had also the particularity to be home of one of the rare theological faculty left in the country, meaning it wasn't a rare occurrence to cross paths with priests and nuns. One of my professors was actually an exorcist priest.

That's the main reason why Terenta Mari was created as a university for aristocrats, bourgeois and people lucky enough to get a state scholarship. The fact that I was so often surrounded by religion also tilted my Worldbuilding to include Deities in addition to Magic. I liked the idea of the main setting being a university, as it could be a melting pot of cultures, as well as a focus point for innovation and research.

So in the end, even if it was for the plot, I'd say it was more wanted than needed. I needed a familiar place to start everything and a university was the first thing that came to my mind.

[ghostcaterwaul-doesnt-write]

Worldbuilding Wednesday! What is the first piece of infrastructure you put in your world, and was it because you wanted it or because the plot needed it? Or both, I guess.

I’m pretty sure my world’s train system was the first that I knew for sure was going to be in my world! I don’t want to give too much detail because I plan to basically debut it in my next tarot prompt which I’ll hopefully write and get posted either tonight or tomorrow, but I will tell you that the train tracks and fare are a bit unconventional in a whimsical way!

It’s just there because I wanted it. I randomly came up with the idea when I was half asleep and said to myself, “Yes! I’m making that a thing!”

[tc-doherty]

random ask!

when you read back through your own work, what are the things that stand out the most to you - in a positive way? (please tag #the write collective asks so I can reblog later)

I love my own work and reread it frequently just because, so I'm always finding things that stand out to me!

Usually dialogue related, while I generally remember overarching stuff I might forget specific conversations so I'm often pleasantly surprised by something that I find very funny or emotional or what have you!

I know my sense of humor is…interesting, to say the least, but I think that I'm hilarious. So I'm always finding stuff in my work that I forgot about that makes me laugh when I reread it.

[vsnotresponding]

hi radio

random ask!

when you read back through your own work, what are the things that stand out the most to you - in a positive way? (please tag #the write collective asks so I can reblog later)

hi sleepy !!!

by far the most common occurrence is me going "wait this is actually good?" (mainly because i get flashbacks to the weeks i spent trying to make the one paragraph make sense lol). one other positive thing (also related to the previous one) is that i get to enjoy my guys and story and because i enjoy it so much i'm able to tell myself that there's people out there that will too :]

[overdecorated-furniture]

Storyteller Saturday! It's there an element of story building that you leave to work on last?

Probably transitions. I write most of a chapter, and then end up leaving how the characters got from point A to point B in square brackets to come back to later. I'm far more interested in the action than the buildup...

[the-write-collective]

Sign Up Post for Asks the week of 1/12-18/25

Please say in the tags which days you want asks:

Worldbuilding Wednesday

Blorbo Blursday

Storyteller Saturday

Random ask on no particular day

And remember, these asks don't have an expiration date. You can answer them at your leisure. Just please tag #the write collective asks so I can find and reblog them, thanks.

[thegoddesswater]

random ask!

when you read back through your own work, what are the things that stand out the most to you - in a positive way? (please tag #the write collective asks so I can reblog later)

Thanks, friend!

Positive things that stand out to me about my own writing? Personally one of my favourite things is when I'm rereading through something and I come across a bit that I just straight up forgot writing - it's like a surprise present from past me! (This is not the kind of answer that I think I was supposed to give, but it IS something I love.)

I also like the moments when I can gut-punch myself. That sounds bad, but when I can come back to something months after writing it and go "Yep, that emotion still tracks here" - I love it. It doesn't come up a ton, but when it works? *chefs kiss*

[gullwrites]

Storyteller Saturday! It's there an element of story building that you leave to work on last?

hiiii happy sts! hm i tend to "go with the flow" re: worldbuilding. Whatever comes to my mind first, I work on. Probably partly bc I am afraid that if I make myself think of one specific topic I really don't feel like thinking of, it could negatively affect my writing/worldbuilding, or even make me burn out, if that makes sense? So I don't really have any elements I think of first or last, whatever comes to my mind :)

[jay-avian]

Storyteller Saturday! It's there an element of story building that you leave to work on last?

I tend to leave the "filler" bits until last. And by filler, I don't necessarily mean the stuff that's not important to the plot, but rather how they get from one major plot point to the next. For example, in my pirate story, I want there to be some time where Caspian and Harelan go on some smaller adventures and change each other's character (for better or worse). What does said adventure entail? No idea, haven't gotten there yet. Or like, I want to show what Harelan's time was like when he was sailing with merchants. Where do they go? No idea

[ghostcaterwaul-doesnt-write]

Blorbo Blursday! Among your characters, what letter is favored to start the name with?

After quickly looking over my OC list, it looks like A and L are tied, both at 6 characters each.

[faithfire-writes]

random ask!

when you read back through your own work, what are the things that stand out the most to you - in a positive way? (please tag #the write collective asks so I can reblog later)

Oooh, great question! I'd say just the characters and their interactions. In Academy of Thorns, I'm really trying to build a strong sisterhood with the Barracks Five girls, so most of my rereading involves me grinning at their interactions and loving their distinctive personalities and how close they get.

[overdecorated-furniture]

Worldbuilding Wednesday! What is the first piece of infrastructure you put in your world, and was it because you wanted it or because the plot needed it? Or both, I guess.

The first piece of infrastructure I put in place for Echoes was the magic system, mainly due to the plot needing it.

The plot centres around a poltergeist and a magic staff of immense power, and so I needed to weave those two elements together, along with some limitations. It took a long time, but my magic system now works along these lines:

Magic is drawn from the soul, and the more complex and powerful the spell, the more it injures the soul - and by extension the body. So major spellcasting comes at a cost.

The staff is the only available extension to magical power - kind of like a battery pack - which allows you to cast complex spells with less damage to the self. However, the more the staff is used, the more it sucks away your soul and enslaves it, using it to make itself more powerful.

The type of magical power owned is perceived as a gift from one of the Four Creators - the divinities of Water, Fire, Earth and Air who supposedly created the world. Worshipping them helps your magical ability to run smoothly.

It takes years to fully train in your magical area, and especially to learn control of your powers. You can't just get up and move mountains or cause tsunamis.

Ghosts enslaved to the Staff keep some magical abilities after death and become malignant, attacking any member of the living in an attempt to regain their lost power.

I think those are all the main points! Happy writing! 🌿

[unlimited-nobu-works]

my group chats on private MMO servers