#writeblr events

[yvesdot]

Psst—I'll be live on KZSC's "Kosher Noise" radio segment from 4-5 PM PDT today, October 6th, 2023! Click here to listen live when it airs and hear about ethical vampwriting, why extra credit. says "for rabbi greenberg" on it, and how Something's Not Right sneaks Jewish tradition into queer monster lit.

[pluttskutt]

It's August so I want to remind y'all I'll be holding the "Trick or Treat" event during the last weekend of October! It's the third year and I'm looking forward to it.

I'll talk about it more in September so keep your eyes peeled 👀

[ashen-crest]

writeblr games & events

@sabrina-author was asking about tumblr writing events, so I figured I’d put together a list of everything I’m currently aware of. please feel free to chime in with more, as I’m sure I’m missing things!

Ongoing Events:

World-Building Wednesday: send asks to fellow writeblrs with world-building questions

Blorbo Thursday: same, but with questions about OCs (blorbos)

Storyteller Saturday: same, but with any kind of writing question. can be about the writing process, their wips, etc.

Smut Sunday: post a spicy excerpt or prompt list

Fluff Sunday: (I think this is or was a thing?) post a fluffy excerpt or prompt list

Note: for ask-based events and games, you can always ask anonymously if the person has anon turned on for their inbox.

Ongoing Games:

Ask Games: you’ll see folks reblog ask games now and then, which are just lists of questions (like this one). you send an ask with one of the questions (usually sending the phrase or symbol that represents that question), and they answer it. 

Picrew Games: usually just links to a picrew with rules like “design your OC with this picrew” or “design a cupcake/fishbowl/object that represents your OCs.” (Like this one.) you can tag other writers to do the game as well, but that’s totally optional.

Find the Word/Word Search Game: for this game, you take a set of words (like...soft, run, fast, and hard), then search for them in your wip, then post the snippet that uses that word. You can either grab words from someone else who has done the game, or you can make up your own to get a game started. in the snippet post, you also tag a few other writers and give them words to search for. I usually do three or four words, to keep it manageable. Here’s an example from a diff writeblr.

Last Line Game: you post the last line (or group of lines) you wrote, then tag a few other writers to do the same. Here’s an example.

If you’re not sure who’s comfortable being tagged in certain games, you can always create a post saying “interact with this post if you’re okay being tagged in games.” I have a list in my notes doc of who has said they’re okay with it and I refer to that list when I go to tag folks.

Time-Specific Events:

March: potential Pitch Event by @moondust-bard

April: Camp Nano (not a Tumblr-specific event, but several folks here participate; from the same org as Nanowrimo, see link below)

July: Camp Nano (same as above)

November: Nanowrimo (same as above)

Again, if I’m missing events, or if there are organizers I should link to events, please feel free to reply or rb with that info.

[writeblrbattleroyale]

Hello! The second round is just around the corner. There's just one thing left. There are 11 winner, so someone needs to get a new one. Now it's your choice.

[druidx]

just thought of this randomly and now im curious; is there a unique mini event for thursday? like wip wednesday, fanfic friday...

i've seen these writing based mini-events for nearly every day but definitely not thursday (to my memory)

So, according to this weekly event list I rb'd 8 months ago, Thursday is 'Thirsty Thursday' and all about relationships (not just romantic, but others too).

But this also designates Saturday as 'Sit-Down' rather than 'Storyteller', so... grain of salt.

I also feel like there used to be an 'Author Thursday'? (it might have been Tuesday instead...) That was about asking others their about their writing process, style, inspos, etc, because Storyteller Sat was more about what you were up to.

The thing to bear in mind is there are so many completing things, for example some people do 'Worldbuilding Wednesday' (when you ask specifically about stuff going on in someone's world) vs WIP Weds, that really you could just make up your own thing to do. For example, @tracle0 started doing 'Snippet Sunday' which is getting a lot of traction.

Another thing to bear in mind is that, as far as I have observed, the whole thing is in constant flux anyway 😅️ What was going on 6 months ago might not be a thing anymore, and nothing is 'official' anyway.

Sorry this got a bit rambly (needs more coffee), but hopefully contained some of the answers sought?

Happy wording! ✒️

(OFC if OOMFs knows any different to me or can give a better answer, please do!)

[cherrybombfangirlwrites]

hi anna, happy STS!

for Fractured Stars Falling, what's your favourite location you've come up with? What's the best detail about it that makes it special (to you or to a character) (--@space-writes)

Happy STS, Space! EEEE I LOVE THIS QUESTION! I love all of the worldbuilding for Eltya, but I do have one absolute favorite that I keep coming back to: The Under. If you don't already know, The Under is the afterlife/underworld of Eltya where mortal souls go when they die- and it's not a fun time for anybody, everything there is trying to kill you, and it's a miserable place :D

It doesn't matter what you were like in your mortal life or what morals you kept or didn't keep- everyone gets the same fate. It's run a little bit like the security area of an airport, where all the souls are sorted by their cause of death, and then sent to a barren area where they wait to rot away until there's no memory of their mortal self and they turn into one of the demons that guards or runs the place. All the souls in an enclosed area (enclosed with a line of short rocks like a fence), are at varying stages of decay, and it could take an entire mortal lifetime to rot away completely into a demon.

Undral is the King of the Dead and Ruler of the Underworld, and he's a sour, no-nonsense businessman that thinks mortals are annoying and whiny little shits. He hates when a few brave ones come to him asking for a second chance at life- he turns them away if he's feeling nice, or locks them in one of his castle's many dungeons where they sit and rot for eternity or are tortured if he feels like it.

His castle is a huge, dark, sharp and spiky looking thing, that sits on the edge of The Under and has a strange orange glow like lava coming from behind it. The castle is guarded by a few of his elite demon soldiers, but mainly guarded by vulture sentinels that love to feast on mortals and scratch their eyes out or eat their organs. Gross :).

The terrain of the entire underworld is like an underground cave with huge stalagmites and stalactites that look like the huge teeth of a monstrous leviathan of some myth as big as the world itself. My main inspirations for it were the Goblin Valley state park in Utah and the huge underground salt caves in New Mexico. The Under is all red rock and orange dirt as far as your eye can see, and what few trees there are, are all dry as a bone and their brittle branches reach out for you like skeleton hands.

If you venture out into the badlands, there are a few crevices and caves to hide in, but the area is filled with shadow monsters that would make anyone terrified.

Also! Mortal souls in the under can get injured or experience thirst and hunger- but they can't die. They'll still experience all of the things that could've killed them in the mortal world, but it won't kill them. It'll be painful and uncomfortable and slow them down, but none of that can kill them. That part is very fun to write, this whole thing is fun to write, but that especially :).

If you're asking why? Death doesn't have to be that way. And I say: well, yes. But first of all, my story my rules. Second, the reason I'm writing it this way might have something to do with my religious trauma (and the weird and fucked up afterlife stuff I was taught to believe), but I'm not gonna think about that too hard to save myself the embarrassment :)))). i mean, that would explain why everyone gets the same fate reguardless of how 'good' or 'bad' they were during their mortal existence.

If you would like to know more- Please please ask me, I would love to ramble more about this miserable little afterlife.

Thanks @space-writes !

[forthesanityofstorytellers]

Writeblr Battle Royale - Ametrine Versus Lyra! (Lyra POV)

Yes! That's right! Round 2 of the event @writeblrbattleroyale put on by @your-absent-father! This time my alien elf Lyra is going up against the ghost-fighting Ametrine (OC that belongs to @moonluringfrost)! And this time she actually does fight! You can read Lyra's round 1 here and Ametrine's round 1 here! Thanks, enjoy, and remember you can follow all the action here OR by following #writeblrbattleroyale !

Follow some awesome fellow authors and watch our OCs beat the shit out of each other (when they behave and do what they're supposed to do instead of things like trying to escape or have a pleasant conversation)

WC: 1,240 Tw: death

“And now the round 1 has ended. Unfortunately for me, some of you players tried to go against me, but I give you the benefit of the doubt. I haven’t introduced myself. People call me M. I don’t know if it’s my real name. I really don’t remember anything. I once was a full person that was cursed to roam the world, without being able to go beyond. I do have two goals I remember: I am the bringer of entertainment, and I am a bringer of death. This place really is the tight combination of both. You are my freak show now that my own freak was taken for me. I just need to make sure now you don’t try to escape.” 

A woman appears in the middle of the arena in clothes that are almost stereotypical of a fortune teller. She’s south American, with a beautiful straight nose and eyes that seem to know everything you deeply want to know. “I am so sorry.” She points at Lyra and the new opponent, and the world shifted.

Flashes of her home. Devastated. Crushed and burnt plant matter, the giant carved pillars now broken and laying at her feet. Someone far away was laughing among the eerie quiet. A flash of dark and Lyra was running. Heading to the laughing. She emerged into the light and blinked. Her home, the island of her parents…it was all gone. Broken. Destroyed.

“Hail the queen!” A voice from beyond sight called.

Bodies began to move under the rubble, and Lyra glanced down. She was wearing the outfit of the highest noble. Queen. The stone fragments of all the clans were embedded into the leather wrapped around her wrist. A mark of what was never supposed to be.

“Queen of all!!” someone called. “Death-bringer!!”

The bodies revealed themselves, and turned to her with faces of shame, fear, anger and hopelessness.

“Queen of Elkien, conqueror and destroyer of the lands!!”

“My fancy little crew here are all my helpers whose soul is in their own little dimension. I won’t mind putting you with my little collection. So, now it’s time for round 2”.

Lyra blinked back into reality standing in an arena, a cold sweat covering every inch of her skin. That…so that wasn’t real, then. It was one of her greatest fears…and it had been brought to her mind by this ‘M’ character.

She wanted to draw an arrow and shoot it directly into the sky, directly to the place where M had been moments ago. But the sounds of people shuffling around, starting to murmur and talk and shout all distracted her. She pinned her ears to her head, giving it a shake. Focused on her opponent.

The sooner she could finish this, the sooner she could get to M and make him pay. For this game of death, for making them participate…for making her live the nightmare that haunted her like a shadow.

She took a breath to steady herself, facing the one opposite her. Pale skin, light hair, blue eyes. Petit build. But she knew enough to know that a size and shape were only minor factors in a fight. She couldn’t afford to take her opponent lightly.

Even so, she did not want to fight if she did not have to.

Taking a deep breath, Lyra called out, “Adversary! I don’t want to fight you. How much do you want to fight me?”

The response came. “Depends on if fighting will get me home faster than not.” The woman began walking towards Lyra, causing her back to stiffen just a bit. She began backing away. Keep the same distance between them. She didn’t know what her opponent could do and didn’t want to find out by letting her get too close.

“I don’t know if fighting will get us home. But I do know it will end with one of us dead.” The woman didn’t seem to change based on words alone, continuing to advance. Lyra let out a breath and fired a warning shot directly into her path, the arrow digging into the ground at her feet. “I don’t want to fight…but I will if I must.”

The woman across from her sighed as Lyra knocked another arrow into place. She seemed tired, and Lyra couldn’t blame her. “I have to try,” she called back. “There’s something I need to do. I’m sorry.”

She reached down and plucked Lyra’s arrow from the ground, keeping it with her as she began advancing faster.

Lyra grit her teeth. “Then I’m sorry as well. Good luck, adversary.”

The woman increased her speed to a near-run, Lyra keeping her arrow tight as she began to back up faster. Lyra tried to track her, but the woman’s evasive movements made for little opening. Eventually Lyra had to lower her arrow and focus on moving, on keeping up the distance and matching her speed to her opponent’s.

This was the best tactic Lyra had at the moment, not wanting to use her earth magic unless it was absolutely needed. The cost was high, and while she’d used it on the last little one it was simply because it seemed an easier way to end the fight than blood. From the way this new opponent moved, she would have to be more careful with her magic…something she was not prepared to do. Not yet.

And her reward was a sudden change in tactic, the woman suddenly changing course and speed, charging directly at Lyra. Lyra moved until her back was against the wall, waited until her opponent was nearly on top of her before stretching out her wings and flying into the air. Feet now against the wall, Lyra kept herself aloft while pushing off.

She looked.

Aimed.

Fired.

She tucked her wings and tucked herself into a ball as she landed, rolling with momentum and getting her feet under her as fast as possible, leaping into a crouch and spinning around to identify where her opponent was.

A body was collapsed by the wall.

Lyra waited for movement as the crowd around her seemed to hold their breath. A few began talking. Whispers among the specters watching. Then…

Cheering.

Lyra risked a glance up at the ones in the stands. A few looked genuinely shocked. A few looked genuinely pleased. Several looked as if they were forced into cheering, like puppets but ones that she could not spot the strings.

Standing, Lyra walked cautiously over to the body. The woman, her adversary, was dead. She rolled the body onto her back, removed the arrow, and closed her eyes, making a gesture that marked blessings for the dead. “I am sorry you did not complete what you needed to do,” she said softly. “But, if you have a next life, I hope you are able to find peace in it.”She stood and turned to face M. Took a deep breath and yelled up, “mxmuzacimo!!!” You are a bag of dicks!! before stalking back to her original spot. He was going to pay for making her – for making them – participate. She wasn’t sure how yet, not as well versed in life and death magic from her home and unsure if it would work in this place. But she was going to make sure she tried if she won her way to the top. And if not? She was going to try before she was taken out.

[world-of-fire-and-flight]

You already got a few trick or treat asks so how about something different!

Uhhhh- a treat or trick! No. Trit or treak? Lol 🤕

Just, Happy Halloween!

Here's some candy: 🍫🍫🍫🪥🍫🍫 >:)

Ooooh candy😄 Thanks, bestie! Happy Halloween! Hope you get all your favorite treats!👻🦇🎃🍫🍭🍬

(Fun fact: I'm actively avoiding the bag of candy I bought for trick-or-treaters. So far, I've been successful but there's still two-ish days to go😔🤞)

I'm gonna go with treat and drop a cookie recipe inspired by Embers of Eternity (and here's the scene to go along with it!) (also sorry for the U.S. measurements! They're all I know😅):

Butter Chip Cookies:

Ingredients: 1 cup salted butter, browned ½ cup granulated sugar 1 cup light brown sugar 1 - 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 eggs 2 ¼ cups flour 1 teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon salt ¼ cup mini chocolate chips, divided

Directions:

In a small pot, brown butter over medium heat. Stir constantly and watch carefully. It will take a few minutes for the butter to begin to turn brown. Once the butter begins to turn, remove from heat and continue to stir until the butter is a caramel-brown color.

Pour butter in a large mixing bowl to cool and set aside.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. Using a mixer, beat butter, brown sugar, sugar, and vanilla together. Add half of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix to incorporate, then add the remaining flour mixture until combined.

Add the eggs, mixing until well combined. Let the dough rest for a few minutes.

Scoop dough into balls and place on baking sheet with room for cookies to spread.

Bake at 375°F for about 10 minutes or until golden.

Recipe Notes:

Flour may be substituted for a one-to-one gluten-free flour alternative. It doesn’t change the recipe at all.

I personally like to use 1 ½ teaspoons of vanilla extract, but you should listen to what feels right in your soul.

Letting the dough rest before scooping it into cookies is to help prevent them from spreading too thin and is essential to baking a proper butter chip cookie.

If, for whatever reason, a whole batch of cookies isn’t needed all at once, still form all of the cookies and place whatever quantity of the unbaked cookie dough is unneeded on a baking sheet and place in the freezer until the dough is frozen. Store in a sealed airtight container and thaw as needed before baking them to enjoy.

[ink-fireplace-coffee]

Trick or Treat? 🦇

Hello Nerissa!! Thank you for asking!!

TRICK for you!!

[moondust-bard]

JOIN US THE WEEK OF MARCH 26TH FOR MOON+SERAPH PITCH WEEK

An event brought to writeblr by myself and the incomparable @saintedseraph

See our informational post here!

During this six-day event, tumblr’s writers will have the opportunity to pitch their unpublished, in-progress sci-fi and fantasy stories. Each day is dedicated to a different theme— for details, see the above schedule. If your writing project is in a stage of drafting, worldbuilding, outlining, or revisions, this event is for you!

Unlike Twitter's pitch events, which focus on writers who are actively in search of publishing connections, this event is solely for writers in search of writer-friends and in-progress WIPs to support.

So, will you be joining us?

[yvesdot]

QUEER INDIE-PUB BOOK TALK & Q&A!

Thursday, October 12th, 6:30-8:00 PM at the Santa Cruz Diversity Center

I am having a physical, in-person event in Santa Cruz for anyone interested in hearing about the queer self-/indie-publishing journey! I'll be talking about making queer-as-in-very-strange art, financing art as the deplorable "side hustle," and not losing your mind while publishing. Also, reading aloud from Something's Not Right! RSVP on Eventbrite!

If you're seeing this and you're not Californian, do me a favor—share this post to your network! Let's get this to the weird queer artists in the area. (And, hey, let me know if you'd like me to come to your town! We'll see what I can do ^__^)

[aquadestinyswriting]

Storyteller Saturday- Open Ask

Happy Saturday folks. Hope everyone is well. Here's a question for you all:

Do you make a specific timeline for your wips? Or do you just go with the flow and fix up any inconsistencies in your wip while editing?

Personally I try to keep a timeline in mind, but I am terrible at keeping to it and have to edit stuff later. This is why I'm now writing my stories as a series rather than one, huge work. It's a lot easier to remember which stories go in order in a list.

Looking forward to seeing your responses.

Tagging: @blind-the-winds, @druidx, @asher-orion-writes, @mariahwritesstuff and anyone else who wishes to answer

[anoelleart]

Song Saturday! Protolith Excerpt

She sang: “From the space between the stars  came a force to cleave Earth and soul.  There bore two lovers  Destined. Lover’s voice is clear as wind: Swallow from sky, betwixt land and water, from what is  bound to our Earth, and I may be anew.”  Charlotte shook her head. “I’m sorry. I’m a terrible singer.” “A hauntingly beautiful lullaby,” Byron said. She smiled. “It is. When I was a child, I loved to believe that we would all find our partner, born from the same star – from the same soul, even.” “And now?” “I would think myself silly to believe in souls.”

[The Protolith, Chapter 26]

[peepos-prose]

Countdown to Writing November! What are we all planning to work on over the month?

I’m gonna get a draft down of The House on Dearmad, have a good plan and hoping for the best this time around. Estimating 45,000-50,000 words but knowing my verbose ass, it’ll prolly be 60 plus.

[writeblrbattleroyale]

fighting duo: Jackson and Herchel

Hello darling watchers, I’m M, the watchful eye, and the game master of the game. let’s talk about the fighting duos.

Herschel is quite ordinary man. He is a wisecracking detective, who does have a bit of a limp that could come in an disadvantage in the fight. Well, if he uses his gun he is a master at, I doubt his opponent can come close to him. His very extraordinary personality could get his opponent to his side, but only time tells what happens in the fight itself.

On the other side is Jackson Xu, a younger guy He is very similar to Herchel in a way that this place and situation isn’t a place they would typically lead to, even if the fight wouldn’t happen on interdimensional whole of nothingness. He is a bit of simple guy in life but would protect his friends, if they were, for instance, threatened.

@rainisawriter @quisyop

[void-botanist]

This starts tomorrow - if you're doing it please reblog/reply so I can send you some asks! Also I'll be accepting trick or treat asks forever through the end of October so don't feel like you have to hit this week exactly.

🎃 Trick or Treat 🎃

The Event

Let’s celebrate Halloween together with a fun game! During this event, we’ll knock on people’s ask boxes and send them a simple question: Trick or Treat? 🦇

The recipient decides if it’s to be a trick, or a treat, as the owner of the house.

🍬 Treat — If the recipient choses treat, they share something with us as a treat. This could be a snippet, a line, OC trivia, or what have you!

👻 Trick — Turning the question around, the asker now has to share something of their own! But, seeing as it’s a trick, they may leave something under a read more, or link to something, that may catch you off guard… 😱

The event is held* through 27th-29th of October.

(Examples of) What you can share:

A snippet

A scene

OC trivia

Worldbuilding fact

A song, or even a playlist

A moodboard

Poetry

Anything you think is a treat you want to share!

If you get “Trick 👻”, pulling a trick is up to you.

❗ Tricksters ❗ Keep to etiquette. A rick roll is fun, a spooky gif, a picrew of your character dressed up for Halloween, and other fun tricks are what I hope to see, should someone chose to pull a trick.

Yes, you read that right! "Trick or Treat" is making a comeback this year 🍬🗡️ Spread this post to get the word out. I'll send an ask to everyone who reblogs this! 🎃

*I will be sending asks during these dates but you are welcome to start this event any time you like and tweak it how you want. Remember Writeblr etiquette and send an ask back to the one who sent one to you! (Excluding me 👻)

🧡 Enjoy 🧡