#writesistersociety

[writesistersociety]

Twisting Fairytales- Make It New

I gotta be honest, I love me a good fairytale retelling. Adding a dark twist, switching up roles, changing the time period, but still somewhat being a classic fairytale I know and love? Mmmm, gimme gimme!! I actually have the entire Twisted Tales series on my bookshelf right now. Taking something that we’re all familiar with but adding a new twist is something every reader can get behind, whether this be a fairytale, a classic, or a trope. But how can we spicy up these tales effectively, and make something new a reader will cherish?

Switch up the genre. Genre is an easy thing to change, and it adds more spice than you would think. Most fairytales and tropes are catered to romantic fantasy, but what if you make it a thriller? Or high fantasy? Or steampunk? The possibilities are endless. This also applies to clichés. Taking a cliché we all know and putting it in a new genre? Not all of these will work very well, but who knows, you may just hit a sweet spot.

Switch up the setting. This and number 1 kind of go hand it hand, but switch the time period! You don’t have to modernize it, but maybe you want it to be more Victorian. Or set in a distant future. Maybe you want to move Cinderella to Africa. 

Diversify the cast. So many of our popular fairytales come from European origins. Thus, we have a lovely cast of straight white man and helpless straight white princess. Add some LGBTQ rep! Add some BIPOC rep! You best bet readers will eat up a version of Sleeping Beauty that’s sapphic AND Aurora is black. 

Change the rolls of the characters. The hero is the villain, the villain is the hero, the damsel in distress is not in distress at all? Changing up the rolls that the characters fill in the source material can be a delicious twist, and out a great new perspective on something we thought we understood. The movie Maleficent does a great job of this.

Pick a fairytale we may not know. Have a special place in your heart for fairytales from South Asia or Deep Africa? Retell one of those tales! Give the reader something new to discover! As long as you’re respectful with your retelling, you can bring something new and fun to the eyes of readers. 

Remember: the source material is a guide, not a law. Don’t be afraid to take the story somewhere its never been before! In fact, DO take the story somewhere its never been before! Make us think we know what’s going on, and then send us reeling when we’re wrong! Being surprised when you think you’re familiar with the story is such a fun feeling.

    εїз Happy Writing, Creative Minds! εїз

[purplespaceace]

this is just another random list of things to use so I remember them when I’m creating characters

general advice:

Writing Disability and Neurodivergency by writesistersociety

mental illnesses/disorders/neurodivergencies:

adhd

verbal autistics*

Stimming and Touch Sensitivity by owlsofstarlight

Autistic and Aspec by owlsofstarlight

Intersection of Aspec and Autistic by owlsofstarlight

nonverbal autistics (separate so I remember to have both, not because they’re different neurodivergencies)

depression

social anxiety*

Part 3: What Is Social Anxiety? by owls of starlight

Part 4: What Are Panic Attacks? by owlsofstarlight

Part 5: Stereotypes and Misconceptions by owlsofstarlight

Part 6: What to Call It in Fiction by owlsofstarlight

high-functioning anxiety

anorexia*

bipolar*

Part 1: What Is Bipolar Disorder by owlsofstarlight

Part 2: Misconceptions And What’s Wrong With Hollywood’s Portrayal by owlsofstarlight

Part 3: What to Call Bipolar Disorder in Fiction? by owlsofstarlight

borderline personality disorder (bpd)

Down syndrome

dyscalculia

dyslexia

“Dyslexia” in Six of Crows by deso-records

dysgraphia

“Dyslexia” in Six of Crows by deso-records

dyspraxia

dissociative identity disorder (did)

cerebral palsy

other specified dissociative disorder (ossd)

ptsd

Part 1: What Is PTSD? by owlsofstarlight

Part 2: What Are Specific Phobias? by owlsofstarlight

Part 5: Stereotypes and Misconceptions by owlsofstarlight

Part 6: What to Call It in Fiction by owlsofstarlight

PTSD and Triggers by owlsofstarlight

c-ptsd

C-PTSD by owlsofstarlight

epilepsy

Writing Characters with Epilepsy by desert-lily

physical stuff (for lack of better words):

someone with a prosthetic hand/arm*

someone with a prosthetic foot/leg

wheelchair user

blindness

That “blank look” in my blind eyes? (please stop saying this) by mimzy writing online

someone whos deaf*

dwarfism

vitiligo*

chronic illnesses/diseases:

diabetes

asthma

coronary heart disease*

arthritis

if you see stuff I’m missing, or have advice on writing certain things or stereotypes to avoid, lesser known things about certain things, etc I’d love to know! This includes links to posts guiding writing certain things!

the stuff crossed out has two or more characters with it, and if it has an asterisk it has one person or it’s not people significant enough

[writesistersociety]

Writing Disability and Neurodivergency

Writing Disability and Neurodivergency- Some simples Dos and Don’ts from a Person who is Both

Diverse representation in media is extremely important, and it’s more than just skin color or sexual/gender identity. Disability and neurodivergency are often grossly misrepresented in media, if they get represented at all. As an allistic, able-bodied, cishet woman, I’m constantly striving to put more diverse representation in my stories, but sometimes it gets scary! I’m a bad researcher, what if what I look up is wrong? When I’m so nervous about it, how do I know the line between accuracy and othering? 

I want to be able to represent these often marginalized and overlooked groups in a respectful way that doesn’t put my perception of them over what they feel and really are, so I talked to my friend @Franzidoeseverything on Instagram, and this is the rundown that thon gave me: 

“Word of advice, hold the opinions of someone living with the condition they’re talking about higher than someone who has a similar issue, but not the same thing. For example, I can’t talk about what it’s like to be in a wheelchair, but someone in a wheelchair who doesn’t have EDS cannot talk about what it’s like to have EDS. Same goes for neurodiversity, I can educate about autism but not ADHD.

NEURODIVERGENT CHARACTERS (Specifically Autism)

Don’t make them super weird or strange in unnecessary ways, but don’t try to make them as “normal” as possible. Stimming, being overwhelmed, shut downs, meltdowns, and things to accommodate sensory needs are normal for us, and they should be portrayed as such. Portraying them as weird, strange, or unnatural is gross. But simultaneously don’t make us as “neurotypical” as possible, don’t hide the less flattering sides of it, don’t hide the joy either.

Always avoid person first language. Say “autistic people” not “people with autism.” Make sure you’re using the right vocabulary.

Autistics aren’t robots, geniuses, or “special needs.” We’re disabled because our brains function differently in some ways.

All of our needs are different. Some autistics are nonverbal, some are hyper verbal, etc. We are not cookie cutters, we are just as unique, diverse, and individual as NTs. 

ALWAYS avoid stereotypes like Sheldon cooper and such.

Try your best to portray positive aspects of neurodiversity as actually positive. For example: “They were so overcome with joy about the news they couldn’t hold in from flapping their hands and jumping, a pure, unfiltered expression of happiness” is a better way to portray stimming than “Overcome with the news they couldn’t hold it in, as hard as they tried, and ended up flapping and jumping, which earned them some stares from everyone in the room.”

DISABILITY 

Everyone experiences pain differently. A wonderful, accurate, description of pain that comes to mind is the the beginning chapters of Misery by Stephen King. We usually have many different types of pain, caused by different things, and can sometimes distinguish between them.

We have good days and bad days, the good days are minimal pain (not none). The bad days are baddd. Learn about spoon theory, we use it to describe ourselves very frequently. 

DONT EVER CURE IT. DONT CURE PHYSICAL DISABILITIES OR NEUROLOGICAL. DONT DO IT. It’s horribly offensive and should always be avoided. Obvious exceptions for curable illnesses.

A disability will impact every single aspect of life, keep that in mind. For example, I have a lot of tooth issues due to EDS. 

Make sure your disabled character (physical or neurological) isn’t being infantilized by you. By other characters in order to make a point is fine, but as an author don’t forget disabled people smoke, drink, date, have a sex life, swear, get angry, get sad, feel joy, and every other aspect of life

Disabled characters should be in everything, even just as a background character, as long as they don’t exist for white saviorism or to make the main character look better. If you’re writing a piece with an emphasis on a disabled character, you have an ABSOLUTE DUTY to represent that community well or you cannot write that character. If you’re writing an autistic character, you bet your butt you’re personally gonna spotlight autistics, listen to them, and speak out against Autism $peaks.We aren’t inspiring for living day to day lives, stop the inspiration porn.”

Some general stereotypes to avoid:

Crazy/psycho ND character

Genius autistic

Sad good-for-nothing disabled character

Only there for inspiration disabled character

Only there to make another character look good disabled character

Only representing autistic children (it’s lifelong)

Saying “multiple personalities” instead of Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID, OSDD, etc).

OCD being only cleanliness character

Disabled character being cured or “finding God” and magically being fine (something about finding comfort in religion is obviously okay)

Some Instagram Accounts to Look At:

Thechronicon

Livingwaterless

Livingwithlilac

Living.With.Misophonia

Autiscope

Autism_unmasked

Actuallyautistictiktoks

Chronicallycatastrophic

How.u.feeling

Jessicaoutofthecloset

Sweetsensorystuff

εїз Happy Writing, Creative Minds  εїз

[writesistersociety]

Podcasts for Writers

Podcasts!!! I love them. It’s very convenient to be able to absorb content while also doing other productive things (or not)! Here are some of my favorite writing themed podcasts:

No Bad Ideas 

- Take the internets worst ideas, and make them work in 30 minutes. A great lesson in how to make even the wackiest of insanities work! Plus, the stories are just really fun to listen to.

Story Break

- Similar to No Bad Ideas, but instead of just making it a story, they write a feature length film out of whatever they can think of! The Monster Mash, Among Us, etc.

Writing Excuses: 

- Fifteen minutes of writing advice from famous published authors. Fast-paced and educational, with new episodes appearing each Sunday evening.

Start With This: 

- From the creators of Welcome to Night Vale, Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor. Each episode centers around a topic from world building, to opening lines, and even failure. Then they give listeners two short assignments: something to consume and something to create.

Lit Service: 

- A Podcast for querying authors about how to get through the slush pile, giving good critique, and just making writing friends!

Dead Robots’ Society

- By aspiring writers, for aspiring writers. Hoping to help each other along the way as we all strive for the promised land of publication.

Mythcreants Podcast

- Covers specifically science fiction and fantasy writing. With everything from storytelling, to worldbuilding, this podcast has all the information you’ll ever need.

Prose Talk

- It’s brand new, and it’s so good!!! Started by @Writinggibsongirl on Instagram, Prose talk talks about the beauty of writing, and is full of writing advice for new writers! Run by youth, for youth! 

εїз Reblog with your favorite writing themed podcasts! εїз

[writesistersociety]

Writing Vivid Description

Sometimes, description can be a struggle. You have to make a reader be able to visualize these events and places without ever having been there! So how do you make ink on a page come alive inside the mind of your reader?

Don’t simply say an action, describe what the action feels like. For example, “The wind blew her hair” becomes “The crisp breeze blew her hair back, biting at her nose.”

Absence where there should be activity has power. Maybe the usually busy café is eerily empty, or the highway lacks traffic at night. When an enviroment is different then it should be, tell us why! Not only with this bring life to your story, but it also helps build tension.

Cut out filler words. Words like “felt” “saw” “noticed” and “just” take attention away from what is actually going on. “The setting sun cast a fiery glare on the red-rock landscape.” reads much more fluidly than “She saw the setting sun cast a glare on the red rock landscape.” We know that she saw it, that’s why your describing it!

 Don’t describe just to describe. If you’re describing every single detail of the room, stop it. Too much description is just as bad as too little. It can leave a reader confused, or starting to skim over the page. Only describe what is important to set the scene, and what is plot relevant. You don’t need to describe exactly what the mug your protagonist picks up looks like, just that they pick it up.

Use sensory details. Writing descriptive sentences using sight, touch, sound, smell, and taste is a good way to draw your readers in and help them experience your descriptive writing the way you’ve intended. 

Read how your favorite authors do it. Was there a scene in a book that is just burned into your mind. As you read it you really felt the scene? Read it again! Take notes! Look at what kind of words your favorites use. Pay attention to what they describe and what they don’t. You can learn a lot from those who have done it before!

Use flowery description sparingly. If you try and make every single scene you write very big and flowery and emotional, they’ll start to fall flat. When you save the most intense description for those important scenes, it will be much more impactful on the reader.

εїз Happy Writing, Creative Minds  εїз

[writesistersociety]

Getting Through Your First Draft

Writing a story can be so much fun, but it’s easy to lose your motivation half way through. So how can you keep yourself going the whole way through you first draft like a pro? Short answer- you can’t. Even pros don’t have motivation 100% of the time. But there are steps you can take to help keep yourself moving enough to get through it!

1) This seems obvious, but remember your original motivation. Your “why”. Why are you telling this story in the first place? What do you want your readers to get from it? Do you have a point to make, a crazy story to tell, an opinion to share, or a ship you just KNOW should’ve gotten more time in the canon? Let yourself feel that burning passion again! Only you can tell this story right!

2) Remember, it’s ok to jump from idea to idea a little bit. If you need to step back for a minute and look at something new to clear your head, that’s ok! Just don’t let it become a trend to half finish everything you start. Eventually you have to complete one.

3) Your theme is not rock solid in draft one. IT’s good to know that your theme is, because it will help you come up with scenes and dialogue as you progress. But if you get into the middle and realize that another theme is coming out better, don’t be afraid to shift gears a little! Your characters will tell you what they want to say, trust me. 

4) Know your audience. Is it children, teens, young adults, middle aged women, boys, girls? Even if your audience is just you, knowing who you want to aim your story at will help immensely.

5) Plot is a must have, and conflict=change. If you don’t have a plot with conflict, you don’t have a story to tell. Conflict can be internal or external, and it’s important to find a good balance between both. Not all conflict has to be action. Familiarize yourself with the different kinds of conflict story can have.

6) Foster a good creative enviroment. Find a good place in your house (or out of your house) that lacks distractions where you can really focus on your story. Try to come to this place often to write so you can get a mental association with it. Purchase some scented candles to make you feel good. Create a playlist of music your associate with your story. Make a mood-board of things that remind you of your stories or characters. The muse does not come without being called, so you have to call it.

7) You cannot write a book unless you take the time to write a book. Set aside a portion of time every day day, or even just a couple times a week, to work on your WIP. Even just 5 minutes before you go to sleep at night will do.

8)  You don’t have to make thousands of words of progress for it to count as writing. Two chapters counts, two paragraphs count, two lines count. As long as you had more than when you opened your doc, you’ve succeeded!

εїз Happy Writing, Creatively Inclined Minds εїз

[writesistersociety]

Writing Sprints: Keeping Your Creative Endurance

IT HAS BEGUN. NaNoWriMo is upon us!!! *screams of terror as social lives die around us*

But seriously, it is here. The maddening time of writing like a maniac while we all try to keep up. For underwriters like me, this can get discouraging very quickly. When you fall behind so quickly, what is the point of trying to catch back up again? You could try a grind or an all-nighter, but in the end those simply leave you more tired, burnt out, and falling behind again in a couple days. But fear not!! I offer a solution to help you get back on track and stay there!

What are Writing Sprints?

Writing Sprints are when you try and write as many words as you can in a short amount of time, take a break, and come back and do it again. Just like ancient hunter-gatherers did when stalking there own elusive prey. Many people find this method to be useful in keeping their energy up and not tiring their mind too quickly.

What is the best set up for a writing sprint?

Well, that all depends on you. My recommendation for NaNoWriMo specifically is 500 words in 20-30 minutes about 4 times a day. That way you’re sure to hit 2,000 a day. But if that doesn’t work for you, adjust the time to fit your needs! Maybe you can pop out 300 words before your mind goes blank. Maybe it’s 500, or even just 30. You can play around with different times and word counts. 

Do I have to do them all back to back?

Nope!! That’s the beauty of writing sprints. They can all be done back to back, or you can space them through your entire day. 

How can I use them to catch up?

Up either the word count or number of sprints, and don’t be afraid to go over! If you write 600 words instead of 500, still go for 500 the next time! Then you get 1100 total, and your on your way to catching up again! It’s also helpful to see if you can squish in an extra sprint or two in your day!

εїз Good Luck Creative Minds!!! You’ve all got this!!! εїз

[writesistersociety]

Hey :) I want to try NaNoWriMo next month. Its gonna be my first time. But in November, Im having four exams (German, English, Physics, Biology). Do you think I still could do the challenge? Do you have any tips for timing? (Sorry for my bad english, Im Austrian and 9. grader)

Oh man, doesn’t school just ruin EVERYTHING? Like, I don’t care about atoms or whatever, I want to WRITE MY NOVEL (In all seriousness, I actually enjoy sciences).

First off, know this: Your studies always come first over writing. 

I know, bleh, but writing is our hobby and school is our job, so that’s just the way things are. Don’t let your creative passion make you preform poorly in school, because school is temporary, but you can always come back to writing. Who knows, and the things you learn in class may prove useful for something you write one day! 

BUT just because you have a lot of schoolwork doesn’t mean you can’t do both! I think I have a few ideas that can help you out:

Pick a time to write in the early morning or night. Do you like to wake up bright and early? Or maybe you prefer to stay up late and sleep in in the morning. Either way, you can use this to your advantage. Choose whichever works best for you, and then set aside some extra time to work. You get up a half hour early and write for those thirty minutes, or stay up for an extra half hour and write before you go to sleep. I personally like to stay up late and write. 

Steal away what moments you can and take some notes throughout the day. Do you carry around a writing notebook? If not, I highly recommend it. As you walk around and go about your school day, you can use free time after class or those 5 minutes you’re walking in the halls to scribble down some words or ideas, and then transfer them to a document when you have the time.

If you have an opportunity to get ahead on your goals, take it. Goals are meant to be guidelines for us, but we have to be careful that they don’t become restrictions. If you’ve hit your daily word count, but you still have time to write more and you still feel like you have more to write, write more! This will prove to be a great buffer on those days when you just aren’t feeling up to it, or when something happens and you can’t write at all. That being said...

Don’t attempt to grind. Grinding. It’s such a fun idea. I love binge reading and 1 a.m. writing sessions, but if you combine those with school and homework, it will backfire on you. Sure, you may get a lot of words on the page, but in the end you’ll burn yourself out and do poorly on both school and writing. Unless you are in the very home stretch of the month and you just NEED those extra thousand words, don’t do it. 

Weekends are your friend. Not that you should ever jeopardize hang outs with your actual friends over writing, but if you have a free Saturday, by golly take it. Just like in number 3, this gives you an opportunity to get ahead on your goals, which will be worth it.

Don’t pressure yourself to complete NaNoWriMo. NaNoWriMo is just for fun!!! If you get to a point where you really feel overworked/burnt out, don’t push yourself. The moment NaNo becomes a chore or an obligation is the moment it stops being fun. NaNoWriMo comes around every year, and you could even do a personal NaNoWriMo later in the year when you’re less busy. 

εїз Best of luck to you, and happy NaNoWriMo!  εїз

[writesistersociety]

A List of Negative Character Traits

Ah, characters. A writer’s children. We love to treat them, give them fun friends and wacky adventures, and 𝕞𝔸𝕜𝔼 𝕥ℍ𝕖𝕀𝕣 𝕃𝕚𝕍𝕖𝕊 𝕒 𝕃𝕚𝕍𝕚ℕ𝕘 ℍ𝕖𝕃𝕝. But of course, the protagonist of the story HAS to be perfect to survive such trials, right? Wrong! Nobody is perfect, and for a character to feel real and relatable to the readers, they have to be flawed. Flaws are what make us human! But when you really love your characters...it can be hard to come up with flaws that don’t make them seem like a bad person to you. All of them just seem so extreme! Here’s a nice list of ideas to get you started in truly perfecting you character: 

Selfish

Stubborn

Loud

Gossip

Bossy

Proud

Rude

Thoughtless

Vain

Cowardly

Naive

Overbearing

Poor Listener

Forgetful

Apathetic

Temperamental 

Toxicly Negative

Toxicly Positive

Dismissive

Profane

Bad Direction Follower

Jealous

Untrustworthy

Liar

Clumsy

Melodramatic

Finicky

Vindictive

Secretive

Dependent

Impatient

Impulsive

Petty

Moody

Materialistic

Greedy

Prejudiced

Indecisive

Paranoid

Proud

Irrational

Irresponsible

Neglectful

Rigid

Narrow-minded

Weak-willed

Arrogant

Picky

Procrastinating

Gullible

Sordid

Slovenly

Destructive

Fixed

Remember, not every flaw has to be carried out to it’s most extreme, but it still has to be a flaw. Maybe your character is indecisive only when it comes to inconsequential decisions, but they get so paralyzed by them they have anxiety attacks about it. Maybe they compulsively lie when they get stressed. Maybe they’re rude to people they don’t know very well. Make each flaw unique!

εїз Happy Writing, Creatively Inclined Minds εїз

Reblog with more of your own negative character trait ideas below!