timocracies

[timocracies]

Update on this half a year later: It’s still a garbage fire but it’s my favourite garbage fire.

I’m still working on getting the first draft done (I’m really bad for wanting to go back and change things before I finish the first draft so they’re always a very slow process for me). If I’m not actively working on this project, I’m daydreaming about.

As I’m leaning more and more about the horror genre and my plot is slowly become less and less of a mess, but there’s still a lot of plot holes that I’m not sure how to solve… the biggest being that my main cast are celebrities (a boy band) and I can’t figure out how to keep them isolated when they need to be and to reasonably have people (be it the people they work with, or fans, or family and friends) not be concerned for them. Buuuuuuuuut…. I’m sure sure I’ll figure that out somehow. For now I’m just having a grand ol’ time.

I just watched It and It: Chapter 2 and now I want to write horror. I don’t think I’ve even ever read any horror 😂

[timocracies]

WHILE understanding that a hereditary ruling class is a fuck-stupid thing to have IRL, I have no intention of leaving off reading and writing about secondary-world nobles and/or royalty. It lets you elevate family drama to extremely weird levels and really raise the stakes on questions of obligation, tradition, inheritance, and being tied into a job you actually might fucking suck at. Feels like all my life I’ve been seeing finger-wagging about how it’s more virtuous to write about regular folks, and how dumbass fantasy fans just project themselves onto princes and princesses because they’re in denial that their ancestors did physical labor, and I’m like, “irrelevant. Sometimes you just want to see sibling rivalry escalate to stabbings”

[timocracies]

If your writing put a smile on your face, it has value. If your writing put tears in your eyes, it has value. If your writing made you feel, it has value. If your writing made you think, it has value. It does not take others telling you your writing has value for it to hold value, it simply has to have value to you.

[timocracies]

A lot of the substances we think of as protection against the supernatural (e.g. salt, silver, garlic) are actually antibacterial, and would have helped stave off infections and illnesses that people once attributed to supernatural influence.

Based on this, I want to see a story where vampires are repelled by hand sanitizer.

[timocracies]

hot take: bury your gays isn't just "any time a queer character dies" and acting like it IS is unnecessarily stifling to queer creators who don't want to write happy, fluffy stories where everyone lives

[timocracies]

If anyone wanted an update on this:

I made it my project for camp nanowrimo. It is very much an absolute garbage fire, but I’m about 15,000 words in and I’m LOVING IT SOOOOO MUCH!

I’ve been in university brain mode for the past four years and was having such a crappy/difficult time trying to write for myself. I haven’t been able to get past chapter 1 or 2 of any of the ideas I’ve had since high school, but now I've graduated so writing school papers is finally gone from my mind. 

I decided to just screw outlining, I don’t have to worry about having to send this draft to any workshop group by a certain deadline and no one needs to read anything I write unless I want them too. This project is 100% just for me.

I’m LIVING right now. I’m writing just like I used to when I was 12 and it’s the best feeling ever.

I just watched It and It: Chapter 2 and now I want to write horror. I don’t think I’ve even ever read any horror 😂

[timocracies]

kinda rude that my book requires a plot but okay

[timocracies]

I know we all love to find face claims for our characters (and don’t get me wrong, I absolutely adore that!) but you know what I think would also be really fun? Finding voice claims for them too.

[timocracies]

So, I have a very specific writing question that I’ve never heard anyone ever talk about...

Does anyone have any tips for when you feel like you have more characters than your story needs, but at the same time, logistically, there needs to be a lot of ‘people’ in your story?

I don’t know if that makes any sense, but say for example, you’re writing a story where your protagonist is a member of a boyband that is on tour... There would obviously be a lot of people around him all the time. There would be the other members of the boyband, all the members of backing band, he would probably have a manager, a stylist, a security team, maybe he’s in a relationship etc. etc. And he’s probably pretty close and familiar with all of them. 

It would be odd if these people weren’t present or weren’t interacting with the protagonist. But what do you do if, narratively, you don’t have space for all of them?

[timocracies]

I posted this thinking I would be over it (over It?) in a couple days, but guess what, now I’m outlining a horror novel. Obviously I don’t actually understand the horror genre well enough to be outlining any sort of good horror novel, and it’s probably going to be an absolute garbage fire, but it’s just a project for myself and I’m super hype.

But also, that being said, anyone have any horror recommendations? Apparently I’m a lot more into this than I thought I’d be.

I just watched It and It: Chapter 2 and now I want to write horror. I don’t think I’ve even ever read any horror 😂

[timocracies]

no i did not disappear for two months bc of uni assessments & completely forget about this blog,, what are you talking about,,,

[timocracies]

Things NOT to do when writing a Black character

Compare their skin color to food

Make them "just the best friend"

If you make them use AAVE dont use it every five seconds/in every situation and seriously do your research if youre not black so you dont look like an absolute clown {if asked to I can make a separate post on some more clarifications on this point}

make them overly emotional/incompetent

make them unable to solve issues on their own

overly dramatic/sorrowful backstory compared to the other characters

rip away their love interest/suggest that theyre predatory and violent and thats why they cant be in a relationship

trauma fodder {ex: yeah a cop shot my dad when I was 8 but I really have nothing else going on with my character}

be afraid to make them soft/have emotional moments

also side note but: Remember yall, if you can edit them out of the story and it still is cohesive/makes sense without them then it doesnt count. they have to be an important character for it to count as diversity. not just some one off

[timocracies]

Tips for Writing a Difficult Scene

Every writer inevitably gets to that scene that just doesn't want to work. It doesn't flow, no matter how hard you try. Well, here are some things to try to get out of that rut:

1. Change the weather

I know this doesn't sound like it'll make much of a difference, but trust me when I say it does.

Every single time I've tried this, it worked and the scene flowed magically.

2. Change the POV

If your book has multiple POV characters, it might be a good idea to switch the scene to another character's perspective.

9/10 times, this will make the scene flow better.

3. Start the scene earlier/later

Oftentimes, a scene just doesn't work because you're not starting in the right place.

Perhaps you're starting too late and giving too little context. Perhaps some description or character introspection is needed before you dive in.

Alternatively, you may be taking too long to get to the actual point of the scene. Would it help to dive straight into the action without much ado?

4. Write only the dialogue

If your scene involves dialogue, it can help immensely to write only the spoken words the first time round.

It's even better if you highlight different characters' speech in different colors.

Then, later on, you can go back and fill in the dialogue tags, description etc.

5. Fuck it and use a placeholder

If nothing works, it's time to move on.

Rather than perpetually getting stuck on that one scene, use a placeholder. Something like: [they escape somehow] or [big emotional talk].

And then continue with the draft.

This'll help you keep momentum and, maybe, make the scene easier to write later on once you have a better grasp on the plot and characters.

Trust me, I do this all the time.

It can take some practice to get past your Type A brain screaming at you, but it's worth it.

So, those are some things to try when a scene is being difficult. I hope that these tips help :)

Reblog if you found this post useful. Comment with your own tips. Follow me for similar content.

[timocracies]

Omg did you guys know that if you go on Google Docs and go to File -> Page Setup and change the paper size to A5 (5.83″ X 8. 27″), it will give you book sized pages???? 

This is kind of a game changer tbh. Seeing how the paragraphs would really look is helpful!! And it’s motivating to picture it as real book! Weee

[timocracies]

Which Element Writer Are You?

I was tagged by @findswoman in this excellent quiz!

Clay Writers

Please, take time for yourself too. You work hard, so hard, and you follow your heart to the deepest caverns into the wildest mountains. Your heart got broken, but you took all its pieces and molded them into something brand new and beautiful. You’re a beautiful human being, and I’m really proud of you. Sometimes you fall, but every single time you get up, and it’s hard, but you go on, you build everything again. Life made you taste how bad it can be, but you decided to remain kind. It takes courage to be soft, in this would, and I really admire you. You’re the gentle writer, poetic words and agape love personified. Your stories have an angsty aftertaste, your words don’t hit the reader violently, but they caress their cheeks and whisper in their ears words that will never leave them. In you there’s the strength of wild streams, and the patience mountains have. The world is lucky to have you.

If anyone else wants to take this quiz, they can find it here!

[timocracies]

tfw ur trying to write plot but ur brain only provides you with out-of-sequence snippets built on vague ideas and an endless number of potential outcomes that develop and branch out unnaturally over an unspecified timespan

[timocracies]

Wisdom if I’ve ever seen it