*adds a sprinkle of cornstarch to the plot and stirs*

#NOOOOO URE SUPPOSED TO MIX THE CORNSTARCH INTO A SLURRY BEFORE ADDING IT TO UR SOUP ITLL CLUMP IN HOT WATER 

NOOO THE PLOT CLUMPENS

when people talk about writing ‘the next Lord of the Rings’ they think it’s all about the wars and the languages and the histories, and Aragorn brooding in the corner of an inn and the Balrog roaring in Moria and the ruins of Isengard, and that’s how we got Game of Thrones and several dozen cheap fantasy knock-offs every year, not to mention whatever nonsense the Amazon show is going to produce

but Tolkien’s wars and languages and histories stemmed from his love of creating - of words and history and mythos - and that love infuses into everything he writes, and if you miss that then there’s no way in hell you can replicate it

and the people who want to write the next Lord of the Rings because they want to write the next epic don’t get that the story is about the hobbits’ soft and simple lives and Bilbo’s poetry and Sam’s love language being food and Eowyn discovering hope after depression and Gandalf making fireworks for hobbits even if he is a literal angelic being, and Aragorn weeping over Boromir’s body and Theoden’s kindness to Merry, and Beregond betraying his most prized orders to save Faramir, and the unlikely friendship between Gandalf and Pippin, and the even unlikelier friendship between Legolas and Gimli, and Sam and Frodo singing to each other in Mordor, and Boromir sacrificing himself for the hobbits, and Sam’s simple love for Rosie, and the restoration of the Shire, and the friendship of the Fellowship surviving down through the ages, and peace after war and hope in darkness, and the love between a gardener and a gentleman pacifist being literally the only thing that saves Middle Earth

and that is why people who try to recreate Lord of the Rings by starting with war always get it wrong. you have to start with the love, or it’s nothing: just another empty history

I once again read on another writeblr blog that in order to be a writer you have to publish and share your work with others. This is your friendly reminder that this is absolute bullshit. You are still a writer if the only person you write for is yourself or if you never decide to publish anything.

#you know#at first I laughed#and then I realized there is at least SOME legitimacy to this#if it’s TOO tightly plotted there’s not much room for chars to grow#okay this is still funny though (via @laylainalaska)

Seeing a lot of new faces around Writeblr...

So the anxious, overprotective parent in me feels the need to drop a dime.

I cannot say this strongly enough: PROTECT YOUR WORK. Don’t rely on anyone else, or common decency, to do this for you. There is an entire branch of legal practice devoted to arguing about intellectual property (frequently short-handed as IP) rights. If there’s an entire branch of legal practice devoted to arguing about a thing, it means that it’s important (and often, that there’s big money at stake).

A few good strategies to protect your work/IP:

1) KNOW YOUR PLATFORM. Every platform has different rules. Some have more robust IP protection than others. Here are Tumblr’s:

HOWEVER (AND THIS IS IMPORTANT!!): other platforms do not necessarily have the same protections. I regret to say that I have personal experience with this as far as Discord and other DM services go; DM services have almost no protection, even with date/time stamps, while most blogs have protections akin to Tumblr.

2) Put all of your OC–art, writing, whatever–under a Read More tag. This ensures that if you ever choose to delete it, it really disappears from Tumblr, because even people’s reblogs won’t have the text–only a link to an abandoned page.

3) Limit how much OC you share. I know, this is Writeblr, sharing is kind of the point. What I mean is, don’t share long, continuous chunks of text. I’ve learned over time to keep it to 1-2 pages (~300-800 words).

4) This one is a kick in the head, and I’m sorry: there are people who have no qualms or scruples about stealing the hard work of others. The law of averages dictates that some of them are on Writeblr. My life experience outside of Writeblr tells me that wolves wear sheep’s clothing, and I see no reason to expect that would be any different here.

Be safe, my darling creators.

This is really so very important and so good of you to share, @typewriter-jade

Unfortunately all of the above is very true and the advice shared is probably the best advice you’ll get for keeping your stuff as safe as possible.

Please do take the time to ensure that you work out a plan for how you want to share your writing. It took me a while to find a process / plan that works for me and makes me feel comfortable about sharing my writing. 

That readmore tip is excellent!

if you would be so kind and reblog this when you are still an active writeblr and maybe also mention in your reblog what you write about

I’ve been away for what seems like forever and lost track of everyone and the WIPs I was following

Contemporary fantasy is the name of the game for me now. My main WIP is somewhat of a retelling of Beauty and the Beast but not quite. Not enough to actually call it a retelling.

I love retellings so sign me up

It’s my favorite WIP that I’ve worked on. Want me to add you to the tag list?

I’m only slowly preparing to get back to this blog but you definitely can! I will just ocassinally read bits and bites until I’m back

i think sometimes that in writing and life we make the error of assuming what someone is pushed into saying in moments of extreme emotion are the Most Truthful.

there are times that difficult or ugly things are true, or when people need help letting go of ugly things they don't WANT to believe but do despite their wishes.

but that feeling of "i wish i hadn't said that" after an argument, or someone else saying "i regret saying that," isn't necessarily trying to brush away an uncomfortable "truth." in writing conflict, and in real life, a lot of the time people are shaped by the choices that they make AGAINST their most selfish, base instincts. this is why pushing against someone until they break and spill ugly things at another person isn't necessarily uncovering their "true" feelings.

(maybe this perspective is partly from having dealt with intrusive thoughts for so long, thoughts i've had to learn don't define me or aren't "really" me as long as i'm making the choice to not act on them or dwell on them.)

often, people have two reactions to a situation: an impulsive reaction and their considered reaction. choosing to bite one's tongue isn't just polite, but it can be an intentional act of love or kindness. it's not cowardice or dishonesty to do the hard, crawling work of reshaping your own internal responses out of some greater motive or care. and the things that people say when they fail to do this aren't always the things they WANT to hold or believe.

that's why "clearing the air" in fiction can ring false. most people don't feel better, not for long, about saying gross things they are frequently tempted to hold on to. sometimes, someone finally being honest can be refreshing, but most of the time unless clearing the air is actually sorting out misunderstandings that cast things in a better light? people end up feeling worse.

that's becuase the uglier things we think about each other in our relationships are, to some degree, only true if we let them be. the compulsion to just finally say that awful thing that runs through your head when you're already upset isn't going to actually vent your anger the way you hope it will. you might feel better for a little, and then what you've done really is worn a groove in the neural pathway of being an angry, cruel person. if you do that often enough, then the actual truth in play is that you are a person who won't do much work to shape kindness in yourself, and will always hold others flaws against them for your own emotional convenience.

in life and in fiction, kind people usually aren't kind because they never think anything awful. it's becuase they've never let those grooves wear deep. they've refused to become addicted to the short-lived high of explosive impulse, with all other considerations taking a backseat. choosing kindness in relationships, no matter now difficult they are, is a daily choice where the truth of what you think about another person is what you choose to focus on and say. it's looking at someone with intentional, active love and care. it gets easier with practice.

and some hard truths are most truthful when they're delivered with the same considerate love.

in writing relationships and in real life ones, make sure you aren't assuming people at their worst are saying the most truthful things. sometimes, the truth is in what someone is choosing every day even when it's hard.

(I've never been remotely involved in any online writing community so bear with me, I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing)

Hello, my name is Isherwood (but you can call me Ish), I'm 19 and I'm from Australia!

This year I suddenly got very re-interested in reading and writing (both of which I used to be very passionate about) after a few years of feeling pretty discouraged from both. I'm very happy that my enthusiasm seems to have returned this year, so I'm doing everything I can to stay motivated. I'm hoping getting involved in an actual writing community will motivate me to work even harder on my own writing. I'd also just really like to find some people to talk about my WIPs with/hear about other people's writing!

Here's some info:

As for my own writing, most of it is speculative fiction. My three current wips include:

That's just some basic info about them, no doubt I'll rant more about them in the future. All three are still in their very early stages (not even close to finishing a first draft for any of them yet) and lately I haven't been able to write very much because of work/other stuff but I'm going to try to make more time. I'm hoping to have the first draft of one of them finished (or close to finished) by the end of the year.

I have other planned projects too but I haven't done any work on them yet, but I'll probably talk about them more once I've started them.

Sorry, this post got a bit long. Again, if you're another writeblr please reblog and tell me about your stories! I'd love to find plenty of other writeblrs to follow :)

(P.S. I post from mobile most of the time so I apologise in advance if a lot of my posts are formatted weirdly)

being a writer is just like *idea* *imposter syndrome* *fear of people reading your work* *fear of people Not reading your work* *a single aesthetic* *idea*

Fear of people reading your work and fear of people not reading your work at the same time is both hilarious and anxiety inducing lmao

Schrodinger’s Author

Evry damn time, but then I also remember the cure:  “Samuel Vimes dreamed about Clues. He had a jaundiced view of Clues. He instinctively distrusted them. They got in the way. And he distrusted the kind of person who’d take one look at another man and say in a lordly voice to his companion, “Ah, my dear sir, I can tell you nothing except that he is a left-handed stonemason who has spent some years in the merchant navy and has recently fallen on hard times,” and then unroll a lot of supercilious commentary about calluses and stance and the state of a man’s boots, when exactly the same comments could apply to a man who was wearing his old clothes because he’d been doing a spot of home bricklaying for a new barbecue pit, and had been tattooed once when he was drunk and seventeen* and in fact got seasick on a wet pavement. What arrogance! What an insult to the rich and chaotic variety of the human experience!”

― Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay

Every once in a while a post comes back to smack me in the face all over again with how goddamn wonderful Sir Pratchett really was

Being a writer is just opening and closing documents

i should interact with more writeblrs honestly

hi my name’s ash, i write stuff, let’s follow each other and yell about our stories

Writing the Perfect Query Letter

The point of a query letter is to sell your story. 

Writing your query letter, your goal is to make the reader want to pick up the book. That is the entire purpose. We’ve all recommended books to friends before. It’s exactly that, except now that book is yours and the stakes are high. A query letter is, above all, persuasive. While writing your query letter, make sure you draw your reader into your story with every word. 

A query letter is not a creative letter; it’s a business proposition. 

Writing a query letter, don’t think of yourself as a writer, especially not of this particular story. You’ll need that degree of separation from your work for a good query. An agent/author relationship is foremost a business relationship. You’re pitching a product to someone whose job it is to sell your product (the agent) to someone whose job it is to sell your product (the editor) to someone you want to buy your product (the reader). This means that by querying your manuscript, you’re requesting a place in an industry. As such, you should follow some industry standards:

Writing Your Query:

You don’t have long to tell your story. Just a page. This means you can’t include much more than the information that is absolutely vital to your story and the querying process. I’ve outlined the information, and separated it into paragraphs. You don’t have to divide it the way I’ve set out here, but these are the general lumps of Query Stuff. 

Each point I’ve bulleted should only be a sentence or two long. If your reader wants to know more, they’ll read the first chapters and request the manuscript. 

The Opening Lines: The Formalities

The First Paragraph: The Introduction

Introduce your story as cleanly as possible. It should be minimal, yet evocative. Specific to your story, but skimming the surface of it. The more set-up you give, the more complicated you’ll make things for yourself. 

The Second Paragraph: The Conflict 

I’ve made this a separate paragraph because shorter paragraphs make a page more inviting for a reader, but it’s your call. In this paragraph, you don’t want to summarise the entire book; you want to show your ability to weave a compelling story. It should have energy. It should tell the reader just enough to get them excited. 

The Third Paragraph: The Details

Some people make this their first paragraph, but I’ve decided to put this after the introduction to the story. These are the formal details of your story, where it gets very Industry.

The Fourth Paragraph: The Author

The last paragraph is usually set aside for a few short lines about yourself. This should only include information relevant to writing this manuscript. Examples of biographical details you might want to include: 

You should be able to summarise this paragraph with: here is why you should trust me to tell this story.

You can also include a line about what you: are currently writing, enjoy writing, or have written. Let the agent get to know you as a writer and reader outside of this one story. (Especially if you don’t have many manuscript-related accolades/experience.) 

The Closing Line: The Niceties 

Thank the agent for taking the time to read your query. A small but important consideration. 

Tips

And one last tip? Your query doesn’t have to be perfect. Following this advice will help you draw the essential story out of a manuscript and make it look like you know what you’re doing, but many queries break these “rules” and still get full manuscript requests. As long as there’s something in the pitch that is enough to make the agent want to take a look at the manuscript itself, the query is doing its job. 

Remember: you’re recommending a book. That’s all. It just happens to be your book. 

Sources. 

Query Generator

Using the research I did for this post (plus a whole bunch more), I created a website to help you identify important aspects of your story and gather them into a standard query structure. Check it out at: https://www.querylettergenerator.com/

writeblr (re)intro

hey i’m mar and i remade from the blog mar/mabars!!!! thought I’d make another intro post to let everyone know and also to sort of dip my toes back into the writeblr community.

about me:

- i’m a 21 year old going into my final year of university. pray for me.

- on that topic: i am an english writing major with a focus in fiction writing. my minors are hungarian and museum studies but idk if i’ll be able to finish museum studies b/c of corona (insert clown emoji)

- she/her pronouns

- now that my dad doesn’t have this url i can say: i’m a bi ace. if i ever write a character that’s not LGBTQ+ in some way kindly slap me

- i mostly write/read SFF but i’ve been dipping my toes into horror and i’m loving it

- i feel like i write to stay alive

a little about my wips:

FOOLPROOF is definitely my oldest one. i’ve been working with the idea since 2014. it’s about a boy who discovers he can travel between dimensions at will, which… isn’t always a good thing. shenanigans ensue. I like to think of it as a largely character driven coming of age story. Please ask me about Foolproof I can talk about it for AGES.

UNNAMED MIDWEST GOTHIC WIP is a project i’ve been working on on and off for about four years. it’s about a little midwest town called Bridge Creek. sometime’s there’s aliens, sometimes there’s just good good missing kids and human experimentation. you know, midwest stuff.

KOSZEDVE is a hungarian YA novel taking place in fantasy hungary involving a succession crisis, witches, and old gods. Which, you know, if would be IF I EVER WORKED ON IT.

DUMBASS ACADEMIA WIP is my vampire college wip. It’s about a girl who goes to college to get away from all the weird. It goes pretty well until she walks in on her roommate being sucked dry by a vampire. Oh also there’s a serial killer on campus? Listen don’t worry about it. it’s also mostly midwest gothic but kind of in a funny sense? like. what if someone build a weird college in the middle of nowhere ohio and there were also vampires. oh wait ohio university is a think? hmm weird

hit me up if you want to talk about your wips or my wips or anything! im desperately trying to talk more about my writing because it gives me an absolute rush of serotonin every time. wild. i am also looking for more people to follow, my dash is VERY dead. 

hey so like

hi, you. yeah im talking to you. You like my stuff from time to time and reblog once and a while, and I always recognize you in my notes. we’ve never talked, maybe you dont like to say much or you’re nervous or something. it’s okay, whatever it is. 

I see you. you mean a lot to me. sometimes when I’m having a hard day, I’ll notice your name once again in my notifs and it makes me smile. im not kidding.

I don’t care if you’re a “ghost” follower or you send me asks all the time. i see you and I love you so much, genuinely and truly. you are really important to me. 

thank you. thank you for being there. <3

To Tired Writers. To the people out there whose hearts very, very much want to write and work on WIPs, but who are just mentally and physically exhausted right now. It’s okay. It is okay to rest sometimes. Allow yourself time to rest.