The Right Writing

I'm not all sure if it was your blog, but wasn't there a voting for best protagonist etc going around on tumblr? I never noticed the results!

Tue, 21 May 2013 00:44:21 -0600

Oh no I forgot all about that stuff! It’ll come back in a couple days. Sorry, guys!

Sudden urges are what happen when characters need the restroom.

Tue, 21 May 2013 00:19:57 -0600

I wish!

Authors often say things like “John had the sudden urge to take a turn into the spooky forest instead of going to work, so he swerved his car to the left instead of taking the rightmost road” when it wouldn’t be a natural thing for John to do.

Ways for the author to directly intervene in the story >: (

Mon, 20 May 2013 23:40:23 -0600

Prophecies
Ancient tales
Intuition
“Sudden urges”
Orders from the boss/leader/etc
Things the gods say
Governmental edicts

If you use any of these, take care to see that the government or the gods or whoever sends prophecies to seers has an agenda beyond “advance the plot.” Otherwise, you might as well waltz into the pages of your story and push your characters into place.

"If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn’t brood. I’d type a little..."

Mon, 20 May 2013 00:49:35 -0600

“If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn’t brood. I’d type a little faster.”

- Isaac Asimov

How to write a book - Now Novel

Sat, 18 May 2013 23:58:57 -0600

How to write a book - Now Novel:

Now Novel shows you how to write a book: a tailormade toolkit helps you find an idea, create structure and stay motivated while writing a book. Start right now!

Seems interesting.

Every scene should have at least one awesome, memorable part. Every character should do at least one...

Fri, 17 May 2013 22:02:21 -0600

Every scene should have at least one awesome, memorable part.

Every character should do at least one awesome, memorable thing.

If this isn’t true in your story, you may need to rewrite or delete certain scenes and characters.

Prompt time!

Wed, 15 May 2013 22:53:26 -0600

Write a story about somebody slaughtering their way through heaven.

If you write something based on this prompt, let me know. I’d love to read it!

10,000 Hours. How Long is That? | ryac

Tue, 14 May 2013 23:01:03 -0600

10,000 Hours. How Long is That? | ryac:

According to Malcom Gladwell’s book Outliers, it takes 10000 hours to become an expert at something. At your current pace, how long will it take?

"You can take for granted that people know more or less what a street, a shop, a beach, a sky, an oak..."

Sun, 12 May 2013 23:29:54 -0600

“You can take for granted that people know more or less what a street, a shop, a beach, a sky, an oak tree look like. Tell them what makes this one different.”

- Neil Gaiman

jacko-as-a-pun: so basically here’s an actual important thing that needs doing. fuck monsters for...

Sun, 12 May 2013 19:53:00 -0600

jacko-as-a-pun:

so basically here’s an actual important thing that needs doing. fuck monsters for five seconds and listen to this.

tumblr user http://stfufood.tumblr.com/ has made it their personal challenge to have someone commit suicide however possible. they post links to people’s tumblrs asking their followers to send them hate messages. they are constantly railing against people with anxiety/depression saying they should kill themselves and rid the world of them.

well how about this, i’m making it my personal challenge to have their tumblr removed to stop the hate. if you want to help email abuse@tumblr.com and explain what’s going down. we need stfufood brought down before someone gets seriously hurt.

if you take the time to do this, then thank you very very much. i love you all.

If you’re easily disturbed, don’t click on their blog. There’s some NSFW stuff. Just report them. Stfufood literally thinks people with disorders and mental illnesses shouldn’t be allowed to live because of all the “suffering” those people have to endure by just living.

If you want to see one of Stfufood’s posts telling people to commit suicide without wading through NSFW posts, look here. But be warned: it’s probably one of the most terrible things you’ll ever read on Tumblr.

When I'm away from my keyboard: I want to write a thousand stories RIGHT NOW

Sat, 11 May 2013 21:18:55 -0600

When I'm away from my keyboard: I want to write a thousand stories RIGHT NOW
When I'm at my keyboard: My stories can wait
When I'm at my keyboard: Tumblr is calling

When you need to do a lot of research on something

Fri, 10 May 2013 13:32:32 -0600

When it’s a scientific field. If you want to include lots of biology in your book, you’d better know more than ninth grade biology.
When it’s another culture, or even your own culture in the past. If you rely on only prior knowledge and you get something laughably wrong, you can offend a lot of people.
When you want to include the best item in a large category, such as dog breeds or guns, for a specific job.
When you’re making an allusion to a book you haven’t read (not a good idea in the first place).
When you’re talking about the human body in extreme conditions

How to Stay Motivated to Write Your Book

Thu, 09 May 2013 00:38:48 -0600

How to Stay Motivated to Write Your Book:

It doesn’t matter if you are just starting out or if you regularly produce a couple of books per year, you can probably relate to the issue of motivation.

How big is your total wordcount?

Tue, 07 May 2013 22:55:15 -0600

I’ve heard from several authors and websites that many people really start getting good once they’ve reached one million words.

Take the wordcount of every story you’ve ever written and add it up. Does it fall short? There’s nothing wrong with that. You just haven’t lived long enough yet to reach a million at your own pace. Get writing.

Does it reach a million?

Then proclaim from the rooftops how awesome you are because you deserve it.

YES YES YES!!!!!!

Mon, 06 May 2013 16:35:00 -0600

SO HAPPY

Guess who’s now a first reader for Daily Science Fiction? :D : D : D : D

Read the guidelines and submit your stories and you might get your standard rejection letter from ME!!!!!

*Dances all over house*

liquor-inthe-front: Single Woman’s Title = Miss Married Woman’s Title = Mrs. Unknown Woman’s Title...

Mon, 06 May 2013 15:25:49 -0600

liquor-inthe-front:

Single Woman’s Title = Miss
Married Woman’s Title = Mrs.
Unknown Woman’s Title = Ms.

Married Man’s Title = Mr.
Single Man’s Title = Mr.
Unknown Man’s Title = Mr.

Because a woman only has status if she is married

think about it.
add an apostrophe to Mrs = Mr’s.
think about it.

and then go throw up.

IT’S SHORT FOR MISTRESS

NO, NOT MISTRESS AS IN “THE OLD MARRIED MAN KEPT A SECRET MISTRESS”

MISTRESS AS IN

GASP

THE FEMININE FORM OF THE WORD MISTER

STOP MAKING UP WORD ORIGINS AND THEN GETTING OFFENDED I SEE THIS KIND OF STUFF ON TUMBLR ALL THE TIME IT’S SO ANNOYING

Sorry I haven’t been posting as much. I have a nasty cold. :(

Sat, 04 May 2013 22:25:29 -0600

Sorry I haven’t been posting as much. I have a nasty cold. :(

Prompt time!

Fri, 03 May 2013 00:02:08 -0600

What’s the saddest possible backstory you can think of? Write a story about it!

If you follow this prompt, let me know. I’d love to read your story!

Things writers forget about water

Thu, 02 May 2013 00:24:00 -0600

Without breath-holding practice, people can only hold their breath a minute or so.
Things move more slowly due to water resistance. Your epic battle just won’t work.
Similarly, it takes more energy underwater to perform the same movements.
If a character dives more than a few feet, the pressure starts to hurt. If they dive or rise too quickly, they can get seriously injured.
Small fish are afraid of anything big, including people.

I think most writers know these things, but forget them accidentally as they write.

Twilight

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 20:57:34 -0600

Good reasons to dislike Twilight:

It portrays unhealthy relationships as healthy
It’s full of inconsistencies
Bella is a Mary Sue
The prose is iffy
No big battle at the end
The Cullens let other vampires eat people and still claim to be moral
You just personally don’t like it

Bad reasons to dislike Twilight:

The vampires sparkle
Because I mean seriously
A) To paraphrase Luke Surl, it’s interesting that they had a social impairment instead of a physical one
B) Nothing’s inherently bad about sparkling vampires
C) No author completely follows vampire lore, and it would be kind of boring if every author’s vampires were the same
D) Vampires are fictional creatures and therefore don’t have to be “accurate” the way zebras do
E) There’s plenty of other stuff to dislike about Twilight