#I write whole documents on worldbuilding that I'm doing

[girlscience]

Well, I went from 970 words to 1203 words and the order is better and a lot of editing was done (went up to ~1500 words for a bit and edited back down), but wow I can't focus for shit. This paper is still definitely not the quality it needs to be and for trying to work on it for about 9 hours today and only ending up here, I am honestly super disappointed with myself. I have never been the fastest writer, but this is abysmal. I will not make it through grad school if I can't write papers.

#I apparently have very little ability to make myself write without a lot of external pressure #because even though I have a deadline for this.... if I don't do it nobody but me will really care #I have to be doing it for myself and my life #and apparently that's not sufficient motivation to get past how much I don't like writing #which is DUMB #I write on here all the time. I write huge dissertation type messages about stories I like #I write whole documents on worldbuilding that I'm doing #I also think I'm very much out of practice with writing unfortunately #and my last memory of writing papers is reallllly terrible (senior year end of semester covid and being at home fucked me over) #and I think all of that is compounding on top the fact my attention span is smaller than it used to be #and so it's like trying to herd cats just to type a fucking comprehensible paragraph #I know I spent probably 7 of my 9 hours on the computer today on youtube or tumblr #and I probably spent 1 hour just staring at the document #I just want my brain to WORK #I don't know how to make it WORK #productivity hacks really don't help much... I am think I need to try the boredom one more though #that was definitely what got me to make calls and write emails the past couple weeks #maybe I can make it work for this. I just have to get up the discipline to not get on another website #the hack is basically 'if I won't do this thing I need to do I just have to sit here till the boredom is so strong I'll do anything' #so you can't get on another website or clean or listen to music or anything #just sit until your brain is screaming that it will do ANYTHING to not be bored #and so it forces you to do the thing because at least that's doing SOMETHING #but it does mean I have to be strong enough to not do anything else #which has mixed results. but it has worked a little bit so I guess we'll try that this week more

[bonesbuckleup]

Hi, random q. I saw in your tags that you swear by Scrivener for original fic. I’m still plugging away in ye olde Word and now I’m intrigued to know what about Scrivener you like so much. I’ve def heard about it but never used it, so I’m curious :)

YES I would love to tell you about my lord and savior software Scrivener. I hope you don't mind I published this long, long answer publicly.

So. The main issue I have with Word and Google Docs is that you hit a certain length/word count, and it starts to lag and load kind of jerkily. You know? Also, navigating chapter to chapter or scene to scene is awkward for me--you either have to have a whole bunch of individual documents and multiple windows open, or you have to use headers and the table of contents...which is fine for quickly finding chapters but less so for scenes within those chapters.

Messy, basically. Does not spark joy for me.

Enter Scrivener.

Now, before I evangelize a bit, I will say that Windows Scrivener and Mac Scrivener are not 100% created equal. They are both better, I think, than Word or Google docs, but the Mac version is a bit slicker and a little nicer to look at. I only say that for if you're using Windows, because if so my screencaps below won't exactly match what you see if/when you download the program.

ONWARD.

So, the #1 thing that Scrivener has over Word is that it's a one time fee, not a subscription. So while it is a little pricey (Just went and looked, $59.99 USD), it's only the one payment. All updates and such are covered and available as free downloads. I will also say that Scrivener gives you a 30 day free trial. That's not 30 consecutive days, but 30 days of use--if you only use it every other day, you'll have the trial for 60 days. They make it really easy to figure out if it's for you or not.

This is also going to feel like a lot, but there are built in tutorials and it's actually pretty intuitive, depending on how your brain works. Anyway! The basic gist of Scrivener is that it's a digital binder. You can keep all your book stuff in one place:

As you can see, there's the manuscript (aka my book), notes, research, more. Tbh, I mostly just use notes and Manuscript, but if it floats your boat, you can store maps, place names, worldbuilding, playlist links, moodboards, a whole ton of stuff, all in one menu that's easy to access and in a single window. You can organize it however itches your brain the best way.

But like I said, for me, the best is that Manuscript part, which I'm going to go into now. I use a three act structure for books (but break the big ol' middle act into two pieces because it makes my brain happy), so each act gets a folder.

When I click and expand that act, each chapter has it's own folder. However, it also shows quick-reference index cards, so I can have an at-a-glance at what's going down in each chapter. (I'm using a outline system called Save the Cat for this book, which is why all my chapters have titles like 'Catalyst', feel free to ignore those...I also have a very compact timeline, so to help me stay organized, I labeled each chapter with when it happens.)

You can do the same with each individual chapter and the scenes, where when you click on the chapter folder, each scene gets a card. If you don't type in a summary, it'll just auto-populate the start of whatever content you were writing. You can see this in the 'Copper's Candids NEW' card.

And, of course, it is writing software. When you click on the individual scene, it opens the blank document, and you can get cracking.

So. This system is nice for a few reasons. My favorite is that it makes navigating, reorganizing, and/or rewriting scenes extremely easy. It's just point and click, drag and drop. You can also open two docs in the same window at once, like this:

Which is a nice feature for several reasons--you can work on a new version of a scene with the old one pulled up next to it, or if there's something you wrote earlier or that comes later that's important to what you're working on now, you can have them both up for quick referencing.

Another slick thing is each doc has a notes section off to the right side of the screen--which is optional! I use it for future revision notes/descriptions of how I want the scene to go:

My other favorite part of Scrivener is that it makes it very easy to hoard your deleted scenes like a deranged dragon in case you want them later. My garbage looks like this:

There are SO MANY FILES hanging out in my trash, and you know what? I so rarely actually need them, but my god am I glad they're there on the rare occasion that I do. Word, again, can make it more difficult. I always had a massive 'cut' document that was longer than the actual project and again, awful to navigate. This just makes it easier.

Scrivener also makes it easy to compile the manuscript into other doc types--pdf, doc, docx, etc--for easy printing and sharing.

ANYWAY. I'm sure there are approximately 1 million other things I'm missing, but basically Scrivener takes all your book/long project bits, puts them in one centralized file, and makes it super easy to navigate. I've also found that outlining is easier, because I can just make the folders and scenes and drag them around while I noodle through the plot.

10/10, would recommend to any long-form writer. If you have any other questions, please let me know! If anyone has read this far and has a thing about Scrivener to add, please do! I love Scrivener, and a lot of my writing buddies love Scrivener, and it really kinda has revolutionized the way I write original fiction. I'm always happy to yell about how great it is.

#mail #story-monger #long post #Scrivener #free yourselves from the shackles of Word and Google Docs my long-form-writing friends #there is a Better Way #writing

[tossawary]

It was absolutely insane how you dropped a juicy chonky chapter everyday for servant to a different king. Nothing but admiration and respect. How did you do it? What was the planning behind being able to release a chapter everyday? How long have you been working on the piece?

Thank you! "Servant to a Different King" was part of the Moshang Big Bang 2023 event. Traditionally, a Big Bang is 50k words (or more), and pairs up an author who wants to write a fic and an artist who agrees to create art for that fic. (Moshang BB23 had a minimum expectation of 10-30k words.) The sign-ups for this event were back on January and February, so that was when I created a full base outline for the fic and started writing seriously, on and off, in between other stuff. The fics all had to be finished by a certain date back in September.

Big Bang events often also release the whole fic all at once, with each author posting on a scheduled release date. That's what I did for a separate Big Bang event fic, my Bingliushen Stardust AU "Catch a Falling Star", but I have noticed that authors seem to get fewer comments when the fic is released all at once and there's a higher chance of readers accidentally missing the entire fic. The Moshang BB23 mods allowed for a daily release schedule if so desired, and I decided that was a good compromise between a more spread-out release schedule and the rush of a Big Bang release schedule.

While the outline for "Servant to a Different King" was complete early in the year (I think it was 8,000 words long), containing the most basic beats and some vague ideas for more specific character moments, I was originally only planning for... okay, I knew from the beginning that the fic wasn't going to be only 5 chapters, but I had it sectioned into 5 "chapters" as the distinct division of situations (Moshang reuniting, Moshang being forced into the bodyguard situation, Moshang getting to know each other at the Underground Palace, Moshang in the Northern Desert, and Moshang back at the Underground Palace). Whenever I write a fic, I know that I'm going to discover a lot of the details as I go, especially exploring the flow of conversations, and in regards to what worldbuilding and background characters I end up adding for atmosphere and humor and thematic parallels.

The Big Bang event had check-ins to keep authors on track with a certain minimum word count expected by a certain date, which helped me monitor where I needed to be in my fic writing. I think I did most of my fic writing in the last couple of months, however, because I had finished posting the other fics I've done this year. This was why I was not really "active" for a couple months over the summer. If I'd been posting chapters on a weekly basis instead of daily, "Servant to a Different King" would have been like 4 months of fic.

I don't really think that I have good advice for "how to write a lot". I have a decent amount of free time and my responsibilities generally allow me to daydream about story plots while I'm working. I generally aim for 200 words a day, if I'm able, but I don't sweat about it. I have things set up so it's easy to share documents between my computer and my phone, so I think I ended up writing most of "Servant to a Different King" on my phone, which was a first for me, because the computer was just too distracting for my focus.

#ofdemigodsandwizards #ask tossawary #tossawary svsss #servant to a different king au

[emmettland]

when the guidebook comes out or if you feel like it. would you have advise about how to make one? like for my own ocs world.

The way you explain world building for your stories and aus is wonderful! plus I can understand the lore in them quite well when reading them.

however understanding my own words building or lore is more of a challenge for me.

I struggle a bit with wording the information in ways I myself am confused by and feel it'd confused others to. Especially stuff contrasting something else or a new thing gets added.

thank you! i'm glad that it's easy to understand. <3 and i would be more than happy to give advice. if you'd be comfortable sharing your own guide book document if/when you start it, i'd also offer to be your editor if you wanted feedback from a reader's perspective.

so i won't go into formatting here because there are a lot of different ways you can format a guide book, but you said that you're worried about the information being confusing. here are some things i would suggest based on my own past mistakes and my perspective when reading other people's OC information.

don't add too much info all in once place. for a clear, concise summary of information, adding too much info will make things confusing and hard to read. i used to think that i had to cut in with context for every little thing, but over time i realized it was better to stick to one or two main points in a given paragraph and then expand upon the things needing context in a separate paragraph. so what do i mean by too much info? something like this: "The hierarchy from bottom to top is Greenies (Greens who are still going through their Basics), Greens (Greenies who have graduated their Basics), True Greens (Greens who have children for their Golds/Goldens), Golds (the ring fighters), Goldens (the ring leaders), and the Gods (Goldens who have ascended via ritualistic suicide)." all of those parentheses contain context, but putting all that in the same sentence bounces the focus away from the main point: the hierarchy. this is how i would write it now: "The hierarchy from bottom to top is Greenies, Greens, True Greens, Golds, Goldens, and the Gods." and then i would expand upon each one in a separate paragraph, where the focus can be on that specific rank and how it fits into the hierarchy.

be conscious of your fantasy vocab. this is moreso a general worldbuilding tip, but it goes into the whole 'being easy to understand' thing. i can't tell you how many times i've struggled to understand someone's lore or just lost interest because every single word was replaced with a word they made up for their story, or there were a bunch of made up new words that i struggled to remember. i get it, especially if you're using fantasy, sci-fi, or futuristic settings (G/G is one of them), but if you need to consult The Fantasy Glossary before reading someone's lore, imo it's not a great way to motivate them to read. using my own lore as an example: the G/G AU does replace certain words, like using drops instead of stars and Dim and Glisten for night and day. greft is their form of birth control. but most of our words still apply to G/G. they sleep on beds with pillows, they use knives and swords as weapons, etc. the only times i replace it with a fantasy word are if i don't believe our concept applies to the Gelion version, or if it's something with particular significance -- i.e., a sacred or blessed sword may have a special fantasy name.

organization matters. if i'm explaining the stigma against Reformed Greens, i would probably need to explain what Reformation is first before i get into the effects of it. it's important to organize your info in a way that makes sense to someone who isn't in your head -- they don't know what Reformation is until i define it, and then i can go into further detail. it may also help to organize your thoughts based on chronological order; the G/G guidebook starts with Earth's downfall, then the slow reconstruction that leads to Gelion, and ends with modern day Gelion. or you could choose another means of organization, like maybe you want to go by specific character, country, tribe, magic type -- whatever big thing that you can group little things under, and all of those little things will be the bulk of your information. and though i said i wouldn't get into formatting, headlines, categories, bullet points, and even color coding can all help with organization! i guarantee you, if someone's sending me their OC lore, i would much rather see THIS--

Backstory

(Brief introduction to character.)

Childhood

(A few paragraphs about character's childhood.)

Teenage Years

(A few paragraphs about character's teenage years.)

Adulthood

(A few paragraphs about character's adulthood.)

--than either a wall of text or a bunch of unlabeled paragraphs. (and please, no walls of text. always indent your text. i will flat out refuse to read something if it's not indented because my eyes will mix up the lines of text and i'll get a headache.)

i hope that helps! always feel free to any questions. :3

#emmett answers #anon #writing tips

[margridarnauds]

writers truth or dare: 🎱🕯️🔪🎨

🎱 ⇢ post your AO3 total stats 

User Subscriptions: 27

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Word Count: 348,060

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🕯️ ⇢ on a scale from 1 to 10, how much do you enjoy editing? why is that?

6, probably. It isn't my favorite bit, because it's harder to tell when IT'S done VS when the overall plot is done, it's much harder to constantly reread what you've written and go "did I do what I set out to do?" I think that with my last thing, I spent more time editing than writing; there was one part that required the whole scene to be rewritten about three times. And it's never fun to have a part that you really liked and then have to cut (there was one line in my most recent one that KILLED me to cut -- it's safe in another document so I can use it down the line, but still). On the plus side, it's also where I get to fill out parts, add things to suit the mood, build atmosphere when I feel like I need to do that.

🔪 ⇢ what's the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project?

...oh. God. WEIRD, hm. I guess that depends on how you define "weird" -- for some people, authentic Old Irish is weird, but for me, that's just bringing my job into my fanfic. But I suppose for things that are far away from what I would usually do...

For anything set in the Toho RetJ world, I actually did look at pictures of, say, Chernobyl now, to give myself a template for how the world would look like. I looked up different predictions for how the world would look after a certain number of years, including weather patterns, natural disasters, etc., looked at videos like "Life After People" from the History Channel (which is...the History Channel, but gave me some inspiration), looked up photos of crumbling apartment buildings and how they look and the kind of natural decay that settles in, while also hunting down articles on the Shakespeare so that that could inform some of my characterizations.

Likewise, for my Terra Nova fanfic, I often found myself looking up fossils from the Cretaceous period, both plant and animal, trying to integrate them into the world of Terra Nova, looking through pictures of the sets so I could try to do some worldbuilding for how the world of the show works.

For my BG3 things, I have, like, 4-5 lore books on my computer, and I've looked up everything from, say, how to kill Lolth to drider transformation to Drow foods in the Underdark to Drow burial rites to coming of age rituals to necromancy to whether Devils in the world of DND eat mortals (...undecided) to Cambion biology (answer: they'd have to be able to decide on what a Cambion IS first) to what body temperature a Drow VS an Elf would have. I've looked up the ingredients to various potions for the sake of Kitrye's alchemy, common traits among albinos IRL VS the Szarkai in DND for Malla (Malla's eyesight is too good, but it's essential to her character, so sure), and real-world contracts and the language involved to write Raphael's deals. For a non-DND player, I've had to dive as deeply into the lore as possible (and often, esp. with regards to the Drow, going "that's stupid, I'm doing something better".)

For weirdest research OVERALL, definitely probably walking up and down a ~16th-17th century fortress so I could get a feel for how the Bastille might have felt.

...actual 18th century smut and how gay men in the 18th century usually conceived of sex. Opera schedules from the 18th-19th centuries, so that, when an opera's mentioned, it's usually something that was either playing at the time or plausible.

🎨 ⇢ link your favourite piece of fanart and explain why you like it

God, I've gotten to see a lot of really good fanart, and, especially, now that I'm doing BG3 things, I am really routinely being spoiled. I'm going to give a list, just because I think that there are worse things to spill a lot of ink on than giving people their proper due.

First of all, propping my friends, @hotelfgirl did a piece of Kitrye that lives rent free in my head. She has that specific sad girlfailure vibe that I love to see.

@drewsaturday did some Morléans fanart for my birthday that also lives eternally rent-free in my head; it really captured part of the appeal of the ship (besides the tragic ending), which is the level of trust involved, the intimacy of it.

For Irish Myth stuff, even if it's always slightly awkward to call it "fanart" in the same way that, say, BG3 things are fanart or things for my musicals are fanart, anything by @amylouioc, absolutely wonderful interpretations of medieval Irish figures by a modern Irish artist, my favorite is probably Nuada over here. I love the lighting, I love the color scheme, I love the detailing around the arm, especially the little blue tatoos...and, admittedly, I also love that Nuada's a KILF (King I'd Like To--terrorize the Fomoiri with) because I am, at the end of the day, a simple woman. (You all thought it was going to be Bres, didn't you?)

@aodhan-art - WONDERFUL pieces from medieval Irish lit; the first piece of his I was aware of was this one which...well. He knows the context, but it was a very memorable part of a very memorable trip for me. There's this real...sassiness Áed in particular has that I love, this real sense of personality. I also have to talk about this; it isn't often that we get Bres/Sreng fanart (or anything about Bres at ALL), so I love seeing him memed; I'm glad someone put up the money to do the commission and I'm even more glad he did it, it's perfect for both of them. Lest anyone think I'm forgetting Bres' better half, though, I love the work done on Bríg here; I love all the little detailing, all the textures, the little freckles on her skin, the clothing ITSELF looking like something from medieval Ireland.

Speaking of which, @violetcancerian's drawing of Bres and Sreng here, like. Look at them. It's Christmas. They're happy.

For BG3 fanart...

@lemmeurs Raphael fanart here is great; I love anything that captures the duality of Raphael's character, I love the use of lighting and shadow in it, the single strand of hair hanging over his face in both the Cambion and Human forms, the sharp edges of his cheekbones, the overall color scheme. Legitimately have not stopped thinking about it for days.

@shahs1221 ANYTHING by her is great, I really love this one here. For obvious professional reasons, I can't engage with any Professor/Student Raphael content on here (nothing personal, but if I don't engage with it, I have nothing to hide if anyone decides to link my fandom life to my academic life...which has happened before, regrettably), BUT her Professor Raphael art, both this and the follow-up, live rent-free in my brain (I will also note, if any colleagues, mentors, undergrads, potential peer reviewers, etc. should FIND this, they will note that it is based on a wonderful fic series where Raphael is dating someone who is NOT a student). LOVE the cozy academia vibe, especially the one in the follow-up where he's sleeping in a nice, incredibly comfortable looking sweater. (The real question in life: Do I want Raphael in this art or do I want to BE Raphael in this art?) Also...the baby cow eyes paired with sharp cheekbones are in full effect, causing me to briefly have my IQ drop into the single digits.

@adarlingmess WONDERFUL Raphael content in general, but I think I lean towards Dadbod!Raphael in the bath . I love it for the...plot? ("The plot" in this case being "Those cheekbones + a soft stomach"). I love the atmosphere, the kind of haze created by a combination of the steam + candles, Raphael looking relaxed for once in his immortal life, the way the candlelight plays on his face, the railing in the background (...not...that kind of railing...the railing from the game. The metal railing that is in the game.) Overall, it just really captures the feeling of that area of the Boudoir very well, it brings in a lot of small details, AND Raphael looks very good.

@potatocrisp Absolutely LOVE the dynamic that their Tav has with Raphael, the kind of push/pull dynamic on both ends, the way the two of them are both compromised for one another but are extremely stubborn about it (favorite Tavphael dynamic, ngl), the way that her Tav very clearly has the upper hand over this immortal, ancient being. I love her character design, I love the detailing on his doublet, especially the little shine of metal at his wrists, the little lace edging at her stockings.

@infernaldaydreams Hahaha, BG3 fanart that is NOT Raphael. I love everything I've seen of hers, but this one is probably my favorite, not the least because it was the first one I saw. I love how bittersweet it is, I love the tenderness, the focus on hands, the way that Gortash's face gets overshadowed and then lightens up for her, I just...God, these two rotten people have me in a chokehold, I love them. (But also, in the nicest possible way, fuck you for making me feel THINGS, knowing how Durgetash ends in canon.)

#long post #thank you!

[isabellebissonrouthier]

girl your writing is absolutely gorgeous !!!! Ahhh I love myself some high fantasy 😭<3

Congrats on the book !! What’s your writing process like ?

Thank you!!!! High fantasy is SUCH a fun genre to write!!!

First of all, I'm a detailed planner. When I have an idea I tend to start with one ideas document where I write out all my thoughts, then I tend to branch out and make a document for characters (I use character profiles that I alter per WIP) plus documents for worldbuilding/magic system, and then finally I do a scene by scene outline

The first draft part is very simple but one thing I need people to remember is DO NOT EDIT AS YOU GO!! I make notes on what I want to change in a separate document, and the only way I actually get shit done is when I write it all and THEN edit

When I edit I do a mix of small editing (rereading and changing as I go) and then also big editing where I make a whole new document, put that and my writing side-by-side and retype Everything

Beta reading is very important too!! My book has had like 4 rounds of it if you count my mum reading it at some point lmao

#my post #ask #writeblr #writer #writers

[on-the-shoulders-of-rootstock]

What The Fuck Is On The Shoulders Of Rootstock?

If you're anything like me, you have a love/hate relationship with the Human Domestication Guide writing project - which is not to say that I hate it. There's a lot to love!

I love the indulgent depictions of post-scarcity, I love xenobiology and xenoculture, I love the ten-foot plant-monster mommy-dommies, I love seeing capitalism and imperialism smashed into teeny-tiny pieces over and over. I can't get enough, and it's what sucked me in.

However, I also personally disagree with the way certain aspects are handled, and believe they impede HDG in general:

My kinks are not your kinks.

The Affini are too perfect.

Over-focusing on kink.

No sense of scale.

I've started this blog to set up an organised central worldbuilding reference for anyone else interested in taking the same tack with HDG. You should absolutely send in asks if any of this interests you.

Why don't I just go start my own post-scarcity worldbuilding project specifically tuned to my own tastes? One, I've already done that (like, twice). Two, HDG still has the aforementioned elements I love and want to work with, and I want to riff on them alongside others I know who also play within HDG's space.

More detail below:

1. My kinks are not your kinks. This is the big one for me. I acknowledge that HDG was originally started explicitly as noncon intox hypno brainwashing petplay erotica, but that's not my speed. My relationship to submission is about maintaining self-control and making the decision to obey, rather than having my decision-making forcibly taken away from me. Intox, hypno, brainwashing, etc. all run against my ability to enjoy the HDG themes I do like, and I am picking and choosing what's on my plate while still leaving room for others to add the usual stuff in.

2. The Affini are too perfect. This is with regards to the way the Affini are written in "canonical" HDG media as being perfectly-competent supreme overlords who can do no wrong and have negligible rates of failure at anything they do. For me, this is boring. Characters in media are fun because they are imperfect, because they fuck up every once in a while, because things don't always go their way. Mistakes are how people learn, and a character that doesn't learn is very dull. I want to introduce fallibility and limits to the character that is The Affini Compact as a whole, making them a more compelling and interesting force within HDG stories. Conversely, I also want to depict the Affini as having earned their seat on the galactic stage. I want to see them engage in the sort of logistical and political exercises needed to remain such a powerful civilisation. I want to see the kind of underhanded and manipulative tactics you need in order to invade and pacify other cultures without harming them. It makes them feel more powerful and alive.

3. Over-focusing on kink. Just like #1, I feel that most depictions of Affini in canonical HDG stories flatten their biology and psychology to the bare minimum required to be titillating objects. Every single Affini is reduced to a slavering predator eager to abduct and mindbreak her next victim. Yes, HDG is erotica, but where's the nuance? Where's the rest of the iceberg? What do the Affini do when they aren't fucking aliens? How do the Affini maintain such a dominant political position in the galaxy? These things are missing, and so too is any sense of the Affini being real people.

4. No sense of scale. Canonical population estimates sit at some silly number like 10^30 individuals, with a territory covering at least a dozen galaxies. This is comically large, and makes the Affini a dominant supermajority crowding out just about every other species. Also, where are the Affini going to find a floret for everyone? It's just silly.

Q: What does all this mean in practice?

A: It means I'm currently worldbuilding a bigass lore document for Affini, My Way and it's growing every day. It's still in a very rough, draft-y state but I'd love to hear what others have to say about it if this project catches their interest. My personal favourite highlights are "Affini are omnivorous heterotrophs" and the name for Matter Trainers. See below!

Further up on this canvas are my notes for outlining a planned HDG story set in this style, but they're not ready to be shown to anyone just yet (would love to chat about my ideas, though).

#HDG #Human Domestication Guide

[venillopewrites]

MAY 18, 2023

As I rise from the dust of the (what feels like) hundreds of moving boxes in my office, life breathes back onto this blog! I moved countries in this long absence and I'm still getting settled, but a progress report is still in order 🌿 Thank you for your patience and messages!

WHAT'S DONE 🪐

➠ Worldbuilding glossaries are 100% done! Now we just have to move them from WordPad to the game.

➠ Pregame exposition has been completely rewritten, and is now told from the point of view of a stranger who will be following your choices with keen interest.

➠ Prologue at 99% readiness! Only a few more edits and rewrites, and we're in the clear.

➠ Character profiles are 80% ready to be posted! They're sitting in my WordPad document, and soon I'll start copying them over to Tumblr. Reformatting ahoy! They'll be both posted on the main and on a designated page on the blog.

TO DO 🪐

➠ Revisit the first pages of Ch. 01, and decide on rewrites or edits. Luckily it's not too long yet, so it won't feel bad to rewrite.

➠ Finally get to visualizing character appearances, just need to find a proper medium for it. AI art feels iffy, but it's all I have right now. Ideas are welcome!

➠ Redo some subplots for the non-RO NPCs to have a bigger impact on the story as a whole, tie them together for maximum oomph.

➠ Coffee ☕

➠ Interact more with the community! The break was long and I know a lot of new stuff's come up. Sorry for the influx of likes and follows to come!

Four months went by, and now we're here again! I'm glad there was time to get some writing done, even if it's just details that might get lost in the background. I know I mentioned some word count in the last progress update, but that has to come in the future. Thank you again for your sweet messages, you're all too kind <3

#progress report #the erebus project #interactive fiction

[juteanworld]

October 3, 2023

Good afternoon, Tumblrini!

Blessed be your internet connections, for mine certainly was not last night, leading to me thinking the app had swallowed my post three times whole. Procrastination and distractions made me only get things done after midnight, when I no longer held the favor of the invisible internet iguanas.

Today!

Worked in a greenhouse!

And planted small seedlings into pots!

Every pot had its own Plant Pass on the side, to make identifying the plant and tracing it's origin easier.

Goals!

Due to procrastination and distractions I didn't get around to writing or reading last night again, this time I will try to at least procrastinate with them. 😄 Better would probably to block time for it, e.g. at 6 PM.

• Continuing with previous goals

• Reading 10 pages in a fiction and 10 in a non-fiction book

This should be the easiest goal and yet I keep putting it off as if I'm not ready yet, treating it like a solemn ceremonial ritual that I have to be in the perfect mindset for 😅

Planning to continue with Bid Time Return, set at the beginning of the 20th century, with the protagonist a British girl relocating from India, where she had been on many adventurous trips with her father, to Great Britain, where she inherited a large house, shares in a mine and meets the rest of her family who isn't very enamored with her free spirit and Buddhist tendencies, including an inclination to believe in reincarnation.

Found it in a thrift store in this small town I now live in and was amazed, so surprised, that it has descriptions of Tibetan culture and trips through Tibet 120 about years ago. It's been an inspiration for my worldbuilding and stories. But first I have to finish the idea that won the poll (and chronologically comes first anyway)

• Finish other homework (tulip research)

Don't know how I forgot about this, or why I put it off?

• Revise blog post entries of @taimemaailm and add at least one new entry

Using at least one of the new photos I took would be great!

• 15-minute writing sprint

I was amazed at how many votes I got on the last post – 15, not counting mine! On my first such post here no less.

A clear, absolute majority voted for option 1, another LGBT+ crime story based on my personal experiences and feelings, this time also set in one of my homelands, northern Germany.

While I had voted for another option, I will take the hint and work on option 1. It's something I actually started at the beginning of last year, it being the sequel of my first LGBT+-centric crime story, but then stopped working on last summer because I felt stuck. Time to get back to it. It had a lot of potential and early feedback was promising.

Perhaps I should post the first chapter on here, or a new writing-only sideblog?

• Add more worldbuilding documentation from my @ystel and @tropical-saa blogs to the wiki

• More worldbuilding in my desktop wiki

Until later, everyone!

#good afternoon #studying #studyblr #biology #plants #photos #my photos #gardening #school #writing #writblr #worldbuilding #text #booklr

[authoralexharvey]

INTERVIEW WITH A WRITEBLR — @vermontwrites

Who You Are:

Vermont || they/them/she/her

Writer with an avid love of museums, staring at paintings and reading murder mysteries. Mysterious and yet readable, oddly obsessed with drawing demons. I have a collection of half written in notebooks and too many sketchbooks to count.

What You Write:

What genres do you write in? What age ranges do you write for?

Adventure, fantasy, historical fiction, paranormal, sci-fi. New Adult and Adult.

What genre would you write in for the rest of your life, if you could? What about that genre appeals to you?

Fantasy. Magic and new worlds really invoke a sense of belonging for me. I want to explore medieval towns with dragons and potion stores. I adore magic and elves and the lure of those stories.

What genre/s will you not write unless you HAVE to? What about that genre turns you off?

Non-fiction. Facts are cool, but I'm not the one to write those things. I find it tedious and too time consuming to make sure every tiny thing is correct.

Who is your target audience? Do you think anyone outside of that would get anything out of your works?

Adults. Perhaps teens would enjoy my works as it may allow them to feel a sense of belonging, but my characters are adults and so I assume teens would find it harder to relate to them.

What kind of themes do you tend to focus on? What kinds of tropes? What about them appeals to you?

Enemies to lovers, found family and the good old only one bed. I live shoving two characters that may be icy toward one another into a situation that makes them a little closer. In love or in family bond.

What themes or tropes can you not stand? What about them turn you off?

Whumper. Is that a trope? Either way, I dislike it.

What are you currently working on? How long have you been working on it?

Golden Veins. Its been a series I've been planning and worldbuilding for for about 2 years.

Why do you write? What keeps you writing?

I write because I enjoy it. It lets me escape the real world. I keep writing because it keeps me from the boredom.

How long have you been writing? What do you think first drew you to it?

I used to write silly stories when I was 10, but then got serious when I was about 13. I liked the ability to be creative and put all of my ideas onto the page and find pride in my work.

Where do you get your inspiration from? Is that how you got your inspiration for your current project? If not, where did the inspiration come from?

Everywhere. TV shows, movies, other books. The inspiration for my current work is The Lion King as well as some other writers on AO3.

What work of yours are you most proud of? Why?

I'm proud of most of my works. I don't see any reason to pick one when everything I write brings me joy and pride.

Have you published anything? Do you want to?

No. And no. Maybe just on AO3.

What part of the publishing process most appeals to you? What part least appeals to you? Why?

I've never been interested in publishing my works. Maybe a short story, but the whole thing is tricky and just doesn't appeal much at all.

What part of the writing process most appeals to you? What part is least appealing?

Planning and character design. I love writing an outline and also writing about my characters. Character design is most enjoyable. I hate editing though, drives me to boredom.

Do you have a writing process? Do you have an ideal setup? Do you write in pure chaos? Talk about your process a bit.

I just open the document, put on some music and go for it. It's chaos, yes, but only in my mind.

Your Thoughts on Writeblr:

How long have you been a writeblr? What inspired you to join the community?

1 year. I joined at the recommendation of a friend.

Shout out some of your favorite writeblrs. How did you find them and what made you want to follow them?

@abalonetea - I don't recall how I found her work but the aesthetics alone made me follow. @woodhousejay - Again, my brain is mush, I don't remember how I found their account but I did. Their art is amazing.

What is your favorite part about writeblr?

Interacting with the community.

What do you think writeblr could improve on? How do you think we can go about doing so?

Just as I said above. We should all interact more with one another. I should likely try more.

How do you contribute to the writeblr community? Do you think you could be doing more?

I contribute my art, I suppose but I think I should reblog more when I can.

What kinds of posts do you most like to interact with?

Character introductions.

What kind of posts do you most like to make?

Art and character snippets.

Finally, anywhere else online we may be able to find you?

I have Instagram I hardly look at, but links to media I use is on my Tumblr.

Questions For Fun:

What is your favorite kind of museum to go to? Have you used anything you've learned from your visits in your writing?

My favourite museums are the ones with anything historical. Natural History Museums are quite enjoyable. I've learned a lot from museums, I use the things I've learnt more so in my art than my writing.

Do you have an OC you default to when drawing? What about them makes them so drawable?

I default to drawing Zazu or Silviano. I like their body types and the lines of their clothing and bodies.

What is your favorite murder mystery you've read? Why?

My favourite murder mystery I've read thus far is The Museum Mysteries, a series by Jim Eldridge.

#writeblr event #writeblr celebration #writeblr #iwaw

[aquadestinyswriting]

Writeblr Positivity Tag

OK, so 3rd time's the charm with this. Godsdamned life stuff getting in the way. Thank you to @captain-kraken for the tag.

Tags: whoever wants to complete this honestly, not sure who among my mutuals has done this already.

1. What motivates you to write?

Motivation to write is mostly an intrinsic thing and comes and goes depending on what is going on in my life. It has become a bit more consistent since I started treatment for ADHD though. Getting comments on my work helps a tonne as well since I like to keep my readers relatively happy.

2. A line/short snippet of your writing that you are most proud/happy of. If not maybe share a line of someone else's work you love (just please credit them)

This one is tough because I have a lot of snippets I'm very proud of. Let's go with one from Striking the Anvil:

Morag nodded in satisfaction again and set about damping down the fire while Meredith gulped down her drink. By the time the fire was out, Meredith was already getting up to head back to bed. Morag hugged her daughter tightly,

“If ye need anything’ else, hen, just shout. I don’t mind getting up.” She said, ruffling Meredith’s hair.

I love the close relationship Meredith has with her mother, and I'm thoroughly enjoying getting to show it off. For a character that was originally created for a d&d campaign, Meredith's family are very wholesome and somehow lived through the whole campaign, beginning to end.

3. Which OC makes you smile every time you think/talk about them and what are they like?

The OC that makes me smile every time is definitely Meredith. As much as I love and cherish Selene for being my first roleplay character ever, I got to play Merri from level 1 all the way to level 14/15 before I had to retire her to the role of npc when I took over as GM of the Destiny's New Servants campaign. Since Merri is everything I still aspire to be as a person, it's hard not to smile when thinking and talking about her.

As for what Merri is like: she's a forthright, loyal and devout woman. She will be the friend who will stand by you no matter what's going on, but will also be the first to call anyone out on their bs when it's needed

4. What process of writing do you enjoy the most?

I enjoy visualising the various scenes or pieces of a thing I plan to write. Sharing my work is the bit I enjoy the most, though. Knowing that whatever I've written will, hopefully, make others feel the way I did while writing is a big dopamine hit.

5. What part of writing do you think you are the best at? (Yes stroke your own ego it's okay)

I think I'm pretty good at dialogue exchanges. I do need to work on the actions and tags in between the banter, but I do love having a spiel where it's just two or more people talking back and forth. I prefer to write more naturalistic dialogue and it's fun to read it back to myself.

6. What is something in the writeblr community is most enjoyable?

The most enjoyable aspect of the writeblr community is getting to know other writers and geeking out over all our OCs and the situations we get them into. I also enjoy the tag games because I get to see other peoples' thoughts and feelings about their work, worlds and characters, as well as their processes for writing.

7. A writing tool/device you use that helps you with writing? (It could be speech to text, a writing program etc)

I'll give shout out to text to speech programmes, because they do help sort out where I've gone wrong in the grammar department better than just reading through the document does.

8. A piece of worldbuilding that you like in your own story? (It could be the magic system, a particular place in the story, a law etc)

I like all the worldbuilding tidbits that crop up in the stuff I write, but my favourite, by far, is the concept of cridhe-dàime. It comes up fairly often as a phrase that Meredith uses with regard to Elowyn and is a word that describes a type of queer-platonic relationship in universe. I came up with it after realising that Merri and Elowyn had a much closer friendship than most other characters even during the campaign the two were a part of. After said campaign ended I wanted to keep that closeness between them, and so came up with a word to describe a platonic relationship that was nonetheless as important to Meredith as her marriage to Yoruk. I didn't find out about QPRs until much later.

9. What piece of advice would you say to encourage others to write if they are having a rough patch?

If you're having a rough patch, it's ok to walk away from a project that's frustrating you. You can always come back to it later with a fresh pair of eyes and/or ears. I would advise that, if you do this, that you read other things, write other projects or just keep up with some form of general creativity because getting back into the saddle will be much harder if you don't.

10. Tag some people whose works you love/have been your biggest supporters

My biggest supporter is @druidx, who is the creator of Elowyn and was my roleplay partner during the Destiny's New Servants campaign, which almost all my writing is currently based on. I love the comments you leave on my stuff, and I hope it still brings you joy to read about the characters' exploits despite how long it's been since we last played together.

I will also shout out @blind-the-winds for their encouragement about the Fangthane stuff. I'm glad you're enjoying all the dwarven worldbuilding I've had to do to explain the culture and politics of the setting and hope you're enjoying the Fangthane's Folly series (I will get back to that and A Circle None Can Break really soon, I promise).

Other shoutouts go to @ashirisu, @odysseywritings, @asher-orion-writes, @mariahwritesstuff, @freedominique and @thesorcerersapprentice for their support.

#writeblr tag game #writeblr community #writing positivity

[justsome-di]

I really don't think you need special softwares and journals and apps to create good stories and characters

I think there are some perks to some. Scrivener is nice because you can lay out your whole book in one document in a really convenient way. I'm sure note-taking apps help writers visualize their characters and timelines. I'm sure Etsy-sold guides help some flesh out their worldbuilding and stories.

But new/young writers shouldn't be convinced that they need to spend money to be taken seriously as writers or get something good out. Through writing classes at school--with profs who are published--I never heard about any of these fancy things. And my experience and exposure is limited. I'm not published outside of a university magazine. I haven't networked with dozens of authors.

But idk I think if you're just starting out writing--maybe hold off on looking for any special programs. Even if your favs use them. I really don't think there's anything you can't do with Word or Docs or even just a nice, physical journal you got at Walmart.

So often you buy these things or download them, and they just collect dust on your hard drive. You forget you even made that file, you can't easily export the text, you can't access you work offline or from another device. You get a new laptop and can't synch everything. The program isn't as easy to use as you were promised, and you can't customize your work without a huge headache and learning curve.

Or even worse. You download everything and then you aren't making the progress you thought you would because software doesn't make you a great writer.

Just learn to trust what's in your head, and you'll come across resources you like later.

[moregraceful]

fic asks: 19 and 24, please!

ohhh thank you so much 🫡🫡🫡

19) when it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, ect.?

GOD. THE WORST WAY POSSIBLE: A SINGLE GOOGLE DOC. it ALL goes in one single google doc and then i'm forced to scroll around 15 pages of stuff just find what i'm looking for. under the cut is a screenshot of part of the 10 page planning/outline/research doc for a fic i'm writing where roope hintz is trans and like. please behold how nonsensical this is:

what fresh hell am i doing. beryl's notes to me on what they didn't like about my original outline going straight into quotes from jani hakanpää in an article about san diego and anaheim. if you scroll down, it's immediately followed by a bunch of tumblr links to gifsets of the finnish mafia. and the WHOLE doc is like this, there is NO organization or even like chapter headings to make it easier to navigate. there's a solid page of dates of when various stars players made it to the nhl/signed contracts followed immediately by a breakdown of various sexual and gender identities of characters. i hate it. i hate it so much. one time i tried splitting up various pieces of research and character notes and plot into a bunch of different documents but that was even WORSE. one time i tried to use notion too and that sucked so much for me.

tbh having written all this out maybe i'll try going old school for my much-maligned fth fic (a wwii au) and writing it all down by hand. i usually rough plot outlines in my planner and then transfer to a google doc to clean up, but maybe i just need to accept that four years of an english degree where laptops were not allowed in the classroom and where i researched and outlined 20-30 page essays in a notebook by hand really means that i was trained to do my story notation with color-coded pens and paper. god knows i don't know what else to do with my bullet journal lmfao

anyway. if anyone's got any tips hmu i'm in literal hell

24) have you ever become an expert on something you previously knew nothing about, in order to better a scene or a story?

oh gosh. i don't know about expert but my google doc (sobs) of quotes about the old forum that the habs played in is huge for my haunted habs fic. also was developing a story with beryl once about brayden point being haunted by ghosts of florida wildlife (Florida Man Sees Ghosts) and ended up with a working knowledge of florida fauna in the tampa bay area. that might also be bc i'm obsessed with the florida wildlife corridor though and love looking at pictures of tropical national parks on instagram. love to [clenches fist] look at animals on instagram and call it worldbuilding research.

#honestly...i can't write poetry on a computer either like it HAS to be done by hand so that degree really did a number on me #i mean it might have just been bc it was a small liberal arts school for weirdos and i lived in the english department but #kids these days don't even know. they have it easy. i had to do 3hr shakespeare exams in pen by hand #i gave myself a wrist injury in college in the semester i took 6 humanities classes. chatgpt can't give you that #cage replies #selkiefinalist

[hunterxhell]

i'm rereading dark continent arc to prepare myself for new chapters and I WANT TO SCREAM! i only reached ch 345 and why?! why is it so good? why the pacing, the questions, the mysteries, all of it just makes me go insane? Why is hxh so good????? Why it is so interesting????

YEAH!!!!!!!!! i can't yell enough about it!!!!

i'v been reading a lot of ongoing series lately, and some of them definitely seem to have been inspired by hxh but i usually find them lacking in some way. they don't scratch that same itch, even when they're attempting to do very similar things. i've been thinking a lot to myself about why that is so i guess i'll take this opportunity to blurt out some of my thoughts in some attempt to make them cohesive.

WORLDBUILDING!!!!!!!

the worldbuilding in hxh is so comprehensive. togashi doesn't just think "this sounds cool so i'll write it", you can tell when he gets an idea he considers what it means within the world of hxh.

i've read some series with lengthy, wordy worldbuilding. it gives you the impression the worldbuilding MUST be comprehensive, the author MUST have put a lot of thought into it, because there's just so many dang WORDS happening, but when you thinking a little bit more logically about certain elements, the whole thing just starts to fall apart. it feels deceptive and lazy to me when authors get really in the weeds on certain things that as a whole just don't make any sense in the story they're writing. i swear that sometimes authors will intentionally be as convoluted as possible, like a science study or a legal document, in the hopes that it dissuades you from picking it apart. togashi's worldbuilding feels genuine to me because i know he's not saying shit just to sound smart, he's telling you RELEVANT information that's NECESSARY for your reading experience, and it just so happens to also enrich your understanding of the world/characters.

2. CHARACTERS!!!!!!!

i've said this a billion times but i truly think togashi is a master at making likable characters. within just a few panels, a character you never thought you'd ever become invested in is now suddenly one of your favorites. characters aren't one dimensional -- some are presented that way at first, but it's all in order to make a humanizing moment they have later on all the more unexpected and endearing. a lot of characters also have an "outer personality" (how they present themselves) and an "inner personality" (how they actually are), which i guess is a bit like "gap moe" lol.

#i have even more to say but it's 2am and i need to stop #i love hxh #ask #anonymous

[not-poignant]

Thank you for telling us about Obsidian! I've used World Anvil in the past before but quickly grew frustrated for some of the same reasons you mentioned. I downloaded Obsidian last night to test out with the new rpg I'm running and finally! I can visualize info in a way that's accessible to me and it makes sense! I'm about to spend my whole day building canvases out haha and I'm so excited to do so!

It's fun right?

I think it really suits those of us who kind of know what we need and are excited to get writing on that vs. those who need templates and everything in advance which World Anvil is great at offering, but for me the slow load times and having those templates just weighs me down.

I've always written way more into plain Word documents re: worldbuilding than I ever have into a place like World Anvil even when *transferring that information* - because I wasn't sure how to transfer it (i.e to what categories).

Obsidian, on the other hand, is so light-weight. It also saves into documents automatically, which means you have everything there even if you don't want to open Obsidian. But I frankly love the graphics so much and the little graph to see how much I've achieved and where the stubs still are. It's been a big game changer and it's the number one reason I've been able to introduce solid details re: characters (how they look, surnames etc.) that I've always wavered on a bit more in the past!

#asks and answers #we're an Obsidian recommendation blog here #pia on worldbuilding

[cashandprizes]

you... are trying to get my ass in trouble. I'm into it. Thanks for sending the ask <3

Link to the choose violence post here!

1. the character everyone gets wrong

It's probably going to be Alexis. I support women's rights and wrongs, but I think she was in a damned if you damned if you don't situation. Is she just gonna let Sam bleed out? He lived and found his soulmate, or whatever, and seems pretty damn happy all things considered. I want to die as much as the next person but... idk. Doesn't seem like there were any good choices.

2. a compelling argument for why your fave would never top or bottom

This discourse doesn't really apply to me because I'm a 100% switch on the bdsm test (yes, this is documented) and so I always love switching. And since my fave is either Guy on a good day or Regulus on a bad day, there is only the switch variant. I was never that kind of shipper, even back in my hardcore anime days.

3. screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr

This will sooooo get me in trouble. But between the "I want to break Alexis's ribcage" and the "people who don't hate [redacted] ship are [long list of words calling people evil and abusive]" and the "if you write dark content or support Erik writing darker content you don't care about people who have experienced xyz" they're all pretty bad. I will not be screenshotting even though I think there's mutual blocking going on, but just know that I'm pretty sure the only reason I didn't also get death threats a month ago was because I had already blocked that person over something else.

Oh also? I hate the idea that the fandom needs to be welcoming to minors as a whole. I love when youths are into a fandom and make friends online, because that's what I did when I got on Tumblr pretty much a decade ago! I'd just like them to do it in their space for minors while I do things in my space for adults. I'm gonna be a whore and I don't need somebody's mama scrolling through their Tumblr and trying to be mad at me when I clearly say minors DNI. I don't understand why I have to make myself kid friendly when I tag my shit and make my stance clear. Literally what it says on the tin.

4. what was the last straw that made you finally block that annoying person?

I did at one point go through the Alexis tag and just block... so many fucking people for bad Alexis takes. I block A LOT of people without ages in their bio. I tend to block liberally, actually. Um, something that really annoyed me was realizing people couldn't understand don't like don't read. Instant block.

9. worst part of canon

This is a joke but I want more worldbuilding lore of how society functions. I love the lore for like the sky gods and all the old magic but I JUST WANT TO KNOW PRACTICAL SHIT. What happens when vampires go in the sun and does it change with age? How alive are vampires? Why don't my wolf shifters have knots, this is a real problem for me. How big are magical cities? How big is Shaw security? How big are most packs? Do all shifters form some sort of pack/collective group? How do empowered people get access to empowered resources or the internet or radio or tv? Do vampires piss?

I need answers.

Also. When will Erik finally write me the Avior BA using Calico's fic?

More realistically, I wasn't super satisfied with the Quinn ending which isn't a big deal, but I definitely felt like Darlin got wubified by Sam and David at the end. I'm sure some people liked them taking control, but that's the last thing I'd want. Just personality differences and also not the worst thing.

10. worst part of fanon

Why is everyone white?

I've never not been black so I'm used to this in fandom spaces at this point, but goddamn. Racism really is everywhere. Minority solidarity is more mythical than fucking unicorns.

#themonotonysyndrome #asks #speed run #i cannot put this in the tag or else people will fight me... if they don't have me blocked already lmao #redacted