astralanonymousq

[astralanonymousq]

[astralanonymousq]

Solid advice.

[astralanonymousq]

If your plot feels flat, STUDY it! Your story might be lacking...

Stakes - What would happen if the protagonist failed? Would it really be such a bad thing if it happened?

Thematic relevance - Do the events of the story speak to a greater emotional or moral message? Is the conflict resolved in a way that befits the theme?

Urgency - How much time does the protagonist have to complete their goal? Are there multiple factors complicating the situation?

Drive - What motivates the protagonist? Are they an active player in the story, or are they repeatedly getting pushed around by external forces? Could you swap them out for a different character with no impact on the plot? On the flip side, do the other characters have sensible motivations of their own?

Yield - Is there foreshadowing? Do the protagonist's choices have unforeseen consequences down the road? Do they use knowledge or clues from the beginning, to help them in the end? Do they learn things about the other characters that weren't immediately obvious?

[astralanonymousq]

[astralanonymousq]

[astralanonymousq]

if you ever doubt your writing, be it your themes, or the reason behind it, remember that h.g wells wrote war of the worlds both as a commentary on colonialism and the horrors it brings, and because he fucking hated his neighbours and his 13 hour job, and wanted to write about the town in which he lived getting blasted to the fucking ground by lasers into an irreparable heap and all of the townspeople dying painfully 

you, too, can channel your hatred for that guy that lives down the hall and blasts music at 4am into the one of the most influential science fiction stories ever written! fuck it! i believe in you!!  

[astralanonymousq]

I'm learning to play DnD with my friends, we play very goofy with lots of jokes and I LOVE it. Meet Mouse - my character who is an owlin rogue and the characters of my friends (@dorkydeer, @bytwistwood, @chibirdart and @tubbynugget on Instagram). More about them in new comics hopefully :>. 

[astralanonymousq]

Reading books is good, but it's important to remember that they're written with the biases of their authors. I've never seen a book that wasn't written by a writer, so right off the bat, you gotta watch out for their pro-writing agenda,

[astralanonymousq]

“It’s the start of Nanowrimo,” the writer said.

The character looked up from their phone for a moment. They wiggled their socked feet hanging off the edge of the couch. “So?”

“So get up, get dressed, get out there,” the writer said. They reached over the back of the couch and plucked the phone from the character’s grip. They frowned. “Are you texting your rival?”

“Not my rival until you set the circumstances,” the character said. They brought their arms over their head in a stretch. “Until then they’re just hot.”

The writer couldn’t deny it. The rival was very hot. “I need you to get up for me to set the circumstances.”

The character grinned. “You didn’t do any Nano prep, did you?”

They did not.

“I just need you to sort of stand next to them,” the writer said defensively. “It’ll come to me then.”

“Sure, sure,” the character said in a sing-song voice. They slunk towards the door. “Maybe it won’t be enough for me to stand next to them. Maybe I’ll need to hold their hand to inspire you.”

The writer swallowed. “I’m sure that won’t be necessary—“

“Maybe we should kiss.”

“No, that’s—“

“Be right back,” the character called, disappearing down the hall. “Gonna go kiss my hot rival!”

“No!” The writer booked it after them. “No, no kissing!”

The character laughed.

[astralanonymousq]

Temples are built for gods. Knowing this a farmer builds a small temple to see what kind of god turns up.

[astralanonymousq]

We all love the "becoming the very thing you sought to destroy," trope. but I have a growing fondness for "destroying the very thing you sought to become"

[astralanonymousq]

people I still want to stab over a decade later:

Creative Writing Professor at a former college: Welcome to creative writing! By the way, you will not write fantasy, ghost stories, pranormal, or science fiction in this class, as this is a creative writing course.”

[astralanonymousq]

ROYAL CUNT DOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[astralanonymousq]

It's always a little sad when you realize that the only way to make a scene work is to cut out a chunk of it. Sometimes, you gotta sacrifice some really nice words on the altar of clarity.

#i feel this

[astralanonymousq]

simulation of monkey pressing button

Keep reading

[astralanonymousq]

Write the bonkers, unhinged, weird idea that you think no actual person will like. Because guess what? You're an actual person, and you liking it still counts.

[astralanonymousq]

i think we as a society need to use cell phones/laptops/cars/backpacks to flesh out characters