hkonwo

[hkonwo]

free resources to write a novel in 2024

hello hello! it's me, rach!

as the new year approaches, many of us set goals and resolutions - myself included. one of my goals for 2024 is to write a novel (I've been procrastinating on this for quite a long time now). i assume that some of you might have the same goal, that's why I'm writing this post today.

over 2023 i've been releasing some freebies for authors just like me, so I thought I could compile my favorites in this post. hope you find this useful :)

1) the writer's workbook

this workbook has over 60 exercises to help you develop characters, scenarios, etc. if you're ever stuck, I'm pretty sure this workbook will be your best friend.

2) author's corner (notion template)

this is the most downloaded freebie in my shop! it is a notion dashboard with everything you need to organize your writing and has some templates included (like scrivener)!!

3) another notion template

this one has two themes you can choose from: cottage-core and dark academia. they're very similar to the previous template, but this one is more recent and I added some new features. feel free to explore both and pick the one you like the most.

4) the author's journal

this is a cute printable with 20 pages that will help you stay on track and manage your social media accounts as a writer who shares their work online. you can also register what you're currently writing and your personal research and resources.

5) plan your book printable

this is a 6-page printable for you to fill out and plan your book easily and effectively.

6) excel sheet to organize tasks & word-count

this is a simple excel sheet, but it is very effective for keeping track of your tasks & word-count of your novels. also, it is 100% customizable to your liking!

that's all for now! feel free to explore my gumroad shop where I have plenty of freebies to grab! also, don't forget to subscribe so that you never miss any opportunity to get a goodie for free :)

hope this post was useful!

have a nice day,

rach

[hkonwo]

how to write traumatized characters— the revamp

i know i know… you’ve seen this a million times. but i personally haven’t a version along the lines of this, and in my (very very humble and not aggressive) opinion, that other post did not mention a key point in trauma, especially when approaching traumatic characters in literature.

so here goes.

the only rule for writing trauma:

no one goes through the exact same trauma quite the same way.

i know, this should be obvious to everyone. but still:

not everyone has no idea what their trauma is.

not everyone hasn’t recovered from trauma.

not everyone feels the same towards it.

that’s because we’re all different.

i notice that in media most of the time there’s a very… one track (?) version of traumatized characters portrayed. and i’m not going to sit here and say no one goes through trauma that way— they do— but it also sends out a wrong message that either you respond to your trauma that way or you simply don’t have it.

take me for example (hello :)!). i, like many, have gone through a lot. i can sit here and say for the most part what i’ve been through— however no, i’m not recovered. i’m honestly quite embarrassed of it. i don’t think about it constantly but when i do i quite simply try distance myself from it mentally because that’s easier. i don’t have any stress relievers (especially not physically) because most of the time i try to avoid thinking about it (unless that counts as a stress reliever? i think of it more as a coping mechanism).

sometimes i feel one very specific way about it, but other times, i’m like well… that happened.

and that is okay!!!!!!!

the level of a characters reaction to traumatic events does not dictate the level of trauma the event was in itself. yes, with the more severe the trauma, generally the reaction may be more severe…. but that is not always the case.

and to be honest, there is no one way to write a traumatized character. the best way to do so is to research (sites like reddit, where actual, real traumatized people can tell you about it) or learn from yourself even (i find a lot of my characters have trauma responses like me… coincidence….?).

so here are some quick tips:

when writing, (hear me out) let yourself focus more on subtle telling than shallow showing. don’t show me visually that a character is anxious because they bite their nails, tell me the how they falter in their step when they see someone who looks like someone they remember.

subsequently: try not to make it obvious tells when you’re showing. a character biting their nails and looking side to side when someone mentions a triggering subject is as good as telling us exactly what’s going on

focus on internal more than external. go deep into your characters inner fears and beliefs— don’t tell me why they have those beliefs, show me small previews of the things they dislike and how certain things may trigger a memory

a character may not speak happily about it, but that doesn’t mean they won’t speak about it at all (this also doesn’t mean that them speaking about it is like free therapy— talking about it doesn’t make it better a lot of the time)

also: the character may not show signs of it, but that doesn’t mean the character doesn’t know what their trauma is/dont know that they have trauma at all

it’s okay to write characters who have recovered from trauma, in fact i’d say it’s just as important as writing characters who have not

treat trauma like the subject it is. just because you’re not constantly having a character think about it doesn’t mean it’s any less serious. don’t make a joke of it please (i know in this day and age it’s satirized (which honestly makes me sad) but it is not funny, not pleasant, and not something to be jested about. it’s also not cool and doesn’t make anyone ‘cool’) research where you need to. don’t hand out trauma to characters like free coupons/just because you can— it comes off disingenuous and really demeaning

this really all boils down to making characters where even if they are foil characters (God bless i don’t know what to call them in regular non-script formatted writing) you know that the author (you in this case) has spent a lot of time crafting them. of course there’s limited ‘screen time’ for side characters but please still spend time fleshing all your characters out even if by the end we don’t know exactly what their trauma is :) happy writing.

[hkonwo]

Writing Groups After Trauma

If your characters have recently experienced something difficult and you want to expand on the emotions that they feel afterwards, I have a couple of tips for writing realistic emotions after the fact.

During the Event

During the actual difficult event, whether a member of the group has died, been kidnapped, or people are in a stressful situation, people react in ways you wouldn’t expect.

Gallows humor is a great example of this! If people are helpless during a difficult event, the easiest way to cope with it is to make jokes about it. This separates the serious, life-threatening event from the jokes they make.

Expect a lot of praying from religious and non-religious people, quiet panic attacks, and surrealist humor. The people next to your character will become very close with them during this time (even if it doesn’t last after the fact).

Your characters might turn to random topics, like the past (ooh, convenient flashback time!), their plans if stuff hadn’t happened, or something stupid like a funny story they once heard.

Mob mentality, folks. People are fragile during events like this, so if one person has even a semblance of leadership, they’ll listen.

How Do They React?

After the fact, people try to cope with it the way that they’re most used to.

Your characters will be closer to each other. They’ll lean on each other and be personal in ways you wouldn’t normally think of.

Is your character in touch with their emotions? Expect a lot of crying, anxiety, and compassion. These people will recover quickly because they’re able to deal with it by facing it head on.

Is your character cold-hearted and reasonable? Expect a lot of irrational rationalization. They’ll try to frame the situation in a way that it doesn’t affect them. This can separate them from the rest of the group.

Is your character tough and resilient? Expect anger and action. If they have supporting friends, these people are the most likely to fight back.

Does your character already struggle with trauma, anxiety, or depression? They might not process the event until much later. They’ll look fine during and right after, but these characters might deal with severe dissociation and anxiety, even PTSD. Recovering will be a long process.

The Group Together

After a difficult event, people band together in ways you wouldn’t imagine. It’s hard to stay by yourself when you’ve gone through something hard. Your characters will be much closer, and they’ll work on healing next to each other.

[hkonwo]

physical intimacy prompts

holding hands during a stressful situation

smiling in-between kisses

touching foreheads

cheek kisses

slow dancing

intertwining fingers

comparing hand sizes

resting your head on your partner's lap

piggy back rides

standing on your tip toes to reach your partner's lips

kissing your partner's wounds

forehead kisses

falling asleep on your partner's shoulder

bridal carries

spooning

rolling over in bed, switching positions during a kiss

embracing your partner

intertwining fingers when making love

pulling away from a kiss, deeply looking into each other's eyes, appreciating being here with each other before diving back in

nudging into the crook of your partner's neck

being carried/tucked into bed, after having fallen asleep on the couch waiting for your partner to come home

saying ''i love you'' in-between kisses

nose boops

back rubs

tracing fingers down your partner's chest

hand on chest during a casual conversation

bumping into each other

hugs that last longer than they should

showering together

hands around the waist

straddling your partner's thighs

helping your partner undress

playing with your partner's hair

falling asleep to your partner's heartbeat

resting a hand on your partner's back

squeezing each other's hands

sitting in your partner's lap

cupping your partner's face

tickling

linking arms with each other

exploring each other's lips

caressing your partner's face

brushing your lips together, lingering for a moment

jumping into your partner's arms

wrapping legs around your partner

tucking a strand of hair behind your partner's ear

pulling your partner into your lap

hugging from behind

lifting your partner off the ground

holding hands across the table

holding hands under the table

bear hugs

caressing your partner's hand

laying a hand on your partner's thigh

literally sharing a sweater

slapping your partner's butt

tummy kisses

feeling each other's pulse

glancing at each other's lips

falling asleep while cuddling on the couch

climbing back into bed, onto your partner's body to wake them up

[hkonwo]

OKAY SIT DOWN SHUT UP, WE’RE GONNA TALK COLORS

THIS IS SAPPHIRE

THIS IS TEAL

THIS IS PERIWINKLE

THIS IS AZURE

 AND THIS IS TURQUOISE

WONDER WHY THOSE ALL DON’T LOOK LIKE THE SAME COLOR? BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT 

OTHER THAN BEING PART OF THE SAME FAMILY OF BLUES, THEY ARE NOT ALL THE SAME FUCKING COLOR! WHY WOULD THEY ALL BE THE SAME FUCKING COLOR! DO YOU THINK WE JUST NAME NEW COLORS FOR KICKS!?!?!?

WHEN DESCRIBING A CHARACTER’S GOD FORSAKEN EYE COLOR, PICK ONE YA GODDAMN HIPPIE

[hkonwo]

How to Write OCs With Trauma

Just as I had shown with the 3 love posts for this series, there are a ton of ways that trauma can be shown through character behaviors or even speech patterns. Different people react differently when it comes to trauma, and you should also keep in mind what kind of trauma the character had gone through and what they were like before it occurred before deciding how they would be like now.

In the following post, I will be giving some different responses to trauma that your characters could display.

I. The “IDGAF Anymore” Trauma Response

Perhaps one of the most used responses to trauma that you see in characters in media is the character that blocks off their emotional responses to anything thereafter. They may fall in love with someone but they’ll never admit it because they don’t wish to be hurt. They may find a new family to love them but they shut themselves off from expressing said love because they are afraid of being hurt again.

Essentially what this response boils down to is a fear of being hurt again. Most people that shut down emotionally have been abandoned or abused or betrayed by someone they once trusted in some way; sometimes the thing that makes them feel betrayed isn’t even the other person’s fault such as an older sibling moving out of the house and away from their family once they get older or the death of a loved one.

II. The “Anger Issues” Response

I have known 2 people personally really well that have had this response to trauma. This response is where a person is so emotionally shut down (much like the last response spoken about) that they won’t allow themselves to show any emotion other than anger.

I once had a therapist tell me “usually when a person is angry, there is another emotion behind the anger, whether it is fear or depression or otherwise.” So the first question you should ask yourself when making a character with the rage response is… why are they angry? What emotion is being masked by the explosion of their anger? What are they trying to hide from? What traumatic experience is making them feel this way and how do they really feel about said experience? Depending on your answers and the kind of character you’re writing about, the angry outbursts can be different.

Some people will yell, some will get violent, some will punch holes in walls and doors and furniture… some will scream into a pillow… some will storm away in the middle of a conversation or hang up the phone if someone says just the wrong thing. Really think about what your character is like, how they respond to tense situations, before you lean into their anger response because some anger responses do not fit certain personality types.

III. The “Sensitive One” Response

Some people, when dealing with tense situations, become intensely emotional. They may cry easily when someone just looks at them cross-eyed. They might go quiet when they’re anxious. They might get really defensive at the smallest things. The Sensitive One can be shown in many, many ways, as there are lots of different types of sensitivity, so really consider your character and what they’ve been through before you decide which type of sensitive person they are.

IV. The “Unmasked Hero” Response

Not all heroes wear capes… that’s the saying, right? These people are the activists. These are the people that will talk to anyone for hours and hours just to talk them down. These are the people you always hear saying “I never want people to feel the way I felt when I went through this.” These are the people that become therapists to help others going through their issues. The Unmasked Heroes live their lives to make it so that no one has to experience the pain that they felt, if they can help it.

V. The “Rebel” Response

I do what I want. That’s the theme song of the Rebel. They lash out, usually acting like the victim no matter what happens (sometimes they really are, but sometimes they aren’t). Trauma can completely rewire a person’s brain, but with the Rebel, they often felt repressed before or like they were unable to fully be themselves and when something traumatic happens, something snaps in them to trigger that “I don’t give a flying fuck” response in their brain and suddenly they’re doing anything and everything they ever wanted to do (and sometimes even didn’t want to do) just to spite the rest of the world and if you don’t like it, you can kiss their ass. This can also be shown through a runaway after something traumatic happens.

This is another very common, often used trauma response.

VI. The “Mental Breakdown” Response

As a mentally ill woman myself, I want to emphasize: not all who go through trauma get mental illnesses and not all with mental illness went through a mental break. That being said, it is very common for an extremely traumatic experience (or life, in some cases) to give someone a mental illness. Or rather, to bring it out of them. There are illnesses like Bipolar, PTSD and more that come to the surface after an extreme mental break, PTSD being the more famous for this very situation.

What is important here is that there is no one situation that will cause a mental break. Depending on the person, it can be something that would be nothing to one person but would completely break another down while a third person might be going through 5 things all at once and seem to be handling it well. There are so many different illnesses out there, and a lot of them are very similar, so what I think is most important is that you do your research before you write an illness you have not personally seen or experienced. If you know someone with an illness you want to write about, ask them if you can run some idea by them and make sure it isn’t stigmatizing the illness, as mental illness gets stigmatized left and right in media.

VII. The “Class Clown” Response

Another common thing that is shown in media - and I’ve noticed is very common in real life - is the depressed clown. There are so many people that listen to society telling them it isn’t okay to not be okay, so they laugh and clown around to make others laugh and just like a lot of people need others’ compliments to feel validated, these people often need laughter to feel validated.

Some people that become the Clown type will deflect their sadness by making dumb jokes. Maybe, if you write about your character texting or on social media, you can show them in a downward spiral and just get on their social media page to post a dumb pun to negate the negativity. Or make a joke at their own expense, which is also common. A lot of people will make others feel bad for not being able to laugh at themselves, and these people are [often] great at doing exactly that, even if they end up in tears later on when they’re by themselves.

VIII. The “Angsty Artist” Response

As I’m sure a lot of you are aware, a lot of artists have a lot of emotions they are processing and a lot of them will use their art (whether it be visual or writing or otherwise) in order to process it.

You may have a teenager writing angsty fanfiction or poetry. You may have a young adult opening their first blog where they write about their life beginning adulthood. You may have a person that is drawing dark, gory artwork. Whatever it may be, the art can either directly reflect the way they feel, such as the dark artwork, or they may do the opposite and write about their personal idea of a utopia and use art to escape. Either way, the art is a means to process and understand themselves better and/or escape from reality for however long they do it.

The only good and bad thing about using this response is that a lot of people that use art end up getting lost in it. They end up becoming obsessed and never cease to work on the art or think about the art and may become consumed by their own processing creativity.

IX. The “Addiction” Response

Addiction can come in so many forms. It can be the typical drugs, cigarettes, alcohol… or it can be addiction to getting lost in a hobby (see #8: The “Angsty Artist”)… or it can be becoming a workaholic. Honestly, anything can become an addiction if you let it consume you, so keep that in mind. It could even be something such as them becoming a hoarder because they are afraid to let their past go, so they won’t let anything go.

There are so many other responses to trauma. There are billions of people in the world, and tons of them have trauma in their lives. To say that it all boils down to these responses would be silly, but these are some common responses to trauma that would be a great starting point if you’re trying to figure out how to have a character of yours going through trauma.

[hkonwo]

fifty ways to get to know your characters (and how to write them)

what is their name? and how does this fit their character?

last name?

do they have a middle name?

name a song that describes them

what are their pronouns?

gender and sexuality?

do they like someone romantically?

list five words to describe them

what about five dialogue tags to use consistently on this character?

what is their motivation?

do they consider themselves a good person?

colour that describes their personality

MBTI type

enneagram type

character they're based on

person they would bring down whilst dying

person they would kill if they had the chance

character they would get along with if they were in the same universe

character they would hate if they were in the same universe

artist they would listen to

artist they would hate

give them a theme song

make them a playlist! (see my other post for songs to put on that playlist, here)

make them a mood board

assign them an aesthetic

what are their strengths?

what about fatal weaknesses?

the one person who can convince them to do something they're stubbornly against

who would they kill for?

what tropes do they fall into?

fatal weakness (food edition)

book they would definitely read

language besides their mother tongue they would (have) learned

murder accomplice

thing that makes them go weak at the knees

most obscure thing they HATE

while we're there, biggest phobia

are they (would they be) a book or movie person?

are they a romantic

childhood experience that defines an aspect of their life

what is their age?

birth sign? / zodiac?

what constellation would they be

name a famous myth could they would have been the main character

old or new soul

assign them a smell

assign them a smell they like

can they swim?

street smarts or brain smarts?

what is this character's purpose to the plot?

[hkonwo]

Trey Clover is suspicious as hell

At the beginning, Trey seems like a boring, grounded, big brother type of character whose purpose is to balance out the eccentricity of the rest of the cast. Once you get a little further, you realize he does have his own quirks and moments of selfishness. But then you stay there. You still accept him as one of the most normal characters in the cast, and you register the oddities as flukes… and not as hints into something more.

Hello, I’m still here and I’m still into TWST. As a returning present, here’s a 1k words long overanalysis and theory post about Trey.

Keep reading

[hkonwo]

(source)

Unsplash -  photography, illustration, and art

Pixabay - same as unsplash

Pexels - stock photos and videos

Stockvault.net - stock photos

Veceezy - vectors and clipart

Getdrawings - simplistic images and drawing tutorials

Gumroad - photoshop brushes (and more)

Canva - needs login but has lots of templates

Library of Congress - historical posters and photos

NASA - you guessed it

Creative Commons - all kinds of stuff, homie

Even Adobe has some free images

There are so many ways to make moodboards, bookcovers, and icons without infringing copyright! As artists, authors, and other creatives, we need to be especially careful not to use someone else’s work and pass it off as our own. 

Please add on if you know any more sites for free images <3

[hkonwo]

A Quick Guide to Varying Sentence Starters

One of the things that really winds me up about my own writing is looking back and seeing a multitude of sentences beginning with “I” or “And” or “But”. I’m a messy first-drafter as it is and I do a lot of line edits, but it’s still takes up a significant portion of my time going back to change things. 

So, I’m here today to share with you the ways I try to vary my sentence starters and some tips and tricks for drafting and edits” 

-.-.-.-

We all know why it’s important to vary your sentence structure, and by extent, your sentence starters. Besides obvious intentional things such as creating tension, or specific mood/tone/atmosphere, we should be aiming to vary how we start sentences to keep the reader engaged and not it being repetitive.

This is especially important if you, like me, write in first person and begin a lot of sentences with things like “I was” or “I am” etc. Or if you have a habit of beginning sentences with characters’ names. But what other options do we have? Here are five general categories that I like to use:

ING WORDS Coughing, she pushed her way through the blaze.  Smiling, he leaned in for a kiss. 

SIMILIES (and other techniques) Like the chattering of a typewriter, their eyes flittered over the group in front.  Sweeping in like a dove, she cut through the awkward conversation.

PREPOSITION (beside, near, with, across, around, out, at, in, etc.)  On the starter’s whistle, I pushed forward.  Under the heavy fog, the streetlamp glowed valiantly 

CONNECTIVE (Because, but, and, despite, after, before, etc.) After he left, I slipped the dagger back into its brace.  But I wasn’t about to give in now.  ED WORDS Distracted, she let the ice cream fall from her hands.  Stunned by his words, they stopped in their tracks. 

.-.-.-.

Obviously you can make these examples much more complex and attuned to your own styles! There are lots of other ways you can vary your sentence openers, these are just what I personally use - so hopefully you can get some use of them! 

.-.-.-.

Hints and Tips!

Use the highlighting treatment! Go through your WIP and focus on your sentence openers. Select a different colour for each category (Blue for She/He/They/I starters, red for ED Words, yellow for ING words, as an example) and use it to help you see where you may need to add some more variation! 

This also is a great exercise to do with a published book you really enjoy or by an author you admire - it’s a great learning experience!

Use a good mix of short, long, and medium sentences! If you find that your writing feels a bit samey or dry, even with varied openers, try changing the structure of the whole sentence itself! 

Experiment and play around with word order and structure - free write for a few minutes every day and try something new! It’s all practice and even if it never sees the light of day in your WIP, it’s still a worthwhile thing to do! 

.-.-.-.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this guide and/or found it useful!

If you’d like to request a particular guide, please pop into my inbox and leave a request!

[hkonwo]

Unique Magic Names and Incantations

These are the Unique Magic revealed thus far in-game. This is a work in progress, and will be updated as we progress through the story. Some incantations have not been revealed, and others have been revealed in other media. Those will be noted. Last Updated: Chapter 6 Part 3 (1st Half)

HEARTSLABYUL

Riddle

NAME: Off With Your Head (lit. Behead Them) FIRST APPEARANCE: Prologue INCANTATION: It’s time to hand down your sentence. The verdict will come afterwards. Are you ready? Off With Your Head! FIRST APPEARANCE: Twisted-Wonderland Manga Episode of Heartslabyul: Volume 1

Ace

NOT REVEALED

Deuce

NAME: Bet The Limit (lit. Tit for Tat) FIRST APPEARANCE: Chapter 5 INCANTATION: NOT REVEALED

Cater

NAME: Split Card (lit. Scattered Hand of Cards) FIRST APPEARANCE: Chapter 1 INCANTATION: I am him, and he is another. Split Card! FIRST APPEARANCE: Twisted-Wonderland Manga Episode of Heartslabyul: Volume 2

Trey

NAME: Doodle Suit (lit. Paint the Roses) FIRST APPEARANCE: Chapter 1 INCANTATION: NOT REVEALED

SAVANACLAW

Leona

NAME: King’s Roar (lit. Roar of the King) FIRST APPEARANCE: Chapter 2 INCANTATION: I am hunger. I am thirst. I am what robs you of tomorrow. King’s Roar! FIRST APPEARANCE: Dorm Leona Personal Story

Jack

NAME: Unleash Beast (lit. Shattering Howl on a Moonlit Night) FIRST APPEARANCE: Chapter 2 INCANTATION: NOT REVEALED

Ruggie

NAME: Laugh With Me (lit. Fool’s Parade) FIRST APPEARANCE: Chapter 2 INCANTATION: NOT REVEALED

OCTAVINELLE

Azul

NAME: It’s A Deal (lit. Golden Contract) FIRST APPEARANCE: Chapter 3 INCANTATION: NOT REVEALED

Jade

NAME: Shock The Heart (lit. Gnawing Teeth) FIRST APPEARANCE: Chapter 3 INCANTATION: No need to fear, I only wish to help you. Shock The Heart. FIRST APPEARANCE: Chapter 4

Floyd

NAME: Bind The Heart (lit. Coiling Tail) FIRST APPEARANCE: Chapter 3 INCANTATION: NOT REVEALED

SCARABIA

Kalim

NAME: Oasis Maker (lit. Everlasting Grace) FIRST APPEARANCE: Chapter 4 INCANTATION: A haven within the hot sands, a never-ending feast. Dance! Sing! Oasis Maker! FIRST APPEARANCE: Chapter 4

Jamil

NAME: Snake Whisper (lit. Snake Charmer) FIRST APPEARANCE: Chapter 4 INCANTATION: The one you see reflected in your eyes is your master. Answer when I ask. Bow when I command. Snake Whisper. FIRST APPEARANCE: Chapter 4

POMEFIORE

Vil

NAME: Fairest One Of All (lit. Poison From a Beautiful Flower) FIRST APPEARANCE: Chapter 5 INCANTATION: Nothing to lose, nothing to fear. The shining crown is meant for me. Fairest One Of All. FIRST APPEARANCE: Chapter 6

Epel

NAME: Sleep Kiss (lit. Crimson Fruit) FIRST APPEARANCE: Chapter 6 INCANTATION: Close your eyes, still your breath… Sleep Kiss. FIRST APPEARANCE: Chapter 6

Rook

NAME: I See You (lit. The Bow and Arrow that Flies to the Furthest Reaches) FIRST APPEARANCE: Chapter 6 INCANTATION: Come, let’s see you try to outrun me. I See You. FIRST APPEARANCE: Chapter 6

IGNIHYDE

Idia

NOT REVEALED

Ortho

NOT REVEALED

DIASOMNIA

Malleus

NOT REVEALED

Silver

NOT REVEALED

Sebek

NOT REVEALED

Lilia

NOT  REVEALED

Requested by Anonymous.

[hkonwo]

微笑まれたい

[hkonwo]

Sad things you can do in a book other than killing of a character

Character death is sad, but it also has huge consequences on your plot that can’t be reversed. Not to mention, depending on your genre, character deaths are often reserved for later in the series as a way of telling the reader that things are getting serious. 

So, until that moment, here’s a quick list of things you can do to tug at your readers emotions: 

1.- Destruction of an item of value. For this to work you’re going to have to set this up early on, it could be a childhood toy they need to sleep at night, a necklace they swear gives them good luck, and old family trinket or any number of things. The important thing is you show just how important it is to the character, make them happy and excited just to talk about it. Later on your character will feel loss and so will the audience. 

2.- Arguing. Two characters with a strong bond arguing can be heartbreaking, even if you know the argument is going to resolve itself eventually, going from cuddles and banter to cold looks and the silent treatment, can easily hurt the audience just as much as the characters. 

3.- Betrayal. When well done, it’s worst than character death. When you as a reader fall head over heels in love with a character, only for them to betray the rest, it’s heartbreaking, especially if when you read back the foreshadowing was there. It was so obvious yet you were all so blind! As blind as the other characters. Also, unlike character death, they’re still there, there to taunt you with their mere existence. 

4.- Failure. We have probably all felt that emptiness, that feeling as the world crumbles around us, haplessness, when we failed an exam in school or just couldn’t get the house clean in time for that visit. Take that feeling and reflect it into your characters, it doesn’t have to be an exam, it can be anything, a task they’re parents asked them to do and they tried their best, a mission, anything. Just let them fail and feel the world crumble. 

5.- Being forced to stay behind. Following from point four, if a character is not good enough they can be left behind, perhaps it comes from a place of love, an attempt to protect them from enemies too strong, yet it still hurts. Perhaps they haven’t failed, perhaps they are left behind for another reason, because they are “too valuable”, or because they’ll be more useful back home. Either way, watching those close to you go of to fight for what you believe in, without you, can be painful. 

6.- Finding out something they believed in was a lie. It can be something relatively insignificant, an assumption they never bothered to question. Or something world shattering. Allow me to offer up an example with an unimportant spoiler from my second book (it’s not even out yet but oh well): in this book, while talking about some law, Henry realises his daughter believes he and her mother were married. This is an assumption Itazu made and never questioned. It affects nothing, nothing changes, yet finding out her mother and her father were not the happy married couple she’d always pictured, it’s painful. 

This could also be something huge, finding out you’re adopted for example. 

7.- History. Oh, history, how depressing it can be. And if you have a fantasy world you have many opportunities to go into this. From slaughters to slavery, finding out how society got to where it is, the base on which it is built. Well, it’s pretty depressing. Obviously be careful how much inspiration you take from real world history and always be respectful and do your research! 

8.- Scarring. An injury can be painful, it can be scary. And depending on what caused it, leave you with traumatising memories. Now add to that a physical visible reminder on your skin you can never remove. Well, that can be pretty horrible. Imagine the scar came from a battle the protagonist longs to forget, but can’t because every night before going to sleep they can’t help but glance at their arm where the nasty scars forever lies. 

As usual,  check out my book, stories I’ve written plus other social medias: here.

This another post I could probably do a part two on someday. Can you think of any books where any of these are done effectively? Do any of these happen in your owns book? Please tell me! I love hearing from you all. 

[hkonwo]

ok but like when did self-sacrifice become synonymous with death? writers seem to have forgotten that people can make personal sacrifices for the greater good without giving their lives. plots about self-sacrifice and selflessness don’t always have to end in death. suffering doesn’t have to be mourning. you can create drama and emotional depth on your show without killing everyone. learn to explore the meaning of living rather than dying

[hkonwo]

Masterpost: How to write a story?

Compilation of writing advice for some aspects of the writing process.

How to motivate myself to write more

How to get rid of writer’s block

Basic Overview: How to write a story

How to come up with plot

How to create a character

How to make a character unique

How to write conversation

How to write the last line

How to create a villain

Introducing a group of characters

Large cast of characters interacting in one scene

Redemption arc

Plot twists

How to write a summary

How to write romance

How to write emotional scenes

How to write yelling

How to title fanfiction

How to use songs in a fanfiction

Fatal Character Flaws

Good traits gone bad

More specific scenarios

Slow burn

How to create quick chemistry

How to write a bilingual character

How to write a character with glasses

How to write a polyamorous relationship

How to write found family

How to create and write a cult

Criminal past comes to light

Reasons for breaking up while still loving each other

Forbidden love

Date gone wrong

Causes for the apocalypse

How to create a coffee shop atmosphere

How to write enemies to lovers

How to write lovers to enemies to lovers

Arranged matrimony for royalty

Paramilitary Forces/ Militia

Honeymoon

Academic Rivals to Lovers

Love Language - Showing, not telling

How to write amnesia

AU ideas

Favourite tropes

Inconvenient things a ghost could do

Milestones in a relationship

How to write age difference

Platonic activities for friends

Introducing partner(s) to family

Writing a stratocracy

Reasons a couple would divorce on good terms

Love Language - Showing you care

How to write the mafia

A Queen’s Assassination Plot

Crime Story - Detective’s POV

Giving the reader butterflies with your characters

Evil organization of assassins

Last day on earth

If you like my blog and want to support me, you can buy me a coffee! 🥰

[hkonwo]

Hi! Can you give some prompts about non-sexual things about the main characters that gives the readers butterflies? And also slow burn prompts?

Hi :)

Slow burn in general is what you make of it, so I would give you my Master Prompt List and the how to write slow burn post. I bet you can come up with some great slow burn stories from that!

For your other question, here are some things that the reader could find cute about your characters:

Giving the reader butterflies with your characters

calling the other by a nickname only they use

being cute with animals

using inside jokes with each other

giving them something they are passionate about

being selfless in a moment where it’s easier to be selfish

giving them relatable flaws, that connects the reader with the character

making good-natured fun of each other

showing them in their element

giving them wit and a sense of humor

being fiercely protective

letting them rant about something they love

Hope you get inspired by this!

- Jana

[hkonwo]

AU ideas

A compiled list of alternate universe ideas.

Roommates AU (x)

Flower Shop AU (x)

Coffee Shop AU (x, x)

Book Shop AU

Tattoo Shop AU

Mob/Mafia AU (x, x)

Royalty AU (x)

High School AU (x, x)

College AU (x, x, x)

Boarding School AU (x)

Time travel AU (x)

Spies AU (x)

Coworkers AU (x, x)

Neighbors AU (x,x)

Teachers AU

Friends with benefits AU (x)

Library AU

Supernatural/Magic AU (x, x)

Bodyguard AU (x)

Prison AU

Hogwarts AU

Outer Space AU (x)

Firefighter AU (x)

Cop AU (x)

Lifeguard AU (x)

Modern AU

Assassins AU (x)

Rockstar AU

Band AU (x)

Professional rivals AU (x)

Soulmates AU (x, x)

(Post-)Apocalypse AU (x)

Fairytale AU

Arranged Marriage AU (x, x)

Celebrity AU (x)

Historical AU (x, x)

Pirate AU (x)

Superhero/Villain AU (x, x, x)

Social Media AU

If you like my blog and want to support me, you can buy me a coffee! And check out my Instagram! 🥰