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nicolodigenova · 3 years

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Masterpost of Free Gothic Literature & Theory

Classics Vathek by William Beckford Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë The Woman in White & The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu The Turn of the Screw by Henry James The Monk by Matthew Lewis The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux Melmoth the Wanderer by Charles Maturin The Vampyre; a Tale by John Polidori Collected Works of Edgar Allan Poe Confessions of an English Opium-Eater by Thomas De Quincey The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson Dracula by Bram Stoker The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Short Stories and Poems An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce Songs of Innocence & Songs of Experience by William Blake The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Pre-Gothic Beowulf The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe Paradise Lost by John Milton Macbeth by William Shakespeare Oedipus, King of Thebes by Sophocles The Duchess of Malfi by John Webster

Gothic-Adjacent Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen The Wendigo by Algernon Blackwood Jane Eyre & Villette by Charlotte Brontë Lyrical Ballads, With a Few Other Poems by Coleridge and Wordsworth The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens The Idiot & Demons (The Possessed) by Fyodor Dostoyevsky The Man in the Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas Moby-Dick by Herman Melville The Island of Doctor Moreau by H. G. Wells

Historical Theory and Background The French Revolution of 1789 by John S. C. Abbott Shakespearean Tragedy: Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth by A. C. Bradley The Tale of Terror: A Study of the Gothic Romance by Edith Birkhead On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History by Thomas Carlyle Demonology and Devil-Lore by Moncure Daniel Conway Ancient Pagan and Modern Christian Symbolism by Inman and Newton On Liberty by John Stuart Mill The Social Contract & Discourses by Jean-Jacques Rousseau Feminism in Greek Literature from Homer to Aristotle by Frederick Wright

Academic Theory Introduction: Replicating Bodies in Nineteenth-Century Science and Culture by Will Abberley Viewpoint: Transatlantic Scholarship on Victorian Literature and Culture by Isobel Armstrong Theories of Space and the Nineteenth-Century Novel by Isobel Armstrong The Higher Spaces of the Late Nineteenth-Century Novel by Mark Blacklock The Shipwrecked salvation, metaphor of penance in the Catalan gothic by Marta Nuet Blanch Marching towards Destruction: the Crowd in Urban Gothic by Christophe Chambost Women, Power and Conflict: The Gothic heroine and “Chocolate-box Gothic” by Avril Horner Psychos’ Haunting Memories: A(n) (Un)common Literary Heritage by Maria Antónia Lima ‘Thrilled with Chilly Horror’: A Formulaic Pattern in Gothic Fiction by Aguirre Manuel The terms “Gothic” and “Neogothic” in the context of Literary History by O. V. Razumovskaja The Female Vampires and the Uncanny Childhood by Gabriele Scalessa Curating Gothic Nightmares by Heather Tilley Elizabeth Bowen, Modernism, and the Spectre of Anglo-Ireland by James F. Wurtz Hesitation, Projection and Desire: The Fictionalizing ‘as if…’ in Dostoevskii’s Early Works by Sarah J. Young Intermediality and polymorphism of narratives in the Gothic tradition by Ihina Zoia

#for later

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nicolodigenova · 3 years

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Journals, articles, books & texts, on folklore, mythology, occult, and related -to- general anthropology, history, archaeology.

Some good and/or interesting (or hokey) ‘examples’ included for most resources. tryin to organize & share stuff that was floating around onenote.

Journals (open access) – Folklore, Occult, etc

Culutural Analysis - folklore, popular culture, anthropology – The Mythical Ghoul in Arabic Culture

Folklore - folklore, anthropology, archaeology – The Making of a Bewitchment Narrative, Grecian Riddle Jokes

Incantatio - journal on charms, charmers, and charming – Verbal Charms from a 17th Century Manuscript

Oral Tradition – Jewish Folk Literature, Noises of Battle in Old English Poetry

Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics – Nani Fairtyales about the Cruel Bride, Energy as the Mediator between Natural and Supernatural Realms

International Journal of Intangible Heritage

Studia Mythologica Slavica (many articles not English) – Dragon and Hero, Fertility Rites in the Raining Cave, The Grateful Wolf and Venetic Horses in Strabo’s Geography

Folklorica - Slavic & Eastern European folklore association – Ritual: The Role of Plant Characteristics in Slavic Folk Medicine, Animal Magic

Esoterica - The Journal of Esoteric Studies – The Curious Case of Hermetic Graffiti in Valladolid Cathedral

The Esoteric Quarterly

Mythological Studies Journal

Luvah - Journal of the Creative Imagination – A More Poetical Character Than Satan

Transpersonal Studies – Shamanic Cosmology as an Evolutionary Neurocognitive Epistemology, Dreamscapes

Beyond Borderlands – tumblr

Paranthropology

GOLEM - Journal of Religion and Monsters – The Religious Functions of Pokemon, Anti-Semitism and Vampires in British Popular Culture 1875-1914

Correspondences - Online Journal for the Academic Study of Western Esotericism – Kriegsmann’s Philological Quest for Ancient Wisdom

– History, Archaeology

Adoranten - pre-historic rock art

Chitrolekha - India art & design history – Gomira Dance Mask

Silk Road – Centaurs on the Silk Road: Hellenistic Textiles in Western China

Sino-Platonic - East Asian languages and civilizations – Discursive Weaving Women in Chinese and Greek Traditions

MELA Notes - Middle East Librarians Association

Didaskalia - Journal for Ancient Performance

Ancient Narrative - Greek, Roman, Jewish novelistic traditions – The Construction of the Real and the Ideal in the Ancient Novel

Akroterion - Greek, Roman – The Deer Hunter: A Portrait of Aeneas

Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies – Erotic and Separation Spells, The Ancients’ One-Horned Ass

Roman Legal Tradition - medieval civil law – Between Slavery and Freedom

Phronimon - South African society for Greek Philosophy and the Humanities – Special Issue vol. 13 #2, Greek philosophy in dialogue with African+ philosophy

The Heroic Age - Early medieval Northwestern Europe – Icelandic Sword in the Stone

Peregrinations - Medieval Art and Architecture – Special Issue vol. 4 #1, Mappings

Tiresas - Medieval and Classical – Sexuality in the Natural and Demonic Magic of the Middle Ages

Essays in Medieval Studies – The Female Spell-caster in Middle English Romances, The Sweet Song of Satan

Hortulus - Medieval studies – Courtliness & the Deployment of Sodomy in 12th-Century Histories of Britain, Monsters & Monstrosities issue, Magic & Witchcraft issue

Annual of Medieval Studies at CEU

Medieval Archaeology – Divided and Galleried Hall-Houses, The Hall of the Knights Templar at Temple Balsall

Medieval Feminist Forum – multiculturalism issue; Gender, Skin Color and the Power of Place … Romance of Moriaen, Writing Novels About Medieval Women for Modern Readers, Amazons & Guerilleres

Quidditas - medieval and renaissance

Medieval Warfare

The Viking Society - ridiculous amount of articles from 1895-2011

Journals (limited free/sub/institution access)

Al-Masaq - Journal of the Medieval Mediterranean – Piracy as Statecraft: The Policies of Taifa of Denia, free issue

Mythical Creatures of Europe - article + map

Folklore - limited free access – Volume 122 #3, On the Ambiguity of Elves

Digital Philology - a journal of medieval cultures – Saracens & Race in Roman de la Rose Iconography

Pomegranate - International Journal for Pagan Studies

Transcultural Psychiatry

European Journal of English Studies – Myths East of Venice issue, Esotericism issue

Books, Texts, Images etc. – Folklore, Occult etc.

Magical Gem Database - Greek/Egyptian gems & talismans [x] [x]

Biblioteca Aracana - (mostly) Greek pagan history, rituals, poetry etc. – Greater Tool Consecration, The Yew-Demon

Curse Tablets from Roman Britain - [x]

The Gnostic Society Library – The Corpus Hermeticum, Hymn of the Robe of Glory

Grimoar - vast occult text library – Grimoires, Greek & Roman Necromancy, Queer Theology, Ancient Christian Magic

Internet Sacred Text Archive - religion, occult, folklore, etc. ancient texts

Verse and Transmutation - A Corpus of Middle English Alchemical Poetry

– History

The Internet Classics Archive - mainly Greco-Roman, some Persian & Chinese translated texts

Bodleian Oriental Manuscript Collection - [x] [x] [x]

Virtual Magic Bowl Archive - Jewish-Aramaic incantation bowl text and images [x] [x]

Vindolanda Tablets - images and translations of tablets from 1st & 2nd c. [x]

Corsair - online catalog of the Piedmont Morgan library (manuscripts) [x] [x]

Beinecke rare book & manuscripts – Wagstaff miscellany, al-Qur'ān–1813

LUNA - tonnes from Byzantine manuscripts to Arabic cartography

Maps on the web - Oxford Library [x] [x] [x]

Bodleian Library manuscripts - photographs of 11th-17th c. manuscripts – Treatises on Heraldry, The Worcester Fragments (polyphonic music), 12 c. misc medical and herbal texts

Early Manuscripts at Oxford U - very high quality photographs – (view through bottom left) Military texts by Athenaeus Mechanicus 16th c. [x] [x], MS Douce 195 Roman de la Rose [x] [x]

Trinity College digital manuscript library – Mathematica Medica, 15th c.

eTOME - primary sources about Celtic peoples

Websites, Blogs – Folklore, Occult etc.

Demonthings - Ancient Egyptian Demonology Project

Invocatio - (mostly) western esotericism

Heterodoxology - history, esotericism, science – Religion in the Age of Cyborgs

The Recipes Project - food, magic, science, medicine – The Medieval Invisible Man (invisibility recipes)

Morbid Anatomy - museum/library in Brooklyn

– History

Islamic Philosophy Online - tonnes of texts, articles, links, utilities, this belongs in every section; mostly English

Medicina Antiqua - Graeco-Roman medicine

History of the Ancient World - news and resources – The So-called Galatae, Gauls, Celts in Early Hellenistic Balkans; Maidens, Matrons Magicians: Women & Personal Ritual Power in Late Antique Egypt

Διοτίμα - Women & Gender in Antiquity

Bodleian Library Exhibitions Online – Khusraw & Shirin, Hebrew Manuscripts as a Meeting-Place of Cultures

Medievalists – folk studies, witchcraft, mythology, science tags

Atlas Obscura – Bats and Vampiric Lore of Pére Lachaise Cemetery

#resources

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nicolodigenova · 3 years

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Tips for Writing a Difficult Scene

Every writer inevitably gets to that scene that just doesn't want to work. It doesn't flow, no matter how hard you try. Well, here are some things to try to get out of that rut:

1. Change the weather

I know this doesn't sound like it'll make much of a difference, but trust me when I say it does.

Every single time I've tried this, it worked and the scene flowed magically.

2. Change the POV

If your book has multiple POV characters, it might be a good idea to switch the scene to another character's perspective.

9/10 times, this will make the scene flow better.

3. Start the scene earlier/later

Oftentimes, a scene just doesn't work because you're not starting in the right place.

Perhaps you're starting too late and giving too little context. Perhaps some description or character introspection is needed before you dive in.

Alternatively, you may be taking too long to get to the actual point of the scene. Would it help to dive straight into the action without much ado?

4. Write only the dialogue

If your scene involves dialogue, it can help immensely to write only the spoken words the first time round.

It's even better if you highlight different characters' speech in different colors.

Then, later on, you can go back and fill in the dialogue tags, description etc.

5. Fuck it and use a placeholder

If nothing works, it's time to move on.

Rather than perpetually getting stuck on that one scene, use a placeholder. Something like: [they escape somehow] or [big emotional talk].

And then continue with the draft.

This'll help you keep momentum and, maybe, make the scene easier to write later on once you have a better grasp on the plot and characters.

Trust me, I do this all the time.

It can take some practice to get past your Type A brain screaming at you, but it's worth it.

So, those are some things to try when a scene is being difficult. I hope that these tips help :)

Reblog if you found this post useful. Comment with your own tips. Follow me for similar content.

#resources

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nicolodigenova · 3 years

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#resources #books

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nicolodigenova · 3 years

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Writing Websites

1. a website with a list of superpowers and what they are

2. a website that generates random au ideas

3. a website that generates names, basic info and futures in a bunch of languages

4. a website that checks your grammar

5. website that lists types of execution in the states

6. a website with info on death certificates

7. a website with info on the four manners of death

8. a website with info on the black plague

9. website with information on depression

10. a website with info on the four types of suicide

11. website that lists famous quotes

12. website with different kinds of quotes

13. a website with info on food in every country

14. a website with a list of different colors

15. website with a list of medieval jobs

16. website with a list of fabrics

17. website with a list of flowers and pictures

18. website with a list of flowers and no pictures

19. website with a list of poisonous plants

20. website with a list of poisonous and non-poisonous plants

21. website with a list of things not to feed your animals

22. website with a list of poisons that can be used to kill people

23. website with info on the international date line

24. website with a list of food allergies

25. website with a list of climates

26. website with info on allergic reactions

27. website with info on fahrenheit and celsius

28. website with info on color blindness

29. website with a list of medical equipment

30. website with a list of bugs

31. website with an alphabetic list of bugs and their scientific name

32. website with a list of eye colors

33. website (wikipedia sorry) with list of drinks

34. website with a list of religions

35. website with a list of different types of doctors and what they do

36. website (wikipedia again sorry) with a list of hair colors

37. website that generates fantasy names

38. website with a list of body language

39. website with a list of disabilities

40. website with an alphabetic list of disabilities

#resources

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nicolodigenova · 4 years

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WriterofthePrompts Ultimate Ask Masterlist 2 (Updated 05/20)

Wow, first of all I just want to say THANK YOU SO MUCH for all the support on the First Ask Masterlist! Obviously I had to make a second one with all the asks I’ve answered since then so here you go. You can also check out my list of Random Writing Tips. As last time, some of these posts have notes from lovely people who have added onto my answers with their advice and you can also help out fellow writers by adding your tips or ideas to the posts in the replies or by reblogging. Hope you enjoy! 😊

Writing Tips

Can’t think of what to write for a scene? Cut it.

The “organized chaos” form of outlining

Resources for writing a story synopsis

Can a comedy also have a good message?

Writing a fantasy fit for most ages (also under Fantasy)

When you’ve got an idea but don’t know how to expand it

Building on your story yourself

Will posting writing online hurt publishing chances?

Using a prompt for a series

Ways to give information to a character

How to give the same information to multiple characters at different times

Dialogue tips

Coming up with a title (expanded)

Making the real villain a plot twist

GRAMMAR CHEAT SHEET

Some resources for creating a language

How to decide if you want a good or sad ending (Also, how not to screw up an ending) (Also, why the GoT ending makes me sad)

How to skip over the passage fo time in writing (Part 1)

How to use scene breaks for the passage of time, change in location etc. (Part 2)

Story Structure Tips

Travelling scenes: when to skip and how to make them impactful

Writing a sloooow carriage ride without being boring

Moving back and forth in time in the story

difference between inciting incident and plot point 1

Blending backstory with present to further the plot

Writing scenes with a lot of characters

Writing a story as a journal or video log style

Third or first person?

Limited third person vs first person

Writing a long series

Connecting your ideas

When to introduce major and minor conflicts

How to develop your own style of writing

When to describe a character

Motivation and Positivity

Worrying about “originality” with your writing

Staying focused on writing

Sticking to one idea before moving on to the next?

Turning off the editor voice

starting to write and keeping motivation

quick tip on writing down inspiration in the moment

How do you know you are cut out to be a writer?

When you feel your plot isn’t exciting enough

When you think your idea is stupid (it’s not)

On covid-19 and whether I think it’s “bad” to take inspiration from it

When you think you’re writing has lost feeling

Character Development

Writing unnecessary scenes with your characters just for fun

Tips for writing a fully-fledged peppy girl

Teen raised by twenty-year-old family member

Mentor/Mentee relationship

Describing nature the way a nature-lover would

Showing a dead family member’s impact on the MC

Writing about a character losing loved one

Ways to show a character’s disgust

Why a “good” character would switch to the bad side

Why the “White Saviour” thing is a cliche and sucks

Villains who do things like “killing the dog”

Good and bad reasons to kill off a character

Character exercise when you lose their voice

Resources for learning more for a Jewish character (in the notes)

A reason a character might feel cliche

Representations of Gluttony and Laziness as humans

More on twins and siblings

How a tough character might react to something shocking/upsetting

Writing Types of Characters

Writing a good guy MC who turns out to be the villain

Bad guy turning good and making them sympathetic

Dr. Doof: how to write a great villain

Coming up with villains

Coming up with villains 2

Writing a scheming character

A character raised by a computer

Bilingual character tip

Interracial couples

Some negative traits for someone in a zombie apocalypse

Flaws for a Gary Stu type

a character trying to learn the language on a new world (also under World Building)

Good guy vs bad guy stories aren’t a cliche

Writing a CIA/FBI/Military character (also under Thriller)

writing a drunk character with some heartfelt moments and humour

Why NOT having diversity in your story cast is odd

A character with diabetes

Fictional races where one is “superior” to the other

Writing a serial killer as your main character (also under Thriller/Crime)

Writing a good Strong Female Character™️

Writing about a mob character (also under Thriller)

Writing a female astronomer in ancient Greece (Also under Historical)

Shy characters don’t have to be passive

Shyness and confidence aren’t mutually exclusive

World Building

Creating a creation myth

The creation of gods based on people’s beliefs

History research post (also under Historical)

Making an acronym from an organization

Naming world building aspects

strange weather ideas

ideas for ridiculous rules to join an excuse club

Why someone would put on a massive tournament

a character trying to learn the language on a new world (also under Types of Characters)

Making a magical setting exciting (also under fantasy/paranormal)

When you have too much information for an expansive world

Weaving a complex magic system into your story (also under fantasy/paranormal)

Using words referring to our world in a fictional world

Fantasy/Paranormal

Why gods would abandon their world

Aphrodite, Hephaestus and Ares: the original love triangle

basing gods on multiple gods

Why someone would control dreams

Dark fantasy with a dream shop

Conflicts for someone with the power to share dreams with others *

Ways to break a curse

Reasons why someone would need to break their curse now

Coming up with a good curse for your character

Ways to break the curse to get the Prince out of the tower

When the princess rescues the prince

Prince/ss of one kingdom raised by another king

why a princess would run away

Prompts for a King or Queen getting assassinated *

Why a villain would overthrow a royal family *

Reasons two Kings would marry each other *

which fairytales deserve retellings

Fairy tale prompts

Using fairytale characters in retellings

Stories written from the POV of fairytale villains

Writing a fantasy fit for most ages (also under Writing Tips)

Friendship between a dragon and a human

Vampire and human couple meeting

Angel and ex-demon hanging out together

demons that feed on love and joy?

mythical kids meeting humans

Sword fight resources (also under Historical)

Using an axe as a weapon

Haunted house story from ghost’s perspective

A family moves in to a house that is alive

Does the afterlife have to include religious aspects?

Writing the grief of a girl finding her friend as a ghost

Witch sisters with unequal powers

Reasons a village would be afraid of a kind wizard

How a wizard’s guardian might tell them they are a wizard

Making a magical setting exciting (also under world building)

Weaving a complex magic system into your story (also under world building)

Things a magic council would use money for

Ideas for magical powers

Ideas for ancient magical powers

Prompts about cities that are always in night

Prompts about a changeling

Reasons a magical world would need a saviour

mirroring strengths and weaknesses for magic manipulation

How an immortal could die under mysterious circumstances

How to get regular folk involved in a magical world

“Underused" fantasy settings

Funny dialogue making fun of fantasy cliches

Prompts about a hidden/occult society

Autumn prompts about fae

Manatees being confused for mermaids

Fantasy modes of communication

Sci Fi

Futuristic space pirates

How to tell who is the clone and who is the original

Artifacts curious aliens would steal from Earth

Weird things that would wipe out a part of the population

How a person could go back in time

Question prompts for a virtual afterlife

How a half-human character might realize their alien half

“Non cliche” ideas for an apocalypse story

Time travel prompts for the current era

Historical

Writing about the Tudor court

History research post (also under World Building)

Sword fight resources

Using an axe as a weapon

Quick reasons why genocide doesn’t just happen overnight

Writing a female astronomer in ancient Greece (also under Types of Characters)

Dragons in Ancient Egypt?

Writing about WOC in the 1950’s

Aftermaths of a civil war

Thriller/Crime (aka I-swear-I’m-not-a-criminal-just-a-writer asks):

writing assassins

Sassy Assassins 3!

How an assassin with special abilities would discover these abilities

Clues that would make a character suspect another for murder

Writing a CIA/FBI/Military character (also under Types of Characters)

Serial/mass murder…causes?

tests to get into secret organization

Writing a serial killer as your main character (also under Writing Types of Characters)

Tips for writing a consistent murder mystery

Murder mystery party prompts (humorous)

How to come up with subplots for a mystery

Writing about a mob character (also under Writing Types of Character)

Why a step father might be a suspect in a teen’s disappearance

Prompts of killer kids terrorizing their babysitter

Prompts about a college kid being stalked on campus

The Masked Sinner prompts

Prompts about a crime scheme in 1950’s

Superheroes and Super Villains

Sidekick wanting to be a superhero

Super villain cause ideas

Sidekick and villain falling in love (also under Romance)

Superhero story originality

How a super villain can get notoriety

Woman unknowingly falls in love a super villain

World building ideas for superhero stories

Effects of the power of intangibility

Alter ego prompts

Romance

How a princess and a pirate fall in love

two exes who end up working together

How two random kids could meet at school

Sidekick and villain falling in love (also under Superheroes)

Cliches in romance scene?

Original ways that a couple could break up

How to introduce a living girl and ghost love interests

Conflicts in relationship between chef and their pupil

Miscellaneous

Prompts about being abandoned

Character who has never danced in pressured into it

The best ask ever

MC and sister get kicked out of clan. What next?

Reasons characters would hate another (a concubine)

A disturbing cultish 1950’s-esque town

Some links to help find Beta readers

Why a principal would hate a student

Why a character would forgive their ex

Prompts about anomalies

Reasons a parent would be controlling

#resources

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nicolodigenova · 4 years

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Oh, no, I’d be too frightened to tease a senator!

#sky guy :(#star wars

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nicolodigenova · 4 years

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Luca Marinelli ─ Il padre d'Italia (2017)

#luca marinelli

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nicolodigenova · 4 years

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how to keep people in character: a guide

I have gotten some requests for advice on how to write specific characters, but the underlying principles to keeping characterizations canon-compliant can apply to writing anyone in any series. Better yet, this advice may help you come up with character interpretations that feel both canonical yet original (and distinct from mine!).

You can reduce characterization to three basic principles:

1) Habits and speech patterns

Habits and speech patterns serve as “shortcuts” that immediately connect the character to the canon. The audience recognizes these cues and will associate them to the actual character.

Speech patterns are particularly important to keeping a character recognizable. As soon as the speech pattern of a person deviates from canon with no explanation, the suspension of disbelief will break for an audience. A common issue I see in shipping fics is that people will make a character give the love interest a pet name that just would never leave their mouth in canon-compliant situations.

Habits can be verbal tics (e.g. they say “babe” a lot), bodily motions (e.g. touching their hair or pushing up their glasses), behavioural trends (e.g. eating a lot), or even phrases that come up often. The latter I find is underused but very effective. Here’s the thing about people in real life: they will repeat phrases and stories, sometimes even verbatim, to different people! If you lift a line out of the show or book and re-contextualize it, it’ll immediately feel like the canon.

Habits come with two caveats:

Do not overuse the tics. It can be annoying and intrusive, especially when used more frequently than in canon!

Do not rely too much on these habits for characterization. Your character may come off as a shallow imitation of canon without “substance” if so.

The next two tips will help give your characterization substance and originality.

2) Drivers in decision-making and thought patterns

People in real life often have patterns in the decisions they make or the thoughts they have because of some kind of underlying motivation, whether or not they are cognizant of it. The same will apply to well-written characters in fiction. Try to think about any significant decisions the character makes in canon and why they might exist. (Hot tip: If these motivations are not explicitly stated in the canon material, this is where you can come up with some extremely juicy headcanons!)

Understanding the fundamental drivers behind the character’s actions will allow you to extrapolate and write what they’d do in the situations in your fanfic. These non-canon situations can include relationships! It’s a common issue for romantic relationships in fanfic to feel OOC because the characters act inconsistently with their canon decision-making and thought patterns solely for their love interest.

Examples of common drivers in fiction:

Abstract values such as freedom, revenge, survival, self-preservation. (If you’re writing anything political, try to figure out how they value conservatism vs liberalism, anarchy vs authoritarianism, etc).

Baggage and trauma relating to familial issues or past relationships, which can often result in maladaptive trends in behaviour or hard-lined moral codes and ideals.

Significant relationships that affect their needs, goals, etc. Pay attention to platonic, familial, or romantic bonds that are strongly featured in the canon.

All these examples are interrelated. Often our abstract values will arise from baggage, which then influence relationships, which in turn influence our values. Try to think about how each of these types of drivers may relate to one another for your characters.

Stories tend to have the most layered characterizations when the author has identified two drivers that are in conflict with one another, or one that leads to opposing behaviours. This can also be the starting point for character growth, whether it’s a hero’s journey or descent into a villain role.

3) Cultural context

Cultural context is a subcategory of drivers that I often find is overlooked.

The culture in which someone was raised will often influence their decision-making habits, whether they conform to it or outright reject it. Recognizing the cultural context for a character can be very useful for figuring out cool little headcanons or extrapolating behaviour/opinions in the absence of canon material.

Some examples of how culture contributes to behaviour:

The kind of art and hobbies they enjoy, or at least are on their radar.

Knowledge they would have about certain topics—even mundane things like musical instruments, certain skill sets, etc.

Their judgments on themselves and other characters, as well as the values they’d project onto their relationships.

The actions they would take when trying to conform to social norms of the time period—or even the set of actions that might occur to them!

It’s a pet peeve of mine when characters behave in a way that ignores their cultural context, simply because it won’t feel realistic! Since I’ve been relating this to shipping, I will make this point: what time period and country (or coded culture) is this character in? What are courtship norms like? And, if we’re going to go the nsfw route, what “interests” (haha) would exist?

Here are some quick examples of this analysis applied to two different characters: Hakuryuu Ren (Magi), Daryl Dixon (TWD). These are characters I’ve gotten requests for—let me know if anyone is interested in others!

Keep reading

#resources

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