penelopeclearwat3r

[penelopeclearwat3r]

When cats yawns they look terrifying, I love it.

[penelopeclearwat3r]

prompt 1525

What are the five most important events in your character’s life? Write a scene for each.

[penelopeclearwat3r]

Apparently a lot of people get dialogue punctuation wrong despite having an otherwise solid grasp of grammar, possibly because they’re used to writing essays rather than prose. I don’t wanna be the asshole who complains about writing errors and then doesn’t offer to help, so here are the basics summarized as simply as I could manage on my phone (“dialogue tag” just refers to phrases like “he said,” “she whispered,” “they asked”):

“For most dialogue, use a comma after the sentence and don’t capitalize the next word after the quotation mark,” she said.

“But what if you’re using a question mark rather than a period?” they asked.

“When using a dialogue tag, you never capitalize the word after the quotation mark unless it’s a proper noun!” she snapped.

“When breaking up a single sentence with a dialogue tag,” she said, “use commas.”

“This is a single sentence,” she said. “Now, this is a second stand-alone sentence, so there’s no comma after ‘she said.’”

“There’s no dialogue tag after this sentence, so end it with a period rather than a comma.” She frowned, suddenly concerned that the entire post was as unasked for as it was sanctimonious.

[penelopeclearwat3r]

Hehe... Soooooooo... Totally procrastinated to death my resolution to write something for every prompt from Start With This........ Unless I revive it?? I just gotta skip the one about co-writing because I'm not gonna start looking for a co-writing partner soooo.... Maybe probably someday soon.

#writing #procrastination #oops

[penelopeclearwat3r]

How to write a character-driven plot

The Character-Driven Plot Wheel

1. Emotions drive actions.

Make your hero act on their deepfelt emotions. This not only adds meaning to their actions, but also helps communicate to readers your hero’s core emotional struggle.

2. Actions trigger consequences.

When your hero acts, give their actions consequences that affect the plot, themselves, and/or the surrounding characters. For example, driven by curiosity, maybe your hero opens Pandora’s box; maybe they act recklessly and someone dies; or maybe they stand up for what they believe in, but at great personal cost. Consequences raise the stakes and empower your hero with agency.

3. Consequences compel change.

Use the consequences of your hero’s actions to create a crucible of growth — challenges and situations that force them to take the next step on their character journey. That step may be forward, or backward, and it may be large or small; but something inside them changes.

4. Change influences emotions.

When a character goes through a change, even a small one, allow it to affect them emotionally. Maybe they feel increasingly frustrated or guilty. Maybe they’re afraid, having just taken another step closer to abandoning their old way of seeing the world. Or maybe they finally feel peace.

Regardless of the form it takes, remember to reflect your hero’s change in their emotions. Then let their emotions drive action, to trigger consequences, which will compel further change.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

And there you have it! That’s how you write a character-driven plot.

So what do you say?

Give the wheel a spin.

— — —

Your stories are worth telling. For tips on how to craft meaning, build character-driven plots, and grow as a writer, follow my blog.

[penelopeclearwat3r]

Part three, "The Deal", posted 5th Nov, 2020

So I've decided I'm going to follow the Start With This podcast.

And I will be posting everything I write for the Create assignment on this blog.

I've made far too many excuses for far too long.

No more hiding. I'm gonna do this. I'm going to write.

Every other day I will be posting what I wrote for the assignments, starting at episode 1. Until I catch up with them. That's right. Every. Other. Day.

I'm going to write about an idea I've had forEEEVER but never got around to writing consistently.

Stay tuned for Start With This episode 1 assignment soon.

Tags will be #startwiththis #pennywrites #swt #swt1

I am going to write.

#start with this #pennywrites #swt #writing #writing motivation #fiction #writer #author #writing challenge #write #feedback

[penelopeclearwat3r]

Start With This – Create Assignment Solution #3

"Feedback"

Assignment

Write (and record if you’re a podcaster) a 2-minute piece (that’s about 200-250 words) about a fight between two people. Don’t work it too much. When you post it:

1. Ask for feedback

2. Set parameters for what feedback you want

3. Limit the feedback to an exact number of responses

4. Thank your responders once you’ve reached that number

Author's Note

So yes, if you happen to be reading this, you can provide feedback! I'd like to know:

What you think of the characters / What opinion you draw from them from this scene

Whether it was captivation to read or boring

Where you think this scene would be in a story – the beginning, the middle, or in the climax or conclusion area – and why

And finally do you think this is a realistic dialogue?

At the moment feedback is open. When I receive 5 different feedbacks then I will update the status in this post itself and that will be the end of the process. This is not a particularly active Tumblr page so that may be a while but it doesn't matter.

Thanks a billion. Here's my piece. Enjoy.

Solution

The Deal

"... Every time."

He turned around. "What?" He squeezed his fist closed and walked up to his thin roommate. Afraz towered over the young teen, but the boy was unfazed.

"I said, every time you're late it's because you were with that girl."

"Yeah? So?"

"So nothing," the boy said, shrugging. He held up his serpentine face and grinned his buckteeth at him. "Interesting tidbit. That's all."

Afraz remembered that this kid edited the college magazine. He scowled.

"Now, listen here you little wise guy. Whatever happens in my personal life is none of your business! You hear me? So keep your ugly mouth shut about it."

"Yeah? Why would I do that?"

Afraz flexed his arm. He hadn't yet achieved the big bulging muscles he needed to intimate the kid but his natural strength was good enough to imply medium to high levels of pain.

But the boy just rolled his eyes. "Don't give me that. I could give you a better idea than that! Hurting me will only make me want to write about you even more." He leaned forward. "How about you try handing out some favours to keep my mouth shut?"

Afraz barred his teeth.

"Come on! I'll make it easy. Promise."

"Fine! What do you want, kid?"

"My name's Benjamin. And I want you to introduce me to the girl you're hanging out with so much." Afraz frowned. "Not for anything wrong, trust me, I've seen her work. She's an ex-editor and writes plays and honestly I could use some help with my piece right now." He grinned. "So, deal?"

He sighed.

"Deal."

#start with this #swt #swt3 #feedback #the Deal

[penelopeclearwat3r]

Part two, "Dark Books on a Bright Day", posted 3rd Nov, 2020

So I've decided I'm going to follow the Start With This podcast.

And I will be posting everything I write for the Create assignment on this blog.

I've made far too many excuses for far too long.

No more hiding. I'm gonna do this. I'm going to write.

Every other day I will be posting what I wrote for the assignments, starting at episode 1. Until I catch up with them. That's right. Every. Other. Day.

I'm going to write about an idea I've had forEEEVER but never got around to writing consistently.

Stay tuned for Start With This episode 1 assignment soon.

Tags will be #startwiththis #pennywrites #swt #swt1

I am going to write.

#start with this #pennywrites #swt #swt1 #writing #writing motivation #fiction #writer #author #writing challenge #write

[penelopeclearwat3r]

Start With This – Create Assignment Solution #2

"Know Your Limitations"

Assignment:

Use a random number generator to select one thing from each list. Then write and record a 2-minute monologue incorporating each of the 3 random elements.

100 Greatest Bluegrass Songs (incorporate the song title in your piece):

Only Me

Most Populated US Cities List (incorporate the city):

Fremont, California

World’s 50 Best Foods List (incorporate at least one sentence or phrase from your food item description):

Masala Dosa, India – A crispy, rice-batter crepe encases a spicy mix of mashed potato, which is then dipped in coconut chutney, pickles, tomato-and-lentil-based sauces and other condiments. It's a fantastic breakfast food that'll keep you going till lunch, when you'll probably come back for another.

Author's Note:

My focus is on writing, not podcasting, so I'm not actually going to post an audio recording of me reading the piece. However, the word count requirements for a 2-minute monologue is only 260 words, so as such, I went way above the word limit. But I'm happy with what I wrote and so I'm going to stick with it. I know, I should have kept to the "limitations" but I was just having too much fun with it! Anyways, the pov character is pretty much me. Lol. Enjoy!

Solution:

Dark Books on a Bright Day

When it is summer in Shehrezad, I often find myself longing to disappear into a bookstore. I don't know why that is. I have an air conditioned office. I have an air conditioned home. There isn't anything stuffy or uncomfortable about either of these destinations. But on Saturday afternoons when I clock out of work at 12:30 and find myself in the glaring sun, all I can ever think about is burying myself into a nice, fresh book at the nearby bookstore.

There is something refreshing about finding myself between columns of novels and novellas, stepping from comedy to romance to horror. Perhaps I love the way my eyes are captured by the black texts singing of tales unpredictable, and how it feels to draw myself out of them and let my vision go red at the bright rays from the window.

Some people like to read in the rain, and that does hold its own merits. But reading in the light of a bold afternoon fills me with positivity. I feel like I am in the right place.

When I pushed open the glass door to let the cool air brush my face, I turned my head to see that there wasn't a single customer in the shop. Only me. I smiled.

The walls were a clinical white and the shelves seemed to be built haphazardly, like currents of the ocean, to bear the prospective reader along the aisles in its rivulets of titles, some sparkling with new plastic covers, others faded fossils of the deep…

As I moved further into the shop, I sensed someone behind the shelf at the very end of the room. Apparently I wasn't alone after all.

I turned into the corner to see a young man engrossed in a book. He stood hunched over it, eyes rapt on its pages, and he jumped when he heard me nearby. The book flopped onto the floor. 

'Im sorry! I didn't mean to startle you,' I said, scrambling to pick up the book for him.

'No, it's all right, Miss, I just thought I was alone,' he said apologetically, taking it from my hands. I saw the title and frowned.

'The Kite Runner?' I echoed, my surprise stark in my tone. He looked a bit younger than me, possibly just graduated, and had a vague innocence about him that I couldn't quite fit with his choice of reading.

'Yes,' he said, worried at the tone. 'Why? Is it a bad book?'

I gave out a short laugh. 'Well, no, not as such. But I personally don't count it as a nice one either.'

'Really? I heard it was well acclaimed. It's based in Afghanistan and Fremont, California, isn't it?'

'I'm not so sure about Fremont but Afghanistan I remember… Vividly.' I turned towards the shelf featuring more historical fiction. 'I only wish I could forget.'

He closed the book and smiled, leaning against the shelf and studying me with interest. 'You know, my friend told me he loved Khaled Hosseini's books. He said finish one of them and you'll probably come back for another.'

I raised my eyebrows. 'Well, if he enjoys the morbid and torturous kind of fiction I can hardly blame him for it, can I?' I shrugged. 'Some like the spicy. I like the sweet.'

He narrowed his eyes. 'So do you only read happy books?'

In answer I pulled a thick novel off the shelf and flashed the title at him. 'The Book Thief. Not a happy book by any means. This is a story about war and grief and pain. If you have ever felt your heart torn with loss, this story will find that wound and open it up until it bleeds again.' I dropped it into his unsuspecting hands and his shoulders dropped at the weight. 'But at least this book doesn't glorify pain! At least it doesn't ask you to watch people be killed slowly in front of your eyes. At least it doesn't view life as a punishment.'

I closed my eyes and shook my head. Don't get carried away. It's only a book.

But I opened my eyes and carried on to my conclusion. 'I like books that deal with heavy themes, so long as they reflect the awareness that it can and does get lighter after a while. The Kite Runner doesn't care about that. It's heartless.'

I let out a breath through my nose. I thought I had bored him to death with my rant. But the young man had a smile playing at his lips. He straightened up and introduced himself. I was stunned.

I shook his hand and laughed in relief. It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

When it's summer in Shehrezad, I often find myself longing to step into a bookstore. But not always to disappear. Sometimes, in a bookstore, I am found.

#start with this #swt #swt2 #know your limitations #dark books on a bright day #penny writes

[penelopeclearwat3r]

Part one, "Afraz Awakens", posted 1st Nov 2020.

So I've decided I'm going to follow the Start With This podcast.

And I will be posting everything I write for the Create assignment on this blog.

I've made far too many excuses for far too long.

No more hiding. I'm gonna do this. I'm going to write.

Every other day I will be posting what I wrote for the assignments, starting at episode 1. Until I catch up with them. That's right. Every. Other. Day.

I'm going to write about an idea I've had forEEEVER but never got around to writing consistently.

Stay tuned for Start With This episode 1 assignment soon.

Tags will be #startwiththis #pennywrites #swt #swt1

I am going to write.

#start with this #pennywrites #swt #swt1 #writing #writing motivation

[penelopeclearwat3r]

Start With This – Create Assignment, Solution #1

"Idea to Execution"

Assignment:

Pick an idea that you’ve had for a while. Take exactly 1 hour to work on it exclusively. This can be one continuous hour, or 30 minutes for two days, or 10 minutes for six days. Then put it out there (written or recorded) on our Membership Community, your website, or shout it to a bird from your porch. Consider this your first try of many at this idea.

Author's Note:

This piece comes from a character I've had in my head for LITERAL YEARS. I could never get the right story for him. I'm not going to say this is perfect or I've finally found my perfect opening scene for the character, but this does feel like a genuinely good representation of what's been cooking away in my brain for years. Or at least it hits all the right notes. I'm so glad I chose to START With This! Hopefully I can keep it consistent. Feel free to ask questions or drop comments! Liking and reblogging is encouraged. Please do not repost. Thanks in advance.

Solution:

Afraz Awakens

The room was blue.

It was blue, in both the senses of the word.

A ruffled young man sat on the edge of a bed whose covers were like the waves of the ocean – they were undone, white as the foam on a crest and, most of all, they were easy to be drowned in. Afraz sat, a figure reminiscent of one lost at sea and without much hope of ever finding land again.

His hair took on the majority of the ruffle, sitting atop his head, a crown of despair. He slowly blinked his blank dark eyes, staring at nothing. He had a long, not unhandsome face and a very light stubble. His thin white shirt was old and faded, and his sweatpants had not been changed for days.

Such was his folded figure, elbows on knees, listless, in a blue bedroom.

The rest of the space was full of dust mites catching the Saturday late afternoon light from the window. Books were littered on the desk to his right and some more lay on the floor, among some socks.

Afraz breathed in a deep, slow breath, straightening his back gently. He knew this: he was alive. And he knew that was supposed to be some kind of silver lining. He confessed to himself, he couldn't really see it.

Sleep. That was his solution. These days, whenever he felt the despair returning, he would come to his welcoming bedspread and bury himself in its embrace. This had worked for a decent while. But now he had run out of slumber. There comes a point when you have slept so much that sleep itself rejects you, and you are forced to turn, dazedly, to the face of the day, and actually earn your escape… by creating a life to escape from. Why did he have to do that? Why couldn't he be passive to his existence? Why couldn't he refuse?

There was a shadow in his blue walls, a fluttering shape that was gone the moment he noticed it. His eyes flickered towards it.

Knowing he would regret it, Afraz shifted his weight onto his feet. For a second his vision winked away. He knew he probably needed to eat. Still, ignoring it all, he stepped across to the open window, seeing a bright pink diamond floating by it.

'Hey, Afraz!' came a cheerful voice. She had a twinkle in her eye as she tugged on the string to manipulate the kite until it was close enough for Afraz to grab on to. Her giggles laced the air and made his head ache. He was about to leave Zinat to her little games and go back inside when she called out again.

'Wait! Afraz.' She snatched at the string as the kite nearly dropped on to the road, and relaxed her hand as it caught a steady breeze cutting between them. Then she stared right at him.

Zinat was a child, at least to him, and she was wearing dusty denim dungarees. Clearly she was out to play and had no reason to be in his neighbourhood, nor to look as worried as she suddenly did. Unless he looked particularly scary…

'Apa wrote to you. And it's none of my business, I'm only ten, I know,' she adopted a strident, annoyed voice for her next bit, 'Go sit in your tuitions and stop meddling with my life! – I know you usually say that. But… like…' The twinkle was now clouded over by doubt as she struggled to keep to the point. 'Did you read it?'

He broke eye contact and glanced at the sky, to which she immediately said, 'Oh, you're rolling your eyes. Hah. Of course you read it, silly me. Sorry for even asking. I'll stop bothering you.'

She let her bright pink kite fall gently to the white stone pavement and looked at Afraz for, he knew she felt, the final time. Then she said, 'She's really very sorry, you know. About everything that happened. And maybe you're handling it okay on your own but, well… She misses you.'

He still said nothing. He had nothing to say. So, dragging her once airborne paper kite along the ground, she walked away.

Afraz stared at that kite for a long while, then saw it in his mind's eye when it disappeared from view. At some deeper level he felt for that kite. He knew what it was like, being scratched in the dirt after flight.

He hadn't read it. In fact he didn't know what had been written to him or when. He did know he had a pile of unread mail sitting in an untidy heap downstairs…

He marvelled at the comment of her missing him. It seemed not to fit in with any of his life anymore. A few months ago he would have grown soft at the mere suggestion of such a sentiment. At the moment, he didn't have the capacity to do or feel anything. His energy was busy reigning in the more unpleasant detours of his wild train of thought.

He walked away from the window, from the kite, from the after-image of Zinat's worried face. None of it was her fault. He should have said something. But then, she had her parents with her, and of course, her Apa, her older sister. She could easily find support for her scars. Whereas he had no one.

He placed a hand on the doorknob, thinking longingly of instant noodles.

For the first time in days, Afraz smiled. It was a shockingly toothy smile and made him look slightly evil.

He must be really starving, he had reflected, to actually be pining for instant noodles!

Shaking his head at how his sense of humour had actually hit a new low, he unlocked the door and left the silent, blue room.

#start with this #swt #swt1 #pennywrites #afraz awakens #idea to execution #startwiththis

[penelopeclearwat3r]

So I've decided I'm going to follow the Start With This podcast.

And I will be posting everything I write for the Create assignment on this blog.

I've made far too many excuses for far too long.

No more hiding. I'm gonna do this. I'm going to write.

Every other day I will be posting what I wrote for the assignments, starting at episode 1. Until I catch up with them. That's right. Every. Other. Day.

I'm going to write about an idea I've had forEEEVER but never got around to writing consistently.

Stay tuned for Start With This episode 1 assignment soon.

Tags will be #startwiththis #pennywrites #swt #swt1

I am going to write.

#start with this #podcast #pennywrites #swt #swt1 #writing #writing motivation #no seriously i need writing motivation #thats why im gonna do this

[penelopeclearwat3r]

Writing Motivations

Spite

Inspiration

Hungry for Validation

Make readers go “Wow!”

Make readers go “Oh!”

Make readers go :’((

Horny

Dragons

Whom else is going to write this if not me??

They Gave Me a Keyboard and Cannot Take it Away Now

I Invented Several Languages and Must Use Them Somewhere

These characters are REAL and have things to do

I Like to Suffer

I like to be gay and unhinged but in a productive way

I care about my OCs and so must you now

I have issues I need to project on SOMETHING

Love is not fake and here is why, an entire book

Words Pretty

[penelopeclearwat3r]

More than a hobby

To any artist out there, no matter your medium or your skill, please keep going. Your work is powerful, your work will move mountains.

Reblogs are always appreciated ❤️

[penelopeclearwat3r]

am I hallucinating

Edit by OP: Here is the scene with more context. My bad I trimmed the original at like 3 am while I was crying.

#tawog #the amazing world of gumball #cartoon network #sjw #gumball watterson #tumblr #point well made #wow #cool #clever #cute

[penelopeclearwat3r]

I am a(n):

⚪ Male

⚪ Female

🔘 Writer

Looking for

⚪ Boyfriend

⚪ Girlfriend

🔘 An incredibly specific word that I can't remember

[penelopeclearwat3r]

write a story including a set of three things

1. a star, a pirate ship, a glass vial of poison 

2. a precious jewel, a cell phone, a prison cell 

3. a tunnel, a gold coin, a candle 

4. a map, a billboard with a hidden message, a small town with a big secret 

5. a wedding, a disappearance, a lake 

6. an inheritance, an empty mansion, a secret passage 

7. a blanket, a mother, a long car ride in the rain 

8. a corrupt government, a familiar melody, blue and pink lights 

9. a photograph, a train, a journalist on the verge of breaking a huge story 

10. a family tree, a faked death, a bouquet