#writer talk

[soul-struck]

my dad was talking about how love is a ghost. it slips under door frames, lies forgotten in the attic, leaves the windows open for the breeze to blow in and scatter the papers on your desk. love is a storm, it's what haunts you at night. he said that love is a ghost we chase our whole lives.

my mom said that love is a garden you water everyday. you can poison it, or grow it with love and sunlight. there will be disasters that uproot your garden, but just like the patience with which you wait for plants to grow, you have to let your love grow back like apple blossoms after a winter storm.

maybe the most important question you can ever ask someone is, "what do you think love is?" because understanding is instrumental to love. you have to love someone in their language, you have to fight for someone who thinks that love is won after a hard battle, and you have to wipe away the blood of someone who thinks that love is a sword held by its blade.

#warm up #its been a while since ive written something #writeblr #creative writing #writers on tumblr #writers of tumblr #what love is #fiction #excerpt from a book i'll never write #writing life #writing community #writing tag #writerscreed #writer things #writer tumblr #writer talk #kinda rough but i wanted to post something

[hayatheauthor]

How To Create A Morally Grey Character 

The term morally grey is now widely consumed by book communities across the web, especially by romance-based communities looking to talk about that one dark haired character with a tragic past. However, the sudden popularity of this term has caused a wave of misinformation and confusion amongst book communities. 

Readers and writers alike have lost track of what does or doesn’t qualify as a morally grey character, which can pose as a problem for misinformed authors, especially during the marketing phase. 

I previously penned a blog post with tips on how to write an antagonist, so here’s a similar blog for the morally grey characters. 

What Exactly Is A Morally Grey Character? 

Before I jump into my list of tips for writing a morally grey character, it is important to first clear the misconceptions surrounding this term. 

A morally grey character is a character who cannot be classified as purely good or purely evil because of their actions throughout the book. They are the villains with a good reason for their crimes, the heroes who aren’t afraid to cross the lines. They are the characters who might start off as just another protagonist or antagonist but soon shift into this grey area that can often confuse readers. 

Characters like Dumbledore, Snape, Regulus Black, and the gods in Percy Jackson, are all examples of a morally grey characters. 

Do you know who isn’t? Sirius Black, Luke Castellan, Dabi etc. Mainstream media has taken certain clearly good or bad characters and slapped the term morally grey on them in order to add to their romantic appeal (which is why these wrongly classified characters are almost always male). However, when writing it is important for you to know whether or not your character is actually morally grey. 

How To Tell If Your Character Is Actually Morally Grey 

Need help deciding whether or not your character is morally grey? Here’s one thing you need to keep in mind to help you out—if they are morally grey, they cannot be good or bad. 

Think back to that one character you chose to classify as morally grey. Take their backstory and personality and position into account, and now, answer one simple question—at what point in your book do they come across as morally grey? 

If your answer to this is something along the lines of ‘oh he works for the villain but feels bad when he kills people and told the main character that he doesn’t like doing this’ well, then I hate to break it to you but that is not a morally grey character. 

However, if this character ends up saving the main character from the villain, or gives intel to the protagonists, or does anything else that could be seen as good, then he is morally grey. 

Things To Keep In Mind When Writing A Morally Grey Character

Now that you know what a morally grey character is actually like, here are some tips you need to keep in mind to write a good morally grey character. 

Give Them A Reason 

Morally grey characters typically have to betray or go against someone close to their heart in order to do what is right, or wrong. Whether you’re writing a spy who betrays your main character or an antagonist who relays information to the protagonists, it’s important for you to have a concrete reason for why your character is the way they are. 

Was the organisation they initially worked for responsible for the death of their family or friends? Did someone close to them switch sides, causing them to follow? Are they simply gaining more wealth, power, or resources from the other side? 

Saying they simply had a change of heart or switched sides for the sake of switching is underwhelming and will make your readers feel bored, causing them to lack the sense of empathy we often feel for morally grey characters. 

It’s good to have a certain level of mystery for your morally grey characters, but you need to remember to flesh out their character so your readers can connect with them. 

Create Obstacles For Them To Deal With 

If you’re standing on no man’s land, you’re going to get hit with bullets from both sides. This especially applies to morally grey characters. Snape lived his entire life being defamed by those around him (possibly rightfully so), the Greek Gods were threatened, hated and almost killed by their own children. 

You need to create obstacles for your morally grey characters that are a result of their actions. Maybe the antagonists find out they’re being betrayed by your character or your character is seen as a villain by the public even if they secretly helped the protagonists save the world. 

Show your readers the consequences of your character’s actions. Show them how hard your character’s role truly is. 

I hope this blog on how to create a morally grey character will help you in your writing journey. Be sure to comment any tips of your own to help your fellow authors prosper, and follow my blog for new blog updates every Monday and Thursday.  

Looking For More Writing Tips And Tricks? 

Are you an author looking for writing tips and tricks to better your manuscript? Or do you want to learn about how to get a literary agent, get published and properly market your book? Consider checking out the rest of Haya’s book blog where I post writing and marketing tools for authors every Monday and Thursday. 

Want to learn more about me and my writing journey? Visit my social media pages under the handle @hayatheauthor where I post content about my WIP The Traitor’s Throne and life as a teenage author. 

#haya's book blog #haya blogs #hayatheauthor #haya sameer #writerslife #writer things #writer tricks #writer tools #writer tips #writer tag #writer talk #writer rambles #writer resources #writer community #writer advice #writer inspiration #writer life #writer on tumblr #writing blog #writing community #writing tools #writing inspo #writing advice #writing resources #writing ideas #writing inspiration #writing tips #writing tips and tricks #writing tag #writing tip

[ghosts-and-blue-sweaters]

I. I just made myself tear up. with my own writing.

#this has literally—and I mean literally—NEVER happened before #what the bleep #what did I just do #oh this is HEARTBREAKING #oh my… #my post #writer talk

[womaninwinter]

tagged by @hiddenvioletsgrow to share the last sentence I wrote:

“For a moment, for a twinkling of an eye, her love expands, extending not just to the brave and handsome boy that he is now, but to the husband he will be, and the father too.”

(I’m proud of this one 😏)

tagging @itripandfallalot, @dangerously-human and @polithicc if you guys feel like it 😌

#Tag games #writer talk

[spotofmummery]

OOC: Writer Rambles

I'm not sure if it's been particularly obvious, but I've been in a creative slump lately. It happens to all creative folks from time to time, and I guess this is my turn.

Tips or thoughts on how you wiggle out of a creative slump are welcome! <3

Anyhow, I'm posting this here because I'm making my own attempt to kick the slump by throwing alt character creativity at it. Fantasia is in the air, yes-yes!

Ahem!

Those who knew of this Tumblr way back in its shiny new days might remember that it originally started as a multi-muse blog. The Spot of Mummery story itself has many of my OCs and adopted NPCs on the cast page, in fact!

While these characters still do pop up in my writing from time to time, they haven't been as in the forefront as they were back then. I'm hoping if I dust some of them off and bring them up to date, I might get some creativity flowing again.

Amon isn't going anywhere, don't worry! He's the glue that brings all of these other characters together. Still, I've long considered a small spin-off scenario that focuses on characters like Zuri, Koh/Noah, and Mocho, so maybe it's time to look into it.

I don't have any solid plans in mind, but I did want to share my thoughts here and gather thoughts.

Those of you who successfully juggle a whole stable of characters in a multi-muse blog, I'd love to hear your tips, too!

Thanks for coming to my reverse Ted talk (and for listening). Have a great Friday! <3

#OOC #Writer talk #Creative slump #Tips welcome! #Thanks for listening <3

[cozchky]

the tag "Cellbit (guapoverse)" don't make sense to me???

#qsmp #qsmp fanfiction #writer talk

[jemsandjasper]

“How terrible it is to love something only death can touch”

-Unknown

#writerblr #poems and quotes #writerscorner #writers and poets #writer things #writing #poems and poetry #poetry #beautiful quote #quotes #quotation #quoting #quoteoftheday #writeblr #writerscommunity #writblr #writer talk #writers on tumblr #writerslife #writers block #my poem #writerscreed #love quote #sad qutoes #sad quotation #sad quotes

[walkawaytall]

Sometimes writing is a solid chunk of ice, words and ideas that feel frozen and clunky and unwieldy, and even though you might be able to carve them into a workable shape, they never sound quite as good as you know they could if only you could figure out how to melt them into something that flows.

And sometimes writing is a mist, words and ideas that sound perfect in your mind somehow evaporate when you go to put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard or whatever instrument you wield to whatever device is meant to absorb the perfect-sounding ideas. They never materialize quite the same again and you’re left wondering how you imagined something you’re unable to capture.

And sometimes writing is water, words and ideas flowing in a way that feels almost magically cohesive, every sentence spilling into the next as naturally and subconsciously as taking a breath or blinking. Everything you write sounds wonderful on the first pass, every bit of logic makes sense, and you feel at home among the words you manage to transcribe.

And I’d love for this to be some lesson about how the words born of ice are better for the struggle or the words born of mist are superior to what was originally imagined, but the fact of the matter is, at least in my personal experience the words that flow like water are always the best. This isn’t a metaphor for perseverance through hardship resulting in the best work. Writing really is just that irritating and obvious and, at least for me, the words that feel like ice literally never feel quite right no matter how many revisions they go through and the words that feel like mist never match the ones that evaporated when I tried to transcribe them and the words that feel like water are always, always superior.

Writing is such an annoying hobby, I swear.

#writer talk #writeblr #fanfiction writer #it me #queue queue

[sparrowsingsstories]

Deep thoughts about the Flora found around the Commonwealth.

We have a book on herbs that I think we would find in that area...so now to decide if they would still be found.

#fallout #already decided you can find acorns and walnuts #and mutated wild strawberries #and apples...maybe #and various herbs #writer talk

[anccaku]

I am unable to write porn without plot it seems. I just wanted to write something spicy nothing more, but then I added some backstory and now I’m writing a prologue to the smut, but I might have to change that a bit too because I don’t like how it looks now.

Siiiigh.

#nothing I write is going to be how I imagined in my head #the fics truly write themselves at this point #and if you wonder… #it is one of the mahito fics I showed #aku rambling #writer talk

[hyba]

June 2023 Writing Update: Twine, Audio Notes, and Video Game Design

Eid is coming up at the end of June, so this update comes a bit early as I am going to be busy pretty much for the entire coming week. Check it out!

#writeblr #writing #writers #writing community #writers on tumblr #writer talk

[elizaellwrites]

After some internal consideration, it seems that the writing block I've been plagued with is due to my exhaustion. I'm slowly working on it, and on new content for you. My motivation is low and the ease of finding words is even lower though, so please be patient.

I started a new accelerated class and my hours at work have also picked up. In the meantime, I'm trying to post character and world stuff. Writing isn't always easy, but I know this is temporary. In the meantime, I'm going to be doing my best to take care of myself and write when I can. For now, I'm unsure how this next month is going to be until the end of the semester.

Thank you, everyone, for your kindness and your support. 🌹🌹🌹

#writer talk #writer #writeblr #writing community #writers block #writers of tumblr

[sad-little-flame-man]

🤩 in the ask game :)

In TLOS it’s Xanthous. In general it’s usually my favorite character in that fandom

#The Land of Stories #a tale of Magic #Xanthous #xanthous hayfield #ask meme #anon ask #fanfic writer #writer talk #ao3

[ghosts-and-blue-sweaters]

AAAAH! GAH! RAAA!! AAAAA! AAAAAAAAAH!!! <—sounds of a girl who needs to write

#I HAVE TO WRITE I MUST I SIMPLY MUST #gotta get my words in #but I Doubt #oh boy #I really gotta go write #my post #writer talk

[womaninwinter]

23 and 31?

23. What’s a trope, AU, or concept you’ve never written, but would like to?

ooooh so so so many. I want to write a high school AU (that is not an entirely an AU). I would love to write a time loop fic sometime (although I have no ideas for that one). I have vague ideas for a spy AU. I have an unhinged concept for an epistolatory fic where Lucy's a translator, Lockwood's a project manager/small business owner who keeps sending her work and George is the super rude reviewer who leaves mean comments on her translations. And of course, Lucy and LW fall in love over email.

31. What’s your ideal fic length to write?

I think 5–8k is nice. It gives me space to explore an idea without feeling overwhelmingly huge and it fits into one chapter.

fic writer asks

#ask games #writer talk

[deandoesthingstome]

💕 self-love time! talk about which ones of YOUR creations (edits, artworks, fanfics) you like the most then send to other creators to do the same 💕

Oooh, Nonny! This is always such a hard question to answer. As a creator, I like them ALL. I mean, I decided to put the ideas down and see what happened, didn't I?

I guess you could say that right now, in this moment, I am full of pride for Walk with Me. It has been a labor of love for many months. And you wanna know a secret? Honestly? It has headed in a direction I did not intend.

I'll be real. I'm pretty sure I know how this story is going to end, but the way it started is a little bit different than how I originally thought it would go. Maybe once I get the story wrapped up, I'll post the original playlist, the one I listened to when I first started dreaming up this story, and we can chat about what might have been.

Until then...

#nonny asks #charlie answers #ask games #writer things #writer talk #fic rec #mine