#writing hack

[whatmakesagod]

How to Stop Spinning Your Wheels and Write

First: mental health is real. If you are in burnout, take care of yourself because if you push yourself in burnout, you can prolong it. You might want to try some of these things to keep being creative during burnout, but don't force yourself.

Take care of yourself.

Try more creative outlines. I don't outline the way most people think of it. I outline with moodboards that nobody but me can understand, including main characters, relationships, side characters, and aesthetics. It makes sense to me and, when I look at it, I know exactly what I want each picture to do and say and why it's in the space it's in. If you are more visual, you can try that or a Pepe Silvia-esque string board. You can even try a playlist that is one song per chapter to convey the mood and repeat songs as needed. Don't take forever to do this; spend no more than a day or two and then get to writing.

Instead of a character sheet, writing the same scene from the POV of every character in a given chapter so you learn more about them. Character sheets can get some of us really in the weeds and we focus so much on whether or not our characters like punk vs classical music and certain fashion tastes that are ultimately not going to be on the page. That's not to say knowing these things are bad, but you can also get to know your characters by writing how they view each other and certain situations and by doing that, you also learn their motivations in each scene.

Just write 100 words a day of the project. That's it. Or a page in a notebook or 15 minutes of a sprint. Give yourself a small, reachable, tangible goal where you can see your writing grow. 'But I don't know where the story is going!' That's OK! It doesn't have to be perfect. You can write four pages and realize it's going nowhere and then cross it all out and start again. Pros do that, too.

If you're writing SFF, identify if you have Worldbuilder's Disease. What is this? It's when you spend all your time building a world for a story and you never get around to the story because the world isn't 'finished'. Tolkien didn't finish building his world. Last time I checked, GRRM never created more than 7 words of High Valyrian; David J. Peterson did for GOT. If you have Worldbuilder's Disease, make a checklist for what you absolutely need and if you have 75% or more done, you write and worldbuild on alternating days until you have what you absolutely need. By then, you should also have a better understanding of your characters and plot. If worldbuilding is your passion, you don't have to abandon it; but if it's stopping you from writing the story you want to tell, at some point, you do need to stop focusing on the worldbuilding and on the story.

If your perfectionism is the problem and you feel that draft one has to be perfect, this is going to be harder for some people than it is for others. For some people, accepting that draft 1 isn't going to be the end result is by calling it 'the shitty draft'. For others, it's by doing a draft zero, which I believe comes from screenwriting, and you write an unstructured draft with all your research and pants the hell out of it. For some people, that is draft one, for others, its a way to trick their brain into not putting too much pressure on themselves. Let yourself infodump in the draft if you have to. Get a cheerleader or enabler.

Get yourself an accountability buddy. Find someone in your friend group who also has a novel they want to write or a piece they want to learn how to play or a game they wanna finish, set a date for when it needs to be done that is reasonable, and check-in with each other. New Years' Resolutions don't work for most people, but cheering on a friend and them cheering you on and having someone who will ask you 'how's the book coming?' and listen to you when you talk about the best and worst parts of the week can be really effective to stopping yourself from going back to spinning your wheels.

Get a critique partner. Can be someone you met in fandom if you both are coming from the fanfic world or critique circle or a writing group in your area. If what you need is feedback, put yourself out there to get it.

Carrot method. If what you need is a treat, find a treat within your budget. Some people get a cupcake on Fridays if they met their writing goals four days in a row. Others treat themselves to a literary magazine subscription or a new hardcover book if they hit their goals for the month. If what you need to do is watch an episode of your favorite TV show after writing 800 words that night, do it. My personal variation of this is writing 500 words of the main project before I can work on other projects. Some days, I never get to the projects and others, I breeze right through and then get to do a whole short story I've wanted to write all week.

Fill in the blank method. My strongest points are dialogue and dynamics. If I forced myself to do internal things and description and sensory details down to the last detail on the first draft, nothing would ever get done. I give myself leeway and write the dialogue and dynamics and add the things I have to later. The more I practice internal aspects and description, the more I just do them, but I don't pressure myself. Pressuring yourself is not the answer.

Start in the middle. Starting is hard; many writers start in the wrong place, especially on their book. Some people do have a better sense of where a story should start than others, but some people have a better idea of what a strong finish is than others. Maybe your strength is the finish line. It's OK to write the last half of the book first and then add the first half. The first few chapters are almost always the chapters that are rewritten the most; that's why they tend to be the strongest and tightest.

#writing #writing hack #writing improvement #writblr #writers of tumblr

[magicalwildlifeknittingthing]

My Must-Haves For Fictional World-Building // Wednesday Whatevers

Hello everyone, I hope you’re having a lovely morning, afternoon, or evening! Over the years, I feel like I’ve perfected (more or less) my world/character-building process, so I figured, why not make a post about it? I’m a neat freak as well, which helps a ton. Below, I’ve included everything I do/make to keep track of all my characters, worlds, and their traits as well as other resources that…

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#callie #callie elizabeth #callie&039;s corner #fantasy #fantasy writing #fiction #fiction writing #world-building #writer #writer hack #writer hacks #writer tips #Writing #writing hack #writing hacks #writing tip #writing tips

[museaway]

After weeks of feeling like I'm drowning in WIPs and never sure which one to work on, despite my pretty digital system in Notion that had been working for a couple of years, I've gone analog.

I assigned an index card to each WIP and put the subject, what event it's for (or if it's a gift), and noted the due date in the top right corner. (My pen is blocking a bang fic that has to stay secret.) There's room for notes on each card if I need them. And when a fic is done, I'll get to remove the card from the stack, which will feel significant!

I arranged the cards by date on the table and easily selected the two to prioritize today. Being able to hold the cards seems to help. I have a better sense of quantity, and I don't have to open an app to check my WIP list (which will inevitably distract me). This is already working better than the paper checklists I've made in the past, and I can stick the cards in a drawer when I don't need them, so they won't stress me out.

#writing hack #is this a hack #I've seen people outline on cards before #that's really helpful if you haven't tried it #so easy to rearrange your scenes #anyway this exercise made me realize #that I should be working on Nagisa's bday fic #writing #writers of tumblr

[sleepngwriter]

Show don’t tell tips

Today I’ve been feeling particularly inspired. Not enough to write my wip, but enough to write some posts on a blog I didn’t remember I had.

So, in my last post I mentioned the show don’t tell rule, but what is it exactly? When and how should we use it? [n.b. I am not a professional writer (yet), these tips aren’t all mine, feel free to plenish!]

This technique is a very important part of the narrative, it helps the reader understanding implied details, it can make a scene less trivial and more intense... For example, if your character is feeling sad, instead of writing “Jimmy is sad”, try with “he felt the tears rolling down his cheeks”. Can you see which sentence is more impactful?

These some other tips that can help you improve your writing:

If your character isn’t aware of something, it shouldn’t be clear to your reader either. Of course, this depends on the type of narrator you chose for your story, but the concept is kinda the same. If your character is starting to feel depressed, but he doesn’t know it, don’t write “I’m depressed” or “Jimmy is depressed”, write the symptoms. Did he lose his interests? Did he lose his appetite? Does he have trouble sleeping?

Describe body language. Is your character feeling nervous? Don’t limit yourself to this, write the effects that those feelings are having on your character’s body. For example: He could feel the sweat on his face, his hands were shaking and his heart was beating fast.

Use the dialogues. Your characters can say much more than you can, let them speak. If your characters are fighting, don’t just write “they started to argue”, but show the argument.

-Son of a b***h!- she said. (Don’t be afraid of using curses if they are required. People use them, it will make your characters more realistic, there’s nothing wrong with it).

-How could you do this to me?!-

-I hate you!-

And so on. See, you don’t need to write that they’re angry, it’s perfectly clear.

I’m sure that the most of you already used this writing hack, even if you didn’t know its name. But if you didn’t, try this out in your next rewrite, I can promise you it will completely change your life!

#english is not my native language #sorry for the mistakes #writing #writing tips #writing hack #show don't tell #aspiring writer

[doom-dreaming]

I'm back to be annoying about it. I was doing a lot of thinking today to try to drown out the screaming matches my supervisors were having with each other :)

Imagine, if you will, a scrapbook of the best summer you ever experienced. Imagine flipping through it, looking at each badly-focused, blurry photo and fondly remembering the exact moment it was taken. Glittery stickers adorn the corners of the pages, handwritten notes from your friends fill the space between pictures...

Sufficiently nostalgic? Good. That's the aesthetic I want the Halo University AU to have.

Anyway. As a 'no plot, just vibes' AU (so far?), I THINK what I'm gonna do is just write it as a collection of snapshot scenes that form a loosely-connected narrative, and I was not joking about the Carly Rae Jepsen soundtrack, so each one is going to be themed around/inspired by a song.

(If I had sufficient art skills, I'd make a cute little fake polaroid for each chapter too.)

And! Since it's a fun, no-pressure writing exercise for me to work on when the mood hits, I think it'd be cool to make it a little. idk. interactive? I want to use it to explore dynamics I might not normally think about, so feel free to suggest two or more characters (doesn't have to be a ship) and/or a Carly Rae song and I'll see what I can do with it! I have a FEW ideas already cooking that I'll probably start with but. go wild, if you're interested.

#i can picture a cohesive aesthetic so clearly #it's grabbing me by the throat and shaking me #i'm honestly surprised i haven't done more song-related fics #considering how often a song will put an entire fully-formed scene in my head #work is gonna be so stressful for the next month #and i just want to write something fluffy and low stakes #also . i may have to do some character research #if someone suggests a character i don't have a lot of knowledge about/exposure to #but i will do my best to honor any requests #spartan university #i've also been coming up with irrelevant worldbuilding details for it #go figure #building the scenes around songs gives me easy chapter titles too :) #writing hack

[kcarkwright]

#arkwright academics #writeblr #writing hack #writing advice #worldbuilding #writing tips

[etjwrites]

By the ways guys, did you know that ctrl + backspace will delete your entire word!? No more letter by letter erasing! 🤩

#am writing #writing tips #typing #writing hack #tips & advice from ETJ Writes #I just learned this myself the other day

[panther-os]

writing hack: if you want to describe a lightsaber in detail, write from agen kolar's perspective - he's a swordsmith, it's his literal job to know all the finicky details

example from some random scribbles about my swtor knight:

Agen chuckled and shifted, stretching his arms above his head. “A naturally red crystal, with a black core to it, not anything synthetic or tortured. His saberstaff is here in the archives, if you ever want to see it. You might think it was a Sith’s if not for how you can hear the mergimmol wood harmonize with the adegan. The wood itself looks like flame, and the hilt of the staff is titanalysium, nearly black, and has two long, curved spokes framing each emitter. Skill and passion are wound all through it, a composition in the Force, and it’s clearly been lovingly maintained since it was first constructed. The Sith saw their sabers as tools, nothing more, there is no mistaking it once you get close enough to feel it.”

“You sound starstruck,” Kit teased.

Agen huffed and shook his head. “Pure elysium isn’t used in lightsaber construction for a reason. Drop it from too high, and it may shatter. Master Cole came up with the alloy formula himself, as a personal challenge. He was also the first one to successfully use mergimmol - it’s the most frustratingly tricky substance I’ve ever had to craft, and we still use his notes today. More than that, the saberstaff is… beautiful. It’s art as much as it’s a weapon. We don’t have the time or the materials to create such things anymore.” He sighed and closed his eyes. “I always wanted to make one just like it.”

bonus reference pics of opalized wood - which "mergimmol" is based on - the red-black striated lightsaber crystal blade from swtor, and the craftable prismatic saberstaff also from swtor (image descriptions needed)

in my head, rather than three raised and two indented sections between the emitters of the saberstaff, it's equidistant around (save the buttons and dials) and two large segments of mergimmol separated by a thin band of the "titanalysium"

(in canon, adegan crystals were the kind of lightsaber crystals commonly used before ilum crystals)

#/incoherent noises/ #star wars #agen kolar #writing hack #lightsabers #i used to spend all my time drawing lightsabers on graph paper #i may need to start doing that again

[icy-writes]

Bad writing hack:

If you scream at the cursor on your word doc, it will get scared and magically make the story appear.

#writeblr #writblr #writing #writing advice #writing tips #writing hack #back writing advice #bad writing tips #bad writing hacks

[fuckkwithtwoks]

I have discovered a writing hack. If you're stumped or don't know where to go with something, just acquire a cat and then talk at them in a New Jersey accent until you solved the thing.

#its so silly and low pressure it makes solving the thing really fun #writing #writer #writing tip #writing hack

[seyodys]

So while helping some students with their word-finds, I discovered something…

Word-finds are a freaking excellent way to come up with names for a fantasy setting

Just browse around that mass of jumbled letters until some random string catches your eye, and voila, now you’ve got an old hermit named Auly who lives in the village of Gwedyn.

Honestly helps a lot with trying to decide how you’re gonna spell some name you came up with, too, seeing as how the word-find spells it for you, and is pretty dang creative about it

Highly recommend

#creative writing #worldbuilding #writeblr #name inspiration #writing hack #writing tips #fiction writing #writing hacks

[whatmakesagod]

Pro-tip: Take notes when you write. I'm serious. It doesn't matter if you are a plotter, a pantster, or something in between. Take. Notes.

I spent all day contemplating a decision I made only to realize hours later that I explained why I had made the choices I had made. It was reading my chapters that made me realize that I didn't have to make the change I was considering. And I was lucky that I only had a handful of chapters to read. But it would have been less reading if I had gone through my notes.

In my notes, it very explicitly explains why I made the choices I made. Take notes, writers. Make sure you explain to yourself why you are making the choices you are. That way, when it's editing time, you know the logic threads and you can debate with yourself better

#writing hack #writing

[heyitsauralie]

Imagine resorting to smut to get yourself out of a writing slump. It worked though 😂

#writing hack

[she-spoke-words]

Writing hack:

Start doing something you’re supposed to do, like, I don’t know, studying for a test that is hugely important to your future, why? Well, procrastination is the key to creativity.

#don’t do this #i should be studying #I suck at maths someone explain linear functions to me please #lost #on another note I have not written a single word on my main story in a month #I do have five written versions of the beginning of the next one though #my brain is yummy #adhd #writing hack #it’s the perfect excuse

[doresworld]

Writing hack:

Make note of all the things you want to happen in the story and you’ll find it surprisingly easy to actually work on it because you know what you are trying to create

#is this a joke #🥴 who knows #but for real who knew that making a little list of plot points makes me go ‘oh so here’s how we can write the rest of this paragraph’ #writing hack #writing tips #this fic will be the death of me #dores world 🌍

[june-bugs-garden]

Writers, get yourselves a tarot or oracle deck (or use one you already have). Ask it questions about your writing and your stories. Feeling stuck? Pull some cards! Need to rethink a scene? Ask your deck!

I just started doing this and it has worked wonders for beating writer’s block and helping me keep forward momentum. I hope it can work for you too!

It could also work for visual art!

#writing advice #writing #writing hack #writeblr #writers on tumblr #writeaway #tarot #tarotblr #oracle #divination