thenataliawrites

[thenataliawrites]

It seems like twitter is dying so hello to any twitter moots who joined this hellsite 

[thenataliawrites]

GOD I just want to be CREATIVE but all my energy is being used to survive

[thenataliawrites]

i completely forgot i had this blog omg whoops 

hello

[thenataliawrites]

There are two wolves inside you. One is going "my first draft is so bad. It is garbage. It is so bad." Repeatedly. The other is screaming "IT IS ALLOWED TO BE, DUMBASS." you are a writer doing nano.

[thenataliawrites]

when u dont like ur art take a deep breath and remember u created it from nothing, like a god

[thenataliawrites]

anyways darling, be gay, drink tea, read books, do crime

[thenataliawrites]

plot feeling a little empty in the middle? here’s some food for thought.

actions have consequences. things that your characters do inevitably can affect other people around them. what might they have done in the past that could come back and serve as an obstacle? or, maybe, what could they do now that could possibly raise the stakes just a little bit more?

subplots! be mindful of the subplots you’re adding - but sometimes it might be a good idea to include one if your plot is feeling a little bit empty. not only can it tie back into the overarching struggle, but it could also serve as a way to explore one of your characters or points further.

character exploration. get to know your characters a little bit better! let your readers find out something new. connecting and understanding the people within your story is important if you want your readers to grow attached to them.

world exploration. similar to the previous point, with the addition of creating a greater sense of familiarity of the circumstances that your story is taking place in. remember that nobody else knows the world of your wip as well as you do - illustrate it even further so everyone else can grasp it even better.

let your characters bond! maybe there’s a lull in the plot. if your characters have the chance to take a breather and get to know the people around them, let them! it might help flesh out or even realistically advance their relationships with each other.

[thenataliawrites]

being an adult is fucking hard

[thenataliawrites]

how to finish your wip really fast

stop scrolling through tumblr

turn on your laptop

open a google doc

fucking write

[thenataliawrites]

You are allowed

nay, encouraged to…

buy books you’ll never read

abandon books halfway through

read your favorites over and over again

read ‘easy’ books

read books you don’t totally understand

just look at the pictures

start in the middle

take notes

break spines

read the book after you saw the movie

skip the boring parts

keep books out of sentiment

bring a book everywhere

read comics

return books to the library unread

The point, my dear reader, is joy.

[thenataliawrites]

me: *daydreaming my next plot points*

also me: *avoiding writing anything down because it couldn’t possibly live up to how i’ve played it out a thousand times in my mind*

[thenataliawrites]

bitches be like “I’m a writer” and then abandon their wip for months. it’s me I’m bitches.

[thenataliawrites]

not to be controversial but i literally don’t care about fancy career goals all i want for myself is peace like i have no desire to be a lawyer or an esteemed intellectual please just give me a beautiful garden and lots of animals and plenty of paint and i’ll happily work at pets at home or cafe nero 

[thenataliawrites]

story outlining methods, pt. 1:

take off your pants!! (“take off your pants!: outline your books for faster, better writing” by libbie hawker)

this outline starts with a character — specifically their biggest flaw — and leads to five points that will make up the core of your story. it’s best for plots and subplots that focus on overcoming the flaw!

this outline doesn’t just have to be used for coming of age novels. it is just as important in your dystopian, fantasy, or thriller novels that the main character learns something or has changed by the end.

STEP ONE: think about your character

your main character — what is their name, and what are their important features?

what are your character’s flaws? what about their FATAL flaw? ex: hubris, overconfidence, stubbornness, etc.

STEP TWO: think about the end of the story

the story (whether the main plot, a subplot, or a facet of the main plot) is the journey lead to overcome the flaw. now that you know the character’s flaw, you know what lesson they need to learn.

the end of the story = the flaw mastered, the lesson learned.

STEP THREE: think about the external goal

the external goal is the plot, the outer motivation to push the character to the end of the story where the goal is mastered. if you remember my post on quests, you know that a quest has two reasons to be there: the external factor (shrek saving fiona for his swamp), and the real reason (the lesson learned)

the external goal should provide a chance for the character to recognize their flaw and begin to change. how does your plot tie into their character development?

STEP FOUR: think about the antagonist

thinking about the external goal should reveal who the antagonist is. the antagonist should want to achieve the same goal or a goal that impedes with the protagonist’s goal. the antagonist should be the biggest obstacle to the character.

STEP FIVE: think about the ally/allies

the character(s) that is capable of forcing the protagonist down the correct path. where your protagonist most likely will resist changing and confronting their flaw, the ally will help force them to do so anyway.

STEP SIX: think about the theme

so what’s the point of your book? if you are struggling to boil it down to one sentence, you might want to think about it a little longer. this is what keeps the story feeling coherent. what are you trying to tell us?

STEP SEVEN: think about the plot

each main plot element should somehow relate to the core of the book, aka the character’s development in overcoming their flaw

OPENING SCENE - set the stage. address the flaw or the theme

INCITING EVENT - what forces the character out of their everyday life and into the story?

REALIZING EXTERNAL GOAL - what makes the character begin seeking their goal?

DISPLAY OF FLAW - if the character’s flaw hasn’t been made blatantly clear, now is the time. make it known to the reader.

DRIVE FOR GOAL - what is your character’s first attempt to reach their goal?

ANTAGONIST REVEAL - how do you first show your antagonist’s opposition to your character?

FIRST THWART - what happens to your character that keeps them from reaching their goal?

REVISIT FLAW - show the character’s flaw again, even if they themselves aren’t aware of it yet.

ANTAGONIST ATTACKS - what does the antagonist do that makes things worse?

SECOND THWART - where your character fails most likely due to the attack

CHANGED GOAL - the character finds a new goal or focuses on the external goal in a different way

ALLY ATTACKS - what does the ally do to force the character to see the flaw?

AWAKENING - the character knows what they must do to reach the external goal. how will you show that the character has also awakened to their flaw? how will you show them changing?

BATTLE - the final showdown with the antagonist!

DEATH - the character’s flaw dies here. how will you show that the character truly is different now?

OUTCOME - show whether the character won or lost the external goal, reveal the theme of the story.

naturally, you don’t have to follow that outline exactly, but it can be a good place to start ;)

[thenataliawrites]

" oh yes, i'm a writer " *doesnt write anything for 6 months*

[thenataliawrites]

Word Counter - Not only does it count the number of words you’ve written, it tells you which words are used most often and how many times they appear.

Tip Of My Tongue - Have you ever had a word on the tip of your tongue, but you just can’t figure out what it is? This site searches words by letters, length, definition, and more to alleviate that.

Readability Score - This calculates a multitude of text statistics, including character, syllable, word, and sentence count, characters and syllables per word, words per sentence, and average grade level.

Writer’s Block (Desktop Application) - This free application for your computer will block out everything on your computer until you meet a certain word count or spend a certain amount of time writing.

Cliche Finder - It does what the name says.

Write Rhymes - It’ll find rhymes for words as you write.

Verbix - This site conjugates verbs, because English is a weird language.

Graviax - This grammar checker is much more comprehensive than Microsoft Word, again, because English is a weird language.

Sorry for how short this is! I wanted to only include things I genuinely find useful. p>

[thenataliawrites]

I feel like I am the only one who has so much trouble analyzing writing or art and trying to find deeper meanings and stuff. Maybe it's because I take everything so literally? Maybe I was never correctly taught how? It's something I've always struggled with and it kinda sucks.

 As a writer and reader because if myself and one of my friends reads something and discuss it it often felt like we read 2 completely different things. It made highschool english hell because analyzing text was literally all we did and I could never seem to do it. I feel it also makes it hard as a writer to add deeper meaning or things to be analyzed or looked at closer because I was never able to identify them when I read.

anyways, sorry for the rant

#natalia writes #writing #reading #writer #writeblr