Tumgik
whichhannahsmith · 10 months
Text
Tumblr media
I’ve been in a drawing mood lately… now to hopefully turn it into a writing mood. Watercolor/procreate of Dylan and Nerissa, two characters from my WIP Merrow.
5 notes · View notes
whichhannahsmith · 10 months
Text
Tumblr media
Quince and Alec join the crew lineup for the Divine Madness! I might redraw Quince (left) because I think I can do a much better job on his face. Posting in celebration of having the time to work on Merrow after taking an extended break for my not so new anymore job.
1 note · View note
whichhannahsmith · 10 months
Text
⚠️ this blog does not support works created by AI software ⚠️
56K notes · View notes
whichhannahsmith · 10 months
Text
143 notes · View notes
whichhannahsmith · 10 months
Text
Tumblr media
Here’s a quick sketch I did of my book Merrow’s protagonist, Nerissa. This was a lot of fun and I’m super happy with how it turned out. It was a great excuse to use my prismacolor colored pencils.
6 notes · View notes
whichhannahsmith · 2 years
Text
Fun apocalypse-verse fact: You know all those steam trains that are still out there mostly as tourist attractions? Well there was one before the end of the world that went back and forth across Europe, east to west and back again, a luxury trip for ridiculously rich people. And one of the drivers was called Luca.
And then the world ended, and the electricity blew, and there weren't enough people left to care to fix it.
Steam still worked though.
The train had stopped in Western Russia when it happened and most of the workers did what everyone did, they fled. Luca was about to go too, try to find some more permanent shelter, when he met a young woman from what had once been France who had been on holiday. All her family was still there, she said, if they were alive, but she had no way back to them. Luca looked at the coal on board, of which there was still enough for numerous journeys if he didn't push her too hard, and he looked at the woman, and he told her to spread the word that the train left tomorrow at nightfall, to go all the way back across the continent.
Most people on the continent didn't travel far after. They would move through what used to be their country, into others if they were close by, but most long-distance transport was gone and even if it weren't, what's the point? All you'll find somewhere else is a place as bad as here.
But they say there's still a steam train running, back and forth, hungry for fuel but somehow always finding enough, battered by bands of thieves and thugs, but still running. Ferrying people where they need to go.
41 notes · View notes
whichhannahsmith · 2 years
Photo
Tumblr media
Should you form a daily writing habit?
It’s the age old writing question, should you write every day? Some argue yes, that come hell or high water your goal should be to write at least a few words every day. Some people say no. That it’s not possible for everyone to write every single day. Yes puts forward the argument of even if it’s just a few words that’s enough. No takes into account that most writers are living full lives outside of their writing careers. Both make a valid argument and I myself have been swayed back and forth between the two answers. However, I have finally come to my own conclusion that the best practice is to form the habit of writing every day. Here are some of my reasonings:
1. It forms a habit. Habits take a long time to form (longer than the 30 days most people think). Taking 5 minutes out of your schedule to sit down and write a little each day will form that habit. Remembering that it will take time, and not to rush into things with lofty goals that are unsustainable.
2. If you don’t write, you’ll never finish your story. Writing every day ensures that you are consistently working towards finishing your story. Even if it is only a few words a day that is a few words closer to your goal than you would have been if you didn’t write anything at all. 
3. Even a few words gets you closer to a completed novel. Moving forward is moving forward. Even if it’s small. Better to write a few words closer to your completed novel than nothing at all.
4. It keeps you in the flow of your story. It is easier to keep a consistent tone and remember what you are writing about if you write every single day. Taking an extended break can leave you wondering where you left off and may cause tone shifts. 
5. It feels fulfilling. Writing every day adds to the sense of accomplishment and feeling that this book you are writing will one day be completely finished. 
Writing is writing. Every little word you write moves you one step closer towards the end goal of a completed story. If you’re writing every day, even if it’s just a little, there will be a day when you have a completed novel in front of you. 
With all of this said, it is also important to remember that life happens. Mental health is being pushed more and more, and as you are forming your writing habit it is always imperative that you forgive yourself if you need to take a day off. Because at the end of the day, your story will never get written if you’re not there to write it.
1 note · View note
whichhannahsmith · 2 years
Photo
Tumblr media
I actually did it! 53,599 words during Nanowrimo making the grand total of my current draft 69,366. I’m taking a few days break because work is picking up but I want to keep up this pretty fast pace so I can have an editable draft by the new year. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
Congrats to all those who participated. It was a real sprint. 
2 notes · View notes
whichhannahsmith · 2 years
Photo
Tumblr media
For those of you participating in Nanowrimo I just wanted to throw this website out there as a resource I have found extremely useful. Fighters Block is a website that allows you to enter a word count goal that acts as a monster’s HP. With each word you write the monster’s HP goes down. When it reaches 0 you’ve successfully defeated the monster. The best part about this website is that if you’re not writing, your “heros” HP goes down. If you don’t keep on writing at a steady pace (that can be adjustable through the settings menu) then eventually your hero will die and you will fail.
In an event like Nanowrimo where the goal isn’t to edit your work but rather to get as many words down as possible this is a great way to force yourself to write without going back to edit as you go. 50,000 words in one month is already a sprint without feeling the need to constantly go back and edit.
This website has kept me on track for the past seven days and kept me above the daily word count goal which I cannot say I achieved in past years of participation. This might not be for all, but if you need a motivation to just write and not look back this could be a fun and useful tool for you.
3 notes · View notes
whichhannahsmith · 3 years
Text
how does one write flash/short fiction?? I want to get back into writing more but writing novel length stuff feels so daunting
46 notes · View notes
whichhannahsmith · 3 years
Text
Describing Black Hair in Fantasy (Locs, Braided Styles, etc)
Tumblr media
Image: Describing Black Hair in Fantasy, Braided Styles
How do you describe afro hairstyles in a world where the words don’t exist? 
My advice for describing afro hairstyles effectively in fantasy is to:
Describe the style
Use words from the term in the description
Have someone read it; do they know what you’re describing?
Describe the style.
What does this hairstyle look like, exactly? What is a braid? What are dreadlocks? How do you braid, or how do you form this particular type of braid? 
Look up existing descriptions of the term, and use language from the definition. Combine, reword and trim as necessary. There’s no need to be wordy. A well-constructed sentence or two should serve its purpose.
Great sources are everything from hair glossaries (especially those found on Black hair websites) natural hair vlogs, and even the thesaurus.
Here are some word associations to play with:
General Textures & Looks
Tight
Loose
Thick
Thin
Dense
Light
Heavy
Springy
Silky
Sheen
Porous 
Afro Texture and Curls
Afro / Fro
Cloudy
Coils
Corkscrews
Crimped
Curly
Natural 
Poufy
Ringlets
Spirals
Texturized
Wavy 
Braids
Crossed
Folded
Interlaced
Layered
Looped
Plaits/Plaited
Rolled
Woven
These words can help be more specific with the look of their hair/hairstyle. Tight, tiny braids. Cloudy puffs of hair in twin pigtails.
Use words from the term itself in the description.  
Readers should get an “aha” moment when you do this. Twisted hair probably mean twists. Bantu knots resemble knots. 
Cornrows: 
Cornrows get their name from rows of corn with connections to African chattel slavery. Say you have a character with this style, but those historical connotations don’t exist in this world , or corn isn’t something your character would know about. There are still ways to make the connection.
Example: “She wore her hair in neat rows of braids along her scalp.” 
The key word here is rows.
Assuming you can use a part of a word that does exist in your timeline, use it for the strongest connection to its real world counterpart. See the next example:
Dreadlocks / Locs
Another Black hairstyle with history to its name, it may not make sense to use the term in your setting (and also, due to that history, “locs” is preferred term) However, you likely could still slip the word “lock or locked” into your description to clarify for readers what you’re getting at.
Example: “His skin was the same medium brown as her own and that of her people, but his hair was thick and coarse and pulled into the rough locks that looked like braids but weren’t, like the people to the south whose skin was darker.”
-By Shira Glassman, A Harvest of Ripe Figs, Mangoverse Book 3
What’s particularly great about this description is: 
The use of locks or locked hair to make the connection to dreadlocks.
Connecting the hairstyle to a certain people. It isn’t just a style anyone can wear, but it has regional roots and is worn by a particular group.
Adding other indications of race such as brown skin, and the nod to him coming from a place where the people have dark skin.
Have someone read it. 
Have more than one person read your description. It would be great if at least one of those people is Black (and/or familiar with the style). Does the reader know what you’re trying to describe? Are you being concise, or over explaining it to the point of confusion? If your readers can name the style or picture it relatively quickly, then you’ve got a winner. 
More reading:
Words to Describe Hair 
Describing Bantu Knots (Fantasy Setting)
Fantasy World and Non-Western Clothes
~Mod Colette
12K notes · View notes
whichhannahsmith · 3 years
Text
I FINISHED!
Tumblr media Tumblr media
[Image IDs: Photo 1 - a banner that reads “Runaways” in a white cursive script laid over a photo of a path running through the woods. there are sunshine and fae graphics around the title. Photo 2 - a screenshot of my word doc with the final line of the story and the word count box. It reads “It feels like heaven to be home, and she knows they have found their happily ever after.” and clocks in at 65 pages, and 35023 words. End Image IDs]
In just under 5 months, I’ve completed the whole first draft of this manuscript, well ahead of schedule, and just in time to start a new school year! I had so much writing this story and it’s so surreal to suddenly be done? I spent YEARS working on Storge and now given, this is like 1/3 of the length, but still. So much of that time was spent just learning how to tell a story. Now I know how to do that - I took the handful of ideas that had been sitting in my phone notes since freshman year of highschool and created a story that honestly made me cry as I wrote the climax. I’ve learned so much and improved so much. It needs a lot of work, but I can see the potential and I know I have the skill to fix it up, to the point of publishing. I’ve never felt that confidence before. It’s such an incredible and empowering feeling, to prove to myself that I can do this.
It’s done.
I can’t wait to share it with you.
-Etta Grace, Author, 11:04pm 8/16/2021
Runaways Taglist (Ask to be +/-)
@absolute-nonsense-scribblings​ @tiredlittleoldme​ @maxgraybooks​ @abalonetea​ @happyorogeny​ @weaver-of-fantasies-and-fables​ @quilloftheclouds​ @rainydaydarling​  @bladeverbena @siarven​ @avian-king​ @andifthestarsweretodie​    
71 notes · View notes
whichhannahsmith · 3 years
Text
How to Write a Synopsis
Back when I was doing my MA program, I typed up a guide to writing query letters. It’s the post from this blog that I’m most proud of: a thorough step-by-step guide that combines days and weeks of research, and dozens of sources, into a neatly packaged 1,800-word post.
And I have to admit, I didn’t write it for tumblr. I needed to write a query letter myself for a publishing class, and my post was little more than compiled homework notes, saved as a Tumblr post for posterity. 
I’ve actually had pieces of this in my drafts for years, but now I actually have to write a synopsis and I’m piling up the research, so I thought it was finally time for the sister to my query post to be published here.
But first…
What is a synopsis?
A synopsis is a 1-2 page summary of the events that transpire in a book, either proposed or already written. It’s used to give people who haven’t read your book a quick overview, so they know the story that’s being told in the book without having to read it.
When is a synopsis necessary?
Some literary agents request synopses along with query letters. More often, they’re used slightly later on in a writer’s career, when they have an agent or an editor and they need to submit a proposal for a new idea or project. A synopsis can also be used later on, in situations that don’t involve the author. For instance, when an editor pitches the book to the marketing and publicity team, who may not have time to read every book they’re working on. Unlike a query letter, the book doesn’t necessarily have to be written when you’re submitting its synopsis.
Basic Style
The job of a synopsis is to lay out the story with little fuss and no frills. They let the person you’re pitching know what they’re going to find in that giant stack of pages on their desk or in that obscenely long Word document (or else in the Word doc they’ll eventually receive).  
Most professional synopses follow these rules:
They’re told in third person
They’re told in present tense
Characters’ names are CAPSLOCKED at first mention.
They are double spaced.
They tend to avoid descriptions longer than this sentence.
They focus on the central conflict and the protagonist’s emotional journey
They spoil the ending
They should be 500 words or less. (That is 1 page single-spaced, 2 pages double-spaced.)
HOW TO WRITE YOUR SYNOPSIS
The plot
Writing your synopsis, you have one goal: to tell a 50,000-100,000 word story in 500 words. It can be a little difficult to do this right. A great way to do this is to identify the key turning points in your protagonist’s story.
Do you remember those little plot roller coasters you’d make in elementary school? They’d usually be pointy witch’s-hat shaped things labeled with the terms: “beginning, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.” 
Those turning points are the events you should be including in your synopsis.This is the structure you want to emphasize to your reader. You want to make abundantly clear that your story works like a story, that the events of your book have a beginning, a middle, and an end, that there’s an intriguing beginning, an exciting climax, a satisfying conclusion. You don’t want to just list out the events of your novel, but highlight the function of those events. X moment is important because it’s the inciting incident, the moment that takes the protagonist from their normal life and throws them into the story.
There are tons of great story roadmaps out there, that go into more specific story elements. The Hero’s Journey is the most famous example of a detailed, and mostly universal, story structure. There’s also the three-act structure that’s famous among screenwriters.
Find a structure that fits your story the best and use that to identify the events of your story that need to make it into your synopsis. I’ll link to different sources at the bottom of this post that will give you variations of story structure.
If you can correlate key scenes in your novel to the descriptions of these plot points, you’ll find an easy roadmap to navigating the many events of outlining your novel.
Your protagonist’s journey
Your protagonist is the heart of your story, and should be the heart of the synopsis, too. The protagonist’s emotional journey may not string all of these plot points together, but it’s going to be what makes them matter to the reader. The human element of your story has to be represented in your synopsis.  
There’s no room for long descriptions, so you’ll have to be smart about finding a few terms that not only tell your reader who the character is, but what their story will be. For instance, if your story is about someone trying to get their critically-panned paintings in the Museum of Modern Art by breaking into the museum and installing the pieces themselves, you may want to introduce them with a sentence that begins like so: “When IGNATIUS, an ambitious and untalented struggling artist, discovers his work is rejected from yet another gallery…”
In addition to these descriptive terms, you should spell out what your protagonist wants (or wants desperately to avoid) and their stake in the events of the story. 
Along the way, tell us how these key aspects of their persons change due to the events of the story, or else how they influence the events of the story. Tell us about how after raving reviews for his DIY MoMA exhibit came in, Iggy realized that though he still liked painting, his talents actually lay in performance art. Untalented to talented, struggling to successful, all because his ambition pushed him to try new and daring things.
Tips:
As in query letters, you only name the most important characters and locations outright. If you’re writing a synopsis for Harry Potter, you’ll want to use Harry’s name in the query, but most other people and places can be referred to by their function in the novel. Ex: Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon can be “his cruel relatives.” Hermione and Ron can be “his friends.” Even Hogwarts can be a “school for people with magical abilities.” This makes it easier for a reader to understand what’s going on in your story. Too many names in such a small amount of space can be overwhelming.
All telling, no showing. This is one piece of writing where you’ll want to tell, instead of show. You need to get to your point as quickly, as clearly, and concisely as possible; this isn’t the place for creative storytelling.
Oftentimes, synopses are given along with other materials, such as pitch letters and sample pages. While a synopsis should be captivating in-so-far that it’s well told, and it should maybe be a little stylish, being captivating and stylish aren’t its main goals. Additional materials like sample pages and pitches have more room for creative flourishes and can do a better job of selling the story, while the synopsis focuses on telling it.
Your synopsis should show that you know how to tell a story. While a synopsis doesn’t sell a story like a query, it should still illustrate the fact that you have an interesting, unique and well-structured plot. When finished, your reader should be able to think to themselves “that’s a good story. I want to read that.”
Your first draft will be too long. Your first draft of a synopsis will always be at least a page or two longer than it should be. Identify the sentences and paragraphs where you explain why a thing happens and ax them. Identify sentences where you repeat yourself and ax them. Identify descriptors that aren’t vital to understanding of the story and ax them. Once you make your first painful cuts and see that the story still makes sense without those things, you’ll start to get a better understanding of what can and cannot be taken out of your synopsis.
Bibliography:
6 Steps for Writing a Book Synopsis
How to Write a 1 Page Synopsis
The Hero’s Journey
Learn How to Write a Synopsis Like a Pro
How to Write a Novel Synopsis
The Secrets of Story Structure
Three Awesome Plot Structures for Building Bestsellers
7 Ways Write Plot Outline
Synopsis for “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure”
How to Plan Your Novel Using a 3 Act Structure - ex. “The Hunger Games”
Story Structure by Plot Point for “Raiders of the Lost Ark”
8K notes · View notes
whichhannahsmith · 3 years
Text
So You’ve Been Offered Representation...
Or you’re about to start querying and want to be prepared (smert), or you’ve scrolled past this on Tumblr and want to save it for that hopefully-not-to-distant day (I believe in you)…
Being offered representation is exciting. It’s a really amazing moment in your career and you should be really proud of yourself for getting there. But it doesn’t mean the querying process is over. You’re about to enter into a longterm relationship that will shape your entire literary career. It’s time to ask a whole lot of questions. 
Every offer comes with “The Call.” The Call is when you and the offering agent have a discussion to see if you’d be a good fit for each other, and while it may seem like a formality, because YOU’VE BEEN OFFERED REPRESENTATION (!!!!) there’s a lot of information that may come out in this conversation that could have a big impact on whether or not you chose to accept representation. 
At the point of offer, you should know that you and the agent likes the genres you write in. You may have seen some of their tweets on social media, or read articles on their blog, or heard authors you admire talking about how amazing it’s been working with them. 
Here are the things you should talk about during The Call: 
Your Manuscript
Just because an agent loved your manuscript, doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily want them to work on it with you. They may have a very different vision for your work than you have. 
When I was querying, the first agent who offered me representation wanted to remove the scene I considered the emotional crux of the novel. The thing I’d felt all previous scenes were leading towards. As we talked, I discovered that the book she wanted to work on wasn’t the book I wanted to write. I considered her offer for a while but ultimately, I realized she wasn’t the right agent for my book, and probably not the right agent for me. 
After that experience, I asked other offering agents what they liked about the book, and in our conversations, tried to explain to them what my vision was, and found that there were agents whose views were more aligned with my own.  
So what does it matter if your visions are different? Why is this more important than being represented?
When you know you and an agent have the same vision for you project, you’ll be able to trust that their editorial advice will help turn your manuscript into a better version of the story you want to tell. Nothing feels worse than making changes to your manuscript that makes it feel like something that isn’t yours, or you can’t feel proud of. 
More than that, your agent will be submitting your manuscript to editors. This means, that they’ll be deciding which editors are going to be able to buy this project, and how they’ll be pitching it to those editors. If they’re misrepresenting the story you’re trying to tell, it may affect your chances of being connected with an editor who has the same vision of your book as you have. 
Don’t pursue representation and publication with an eye for getting it done no matter what. Make sure you get your story published, not somebody else’s idea of what your story should be. 
Possible questions to ask about your manuscript:
What drew you to the project?
Was there a specific point, while reading the project, when you decided you were definitely going to offer representation? 
Are there any scenes that you felt strongly about? 
What was your favorite scene? 
What is your vision for this project?
How would you pitch this book to publishers? 
Do you feel the project is ready for submission? 
In broad terms, what would you recommend for the revision of this manuscript?* 
*Many agents feel as though an ‘edit letter’ with specific revision instructions, is something they should only give out once an author has signed with them, as it is a privilege of a working relationship with them. This is normal, and acceptable; however, agents should be willing to speak more generally about how they’d like to see the manuscript revised.
Your Career Beyond This Project
Agent/author relationships should last beyond a single manuscript. Although your future projects may not be a priority right now, one day they will be, and you’ll want to make sure Future You won’t have to choose between their agent and their career goals. 
Before you have your Call, think about your dreams for your career as an author. What do you want your “brand” to be? What genres do you want to be published in? How many castles do you want to own? (Please don’t consider this. Any agent who promises you castles is a Bad Agent.)
Know what you want for your future, and make sure this is an agent who will be able to get you there. 
Possible questions to ask about your career beyond this project: 
Do you represent the other genres I write in?
My next idea for a project is x. Is this a project that you’d be willing to work with me on?
I want to write in multiple genres/categories, how would you recommend I manage that? 
These are my goals: [list goals]. Do you think you’ll be able to help me achieve them?
This is my vision for my career: [describe vision]. Do you think you’ll be able to help me achieve this? If not, why? 
The Agent
The call is also a good time to ask about the agent’s background. There are “shmagents” out there, so what you want to know is: how much experience they have in the publishing industry and what sort of projects they’ve actually sold. Everyone is new at some point in the game, so not having a lot of industry experienced doesn’t mean they’re a “schmagent,” but is something you might want to take into consideration nevertheless. 
It’s normal for an agent to be getting into a new genre, or to have recently been promoted to assistant/associate to “agent,” but if that’s the case, you may want to figure out whether or not they are knowledgable in the genre, or if they have a good, experienced team backing them up as they start out their career. 
A major red flag would be: not having been an agent long, not having had any other jobs in the industry, and not having sold any books to any major publishers. 
Possible questions to ask about the agent’s background:
How long have you been in the industry? 
How long have you been an agent? 
Have you held any other positions in the publishing industry? 
How many clients do you currently have? Are you looking to expand your list much more?
Can you tell me about some books you’ve sold recently? What genres were they in? What publishers did you sell them to? 
Would you be willing to connect me with some of your authors?
The Agency
Being a literary agent usually isn’t a one-man act. Many literary agents work in agencies, where they work not only with other experienced literary agents, but often have agents solely dedicated to subsidiary rights such as foreign, film, and audio rights. 
The agency the agent works for actually matters a great deal when it comes to selling your project. Will this agent be the one selling the rights of your projects to the UK or France? Is there another agent at the agency whose job this is? Will they sell those rights to the publisher instead? This is the sort of thing that depends on the agency, not the agent. And if you care about it, it’s something you should consider. 
If the agent has struck out on their own, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re a “schmagent,” but you should be sure to ask them about their reasons for doing so, and their previous experience in the publishing industry. 
Possible questions to ask about the agency: 
How does your agency handle sub rights? 
How large is the agency?
Do you every work with other agents on certain projects/rights? 
What is the agency agreement like?
Possible questions to ask about a one-man literary agency:
Why did you chose to strike out on your own?
What experience prepared you for this? 
How do you handle sub rights? 
Do you ever need the support of other agents, and, if so, where do you get it from? 
Your Working Relationship
Finally, you should consider the sort of relationship that you want with an agent and the sort of working relationship that would be most productive and helpful  to you as a writer. Knowing what you think you might want or need, have a conversation with the agent about the sort of working relationship they’re comfortable with/accustomed to: 
How many editors do you usually pitch to in the first round of submissions?
Do you do tiered submissions? What are those tiers?
When do you shelve a book?
How hands-on are you when not on submission? 
Will you be available to talk through new ideas with?
How closely do you prefer to work with an author while they’re preparing a manuscript? 
Do you prefer to talk by email/phone/etc.
Once that’s finished…
You can’t know for sure, by one conversation, whether someone will be a good long-term partner for you, but hopefully these lists of considerations will help you decide whether the agent offering representation to you is offering the type of representation you need. 
2K notes · View notes
whichhannahsmith · 3 years
Text
Writing Binders
Tumblr media
I’ve had quite a bit of free time recently and have been trying to make the most of it to work on Merrow and also get organized with my writing goals and just writing in general. This is when I realized that I had about four separate locations where I was keeping information on Merrow and Elocia in general. I had two notebooks, a google docs, a folder of loose pages and an old writing binder. 
Upon opening the old writing binder I realized I didn’t actually have any information inside of it which was rather silly as the entire point of a writing binder was to store information all in one location. So, after revamping my old binder into the one you see above, I wanted to talk a little about what I’ve done and what I plan to do with this binder.
Pros and Cons
First things first, lets talk about what I like and what I don’t like about this set up.
Pros
All my story information can be in one place, from character information to world building to plot.
I can rearrange pages as needed
Binders come with a lot of handy accessories like dividers, pockets, pencil cases, ect that can be used for better organization and easy access.
Tactile, for all my writers who like having something they can touch and interact with this is amazing.
If you have a three hole punch you can really put in anything your heart desires which makes it easy to add in loose pages or pages you’ve ripped from a journal
Cons
It uses a lot of paper, which as someone who doesn’t like to unnecessarily use paper makes me feel bad about it sometimes. 
Unless you want to print out a ton of pages or set up a lot of qr codes it’s not easy to include research which can often be extensive and all over the place. 
It is a finite space, they can only hold so much and when it’s full that means that you either have to get rid of stuff so more can fit in or expand to a second binder which kinda ruins the point of having everything you need in one place.
It’s not super easily transportable. It is a binder after all and if you’re using a two inch one in order to store more then that means it’ll take up a lot of space in your bag or shelf. 
Overall, for me it’s worth it but I was heavily debating just having an online document that I could always use. Especially considering I could just ctrl-shift to find any information I needed. But what really sold me was the physicality of the binder as I am someone who greatly appreciates having something I can hold in my hands. 
I’ve seen some great things done with google docs, discord, onenote, and other free and paid serves online which serve the same purpose but just appear in a different format. I highly recommend checking out some of these options if you want a digital version of a writing binder.
Step 1 - Decorating
As someone who enjoys the creative process I always have to decorate the cover of any journal, binder or sketchbook I am about to use before I actually use it. 
If you want to leave the cover alone that is absolutely fine. I however find a lot of joy in figuring out what I want on my cover and then bringing it to life. 
In this case I went and bought some scrapbook paper that reminded me of the books I was going to write (3 pieces for each story) and then cut it into the geometrical pattern you see in the above picture. 
I was also considering a world map, a picture of the characters or my draft book covers. I remember when I was taking a creative writing class someone did a vision board of their book in which they scrapbooked images from the internet and magazines and glued them all together on the cover to give you the general feel they were going for in their book. There are so many ways to do this and the sky’s the limit. 
Step 2 - Filling it
After it was decorated, I went about actually filling it. I’ll break this down into 2 different groups, utility (aids in the usage of the binder) and story (things that actually help me in writing my stories).
Utility
Bulldog clips
Paper clips
Sticky notes (I just found out about the transparent ones on tik tok which look super cool!)
hole punch reinforcers
page dividers
sheet protectors
lined paper
The great part about most of these (including the binder) is that I had saved most of these things from old school supplies so I didn’t actually go out and buy most of these. I already had them floating around and I just needed to compile them into my binder.
Story 
This will be different for everyone, as everyone will have a different idea of what is important. But here are some ideas to get you started.
world map
book covers
plot summary (I’m currently using a chapter breakdown but there are so many cool ways to outline)
timeline (this could be for the story itself or for important events that happened before the story)
family trees
photo references (for the characters, locations, items, ect)
research
character profiles
Countries/ location information (especially if the world is completely made up)
brain dumps (for ideas you think of on the fly and don’t have a home for yet. I like to use sticky notes and an empty sheet protector for this)
anything else you could find useful while writing
Step 3 - Continue using it
Once you have it all set up and you’ve compiled all your notes that you currently have it’s important to keep using it. You didn’t make it just so you could have it you made it so it could be a tool in your writing. So, here are some easy ways to make sure you don’t stop using it once you’ve gotten it initially set up.
keep it within sight of your writing space and within easy reach. You wont use it if it’s too hard to get to when you need it most.
Use it to take reminder notes of things you need to change, want to remember to write about or just in general what you’re writing about.
Keep your date goals inside so that you can remind yourself when you want to be done with whatever project you are working on. This way you can stay on top of your goals and have all the information you need to complete those goals in the same place.
Carry it with you when you can. If you like to write in a café then bring it with you wherever you’re writing.
Anytime you make anything that will help you with your story immediately add it to your binder. Even if you had to jot it down on receipt paper while at work, either throw a hole punch in it or translate it to a dedicated pice of paper. Either way, don’t put it somewhere you’ll forget about it. It goes immediately into the binder. 
All in all, I hope you found this helpful. I think that a writing binder is great for some but any way you want to organize your story information is a great way to make sure you have everything you need to keep on writing. Happy storytelling!
2 notes · View notes
whichhannahsmith · 3 years
Text
If you have the time and energy try and find something you wrote 5 years ago, or 10 years ago. If you haven’t been writing that long even a few months ago work. Wether this was a personal or school writing project there is something to be learned from simply seeing how far you’ve come and understanding how true this quotation is. If you haven’t stopped growing in the past, no matter how slow or little, then there’s no reason why you would hit a ceiling in the future.
your writing has improved and will continue to improve for your entire lifetime. there is no skill ceiling; only infinite space and sky.
12K notes · View notes
whichhannahsmith · 3 years
Text
hey writers! OneLook Thesaurus lets you find that word you can’t think of but can describe! go check it out!
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
88K notes · View notes