So Much Thoughts, Too Less Time... I've Got So Many Vignettes In My Head Alreadyyy

i'm AWARE this is a stupid hill to die on, but like. trope vs theme vs cliché vs motif vs archetype MATTERS. it matters to Me and i will die on this hill no matter how much others decide it's pointless. words mean things

Tangles

All homes of sweet things 

must house their dwellers.

a worry

tangles, my honeycomb

tongue tangles—leaves bees instead

of honey. 

They were in my head?

This from In Writing, a collection of writers reflecting on practice, really resonated with me.

Reblog if you are okay with people giving you lots of boops!

The right FREE tools to write a book

hello hello, it's me!

today I was thinking of how much you loved my masterlist featuring some free tools for writers, and I thought I would do something like that again but, this time, featuring just one or two tools per step while getting the best of "the writer's workbook" (which is also free).

before going any further, for those who don't know, "the writer's workbook" is, as the name says, a workbook for writers, with over 90 pages. it has lots of sheets divided into categories, to help you build the skeleton of your novel. (know more about it here).

however, we can get the most out of it using other complementary tools to ease this process.

Brainstorming

Reedsy generator - it's one of my favorites, and it can be quite useful when you're stuck and want to get an idea. you're free to make changes to it so that it is as unique as possible.

Mindmap

Lucidspark - although it has a premium version, I find it so helpful when it comes to making a mindmap. I've used it multiple times before, including for college assignments, and it's one of the best I've found so far.

Mindmup - I'm sharing this one here as an alternative to lucidspark, since this one doesn't require to create an account, and you have access to unlimited maps. however, in my opinion, it is not as good or intuitive as lucidspark is.

Come up with names

Behind the name - it's a classic, but one of my favorites. you can search every name you could ever imagine, and get its meaning, history, variations, etc. it still has some tools you can use such as a name generator, anagrams, and much more.

Make a profile

Fake person generator - although it was not created for authors, you might find it useful since it gives lots of details and you can be interested in some fields.

Character generator - this one was made for writers, and is simple and easy to use.

Family tree

Family echo - it's so simple yet so helpful.

Maps

Inkarnate - it has a paid version, but you can use it for free and create a great map.

Politics

Filteries - this is sooo complete and accurate!

hope this was helpful! have a nice day <3

male entitlement in academic spaces is so boring. can’t tell you how many times i’ve been in a class and a girl gives a short, insightful analysis, and then a dude raises his hand and says “jumping off of that…” then says literally the same thing she said but longer and worse.

Planette: Mars

a writing competition i was going to participate in again this year has announced that they now allow AI generated content to be submitted

their reasoning being that "we couldn't ban it even if we wanted to, every writer already uses it anyway"

"Every writer"?

come on

SWOT: characters, archs and conflicts

If you’re in business, you’ve probably heard of SWOTs: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. It’s meant to analyze other players in your field (i.e. your competitors) and to define future steps to improve your own business.

I have slightly modified this idea to build characters, to give them archs and to make up conflicts with other characters.

1. Strength

Let’s say you decide your character is enthousiastic, always gives 100% in any situation. That’s a strength, right? It means your character is overall a dependable person, and agreeable to be around.

Now write a scene in which you introduce this character without explicitly telling the reader about their personality. How would you notice such a character trait in real-life people? How does it show in your character?

2. Opportunities

Opportunities can arise for people who are happy to take on the work, when they prove themselves to be a good friend (“Can you pick up my mom from the airport?”) or when their boss sees how much they get done in a day.

Write a second scene, in which your characters reaps the rewards for their character trait.

3. Conflicts

I will rephrase “Threaths” as “Conflicts”. For your character, who is the most annoying or dangerous kind of person? Someone who is the opposite of them. This doesn’t have to be big, it can show in small details.

For your hands-on character, this could mean a colleague who does the bare minimum and gets away with it. Or a family member who never gives a helping hand. A class mate who is too chill about group assignments. 

Can you see how this will get under your character’s skin? Write a scene in which your character’s personality contrasts with that of another character. Will they confront the other person or will they let it stew? The way they deal with this conclict shows the reader a lot about your character.

4. Weakness

How can this character trait turn into a weakness? When is this character trait not the best strategy? A quick trick is to imagine how other characters react to it.

Maybe your character’s hands-on mentality means they sometimes forget to take other people into account, even when they mean to help that other person. (“Thanks for painting my new fence, but I didn’t want it white, I wanted to keep it natural.”) Maybe their enthousiasm means they are too blunt, and they unwillingly hurt other people’s feelings. Maybe they even lose friends over it. Maybe always giving 100% makes your character wear thin. Maybe people take advantage of them.

See how the fortress is crumbling? Write a scene in which your character shows a bad side of themselves or gets into trouble because of their character trait.

5. Your story

The early part of your story is a good time to show the strenghts of your character, and next they move into the opportunities. Everything is going so well, people value them for their worth, oh happy day! Wouldn’t it be a shame if they encounter a conflict… And another, and another.

Maybe circumstances in your story push your character to reveal their character trait in a more extreme way than they would have done if they had the time to think before reacting. Maybe your character is the only one with this character trait in a majority of conflicting personalities.

After a number of conflicts, your character’s weakness grows, internally and externally. How will this evolve? Will they learn from their conflicts? Will they make amends? Find people who do value them as they are? Accept their true self? Learn how to prioritize?

And there’s your story.

You’ve got this! Now go write!

I hope this was helpful. Don’t hesitate to ask me any questions, and happy writing!

Follow me for more writing advice, or check out my other writing tips here. New topics to write advice about are also always appreciated.

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