writer-jessicac:

Your characters have problems.

I don’t mean flaws in character design, even though they possibly do. I mean the problems your characters SHOULD have. The problems they face in your story ie. villains, conflict, war, homophobic parents, not having a date to the big dance. Y’know…like a plot.

Here are 3 ways to improve your plot

1. Your Characters Need to Make Decisions

This may sound obvious, but it isn’t always. The Problem™ isn’t just something your character has to go through that sucks—they should be faced with options, and have to make Active Decisions™ that affect the outcome of the story. This gives your characters agency—if they don’t have agency, if they don’t make decisions, your characters will be read as passive. Passive characters aren’t interesting.

2. These Choices Need To Be Hard

Give your characters inner conflict.

Hard, tough decisions to make. How to face their big problem. In figuring out what options your characters will choose, remember their

• Motivations
• Background
• They way they were raised
• Moral/Ethical/Spiritual beliefs
• Fears
• Loyalties

3. Figure Out The Stakes

Based on what kind of story you have, the stakes for your protagonist are going to be different.

• SciFi novel about how the world is going to get obliterated by an evil force in 2 days? High stakes.
• Romance novella about 29-year old Tequila Sheila who can’t seem to find a date to her brother’s wedding? Lower stakes.

And there’s nothing wrong with having higher or lower stakes—but do think about where your stakes should be for your particular story. Many stories don’t have high enough stakes for readers to be captivated; these stories need to be reconfigured, after realizing what exactly is at stake and to what degree. Understanding what your stakes are can help you figure out what kind of reading experience your book will be.

(via heywriters)

inspire-me-to-breathe:

Nothing wrong with never being drunk (in fact, it’s probs a good thing) but it can be hard to write convincingly about alcohol if you’re not familiar with it, and I’ve read enough fics where 5 secs into reading I’m already cringing sooooo

1. It takes more than 1 beer to get drunk

Personally, it takes me (a small female occasional-drinker) either around 3 shots of any spirit, 2 large glasses of wine or 2.5 beer-like drinks within a short space of time to get over tipsy into drunk territory, and to be really drunk-drunk, a bottle of wine (3 or 4 glasses), or 5 shots should do it. BUT IT VARIES FROM PERSON TO PERSON

2. Lime and salt is literally only for tequila

and I know like less than 3 people who actually enjoy the taste of any alcohol

3. Your vision isn’t “blurry” or “foggy”

Alcohol affects your balance not your eyes, so the room defo can seem like it’s spinning but you’ll still have your 20/20. Sometimes it’s hard to focus, but it’s not constant - just every so often your eyes miss their mark.

4. Speech is less “slurred”, more in the wrong order

A great thread on writing drunk dialogue here: https://www.quora.com/How-can-I-write-dialogue-for-a-drunk-character 

5. Not everyone gets hyper-sexual when drunk

It’s less a state of horniness and more a state of lowered inhibitions and social pressure

6. Coffee doesn’t sober you up like magic

Alcohol dissipates from the body at a rate of about .015% of BAC per hour, and drinking coffee doesn’t alter that rate

7. Alcohol rarely sends you into a deep and heavy sleep

You’re more likely to sleep fitfully and keep waking (sometimes to be sick, more likely to piss/drink water - sometimes just bcos being drunk is uncomfortable), unless you’re an alcoholic who depends on drink for sleep

8. You don’t *hic* in the middle of every sentence!!

If the drink is carbonated, then maybe, but you’re way more likely to have a problem with bloating etc with alcohol 

9. You don’t go straight to black-out, speech-slurring drunk

It takes a lot of units and likely a couple of hours to work up to this stage - for different kinds of drunk this webpage is good: http://krisnoel.com/post/40871345058/my-character-is-drunk 

10. Having drunk sex is difficult, awkward and rarely sexy

And you’re more likely to make-out with your friends than any strangers at a club, just because

11. Hangovers are rarely pounding, light-aversion torture

The younger/more tolerant you are, the better. Generally, for a night of heavy but not black-out drinking, you’ll be thirsty, probs nauseous and tired. The room may still be spinning but in an annoying, not painful way, and this’ll go away after a couple of hours and eating something, getting fresh air or having a shower (whatever works for you)

12. People talk nonsense when drunk

You are less likely to get a love confession and more likely to hear about all the rules for a complicated game they just invented, right that second

13. Everyone is different

Don’t make all your characters hyper, or depressive, or angry. For most of the night they won’t get to that stage anyway. Also, remember this whole list is based on my experiences, so feel free to ignore it all and do your own thing. 

Happy drunk writing! 

(via alknst)

noloumna:

yes, this is a writing discord.

the fools that wished to be tagged: @sorroways, @zielenheil, @alknst, & @therietvelds.

sandydragon1:

• Morning routine that is mundane TO THE READER. Nobody cares how long your main character showers or what their favorite kind of cereal is. Only start your novel with your main character’s morning routine if it is something that isn’t routine to your reader. Does your MC have to steal their breakfast? Include that! Does your MC feed their dragon at the crack of dawn? That’s interesting! Do they spend way to long deciding what to wear? Nobody cares. That’s boring.
  
• A dream. Readers will feel cheated when they read a bunch of interesting stuff only to find out none of it was real.
• Excessive world building. Fantasy novels are especially prone to falling into this trap. Little bits of world building that are naturally woven into the narrative are fine. Info dumps are not. Remember, the purpose of the first chapter is to introduce the MC and get the reader invested in what will happen to them, not to give the reader a history lesson about a world they have no reason to care about yet.
• Too long before the main conflict. While you don’t necessarily need to dive straight into the main conflict, you shouldn’t keep the reader waiting for it to start for too long. I suggest laying the groundwork for the main conflict in the first chapter and maybe hinting at it directly. That will help the plot get going at a good pace.
• Without anything to ground the reader in what’s going on. The reader needs some time to get invested in the main character. While starting in medias res can work, you need to help your reader why they should care about what’s happening to the MC. Otherwise, you might as well be jingling keys in the reader’s face. Be especially careful about starting your novel with a chase scene or a battle since those can be disorienting and might not make it clear why the reader should be rooting for your MC specifically.
• Without showing why your reader should care about the MC. Your MC should be one of the main things that keeps your reader hooked throughout the novel. If your reader doesn’t feel invested in them by the end of the first chapter, then there’s a good chance they won’t keep reading.