How bodies decompose
Wilderness survival skills
Mob mentality
Other cultures
What it takes for a human to die in a given situation
Common tropes in your genre
Average weather for your setting
Obligatory if you don't want a goal either because you don't think you'll do it or because you have one that works for you, then this post isn't for you just ignore or reblog for someone else ^_^
These range in difficulty because I wanted there to be something approachable for everyone
1: Write 200 words everyday
2: Write 400 words everyday
3: Write 500 words everyday
4: Write 50 words everyday
5: Write a sentence everyday
6: Write one paragraph everyday
7: Write a chapter every week
8: Write 1k words every week
9: Write a short story/one-shot every week
10: Write a short story/one-shot every month
I did my best w/ these, again you don't gotta do any if either these are still too big for you [I get that !!] Or if you have a bigger/smaller goal that you do that works for you [or if you simply write better when you don't have a daily/weekly/monthly goal in mind]
My personal daily goal is 200 words a day, which I've been doing the past few days successfully, but who knows if I'll be able to keep it up, but ya know - still good !!!!
Hope sits in a chair in the corner
of a dreamlit bedroom her lips inches away
from the corner of your mouth gleaming
smooth skin freckled with greed
dissolving the selfish daydream like
salt in honeyed water.
Her fingers encase your loose wrists grounding
until your bones jangle in your skin
from her strength strengthened into granite resolve.
You are as tangible as marble and
in this secret rendezvous after
several moonless nights, you hope
for tonight, you hope for this hour.
Hope replies with kisses to the crown of
your head. On your head, the crown abdicates,
declaring anarchy against the self-destruction
you crave more, want more.
all RIGHT:
Why You're Writing Medieval (and Medieval-Coded) Women Wrong: A RANT
(Or, For the Love of God, People, Stop Pretending Victorian Style Gender Roles Applied to All of History)
This is a problem I see alllll over the place - I'll be reading a medieval-coded book and the women will be told they aren't allowed to fight or learn or work, that they are only supposed to get married, keep house and have babies, &c &c.
If I point this out ppl will be like "yes but there was misogyny back then! women were treated terribly!" and OK. Stop right there.
By & large, what we as a culture think of as misogyny & patriarchy is the expression prevalent in Victorian times - not medieval. (And NO, this is not me blaming Victorians for their theme park version of "medieval history". This is me blaming 21st century people for being ignorant & refusing to do their homework).
Yes, there was misogyny in medieval times, but 1) in many ways it was actually markedly less severe than Victorian misogyny, tyvm - and 2) it was of a quite different type. (Disclaimer: I am speaking specifically of Frankish, Western European medieval women rather than those in other parts of the world. This applies to a lesser extent in Byzantium and I am still learning about women in the medieval Islamic world.)
So, here are the 2 vital things to remember about women when writing medieval or medieval-coded societies
FIRST. Where in Victorian times the primary axes of prejudice were gender and race - so that a male labourer had more rights than a female of the higher classes, and a middle class white man would be treated with more respect than an African or Indian dignitary - In medieval times, the primary axis of prejudice was, overwhelmingly, class. Thus, Frankish crusader knights arguably felt more solidarity with their Muslim opponents of knightly status, than they did their own peasants. Faith and age were also medieval axes of prejudice - children and young people were exploited ruthlessly, sent into war or marriage at 15 (boys) or 12 (girls). Gender was less important.
What this meant was that a medieval woman could expect - indeed demand - to be treated more or less the same way the men of her class were. Where no ancient legal obstacle existed, such as Salic law, a king's daughter could and did expect to rule, even after marriage.
Women of the knightly class could & did arm & fight - something that required a MASSIVE outlay of money, which was obviously at their discretion & disposal. See: Sichelgaita, Isabel de Conches, the unnamed women fighting in armour as knights during the Third Crusade, as recorded by Muslim chroniclers.
Tolkien's Eowyn is a great example of this medieval attitude to class trumping race: complaining that she's being told not to fight, she stresses her class: "I am of the house of Eorl & not a serving woman". She claims her rights, not as a woman, but as a member of the warrior class and the ruling family. Similarly in Renaissance Venice a doge protested the practice which saw 80% of noble women locked into convents for life: if these had been men they would have been "born to command & govern the world". Their class ought to have exempted them from discrimination on the basis of sex.
So, tip #1 for writing medieval women: remember that their class always outweighed their gender. They might be subordinate to the men within their own class, but not to those below.
SECOND. Whereas Victorians saw women's highest calling as marriage & children - the "angel in the house" ennobling & improving their men on a spiritual but rarely practical level - Medievals by contrast prized virginity/celibacy above marriage, seeing it as a way for women to transcend their sex. Often as nuns, saints, mystics; sometimes as warriors, queens, & ladies; always as businesswomen & merchants, women could & did forge their own paths in life
When Elizabeth I claimed to have "the heart & stomach of a king" & adopted the persona of the virgin queen, this was the norm she appealed to. Women could do things; they just had to prove they were Not Like Other Girls. By Elizabeth's time things were already changing: it was the Reformation that switched the ideal to marriage, & the Enlightenment that divorced femininity from reason, aggression & public life.
For more on this topic, read Katherine Hager's article "Endowed With Manly Courage: Medieval Perceptions of Women in Combat" on women who transcended gender to occupy a liminal space as warrior/virgin/saint.
So, tip #2: remember that for medieval women, wife and mother wasn't the ideal, virgin saint was the ideal. By proving yourself "not like other girls" you could gain significant autonomy & freedom.
Finally a bonus tip: if writing about medieval women, be sure to read writing on women's issues from the time so as to understand the terms in which these women spoke about & defended their ambitions. Start with Christine de Pisan.
I learned all this doing the reading for WATCHERS OF OUTREMER, my series of historical fantasy novels set in the medieval crusader states, which were dominated by strong medieval women! Book 5, THE HOUSE OF MOURNING (forthcoming 2023) will focus, to a greater extent than any other novel I've ever yet read or written, on the experience of women during the crusades - as warriors, captives, and political leaders. I can't wait to share it with you all!
PLEASE for the love of the universe read anti-colonial science fiction and fantasy written from marginalized perspectives. Y’all (you know who you are) are killing me. To see people praise books about empire written exclusively by white women and then turn around and say you don’t know who Octavia Butler is or that you haven’t read any NK Jemisin or that Babel was too heavy-handed just kills me! I’m not saying you HAVE to enjoy specific books but there is such an obvious pattern here
Some of y’all love marginalized stories but you don’t give a fuck about marginalized creators and characters, and it shows. Like damn
This is an ultimate masterlist of many resources that could be helpful for writers. I apologize in advance for any not working links. Check out the ultimate writing resource masterlist here (x) and my “novel” tag here (x).
Outlining & Organizing
For the Architects: The Planning Process
Rough Drafts
How do you plan a novel?
Plot Development: Climax, Resolution, and Your Main Character
Plotting and Planing
I Have An Idea for a Novel! Now What?
Choosing the Best Outline Method
How to Write a Novel: The Snowflake Method
Effectively Outlining Your Plot
Conflict and Character within Story Structure
Outlining Your Plot
Ideas, Plots & Using the Premise Sheets
Finding story ideas
Choosing ideas and endings
When a plot isn’t strong enough to make a whole story
Writing a story that’s doomed to suck
How to Finish What You Start: A Five-Step Plan for Writers
Finishing Your Novel
Finish Your Novel
How to Finish Your Novel when You Want to Quit
How To Push Past The Bullshit And Write That Goddamn Novel: A Very Simple No-Fuckery Writing Plan
In General
25 Turns, Pivots and Twists to Complicate Your Story
The ABCs (and Ds and Es) of Plot Development
Originality Is Overrated
How to Create a Plot Outline in Eight Easy Steps
Finding Plot: Idea Nets
The Story Goal: Your Key to Creating a Solid Plot Structure
Make your reader root for your main character
Creating Conflict and Sustaining Suspense
Tips for Creating a Compelling Plot
The Thirty-six (plus one) Dramatic Situations
Adding Subplots to a Novel
Weaving Subplots into a Novel
7 Ways to Add Subplots to Your Novel
Crafting a Successful Romance Subplot
How to Improve your Writing: Subplots and Subtext
Understanding the Role of Subplots
How to Use Subtext in your Writing
The Secret Life of Subtext
How to Use Subtext
Beginning
Creating a Process: Getting Your Ideas onto Paper (And into a Story)
Why First Chapters?
Starting with a Bang
In the Beginning
The Beginning of your Novel that isn’t the Beginning of your Novel
A Beginning from the Middle
Starting with a Bang
First Chapters: What To Include @ The Beginning Writer
23 Clichés to Avoid When Beginning Your Story
Start Writing Now
Done Planning. What Now?
Continuing Your Long-Format Story
How to Start a Novel
100 best first lines from novels
The First Sentence of a Book Report
How To Write A Killer First Sentence To Open Your Book
How to Write the First Sentence of a Book
The Most Important Sentence: How to Write a Killer Opening
Hook Your Reader from the First Sentence: How to Write Great Beginnings
Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing and the Red Hering
Narrative Elements: Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing and Suspense
Foreshadowing Key Details
Writing Fiction: Foreshadowing
The Literary Device of Foreshadowing
All About Foreshadowing in Fiction
Foreshadowing
Flashbacks and Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing — How and Why to Use It In Your Writing
Setting
Four Ways to Bring Settings to Life
Write a Setting for a Book
Writing Dynamic Settings
How To Make Your Setting a Character
Guide for Setting
5 Tips for Writing Better Settings
Building a Novel’s Setting
Ending
A Novel Ending
How to End Your Novel
How to End Your Novel 2
How to End a Novel With a Punch
How to End a Novel
How to Finish a Novel
How to Write The Ending of Your Novel
Keys to Great Endings
3 Things That End A Story Well
Ending a Novel: Five Things to Avoid
Endings that Ruin Your Novel
Closing Time: The Ending
Names
Behind the Name
Surname Meanings and Origins
Surname Meanings and Origins - A Free Dictionary of Surnames
Common US Surnames & Their Meanings
Last Name Meanings & Origins
Name Generators
Name Playground
Different Types of Characters
Ways To Describe a Personality
Character Traits Meme
Types of Characters
Types of Characters in Fiction
Seven Common Character Types
Six Types of Courageous Characters
Creating Fictional Characters (Masterlist)
Building Fictional Characters
Fiction Writer’s Character Chart
Character Building Workshop
Tips for Characterization
Fiction Writer’s Character Chart
Advantages, Disadvantages and Skills
Males
Strong Male Characters
The History and Nature of Man Friendships
Friendship for Guys (No Tears!)
‘I Love You, Man’ and the rules of male friendship
Male Friendship
Understanding Male Friendship
Straight male friendship, now with more cuddling
Character Development
P.O.V. And Background
Writing a Character: Questionnaire
10 Days of Character Building
Getting to Know Your Characters
Character Development Exercises
Chapters
How Many Chapters is the Right Amount of Chapters?
The Arbitrary Nature of the Chapter
How Long is a Chapter?
How Long Should Novel Chapters Be?
Chapter & Novel Lengths
Section vs. Scene Breaks
Dialogue
The Passion of Dialogue
25 Things You Should Know About Dialogue
Dialogue Writing Tips
Punctuation Dialogue
How to Write Believable Dialogue
Writing Dialogue: The Music of Speech
Writing Scenes with Many Characters
It’s Not What They Say …
Top 10 Tips for Writing Dialogue
Speaking of Dialogue
Dialogue Tips
Interrupted Dialogue
Two Tips for Interrupted Dialogue
Show, Don’t Tell (Description)
“Tell” Makes a Great Placeholder
The Literary Merit of the Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Bad Creative Writing Advice
The Ultimate Guide to Writing Better Than You Normally Do
DailyWritingTips: Show, Don’t Tell
GrammarGirl: Show, Don’t Tell
Writing Style: What Is It?
Detail Enhances Your Fiction
Using Sensory Details
Description in Fiction
Using Concrete Detail
Depth Through Perception
Showing Emotions & Feelings
Character Description
Describing Your Characters (by inkfish7 on DeviantArt)
Help with Character Development
Creating Characters that Jump Off the Page
Omitting Character Description
Introducing Your Character(s): DON’T
Character Crafting
Writer’s Relief Blog: “Character Development In Stories And Novels”
Article: How Do You Think Up Your Characters?
5 Character Points You May Be Ignoring
List of colors, hair types and hairstyles
List of words to use in a character’s description
200 words to describe hair
How to describe hair
Words used to describe the state of people’s hair
How to describe your haircut
Hair color sharts
Four Ways to Reveal Backstory
Words Used to Describe Clothes
Flashbacks
Using Flashbacks in Writing
Flashbacks by All Write
Using Flashback in Fiction
Fatal Backstory
Flashbacks as opening gambit
Don’t Begin at the Beginning
Flashbacks in Books
TVTropes: Flashback
Objects in the Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear: Flashback Techniques in Fiction
3 Tips for Writing Successful Flashbacks
The 5 Rules of Writing Effective Flashbacks
How to Handle Flashbacks In Writing
Flashbacks and Foreshadowing
Reddit Forum: Is a flashback in the first chapter a good idea?
Forum Discussing Flackbacks
P.O.V
You, Me, and XE - Points of View
What’s Your Point of View?
Establishing the Right Point of View: How to Avoid “Stepping Out of Character”
How to Start Writing in the Third Person
The Opposite Gender P.O.V.
LANGUAGE
How To Say Said
200 Words Instead of Said
Words to Use Instead of Said
A List of Words to Use Instead of Said
Alternatives to “Walk”
60 Synonyms for “Walk”
Grammar Monster
Google Scholar
GodChecker
Tip Of My Tounge
Speech Tags
Pixar Story Rules
Written? Kitten!
TED Talks
DarkCopy
Family Echo
Some Words About Word Count
How Long Should My Novel Be?
The Universal Mary Sue Litmus Test
Writer’s “Cheat Sheets”
Last but not least, the most helpful tool for any writer out there is Google!
"we need less sanitized queer stories" yall keep saying fucking she-ra romanticizes abuse. you couldnt possibly handle less sanitized queer stories
in 2025 let’s bring back being enthusiastic on ao3. leave a comment on every chapter. leave kudos and, if necessary, leave “double kudos” in the comments. tags and notes on bookmarks. the whole nine yards. let’s show fanfic authors how much we love them.
Writers. Could you reblog this if you edit as you go. I'm trying to see something
I've been resource gathering for YEARS so now I am going to share my dragons hoard
Floorplanner. Design and furnish a house for you to use for having a consistent background in your comic or anything! Free, you need an account, easy to use, and you can save multiple houses.
Comparing Heights. Input the heights of characters to see what the different is between them. Great for keeping consistency. Free.
Magma. Draw online with friends in real time. Great for practice or hanging out. Free, paid plan available, account preferred.
Smithsonian Open Access. Loads of free images. Free.
SketchDaily. Lots of pose references, massive library, is set on a timer so you can practice quick figure drawing. Free.
SculptGL. A sculpting tool which I am yet to master, but you should be able to make whatever 3d object you like with it. free.
Pexels. Free stock images. And the search engine is actually pretty good at pulling up what you want.
Figurosity. Great pose references, diverse body types, lots of "how to draw" videos directly on the site, the models are 3d and you can rotate the angle, but you can't make custom poses or edit body proportions. Free, account option, paid plans available.
Line of Action. More drawing references, this one also has a focus on expressions, hands/feet, animals, landscapes. Free.
Animal Photo. You pose a 3d skull model and select an animal species, and they give you a bunch of photo references for that animal at that angle. Super handy. Free.
Height Weight Chart. You ever see an OC listed as having a certain weight but then they look Wildly different than the number suggests? Well here's a site to avoid that! It shows real people at different weights and heights to give you a better idea of what these abstract numbers all look like. Free to use.
ingrid sundberg's colour dictionary - writing help
Original Work Primary Blog. Sideblog for fanfics @stickdoodlefriend Come yell at me! | 18+
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