I agree and self control is sexy
i promise i don't want too much. i want hugs and kisses and i someone who will listen to me at times. i ramble a lot and i don't expect them to care, just occasionally you know? i would appreciate a date, nothing special or expensive, just a little time together. i don't need gifts and i don't want to take away someone's space and time,. i just want to feel like they care, just... a bit you know? and it's okay if they move on and go to find someone else, because i'm a mess and i often can't even explain what's wrong in the first place, but they were there for a bit and i think that's enough.. to feel like someone loved me even once just for a short while that didn't mean anything, will be enough
MY WRITING MASTERPOST
I just have a lot of writing tips and masterposts and just stuff in my likes and I decided to put them all into this. All rights goes to the people who made them.
Cool Other Masterposts:
Writing Specific Characters
Writing References
Writing Masterpost
Character Guides
Writing Help for Writers
Ultimate Writing Resource List
Lots of RP Guides
Online Writing Resources
List of Websites to Help You Focus
Resources for Writing Bio’s
Helpful Links for Writing Help
General Writing Resources
Resources for Biography Writing
Mental Ilnesses/Disorders Guides
8 Words You Should Avoid While Writing
The Ultimate Writing Masterpost
General:
The Official Ten-Step Guide to Becoming the Next Gatsby
The Periodic Table of Storytelling
Joss Whedon’s Top 10 Writing Tips
Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone
34 Writing Tips that will make you a Better Writer
50 Free resources that will improve your writing skills
5 ways to get out of the comfort zone and become a stronger writer
10 ways to avoid Writing Insecurity
The Writer’s Guide to Overcoming Insecurity
The Difference Between Good Writers and Bad Writers
You’re Not Hemingway - Developing Your Own Style
7 Ways to use Brain Science to Hook Readers and Reel them In
8 Short Story Tips from Kurt Vonnegut
How to Show, Not Tell
5 Essential Story Ingredients
How to Write Fiction that grabs your readers from page one
Why research is important in writing
Make Your Reader Root for Your Main Character
Writing Ergonomics (Staying Comfortable Whilst Writing)
The Importance of Body Language
Fashion Terminology
All About Kissing
Genre Help: Romance
187 Mental Illnesses
Types of Mental Illness
Eye Color List
Spectral Groupings
Do you have trouble creating your titles?
On being a co-writer || Additional tips on effective co-writing
The length of a chapter
How to deal with too many story ideas
On writing two stories simultaneously || a similar ask
When a story stops working
Copyright
Reading critically for writers
The question of outlining
Avoiding publishing scams
Finding story ideas
Tips on building a platform [guest blog]
How much does writing “in genre” matter?
What a “real writer” is
Pennames and aliases
A series of thoughts on series titles
The self-pub miniseries: the why
The self-pub miniseries: the what
Rewriting fanfiction into original fiction
Formatting long quotes and songs
Characters:
10 days of Character Building
Name Generators
Name Playground
Universal Mary Sue Litmus Test
Seven Common Character Types
Handling a Cast of Thousands Part 1 - Getting To Know Your Characters
Web Resources for Developing Characters
Building Fictional Characters
Fiction Writer’s Character Chart
Body Language Cheat
Body Language Reference Cheat
Tips for Writers: Body Language
Types of Crying
Body Language: Mirroring
Character Building Workshop
Tips for Characterization
Character Chart for Fiction Writers
Villains are people too but…
How to Write a Character Bible
Character Development Exercises
All Your Characters Talk the Same - And They’re Not A Hivemind!
Medieval Names Archive
Sympathy Without Saintliness
Family Echo (Family Tree Maker)
Behind The Name
100 Character Development Questions for Writers
Aether’s Character Development Worksheet
The 12 Common Archetypes
Six Types of Courageous Characters
Kazza’s List of Character Secrets - Part 1, Part 2
Creating Believable Characters With Personality
Angry
Bad Asses
Bitches (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
Childishness
Emotional Detachment
Flirtatious
The Girl Next Door
Introverts (2)
Mean Persons (2)
Psychopaths
Party Girls
Rich (2)
Rebels
Sarcasm
Serial Killers (2)
Shyness (2, 3)
Sluts
Villains (2)
Witt
Body Language Cheat Sheet
Creating Fictional Characters Series
Three Ways to Avoid Lazy Character Description
7 Rules for Picking Names for Fictional Characters
Character Development Questionnaire
How to Create Fictional Characters
Character Name Resources
Character Development Template
Character Development Through Hobbies
Character Flaws List
10 Questions for Creating Believable Characters
Ari’s Archetype Series
How to Craft Compelling Characters
List of 200 Character Traits
Writing Characters of the Opposite Sex
Making Your Characters Likable
Do you really know your characters?
Character Development: Virtues
Character Development: Vices
Character Morality Alignment
List of Negative Personality Traits
List of Positive Personality Traits
List of Emotions - Positive
List of Emotions - Negative
Loon’s Character Development Series - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
Phobia List A-L (Part 1), M-Z (Part 2)
30 Day In Depth Character Development Meme
Words for Emotions based on Severity
Eight Bad Characters
High Level Description of the Sixteen Personality Types
How Not to Write Female Characters
Writing Female Characters
How to write empowering female characters
Why I write strong female characters
Red Flags for Female Characters Written by Men
Writing strong female characters
The Female Character Flowchart
Eight Heroine Archetypes
Eight Hero Archetypes
Help on picking character names
A tip about realistic characters
Strategies to create believable characters
Additional tips on writing PoC characters
Advice on writing genders
Creating unstable characters
Ambiguous Antagonists
A tidbit on psychological trauma [trigger warnings]
On writing accents
What makes characters stick with me
Sweetening up character description
Making an introverted character stand out
Conveying too much or too little character “inner reflection”
Revealing a character’s asexual orientation
Revealing a character’s gender & orientation
A habit of killing characters
When characters aren’t standing out
Breaking hearts with character deaths
Quick tips on expressing character
Character development versus pacing
A mini guide to character voice
A Description Resource
55 Words to Describe Someones Voice
Describing Skin Colors
Describing a Person: Adding Details
Emotions Vocabulary
90 Words For ‘Looks’
Be More Descriptive
Describe a Character’s Look Well
100 Words for Facial Expressions
To Show and Not To Tell
Words to Describe Facial Expressions
Describing Clothes
List of Actions
Tone, Feelings and Emotions
Writing A Vampire
Writing Pansexual Characters
Writing Characters on the Police Force
Writing Drunk Characters
Writing A Manipulative Character
Writing A Friends With Benefits Relationship
Writing A Natural Born Leader
Writing A Flirtatious Character
Writing A Nice Character
Fiction Writing Exercises for Creating Villains
Five Traits to Contribute to an Epic Villain
Writing Villains that Rock
Writing British Characters
How To Write A Character With A Baby
On Assassin Characters
Disorders in general (2, 3, 4, 5)
Attention Deficit Disorder
Antisocial Personality Disorder
Anxiety (2, 3, 4, 5)
Avoidant Personality Disorder
Alice In Wonderland Syndrome
Bipolar Disorder (2, 3)
Cotard Delusions
Depression (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
Eeating Disorders (2, 3)
Facitious Disorders
Histrionic Personality Disorder
Multiple Personality Disorder (2)
Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Night Terrors
Kleptomania (2)
A Pyromaniac
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
Psychopaths
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (2) (3)
Sex Addiction (2)
Schizophrenia (2)
Sociopaths (2)
Aspergers Syndrome
Apathy
Autism
Someone Blind (2)
Cancer (2, 3)
Disability
Dyslexia
Muteness (2, 3)
Stutter
Actors
Ballet Dancer (2)
Christianity
Foreigners
Gamblers
Hinduism
Hitmen
Satanism
Smokers
Stoners
Taoism
Journalists
Vegetarians
Alcohol Influence (2, 3, 4, 5)
Cocaine Influence
Ecstasy Influence (2)
Heroin Use
LSD Influence
Marijuana Influence (2, 3)
Opiate Use
Tips on Writing Dialogue:
It’s Not What They Say…
Top 8 Tips for Writing Dialogue
Speaking of Dialogue
The Great Said Debate
He Said, She Said, Who Said What?
How to Write Dialogue Unique to Your Characters
Writing Dialogue: Go for Realistic, Not Real-Life
Tips on Writing Point of View:
Establishing The Right Point of View
How to Start Writing in the Third Person
The I Problem
Style & Craft of Writing:
The literary “weak verb”
Do you have word tics?
Victoria’s Vitamins: vague descriptive words
Victoria’s Vitamins: mood
Breaking writing habits
Varying sentences
Describing colors
Sweetening up character description
Purple prose
Grammar is a tricksy thing
“Smartening” the language of your narrative
Building suspense and making readers sweat
A couple tips about description in fast-paced scenes
Content:
The story of exposition
10 ways to hit your reader in the gut
Make your reader root for your main character
Make your reader hold their breath
What’s the big deal about intros?
A tip about description
The word count of your manuscript
Things that make me keep reading
Choosing ideas and endings
When to describe setting
Battling cliches
Is your story YA, NA, or adult?
When a plot isn’t strong enough to make a whole story
Flashbacks with multiple POVs
Bulking up your word count
Avoiding cliches
Conquer that opening line || response || discussion
Tips on revealing setting awesomely kind of
Deciding between different ideas for the same story
Revision:
You’ve finished your manuscript! Now what?
Revision sucks but doesn’t have to suck
Where to find beta readers/critique partners
Tips on taking critique
Tips on giving critique
What to do with bad writing advice
Additional insight on bad writing advice
Five quick steps to get into revising that manuscript
When to say you’re done revising
Beginning the awesome journey of revision
Friends are not always the best readers
Plot, Structure, & Outline:
Writing A Novel Using the Snowflake Method
Effectively Outlining Your Novel
Conflict and Character Within Story Structure
Outlining Your Plot
Ideas, Plots and Using the Premise Sheets
How To Write A Novel
Creating Conflict and Sustaining Suspense
Plunge Right In…Into Your Story, That Is
Tips for Creating a Compelling Plot
36 (plus one) Dramatic Situations
The Evil Overlord Devises A Plot: Excerpt from Stupid Plot Tricks
Conflict Test
What is Conflict?
Monomyth
The Hero’s Journey: Summary of Steps
Outline Your Novel in Thirty Minutes
Plotting Without Fears
Novel Outlining 101
Writing The Perfect Scene
One-Page Plotting
The Great Swampy Middle
How Can You Know What Belongs In Your Book?
Create A Plot Outline in 8 Easy Steps
How to Organize and Develop Ideas for Your Novel
Create Structure in your novel using index cards
Choosing the best outline method for you
Hatch’s Plot Bank
Setting & Making Your Own World
Magical Word Builder’s Guide
I Love The End Of The World
World Building 101
The Art of Description: Eight Tips to Help Bring Your Settings to Life
Creating the Perfect Setting - Part 1
Creating a Believable World
Setting
Character and Setting Interactions
Maps Workshop - Developing the Fictional World Through Mapping
World Builders Project
How To Create Fantasy Worlds
Creating Fantasy and Science Fiction Worlds
Helpful Tools & Software:
Tip Of My Tongue - Find the word you’re looking for
Write or Die - Stay motivated
Stay Focused - Tool for Chrome, lock yourself out of distracting websites
My Writing Nook - Online Text Editor, Free
Bubbl.us - Online Mind Map Application, Free
Family Echo - Online Family Tree Maker, Free
Freemind - Mind Map Application; Free; Windows, Mac, Linux, Portable
Xmind - Mind Map Application; Free; Windows, Mac, Linux, Portable
Liquid Story Binder - Novel Organization and Writing Application; free trial, $45.95; Windows, Portable
Scrivener - Novel Organization and Writing Application; free trial, $39.95; Mac
SuperNotecard - Novel Organization and Writing Application; free trial, $29; Windows, Mac, Linux, portable
yWriter - Novel Organization and Writing Application; free; Windows, Linux, portable
JDarkRoom - Minimalist Text Editing Application; free; Windows, Mac, Linux, portable
AutoRealm - Map Creation Application; free; Windows, Linux with Wine
Grammer & Revision:
How To Rewrite
Editing Recipe
Cliche Finder
Revising Your Novel: Read What You’ve Written
Writing 101: Revising A Novel
20 Common Grammar Mistakes That (Almost) Everyone Makes
Synonyms for the Most Commonly Used Words of the English Language
Grammar Urban Legends
Words Instead of Walk (2)
Commonly Confused Adjectives
A Guide on Punctuation
Common Writing Mistakes
25 Synoms for ‘Expession’
How to: Avoid Misusing Variations of Words
Words to Keep Inside Your Pocket
The 13 Trickiest Grammar Hang-Ups
Other Ways to Say..
Proofreading
300+ Sophiscated and Underused Words
List of Misused Words
Words for Sex
100 Beautiful and Ugly Words
Words to Use More Often
Alternatives for ‘Smile’ or ‘Laugh’
Three Self Editing Tips
Words to Use Instead of ‘Walk’, ‘Said’, ‘Happy’ and ‘Sad’
Synonyms for Common Words
Alternatives for ‘Smile’
Transitional Words
The Many Faces and Meanings of ‘Said’
Synonyms for ‘Wrote’
A Case Of She Said, She Said
Creativity Boosters:
*Creative Writing Prompts
*Ink Provoking
*Story Starter
*Story Spinner
*Story Kitchen
*Language is a Virus
*The Dabbling Mum
Quick Story Idea Generator
Solve Your Problems By Simply Saying Them Out Loud
Busting Your Writing Rut
Creative Acceleration: 11 Tips To Engineer A Productive Flow
Writing Inspiration, Or Sex on a Bicycle
The Seven Major Beginner Mistakes
Complete Your First Book with these 9 Simple Writing Habits
Free Association, Active Imagination, Twilight Imaging
Random Book Title Generator
Finishing Your Novel
Story Starters & Idea Generators
Words to Use More Often
How to: Cure Writer’s Block
Some Tips on Writer’s Block
Got Writer’s Block?
6 Ways to Beat Writer’s Block
Tips for Dealing With Writer’s Block
Improvement:
Improve Your Writing Habits Now
5 Ways to Add Sparkle to Your Writing
Getting Over Roleplaying Insecurities
Improve Your Paras
Why the Right Word Choices Result in Better Writing
4 Ways To Have Confidence in Your Writing
Writing Better Than You Normally Do
How’s My Driving?
Motivation:
Backhanding procrastination
On habits and taking care of yourself || Response
More troubles with writing motivation
The inner critic and ways to fight it
The writing life is hard on us
For troubles with starting your story
Writing to be published
“You’re a writer, will you write this for me?”
Writing a story that’s doomed to suck
Writing stamina builds slowly
When depression goes and writing goes with it
Additional inner critic strategies
Tips on conquering NaNoWriMo (or any project, really)
You will change as a writer
Ways to keep writing while in school
13 quick tips when you’re starting your novel
First draft blues
Getting in your own way
Writing an Application:
How to: Make That Application Your Bitch
How to: Make Your App Better
How to: Submit a Flawless Audition
10 Tips for Applying
Para Sample Ideas
5 Tips on Writing an IC Para Sample
Writing an IC Sample Without Escaping From the Bio
How to: Create a Worthy IC Para Sample
How to: Write an Impressive Para Sample
How to: Lengthen Short Para’s
Prompts:
Drabble Stuff
Prompts List
Writing Prompts
Drabble Prompts
How to Get Into Character
Writing Challenges/Prompts
A Study in Writing Prompts for RPs
Para Prompts & Ideas
Writing Prompts for Journal Entries
A List of Para Starters
So you want to make an OC?: A Masterpost of Ways to Create, Develop, and Make Good OCs!
i made this masterpost in hopes that it helps you in making your own OCs ah;; it can also apply to developing RP characters i suppose! if you’d like to add more resources then go for it sugar pea (´ヮ`)!
EDIT (10/16/18): edited my disclaimer (below) before diving into the huge chunk of information here! also included new resources and links to writing disabled and nonbinary characters. happy researching! <3
1. i made this post when i was like 14? 15? so as such: the information researched here is very, very old. a lot of it, imo, is no longer relevant! especially with language use (ESPECIALLY if you’re reblogging the old version of the post that had links to an article about gender/sexuality. i’ve removed that. i’ve removed also the mary sue/gary stue chunk because my values have changed since) the point is, the resources here will not always fit in with what we need as time goes on.
2. these resources are not law!! i made this post because i was and still am very passionate about ocs. this resource was intended to be a sounding board for when u have ideas you want to further delve into and you’re not entirely sure where to begin. it’s not the only resource out there, and sometimes, the best sounding board will be you!!! follow ur heart. ocs are fun. this post was never, ever meant to tell you how to write your own characters but help broaden ur knowledge if u found urself limited in an area (this was first made with a white, abled, cishet audience in mind!)
3. i’ve gotten some great notes and commentary on this post and things i want to explore more since making this post roughly 5 years ago. things are very, very different. i have better resources for a LOT of these, and have more i want to tack on! but i simply can’t find the time for it, so until I do: i’ve removed a lot of links here that i found harmful and irrelevant to today, but i haven’t combed through all of them and can’t lead you to what i think is best. research yourselves! you’ll learn lots.
4. and in closing, thanks for reading! this a/n got off on a tangent so that’s that, LMAO. go forth and develop your ocs!!! and tell me about them!!! or tell me if you have fresh sources or a better perspective or just wanna call me out. this post is 100% open to criticism because it’s imperative to keep growing and learn as much as possible and be as whole and mindful as possible. this world is full of diverse, incredible creators who have contributed so much to telling their stories. let their knowledge guide you, not a silly post made 5-6 years ago. <3
How to Write Better OCs:
basic tips on how to make your oc even better
tragic backstory? learn how to write one/make yours great
writing specific characters
a wordier, great guide on how to develop your character
kick out those vague descriptions and make them AWESOME
Character Development:
how to actually make an OC
Q&A (to develop characters)
more Q&As
giving your character a backstory
how to write an attractive character
Diversity
adding more racial diversity
masterpost on writing more diversity into your story
cultures of the worldguides to drawing different ethnicities (not just a great art reference, but also really helpful in appearance descriptions!)
disability resources: fuckyeahcharacterdevelopment: writing disabled characters, disability-writing-advice, actuallyblind, cripplecharacters
nonbinarycharacter blog! (huge thanks to @writersshock for this and the following resources to writing nb characters!)
6 tips for writing genderqueer & nb characters
writing nonbinary characters: a primer
Villains
villain generator
need an evil sounding name for your evil character? bam
villain archetypes
what’s your villain’s motive for being a villain?
Relationships
character perceptions (What your character thinks of themselves and what others think of them)
how to write strong relationships between two characters
8 ways to write better characters and develop their relationships with others
OCxLove Interest Handbook
develop your couple with good ol’ Q&A!
how to write realistic relationships
how to write relatives for your characters (this is more OC related to a canon character, but will help in writing family members in general)
ARCHETYPES
12 common archetypes
8 archetypes for male/female characters
female archetypes (goes pretty indepth from two main categories)
a list of archetypes
NAMES
how to name your character
random name generator
most common surnames
surnames by ethnicity
APPEARANCE
tips for better design
basic appearance generator
pinterest board for character design (includes NSFW and images of skeletons/exposed muscle (?) so tread carefully!)
clothing ref masterpost
DETAILS
give your character better powers
a list of professions
proactive vs reactive characters
positive and negative traits
interest generator
skills generator
motivation generator
123 ideas for character flaws
list of phobias
again, this is to help inspire you or help establish your OCs! i hope you get a lot of info and help from this ahh ( ´ ▽ ` )ノ
Making a Character Whine in Monologue
I’m a big believer in letting characters bleed quietly. You know, the kind of emotional tension that simmers just under the surface—not the dramatic “I am torn!” speeches. Here’s how I like to sneak internal conflict into my writing without making my characters feel like they belong in a bad soap opera... Have Fun! (。♥‿♥。)
Saying the opposite of what they feel. Like insisting they’re fine while gripping a coffee mug like it personally insulted their ancestors.
Pausing before responding to something simple. Because sometimes the silence says “I’m thinking too hard about this” louder than a whole paragraph ever could.
Changing the subject when things get too close to their emotional soft spot. Classic evasion. Bonus points if they pretend it's for someone else’s sake.
Making choices that contradict their stated goals. "I swear I’m over them"—cut to them rerouting an entire road trip to pass by their ex’s hometown.
Being too nice. Yep. People-pleasing? Avoidance in a trench coat.
Fixating on a tiny, irrelevant detail while avoiding the bigger thing. They can’t deal with their grief, but they can definitely spend 12 minutes lining up pens perfectly.
Snapping at someone they trust—then immediately regretting it. Because pain has to leak out somewhere, and it’s usually not in a convenient monologue.
Doing something “just in case,” but obviously hoping for the opposite. Packing a goodbye gift they never plan to give. Writing a message they never send.
Rewriting memories in their head. “It wasn’t that bad. They didn’t mean it. I probably deserved it.” A spiral in slow motion.
Being hyper-aware of how others are reacting to them. Internal conflict often turns into external paranoia: “Did she flinch? Was I too cold? Did he see that?”
Gets into: A Fight ⚜ ...Another Fight ⚜ ...Yet Another Fight
Hates Someone ⚜ Kisses Someone ⚜ Falls in Love
Calls Someone they Love ⚜ Dies / Cheats Death ⚜ Drowns
is...
A Child ⚜ Interacting with a Baby/Child ⚜ A Genius ⚜ A Lawyer
Beautiful ⚜ Dangerous ⚜ Drunk ⚜ Injured ⚜ Shy
needs...
A Magical Item ⚜ An Aphrodisiac ⚜ A Fictional Poison
To be Killed Off ⚜ To Become Likable ⚜ To Clean a Wound
To Find the Right Word, but Can't ⚜ To Say No ⚜ A Drink
loves...
Astronomy ⚜ Baking ⚜ Cooking ⚜ Cocktails ⚜ Food ⚜ Oils
Dancing ⚜ Fashion ⚜ Gems ⚜ Mythology ⚜ Numbers
Roses ⚜ Sweets ⚜ To Fight ⚜ Wine ⚜ Wine-Tasting ⚜ Yoga
has/experiences...
Allergies ⚜ Amnesia ⚜ Bereavement ⚜ Bites & Stings ⚜ Bruises
Caffeine ⚜ CO Poisoning ⚜ Color Blindness ⚜ Food Poisoning
Injuries ⚜ Jet Lag ⚜ Mutism ⚜ Pain ⚜ Poisoning
More Pain & Violence ⚜ Viruses ⚜ Wounds
[these are just quick references. more research may be needed to write your story...]
Updated 17th July 2024 More writing tips, review tips & writing description notes
Facial Expressions
Masking Emotions
Smiles/Smirks/Grins
Eye Contact/Eye Movements
Blushing
Voice/Tone
Body Language/Idle Movement
Thoughts/Thinking/Focusing/Distracted
Silence
Memories
Happy/Content/Comforted
Love/Romance
Sadness/Crying/Hurt
Confidence/Determination/Hopeful
Surprised/Shocked
Guilt/Regret
Disgusted/Jealous
Uncertain/Doubtful/Worried
Anger/Rage
Laughter
Confused
Speechless/Tongue Tied
Fear/Terrified
Mental Pain
Physical Pain
Tired/Drowsy/Exhausted
Eating
Drinking
I deserve love. I deserve to feel adored. I deserve kind words and sweet gestures. I deserve gentle kisses and warm hugs. I deserve the love he gives to me. We deserve the best of each other.
girlhood is staying up late to read the top posts in an x reader tag