Latest Posts by justanothergirlsblog - Page 6

“Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said.”

— Voltaire (via quotemadness)

Here’s a tip! If you want to have girl power in your series or movie, normalize women.

Girl power shouldn’t be about proving that women can do things the same or better than men even if they are women! Girl power should be about women being equal to men and not diminished for being a girl.

Avoid having the male characters get surprised that she’s a women, avoid them saying things like “She’s a woman, but she’s strong!” or “Holy shit she’s a woman!?” or “Don’t be too tough on the woman!”. Those kinds of behaviors make it seem that it is surprising for a female person to be strong and/or independant. Equality is women getting treated the same as the men, not having people be surprised that she can do all those martial arts while being a woman! Wether the character is male, female, or non-binary, they should be treated socially equal regardless of their gender!

“Missing you comes in waves and tonight I am drowning.”

— Unknown 

tips on writing arab characters

first let’s cover the main mistake people make: what is an arab?

an arab is generally any person whose lineage comes from an arabic-speaking country. some examples:  Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

now that you know what your character is (if you were aiming for east asian/south asian this is your cue to leave and educate yourself!) let’s talk about some important factors of an arab character.

decide what country they are from: this is ridiculously important! each arab country has a unique history and their cultures vary DRASTICALLY! it is extremely offensive to take bits and pieces of different cultures from various arab countries and stuff them all into one character. so first choose from where exactly your character hails. note: if you are writing in a fantasy world, this still applies! look into your specific country of choice and work around that.

not all arabs are muslims: while islam has greatly influenced arab culture, muslims and arabs are not synonymous. islam is a religion, arab is a lineage. if you choose to make your character muslim, be mindful of that religion, and if not, do not give the character islamic attributes (ie: hijabs, islamic names)

on naming your character:

first names: once again, be mindful of the character’s religion here. many names that have come to be associated with arabs are in fact islamic in origin (mohammed, abdullah, aabid…) look for arabic names and check the meaning and origin to be sure (here and here are some good websites that give definition and origin). arabic names generally do not have nicknames. yes even ‘mo’ for ‘mohammed’ or ‘al’ for ‘ali’ are all a foreigner’s look on arabic names. they don’t work. don’t use them.

middle names: arabs generally do not have middle names (which is to say, they aren’t assigned any at birth) instead, the child’s father’s name is their second name. so ahmed, son of salim would be ‘ahmed salim’ rather than be given an entirely new name.

last names: the last name of any arab is their father’s last name. generally, a married woman keeps her own last name rather than change it to her husband’s, and the children inherit their father’s name. 

fashion: once again this differs entirely based on what country you’ve chosen but also please mind the year! if your novel is set in the equivalent of the 1800s traditional big turbans have been out of fashion for centuries!! more modern clothing can include checkered turbans that are worn by men and draped on the head, set in place by igal. but again, this depends on the country of choice. kuffiyehs are more symbolically worn in countries like palestine, syria and jordan. here and here are more in-depth descriptions. 

the arabic language: arabic differs drastically from english in regards to grammar so using a translator site isn’t going to cut it. the main reason for this is that there each arabic country has its own dialect, and while some are similar, they all have obvious differences. a translator will give you the official arabic, which isn’t used in day-to-day speech. my advice is to have an arab speaker read through your lines before publishing. 

stereotypes: for a bit of background, it was an arab (Al-Haitham) that became one of the first founders of modern optics by creating the first camera. an arab (Ibn Firnas) who first attempted flight. arabs invented the numbers currently used all around the world (yes 0-9 were created by an arab named al-Khwarizmi!) so let me tell you it is extremely disrespectful, hurtful, and downright wrong when arabs are presented as uncivilized, uneducated, and violent in books and media. keep this in mind while writing your character.

more than sand and camels: while many arabs hail from the desert and indeed a good many travels were taken via camel, that does not mean your arab character is required to know this. not all arabic countries are deserts. not all arabs own camels. if you must give them a form of travel, an often overlooked talent of arabs was horse-riding, and some of the best breeds of horse are arabian, so look into that instead!

misogynism and homophobia: this is a harmful arabic stereotype bred from the misunderstanding of islamic values. hijab/niqab (head and face covers) are the chosen form of dress for muslim women (though once again not all arabs are muslims!) along with many other values held by muslim men and women, there are cultural influences some arabs hold that are mistranslated by western countries. i might make a separate post about this alone, but just be mindful about this as you are writing your character. don’t make the girl oppressed and in need of saving. don’t make the guy sexist and arrogant.

war is not culture, it’s circumstance: the middle east has generally come to be associated with war and pain, a circumstance of which no one is happy about. this does not mean that your character should desire violence, wish to inflict pain, come from an abusive family, desire war, come from a background of war. these are all offensive and just another painful reminder of how the west sees arabs. if your character fits into any of those categories, now is the time to fix that.

if anything remains unclear, shoot me an ask! 

New Editing Features in Writing Analytics

A few days ago, I posted a preview of a feature I was working on. I’m happy to announce that highlights are now live and ready to use 🎉.

Just choose which words or phrases you’d like to be highlighted, and Writing Analytics will do that as you type. This has a number of use cases, particularly when you’re editing something and want to target specific issues in your draft. 

Stuff like weeding out adverbs, cleaning out unnecessary words, passive voice etc. You can also use these to highlight the names of your characters and their pronouns to visualise better how much space they’re getting in the narrative. 

You can do anything you want — that’s the best part!

How it Works

1. Click on Highlights in the main menu.

2. Add some highlights. You can also click on them to choose a different colour.

That’s it. You can close the widget and go back to writing.

One cool thing is that star works as a wildcard. It will match any word or part of word. So if you want to highlight problematic adverbs use *ly like so:

Colour-coding and visualising what you’re looking for in the text makes revisions so much easier —instead of having to read the whole thing over and over again, you can focus on specific areas and issues.

The highlights show up as you type so you can also use this to break down bad writing habits. Just set up highlights for words or phrases that you’d like to stop using, and you’ll be alerted when it happens.

It took me a while to build this, and I’m very excited to finally see it in the wild — one of my favourite features for sure.

Wanna give it a go? Sign up for a free, no-commitment 14-day trial.

The Structure of Story now available! Check it out on Amazon, via the link in our bio, or at https://kiingo.co/book

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A scene agitator is something that makes a task more difficult, distracting, uncomfortable, or interesting. Agitators make scenes more intriguing as we see a character struggle. Let's review a few types of agitators.

Agitators include:

• Loud noises that distract characters (and the audience) including a car alarm, an air raid siren, a passing subway, etc.

• The introduction of anything inherently dangerous such as a tiger in the room, a character juggling a knife, etc.

• Dangerous settings such as a tight rope, a fight over a river of lava, a discussion on a cliff's ledge, etc.

• Any agitation of the senses such as free-floating dust, popping grease from cooking bacon, etc.

• An stream of disruptions or interruptions to a conversation.

• A physical constraint such as the tightening of a corset during a conversation.

• Anything that violates social norms such as a violation of personal space, a violation of personal hygiene, etc.

• Inclement weather such as hail, lightning, thunder, etc.

• Anything vying for the character's attention.

• Anything that inhibits or blocks clear and unfiltered communication such as a fuzzy phone connection, a physical barrier between a conversation, etc.

• Pungent smells such a skunk, manure, the sewers, etc.

• Bugs

Kiingo

Add an Agitator to Your Scene

A scene agitator is something that makes a task more difficult, distracting, uncomfortable, or interesting. Agitators make scenes more intri

“You have to meet people where they are, and sometimes you have to leave them there.”

— Iyanla Vanzant 

“You’re always haunted by the idea you’re wasting your life.”

— Chuck Palahniuk 

“Where we love is home - home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts.”

— Oliver Wendell Holmes 

“You must go on adventures to find out where you belong.”

— Sue Fitzmaurice 

“Maybe this world is another planet’s hell.”

— Aldous Huxley 

Scene vs. Summary & When to Use Which

When I was a young writer, I didn’t fully understand what a scene was and what a summary was. Later, when I understood the difference, I wasn’t always sure when to use which. These days, I occasionally help writers with the same things. They may use summary for what should have been a scene, or they may write a whole scene for what really should have been summary. Understanding the difference and when to use which can be key when writing a successful novel.

Sure, some of it is subjective.

But what might be surprising to some, is that most of the time, one is more … “correct” than the other.  

Scene

A scene is a structural unit that tends to have these qualities:

- Happens in Real Time

A scene will largely happen in real time. This means we “watch” the characters move, act, and talk, as if it were happening in real life.

- Dramatizes (Shows > Tells)

A scene dramatizes. It uses showing more than telling. If a character is angry with a friend, we see that anger in action and conversation. We may witness her yell or kick a rock, for example. It’s like watching a stage play.

- Concrete

Because it is dramatized, a scene will usually be more concrete. It will more likely appeal to our senses and the physical world and experience.

- Characters Acting in a Specific Location

A scene will have characters in a location (in some very rare cases, the setting or society may act as characters). They might be talking on a train ride, or exploring a cave, or dueling in the snow.

Scene Examples

(Because a full scene often lasts pages, these examples are passages from specific scenes.)

“This won’t take long, Andrew,” said the doctor. Ender nodded. “It’s designed to be removed. Without infection, without damage. But there’ll be some tickling, and some people say they have a feeling of something missing. You’ll keep looking around for something, something you were looking for, but you can’t find it, and you can’t remember what it was. So I’ll tell you. It’s the monitor you’re looking for, and it isn’t there. In a few days that feeling will pass.” The doctor was twisting something at the back of Ender’s head. Suddenly a pain stabbed through him like a needle from his neck to his groin. Ender felt his back spasm, and his body arched violently backward; his head struck the bed. He could feel his legs thrashing, and his hands were clenching each other, wringing each other so tightly that they arched. “Deedee!” shouted the doctor. “I need you!” The nurse ran in, gasped. “Got to relax these muscles. Get it to me, now! What are you waiting for!” Something changed hands; Ender could not see. He lurched to one side and fell off the examining table. “Catch him!” cried the nurse. “Just hold him steady–” “You hold him, doctor, he’s too strong for me–” “Not the whole thing! You’ll stop his heart–” Ender felt a needle enter his back just above the neck of his shirt. It burned, but wherever in him the fire spread, his muscles gradually un-clenched. Now he could cry for the fear and pain of it. “Are you all right, Andrew?” the nurse asked.

- Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

Mrs. Reed occupied her usual seat by the fireside; she made a signal to me to approach; I did so, and she introduced me to the stony stranger with the words: “This is the little girl respecting whom I applied to you.” He, for it was a man, turned his head slowly towards where I stood, and having examined me with the two inquisitive-looking grey eyes which twinkled under a pair of bushy brows, said solemnly, and in a bass voice, “Her size is small: what is her age?” “Ten years.” “So much?” was the doubtful answer; and he prolonged his scrutiny for some minutes. Presently he addressed me—“Your name, little girl?” “Jane Eyre, sir.” In uttering these words I looked up: he seemed to me a tall gentleman; but then I was very little; his features were large, and they and all the lines of his frame were equally harsh and prim. “Well, Jane Eyre, and are you a good child?”

- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Summary

A summary has these qualities:

- Condensed Time

Summaries condense time. They may cover a month in a single sentence. They may talk about recurring events over a time period, within one paragraph. They may relay a past event (or in some cases, a future event) within a brief moment. They don’t happen in real time.

- Explains through Telling

Since the moment isn’t happening in real time, the audience is told more than shown what happened. This gives summary a stronger, guiding, narrative hand. Rather than experiencing the passage like the character, it’s more like the audience is being guided by a storyteller (generally speaking).

- More Abstract

For those reasons, telling is more abstract. It’s more likely to express ideas and concepts, rather than specific experiences.

- Characters and/or Setting may Change Swiftly (or Maybe Not Even Be Present In Some Cases)

A summary may not focus on a specific character or stay in the same setting. It may move quickly through settings or may not even mention a specific setting.

Summary Examples

Mother came home and commiserated with Ender about the monitor. Father came home and kept saying it was such a wonderful surprise, they had such fantastic children that the government told them to have three, and now the government didn’t want to take any of them after all, so here they were with three, they still had a Third … until Ender wanted to scream at him, I know I’m a Third, I know it, if you want I’ll go away so you don’t have to be embarrassed in front of everybody. - Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

John had not much affection for his mother and sisters, and an antipathy to me. He bullied and punished me; not two or three times in the week, nor once or twice in the day, but continually: every nerve I had feared him, and every morsel of flesh in my bones shrank when he came near. There were moments when I was bewildered by the terror he inspired, because I had no appeal whatever against either his menaces or his inflictions; the servants did not like to offend their young master by taking my part against him, and Mrs. Reed was blind and deaf on the subject: she never saw him strike or heard him abuse me, though he did both now and then in her very presence, more frequently, however, behind her back.

- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

When to Use Which

Most novels are better written with more scene than summary. Scenes dramatize the story, so that the audience feels like they are experiencing and participating in it. Scenes are more impactful. Scenes are more likely to stir emotions. Because they are more concrete, they are more likely to stick in the reader’s memory.

However, this is not to say all novels are better with more scene than summary. You can indeed find successful books with more summary. This can be particularly useful in books with huge casts and many viewpoint characters, books that take place over a long period of time (such as a character’s entire life), or books with powerful, present omniscient narrators. Not all books that rely on summary more than scene are bad.

But most books are better told largely through scene than summary.

And pretty much all novels need some of both.

So when do we use which?

Sometimes I edit passages that are weakened because they are summarized instead of dramatized. Other times I read scenes that offer very little dramatic value and should have been summarized.

Scenes

A good rule of thumb is the more significant the moment, the more likely it needs to be rendered as a scene.

Big turning points and climactic moments should almost always be a scene–whether that turning point relates to character arc, plot, or theme.

This means that the climactic moments of the beginning, middle, and end, should almost always be a scene.

Anything we’ve been building up to in the primary plotline related to the arc, events, or theme, should probably be a scene.

Weiterlesen

I wanted to double check that “The Cherry on Top” was a short novel or novella and I found this on uphillwriting.org. I think it’s very informative and hopefully you guys will find it useful!

WRITING WITCHES

People began talking about witchcraft and witches around the time of the Old Testament, and were more mainstream when churches began believing in it. Witches were/are commonly depicted as evil females who do the devil’s work in the west and some parts of Asia, but nowadays, some people see witches as good as well.

Your view of witches is entirely up to you. They could be any gender, (or non-gendered), good, or evil. It depends on how you want your story to go, but witches perform witchcraft, the use of magic, so magic is an important factor in here.

Witches is such a large area because different countries have different versions of them, and different authors have their own version too, so I’ll be including very general information here.

Type of witches (via Horoscope.com on Pinterest)

Cosmic witch

Astrology based

Horoscopes

Divination witch

Predicting the future

Tarot cards

Palm reading

Tasseography

Kitchen witch

Does housework

Homemade offerings

Can conjure spells

Green witch

Herbs and plants

Folk magic (faeries and elves)

Earth based

Sea witch

Water based (oceans, lakes)

Lunar magic

Weather magic

Common witchcraft activities

Potion making

Spell conjuring

Future predictions/prophecy making

Supernatural beings conjuring

Ceremonies

Candle colour meanings (for divination witch)

White: peace, purity

Brown: home protection, stability

Black: negativity, binding, protection

Pink: romantic love, basically love

Red: strength, courage, charisma

Green: natura, healing, growth

Orange: success, ambition

Yellow: intelligence, hope

Gold: wealth, luck

Silver: intuition, the moon

Purple: influence, wisdom

Blue: communication, calm, forgiveness

Ingredients for a kitchen witch

Courage: pepper, basil, chives

Fertility: cinnamon, mint, coriander

Happiness: cinnamon, feverfew, mint

Health: allspice, cinnamon, Angelica

Love: vanilla, cinnamon, coriander

Luck: allspice, cemfrey, nutmeg

Protection: Angelica, basil, cinnamon

So, about spells and ceremonies: I can’t find any certain spells because again, they’re all very specific to whatever type of witches you’re writing about, and heck, you might even come up with your own. But the spells you use can be in rhymes, latin, backward talk, or words you make up! From what I’ve read, ceremonies are very important to witches and can be done in celebration of a new witch joining a coven, (Witches can be independent or in a coven, basically a group of witches.) or performing spells to conjure something.

If you’re writing about witches in the Middle Ages, know that they were feared and hated. Women who didn’t look like other “proper” women or were doing some suspicious would often be accused of witchcraft, and be punished, aka burned in fire, because people believed that was the only way you could kill them. Anyone who worked with the “witch” would also be punished, though not necessarily by fire.

At the end of the day, you can make your own rules, play around with things! I’m not sure if there’s a general rule of things all witches can and can’t do, like the “Law of Witches” (put it in the comments if there is!) but you could make it up as well!

A Brief Guide to Writing British Nobles

>>By @writerthreads on Instagram

*note that different eras have different rules. This post is quite general, so research more specific details if you’re focusing on a certain period of time!

The following titles are under a Peerage, where peers were people who would hold one or more title(s) of duke, marquess, earl, viscount and baron. They swore an oath as a servent of the monarch in exchange for land or money.

Sovereign

The Sovereign holds the most power in the country, although they do not have the power they used to in England as there is a now the Prime Minister. But if we’re talking about the olden ages, they would be the King or Queen. Typically, the Queen would be married into the royal family, and be beside the King, unless the King only had daughters, in which, (depending on the era for women were not allowed to rule for a time period a few hundred years ago) they would then be Queen.

Duke/Duchess

A duke outranks the other noble titles, namely the earl, marquess, viscount and baron. There are two types of dukedoms: royal and non-royal. Royal dukedoms can only be inherited if one is a member of the royal family and are hereditary.

Most princes become dukes when they’re married and their wife will be referred to as a duchess. (If you were not a member of the royal family but your parents were the duke and duchess you’d still inherit that title.) Non-royal dukedoms are titles given to a person by a king or queen. A duke is a ruler of a duchy, which is basically a large area of land, a territory. A duke is typically addressed as “Your Grace”.

Marquees/Marchioness

This title outranks the rest except for the duke and sovereign. This title is quite rare nowadays. The Marchioness is the wife of the Marquees. Marquees were the owners of a march which was on the border of the country, which meant that they were responsible for defending against anyone who tried to intrude or attack England. (FYI: a Count would typically be the owner of a county, which was more inland)

Marquees and Marchioness are addressed as “My Lord” or “My Lady” in speech, and “Lord/Dear Mannerisms” in social writing, where the atmosphere is less formal.

Earl/Countess

Earls are ranked below the Marquess and above the Viscounts. They were royal governors and had the authority to rule lands and judge courts in their provinces. Along with that they’d collect taxes, earning a third of the total. Over the years, their power decreased and increased depending on who was ruling England, and nowadays, they do not hold much power in their hands.

The Countess would be the Earl’s wife, and by the general population, be referred to as “My Lady” while the Earl would be addressed as “My Lord”. His eldest son would be called the Viscount.

Viscount/Viscountess

In Great Britain, people would use Viscount as a title for the heir of an Earl of Marquess as courtesy, but other than that, (depending on the time period) they were not hereditary in fear of a rebellion, and instead, titles were given by the Monarch. They would also collect taxes from people.

They’re also referred to as “My Lady” and “My Lord”.

Baron/Baroness

The baron was a land-holding nobleman and is one of the lowest ranks of nobility, and the lowest in a peerage. In the Middle Ages, they ruled over large areas of land (fiefs) and would report to the king. They’d also maintain the country’s army. “Baron” quite literally means “man”, so they were “men of the king”.

The rank of Baron is often hereditary although the first Barons were given the titles by the monarchy. In formal settings, they’d be addressed as “The Right Honourable The Lord/Lady”, but in social settings, “Lord/Lady”.

Knight/Dame

A knighthood is a title given to a man for his service to the country, and would be referred to as “Sir”. This would give them the status of the knight, in which they would be expected to learn how to fight and serve his liege lord in the Code of Chivalry. Being a knight came with great benefits: they were often given a piece of land to govern, and would collect taxes from the people. Only men were typically knights, though the title Dame is given to the wife or daughter of a lord, or a woman of knighthood.

Knighthood is not hereditary.

“Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.”

— Louis L’Amour (via writingdotcoffee)

“God gives every bird its food, but he does not throw it into its nest.”

— J. G. Holland 

“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.”

— Benjamin Franklin 

Writing Tip #167

Having the way a character organizes their home mirror how they organize their life can be a really helpful literary tool and a subtle way to flesh out your character.

“People do not hurt us, our hopes from them hurt us.”

— Imam Ali 

“Maybe it won’t work out. But maybe seeing if it does will be the best adventure ever.”

— Unknown 

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

— Albert Einstein 

“There are only two days in the year that nothing can be done. One is called yesterday and the other is called tomorrow, so today is the right day to love, believe, do and mostly live.”

— Dalai Lama 

“Without goals and plans to reach them, you are like a ship that has set sail with no destination.”

— Fitzhugh Dodson