Love When Authors Get So Into The Story They’re Writing That They End Up Just Being Like Yeah This

Introducing The OCs of Pawn

Intro

I love how it took me a full theme and a half to actually make a post about my OCs. I would say something in my own defense, but I don’t have one. Looks like I actually have to face the consequences of my procrastination this time. Wait, I’m still procrastinating by writing this intro...but okay, let’s actually get into it now!

Name: Alice Lee

Age: 15

Pronouns: She/her

Ethnicity: Chinese-American

Sexuality: Demisexual

5 words to describe her: Reserved, curious, non-confrontational, logical, observant

Likes: Physics, algebra, math/logic puzzles, chess, listening to true crime podcasts, boba tea

Dislikes: Being wrong, having no control over her life, things not making sense

Fun Facts: She wants to be a quantum physicist when she grows up! Also, she has a deep capacity for empathy and understanding that most people never see or notice. Unfortunately, all too many people are willing to dismiss her as unfeeling and cold, when in reality she’s just uncertain.

Name: Evie Lee

Age: 16

Pronouns: She/her

Ethnicity: Chinese-American

Sexuality: Aromantic

5 words to describe her: Outgoing, vibrant, upbeat, sensitive, optimistic

Likes: Daydreaming, watercolors/art, lacrosse, hanging out with friends, photography

Dislikes: Cold/wet weather, standardized tests, being interrupted, being spoken over

Fun Facts: From the beginning, I knew that I wanted Evie’s faceclaim to be Jessie Mei Li because personality-wise they are so similar! Also, Evie is a maladaptive daydreamer, which plays a large role in the story!

Name: Khalil Qurashi

Age: 16

Pronouns: He/him

Ethnicity: Pakistani-American

Sexuality: Bisexual

5 words to describe him: Funny, easygoing, enthusiastic, loyal, perceptive

Likes: Forensics speaking, traveling, meeting new people, challenges, soccer

Dislikes: The school subject of history, being ignored or patronized, not being taken seriously

Fun Facts: Although Khalil himself doesn’t swear, he carries around a “swear jar” for his friends. Every time they say a swear word, they have to contribute a certain amount of money, depending on 1.) what the word was and 2.) what context they said it in. He’s made about $20 off it so far. (No, I don’t know how I came up with this either, but it just seemed right-)

Name: Mikayla Grace Wong

Age 16

Pronouns: She/her

Ethnicity: Chinese-American

Sexuality: Undecided as of right now

5 words to describe her: Determined, decisive, creative, independent, impulsive

Likes: Pottery, sculpture, loud music, her comfort pair of headphones, overcast days, skateboarding

Dislikes: The American education system, people making decisions for her

Fun Facts: Mikayla’s character design is my favorite out of all of my OCs! She has a really unique style. It also helps that it’s really easy to find pictures that look like her on Pinterest! Her Pinterest board is definitely the prettiest in terms of clothing style.

You know what’s adorable?  When people are reading and they smile or laugh out loud. It is so precious, protect these people.

What Asian Readers Want to See More of in Fiction

what my audience wants to see more of in Asian representation:

- fantasy with aspects of asian culture!!

- brown asians brown asians brown asi-

- Asians of different skin tones and body types

- strong asian mcs

- More Southeast Asian characters

- Pretty Asians!! Aesthetics aren't just for Westerners

- Maybe just mentioned? I'm soooo happy when another book mentions my country

- more Asian settings, myths, cultures, and ethnicities

- More mixed characters! I'm mixed Asian and I've never read about a mixed character like me

- as an indian, would love to see indian parents that AREN'T abusive. it's a hurtful stereotype

- more smart Asians who aren't written stereotypically!

- South Asians of all religions, there are so many South Asian Muslims but so few are represented

- not just East Asian cultures, also the differences between cultures in the same country

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what i want to see more of in Asian representation:

- The clear acknowledgement that Asians are not a monolith

- Fantasy countries that are based on Asian countries besides China

- Asian characters from different parts of Asia

- Asian characters who are disconnected from their culture

- Asian characters who refuse to shorten their names or refuse to go by nicknames

- More stories with/based off Asian myths

- Asian characters without strict and oppressive parents, like the stereotype of the “tiger mom”

- That being said, I would like to see the acknowledgement of the pressure often put on Asian kids to succeed

- Asian characters who can and will mess up--stop portraying us as “perfect.” We’re just as flawed as anyone else.

- In that same vein: morally gray Asian characters

- Asian characters who are proud of their heritage and take the time to show/explain it to others (this makes me really happy when it’s done right!)

naming your characters - writing tips

name them after someone important

give them a name from their time

choose a name with a meaning that matches their personality

a name that foreshadows their future

name a character after someone you love

give them an unremarkable first name and call them by their last name

don't name two characters the same name, even with most reason—it gets confusing

avoid names that are too similar—"Anne" and "Anna", for example

choose names the audience will remember

research the meaning beforehand

choose a plant name

choose a colour name

invent a name by putting vowels and letters together

pick either a very unconventional name or very plain name

generally don't make too many characters or it could be confusing for the reader

choose a name associated with the character's personality

name them after a celebrity (with meaning)

name them after yourself!

pick a name you would want yourself to be named

go nameless until you find the right one—or keep switching when you feel you do

^^ try out many names

think of names from that genre

writing characters with one eye

i can pretty much guarantee that ↑that↑ is not a heading you see everyday.

now i will not be giving advice on writing cyclopses, (though it may be sort of the same thing) i still hope this will be helpful for some people out there that are looking to provide a more diverse cast to their wip!

i have never ever ever read a book, watch a show movie etc etc that involves a character with one eye. (aside from those badass characters who wear eye patches bc they lost sight in one eye in some badass way)

for context: i am one of many people who was born with microphtalmia, an eye disease that results in one or both eyes develope smaller than normal at birth. i myself was born with a smaller left eye, which resulted in my left eye being removed exactly twenty days after birth.

microphthalmia (along with many other eye diseases) typically leads to being half or fully blind. i lucked out and only lost my left eye which i am so so thankful for.

i would really really love to see more representation for my community in literature, especially so people would come to see that being half blind isn’t as unusual and weird as people make it out to be.

without further ado, i present to you, a list of information, facts, and first hand experiences from yours truly!

i’ve had prosthetic eyes made to fit my eye socket for about fifteen years (i’m 16 lol) (the first 6ish months after the surgery i never had a prosthetic)

in my life i’ve had four different prosthetic eyes made because just like other people, my eye socket grew alongside the rest of me, meaning the prosthetic needed to be made bigger

i’ve had my current prosthetic for four years now, the past ones lasted about 2-3 years at a time. this one will probably last me through the rest of my life unless i need/want a new one

as opposed to most media/assumptions, my prosthetic (along with most prosthetics) is PLASTIC (people always think it’s glass) and only half a circle!!

i’ve had three surgeries related to my eye

i do not have depth perception which makes doing certain things very difficult (estimating distance, how close/far i am from something etc)

driving is not affected too much, i just have to turn my head more than other people. i believe being blind in the right eye might be more difficult, but i couldn’t say

doing my make up is kinda easy, except for eyeliner is a pain in the ASS since most people close their eye to do it on their upper lid, but clearly i can’t close my right eye whilst doing it lol

my family as well as my friends and even myself often forget i have a prosthetic, which sometimes results in awkward/funny situations

i hate walking with people on my right bc i can’t tell where they are unless i’m constantly looking down at my/their feet

i sucked at basketball bc i had such a disadvantage (no depth perception, i could only see half the court, i was constantly turning my head) but professional swimming is much easier for me since it’s not a contact sport and doesn’t really require for me to be paying attention to a million things at once

i rarely have to take my prosthetic out, and if i do, it’s either to clean it, (we do get eye crusties on our prosthetics just like other people do when they have pink eye or sever allergies) it’s bothering me/really dry, or i want to take it out to show/scare people lol

a lot of people don’t realize when i first meet them that it’s fake bc my recent prosthetic is amazing accurate to my real eye. others notice and assume i have a lazy eye since it doesn’t move

for some reason people think i can’t cry out of my left (prosthetic) eye??? i still have a tear duct??? i actually think more tears come out of my left tear duct than my right lol

i am extremely self conscious about it, but i know there are other one-eyed beauties out there who aren’t which is amazing!! i try to live vicariously through them lol

i make sooo many jokes about my eye lol, and i’m usually ok w other people making jokes as long as they aren’t like overly rude/offensive, then i’ll feel a lil bad about my self

people never really made fun of it, but kids in middle school likes to wave things in front of my left eye/on my left side that i couldn’t see which got really annoying after a while

getting custom designed prosthetics are available, but they’re really expensive (so are normal lol) they costs thousands of dollars, just like other prosthetics do

i run into things that are on my left side ALL THE TIME it’s actually kinda funny lolol

i try to hide my left eye/turn more to my left side in photos bc my eyes aren’t always looking in the same direction, which really gets to me

i wear glasses for both protection and bc my right eye is -1.75 lmao but i did used to wear non-prescription glasses purely for safety

i do have contacts to wear during the summer, swim meets etc, for when i don’t want/can’t wear my glasses but need to see. bc of this, i have a second pair of glasses that have no prescription

if doctors/scientists managed to figure out a way to fix microphthalmia (a birth defect), or do a sort of eye transplant, i would not be able to have that done to me because all parts of my left eye have been removed from my body

microphthalmia is NOT the only disease that results in the haver losing sight in one or both eyes!! there are many others, but it is not my place to share any experiences for something i have not experienced!!!

for once i just want to see a clumsy character who has one eye that WASNT a result of some tragic event.

so please please please consider including a character with one working eye in your wip. it would mean the world to myself and all the other members of the community (there’s a lot of us, trust me) plus, i wouldn’t mind starting an acting debut playing a half-blind female protagonist, that would be so dope.

that’s about all i can think of for now! please send an ask or reply to this post if you have any questions, i’m willing to answer any!!! and if you happen to be a member of the one eye club, please add to this post!! that would mean the world to me:)

i mean this so seriously if you have any sort of creative project you can and should be a little obsessed with it. you should reread your own writing and look at your own art and brag about your ocs its literally good for your health

i love motifs i love recurring themes i love symbolism i love foreshadowing i love impactful narratives

How to Finish A First Draft

Source: https://thewritepractice.com/first-draft/

post by @writingwithacutlass on instagram

Here are the two steps for writing a book:

1: sit down*

2: write.

*this step is optional.

That’s all you have to do to write a book. You can’t edit a book you never wrote! If you want to finish writing a novel, you’re gonna need to have a finished first draft.

As the article puts it; writing is not:

thinking about writing, buying books on writing, talking about writing, listening to podcasts about writing, attending writing conferences, dreaming about writing, getting a tattoo about writing, watching movies about writing, talking to your cat about writing—none of those activities will write your book.

But if you’re simply clueless on how to actually write a first draft, never fear! I’ve got you covered :) swipe!

figure out the story first

You’ll need something to guide you as you write your first draft. If you’re new to writing, you’ll figure out soon enough if you’re a plotter, plantser, or pantser, but either way you’ll want at least a vague idea of where you’re headed.

write a blurb and get feedback on it

Write a short paragraph (such as one you would find on the back of a book) that sums up your story. (don’t reveal the ending though!) share it with your friends or someone you trust (keep in mind that friends might sugarcoat to avoid hurting your feelings, so maybe ask someone else) and get their feedback on it. Did they read all the way through or did they zone out after the first sentence? Be sure they can give you honest opinions on it.

don’t let yourself get distracted while writing

When you sit down to write, it’s best if you keep all distractions away from you. Put your phone in another room, find a quiet spot, put on some music if it helps you...create a space where you can write without losing your train of thought every five seconds.

write “tk” as placeholder

When you’re unsure of something, do NOT go to google and try to figure out what it is. Write “tk” as a placeholder, as there are no words (or at least hardly any) in English that have those two letters next to each other. Later, you can search “tk” in your document and all those placeholders will show up.

don’t stop

Momentum is everything when it comes to first drafts. You need to keep writing until the first draft is complete!

don’t rewrite, edit or reread until it’s finished

Editing as you write will slow you down SO MUCH. if you’d like to save yourself a heap of time, just don’t do it. Same goes for rewriting. It’s fine as it is, you can fix things in later drafts. As for rereading what you wrote, it’s best if you don't do this either. It wastes time and keeps your mind stuck in what you already wrote, instead of what you need to write now.

don’t get discouraged

It’s really easy to get discouraged while writing a first draft. We’ve all been there. Don’t give up!! Despite all the writing advice you can find online, perseverance is really the main key when writing first drafts. You’ve got this, I'm rooting for you!

set deadlines + goals

Deadlines and goals are very helpful for both motivation and keeping track of your progress. Make sure your set *attainable* goals, or else you’ll become stressed and eventually give up. Celebrate your progress!

find a supportive community

Having supportive friends is the best thing ever :) my online friends motivate me so much, and some of them have saved my wip from dying lol but if you aren’t in a community yet, go join one! And if you don’t know where to find one, don’t worry :) instagram’s writing community is wonderful and everyone is so supportive of each other! The algorithm is being horrible to us right now but everyone is really welcoming to new accounts and you can find friends and writing buddies!

f*ck personality tests, what font do you write in?

“sorry i can’t talk right now i’m doing hot girl shit” (admiring the colors in autumn so bright just before they lose it all, leaving my scarf at your sister’s house, reminiscing the other day while having coffee all alone)