Reblog this if you're a writeblr and you wouldnt mind:
Random asks about your wips
Being tagged in tag games by people you don't know yet
Strangers complimenting your work
Fellow writeblrs striking up conversations
Interaction with new writeblrs in general
I see so many folks afraid to jump in to the community, so hopefully this post will lay out like a welcome mat for new folks to come say hi :)
Tilda Swinton risked arrest waving a rainbow flag in front of the Kremlin in violation of Russia’s new homosexual propaganda bill. And she wants everyone who can to reblog it in solidarity.
Guys please reblog this, it won’t ruin your blog, this is important
the astronomy students
drawing your own star charts
staying up late to watch a meteor shower
constellations painted on your ceiling
tracking the planets, noting their paths in a pocket-sized journal
an old wool scarf wrapped around your neck to keep out the cold
marveling over photographs of distant galaxies
retelling the stories of Orion and Cassiopeia
the glittering expanse of a cloudless night sky
moonlight shining through gauzy curtains
driving somewhere remote to see the milky way, far from the light pollution of the city
looking for your place in the cosmos
finding comfort in the vastness of the universe, in your own comparative insignificance
a model of the solar system resting on your desk
old sci-fi novels with battered covers
studying the contributions of Copernicus and Al-Battani and Kepler
watching the moon wax and wane
your favorite blanket wrapped around your shoulders
maps of the constellations, illustrated with figures from the associated myths
wondering about life on other worlds
memorizing the constellations, noting how their positions move as the seasons change
a thermos of hot tea
stargazing with friends, gazing up and watching for shooting stars
learning the physics of stars and planets
a fascination with the unknown
Last updated April 9, 2021.
4 Tips for Writing Magic
Creating a Culture
Totalitarian Governments
Creating a Distinct World
Creating (Fictional) Medicine
Describing New Settings
Writing a War
Writing a War with Superheroes / Magic / Fantasy
70 Questions for World-Building
Creating Superstitions
49 Questions for Creating a Religion
The Tie Between Characters and World-Building
34 Questions for Creating a Government
36 Questions for Music in World-Building
Creating a New Species
42 Questions for Creating an Education System
Developing Character Appearance
Developing Character Personality
Multilingual Characters
Creating a Wardrobe
How to Name Your Characters
Your Characters vs. Already-Established Characters
Effective Point-of-View Character
Writing an Impactful Death
Writing with Archetypes
Designing Your Characters
Mute Characters
Thinning Your Cast
Not Enough Characters?
84 Questions for Developing Plot and Character Roles
Sexuality without a Relationship
Consistent Personalities
Skills and Knowledge
Creating Conflict
Character Arcs
Sympathetic Characters
Name vs. Pronouns and When to Use Them
Creating Character Voice
Characters Who Are Learning Another Language
Character Fears
Finding Motivations
Creating Character Flaws
Emotionless Characters
Dynamic Relationships
Sibling Relationships
Believable Romance
Characters Who Don’t Know How to Relationship
Complementary Character Traits
Writing a Slow-Burn Romance
Characters Who Fall Out of Love
Groups of Characters
Making Compatible Characters
Frustration
Grief
Fear
Planning a Series
Writing an Outline
Tips for Writing Subplots
Non-Point-of-View Romantic Subplots
Avoiding Generic Plots
Planning and Pace
Writing with Emotion
Controlling Pace with Detail
Steps of the Editing Phase
Descriptions in Context
Imagery
Dialogue
Showing vs. Telling
What is passive voice?
Reworking Moments of Exposition
Adverbs
When to Cut Your Content
Avoiding Cliches in Your Story
The Importance of Vocabulary
Writing Beginning Paragraphs
How to Balance Multiple Projects
How to Fall Back in Love with Your Story
Writing Every Day?
Sticking with Your Story
Getting (Back) Into the Writing Habit
Setting Realistic Goals
Shiny New Idea Syndrome
Positive Writing Mindset
Staying Motivated on Your Projects
Getting in “The Zone”
Keeping Writing Logs
Avoiding Burnout
Breaking Out of Writer’s Block
Quick Decisions
Travel Scenes
Breakdown in the Shower
The Joys of the First Draft
Injuries
Creating Suspense
Writing Poison
Prophecies
A Word to Young Writers
Making a Moodboard
Consuming with the Producer Mindset
For First-Time Writers
Building Your Writing Skill
Advice for Student Writers
How to Do Research
How to Maximize Your Writing Time
How to Make Your Book Look Like a Book
On Experimenting in Writing
When to Use Multiple Points of View
Building Theme
Becoming a Beta Reader
Background Music While Writing
Why Committing to a Project Can Be Stressful
Warm-Ups for Writers
Determining Your Story’s Genre
Why do we get stressed when we don’t write?
Writing Short Stories
If my work helps you or your writing, please consider supporting me my joining my Patreon!
I write fantasy.
Current WIP - A Thief's Story: there's a thief and he steals things
me jumping between my WIPs without actually finishing any of them
E.A. Deverell - FREE worksheets (characters, world building, narrator, etc.) and paid courses;
Hiveword - Helps to research any topic to write about (has other resources, too);
BetaBooks - Share your draft with your beta reader (can be more than one), and see where they stopped reading, their comments, etc.;
Charlotte Dillon - Research links;
Writing realistic injuries - The title is pretty self-explanatory: while writing about an injury, take a look at this useful website;
One Stop for Writers - You guys... this website has literally everything we need: a) Description thesaurus collection, b) Character builder, c) Story maps, d) Scene maps & timelines, e) World building surveys, f) Worksheets, f) Tutorials, and much more! Although it has a paid plan ($90/year | $50/6 months | $9/month), you can still get a 2-week FREE trial;
One Stop for Writers Roadmap - It has many tips for you, divided into three different topics: a) How to plan a story, b) How to write a story, c) How to revise a story. The best thing about this? It's FREE!
Story Structure Database - The Story Structure Database is an archive of books and movies, recording all their major plot points;
National Centre for Writing - FREE worksheets and writing courses. Has also paid courses;
Penguin Random House - Has some writing contests and great opportunities;
Crime Reads - Get inspired before writing a crime scene;
The Creative Academy for Writers - "Writers helping writers along every step of the path to publication." It's FREE and has ZOOM writing rooms;
Reedsy - "A trusted place to learn how to successfully publish your book" It has many tips, and tools (generators), contests, prompts lists, etc. FREE;
QueryTracker - Find agents for your books (personally, I've never used this before, but I thought I should feature it here);
Pacemaker - Track your goals (example: Write 50K words - then, everytime you write, you track the number of the words, and it will make a graphic for you with your progress). It's FREE but has a paid plan;
Save the Cat! - The blog of the most known storytelling method. You can find posts, sheets, a software (student discount - 70%), and other things;
I hope this is helpful for you!
(Also, check my blog if you want to!)
Not every writer wants to post their work online, however there are positives to doing so. If you seek feedback and advice from readers and writers, you might consider posting a draft or two. Even a few chapters or a poem can be uploaded online to get a little audience feedback.
Fictionpress | Original fiction only | Covers Opt. — Has a docs feature so you can save works onsite without posting them, plus moderately detailed analytics to show you individual story traffic. With plenty of keen writers/readers willing to learn and help, written feedback is not uncommon here. Quiet and comfortable, but if you don’t update very often readership grows stagnant. It’s also worth noting that you cannot delete reviews or your account. — Adult Material Prohibited.
Major Demographics: All genders, All ages.*
Popular Genres: sci-fi, contemporary, fantasy*
Fanfiction.net | Fanfiction only | Covers Opt. — Sister site to Fictionpress, thus it has all the same features and drawbacks. However, it gets much more traffic than the original fiction site. When it comes to categorizing your story though it can get tricky, and if you have questions or complaints for the administrators, don’t expect a response email soon…or ever. — Adult Material Prohibited.
Major Demographics: Female, All ages.
Popular Genres: epic dramas, fluff, angst, whump
Archive Of Our Own (AO3) | Fanfiction only** | No covers — Invite only, but getting in isn’t hard. High viewership, well organized, and ad-free. Some written feedback, especially if you ask for some, but the “kudos” button is open to the public so anyone can leave their mark of approval. You can also set individual stories to “users only” along with other useful privacy options.
Crossover friendly, so you can finally post that multi-fandom fic and tag each property for search. Ships, subject material, and trigger warnings are also taggable for search (or to weed out in the case of tws). Lets you group individual stories into a series, and has various features for sharing/gifting your work with others. Overall the best place for fanfiction, hands down. — Adult Material Allowed
Major Demographics: Female, All ages.
Popular Genres: smut, epic dramas, fluff/angst, whump
Wattpad | Original & fan fiction | Covers Req. — Wattpad has been steadily improving its features and policies in the five years I’ve been using it. Here, some writers receive tons of feedback and appreciation, but most receive very little. A few authors have gotten published thanks to this site, others have followers in the hundreds of thousands, and still others become site administrators to support the bustling community.
They’ve recently rebranded, and have also introduced a feature to earn writers money. It is currently in beta and being tested with select authors only.
Unlike other sites, this one has very clear international groups and a high ethnic diversity among its writers. There’s an emphasis on supporting foreign authors and their stories in any language. Contests are set up by the site, but also smaller niche ones can be run by individual users.
It’s very fun to use and if the site chooses to feature one of your works you can get a lot of traffic. For the most part however, you have to practice marketing yourself, and/or develop a group of writer friends and read/promote each other’s work. — Adult Material allowed, but along strict guidelines (lots of kids use this site!).
Major Demographics: Female, Teens.
Popular Genres: romance, young adult, supernatural, celeb fic, fantasy
Royal Road | Original & fan fiction | Covers Opt. — This was suggested in the replies, so I did some research. Haven’t used it myself, looks nice, but here are the main points interested writers should know:
Site does not claim ownership of your work, copyright stays with you.
Popular stories receive much feedback and viewership in the millions.
You cannot remove reviews on your own stories, and you must submit a ticket to remove your story or delete your account.
From their FAQ: “All new submissions are manually checked for appropriate tagging and plagiarism, so expect it to take 12-24 hrs for a submission to be approved.” Also, stories with low-quality spelling and grammar will be removed by moderators.
Keeping a steady update schedule of “polished” drafts seems to be mandatory, and reviewers sound entitled.
One-shots seem to be out of the question, this is a site for novels.
Premium and free options exist for both readers and writers.
Site is affilated with Amazon, has been running for six years, and is based in Israel.
Fantasy, supernatural, epic dramas.
Adult Material Allowed
Smashbook, Livejournal, Inkspired, and Booknet are sites I am aware of, but have too little knowledge of to review. Likewise Wordpress, Blogger, or right here on Tumblr you can regularly post stories or novels and receive feedback. However, for those sites you do have to figure out a blogging system for yourself.
While researching good sites for this post, I found this user’s comments insightful. She suggested Writer’s Digest and Absolute Write as good places to seek professional feedback on your work. They don’t appear to be sites where you post work, but rather they provide tips and resources to help improve your work.
There are dozens of other places online where you can post your original fiction, non-fiction, and fan fiction. Things to keep in mind when site shopping:
READ THEIR SUBMISSION POLICIES & GUIDELINES FIRST
Search for reviews of the site by individuals who’ve actually used the site and are not affilated with the site.
See what the site’s policy is on deleting works & accounts. You don’t want to get your name and work trapped on a site with a bad reputation.
If “popular” stories have very little feedback on them, this means the majority of stories on that site get none.
If most users haven’t updated in months/years, this means the site is practically dead and may soon shut down. RED FLAG: the site does not date anything.
If the “feedback” on users’ pages and stories are “Like my work!” or “Read for read?” and other self-promotional messages, don’t sign up.
If a site looks cool to you but you’re still unsure, make an account with a junk email and post something you don’t care too much about just to test the waters. Good/bad doesn’t matter much right now, what’s important is figuring out how traffic works and what readers there are interested in.
Inkitt—spam/shifty; claims it’s the #1 site for online publishing, but this is misleading. Their idea of getting users is to send copy/paste “invitations” to pre-existing online accounts (often dead accounts), and lie about how good one’s writing is even though they’ve never read it. Signing up with them also gets you endless emails about their pathetic contests.
Dreame—spam/scam; similar deceptive invitation tactic, except they are relentless (they’ve “invited” me five six times on two different sites). Their gimmick is to offer you pennies for 5yr rights to your work (and their site is trashy with very little reader feedback).
FicFun—same as Dreame, both are owned by their Singaporean parent company Stary PTE Ltd. (who personally sent me my 5th “invite”).
+ If you have a question, please review my Ask Policy before sending in your ask. Thank you!
+ If you benefit from my updates and replies, please consider sending a little thank you and Buy Me A Coffee!
+ HEY, Writers! other social media: Wattpad - AO3 - Pinterest - Goodreads
—
*Based on what I see as receiving the most traffic and feedback on each site. These are not accurate statistics, merely observations.
** “Is AO3 really just for fanfic?” (tl;dr—YES)
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!
everyone’s debating posts of the decade, best and worst, and i have yet to see anyone mention moon moon