Character Design Sheets/Questionnaires

Drawing bases & references #34

some bases for your archer ocs 🏹🏹🏹

*ehem* I wanted to let you guys know I just posted a new article on my shops: a pack with all the PSDs of the bases I did on may! it has 68 files for you to use 😊 If you're interested, it's only 12usd (will change to 15usd in the future so go grab it now if you can!)

It's on my ko-fi and my (not so) new patreon page ✨✨ right now i'm only posting my free bases there as well, but I plan to open a tier with exclusive bases and more stuff in the near future 💖💖

Check links on my pinned post or bio 💖 ty for reading!

7 Tips to Build an Audience for Your Writing

I got a great Ask about this a little bit ago about how to establish an audience for your writing. Here’s my answer!

#1 Start small… with people you already know

When you’re just starting out, many of your fans or supporters will be the people who already know you. Your friends, family, co-workers, peers, acquaintances, etc. Share and talk about your writing with these people, and pluck up the courage to ask for their support! At least a few of them will genuinely like your writing, and you never know who might have a connection that can help get you more exposure.

#2 Don’t feel try to “sell” or “promote” yourself to these folks. Instead, make authentic, person-to-person connections

Sometimes writers fail to create an audience because they have a perception of what it means to “self promote” which leads them to plaster their social media with desperate pleas to buy their book, or feel pressured to “sell themselves” to new friends and contacts. It seems counter-intuitive, but the best thing you can do is to make genuine, authentic connections with people and be open about your writing with them.

That way, when your friend who works at a bookstore needs someone to open for a touring reader… they think of you. Or when you have a release party to celebrate your release, your co-worker will come (and maybe bring their friend who happens to be a newspaper writer… see where I’m going with this?). When you have authentic relationships with people, they will help you grow your base without having to beg or sell to them.

#3 Make friends with readers, other writers, editors, bookstore clerks… basically anyone in the literary world

Truth: There’s a lot of networking, nepotism, and hobnobbing going on in the literary world. Of course, we all know this stuff happens at the super-famous level. People network their way into recognition all the time. Celebrities get book deals. Keanu Reeves is allowed to be an actor. You might not be lucky enough to be bumping elbows with the elite, but your connections can help you no matter how small they are.

#4 Write your social media posts like you’re talking to your friends, not the anonymous masses

This ties into #2. When you use social media to share about your writing, make it personal. A lot of writers feel like they have to sell themselves on social media, so they end up making promotional posts that are basically like “buy my book!” or “read my writing!”

But if you share something real, much like you would if you were talking to a friend, people are much more likely to respond. I know this from personal experience. My highest-performing posts about my writing are always the ones that make a connection and share something personal with my followers.

Additionally, if you’re using certain platforms (Facebook and Instagram for sure do this), your post will get buried by the algorithm if it’s overtly “promotional.” So in certain instances this becomes not just wise but absolutely necessary so that your posts get seen.

#4 Consider trying to get a story traditionally published

This can help in a few ways. First, you’ll have made a connection with the editor of that magazine. (Connections!) Second, your work will be seen by a new audience of readers. Third, it can give you credibility that makes people (editors, readers, etc.) more likely to give your work a second look further down the line.

#5 Get off the internet

My biggest base of supporters are the folks in my town. That’s because they see me and interact with me regularly. It’s way easier to keep the attention of people IRL than it is online, in my experience. Here are some ideas of how to make friends in the real world who can be supporters of your writing:

Attend or give a public reading

Start or join a writing group

Hang out at the bookstore

Go to any and all literary events in your town

Make friends with other creative people: musicians, artists, photographers.

Seek out collaborative projects with other writers and creatives

#6 Accept that, yes, it takes time

Building an audience doesn’t happen overnight. But there can be a cumulative, exponential effect over the long run. Take Tumblr for example. Most people who have a blog can probably remember how it took forever to get those first 10 followers. But once you have the first 10, it’s a little easier to get the second 10, and so on. It’s the same with an audience.

There may be huge surges in your popularity that leave you feeling awesome, then after that you may find your growth starts to lag a bit. That’s totally normal. Which leads me to my last tip:

#7 Remember that it’s quality, not quantity, that counts

Especially in the age of social media, we can get totally hooked on numbers. How many followers, how many email subscribers, how many patrons, etc. But in my experience it’s the quality of your audience, not the quantity, that counts. Focus on building real relationships and delivering something great to just a few loyal readers rather than trying to please everyone. Those people will be the ones to help promote you and have your back when it’s really important.

Ok, that’s all I’ve got for now. I hope this helped!

thanks for the tag :) I love talking about my top songs

T - the exit by conan gray

o - our lady of the underground from hadestown

t - the frost by mitski

a - alley rose by conan gray

l - lovesick by laufey

l - lost! from the lightning thief

y - your best american girl by mitski

N - not strong enough by boygenius

o - only tea from the great gatsby musical

t - the other side from the greatest showman

O - only us from dear evan hansen

b - boy toy by ricky montgomery

s - scylla from epic

e - evangeline by chloe ament

s - suffering from epic

s - santa fe from newsies

e -

d - disaster by conan gray

S - stay soft by mitski

p - promises from hadestown

a - a loving feeling by mitski

d - done for from epic

e -

s - someone you like by the girl and the dreamcatcher

@rosy-cozy-radio

URL Song Game with a twist!

Write down your url only using songs from your Top Songs of 2024 playlist and tag as many people as the letters in your url

thanks for the tag @ecstarry & @v7lgar <3

d - dark signs by sleep token

o - overcompensate by twenty one pilots

o - obsessed by sophie powers

m - my year in lists by los campesinos!

e - earned it by the weekend

d - die4u by bring me the horizon

t - the othering by sleep token

o -

k - kryptonite by call me karizma

i - in media res by los campesinos!

l - like that by sleep token

l - levitate by sleep token

np tag : @honeybcj @godsofwoes @dracure @reformedpeasant @thorn-rosed and who ever else

@ everyone who likes rambling about their favorite characters :)

tagged by @evergreen-lyricist

rules: list your top ten favourite female characters, then let your followers pick one!

tagging @blueskiesandstarrynights @zannolin @crashed-wing and anyone else who wants to!

Fanart poster made by me (Instagram / Twitter )

I don't know what I miss more, having free time to draw or these fellas

The raven cycle!!!!

Oh I love these guys. Everything about these books, I want to draw them soooo much more (I probably will)!!

Guys I'm back-

It has been a nightmare lately this is the only thing I managed to draw in weeks? Finals and uni stuff that's taking all of my time and energy, slowly turning me into a cafeinated slug (worst part is caffeine doesn't even have an effect on me? I only drink coffee for the TASTE can you imagine). Anyway the rush won't be over until end of January but hopefully I'll be able to ignore the stress and draw anyway :)

Drawing bases #22

some sword poses, i plan to more like these c:

how do you write a liar?

How to Write Liars Believably

Language

The motive of every goal is the make the lie seem plausible while taking blame off the speaker, so liars will often project what they say to a third party: "Katie said that..."

Referring to third parties as "they" rather than he or she

In the case of a deliberate lie prepped beforehand, there will be an overuse of specific names (rather than pronouns) as the speaker tries to get the details right.

Overuse of non-committal words like "something may have happened"

Masking or obscuring facts like "to the best of my knowledge" and “it is extremely unlikely," etc.

Avoiding answers to specific, pressing questions

Voice

There's isn't a set tone/speed/style of speaking, but your character's speech patten will differ from his normal one.

People tend to speak faster when they're nervous and are not used to lying.

Body Language

Covering their mouth

Constantly touching their nose

fidgeting, squirming or breaking eye contact

turning away, blinking faster, or clutching a comfort object like a cushion as they speak

nostril flaring, rapid shallow breathing or slow deep breaths, lip biting, contracting, sitting on your hands, or drumming your fingers. 

Highly-trained liars have mastered the art of compensation by freezing their bodies and looking at you straight in the eye.

Trained liars can also be experts in the art of looking relaxed. They sit back, put their feet up on the table and hands behind their head.

For deliberate lies, the character may even carefully control his body language, as though his is actually putting on a show

The Four Types of Liars

Deceitful: those who lie to others about facts

2. Delusional: those who lie to themselves about facts

3. Duplicitious: those who lie to others about their values

Lying about values can be even more corrosive to relationships than lying about facts. 

4. Demoralized: those who lie to themselves about their values

Additional Notes

Genuine smiles or laughs are hard to fake

Exaggerations of words (that would normally not be emphasized) or exaggerated body language

Many savvy detectives ask suspects to tell the story in reverse or non-linear fashion to expose a lie. They often ask unexpected, or seemingly irrelevant questions to throw suspects off track. 

"Luck Runs Out" from EPIC but Erin is Odysseus