The Skellingcorner

nownovel

Modern-day novel writing Novel writing tips Writing advice

blackgrllaw

On Writing Friendship in Fiction

I’ve noticed while reading that a lot of people, includingmyself, have difficulty writing realistic friendship in fiction. Here are some quick tips on how to make your fictional friendships more realistic. There will be a lot of Harry Potter references in this, so get ready.

1. Shared History: Unless your characters just met, they have to have some kind of past with each other. Sketch out a history for them. Inside jokes don’t just come out of nowhere.

2. Best Friends Are People Too: Sure, they’re not the main character, but never forget that best friends have personalities and flaws too. That’s what made Harry Potter so awesome. Harry’s friends, including Luna and Neville, had memorable personalities and character flaws. Your best friend characters may not have a major role in the novel, but you should at least figure out what makes them tick. Few things annoy me more than best friends who only exist to make the main character look more popular. (Hey there, Rebel Belle).

3. Friends Have Other Lives: This kind of goes hand in hand with point #2. Friends have lives outside of your main character, don’t forget that. That’s kind of what I like about Cora Carmack (yes, I read everything) . Say what you want about her, but the secondary characters in some of her novels have lives outside of the protagonist.

4. Yes, they have common interests but they are not the same person: It’s true that friendships are often based on common interests. Harry and Ron both love Quidditch, have a certain disregard for the rules, despise Malfoy, and occasionally slack off in class. However, Ron has other interests outside of that. He loves Wizards Chess and teaches Harry to play with him even though Harry doesn’t appear to like it as much as Ron does. And think about Hermione. She loves books and studying, and Ron and Harry don’t like that at all. So friends don’t have to have EVERYTHING in common.

5. Sometimes there are rough patches: Good friendships have rough patches. Sometimes one character or person is annoyed by their friends for some reason or another. Sometimes all of our flaws get the best of us. This is something that you can make use of in your novel. Once again, look at how J.K. Rowling worked in rough patches with the trio.

6. Sometimes friendships just don’t work out: Sadly, some friendships run their course. Snape and Lily Potter, anyone?

If you take nothing from this post, just remember to make your friends (and secondary characters) real people. Just because they don’t carry the plot doesn’t mean that they deserve to blend into the background. A good secondary character can make a story, and a beautiful friendship in fiction can potentially spawn a lot of subplots.

friendship fiction secondary characters writing writing advice

nimblesnotebook-blog

Anonymous asked:

I like describing how my characters look in detail for the kind of clothes they're wearing to the type of nose they have (sometimes). Is that a bad thing if I do that? I have characters whose details aren't that special in appearance but I feel like people need to know exactly how my characters look.

It can be a bad thing, but it’s not inherently bad. Here are some good reasons for describing appearance in detail:

To show character: What we wear says a lot about us. Do we wear clean clothes? Do we have a lot of clothes or a limited selection? Do we have stains and holes on our clothes? Do we wear a lot of one color? Do we have a favorite piece of clothing? Are we fashionable? Do we wear baggy or restricted clothing? Do we wear homemade clothing? Do we have piercings or tattoos? Freckles? Scars? Acne? Wrinkled clothes? Shoes without socks? Describing all of these things can show the reader small details about your character and they can strengthen the presence of your character.
To build your world: Sometimes, describing appearance can help introduce readers to your world. It shows the readers what clothing your characters wear, how they wear their hair, and how they modify their body to fit cultural standards. Small details, like whether only certain people are allowed to wear certain things, will help build up your world.

Lots of detail can be bad when it slows the pacing, halts the scene altogether, or just doesn’t add anything to the scene. You shouldn’t have a big paragraph describing each character as soon as they appear in a scene. Details need to sprinkled throughout the story to be effective.

Anonymous answered

barbaricyip aurorean

12 Questions to Ask Yourself About Your Magic System

metteivieharrison

How is it learned and executed?
How is it accessed?
Does it have a will of its own?
Is it restricted in space and time?
What does available magic do?
How does it relate to the character, plot and theme of the book?
What is the cost of magic?
What can it not do?
How long does it last?
Who can use it?
How do others react to it?
Why haven’t people with this power taken over the world?

barbaricyip

i cannot stress how important i find the last question.

Source: metteivieharrison

writer woe just as an aside like seriously magic is power you gotta know the answer to this one demands of the queue

nimblesnotebook-blog

• Part I: Creating a Religion
• Part II: Religious Hierarchies
• Part III: Pantheons, Deities, Mythologies, etc.
• Part IV: Creating a Deity
• Part V: Religious Sects
• Part VI: Creation Myths
• BONUS: Ceremonies (birth, death, naming, sacrificing,... — Part I: Creating a Religion
Part II: Religious Hierarchies
Part III: Pantheons, Deities, Mythologies, etc.
Part IV: Creating a Deity
Part V: Religious Sects
Part VI: Creation Myths
BONUS: Ceremonies (birth, death, naming, sacrificing, rites of passage)
*Anonymous said:*
*How would I go about writing fantasy/fictional religions that have certain clothing–like headdresses and scarves and such, without being appropriating?*
I started to answer this, but then I thought I’d just turn it into a larger world building post. So here we go:
Appropriation
Who Wears What
Associations & Meaning
Keep reading

worldbuilding world building considerations

lazyresources

Character Stats Framework 2.0

Hello again. I’m reposting my character stats framework because I added a lot of things to it as well as fixed broken links. As before, feel free to add/remove anything to fit your needs. Ah, and of course. Shout out to trashbabyworld for providing awesome resources.

Name (i.e. what they prefer): url.tumblr.com

icon here, if applicable

Full Name:
Nickname(s):
Title: Archetype/formal title/self-appointed title/what you call them; can look here for inspiration
Age:
Birthday:
Species:
Ethnicity:
Nationality:
Gender:
Pronoun(s):
Romantic Orientation:
Sexual Orientation:
Birth Order:

Home Town:
Current Residence:
Religion:
Allegiance:
Occupation:
Financial Status:
Martial Status:

Status: RP activity (active, semi-active, not active; etc)
Fandom: You can also mention if they’re canon or OC here
Face Claim:

Physical Traits

Height:
Weight:
Facial Features:
- Face Shape:
- Forehead:
- Eyes:
- Nose:
- Lips:
- Teeth:
- Cheeks:
- Chin:
- Ears:
- Facial Hair:
Body Build: Describe

Neck:
Torso:
Arms:
Hands:
Legs:
Feet:

Skin: look here for ideas

Texture:
Color:
Freckles:
Scars:
Stretch Marks:
Tattoos:
Piercings:
Skin Conditions:

Hair:

Texture:
Color:
Style and Length:

Fashion:
- a
- a
Notable Physical Traits: Can be a mole, freckles, short fingers, etc

Mental and Physical

Overall Health:
Frequency of Mental Exercise:
Frequency of Physical Exercise:
Life Philosophy:
Life Goal(s):
Describe Voice:
Speech Patterns:
- a
- a
Habits:
- a
- a
Daily Routines:
- a
- a
Likes:
- a
- a
Dislikes:
- a
- a
Dreams:
- a
- a
Motivations:
- a
- a
Interests:
- a
- a
Hobbies:
- a
- a
Skills:
- a
- a
Shortcomings:
- a
- a
Weakness(es):
- a
- a
Regret(s):
- a
- a
Fear(s):
- a
- a
Phobia(s):
- a
- a
Mental Illness(es):
- a
- a
When and how was this diagnosed?:
Other Illness(es):
- a
- a
When and how was this diagnosed?:
Physical Disability(ies):
- a
- a
When was this diagnosed and/or how did it happen?:
Other: Can be wears glasses, hates physical contact, etc

Personality

Usual Mood/Expression:
Moral Alignment: look here, here, here; test here
Jung: look here and here (useful: X, X, X, X); test here
Enneagram: look here, here, here; test here
Four Temperaments: look here, here, here; test here
Soul Type: look here; test here and here
Common Archetypes: look here, here, here
Hogwarts House: look here, here, here, here; test here or Pottermore
Top Five Tropes: look here here here (I’ll see you 2000 years from now)
Five Prominent Traits: Including faults is recommended

Misc

Food:
Drinks:
Books:
Movies/TV Shows:
Music:
Video Games:
Government:
Weapons:
Drugs:
Elements:
Animals:
Plants:
Anything else you want to add:

Stats

Self-Love: 10/10
Self-Care: 10/10
Memory: 10/10
Courage: 10/10
Confidence: 10/10
Pride: 10/10
Greed: 10/10
Patience: 10/10
Tolerance: 10/10
Mental Flexibility: 10/10
Passion/Motivation: 10/10
Creativity: 10/10
Education: 10/10

Compassion: 10/10
Empathy: 10/10
Loyalty: 10/10
Forgiveness: 10/10
Sociability: 10/10
Emotional Attachment: 10/10
Physical Attachment: 10/10

Stamina: 10/10
Mental Strength: 10/10
Physical Strength: 10/10
Battle Skill: 10/10
Initiative: 10/10
Restraint: 10/10
Defense: 10/10
Agility: 10/10
Flexibility: 10/10
Strategy: 10/10
Leadership: 10/10
Teamwork: 10/10
Wrath: 10/10

Look here, here, and here
Musical-Rhythmic Intelligence: 10/10
Visual-Spatial Intelligence: 10/10
Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence: 10/10
Logical-Mathematical Intelligence: 10/10
Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence: 10/10
Interpersonal Intelligence: 10/10
Intrapersonal Intelligence: 10/10
Existential Intelligence: 10/10
Naturalistic Intelligence: 10/10

Relationships

Parent(s):
- a
- a
Siblings:
- a
- a
Significant Other(s): Can be romantic, sexual, quasiplatonic, etc
- a
- a
Children:
- a
- a
Family: Can be birth family, adopted, team, makeshift, etc
- a
- a
Closest Friends:
- a
- a
Rivals:
- a
- a
Enemies:
- a
- a
Pets:
- a
- a
Other: Can be guilds, mentors, familiars, professional partners, etc
- a
- a

rph rpcw character development character help writing help character questionnaire long post i'm so soooo sorry to mobile users ...it doubled in length compared to my old one whoops please reblog this one than the old one! but that might be impossible considering how popular the old one was i'm still amazed at how much attention it garnered. rg