Writing Tips Master Post

Guide: How to Rekindle Your Motivation to Write

1) Find inspiration photos - create a folder on your desktop or browser and fill it with inspiration photos for your WIP. You can search for photos on Google Image Search or photo sites like Pixabay and Pexels.

2) Make a playlist - music can be very inspiring when you’re writing or planning a story, so try making a playlist for your WIP. You can do Google searches for things like “songs about love” or “songs about war” if you want songs that fit a specific theme. You can also look through the music you own and see if anything reminds you of your story.

3) Make aesthetics or mood boards - aesthetics and mood boards are photo collages that you make for your story. They can be general, for your whole story, for characters, for the setting, or even for a particular scene or event. Aesthetics are fun to make and can be very inspirational when you’re writing.

4) Draw a map or make a layout - try making a map of wherever your story takes place, whether that’s a town, kingdom, or a whole country or world. You can even draw layouts of things like high schools, houses, or other buildings in your story. Not only are they fun to do, but it can be a helpful tool for visualizing your setting, and sometimes it can lead to ideas about scenes or plot points.

5) Do a character interview - imagine that you’ve pulled your character out of a story into the room and now have the opportunity to interview them. What questions would you ask them? What do you want to know about them that you don’t already know? What do you think the reader would want to know? What might be pertinent to the story that you haven’t thought about yet?

6) Do a TV Crew follow around - no matter when or where your story takes place, imagine that you’ve dropped an invisible TV crew into your story’s world to follow your character around through an average day. Follow them from the moment they wake up until the moment they go to bed that night. What are they like when they wake up? What is their morning routine? What do they eat for breakfast? How do they get ready? What do they do throughout the day? Who do they interact with? What else do they eat and drink? What do they do for fun or relaxation? How to they make money or meet their basic needs? What is their bedtime routine like?

7) Try a writing tool - there are all kinds of interesting writing tools out there, both online and things, apps, and physical things. Story Cubes, plot generators, plot twist generators, the Storymatic, StoryForge, Story Dice, tarot cards, the Writer’s Toolbox… just to name a few!

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Have a question? My inbox is always open, but make sure to check my FAQ and post master lists first to see if I’ve already answered a similar question. :)

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Things I learned about making comics

- Characters don’t have to always be detailed sometimes a small blob with a speach bubble is fine too

- Small panels can contain scenary it doesn’t have to be half page all the time

- Tilted panels shapes are cool but don’t do it in every page keep it for the action/tense scenes

- Don’t over do close shots or they lose their meaning

- Try to have a full body of your character (even if small) at least every 2 pages

- Let the audience breathe, characters don’t have to be in every single panel

- Same face angle is boring but too many different camera positions are confusing find a balance

- Backgrounds first, characters later

- Color backgrounds one page at a time but color objects all at once through all the comic (all the faces then all the air and so on)

- The closer the object the thicker the lineart

- THUMBNAILS THUMBNAILS THUMBNAILS

- Write down your text near those thumbnails you won’t remember shit later

- ALWAYS think ahead of the space for the speach bubbles

- Give your characters a dark and a light color each so they will pop against any background

- For a fast shade fill the shadow layer set it to multiply 20/30% and erase the lighter parts

- Compare the pages one next to the other the panel lines should not touch or be too close

- 4 pages at a time the layouts should all be different

- By all means do get your characters out the frames but if you gotta do it do it all the way, a single strain of hair sticking out just looks weird.

- Don’t be scared of empty sections

- There should be a difference between the orizontal and vertical spaces between the panels

- Study other comics especially ones with good visual flow

- Everything should have a purpose and sometimes to be fun to read is enough

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a list of 100+ buildings to put in your fantasy town

academy

adventurer's guild

alchemist

apiary

apothecary

aquarium

armory

art gallery

bakery

bank

barber

barracks

bathhouse

blacksmith

boathouse

book store

bookbinder

botanical garden

brothel

butcher

carpenter

cartographer

casino

castle

cobbler

coffee shop

council chamber

court house

crypt for the noble family

dentist

distillery

docks

dovecot

dyer

embassy

farmer's market

fighting pit

fishmonger

fortune teller

gallows

gatehouse

general store

graveyard

greenhouses

guard post

guildhall

gymnasium

haberdashery

haunted house

hedge maze

herbalist

hospice

hospital

house for sale

inn

jail

jeweller

kindergarten

leatherworker

library

locksmith

mail courier

manor house

market

mayor's house

monastery

morgue

museum

music shop

observatory

orchard

orphanage

outhouse

paper maker

pawnshop

pet shop

potion shop

potter

printmaker

quest board

residence

restricted zone

sawmill

school

scribe

sewer entrance

sheriff's office

shrine

silversmith

spa

speakeasy

spice merchant

sports stadium

stables

street market

tailor

tannery

tavern

tax collector

tea house

temple

textile shop

theatre

thieves guild

thrift store

tinker's workshop

town crier post

town square

townhall

toy store

trinket shop

warehouse

watchtower

water mill

weaver

well

windmill

wishing well

wizard tower

I remember you had a post on your old blog, about how to fall in love with your story again. Do you think you still have it around somewhere, WQA? That post had some life-saving advice that could come handy for someone!

Getting Excited About Your Story Again

Oh! I didn’t realize I never re-posted it here, so thank you! Here it is, plus a couple links to newer, similar posts with more ideas. I hope this helps!

1) Cast your characters, or if you’re artistic, try drawing them. If you’ve got Photoshop skills, try making a movie-style poster for your story.

2) Create a tumblr gallery filled with images that inspire you where your story is concerned. These could be images of things in your story, things you want to include in your story, or just things that make you think of your story.

3) Make a playlist of songs to serve as a soundtrack for your story.

4) Make a list of five things you love about every character, five things you love about the plot, and five things you love about the setting.

5) Write a short essay about the important themes in your story and why they matter to you. See if similar themes run through any of your other stories.

6) Get a fun and easy going friend or sibling to play “radio show” with you. Have them interview you about your story as though you were an author talking about their novel on a radio show. Try to be serious about it for as long as you can–which won’t be long because it’s super cheesy but lots of fun.

7) Try to write a poem about the plot of your story as though your protagonist was the one writing it.

8) Draw maps and floor plans of your setting and sets. Go window shopping online to look for furniture and props to fill your character’s home with.

9) Make a Wordle using words from your story.

10) Read your story out loud as if you were reading it to a group of fans. Try to imagine their reactions at different points in the story. When would their attention be the most rapt? When would they smile? When would they sniffle? When would they cheer?

Feeling Unmotivated with WIP Getting Unstuck: Motivation Beyond Mood Boards & Playlists

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Have a question? My inbox is always open, but make sure to check my FAQ and post master lists first to see if I’ve already answered a similar question. :)

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sometimes you need dialogue tags and don't want to use the same four

The Language Of Flowers

Acacia: Hidden love, beauty in withdrawal

Amaryllis: Pride, a hard won success

Anemone: Vanishing hopes

Bells of Ireland: Wish for good luck

Carnation: Fascination, love and distinction

Daffodil (Narcissus): Honesty and truth

Dahlia flower: Warnings and change

Daisy: Innocence, loyal love and purity

Delphinium: Open heart, ardent attachement

Gardenia: Symbol of secret love

Gladiolus: Remembrance, faithfulness and sincerity

Hyacinth: I'm sorry, please forgive me.

Iris: Eloquence

Lily (general) : Purity of the heart and refined beauty

Lily of the valley: Return of happiness

Marigold: Passion and creativity

Orchid: Beauty, refinement and love

Peony: Happy marriage

Lavender: Love at first sight

Red rose: Love, respect, courage and passion

White rose: Purity, secrecy, silence, innocence and charm

Sunflower: Good luck and ambition

Tulip: Irresistible love

Violet: Faithfulness, modesty and delicate love

Zinnia: Lasting affection, daily remembrance and good memories

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Sad things you can do in a book other than killing of a character

Character death is sad, but it also has huge consequences on your plot that can’t be reversed. Not to mention, depending on your genre, character deaths are often reserved for later in the series as a way of telling the reader that things are getting serious. 

So, until that moment, here’s a quick list of things you can do to tug at your readers emotions: 

1.- Destruction of an item of value. For this to work you’re going to have to set this up early on, it could be a childhood toy they need to sleep at night, a necklace they swear gives them good luck, and old family trinket or any number of things. The important thing is you show just how important it is to the character, make them happy and excited just to talk about it. Later on your character will feel loss and so will the audience. 

2.- Arguing. Two characters with a strong bond arguing can be heartbreaking, even if you know the argument is going to resolve itself eventually, going from cuddles and banter to cold looks and the silent treatment, can easily hurt the audience just as much as the characters. 

3.- Betrayal. When well done, it’s worst than character death. When you as a reader fall head over heels in love with a character, only for them to betray the rest, it’s heartbreaking, especially if when you read back the foreshadowing was there. It was so obvious yet you were all so blind! As blind as the other characters. Also, unlike character death, they’re still there, there to taunt you with their mere existence. 

4.- Failure. We have probably all felt that emptiness, that feeling as the world crumbles around us, haplessness, when we failed an exam in school or just couldn’t get the house clean in time for that visit. Take that feeling and reflect it into your characters, it doesn’t have to be an exam, it can be anything, a task they’re parents asked them to do and they tried their best, a mission, anything. Just let them fail and feel the world crumble. 

5.- Being forced to stay behind. Following from point four, if a character is not good enough they can be left behind, perhaps it comes from a place of love, an attempt to protect them from enemies too strong, yet it still hurts. Perhaps they haven’t failed, perhaps they are left behind for another reason, because they are “too valuable”, or because they’ll be more useful back home. Either way, watching those close to you go of to fight for what you believe in, without you, can be painful. 

6.- Finding out something they believed in was a lie. It can be something relatively insignificant, an assumption they never bothered to question. Or something world shattering. Allow me to offer up an example with an unimportant spoiler from my second book (it’s not even out yet but oh well): in this book, while talking about some law, Henry realises his daughter believes he and her mother were married. This is an assumption Itazu made and never questioned. It affects nothing, nothing changes, yet finding out her mother and her father were not the happy married couple she’d always pictured, it’s painful. 

This could also be something huge, finding out you’re adopted for example. 

7.- History. Oh, history, how depressing it can be. And if you have a fantasy world you have many opportunities to go into this. From slaughters to slavery, finding out how society got to where it is, the base on which it is built. Well, it’s pretty depressing. Obviously be careful how much inspiration you take from real world history and always be respectful and do your research! 

8.- Scarring. An injury can be painful, it can be scary. And depending on what caused it, leave you with traumatising memories. Now add to that a physical visible reminder on your skin you can never remove. Well, that can be pretty horrible. Imagine the scar came from a battle the protagonist longs to forget, but can’t because every night before going to sleep they can’t help but glance at their arm where the nasty scars forever lies. 

As usual,  check out my book, stories I’ve written plus other social medias: here.

This another post I could probably do a part two on someday. Can you think of any books where any of these are done effectively? Do any of these happen in your owns book? Please tell me! I love hearing from you all. 

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Words to describe facial expressions

Absent: preoccupied 

Agonized: as if in pain or tormented

Alluring: attractive, in the sense of arousing desire

Appealing: attractive, in the sense of encouraging goodwill and/or interest

Beatific: blissful

Black: angry or sad, or hostile

Bleak: hopeless

Blinking: surprise, or lack of concern

Blithe: carefree, lighthearted, or heedlessly indifferent

Brooding: anxious and gloomy

Bug eyed: frightened or surprised

Chagrined: humiliated or disappointed

Cheeky: cocky, insolent

Cheerless: sad

Choleric: hot-tempered, irate

Darkly: with depressed or malevolent feelings

Deadpan: expressionless, to conceal emotion or heighten humor

Despondent: depressed or discouraged

Doleful: sad or afflicted

Dour: stern or obstinate

Dreamy: distracted by daydreaming or fantasizing

Ecstatic: delighted or entranced

Faint: cowardly, weak, or barely perceptible

Fixed: concentrated or immobile

Gazing: staring intently

Glancing: staring briefly as if curious but evasive

Glazed: expressionless due to fatigue or confusion

Grim: fatalistic or pessimistic

Grave: serious, expressing emotion due to loss or sadness

Haunted: frightened, worried, or guilty

Hopeless: depressed by a lack of encouragement or optimism

Hostile: aggressively angry, intimidating, or resistant

Hunted: tense as if worried about pursuit

Jeering: insulting or mocking

Languid: lazy or weak

Leering: sexually suggestive

Mild: easygoing

Mischievous: annoyingly or maliciously playful

Pained: affected with discomfort or pain

Peering: with curiosity or suspicion

Peeved: annoyed

Pleading: seeking apology or assistance

Quizzical: questioning or confused

Radiant: bright, happy

Sanguine: bloodthirsty, confident

Sardonic: mocking

Sour: unpleasant

Sullen: resentful

Vacant: blank or stupid looking

Wan: pale, sickly

Wary: cautious or cunning

Wide eyed: frightened or surprised

Withering: devastating

Wrathful: indignant or vengeful

Wry: twisted or crooked to express cleverness or a dark or ironic feeling

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prompts that hit in all the right places

showing up outside your enemy's door

only one bed

knife against the throat

“it’s always been you” kisses

exclaiming “because i love you” during an argument

rain kisses

''use me''

having to undress your love interest to be able to tend to their wounds, trying your best not to stare at their bare-chest

being pushed to the ground/wall with your hands pinned down

sexual tension when tending to someone's wound

“I didn’t know where else to go”

fake dating (it was real all along)

confessing your feelings to someone you think are asleep

“it’s not like I’ll ever see [that person again]” while said person's standing behind them, suitcase in hand, about to reveal they’re moving back into town

''make me''

a character claiming they’re not going to do ~the thing~ but in the next frame is seen ~doing the thing~

“nothing is ever going to happen between us!”

two strangers bumping into each other on the street, instant attraction (not love. attraction! think instant case of god you’re hot)

during a stressful situation, a character can be seen running back into their house ‘’forgot my keys’’ *runs back out* *runs back in* ‘’forgot my wallet’’

the italicized “oh”

“what is it that you don’t get? i’m not attracted to [this person]!” cut to scene of the person in question staring longing at the object of their desire

going to sleep on different sides of the bed but waking up entangled

going to sleep in different beds but sneaking into the other's to snuggle

forehead kisses but it's the male being kissed on the forehead

dancing together, one of them takes the other’s hand, kisses it

''what you're doing right now is really stupid but you're so cute i can't help but laugh at it''

''let's kiss just to see what it's like''

when someone's like… i don’t know… hurt or something… and the other person's like… tending to their wounds… and then just… wrap their lover their arms, thankful they’re alive

when a character is taken hostage by the antagonist, and their lover goes absolutely ballistic, doing everything in their power to protect their lover, and the antagonist has to restrain them, but it doesn't stop this character from trying to get to their lover, doesn’t matter what happens to them, doesn’t matter if they get beaten as long as their lover's safe

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Any advice on artists who want to consider making comics? Or general advice on how you do expressions and canvas composition?

All of my advice is trash because I’m still SUPER inexperienced in the comics making department but general comic making tips:

• Read lots of comics. Watch lots of movies. Read lots of stories.

• Have an idea of where you’re going with your story before you get into the heavy duty work of making the comic. Trust me. You’ll be glad you had a direction to go in, instead of wasting your entire pilot episode like I did.

• TRY to keep the cast small and give good character introductions before adding new characters. (I didn’t do this. My story has suffered for it.)

• Make ref sheets for your characters. Bare minimum, if you don’t want to draw new sheets entirely, compile a collage of all the existing images you already use as ref for each character.

• Save your color palettes for each character.

• Draw your KEY panels first. Filler can be done last. Working linearly might cause your art to deteriorate as the page/episode progresses, so get those bigger impact panels done first, and smaller/less impactful panels done last.

Expressions?

• Mirror. Selfies. Etc. When idk how an open mouth looks from a certain angle, I’ll use my own face as reference. It’s fool proof.

• Use OBSCENE amounts of reference. YouTubers. Actors in movies. Etc.

• Appreciate the Art of Subtlety. Not every expression has to be big, dynamic, and bold. Practice working in both extremes. Soft, gentle expressions can be just as good storytellers as bold, extreme expressions.

Canvas composition?

• WOOF IDK IM STILL SUPER BAD AT THIS LOL

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