Latest Posts by risingstarling - Page 6

quick proportion tips

- eyeballs are an eyeball width apart - ears align with the top of your brows to the bottom of your nose, and are the center-point of a profile view - lip corners line up to the center of each eye - hands are roughly the size of your face - feet are the same size as your forearm - elbows are aligned with your belly-button - your hands reach down mid-length of your thighs - both upper and lower legs (individually) are roughly the same size as your torso  (this is all rough estimates for proportion! feel free to add more to help others)

Fit and Geeky Friday 💪🏽🤓 aww shucks!

The Amazing Spider-Man Workout Level I: 3 Sets Level II: 5 Sets Level III: 7 Sets 2 minute rest between sets

#massmotivefit #fitandgeeky #geekyfriday #amazingspiderman #marvel #fitness #exercise #fitfam #workingout #weightloss #training #gohardorgohome #marvelcomics #nogymnoproblem #homeworkout #superhero #geekyfriday

Neila Rey Workout Retrieved from www.neilarey.com

Checklist for character development.

Created by myself, compiled from questions gleaned from several sources, and some of my own additions.

It should be noted, that not every character will check every one of these things off. It is not REQUIRED to have all this information, but this checklist is, rather, a guideline for helping you think of your character as an entire, three dimentional being with thoughts, feelings, possessions, contradictions and background.

A character is 20% revealed to the reader, 80% writer/author/Mun knowledge. What the Reader sees is just the tip of the iceburg, but without the other 80% the character can’t help but come off feeling shallow. There’s nothing beneath the surface -  KNOWING as much bout your character as possible, instrinsicly, in detail, intimately, can do nothing but help build believability and dimension to your character.

Use only the things on this list that you feel are important, but I would like to remind you that the reader learns a lot about a character NOT through exposition (that’s kind of a cheat, and always feels , to me, like a rather clunky way of conveying knowlege), but through their actions, quirks, thoughts, and even through the things they own and carry with them. What kind of food they eat and how they eat it. What they wear. What they carry in their wallets.  I encourage you, as writers, to consider these things when creating a character, and encourage you MORE to leave the exposition out and tell us about your character through these other means!

If nothing else, this will give you a LOT to work with when writing with your character. Maybe it’ll spur you to write about the character’s parents. Or the relationship between them and their family. Maybe you’ll find yourself inspired to write something about how they lost everything in a fire  - and the importance each remembered lost item held.

There is certainly no rule that says you HAVE to do it this way, but invariably, the most memorable characters are the ones that we as readers can relate with. It’s hard to relate with just words - but people - with beliefs and dreams and fears -  that’s something we can get behind.

I certainly hope you find this useful, and since so many have been inclined to reblog and like this, I shall endeavor to add more character creation and writing tips, lists and excercises up on this blog!

Some Artist Tips you May or May Not Know

Just from personal experience.

1: Never try to draw on an empty stomach. You’ll make mistakes and be uncomfortable. (But don’t stuff yourself till you’re sick either.)

2: If you have to go to the bathroom, go. A full bladder or otherwise does serious damage to the attention and patience spans. Plus it gives you time to stretch your legs.

3: Before you ink it, leave it alone. Come back later (a few hours, a day?) and check for major anatomy mistakes. Work on something else while you’re waiting.

4: Stay hydrated! The brain and fine motor skills work better when properly circulated.

5: Do not have an excessive amount of sugar before sitting down to work. You’ll get jittery and impatient. Same goes for immense amounts of caffeine.

6: If you’re stuck, take a break to stand and stretch. Walk around the room. But don’t THINK of it as a break. Just take time to really focus on your body. Loosen it up, get a goooood long stretch and some deep breaths. (but don’t pass out!) It’ll jolt the mind awake and let you really relax a moment.

7: Keep. All. Your. Old. Art. I don’t care what it is. Keep it. Date it if it’s in your computer folders. Make a suitcase filled with it. (I personally have ALL my old art in a thick work folder.)

8: Keep your sketchbooks together, used and unused. If there’s a good sale on sketchbooks, get two or three! You won’t regret it later. There’s no such thing as too many. (I currently have about ten spankin’ new sketchbooks and I know I’ll need/use every single one of them.)

9: Date your sketchbooks. Put a start and finish date on them.

10: I’m afraid I don’t practice this one: date your drawings. You’ll be happy about it later. You don’t need to SIGN every drawing, but do date them. At least date pages.

11: ART BLOCK HAPPENS. Art block is pretty much a CONSTANT state of mind for artists. You’re never out of art block totally. But sometimes you get bursts of inspiration that make it feel like you’re out. So instead of feeling like you’re ill if you suddenly have artblock, remind yourself that this happens all the time, and you get out of it eventually, every time. c:>

12: If you’re REALLY stuck on some bad art block, do what I do.

Draw a brain barf. This is where you take a blank sheet of paper, and you just LET your hand be A.D.D. Draw whatever comes to mind, as it comes to mind. in the middle of drawing a hippo in a top hat but you think of a jolly rancher riding a unicycle? Switch immediately.

Let your brain just vomit all over the page. You’ll be surprised what comes up and what art block this can get you out of. It’s gotten me out of it various times.

13: Take advice from more experienced artists. But do NOT take everything as Gospel. Some people are just wrong.

14: HAND SHYNESS/ ART ENVY/ SELF CONSCIOUSNESS/ AND SKILL IMPATIENCE WILL EAT YOU ALIVE like a Titan. Do not let yourself get shy after looking at ‘better art’, do not let yourself think your art is worthless or your skills are worthless, and do not let yourself get frustrated that you cannot be at a higher skill level RIGHT NOW. Your brain will try to do this. All the time. Keep yourself in check. If you keep going at it, and keep working, you will get better. This is why you keep your old art. Look at it to remind you how far you’ve come.

15: Draw what you like. This is so important. (This does not apply for exploitative art. :l That’s just wrong. So long as you’re not targeting someone harmfully, I guess you’re fine.)

But don’t let people’s preferences dictate what you can and can’t draw. Draw whatever the heck you like. Accept that no matter WHAT there will be someone out there that hates it. Always. This is just a fact of life. But don’t let it get you down. I would have stopped being an artist at day one if I had.

16: You never. Stop. Learning. Ever. You will be old and grey and still be learning new things. That’s okay. That’s the nature of art. Even the ‘pros’ don’t know everything.

I hope these help someone out there~

I’ve seen a lot of curious people wanting to dive into classical music but don’t know where to start, so I have written out a list of pieces to listen to depending on mood. I’ve only put out a few, but please add more if you want to. hope this helps y’all out. :)

stereotypical delightful classical music:

battalia a 10 in d major (biber)

brandenburg concerto no. 5

brandenburg concerto no. 3

symphony no. 45 - “farewell” (haydn)

if you need to chill:

rondo alla turca

fur elise

anitra’s dance

in the steppes of central asia (borodin) (added by viola-ology)

if you need to sleep:

moonlight sonata

swan lake

corral nocturne

if you need to wake up:

morning mood

summer (from the four seasons)

buckaroo holiday (if you’ve played this in orch you might end up screaming instead of waking up joyfully)

if you are feeling very proud:

pomp and circumstance

symphony no. 9 (beethoven; this is where ode to joy came from)

1812 overture

symphony no. 5, finale (tchaikovsky) (added by viola-ology)

american (dvořák)

if you feel really excited:

hoedown (copland)

bacchanale

spring (from the four seasons) (be careful, if you listen to this too much you’ll start hating it)

la gazza ladra

death and the maiden (schubert)

if you are angry and you want to take a baseball bat and start hitting a bush:

dance of the knights (from the romeo and juliet suite by prokofiev)

winter, mvt. 1 (from the four seasons)

symphony no. 10 mvt. 2 (shostakovich)

symphony no. 5 (beethoven)

totentanz (liszt)

quartet no. 8, mvt. 2 (shostakovich) (added by viola-ology)

young person’s guide to the orchestra, fugue (britten) (added by iwillsavemyworld)

if you want to cry for a really long time:

fantasia based on russian themes (rimsky-korsakov)

adagio for strings (barber)

violin concerto in e minor (mendelssohn)

aase’s death

andante festivo

if you want to feel like you’re on an adventure:

an american in paris (gershwin)

if you want chills:

danse macabre

russian easter overture

if you want to study:

eine kleine nachtmusik

bolero (ravel)

serenade for strings (elgar)

scheherazade (rimsky-korsakov) (added by viola-ology)

pines of rome, mvt. 4 (resphigi) (added by viola-ology)

if you really want to dance:

capriccio espagnol (rimsky-korsakov)

blue danube

le cid (massenet) (added by viola-ology)

radetzky march

if you want to start bouncing in your chair:

hopak (mussorgsky)

les toreadors (from carmen suite no.1)

if you’re about to pass out and you need energy:

hungarian dance no. 1

hungarian dance no. 5

if you want to hear suspense within music:

firebird

in the hall of the mountain king

ride of the valkyries

night on bald mountain (mussorgsky) (added by viola-ology)

if you want a jazzy/classical feel:

rhapsody in blue

if you want to feel emotional with no explanation:

introduction and rondo capriccioso

unfinished symphony (schubert)

symphony no. 7, allegretto (beethoven) (added by viola-ology)

canon in d (pachelbel)

if you want to sit back and have a nice cup of tea:

st. paul’s suite

concerto for two violins (vivaldi)

l’arlésienne suite

pieces that don’t really have a valid explanation:

symphony no. 40 (mozart)

cello suite no. 1 (bach)

polovtsian dances

enigma variations (elgar) (added by viola-ology)

perpetuum mobile

pieces that just sound really cool:

scherzo tarantelle

dance of the goblins

caprice no. 24 (paganini)

new world symphony, allegro con fuoco (dvorak) (added by viola-ology​)

if you feel like listening to concertos all day (I do not recommend doing that):

concerto for two violins (bach)

concerto for two violins (vivaldi)

violin concerto in a minor (vivaldi)

violin concerto (tchaikovsky) (added by iwillsavemyworld)

cello concerto in c (haydn)

piano concerto, mvt. 1 (pierne) (added by iwillsavemyworld)

harp concerto in E-flat major, mvt. 1 (added by iwillsavemyworld)

and if you really just hate classical music in general:

4′33″ (cage)

a lot of these pieces apply in multiple categories, but I sorted them by which I think they match the most. have fun exploring classical music!

also, thank you to viola-ology and iwillsavemyworld for adding on! if you would like to add on your own suggestions, please reblog and add on or message me so I can give you credit for the suggestion!

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Hello, writerly friends~ ♥︎

You asked for a Writing Advice Masterpost, so here it is! Below you will find a collection of the best questions and answers from the last two years. Not only that, but they are also organized so you can find the answers to your questions quickly and get on with writing.

But wait, there is more!

This post is more than just a collection of advice, it’s a nexus for writing advice, resources, and information! That’s right, this post is going to grow over time. I will be updating this masterpost WEEKLY with new answers, writing advice videos, playlists, and more! So, make sure to bookmark this page and follow my blog (maxkirin.tumblr.com) so you don’t miss a thing~ ♥︎

Writing Advice Compilations

WRITERS UNITE! A book of writing advice, inspiration, and tips! Written with the help of 248 Tumblr authors. FREE DOWNLOAD!

Prompts

Daily Story Seed

Daily Weird Prompt

Daily Character Question

Your Writing Horoscope (Retired)

“Can I publish a story based on one of your prompts?”

Youtube Videos!

Virtual Writing Academy, a weekly writing class where we explore strange writing exercises. This is NOT a lecture. You are not going to learn by listening— but by WRITING. So, take out your notebooks because we are going to write! New episodes go up every Wednesday.

Writing Advice Blitz, a segment where I answer YOUR writing questions. New episodes go up every Monday.

Writing Challenges— prompts too easy for you? Looking for a challenge? YOU GOT IT. These challenges will push your writing skills to the limit! New episodes go up every Friday.

Motivation & Inspiration

Daily Writer Positivity

How to Finish Your First Novel (M. Kirin’s Origin Story)

What Confidence Is and Is NOT

How to Regain the Motivation to Finish That Book

“I’m afraid writing is a waste of time”

“I’m half-way through this book and I’m stuck”

Stop Trying to Impress People

Stop Trying to Make Your Parents Proud of your Writing

Your Parents Disapprove of Your Writing?

You’re Not The Worst Writer In The World

English Not Your First Language? Neither is Mine

A Tip for All Young Writers Worrying That Nobody Will Take Them Seriously

Dealing with Hate and Harsh Criticism

You Need to Develop a Thick Skin

Neil Gaiman’s “Make Good Art” Speech

Feeling Down About Your Writing? :c

Elizabeth Gilbert’s Inspirational Speech on the ‘Genius’

Neil Gaiman’s 8 Rules of Writing

“I am not as good as other writers” (and other lies)

The 7 Cardinal Rules of Writing Life

Be A Little Delusional

Planning, Outlining, and Getting Started

M. Kirin’s (Strange) Guide to Planning Your Novel

M. Kirin’s Click-n-Drag Story Generator

Which outlining method is the best? (Video)

“I want to write a book but I have no idea where to start”

The Story-Idea Test

M. Kirin’s Secret for Starting books, and Finishing Them

M. Kirin’s Top 3 Tips to Start Writing and Never Stopping

The 10-Minute Writing Trick

Tips for writing Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Paranormal

How Much Worldbuilding is Enough?

M. Kirin’s #1 Tip For Improving Your Writing

Let’s Talk About: Show VS Tell

The Difference Between Character & Plot (The Marcy Rule)

Dialogue

M. Kirin talks about authentic dialogue

The grammatical side of dialogue

How do I write numbers in dialogue?

Editing & Revision

M. Kirin’s Top 5 Revision Tips

How to Love and Care for Your Beta Readers

M. Kirin’s (subjective) secret recipe for the second draft

When is the best time to edit a story?

M. Kirin Talks About Editing, and Speeding Up Your Story

M. Kirin Uses Evernote to Revise Books

“Kill Your Darlings” VS “Cut What You Love”

Writing Killer Plot-Twists and Mystery Novels

“How long is a Rough Draft compared to the Finished Draft?”

Hot Button Issues

Realism is a dirty word

Racist & homophobic language in fiction

Inaccuracy in Fiction (Video)

M. Kirin drops a few bombs on ‘creative vocabulary’

“I want to write but I don’t have the time”

Is it bad to have too many LGBTQIA or POC characters?

“My antagonist is POC/LGBTQIA, is this bad?”

“All my characters are LGBTQIA, is this bad?”

When to let go of a story

Is it rational to be afraid of what people will think of you?

Let’s Talk About: Deus Ex Machina

Let’s Talk About: Coincidence in Writing

Let’s Lightly Talk About: Plagiarism & Copyright

Writing About Things You Have Never Experienced

“Do you need to go to college/university to be a good writer?”

My book is similar to something already out, what do I do?

General Advice

M. Kirin’s Cure For Writer’s Block (and Life Block)

Overcoming the First Sentence

Overcoming the First Sentence, Again

Overcoming the First Sentence, Redux

The 10-Minute Rule

Making Boring Scenes FUN to Write!

Stories are like children

Let’s Talk About Titles (And Then Talk Some More)

M. Kirin Reveals the ‘Secret’ Behind Style

How much description/scenery is too much?

How can I write faster?

I want my readers to love my characters

I think my book may be too short for my genre

My story doesn’t have an Antagonists, should I add one?

I killed one of my main characters by mistake, what do I do?

M. Kirin’s Writing Advice for Fleshing out Romantic Relationships

A warning about character names and meanings

Help! My characters are not doing what I expected them to!

Help! My characters are misbehaving! D:

A warning about character sheets

A talk about the beauty of first drafts, and pacing

Is getting attached to your characters… bad?

A note on Antagonism, and whether you need a villain or not

Past or present tense?

Is swearing okay? And other muthafuckin’ truths

“What emotion do you find hardest to write?”

“What writing software do you use?”

Communication, a must for collaborative works

Researching illegal things, cousin? I got just the thing for you!

Joss Whedon’s Top 10 Writing Tips

M. Kirin’s Tarot Cheat-Sheet

Writing Tips for Storytelling in Video-Games

Fair Use In Novels (by thedancingwriter​)

Let’s Talk About: Pen Names!

Let’s Talk About: Reactive VS Proactive Characters

Let’s Talk About: Transitioning Smoothly From Scene to Scene

Let’s Talk About: Writing The Climax (& Resolution)

Let’s Talk About: Writing The End

Let’s Talk About: Spies

Let’s Make a Title (To A Story You Haven’t Finished)

Publishing

Publishing Battle: Indie VS Traditional

“How do I turn my book into an eBook?”

Writing Music & Playlists

Writing In The Dark (Relaxing, Unobtrusive)

Writing About Love (All the Feels)

Writing & Fighting! (Super Intense!)

Writing About Horror (Welcome to Lavender Town)

Royalty And Noble Blood (Medieval Writing Playlist)

Digital Reality (Cyberpunk/Futuristic Playlist)

Lost In The Wild (Survival/Nature Playlist)

No Hero (Danger, Action, and Anti-Heroes!)

Mermaid Magic (Sunken Cities, Sea Monsters, and Magic!)

After The Bomb (Post-Apocalyptic and Dystopian)

Sorrow (Death, Grief, and Despair)

Music For Writers: Portal 2 Soundtrack (FREE)

M. Kirin’s Writing Playlists: Ravensgem

M. Kirin’s Writing Playlists: Justine’s Blood

M. Kirin’s Favorite Music to Listen to While Writing

M. Kirin’s Secret For Making Playlists

Miscellaneous

Finally! An Ask-Meme for Writers! 

M. Kirin’s Philosophy for Running a Writing Blog

Last Updated: 10-04-14. Click HERE to see the latest update. Latest posts are in Italics.

So you want to make an OC?: A Masterpost of Ways to Create, Develop, and Make Good OCs!

i made this masterpost in hopes that it helps you in making your own OCs ah;; it can also apply to developing RP characters i suppose! if you’d like to add more resources then go for it sugar pea (´ヮ`)!

How to Write Better OCs:

basic tips on how to make your oc even better

tragic backstory? learn how to write one/make yours great

writing specific characters

a wordier, great guide on how to develop your character

kick out those vague descriptions and make them AWESOME

Character Development:

how to actually make an OC

Q&A (to develop characters)

more Q&As

giving your character a backstory

how to write an attractive character

Diversity

adding more racial diversity

avoiding tokenism, AKA, how to add diversity to your cast not just because you “need” it

writing sexuality and gender expression (doesnt include non binary, if you have a good ref to that, please add on!)

masterpost on writing more diversity into your story

cultures of the world

guides to drawing different ethnicities (not just a great art reference, but also really helpful in appearance descriptions!)

Mary Sue/Gary Stu

Test to see if your character is a Sue

Explains subdivisions of Sues/Stus

Powerful Characters Don’t Have to Be Sues

Villains

villain generator

need an evil sounding name for your evil character? bam

villain archetypes

what’s your villain’s motive for being a villain?

Relationships

character perceptions (What your character thinks of themselves and what others think of them)

how to write strong relationships between two characters

8 ways to write better characters and develop their relationships with others

OCxLove Interest Handbook 

develop your couple with good ol’ Q&A!

how to write realistic relationships

how to write relatives for your characters (this is more OC related to a canon character, but will help in writing family members in general)

ARCHETYPES

12 common archetypes

8 archetypes for male/female characters

female archetypes (goes pretty indepth from two main categories)

a list of archetypes

NAMES

how to name your character

random name generator

most common surnames

surnames by ethnicity

APPEARANCE

tips for better design

basic appearance generator

pinterest board for character design (includes NSFW and images of skeletons/exposed muscle (?) so tread carefully!)

clothing ref masterpost

DETAILS

give your character better powers

a list of professions

proactive vs reactive characters

positive and negative traits

interest generator

skills generator

motivation generator

123 ideas for character flaws

list of phobias

again, this is to help inspire you or help establish your OCs! i hope you get a lot of info and help from this ahh ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ

i dont get it

riverdale sucked so bad but caos really made me feel some type of way

Except I'd never look as graceful he is majestic as fuck

*magnetos away from my responsibilities* like

miscommunication as a plot device makes me angry

if you just talked to each other but no

How did I not notice this?

I KIND OF JUST REALIZED THAT JESSIE FROM TEAM ROCKET FORMS A FUCKING R WITH HER HAIR AND BODY

WHY DID IT TAKE ME OVER 10 YEARS TO REALIZE THIS

I took a second the do the proper accents and that is so true 😂

(Via: Instagram.com) 😂👏👌 . Which way do you say it? . I say it like both British and American . . . . . . #louistomlinson #lou #boobear #niallhoran #nialler #harrystyles #hazza #liampayne #leeyum #daddydirectioner #zaynmalik #djmalik #onedirection #upallnight #takemehome #whereweare #thisisus #directionerforever #directioner #larry #lilo #lirry #zarry #zouis #ziall #ziam #nouis #narry #niam - See One Direction Live! http://ow.ly/r72Te

It's nice to know even the unbelievably attractive people have these moments

This made my day. 

What do you mean I thought this was how everyone played basketball? haha

Can someone pls show them how to play basketball?

haha having flashbacks to class...if there's one thing I don't miss it is school.