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thesefallenembers · 5 months
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the problem with reading and writing leading to a strong vocabulary is that you tend to know the vibe of words instead of their meanings.
if I used this word in a sentence, would it make sense? absolutely. if you asked me what it meant, could I tell you? absolutely not.
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Tips for Writing Plot Twists
Well, after a very long, unexpected House of the Dragon fandom break, we are now back to our regularly scheduled writing program! Funnily enough, this is kind of House of the Dragon related because today we are talking about writing plot twists. And not just any plot twists, plot twists that make sense and don’t leave your reader wanting to pull their hair out and throw your book across the room. Writing plot twists is a lot harder than it looks. I know that when I read a book with a great plot twists that I actually didn’t see coming, I always wanna give the writers a little round of applause because that is impressive my friends. Especially in the day and age of super common tropes and readers’ having particular expectations, it’s always nice when there’s a new innovative twist out there. Worry not, here are a few simple twists that will help you on your way to writing the best plot twist for your story!
WWTRD??
What would the reader do, my friends? In order to write a good plot twist, you need to try and put yourself in the shoes of the reader who will actually be reading this. This might seem like a pretty obvious tip, but it’s one of the most simple and effective ones out there! As you’re going through your story or even your outline, write down all of the ways that you would normally expect the story to go. What potential twists and turns immediately come to mind? Write every single one of those down and then make sure that your plot twist does not include any of them. Especially if you read and write in the same genre (like I do, fantasy and sci-fi all the way), then your brain probably works in the same way as most of your readers. Like I mentioned above, people who always read in the same genre are used to the conventions and standards of their genre. Unfortunately for us writers, that makes it a lot harder to come up with a plot twist. I recommend looking at the list of plot twists that we’re going to throw out and writing down the opposite of all of those. That’s always good advice, imo. If you feel like your story is getting too predictable, take it in the complete opposite direction. When even you’re surprised by what’s going on, you’re on the right track!
Bread Crumbs a la Hansel and Gretel
The original versions of fairytales are absolutely terrifying. I had to look into them for one of my English classes and boy, oh boy, childhood = ruined. Anyways, just like Hansel and Gretel with their little bread crumbs, you want to subtly guide the readers’ attention away from any potential plot twist, so the twist is all the more surprising. You always want to make your readers think they know what’s going on, then flip all of that on its head. There are a lot of different tools that you can use to do that like red herrings, false flags, or other types of MacGuffins. These decoys deliberately plant false clues, or other misinformation that leads the reader in the wrong direction. Sometimes, they even lead the reader to even think they have reached the happy ending only to reveal their devious nature. HOWEVER, you will noticed that subtly is bolded above because please remember the subtly. This is another one of my big problems with YA fiction because some YA writers seem to think that kids are like legitimately stupid. That’s why I don’t think, imo, there’s been a YA book with an absolutely great plot twist in a while because YA writers tend to spoon-fed their readers everything and try too hard to steer readers in the wrong direction. Readers notice when writers do this, and you don’t want it to happen.
BFFR
Be fricken for real, guys, and that means not only ensuring that your plot twist is believable and necessary but also MAKES SENSE. Plot twists making sense is a problem that seems to have popped up in the last five years in all genres not just YA, I would say. Authors seem to focus a lot on the part of the definition of plot twists that says sudden, unexpected and shocking change of direction whilst ignoring the part that includes realistic and reasonable. To me, the realistic and reasonable part is almost more important. If a super unpredictable plot twist pops up out of nowhere without even relating to the story, of course I’m gonna be surprised. Does that mean I’m going to be surprised? No, it does not. Which leads us to the most important lesson: SHOCK VALUE FOR THE SAKE OF SHOCK VALUE IS NOT GOOD. It’s just not. That means not resorting to gimmicks or having a plot twist just to have one. Just like everything else in your story, plot twists should serve to further the story in some way. Not every story needs a plot twist, and some stories are far better off without them!
Phone a Friend!
When in doubt, phone a friend! Writer’s block, phone a friend! Need advice on character development, phone a friend! Struggling with plot twists, phone a friend! In this case, beta readers. Like I said above, stepping into the reader’s shoes is a great way to think of ideas for plot twists, and getting beta readers to read your story is a great way to test out the believability of your plot twist once you’ve written it. Ask them wether or not they thought it was effective within the overall plot, did they believe it, did they see it coming, and overall what about it worked and didn’t work for them. But, don’t ask them about any of this until after they’ve already read the book. You don’t want them to go into the story hunting for a plot twist because they won’t react the same way that an actual prospective reader would. If they immediately come to you, gushing about how amazing the plot twist was and how much they loved it, you know you’re doing something writer. And on the flip side, if they say, wait what plot twist, you know you still have a little work to do!
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golden-letters · 1 month
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how to be interesting
teach me, how to be interesting. because right now im too dull and boring to get anyone to be obsessed with me, to even glance my way. im trying to convince myself that being a good listener and a quiet guitarist is going to be enough to get me through life, to get me through crowds, but i dont think its working. im drifting around, utterly without pupose. so
teach me, how do i become interesting. because a girl called me boring that one time she was mad. and what's annoying is i didn't get annoyed. i just nodded, said yeah i am, and moved on. isn't that just the most boring reaction i could have given? tell me, would it have been more interesting if i screamed and pulled her hair and fought in front of the world. but
teach me, please, how to be interesting. because i keep reading self-help books, and self-help youtube channels, and self-help posts on instagram, and i still want to drown myself in self-pity. someone told me to just find an interest and hyper fixate on facts. but how can i? when i can't even make my bed in the morning and get my weekdays' work done on the weekends, or fill up my water bottle and drink from it when im thirsty.
teach me, or don't. it's probably not going to work anyway. and in the meantime i'll keep on listening to sad music, crying in my made-up scenarios, and searching on google every mental breakdown:
how to be interesting
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letsbeapoemtogether · 5 months
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We writers live two lives the one we pretend to be in and the other we spend our life writing about.
Abhilasha
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If you liked the Daily Writing Challenge that I did in February, you may like to check out the new one I'm doing over on Instagram this month.
The whole challenge is already up in my story and as a highlight and I will be posting one single challenge every day. You can tag me on Instagram or on here if you like to participate in it.
Hope you all have fun! :)
--Jana
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writeblrdirectory · 9 months
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Are you a writeblr?
The writeblr directory is looking for YOU to join our free, curated writeblr directory. 
How do I join?
Click here to see the instructions for joining. This page contains a link to the Google form. Simply fill it out, and we’ll do the rest.
Need help? Review our submission guidelines, and if you’re still lost, drop us an ask.
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spiltlove · 1 year
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a bad thing lives here. is it you or me?
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dragonflywingdreams · 4 months
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& if not in this life, will you come to me in my dreams?
Annabelle Chapman
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enchantingepics · 6 days
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Story Prompt 111
A young man hurried through the crowded streets, trying to get home after a long day at work. But tonight, fate had other plans.
As he turned a corner, a group of shadowy figures emerged from the darkness, surrounding him with menacing intent. "You! We finally found you," one of them growled, pointing accusingly at the bewildered man.
"What? What did I do?" he stammered, his heart racing with fear.
"Don't play dumb with us! You think you can just waltz around like nothing happened?" another voice spat, the anger palpable in the air.
The young man's mind raced, trying to understand what was happening. He had never seen these people before, yet they seemed to know him. "I swear, I don't know what you're talking about! Please, just let me go!" he pleaded, desperation creeping into his voice.
But the mob wasn't interested in his pleas. With a swift movement, one of them lunged forward, aiming a punch at his face. Instinctively, the young man ducked, narrowly avoiding the blow. "Enough of your lies! You think we'll let you get away with it?" the attacker snarled, readying for another strike.
As the situation escalated, the young man's mind raced, trying to find a way out of the danger closing in around him. He knew he had to think fast if he wanted to survive the night.
Suddenly, a voice cut through the tension like a knife. "Hold on a minute! What's going on here?" A figure stepped out of the shadows, casting a commanding presence over the scene.
The mob faltered, their aggression momentarily halted by the newcomer's interruption. "None of your business, stranger. This guy's got it coming," one of them muttered, eyeing the newcomer warily.
The newcomer's gaze softened as he turned to the young man, offering a reassuring smile. "You okay?" he asked quietly, extending a hand to help him up.
With a grateful nod, the young man took the stranger's hand, feeling a surge of relief wash over him. "Yeah, thanks. I don't know what would've happened if you hadn't shown up," he admitted, his voice trembling with emotion.
The stranger shrugged, a wry smile playing on his lips. "Just in the right place at the right time, I guess. Now, let's get you out of here before things get even uglier."
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thesefallenembers · 5 months
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what people think the most time-consuming part of writing is: writing
what it actually is: stopping every few sentences to fact-check, make sure a word means what you thought it meant, find synonyms, revert to the outline…
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hitchhikerbooks · 1 year
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Anyone else bone-achingly tired of romance books using the miscommunication troupe as an alternative to character development?
Just a note: resolved misunderstanding is not the same as character development. Having your main story people use their speaky words to make mix-up go away does not make for a level up.
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Tips for Underwriters
Last week we talked about overwriters, but now let’s talk about tips for all the underwriters out there. I didn’t mention this in my overwriting post, but whether you’re an overwriter or an underwriter, I definitely would not worry about it until later drafts! As I say all the time, the first draft is a messy, word-vomit baby, so don’t worry about a lot of the problems associated with overwriting or underwriting until your second or even third draft! It’s completely normal to underwrite a first draft, and a lot of times, underwriting your first draft will make it way easier for you in the long run! Laying down the skeleton of the story without a ton of description or other things is a completely legitimate way to go about it! But, once you get onto those later drafts, here are a few tips if you feel like you’re underwriting or your story is lacking! 
First off, I really recommend going through and asking yourself these ten questions for all of your scenes! If you answer all of these questions thoroughly, chances are you won’t be underwriting!
Where is this scene taking place? 
What does this place look and feel like? 
How much time has passed since the last scene? 
What is your character feeling right now?
What is your character’s reaction?
What is the natural, believable way your character should be reacting? 
What is the point of this scene?
What is your protagonist’s goal for the scene?
Where’s the conflict? 
Where’s your opening hook and strong ending sentence? 
These questions are a great place to get started making sure you provide depth for your readers!
But Does The Reader Know??? 
This is one of my biggest problems with a lot of books I have been reading lately. The writer will namedrop something that is clearly important in world, but does not explain it at all. They feel extremely underwritten because the writer assumes the reader has all of this background knowledge that they simply don’t have. I think a lot of it has to do with so many books being written like fanfiction. I’m not saying that in the sense that fanfic is poorly written, but in fanfiction there’s an understanding that the reader already has a decent understanding of the backstory they’re getting into. Anyways I digress into a completely different topic, but not explaining things properly is a problem that a lot of underwriters have. As writers, we sometimes forget that even though we have all of this information inside of our heads, the reader only knows what we tell them, so we have to make sure to give them a solid understanding the world and the characters. I also think that so many writers are scared of info-dumping that they just don’t explain things at all, but if you feel like you’re underwriting, go back and look through your story to make sure anything that needs explaining is explained!
Don’t Forget Internal Conflict!
Despite being my favorite conflict, I feel like internal conflict often gets left behind in a lot of stories. Most characters have one big external problem that they spend the whole story trying to solve, and while that big problem is absolutely necessary to the story, but if there’s only one problem in your story, you might find yourself more prone to having an underwritten story. How does this big problem affect your character internally? Are they super stressed out about it? Does solving the problem compromise their moral code? Do they have to forsake a core value in order to ensure their survival and the survival of their family? There are so many ways for your character to struggle with the main problem that ups the stakes of your story, adds conflict and character development, and can help up the word count as well! If you’re struggling and want a book with well-written internal conflict, see my favorite example the Hunger Games. It doesn’t get better than that!
All Go and No Show
Despite being a chronic overwriter, this is actually a problem that I struggle with as well. I think it’s because I write scenes out of order, and I tend to write all of the exciting scenes first because as a reader and a writer, I really like to jump right in and keep it moving to the last page. I used to get kind of annoyed when I stubble across what I consider a “filler” chapter where it feels like the characters are just sitting around and doing absolutely nothing. However, those less exciting bits are just as important often because they feature the internal conflict and character development mentioned above. If you’re only featuring the exciting parts of your story, it can definitely contribute to underwriting. It can also lead to another side-effect of underwriting: not having as well-rounded and fleshed out characters. Every time some big action thing happens in your story, you probably should include your MC’s reaction to it. How your characters react to things is important to them as a character and to your story overall. Now, am I saying that you need to write a 4,000 word chapter on every single detail of your characters’ feelings? No I am not, but if your MC gets hurt or betrayed or has a friend died, and then the next scene time has passed and they’re absolutely fine, it’s bad underwriting and unrealistic!
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downafter · 1 month
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I have built walls around me. So, the only thing I see when I look up is the ceiling. But it's not going to happen anymore, I want to break those walls and look at the magnificent sky. I don't want to touch it because I feel like I don't have the wings to do so. Still I want to feel it's presence and the ever changing sky will be the proof of my evolution.
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pencilandinks · 1 year
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Ashley Rose
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Now that I've done all the monthly prompts on Instagram, I started a new theme. Hope you like it 🥰
Check it out here!
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reinhardtpoetry · 3 months
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"Mostly Mr. Hyde" is about my depression and anger management issues, which sometimes cause me to emotionally lash out at my loved ones. I recently started therapy so I can learn better ways to cope. I'm trying to be less negative and more in control. However, I also know that I should give myself credit for the good I do each day - and you should too.
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