fixyourwritinghabits:

This is a pretty good post on that. Hopefully it’s what you’re looking for.

houseoffantasists:

Warning: Some Content NSFW

So, your female character is a warrior, yes?

So, she’s alive because she’s bloody good at it, yes?

So, you can get away with armour like this, yes?

No?

Okay, so, what about this?

A few of you are probably thinking, “Yeah, that’s more like it.”

I’m here to tell you that no, that’s not more like it. This stuff isn’t designed to protect anybody, it’s what I call ‘barely concealed porn’. It’s designed to be sexy. If you’re living in my brain, it’s designed to ensure that warrior women maintain some level of femininity, because God forbid a woman does something that doesn’t appeal to men. Ahem.

What’s wrong with this?

It’s not overtly sexy. But she’s probably more likely to be alive at the end of the battle.

So, unless you’re designing your warrior-woman to ‘sexy people to death’, it’s about time we started looking at how armour can be made to fit a woman’s shape.

Let’s start with the obvious; boobs. Some ladies are blessed with very small breasts, and some are blessed with very large breasts. Whatever the case, cleavage is a no-no. Exposing cleavage means exposing access to your heart (the physical, beating heart, let’s not get mushy). That means that anyone can see an all-too-easy way to kill your warrior-woman before she’s even uttered a hentai sigh-come-moan whenever she swings her sword.

The next frequently exposed place is the midriff. Another area you really don’t want somebody to poke with something sharp. The likelihood is that her guts will fall out, or she’ll experience a very slow death by bleeding profusely.

Thighs. Entire legs, in some cases. The femoral artery runs through your thigh. Cut it, and you stand a very good chance of bleeding to death. This artery actually begins its path through your thigh from your pelvis, so guarding the groin and hip are also very important.

In short, there’s nothing different about women that means their armour isn’t required. In fiction, your characters don’t have HP and little life lovehearts. If they get injured, they’re injured. There are going to be consequences. And she’s going to be looking at you, and asking why the Hell you gave her armour that wasn’t much more than a bikini.

Below, there’s a list of different kinds of armour and how it’s made. Once you know how it’s made, you can piece together how it might fit your warrior-woman’s particular figure.

What is important to remember is her style of fighting. Armour typically weighs a great deal. It’s heavy for big men and it’ll be heavy for women of whatever size. When considering what armour you want your lady to be wearing, consider the following:

- Which weapon she primarily uses. Before you answer this, consider her build and the weight of the weapon itself. The reality is that a small woman is not likely to be able to wield a zweihander effectively.

- How she fights. This will be based on weaponry, her physical size and what her advantages and disadvantages are. Manoeuvrability is important when considering armour, as she’s going to need to be able to move in certain ways. A woman relying on being able to be quick on her feet isn’t going to benefit from plate greaves.

- Her strength and stamina. Be realistic. A woman built like Nigella Lawson isn’t going to manage fighting for long periods of time in chain mail. It’s just not feasible. If you want your lady to be wearing plate armour and able to fight for a good while, she’s going to need to be muscular and have the training to manage it. She’s probably not going to have the ideal, sexy body we’d all like.

- Her body shape. One thing that men often forget is that breasts get in the way. Large breasts more so. Try strapping four bean bags to your chest to get an idea of what it’s like to have that weight present and how often it’ll inhibit your movement. Women have learned to move around it, but there are still moments where they’re just plain irritating. Equally, strapping them down makes them tender. Ask any woman whose bra is too small. After a while, they start to feel bruised inside. That’s the meaning of ‘tender’. We really mean ‘bruised’.

Women also walk differently to men, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, which changes where their centre of balance is. Women generally have better balance than men because their centre of gravity is slightly lower. They also carry more weight below the upper hips than men do.

Muscularity is something we think happens differently for men and women. Actually, it doesn’t. Muscle development will happen for women in the same way that it does men, though they may experience different physiological changes. Ever notice that a lot of female body builders tend to have breast enhancement surgery? That’s because this is what happens to the breasts when women become muscular:

This happens because the pectoral muscle has developed and essentially put the fatty tissue of the breasts on a platform. Women get bigger and their breasts either stay the same size or shrink (it depends on the kind of exercise, a lot of women experience their breasts shrinking to the point of being non-existent because fatty tissues are often the first thing to go once you start an intense training regime).

So, consider build. Their natural shape, lifestyle and fighting style will affect this and you need to be realistic about what these things would do to her body.

Once you’ve established these things, you need to figure out what kind of armour is best for your warrior-woman.

Scale Armour

Scale armour, contrary to what MMORPGs will tell you, is not made out of reptile skin. It just looks like reptile skin. It’s actually made out of whatever you can get your hands on; leather, seeds, horn, rawhide, bronze, iron and even paper, in China. The individual scales are stitched onto their backing (typically cloth or leather) by at least one edge and overlap one another much like roof tiles.

This kind of armour is not as flexible as chain mail but, given the backing being fabric, it can be shaped to the wearer and is a strong choice for women who need some mobility but largely, protection from blunt attacks.

Lamellar Armour

Lamellar is made out of rectangular pieces of leather or metal that are laced together in horizontal rows, often over some kind of jacket or padded shirt. Lamellar differs from scale armour in that it does not require cloth or leather backing, it exists as a single piece of armour as it is.

It doesn’t restrict movement as much as scale armour but neither does it provide the same kind of protection. As its usage progressed through time, people began using it as an enhancement to chain mail rather than a standalone cuirass.

The realism of whether a woman would find this comfortable is probably down to her build. A woman with larger breasts would struggle with something like this; it’d probably bunch up around her chest and shoulders and cause her to be unable to move her arms too much.

Laminar Armour

Horizontal, solid pieces of armour make laminar armour. I’m not going to go into the details of this one too much, because the likelihood that a woman could wear this comfortably is extremely slim. Men fit horizontal patterns because their bodies are designed in a Y shape that can be accommodated easily by the banding. The difficulty with women is in their hips, which are frequently much wider than their waists. This would cause both weakness and clumsiness at the waist as the armour has to change its shape too severely. Bending laminar armour too much takes away its strength. A Y shaped woman might be able to pull it off, however, and if she did, she’d most likely be using it to complement a shield and shortsword/spear.

Chainmail

As you can see, chainmail is a very viable option for women. It’s made up of teeny tiny little metal links and research done by Leeds Royal Armouries suggests that it was virtually impenetrable by medieval weaponry. It’s not lightweight, as you can imagine, but it does bend and provides excellent protection. About the only thing that would get through it would be heavy blows, as flexibility doesn’t allow for protection from broken bones. So, avoid impact weapons (maces, hammers, clubs, etc.) and she might just make it through that big battle in this. Might.

Plate Armour

Another one that has evidence enough that it could work for your warrior-woman. Plate armour is exceptionally heavy, more so if your character has decided to wear chainmail underneath to ensure that any weaker areas have their bases covered. It’s heavy and difficult to move in, but she will be kept safe from a whole array of weapons and it can be fitted, if one has the money, to one’s own shape. The only real problems this armour presents are that its weak spots are obvious, because the pieces have a defined shape, and it’s not the most elegant, flexible stuff.

Ladies wearing this type of armour are probably looking at wielding large close-combat weapons such as broadswords, warhammers and war-axes. This woman is going to be one big lady after a while of wearing this stuff, and she’d have to learn to get through the sheer exhaustion of trying to move from inside 65lbs of metal (that’s about 30-35 bags of old-fashioned sugar).

In short, do some research yourself. Figure out how she fights. Figure out why she fights and if she’s going to be mostly naked, give her a damn good reason to survive (I recommend hiding, that’s a great way to avoid being stabbed when you’re in your birthday suit).

It just doesn’t wash any more, guys. It’s not realistic, it’s not cool and frankly, it’s a little bit sexist that women should have to flash their bits whilst trying desperately to live, just so that they look good for that cute boy in the full-plate over there.

Write your warrior-women real. They’d be tough and scarred, strong and bent out of shape (or into shape, depending on your perspective).

Glorified rant over. 

- LSG

fuckyourwritinghabits:

totalrewrite:

What is a pen name?

A pen name is an alias used by an author on their novels. If an author didn’t want their real name to be displayed on their novel, they would make one up and that would go in its place.

Why use a pen name?

There are many possible answers to this question, but here’s a few of the most common reasons to use a pen name.

• They don’t like their name, it’s a common name, or it’s too hard for readers to remember. Names like John Smith or Anuhya Bhogineni can be problems because one is extremely common and the other is incredibly difficult to search for if you don’t have the exact spelling.
• Some authors want to distance themselves from previous work. JK Rowling recently did this when she published The Cuckoo’s Calling under the name Robert Galbraith. She said she wanted honest feedback on the writing without people comparing it to Harry Potter.
• Pen names allow an author’s work to be separated. If one author writes in several different genres, they may use several different pen names to keep readers from being confused when they find children’s lit, sci-fi, horror, mysteries, and a cookbook all under the same author.
• Several different authors can work under one name. If you’re familiar with the Warriors books by Erin Hunter, Erin Hunter is actually one pen name used by four different women. Having one on a book cover is much easier for readers than four.
• It separates the author’s real life and private life. An author can be a high school teacher by day and a famed erotica author by night, and by using a pen name, no one would ever know better.
• The author’s real name could be the name of someone who is already famous. If a writer’s name is Kate Perry and she wants to publish a novel, she has to deal with the fact that her name is almost identical to Katy Perry, and that could bring people in on the false premise that the book was written by the celebrity, which isn’t good for the book’s popularity.

Is a penname necessary?

Not at all. If you don’t want to use a penname, you aren’t under any obligation to use one. There are a lot of good reasons to use a pen name, but don’t feel pressured to use one if you’d rather use your real name instead.

How do I create a good pen name?

• Don’t make it too long. George RR Martin is much easier to remember than George Raymond Richard Martin.
• Make it memorable. Mary Jones is an easy-to-spell, simple name, but it might be too simple. Both of the names are extremely common, thus making it easy to forget.
• Look at your genre. Are you writing fantasy? Many fantasy authors are easy to identify by the use of initials in their name like JRR Tolkein. You might want to follow trends like this.
  
• Make sure it isn’t already in use by someone else. I think this speaks for itself.
• Make sure you like the name. If you’re going to be using this on a novel, a piece of work that you spent months or years on and put a piece of your soul into, make sure you also like everything about it—even the pen name.

Who are some other authors with pen names?

• Joanne Rowling as JK Rowling as Robert Galbraith
• Samuel Clemons as Mark Twain
• Howard Allen O’Brien as Anne Rice as AN Roquelaure
• Eric Arthur Blair as George Orwell
• Stanley Martin Lieber as Stan Lee
• Charles Lutwidge Dodgson as Lewis Carroll
• Francois-Marie Arouet as Voltaire
• Erin Hunter as Kate Cary, Cherith Baldry, Tui Sutherland, and Victoria Holmes

Of course, there are many, many more authors with pen names out there and this isn’t even the tip of the iceberg.

(For the anon who asked about pen names!)

slitheringink:

Research is something that every writer should do, but not everyone knows how to do it right. With the advent of the Internet, we have a wealth of information at our fingertips. When we want an answer to a question, we just plug it into Google and pick the best source. But what is the best source? How do you get the best information?

Well, the key is to look for a source that’s reputable. I tend to look for published books, people with relevant experience and academia approved sources.

Unfortunately, a lot of people automatically jump to their usual go-to:

Wikipedia

This site is great, don’t get me wrong. It has a lot of good information and is generally solid for definitions of words and concepts. What people tend to do with Wikipedia is put too much trust in it as a reliable source. Because it’s a wiki, it can be edited by other people, and you have no way of knowing if those people are qualified to give their input on whatever subject they’re writing about.

That being said, it’s still a useful tool; just never use it as the sole basis for novel research. I can’t emphasize that enough. Wikipedia is a great place to give you ideas, leading you all over the place with it’s internal links. It’s even useful to help you find other information sources. At the bottom of articles you’ll find links to sites, showing where Wikipedia compiled the information. Use those to your advantage.

Checking Internet Sources

There are a few things to look at when checking sources for credibility on the Internet.

1. Is the site reputable? – Is the site a joke news site? A blog? A college website? All of this is important. You can generally trust information from government sites, as it’s likely been fact-checked (away with you conspiracy theorists, shoo!). College websites (anything that ends in .edu) are safe bets as most articles on those sites are written by teachers and students with experience in the given field. Blogs will vary. I’d be wary if there’s no about page explanation of prior experience or credentials. I would take news sites with a grain of salt, as a lot of articles are written with bias, even if the authors have credentials. Look for that bias. Look for the article being presented in a manner that’s meant to sway. If you don’t see that, and the article has an author with valid credentials, then it’s probably fine. Treat articles with interviews in the same manner.

2. Is the author reputable? – If you have a doctor giving you a list of possible symptoms for a disease, then you can likely trust that. If you have a 16-year old boy with an interest in cars giving you symptoms, I probably wouldn’t trust him unless he’s had personal experience with the disease, and even in that case I’d check other sources. Authors that are teachers, doctors, students speaking in their field, or other people with necessary experience are good sources. It is, of course, up to you to evaluate their credibility. Ask yourself how much experience they have in a given subject.
   

3. When was the last time the site was updated? – The validity of information is constantly changing as new discoveries are made. If the website you’re looking at hasn’t been updated since the mid-1990’s, then I wouldn’t take the information on it as fact without checking other sources.

4. What does the site look like? –This isn’t always an indicator of the information quality but some sites, especially the ones that look like they were made in the old Angelfire Webshell (props if any of you know what I’m talking about), may not be good sources. Organization when it comes to web design may be a reflection of the author’s ability to present information in a logical way. Information that’s not easy to read or understand is generally not good information to use as a source.

5. Has the source been cited? – Internet articles may not always have cited sources but if they use large chunks of information from another location or quotes, they should. It may or may not be in a format, like MLA or APA, and may be presented instead as a link. That’s perfectly acceptable. Sources that show you they’ve done their research are good to use.

Published Books

Most books that are published by houses, whether big-name or independent, have been edited. Not only have they been edited, but, especially in the case of non-fiction reference books, have been fact-checked for accuracy. As such you can usually trust published books as credible sources.

Be sure to check the publication date of the book so you know that the information is current. Looking at my copy of Coraline, it’s located after the main title with the publisher’s name but before the dedication page. The location may vary slightly depending on the book but it’s almost always going to be within the first few pages. Something written in the last decade is fine unless the field you’re researching is constantly changing or it’s a period source. You’re safe with older publication dates for historical reference books but be careful when you’re looking at a book for the sciences.

I wouldn’t trust self-published books unless the book has a credible author or was actually edited. Since you don’t have access to an in-house editor if you publish on your own, it’s up to you as the author to find an editor, if you bother to. Editors are expensive and people tend to get into the habit of not wanting to pay for things they feel are “extra”. If there are noticeable mistakes in grammar within the first few pages, I’d skip it as a source.

Professionals

Trust people who work in the field of the subject you want to know about to have good information. If you want to know about police procedures, ask a police officer. If you want to know about how cell division works, ask a biologist. If you want to know about war, ask a veteran or an active solider. There are a lot of qualified people on the Internet willing to share their experiences if you ask. Don’t be afraid to try to contact them if they’re not already writing about the subject you need. A kindly worded e-mail sometimes goes a long way, and if you don’t get an answer, then at least you tried. There’s nothing wrong with that.

Academic Journals

Google has an awesome feature called Google Scholar, which allows you to search journals published in the realm of academia. These journals are generally research done by professors and students in their given fields of study. They have been verified for publication and are great to use if you can find something suitable. Beware that they can be lengthy and unless it’s a scientific study, will generally have an opinion.

It’s hidden.

There it is.

Ta da!

My favorite source for journals, JSTOR, recently launched a free to read section of its journals, instead of having to log in through an institution.

Primary and Secondary Sources

While I was going through college, I was taught about different kind of sources. I wanted to present them to you, so you could see all of your options for research and not just the ones I mentioned. This categorization exists for the realm of academia (i.e. a bunch of people with really expensive degrees figured it out).

A primary source is a document or physical object which was written or created during the time under study. These sources were present during an experience or time period and offer an inside view of a particular event. Some types of primary sources include:

• ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS (excerpts or translations acceptable): Diaries, speeches, manuscripts, letters, interviews, news film footage, autobiographies, official records 
• CREATIVE WORKS: Poetry, drama, novels, music, art 
• RELICS OR ARTIFACTS: Pottery, furniture, clothing, buildings

Examples of primary sources include:

• Diary of Anne Frank - Experiences of a Jewish family during WWII 
• The Constitution of Canada - Canadian History 
• A journal article reporting NEW research or findings 
• Weavings and pottery - Native American history 
• Plato’s Republic - Women in Ancient Greece 

Acceptable Internet Primary Sources: http://www.eduplace.com/ss/hmss/primary.html

A secondary source interprets and analyzes primary sources. These sources are one or more steps removed from the event. Secondary sources may have pictures, quotes or graphics of primary sources in them. Some types of secondary sources include:

• PUBLICATIONS: Textbooks, magazine articles, histories, criticisms, commentaries, encyclopedias 

Examples of secondary sources include:

• A journal/magazine article which interprets or reviews previous findings 
• A history textbook 
• A book about the effects of WWI 

(Source)

Final Notes

It’s up to you to decide if a source is worth using or not. If something about it feel right, then don’t use it. Think to yourself if you’d use this source in a professional or academic setting. If the answer is no, then it’s probably no good for you.

-Morgan

slitheringink:

I’m not sure what age or age range your character is but a child’s understanding of certain concepts may be different depending on how developed their brain is.

Children and Death/Loss

This is off of The Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh site regarding how children of different age groups may react to death (in this case their own but the level of understanding between the age groups can also be applied to the deaths of others):

• Infant – For an infant, death has no real concept. Infants do, however, react to separation from parent(s), painful procedures, and any alteration in their routine. An infant that is terminally ill will require as much care, physically and emotionally, to maintain a comfortable environment as any age group. Maintaining a consistent routine is important for the infant and his/her caregivers. Because infants cannot verbally communicate their needs, fear is often expressed by crying.

• Toddler – For the toddler, death has very little meaning. He/She may receive the most anxiety from the emotions of those around him/her. When a toddler’s parents and loved ones are sad, depressed, scared, or angry, he/she senses these emotions and become upset or afraid. The terms “death” or “forever” or “permanent” may not have real value to children of this age group. Even with previous experiences with death, the child may not understand the relationship between life and death. Death is not a permanent condition.

• Preschool – Preschool-aged children may begin to understand that death is something feared by adults. This age group may view death as temporary or reversible, as in cartoons. Death is often explained to this age group as “went to heaven.” Most children in this age group do not understand that death is permanent, that everyone and every living thing will eventually die, and that dead things do not eat, sleep, or breathe. Death should not be explained as “sleep” to prevent the possible development of a sleep disorder.

  Their experience with death is influenced by those around them. They may ask questions about “why?” and “how?” death occurs. The preschool child may feel that his/her thoughts or actions have caused the death and/or sadness of those around. The preschool child may have feelings of guilt and shame.

  When a child in this age group becomes seriously ill, they may believe it is their punishment for something they did or thought about. They do not understand how their parents could not have protected them from this illness.

  This idea may make the preschool-age sibling of a dying child to feel as if they are the cause of the illness and death. Young siblings of dying children need reassurance and comforting during this time period, as well.

• School-age – School-aged children are developing a more realistic understanding of death. Although death may be personified as an angel, skeleton, or ghost, this age group is beginning to understand death as permanent, universal, and inevitable. They may be very curious about the physical process of death and what happens after a person dies. They may fear their own death because of uncertainty of what happens to them after they die. Fear of the unknown, loss of control, and separation from family and friends can be the school-aged child’s main sources of anxiety and fear related to death.

• Adolescent – As with people of all ages, past experiences and emotional development greatly influence an adolescent’s concept of death. Most adolescents understand the concept that death is permanent, universal, and inevitable. They may or may not have had past experiences with death of a family member, friend, or pet.

  Adolescents, similar to adults, may want to have their religious or cultural rituals observed.

  Most adolescents are beginning to establish their identity, independence, and relationship to peer groups. A predominant theme in adolescence is feelings of immortality or being exempt from death. Their realization of their own death threatens all of these objectives. Denial and defiant attitudes may suddenly change the personality of a teenager facing death. An adolescent may feel as if they no longer belong or fit in with their peers. In addition, they may feel as if they are unable to communicate with their parents.

  Another important concept among adolescents is self-image. A terminal illness and/or the effects of treatment may cause many physical changes that they must endure. The adolescent may feel alone in their struggle, scared, and angry.

It’s important to keep in mind that the way children handle difficult situations like loss not only depends on their age, but how they’ve been raised and what they’ve already experienced in their lives. A child who has experienced a major loss may be more prepared to cope with another one in the future, or they may not, depending on what they were taught.

The misconceptions, interpretations and fears about death from parents and parent figures may be transferred to the child, affecting how they view the event. Things to keep in mind:

• Is the parent figure religious? If so, what are his/her beliefs and have they been taught to the child? Did the child want to learn about the religion or was it forced? Religion can be both a comfort when it comes to death or a point of contention, offering more questions that it does answers. For example the concept of Heaven and the afterlife in Christianity is a comfort to some, while others fear death because of the concept of Hell.

• Has the parent figure talked to the child about death before? Does the child understand that it’s an inevitable part of life and how was that concept taught to the child? Did the parent use blatant, harsh terms or did the parent try mask the harshness of death with fluffy language? Was the child flat out lied to?

• When did the parent figure have the conversation about death to a child? Was it after the death of a pet, family member, or friend? Was it before a tragic event so the child could come to an understanding about the concept earlier or did a tragedy happen with no prior explanation?

• When did the child first see/experience death? Is their concept of it from real life or from media?

• In the case of being orphaned, were they told that their parents died? Did they witness it? Did they understand what they were seeing or hearing?

• Has the child seen a parent figure deal with death? What did they see? Did the parent figure cry, go into a depressive slump, get angry, maybe violent? How did that affect the child?

Since you specifically referenced being orphaned, I went and dug up an article about some psychological responses of children who have been adopted:

Kidnapped or Saved? How Some Orphans Really Feel When They’re Adopted

Children and Abuse

Children who are victims of abuse themselves or come from homes where there’s domestic abuse will likely have certain characteristics:

• They may feel completely powerless, withdrawing and becoming silent in both abusive and normal social situations.

• They may feel afraid for their own safety or the safety of others around them.

• They may develop low self-esteem, often blaming themselves for the violence. It’s also about not being able to stop the violence being directed at themselves or someone else.

• They may have various behavioral problems, many abusing drugs, alcohol or themselves (self-mutilation, cutting, pulling hair out, self-starvation or self-vomiting).

• Some may also abuse others, thinking that abuse is a normal aspect of life. They may verbally, mentally or physically abuse another person. This is not common as a lot of abuse victims reject the behavior and are mindful not to reciprocate it to others.

• They may feel isolated.

• They may feel depressed and have flashbacks of abuse or violent incidents.

(Source, which I recommend reading.) 

External Resources:

Why Children Don’t Tell About Their Abuse

The Lingering Trauma of Child Abuse

EDIT: From a friend who has dealt with abuse as a child/teen regarding abuse victims abusing others:

“Typically if a victim of abuse does abuse someone else it is caused by an outside stressor rather than from acceptance of it as typical and acceptable behavior and when it happens it can range from emotional to mental to physical…it just depends on which one the individual experienced and could be a combination of them as well.”

Thank you. Posting accurate information is important to me!

-Morgan

slitheringink:

Now that I’m floating high enough to see airplanes in my ego balloon, I think I can offer some advice. When it comes to the job market these days, it takes a lot hard work, some skill and a pinch of luck (or a lot of luck, depending on your perspective) in order to find something you can both support yourself with and be happy doing.

With that in mind, I’ve managed to compile a helpful list of:

Writing Jobs

(and jobs for people wondering what the hell they’re going to do with an English degree)

1. Author – I’m starting here since this seems to be the dream job of almost everyone who wants to write. Authors spend their lives crafting stories with the goal of being published in book form and hopefully making enough money to live on. Some authors become best sellers, but don’t count on this. As an author, you’re probably going to also have to get a day job to support yourself. Don’t believe me? Here’s an HP article on 11 authors you know who also had day jobs.

2. Publishing – You can get a job at a publishing house doing many different things. There are several editorial positions you can get, you can work in book promotions, electronic publishing or even as a researcher. These jobs are available at large and independent publishing houses.

3. Critic – Do you have a good critical eye? Are you able to pick apart a work and convey your ideas in an interesting manner? Do you have a unique voice? Well then, this job may be for you! Critics review published works like books, movies and plays for Internet based news companies or traditionally published papers or magazines.

4. Ghostwriter – If you don’t mind writing another person’s ideas and handing over authorship credit to that person, then this might be a suitable position for you. Ghostwriters are used most commonly by authors to mass produce material in order to turn a profit. James Patterson uses ghostwriters frequently in his novels.

5. Marketing – Since writers possess great communication skills, they are often utilized in marketing and advertising fields. Some are in charge of marketing campaigns for various products and may have to work in a collaborative setting. You may get a jobs as a copywriter in this field, preparing product descriptions for print in magazines, brochures and online publications.

6. Columnist/Journalist – Anyone who likes to write articles and is interested in journalism would like this job. You can write articles for various news publications. Generally, people in this field will set up and engage in interviews with people for their articles. There is also a lot of research involved depending on what you’re writing about.

7. Grant Writer – With this job, you are in charge of researching and responding to grant opportunities for an organization. There is a strict set of guidelines to follow when constructing a grant.

8. English Teacher – If you have the schooling (most teachers need a Masters Degree these days) and like interacting with kids or young adults, then this might be for you. With this job, you’re interacting with students on a daily basis to provide them a strong foundation in writing and literature. This job usually carries over beyond the normal 9-5 schedule as you have to grade assignments and craft lesson plans.

9. Screen Writer – You can work on your own independent films or write for the entertainment industry, usually movies or TV shows. This is a difficult industry to break into and involves working from the ground up. The process may be expedited with the right connections.

10. Comics Writer – If you enjoy writing and collaborating with an artist (or team of artists) then you may enjoy this job. You can write comics for the major companies, like Marvel, DC or Dark Horse, but this is generally difficult to do. You can also write your own project, publishing in an online format and peddling your work at conventions. Some comics published in this manner have become very popular (Penny Arcade for instance) and generally make their money off of advertising and merchandise.

11. Editor – There are tons of different types of editing. The major ones are copy editing and developmental editing. A copy editor generally works on a grammar and structure level, preparing texts for publication. A developmental editor makes substantive changes to a work, often reorganizing, rewriting or removing entire sections of a work.

12. Literary Agent – You slog through piles of manuscripts, hoping to find one worth your time. Once you do, it’s your job to represent the author and try to sell their manuscript to publishing houses. You’re often involved in editing the manuscript and are the author’s window into the publishing world.

13. Agent’s Assistant – There are some agents who are fortunate enough to have people that read manuscripts for them and present them with ones that might be worth using. With this job, your goal is to find the next diamond in the rough.

14. Public Relations Writer – Your job is to write materials in order to promote the goals and image of a company or an individual.

15. Writing Tutor – There are some companies who hire tutors to help their employees learn how to write and communicate better. There are tutoring agencies and even websites (wyzant.com) where you can set yourself up and advertise your services to people in your area.

16. Translator – If you happen to be fluent in a foreign language, you can get a job translating documents into that language or into English. Translators are often used by publishing houses for international editions of books.

17. Speech Writer – Are you a fan of politics? If you are, you can get a job writing speeches for various political figures at the local, state and federal levels.

18. Freelance Writer – You can do a lot of the jobs listed above on your own time. You set your own schedule and your own workload, but the issue is that you won’t always have constant work, which means a sometimes spotty paycheck. You hunt down publications or individuals looking for writers and are often paid for an article or a project. You can both write and edit as a freelance employee.

There are other jobs out there than the ones listed here. Once you find one that interests you, look up what it takes to get into that field and start working towards it. :)

-Morgan

fuckyourwritinghabits:

fictionwritingtips:

I always have difficulty visualizing how a room is set up or I just don’t put that much attention into it. I quickly realized how wrong this was because you want your readers to see a space, especially if it’s an important area. If you ignore how it’s set up, you’ll only confuse and frustrate your readers. They want to visualize the spaces you create, so you need to make a conscious effort to plan your locations.

Having weak locations might seem like the least of your worries when it comes to writing, but it’s all part of being a descriptive writer. Describing a house or building might be moments you want to rush, but you need to give them care and attention.  Using this description—brown, single family, two-story home—is not exciting. It’s not even really worth reading, to be honest. We need to experience the house with all of our senses. What does the house smell like? Like fresh cotton? Or musty? Obviously, these two smells are very different and will lead to a different understanding of the house.  Is it dark inside? Does natural light stream in through the clean glass windows? These descriptions are off the top of my head, but you need to take the time to think about how you want your locations to be perceived and what you’re trying to say.

Everything in your story should matter.

So, how could you improve how you build your locations? Keeping those visualizations in your head works for some people, but you can get creative. If you’re a competent artist (which I am not), you can do some sketches and refer back to them. However, for detailed space building, I recommend this site—Room Sketcher.

Room Sketcher allows you to easily build rooms and the program is free. If you’re looking for help, I think this is a great idea. Otherwise, find a good way to plan your spaces and keep them fresh in your mind. Take the extra step.

HOLY SHIT