fixyourwritinghabits:

Try browsing these:

• Pen Name: How To Create Yours
• How 8 Famous Writers Chose Their Pen Name
• How do writers choose pen names?

There’s also innumerable name generators you can find online and tweak the results for something suiting you.  Try those!

thepalaceofawesomestories:

1. Start with your character’s face shape. This is important because a person’s face gives a strong and immediate impression of their personality. Is it heart-shaped with a wide forehead and a pointed chin? Is it square with a jaw-line that could chisel granite? Which of these faces might you describe as playful and which might you describe as rugged? As you continue to describe your character, keep in mind that people definitely associate certain personality traits with certain features.
2. Describe your character’s bone structure. In particular, we draw many conclusions from a person’s bone structure. High, wide cheekbones can give the impression of apple cheeks and, thus, a lingering smile. Whereas a “weak” chin is associated with passivity, a prominent chin is described as “determined” and might suggest that someone is inclined to keep their chin up. Wide-set eyes are found on most baby animals and have become associated with innocence, whereas deep-set eyes are often shadowed and can be associated with being untrustworthy or a brooding personality.
3. Describe your character’s eyes. The eyes are the “windows to the soul” and should receive extra consideration. Most baby animals have large eyes and long lashes, making large-eyed or long-lashed people seem more trusting and open. Brown eyes are among the most common and are often associated with a plain, salt-of-the-earth honesty or a chocolate-brown depth and richness. Blue eyes may be thought of as innocent (baby-blue), piercing (icy-blue), or wise (gray-blue). Light-green eyes may seem trusting whereas emerald-green eyes are often thought of as exotic or catlike.
4. Describe your character’s eyebrows. Since the eyebrows are so intimately involved in facial expression, they also have a huge impact in their resting state. Kristin Stewart’s straight eyebrows give her a perpetual expression of nonchalance, whereas Marilyn Monroe’s high-arching brows add to her look of slight surprise and continuous interest. If the inner half of each eyebrow slants sharply downward, it can create a mischievous look á la Christian Slater or a slight scowl á la Megan Fox. Especially low brows like those of Michael C. Hall (a.k.a. Dexter Morgan) can create a sinister appearance.
5. Describe your character’s nose. The nose is extremely prominent on the face and can suggest a lot about your character’s attitude. An up-turned nose might be cute and playful like a child’s but can also veer into snobbish territory (i.e. someone who turns their nose up at you). Since noses continue to grow on a person’s face with age, a long nose can suggest an air of wisdom. A pinched nose like Nicole Kidman’s might be cute as a button but can also appear crinkled as if with distaste.
6. Describe your character’s mouth. Like eyebrows, the mouth is crucial in forming facial expressions and is subject to much interpretation. Since people’s lips grow thinner with age, full lips are associated with sensuality. Slightly open lips may seem relaxed or even suggestive (which is why most models pose this way), but a mouth that cannot close (á la Napoleon Dynamite) can give the impression of perpetual stupefaction. A wide mouth is often called “generous” and can convey a sense of openness, whereas a small, narrow mouth (think Hugh Laurie from “House”) may seem reserved or unfriendly.
7. Describe your character’s hairline. The hairline also plays a big part in how we see a face to be shaped. A widow’s peak, which interrupts the forehead by pointing down at the nose, adds an element of intrigue and is the go-to look for vampires. A receding hairline may suggest a loss of virility and earn a derisive title like “Mickey Mouse ears.”
8. Describe your character’s body type. Are they tall? If so, are they long and gangly or lean and athletic? If not, are they short and squat or petite? Is your character overweight, underweight, or perhaps just sturdily built? What other features stand out? For example, an elongated neck might be graceful and elegant whereas a thick neck or hardly any neck at all might suggest brute strength. Knock-knees may suggest uncertainty or clumsiness, duck-feet might seem to slap around fumblingly, and slender fingers might convey an artistic inclination.
9. Describe your character’s posture, body language, and clothing style. All of these things reflect the way a person interacts with the space around them, which speaks volumes about how they interact with the world at large. Does your character slouch with indiscipline or stand tall with certitude? Is their body language lackluster, hesitant, contracted, or expansive? Does your subject wear eye-catching clothing or blend into the background? In other words, does your character fill a room?
10. Fill in the remaining details. Note the hair and skin color. Instead of using words like chocolate, honey-wheat, raven-black, fiery orange (you don’t want to come off sounding like some odd cannibal. use words like brown, blonde, black, red and so on. Be sure to identify any unique markings; piercings, tattoos, and scars are very distinctive and tell unique stories about what your character has been through.

fixyourwritinghabits:

• Plot, plotting, and writing plot
• The Middle Child Syndrome in Stories

Good luck!

fixyourwritinghabits:

Try these tags:

• Research
• History
• Writing history

Or:

• British Ranks of Nobility
• Wikipedia: Court titles

And as always: Google!  Or libraries!

i-am-nicole-campos:

The source and exact nature of the curious phenomena we refer to as characters remains something of a mystery, but the craft of characterization is not.

Although it’s clearly a cause for celebration—or at least relief—when a character appears in the mind’s eye fully formed, the reality is that for most of us, this is a rare occurrence. Certain techniques are required to will our characters to life. We need to draw on the unconscious, memory, the imagination and the Muse until our characters quicken, assume clear form and, with hope, begin to act of their own accord.

Can this process—so inherent to the success of any novel—really be condensed into a single method? In my experience as both writer and writing instructor, the answer is, to some extent, yes. The key is first to understand what your characters require from you in order to come to life, and then to determine how you can draw on your best available resources to give them what they need.

CHARACTERISTICS OF COMPELLING CHARACTERS

The most compelling characters are those who appear internally consistent and yet are capable of surprise. In my own work, I’ve found that the art of crafting such fully realized characters can be boiled down to four crucial elements: a driving need, desire, ambition or goal; a secret; a contradiction; and vulnerability. Let’s take a closer look at each one.

• A Driving Need, Desire, Ambition or Goal

The fundamental truth to characterization is that characters must want something, and the stronger the want, the more compelling the resulting drama. This is because desire intrinsically creates conflict, the primordial goo in which character is formed.

Take, for example one of the most memorable characters in American literature—Blanche Dubois, from Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire. At the start of the story, Blanche has lost her family home and has been left with nowhere to stay. Desperate, she has come to New Orleans to find her sister, Stella, and ask to be taken in.

This is a perfect demonstration that simply by giving the character a deep-seated need or want, you can automatically create conflict, for the world is not designed to answer our desires as easily as we might hope.

• A Secret

For your character, a secret is that inclination or trait (such as a psychological disposition to dishonesty, violence, sexual excess, or the abuse of alcohol or drugs, to name a few) or an incident from the past that, if revealed, would change forever the character’s standing in her world, among co-workers, neighbors, friends, family, lovers. Secrets inform us of what our characters have to lose, and why.

Drawing on the example of Blanche Dubois, her secret is that through drink and illicit sexual liaisons, she has become so emotionally and physically dissipated she could not hold on to the family home.

We are our own best source for understanding secrets. We know our own, and if we’re insightful, we understand how they affect our behavior—specifically, how they make us afraid.

• A Contradiction

We all know people who are both shy and rude, cruel but funny, bigoted but protective. This complexity, which seems to particularly manifest itself during times of stress or conflict, is what can make a person inherently unpredictable, setting the stage for the kind of surprising behavior that can keep readers enthralled, wondering what might happen next.

Our senses and minds are tuned to focus on irregularities—the thing that doesn’t quite fit, doesn’t make sense, or is simply changing. This is an evolutionarily adaptive trait; it helps in analyzing the environment for threats. But it also attunes us to whatever is unusual in what we perceive; contradictions reveal what we couldn’t predict, the enigma, the surprise.

Again, let’s look at how this applies to Blanche Dubois: She is desperate and weak, hopelessly vain, with an alcoholic’s capacity for denial and delusion—but she is also fiercely proud and resourceful with a surprising steeliness. It’s contradictions like these that can automatically pique a reader’s interest.

• Vulnerability

Nothing draws us into a character more than her vulnerability. When people appear wounded or in need of our help, we are instantly drawn to them—it’s a basic human reflex. We may also sometimes be repelled or frightened, but either way, the fact of the matter is that injury to another person instantly triggers a strong response.

Obviously, vulnerability may be the result of the character’s secret: He is afraid of being found out. Or it may come from the intensity of his need or want—because, as we all know, desire can render us naked in a fundamental way. For your character, the ambition and focus inherent in a strong desire can imply some form of inner strength, while at the same time rendering the character vulnerable to being deprived of what he most wants.

Blanche’s desperation to find a safe place makes her vulnerable, as does the tawdry nature of her secrets, which threaten to shame her beyond redemption if revealed. In other words, needs or desires, secrets, contradictions and vulnerability are almost always interconnected.

METHODS FOR DEEPENING CHARACTERIZATIONS

Often our characters first appear to us as we flesh out the idea for a story. But characters who emerge from story ideas can often be flat or two-dimensional; this is because at that early stage, they serve the purpose of filling a role, rather than acting as independent beings with needs and fears and affections and concerns “outside the story.”

Compelling characters are not cogs in the machine of your plot; they are human beings to whom the story happens.

Some stories begin with the characters, of course, and the narrative emerges from an exploration of their needs, their defenses, their secrets and contradictions, or some problem they face. The trick in those cases is making sure the narrative doesn’t meander, creating, as writer Philip Larkin called it, “a beginning, a muddle and an end.”

But more often in mainstream fiction and especially genre fiction, the novel begins with a story idea, and the characters need to be fleshed out to keep them from being stock players in the drama. We might wonder how many uniquely memorable world-weary detectives there can be, for example—and yet every year at least one more seems to emerge from the wave of crime novels crashing onto bookstore shelves. It takes skill and insight to breathe life into stock characters, something too often dismissed by those who disdain genre fiction as inferior.

So how do we flesh out our characters when they arise from the needs of our stories, or when they otherwise lack the specificity, uniqueness or power necessary to engage a reader (or the writer)? The best inspiration often comes from within us—and from our experiences with the people in our lives.

• Real-Life Characters

Near the end of his life, John Updike wrote a poem titled “Peggy Lutz, Fred Muth,” in which he thanked his childhood friends and classmates—the “beauty” and “bully,” the “fatso” and others—“for providing a sufficiency of human types … all a writer needs.”

Whether we know it or not, our minds and hearts are populated by all the characters we will ever need—though we may disassemble them and rearrange the parts into composites for variation.

To fully tap this potential, begin by reflecting upon the following real people in your life—jot down their names, fix them in your mind, remember a few details about their lives, their physical appearances, the effect they’ve had on you, and anything else you think would be important if you were to describe them to someone who didn’t already know them.

Include in your exploration:

1. A family member you feel particularly close to
2. A family member you particularly dislike, or from whom you’re estranged
3. Your closest friend from childhood with whom you’ve lost touch
4. Your closest friend from childhood with whom you’re still in contact
5. A stranger whose path crossed yours this past week
6. A person you know personally and admire
7. A person you know personally and fear
8. The love who got away
9. The love you wished had gotten away
10. Your first love
11. Your greatest love
12. Your greatest childhood nemesis
13. Your greatest adulthood nemesis
14. The person from childhood who annoyed you the most
15. The person in your present-day life who annoys you the most
16. Your favorite neighbor
17. Your least-favorite neighbor
18. Your favorite co-worker
19. Your least-favorite co-worker
20. Your postman or someone else you deal with on a “business” level daily
21. An older person who has inspired you
22. A child who fascinates you
23. Someone for whom you harbor a secret crush or feel sexual attraction
24. Someone you believe has a crush on you
25. A person who believed in you
26. A person who thought you would never amount to anything
27. A person whose life you would never trade for your own

The list can go on, of course; it’s limited only by one’s own inventiveness. But writing out such a list provides a larger cast of characters than we originally might have realized we possessed. We can sometimes unwittingly get into ruts, writing variations on the same character over and over—the overbearing parent, the needy lover, the insufferable phony, the lonely aunt. The value of using people we know to inspire our characters is that we already see them so vividly and specifically.

• Emotional Triggers

Of course, we know a great deal about the people in our lives, but we don’t know everything—and this is why real people provide excellent but not perfect source material for characters. We will also have to draw on our own lives, at least as a starting point, to fathom a character’s inner world.

It often surprises me how frequently writers, especially young writers, fail to explore the rich veins of emotion they possess in their own lives, so they can translate that to their characterizations.

The most important emotional incidents to explore in a character’s life—and one’s own—are:

THE MOMENT OF GREATEST FEAR: This is perhaps the most important emotional trigger, because almost all of our limitations, failures, frustrations and disappointments—and thus our secrets and vulnerabilities—can be traced back to or relate to some fundamental fear.

THE MOMENT OF GREATEST COURAGE: This may be physical valor, moral isolation or simply persisting in the face of some dread.

THE MOMENT OF GREATEST SORROW: Think of death, grief, loss.

THE MOMENT OF GREATEST JOY: It’s strange how nebulous moments of joy can seem—and what a loss. At what stage in your character’s life (or in your own) did the golden moment occur? What’s happened since?

THE WORST FAILURE: Ouch, I know, but don’t shun this moment; from a writer’s point of view, it’s golden (as are all our travails, sorrows, embarrassments and screw-ups—embrace them).

THE MOMENT OF DEEPEST SHAME: Shame is connected to self-image, and this moment will be when that image was seriously undermined in a particularly personal way in front of others.

THE MOMENT OF MOST PROFOUND GUILT: This involves some violation of a moral code. It may also make us ashamed, but guilt involves having knowingly done something wrong.

THE MOMENT OF MOST REDEMPTIVE FORGIVENESS: If you’ve been forgiven for some serious wrong, it’s not likely you’ve forgotten it. It’s permitted you to regain your place with some crucial loved one.

When performing this exercise, my students sometimes get caught up on trying to think of the “greatest” such moments. Don’t fall into this needless trap. Instead, think merely of one moment (presumably of many) of particularly strong impact in any one category.

Obviously, plumbing your own life will not provide access to the whole of your characters’ inner lives (unless your characters inhabit the same world you do). Rather, these moments provide touchstones, points of access to begin the exploration into similar moments in your characters’ lives—a necessary but not sufficient precondition for a compelling portrayal.

Each of these triggers a vulnerability or a secret, perhaps a desire, maybe even a contradiction, depending on context. By envisioning these scenes in your characters’ lives, after first exploring them in your own, you gain key insights into the formative episodes in their emotional lives, and, with hope, begin to see them more vividly in your mind’s eye, the better to render them on the page.

The key is to intuit the character so distinctly she seems capable of acting on her own volition. Once this happens—and as I said at the outset, it’s a mystery how or why it does—you’re capable of beginning the dialogue that will form your story, asking your character: Where are you going? Why? How will you get there? With whom? And who will you have become when the journey is over?

nimblesnotebook-blog:

They key to writing it realistically is research.

Abuse can come in many forms and sometimes the victim is unaware that they are being abused (with the exception of physical abuse, in which they may be in denial anyway). If you want it to be subtle, you can start with emotional abuse and controlling behaviors, as that’s how physical abuse often starts out.

Physical abuse is not just visible injuries (like bruises). It can be shoving, pushing, and other physical acts that don’t leave a lasting mark. It could even be starving someone, dehydrating them, and any other way that strains physical endurance for the sake of controlling the victim.

Again, abuse starts out small and it builds up. It’s hard for the victim to walk away, even in the beginning, because they probably care about their abuser too much to completely cut them off over something that seems innocent. One common form of early abuse among heterosexual relationships is the male making suggestions to what the female should wear. This then turns into the male saying they don’t like certain outfits, hairstyles, or makeup. Then it turns into the male getting angry when the female does not look the way he prefers and that leads to emotional abuse. I’ve actually seen this happen a few times and I’ve heard more stories about it.

If the abuse in your story gets to the point where the victim needs to go to the hospital, they’re probably going to lie about what happened. I know you probably see this in movies all the time, but that’s because it happens. In the US, if you harm someone to the point where they end up in a hospital, you get in trouble. Victims are again conflicted with this because they may still care about their abuser and not want to get them in trouble, may be in denial about the abuse, or may be afraid of more abuse if they turn in their abuser.

So if you want the domestic abuse to be subtle, write about the start of an abusive relationship. This does not have to be at the beginning of the relationship, but writing it this way will make it less noticeable to the reader unless the reader is actively looking for it.

I also have this post on survivors of domestic abuse, if that helps.

More:

• Domestic Violence Experiences
• Writing Realistic Violence (not abuse-centric, but still useful)
• Domestic Violence Statistics
• Domestic Violence and Abuse
• Domestic Violence (relevant links are on the right side of the page)
• Domestic Violence: Statistics and Facts
• Domestic Violence Facts
• Domestic Violence Statistics

thewritingcafe:

thewritingcafe:

General:

• The Five-Paragraph Essay
• Using Punctuation Marks
• Deadly Sins Checklist
• Formatting Your Paper
• Writing About Literature
• Basic Essay
• Revision Checklist
• Planning and Organization
• Editing and Proofreading
• Latin Terms
• Essay Structure
• Tips on Introducing Quotes
• Academic Writing Tips

Introductions:

• Introductory Paragraphs
• Introductions
• Writing an Introduction
• Preparing to Write an Introduction
• Introduction Strategies
• The Introductory Paragraph
• Writing Effective Introductions
• In The Beginning
• Introductions and Conclusions
• The Introductory Paragraph
• Writing Introductory Paragraphs
• How to Write an Intro

Body Paragraphs:

• Paragraph Development and Topic Sentences
• Transitions
• Transitions
• Transitions
• Four Components of an Effective Body Paragraph
• Writing Paragraphs
• Paragraph Development
• Body Paragraphs
• Body Paragraphs
• Strong Body Paragraphs
• Body Paragraphs
• Writing Body Paragraphs
• How to Write Body Paragraphs
• Writing the Body
• Writing Body Paragraphs
• Body Paragraphs
• Body Paragraphs that Defend a Thesis
• How to Write Body Paragraphs
• The Perfect Paragraph

Topic Sentences:

• Topic Sentences
• Writing Topic Sentences
• Topic Sentences
• Topic Sentences
• The Topic Sentence
• Paragraphs and Topic Sentences
• The Topic Sentence
• Topics, Main Ideas, and Topic Sentences
• Writing a Good Topic Sentence
• Good Topic Sentences

Conclusions:

• Writing Effective Conclusions
• Introductions and Conclusions
• Conclusion Paragraphs
• Conclusion Strategies
• Conclusions
• Tips for a Strong Conclusion
• The Concluding Paragraph
• Ending the Essay
• Types of Conclusions
• Writing a Strong Conclusion
• How to Write a Conclusion
• Writing Conclusions
• Guide to Conclusions

Thesis Statements:

• The Thesis Statement
• Thesis Statements
• Writing a Thesis Statement
• Thesis Statement
• Tips and Examples
• Writing a Thesis
• Writing the Thesis
• How to Write Your Thesis
• The Thesis
• Thesis Statements
• Guidelines for Writing a Thesis
• Thesis Statements
• Thesis
• Thesis Statements
• The Thesis
• Create a Strong Thesis
• How to Write a Thesis
• Developing a Thesis
• Guide to Writing Thesis Statements
• Thesis Statements

Citing:

• When to Cite
• APA Documentation
• MLA Documentation
• Suggestions for Citing Sources
• Research and Citation Resources
• Citation Information
• MLA Guidelines for Citing Poetry
• MLA Style for Poetry
• How to Format Your Paper

Argumentative Essays:

• Argumentative Essays
• Argument
• Argumentative Essays
• Persuasive or Argumentative Essays
• Argumentative Essay
• Argument/Argumentative
• Argumentative Essays
• How to Write a Good Argument
• How to Write an Argumentative Essay
• Writing Conclusions to Argumentative Essays
• Argumentative Essay
• Persuasive Essay Writing
• Writing Concluding Paragraphs
• Constructing the Argumentative Essay

Writing About Poetry:

• Writing About Poetry
• Writing About Poetry
• Writing About Poetry Q & A
• Poetry Explications
• Writing About Poetry
• Writing About Poems
• Explicating a Poem
• Writing About Poetry
• Writing a Thesis Paper About a Poem
• How to Start a Poetry Introduction
• Poetry Essay Structure
• Poetry Explication

Expository Essays:

• Structure of a General Expository Essay
• Expository Essay Examples
• Sample Expository Essay
• Expository Writing
• Expository Essay Model
• Elements of Expository Essays
• Expository Writing Information
• Expository Essays
• Writing Expository Essays
• How to Write an Expository Essay
• Tips on Writing an Expository Essay
• Expository Essays
• Essay Map
• Writing Expository Essays
• How to Create a Strong Expository Essay
• Expository Essay Writing
• The Expository Essay

Research Papers:

• How to Write a Research Paper in Literature
• Writing a Research Paper
• The Research Paper
• How to Write a Research Paper
• Five Paragraph Research Paper
• Sample Research Paper
• Writing a Research Paper
• Tips for a Research Paper
• How to Write a Research Paper
• Writing a Scientific Research Paper
• Writing Research Papers
• Research and Writing
• Research Papers that Rock
• How to Write an Effective Research Paper

College Application Essays:

• Application Essay Tips
• Application Essays
• Tips
• 10 Tips
• Application Essays
• How to Write a College Application Essay
• Tips for an Effective Essay
• Do’s and Don’t’s
• College Application Essay
• How to Write a College Application Essay

Narrative Essays:

• Narrative and Descriptive
• Narrative Essay Writing
• The Personal Essay
• Narrative Essays
• Narrative Essays
• Writing Narrative Essays
• Narrative/Descriptive
• Narrative Essay
• Writing a Narrative Essay
• Tips on Writing a Narrative Essay

I thought I’d reblog this since the school year is starting for many of you.

slitheringink:

fixyourwritinghabits:

Google. We don’t answer these types of questions.

I think the real question here is whether or not a rape or murder scene is actually necessary in a story.

Murder is not only commonly used in fiction, but has also become an accepted story tool. When done correctly, it can build dramatic tension, alter a character’s life completely and send your story hurtling in a whole new direction. In order to make compelling stories and characters, one must apply the harsh realities of life, including the idea that no one can escape from death and that sometimes humans are just cruel to each other. Character death, and the strong imagery that comes with it, is necessary because at some point, everyone dies. We can all relate to that.

I do not feel this same sentiment regarding rape. Rape is not something we all have to face. Rape is a nightmare that only some will experience and in fiction, it’s often unnecessary and overused just to make the bad guy look “really, really bad”. In this regard, it’s used when it shouldn’t be, without a thought to the possible connotations it could have in the minds of victims. There are other things your antagonist could do to a protagonist to show the reader that they are without-a-doubt evil.

Now I’m not saying you can’t use it. I’m saying that most writers who use it, use it poorly. An example of where rape in fiction is done well is in Laurie Halse Anderson’s novel Speak, where the purpose is to portray the trauma of rape and what a deplorable act it is.

I’ve done some research in the past on the topic of rape in fiction and I highly suggest reading these articles:

• http://tempest.fluidartist.com/portrayals-of-rape-in-fiction/

• http://www.jeffvandermeer.com/2008/12/10/dear-genre-fiction-writers-quit-this-sht/

• http://theangryblackwoman.com/2006/09/08/angry-about-rape/

To anyone who is thinking about using rape as a tool in a story: do your research, enlighten yourself and make an informed decision on the topic. Believe me, you can find a better way to build tension in a story. Rape is not a tool.

-Morgan

P.S. The guys over at fuckyourwritinghabits were fine to decline to answer this. This is just one of the many topics I’m passionate about and felt that there needed to be an explanation.