Wellington Ink Slingers

amandaonwriting: A Writer’s Rule Book From Hunter’s Writing

Sat, 11 May 2013 22:21:53 -0400

A Writer’s Rule Book

From Hunter’s Writing

WriteWorld: Tips on giving critique

Fri, 03 May 2013 18:11:50 -0400

Giving critique can be just as daunting as receiving critique, but learning how to give feedback teaches writers how to read critically and identify issues and state them poignantly. This helps us look at our own stuff with a more critical eye and become better writers.

Photo

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 13:44:42 -0400

How to Write a Fight Scene (Rebloggable Version)

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 20:40:40 -0500

writeworld:

Admin Note: This post is a rebloggable copy of our page on fight scenes. The page is being phased out, so from now on all updates will be made on this post and not on the page.

Among the typically difficult scenes writers face in their stories, the fight scene definitely ranks high on the list. Below you will find several resources with tips for writing a good fight scene.

Action with a Side of Zombies: One of our articles focused specifically on writing action scenes. Bonus: the examples all include zombies.

ArchetypesAndAllusions: An article on the three main types of fighters and their various approaches to kickin’ ass (or not).

TheCreativePenn.com: Alan Baxter, speculative fiction author, gives some great advice on characterization, setting, martial style, and cliches.

StoryHack.com: A PDF that takes you through writing a fight scene step by step by Randy Ingermanson, compiled by Bryce Beattie.

MarilynnByerly.com: An extremely good guide to writing fight scenes. This guide includes tips on character viewpoint, mapping the fight, and tricks for writing each type of fight.

Shelfari.com: This site is an interview with famed fantasy author R.A. Salvatore on how to write great fight scenes.

TheBusinessOfWriting: C. Patrick Schulze gives some good, solid advice on identifying and writing your fight scene.

EzineArticles.com: Marq McAlister explains how to make a fight scene pack some serious punch. This article is good for fine-tuning.

Martin Turner: Focusing specifically on sword-fighting scenes, Martin Turner writes in great detail on every conceivable detail of this type of time-honored fight scene.

SeriousPixie.com: Susan tells you about the three types of fight scene writers and explains how to fix the problems that arise for each type.

David Alan Lucus: This multi-part guide gives advice in exhaustive detail on how to write an awesome fight scene.

NightFoot: This Tumblr post offers some great tips for writing fight scenes.

These links provide advice specifically for writing battle scenes:

Gerri Blanc: eHow’s article on battle scenes is a basic step-by-step list for you. It’s a good introduction to writing battle scenes.

StormTheCastle.com: This article takes you through an in-depth guide on how to write battle scenes for fantasy stories.

Rhonda Leigh Jones: Jones lists some dos and don’ts of writing battle scenes.

Other resources:

List of Martial Arts: Looking for a fighting style? Find it here!

List of Weapons: Every type of weapon you can think of is listed here.

List of Military Tactics: From troop movements to siege warfare, this list has got you covered.

Asylum.com: A few examples of awesome battle tactics from history.

BadassOfTheWeek.com: Get some inspiration for awesome fight scenes and fighting characters from this compendium of badassitude.

Thearmedgentleman: Austin has offered to share his knowledge on weaponry with any writers who have questions. Thanks, Austin!

We hope this helps! If you have another link or a tip for how to write fight/battle scenes, hit up our ask box and let us know!

WriteWorld: Are you a real writer?

Sat, 23 Feb 2013 21:04:56 -0500

WriteWorld: Are you a real writer?:

sunscraps:

Are you a real writer?

a-writers-help:

You constantly edit. Whether it’s while you’re driving down the street and pass a misspelled sign, or grammatical errors in Facebook posts, you fix errors constantly in your mind—and sometimes not so silently.

You’re highly…

Facebook group

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 00:27:59 -0500

Facebook group

WriteWorld: 10 ways to hit your readers in the gut

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 12:22:43 -0500

WriteWorld: 10 ways to hit your readers in the gut:

keyboardsmashwriters:

One of the strongest bonds that link us to our favorite stories is the emotional tie, or books that sink a fist right into our guts. When you finished a book where you couldn’t let go of after the last page, chances are, the author successfully punched you in the…

neil-gaiman: like Mr Frost said, “The best way out is always...

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 21:54:24 -0500

neil-gaiman:

like Mr Frost said, “The best way out is always through “. #justkeepwriting #keepmoving
View more Neil Gaiman on WhoSay

writrs: I wanted to talk about using visuals to help organize...

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 12:44:05 -0500

writrs:

I wanted to talk about using visuals to help organize your writing. It is something I find really helpful, and hopefully you can take some of these ideas and use them as well! These are things you could plan ahead of time, or add to as you go along.

Bulletin Boards

Whether these are actual cork boards with pushpins, a binder and a hole puncher, a notebook you carry around to jot down notes, a pinterest account or a tumblr page… one thing I find helpful is collecting pictures, poems, lyrics, etc. Anything that I see that inspires a story.

You can do this in general throughout your daily life to keep you thinking about writing, but you can also do this specifically for whatever story you are currently writing.

Character Mapping

There are two different strategies I’ve found helpful for doing this. First being the “family tree” method and second being the web method that they used to make us do in middle school for “brainstorming” an essay.

Basically character mapping is just an interactive way of making a list of all your characters. The main reason it is helpful to mark down relationships, friendships, coworkers, etc for you characters is continuity. I find generally that it is easier to do it this way than it is to have pages of notes to flip back and forth from.

Geographical and Other Maps

When I’m writing a story that takes place in a fantasy world or another planet, or even sometimes on earth in a real place it helps to draw or use an actual map. Mark down important places your character goes, mark down areas they will meet other important characters, if it is an adventure-type story chart the path your characters will take.

If you have a clear picture of the layout of someone’s house make a quick map of the floorplan! That way when your character needs to snoop in a friend’s backpack if they ask to use bathroom your character can say “first door on the left” and it will be continuous with that time you said they woke up hungover and stumbled down the hallway and took a sharp left before vomiting on the bathroom floor.

Quick Sketches

If you have a clear idea of what your characters look like, and you have any drawing ability above stick figures, make a quick sketch of what they look like. Especially if you are stuck on a description. Pay attention to their height in relation to other characters, eye color, hair color, the type of clothes they wear. If you are very talented maybe event body language and facial expressions, but I wouldn’t spend TOO much time on it, you don’t want it to take away from writing time.

Being able to visualize you characters can help you better describe them verbally, it helps them become more real. This also works for locations. If you can’t draw another good idea if you get stuck might be to open up The Sims or any other avatar creator and try to combine ready-made elements into something that resembles the character you have in your mind!

Progress Posters

I made myself a poster with all of my personal goals and rules for NaNo, as well as a daily schedule with certain times blocked for writing. I also added little activities to the bottom to keep track of my daily word count and my overall progress.

Block Box

This is your one stop writer’s block cure. It’s not necessarily a visual aid but I felt like it still sort of fit with the theme of this post. Have your friends give you a word, phrase, image, or lyric. Write down a list of short writing prompts or directional questions. Collect all of these things on scraps of paper and put them in a jar or shoebox. When you’re feeling stuck, take an idea out and try to incorporate it into your story!

You can find our virtual Block Box here: http://writrs.tumblr.com/tagged/block+box

Some of these may take a bit of time, but it might be a good consideration if you find yourself stuck or distracted. An hour spent working on something novel-related is better than an hour spent on Tumblr or watching TV!

Happy Writing,
-Camille

pupukachoo: froggy-horntail: pantheonbooks: duamuteffe: illes...

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 22:53:46 -0500

pupukachoo:

froggy-horntail:

pantheonbooks:

duamuteffe:

illesigns:

Pixars 22 Rules of Story Telling

9 is worth the price of admission, holy crap.

This is genius. So many great writing tips!

And this is why Pixar is a master in their field.

Why do I feel so weird reblogging this… this is the weekend dammit! Anyway, great advice.

WriteWorld: 5 Things You Need to Know About Your Characters

Sat, 26 Jan 2013 15:20:33 -0500

WriteWorld: 5 Things You Need to Know About Your Characters:

writingbox:

Some writers will outline their characters down to the finest details before writing a word of their novel, while other writers like to let their characters develop and reveal themselves while they write. There’s no right or wrong to this, but there are some essential things you…

Photo

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 23:45:27 -0500

knickinator: This. This is pretty good advice.

Sun, 20 Jan 2013 21:57:16 -0500

knickinator:

This. This is pretty good advice.

tavrosbeyoncenitram: tavrosbeyoncenitram: I’m in a bookstore...

Sun, 20 Jan 2013 15:01:04 -0500

tavrosbeyoncenitram:

tavrosbeyoncenitram:

I’m in a bookstore sipping on Apple Cider when the woman behind me gets on the phone and starts loudly discussing her X-rated 50 Shades Fanfic

There are ninjas

Every single male has a cock ring

She calls erections “Man Tents”

Its been almost an hour

Its been two hours and its at the part where Harry Potter gets adopted by the Cullens

tavrosbeyoncenitram: tavrosbeyoncenitram: I’m in a bookstore...

Sun, 20 Jan 2013 15:00:56 -0500

tavrosbeyoncenitram:

tavrosbeyoncenitram:

I’m in a bookstore sipping on Apple Cider when the woman behind me gets on the phone and starts loudly discussing her X-rated 50 Shades Fanfic

There are ninjas

Every single male has a cock ring

She calls erections “Man Tents”

Its been almost an hour

Its been two hours and its at the part where Harry Potter gets adopted by the Cullens

FenrirsLittleSister: Creating a Process: Getting Your Ideas onto Paper (And into a Story)

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 14:30:58 -0500

FenrirsLittleSister: Creating a Process: Getting Your Ideas onto Paper (And into a Story):

writeworld:

Anonymous asked: I feel very frustrated because I feel that I have forgotten how to write a story. My mind is full of ideas but I don’t know how to put them on paper and this makes me feel very angry with myself. Sometimes, I think that I have read so much advice that I am…

Are you NZ wellington or like, an American one? Because if it is the NZ one, LET ME LOVE YOU ?

Tue, 06 Nov 2012 12:14:03 -0500

NZ Wellington!

102 Resources for Fiction Writers

Sun, 04 Nov 2012 01:05:32 -0400

102 Resources for Fiction Writers:

vulpesinculta:

Are you still stuck for ideas for National Novel Writing Month? Or are you working on a novel at a more leisurely pace? Here are 102 resources on Character, Point of View, Dialogue,Plot, Conflict, Structure, Outlining,Setting, and World Building, plus some links to generate Ideas and Inspiration.

CHARACTER, POINT OF VIEW, DIALOGUE

10 Days of Character Building

Name Generators

Name Playground

The Universal Mary Sue Litmus Test

Priming the idea pump (A character checklist shamlessly lifted from acting)

How to Create a Character

Seven Common Character Types

Handling a Cast of Thousands – Part I: Getting to Know Your Characters

It’s Not What They Say …

Establishing the Right Point of View: How to Avoid “Stepping Out of Character”

How to Start Writing in the Third Person

Web Resources for Developing Characters

What are the Sixteen Master Archetypes?

Character: A compilation of guidance from classical and contemporary experts on creating great dramatic characters

Building Fictional Characters

Fiction Writer’s Character Chart

Character Building Workshop

Tips for Characterization

Fiction Writer’s Character Chart

Villains are People, Too, But …

Top 10 Tips for Writing Dialogue

Speaking of Dialogue

Dialogue Tips

Advantages, Disadvantages and Skills (character traits)

How to Write a Character Bible

Character Development Exercises

All Your Characters Sounds the Same — And They’re Not a Hivemind!

Medieval Names Archive

Sympathy Without Saintliness

Writing the Other: Bridging Cultural Difference for Successful Fiction

Family Echo (family tree website)

Interviewing Characters: Follow the Energy

100 Character Development Questions for Writers

Behind the Name

Lineage Chart Layout Generator

PLOT, CONFLICT, STRUCTURE, OUTLINE

How to Write a Novel: The Snowflake Method

Effectively Outlining Your Plot

Conflict and Character within Story Structure

Outlining Your Plot

Ideas, Plots & Using the Premise Sheets

How to Write a Novel

Creating Conflict and Sustaining Suspense

Plunge Right In … Into Your Story, That Is!

Fiction Writing Tips: Story Grid

Tips for Creating a Compelling Plot

Writer’s “Cheat Sheets”

The Thirty-six (plus one) Dramatic Situations

The Evil Overlord Devises a Plot: Excerpt from Stupid Plotting Tricks

Conflict Test

What is Conflict?

Monomyth

The Hero’s Journey: Summary of the Steps

Outline Your Novel in Thirty Minutes

Plotting Without Fears

Novel Outlining 101

Writing the Perfect Scene

Fight Scenes 101

Basic Plots in Literature

One-Page Plotting

The Great Swampy Middle

SETTING, WORLD BUILDING

Magical World Builder’s Guide

I Love the End of the World

World Building 101

The Art of Description: Eight Tips to Help You Bring Your Settings to Life

Creating the Perfect Setting – Part I

Creating a Believable World

An Impatient Writer’s Approach to Worldbuilding

Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions

Setting

Character and Setting Interactions

Creating Fantasy and Science Fiction Worlds

Creating Fantasy Worlds

Questions About Worldbuilding

Maps Workshop — Developing the Fictional World Through Mapping

World Builder Projects

IDEAS, INSPIRATION

Quick Story Idea Generator

Solve Your Problems Simply by Saying Them Out Loud

Busting Your Writing Rut

Writing Inspiration, or Sex on a Bicycle

Creative Acceleration: 11 Tips to Engineer a Productive Flow

The Seven Major Beginner Mistakes

Complete Your First Book with these 9 Simple Writing Habits

Free Association, Active Imagination, Twilight Imaging

Random Book Title Generator

Finishing Your Novel

Story Starters and Idea Generators

REVISION

How to Rewrite

One-Pass Manuscript Revision: From First Draft to Last in One Cycle

Editing Recipe

Cliche Finder

Revising Your Novel: Read What You’ve Written

Writing 101: So You Want to Write a Novel Part 3: Revising a Novel

TOOLS and SOFTWARE

My Writing Nook (online text editor; free)

Bubbl.us (online mind map application; free)

Freemind (mind map application; free; Windows, Mac, Linux, portable)

XMind (mind map application; free; Windows, Mac, Linux, portable)

Liquid Story Binder (novel organization and writing software; free trial, $45.95; Windows, portable)

Scrivener (novel organization and writing software; free trial, $39.95; Mac)

SuperNotecard (novel organization and writing software; free trial, $29; Windows, Mac, Linux, portable)

yWriter (novel organization and writing software; free; Windows, Linux, portable)

JDarkRoom (minimalist text editor; free; Windows, Mac, Linux, portable)

AutoRealm (map creation software; free; Windows, Linux with Wine)

Write for purpose.

Sat, 03 Nov 2012 18:59:13 -0400

Write for purpose.

yeahwriters: poeticallyundead: crap… busted… Hahaha...

Fri, 02 Nov 2012 18:21:58 -0400

yeahwriters:

poeticallyundead:

crap… busted…

Hahaha whatever.