Remember: The More Difficult You Make It For Them To Realize A Report Is False, The More Useless You

@ everyone who likes rambling about their favorite characters :)

tagged by @evergreen-lyricist

rules: list your top ten favourite female characters, then let your followers pick one!

tagging @blueskiesandstarrynights @zannolin @crashed-wing and anyone else who wants to!

How to start your book

Here are my best tips to write your opening chapter in your novel like a pro.

Start in a peculiar situation What is a situation that’s totally unexpected to your readers, but an everyday occurrence to your characters? Start there!

Make sure you cover all these elements 💜 Introducing your protagonist 💜 And their flaw 💜 And what they struggle with 💜 Build a first look at the atmosphere of your book 💜 Signal your genre 💜 Establish your narrative position

Keep it all about the intrigue! It’s very tempting to unload everything onto your reader in the first chapter, because you just want them to know everything. But the more you can hold back, the more intrigue you will create, and therefore - more reason for the reader to keep flipping pages.

Don’t forget to hint at your story question Now this is a really important step that a lot of writers leave out and their first chapter suffers for it. It has to do with your hero’s flaw. This will be closely connected to the story question you’re asking. Make sure you include a quick hint at the bigger conflict that your story will be exploring and how your hero’s flaw might play into it.

Your characters are key Absolutely the most crucial thing about your first few chapters is to establish a connection with your characters. Character empathy is what drives readers’ interest. Don’t go in with a whole character backstory, but instead show us who they are right now, and why we should care about what happens to them.

Things to avoid ❌ Info-dumping! ❌ Introducing too much about your world all at once ❌ Introducing too many characters ❌ Giving your readers answers instead of questions

Also…

Want fully customizable templates for your writing? Character sheets, outlines, chapter treatments, world-building, questionnaires and more?

Grab our 3 E-books for writers through the [link here] or below! They each come with 40 pages of easy theory and resources.

The Plotter’s Almanac

The Character Bible

The World Builder’s Chronicle

the-plottery.com

Writer's ToolBoox

The Writer's ToolBoox is a pack of 3 extensive E-books that cover the areas of: character craft, world building, and plotting. It comes with

why the net, kaz?

free resources to write a novel in 2024

hello hello! it's me, rach!

as the new year approaches, many of us set goals and resolutions - myself included. one of my goals for 2024 is to write a novel (I've been procrastinating on this for quite a long time now). i assume that some of you might have the same goal, that's why I'm writing this post today.

over 2023 i've been releasing some freebies for authors just like me, so I thought I could compile my favorites in this post. hope you find this useful :)

1) the writer's workbook

this workbook has over 60 exercises to help you develop characters, scenarios, etc. if you're ever stuck, I'm pretty sure this workbook will be your best friend.

2) author's corner (notion template)

this is the most downloaded freebie in my shop! it is a notion dashboard with everything you need to organize your writing and has some templates included (like scrivener)!!

3) another notion template

this one has two themes you can choose from: cottage-core and dark academia. they're very similar to the previous template, but this one is more recent and I added some new features. feel free to explore both and pick the one you like the most.

4) the author's journal

this is a cute printable with 20 pages that will help you stay on track and manage your social media accounts as a writer who shares their work online. you can also register what you're currently writing and your personal research and resources.

5) plan your book printable

this is a 6-page printable for you to fill out and plan your book easily and effectively.

6) excel sheet to organize tasks & word-count

this is a simple excel sheet, but it is very effective for keeping track of your tasks & word-count of your novels. also, it is 100% customizable to your liking!

that's all for now! feel free to explore my gumroad shop where I have plenty of freebies to grab! also, don't forget to subscribe so that you never miss any opportunity to get a goodie for free :)

hope this post was useful!

have a nice day,

rach

WEBSITES FOR WRITERS {masterpost}

E.A. Deverell - FREE worksheets (characters, world building, narrator, etc.) and paid courses;

NotionByRach - FREEBIES (workbook, notion template, games, challenges, etc.);

Hiveword - Helps to research any topic to write about (has other resources, too);

BetaBooks - Share your draft with your beta reader (can be more than one), and see where they stopped reading, their comments, etc.;

Charlotte Dillon - Research links;

Writing realistic injuries - The title is pretty self-explanatory: while writing about an injury, take a look at this useful website;

One Stop for Writers - You guys... this website has literally everything we need: a) Description thesaurus collection, b) Character builder, c) Story maps, d) Scene maps & timelines, e) World building surveys, f) Worksheets, f) Tutorials, and much more! Although it has a paid plan ($90/year | $50/6 months | $9/month), you can still get a 2-week FREE trial;

One Stop for Writers Roadmap - It has many tips for you, divided into three different topics: a) How to plan a story, b) How to write a story, c) How to revise a story. The best thing about this? It's FREE!

Story Structure Database - The Story Structure Database is an archive of books and movies, recording all their major plot points;

National Centre for Writing - FREE worksheets and writing courses. Has also paid courses;

Penguin Random House - Has some writing contests and great opportunities;

Crime Reads - Get inspired before writing a crime scene;

The Creative Academy for Writers - "Writers helping writers along every step of the path to publication." It's FREE and has ZOOM writing rooms;

Reedsy - "A trusted place to learn how to successfully publish your book" It has many tips, and tools (generators), contests, prompts lists, etc. FREE;

QueryTracker - Find agents for your books (personally, I've never used this before, but I thought I should feature it here);

Pacemaker - Track your goals (example: Write 50K words - then, everytime you write, you track the number of the words, and it will make a graphic for you with your progress). It's FREE but has a paid plan;

Save the Cat! - The blog of the most known storytelling method. You can find posts, sheets, a software (student discount - 70%), and other things;

I hope this is helpful for you!

☕️ buy me a coffee! ☕️

good traits gone bad

perfectionism - never being satisfied

honesty - coming off as rude and insensitive

devotion - can turn into obsession

generosity - being taken advantage of

loyalty - can make them blind for character faults in others

being dependable - always depending on them

ambitiousness - coming off as ruthless

optimism - not being realistic

diligence - not able to bend strict rules

protectiveness - being overprotective

cautiousness - never risking anything

being determined - too focussed on one thing

persuasiveness - coming off as manipulative

tidiness - can become an obsession

being realistic - being seen as pessimistic

assertiveness - coming off as bossy

pride - not accepting help from others

innocence - being seen as naive

selflessness - not thinking about themself enough

being forgiving - not holding others accountable

curiosity - asking too much questions

persistence - being seen as annoying

being charming - can seem manipulative

modesty - not reaching for more

confidence - coming off as arrogant

wit/humor - not taking things serious

patience - being left hanging

strategic - coming off as calculated

being caring - being overbearing

tolerance - being expected to tolerate a lot

eagerness - coming off as impatient

being observant - being seen as nosy

independence - not accepting help

being considerate - forgetting about themself

fearlessness - ignoring real danger

politeness - not telling what they really think

reliability - being taken advantage of

empathy - getting overwhelmed with feeling too much for other people

This is about Sci-Hub. yeah we get it.. gatekeep knowledge and protect the interests of capital…

Drawing bases & pose references pt 47 ✨

There are 3 more poses for patrons!

Drawing bases #22

some sword poses, i plan to more like these c:

character motivations:

fear

hurt

survival

failure

being pressured

instability

desire / hunger

guilt

belief they are doing something good

love

loyalty

vengeance / revenge

inequality

unfulfillment

hatred

honour / dishonour

pride

jealousy

death

humiliation

pain

greed

shame

rejection

loss

power