What Happened In Portugal In 1974 Needs To Happen In Russia.

If u want to write a story about a character that's just you but hotter with a dark twisted backstory and magical powers and a pet falcon or something, I think u should just go ahead and do that. Who's gonna stop you? The government?? Fuck the police.

Hi Neil, as someone who wants to write and can't bring themselves to write, despite loving writing and wanting to write; how do you write? Is there a magical way to make yourself write? Or is the truth more honest and genuine: that writing is the way to write?

I have half a novel, a deep desire to write, and an inability to make my fingers type the words.

How do I circumvent this? Or, as I suspect, is there truly no shortcut?

There's no shortcut. You polish a chair with your bottom, get through the backache and the bad days and you write it, one word at a time.

the suffering never ends

You know, even apart from the intricate worldbuilding about the talking rodents and what their deal is, the part of The Secret of NIMH that's like "working single mom trying to obtain medical treatment for her sick child discovers that her late husband was basically a high-level Dungeons & Dragons character and never told her about any of it, and she keeps tripping over elements of his unreasonably complicated backstory whose context and significance are never fully explained to the audience because the particulars aren't relevant to her journey" is a really fun premise all on its own.

Some Quick Character Tips

Here are a handful of quick tips to help you write believable characters! 

1. A character’s arc doesn’t need to grow linearly. Your protagonist doesn’t have to go from being weak to strong, shy to confident, or novice to professional in one straight line. It’s more realistic if they mess up their progress on the way and even decline a bit before reaching their goal.

2. Their past affects their present. Make their backstory matter by having their past events shape them into who they are. Growing up with strict parents might lead to a sneaky character, and a bad car accident might leave them fearful of driving.

3. Give reoccurring side characters something that makes them easily recognizable. This could be a scar, a unique hairstyle, an accent, or a location they’re always found at, etc.

4. Make sure their dialogue matches their personality. To make your characters more believable in conversation, give them speech patterns. Does the shy character mumble too low for anyone to ever hear, does the nervous one pace around and make everyone else on edge? 

5. Make your characters unpredictable. Real people do unexpected things all the time, and this can make life more exciting. The strict, straight-A student who decides to drink at a party. The pristine princess who likes to visit the muddy farm animals. When character’s decide to do things spontaneously or in the heat of the moment, it can create amazing twists and turns.

6. Give even your minor character’s a motive. This isn’t to say that all your characters need deep, intricate motives. However, every character should need or want something, and their actions should reflect that. What’s the motive behind a side character who follows your protagonist on their adventure? Perhaps they’ve always had dreams of leaving their small village or they want to protect your protagonist because of secret feelings.

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Creating a Fictional Culture: How to Create a Fictional Culture

Happy New Year Everyone!

In case you haven’t seen my Fan Fiction Writers Needed Post please check it out and consider applying for the job!

Anyways, let’s get to it! First advice of the New Year!

What Is a Fictional Culture?

A fictional culture is an essential piece of worldbuilding in certain genres of fiction—particularly in science fiction and fantasy.

Storytellers develop fictional cultures in a variety of mediums, including film, television, short stories, novels, and video games. A fictional culture is defined by the customs, languages, values, and symbols of an imaginary world.

How to Create a Fictional Culture

Although there are nearly endless possibilities, consider some of these general writing tips for creating a fictional culture.

Pull inspiration from the real world. Pay attention to the cultural behaviors within your society. Broaden your own cultural perspective by researching the ideas and values of different cultures throughout history. Use real-life cultural examples to inform your fictional world, but be wary of repurposing existing cultures or perpetuating stereotypes.

Build off your main character. Develop the setting of your story based on how it serves the character development of your protagonist. Build a culture that highlights or contradicts your main character’s goals, needs, and fears.

Develop a belief system. Consider the core values, social norms, and taboos of your fictional culture. A central belief system can guide how you create rituals, symbols, and artifacts within your story.

Create a social structure. Develop how the family structures and social hierarchies work within your fictional culture. Decide where your main character falls within the social structure. Monetary systems can change your social structure depending on whether you use a bartering economy or something more complex.

Construct a technological system. Determine how advanced the technology is in your fictional culture. The technology of your story will impact the entertainment, communication, and modes of transportation within your fictional world.

Write a brief history. Expand your culture by writing a brief mythology of your fictional society. Avoid overwriting, and keep your history contained to important information that can impact your story.

Develop a Unique Language. Probably one of the most exciting yet difficult aspects of creating a fictional culture. Take a look at other language such as Greek or Latin or really any language you are curious about! Creating a language is not necessarily about switching up some lettering or word phrasing (it can be, but not 100%); it’s much more than that! I definitely welcome you to research and create your own language.

4 Examples of Fictional Cultures

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (1954): Tolkien created a wide variety of fictional cultures to inhabit Middle-earth. Each culture has its own language, value system, and history.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (1932): In his dystopian novel, Aldous Huxley developed a complex and technologically advanced culture with distinct social classes.

Dune by Frank Herbert (1965): Dune is an influential sci-fi novel with several detailed fictional cultures. One of them is the Fremen culture, which revolves around ancient superstitions and a rare commodity known as the Spice Melange.

The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin (2015): In this award-winning novel, Jemisin created a complex social structure with many "use-castes” that all have a place on an earthquake-ridden planet with one supercontinent.

I don't 'write' my characters, I just watch them do stupid shit and write up the incident report.

Subplots 101

Subplots are an essential part of storytelling that can add depth and complexity to your book's overall narrative. This post covers a step-by-step guide to making subplots, general tips, and some examples of subplots in YA books.

Step-by-step guide to making a new subplot

Identify a secondary character

Consider a secondary character in your story who is not directly involved in the main plot. This could be a friend or family member of the protagonist, or a peripheral character who has a unique perspective on the world of the story.

Create a conflict

Think about a conflict or challenge that this character could face, which could be related to their personal life or a separate issue in the story. This conflict should be something that the character needs to overcome or resolve.

Connect the subplot to the main plot

Consider how this subplot could connect to the main plot. This could involve having the main character help the secondary character with their conflict, or having the subplot reveal important information that impacts the main plot.

Develop the subplot

Once you have established the groundwork for the subplot, develop it in detail, including the character's motivations, the obstacles they face, and the resolution to the conflict.

General tips for a good subplot:

Make sure your subplots are related to the main plot

Subplots should be tied to the main plot in some way, either by affecting the main character or providing additional context for the story.

Develop separate character arcs

Your subplots should have their own character arcs that tie in with the main character's arc. This allows for additional character development and can help create a more immersive world.

Use subplots to reveal new information

Subplots can be a great way to reveal new information about the world or characters that might not be relevant to the main plot. This can help make the world feel more alive and fleshed out.

Keep subplots contained

Subplots should not take over the main plot. They should be contained and serve to enhance the main plot rather than distract from it.

Examples of subplots:

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

Harry and Draco's rivalry

Hermione's fight for the rights of house-elves

the mystery surrounding the Death Eaters.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The main plot of The Hunger Games is Katniss's fight to survive in the games. However, there are several subplots that tie into the main plot, such as her complicated relationship with Peeta and her struggle to reconcile her feelings for him with her need to survive.

Remember, subplots should enhance and support the main plot of your story, adding depth and complexity to the overall narrative. I'd recommend having 2-3 subplots of varying depth, depending on how important they are to the story, but obviously that's entirely up to you.

Sometimes fiction doesn’t have a moral to the story. Sometimes fiction points at something and goes “Ever thought about THAT???” And you look at what it’s pointing at for a bit.