madisonsmagazine:
MY WRITING MASTERPOST
I just have a lot of writing tips and masterposts and just stuff in my likes and I decided to put them all into this. All rights goes to the people who made them.
Cool Other Masterposts:
- Writing Specific Characters
- Writing References
- Writing Masterpost
- Character Guides
- Writing Help for Writers
- Ultimate Writing Resource List
- Lots of RP Guides
- Online Writing Resources
- List of Websites to Help You Focus
- Resources for Writing Bio’s
- Helpful Links for Writing Help
- General Writing Resources
- Resources for Biography Writing
- Mental Ilnesses/Disorders Guides
- 8 Words You Should Avoid While Writing
- The Ultimate Writing Masterpost
General:
- The Official Ten-Step Guide to Becoming the Next Gatsby
- The Periodic Table of Storytelling
- Joss Whedon’s Top 10 Writing Tips
- Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone
- 34 Writing Tips that will make you a Better Writer
- 50 Free resources that will improve your writing skills
- 5 ways to get out of the comfort zone and become a stronger writer
- 10 ways to avoid Writing Insecurity
- The Writer’s Guide to Overcoming Insecurity
- The Difference Between Good Writers and Bad Writers
- You’re Not Hemingway - Developing Your Own Style
- 7 Ways to use Brain Science to Hook Readers and Reel them In
- 8 Short Story Tips from Kurt Vonnegut
- How to Show, Not Tell
- 5 Essential Story Ingredients
- How to Write Fiction that grabs your readers from page one
- Why research is important in writing
- Make Your Reader Root for Your Main Character
- Writing Ergonomics (Staying Comfortable Whilst Writing)
- The Importance of Body Language
- Fashion Terminology
- All About Kissing
- Genre Help: Romance
- 187 Mental Illnesses
- Types of Mental Illness
- Eye Color List
- Spectral Groupings
- Do you have trouble creating your titles?
- On being a co-writer || Additional tips on effective co-writing
- The length of a chapter
- How to deal with too many story ideas
- On writing two stories simultaneously || a similar ask
- When a story stops working
- Copyright
- Reading critically for writers
- The question of outlining
- Avoiding publishing scams
- Finding story ideas
- Tips on building a platform [guest blog]
- How much does writing “in genre” matter?
- What a “real writer” is
- Pennames and aliases
- A series of thoughts on series titles
- The self-pub miniseries: the why
- The self-pub miniseries: the what
- Rewriting fanfiction into original fiction
- Formatting long quotes and songs
Characters:
- 10 days of Character Building
- Name Generators
- Name Playground
- Universal Mary Sue Litmus Test
- Seven Common Character Types
- Handling a Cast of Thousands Part 1 - Getting To Know Your Characters
- Web Resources for Developing Characters
- Building Fictional Characters
- Fiction Writer’s Character Chart
- Body Language Cheat
- Body Language Reference Cheat
- Tips for Writers: Body Language
- Types of Crying
- Body Language: Mirroring
- Character Building Workshop
- Tips for Characterization
- Character Chart for Fiction Writers
- Villains are people too but…
- How to Write a Character Bible
- Character Development Exercises
- All Your Characters Talk the Same - And They’re Not A Hivemind!
- Medieval Names Archive
- Sympathy Without Saintliness
- Family Echo (Family Tree Maker)
- Behind The Name
- 100 Character Development Questions for Writers
- Aether’s Character Development Worksheet
- The 12 Common Archetypes
- Six Types of Courageous Characters
- Kazza’s List of Character Secrets - Part 1, Part 2
- Creating Believable Characters With Personality
- Angry
- Bad Asses
- Bitches (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
- Childishness
- Emotional Detachment
- Flirtatious
- The Girl Next Door
- Introverts (2)
- Mean Persons (2)
- Psychopaths
- Party Girls
- Rich (2)
- Rebels
- Sarcasm
- Serial Killers (2)
- Shyness (2, 3)
- Sluts
- Villains (2)
- Witt
- Body Language Cheat Sheet
- Creating Fictional Characters Series
- Three Ways to Avoid Lazy Character Description
- 7 Rules for Picking Names for Fictional Characters
- Character Development Questionnaire
- How to Create Fictional Characters
- Character Name Resources
- Character Development Template
- Character Development Through Hobbies
- Character Flaws List
- 10 Questions for Creating Believable Characters
- Ari’s Archetype Series
- How to Craft Compelling Characters
- List of 200 Character Traits
- Writing Characters of the Opposite Sex
- Making Your Characters Likable
- Do you really know your characters?
- Character Development: Virtues
- Character Development: Vices
- Character Morality Alignment
- List of Negative Personality Traits
- List of Positive Personality Traits
- List of Emotions - Positive
- List of Emotions - Negative
- Loon’s Character Development Series - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
- Phobia List A-L (Part 1), M-Z (Part 2)
- 30 Day In Depth Character Development Meme
- Words for Emotions based on Severity
- Eight Bad Characters
- High Level Description of the Sixteen Personality Types
- How Not to Write Female Characters
- Writing Female Characters
- How to write empowering female characters
- Why I write strong female characters
- Red Flags for Female Characters Written by Men
- Writing strong female characters
- The Female Character Flowchart
- Eight Heroine Archetypes
- Eight Hero Archetypes
- Help on picking character names
- A tip about realistic characters
- Strategies to create believable characters
- Additional tips on writing PoC characters
- Advice on writing genders
- Creating unstable characters
- Ambiguous Antagonists
- A tidbit on psychological trauma [trigger warnings]
- On writing accents
- What makes characters stick with me
- Sweetening up character description
- Making an introverted character stand out
- Conveying too much or too little character “inner reflection”
- Revealing a character’s asexual orientation
- Revealing a character’s gender & orientation
- A habit of killing characters
- When characters aren’t standing out
- Breaking hearts with character deaths
- Quick tips on expressing character
- Character development versus pacing
- A mini guide to character voice
- A Description Resource
- 55 Words to Describe Someones Voice
- Describing Skin Colors
- Describing a Person: Adding Details
- Emotions Vocabulary
- 90 Words For ‘Looks’
- Be More Descriptive
- Describe a Character’s Look Well
- 100 Words for Facial Expressions
- To Show and Not To Tell
- Words to Describe Facial Expressions
- Describing Clothes
- List of Actions
- Tone, Feelings and Emotions
- Writing A Vampire
- Writing Pansexual Characters
- Writing Characters on the Police Force
- Writing Drunk Characters
- Writing A Manipulative Character
- Writing A Friends With Benefits Relationship
- Writing A Natural Born Leader
- Writing A Flirtatious Character
- Writing A Nice Character
- Fiction Writing Exercises for Creating Villains
- Five Traits to Contribute to an Epic Villain
- Writing Villains that Rock
- Writing British Characters
- How To Write A Character With A Baby
- On Assassin Characters
- Disorders in general (2, 3, 4, 5)
- Attention Deficit Disorder
- Antisocial Personality Disorder
- Anxiety (2, 3, 4, 5)
- Avoidant Personality Disorder
- Alice In Wonderland Syndrome
- Bipolar Disorder (2, 3)
- Cotard Delusions
- Depression (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
- Eeating Disorders (2, 3)
- Facitious Disorders
- Histrionic Personality Disorder
- Multiple Personality Disorder (2)
- Narcissistic Personality Disorder
- Night Terrors
- Kleptomania (2)
- A Pyromaniac
- Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
- Psychopaths
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (2) (3)
- Sex Addiction (2)
- Schizophrenia (2)
- Sociopaths (2)
- Aspergers Syndrome
- Apathy
- Autism
- Someone Blind (2)
- Cancer (2, 3)
- Disability
- Dyslexia
- Muteness (2, 3)
- Stutter
- Actors
- Ballet Dancer (2)
- Christianity
- Foreigners
- Gamblers
- Hinduism
- Hitmen
- Satanism
- Smokers
- Stoners
- Taoism
- Journalists
- Vegetarians
- Alcohol Influence (2, 3, 4, 5)
- Cocaine Influence
- Ecstasy Influence (2)
- Heroin Use
- LSD Influence
- Marijuana Influence (2, 3)
- Opiate Use
Tips on Writing Dialogue:
- It’s Not What They Say…
- Top 8 Tips for Writing Dialogue
- Speaking of Dialogue
- The Great Said Debate
- He Said, She Said, Who Said What?
- How to Write Dialogue Unique to Your Characters
- Writing Dialogue: Go for Realistic, Not Real-Life
Tips on Writing Point of View:
- Establishing The Right Point of View
- How to Start Writing in the Third Person
- The I Problem
Style & Craft of Writing:
- The literary “weak verb”
- Do you have word tics?
- Victoria’s Vitamins: vague descriptive words
- Victoria’s Vitamins: mood
- Breaking writing habits
- Varying sentences
- Describing colors
- Sweetening up character description
- Purple prose
- Grammar is a tricksy thing
- “Smartening” the language of your narrative
- Building suspense and making readers sweat
- A couple tips about description in fast-paced scenes
Content:
- The story of exposition
- 10 ways to hit your reader in the gut
- Make your reader root for your main character
- Make your reader hold their breath
- What’s the big deal about intros?
- A tip about description
- The word count of your manuscript
- Things that make me keep reading
- Choosing ideas and endings
- When to describe setting
- Battling cliches
- Is your story YA, NA, or adult?
- When a plot isn’t strong enough to make a whole story
- Flashbacks with multiple POVs
- Bulking up your word count
- Avoiding cliches
- Conquer that opening line || response || discussion
- Tips on revealing setting awesomely kind of
- Deciding between different ideas for the same story
Revision:
- You’ve finished your manuscript! Now what?
- Revision sucks but doesn’t have to suck
- Where to find beta readers/critique partners
- Tips on taking critique
- Tips on giving critique
- What to do with bad writing advice
- Additional insight on bad writing advice
- Five quick steps to get into revising that manuscript
- When to say you’re done revising
- Beginning the awesome journey of revision
- Friends are not always the best readers
Plot, Structure, & Outline:
- Writing A Novel Using the Snowflake Method
- Effectively Outlining Your Novel
- Conflict and Character Within Story Structure
- Outlining Your Plot
- Ideas, Plots and Using the Premise Sheets
- How To Write A Novel
- Creating Conflict and Sustaining Suspense
- Plunge Right In…Into Your Story, That Is
- Tips for Creating a Compelling Plot
- 36 (plus one) Dramatic Situations
- The Evil Overlord Devises A Plot: Excerpt from Stupid Plot Tricks
- Conflict Test
- What is Conflict?
- Monomyth
- The Hero’s Journey: Summary of Steps
- Outline Your Novel in Thirty Minutes
- Plotting Without Fears
- Novel Outlining 101
- Writing The Perfect Scene
- One-Page Plotting
- The Great Swampy Middle
- How Can You Know What Belongs In Your Book?
- Create A Plot Outline in 8 Easy Steps
- How to Organize and Develop Ideas for Your Novel
- Create Structure in your novel using index cards
- Choosing the best outline method for you
- Hatch’s Plot Bank
Setting & Making Your Own World
- Magical Word Builder’s Guide
- I Love The End Of The World
- World Building 101
- The Art of Description: Eight Tips to Help Bring Your Settings to Life
- Creating the Perfect Setting - Part 1
- Creating a Believable World
- Setting
- Character and Setting Interactions
- Maps Workshop - Developing the Fictional World Through Mapping
- World Builders Project
- How To Create Fantasy Worlds
- Creating Fantasy and Science Fiction Worlds
Helpful Tools & Software:
- Tip Of My Tongue - Find the word you’re looking for
- Write or Die - Stay motivated
- Stay Focused - Tool for Chrome, lock yourself out of distracting websites
- My Writing Nook - Online Text Editor, Free
- Bubbl.us - Online Mind Map Application, Free
- Family Echo - Online Family Tree Maker, 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 Application; free trial, $45.95; Windows, Portable
- Scrivener - Novel Organization and Writing Application; free trial, $39.95; Mac
- SuperNotecard - Novel Organization and Writing Application; free trial, $29; Windows, Mac, Linux, portable
- yWriter - Novel Organization and Writing Application; free; Windows, Linux, portable
- JDarkRoom - Minimalist Text Editing Application; free; Windows, Mac, Linux, portable
- AutoRealm - Map Creation Application; free; Windows, Linux with Wine
Grammer & Revision:
- How To Rewrite
- Editing Recipe
- Cliche Finder
- Revising Your Novel: Read What You’ve Written
- Writing 101: Revising A Novel
- 20 Common Grammar Mistakes That (Almost) Everyone Makes
- Synonyms for the Most Commonly Used Words of the English Language
- Grammar Urban Legends
- Words Instead of Walk (2)
- Commonly Confused Adjectives
- A Guide on Punctuation
- Common Writing Mistakes
- 25 Synoms for ‘Expession’
- How to: Avoid Misusing Variations of Words
- Words to Keep Inside Your Pocket
- The 13 Trickiest Grammar Hang-Ups
- Other Ways to Say..
- Proofreading
- 300+ Sophiscated and Underused Words
- List of Misused Words
- Words for Sex
- 100 Beautiful and Ugly Words
- Words to Use More Often
- Alternatives for ‘Smile’ or ‘Laugh’
- Three Self Editing Tips
- Words to Use Instead of ‘Walk’, ‘Said’, ‘Happy’ and ‘Sad’
- Synonyms for Common Words
- Alternatives for ‘Smile’
- Transitional Words
- The Many Faces and Meanings of ‘Said’
- Synonyms for ‘Wrote’
- A Case Of She Said, She Said
Creativity Boosters:
- *Creative Writing Prompts
- *Ink Provoking
- *Story Starter
- *Story Spinner
- *Story Kitchen
- *Language is a Virus
- *The Dabbling Mum
- Quick Story Idea Generator
- Solve Your Problems By Simply Saying Them Out Loud
- Busting Your Writing Rut
- Creative Acceleration: 11 Tips To Engineer A Productive Flow
- Writing Inspiration, Or Sex on a Bicycle
- 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 & Idea Generators
- Words to Use More Often
- How to: Cure Writer’s Block
- Some Tips on Writer’s Block
- Got Writer’s Block?
- 6 Ways to Beat Writer’s Block
- Tips for Dealing With Writer’s Block
Improvement:
- Improve Your Writing Habits Now
- 5 Ways to Add Sparkle to Your Writing
- Getting Over Roleplaying Insecurities
- Improve Your Paras
- Why the Right Word Choices Result in Better Writing
- 4 Ways To Have Confidence in Your Writing
- Writing Better Than You Normally Do
- How’s My Driving?
Motivation:
- Backhanding procrastination
- On habits and taking care of yourself || Response
- More troubles with writing motivation
- The inner critic and ways to fight it
- The writing life is hard on us
- For troubles with starting your story
- Writing to be published
- “You’re a writer, will you write this for me?”
- Writing a story that’s doomed to suck
- Writing stamina builds slowly
- When depression goes and writing goes with it
- Additional inner critic strategies
- Tips on conquering NaNoWriMo (or any project, really)
- You will change as a writer
- Ways to keep writing while in school
- 13 quick tips when you’re starting your novel
- First draft blues
- Getting in your own way
Writing an Application:
- How to: Make That Application Your Bitch
- How to: Make Your App Better
- How to: Submit a Flawless Audition
- 10 Tips for Applying
- Para Sample Ideas
- 5 Tips on Writing an IC Para Sample
- Writing an IC Sample Without Escaping From the Bio
- How to: Create a Worthy IC Para Sample
- How to: Write an Impressive Para Sample
- How to: Lengthen Short Para’s
Prompts:
- Drabble Stuff
- Prompts List
- Writing Prompts
- Drabble Prompts
- How to Get Into Character
- Writing Challenges/Prompts
- A Study in Writing Prompts for RPs
- Para Prompts & Ideas
- Writing Prompts for Journal Entries
- A List of Para Starters
