daydreamer-07

I know a lot of you out there are aspiring-writers (I’m one myself!) and sometimes we get so caught up in this “must publish!” attitude that we get lost in our stories along the way. Sometimes there comes a point when we stare at our half-finished novel and say “I’m stuck. “ Usually these moments happen when we don’t know where we’re going next with our story, and usually that’s because somewhere along the line we’ve strayed off the path and we aren’t quite sure how to get back. One of the things that you may find helpful if you’ve never done it before is to take a reall

First of all, I freely admit that what I say isn't gospel. I am a total amateur at art and writing. I've learned everything that I know via the internet and a few drawing books. It's just that I appreciate all of the tutorials here on dA that have helped me out, and I want to put a little bit of my own methods back in. First things first; I have a quick, but essential assignment for you.  Read the following three sentences below, out loud: A weird name does not a unique character make. A weird name does not a memorable character make. A weird name does not a good character make. Say it.  Say it twice.  Say i

Protagonist & Antagonist ~ A Different Definition There are Three Essential Characters in Every Story. There may be any number of side characters, but in traditional Adventures, and Romances of every stripe the main conflict is usually, if not always, a triangle of complimentary opposites. Translation: You could tell the WHOLE story with ONLY these Three Characters; perhaps not with any real detail, but you could still do the entire basic plotline. (Yes I know, I've said some of this before. Bear with me.) THREE Characters? Yep. I'm sure you're familiar with: Hero – Villain – Heroine (or Sidekick) already. Those are pretty darn

The Art of VILLAINY ~ Making Realistic Villains for your Fiction ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "People will do far more to Avoid Pain than they will to Seek Pleasure." -- CIA Profiler Gavin DeBecker on Human Nature True Predators ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When I craft a villain, I go out of my way to make darned sure that my fictional villains are as realistic as the villains we face in real life. I begin by giving them ordinary human Issues. Within every villain (fictional and non-fictional) there's a human issue at core that drives them to BE villains in the first place. Even mass murderers have reasons (however twisted) for doing what they do. NO villain

Don't panic. Don't blame yourself. Writer's block requires a thoughtful, logical approach. Give yourself a little grace and time to think. The first thing we tend to do when we have writer's block is to leave the book. We close the file or notebook and say we'll get to it later. Well, sometimes that works, but sometimes we still haven't touched it a week later. Or a month later. At that point things get a little worrisome. That's why I've compiled this list. 1. Try taking a walk or bike ride. Sometimes you just need the time to yourself. I know you've probably heard this before, but that's because it works. Let your mind drift to your chara

Brought to you by Super Editor You have the unique opportunity to see a Writer's Guide being drafted. Some bug of a mysterious nature decided to delete the resource text last January or so and I think the text is gone for good, so I'm re-writing it. This notice will be taken down when this is no longer considered a draft. (Yes, I'm letting you read my draft. Now you have insights into my evil mind...) *~*~*~The Actual Guide~*~*~* Most girls are taught that there is a standard, all-encompassing way to take care of hair. You brush it every morning and don't pull the tangles too hard. When you wash it, you use a little bit of shampoo for the

What is a well balanced character? A well balanced charater is one you would believe is really existing. Creating a character like this may seem not easy at all and sometimes even impossible but it is all about relating information about your character, a bit knowledge of human nature and psychology with each other. If you manage to master this combination, you will be able to create characters that can come to life on their own. Sounds good  but pretty complex, right? Let me show you. First of all: A character should always be the result of many factors being combined as I mentioned above. -> Never say the creation progress is done whe

First of all, I freely admit that what I say isn't gospel. I am a total amateur at art and writing. I've learned everything that I know via the internet and a few books. It's just that I appreciate all of the tutorials here on dA that have helped me out, and I want to put a little bit of my own methods back in. I've run across an odd myth about fictional characters here on good ol' deviantART:  If my character isn't a Mary Sue then I've definitely written a good character.  Sadly, this is not so.  A Mary Sue (see here for more) is just a specific kind of bad character.  Not all bad characters are Mary Sues.  It would be like saying that sinc

Fishing for INSPIRATION? ~~~~~~~~~~~ Your imagination is a pond that you fish your ideas from. Like any fishing pond, what you catch depends on what you've stocked your pond with and how much you put in there. If you fish for only the occasional idea, your little ideas have time to breed creatively until they overflow the pond, leaping right out into your hand -- and onto your keyboard. If you fish a lot, you will have to restock -- Frequently. A Dry Pond = Writer's Block What's in YOUR Imagination? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What do you KNOW? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What do you love to Do, to Study, to Think About, to Talk About...? Make a lis