Katherine Frances's Blog, page 276

wolftramp:Vintage Blog

wolftramp:

Vintage Blog

"And not expecting pardon, Hardened in heart anew, But glad to have sat under Thunder and rain..."

“And not expecting pardon,

Hardened in heart anew,

But glad to have sat under

Thunder and rain with you,

And grateful too

For sunlight on the garden.”

- Louis MacNeice (via alibis-not-needed-anymore)

"Because as any writer will tell you, an IDEA for a book is like falling in love, it’s all wild..."

“Because as any writer will tell you, an IDEA for a book is like falling in love, it’s all wild emotion and headlong rush, but the ACTUAL ACT of writing a book is like building a relationship: it is joyous, slow, fragile, frustrating, exhilarating, painstaking, exhausting, worth it.”

- Ben H. Winters (via legit-writing-tips)

Tips on Starting Your Second Draft

fictionwritingtips:

Now that NaNoWriMo is over and you hopefully have a first draft (or no-draft) to work from, you might be itching to start editing. After you’ve given yourself a little time to cool off, feel free to start the process! The second draft is the time when you should start shaping your novel to become what you want it to be, which includes tackling any structural problems.

If you plan on starting a second draft soon, be sure to follow these tips!

Know the Structure of Your Story

If you’re not quite sure how you want your story to fit together, now’s the time to figure it out. Figure out the order of events you want to take place and if it all makes sense together. It helps to reread your story and take notes on scenes you want to change or chapters you want to rearrange.

Which leads into…

Learn Story Arcs

Studying up on story arcs will help you understand your own story structure. Most stories follow a basic story structure, so learning story arcs will help your strengthen your novel. There should be a rise and fall of action, an inciting incident, a climax, a resolution, etc. Read up on it here.

Focus on Plot Holes

Many story issues show up in the form of plot holes. A plot hole is a gap or inconsistency in a story that can not be explained. Plot holes can be found in all shapes and sizes, so it’s important you iron them out during your subsequent drafts. You need to explain how things happen and make sure details connect logically.

Make Sure Character Motivation Checks Up

A character with no motivation or poor motivation can be corrected during the second draft. It’s really important that you understand what your character needs or wants. What’s driving your character? Is this clear in every scene? Do their actions make sense or line up with motivation? Ask yourself these questions during the second draft.

Fill in Scenes

I like to use the second draft to fill in scenes that don’t feel complete. If I didn’t explain enough or I feel like I could add more interaction between characters, that’s when I do it. Fill in scenes that you feel could add more to your story.

Take a Look at Transitions 

Transitioning between scenes is an important scene to master, so take a look at all that during your second draft. Establish where your characters are and make location changes clear. Use chapter breaks for extreme changes or sudden cliffhangers and avoid switching constantly between different POVs and story lines without explanations.

-Kris Noel

 

"Her rosy dreams,Grew thorns."

“Her rosy dreams,

Grew thorns.”

- hasher-iwm 
(via wnq-writers)

maggie-stiefvater:books-and-shadows:Part of me doesn’t want to read The Raven Cycle because I...

maggie-stiefvater:

books-and-shadows:

Part of me doesn’t want to read The Raven Cycle because I don’t want to ruin the mystery of what the fuck it actually is

look i’ve read it and i still don’t know what the fuck it actually is

putthepromptsonpaper:“Her voice could rattle bones”

putthepromptsonpaper:

“Her voice could rattle bones”

k-frances:(art credit)Check out the newly formed Writer’s...

k-frances:

(art credit)

Check out the newly formed Writer’s Library, a place where I’ve organized all my writerly tags for your viewing pleasure. You’ll find loads of prompts divided into categories, as well as writing advice, reference, and good old fashion writing humor. 

lillith-the-imminent:k-frances:lillith-the-imminent:ladygambit:lillith-the-imminent:can...

lillith-the-imminent:

k-frances:

lillith-the-imminent:

ladygambit:

lillith-the-imminent:

can someone talk to me about how much first drafts suck

Haha at this point even my final drafts suck. I’m just happy if I hit the word/page count

you are a liar!!! I do not believe you. Also I just hit 16,000 words and I’m still panicking asdfghjkl i didn’t realize how bad i am at plots until now

First drafts are the best!!! I try not to take first drafts too seriously, they should be fun above all else! Just do what makes it entertaining for you. If you’re having plot troubles, I find that just brainstorming aloud to someone helps a lot. Just yammer to someone about your characters and where you think you’re going with it and bounce ideas off people. I’m always available for plot talks if you need a brainstorm partner :)

I might take you up on that!!! Today I kinda went back to my plot and manually narrowed it back down to the essentials, and I think it helped me latch back onto the feeling that makes up the vibe I’m going for, so I think I’m okay again :) Being back on track feels so good lol

yeay! Keep up the good work!

rafaieleh:Fading gracefully

rafaieleh:

Fading gracefully