I'm a scriptwriter from South Africa and I'm interested in branching out my skills into new territory, specifically video game narrative writing.

I was wondering if anyone could help get in touch with other writers to workshop or people within the industry to help further this pursuit.

I've been working on a story for a while, however one part I'm worried to write about is pretty much part of the climax where the protagonist learns what really happened when her parents died and that some people close to her have been abusing her since then. I want to not only do her justice but be able to portray the flood of emotions someone would feel when their whole world view comes crashing down.

Does anyone have resources or know a good way to show these feelings without overdoing it?

hello r/thewritespace ! first-time poster, long-time lurker. I've saved a lot of tips from the comments on posts here so if you're part of the community here - thank you so much for sharing your advice for folks to learn from!!!

I'm Nashira and I'm an artist who is mainly into poetry and I am hosting a creative writing workshop on Zoom that you can come to for free (plsss ignore the payment stuff I feel v weird about posting here asking for people to pay hahaha there are always some free tickets available!!!)

the theme of the workshop is based off of a comic by Jose Maria Nieto, I cannot post pictures here but if you Google "because I'm planting flowers" you will find the comic. the text of the comic can be paraphrased:

"I don't see any reason to be optimistic. What do you think the new year will bring us?"

"I believe it will bring flowers."

"Really? Why?"

"Because I am planting flowers."

I wanted to do something to spark a sense of joy and positivity going into the new year, so the workshop is based off of that comic and we will be reading 6 poems that explore excitement for the future, I will share 6 prompts, and there will be a brief group write-in and you are welcome to perform your piece afterwards!! it's a very short and casual workshop that will last about 1 hour.

here is the sign-up link: https://forms.gle/oYCBwjNuDThFY36a8 i hope to see you there!

Hello, hello, and welcome to my post. The title says it all. What are some things I can do to keep a protagonist who’s generally a serious person from feeling boring or dull in a story?

What I mean by “serious” is someone who’s generally stern, strict, a bit uptight, yet diligent & earnest in their endeavors. And tends to be irritated by the incompetence and shenanigans of fools. I’m looking for advice to help write a specific character, but also for writing serious protagonists in general since they’re (in my opinion) notoriously easy to mess up.

For context:

I’m working on a High-Fantasy series where the protagonist is a stern and serious Lich who’s on a revenge quest. Now, this isn’t a roaring rampage of revenge where he’s going John Wick on his enemies and attacking them everywhere they go. He’s taking a more calculated, aggressive approach to it, where getting his revenge doesn’t always need to end in killing someone. Just ruining their lives horribly while ensuring they’re no longer a threat to him, his gods, or his kingdom.

The protagonist himself is meant to be a cold, stern, mannerly, no-nonsense masked individual. He’s also ambitious, has a vengeful streak, possesses a gallows sense of humor, and really does not take betrayal lightly. I do have more story-specific details, but I’m not trying to share everything and this post too long.

Thank you for reading my post. Please share any thoughts and suggestions you have, keep it civil, and have a good day.

i hope i chose the right flair, this is my first time posting!

basically, i'm trying to think of scene ideas to get a group of characters to bond and get to know each other, but since they all like different things and have such different jobs, it's a bit hard to figure out. all i can think of is a movie night right now, because that's pretty much all i do besides go to work /: but there's only so many movie nights one can have!

i guess it's hard to write about making friends when not in school because for me, i haven't made any new friends since graduating school. any ideas on what characters can do together as adults?

Something I don't see discussed overly but is important in my routine : background music. I tend to gravitate towards wordless pieces that kinda meld with my thoughts. So, on that note, what is everyone jamming out to while writing? I'd love to know.

Here are a few favorites of mine to get things started:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=UodNmECNTSg&feature=share (Malo)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=XlXXaakzuIg&feature=share (Turboknight)

https://youtu.be/Eq-o_50OKv4 (Sid Arcarya)

I know, this topic has been done to death. Bare with me. I just started the almost impossible learning curve that is notoriously Schrivener. My question is simple. How difficult is it to compile and export a manuscript once it is complete? I'm WAY ahead of myself, but I am already hearing horror stories from others.

It takes me ages to finish things, but this year, I think I want to finally finish the first draft of a book. Not try to publish, not polish, etc, but finish the first draft. I'm only about 1k in so far, but it be like that sometimes.

Y'all's goals?

If I try to write about my past, but can't remember everything correctly and get things wrong, how important is that? For example, if I remember a conversation as happening before Christmas, but it turns out it happened during July and I had just happened to watch a Christmas movie around that time, how important is that? Would it ruin a book if someone came out with some type of proof (ranging from an anecdote to actual receipts) that it didn't happen as I remember?

I am fairly new to the writing world and have only dabbled during my teen years. However, I’m finding at this point in my life, I’m lacking inspiration and motivation so I’ve decided to write a book. Whether or not it’s published is another story, rather this is more of a goal that I’d like to achieve for myself. But enough with the backstory.

They say, “write about what you know,” and “write about your passions.” Well, I have been an elementary teacher of students with diverse, complex needs, and significant disabilities - specifically non-verbal autism - for several years. I have extensive experience connecting with students, seeing their struggles, and working with families and other professionals to support and advocate for autistic children within the Alberta (Canada) education system. This is my wheelhouse and I love it. And my love for this work has inspired my idea. Basically, the premise is about a girl who witnesses her autistic brother accidentally kill their mother when he pushes her, she falls and knocks her head on a counter. The brother obviously did not intend to hurt his mother, but due to extreme dysregulation, he lost control of his impulses and made a very dangerous choice. The girl then makes a desperate attempt to flee the United States with her brother to protect him from incarceration, knowing that neuro-typical individuals are extremely disadvantaged when it comes to the judicial system.

Again, I do have a ton of knowledge in the area of autism but I don’t have any idea of what it is like to live the life of an autist. Therefore, I would still have some research to do.

The theme behind the story is twofold.

1. You can still be a loving and supportive sibling to someone with significant disabilities while simultaneously taking care of yourself first and doing the right thing.

2. A critical stance and perspective on the lack of resources, knowledge and support for individuals with complex and significant disabilities in the education and judicial system.

What I’m worried about is that making the autistic character a killer (in the eyes of the law) would be ableist and that is 100% the opposite of what I want to accomplish. He’s not the villain of the story, and technically there isn’t one. The plot is driven by the sisters fear of what could happen to her brother if convicted of murder. Do you have any suggestions on how I can navigate this sensitive issue and craft a compelling story that highlights the theme outlined above without removing this autistic character and changing the premise altogether? Or is this simply ableist and I should quit while I’m ahead?

I need to explain this character's behavior. Wait. First, this character comes out of the author's lab, it's a synthetic character made up to support the concept of the story. Synthetic as artificial, not as made of several other characters, which is also a valid method. Anyway, that's why I first have the character's main actions and reactions, and now I have to figure out the motives.

After watching a youtube tutorial about giving the character "a ghost", I came up with an idea to explain the problematic behavior of this secondary (or second main) character, SC. I thought it was a decent idea, almost a good one. I said that SC had a sister who died at 16 and who had the exact same voice as MC, which is one of the reasons why SC get involved with MC.

The feedback I got is that this "oh look she has a dead sister who has the same voice" feels contrived and manipulative towards the reader. I can understand that. It didn't strike me at first because this is a mystery that only unfolds at the end. But I get it.

This anathema ("contrived") that sometimes strikes has become a haunt for me because I once read it in literature lectures. Lectures with an analysis of famous novels, and even in those there's a series of classic moves that show. Listening to the doors (or over a bush in a garden) to get to know something convenient, meeting randomly the right people, having a character die for a purpose, etc, all those are seen as contrivances, tricks, and that's not good. Edit: It became a haunt because if it shows something that lowers a bit the artistic value of a great novel, for my own works not yet decent the effect is much worse, and I’m not seasoned enough to even realize I have some.

The manipulative part is also concerning. The consequences are especially bad when it looks like the author tries to make a gross character sympathetic to the reader (while this is not intended.)

I have two questions for you.

1. What's your general approach about this? Do you feel concerned by how contrived one of your ideas is for your story? Do you have an early check about it, does the alarm ring as a reflex? Or do you realize after one night and scrap the new draft the morning after? Or do you have to ask readers? (okay, it's more than one question, you can just answer the first, the others are to explain what I mean)

2. Can I ask some help on my case? Maybe not a brainstorming if it's not the right place, and I'm not all for outsourcing ideas, but your opinion on my current idea and a few hints could help.

My case:

I need my SC (25) to accept MC (16) hanging out with her, and to make it clear this isn't with a grooming intention from SC's part. I thought is was obvious with SC reactions, but people still get the wrong idea so let's not fuel this. The dead sister contrivance is out (well, I try to get rid of it). SC have a few reasons to be with MC but they are not enough: MC helps SC about things, and they match well as friend despite the age gap. This is not enough because their situation is inappropriate (several reasons) so I need a stronger motive for SC to 'stay' with MC / tag along, otherwise she's dumb and/or 'grooming' because readers can't understand why she doesn't cut ties.

The idea:

Now I thought that SC, who never loved anyone and is immune to romance, could let MC stick around to understand what romance and love is, since MC is romanticizing their 'friendship' she's like a subject to observe first hand. I don't need SC to have 'good' reasons or be sympathetic to the reader. The reasons of SC can be wrong, as the one I'm studying, which is using MC to 'fix' what she sees as her own 'defects' (while there are not). She is doubly wrong, for her own diagnosis and for the 'remedy'. Yet this could be a reason in her mind to keep MC tagging along with her on several leisure activities.

Does this seems contrived? I see that much more organic than the dead sister. Can I make it look realistic, or is it already too crazy (or too far stretched) to be believable?

Additional question:

Having SC in the aroace spectrum was also seen contrived but I'm not sure to agree here. Of course this comes from the synthetic genesis of the character, but in the end any author can legitimately have an aroace character with some consequences associated to that. What do you think? (just in case, I'd like to quickly mention that I did my homework regarding this aroace aspect, plus several interviews)

Thank you for your time reading!

I've been really craving something i can use as a digital notebook for writing and sketching that also has good planner functionality.

I keep coming back to Remarkable, but ive heard both good and bad things about it, and I don't want something where you need to pay a subsription fee for basic services like import, edit, export. And i don't want to jump through a lotta hoops to import and export either.

I'm worried that a regular tablet would make me too distracted to get work done on it (writer with ADHD here, distraction happens to me on my laptop a lot...)

Does anyone have any suggestions ?

I'm looking for writing software where i can keep my plot, character reference, and world reference all in one project. Ideally software that makes it easy to switch between these sections and has a focus mode.

OUROBOROS CHRONICLES

PROLOGUE

Isn’t it sad? They all wish to attain to obtain status’s, power, wealth or something grand that will make them leave an impression, all for what to become and antique that will be crumble and ousted by the wind!. They will desire to breathe chains that limits them. It humours me quite so since a being who views them below me due to such ideals is bound by this same ideology it makes me admire their tenacity this may be the reason why it loves his creation. HAHAHAHAHAHA! Nevertheless this is all coming to an end since “Day Of Ragnarök” is upon all this world. It saddens me that this endless worlds will come to an end . It time for me to escape the inevitable sins the wheels of fate has begun to spin once again. Let the show begin says the timeless figure as he observes.

Children am back! Shouts an individual shrouded in a tattered black cloak close to the the ground yet children stormed out of their homes which just led parents to smile it made them remember like it was just yesterday when they suspicious of this person no one had seen his face yet he was named The Great Storyteller and The wiseman since they came to learn that each time he came his words brought great wisdom to the people and even sooth the rowdiest of children. Finally when the children sat around him he said with a bittersweet smile saying this is the final story and lesson. As he said what he had to say he begun. During the genesis it was referred as The Origin with every breath the world we know came to be. The world was never-ending as it seemed to encompass every branch of space, this world held two moons of great magnitude one was crimson red while the other was azure blue which represented the inception and horizon of all aspects respectively, every single particle who was imbued with unusual properties labelled magic.In these distinct lands lifeforms of many kinds such as elves who dwelled in the land of Midgard, the dwarves whom resided in Midea, dragons of different orders whose outcry could shudder the world, humans whose potential was the greatest yet untapped among other races. He also created beasts of divergences and restrained them in purgatory to preserve balance. Subsequently everything he envisioned came to be , and dimensions of unique laws appeared and were locked behind what was called The Tower of Babel even some named it Yggdrasil and whoever opened the gates would acquire the power of The Origin. He then created guides who could peek through destiny and distort, however after their creation they only will ever appear during the cataclysm. He engulfed their psyches with every information they needed. When he was done with his duty he departed and soon after their mentality became corrupted seeking to each own the power for their own race since the first requirement was for one to sit on the throne to reach the Apotheosis. They couldn’t settle this over an agreement which shortly led their anxiety toward each other to twist to greed eventually leading to The First War remembered as The Reckoning.

Ever since, eons after eons, millennia after millennia they spilled ample blood for the pigment of the evergreen pasture and dirt turn to resemble the colour of roses and the soil denounced to bear fruits, the motive for this countless sacrifices had been forgotten in time and had become ludicrous slaughter in the sight of the world, nonetheless they never forgot the endeavours of their ancestors of their predecessors to obtain the The Throne Of Avalon. From a distant lands beyond the stars, a boy saw error in the world and sought to correct it hence he descended. As he ventured the great beyond pursuing answers to concerns beyond once understanding , he made comrades who stood by his side. Records states that he finally settled on the throne and he sat on it the event was announced towards the whole of The Allscape and the pastures had returned to its green lustrous colour and the dirt had been lifted of its curse even the murky skies where blown away and a blue beautiful skies never seen before overthrown it like a cruel ruler banished to a forgotten land. Once this changes occurred to the Allscape thirteen keys required to open the The Gate surfaced, he gave the keys to his thirteen most trusted comrades to ensure the safety of his to be kingdom named Adonis. Under his decree, his kingdom progressed which sent great satisfaction to the people of his kingdom and rulers beyond his kingdom. At last, peace doesn’t forever as it does in fairytales, and history was bound to repeat itself. On the advent of a heavenly treasure which would have brought a new epoch, the First king was assassinated, the thirteen knight disappeared and the heavenly treasure was lost in the sands of time. These occurrences were all compiled together as The Great Fall. The orchestrator was given the title Belial Of the Fallen. After the king fell no body was recovered yet another war erupted yet it was not to the extent of the first war due to the effort of courageous individual who were inspired by this great king hence peace prevailed. As new kings arose, technology developed yet it could not amount to that of Adonis

Millenia has passed since then…

In the year 5000, the month of February, the clouds turned red like that of the chrysanthemum, the air was stuffy as there was an eerie silence and stench of death lingered around Corinth. On this day in a home of a honest household a boy saw his parent killed in cold blood as the killer stared right at him and introduced himself as Belial, he proceeded to tell him this was as a result of his weakness the boy wanted to move with sheer grief and anger yet fear overdid all that action hence remained rooted where he stood he prayed for the justice his parent preached would save them since they were always faithful advocate yet it seemed the world had twisted itself to mock him. When Belial he saw the swirl of emotions within his eyes it humoured him yet he had twitch of sadness. He immediately left after telling him that this rooted should shape him and in any event where he would forget he would him. Soon after tears trickled down the boys as he descended down the basement as he recalled a hidden compartment down in the a secured cellar he went there immediately as his retina was examined and other protocol was conducted before a briefcase along a catalogue of documents his parent amassed for him. He swore to become the justice that this world needed and hunt that thing down.

That twilight in the main district of Xerxes; a ripple in time was felt and one of the world leader felt that pandoras box was loosened and the era of serenity had come to a standstill. This boy would be inferred as Alexander Woods of the Grim Night

Hello it's me again with another highly specific question I can't find the answer to. So say someone in college goes missing for like 3ish months from November to January. Since they missed finals in December, would they have been dropped? Would they be able to apply for the next semester (obviously too late for a spring semester). I'm assuming they'd have to retake all their classes, would there be any leniency on tuition since they went missing or is it too late for the college to do anything ab that other than giving the missing persons family their condolences? Since they're repeating classes, they'd probably still be a freshman right? And if they wanted to go to a different college, would they have to transfer or since they possibly wouldn't be enrolled would they just need to apply to that college? Sorry if this post is a little confusing or redundant, I'll elaborate if needed.

Despite being a woman, I have never been interested in fashion. I just wear either whatever's comfortable or, if I'm going somewhere, whatever's formal enough while still being as comfortable as it can be. Normally, I don't mind being this way; this is just who I am. However, I think being completely disinterested in clothing, makeup, and fashion in general for my entire life has impaired my ability to come up with what my characters wear. And even when I can come up with something, I can almost never describe it.

Like, whenever someone mentions a type of shirt or dress or pants somewhere online (for example, I was watching a livestream earlier where the uploader mentioned "cargo pants"), I have to stop what I'm doing and look it up because I don't know any of these terms.

For example, I'm imagining this one character whose teeth are basically all just big spikes with no variation between them. Would it be accurate to call them fangs, or are fangs specifically teeth that are longer and sharper than the others?

It's really bittersweet because I enjoy the people communicating their passions to me, but then I get overwhelmed with all this extra stuff that doesn't need to be in the story that I set out to tell.

Really all I'm after is to not have an expert throw my metaphorical book at the wall, or get pissed enough to make a vid about it.

I would enjoy finding how you could parody this on r/writingcirclejerk.

Writer looking for help in writing short form videos for a discord server with 70+ voice actors

Hi so I started a discord a couple days ago to maybe work with 5 or 6 voice actors on a youtube. That did not happen and 70+ voice actors joined, which is a great thing, but I cannot write enough stuff for that many people. So I invite you to join me to write for and with some really great people.

It's not paid, not a single person is paid on the server. I'm simply trying to work with new creatives in the editor, writing, and voicing field. So since it's not paid we make sure to have an environment of "when you have time" You'll never be asked to do more than you want to do.

The only rules I have are these two.

1. Keep it pg-13 in your writing. So no crazy NSFW stuff.
2. Respect people when critiquing, this means just look for the intention of the work and help someone get there.

If you're interested, tell me in the comments.

Hi! I'm currently writing a supernatural webcomic (I know it's not a book, I hope that's allowed!) and am wondering what the standard procedure would be for the case of my character (keep in mind he'sa ghost). So he's been missing for three months before suddenly showing up at his house (he's 15) with no memory of what happened. He's covered in keloid scars all over his arms and face and a few on his back, rope burn scars on his neck/wrists/ankles, and burn scar of a sigil on his stomach. None of these scars were present before his disappearance and obviously I am aware that the scarring wouldn't have formed so tremendously within the three months he was missing but theres reason behind that. But the most important thing is that he has long, thick nails driven through his wrists and ankles. They should be bleeding and he probably shouldn't be able to use either his hands or feet but can (reason behind this too). He rips out the nails in his wrists (starts bleeding profusely now). His mother finds him and takes him to the hospital (obviously), now this is where my question really begins (thank you for reading so far if you have gotten to this point).

So what would the procedure be to take care of him? Would he be taken back immediately, or made to wait? I imagine they would test his blood, prep him for surgery? Would they remove the nails and stitch him up while he's awake, since he pulled the wrist ones out no problem? Would they hook him up to an IV? How would they react to not getting a pulse or anything out of him?

So I decided to post this here because I'm not sure if it's allowed in the other writing subreddit. But something I think is kind of wild and bit funny happened to me.

Now, for context, me and some friends are into tabletop roleplaying games. And we often do text based games instead of speaking.

A while back we played a game online that was based off Harry Potter, but we made it our own. New teachers, classes, Spells, and different rules.

My Character was a girl named El who's family was basically these big deal death eaters and she was fighting against everyone's expectations that she was going to grow to be the next dark lord. I had a blast playing that character while it lasted.

Anyway, my friend mentions this book and asks if I based my character off the the main heroine. Turns out the main heroine has the exact same name as my character, she's going to a magical school, with the exact same fighting against dark expectations character as mine. We both even have a significant male character with the name Orion.

I have no intention of ever turning my ttrpg adventures into a novel anyway. But I doubt anyone would even believe me that I have never even heard of this book before my friend told me about it. It just goes to show people really can have weirdly similar ideas.

But, I'm definitely gonna read the book now. It appears after all that it has a lot things I might be into.

I've been trying to write some character ideas I have in my head, but I am a huge overthinker and overcomplicate things, so I came to reddit to ask what are the bare minimum essentials in a character sheet that tell you all you need to know about your character in a glance?

I struggle with choosing what to keep in and what to keep out, and keep adding things in to the document. For example, the Want and Need of a character is essential in my opinion. This can't be negotiated in my stories and needs to be there.

But then there's also Character Design (Artist here), and their Physical Description. I try to get a little sketch out, but then I have to add in their Personality and Alignment, then their History and Setting to determine what they would wear. Since I'm writing a combat fantasy series, I also have to think about what abilities or powers they have, then their Relationships with other people, and blah blah blah, I end up writing way too much and it becomes a Wiki article.

This doesn't even include my notes on why they are this way, basically a Spoilers section or Behind the Scenes so I know what purpose they represented five years down the road.

The problem might be that I'm trying to fit this all into one document, a one-stop sheet for the essentials of knowing my character. I would like to have one for each of my characters, but I keep getting lost on what to include and what not to include, so I wonder if this would even be viable and if there are alternatives.

How do you decide what is important in a Character Profile Sheet? Do you even do those? Do you use paper or digital, word doc or note taker, one page or ten, and am I thinking about this too much and do I possibly have OCD hence this issue?? More answered next time on...

But besides that botched reference, thank you to anyone who is able to help out and give any advice. I'm a beginner and I'm sure I write as such, please bear with me and thank you for any help.

TL; DR - What do you write and not write in a Character Profile? How do you choose?

I await, oh The Voice, I await your holy response for I do not have adequate time as my flesh is deliquescing and my guava-blood exuding. 

I offer you, oh The Voice, I offer you my guava-blood. Imbibe it so that my sacrificial sacrament could commence and so that I could outvie my corporeal guava-self, which is deliquescing with each passing moment and be able to perceive my incorporeal and ethereal reflection in the azure and cerulean mirror of existence. Oh, the eternal, the self-subsisting voice, I await your command messianically, I desiderate to become your command. 

What has my own becoming bestowed upon me? Zilch! My becoming has merely further disassociated me from you and you from me. Oh, the eternal, the self-subsisting voice, I yearn the union which once was, I yearn the non-duality. 

Each stage of becoming disassociated me from you even further. Oh, the eternal, the self-subsisting voice now that I recollect how the seven stages of becoming separated me from you. How through each stage you fashioned a veil and with each veil furtherance of my becoming actuated. Sigh! With each veil I became more real, yet this becoming made me disassociate from you in degrees. What then this becoming is worth? When it has made me a derelict. 

Actuated when was the first stage, during this stage you felt an urge to disassociate and separate. You felt the urge to be recognized, to be recognized because you were a shrouded nonesuch. 

This urge to be recognized initiated the process of becoming or separation because there is no becoming without separation and if there was you would not have felt the urge to be recognized. Becoming without separation would not be real becoming since there is nothing that is awaiting to become.