what in your life is calling you?
when all the noise is silenced,
the meetings adjourned,
the lists laid aside,
and the wild iris blooms by itself in the dark forest,
what still pulls on your soul?
in the silence between your heartbeats hides a summons.
do you hear it?
name it, if you must,
or leave it nameless,
but why pretend it is not there?
“The Box: Remembering the Gift” by the Terma Collective
(Source: ladyfromthenorth, via keepcalm-havecoffee)
At the heart…
(via quotebites)
A modern take on Sister Corita Kent’s timeless rules for learning and life, hand-lettered by artist Lisa Congdon.
“If nothing saves us from death, may love at least save us from life.” - Pablo Neruda
I think this is comprehensive.
General Tips
- 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
Character Development
- 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
- 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
- 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
Female Characters
- 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
Male Characters
Tips for Specific Characters
- 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
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
Point of View
Plot, Conflict, Structure and 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 & Worldbuilding
- 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
Creativity Boosters* denotes prompts
- *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
Revision & Grammar
- 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
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
Specific Help
Excellent
The power of coming back…
(Source: , via explore-blog)
“There are many ways to exist. I choose to actively exist. And so, in most cases, I actively choose authenticity and vulnerability. If I’m not choosing that, I consider it a lack of my own integrity.”
A fantastic read on authenticity and vulnerability.
(via quotebites)
When our purpose is external, we may never find it. If we tie our purpose or meaning to our vocation, goal or an activity, we’re more than likely setting ourselves up for suffering down the line.
Your purpose has nothing to do with what you do.
There, I said it. Your purpose is about discovering and nurturing who you truly are, to know and love yourself at the deepest level and to guide yourself back home when you lose your way. That’s it. Everything else is your burning passion, your inspired mission, your job, your love-fueled hobby, etc. Those things are powerful and essential, but they’re not your purpose. Your purpose is much bigger than that.
” The myth of finding your purpose - KrisCarr.com (via liliezen)(via liliezen)
