Character Concept: The Best Trick Archer In The World, The Trick To Which Is That Hes Actually Not An

character concept: the best trick archer in the world, the trick to which is that he’s actually not an archer at all, he’s a speedster and he can’t aim for shit, every time he takes a shot he actually just grabs the arrow, runs over to what he wants to stick, then runs back before anyone can see him move

25 Ways To Become A Better Writer

1. Takes notes of funny or interesting things you hear people say

2. Make lots of lists

3. Write down ideas, even if they don’t really fit into your story. They may be useful later

4. Stay organized

5. Watch an old movie for inspiration

6. Listen to music that fits the mood of your chapter while you write

7. If you remember your dreams, write them down

8. Learn a new word every day

9. Use a thesaurus

10. Take breaks

11. Don’t force yourself to write “2,000 words a day” or whatever. Some days will just be bad writing days. Others will be great

12. Don’t beat yourself up

13. If its a bad chapter, don’t delete it. Take a break, then come back to it and edit it

14. Look at pictures of landscapes or scenes online. It will help you vividly describe what your story looks like

15. Read other’s work for ideas

16. Get feedback from others

17. Bounce plot ideas back and forth with your friends or other writers

18. Write when you feel comfortable, and not rushed

19. If you really like something that others don’t, you should still consider keeping it in your story

20. Write down a few sentences explaining what your chapter is going to be about before you write it

21. Don’t force it

22. Drink something hot while writing

23. Let yourself daydream

24. Stop comparing your work to others

25. Seek another respective

Bog Trail by Shane Garlock

things that make me believe in magic

- illuminated dust in the air

- the ancient atmosphere of forests

- hundreds upon thousands of snowdrops or bluebells

- songs that fill your soul

- falling snow

- the ever-changing moods of the sea

- the moon on a cool, clear night

- old buildings overgrown with plants

- when a seedling sprouts 

- the intelligence in a crow’s eyes

- being awoken by the early morning sun

- the energy of storms

Shower thought, but I think I realized why creating a character who “wants” something is often so vexing and difficult for authors. 

The problem is you have this character who you need to save the world, somehow, because saving the world is the plot of your story. So you make the thing they want to do be… saving the world. But that’s dull, someone’s life can’t just be about Performing Your Plot, it makes them one dimensional. 

So you step back a bit. Ok, so you make their motivation to “Be A Good Person” - that solves it, right? Now they want to perform your plot! 

Except that’s the root of a lot of very boring protagonists. These Dudley Do-Rights don’t seem to want anything before or after the story is complete. They’re aimless or aimlessly Doing Good or looking for a chance to Do Good until they hear The World Needs Saving, and a good person would save it, so then they save it, and then they… bask in having saved the world? Do More Good? How much more good can you get than saving the world? Now their life lacks purpose, if it was just about saving the world and performing your plot, or they’re just paragons of goodness and they’re similarly at loose ends until another Bad Thing happens for them to be Good against. This makes them dull (or non-specific paragons of goodness), which in general do not make for very interesting characters. 

Furthermore, now your antagonist has all the interesting character notes because the antagonist is the one who put the world in danger in the first place, presumably, so they’re doing something cool and unique to get the action of the story moving, by wanting something cool and unique which in this case is wanting to put the world in danger, while your protagonist is just there to stand around until things go bad and then stop the bad-but-interesting thing from happening so we can go back to the uninteresting, but supposedly preferable, status quo. 

Ok, so here’s what you need: your protagonist should not want to do the thing that is the plot for its own sake, rather the thing they want should bring them in confrontation with your plot. Let’s give a few examples of what I mean below the cut:

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