My Favourite Couples Are Those Who Could’ve Been Amazing Friends Or Lovers And Work Well As Both But

I think I’ve seen this film before And I didn’t like the ending

#storychronology

"Start in the middle”

Story chronology: a few options

You might have heard about the advice “in medias res”: to begin your story at a point when the action has already begun.

I will illustrate this point with an example. It’s a simple story I made up for this post, but you get the picture. [Extensive image descriptions below the cut.]

In medias res (Latin for ‘in the middle of things’), will tell you that you shouldn’t begin this story with scene A, because there is little action in it. Scene B is also not particularly exciting, and both A and B are not very representative of the story that is to come. The most exciting scenes in this list are F and G.

There are a few versions of how you can start your story.

1. You could start your story with scene C, and tell your story chronologically from there, so you skip A and B:

2. You could start your story with scene F, and then go back to the beginning:

3. Or you can do the same with scene G first: how did she get into this mess?

4. You could start your story with scene F or G, and go back, but ditch A and B because they don’t fit in the theme of the story.

or

5. You could start with scene G or F and throw away the entire chronology. Maybe scene B is a flashback when she sits at the police station and waits to make her phonecall. She can imagine the conversation with her parents and wishes she was back in the orchard she used to play at when she was 8.

Personally, I don’t like option 2 and 3, because the less exciting scenes A and B feel even more boring after an exciting scene like F and G. But I’m just pointing out the options.

When you set out to outline a story, make it linear at first, make sure every causal relationship is sound, and then play around with the order of the scenes to make it more interesting.

I hope this was helpful. Don’t hesitate to ask me any questions, and happy writing!

Follow me for more writing advice, or check out my other writing advice here. New topics to write advice about are also always welcome.

Tag list below, a few people I like and admire and of course, you can be too. If you like to be added to or removed from the list, let me know.

Extensive image descriptions also below the cut.

Keep reading

I feel like I should just add on to this with a not-really-related fact that someone is going to have to clarify. I read a long time ago(during a time when I had the want to actually do stuff instead of just sleep, blow off online school, almost ignore my homework, eat ice cream and watch tele while saying “fuck you” to the world) that, somewhere not in the states, they stopped treating addiction like a crime and more like something that needed to be helped, like a mental disorder or something. If you had a certain amount, then you would meet with two people, I don’t remember what they were. A social worker and a lawyer, maybe. This is why I need someone to fill in the ever present blanks. The drug rate or whatever dropped astoundingly.

I personally love the pumpkin orange one. And I would look good in it with blonde hair and honey eyes. 

I wanna hear these Opinions on steampunk color palettes, if you’re willing.

tbh “the Victorians did not go to the trouble of inventing aniline dyes so that we could wear neutrals” mostly covers it?

they went to a lot of effort to bring affordable screaming bright fuchsias and acid greens into the world, and we should honor their tacky, tacky choices.

Wish I had this years ago. Could’ve saved me my mental health. 

the suffering never ends

Fantasy Guide to Make-Up and Cosmetics

If I am to be completely honest with you all, I know nothing about make-up. Those little brushes and endless sponges mean nothing to me except the fact that they are really soft and sometimes shiny. I don't wear makeup so you can imagine how useless I am at modern make-up.

However, history is my jam and I know about what make-up they use centuries ago. So never fear @theflyingravenbird I got you.

Ingredients and Applications

Make-up and cosmetics of the past were usually sourced from natural ingredients. The more difficult the ingredients were the more expensive the cosmetic was. Natural dies such as red ochre and berries were used to stain lips or colour powder to use as blusher to add colour to the lips. For examples:

Geishas of Japan are probably the most recognizable make-up wearers in the world. Historically and in some more traditional okiyas, the geishas painted their faces with rice powder to give them that unbroken, white complexion. A popular recipe for their crimson lipsticks involved extracting pigment from crushed safflower petals.

Henna paste made from the eponymous plant can be used as hair dye and to trace designs on the feet and hands.

Kohl is a black powder that is famous for its popularity in Egyptian Cultures and even the Persian Empire. Kohl lines the eyes like modern eyeliners and is found when one grounds stibnite. Kohl actually had the luck of preventing eye infections which no doubt helped in the climate of Egypt and beyond.

The Phoenicians used powdered metals of gold, silver and other metals to dust their faces. This is reputably thought to denote their wealthy status.

Rouge or blusher has had numerous recipes throughout history. The Ancient Egyptians made rouge from red ochre and animal fat. The Romans made their rouge from lead and cinnabar, which sounds about as bad for you as you think it does. The Ancient Greeks made it from pressed mulberries or other fruits such as beet and strawberries. The Ancient Chinese made rouge from extracts of coloured flowers.

Ancient Chinese cultures used a mixture of gumarabic, gelatin, beeswax, and eggs to stain their nails. The colors were often used to denote social class. Gold and silver was worn by royalty or black and red. The lower classes were not prohibited to wear bright colours.

Lipstick has also a few recipes. Egyptians used pounded carmine, a kind of insect, to smear on their lips. Other ancient civilizations used red ochre. Vermilion (though toxic) was also used, along with crushed flowers with red pigment mixed with beeswax during the Elizabethan period.

During the late Elizabeth and then again in the Baroque period, women and some men began to paint their faces with white powder. The layer of white lead and vinegar, or ceruse was popular for tears despite the hair loss and death it caused.

Make Up Tools

Powderpuffs: the powderpuff was a pad of soft material meant to apply powder to one's face. They were made of feathers, cotton or sheep's fleece.

Brushes: Brushes have been been around for ever. They have been found in some of the earliest Egyptian tombs. The brushes were often made from animal hair with wooden or more expensive handles.

Pots of pigment, scents and ointments: Some early tombs excavated from ancient civilizations have included what amounts to a palette (thank you lil sis for that word). The pigments in the pots would be very expensive. Ointments and balms have also been found. Perfumes were very popular in antiquity and made a recurrence in Europe after the Crusades (which helped since some of the make up smelled awful).

Make Up and Social standing

Though make up is rather popular now, it had a rather uncertain rise to popularity.

Most Ancient civilizations wore some kind of cosmetic. The overuse of cosmetics in ancient times was frowned on as prostitutes and actors often wore dramatic make up however the elite often smeared themselves with powders to make them paler and redden their cheeks.

In the Middle Ages, makeup had a dual reputation. The Church frowned on it because it was again popular with prostitutes and actors but it was a common consensus that if the woman was scarred from smallpox or some other disease she was excused from being labelled as vain.

In the late Elizabethan period, theatres were getting more popular and as was makeup. Actors began wearing make up more frequently as did the elite. Elizabeth I herself was infamous for her milk-white skin. Make up became more sociably acceptable among the rich and noble at this point.

The 1700s probably saw the height of make up madness. Both women and men of the elite powdered themselves with white lead paint. They rouged their cheeks to high pigment and stuck small dots of felt to cover blemishes. The commons began to poke fun at the elite's strange obsession with looking like they've lost all their blood. Dandies and painted noblewomen were often poked fun at by pamphlets and satirical cartoons.

The Victorians frowned on make up, thinking it garish and common. Queen Victoria herself denounced make up as uncouth which lead the elite to abandon it in droves. However, most women prized a clear complexion so there was a lot of secret make-up-ing going on.

During the Edwardian period and the 1920s, make up began to get more popular. Older more respectable women began trying makeup to fresh their complexion. The younger generations began to experiment with makeup leading to the infamous smokey eye look.

The Fuck Is Happening?

So usually I suck—and I mean suck—at naming characters. It takes me forever and a plethora of research before I even get a working name. Now? I’ve come up with three off the top of my head, only looking up one name(Aysha) which is fair because of the rarity of it.  Though I came up with some…odd surnames. Greenbay and Greyborn. Like…what? Where did those come from? This is contemporary. Set in real life. 

They said I couldn’t, I said fuck you Karen I’m doing it

Writing Motivations

Spite

Inspiration

Hungry for Validation

Make readers go “Wow!”

Make readers go “Oh!”

Make readers go :’((

Horny

Dragons

Whom else is going to write this if not me??

They Gave Me a Keyboard and Cannot Take it Away Now

I Invented Several Languages and Must Use Them Somewhere

These characters are REAL and have things to do

I Like to Suffer

I like to be gay and unhinged but in a productive way

I care about my OCs and so must you now

I have issues I need to project on SOMETHING

Love is not fake and here is why, an entire book

Words Pretty

Max: I don’t know really…Ash is just…he’s brilliant, ya know? It’s impossible not to love him. 

Tender Tuesday

This is an ask event specifically for romance writers, or those who have major romance tropes in their stories - therefore the questions sent to each other, has to be about love; think of things like “Who is big spoon/little spoon?”, “What’s the biggest challenge they have to face as a couple?” etc.

P.S.: This is an all inclusive party, all the colours of the rainbow are welcome. It doesn’t matter who your characters love, bring them in and tell us all about it.

I’m going to send out as many asks as I can. But just in case, this weeks question is:

What made your OC fall in love with their partner(s)?

Feel free to tag me if you answer.

Tag to use: #tender tuesday

Tag list:

@adie-dee, @adventuresofmeghatron, @aelenko​, @alias-levi, @asablehart​, @austrohungarianwriteblr​, @bigboldgold, @candyapplewriting​, ​ @castironbitch​, @clarissablackm, @drowsy-quill​, @drbibliophile, @earths-oeuvre, @elliegraule, @fictional-semantics​, @flashflyingfish, @ghostpicnic-writes, @gwens-fiction​, @happyorogeny, @hell-yeah-fantasy, @imsorry-idontcare​,  @itsmariemccurdy, @jekkiefan @justahufflepuffnerd, @kellymunro, @kryallaorchid, @ladywithalamp​, @lexiklecksi​, @lynnafred​, @lysander-xp, @midnightstarlightwrites, @missbrunettebarbie-writer, @mrs-raven-writes, @nectargrapes​, @nk-writes, @northernrosewritings​, @petrolstationflowers, @pheita, @princessofdarkness12, @raevenlywrites​, @rainbowcoloreddays​, @ravenpuffwriter​, @reininginthefirewriting, @rhiannonleewriting​, @scribbleknots​, @scripturientworld, @six-feet-underneath​, @smgrace3, @solesurvivorpaigeargot​ @sybil-writes​ @thegirlfairytalesforgot, @theswordofpens, @writerwaage, @writingamongthecoloredroses​, @writinginslowmotion​, @writemares​, @writer-in-monochrome

Please, interact with the post if you’d like to be added.

The tag list is here for you to see who you can send an ask for. If you get an ask, please, return it so we can keep this going.

Have fun! Keep the romance going ❤️