Big Boy Happy

My copy of Dark Puppetry just came in the mail and I'm so excited about it!!

@darkpuppetry @evyptids @shadowstakeall @beerecordings @spicydanhowell @kisstheashes and @plutoandpolaris I'm so excited to read your stories!!

And @spicydanhowell and @jacksoopticboop the beautiful cover is beautiful!!

You guys are all awesome, and I am so happy I bought this!!

Damian: there are 11 people in this room if you count Drake and Titus

fun ideas for things to do for fun that are free:

- Play “don’t let the balloon hit the floor” with multiple balloons while at the same time playing “the carpet is lava”

- play hide-and seek in a mall or large public place

- dress up in elaborate costumes to do normal things like go to walmart

- play hide-and-seek or something in walmart without getting kicked out

- get on youtube with friends and try to learn a new talent like juggling or dancing or something

- look at the ingredients in the house and google what you can bake with them

- go to a park you’ve never been to before and walk around like you’re an adventurer discovering everything (“I do say! This here looks like a leaf! What an interesting specimen!”)

- just go to a park in general. I mean, they got slides and swings and crap. Get all over that (but don’t be a jerk. kids are awesome. let them play first).

- dig up toys/games from when you were a kid. Try to play Nintendo 64 games on your hi-def TV. Feel yourself get cut by the sharp, pointy pixels. 

- make a super tacky music video to a song that you thought was super cool when you were in middle school

- draw with chalk, blow bubbles, jump rope, ride your bike around your neighborhood

in general, just stop pretending you’re too cool to do the fun stuff you did when you were 10. 10-year-olds don’t have money to spend on entertainment, and yet I notice that they have more fun than anybody. Have an awesome summer, everybody.

IF YOURE EGYPTIAN AND LGBTQ+ GET OFF ANY QUEER DATING SITES, THE POLICE ARE TRACKING AND HUNTING PEOPLE DOWN AGAIN. DELETE YOUR ACCOUNTS.

I don't know if this has been asked before, but what is your editing/animating routine look like? Or I guess do you have an routine? You are the best btw! Your videos are my favorite whether they are Jack's ones that you have edited or your animations! Love them both! Love you!

Well… I don’t know is I have any definitive “editing routine” really. My usual daily routine is wake up, check the Dropbox to see what’s been sent over for editing, edit that, send it back, and if I have time/energy I’ll edit my own stuff and/or stream, until bed. Repeat.

Unless I don’t feel like doing anything else, in which case Netflix or Youtube, I guess :P

Writing Prompt #1939

"You call that a family?" My father sneered at the loved ones I had surrounded myself with. "This is your last chance to make the right choice. Come back with me now, and there will be limited consequences. If you don't, you are no child of mine any longer."

Ahhhh!!! It's here!!

Thank you @soopticboop I love it so much!!!

On Creating Characters- Six Points to Get You Started

As much as I like to complain about my weaknesses when it comes to writing, I’m happy to say that creating characters isn’t one of them. So for anyone who wants it- my quick guide on creating characters.

This list is for anyone who has a vague idea for a character but doesn’t have a plot or a role in the story for them to fill.  It’s for people who have a plot in mind, but lack characters to place in it. It’s for people who love those long, detailed character spreadsheets, but don’t have the patience (or know all the answers) to fill them out. The points I’ve listed below will probably overlap heavily and influence one another- for instance, “societal/cultural influences“ may inform both “philosophy“ and “defining relationships“. It pulls the character together.

Keep in mind that this is not everything you want to know about your character- you should continue to flesh them out as you write them. This is just a baseline, a starting point, an I-just-want-to-write-something-with-this-character-but-I-know-absolutely-nothing-about-them list so you can jump into writing with or without a plot in mind. It describes them as they are on a typical, ordinary day. As you continue to write and develop them, they will become more nuanced and take on a life of their own.

 Base Personality

Jot down some base personality traits. Don’t worry about getting an equal number of positive and negative traits down- or even which is which. Just feel out the character’s base personality.

Significant Historical Events

What events have had the greatest impact on your character (that you know of so far)? Again, don’t worry about getting everything- you can always add more here as they come to you later. Hit the major turning points in your character’s life.

Societal/Cultural Influences

What societal and cultural backgrounds do your characters have? Are they living/working/existing in an area where these influences are the majority or the minority?

Philosophy

What is your character’s default philosophy when it comes to right and wrong, or difficult moral choices? (I usually use the D&D alignment system for its simplicity- feel free to be as detailed or not as you wish).

Defining Relationships

What are this character’s defining relationships? Enemies, friends, and family are good places to highlight. Major conflicts and points of contention are great starting points for plots.

Goals

What does your character want more than anything? What are you preventing them from getting over the course of the story?  If any minor goals pop up while you’re writing, jot those down too.

9 Ways to Tighten Up Your Novel’s Middle

Every year, we’re lucky to have great sponsors for our nonprofit events. Scrivener, a 2022 Camp NaNoWriMo sponsor, is an award-winning writing app that has been enthusiastically adopted by best-selling novelists and novices alike. Today, Scrivener director Julia Pierce is here to share some tips on writing your story’s middle:

We’re midway through Camp and around now, some of you may be starting to experience the curse of the saggy middle. This isn’t just a euphemism for what happens when the need to meet your daily word count target becomes all-consuming and takes precedence over your daily exercise routine. Nope, it’s that bit where the doubts about your story’s structure start to creep in… Is that storyline really as gripping as you first thought? Would the hero really make that choice…?

Unfortunately, writing the midsection of a novel is tricky—it’s where the hard work happens, the plot is driven on, characters grow and plans are tried (and fail). With this part taking up around 50% of the word count, a good rate of momentum is vital to carry the reader with you from your perfect beginning to the novel’s climax. So, how can you pep up your prose? Here are some tried and tested methods:

Keep reading

Ornament!!