Super Simple Low-effort Ao3 Summary Methods That Are 1000% Better And 1000% Less Annoying Than Just Saying

editor note: "add more character descriptions throughout, I forget what these characters look like and it's disorientating"

me: "bold of you to assume I know what they look like"

being alive is so fucking scary but god do i love to love!!!! i love to love!!! i was put here to love. so much of life is so uncertain and unpredictable. but my love will be constant if i let it.

sorry, I'm busy looking for love in everything. yes it's gonna take all day.

fifty ways to get to know your characters (and how to write them)

what is their name? and how does this fit their character?

last name?

do they have a middle name?

name a song that describes them

what are their pronouns?

gender and sexuality?

do they like someone romantically?

list five words to describe them

what about five dialogue tags to use consistently on this character?

what is their motivation?

do they consider themselves a good person?

colour that describes their personality

MBTI type

enneagram type

character they're based on

person they would bring down whilst dying

person they would kill if they had the chance

character they would get along with if they were in the same universe

character they would hate if they were in the same universe

artist they would listen to

artist they would hate

give them a theme song

make them a playlist! (see my other post for songs to put on that playlist, here)

make them a mood board

assign them an aesthetic

what are their strengths?

what about fatal weaknesses?

the one person who can convince them to do something they're stubbornly against

who would they kill for?

what tropes do they fall into?

fatal weakness (food edition)

book they would definitely read

language besides their mother tongue they would (have) learned

murder accomplice

thing that makes them go weak at the knees

most obscure thing they HATE

while we're there, biggest phobia

are they (would they be) a book or movie person?

are they a romantic

childhood experience that defines an aspect of their life

what is their age?

birth sign? / zodiac?

what constellation would they be

name a famous myth could they would have been the main character

old or new soul

assign them a smell

assign them a smell they like

can they swim?

street smarts or brain smarts?

what is this character's purpose to the plot?

WEBSITES FOR WRITERS {masterpost}

E.A. Deverell - FREE worksheets (characters, world building, narrator, etc.) and paid courses;

Hiveword - Helps to research any topic to write about (has other resources, too);

BetaBooks - Share your draft with your beta reader (can be more than one), and see where they stopped reading, their comments, etc.;

Charlotte Dillon - Research links;

Writing realistic injuries - The title is pretty self-explanatory: while writing about an injury, take a look at this useful website;

One Stop for Writers - You guys... this website has literally everything we need: a) Description thesaurus collection, b) Character builder, c) Story maps, d) Scene maps & timelines, e) World building surveys, f) Worksheets, f) Tutorials, and much more! Although it has a paid plan ($90/year | $50/6 months | $9/month), you can still get a 2-week FREE trial;

One Stop for Writers Roadmap - It has many tips for you, divided into three different topics: a) How to plan a story, b) How to write a story, c) How to revise a story. The best thing about this? It's FREE!

Story Structure Database - The Story Structure Database is an archive of books and movies, recording all their major plot points;

National Centre for Writing - FREE worksheets and writing courses. Has also paid courses;

Penguin Random House - Has some writing contests and great opportunities;

Crime Reads - Get inspired before writing a crime scene;

The Creative Academy for Writers - "Writers helping writers along every step of the path to publication." It's FREE and has ZOOM writing rooms;

Reedsy - "A trusted place to learn how to successfully publish your book" It has many tips, and tools (generators), contests, prompts lists, etc. FREE;

QueryTracker - Find agents for your books (personally, I've never used this before, but I thought I should feature it here);

Pacemaker - Track your goals (example: Write 50K words - then, everytime you write, you track the number of the words, and it will make a graphic for you with your progress). It's FREE but has a paid plan;

Save the Cat! - The blog of the most known storytelling method. You can find posts, sheets, a software (student discount - 70%), and other things;

I hope this is helpful for you!

(Also, check my blog if you want to!)

god I just. love ruthlessness as a character trait so much. sexy sexy sexy

"How do you write such realistic dialogue-" I TALK TO MYSELF. I TALK TO MYSELF AND I PRETEND I AM THE ONE SAYING THE LINE. LIKE SANITY IS SLOWLY SLIPPING FROM BETWEEN MY FINGERS WITH EVERY MEASLY WORD THEY TYPE OUT. THAT IS HOW.

I've already said that my number one piece of writing advice is to read.

But my number two piece of advice is this: be deliberate.

Honestly this would fix so many pieces of bad writing advice. Don't forbid people from doing something, tell them to be conscious and deliberate about it. This could help stop people from falling into common mistakes without limiting their creativity. Black and white imperatives may stop a few annoying beginner habits, but ultimately they will restrict artistic expression.

Instead of "don't use epithets": "Know the effect epithets have and be deliberate about using them." Because yes, beginners often misuse them, but they can be useful when a character's name isn't known or when you want to reduce them to a particular trait they have.

Instead of "don't use 'said'" or "just use 'said'": "Be deliberate about your use of dialogue tags." Because sometimes you'll want "said" which fades into the background nicely, but sometimes you will need a more descriptive alternative to convey what a character is doing.

Instead of "don't use passive voice": "Be deliberate about when you use passive voice." Because using it when it's not needed can detract from your writing, but sometimes it can be useful to change the emphasis of a sentence or to portray a particular state of mind.

Instead of blindly following or ignorantly neglecting the rules of writing, familiarize yourself with them and their consequences so you can choose when and if breaking them would serve what you're trying to get across.

Your writing is yours. Take control of it.

It probably sounds like I'm preaching to the choir here because most of my mutuals are already great writers. But I'm hoping this will make it to the right people.

Say Something that is both True and Beautiful.