Writing On Mondays

Every adventure tale needs a character to complement the main. It’s the best way to highlight the qualities of the other character (mainly the protagonist.)

Don’t mix this up with juxtaposing. We see that more of comparing or contrasting any two things. Today, we’re focusing on the art of foiling.

If you have a main character who is your pride and joy, one you have taken under your wing and have promised to protect at all costs, then you probably want your readers to think the same thing, no? Create a foil. A foil is meant to be a character who completes the main character, if used correctly. The foil could be that of the ‘ideal’ character, one who has great qualities your MC lacks. If this happens, you may want the foil to get kicked out for some reason, or killed off; everyone loves a good tragic death!

Your MC may need a foil to help further or thicken the plot. So, draft one up and see the endless possibilities of plots and subplots you could have! It could even help develop your MC’s character development.

Pick any door that has opened up! We promise it may help make your character even more lovable!

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We Cracked The Case

We can officially say we cracked the case of the werewolves in London. The ‘American’ Werewolf in London existed and we have all of the information below. 😉


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Black Shuck | England

“Ghostly black dog whose direct gaze dooms you to death within a year.”

Basic Facts:

  • This dog could either have red or green eyes. Or a single eye in the middle of its forehead. It’s also been recorded the dog could be headless…but how would it gaze at you and curse you to death…?
  • It can vary in size: from a large dog to the size of a horse.
  • To make matters worse, the black shuck could float on a carpet of mist.
  • You’ll find this demon dog haunting East Anglia, in one of these areas: the coastline, graveyards, side roads, crossroads, bodies of water and dark forests.
  • Don’t worry though, unlike the other creatures on our list, this dog can also be very friendly and a protector to some.

Under The Wrong Impression

I always thought a basilisk was some sort of reptile, human thing. Never in a million years did I think I would expose myself to some very confusing legend to turn my brain to mush!


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Basilisk | British Isles

“Winged, cockerel-headed reptile that murders with a single glance.”

Basic Facts:

  • A chicken’s head…a dragon’s set of wings…a long serpent’s tail…That’s what nightmares are made out of. Ew!
  • Although they sound gross and scary, the basilisk can actually be as tiny as 6 inches. That’s small. Mushu-small.
  • These little creatures can kill in five different ways: a gaze, its breathe, venom, its hissor simply touching it.
  • If you ever found yourself in trouble with a basilisk, there’s only one way to save yourself…and that’s with a mirror.
  • It’s more commonly known as a basilisk, but sometimes you’ll hear the name ‘cockatrice’…they’re the same thing!

Watch Like A Hawk

One way to help with writer’s block is to observe and write. This exercise can help beat the slump in your own story by examining and writing a paragraph or two about something going on around you. It can also help to reflect a natural flow of events in a narrator’s point of view if you’re stuck. If want to give observational writing a try, follow along with us to learn about how to execute this way of writing effectively.

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First, pick your topic. Whether it is something you’re comfortable with or if you want to challenge yourself, pick a destination where you can travel to and sit with your notebook in hand. Your goal is to watch and write. The   world has so much to offer your writing abilities.

Second thing to keep in mind is choosing your writing tense. The most common way to write an observation is through the present tense. The present tense makes it easier to keep up with the flow of events as they happen. You may not be able to catch every word someone says in conversation but you may be able to see their mannerisms in conjunction with being alone, interacting with familiar faces, or meeting new people.

The third and more obvious tactic while observing is keeping an eye on crucial details. Every writer knows detail can be your best friend and worst enemy all at the same time. In observational writing, it will be your best friend. Without detail being described in the moment you are watching your future reader won’t be compelled to sit down with you. They’ll feel like that person walking by a window to a store, peering in quickly but still passing by; they won’t see the details you’ve managed to capture because you didn’t take their hand and lead the way into your point of view.

Going off of the details aspect, a fourth idea to keep in mind while writing should be utilizing your senses. We mentioned the importance of details but incorporating your five senses may entice the reader to feel like they’re sitting right there with you even more.

The fifth and last on our list (but certainly not the least) is bringing back some old high school creative writing techniques: comparative techniques. Comparisons, simile,s and metaphors are just some ways to mirror and describe the events unfolding before you. This helps more types of readers become involved in your writing. It definitely does not hurt to revisit your old creative writing class from high school or college to refresh your brain a bit. Hm, that sounds like a future ‘Back to the Basics’ post!

Man Crush Monday

gatsby.gifBack in my high school English classes, one of the only books I read from cover to cover was the story of Jay Gatsby. The Great Gatsby.

He was the most alluring character, shrouded in mystery and living hopelessly in love. To this day, The Great Gatsby remains one of my favorite novels due to the way Fitzgerald used Nick as the narrator. But I really just love the book for Jay and that’s all I needed to cure my Monday blues.

Do you have a unreal crush on a literary character? Who is it!

That Awkward Moment When…

michael scott.gifEvery writer has an awkward moment. Whether it comes to them in the art of writing their poem, short story, novel, or thinking about their next project. It’s always good to be reminded that you’re never alone in your writing endeavors. Here are my five favorite awkward moments, inspired by some Tumblr posts:

  • Writing until 3 am
    This incident is Dangerous with a capital ‘d.’ Some people are prosperous (and courageous) enough to quit their day job to become a fulltime writer. Some people haven’t gotten there yet and instead set aside an hour or two every night to dedicate to their WIP (work in progress). Sometimes, those people lose track of time and end up writing a lot later than expected, spending much longer on their computer, feeling their eyes grow heavy and their brains turn to mush. Then when that person is actually coherent and looks back on their so-called “progress,” they realize they wrote a bunch of nonsense for six hours. I feel as though that would make a good book in itself: collecting the sleep-deprived rambles of one person and calling it The Sleep-Deprived Rambles of the Working Person: A Collection.
  • Clearing Internet History
    The internet is a broad and informative world. This world teaches us much more than 10th grade algebra and that one biology course in college we are required to take and pass with at least a ‘C’ average. The internet becomes a writer’s best friend to help teach and inform them of things they don’t know about. Things such as different ways blood spatter occurs, the blueprints of the Pentagon, or how much rain falls during Monsoon season. Writers want accurate portrayals of concepts they aren’t informed about, but I one question for you: have you cleared your internet history yet? Because Big Brother is watching and he knows you Googled how to break into a government-owned building last night.
  • Drinking Your Choice of Poison
    Coming across a writer who chooses to drink and write is always a fun time. Just ask them. Similar to writing when exhausted, writing while slightly intoxicated can spring ideas into writing some never thought imaginable. We’ve talked about what to drink while reading on this blog previously but never have we thought about talking about writing and drinking. That’s crazy talk. Writing and drinking could be amusing, only if done responsibly – so why not try it out and check in the following morning to see what drunk you had to say about the plot.
  • Doubting the ability to spell
    It’s happened to all of us at least six or seven times. Writing the same word over and over and over and over again triggers something in the writer’s brain where that word starts to look wrong. Having a dictionary on hand or on the computer is always necessary in instances like this. It becomes even funnier when the person reaches out to a friend or their editor and says, “Hey, I think I’m spelling ‘please’ wrong, can you double check this paragraph so I can keep going?” only to hear, “Why are you spelling it ‘pleese’ or ‘puhleese’ or in 100 different incorrect ways?”
  • Writing about how to cure writer’s block
    We do our best to help those trying to overcome their latest bout of writer’s block. From writing about tips from other authors to simple words that can be used in texts, we try to cover it all. Even on social media, we often share a captivating prompt or two that we find could be helpful in at least getting a writer back on their computers and typing away. So, we know some writers are familiar with that awkward moment where they sit down with their drink in hand and fingers ready to type…and end up not being able to produce anything at all. Not even a single word. Then they spend their allotted hours on Googling ‘how to cure writer’s block’ as if there was a medicine or natural remedy on WebMD or something.

Back to Basics: Exclamation Point

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The best way to emphasize emotion in dialogue is to throw one or two (or 800) exclamation points into your manuscript or text. All joking aside, you realistically only want to use this point in moderation. Using too much of a good thing becomes dramatic and we want your writing to create the drama, not the punctuation.  It’s always good to know when to use this magical point that effortlessly invokes emotion in the person speaking and in the reaction from the receiver:

  • At the end of a sentence:
    It should never be followed by a period or question mark. Some, if not most, writers use the question mark paired with the exclamation point to bring light to an exclamatory question. We hate to burst your bubble on this one, but you only need one or the other.
  • In the middle of a sentence:
    As always, if a quotation ends in an exclamatory manner, I know I would usually throw in a comma to continue the sentence. Lo and behold, the comma is not necessary in this situation.
  • As a part of a titled work:
    Use the comma when the title of a book is yelling at you…this is the only time!

This week’s lesson is short and sweet and straight to the point, but wait… there’s more (or there was more)! Did you know there is a punctuation mark combining the question mark and the exclamation point? It’s called an interrobang. The interrobang came and went as quickly as you turn the page of your favorite novel, but sometimes we think we should bring it back!

Concrete Is The Best Foundation

Wislawa Szymborska:

“You’ve managed to squeeze more lofty words into three shorts poems than most poets manage in a lifetime: ‘Fatherland,’ ‘truth,’ ‘freedom,’ ‘justice’: such words don’t come cheap. Real blood flows in them, which can’t be counterfeited with ink.”