Tag: writing tips

Writing Tip #5 – Make a Map

Posted on by possumpaperworks
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Howdy! In this week’s writing rodeo, we’re looking at how to make a map (or floor plans) of your world’s central location, and how to use that map to inspire you!

Writing Tip #5 – Make a Map!

I love architecture. Seriously. In the past, I’ve spent hours and hours on building floor plans and 3D models of the buildings in my stories. I lose myself in the design of houses faster than in my actual writing. I’ve taken lots of time making accurate renditions of Victorian styles and floor plans, designing windows from scratch, and doing all other sorts of nonsense in the supposed name of writing.

But–making those houses and other places has done wonders for my ability to visualize the settings of my stories. I can vividly imagine the outsides and insides of the buildings my character live, work, and love in. And that makes my writing stronger.

floor plan and 3d model of the red sky inn
One of my recent works-in-progress, of a Colorado lodge. Some of the downstairs interior is still empty, but the lobby is full and very helpful in plotting character’s movements.

I work almost exclusively with floor plans and models like the ones above because that’s what I love doing. I don’t tend to design full geographical maps unless I feel lost in my own world. Most of my writing is set on modern Earth, though, so I usually don’t have to worry about what other planets look like.

You, on the other hand, might need to know where that old ice floe is on your world, or where to find the forest the elves hide out in as well as how to describe the layout of the mother-in-law’s split-level condo. That’s where maps come in!

Why you should make a map (or two or three)

Maps are fun! Okay, yes, as previously noted I have a bias towards thinking that. I’m a visual person, and I enjoy creating a collection of images for my stories, both in my mind and on my computer.

Maps can help you visualize the actions of your character,  because they give you directions and features that you can include in your writing and make your descriptions stronger.

Take a witty monologue delivered in a tavern before a brawl. Where’s your character standing? What can they grab and shake for emphasis? Where’s the bar, with its noisy clanking of glasses? How many people can fit into the room to laugh/fight with them? Where’s the table that they fight the villain on? That’s the sort of thing a nice floor plan or 3D model can show you.

Maps also can give you a solid reference point for locations (as in, do their job). That’s handy if you want to make sure you’re describing directions the same way twice. Don’t want to forget where that one geographical feature was? A map can make sure that mountain doesn’t move!

Helpful types of maps

Depending on the needs of the story you’re writing, a multitude of different kinds of maps could help you figure out your setting.

Some possibilities:

  • Map of the solar system
  • Map of the entire planet
  • Borders/features of the continent/land mass
  • Map of the town/city/rural hamlet/cave system
  • Plot of the property grounds
  • Floor plans of the building
  • Floor plans of a single room
  • Schematics of the spaceship

Some maps won’t make much sense for certain universes — a handmade map of the planet or continent probably won’t help if you set your story on modern Earth, but they’d help immensely in planning a sci-fi outer rim world or in plotting the contentious borders in a dystopian society.

Of course, you control what maps you make and the detail you put into each one. You can plot every tiny nook and cranny in your mountain, or draw a vague square and call it a house.

It can help to know a little about building design, but an internet search can provide quick basic designs if you don’t look at old floor-plan catalogs for fun. Like me. I do that.

Same goes for planets and such. No need to be a geologist. Just make something up!

There’s no rules here. Remember, it’s your story, your map. See what works for you and roll with it!

Ways to make maps

If you’re handy with pencil and paper, sketch that world out! I think this is pretty self-explanatory, really. Since it’s your map, it doesn’t matter if you “can’t ” draw. Random shapes and labels can provide all the reference material you need for yourself.

If you don’t like drawing, don’t worry. Tons of online generators exist so that you don’t have to rely on artistic skills.

Roll For Fantasy has a Town creator, a Map creator, a Blueprint creator, and dozens of other simple but useful tools. Donjon has similar tools that require little effort and give randomized results, if you need something fast and easy. Tiffany Munro made a huge list of free fantasy-based creators as well.

Interior design software can also help. Some free browser-based options: Planner5d,  HomeByMe, SweetHome3D, and Homestyler all have high praise. Design apps abound for your phones and tablets as well. The software I use, LiveInterior3D, I bought, only for the company to come out with a fresh rebranded software right after. Sigh.

a floor plan of a bar
An old design of a bar that provided a reference for a major setting of one story, made in LiveInterior3D.

Whatever you use, don’t stress about it. If making the map makes you feel overwhelmed, back off. Many stories will do just fine without you plotting the world graphically. Remember, it’s supposed to help, not hurt!

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Other writing tips can be found here.

Need a place to put your writing? Check out my line of notebooks on Etsy!

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Writing Tip #4 – Using the Myers-Briggs Test

Posted on by possumpaperworks
notebook the myers briggs test

Hey there! Today I’m talking about using the Myers-Briggs test in your writing. Personality tests can be both fun and enlightening as inspiration for characters. When used with caution.

Writing Tip #4 – Use the Myers-Briggs Test For Characterization

Katherine Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers created the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) in the 1940s as a way to indicate personality types based on Carl Jung’s archetypes. The test has since been used extensively in the business and educational worlds, but does not have any true scientific background. It’s basically just a fancy Buzzfeed quiz. Which, hey, use those for characterization too, if you want.

I’m not a huge fan of using the MBTI for definitively classifying people, real or not.  Unless you find comfort in categorization, I recommend caution with any test that declares you as a specific type of anything. People are more fluid than binary types give us credit for.

That said, the MBTI can offer valuable new insights to your characters.

Take the test as your character

No, not as yourself (unless you really want to – I’ll get to that).

Get into your character’s head. Answer all the questions as though you are your character. Consider both what you know about them and what you don’t.

Simply trying to determine the difference between what your character thinks of themself versus who they really are can reveal a lot.

Do your best, but don’t worry if you make up answers on the fly. That’s part of the process. If you want, take the test more than once for a character. See what changes.

Once you take one version of the test enough times, you’ll start to figure out what answers lead to what results. I recommend using multiple different sites to avoid that. Two free options are here and here.

Analyze the answers AND the results

Inspiration can hit while you’re taking the test. Maybe you’ve never thought about how your character interacts with other people. Maybe you haven’t considered whether or not your character is willing to cry in front of people.

I found out one of my characters is 100% in favor of getting revenge when people anger her. That surprised me. I don’t know what to do with that fact yet. I’m a little scared, but in a good way.

If you’re working with a newer character, the 4-letter type given at the end can help you develop the character on surface levels.

Does the character need a job? See what professions their type does best in. Not sure what their love life looks like? Take the test for their partner(s) too and look for charts that compare the relationships of those types.

Similarly, the MBTI can show you where you need to develop your character better. If there were questions you doubted the answers on, ask yourself why.

What part of your character’s background have you missed considering? Does this character lie to themself about a part of their personality to look or feel better?

Don’t be afraid to dig deep into the type. I personally enjoy comparing my character’s type to those of real famous people and other fictional characters.

Compare to yourself (optional)

While I don’t recommend using the test for yourself, having a general sense of how the test would categorize you can be interesting to compare to your characters. It also can help you look for ways to make sure your characters don’t all sound like slight variations of you.

My characters have a definite tendency towards certain MBTI traits. Generally, I make “intuitive” and “feeling” characters, both of which I consistently test as.

Two results from me testing two different characters. The second is the same type as me. (Images from 16 Personalities)

I forced myself to play around with the answers on other tests, reminding myself that what I consider the right answer might not be the same as my character. Easier said than done, for sure.

Remember, nothing is binary

I took the Myers-Briggs test multiple times for one of my characters because the first results didn’t feel right. I’m still not satisfied with the results. There are little things that feel off, that a different profile result might resolve.

I’m forcing myself to stop trying to get the perfect type, though. Simply taking the test has made me consider that character’s background and personality more. I’ve discovered things he struggles with, and determined why.

Before taking the MBTI for him, I thought I knew him pretty well. It turned out I still have a lot more to learn.

Just like people, the best characters are complex. The MBTI can’t magically create the perfect character for you, nor can it tell you everything about that character.

Mostly, like any personality quiz, it’ll just make you consider new things.

And isn’t that the goal of any writing?

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Other writing tips can be found here.

Need a place to put your writing? Check out my line of notebooks on Etsy!

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Writing Tip #3 – When To Not Take Advice

Posted on by possumpaperworks
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Welcome to the Possum Paper Works Writing Tip Rodeo! Today I’m looking at something very important – when to NOT take advice about how to write. Specifically, I’m acknowledging my own fallibility in running this rodeo.

Writing Tip #3 – When to Not Take Advice

A disclaimer I should have included about this series a while ago: I’m an amateur writer. I’m not published and I don’t have a degree in English. I cannot solve all of your writing issues, because I can’t always solve my own. I am human and thus imperfect. Nonetheless, I love writing, I love learning more about writing, and I love sharing what I do know.

"beware of advice--even this" carl sandburg

Why I’m writing these tips

I believe that anyone who has a story to tell should have the tools to share that story. Every little bit of knowledge I’ve accumulated about writing has the potential to help you build your own toolkit.

I don’t expect to teach you everything you need to know about writing, and I’d hope you don’t expect me to. What I want you to get from my advice is exactly what the label reads: writing tips.

What I share are snippets of information I’ve learned to help you figure out how you write the best; how you can tell your own stories. I want to share what I can to help you improve. There’s no need for poorly-written stories to exist when good ones could take their place.

As Mr. Sandburg’s advice shows, even this week’s tip (and every tip of mine) should be taken with caution. Remember, I’m a proud amateur.

Ask yourself: does the advice work for you?

As I write this, I’m procrastinating on working on a different project. Recently I’ve been trying to write at least 500 words a day in one specific work. Many guides to writing suggest writing much more than that a day.

I’ve found that I often can’t. Between being a student, running a business, and the distractions of everyday life, 500 already can be a stretch. Some days I can write 1000 or more, but trying something like the 1700 daily words of NaNoWriMo? Forget it. I think I’ve done that once.

I share tips and tricks that have worked for me in some way. My previous tip about using music for inspiration might seem obvious to most creative people, but not everyone. After all, everyone finds inspiration in their own ways. That’s what makes our stories unique and interesting.

Keeping that in mind, you have to find the things that work for you. Not what worked for your favorite author or your best friend. For you and you alone.

Maybe you write best at three in the morning. I’m not awake then, much less writing. If you find a tip that tells you to write first thing when you wake up, that’s probably not advice you want to take.

Perhaps that seems like common sense to you. Again, though, I find it’s important to remind both myself and other writers that not everyone follows the same rules and that’s okay.

Feel free to experiment with rules and advice

Don’t pressure yourself to always follow the rules you’re given. If someone tells you that there’s only one way to write, acknowledge their point, and write a completely different way.

Play with how you write dialogue. James Joyce and David Mamet both did so to great effect. See how many adverbs you can cram into your sentences and then cut out every single one.  Imitate the styles of Ernest Hemingway and Virginia Woolf both, at one time even.

Yeah, there are rules in writing. Some of them are there to help the readers make better sense of what you’re saying. It’s not a bad idea to learn those rules. But don’t feel obliged to follow any of them.  Imagine how many classic works of literature and poetry would never have been written if the authors followed the established rules!

Consider who’s giving the advice

Are you getting tips from a professional writer or an amateur? Someone who writes for a living or for the story? A blog or a book?

Don’t think for a second any one of those sources is inherently better than another.

There are amateurs with better instincts than bestselling authors, with tips better for your style than any pro. If you’re writing something to sell it, the people who make a profit are likely to have more relevant tips than writers who write for the sake of the art. Books are just as likely to be filled with nonsense as a stranger on the internet, or with gold.

This is akin to any basic fact-checking procedure for research. Know the background of who you take advice from. Look them up on the internet beyond their own page. See if what they write is similar to what you want to, or if they themselves are similar.

If anything about the person or the suggestion doesn’t feel right for your style, personality, or even politics, consider rethinking the advice. That doesn’t mean you have to ignore the advice, but it does mean you don’t have to beat yourself up for not following everything they said to the letter.

Remember, you can always use advice in your own way. It’s your life and your writing.

Above all, don’t stop writing and learning.

No matter what people tell you about how to write, don’t stop writing. If someone’s advice is to not write, ignore that advice. If someone promises the end-all be-all guide to writing, take their tips, understand what you can, and learn more.

Writing is freedom. Creativity in any form gives you the ability to share the worlds and lives in your head and the things you love. The best advice is the kind that comes from that same place love, of sharing, of improving, and of learning.

Not all advice is equal. People can tell you whatever they want to. Just remember that only you can choose what knowledge you take to heart.

And never, ever, stop listening and learning.

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Writing Tip #2 – Inspiration From Music

Posted on by possumpaperworks
notebook writing tip 2 taking inspiration from music possum paper works

Welcome to the Possum Paper Works Writing Tip Rodeo. Today I’m discussing how I take inspiration from music in my writing, and how you can do the same!

Writing Tip #2 – Taking Inspiration from Music

I love music. I always have and always will. When I can’t find the words to write, turning on the right music almost always helps get me started.

Sometimes I make connections between the music and a specific set of scenes. Sometimes I have songs that are distinctive to certain characters. Regardless of the situation, it’s rare for me to work on a project and not find music that inspires my writing.

If you’re looking for an easy way to find a little inspiration, use music!

“I would say that music is the easiest means in which to express, but since words are my talent, I must try to express clumsily in words what the pure music would have done better.”

The Right Music

For me, the “right music” varies greatly from project to project. For example, “Only The Good Die Young” never fails to remind me of a set of my characters, specifically a gay Catholic cop from Virginia who loves Billy Joel. Often the song reminds me of his friends loudly singing that song at his wedding.

Similarly, pretty much any Hozier song makes me start to picture a different character. “Work Song” especially puts images in my mind instantly of that character dancing. The scene inspired by those images actually became an important part of the plot once I considered it.

There are also songs that I associate with more general plots and relationships rather than specific scenes or characters. Those songs might never appear in the story, but still provide me with the perfect mood to write. Turning them on instantly begs me to return to the worlds of certain characters.

The right music will be different for you too. Don’t limit yourself to what you think should be the right song. If you’re into crunchy remixes of video game tracks, use those! If you like rare 1920s recordings, go for it! What music you like will make your writing as unique as you are.

Using music for inspiration

Chances are you have songs that you love and that already inspire you to write. That’s great, if so! If not, don’t despair.

An easy way to find music that suits your writing is just to listen to your collection. The genre doesn’t matter. It may help to listen to songs with lyrics, but if you prefer music without words you can listen for other aspects of the song! A cheerful piece might make you think of a scene of frolicking in the springtime, while a dark and deep song might pull you to investigating the forest at night.

The main thing to do is listen to the music with your mind active. Find the phrases, lyrical or musical, that evoke something in you. Research the musicians involved. Listen, don’t just hear. Be a part of the music.

If you’re looking for a fresh idea, lose yourself to the music. See what you find in the ebb and flow of the chords or the ramblings of the singer.

If you want to expand on a world you already know a bit about, see what connections you make from the song to your world. What do the lyrics say about your characters? What does the beat say about your plot?

There’s not one right or wrong way to incorporate music into your writing, so don’t hold back. Find out what feels best for your work and embrace it!

Using artwork also works!

Not the musical type? Find a piece of visual art you love! How you find inspiration from the work is similar to with music, just with colors, subjects, or moods instead of lyrics and chords.

Art museum websites are great for this. Most have searchable databases of their pieces. MoMA, The Met, and my hometown VMFA all have great collections with photos online. Check out your local galleries and museums too! You never know where you might find art you connect with.

Do this now!

1. Listen to 5 songs you like, stopping if you find the perfect song before you finish all 5.

2. Analyze the song that speaks to you the most at this exact moment. You don’t need to understand music to do this. Just find what resonates with you the deepest.

3. Connect the lyrics, musical language, or tone from one song to your characters, plot, theme, or whatever feels best.

4. Using that song, see what other connections you can make. Build some of those connections on the spot. That reference to the songwriter’s heartbreak in the rain? Fit that into your own story somehow. That springy march of the drums? Put that beat into your character’s steps. Get as weird as you want. It’s your story!

To alter this exercise for art, pick only one or two art pieces you like to start with but follow the same basic procedure.

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Other writing tips can be found here.

Need a place to put your writing? Check out my line of notebooks on Etsy!

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