Useful Websites for Young Writers...

I've used many websites when writing my stories, either for research, character or place names, adding little Easter eggs, sharing my work and many other things as well! Google is our friend so here is six probably very well-known websites I find handy and use regularly when writing. Hopefully they'll help you too!

http://nanowrimo.org/

I mentioned this website in my last post and they have tons of helpful tips on writing and the publishing industry as well as push you to write a novel in a month. You can meet loads of new writers in your area as well as across the world so I find this website helpful every November :)

http://babynames.merschat.com/

This is the name meaning website I use but there are so many out there. This one is useful because you can find the meaning of a name you already want to use, find names of a particular meaning, pick gender and origins and find out lots of information on names you can use throughout your stories.

http://translate.google.co.uk/

Any online translator will do but I use this one usually because of the range of languages it has. This is useful for the hidden Easter eggs I was talking about, weaving meaning into place names, surnames, magic spells or anything really!

http://www.creativewritingprompts.com/

 Looking for writing prompts? Then this site is perfect! It has loads of writing prompts that can get your mind racing for the next best-seller!

http://www.movellas.com/

This is a website aimed at young writers aged 13+ to gain feedback as well as spread constructive criticism. It's a great way to gain feedback on your work, with a helpful community that are your age to tell you tips on how to improve. It really improves your confidence and your skills when you get your first comment and with competitions to keep you motivated it's a really great place to get started. There are other websites out there as well, such as Wattpad, but I always come back to this site because of the amount of feedback you get quite quickly.

http://www.goodreads.com/

What better way to increase your writing skill then by reading? By reading as many books as possible through many genres, you can learn all the tricks of what works and what doesn't within those genres and work towards originality in your own stories. Here, you can post reviews and find recommendations on many books and they have giveaways and quizzes. It's a great reading community.



~White Ravens~
http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/10321725/white-ravens-writing

Character Questions 3...

   Sorry for the delay readers but I am finally getting to finish the character questions for you :) Here, I will be focusing on appearance and their futures, hopefully covering a lot on what you should do to help get to know your character completely.

Appearance:

Skin Colour:
Eye Colour:
Hair description: (long, short, brown, ginger etc.)
Build:
Height:
Face: (Thin, round etc.)
Do they resemble anyone?
Clothing Style:
Scars/birthmarks:

Present and Future:

   The character's present and future is just as important as their past. We'd have no story if you didn't look forward as well as at the now! ;)

Biggest Fear:
What they want most in the world:
Biggest lesson to learn in their life:
Personal Dreams:
Team Dreams (If they don't work alone):
Most important goal of their life's journey:
Hopes for the future:
Any secrets to keep?
Any secrets to be broken?
Friends/Enemies to be made:
Friends/Enemies to be lost:

   So, here are what I think are the most important questions to ask your characters to make them believable and develop through your story. Hopefully it'll be better than going through thousands of questions and prompts when all you want is the essentials :)


~White Ravens~

Walks for Inspiration and Writer's Block...

   On the same topic as my last post, inspiration has popped up again. I have recently started a new story (I know it's really bad of me since I've got so many ideas on the go at the minute ;) ) that I thought up whilst walking around Newstead Abbey, one of my favourite places to visit. It's so beautiful and peaceful that it's hard not to let your mind wander and pick up some new stories :)

   My new idea is fantasy and involves one of the most interesting and fearsome mythical beings; dragons. I've created some of the main characters and settings and I'm really excited because I actually really love these people and can't wait to write their story :)

   Another reason for this post is a way I used for this story when writer's block appeared quite early on. It's the bane of every writer but unfortunately most of us experience it from time to time. I wrote the first paragraph and then I was stuck already.

   Rather then just staring at the screen for hours or putting off writing for a while, I used a tip that I got not too long ago and that was to just write something you feel like writing. As long as you try and write a little everyday, it's OK to leave the first chapter halfway through and go onto the next. If you feel like you have a burning idea for that part of the story, go for it! You can always come back later and fill in the gaps when you feel more motivated to finish it.

   It's not a crime as long as you finish what you've started once you feel up to it. Another way this is helpful because you know how that chapter will lead onto the next easily by already writing it's end.

   So, if you hit writer's block, start a new small project, such as a poem or short story, and get inspired or write the next chapter whilst you wait for the first to unravel itself in your mind. :)

   I'm going to share another photo with you because creativity is in words and pictures and can be found everywhere :)

~White Ravens~
 

Character Questions 2...

   More questions for your character to answer. As I said before that personality is key in characters. Now we've got the basics down, we can carry on and get this character flowing.

Personality:

3 Best Traits:
3 Worst Traits:
Gifts/Talents (Music? Maths? Magic?):
Self-esteem rating:  /10
Confidence rating:  /10
Optimism rating:  /10
One thing they like about themselves:
One thing they hate about themselves:
How would they change themselves?
What is it that makes them a hero?
What is it that makes them a villain?
Favourite Past-times/hobbies:
Addictions:

Their Past:

 

   A character can't go forward as believable if they don't have a past. They can't develop without history, but you don't need to spend ages writing an extremely detailed biography. So, here are more quick questions on the past for them:


Biggest success:
Biggest failure:
One experience wish avoided:
Biggest lesson learned:
Education level and schooling:
Earliest Memory/Favourite memory:
Big Family/Friend fall outs:
Longest secret kept:
Any secrets broken?
Past relationships/friendships:
Childhood memories:
Any memorabilia collected?
Special training/skills gained:
Inheritance (In appearance or objects):

~White Ravens~

Character Trait Tips Part 3...

   Part 3 on tips for character building :)

   Showing and not telling is very important to keep your audience reading, but another thing you need to remember is that your character's personality is more important then their looks. You don't really need to go on about how the hero's love has a perfect muscular body, perfect fiery orange hair, perfect tanned skin blah blah blah... Just let their quirks come through.

   Use actions and dialogue to define your character not their looks. Where are they from? Do they have an accent? Can they not pronounce certain words? I know I couldn't say diagonally when I was younger and thought chimney was chimley ;) Does your character walk with a limb (or 'swag' ;D)?
Does he twitch his head when he smells something awful? Does he blink too often?

    All of this will make the character unique and appear real. Of course it's good to describe a little about the looks of characters, but only in small doses like 'I pulled a strand of blonde hair from my face' or 'My nose always seemed to get in the way of my sight' and stuff like that :)

   I hope that was interesting :) I've read lots of stories, including my own, that state a lot of things outright, resulting in a huge information overload on the reader. So, when re-reading that old draft, try showing and not telling every little detail and don't forget to let your character's quirks have the spotlight. :)

  Talking of back-stories, does your character have one? How about asking them some questions? Stay logged in for the next post on 'Character Questions' to help you :)

~White Ravens~

Character Questions 1...

   This, again, follows on from character trait tips, hopefully it will help your character develop though the whole story by creating a lot more to them then just a personality. :)

  Just like your reader, you need to get to know your characters. You have names, you have traits but you're missing something quite important. Your actual character.

   

     I find answering questions on the character helpful, but whenever I search for them on the internet, they all seem very long-winded and take more time to answer then writing the actual story! 

   Here is a small stack of what I feel are the most important questions that you will answer yourself through the eyes of your character, kind of like a profile or interview. These will help your character develop in their story as well as develop into someone real; someone you will love to write about.

    With these questions, you can learn everything you need to know about your character. Of course some aspects may change as your plot twists and turns, but it's good to get down a few ideas and answers to get you going. You don't want to be in full flow and then not have certain key information down that stops you.

   Here are the basic questions to start you off that should all be answered by the main character. If you want to answer them for some supporting characters too, then answer all or perhaps you might just want to answer only a few of the important questions. There is no need to answer any for background characters if you don't want to. ;) I've highlighted ones in bold which I think are the most important, but answer which ever ones you want of course. :)

Basic Questions:

Full Name:
Nickname:
Age:
Gender:
Date of Birth:
Place of Birth:
Where they live now:
Family:
Ethnic Background:
Religious Background:
Social Class Background: (Upper, Middle, Working...)
Race: (Are they human or a mythical creature)
Mannerisms (A habit):
Health Problems:
Way of Life/Occupation:
Close Friendships/Relationships:

  More questions on personality and appearance to follow. :)

~White Ravens~

Character Trait Tips Part 2...

  Here's the second part leading on from the traits you picked. It could also help with the whole story and not just characters :)

   Show and don't tell!

   Every writer must tell the reader something but many (including me) find it extremely difficult at times not to go into full-on describing mode. You must fight off the temptation to list all of your traits and back story.

   'Fred moans a lot and he is very clever and adventurous, but he was very stuck-up too.'

  Quite boring to read, yes? Let's try again showing and not telling:

   '"No. The Mathers' Waterfall was discovered on the 24th June 1292 by Henry Mathers not on the 25th." Fred moaned to Jo, looking down his nose at her. "I've climbed up there myself quite a few times on our family holidays. We could never stay here for longer than a month without going crazy."
Jo rolled her eyes as her mind started to drift.
"Oh please listen to me once in a while." He moaned again.'

  There; Fred has moaned a lot at Jo, talked about his adventures on holiday, shown off his cleverness and his dialogue and actions have shown how stuck-up he can be. Much more interesting! :)

   Short but sweet I hope :) More to come later.

   Remember, actions speak louder than words :)

~White Ravens~

Character Trait Tips Part 1...

  Hello again :) To carry on from my character naming, you can see that personality can influence the name a lot. Struggling to think of traits to make your character come to life? Well, look no further :)

 Here, I have put a list together of 100 traits for your characters (hopefully I haven't put some twice...). All you need to do is pick three numbers from 1 to 50 for 'good' traits and 51 to 100 for 'bad traits'. This will balance out your character and give them a varied personality. Obviously, you can add more traits for your character but, if you stick to these three, others will bloom as your character achieves more depth as the story progresses :)

   It's best to try and balance out 'good' and 'bad' traits within every one of your characters, otherwise you end up with a hero who's so bland and a great story pulled down by it's lead.

   You could take a trait and turn it into something that could be seen as 'good' or 'bad'. Like being too forgiving or too lively. Some traits could also fit into both categories, like being serious would be good in a work situation but not if they're at a party.

   Also, if you end up getting a 'good' trait as patient and then a 'bad' trait as impatient, you will have to choose another number since they will contradict each other. Unless you're character has a shifting personality due to eating something awful from another planet... (Carrots are best left alone...)

   I've left some open ended, such as flexible, which could be in mind or in body. Enjoy :)

  So, the 'good' traits:

1. Adventurous
2. Ambitious
3. Attentive
4. Brave
5. Calm
6. Caring
7. Cheerful
8. Confident
9. Creative
10. Curious
11. Determined
12. Devoted
13. Easy-going
14. Enthusiastic
15. Excitable
16. Flexible
17. Forgiving
18. Good leader
19. Good listener
20. Grateful
21. Hard-working
22. Honest
23. Hopeful
24. Intelligent
25. Kind
26. Lively
27. Loving
28. Loyal
29. Lucky
30. Mature
31. Obedient
32. Open-minded
33. Optimistic
34. Passionate
35. Patient
36. Peaceful
37. Polite
38. Protective
39. Quick
40. Resourceful
41. Responsible
42. Romantic
43. Sensitive
44. Sociable
45. Spirited
46. Studious
47. Thoughtful
48. Understanding
49. Wise
50. Witty

 

And the 'bad' traits: 

51. Aggressive
52. Angry
53. Argumentative
54. Bossy
55. Careless
56. Cautious
57. Childish
58. Close-minded
59. Clumsy
60. Confused
61. Coward
62. Crazy
63. Cruel
64. Daunting
65. Dishonest
66. Doubtful
67. Fierce
68. Foolish
69. Gives up easily
70. Gloomy
71. Greedy
72. Green
73. Guilty
74. Hateful
75. Hopeless
76. Indecisive
77. Jealous
78. Lazy
79. Lonely
80. Loud-mouth
81. Mean
82. Messy
83. Mischievous
84. Moans a lot
85. Nosey
86. Over-protective
87. Pessimistic
88. Rough
89. Self-centred
90. Selfish
91. Shy
92. Sly
93. Sore-loser
94. Stubborn
95. Stuck-up
96. Stupid
97. Thoughtless
98. Unforgiving
99. Unsocial
100. Workaholic

   I hope there's enough for you and a variation :) They're might be a couple of strange one's in there since I was writing this late, but they will certainly make your character very unique. Have fun


 ~White Ravens~

P.S. Another post will follow on from this one on how to get these traits across in your writing :)

Thinking of Character Names Part 5...

   The final part of Thinking of Character Names :) I hope you've found the tips slightly helpful at least :)

5. Use Names on Signs, Benches, Buildings, etc.

   Everywhere in the world today must be labelled to point us all in the right direction, so use that for inspiration. This is a very simple way of thinking up names and can just make something click inside your mind.

   Road signs are often named after people as well buildings, so take those for inspiration. If you live on Greenwood road, then your character's last name could be Greenwood. If your school's called Abbey Hill, then Abby Hill is a great name.

   I saw that someone used dedications on benches and trees and memorials for inspiration. I think that this is a lovely way of keeping alive the memory of that person who it is dedicated too.

   This is so simple and easy for all of you to do since all you have to do is look around. Look at the posters and pictures on your wall; the maps of the tube line; the seats in a park. Even looking at your cereal box in the morning! Names can pop up from anywhere.

   Easy peasy lemon squeezy ;)

   And that concludes my tips on character naming :)


  So, to review, here are my tips for naming characters:

1. Use Name Meaning Websites and Books

2. Use a Translator

3. Use the Names of People Close to you or Famous People

4. Use the Names of Objects, Flowers, Animals etc.

5. Use Names on Signs, Benches, Buildings, etc.

    These past 5 parts are great ways for me to think up character names, so hopefully they are useful to you too. Anyone can do it just by stepping out their front door. Actually, you don't even need to do that but just by looking out the window you'll see something that sets your mind off ticking. I hope I've carried out a wide-spread of tips that most people would find helpful but, if you do something else, comment and tell us all :) You might spark off inspiration for the next best-selling author ;)

Thinking of Character Names Part 4...

   Once again, the second to last chapter of my tips for naming characters. :)

4. Use the Names of Objects, Flowers, Animals etc.

 

   Of course you wouldn't name your main character Chair or Zebra, but you could always base them on that. This is a more difficult way of naming characters because you'll think up new names but you must be able to pronounce them easily as well as make sure it fits. If you can't say the name, then the reader's stumbling will interrupt their flow.

   Flowers are an easy way to go for basing character names. They're mostly used for females, but you could find ones that work for males to. Take Valerian for example, the masculine version of Valerie and a herb. I also think that this is good for fantasy stories but could work with any other genres as well.

   Though some flowers are worth avoiding. Like Daisy and Lily for a cute innocent girl is used a lot and Rose for the beautiful stranger but how about mixing a name that may not fit the personality... Nature is perfect for inspiration

   With animals, birds are a good way to go, like Raven and Robin and Phoenix. You could also use names that mean animals, like Rachel means Ewe and Tiger, well, means tiger...

   If your new name is difficult to pronounce but you really want to use it, then try using a nickname or shorten it for your characters and only use their full name a few times, so the reader rarely has to try and figure out how to say it in their heads :)

  Just look around you when you're outside then the names will come to you. :)

~White Ravens~

Thinking of Character Names Part 3...

   Another quick tip for character naming :) I hope you've thought up some interesting names with these tips :)

3a. Use the Names of People Close to you: 

 

   The simplest way to name characters is using family and friends names. They could reflect their character's personality and relationships or you could just like the name and allocate a character.

   If your Mum's name is Jane, then so could your main character's Mother. Or, you could name a very protective and loving character Jane. You could call a boat the heroes are travelling on 'The Jane' or just find a person who acts just like your own Mum and call her Jane.

   The opportunities are endless with this tip and you could name your whole cast and crew after people you know and love. This gives you someone to base your characters on, typical names if your story is set in modern-day and an endless list of names to choose from.

   I'm sure people will be very touched that your best-selling novels include them as the heroes and you can tell the bully what you really think if you use them as the villain!

3b. Use Famous People:

 

  This is also another small tip, but must be used carefully

   You could also use famous people as inspiration, but it's best not to call the character their full name exactly unless the character's parents were obsessive fans. If the character's Mother loved Twilight so called her daughter Bella Swan, it would have to fit the story or plot in some way.

   Here's the tricky part. The person that you use will be known to many and already exists so using their name could cause confusion with readers. It's best to keep this as a reserve or use sparingly as a tribute to a personal inspiration.

   Loosely basing the name on someone famous is perfect. For example, there's already been a Leonardo Da Vinci, the famous painter, inventor and all round clever guy, and I had a clever character in need of a name, so Leo was born. Leo also means 'like a lion', so connotes he will be brave too. Inspiration is everywhere so how about watching out for your favourite celebrities every now and again?

~White Ravens~

Thinking of Character Names Part 2...

Hello again :) Another tip for thinking of character names for you. :) Translators are another good way to go:

2. Use a Translator:

 

  Whilst not the best for long passages for French essays, just think of a trait for your character or part of their history and translate it to think of an unusual first name or unique last name. Like if a character is a copycat of everyone without their own thoughts, then translate something like 'Clone' into another language such as Italian or Danish.

   Take Professor Lupin from J.K. Rowling's 'Harry Potter'. Many of you may already know that 'Lupin' is derived from 'Lupus', the latin for wolf. This indicates his darker side on a full moon. Also, Voldemort literally translates to 'Flight of Death' in French and this murderous character lives up to his name. J.K. Rowling thinks up so many amazing names that fit her characters perfectly as well as creating the most wonderful, magical world of all time! (Can you tell I'm a Potterhead ;) )


   Another fun way I use a translator for is to create a hidden message behind the character through their full name.

   For example, take the main character from my story 'Everto'. Her name is 'Ena
Intenebris'. I used a name meaning website to find 'Ena', which means 'bright and shining', and then a translator to combine 'in ténebris', which means 'in the dark', to create 'Ena Intenebris' - 'Bright and shining in the dark.' This leads on to different possibilities in the rest of the plot and the all important prophecy. Most people might not notice this but it's fun to add a little back story to a name that only you know.

   However, with this way you run the risk of translating wrong, but it's not much of a problem if you gain an interesting name from it :) 

  Another part in this series of tips up and running :) I hope they've been useful but there's three more to come if you're looking for something else :)

~White Ravens~

Thinking of Character Names... :)

  I find this one of the most interesting parts of planning a new story. There are many ways to go about finding the perfect name for your heroes, villains, background characters etc. but if you're struggling, here are a few tips that help me :) I will post five in total so keep watching for more:

1. Use Name Meaning Websites and Books:

 

  This is probably one of the more obvious ways of naming your characters. There are so many useful websites all over the interweb waiting to be found as well as baby naming books in the shops and libraries. Just think of the main trait of your character or the main aim in their lives and find a suitable name that fits that meaning.

    You could go for a really simple trait, like one of my characters is extremely clever, so I typed in 'clever' to a name meaning website and it came up with a huge list. My eyes fell upon Cassidy and that's my character's name. :) Simples!

   Or perhaps you could use an aim of your character. Sofiel is a young boy who wants to protect nature, so I searched a name that meant something along the lines of 'Nature's Guardian' and Sofiel meant 'Angel of Nature'. Perfect :)

  On the other hand, you could type in a name you fancy, find out the meaning and then allocate a relevant character. For example, I love the name Brianna so I wanted to call a character that and up pops the sidekick to another story again. Brianna means 'Strong one' so perfect for a girl who has been through a lot but keeps on going for her friends and future.

  It's really easy and there are so many sources for you to use. Many websites and books give you snap shot meaning as well as detailed history, the name's popularity, origin and other useful information.

   This is the first tip so stay tuned for another one soon :)

   ~White Ravens~