Dragons & Invisible Ink

Tag: how to be a writer

• How to Forge a Signature

  Posted at 6:14 pm by WhitneyCarter

  Mar 5th
  
  

  Don’t get too excited. I’m not posting this to help you get out of showing your mom your report card or anything like that. This, and other articles to follow, are aimed at teaching myself, and you guys by proxy, how to take a more hands-on approach to the things we write about. The old adage “write what you know” is a solid one because you write more convincingly when you know what you’re about—and if you don’t know something, take that step and learn it.

  Forging a signature is all about confidence, so says Neal Caffrey from USA Network’s White Collar, Continue reading →
  Posted in writing articles | Tagged fantasy writing, fiction writing, hands on writing, how to be a writer, how to forge a signature, how to write, how to write what you know, Neal Caffrey, signatures, White Collar, write what you know, writing

• WorldBuilding: How to Create a City

  Posted at 7:38 pm by WhitneyCarter

  Oct 20th
  
  

  Or a town, or a village really. I suppose this article should be titled how to structure any kind of populated area. What you call it depends on the size and how the locals identify themselves. I like writing travel stories along the lines of “a boy leaves home…” so each story usually contains several villages. If your character is just passing through, it’s acceptable to do a broad stroke of the place’s highlights, but spend any time there, and you’re going to want more detail.

  For instance, Xoe, the heroine in my work-in-progress of a novel, calls the capital city home. She resides within the seat of the region, a huge castle-like structure with an assortment of accessory places, at least in the winter. There’s another capital location for the summer months. The main castle though has always been labeled with broad terms in my head—big, sprawling, all-encompassing—but it’s never been drawn out, or laid to paper in any way. This morning I set out to change that.

  • Starting to sketch Continue reading →
  Posted in writing articles | Tagged fantasy writing, fiction writing, how to be a writer, how to create a city, how to write, how to write a city, how to write fantasy, tips for writing a city, worldbuilding, writing

• Writer vs. Editor

  Posted at 8:30 pm by WhitneyCarter

  Apr 1st
  
  

  Editor Whitney: (adjusting glasses) So, Writer Whitney, it’s been a while since you’ve given me anything to work with here.

  Writer Whitney: (distracted) It’s been a busy few months.

  Editor Whitney: It certainly has—so where’s the boom of stories and ideas that is supposed to follow new-ness around?

  Writer Whitney: Um… Well, see, the thing is… I’ve been writing in more of an… Abstract sense?

  Editor Whitney: (Glares) Translation—not at all.

  Writer Whitney: That’s so not true! I’ve been writing plenty! (looks apologetic) Most of it just hasn’t been good enough to make it to your desk.

  Editor Whitney: How many times do I have to tell you that I want to see everything, no matter how rough it is! Let me see what you’re working on now.

  Writer Whitney: OMG, no, don’t come any closer! I-I’m not ready! Continue reading →
  Posted in writing articles | Tagged fantasy writing, how to be a writer, how to keep writing, writing, writing techniques

• Writing for the sake of writing… Wait, what?

  Posted at 7:54 pm by WhitneyCarter

  Nov 26th
  
  

  To feel some supposed rush when you master that paragraph, that page…to give voice to the dozens of personalities floating around in your head…to write for the sake of writing…

  Who would do that? No, seriously. Who would do that? Writing hurts. It causes physical pain and mental anguish and is an eternal source of frustration for those who find themselves afflicted with the need to write. Ask anyone who has ever stared with hatred at a blank piece of paper, or struggled with the perfect word or phrasing, or gotten a rejection letter. Writing can really suck.

  And yet, here we are… Still writing. Does that make us fools, to continue in an endeavor that causes harm, or devoted, for fighting the good fight? Most days, I think I’m a fool, but I still drag myself to my laptop at least once a day and answer the challenge of the keyboard.

  Limping my way through the last week of NaNo, I really want to know why I write. So I sit here, and contemplate and puzzle, and you know what? I don’t have an answer. It’s just something that I do. Which sounds suspiciously like something a fool would say.
  Posted in writing articles | Tagged how to be a writer, NaNo, why writing hurts, writing, writing hurts

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  First hatchling with the cane from the previous post! 😍 I'm not sure about her tail but her wings are so pretty, even being from the end of the cane where there's the most distortion.

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• Ayslyn’s Aviary

  307 East Side, Babblebrook, Kingdom of Letonia

  ayslyns.avairy@gmail.com

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