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The Problem With Character SheetsAlright, there are some pretty awesome character sheets out there. I don't personally use them, but I've seen others make them work. I'm not here to dispute the fact that they've got some utility, but I am here to point out one big problem with relying on a list of traits—which is generally how character sheets present these things—to define your character.
(Note: This also applies to Mary Sue tests. 'Not a Mary Sue' just means your character isn't a perfect storm of coincidence. It has nothing to do with likeability or even believability. <insert dictator here> isn't a Mary Sue, either.)
StrengthsWeaknessesQuirks
I think this approach is, if it's the only approach you take to figuring out a character, a really bad idea.
Take a moment to think about your best friend. What's their favorite food? What are they good at, and what are things they do that make you Google good places to dump a body?
Whil
How to Plot Like a GrimIn ten simple steps, you too can plot like a Grim.  ;P
1. Get an idea
This can be a brief snippet of dialogue. Or an ending that just seems perfect.  Sometimes it's just the concept of what I'd like to see a character go through.  I write that down.  Usually it doesn't see the cold light of day for at least a couple months, but when I've thought about it long enough and can't seem to get the idea out of my head, that's when I sit down and start plotting things out a bit.
2. Work out the basic plot
Now that I've got the idea, I need to work out the basic details.  But how do I do that?  Well, I write it down.  Then I think about the different angles to get to that idea.  I write those down.  If it's dialogue, who's talking? What do they feel? Who are they talking to?  If it's a snippet of a scene, who's in the scene? Why are they there? What are they doing? What's going on outside of that scene?
From the
How to Stop Planning and Use What You've GotArticle cowritten by *ShadowedAcolyte and ^neurotype.
We've chosen to present this in bullets. The first few are ways to tell when your planning has gone too far; the rest are how to get past that.
Featured literature was chosen for its ability to present exposition: good pacing, tantalizing hints, etc.
How do I know I've planned too much?
When you can't hold it all in your head.When you can't explain it without a long-winded summary."So you've planned X. How will you reveal X to the reader?" If you can't immediately think of a good idea, it's probably overplanned.
Volume: how much of your story is world-building/backstory?
Properly spaced, you could get up to 10% world into a story without ruining the book (e.g. for an epic fantasy or something else not set in a place readers will immediately recognize). The rest should be happening now.If the setting is much more familiar—like, Everytown, USA, it could easily be 1% backstory.
Wh
Worldbuilding: Environments and Social StructuresAre you ready to build a world? Good!

The Magic Gateway, by jerry8448. This is what we want to do with worldbuilding.
Worldbuilding is a complex process, because it is essentially creating the base of a different reality from our own. An author must pull together all the elements of a 'world', and capture that in text. This applies in any genre of writing. Even non-fiction has aspects of worldbuilding because it has setting and world details the same as fiction. In any genre, if the world is flat, the story will be flat and one of the best ways to build a fictional world is to know about one's own. Stories and readers both require an interesting and engaging place to go to, and our world, as well as any imagined one, can provide this! Because our world is the base of most human experiences, it is a great place to understand for both personal and writing reasons. If the author understands the sett
Prompt 14: The Beginning!Yes, it's us again. We reincarnate more often than Kenny.
This time is going to be different, though. And you can trust me on that, because it's not me who'll be ensuring it. =futilitarian, a long-time contributor and judge for #transliterations and someone whom I'm sure you all know if only by reputation, is stepping into the breach and making sure this dead horse keeps getting whipped. The one major change you should be aware of is that prompts will now go up on the 15th of each month and end on the 10th. Of course, this ending date is purely arbitrary and only influences who gets into the news feature; you can continue to submit whenever you want. We'll also be introducing a new category into our prompt cycle, but you'll find out more about that a little later on. And these changes pale in comparison to the fact that things will actually be happening.
She's a good influence on me, you see. She's the rod up my arse that keeps the clockwork turning. 
On that note:
The hidden princess- Male! Belarus x readerToris looked over his shoulder to make sure that no one was following him. He wanted no one to know his secret, especially not Ivan or his younger brother, Nicolai. He walked into the forest surrounding Ivan's house, it was early in the morning and the sun hasn't even woken up yet. Glancing around again he picked up the pace into a swift walk, he had a backpack with him, he had to get to her and be back before any one woke up. Again he picked up the pace into a run, and soon he reached a small cabin hidden by thick brush and trees covered in snow. He hated that he had to hide her, but he knew that Ivan would hurt her. He just had to keep her safe, no matter what. Again he looked around before quickly walking into the cabin.
"(Y/n)?" He softly called out, "it's me." he walked into a small room and saw a pile of blankets on the small bed, he then carefully pulled the blankets off the bed and sighed in relief when he saw her (h/l)(h/c) hair. Her sleeping face was peaceful, until the cold
Critic's and Literary Feedback Contest/EventThe Literature Community
Welcome's
The Literary Publication's First Biannual Event
:iconLiteraryPublications:
"As an official voice of the Literature Community, I'm here to announce that we're slowly decaying our literature of well-deserved feedback. Literary Publication helps their members achieve real critiques and commentary. It's time for the community to wake up—we're tired of sleeping—where's the support? Isn't literature also a form of art?" -Literary Publication
We're not here for popularity; it's all about receiving commentary...
Wouldn't you agree?
:jsenn:
Event Starts: June 23rd, 2013 [6 AM EST]    Event Ends: August 22nd , 2013  [12 MID EST]
Prize(s): August 31st, 2013 [9 PM EST]  Group Feature(s): September 3rd, 2013 [12 MID EST]
Note: Please read the full Journal before you Register for the event. There's a lot of important information and I want all of you to get the most you can thr
PE: Story Planning Round-upGreetings all!
WHAT AN AWESOME WEEK!
So last week we had a fantastic event based on Story Planning; a week that was slightly relaxed for a PE week, but full of good advice. These articles haven't just been written for the sake of filling a week, we genuinely hope there is something in them that is useful to you as a writer, to help you with your journey. There's a flash fiction month around the corner, as well as a camp NaNoWriMo and then a full NaNoWrimo in November. There are the times to get planning- don't leave it too close to the deadline!

Article round-up
Here is a list of all the articles we posted in the past week! Please favourite, share the love, comment and express gratitude- especially to our article writers who took the personal time to write these articles and share a little of their own writin
Dialogue WorkshopI want this workshop to be somewhat different from other workshops -- I'm going to break this down into two categories:  technical elements and personal advice.
And I hate to say this, but the following information in this workshop only works if applied.  Osmosis and good intentions do not work.  Sorry.
Clap PRE-EMPTIVE TLDR NUTSHELL
To write effective dialogue, there has to be a basic understanding of what communication is.  Wikipedia sums it up nicely:  the meaningful exchange of information between two or more people.  It's easy but not at the same time.
Eyepopping TECHNICAL
This has to do with actual concepts for crafting effective dialogue.  For the most part, I had to research the details but you'll be able to pick out what I added on my own.  You know how I get and if you don't, you soon will.  No apologies for that.
Links to the websites I used will follow.
Some of the worst advice I've seen and that I'm s
Love dA Lit: Issue 132Welcome to the one-hundred thirty-second issue of Love dA Lit! :manhug: Every Sunday this article will aim to promote volunteer opportunities, various resources, prompts, challenges, and workshops, as well as highlighting various contests, and spotlighting a specific group or project for two weeks. This is by no means a complete list of all the literature going-ons, merely a tool to help you get involved and stay informed.
Note: It's another PE week at #projecteducate! As usual it gets its own nice little section for the next two weeks. :eyes: Oh yes, and I've moved over most of the resources exclusively to #LITplease's Community Portal, but labeled it with a nice big heading and link to the current one. Hope everything is clear enough! ♥
#LITplease's Community Portal
:new:
Fantastic Feature Tuesday #46Please this news article so it will reach a larger audience!
This is a weekly feature of amazing literature that I come by during my
travels across deviantART. This is only a small sample of a vast amount
of wonderful pieces of literature written by absolutely fantastic
writers. Each deviation was carefully selected from a writer's gallery
based on structure, impact and word usage. I will never feature the
same person twice (though this gets harder to keep track of
now that we can change usernames), so check out these lovely writers now while you can!



PS. Hi! I'm alive. I've basically been doing nothing here in the past few weeks but I'll be back this weekend, hopefully! :)
Fantasy Writing Tips :DHi to all fantasy writers out there!
:iconimhighplz::iconjacksparrowlaplz::iconspazplz::iconexcitedplz:
:icondragonlaplz::onfire:
Hey! A mate of mine (who is a writer) just recently made this website blog thing for fantasy writing, worldbuilding, and characterisation tips.
It focuses a lot on realism and warfare as well. There's also some stuff to help with writer's block ... sort of. I guess it depends on each person.
Anyway, sorry for advertising! He doesn't have a dA account so he's been bugging me to promote the site for aaggeess. Yup. So please check it out xD
And please post it on your journal if you think it’s any good and will help other writers! Thanks!
By the way, since I’m putting up websites for fantasy writing stuff, here are Limyaael’s Rants for those who don’t know of them already. Quite famous in the fantasy w
Community Portal: June 16thCommunity Portal
Love dA Lit: Issue 132
News
:new: ^neurotype is looking for themed DD suggestions again. (by note only :ohnoes:)
:new: Farewell to JZlobo, the first Fan Fiction CV. Give him your thanks!
:new: Forums Discussion: Obligatory reading like a writer post: What was the last book you read?
:new: Dialogue Workshop [July 1st]
:new: Mini Criti
June, it's on. It is on.Hello everyone! ♥ We've been quiet, but we're still here and still eager to help out! :eager: Don't be afraid to ask questions! Everyone here is nice and happy to answer any questions you have. [Trust me, I know.]
#projecteducate and #CRLiterature are hosting a Story Planning Week and it is a fantastic way to learn from other deviants more about story planning. It really isn't as easy as it would seem, so be sure to look over these articles. :whisper: Oh, for you poets out there, there was even a Poetry Forms week a while back.
PE: Story Planning Articles




Questions? Comments? Excited? confused? Really unsure
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Establishing Your Self-Publishing Business

Journal Entry: Sat Jan 5, 2013, 11:50 PM
Continuation of "So You Want to Self-Publish?" ([link]




Here's some prerequisite reading for you, today.

Seven Signs That You're Not Ready to Publish. (Thanks to `raspil for posting this link in a journal.)

This is important reading. If you answer "doesn't apply to me" to all 7 questions, and feel you're ready, then it's time to put some money on that. Thousands of dollars. Let's start by spending some of that on

Incorporating Your Self-Publishing Business.

Unfortunately, this will be pretty US-focused, since I'm not aware of international variations. In fact, laws vary even state-by-state. So, for the record, I live in North Carolina.

If you are going to self-publish, this step is highly recommended. First, establishing your operation as a limited-liability corporation (LLC) provides some legal protection (say, if you get sued). It also makes your operation more professional. This is definitely a good thing. Readers may not care who the publisher is, but media outlets, reviewers, and such will - and you should want to make your best impression.

Of course, there are some drawbacks - namely cost. The filing fee in NC is $125, plus $200 per year to file the required annual report - not a grand sum by any means, but keep in mind NC is not the highest in the nation. In Texas, for instance, the filing fee is at least $300.

Steps to Take to Form an LLC:

This is a good step-by-step general outline I found: [link], walking through the basic steps establishing your publishing business.

As far as the legal end, I'll refer you to this site: [link]
Note: change "north-carolina" in the URL to your state of residence.

S-Corporations

An LLC is not the only type of corporation. Another popular choice appears to be an S-corp. There are notable tax benefits to an S-corporation.

This post explains the different pretty well: [link]

Still Confused?

Local resources may be more advantageous here. Don't forget your region's small business association. You may be able to find some help from them.


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2 Comments
:iconkwhipkey:
=KWhipkey Jan 7, 2013  Professional Writer
Excellent resources as always. I especially liked the one that details the steps for creating a self-publishing business. I was already aware of most of them, but there were a few new ones. I bookmarked that article for later reference, since I'm not as close to needing it as you are. :)
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:iconmerrak:
=merrak Jan 7, 2013  Hobbyist
Thanks!

What I still need to find is a good reference on how to file taxes after establishing a business. I think LLC simplifies that (by just taxing all your money :P). I'd like to avoid the necessity of hiring an accountant, and I think others would, too.
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