![From referenceforwriters:
all these things that I’ve done [listen]writing playlist
i. midnight city - M83 // ii. sweater weather - the neighbourhood // iii. called out in the dark - snow patrol // iv. take a walk - passion pit // v. feeling good - muse // vi. on top of the world - imagine dragons // vii. ho hey - the lumineers // viii. call it what you want - foster the people // ix. take back the city - snow patrol // x. horchata - vampire weekend // xi. lover’s carvings - bibio // xii. shadowplay - the killers // xiii. sleep alone - two door cinema club // xiv. daylight - matt & kim // xv. float on - modest mouse // xvi. all these things that i’ve done - the killers](http://25.media.tumblr.com/c9a6e63c11d3762642e40658db53131e/tumblr_mmvkapjYLE1s1buyfo2_r1_500.jpg)
From referenceforwriters:
all these things that I’ve done [listen]
writing playlist
i. midnight city - M83 // ii. sweater weather - the neighbourhood // iii. called out in the dark - snow patrol // iv. take a walk - passion pit // v. feeling good - muse // vi. on top of the world - imagine dragons // vii. ho hey - the lumineers // viii. call it what you want - foster the people // ix. take back the city - snow patrol // x. horchata - vampire weekend // xi. lover’s carvings - bibio // xii. shadowplay - the killers // xiii. sleep alone - two door cinema club // xiv. daylight - matt & kim // xv. float on - modest mouse // xvi. all these things that i’ve done - the killers
Whenever you receive harsh criticism, it can be hard to get yourself motivated again. The thing is—your writing is always going to be judged, either by people who want to help you or people who want to take you down a notch. I’ve talked before about distinguishing between the two, but the truth is ANY sort of criticism is hard to deal with. You have to start looking at it in a different way and you need to use it to make yourself better. Most of the time, that’s easier said than done.
There will always be someone who just doesn’t like what you write. There’s nothing you can do about it. You can’t change their mind and you shouldn’t try to. You don’t like everything, do you? You have opinions on different books or movies or art and so does everyone else. Just because someone doesn’t like something you’ve done doesn’t mean no one else will. Not everyone is going to connect with your writing the way you hoped they would. Some people will flat out hate it. Pick yourself back up again and move on. After a while, it will stop bothering you so much.
If you’re in the editing process and someone is helping you out, they might give you loads of corrections along with opinions about what you need to change. Your first reaction will probably be—“I don’t need to change this. They just don’t understand.” Obviously when you’ve written something and it means a lot to you, you can become very protective when someone wants to change it. The truth is if one person is confused right off the bat about something, everyone else will probably be confused too. This person helping you out isn’t trying to hurt you. If they are taking the time to help you fix your work, it’s because they believe you can be better, maybe even great. They already think your work has potential.
If you want to get better, you have to learn how to utilize what people are telling you. Don’t shut everyone out because you’re afraid you’re not good enough. AND if someone is constantly making you feel bad about yourself without offering anything constructive, tell them to SHUT UP.
-Kris Noel
Ambient sounds to boost your workday creativity!
(Thank you to imaginejohanna for the tip!)
For some reason, several people wanted more information about burns. Instead of answering these all separately, we decided it made more sense to make a master post (yay). This is some research to get you going along with some links to further your own research and hopefully help you along the way, so let’s begin.
What are burns?
A burn is a type of injury to flesh or skin caused by heat, electricity, chemicals, friction, or radiation.[1] Most burns affect only the superficial skin (known as superficial or first degree) or extend into the deeper skin but do not involve the full thickness of the skin (known as partial thickness or second degree). Rarely all layers of the skin or deeper tissues, such as muscle or bone can be injured in which case the burn is either full thickness (third degree) or fourth degree. [x]
So burns are injuries to your skin. I think a common misconception is that it can only be caused by heat; as we can see from the description above, that isn’t true. Keep this in mind! So, burns could be caused by your iron, a fire, and electrocution.
I think it’s important to remember that it doesn’t have to be fire. Your characters could suffer their burns in a way that’s more original and unique to other peoples books. (Don’t make it too unrealistic though!)
TYPES OF BURN INJURY:
First-degree burn injury: damage to the outer layer of the skin
Second degree: damage to the outer layer and the layer underneath
Third degree burn injury: damages or destroys the deepest layer of the skin and the tissues underneath it.
Fourth degree: burn injury reaches the subcutaneous tissue and into the nerves, muscles and bones. [x]
APPEARANCE OF BURNS
This depends on the degree.
First Degree: Red skin, painful to touch (such as sunburn).
Second Degree: Blisters on skin, extremely painful and sensitive, heals in 1-2 weeks.If deep partial skin is yellow or white. Sometimes blisters, very painful. Heals in 3-8 weeks.
Third Degree: Stiff and white/brown, painless. Healing time is prolonged and not complete.
Fourth Degree: Black and charred. Is painless. This type of burn requires amputation.
TREATMENT
I’m going to split this into sections because it depends on the degree of burn.
First and second Degree
You can treat these injuries at home if the burn is smaller than the palm of your hand. The burn should be put under cold running water and left there for a number of minutes. This cools the burn and reduces the chance of it blistering. You shouldn’t put any material or creams on the burn and instead leave it. If it’s more serious you can put a single layer of cling film around the burn or a plastic bag.
Infection is the biggest complication so any blisters on the wound should not be popped. It will expose the new and sensitive skin to bacteria and is likely to cause infection.
The larger the burn the more serious it is and the more likely the need to take the person to hospital.
Third Degree
Shock is a major problem with burns, if the person goes into shock they will get very cold so the person must be kept warm. The person will probably have to go to hospital for treatment. The wound must be cleaned and the dead skin removed; this can be done in surgery or in a special bath at the hospital. The person will probably be given IV fluids and may also be given antibiotics. Skin grafts are sometimes required, this is where they remove healthy skin to replace the burnt and injured skin.
This sort of burn will scar and it could also lead to amputation in more severe cases.
Fourth Degree
Not many people survive fourth degree burns and the outlook isn’t great for the person- if they survive they will require extensive treatment. The person will probably go into shock like with all burns. It affects all layers of skin and can leave bone and ligaments exposed- increasing the chance of infection.
The dead skin will be removed from the injury. Special bandages can encourage the growth of the person’s own skin.
Skin grafts may be used if the skin won’t grow back. This will fuse to the burnt skin and begin to grow. This will still leave scarring.
The skin surrounding the area of a serious burn can become tight and restrict the flow of blood to the tissues and muscle. An Escharotomy involves surgical incisions to the burn to expose the fatty layer of skin. This helps the blood flow easier.
If the burn is very serious and at an extremity amputation will take place. This is quite common with more severe burns as they damage the bone and nerves.
FOR YOUR WRITING
Make sure you know what you are talking about, research it extensively especially for the more severe types of burn. If you are writing historical or fantasy fiction you need to be aware of how treatments may be different and how this could affect the scarring and the likelihood of death.
FURTHER RESEARCH
Thank you to ohthat1 for helping me create this masterpost.
Underneath the read more is some personal experiences of burns which are quite educational and useful.
-S
Bloodstain Pattern Analysis (BPA) - Resource for Crime Writers
Sometimes you want to write, but you have no plot ideas. Perhaps your fingers are itchy to write, you want to meet a submissions deadline, a character is bugging you to tell their story, or a single image, phrase, or scene is sitting heavy in your head. But you still can’t find the whole story.
So what can you do?
- Start with characters: find their names, their backstories, their relationships. Create detailed descriptions, draw them, build their family trees. Get them interracting, put them into a room together, or bump them into each other in the street. Read their diaries, their love letters, their bank statements. Get to know them inside out. This is one place where you may find your story.
- Start with a world: create your map, name the towns, lakes, forests, and mountains. Work out the trade routes, position the markets, the ports, and the industry. Find the history, predict the future. Draw out the borders, bring war, re-draw the borders. Get down to street level and see who lives there. Walk the streets yourself. This is one place where you may find your story.
- Start with a room: stand in the middle of a room and open your eyes. What does the room look like? What’s in it? How many doors and windows are there? What is the room used for? Who uses it? What has happened here, and what is going to happen here? This is one place where you may find your story.
- Start with an object: pick something up into your hand. What is it? What is it used for? Who owns it, and who owned it before them? What is it worth, either monetarily or sentimentally? Has it been lost, found, stolen, given away? Why is this object important? This is one place where you may find your story.
Index of All Articles by Title:
Val Kovalin has also written books on describing characters!
5 Ways to be a Happier Creative
We all know the tortured artist schtick. To be honest, I can be a downer sometimes myself, but I think it would be terrible for us to all perpetuate the idea that being creative and miserable are mutually exclusive.
So here’s to being creative and actually enjoying it:
1. Refuse to See Your Entire Life Either as a Success or a Failure
The idea here is to never buy into the lie that your life is either successful or failing in terms of your creative output. Think of the most successful creative person you can, if you look closely you can see a series of successes and failures.
The best way for me to look at the creative life is as a series of projects which can be successful in some ways and fail in other ways. For instance, some projects are really successful in the development of your skill but not financially advantageous.
Also, don’t believe that there is some level of success where you have now “arrived” or attained a level of success which can never been denied to you, like being hailed a “creative genius” with endless financial gain, forever. I could tell you many examples of artists and musicians who seem like they have “arrived” with one project and then completely fail the next.
2. Make Something Everyday
Will Bryant says something like, “I make stuff because if I don’t I get sad”. A silly and profound statement. Last year I did a daily drawing project where I created a new character every weekday. I found this statement to ring very true.
This practice gave me a sense of creative productivity every single day, which is a serious morale booster. Even if you don’t show anyone, it can help you feel prolific and unlimited in your creative abilities, which in turn increases your confidence.
3. Be Authentic
This is huge. Many people have done amazing things in creativity and have received many rewards, successes and prizes for them. So there is a lot of incentive for YOU to be THEM. But the trick is knowing the truth: you CAN’T be them. Trying to be something you are not will make you feel like an old sock. You already know this, but I thought I’d remind you.
4. Know Your Purpose
Shooting aimlessly into the dark can feel like…shooting aimlessly into the dark. Your purpose doesn’t have to be mind meltingly important. I like the humble yet ambitious purpose the great Debbie Millman has taken upon herself to “try to make the supermarket more beautiful”.
Try to clarify what you want to achieve overall so that everything you do has a sense of purpose. Purpose equals meaning, and to most creatives I know, a sense of meaning is why they want to make art and why they DO NOT want to work in a factory.
5. Address and Defeat Your Fears
That dreadful fear is a bully that is killing your soul and it should be stood up to. Listen to it, don’t ignore it. Hear what it’s actually saying and then dismantle it. Talk to someone about it openly, if the fear is tied to reality, then face it and take it down with integrity. If it’s all lies, all smoke and mirrors then let it disappear in the cloud of smoke that it is. If you are doing super boring unadventurous work, you won’t have any fears at all…but who wants to do that?
Hope this makes you a bit happier today.
- Andy J. Miller
P.S. To tackle the piling up questions here on this tumblr I have started taking on 1 hour video creative coaching, for more info click here.Thank you Andy ! I needed these reminders today.
winged-seahorse asked: My writing feels bad/bland as I write it. What do I do?! D:
Four things:
If you can do those things, you’ve got this writing thing in the bag!
Other useful links:
Thank you for your question! If you have further questions or a comment to add, hit us up!
-C
