Plot tables: Mapping out and organizing all your plots and storylines

Can't organize your plot and are juggling between several plot lines? I got your back, I present: Plot tables!

(I'm probably not the only person to use these, but I have no idea if these are commonly used and I just don't know about it or I actually did something with this)

Here's a loose example I threw together. It's just a normal table where each column represents a different storyline within the same story. It shows you roughly what should happen in each chapter / scene.

e.g., from the example table, we see that in chapter / scene 1, there's a chase scene where the police lose track of the criminal they're following, as well as in the same chapter we see character B and C break up.

It's nothing groundbreaking, but it's something I want to share considering the amount of people I see complaining about juggling 50 million storylines and having no orderly way to keep track of it

Putting this here in case other writers (and people in general) don't know about emotion wheels. This shit is helpful on so many levels.

Leaving this for myself if not others because someday I want to be able to grow my own food

This is, ofc, a very basic little list, but I’m surprised it’s missing one major subject: watering.

Some of these veggies, specifically the cucumbers and tomatoes, require more water more often than the others! Think about it, those two vegs are the juiciest, no? They thirsty little plants, so make sure you have the needed h2o to sustain them. Squash is also a big water guzzler, and from an arid climate dweller, chilis and peppers need lots of water too.

One more tip I’ve learned from experience, kale tastes BEST when harvested in cold months. If it’s warm out, kale has that strong bitter taste we’re all familiar with. But if it’s chilly overnight and most of the day, kale has a much milder, almost sweet taste! It will also be leafier in cold months.

Finally, because spring is here and I’m getting excited for fresh food, some varieties of weeds that pop up in gardens are edible and dang tasty. My family eats the edible pigweed/lambs quarters and purslane as side dishes with many summer meals. There’s a lot of it there, may as well eat it!

A small list of random ass sites I’ve found useful when writing:

Adding to this since I’m working on a shifter au one-shot:

More:

Even more:

The bruises one is everything I never knew I needed.

Tattoos on sailors

Tattoos have taken place throughout human history. And this already since their beginning. They should protect against diseases, be a symbol to the gods, show a clan affiliation or just decorate. In the 8th century tattooing was forbidden in europe as it was considered frowned upon by christians and jews. The traditional narrative says that this practice was revived in Europe after Captain Cook and his sailors encountered the tattooed inhabitants of Tahiti during his visit to Tahiti in 1769. But more recently, historians, including Jane Caplan and Matt Lodder, have discovered evidence of tattoos among soldiers, sailors, criminals and workers in the century before Cook’s voyage.

Although tattoos were widespread, they remained mainly with these groups. It was still considered frowned upon and unseemly to disfigure the skin in this way. However, tattoos in the case of the sailors were not only to be found with the simple sailors. It is said that even officers had themselves tattooed. In the beginning they were according to records, small patterns and initalia. Which were mainly worn on the hands and arms.

Common tattoo designs sketched in Philadelphia SPC-A’s from 1796 to 1818  and a sailor’s mermaid tattoo in 1808, preserved from a skin specimen

The tattoos were engraved by comrades on board with blue or black ink, often made of ink with black powder. With the beginning of the 19th century more and more larger motifs appear, like the typical symbols that could be found on almost every sailor in one way or another. the pig and chicken on his feet to prevent drowning. A cross on the back to prevent whipping. The North Star to guide the way home, Hold Fast on the knuckles of both hands to provide enough grip to prevent falling out of the rigging or a spear or sacred symbol on the penis to prevent venereal disease or to express his homosexuality.

The different types of criminal tattoos: plate illustrated in “The criminal man” by the Italian criminologist Cesare Lombroso (1835-1909)- This plate describes the tattoos of French naval deserters 

As the 19th century progressed, the symbols increased and so the Americans added the Hawaiian girl when they had been to Hawaii or the full rigged frigate on the chest to show that Cape Horn was being circumnavigated. But many designs have remained popular over the years, but the placements expand and so many a sailor became a running canvas as they extended the tattoos all over his body. When in the middle of the 19th century the uniform was introduced to sailors the tattoos on their hands became less. However, tattoos remained a part of the nautical tradition and finally “A sailor without a tattoo is not really a sailor”. according to Samuel O'Reilly, 1880.

Cabinet photograph, by Eisenmann, of a young man with his entire chest and arms are tattooed. Especially his belly is interesting because there he carries a naval battle, New York, circa 1890

But in the early 20th century, as a result of its criminal associations and increasing concerns about hygiene, tattooing lost some of its popularity and became a marginal, though still significant, activity (in particular among sailors and soldiers during wartime). And then from the 1950s, according to sociologist Michael Rees, tattooing started to regain popularity, first among marginal groups including gang members, bikers, and punks and rockers as symbols of both group allegiance and defiance of conventional society. It was only with the recent tattoo renaissance, dating from the 1970s, that it started to become mainstream, permeating consumer culture through the media and the exposure of tattooed celebrities. It was eventually recognised as an art form. And now almost everyone, sailor, soldier or not, wears it.

Of all the ways to travel in fantasy and historical novels, there are two favoured ones: horses and ships. But I covered the horses already so here we have some ship terminology and kinds of ships.

Common Boat Terms

Compartments of the ship

Most ships would have compartments inside the hull and underneath the deck.

Crew and Positions aboard the Ship

Captain

When we think of captains we imagine them as blackhearted slave drivers (something akin to managers in the customer service industry) but on further research you will find that is not true. There are two kinds of Captains you find in history. Pirate captains and Legitimate Captains. Pirate captains were elected by their merit in battle and dedication to the crew. They were considered equal to the crew, only taking full charge during raids and battles. In the Navy or any legal-bound ship, captains were selected by rank and wealth. There was no equality between captain and crew as in pirate ships. Legal ships were Capitalists and the Pirates were Democratic.

First Mate

First Mate is the captain's deputy. They act as captain when the captain cannot. This was mainly seen in Navies and merchant ships as Pirates usually placed their quartermaster as their deputies.

Quartermaster

The Quartermaster was in charge of ensuring that the ship ran smoothly, rather like the ship's HR manager. The Quartermaster was in charge of supplies and had certain powers such as being able to punish the crew for minor infractions.

Sailing Master

These were officers in charge of piloting the ship. They would have to be educated enough to read a map and was a much desired position because it was a fair paying job. Pirates usually kidnapped sailing masters from ships they attacked to use aboard their own ships.

Gunner

Gunners were the overseers of any many qualified to load and fire guns. They were in charge of aiming cannons and making sure the crew were safely using guns. Most the guns were loaded by young boys called powder monkeys.

Boatswain

Boatswains or junior officers would act as supervisors, watching over the crew as they did their duties. If things were not going well they reported to the captain or quartermaster to punish the crew.

Surgeons

Surgeons handled any diseases and wounds. Since being at sea limited the amount of medicine available. Most ship's surgeons were forced to cut off limbs to avoid infection pike gangrene. Surgeons may not always be found on ships. Cooks or carpenters were often pressed to do amputations: meat was meat and cutting was cutting.

Cooks

All ships needed somebody to cook. Navies and merchant ships would often have trained cooks while on pirate ships it was just a crewmember who was handy in the kitchen.

Kinds of Ship

(Not a complete list, may post more later.)

Brig- A brig is the ship that one most thinks of when you think of a ship. The brig is a large vessel, set with a pair of square-rigged masts. Brigs were fast ships and highly maneuverable. They were used as merchant ships and warships.

Galley- The galley is propelled via oars. The hull is long and slender and most of them featured larger sails. Galleys often were rowed by slaves and used in war.

Galleon- Galleons were large ships, built with multiple decks, carrying three or more masts with square raised stern. The Galleon was usually rigged with square sails on the fore-mast and main-masts.

Caravel- The caravel was a small ship with triangular sails, famed for its manoeuvrability and speed.

Longship- The longships were the ships of the Vikings. They were slender ships, narrow. They were able to keep afloat in shallow waters as well as the deep sea. Longships were able to reverse quickly, a very important skill. The longship was a warship, a raider's ship propelled by oars.

Carrack- the carrack was a large ship, often built with mass cargo holds making the most popular ship to go on long voyages on. The carrack had three or four masts.

Cog- This ship was a large vessel, the hull wide and large. The ship is propelled by a great single sail flown from a tall mast.

Junk- The junk or Chinese junk was a kind of coastal or river ship used as merchant ships, pleasure ships and sometimes houseboats. They are small ships and made with battened sails rather resembling wings.

Trireme- the trireme was a slender ship set with three banks of oars pulled by one man each. The trireme had a concave hull and usually had an underwater ram at the prow of the ship.

For @viola-cola

Myths, Creatures, and Folklore

Want to create a religion for your fictional world? Here are some references and resources!

General:

Africa:

The Americas:

Asia:

Europe:

Middle East:

Oceania:

Creating a Fantasy Religion:

Some superstitions:

Continuar a ler

Lynn’s Big Farming Masterpost!

Hey, y’all! This is a handy masterpost of all(? that I could find of) my farming posts, neatly categorized for your perusal. Use it for writing references, farming references, whatever you need a farm reference for!

Your Fictional Farm is Wrong

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Asks

Farm Chores | Farm Stink | Farming Town | Greenhouses | Hawk | Order Seeds vs. Seedkeeping | Post-Harvest Farm Life | Starting a Garden |  Superstitions/Farming Gothic | Summer Workwear | Sustainability Studies vs. Sustainable Ag |  Symphylans

Bananas

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Gross Crop Stories

Cabbages | Carrots | Chard | Escarole | Onions | Peppers | Potatoes | Tomatoes | Zucchini 1 | Zucchini 2 |

Infoposts

Aphids | Crop Growing Time | Greenhouse Pepper Seeding | Hand Pollinating | Irrigation Plug Tutorial | Pneumatic Pruner 

Have a topic you don’t see covered? Send me an ask!

A few years ago, I went to an anatomy conference and they had a huge 3D printed vampire skull, and these thoughts have been on my mind ever since I saw the teeth up-close. 

The under-utilized potential for this bothers me a lot… like in movies… it’s just bite and done!

What happened to ritual shaving or elaborate skin engraving?

I know a lot of artists/writers follow me…. can you guys do Vampires a solid?

Writing Research - Victorian Era

In historical fiction it is important to be accurate and the only way to do so is to research the era. What is highly recommended by many writers is to write your story first. While writing your story, mark the parts that you’re not sure are correct and then do the research after you are done. This is to prevent you from doing unnecessary research that may not be relevant to your work. You want to spend your time wisely! Or you can just research as you go, it’s really whatever works for you since there isn’t a “wrong” way to research.

To begin, the Victorian era of the British history (and that of the British Empire) formally begins in 1837, which was the year Victoria became Queen and ends in 1901 – the year of her death. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence for Britain. Some scholars date the beginning of the period in terms of sensibilities and political concerns to the passage of the Reform Act 1832. [1]

Names

Society & Life

Commerce

Entertainment & Food

Hygiene, Health & Medicine

Fashion

Dialogue

Justice & Crimes

I just found an amazing website for writers.

While I was searching today for some prices of things in the 80s, I found this website:

As you can see, it is full of info about prices of things and of wages in the past (In the U.S. mostly, but it has a few lists of prices in other countries). This is so much more useful than simply an inflation calculator, which doesn’t account for the supply and demand of goods and services, and is often inaccurate.

Some information that you can find here:

- Cost of groceries.

- Cost of a meal at a restaurant.

- Rent prices.

- Cost to buy a house.

- Cost to mail letters.

- Gas prices.

- Bus fares.

…And much more.

For example, here is the price of a pound of ground beef in the Midwest in 1984:

And not only do they list the prices of things and the general average wage, they also provide average wages for specific jobs.

For instance, how much did social workers in Los Angeles make in 1945?

Approximately $2k dollars a year, it seems. (That was $1 an hour!)

So, yeah! I just thought I’d share. Warning, though, it is pretty hard to navigate on mobile. I’d suggest using your computer if you can.