gradientlair:

Self-care is attending to your own physical, emotional and mental health needs and making yourself, your wellness and your wholeness a priority in your own life. It is important for everyone, even those who think that care of another person matters more than care of themselves. Anyone who physically/emotionally cares for others must care for themselves in order to be of any real support to another person, no matter how much they love that other person.

Self-care is critical. It doesn’t mean that you ignore the needs of others and refuse to be a source of love, support and kindness to others. It simply means that just as you help and support others, you treat yourself as a person worthy of that same support. Self-care is a critical component in caring and supporting others as families and communities. (Even for us Black women…no more “mules.”)

Self-care is always important, but especially after experiencing a trauma or witnessing a tragedy. Even witnessing a trauma/tragedy through secondary (i.e. a person tells you about a trauma they themselves experienced) or tertiary sources (i.e. learning about a trauma or tragedy through social media/the news) can have adverse affects on a person. Knowing my own responses to both personal traumas that I have experienced and secondary/tertiary experiences with trauma and tragedy (most recently the Boston Marathon bombings), as well as having a background in mental health made me re-realize the importance of self-care.

For example, being on Twitter in the aftermath of a tragedy can be difficult. Why? Incorrect and rapidly shared information creates more chaos and confusion. Jokes and overly graphic images are shared. The tweets themselves can be triggers for people who lived through a similar tragedy. Racism and xenophobia appears whenever there is a mass tragedy, if it is deemed “terrorism” (which is a political label, with an attached racist and nationalist/imperialist undertone).

Below are links with great posts on post-tragedy self-care tips.

• Self-care during tragedy - The Reiki Co.
• Self-care in the wake of a shared tragedy - Joyful Heart Foundation
• Self-Care Tips for Emergency and Disaster Response Workers [PDF] - Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
• Many links and resources on coping with trauma, in general - Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

(I am not endorsing or affiliated with any of the companies/blogs mentioned; I just think their particular posts are helpful).

With the Boston Marathon bombings, there are those right there (victims, survivors, witnesses, emergency personnel, healthcare workers, families, friends) who need help and hopefully are getting the help that they need. I wish Boston families peace, healing, safety, and comfort right now. Giving to others and supporting others matter.

I also want those who may feel “far away” (i.e. in another state or country and are experiencing triggering effects) to take good care of themselves. Self-care matters.

(via muninandhugin)

a massively extended version of ruthlesscalculus’ post

General Tips

• Joss Whedon’s Top 10 Writing Tips
• Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone
• 34 Writing Tips that will make you a Better Writer
• 50 Free resources that will improve your writing skills
• 5 ways to get out of the comfort zone and become a stronger writer
• 10 ways to avoid Writing Insecurity
• The Writer’s Guide to Overcoming Insecurity
• The Difference Between Good Writers and Bad Writers
• You’re Not Hemingway - Developing Your Own Style
• 7 Ways to use Brain Science to Hook Readers and Reel them In
• 8 Short Story Tips from Kurt Vonnegut
• How to Show, Not Tell
• 5 Essential Story Ingredients
• How to Write Fiction that grabs your readers from page one
• Why research is important in writing
• Make Your Reader Root for Your Main Character
• Writing Ergonomics (Staying Comfortable Whilst Writing)
• The Importance of Body Language

Character Development

• 10 days of Character Building
• Name Generators
• Name Playground
• Universal Mary Sue Litmus Test
• Seven Common Character Types
• Handling a Cast of Thousands Part 1 - Getting To Know Your Characters
• Web Resources for Developing Characters
• Building Fictional Characters
• Fiction Writer’s Character Chart
• Character Building Workshop
• Tips for Characterization
• Character Chart for Fiction Writers
• Villains are people too but…
• How to Write a Character Bible
• Character Development Exercises
• All Your Characters Talk the Same - And They’re Not A Hivemind!
• Medieval Names Archive
• Sympathy Without Saintliness
• Family Echo (Family Tree Maker)
• Behind The Name
• 100 Character Development Questions for Writers
• Aether’s Character Development Worksheet
• The 12 Common Archetypes
• Six Types of Courageous Characters
• Kazza’s List of Character Secrets - Part 1, Part 2
• Creating Believable Characters With Personality
• Body Language Cheat Sheet
• Creating Fictional Characters Series
• Three Ways to Avoid Lazy Character Description
• 7 Rules for Picking Names for Fictional Characters
• Character Development Questionnaire
• How to Create Fictional Characters
• Character Name Resources
• Character Development Template
• Character Development Through Hobbies
• Character Flaws List
• 10 Questions for Creating Believable Characters
• Ari’s Archetype Series
• How to Craft Compelling Characters
• List of 200 Character Traits
• Writing Characters of the Opposite Sex
• Making Your Characters Likable
• Do you really know your characters?
• Character Development: Virtues
• Character Development: Vices
• Character Morality Alignment
• List of Negative Personality Traits
• List of Positive Personality Traits
• List of Emotions - Positive
• List of Emotions - Negative
• Loon’s Character Development Series - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
• Phobia List A-L (Part 1), M-Z (Part 2)
• 30 Day In Depth Character Development Meme
• Words for Emotions based on Severity
• Eight Bad Characters
• High Level Description of the Sixteen Personality Types

Female Characters

• How Not to Write Female Characters
• Writing Female Characters
• How to write empowering female characters
• Why I write strong female characters
• Red Flags for Female Characters Written by Men
• Writing strong female characters
• The Female Character Flowchart
• Eight Heroine Archetypes

Male Characters

• Eight Hero Archetypes

Tips for Specific Characters

• Writing A Vampire
• Writing Characters on the Police Force
• Writing Drunk Characters
• Writing A Manipulative Character
• Writing A Friends With Benefits Relationship
• Writing A Natural Born Leader
• Writing A Flirtatious Character
• Writing A Nice Character
• Fiction Writing Exercises for Creating Villains
• Five Traits to Contribute to an Epic Villain
• Writing Villains that Rock
• Writing British Characters
• How To Write A Character With A Baby
• On Assassin Characters

Dialogue

• It’s Not What They Say…
• Top 8 Tips for Writing Dialogue
• Speaking of Dialogue
• The Great Said Debate
• He Said, She Said, Who Said What?
• How to Write Dialogue Unique to Your Characters
• Writing Dialogue: Go for Realistic, Not Real-Life

Point of View

• Establishing The Right Point of View
• How to Start Writing in the Third Person
• The I Problem

Plot, Conflict, Structure and Outline

• Writing A Novel Using the Snowflake Method
• Effectively Outlining Your Novel
• Conflict and Character Within Story Structure
• Outlining Your Plot
• Ideas, Plots and Using the Premise Sheets
• How To Write A Novel
• Creating Conflict and Sustaining Suspense
• Plunge Right In…Into Your Story, That Is
• Tips for Creating a Compelling Plot
• 36 (plus one) Dramatic Situations
• The Evil Overlord Devises A Plot: Excerpt from Stupid Plot Tricks
• Conflict Test
• What is Conflict?
• Monomyth
• The Hero’s Journey: Summary of Steps
• Outline Your Novel in Thirty Minutes
• Plotting Without Fears
• Novel Outlining 101
• Writing The Perfect Scene
• One-Page Plotting
• The Great Swampy Middle
• How Can You Know What Belongs In Your Book?
• Create A Plot Outline in 8 Easy Steps
• How to Organize and Develop Ideas for Your Novel
• Create Structure in your novel using index cards
• Choosing the best outline method for you
• Hatch’s Plot Bank

Setting & Worldbuilding

• Magical Word Builder’s Guide
• I Love The End Of The World
• World Building 101
• The Art of Description: Eight Tips to Help Bring Your Settings to Life
• Creating the Perfect Setting - Part 1
• Creating a Believable World
• Setting
• Character and Setting Interactions
• Maps Workshop - Developing the Fictional World Through Mapping
• World Builders Project
• How To Create Fantasy Worlds
• Creating Fantasy and Science Fiction Worlds

Creativity Boosters* denotes prompts

• *Creative Writing Prompts
• *Ink Provoking
• *Story Starter
• *Story Spinner
• *Story Kitchen
• *Language is a Virus
• *The Dabbling Mum
• Quick Story Idea Generator
• Solve Your Problems By Simply Saying Them Out Loud
• Busting Your Writing Rut
• Creative Acceleration: 11 Tips To Engineer A Productive Flow
• The Seven Major Beginner Mistakes
• Complete Your First Book with these 9 Simple Writing Habits
• Free Association, Active Imagination, Twilight Imaging
• Random Book Title Generator
• Finishing Your Novel
• Story Starters & Idea Generators
• Words to Use More Often

Revision & Grammar

• How To Rewrite
• Editing Recipe
• Cliche Finder
• Revising Your Novel: Read What You’ve Written
• Writing 101: Revising A Novel
• 20 Common Grammar Mistakes That (Almost) Everyone Makes
• Synonyms for the Most Commonly Used Words of the English Language
• Grammar Urban Legends

Tools & Software

• Tip Of My Tongue - Find the word you’re looking for
• Write or Die - Stay motivated
• Stay Focused - Tool for Chrome, lock yourself out of distracting websites
• My Writing Nook - Online Text Editor, Free
• Bubbl.us - Online Mind Map Application, Free
• Family Echo - Online Family Tree Maker, Free
• Freemind - Mind Map Application; Free; Windows, Mac, Linux, Portable
• Xmind - Mind Map Application; Free; Windows, Mac, Linux, Portable
• Liquid Story Binder - Novel Organization and Writing Application; free trial, $45.95; Windows, Portable
• Scrivener - Novel Organization and Writing Application; free trial, $39.95; Mac
• SuperNotecard - Novel Organization and Writing Application; free trial, $29; Windows, Mac, Linux, portable
• yWriter - Novel Organization and Writing Application; free; Windows, Linux, portable
• JDarkRoom - Minimalist Text Editing Application; free; Windows, Mac, Linux, portable
• AutoRealm - Map Creation Application; free; Windows, Linux with Wine

Specific Help

• Fashion Terminology
• All About Kissing
• Genre Help: Romance
• 187 Mental Illnesses
• Types of Mental Illness
• Eye Color List
• Spectral Groupings

(via muninandhugin)

herbalialavandula:

duskenpath:

You get 5 free downloads from this site so pick wisely and then send me all of them.

Moon Lore

The Folk-Lore of Plants

Ireland’s Fairy Lore

The Lore of the Honey-Bee

English Folk-Lore

The Dragon in Japan and China

The Celtic Dragon Myth

And here’s the whole tagged Witchcraft/Esoterica section.

You’ll have to tell me how they are, I used most of my DLs already on Shinto topics. (You can pretty much assume especially with older books on these topics there’s gonna be some horrifically racist and other content, so be prepared for that nonsense. But there’s usually a good one or two.)

will be reblogged to DradonaDiidorum later on the resources list

(via sonneillonv)