IDEA THINGY

“Hold on tight.”

“Alrig-AAAAAHHHH!” Pomni screamed as they took off. She felt faint; flying off the balcony she was screaming and begging him not to drop her. She had her eyes shut tight, wrapping around him even tighter. Which would've made him smile if it wasn't in his ear, and his organs were being popped out.

“Jeez, calm down, jingles!” He said, blocking one of his ears. “I'll take it easy.” She didn't believe the rabbit in the slightest, shutting her eyes tighter; praying to whatever god was out there to not let her die.

“I promise, just,” Jax turned, attempting to take her arms off of him, which just made her hold tighter. He placed his hand gently on her cheek. “Open your eyes..Please."

“Are you crazy?!” The jester snapped, burying her face into his back.

“Trust me.” He spoke softly. Slowly peeking open her eyes, and taking her head off from his back. Seeing his face, softly looking at her, as well as the pitch black sky only illuminated by the moon and stars. Pomni opened her eyes more, seeing the beautiful shining stars. She looked amazed, stopping her screaming. Her jester hat finally couldn't hold anymore, flying off. Her eyes seemed like they had stars in them, looking at him.

“See?” He said, taking his hand off his cheek, and turning back around.

Pomni seemed to finally calm down, loosening her grip. She whispered something he couldn't make out. Once she finally let go Jax pushed down on the carpet, pushing them down rapidly, almost hitting the ocean. “Going down!”

“JAAAAX!” She screamed at the top of her lungs, going back to the scared cat. Chuckling, he pulled up on the it, making the carpet hover over the water.

“C'mon, open your e-.”

“HELL NO!” She shouted at him before he could finish.

He sighed. ‘Way to go, asshole.’ He thought. “No more tricks, if you want just keep your eyes on me.” Some stupid, stupid part of her trusted him. Trembling she once again opened her eyes; slower than before. She tried to keep her eyes on his back, trying to not looking at looming death, that was drowning.

“See, isn't that bad?” Jax asked, letting her loosen her grip again. Pomni's eyes darted at the sea before darting back. She slowly began looking at it again, seeing the sea reflect off the moon. The presence of being on the magical carpet wasn't as bad as it seemed; distracted by the ocean. Pomni let her hand wonder, touching the skin of the water before jerking back. She slowly began to touch the water again; shaking, she put her hand more in the coldness, letting it glide on the sea. A silent gasp left her lips, before smiling gently.

“If you're still too scared we can head back-”

“No—I mean I trust you.” If she could see his face she would see a deep shade of red covering his cheeks. No one had told him that before, it made him feel safe. And made her feel special.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Hello there, everyone, and for anyone who sees this, I sincerely hope that everyone has a wonderful year and a wonderful future. There will always be some obstacles that everyone has to deal with but there will always be a light for everyone no matter how dark things get.

@rezaktess I wanted to thank you for being a fantastic friend Reza, you have been very sweet and supportive with just silly jokes or with helping in being there for me as a friend so thank you so much, buddy.

@brookiedaaroacecookie I want to say a thank you to my friend Brookie for being very kind and supportive who was there for me during both happy and sad moments so thank you pal. @funnybreadd Thank you, funnybread, for being there for me as a friend. You have been kind and supportive and just a great buddy over, so thank you. @embyson I want to extend a thank you to Embryson, who has been an amazing friend for being so kind and nice to me during some rough times. Thank you for being there for me.

@croissantberry And for Croissant, I wanted to save this for you but thank you for always being there for me, for always supporting me during my toughest moments and for showing me kindness when others showed me scorn and contempt. Thank you for being the person I love, thank you.

How to Write Strong Dialogue

(from a writer of ten years)

So you’re back in the writing trenches. You’re staring at your computer, or your phone, or your tablet, or your journal, and trying not to lose your mind. Because what comes after the first quotation mark? Nothing feels good.

Don’t worry, friend. I’m your friendly tumblr writing guide and I’m here to help you climb out of the pit of writing despair.

I’ve created a character specifically for this exercise. His name is Amos Alejandro III, but for now we’ll just call him Amos. He’s a thirty-something construction worker with a cat who hates him, and he’s just found out he has to go on a quest across the world to save his mother’s diner.

1.) Consider the Attitude and Characteristics of Your Character

One of the biggest struggles writers face when writing dialogue is keeping characters’ dialogue “in-character”.

You’re probably thinking, “but Sparrow, I’m the creator! None of the dialogue I write can be out of character because they’re my original characters!”

WRONG. (I’m hitting the very loud ‘incorrect’ buzzer in your head right now).

Yes, you created your characters. But you created them with specific characteristics and attitudes. For example, Amos lives alone, doesn’t enjoy talking too much, and isn’t a very scholarly person. So he’s probably not going to say something like “I suggest that we pursue the path of least resistance for this upcoming quest.” He’d most likely say, “I mean, I think the easiest route is pretty self-explanatory.”

Another example is a six-year-old girl saying, “Hi, Mr. Ice Cream Man, do you have chocolate sundaes?” instead of “Hewwo, Ice Cweam Man— Chocowate Sundaes?”

Please don’t put ‘w’s in the middle of your dialogue unless you have a very good and very specific reason. I will cry.

Yes, the girl is young, but she’s not going to talk like that. Most children know how to ask questions correctly, and the ‘w’ sound, while sometimes found in a young child’s speech, does not need to be written out. Children are human.

So, consider the attitude, characteristics, and age of your character when writing dialogue!

2.) Break Up Dialogue Length

If I’m reading a novel and I see an entire page of dialogue without any breaks, I’m sobbing. You’re not a 17th century author with endless punctuation. You’re in the 21st century and people don’t read in the same way they used to.

Break up your dialogue. Use long sentences. Use one word. Use commas, use paragraph breaks. Show a character throwing a chair out a window in between sentences.

For example:

“So, you’re telling me the only way to save my Ma’s diner is to travel across five different continents, find the only remaining secret receipt card, and bring it back before she goes out of business? She didn’t have any other copies? Do I have to leave my cat behind?”

vs.

Amos ran a hand over his face. “So, you’re telling me the only way to save my Ma’s diner is to travel across five different continents, find the only remaining secret recipe card, and bring it back before she goes out of business?”

He couldn’t believe his luck. That was sarcastic, of course. This was ironically horrible.

“She didn’t have any other copies?” He leaned forward over the table and frowned. “Do I have to leave my cat behind?”

The second version is easier to digest, and I got to add some fun description of thought and action into the scene! Readers get a taste of Amos’ character in the second scene, whereas in the first scene they only got what felt like a million words of dialogue.

3.) Don’t Overuse Dialogue Tags.

DON’T OVERUSE DIALOGUE TAGS. DON’T. DON’T DON’T DON’T.

If you don’t know what a dialogue tag is, it’s a word after a sentence of dialogue that attributes that dialogue to a specific character.

For example:

“Orange juice and chicken ramen are good,” he said.

‘Said’ functions as the dialogue tag in this sentence.

Dialogue tags are good. You don’t want to completely avoid them. (I used to pride myself on how I could write stories without any dialogue tags. Don’t do that.) Readers need to know who’s speaking. But overusing them, or overusing weird or unique tags, should be avoided.

Examples:

“I’m gonna have to close my diner,” Amos’ mother said.

“Why?” Amos growled. “It’s been in the family forever.”

“I’ve lost the secret recipe card, and I can’t keep the diner open without it!” she cried.

“The Bacon Burger Extreme recipe card?” Amos questioned.

“Yes!” Amos’ mother screamed.

“Well, that’s not good,” Amos complained.

vs.

“I’m gonna have to close my diner,” Amos’ mother said, taking her son’s hand and leading him over to one of the old, grease-stained tabletops with the ripped-fabric booths.

Amos simply stared at her as they moved. “Why? It’s been in the family forever.”

“I’ve—” she looked away for a moment, then took in a breath. “I’ve lost the secret recipe card. And I can’t keep the diner open without it.”

“The Bacon Burger Extreme recipe card?”

“Yes!” She still wouldn’t meet his eyes, and her shoulders were shaking. “Yes.”

Amos sat down heavily in the booth. “Well, that’s not good.”

The first scene only gives character names and dialogue tags. There are no actions and no descriptions. The second scene, however, gives these things. It gives the reader descriptions of the diner, the characters’ actions, and attitudes. Overusing dialogue tags gets boring fast, so add interest into your writing!

So! When you’re writing, consider the attitude of your character, vary dialogue length, and don’t overuse dialogue tags.

Now climb out of the pit of writing despair. Pick up your pen or computer. And write some good dialogue!

Best,

Sparrow

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funnybreadd

3 months ago