Small physical things that give your characters personality
How they smile
What their “tell” is for lying
Posture
Volume of speech, if they’re verbal
Nervous tics
How much eye contact do they make
In a group conversation, how close do they stand to others? Are they off to the side just listening and occasionally speaking or are they right next to people?
When standing, what do they do with their hands? Talk with their hands, cross their arms, put hands in pockets, prop up against the wall, etc
The sound of their footsteps
Nonverbal greetings: do they wave, nod, hug, glare, punch, high five, something else?
How do they get others’ attention? Raise hand, clear throat, etc
Dragon Anatomy Top Image Row 1 Row 2 Row 3 Row 4 Row 5 Bottom Image
VIBE CHECK *cups your face and kisses you till you're breathless*
when I am listening to love songs, it doesn’t mean I’m thinking about me being in a relationship!
IT MEANS I’M THINKING ABOUT MY SHIPS IN ROMANTIC SETTINGS!!!
MY LAD CALLUM BE LOOKIN LIKE A DISNEY PRINCE HDKSJEJDJ WHAT A LEGEND 💖💖🌟🌟
This was a nightmare to finish [thanks to a good ole cold and aunt flow].
I’m surprised a lot of people insisted on putting flowers in her hair, I don’t know why. Appreciate my efforts, I tried my best lol
Is there a list of describing a characters voice?
There are two ways to describe a character voice: the actual sound of it and what it does through words and tone. I’ll provide both since I don’t know which one you want specifically :)
Soft
Gravelly
Breathy
Abrasive
Brittle
Acidic
Barbed
Course
Dulcet
Guttural
Sweet
Hoarse
Honeyed
Shrill
Deep
High-pitched
Quiet
Loud
Mumbly
Squeaky
Wavering
Velvety
Smooth
Weak
Broken
Accusatory
Admiring
Amused
Animated
Anxious
Deadpan
Apologetic
Ardent
Arrogant
Assertive
Authoritative
Bleak
Bored
Bubbly
Cautionary
Cheery
Defeated
Confused
Critical
Curt
Defiant
Defensive
Detached
Diplomatic
Disheartening
Disheartened
Cold
Docile
Frustrated
Intense
Intimate
Lifeless
Loving
Objective
Righteous
Sincere
Urgent
Vindictive
This, in a nutshell, is what I did to get a book with my name on it.
NOTE: This is just my personal way of making the words go. Other people have different ways to make their words go. In the world of words, there are no right answers. There’s just lots and lots of tea/coffee/tear stains.
When I get an idea for a story, I open up a document, label it “Brainstorming,” and start making a bullet list of events that consist of the plot.
It has to be an idea with tangible weight. A stray bit of dialogue or something vague like Halloween, that doesn’t give me much to work off of. Halloween creatures living on the same street where it’s Autumn every day- now that’s something I can build from.
What kinds of creatures are they? What do they do? What do their houses look like? The best ideas are the ones that spark more.
This is the easy part- and the most challenging. Easy, because there’s literally no bar. I just sat there and typed. But it’s a huge mental challenge.
When I was in first draft mode, I wanted that story out. I thought that by making it such a rough, far-away version from the concept in my head, I was only delaying the day where I’d hold it in my hands. Turns out, that’s what got it to take on physical form in the first place. So I quieted down, grabbed my laptop and some hot tea, and typed.
After I finished draft one, I printed it all off and highlighted the scant amounts that were passable for the next phase. Dialogue, descriptions, setting- anything that didn’t look like it was up to par was scratched out and omitted.
I call the above pictures A Slow Descent Into Madness.
On a fresh document, I rewrote the story altogether- and it make a difference. I was coming up with things I hadn’t even thought of previously. And it was surprising how much better the plot was than the first time around. But it was still rough.
My method was to start with the bigger, more obvious issues and work my way down. Any plot holes I found were noted, and my outline was constantly under revision. I cut out entire scenes and made mental notes on ways they could be fixed/replaced.
This is where I started cutting chapters in half to make the story flow better- but I didn’t bother writing in usable chapter titles. Instead, I improvised:
These were dedicated to correcting the smaller, less obvious plot holes. This was the point where the story finally started to look close to what would become the final version.
With the story line looking how I wanted, I then moved on to sentence structure. That one song that looked terrible? Rewritten. Over-the-top descriptions and excessive prose? Gone.
This is where I had outside help. Besides this useful tool, I had two people check for spelling issues and the overall story. Once it was in decent shape to be made public, I asked for some additional help.
My betas were in the age range that my novel was geared toward, along with a couple of teachers and parents (as it was middle grade). I gave them the full manuscript, along with seven basic questions like “Which characters were your favorite/least favorite and why?” and “Was there a part of the story that didn’t make sense?”
I gave my betas three months to read a 42,590 word story, and by the end they gave me back the review sheets.
After I read over the reviews, I let the comments sit for three days so that I could proceed with a clear head. I smoothed out any flaws, scanned over the MS twice to make sure everything was right, and that is how I got to the end of writing my first novel.
Next comes publishing- which is a different beast entirely.
attacka you with a branch
Source: zodiacmind_ on ig