honey-yas01

Latest Posts by honey-yas01

every day i am percieved™️

im going to have a stroke

just a silly little guy

Odysseus: 600 men making our way back home to Ithaca!

*Polythemus swings his club around*

Odysseus: 593 men making our way back home to Ithaca.

*Poseidon wipes out the other 11 ships in the fleet*

Odysseus: ...43 men making our way back home to Ithaca.

*Elpenor's drunk ass falls off Circe's roof*

Odysseus: 42 men making our way back home to Ithaca, I guess.

*Scylla targets the torch holders*

Odysseus: 36 men making our way back home to Ithaca. Put that sword away, Eurylochus.

*Zeus strikes the ship with lightning*

Odysseus: 1 man making his way back home to Penelope and Telemachus. And by the gods, I will somehow make it.

do people really just wanna be fans of the hunger games and not mention palestine at all? like honestly? do you really wanna just support fictional uprisings and fighting back against fictional oppression but don't actually give a shit about it in real life? did y'all genuinely learn and internalize nothing from this series????

“I think fanfiction is literature and literature, for the most part, is fanfiction, and that anyone that dismisses it simply on the grounds that it’s derivative knows fuck-all about literature and needs to get the hell off my lawn. Most of the history of Western literature (and probably much of non-Western literature, but I can’t speak to that) is adapted or appropriated from something else. Homer wrote historyfic and Virgil wrote Homerfic and Dante wrote Virgilfic (where he makes himself a character and writes himself hanging out with Homer and Virgil and they’re like “OMG Dante you’re so cool.” He was the original Gary Stu). Milton wrote Bible fanfic, and everyone and their mom spent the Middle Ages writing King Arthur fanfic. In the sixteenth century you and another dude could translate the same Petrarchan sonnet and somehow have it count as two separate poems, and no one gave a fuck. Shakespeare doesn’t have a single original plot—although much of it would be more rightly termed RPF—and then John Fletcher and Mary Cowden Clarke and Gloria Naylor and Jane Smiley and Stephen Sondheim wrote Shakespeare fanfic. Guys like Pope and Dryden took old narratives and rewrote them to make fun of people they didn’t like, because the eighteenth century was basically high school. And Spenser! Don’t even get me started on Spenser. Here’s what fanfic authors/fans need to remember when anyone gives them shit: the idea that originality is somehow a good thing, an innately preferable thing, is a completely modern notion. Until about three hundred years ago, a good writer, by and large, was someone who could take a tried-and-true story and make it even more awesome. (If you want to sound fancy, the technical term is imitatio.) People were like, why would I wanna read something about some dude I’ve never heard of? There’s a new Sir Gawain story out, man! (As to when and how that changed, I tend to blame Daniel Defoe, or the Modernists, or reality television, depending on my mood.) I also find fanfic fascinating because it takes all the barriers that keep people from professional authorship—barriers that have weakened over the centuries but are nevertheless still very real—and blows right past them. Producing literature, much less circulating it, was something that was well nigh impossible for the vast majority of people for most of human history. First you had to live in a culture where people thought it was acceptable for you to even want to be literate in the first place. And then you had to find someone who could teach you how to read and write (the two didn’t necessarily go together). And you needed sufficient leisure time to learn. And be able to afford books, or at least be friends with someone rich enough to own books who would lend them to you. Good writers are usually well-read and professional writing is a full-time job, so you needed a lot of books, and a lot of leisure time both for reading and writing. And then you had to be in a high enough social position that someone would take you seriously and want to read your work—to have access to circulation/publication in addition to education and leisure time. A very tiny percentage of the population fit those parameters (in England, which is the only place I can speak of with some authority, that meant from 500-1000 A.D.: monks; 1000-1500: aristocratic men and the very occasional aristocratic woman; 1500-1800: aristocratic men, some middle-class men, a few aristocratic women; 1800-on, some middle-class women as well). What’s amazing is how many people who didn’t fit those parameters kept writing in spite of the constant message they got from society that no one cared about what they had to say, writing letters and diaries and stories and poems that often weren’t discovered until hundreds of years later. Humans have an urge to express themselves, to tell stories, and fanfic lets them. If you’ve got access to a computer and an hour or two to while away of an evening, you can create something that people will see and respond to instantly, with a built-in community of people who care about what you have to say. I do write the occasional fic; I wish I had the time and mental energy to write more. I’ll admit I don’t read a lot of fic these days because most of it is not—and I know how snobbish this sounds—particularly well-written. That doesn’t mean it’s “not good”—there are a lot of reasons people read fic and not all of them have to do with wanting to read finely crafted prose. That’s why fic is awesome—it creates a place for all kinds of storytelling. But for me personally, now that my job entails reading about 1500 pages of undergraduate writing per year, when I have time to read for enjoyment I want it to be by someone who really knows what they’re doing. There’s tons of high-quality fic, of course, but I no longer have the time and patience to go searching for it that I had ten years ago. But whether I’m reading it or not, I love that fanfiction exists. Because without people doing what fanfiction writers do, literature wouldn’t exist. (And then I’d be out of a job and, frankly, I don’t know how to do anything else.)”

— “As a professor, may I ask you what you think about fanfiction?” (via meiringens)

"I cant draw" then do it bad who gives a fuck.....

#freepalestine #fromtherivertothesea #fromtherivertotheseapalestinewillbefree

im noticing that for a lot of americans “free palestine” has been an ideological motto and symbol rather than them actually believing in their heart that freedom is attainable and necessary

Resources For Romance Writers

Here is a large compilation of resources based on what you guys told me you struggle with the most when writing romance. This ranges from creating a healthy romance to inspire other people to seek the right kind of love, finding inspiration to write, writing realistic scenes, and many other topics. I hope that you find this useful!

Healthy & Realistic Romance

How to write strong character relationships 

How To Write Realistic Romance

Realistic Romance 

Writing Realistic Love Relationships 

LGB Relationships

Romantic Subplots

Writing a Romance Novel 

How to Avoid Forced Romantic Sub-Plot 

Subtle Signs of Love 

Love at First Sight and the Stages of Love 

Using Timelines to Pace Romantic Relationships 

Avoiding the Cheesy Stuff 

Building an Organic Romance 

Writing Healthy Couples In Fiction

Cliches & Tropes To Avoid

What’s Missing In The Modern Romance Heroine

Romance- The deal with triangles.

Writing a quality love triangle

Writing 101- love triangles

The problem with love triangles

Massive List Of Romance Tropes

Massive List Of Friendship Tropes

Things About Romance Learned From TV

Cliches To Avoid Or Reconstruct

Writing Emotional Scenes Without Melodrama

Friendship to Love

Enemies to Lovers 

Female Characters To Avoid

Romance Scenes & NSFW Resources

Handling the Risqué Parts of Writing Romance 

The Big Book Of Writing Sex

Twenty Steps To Writing Great Love Scenes

Ten Essentials To Writing Love Scenes

Sizzling, Sensuous and Steamy: How to Write Love Scenes

Keeping it Sweet While Turning Up the Heat

Kissing Scenes

Sexual Tension 

Delicate and Relevant Sex Scenes 

Types Of Kisses

Five Flirting Styles

Flirting Types

Obvious Flirting Signs

How To Flirt

Writing Flirty Things

Words To Use In Sex Scenes

Synonyms For Private Bits

Things For Beginners

Tips for Beginning Romance Writers 

5 Tips To Writing Engaging Romance

How To Write From The Opposite Gender’s Point Of View

Writing Gender Specific Dialogue

How to Write a Romance Novel: The Keys to Conflict 

4 Tips For Writing For The Romance Market

How To Write Romance

Bringing Humor Into Your Romance

Inspiration

Romantic Things On Tumblr

Love poems

The Bad Sex Awards (What Not To Do)

TheRomantic.com

General Tools and Tips

Romance University 

RT Book Reviews’ Romance site 

5 Ways To Write Romance With Respect

10 Ways To Improve Your Romance Novel

7 Essential Tips For Writing A Romance

Using Real Psychology In Your Writing 

Help With Romance: General Things

Plotting The Teen Romance

Research Flaws In Romance

Writing Romantic Dialogue

Touchy-Feely Words

Resource Masterposts I Made

Wordsnstuff Masterlist

Useful Writing Resources

Useful Writing Resources II

Resources For Fantasy & Mythology Writers

Resources For Writing Young Adult Fiction

This is also available on wordsnstuffblog.com!

– This one is a little shorter than my other resource master posts, but that’s because of the nature of the genre being more about the demographic. I hope you all find this helpful. Happy writing!

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Getting The Details Right

Writing YA That Connects With Teen Readers

Showing A Character’s Age

Switching From Adult To Young Adult

Writing For A Young Adult Audience

Young Adult and New Adult Book Markets

Cliches

5 Cliches To Avoid In YA Fantasy

10 Worn Out Cliches In YA

20 Mistakes To Avoid In YA

YA Romance

Resources For Romance Writers

Tips On Writing Skinny Love

Plotting The Teen Romance

How to Write A YA Romance Without Cliché

How to Write Realistic YA Romance

YA Fantasy

Resources For Fantasy/Mythology Writers

What Makes A Good YA Fantasy

So You Want To Write YA High Fantasy?

What is Young Adult Fantasy?

General Tips

What NOT To Do When Writing YA

6 Tips For Writing Young Adult Books

Things To Keep In Mind When Writing YA

5 Things To Avoid When Writing A YA Novel

Agents That Represent Romance

Publishers of Romance Novels

The 8 Habits of Highly Successful Young-Adult Fiction Authors

The Ultimate Guide to YA Fiction

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i’m finally back with another name list! this time it’s beautiful uncommon names + their meanings, enjoy! Female: Adeena - Noble, gentle, delicate Agrafina - Wild Horse Ailith - Seasoned warrior Aislin - Vision Alaia - Beautiful shore Aloïsia - Famous warrior Amadrya - Tree Nymph Amara - Eternally beautiful Amaris - Child of the Moon; promised by God Ambrosine - Immortal Amice - Friend Anneliese - Favour; Grace; my God is a vow Annika - Sweet faced, God has favoured me Annistyn - Resurrection Aoife - Beauty, radiance Arianwyn - Woman of Silver Ariella - Lioness of God Asena - She-Wolf Asra - Travel at Night Asterin - Star Atalia - God is great Atarah - Crown Aurelia - Golden Aviva - Springlike and fresh Avyanna - Strong, powerful, beautiful Ayelet - Musical instrument; Gazelle Aziza - Precious Bathsheba - Daughter of an Oath Behtan - Strong beauty Bellona - War-like Betina - God’s promise Betla - A Woman who finds God in her oath Blyana - Strong Brina - Protector Briony - To grow; to sprout Briseis - One whom Achilles loved Cecily - Blind Cerelia - From the Springtime Ceren - Young Gazelle Charis - Grace and beauty Chaska - Star Goddess Chryseis - Golden Citlali - Star Goddess Clemenza - Merciful Corvina - Raven-haired Cynth - Moon Goddess Cyrilla - Lordly Czarina - A born Empress Cǽlestis - Heavenly Davina - Beloved Davrusha - Bee Desdemona - Ill starred Dhara - The Earth Dinah - God will judge Drusilla - Fruitful Dušana - Soul; spirit Edlynne - Princess Eira - Merciful Elara - Moon of Jupiter Eletta - Little Elf Elide - Battle Elizabella - Pledged to God Elowen - Elm Elska - To love Elspeth - My God is bountiful Enya - Fire Epona - Protectress of Horses Essie - Star Estefania - Crown Evolet - To breathe Farren - Wanderer Faustine - Fortunate Fenelle - White shouldered one Feyre - Human huntress Fiametta - Little flame Fifer - One who plays the Fife Filomena - Lover of strength Flanna - Red-haired Fleur - Flower Forsythia - Peaceful one Gadina - Flower garden Giséle - Noble offspring Hadassah - Myrtle tree, righteousness Hedda - Fighting a battle Hollis - One among Holly trees Imrie - Musical one Inerys - Literary inspired Ingemar - Of the Sea Ione - Violet coloured stone Iridessa - Resembling a Rainbow Iscah - She will look out Isolde - Ice-ruler Jenica - God’s gracious gift Kainda - Hunter’s daughter Kanani - The beauty Katalin - Pure Kathika - Bestower of courage Keelin - Slender; fair Kenna - Born of Fire Keturah - Incense Keziah - Cassia tree Kirsi - Frost Kova - Tough Ksenia - Wanderer, welcoming Leora - Light unto me Liusaidh - Warrior Loana - God is gracious Lovanna - Graceful warrior Luludja - Flower of life Mairéad - Pearl Makatza - Untamed; wild Malka - Queen Malle - Beloved Margita - Pearl Maris - Of the Sea Marzena - Dreamed one Mattea - Gift of God Maven - Brilliant; intelligent Mavi - Blue Meara - Sea Medha - Peacock Melantha - Dark Flower Melisande - Work; strength Merindah - Beautiful Miliana - Industrius; eager Minka - Resolute; strong Mirella - Admired; peace; wonderful Morgayne - Bright sea Muriel - Shining sea Nadalia - Born on Christmas Nadia - Delicate Narah - Queen of the Wolves Nascha - Owl Navya - Worthy of praise Nayadeth - Powerful Nayaya - The Apple of the eye Nereida - Sea Nymph Nesryn - Wild Rose Neysa - Pure Nila - Blue Nilsa - Defender Nimue - Lady of the lake Noelani - Heavenly mist Odelle - Harmonious Olene - Ancestor’s relic, heritage Opalina - Precious Gem Orlaith - Golden Orpah - Fawn Orsolya - Little She-Bear Penrose - Little Village Photine - Light Poloma - Bow Prisca - She who is ancient Renna - Little prosperous one Reumah - Exalted Reyna - Peaceful Queen Rhosyn - Rose Rieka - Protecter of the Wolf Rohana - One who travels a higher path Rohese - Fame; kind Ruthella - Friend Ríona - Pure Sabella - God is my oath Sadira - Lotus tree Salōmē - Peaceful Samaira - Enchanting Sansa - Charm; praise; invocation Saoirse - Freedom Sarai - Princess Savea - The Swedish nation Seallie - A Princess Selah - To pause and reflect on God’s word, to praise Sereia - Mermaid Shaye - Hawk-like Shivani - Flower Sidra - Like a star Sigrún - Secret victory Sitara - Star Solandis - Delicate flower Sorcha - Radient Svenja - Swan battle maiden Sybella - Prophetess, Oracle Tamar - Date Palm tree Taysa - Bound together Tova - Good Vaia - Purple Flower Valda - Spirited Warrioress Valeriana - Strong Vanadey - Forest Goddess Vanya - Butterfly Vela - Constellation in the Southern Sky Venelia - Of the Sea and Wind Verity - Truth Verna - Born in the Spring Victoriana - Victorious, grace Vigdís - War Goddess Viorica - Bluebell Viveca - Life Winola - Fair one Xiomara - Welcoming Zemira - A song Zephaniah - God has concealed; protected Zerenity - Calm Zilla - Shadow Zina - Shining, going back Zisel - Blinded Zoraida - Enchanting Woman Male: Aksel - Father of peace Alarik - Noble leader Alasdair - Defender of Men Alaster - Defending men; help Alec - Defender of Mankind Alejo - Helper; defender Aleks - Helper and defender Alesandro - Mankind’s protector Alessio - Defender Amadeus - Love of God Amory - Brave; powerful Andrik - Manly Andronicus - Man of Victory Anik - Soldier Arden - Great Forest Ashby - From the Ash tree farm Aytac - Moon crown Beauregard - Beautiful gaze Belen - Arrow Bemus - Platform Braddock - Broad Oak Bram - Raven Calix - Handsome Carsten - Follower of Christ Casimir - Polish, peace Caspian - Place name Cephas - Rock Cicero - Historian Cillian - Church Col - Victory of the people Connell - Strong Wolf Constantine - Constant Cy - Proud Dake - Dragon Demitrius - Lover of the Earth Deo - God-like Destan - By the still waters Drayce - Dragon Dru - Vision Egan - Little fire Einri - Home ruler Eliezer - God is my help Elis - Jehovah is God Embry - Flat-topped Hill Emeric - Leader Emir - Commander; Prince Emlen - Rival; eager Ender - Biblical Village Enoch - Dedicated Ephraim - Fruitful Erastus - Beloved Errol - Leader Erzsebet - Pledged to God Estevan - Crown Evander - Strong Man Ezekiel - God strengthens Ezio - Eagle Fallon - In charge Faustus - Lucky Felipe - Loves Horses Ferran - Journey; daring; brave Finnian - White Flavian - Blond Gideon - Having a stump for a hand Gwaine - Little Falcon Hagan - Strong desire Hayes - Hedged Valley Hester - Star Icarus - Legendary figure Isandro - Liberator Issachar - Reward Jaxith - Kind-hearted Jedidiah - Beloved of Jehovah Josephus - God will add Kahlo - Spanish Artist Kaius - Rejoice Kal - Most beautiful Karan - Pure Kase - Vigilant; wakeful Kato - Second of twins Keelan - Lean Keir - Dark; Black Kellan - Powerful Kenaz - This possession Keros - The reed of a Weaver’s beam Kosmos - Order Kristo - Christ-bearer Kyrell - The dark Kyril - Lordly Landis - From the grassy plain Layland - Protector of Men Leander - Lion Man Leopold - As brave as a Lion Leven - Life Lucian - Man of light Ludovica - Renowned Warrior Lyle - From the Island Magus - Magician Malkiel - God is my King Manasses - Causing forgetfulness Marcellus - Little Warrior Mattenai - Gift of God Matteo - Gift of God Mattias - Gift of God Maverick - Independent; Nonconformist Mordecai - Warrior Nathair - Snake Nehemiah - Comforted by God Neo - New Nero - The strong one Nicodemus - Vcitory of the people Nicos - Poeple’s victory Obadiah - Servant of God Odysseus - Full of wrath Olin - To inherit Omer - Sheaf of Grain Oren - Strength; fine; tree Orien - The Hunter Orrin - Mountain Othello - Acute Othniel - Strength of God Pancras - All powerful Quintavius - Wisdom; reason; intelligence; eighth Rand - Wolf’s shield Renny - Prosperous Reuel - Friend of God Reuven - Behold, a Son Richter - Judge Ryker - Rich Salvatore - Saviour Sansone - Sun Santos - Saint Silas - Woods; Forest Silvius - Wood; Forest Sirius - Sparkling Solomon - Peace Soren - Thunder Spiro - Spiral Stayros - Crowned Stefan - Crowned Stefano - Crown Sterling - Highest quality Tassos - Harvester Thaddeus - Gift of God Thane - Attendent Warrior Thorin - Thunder Torben - God of Thunder Torren - Swift; strong Trefor - Large settlement Ulric - Power of the Wolf; might Urion - From Heaven Uzziah - Strength of the Lord Vale - From the Valley Valor - Great bravery Vasilios - With royal blood Vaughn - Small Viggo - War Vitalis - Life Ward - Guardian Warlon - English house Warner - Guard; protector Warrick - Strong leader; defender Wendolen - White circle Wolfgang - Journey of the Wolf Wulfric - Wolf power Wylan - Polish Village Wystan - Battle stone Zaire - The River Zaire Zelek - A shadow

Writers Write is a resource for writers. In this post, we share formatting tips for professional writers, and we show you how to format numbers, italics, and bullet points.

Formatting Tips: Numbers, Italics, Bullet Points

There are as many correct ways of formatting as there are style guides. If you work for a company, stick to what your company prescribes. If you do not have a style guide, create your own.

Three of the most useful things to include in a style guide are how to write numbers, how to use italics, and how to use bullet points.

Formatting Tips For Professional Writers

I’m the strongest Avenger, okay?! So this responsibility falls upon me. Tony and Bruce talking Thor down from his sducidal attempt to use the gauntlet, they care about Thor’s life when he doesn’t himself.   

What’d be so awful about [your son turning out exactly like you]?

Tony Stark is not his father’s son

tony stark’s story is about second chances and recovery and how you can turn your life around no matter how much you’ve fucked up before and that’s why he’s so important to me.

[seeing Niall crying]

Harry: What’s wrong? Why are you crying? What happened?

Liam: Are you okay? Did someone make you cry? Who is it? I’ll go talk to them if you want me to.

Louis & Zayn: WHERE ARE THEY? I’LL FUCKING KILL THEM.

Reblog or your mom will die in 928 seconds.

I love my mom.

I am risking nothing

I AM SORRY FOLLOWERS, I LOVE MY MOMMY

Will not risk.

sorry followers :(

Character Development: Speech

Finding your character’s voice is one of the most important things you can do to make your character more fully developed. It can often be the thing that sets your character apart and makes the reader easily able to identify them. Creating your character’s voice breathes life into them.

What to think about:

Formal or informal

Can be shown with:

sentence structure/complexity (shorter vs. longer sentences, number of clauses, etc.) 

contractions (e.g. y’all versus you guys, I am vs. I’m)

word choice (simple or advanced; more poetic vs. more practical, blunt vs. subtle)

word order/syntax (can indicate dialect and/or formality)

Things to ask yourself:

- If my character speaks formally/informally, is there a reason?

- Does it indicate their status?

- Or is it a rejection of their status? (e.g. does your highborn character prefer to speak informally because they hate their position in life, or does your lower class character speak more formally to make themselves appear higher class?)

- Is the way they speak normal for their society? In other words, if your character is, say, an alien from a highly formal culture, they won’t think of themselves as speaking abnormally. But if they visit another, less cultured planet, they’ll stick out like a sore thumb.

Catchphrases

When done well, this can be amazing. When done awfully, it makes the reader sigh and roll their eyes in exasperation. So, be careful not to overdo it!

Catchphrases can include:

slang (e.g. wicked, if your character is from Boston, like Faith Lehane from Buffy: the Vampire Slayer)

exclamations/swears (”Hell’s bells!” - Harry Dresden, “Zoinks!” - Shaggy, “Holy ___, Batman!” - Robin at various times)

automatic responses (such as in response to how they are, e.g. “Five by five.” - Faith Lehane, or in response to a question they don’t want to answer, e.g. “Spoilers!” - River Song)

greetings/goodbyes (”Hello, sweetie.” - River Song, “What’s up, Doc?” - Bugs Bunny)

introducing themselves ( “The name’s Bond. James Bond.” - James Bond, “Trust me. I’m the Doctor.” - the Doctor, “Denny Crane,” said repeatedly by Denny Crane)

an explanation/repeat phrase of some other classification (”Dammit, Jim, I’m a doctor, not a ________.” - Bones, “Your mission, should you choose to accept it…” - Mission Impossible, “Live long and prosper.” - Spock, “Same thing we do every night, Pinky! Try to take over the world!” - the Brain)

A lot of times, these catchphrases can become inside jokes, and merely referencing them is enough (think: “It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Superman!” or “Holy _______, Batman!”).

But sometimes, it can feel a little forced (like Miss Martian’s constant use of “Hello, Megan!” all the time in Young Justice). You want to use these catchphrases sparingly, and when they make sense. While you and I might say “fudge” or another such exclamation any time we trip, the reader does not want to read that twenty times in the same chapter because your character is a klutz. This is the art of writing, not the hyperrealism of writing. You want it to mean something, so use it only when needed.

Things to ask yourself:

- Does this character really need a catchphrase? How will this help establish character?

- Does the catchphrase come from the type of place they live or things they do? For instance, Harry Dresden is a wizard, so when he swears he says, “Hell’s bells,” which reminds us of his job and difference from those around him. This wouldn’t be the same if he simply said, “Dang it,” any time he swore.

- Is there a reason they have a catchphrase? Is it deliberate or unconscious on their part?

- Is there a way you can flip the catchphrase and use it to signal a shift in the story or an unexpected twist (e.g. signifying that somehow your character as switched bodies with another person, like Faith from Buffy: the Vampire Slayer; alternatively, that something isn’t right with the character, because of certain events, and they’re not saying their usual catchphrase)?

Verbal Tics*

Verbal tics are sounds that are not really words, more like filler, that get used almost unconsciously in everyday speech. Words like “ehm,” “uh,” and so on are all verbal tics. (Various internet sites assure me that throat clearing and sniffing can also be included here, but I leave that up to you.) For this section, however, I am also including words, but only those words that are filler. I am also including alterations to the text that represent how someone is speaking.

Now, I know that in any writing guide you read, they want you to NOT, NOT, NOT use regular tics like these in dialogue. It’s annoying, repetitive, annoying, serves no purpose, annoying, and so on. In a sense, they are very much right. Don’t use verbal tics for every character! But using them to distinguish one character (or a couple, in different ways) can work very well if done right.

Verbal tics can be:

words (examples: “You don’t wanna mess with us, see, ‘cause we’re dangerous, see,” or “So, I went to the mall yesterday, and there was this dress, so I bought it, so…” or even “Like, I’m not even sure what Vanessa was, like, wearing at that party last night?”)

filler sounds (e.g. “eh,” “um,” “uh,” “er,” “hrrgh,” “urk,” and so on)

messing with the letters and format of the sentence (e.g. dragging out the letter, making every word separated for a slow speaker, running words together to indicate speed, etc.)

Examples of verbal tics (this is a section in which examples are very helpful, so here you go):

Damian Wayne, the current Robin at DC Comics: uses the distinctive sound “tt” in his appearances to express his emotions, even - tt - other comic series that he guest-stars in

Asmodeus from the Redwall series: drawsss out the letter ssss becaussse he isss a ssssnake

The Flash, at various points in DC Comics: speakswithallthewordstogetherbecausehe’stalkingsofast!!!

Canada, from the Hetalia anime: ending every sentence like a true Canadian, eh?

Things to ask yourself:

- What purpose would a verbal tic have for my character? Do they really need one?

- Is the verbal tic connected to an emotion, or is it involuntary? (Generally, in real life, it is involuntary, but once again, this is art, and so it can have meaning, if you so choose!) What emotion might it be connected to?

- Are they aware of it? Are they embarrassed by it? Do people make fun of them for it?

- Is it part of their dialect/culture?

- Is it a recent thing or have they always done it?

- Where is the balance between making it seem like a realistic tic and annoying my reader with the repetitiveness?

*I am not referring to any medical diagnoses here, although if you want to go right ahead and use medically diagnosed tics for a character, please feel free to! However, this section does not deal with those, as I am not an expert, although I understand there might be some confusion due to the terminology I have used. Please let me know if there is a different term I should be using instead, as I couldn’t find one anywhere. Thanks!

Ways of addressing others

The way that your character addresses other characters says a lot about how they view and respect those around them, in addition to their personality. In addition, if you establish a character addresses others in a certain way (say, by last name only), then when they break this pattern, the reader knows it is important.

Different ways of addressing others:

nicknames (either a shortening of someone’s name, even if it’s not usually shortened, or a name reflecting some characteristic of theirs - e.g. “Jane” to “Janie,” or “Shorty,” or Tony Stark’s brand of nicknames, like “Capsicle” or “Rock of Ages”)

titles (similar to nicknames, but more formal - e.g. a character referring to people by their rank, job, familial relations, etc.)

last name only 

full name only (never shortened, includes first, last, and middle names)

no nicknames (never refers to a character by anything other than what’s printed on their birth certificate, can be combined with others on these lists, especially the previous two)

familial referencing (e.g. Aragorn, son of Arathorn)

insults (ranging from harmless to aggressive, can be combined with the first one on this list, not always swears)

by physical/personal characteristics [epithets]** (e.g. by gender, hair color, eye color, traits - for instance, “boy,” “you, redhead!” or “the only one of you with any spine”)

** This one tends to work best in stories set in older times or in sci-fi/fantasy. Epithets can be insults, but the epithets I am thinking of are more Homeric in nature.

Things to ask yourself:

- Is there a reason behind my character’s decision to address people in this way? Does it indicate a lack of trust? A need to crack jokes?

- What does this say about my character’s background? Is this the normal way to address people where they come from? Is it abnormal to do so in the place they are now?

- Does my character evolve from speaking this way? Do they start speaking in a different way, either deliberately or unconsciously? Why?

Accents

Accents are tricky. There are several different ways to write accents (I’m currently working on a post that explains them further), but basically no matter how you write an accent, there are a few things you can do to portray the accent.

slang (e.g. barbie = barbecue in Australian slang)

word order/syntax (e.g. “I’m after going to Mary’s” = “I just went down to Mary’s” in Hiberno-English)

contractions (I’ve versus I have, or y’all versus ye vs youse vs you and so on)

idioms (words or phrases that do not have equivalents in other dialects/languages/places)

diction (words meaning different things, like “chips” in American English and in British English)

verbs (e.g. “ain’t,” “be,” “runnin,” or mixing up tenses)

Keep in mind:

- be RESPECTFUL of whatever accent you’re trying to portray, especially if it’s not your accent

- don’t overdo the accent because it might end up sounding stereotypical (and that is not respectful - see above)

- you should get a feel for the accent you’re trying to write. Listen to the music, read something in that accent, watch/listen people talk in the accent until you hear the rhythm and way people with that accent talk. 

Things to ask yourself:

- Is the way I am portraying this accent as accurate as it is within my power to make it? (In other words, have I done my research?)

- How does my character feel about their accent? Are they in a place where their accent is normal? Are they in a place where they stand out because of their accent?

- Continuing on that thought, how noticeable is their accent? Is it the equivalent of someone from, say, Boston going somewhere else in Massachusetts, or the equivalent of that person from Boston going to California, or the equivalent of that same person going to London? Each one becomes more and more noticeable the farther the person goes from their home.

- Has my character made an attempt to hide their accent? Deliberately intensify it? Or do they just not care?

- Does it get stronger or weaker based on their emotional state?

Emotion

The emotions your character normally expresses when they’re speaking say a lot about their general emotional state. In addition, if there is a change in their emotional state, readers will be able to know that just from the way they talk (though context and body language are always useful!)

You can show emotion in speech through:

speed (if they’re easily excited, they might talk fast! and with a lot of exclamation points! But if they’re sad a lot…well, they might talk a bit more slowly and take their time…kind of like Eeyore.)

word choice (is it generally positive? negative? Or somewhere in between?)

reactions to other characters’ dialogue (are they generally patient and wait for the other person to finish? Or do they jump in because they’re so excited about something the other person has said?)

volume (are they loud? Quiet? Are they normally quiet but get loud when they’re angry? Or vice versa?)

understandability (not necessarily stuttering or stumbling over words, but can be; are their procession of thoughts/logic easy to understand? Is their conclusion sensible? Are they understanding others easily or do they need clarification? For instance, if your character is easily excited, maybe their dialogue comes in a jumble of words that is hard to understand. Maybe they’re so angry they’re not listening to anything the other person is saying, and their dialogue reflects that.)

punctuation/capitalization (are they unsure of themselves and what they’re saying a lot, so they use a lot of question marks like this? Are they aggressive in their emotions and so THEY SHOUT LIKE THIS!!! Are they…kind of thoughtful and take the time to…express themselves correctly…or are they - well - I mean are they - like - the kind of people who - you know, backtrack and correct themselves a lot?)***

***Again, you want to be careful not to overdo this, as it can get annoying AND lose the effect it has on the reader. If one of your characters SHOUTS. EVERYTHING. THEY. SAY. THEN WHEN SOMETHING REALLY IMPORTANT HAPPENS TO THE CHARACTER AND THEY GET VERY EMOTIONAL AND SHOUT, IT’S LOST A TON OF EMOTIONAL IMPACT ON THE READER. Like the end of that sentence. Did it make a big impact on you? It should - it was the entire point of the sentence. But it was lost amidst all of the other capitalized words. The same thing goes for any type of repeated punctuation/capitalization for a character - you want to make sure it counts.

Things to ask yourself:

- Why does my character express this emotion generally? 

- What does it say about their outlook on life?

- What does that say about how they view other people?

- Does their dialogue rely on these techniques too much when trying to show their emotions? How can I combine these with their body language?

Focus/Fixations

This is a pretty simple one. Focus can be organization of thoughts - basically, what idea(s) can they or want to focus on. A character that is very focused might be a practical person who is focused on the here and now, and their plans for whatever situation they’re in. A character that is less focused might be someone who thinks of several things at once, which reflects in their dialogue. 

Fixations are the things that their minds keep coming back to. So for example, if a character is worried about how they did on a test, throughout the story their dialogue might keep returning to that subject or referencing it. For instance: “Hey, when do you think we’re getting that test back?” or “Wow, this is pretty hard. Almost as hard as that test we took.” You want to make it less obvious than this, of course! (A good example is Anya from Buffy: the Vampire Slayer and her obsession with making money.)

Ways to show focus/fixation:

number of ideas/topics in their dialogue at a time

relevance of topics to the present

relevance of topics to the past/future

how they react to people who do not share their focus/fixation (e.g. a focused person finds it annoying when a person who is not focused keeps interrupting them, or a person who is less focused finds it annoying that a person who is focused is paying too much attention to one thing) 

Things to ask yourself:

- How focused are they when talking?

- Do they think of a million things at once, or just one at a time? 

- What are some short-term fixations they might have? Some long-term?

- Why might they be focused/not focused? Why might they have these fixations? What do these fixations say about their character?

- Do the focus/fixations change over time? How? Why? Does it reflect a change in their character?

- Am I making my character too focused/fixated on something? Is it detracting from or adding to the story or the character arc?

How others see them vs. how they see themselves

This one is probably the broadest one on the list. There aren’t specific things you can do to get this across (it’s more of a general thing), but it’s a cycle that you should keep in mind.

Your character sees themselves in a certain way. For instance, they might think of themselves as helpful, or kind. 

The way that they see themselves can influence why they do things (e.g. if they see themselves as a person who doesn’t go on adventures, like Bilbo Baggins, they will refuse to go on an adventure.)

The actions that they take influences how other characters see them, but the other characters do not necessarily see your character’s perception of themselves (e.g. in the Hobbit, Bilbo sees himself as helpful and averting war by giving the Arkenstone to the Elves. He thinks he is being a good friend. However, Thorin sees it as a betrayal and thinks Bilbo is disloyal and not a good friend. Both of them at the time of their actions think they are right.)

How other characters see your character influences how they treat your character (e.g. Because Thorin thinks Bilbo has betrayed him, he threatens Bilbo and rejects him as a friend. Bilbo escapes with his life, but only through the help of the other dwarves. Again, to each character, their own actions are justified and so their dialogue reflects their belief that they are right. So, when they talk to each other, both of them think that they are right and the other is wrong, and you can see this in their dialogue.)

How they treat your character influences how your character sees and reacts to these people, and can influence your character’s perception of themselves (e.g. Because Thorin rejected Bilbo and called him a traitor, Bilbo is bewildered and believes for a time that Thorin cannot be saved, and he feels like he failed).

The cycle continues.

All of this is reflected in their dialogue to each other.

Knowing how each of your characters see each other and themselves will influence their dialogue and reactions to each other. Characters can misunderstand each other, underestimate someone, or help someone feel better about themselves, just to name a few things. 

Things to ask yourself:

- How does my character see themselves? Why? Are they one hundred percent correct?

- How do other characters see my character? Why? Are they one hundred percent correct?

- Does my character have any idea of other people’s perceptions of them? If so, do they care? Is my character correct about what they think other people think about them?

- Will my character’s perspective of themselves/other people change? Why and how? Will other characters’ perspectives of my characters change? Why and how?

- How do all these reactions to each other influence the story?

Hope this helped! Let me know if there are any questions.

- Riona

snUGGLES

fuzzy_chops: Got me an appetite…

PoC Character Inspo on Pinterest

In response to this post I did some extra work filling out my character face claim boards on Pinterest and found there actually are a lot of good onsite pics. One just needs to search outside the primarily white & pretty “character inspiration” tag. 

Here are some safe search terms I’ve found useful so far:

poc character inspiration - woc character inspiration - character inspiration black/asian/latina - [insert ethnicity here] character inspiration - mixed race

indian character inspiration - native american character inspiration*

interracial character inspiration - poc couples - blaxican - blasian - 

#b(lack/Asian/white)m(an)a(sian/black/white)w(oman) couples** 

poc lgbt couples - fem black couples - [idk hard to search sfw lqbt pics] 

Cons

Pinterest searches are skewed toward photos of women, and what male photography can be found will generally fall into the “hot” category.

Searching “character inspiration” will always bring back only the most gorgeously Photoshopped human beings. 

Other keywords will likely bring back Instagram pics which aren’t very “story” like— especially if you’re writing a world sans smartphones.

If you search “[any race] girls” Pinterest will automatically show a disclaimer about their policy on nudity. Search for women not girls. 

Hispanic and Latino mean different things which confuses searches, and they apply to a variety of nationalities so be specific. 

Same goes for Asian, pick a nationality or be doomed with the skinny white girl equivalents of East Asia. Ain’t nuthin wrong wit skinny Asian/white girls, they’re just annoyingly prolific online.

BE VERY CAREFUL SEARCHING FOR LGBTQ IMAGERY. I was quick to clear my search history after finding content for this post. 

Hey, if Pinterest writers start tagging PoC inspo pins with relevant terms it will make them easier to find— plus, making your collection searchable may get you more followers. If anyone knows of any additional and exceptionally useful Pinterest keywords, please tell me. I’ll (gladly) test them out and add them to the list. 

Thanks @prideandpen, @lmartinezwrites, @boothewriter, @brynprocrastinates, and @ashleyddddd. I hope you find this useful. 

— — — — — — — — — 

*No worries, Pinterest search generally knows the difference between East Indian and American Indian.

**Search for specific interracial pairing i.e. bmaw, amww, ambw etc., but make sure to also type “couples.”

Prompts:

Affection

Anger

Angst

Anguish

Annoyance

Anticipation

Anxiety

Apathy

Arousal

Awe

Boredom

Confidence

Contempt

Contentment

Courage

Curiosity

Depression

Desire

Despair

Disappointment

Disgust

Distrust

Ecstasy

Embarrassment

Empathy

Enthusiasm

Envy

Euphoria

Fear

Frustration

Gratitude

Grief

Guilt

Happiness

Hatred

Hope

Horror

Hostility

Humiliation

Interest

Jealousy

Joy

Loneliness

Love (avoid this one)

Lust

Outrage

Panic

Passion

Pity

Pleasure

Pride

Rage

Regret

Remorse

Resentment

Sadness

Saudade

Schadenfreude

Self-confidence

Shame

Shock

Shyness

Sorrow

Suffering

Surprise

Trust

Wonder

Worry

so remember that worldbuilding website, notebook.ai, that was goin around and everyone was so excited, but it turned out you had to pay a (frankly outrageous) subscription to access any of the best tools? 

well i have exciting news: World Anvil. 

here’s what you get for free: 

yeah. all of them. double what notebook.ai offers for pay. yeah baby.

i’ve only been using this site for like half an hour, but i am in LOVE. please check it out and consider supporting the creators if you can! 

Soulmate AU Compilation Update!

This is a continuation of my first soulmate AU compilation! Which is right over here! This one will show the titles but not the descriptions. Only new AUs added will have a description and credits.

Timer Soulmate AU! First Words Soulmate AU!  Last Words AU!  Age Soulmate AU! First Touch Soulmate AU! Writing Soulmate AU! Your Name Soulmate AU!  Other Half Soulmate AU! Colour Blind Soulmate AU!  Sharing Pain Soulmate AU!  Hues Of Hair Soulmate AU!  Colour Of Your Eye Soulmate AU!  Light Of The Heart Soulmate AU!  Fear In My Soul Soulmate AU! Heterochromia Soulmate AU! Mark We Share Soulmate AU!  Red Thread Of Fate AU!

Growing Master Piece Soulmate AU! Flowers Bloom Soulmate AU!  Age Of Meeting AU!  Passion Soulmate AU!  What You Love Soulmate AU!  Timer Freezes Soulmate AU!  Time Lapse AU!  Switch Soulmate AU!  Hot n Cold Soulmate AU! 

Newly Added!

Hearts We Share Soulmate AU! Where you and your soulmate share the same heart. A symbol is over your heart (like a soulmark). If you or your soulmate gets a heart infection you both get it. If one dies, so does the other. By @ipizzalover2003

Dreaming Of You Soulmate AU! Where you and your soulmate share the same dream and speak to each other within the dream scape. By @silverartist

Falling For You Soulmate AU! Where your soulmark doesn’t appear till you actually fall in love. Now you have to wait for the other person to fall in love to show if your marks match. By @lygertrash14

A Taste Of You Soulmate AU! Where you crave what your soulmate is eating. Like you crave cheese? Your soulmate is eating a grilled cheese. By @tide-podz

Seeing Through You Soulmate AU! Where when you sleep, you see the world from your soulmate’s eyes. But personal and important information (Address, phone #, their face) is blurred out in the ‘dream.’ By @kirishew

“I have been reincarnated many times. We both have actually. We have met and fell in love for just as many. The rings we wore, gold, silver, bronze, and at some point. A piece of string when you were too poor to afford it. I stilled loved you.” AU

“Him/Her? He/She’s our leader. Wait, you thought they were just a simple member!? HAHAH! THAT’S HILARIOUS! He/She’s literally the most lethal person in this room. They can kill you with teddy bear plush if they really wanted to.” AU

“HONEY! I’m home! With a new dog! And a child that is good friends with said dog! Can we keep them!?” AU

“You say you don’t deserve this, that you don’t deserve me. But honestly? You deserve everything, you have done so much good and have been so kind and given so much to all those you meet. You deserve anything and everything, my love, you truly do.” AU

“Hey, open your front door. I’m here with chips, pizza, ice cream, and your fav pastries. Yes, I know it’s like 3am. But I’m your best friend and I know you’re sad right now and I am here to comfort you. Let me.” AU

Kiss Prompts for Writers and Artists

Kissing prompts for your favorite couples or pairs. Choose one or more yourself or see which numbers your followers request! 

1. First Kiss

2. Shy Kiss

3. Surprise Kiss

4. Lazy Kiss

5. Cute Kiss

6. Forehead Kiss

7. Passionate Kiss

8. Heated Kiss

9. Sad Kiss

10. Goodbye Kiss

11. Reunion Kiss

12. Funny Kiss