Words And Actions That Affectionately Scream ”you’re Mine”

the classic "are you hurt?" but the whumpee is the one saying it. slurring the words through a hoarse throat and numbed lips, their eyes are glazed and their hands are shaking, frantic at the blood soaking the caretaker's shirt and too delirious to realize it's all their own.

you guys made luigi mangione trend for days and I need to see the same energy for brianna boston. she is a 43 year old mother of three who ended a phone call with blue cross blue shield (after being denied a claim) “delay deny depose, you people are next” and is now being held under a 100,000$ bond and could face FIFTEEN years of prison if charged. she has no weapons, her record is clean, and yet she is being held behind bars. they are afraid of the public and are trying to subdue. do not let them!!!! be outraged that our freedom of speech is being threatened!!!!! deny defend depose! free brianna boston!

I love this video so much. I thought I was the only person who experienced these things. this made me feel normal for the first time in my life.

to any other neurodivergent people out there: you're not crazy, or deranged, or disgusting. you're not a bad person. your intrusive thoughts are not your desires. and you are not alone.

ableists don't even make eye contact with this video.

Super soft intimacy

cradling the face, looking into their eyes

pressing foreheads against each other

sighing into the other's mouth

kisses all over the face

calling each other petnames they wouldn't use in public

hugging the other from behind

sliding hands under their clothes

softly stroking their warm skin

ruffling the other's hair

murmuring sweet things into their ears

stroking the other's finger while holding hands

nuzzling into their neck

massaging their feet

napping together

having the other's head on their lap

staring into each other's eyes

pressing soft kisses on their shoulders

smiling into the kiss

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Resources For Plot Development

Plot Structures

All About Plot Structures

The Novel Plotting Formula

Story Structure: Plot Points

Save the Cat! 15-Beat Plotting Method

The Snowflake Method 

The Hero’s Journey

Three Act Structure

29 Plot Structures

Methods Of Plotting

NaNoWriMo Prep: Plotting Your WIP with 90 Index Cards 

Plot from the End

27 Step Tutorial How Do I Plot a Novel

How to Create a Plot Planner — Part 1

Pre-Plot the Middle and End of Your Novel

Dance between Plotting the Overall Story and Writing

Pre-Plotting Made Simple

A Writing Plan that Incorporates Research, Plotting and Writing

NaNoWriMo Plot Development Guide

Cool Resources

One Page Novel Format Spread Sheet

Worksheets For Writers

Writing Blockbuster Plots

Pros and Cons of Pre-Plotting a Novel before Writing

How to Plot 2 Protagonists in a Novel

Plot Your Story Scene-by-Scene to Emotionally Engage Your Readers

Behind the Scenes – Scene Types

Plot and Emotion

3 Common Plot Problems

Control the Pacing of Your Novel

Plot Twists: What Are They and How to Plot Them

Above the Plot Planner Line: How to Test Pacing and Tension in Stories

Beginnings Hook Readers/Audiences. Endings Create Fans

Where To Start: How To Write the Exact Right Beginning of Your Story

How to Show Character Mastery and Transformation through both the Internal and External Plots

Cause and Effect Scene by Scene

How to Create Subplots

Emotional Elements of Plot: Stories that Last Evoke Emotion

How to Plot the End of Your Novel

Plot the Climax, Write the Climax, Re-Vision the Climax and Then Re-Write the Climax of Your Story

How to Decide Which Scenes to Keep and Which Ones to Toss

Where Exactly Does the End Begin in a Novel

Benefits of Pre-Plotting

30 Scene Ideas

Plot Generators

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he must be stopped

i think this is peak internet

casual affection (part 2)

clearing out a drawer for the other at their house

helping the other wash/cut their hair

filling the other’s car with gas

making sure the other is up for work/school

sewing a rip in the other’s shirt

picking up the other’s meds for them

changing the other’s bedsheets

telling the other’s parents/siblings how much they love them

being the designated driver for the other at a party

taking candid photos of the other

holding the other’s hand in every situation

helping the other with their homework

learning the lyrics to the other’s favorite music so they can sing it together

making sure to kiss the other before they’re apart

giving the other a bouquet of flowers just because

helping the other go through their old clothes and taking them to donate

buying the other’s favorite candles and lighting them before they get home so the house smells of their favorite scent

teaching the other a skill (knitting/crochet, instruments, cooking, etc.)

putting up framed photographs of the other in their room

hugging the other every chance they get

Writing Deaf Characters | Speech is Speech

Before I get going, I’m 75% deaf, as some of you know, semi-reliant on hearing aids and lip reading. My first languages were Makaton sign and then BSL. I now use spoken English.

There are a lot of issues I find with how deaf people are represented in books, when represented at all. I would love to see more deaf and hard of hearing characters in the books I read- without having to read books specifically about deaf/HoH people- but when I find them, they’re grossly undercharacterized or stereotyped. Authors write them in a way that sets signing language characters apart from speaking characters as if they are inferior, and this makes my blood boil.

Some technicalties

I’ll keep this brief.

You may have heard that “deaf” is a slur and you should use “hearing impaired”. Don’t. I’ve never met a deaf or hard of hearing person who believed that. Use deaf for people who are deaf, and Hard of Hearing (HoH) for people who lack hearing. These can be interchangeable depending on the person. This is why sensitivity readers are a useful part of the beta process.

Sign language is incredibly varied. It developes in the same way as spoken language. Fun fact: in BSL there are at least half a dozen ways to say bullshit, my favourite of which is laying your arms across one another with one hand making a bull’s head sign and the other hand going flat, like a cowpat. It’s beautifully crude, and the face makes the exclamation mark. Wonderful.

There are different sign languages. Knowing more than one would make a character multi or bi-lingual, even if they are non-speaking.

Makaton is basic sign language used by children, and it mirrors the very simple language used by toddlers.

Yes, we swear and talk shit about people around us in sign language sometimes, and no, it isn’t disrespectful to have signing characters do this. Just remember that we also say nice things, and random things, and talk about fandoms and TV shows and what we’re having for dinner, too.

Each signed language is different from another. ASL and BSL? Nothing alike. Just google the two different signs for horse.

Remember that sign language is a language, equal to the spoken word

Therefore, treat it as such. Use quotation speech marks and dialogue tags. You only need to explicitly state that this character uses signed language once, and then let your modifiers and description do the rest.  It isn’t a form of “sub-speech" or “making hand actions”- sign language is a language all on its own: it has its own grammar rules, syntactical structures, punctuation, patterns, idioms and colloquialisms. For example, “what is your name?” becomes “Your name what?” with the facial expression forming punctuation in the same way that spoken English uses alterations of prosodic tone (inflections). There is even pidgin sign; a language phenomenon usually associated with spoken language.

In the same way that you would describe a spoken-English character’s tone of voice, you would describe a signed-English speaker’s facial expressions and the way that they sign- keeping in mind that these things are our language’s equivalent of verbal inflection.

So please, none of that use of “special speech marks” or italicised speech for sign. If your viewpoint character doesn’t understand signed speech, then you take the same approach that would be used for any other language they don’t understand, like French or Thai. E.g “He said something in rapid sign language, face wrinkling in obvious disgust.” is a good way of conveying this. The proof that you’ve done this well is in whether or not you can switch “sign language” for French or something else, and it would read the same.

Don’t be afraid to describe how things are said, either. Sign language is such a beautiful and expressive way of talking, and to see a writer do it justice would be truly fabulous. Putting this into practise:

“Oh, I love maths!” She said, fingers sharp and wide with sarcasm. She raised her eyebrows.

“I’m sorry.” He replied and made his face small, but could not keep the grin forming. She was starting to laugh, too.

This is part one of two, for the sake of readability and keeping the information simple as I can. Part two- writing the deaf characters themselves- is coming up over the weekend. See you then and best luck with your writing until that point :D

This is part of my weekly advice theme. Each week I look at what you’ve asked me to help with, and write a post or series of posts for it. Next week: settings and character development (including heroes, anti-heroes, villains, and every other kind of character).