50 WORDS TO USE INSTEAD OF “SAID”

PLEASE do yourself a favour and check out this wikipedia-styled template for google drive, made by @ Rukidut on twitter

I decided to try to sort my ideas and whats canon regarding my ocs with this and ITS PERFECT. IT ALL FEELS SO CONRETE. and i sure as hell AM Going to continue to use this with every single OC I have until google drives is set ablaze- Just!!!!!!!!

Also; link directly to the doc, just copy the file and you have your own lil template!!!!

if you’re white and wanna write a poc character and feel awkward about it i implore you to ignore any twitblr stuff treating it as a massive ethical burden and instead come in more with the same mindset you’d have if you wanted to write about idk firefighters but didn’t know anything about firefighters so you do... research. Like fuck off with the weird kinda creepy calls for spiritual introspection you’re not writing about god damn space aliens you’re writing about humans and if you think you need more perspective of different life experiences just read?

Say Something that is both True and Beautiful.

25 Labyrinths Designs

writers' resources

sick of using "very _____" ? : https://www.losethevery.com/

want to simplify your writing ? : https://hemingwayapp.com/

writing buddies / motivation ? : https://nanowrimo.org

word you're looking for but don't know ? : https://www.onelook.com/thesaurus/

need a fantasy name ? : https://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/

need a fantasy name ? : https://nameberry.com/

want a name with meaning ? : https://www.behindthename.com/

who wants a map maker! : https://inkarnate.com/

story building / dnd ? : https://www.worldanvil.com/

need some minimalistic writing time ? : https://zenpen.io/

running out of ideas ? : https://blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts/

setting a goal ? how about 3 pages / day ? : https://new.750words.com/

what food did they eat ? : https://www.foodtimeline.org/

questions on diversity within writing ? : https://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/

now what was that colour called ? : https://ingridsundberg.com/2014/02/04/the-color-thesaurus/

want more? : https://www.tumblr.com/blog/lyralit :]

dialogue tags I love: an evolving list

Chirped - their voice is high, cheerful, energetic, sweet, you likely want to pinch their cheeks

With feeling - that feeling isn’t named, but given the context of the conversation, you don’t need specifics, this person is feeling multiple things and you can hear the multitude in their voice

Blinked - people blink all the time, but you just know this one was caused by being taken aback and those eyelids are heavy with words all by themselves

Indignant - not just annoyed, not just upset, not just “with feeling”, the person is offended and retaliating on behalf of their own pride or another’s and it is likely adorable

Fondly - affectionately, but with nostalgia and a little bit of an ache present, this is exactly what you’d expect from them and you can’t help loving them for it

Blandly - there’s inflection here, but it’s so slight and almost calculated in how slight it is that the only intention can be that they’re trying to make oatmeal but with words

Far too cheerfully - because they have no business being so, not when you’re suffering, and even if they aren’t grinning hard enough to split their face open, that’s okay, you’ll do it for them, the bastard

Deadpanned - a classic, a novelty, too spicy to be bland but with somehow less inflection, it’s weird but you know exactly what they mean

Stopped - you know, in the middle of a thought, sometimes because they’re figuring out what they want to say, but often just because they’re a little bit incredulous over whatever the heck you’ve just done and maybe there are no words to be said

Mildly - like, they definitely could be responding in a more fervent way, but they’re just kinda chill and it does nothing to defuse your temper

Groused - like grumbled, but instead of “grumpy mumbled” it’s the whole demeanor and not just indecipherable curses under their breath

Breathed - because you didn’t want to write gasped, because that sounds stupid, but the character is suddenly short of breath for any number of reasons and the words are coming out like mist on a summer morning, there but hard to see

Interrupted - because it’s dumb, like, if one character was talking and then another one starts talking, clearly they’re interrupting - a more appropriate use is when character A wasn’t saying anything and character B is interrupting the moment or activity, making this word choice possible

Faltered - you can’t hear that a character’s voice is becoming unsteady or trailing off unless you’re told and any of the previous three examples are preferable to ellipses (see post)

Desperately - when their shoulders are hunched over and their eyes are too wide, there are tears clinging to the back of their throat just waiting to make an appearance

Steadily - like, this is a time to panic, or panicking would make sense, but we’re not going to panic because we need to stay focused, and our voice is not going to waver or give anything away, nope

Whispered - because “said softly” is not the same, “breathed out” is not the same, “mumbled” is not the same, a whisper is a whisper, that’s what it is, okay?

Firmly - not sternly, just also not budging on its stance

Protested - maybe you conveyed the protesting in the words you just said, but when you also say the word it edges them properly, and you really know that sentence started with a “but” even if it didn’t

Flatly - not the same as blandly, which is without inflection to a neutral extent, but flatly, which is without inflection but in an arrow-shaped way, like, we’re not rolling down a hill, just over to your feet and staring at you