GUYS LOOK WHAT I MADE

TRC ANIMATIC :))

Idk what's happening my animatic keeps disappearing from tags, I'm trying to upload the yt version to see if it shows this time

If you come across this I hope you like it anyway :)

Guys!

I was so drowned with finals I slept less than 5 hours a night for two weeks,, but now I'm done. So I finished that animatic I started in December (what a bad idea to start this with that much work tbh), had so much fun doing it! All I could think of the last four weeks was this haha

I will finally add that the lyrics are very much linked to the scenes so make sure to listen to them

How do I figure out what motions/handlings to write? (Hand gestures, moving in the scene, etc).

I am autistic and have never paid much attention to the way people move. I only do so now because I have been reading and noticed it was missing from my own writing. I never see anyone struggle with this, so I feel like I am missing some understanding on how to structure a scene

Guide: Working Body Language Into Your Writing

Body language is the process of communicating nonverbally through conscious or unconscious movements of the body.

Th four types of body language:

-- Facial Expressions -- Posture -- Hand Gestures -- Body Movement

Facial Expressions communicate thought and emotion using the features of the face, such as eyes, mouth, nose, and eyebrows. Some examples of facial expressions are:

-- an upturned mouth -- dimples -- a raised eyebrow -- flushed cheeks -- a scrunched nose -- rolling eyes -- gaping jaw -- eye signals (winking, narrowed eyes, twinkling eyes, etc.)

Posture communicates thought and emotion using the positioning of the body, head, and limbs. Some examples of posture:

-- sitting up straight -- slouching -- leaning toward someone -- hugging oneself -- crossed arms -- hands on hips -- slumped shoulders

Hand gestures communicate thought and emotion using intentional movements of the hand. Some examples of hand gestures:

-- pointing -- "face palm" -- waving -- beckoning with hand or finger -- thumbs up -- middle finger -- clenched fists -- covering mouth with hand -- placing hand over heart -- gesturing at someone/something -- clapping

Body movements communicate thought and emotion using bigger actions, like gestures using the head/neck or limbs, or moving the entire body. Some examples of body movements:

-- jumping up and down -- cowering -- flinching -- bowing/curtsying -- handshakes/hugs -- hitting/kicking/pushing -- taking a step back -- moving toward -- shrugging -- shaking head/nodding -- tipping head back -- dancing in place Choosing Body Language to Show Emotion

A character's thoughts and emotions can be conveyed using a combination of different body language signals. Every body language signal (such as a wink, smile, frown, shrug, wave, etc.) has a bunch of emotions it can be tied to.

For example, we all know that smiling is typically a sign of positive emotions like happiness, joy, satisfaction, triumph, and affection. Shrugging is usually an indication of indifference or not knowing something. However, we can also modify body language using adjectives. For example, a "nervous smile" or a "sad smile" tells us something very different from just a regular smile. An "apathetic shrug" clarifies indifference, whereas an "enthusiastic shrug" implies excitement about something but not having all the answers or facts.

Sometimes, choosing the right emotion to illustrate a character's thoughts and feelings is as simple as considering what you yourself might do in that moment. Or, perhaps someone you know who is like your character. Other times, it can be beneficial to research which body language signals are typically indicative of a particular emotion. For that, I would strongly recommend purchasing a copy of The Emotion Thesaurus by Becca Puglisi and Angela Ackerman. This handy reference lists a variety of emotions along with the body language that often indicate them, and it goes even further in that it also describes the internal sensations that often go with these emotions, which is handy when you're writing in first-person or third-person close/limited. The book is available for purchase in print and e-book, and you can find samples by searching for "One Stop for Writers Emotion Thesaurus."

I hope that helps!

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I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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Dive in Deeper: Humor

Hello, hello! Today’s post will be about humor!

“What? Humor? But I’m naturally funny!”

Ha, ha! Maybe you are but that doesn’t mean you don’t need advise on how to transfer your unique sense of humor into the pages of your amazing new book!

As a quick refresher let me remind everyone that this post is one of the rest that belong in the series 22 Essential Literary Devices.

Let’s dive in, shall we?

What Is Humor Writing?

Humor writing is a piece of fiction or nonfiction written with the express purpose of being funny.

How it strikes a humorous chord and the resulting laughs (or groans) it produces depends on the piece.

Three Types of Humor Writing

Humor novels. Humor novels are their own genre. These can be both fiction and nonfiction. In fiction, satirical novels fall in this category. Satire fiction uses humor, irony, and exaggeration to critique or expose a corrupt aspect of society. Two of literature’s most popular satire novels are George Orwell’s Animal Farm (1945) and Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 (1961).

Short form. Short humor pieces usually take the form of a short story or piece of humor fiction. A short humor piece is usually a piece of writing under 1,000 words whose main purpose is to amuse.

Humor essay. Humor essays are usually a personal essay whose primary aim is to amuse rather than inform or persuade. Sometimes, writers mix fiction with nonfiction in humor essays for comedic effect.

Four Golden Rules for Writing Humor

Identify your style of humor. Everyone has a different sense of humor. We all find different things funny for different reasons. This is why it’s important that before you sit down and try to write funny things, you think about your own personal sense of humor and how you want to mine that to produce a piece of humor writing. Trying to mimic other people’s styles in creative writing won’t work. If you try and write in a style that is not your own, or if you try and force yourself to be funny in a way that you are not, the effort behind your writing will show. There are many kinds of humor. Look at this list of some popular types of humor and try and analyze where your individual strengths are and what you feel most comfortable with.

Observational/situational humor. This involves finding humor in mundane, everyday situations.

Anecdotal humor. This involves mining personal stories for humor.

Dark (or gallows) humor. Finding humor in darker, more unpleasant circumstances or aspects of life, like death, suffering, and unhappiness.

Self-deprecating humor. This involves you, the writer, making fun of yourself for comedic effect. Having a sense of humor about yourself endears you to others.

Satirical humor. Looking to the various faults of individuals, organizations, or society and mining them for comedic purposes.

Use the rule of three. The rule of three is a common rule in humor writing and one of the most common comedy writing secrets. It involves establishing a set pattern with two ideas and then subverting that pattern with a third, incompatible idea. For example: “Can I get you anything? Coffee? Doughnut? A better attitude?”

Mine humorous anecdotes from your real life. This is especially pertinent for humor essays. If you think about it, most of the funny things in your own life are things that our friends and family also find funny. These are the stories we tell over and over. These are the stories we use to bond or connect with others. Sometimes, we mine these stories for a more humorous effect. This is exactly what a humor essay does. Before you start writing, make sure you identify why a particular story or anecdote is funny. Is it funny to you because of your unique circumstances or understanding of a wider context? If so, it’s unlikely to be funny to your readers without that prior context.

Leverage cliches. While clichés are something most writers try to avoid, it’s important to recognize them. Humor relies in part on twisting a cliché—transforming or undermining it. You do this by setting up an expectation based on the cliché and then providing a surprise outcome. For example: “What doesn’t kill you makes you stranger.” In humor writing, this process is called reforming.

Quick Tips For Writing Humor

Surprise the reader. Twist a cliché or undermine any expectation you’ve set up.

Put your funny expressions at the end of a sentence. Humor is often a release of tension, so the sentence builds that tension, and the pay-off happens most naturally at the end.

Use contrast. Are your characters in a terrifying situation? Add something light, like a man obsessing about his briefcase instead of the T-Rex looming behind him.

Find funny words. Some words are just funnier than others, so make a list of those that amuse you the most.

Try a “figgin” —a story element that promises to be something horrible or disgusting but which turns out to be humorous, and yet later has a pay-off, or a moment where the item becomes important to the plot.

Give them “sherbet lemon” —minor details you put in a text to make the reader smile. These small pulses are in the text just for humor; they don’t necessarily have a pay-off later.

There ya have it folks! Humor! Now you too can be even more funny and write it down through your writing!

If you find this helpful please follow, comment and reblog!

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Co-workers: you're so anti-social, always in your little world.

Me: *sitting in the corner, disassociating while writing my book in my head*

I’m obsessed with the way Maggie writes dialogue

pls give me 1(one) reason aces have ever been oppressed, and 1(one) example of aces being a part of lgbt history(before 2004 at least) and then maybe i’ll consider the idea that aces belong in the lgbt community lol

How to start your book

Here are my best tips to write your opening chapter in your novel like a pro.

Start in a peculiar situation What is a situation that’s totally unexpected to your readers, but an everyday occurrence to your characters? Start there!

Make sure you cover all these elements 💜 Introducing your protagonist 💜 And their flaw 💜 And what they struggle with 💜 Build a first look at the atmosphere of your book 💜 Signal your genre 💜 Establish your narrative position

Keep it all about the intrigue! It’s very tempting to unload everything onto your reader in the first chapter, because you just want them to know everything. But the more you can hold back, the more intrigue you will create, and therefore - more reason for the reader to keep flipping pages.

Don’t forget to hint at your story question Now this is a really important step that a lot of writers leave out and their first chapter suffers for it. It has to do with your hero’s flaw. This will be closely connected to the story question you’re asking. Make sure you include a quick hint at the bigger conflict that your story will be exploring and how your hero’s flaw might play into it.

Your characters are key Absolutely the most crucial thing about your first few chapters is to establish a connection with your characters. Character empathy is what drives readers’ interest. Don’t go in with a whole character backstory, but instead show us who they are right now, and why we should care about what happens to them.

Things to avoid ❌ Info-dumping! ❌ Introducing too much about your world all at once ❌ Introducing too many characters ❌ Giving your readers answers instead of questions

Also…

Want fully customizable templates for your writing? Character sheets, outlines, chapter treatments, world-building, questionnaires and more?

Grab our 3 E-books for writers through the [link here] or below! They each come with 40 pages of easy theory and resources.

The Plotter’s Almanac

The Character Bible

The World Builder’s Chronicle

the-plottery.com

Writer's ToolBoox

The Writer's ToolBoox is a pack of 3 extensive E-books that cover the areas of: character craft, world building, and plotting. It comes with

how do I describe things in my stories? Like clothing, room, characters etc. it feels I put in too much detail. And is it also necessary to always describ new scenary? For example, when a character goes to their friends house the first time, is it necessary to describe the rooms they enter? Because I want my readers to be able to visualise properly but it feels as though I'm overflowing them with information sometimes

Describing Scenery, Clothing, and Other Details

The amount of description varies from one author to a next, and how much or little (or often) you describe things will be part of your unique writing style. However, you definitely don't want to overwhelm the reader with a bunch of unnecessary detail. So, really the key is to do two things: give the reader just enough detail that they can fill out the rest, give the reader details that are important.

Give the Reader Just Enough Detail - Human brains are amazing. We're generally good at filling in missing details. If I show you the following image:

... your brain is perfectly capable of imagining the rest. You can imagine the mountain peaks and the rest of the lake. You don't need to see them to understand they're there and imagine what they look like.

That said, if I say, "Brenda appeared, wearing her signature torn jeans and favorite band t-shirt..." that's a pretty good image of what this person is wearing. The reader doesn't need to know what cut or color the t-shirt is, whether it's tucked in or loose, what band is depicted or what the specific design is, what color and cut the jeans are, where the holes are, what shoes they're wearing... none of that matters unless it does.

Give the Reader the Details That Are Important - If it's important that Brenda is wearing tennis shoes because later she'll be identified in a security video because of those shoes, then that then becomes an important detail you'd want to include in that description. Otherwise, don't bother. The reader doesn't need to know she's wearing white high-tops unless that's important for some reason.

So, when a character enters a new place or encounters a character for the first time (or encounters them in a new scene/situation), you want to give a little bit of detail to help the reader imagine what they should be seeing in their mind's eye. You also want to give them any details that are important for them to know later. You just don't want to overwhelm the reader with a bunch of unnecessary details.

Here are some other posts that will help:

Guide: Describing Character Appearance and Clothing The Right Amount of Description (5 Tips!) The 3 Fundamental Truths of Description Description: Style vs Excess/Deficiency Weaving Details into the Story How to Make Your Description More Vivid Adding Description to Your Writing

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I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

LEARN MORE about WQA

SEE MY ask policies

VISIT MY Master List of Top Posts

COFFEE & FEEDBACK COMMISSIONS ko-fi.com/wqa

7 Tips to Build an Audience for Your Writing

I got a great Ask about this a little bit ago about how to establish an audience for your writing. Here’s my answer!

#1 Start small… with people you already know

When you’re just starting out, many of your fans or supporters will be the people who already know you. Your friends, family, co-workers, peers, acquaintances, etc. Share and talk about your writing with these people, and pluck up the courage to ask for their support! At least a few of them will genuinely like your writing, and you never know who might have a connection that can help get you more exposure.

#2 Don’t feel try to “sell” or “promote” yourself to these folks. Instead, make authentic, person-to-person connections

Sometimes writers fail to create an audience because they have a perception of what it means to “self promote” which leads them to plaster their social media with desperate pleas to buy their book, or feel pressured to “sell themselves” to new friends and contacts. It seems counter-intuitive, but the best thing you can do is to make genuine, authentic connections with people and be open about your writing with them.

That way, when your friend who works at a bookstore needs someone to open for a touring reader… they think of you. Or when you have a release party to celebrate your release, your co-worker will come (and maybe bring their friend who happens to be a newspaper writer… see where I’m going with this?). When you have authentic relationships with people, they will help you grow your base without having to beg or sell to them.

#3 Make friends with readers, other writers, editors, bookstore clerks… basically anyone in the literary world

Truth: There’s a lot of networking, nepotism, and hobnobbing going on in the literary world. Of course, we all know this stuff happens at the super-famous level. People network their way into recognition all the time. Celebrities get book deals. Keanu Reeves is allowed to be an actor. You might not be lucky enough to be bumping elbows with the elite, but your connections can help you no matter how small they are.

#4 Write your social media posts like you’re talking to your friends, not the anonymous masses

This ties into #2. When you use social media to share about your writing, make it personal. A lot of writers feel like they have to sell themselves on social media, so they end up making promotional posts that are basically like “buy my book!” or “read my writing!”

But if you share something real, much like you would if you were talking to a friend, people are much more likely to respond. I know this from personal experience. My highest-performing posts about my writing are always the ones that make a connection and share something personal with my followers.

Additionally, if you’re using certain platforms (Facebook and Instagram for sure do this), your post will get buried by the algorithm if it’s overtly “promotional.” So in certain instances this becomes not just wise but absolutely necessary so that your posts get seen.

#4 Consider trying to get a story traditionally published

This can help in a few ways. First, you’ll have made a connection with the editor of that magazine. (Connections!) Second, your work will be seen by a new audience of readers. Third, it can give you credibility that makes people (editors, readers, etc.) more likely to give your work a second look further down the line.

#5 Get off the internet

My biggest base of supporters are the folks in my town. That’s because they see me and interact with me regularly. It’s way easier to keep the attention of people IRL than it is online, in my experience. Here are some ideas of how to make friends in the real world who can be supporters of your writing:

Attend or give a public reading

Start or join a writing group

Hang out at the bookstore

Go to any and all literary events in your town

Make friends with other creative people: musicians, artists, photographers.

Seek out collaborative projects with other writers and creatives

#6 Accept that, yes, it takes time

Building an audience doesn’t happen overnight. But there can be a cumulative, exponential effect over the long run. Take Tumblr for example. Most people who have a blog can probably remember how it took forever to get those first 10 followers. But once you have the first 10, it’s a little easier to get the second 10, and so on. It’s the same with an audience.

There may be huge surges in your popularity that leave you feeling awesome, then after that you may find your growth starts to lag a bit. That’s totally normal. Which leads me to my last tip:

#7 Remember that it’s quality, not quantity, that counts

Especially in the age of social media, we can get totally hooked on numbers. How many followers, how many email subscribers, how many patrons, etc. But in my experience it’s the quality of your audience, not the quantity, that counts. Focus on building real relationships and delivering something great to just a few loyal readers rather than trying to please everyone. Those people will be the ones to help promote you and have your back when it’s really important.

Ok, that’s all I’ve got for now. I hope this helped!

thanks for the tag :) I love talking about my top songs

T - the exit by conan gray

o - our lady of the underground from hadestown

t - the frost by mitski

a - alley rose by conan gray

l - lovesick by laufey

l - lost! from the lightning thief

y - your best american girl by mitski

N - not strong enough by boygenius

o - only tea from the great gatsby musical

t - the other side from the greatest showman

O - only us from dear evan hansen

b - boy toy by ricky montgomery

s - scylla from epic

e - evangeline by chloe ament

s - suffering from epic

s - santa fe from newsies

e -

d - disaster by conan gray

S - stay soft by mitski

p - promises from hadestown

a - a loving feeling by mitski

d - done for from epic

e -

s - someone you like by the girl and the dreamcatcher

@rosy-cozy-radio

URL Song Game with a twist!

Write down your url only using songs from your Top Songs of 2024 playlist and tag as many people as the letters in your url

thanks for the tag @ecstarry & @v7lgar <3

d - dark signs by sleep token

o - overcompensate by twenty one pilots

o - obsessed by sophie powers

m - my year in lists by los campesinos!

e - earned it by the weekend

d - die4u by bring me the horizon

t - the othering by sleep token

o -

k - kryptonite by call me karizma

i - in media res by los campesinos!

l - like that by sleep token

l - levitate by sleep token

np tag : @honeybcj @godsofwoes @dracure @reformedpeasant @thorn-rosed and who ever else