Many people create lists of synonyms for the word 'said,' but what about the word 'look'? Here are some synonyms that I enjoy using in my writing, along with their meanings for your reference. While all these words relate to 'look,' they each carry distinct meanings and nuances, so I thought it would be helpful to provide meanings for each one.
Gaze - To look steadily and intently, especially in admiration or thought.
Glance - A brief or hurried look.
Peek - A quick and typically secretive look.
Peer - To look with difficulty or concentration.
Scan - To look over quickly but thoroughly.
Observe - To watch carefully and attentively.
Inspect - To look at closely in order to assess condition or quality.
Stare - To look fixedly or vacantly at someone or something.
Glimpse - To see or perceive briefly or partially.
Eye - To look or stare at intently.
Peruse - To read or examine something with great care.
Scrutinize - To examine or inspect closely and thoroughly.
Behold - To see or observe a thing or person, especially a remarkable one.
Witness - To see something happen, typically a significant event.
Spot - To see, notice, or recognize someone or something.
Contemplate - To look thoughtfully for a long time at.
Sight - To suddenly or unexpectedly see something or someone.
Ogle - To stare at in a lecherous manner.
Leer - To look or gaze in an unpleasant, malicious way.
Gawk - To stare openly and stupidly.
Gape - To stare with one's mouth open wide, in amazement.
Squint - To look with eyes partially closed.
Regard - To consider or think of in a specified way.
Admire - To regard with pleasure, wonder, and approval.
Skim - To look through quickly to gain superficial knowledge.
Reconnoiter - To make a military observation of a region.
Flick - To look or move the eyes quickly.
Rake - To look through something rapidly and unsystematically.
Glare - To look angrily or fiercely.
Peep - To look quickly and secretly through an opening.
Focus - To concentrate one's visual effort on.
Discover - To find or realize something not clear before.
Spot-check - To examine something briefly or at random.
Devour - To look over with eager enthusiasm.
Examine - To inspect in detail to determine condition.
Feast one's eyes - To look at something with great enjoyment.
Catch sight of - To suddenly or unexpectedly see.
Clap eyes on - To suddenly see someone or something.
Set eyes on - To look at, especially for the first time.
Take a dekko - Colloquial for taking a look.
Leer at - To look or gaze in a suggestive manner.
Rubberneck - To stare at something in a foolish way.
Make out - To manage to see or read with difficulty.
Lay eyes on - To see or look at.
Pore over - To look at or read something intently.
Ogle at - To look at in a lecherous or predatory way.
Pry - To look or inquire into something in a determined manner.
Dart - To look quickly or furtively.
Drink in - To look at with great enjoyment or fascination.
Bask in - To look at or enjoy something for a period of time.
September 1913, William Butler Yeats
The Imprint of September Second, Ethan Gilsdorf
September, Joanne Kyger
Drowning in September, Eric Pfeiffer
September, H Stuart
September Tomatoes, Karina Borowicz
One September Night, Franco Fortini
September Sunday, Lucille Broderson
September, 1918, Amy Lowell
September Midnight, Sara Teasdale
Monday, September 25, 2006, Susan Schultz
One September Afternoon, Leo Dangel
adapted from <Writer's Craft> by Rayne Hall
Suspense
Show your characters gearing up, readying themselves.
The pace is slow, the suspense is high (use suspense techniques)
Provide information about terrain, numbers, equipment, weapons, weather.
May have dialogue as the opponents taunt each other, hurl accusations, or make one final effort to avoid the slaughter.
Don't start too early - we don't need to see the hero getting out of bed, taking a shower and having tea.
2. Start
Fighters get into fight stance: knees slightly bent, one leg forward, abdominal muscles tensing, body turned diagonally, weapons at the ready.
Each side will usually try to be the first to strike, as this will give them advantage.
The movements in this section need to be specific and technically correct.
3. Action
This section may be quick or prolonged. If prolonged, no blow-by-blow descriptions are needed.
Focus on the overall direction of the fight
Make use of the location to make characters jump, leap, duck, hide, fall, etc.
Mention sounds of weapons
4. Surprise
Something unexpected happens: building catches fire, a downpour, relief force arrives, staircase collapses, bullet smashes into the only lightbulb and everything goes dark, hero losses his weapon, etc.
Add excitement, raise the stakes.
5. Climax
Both sides are tired and wounded
The hero is close to giving up, but is revived with passion
Move to the terrain's most dangerous spot: narrow swining rope-bridge, a roof-edge, sinking ship, etc.
Don't rush the climax! Hold the tension
6. Aftermath
The fight is over: bes buddies lying dead, bandaging, reverberating pain, etc.
Use sense of sight and smell
The hero may experience nausea, shaking, tearfulness or get sexually horny
Fight scene length
Historical/adventure/fantasy: 700-1000w
Romance: 400-700w
to try to include in your next poem/story
Accollé - in heraldry: entwined about the neck; also: collared, gorged
Bacciferous - bearing berries
Commorient - one of two or a number of persons perishing at the same time by the same calamity
Dreikanter - a three-faced pebble faceted by wind-blown sand
Estaminet - a small café
Frondescence - the condition or period of unfolding of leaves; foliage
Graveolent - having a rank smell
Hwyl - fervor, excitement
Ichnite - a fossil footprint
Jardiniere - an ornamental stand for plants or flowers
Knop - a usually ornamental knob
Lacustrine - of, relating to, formed in, living in, or growing in lakes
Mucedinous - having the nature of or resembling mold or mildew
Nomistic - based on or conforming to moral law
Oblivescence - an act or the process of forgetting
Pabulum - intellectual sustenance
Quodlibet - a whimsical combination of familiar melodies or texts
Risorgimento - a time of renewal or renaissance; revival
Saeculum - a period of long duration
Trouvaille - a lucky find
More: Lists of Beautiful Words ⚜ Word Lists ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs
“I was already a hedonistic creature, but with you around I can barely tear myself from this bed.”
Ten origin stories for Dungeons & Dragons sorcerers that aren’t “my mom fucked a dragon”:
Sorcerer who attained their powers by practising bending reality to their will for thirty minutes every morning, and is honestly baffled when people try to explain that magic doesn’t work like that
Sorcerer who was incredibly unlucky and kept getting struck by lightning, and after the seventh or eight time it sort of stuck
Sorcerer who claims to be a god of calamity and ruin, and they’re actually telling the truth – they just happen to be a very small god of calamity and ruin
Sorcerer who tried some pipeweed they found in a beholder’s stash and experienced some unusual long-term effects
Sorcerer whose parents learned the hard way why you’re not supposed to get frisky on the night of a lunar eclipse (answer: because you end up with a baby who can conjure knives)
Sorcerer who’s a time traveller from an unimaginably distant future where people can just do that
Sorcerer who spent four minutes technically dead due to one of those incidents that begin with the phrase “watch this”, and woke up with slight brain damage and power over unearthly spirits
Sorcerer who’s been cursed to die in a fire, and the curse is fulfilling itself in an extremely roundabout way
Sorcerer who was supposed to be an ogre mage’s dinner, but the ogre mage had been brewing potions the night before and didn’t clean their cauldron before dunking the poor kid into the soup
Sorcerer who got so angry one day that they spontaneously developed the ability to set things on fire with their brain
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