Can we take a moment to appreciate Erwin’s beautiful eyes? *_*
telling me that you want to explore the possibilities of shipping with me isn’t forcing a ship with me. sending me a ship-related meme to test the waters isn’t forcing a ship on me. writing me a starter and having your muse refer to mine as a significant other / and or insinuating that my muse feels something for him/her without discussing it with me first is totally forcing a ship on me. so please, send me all the ship memes you want, come to my inbox and yell about shipping our muses; i love that shit.
Featured on Beneath the Tangles
Artist: yulpi Source: Pixiv
How to write a kiss
Rebloggable version, as requested by davrosbro. :)
Oooh! Yes! I love kisses. Kisses are where it all starts ;).
Okay, first, remember that a kiss is much, much more than just lips. It is lips, but also tongues, teeth, eyes, faces, hands, noses, bodies, heartbeats, breath, voice- and most importantly, a kiss is emotions. A kiss without emotion is just wet mushy lips stuck together. Ew. Gross. The most important part of a kiss isn’t the how, but the who- because of the emotions between the two people.
Okay so:
lips- Lips can slide, glide over each other smoothly, or they can be chapped and rough and dry and get stuck on each other. They can match, top-to-top and bottom-to-bottom, or they can overlap, with one person’s top or bottom lip captured between the other person’s lips (yummy). If there is lipstick or chapstick there is lipstick or chapstick flavor, otherwise, lips don’t have a taste (can you taste yours?). Lips also can smack- the sound of two of them coming together or pulling apart, because they’re wet and warm and soft.
tongue- Tongues are always wet, and always warm. They’re very versatile. They can trace over lips, teeth, or another tongue. They can be smooth and graceful or teasing and flicking. When tongues are involved, there is drool. It’s only sexy when you like the person you’re kissing, or else it’s kinda gross. :P
teeth- teeth can clack together awkwardly, or teeth can bite down sensually. A person biting their own lip is cute, a person biting another’s lips is sexy. A person biting gently is sensual, a person biting roughly is sexual.
eyes- Eyes can be wide open with surprise, half-lidded with desire, fully closed with pleasure. Eyes can gaze lovingly, lustfully, wistfully, hungrily, seductively- it all depends upon the emotions of your characters. Have them do whatever you like, but don’t leave them out- give them at least a mention!
faces- Faces are what the lips are attached to. Noses bump, cheeks flush, ears turn red, foreheads either wrinkle or relax. Kisses can leave lips, quite easily, and become kisses on chins, cheeks, noses, foreheads, ears, necks, throats. Kisses on noses or foreheads are cute and adorable, kisses on cheeks are sweet, kisses on chins, ears, and throats are very sexual. And a kiss on the lips can be all of those! <3
hands- Hands are super-important. In order to describe a kiss, usually you want to also describe the hands. Where are they? Does one character have their hand behind the other’s head or back, holding them close? Are they on someone’s shoulders pulling them near, or pushing them away? Fingers brushing someone’s cheek or palms grabbing someone’s ass convey two very different kinds of situations, even if the kiss itself is exactly the same.
noses- Noses are annoying. They easily get in the way, especially for first kisses! People have to tilt their head to one side or the other, and if they don’t, noses bump. I’d only mention noses if a kiss is supposed to be awkward or uncertain or nervous.
bodies- bodies are either close together, or far away. Someone can be surrounded comfortingly by someone’s arms, or terrifyingly trapped by them. Bodies are warm or hot, they are calm or nervous, relaxed or tense. Body language says a lot. Is your character pulling away, or moving closer?
heartbeat- Hearts can beat fast or slow, and that’s about all they can do- but there are lots of reasons why they do! A heart can beat fast with fear or excitement or nervousness; a heart can pound with lust or race with terror or sing with joy. Hearts can glow, cower, or shatter. When you really want to drive the emotions of a character home, mention the heart.
breath- To me, the most consuming part of a kiss is the breath. The air that someone else has just breathed going deep into your lungs is very intimate. Lips and tongues don’t have a taste, but breath does. Each person’s breath tastes different, smells different, and surrounds a person differently than anyone else’s breath. Breath can be warm and sweet, breath can be hot and sexy, breath can be hot and frightening. It is something that is very present and should not be left out. A lot of writers leave breath out. And it’s so important; it’s the most intimate part of a kiss. Someone else is breathing into your lungs, and it’s either heaven or it’s hell.
voice- Voice conveys much, even without words. A voice can groan, whimper, gasp, moan, catch, whine, scream, sigh. Voice can convey emotion powerfully, and while some kisses are silent, usually they’re not.
emotion- Emotion is the most important- and the thing you try not to say. You want to describe it, through all of the things above, so that it’s perfectly clear what your characters are feeling, without you ever using the “feelings words”. If they’re in love, their bodies will lean close, their eyes will smile, their voices will giggle softly. If they’re nervous, their palms will sweat, their noses will bump, their voices will shudder. If they’re afraid, their muscles will be tense, their faces will grimace, their lips will not open. Emotion is the color that you keep inside your mind as you write; it’s the base line that drives the description behind everything else you say.
Wow, that was a lot! Gosh I hope it wasn’t too much! Keep in mind not every kiss has all these things- this is just a list of things to consider when writing a kiss, and based on how long of a kiss you want to make. Keep in mind that typing “they kissed for a long time”…that’s six words, it takes half a second to read, so that’s a short kiss! If you want a long kiss, you need long sentences that make the reader linger.
So maybe to start off, pick three things on the list to describe in your first kiss. Don’t try to do it all- that would be too much for even the most epic kiss. Just pick what’s most important to this particular scene, to these particular characters, and describe those parts along with the lips, and you’ve got yourself an awesome, emotional kiss. <3
LEVI AND ERWIN’S INTERVIEW (PART 1) TRANSLATED
It seems an anon has translated their interviews from a Chinese source. Rest of it is under the read more.
The long awaiting Scouting Legion’s Top Dogs have finally spoken.
Commander Erwin Smith,as his stout figure lies in the sofa, is waiting for the upcoming inquiries. His eyes are as blue as the sky and freedom humanity thirsts for. Meanwhile, the Scouting Legion’s captain, Levi, lays his legs on a chair and seems very bored. However, he is nonetheless scanning his surrounding with sharp eyes, giving off an unapproachable aura. We finally get the occasion to interview the two cores of the Scouting Legion. Closeup Interview-Erwin Smith: I’ll answer anything for the sake of the Corps.
Erwin and Levi’s fully translated interview is here!
In part 1 of the interview, we were able to learn more about Scouting Legion’s commander and captain’s missions and private lives. In pat two, we separated them in two rooms and interviewed them individually. We successfully obtained their impressions towards each other, allowing them to speak up their heart content in their own privacy… Levi: Is Erwin really scary… Those soldiers amongst ordinary ranks must have spent a good time examining him, I see.
The rest is under this:
A Body Language Masterlist
Cheat Sheets
Body Language Cheat Sheet (archetypewriting)
Body Language Cheat Sheet (writerswrite1)
Writing-Specific Guides
Using Body Language to Create Believable Characters
Character Emotion Written All Over Their Face
Ideas For Using Knowledge of Body Language in Your Writing
Elaboration: The Power Punch of “Body Language” Detail
How to Read a Person Like a Book
Body Language: An Artistic Writing Tool
Body Language Basics
41 Flavors of Body Language for Writers (very nice guide/reference)
Reveal Character Through Body Language (a good quick reference with emotions and behaviors associated with them)
Non-Writing Specific Guides
Dimensions of Body Language (very extensive with pictures)
Nonverbal Dictionary
Body Language Index (lots of tables, resources, and terms. I highly recommend checking out this link)
Body Language Wikipedia Page
Important Features of Body Language
Exercises
Creative Writing Exercises: Body Language
An Exercise in Character Differentiation
A Conversation Through Body Language
This is an ultimate masterlist of many resources that could be helpful for writers. I apologize in advance for any not working links. Check out the ultimate writing resource masterlist here (x) and my “novel” tag here (x).
✑ PLANNING
Outlining & Organizing
- For the Architects: The Planning Process
- Rough Drafts
- How do you plan a novel?
- Plot Development: Climax, Resolution, and Your Main Character
- Plotting and Planing
- I Have An Idea for a Novel! Now What?
- Choosing the Best Outline Method
- How to Write a Novel: The Snowflake Method
- Effectively Outlining Your Plot
- Conflict and Character within Story Structure
- Outlining Your Plot
- Ideas, Plots & Using the Premise Sheets
✑ INSPIRATION
- Finding story ideas
- Choosing ideas and endings
- When a plot isn’t strong enough to make a whole story
- Writing a story that’s doomed to suck
- How to Finish What You Start: A Five-Step Plan for Writers
- Finishing Your Novel
- Finish Your Novel
- How to Finish Your Novel when You Want to Quit
- How To Push Past The Bullshit And Write That Goddamn Novel: A Very Simple No-Fuckery Writing Plan
✑ PLOT
In General
- 25 Turns, Pivots and Twists to Complicate Your Story
- The ABCs (and Ds and Es) of Plot Development
- Originality Is Overrated
- How to Create a Plot Outline in Eight Easy Steps
- Finding Plot: Idea Nets
- The Story Goal: Your Key to Creating a Solid Plot Structure
- Make your reader root for your main character
- Creating Conflict and Sustaining Suspense
- Tips for Creating a Compelling Plot
- The Thirty-six (plus one) Dramatic Situations
- Adding Subplots to a Novel
- Weaving Subplots into a Novel
- 7 Ways to Add Subplots to Your Novel
- Crafting a Successful Romance Subplot
- How to Improve your Writing: Subplots and Subtext
- Understanding the Role of Subplots
- How to Use Subtext in your Writing
- The Secret Life of Subtext
- How to Use Subtext
Beginning
- Creating a Process: Getting Your Ideas onto Paper (And into a Story)
- Why First Chapters?
- Starting with a Bang
- In the Beginning
- The Beginning of your Novel that isn’t the Beginning of your Novel
- A Beginning from the Middle
- Starting with a Bang
- First Chapters: What To Include @ The Beginning Writer
- 23 Clichés to Avoid When Beginning Your Story
- Start Writing Now
- Done Planning. What Now?
- Continuing Your Long-Format Story
- How to Start a Novel
- 100 best first lines from novels
- The First Sentence of a Book Report
- How To Write A Killer First Sentence To Open Your Book
- How to Write the First Sentence of a Book
- The Most Important Sentence: How to Write a Killer Opening
- Hook Your Reader from the First Sentence: How to Write Great Beginnings
Foreshadowing
- Foreshadowing and the Red Hering
- Narrative Elements: Foreshadowing
- Foreshadowing and Suspense
- Foreshadowing Key Details
- Writing Fiction: Foreshadowing
- The Literary Device of Foreshadowing
- All About Foreshadowing in Fiction
- Foreshadowing
- Flashbacks and Foreshadowing
- Foreshadowing — How and Why to Use It In Your Writing
Setting
- Four Ways to Bring Settings to Life
- Write a Setting for a Book
- Writing Dynamic Settings
- How To Make Your Setting a Character
- Guide for Setting
- 5 Tips for Writing Better Settings
- Building a Novel’s Setting
Ending
- A Novel Ending
- How to End Your Novel
- How to End Your Novel 2
- How to End a Novel With a Punch
- How to End a Novel
- How to Finish a Novel
- How to Write The Ending of Your Novel
- Keys to Great Endings
- 3 Things That End A Story Well
- Ending a Novel: Five Things to Avoid
- Endings that Ruin Your Novel
- Closing Time: The Ending
✑ CHARACTER
Names
- Behind the Name
- Surname Meanings and Origins
- Surname Meanings and Origins - A Free Dictionary of Surnames
- Common US Surnames & Their Meanings
- Last Name Meanings & Origins
- Name Generators
- Name Playground
Different Types of Characters
- Ways To Describe a Personality
- Character Traits Meme
- Types of Characters
- Types of Characters in Fiction
- Seven Common Character Types
- Six Types of Courageous Characters
- Creating Fictional Characters (Masterlist)
- Building Fictional Characters
- Fiction Writer’s Character Chart
- Character Building Workshop
- Tips for Characterization
- Fiction Writer’s Character Chart
- Advantages, Disadvantages and Skills
Males
- Strong Male Characters
- The History and Nature of Man Friendships
- Friendship for Guys (No Tears!)
- ‘I Love You, Man’ and the rules of male friendship
- Male Friendship
- Understanding Male Friendship
- Straight male friendship, now with more cuddling
Character Development
- P.O.V. And Background
- Writing a Character: Questionnaire
- 10 Days of Character Building
- Getting to Know Your Characters
- Character Development Exercises
✑ STYLE
Chapters
- How Many Chapters is the Right Amount of Chapters?
- The Arbitrary Nature of the Chapter
- How Long is a Chapter?
- How Long Should Novel Chapters Be?
- Chapter & Novel Lengths
- Section vs. Scene Breaks
Dialogue
- The Passion of Dialogue
- 25 Things You Should Know About Dialogue
- Dialogue Writing Tips
- Punctuation Dialogue
- How to Write Believable Dialogue
- Writing Dialogue: The Music of Speech
- Writing Scenes with Many Characters
- It’s Not What They Say …
- Top 10 Tips for Writing Dialogue
- Speaking of Dialogue
- Dialogue Tips
- Interrupted Dialogue
- Two Tips for Interrupted Dialogue
Show, Don’t Tell (Description)
- “Tell” Makes a Great Placeholder
- The Literary Merit of the Grilled Cheese Sandwich
- Bad Creative Writing Advice
- The Ultimate Guide to Writing Better Than You Normally Do
- DailyWritingTips: Show, Don’t Tell
- GrammarGirl: Show, Don’t Tell
- Writing Style: What Is It?
- Detail Enhances Your Fiction
- Using Sensory Details
- Description in Fiction
- Using Concrete Detail
- Depth Through Perception
- Showing Emotions & Feelings
Character Description
- Describing Your Characters (by inkfish7 on DeviantArt)
- Help with Character Development
- Creating Characters that Jump Off the Page
- Omitting Character Description
- Introducing Your Character(s): DON’T
- Character Crafting
- Writer’s Relief Blog: “Character Development In Stories And Novels”
- Article: How Do You Think Up Your Characters?
- 5 Character Points You May Be Ignoring
- List of colors, hair types and hairstyles
- List of words to use in a character’s description
- 200 words to describe hair
- How to describe hair
- Words used to describe the state of people’s hair
- How to describe your haircut
- Hair color sharts
- Four Ways to Reveal Backstory
- Words Used to Describe Clothes
Flashbacks
- Using Flashbacks in Writing
- Flashbacks by All Write
- Using Flashback in Fiction
- Fatal Backstory
- Flashbacks as opening gambit
- Don’t Begin at the Beginning
- Flashbacks in Books
- TVTropes: Flashback
- Objects in the Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear: Flashback Techniques in Fiction
- 3 Tips for Writing Successful Flashbacks
- The 5 Rules of Writing Effective Flashbacks
- How to Handle Flashbacks In Writing
- Flashbacks and Foreshadowing
- Reddit Forum: Is a flashback in the first chapter a good idea?
- Forum Discussing Flackbacks
P.O.V
- You, Me, and XE - Points of View
- What’s Your Point of View?
- Establishing the Right Point of View: How to Avoid “Stepping Out of Character”
- How to Start Writing in the Third Person
- The Opposite Gender P.O.V.
LANGUAGE
- How To Say Said
- 200 Words Instead of Said
- Words to Use Instead of Said
- A List of Words to Use Instead of Said
- Alternatives to “Walk”
- 60 Synonyms for “Walk”
✑ USEFUL WEBSITES/LINKS
- Grammar Monster
- Google Scholar
- GodChecker
- Tip Of My Tounge
- Speech Tags
- Pixar Story Rules
- Written? Kitten!
- TED Talks
- DarkCopy
- Family Echo
- Some Words About Word Count
- How Long Should My Novel Be?
- The Universal Mary Sue Litmus Test
- Writer’s “Cheat Sheets”
Last but not least, the most helpful tool for any writer out there is Google!
Just pick a theme you like, a sidebar image you want, and then go to this website and it’ll give you a color scheme that’s nearly perf every time. It’s like super easy and it’s totally how I do all my schemes
*CRIES LOUDLY BECAUSE I DIDN’T KNOW THAT EXISTS*
And this whole time i’d been picturing a longsword whenever I read broadsword.
all the refrences.
Best resources to improve your grammar and writing
The hardest part about finding grammar and writing guides is finding ones that are actually correct. As you may know, a lot of content on the Internet is severely misinformed and wrong. It is hard to tell which websites were created by genuine experts and institutions, and which were created by people wanting to add their contribution to the net.
After months of research and fact checking, here is a list of some of the best and most genuinely correct grammar and writing guides and resources. These are either from academic institutions with a good reputation, or are websites that are filled with accurate and usable content. The websites and guides have not been rated as they all offer something slightly different and useful.
This is a truly great resource for learning the rules of grammar. It starts with the most basic concepts and moves all the way up to advanced rules and exceptions to the rules. It is very easy-to-understand and is perfect for children, younger students, students with gaps in their knowledge and people with English as their second language. It works as both a starting point and a refresher course, it is free, and navigation of the website is fairly easy.
This is a website for people with English as their second language, and it has an English reference section that will help you avoid the most commonly seen errors when it comes to English grammar. If you want to improve your writing skills in general, where you have no specific weakness you want to improve, you should try the English reference section on this website.
This is a website set up by a community college. They have clearly filled it with very accurate information on grammar and writing, but sadly, they have put it on a website that is hard to navigate. If you are looking to improve your writing and grammar in a serious way, then reading through this entire website will totally help you a lot.
Essaymama Essay Writing Guide can truly help you improve the quality of your written work. It suggests well-structured and informative tips on writing starting from topic selection and finishing with editing and proofreading. Besides, who knows how to improve writing skills better than people that write essays for a living? They are the ones that come up with the essay writing guide and offer the fruits of their knowledge in this way.
You may have a few weak spots when it comes to grammar and writing, and may even have a few holes in your current knowledge. This is a website resource that you can pick up and drop in order to fill the holes in your knowledge. It is broken up into sections – so all you need to do is find the concept you are weakest on and read up on it. You do not have to read the entire website or massive articles in order to understand what it is trying to convey – which is what makes it a great reference website.
If you want to improve your grammar and writing, then go to the writer’s workshop section on this website and look for writer’s resources. It covers some foundation principles in very simple and easy-to-understand terms. The grammar handbook gives you foundation principles that help you avoid basic errors, which then helps you avoid making repetitive mistakes (which is the sort of thing why you may lose points on writing contests).
This is a website that offers both free and paid learning services. You can use a few of the tools and improve your writing and grammar skills, or you can take more intensive courses and become a real expert on writing and grammar.
This should be your port of call every time you have a grammar, style or formatting question. It is probably the most accurate resource for such things as grammar, style and formatting on the Internet. Their style guides incorporate the differences between various interpretations and they give you links to further resources if you want to do more research.
Word misuse is a common grammatical error, and this website will help you lower your error rate if you use it correctly. Once you have finished your writing, you need to go over the words that look correct but that may be incorrectly used, such as principal or principle. Pop the word into the dictionary search engine and find out if you have used it correctly.
You can improve your writing skills only by learning
It is pointless trying to rely only on your spelling and grammar checker to improve your writing for two reasons. The first is because no current spelling and grammar checker can understand the content of your paper, which means each checker can only work based on mathematical probabilities that what you just wrote was incorrect.
The second reason is because spelling and grammar checkers cannot say what is “actually” right and wrong grammatically within your text. They can only offer suggestions, and if you do not know the rules of English writing and grammar, then there is no way you can use spelling and grammar checkers with any degree of success.
Color Palette Generator
I’m not sure why I just found out about this but….amazing! So fast and simple
100 Best Fonts of 2014 To close the big feature I made to the best fonts of 2014 here I bring you a big wall post of the 100 fonts in a form of a logotype, just as the designers have decided to display and promote their own typefaces.
Check the big list below and click the name you want:
- Galano Grotesque by Rene Bieder
- Nexa Rust by Fontfabric
- Glober by Fontfabric
- Adorn by Laura Worthington
- Selfie by Lián Types
- Trend Rough by Latinotype
- Lulo Clean by Yellow Design Studio
- Harman by Ahmet Altun
- Brandon Printed by HVD Fonts
- Texta by Latinotype
- Campton by Rene Bieder
- Quickpen by Trial by Cupcakes
- Distillery by Sudtipos
- Eveleth by Yellow Design Studio
- Boucherie by Laura Worthington
- True North by Cultivated Mind
- Core Circus Rough by S-Core
- Signyard by Albatross
- Local Market by Cultivated Mind
- Ropa Soft Pro by lettersoup
- Stereotesque by Stereotypes
- Scripta Pro by John Moore Type Foundry
- Catalina by Kimmy Design
- Choplin by Rene Bieder
- Gist by Yellow Design Studio
- Microbrew by Albatross
- Festivo LC by Ahmet Altun
- Risotto Script by Calderón Estudio Type Foundry
- Westcoast Letters by Cultivated Mind
- Brix Sans by HVD Fonts
- Ilya FY by Fontyou
- Voltage by Laura Worthington
- Mariné by TipoType
- Estandar Rounded by Latinotype
- Libertad by TipoType
- Wonderhand by Martina Flor
- Courtesy Script Pro by Sudtipos
- Nautica by Resistenza
- Cereal by Andinistas
- Newcastle by FaceType
- Horizontes Script by Sudtipos
- Showcase by Lationtype
- Macarons by Lationtype
- Pinto by FaceType
- Garden by Los Andes
- Arquitecta by Latinotype
- Hollyhock by Angie Makes
- Australis Pro Swash
- Fantasy by Typesenses
- Bowling Script by Sudtipos
- Ridewell by Intelligent Design
- Gloriola by Suitcase Type Foundry
- Flirt Script by Positype
- Din Next Slab by Linotype
- Nanami Handmade by Thinkdust
- Elise by Context
- Uberschrift by FDI
- Emblema Headline by Corradine Fonts
- Suarez by GRIN3(Nowak)
- Abelina by Sudtipos
- Rufina by TipType
- Roper by Andrew Footit
- Factoria by Fort Foundry
- Adria Slab by FaceType
- Wollen by Magpie Paper Works
- Adagio Sans by Borutta
- Silver by Fenotype
- Aguda by Graviton
- Bookeyed Martin by Tart Workshop
- Darwing by Los Andes
- Industry Inc by Fort Foundry
- The Carpenter by Fenotype
- National Champion by Kyle Wayne Benson
- Larry by Fenotype
- XXII YeahScript by DoubleTwo
- Kansas Casual by Kyle Wayne Benson
- Ciao Bella by Cultivated Mind
- Amoretta by Tart Workshop
- Veronia by Cultivated Mind
- Naive Inline Sans by La Goupil Paris
- Accura Sans by dooType
- Sparhawk by Albatross
- In An Out by Fenotype
- Minimo by Ahmet Altun
- Powder Script by Fenotype
- Dream Script by Lián Types
- Sanelma by Mika Melvas
- Servus Slab by Dada Studio
- Dalle by Stawix
- Montague Script Bold by Stephen Rapp
- Gubia by Graviton
- Ganache by Laura Worthington
- Samui Script by Schizotype
- Predige by Type Dynamic
- Filson Pro by Mostardesign
- Logotype Frenzy by Decade Typefoundry
- Brilant Typeface
- King Bloser by Misprinted Type
- Tansy by Eurotype
- Lichtspielhaus Handmade by Typocalypse
Check the details of every font here: http://fontsoftheyear.com/
You can always check betype.co/fonts to see the daily new fonts or follow us on
Things almost every author needs to research
- How bodies decompose
- Wilderness survival skills
- Mob mentality
- Other cultures
- What it takes for a human to die in a given situation
- Common tropes in your genre
- Average weather for your setting
Source If you want more facts, follow Ultrafacts
Whoever you are, thank you!
BASICS
Horror is considered a separate genre, but these three genres often overlap.
Sub Genres:
- Paranormal Romance: Romance with a paranormal element. However, the romance outweighs the paranormal aspect in most cases, but is still an integral part to the story.
- Urban Fantasy: Urban fantasy is often used interchangeably with “paranormal”. It takes place in urban areas and has fantasy, paranormal, or supernatural elements.
- Dark Fantasy: This genre is a cross over between horror and fantasy. It has fantasy and horror elements, but does not focus on them as heavily as other genres. This would be considered paranormal rather than supernatural.
- Gothic Horror: This used to be the name for the horror genre. This genre is not related to the goth fashion style. There are several forms of this genre (English, American, southern) that may involve romance or a sense of being “trapped”. Paranormal creatures (like ghosts and other creatures associated with the afterlife or death) are quite popular in this genre.
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HORROR
See Basic Horror Writing Guide for a general overview and some resources.
There is often a paranormal or supernatural element in horror, most likely some form of ghosts. However, there are also other elements present.
Certain abilities given to humans may fall within this category. This can include telekinesis, clairvoyance, and telepathy, among others. However, these abilities often come secondary to the horror element or the main horror creatures (ghosts, psychological torture, etc.). They should come second if horror is the main aspect of the story. Once these elements become primary, you’ve left the horror genre (primarily).
But, as with horror, including paranormal and supernatural elements must be there to further the thrill, suspense, or horror of the story. With supernatural and paranormal fiction, those elements should be integral to the story.
Using Magic in Horror Fiction
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PARANORMAL VS SUPERNATURAL
This is a personal opinion
Supernatural: Something inexplicable that defies the laws of nature or something that was once a part of nature, only to defy it.
Paranormal: Something that shows signs of being beyond scientific understanding.
As noted in the definitions above, supernatural deals with transformation from the ordinary to the impossible. Paranormal deals with something beyond us, like clairvoyance.
Paranormal fiction tends to be lighter and it often has a romantic feel to it. When I say “romantic”, I do not necessarily mean love, but showing something in a light that makes it better than it actually is. Supernatural fiction tends to fall on the side of gritty horror more often than not.
What falls under each definition depends on who you ask, but abilities (for example, telekinesis) are generally considered paranormal while certain creatures (werewolves and vampires) are considered supernatural.
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CREATURES & CLICHES
With this genre comes otherworldly creatures. Right now, the genre is heavy with angels, demons, vampires, and werewolves. While there’s nothing wrong with writing about those creatures, it’s good to expand. After all, supernatural and paranormal are forms of fantasy. You can do anything.
Research some underused creatures and put a new twist on them. Use them as a base for a creature of your own creation. Go nuts with these creatures and make them unique.
They can thrive in one environment and suffer in another. They can be subject to evolution. They can be associated with a certain element or symbol. Give them odd abilities and give them reasons for this. Make up your own mythologies.
Yet with the four main creatures mentioned above comes cliches. We’re all sick of them and you should challenge yourself to write outside these cliches, though you can still rework a cliche and make it unique. There is a group of cliches in paranormal romance that stand out from the rest because they are harmful. For example, male love interests who are brooding, possessive, and creepy yet written as desirable. An important point to remember when you’re creating creatures is not to go so far that these become something else entirely. You can’t take away the fundamental characteristics if you’re trying to be unique. That destroys the creature. Your vampires don’t have to sleep in coffins or turn into bats, but you can’t really take away the blood drinking thing, can you? That’s the main characteristic of vampiric creatures (and there are many).
More:
- Ten Worst Vampire Cliches
- The A-Typical Vampire
- Supernatural Creatures Inspiration/Definitions
- Vampire Cliches
- Werewolf Cliches
- Werewolf Genre Pet Peeves
- Writing an Overused Supernatural Creature
- Vampire Tropes
- A Guide on Zombies
- Guide to Ghosts
- Describing Fantastic Creatures
- How to Make Your Supernatural Characters Unique Myths, Creatures, and Folklore
- Werebeast Tropes
- Tropes of the Living Dead
- Writing Zombies
- Sea Creatures
- Birds: Mythology
- Cliches in Paranormal Novels
- Is Your YA Paranormal Romance Cliche Enough? (chart)
- Cliches in Paranormal Romance
- Top 13 Paranormal Romance Cliches
- YA Common Cliches: Paranormal Romance
- Overplayed Urban Fantasy Cliche 1 2 3 4
- Fantasy/Urban Fantasy Cliches
- Mythical Creatures List
- Mythical Creatures A-Z
- List of Mythical Creatures
- Magical/Mythical Creatures
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MUSIC
Some music to listen to while writing:
Bad Moon Rising | Black River Killer | Blood Circus | Come Little Children | Davy Jones Music Box | Ghost Riders in the Sky | Hell | Hell Hound Blues | Herr Drosselmeye’s Doll | Hotel California | House of the Rising Sun | The Killing Moon | Mr Crowley | Oogie Boogie’s Song | Sympathy for the Devil | This House is Haunted | This is Halloween | Void
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BOOKS
- Supernatural Romance
- Books with Angels, Gods, or Demons
- Best Gothic Books of All Time
- Ghost Stories
- Angels & Demons
- Vampires
- Favorite Ghost Stories
- Best Books About Faeries
- Paranormal’s/Urban Fantasies That Don’t Suck
- Haunted Houses
- Paranormal in New Orleans
- Best Gothic Novels/Suspense Novels
- Forbidden Love in Fantasy/Paranormal/Supernatural
- Supernatural and Addictive Fantasy
- Best Shapeshifters
- Books with Supernatural Females
- Bone Chilling Paranormal Romance
- Anything But Vampires
- 19th Century Supernatural Horror
- Gay Horror
- I See Dead People
- Killer Ghost Stories
- Uncommon Supernatural Creatures
- Gothic Paranormal
- Best Adult Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance
- Indie Books - Paranormal Fiction
- Humorous Paranormal Books
- Hot Paranormal Romance
- Werewolf and Shifter Romance
- Paranormal Book Lists
- Not the “Normal” Paranormal
- Literary Fiction Meets Paranormal Romance
- Gay Paranormal Romance
- Lesbian Paranormal/Urban Fantasy
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MORE
Castle Terms Glossary
- Arcade – a row of arches supported by columns or free-standing
- Arrow slit – a vertical window, narrow on the outside and expanding on the inside so one could shoot arrows out with relative ease, but shooting in was much more difficult
- Bailey – the area of ground enclosed by the main defensive walls of a castle, especially in the earliest mott-and-bailey castles. In later stone castles, the bailey was often called the ward
- Barbican/hornwork – A defensive outerwork, consisting of walls and towers, which surround a castle gate and were designed to protect it
- Barrel vault – cylindrical roof
- Bartizan – an overhanging corner turret
- Bastion fort – A low, thick-walled fort designed to withstand cannon fire. Such structures proliferated in the late Middle Ages, following the advent of gunpowder and cannon. In place of the towers of earlier castles, these fortifications incorporated low, projecting structures known as bastions
- Bastle house – small tower house with a living room over a byre
- Batter/talus/plinth – the sharp angle at the base of all walls and towers along their exterior surface
- Battlements – narrow wall build along the outer edge of the ramparts to protect soldiers from attack
- Berm – flat ground between the curtain wall and the inner edge of the moat
- Bivalate – a hillfort defended by two concentric ditches
- Breastwork – heavy parapet between two gate towers; wall defense over the portcullis
- Cap-house – small chamber at the top of a spiral staircase in a tower or turret, leading to the open wall-walk on the roof
- Castellan – the lord of the castle. In some cases, the castellan (or his ancestor) built the castle himself; in others he (or his ancestors) was given it to hold by a count or duke.
- Cesspit – an area in the ground where waste from garderobes was collected
- Citadel – heavily fortified, independent defensive structure within city walls; the strongest part of a fort
- Corbiestepped/crowstepped – square stones forming steps on the gable
- Counterscarp – outer slope of a ditch
- Crenelation – a notched battlement made of alternating crenels (openings) and merlons (square teeth)
- Crownwork – freestanding bastioned fortification in front of the main defenses
- Curtain wall – the outer wall of a castle, which by the late 12th century usually incorporated multiple towers, and into which were built, on the inner side, stables, storehouses, and sleeping quarters