Editing Checklist

Editing Software:

StyleWriter 4 is fantastic. It’s an add-on for Microsoft word and has a 14-day trial period. It goes through your text, picks out “glue words”, misspellings, long sentences, homonyms, passive tense, shows your reading grade level, and more.
Editminion *FREE* checks for adverbs, weak words, passive voice, cliches, and homonyms among other things.
Pro Writing Aid is another online editor. It is mostly free, but offers more features if you pay.
AutoCrit offers free analysis for under 500 words, otherwise you have to pay for more text and more editing features.
Paper Rater offers a free service for editing, but it is designed for essays.

Formatting Checklist: This follows the general guide of formatting a manuscript in Microsoft word. However, some literary agents and editors have their own requirements.

Under the paragraph option, change the special indentation to first line at .5”. Change to document to double spaced.
There should be no spaces between paragraphs.
When showing a scene break, center # on a blank line.
Font should be easy to read. Courier New and Times New Roman are preferred at size 12.
All margins should be 1”.
Start chapters on a new page and put the chapter title 1/3 down the page. Write the chapter like so: CHAPTER ONE - CHAPTER TITLE. Press return 4 - 6 times before starting the text of the chapter.
For the header, put YOUR NAME/BOOK TITLE/PAGE NUMBER in the upper right-hand corner. Start this header on the first page of the first chapter.
The cover page of your manuscript should have your name, word count, and contact information in the upper left-hand corner.
The title on the cover page should be in all caps. Your name should be underneath in all caps. If you use a pen name, write YOUR REAL NAME (WRITING AS PEN NAME).
At the end of the manuscript, start a new page and write END.

Self-Editing Checklist:

Spelling:

If you are using Microsoft word for your word processor, use the spell check. After that, go through the manuscript line by line to make sure everything is spelled right. You may have used “form” instead of “from” and skipped it because Microsoft word did not see it as misspelled.
Printing out your work or viewing it in another way (such as a pdf on an ereader) helps find these mistakes.
Beta readers can find what you missed as well.
Use editing software to check homonyms or look up a list of homonyms and find them in your document using ctrl + f. Check these words to make sure you used the right spelling.

Grammar and Style:

First use Microsoft word’s grammar checker, but be aware that it is not always right. Check grammar girl if you are unsure.
For dialogue, you can always pick up a professionally published book and look at how the dialogue tags are used, where commas are placed, and when other punctuation is used.
If you’re in school and your English teacher isn’t too busy, have them take a look at it.
Look out for prepositions. Most of the time, you can omit these words and the sentence will still make sense. Beginner writers use a lot of these in their writing and it slows the flow.
Check for adverbs. You’d be surprised at how many you use in your writing, sometimes up to five a page. Using a few in narration is okay, but only a few. Delete adverbs you find, especially those that end in “-ly”, and rewrite the sentences in necessary.
Delete gerunds and forms of “to be” if writing in past tense. Instead of “were running”, write “ran”.
Check subject-verb agreement.
Use correct dialogue tags. People don’t bark their words. They shout.
Two digit numbers should be written as words (twenty-seven) while numbers with more than two digits should be written with numbers (123).
Avoid passive verbs.
Vary sentence length.
Show with the five senses rather than telling.
Most of the time, you can delete the word “that”.
Avoid using “unique” or “significant” words too often.

Consistency:

Make sure all your font is the same size and type.
Make sure you have no plot holes. Use the comment feature in Microsoft Word to track these plots.
Make sure your time line is consistent.
The tone should fit the scene.
There should be one POV per scene. Unless you’re a brilliant writer and can pull off third person omniscient.
Verb tense should be consistent.
Keep track of the details you release of people, places, and things. The reader will remember if in one chapter you say your protagonist has blue eyes and in another you say green.

Pacing:

The whole book should flow in and out of fast paced scenes to keep your reader interested and slow scenes to give them a break.
The middle should not “sag”.
Sentences should flow smoothly.

Plot:

Keep track of all your plots and sub-plots. Readers will remember them.
There should be a beginning, middle, and end.
Is the initial problem at the beginning of the manuscript?
There should be at least one antagonist. This does no have to be a person.
Is there enough conflict?
There should be a resolution.
All scenes should have something to do with plot.
The climax should be the most exciting part.

Character:

The protagonist should change by the end of the book.
Make sure all characters who come in contact with one another have some kind of relationship, whether good or bad.
Characters must have motivation for everything.
The protagonist must want something right from the start of the conflict.
The protagonist needs to be captivating. The readers wants to root for the protagonist. This does not mean the protagonist needs to be likable all the time.
The readers likes to relate to characters. Make sure your characters are diverse enough that readers can identify with one.
Know who your protagonist is. The main character is not always the same. For example, Nick in The Great Gatsby is the main character, but Jay Gatsby is the protagonist. This is important to know while writing your query letter.
If you can delete a minor character from a scene and nothing changes, then delete that character.
Sometimes you can make two minor characters one without losing any essential parts of the story. If you can, do this.
All characters react and act.
Each character has his or her own life.

Dialogue:

Dialogue should be believable. Read it out loud.
Don’t go overboard with phonetic spelling if a character has an accent.
Dialogue should be informal and natural. It does not have to be grammatically correct.

Prose:

Avoid purple prose. I’ve never met anyone with “emerald eyes” or “hair of fire” (except for the Flame Princess).
Don’t use too many adjectives.
Avoid cliches.

Other:

Don’t info dump. Pace information through dialogue and narration.
The first sentence should spark interest, or at least the first three. If it does, the first paragraph should be the same. And the first 250 words. The goal is to get the reader past the first page.
Let your story rest. When you’re ready to edit, start at the end. Writers tend to get lazy at the end of their story whether they are writing it for the first time or revising it after revising the rest of the story.
Make sure your manuscript is within range for your genre’s word count.

someoneinla reblogged

coffeeandpurplepens

Very rude of Pinterest and Tumblr to not be flooded with fanart of my unpublished, unfinished book that no one has read but me.

phoenixfeatherquillwriting

Very rude for there not to be gifsets for my WIPs that only exist like a short film in my brain.

homesteadchronicles

Very rude of Youtubers to not be dissecting the unintentional foreshadowing in a chapter that I have yet to write.

someoneinla

I’m in this and I don’t like it.

someoneinla reblogged

nerdymouse

my parents aren’t teaching me life lessons.

#i need some adults to TEACH ME SHIT ABOUT LIFE

I’m an adult.

Some shit about life, from a bonafide adult:

even if you get along great with your family you will get along even better with them after moving out
generic is almost always just as good as name brand. But there are some things you never buy generic, including: peanut butter, ketchup, liquid NyQuil, Chips-Ahoy chewy chocolate chip cookies
just imagine the person on the other end of the phone hates talking on the phone as much as you do. Even a receptionist. I worked as one and I hate talking on the phone
at least once in your life you will go to Wal-mart to buy something under $20 like an ironing board or something and your debit card will get rejected. No one will judge. Everyone at some point in their lives has had $2.98 in their bank account.
thrift stores
everyone else is too busy panicking about everyone else noticing every tiny thing that could possibly be wrong about them to notice any tiny thing that could possibly be wrong about you
you will screw up. a lot. you live and you learn. and when you start to think too hard about that embarrassing thing that happened and how you wish you could change it, just tell yourself that what’s done is done. There’s no changing it, so just forget it and move on. It’s the only way to stay sane.
do the dishes before the sink grows its own ecosystem
you can’t put Dawn dishsoap in the dishwasher.
if you are the only one in the aisle at the grocery store, and you need to get from one end to the other without even looking at anything in that aisle, then you should totally cart-surf down the aisle. Growing old is mandatory. Growing up is optional. Hold on to the little things. They make all the difference.
never try to make cake from scratch at 3am. You end up with a topographical map of Middle Earth.
15% tip.
the best way to get money for food is to tell your grandparents about how you basically live on microwaved mac and cheese. Their horror may result in twenty bucks and orders to go out and get yourself “a real dinner”.
sometimes life sucks, and knowing that it might get better doesn’t always make it suck any less, but you’ll never get to the non-sucky days without enduring the suckiness.
no seriously, NEVER put Dawn in your dishwasher

Do not buy generic brand spaghetti sauce either.

Always check the type of light bulb that goes in lamps. A 60w is not interchangeable with a 40w.

Dollar store batteries work just as well as store brand.

shrineart

Reward yourself from time to time when you do things that you needed to get done. It’s a good way to remind yourself to do them. Going out to pay a bill? Get Starbucks or something you don’t get often. Rewards don’t have to be huge, they can be small things like that.
Rice, pasta, flour, sugar, cheese, eggs, milk, a pack of chicken, a pack of frozen veggies and a well stocked spice cabinet go a long way food-wise. Splurge and get the biggest container of rice you can. You don’t have to go back and buy it again anytime soon and it makes a TON of meals in the meantime.
Rice can be cooked on the stove. You don’t need a fancy rice cooker. Two parts water to every one part rice (two cups water for one cup of rice for example). Get your water boiling, add rice, put a plate or lid on it, put it on low for 20 minutes. It should be done.
Keep a calendar on your pc of bill due dates. If your bills are set up at inconvenient times, like all of the services started on the first or something, then call up the company and find out if you can get your billing date switched to something more manageable. A lot of places do try to work with you.
There is no shame in calling a company and asking for an extension on a bill. Let them know what you can pay, pay that amount, and they arrange when the rest of the payment is required. This can stop you from having services shut off man. It shows responsibility on your part.
Take time to eat, even when you don’t feel like eating. Your body needs energy to live.
Wash or rinse your dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. It prevents gross caked on junk.
“The Works” is an excellent cheap toilet cleaner.
MAGIC. FUCKING. ERASERS. THEY WORK ON EVERYTHING JUST DON’T SCRUB HARD. I took the ring out of our bathtub with one. Also generic ones work just as well.

Keep some bleach around but if you use it for cleaning? Dillute it. There’s rarely ever a case where you need to pout straight bleach on anything. A cap full or two in a bucket of water works just fine.
DO NOT MIX CLEANERS. Chemical reactions are can be very dangerous. Here’s a good list. (Note that vinegar and baking soda can actually be a good combo for removing smells from things but it’s not very good at actually -cleaning-.)
If you drink? Don’t take meds at the same time it’s just not good.
Make sure you check the dosages on your pill bottles. No one wants to accidentally overdose on cough syrup or ibuprofen.
If you have a uterus make sure you have a heating pad and ibuprofen on hand for the pain. Hot baths also generally help and Ginger Tea is excellent for any nausea.
Buy a first aid kit. It’s worth it in the long run.
You can often do your taxes online at places like TurboTax.
Here’s some good sex ed resources because I had to explain what a yeast infection was recently.
Petroleum jelly (aka Vaseline) is good for chapped lips and you can get a decent sized tube or tub of it (generic brand version) for cheaper/same price as Chapstick.
KEEP TRIPLE ANTIBIOTIC OINTMENT IN YOUR HOUSE FOR CUTS AND SCRAPES AND SORES.

~~Medications~~

Over the counter medications (stuff you can buy right off the shelf no prescription needed) have a name brand and a generic name. ALWAYS buy generic if it’s available it is literally the same thing and way cheaper usually.

Some names to remember when you’re looking for meds!

Acetaminophen = Tylenol

Used to treat pain and reduce fever. Do not take with Ibuprofen.

Ibuprofen = Advil, Midol, Motrin

Used for pain and fever, is an anti-inflammtory. Is good for period cramps because it is an NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug).

Naproxen = Aleve, Naprosyn

Treats fever, pain, arthritis pain, gout, period cramps, tendinitis, headache, backache, and toothache. Is also an NSAID.

Acetaminophen + Asprin + Caffeine = Excedrin

Usually marketed as “Migraine Relief” as a generic.

Asprin = Bayer

Use for pain, fever, arthritis, and inflammation. Makes you bleed easily so should not be used for periods. Might reduce risk of heart attacks.\

Triple Antibiotic Ointment = Neosporin

Used on cuts, sores, and scrapes to reduce risk of infection and promote healing.

Also a general mutli-vitamin isn’t a bad idea and if you don’t get a lot of fruits or milk/sunshine in your diet you might want to get vitamins C and D specifically for daily use.

if you do accidentally lapse and put dawn in your dishwasher, run it empty and put hair conditioner where the detergent goes. that’ll clean it out (tip given to me by dorm custodian when roommate did the thing).

if you live off ramen, add stuff to it! add veggies you like, don’t use the whole flavor packet to cut down on sodium and msg or don’t use it at all and add your own spices.

if you’re making something with potatoes in it (beans, stew) potatoes are done when you can easily stab a fork through them.

you can microwave a hotdog as long as you put it in a microwave safe container of water. microwaves work by making water molecules vibrate. also, when reheating rice leftovers, add a small amount of water, like maybe a spoonfull, so it doesn’t get hard and crunchy.

the rice cooking advice above is for long grain rice. if you’re making short or medium grain rice, a 1:1 ratio (one cup water for one cup rice) is better, so the rice doesn’t come out too mushy.

buy a few cans of chicken. wholesale club stores like sam’s, costco, or bj’s tend to carry multipacks for a good price. they’re incredibly useful for when you forget to defrost meat.

buy meat on sale and put it in the freezer. buy vegetables on sale, and put them in the freezer. frozen veggies are often as flavorful and good as fresh ones, keep longer, and often come in microwaveable bags or with microwave directions.

soak ink stains in milk to help get them out or at least lighten them.

soak blood stains in water as soon as possible, with a bit of detergent or stain remover. scrub at them. use cold water, heat binds proteins to fabric. tbh, there’s no real need to change the washer from cold-cold setting unless the thing you’re washing says to wash in warm water.

acetone, found in most nail polish removers, dissolves super glue.

cloningmycat

YOU’RE ALL DOING GOD’S WORK BLESS YOU

Takes pictures, have prints made and put them in photo albums. Be IN the pictures, have someone take pictures of you and your friends. Get over not looking perfect in thw picture. Someday that friend might be gone and those pictures might be all you’ll have, you will want to be in them. I made that mistake with my best friend, i always felt weird asking for a picture together… he died of cancer January of 2014 and now i have no pictures of us together. Its my only regret in life.

boasamishipper

This is really helpful, thank you all!

I’m the newest of new adults but I’m gonna throw these little tips in there. IF YOU HAVE AN OLD CAR:

-coolant or water if your car overheats (coolant is preferable cause it won’t hurt the engine in the long run but hey i know money is tight)

-flashlight in case you break down at night and need to check under the hood and your phone is dead

-SPARE TIRE.

-jumper cables.you will at some point leave your lights on. you just will.

AAA or any other road side service is never a bad investment i swear. (try to mooch it off your parents as long as you can though)

shipperqueen93

Know how to change a tire. You’re going to need to do it at some point in time and you can’t always rely on someone else to do it for you.

Don’t be afraid to go to your local food bank. They are there for a reason.

Don’t be ashamed to ask for help period. Life is hard, everyone needs help occasionally.

woodelf68

You can put a LOWER wattage bulb in a lamp that says it’s for a higher one, but don’t put a HIGHER wattage bulb in. Also, watts refer to the amount of electricity used. LUMENS refers to the amount of light put out, and can vary quite a bit between brands, even though the wattage is the same. Look for the one with the highest lumens unless you actually want a slightly dimmer bulb in a certain location. Those dollar store batteries? Fine if they’re alkaline. “Heavy-duty” batteries, however, won’t last nearly as long. You can microwave a hot dog and bun simply by wrapping them in a toweling for a minute, less if you don’t want them scalding hot.

blue-pixiedust

Reblogging to save lives.

Two adulting (kitchen-related) tips from me!

1. Buy a roll of parchment paper from the cooking shit aisle. A big roll will last you for-fucking-ever. Pretty much any time you’re using a baking pan you can line it with that stuff and save yourself A: food sticking to the pan and B: it’s a quick rinse and it’s clean.

2. Bread can get fucking expensive, so make your own. A bigass bag of flour and a bag of active dry yeast (store it in the friiiiidge!!!) works out a FUCK of a lot cheaper than buying bread at the store, and you can do so much more with it. Bread, pizza, rolls, cinnibuns, homemade pizza pockets. It seems intimidating but it’s stupid easy.

Seriously. It’s stupid simple to make, and most of the “3 hours” to make it is sitting around surfing the internet or doing whatever the fuck you want while the dough rises. If you have an afternoon free once a week to sit and play video games or surf the net, you have the time to make your own bread on the cheap. Here’s my simple-as-fuck recipe:

2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast (You can buy a bag of this stuff CHEAP in bulk stores, the little packets are hella stupid priced) 1 cup warm water (think a hot bath) 1 ½ teaspoons sugar 2 tablespoons oil (any kind works for the most part) 2 ¼ cups flour 1 teaspoon salt

1. Stir the yeast, water, sugar, and oil up in a bowl. Let it sit for about 10 minutes. It will foam up VERY high, this is the yeast getting happy! If it doesn’t get all foamy, the water may have been too hot or not hot enough. Remember, Yeast is alive! Treat it like a nice girlfriend!

2. Mix your flour, salt, and the yeast concoction up in a bowl.

3. Knead that shit for about 5 minutes. It will start sticky as heck, but will come together into a nice dough. If it’s still super sticky, toss in a bit more flour. Here’s how to knead it:

4. Put your dough in a covered, lightly oiled bowl and leave it someplace warmish for an hour. At that point it will have roughly doubled in size, give it a gentle punch to release the gasses that have built up inside. Cover it again and let it sit for a bit longer.

Boom. You have bread dough. Here are some baking times and uses for ya:

Optional egg-wash: Just crack an egg into a bowl, add a pinch of salt, and mix the bejeebus out of it with a fork. Brush (or if you’re like me, goop it on with said fork) that shit thinly on bread before baking for a nice crust.

Pizza: Stretch it on a pan, stab the fucker all over with a fork, add toppings, bake 425*F 15-20 minutes.

Bread Sticks: Make snake-shapes, let rest on pan 10-ish minutes, bake 400*F 10-20 minutes.

Dinner rolls: Make ball-sized (yes those balls) balls. Place on greased pan, let rest 10-20 minutes to rise. Egg-wash and bake 375*F 25 minutes.

Bread: Lightly score (cut) the top, let sit for 20-ish minutes on/in whatever you’re using to bake it, egg-wash, bake at 375*F for 20-ish minutes. It’s done when it sounds hollow if you knock on the bottom.

You bet your ass you can deep-fry this shit for cheapie yeast doughnuts. Roll that shit in sugar or dip it in whatever, it’s fucking tasty.

Bagels: YES. YOU. CAN. Form bagel-shapes out of the dough and boil them in salty water for about 2 minutes. Egg-wash them and bake them at 400*F for 10 minutes.

Cinnamon Rolls: Roll that shit out into a rectangle. Brush it with a mix of butter, cinnamon, sugar, and a pinch of salt (no exact amounts here, do it to your taste). Roll it up into a log, and cut it into discs. Let them sit 20 minutes in a pan and then bake at 375*F 15-17 minutes.

You can add whatever you want to the dough for some variety, just if it’s dried spices remember you really only need 1-ish tablespoons. I personally like making bread with about 1 tablespoon of dill in the dough. Roll it out flat, sprinkle it with cheddar, roll it into a log, squeeze the ends shut, and bake it like a regular loaf of bread. Cheesy dill bread OMNOMNOM.

*ahem* That got a bit long. But yeah. Bread’s expensive, yo. Save your wallet.

(Also it’s ridiculous amounts of therapeutic to bake, for me anyway)

tempestcaliban

Being able to bake your own bread is pretty awesome, if you got the time for it.

Reblogging in case of independence

surroundedbyperverts

Someone please print this out and frame it at every college for posterity.

someoneinla reblogged

damn-funny

catchymemes

I deadass thought this was 3 Star Wars movies

metalgirlysolid

its called Color Theory and we been knew. “Art is subjective” but there are certain “rules” you can follow to make things more appealing in a subconscious/subliminal kind of way.

once you see it, you cant unsee it.

I can’t believe there are only 9 movies

aleatorietadellesistenza

There are only 9 genders and they are:

Orange and blue action hero
Red dress damsel
Foggy straight couple
Lone guy with sword
Couple leaning on eachother
Eye
Blurry thriller Cop
Sexy Legs™
Orange and black action hero

someoneinla reblogged

pens-swords-stuff

Anonymous asked:

I'm trying to write this story that's been in my mind for like... almost 15 years for the 4th time. I'm having a hard sticking to it, I feel like it's so developed in my mind that nothing that I write is ever good enough. I'm trying to remind myself that it's ok for the first draft to look like shait, that it's just for me to dump the story, but it's hard! I've stopped writing for some years & now I feel like my quality decreased SO much. How do I find joy in writing again? How do I not stress?

pens-swords-stuff answered:

Have you tried writing something else first?

Trying to write a story that’s been in your mind for 15 years can be a lot of pressure. I think it’s great that you understand that the first draft doesn’t need to be good! But it’s a lot easier said than done, isn’t it? Just because your brain knows what a first draft is doesn’t make it any easier to put it down onto paper.

Writing is like a muscle. The more you practice, the better you will be. On the flipside of that, it can get rusty and out of practice. Right now, it sounds like you’re trying to run a full marathon with absolutely no training, when really you should be starting by running a mile. Jumping headfirst into something — especially something that you’ve been building up in your mind for years with little recent practice — is a very large endeavor that you might not be ready for yet.

After years of not writing, your writing skill is probably a little rusty, and that’s okay! It’s not that you’ve become a bad writer, it’s just that you need a little bit more time to warm up and build it back up to be even better.

So my advice for you is: Try doing some lower-stakes writing!

This can be anything. Writing fanfiction of your favorite story; starting something completely new; writing peripherally to your story — like ficlets about your characters, or other things that happen that don’t fit into your actual story. Write something that excites you, and start small!

It sounds like you’ve forgotten how writing can be fun — so be self-indulgent! Write your absolute favorite things, no holds barred. And start small! Set an extremely low goal (like 20 words, low). Light a candle if that’s your thing, clean up your workspace to make it neat and inviting, have your favorite beverage on hand.

Try to hit your low goal, but it’s okay to stop if it gets too frustrating! Just try again tomorrow. You wouldn’t expect someone to be able to run a full marathon without any training, so allow yourself that same grace and forgiveness. If you fail, forgive yourself and try again tomorrow. If you succeed, that’s great!

In my experience, the more you write, the easier it will become to get words onto the paper. The more you write, the less you’ll start to second-guess your writing. That’s not to say that you’ll suddenly start loving your writing, but once you train that skill to simply write without criticizing it, it will become a lot easier to simply put down the first words that come to you on the page.

And it’s going to be a long journey, I’m not going to lie. I had to write small everyday for several months before I started to simply write and not edit as I go. But it’s a skill that can be trained, so take it one word at a time.

I think that if you shelve your big project for a little bit while building your skills back up, it might result in a less frustrating experience!

Remember, all writing advice is subjective! So take it with a grain of salt.

If you’d like to ask me for advice on writing or running a writeblr, please check out my Ask Guidelines and FAQ first.

Ask Guidelines | FAQ | Advice Masterlist

someoneinla reblogged

kakiross

lets-get-fictional

Anonymous asked:

I have problems finding different "voices" for each of my characters. Could you help me by maybe explain the different aspect that can change one's voice? Thank you!

lets-get-fictional answered:

Hi, love! Thanks for your question and your patience :) I love writing unique character voices, both in dialogue and narration, just because it can make a story completely different just through the way it’s told. There are a lot of different aspects to a character voice, though, so I’ll just go through the basics I run in my mind when I develop voices.

Aspects of Character Voice

Education – To be as realistic for your character as possible, you need to consider the level of education they received growing up. There are too many characters in modern fiction who speak eloquently, confidently, and grammatically correct, yet don’t have the educational backstory to support this. This is especially important if the character has to speak publicly, which many overlook as a skill that must be developed.
Influences – People learn how to speak, how to joke, and how to appeal to others from their family, friends, and idols. For example: my aunt is much more reserved than my father and uncle. She’s a quiet, thoughtful psychologist – but every once in a while, she shows her roots over her education by engaging in some of the awful puns that run in my dad’s side of the family. Puns seem uncharacteristic of her at first glance, but it adds depth to who she is by reaching back into her childhood.
Communication Style – I touched on this in my post on character traits, and it probably applies even more here. Your characters aren’t all going to speak up at the same times, about the same things, in the same ways. Some people avoid confrontation; some people can’t ignore irritants. Some people are open about their personal affairs; some don’t feel comfortable sharing their middle name with friends. Some people think out loud, and occupy the room subconsciously. Some people use humor to mask their feelings, and rarely speak without a hint of irony in their voice. Some people are horribly self-aware, and some people talk without really hearing or filtering themselves. It’s all important.
Demeanor – Mood, countenance, disposition – basically, what is the character’s general attitude? If someone were to describe them in a couple of words, what would they be? Some people are generally positive, and some are generally negative, or irritable, or uncomfortable, or emotional, or just really strong in whatever direction. I had a friend in theatre describe me as “anxious at rest”, and I think that pretty much covers my demeanor. Now, no one behaves one way all the time – this is just more of a “default emotion” that colors how they approach certain situations.

Example: Because I’m “anxious at rest”, I feel happiness like butterflies in my limbs, and sadness like it’s raining bullets in my stomach. Because my brother is naturally chill as hell (my words), he feels happiness like a warm, gooey piece of pie, and sadness like a thin, wet sheet clinging to his skin.

Social Skills – This can tie into education and influences, but also has a lot to do with personality. A character can be raised to know and value social convention, or they can pick it up themselves; or they can disregard social “rules” despite any kind of education. How does your character handle awkward situations? Are they blunt with strangers? Are they respectful to authority? Do they keep their opinions to themselves, or speak up no matter what? Do they at all change themselves or their behavior to adapt to new situations? There’s a spectrum there, between 100%-Integrity and Chameleon status, and your character’s somewhere on it.
Sense of Humor – I’ve talked about this before, too, but for posterity, I’ll add it here. When writing a character’s voice, you have to think about what amuses them – and it’s not necessarily what amuses you. I think of the show The Office, which is basically a playground of different senses of humor. There’s Michael Scott, who works with things like “that’s what she said” and celebrity impressions; there’s Jim Halpert, who’s both sarcastic and a diehard prankster; there’s Pam Beesly, who can only offer puns along the line of, “I’ll put out an A.P.B. – an Ask Pam Beesly.” These small details make characters sound distinct from each other.
Introversion/Extroversion – Lastly, a lot of how a character communicates depends on how they experience social interactions. Are they energized by conversations and social events, or do these things drain them? Do they seek out others, or do they wait to be addressed? Are their thoughts focused outwardly – on what’s going on around them, what others are saying or thinking, on how they appear to others – or inwardly – on their internal thoughts and interests, on what they’re thinking and feeling? This will affect how they speak and how they narrate the story, even if you’re not writing in first-person.

Anyway, that’s basically what came to mind when I saw your question. If this doesn’t help you, be sure to send us another ask with more information :) Good luck!

– Mod Joanna ♥️

If you need advice on general writing or fanfiction, you should maybe ask us!

someoneinla reblogged

juliajoyanne00

utwo

Braidense National Library Milan Italy

someoneinla reblogged

4crick

4bsorb

taco-h3ll.tumblr.com

You never know if someone needs this. Reblog this, even if its not your ‘blog type’. Just do it.

Yes, please reblog

dendenmusume

Do it. Now.

i sat here and thought about reblogging this or not but then i realized how many people feel suicidal, and i have too its not dan and phil but i could honestly care less, bc i rather have someone not die then make sure i strictly stay to my ‘blog type’

lauriehalseanderson

Blog type doesn’t matter. Caring for people does.

typewrxter

This isn’t my blog type but *deep inhale*

SAVING SUICIDAL LIVES IS BETTER THAN KEEPING IT TO MY BLOG THEME SO DEAR YA’LL WHO ARE SUICIDAL I’M HERE SIS/BRO/SIBLING!! STAY STRONG!!

someoneinla reblogged

uneventfulness

uneventful.me

someoneinla

Why did I read this to the tune of Bad Guy by Billie Eilish?

someoneinla reblogged

damn-funny

offwhite-ish

Tumblr University

Optional Uniform

DORMS!!!!!

The Who/Sherlock dorms

Harry Potter/Narnia/LOTR Dorms

Pirates/History dorms

disney/disney princess dorms(you can put more posters,etc)

Directioner dorms(but put more ireland flags and more pics of the boys)

The sweet memories of 2012 tumblr

heritageposts

date of origin: 2nd of april, 2013.

someoneinla reblogged

moonlit-maiden

bondsmagii

i remember being like 13/14 and starting to get REALLY pissed about capitalism and social inequality and corruption and all that stuff and the adults would be like “how sweet :) your rebellious phase :) you’ll get over it once you grow up and see how the REAL WORLD works :)” and guess what i did not get over it that WAS the real world and part of growing up is deciding if you’re going to give in and submit to it like all those adults around me did or if you’re going to stay fucking pissed

not-caused-by-those-who-love

I saw someone write recently (paraphrased), “They said ‘you’ll get more conservative as you get older’ and what they didn’t realize they meant was ‘you’ll get greedier and more paranoid as you get richer’ [which is true, there are psych studies] and what they didn’t count on is that no one gets rich any more”

No, it’s because you own stuff now. When you’re young, you rely on your parents. They pay for everything. You genuinely do not fully comprehend the ramifications of ownership, responsibility and the value of money. When you get into high school, collage, you get a taste for it but the big chunks that cost a lot of money are still paid by your parents in some manner (or for student loans, the bank). When you get your first job, your first car you bought yourself, rent your first place, THEN you start to understand how much shit costs, the value of keeping what you have as nice as you can, and suddenly the idea of being forced to give your stuff, that you worked hard to earn and maintain, to someone on the basis of an immutable trait and not because you want to voluntarily or because they earned it? Yeah, you suddenly get conservative. Because if you notice, those who grew up less financially well-off tend to slant conservative too. This doesn’t mean people can’t and don’t take it too far. And ultimately you want to strive for balance. But it happens with age because you learn and understand more and more how much shit really costs and the feeling of anger when people try to take your shit. You gain more life experience and understand you can’t bully and shame the majority of people into what you think is right. Your opinions change in many ways as you gain life experience. And suddenly you wake up and realize pretty, radical platitudes don’t mean shit in reality.

Because there’s a big difference between holding onto your morals versus thinking you have the authority to tell hundreds of thousands of millions of other people how to live their lives because something sounds good on paper and the person speaking it sounds convincing in their sale’s pitch.

someoneinla reblogged

someoneinla

Let’s talk about what’s been going on this week

Just my thoughts on this issue. Clearly, we are all outraged at what happened to the late George Floyd in Minneapolis. You don’t need me to tell you how white officer Derek Chauvin knowingly and actively murdered a black man. You don’t need me to tell you how these riots have displayed outrage and frustration from already suffering and struggling communities. What I want to talk about is what gets ME angry and the larger picture we all understand but hardly discuss (at least not as much as I feel should be talked about.) I’m from Los Angeles, as my username implies. I love it here and it’s one of the greatest cities in the world. Needless to say, we’re far from perfect here. We have had way more than our share of incidents very similar to both the killing of and the aftermath (thus far) of George Floyd. 1965 Watts - 21 year old Marquette Frye, pulled over for drinking and driving and after a public scolding by his mother, the police got involved, using physical force to quell the situation leading to the arrest of Frye, his mother, and his brother who were also there. I am unaware of the officers were disciplined. Riots: over 30,000 people were involved in the looting and damaging of hundreds of buildings. 1984 Inglewood - I couldn’t find anything but I am aware that the Lakers had to play in Las Vegas because there were violent race riots by African Americans in Inglewood, where their stadium at the time is still. 1992 Florence Ave & Normandie Ave - In March of 91, 15 year old African American Latasha Harlins was shot by Soon 51 year old Ja Du, a Korean American business owner after reportedly stealing orange juice (witnesses say she intended to pay). Around the same time, 4 officers beat Rodney King (in a very famous video now). When 1 walked free of conviction and the other 3 were acquitted in late April of 92, the rest was sadly, history. African Americans and Hispanics alike looted and rioted white and Korean owned stores around an intersection in the heart of South Central Los Angeles. Dozens were killed and thousands were injured on both sides. I’m 25 years old now. I was born in 1995. I’ve seen the riots as a response of Treyvon Martin, Eric Garner (sadly the first “I can’t breathe” incident), Freddie Grey, and now George Floyd among many others. If I have one message, it’s this: Please stop taking your anger out on your local private businesses.

I’ll be honest, the George Floyd incident made me very very upset. It made me angry at the system of injustice that people suffer through every day here in this country. I was upset of course for Floyd, his community, and family, but even more importantly for the seemingly endless cycle of violence and anger. You know which side your on and you know very well when you’re in the wrong. I’m speaking to everyone.

When you fight fire with fire, (in many cases literally), everyone loses. Please remember that.

someoneinla

Posted an identical plea/story on my Insta as well.

someoneinla

Let’s talk about what’s been going on this week

When you fight fire with fire, (in many cases literally), everyone loses. Please remember that.

someoneinla reblogged

brown-girlx3

man some of the seven deadly sins aren’t even that bad. sorry I’m angry n wanna fuck? Sorry I ate a lot? shut up

someoneinla

I think the idea isn’t to be consumed by them or abuse those drives/desires.

someoneinla reblogged

heywriters

Coraline is a masterfully made film, an amazing piece of art that i would never ever ever show to a child oh my god are you kidding me

Nothing wrong with a good dose of sheer terror at a young age

whatthecurtains

“It was a story, I learned when people began to read it, that children experienced as an adventure, but which gave adults nightmares. It’s the strangest book I’ve written”

-Neil Gaiman on Coraline

greenbryn

@nightlovechild

lierdumoa

This is a legit psychology phenomenon tho like there’s a stop motion version of Alice and Wonderland that adults find viscerally horrifying, but children think is nbd. It’s like in that ‘toy story’ period of development kids are all kind of high key convinced that their stuffed animals lead secret lives when they’re not looking and that they’re sleeping on top of a child-eating monster every night so they see a movie like Coraline and are just like “Ah, yes. A validation of my normal everyday worldview. Same thing happened to me last Tuesday night. I told mommy and she just smiled and nodded.”

Stephen King had this whole spiel i found really interesting about this phenomenon about how kids have like their own culture and their own literally a different way of viewing and interpreting the world with its own rules that’s like secret and removed from adult culture and that you just kinda forget ever existed as you grow up it’s apparently why he writes about kids so much

12drakon

An open-ended puzzle often gives parents math anxiety while their kids just happily play with it, explore, and learn. I’ve seen it so many times in math circles. We warn folks about it.

gokuma

Neil Gaiman also said that the difference in reactions stems from the fact in “Coraline” adults see a child in danger - while children see themselves facing danger and winning

i never saw so much push back from adults towards YA literature as when middle aged women started reading The Hunger Games. They were horrified that kids would be given such harsh stories, and I kept trying to point out the NECESSITY of confronting these hard issues in a safe fictional environment.

jewishdragon

Also, in an interview, he said that Coraline was partially based on a story his not yet 6 year old daughter would tell him

SAGAL: No. I mean, for example, your incredibly successful young adult novel “Coraline” is about a young girl in house in which there’s a hole in the wall that leads to a very mysterious and very evil world. So when you were a kid, is that what you imagined?

GAIMAN: When I was a kid, we actually lived in a house that had been divided in two at one point, which meant that one room in our house opened up onto a brick wall. And I was convinced all I had to do was just open it the right way and it wouldn’t be a brick wall. So I’d sidle over to the door and I’d pull it open.

(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Right.

GAIMAN: And it was always a brick wall.

SAGAL: Right.

GAIMAN: But it was one of those things that as I grew older, I carried it with me and I thought, I want to send somebody through that door. And when I came to write a story for my daughter Holly, at the time she was a 4 or 5-year-old girl. She’d come home from nursery. She’d seen me writing all day. So she’d come and climb on my lap and dictate stories to me. And it’d always be about small girls named Holly.

SAGAL: Right.

GAIMAN: Who would come home to normally find their mother had been kidnapped by a witch and replaced by evil people who wanted to kill her and she’d have to go off and escape. And I thought, great, what a fun kid.

wetwareproblem

“Fairy tales do not give the child his first idea of bogey. What fairy tales give the child is his first clear idea of the possible defeat of bogey. The baby has known the dragon intimately ever since he had an imagination. What the fairy tale provides for him is a St. George to kill the dragon.” - G. K. Chesterton

brawltogethernow

Being a child is fucking horrifying: 2/10 would not do again.

someoneinla reblogged

heywriters

wordsnstuff

Anonymous asked:

Hii!! I just want to ask if you have any tips or resources in writing character relationships?? Like I want to build a relationship between two characters in a relatively short time but i dont want it to feel rushed,,,,thank you so much!! Your blog has helped me alot!!

wordsnstuff answered:

I have quite a few resources and advice on the topic of building romantic relationships in a story, so I’ve linked some relevant resources below that you might find useful:

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someoneinla

I actually did it....

I’ve taken a fairly major hiatus from tumblr for those who have noticed because.... *drum roll*

I finished my first feature film!

It’s been a long few weeks but I did finally manage to finish my first script.

Which means I can openly discuss it here on tumblr. My fear was if I discussed it on here, I would have never finished it so I made sure I did before I even brought it up on here.

More details to come.

#fiction #film #movies #screenplay #OnceUponATime #writblr #writing #writing community