soul-in-my-body

[soul-in-my-body]

Legit Tip #201

or - Writing Good Character Descriptions

By now most of you have probably heard it’s a bad idea to list out all your character’s traits at the beginning of your story. That’s true. Writing character descriptions like that takes the reader out of the story and - quite frankly - makes your story read like really bad, old school fanfiction. 

Ex. (What NOT to do)

Janine had ebony black hair and cerulean eyes that sparkled like moonbeams. Her most defining trait, however, was the curiously shaped scar on her left cheek.

The above is a fairly small chunk of text and perhaps a bit innocuous at first glance. But if you take the time to stop and describe every character as they enter the scene, your story gets bogged down really fast. This leads me to my first point - 

Decide Whether You Need to Describe That Character

Not every character needs to be described in detail. It’s enough to leave it up to the reader’s imagination when it comes to many of the secondary and tertiary characters that appear in your story. 

Additionally, in many stories - especially short fiction - the character’s appearance just isn’t all that important. In this case you can get away with not saying anything about their appearance at all, unless there’s something really striking about them that you want to point out for the sake of characterization. 

Sprinkling Details into Your Text

In my example above, the really interesting detail is the scar I mentioned. Now - how do we actually get that into the text? Well, it’s up to you as the reader to find a reason to mention it. 

Ex: What TO Do

“It’s a shame.”

“What’s a shame?” asked Janine, but I could tell she was already bracing herself for the inevitable.

“That scar on your cheek. You’re such a pretty girl.” The woman tutted. “What happened, if you don’t mind me asking?”

Janine gave the woman a tight smile. “Werewolf attack,” she said - her usual reply. It was the was the same answer she’d given me when I’d dared to ask. That, and “fighting off a zombie horde” and “sword fight” and a dozen other iterations of “I don’t want to talk about it,” until I’d finally gotten the hint and dropped the subject. 

Comparisons and Contrasts Between Characters

Casually drawing comparisons between characters, especially in the beginning of a story, is a good way to relay a lot of information regarding description quickly and efficiently. It works especially well if you’re in the middle of discussing relationships because it can serve to highlight just how similar - or different - your characters are. Comparing/Contrasting characters does work best when there’s a close established relationship between characters though - brothers, best friends, etc.

A couple of Examples:

- It was hard to tell Julie and Casey apart at first. Only a couple of years apart, they’d both inherited their mother’s blonde hair and their father’s infectious smile. But when you spent a little time around them, you started to see the differences.

- Andrew was used to being ignored when Titus was around. His friend’s dark skin tended to draw more than a little attention. It wasn’t just that, though. Titus towered over him - over almost everyone he met, in fact. 

Using Appearance to Mark a Character

This can be a do or a don’t, for some of the same points I’ve already mentioned. First and foremost, it can be kind of obvious that you’re hammering in character description unless the detail you’re pointing out is really striking. Hair color is the go-to for this sort of thing, but honestly - it’s overdone. Unless your character has bubblegum pink hair or something else that really stands out you might want to hang on to your descriptors and find a better place to insert them into the text.

Additionally - remember that it’s easy to be insensitive or just plain racist/ableist/etc. when you use appearance to mark a character. Always think twice before making your character’s defining trait re: appearance “he’s fat” or “she’s Asian.”

In First Person POV

I’ll say this once: no mirrors. Do not have your character look into a mirror and describe themselves. 

Now. If you really find it necessary to describe a POV character’s appearance, how DO you do it? Well, there are the points above, which still work - dropping in descriptors as they become relevant, or a character comparing herself to someone else. But you get the added benefit of the character being able to quickly relay their thoughts and feelings about themselves to the reader in first person POV. 

Example: It would be easy for me to say ‘I hate my body,’ but I don’t. I love it. I love every inch and every curve that God gave me. Some people can’t deal with that - a fat girl who’s proud of the way she looks. That’s fine. I just don’t deal with those people. 

…and there you have it. That’s not everything of course, but it’s a quick starter guide to help you begin inserting descriptions more naturally into your story. If you’ve got any questions, feel free to leave them in my inbox or as a comment on this post and I’ll get back to you if I can. 

[soul-in-my-body]

ABCs of your OCs

a list of oc questions in alphabetical categories - i made each category based on the first word I could think of in alphabetical order, so enjoy!

A: Aptitude 1. what are your oc’s natural abilities, things they’ve been doing since young? 2. what activities have they participated in? 3. what abilities do they have that they’ve worked for? 4. what things are they bad at? 5. what is their most impressive talent?

B: Basics 1. what is their hair color? 2. what is their eye color? 3. how tall are they? 4. how old are they? 5. how much do they weigh?

C: Comfort 1. how do they sit in a chair? 2. in what position do they sleep? 3. what is their ideal comfort day? 4. what is their major comfort food? why? 5. who is the best at comforting them when down?

D: Decoration 1. how would they decorate a house if they had one under their name? 2. how would they decorate their child’s room? 3. how do they decorate their own room? 4. what type of clothes and accessories do they wear? 5. do they like makeup/nail/beauty trends?

E: External Personality 1. does the way they do things portray their internal personality? 2. do they do things that conform to the norm? 3. do they follow trends or do their own thing? 4. are they up-to-date on the internet fads? 5. do they portray their personality intentionally or let people figure it out on their own?

F: Fun 1. what do they do for fun? 2. what is their ideal party? 3. who would they have the most fun with? 4. can they have fun while conforming to rules? 5. do they go out a lot?

G: Gorgeous 1. what is their most attractive external feature? 2. what is the most attractive part of their personality? 3. what benefits come with being their friend? 4. what parts of them do they like and dislike? 5. what parts of others do they envy?

H: Heat 1. do they rather a hot or cold room? 2. do they prefer summer or winter? 3. do they like the snow? 4. do they have a favorite summer activity? 5. do they have a favorite winter activity?

I: In-the-closet 1. what is their sexuality? 2. have they ever questioned their sexuality? 3. have they ever questioned their gender? 4. would/was their family be okay with them being LGBT? 5. how long would/did it take for them to come out?

J: Joy 1. what makes them happy? 2. who makes them happy? 3. are there any songs that bring them joy? 4. are they happy often? 5. what brings them the most joy in the world?

K: Kill 1. have they ever thought about suicide? 2. have they ever thought about homicide? 3. if they could kill anyone without punishment, would they? who? 4. who would miss them if they died? 5. who would be happy they died, anyone?

L: Lemons 1. what is their favorite fruit? 2. what is their least favorite fruit? 3. are there any foods they hate? 4. do they have any food intolerances? 5. what is their favorite food?

M: Maternal 1. would they want a daughter or a son? 2. how many children do they want? 3. would they be a good parent? 4. what would they name a son? what would they name a daughter? 5. would they adopt?

N: Never Have I Ever 1. what would they never do? 2. what have they never done that they want to do? 3. is there anything they absolutely can’t believe people do? 4. what is the most embarrassing thing they’ve done? 5. have they done anything they thought they’d never do?

O: Optimism 1. are they optimistic or pessimistic? 2. are they openly optimistic, throwing it on others? 3. are they good at giving advice? 4. is there anyone in their life that throws optimism on them? 5. were they always optimistic?

P: Personality 1. what is their best personality trait? 2. what is their worst personality trait? 3. what of their personality do others love? 4. what of their personality do others envy? 5. do they hate anything about their personality/about other’s personalities?

Q: Questions 1. do they ask for help? 2. do they ask questions in class? 3. do they answer questions that make them a little uncomfortable? 4. do they ask weird questions? 5. are they curious?

R: Rules 1. do they follow rules? 2. would they be a strict or laid-back parent? 3. have they ever been consequenced for breaking a rule? 4. have they broken any rules they now regret breaking? 5. do they find any rules they/others follow absolutely ridiculous?

S: Streets 1. are they street-smart? 2. would they give money to someone on the streets? 3. have they ever gotten in a fight on the streets? 4. has anything happened to them on the streets? 5. are they cautious when out?

T: Truth 1. are they honest? 2. can they tell if someone is lying? 3. is it obvious when they’re lying? 4. have they lied about anything they regret lying about? 5. have they told truths that have been spread against their will?

U: Underdog 1. have they been bullied? 2. have they bullied anyone? 3. have they been physically attacked by a bully? 4. have they ever been doubted? 5. have they surprised people with being good at something?

V: Vomit 1. do they vomit often? 2. do they get lots of stomach aches? 3. are they good at comforting someone ill? 4. what do they like as far as comfort goes? 5. do they burp, cough, or hiccup most when nauseous? when vomiting?

W: Water 1. do they drink enough water? 2. have they learned to swim? 3. do they like to swim? 4. can they dive? 5. can they swim without holding their nose?

X: Xylophone 1. what is their favorite genre of music? 2. do they have a favorite song? 3. do they have a favorite band/artist/singer? 4. can they sing well? 5. can they rap?

Y: You 1. how old were you when you created them? 2. what inspired you to create them? 3. were they different when they were first created? 4. do you enjoy writing them more than other characters? 5. what’s your favorite thing about them?

Z: Zebra 1. what’s their favorite animal? 2. do they like animals? 3. cats or dogs? 4. what’s their dream pet? 5. do they have any pets at the moment?

[soul-in-my-body]

some fucking resources for all ur writing fuckin needs

* body language masterlist

* a translator that doesn’t eat ass like google translate does

* a reverse dictionary for when ur brain freezes

* 550 words to say instead of fuckin said

* 638 character traits for when ur brain freezes again

* some more body language help

(hope this helps some ppl)

[soul-in-my-body]

TO THOSE MAKING NATIVE OCS

I see this a lot, no one has actual names, or any reference for names, that are legit Native American, varying among the tribes, for their characters.

Babynames.com and shit like that will give you names made up by white people.

However, I’ve got your solution.

Native-Languages  is a good website to turn to for knowledge on a lot of native things, including native names. If you’re unsure about the names you’ve picked, they even have a list of made up names here!

Please don’t trust names like babynames.com for native names, they’re made up and often quite offensive to the cultures themselves.

[soul-in-my-body]

Myths, Creatures, and Folklore

Want to create a religion for your fictional world? Here are some references and resources!

General:

General Folklore

Various Folktales

Heroes

Weather Folklore

Trees in Mythology

Animals in Mythology

Birds in Mythology

Flowers in Mythology

Fruit in Mythology

Plants in Mythology

Folktales from Around the World

Africa:

Egyptian Mythology

African Mythology

More African Mythology

Egyptian Gods and Goddesses

The Gods of Africa

Even More African Mythology

West African Mythology

All About African Mythology

African Mythical Creatures

Gods and Goddesses

The Americas:

Aztec Mythology

Haitian Mythology

Inca Mythology

Maya Mythology

Native American Mythology

More Inca Mythology

More Native American Mythology

South American Mythical Creatures

North American Mythical Creatures

Aztec Gods and Goddesses

Asia:

Chinese Mythology

Hindu Mythology

Japanese Mythology

Korean Mythology

More Japanese Mythology

Chinese and Japanese Mythical Creatures

Indian Mythical Creatures

Chinese Gods and Goddesses

Hindu Gods and Goddesses

Korean Gods and Goddesses

Europe:

Basque Mythology

Celtic Mythology

Etruscan Mythology

Greek Mythology

Latvian Mythology

Norse Mythology

Roman Mythology

Arthurian Legends

Bestiary

Celtic Gods and Goddesses

Gods and Goddesses of the Celtic Lands

Finnish Mythology

Celtic Mythical Creatures

Gods and Goddesses

Middle East:

Islamic Mythology

Judaic Mythology

Mesopotamian Mythology

Persian Mythology

Middle Eastern Mythical Creatures

Oceania:

Aboriginal Mythology

Polynesian Mythology

More Polynesian Mythology

Mythology of the Polynesian Islands

Melanesian Mythology

Massive Polynesian Mythology Post

Maori Mythical Creatures

Hawaiian Gods and Goddesses

Hawaiian Goddesses

Gods and Goddesses

Creating a Fantasy Religion:

Creating Part 1

Creating Part 2

Creating Part 3

Creating Part 4

Fantasy Religion Design Guide

Using Religion in Fantasy

Religion in Fantasy

Creating Fantasy Worlds

Beliefs in Fantasy

Some superstitions:

Read More

[soul-in-my-body]

WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME ABOUT PRO WRITING AID BEFORE?! THIS THING IS FUCKING GLORIOUS. HOLY SHIT. LOOK AT THIS.

IT GIVES YOU A WHOLE DAMN REPORT ON YOUR WRITING AND WALKS YOU THROUGH HOW TO MAKE IT BETTER AND WHY IT IS SUGGESTING CHANGES. THIS IS JUST A TINY CHUNK OF THE HUGE REPORT IT GAVE ME ON THE FIRST CHAPTER OF ONE OF MY PROJECTS. I AM IN LOVE.

AND IT WORKS WITH SCRIVENER. AND IT IS AFFORDABLE.

WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME?!

[soul-in-my-body]

“Nope,” I whisper as I exit out of a fic with no paragraph breaks.

[soul-in-my-body]

Titles. They’re the worst.

You know what the solution is? Use a Hozier lyric. Too much work? I made a generator that will summon one for you.

It works surprisingly well as a prompt generator, as well.

[soul-in-my-body]

Words to replace said, except this actually helps

I got pretty fed up with looking for words to replace said because they weren’t sorted in a way I could easily use/find them for the right time. So I did some myself.

IN RESPONSE TO Acknowledged Answered Protested

INPUT/JOIN CONVERSATION/ASK Added Implored Inquired Insisted Proposed Queried Questioned Recommended Testified

GUILTY/RELUCTANCE/SORRY Admitted Apologized Conceded Confessed Professed

FOR SOMEONE ELSE Advised Criticized Suggested

JUST CHECKING Affirmed Agreed Alleged Confirmed

LOUD Announced Chanted Crowed

LEWD/CUTE/SECRET SPY FEEL Appealed Disclosed Moaned

ANGRY FUCK OFF MATE WANNA FIGHT Argued Barked Challenged Cursed Fumed Growled Hissed Roared Swore

SMARTASS Articulated Asserted Assured Avowed Claimed Commanded Cross-examined Demanded Digressed Directed Foretold Instructed Interrupted Predicted Proclaimed Quoted Theorized

ASSHOLE Bellowed Boasted Bragged

NERVOUS TRAINWRECK Babbled Bawled Mumbled Sputtered Stammered Stuttered

SUAVE MOTHERFUCKER Bargained Divulged Disclosed Exhorted

FIRST OFF Began

LASTLY Concluded Concurred

WEAK PUSY Begged Blurted Complained Cried Faltered Fretted

HAPPY/LOL Cajoled Exclaimed Gushed Jested Joked Laughed

WEIRDLY HAPPY/EXCITED Extolled Jabbered Raved

BRUH, CHILL Cautioned Warned

ACTUALLY, YOU’RE WRONG Chided Contended Corrected Countered Debated Elaborated Objected Ranted Retorted

CHILL SAVAGE Commented Continued Observed Surmised

LISTEN BUDDY Enunciated Explained Elaborated Hinted Implied Lectured Reiterated Recited Reminded Stressed

BRUH I NEED U AND U NEED ME Confided Offered Urged

FINE Consented Decided

TOO EMO FULL OF EMOTIONS Croaked Lamented Pledged Sobbed Sympathized Wailed Whimpered

JUST SAYING Declared Decreed Mentioned Noted Pointed out Postulated Speculated Stated Told Vouched

WASN’T ME Denied Lied

EVIL SMARTASS Dictated Equivocated Ordered Reprimanded Threatened

BORED Droned Sighed

SHHHH IT’S QUIET TIME Echoed Mumbled Murmured Muttered Uttered Whispered

DRAMA QUEEN Exaggerated Panted Pleaded Prayed Preached

OH SHIT Gasped Marveled Screamed Screeched Shouted Shrieked Yelped Yelled

ANNOYED Grumbled Grunted Jeered Quipped Scolded Snapped Snarled Sneered

ANNOYING Nagged

I DON’T REALLY CARE BUT WHATEVER Guessed Ventured

I’M DRUNK OR JUST BEING WEIRDLY EXPRESSIVE FOR A POINT/SARCASM Hooted Howled Yowled

I WONDER Pondered Voiced Wondered

OH, YEAH, WHOOPS Recalled Recited Remembered

SURPRISE BITCH Revealed

IT SEEMS FAKE BUT OKAY/HA ACTUALLY FUNNY BUT I DON’T WANT TO LAUGH OUT LOUD Scoffed Snickered Snorted

BITCHY Tattled Taunted Teased

#writing #writing ref

[soul-in-my-body]

“This is your daily, friendly reminder to use commas instead of periods during the dialogue of your story,” she said with a smile.

[soul-in-my-body]

Writing Groups After Trauma

If your characters have recently experienced something difficult and you want to expand on the emotions that they feel afterwards, I have a couple of tips for writing realistic emotions after the fact.

During the Event

During the actual difficult event, whether a member of the group has died, been kidnapped, or people are in a stressful situation, people react in ways you wouldn’t expect.

Gallows humor is a great example of this! If people are helpless during a difficult event, the easiest way to cope with it is to make jokes about it. This separates the serious, life-threatening event from the jokes they make.

Expect a lot of praying from religious and non-religious people, quiet panic attacks, and surrealist humor. The people next to your character will become very close with them during this time (even if it doesn’t last after the fact).

Your characters might turn to random topics, like the past (ooh, convenient flashback time!), their plans if stuff hadn’t happened, or something stupid like a funny story they once heard.

Mob mentality, folks. People are fragile during events like this, so if one person has even a semblance of leadership, they’ll listen.

How Do They React?

After the fact, people try to cope with it the way that they’re most used to.

Your characters will be closer to each other. They’ll lean on each other and be personal in ways you wouldn’t normally think of.

Is your character in touch with their emotions? Expect a lot of crying, anxiety, and compassion. These people will recover quickly because they’re able to deal with it by facing it head on.

Is your character cold-hearted and reasonable? Expect a lot of irrational rationalization. They’ll try to frame the situation in a way that it doesn’t affect them. This can separate them from the rest of the group.

Is your character tough and resilient? Expect anger and action. If they have supporting friends, these people are the most likely to fight back.

Does your character already struggle with trauma, anxiety, or depression? They might not process the event until much later. They’ll look fine during and right after, but these characters might deal with severe dissociation and anxiety, even PTSD. Recovering will be a long process.

The Group Together

After a difficult event, people band together in ways you wouldn’t imagine. It’s hard to stay by yourself when you’ve gone through something hard. Your characters will be much closer, and they’ll work on healing next to each other.

#writing

[soul-in-my-body]

the suffering never ends

[soul-in-my-body]

every writing tip article and their mother: dont ever use adverbs ever!

me, shoveling more adverbs onto the page because i do what i want: just you fucking try and stop me

[soul-in-my-body]

I made new character

Her name is Pharmina (Mina for short) and she’s the Diety of Drugs (both pharmaceutical drugs and 420 smoke weed drugs)

So she’s from this planet that has these flowers

and those flowers emit a light so strong that anything held in their light for enough time get dyed that color

So she wears this sleeveless baggy jumpsuit dyed rainbow colors cuz shes gay

Her familiar animal thing is a giant pink and blue isopod. She rides them when traveling, and they can change sizes depending on their mood. (ex. Mina falls off, so this baby, sweet baby, becomes worried and shrinks to a tiny size and flies down to make sure she’s okay)

 That baby’s name is  Pooh because they are. Sweet and loving, much like the bear

She gives off the energy of always being high. Shes a top. Has BDE

[soul-in-my-body]

writer: this is one of my male characters! he cares about his guy friends and loves them deeply.

tumblr: oh! so he’s gay!

writer: uh…no, he’s attracted to women.

tumblr: ….so he’s bi!

writer: uhh…no…….he loves his guy friends but he’s not romantically/sexually attracted to them.

tumblr: ….so you’re homophobic.

writer:

[soul-in-my-body]

Please remember that there are many, many new writers out there that will be influenced by the things that you post. They don’t yet know that the advice posted and shared on here is subjective and doesn’t apply to everyone and every situation.

So be mindful of what you post, because there is someone out there who will take it as fact. Someone will be affected by it for years and will carry it well into their career as a writer. Someone may be damaged by it.

And to the new writers out there: every piece of advice posted here is subjective. Please do not take any of it as fact. In writing, “rules” are nothing more than guidelines. When you’re comfortable stepping outside the lines, don’t be afraid to do just that!

[soul-in-my-body]

funney scene everyone

so

one of the characters

pllays despacito on the piano

woohoo funnee song

then

big monster come out of the mirror

everyone scream and cries

but

not the piano player

they scream, cry 

And

Play despacito

They must finish the ritual before they are allowed to face their fears

#writing