skyvolt

[skyvolt]

Nine things about being brought back from the dead

You will be cold

You will wake up screaming, you all do.

Your entire body will throb, the pain will eventually subside; being brought back is never a painless task.

Do not get up immediately, you will be nauseous and your body will need time to readjust to this realm.

Ask for more blankets, you will feel very cold.

You will not remember how you died, do not ask.

Do not ask the practitioner how they performed the ritual, this is considered bad luck and you will not last long.

Your loved ones will be ecstatic to have you back, consider this a blessing.

Thank the practitioner and let them be on their way, if they do not look you in the eye consider this a bad omen.

More guides

How to feel again

If you wake up in a pitch black room

If you are a researcher or adventurer and want to share a guide, join our subreddit!

#trm

[skyvolt]

not sure what should happen next in your story?

Embarrass your protagonist. Make them seem weak and vulnerable in some way.

Shoot someone. That always takes the reader by surprise. 

In relation, kidnap someone. Or, rather, make it seem to your protagonist like someone has been kidnapped. 

Have one of your side characters disappear or become unavailable for some reason. This will frustrate your protagonist.

Have someone kiss the wrong girl, boy, or person, especially if you’ve been setting up a romance angle. It’s annoying.

If this story involves parents, have them argue. Push the threat of divorce, even if you know it won’t ever happen. It’ll make your readers nervous.

Have someone frame your protagonist for a crime they didn’t commit. This could range from a dispute to a minor crime to a full-blown felony.

If this is a fantasy story involving magic or witchcraft, create a terrible accident that’s a direct result of their spell-casting. 

Injure your protagonist in some way, or push them into a treacherous scenario where they might not make it out alive. 

Have two side characters who are both close to the protagonist get into a literal fist-fight. This creates tension for the reader, especially if these characters are well-developed, because they won’t know who to root for.

Make your protagonist get lost somewhere (at night in the middle of town, in the woods, in someone else’s house, etc.) 

Involve a murder. It can be as in-depth and as important as you want it to be. 

Introduce a new character that seems to prey on your protagonist’s flaws and bring them out to light.

If it’s in-character, have one of your characters get drunk or take drugs. Show the fallout of that decision through your protagonist. 

Spread a rumor about your protagonist. 

If your protagonist is in high-school, create drama in the school atmosphere. A death of a student, even if your protagonist didn’t know them personally, changes the vibe. 

If your story involves children, have one of them do something dangerous (touch a hot stove, run out into the road, etc.) and show how the protagonist responds to this, even if the child isn’t related to them. 

In a fantasy story, toss out the idea of a rebellion or war between clans or villages (or whatever units you are working with). 

Add a scenario where your protagonist has to make a choice. We all have watched movies where we have screamed don’t go in there! at the top of our lungs at the main character. Make them go in there. 

Have your protagonist find something, even if they don’t understand the importance of it yet. A key, a document, an old stuffed animal, etc. 

Foreshadow later events in some way. (Need help? Ask me!)

Have your protagonist get involved in some sort of verbal altercation with someone else, even if they weren’t the one who started it. 

Let your protagonist get sick. No, but really, this happens in real life all the time and it’s rarely ever talked about in literature, unless it’s at its extremes. It could range from a common cold to pneumonia. Maybe they end up in the hospital because of it. Maybe they are unable to do that one thing (whatever that may be) because of it.

Have someone unexpected knock on your protagonist’s door. 

Introduce a character that takes immediate interest in your protagonist’s past, which might trigger a flashback.

Have your protagonist try to hide something from someone else and fail.

Formulate some sort of argument or dispute between your protagonist and their love interest to push them apart. 

Have your protagonist lose something of great value in their house and show their struggle to find it. This will frustrate the reader just as much as the protagonist.

Create a situation where your protagonist needs to sneak out in the middle of the night for some reason.

Prevent your character from getting home or to an important destination in some way (a car accident, a bad storm, flat tire, running out of gas, etc.)

[skyvolt]

I know we all talk about how dumb the Cullens are but them not being able to figure out Nessie probably wanted blood was like. Next Level.

#TWILIGHT

[skyvolt]

petition to remake all of the twilight movies where everything is the same except that bella is played by john mulaney who has not been given a script and just has to deal with these circumstances as they come.

#twilight #amAZING

[skyvolt]

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.

#resources

[skyvolt]

HELLO I JUST FOUND THE BEST FUCKING WEBSITE FOR WORKING ON CHARACTERS AND WORLD BUILDING YEET FUCKERS SEE YOU IN 8 YEARS

#resources

[skyvolt]

THIS IS AN IMPORTANT ONE! Don’t ignore this in your writing!

[skyvolt]

using gesture

we’ve all read that prompt where someone is smirking, cocking an eyebrow and tossing their hair every other word. it’s annoying and it’s overused, not because they’re moving too much, but because nobody actually does that. rather than making your character repeat the same three actions on loop, spice things up! here are some helpful starting points

anger: 

curling and uncurling fists

sharp exhales

rolling eyes

cracking neck 

setting jaw

grinding teeth 

pursing lips

boredom/impatience: 

scratching neck/back

tapping or drumming fingers on something

tapping foot

changing position repeatedly, as if to get comfortable

leaning back 

kicking feet or putting them up

looking around 

nerves: 

looking around but, like, different

hands in pockets

fidgeting with an object

biting lip, inside of cheek, or nails 

tapping or drumming fingers on something

if this is helpful, i can expand the list, but i don’t see people struggling with physical displays of positive emotions as much as i do negative ones

#body language

[skyvolt]

I made some story and character arc diagrams for myself and thought I’d share! Feel free to use them for your own stories!

#cd

[skyvolt]

audio of Befour (only instrumental) in the Fader Cover video 

#I'm readyyyyyyy #I need it give it to meeeeeee #zayn

[skyvolt]

An editor’s take on writing

Good writing is diverse writing. This means exploiting every punctuation mark in the English language to give your words rhythm. Intentionally structure sentences, paragraphs, pages, chapters, and sections to force the reader to experience your prose in a predetermined sequence.

The mechanics of cliffhangers needn’t just involve ending a chapter with an unresolved issue. No, every sentence should be so expertly crafted that the reader has no choice but to progress to the next paragraph—and finally, turn the page.

An extensive vocabulary doesn’t guarantee good writing. It is more the judgement behind choosing one word over its many synonyms. We call this usage, and it can’t be taught, only learned. Usage is honed through practice and exposure to great writers.

Style combines usage and diversity. It is a writer’s fingerprint, and it must be unique. You cannot copy another writer’s style and expect to mirror their success. Likewise, you cannot mimic a singer’s voice and expect to sound good.

Given that the craft is acquired through experience, it is necessary to write daily. This learning curve can be accelerated by reading. Avid readers already have a head start, and a prospective writer has no excuse not to be a bookworm. There is little advice regarding plots. Schools of thought range from “making it up as you go” to story boarding a book’s every nuance in advance. There is no wrong approach, but a plot must be balanced between cliches and new ground. An unbalanced book is either boring or completely unrelatable. This balance must also resonate within your characters. Dialogue that is too true to life is mediocre, but dialogue can also be criticized for being unrealistic. A reader doesn’t pick up a book to remind them of the world they live in; they pick up a book to escape it. Some thing significant must happen on each page. An entire page functioning as a description or back story is meaningless filler. It is therefore crucial that the writer condense their message. Attention spans have never been shorter. Writers need to adapt.

Engage all five senses, especially smell. It is not enough to describe appearance. If readers are to remember a book long after they finish it, tell me how it smells. If readers are to be emotionally engaged, tell me how it smells.

The olfactory bulb sends input from the nose to the brain. Specifically, this information is transmitted to the Amygdala, responsible for associative learning; the Hippocampus, responsible for memory; and the Orbitofrontal cortex, responsible for risk VS reward assessment. In fact, this olfactory bulb is part of the limbic system, which functions by manipulating hormone levels. Translation: smells invoke powerful emotions and memories. What was Hermione’s favorite smell? Freshly mown grass and new parchment. If you take nothing away from this rant but this, know that good writing stinks.

#tips

[skyvolt]

Looking for a random cause of death for a character? Click here.

Looking for a random city? Click here.

Looking for a random city that people have actually heard of? Click here.

Need a random surname for a character? Click here. (They also give prevalence by race, which is very helpful.)

Helpful writing tips for my friends.

#stuff idk

[skyvolt]

Source.

#cd

[skyvolt]

Resource Dump: Creating Characters!

Primary Characters

Your Hero: Top Ten Rules

10 Traits of a Great Protagonist

4 Steps to Creating a Truly Active Protagonist

20 Tips for Creating Relatable Protagonists

How to Center your Story

How to Create Unforgettable Protagonists

25 Things You Should Know About Protagonists

Creating Memorable Characters

Creating Strong Female Protagonists

Creating Dynamic Protagonists

How to Create Characters

Inner Dialogue - Writing Inner Character Thoughts

25 Things a Great Character Needs

5 Ways to Create 3D Characters

Secondary Characters

10 Secrets to Creating Unforgettable Supporting Characters

How to Write Effective Supporting Characters

Question to Ask (& Strengthen) Your Minor Characters

5 Tips for Developing Supporting Characters

Techniques for Creating Great Secondary Characters

5 Steps to Dazzling Minor Characters

3 Ways to Create Stupendous Supporting Characters

Creating Memorable Secondary Characters

5 Archetypes for Supporting Characters

Your Map to Creating a Memorable Minor Characters

Names

Top Ten Tips

8 Tips for Naming Characters

7 Rules of Naming Fictional Characters

Name that Character!

6 Creative Ways to Name your Character

Naming your Characters

A Guide to Naming Characters

Female: 1 | 2 | 3

Male: 1 | 2 | 3

Alien: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Surname: 1 | 2 | 3 

Unisex: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Traits

List: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9

Developing Character Traits

How to Create Good Personalities for your Characters

Develop Memorable Personalities

Give your Character Personality

How to Create a Character’s Personality

How to Make Sure your Character’s Personality Shines

5 Building Blocks of your Character’s Personality

Appearance

Appearance Generator

Your Character’s Physical Appearance

How to Describe a Character’s Looks

Describing a Character’s Appearance

Character Description Resource

Examples of Physical Characteristics

Describing the Physical Attributes of your Characters

How Great Authors Describe Character Appearance

Ultimate Guide to Nailing your Character’s Appearance

Describing Clothing and Appearance

Character Appearance Help

Character Description Resource

Describing People: A Person’s Physical Appearance

Describing the Physical Attributes of Characters

Speech

Talking About your Character: Speech

Variety in Character Voices

All your Characters Talk the Same

How to Create Distinctive Character Voices

How to Create Characters Who Don’t Sound like You

The Art of Voice in Fiction

Create Varying, Yet Realistic, Speech Patterns

The Art and Craft of Dialogue

Writing Character Voice

Creating Differences in the Speech Patterns of your Characters

Style: Person and Speech

Dialects: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

Backstory

Building Better Backstories

Basic Tips to Create Better Characters with Tragic Backstories

How to Write a Backstory

Writing Characters Using Conflict and Backstory

Backstory Description Generator

Questions to Create Character Backstory

How to Weave in Backstory to Reveal Character

Nail your Character’s Backstory

How to Write Backstory Without Putting your Reader to Sleep

How to Write a Killer Backstory

Diversity

How to Make Young Adult Fiction More Diverse

Writing People of Color

A Few Tips and Resources for Writing Characters of Colour

Writing Characters of Colour Tastefully

Writing With Colour

7 Offensive Mistakes Well-Intentioned Writers Make

Writing Characters of Colour

Describing Characters of Colour

Gender

Female: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Male: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Transgender: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

Non-Binary: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Sexuality

Main Character Sexuality

On Writing LGBTQ Characters: 1 | 2

Writing Gay Characters

Guide to LGBT YA

Avoiding LGBTQ Stereotypes

Writing Bisexual Characters: 1 | 2

Writing Asexual Characters: 1 | 2

Pansexual & Demisexual Characters

How to Write Gay, Bisexual and Pansexual Characters

Introduction

Introducing a Character

Introducing your Main Character

Do’s and Don’ts for Introducing your Protagonist

First Impressions

How to Introduce a Character

How Not to Introduce a Main Character

Introducing the Protagonist

Development

Character Development

9 Ingredients of Character Development

Characterisation 1 - Character Development

How to Develop a Character for a Story

Character Development

Character Development Drives Conflict

Developing your Characters and Making them Interesting

Relationships

How to Write Strong Character Relationships

Character Relationships

3 Keys to Developing Character Relationships

The Secret Behind Great Character Relationships

3 Tips for Character Relationships

Building Believable Relationships

Sibling: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Platonic: 1 | 2 | 3

Romantic: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

Strengths

Identifying your Character’s Strengths

Character Strengths and Weaknesses

Introducing the 24 Character Strengths

Character Strengths and Virtues List

Strengths and Weaknesses

A Balance of Strengths

Flaws

123 Ideas for Character Flaws

DarkWorld RPG Flaws List

Character Flaws

Ten Ugliest Character Flaws

The Four Types of Character Flaws

On Giving Flaws and Weaknesses

Character Flaw Index

Goal

Why your Character’s Goal Needs to be 1 of these 5 Things

Goals Define the Plot

Goal Setting for You and your Character

How to Explore you Character’s Motivation

4 Ways to Motivate Character and Plot

Motivation

By Genre

Fantasy: 1 | 2 | 3

Sci-Fi: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Romance: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Thrillers: 1 | 2 

Horror: 1 | 2 | 3

Heroes

Your Hero: Top Ten Rules

How to Write your Own Hero Story

What Makes a Great Hero?

Creating Heroes and Heroines

Write a Story about a Hero

How to Create an Antihero that Readers Love

Heroes vs. Anti-Heroes

Create a Super Hero

How to Create a Brand New Iconic Hero or Villain

What Makes a Hero

Villains

How to Create a Credible Villain in Fiction

How to Make a Purely Evil Villain Interesting

9 Evil Examples of the Villain Archetype

How Not to Create a Villain

Creating Villains People Love to Hate

3 Techniques for Crafting a Better Villain

Basic Tips to Write Better & More Despicable Villains

Writing Tips for Creating a Complex Villain

How to Create a Great Villain

Do’s & Don’ts

Do’s and Dont’s of Writing a Good Character

How to Create a Character

Characterisation Dos and Dont’s

Female Characters of Do’s and Dont’s

Do’s and Dont’s of Dialect

Helpful Writing Blogs

fuckyeahcharacterdevelopment*

writeworld

referenceforwriters

thewritingcafe

aquestionofcharacter *

writingwithcolor

fuckyeah-char-dev

dailycharacterdevelopment

Clichés

Characters and Cliches

Top 10 Character Cliches

7 Lazy Character Cliches 

10 Most Cliched Characters in Sci-Fi

Four Worst Character Cliches

Female Character Cliches

Character Cliches to Avoid

The Cliche Character Test

How Cliches Can Help You Make Great Characters

Templates

How to Create a Character Profile

Writing Character Bios

Character Sheets and Character Creation

Gender/Sexuality Generator

Extremely Detailed Character Template

Writer’s Resource: Character Template

Character Description

#characters

[skyvolt]

If your character has a trait you consider one of their key features and it is never challenged in anyway, that trait will probably have about as much impact as their “tiny mole on their left buttcheek” trait. 

For that trait NOT to fall totally flat, one or more of these things need to happen:

The trait exacerbates a situation in a bad way. (An extremely honest and trusting character reveals an important secret to the Big Bad’s lackey)

The character is given a choice to either act according to their traits or to subvert them. Often the subversion has the better outcome. They either maintain their trait and take a risk, or character development ensues. (A greedy character must escape. Leaving behind their riches goes against their very being, but it would allow them to escape easier. If they try to take some of their treasure with them, they do so at massive risk.)

 The character is put in an environment or must work with a person that opposes their trait. (An extremely tidy person must live in their slob cousin’s filthy apartment for a week. / The character has a debilitating fear of being alone and they are stranded on their own on an island.)

The character is put in a situation that requires them to suppress their trait (A hotheaded character needs to have polite discourse with someone they hate)

#stuff

[skyvolt]

You know what I love?  Names.  You know what I love more than just names?  Geographically accurate names.

—-

(Current popular names all over the world)

—-

The following information was found here

Names From The Ancient World

Eastern

Egypt

Greece

Rome

Africa

—-

Medieval European Names Medieval English Names

—-

Anglo-Saxon/Old English Names

Dithematic Names (Name with two elements)

Monothematic Names (Single element names & bynames)

Religion (Gods; Goddesses; Calendar)

Rulers

—-

CELTIC

Ireland  [Celtic-Male Origin | Celtic-Female Origin | More]

Scotland  [Naming Patterns | Celtic Origin | Biblical Origin | More]

Wales  [Naming Practices | Biblical Origin | Welsh Surnames | More]

Brittany  [Male | Female | Surnames | More]

Old Celtic  [Male | Female | Religion | Cornwall | Isle of Man | More]

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Modern English First Names

The Central Stock of English First Names

Linknames (feminine forms of Biblical, Celtic, germanic, Greek, Latin and Modern male names)

Saints (calendar of saints, patron saints)

Modern Coinages Placenames | Blended | Combined | Borrowed Words | Unisex

Surname Adaptations (English, Scottish, Irish, Welsh and Foreign surnames used as first names)

Themed Names (twins, mulit-births, colors, creatures dates, etc)

More

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Western European Names

France | Naming Practices | Medieval | More

Italy | Latin | Medieval | More

Germany | Naming Practices | Medieval | More

Austria | First Names | Surnames | Rulers

Switzerland | First Names | Surnames

Netherlands | Naming Practices | Friesland | More

Belgium | Naming Practices | Walloon | More

Spain | Catalonia | Aragon | Asturias | Galicia | More

Portugal | Biblical Origin | Latin Origin | More

Basque | Male | Female | Surnames

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Eastern European Names

Poland | Slavonic Origin | Various | More

Hungary | Pronunciation etc | Names | More

Czech-Slovak | Czech | Slovak | Czechoslovakia | More

Albania | Male | Female | Surnames

Bulgaria | First Names | Surnames | More

Romania | Male | Female | Surnames

Former Yugoslavia Former Yugoslavia | Bosnia-Hercegovina | Croatia | Macedonia | Montenegro | Serbia | Slovenia

Greece | Greek Origin | Latin Origin | Surnames | More

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Scandinavian Names

Old Norse | Male | Female | Name Elements | More

Norway | Norse Origin | Germanic Origin | Surnames | More

Sweden | Norse Origin | Germanic Origin | Surnames | More

Denmark | Norse Origin | Various Origin | Surnames | More

Iceland | Norse Origin | Various Origin | Surnames | More

Faroe Islands | Norse Origin | Foreign Origin | Surnames

Finland | Pronunciation | Religion | Finnish | Compounds | More

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Former Soviet Union Names

Russia | Naming Practices | Slavic Origin | Surnames | More

Europe and the Caucasus  Ukraine | Belarus | Moldavia | Georgia | Armenia | Azerbaijan | Caucasus

Baltic States Estonia | Latvia | Lithuania | Finland

Asian Republics Kazakhstan | Tajikistan | Turkmenistan | Uzbekistan | Kirghizistan 

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African Names

Northern Africa | Gen. Names Morocco | Algeria | Tunisia | Libya | Egypt | Western Sahara 

Eastern Africa | Gen. Names Sudan | Ethiopia | Eritrea | Somalia | Djibouti | Uganda | Burundi | Rwanda | Kenya | Tanzania | Swahili 

Central Africa | Gen. Names Chad | Central African Republic | Cameroon | Equatorial Guinea | Gabon | Congo | Democratic Republic of Congo 

Western Africa | Gen. Names Mauritania | Mali | Burkina Fasu | Senegal | Gambia | Guinea-Bissau | Guinea | Sierra Leone | Liberia | Ivory Coast | Ghana | Togo | Benin | Niger | Nigeria 

Southern Africa | Gen. Names Angola | Zambia | Zimbabwe | Malawi | Mozambique | Namibia | Botswana | South Africa | Lesotho | Swaziland

African Islands Madagascar | Comoro Islands | Mauritius | Cape Verde Islands | Seychelles | Sao Tome and Principe 

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Northern Native American Names

Native names used in modern America

Various Native American Nations

Algonquin [Cheyenne, Shawnee, Mohican/Mahican]

Apache [Mimbreno, Warm Springs, White Mountain, Bedonkohe, Chiricahua]

Iroquois [Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onundagas, Seneca, Tuscaroa]

Ojibwa [Ojibway, Potawatomi, Chippewa]

Cherokee | Choctaw | Creek | Crow | Hopi | Kiowa | Miwok | Navajo | Nez Perce | Omaha | Osage | Seminole | Sioux | Yakima

Inuit

Southern and Central Native American Names

Aztec [History, Male, Female, Religion, Calendars, Rulers]

Inca [Male, Female, Religion, Calendars]

Maya [History, Male, Female, Religion, Calendars]

Amazonian [Names from tribes living in the rain forests]

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India

Hindu Names Male Names [A | B | C - K | L- Z] | Female | More

Hindu Gods

Sikh

Others

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Middle and Near Eastern 

Arab/Muslim Male | Female | More

East Iran | Turkey | Kurds | Pakistan | Bangladesh | Afghanistan

Jewish Names Biblical | Yiddish | Modern | Various | Surnames

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China  Info | Male | Female  

Japan  Info | Male | Female

Korea  Info | Male | Female

Mongolia

Himalayan  Nepal | Bhutan | Tibet

Indochina  Burma | Thailand | Vietnam | Cambodia | Laos

South East Asia  Indonesia | Malaysia | Brunei | The Philippines

—-

Pacific 

Polynesia Maori | Samoa | Tonga | French Polynesia | Fiji | Cook Islands | Easter Island | Hawai’i | Australia

Micronesia Federated States of Micronesia | Kirbati | Marashall Islands | Marianas Islands and Guam | Nauru | Belau

Melanesia Soloman Islands | Papua New Guinea | Vanuatu | Tuvalu

#names

[skyvolt]

Writing with Color: Description Guide - Words for Skin Tone

We discussed the issue of describing People of Color by means of food in Part I of this guide, which brought rise to even more questions, mostly along the lines of “So, if food’s not an option, what can I use?” Well, I was just getting to that!

This final portion focuses on describing skin tone, with photo and passage examples provided throughout. I hope to cover everything from the use of straight-forward description to the more creatively-inclined, keeping in mind the questions we’ve received on this topic.

So let’s get to it.

S T A N D A R D  D E S C R I P T I O N

B a s i c  C o l o r s

Pictured above: Black, Brown, Beige, White, Pink.

“She had brown skin.”

This is a perfectly fine description that, while not providing the most detail, works well and will never become cliché.

Describing characters’ skin as simply brown or beige works on its own, though it’s not particularly telling just from the range in brown alone.

C o m p l e x  C o l o r s

These are more rarely used words that actually “mean” their color. Some of these have multiple meanings, so you’ll want to look into those to determine what other associations a word might have.

Keep reading

#what do I tag this