Words to describe facial expressions

Absent: preoccupied 

Agonized: as if in pain or tormented

Alluring: attractive, in the sense of arousing desire

Appealing: attractive, in the sense of encouraging goodwill and/or interest

Beatific: blissful

Black: angry or sad, or hostile

Bleak: hopeless

Blinking: surprise, or lack of concern

Blithe: carefree, lighthearted, or heedlessly indifferent

Brooding: anxious and gloomy

Bug eyed: frightened or surprised

Chagrined: humiliated or disappointed

Cheeky: cocky, insolent

Cheerless: sad

Choleric: hot-tempered, irate

Darkly: with depressed or malevolent feelings

Deadpan: expressionless, to conceal emotion or heighten humor

Despondent: depressed or discouraged

Doleful: sad or afflicted

Dour: stern or obstinate

Dreamy: distracted by daydreaming or fantasizing

Ecstatic: delighted or entranced

Faint: cowardly, weak, or barely perceptible

Fixed: concentrated or immobile

Gazing: staring intently

Glancing: staring briefly as if curious but evasive

Glazed: expressionless due to fatigue or confusion

Grim: fatalistic or pessimistic

Grave: serious, expressing emotion due to loss or sadness

Haunted: frightened, worried, or guilty

Hopeless: depressed by a lack of encouragement or optimism

Hostile: aggressively angry, intimidating, or resistant

Hunted: tense as if worried about pursuit

Jeering: insulting or mocking

Languid: lazy or weak

Leering: sexually suggestive

Mild: easygoing

Mischievous: annoyingly or maliciously playful

Pained: affected with discomfort or pain

Peering: with curiosity or suspicion

Peeved: annoyed

Pleading: seeking apology or assistance

Quizzical: questioning or confused

Radiant: bright, happy

Sanguine: bloodthirsty, confident

Sardonic: mocking

Sour: unpleasant

Sullen: resentful

Vacant: blank or stupid looking

Wan: pale, sickly

Wary: cautious or cunning

Wide eyed: frightened or surprised

Withering: devastating

Wrathful: indignant or vengeful

Wry: twisted or crooked to express cleverness or a dark or ironic feeling

i hate when people say “tell me about yourself” like bitch my personality changes with whatever book i’m reading because i absorb the personality of the protagonist idk what to tell you

You ever read a fanfiction so, so fucking good that when you're done reading it, you're kinda disoriented? Like the place you were reading it in seems unfamiliar because the story sucked you into the fucking fifth dimension with how good it was? Unparalleled feeling.

Fanfic writers are an absolute gift to humanity.

Tips for Writing a Difficult Scene

Every writer inevitably gets to that scene that just doesn't want to work. It doesn't flow, no matter how hard you try. Well, here are some things to try to get out of that rut:

1. Change the weather

I know this doesn't sound like it'll make much of a difference, but trust me when I say it does.

Every single time I've tried this, it worked and the scene flowed magically.

2. Change the POV

If your book has multiple POV characters, it might be a good idea to switch the scene to another character's perspective.

9/10 times, this will make the scene flow better.

3. Start the scene earlier/later

Oftentimes, a scene just doesn't work because you're not starting in the right place.

Perhaps you're starting too late and giving too little context. Perhaps some description or character introspection is needed before you dive in.

Alternatively, you may be taking too long to get to the actual point of the scene. Would it help to dive straight into the action without much ado?

4. Write only the dialogue

If your scene involves dialogue, it can help immensely to write only the spoken words the first time round.

It's even better if you highlight different characters' speech in different colors.

Then, later on, you can go back and fill in the dialogue tags, description etc.

5. Fuck it and use a placeholder

If nothing works, it's time to move on.

Rather than perpetually getting stuck on that one scene, use a placeholder. Something like: [they escape somehow] or [big emotional talk].

And then continue with the draft.

This'll help you keep momentum and, maybe, make the scene easier to write later on once you have a better grasp on the plot and characters.

Trust me, I do this all the time.

It can take some practice to get past your Type A brain screaming at you, but it's worth it.

So, those are some things to try when a scene is being difficult. I hope that these tips help :)

Reblog if you found this post useful. Comment with your own tips. Follow me for similar content.

friends to lovers never had a bad track. “scared i’ll ruin what we have” SLAPS. “friendship cuddles while secretly dying inside” BANGER. “teasing each other and holding eye contact for a little too long” KILLS ME. and don’t even get me STARTED on “screaming i love you in the middle of a heated argument.”

Unusual words with beautiful meanings

Peregrinate (verb) To travel or wander around from place to place.

Serendipity (noun) Finding something good without looking for it.

Nemophilist (noun) One who is fond of forest; A haunter of the woods.

Eudaimonia (noun) The contented happy state you feel when you travel.

Eleutheromania (noun) The intense desire for freedom.

Hireath (noun) A homesickness for a home to which you cannot return, a home which maybe never was.

Idyllic (adj.) Like an idyll; extremely happy, peaceful, or picturesque. 

Clinomania (noun) Excessive desire to stay in bed. 

Seatherny (noun) the serenity one feels when listening to the chirping birds.

Eunoia (noun) beautiful thinking a balanced mind.

what people think writing is: worldbuilding, churning out entire chapters in one sitting, metaphors, character building, finishing novels, flawless plotlines

what writing actually is: random 1 am thoughts, zoning out into fictional worlds, associating songs with characters, writer’s block for six weeks at a time, coming up with plot twists at the most inconvenient times

In case you need to hear it from someone: you have my full permission to enjoy works of media that are not considered “good”.

Not everything we love has to be of the highest quality. If that low-budget, slapped-together, hot mess of a story/show/etc. hits home with you? Love it. Talk about it. Be unapologetically thankful for it! 

And for us creators? May we remember that even our worst works can still be beloved by someone who needed them.

THIS!!

post by @bauliy

bitches be like “i like reading” and then ignore their tbr for months while they re read comfort fanfiction. it’s me i’m bitches.

With my book coming out soon, I thought I'd take this as a chance to answer a very tough question:

What's the Best Way to Support an Indie Author? Where should you buy their books? 🤔💵

Big post incoming!

Before we start talking about the wild, wild world of 👑royalties👑, I want to make this crystal clear:

The best way to support an indie author* is to BUY OUR BOOKS. Straight up. Paying for our hard work is good enough.

You want to support me? Easy. Buy my book.

*Now, let’s say you don’t care where you get the book from or your goal is to make sure most of your hard-earned money actually goes to the indie author rather than some corporation… then, in that case, read on!

So… what the heck are book royalties anyway?

When you purchase an indie eBook the money you spend is split between the author and the retailer. Depending on the split, more or less of your money will actually end up on the hands of the author you’re trying to support.

This differs from traditional publishing, where the author receives a lump sum as an advance from the publisher (which is then split between author and agent).

The publisher then sells this book on other storefronts, which further splits where the money actually goes.

PS: It is not until the book has actually generated as much revenue as the advance that said author begins to *actually* earn royalties on books sold, which may be as little as cents per book to a percentage of each sale.

To further confuse matters, different retailers offer different royalty rates! 😵

Where should you purchase books from if you want to super-duper support an indie author?

Well, let me give you a tier list—beginning from the TOP!

S TIER: Author's Personal Shop

Buying a book directly from an author's shop is by far the best way support 'em. Outside of a small % that goes to cover for credit card fees (~5% in my case), pretty much all of your money goes to the author.

If the author has a shop—buy it from there!!

A TIER: Itch.io

It's not just for games, you know! Its royalty rate is one of the most generous with a default 90/10. This is crazy-good compared to most other retailers.

Seriously, more authors should start selling their books on Itch.io!!

B TIER: Most Retailers

Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Google Play Books, and Kobo all offer a 70/30 split. It didn't use to be like this, tho!

If you like to have all of your books on the same platform, buying an indie author’s book through these platforms is honestly A-OK! 👍

C TIER: Amazon

Amazon has a default 35/65 rate (ouch) and has the option for a 70/30—but it's not easy. The latter option is not available in all territories and has many prerequisites.

Also, one way to get the 70/30 split is to *exclusively* sell your title on Amazon (ooof).

As if Amazon’s system wasn’t already confusing enough—there’s also *delivery fees*. Yes, you read that right. Amazon charges the author for the delivery of the digital item based on the file size, nickle-and-diming you like it's 2004 and you went over your text message limit.

I don’t want anyone to feel bad for buying books through Amazon. Like I said before, the best way to support us is to buy our books—no matter where you get them.

A sale is better than no sale at all. 🤞

The reason I set out to write this is because the average person has no clue that where you buy a book from actually matters.

You spend your hard-earned money wanting to support an indie author and the bulk of that Hamilton doesn’t even go to them.

And now you know. 🧵🔚

One of the best feelings is when something finally clicks with a character you’ve struggled to write and you’re just like “oh, so THAT’S who you are!”

It’s like recognizing that - surprise! - the alleged stranger in front of you is actually an old friend you’ve known your whole life. Now you know how to tell the world all about them.

Describe your WIP in 4 pictures from your phone. No context. No cheating.

I’ll go first:

how to finish your wip really fast

stop scrolling through tumblr

turn on your laptop

open a google doc

fucking write

If you’re getting overwhelmed with the scope of your artistic endeavors, ask yourself: does it have to be this big?

Ask yourself whether your story needs to be that long, whether your artwork needs to have all these components, whether your dish needs all these embellishments. Small does not mean insignificant. Basic does not mean bad.

Manageable can be masterful.