1. Tone Words: Use tone words to convey the emotional quality of a voice. For example, you can describe a voice as "melodic," "soothing," "sharp," "gentle," or "commanding" to give readers a sense of the tone.
2. Pitch and Range: Mention the pitch and range of the voice. Is it "deep," "high-pitched," "raspy," or "full-bodied"? This can provide insight into the character's age, gender, or emotional state.
3. Accent and Diction: Describe the character's accent or diction briefly to give a sense of their background or cultural influences. For instance, "British-accented," "Southern drawl," or "formal."
4. Volume: Mention the volume of the voice, whether it's "whispering," "booming," "murmuring," or "hushed."
5. Quality: Use terms like "velvet," "silken," "gravelly," "honeyed," or "crisp" to convey the texture or quality of the voice.
6. Rate of Speech: Describe how fast or slow the character speaks, using words like "rapid," "slurred," "measured," or "rambling."
7. Mood or Emotion: Indicate the mood or emotion carried by the voice. For example, a "quivering" voice may convey fear or anxiety, while a "warm" voice may express comfort and reassurance.
8. Resonance: Describe the resonance of the voice, such as "echoing," "nasal," "booming," or "tinny."
9. Timbre: Mention the timbre of the voice, using words like "rich," "thin," "clear," or "smoky."
10. Cadence: Highlight the rhythm or cadence of speech with descriptors like "staccato," "lilting," "rhythmic," or "halting."
11. Intonation: Convey the character's intonation by saying their voice is "sarcastic," "apologetic," "confident," or "questioning."
12. Vocal Characteristics: If applicable, mention unique vocal characteristics, like a "lisp," "stutter," "drawl," or "accented 'r'."
EMMA D’ARCY as RHAENYRA TARGARYEN HOUSE OF THE DRAGON (2022) — Season One
And speaking of Sophia Tolstoy, her diaries are just so depressing.
“I am to gratify his pleasure and nurse his child, I am a piece of household furniture, I am a woman. I try to suppress all human feelings. When the machine is working properly it heats the milk, knits a blanket, makes little requests and bustles about trying not to think […].“
She wrote this when she was 19, one year into her marriage to Leo and as she was pregnant with the first of his 13 children.
A few years later, when she was 25 or so:
“I am so often alone with my thoughts that the need to write in my diary comes quite naturally … Now I am well again and not pregnant—it terrifies me how often I have been in that condition. He said that for him being young meant “I can achieve anything”. For me […] reason tells me that there is nothing I either want or can do beyond nursing, eating, drinking, sleeping, and loving and caring for my husband and babies, all of which I know is happiness of a kind, but why do I feel so woeful all the time, and weep as I did yesterday? I am writing this now with the pleasantly exciting sense that nobody will ever read it, so I can be quite frank with myself […].“
During her 12th pregnancy she wrote about taking scalding baths and jumping from high pieces of furniture to try and miscarry. And at one point while reading her husband’s diary (which he told her to read) she found the sentence “There is no such thing as love, only the physical need for intercourse and the practical need for a life companion.” In her own diary she wrote “They ebb and flow like waves, these times when I realise how lonely I am and want only to cry…”
A few years before her husband’s death, she published a cycle of prose poems titled “Groans”, under the pseudonym “A Tired Woman”.
First Time Watching: Game of Thrones 1x01 | Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen
TOM GLYNN-CARNEY as GAIUS JULIUS CAESAR OCTAVIANUS DOMINA (2021), S1E1
"Lucrezia Borgia operated within the circumstances of her time to forge her own destiny. She came into her own, showing a powerful intelligence and skill in managing her life."
— Sarah Bradford, Lucrezia Borgia: Life, Love, and Death in Renaissance Italy.
Deleted Scene from Vikings S5: Freydis mourns her son Baldur
Would anyone read a Tom Glynn-Carney social media fanfic on Wattpad 🫶
Punctuation is like the very last thing I actively think about when writing something (what's the point of fixing the punctuation of a sentence you'll end up taking out or editing anyway?) but it is still an important step!
Having proper punctuation increases your credibility and the overall quality of your work. Also, it’s doubly important in professional work, emails, and resumes. With that, let’s get into it!
Commas
We use them all the time. We get them wrong all the time. There are six rules for where you can use commas:
Use to separate items in a list or series:
The book was long, tedious, and painful.
The comma after tedious is called the Oxford’s comma. Feel free to debate if you need it in the reblogs, but you won’t get in trouble professionally if you use it or leave it out (in most cases.) It always comes before ‘and’ in a list to prevent confusion of the items:
I ran into my mother, my best friend and a scientist. (1 person?)
Is very different from
I ran into my mother, my best friend, and a scientist. (3 people)
2. Use to separate independent clauses, with a coordinating conjunction.
An independent clause is just a sentence that makes sense on its own.
A coordinating conjunction is: and, but, or so.
Miley had a ton of work to do, so she set her alarm early.
3. Use after an introductory statement.
Introductory statements begin with many different words, but typically: Before, after, when, while, as soon as, etc.
Before her first class, Stacy looked up her prof on Rate Your Teacher.
Main point about this, “Before her first class” is not an independent clause, it needs a second part.
4. Use to surround info in a sentence
This info is not essential to the sense-making of the sentence, but it should be relevant.
Parents, no matter how skilled, cannot function at 100% all the time.
5. Addresses and Dates
6. And with direct quotes
Important for essay writing.
Casey said, “I hate this house!”
Colons:
Introduce a list after a complete sentence:
I have three favourite foods: spaghetti, chowder, and garlic bread.
2. Use after ‘the following’ or ‘as follows’
Please provide the following information: your date of birth, full name, and address.
3. Don't use with sentence fragments
A sentence fragment is an unfinished sentence (that doesn’t make sense on its own).
My favourite foods are: spaghetti, chowder, and garlic bread.
This is wrong because, “My favourite foods are.” Isn’t an independent clause.
4. Introduce an explanation
My parents ask one thing of me: that I try my hardest.
5. Introduce a quotation
Mom always quoted the bible: “The truth will set you free.”
6. And times (12:00)
Semi-Colon:
Not super common, but makes you look good if you can use it properly.
Separate two related independent clauses
I never drink Starbucks; it tastes burnt.
2. Similar, but with conjunctions: however, moreover, therefore, nevertheless, etc.
I don’t like Starbucks; however, it does the job.
Agatha didn’t witness anything; nevertheless, she was called in to court.
3. Use to avoid misreading in a series
The invited guests are the club leader; the treasurer; the new member, Jason Tanner; and Wanda Johnson, the investor.
Semicolons clarify the separation between the four people. Had it been, “The club leader, the treasurer, The new member, Jason Tanner…” it would seem that the new member and Jason Tanner are two different people.
Apostrophes – Possessive
‘s shows possession of a singular noun
The girl’s parents were quite rich.
2. S’ shows possession of a plural noun
The students’ books were all over the place. (there are multiple students who have books)
3. ‘s to singular words ending in s, and nouns that are plural
My boss’s office My children’s toys
Apostrophes – Contractions
Use to combine two words (they are, he is, there is, etc.)
It is -> It’s a beautiful park They are -> They’re really good friends You are -> you’re good at this and so on.