superherosweet

Latest Posts by superherosweet

This is on my side blog, and it is from my WIP. Enjoy!!!

Excerpt #1

This is an excerpt from my WIP. I'm not close to finishing it, but I'm in love with it. This is one of my favorite scenes I've written.

The characters are:

Erin: the narrator. Spitfire. Doesn't like being told what to do.

Damian: her team lead. Raised rich and is seen in the news as a playboy.

Hazel: Damian’s right hand. Has super speed.

Drake: the shape shifter of the group

There are many others, but those are the ones important for this scene.

Enjoy!!!

‐---------------‐------------------------------

"Don’t you dare go easy on me.” Damian said pointing at me.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

We circled each other. He stepped forward aiming for my ribs. I jumped to the side and aimed for his chin. My fist made contact pushing him to the side.

“You’re not angry today.” He said holding his jaw.

I glared at him. He jumped forward fast, and his fist connected with my side. I stepped to the right and brought my fist towards his stomach. He caught my wrist and held it tight.

“I like it better when you fight angry.”

I tried pulling my fist from his grip. No luck.

“There usually isn’t this much talking during a fight." I paused. "I heard you almost took Drake’s head off. Why are you so angry?”

He pulled me closer to him until we were inches from each other. “He couldn’t have fought me. I needed someone who could.”

I pushed away from him. He kept ahold of my wrist. “You didn’t answer my question. Why are you so angry?”

He let my wrist go. I stepped back raising my fists. He looked me up and down. He swung at me. I grabbed his wrist and punched him in his stomach. He staggered back.

“No one has talked to me the way you did last night.” He said softly.

I glared at him. “So you’re pissed at me?”

He lowered his fists. “I just need you to do what I say. I’m your leader. Is that so hard to understand?”

I huffed and crossed my arms. “No, it’s not, but you’re not doing it right.”

He glared at me. “Why do you think that you can say something like that to me?”

“Because you’re my group leader, and a good leader would listen to their members. Is that so hard to understand?” I mimicked his voice.

He stepped towards me. I glared at him and stepped towards him. A blur rushed past me. Hazel appeared between us.

She had her hands up pushing both of us back. “OK. OK. Let’s take a deep breath. I think you guys need a break.”

I huffed and turned to the elevator. I pressed the button.

“Hey street rat, try listening next time.”

I turned fast. Damian had crossed his arms and was staring daggers at me. Hazel was looking between us. I started walking towards him.

“Listen here you ass…”

A blur came towards me and swept me off my feet. I closed my eyes. When I opened them, I was sitting on the floor of the elevator. Hazel was pacing back and forth.

“Well that went well.” I said standing and folding my arms.

She stopped and looked at me. She let out a long breath. “Why can’t you guys just get along?”

“Because he’s wrong and I’m sure you know that too.”

She sighed. “Its not my job to tell him if he’s wrong.”

“Yes it is. You’re his right hand. It’s in your job description.”

The elevator dinged.

stream among us drip remix tubbo fancam

this should be a tweet but I don’t want to deal with people on Twitter. everyone stop having every character in your fiction talk like their goal is to get an A in therapy. 

Thought #132

Civilian pulled out their binoculars and searched for Villain on the street. They were perched on a building high above the city.

"Why did you save me?" Civilian whispered looking down at their notebook. They had cut out multiple newspaper articles about Villain. They were all about the fires and robberies that they had caused. So why did they save me?

Civilian sighed and looked through their binoculars again. They scanned the street. Wasn't Villain right there a second ago? Where did they go?

Someone cleared their throat behind them. Civilian jumped and their binoculars went flying.

"Seems I've got a stalker." Villain said picking up the binoculars.

"No... I... I..." Civilian backed away from Villain.

Villain smiled at them. "Why would you be spying on me?"

Civilian looked around nervously and spotted their notebook. Villain followed their gaze and swept their notebook up.

"I'm sorry. Please don't..."

Villain held up their hand and Civilian stopped. "You're wondering why I'm such a bad person."

Civilian shook their head.

Villain huffed. "I'm not as bad as these papers say. Take a look."

They handed the notebook back to Civilian.

"Did anyone die in any of those stories?"

Civilian looked through the newspaper articles. Not one of them had any casualties.

"All of those things I did, I did in abandoned buildings. I only had to intervene once because..." Villain snapped their attention to Civilian. "Someone was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Civilian squeaked and moved backwards.

"Why were you there?" Villain asked moving forward.

"I... I..."

Villain grabbed Civilian's arm.

"I wanted to see if it was actually you. You move too quickly for it to just be you doing all of this. I wanted to make sure that the blame wasn't being put entirely on you."

Villain smiled. "It's all me." They picked up Civilian under the legs and around the waist in a bridal carry. Flying high the wind canceled out Civilian's screams. Civilian grabbed at Villain and buried their face in their chest.

Villain stopped and hovered. They laughed and looked down at Civilian. Civilian shook and clung to Villain's shirt.

"You know you're the only one who has actually tried to figure out why I'm doing what I'm doing. No one else cares."

Civilian peeked up at Villain. "Thanks for saving my life." They squeaked.

Villain chuckled. "You're welcome. Do you want to see the view? I promise I won't drop you."

Civilian shook their head.

"Come on. It's beautiful."

Civilian turned their head slowly. Their grip loosened and they smiled down at the city. "It is beautiful."

Villain smiled and stared at Civilian's profile. "It sure is."

They dropped down slowly getting back to the rooftop. Civilian let go of Villain's shirt as they set them down.

"I promise I won't get in the way of your antics anymore." They said turning and scooping up their notebook.

Villain smiled. "But if you do I promise to save you. You're too cute."

Civilian turned as Villain took off.

Writing Prompt #2037

"Oh, come on now. Don't be like that! You know that I love you."

"I know that you say it a lot."

9 Ways to Tighten Up Your Novel’s Middle

Every year, we’re lucky to have great sponsors for our nonprofit events. Scrivener, a 2022 Camp NaNoWriMo sponsor, is an award-winning writing app that has been enthusiastically adopted by best-selling novelists and novices alike. Today, Scrivener director Julia Pierce is here to share some tips on writing your story’s middle:

We’re midway through Camp and around now, some of you may be starting to experience the curse of the saggy middle. This isn’t just a euphemism for what happens when the need to meet your daily word count target becomes all-consuming and takes precedence over your daily exercise routine. Nope, it’s that bit where the doubts about your story’s structure start to creep in… Is that storyline really as gripping as you first thought? Would the hero really make that choice…?

Unfortunately, writing the midsection of a novel is tricky—it’s where the hard work happens, the plot is driven on, characters grow and plans are tried (and fail). With this part taking up around 50% of the word count, a good rate of momentum is vital to carry the reader with you from your perfect beginning to the novel’s climax. So, how can you pep up your prose? Here are some tried and tested methods:

Keep reading

BILL WATTERSON ‘A cartoonist’s advice’

Game-Changing Sites for Writers

A recent search for a specific type of site to help me build new characters led me down a rabbit hole. Normally, that would make me much less productive, but I have found a treasure trove of websites for writers.

Bring Characters/Places to Life

There are a few different places you can use to create a picture of something entirely new. I love this site for making character pictures as references, instead of stock photos or whatever pops up on Google Images.

thispersondoesnotexist: every time you reload the page, this site generates a headshot of someone who doesn't exist. This is great if you're thinking about a character's personality or age and don't have specifics for their facial features yet.

Night Cafe: this is an AI art generator that takes your text prompt and generates an image for it. I tried it for various scenery, like "forest" or "cottage." It takes a minute for your requested photo to load, but no more than maybe five for the program to finish the picture.

Art Breeder: this website has endless images of people, places, and general things. Users can blend photos to create something new and curious visitors can browse/download those images without creating an account. (But if you do want to make an account to create your own, it's free!)

Find Random Places on Earth

You might prefer to set a story in a real-life environment so you can reference that place's weather, seasons, small-town vibe, or whatever you like. If that's the case, try:

MapCrunch: the homepage generates a new location each day and gives the location/GPS info in the top left of the screen. To see more images from previous days, hit "Gallery" in the top left.

Atlas Obscura: hover over or tap the "Places" tab, then hit "Random Place." A new page will load with a randomly generated location on the planet, provide a Google Maps link, and tell you a little bit about the place.

Random World Cities: this site makes randomly selected lists of global cities. Six appear for each search, although you'll have to look them up to find more information about each place. You can also use the site to have it select countries, US cities or US states too.

Vary Your Wording

Thesauruses are great, but these websites have some pretty cool perspectives on finding just the right words for stories.

Describing Words: tell this website which word you want to stop repeating and it will give you tons of alternative words that mean the same thing. It typically has way more options than other sites I use.

Reverse Dictionary: type what you need a word for in Reverse Dictionary's search box and it will give you tons of words that closely match what you want. It also lists the words in order of relevancy, starting with a word that most accurately describes what you typed. (There's also an option to get definitions for search results!)

Tip of My Tongue: this website is phenomenal. It lets you search for that word you can't quite place by a letter in it, the definition, what it sounds like, or even its scrambled letters. A long list of potential options will appear on the right side of the screen for every search.

---

Hope this helps when you need a hand during next writing session 💛

Writing Prompt #1959

"I'm done playing nice, little heroes." The villain straightened his back, and wiped the blood from his lip. "So this is your final warning; turn around, go home, and let me finish my business."

Writing Prompt #1939

"You call that a family?" My father sneered at the loved ones I had surrounded myself with. "This is your last chance to make the right choice. Come back with me now, and there will be limited consequences. If you don't, you are no child of mine any longer."

Thought #1

"I have to help them!" She yelled jumping from her chair.

"You can't. They want you." He said calmly.

She took off towards the door. He stepped in front of her grabbing her wrist.

"You are more important." He said softly pulling her closely wrapping his arms around her.

"You don't get to tell me what to do." She screamed pushing against his chest as tears streamed down her face.

"You're right, but I'll do everything I can to keep you safe." He said as he tightened his grip.

Thought #3

Hero walked through the mall stopping at a store looking at the window display. Someone grabbed their hand and pulled them away from the display.

"Someone is following you. I'll pretend to be your boyfriend so they'll leave you alone."

Hero's heart sank. They recognized that voice. They tried pulling their hand from Villain's, but Villain pulled them closer and draped their arm around them.

"Don't fight against me. We need to pretend we are dating." Villain whispered in Hero's ear.

"No one is following me. Let me go." Hero turned to face Villain. Villain looked down at them.

"Babe, you're acting hangry do we need to go get some Cinnabon for you." They leaned closer. "Can we please not act like enemies here. Let's just be friends before we try to rip eachothers heads off tonight."

Hero glared at them. "I am hungry. Cinnabon sounds good." They said through gritted teeth. They poked Villain in the chest. "But you're paying."

Writing fight scenes

masterlist. main navigation.

@bluebxlle_writer on Instagram

1. Pacing

A fight scene should be fast-paced and intense. Unless it's a final battle with numerous parties, a fight scene that's too long tends to take away suspense. To speed up your pacing, use active voice to describe movement and don't overdescribe your characters' thoughts. Excessive inner monologue will be unrealistic, as people usually have no room to think during intense combats.

2. Character mannerisms

Here's a point that people often overlook, but is actually super important. Through fight scenes, you should be able to reveal your characters' contrasting mannerisms and personality. A cunning character would play dirty - fighting less and making use of their opponent's weakness more. A violent character would aim to kill. A softer one would only target to disarm their enemies, using weakened attacks. A short-minded character would only rely on force and attack without thinking. This will help readers understand your characters more and decide who to root for.

3. Making use of surroundings

Not only the characters, you also need to consider the setting of your fight scene and use it to your advantage. Is it suitable for fighting, or are there dangerous slopes that make it risky? Are there scattered items that can help your characters fight (e.g. nails, shards of glass, ropes, wooden boards, or cutlery)? Is it a public place where people can easily spot the fight and call the authorities, or is it a private spot where they can fight to the death?

4. Description

The main things that you need to describe in a fight scene are :

• Characters involved in the fight

• How they initiate and dodge attacks

• Fighting styles and any weapons used

• The injuries caused

Be careful to not drag out the description for too long, because it slows down the pace.

5. Raise the stakes

By raising the stakes of the fight, your readers will be more invested in it. Just when they think it's over, introduce another worse conflict that will keep the scene going. Think of your characters' goals and motivations as well. Maybe if the MC didn't win, the world would end! Or maybe, one person in the fight is going all-out, while the other is going easy because they used to be close :"D

6. Injuries

Fights are bound to be dirty and resulting in injuries, so don't let your character walk away unscathed - show the effect of their injuries. For example, someone who had been punched in the jaw has a good chance of passing out, and someone who had been stabbed won't just remove the knife and walk away without any problem. To portray realistic injuries, research well.

7. Drive the plot forward

You don't write fight scenes only to make your characters look cool - every fight needs to have a purpose and drive the plot forward. Maybe they have to fight to improve their fighting skills or escape from somewhere alive. Maybe they need to defeat the enemy in order to obtain an object or retrieve someone who had been kidnapped. The point is, every single fight scene should bring the characters one step closer (or further :D) to the climax.

8. Words to use

• Hand to hand combat :

Crush, smash, lunge, beat, punch, leap, slap, scratch, batter, pummel, whack, slam, dodge, clobber, box, shove, bruise, knock, flick, push, choke, charge, impact

• With weapon :

Swing, slice, brandish, stab, shoot, whip, parry, cut, bump, poke, drive, shock, strap, pelt, plunge, impale, lash, bleed, sting, penetrate

Pet names to use instead of "Darling,"

Got tired of always using either "kitten" or "darling" so I came up with some more and decided to share ♡

Doll

Sugar

Dear

Honey

Kitten

Peanut

Sugarplum

Teacup

Boo

Love

Lovely

Sunshine

Button

Perfect

Good lookin'

Snapdragon

Romeo

Buttercup

Gorgeous/Handsome

Angel

Matchsticks

Pumpkin

Cupcake

Sweetheart

Eye candy

North Star

Fruit cake

Muffin

Jelly bean

Dragonfly

Mouse

Cherry Blossom

Firefly

Sweet Cheeks

Honeysuckle

Dumpling

Dream Boat

Bumble bee

Butterfly

Lady Bug

Casanova

Shutterbug

Angel Cakes

Pretty Boy/Girl/One

Sunbeam

Angel Face

Monkey

Chipmunk

Chickadee

Mocking Jay

Golden Boy/Girl

Solar Flare

Sparrow

Bunny

Buttercream

Cutie Pie

Lamb Chop

Hot Stuff

Baby Doll

Carebear

Babe

Kit-kat

Honeybun

Pudding Pop

Sunflower

Roses

Flower

Bluebell

Cinnamon bun

Sweetie Pie

Puppy

Pussy Cat

Dearie

Gum Drop

Princess/Prince

Lollipop

Bear Cub

Teddy Bear

Robin

Pancake

Bluejay

White Knight

Gingersnap

Sundail

Dove

Starlight

Dew Drop

Cuddle bug

Sparks

Peaches

Sweet pea

Writing Fight Scenes!

- Writing fight scenes are difficult so here are some of my tips that I like to keep in mind. 

- Don’t drag it out longer than necessary. I know that this is sometimes really difficult because it is hard to tell if it is going on too long. When you feel like your grasping for more details to add in, that’s usually a good indicator that you need to stop. I would say a good limit to set for yourself (if you’re a beginner) is around 8 to 10 pages at most. 

- But don’t make it too fast either. Reread it several times to make sure it doesn’t go so fast that your readers will have trouble keeping up. What this means is that you shouldn’t have the entire scene be action after action because it can become muddled really fast, especially if you’re trying to fit it in a couple paragraphs. 

- Somethings to keep in mind when writing a fight scene include: 

Who’s going to win?

Who do you want the readers to want to win?

Is your character trained or not?

Do your characters have weapons?

- If your character is a girl (this applies even more so if they are a small girl), they will not be able to defeat a much bigger man using strength alone. This is seen in a lot of books and it has never been understandable to me. Girls and boys are built very differently, so they have to fight differently. Men can rely on strength. Women have to rely on speed and tactic. This isn’t to say that your girl character can’t be strong, especially if she does train, this is just saying that the average girl won’t be able to hold up in a fight against a man double her size if she is only using strength. If she is small, make her fast so that she can easily dodge him and trip him up. Make her go for the legs, that is one of the best things to do so that you can get them off their feet and giver her an advantage. There are many ways a small girl can win without relying on only strength! 

hi grandma! i’ve written most of my story, but i skipped over the fight scene in the middle bc i was struggling with writing it. do you have any tips for writing fight scenes?

Hi anon!

Ah, fight scenes.

Don't try to focus too much on descriptions of every move in the fight. Writing is not a visual art form and putting too much emphasis on how the characters are moving their bodies (or weapons) will take too much emphasis off why they are fighting. In visual art, like movies, they can use music/facial expressions/lighting to create an atmosphere that keeps you in the moment of why the characters are fighting.

Also, visually? Fights are exciting.

I do have some tips for writing -

Beneath this cut is violence/blood.

Pick your words wisely Why are they fighting? Desperation? Anger? Fear? If you're fighting out of desperation, like a fight for your life then you'd pick words to convey that sense of absolute urgency. Your descriptions would focus on how close you are to losing and your character would always be trying to either get away or end the fight as fast as possible. If anger, your concentrate is like a rage and your words would feel/sound violent and their concentrate is on destroying what they're up against. Etc.

Use the length of your sentences to convey the pacing of your fight. For a fast, desperate fight you would either use shorter sentences or longer ones with short clauses conveying a lot of action. For slower fights, you can throw in more introspection and use sentences as normal.

Keep track of limbs and injuries If someone has been stabbed in the left arm, that's now a weakness. The fight should be changed because of it. Also, nothing worse than finishing your fight scene, getting ready to pat yourself on the back and realizing you gave Bertidude the Bouncer 3 arms.

Create a sense of space for yourself before you start writing or your fight will get out of hand. Unless they're on a literal meadow, there's almost always obstacles and boundaries to your fight.

An example of a fast, desperate fight:

(WHEN I STARTED WRITING THIS I DIDN'T INTEND DOMESTIC ASSAULT BUT IT HAPPENED SO TW: DOMESTIC ASSAULT)

The sting of the first hit hadn't even faded off her face before he was rearing his arm back to strike again. There weren't many options, with his other hand fisted in her jacket and her back up against the wall. He was expecting nothing of her but what he'd always gotten, a meek acceptance of the things he did to her. He wasn't guarding himself, he wasn't braced for attack, he was set to hit her until his arm got tired. But he'd forgotten the knife in her hand, from the vegetables he'd insisted she chop. He'd forgotten it, she'd forgotten it, until the fast-fast beat of her heart felt like it was jumping into her throat and the paralyzing reality that she fought now or she fought never. He wasn't and she wasn't expecting how the knife seemed to quiver in her fist, how the tip of the blade must have struck a bone, how it vibrated up her arm and up his. His fist tightened reflexively and then loosened. He hit he'd aimed for her face landed against the wall. He was gasping, stuck like a pig, leaning into her space, staring down how she was staring down at the slimy string of blood running over her fingers.

Short, fast clauses, a bit of repetition, it was a short fight so far but someone has been stabbed.

A slower, chill fight:

A gentleman provided the opportunity for his opponent to make an ass of himself. Bertitude was nothing if he was not a gentleman, and that was why he had not so much as lifted his arms in attempt to defend himself. Not that there would be much need to defend himself from the jumpy little man shifting his weight from foot to foot in front of him. While most civilized men who found themselves engaging in fisticuffs had the good sense not to use the moves they learned from video games, this clown before him seemed to be doing his best to imitate the character selection screen of a street fighting game. God help them all if he tried for an uppercut, or this whole fight was going to end before it started. Bertie's mother had always told him not to hit a stupid person because they couldn't afford to lose the brain cells. Still, by the time this rabbit of a man finally closed the gap between them, the crowd had gone quiet for lack of gleeful anticipation. They knew, how Bertie knew, that it wouldn't take much more than a solid thump on the head to knock this man flat. He was torn between letting him get a shot in and putting him out of his misery. He hadn't quite decided when the wee bunny man jabbed him in the chest with his fists one after another. A lack of training, experience and sense to be humiliated by himself rendered the attempt to punch him an utter failure. Bertie was practically performing a civil service, punching the restless chipmunk man in the face hard enough to send him falling over backward. He hit the concrete with a spattering of metal sounds, all the bits and bobs attached to his jacket making a ruckus of a noise. The only sound he made was a groan (and not of embarrassment) that could barely be heard over the crowd leisurely working its way back inside.

Ahhhh!!! It's here!!

Thank you @soopticboop I love it so much!!!

Writer's Guide: Hand to Hand Combat

Your character is unarmed and all they have left to fight with is their bare hands. If they hope for the enemy to catch their hands, you will have to write an effective scene. So how can we write a good hand to hand combat scene?

Most Common Moves

Now, I'm not going to list 30+ martial arts moves. Most of your characters will not be masters of kung fu or mixed martial arts. Most people who get into fights are novices.

Punch: a punch is probably to go to strike. Try not punch anybody in the face because one, they will expect it and two, it will hurt your hand. If you can aim for the soft parts of an opponent, kidneys or gut.

Kick: Kicking isn't pretty but it is effective. A good swift kick to the back of somebody's knee will fold them like a lawnchair.

Go for the groin: Man or woman getting kicked in the nether regions is no picnic. A good swift kick with your foot or your knee can incapacitate your opponent. Its not the most honourable of moves but it works.

An Elbow strike is effective: The elbow is your strongest point of attack. Drive it in to a windpipe or a gut and you can but yourself valuable time to retreat or stall your opponent from answering back.

Eyes: they are weak points. Jab somebody in the eyes with a thumb and they will stop in their tracks.

Throat: You can end any fight by going straight for the throat either grasping it in a headlock or jabbing it with a fist which can collapse the windpipe.

Bite: If you are unable to snack your opponent, use your teeth. The human bite is perhaps not as strong as a hyena's but it is strong enough to shorten your opponent by a finger or two.

How to Escape from Grips and Holds

Pinned from behind with your arms pinned: You have to stop your opponent from getting to a headlock. Move your hips to one side and strike backwards toward the groin or gut. This should weaken the hold of your opponent. Once the grip is loosened, turn toward your opponent and snack them into the nose with the heel of your hand.

Held from behind: Bend forward as far as you can making it more difficult for your opponent to lift you. Jab with your elbows back into your opponent's chest or face. Turn toward your opponent once the grip loosens and strike at the face or the groin again to subdue your opponent.

Headlock: If your opponent has you in a headlock, DON'T STRUGGLE. You could break your own neck. Turn into your opponent's side as close as possible. With your hand that is furthest away, hit your opponent into the groin or gut.

Pinned down on the ground: Most likely your opponent is using their own hands and weight to keep you down. If you can move your knees, try to jab them in the side or the groin to unbalanced them.

Things to Remember

1. The whole 6-10 minute bout only happens in films or controlled sporting events. Fights are usually over within a few minutes. (when writing effective fights, keep the pace short.)

2. Girls are vicious. I've worked in nightclubs and broke up a fair few fights. Boys will knock the shit out of each other but girls will tear shreds out of each other. I have known grown men to break up fights between guys but nobody wants to break up a catfight.

3. One wants the fight to end quickly. If you keep slugging at each other, you'll get tired pretty fast. Have your character try end the fight as soon as possible.

4. Nobody emerges from fights unscathed. Even winners may come out with black eyes, broken noses or at very least a broken lip. If you punch someone, you will likely bruise your knuckles if not split them.

5. If your character is fighting to survive, they don't have to stick to etiquette. They will have to do anything to survive even if it means doing something unpleasant like fishhooking or hairpulling.

Quick editing tip: Passing time

Hey all, here’s a quick tip about showing the passage of short amounts of time in a scene. I see a lot of beats like this:

She hesitated

He paused

A few seconds later

There was a long silence

He waited for her to answer

She didn’t respond

Instead of telling us there’s a brief moment of silence or pause in your scene, try showing us by creating the feeling that time has passed through action, description, or inner monologue. Here are a few examples.

Before:

“Are you coming or not?”

He waited for her to answer, but she didn’t respond.

“Clare? Did you hear me?”

“Huh?”

After:

“Are you coming or not?”

Clare scrolled through her phone, her face illuminating with a eerie blue glow.

“Clare? Did you hear me?”

“Huh?”

Before:

Jared lingered at the suspect’s front gate. If this guy didn’t answer Jared’s questions, he was screwed.

“Hey you!” a voice shouted. “Get off my property!”

Jared hesitated. Finally, he turned to face the man. “I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

After:

Jared lingered at the suspect’s front gate. If this guy didn’t answer Jared’s questions, he was screwed.

“Hey you!” a voice shouted. “Get off my property!”

Jared patted his holster. He had a gun, but he certainly didn’t want to use it. Taking a deep breath, he turned to face the man. “I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

Not only does creating a pause instead of describing a pause allow your reader to feel the moment more vividly, it gives you a chance to explain what exactly that pause is about. People hesitate, pause, don’t respond, etc. for all kinds of reasons. Give us as much insight as you can into your weird quiet moment.

Of course, you don’t need to do this every single time. Sometimes it’s fine to say “he paused” or “the room was quiet for a moment”—it could be the best choice for that scene. But look back through your draft and see if you’ve used those “telling” descriptions more often than you needed to. If so, try to create the feeling of a pause—perhaps one that gives the reader a bit more information—using these techniques.

Hope this helps!

US Helplines:

Depression Hotline: 1-630-482-9696

Suicide Hotline: 1-800-784-8433

LifeLine: 1-800-273-8255

Trevor Project: 1-866-488-7386

Sexuality Support: 1-800-246-7743

Eating Disorders Hotline: 1-847-831-3438

Rape and Sexual Assault: 1-800-656-4673

Grief Support: 1-650-321-5272

Runaway: 1-800-843-5200, 1-800-843-5678, 1-800-621-4000

Exhale: After Abortion Hotline/Pro-Voice: 1-866-4394253

Child Abuse: 1-800-422-4453

UK Helplines:

Samaritans (for any problem): 08457909090 e-mail jo@samaritans.org

Childline (for anyone under 18 with any problem): 08001111

Mind infoline (mental health information): 0300 123 3393 e-mail: info@mind.org.uk

Mind legal advice (for people who need mental-health related legal advice): 0300 466 6463 legal@mind.org.uk

b-eat eating disorder support: 0845 634 14 14 (only open Mon-Fri 10.30am-8.30pm and Saturday 1pm-4.30pm) e-mail: help@b-eat.co.uk

b-eat youthline (for under 25’s with eating disorders): 08456347650 (open Mon-Fri 4.30pm - 8.30pm, Saturday 1pm-4.30pm)

Cruse Bereavement Care: 08444779400 e-mail: helpline@cruse.org.uk

Frank (information and advice on drugs): 0800776600

Drinkline: 0800 9178282

Rape Crisis England & Wales: 0808 802 9999 1(open 2 - 2.30pm 7 - 9.30pm) e-mail info@rapecrisis.org.uk

Rape Crisis Scotland: 08088 01 03 02 every day, 6pm to midnight

India Self Harm Hotline: 00 08001006614

India Suicide Helpline: 022-27546669

Kids Help Phone (Canada): 1-800-668-6868

FREE 24/7 suicide hotlines:

Argentina: 54-0223-493-0430

Australia: 13-11-14

Austria: 01-713-3374

Barbados: 429-9999

Belgium: 106

Botswana: 391-1270

Brazil: 21-233-9191

China: 852-2382-0000

(Hong Kong: 2389-2222)

Costa Rica: 606-253-5439

Croatia: 01-4833-888

Cyprus: 357-77-77-72-67

Czech Republic: 222-580-697, 476-701-908

Denmark: 70-201-201

Egypt: 762-1602

Estonia: 6-558-088

Finland: 040-5032199

France: 01-45-39-4000

Germany: 0800-181-0721

Greece: 1018

Guatemala: 502-234-1239

Holland: 0900-0767

Honduras: 504-237-3623

Hungary: 06-80-820-111

Iceland: 44-0-8457-90-90-90

Israel: 09-8892333

Italy: 06-705-4444

Japan: 3-5286-9090

Latvia: 6722-2922, 2772-2292

Malaysia: 03-756-8144

(Singapore: 1-800-221-4444)

Mexico: 525-510-2550

Netherlands: 0900-0767

New Zealand: 4-473-9739

New Guinea: 675-326-0011

Nicaragua: 505-268-6171

Norway: 47-815-33-300

Philippines: 02-896-9191

Poland: 52-70-000

Portugal: 239-72-10-10

Russia: 8-20-222-82-10

Spain: 91-459-00-50

South Africa: 0861-322-322

South Korea: 2-715-8600

Sweden: 031-711-2400

Switzerland: 143

Taiwan: 0800-788-995

Thailand: 02-249-9977

Trinidad and Tobago: 868-645-2800

Ukraine: 0487-327715

(Source)

Me duele la cabeza

twilight but instead of a dramatic reveal about how edward’s a vampire bella just shows up to class one day and slides a copy of Dracula across the table to see what happens 

What people think writers’ search histories look like: how to get away with murder, best way to dispose of a body, how long do humans take to decompose, how much blood do you have to lose to die, can i strangle someone with dental floss... etc

What an actual writer’s seach history looks like:

i honestly don’t think authors grasp the effect dark haired, morally grey characters have on their readers. like i mean they can literally kill a man and most of us will still be here like

not a fan of how recently "found family" has become a synonym for "adoption"

fictional characters can kill as many people as they want but it’s illegal for them to be annoying hope this helps

big boy happy

HADES ANIMATED…………