occasionally subtle
trying on a metaphor
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we're not kids anymore.

Kiana Khansmith

blake kathryn

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oozey mess

@theartofmadeline
hello vonnie
almost home

Janaina Medeiros
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Keni
Sweet Seals For You, Always
taylor price
Not today Justin
YOU ARE THE REASON
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@ao3userdecompdoll
Suspense a game of tug-of-war with a rubber band. The band will break, but when? Suspense can be exhilarating, or it can be upsetting. Either way, it’s all about anticipation and questions.
Tension is the rubber band itself. It is the discomfort of being stretched. Unlike with suspense, there is no uncertainty. What makes tension interesting is the desire to make that tension go away.
Conflict is the act of two things attacking each other (i.e., you can attack the rubber band, but unless it retaliates, it isn’t conflict). By itself, conflict is the least interesting of the three. But, if you pair with tension and/or suspense, it becomes cathartic. It becomes the release of the tension and the answer to the question of suspense.
me: i am INSPIRED i want to WRITE
my brain, immediately: i have never once even seen a sentence
Noooooo I’m not reusing the same tropes in all my WIPs, I’m just (checks notes) “creating an author brand”
I don’t have a narrative kink I have a (looks over your shoulder) “signature style”
Applicable AO3 Ratings If You Don’t Write Porn
G- nothing objectionable
T- the fuck word
M- organs, outside
E- organs, outside, lovingly described
Euripides, from Grief Lessons: Four Plays; translated by Anne Carson
Text ID: Gods are stubborn. So am I.
How To Make A Scene More Heartfelt
I’ve written another post about love/romantic scenes sort of similar to this one, called Kiss Scenes 101: How To Write The Perfect Kiss. If that would be useful to you, I definitely recommend you check it out.
♡ Vocabulary ♡
Use appropriate vocabulary in context of the scene. Try not to use words that would hit your reader like a truck in the middle of what is supposed to be a sappy, heartfelt scene. It will bring your reader’s moment to a screeching halt, and ruin the whole vibe.
♡ Inner Monologue ♡
Don’t gloss over what your character(s) is thinking and what is rushing through their heads in the heartfelt moments of your story. If the voice in their head is flipping out and thinking of all of the ways they could ruin their first kiss but they don’t have time to complete a thought and all of a sudden everything is happening and their thought process is interrupted by the love interest’s lips meeting theirs, illustrate that for your reader. Most of the time, the unspoken reactions to what’s going on is the best part of the actual scene.
♡ Dialogue ♡
Please, please, please don’t forget that in a heartfelt scene, it’s not just staring at each other and thinking loud enough for the reader to hear. There is actual communication going on, even if only non-verbal, and it’s important to include dialogue. This also touches on the previously mentioned vocabulary point: please keep a bit of believability in the actions of the characters. Chances are, a high school boy wouldn’t part from a kiss and seriously say “you’re the wind beneath my wings, darling”. That will make your reader laugh, and in some cases that’s a good thing, but when you’re trying to tug the heart strings, leave the cheesy, face-palm worthy moments out of it.
♡ Connections ♡
A really good thing to include in heartfelt scenes is connections to other bits of the story, like the very beginning of the story when the main character was clumsy and had a silly little crush that has turned into something so big that the character is now reflecting on in a serious turning point of their relationship. Or maybe the main character is crying over a break up and is walking around their once shared home, the memories that the reader has already read and experienced are replaying at hyper speed, making the character break down before the reader’s eyes. Connections can make the scene bitter, sweet, or both at the same time.
♡ References ♡
Kind of like making connections, references to certain details of the story can make the reader feel faux nostalgia, and can make the scene even more amazing. Maybe the love interest quotes something the main character said when they first met, or something drifts through the main character’s head that brings the reader back to a previous heartfelt scene that was meant to stick with them.
♡ Reader’s Ability To Relate To The Situation ♡
Ok, so this is the big one. One of the biggest parts of reading scenes like this is being able to read the emotion, recognize it, and feel it personally. This kind of relates to that stereotype that girls read crappy romance novels after a breakup and cry about their lost relationship (been there, honestly). Well, there’s a catharsis that comes with this, and in order to make a scene really hit the reader, you need to take advantage of the opportunity to magnify the strong emotions. To do this, make the details relatively vague or relatable to the majority of people. Regular things that a person would think or do in that situation that a person can read and use to put their self in the role of the main character. It’s important to pay close attention to the little details when it comes to making a scene relatable, because it can make or break the scene altogether.
Request a prompt list/writing advice/playlist/study help post here
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I am a(n):
⚪ Male
⚪ Female
🔘 Writer
Looking for
⚪ Boyfriend
⚪ Girlfriend
🔘 An incredibly specific word that I can’t remember
*wakes up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat*
WAIT IT’S CALLED A THROW PILLOW
here is a super helpful website for this kinda thing!
the first result isn’t always the one you’re looking for but when you press enter it’ll give you a ton of words related to your query that’ll probably have what you’re wanting, or something better
here’s some examples:
Reblog to save a writer’s sanity (the last bit that’s left)
Cheat Sheets for Writing Body Language
We are always told to use body language in our writing. Sometimes, it’s easier said than written. I decided to create these cheat sheets to help you show a character’s state of mind. Obviously, a character may exhibit a number of these behaviours. For example, he may be shocked and angry, or shocked and happy. Use these combinations as needed.
by Amanda Patterson
So, I don't know how to write pain like! What words do I use? how do I describe it! I really need some help here!
No problem! And sorry about not answering sooner, I was on vacation. To make it up to you, I’ve made one of my trademark Long Posts about it.
TIPS ON HOW TO WRITE PAIN (FOR BOTH ORIGINAL CONTENT WRITERS AND FANFICTION WRITERS)
When I first started writing, about eight years ago, I had the same issue as @imjustafuckinggirl.
How are you supposed to write about pain you’ve never experienced before???
The characters in my book suffer through all sorts of terrible shit, and in no way am I writing from experience, which is marginally easier to do than write about something that has never happened to you.
However, with time, I managed to gather up a few strategies on how to write pain.
1. Don’t Write Paragraphs About It
I know, it’s tempting. You want to convey to the reader just how much pain the character is in, and you think that the pain will be emphasized the more you write about it.
This, however, is a lie.
As a reader, when I’m reading a book or fanfiction where, whenever the writer uses agonizingly long paragraphs to describe when a character is hurt, I skip it.
Entirely.
It’s boring and, quite frankly, unnecessary, especially during a fight or huge battle, which are supposed to be fast-paced.
When it comes to writing about pain, it really is about quality and not quantity.
In my own writing, I stick to short, quick paragraphs, some of them which are barely a line long. This gives it a faster pace and sort of parallels with the scattered, spread out thoughts of the character as they suffer.
2. Describe it Right
Many times, usually in fanfiction, writers over-exaggerate certain injuries.
This partially has to do with the fact that they’ve never experienced that injury before and are just thinking about what it might feel like.
As a girl with two brothers and who often participated in rough play-fights, I can assure you that getting punched is not as painful as you think it is.
(However, it does depend on the area, as well as how hard the punch is, on top of the fact that you have to take into account whether or not the punch broke bones)
I’m reading a high school AU where a character gets punched by a bully (Idk where they got punched it wasn’t stated) and the author is describing it like they’d been shot.
It was to the point where I was like Did the bully have brass knuckles or something????
It was very clear that this author had never been punched before.
When describing the pain of an injury or the injury itself, you have to take into account:
- What object was used to harm the character
- Where the injury is
- How long the character has had the injury
- (For blades) How deep the cut is
- (For blunt force trauma) How hard the hit was
- Whether or not the wound triggers other things (Ex: Concussion, vomiting, dizziness, infection, internal/external bleeding).
There’s also the fact that when some authors described wounds caused by blades such as knives, daggers, and swords, they never take into account the anatomy of a person and which places cause the most blood flow.
Obviously, a cut on your cheek will have less of a blood flow than a cut on your wrist, depending on what the blade hits, and I hope that everyone consults a diagram of veins, capillaries, arteries, etc. when they’re describing blood flow from a certain place.
There’s also the fact that you have to take into account where the blood is coming from. Veins? Arteries?
The blood from arteries will be a brighter red, like vermilion, than the blood from veins, which is the dark crimson everyone likes to talk about.
Not all places gush bright red blood, people!
3. DIFFERENT INJURIES HAVE DIFFERENT KINDS OF PAIN
Here, let me explain.
A punch feels different from a slap.
A broken arm feels different from getting stabbed.
A fall feels different from a dog bite.
I’ll give you a list of all the kinds of things that can be described for the three most common kinds of injuries that happen in stories:
Punch/Blunt Force Trauma
How it feels:
- Aching
- Numbness (In the later stages)
- A single spike of pain before it fades into an ache
- Throbbing
Effects:
- Vomiting (If the character is punched in the gut)
- Swelling
- Bruising
- Broken bones
- Unconsciousness (Blow to the head)
- Dizziness (Blow to the head)
- Concussion (Also a blow to the head)
- Internal bleeding
- Death (In the case of concussions and internal bleeding and broken bones- ribs can pierce lungs)
Stab Wound/Cut
How it feels:
- Stinging (only shallow wounds have just stinging)
- Burning
- With stab wounds, I feel like describing the effects of it make it more powerfully felt by the reader
Effects:
- Bleeding (Consult chart of the circulatory system beforehand for the amount of blood flow that should be described and what color the blood should be)
- Dizziness (Heavy blood loss)
- Unconsciousness
- Infection (if left unattended)
- Death
Gunshot
How it feels:
- Depends on the caliber bullet, from how far away they were shot (point-blank range is nothing like being shot from a distance), and in what place. Do careful research and then make your decision.
Effects:
- Bleeding(Consult chart of the circulatory system beforehand for the amount of blood flow that should be described and what color the blood should be. Also take into effect the above variables for blood flow as well.)
- Dizziness (Heavy blood loss)
- Infection (if left unattended)
- Death
Some things that a character may do while they’re injured:
- Heavy/Harsh/Ragged breathing
- Panting
- Making noises of pain
gasping
grunting
hissing
groaning
whimpering
yelping (when the injury is inflicted)
screaming
shrieking
wailing
- Crying/ Weeping/Sobbing/Etc.
- Clenching their teeth
- Unable to speak
- Pressing their hands against a stab wound/cut to try and stem the bleeding
- Eyesight going out of whack (vision blurring and tilting, the room spinning, black spots consuming sight)
- Eyes rolling up into their head
- Trembling/shaking
- Ears riniging (from gunshot)
HOPE THIS HELPED!
fanfic titles be like “we have not touched the stars (nor are we forgiven)” and then you look at the tags & the first one is “anal fisting”
How to write a kiss
Rebloggable version, as requested by davrosbro. :)
Oooh! Yes! I love kisses. Kisses are where it all starts ;).
Okay, first, remember that a kiss is much, much more than just lips. It is lips, but also tongues, teeth, eyes, faces, hands, noses, bodies, heartbeats, breath, voice- and most importantly, a kiss is emotions. A kiss without emotion is just wet mushy lips stuck together. Ew. Gross. The most important part of a kiss isn’t the how, but the who- because of the emotions between the two people.
Okay so:
lips- Lips can slide, glide over each other smoothly, or they can be chapped and rough and dry and get stuck on each other. They can match, top-to-top and bottom-to-bottom, or they can overlap, with one person’s top or bottom lip captured between the other person’s lips (yummy). If there is lipstick or chapstick there is lipstick or chapstick flavor, otherwise, lips don’t have a taste (can you taste yours?). Lips also can smack- the sound of two of them coming together or pulling apart, because they’re wet and warm and soft.
tongue- Tongues are always wet, and always warm. They’re very versatile. They can trace over lips, teeth, or another tongue. They can be smooth and graceful or teasing and flicking. When tongues are involved, there is drool. It’s only sexy when you like the person you’re kissing, or else it’s kinda gross. :P
teeth- teeth can clack together awkwardly, or teeth can bite down sensually. A person biting their own lip is cute, a person biting another’s lips is sexy. A person biting gently is sensual, a person biting roughly is sexual.
eyes- Eyes can be wide open with surprise, half-lidded with desire, fully closed with pleasure. Eyes can gaze lovingly, lustfully, wistfully, hungrily, seductively- it all depends upon the emotions of your characters. Have them do whatever you like, but don’t leave them out- give them at least a mention!
faces- Faces are what the lips are attached to. Noses bump, cheeks flush, ears turn red, foreheads either wrinkle or relax. Kisses can leave lips, quite easily, and become kisses on chins, cheeks, noses, foreheads, ears, necks, throats. Kisses on noses or foreheads are cute and adorable, kisses on cheeks are sweet, kisses on chins, ears, and throats are very sexual. And a kiss on the lips can be all of those! <3
hands- Hands are super-important. In order to describe a kiss, usually you want to also describe the hands. Where are they? Does one character have their hand behind the other’s head or back, holding them close? Are they on someone’s shoulders pulling them near, or pushing them away? Fingers brushing someone’s cheek or palms grabbing someone’s ass convey two very different kinds of situations, even if the kiss itself is exactly the same.
noses- Noses are annoying. They easily get in the way, especially for first kisses! People have to tilt their head to one side or the other, and if they don’t, noses bump. I’d only mention noses if a kiss is supposed to be awkward or uncertain or nervous.
bodies- bodies are either close together, or far away. Someone can be surrounded comfortingly by someone’s arms, or terrifyingly trapped by them. Bodies are warm or hot, they are calm or nervous, relaxed or tense. Body language says a lot. Is your character pulling away, or moving closer?
heartbeat- Hearts can beat fast or slow, and that’s about all they can do- but there are lots of reasons why they do! A heart can beat fast with fear or excitement or nervousness; a heart can pound with lust or race with terror or sing with joy. Hearts can glow, cower, or shatter. When you really want to drive the emotions of a character home, mention the heart.
breath- To me, the most consuming part of a kiss is the breath. The air that someone else has just breathed going deep into your lungs is very intimate. Lips and tongues don’t have a taste, but breath does. Each person’s breath tastes different, smells different, and surrounds a person differently than anyone else’s breath. Breath can be warm and sweet, breath can be hot and sexy, breath can be hot and frightening. It is something that is very present and should not be left out. A lot of writers leave breath out. And it’s so important; it’s the most intimate part of a kiss. Someone else is breathing into your lungs, and it’s either heaven or it’s hell.
voice- Voice conveys much, even without words. A voice can groan, whimper, gasp, moan, catch, whine, scream, sigh. Voice can convey emotion powerfully, and while some kisses are silent, usually they’re not.
emotion- Emotion is the most important- and the thing you try not to say. You want to describe it, through all of the things above, so that it’s perfectly clear what your characters are feeling, without you ever using the “feelings words”. If they’re in love, their bodies will lean close, their eyes will smile, their voices will giggle softly. If they’re nervous, their palms will sweat, their noses will bump, their voices will shudder. If they’re afraid, their muscles will be tense, their faces will grimace, their lips will not open. Emotion is the color that you keep inside your mind as you write; it’s the base line that drives the description behind everything else you say.
Wow, that was a lot! Gosh I hope it wasn’t too much! Keep in mind not every kiss has all these things- this is just a list of things to consider when writing a kiss, and based on how long of a kiss you want to make. Keep in mind that typing “they kissed for a long time”…that’s six words, it takes half a second to read, so that’s a short kiss! If you want a long kiss, you need long sentences that make the reader linger.
So maybe to start off, pick three things on the list to describe in your first kiss. Don’t try to do it all- that would be too much for even the most epic kiss. Just pick what’s most important to this particular scene, to these particular characters, and describe those parts along with the lips, and you’ve got yourself an awesome, emotional kiss. <3
Opening your WIP document and just staring at it is the writing equivalent to looking into your fridge every few hours.