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#/ / helena #THIS!! IS!! LITERALLY!! HER!!

SECRETS MASTERLIST

i think we’re all tired of having our characters have the same dirty little secrets. so here are some realistic secrets you can use for your characters. i am putting an overall trigger and mature warning on this. they’re in the sections of: lighthearted, hardcore, family, involving others, criminal, embarrassing, sexual, romantic, and other..

scared your secret isn’t creative - change it up! it mentions drugs? change it to sex or alcohol. something mentions family? turn that into a romantic secret! the options are endless if you change details.

Keep reading

#/ / resources

Words to describe someone's voice

adenoidal: if someone’s voice is adenoidal, some of the sound seems to come through their nose

appealing: an appealing look, voice etc shows that you want help, approval, or agreement

breathy: with loud breathing noises

brittle: if you speak in a brittle voice, you sound as if you are about to cry

croaky: if someone’s voice sounds croaky, they speak in a low rough voice that sounds as if they have a sore throat

dead: if someone’s eyes are dead, or if their voice is dead, they feel or show no emotion

disembodied: a disembodied voice comes from someone who you cannot see

flat: spoken in a voice that does not go up and down. This word is often used for describing the speech of people from a particular region.

fruity: a fruity voice or laugh is deep and strong in a pleasant way

grating: a grating voice, laugh, or sound is unpleasant and annoying

gravelly: a gravelly voice sounds low and rough

gruff: a gruff voice has a rough low sound

guttural: a guttural sound is deep and made at the back of your throat

high-pitched: a high-pitched voice or sound is very high

hoarse: someone who is hoarse or has a hoarse voice speaks in a low rough voice, usually because their throat is sore

honeyed: honeyed words or a honeyed voice sound very nice but you cannot trust the person who is speaking

husky: a husky voice is deep and sounds hoarse (=as if you have a sore throat), often in an attractive way

low adjective: a low voice or sound is quiet and difficult to hear

low adverb: in a deep voice, or with a deep sound

matter-of-fact: used about someone’s behaviour or voice

modulated: a modulated voice is controlled and pleasant to listen to

monotonous: a monotonous sound or voice is boring and unpleasant because it does not change in loudness or become higher or lower

nasal: someone with a nasal voice sounds as if they are speaking through their nose

orotund: an orotund voice is loud and clear

penetrating: a penetrating voice or sound is so high or loud that it makes you slightly uncomfortable

plummy: a plummy voice or way of speaking is considered to be typical of an English person of a high social class. This word shows that you dislike people who speak like this.

quietly: in a quiet voice

raucous: a raucous voice or noise is loud and sounds rough

ringing: a ringing sound or voice is very loud and clear

rough: a rough voice is not soft and is unpleasant to listen to

shrill: a shrill noise or voice is very loud, high, and unpleasant

silvery: a silvery voice or sound is clear, light, and pleasant

singsong: if you speak in a singsong voice, your voice rises and falls in a musical way

small: a small voice or sound is quiet

smoky: a smoky voice or smoky eyes are sexually attractive in a slightly mysterious way

softly spoken: someone who is softly spoken has a quiet gentle voice

sotto voce adjective, adverb: in a very quiet voice

stentorian: a stentorian voice sounds very loud and severe

strangled: a strangled sound is one that someone stops before they finish making it

strangulated: strangled

strident: a strident voice or sound is loud and unpleasant

taut: used about something such as a voice or expression that shows someone is nervous or angry

thick: if your voice is thick with an emotion, it sounds less clear than usual because of the emotion

thickly: with a low voice that comes mostly from your throat

thin: a thin voice or sound is high and unpleasant to listen to

throaty: a throaty sound is low and seems to come from deep in your throat

tight: a tight voice or expression shows that you are nervous or annoyed

toneless: a toneless voice does not express any emotion

tremulous: if something such as your voice or smile is tremulous, it is not steady, for example because you are afraid or excited

wheezy: a wheezy noise sounds as if it is made by someone who has difficulty breathing

wobbly: if your voice is wobbly, it goes up and down, usually because you are frightened, not confident, or are going to cry

#/ / resources

touchofstrange-rp-archive

How to Easily Write 500+ Word Replies

Long paras are a staple of TOS, but we know it can get a little intimidating when you don’t know how to match the colossal para you just got, or that 500 word limit is just a little too far away. So we’ve compiled a series of tips to make replying to someone that much easier, and ultimately, hopefully, to help make more confident writers. Obviously none of these are rule rules, just advice to give for a spin when you do get stuck.

Try to give your rp partner 3 active things to respond to. An explicit action, dialogue (asking questions is great), or a change in the environment worth commenting on. This is especially important in the starter, because replying to starters that only have one thing to respond to is hard. The more you give in the starter, the easier your next reply is. If you’re the one replying, make sure to respond to what your partner gives you, both verbal and nonverbal, active and passive. If both players are actively making sure there’s plenty for their para partner to respond to, you’re making it easier for the both of you to reply in much longer ways.

Ask for more to work with! It really is okay, and most people won’t have an issue writing a couple more sentences to help you out, or give you a description your character can respond to– especially if you’re in their character’s office or something like that. You can also ask if it’s okay to progress to the next plot point if you have something planned out, or if you can introduce a new element altogether. Communication is the bomb.

Describe the other character. You can obviously do this in one big chunk in one para, or space it out. We don’t mean like “He was wearing blue clothes”, but rather, how does their appearance affect your character’s opinion of them? Do they think her clothes are as disorganized as she must be? Does their abuse of the color yellow put your character off? Does he look as tired as your character does, and what could that mean. We all judge people by their appearances, and those judgements depend on how much you like the person, and don’t have to be right in reality or wrong. It’s also a really cool way to show character development and their connection changing over time if the way you describe someone changes. Someone who at first may come across as haughty may later be interpreted as nervous, and it’s fun to play with that.

Additionally, if a character is disabled don’t be afraid of mentioning that in your writing or having a character interact with that aspect of the other character. If you’re not familiar with something or some aspect of a character and are maybe afraid of being offensive, don’t be afraid to look things up or ask the other player for some more information. Your character might not always be 100% PC and that’s okay. Just be sure to use appropriate trigger warnings when that’s the case.

Have a plan. Long paras can go on for a long time, and sometimes it’s hard to know when to dash or how to keep it in one timeline. Even if the plan is as vague as “They fight. She wins.” If you have a vague idea how it ends, you can base future interactions on it while you’re still writing it. It also helps with inspiration. If you could go anywhere it’s harder to pick which way to go. When you have a destination in mind you know heading East will get you there faster than going West will.

Is your character someone who looks forward or looks back? Having them reminisce and connect the current situation to the past is a great way to slide in your neat little headcanons and give everyone perspective on your character’s motive. If they’re looking forward, how does this link to their future, what they want? For example, someone who wants a relationship someday talking to a “taken” character– how does the relationship they perceive match up with what they want of their relationship, and how doesn’t it? This can also help build tension or specific dynamics, and, when use consistently, introduces new characteristics.

Use your setting. It’s there, it’s around you. It can help build mood through language choices and details, or show how your character feels in certain environments, as well as drive plot points. Maybe they’re really chilled out outside, and agitated in an office. Maybe meeting new people makes them want to examine a leaf on a nearby tree. Maybe there are glowing eyes in the forest nearby that are kinda freaking one character out while the other is oblivious. By doing so, you’re making them real people in a real place, not a person detached from reality in an endless void, or someone obviously pasted onto a CGI background. The world is real to them; make it real to you.

Write in a word document or something and make the font size 8, single-spaced. Not advisable for those with bad eyesight, but it’s kind of a neat way to trick your brain into writing more. 500+ words looks and feels like a lot less when it’s tiny. Then you make it big and… hey, when did you write that much?

Sometimes starting is the hardest part. Try having a word war with yourself– write for 10 - 15 minutes straight, no pauses, no editing. Once you’re in the groove, you’re more likely to keep going, and you’ll have a good chunk of it done. Try this.

Try not writing in order! When you read a para, try writing down your immediate responses– a dialogue, a thought, an action– and then building around it. It also helps having a framework. Say you make 6 bullet points of things to say/do/think. You write about 85 words on each bullet point minimum, you’ve got it down pat, and make sure you’ve remembered to include things for your partner to reply to. The first sentence chronologically can be the last one you write, and things can always be rearranged or changed.

Try waiting to read replies you receive until you can reply yourself. Some people are the planning types and need 24+ hours to mull over the kind of response they want to write, and that’s fine! However, reading a nice reply that gives you things to play off of can give you an immediate surge of ideas and inspiration that dwindles the longer you wait to get typing. If you’re the second type of person, then waiting to read the reply until you know you can write yours might result in increased productivity and flow of ideas.

Don’t get hung up on using colorful language or describing details. Try using the first word that comes to mind, because 99% of the time, it’ll be the best and most genuine choice, and it means not getting stuck in one place and needing to find your groove again. You have something you want to accomplish with your reply, so do that and fill in the other details around it afterwards. Editing can always come later.

Use the Plot/Character/Mood rule. This ties into other advice listed, but it’s a great way to decide whether something is relevant or filler. If you’re worldbuilding, character building, advancing the plot, or showing the mood, it isn’t filler; it’s building a story.

Ultimately, practice makes perfect. The more you do it, and the more often you do it, the easier it becomes. The more it gets put off, the harder it looks and the harder it becomes. We hope that with these tips, 500 words feel less like an unclimbable mountain, and more like a molehill.

Some more awesome guides:

Tips and Advice for Describing Characters

Better Prompts, Starters, and Beginnings

Showing vs Telling

Exercises to Improve Writing

Writer’s Block Flow Chart

Tips for Writer’s Block

Roleplay Insecurities

TOS Specific Plot Ideas

#/ / resources

clevergirlhelps

How to write an effective fight scene?

Know what’s going on. Alternately, keep track of all your body parts. It’s astounding how many heroes can punch the villain in the face while they’re locked in a death grip. Where did that extra arm come from? If you must, borrow a really good friend and make them walk through it with you. Offer baked goods as an incentive. You should also learn about actually fighting, and for that, you should check out this blog. Also, keep track of the environment. Is it icy? Someone’s going to slip. Dusty? An excellent diversion if cast in someone’s eyes. Woodland? Someone is going to trip over a log/be bashed into a tree/impaled with a stick.

Descriptions should be simple. This is possibly the worst place for purple prose. Fight scenes should be fast and exciting, and contain a smooth flow of action or ideas. Extraneous words will really weigh down your scene. I want to read about hitting and breaking bones and stuff, not about how blue the sky is (although for some reason colors always seem more vivid after I’ve had a few knocks).

There are three kinds of fights. The one where everyone is evenly match, the one where you own the battlefield, and the one where you get your ass handed to you. You can usually tell which one it’s going to be in the opening blows. Write your character’s emotions and approach to the fight accordingly. For example, if the character knows they’re about to lose horrendously, they might just throw themselves into it in an effort to make something of themselves before they’re pounded into the dust.

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