Pastel Thoughts

Minors DNI (Do Not Interact). By following this blog, you confirm you are 18+. I am not responsible for minors who ignore this disclaimer.

[molabuddy]

really specific trope i like that i feel like can only be explained in a diagram

[innerenvoyvessel]

Advice for writing I figured out along the way part 3:

• Characters:

- Don't describe their full appearance right away or at first meeting, but let the characters note casually something of the others in different moments. Let the readers puzzle together the appearance of your characters.

- There's no need to explain the heritage or backstory of a character unless the situation/plot really needs for the explanation/lore.

- Multiple Character Arcs/developments. A must.

- Trauma should have psychological effects that don't disappear with only a pep talk.

- Don't put internal monologues during a fight.

- Make injuries realistic, if it's fatal the character shouldn't be able to get up with the power of determination/plot armor. Unless they are supernatural/magical they should survive by the skin of their teeth and continue later on.

- Don't repeat death experiences too much, or at least make them have permanent consequences, force the character into teamwork or creative thinking, or make the character find a way to make up the weakness.

- Don't describe the outfit of the character everytime they change unless it's something really special.

- It's okay if the protagonist dies. They can become the inspiration for their comrades or a new protagonist later on. If the protagonist survives everything it eventually becomes predictable and the reader might skip the fight entirely because they already know they either always win or survive for a rematch.

- Don't make the characters too perfect. They need to have flaws, both light and serious. It's okay if it causes fights or the flaw is hated by the character himself (without being self-hatred) or by the others. And if the character needs to correct it, they need to put time and effort for it, and it's okay to have a few slip ups here and there.

Take this with a grain of salt, I'm not a professional writer. This is just how I figured things out for my comfort but people can do what they want.

[innerenvoyvessel]

Advice for writing I figured out along the way part 2:

• Worldbuilding:

- Don't cram all the context lore in the first chapters, but spread a bit of it in everything, so there's always something new/interesting to discover.

- Don't explain too much of the lore of objects/mechanics/history/places right away without prompting, let the characters discover/explain them themselves slowly along the way.

- Don't explain the dangers before the characters are in danger.

- Don't make mile-long descriptions of the appearance of everything at first sight.

- Let some things remain unknown so you can either mislead the reader later or let them make theories.

Take this with a grain of salt, I'm not a professional writer. This is just how I figured things out for my comfort, people can do what they want.

[innerenvoyvessel]

Advice for writing I figured out along the way part 1:

• Don't follow a rigid update schedule. Life and mental health are unpredictable and a schedule might just give you anxiety and rush to finish a chapter, or make you feel like it's a chore.

• If you can, plan how the beginning, middle and end of the fanfic are going to go first, instead of coming up with the plot one chapter at a time.

• Write a backlog of chapters before posting anything so you have time to both edit and write new ones.

• If you are your own editor don't fix your draft right away, wait a bit and look at it with a fresh mind later, it makes it easier to notice not only grammar mistakes but also sentences that don't make sense. It's okay if you take more than a week to edit.

• If you feel your writing is basic it's okay to look at writing tips or a dictionary for a better sentence's structure and adjectives.

Take this with a grain of salt, I'm not a professional writer. This is just how I figured things out for my comfort, people can do what they want.

[innerenvoyvessel]

Kids these days have no right to be terrifying.

I often see on the news minors pulling out knifes or guns for no reason other than greed or cruelty.

I don't want to be scared to leave my house but Fucking God does it make me a bit paranoid.

[innerenvoyvessel]

Ants are so annoying >:(

And so fast too, I can't cut bread without them appearing two seconds later.

I live on the third floor where are they coming from!?

Someone knows ways to deal with ants?

[innerenvoyvessel]

I don't care if it's fiction, don't. touch. the. animal.

I understand sometimes it's because it's content with dark humor or horror but it breaks my heart when the dog (or whatever animal) gets killed 😭

[innerenvoyvessel]

Or the baby.

Don't kill the baby, toddler, child.

Or old people, the ones who looks like the picture of kind grandparents and are so fragile a gust of wind might kill them.

[innerenvoyvessel]

My parents being nosy vs a stranger being nosy

The difference is that if a stranger judges me I can call them every insult under the sun.

If my parents look at what I do I can't insult them without being in trouble and my feelings get hurt because I care about them.

I know it makes me a bitch being defensive when they're just curious but they already disappointed me enough as is, I don't want to be judged for my hobbies too.

[innerenvoyvessel]

You're having a conversation.

You're having fun.

You make a joke.

They (still joking) respond with a more agitated tone.

Your fucking anxiety is scaring you into almost leaving because you think they are angry at you and that you messed up and said something out of line.

You ask if they are angry at you.

They say no, they were just joking.

You sigh with relief and shame for panicking.

[innerenvoyvessel]

POV: your friend shows you a photo of her crush.

Friend: Isn't he hot?! :D

Me: He isn't ugly but like, what do you see in him?

Friend: He's hot!! :D

Me: And?

Friend: That's it :)

Me:

[innerenvoyvessel]

I hope whatever job I will eventually get gives me enough time to be lazy at home.

I want to do/start hobbies you know?

[innerenvoyvessel]

Watching calligraphy or "how to make neat notes" videos always makes me want to go study just so I can get the urge of writing on paper out of my system.

I have so many pens waiting to be used and completely full of ink.

I still suck at making notes tho.

[totallynotsilversora]

I forgot I have to be active here so here’s my Twitter tutorial on how to draw folds I made a while back to help a friend!

[hayatheauthor]

100 Dialogue Tags You Can Use Instead of “Said”

For the writers struggling to rid themselves of the classic ‘said’. Some are repeated in different categories since they fit multiple ones (but those are counted once so it adds up to 100 new words). 

1. Neutral Tags 

Straightforward and unobtrusive dialogue tags: 

Added, Replied, Stated, Remarked, Responded, Observed, Acknowledged, Commented, Noted, Voiced, Expressed, Shared, Answered, Mentioned, Declared.

2. Questioning Tags 

Curious, interrogative dialogue tags:

Asked, Queried, Wondered, Probed, Inquired, Requested, Pondered, Demanded, Challenged, Interjected, Investigated, Countered, Snapped, Pleaded, Insisted.

3. Emotive Tags 

Emotional dialogue tags:

Exclaimed, Shouted, Sobbed, Whispered, Cried, Hissed, Gasped, Laughed, Screamed, Stammered, Wailed, Murmured, Snarled, Choked, Barked.

4. Descriptive Tags 

Insightful, tonal dialogue tags: 

Muttered, Mumbled, Yelled, Uttered, Roared, Bellowed, Drawled, Spoke, Shrieked, Boomed, Snapped, Groaned, Rasped, Purred, Croaked.

5. Action-Oriented Tags 

Movement-based dialogue tags: 

Announced, Admitted, Interrupted, Joked, Suggested, Offered, Explained, Repeated, Advised, Warned, Agreed, Confirmed, Ordered, Reassured, Stated.

6. Conflict Tags 

Argumentative, defiant dialogue tags:

Argued, Snapped, Retorted, Rebuked, Disputed, Objected, Contested, Barked, Protested, Countered, Growled, Scoffed, Sneered, Challenged, Huffed.

7. Agreement Tags 

Understanding, compliant dialogue tags: 

Agreed, Assented, Nodded, Confirmed, Replied, Conceded, Acknowledged, Accepted, Affirmed, Yielded, Supported, Echoed, Consented, Promised, Concurred.

8. Disagreement Tags 

Resistant, defiant dialogue tags: 

Denied, Disagreed, Refused, Argued, Contradicted, Insisted, Protested, Objected, Rejected, Declined, Countered, Challenged, Snubbed, Dismissed, Rebuked.

9. Confused Tags 

Hesitant, uncertain dialogue tags:

Stammered, Hesitated, Fumbled, Babbled, Mumbled, Faltered, Stumbled, Wondered, Pondered, Stuttered, Blurted, Doubted, Confessed, Vacillated.

10. Surprise Tags

Shock-inducing dialogue tags:

Gasped, Stunned, Exclaimed, Blurted, Wondered, Staggered, Marvelled, Breathed, Recoiled, Jumped, Yelped, Shrieked, Stammered.

Note: everyone is entitled to their own opinion. No I am NOT telling people to abandon said and use these. Yes I understand that said is often good enough, but sometimes you WANT to draw attention to how the character is speaking. If you think adding an action/movement to your dialogue is 'good enough' hate to break it to you but that ruins immersion much more than a casual 'mumbled'. And for the last time: this is just a resource list, CALM DOWN. Hope that covers all the annoyingly redundant replies :)

Looking For More Writing Tips And Tricks? 

Check out the rest of Quillology with Haya; a blog dedicated to writing and publishing tips for authors!

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[writingmaz]

Writing Tips

Punctuating Dialogue

✧

➸ “This is a sentence.”

➸ “This is a sentence with a dialogue tag at the end,” she said.

➸ “This,” he said, “is a sentence split by a dialogue tag.”

➸ “This is a sentence,” she said. “This is a new sentence. New sentences are capitalized.”

➸ “This is a sentence followed by an action.” He stood. “They are separate sentences because he did not speak by standing.”

➸ She said, “Use a comma to introduce dialogue. The quote is capitalized when the dialogue tag is at the beginning.”

➸ “Use a comma when a dialogue tag follows a quote,” he said.

“Unless there is a question mark?” she asked.

“Or an exclamation point!” he answered. “The dialogue tag still remains uncapitalized because it’s not truly the end of the sentence.”

➸ “Periods and commas should be inside closing quotations.”

➸ “Hey!” she shouted. “Sometimes exclamation points are inside quotations.”

However, if it’s not dialogue exclamation points can also be “outside”!

➸ “Does this apply to question marks too?” he asked.

If it’s not dialogue, can question marks be “outside”? (Yes, they can.)

➸ “This applies to dashes too. Inside quotations dashes typically express—“

“Interruption” — but there are situations dashes may be outside.

➸ “You’ll notice that exclamation marks, question marks, and dashes do not have a comma after them. Ellipses don’t have a comma after them either…” she said.

➸ “My teacher said, ‘Use single quotation marks when quoting within dialogue.’”

➸ “Use paragraph breaks to indicate a new speaker,” he said.

“The readers will know it’s someone else speaking.”

➸ “If it’s the same speaker but different paragraph, keep the closing quotation off.

“This shows it’s the same character continuing to speak.”

[innerenvoyvessel]

I grew up being told by my parents I had anger issues.

Denial when you're a young emotional child who hasn't learned to react composed yet just gives them a point.

It's not nice getting told I was like a demon, needed an exorcism, that my tongue was like a rifle when I lost my temper and shot venom, or getting called a Mastuggiorgio.

I was a little kid you know? It made me think they hated me. And I hated them in turn.

My family isn't even religious.

[innerenvoyvessel]

Someone else has a bitch voice?

It's like a resting bitch face only it's your voice.

I knew people who grew up having the voice of a cartoon character.

My voice seems perpetually angry to everyone else but me.

It's something I grew into with puberty and it stuck into adulthood, because despite being told I had anger issues since I was 7 it was never because my voice made me seem angry when I really wasn't.