Sabretooth Tigard

I write fiction; some of it is tame, most of it isn't.

[putthepromptsonpaper]

Writing Prompt

“Just because she’s 8 doesn’t mean she doesn’t do drugs”

[writing-questions-answered]

[sabretoothtigard-blog]

writing-questions-answered:

When Describing a Character DO:

provide enough detail to give the reader a sense of the character’s physical appearance

highlight details that serve as clues to who the character is and perhaps what their life is like

describe clothing to establish character or when relevant to scene

DON’T:

go overboard with too many details or take up too much of the reader’s time describing one character

repetitively describe features or fixate on certain characteristics

describe clothing every time the character shows up unless its somehow relevant to the scene.

describe minor characters’ clothing in-depth unless it’s relevant

Choose a Focal Point When describing a character’s appearance, choose a focal point and work up or down from there. For example, you may describe them from head to toe, or from toe to head. Try not to skip around. If you’re describing their face, start with their hair and work your way down to their mouth, or start at the mouth and work your way up to their hair. Describing Race and Ethnicity There is a lot of debate about the right and wrong way to describe a person’s race. If you want, you can state that a person is Black, white, Hispanic, Native American, First Nations, Latino, Middle-Eastern, Asian, Pacific Islander, etc. Just remember that races are made up of different ethnic groups. Someone of Asian descent could be Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, etc. If you’re describing a character whose ethnicity is unknown or not important to the plot, you could just say that they were Asian or Black, for example. But, the rest of the time you need to be clear about whether they are Chinese, Chinese American, Korean, etc. Also, remember that not all Black people are African-American, such as someone born in England or Haiti, for example. You may instead choose to describe a character’s race through the color of their hair, eyes, and skin. It’s up to you which you feel most comfortable with and is most appropriate for your story. Just remember, if you describe one character’s skin color or otherwise make an issue of their race, you should describe every character’s skin color or race. Describing Clothing Just like with physical appearance, when describing clothing you want to choose a focal point and work up or down. Think about things like the garments they’re wearing (pants, shirt, coat) and accessories (hat, jewelry, shoes). Be sure to choose clothing which are both relevant to your character and to the time and place where your story is set. You can find out about appropriate clothing by Googling the time and place your story is set plus the word clothing: "Clothing in Victorian England" "Clothing in 1960s New York" "9th century Viking clothing" Be sure to look for web sites that aren’t providing cheap Halloween costumes. Shops providing clothes for historical reenactors are often very accurate. Looking for Inspiration There are many resources online for both historical and modern clothing. For historical clothing, you can look for web sites about the period, web sites for or about historical reenactors, or web pages for historical enthusiasts or museums. For modern clothing, you can simply pull up the web site of your favorite department store or clothing designer. Choose an outfit that works for your character, then learn how to describe the relevant parts. Resources for Describing Clothing:

Describing Clothing Describing Clothes Writing Tips on Describing Clothes Describing Clothes and Appearance (If You Should at All) Resources for Garments and Accessories: Shirts Trousers Dress Types of Dress Shorts Briefs Panties Lingerie Bra Swimsuit Pajamas Shoes Coats and Jackets Sweaters Hats Jewelry Sunglasses Sleeves, Necklines, Collars, and Dress Types Scarves for Men Scarf Buying Guide The Ultimate Scarf Tying Guide

Historical Clothing Resources: OMG That Dress! Period Fabric Amazon Dry Goods Reconstructing History Historic Threads Historical Costume Inspiration History of Costume: European Fashion Through the Ages Women’s Fashion Through the Years Clothing in the Ancient World Clothing in Ancient Rome Clothing in Biblical Times Vintage Fashion Guild

Modern Clothing Resources: Clothes on Pinterest Polyvore Fashion Dictionary This is a Fashion Blog What I Wore Fashion is Endless Physical Details Resources: Women’s Body Shapes Men’s Body Shapes Face Shapes Realistic Eye Shape Chart Facial Hair Types How to Describe Women’s Hair Lengths The Ultimate Haircut Guide for Women Men’s Haircuts (Barber Shop Style) A Primer on Men’s Hairstyles Hair Color Obsidian Bookshelf Hair Color Obsidian Bookshelf Eye Color Skin Color Chart Curl and Texture Chart Writing with Color: Guide to Skin Color, Part I and Part II

[nimblesnotebook-blog]

[sabretoothtigard-blog]

thewritingcafe:

Forms of Literature:

Narrative: Involves writings of events, either fictional or nonfictional.

Novel: A long fictional story.

Novelette: Shorter than a novella. Sometimes considered the same as a novella.

Novella: Longer than a short story, but shorter than a novel.

Poem: Uses aesthetics and rhythm in writing.

Short Fiction:

Drabble: Exactly 100 words long.

Flash: Shorter than 1000 words.

Micro: Less than 300 words.

Six Word: Six words long.

Short Story: A brief story.

Genres:

Fiction:

Adult

New Adult: Intended for readers aged 18-25.

Adventure: Often grouped with action, adventure is a genre that involves high risk and excitement. Indian Jones is an example.

Brit Lit: Literature associated with the UK.

Children’s

Chapter Books: Children’s chapter books are right under middle grade books, but are shorter and may have illustrations (not just with a chapter title). The chapters are short to keep the attention of the reader. The audience is between 6 and 10-years-old.

Early Readers: These are similar to picture books, but the reading is simpler and the text is often large. The audience is between 4 and 8-years-old.

Picture Books: Picture books are heavily illustrated, but are not meant for children to read alone because while they can understand the words, they may not be able to read them. A parent, teacher, or other adult is intended to read picture books aloud. However, some books are aimed at adults (like Go the Fuck to Sleep)

Crime

Courtroom Drama: Takes place in a courtroom, usually centering on the lawyers.

Crime Mystery: Self-explanatory.

Gangster: Involves gangs, the mob, or the mafia. The Godfather is an example.

Fantasy (guide to writing fantasy and world building)

Alternate World: A setting that is not our world, but may be similar. This includes “portal fantasies” in which characters find an alternative world through their own. An example would be The Chronicles of Narnia.

Arabian: Fantasy that is based on the Middle East and North Africa.

Arthurian: Set in Camelot.

Bangsian: Set in the afterlife or deals heavily with the afterlife. It most often deals with famous and historical people as characters. An example could be The Lovely Bones.

Celtic: Fantasy that is based on the Celtic people, most often the Irish.

Christian: This genre has Christian themes and elements.

Classical: Based on Roman and Greek myths.

Contemporary: This genre takes place in modern society in which paranormal and magical creatures live among us. An example would be the Harry Potter series.

Dark: This genre combines fantasy and horror elements. The tone or feel of dark fantasy is often gloomy, bleak, and gothic.

Epic: This genre is long and, as the name says, epic. Epic is similar to high fantasy, but has more importance, meaning, or depth. Epic fantasy is most often in a medieval setting.

Gaslamp: Also known as gaslight, this genre has a Victorian or Edwardian setting.

Gunpowder: Gunpowder crosses epic or high fantasy with “rifles and railroads”, but the technology remains realistic unlike the similar genre of steampunk.

Heroic: Centers on one or more heroes who start out as humble, unlikely heroes thrown into a plot that challenges them.

High: This is considered the “classic” fantasy genre. High fantasy contains the general fantasy elements and is set in a fictional world.

Historical: The setting in this genre is any time period within our world that has fantasy elements added.

Medieval: Set between ancient times and the industrial era. Often set in Europe and involves knights. (medieval references)

Mythic: Fantasy involving or based on myths, folklore, and fairy tales.

Quest: As the name suggests, the protagonist in this genre sets out on a quest. The protagonist most frequently searches for an object of importance and returns home with it.

Sword and Sorcery: Pseudomedieval settings in which the characters use swords and engage in action-packed plots. Magic is also an element, as is romance.

Urban: Has a modern or urban setting in which magic and paranormal creatures exist, often in secret.

Wuxia: A genre in which the protagonist learns a martial art and follows a code. This genre is popular in Chinese speaking areas.

Historical

Alternate Universe: Answers the “what if” question in regards to historical events and how they affected the future.

Period Piece: The most common of historical novels takes place in the past, most often a well-known period in time.

Slave Narrative: Inspired by the true stories written by former slaves, this genre involves the fictional story of a former slave.

Aliens: Also a sub-genre of sci-fi, this genre involves aliens being the central horror of the story. Signs is an example.

Creepy Children: In which children creepy and/or mysterious.

Gothic: Has a dark tone. Edgar Allen Poe wrote gothic.

Haunting: Involves hauntings of some sort.

Noir: The characters in this genre are mysterious, gritty, and cynical as is the setting.

Paranormal: Involves paranormal or supernatural elements, such as vampires.

Middle Grade

Lower Middle Grade: Similar to chapter books, but may be more advanced. Intended for children seven to nine-years-old.

Middle Grade: Intended for children eight to twelve-years-old.

Upper Middle Grade: The bridge between middle grade and young adult. Intended for children ten to fourteen-years-old.

Amateur Investigator: In which the protagonist is not associated with the law or authority.

Cozy: Set in a small town with an amateur female investigator.

Hard-boiled: Often involve a private investigator who is a male anti-hero as the protagonist. The setting is most often urban and the content violent or dark.

Police Procedural: Inovles those associated with the law solving crimes and murders.

Political

Dystopian: The setting is scary or hostile, often with a powerful government.

Utopian: The opposite of dystopian.

Clockpunk: Similar to steampunk in technology and fashion, but focuses more on clockwork and gears in designs.

Cyberpunk: Has advanced technology and often focuses on artificial intelligence and the cyber world. The setting is often near-future rather than far-future. Blade Runner is an example.

Dieselpunk: Based on aesthetics and technology between World War I and World War II.

Splatterpunk: Extremely graphic and contains a lot of gore.

Steampunk: This genre gets its name from the heavy steam-powered technology involved. Aesthetics are based on the Victorian and industrial eras.

Western Steampunk: Similar to steampunk, but with Western (as in Wild West) aesthetics.

Romance

Americana: This genre takes place in Midwestern US towns, usually in small towns during the early 1900s.

Baby Love: This genre is defined by its characters: A single mother with a male love interest.

Contemporary: Set in present day.

Erotic: Involves romance with a heavy focus on sexual activities.

Gay and Lesbian: Romance between non-heterosexual characters.

Historical: Romance set in the past, usually in a well-known period.

Paranormal: Romance that takes place in a setting that involves the paranormal or supernatural. Twilight is an example.

Science Fiction

Apocalyptic: The setting of this genre is in an apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic world where survivors endure the aftermath of the “end of the world”.

Astrobiology: This genre focuses on alien life more than science and technology.

Hard Sci-fi: Places an emphasis on the scientific details, accuracy, and plausibility.

Kaiju: A Japanese genre that involves a monster. Godzilla is an example.

Lost Worlds: The setting for this genre is a mysterious place, usually an island. Lost is an example of this.

Robot: Self-explanatory.

Soft Sci-fi: Based on soft sciences or has less of an emphasis on science.

Space Opera: This genre is defined by adventures in space. Star Trek, Star Wars, and Firefly are all space operas.

Time Travel: Self-explanatory.

Western Sci-fi: Science fiction that incorporates western settings and culture. Firefly is an example.

Thriller

Crime: Crime fiction, but with a thriller or suspense element.

Psychological: This genre has a slow build up and focuses on the emotional and psychological state of the characters throughout the story.

Slasher: Involves a killer, most often a serial killer.

Survivor: Focuses on one or more characters placed in a situation in which they struggle to survive.

Black Cowboy: Has a POC as the protagonist. Another name for this genre is Buffalo Soldier.

Bounty Hunter: Pretty much speaks for itself, but the characters are usually morally ambiguous.

Gunfighter: This is one of the classic westerns. It’s usually a force of good vs evil and involves a showdown at noon and a fight in a saloon (or something like that).

Outlaw: This focuses on the villains; the outlaws and bandits.

Wagon Train: Basically Oregon Trail.

Young Adult: This genre is intended for teenagers, but the age range will vary based on the topics and themes explored.

Non Fiction:

Autobiography: In which the author writes about his or her life.

Biography: In which the author writes about someone else’s life.

Memoir: A collection of events in one’s life.

Narrative: Similar to an autobiography, but written in the form of a story.

Other:

ARC: Stands for Adavnced Reading Copy. A copy of a book released to readers before the actual release date for review.

Literary Agent: Represents writers and their work, sends work to publishers and producers for consideration, and handles or assists contracts, sales, and negotiations.

Manuscript: The original text.

Pseudonym: A false name a person writes under. Pennames and Aliases

Query Letter: A formal letter sent to literary agents and publishers as a request to represent or publish a literary work. Query Letter References

Synopsis: A summary of a literary work. Can be short or long. Writing a Synopsis

More Literary Terms

Word Count Guidelines

[untrustyou]

[untrustyou]

Azim Haidaryan

[sabretoothtigard-blog]

Photo Prompt

[untrustyou]

[untrustyou]

Lukas Furlan

[sabretoothtigard-blog]

Photo Prompt

[untrustyou]

[untrustyou]

Mir Leah

[promptly-written]

Promptly-Written Photo Prompt: Old Liberty

Artist credit: Steve McGhee

[lucy-likes-to-dream]

untitled by Brendon Burton on Flickr.

[writingwithcolor]

Words to Describe Hair

This began as a guide to describing Afro/curly hair but of course, I got carried away. From look and texture of hair, colors and various styles, this guide serves as a thesaurus of sorts for hair, as well as pointers for use in your writing.

Culturally Significant Hair Coverings:

Know the meaning behind head wear and why it’s worn, when and by whom, such as a Native Nation’s headdress, before bestowing a character with it.

Head Coverings Resources:

More on various head coverings.

See here for more Islamic Veils. 

See here for more on the Nigerian gele.

See here on African American Headwraps. 

View our hijab and headscarves tags for discussion on these topics.

Afro - Curly - Straightened

There are many varieties of braids, twists & Afro hair styles; have some more!

African/Black Hair: Natural, Braids and Locks

African Hair: Braiding Styles 10 African Types

Describing Black (Afro) hair:

Appropriative Hairstyles: Keep in mind that Afro styles should be kept to those in the African Diaspora, such as dreadlocks, cornrows + certain and many braided styles.

Tread carefully describing Afro hair as "wild" "unkempt" “untamed” or any words implying it’s unclean or requires controlling.

“Nappy” and “wooly” are generally words to stay away from, the first having heavy negative connotations for many and the latter, though used in the Holy Bible, is generally not acceptable anymore and comes off as dehumanizing due to Animal connotations.

There are mixed feelings on calling Black hair “kinky.” I’m personally not opposed to the word in itself and usage depends on the person’s race (I’m more comfortable with a Black person using it vs. a Non-Black person) as well as their tone and context (if it’s used in a neutral or positive tone vs. negatively/with disdain). Get feedback on your usage, or simply forgo it.

See our tags "Black Hair" and "Natural Hair" for more discussion on describing Black hair.

Texture - Look - Styles

Hair Colors and Style

Writing Tips & Things to Keep in Mind:

Combination Words: Try combing words to illustrate look of hair. A character with springy coils that dance across her shoulders with every movement, the man with thick silvery hair slicked back into a ponytail…

Mind Perspective: Depending on POV, a character might not know exactly what cornrows or a coiffure style is, at least in name, and it might make more sense if they described the hairdo instead. More defining terms might come from a more knowing source or the wearer themselves. One book I read described a girl’s afro puff as "thick hair pulled up into a cute, curly, poufy thing on top of her head and tied with a yellow ribbon.”

POC & Hair Colors: People of Color’s hair comes in all shades and textures. There are Black people with naturally blond and loosely-textured to straight hair, East Asian people with red hair, and so on. Keep that in mind when coding characters if you tend to rely on hair color alone to denote a character is white vs. a Person of Color.

Related Tropes: There are tropes and discussion related to People of Color, colored hair, and light-colored hair and features. 

Check out these posts on the topic: The East Asian Women + Colored Hair Trope - Black Characters & “Wild” Hair Colors - POC w/ Supernatural Colorful Features. - ‘Uncommon’ Features & POC Characters

~Mod Colette

[sabretoothtigard-blog]

character inspiration - BJ Novak

[sabretoothtigard-blog]

character inspiration - Joe Thomas

[sabretoothtigard-blog]

character inspiration - Robert Webb

[untrustyou]

Gregory Crewdson

[forelskethereal]

Visit Original Link

{ tindersticks }

trouble every day

[sabretoothtigard-blog]

Tindersticks for inspiration

[sabretoothtigard-blog]

Prompts

"Money can't buy happiness."

"When was the last time you had sex?"

"What are you smiling about?"

"Human beings are designed for many things. Loneliness isn't one of them."

"I don't trust friendly women."

"I love you because you did the right thing, and I admire your bravery."

"You'll never prove it."

"I don't like lies."

"You look so pretty. I hardly recognize you."

"Return the shoes? I can't talk to you when you're hysterical."

"It was an accident."

"Good friends offer to help in a crisis, great friends don't take no for an answer."

"You think I'm crazy."

[putthepromptsonpaper]

Writing prompt

“For once I like the face I see in my reflection. If only it was actually mine”

[untrustyou]

[untrustyou]

Ryan Reisert - Dreaming in Red