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“I’m always in between things. Always between sadness and okayness. Always between dying and living. Always between love and apathy. Always between healing and bleeding. Always between hope and despair. Always between reality and poetry. If I don’t belong anywhere then where the fuck am I?”

— Juansen Dizon, Alienation

The book I am currently reading. It's wonderful. Jennifer Niven's right that this book touched your heart in some way and I am very glad I bought this. It's fall in love at first sight.

#seeyouinthecosmos #jackcheng #books #tumblrbooks #bibliophile #plants #bookish #vscocam #vsco #vscoedits

i-wrotethisforme

The most attractive thing you could show someone is effort & the most important thing you could give someone is time.

thethoughtfulbitch

Your 20s are your most important years. No matter what you do, please don’t wait around. Go out. Meet new people. Decide what you like, whom you like. Love new things. Make new favourites. Spend a night below the stars. Spend a night alone. Spend another with friends. Watch that new show. Listen to that old song. Love that blonde girl. You don’t have to talk to a lot of people to be exploring. Just talk with the right ones. Ignore the ones you don’t like. Your life is going to be a small affair. Don’t involve people who will try to push their feet into your world. Make it a family thing. Go get your girl. No matter what the world says, you are 20 years old and you are only 20 once. You will never see the colours as bright as now. You will never fall in love as hard as now. People will tell you that you’ll move on, find someone easy. Well, tell them to fuck off.

Youth, Cardia

youfoundmeintheconstellatio-blog

I just want to cry

I will and always be never enough and I want to be, at least for someone.

#poetry #poets on tumblr #prose poetry #spilled thoughts #spilled ink #spilled words #spilled poetry #poetrycommunity

svnflower-blog

I want to live simply. I want to sit by the window when it rains and read books I’ll never be tested on. I want to paint because I want to, not because I’ve got something to prove. I want to listen to my body, fall asleep when the moon is high and wake up slowly, with no place to rush off to. I want not to be governed by money or clocks or any of the artificial restraints that humanity imposes on itself. I just want to be, boundless and infinite.

she-who-fights-and-writes

Tips On How to Write Characters with Wings (For both fanfic writers and original content writers)

So I’ve been reading a lot of fics lately where people are either

A) Putting wings onto canon characters

B) Making OCs with wings

So I decided that, with the influx of people who are writing winged characters (and therefore the influx of errors that come with writing winged characters), I’d make a little thing to help you slap a pair of wings onto anyone!

This is also a bit personal, too, because the MC in my upcoming novel has wings!

1. Know that there are a lot of types of wings to choose from

Part of being a writer is the desire to take something (whether it be a pre-existing work or an idea in your head) and make it into your own. So, instead of just going with the classic bird wings, why not spice it up a bit? If your character is an angel, you certainly don’t have to stick to the classic depictions of angel wings. Why not give them butterfly wings or dragonfly wings?

Here’s a small list of different types of wings to choose from:

Bat wings

Beetle wings

Bird wings

Butterfly/Moth wings

Dragonfly wings

Note that these wings are for animals who can fly. There are also animals who can “fly” that actually glide, such as sugar gliders and flying squirrels.

Yeah, so the options are pretty limited, but feel free to make up your own kinds of wings that aren’t necessarily based on a pre-existing creature’s wings!

2. Be familiar with the anatomy of your character’s wings and their limits

If your wings are completely unique, draw them out. A diagram or picture is key when it comes to things like description. I’m not gonna tell you what everything does and give you Animal Wing Anatomy 101, that’s for you to research. Know that there are different types of wings and that they have different uses, strengths, and weaknesses.

3. Never use the full extent of your research!

Surprise, surprise!

“But wait, Maddy!” you cry, writing utensil in hand and poised to stab me. “I thought we were supposed to were supposed to show our research!”

Well, you are. Technically that’s not wrong. But, readers don’t want to know ALL of it. Over-described wings are sometimes worse than under-described wings; what sucks more than not knowing what a character’s wings look like is having to look up wing anatomy in the middle of the chapter!

Only use the most basic of vocabulary when it comes to describing the parts of the wing. Most of the time, you just have to say “bat wing” or “feathery wing” and the readers get the basic idea. (Like seriously, do you think the readers know what a dactylopatagium brevis is????? It’s a part of skin on a bat’s wing btw)

4. Don’t bring your character’s wings up only when they’re needed!!!!

Unless your character’s wings can fade away when they’re not needed, wings are a 100% real, 24/7 thing! It’s bothersome when writers mention the wings in one chapter and then only bring them up when there’s a daring escape that needs to be performed! Most of the time, I forget that the characters even have wings at all!

There is also the fact that wings aren’t all pros and no cons. If they’re functional, they’re probably big, and if they’re muscular, they’re probably bulky. If your character is clumsy, they’ll probably knock things over constantly, and if they’re not clumsy, they’ll still knock things over constantly.

Your wings are two (or four, or five, or six quintillion) extra appendages; they’re a part of your character! You don’t have to spend every second reminding the readers that they’re there, but don’t go long stretches of time without even mentioning them.

5. Your character’s wings can be a good way to indicate their mood or to provide for that little bit of description that you think you make be lacking

Why wouldn’t you want to describe the wings? I mean, you don’t want to describe every minute detail over and over again, but it’ll boost your word count a lot more than you think. They can also be used to convey your character’s feelings without explicitly telling the reader! It’s like a new set of facial expressions!

See? You can tell he’s wary and ready to fight from the movement of his wings! Also he’s crouching next to a dead body but that’s not relevant right now

Here’s a list of wing language (?) that you can incorporate into your story that will not only increase your word count, but will also add to the sustenance of your story!

Nervous

Twitch

Flutter

Ripple

Fold tightly

Fidget

Flap

Angry

Flare

Bristle

Fluff up

Ripple

Beat

Raise up

Snap open

Happy

Flutter

Curl up

Ripple

Wave

Flap

During Battle

Bludgeon

Smack

Bat

Clout

Whack

Kick someone’s legs out from under them

Snap someones neck (only for muscular wings like bat and bird wings)

Problems that may come with having wings

Poke out from under blankets and let all of the cold air in

Stepped on

Get pins and needles from being folded for too long

Squashed on chairs/ in beds/ in crowded hallways

Vulnerable in battle

Molting (for bird wings)

Hope this helped!!!

she-who-fights-and-writes

Tips On How to Write Characters with Wings (For both fanfic writers and original content writers)

So I’ve been reading a lot of fics lately where people are either

A) Putting wings onto canon characters

B) Making OCs with wings

This is also a bit personal, too, because the MC in my upcoming novel has wings!

1. Know that there are a lot of types of wings to choose from

Here’s a small list of different types of wings to choose from:

Bat wings

Beetle wings

Bird wings

Butterfly/Moth wings

Dragonfly wings

Note that these wings are for animals who can fly. There are also animals who can “fly” that actually glide, such as sugar gliders and flying squirrels.

Yeah, so the options are pretty limited, but feel free to make up your own kinds of wings that aren’t necessarily based on a pre-existing creature’s wings!

2. Be familiar with the anatomy of your character’s wings and their limits

3. Never use the full extent of your research!

Surprise, surprise!

“But wait, Maddy!” you cry, writing utensil in hand and poised to stab me. “I thought we were supposed to were supposed to show our research!”

4. Don’t bring your character’s wings up only when they’re needed!!!!

5. Your character’s wings can be a good way to indicate their mood or to provide for that little bit of description that you think you make be lacking

See? You can tell he’s wary and ready to fight from the movement of his wings! Also he’s crouching next to a dead body but that’s not relevant right now

Here’s a list of wing language (?) that you can incorporate into your story that will not only increase your word count, but will also add to the sustenance of your story!

Nervous

Twitch

Flutter

Ripple

Fold tightly

Fidget

Flap

Angry

Flare

Bristle

Fluff up

Ripple

Beat

Raise up

Snap open

Happy

Flutter

Curl up

Ripple

Wave

Flap

During Battle

Bludgeon

Smack

Bat

Clout

Whack

Kick someone’s legs out from under them

Snap someones neck (only for muscular wings like bat and bird wings)

Problems that may come with having wings

Poke out from under blankets and let all of the cold air in

Stepped on

Get pins and needles from being folded for too long

Squashed on chairs/ in beds/ in crowded hallways

Vulnerable in battle

Molting (for bird wings)

Hope this helped!!!

lets-get-fictional

Hey, you're awesome, thanks for existing, basically ^_^ Anyway, I wanted to know if you have any tips on how to write different personalities? My characters (all of them) always end up with the same default personality that I fall back on. Thanks!

Thanks for your question, darling! I think most of us have struggled with this – after all, we’re conditioned to one way of thinking, feeling, and acting for as long as we live. That doesn’t necessarily mean we write characters like ourselves, though. In fact, many of us have a “default character” that’s sassier than we are, sweeter than we are, or in some way different enough from us that we still feel like we’re writing a character.

The problem, then, isn’t that we can’t visualize a different personality than ours. On the whole, we can. What we’re missing are the small details that make it feel whole – otherwise, it’s like painting the same room six different colors and trying to pass it off as six different rooms. Different dominant traits can’t hide the fact that you’re working with one template!

So the question we’re left with: what are the traits we’re missing? And how can we change them to create a unique and whole personality?

Three Types of Character Traits

There are, as the title suggests, three major categories of personality traits as I see it: fundamental traits, acquired traits, and detrimental traits. A well-rounded character needs some of each to be three-dimensional and realistic.

Fundamental Traits

The fundamental traits of a person’s character are not as simple as interests and preferences; they are the very base of all decisions and desires. They are either learned in early life or developed over a long period of time, rooting deeply into the personality. A few examples of fundamental personality traits include:

Upbringing – The word choice here is conscious, as upbringing encompasses many different aspects of a person’s development. Consider who raised them, and with what morals and practices they were raised to adulthood. Consider their influences, both familial, social, and in media; consider the relationships that were normalized during their development, as well as the living conditions (financially, emotionally, environmentally, etc.). The people, places, emotions, and conflicts made common during a person’s developmental period are essential to their personality in adulthood. This is why psychologists often draw present-day problems back to a person’s childhood memories – because those formative years can subconsciously dictate so much of a person’s future!

Values – These may not coincide with the values a person is raised to hold, but upbringing certainly has an influence on this. A person’s values will direct the course of their life through every decision, large and small. You don’t need to outline everything your character believes is important – every moral and every law they agree/disagree with. But those values which stand above others will give your character purpose. A few of my favorite examples are: Jane from Jane the Virgin (whose initial storyline is heavily based on her religion and desire for a beautiful love story, as well as her childhood influences who inspired these values) and Han Solo from Star Wars (whose character development rested upon his values shifting from money and gratification to more honorable things).

Beliefs – Different from values, beliefs are a more general set of guidelines for how a person believes things are supposed to be. Beliefs can also be a source of great conflict, as a character tries to stay aligned with their beliefs despite other values or desires. These beliefs can be established systems, like religion or politics; they can also include more personal belief systems, like nihilism or veganism. A characters beliefs, like their values, can change over the course of the story – but even if a character is questioning one system of belief, like religion or pacifism, they should have other belief systems in place to govern some of their activity.

Reputation – A lot of human activity, whether consciously or not, is dictated by how others perceive them (or how they believe others perceive them). There are two types of reputation: personal and passing. For instance, a woman named Sally who gains a personal reputation of sleeping around will behave in reaction to this reputation – either sleeping around because everyone already expects it of her, or specifically not hooking up because she wants to shake this reputation, or developing a thicker skin to deal with the rumors until it passes. A man named Billy who, because of his tattoos, bears a passing reputation as an intimidating man will either try to soften his demeanor with strangers, own up to the image, or at least learn to expect judgment from strangers as a consequence.

Self-Image – Also relevant to a person’s behavior is the way they perceive themselves, which can often have little to do with their reputation. A lot of self-image is based on definitive moments or phases in the past. For instance: for several years after I started wearing contacts and cutting my hair, I still saw myself, in dreams at night, with long hair and glasses. One of my friends, similarly, could not seem to notice when boys would flirt with her during sophomore year – because she still saw herself as an awkward middle schooler with braces, and not as the charming cheerleader with the great smile.Inversely, self-image can be inflated, causing character to behave as though they are funnier, smarter, or more prepared than they truly are (see: the rest of my sophomore acquaintances). This can be an overlooked character flaw opportunity – or flawportunity…

Acquired Traits

Now we move on to the acquired traits of personality, which are the ones you’re more likely to find on a character sheet or a list of “10 Questions for Character Development”, alongside a million other things like their zodiac sign and their spirit animal. But the traits I’m about to outline are a little more relevant to a character’s behavior, and more importantly, how to make this behavior unique from other characters’ behavior. The following traits will be learned by your characters throughout their life (and their story), and are more likely to shift and grow with time:

Interests – I know, I had to reach deep down into my soul to think of this one. But it’s true! Interests, both in childhood/adolescence and in adulthood, are an important part of a character’s personality and lifestyle. Childhood interests both reveal something about the character (for instance: my nephew loves trains, Legos, and building, suggesting a future interest in construction or engineering) and create values that can last for a lifetime. Current interests affect career choice, social circles, and daily activity for everyone. Forgotten or rejected interests can be the source of pet peeves, fears, or bad memories. There’s a reason I’ll never play with Polly Pockets again, and it 100% has to do with bloody fingertips and a purse that wouldn’t open.

Sense of Humor – This can be a little hard to define, understandably. If you were to ask me what my sense of humor is, I’d probably start with a few stupid memes, pass by Drake & Josh on the way, and somehow wind up telling you bad puns or quoting Chelsea Peretti’s standup comedy. A person’s sense of humor can be complex and contradictory! Sometimes we just laugh at stuff because someone said it in a funny way. But anyway, to help you boil this down to something useful: take a look at a few kinds of comedy and relate it to your character’s maturity level. Do they laugh when someone lets out a toot? Are they the kind of person to mutter, “That’s what she said,” or simply try not to laugh when something sounds dirty? Can puns make them crack a smile? Do they like political humor? Do cat videos kill them? Is their humor particularly dark? Can the mere sound of someone else laughing make them laugh? Figure out where your character’s sense of humor is, and you’ll feel closer to them already.

Pet Peeves – For every interest a person may have, and everything that makes them laugh, there’s something else that can piss them off, large- or small-scale. Are they finnicky about their living space and neatness? Do they require a lot of privacy? Do certain sounds or behaviors drive them crazy? What qualities are intolerable in a romantic interest for them? What kind of comments or beliefs make them roll their eyes? If you need help, just try imagining their worst enemy – someone whose every word or action elicits the best eye-rolls and sarcastic remarks and even a middle finger or two – and ask yourself, what about this person makes them that mortal enemy? What behaviors or standards make them despicable to your character? That’s all it takes.

Skills – Everybody has them, and they’re not just something we’re born with. Skills can be natural talent, sure, but they’re also cultivated from time, values, and interests. What is your character okay at? What are they good at? What are they fantastic at? Maybe they can cook. Maybe they have a beautiful eye for colors. Maybe they have an inherent sense of right and wrong that others admire. Maybe they’re super-athletic or incredibly patient or sharp as a tack or sweet as a cupcake. Maybe they know how to juggle, or maybe they’re secretly the most likely of all their friends to survive a zombie apocalypse. Where do they shine? What would make someone look at them and think, “Wow, I wish I were them right now”?

Desires – A good way to “separate” one character from the next is to define what it is they want, and then use every other detail to dictate how they pursue that goal. Every real person has a desire, whether they’ve defined it or not – whether it’s something huge, like fame or a family of five with triplet girls and a beach house on an island, or something small, like good grades for the semester. These desires can cause a person to revise their values or forsake their morals; and these desires can conflict with other people’s desires, influencing how people interact with each other. Remember that every character is living their own story, even if it’s not the story you’re telling.

Communication Style – A majorly overlooked character trait in pop fiction is unique communication styles. Having every character feel comfortable arguing, or bursting out with the words, “I love you,” is unrealistic. Having every character feel paralyzed at the idea of confronting a bully or being honest to their spouse is also unrealistic. There should be a healthy mix of communicators in a group of characters. Some people are too softspoken to mouth off at their racist lab partner. Some people wouldn’t see their girlfriend kissing another guy and just walk away without saying something. Some people just don’t react to conflict by raising their voice; some people enjoy sharing their opinions or giving the correct answer in class. Boldness, social skills, and emotional health all have a part to play in how people communicate their thoughts – so keep this in mind to create a more realistic, consistent character.

Emotional Expression – Along the same lines but not the same, emotional expression is more focal on feelings than thoughts. If you’ve ever heard of the fight-or-flight response, the different types of anger, the stages of grief, or the five love languages, then you’re aware of different “classifications” of emotional expression and management. Read up on some of those things, and think about how your character handles emotions like happiness, sadness, fear, anger, loneliness, paranoia, and so forth.

Detrimental Traits

While acquired traits are certainly more enjoyable to brainstorm during the creation process, detrimental traits are as important – or even more important – to the character’s wholeness as well as their role in the story. Not only do these negative or limiting traits make your character realistic, relatable, and conflicted – they create a need for other characters and their strengths to move the plot forward. A few examples of detrimental traits include:

Flaws – Character flaws are probably the first thing that came to your mind while reading this, but they’re the essence of the category. Flaws in a character’s personality, morality, or behavior can be a source of character development; they set an individual on their own path and provide a unique motivation for them. Having Character A struggle with sobriety while Character B learns to be a more patient mother can do a lot to separate their stories and personalities from each other. Even if certain flaws don’t reach a point of growth, they create a third aspect to personality and force us, as writers, to be more creative with how our characters get from Point A to Point B, and what they screw up along the way.

Fears – Everyone has fears, whether we’re conscious of them or not – and I’m not talking about phobias or “things that give you shivers”. Just like everyone has a primary motivation throughout life (romance, family, success, meaning, peace of mind, etc.), everyone has a fear behind that motivation (loneliness, failure, emptiness, anxiety). We all have something we don’t want to happen – places we never want to be and things we never want to do. We’ve all been in situations that mildly bothered others but wildly affected us at the same time. For me, it’s a lack of autonomy, or in any way being forced to do something or be somewhere against my will.What does this mean for me? It means that when other people have nightmares about being chased by an axe murderer, I have nightmares about being kidnapped and locked up. It means that I’m continually aware of my “escape plan” if something goes wrong in my living situation, and I’m hypersensitive to someone telling me, “You have to do this.” It means I struggle to follow rules and usually don’t get along with authority figures because I have to assert my independence to them. It’s irrational and continual and doesn’t just affect me in one situation; it subconsciously directs my steps if I let it. That’s how real, guttural fears work. Phobias are only skin deep, and they don’t make you feel any closer to the character.

Secrets – Even goody two-shoes Amber from the swim team, with her blonde blonde hair and her good good grades, has a secret. Everybody does, even if it’s not a purposeful, “I have a deep, dark secret,” sort of secret. We have things we don’t tell people, just because they’re embarrassing, or painful, or too deep to get into, or they don’t paint us in a good light. While the secrets themselves tell a lot about a person, so do the reasons a person keeps a secret. Hiding something out of shame suggests a person is prideful, or critical of themselves, or holds themselves to a higher standard than they hold others. Hiding something painful suggests that the person struggles to handle sadness or regret, or that they feel uncomfortable showing raw emotion in front of loved ones. And so on and so forth.

Conflict – Whether internal, interpersonal, legal, moral, societal, or what have you, conflict will limit your character’s actions at every turn. A story is nothing without conflict driving the plot in different directions and causing your character to rethink both their plans and their lifestyle. Without Katniss’s moral conflict over killing other tributes, The Hunger Games would be the story of a girl who entered an arena, killed a lot of people, and lived the rest of her life rich and comfortable. If Luke Skywalker didn’t have interpersonal conflict with Darth Vader, Star Wars would be the war-story of a guy who joined a rebellion and then… yeah.

Health – Physical, mental, and emotional health is a huge limiting factor for characters that often goes untouched, but it’s valuable nonetheless. Not everyone has a clean bill of health and can jump off trains without pulling a muscle, go through a traumatic life experience without any hint of depression or anxiety, or watch a loved one die in gunfire and shove right on without emotional repercussions. Consider creating a character who’s not perfect – who isn’t perfectly in-shape or abled, or neurotypical or stable day-to-day, or completely clean and clear of residual heartache, unhealthy relationships, or bad emotional habits. Don’t define them by these traits, of course – but don’t feel that you can’t write a character with health issues without writing a “sick character.”

So this post got ridiculously long, but I hope it works as a reference for you when creating unique characters. Remember that you don’t need to outline all of this information to create an individual, realistic character. These are just some relevant ideas to get you started! It’s up to you, as the writer, to decide what’s necessary and what’s excessive for your creative process.

Still, I hope a majority of this is helpful to you! If you have any more questions, be sure to send them in and we’ll get back to you :) Good luck!

- Mod Joanna ♥️

If you need advice on general writing or fanfiction, you should maybe ask us!