I made these as a way to compile all the geographical vocabulary that I thought was useful and interesting for writers. Some descriptors share categories, and some are simplified, but for the most part everything is in its proper place. Not all the words are as useable as others, and some might take tricky wording to pull off, but I hope these prove useful to all you writers out there!
(save the images to zoom in on the pics)
Luminol is a powder which is made up of oxygen, hydrogen,nitrogen, and carbon. It glows luminous blue when it comes into contact with blood, even minuscule amounts of blood and even after the area has been cleaned. The glow of luminol only lasts for around 30 seconds but it can be captured through a camera. It’s often used as a last resort because the reaction can destroy the evidence.
~GENTLE PROMPTS~
tickling you from the back before actually hugging you
knuckles brushing against each other and person a getting shy
hesitant glances at each other in a crowd
person a helping person b through panic/anxiety attacks
one small kiss before fully devouring the other person
THE SHY PERSON A INITIATING THE FIRST KISS ADJKSF
person a contemplating on whether to send person b a text
HOLDING HANDS UNDER THE TABLE
gentle ear rubs because person b knows person a loves them
knees touching intentionally and person a getting shy
person b complementing person a IN PUBLIC
PLAYING WITH EACH OTHERS HAIR
person a shyly playing with person b's rings while cuddling
small "shh' im here" when someone else is crying
FOREHEAD KISSES FOREHEAD KISSES FOREHEAD KISSES
pressing your foreheads together after a kiss
TRACING PERSON B'S TATTOOS kill me kill me now
holding hands while walking in a friend group
unintentionally caressing each other
SAYING I LOVE YOU BEFORE LEAVING TO WORK?? GIVE ME
acting foolish around each other
random flirty texts or hOrNy texts too
person b trying to cook person a's fav dish
DRUNK DANCING
lazy kisses that dont even count as kisses but you could live in that moment forever because LOVE
person a trying to keep person b still for a picture
MOVING PERSON A BY THEIR WAIST bye
person b winking at person a in public whILE A GETS ALL FLUSTERED
Hello everyone! This post will discuss the emotion amazement.
This section is taken from the Emotion Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi.
Definition: overwhelming astonishment or wonder
widening of the eyes
a slack mouth
becoming suddenly still
sucking in a quick breath
a hand covering one's mouth
stiffening posture
giving a small yelp
rapid blinking followed by open staring
flinching or starting, the body jumping slightly
taking a step back
a slow, disbelieving shake of the head
voicing wonder: I can't believe it! or Look at that!
pulling out a cell phone to record the event
glancing to see if others are experiencing the same thing
pressing a hand to one's chest, fingers splayed out
leaning in
moving closer
reaching out or touching
eyebrows raising
lips parting
a wide smile
spontaneous laughter
pressing palms to cheeks
fanning oneself
repeating the same things over and over
squealing dramatically
a heart that seems to freeze, then pound
rushing blood
rising body tempreture
tingling skin
stalled breaths
adrenaline spikes
momentarily forgetting all else
wanting to share the experience with others
giddiness
disorientation
euphoria
an inability to find words
a racing heartbeat
shortness of breath
knees going weak
feeling overwhelmed as if the room is closing in
collapsing
holding oneself tightly (self-hugging)
walking in jerky, self-contained strides
clamping the hands to the chest
looking down or away to hide one's expression
eyes widening a bit before control is asserted
mouth snapping shut
a stony expression
taking a seat to hide emotion
making excuses if reaction is noticed
stuttering, stammering
Every single time I see a take that amounts to "if you write about X happening, or like fiction where X happens, you like X" I'm reminded of this one time I was at a casual friends house as a young kid. We were in her room, pretending to "be orphans" escaping from an evil orphanage and having to take care of each other and fend for ourselves. It was all very Little Orphan Annie/All Dogs Go to Heaven and based on the 80s pop media.
And this girl's mom comes in, hears what we're playing and gets all MAD and UPSET. She says that if we play act something, it's because we want it to happen. So her daughter must WANT HER TO DIE.
First off lady, we were 6 year year olds, so take it down several notches. We barely had a concept of mortality for fucks sake. She made us feel so guilty and ashamed, because she was taking our game personally.
Now I have a 5 year old. And sometimes she looks at me and says "pretend you're dead, and I have to -" Whatever it is. Some adult task she's assigned herself.
And it's just so transparently obvious that she's practicing the idea of having to do things on her own. Which is exactly what 5 year olds are supposed to do. I actually find it very flattering that the only way she can envision me not being available to help her is to be literally deceased. Otherwise, obviously, she wouldn't have to do scary hard things alone.
It's a natural coping mechanism. She's self-soothing about what would happen if I wasn't there by play-acting independence in a perfectly safe environment. She's also practicing skills she needs, and making up excuses for practicing them on her own, without taking on the responsibility of being able to do them by herself all the time yet.
Humans mentally rehearse bad this in their brains all the time. We can do that by ruminating- going over worries over and over again, which tends to lead to anxiety and helplessness and depression. Or we can do it with a sense of play- by recognizing that the fiction is fiction and we can dip our toe into these experiences and expose ourselves to bad things without actually being injured.
My daughter does not want me dead. And I don't want bad things to happen in real life. But fiction and pretend help me face the horrors of the world and think about them without collapsing or messing myself up mentally.
Here are a handful of quick tips to help you write believable characters!
1. A character’s arc doesn’t need to grow linearly. Your protagonist doesn’t have to go from being weak to strong, shy to confident, or novice to professional in one straight line. It’s more realistic if they mess up their progress on the way and even decline a bit before reaching their goal.
2. Their past affects their present. Make their backstory matter by having their past events shape them into who they are. Growing up with strict parents might lead to a sneaky character, and a bad car accident might leave them fearful of driving.
3. Give reoccurring side characters something that makes them easily recognizable. This could be a scar, a unique hairstyle, an accent, or a location they’re always found at, etc.
4. Make sure their dialogue matches their personality. To make your characters more believable in conversation, give them speech patterns. Does the shy character mumble too low for anyone to ever hear, does the nervous one pace around and make everyone else on edge?
5. Make your characters unpredictable. Real people do unexpected things all the time, and this can make life more exciting. The strict, straight-A student who decides to drink at a party. The pristine princess who likes to visit the muddy farm animals. When character’s decide to do things spontaneously or in the heat of the moment, it can create amazing twists and turns.
6. Give even your minor character’s a motive. This isn’t to say that all your characters need deep, intricate motives. However, every character should need or want something, and their actions should reflect that. What’s the motive behind a side character who follows your protagonist on their adventure? Perhaps they’ve always had dreams of leaving their small village or they want to protect your protagonist because of secret feelings.
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Sharing this here too
I do not usually make posts like this but recently I have seen a lot of content on Instagram, Twitter and I think tiktok too misunderstanding the meaning of intrusive thoughts, which may cause people experiencing them to be upset.
I have tried to shortly explain the difference of impulsive and intrusive and hope it will help people to understand and use the words correctly.
Reblogs are very much appreciated!
“No writing is wasted. Did you know that sourdough from San Francisco is leavened partly by a bacteria called lactobacillus sanfrancisensis? It is native to the soil there, and does not do well elsewhere. But any kitchen can become an ecosystem. If you bake a lot, your kitchen will become a happy home to wild yeasts, and all your bread will taste better. Even a failed loaf is not wasted. Likewise, cheese makers wash the dairy floor with whey. Tomato gardeners compost with rotten tomatoes. No writing is wasted: the words you can’t put in your book can wash the floor, live in the soil, lurk around in the air. They will make the next words better.”
— ERIN BOW
Jumping on the recent string of "is magic real" asks to ask: do you believe there is a magical way to curse someone (without affecting their material reality) that would reliably cause negative consequences for that person?
No I don't think a curse will cause any reliable consequences for someone. But I also don't think that's necessarily why people make curses.
Sitting down and assembling a curse jar is an activity with a definite end. You put in the herbs and pop the cap and say the incantation and it's DONE. There is something meditative about it, psychologically satisfying. Instead of sitting around and seething while doing your laundry, you pour all that emotion into some symbolically significant artistic activity that has a big ceremonial finish. It helps you move on.