Resources For Writing Injuries

“And so it seems I must always write you letters that I can never send.”

— Sylvia Plath 

Writing Character Appearance

~tstrangeauthor on Instagram~

Oh, to dramatically look in a mirror and discover an increasingly relevant truth about myself. If only I were the main character, but that role is taken by you. But yes! Character descriptions are needed to, well, imagine the character, and they can be very difficult especially in first person, so here are some ways to introduce descriptions and some ideas for what to include!

Mirrors. They’re valid, and they can be done right. However, they’re easy and as a reader, I can find it boring when a character is just staring at themselves in the mirror, admiring their features often in great detail because it’s usually not how people do it. 

Ok, it’s first person and don’t want to just start listing hair colors. Here are some other ways that are more exciting then a mirror but do the same thing!

Storefront’s windows

Puddles/Bodies of water

Glass orbs/ornaments

Polished things (floors, boots)

Makeup mirror (still a mirror, but good for focusing on more up-close facial features like if they’re important)

Other people’s eyes ( “I imagined how he must see me, just another red-scaled draconian with a fondness for gold”)

Screens (black phone/TV/computer screens)

Facetime/zoom (cue Google Meets flashbacks)

Photographs

These aren’t the only options obviously, just ideas :)

You can also bring it up just casually. Like “She struggled to tie her short-hair back” or “I could feel my skin burning from the sun through my shirt.” 

What to describe?

The most important thing as a reader (imo) is skin color/texture, size, and hair color/texture/length. These give me a very basic visual of a character, and tbh, most other stuff I just make up in my own head cuz I forget it and lets be honest, you don’t notice eye color on a first meeting.

*Remember to remind your readers throughout your book of your character’s physical traits

Some more unique/rememberable things to bring up in your characters appearance for a vibe

Nail polish/other makeup

Acne! (please give your characters acne or acne scars!)

Literally anything other than Smooth Baby Skin 0 People Have, and If They Do Then Lucky Them!

Clothing! Basic, but important! (Clothing helps with setting too! And character dev)

Piercings/Tattoos

Jewelry

Face structure

Smile/teeth

Body hair

Again, list is limited! Anything I missed/you wanna see, add it to the comments! Hope this helped some of you and catch you on the flip side

“If they don’t know you personally, don’t take it personal.”

— Khleo Thomas 

“Forget all the reasons why it wont work and believe the one reason why it will.”

— Unknown 

Skipping time in your story

When writing you’ll most likely skip time in your story. It’s very rare that you will come across a story during a short, unbroken chunk of time. So, skipping time is an important skill to learn, and I’m here to help!

Scenes and Chapters

With the exception of very short fiction, most stories are broken into scenes. Each scene tells the tale of a particular movement or event. In longer stories, such as novellas and novels, the scenes are grouped into chapters. Sometimes a chapter contains only one scene. It all depends on what needs to be conveyed in the certain chapter. Either way, starting a new scene or chapter is a natural way to represent the passage of time in your story. Unless stated, readers will automatically assume that time has passed between each scene. But, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t make the transition between each scene, because without that transition, the passage of time will seem clumped together and won’t flow properly. 

The key to skipping time between scenes or chapters can be done two different ways: 

Set up the time skip: At the end of the chapter, hint at what is to come.

Example: My eyes focused on the board in front of me, the words reminding me of my impending doom. Our first test of the year in a class I hadn’t paid attention to at all. My heart rate accelerated as I wondered how well I will do on the upcoming test. 

Clarify time, place and -if necessary- POV at the beginning of the new scene, or chapter, playing off the set up from the previous scene or chapter.

I found myself back in school monday. As I walked into class, my eyes twitched and my hands shook. I took my seat, all the way in the back of the classroom, chewing on my pen cap, wishing I had studied. 

Notice how the set up at the end of the previous scene/chapter flows seamlessly into the beginning of the new scene/chapter? Because the passage of time is expected between scenes and chapters, it’s not always necessary to be direct about how much time has passed. Especially if the amount of time is unimportant or already implied. 

Direct: Early on Monday morning Margaret dragged herself out of bed, painfully aware that her ability to pass highschool hinged on the test she would be taking today. She hated the uncertainty of what was ahead, but what grinds her gears even more was the thing she did know: today was going to be a horrible day. 

Two hours later, Margraet walked into her classroom, cold coffee in hand, trying to seem bubbly and happy even though she knew that her entire life depended on whether or not she failed this test. 

Less Direct: Early on Monday morning Margaret dragged herself out of bed, painfully aware that her ability to pass highschool hinged on the test she would be taking today. She hated the uncertainty of what was ahead, but what grinds her gears even more was the thing she did know: today was going to be a horrible day. 

With cold coffee in hand, Margaret sat down in her seat, trying to seem bubbly and happy even though she knew that her entire life depended on whether or not she failed this test.

In the second example, even though you don’t say “two hours later” it’s clear that time has passed, and so has the setting. No one is going to assume that Margaret is going to be taking her test in her bedroom. Try to save “two hours later” and “walked into the classroom” transitions for when the context would otherwise be unclear, or when those specific details (how much time or a specific location) would be important. 

If no time is passing between the two scenes or two chapters, try to make that clear. For example, if one scene ends with Margaret falling asleep and then being woken up by a loud knock at her door, the next scene should continue with something like, “Heart pounding from shock, Margaret jumped out of bed to see who is at her door.” Now, it is clear no time has passed in the next scene, but since a new situation is beginning, it still warrants being its own scene. 

Expository Time Skip

Sometimes you need to show a quick glimpse of something that happened but it doesn’t really warrant its own scene or chapter. In this case, you may want to illustrate the time skip using exposition within the scene. It may look something like this:

Winter Break was over in a blink, and I soon found myself back at school, dealing with all the problems I left behind during a break that felt far too short. I quickly headed to my locker, avoiding Melinda and the newly formed rift between us. She glared at me across the hallway as I spun the combination on my locker. 

Later that day, during lunch, I sat at the table Micheal and I had always sat at. Despite the amount of people in the lunchroom, I could still feel Melinda’s icy glare shooting me down. 

Terms such as “later that day” and “two hours later” help the readers understand that time has passed, without transitioning to a new scene or chapter. This allows you to cover smaller moments and events that don’t warrant their own space. 

Whether you use a transition between scenes  or chapters to show the passage of time, or whether you clarify the skip between time through exposition, just remember to pay attention to where you left the readers before the skip, and where you take them. Make sure it’s clear, flows well, and wouldn’t leave anyone confused. Do that and you’ll be in good shape! Happy writing!

“Maybe this world is another planet’s hell.”

— Aldous Huxley 

every writing tip article and their mother: dont ever use adverbs ever!

me, shoveling more adverbs onto the page because i do what i want: just you fucking try and stop me

“The fact that I’m silent doesn’t mean I have nothing to say.”

— Jonathan Carroll

“To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides.”

— David Viscott