¹⁾ “your shoulder’s acting up again, isn’t it?”
²⁾ “sit, and rest your damn hip before it gives out altogether.”
³⁾ “you’re doing that little frowny thing you always do when a migraine’s about to come on.”
⁴⁾ “i think i coughed wrong and tweaked my back.”
⁵⁾ “christ, how much tiger balm have you got on?”
⁶⁾ “here, can you help me wrap my knee?”
⁷⁾ “i can tell, so don’t bother lying. your gait always gets fucked up when you haven’t been doing your physical therapy.”
⁸⁾ “ran you a bath. might help loosen things up, yeah?”
⁹⁾ “i saw how you were limping this morning- figured picking up your prescription ahead of time might’ve been the move.”
¹⁰⁾ “the heat pack’s in the top left dra- “ “nah, you’re a much better comfort.”
¹¹⁾ “of course i’d manage to break my fall with my bad wrist.”
¹²⁾ “think i pulled a muscle.” “which one?” “all of them.”
¹³⁾ “if you won’t go to the doctor, at least just take it easy for a day or two.”
¹⁴⁾ “i’ll believe your back isn’t at you if you can get up off the floor to tell me it.”
¹⁵⁾ “please tell me that creaking is coming from the stairs and not you.”
¹⁶⁾ “you don’t need to take care of me. i wouldn’t ask that of anyone.”
¹⁷⁾ “i need some ibuprofen, a whiskey and a bath. maybe in that order.”
¹⁸⁾ “you’re good at hiding it, but i can tell you’re in pain.”
¹⁹⁾ “i’m gonna stay the night. i don’t wanna leave you like this alone.”
²⁰⁾ “it’s just a bad day. it’ll pass- it always does.”
AM radio is like literal magic. There is music all around us that we can't hear, and to hear it you just have to tap a crystal (diode) to the earth and listen to it with another magic rock (magnet) and a tin can. You dont even need electricity to make it work because this music around us is literally all the power you need. Oh and at night when the sun has set, the light of the day gets replaced by MORE music because the signals can travel further at night. This is magic. If you even care.
"He would not fucking say that" but it's "He would not handle someone having a breakdown in front of him like that."
There are moments in life that feel so structured and poetic that they feel less like reality and more like scripted fiction and I think that those are some of the most important ones to hold onto
to try to include in your next poem/story
Accollé - in heraldry: entwined about the neck; also: collared, gorged
Bacciferous - bearing berries
Commorient - one of two or a number of persons perishing at the same time by the same calamity
Dreikanter - a three-faced pebble faceted by wind-blown sand
Estaminet - a small café
Frondescence - the condition or period of unfolding of leaves; foliage
Graveolent - having a rank smell
Hwyl - fervor, excitement
Ichnite - a fossil footprint
Jardiniere - an ornamental stand for plants or flowers
Knop - a usually ornamental knob
Lacustrine - of, relating to, formed in, living in, or growing in lakes
Mucedinous - having the nature of or resembling mold or mildew
Nomistic - based on or conforming to moral law
Oblivescence - an act or the process of forgetting
Pabulum - intellectual sustenance
Quodlibet - a whimsical combination of familiar melodies or texts
Risorgimento - a time of renewal or renaissance; revival
Saeculum - a period of long duration
Trouvaille - a lucky find
More: Lists of Beautiful Words ⚜ Word Lists ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs
adapted from <Writer's Craft> by Rayne Hall
Suspense
Show your characters gearing up, readying themselves.
The pace is slow, the suspense is high (use suspense techniques)
Provide information about terrain, numbers, equipment, weapons, weather.
May have dialogue as the opponents taunt each other, hurl accusations, or make one final effort to avoid the slaughter.
Don't start too early - we don't need to see the hero getting out of bed, taking a shower and having tea.
2. Start
Fighters get into fight stance: knees slightly bent, one leg forward, abdominal muscles tensing, body turned diagonally, weapons at the ready.
Each side will usually try to be the first to strike, as this will give them advantage.
The movements in this section need to be specific and technically correct.
3. Action
This section may be quick or prolonged. If prolonged, no blow-by-blow descriptions are needed.
Focus on the overall direction of the fight
Make use of the location to make characters jump, leap, duck, hide, fall, etc.
Mention sounds of weapons
4. Surprise
Something unexpected happens: building catches fire, a downpour, relief force arrives, staircase collapses, bullet smashes into the only lightbulb and everything goes dark, hero losses his weapon, etc.
Add excitement, raise the stakes.
5. Climax
Both sides are tired and wounded
The hero is close to giving up, but is revived with passion
Move to the terrain's most dangerous spot: narrow swining rope-bridge, a roof-edge, sinking ship, etc.
Don't rush the climax! Hold the tension
6. Aftermath
The fight is over: bes buddies lying dead, bandaging, reverberating pain, etc.
Use sense of sight and smell
The hero may experience nausea, shaking, tearfulness or get sexually horny
Fight scene length
Historical/adventure/fantasy: 700-1000w
Romance: 400-700w
E.A. Deverell - FREE worksheets (characters, world building, narrator, etc.) and paid courses;
Rach Academia - FREEBIES (workbook, notion template, games, challenges, etc.);
Hiveword - Helps to research any topic to write about (has other resources, too);
BetaBooks - Share your draft with your beta reader (can be more than one), and see where they stopped reading, their comments, etc.;
Charlotte Dillon - Research links;
Writing realistic injuries - The title is pretty self-explanatory: while writing about an injury, take a look at this useful website;
One Stop for Writers - You guys... this website has literally everything we need: a) Description thesaurus collection, b) Character builder, c) Story maps, d) Scene maps & timelines, e) World building surveys, f) Worksheets, f) Tutorials, and much more! Although it has a paid plan ($90/year | $50/6 months | $9/month), you can still get a 2-week FREE trial;
One Stop for Writers Roadmap - It has many tips for you, divided into three different topics: a) How to plan a story, b) How to write a story, c) How to revise a story. The best thing about this? It's FREE!
Story Structure Database - The Story Structure Database is an archive of books and movies, recording all their major plot points;
National Centre for Writing - FREE worksheets and writing courses. Has also paid courses;
Penguin Random House - Has some writing contests and great opportunities;
Crime Reads - Get inspired before writing a crime scene;
The Creative Academy for Writers - "Writers helping writers along every step of the path to publication." It's FREE and has ZOOM writing rooms;
Reedsy - "A trusted place to learn how to successfully publish your book" It has many tips, and tools (generators), contests, prompts lists, etc. FREE;
QueryTracker - Find agents for your books (personally, I've never used this before, but I thought I should feature it here);
Pacemaker - Track your goals (example: Write 50K words - then, everytime you write, you track the number of the words, and it will make a graphic for you with your progress). It's FREE but has a paid plan;
Save the Cat! - The blog of the most known storytelling method. You can find posts, sheets, a software (student discount - 70%), and other things;
I hope this is helpful for you!
Also, don't forget to check my gumroad shop, where you can find plenty of FREEBIES (from notion templates for writers to workbooks and sheets).
-> Check out my freebies
Happy writing! <3
One of my favourite questions for figuring out a character’s motivations is which qualities they most fear being assigned to them. Are they afraid (consciously or unconsciously) of being seen as stupid? Ungrateful? Weak? Incompetent? Lazy? Cowardly? Intimidating? Like they actually care? etc.
It’s such a fun way to explore into who they are, why they do what they do, what they don’t do out of fear, and how they might be affected by the events of the story. And I love when characters have negative motivations—trying to avoid something (in this case, being seen a particular way) as much as they’re trying to achieve a goal.
here are all my horror lists in one place to make it easier to find! enjoy!
action horror
analog horror
animal horror
animated horror
anthology horror
aquatic horror
apocalyptic horror
backwoods horror
bubblegum horror
campy horror
cannibal horror
children’s horror
comedy horror
coming-of-age horror
corporate/work place horror
cult horror
dance horror
dark comedy horror
daylight horror
death games
domestic horror
ecological horror
erotic horror
experimental horror
fairytale horror
fantasy horror
folk horror
found footage horror
giallo horror
gothic horror
grief horror
historical horror
holiday horror
home invasion horror
house horror
indie horror
isolation horror
insect horror
lgbtqia+ horror
lovecraftian/cosmic horror
medical horror
meta horror
monster horror
musical horror
mystery horror
mythological horror
neo-monster horror
new french extremity horror
paranormal horror
political horror
psychedelic horror
psychological horror
religious horror
revenge horror
romantic horror
dramatic horror
science fiction horror
slasher
southern gothic horror
sov horror (shot-on-video)
splatter/body horror
survival horror
techno-horror
vampire horror
virus horror
werewolf horror
western horror
witch horror
zombie horror
road trip horror
summer camp horror
cave horror
doll horror
cinema horror
cabin horror
clown horror
wilderness horror
asylum horror
small town horror
storm horror
from a child’s perspective
final girl/guy (this is slasher horror trope)
last guy/girl (this is different than final girl/guy)
reality-bending horror
slow burn horror
possession
african horror
spanish horror
middle eastern horror
korean horror
japanese horror
british horror
german horror
indian horror
thai horror
irish horror
scottish horror
slavic horror (kinda combined a bunch of countries for this)
chinese horror
french horror
australian horror
canadian horror
silent era
30s horror
40s horror
50s horror
60s horror
70s horror
80s horror
90s horror
2000s horror
2010s horror
2020s horror
blumhouse horror
a24 horror
ghosthouse horror
shudder horror
horror literature to movies
techno-color horror movies
video game to horror movie adaption
video nasties
female directed horror
my 130 favorite horror movies
horror movies critics hated because they’re stupid
horror remakes/sequels that weren’t bad
female villains in horror
horror movies so bad they’re good
non-horror movies that feel like horror movies
directors + their favorite horror movies + directors in the notes
tumblr’s favorite horror movie (based off my poll)
horror movie plot twists
cult classic horror movies
essential underrated horror films
worst horror movie husbands
religious horror that isn’t christianity
black horror movies
extreme horror (maybe use this as an avoid list)
horror shorts
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