A student once asked anthropologist Margaret Mead, “What is the earliest sign of civilization?” The student expected her to say a clay pot, a grinding stone, or maybe a weapon. Margaret Mead thought for a moment, then she said, “A healed femur.” A femur is the longest bone in the body, linking hip to knee. In societies without the benefits of modern medicine, it takes about six weeks of rest for a fractured femur to heal. A healed femur shows that someone cared for the injured person, did their hunting and gathering, stayed with them, and offered physical protection and human companionship until the injury could mend. Mead explained that where the law of the jungle—the survival of the fittest—rules, no healed femurs are found. The first sign of civilization is compassion, seen in a healed femur.
— Ira Byock, The Best Care Possible: A Physician’s Quest to Transform Care Through the End of Life (x)
Vampire and werewolf dating
Best friends to lovers
Evil character becomes good
Character become brainwashed and forced to fight their friends
More about a character is revealed after their death
Misunderstood character’s backstory is revealed that explains everything
Goofy cinnamon roll is actually the baddest badass
Stoic character A has a soft spot for character B
Chaotic/comedic duo/trio
“Mean girl” is actually cool and becomes best friends with main girl
Traitor was actually on the good side all along
Powerless character finally reveals secret powers that have been foreshadowed all along
Any epiphany or eureka moment
Former hero slowly descends into madness and darkness
Character A reveals feelings for character B when character B is extremely hurt or upset
Former enemies forgive/accept each other
Any more tropes? Please add on!
~Raebelle
In real life, pretty much everybody reacts to tragedy differently. So why is it that every author has their pet reaction to tragedy that all their characters use? Not only is it unrealistic, but it takes away the chance for the characters’ different reactions to reveal things about themselves.
Possible reactions to tragedy (not an exhaustive list):
Distracting oneself with mindless activities
Distracting oneself with others’ humor
Distracting oneself by making jokes
Distracting oneself by reading/watching/playing stories
Distracting oneself with hard mental work
Distracting oneself with hard physical work
Distracting oneself with creative endeavors
Distracting oneself by chatting with friends about normal things
Talking to friends about the tragedy
Talking to authority figures about the tragedy
Talking anonymously with strangers about the tragedy (if possible)
Getting wrapped up in others’ problems
Staying unusually silent
Screaming
Crying loudly
Crying silently
Doing everything possible not to cry
Pacing
Taking unhealthy risks
Going for revenge against whoever one can blame
Punching random objects
Throwing random objects
Lashing out against friends and family members
Trying to prevent a similar tragedy from happening
Eating more than usual
Not eating
Taking mind-altering substances
Getting in unhealthy relationships
Isolating oneself
Obsessing over routine
Numbness combined with apathy
Numbness combined with going through one’s normal motions
Trying to get things back the way they were
Denial
No reaction at first but a reaction hits later in greater force
No reaction at all. Emotions relating to the tragedy just fail to load. Note that this can happen to anybody and does not mark a character as a sociopath.
Characters can have more than one reaction at the same time, one reaction after another, or different reactions to different tragedies.
im telling you all... its so worth it to spend a whole evening make 100 million homemade gyoza (even though it takes so long) and freezing them all to have perfect delicious gyoza just the way you like them anytime you want at a moments notice. they seriously take like 10 minutes to prepare from frozen and they are so good. i just had a dumplings and noodles feast you wish you were me
i want to post about my writing but social anxiety yknow
Last updated April 9, 2021.
4 Tips for Writing Magic
Creating a Culture
Totalitarian Governments
Creating a Distinct World
Creating (Fictional) Medicine
Describing New Settings
Writing a War
Writing a War with Superheroes / Magic / Fantasy
70 Questions for World-Building
Creating Superstitions
49 Questions for Creating a Religion
The Tie Between Characters and World-Building
34 Questions for Creating a Government
36 Questions for Music in World-Building
Creating a New Species
42 Questions for Creating an Education System
Developing Character Appearance
Developing Character Personality
Multilingual Characters
Creating a Wardrobe
How to Name Your Characters
Your Characters vs. Already-Established Characters
Effective Point-of-View Character
Writing an Impactful Death
Writing with Archetypes
Designing Your Characters
Mute Characters
Thinning Your Cast
Not Enough Characters?
84 Questions for Developing Plot and Character Roles
Sexuality without a Relationship
Consistent Personalities
Skills and Knowledge
Creating Conflict
Character Arcs
Sympathetic Characters
Name vs. Pronouns and When to Use Them
Creating Character Voice
Characters Who Are Learning Another Language
Character Fears
Finding Motivations
Creating Character Flaws
Emotionless Characters
Dynamic Relationships
Sibling Relationships
Believable Romance
Characters Who Don’t Know How to Relationship
Complementary Character Traits
Writing a Slow-Burn Romance
Characters Who Fall Out of Love
Groups of Characters
Making Compatible Characters
Frustration
Grief
Fear
Planning a Series
Writing an Outline
Tips for Writing Subplots
Non-Point-of-View Romantic Subplots
Avoiding Generic Plots
Planning and Pace
Writing with Emotion
Controlling Pace with Detail
Steps of the Editing Phase
Descriptions in Context
Imagery
Dialogue
Showing vs. Telling
What is passive voice?
Reworking Moments of Exposition
Adverbs
When to Cut Your Content
Avoiding Cliches in Your Story
The Importance of Vocabulary
Writing Beginning Paragraphs
How to Balance Multiple Projects
How to Fall Back in Love with Your Story
Writing Every Day?
Sticking with Your Story
Getting (Back) Into the Writing Habit
Setting Realistic Goals
Shiny New Idea Syndrome
Positive Writing Mindset
Staying Motivated on Your Projects
Getting in “The Zone”
Keeping Writing Logs
Avoiding Burnout
Breaking Out of Writer’s Block
Quick Decisions
Travel Scenes
Breakdown in the Shower
The Joys of the First Draft
Injuries
Creating Suspense
Writing Poison
Prophecies
A Word to Young Writers
Making a Moodboard
Consuming with the Producer Mindset
For First-Time Writers
Building Your Writing Skill
Advice for Student Writers
How to Do Research
How to Maximize Your Writing Time
How to Make Your Book Look Like a Book
On Experimenting in Writing
When to Use Multiple Points of View
Building Theme
Becoming a Beta Reader
Background Music While Writing
Why Committing to a Project Can Be Stressful
Warm-Ups for Writers
Determining Your Story’s Genre
Why do we get stressed when we don’t write?
Writing Short Stories
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* body language masterlist
* a translator that doesn’t eat ass like google translate does
* a reverse dictionary for when ur brain freezes
* 550 words to say instead of fuckin said
* 638 character traits for when ur brain freezes again
* some more body language help
(hope this helps some ppl)