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[alicialynnb]

Show, don’t tell

"Show, don’t tell" means letting readers experience a story through actions, senses, and dialogue instead of outright explaining things. Here are some practical tips to achieve that:

1. Use Sensory Details

Tell: "The room was cold."

Show: "Her breath puffed in faint clouds, and she shivered as frost clung to the edges of the window."

Tell: "He was scared."

Show: "His hands trembled, and his heart thudded so loudly he was sure they could hear it too."

2. Focus on Actions

Tell: "She was angry."

Show: "She slammed the mug onto the counter, coffee sloshing over the rim as her jaw clenched."

Tell: "He was exhausted."

Show: "He stumbled through the door, collapsing onto the couch without even bothering to remove his shoes."

3. Use Dialogue

What characters say and how they say it can reveal their emotions, intentions, or traits.

Tell: "She was worried about the storm."

Show: "Do you think it'll reach us?" she asked, her voice tight, her fingers twisting the hem of her shirt.

4. Show Internal Conflict Through Thoughts or Reactions

Tell: "He was jealous of his friend."

Show: "As his friend held up the trophy, he forced a smile, swallowing the bitter lump rising in his throat."

5. Describe the Environment to Reflect Mood

Use the setting to mirror or hint at emotions or themes.

Tell: "The town was eerie."

Show: "Empty streets stretched into the mist, and the only sound was the faint creak of a weathered sign swinging in the wind."

6. Let Readers Infer Through Context

Give enough clues for the reader to piece things together without spelling it out.

Tell: "The man was a thief."

Show: "He moved through the crowd, fingers brushing pockets, his hand darting away with a glint of gold."

7. Use Subtext in Interactions

What’s left unsaid can reveal as much as what’s spoken.

Tell: "They were uncomfortable around each other."

Show: "He avoided her eyes, pretending to study the painting on the wall. She smoothed her dress for the third time, her fingers fumbling with the hem."

8. Compare to Relatable Experiences

Use metaphors, similes, or comparisons to make an emotion or situation vivid.

Tell: "The mountain was huge."

Show: "The mountain loomed above them, its peak disappearing into the clouds, as if it pierced the heavens."

Practice Example:

Tell: "The village had been destroyed by the fire."

Show: "Charred beams jutted from the rubble like broken ribs, the acrid smell of ash lingering in the air. A child's shoe lay half-buried in the soot, its leather curled from the heat."

[alicialynnb]

words for your fight scenes

Breathe

draw, expire, heave, inhale, puff, suffocate

Catch

intercept, tackle

Climb

arise, ascension, mount, scale, surface

Cut

amputate, ax/axe, bisect, chisel, cleave, crop, cut up, dent, dissect, engrave, etch, fell, hack, lacerate, mangle, molt, mutilate, notch, peel, scar, scratch, shave, shred, slash, slit, trim, whittle

Dispose

boot, chuck, disposal, dispose of, do away with, elimination, kick out, rejection, scrap, throw away, void

Drop

alight, crash, decline, descent, dive, droop, duck, fall, flop, fumble, go under, keel over, light, percolate, plumb, plunge, sag, settle, sink, slump, stoop, submerge, suspend, thud/thump, tumble, wilt

Hide

ambush, bury, camouflage, conceal, cover, cover-up, cringe, disguise, dissimulate, embed, ensconce, envelop, isolation, lurk, masquerade, palliate, screen, seclusion, sequester, shrink, shut off/shut out, sneak, withhold

Hit

applaud, bang, baste, batter, beat, blindside, boot, buffet, bunt, chip, clash, clip, clout, collide, concussion, crash, cuff, deflect, drive, flail, glance, hammer, jab, jostle, knock, lick, nail, peck, plaudits, pound, punch, rap, scourge, slap, smack, sock, strike, swipe, tap, thud/thump, tip, whack, whip

Hold forcefully

apprehend, cage, clasp, clinch, confinement, constriction, cramp, detain, embrace, enslave, fetters, grasp, gripe, hold, incarcerate, overpower, press, shackle, snatch, strangle, throttle, wrestle

NOTE

The above are concepts classified according to subject and usage. It not only helps writers and thinkers to organize their ideas but leads them from those very ideas to the words that can best express them.

It was, in part, created to turn an idea into a specific word. By linking together the main entries that share similar concepts, the index makes possible creative semantic connections between words in our language, stimulating thought and broadening vocabulary.

Source ⚜ Writing Basics & Refreshers ⚜ On Vocabulary Notes: Fight Scenes (pt. 1) (pt. 2) Word Lists: Fight ⚜ Pain

[alicialynnb]

Our job now, our entire fucking job, is to STAY THE FUCK ALIVE. Despair is an ally of fascism. Do not do their work for them.

When people want you dead, every day you live is pissing in their coffee. Do it. Stay alive out of spite if for no other reason.

Our second job? Take care of each other. That's each other here, our other friends and family, our communities, and also random strangers.

Our third job is to resist. This will take many forms. Please remember that any group needs Tanks, DPS, Healers, and Support. Find the role you can play and put your efforts where they are most suitable.

What we do not need is martyrs. See item 1, above. But if you are, for whatever reason, going to die, then, well:

... make it count.

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not to alarm anyone but is anybody else worried about how everybody is fucking stupid

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Casteel Da'Neer:

"You're an absolutely stunning, murderous little creature."

"You're so incredibly violent.... I think I like it.”

"I won’t ever prevent you from lifting a sword to protect your life or those you care about."

🤝

Xaden Riorson:

"...You're really a violent little thing, aren't you?"

“Going for blood today, are we, Violence?”

"Defenseless women have never been my type."

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Casteel: I think I'm in love with Poppy. Any thoughts?

Kieran: And prayers. You're going to need them.

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another day without a morally grey fictional man who would commit arson for me

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Something...Something...hands

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Vessel smiles 🫶🏻

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sleep token rituals 7/? ♯ source — @twilighttowayvision — "And now the weightlessness recedes..."

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You’ve heard of one shots, now get ready for none shots! It’s when you think of an idea for a fic and then don’t write it

[alicialynnb]

THEY SAY SHES SHOULD BEVER USE NOBLE-TEMPLE BECAUSE IT SOUNDS WEIRD

SO

TEMPLE-NOBLE

TEMPLE FROM THE LATIN ROOT TEMP MEANING TIME

NOBLE MEANING A PERSON BORN INTO HIGH SOCIAL OR POLITICAL RANK, INCLUDING NOBLEMAN WHO ARE SOMETIMES REFERRED TO AS LORDS

TEMPLE-NOBLE

TIME-LORD

[alicialynnb]

reblog if you’ve read fanfictions that are more professional, better written than some actual novels. I’m trying to see something

[alicialynnb]

I have just found out that, like leopards, servals can also be born black.

Look at this beautiful baby

[alicialynnb]

dating a sheepgirl and I sneak up behind her causing her to ram me into the wall and spear me with her horns and she cries cause she knows its fatal and as I lay dying in her arms I whisper into her ear "looks like you didnt consider the ramifications..." then bleed out and die

[alicialynnb]

moon-ina-cup​:

[alicialynnb]

#14th is just Crowley at this point, they even have the same walk