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ichikiciw · 1 year ago

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Kecelakaan

Perasaan yang baru. Sehabis maghrib tadi saya dan fanta pengin beli ayam ghantari di Bulungan, Blok M. Seharian memang saya sedikit lemas dan sedih tidak beralasan karena menjelang mens. Jadi memang otak saya lebih banyak menerawangnya jika dalam kondisi begitu.

Tadi pun on the way ke Blok M otak saya menerawang apa entahlah, saat kita melewati bunderan antara Taman Ayodya dan Taman Langsat. Saya tidak memperhatikan bahwa fanta, yang biasanya patuh sekali berkendara, memutuskan nakal menerabas bunderan tanpa memutar. Fanta nekat saja lewat kanan, yang mana harusnya kita memutar dulu ke kiri, tanpa memperhatikan bahwa ada mobil dari arah kiri. Mobilnya cukup siaga mengerem, tapi karena bapak supirnya juga tidak menduga kenakalan fanta, maka mobil tidak cukup cepat berhenti sehingga menabrak motor fanta. BRAK!

Saya yang menerawang, tidak banyak merekam detail. Yang saya tahu saat itu terdengar suara besi beradu, motor terguling ke kanan, tapi badan saya terseret ke kiri karena lutut kanan saya terjepit antara hidung mobil dan badan motor. Tidak tersisa ingatan detailnya, karena mata saya juga refleks menutup. Yang masih menyusup ke kesadaran saya adalah bahwa saya terpekik karena tidak siap dengan benturan yang terjadi. Hal pertama yang saya lihat kembali mata membuka adalah fanta sudah terguling dari motornya dan diam tengkurap di atas aspal.

Saya tidak peduli kehilangan sandal. Yang saya dekati paling dahulu adalah fanta. Saya memanggil-manggil namanya, risau sekali karena dia tidak bergerak. Selang dua atau tiga detik dalam perjalanan saya memutar dengan menengkak-nengkak ke arah fanta, dia sendiri sudah bergegas bangun dan sigap ke arah saya tanpa mempedulikan dulu motornya.

“Ada ndak apa, Ici?” (masih Bamindo, best). Saya mengangguk saja, seperempat karena masih mencerna dan tiga perempat lagi karena lega mengetahui fakta bahwa fanta akhirnya bergerak (masih sigap lagi!).

Saya menengkak minggir ke bundaran, sementara fanta mengemasi motornya dan mendekat ke arah saya. Bapak yang menyetir mobil juga tidak ngegas. Cuma dengan lembut bilang (lupa detailnya, intinya … ) bahwa kami harusnya tidak menyeberang begitu saja. Saya tidak menanggapi, sementara fanta juga cuma melewatkan begitu saja karena dia tahu bahwa dia memang bersalah. Bapaknya tidak drama juga dan melanjutkan mobilnya setelah memastikan kami berada di pinggir bundaran (yang masih di tengah jalan).

Kita sempat diam dulu di bundaran itu mengecek jika ada yang salah. Yang pasti daerah di sekitar lutut kanan saya nyeri bukan main. Saya belum bisa memeriksa karena mengenakan celana jogger yang bagian bawahnya dikerucutkan oleh karet. Fanta sendiri luka ringan di lutut kiri (karena kaki kanannya cepat refleks menapak di aspal sementara motornya terguling), serta jempol dan jari manis kakinya mengelupas karena kukunya tertekuk. Tangannya juga kesemutan karena menekan aspal dan lengannya berasa tertarik karena menahan berat badan.

Setelah memastikan bahwa motornya masih layak jalan, fanta mengajak saya untuk mencari tempat beristirahat yang lebih memungkinkan. Saya bilang padanya saya perlu sekali minum. Detak jantung saya masih belum kembali normal.

Kita berhenti di pinggir Taman Ayodya. Saya duduk berselonjor kaki karena lutut kanan sungguh sakit sekali. Fanta mencoba mencari penjual air minum, tidak ketemu. Dia cek lagi kondisi motor. Sepanjang bagian kanan terluar dari motor itu baret tentu saja, karena terhempas ke aspal. Spion kanannya berbelok ke dalam dan cat belakangnya mengelupas tergerus aspal. Setangnya jadi tidak stabil. Tapi selain itu, menurut fanta, vespanya masih sangat bisa dikendarai. Maka kami memutuskan melanjutkan perjalanan ke Blok M Plaza untuk parkir dan beli minum.

Sampai di Blok M Plaza, hal pertama yang dicari tentu air mineral. Saya dan fanta segera minum dan membayar di kasir botol air mineral yang nyaris sudah kosong tersebut. Lutut kanan saya semakin sakit, jujur saya. Meski begitu kita meneruskan perjalanan menuju Bulungan. On the way ke sana, tangis saya pecah.

Setelah berkorespondensi dengan sakit fisik, sepanjang jalan itu, sambil masih menengkak-nengkak, saya berkorespondensi dengan psikis. Saya menangis karena baru bisa mengartikulasikan pada fanta betapa risaunya saya sempat menyaksikan dia tidak bergerak di aspal dan betapa napas rasanya kembali ke tubuh begitu melihat dia bergerak. Sembari menunggu ayam bakar, saya meluapkan rasa itu kepada fanta. Fanta bilang dia sempat stunt di dua atau tiga detik terdiam itu. Dia mengaku sadar, namun otaknya meminta waktu mencerna apa yang terjadi. Fanta menyebutkan bahwa dia mendengar teriakan saya sepersekian detik sebelum jatuh, sehingga hal pertama yang dia lakukan begitu kesadaran kembali ke kepalanya adalah mengecek saya.

Saya juga tanyakan ke fanta apa yang dia rasakan, karena dia tidak sepeka itu pada psikisnya. Agak jeda sebelum akhirnya dia menjawab, “Aku merasa bersalah, Ici. Maaf, ya.” Karena sudah terjadi dan tidak bisa di-undo juga, saya tidak mempermasalahkan. Yang penting fanta masih bisa mendeteksi kondisi psikisnya sendiri dan mengartikulasikan dengan baik. Itu cukup. Tangis saya cepat terhenti sampai kita kemudian selesai membeli ayam bakar dan kembali melintas Blok M Plaza.

Saya akhirnya meminta ke toilet untuk mengecek kondisi lutut kiri yang terus bertambah sakit. Saya buka celana di toilet dan tampaklah lutut saya sudah membengkak luar biasa. Segera saya minta ke fanta agar melipir dulu ke Klinik Kimia Farma untuk mengecek kondisi lutut saya. Fanta cepat mengiyakan. Terang dia juga khawatir … dan merasa bersalah. Meski kita sempat mampir dulu beli D’Crepes karena saya merasa perlu gula untuk setidaknya memicu sedikit hormon kebahagiaan malam itu.

Sampai di Kimia Farma saya mengantre dulu. Sempat saya google penyebab kenapa terjadi pembengkakan saat memar, yang ternyata karena pecahnya pembuluh darah di dalam. Kita juga sempat membahas kenapa mentalitas pemotor itu hampir selalu terburu-buru. Padahal tadi juga kita tidak diburu apa-apa. Jalanan juga tidak berdesakan dengan siapa-siapa. Murni karena mentalitas buru-buru tidak beralasan Fanta saja. Fanta juga berulang-ulang mengingatkan dirinya untuk pandai-pandai melambat, agar tidak terbawa mentalitas tergesa-gesa itu di jalanan.

Karena antreannya masih sisa lima dan kaki saya makin berdenyut sakit, saya melapor ke kakak perawatnya bahwa saya baru saja kecelakaan dan kaki saya semakin sakit. Kakak perawatnya menempatkan saya di ruang tindakan sehingga saya bisa menunggu sembari berbaring dan berselonjor kaki, ketimbang duduk di kursi.

Ketika giliran saya tiba, dokternya yang datang ke ruang tindakan. Saya diminta menanggalkan celana. Barulah tampak jelas bahwa lutut kanan saya sudah bengkak dan membiru. Dokternya memeriksa tulang di sepanjang kaki kiri, menekuk-nekuk kaki saya, memukul pelan, dan memeriksa jari-jari kaki. Satu-satunya bagian yang ngilu adalah tempurung lutut tempat di mana moncong mobil tadi mengenai kaki kiri saja ketimbang langsung ke motor. Maka kaki saya bengkak dan memar karena dia yang menjadi bantalan utama tabrakan tersebut. Baik sekali, Kaki. Maaf, ya. Dan terima kasih.

Menurut dokter, harusnya tidak terjadi kerusakan berbahaya. Namun beliau menyarankan tetap rontgen. Jadi saya diberikan surat rujukan untuk ke poli orthopedi di RS Gandaria hari Jumat tanggal 21 Juli 2023 nanti. Untuk sementara waktu, saya disarankan untuk kompres pakai air es selama 72 jam a.k.a 3 hari, selama 15 hingga 20 menit per 2 sampai 3 jam sekali. Beliau meresepkan thrombopop dan obat minum pereda nyeri yang sayangnya tidak dicover BPJS karena saya dirujuk. Saya membayar 80K di kasir untuk kedua obat di atas. Saya juga diminta tidak banyak berjalan.

Kita kembali ke Logo. Fanta segera menyiapkan es. Begitu naik tangga … mau menangis. Sakit sekali. Sampai di kamar, memarnya langsung dikompres es dan saya makan malam (yang terlambat) dengan lutut terbalut es. Fanta juga mencuci bersih lukanya yang sudah menutup selama menemani saya mengantre di Kimia Farma. Saya juga kabarkan Coki bahwa tidak bisa ke kantor. Setelah makan, saya lanjut D’Crepes sebelum minum obat pereda nyeri.

Fanta kembali meminta maaf atas ketergesaan tidak beralasan dan kecerobohannya, karena tidak pernah sekalipun dia menderitakan apa-apa selama berkendara sejak SMA. Sekalinya terjadi justru murni karena ceroboh, itu pun pas membonceng pacar. Dia menyesalkan kenapa saya yang menderitakan sakitnya sementara fanta yang toleransinya terhadap rasa sakit lebih tinggi. Tapi, kan, sudah selesai. Jadi tidak apa-apa. Sekarang tugasnya, ya, mengasuh saya yang selama beberapa hari ke depan akan terbatas pergerakannya.

Afterall, ini pengalaman dan perasaan yang baru. Desir darah, kencang jantung, syok, refleks, lega, sakit, tangis, sesal, syukur, rasa bersalah, rasa menerima, rasa berserah, kekuatan saling jaga, saling peduli, saling rawat, semuanya campur-baur. Kata fanta, “Udahlah, ya. Sekali ini aja.”

Saya jawab, “Ya, itu di fantalah! Tadi, sih, ici masih percaya untuk dibonceng. Lewat TKP lagi tadi ici juga tidak masalah.”

Katanya, “Biar aja motor baret dulu. Biar jadi pengingat biar tidak begitu lagi nanti.”

Semoga. Amin.

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ichikiciw · 4 years ago

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Ke Sawah (Part II)

Hari ini membongkar benih.

Jadi setelah disabik dan diiriak (atau ditongkang) padi itu kan dijemur. Abis itu beberapa butirnya diambil untuk dijadikan benih. Cara memilihnya adalah dengan direndam di air. Kalau butirannya terapung, berarti benihnya kosong, tak bisa ditanam. Untuk benih bagus, bisa dimasukkan ke sumpik dan disimpan dalam kondisi basah (harus sering disiram). Kalau sudah muncul akarnya, si benih ini ditanam di sawah sampai muncul rumput dan akarnya.

Nah, yang sudah berumput dan berakar inilah yang kita bongkar hari ini. Dicabut sampai ke akar-akarnya trus dikumpulin jadi seikat-seikat. Masing-masing ikatan disabik atasnya biar rata, trus ikatannya disebar ke tumpak sawah yang akan ditanami. Nanti si Induk Tanam akan membuka ikatannya dan menanamnya satu-satu di tanah yang sudah dibajak, dengan jarak yang sama dan level kelurusan (?) yang tidak perlu diukur penggaris ya tapi lurus :’) Di beberapa tempat diselingi dengan karanok (bibit yang jadi cadangan kalau ada yang dimakan hama, tapi penempatannya melenceng dari susunan yang lurus).

Anyway, enggak semua orang bisa jadi Induk Tanam. Itu keahlian yang enggak ada sekolahnya. Satu-satunya cara belaja, ya, turun ke sawah. Induk Tanam itu juga cerita tentang semakin sedikitnya orang yang mau turun ke sawah. Katanya anak sekarang udah pada enggak mau ke sawah. Apalagi sejak uang bisa begitu saja dapet lewat ujung jari (kata Induk Tanamnya begitu). Padahal kalau enggak ada padi juga mau uang sebanyak apa juga enggak bisa makan, kan? :’)

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ichikiciw · 4 years ago

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Ke Sawah

Untuk pertama kalinya saya ke diajak manyabik ke sawah. Sebenarnya sudah minta dari dulu-dulu tapi enggak dikasih, karena ya mungkin dipikir saya bisa apa di sawah. Entahlah, apa pun alasannya, akhirnya hari ini saya boleh kerja ke sawah.

Saya sebenarnya ingin belajar bagaimana kerja di sawah. Jadi begitu sampai, saya langsung tanya saya harus ngapain. Langsung disodorin sabik dan dikasih tahu, “Madok ka mudiak, tu rencongan sabiknyo agak ka ateh. Mode iko ha.” Trus dikasih contoh sekali caranya manyabik, udah gitu udah aja dikasih sabiknya suruh sendiri di petakan sawah. Hahahah!

Pertama trus salah cara pegang rumpun padinya, hahaha. Dikatain minta mati karena cara pegang yang berpotensi kena tangan sendiri. Rumpunnya digenggam dari belakang, trus sabiknya sekali tebas aja dengan posisi agak miring ke atas biar ketarik rumpunnya. Jangan terlalu pendek memotong rumpun. Abis itu rumpun yang udah dipotong, ditumpuk di pinggir agak deket pematang. Bisa, kok, meski saya agak lelet. Yang saja tidak duga adalah makin ke tengah, tanahnya makin lembek. Jadi kaki tuh makin tenggelam ke tanah. Karena enggak menyangka, trus kejengkang, dong! Hahahah. Masuk sampai bokong berlumuran lumpur. Kocak! Udah gitu enggak pakai sarung tangan, jadi aja baret banyak bekas luka. Tapi enggak apa-apa, sesenang itu.

Abis itu mesti ambil sumpik. Tumpukan rumpun padi ditaruh di atas sumpik, trus dipanggul ke depan halaman. Tumpukan rumpunnya jadi banyak banget. Nanti bakal diiriak buat dipisahin jadi butir-butir. Tapi karena udah lumpuran banget, jadinya saya mesti bebersih dulu. Diajak ke sungai yang airnya bersih dan masuk ke alirannya sambil bawa sikat. Trus di tengah aliran itu saya sikatin kaki dan tangan yang tadi udah tenggelam masuk lumpur. Selesai bebersih trus makan digelar gitu di pinggir sawah.

Setelah mengaso sebentar, lanjut mairiak rumpun padi. Caranya? Dibanting-banting ke jeruji besi, bos! Ih, spesialisasi saya ini, sih. Beberapa rumpun digenggam dan dibanting sampai butir-butirnya gugur ke atas laia yang sudah dikembangkan sebelumnya buat jadi alas tumpukan rumpun. Jadi butir padinya langsung terkumpul. Sungguh sebuah pelepas stres yang mujarab! Beberapa butir padi yang masih hijau atau yang sudah kopong biasanya tak mau gugur, jadi dibuang saya bersama rumpun yang sudah ditanggalkan butir padi. Rumpun ini nantinya mau dijadikan pakan ternak. Tapi mesti disisir lagi buat memastikan benar tidak ada lagi butir padi yang masih tersisa di rumpunnya. Selain dibanting, cara lain juga bisa dengan rumpunnya dipukul dari dua sisi trus digocek pakai kaki. Butir padi nanti akan dimasukkan ke semacam mesin pakai kipas gede gitu buat dipisahkan kulitnya agar bisa jadi beras.

Siapa sangka saya diam-diam menangis di tengah sawah! Rasanya humble sekali bekerja di tengah-tengah Ibu Bumi. Saya merasakan betul betapa kecilnya saya dan betapa tidak bisa apa-apa tanpa tanah ini, tanpa tumbuhan ini. Di tengah kita menyabik, bapak-bapak datang begitu saja dengan sabiknya sendiri dan ikut saja menyabik. Beliau bilang sudah lama tidak menyabik karena tidak pernah dibolehkan lagi sama anaknya. Beliau ikut semata untuk kesenangannya saja. Rindu ingin kembali ke sawah. Begitu saja beliau ikut dan begitu saja juga beliau pulang setelah selesai membantu. Oh, Tuhan! Begini seharusnya kehidupan, bukan? Karena merasa harus berterima kasih, akhirnya kita antarkan dua bungkus nasi dan kopi ke rumah beliau.

Mungkin karena pertama kali, jadi saya cenderung meromantisasi proses ini. Mungkin juga karena saya norak. Tapi rasanya hidup tidak begitu sulit dengan bertani ini. Beras bisa dijual buat beli lauk dan biaya hidup. Semua saling bantu. Sawah punya sendiri. Ibu Bumi tiu sudah kasih semua buat kita, lho! Life is so simple and humble.

Menurut saya kegiatan apa saja yang bersentuhan langsung dengan Ibu Bumi akan menundukkan ego. Kita tahu kita bukan apa-apa di semesta raya ini. Ibu Bumi adalah tempat kita menumpang sementara. Dia sudah kasih semua yang kita butuh. Ada kecerdasan praktikal yang tidak bisa dipelajari di kelas mana pun. Ada kearifan yang bisa dialami kalau kita benar berada di tengah orang-orangnya. Kegiatan bertanam adalah kegiatan yang tumbuh bersama peradaban masyarakatnya. Dan betapa jauhnya saya dari semua itu. Betapa tercerabutnya saya. Saya bersedih untuk diri saya sendiri.

Dan saya juga masih sulit mencari titik temu, kenapa semua kegiatan ini dihargai lebih kecil dalam sistem ekonomi keparat ketimbang misalnya jadi juru tulis pemerintah. Karena investasi pendidikannya? Iya, benar. Tapi apakah itu kemudian mengecilkan arti bertani? Rasanya tidak juga, karena juru tulis juga jika diminta bertani pasti kagok. Maka ada investasi bertani juga, dong, yang mesti dihargai dengan nilai yang tidak bisa dikecilkan? Argh! Semesta, bantu saya agar bisa paham.

Saya bersyukur bisa ikut bertani. Jika dibolehkan lagi, tentu saya mau lagi. Apa pun itu yang mendekatkan saya kembali pada Ibu Bumi. Terima kasih, Semesta. Semoga semua makhluk berbahagia.

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ichikiciw · 4 years ago

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Fantasy Guide to Architecture

This post has been waiting on the back burner for weeks and during this time of quarantine, I have decided to tackle it. This is probably the longest post I have ever done. I is very tired and hope that I have covered everything from Ancient times to the 19th Century, that will help you guys with your worldbuilding.

Materials

What you build with can be determined by the project you intend, the terrain you build on and the availability of the material. It is one characteristic that we writers can take some some liberties with.

Granite: Granite is an stone formed of Igneous activity near a fissure of the earth or a volcano. Granites come in a wide range of colour, most commonly white, pink, or grey depending on the minerals present. Granite is hard and a durable material to build with. It can be built with without being smoothed but it looks bitchin' and shiny all polished up.

Marble: Probably everyone's go to materials for building grand palaces and temples. Marble is formed when great pressure is placed on limestone. Marble can be easily damaged over time by rain as the calcium in the rock dissolves with the chemicals found in rain. Marble comes in blue, white, green, black, white, red, gray and yellow. Marble is an expensive material to build with, highly sought after for the most important buildings. Marble is easy to carve and shape and polishes to a high gleam. Marble is found at converging plate boundaries.

Obsidian: Obsidian is probably one of the most popular stones mentioned in fantasy works. Obsidian is an igneous rock formed of lava cooling quickly on the earth's surfaces. Obsidian is a very brittle and shiny stone, easy to polish but not quite a good building material but a decorative one.

Limestone: Limestone is made of fragments of marine fossils. Limestone is one of the oldest building materials. Limestone is an easy material to shape but it is easily eroded by rain which leads most limestone monuments looking weathered.

Concrete: Concrete has been around since the Romans. Concrete is formed when aggregate (crushed limstone, gravel or granite mixed with fine dust and sand) is mixed with water. Concrete can be poured into the desired shape making it a cheap and easy building material.

Brick: Brick was one of history's most expensive materials because they took so long to make. Bricks were formed of clay, soil, sand, and lime or concrete and joined together with mortar. The facade of Hampton Court Palace is all of red brick, a statement of wealth in the times.

Glass: Glass is formed of sand heated until it hardens. Glass is an expensive material and for many years, glass could not be found in most buildings as having glass made was very expensive.

Plaster: Plaster is made from gypsum and lime mixed with water. It was used for decoration purposes and to seal walls. A little known fact, children. Castle walls were likely painted with plaster or white render on the interior.

Wattle and Daub: Wattle and daub is a building material formed of woven sticks cemented with a mixture of mud, one of the most common and popular materials throughout time.

Building terms

Arcade: An arcade is a row of arches, supported by columns.

Arch: An arch is a curved feature built to support weight often used for a window or doorway.

Mosaic: Mosaics are a design element that involves using pieces of coloured glass and fitted them together upon the floor or wall to form images.

Frescos: A design element of painting images upon wet plaster.

Buttress: A structure built to reinforce and support a wall.

Column: A column is a pillar of stone or wood built to support a ceiling. We will see more of columns later on.

Eave: Eaves are the edges of overhanging roofs built to allow eater to run off.

Vaulted Ceiling: The vaulted ceilings is a self-supporting arched ceiling, than spans over a chamber or a corridor.

Colonnade: A colonnade is a row of columns joined the entablature.

Entablature: a succession of bands laying atop the tops of columns.

Bay Window: The Bay Window is a window projecting outward from a building.

Courtyard/ Atrium/ Court: The courtyard is an open area surrounded by buildings on all sides

Dome: The dome resembles a hollow half of a sphere set atop walls as a ceiling.

Façade: the exterior side of a building

Gable: The gable is a triangular part of a roof when two intersecting roof slabs meet in the middle.

Hyphen: The hyphen is a smaller building connecting between two larger structures.

Now, let's look at some historical building styles and their characteristics of each Architectural movement.

Classical Style

The classical style of Architecture cannot be grouped into just one period. We have five: Doric (Greek), Ionic (Greek), Corinthian (Greek), Tuscan (Roman) and Composite (Mixed).

Doric: Doric is the oldest of the orders and some argue it is the simplest. The columns of this style are set close together, without bases and carved with concave curves called flutes. The capitals (the top of the column) are plain often built with a curve at the base called an echinus and are topped by a square at the apex called an abacus. The entablature is marked by frieze of vertical channels/triglyphs. In between the channels would be detail of carved marble. The Parthenon in Athens is your best example of Doric architecture.

Ionic: The Ionic style was used for smaller buildings and the interiors. The columns had twin volutes, scroll-like designs on its capital. Between these scrolls, there was a carved curve known as an egg and in this style the entablature is much narrower and the frieze is thick with carvings. The example of Ionic Architecture is the Temple to Athena Nike at the Athens Acropolis.

Corinthian: The Corinthian style has some similarities with the Ionic order, the bases, entablature and columns almost the same but the capital is more ornate its base, column, and entablature, but its capital is far more ornate, commonly carved with depictions of acanthus leaves. The style was more slender than the others on this list, used less for bearing weight but more for decoration. Corinthian style can be found along the top levels of the Colosseum in Rome.

Tuscan: The Tuscan order shares much with the Doric order, but the columns are un-fluted and smooth. The entablature is far simpler, formed without triglyphs or guttae. The columns are capped with round capitals.

Composite: This style is mixed. It features the volutes of the Ionic order and the capitals of the Corinthian order. The volutes are larger in these columns and often more ornate. The column's capital is rather plain. for the capital, with no consistent differences to that above or below the capital.

Islamic Architecture

Islamic architecture is the blanket term for the architectural styles of the buildings most associated with the eponymous faith. The style covers early Islamic times to the present day. Islamic Architecture has some influences from Mesopotamian, Roman, Byzantine, China and the Mongols.

Paradise garden: As gardens are an important symbol in Islam, they are very popular in most Islamic-style buildings. The paradise gardens are commonly symmetrical and often enclosed within walls. The most common style of garden is split into four rectangular with a pond or water feature at the very heart. Paradise gardens commonly have canals, fountains, ponds, pools and fruit trees as the presence of water and scent is essential to a paradise garden.

Sehan: The Sehan is a traditional courtyard. When built at a residence or any place not considered to be a religious site, the sehan is a private courtyard. The sehan will be full of flowering plants, water features snd likely surrounded by walls. The space offers shade, water and protection from summer heat. It was also an area where women might cast off their hijabs as the sehan was considered a private area and the hijab was not required. A sehan is also the term for a courtyard of a mosque. These courtyards would be surrounded by buildings on all sides, yet have no ceiling, leaving it open to the air. Sehans will feature a cleansing pool at the centre, set under a howz, a pavilion to protect the water. The courtyard is used for rituals but also a place of rest and gathering.

Hypostyle Hall: The Hypostyle is a hall, open to the sky and supported by columns leading to a reception hall off the main hall to the right.

Muqarnas : Muqarnas is a type of ornamentation within a dome or a half domed, sometimes called a "honeycomb", or "stalactite" vaulted ceiling. This would be cast from stone, wood, brick or stucco, used to ornament the inside of a dome or cupola. Muqarnas are used to create transitions between spaces, offering a buffer between the spaces.

African Architecture

African Architecture is a very mixed bag and more structurally different and impressive than Hollywood would have you believe. Far beyond the common depictions of primitive buildings, the African nations were among the giants of their time in architecture, no style quite the same as the last but just as breathtaking.

Somali architecture: The Somali were probably had one of Africa's most diverse and impressive architectural styles. Somali Architecture relies heavy on masonry, carving stone to shape the numerous forts, temples, mosques, royal residences, aqueducts and towers. Islamic architecture was the main inspiration for some of the details of the buildings. The Somali used sun-dried bricks, limestone and many other materials to form their impressive buildings, for example the burial monuments called taalo

Ashanti Architecture: The Ashanti style can be found in present day Ghana. The style incorporates walls of plaster formed of mud and designed with bright paint and buildings with a courtyard at the heart, not unlike another examples on this post. The Ashanti also formed their buildings of the favourite method of wattle and daub.

Afrikaner Architecture: This is probably one of the oddest architectural styles to see. Inspired by Dutch settlers (squatters), the buildings of the colony (planters/squatters) of South Africa took on a distinctive Dutch look but with an Afrikaner twist to it making it seem both familiar and strange at the same time.

Rwandan Architecture: The Rwandans commonly built of hardened clay with thatched roofs of dried grass or reeds. Mats of woven reeds carpeted the floors of royal abodes. These residences folded about a large public area known as a karubanda and were often so large that they became almost like a maze, connecting different chambers/huts of all kinds of uses be they residential or for other purposes.

Aksumite Architecture: The Aksumite was an Empire in modern day Ethiopia. The Aksumites created buildings from stone, hewn into place. One only has to look at the example of Bete Medhane Alem to see how imposing it was.

Yoruba Architecture: Yoruba Architecture was made by earth cured until it hardened enough to form into walls, or they used wattle and daub, roofed by timbers slats coated in woven grass or leaves. Each unit divided up parts of the buildings from facilities to residences, all with multiple entrances, connected together.

Igbo Architecture: The Igbo style follows some patterns of the Yoruba architecture, excepting that there are no connected walls and the spacing is not so equal. The closer a unit was to the centre, the more important inhabitants were.

Hausa architecture: Hausa Architecture was formed of monolithic walls coated in plaster. The ceilings and roof of the buildings were in the shape of small domes and early vaulted ceilings of stripped timber and laterite. Hausa Architecture features a single entrance into the building and circular walls.

Nubian Architecture: Nubia, in modern day Ethiopia, was home to the Nubians who were one of the world's most impressive architects at the beginning of the architecture world and probably would be more talked about if it weren't for the Egyptians building monuments only up the road. The Nubians were famous for building the speos, tall tower-like spires carved of stone. The Nubians used a variety of materials and skills to build, for example wattle and daub and mudbrick. The Kingdom of Kush, the people who took over the Nubian Empire was a fan of Egyptian works even if they didn't like them very much. The Kushites began building pyramid-like structures such at the sight of Gebel Barkal

Egyptian Architecture: The Egyptians were the winners of most impressive buildings for s good while. Due to the fact that Egypt was short on wood, Ancient Egyptians returned to building with limestone, granite, mudbrick, sandstone which were commonly painted with bright murals of the gods along with some helpful directions to Anubis's crib. The Egyptians are of course famous for their pyramids but lets not just sit on that bandwagon. Egyptian Architecture sported all kinds of features such as columns, piers, obelisks and carving buildings out of cliff faces as we see at Karnak. The Egyptians are cool because they mapped out their buildings in such a way to adhere to astrological movements meaning on special days if the calendar the temple or monuments were in the right place always. The Egyptians also only build residences on the east bank of the Nile River, for the opposite bank was meant for the dead. The columns of Egyptian where thicker, more bulbous and often had capitals shaped like bundles of papyrus reeds.

Chinese Architecture

Chinese Architecture is probably one of the most recognisable styles in the world. The grandness of Chinese Architecture is imposing and beautiful, as classical today as it was hundreds of years ago.

The Presence of Wood: As China is in an area where earthquakes are common, most of the buildings are were build of wood as it was easy to come across and important as the Ancient Chinese wanted a connection to nature in their homes.

Overhanging Roofs: The most famous feature of the Chinese Architectural style are the tiled roofs, set with wide eaves and upturned corners. The roofs were always tiled with ceramic to protect wood from rotting. The eaves often overhung from the building providing shade.

Symmetrical Layouts: Chinese Architecture is symmetrical. Almost every feature is in perfect balance with its other half.

Fengshui: Fengshui are philosophical principles of how to layout buildings and towns according to harmony lain out in Taoism. This ensured that the occupants in the home where kept in health, happiness, wealth and luck.

One-story: As China is troubled by earthquakes and wood is not a great material for building multi-storied buildings, most Chinese buildings only rise a single floor. Richer families might afford a second floor but the single stories compounds were the norm.

Orientation: The Ancient Chinese believed that the North Star marked out Heaven. So when building their homes and palaces, the northern section was the most important part of the house and housed the heads of the household.

Courtyards: The courtyard was the most important area for the family within the home. The courtyard or siheyuan are often built open to the sky, surrounded by verandas on each side.

Japanese Architecture

Japanese Architecture is famous for its delicacy, smooth beauty and simplistic opulence. Japanese Architecture has been one of the world's most recognisable styles, spanning thousands of years.

Wood as a Common Material: As with the Chinese, the most popular material used by the Japanese is wood. Stone and other materials were not often used because of the presence of earthquakes. Unlike Chinese Architecture, the Japanese did not paint the wood, instead leaving it bare so show the grain.

Screens and sliding doors: The shoji and fusuma are the screens and sliding doors are used in Japanese buildings to divide chambers within the house. The screens were made of light wood and thin parchment, allowing light through the house. The screens and sliding doors were heavier when they where used to shutter off outside features.

Tatami: Tatami mats are used within Japanese households to blanket the floors. They were made of rice straw and rush straw, laid down to cushion the floor.

Verandas: It is a common feature in older Japanese buildings to see a veranda along the outside of the house. Sometimes called an engawa, it acted as an outdoor corridor, often used for resting in.

Genkan: The Genkan was a sunken space between the front door and the rest of the house. This area is meant to separate the home from the outside and is where shoes are discarded before entering.

Nature: As both the Shinto and Buddhist beliefs are great influences upon architecture, there is a strong presence of nature with the architecture. Wood is used for this reason and natural light is prevalent with in the home. The orientation is meant to reflect the best view of the world.

Indian Architecture

India is an architectural goldmine. There are dozens of styles of architecture in the country, some spanning back thousands of years, influenced by other cultures making a heady stew of different styles all as beautiful and striking as the last.

Mughal Architecture: The Mughal architecture blends influences from Islamic, Persian along with native Indian. It was popular between the 16th century -18th century when India was ruled by Mughal Emperors. The Taj Mahal is the best example of this.

Indo-Saracenic Revival Architecture: Indo Saracenic Revival mixes classical Indian architecture, Indo-Islamic architecture, neo-classical and Gothic revival of the 1800s.

Cave Architecture: The cave architecture is probably one of the oldest and most impressive styles of Indian architecture. In third century BC, monks carved temples and buildings into the rock of caves.

Rock-Cut Architecture: The Rock-cut is similar to the cave style, only that the rock cut is carved from a single hunk of natural rock, shaped into buildings and sprawling temples, all carved and set with statues.

Vesara Architecture: Vesara style prevalent in medieval period in India. It is a mixture of the Dravida and the Nagara styles. The tiers of the Vesara style are shorter than the other styles.

Dravidian Architecture: The Dravidian is the southern temple architectural style. The Kovils are an example of prime Dravidian architecture. These monuments are of carved stone, set up in a step like towers like with statues of deities and other important figures adorning them.

Kalinga Architecture: The Kalinga style is the dominant style in the eastern Indian provinces. The Kalinga style is famous for architectural stipulations, iconography and connotations and heavy depictions of legends and myths.

Sikh Architecture: Sikh architecture is probably the most intricate and popular of the styles here. Sikh architecture is famous for its soft lines and details.

Romanesque (6th -11th century/12th)

Romanesque Architecture is a span between the end of Roman Empire to the Gothic style. Taking inspiration from the Roman and Byzantine Empires, the Romanesque period incorporates many of the styles.

Rounded arches: It is here that we see the last of the rounded arches famous in the classical Roman style until the Renaissance. The rounded arches are very popular in this period especially in churches and cathedrals. The rounded arches were often set alongside each other in continuous rows with columns in between.

Details: The most common details are carved floral and foliage symbols with the stonework of the Romanesque buildings. Cable mouldings or twisted rope-like carvings would have framed doorways.

Pillars: The Romanesque columns is commonly plainer than the classical columns, with ornate captials and plain bases. Most columns from this time are rather thick and plain.

Barrel Vaults: A barrel vaulted ceiling is formed when a curved ceiling or a pair of curves (in a pointed ceiling). The ceiling looks rather like half a tunnel, completely smooth and free of ribs, stone channels to strengthen the weight of the ceiling.

Arcading: An arcade is a row of arches in a continual row, supported by columns in a colonnade. Exterior arcades acted as a sheltered passage whilst inside arcades or blind arcades, are set against the wall the arches bricked, the columns and arches protruding from the wall.

Gothic Architecture (12th Century - 16th Century)

The Gothic Architectural style is probably one of the beautiful of the styles on this list and one of most recognisable. The Gothic style is a dramatic, opposing sight and one of the easiest to describe.

Pointed arch: The Gothic style incorporates pointed arches, in the windows and doorways. The arches were likely inspired by pre-Islamic architecture in the east.

Ribbed vault: The ribbed vault of the Gothic age was constructed of pointed arches. The trick with the ribbed vaulted ceiling, is that the pointed arches and channels to bear the weight of the ceiling.

Buttresses: The flying buttress is designed to support the walls. They are similar to arches and are connected to counter-supports fixed outside the walls.

Stained-Glass Window: This is probably one of the most recognisable and beautiful of the Gothic features. They can be set in round rose windows or in the pointed arches.

Renaissance Architecture (15th Century- 17th Century)

Renaissance architecture was inspired by Ancient Roman and Greek Architecture. Renaissance Architecture is Classical on steroids but has its own flare. The Renaissance was a time for colour and grandeur.

Columns and pilasters: Roman and Greek columns were probably the greatest remix of the Renaissance period. The architecture of this period incorporated the five orders of columns are used: Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian and Composite. The columns were used to hold up a structure, support ceilings and adorn facades. Pilasters were columns within a chamber, lining the walls for pure decoration purposes.

Arches: Arches are rounded in this period, having a more natural semi-circular shape at its apex. Arches were a favourite feature of the style, used in windows, arcades or atop columns.

Cupola: Is a small dome-like tower atop a bigger dome or a rooftop meant to allow light and air into the chamber beneath.

Vaulted Ceiling/Barrel Vault: Renaissance vaulted ceilings do not have ribs. Instead they are semi-circular in shape, resting upon a square plain rather than the Gothic preference of rectangular. The barrel vault held by its own weight and would likely be coated in plaster and painted.

Domes: The dome is the architectural feature of the Renaissance. The ceiling curves inwards as it rises, forming a bowl like shape over the chamber below. The dome's revival can be attributed to Brunelleschi and the Herculean feat of placing a dome on the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. The idea was later copied by Bramante who built St. Peter's Basilica.

Frescos: To decorate the insides of Renaissance buildings, frescos (the art of applying wet paint to plaster as it dries) were used to coat the walls and ceilings of the buildings. The finest frescos belong to Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel.

Baroque (1625–1750)

Baroque incorporates some key features of Renaissance architecture, such as those nice columns and domes we saw earlier on. But Baroque takes that to the next level. Everything is higher, bigger, shinier, brighter and more opulent. Some key features of Baroque palaces and buildings would be:

Domes: These domes were a common feature, left over from the Renaissance period. Why throw out a perfectly good bubble roof, I ask you? But Baroque domes were of course, grander. Their interiors were were nearly always painted or gilded, so it drew the eye upwards which is basically the entire trick with Baroque buildings. Domes were not always round in this building style and Eastern European buildings in Poland and Ukraine for example sport pear-shaped domes.

Solomonic columns: Though the idea of columns have been about for years but the solomonic columns but their own twist on it. These columns spiral from beginning to end, often in a s-curved pattern.

Quadratura: Quadratura was the practice of painting the ceilings and walls of a Baroque building with trompe-l'oeil. Most real life versions of this depict angels and gods in the nude. Again this is to draw the eye up.

Mirrors: Mirrors came into popularity during this period as they were a cool way to create depth and light in a chamber. When windows faced the mirrors on the wall, it creates natural light and generally looks bitchin'. Your famous example is the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles.

Grand stairways: The grand sweeping staircases became popular in this era, often acting as the centre piece in a hall. The Baroque staircase would be large and opulent, meant for ceremonies and to smoother guests in grandeur.

Cartouche: The cartouche is a design that is created to add some 3D effect to the wall, usually oval in shape with a convex surface and edged with scrollwork. It is used commonly to outline mirrors on the wall or crest doorways just to give a little extra opulence.

Neoclassical (1750s-19th century)

The Neoclassical Period involved grand buildings inspired by the Greek orders, the most popular being the Doric. The main features of Neoclassical architecture involve the simple geometric lines, columns, smooth walls, detailing and flat planed surfaces. The bas-reliefs of the Neoclassical style are smoother and set within tablets, panels and friezes. St. Petersburg is famous for the Neoclassical styles brought in under the reign of Catherine the Great.

Greek Revival (late 18th and early 19th century)

As travel to other nations became easier in this time period, they became to get really into the Ancient Greek aesthetic. During this architectural movement they brought back the gabled roof, the columns and the entablature. The Greek Revival was more prevalent in the US after the Civil War and in Northern Europe.

Hope this helps somewhat @marril96

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ichikiciw · 4 years ago

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Ten questions to ask a friend who just read your novel

Here are ten questions to ask that will not put your friend in a tough spot, but will still give you some useful input on your novel:

1. At what point did you feel like “Ah, now the story has really begun!” 2. What were the points where you found yourself skimming? 3. Which setting in the book was clearest to you as you were reading it? Which do you remember the best? 4. Which character would you most like to meet and get to know? 5. What was the most suspenseful moment in the book? 6. If you had to pick one character to get rid of, who would you axe? 7. Was there a situation in the novel that reminded you of something in your own life? 8. Where did you stop reading, the first time you cracked open the manuscript? (Can show you where your first dull part is, and help you fix your pacing.) 9. What was the last book you read, before this? And what did you think of it? (This can put their comments in context in surprising ways, when you find out what their general interests are. It might surprise you.) 10. Finish this sentence: “I kept reading because…”

Your friend is probably still going to tell you, “It was good!” However, if you can ask any specific questions, and read between the lines, you can still get some helpful information out of even the most well-meaning reader.

Source: Examiner

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ichikiciw · 4 years ago

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Why develop a fictional culture?

When you’re creating a race of people for your new world, you need a culture to give those people and their way of life some context. The culture helps determine how the characters act, dress, eat, solve problems, among so many other things. You can (and sometimes, should) have multiple cultures in your world, depending on how large your focus area is. Cultures affect each other, but also serve in a narrative sense to draw contrast in-world and to draw parallels to the reader’s world.

So here are some thoughts, big and small, that are meant to help inspire you as you create amazing cultures. (And remember that you’re thinking about the following questions in the context of the general population, not your main character(s).) You can simply answer these questions in short-answer form, or you can write a short story to flesh out one or two or three questions at once. If you do that, submit them to me! I’d love to feature them on the blog.

How old do people believe their race is? How old are they really?

How prevalent are religions to the common person?

What is/are the origin stories of the main religion(s)?

What do most people think should be the highest priority:

biological family?

chosen family?

career?

service/charity (of any kind)?

religion?

entertainment/fun?

nation?

expansion (of nation/culture/influence/understanding)?

How do culturally shared priorities shape interactions?

What is the common greeting? Does it vary by age, class, rank, or sect?

How is gender viewed by the majority? Why?

What are common myths/legends of your people and how heavily do they influence the modern day?

How trustful are people of outsiders?

How welcoming are people, in general, of strangers into their homes?

How well do people of various factions (class, race, religion, etc.) get along in society?

How far has technology advanced, and how has it been implemented into their daily lives?

If magic exists, what do they believe is its origin? Its source?

If there is division between magic/non-magic, how do the two treat each other and why? How long has it been that way?

What sort of relationship do they have with their ruler?

How content is the average person?

How do people make their living and how big a part of their life is their career (if applicable)?

Do they have “weekends” and if so, what sets them apart from “weekdays”?

How do they treat their close friends?

How do they treat their enemies?

How do they handle small conflict, between individuals or small groups?

How do they handle larger conflicts?

How are they prepared for any potential war? Do they have some sort of military or militia in place?

How many wars have they, as a society, fought over the course of their lives/history? How much of an impact does that have on their cultural identity? (i.e. WW2′s impact on patriotism in America, and how it’s yet to go away.)

What virtues do they value in individuals? What virtues do they say they value? If those are different, why?

How do they dress? Does it vary greatly by gender, or not? Is their focus on clothing very practical, religious, sentimental, or simply driven by the latest arbitrary fashion? How do the above answers reflect on the culture on a deeper level?

How do they treat their elderly?

How do they treat their children?

At what age does a baby become a child, a child a young adult, a young adult an adult, an adult an elder?

How much regulation does the day-to-day life of the average citizen entail? Or, how involved is the government in micro affairs?

How are these people seen throughout their known world? How do other cultures view this culture?

Check out the rest of the Brainstorming Series! Magic Systems, Part One Magic Systems, Part Two New Species New Worlds Map Making Politics and Government Belief Systems & Religion Guilds, Factions, & Groups War & Conflict Science & Technology Wildlife & Ecosystems History & Lore

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ichikiciw · 5 years ago

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Awesome Sites and Links for Writers

Just about every writer out there has several go-to websites that they use when it comes to their writing. Be it for creativity, writer’s block, to put you in the mood or general writing help. These are mine and I listed them in hopes that you’ll find something that you’ll like or find something useful. I’ve also included some websites that sounded interesting, but I haven’t tried out yet.

Spelling & Grammar

Grammar Girl – Grammar Girl’s famous Quick and Dirty Tips (delivered via blog or podcast) will help you keep your creative writing error free.

The Owl – is Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab (OWL), an academic source from Purdue University (which is in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S.). It’s contains plenty of grammar guides, style tips and other information that can help with your writing, it’s especially great for academics.

Tip of My Tongue — have you ever had trouble of thinking of a specific word that you can’t remember what it is? Well, this site will help you narrow down your thoughts and find that word you’ve been looking for. It can be extremely frustrating when you have to stop writing because you get a stuck on a word, so this should help cut that down.

Free Rice – is a great way to test your vocabulary knowledge. What’s even better about this site is that with every correct answer, they donate 10 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program. So, please disable your adblock since they use the ads on the site to generate the money to buy the rice.

HyperGrammar – is from the University of Ottawa (a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) that offers up a one-stop guide for proper spelling, structure, and punctuation. Being that this comes from a Canadian university, that means that they use standard Oxford English Dictionary spelling. Basically that means you’ll get British English, which differs slightly from formal American English.

AutoCrit – the AutoCrit Editing Wizard analyzes your manuscript to identify areas for improvement, including pacing and momentum, dialogue, strong writing, word choice and repetition. It also provides a number of other writing resources as well. It’s not free, but they do offer 200 characters for analysis at no charge. It’s $29.97 per month or $359.64 for an annual membership.

ProWritingAid – is another automatic editing tool that analyzes your writing and produces reports on areas such as overused words, writing style, sentence length, grammar and repeated words and phrases. They offer a free sample, but you have to make an account to try it out. It’s $3.33 per month ($40 annually, or less if you purchase a longer license).

Writer’s Digest – learn how to improve your writing, find an agent, and even get published with the help of the varied blogs on this site.

Paper Rater – uses Artificial Intelligence to improve your writing. It includes grammar, plagiarism, and spelling check, along with word choice analysis. The basic version is completely free, but they do offer premium subscription for people seeking more advanced features. If you’re interested it’s $14.95 per month or $95.40 per year if you decide to get it.

Syntaxis – it allows you to test your knowledge of grammar with a ten-question quiz. The questions change every time you take the quiz so users are sure to be challenged each time around. It definitely helps writers know if there’s something that they need to brush up on.

Word Frequency Counter – this counter allows you to count the frequency usage of each word in your text.

EditMinion – is a free robotic copy editor that helps you to refine your writing by finding common mistakes.

Proofreading for Common Errors – this is a simple tutorial on proofreading your writing by Indiana University.

BBC – has a section for helping you with your skills, especially in writing, from grammar to spelling, to reading, to listening and to speaking.

Tools

Copyscape – is a free service that you can use to learn if anyone has plagiarized your work. It’s pretty useful for those that want to check for fanfiction plagiarism.

Plagium – is another a copy detection system, that provides a very similar service to Copyscape and uses Yahoo! rather than Google to perform its searches. Just keep in mind that searches for simple text up to 25,000 characters remains free of charge, but any larger requires credits to be purchase.

Write or Die – is an web application for Windows, Mac and Linux which aims to eliminate writer’s block by providing consequences for procrastination. It lets you try it for free, but the desktop version is available for $10. The Write or Die iPad app is $9.99 in the App Store. If you’re really old school, the original web app can still be launched with its modest settings.

Written? Kitten! – is similar to Write or Die, but it’s a kinder version and it’s completely free. They use positive reinforcement, so every time you reach a goal they reward you with an adorable picture of a kitten.

Fast Fingers – offers you an easy way to improve your typing skills. It’s puts you through a quick typing game that tests your typing speed and improves it at the same time. It’s also a great way for writers to warm up.

Information & Data

RefDesk – it has an enormous collection of reference materials, searchable databases and other great resources that can’t be found anywhere else. It’s great to use when you need to find something and/or check your facts.

Bib Me – it makes it easy to create citations, build bibliographies and acknowledge other people’s work. This is definitely something that academics will love. It’s basically a bibliography generator that automatically fills in a works cited page in MLA, APA, Chicago or Turbian formats.

Internet Public Library – is a non-profit, largely student-run website managed by a consortium, headed by Drexel University. Currently this online library is inactive, but it’s still full of resources that are free for anyone to use, from newspaper and magazine articles to special collections. Just keep in mind that it’s not up to date, since they stopped maintaining it on June 30, 2015.

The Library of Congress – if you’re looking for primary documents and information, the Library of Congress is a great place to start. It has millions of items in its archives, many of which are accessible right from the website.

Social Security Administration: Popular Baby Names – is the most accurate list of popular names from 1879 to the present. If your character is from America and you need a name for them, this gives you a accurate list of names, just pick the state or decade that your character is from.

WebMD – is a handy medical database loaded with information. It’s not a substitute for a doctor, but can give you a lot of good information on diseases, symptoms, treatments, etc.

MedlinePlus – is the National Institutes of Health’s web site that contains information about diseases, conditions, and wellness issues in language you can understand. It also offers reliable, up-to-date health information, anytime, anywhere, for free. You can use the site to learn about the latest treatments, look up information on a drug or supplement, find out the meanings of words, or view medical videos or illustrations. You can also get links to the latest medical research on your topic or find out about clinical trials on a disease or condition.

Mayo Clinic – is a nonprofit medical practice and medical research group.

World Health Organization (WHO) – is a specialized agency of the United Nations that is concerned with international public health. Its current priorities include communicable diseases, in particular HIV/AIDS, Ebola, malaria and tuberculosis; the mitigation of the effects of non-communicable diseases; sexual and reproductive health, development, and ageing; nutrition, food security and healthy eating; occupational health; substance abuse; and driving the development of reporting, publications, and networking.

Google Scholar – is an online, freely accessible search engine that lets users look for both physical and digital copies of articles. It searches a wide variety of sources, including academic publishers, universities, and preprint depositories and so on. While Google Scholar does search for print and online scholarly information, it is important to understand that the resource is not a database.

The Old Farmer’s Almanac – this classic almanac offers yearly information on astronomical events, weather conditions and forecasts, recipes, and gardening tips.

State Health Facts – Kaiser Family Foundation provides this database, full of health facts on a state-by-state basis that address everything from medicare to women’s health.

U.S. Census Bureau – you can learn more about the trends and demographics of America with information drawn from the Census Bureau’s online site.

Wikipedia – this shouldn’t be used as your sole source, but it can be a great way to get basic information and find out where to look for additional references.

Finding Data on the Internet – a great website that list links that can tell you where you can find the inflation rate, crime statistics, and other data.

Word References

RhymeZone – whether you’re writing poetry, songs, or something else entirely, you can get help rhyming words with this site.

Acronym Finder – with more than 565,000 human-edited entries, Acronym Finder is the world’s largest and most comprehensive dictionary of acronyms, abbreviations, and initials.

Symbols.com – is a unique online encyclopedia that contains everything about symbols, signs, flags and glyphs arranged by categories such as culture, country, religion, and more.

OneLook Reverse Dictionary – is a dictionary that lets you describe a concept and get back a list of words and phrases related to that concept. Your description can be a few words, a sentence, a question, or even just a single word.

The Alternative Dictionaries – is a PDF, that contains a list of slang words in all types of languages, such as Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Norwegian and many, many others. There use to be a website, but it’s not there anymore and this is the next best thing I could find.

Online Etymology Dictionary – it gives you the history and derivation of any word. Etymologies are not definitions; they’re explanations of what our words meant and how they sounded 600 or 2,000 years ago.

MediLexicon – is a comprehensive dictionary of medical, pharmaceutical, biomedical, and health care abbreviations and acronyms.

Merriam Webster Online – the online version of the classic dictionary also provides a thesaurus and a medical dictionary.

Multilingual Dictionary – it translate whatever you need from 30 different languages with this easy-to-use site.

Writing Software

Open Office – why pay for Microsoft products when you can create free documents with Open Office? This open source software provides similar tools to the Microsoft Office Suite, including spreadsheets, a word processor, the ability to create multimedia presentations, and more.

LibreOffice – is a free and open source office suite. It was forked from OpenOffice.org in 2010, which was an open-sourced version of the earlier StarOffice. The LibreOffice suite comprises programs to do word processing, spreadsheets, slideshows, diagrams and drawings, maintain databases, and compose math formula.

Scrivener – is not a free program, but it’s certainly a very popular one. It's great for organizing research, planning drafts, and writing novels, articles, short stories, and even screenplays.

OmmWriter – is for Mac OS X, a free simple text processor that gives you a distraction free environment. So you can focus only on your writing without being tempted or distracted by other programs on your computer. They are currently working on a Windows version of their software as well, so keep an eye out for that if you’re interested.

FocusWriter – is a completely free full-screen writing application designed to immerse you in your writing. It keeps your writing space simple and clean without sacrificing functionality. It includes a daily goal tracker, work count and time spent writing. There’s also spell checking, real-time feedback on variables like word and page count, and tabbed document browsing. It's available for Windows, Mac and Linux.

Q10 – is a free portable distraction-free writing tool for Windows. The interface includes nothing but a tiny bar at the bottom that displays the character, word, and page count—you can toggle the bar off for a totally distraction free workspace.

Evernote – is a free app for your smartphone and computer that stores everything you could possibly imagine losing track of, like a boarding pass, receipt, article you want to read, to do list, or even a simple typed note. The app works brilliantly, keeping everything in sync between your computer, smartphone, or tablet. It’s definitely a useful app for writers when you have ideas on the go.

ScriptBuddy – is a full-fledged screenplay software program. It handles the proper screenplay format automatically, so you can concentrate on your story. It is easy to use and the basic version is free.

TheSage – is a free application, which is a comprehensive English dictionary and thesaurus that provides a number of useful and in some cases unusual search tools.

Sigil – is ideal for e-book authors because it's a free EPUB editor with a stack of essential features.

WriterDuet – is a collaborative screenwriting app for working with writing partners in real-time. It also lets you copy text written in Fountain, or other screenwriting programs (Final Draft, Celtx, etc.) and paste it directly into WriterDuet with the correct formatting most of the time. They offer the basic version for free, WriterDuet Pro ($9.00 monthly, $79 yearly and $199 lifetime) and WriterDuet Premium ($299 yearly). WriterDuet works on Mac, Windows, Linux, Chromebooks, iOS, and Android. It gives identical page counts on all devices, and PDFs.

ZenWriter – is a program that gives you an open, peaceful place for composing your thoughts without any distractions. It’s a fullscreen text editor that offers customizable backgrounds, music, and a nifty word count at the bottom of the window. It’s not free, but it does offer a free trial for 15 days. It is available for Windows, and after the 15-day trial period you can choose to purchase it for $17.50 if you want.

WriteMonkey – is a Windows writing application with an extremely stripped down user interface, leaving you alone with your thoughts and your words. It is light, fast and free. It’s also an portable app, so you can stick it on a USB drive and use in on whatever computer you happen to find yourself at.

YWriter5 – is a free word processor and is designed for Windows XP, Vista and beyond. It's a small but very comprehensive tool which helps you to plan your story. It breaks your novel into chapters and scenes, helping you to keep track of your work while leaving your mind free to create. You can set up deadlines, for instance, and the program’s Work Schedule report will let you know how much you’ll have to do, each day, to finish on time. You can even enter your characters, locations and items and freely organize them into scenes. This definitely sounds like it’ll be useful for NaNoWriMo writers.

Kingsoft Office (WPS Office) – is an office suite for Microsoft Windows, Linux, iOS and Android OS. The basic version is free to use, but a fully featured professional-grade version is also available. This software allows users to view, create and share office documents that are fully compatible with dozens of document formats, including Microsoft PowerPoint, Word and Excel. In other words, the format is similar to a Microsoft Word document (.DOC or .DOCX file) and supports formatted text, images, and advanced page formatting. Kingsoft Writer documents can be converted to Microsoft Word *.doc files in the software.

Creativity, Fun & Miscellaneous

National Novel Writing Month – is one of the most well-known writing challenges in the writing community. National Novel Writing Month pushes you to write 50,000 words in 30 days (for the whole month of November).

WritingFix – a fun site that creates writing prompts on the spot. The site currently has several options—prompts for right-brained people, for left-brained people, for kids—and is working to add prompts on classic literature, music and more.

Creative Writing Prompts – the site is exactly what it says. They have 100+ and more, of prompts that you can choose from.

My Fonts – is the world’s largest collection of fonts. You can even upload an image containing a font that you like, and this tells you what it is. Just keep in mind that not all of the fonts are free.

DaFont – has lot of fonts as well, most of them are completely free to download. However, some are demo versions or are only free if you used it for personal use and not commercial use.

Story Starters – this website offers over one trillion randomly generated story starters for creative writers.

The Gutenberg Project – this site is perfect for those who like to read and/or have an e-reader. There’s over 33,000 ebooks you can download for free.

The Imagination Prompt Generator – click through the prompts to generate different ideas in response to questions like “Is there a God?” and “If your tears could speak to you, what would they say?”

The Phrase Finder – this handy site helps you hunt down famous phrases, along with their origins. It also offers a phrase thesaurus that can help you create headlines, lyrics, and much more.

Storybird – this site allows you to write a picture book. They provided the gorgeous artwork and you create the story for it, or just read the stories that others have created.

Language Is a Virus – the automatic prompt generator on this site can provide writers with an endless number of creative writing prompts. Other resources include writing exercises and information on dozens of different authors.

Background Noise/Music

SimplyNoise – a free white noise sounds that you can use to drown out everything around you and help you focus on your writing.

Rainy Mood – from the same founders of Simply Noise, this website offers the pleasant sound of rain and thunderstorms. There's a slide volume control, which you can increase the intensity of the noise (gentle shower to heavy storm), thunder mode (often, few, rare), oscillation button, and a sleep timer.

Coffitivity – a site that provides three background noises: Morning Murmur (a gentle hum), Lunchtime Lounge (bustling chatter), and University Undertones (campus cafe). A pause button is provided whenever you need a bladder break, and a sliding volume control to give you the freedom to find the perfect level for your needs and moods. It’s also available as an android app, iOS app, and for Mac desktop. If you go Premium it’s $9 and you’ll get 1 year of unlimited listening to their audio tracks and access to three more sounds: Paris Paradise, Brazil Bistro and Texas Teahouse.

Rainy Cafe – it provides background chatter in coffee shops (similar to Coffitivity) AND the sound of rain (similar to Simply Rain). There’s also individual volume and on/off control for each sound category.

Forest Mood – is background noise of the forest.

MyNoise – is a website with multi-purpose noise generator that is completely free. It helps you to focus while working in a noisy environment or to help settle your anxiety and it’s also useful in cases of insomnia or tinnitus. It has so many sounds to choose from: Fish Tank, Clockwork, Gregorian Chants, Traffic Noise, and so on.

MyNoise: Online Fire Noise Generator – is also from NyNoise, but it’s a short-cut link for those that only want to hear the sound of fire crackling in a fireplace.

Snowy Mood – is a noise generator that plays sounds of boots walking through snow on an endless loop. It’s simple and straightforward, and perfect for those days when you feel like being snowed in.

Noisli – is a background noise generator that helps you to drown out annoying noises in order to create your perfect environment for working and relaxing. You can mix different sounds together, such as rain and a train or fire and the night sound of crickets or with the waves at a beach.

Purrli – is a white noise generator that recreates the sound and the presence of a cat purring next to you.

Ambient Mixer – is a free online audio mixing tool in which you can create and edit your own ambient music or background sounds. You can even listen to other people’s mixes such as Gryffindor Common Room, Riding with the Winchesters, Mr. Tumnus’ House, A Day in Camp Half-Blood, and so on.

8tracks – is an internet radio website and everyone can listen for free, well it use to be completely free. Unlike other music oriented social network such as Pandora or Spotify, 8tracks doesn’t have commercial interruption (that’s if you get 8tracks Plus). Users can create free accounts and can either browse the site and listen to other user-created mixes for as long as they like, and/or they can create their own mixes. It’s a perfect place to listen to other writer’s playlist, share yours or find music for specific characters or moods. Note: Joining is still free, however you’re now limited to 1 hour of free listening for each week (or more depending on how much people like your mixes, but I’ve been told the limitation is for those in the US only). If you want unlimited access it’s $30 per year or $5.00 a month.

Playmoss – with 8tracks no longer having free unlimited listening and no commercial interruptions many people looked for an alternative and Playmoss is what 8tracks use to be. Playmoss is free to join and it has all the same basic features that 8tracks has, only with extra goodies like unlimited skips, able to see the entire tracklist before playing, start at any point in the playlist, see how many playlists contain a certain song and even collaborate playlists with other people.

111K notes · View notes

ichikiciw · 5 years ago

Text

Writing Tip June 4th

A list of body language phrases.

I’ve included a very comprehensive list, organized by the type of body movement, hand and arm movements, facial expressions etc. In some cases, a phrase fits more than one heading, so it may appear twice. Possible emotions are given after each BL phrase unless the emotion is indicated within the phrase. (They are underlined for emphasis, not due to a hyperlink.)

Note: I’ve included a few body postures and body conditions as they are non-verbal testimony to the character’s physical condition.

Have fun and generate your own ideas.:-)

Eyes, Brows and Forehead

arched a sly brow: sly, haughty

blinked owlishly: just waking, focusing, needs glasses

brows bumped together in a scowl: worried, disapproving, irritated

brows knitted in a frown: worried, disapproval, thoughtful

bug-eyed: surprised, fear, horror

cocky wink and confident smile: over confidence, arrogant, good humor, sexy humor

eyes burned with hatred: besides hatred this might suggest maniacal feelings

eyes flashed: fury, defiance, lust, promise, seduction

eyes rolled skyward: disbelief, distrust, humor

forehead puckered: thoughtful, worried, irritation

frustration crinkled her eyes

gaze dipped to her décolletage: sexual interest, attraction, lust

gimlet-eyed/narrowed eyes: irritation, thoughtful, mean, angry

gleam of deviltry: humor, conniving, cunning

kept eye contact but her gaze became glazed: pretending interest where there is none/bordom

narrowed to crinkled slits: angry, distrust

nystagmic eyes missed nothing (constantly shifting eyes): Shifty

pupils dilated: interested, attraction to opposite sex, fear

raked her with freezing contempt

slammed his eyes shut: stunned, furious, pain

squinted in a furtive manner: fearful, sneaky

stared with cow eyes: surprised, disbelief, hopeful, lovestruck

subtle wink: sexy, humor/sharing a joke, sarcasm

unrelenting stare: distrust, demanding, high interest, unyielding

Place To Place, Stationary Or Posture

ambled away: relaxed, lazy

barged ahead: rude, hurried

battled his way through the melee: desperate, anger, alarm

cruised into the diner: easy-going, feeling dapper, confident

dawdled alongside the road: lazy, deliberate delay for motives, unhurried, relaxed

dragged his blanket in the dirt: sadness/depressed, weary

edged closer to him: sneaky, seeking comfort, seeking protection, seeking an audience

he stood straighter and straightened his tie: sudden interest, sexual attraction

held his crotch and danced a frantic jig: demonstrates physical condition – he has to pee

hips rolled and undulated: sexy walk, exaggerating for sex appeal

hovered over them with malice/like a threatening storm: here it’s malice, but one may hover for many reasons.

hunched over to look shorter: appear inconspicuous, ashamed of actions, ashamed of height

leaped into action feet hammering the marbled floor: eager, fear, joyous

long-legged strides: hurried, impatient

lumbered across: heavy steps of a big man in a hurry

minced her way up to him: timid, sneaky, insecure, dainty or pretense at dainty

paced/prowled the halls: worried, worried impatience, impatient, diligently seeking pivoted on his heel and took off: mistaken and changes direction, following orders, hurried, abrupt change of mind, angry retreat

plodded down the road: unhurried, burdened, reluctant

practiced sensual stroll: sexy, showing off

rammed her bare foot into her jeans: angry, rushed

rocked back and forth on his heels: thoughtful, impatiently waiting

sagged against the wall: exhausted, disappointment

sallied forth: confident, determined

sashayed her cute little fanny: confident, determined, angered and determined

shrank into the angry crowd: fear, insecure, seeking to elude

sketched a brief bow and assumed a regal pose: confident, mocking, snooty, arrogant skidded to an abrupt halt: change of heart, fear, surprise, shock

skulked on the edges of the crowd: sneaky, ashamed, timid

slithered through the door: sneaky, evil, bad intentions

stormed toward her, pulling up short when: anger with a sudden surprise

swaggered into the class room: over confident, proud, arrogant, conceited

tall erect posture: confidence, military bearing

toe tapped a staccato rhythm: impatience, irritation

tottered/staggered unsteadily then keeled over: drunk, drugged, aged, ill

waltzed across the floor: happy, blissful, exuberant, conceited, arrogant

Head Movement

cocked his head: curiosity, smart-alecky, wondering, thoughtful

cocked his head left and rolled his eyes to right corner of the ceiling: introspection

droop of his head: depressed, downcast, hiding true feelings

nodded vigorously: eager

tilted her head to one side while listening: extreme interest, possibly sexual interest

Mouth And Jaw

a lackluster smile: feigning cheerfulness

cigarette hung immobile in mouth: shock, lazy, uncaring, relaxed casualness

clinched his jaw at the sight: angered, worried, surprised

curled her lips with icy contempt

expelled her breath in a whose: relief, disappointment

gagged at the smell: disgust, distaste

gapped mouth stare: surprised, shock, disbelief

gritted his teeth: anger, irritation, holding back opinion

inhaled a sharp breath: surprise, shock, fear, horror

licked her lips: nervous, sexual attraction

lips primed: affronted, upset, insulted

lips pursed for a juicy kiss

lips pursed like she’d been chewing a lemon rind: dislike, angry, irritated, sarcasm

lips screwed into: irritation, anger, grimace, scorn

lips set in a grim line: sorrow, worried, fear of the worst

pursed her lips: perturbed, waiting for a kiss

scarfed down the last biscuit: physical hunger, greed

slack-mouthed: total shock, disbelief

slow and sexy smile: attraction, seductive, coy

smacked his lips: anticipation

smile congealed then melted into horror

smile dangled on the corner of his lips: cocky, sexy

smirked and tossed her hair over her shoulder: conceit, sarcasm, over confident

sneered and flicked lint off his suit: sarcasm, conceit

spewed water and spit: shock

stuck out her tongue: humor, sarcasm, teasing, childish

toothy smile: eagerness, hopeful

wary smile surfaced on her lips

Nose

nose wrinkled in distaste/at the aroma

nostrils flared: anger, sexual attraction

nose in the air: snooty, haughty

Face in General

crimson with fury

handed it over shame-faced

jutted his chin: confident, anger, forceful

managed a deadpan expression: expressionless

muscles in her face tightened: unsmiling, concealing emotions, anger, worried

rested his chin in his palm and looked thoughtful

rubbed a hand over his dark stubble: thoughtful, ashamed of his appearance

screwed up her face: anger, smiling, ready to cry, could almost be any emotion

sneered and flicked lint off his suit: conceit, derision, scorn

Arm and Hand

a vicious yank

arm curled around her waist, tugging her next to him: possessive, pride, protective

bit her lip and glanced away: shy, ashamed, insecure

brandished his fist: anger, threatening, ready to fight, confident, show of pride

clamped his fingers into tender flesh: anger, protective, wants to inflict pain

clenched his dirty little fists: stubborn, angry

clapped her hands on her hips, arms crooked like sugar bowel handles: anger, demanding, disbelief

constantly twirled her hair and tucked it behind her ear: attracted to the opposite sex, shy crossed his arms over his chest: waiting, impatient, putting a barrier

crushed the paper in his fist: anger, surrender, discard

dived into the food: hunger, eager, greedy

doffed his hat: polite gesture, mocking, teasing

doodled on the phone pad and tapped the air with her foot: bored, inattention, introspection

drummed her fingers on the desk: impatient, frustrated, bored

fanned her heated face with her hands: physically hot, embarrassed, indicating attraction

fiddled with his keys: nervous, bored

firm, palm to palm hand shake: confident, honest

flipped him the bird: sarcastic discard

forked his fingers through his hair for the third time: disquiet/consternation, worry, thoughtful

handed it over shame-faced: guilt, shame

held his crotch and danced a frantic jig: physical need to relieve himself

limp hand shake: lack of confidence, lack of enthusiasm

propped his elbow on his knee: relaxed, thoughtful

punched her pillow: restless, can’t sleep, angry

rested his chin in his palm: thoughful, worried

scratched his hairy belly and yawned: indolent, bored, lazy, relaxed, just waking

shoulders lifted in a shrug: doubtful, careless discard

slapped his face in front of God and country: enraged, affronted/insulted

snapped a sharp salute: respect, sarcastic gesture meaning the opposite of respect

snapped his fingers, expecting service: arrogant, lack of respect, self-centered

sneered and flicked lint off his suit

spread her arms wide: welcoming, joy, love

stabbed at the food: anger, hunger, determined

stood straighter and smoothed his tie: sudden interest, possible sexual interest

stuffed his hands in his pockets: self-conscious, throwing up a barrier

sweaty handshake: nervous, fearful

touched his arm several times while explaining: sign of attraction, flattery, possessive

wide sweep of his arms: welcoming, all inclusive gesture, horror

Sitting or Rising

collapsed in a stupor: exhausted, drunk, drugged, disbelief

enthroned himself at the desk: conceit, pronouncing or taking ownership

exploded out of the chair: shock, eager, anger, supreme joy

roosted on the porch rail like a cock on a hen house roof: claiming ownership, conceit, content

sat, squaring an ankle over one knee: relaxed and open

slouched/wilted in a chair and paid languid attention to: drowsy, lazy, depressed, disinterest, sad, totally relaxed, disrespectful

squirmed in his chair: ill at ease, nervous, needs the bathroom

Recline

flung himself into the bed: sad, depressed, exhausted, happy

prostrated himself: surrender, desperate, miserable, powerless, obsequious, fawning, flattering

punched her pillow: can’t sleep, anger, frustrated

threw himself on the floor kicking and screaming: tantrum

Entire body and General

body stiffened at the remark: offended, anger, alerted

body swayed to music: dreamy, fond memories, enjoys the music

bounced in the car seat, pointing: excitement, fear, eager

cowered behind his brother: fear, shyness, coward, desperate

curled into a ball: sorrow, fear, sleepy, defensive

heart galloping: anxiety, joy, eager

held his crotch and danced a frantic jig

humped over his cane, each step shaking and careful: pain, aged

inhaled a deep breath and blew out slowly: buying time to find words/thoughtful, reconciled

quick and jerky like rusty cogs on a wheel: unsure of actions, self-conscious, tense, edgy

rocked back and forth on his heels: impatient, cocky, gleeful

manhandled the woman into a corner: bully, anger

slumped shoulders: defeat, depressed, sad, surrender

stiff-backed: priggish, haughty, affronted

stood straighter and straightened his tie: sexual interest, wants to make an impression

stooped and bent: aged, arthritic, in pain

stretched extravagantly and yawned: tired, bored, unconcerned

sweating uncontrollably: nervous, fear, guilt

tall erect posture: confidence, military bearing

was panting now at: afraid, exhausted, out of breath, sexual excitement

-Sharla Rae

73K notes · View notes

ichikiciw · 5 years ago

Text

Writing Tip June 4th

A list of body language phrases.

Note: I’ve included a few body postures and body conditions as they are non-verbal testimony to the character’s physical condition.

Have fun and generate your own ideas.:-)

Eyes, Brows and Forehead

arched a sly brow: sly, haughty

blinked owlishly: just waking, focusing, needs glasses

brows bumped together in a scowl: worried, disapproving, irritated

brows knitted in a frown: worried, disapproval, thoughtful

bug-eyed: surprised, fear, horror

cocky wink and confident smile: over confidence, arrogant, good humor, sexy humor

eyes burned with hatred: besides hatred this might suggest maniacal feelings

eyes flashed: fury, defiance, lust, promise, seduction

eyes rolled skyward: disbelief, distrust, humor

forehead puckered: thoughtful, worried, irritation

frustration crinkled her eyes

gaze dipped to her décolletage: sexual interest, attraction, lust

gimlet-eyed/narrowed eyes: irritation, thoughtful, mean, angry

gleam of deviltry: humor, conniving, cunning

kept eye contact but her gaze became glazed: pretending interest where there is none/bordom

narrowed to crinkled slits: angry, distrust

nystagmic eyes missed nothing (constantly shifting eyes): Shifty

pupils dilated: interested, attraction to opposite sex, fear

raked her with freezing contempt

slammed his eyes shut: stunned, furious, pain

squinted in a furtive manner: fearful, sneaky

stared with cow eyes: surprised, disbelief, hopeful, lovestruck

subtle wink: sexy, humor/sharing a joke, sarcasm

unrelenting stare: distrust, demanding, high interest, unyielding

Place To Place, Stationary Or Posture

ambled away: relaxed, lazy

barged ahead: rude, hurried

battled his way through the melee: desperate, anger, alarm

cruised into the diner: easy-going, feeling dapper, confident

dawdled alongside the road: lazy, deliberate delay for motives, unhurried, relaxed

dragged his blanket in the dirt: sadness/depressed, weary

edged closer to him: sneaky, seeking comfort, seeking protection, seeking an audience

he stood straighter and straightened his tie: sudden interest, sexual attraction

held his crotch and danced a frantic jig: demonstrates physical condition – he has to pee

hips rolled and undulated: sexy walk, exaggerating for sex appeal

hovered over them with malice/like a threatening storm: here it’s malice, but one may hover for many reasons.

hunched over to look shorter: appear inconspicuous, ashamed of actions, ashamed of height

leaped into action feet hammering the marbled floor: eager, fear, joyous

long-legged strides: hurried, impatient

lumbered across: heavy steps of a big man in a hurry

minced her way up to him: timid, sneaky, insecure, dainty or pretense at dainty

plodded down the road: unhurried, burdened, reluctant

practiced sensual stroll: sexy, showing off

rammed her bare foot into her jeans: angry, rushed

rocked back and forth on his heels: thoughtful, impatiently waiting

sagged against the wall: exhausted, disappointment

sallied forth: confident, determined

sashayed her cute little fanny: confident, determined, angered and determined

shrank into the angry crowd: fear, insecure, seeking to elude

sketched a brief bow and assumed a regal pose: confident, mocking, snooty, arrogant skidded to an abrupt halt: change of heart, fear, surprise, shock

skulked on the edges of the crowd: sneaky, ashamed, timid

slithered through the door: sneaky, evil, bad intentions

stormed toward her, pulling up short when: anger with a sudden surprise

swaggered into the class room: over confident, proud, arrogant, conceited

tall erect posture: confidence, military bearing

toe tapped a staccato rhythm: impatience, irritation

tottered/staggered unsteadily then keeled over: drunk, drugged, aged, ill

waltzed across the floor: happy, blissful, exuberant, conceited, arrogant

Head Movement

cocked his head: curiosity, smart-alecky, wondering, thoughtful

cocked his head left and rolled his eyes to right corner of the ceiling: introspection

droop of his head: depressed, downcast, hiding true feelings

nodded vigorously: eager

tilted her head to one side while listening: extreme interest, possibly sexual interest

Mouth And Jaw

a lackluster smile: feigning cheerfulness

cigarette hung immobile in mouth: shock, lazy, uncaring, relaxed casualness

clinched his jaw at the sight: angered, worried, surprised

curled her lips with icy contempt

expelled her breath in a whose: relief, disappointment

gagged at the smell: disgust, distaste

gapped mouth stare: surprised, shock, disbelief

gritted his teeth: anger, irritation, holding back opinion

inhaled a sharp breath: surprise, shock, fear, horror

licked her lips: nervous, sexual attraction

lips primed: affronted, upset, insulted

lips pursed for a juicy kiss

lips pursed like she’d been chewing a lemon rind: dislike, angry, irritated, sarcasm

lips screwed into: irritation, anger, grimace, scorn

lips set in a grim line: sorrow, worried, fear of the worst

pursed her lips: perturbed, waiting for a kiss

scarfed down the last biscuit: physical hunger, greed

slack-mouthed: total shock, disbelief

slow and sexy smile: attraction, seductive, coy

smacked his lips: anticipation

smile congealed then melted into horror

smile dangled on the corner of his lips: cocky, sexy

smirked and tossed her hair over her shoulder: conceit, sarcasm, over confident

sneered and flicked lint off his suit: sarcasm, conceit

spewed water and spit: shock

stuck out her tongue: humor, sarcasm, teasing, childish

toothy smile: eagerness, hopeful

wary smile surfaced on her lips

Nose

nose wrinkled in distaste/at the aroma

nostrils flared: anger, sexual attraction

nose in the air: snooty, haughty

Face in General

crimson with fury

handed it over shame-faced

jutted his chin: confident, anger, forceful

managed a deadpan expression: expressionless

muscles in her face tightened: unsmiling, concealing emotions, anger, worried

rested his chin in his palm and looked thoughtful

rubbed a hand over his dark stubble: thoughtful, ashamed of his appearance

screwed up her face: anger, smiling, ready to cry, could almost be any emotion

sneered and flicked lint off his suit: conceit, derision, scorn

Arm and Hand

a vicious yank

arm curled around her waist, tugging her next to him: possessive, pride, protective

bit her lip and glanced away: shy, ashamed, insecure

brandished his fist: anger, threatening, ready to fight, confident, show of pride

clamped his fingers into tender flesh: anger, protective, wants to inflict pain

clenched his dirty little fists: stubborn, angry

clapped her hands on her hips, arms crooked like sugar bowel handles: anger, demanding, disbelief

constantly twirled her hair and tucked it behind her ear: attracted to the opposite sex, shy crossed his arms over his chest: waiting, impatient, putting a barrier

crushed the paper in his fist: anger, surrender, discard

dived into the food: hunger, eager, greedy

doffed his hat: polite gesture, mocking, teasing

doodled on the phone pad and tapped the air with her foot: bored, inattention, introspection

drummed her fingers on the desk: impatient, frustrated, bored

fanned her heated face with her hands: physically hot, embarrassed, indicating attraction

fiddled with his keys: nervous, bored

firm, palm to palm hand shake: confident, honest

flipped him the bird: sarcastic discard

forked his fingers through his hair for the third time: disquiet/consternation, worry, thoughtful

handed it over shame-faced: guilt, shame

held his crotch and danced a frantic jig: physical need to relieve himself

limp hand shake: lack of confidence, lack of enthusiasm

propped his elbow on his knee: relaxed, thoughtful

punched her pillow: restless, can’t sleep, angry

rested his chin in his palm: thoughful, worried

scratched his hairy belly and yawned: indolent, bored, lazy, relaxed, just waking

shoulders lifted in a shrug: doubtful, careless discard

slapped his face in front of God and country: enraged, affronted/insulted

snapped a sharp salute: respect, sarcastic gesture meaning the opposite of respect

snapped his fingers, expecting service: arrogant, lack of respect, self-centered

sneered and flicked lint off his suit

spread her arms wide: welcoming, joy, love

stabbed at the food: anger, hunger, determined

stood straighter and smoothed his tie: sudden interest, possible sexual interest

stuffed his hands in his pockets: self-conscious, throwing up a barrier

sweaty handshake: nervous, fearful

touched his arm several times while explaining: sign of attraction, flattery, possessive

wide sweep of his arms: welcoming, all inclusive gesture, horror

Sitting or Rising

collapsed in a stupor: exhausted, drunk, drugged, disbelief

enthroned himself at the desk: conceit, pronouncing or taking ownership

exploded out of the chair: shock, eager, anger, supreme joy

roosted on the porch rail like a cock on a hen house roof: claiming ownership, conceit, content

sat, squaring an ankle over one knee: relaxed and open

slouched/wilted in a chair and paid languid attention to: drowsy, lazy, depressed, disinterest, sad, totally relaxed, disrespectful

squirmed in his chair: ill at ease, nervous, needs the bathroom

Recline

flung himself into the bed: sad, depressed, exhausted, happy

prostrated himself: surrender, desperate, miserable, powerless, obsequious, fawning, flattering

punched her pillow: can’t sleep, anger, frustrated

threw himself on the floor kicking and screaming: tantrum

Entire body and General

body stiffened at the remark: offended, anger, alerted

body swayed to music: dreamy, fond memories, enjoys the music

bounced in the car seat, pointing: excitement, fear, eager

cowered behind his brother: fear, shyness, coward, desperate

curled into a ball: sorrow, fear, sleepy, defensive

heart galloping: anxiety, joy, eager

held his crotch and danced a frantic jig

humped over his cane, each step shaking and careful: pain, aged

inhaled a deep breath and blew out slowly: buying time to find words/thoughtful, reconciled

quick and jerky like rusty cogs on a wheel: unsure of actions, self-conscious, tense, edgy

rocked back and forth on his heels: impatient, cocky, gleeful

manhandled the woman into a corner: bully, anger

slumped shoulders: defeat, depressed, sad, surrender

stiff-backed: priggish, haughty, affronted

stood straighter and straightened his tie: sexual interest, wants to make an impression

stooped and bent: aged, arthritic, in pain

stretched extravagantly and yawned: tired, bored, unconcerned

sweating uncontrollably: nervous, fear, guilt

tall erect posture: confidence, military bearing

was panting now at: afraid, exhausted, out of breath, sexual excitement

-Sharla Rae

73K notes · View notes

ichikiciw · 5 years ago

Note

I’m wondering, how do I come up with good ideas to write a sub-plot that actually fits into the story and won’t make the reader lose the connection with the main plot?

How to Write A Sub Plot

If you look back on every single bestselling book ever printed, the chances are that most, if not all of them, contain sub-plots.

A sub-plot is part of a book that develops separately from the main story, and it can serve as a tool that extends the word count and adds interest and depth into the narrative.

Sub-plots are key to making your novel a success, and, although they aren’t necessary for shorter works, are an essential aspect of story writing in general.

However, sub-plots can be difficult to weave into the main plot, so here are a few tips on how to incorporate sub-plots into your writing.

1. Know Your Kinds of Sub-Plots and Figure Out Which is Best For Your Story

Sub-plots are more common than you think, and not all of them extend for many chapters at a time.

A sub-plot doesn’t have to be one of the side characters completely venturing off from the main group to struggle with their own demons or a side quest that takes up a quarter of the book. Small things can make a big difference, and there are many of these small things that exist in literature that we completely skip over when it comes to searching for sub-plots.

Character Arcs

Character arcs are the most common sub-plot.

They show a change in a dynamic character’s physical, mental, emotional, social, or spiritual outlook, and this evolution is a subtle thing that should definitely be incorporated so that the readers can watch their favorite characters grow and develop as people.

For example, let’s say that this guy named Bob doesn’t like his partner Jerry, but the two of them had to team up to defeat the big bad.

While the main plot involves the two of them brainstorming and executing their plans to take the big bad down, the sub-plot could involve the two getting to know each other and becoming friends, perhaps even something more than that.

This brings me to the second most common sub-plot:

Romance

Romance can bolster the reader’s interest; not only do they want to know if the hero beats the big bad guy, they also want to know if she ends up with her love interest in the end or if the warfare and strife will keep them apart.

How to Write Falling in Love

How to Write a Healthy Relationship

How to Write a Romance

Like character arcs, romance occurs simultaneously with the main plot and sometimes even influences it.

Side-Quests

There are two types of side-quest sub-plots, the hurtles and the detours.

Hurdle Sub-Plots

Hurdle sub-plots are usually complex and can take a few chapters to resolve. Their main purpose is to put a barrier, or hurdle, between the hero and the resolution of the main plot. They boost word count, so be careful when using hurdle sub-plots in excess.

Think of it like a video game.

You have to get into the tower of a fortress to defeat the boss monster.

However, there’s no direct way to get there; the main door is locked and needs to have three power sources to open it, so you have to travel through a monster-infested maze and complete all of these puzzles to get each power source and unlock the main door.

Only, when you open the main door, you realize that the bridge is up and you have to find a way to lower it down and so forth.

Detour Sub-Plot

Detour sub-plots are a complete break away from the main plot. They involve characters steering away from their main goal to do something else, and they, too, boost word count, so be careful not too use these too much.

Taking the video game example again.

You have to get to that previously mentioned fortress and are on your way when you realize there is an old woman who has lost her cattle and doesn’t know what to do.

Deciding the fortress can wait, you spend harrowing hours rounding up all of the cows and steering them back into their pen for the woman.

Overjoyed, the woman reveals herself to be a witch and gives you a magical potion that will help you win the fight against the big bad later.

**ONLY USE DETOUR SUB-PLOTS IF THE OUTCOME HELPS AID THE PROTAGONISTS IN THE MAIN PLOT**

If they’d just herded all of the cows for no reason and nothing in return, sure it would be nice of them but it would be a complete waste of their and the readers’ time!

2. Make Sure Not to Introduce or Resolve Your Sub-Plots Too Abruptly

This goes for all sub-plots. Just like main plots, they can’t be introduced and resolved with a snap of your fingers; they’re a tool that can easily be misused if placed into inexperienced hands.

Each sub-plot needs their own arc and should be outlined just like how you outlined your main plot.

How to Outline Your Plot

You could use my methods suggested in the linked post, or you could use the classic witch’s hat model if you feel that’s easier for something that’s less important than your main storyline.

3. Don’t Push It

If you don’t think your story needs a sub-plot, don’t add a sub-plot! Unneeded sub-plots can clutter up your narrative and make it unnecessarily winding and long.

You don’t have to take what I’m saying to heart ever!

It’s your story, you write it how you think it should be written, and no one can tell you otherwise!

Hope this Helped!

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Awesome Sites and Links for Writers

Just about every writer out there has several go-to websites that they use when it comes to their writing. Be it for creativity, writer’s block, to put you in the mood or general writing help. These are mine and I listed them in hopes that you’ll find something that you’ll like or will find something useful for you. I’ve also included some websites that sound interesting.

Spelling & Grammar

Grammar Girl — Grammar Girl’s famous Quick and Dirty Tips (delivered via blog or podcast) will help you keep your creative writing error free.

The Owl — is Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab (OWL) it’s a great resource for grammar guides, style tips and other information that can help with your writing, especially academics.

HyperGrammar — the University of Ottawa offers up a one-stop guide for proper spelling, structure, and punctuation on this site.

AutoCrit — the AutoCrit Editing Wizard can check writing for grammar errors, clichés and other no-no’s. It also provides a number of other writing resources as well.

Writer’s Digest — learn how to improve your writing, find an agent, and even get published with the help of the varied blogs on this site.

Syntaxis — it allows you to test your knowledge of grammar with a ten-question quiz. The questions change every time you take the quiz so users are sure to be challenged each time around. It definitely helps writers know if there’s something that they need to brush up on.

Word Frequency Counter — this counter allows you to count the frequency usage of each word in your text.

Tools

Copyscape — is a free service that you can use to learn if anyone has plagiarized your work. It’s pretty useful for those that want to check for fanfiction plagiarism.

Write or Die — is an application for Windows, Mac and Linux which aims to eliminate writer’s block by providing consequences for procrastination.

Written? Kitten! — is just like Write of Die, but it’s a kinder version. They use positive reinforcement, so everytime you reach a goal they reward you with an adorable picture of a kitten.

Information & Data

RefDesk — it has an enormous collection of reference materials, searchable databases and other great resources that can’t be found anywhere else. It’s great to use when you need to find something and check your facts.

Bib Me — it makes it easy to create citations, build bibliographies and acknowledge other people’s work. This is definitely something that academics will love. It’s basically a bibliography generator that automatically fills in a works cited page in MLA, APA, Chicago or Turbian formats.

Internet Public Library — this online library is full of resources that are free for anyone to use, from newspaper and magazine articles to special collections.

The Library of Congress — if you’re looking for primary documents and information, the Library of Congress is a great place to start. It has millions of items in its archives, many of which are accessible right from the website.

Social Security Administration: Popular Baby Names — is the most accurate list of popular names from 1879 to the present. If your character is from America and you need a name for them, this gives you a accurate list of names, just pick the state or decade that your character is from.

WebMD — is a handy medical database loaded with information. It’s not a substitute for a doctor, but can give you a lot of good information on diseases, symptoms, treatments, etc.

Google Scholar - is an online, freely accessible search engine that lets users look for both physical and digital copies of articles. It searches a wide variety of sources, including academic publishers, universities, and preprint depositories and so on. While Google Scholar does search for print and online scholarly information, it is important to understand that the resource is not a database.

The Old Farmer’s Almanac — this classic almanac offers yearly information on astronomical events, weather conditions and forecasts, recipes, and gardening tips.

State Health Facts — Kaiser Family Foundation provides this database, full of health facts on a state-by-state basis that address everything from medicare to women’s health.

U.S. Census Bureau — Learn more about the trends and demographics of America with information drawn from the Census Bureau’s online site.

Wikipedia — this shouldn’t be used as your sole source, but it can be a great way to get basic information and find out where to look for additional references.

Finding Data on the Internet — a great site that list links that can tell you where you can find the inflation rate, crime statistics, and other data.

Word References

RhymeZone — whether you’re writing poetry, songs, or something else entirely, you can get help rhyming words with this site.

Acronym Finder — with more than 565,000 human-edited entries, Acronym Finder is the world’s largest and most comprehensive dictionary of acronyms, abbreviations, and initials.

Symbols.com — is a unique online encyclopedia that contains everything about symbols, signs, flags and glyphs arranged by categories such as culture, country, religion, and more.

OneLook Reverse Dictionary — is a dictionary that lets you describe a concept and get back a list of words and phrases related to that concept. Your description can be a few words, a sentence, a question, or even just a single word.

The Alternative Dictionaries — is a site that you can look up slang words in all types of languages, including Egyptian Arabic, Cherokee, Cantonese, Norwegian and many, many others.

Online Etymology Dictionary — it gives you the history and derivation of any word. Etymologies are not definitions; they’re explanations of what our words meant and how they sounded 600 or 2,000 years ago.

MediLexicon — is a comprehensive dictionary of medical, pharmaceutical, biomedical, and health care abbreviations and acronyms.

Merriam Webster Online – the online version of the classic dictionary also provides a thesaurus and a medical dictionary.

Multilingual Dictionary – that translate whatever you need from 30 different languages with this easy-to-use site.

Writing Software

Open Office — why pay for Microsoft products when you can create free documents with Open Office? This open source software provides similar tools to the Microsoft Office Suite, including spreadsheets, a word processor, the ability to create multimedia presentations, and more.

LibreOffice — is a free and open source office suite. It was forked from OpenOffice.org in 2010, which was an open-sourced version of the earlier StarOffice. The LibreOffice suite comprises programs to do word processing, spreadsheets, slideshows, diagrams and drawings, maintain databases, and compose math formula.

Scrivener — is not a free program, but it’s certainly a very popular one. It’s great for organizing research, planning drafts, and writing novels, articles, short stories, and even screenplays.

OmmWriter — is a free simple text processor that gives you a distraction free environment. So you can focus only on your writing without being tempted or distracted by other programs on your computer.

Evernote — is a free app for your smartphone and computer that stores everything you could possibly imagine losing track of, like a boarding pass, receipt, article you want to read, to do list, or even a simple typed note. The app works brilliantly, keeping everything in sync between your computer, smartphone, or tablet. It’s definitely a useful app for writers when you have ideas on the go.

Storybook — this open source software can make it easier to manage your plotlines, characters, data, and other critical information while penning a novel.

Script Frenzy — scriptwriters will appreciate this software. It offers an easy layout that helps outline plots as well as providing storyboard features, index cards, and even sound and photo integration.

Creativity, Fun & Miscellaneous

National Novel Writing Month — is one of the most well-known writing challenges in the writing community, National Novel Writing Month pushes you to write 50,000 words in 30 days (for the whole month of November).

WritingFix — a fun site that creates writing prompts on the spot. The site currently has several options—prompts for right-brained people, for left-brained people, for kids—and is working to add prompts on classic literature, music and more.

Creative Writing Prompts — the site is exactly what it says. They have 100+ and more, of prompts that you can choose from.

My Fonts — is the world’s largest collection of fonts. You can even upload an image containing a font that you like, and this tells you what it is.

Story Starters — this website offers over one trillion randomly generated story starters for creative writers.

The Gutenberg Project — this site is perfect for those who like to read and/or have an ereader. There’s over 33,000 ebooks you can download for free.

The Imagination Prompt Generator — Click through the prompts to generate different ideas in response to questions like “Is there a God?” and “If your tears could speak to you, what would they say?”

The Phrase Finder – this handy site helps you hunt down famous phrases, along with their origins. It also offers a phrase thesaurus that can help you create headlines, lyrics, and much more.

Storybird – this site allows you to write a picture book. They provided the gorgeous artwork and you create the story for it, or just read the stories that others have created.

Language Is a Virus — the automatic prompt generator on this site can provide writers with an endless number of creative writing prompts. Other resources include writing exercises and information on dozens of different authors.

Background Noise/Music

SimplyNoise — a free white noise sounds that you can use to drown out everything around you and help you focus on your writing.

Rainy Mood — from the same founders of Simply Noise, this website offers the pleasant sound of rain and thunderstorms. There’s a slide volume control, which you can increase the intensity of the noise (gentle shower to heavy storm), thunder mode (often, few, rare), oscillation button, and a sleep timer.

Coffitivity — a site that provides three background noises: Morning Murmur (a gentle hum), Lunchtime Lounge (bustling chatter), and University Undertones (campus cafe). A pause button is provided whenever you need a bladder break, and a sliding volume control to give you the freedom to find the perfect level for your needs and moods. It’s also available as an android app, iOS app, and for Mac desktop.

Rainy Cafe — it provides background chatter in coffee shops (similar to Coffitivity) AND the sound of rain (similar to Simply Rain). There’s also individual volume and on/off control for each sound category.

8tracks — is an internet radio website and everyone can listen for free. Unlike other music oriented social network such as Pandora or Spotify, 8tracks does’t have commercial interruption. Users create free accounts and can either browse the site and listen to other user-created mixes, and/or they can create their own mixes. It’s a perfect place to listen to other writer’s playlist, share yours or find music for specific characters or moods.

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