stay-dont-strayy

[stay-dont-strayy]

Writing Tips

Punctuating Dialogue

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➸ “This is a sentence.”

➸ “This is a sentence with a dialogue tag at the end,” she said.

➸ “This,” he said, “is a sentence split by a dialogue tag.”

➸ “This is a sentence,” she said. “This is a new sentence. New sentences are capitalized.”

➸ “This is a sentence followed by an action.” He stood. “They are separate sentences because he did not speak by standing.”

➸ She said, “Use a comma to introduce dialogue. The quote is capitalized when the dialogue tag is at the beginning.”

➸ “Use a comma when a dialogue tag follows a quote,” he said.

“Unless there is a question mark?” she asked.

“Or an exclamation point!” he answered. “The dialogue tag still remains uncapitalized because it’s not truly the end of the sentence.”

➸ “Periods and commas should be inside closing quotations.”

➸ “Hey!” she shouted, “Sometimes exclamation points are inside quotations.”

However, if it’s not dialogue exclamation points can also be “outside”!

➸ “Does this apply to question marks too?” he asked.

If it’s not dialogue, can question marks be “outside”? (Yes, they can.)

➸ “This applies to dashes too. Inside quotations dashes typically express—“

“Interruption” — but there are situations dashes may be outside.

➸ “You’ll notice that exclamation marks, question marks, and dashes do not have a comma after them. Ellipses don’t have a comma after them either…” she said.

➸ “My teacher said, ‘Use single quotation marks when quoting within dialogue.’”

➸ “Use paragraph breaks to indicate a new speaker,” he said.

“The readers will know it’s someone else speaking.”

➸ “If it’s the same speaker but different paragraph, keep the closing quotation off.

“This shows it’s the same character continuing to speak.”

[stay-dont-strayy]

Starting Strong Scenes in Your Writing

Scenes are the fundamental building blocks of novels and short stories, and each one should propel a story toward the climax.

Generally speaking, your scene structure should mirror the story structure. In other words, take a novel-writing approach to a scene, crafting a beginning, middle, and end. Like a story, the beginning of a scene should have a strong entry hook that pulls the reader in.

Start with the setting. Often a new scene signifies a change in time and location. Establishing the setting at the top of a scene helps your readers get oriented. It also sets the tone and mood of what will unfold in the coming pages. A setting can serve as much more than a backdrop in literature. Have your scene take place somewhere that builds tension and hinders your protagonist. If you’re writing a thriller, describe a dark and foreboding place where the worst might happen. Be descriptive and use sensory details to make your setting come alive before you jump into the action.

Use visual imagery. In screenwriting, writers have to think in pictures. What images will excite an audience at the top of a scene? Your approach should be the same when writing any kind of fiction. As you write the opening of a scene, use descriptive language to engage a reader through detailed imagery. Think like a screenwriter as you’re writing scenes.

Drop the reader into the middle of the action. Hit the ground running by starting a great scene in media res. It doesn’t have to be a fight scene or a car chase, but physical movement creates momentum and builds tension in a story. It’s also a way to instantly engage a reader. Be sure you begin the scene before the high points of the action so you build up to the scene’s climax.

Write a character-driven scene opener. A good scene starts by giving characters a goal. Start by putting your protagonist in a situation that creates an obstacle or opportunity for both the scene and the overarching storyline. Try starting with dialogue, like an intense conversation between your POV character and a mystery character whose identity is revealed later in the scene. If you’re writing from an omniscient third-person point of view, consider starting a scene with a secondary character, even the antagonist, and use it as a chance for deeper character development.

Summarize past events. You might choose to use the beginning of the scene to do a quick recap of what’s brought your main character to this place and moment in time. A summary is especially helpful if you’re writing in third-person and a new scene switches to a different character. Take the opportunity to remind the reader where we left off. Instead of a straight-forward update, get creative. Go into deep POV and let a character’s thoughts provide the summary instead of the narrator. Be sure to keep this summary brief—just a line or two—so you can get back into the action.

Introduce a plot twist. The start of a new scene is a chance to pivot and take your story in a new direction. Start a new scene at a turning point in your story. Dive into a flashback or character’s backstory, revealing critical information that changes the course of the story going forward.

Keep the purpose of the scene in mind. Effective scenes are clear about what they set out to accomplish and how they contribute to the overall plot. They might include plot points or reveal important information needed to move a story forward. Establish your scene’s intention from the very first word and keep the rest of the scene on point.

Rewrite until you’ve found the perfect scene opening. When you’ve finished the first draft of a scene, go back and read it through. If your scene needs something, but you can’t figure out what, it might be how the scene starts. The best way to know if your opening works is by reading how it plays with the rest of the scene. Review the last paragraph and see if it ties back to your beginning. If the intro feels weak, rewrite it. Maybe your real opener is hidden in plain sight somewhere else in the body of the scene.

Make sure your opening scene is your strongest. While your entire book should be filled with compelling scenes that start strong, the very first scene of your book needs to lead the pack. This is the reader’s introduction to your story and where you’re revealing the characters, the setting, and kicking off the plotline with the inciting incident. This first scene has to hook the reader from the first line so they keep turning the pages.

Read a lot of books. If this is your first novel and you need some inspiration and ideas to help you start off your scenes, start by reading other books. Choose a book by a bestselling writer like Dan Brown or Margaret Atwood. Study the different ways they approach every scene. Reading other authors is a great way to hone your scene-writing skills.

Follow like and reblog if you find these helpful!

[stay-dont-strayy]

Aight, so the company issued this statement. Apparently things have been managed internally, and both sides agreed to let it go

Company also asked for people to stop with the racial comments, amongst other things.

I'm glad they finally spoke up about it

[stay-dont-strayy]

teaching myself Blender in the most backward and frustrating way possible :]

[stay-dont-strayy]

whoever the FUCK wrote dean’s line when he said “nobody cares that you’re broken, cas.” you better sleep with your door locked and eyes open because im coming for you so fast you’ll never even see me burst through your floorboards

[stay-dont-strayy]

Here's an ode to 2020 being an absolute mess of a year

[stay-dont-strayy]

ive been losing my mind over all the among us fanart where the space beans have huge ass realistic hands so I drew some myself

[stay-dont-strayy]

jeff bezos do this challenge

[stay-dont-strayy]

[stay-dont-strayy]

Stan Busters!

      If you haven’t already heard the story about Busters, here it is.

      Busters is a girl group without many fans, and last year they went to ISAC and got 20 seats for their fans.  They were very happy about it.  Only 11 seats were full though.  They chose to prepare lunch boxes and notes for the 11 people, with their own money.  

      Busters isn’t a known group so they of course aren’t making a lot of money, then that money of course is split between the company and the girls.  So Busters doesn’t have a lot of money to start off with.  Then they chose to get lunch for their fans with their own money.

      Since the girls aren’t very popular, there is a rumour their company will disband them if they don’t get more popular with this comeback.

      Busters are so precious and talented!  The oldest is 17, the youngest only 13!  They are honestly so cute though!  They have a song called ‘Lalala’ and it’s a bop okay.  

      Please if you have time check them out!  Stream their songs if you can!  They have so much talent and potential, they don’t deserve to disband yet!     

Edit: I just found out that out of the 9 of their seats that weren’t full, 4 didn’t show up and 5 moved to another section.  I heard about it before but wasn’t sure if it was a rumour or not until now.  

[stay-dont-strayy]

Let’s launch an international collab between Monbebes to show our support to Wonho, and Monsta X ! 🌸

Times are hard for Monbebes, but there is no way we are letting Wonho go without a fight. Let’s do our best together, let’s keep on showing how united we are.

🔸I’m looking for Monbebes able to translate a few sentences into their own languages and people willing to record themselves singing (with a not too bad mic quality, por favor) on an instrumental I will make.

🔸 You can also participate by taking a picture of you showing a short message to the boys (fanarts are also accepted), along with ’#FightingForWonho’ or similar hashtags.

🔸There is no deadline yet, but I would like to get this done as soon as we can.

Thanks to anyone willing participate. I feel so useless, except keeping the hashtags trending there’s not much else I can do. I really want to show my support any way I can, Monsta X have always been artists I look up to. I cannot just do nothing.

[stay-dont-strayy]

NEW HASHTAGS

NOV 7TH 12AM

New Hashtags!

#MonstaX7ShineForever

#몬엑_행복해지길_바래

And tag:

@/OfficialMonstaX

ONLY (DO NOT TAG STARSHIP ANYMORE)

Copy here:

#MonstaX7ShineForever #몬엑_행복해지길_바래@OfficialMonstaX

Remember DO NOT tweet only hashtags, emojis, or numbers because it doesn’t count! Please write something or add a picture to the tweet! Good luck monbebes and let’s fight! ♡

[stay-dont-strayy]

changkyun: an ot7 stan

[stay-dont-strayy]

Thank you so much for sharing guys ! Let's keep it up ! So far we have; Greek, Hungarian, German, Dutch, Italian, Turkish, Swedish, Finnish, Lithuanian, Russian, Arabic, Slovakian, Czech and Tagalog

Let’s launch an international collab between Monbebes to show our support to Wonho, and Monsta X ! 🌸

Times are hard for Monbebes, but there is no way we are letting Wonho go without a fight. Let’s do our best together, let’s keep on showing how united we are.

🔸I’m looking for Monbebes able to translate a few sentences into their own languages and people willing to record themselves singing (with a not too bad mic quality, por favor) on an instrumental I will make.

🔸 You can also participate by taking a picture of you showing a short message to the boys (fanarts are also accepted), along with ’#FightingForWonho’ or similar hashtags.

🔸There is no deadline yet, but I would like to get this done as soon as we can.

Thanks to anyone willing participate. I feel so useless, except keeping the hashtags trending there’s not much else I can do. I really want to show my support any way I can, Monsta X have always been artists I look up to. I cannot just do nothing.

[stay-dont-strayy]

Maybe try his Twitter DM? He doesn't seem to be that active there but we can try

Kpop junkee is a YouTube channel that talks about, well, kpop news and in their most recent video they talked about the Shownu thing and mentioned the photos and that starship is taking legal actions, I don’t think their intentions are bad but monbebes have been working their asses off to get everyone to ignore that issue and he comes talking about that, he should inform better before posting a video cause this can make shownu trend again in naver.

Everyone please keep a close watch on n/ver. Also, does anyone know if it’s possible to DM kpop junkee or contact him somehow? If we can be respectful, maybe he’ll hear us out?

[stay-dont-strayy]

Let’s launch an international collab between Monbebes to show our support to Wonho, and Monsta X ! 🌸

Times are hard for Monbebes, but there is no way we are letting Wonho go without a fight. Let’s do our best together, let’s keep on showing how united we are.

🔸I’m looking for Monbebes able to translate a few sentences into their own languages and people willing to record themselves singing (with a not too bad mic quality, por favor) on an instrumental I will make.

🔸 You can also participate by taking a picture of you showing a short message to the boys (fanarts are also accepted), along with ’#FightingForWonho’ or similar hashtags.

🔸There is no deadline yet, but I would like to get this done as soon as we can.

Thanks to anyone willing participate. I feel so useless, except keeping the hashtags trending there’s not much else I can do. I really want to show my support any way I can, Monsta X have always been artists I look up to. I cannot just do nothing.

[stay-dont-strayy]

UPDATE

i don’t think anyone’s posted it here yet, but the #FightForWonho tag has officially been retired. We’re now using 

#몬베베_원호_응원해 

#몬베베는_몬엑을_믿어요 

as well as trying to trend #사랑한다_몬스타엑스 to support the boys when they perform later today!