dopegothranchoperator - Tumblr blog

[dopegothranchoperator]

Deanie meanie, Sammy-o

Let's hunt some monsters! Off we go!

Trap 'em, burn 'em, kill 'em dead

A shower first then off to bed

[dopegothranchoperator]

Ok, so I've never watched any of Supernatural, but I'm probably not gonna since people keep telling me that everyone dies constantly. And the actors/actresses look so adorable 😫 I'd be crushed if I was rooting for one of them only for them to die 10 minutes later :/

[dopegothranchoperator]

I cannot stress enough how much I love this

[dopegothranchoperator]

narcissa malfoy was probably the most powerful occlumens in hogwarts history and nobody knew

she literally stood up to lord voldemort and lied that harry potter was dead and i don’t know about you but if i were an evil ruler i would probably want to triple-check that my nemesis was, you know, actually deceased

voldemort had actual doubts about snape

narcissa swans on by without a whisper, without a second glance

[dopegothranchoperator]

The house is silent. I've been struggling with writer's block, chugging coffee, and being the physical embodiment of procrastination. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, my small child laughs the fakest laugh I've ever heard in my life while steadily geting louder and louder. I've never screamed so loud before. Is this what my life as a parent is going to be like? This is NOT what I signed up for. Getting scared by small children and having them laugh at your reaction. But, she definitely got that from me so I suppose it's karma or whatever

[dopegothranchoperator]

There are these memes of you in acrylic nails that are going around… Have you seen these?

[dopegothranchoperator]

Me, casually sipping on my third cup of coffee while reading about the signs of caffeine addiction: nah that's not me I know my limits.

Me, starting on my third pot of coffee for the day, chugging it as if my life deoends on it: yep, totally not dependent on this caffeine to get myself through the day

[dopegothranchoperator]

How would I vary with dialogue tags? I am aware of how you punctuate dialogue and how you use it, but lately, my writing has gotten redundant with doing: “Hello,” he said, sipping his coffee slowly OR “My name is Jane,” she mumbled, averting her eyes. There is the same pattern of the dialogue and the dialogue tag with the same sentence structure, and I’d like to vary that.

Avoiding Repetition with Dialogue Tags

If your dialogue tags are starting to sound redundant, that’s because you’re overusing them or using them in the exact same way. But there are lots of ways you can vary tags, and often you don’t need them at all. Here are some tips to keep in mind when writing dialogue:

1. Vary tag placement.

Dialogue tags don’t have to be just “she said” or “he mumbled” at the end of a line of dialogue. You can also place tags at the beginning and in the middle:

“What time do you want to leave?” Kimberly asked.

Frank looked at his watch and said, “Maybe around seven?”

“Isn’t that too late?” Kimberly asked, frowning. “We need time to park.”

2. Use action tags instead.

Action tags focus the reader on who is about to speak, or indicate who just spoke, without using speaking words like “said” “asked” “mumbled,” etc.

Kimberly glided into the room, all satin and expensive perfume. “What time do you want to leave?”

Frank looked at his watch. “Maybe around seven?”

“Isn’t that too late?” Kimberly’s fake lashes fluttered in concern.

3. Don’t use a tag at all. ««««

– Use context to indicate who spoke.

Sometimes you can use one speaker to set-up the next speaker:

Kimberly glided into the room, all satin and expensive perfume, stopping before Frank with an expectant look. “Well? When did you want to leave?”

“Maybe around seven?”

“Isn’t that too late?” Kimberly asked, fake lashes fluttering in concern.

Since Kimberly is staring at Frank expectantly before she asks her question, we can assume the question is meant for Frank and that he is indeed the person responding.

Another example:

“This is ridiculous! We’ll never make it to the concert before it’s over,” Caroline whined, throwing her arms up in exasperation.

Jason folded his arms and drew in a breath through his nose. “Not unless someone can drive us…” 

All eyes in the room landed on Ted.

“What? You want me to drive? I just got my license yesterday!”

Since all eyes in the room landed on Ted, we can assume Ted is the one who speaks next, and the context of his answer makes sense as a reply.

– Use the natural “back and forth” pattern to your advantage.

If a character’s dialogue extends beyond a paragraph, we indicate that by withholding the end quotation mark but still using one at the start of the next paragraph. This is how you know the same person is still talking. Otherwise, when the end quotation mark is present, a new line should equal a new speaker. Because of this, when there are only two people conversing, or two people dominating a conversation, you can rely on the natural “back and forth” pattern to let the reader know who’s speaking:

Kimberly glided into the room, all satin and expensive perfume. “What time do you want to leave, darling?”

Frank folded his newspaper and looked up at his wife. “I was thinking about seven?”

“Isn’t that too late? We need time to park.”

“Very well, then. We’ll leave at a quarter ‘til. Unless you think that’s too early?”

“No, darling. Quarter ‘till will be fine.”

Even though the speakers are only indicated in the first two lines of dialogue, it’s very clear who says what. When Frank answers Kimberly’s question, who else would be replying but Kimberly when there’s no one else in the room? And when she expresses concern that seven is too late, who else would be there to acquiesce? We know that it’s Frank.

– Use character voice to indicate who’s speaking.

Some characters have particular ways of speaking that make them easy to identify in dialogue. Maybe they’re the stereotypical “mopey teenager” and everything is “ugh” and “whatever.” Maybe, like Kimberly above, they use a lot of nicknames or terms of endearment. Maybe there’s a particular type of slang or vernacular that they use, like someone from the south saying “darlin’” and “y’all.” Even if there had been a third person in the example in #4, we could have guessed the final response was uttered by Kimberly since she called Frank darling at the beginning, too.

So, let’s look at a final example putting all of these ideas into practice:

Kimberly glided into the room, all satin and perfume, stopping before Frank with an expectant look. “Well? What time did you want to leave, darling?”

“I was thinking about seven,” Frank said as he folded his newspaper and looked up at his adoring wife.

“Seven? Don’t you think that’s too late? We need time to park, after all.”

Frank shook his head. “Very well, then. We’ll leave at a quarter ‘til. Unless you think that would be too early?”

“No, darling. I think quarter ‘til would be fine.”

“Splendid. I’ll go get ready, then.”

Out of six lines of dialogue, I only used a tag (Frank said) one time. :)

[dopegothranchoperator]

Hands on parenting

Being a parent scares me. What scares me the most are screens. I do not allow my toddler to look at screens, play with my phone, or even watch TV when he’s sick. The only time he sees a screen is when we’re at a restaurant and the TV happens to be on. 

I am not supermom. I am not better than other moms. But, as someone who is adamantly against screen time, I am looked down on and even gas-lighted for being “that mom”. I see articles linked to posts about how parents are honest about screen time like it’s a source of pride and it disgusts me. 

If you wanted to spend all your time on a screen and wanted your kid to do the same, then why have kids? I am made fun of for getting the Playscape (indoor playground) and actually playing with my son. I am told that no one wants to be your ‘mom friend’ because you’re proving yourself better than them. BECAUSE I AM PLAYING WITH MY KID?!! What the fuck is wrong with us. 

And, yes, I read that article in the New York Times about how “I believe the devil lives in our phones.” And, yes, I agree, and I am terrified. There is going to be a time, sooner rather than later, where my son is going to want to that screen and I am going to have to set limits. I just hope that we can preserve his childhood as much as possible because there is nothing better than getting on the floor and playing with your kid.

[dopegothranchoperator]

“Alan was a Method actor, so we were all pretty much terrified of him on set [of Harry Potter]. I just remember him being creepy around the corridors. He didn’t smile, and everyone talked about him in a reverent tone. But the memory that sticks out to me was we were allowed to bring guests [to the set], but we had to ask the producers’ permission and sign all these forms. It was the kind of thing [that you were] allowed to do, but you didn’t do it too much. Like, if you did it too much, you were pushing it. But Alan Rickman, pretty much every day of filming, he had a whole troop of little children [visiting]. It was the most bizarre scene to see Snape in this black robe, usually with, like, a bib on — we had to wear these bibs so we didn’t ruin our costume — surrounded by all these happy little children who were just chatting away to him.” — Evanna Lynch [x]

[dopegothranchoperator]

Severus was and always will be my favorite character from Harry Potter

have you ever considered that you ask too much…that you take too much for granted? has it ever crossed your brilliant mind that i don’t want to do this anymore?