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[p0isonlac3]

My lips have been longing to grasp a cigarette between them and I had finally fulfilled it. I kept it in my tin, out of the reach of the prying eyes. I couldn't find the lighter which I always have in mind to use when lighting up a cigarette but never actually use. As soon as I placed it in my mouth, fear flowed through my nerves. Fear of being found out and of accidentally igniting anything, I was frightened even by a bird's tweet outside. As soon as I heard footfall and traces, I wet the cigarette, even though I knew it was the last thing I should do if I wanted to smoke it again. Once the steps and the worries were gone, I cut the wet portion using a pair of scissors and I smoked once more. The worry of making the room smells like a cigarette and the sting of the tonsil from the smoke made me want to end. After the incident, I buried the room with the aroma of room spray and the smoke of incense and brushed my throat. But the odor that lingered on my fingertips and the flavor that was fading slowly from my tongue would make me satiable for a while. If someone says 'smoking kills', I'll just nod lightly.

[p0isonlac3]

the question you're never allowed to ask is why, and you learn it young. often the answer is just because and if you ask too often people say you're being a nudge and when you say why do we have to go to church every weekend if god is everywhere won't he also be at home your grandmother says that if you talk like that you'll go straight to hell, no questions

and it never gets easier because as a teenager when you say why do teenagers have to wake up so early to go to school it's bad for them and they shrug and say that this is the way it's always been done so it's how it's going to be done, forever. and no you're not old enough to vote but according to certain state laws you are old enough to get married and carry a baby to term - and yes you're deemed old enough to hold and shoot a gun but not old enough to know about safe sex and birth control - and you say why, though? and they snarl that you're a child, you don't understand the world, go home

and as an adult you learn not to ask why because sometimes something changes in the other person; they can become dangerous, erratic. you learn this with your first boyfriend because you ask why do you expect me to remind you to do the dishes? and he says you're accusing me of being misogynistic and when you ask your boss why she hasn't given you a promotion she says this you playing the race card isn't it and when in an argument about drag shows you ask why are we still letting priests be alone around children your father backhands you, hard, the way he hasn't since you were a kid

and the truth is that you want to ask - why! why is it like this? why not just do what we can for a better environment? why not put money into public education. why not cut interest from student debt? and fuck, but, this shit never stops. it's not just the actual laws - it's silent; comes home and never lets you rest. why do you have to have kids. why do you have to own a house, have to get married, have to give in. why do you have to settle down, find a job that "fits". why do you have to dress so as not to be noticed? why do you have to act both delighted and innocent and also sinful and seductive? why do you have to balance-beam walk across your life, careful and quiet and patient?

so you cut and dye your hair and get tattoos and piercings because truth be told there aren't rules, and you go through the agonizing process of learning to actually-love-your-body, even though it takes actual years to do it, and you learn to dress how you enjoy, even though sometimes your social anxiety tries to kill you for it. you learn how you define yourself, gently at first; and then with a hard-won conviction.

but then you come home and your mother asks you to help her in the kitchen even though your father is sitting on his ass in the living room and of course you'll help her but in that moment some knowledge strips your skin - oh. there is no why.

it's just the way it is.

[p0isonlac3]

https://vt.tiktok.com/ZS8HAESgF/

[p0isonlac3]

switch up your verbs (part one) ~

walked - hiked - moved - shuffled - toddled - sauntered - ambled - tiptoed - meandered - strolled

laughed - chortled - chuckled - giggled - snorted - guffawed - howled - snickered - shrieked

wanted - ached for - wished - craved - coveted - fancied - pined - aspired

ran - sprinted - galloped - scampered - bolted - trotted - dashed - raced - jogged

jumped - bounced - hopped - leapt - hurtled - vaulted - barged - bounded

[p0isonlac3]

50 WORDS TO USE INSTEAD OF “SAID”

Do you ever find yourself over-using the word “said” in your writing? Try using these words/phrases instead:

stated

commented

declared

spoke

responded

voiced

noted

uttered

iterated

explained

remarked

acknowledged

mentioned

announced

shouted

expressed

articulated

exclaimed

proclaimed

whispered

babbled

observed

deadpanned

joked

hinted

informed

coaxed

offered

cried

affirmed

vocalized

laughed

ordered

suggested

admitted

verbalized

indicated

confirmed

apologized

muttered

proposed

chatted

lied

rambled

talked

pointed out

blurted out

chimed in

brought up

wondered aloud

(NOTE: Keep in mind that all of these words have slightly different meanings and are associated with different emotions/scenarios.)

[p0isonlac3]

Writing Tips

Descriptions in Between Dialogue

✧

⤠ how characters interact with the environment

⇝ moving something, picking something up, looking somewhere

⤠ how the environment interacts with the characters

⇝ weather, other character’s actions or movements

⤠ gestures

⇝ facial expressions, body language

⤠ shifts in position

⇝ standing, sitting, leaning, shifting weight, crossing arms/legs

⤠ physical reactions

⇝ body temperature, fidgeting, heart rate, character quirks

⤠ environmental descriptions

⇝ descriptions using the five senses, setting, character’s appearances

⤠ internal dialogue

⇝ emotional reaction to what was said, reflection of past experiences, connections to other characters/settings/actions

➵ I want to reiterate… descriptions using the five senses ; when in doubt, think of the five senses your character is experiencing and pick what best moves the story forward

[p0isonlac3]

[p0isonlac3]

I want a simple and quiet life. I want ordinary things in life like a simple breakfast with my own family. I want a life where home is not just a place to live but instead it's a place where no heartaches, where no-one grieve over people or different things, where no one hurt or fear from anything. I want a house where we all heal and we raise a family that doesn't need to heal. A simple life where we all eat dinner together while laughing over simple things.

[p0isonlac3]

Writing Tips

Punctuating Dialogue

✧

➸ “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.”

[p0isonlac3]

Flower Language Based Prompt List I made instead of writing 💐

I tried to make the prompts relate to each flower’s definition per the Victorian Flower Language without getting too repetitive.

The prompts are all fairly open ended and I figured people could use them for their own inspiration or request games!!

You know the “send me a ship and flower and I’ll write something.”

Anywho, if anyone does end up using this I’d love it if you’d tag me so I can read what you’ve written!! Either way, I hope someone can get use out my procrastinating 💖

Click here to view an unedited version of the document: The List

[p0isonlac3]

to write is to express. to write is to know.

— Kannou Sensei by Yoshida Motoi

[p0isonlac3]

“I’m quite choked with tenderness for you, my love, it makes me a bit pathetic to love you so much”

Simone de Beauvoir, Letters to Sartre

[p0isonlac3]

[…] you make me sick with desire, with a desire to possess you, to have you around me always […]

Henry Miller, from ‘A Literate Passion: Letters of Anaïs Nin & Henry Miller 1932-1953′

[p0isonlac3]

my personal list of greek myth retellings that are actually good and do something interesting with the myth:

The King Must Die and The Bull from the Sea, Mary Renault

Cassandra: A Novel and Four Essays, Christa Wolf

The Penelopiad, Margaret Atwood

The Lost Books of the Odyssey, Zachary Mason

Here the World Entire, Anwen Kya Hayward

Weight: The Myth of Atlas and Heracles, Jeanette Winterson

Achilles, Elizabeth Cook

Memorial: An Excavation of the Iliad, Alice Oswald

Averno, Louise Glück

Autobiography of Red, Anne Carson

Antigonick, Anne Carson

Oresteia, Robert Icke

Antigone, Jean Anouilh

Eurydice, Sarah Ruhl

Girl on an Altar, Marina Carr

Los Reyes, Julio Cortázar

Hadestown, Anaïs Mitchell

O Brother Where Art Thou, Coen Brothers

honorable mention to Ursula K. Le Guin's Lavinia which doesn't count on a technicality

[p0isonlac3]

hello my hand is gonna fall off

tap for better quality!

[p0isonlac3]

whatever was left, that was ours for a while.

sunrise - louise glück

[p0isonlac3]

At Night All Blood Is Black, David Diop