#writing reference

[macgyvermedical]

Hello!

I was wondering--if more than one person (of the same gender) was admitted to a hospital's ICU at the same time, and they were both unconscious or otherwise in a bad enough mental state to not be able to give any identifying information and they had no ID on them, would they both be referred to as John Does? Or would they be given different monikers to help better tell them apart? John Doe 1 and 2? This is assuming they're staying for multiple days and are still too injured to give their information over that time.

Thanks!

This is a really good question!

It's pretty common that a patient coming into the emergency department isn't able to identify themself, at least initially. This isn't usually because they're unconscious (though it can be), but rather they may have dementia, are delirious, are very high or drunk, are experiencing some form of psychosis, speak a language we can't identify right away, are a very young child, or simply that they refuse to tell us their name.

At the hospital I most recently worked at, we had temporary names for patients. We called them "trauma names" and they were usually a string of three random letters, a random noun, and then three random numbers, which ended up looking something like this:

BZC-TIGER-552 (TIGER-552, BZC for Last, First naming conventions such as what was listed in the med machine or chart)

This name was used to make a temporary chart, and it would effectively serve as their name in all capacities until we learned their real name and could merge their charts. If we needed to refer to a patient who had a trauma name, usually we used the noun in the middle. So I might call our fictional trauma patient "Tiger" until I had something more official to call him.

[torturing-characters-101]

Hi! I love your blog, thank you mods for your dedication <3 ! I have two characters in a temporary wilderness survival situation; they have to make about a 3-4 day hike to get back to civilization. One of them sustains a few broken ribs (simple and nondisplaced, so painful but not immediately life-threatening). With limited medical resources, what kinds of options would they have for making the trek a bit less agonizing?

Basically your character is going to want to immobilize the arm over the broken ribs with some padding in the middle to provide as much protection and immobilization as possible. The ideal way to do this with few resources is to use 2 large shirts (one long-sleeved) and an ace wrap or another long-sleeved shirt.

They're going to fold the first shirt and place it over the injured ribs and tape it in place (can be either to the skin, which will hurt coming off, or a tight undershirt, which will be a little less protective).

Then they'd use the long sleeve shirt to make a sling- use the shirt arms to go around the neck and the body of the shirt to support the arm. This will probably stretch out a little, but can be occasionally re-tied.

Then they're gonna want to use either their wrap or the arms of a third shirt to wrap around the chest and the arm in the sling. This is called "sling and swathe" and looks like this (you can do more than one swathe here):

So at this point there would be a pad between the arm and the chest, and the arm would be immobilized over top in a comfortable position.

Other measures to decrease pain include over the counter pain meds seen in many first aid kits (acetaminophen and ibuprofen can be taken together), and cooling the area during rest breaks by undoing the sling and swathe, uncovering the injury, laying a bandanna or other cloth over the site and wetting it, then letting the water evaporate. It's not as great as ice, but in the wilderness it's kinda what they'd have.

Keep in mind hiking with an injury, while possible, takes a lot longer- your characters 3-4 day trek might stretch to 6-7 days or more depending on how often the character needs to rest. This puts a strain on food and supplies and pain medication.

[writingraven]

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.”

[lulilak]

[2soulscollide]

WEBSITES FOR WRITERS {masterpost}

E.A. Deverell - FREE worksheets (characters, world building, narrator, etc.) and paid courses;

Hiveword - Helps to research any topic to write about (has other resources, too);

BetaBooks - Share your draft with your beta reader (can be more than one), and see where they stopped reading, their comments, etc.;

Charlotte Dillon - Research links;

Writing realistic injuries - The title is pretty self-explanatory: while writing about an injury, take a look at this useful website;

One Stop for Writers - You guys... this website has literally everything we need: a) Description thesaurus collection, b) Character builder, c) Story maps, d) Scene maps & timelines, e) World building surveys, f) Worksheets, f) Tutorials, and much more! Although it has a paid plan ($90/year | $50/6 months | $9/month), you can still get a 2-week FREE trial;

One Stop for Writers Roadmap - It has many tips for you, divided into three different topics: a) How to plan a story, b) How to write a story, c) How to revise a story. The best thing about this? It's FREE!

Story Structure Database - The Story Structure Database is an archive of books and movies, recording all their major plot points;

National Centre for Writing - FREE worksheets and writing courses. Has also paid courses;

Penguin Random House - Has some writing contests and great opportunities;

Crime Reads - Get inspired before writing a crime scene;

The Creative Academy for Writers - "Writers helping writers along every step of the path to publication." It's FREE and has ZOOM writing rooms;

Reedsy - "A trusted place to learn how to successfully publish your book" It has many tips, and tools (generators), contests, prompts lists, etc. FREE;

QueryTracker - Find agents for your books (personally, I've never used this before, but I thought I should feature it here);

Pacemaker - Track your goals (example: Write 50K words - then, everytime you write, you track the number of the words, and it will make a graphic for you with your progress). It's FREE but has a paid plan;

Save the Cat! - The blog of the most known storytelling method. You can find posts, sheets, a software (student discount - 70%), and other things;

I hope this is helpful for you!

(Also, check my gumroad store if you want to!)

[annarts05]

Fun Ways to Meet Characters

Thieves stealing important objects from the main characters and then being forced somehow into a found family situation

Saving a character’s life by doing something like taking an arrow/bullet

By losing a bet with a stranger and then teaming up

Gambling with a shifty character and getting really mad at them, only for them to later end up saving the other character’s life

Meeting the other in an arranged marriage and actually liking them (or really, really hating them)

Or having a chaotic dynamic where they irritate each other but they’re equally chaotic, so they become the mischievous duo in the found family

By bickering over the last piece of food at a banquet

Getting hired as a servant or maid, or some other serving position

By accidentally almost killing a character, only for them to join the found family and literally never stop bringing up that first meeting

[desmond-the-queer-dragon]

Came up with a great story idea. Can’t wait for my brain to make it so intricate in my head yet impossible to write out.

[fantasyfillsmysoul]

Writing about body pain

Body pain happens all the time in real life. When writing your story, you want to bring your characters to life. By creating characters and an environment that is immersive and realistic (as possible), it helps your readers relate to your characters. This is a quick guide to body pain, that is especially useful for all those adventures your characters will be going on. No one survives a dragon attack or war without some kind of injury. At the very least, some muscle soreness.

3 stages of healing:

1st stage: Acute This is the start of the process after getting hurt. Depending on the severity, often lasts up to a week. Characteristics: severe pain, inflammation/swelling, dark bruises (red, black and blue), muscle weakness, muscle spasms, reduced range of motion.

2nd stage: Sub-Acute This is when your body is starting to heal the tissue by creating scar tissue to replace or repair damage. Can last several weeks Characteristics: reduced swelling, bruises are clearing (yellow, green, brown), range of motion is starting to improve,less pain than before.

3rd stage: Chronic This is the final stage of the healing process. It can last months, if not years. Your body is finally adapting to the changes. Pain is no longer associated with the injury, but instead how the body healed. Characteristics: no bruising, little to no swelling, mature scar tissue (usually tough, and harder to move than other tissue), pain is more of an ache, not sharp. If not taking care of, mature scar tissue can cause muscle tension and reduced range of motion. Pain mostly comes on at the end range of a movement, or with stretching.

Visceral Pain:

Visceral pain is organ pain. When one of your organs are causing problems, or are in pain, it typically feels more like a dull pain, or a pressure. The pain is usually vague, so it’s hard to tell where it’s coming from. Thankfully, visceral pain usually follows typical pain patterns, and you can easily find charts online. Example: Lung and diaphragm pain is usually around your neck and shoulders.

Nerve pain:

Nerve pain happens when the nerve is being pinched, compressed or was directly injured. Characteristics: shooting, tingling, zaps, numbness, stabbing or burning. Numbness is not like an analgesic. It can be a reduced sensory feelings, meaning you may not feel it if someone touches that part, but it can be very painful. Nerve pain will follow the length of the nerve.

Bone and joint pain:

These pains are directly associated with a trauma. Pain is localized to the specific bone or joint. Characteristics: Usually described as a sharp pain, especially with movements involving the painful area.

Muscle Pain:

Muscle pain is extensive. Muscles work hard to protect your body while injured. Muscles will tense when the body is in pain, which usually results in more problems. This pain can be caused by overuse, injury, emotional and physical stress, or compensation for other injuries. Characteristics: deep steady aches, sharp, shooting pain, soreness, burning in muscles, spasms. Muscles will have two main problems if not injured: tension and trigger points. Trigger Points (aka knots) happen in very tense muscles. Trigger points follows specific patterns in each muscle. Example: a trigger point in the upper traps muscle is felt in the head, neck and shoulders. Pains and tensions like these can often be the cause of headaches.

Pain priority:

Your brain processes pain in a specific way. Most often, your brain is so busy running everything, when it comes to experiencing pain, it can’t do it all at once. Thankfully. This means, if you have pain in your neck, your back, and your feet, there will usually only be one as the most painful while the others are background pain. The worst pain will usually be associated with your activities, and which part of your body you’re using the most. When getting rid of one of these pains, the next most painful one will be most noticeable. Have you ever had pain on one side of your body, then had it fixed with physio or a massage, then all of a sudden you notice pain somewhere else? It may not be new, it’s just that your body wasn’t focusing on that problem.

Let me know if this was useful to you, or if you have any questions or comments. Please let me know if something I wrote is wrong.

Follow for more writing tips :)

Happy Writing!

[mangocherri]

Sparring prompts:

Teaching them how to hold a weapon properly by standing behind them and guiding their hands, when you notice that their face has turned red

Saying something flirty mid-fight which catches them off guard, giving you the perfect oppurtunity to strike

Somehow, their training session turns into a full on tickle fight

They wince in pain and you frantically start apologizing. As you get closer to check for any injuries, they attack suddenly, calling you out for falling for such an old trick

Or they do end up actually getting injured, so you clean off their wounds

You want to ask them out after a match, but you keep getting nervous and postponing it, and they're confused as to why you keep coming back eventhough they've defeated you everytime

Their weapon gets damaged after a fight, so you make them a new one.

Finding it difficult to focus because this is the first time you've seen them with their hair tied up

You aren't well, but you don't want to skip training and make them worry, so you continue on as usual, thinking it's not that serious. But that's proven wrong when you faint right in front of them mid-fight

They've been avoiding you a lot, and after every training session, they leave immediatly without saying a word. One day you decide to pin them to ground during a fight and ask what's wrong

Dialogue:

"You've gotten better!" || "Tsk, can't say the same about you"

"I think that's enough for one day"

"...can you get off me" || "S-sorry"

"You hold it like this and- why are your hands trembling?"

"I really look forward to our next match!"

"Oh god- I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hit you that hard-"

"Didn't know you liked being pinned to the ground this much"

"Is that all you got?"

"I won't go easy on you" || "I don't want you to"

"Let's do it again!" || "Hell no. If we train any longer I'm going to pass out"

(X)

[lyralit]

ᴡʀɪᴛɪɴɢ ʙᴏᴅʏ ʟᴀɴɢᴜᴀɢᴇ

Anger

Anger is one expression of fight-or-flight mode — an automatic, instinctive reaction to a threat. In many cases, there is an underlying fear of being harmed. Thanks to autonomic nervous system arousal, the heart rate increases, pupils dilate, and the face may flush. Other signs of anger

Balling the fists

Crossing the arms tightly

Clenching the fists once arms are crossed

Tight-lipped smile

Clenched teeth

Shaking a finger like a club

Stabbing a finger at someone

Attraction

Pupils dilate

Women will cross and uncross legs to draw attention to them

Mirroring – (usually unconsciously) mimicking the other person’s body language

Closed to Conversation

Keeping the hands in the pockets (esp. men)

Arms and legs crossed

Sitting back

Folding the hands together on a table (creates a barrier)

The “figure-four” leg cross (setting the ankle of one leg on the knee of the other) and then grabbing the lower half of the top leg with both hands.

Openness and Honesty

Exposure of the palms

Arms and legs unfolded

Leaning forward

Submissive Signals

Smiling – that’s why some people smile when they’re upset or afraid

Slumping the shoulders

Doing anything to appear smaller

Distress

Men in particular have a tendency to stroke or rub the nape of the neck when they’re upset. It acts as a self-soothing gesture to deal with a “pain in the neck.”

Crossed arms – arms act like a protective barrier

Self-hugging – arms are crossed, hands gripping upper arms

One-arm cross – one arm crosses the body to hold or touch the other arm – women keep a hand on a purse or bag strap to make this look more natural

Clutching a purse, briefcase, or bag with both arms

Adjusting cuffs or cuff-links (men’s version of the purse-strap grab)

Folding the hands together in front of the crotch (men)

Lying

Lying causes a subtle tingling in the face and neck, so the gestures below are attempts to eliminate that feeling

Covering the mouth – can be like a shh gesture, or they may cover the mouth completely – some people try to cover it by coughing

Touching or rubbing the nose or just below the nose – often a quick, small gesture, not a scratch

Rubbing the eyes (especially men)

Scratching the neck with the index finger

Superiority, Confidence, Power, Dominance

Steepling the fingers (aka setting the tips of the fingers together)

Folding the hands behind the back

Thumbs sticking out from pockets when hands are in pockets (can be front or back pockets)

Hands on hips

Straddling a chair

Hands folded behind the head while sitting up (in men)

[source]

[moonlitinks]

ways you can further develop your main character

give them a misbelief

no characters have a personality when the plot starts. all of them have backstories, a past, and a mindset that they grew up with!

basically, a misbelief is the wrong mindset that they grew up with, and is also a belief that will be restructured by the end of your novel.

this not only shows character growth and development as their mind is "restructured" or they learn their life lesson, but also drives the internal plot of your story, which differs from the external (or action) plot that most people seem to read.

+ this gives readers a deeper insight to your character!

give them a goal

every character has a goal, or something they want in their lives. having them strive for it would essentially drive your plot, and may also help you dig deeper into your character's motivations!

this goal doesn't always need to be achieved, or may be impossible to (for example, someone wanting to meet a loved one who turns out to be dead; they may have not reached their goal, but it took them on a journey)

this goal should also be concrete if possible! vague ones like "they want to be happy," isn't very helpful. what do they think will make them happy?

(side note: wanting everything to be the way that it is can also be a goal, cause they're striving to make things go back to the way they were!)

more notes / explanations here! most of these notes in this post are taken from story genius by lisa cron, and i thought they might help. please take all this information with a grain of salt, and maybe use it in a way that'll work best for you! <3

buy me a kofi | insta | main

[macgyvermedical]

We've all heard of ppl getting sent to the ER by putting questionable things up their ass: but how DO they get that stuff out?

Good question!

It depends on what happened, what it is, where it is, and how much damage it's caused.

In order to answer these questions, they'll first ask the patient, in private, what happened. This is largely in case there was a criminal act that led to the object getting inserted, and be able to provide appropriate care.

They would then ask the patient what the object is- the goal is to determine whether the object is sharp, fragile, or particularly rough, making it more likely the patient was injured during the insertion or during any attempts to remove it before arriving at the ED.

A sharp object in the rectum can cause a potentially life-threatening bowel perforation. This is when the rectum or colon tears, causing potentially severe internal bleeding and the spilling of stool (poop) into the normally sterile abdominal cavity. Untreated, this causes a severe infection called peritonitis that can be life-threatening.

If it is sharp, this could also pose a risk to the medical professional trying to remove it, and may need to be done surgically to prevent harm to the patient and the staff caring for them.

They would then take an x-ray to determine exactly where the object was. If that didn't give enough information, they might also do a CT scan.

The simplest possible scenario is that it is a solid, smooth object lodged low in the rectum, with no sign of perforation or internal bleeding.

If this is the case, removal can usually be done in the ED. First they would have the patient lay on their back and bring their knees up to their chest. Then they would sedate the patient with a benzodiazipine and morphine, which decreases pain and helps relax the muscles around the anus. They would then and attempt to remove the object by inserting a proctoscope (think really big version of the thing a doc uses to look in your ears), finding the object, and then removing it with forceps (think medical salad tongs).

If this is not successful, they may take a flexible tube with a balloon on the end, thread the tube past the object, inflate the balloon, and use that to help pull out the object.

If still that didn't work, they'd try to press on the abdomen to see if they could move the object further towards the anus and try again.

If it takes longer than about 30 minutes, or there are any other complications (perforation, sharp object, object that is too far up, etc...), they would be referred to surgery.

In surgery, the patient is under general anesthesia and paralyzed, which makes it a lot easier to remove the object, and it also allows for a much more controlled removal of a sharp or fragile object. They can also use more advanced scopes which can help find and retrieve objects that are farther up in the rectum or even colon.

[inky-duchess]

Writer's Guide: Writing about Alcoholic Drinks and Cocktails

Or how to write believable bar and nightclub scenes. I often find myself helping friends with their WIPs and often it as a bartender, I find myself having to correct them on bar and mixology terminology. So here's my quick guide to keeping your lingo on the straight and narrow.

Terminology

DASH/SPLASH: a drop of a mixer such as juice or flavouring.

MIXER: non alcholic beveraged served with the measure of alcohol in the same glass.

NEAT: Plain, without any addition of ice or a mixture. Just the alcohol.

ON THE ROCKS: Served over Ice.

STRAIGHT UP: The cocktail is chilled with ice and strained into a glass with no ice

DIRTY – if somebody asks for a dirty martini, you add olive juice, the more juice the dirtier it is

DRY- A dry martini includes a drop of vermouth and an extra dry martini contains a drop of scotch swirled in the glass and drained before adding the gin

BACK – a ‘back’ is a drink that accompanies an alcholic beverage such as water or Coke, but isn't mixed.

GARNISH – something added to a drink such as a lime or lemon or orange.

TWIST - a twist is literally a twist of fruit skin in the drink.

BITTERS – a herbal alcoholic blend added to cocktails.

RIMMED - the glass is coated in salt or sugar to enhance the taste.

VIRGIN- non alcoholic

MOCKTAIL- a virgin cocktail

DOUBLE - Two measures of the same alcohol in the same glass. A bartender can only legally serve a double in the same glass. They cannot serve you a triple.

Equipment

COCKTAIL SHAKER - it is a metal cup that fits into a glass, used to shake the components of your drink together with ice to chill it.

STRAINER- used to seperate ice in the shaker from the liquid within as you pour it into the glass.

MEASURES- these are little metal cylinders meant to measure out the pours of the alcohol. You pour the alcohol from the bottle into the measure and then put it into the glass. It's imperative that the right measure goes into the glass or the drink will taste of shit.

BAR SPOON – a long spoon meant to mix the drink.

OPTIC- it is a mechanism that attaches a bottle to an automatic pourer. The bartender usually fits the glass under the spout and pushes up to release the amount which cuts off at the single measure.

SHOT GLASS- a shot glass is a small glass to contain one measure

PINT GLASS- a glass used for serving pints of lager or ale

HALF PINT GLASS - a tulip shaped glass half the measure of a pint glass

SPEEDWELL/TAPS/DRAFT: are the taps used to pour beer from kegs stored under the bar floor.

SLIM JIM/HIGH BALL GLASS- It is a tall straight holding 8 to 12 ounces and used for cocktails served on the rocks such as a Gin and Tonic.

ROCKS GLASS - or an old fashioned glass, it is short and round. These glasses are used for drinks such as Old Fashioneds or Sazerac

COUPE GLASS- Are broad round stemmed glasses used for cocktails that are chill and served without ice such as a Manhattan, Boulevardier or a Gimlet

MARTINI GLASS - a martini glass is that classic stemmed "v" shaped glass, used to serve drinks without mixers such as Martini and Cosmopolitans

MARGARITA GLASS - is a large, round bowl like glass with a broad and a tall stem used for Margaritas and Daiquiris

HURRICANE GLASS- a tall tulip-like shaped glass with a flared rim and short stem. It holds 20 ounces which means it is the perfect glass to serve iced cocktails in such as Pina Colada, Singapore Sling, Hurricane

Alcoholic Drinks

Vodka- Vodka is made from potatoes or fermented cereal grains. It has a strong taste and scent. It is usually consumed neat with a mixer such as Coke or Orange juice or cranberry juice or in cocktails like Martini, Bloody Mary and Cosmopolitan.

Whisky/Whiskey- Whiskey is a distilled alcoholic beverage, made from fermented grain mash such as barley, corn, rye, and wheat. It gets its flavour form being fermented in casks for long period of time. When serving a whiskey, one asks whether they want ice or a mixer. Everyone has their own preference. I prefer mine like myself, strong and Irish. Scotch is Scottish Brewed whisky.

Rum- Rum is made by fermenting and distilling sugarcane molasses/juice. It is aged in oak barrels. It has a sweet taste.

Beer: is made out of cereal grains and served chilled in bottles or pulled from taps/speedwells.

Ale: Ale in the middle ages referred to beer brewed without hops (a kind of flowering plant that gives beer its bitter taste). It is sweeter and would typically have a fruity aftertaste.

Stout- is a darker beer sometimes brewed from roasted malt, coming in a sweet version and dry version, the most famous stout being Guinness.

Poitín- (pronounced as pot-cheen) is made from cereals, grain, whey, sugar beet, molasses and potatoes. It is a Dangerous Drink (honestly i still don't know how I ended up in that field with a traffic cone and a Shetland pony) and technically illegal. Country folk in Ireland used to brew it in secrets in stills hidden on their land.

Vermouth: Is made from infused with roots, barks, flowers, seeds, herbs, spices, brandy but vermouth is classed aromatized wine. It comes sweet or dry

Gin- is made from juniper, coriander, citrus peel, cinnamon, almond or liquorice and grain alcohol. Gin has a strong scent and taste and is usually served in a martini or a tonic water.

Schnapps- refers to any strong, clear alcoholic beverage. It is considered one of the best types of spirits because of its pure and delicate aroma. Lesson: never drink peach schnapps.

Cocktails and Drinks

Irish Coffee: an Irish coffee is adding whiskey to coffee and sugar and topping it with cream. As a bartender, I would honestly rather cut my arm off than make one of these.

Baby Guinness: Is a shot made by pouting Tia Maria or Kaluah into a shot glass and spreading Baileys on the top so it looks like a small pint of Guinness.

Silver Bullet: a shot of mixed tequila and sambuca.

Long Island Iced Tea:  The Long Island contains vodka, gin, tequila, light rum, lemon juice, triple sec and cola. It has a real kick.

Mai Tai: is made with light and dark rum, lime juice, orange curacao, orgeat syrup and rock candy syrup and served with a mint garnish.

Manhattan: The Manhattan is made with rye whiskey, sweet vermouth and bitters.

Margarita: The margarita is made with tequila, cointreau and lime juice.

Mojito: a mojito is made with muddled mint, white rum, lime juice, simple syrup and soda.

Martini: a martini is made of gin, dry vermouth and garnished with a lemon twist or olives.

Mimosa: a mimosa is a made with sparkling wine and orange juice.

Mint Julep: Made with Kentucky bourbon, simple syrup, mint leaves and crushed ice

Pina Colada: is made with white rum, dark rum, pineapple juice and coconut cream

Screwdriver: Vodka and Orange juice

Tequila Sunrise: tequila, orange juice and grenadine

Tom Collins: made with spiked lemonade, sparkling water, lemon juice, simple syrup and gin

Whiskey Sour: is made with powdered sugar, seltzer, lemon juice and whiskey.

White Russian: made with vodka, coffee liqueur and cream.

Black Russian: made with two parts coffee liqueur and five parts vodka.

Gin and Tonic: gin served with tonic water

Bloody Mary: made with vodka and tomato juice mixed with lemon juice, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, horseradish, fresh herbs, brown sugar and cracked black pepper.

Brandy Alexander: served straight up and made with brandy, cognac, creme de cacao and cream

Cosmopolitan: Made with citrus vodka, Cointreau, cranberry juice and fresh lime juice

Daiquiri: made with rum, lime juice and sugar.

Gimlet: gin and lime juice

My Top 10 Bartending Rules and Responsibilities

Overpouring is never an option. You can seriously hurt somebody by overpouring, not to mention spoil the drink and ruin your sales. You only serve people what they ask and never more.

When somebody has had enough, you stop serving them. After a while, you know when to cut somebody off.

Never leave bottles on the counter or in reach of customers. Your expensive spirits should never be in reach of anybody but you.

If you tell somebody your selling them premium and top shelf alcohol, you cannot substitute with cheaper licqor. It's illegal.

As a bartender, your eyes always have to be scanning a crowd. You can't leave people hanging.

The golden rule - if you see somebody messing with someone's drink, you chuck it if you can or warn the person. And you get that son of a bitch out of your pub.

50% of the job is cleaning. You have to clean your tools constantly. You cannot reuse measures and spouts, you have to wash everything. Beer traps are clean out every night, rubber mats are washed and anything you have used has to be clean.

You have to hand dry your glasses. You never polish a pint glass as it fucks up the pint. You polish your cocktail glasses, shot glasses and straight glasses.

If someone seems down or on their own, you try make conversation. Often you'll hear some disturbing stuff but always try lend an ear or make everyone feel included.

If you break a glass in the ice bucket, you got to get rid of the ice.

[writingraven]

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

[the-darkish-side-of-specs]

Oh sweet mother that’s useful

Here’s just the template

[2soulscollide]

my favorite free tools for writers

hello, hello! hope you're doing well.

today i am bringing you another list with my top 3 favorite (free!) tools that I find helpful for each phase of writing a novel.

brainstorming phase

Fantasy Names Generator - not only for fantasy (you can also generate real names). this website is just... amazing! it helps you come up with names for characters, places and locations, descriptions, generate traits, outfits (yes, outfits!!), and probably something else you could ever think of.

The Story's Hack - this one is so cool! you can generate names for everything, create your own generator, and practice writing through writing exercises! plus, you can save your generated names to see later, and you earn coins for each idea generated (you can later buy themes - dark, snow, forest, etc)

RanGen - my last favorite generator on this list is RanGen! you can generate plots, appearances, archetypes, love interests, cities, worlds, items, and more.

developing the idea phase

Bryn Donovan - in this blog you can find master lists under the tag "master lists for writers". it is so helpful when you first start developing the characters and need to find the right words to describe them and to find some quirks and flaws!

Writers Write (350 character traits) - again, this is so helpful!

Story Planner - ah, the number of times I've talked about this website... please, PLEASE take a look at it, you won't regret it. this website has literally everything you need to fully develop your idea with outlines for you to fill in step by step.

writing phase

Colleen Houck (80+ barriers to love) - need more romace conflict? there you go!

Cheat Sheets for Writing Body Language - so, you know how your character's feeling, but don't know how he'd physically act? check out this list!

Describing Words - honestly, this is a lifesaver. don't you struggle to find the right word to describe something? well, with this website all you have to do is to type the object you're trying to describe and see which description fits better to you!

revising phase

Language Tool for Google Docs - i know we all have heard about google docs before, but the truth is, it's almost impossible to find free softwares to check grammar and spelling. so, google docs is useful, because it automatically revises it for us, and it's completely free. plus, you can add adds-on, such as "language tool".

Unfortunately, there's only one (free) tool that I actually enjoy for the revising phase. if you know some others, please let me know so that I can try them out and feature in this list.

exporting phase

Google Docs - i find google docs very easy to format and export to .epub, so i'd recommend using it as a free tool.

Reedsy - this is also a free tool available online. all you have to do is to write down each chapter (copy and paste) or import your word document. it will format the document to your liking and export it to pdf, epub and mobi.

that's everything for now! i hope this post was somehow helpful or inspiring!

if you want to see more master lists full of resources, check these:

WEBSITES FOR WRITERS {masterpost}

BEST accounts to follow as a writer

BEST SITES & SOFTWARES TO WRITE FICTION

DIALOGUE IDEAS TO GET RID OF THAT WRITING BLOCK (masterpost)

Useful Resources & Tips for Writers

also, if you are a notion lover just like me, check the free template I just released with everything you need to develop and write your novel!

thank you so much for reading! hope to see you around, and have a nice day <3