writingwithpen

[writingwithpen]

bring back tumblr ask culture let me. bother you with questions and statements

[writingwithpen]

mutuals even if I don't talk to you much/at all, when I see you on my dash I'm doing this

[writingwithpen]

One time I wrote "he pulled his hoodie over his headie"

It took me a second to figure out why that was wrong

That'll happen

I've been possessed and writing for hours straight and I just reached a point where I wrote "flail" when I meant "frail"

I had to google that because *something felt off*

I think i need to go to sleep now

[writingwithpen]

This is beautiful

my three favorite things are the oxford comma, irony, and missed opportunities

[writingwithpen]

Body Language

When someone is...

Sad

Face/Body:

Avoidant/reduced eye contact

Drooping eyelids

Downcast eyes

Frowning

Raised inner ends of eyebrows

Dropped or furrowed eyebrows

Quivering lip/biting lip

Wrinkled nose

Voice:

Soft pitch

Low lone

Pauses/hesitant speech

Quiet/breathy

Slow speech

Voice cracks/breaking voice

Gestures/Posture:

Slouching/lowered head

Rigid/tense posture

Half formed/slow movement

Fidgeting or clasped hands

Sniffing or heavy swallows

Self soothing gestures (running hands over the arms, hand over heart, holding face in palms, etc)

[writingwithpen]

10 Non-Lethal Injuries to Add Pain to Your Writing

New Part: 10 Lethal Injury Ideas

If you need a simple way to make your characters feel pain, here are some ideas: 

1. Sprained Ankle

A common injury that can severely limit mobility. This is useful because your characters will have to experience a mild struggle and adapt their plans to their new lack of mobiliy. Perfect to add tension to a chase scene.

2. Rib Contusion

A painful bruise on the ribs can make breathing difficult, helping you sneak in those ragged wheezes during a fight scene. Could also be used for something sport-related! It's impactful enough to leave a lingering pain but not enough to hinder their overall movement.

3. Concussions

This common brain injury can lead to confusion, dizziness, and mood swings, affecting a character’s judgment heavily. It can also cause mild amnesia.

I enjoy using concussions when you need another character to subtly take over the fight/scene, it's an easy way to switch POVs. You could also use it if you need a 'cute' recovery moment with A and B.

4. Fractured Finger

A broken finger can complicate tasks that require fine motor skills. This would be perfect for characters like artists, writers, etc. Or, a fighter who brushes it off as nothing till they try to throw a punch and are hit with pain.

5. Road Rash

Road rash is an abrasion caused by friction. Aka scraping skin. The raw, painful sting resulting from a fall can be a quick but effective way to add pain to your writing. Tip: it's great if you need a mild injury for a child.

6. Shoulder Dislocation

This injury can be excruciating and often leads to an inability to use one arm, forcing characters to confront their limitations while adding urgency to their situation. Good for torture scenes.

7. Deep Laceration

A deep laceration is a cut that requires stitches. As someone who got stitches as a kid, they really aren't that bad! A 2-3 inch wound (in length) provides just enough pain and blood to add that dramatic flair to your writing while not severely deterring your character.

This is also a great wound to look back on since it often scars. Note: the deeper and wider the cut the worse your character's condition. Don't give them a 5 inch deep gash and call that mild.

8. Burns

Whether from fire, chemicals, or hot surfaces, burns can cause intense suffering and lingering trauma. Like the previous injury, the lasting physical and emotional trauma of a burn is a great wound for characters to look back on.

If you want to explore writing burns, read here.

9. Pulled Muscle

This can create ongoing pain and restrict movement, offering a window to force your character to lean on another. Note: I personally use muscle related injuries when I want to focus more on the pain and sprains to focus on a lack of mobility.

10. Tendonitis

Inflammation of a tendon can cause chronic pain and limit a character's ability to perform tasks they usually take for granted. When exploring tendonitis make sure you research well as this can easily turn into a more severe injury.

This is a quick, brief list of ideas to provide writers inspiration. Since it is a shorter blog, I have not covered the injuries in detail. This is inspiration, not a thorough guide. Happy writing! :)

Looking For More Writing Tips And Tricks? 

Check out the rest of Quillology with Haya; a blog dedicated to writing and publishing tips for authors!

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[writingwithpen]

out of context tag game

thanks for the tag @keeping-writing-frosty !!

---

She drifted into the family aisle. Here was the collection of animated movies, from Moana, all the way back to Pinocchio. There really was something comforting about the old animation style. The way each frame was hand-drawn, evoking emotion and individualistic art styles was really –

And then Eileen died.

Felt like it, anyway.

As she mused over whether to rent out The Jungle Book or The Aristocats, a boy popped up over the shelf, somehow producing a noise that Eileen could only describe as unnatural, or perhaps demonic.

---

Tags: @rayne143 @aalinaaaaaa @storyteller-kara @inedibleplastic @nightmaricwriter @purple-dinosaur17

[writingwithpen]

I'm not sure if this counts as a trope or not, but like, when a group has an uneven number of people in it, and everyone pairs off into couples until there's one person left single by the end of the show/book/whatever

And the creator will ALWAYS make them randomly meet someone in like, the final scene

It kills me every time

Yesterday we did tropes we enjoy, today, I wanna do tropes we dislike! I personally don’t have a least favorite, I like to read any tropes as long as the story/plot is good. Plus there’s like so many tropes too I believe. How about all of you?

[writingwithpen]

Anybody ever may put musical songs in my ask box

reblog if I can put random musical songs in your ask box. :)

@babyqueenfangirl @tatortots0478 @crowwolf8 @ovalbrain @radio-silence-fan @ch4rliespringg @faeriesandfables + anyone else who sees this

[writingwithpen]

MS word I am begging you to stop trying to get me to say "she spoke" instead of "she said"

[writingwithpen]

last line challenge!

tagged by @rayne143, tysm!!

In a new post, show the last line you wrote/drew and tag as many people as there are words, or just as many as you'd like

'“Long time to be out there in the dirt,” she mused quietly.'

(Eileen found a quarter from 1899 on a hiking trail^^)

Tags: @aalinaaaaaa @storyteller-kara @nightmaricwriter

[writingwithpen]

these just kept getting better

Quick tips for writing kisses

⇰ the pause. THE PAUSE. like “are we doing this? oh god we’re doing this.”

⇰ looking at each other’s mouths like it’s a life-or-death decision

⇰ someone whispering “can I?” or “just once” before going for it and RUINING ME EMOTIONALLY

⇰ hands. gripping shirts. cupping faces. hovering like “do I touch?? I WANNA TOUCH”

⇰ breath hitching?? yes. shakiness?? absolutely.

⇰ that stupid moment where one of them pulls back a few inches like “wait are you sure” and the other just goes for it again

⇰ kissing like they’re scared it’ll be the last time

⇰ kissing like they’ve been waiting ten goddamn years

⇰ teeth clashing awkwardly and both laughing about it but STILL FEELING IT

⇰ one of them freezing for a second mid-kiss because the feelings just hit

⇰ the post-kiss moment of “uh. so. yeah.” where neither knows what the hell just happened

⇰ OR the post-kiss forehead touch. destroy me.

[writingwithpen]

My ultimate goal with being a writer is to scroll somewhere and see a fanfic of something I made. I couldn't be happier if I was capable of helping someone with a foundation I set. <3

[writingwithpen]

I was wondering why MS word was trying to get me to change "lead" to "led", when I wasn't even writing in past tense. Guess this is why!

Awesome.

"you can use ai to improve spelling and grammar"

[writingwithpen]

girl same

every day i struggle between the choice of writing or ao3-ing or tumblr-ing before i inevitably have to sleep and it's a terrible terrible struggle

[writingwithpen]

"I missed you" "I've been gone two hours" kills me every time

soft vs hard love dialogue and prompts

➣ SOFT LOVE

♡ "you're cute when you're mad."

♡ soft shoulder kisses.

♡ "home is where you are, whether it is here, in the deepest ocean or hottest desert, you are my home."

♡ slow and curious first kiss, both characters seemingly nervous, blush painting their faces.

♡ stolen glances across the room.

♡ "the gods took their time with you."

♡ wearing their heart on their sleeves around each other.

♡ character A's face blushing as B smootheres them in compliments even years into their relationship with character B.

♡ quiet murmurs of affection.

♡ “i missed you.” “i was gone for two hours.”

♡ coffee shop and bookstore dates.

➣ HARD LOVE

♡ guttural rain confessions.*

♡ "do you not get it? every second i spend in the absence of your presence pains me."

♡ harsh and passionate first kisses.

♡ "i fucking yearn for you and you haven't so much as spared me a glance in years!"

♡ walls that they have each spent years building crumbling in the presence of one another.

♡ heated arguments turned into heated confessions.

♡ "i hate you! i hate you so much i can't bear to be near you." "you are walking a fine line between hate and desire, love."

♡ both being far too stubborn to admit their feelings, their hearts both caged deep within them.

♡ (years/months) of pent up emotions being aired in an argument and when the dust settles the only emotion left is their desire for each other.

♡ “do you think i want this? do you think i want to be stuck in this endless cycle of wanting you? do you truly think i enjoy waking up every morning realizing you’re not there?”

♡ tears spilling as they finally give in and proclaim their feelings.

♡ “i am not an easy person to love.” “i think i’ve got the hang of it.”

REBLOG TO SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL WRITERS!!<3

* rain confessions coming soon !!

[writingwithpen]

I've found my people

I love other writers so much because every writer I've ever met is genuinely and utterly deranged on a level only writers can achieve