NaNo Alternatives

"How do you write such realistic dialogue-" I TALK TO MYSELF. I TALK TO MYSELF AND I PRETEND I AM THE ONE SAYING THE LINE. LIKE SANITY IS SLOWLY SLIPPING FROM BETWEEN MY FINGERS WITH EVERY MEASLY WORD THEY TYPE OUT. THAT IS HOW.

On Love and Community

@princes-heels // ? // @inkskinned // mitski, my love mine all mine//@littlespoonsokka // @boymiffy // @2aminhouston // ? // @theviralwitch // @noodle // @criterioncollectiongirl // @fatsoupy // ? // @mjalti // george saunders, congratulations, by the way// @jb-blunk // @ponchopeligroso // @headspace-hotel // everything, everywhere, all at once(2022) //@cheruib // ? // ? // @tordenvejr

favourite things about first drafts:

square brackets with notes to self mid-line like [does this make sense with worldbuilding?]

ah yes, Main Character and their closest friends, Unnamed Character A and Unnamed Character B.

bullshitting your way through something that you probably definitely need to research later

also square brackets to link up scenes. [scene transition idk] my beloved

the total freedom of word vomits

"I'll fix that later"

the moment when the world and characters start to gain a life of their own

pieces falling into place as you write that you were uncertain about before you started

the accomplishment of Made A Thing

You will not use AI to get ideas for your story. You will lie on the floor and have wretched visions like god intended

Body type and shape

1. Lean: Having a slender and toned body with minimal body fat.

2. Muscular: Having well-developed muscles and a defined physique.

3. Slender: Having a thin and graceful body shape.

4. Curvy: Having an hourglass figure with well-defined curves, particularly in the hips and bust.

5. Athletic: Having a fit and muscular body, often associated with participation in sports or physical activities.

6. Petite: Being small and slender in stature, usually referring to height and overall body size.

7. Voluptuous: Having full and shapely curves, often emphasizing a larger bust, hips, and thighs.

8. Stocky: Having a compact and solid build with a sturdy appearance.

9. Thin: Having a slim and slender body shape with little body fat or muscle definition.

10. Well-proportioned: Having balanced and harmonious body proportions, with each body part in good proportion to the whole.

11. Toned: Having firm muscles and a defined physique resulting from regular exercise and strength training.

12. Chubby: Having a plump or rounded body shape, often with excess body fat.

13. Pear-shaped: Having a body shape where the hips and thighs are wider than the shoulders and bust.

14. Hourglass figure: Having a curvy body shape characterized by a well-defined waist and proportionate bust and hips.

15. Apple-shaped: Having a body shape where weight is primarily carried around the midsection, resulting in a broader waistline.

16. Broad-shouldered: Having wide and well-developed shoulders in comparison to the rest of the body.

17. Long-limbed: Having long and slender limbs in proportion to the body.

18. Stout: Having a sturdy and robust build, often characterized by a solid and thick physique.

19. Plump: Having a pleasantly full and rounded body shape, often indicating a higher percentage of body fat.

20. Tall and slender: Being tall in height and having a slim and elongated body shape.

“omg you’re so creative. how do you get your ideas” i hallucinate a single scene in the taco bell drive thru and then spend 13 months trying to write it

dialogue tags I love: an evolving list

Chirped - their voice is high, cheerful, energetic, sweet, you likely want to pinch their cheeks

With feeling - that feeling isn’t named, but given the context of the conversation, you don’t need specifics, this person is feeling multiple things and you can hear the multitude in their voice

Blinked - people blink all the time, but you just know this one was caused by being taken aback and those eyelids are heavy with words all by themselves

Indignant - not just annoyed, not just upset, not just “with feeling”, the person is offended and retaliating on behalf of their own pride or another’s and it is likely adorable

Fondly - affectionately, but with nostalgia and a little bit of an ache present, this is exactly what you’d expect from them and you can’t help loving them for it

Blandly - there’s inflection here, but it’s so slight and almost calculated in how slight it is that the only intention can be that they’re trying to make oatmeal but with words

Far too cheerfully - because they have no business being so, not when you’re suffering, and even if they aren’t grinning hard enough to split their face open, that’s okay, you’ll do it for them, the bastard

Deadpanned - a classic, a novelty, too spicy to be bland but with somehow less inflection, it’s weird but you know exactly what they mean

Stopped - you know, in the middle of a thought, sometimes because they’re figuring out what they want to say, but often just because they’re a little bit incredulous over whatever the heck you’ve just done and maybe there are no words to be said

Mildly - like, they definitely could be responding in a more fervent way, but they’re just kinda chill and it does nothing to defuse your temper

Groused - like grumbled, but instead of “grumpy mumbled” it’s the whole demeanor and not just indecipherable curses under their breath

Breathed - because you didn’t want to write gasped, because that sounds stupid, but the character is suddenly short of breath for any number of reasons and the words are coming out like mist on a summer morning, there but hard to see

Interrupted - because it’s dumb, like, if one character was talking and then another one starts talking, clearly they’re interrupting - a more appropriate use is when character A wasn’t saying anything and character B is interrupting the moment or activity, making this word choice possible

Faltered - you can’t hear that a character’s voice is becoming unsteady or trailing off unless you’re told and any of the previous three examples are preferable to ellipses (see post)

Desperately - when their shoulders are hunched over and their eyes are too wide, there are tears clinging to the back of their throat just waiting to make an appearance

Steadily - like, this is a time to panic, or panicking would make sense, but we’re not going to panic because we need to stay focused, and our voice is not going to waver or give anything away, nope

Whispered - because “said softly” is not the same, “breathed out” is not the same, “mumbled” is not the same, a whisper is a whisper, that’s what it is, okay?

Firmly - not sternly, just also not budging on its stance

Protested - maybe you conveyed the protesting in the words you just said, but when you also say the word it edges them properly, and you really know that sentence started with a “but” even if it didn’t

Flatly - not the same as blandly, which is without inflection to a neutral extent, but flatly, which is without inflection but in an arrow-shaped way, like, we’re not rolling down a hill, just over to your feet and staring at you

super simple low-effort ao3 summary methods that are 1000% better and 1000% less annoying than just saying you suck at summaries:

copypaste the first few lines of the fic. u already wrote 'em. let 'em be their own damn hook

if ur feeling fancy & don't mind showing ur hand a bit, copypaste the first few lines of the fic that u feel are esp. Important or Interesting - the ones where u first start getting into the real meat of things

state the main tropes! theyre probably already in ur tags - just say them again - maybe as a full sentence if ur feelin fancy. or with a joke if ur feelin Extra fancy

ask a question. pose a hypothetical. eg what happens if u take [character] and put them in [situation]?

make an equation. [character] + [thing] = [outcome]

just write like a one-sentence summary of what the fuck is going down. just one (1) sentence. doesnt matter if it doesn't cover every important aspect. or if it sounds bland. any summary sentence is gonna be miles better than "idk i suck at summaries"

just...explain the fic like u would to a friend? it doesnt have to be a polished back of the book blurb. it can just be "[pairing] coffee shop au, but like, still with murder, and also i made everyone trans. enjoy"

just stick a meme in there

honestly who cares

just put literally anything but a self deprecating comment in there & ur golden