cyprith:

fuckyeahcharacterdevelopment:

How many nouns (no adjectives) can you think of that would describe different skin tones, without including anything that is edible?

(It won’t let me ask this as a question, so go ahead and reply by using the little bubble in the top corner of the post.)  

Bonus round:

How many skin-tone descriptors can you think of that involve no edibles and nothing dirt?

(Because for some reason, different colored people in books are either chocolate or earth.)

Honestly, I can’t even name white-people without using edible or earth colors. The problem lies when people don’t bother calling white people anything except white, alabaster, or ivory, all of which are devoid of any human color (seriously guys, lacking substantial melatonin doesn’t mean you have absolutely no pigment in there).

For me, white people tend to be peach or sand.

thewritershelpers:

The short answer: There is no such thing as a normal teenage girl, just the same as there is no such thing as a normal person. 

Every person is completely different, with different outlooks, ideals, emotions and ambitions. Everyone has a different idea of what ‘normal’ is and, without getting philosophical, this makes the term invalid. 

You need to write your character as a person, her hopes, ambitions and all that jazz.

If you are really, really stuck as to what a ‘generalisation’ of ‘stereotypical’ teenage girls worry about, here are some suggestions:

• Appearance. Weight, skin, hair. General looks. 
• School work. 
• Parents opinion of them. 
• Romantic relationships. 
• Exploring their sexuality. 
• Peer opinions.

If you want even more of a generalisation, or more of an insight then go watch films like ‘10 things I hate about you’, ‘Wild Child’, ‘Mean girls’, stuff like that. That seems the kind of caliber you may be looking for. 

Hope this helps,

-C

(My source was my girlfriend) 

—

I  agree with C’s girlfriend. The movie references were good (and they are broad so you can get a range of things). Being a teenage girl myself (19… so almost out of THAT zone!), I’d have to say this:

Be aware of stereotypes. Girls play dirty (watch “Mean Girls”… it’s true, which is why it’s so hilarious). There’s often drama that occurs for no reason. Girls bully in the meanest way possible: they don’t use their fists, they use words.

Also, remember the double-standards that girls are at the end of: we can’t sleep around without being called slutty/a whore (but guys can and they’re often considered champs… it happens a lot. I’ve seen it), we can’t play “tough sports” (some girls break that stereotype and play football or rugby), and etc.

Hope that helps a little bit…

-H

Yeah, writing teenage girls is weird when you don’t know how they act. This advice is probably the best for anyone concerned about character development.

heardhoult-rph:

This was shown to me by multiple teachers of mine, including English teachers, Lit Professors, and my advisor for Elementary Education. To me, it’s the most obvious way of showing how important variation in sentence length are to make something smooth and easy to read. Remember this when writing bios, paras, plots, or anything else for your roleplay.

This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety. Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals—sounds that say listen to this, it is important.

So write with a combination of short, medium, and long sentences. Create a sound that pleases the reader’s ear. Don’t just write words. Write music.

-Source-

(via thewritershelpers)

I’m not an activist.

I learned a hard lesson about why I shouldn’t advocate for anything that’s not hobby related: I’m too moderate. Activists aren’t there to compromise, they desire change. I’m in their way.

My satire fantasy, however, goes into a lot of loaded topics: race, gender, body, sex, etc.

One of my beta readers calls it very feminist. Not because I preach, but because I have a three-dimensional female lead. (yeah, I know, kind of meaningless unless I show you what that looks like, but that’s not the point here)

I can just imagine activists reading my book in the future and expecting me to give lectures on social equality…

Look, I’m not against social change. However, the point of my satire fantasy is to be the opposite of typical fantasy, where everyone follows social norms even if they bellow out they’re strong, independent women.

I’m not an activist. I’m just observing the human condition.

And I wish all the activists the best of luck. You’re the ones who go out there and make a difference. I admire your passion!

blanketburritos:

im gonna go read at the park because its finally nice out and soon it will be too hot to do anything

*looks outside*

You’re right. Let’s do this!

What to do, what to do

I think of a plan

And then I discover

I just did it again

—

(c) Adrian Fridge 2013