bigolidioot

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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.”

Something about Bix and Cassian's kid growing up in a world without a deathstar. Something about their son only knowing what few memories his mom can tell before needing to be excused. Something about him growing angry at Cassian for leaving them. Something about him letting his anger slip. Something about Bix sternly sitting their son at the table and finally sharing what happened. What Cassian did, what she did. Something about Bix squeezing their son's hands as she firmly speaks through the tears in her throat. “He would have chased us to the corners of the universe to be together. If you're angry, be angry at me. I never gave him the choice to choose you.” Something about their kid being quiet, about him unable to look at his mother as he speaks “Why did it have to be him? Why did it have to be my dad?” Something about them holding each other, both acutely aware of the space Cassian should be. “I have asked myself that everyday”

Writing Description Notes:

Updated 9th September 2024 More writing tips, review tips & writing description notes

Facial Expressions

Masking Emotions

Smiles/Smirks/Grins

Eye Contact/Eye Movements

Blushing

Voice/Tone

Body Language/Idle Movement

Thoughts/Thinking/Focusing/Distracted

Silence

Memories

Happy/Content/Comforted

Love/Romance

Sadness/Crying/Hurt

Confidence/Determination/Hopeful

Surprised/Shocked

Guilt/Regret

Disgusted/Jealous

Uncertain/Doubtful/Worried

Anger/Rage

Laughter

Confused

Speechless/Tongue Tied

Fear/Terrified

Mental Pain

Physical Pain

Tired/Drowsy/Exhausted

Eating

Drinking

Warm/Hot

When your Character...

Gets into: A Fight ⚜ ...Another Fight ⚜ ...Yet Another Fight

Hates Someone ⚜ Kisses Someone ⚜ Falls in Love

Calls Someone they Love ⚜ Dies / Cheats Death ⚜ Drowns

is...

A Ballerina ⚜ A Child ⚜ Interacting with a Child ⚜ A Cheerleader

A Cowboy ⚜ A Genius ⚜ A Lawyer ⚜ A Pirate ⚜ A Spy

A Wheelchair User ⚜ A Zombie ⚜ Beautiful ⚜ Dangerous ⚜ Drunk

Funny ⚜ In a Coma ⚜ In a Secret Society ⚜ Injured ⚜ Shy

needs...

A Magical Item ⚜ An Aphrodisiac ⚜ A Fictional Poison

A Coping Strategy ⚜ A Drink ⚜ A Medicinal Herb ⚜ A Mentor

Money ⚜ A Persuasion Tactic ⚜ A Quirk ⚜ To be Killed Off

To Become Likable ⚜ To Clean a Wound ⚜ To Self-Reflect

To Find the Right Word, but Can't ⚜ To Say No ⚜ To Swear

loves...

Astronomy ⚜ Baking ⚜ Cooking ⚜ Cocktails ⚜ Food ⚜ Oils

Dancing ⚜ Fashion ⚜ Gems ⚜ Herbal Remedies ⚜ Honey

Mushrooms ⚜ Mythology ⚜ Numbers ⚜ Perfumes

Roses ⚜ Sweets ⚜ To Argue ⚜ To Insult ⚜ To Kiss

To Make False Claims ⚜ Wine ⚜ Wine-Tasting ⚜ Yoga

has/experiences...

Allergies ⚜ Amnesia ⚜ Bereavement ⚜ Bites & Stings

Bruises ⚜ Caffeine ⚜ CO Poisoning ⚜ Color Blindness

Facial Hair ⚜ Fainting ⚜ Fevers ⚜ Food Allergies

Food Poisoning ⚜ Fractures ⚜ Frostbite ⚜ Hypothermia

Injuries ⚜ Jet Lag ⚜ Kidnapping ⚜ Manipulation ⚜ Mutism

Pain ⚜ Paranoia ⚜ Poisoning ⚜ More Pain & Violence

Scars ⚜ Trauma ⚜ Viruses ⚜ Wounds

[these are just quick references. more research may be needed to write your story...]

Writing Resources PDFs

like I understand it’s all about the cycles of violence and why does the person you love matter more than the person I love etc etc

But Abby really does neglect to mention that her “unarmed doctor” father was about to kill an unconscious teenage girl in the hopes of finding a cure he had no way of knowing for sure would work, without even getting her consent first.

Like girl, Joel is right, shut the fuck up and do it already.

the way haymitch must have seen it as all his ghosts coming back to haunt him at once when katniss walked onto the train with the face of burdock and asterid, the pin of maysilee, the voice of lenore dove, and a background so devastatingly similar to his own. of course sweetheart slipped out. and of course he did everything he could to keep her alive

Here is the hard truth, which no one else has the heart to tell you.

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON 1.02 "The Rogue Prince"

If i had a nickel for every time i got way to obsessed with a non canon ship and then proceeded to read a scary amount of fanfics about them i would be rich, and at this point its not weird anymore.

Go see it. Just got out of the theater and am basically balling my eyes out with my sisters.

Can someone go see We Live in a Time and report back? I need to know if I should go see it this weekend

elrond as a dad is a concept people don't use enough frankly. just. elrohir and elladan and arwen following their ada around like ducklings. as they grow they keep doing it and it's not uncommon to see three adult elves just shadowing their father whenever they're not off causing chaos.

then arwen leaves and aragorn all but drops on elrond's lap and he picks up on it and now its elrohir, elladan and estel making a line after him. estel gets left behind easily so elrond is in the habit of checking that he's got all his kids following him.

after, in valinor, elrond will sometimes falter, not hearing the familiar steps following his own. even after elrohir and elladan sail, he'll turn every so often and freeze, panicking for a moment because where are arwen and estel? when did he leave them behind? and as soon as that moment is over he's just feeling the loss of them all over again. the twins never say anything, never protest or even seem to notice the sudden stops. they just leave him time to compose himself until he's ready to keep walking.

I just reada really good fic but halfway through I realized "oh shit this is really familiar.... didn't I write something like this once?" And as I kept reading I kept predicting what happened next and the further I went the more convinced I was that they'd ripped off my story-

like, copied the ENTIRE plot and re-written it, just better than I had? The characters were more fleshed-out than mine were, and the POV was more interesting, and the pace made more sense- but it was MY STORY?

So close to the end I was like "holy shit.. do I message them? Ask if my story inspired theirs? Should I be angry? Flattered?" Cause their tags and description didn't mention me AT ALL, which, sure, it's fanfiction to begin with, but if you're using my work than at least credit me as inspo, right? Just to be courteous?

But I get to the end of the final chapter, and it's not finished, and I'm kind of disappointed cause I never finished my story and I was really immersed in their version now and had been looking forwards to seeing how they tied up my loose ends- so I scroll to the bottom to leave a comment, and.

It's MY URL.

IT WAS MY STORY THE WHOLE TIME.

THE ONE *I WROTE*.

In *2013*.

And FORGOT ABOUT

BECAUSE I WAS SO INSECURE ABOUT MY SLOPPY, SHALLOW, AMETEUR WRITING

And I'm just sitting here now staring into space thinking about every shitty story I've ever written now like

IT WAS ALL GOOD?

IT WAS GOOD THIS WHOLE DAMN TIME??

I'M A GOOD WRITER?????

season 2 elrond "these rings must be destroyed why is no one listening to me" peredhel

let durin & disa at sauron. they'd win, i know they would.

I think the absolute worst crime committed by the original LOTR movie trilogy was only putting the scene where Eomer finds Eowyn after the Battle of Pelennor Fields in the extended editions. Karl Urban at his absolute fucking best

the celebrimbor/annatar moment immediately after mirdania sees sauron's true form was such a good scene while also being really uncomfortable and unsettling, as most of their scenes in this episode were given the nature of what was happening but this one...

it felt so explicit in what it was saying: that this is an abuser, using weaponised incompetence to lure their victim back into their grasp after they've escaped them and the look on celebrimbor's face said it all.

this moment makes both you, the viewer and celebrimbor question what was really going on in that moment. like, obviously it was deliberate but the thing with manipulators and abusers is that you can never really be sure. even if you are 100% certain, there's always that tiny moment of doubt that makes you question if you're actually right. that makes you question if you can fully trust your own perception of the truth or reality or if you're simply thinking the worst of them when you shouldn't be and that's what this moment kind of does and it does it in quite a scary accurate way.

because it leaves you questioning if sauron deliberately endangered the mirdain in that moment, if he really doesn't know the right or most appropriate way to make the rings or if he knew what could happen if they added more mithril or if he simply made a mistake etc. etc.

and as i said, celebrimbor's face really does say it all...

whether this was intentional or accidental, sauron's got exactly what he wanted. celebrimbor realised in this moment that he has to be involved, one way or another, he has to be involved and contribute in making the nine despite being completely against it because who knows what might happen if he isn't.

Say what you will about ROP but the way that Elrond and Durin are basically in-universe Tolkien and Lewis in that they complain about each other and to each other but at the end of the day are still on the same Super Bro Wavelength about What's Really Important (because Sauron and the rings are sus and they both know it) is quality content and I will not apologize for saying so. It's my favorite thing about the series honestly

"Are You TeAM blaCK or TeAM GrEEN" like no sir im neither, I AM TEAM RHAENYS FUCKING TARGARYEN THANK YOU VERY MUCH

*After Jace's Death*

Rhaenyra worried Cregan won't support her now

Rhaenyra, Sending a Raven to the North: Now that Jacaerys is dead, will you still stand by your oath?

Cregan, marching down South with his men: It's cute you think my oaths have faltered or that death can keep your son away from me

"not all men-" you're right, jacaerys targaryen, heir to the iron throne, prince of dragonstone, the eldest son of queen rhaenyra targaryen and laenor velaryon, a dragonrider, would never treat me like this

*A few days after Jace's first visit to the North*

Jace: I don't think Lord Stark likes me very much...

Watchman 1: ...You have nothin' to worry about Prince Jacaerys

Watchman 2: Yeah, I'd say the warden of the North has been ecstatic since the day you arrived!

Jace: ....Surely you jest, he's been nothing but cold since my arrival!

Watchman 3: Oh no Your Highness, Lord Cregan is nothing but smiles when you're around!

Jace: You must be wrong

Watchman 2: Look! There's lord stark! Watch this your Highness

Watchman 2: Lord Stark!

*Cregan looks their way frowning*

Jace: ....*waves*

*Cregan's mouth twitches*

Watchman 1: See! I've never seen him smile that widely!

*The other two watchmen nod along*

Jace: ....That's a smile?!

GIVE HER BACK TO ME 😭 TAKE CRISTON COLE PLEASE

Since bonzo is officially here, here's some absolutely cursed images I've created during the magnus protocol arg

Tonight, we remember one who lent his enormous talent to telling the story we have all come to love. Hail, the victorious dead!

May the Simbelmynë cover his tomb as it did the tomb of the one he so accurately portrayed.

Bernard Hill Dec 17, 1944 - May 5, 2024

Martin: I’ve been dropping them the most insanely obvious hints for like a year now. No response. Jon: Wow. They sound stupid. Martin: But they’re not. They’re really smart actually. Just dense. Jon: Maybe you need to be more obvious? Like, I don’t know… “Hey! I love you!” Martin: I guess you’re right. Hey Jon, I love you. Jon: See! Just say that! Martin: Holy fucking shit. Jon: If that flies over their head then, sorry Martin, but they're too dumb for you. Martin: Jon.

Bet he didn't saw that coming

When I tell you this has altered my brain chemistry and I'm not even halfway through. If you are going to read any jonmartin fic let it be this one

Me not having a girlfriend during lesbian visibility week is honestly so homophobic