The Weekly Writing Update #8

I skedaddle

tag yourself. do you skitter, scuttle, scurry, or scamper.

BOOYAH told you guys I’d reach 2k by tonight lol :))

The Weekly Writing Update #8

09.24.22

Im halfway through plotting my wip! I'm 1.7k words in!! I haven’t added to it yet this morning, but I’ll be at 2k by tonight, so yay! My current goal in mind is 15 chapters, but it could end up being more or less depending on how I continue to plot. Right now, I'm about 1/3 of the way finished :)

This is coming along much quicker. Before, I kept my plot in my head or on various scribbled notes and ideas in docs and journals and loose sheets of paper. In a whole year and a half, I've gone through many ideas, many plots, always changing and adjusting and I could never stick to one idea and I never sat down to actually plan it chapter by chapter. But I'm so glad I finally did, and for future wips, I plan to plot it out in a doc as well.

I know this isn't an achievement to other writers, but to me its a huge step. I always thought I could just go along and write as the ideas come to me, but it seems that doesn't work for me anymore like it did when I was 11. So it's time to change tactics. I'm growing as a writer, and I want to document my progress, and I want to share this with other writers.

XOXO~

Writing With Color – Featured Description Posts

Some of our most useful posts on describing People of Color, all in one place.

Words to Describe Hair

Words to Describe Skin Tone

Describing Asian Eyes

Describing Wide Noses

Describing Undead & Sick Dark Skin

Describing POC and Avoiding Caricatures

Describing Unnatural Skin Tones: Green

Describing Unnatural Skin Tones: Jaundice

Indicating Race of Characters (FAQ Questions #3-4)

Not Indicating Race at All – Note: You Probably Should

Praising Beauty Without Fetishizing

Describing Characters Without Othering

Olive Skin, Race and Ethnicity

Specific Description Posts  

Describing Skin as Swarthy (Spoiler alert: it’s sketchy)

Describing East Asian Skin as Porcelain (Spoiler alert: it’s also sketchy)

Describing Skin as Russet (Spoiler alert: it’s alright)

Describing PoC as Exotic (SA: it’s othering)

Describing Skin as Ebony (SA: it’s cliche)

Describing Natural Hair as Cloud-Like (SA: it’s cool)

Describing Black Hair as Unkempt (SA: it’s offensive)

Describing Black Hair as Kinky (SA: it depends)

Describing Skin as “Dark as Night” (SA: it also depends)

Describing Skin as Like Dirt or Soil (SA: See above)

Describing Skin as just “Dark.” (SA: it’s vague)

Describing Black Hair as “Nappy” (SA: it ain’t recommended)

Describing Skin With Food (SA: it’s a no-no)

–WWC

create! create! even if it’s been a while. even if you don’t know what to write or draw or sing. connect with what once brought you joy and you will remember how. create in a new way, knit or dance or crochet. try spoken word or painting. poetry or pottery. the freedom in creating… it’s liberating

I love making tortured boy characters with daddy issues

The Weekly Writing Update #23

1.7.23

First update of the new year! And I actually have a bit of progress!

I’m in the process on deciding on a huge but slight change in the plot/character subplot, still deciding. But other than that, I actually did write a few hundred words of the first chapter! Which is a very good start. I need someone to harass me into keeping this one though, so I don’t chicken out and change this later. PLEASE (I’ll probably just get my boyfriendddd~~ to do it)

It’s slow progress this week but it’s progress, which is more than I can say for the past few weeks.

LOVE YOU ALL,

- Alex

watching characters try to fight the narrative like i'm a roman senator at the coliseum

DESCRIBING THE PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES OF CHARACTERS:

Body

descriptors; ample, athletic, barrel-chested, beefy, blocky, bony, brawny, buff, burly, chubby, chiseled, coltish, curvy, fat, fit, herculean, hulking, lanky, lean, long, long-legged, lush, medium build, muscular, narrow, overweight, plump, pot-bellied, pudgy, round, skeletal, skinny, slender, slim, stocky, strong, stout, strong, taut, toned, wide.

Eyebrows

descriptors; bushy, dark, faint, furry, long, plucked, raised, seductive, shaved, short, sleek, sparse, thin, unruly.

shape; arched, diagonal, peaked, round, s-shaped, straight.

Ears

shape; attached lobe, broad lobe, narrow, pointed, round, square, sticking-out.

Eyes

colour; albino, blue (azure, baby blue, caribbean blue, cobalt, ice blue, light blue, midnight, ocean blue, sky blue, steel blue, storm blue,) brown (amber, dark brown, chestnut, chocolate, ebony, gold, hazel, honey, light brown, mocha, pale gold, sable, sepia, teakwood, topaz, whiskey,) gray (concrete gray, marble, misty gray, raincloud, satin gray, smoky, sterling, sugar gray), green (aquamarine, emerald, evergreen, forest green, jade green, leaf green, olive, moss green, sea green, teal, vale).

descriptors; bedroom, bright, cat-like, dull, glittering, red-rimmed, sharp, small, squinty, sunken, sparkling, teary.

positioning/shape; almond, close-set, cross, deep-set, downturned, heavy-lidded, hooded, monolid, round, slanted, upturned, wide-set.

Face

descriptors; angular, cat-like, hallow, sculpted, sharp, wolfish.

shape; chubby, diamond, heart-shaped, long, narrow, oblong, oval, rectangle, round, square, thin, triangle.

Facial Hair

beard; chin curtain, classic, circle, ducktail, dutch, french fork, garibaldi, goatee, hipster, neckbeard, old dutch, spade, stubble, verdi, winter.

clean-shaven

moustache; anchor, brush, english, fu manchu, handlebar, hooked, horseshoe, imperial, lampshade, mistletoe, pencil, toothbrush, walrus.

sideburns; chin strap, mutton chops.

Hair

colour; blonde (ash blonde, golden blonde, beige, honey, platinum blonde, reddish blonde, strawberry-blonde, sunflower blonde,) brown (amber, butterscotch, caramel, champagne, cool brown, golden brown, chocolate, cinnamon, mahogany,) red (apricot, auburn, copper, ginger, titain-haired,), black (expresso, inky-black, jet black, raven, soft black) grey (charcoal gray, salt-and-pepper, silver, steel gray,), white (bleached, snow-white).

descriptors; bedhead, dull, dry, fine, full, layered, limp, messy, neat, oily, shaggy, shinny, slick, smooth, spiky, tangled, thick, thin, thinning, tousled, wispy, wild, windblown.

length; ankle length, bald, buzzed, collar length, ear length, floor length, hip length, mid-back length, neck length, shaved, shoulder length, waist length.

type; beach waves, bushy, curly, frizzy, natural, permed, puffy, ringlets, spiral, straight, thick, thin, wavy.

Hands; calloused, clammy, delicate, elegant, large, plump, rough, small, smooth, square, sturdy, strong.

Fingernails; acrylic, bitten, chipped, curved, claw-like, dirty, fake, grimy, long, manicured, painted, peeling, pointed, ragged, short, uneven.

Fingers; arthritic, cold, elegant, fat, greasy, knobby, slender, stubby.

Lips/Mouth

colour (lipstick); brown (caramel, coffee, nude, nutmeg,) pink (deep rose, fuchsia, magenta, pale peach, raspberry, rose, ) purple (black cherry, plum, violet, wine,) red (deep red, ruby.)

descriptors; chapped, cracked, dry, full, glossy, lush, narrow, pierced, scabby, small, soft, split, swollen, thin, uneven, wide, wrinkled.

shape; bottom-heavy, bow-turned, cupid’s bow, downturned, oval, pouty, rosebud, sharp, top-heavy.

Nose

descriptors; broad, broken, crooked, dainty, droopy, hooked, long, narrow, pointed, raised, round, short, strong, stubby, thin, turned-up, wide.

shape; button, flared, grecian, hawk, roman.

Skin

descriptors; blemished, bruised, chalky, clear, dewy, dimpled, dirty, dry, flaky, flawless, freckled, glowing, hairy, itchy, lined, oily, pimply, rashy, rough, sagging, satiny, scarred, scratched, smooth, splotchy, spotted, tattooed, uneven, wrinkly.

complexion; black, bronzed, brown, dark, fair, ivory, light, medium, olive, pale, peach, porcelain, rosy, tan, white.

✂️Snippet #1

This is an unedited old draft for chapter one I had, but I’m not using it anymore so I might as well post it here :)

Magnus drew the string back, arrow pointed at the back of the beast’s neck. It lurked around, scanning the forest for any sign of life. It didn’t look up though, where Magnus was perched in the branches, waiting for the right moment to strike. It has to be a killing shot, the lessons of his grandmother rushed back. Many late evenings spent training in the yard behind their house, drilling lesson after lesson into him. It was lucky for him that she was so strict.

He released the arrow, the silver tip glinting in the sunlight through the leaves. It pierced the monster’s flesh, lodging itself deep enough in its neck to hit a pressure point. There was no scream or howl from the thing, only the whistle as the arrow whizzed toward its prey, and a low whine as the beast realized it was going to die.

Magnus jumped down from the tree. The killing always happened so fast, one slash of a sword or the whir of an arrow racing through the air. He watched as his prey flopped over, the grass underneath it wilting and turning a dull brown color. It was as if the life was sucked out of the earth where the monster stood.

“Be lucky you can’t be used for food.” He muttered. It made a low growl, like a threat, but the sound was more pathetic than threatening. He gripped the arrow, ripping it from the beast’s neck. Unlike an animal, the monster died fast, its body crumbling to ash.

Magnus quickly bent down, gathering a pinch of the ash before the wind blew it away. He put it into a small vile and stored it away in his pocket before leaving

tag the OC who is a little sister