Some Actually Useful Questions to Get to Know Your OC Part Two

↳ What lie do they tell themselves to sleep at night? Seriously. What’s the little piece of denial that keeps them functioning? Do they pretend they don’t care what people think? Tell themselves they’re over that one person? Convinced they’re not the villain of someone else’s story? We all lie to ourselves; your OC is no exception.

↳ What’s their emotional kryptonite? A specific thing that absolutely shatters them, like someone crying? Being ignored? Praise from a parent figure? The sound of an old song? The smell of something nostalgic? Find it and use it against them (lovingly, of course).

↳ When do they feel the most alive? Is it mid-battle, mid-baking, mid-breakup? Does adrenaline light them up, or do they find joy in the quiet, mundane things, like folding laundry while listening to sad girl music? This can reveal a LOT about what drives them.

↳ What would totally ruin their day? A bad haircut? Someone touching their stuff? Or is it something deeper, like being reminded of their failures, or seeing someone else succeed where they couldn’t?

↳ Who do they think they should be? And who are they really? This one’s juicy. Do they think they should be a hero, but keep acting like a villain?

↳ What’s the one thing they’d never admit out loud, even under duress? The shameful thought. The inappropriate desire. The thing they desperately want but don’t think they deserve. DONT FORGET: Characters are built on what they repress.

↳ What are they petty about? Don’t pretend your OC is above this, I mean everyone’s petty about something. Do they hold grudges over stolen pens? Get irrationally jealous of someone’s hair? Still mad about a game of Uno from 2007? Petty makes them fucking real.

↳ How do they act when they think no one’s watching? Do they let their mask slip? Dance around the kitchen? Talk to their cat in baby voice? Cry a little?

↳ What would make them snap? Where is the breaking point? What line has to be crossed for them to finally say “Enough”? Is it injustice? Betrayal? Feeling powerless? You’ll know you’ve found it when it scares you a little (Or a lot).

↳ If they had a theme song, what would it be? No, seriously. The vibe of a character’s soundtrack says a lot. Is it Angsty indie rock? Bubblegum pop masking deep pain? Make a playlist. Your OC will tell you who they are... <3

I want to write a book called “your character dies in the woods” that details all the pitfalls and dangers of being out on the road & in the wild for people without outdoors/wilderness experience bc I cannot keep reading narratives brush over life threatening conditions like nothing is happening.

I just read a book by one of my favorite authors whose plots are essentially airtight, but the MC was walking on a country road on a cold winter night and she was knocked down and fell into a drainage ditch covered in ice, broke through and got covered in icy mud and water.

Then she had a “miserable” 3 more miles to walk to the inn.

Babes she would not MAKE it to that inn.

Are there any other particularly egregious examples?

This book already exists, sort of! Or at least, it’s a biology textbook but I bought it for writing purposes:

It starts with a chapter about freezing to death, and it is without a doubt the scariest thing I’ve read in years (and I read a lot of horror fiction).

This book can be downloaded for free on Researchgate, posted there by the author himself:

The Biology of Human Survival: Life and Death in Extreme Environments

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.

Ways I Show a Character is Emotionally Burned Out (Before They Even Realize It Themselves)

I love writing characters who think they’re fine but are actually walking emotional house fires with bad coping mechanisms.

sometimes you need dialogue tags and don't want to use the same four

some people think writers are so eloquent and good with words, but the reality is that we can sit there with our fingers on the keyboard going, “what’s the word for non-sunlight lighting? Like, fake lighting?” and for ten minutes, all our brain will supply is “unofficial”, and we know that’s not the right word, but it’s the only word we can come up with…until finally it’s like our face got smashed into a brick wall and we remember the word we want is “artificial”.

I couldn't remember the word "doorknob" ten minutes ago.

ok but the onelook thesaurus will save your life, i literally could not live without this website

REBLOG TO SAVE A WRITER'S LIFE

LIFE SAVED

REBLOGGING TO SAVE ANOTHER WRITERS LIFE

I use this every time I sit down to write. It's the best tool in the world and I would be lost without it!

Ref Recs for Whump Writers

Violence: A Writer’s Guide:  This is not about writing technique. It is an introduction to the world of violence. To the parts that people don’t understand. The parts that books and movies get wrong. Not just the mechanics, but how people who live in a violent world think and feel about what they do and what they see done.

Hurting Your Characters: HURTING YOUR CHARACTERS discusses the immediate effect of trauma on the body, its physiologic response, including the types of nerve fibers and the sensations they convey, and how injuries feel to the character. This book also presents a simplified overview of the expected recovery times for the injuries discussed in young, otherwise healthy individuals.

Body Trauma: A writer’s guide to wounds and injuries. Body Trauma explains what happens to body organs and bones maimed by accident or intent and the small window of opportunity for emergency treatment. Research what happens in a hospital operating room and the personnel who initiate treatment. Use these facts to bring added realism to your stories and novels.

10 B.S. Medical Tropes that Need to Die TODAY…and What to Do Instead: Written by a paramedic and writer with a decade of experience, 10 BS Medical Tropes covers exactly that: clichéd and inaccurate tropes that not only ruin books, they have the potential to hurt real people in the real world. 

Maim Your Characters: How Injuries Work in Fiction: Increase Realism. Raise the Stakes. Tell Better Stories. Maim Your Characters is the definitive guide to using wounds and injuries to their greatest effect in your story. Learn not only the six critical parts of an injury plot, but more importantly, how to make sure that the injury you’re inflicting matters. 

Blood on the Page: This handy resource is a must-have guide for writers whose characters live on the edge of danger. If you like easy-to-follow tools, expert opinions from someone with firsthand knowledge, and you don’t mind a bit of fictional bodily harm, then you’ll love Samantha Keel’s invaluable handbook

Tips for Writing Injuries

✧ Broken ribs suck. You don’t just “walk it off.” Breathing hurts. Laughing hurts. Existing hurts. Characters with rib injuries won’t be doing heroic sprints.

✧ Concussions aren’t instant naps. Dazed vision, nausea, dizziness, maybe even personality changes, but they’re not going to collapse neatly like in the movies.

✧ Blood loss is sneaky. It’s not just about dramatic pools of blood. It’s dizziness, confusion, and the body getting cold as circulation tanks.

✧ Adrenaline lies. Someone can take a serious injury and not feel it until the fight’s over. That “I didn’t realize I was bleeding until later” trope? Very real.

✧ Twisted ankles are brutal. One bad step and suddenly running is off the table. Even walking hurts like hell. Perfect way to ground a chase scene.

✧ Burns linger. Even small burns hurt more than most people expect. Blisters, infection risk, constant pain, it’s not just a cool scar later.

✧ Dislocated shoulders = useless arm. Characters can’t keep swinging a sword or firing a gun. They’re basically fighting one-armed until it’s fixed.

✧ Shock is a thing. Pale skin, trembling, rapid heartbeat, and eventually disorientation. A character might not even realize how bad their wound is.

✧ Stitches aren’t magic. Getting sewn up is painful and recovery takes time. They’re not instantly battle-ready after a needle and thread.

✧ Scars tell stories. Some fade, some don’t. Some stay sensitive forever. Don’t forget the aftermath when the wound becomes part of the character.

More tips!

If you want to have an idea of how much you can put your characters through, have a look at elite athletes. Player comes out with a broken arm, etc, plays through to the end of the match because they are Needed, but is then out for months. Can even be career ending. And that's with modern medicine. You can absolutely push them through things that should put them on the ground, but the damage stacks.

Things almost every author needs to research

yoooo

The second Other cultures link isn’t working so here’s the SBS Cultural Atlas:

It covers values, names, and customs along other things.

Collection of writing resources I've gathered. Grammar, prompts, general writing advice, research tools, thesauruses (or thesauri 😉)... Enjoy!

General

English Language and Usage Stack Exchange

UW Madison Writing Center - Grammar/Punctuation rules/basics

Wheaton College Writing Resources

UNC Writing Tips and Tools

Purchase College Editorial Style Guide

Writing Forum - The Writing Process

Absolute Write Forum

English Plus Grammar Slammer

Onelook Thesaurus

Online Etymology Dictionary

Literary Devices

Fiction Writing

Instead Of...Simple Writer's Guide by anaemicc

'How to Become a Better Writer' by @tapwrites

'50 Tips for (Fanfic) Writing' by @ao3commentoftheday

Fic Writing Advice by @radioactive-earthshine

'How to Exploit Facial Expressions' by Kathy Steinemann - absolutely check out the rest of the site too, it is a goldmine.

'Writing Inspiration and Resources' by Bryn Donovan - some digging required but there's tools here for everyone.

'World Building and Writing Advice' + a brilliant list of Prompts, Scenarios, and Dialogues by @pendarling

Writing Questions Answered Masterlist

One Stop for Writer's Character and World Building Thesaurus

ProWritingAid Emotions Thesaurus

Descriptionary - it's...ways to describe things. Just check it out, lmfao.

Neurodivergent Fic Writer's Advice by @bookishdiplodocus

The Sexy Stuff

KJ Scott's Lewd Vocab Survey Results

'The Smutwriter's Dictionary' by @maybeeatspaghetti

Laurel Clarke's Sexy Thesaurus

Quinn Anderson's Ultimate Guide to Writing Smut

Smut Writing Tips + Smut Thesaurus by @prurientpuddlejumper

'How to Write Smut' by @bohemiantea-scorpiocoffee

Misc.

Tropes

Case Converter

Fake Text Message Generator and Another Fake Text Message Generator for your fics

Epithet Flowchart

Historical Timeline of Slang

Fashion History

Writing Realistic Injuries

Hiveword - Search Engine specifically for writing tools

Mythbank - Sort of a world mythology encyclopedia

Skeptic's Dictionary

Written Sound Onomatopoeia Dictionary

LitCharts Shakespeare Modern Translations

Stanford Geospatial Network Model of Roman World

Writing Sketchy Topics by @wordsnstuff

Writing Scents by @thewriteadviceforwriters

Ao3commentoftheday Beta Reader Checklist. Actually, for AO3 tips/basics/everythings you just really need to get yourself to ao3commentoftheday's AO3 and read everything there. Including their bookmarks!

“The tiger”(2020) based on a poem written by Nael age 6

This piece apparently was never posted here, so I’m fixing that

5 Tiny Writing Tips That Aren’t Talked About Enough (but work for me)

These are some lowkey underrated tips I’ve seen floating around writing communities — the kind that don’t get flashy attention but seriously changed how I write.

1. Put “he/she/they” at the start of the sentence less often.

Try switching up your sentence rhythm. Instead of

“She walked to the window,”

try

“The window creaked open under her touch.”

Keeps it fresh and stops the paragraph from sounding like a checklist.

2. Don’t describe everything — describe what matters.

Instead of listing every detail in a room, pick 2–3 objects that say something.

“A half-drunk mug of tea and a knife on the table”

sets a way stronger tone than

“There was a wooden table, two chairs, and a shelf.”

3. Use beats instead of dialogue tags sometimes.

Instead of:

"I'm fine," she said.

Try:

"I'm fine." She wiped her hands on her skirt.

It helps shows emotion, and movement.

4. Write your first draft like no one will ever read it.

No pressure. No perfection. Just vibes. The point of draft one is to exist. Let it be messy and weird — future you will thank you for at least something to edit.

5. When stuck, ask: “What’s the most fun thing that could happen next?”

Not logical. Not realistic. FUN. It doesn’t have to stay — but chasing excitement can blast through writer’s block and give you ideas you actually want to write.

What’s a tip that unexpectedly helped with your writing? Let me know!! 🍒

5 Tiny Writing Tips That Aren’t Talked About Enough (but work for me)

These are some lowkey underrated tips I’ve seen floating around writing communities — the kind that don’t get flashy attention but seriously changed how I write.

1. Put “he/she/they” at the start of the sentence less often.

Try switching up your sentence rhythm. Instead of

“She walked to the window,”

try

“The window creaked open under her touch.”

Keeps it fresh and stops the paragraph from sounding like a checklist.

2. Don’t describe everything — describe what matters.

Instead of listing every detail in a room, pick 2–3 objects that say something.

“A half-drunk mug of tea and a knife on the table”

sets a way stronger tone than

“There was a wooden table, two chairs, and a shelf.”

3. Use beats instead of dialogue tags sometimes.

Instead of:

"I'm fine," she said.

Try:

"I'm fine." She wiped her hands on her skirt.

It helps shows emotion, and movement.

4. Write your first draft like no one will ever read it.

No pressure. No perfection. Just vibes. The point of draft one is to exist. Let it be messy and weird — future you will thank you for at least something to edit.

5. When stuck, ask: “What’s the most fun thing that could happen next?”

Not logical. Not realistic. FUN. It doesn’t have to stay — but chasing excitement can blast through writer’s block and give you ideas you actually want to write.

What’s a tip that unexpectedly helped with your writing? Let me know!! 🍒

sometimes you need dialogue tags and don't want to use the same four

For anyone who needs this

Best attribute you can have working with kids is chillness. You can and should still enforce rules and expectations, but kids pick up massively on vibes and if you are chill, you become a dam to unchillness

Sometimes kids don’t need to hear “this behavior is unacceptable,” sometimes they need to hear “bruh.”

If you establish really clear expectations from the get-go, kids usually don’t actually need any second explanation. You can just say “dude” and they will self-correct unless they are actively trying to be disruptive.

“Guys if you don’t behave I’m not going to do the Fortnite dance for you anymore.”

“NOOOOOOOOO”

Also if you sincerely commit to being chill 99.9% of the time, they will take that remaining 0.1% WAY more seriously when it’s actually most essential. (For me this line is crossed with unwanted violence or sexual behavior toward other students, but depending on the age group the line may be drawn elsewhere: for young children it is probably more centered around dangerous behavior and personal risk.)

@vyeoh Hope it’s okay if I steal your tags and expand on them.

I’ve found it’s very effective to focus on how kids’ behavior affects others, including me, before focusing on their personal risk.

If I tell kids stuff like “stop that because you could get hurt,” common responses are “no I won’t” or “if I do I don’t care.”

I’ve found it’s actually way more effective to bring somebody else’s feelings and responsibilities into the mix so they understand OTHERS better. Examples vary by age but can look like this:

1) I know YOU feel okay dangling from the upper railing, but you are making me feel very scared and nervous. Would you mind stopping so I don’t feel scared and nervous anymore?

2) I realize YOU are willing to face consequences related to opening the fire alarm door, but if you do, I will have to go talk to the camp leader and also do an incident report, which would mean we cannot play mafia during free time today.

3) Hey. I know the street looks empty right now and we are having fun, but if a car comes around that corner and hits you, I am going to have to drive you to the emergency room and also call your mom, and I really don’t want to tell your mom I was watching you and you got hit by a car.

Another very fun thing is to say (when true) “this rule applies to EVERYONE, even grown-ups. If you are doing a good job and then you see a grown-up breaking this rule, you can tell the grown-up to stop.” They often get busy watching out for the grown-ups to break the rule and stop breaking the rule themselves.

with LITTLE kids like 4-6 i've found the best way to get them to do stuff is pretend you can't do it yourself and ask for their help. you can make a game of it like 'let's see how much we can lift or how fast we can go' but kids that are angry little demons in the face of mom and dad's constant nagging and demanding are pretty cool with helping a friend out with a problem he's having. it really engages little kids to see that a grownup guy could need help from them! and it flatters the independent kids who actually really do need, at this stage in their development, to see themselves as powerful and capable and ready to make their own decisions.

and when you absolutely need to slam the breaks on 'no it's not safe to play in the road' or whatever you just say 'i know kids die that way and your mom would be SO MAD at me if you died while i was there. let's play over here. 😢' and they always fold. Mom Will Get Mad At Me is a universal game over.

at a certain age they're bright enough to suggest that mom doesn't have to KNOW which is hilarious but the checkmate to that is just 'i will cry. come back.' even if they know that you, a grown man with a beard, probably will not cry.... they fold. but with the most gracious attitude.

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.

Would anyone be interested if I put together a post on how to write a scientist/engineer/techy/smart-guy type character? What would y'all want to know?

Credentials: I currently work full time as a research chemist and have a degree in chemical engineering, plus in college I did part time work for a local IT company (though my coding skills are kind of shitty), I was on the aerospace team and helped my best friend build a life sized trebuchet big enough that I could fit in the bucket. So. I have a bit of exposure to mechanical engineering, computer science, the trades, and material science too.

The post would be more about "how does a person with a STEM background approach unique situations?"

"what ideosycrocies do scientists have if they work in a lab setting? If they work in a mech shop?"

"What are common mistakes I see in scientific type characters in media"

General stuff like that, but I'm happy to answer any specific Q&A people want to share

Hey! Anyone who was interested in this post (I'll dig through the responses and make a taglist in a minute), I just dropped the first part on my blog!

I've been working so hard on this 5-part series for over two months now and it's turned into an almost 15,000 word long deep dive essay full of citations and examples looking at every possible angle on this character archetype. I hope you'll enjoy reading along!

Here's part 2!! In this one I'm talking about types of intelligence, different traits to give your smart guys, the scientific method, heuristics, and biases! There's a ton of examples from Arcane, Doctor Who, and even my own stories!

Part 3! Thanks to everyone patient enough to read along with this series and to anyone who checks the notes to reblog the most recent updates :)

Here's part 4! All about frequently (mis)represented demographics and stereotypes associated with Scientists and Smart Guys!

This is the final part! It's kind of a miscellaneous section of general thoughts I couldn't fit into any of the other parts with a theme. This one covers the scientist/smart guy as a villain, mental health, and how to write lab/shop settings and safety.

If you've been following along with this series, thank you so much for reading! Now that the posts are all completed, would anyone be interested if I compiled all these notes into a searchable PDF format and put it up on my Ko-Fi? Would that be more convenient than clicking through posts? Let me know what you think!