Me Omw To Give More Angst To My Ocs

Me omw to give more angst to my ocs

Argument-Ending Sentences That Evoke Strong Emotions:

"So this is who you really are?"

"I can't believe I ever trusted you."

"You were never there when it mattered."

"This is the last time you let me down."

"I guess we were never meant to be."

"Just go, I can't even look at you right now."

"I've given you so many chances, no more."

"Everything you said was just a lie, wasn't it?"

"You think you're right, but you're just alone."

"I'm done trying to make this work."

"You've shown me enough; it's over."

"Keep your excuses to yourself, I'm done listening."

"You chose this, remember that."

"I'm not wasting another minute on you."

"Forget my number, we're through."

Hiya twumblr, doodled this li’l chirper 🦤

20 words to consider editing out of your novel

Very

Really

Just

Actually

Literally

Basically

Quite

Somewhat

Kind of

Sort of

In order to

In fact

That

Then

So

Well

Anyway

However

Nevertheless

Moreover

Removing or rephrasing these words can help tighten your writing and improve clarity.

How to Write REALISTIC and SMOOTH Dialogue

In a story, dialogue is quite important, it helps the readers paint a picture of what's happening and the characters themselves. However, it can be difficult to avoid the unnaturalness and choppiness that comes with a lack of experience. But luckily, I have put together A LOT of advice on how you can get over that rockiness and improve!

*** KEEPING YOUR DIALOGUE REALISTIC, AND PACING ***

>> Keep your characters in character:

Dialogue is a remarkably quick way for readers to determine your character's personality. Thus, you want their speech patterns to remain fairly consistent so the audience won't get confused. If your character is more serious, then they will use less slang and perhaps a more impressive vocabulary. If your character is more relaxed, they will use more slang and compress the words. (such as "dunno," "kay," "y'know," etc.)

Basically, you want their tone to match their traits so the way that they talk is more realistic and personlized to themselves. If the way all your characters speak is the same, there's something wrong. A strong tip is to put yourself in your character's shoes and imagine how they would respond!

>> Take the situation into consideration:

This is another part of keeping your characters in, well, character. Different emotional situations will have a different effect on separate people, so make sure that you have an idea of how your character will act during stressful, irritating, and sad times.

If your character is normally cold, they will struggle if it comes to comforting other people because they have less experience in that field.

>> Don't take too long with their words:

Unlike when narrating something, most people talk just to get the idea across. They will be more specific and quicker with what they say. (This excludes any character who likes to talk a lot.) Unless it's on purpose, they won't dance around the topic. Think of when you casually chat with your friends; you're pretty unlikely to use certain words and/or phrases that might be common to use while narrating.

If you want to explain something complicated, instead of writing out a paragraph of just one person talking, use a question-and-answer prompt! This is where another character continuously asks related questions that get answered by another person, so you can indirectly reveal your explanation.

*** HOW TO WRITE A SMOOTHER CONVERSATION AND DIALOGUE TAGS***

>> Having a variety of dialogue tags:

This is a pretty basic thing to look out for if you're new to writing conversations. Using words like "said," every other sentence can easily make it feel choppy and robotic. Instead, use words like "murmured," "smirked," etc. to paint some emotion into their words. Additionally, vary the location of the dialogue tags! They don't all have to go after the statement, you can include something in the beginning or even the middle, too!

Examples:

Beginning - She tilted her head, "What are you talking about?"

Middle - "Oh," he blinked, "I actually never thought about that."

End - "Wait up!" She exclaimed loudly, waving her hands around.

>> Using no dialogue tags to create a smooth conversation:

Having too many tags can also overwhelm your reader--remember, sentence variety is a crucial part of writing--so you can always drop them if they're unneeded. This applies when your characters (two is the suggested amount) are talking back and forth in a pattern straightforward enough for the reader to understand who's talking without it having to be labeled.

Dropping dialogue tags in these moments can create a smoother atmosphere during the conversation because the reader only has to focus on the talking present.

*** USING SLANG, STUTTERS, FILLER WORDS, AND PAUSES ***

Human speech is often not perfect; when talking, we often make mistakes such as filler words, grammatically incorrect phrases, etc. Hence, for more natural-sounding dialogue, it's important to incorporate some of these.

>> Pauses and stutters:

When reading dialogue, we read it at a steady pace unless it's written otherwise. However, that steady pace can soon get too robotic and too smooth. Luckily, there are several ways to change this! You can use dialogue tags, (ex: she quickly spoke) commas, and ellipsis (...). These are often integrated when the character is hesitant, nervous, answering something, or when they need to admit something. The same idea applies to stutters--they're mainly used to demonstrate anxiousness, which can be found in varying situations.

>> Filler words and slang:

Filler words can really just be used where you see fit. They may be used in the situations I previously mentioned (because it shows someone stumbling over their words) but it's ultimately up to you!

Slang, just like everything else, should not be used too often, or it will seem forced and exaggerated. The point is to sound natural, and increasing amounts of repetitiveness can ruin it. It's also important to remember that in real life, our conversations move slower; when someone speaks, another person usually doesn't respond quite literally, right after. However, in writing, dialogue can actually often seem that way, which is why using tags and these imperfections of speech is pivotal for building a realistic conversation!

*** CONCLUSION ***

Lastly, a key point when writing dialogue is to ALWAYS read the conversations! Whether it be in your head or out loud, it can often help you catch anything that seems off! Additionally, like I mentioned at the very beginning, write dialogue from your character's perspective! Imagine yourself as them and how they/you would talk. Try to keep your dialogue tags, sentences, and word use varied to create a natural conversation!

If you were struggling before, I hope that this (extra) long guide was able to really offer you some insight and useful tips! If you read this far, thank you!

Happy writing~

3hks <3

Tension in Dark Fiction

Tension vs. Suspense

Tension makes the reader care, while suspense makes the reader want to move on.

Tension relates mostly to relationships between characters and the situation in which the MC is in. Suspense is mostly about what would happen next.

Goal

The stakes rise and readers will root for your MC if you give them a specific goal. Give them something to lose - whether it's their life, their professional life, or their loved one.

State the goal clearly and more than once in the beginning (phrased differently) to get your reader invested.

Raising the Stakes

Once you have a clear goal, place large and overwhelming obstacles in between the goal and the MC.

With each move your MC makes, give them consequences that'll prevent them from going back on their decision.

Conflicts Among Characters

If you struggle to put your characters in conflict, play around with their goals.

If character A achieves their goal, Character B won't be able to achieve theirs.

Character A's goal is to harm/kill Character B - or at least, it's a necessary step towards their final goal

Character A and Character B disagree on how their objectives should be met.

Peaks and Troughs

If you keep the tension consistently high, your readers will eventually tire of the intense emotions being described.

On a scale of 1 -10, you'll only have 2-3 scenes with 10 points.

For fast-paced commercial fiction, you'd want to keep the tension at 3-4 points, drive it up to hit 9-10, then fall back to around 5 before introducing the next stage of conflict.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* . ───

💎If you like my blog, buy me a coffee☕ and find me on instagram! 

💎Before you ask, check out my masterpost part 1 and part 2 

💎For early access to my content,  become a Writing Wizard