toujours pur

INTJ: *does friend’s share of work*

INTJ: *takes a group project all upon themselves*

INTJ: *plans everything for everyone*

INTJ: *eye roll* *takes over their responsibilities too*

INTJ: *is the mom figure*

Person: *does something for INTJ*

Source link.

I assume you already knew my type.

Here is some extra info

Intj : …

Drowning: When a victim submerges, they hold their breath for as long as possible, typically 30 to 90 seconds. After that, they inhale some water, splutter, cough and inhale more. Survivors have said there is a feeling of tearing and a burning sensation in the chest as water enters the airway. Then that moves into a feeling of calmness and tranquility. The calmness represents the beginnings of the loss of consciousness from oxygen deprivation, which eventually results in the heart stopping and brain death.

Heart Attack: The most common symptom is chest pain: a tightness, pressure, or squeezing often described as an “elephant on the chest”, which may stay steady or come and go. This is caused by the heart muscle struggling and dying from oxygen deprivation. Pain can radiate to the jaw, throat, back, belly and arms. Other signs and symptoms include shortness of breath, nausea and cold sweats. Women and men have different heart attack symptoms, so be sure to look into those differences.

Bleeding to Death:  Anyone losing 1.5 liters – either through an external wound or internal bleeding – feel weak, tired, thirsty, nauseous, anxious, and would be breathing quickly. By 2 liters, people experience dizziness, confusion, rapid heartbeat, coldness, and then eventual unconsciousness.

Fire: Burns inflict immediate and intense pain through stimulation of the pain nerves in the skin. Burns also trigger a rapid inflammatory response, which boosts sensitivity to pain in the injured tissues and surrounding areas. As burn intensities progress, some feeling is lost but not much. 3rd degree burns don’t hurt as much as 2nd degree burns because 3rd degree burns kill the nerves and pain receptors while 2nd degree burns do not.

Decapitation: Very quick. Consciousness is said to continue for a few seconds after decapitation. It’s thought to be painless, but the separation of the spinal cord and brain may cause severe pain.

Electrocution: Higher currents can cause near immediate unconsciousness. The electric chair, for example, was designed to produce instant loss of consciousness and painless death, but it is debatable. It has been proposed that prisoners could instead be dying from heating of the brain or perhaps from suffocation due to paralysis of the breathing muscles instead of the electrocution itself because the walls of the skull are a thick and powerful insulator. 

Falling: Another instantaneous death, depending on the height. Survivors of great falls often report the sensation of time slowing down. The natural reaction is to struggle to maintain a feet-first landing, resulting in fractures to the leg bones, lower spinal column, and pelvis. The impact traveling up through the body can also burst the aorta and heart chambers. From lower heights, damage to the internal organs and brain can often cause death.

Hanging: If the neck is broken, death by hanging can be instantaneous because the force of the rope vs. the weight of the body will sever the brain stem. However, if the rope is incorrectly placed, the brain stem will not be severed and the rope will put pressure on the windpipe/arteries to the brain. This can cause unconsciousness in about 10 seconds, but it can take longer depending on how the rope is placed. Witnesses of public hangings often reported victims “dancing” in pain at the end of the rope, struggling violently as they asphyxiated.

Lethal injection: First comes the anesthetic called thiopental to drive away any feelings of pain, followed by a paralytic agent called pancuronium to stop breathing. Finally potassium chloride is injected, which stops the heart almost instantly. Eyewitnesses have reported inmates convulsing, heaving and attempting to sit up during the procedure, suggesting it’s not always completely effective or instantaneous.

Potential Breakup Song by Aly & AJ

Bullseye by Aly & AJ

Like Whoa by Aly & AJ

Dangerous Women by Ariana Grande 

Side To Side by Ariana Grande

Greedy by Ariana Grande 

Hands On Me by Ariana Grande

God is a woman by Ariana Grande

Headstrong by Ashley Tisdale 

girlfriend by Bea Miller

S.L.U.T. by Bea Miller 

F.F.F. by Bebe Rexha 

Can’t Get Enough by Becky G

Upgrade U by Beyonce 

Freakum Dress by Beyonce 

Sorry by Beyonce 

Formation by Beyonce 

Run the World by Beyonce 

you should see me in a crown by Billie Eilish

Untamed by Cam

Crying in the Club by Camila Cabello 

Get Up 10 by Cardi B

The More Boys I Meet by Carrie Underwood

Last Name by Carrie Underwood

Songs Like This by Carrie Underwood

Maria by Christina Aguilera 

Fall in Line by Christina Aguilera 

Your Body by Christina Aguilera

Woohoo by Christina Aguilera

I’m Out by Ciara

Love Sex Magic by Ciara

Freak Me by Ciara

Level Up by Ciara

Body Say by Demi Lovato

Lionheart by Demi Lovato

Games by Demi Lovato

Lose My Breath by Destiny’s Child

Survivor by Destiny’s Child 

Taki Taki by DJ Snake 

Ex’s & Oh’s by Elle King

America’s Sweetheart by Elle King

M.I.L.F. $ by Fergie 

Angel by Fifth Harmony 

Girls Are Always Right by G.R.L.

You Don’t Own Me by Grace

Love Myself by Hailee Steinfeld 

Most Girls by Hailee Steinfeld

Castle by Halsey 

Don’t Play by Halsey

Guys My Age by Hey Violet 

That’s Me Right There by Jasmine V

Instruction by Jax Jones

Kisses Down Low by Kelly Rowland 

Buyou by Keri Hilson

Woman by Kesha 

Teeth by Lady Gaga

Wings by Little Mix

Red Planet by Little Mix

Grown by Little Mix

I Won’t by Little Mix

You Gotta Not by Little Mix 

Power by Little Mix

Private Show by Little Mix

Beep Beep by Little Mix

Freak by Little Mix 

Hair by Little Mix

Woman Like Me by Little Mix

Joan of Arc by Little Mix 

Salute by Little Mix 

Aquarius Apocalyptic - Stop Light Observations

Deadcrush - alt-J

Bullet With Butterfly Wings - The Smashing Pumpkins

You Probably Couldn’t See For the Lights But You Were Staring Straight At Me - Arctic Monkeys

Uprising - Muse

Toes - Glass Animals

My Medicine - The Pretty Reckless

Feel It Still - Portugal. The Man

The Only Way To My Heart… - Foxy Shazam

Ain’t No Rest For the Wicked - Cage the Elephant

Feeling Good (Bassnectar Remix) - Nina Simone

here’s a list of things my friends and I do:

So, I recently did a post on antagonists and thought I’d add my two cents on MCs:

1. Make the reader care

This is extremely important. The reader should want to follow this character’s journey, and should be interested in the character’s fate. The only way to do that is to ensure that your reader cares about the MC early on.

So, maybe your protagonist “saves the cat” or is an all-round good Samaritan. Maybe they’re really funny or smart or relatable etc. 

Just make sure that the character isn’t simply a vehicle for the story to happen to. They need to have qualities that people find endearing and interesting.

This doesn’t mean that your reader has to like your character all the time, it just means that there should be more than indifference.

Make sure to introduce some quirky or admirable characteristics in the first chapter (preferably the first scene). This will spark interest in the reader from the get-go and make them that much more excited about reading the story.

2. Arc

This is so important. I talked about redemption arcs in my post on antagonists, but people forget that the good guys should also change throughout.

Your protagonist should not be the best version of themself at the beginning of the book. Sure, they should be interesting and endearing, but there should be room for growth.

If the MC is already at their peak, what’s left for the reader to see?

So, identify the weaknesses in your protagonist, their insecurities or psychological blocks etc. Take that aspect of the character and imagine its complete opposite. Now, use the story to get your character from where they are to that opposite point where they are their best self. 

This development should be at the heart of your story.

3. Motivation

Once again, this is the holy grail of character. If your character doesn’t have a fundamental motivation, they will come across as boring and the reader will lose interest.

Is there something your protagonist really wants to obtain? Is something taken from them at the beginning of the novel and they want it back. Does someone kill their loved one in first scene and now they are out for revenge? Is some all-powerful demon trying to steal their soul and they’re on the run? Figure it out.

And introduce it early. There needs to be an identifiable motivation from near the start of the story that will get your reader invested. This character’s family has been abducted by aliens and she’s out to save them? Show me how much she loves her family in the early scenes and have them be abducted by the second chapter at least. Now I’m invested. I want to know what she’s going to do to get to the aliens, who’s going to help her and if she’ll manage to save them in the end.

Keep in mind that your character’s motivation can change throughout the story, but there always has to be one.

You can also consider what I’ve been doing with To Wear A Crown, where two of the MCs’ motivation is finding their motivation. Just make sure that there’s drive and a reason for that drive.

4. I don’t want to read about a piece of cardboard that looks human

And no one else does either. (Unless you’re thinking literally. In that case, go for it)

This links up with making the reader care. 

Don’t create an MC for the sole purpose of having someone who can take the reader through the story. Even if you’re writing plot-driven novels, the protagonist should be more than just a conduit.

The protagonist needs to have a unique personality. Just like any other character, their voice and mannerisms should be easily distinguishable from the rest of the cast. 

So, take the time to develop a character with a combination of cool traits and interests. A quiet girl with mousy hair and no brain of her own isn’t gonna cut it anymore - Twilight, I’m looking at you.

Basically, your MC should be a person, not an empty shell for the reader to climb into.

5. Think outside the box

Okay, this one is a little weird and this isn’t advice as much as a suggestion.

I would love to see books where a human being (or some other humanoid) is not the protagonist.

Maybe the story is told from the perspective of an animal or even a plant? Maybe Death narrates the story, or the devil, or God? What about a book about climate change where the Earth is the MC? A slice-of-life tale told by a statue? The Notre Dame fire narrated by a gargoyle? Whatever floats your boat.

We could go in so many interesting directions and I would love to see more people doing this.

That’s all I have for you for now. If you guys have any writing advice topic you’d like me to cover, please feel free to request it in my asks.

I actually have quite a lot of resources that I’ve created over the years surrounding plot development. I’ve linked as many as I could find for you:

Resources For Plot Development

Useful Writing Resources

Useful Writing Resources II

31 Days of Plot Development

Novel Planning 101

How To Write A Good Plot Twist

How To Foreshadow

What To Cut Out Of Your Story

Tackling Subplots

Things A Reader Needs From A Story

A Guide To Tension & Suspense In Your Writing

How To Turn A Good Idea Into A Good Story

Planning A Scene In A Story

21 Plot Shapes and the Pros and Cons Of Each

How To Outline Effectively

Tips On Writing Intense Scenes

Writing The First Chapter

Tips On Starting A Scene

Plot Structures

Hey all! I work as an editor, so I decided to start including more writing advice on my blog in addition to my own writing. I hope this article is helpful to some of you.

One of the biggest problems I see in beginning fiction writers’ dialogue is a lack of conflict.

(Come to think of it, one of the biggest problems I see in general is a lack of conflict, but that’s another post.)

Good dialogue, like a good story, should be rich with conflict. There are exceptions – most notably in a story’s ending or in brief, interspersed moments when you want to slow down the pace. But as a general guideline, dialogue without conflict gets boring very quickly. Here’s a classic example:

“Hi,” Lisa said. “Hey,” José said. “How are you?” “Fine. You?” “Doing all right.” Lisa handed José a turkey sandwich. “Would you like a sandwich? I made two.” “Sure, thanks.”

Okay, that’s enough. I won’t continue to torture you. Not only is there no conflict between the two characters who are speaking, but there’s no conflict anywhere to be seen.

The bad news is that if you write something like this you will bore your reader to tears.

The good news is that there are lots of ways to add conflict to dialogue. Once you know how to do it, you can make just about any scene pop with tension.

The Tip: REFERENCE information with their OPINION being the focus. Never “tell” information, while not showing an opinion.

Why and How it Works:

Show of hands; how much do you hate when characters tell other characters things they already know, just because the reader doesn’t know (and needs to know)? Sometimes there’s information that needs to be shared with the reader and there’s no other way to do it but by SAYING it.

Here’s how to dodge the problem.

Imagine you and your friend are characters. You and your friend just watched a movie together. When talking about it, you wouldn’t “tell” them what happened – you’d reference it.

Example:

“It was an awesome movie. That scene where Harlock swishes his cape and pulls out a huge sword that’s actually a gun, kills three soldiers, and then moves down the hall to take down the others; that was so cool!”

Vs.

“In Harlock Space Pirates, there’s this scene where he swishes his cape and pulls out a huge sword that’s actually a gun, kills three soldiers, and then moves down the hall to take down the others.”

The reader now knows what happened in the movie, but the characters didn’t need to explain it to each other like its new information.

In real dialogue, people REFERENCE shared knowledge. They never “tell” it. If they “tell” it, it’s insulting and the person they’re talking to will be insulted, because you’re essentially saying they’re dumb.

Here’s the Kicker That Makes it Work - Opinions:

What your friend already has is the information. What your friend doesn’t have yet is your view on things. What you’re really giving your friend is an opinion – but what you’re giving the reader is information. Have your characters assess the information and give their thoughts, opinions, feelings, etc. on it in the same breath – rather than just saying it. As a bonus, this is fantastic for showing your character’s personality. 

Pro Tip:

Sirius Black smoking on the countryside