one last thought

happy moments should be cherished, not over-thought

people will come and go no matter how long you wait for them or how badly you want them to stay

making new friends opens up whole new worlds

apologies can make all the difference

random acts of kindness can change someone’s day from bad to bearable

the only person you’re stuck with is you so learn to love, forgive, and accept yourself

sometimes the worst people for us are the ones we think are the best

it’s not selfish to be personally hurt by something and anyone who tells you otherwise probably feels guilty themselves

the world can feel ugly at times, but don’t overlook the beautiful things or they may just not be there one day

tell people you love that you love them even if you think it’s implied

don’t betray your friends

being yourself takes time since change happens often, so it’s okay to not know who you are at any given time

never give up on your dreams or you’ll regret all the things you could’ve done

don’t ever lose yourself in the name of love

trust yourself

life has its highs and lows, so be prepared for how low the lows can be

do things spontaneously— just for the fun of it

better to regret than to wonder “what if” forever

always make sure people know you’re there for them

there’s never a perfect time, and if you wait too long, you lose your chance

everyone has shit going on in their lives, so be kind to people

always be thankful for the people who have stuck around

don’t waste time beating yourself up over things you can’t change

if you’re trying to decide between holding on and letting go, it’s probably time to let go

i'm all the people i've ever loved

(a realization about dialogue formatting, from a comic artist turned novelist.)

One of the first things a novice writer learns about speech tags is that they’re part of the “scaffolding” of prose. They should be largely invisible to the reader: use them when necessary, omit them when not, and be sparing in the application of verbs other than “said”. They serve only the function of clarifying who is speaking when it is necessary to do so.

Except:

Sometimes you might want to use a speech tag in spite of the redundancy. The fact that the reader’s eyes slide right over them is an exploitable property. By slicing a line of dialogue in half with a speech tag, you can force the reader to perceive a meaningful pause between two utterances—and the effect is much stronger than you might get out of an ellipsis or an em dash. Developing an intuition for when and how to do this is a huge part of learning to write dialogue, I think.