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First of all, I want to say that having friends is lovely, yes! But don't beat yourself up if you have not found the perfect friends already, okay? <3 It is better to recognize your own worth and not to try to befriend people who are not good for you. Being by yourself is better than being with people who make you feel even more lonely.

Here are some tipps on how to meet people.

Be relaxed and confident. You will find people who are perfect for you and who will love you for who you are. This might sound harsh but, please, don't seem desperate. Some people will pick up on that and try to use you. Please watch out. Having a good heart can really hurt you in the end when befriending the wrong people. Trust me <3

Join clubs. Join student initiatives, or sports that interest you. Focus on what you want to do, join them and maybe you will find like-minded people who will be your best friends eventually.

Don't care about what other people think. Don't watch your every step to 'fit in' or be likable. F*ck them. And you don't want judgy people to be your friends anyway. Just do your thing. And you will meet people who will appreciate you for who you are.

Cool people suck. I wanted to be super cool once, too. And I kind of was. But being cool is exhausting for people who don't really belong because you have to always wear this mask. F*ck being cool. Be intelligent, inspiring and friendly. That's more than enough.

Realize that you don't NEED friends. Never forget that YOU are enough. Love yourself even if no one else does. You can be anyone you want to be. With or without friends or family. I love you guys. <3

Hi, love!  Thanks for your question and your patience :)  I love writing unique character voices, both in dialogue and narration, just because it can make a story completely different just through the way it’s told.  There are a lot of different aspects to a character voice, though, so I’ll just go through the basics I run in my mind when I develop voices.

Aspects of Character Voice

Education – To be as realistic for your character as possible, you need to consider the level of education they received growing up.  There are too many characters in modern fiction who speak eloquently, confidently, and grammatically correct, yet don’t have the educational backstory to support this.  This is especially important if the character has to speak publicly, which many overlook as a skill that must be developed.

Influences – People learn how to speak, how to joke, and how to appeal to others from their family, friends, and idols.  For example: my aunt is much more reserved than my father and uncle.  She’s a quiet, thoughtful psychologist – but every once in a while, she shows her roots over her education by engaging in some of the awful puns that run in my dad’s side of the family.  Puns seem uncharacteristic of her at first glance, but it adds depth to who she is by reaching back into her childhood.

Communication Style – I touched on this in my post on character traits, and it probably applies even more here.  Your characters aren’t all going to speak up at the same times, about the same things, in the same ways.  Some people avoid confrontation; some people can’t ignore irritants.  Some people are open about their personal affairs; some don’t feel comfortable sharing their middle name with friends.  Some people think out loud, and occupy the room subconsciously.  Some people use humor to mask their feelings, and rarely speak without a hint of irony in their voice.  Some people are horribly self-aware, and some people talk without really hearing or filtering themselves.  It’s all important.

Demeanor – Mood, countenance, disposition – basically, what is the character’s general attitude?  If someone were to describe them in a couple of words, what would they be?  Some people are generally positive, and some are generally negative, or irritable, or uncomfortable, or emotional, or just really strong in whatever direction.  I had a friend in theatre describe me as “anxious at rest”, and I think that pretty much covers my demeanor.  Now, no one behaves one way all the time – this is just more of a “default emotion” that colors how they approach certain situations.

Example: Because I’m “anxious at rest”, I feel happiness like butterflies in my limbs, and sadness like it’s raining bullets in my stomach.  Because my brother is naturally chill as hell (my words), he feels happiness like a warm, gooey piece of pie, and sadness like a thin, wet sheet clinging to his skin.

Social Skills – This can tie into education and influences, but also has a lot to do with personality.  A character can be raised to know and value social convention, or they can pick it up themselves; or they can disregard social “rules” despite any kind of education.  How does your character handle awkward situations?  Are they blunt with strangers?  Are they respectful to authority?  Do they keep their opinions to themselves, or speak up no matter what?  Do they at all change themselves or their behavior to adapt to new situations?  There’s a spectrum there, between 100%-Integrity and Chameleon status, and your character’s somewhere on it.

Sense of Humor – I’ve talked about this before, too, but for posterity, I’ll add it here.  When writing a character’s voice, you have to think about what amuses them – and it’s not necessarily what amuses you.  I think of the show The Office, which is basically a playground of different senses of humor.  There’s Michael Scott, who works with things like “that’s what she said” and celebrity impressions; there’s Jim Halpert, who’s both sarcastic and a diehard prankster; there’s Pam Beesly, who can only offer puns along the line of, “I’ll put out an A.P.B. – an Ask Pam Beesly.”  These small details make characters sound distinct from each other.

Introversion/Extroversion – Lastly, a lot of how a character communicates depends on how they experience social interactions.  Are they energized by conversations and social events, or do these things drain them?  Do they seek out others, or do they wait to be addressed?  Are their thoughts focused outwardly – on what’s going on around them, what others are saying or thinking, on how they appear to others – or inwardly – on their internal thoughts and interests, on what they’re thinking and feeling?  This will affect how they speak and how they narrate the story, even if you’re not writing in first-person.

Anyway, that’s basically what came to mind when I saw your question.  If this doesn’t help you, be sure to send us another ask with more information :)  Good luck!

– Mod Joanna ♥️

The Royal Portuguese Reading Room, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Physical Appearance

Arms

Athletic Build

Back

Butts

Cheeks

Chest

Chins

Curvy Build

Ears

Eyebrows

Eyes

Faces

Facial Hair

Feet

Fingernails

Fingers

Hair

Hands

Head

Hips

Jaws

Knees

Legs

Lips

Muscular Build

Neck

Noses

Shoulders

Slender Build

Sickly Build

Skin

Stocky Build

Stomach

Teeth

Toenails

Toes

Underweight Build

Character Traits

Affectionate

Ambitious

Bossy

Brave

Calm

Cautious

Charismatic

Clever

Conceited

Courageous

Creative

Critical

Curious

Determined

Diplomatic

Dishonest

Disorganized

Eccentric

Excitable

Friendly

Funny

Generous

Glamorous

Guarded

Honest

Impulsive

Independent

Intelligent

Just

Kind

Loyal

Manipulative

Mature

Modest

Mysterious

Naïve

Optimistic

Prejudiced

Persistent

Proper

Responsible

Sensitive

Sentimental

Serious

Shy

Reckless

Stingy

Stubborn

Talented

Thoughtful

Thrifty

Visionary

Wise

Witty

Worry Wart

Wounded

Talents & Skills

A Knack for Languages

A Knack for Making Money

A Way with Animals

Archery

Astral Projection

Astrological Divination

Baking

Basic First Aid

Blending In

Carpentry

Charm

ESP (Clairvoyance)

Empathy

Enhanced Hearing

Enhanced Sense of Smell

Enhanced Taste Buds

Farming

Fishing

Foraging

Gaining the Trust of Others

Gaming

Gardening

Good Listening Skills

Haggling

Herbalism

Hospitality

Hot-Wiring a Car

High Pain Tolerance

Knife Throwing

Knowledge of Explosives

Lip-Reading

Lying

Making People Laugh

Mechanically Inclined

Mentalism

Mimicking

Multitasking

Musicality

Organization

Parkour

Photographic Memory

Predicting the Weather

Promotion

Psychokinesis

Reading People

Regeneration

Repurposing

Sculpting

Self-Defense

Sewing

Sharpshooting

Sleight-of-Hand

Strategic Thinking

Strong Breath Control

Super Strength

Survival Skills

Swift-footedness

Talking With The Dead

Throwing One’s Voice

Whittling

Wilderness Navigation

Wrestling

Elemental Abilities

Miscellaneous

Voices

Voice Types

Speech Patterns

Speech Impediment

List of Character Flaws

List of Archetypes

Hairstyles

Describing Body Types & How They Move Around

Secrets To Give Your Character

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–

Head Injuries

General Information | More

Hematoma

Hemorrhage

Concussion

Edema

Skull Fracture

Diffuse Axonal Injury

Neck

General Information

Neck sprain

Herniated Disk

Pinched Nerve

Cervical Fracture

Broken Neck

Chest (Thoracic)

General Information

Aortic disruption

Blunt cardiac injury

Cardiac tamponade

Flail chest

Hemothorax

Pneumothorax (traumatic pneumothorax, open pneumothorax, and tension pneumothorax)

Pulmonary contusion

Broken Ribs

Broken Collarbone

Creating a Fictional City in Our World

1. Choosing a Location

The first thing you need to do is figure out where your fictional city is located. You need to at least know the country and region, even if you don't choose an exact state, province, or county. For example, let's say you want to set your story in the American Southwest, but you don't want to name a specific state. That's fine, but you should at least have a rough idea of where in the southwest your setting would be. Central Arizona is pretty different from Southeast Texas. Knowing, for yourself, generally where your city is located will help you create believable details. Also, make sure to consider the needs of your story... does it need to be near a lake, river, mountains, or the ocean? Does it need to be a big city or near a big city? Does it need to have particular weather or an ideal location for particular outdoor hobbies?

2. Choosing an Inspiration City

Sometimes it helps to choose a real city as inspiration for your fictional city. You may want to choose a city located in a similar climate/similar geography so that you don't have to change too many details. Or, let's say you want the general look and vibe of a city like Austin, Texas, but you want your story to be set in a location more like Southern Nevada. That's fine--just make sure you take those differences in climate and geography into account and understand how they might affect that look/vibe.

3. Familiarizing Yourself with Inspirational Details

See my post Setting Your Story in an Unfamiliar Place for tips to help you familiarize yourself with the important details of your inspiration city. My post Five Things to Help You Describe Fictional Locations has additional tips.

4. Figure Out Fictional Details

Now for the really fun part... designing your city! Here's where you get to make the city come to life in your mind's eye. You may want to start by learning a bit about cities and how they're typically laid out. Look at cities in the area where yours will be located to look for ideas. Be sure to decide on geographical details, where the industrial areas, rich areas versus poor areas, what attractions the city has, and what kinds of things might draw business and tourists.

Here are some other links that might help:

Guide: Naming Locations (Like Towns and Cities) Figuring Out Your World’s Geography Coming Up with Fictional World Details Organizing World Building Ideas

I hope that helps!

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Sound of Voice vs Character Voice

The trouble with this question is I'm not sure what you're asking. You first ask for "ways to describe a voice" which to me sounds like you're asking about speaking voice, but then you say you want to "give your characters a distinct voice that readers can recognize" which sounds like you're talking about character voice.

So, let's tackle them both! :)

Sound of Voice

Typically, the word “voice” refers to “speaking voice” or the sound produced in our throats when we speak. A good way to think about this is "vocal quality," or the quality of the sound coming out of one's throat.

Vocal Quality Words:

sing-song melodic nasal throaty gritty gruff breathy gravelly grating high-pitched dulcet husky honeyed shrill wheezy

Character Voice

"Character voice," on the other hand, refers more to the way the character's personality comes out in the way they speak. It includes things like:

whether they talk a lot or very little

whether they speak loudly or softly

whether they talk fast or slow

whether they interrupt a lot or wait their turn

whether they use a lot of slang or have a catch phrase

whether they use poor grammar or proper grammar

whether they use a lot of foul language

whether they have any verbal or vocal tics

whether they have any speech impediments

whether they speak with an accent and how strong it is

facial expressions, mannerisms, and gestures used while speaking

and yes, things like tone, quality, and pitch of their speaking voice

My post Giving Your Characters a Unique Voice has some tips for fleshing out character voice. :)

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Hi :)

How to create a villain

A good villain is ultimately what makes a hero heroic and is therefore a very important part of your story.

Why do we need a villain?

opposite of the story’s hero

their goals and motivations oppose those of the hero

the hero is reacting to the actions of the villain

showcases the hero’s weaknesses

the character of the villain should be one of your priorities while planning the story

Types of villains

human villains

fantasy villains (with magical abilities, superpowers, etc.)

animal villains (e.g., Jungle Book)

abstract villains (an idea, a society, a corporation, etc.)

if you make your villain more abstract, it can have advantages, but it also makes it harder for your readers to relate to them and understand them

if you have an abstract villain, think about using human representations of that villain for your readers to project their feelings and thoughts onto

more specific types of villains:

likeable villain

unsympathetic villain

unpredictable villain

Characteristics of a villain

There are many different types of villains, but they also share a few similar characteristics:

own beliefs and morals – What do they believe in? What is morally correct for them? Do they see themself as bad/evil? How far will they go? Do they make exceptions for some people or do they not care at all? Maybe they want to do the right thing, but they go about it the wrong way.

goals and motivation – goals are things they wan to have or want to accomplish, but motivation is even more important, it explains why they want or need their goal to be fulfilled, you need to invest time into giving your villain a (at least for them) plausible reason for what they are doing

connection to the hero – the hero reacts to the villain’s actions, maybe their fates are intertwined, maybe the hero’s actions in the past led to them becoming the villain, the villain is interrupting and then furthering the hero’s character development the same way the hero is doing to the villain’s development

worthy opponent – being especially powerful, clever, a specialist in something the hero is not, seemingly unbeatable until the end

compelling backstory – people are usually not born bad, it’s something they’ve become over time, it explains the motivation, probably not just one defining moment, if you want one event that changed them, then also think about the reactions from others to that event or what happened afterwards that made them turn evil

similar characteristic to the hero – think about where it went wrong, where did they turn to the dark side? Like I said before, a tragic event does not automatically lead someone to become a villain. Losing their parents young for example can turn them either into the villain or the hero, decide why they turned in that direction that they did

More tips:

Make your villain interesting

your reader should love to hate, but also hate to love them in a way

give them their own character arc and show development

make them special the same way your hero is special

give them a magnetic personality

don’t make them too predictable or the readers will lose their fear of them

Humanise your villains

not born evil, maybe they were corrupted

nothing more frightening than seeing yourself in a villain

give them positive qualities

make the readers sometimes sympathise with them

give them moments of relatability

your readers should be interested in the villain, but not necessarily root for them (only if that’s your true intention), because it could undermine your hero’s actions and motivation

Make them lose

If your story doesn’t end with evil ruling over the world, you need to know how to make the villains lose:

give them weaknesses

let them be a slave to their own moral code

let them have fatal character flaws that in the end the basically defeat themself

give them a worthy ending, something appropriate for a great opponent

Good luck creating believable villains!

Almoners: ensured the poor received alms.

Atilliator: skilled castle worker who made crossbows.

Baliff: in charge of allotting jobs to the peasants, building repair, and repair of tools used by the peasants.

Barber: someone who cut hair. Also served as dentists, surgeons and blood-letters.

Blacksmith: forged and sharpened tools and weapons, beat out dents in armor, made hinges for doors, and window grills. Also referred to as Smiths.

Bottler: in charge of the buttery or bottlery.

Butler: cared for the cellar and was in charge of large butts and little butts (bottles) of wine and beer. Under him a staff of people might consist of brewers, tapsters, cellarers, dispensers, cupbearers and dapifer.

Carder: someone who brushed cloth during its manufacture.

Carpenter: built flooring, roofing, siege engines, furniture, panelling for rooms, and scaffoling for building.

Carters: workmen who brought wood and stone to the site of a castle under construction.

Castellan: resident owner or person in charge of a castle (custodian).

Chamberlain: responsible for the great chamber and for the personal finances of the castellan.

Chaplain: provided spirtual welfare for laborers and the castle garrison. The duties might also include supervising building operations, clerk, and keeping accounts. He also tended to the chapel.

Clerk: a person who checked material costs, wages, and kept accounts.

Constable: a person who took care (the governor or warden) of a castle in the absence of the owner. This was sometimes bestowed upon a great baron as an honor and some royal castles had hereditary constables.

Cook: roasted, broiled, and baked food in the fireplaces and ovens.

Cottars: the lowest of the peasantry. Worked as swine-herds, prison guards, and did odd jobs.

Ditcher: worker who dug moats, vaults, foundations and mines.

Dyer: someone who dyed cloth in huge heated vats during its manufacture.

Ewerer: worker who brought and heated water for the nobles.

Falconer: highly skilled expert responsible for the care and training of hawks for the sport of falconry.

Fuller: worker who shrinks & thickens cloth fibers through wetting & beating the material.

Glaziers: a person who cut and shaped glass.

Gong Farmer: a latrine pit emptier.

Hayward:  someone who tended the hedges.

Herald: knights assistant and an expert advisor on heraldry.

Keeper of the Wardrobe: in charge of the tailors and laundress.

Knight: a professional soldier. This was achieved only after long and arduous training which began in infancy.

Laird: minor baron or small landlord.

Marshal: officer in charge of a household’s horses, carts, wagons, and containers. His staff included farriers, grooms, carters, smiths and clerks. He also oversaw the transporting of goods.

Master Mason: responsible for the designing and overseeing the building of a structure.

Messengers: servants of the lord who carried receipts, letters, and commodities.

Miner: skilled professional who dug tunnels for the purpose of undermining a castle.

Minstrels: part of of the castle staff who provided entertainment in the form of singing and playing musical instruments.

Porter: took care of the doors (janitor), particularly the main entrance. Responsible for the guardrooms. The person also insured that no one entered or left the castle withour permission. Also known as the door-ward.

Reeve: supervised the work on lord’s property. He checked that everyone began and stopped work on time, and insured nothing was stolen. Senior officer of a borough.

Sapper: an unskilled person who dug a mine or approach tunnel.

Scullions: responsible for washing and cleaning in the kitchen.

Shearmen: a person who trimmed the cloth during its manufacture.

Shoemaker: a craftsman who made shoes. Known also as Cordwainers.

Spinster: a name given to a woman who earned her living spinning yarn. Later this was expanded and any unmarried woman was called a spinster.

Steward: took care of the estate and domestic administration. Supervised the household and events in the great hall. Also referred to as a Seneschal.

Squire: attained at the age of 14 while training as a knight. He would be assigned to a knight to carry and care for the weapons and horse.

Watchmen: an official at the castle responsible for security. Assited by lookouts (the garrison).

Weaver: someone who cleaned and compacted cloth, in association with the Walker and Fuller.

Woodworkers: tradesmen called Board-hewers who worked in the forest, producing joists and beams.

Other medieval jobs included:

tanners, soap makers, cask makers, cloth makers, candle makers (chandlers), gold and silver smiths, laundresses, bakers, grooms, pages, huntsmen, doctors, painters, plasterers, and painters, potters, brick and tile makers, glass makers, shipwrights, sailors, butchers, fishmongers, farmers, herdsmen, millers, the clergy, parish priests, members of the monastic orders, innkeepers, roadmenders, woodwards (for the forests). slingers. Other Domestic jobs inside the castle or manor:

Personal atendants- ladies-in-waiting, chamber maids, doctor.

The myriad of people involved in the preparation and serving of meals- brewers, poulterer, fruiterers, slaughterers, dispensers, cooks and the cupbearers.