his wife has filled his house with chintz

* body language masterlist

* a translator that doesn’t eat ass like google translate does

* a reverse dictionary for when ur brain freezes

* 550 words to say instead of fuckin said

* 638 character traits for when ur brain freezes again

* some more body language help

You may have to fiddle a previous sentence because of this decision, but if you just had to change one word in the previous sentence to make up for the entire troublesome sentence you just deleted, then you know you did the right thing.

Writers have a lot of "darlings". They tend to get tunnel vision and lose their forward momentum by tinkering with something the reader wouldn't even miss if it was gone.

It is your right to say, "yes, this must be here," but asking if this sentence, or passage, or anything, is just another darling that needs to be killed is a practice that will serve you, and often.

Sometimes the darling is a certain way of writing that you associate with "your style", but it's not working for some reason. You must be willing to drop things that seem precious to you if they are not serving your work. They are not what is important about what you are trying to do, they just feel like it.

Anything that feels like a "darling" probably is. Question every darling, make it prove its worth to you, and to the reader. Ask: Is this paragraph load bearing, or am I just fond of it?

And yes, sometimes you know that a character must perish, or two characters must part, and you do not want it to happen, but the talent that brought you to this point knows that the story must happen. Take a breath, and kill your darlings.

But it is your right to say no, this character must live. It's the clunky sentence, the paragraph that kills the momentum, who must always die. The reader will forgive you when the character escapes doom a little too easily, but they will not forgive you when reading about it feels like a chore.

It's even more important when you aren't writing fiction at all, and there is some paragraph that only happened because you sweated for a week in the research mines, first. You are loath to throw away so much work condensed to a few sentences. But the document is getting long, the target audience will not have the patience for it, and you know this. Kill your darlings. At least put them on trial and ask them why they are so important, why the document cannot survive without them.

If you ever do hand your work to a proper editor, they will go to kill a lot of "darlings", it's their job as editor. They might want to axe entire chapters that you toiled over.

No creative work is ever lost. Even the entire chapter that is cut to make a better story was practice that made you a better writer, it was not truly lost. Perhaps it was just in the wrong novel, and its purpose lies elsewhere. But you must be willing to kill your darlings. If you do that when nobody is twisting your arm, then it will not be a shock to your heart when an editor must do their own work, to your work.

It is important to understand that every document that you have ever loved has had a machete taken to it, the editor's floor was covered in slaughtered darlings. You didn't even notice. In fact, that was why you liked it, why it all flowed so nicely for you as a reader. It is comparable to all the clay that ends up back in the bucket when the sculptor works. You, too, will have to take part in this tradition, so get comfy with it.

feel free to use :)

“i genuinely don’t know why my brain just goes blank when i look at you. i think i’m going a little crazy.”

the little laugh or smile a character a does in utter disbelief because character b is just so endearing and sigh

one character going “so this is really awkward cause i know i told you i wasn’t looking for love but then i kinda fell in love and i would love it if you’d take me”

“can i love you?”

“i just… adore you.”

character a noticing character b is sleepy while driving and being like “hey i can take over for you”

the classic “no i’m not in love with character a, yes thinking about hurting them makes me want to throw myself into ongoing traffic, no it doesn’t make sense to me either”

their love interest fell asleep and your main character has a blanket so they give it to them

confessions when one character thinks the other is sleeping

they kiss for the first time and one character just steps back and is like “um ok. yeah that’s not a normal kiss i def love u”

character not being able to even fathom or come close to understanding how someone can dislike such a beautiful ray of sunshine and oh yeah ok…. they’re def in love

characters who’ve been married for years falling in love all over again

exes to lovers

“i think i love you…?” “….. think?” “let’s just say a ninety-nine percent chance.” “i’ll take it.”

that moment where your character just… looks. just looks at their love interest for more than five seconds and doesn’t understand why or how this earth can exist and the sun and moon exist and the sky can be an eternal source of happiness and yet this person right here can bring so much more warmth and comfort to them with just a single glance

note confessions because yes written confessions in letters are superior

“i got you a gift. i hope you like it.” and character who receives the gift tries not to mention that any gift would mean more than the stars in the sky as long as it was from them

DORÉ, Gustave (1832-1883)

the intimacy disguised as helpfulness! the lingering contact! the optional subdued “you look nice” as they stand too close!!

• bringing food / coffee, unprompted (bonus: remembering how the other prefers their order be made despite never being directly told, they just remember)

• pep talks. “Hey, you’ve got this.” “You’re gonna knock it out of the park.” “Come on, you’re the best person for this job, are you kidding?” “I’m rooting for you.” “Don’t sell yourself short, you’re incredible.”

• making each other laugh, especially in times where one might need it most; not all pining needs to be serious all the time. smiling and laughter is so sexy, and so intimate. joke around, goof off, have them do the stupidest thing in the world just for shits and giggles, just because they can

• car rides. “do you need a ride?” “You can come, if you’d like.” “I’m heading that way anyway.” “I can show you around town.” I mean, come on, do I even need to explain why this one is good?

• gonna 100% double down on clothing. fixing collars, ties, sleeve cuffs. straightening wrinkles. dusting them off. helping them wipe/clean a stain. handing them their hat/coat. leveling a name tag. offering a napkin so they can clean their glasses.

Absent: preoccupied 

Agonized: as if in pain or tormented

Alluring: attractive, in the sense of arousing desire

Appealing: attractive, in the sense of encouraging goodwill and/or interest

Beatific: blissful

Black: angry or sad, or hostile

Bleak: hopeless

Blinking: surprise, or lack of concern

Blithe: carefree, lighthearted, or heedlessly indifferent

Brooding: anxious and gloomy

Bug eyed: frightened or surprised

Chagrined: humiliated or disappointed

Cheeky: cocky, insolent

Cheerless: sad

Choleric: hot-tempered, irate

Darkly: with depressed or malevolent feelings

Deadpan: expressionless, to conceal emotion or heighten humor

Despondent: depressed or discouraged

Doleful: sad or afflicted

Dour: stern or obstinate

Dreamy: distracted by daydreaming or fantasizing

Ecstatic: delighted or entranced

Faint: cowardly, weak, or barely perceptible

Fixed: concentrated or immobile

Gazing: staring intently

Glancing: staring briefly as if curious but evasive

Glazed: expressionless due to fatigue or confusion

Grim: fatalistic or pessimistic

Grave: serious, expressing emotion due to loss or sadness

Haunted: frightened, worried, or guilty

Hopeless: depressed by a lack of encouragement or optimism

Hostile: aggressively angry, intimidating, or resistant

Hunted: tense as if worried about pursuit

Jeering: insulting or mocking

Languid: lazy or weak

Leering: sexually suggestive

Mild: easygoing

Mischievous: annoyingly or maliciously playful

Pained: affected with discomfort or pain

Peering: with curiosity or suspicion

Peeved: annoyed

Pleading: seeking apology or assistance

Quizzical: questioning or confused

Radiant: bright, happy

Sanguine: bloodthirsty, confident

Sardonic: mocking

Sour: unpleasant

Sullen: resentful

Vacant: blank or stupid looking

Wan: pale, sickly

Wary: cautious or cunning

Wide eyed: frightened or surprised

Withering: devastating

Wrathful: indignant or vengeful

I believe it’s fine to describe what your characters are wearing. However, like all things, it should serve some kind of purpose.

For instance, describing winter clothes helps impart to the reader a sense of how cold it is. Describing summer clothes helps explain how warm it is.

Describing an outfit before a social event gives a window onto the character’s sense of fashion, or explains their reverence (or lack) for the event; for example a character can wear a black suit to a funeral, or watch from a distance while wearing a t-shirt and jeans. These impart a different attitude.

An outfit may be described purely to give a little more interest to a character; to give the reader a bit more insight into who they are, through the way they present themselves. It may have no greater significance to the wider story but this is still a reason to do it.