Writer.

LIST OF PEOPLE WHO'VE KNOWN JOHNNY DEPP AND TOOK AN OPEN STAND FOR HIM OR SPOKE OF HOW GOOD AND GENTLE HE WAS

Vanessa Paradis

Lily-Rose Depp

Kate Moss

Winona Ryder

Paul Bettany

Alice Cooper

J.K.Rowling

Zoe Kravitz

Jude Law

Gwyneth Paltrow

Dakota Johnson

Tim Burton

Helena Bonham Carter

Judi Dench

Angelina Jolie

Michelle Pfeiffer

Gore Verbinski

Armie Hammer

Kate Winslet

Alison Sudol

Ezra Miller

Geoffrey Rush

Kaya Scodelario

Javier Bardem

Penelope Cruz

Anne Hathaway

Orlando Bloom

Kiera Knightley

Marilyn Manson

Patti Smith

Paul McCartney

Doug Stanhope

Alysson Paradis

Geoffrey Rush

Sacha Baron Cohen

Kevin Smith

Kevin McNally

Keith Richards (basically Jack Sparrow's dad)

Lori Anne Allison

Juliette Binoche (activist by the way)

Joe Rogan (radio interview)

Robert Downey Jr.

Victoria Mary Clarke

Shane Macgowan

Joe Perry/ Tommy Henriksen (his Hollywood Vampire friends)

Danny Huston, his co-star in The Professor, said when he met Johnny Depp he "fell in love instantly. There is a short film on the making of The Professor. All of the actors praised Johnny.

being a fan of Johnny Depp is one of the things I‘m most proud of about myself. I never, for once, doubt him. always stood by his side since the beginning of all this shit despite ppl sending me death threats. I will always be there for him. he IS innocent. The fact he’s still so strong and remains so sweet and gentle despite everything he’s been through. He is my hero.

Did you even noticed just how manipulative she was in trying to gaslight Johnny ?

"I can't even promise you that I won't get physical when I get upset".

What sane person would even say that?

Can't promise to get physical?

The FUCK?

She even cut off his fucking finger tip! For Goodness sake!

Knowing Johnny, it's just not in his nature to make this an issue. Even after 4 years. Guess he must've come to his senses of just how much of a horrible person this woman really is and probably hit his limit after all those years of defamation, by people like you.

Glad to see that they are still people like you who would still deny reality that the woman you worship is far from the perfect Goddess you have in your mind.

Pathetic.

So I won't go and call you stupid or whatever but PLEASE. BEFORE REBLOGGING A POST AND TRYING TO DISMISS IT, INFORM YOURSELF.

1) "why didn't this come out when he was on trial??" THEY ARE STILL ON TRIAL! The Court will rule in August 2020! They. Are. Still. On. Trial. With. This. Story. And because of who may you ask? Because of none other than JOHNNY DEPP. Amber Heard filed for divorce and a restraining order, which she got because you basically get it when you ask for divorce. But when it was filed on the basis of DOMESTIC ABUSE, her restraining order was ditched by the court. I don't even remember the specific term but basically it was rendered ineffective, so much so that they even made it IMPOSSIBLE for her to file another restraining order. Because she has NO PROOF to present to court. Because she didn't testify. Because her lawyers chose to go to the media instead of going to justice with it. Funny isn't it?

2) "all the evidence that was used to CONVICT johnny depp". Johnny Depp was NEVER convicted for domestic abuse. In fact he was NEVER convicted for anything! AMBER HEARD DROPPED THE ABUSE ACCUSATIONS AS SOON AS THEY REACHED A SETTLEMENT FOR THE DIVORCE. SHE DID NOT GO FORWARD WITH THE ACTUAL TRIAL. She got the money and the press slandering him and praising her and that's all she needed apparently! In the settlement it was also written BLACK AND WHITE that she admitted some abuses herself: for example confirming the proofs that he had brought BACK IN 2016 that she had punched him the night of her birthday.

3) the trial currently happening is JOHNNY DEPP, SUING AMBER HEARD FOR DEFAMATION. IT'S NOT ANYTHING ELSE THAN THAT. HE'S THE ACCUSER, SHE IS THE DEFENDANT. He is NOT dropping the charges, he and all his witnesses HAVE testified, he has numerous of proofs coming from all the horizons. STOP SAYING THAT THE PEOPLE CITED IN THE FIRST POST DEFEND HIM BECAUSE THEY'RE "HIS FRIENDS". THESE ARE HIS COLLEAGUES, MOST OF HIS EVIDENCES COME FROM HIS EMPLOYEES, SECURITY GUARDS, PEOPLE WORKING ON SETS, EVEN COPS! THERE EVEN ARE FRIENDS OF AMBER HEARD TESTIFYING IN FAVOR OF JOHNNY DEPP, TO NAME ONE, HER MAKEUP ARTIST WHO WORKED WITH HER ON THE LATE LATE NIGHT BY JAMES CORDEN AND TESTIFIED THAT SHE HAD NO INJURY.

You even know WHO sided with Johnny Depp as proved by some text messages exchanged between them and Johnny Depp? AMBER HEARD'S OWN PARENTS!

YOU KNOW WHO HAD HER FRIENDS TESTIFYING FOR HER AND PERJURING IN COURT FOR HER (and yes it's been proven that they LIED)?? AMBER FCKING HEARD. When the abuse allegations came from her, her two key witnesses were her bffs Io what's his name and Raquel what's her name. Two people who were living in a penthouse in the same building as Amber and Johnny, AND IT WAS JOHNNY DEPP WHO WAS PAYING FOR THEIR PENTHOUSE. Funny enough, their penthouse being STILL paid by Johnny Depp and them remaining in said penthouse even after the divorce was in Amber Heard's first requests in the letter where she THREATENS Johnny Depp that she'd accuse him of domestic abuse if he didn't agree with her demands. This is IN THE FILE, a fcking letter her lawyers were stupid enough to send to his lawyers.

4) "we know he did that, it's been proven" NO IT HASN'T. She did NOT go through with the trial. She did not testify. She did NOT "care" enough about "speaking up" to go to trial to actually prove that she was "a victim of abuse" (so much for MeToo huh??). Y'all TOOK the ice-thin fcking "evidences" she'd sell to the press instead of actually going to court with, and y'all just RAN WITH IT. And y'all ran FAST. All of you did the work for her. Without asking any question, making quick conclusions like the ones you're repeating even YEARS later, when the truth has been right in front of you the whole time. When she dropped the charges. When Johnny Depp was never proven guilty of anything. When we have AUDIOS of her admitting she was hitting him. "Yeah but TMZ had a video of him I MEAN BEING VIOLENT WITH CUPBOARD DOORS!!!" guess what, this video was unadmissible to court because it was proven to be edited! But hey now TMZ is "the court" and y'all are judges and jurys I guess.

I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS IS TRUE and you will not believe it that they never used on actual productions, only rehearsals because people got creeped out and didn’t want to use it, UNTIL DAVID TENNANT IN 2008

THAT MAD MAN ACTUALLY PERFORMED WITH THE REAL SKULL!

After the use of Tchaikowsky’s skull was revealed in the press, this production of Hamlet moved to the West End and the RSC announced that they would no longer use Tchaikowsky’s skull (a spokesman said that it would be “too distracting for the audience”).[10] However, this was a deception; in fact, the skull was used throughout the production’s West End run, and in a subsequent television adaptation broadcast on BBC2.[11] Director Gregory Doran said, “André Tchaikowsky’s skull was a very important part of our production of Hamlet, and despite all the hype about him, he meant a great deal to the company.”[11]

You know that moment as a writer, when you’ve been charging through the story, high on how fantastic it is, and then suddenly…it all STOPS.  The next scene doesn’t form in your head. You’ve got nothing. 

Behind your characters, a string of bright and captivating scenes mark the trail of that rocket of inspiration; ahead of your characters, a foggy expanse, stretching to who-knows-where, a few shapeless blobs that should be scenes floating in the nothingness. The rocket is dead, and not refueling any time soon.

Well, to everybody who’s suffered this, or is currently suffering it, there’s a way to navigate through that fog. A map. Directions and a destination.

Or, more specifically, events that form the underlying structure of the story. 

This post is going to focus on one facet of story structure: character arc. Structure is something people subconsciously recognize and expect, and if the story doesn’t match those expectations, they feel cheated (though usually can’t explain why). Every good story follows a structure. So if you know structure, you’ll always know where to go next, and won’t get lost in the fog. 

So here are the 8 steps of a character arc: 1) Hero: Strength, Weakness, and Need

This happens in the setup of the story, when the main character’s ordinary world is being introduced. First, the main character’s strengths must be displayed; we must be given a reason to like them, or if not exactly “like” them, empathize with them, and be fascinated by them. The reader needs to bond with the character, feel concerned about how it all turns out for them. Or in other words, feel that the main character is worth experiencing the story. There are easy traits that do this: courage, love, humor, being in danger, being unfairly treated, being highly skilled at something, having a powerful noble goal. (Courage is the one they all need. If the character doesn’t have the gumption to actively pursue what they want, they are automatically a background character.) 

After this, still in the beginning of your story, let the character exhibit what needs to change. Show their weaknesses of character and self awareness. And lastly, hint at what they NEED to learn. Sometimes this is even stated to the character, and they don’t understand it, refuse to believe it, or condemn it. Like “A Christmas Carol”, when Scrooge’s nephew says his speech about Christmas and how wonderful it is, and Scrooge replies “Bah Humbug!“ 

2) Desire: This is the moment when the character knows what they need to pursue, in order to obtain what they inwardly want. It is not the inciting incident or catalyst, the event in a story that disrupts the ordinary world and calls the hero on an adventure. This is a separate step entirely, occurring after that catalyst has shattered life as the main character knows it. They believe obtaining this goal will calm whatever inner turmoil or conflict they’re battling. And always, they’re not quite right. Think of Mr Fredricksen: His goal is to get the house – a  symbolic representation of Ellie and the life he shared with her – to Paradise Falls, which he believes will heal his grief and guilt. It won’t. Once he obtains it, the achievement feels hollow. But I’m getting ahead of myself. So on we go! 

3) Plan: Once in Act Two, the character is going to scramble for a plan of action. The inner want has solidified into a tangible goal, but they need a strategy to achieve it. This also spells out for the reader what to expect in that second act.  

4) Conflict: What’s going to try stopping them? A hero with a goal is one thing, but to make it a story we need something that stands in the way. An obstacle. A force of opposition. If we didn’t have obstacles, books would be as interesting as “Harry Potter and the Trip to the Grocery Store.” (Although honestly, I’d probably read that.) After the catalyst has changed everything, after the character crosses the threshold into Act Two, everything from here on out will be laden with conflict. This is usually when enemies, or more accurately forces of opposition, begin to appear. Everything is accumulating to complicate the main character’s pathway to achieving what they want. The forces of opposition come from not only the villains, but from the actions that have to be taken to achieve the desire. Whatever this action is, it’s exactly what the main character is not suited to do, an action that pressures their flaws, exposes them to exactly what they need to become but can’t right now. 

Like Stitch being forced to be the family dog. He’s not suited to this task.

5) Battle: The forces of opposition are amping up, growing stronger, fighting with greater intensity. The main character is taking the punches and working around them, relentlessly plowing forward. Hero and allies are usually punching back too.

6) Midpoint: This is the event where they first encounter what they need to learn, what they need to become. Something happens that forces them to behave in this new, life-saving way. But once they’ve seen it, they don’t know what to do with this knowledge. 

7) Dark Night, Revelation, Choice: This is always the darkest point in the story, where all seems lost, and death – of a literal or spiritual nature – is in the air. And in this moment, something usually happens that makes the main character wake up to what is wrong, and what they need. More often than not, this revelation will arrive from the “love story” or relationship of the plot, and will be the thing that helps them pull themselves out of despair and see the light. And once this is uncovered, once the revelation of the truth about themselves is recognized, they are faced with a choice. Of course, they’ve been faced with choices in every beat of every scene, but this is the big choice that is going to determine if their story has a happy ending or a tragic one. The choice is this: “You are being faced the truth that you need to heal. Are you going to choose what you need, let your old self die, and become someone better?” And always, always, always this is a hard choice. The revelation must be significant to them. And it’s never easy. It can’t be. We don’t write stories about heroes who make easy choices. Villains have it easy. Are you going to adopt this new way of living, adopt this truth, and let your old self die? Or are you going to stay the way you are (which feels safer and is much less challenging) but end up stuck in a sort of living death? Most of the time, of course, they choose the right thing. 

This moment is usually always the saddest scene in the thing. Like this scene with Stitch.

8) New Life: This is their changed life. After experiencing the trials of the story, after realizing what they need and choosing to be reborn, they are going to be different people – and are going to live a different life. This is what follows the statement “And every day after …” What has changed? Show the audience how things are different, how things are better, because they want to see that. This is the resolution, the wrapping up of everything we’ve been through with the main character, and having this in the story is often what gives that feeling of satisfaction after seeing a really well-told story. 

So! To show off how this works, I’ve chosen the character arc of Carl from Up. 

1) Hero: Strengths, Weakness, Need

Strengths: Reasons to like Carl are packed into that heartbreaking opening sequence. By the end of it, we love him, love Ellie, and are crying our eyes out.

Weaknesses: Now Carl is curmudgeonly, grumpy, cold, and won’t pay attention to a living soul. He’s also plagued by grief, regret, guilt, and loneliness. (Which we are all 100% okay with, because we already like him.)

Need: He needs Russel. The statement of what he needs to learn isn’t outright said (as it will be later) but Russel represents it. 

Step Two: The catalyst was when a truck knocked down Ellie’s mailbox, Carl hit a construction worker in the head with his cane, and for this a judge declares him a public menace and orders him to go to Shady Oaks Retirement Village. The DESIRE is this moment. 

Carl escapes in a flying house, thousands of balloons lifting him skyward. He even says the desire of the whole story out loud, “So long boys! I’ll send you a postcard from Paradise Falls!” The tangible goal is “live out the rest of his days in his and Ellie’s house, on the edge of Paradise Falls, South America.” (“It’s like America … but South.”)

Step Three: The plan and the conflict overlap, as they are wont to do. We have a scene where Carl is unfurling sails, setting a compass, and settling back in his chair for a smooth journey. But later on, after some conflict has arrived, we have Russel figuring out how to actually make it there. And after even more conflict has arrived, we have him telling Russel “We’re going to walk to the falls quickly and quietly, with no rap music or flash-dancing.”

Step Four: The moment he settles back into his armchair, high above the city, and here’s a knock on the front door, nothing is going to be easy for Carl. First, we have opposition in the form of Russel. Then we have a storm. Then the house lands miles away from the Falls, so they’ll have to walk it. Then we have Kevin, the giant bird. Then we have Dug. Which means they’re also being chased by a legion of talking dogs. Which brings us to Muntz, the main villain, and Carl’s shadow – the representation of Carl’s flaws, and the consequences of refusing to let go of the past. 

Step Five: This is the trek to the Falls. It’s also the battle with every complication that arises. And it’s also exactly what Carl is not suited to do. He’s a curmudgeonly old guy, bent on living out the rest of his life alone. Well, the story says “Nope, Carl, that’s not how it’s going to be” and promptly gives him a surrogate grandson to take care of, a dog who adores him, and even a giant mythical bird. And he has to lead them all, if he’s going to get to the Falls. 

Step Six: The moment when Russel invades Carl’s heart. Which is what he needs, but he doesn’t understand. (I have the scene beated out in the previous post.)

Step Seven: Finally, he gives in to the worst of himself and chooses his goal of living in his broken house on the edge of Paradise Falls. But somehow this doesn’t feel like victory. He’s still alone, next to Ellie’s empty chair, and she is still beyond his reach. 

He picks up her adventure book, and leafs through the photographs, missing her; he pauses on the page scrawled with the words “Stuff I’m Going To Do”, lets his hand rest on it, grief and regret overwhelming him. He begins to close the book, and the page shifts … revealing the edge of another picture. Surprised, he turns the page. It’s their wedding picture.

Ellie added picture after picture of their happy marriage, the whole wonderful life they shared, all the things she did. And on the bottom of the last page is her last message to him: “Thanks for the adventure! Now go have a new one! Love, Ellie.” Exactly what Carl needs. He doesn’t need to be guilty, he doesn’t need to regret the past. The past was beautiful, and she will never truly leave him. 

Choice: So, Carl can make the choice to throw everything out of the house to go save Russel. 

New Life: Sitting on a curb, eating ice cream with Russel.

In the credits, we see a whole new life – or new adventure – with Carl, Russel, Dug, and even a bunch of new puppies.

So, it’s actually pretty simple. And once again, it’s fun to develop your own stories like this, but it’s surprisingly fun to analyze movies and books with it too. It improves your storytelling ability, I’ve found. Practice makes perfect.

This is a checklist one can fill out to see whether or not they possibly have PTSD. This checklist can be used to aid in communicating symptoms with a professional, or for self-diagnosis. All information is pulled from the DSM-5 and from the book Overcoming Trauma and PTSD. 

Section I Must check ONE or more of the following:

I have directly experienced a traumatic event.

I witnessed a traumatic event, in person, as it occurred to someone else.

I learned of a traumatic event which happened to someone very close to me. (In the case of actual or threatened death of a family member, the event was violent and/or accidental.)

I have repeatedly experienced extreme exposure to details of traumatic events. (Example: being a medical first responder) (Note: does not include exposure through television or other forms of media)

__ / 4

Section II Must check ONE or more of the following:

I have recurrent, involuntary, and intrusive distressing memories about the traumatic event I experienced.

I have recurrent, distressing dreams in which the content is related to the traumatic event I experienced.

I experience dissociation, in which I feel the traumatic event is occurring again. I may have flashbacks or simply lose touch with the world around me.

I experience intense and prolonged distress when I am exposed to internal or external things which remind me of the traumatic event I experienced.

__ / 4

Section III Must check ONE or both of the following:

I try to avoid distressing memories, thoughts, and feelings which are closely related to the traumatic event I experienced. 

I try to avoid external reminders (certain people, places, conversations, activities, objects, or situations) which arouse distressing memories, thoughts, and feelings about the traumatic event I experienced.

__ / 2

Section IV Must check TWO or more of the following:

I have trouble remembering specific and sometimes important details about the event. 

I persistently have negative beliefs about myself, the people around me, and the world in general. Such as that I am a bad person, or that people cannot be trusted.

I have persistent, distorted cognitions about the cause or the consequences about the traumatic event I experienced, which leads to my blaming myself or others for what happened.

I find myself in a negative emotional state a lot of the time, such as fear or horror or anger or guilt or shame.

I have lost interest in participating in significant activities.

I often feel detached or estranged from others.

It’s often very hard for me to experience positive emotions, such as happiness or satisfaction, or even loving feelings.

__ / 7

Section V Must check TWO or more of the following:

I sometimes have irritable behavior or angry outbursts.

I partake in reckless or self-destructive behavior.

I am sometimes hypervigilant.

I have an exaggerated startle response.

I have difficulty concentrating.

I have difficulty sleeping.

__ / 6

Section VI Must check ALL of the following:

I have been experiencing these symptoms for longer than one month.

These symptoms have caused significant distress and impairment in my every day life.

My symptoms have not been caused by a medication, drug use, or another medical condition.

Section VII Common Symptoms and Behaviors (not required for diagnosis)

I feel anxious and worried a lot.

I am easily startled.

No matter how much I try, I can’t remember specific details of my past.

Since the event happened, I have lost interest in things I used to enjoy.

I don’t feel as connected or as close to people as I used to be.

I sometimes feel completely emotionally numb.

I rarely make plans for the future.

I have difficulty picturing the future at all.

Sometimes reminders of what happened to me can have a physical effect on me, such as light-headedness or an upset stomach.

I experienced prolonged periods of sadness or hopelessness.

I am unable to keep up with my daily routine, such as going to work or school or doing chores around the home.

I sometimes blame myself for what happened to me.

I feel guilty about what I did and didn’t do during the traumatic event.

__ / 13

Absolutely no one:

Dick Grayson:

“Dick, can you please just walk normally for once?”

These horrific, sexist, racist paragraphs - screenshotted and shared for posterity by James Smythe, to whom we are all indebted - are the work of one Liam O’Flynn, a writer and English teacher. Evidently, they come from his book Writing With Stardust: the Ultimate Descriptive Guide for students, parents, teachers, and lovers of English, and are intended as examples of good writing.

UM.

Dear white male writers: DO NOT DO THIS SHIT. IT IS SUPER GROSS AND FETISHISTIC AND ALSO TERRIBLE WRITING. THIS IS WHY WE CAN’T HAVE NICE THINGS. 

Like I just. “Her virility-brown eyes -” WHAT DOES THIS EVEN MEAN? How can you have an “Amazonian figure” ON a “wafer-thin body” when “figure” is a word that describe’s a body’s shape, and Amazonian means pretty much the DIRECT FUCKING OPPOSITE of “wafer-thin” in the first place?  What the shitting fuck does ANY of this mean, apart from “I am only nebulously familiar with the concept of women and completely at a loss if I can’t compare their various bodyparts to jewels, animals and footstuffs”?

STOP 

GO TO WRITING JAIL

GO DIRECTLY TO WRITING JAIL, DO NOT PASS GO, DO NOT COLLECT $200

lovers of english

“I loved her nebulous, eden-green eyes which were a-sparkle with the ‘joie de vivre’. They were like two beryl-green jewels melted onto snow.”

1. what the fuck is joie de vivre

2. melted jewels?

3. beryl green

eden green:

You guys here is the description of the book on Amazon.

This entire post was a trip.

That last comment is more inspirational than it should be.

*clears throat* SO…

No woman looks like that.

Two paragraphs on contradicting features and a ‘oh yeah she has a personality I think’ is a 12/10 effort on objectifying woman.

No woman looks like that.

Have you even met a human woman in your 'single but long term relationship’.

Your sex doll doesn’t count as a model or a relationship.

No woman looks like that.

Please never write another word you are embarrassing yourself, degrading half the population and lowering the quality of all literature.

No woman looks like that.

Hi Guys,

I don’t normally do this but the Bushfires in Australia has been devastating and heartbreaking and even borderline apocalyptic. I’m an animal lover and watching the news and seeing the burnt carcasses of koalas and kangaroos and all the innocent wildlife has really broken my heart. Even worse than GOT S8.

Anyways If you can, please donate to WIRES. It’s a wildlife fund that specifically cares and rescues the animals seriously injured and baby animals who were left orphaned. Gods... seeing those monstrous flames destroying everything, I kinda felt like Arya on the ground while King’s Landing burned. I’m angry, I’m sad and beyond heartbroken. I’m not even Australian. Went to Melbourne once and the Australians were all friendly and nice to me and my family.

Anyways, here’s the link to donate: https://www.wires.org.au/donate/emergency-fund

To all Australians on tumblr and everywhere. My heart is with you in this difficult time and so are many others.

If you are a worldbuilder and/or writer and/or just want to help, please buy a package from VulgarLang.com. 100% of profits go straight to WIRES.

VulgarLang is a programme which generates original languages from scratch, super useful if you want to create original languages but don’t know how or where to start. 

You have as much or as little control over the language as you want, and there are 100 quadrillion unique and usable possible generations. You do not need to know anything about linguistics to start, the website itself has a variety of tabs to assist and inform you.

Right now, 100% of all purchases on this programme goes straight to WIRES.

There are three versions: demo (free), full ($15 USD) and pro ($20 USD). If you go to the link above (https://www.vulgarlang.com/buy/), you can both buy a package (with Paypal OR a debit/credit card) and compare the features of each. You’ll notice there are few differences between pro and full, but please consider getting pro anyway - every $1 counts, imagine what $20 will do!

Why should I do this?

If you’re anything like me you’re normally short on cash and stingy with charity, but there cannot be exceptions this time. An entire continent is collapsing. Entire towns, cities, wildlife, indigenous cultures and ecosystems could perish if not enough people help.

This isn’t just a charity donation, you receive something in return too. So hit two birds with one stone: help save Australia from Hell on Earth, AND get a fucking awesome worldbuilding/conlanging tool with a one-off payment for life.

It was created in Sydney, Australia. The fires are a matter true to the creator’s heart, even more so than to us foreigners outside looking in. Support this creator by spreading the word, buying a version and helping them save their home.

Hi Guys,

I don’t normally do this but the Bushfires in Australia has been devastating and heartbreaking and even borderline apocalyptic. I’m an animal lover and watching the news and seeing the burnt carcasses of koalas and kangaroos and all the innocent wildlife has really broken my heart. Even worse than GOT S8.

Anyways If you can, please donate to WIRES. It’s a wildlife fund that specifically cares and rescues the animals seriously injured and baby animals who were left orphaned. Gods... seeing those monstrous flames destroying everything, I kinda felt like Arya on the ground while King’s Landing burned. I’m angry, I’m sad and beyond heartbroken. I’m not even Australian. Went to Melbourne once and the Australians were all friendly and nice to me and my family.

Anyways, here’s the link to donate: https://www.wires.org.au/donate/emergency-fund

To all Australians on tumblr and everywhere. My heart is with you in this difficult time and so are many others.

If you are a worldbuilder and/or writer and/or just want to help, please buy a package from VulgarLang.com. 100% of profits go straight to WIRES.

VulgarLang is a programme which generates original languages from scratch, super useful if you want to create original languages but don’t know how or where to start. 

You have as much or as little control over the language as you want, and there are 100 quadrillion unique and usable possible generations. You do not need to know anything about linguistics to start, the website itself has a variety of tabs to assist and inform you.

Right now, 100% of all purchases on this programme goes straight to WIRES.

There are three versions: demo (free), full ($15 USD) and pro ($20 USD). If you go to the link above (https://www.vulgarlang.com/buy/), you can both buy a package (with Paypal OR a debit/credit card) and compare the features of each. You’ll notice there are few differences between pro and full, but please consider getting pro anyway - every $1 counts, imagine what $20 will do!

Why should I do this?

If you’re anything like me you’re normally short on cash and stingy with charity, but there cannot be exceptions this time. An entire continent is collapsing. Entire towns, cities, wildlife, indigenous cultures and ecosystems could perish if not enough people help.

This isn’t just a charity donation, you receive something in return too. So hit two birds with one stone: help save Australia from Hell on Earth, AND get a fucking awesome worldbuilding/conlanging tool with a one-off payment for life.

It was created in Sydney, Australia. The fires are a matter true to the creator’s heart, even more so than to us foreigners outside looking in. Support this creator by spreading the word, buying a version and helping them save their home.

1. Obvious exposition.

Husband: “Darling, how long have we been married now?”

Wife: “Silly, it’s been 20 years. Remember Hawaii – the North Shore?”

Husband: “Oh yeah, that little honeymoon cottage.”

When your characters seem to be speaking more to the audience than to each other, you are being obvious. When two characters tell each other things they both already know, that’s almost always “obvious exposition.” Allow exposition to emerge naturally in the context of the story; don’t force anything.

2. Exaggeration.

I recently read a script where every single character used the f-bomb in most of their speeches. It gave me the impression that the screenwriter lacked imagination and/or did not understand his characters enough to know how they talked and/or was exaggerating the emotions of the characters to compensate for weak motivation or story context.

Oh, and by the way, just one exclamation point is plenty; and you may not need the one. In Shawshank Redemption, the warden approaches Andy who is in solitary confinement. He tells Andy that the man who could prove his innocence is dead. Andy tells the warden to have H&R Block do his taxes; he’s done. Then, in the screenplay, the warden yells at Andy; but in the movie, the warden’s speech is whispered with intensity. The movie version is more effective.

Most writers have a tendency to exaggerate character emotions. I remember recently explaining to a writer that five of her characters sobbed at various times in the script. That’s overwriting. Sometimes, trying to control emotion has more impact than actually expressing emotion.

3. Derivative dialogue.

Avoid clichés and lines we’ve heard in other movies. An occasional allusion to another movie or literary work can be effective, but I’ve already heard “We’re not in Kansas anymore” at least a hundred times (or so it seems).

4. Everyday pleasantries.

Sue: “Hi!”

Bill: “How are you?”

Sue: “Fine.”

Bill: “How’s the dog these days?”

Sue: “Getting along great.”

Boring. Avoid chit-chat, unless it is original and interesting. (See #7 below.)

On rare occasions, there can be a dramatic purpose for such talk. Recall the scene in Fatal Attraction when the Michael Douglas character walks into his home and sees his wife talking to his lover. At this point,his wife does not know about his affair. Then, his wife makes formal introductions.

Dan (Michael Douglas): “I don’t believe we’ve met.”

Alex (Glenn Close):  “…Oh, we’ve definitely met.”

This is one of the rare instances where chit-chat is dramatic and suspenseful.

5. Unnecessary repetition.

Repeating a particular phrase or line can be effective, as with “Here’s looking at you, Kid” in Casablanca. One instance sets up the next.

The kind of repetition that seldom works dramatically is repeating information the audience already heard a couple of scenes ago. It creates a sense of stasis, and the story feels like it’s dragging.

6. No room for subtext.

This is obvious writing, but in a different sense than with #1 above. Here we have characters saying precisely what they are thinking or feeling. In other words, the subtext is stated rather than implied.

Generally, you’re best off having characters beat around the bush, imply their meaning, speak metaphorically, say one thing by saying something else, or use the double entendre.

No, you don’t need room for subtext in every single speech.

7. Unoriginal speeches.

This is similar to #3, but it has a different dimension. When a character’s speeches could be delivered by any character in the screenplay, you have a problem. I am referring to typical, ordinary, expected lines that virtually anyone could have said and that have little originality.