writing notes & tags

Punctuating Dialogue

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➸ “This is a sentence.”

➸ “This is a sentence with a dialogue tag at the end,” she said.

➸ “This,” he said, “is a sentence split by a dialogue tag.”

➸ “This is a sentence,” she said. “This is a new sentence. New sentences are capitalized.”

➸ “This is a sentence followed by an action.” He stood. “They are separate sentences because he did not speak by standing.”

➸ She said, “Use a comma to introduce dialogue. The quote is capitalized when the dialogue tag is at the beginning.”

➸ “Use a comma when a dialogue tag follows a quote,” he said.

“Unless there is a question mark?” she asked.

“Or an exclamation point!” he answered. “The dialogue tag still remains uncapitalized because it’s not truly the end of the sentence.”

➸ “Periods and commas should be inside closing quotations.”

➸ “Hey!” she shouted, “Sometimes exclamation points are inside quotations.”

However, if it’s not dialogue exclamation points can also be “outside”!

➸ “Does this apply to question marks too?” he asked.

If it’s not dialogue, can question marks be “outside”? (Yes, they can.)

➸ “This applies to dashes too. Inside quotations dashes typically express—“

“Interruption” — but there are situations dashes may be outside.

➸ “You’ll notice that exclamation marks, question marks, and dashes do not have a comma after them. Ellipses don’t have a comma after them either…” she said.

➸ “My teacher said, ‘Use single quotation marks when quoting within dialogue.’”

➸ “Use paragraph breaks to indicate a new speaker,” he said.

“The readers will know it’s someone else speaking.”

➸ “If it’s the same speaker but different paragraph, keep the closing quotation off.

anticipation - bouncing legs - darting eyes - breathing deeply - useless / mindless tasks - eyes on the clock - checking and re-checking

frustration - grumbling - heavy footsteps - hot flush - narrowed eyes - pointing fingers - pacing / stomping

sadness - eyes filling up with tears - blinking quickly - hiccuped breaths - face turned away - red / burning cheeks - short sentences with gulps

happiness - smiling / cheeks hurting - animated - chest hurts from laughing - rapid movements - eye contact - quick speaking

boredom - complaining - sighing - grumbling - pacing - leg bouncing - picking at nails

fear - quick heartbeat - shaking / clammy hands - pinching self - tuck away - closing eyes - clenched hands

disappointment - no eye contact - hard swallow - clenched hands - tears, occasionally - mhm-hmm

tiredness - spacing out - eyes closing - nodding head absently - long sighs - no eye contact - grim smile

I know we don't vibe with Mary Sues, and I know we like watching characters fail...

But if your character is the world's best assassin, they shouldn't be botching nearly every single step of every single job just because the plot demands it. If your character is one of the greatest fighters to ever live, they can't badly lose every single fight the plot throws at them and then barely win the final confrontation. If your character is a competent military strategist, they need at least a few small successes during the course of the plot. If your character is an experienced leader, they can't be constantly making the kind of missteps that realistically would cause their subordinates to lose confidence in them.

Hey friends, Abby here with another writing post! Today I’m coming at you with tips on introducing new places through your character’s eyes — how to do it effectively and naturally, without overwhelming your reads with every little detail.

It’s often hard for readers to pick up on the exact appearance of a place upon the first visit, which is why this isn’t something you should aim for. Try to think of it through the filter of your own mind; if you walked into a museum you’ve never been to before, you wouldn’t expect yourself to remember every single detail, so you shouldn’t hold your readers to the same “standard”. So what would you remember?

What Draws the Eye?

Maybe they walk into someone’s bedroom and the walls are bright green. That would be pretty hard to forget, don’t you think? Most bedrooms don’t have bright green walls, so that’s something you’d probably notice and expect the next time you went into that room. Or maybe you notice how generic the room feels because there’s not much of a personal touch. These are all things you’d come to notice about a room when you enter it; we tend to look at everything holistically before picking out the smaller details. Keep that in mind when you’re writing your character’s very first impression. These could include (but are not limited to):

Stand-out wall colors

Lots of or very little “personal touch”

Clutter or lack thereof

Flow of the room (Does it seem to go well? Does everything seem to direct the character towards a certain view?)

Anything that would be drastically different from what the PoV character considers “normal”

That last one ties in especially when you’re picking out the smaller details. These are the things you might want to hold off on describing all at once, but introduce them slowly to give the reader more of a feel for the room. Details your character might include (but, again, are not limited to):

Any technology, like a computer on the desk

Minor similarities or differences between the new place and what the PoV character considers “normal”

Anything that might define the character who owns the place, if they’re in the story at all

Things that pop or sparkle or somehow draw the PoV character’s eye when they’re looking around

Things that pertain to the PoV character’s interests

Any collections (for example from my room, Taekwondo trophies and belts, or books)

Anything other characters in the room would draw attention to

What’s Important?

Are there things in this area that’ll be important later in the book? Take a second to notice these in your story, even if they just get a sentence. Establishing their existence in this place will help you nail the continuity that makes your life a whole lot easier when you’re seeing what went down earlier. Anything in this room can be important in one way or another, and I mean anything. For example, we’ll take two very different things:

A pencil and a pad of paper

A Swiss army knife

Your character might be needing one of both of these in the future. Maybe they’re writing down the time and place of their next dentist appointment. Or, ya know, maybe they’re fighting for their life against the savage vampire-werewolf-bigfoot hybrid that just broke into their house. Nothing out of the usual, right?

Either way, if your character needs these things at any point, it’s helpful to make the reader aware that they exist somewhere. If your character knows, do your best to convey that information to your readers. Unless you’re using it as a plot device, keeping your readers in the dark can be incredibly frustrating when the knowledge was something trivial.

If you write, you already know that it’s not always easy. Being consistent and motivated is pretty hard sometimes.

What if I told you, scheduling might help keep you on track?

I’m wary of saying that everything will work for writers, because the truth is, we’re all different. The very mention of the word “deadline” could make one writer frazzled and another confident. But I figured, if an author who is writing for a publishing house has to meet deadlines and that’s how they get their books out, then why can’t I set my own to keep myself on track?

So that’s what I did.

Here's what I mean: in a first person present tense narration, something set in the past that the POV character experienced like a flashback would usually be told in past tense--it happened, it isn't happening now. It is, to some degree, the narrator telling the reader what happened. You get, effectively, one degree of separation: it is in the past, it happened it is over.

But by keeping that past event in present tense can give the both that distancing of it being in the past and that emotional closeness and urgency that you get from first person present tense. It is happening now, it is impacting the character now, even if it is over.

''even if I don't write every day?'' Yes.

''even if it goes weeks or months between sessions?'' Yes.

''even if my stories don't get a lot of interactions?'' Yes.

''even if all I write is fanfiction?'' Yes.

''even if I only write for fun?'' Yes.

''even if I'm not very good at what I'm doing?'' Yes.

''even if I don't believe myself worthy of being called one?'' Yes.

''even if the publisher turned me down?'' Yes.

''even if I only write one genre?'' Yes.

''even if I use clichés?'' Yes.

''even if I lack motivation?'' Yes.

''even if I haven't finished a single project?'' Yes.

''even if someone criticized my skill?'' Yes.

You as the author have the opportunity to write it so of course whatever you've implemented is how the story works. Of course everyone lives in spherical city pods in the upper atmosphere; how else would they get enough solar power to keep the pods in the air and above the mother dragons that are protecting their nests? ...or whatever you want to write.

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

Villains who get introduced in an innocuous situation before committing some villainy, too.

This is kinda the effect of the origin of the ninja trope of wearing all black—they portrayed them in stage plays by dressing them up as the prop-moving crew that the audiences had trained themselves to ignore.