Reverse Dictionary

Take advantage of this site, it’s super helpful when looking for similar and different words or phrases. Yes, you can type whole phrases and get alternatives. Way to spice up your creative writing

Hint, click on any word to get its definition.

Reverse Dictionary

Write in the Morning☕️

Obviously, this isn’t feasible for everyone and I totally get it. But here are some benefits:

1. You write better just after a good night’s sleep as your mind is fresh.
2. Less distractions.

Here are some tips to make this happen:

Grab some coffee, tea, whatever you like.

DO NOT check Facebook, email, or jump on any other social media. (You’ll get easily distracted for hours.)

Make a routine. Write at the same time every morning and your body will adjust.

Set an alarm. I like to wake up around 4AM and write for 2-3 hours. (Don’t recommend, but it works for me and that’s just what my body wants to do ‍♀️)

Side note:

Write whenever your schedule allows. I used to write well into the night and made excellent progress on my novels. But now days I’m too tired in the evenings.

Share what works best. If you decide to start a morning routine, I hope these tips help ❤️

Ideas for Writer’s Block

• Search Pinterest for photography relevant to your WIP. I find “nature” and “character inspiration” help a lot. Visualizing your character, their house, their car, can really help you break through writer’s block as it opens your mind to detail. You can just start describing what you see!
• Listen to music.This often sets the “mood” for writing. Not for everyone, but definitely works for me! I like to pretend my character is the voice singing and then ask questions, why, what, where, and who.
• Read, read, read books. I find that reading gets me in the mood for writing. I’ve gone through months of writer’s block and then the moment I pick up a book and start reading, I’m like “okay, where’s my laptop?”. And then a whole novel is spat out in a matter of days.
• Newspaper. Sounds old and boring, but I tried it the other morning and it worked. Just read through the columns and see if anything stands out. A lot of times, I use them to help me think up book titles. Magazines work just as well.
• Just let it flowand don’t stop. Don’t overthink it. Set a timer for 30 minutes and just write until the timer goes off. Sometimes we get caught up trying to make each sentence immaculate. That’s what editing is for later. The longer you hang up on a chapter or scene the worse is gets. Just write. Move past it. And don’t look back.

I hope these tips helped! Good luck! If you’d like to share your tips for writer’s block, please feel free in the comments below. ❤️

Specific Traits

~Hair~

Hair color is fun to describe but it’s not very telling or unique. Two, three, or four characters in your book might have blonde hair. You could easily describe them as having different shades like yellow-blond, white-blonde, and dark blonde. But you can be far more effective if you describe hair characteristics.

Here’s what I mean:

Style- do they wear their hair in a bun, ponytail, or long and wild down their back? Do they straighten it or curl it?

Texture- is it thin and wispy or heavy strands that curl under at the ends? Is it glossy in the light or coarse and dull?

Smell- you can get away with this one as long as you don’t overuse it. For instance, does your character shower with coconut shampoo or wear hair mist from Bath and Body Works?

Use the examples above to broaden your description of hair.

Example:

Kandace’s glossy blonde hair smelled like honeysuckles, reminding me of summer.

Describing Eyes

The eyes are often called the “windows to the soul”. They tell so much about a person. That’s why describing the eyes of your character will give passion and detail about them as well as paint a picture in your readers’ minds.

Here are some words to consider using when describing eyes:

• Dark

• Icy

• Piercing

• Cold

• Hard

• Deep

• Loving

• Passionate

• Severe

• Kind

• Scary

• Confused

• Intense

• Twinkling

Use these even when describing color like: Her deep parrot blue eyes.Or,His intense brown-eyed stare. These are words commonly used when describing eyes and give depth to your descriptions.

Eye Shape:

This is a very visual aspect for your readers to grasp on to. Does the character have squinty eyes or large round eyes? Here are some shapes to consider:

• Round

• Almond-shaped

• Protruding

• Wide

• Downturned

• Deep-set

• Hooded

• Thin

• Upturned

• Big

• Small

You could say: Her round blue eyes glistened.Or,his intense deep-set eyes were navy.

Frequently consider, color, description, and shape. This is a great start, and your readers will love it!

When describing eyes, don’t be afraid to let your creativity shine through. Think further than color and shape and consider attaching thoughts and emotions to your description. I’ll show you:

Instead of:

Her round blue eyes glistened.

Try:

Her round blue eyes glistened like they were afraid to cry.

Instead of:

His intense deep-set eyes were navy.

Try:

His intense deep-set eyes were navy. The kind of blue that screamed to be noticed.

Be careful not to get caught up describing one thing and one thing only. If all you ever do is pick a color off the color list then your description will be lacking. Instead, try to use a balance. Not every sentence has to be deep and crazy. Here and there, you can get by with “she had blue eyes” or “his hazel eyes teared up”. That’s fine. Just make sure there’s a balance.

Be unique! Be different! And don’t suppress your beautiful creativity. ❤️

-from my upcoming book “How to Write Charcters”.

(Hehe)

Did you write today?

How about yesterday? Or the day before that?

Don’t worry if you haven’t! Even if it’s been a few weeks. The most important thing is that you get back into the groove of writing.

This means opening up that WIP that you’ve been stalling on and write a few words. Here’s a tip if you find that task to be extremely difficult: (trust me, I’ve been there.)

• Use imagery - this can be anything! Google or search images on Pinterest and find something relevant to your story. Try searching under “character inspiration” or “nature”. I find this to be most helpful.

My current WIP is a historical fiction and I can’t tell you how many images I’ve searched under “castle” “medieval” and “nature”. It helps so much when you’re feeling stuck or can’t seem to visualize your scene/setting.

If you look up characters, try to describe the character being as descriptive as possible. Discern the emotion on their face, hair color, the little freckle on their left cheek. And if you want to take it further, you can describe their past or what secrets you think they’re hiding. This is a great way to get the creative flow going again. 

Good luck ☺️

Start your Book by Describing Detail

It can be anything. A cup of coffee with milky swirls. An emotion like fear or anger. The way a soft blanket feels in bed. Just begin describing something in detail and let it guide you into the next paragraph and see what you come up with. This can be helpful with writer’s block as well.

Watch as I describe a sweater:

I loved that red sweater. Not the balled-up fabric that felt scratchy against my skin. But the memories soaked into the material. The sleeves stained with mascara tears.

-from my upcoming book ❤️

Describe Vs Explain

You’ve probably heard “show don’t tell”. This is another way of phrasing that. And a lot of writers have found that it clicks better. ☺️

Describe don’t explain!

Writing Tip of the Day:

• Read what you want to produce.

When you read suspense, you’re teaching yourself how to write suspense. When you read romance, you’re teaching yourself how to write romance. And so on and so forth.

Here are some tips for learning while you read:

▪️Study the sentence structure.

▪️Study the paragraph.

▪️Study the dialogue.

▪️Ask yourself what makes you like to read this book? What keeps you hooked? Captivated?

▪️What words or positioning of words builds suspense.

▪️How does the author describe characters?

▪️How does the author describe scenery?

▪️How does the author describe emotions?

▪️Study the pacing of the story

Keep in mind, just by reading (without purposely studying) your brain is going to work learning how to write.

Read what you want to produce! It’s a great way to stay inspired and keep you in the writing mood ☺️

Inner Thought:

▪️gives reader a deeper insight into your characters’ personalityandmotivations

▪️reveals characters’ true feelings

▪️moves story forward

▪️increases plot conflict

Read this example:

“You know you’re basically just keeping the

kids out of the way, right?” The chief’s tone

was calm, but his eyes were wary.

Avery stiffened.

“Yeah,” she said through a mouthful of fried

egg. “I know.”

He chucked her shoulder. “Don’t be like

that. When you’re of age, you can show off

your detective skills. Until then, we do things

by the book.”

Avery looked away.

Vs.

“You know you’re basically just keeping the

kids out of the way, right?” The chief’s tone

was calm, but his eyes were wary.

Avery stiffened. She had been on more miss-

ing-person searches—unofficially, as she was

underage—than most of the officers on her

father’s staff. But being sixteen kept her on

“kid patrol,” basically babysitting while the

adult volunteers tromped through the forest,

potentially ruining scads of evidence while

pretending they were a bunch of television

CSIS, no doubt.

“Yeah,” she said through a mouthful of fried

egg. “I know.”

He chucked her shoulder. “Don’t be like

that. When you’re of age, you can show off

your detective skills. Until then, we do things

by the book.”

Avery looked away, thinking about her

mother, about how she would zing the chief in

the ribs and remind him not to be so serious.

“By the book,” she would mock in a terrible

baritone. “I’m the big, bad chief.”

Example excerpt taking from “The Escape” by Hannah Jayne. She started off on wattpad ☺️ you can check out her book here -

https://amzn.to/2OVNt4e

Dialogue is so so important! If your reader sees that you know what you’re doing, they’re more likely to read your book ☺️ this book is only 4.99 on amazon, link posted below! Happy writing!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0910355142/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0910355142&linkCode=as2&tag=annalec16-20&linkId=81d40db14361a21eef2c9c5d7234faad

Also, this is a treasure! Especially for my fellow wattpaders out there. If you want to successfully publish on wattpad, this book is a necessity. Good luck! Link posted below…

https://amzn.to/3908Qbg

POV’s

▪️Third person Omniscient:

The narrator knows everything and can jump between multiple characters’ thoughts, feelings, and perspectives.

Pronouns:he, she, they, it

Example:

She stared at his face but didn’t know what he was thinking. But he thought she could read the jealousy on his expression.

▪️Third Person Limited:

The narrator stays with one character’s point of view at a time.

Pronouns:he, she, they, it

Example:

She stared at his face but didn’t know what he was thinking.

▪️First person:

There isn’t a narrator. The story is told from an individual’s or group’s point of view.

Pronouns:I, we

Example:

I stared at his face but didn’t know what he was thinking.

▪️Second Person:

The story is told from the readers’ perspective.

Pronouns:you

Example:

You stare at his face but don’t know what he’s thinking.

Writing advice you will probably hate:

▪️DO NOT edit until after your work in progress is finished

Reasons:

1. You will quench your creative flow

2. You will get frustrated

3. It will take 10 years to finish your book and you will still hate it.

4. You’ll beat yourself up

5. editing is more productive once your work is finished.

Ways to avoid this:

1. Keep writing and don’t look back

2. Finish from beginning to literally “the end”

3. Remember, becoming a good writer isn’t magically writing everything perfect the first time around. It’s learning to edit. And edit. And edit again.

Don’t worry, you got this!☺️

Clarity

Writing clear sentences can be hard so follow this example and I’ll show you how to make it easier.

Vs.

It can be hard to write clear sentences. But I’ll show you how to make it easier. ✔️

Words to cut:

▪️Which

▪️By the way of

▪️Of

▪️Incidentally

▪️Because of

▪️Clearly

▪️Obviously

▪️felt

▪️heard

▪️smelled

▪️therefore

▪️was(to be verbs)

▪️words ending in “ing”

▪️words ending in “ly”

The car roared loudly down the street. ✖️

Vs.

The car roared down the street ✔️

(“Roared” already says the car was loud and we don’t need to add “loudly” so watch out for your adjectives ending in “ly”.)

▪️something (try to be more specific)

She felt something strange.

Vs.

Her stomach twisted in a knot.

▪️cut out unnecessary words.

Note:

Some of the words listed make your sentences clearer. If so, leave them be. Delete the words I listed when it makes sense.

Good luck!❤️

4 TOP TIPS for Relatable Characters:

▪️Give them GOALS:goals drive your characters forward and the sooner you establish their goals the better off your story.

Goals can be anything from sadness, wanting to win an award, trying to overcome anxiety, wanting to open their own restaurant etc.

▪️make them FAIL:if the guy gets the girl by chapter 3 it doesn’t make for a good story. There has to be struggle, conflict, and failure.

▪️Make them VULNERABLE:everyone has flaws. If you make your character flawless then you risk your readers not being able to relate. The vulnerability can be something secret and buried deep within like past hurt that shows up in the form of jealousy and so on.

Vulnerabilities can be an addiction, lust for power, vanity, anger, anxiety, dishonesty, etc.

▪️Give them FEARS:fear is one of the most relatable traits and can range from fear of dying, fear of certain insects, fear of the dark, fear of falling in love, the list goes on.

Also, your characters’ fear more than likely will tie into their goals. Their fears will prevent them from reaching their goals or be the very problem their trying to overcome. This makes for a good read☺️

Check out these books for more “character” ideas and help:

https://amzn.to/3tHZbhK

Build Better Characters: The psychology of backstory & how to use it in your writing to hook readers (Creative Academy Guides for Writers Bo

Introducing Characters:

1. Introduce your characters with action,mannerismsanddialogue:

I was running, panting, sweating but I knew my lean body could take it. It’s what I had been training for my entire life. I punched with my arms harder and harder, feeling my lungs burn as they begged me to stop. Then, suddenly pain shot up my leg and into my hip and I watched the world spin into hues of dark green as I collapsed and hit the ground. ✔️

“D-Don’t hurt me,” she cried with a trembling lip as she backed against the wall. ✔️

“If you hurt me you’ll be sorry,” she said, crossing her arms and glaring at the intruder. ✔️

▪️This is more effective than describing your character’s hair and eye color:

My hair was dark brown and my eyes were pale blue and that day I was wearing a red sweater with blue jeans which looked great on my figure. My skin was tanned from the long summer and I had just gotten my hair highlighted.✖️

My best friend walked up beside me with her brown hair curled perfectly and her red lips smiling. She was wearing a tight white shirt and a blue-jeaned skirt. Her skin was pale and freckled and her eyes were the color of the ocean.✖️

2. Focus on character traits:

I chewed my nails, watching the doors. What if someone came in to attack me? What if something exploded outside? ✔️

My best friend covered her mouth let out a boisterous laugh. “Let’s prank your sister!”✔️

I watched the girl pass me in envy and wanted to ruin her perfect little day. But how? ✔️

▪️we learn so much more about a character when we learn who they arenotwhat they look like but physical traits are important too.

▪️Try “sneaking” physical traits in with mannerism and action:

I watched the girl pass me in envy twisting a long lock of my brown hair. I wanted to ruin her perfect little day. But how? ✔️

My best friend covered her mouth and her blue eyes widened as a boisterous laugh escaped her lips. “Let’s prank your sister!”✔️

3.Read books by your favorite authorsandpayattention to how they describe characters☺️

Writing Hooks

• Start your book with an onomatopoeia: (Sounds words)

Bark!

I jet up in bed with a racing heart. Why is Luna barking at this hour?

Bang!

The sound echoed through the woods, birds hurrying into flight.

• Start your book with repetitive phrases:

No. No. I stared at the torn picture in unbelief.

“Where’s dad? Where’s dad?” I asked, tears running down my face.

• Start your book with ADJECTIVES:

White swirls covered the top of my salted caramelcoffee.

Agiant blue wave crashed over the little blonde-headedgirl.

• Start your book with a personal experience:

I always loved the way rain sounded on a tin roof; it would lull me fast to sleep.

When I was five, my big brother had punched me in the nose. He used to always get away with bullying me.

• Start your book with SETTING:

The neighbors’ house was dark, always shadowed even on a sunny day. The black iron gate that surrounded the mansion kept everyone out and what was in, stayed in.

The park was full of children and their pets, racing back and forth through the sandboxes and dewy morning grass.

Al fuego no le importa la opinión del viento.

Ten cuidado cuando le dices al fuego que no sabe lo que es quemar.

this is something right out of a wattpad fanfic