“And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in.”
— Haruki Murakami, Kafka On The Shore.
*Feeling my ears pop, I opened my mouth to release the pressure. The bombardier tilted slightly to the left and began a slow and steady turn. Gradually, everything began to come into view. I was in awe when a sea of clouds bathed in golden light caught my eyes. Down below, the ground looked like square plots on a huge map of some kind.
If you get punched in the nose your eyes will water, a lot, even if it didn’t really hurt
Your body follows your head, your head gets pushed one way and your body will want to go that way
Getting hit in the stomach isn’t good, it hurts, getting hit in the diaphragm is worse. Causes your lungs to kinda spasm and make it hard to breathe (diaphragm is between stomach and chest)
When fighting a larger person they will have an easier time forcing you back
The jaw is the knockout button. Hit it hard enough and down for the count
Back of the head is very vulnerable, can cause serious damage if hit there
Kidney punches. They hurt. A lot.
People with experience will try to be where they are comfortable. A wrestler will try to get their opponent on the ground, a boxer will stay on their feet, etc.
Easiest counter to a kick is to get closer to whoever is throwing it, then they won’t have enough room for it to be effective
If you want realism, avoid fancy, flashy moves. They’re less practical and easier to counter.
A small tip: if your characters have a traumatic experience, and they have nightmares about it, more often than not, those dreams will not be a play by play of what happened, but will often hold symbolism to the event than the actual event itself
These dreams can often not be genuinely scary but can leave you feel shaken and unrested when you do wake up. It may take your characters hours to let go of the feeling
It is also common to have the same dream roccur often. It might be unsettling enough that your characters will try to avoid sleeping for as long as they can, or will they to self medicate in some way to try to make the dream go away
A common reoccurring dream I had after my mom died was I would be watching her die, similar to how she did, but it was faster, and then we had her cremated. But the next day [in the dream] she would be back on the couch, just like any other day, as if she had not died the day before. But then futher on into the dream she would slowly start to decinigrate into ashes, but it would be ten times slower and it would be like losing her all over again
I would sleep completely through the dream and not wake up in some cold sweat or hyperventilating, tho that’s not to say that’s never happened before , but the next morning I would be shaken when I did wake up and it took me hours to get back to normal. I had that same dream several times over the last few years, and it still makes me shaken, but not to that same extent as the first time. That can happen over time with desensitization
Flashbacks work the same way. They’re not often a perfect play by play of what happened, but can be flashes of what happened. Or it can not be visual at all
You have five senses, and certain tastes or smells or sounds or touch can be just as impactful as visual flashbacks. For the most part, unless you have a disability that prevents otherwise (like being d/Deaf, or blind), all five of those senses are working together at the same time and each can carry their own weight in trauma
Especially when traumatic things are happening, adrenaline is rushing through you, or you are in a high stress situation. Parts of you are processing things faster than other parts of you. Your brain is working to take in everything that is happening and sometimes things are not always remembered correctly
If you’re having trouble developing a character for one of your stories, here’s an idea that may help you. Create a Pinterest board for that character and pin the following things:
Things they would like
Food they would eat
Clothes they would wear
Places they like to go
Places they dream of going
Elements of their culture
Elements of their religion (if they have one)
Where they live
Color palettes that fit them
Their aesthetic
Quotes that relate to them
Seeing all of these things together in the same board may help you visualize the character more.
It can be hard to find that balance between a character that is too perfect for readers to love and a character that is too flawed for readers to relate to.
Something I like to remember when thinking of flaws to give characters is that very often, flaws can be positive attributes that are in excess.
(This is related to Aristotle’s Virtues and Doctrine of the Mean.)
FOR INSTANCE,
Courage is a positive trait.
But taken too far? That can lead to rashness, or recklessness, which are negative traits. And without enough courage? The character is meak, fearful and cowardly, which are also negative traits.
Here are some examples to think of for your characters of positive traits taken to the extremes.
If you’re looking to be a writer, chances are you’re already pretty good in an English or Language Arts class. But aside from studying older literature to learn from, focusing exclusively on Language Arts materials is only going to get you so far. So, here are some subjects I’ve studied that I’ve found helpful to my writing.
Psychology: Since Psychology is the study of behavior, this is a good tool to study if you’re having problems with characterization. Understanding how people act and what thought processes cause people to take certain actions. This can help you give a character a more realistic response after experiencing emotional trauma, or may just help you slip into someone else’s mindset in order to write them better.
Cultural Anthropology: This may be more vital if you write Fantasy or Science Fiction, since both genres tend to require world building. Understanding the cultural element of society, what shapes it, and how it impacts behaviors, social norms, and etiquette can make worldbuilding easier for you.
History: If you write Fantasy, War Dramas, or Historical Fiction, the subject of history is going to be your best friend. Whether it’s pulling from real people, events, or conflicts, history is littered with a goldmine of possible story ideas.
Screenwriting/Playwriting: If you struggle with ‘show don’t tell’ or dialogue, this is probably going to be a useful skill to learn. Since films and plays tend to lack an internal narration, they’ll push you to have to learn how to convey information visually or through dialogue, taking away the crutch of narration. This can also be useful as a means of writing a skeleton version of your chapters with just basic setting and dialogue and then go in later and fill in the narration elements.
Linguistics/Phonology: If you want to create conlangs (constructed languages) for your story’s setting, then learning about the building blocks of language can be advantageous.
What senses do they rely on the most? Not all animals rely primarily on sight. Also keep in mind that some of their senses might be significantly weaker or stronger than ours and they might even be able to sense things we can’t at all.
How do their beliefs about morality differ from ours? Do they even view things in terms of good and evil?
How intelligent are they? Are their certain concepts they can’t understand?
How do they communicate? What is their primary method of communication and how has that shaped their culture?
How have historical interactions with humans shaped their view of us? Do they view us as helpful? Threats? Just plain weird?
How anthropomorphic are they? It’s inevitable for all of your characters to act like humans to some extent (readers couldn’t relate to them or understand them well otherwise), but different works can give the same species different human traits (religion, art, complex thinking, etc.).
What kinds of resources do they need to survive? Consider the food they eat, the kinds of shelter they use, and other basic survival needs.
How has their environment shaped their behavior and culture?
How similar are they to real animals?
What is the species’s role in the food chain? What do they eat? What eats them?
Some genres shy away from antagonists that take the form of a person or physical being. Adult contemporary especially tends to focus on internal antagonism. Side antagonists can be found in all types of stories, though, and they don’t all have to be a person. It’s good to mix it up and keep it interesting!
character development, characterization, unnecessary characters
point-of-view consistency, showing vs telling, voice
motivation, goals, conflict, tension, tone
back story, plot holes, loose story threads
scene order, flow, and pace
2. Line Edit
This step zooms into the paragraph and sentence level of the story. The intention here is to tighten up and smooth out the writing, and iron out any style issues. Things that will be looked at include:
sentence structure, wordiness, paragraph flow
word choice, word repetition, overused words
clichés (the phrase kind, not the concept kind)
weak transitions, overall clarity
3. Copy Edit
This step is about clean-up and consistency. It’s the phase where a fine polish is buffed into the surface of the story. No major edits will occur from this point onward. Things that will be looked at include:
grammar and punctuation
use of active voice over passive voice
continuity and overall cohesiveness
4. Proofread
The goal of this step is to look one last time for errors and things that need to be changed. Things that will be looked at include:
typos
overlooked errors in grammar, punctuation, and capitalization
5. Formatting
If your book is being traditionally published, you only need to worry about putting your manuscript into the format preferred by the agent or publisher you’re sending it to. If you’re self-publishing, this stage is a little bit trickier, because e-books and print books require slightly different formatting. There are guides online for how to do it, or you can pay someone to format your book for you. Just do your homework to make sure you’re choosing a good service. There’s also software that will help you format your book, or you can look into services like Pressbooks.
#WCW: With one of my heroes, Caridad de la Luz aka @labrujanyc #latergram #latinos #nyc #greattimes #RBATC #nerdygirldiaries #latinosbreakthemold #Latism #writer #poet #spokenwordartist #actress #janeofalltrades
Bought this beauty on holiday in Dublin at Winding Stair Bookstore, I just couldn’t resist that cover! I’ve always only seen the movie, never read the book. Now is the perfect time to remedy that - just in time for the flight back home in a couple of days.
