Posts tagged "writing"

dunst-rph:

I find that, when writing bios, it’s really helpful to look at a list or a chart like the one above. Picking two or three traits from each chart and building a character based around them will give you a really interesting bio, because they will serve as a reminder that characters need depth and dimension.

Independent and clever.

VS.

Independent, clever, pretentious, and stubborn.

The first combination doesn’t come with any flaws, whereas the second will provide a more dynamic character.

(via leighgasm)

mahbrits: hungrylikethewolfie: andythanfiction: nerdsinmypants: Stages of Deterioration in the Human Body The Moment Of Death: 1. The heart stops. 2. The skin gets tight and ashen in color. 3. All the muscles relax. 4. The bladder and bowels empty.  5. The body temperature begins to drop 1 1/2 degrees Fahrenheit per hour. After 30 minutes: 6. The skin gets purple and waxy. 7. The lips, fingernails, and toenails fade to a pale color. 8. Blood pools at the bottom of the body. 9. The hands and feet turn blue. 10. The eyes sink into the skull. After 4 hours: 11. Rigor mortis has set in. 12. The purpling of the skin and the pooling of the blood continue. 13. Rigor continues to tighten muscles for another 24 hours or so. After 12 hours: 14. The body is in full rigor mortis. After 24 hours: 15. The body is now the temperature of the surrounding environment. 16. In males, the semen dies. 17. The head and neck are now a greenish-blue color. 18. The greenish-blue color spreads to the rest of the body. 19. There is a pervasive smell of rotting meat. After 3 days: 20. The gas in the body tissues forms large blisters on the skin. 21. The whole body begins to bloat and swell grotesquely. 22. Fluids leak from the mouth, nose, vagina, and rectum. After 3 weeks: 23. The skin, hair, and nails are so loose they can easily be pulled off the corpse. 24. The skin bursts open on many places on the body. 25. Decomposition will continue until the body is nothing but skelital remains, a process that can take a month or so in hot climates, and two months or more in cold climates. This is actually pretty interesting. Important for writers…helps avoid either walking in and knowing someone died moments ago “from the smell” (unless that smell is piss and shit), or finding someone dead for a week that “looks like they’re sleeping.” Reblogging for reference. This is the single creepiest website ever and i love all of you

mahbrits:

hungrylikethewolfie:

andythanfiction:

nerdsinmypants:

Stages of Deterioration in the Human Body


The Moment Of Death:
1. The heart stops.
2. The skin gets tight and ashen in color.
3. All the muscles relax.
4. The bladder and bowels empty. 
5. The body temperature begins to drop 1 1/2 degrees Fahrenheit per hour.

After 30 minutes:
6. The skin gets purple and waxy.
7. The lips, fingernails, and toenails fade to a pale color.
8. Blood pools at the bottom of the body.
9. The hands and feet turn blue.
10. The eyes sink into the skull.

After 4 hours:
11. Rigor mortis has set in.
12. The purpling of the skin and the pooling of the blood continue.
13. Rigor continues to tighten muscles for another 24 hours or so.

After 12 hours:
14. The body is in full rigor mortis.

After 24 hours:
15. The body is now the temperature of the surrounding environment.
16. In males, the semen dies.
17. The head and neck are now a greenish-blue color.
18. The greenish-blue color spreads to the rest of the body.
19. There is a pervasive smell of rotting meat.

After 3 days:
20. The gas in the body tissues forms large blisters on the skin.
21. The whole body begins to bloat and swell grotesquely.
22. Fluids leak from the mouth, nose, vagina, and rectum.

After 3 weeks:
23. The skin, hair, and nails are so loose they can easily be pulled off the corpse.
24. The skin bursts open on many places on the body.
25. Decomposition will continue until the body is nothing but skelital remains, a process that can take a month or so in hot climates, and two months or more in cold climates.

This is actually pretty interesting.

Important for writers…helps avoid either walking in and knowing someone died moments ago “from the smell” (unless that smell is piss and shit), or finding someone dead for a week that “looks like they’re sleeping.”

Reblogging for reference.

This is the single creepiest website ever and i love all of you

(via peachead)

prompt request

[Cross-posted on my IJ ♥]

So I want to start writing more often. Period. Naturally, when I was thinking about it, I went back to how awesome January was for writing (even just for practice!), and I’ll probably do something like that again (meaning a blurb every other day). What I need from you guys is some support (which I feel like I always have anyway! ♥), and some prompts.

Now, they don’t have to be RP-related, or themed in any way. They can be totally random, from AUs to non-canon things to completely original and wacky (MEGA-COLON, THE GIANT PUNCTUATION MARK!). I don’t care. And obviously I won’t get to all of them (or maybe I will?), but it’d be really nice to have a list going. SO. 

Prompt away! (Comment, send me an Ask, etc.)

“

When I teach a beginning class, it is good. I have to come back to beginner’s mind, the first way I thought and felt about writing. In a sense, that beginner’s mind is what we must come back to every time we sit down and write. There is no security, no assurance that because we wrote something good two months ago, we will do it again. Actually, every time we begin, we wonder how we ever did it before. Each time is a new journey with no maps.

Natalie Goldberg, from Writing Down the Bones
etteette: artdirections: 5 Ways to be a Happier CreativeWe all know the tortured artist schtick. To be honest, I can be a downer sometimes myself, but I think it would be terrible for us to all perpetuate the idea that being creative and miserable are mutually exclusive.So here’s to being creative and actually enjoying it:1. Refuse to See Your Entire Life Either as a Success or a FailureThe idea here is to never buy into the lie that your life is either successful or failing in terms of your creative output. Think of the most successful creative person you can, if you look closely you can see a series of successes and failures. The best way for me to look at the creative life is as a series of projects which can be successful in some ways and fail in other ways. For instance, some projects are really successful in the development of your skill but not financially advantageous. Also, don’t believe that there is some level of success where you have now “arrived” or attained a level of success which can never been denied to you, like being hailed a “creative genius” with endless financial gain, forever. I could tell you many examples of artists and musicians who seem like they have “arrived”  with one project and then completely fail the next. 2. Make Something EverydayWill Bryant says something like, “I make stuff because if I don’t I get sad”. A silly and profound statement. Last year I did a daily drawing project where I created a new character every weekday. I found this statement to ring very true.This practice gave me a sense of creative productivity every single day, which is a serious morale booster. Even if you don’t show anyone, it can help you feel prolific and unlimited in your creative abilities, which in turn increases your confidence.3. Be AuthenticThis is huge. Many people have done amazing things in creativity and have received many rewards, successes and prizes for them. So there is a lot of incentive for YOU to be THEM. But the trick is knowing the truth: you CAN’T be them. Trying to be something you are not will make you feel like an old sock. You already know this, but I thought I’d remind you.4. Know Your PurposeShooting aimlessly into the dark can feel like…shooting aimlessly into the dark. Your purpose doesn’t have to be mind meltingly important. I like the humble yet ambitious purpose the great Debbie Millman has taken upon herself to “try to make the supermarket more beautiful”. Try to clarify what you want to achieve overall so that everything you do has a sense of purpose. Purpose equals meaning, and to most creatives I know, a sense of meaning is why they want to make art and why they DO NOT want to work in a factory.5. Address and Defeat Your FearsThat dreadful fear is a bully that is killing your soul and it should be stood up to. Listen to it, don’t ignore it. Hear what it’s actually saying and then dismantle it. Talk to someone about it openly, if the fear is tied to reality, then face it and take it down with integrity. If it’s all lies, all smoke and mirrors then let it disappear in the cloud of smoke that it is. If you are doing super boring unadventurous work, you won’t have any fears at all…but who wants to do that?Hope this makes you a bit happier today. - Andy J. MillerP.S. To tackle the piling up questions here on this tumblr I have started taking on 1 hour video creative coaching, for more info click here. Thank you Andy ! I needed these reminders today. 

etteette:

artdirections:

5 Ways to be a Happier Creative

We all know the tortured artist schtick. To be honest, I can be a downer sometimes myself, but I think it would be terrible for us to all perpetuate the idea that being creative and miserable are mutually exclusive.

So here’s to being creative and actually enjoying it:

1. Refuse to See Your Entire Life Either as a Success or a Failure
The idea here is to never buy into the lie that your life is either successful or failing in terms of your creative output. Think of the most successful creative person you can, if you look closely you can see a series of successes and failures.

The best way for me to look at the creative life is as a series of projects which can be successful in some ways and fail in other ways. For instance, some projects are really successful in the development of your skill but not financially advantageous.

Also, don’t believe that there is some level of success where you have now “arrived” or attained a level of success which can never been denied to you, like being hailed a “creative genius” with endless financial gain, forever. I could tell you many examples of artists and musicians who seem like they have “arrived”  with one project and then completely fail the next.

2. Make Something Everyday
Will Bryant says something like, “I make stuff because if I don’t I get sad”. A silly and profound statement. Last year I did a daily drawing project where I created a new character every weekday. I found this statement to ring very true.

This practice gave me a sense of creative productivity every single day, which is a serious morale booster. Even if you don’t show anyone, it can help you feel prolific and unlimited in your creative abilities, which in turn increases your confidence.

3. Be Authentic
This is huge. Many people have done amazing things in creativity and have received many rewards, successes and prizes for them. So there is a lot of incentive for YOU to be THEM. But the trick is knowing the truth: you CAN’T be them. Trying to be something you are not will make you feel like an old sock. You already know this, but I thought I’d remind you.

4. Know Your Purpose
Shooting aimlessly into the dark can feel like…shooting aimlessly into the dark. Your purpose doesn’t have to be mind meltingly important. I like the humble yet ambitious purpose the great Debbie Millman has taken upon herself to “try to make the supermarket more beautiful”.

Try to clarify what you want to achieve overall so that everything you do has a sense of purpose. Purpose equals meaning, and to most creatives I know, a sense of meaning is why they want to make art and why they DO NOT want to work in a factory.

5. Address and Defeat Your Fears
That dreadful fear is a bully that is killing your soul and it should be stood up to. Listen to it, don’t ignore it. Hear what it’s actually saying and then dismantle it. Talk to someone about it openly, if the fear is tied to reality, then face it and take it down with integrity. If it’s all lies, all smoke and mirrors then let it disappear in the cloud of smoke that it is. If you are doing super boring unadventurous work, you won’t have any fears at all…but who wants to do that?

Hope this makes you a bit happier today.

- Andy J. Miller

P.S. To tackle the piling up questions here on this tumblr I have started taking on 1 hour video creative coaching, for more info click here.

Thank you Andy ! I needed these reminders today. 

(Source: artdirections, via playeronecontroller)

it has been a horrible night but you know what?

 

I’ma get shit done anyway. So there. Now excuse me while I bust out my notebook and start plotting for this damned novel.