• "Stay."
• "Just go."
• "I hate you."
• "Because I love you."
• "Don't leave me."
• "Leave me alone."
• "I need space."
• "Don't go."
• "Talk to me."
• "I want only you."
• "You need to move on."
• "Please, speak to me."
• "This will end now."
• "I want to forget you."
• "Hate me."
• "Why?"
• "Lie to me."
• "I can't do this."
• "Tell me."
• "I'm just afraid."
• "Please, leave."
• "You can't leave me."
• "I need you."
• "Don't do this."
• "Just stop."
• "It's over."
• "Tell me the truth."
• "I can't lose you."
• "We're done."
• "Please."

“If they won’t write the kind of books we like to read we shall have to write them ourselves.”

• extremely
• strikingly
• incredibly
• overly
• awfully
• damn
• dreadfully
• totally
• genuinely
• unusually
• highly
• quite

• speak
• tell
• chatter
• discuss
• gossip
• converse
• prattle
• blab
• mention
• utter
• chitchat
• verbalize
• mouthed
• voice out
• murmur
• mutter
• mumble

• unexpectedly
• out of the blue
• all at once
• without warning/notice
• instantly
• surprisingly
• in a flash
• out of nowhere
• in an instant
• like a shot
• abruptly
• on spur of moment
• by surprise
• before you know it
• with one's guard down

• watch
• view
• glance
• glare
• gawk
• set eys on
• stare
• peek
• gaze
• glimpse
• sight
• scan
• peep
• eyed out
• perceive
• noticed
• witness

• Secretive actions
• Dishonesty
• Becoming emotionally distant
• A sudden change in routine
• Pushing people away
• Nervous or fidgety movement
• Frequent lying or making up stories
• Unexpected aggression or irritability
• Unjustified mood swings or emotional outbursts
• Increasingly defensive

• Disturbed interpersonal relationships
• Frequent misunderstandings or fights
• Withholding information
• Avoiding personal discussions
• Insincerity in conversations
• Frequently cancelling or missing plans
• A sudden shift in relationship dynamics
• Quick to deflect or place blame
• Frequent subject changes
• Gradual emotional detachment

• Avoiding direct eye contact
• Defensive stance and crossed arms
• Covering mouth or touching face
• Shuffling or restless movements
• Forcing smiles or laughter
• Constantly looking around or at the ground
• Stiff, tense posture
• Heavy breathing or frequent sighing
• Avoiding touch or skin contact
• Exaggerated gestures

• A lack of concern or empathy
• Increasingly personal and hurtful arguments
• Erratic or unpredictable reactions
• Self-centeredness
• Insincerity
• Dismissive or negative attitude
• Callous disregard for other's feelings
• A negative or pessimistic outlook
• Inability to handle criticism
• Withdrawal from relationships

• Treachery
• Deception
• Double-crossing
• Duplicity
• Backstabbing
• Two-faced
• Disloyalty
• Unfaithfulness
• Infidelity
• Falseness
• Perfidy
• Treason
• Fraud
• Deceit
• Slander
• Misrepresentation
• Falsification
• Chicanery
• Double-dealing

• 2 cups of Things that must be in the story (this can be characters, specific scenes, settings, subplots etc.)
• 1 cup of Vague plot ideas I may not use
• 1 tbsp of Central Themes
• 1 tsp of Ending (either happy, tragic, or bitter-sweet)
• 1 tsp of Protagonist's Primary Motivation
• 2 lbs of Brick Wall
• Time, as needed

1. In a large bowl, mix Things that must be in the story. Set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, sift together Vague plot ideas I may not use. Discard the excess and set aside.
3. Add Themes, Ending, and Motivation to a small jar. Screw lid on tight and shake until mixture becomes Conflict.
4. Pour Conflict and Vague plot ideas into Things that must be in the story. Blend on medium until Plot Points form.
5. Taste.
6. If it is still missing something, smash head against 1 lbs of Brick Wall for one to six hours.
7. Let marinate for one to 365 days. Add more Things and Vague plot ideas as desired.
8. Smash head against the rest of the Brick Wall for one to six hours.
9. Scream.
10. Repeat steps 5 through 9 as needed.
11. After sufficient marination, the mixture will form an idea. This will tell you what specific action must happen in order to resolve your story's conflict. Write this down and make appropriate sacrifices to thank whichever deity took pity on you.
12. Now you have your conflict, climax, and resolution. You just have to figure out how to get there. Good luck with the damn middle section dork!!

• coiling (up in a ball, in on themselves, against something, etc)
• panting (there’s a slew of adjectives you can put after this, my favorites are shakily, weakly, etc)
• keeling over (synonyms are words like collapsing, which is equally as good but overused in media)
• trembling/shivering (additional adjectives could be violently, uncontrollably, etc)
• sobbing (weeping is a synonym but i’ve never liked that word. also love using sob by itself, as a noun, like “he let out a quiet sob”)
• whimpering (love hitting the wips with this word when a character is weak, especially when the pain is subsiding. also love using it for nightmares/attacks and things like that)
• clinging (to someone or something, maybe even to themselves or their own clothes)
• writhing/thrashing (maybe someone’s holding them down, or maybe they’re in bed alone)
• crying (not actual tears. cry as in a shrill, sudden shout)
• dazed (usually after the pain has subsided, or when adrenaline is still flowing)
• wincing (probably overused but i love this word. synonym could be grimacing)
• doubling-over (kinda close to keeling over but they don’t actually hit the ground, just kinda fold in on themselves)
• heaving (i like to use it for describing the way someone’s breathing, ex. “heaving breaths” but can also be used for the nasty stuff like dry heaving or vomiting)
• gasping/sucking/drawing in a breath (or any other words and phrases that mean a sharp intake of breath, that shite is gold)
• murmuring/muttering/whispering (or other quiet forms of speaking after enduring intense pain)
• hiccuping/spluttering/sniffling (words that generally imply crying without saying crying. the word crying is used so much it kinda loses its appeal, that’s why i like to mix other words like these in)
• stuttering (or other general terms that show an impaired ability to speak — when someone’s in intense pain, it gets hard to talk)
• staggering/stumbling (there is a difference between pain that makes you not want to stand, and pain that makes it impossible to stand. explore that!)
• recoiling/shrinking away (from either the threat or someone trying to help)
• pleading/begging (again, to the threat, someone trying to help, or just begging the pain to stop)

• Forehead kisses, and smiling through the kiss
• Resting their forehead on the other’s after a kiss
• Tucking strands of loose hair behind their ears, with a thumb caressing their cheek
• Interlacing their fingers with the other’s when they least expect it
• Sleepy back hugs when the other person is busy whipping up breakfast in the kitchen, catching them by surprise
• Just doing their own things in the same space; being so comfortable around the other even in their pyjamas
• Holding both their hands while holding their gaze gently, just before leaning in for a kiss
• Switching positions with the other when walking down a busy sidewalk because your feel the need to keep the other safe
• Being playfully clingy in the mornings when one has an off day and the other has to rush to work
• Getting them something from the store when they only mentioned it in passing
• When one is overseas for a work trip and everything they see reminds them of the other person (bonus: whenever it happens, they take a picture and drop the other person a text.)
• Squeezing their hand reassuringly and holding their hand throughout an intense social situation (eg. a large school reunion which the more introverted person is dreading)
• Kissing away their tears
• ^ and letting the other cry on their shoulder even when their t-shirt gets soaked from their tears
• Meeting them where they are, mentally and emotionally; never forcing them to do anything they aren’t comfortable with
• Wholeheartedly supporting their dreams, and putting that into action by making concrete plans for it to happen
• Dropping the other person an encouraging text before an important interview/event
• Surprising the other with flowers just because; no occasion and no reason needed
• Picking the other person up from work when it’s getting late, and walking them right to their doorstep after
• Good morning and goodnight texts
• Making the other person a Spotify playlist with songs that remind them of their relationship and growth
• Remembering the littlest of things — activities they like and dislike, favourite brands of stationery, go-to ice cream flavour, choice of popcorn
• Writing little notes on post-its and leaving them in random pages of their textbook, so that they will get a little endorphin boost when studying

1. You are not writing a movie (ignore this if you are). The reader doesn't need to know every word the characters say for the duration of the story. Less is more.
2. Dialogue can happen within the prose. "And they awkwardky discussed the weather for five minutes" is way better than actually writing five pages of dialogue about the weather.
3. Balance your dialogues. Surprise yourself with a monosyllabic answe to a dialogue that's ten sentences long. Don't be afraid of letting your character use half a page for a reply or nothing at all!
4. Don't write accents phonetically, use slang and colloquialisms if needed.
5. Comma before "said" and no caps after "!?" unless it's an action tag. Study dialogue punctuation.
6. Learn the difference between action tags and dialogue tags. Then, use them interchangeably (or none at all).
7. Don't be afraid to use said. Use said if characters are just saying things, use another word if not. Simple. There's no need to use fancy synonyms unless absolutely necessary.
8. Not everyone talks the same way so it makes sense for your characters to use certain words more often than others. Think of someone who says "like" to start every sentence or someone who talks really slow. Be creative.
9. Use prose to slow down the pace during a conversation.
10. Skip prose to speed up the pace during a conversation.

1. Understand Their Backstory:

• do they have allergies?
• what foods will they not touch?
• what kinds of music do they like?
• how are they around new people?
• do they speak in an accent?
• have they tried learning a new language?
• how many languages do they know?
• what is a song that will always make them cry?
• how do they cry? heaving? silently? sobbing?
• how do they dress? for practicality or fashion?
• what is the first thing they notice about a stranger?
• what is their humour like?
• do they have scars? what caused them?
• do they wear jewelry?
• are they a frivolous spender or a miser?
• do they prefer luxury or practicality?
• who would they quote?
• what could make them change their mind?
• who is the first person they'd call?
• how are they around animals? do they have pets?
• what is their favourite childhood food?
• what is something they've never told anyone?
• childhood friends?
• what are habits they've picked up from other people?
• what are their guilty pleasures?
• what is something they're staunchly against?
• do they speak a certain way? do they use contractions? popular turns of phrase?
• can they fall in love? what does it look like? does it differ between people -- friends vs family?
• what would they rather die than do?
• what is their biggest mistake? one that they look out to never do again.

• pressing their forehead into something cool or comfortable (this could be an array of things. the table, the floor, someones leather jacket, their water bottle, the countertop)
• warm to the touch, or heat radiating from them (could be noticed if someone’s gauging their temperature with their hands, hugging them, or just generally touching them)
• leaning into people’s touch, or just spontaneously leaning on them (like pressing into their hand when someone’s checking their temp, or just, like, literally walking up and laying their head on them from fatigue. bonus points if the character is usually feral and the other is scared to engage™︎)
• falling asleep all over the place (at the dinner table, on their homework, in the car, in the bathroom — just being so exhausted from doing literally nothing)
• being overly emotional (crying over things that don’t usually bother them, like their siblings arguing, or their homework, or literally just nothing)
• stumbling/careening/staggering into things (the wall, furniture, other people. there is no coordination in feverish brains. running into chairs, hitting the door, falling over the couch, anything and everything)
• slurring their words (could be from fatigue or pain. connecting words that shouldn’t be connected, murdering all of their conversations with the excessive use of ‘mm’ and ‘nn’ in place of words) (this is my favorite thing ever)
• being overly touchy (basically like a sick kid — just hold them, please. do that thing where you brush their hair back out of their face, or rub circles on their back, or snuggle them. they won’t care. bonus points if this is also the feral character and they refuse to believe it afterwards)
• being extremely resistant to touch (flinching away when they usually don’t so someone can’t feel the fever, not letting themselves be touched because they’re so tired they just know they’ll be putty in their hands if they do)
• growing aggressive or being extremely rude (it’s a defense mechanism — they feel vulnerable and are afraid of being manipulated or deceived while they’re ill)
• whimpering/whining/groaning (this was in my “characters in pain” post but it’s so good that i’m putting it here too. this shite is gold, especially if it’s just an involuntary reaction to their symptoms)
• having nightmares caused by a fever and/or delirium (crying and murmuring in their sleep, or being awake but completely out of it and convinced they’re somewhere else)
• making themselves as small as possible (curling up into a ball everywhere they lay, hunching over slightly when standing, wrapping their arms around themselves)

• Amaryllis: Pride
• Black-eyed Susan: Justice
• Bluebell: Humility
• Calla Lily: Beauty
• Pink Camellia: Longing
• Carnations: Female love
• Yellow Carnation: Rejection
• Clematis: Mental beauty
• Columbine: Foolishness
• Cyclamen: Resignation
• Daffodil: Unrivalled love
• Daisy: Innocence, loyalty
• Forget-me-not: True love
• Gardenia: Secret love
• Geranium: Folly, stupidity
• Gladiolus: Integrity, strength
• Hibiscus: Delicate beauty
• Honeysuckle: Bonds of love
• Blue Hyacinth: Constancy
• Hydrangea: Frigid, heartless
• Iris: Faith, trust, wisdom
• White Jasmine: Amiability
• Lavender: Distrust
• Lilac: Joy of youth
• White Lily: Purity
• Orange Lily: Hatred
• Tiger Lily: Wealth, pride
• Lily-of-the-valley: Sweetness, humility
• Lotus: Enlightenment, rebirth
• Magnolia: Nobility
• Marigold: Grief, jealousy
• Morning Glory: Affection
• Nasturtium: Patriotism, conquest
• Pansy: Thoughtfulness
• Peony: Bashfulness, shame
• Poppy: Consolation
• Red Rose: Love
• Yellow Rose: Jealously, infidelity
• Snapdragon: Deception, grace
• Sunflower: Adoration
• Sweet Willian: Gallantry
• Red Tulip: Passion
• Violet: Watchfulness, modesty
• Yarrow: Everlasting love
• Zinnia: Absent, affection