Reblog, Click The Picture, And Prepare For Battle.

Siuil A Run (Walk My Love) - Celtic Women

5 Character Points You May be Ignoring

You don’t need to describe your character down to the finest detail; let your reader do some imagining of their own (they seem to enjoy that!) But there are a few character points that affect how they interact with their world which you can reveal through action.

Height: Do they need to duck through doorways, or bend to speak to their friends? Do they struggle to reach the top shelf in the supermarket? The way they cope with these things reveal how they feel about their height. Do they compensate by wearing heels or by slouching?

Weight: Do they easily slip through small spaces and crowds? Or do they avoid sitting on flimsy-looking furniture? Do they suffer backache from pulling their stomach in all day, or do they wear layers to try and look bulkier?

Eyesight: How well can they see distances or read small print? Do they proudly wear glasses, do they go more subtle with contact lenses, or are they in complete denial?

Smell: Do they douse themselves in perfume or do people shy away from their sweaty smell? Do they realise what they smell like, or are they oblivious?

Walk: Does the way they walk make them stand out, or blend in with the crowd? Do they look ahead or walk looking at their feet? How big is their stride, how big are their feet, and how does this affect the way they move around their world?

These are all things that can be used to reveal character, impact plot and affect the setting.

Think about how happy your character is with their physical attributes. Do they hide them because they’ve suffered years of bullying, or are they proud of who they are and have little care for what others think?

Let's use APOSTROPHES correctly :D

So, as the title shows, it’s time we have a little lesson on apostrophes in general. We could all use it ;)

(Sorry about the LONG post. Whenever I put it under “Read More” the article no longer appears.)

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Rule 1

Use the apostrophe with contractions. The apostrophe is always placed at the spot where the letter(s) has been removed.

Examples: don’t, isn’t  You’re right.  She’s a great teacher.

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Rule 2

Use the apostrophe to show possession. Place the apostrophe before the s to show singular possession.

Examples: one boy’s hat one woman’s hat  one actress’s hat  one child’s hat  Ms. Chang’s house

NOTE: Although names ending in s or an s sound are not required to have the second sadded in possessive form, it is preferred.

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Examples: Mr. Jones’s golf clubs Texas’s weather  Ms. Straus’s daughter Jose Sanchez’s artwork  Dr. Hastings’s appointment (name is Hastings) Mrs. Lees’s books (name is Lees)

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Rule 3

Use the apostrophe where the noun that should follow is implied.

Example: This was his father’s, not his, jacket.

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Rule 4

To show plural possession, make the noun plural first. Then immediately use the apostrophe.

Examples: two boys’ hats two women’s hats  two actresses’ hats two children’s hats  the Changs’ house the Joneses’ golf clubs  the Strauses’ daughter the Sanchezes’ artwork  the Hastingses’ appointment  the Leeses’ books

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Rule 5

Do not use an apostrophe for the plural of a name.

Examples: We visited the Sanchezes in Los Angeles. The Changs have two cats and a dog.

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Rule 6

With a singular compound noun, show possession with ’s at the end of the word.

Example: my mother-in-law’s hat

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Rule 7

If the compound noun is plural, form the plural first and then use the apostrophe.

Example:  my two brothers-in-law’s hats

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Rule 8

Use the apostrophe and s after the second name only if two people possess the same item.

Examples: Cesar and Maribel’s home is constructed of redwood. Cesar’s and Maribel’s job contracts will be renewed next year. Indicates separate ownership. Cesar and Maribel’s job contracts will be renewed next year. Indicates joint ownership of more than one contract.

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Rule 9

Never use an apostrophe with possessive pronouns: his, hers, its, theirs, ours, yours, whose. They already show possession so they do not require an apostrophe.

Correct: This book is hers, not yours.

Incorrect: Sincerely your’s.

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Rule 10

The only time an apostrophe is used for it’s is when it is a contraction for it is or it has.

Examples: It’s a nice day. It’s your right to refuse the invitation. It’s been great getting to know you.

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Rule 11

The plurals for capital letters and numbers used as nouns are not formed with apostrophes.

Examples: She consulted with three M.D.s. BUT She went to three M.D.s’ offices. The apostrophe is needed here to show plural possessive. She learned her ABCs. the 1990s not the 1990’s the ’90s or the mid-’70s not the ‘90’s or the mid-‘70’s She learned her times tables for 6s and 7s.

Exception: Use apostrophes with capital letters and numbers when the meaning would be unclear otherwise.

Examples: Please dot your i’s. You don’t mean is. Ted couldn’t distinguish between his 6’s and 0’s.  You need to use the apostrophe to indicate the plural of zero or it will look like the word Os. To be consistent within a sentence, you would also use the apostrophe to indicate the plural of6’s.

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Rule 12

Use the possessive case in front of a gerund (-ing word).

Examples: Alex’s skating was a joy to behold. This does not stop Joan’s inspecting of our facilities next Thursday.

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Rule 13

If the gerund has a pronoun in front of it, use the possessive form of that pronoun.

Examples: I appreciate your inviting me to dinner. I appreciated his working with me to resolve the conflict.

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SOURCE (CLICK HERE)

-H

Shattered Reflection

This was the me who didn’t make it. Not just the one who hadn’t accomplished her dreams, or the one who had given up on what she’d wanted in life. That may or may not have been true, but that wasn’t the first thought to come to mind.

Her neck was bruised, and maybe it was just me, but they looked very ominous. Perhaps it was just me, considering I was the one with an imagination that was as vivid as it was limited by what I already knew. Maybe it was just my eyes playing tricks on me, making shapes recognizable only because it was something I knew and something I could identify. Maybe it was fear, feeding an apprehension deep inside my stomach that grew the more I looked at her.

 Her face had some shallow but long scratches. Her arms looked an ugly mixture of purple and yellow, gashes appearing every few inches or so. They also seemed to have the same kind of marks that her neck did. Handprints. Marks of a struggle.

It took me a long while, and when I finally looked back up at her, I saw my own dark brown eyes staring back at me with an icy numbness. “Did I die?”

Keep reading

Five Senses

I have come to the conclusion

That down here on this Earth

The five senses that I posses

Are not for my benifit alone

~*~

These two eyes of mine

Humble in color and shape

Are here to see you smile

To look upon your lovely face

~*~

There two ears of mine

Deaf to most in the world

Are present to hear your voice

A song of heavens symphony

~*~

This one nose of mine

That works hard through the days

It’s main purpose in my life

Is to reconize your natural scent

~*~

This sense of taste I have

One of my favorite to this day

Is to catch the taboo sweetness

Your lips posses when they are on mine

~*~

And finally this sense of touch

That allows me to feel pain

Is only to ensure that I can tell

When your hand is resting in mine

~*~

There is no other way to explain

This new discovery of mine

Except just to let you know that

These five senses belong to you

A summary of how people die (and don't) in swordfights

This is a really good article about how quickly people actually die from cuts and punctures inflicted by swords and knives.  However, it’s really really long and I figured that since I was summarizing for my own benefit I’d share it for anyone else who is writing fiction that involves hacking and slashing your villain(s) to death.  If you want the nitty gritty of the hows and whys of this, you can find it at the original source.

…even in the case of mortal wounds, pain may not reach levels of magnitude sufficient to incapacitate a determined swordsman.

Causes of death from stabs and cuts:

massive bleeding (exsanguination) - most common

air in the bloodstream (air embolism)

suffocation (asphyxia)

air in the chest cavity (pneumothorax)

infection

Stabbing vs cutting:

Stabbing someone actually takes very little force if you don’t hit bone or hard cartilage.

The most important factor in the ease of stabbing is the velocity of the blade at impact with the skin, followed by the sharpness of the blade.

Stabbing wounds tend to close after the weapon is withdrawn.

Stabbing wounds to muscles are not typically very damaging.  Damage increases with the width of the blade.

Cutting wounds are typically deepest at the site of initial impact and get shallower as force is transferred from the initial swing to pushing and pressing.

Cutting wounds have a huge number of factors that dictate how deep they are and how easily they damage someone: skill, radial velocity, mass of the blade, and the size of the initial impact.

Cutting wounds along the grain of musculature are not typically very damaging but cutting wounds across the grain can incapacitate.

Arteries vs veins:

Severed veins have almost zero blood pressure and sometimes even negative pressure.  They do not spurt but major veins can suck air in causing an air embolism.

Cutting or puncturing a vein is usually not fatal.

Severed arteries have high blood pressure.  The larger arteries do spurt and can often cause death due to exsanguination.

Body parts as targets:

Severing a jugular vein in the neck causes an air embolism and will make the victim collapse after one or two gasps for air.

Severing a carotid artery in the neck cuts off the blood supply to the brain but the victim may be conscious for up to thirty seconds.

Stabbing or cutting the neck also causes the victim to aspirate blood that causes asphyxiation and death.

Severing a major abdominal artery or vein would cause immediate collapse, but this takes a fairly heavy blade and a significant amount of effort because they are situated near the spine.

Abdominal wounds that only impact the organs can cause death but they do not immediately incapacitate.

Severing an artery in the interior of the upper arm causes exsanguination and death but does not immediately incapacitate.

Severing an artery in the palm side of the forearm causes exsanguination and death but does not immediately incapacitate.

Severing the femoral artery at a point just above and behind the knee is the best location.  Higher up the leg it is too well protected to easily hit.  This disables and will eventually kill the victim but does not immediately incapacitate.

Cutting across the muscles of the forearm can immediately end the opponent’s ability to hold their weapon.

Cutting across the palm side of the wrist causes immediate loss of ability to hold a weapon.

Stab wounds to the arm do not significantly impact the ability to wield a weapon or use it.

Cuts and stab wounds to the front and back of the legs generally do not do enough muscle damage to cause total loss of use of that leg.

Bone anywhere in the body can bend or otherwise disfigure a blade.

The brain can be stabbed fairly easily through the eyes, the temples, and the sinuses.  

Stabs to the brain are more often not incapacitating.

The lungs as targets:

Slicing into the lung stops that lung from functioning, but the other lung continues to function normally.  This also requires either luck to get between the ribs or a great deal of force to penetrate the ribs.

Stabbing the lung stops that lung from functioning, but the other lung continues to function normally.  It is significantly easier to stab between ribs than to slice.

It is possible to stab the victim from the side and pass through both lungs with an adequate length blade.  It is very unlikely that this will happen with a slicing hit.

“Death caused solely by pneumothorax is generally a slow process, occurring as much as several hours after the wound is inflicted.”

Lung punctures also typically involve the lung filling with blood, but this is a slow process.

The heart as a target:

I’m just going to quote this paragraph outright with a few omissions and formatting changes for clarity because it’s chock-full of good info:

…[stabbing] wounds to the heart the location, depth of penetration, blade width, and the presence or absence of cutting edges are important factors influencing a wounded duelist’s ability to continue a combat.

Large cuts that transect the heart may be expected to result in swift incapacitation…

…stab wounds, similar to those that might be inflicted by a thrust with a sword with a narrow, pointed blade may leave a mortally wounded victim capable of surprisingly athletic endeavors. 

Essentially, the heart can temporarily seal itself well enough to keep pressure up for a little while if it’s a simple stab.  The arteries around the heart, while they are smaller and harder to hit, actually cause incapacitation much more quickly.

Getting a Handle on Guns

Anonymous asked: Do you have any posts on how to show a gunshot wound? I saw your sword fighting reblog and I’m stuck in my story because I don’t want to put out any bad information.

All will happen with the right timing, you know it will. Trust in the universe, but most importantly, always trust in yourself. Your creative power is limitless.

Oh, there you are. Were you calling me? Sorry, I was looking for my-

Hey! You found it! I was wondering where that notebook ran off too! I was afraid I’d have to start all over again. It would have been annoying rewriting six pages worth of plot. You know how I am. I end up going in an entirely different direction with one, still like the other, and then I can’t decide which direction to keep. You ever wonder why stories can’t just have dozens of different endings, and different paths to take based on the choice you make? Well, you’re right, there were those old choose your own ending books, but that wasn’t exactly what I meant. They were fun though!

Why are you frowning? Huh? Oh. You read that passage, huh? I…didn’t think you were going to flip through it. I didn’t think you cared that much. Please don’t look at me that way. I don’t mean to be, well, mean. You just never ask about any of my writing. And, well, I tend to write what I know. Granted, it’s all twisted and deformed, so people don’t usually draw the connections…wait. So how did you?

What are you smiling for? He does that, my character. He grins just like that, slightly raised brow and everything. Are you…are you doing that on purpose? What did you just say? That was his speech! My character said that in his moment of vulnerability! It was my favorite scene. But…that wasn’t in those four pages.

Hey, what are you hiding behind your back? Those pages, what are they? Don’t try and hide them. Hey, I see writing! Did you write that? Let me see…it’s a story! With my characters…and some different ones. Hm? You want to know how it can all fit together? Your stuff and mine? I get it. You want to co-write something.

Take a seat, I’ll make some tea. What was that? You don’t know what you’re doing? You don’t think you’re any good? You don’t think it should ever see the light of day? Ha! Nonsense. Go on, make yourself comfortable. There’s a lot you’ve got to learn. The first thing is, there isn’t any story that isn’t worth writing down.