Skincare Tips + Some Myth Busting (acne Edition) -pt1.

Making Your Characters Stronger

A lot of people confuse character strength with physical strength. It’s awesome if your female character can beat up 30 people in a room, but what does that actually tell us about her? There needs to be something more than just that.

So, how do you make your characters legitimately stronger? Here are a few tips to get your started:

Give them a goal

All characters should want something. It can be something small, like getting a good grade on a test, or it can be something big, like saving the world. Know your characters and what their goals are. This should help you shape the plot and prevent writer’s block.

Let them grow

Character growth is something that makes your story fascinating. Each character should make a change or grow, especially if you want your readers to root for them. This is usually the case with protagonists because common antagonist traits are that they are stubborn and they might not grow very much. Let us see your protagonist learn and become a stronger hero.

Define their character traits

You can make a character more relatable if you know what their traits are. Is your protagonist cautious? Are they afraid of failure? Are they lazy? Knowing specific details about your characters can help your story feel more real. You’ll actually get to know who your characters are and why they’d react a certain way.

Build relationships

Let your characters love or hate or have great friendships. Your character’s connection to other people in the story will help make them stronger. They’ll have more motivation to fight til the end and they’ll have something they care about. Don’t neglect these relationships.

Let them fail

A strong character doesn’t mean they do everything perfectly and lack struggle. Your characters need to fail. Most of us don’t get stronger by constantly succeeding. We fail, we pick ourselves back up, and we keep going. This will help keep your protagonist relatable and your readers will continue to root for their success.

-Kris Noel

Can you do puppy stony

I fanlly complete it!

I’m very very very like Pomeranian much!

“Have we met before?”

“No…no.”

“Then why are you crying?”

Kimono drawing guide ½, by Kaoruko Maya (tumblr, pixiv, site). Booklet is available in pdf for ¥ 900 here.

Here you can see:

female kimono and yukata (note how the juban underwear peeks when in kimono + how belts differ)

male yukata and kimono (note how the juban underwear peeks when in kimono)

dressing up: male (kimono is not closed yet) and female (kimono closed with datejime belt and ready to put on obi)

differences between female and male kimono once dressed (note how the collars and belts set)

common drawing mistakes (compare with previous picture: shoulders lines are too defined, there is a double hem, collars are narrow, belt is not at the right place etc)

women back collar (the lower the sexier) and men back collar (close to the nape)

back and sleeves differences between men and women

collars and sleeves and view of how kimono drapes around body

Furisode back (long sleeves kimono) and formal furisode obi knot example

Do you have any voice tips to offer???

OH MY GOD SOMEONE IS REALLY ASKING ME THIS SOMEONE IS REALLY ASKING ME THIS GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! 

Okay, composure Emily…composure! 

1.) A common problem that people have when singing is that they think raising their head up when they can’t reach a note will help. Let me tell ya, it really won’t. In fact, it will cause vocal problems down the road and really strain your voice. Tipping your chin down and level to the floor not only works better but sounds better.

2.) Stop using Glottal Attacks. It’s what happens when the edges of your vocal cords strike against each other in over closure. A good way to stop using them is to put soft “h’s” in front of words that begin with vowels. For example: everyone –> hh-everyone, I –> hh-I and always –> hh-always.

3.) VERY IMPORTANT TIP THAT PLAGUED ME FOR MOST OF MY CHILDHOOD: DO NOT I repeat DO NOT BREATHE WITH YOUR SHOULDERS! It used to make me shake while I sang and despite what you think, no it will not give you more air. Instead of breathing like that (vertically) you need to breathe from your chest area (I mean like around your ribs, diaphragm, etc.)  

Cup your hands around your ribs til the point where your fingers are touching. Slowly, and without moving your shoulders, breath from your abdomen. Imagine you are like a balloon being inflated. When you exhale your stomach should go IN and when your inhale your stomach should go OUT despite what cartoons depict. 

This reply is getting really long so I’ll finish it up with how you START up. Warm ups!

4.) Warm Ups. Doing warm ups before you sing is healthy for your voice and makes it easy to sing higher or lower without strain. 

This first one is called Lip Trills but I like to call it the Jean Kirschstein exercise. You know how a horse flubs it’s lips? Like BRRRRR! That’s how this works. We all do it when we’re bored but here is an example of it:

Yes, you look like a catfish, but it helps so it doesn’t matter. While you do this you hum different pitches. I do 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1 which is basically like sliding up to the third and back. This may sound complicated so I’ll record a clip of it on vocaroo.

The next one is 1-5-1-9-1. We can sing this using various vowels but I use Ee-Ah-Ee-Ah-Ee.

LAST TIP! YOU NEED YOUR MOUTH TO LOOK LIKE A FISH…somewhat. When you sing things with vowels like “ee” or “ie” you tend to make your mouth wide like your smiling. DO NOT DO THAT. Instead, do this. 

Imagine that painting the Scream? Isn’t that what it’s called? Anyways, the painting of the guy that’s screaming. He holds his hands near his mouth in shock. For the time being until you can break that habit of smiling on those ie and ee words try doing this and see if it helps. 

If you have anymore questions feel free to ask! This is pretty much what I’ve learned from 10 years of singing lessons. 

Once again, I apologize that this post is really long. Thank you for asking! I love talking about singing in general! 

3 Study Methods You Should Use More Often

This was originally for an article writing assignment, but I thought “why not write something I can also post on my blog?” so here are three study methods that I haven’t seen a lot of in the studyblr community but are definitely worth mentioning.

The Leitner System

          Flash cards have remained one of the most popular ways to study. Some people use them to memorize vocabulary, remember answers to specific questions, or even associate dates with events. Although the use of flash cards is convenient, their effectiveness has been reduced due to most people’s habits of prioritizing each card equally and therefore spending too much time memorizing the information on them.

          The Leitner System, created by a German popularizer of science named Sebastian Leitner, is a more efficient method of studying that implements the concept of spaced repetition. All the cards start off in one pile. You would first scan through these cards, then test yourself. Each card you answer correctly goes to a second pile, while those you answer incorrectly should be revised then placed at the bottom of the pile. When you review the cards in the second pile and get them correct, they will be promoted to a third pile. An incorrect card will always get demoted to the first pile, even if they had previously been promoted to the last pile.

          The reason why this method is so effective is that you end up reviewing the first pile of cards more frequently—the cards you don’t know very well. Some people choose to review their Stack 1 cards every day, Stack 2 cards every other day, Stack 3 cards once every three days, and so on.

          Once all your cards have been promoted to the highest box, study them thoroughly and then start over. The continuous revision trains your speed so that you may reach fluency, which allows you to recall the information faster.

Timed Memorization

          The name tells it all: you memorize a certain text within a time limit, normally around five to ten minutes depending on your fluency and memorization abilities. When the timer starts, you begin memorizing. When time is up, you flip to the next page, even if you haven’t finished the previous page yet. Continue until you’ve gone through all your material.

          Timed memorization helps you to discipline yourself because your brain thinks that there’s no time for messing around; you have to do this here and now. Make sure to repeat the things you missed and revise everything frequently. This method is actually one of the most effective for cramming as it gives a better coverage than if you spend a whole half hour memorizing one subtopic.

The Memory Palace or Mind Palace

           Sound familiar? In BBC’s Sherlock, the ‘highly functioning sociopath’ uses this method to remember vital information and facts. A mind palace is a systematic arrangement of information, each detail corresponding to a specific object in a familiar place. To ensure that you really remember everything, the objects have to appear shocking and conspicuous.

           Here’s an example: if I wanted to memorize “crimson, 11, delight, petrichor (the smell after rain)”, aside from imagining Amy Pond or the Doctor saying it, I would first choose a place, let’s say my school. I’d imagine myself walking up to the front gate and seeing that the entire building has been painted the color of blood—crimson. The building would then rise as though it were lifted from the earth and crumble into rubble, controlled by Eleven, the character from Stranger Things. Now, since I can’t really picture delight specifically, I’d probably end up visualizing a colossal sign that simply reads “delight” posted in front of my school. As for petrichor, I’d imagine curves rising out of the puddles on the asphalt after a rainy night, a visual representation of the smell of the rain. Of course, these visualizations have been created to suit my memory. (I wouldn’t know if you watched Stranger Things.)

           I used this method when memorizing case studies for geography, although I chose to visualize fictional places from television series and cartoons. Some people do opt to create artificial places, but these often become blurry and are easily forgotten.

           As with any study method, repetition is vital to storing the information in your long-term memory. Visit your “palace” as often as you can. Soon enough, you’ll remember the data as well as you remember the place associated with the data.

So there you have it, three lesser known methods of studying that have proven to be immensely efficient. Now, there is no “correct” way to study, but there are methods that can ease your learning process.

Hello! Would you mind doing an example of not using filter words in a first person point of view? While I know that you can just switch out the pronouns for I/me/my, I just want to see it in action and when you should (and shouldn't) use the filter words. Thank you!

Hi there! I would love to! I think I’ll start out with an example with filter words and then cut out the filter words to show you the difference.

For those of you who haven’t seen my post on Filter Words.

Now, for the example:

I felt a hand tap my shoulder as I realized I had made a huge mistake. I knew the consequences would be unsettling, but I had no other choice. I saw the light of my desk lamp bounce off of the officer’s badge before I had even turned around. It seemed like I always found my way into trouble.

It was the first thing off the top of my head, so it’s a bit rough sounding….

Now for without filter words (And a bit of revision):

A hand tapped my shoulder as it dawned on me: I had just made a huge mistake. The consequences would be unsettling if I didn’t get out of this mess, but I had no other choice. The light of my desk lamp bounced off of the officer’s badge. I always found my way into trouble.

By taking out filter words, you get right to the point.

I’d also like to add a few more notes that I didn’t have the chance to post previously.

Some Examples of Filtering:

I heard a noise in the hallway.

She felt embarrassed when she tripped.

I saw a light bouncing through the trees.

I tasted the sour tang of raspberries bursting on my tongue.

He smelled his teammate’s BO wafting through the locker room.

She remembered dancing at his wedding.

I think people should be kinder to one another.

How can you apply this?

Read your work to see how many of these filtering words you might be leaning on. Microsoft Word has a great Find and Highlight feature that I love to use when I’m editing. See how you can get rid of these filtering words and take your sentences to the next level by making stronger word choices. Take the above examples, and see how they can be reworked.

FILTERING EXAMPLE: I heard a noise in the hallway.

DESCRIBE THE SOUND: Heels tapped a staccato rhythm in the hallway.

FILTERING EXAMPLE: She felt embarrassed after she tripped.

DESCRIBE WHAT THE FEELING LOOKS LIKE: Her cheeks flushed and her shoulders hunched after she tripped.

FILTERING EXAMPLE: I saw a light bouncing through the trees.

DESCRIBE THE SIGHT: A light bounced through the trees.

FILTERING EXAMPLE: I tasted the sour tang of raspberries bursting on my tongue.

DESCRIBE THE TASTE: The sour tang of raspberries burst on my tongue.

FILTERING EXAMPLE: He smelled his teammate’s BO wafting through the locker room.

DESCRIBE THE SMELL: His teammate’s BO wafted through the locker room.

FILTERING EXAMPLE: She remembered dancing at his wedding.

DESCRIBE THE MEMORY: She had danced at his wedding.

FILTERING EXAMPLE: I think people should be kinder to one another.

DESCRIBE THE THOUGHT: People should be kinder to one another.

See what a difference it makes when you get rid of the filter? It’s simply not necessary to use them. By ditching them, you avoid “telling,” your voice is more active, and your pacing is helped along.

The above list is not comprehensive as there are many examples of filtering words. The idea is to be aware of the concept so that you can recognize instances of it happening in your work. Be aware of where you want to place the energy and power in your sentences. Let your observations flow through your characters with immediacy.

Ok, sorry for the lengthy answer, I know you just wanted an example…. sorry!

If you have any questions, feel free to ask at my ask box

Headcanon that the reason the Phantom is so excited when Raoul shows up is that there is no way he had a good comeback to “It’s in your soul that the true distortion lies.”