Fingers tapping rhythmically on a surface.
Shifting weight from one foot to the other.
Checking the time frequently.
Eyes darting to the door or window expectantly.
Taking deep, excited breaths.
Biting the lower lip in nervous excitement.
Rubbing hands together eagerly.
Whispering, “I can’t wait” to themselves or others.
Fidgeting with objects, like twisting a ring or playing with a pen.
Heart pounding with eagerness.
Perking up at any noise that might signal the anticipated event.
Smiling slightly, as if imagining the future moment.
Knees bouncing up and down while seated.
Glancing at their phone or watch repeatedly.
Clutching a piece of clothing or accessory tightly.
Standing on tiptoe to get a better view.
Ears straining to catch any sound.
Swallowing nervously, throat dry with excitement.
Humming or softly singing to pass the time.
Practicing a speech or action they are looking forward to.
Seven years after, I see you again 😚
Ok. I’m tired of the typical vampire, werewolf and fairy.I’m also tired of the occidental-centrism in mythology. Hence, this list.
I tried to included as many cultural variants as I could find and think of. (Unfortunately, I was restricted by language. Some Russian creatures looked very interesting but I don’t speak Russian…) Please, add creatures from your culture when reblogguing (if not already present). It took me a while to gather all those sites but I know it could be more expansive. I intend on periodically editing this list.
Of note: I did not include specific legendary creatures (Merlin, Pegasus, ect), gods/goddesses/deities and heroes.
Dragons
The Chinese Dragon
The Japanese Dragon
The Korean Dragon
The Vietnamese Dragon
The Greek Dragon
The Indian Dragon
The Polish Dragon
The Austrian Dragon
The British Dragon
The Ancient Dragon (Egypt, Babylon and Sumer)
The Spanish Basque Dragon
Of the Cockatrice (creature with the body of a dragon)
Alphabetical List of Dragons Across Myths (Great way to start)
Little creatures (without wings)
The Legend of the Leprechauns, The Leprechaun
Chanaque /Alux (the equivalent of leprechauns in Aztec/Mayan folklore)
Elves
Elves in Mythology and Fantasy
Elves in Germanic Mythology
Kabeiroi or Cabeiri (Dwarf-like minor gods in Greek mythology)
Norse Dwarves
The Myth of Loki and the Dwarves
Ten Types of Goblins
Goblins
Tengu: Japanese Goblins
Gnomes
More on Gnomes
Pooka: an Irish phantom
Creatures with wings (except dragons)
Fairies
All sorts of Cultural Fairies
Fairies in Old French Mythology
A Fairy List
Bendith Y Mamau (Welsh fairies)
Welsh Fairies
Peri (Persian fairies)
Yü Nü (Chinese fairies)
The Celtic Pixie
Angels in Judaism
Angels in Christianity
Hierarchy of Angels
Angels in Islam
Irish Sylph
Garuda (Bird-like creature in Hindu and Buddhist myths)
Bean Nighe (a Scottish fairy; the equivalent of a banshee in Celtic mythology)
Harpies
Spirited Creatures
Druids
Jinn (Genies in Arabic folklore)
Types of Djinns
Aisha Qandisha and Djinn in Moroccan Folklore
Oni (demons in Japanese folklore)
Nymphs
Spirits in Asturian Mythology
Valkyries
Lesovik
Boggarts: The British Poltergeist
Phantom black dogs (the Grim)
Demons in Babylonian and Assyrian Mythology (list)
Demons in the Americas (list)
European Demons (list)
Middle-East and Asia Demons (list)
Judeo-Christian Demons (list)
Nephilim, more on Nephilim
Mahaha (a demon in Inuit mythology)
Flying Head (a demon in Iroquois mythology)
Ghosts
Toyol (a dead baby ghost in Malay folklore)
Malay Ghosts
Yuki-onna (a ghost in Japanese folklore)
The Pontianak (a ghost in Malay mythology)
Funayurei (a ghost in Japanese folklore)
Zagaz (ghosts in Moroccan folklore)
Japanese Ghosts
Mexican Ghosts
Horse-like mythical creatures
Chinese Unicorns
Unicorns
The Kelpie (Could have also fitted in the sea creatures category)
The Centaur
The Female Centaur
Hippocamps (sea horses in Greek mythology)
Horse-like creatures (a list)
Karkadann, more on the Karkadann (a persian unicorn)
Ceffyl Dwfr (fairy-like water horse creatures in Cymric mythology)
Undead creatures
The Melanesian Vampire
The Ewe Myth : Vampires
The Germanic Alp
The Indonesian Vampire
Asanbosam and Sasabonsam (Vampires from West Africa)
The Aswang: The Filipino Vampire
Folklore Vampires Versus Literary Vampires
Callicantzaros: The Greek Vampire
Vampires in Malaysia
Loogaroo/Socouyant: The Haitian Vampire
Incubi and Sucubi Across Cultures
Varacolaci: The Romanian Vampire
Brahmaparusha: The Indian Vampire
Genesis of the Word “Vampire”
The Ghoul in Middle East Mythology
Slavic Vampires
Vampires A-Z
The Medical Truth Behind the Vampire Myths
Zombies in Haitian Culture
Shape-shifters and half-human creatures (except mermaids)
Satyrs (half-man, half-goat)
Sirens in Greek Mythology (half-woman and half-bird creatures)
The Original Werewolf in Greek Mythology
Werewolves Across Cultures
Werewolf Syndrome: A Medical Explanation to the Myth
Nagas Across Cultures
The Kumiho (half fox and half woman creatures)
The Sphinx
Criosphinx
Scorpion Men (warriors from Babylonian mythology)
Pooka: an Irish changelings
Domovoi (a shape-shifter in Russian folklore)
Aatxe (Basque mythology; red bull that can shift in a human)
Yech (Native American folklore)
Ijiraat (shapeshifters in Inuit mythology)
Sea creatures
Selkies (Norse mermaids)
Mermaids in many cultures
More about mermaids
Mermen
The Kraken (a sea monster)
Nuckelavee (a Scottish elf who mainly lives in the sea)
Lamiak (sea nymphs in Basque mythology)
Bunyip (sea monster in Aboriginal mythology)
Apkallu/abgal (Sumerian mermen)
An assemblage of myths and legends on water and water creatures
Slavic Water Creatures
The Encantado (water spirits in Ancient Amazon River mythology)
Zin (water spirit in Nigerian folklore)
Qallupilluk (sea creatures in Inuit mythology)
Monsters That Don’t Fit in Any Other Category
Aigamuxa, more details on Aigamuxa
Amphisabaena
Abere
Bonnacon
Myrmidons (ant warriors)
Troll, More on Trolls
Golems
Golems in Judaism
Giants: The Mystery and the Myth (50 min long documentary)
Inupasugjuk (giants in Inuit mythology)
Fomorians (an Irish divine race of giants)
The Minotaur
The Manticore, The Manticore and The Leucrouta
The Ogre
The Orthus (two-headed serpent-tailed dog)
The Windigo
The Windigo Psychosis
Rakshasa (humanoids in Hindu and Buddhist mythology)
Yakshas (warriors in Hindu mythology)
Taqriaqsuit (“Shadow people” in Inuit mythology)
References on Folklore and Mythology Across the Globe
Creatures of Irish Folklore
Folklore and Fairytales
An Overview of Persian Folklore
Filipino Folklore
Myths, Creatures and Folklore
Alaska Folklore
Spanish (Spain) Mythology
Mythical Archive
Mythology Dictionary
List of Medieval and Ancient Monsters
Native American Animals of Myth and Legends
Native American Myths
Bestiary of Ancient Greek Mythology
Mythology, Legend, Folklore and Ghosts
Angels and Demons
List of Sea Creatures
Yoruba Mythology
Ghosts Around the World, Ghosts From A to Z
Strange (Fantastic) Animals of Ancient Egypt
Egyptian Mythology
Creatures from West Africa
On the Legendary Creatures of Africa
Myths, Creatures and Folklore
References on writing a myth or mythical creatures
Writing a MYTHology in your novel?
How to Write a Myth
10 Steps to Creating Realistic Fantasy Creatures
Creating Fantasy Creatures or Alien Species
Legendary Creature Generator
Book Recommendations With Underrated Mythical Creatures
(I have stumbled upon web sites that believed some of these mythical creatures exist today… Especially dragons, in fact. I just had to share the love and scepticism.)
“This is a line of dialogue,” she said.
“This,” he said, “is a sentence split by a speech tag.”
“This is a full sentence,” she said. “This is a new sentence.”
“This is a sentence followed by an action.” He smiled. “They’re separate sentences, because I didn’t speak by smiling.”
This is an extensive list of resources for every problem you could come across while writing/planning/editing your novel. Use it well;)
{ *** } Indicate a Highly Reccommended Resource
How To Outline ***
Zigzag Method : Creating Plots
How to Plot a Romance Novel
Seven Great Sources of Conflict for Romances
Let’s talk about brainstorming
Writing Something With Meaning ***
Past Or Present Tense? : How To Decide
How To Write A Fabulous Chapter #1 ***
How to Build a Romance Thread in Your Story
The Big Book Of Writing Sex ***
6 Ways to Get Your Readers Shipping Like Crazy
Romance Writing Tips ***
20 Tips for Writing Lovable Romance Novel Heroes
7 Ways To Speed Up Your Writing ***
80+ Barriers to Love: A List of Ideas to Keep Romantic Tension High
9 Romance Writing Mistakes to Avoid
Removing the Creeps From Romance
19 Ways to Write Better Dialogue ***
50 Things Your Characters Can Do WHILE They Talk ***
How To Write Action And Fight Scenes
10 Steps To Write Arguments
9 Ways To Write Body Language
Writing Good Kissing Scenes
Writing Murders
Create And Control Tone ***
Tips for Writing Ghost Stories
Incorporating Flashbacks
12 Tips To Avoid Overwriting ***
Behind the Name
Top Baby Names
Looking for a name that means a certain thing? ***
7 Rules of Picking Names
Most Common Surnames ***
Minor Character Development
Writing Antagonists, Antiheroes and Villains
Characters With Enhanced Senses
5 Tips to Help You Introduce Characters
How Do You Describe a Character?
How To Write Child Characters
36 Core Values For Building Character
Questions To Answer When Creating Characters ***
4 Ways to Make Readers Instantly Loathe Your Character Descriptions
5 Ways to Keep Characters Consistent
Character Archetypes
25 Ways To Fuck With Your Characters
Building Platonic Relationships Between Female Characters
9 Simple and Powerful Ways to Write Body Language
33 Ways To Write Stronger Characters
Conveying Character Emotion
How to Make Readers Love an Unlikable Character…
How to Create Powerful Character Combos
How To Describe A Character’s Voice ***
Describing Clothing And Appearance ***
Career Masterpost ***
Creating Your Character’s Personality ***
Character Flaws ***
DON’T EDIT>>> REWRITE THE WHOLE THING FIRST
Ultimate Guide To Editing Each Aspect Of Your Work ***
Why You Would Read Your Novel Out Loud ***
Grammar and Punctuation ***
How To Write A Captivating First Sentence
10 Things Your Opening Chapter Should Do: A Check-List for Self-Editing ***
Saving Your Story: Finding Where It Went Wrong
How To Condense Without Losing Anything
The Stages Of Editing
Dialogue/Description Balance
3 Proofreading Tips
The Short Story Form
Chapter & Novel Lengths
Anatomy Of A Novel : Chapters and Parts ***
How To Write Chapter After Chapter Until You Have A Book ***
Where Chapter #2 Should Start
Step By Step Guide To Editing Your Draft
Writing Tool: CTRL-F (How And Why You Should Use It) ***
How To Kill A Character
25 Steps To Edit The Unmerciful Suck Out Of Your Story
5 Ways To Make Your Novel Helplessly Addictive ***
{Setting} How To Describe Setting In Your Stories ***
20 Questions To Enhance Setting
How To Bring Your Setting To Life
How to Write from a Guy’s POV
The Emotional Wounds Thesaurus
Text To Speech Reader
Compare Character Heights
A Visual Dictionary of Tops
Writers Helping Writers
7 Tricks To Imrove Your Writing Overnight
Work Out/ Word Count : Exercise Between Writing ***
Most Important Writing Tips ***
Let’s talk about diversity in novels
Letting Go Of Your Story
Keeping A Healthy Writing Schedule And Avoiding Procrastination ***
How To Create A Good Book Cover
Write or Die
Tip of my Tongue
Character Traits Form
Online Thesaurus
Coma: Types, Causes, etc
Tips for writing blood loss
Gunshot Wound Care
Examples of Hospital Forms
Common Legal Questions
The Writer’s Forensics Blog
Brain Injury Legal Guide
Types of Surgical Operations
Types of Mental Health Problems
A Day in the Life of a Mental Hospital Patient
Global Black Market Information ***
Crime Scene Science
Examining Mob Mentality
How Street Gangs Work
Story Plot Generator
@aveeragemusings ‘ Cure To Writers’ Block ***
50 Romance Plot Ideas
Reading Like A Writer ***
Defeat Writers’ Block
Writing In A Bad Mood ***
Writers Block
When You’ve Lost Motivation To Write A Novel ***
What To Do When The Words Won’t Flow ***
9 Ways To Be A More Productive Writer
“I Cannot Write A Good Sentence Today” (How To Get Over It) ***
Real Writing Advice ***
A Writer’s Thesaurus ***
Words To Describe… ***
Words & Phrases To Use In Your Sex Scenes ***
Colors (An Extensive List Of Colors)
List Of Kinks & Fetishes ***
List Of Elemental Abilities
inkarnate.com : World Creator And Map Maker For Your Imaginary Setting
Body Language Phrases
List Of Legendary Creatures
How To Write Magic
Hairstyle References
Hemingway : Writing Checker
Body Types: Words To Describe Bodies and How They Move Around
Poisonous Herbs and Plants ***
The Psychology of Color
The Meaning behind Rose color
Types of Swords
Color Symbolism
How a handgun works
How to Write a Eulogy
Types of Crying
Avoiding LGBTQ Stereotypes ***
Superstitions and More
The 12 Common Archetypes
Language of Flowers
12 Realistic Woman Body Shapes
Turning Negative Reviews Into Positive Ones ***
Proofreading Marks : Easy Symbols To Make Reviewing/Feedback Easier ***
Authonomy Teen Ink Figment Fiction Press ReviewFuse
These Are Trusted Critique Sites ;)
Sometimes another person is involved, but the truly talented whumpee can do it all on their own:
Falling out of a tree. Leads to broken bones, bruises from hitting other branches, and concussions
Food poisoning. Enough said.
Ice over a lake cracking. Full submersion leads to hypothermia. Or just a foot in the water leads to a bad case of frostbite
Animal bites. The ragged edges are hard to sew up leading to scarring. They get infected so easily, leading to fever and a long slow recovery
Snake bites. The properties of snake venom vary depending on the snake’s usual prey and predators. This means they offer a wide variety of symptoms to whump your characters with
Spider bites. See above.
Car accident. So many options. Bruising, internal bleeding, broken bones, bloody nose, whiplash, trauma, etc.
Being thrown from a horse. The old-school version of a car accident
Have a character wrestle with guilt over a past mistake.
Introduce a scenario where a character must choose between two equally important things.
Show a character struggling with their own identity or sense of self.
Have a character battle their own fears or phobias.
Introduce a moral dilemma that challenges the character’s values.
Show a character torn between loyalty to their friends and their personal ambitions.
Reveal a character’s internal struggle with jealousy or envy.
Have a character grapple with feelings of inadequacy or imposter syndrome.
Show a character dealing with the aftermath of a traumatic event.
Have a character question their own sanity or reality.
So you know when you're writing a scene where the hero is carrying an injured person and you realize you've never been in this situation and have no idea how accurate the method of transportation actually is?
Oh boy, do I have a valuable resource for you!
Here is a PDF of the best ways to carry people depending on the situation and how conscious the injured person needs to be for the carrying position.
Literally a life saver.
(No pun intended.)
hey writers! OneLook Thesaurus lets you find that word you can’t think of but can describe! go check it out!
One keeps asking, “Are you sure?” and “What about…?” because they just can’t believe the other person.
Every little thing the other person says or does is met with suspicion, like, “Why are you really doing this?”
They start to open up, then stop, because they’re not sure if they can trust the other person yet.
One keeps asking for reassurance, like, “You wouldn’t lie to me, right?” but it’s clear they’re not convinced.
A tiny mistake or secret gets blown way out of proportion because the trust was already shaky.
I got pretty fed up with looking for words to replace said because they weren’t sorted in a way I could easily use/find them for the right time. So I did some myself.
IN RESPONSE TO Acknowledged Answered Protested
INPUT/JOIN CONVERSATION/ASK Added Implored Inquired Insisted Proposed Queried Questioned Recommended Testified
GUILTY/RELUCTANCE/SORRY Admitted Apologized Conceded Confessed Professed
FOR SOMEONE ELSE Advised Criticized Suggested
JUST CHECKING Affirmed Agreed Alleged Confirmed
LOUD Announced Chanted Crowed
LEWD/CUTE/SECRET SPY FEEL Appealed Disclosed Moaned
ANGRY FUCK OFF MATE WANNA FIGHT Argued Barked Challenged Cursed Fumed Growled Hissed Roared Swore
SMARTASS Articulated Asserted Assured Avowed Claimed Commanded Cross-examined Demanded Digressed Directed Foretold Instructed Interrupted Predicted Proclaimed Quoted Theorized
ASSHOLE Bellowed Boasted Bragged
NERVOUS TRAINWRECK Babbled Bawled Mumbled Sputtered Stammered Stuttered
SUAVE MOTHERFUCKER Bargained Divulged Disclosed Exhorted
FIRST OFF Began
LASTLY Concluded Concurred
WEAK PUSY Begged Blurted Complained Cried Faltered Fretted
HAPPY/LOL Cajoled Exclaimed Gushed Jested Joked Laughed
WEIRDLY HAPPY/EXCITED Extolled Jabbered Raved
BRUH, CHILL Cautioned Warned
ACTUALLY, YOU’RE WRONG Chided Contended Corrected Countered Debated Elaborated Objected Ranted Retorted
CHILL SAVAGE Commented Continued Observed Surmised
LISTEN BUDDY Enunciated Explained Elaborated Hinted Implied Lectured Reiterated Recited Reminded Stressed
BRUH I NEED U AND U NEED ME Confided Offered Urged
FINE Consented Decided
TOO EMO FULL OF EMOTIONS Croaked Lamented Pledged Sobbed Sympathized Wailed Whimpered
JUST SAYING Declared Decreed Mentioned Noted Pointed out Postulated Speculated Stated Told Vouched
WASN’T ME Denied Lied
EVIL SMARTASS Dictated Equivocated Ordered Reprimanded Threatened
BORED Droned Sighed
SHHHH IT’S QUIET TIME Echoed Mumbled Murmured Muttered Uttered Whispered
DRAMA QUEEN Exaggerated Panted Pleaded Prayed Preached
OH SHIT Gasped Marveled Screamed Screeched Shouted Shrieked Yelped Yelled
ANNOYED Grumbled Grunted Jeered Quipped Scolded Snapped Snarled Sneered
ANNOYING Nagged
I DON’T REALLY CARE BUT WHATEVER Guessed Ventured
I’M DRUNK OR JUST BEING WEIRDLY EXPRESSIVE FOR A POINT/SARCASM Hooted Howled Yowled
I WONDER Pondered Voiced Wondered
OH, YEAH, WHOOPS Recalled Recited Remembered
SURPRISE BITCH Revealed
IT SEEMS FAKE BUT OKAY/HA ACTUALLY FUNNY BUT I DON’T WANT TO LAUGH OUT LOUD Scoffed Snickered Snorted
BITCHY Tattled Taunted Teased