Let's Write - Blog Posts
*Taking notes*
Making Fight Scenes Sound Nicer
Euphonics is all about how the words "feel". By incorporating certain sounds, you can influence the mood of the passage.
Mood: Foreboding
use words with 'ow', 'oh', 'ou', 'oo' sonds. These are good for building tension before the fight.
moor, growl, slow, wound, soon, show, show, grow, tow, loom, howl, cower, mound.
Mood: Spooky
use words with 's' sounds, combined with an 'i' sound.
hiss, sizzle, crisp, sister, whisper, sinister, glisten, stick.
Mood: Acute Fear
use word with 'ee/ea' sounds, with a few 's' sounds.
squeal, scream, squeeze, creak, steal, fear, clear, sheer, stream
Mood: Fighting Action
use short words iwth 't', 'p' and 'k' sounds.
cut, block, top, shoot, tackle, trick, kick, grip, grab, grope, punch, drop, pound, poke, cop, chop.
Mood: Speed
use short words with 'r' sounds
run, race, riot, rage, red, roll, rip, hurry, thrust, scurry, ring, crack
Mood: Trouble
use words with 'tr' sounds to signal trouble
trouble, trap, trip, trough, treat, trick, treasure, atroscious, attract, petrol, trance, try, traitor
Mood: Macho Power
If you wan to emphasize the fighters' masculinity, use 'p' sounds.
pole, power, police, cop, pry, pile, post, prong, push, pass, punch, crop, crap, trap, pack, point, part
Mood: Punishment
If your fight involves an element of punishment use 'str' sounds
strict, astride, strike, stripe, stray, strident, stroke, strip, instruct, castrate strive
Mood: Defeat
use 'd' sonds
despari, depressed, dump, dig, dank, damp, darkness, drag, ditch, drop, dead, deep, dark, dull
Mood: Victory
use 'j' and 'ch' sounds
joy, cheer, jubilant, jeer, chuck, chariot, choose, chip, jest, jamboree, jig, jazz, jive, rejoice, rejoin
In print, the effectiveness of such euphonics will be very subtle, and it can only serve as an embellishment to what you already have.
Don't use or replace words for the sake of achieving euphonic effects, but this can be something to keep in mind when you are editing your draft!
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The holy texts
MASTERPOST (PT. 2)
If you like my blog, buy me a coffee☕ and find me on instagram! 📸
For romance writing prompts, plotting tips & more, check out: MASTERPOST PT. 1
⭐Dialogue
Writing Dialogue 101
Crying-Yelling Dialogue Prompts
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⛰️Words to Use Instead Of...
Synonyms for "Walk"
Synonyms for “feeling like”
Words To Use Instead of "Look"
Words to Use Instead Of...(beautiful, interesting, good, awesome, cute, shy)
Said is dead
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🔠Vocab Lists
Nervous Tension Vocab
Kiss Scene Vocab
Fight Scene Vocab
Haunted House Inspo & Vocab
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👁️🗨️Setting & Description
Common Scenery Description Tips
2012 School Setting Vibes - follower question
Describing Food in Writing
Describing Cuts, Bruises and Scrapes
Using Description and Setting Meaningfully
How Different Types of Death Feel
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🗡️Weapons & Fighting Series:
Writing Swords
Writing knives and daggers
Writing Weapons (3): Staffs, Spears and Polearms
Writing Weapons (4): Clubs, Maces, Axes, Slings and Arrows
Writing Weapons (5): Improvised Weapons
Writing Weapons (6): Magical Weapons and Warfare
Writing Weapons (7): Unarmed Combat
Writing Female Fighters
Writing Male Fighters
Writing Armour
Writing Group Fights
Writing Battles At Sea
Erotic Tension in Fight Scenes
Pacing for Fight Scenes
Writing a Siege Warfare
Different Genres, Different Fight Scenes.
Making Fight Scenes Sound Nicer
Fight Scenes For Disabled Characters
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🌎Worldbuilding
Constructing a Fictional Economy
Homosexuality in Historical Fiction
Writing Nine Circles of Hell
Writing Seven Levels of Heaven
Master List of Superpowers
Magic System Ideas
A Guide to Writing Cozy Fantasy
Dark Fantasy How-To
Dark Fantasy Writing Prompts
Dark, Twisted Fairytale Prompts
Fantasy World Cultural Quirks
Fantasy Nobel Ranks: A List
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🌠Symbolism in Writing
Plant Symbolisms
Weather Symbolisms
Symbols of Death
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🪄Writing Magic
Writing Magicians - the basics
Writing Magic Systems
Magical Training Options for Your Characters
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📋Other!
List of Fantasy Subgenres
Beauty is Terror: A List
The Pirate's Glossary
Storyediting Questions to Ask
Writing Multiple WIPs Simultaneously
Idea Generation Exercises for the Writer
Book Title Ideas
Picking the Right Story For You
What If God Dies in Your Story
International Slang, Slang, Slang!
10 Great Love Opening Lines
How to Insult Like Shakespeare
Serial Killer Escape Manual
Best Picrew Character Generators for Your Characters!
How to Write Faster
Gonna hold onto this
Writing Weapons (1): Swords
The Thrusting Sword
Type of fight scene: entertaining, duels, non-lethal fights, non-gory deaths, swashbuckling adventure
Mostly used in: Europe, including Renaissance and Regency periods
Typical User: silm, male or female, good aerobic fitness
Main action: thrust, pierce, stab
Main motion: horizontal with the tip forward
Shape: straight, often thin, may be lightweight
Typical Injury: seeping blood, blood stains spreading
Strategy: target gaps in the armous, pierce a vital organ
Disadvantage: cannot slice through bone or armour
Examples: foil, epee, rapier, gladius
The Cleaving Sword
Type of fight scene: gritty, brutal, battles, cutting through armour
Typical user: tall brawny male with broad shulders and bulging biceps
Mostly used in: Medieval Europe
Main action: cleave, hack, chop, cut, split
Main motion: downwards
Shape: broad, straight, heavy, solid, sometime huge, sometimes need to be held in both hands, both sides sharpened
Typical Injury: severed large limbs
Strategy: hack off a leg, them decapitate; or split the skull
Disadvantage: too big to carry concealed, too heavy to carry in daily lifem too slow to draw for spontaneous action
Examples: Medieval greatsword, Scottish claymore, machete, falchion
The Slashing Sword
Type of fight scene: gritty or entertaining, executions, cavalry charge, on board a ship
Mostly used in: Asia, Middle East
Typical user: male (female is plausible), any body shape, Arab, Asian, mounted warrior, cavalryman, sailor, pirate
Main action: slash, cut, slice
Main motion: fluid, continuous, curving, eg.figure-eight
Shape: curved, often slender, extremely sharp on the outer edge
Typical Injury: severed limbs, lots of spurting blood
Strategy: first disable opponent's sword hand (cut it off or slice into tendons inside the elbow)
Disadvantage: unable to cut thorugh hard objects (e.g. metal armor)
Examples: scimitar, sabre, saif, shamshir, cutlass, katana
Blunders to Avoid:
Weapons performing what they shouldn't be able to do (e.g. a foil slashing metal armour)
Protagonists fighting with weapons for which they don't have the strength or build to handle
The hero carrying a huge sword all the time as if it's a wallet
Drawing a big sword form a sheath on the back (a physical impossiblity, unless your hero is a giant...)
Generic sword which can slash, stab, cleave, slash, block, pierce, thrust, whirl through the air, cut a few limbs, etc...as if that's plausible
adapted from <Writer's Craft> by Rayne Hall
List of Interesting Latin Phrases
A list I made just to satisfy my vain cravings for resonating mottos for a secret society I'm working on. Enjoy!
abi in malam crucem: to the devil with you!
ad astra per ardua: to the star by steep paths
ad augusta per angusta: to honors through difficulties
aegis fortissima virtus: virue is the strongest shield
amor vincit amnia: love conquers all things
animo et fide: by courage and faith
arbitrium est judicium: an award is a judgement
aut mors aut victoria: either death or victory
aut vincere aut mori: either victory or death
bello ac pace paratus: prepared in war and peace
bibamus, moriendum est: let us drink, death is certain (Seneca and Elder)
bonis omnia bona: all things are good to the good
cede nullis: yield to no one
cito maturum, cito putridum: soon ripe, soon rotten
consensus facit legem: consent makes law
data fata secutus: following what is decreed by fate (Virgil)
durum telum necessitas: necessity is a hrad weapson
dux vitae ratio: reason is the guide of life
e fungis nati homines: men born of mushrooms
ego sum, ergo omnia sunt: I am, therefore all things are
pulvis et umbra sumus: we are but dust and shadow
quae amissa salva: things lost are safe
timor mortis morte pejor: the fear of death is worse than death
triumpho morte tam vita: I triumph in death as in life
tu vincula frange: break your chains
vel prece vel pretio: for either love or for money
verbera, sed audi: whip me, but hear me
veritas temporis filia: truth is the daughter of time
vero nihil verius: nothing is truer than the truth
vestigia nulla restrorsum: foosteps do not go backward
victus vincimus: conquered, we conquer (Plautus)
sica inimicis: a gger to his enemies
sic vita humana: thus is human life
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Reference: <Latin for the Illiterati: a modern guide to an ancient language> by Jon R. Stone, second edition, 2009
Writing Character Accents in Fiction
Hey there, thanks for the question! I speak English as a second language; most English speakers I encounter aren’t native (yes, including fictional people); thus, this is a concern I’ve explored personally when I write.
I think the core principle regarding accent writing is this: it shouldn’t be distracting.
For the same reasons why Stephen King prescribes the basic dialogue tag “said” rather than fancier alternatives like “whispered”, “shouted” or “screeched”, dialogue must be first and foremost easy to read. It must flow like a real conversation – the pace and tone are a lot more important than how specific words are being pronounced by the character.
Focus on what effect the accent has:
Using adjectives to describe their voice in general. Different types of English (American, British, Australian, etc.) will give off a different vibe, also partly dependent on how your character speaks in general:
Lilting: Having a smooth rise and falling quality; sing-song like. Welsh accent is often described as singing.
Posh: from a high social class. This is the term generally used to describe the upper-class British accent.
Nasal: this happens when the sound goes through somebody’s nose when they’re speaking. North American accents are more nasal than, say, British pronunciations.
Brash: harsh, loud, indicative of sounding a little rude.
Slur: speaking indistinctly; words merging into one another.
Using metaphors.
Her voice was cotton and fluffy clouds.
When he spoke, the ‘r’s scratched the insides of his throat.
Mentioning their accent with a brief example(s).
“Would you like to drink some wine?” she said, though her Indian accent gave extra vibration to her ‘w’s and ‘r’s, making the words sound more like ‘vould you like to drrrink some vine’.
“I want some chocolate.” His syllables were choppy and ‘l’s rather flat, saying ‘cho-ko-lit’.
Some Tips:
Don’t phonically spell out everything. Perhaps give a few examples in the beginning, but stick to standard English spellings.
Pay attention to word choice, slang, and colloquialisms.
An Australian person would say “tram”, not “trolley; “runners” instead of “sneakers”
A Canadian may refer to a “fire hall” – what Americans call a firehouse or fire station
If your character comes from a non-Enligsh background:
Use vocabulary from other languages.
“What time was the exam, ah? Two o’clock? Jiayou!” → putting “ah” or “la” at the end of sentences + Jiayou means “break a leg” in Singlish.
“I can’t believe that 4-year-olds have their own SNS accounts now.” → “SNS” is short for “social networking service”, a term used to refer to social media in Korea. This would a subtle difference – even though it isn’t technically Korean at all!
Transpose grammar from different languages.
For example, in French, plural nouns take plural adjectives (whereas in English, you would speak of ‘white cars’, not ‘whites cars’).
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💎If you like my blog, buy me a coffee☕ and find me on instagram! Also, join my Tumblr writing community for some more fun.
💎Before you ask, check out my masterpost part 1 and part 2