Eyes narrowing with a sharp, intense stare.
Clenched jaw and pursed lips.
Crossing arms defensively.
Making snide or sarcastic remarks.
Glancing repeatedly at the object of jealousy.
Trying to outdo or one-up the rival.
Faking a smile that doesn’t reach the eyes.
Speaking in a tense, clipped tone.
Avoiding eye contact with the person they’re jealous of.
Drumming fingers impatiently on a surface.
Feeling a burning sensation in the chest.
Sighing loudly or rolling their eyes.
Gritting teeth and taking deep, forced breaths.
Biting their lower lip hard.
Tapping foot incessantly.
Passive-aggressively commenting on the situation.
Mimicking or mocking the rival’s behavior.
Frequently changing the subject away from the rival.
Feeling a knot tighten in their stomach.
Casting resentful, sidelong glances.
This also has an etymology feature, so if you’re like me and need to find if a word existed in the time era you’re writing, Merriam-Webster is also helpful for that.
i just found out merriam webster has a time traveler feature that tells you some of the words that were “born” the same year as you. it’s pretty neat yall should do this
"it's all in the eyes i was once told"
catching the stare of someone across a crowded room
subtle furrowing of eyebrows beyond a blank facade
coldness easing into warmth
a fond mothering gaze
corner of the lip nudged upward
forced glower/glare as they break underneath
batting their lashes, playful
a boisterous laugh
intrigue piercing the stoic
proud smugness at the other's success
lingering glances
a childish joy bursting through
pupils dilate
eyelids shut in a look of peace, calm and trust
"there was once a time when they were mine"
terseness
features fold into a scowl
an urgent flinching back
coldness returns (as though the warmth had never come)
lips part then purse
invasion of shock
slow stare at the floor
the ripple effect of a swallow
frustrated breath/sigh
bitter laugh in reminiscence
dread tearing through the seams of their composure
"darkness"
mean smirk- teeth bared grimace- scowl
dismissive gaze
gaze of contempt/impatience
threat lowering the voice
sardonic goading grins verging on manic
rolling one's eyes
flicker of irritation in the eyes
stares stubbornly ahead despite distraction
gritted teeth, clenched jaw
fierce biting remarks
even measured complexions betraying no thought
strangling oneself back from violence
utter apathy
murderous silence hanging in the stare
snobbish laughter
smiling at another's downfall
While lethal injuries often take center stage, non-lethal injuries can create lasting effects on characters, shaping their journeys in unique ways. If you need a simple way to make your characters feel pain during a scene, here are some ideas:
Sprained Ankle
A common injury that can severely limit mobility, forcing characters to adapt their plans and experience frustration as they navigate their environment.
Rib Contusion
A painful bruise on the ribs can make breathing difficult and create tension, especially during action scenes, where every breath becomes a reminder of vulnerability.
Concussion
This brain injury can lead to confusion, dizziness, and mood swings, affecting a character’s judgment and creating a sense of unpredictability in their actions.
Fractured Finger
A broken finger can complicate tasks that require fine motor skills, causing frustration and emphasizing a character’s dependence on their hands.
Road Rash
The raw, painful skin resulting from a fall can symbolize struggle and endurance, highlighting a character's resilience in the face of physical hardship.
Shoulder Dislocation
This injury can be excruciating and often leads to an inability to use one arm, forcing characters to confront their limitations while adding urgency to their situation.
Deep Laceration
A cut that requires stitches can evoke visceral imagery and tension, especially if the character has to navigate their surroundings while in pain.
Burns
Whether from fire, chemicals, or hot surfaces, burns can cause intense suffering and lingering trauma, serving as a physical reminder of a character’s past mistakes or battles.
Pulled Muscle
This can create ongoing pain and restrict movement, providing an opportunity for characters to experience frustration or the need to lean on others for support.
Tendonitis
Inflammation of a tendon can cause chronic pain and limit a character's ability to perform tasks they usually take for granted, highlighting their struggle to adapt and overcome.
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Some advice for when you’re writing and find yourself stuck in the middle of a scene:
kill someone
ask this question: “What could go wrong?” and write exactly how it goes wrong
switch the POV from your current character to another - a minor character, the antagonist, anyone
stop writing whatever scene you’re struggling with and skip to the next one you want to write
write the ending
write a sex scene
use a scene prompt
use sentence starters
read someone else’s writing
Never delete. Never read what you’ve already written. Pass Go, collect your $200, and keep going.
Writing Tips
Punctuating Dialogue
✧
➸ “This is a sentence.”
➸ “This is a sentence with a dialogue tag at the end,” she said.
➸ “This,” he said, “is a sentence split by a dialogue tag.”
➸ “This is a sentence,” she said. “This is a new sentence. New sentences are capitalized.”
➸ “This is a sentence followed by an action.” He stood. “They are separate sentences because he did not speak by standing.”
➸ She said, “Use a comma to introduce dialogue. The quote is capitalized when the dialogue tag is at the beginning.”
➸ “Use a comma when a dialogue tag follows a quote,” he said.
“Unless there is a question mark?” she asked.
“Or an exclamation point!” he answered. “The dialogue tag still remains uncapitalized because it’s not truly the end of the sentence.”
➸ “Periods and commas should be inside closing quotations.”
➸ “Hey!” she shouted, “Sometimes exclamation points are inside quotations.”
However, if it’s not dialogue exclamation points can also be “outside”!
➸ “Does this apply to question marks too?” he asked.
If it’s not dialogue, can question marks be “outside”? (Yes, they can.)
➸ “This applies to dashes too. Inside quotations dashes typically express—“
“Interruption” — but there are situations dashes may be outside.
➸ “You’ll notice that exclamation marks, question marks, and dashes do not have a comma after them. Ellipses don’t have a comma after them either…” she said.
➸ “My teacher said, ‘Use single quotation marks when quoting within dialogue.’”
➸ “Use paragraph breaks to indicate a new speaker,” he said.
“The readers will know it’s someone else speaking.”
➸ “If it’s the same speaker but different paragraph, keep the closing quotation off.
“This shows it’s the same character continuing to speak.”
if a patient has a seizure that lasts longer than 5 minutes, or if they suffer several seizures, they risk sustaining brain damage — because their brain can’t get oxygen during the seizure.
if a patient’s coughing up blood when they’re lying on their back, make sure to tune their face to the side so that they don’t choke on their own blood (the same applies to vomit too)
chest compression can and often leave patients with broken ribs. because you have to push down hard enough in order to help pump blood from the patient’s heart to their brain (the point is so that the brain gets blood, in order to prevent brain damage), and more often than not, you’ll end up breaking your patient’s ribs — that is normal and okay, because it’s better for your patient to have broken ribs than it is for them to lose their life.
after a course of electroconvulsive therapy, you’ll normally have to give your patient a dose of muscle relaxant, otherwise the aftermath of the shock may cause musculoskeletal complications.
you don't use a defibrillator to shock a patient if they already flat line, because their heart no longer has any electricity. quote "asystole isn't a shockable rhyme, and defibrillator may actually make it harder to restart the heart." (Cleveland Clinic)
the famous, classic "a character was knocked out and they stayed unconscious for hours before they woke up on their own with no lingering damage" trope is actually almost impossible if you want your work to be medically accurate (but if you don’t care about accuracy and are just here for the whump, that is totally fine!). if someone was knocked out and they stayed unconscious for more than several minutes, chances are that they suffer permanent brain damage, so they won't "wake up on their own in the next hour or two and be completely fine without intense medical attention".
Dream sequence/nightmare
Flashback/resurfaced memories
Revealed by psychic reading Whumpee’s mind
Found footage/pictures
Someone finally asks and they explain
As the reason behind a thought process/assumption/belief
Whumper shows up and taunts them
Scars
Through conditioned behaviour
Finding an old journal
Hints dropped in conversation
Have someone who knows tell someone who doesn’t
• • •
Feel free to add others!
hey writers! OneLook Thesaurus lets you find that word you can’t think of but can describe! go check it out!
Affect is something that physically affects something
Effect is a direct result of a certain cause.
Honestly, knowing that it's still hard to determine which one to use
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.