fuckyourwritinghabits:

emptymanuscript:

aetherial:

theinformationdump:

Body Language Cheat Sheet for Writers

As described by Selnick’s article:

Author and doctor of clinical psychology Carolyn Kaufman has released a one-page body language cheat sheet of psychological “tells” (PDF link) fiction writers can use to dress their characters.

This is something I have always encouraged people to consider when writing. If you can afford it, and you have one in your area – TAKE A BODY LANGUAGE CLASS.  It will open your eyes to a whole new world of subtleties you never knew existed. SO worth it as a “Real Life” skill and for all those times when you’re writing and you need your character to react nonverbally.

There is also, in addition to these others, the writer resource book: The Emotion Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi

This is how you show, not tell what your character is feeling.

pinklikeme:

roachpatrol:

cornflakepizza:

cornflakepizza:

{ this is a skill i’ve been using a lot lately, thought i’d share 🙂 }

     {  Distress Tolerance Skill: Coloring Mandalas

PRE-PREP

     1}   go to www.printmandala.com and print a couple of mandalas that you like. (you can also find some on google images.)
     2}   buy set of colored pencils or markers if you don’t have them. more colors = better
     3}   buy a clipboard if you wanna lie in bed and color.
     4}   set these aside and ready to go so they are easily accessible when you are distressed

HOW TO USE DURING DISTRESS

     1}   choose a mandala from your pre-printed stash
     2}   set a timer (phone is good) for 30 minutes
     3}   color it with ur markers or pencils. i prefer pencils.
     4}   optional: play an audiobook or music while coloring. make sure it’s not sad music.
     5}   when timer goes off, stop coloring. ask yourself, what level is my distress right now? if still high, set timer for another 30 minutes and keep coloring. if tolerable, stop coloring and do thing you want to do.
     6}   repeat as needed until distress is tolerable

WHY IT WORKS

     coloring patterns is distracting enough to pull your attention away from negative thoughts/emotions, but mandalas are also repetitive so you can kind of “zone out” while coloring. it feels good being able to create something and you feel a sense of competency or confidence. there’s no competitive aspect to it so you can just do the activity without having to worry about doing it perfect or right or better than anyone else. it can remind you of a simpler time when all that was expected of you was coloring. 🙂 it is easy and almost everyone can do it.

TIPS

    — stick to the timer. even though you want to keep coloring when it goes off, stop once you finish the segment you’re on and put the pencil down. tell yourself you can come back and finish it after you do the thing you’re putting off.

    — you can do this activity without using a timer, especially if you don’t have anything planned for the rest of the day and aren’t using this to distract from a task :)) 

    — practice coloring during times when you’re not distressed, so that when you need to use this skill it will be easier and more “automatic”. i can’t stress this enough. even though coloring is really simple, it’s much better for the activity to feel familiar so that you can easily use it during distress. so if you can practice it during normal times it’ll help u. think of it as homework if you have to — you are building up a memory muscle.

    — if you feel guilty because you’re “wasting time” doing a “childish activity”, remind urself that ur doing this for your mental health, that this is an established skill recommended by top psychotherapists, and that calming down your distress so you can actually *do* the stuff you’re worried about (rather than procrastinating all day about the thing and not actually doing it) is the opposite of wasting time. remember that practicing this skill even when you’re not distressed is HOMEWORK, not optional time wasting thing. also, taking care of ur mental health is not a frivolous activity. it’s very important and crucial to a happy successful life.

I’d like to add that coloring inside the lines neatly and skillfully is something that impresses the fuck out of most artists. Yes, even professional working artists. I have seen artists genuinely lose their shit with admiration when someone could color inside all the lines (sometimes that artist is me). SO if you’re coloring and thinking ‘this is dumb i’m not an artist i bet an artist would laugh at me’ be assured most artists would actually be hooting enviously at you and then asking to borrow your crayons.

This is so cool.