the-aspiring-maverick:

mojave-red:

saltrat88:

frederick-the-ii:

pinetreeanarchism:

thedevitoanditsown:

llleighsmith:

heartmurmuration:

llleighsmith:

i told ya we’ve canceled discourse n we’ve moved on to homesteading skills

it’s just choppin wood and harvesting vegetables and herbs from here on out

amen!

unironically this

Please hit me with more homesteading concept drawings

Good reference material here.

petermorwood:

babybat98:

universalfanfic:

writing advice: never italicize words to show emphasis! if you’re writing well then the reader will know and you don’t need them!

me: oh really??? listen up, pal, you can just try an pull italics from my cold, dead fingers

“I never said she stole my money.”

VS.

“I never said she stole my money.” 

“I never said she stole my money.” 

“I never said she stole my money.” 

“I never said she stole my money.”

“I never said she stole my money.” 

“I never said she stole my money.” 

“I never said she stole my money.”

That “I never said she never stole my money” example is a perfect demonstration of how
italics-for-emphasis is meant to work.

Print it out and paste up up alongside the
monitor for reference every time you see a “don’t use italics for
emphasis” writing advice, because that advice is WRONG.

Like anything else in life, italics shouldn’t be over-used or they lose their effect, but they can be used in their proper place. You might even get away with ALL CAPS, though I wouldn’t recommend it. What shouldn’t ever be used in fiction is bold.

Note that not using italics for emphasis can be just as effective.

Harry glowered, breathing hard, and his hands clenched into fists. “Grandpa promised that watch to me. Not you. Me.”

Now let’s increase the tension.

Harry glowered, breathing hard, and his hands clenched into fists. “Grandpa promised that watch to me. Not you. Me.”

It’s a tiny change, but it has an effect.
Step three: change the word order, add a change of punctuation, and the potential for violence is that much closer.

Harry glowered, breathing hard. “Grandpa promised that watch to me. Not you.” His hands clenched into fists.
“Me…!”

---

What I presume for that advice source is the less-offensive use of italics is in titles of books, plays, films etc., within (usually non-italic) quotation marks: “So You want to Be A Wizard?“ or ”The Merchant of Venice” or “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” (NB, I tend to use bold for emphasising stuff in Tumblr posts because some themes drop italics but retain bold. YMMV.)

Italics are also for when quoting other people in dialogue
(as always, the quotation marks for that are opposite to those used for regular spoken dialogue, i.e. single instead of double or vice versa)

:

“As Churchill said, ‘Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few.’ A lot of RAF pilots felt he was taking about their pay, which was months in arrears.”

They’re also names of things, without quotation marks: the Starfleet flagship USS Enterprise or the world’s fastest steam locomotive Mallard.

Internal thought process use italics, but not quotation marks;

“I’m really sorry,”
Beth said in English, “but I don’t understand,” 

Oh yes you do, thought Harry. You speak German as well as I can. Maybe better. For a second he hesitated, then ostentatiously pulled a phrasebook from his pocket and opened it – at random, but nobody could see that. Time to be a knight in shining armour…

Italics represent speech in a foreign language that’s understood by characters (and thus the reader) so represented by English though with enough information to show it’s not:

“Is this the right platform for the train to Nuremberg?” Harry asked. His German was excellent and he rolled each R in a way that suggested he’d learned it in Austria. He hadn’t mentioned that he spoke any German at all, and Beth wondered what else he hadn’t told her.

They also represent speech in a foreign language that’s not understood by other characters, though it might be translated later:

“Ist das der richtige Bahnsteig für den Zug nach Nürnberg?” Harry asked, then glanced at Beth’s expression. “S’okay, hon, phrasebook stuff. I was just making sure we were on the right platform for the Nuremberg train.” He already regretted letting slip that he spoke any German at all.

Italics are for foreign words, either without direct English equivalents or which haven’t become accepted: italics with Black Forest gateau looks silly even though that word is French (like the use of bleu, creme and au jus in the US) but italics with Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte is fine.

Harry stared at the sword. At first he’d thought it was the sort of “Braveheart” prop you could buy at any Ren-fair, but its blade was shorter, broader, and had no point. This was a Richtschwert, a German execution sword, and whether the thing was a reproduction or not, the crimson stain that dulled its steel smelt real enough.

---

As for that original writing-advice extract, I don’t know if it’s real or not, but never mind its ranting about italics, it breaks one of my own rules, and that’s “try to avoid using exclamation marks anywhere but dialogue.”

It’s not a grammatical or typesetting rule, it’s IMO only and YMMV, but for me, exclamation marks outside dialogue – in character introduction, scene description and even (surprise!) violent action – give a feeling that the author is nudging me in the ribs and saying “Hey! Look how beautiful / lyrical / exciting this sentence is!”

(BTW, that use of an exclamation mark in (surprise!) is okay. It’s a personal comment by me, so qualifies as internal dialogue.)

If the writing is good and the words are well chosen, those are all places where the reader will know what they’re reading is
beautiful / lyrical / exciting

without needing a spotlight shone on it.

When using exclamation marks, it’s one and one only. More than one doesn’t make the statement any more dramatic, it makes the writing look amateurish, and in Discworld it’s a sure sign of a deranged mind. “Wearing his underpants on his head” is mentioned at least once…

While on the topic of repeating punctuation, the same applies to question marks. One. Just one. And don’t add an exclamation mark alongside (or an interrobang combo symbol) to show the question is loud or urgent. AFAIK that stylistic quirk originated with comics.

If the question is loud enough that you think it really needs an exclamation mark as well, have it be shouted or yelled and add a speech modifier about why it’s happening, if the situation hasn’t already made that clear: “shouted with delight”; “yelled in disbelief”; “screamed, horrified by the grotesque sight”.

Or you could put the whole thing in italics… :->

undertale-cat:

starsprincessjavert:

ladytygrycomics:

frauleinpflaume:

For artists who have problems with perspective (furniture etc.) in indoor scenes like me – there’s an online programm called roomsketcher where you can design a house/roon and snap pictures of it using different perspectives.

It’s got an almost endless range of furniture, doors, windows, stairs etc and is easy to use. In addition to that, you don’t have to install anything and if you create an account (which is free) you can save and return to your houses.

Examples (all done by me):

Here’s an example for how you can use it

Great find, thanks!

OMG HEAVEN!!

Bless you!!!!

BLESS YOUR SOUL-

deer-head-xiris:

Sorry for taking so long to get back to you on this! Here’s a really simple run-down I can offer-

generally, younger / less developed people have their facial features squished closer together and have more prominent forehead space. As people age, their features become more evened out

I hope this very short explanation was helpful to you, I’m afraid I can’t offer much more other than using stock-photo references for practice :’>

pitbullmabari:

brynprocrastinates:

my-dearest-one-my-darling-dear:

thedosian-cabbage:

howdoiputthisgeekily:

Tips:

a) pick a name, any name

b) let’s go with Kevin

c) fuck up a letter, preferably a vowel

– kevan

– kyvin

– kovon

– kevell

– kivoth

d) congratz u have a name

e) he might be called Tim but that might be short for something

– Timmos

– Timotheus

– Timiron (yeah just add “Ron” when in doubt)

– Tiroth

– Timarimos

Congratulations your Tim both has a cute nickname and a full name that sounds vaguely badass, or if not badass long-winded and unnecessary enough to be a Fantasy Name™.

Also try to make the syllables sound like their personality. A suave and socially smooth character could maybe not have any hard ‘r’ or ‘br’ or ‘tr’ in their names. Etc.

Saving for future reference and because of the glorious Monty python gif

This is really nice because you get interesting names WITHOUT making them ten syllables long and entire unpronounceable.

take old english names prior to the norman conquest. wulfric.

if you like, shorten them. atheldryth->audrey, theldry, eldry.