Writing Checklist
things to mention in a story
settings:
- time
- color
- bright/dark
- size
- temperature
- humidity
- texture
- wet/dry/sticky
- soft/hard
- shiny/dull
- smell -- mainline to emotions
- sounds
- echoic/dead ambience
- loud/quiet ambience
- height
- angle (incline/lean/point of view)
- activity/peacefulness
- relaxed/tension
people:
People have different traits, mental capabilities, blind spots, and failings... annoying & pleasant attributes & quirks
- movement
- clothes
- hair
- color
- style
- length
- shiny/dull
- eyes
- iris
- pupils
- lashes
- eye shape
- eyebrow
- height
- build
- mouth
- fingernails
- ornaments:
- earrings, other piercings
- necklace
- brooch
- rings
- anklets
- bracelets
- watch
- belt
- footwear & gloves
- mood
- personality
- quickness of mind
- irascibility/calmness
- perceptiveness
- observant
- judgemental/tolerant
- needing approval/confident
- quiet/loud
- fast/slow talker
- graceful movements/clumsy
- suave/awkward
- centered-calm/flighty-excitable
- nervous/self-assured/defensive
- open to new things/entrenched
- mannerisms (voluntary & involuntary)
- habits of speech (common phrases)
- flexible/obstinate
- optimist/pessimist
- sense of humor/serious
- verbal skills
- trusting/suspicious
- care of physical appearance
- physique (endo/meso/ectomorph)
Characters make mistakes:
- misinterpret what others mean
- go the wrong way
- look in the wrong direction
- pick up the wrong thing
- jump to the wrong conclusion
Characters say/do unexpected things.
Characters look before they leap and question before they do.
Make use of characters' lack of knowledge to ask questions in order to
make expository lumps more digestible (e.g. "What was the name of that
thing that 'death' carries?" "A scythe?" "Yes, he cut the weeds with a
scythe.")
Use unexpected things -- they are refreshing.
Useful to punctuate the story with comedy, even slapstick, as relief from the drama and expository bits.
Wall-to-wall dialogue can be a problem. It helps to have significant quiet spaces.