Writing with Curiosity

Research for Writers

Fossil Writing Prompts: The Churchyard Grim

November 2, 2023 / / 0 Comments

The churchyard grim looks strange in these parts. It appeared before the usual guardian could be buried there, walking on two legs and covered in feathers, its mouth lined with dozens of sharp teeth. Folks thought it was a demon at first, but it never brought harm to anyone and did its job just as well. So they got used to it. These days folks walk through the rows of the dead without fear, for no demon nor evil spirit would dare to oppose this grim.

In English folklore church grim are guardians of the dead and usually appear in the form of a black dog with red eyes. It was said that the first thing buried there would then serve as protector for the churchyard, and it is thought to have been custom for a dog to be the first thing buried in a new churchyard so it would become its guardian.

So what if there was an undiscovered fossil bed under this new churchyard? What fun prehistoric grim could arise from such a scenario?

Writing Prompts: The Fraying Threads

October 31, 2020 / / 0 Comments 
Repeated resurrection comes with a cost: the bond between body and soul becomes tenuous, weakening each time resurrection takes place. When frayed enough, the threads connecting the two may break at the most unexpected moment.

Death is the ultimate consequence, so one must proceed with caution when adding a resurrection mechanic into their world. Having fallout and high costs associated with resurrection will help keep it from getting out of control, on top of adding potential new stakes and tension to the narrative. Adding conditions that make resurrection impossible will also help with this.

In the case of this prompt, we’re looking at a consequence that comes with using resurrection. (And obviously, feel free to combine this with things like the trauma that would likely result from dying in the first place, mental, physical, and spiritual. Consequences make things much more interesting.)

Death severs the connections between body and soul. Resurrection restores those connections along with the physical body, but the mending is less than perfect. Every successive resurrection results in weaker connections, and these are slow to heal if at all. Eventually they become so frail that the slightest disturbance will cause them to break.

Abusing the resurrection mechanic runs the risk of flinging the resurrected character into a fate worse than death. They may have been able to return to life, but what happens if they slip out of their body and something else occupies it? They would be trapped in a state where they can no longer influence the world, only able to watch as whatever took their body for a ride does as it pleases. Alive in one sense, yet less than a ghost in another.

An unanchored soul can be reunited with their body under certain conditions, but the connections between the two remain weak. The soul breaking free is always a dangerous situation to deal with. Even beyond the possibility of body theft, it’s easier to steal and contain a soul with no connections.

Cognitive and physical effects can also be associated with this. Dissociation would be an obvious one to use, with the frightening possibility that this could lead to the soul disconnecting without the character realizing until it’s too late. Loss of feeling or other senses could be another. Even beyond the risk of the soul coming loose, there are long-lasting symptoms that need to be dealt with and managed alongside whatever goals the character and their allies may have.

In all, even though resurrection is possible death will still have consequences that last throughout the rest of the story. And at the end of the day, death is still inevitable because after a certain point it will no longer be possible to restore the connections between body and soul.

If you like what you see, please consider supporting the site on Patreon! I would like to keep things ad-free, so any support is deeply appreciated.

Got anything you’re curious about? Let me know down in the comments or ping me on Twitter or Tumblr!

Natural Hazards: Ice Storm/Freezing Rain

June 3, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Ice storms can go by several names: freezing rain, silver storm, glaze storm. The after-effects are known as glaze ice, silver thaw, or silver frost. The freezing rain itself is distinct from sleet, and a storm can alternate between freezing rain, sleet, and snow depending on the position and interaction of the warm and cold fronts involved.

A particular set of conditions is required for an ice storm to develop. The most common set is when warm moist air flows up and over colder air. As a result, cold precipitation passes through a thick layer of warm air followed by a thin layer of air near the ground that is below freezing point; this causes the temperature of the droplets to fall below freezing without giving them enough time to become ice crystals(turning them into supercooled liquid water) and means they’re primed and ready to form ice the instant they come into contact with something solid. In the United States this occurs most often in regions east of the Rocky Mountains, where cold arctic air is able to flow down and interact with warm moist air coming off the Gulf of Mexico, and the typical season for ice storms to occur is in winter.

Glaze ice coating a tree branch.
Link to image.

Freezing rain will present a building roster of hazards the longer it continues. First are the obvious dangers from any typical level of ice buildup: slippery roads, slippery walking surfaces(watch out for those front steps), cold temperatures. As the glaze ice thickens and its weight increases, new hazards develop: falling branches and trees can directly injure people and block roads or land on homes, pipes can rupture thanks to below freezing temperatures, and power lines and poles snap and cause loss of electricity(even big electricity pylons can crumple under the weight of glaze ice). This damage to the electrical grid can cause entire cities to lose power for multiple days or even up to a month. In turn this loss of power results in more potential hazards: hypothermia is a risk due to loss of heating, while the incorrect(indoor) use of barbecues, gas generators, and kerosene heaters cause carbon monoxide poisoning.

Despite the potential damage of the aftermath, the weather itself is only about as violent as any typical rain storm. It sounds like a rain storm, with a sort of sharp tinny sound as the drops hit solid objects and crystallize. As the ice builds up, however, the relative calm will be disrupted by breaking branches, falling trees, broken power lines, and the like. The sound of falling branches and trees is very scary, especially if your characters are outdoors when it happens.

Words to Describe It

Neutral

Nouns (Components)

  • Crust
  • Freezing rain
  • Glaze
  • Gust
  • Ice
  • Precipitation
  • Puff
  • Storm
  • Wind

Adjectives

  • Cold
  • Dark
  • Gray
  • Moonless
  • Overcast
  • Sunless
  • Uniform
  • Wet

Verbs

  • Accumulate
  • Blow
  • Coat
  • Crackle
  • Crystallize
  • Encrust
  • Glaze
  • Spread
  • Whisper

Positive

There’s not much that’s positive about the ice storm itself. Even if someone’s hunkered down indoors, there’s still the possibility of power outages, loss of heating, and overburdened trees coming down to contend with. The aftermath can have a certain cold beauty about it, though.

Adjectives

  • Bright
  • Clear
  • Crisp
  • Crystalline
  • Radiant
  • Smooth

Verbs

  • Crackle
  • Crunch
  • Gleam
  • Glitter
  • Reflect
  • Shine

Negative

Nouns (Components)

  • Chill
  • Deluge
  • Gloom

Adjectives

  • Bitter
  • Bleak
  • Brittle
  • Cheerless
  • Damp
  • Deadly
  • Dim
  • Dismal
  • Dreary
  • Dull
  • Frigid
  • Gloomy
  • Heavy
  • Icy
  • Leaden
  • Lethal
  • Menacing
  • Murky
  • Somber
  • Sopping

Verbs

  • Break (tree branches and power lines)
  • Buffet
  • Drench
  • Freeze
  • Loom
  • Menace
  • Mock
  • Shatter
  • Snap (tree branches and power lines)
  • Soak
  • Threaten

If you like what you see, please consider supporting the site on Patreon! I would like to keep things ad-free, so any support is deeply appreciated.

Got anything you’re curious about? Let me know down in the comments or ping me on Twitter or Tumblr!

Sources

http://glossary.ametsoc.org/wiki/Glaze_ice

https://weather.com/science/weather-explainers/news/what-to-know-about-ice-storms-impacts-damage-explainer

https://www.weather.gov/source/zhu/ZHU_Training_Page/winter_stuff/winter_wx/winter_wx.html

Writing Tips: The Writing Journal

March 7, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Journals. Those lovely, empty books so full of potential and that I have far too many of. There are many benefits to keeping a writing journal, and it’s one of the first things I recommend to people when they ask for advice on how to get things rolling with their stories. Here are a few reasons for filling up a journal yourself:

A new perspective

It’s amazing how helpful getting your thoughts down on paper can be. By getting your ideas out of your head you make room for new ones, and being able to read your ideas instead of just thinking them allows you to look at them in a different way.

Writing your ideas down will also help you process them faster and potentially untangle issues you’ve been struggling with.

A look into your creative past

Once you’ve written it down, you won’t have to worry so much about losing it. It’s fun to look back on what you were thinking about in the past, and you never know when an idea might come in handy in the future. You might even find a concept to rework or add to an already-existing project in one of your old journals.

Bringing order to the chaos

If you’re working with a lot of characters and plot threads it’s useful to have a place to write them down to reference later. Same goes for world building elements. A writing journal is your initial dumping ground for ideas which will then be refined and recorded in a more polished state later.

A place to keep your research

Research is important to most writing projects, but sometimes there’s a point where your eyes start to slide off the text without really comprehending what’s been written. Writing down notes on your research can help you commit things to memory and will ensure that you have them stored somewhere to find and use later.

Collecting is fun

It’s fun to collect journals and feels very satisfying to finish filling one and put it on the shelf. Pat yourself on the back for a job well done.

A few bits of advice

Use sticky notes to mark important pages so you can find them more easily later. I like to link certain colors of sticky note to certain stories that I’m writing, so I can have notes and musings for multiple different stories going without things getting too muddled.

No need to use a physical journal if you don’t want to, there are phone apps that you can use to record things with no matter where you are.

If you’re picking out physical journals, remember that if you want to fill it completely you’ll be stuck with it for at least a few months. Choose carefully and make sure that you like it. Things to check are page count, paper texture, page thickness, and line width.

I’d recommend against really expensive journals, at least to start with, since the price tag might make you police the sorts of things you write in it. The point of the journal is to dump everything in, it’s like an artist’s sketchbook, it’s where you store ideas and thoughts regardless of how silly or tacky you might think they are now! Picking a journal that’s too “special” or valuable may end up hindering that.

Have fun!

Good luck and have fun in your journaling! I think you’ll find the results very helpful and rewarding.

How many blank journals do I have?

…

These are all waiting to be filled…

Too many.

Have fun choosing your journals but maybe don’t hoard them like I do!

If you like what you see, please consider supporting the site on Patreon! I would like to keep things ad-free, so any support is deeply appreciated.

Got anything you’re curious about? Let me know down in the comments or ping me on Twitter or Tumblr!

World Building: City Creation Basics

February 13, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Building a fictional city that feels complete and believable can seem like a really daunting task at a glance, so let’s break it down into smaller parts to make things more manageable. Once you have the general shape laid out, I highly recommend that you do additional research on the conditions you want for your city. Not only will this ensure a solid foundation, you also never know what previously-unknown facts might produce a plot hook, potential threat, or aid for character development.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it will help you create a good base to build your city upon.

Location and Landscape

The shape of the landscape will determine the shape of the city and how it’s organized. It will also help determine the type and extent of natural disasters that threaten the city. One real world example is Mexico City, which while already threatened by earthquakes has the added complication of being partially built on a filled-in lake, causes an earthquake’s seismic waves to be amplified when trapped in the softer sediment layer.

The types of industry that the city offers will also be determined in part by its location and surrounding landscape. For example, some coastal cities will have robust fishing industry while others will be hubs for shipping and imports.

History

Every city has its history, its founders, the stretch of time that existed before a city even stood there. A city’s history will have varying levels of influence on its present and future, such as keeping a layout from the era before automobiles or lingering friction between factions within the city.

Local Industry

Basically, what does your city have to offer in the way of goods or services? What industries bring in the money or put it on the map? How has that industry changed over the years?

An example of changing industry is Monterey Bay in California, where the cannery business collapsed in the 1950s due to overfishing. These days Cannery Row has mostly become a shopping district, with the Monterey Bay Aquarium now standing in place of one of the canneries and the waters off Cannery Row’s shore having been declared a marine sanctuary.

Here are some examples of potential industries, keep in mind that the city’s location will help determine what industries it has:

  • Farming
  • Fishing
  • Manufacturing
  • Mining
  • Technology
  • Tourism

Imports

Goods that need to be imported will be a factor in how costly it is to live in the city. For example communities in the state of Hawaii will have high food costs to worry about on top of the cost of housing, whereas cities on the mainland will have easier access to cheaper and more local food options.

Water Sources

A city’s success and size rely on a dependable water source. Said water source can be threatened by drought or damage to infrastructure(whatever is bringing the water to the city).

Energy Sources

Where is your city getting its energy from? Coal? Nuclear power? Green energy? Potential sources for electrical energy include:

  • Coal
  • Geothermal
  • Hydroelectric
  • Natural gas
  • Solar
  • Wind

Natural Disasters

No matter where a city is in the world, it will always be in reach of at least one type of natural disaster. Cities near active fault lines are threatened by earthquakes and any disasters triggered by said quakes, settlements near warmer oceans are under risk from typhoons, those in snowy mountains from avalanches, etc. The surrounding landscape and location will help determine the types of natural disasters that your city will face.

Here are a few natural disasters to consider when placing your city in the world:

  • Avalanches
  • Blizzards
  • Earthquakes
  • Flooding
  • Ice storms
  • Landslides
  • Mudslides
  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical cyclones (also called hurricanes or typhoons, depending on location)
  • Tsunamis
  • Volcanic eruptions
  • Wildfires

Hazards

Basically these are dangers found in or around the city that do not amount to natural disaster status, but are a risk to inhabitants and infrastructure all the same. Some hazards include:

  • Below-freezing temperatures
  • Black ice
  • Fog
  • Sinkholes (also called cenotes, dolines, sinks, swallets, or sallow holes)
  • Snow
  • Waves
  • Wind

Urban Legends and Folklore

Everywhere humans go, folklore and fragments of belief follow. Urban legends are the more contemporary version of folklore, influenced by the time period they were first formulated in. Old folklore can still carry into the modern age to live alongside urban legend, so you may want to have a mix of old and new folklore that haunts the edges and dark places of the city.

Folklore includes things such as fairies and witchcraft. Urban legends are more contemporary and include entities such as the Jersey Devil or Mothman.

Religion

Some cities have religion written into their history, either in their founding, their landmarks, or otherwise. Primary religions can change depending on the city’s history, as was the case for Istanbul, for instance.

Good Luck!

Hopefully this will help you move forward with your world building ambitions.

If you like what you see, please consider supporting the site on Patreon! I would like to keep things ad-free, so any support is deeply appreciated.

Got anything you’re curious about? Let me know down in the comments or ping me on Twitter or Tumblr!

Setting the Mood: Candlelight

January 18, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Candles have been with us for thousands of years and though they’re no longer a main source of light in the household, they’ll remain with us a while longer in forms such as decorative or emergency lighting. For this reason they’re common among many time periods and settings, giving authors a lot to play with when it comes to using this humble little device.

The mood and atmosphere that candles can add to a setting is delightfully varied. Depending on the amount of light they give, how many there are, the character’s state of mind, what they leave on their surroundings(such as soot), even the smell they give off, they can range from being soothing and cozy to enhancing a scene’s already-apparent creep factor.

Take scented candles for example. Usually pretty innocuous as long as it’s a scent you don’t hate, but what if the scent is being used to mask something horrible? Your character’s perception of the scent changes as they gain more awareness of the true nature of the scene, and what started as a pleasant smell can become overwhelming, stifling, even nauseating. And if it’s a scent that the character hates or is even allergic to, scented candles are unpleasant right off the bat and then get worse as more environmental details become apparent to them.

The amount of light produced is another angle to look at. A candle that’s bright enough to give light to the whole room will have a more positive effect than one so dim as to allow deep shadows to linger and creep around the edge of the light. Again context is an important factor, as well as the size of the room that the candle is illuminating—a small room will find itself comfortably lit while a large one will have corners and walls lost in shadow. In a positive context a single candle in a large room can still be comforting though, acting as a pool of light where a character can while away the hours with reading or contemplation.

Words for Describing it

Neutral

Sources

  • Candle
  • Candelabra
  • Flame
  • Scented candle
  • Taper
  • Tealight
  • Wick

Nouns

  • Glow
  • Illumination
  • Light

Adjectives

  • Gold
  • Golden
  • Orange
  • Pungent (smell, if scented)
  • Slight
  • Strong
  • Yellow

Verbs

  • Color
  • Flare
  • Flicker
  • Glow
  • Illuminate
  • Light
  • Smoke (if tallow or recently snuffed out)

Positive

Adjectives

  • Comforting
  • Cozy
  • Gentle
  • Pleasant
  • Soft
  • Soothing
  • Steady
  • Sweet (smell, if scented)
  • Warm

Verbs

  • Bathe
  • Brighten
  • Envelop

Negative

Nouns

  • Stench (smell, if scented or tallow)

Adjectives

  • Ailing
  • Dim
  • Diminutive
  • Dingy
  • Dirty
  • Feeble
  • Frail
  • Greasy (if tallow)
  • Grubby
  • Minuscule
  • Nauseating (smell, if scented or tallow)
  • Overpowering (smell, if scented or tallow)
  • Sickly
  • Weak

Verbs

  • Gutter
  • Die
  • Reek (smell, if scented or tallow)
  • Struggle
  • Suffocate (smell, if scented or tallow)

If you like what you see, please consider supporting the site on Patreon! I would like to keep things ad-free, so any support is deeply appreciated.

Got anything you’re curious about? Let me know down in the comments or ping me on Twitter or Tumblr!

Natural Wonders: The 22° Halo

January 6, 2020 / / 0 Comments
Link to Image

At a Glance

A halo can add a little mystery and beauty to the scene, or it can be an eerie and foreboding omen for the superstitious. The sky is dim with a filter of high clouds, and your character looks up to find that a thin band of light has graced the sun or moon.

How It Works

The 22° or circular halo is an optical phenomenon that causes a ring of light to appear around the sun or moon, with the sky inside the halo appearing to be darker than the sky outside of it. This ring can be white, or prismatic in color with the inner edge showing red and then progressing to blue toward the outer edge. Like diamond dust, it is caused by hexagonal ice crystals—this time high in the atmosphere instead of at ground level—reflecting and refracting sunlight or moonlight. Said ice crystals can be suspended in the atmosphere, or they can be from cirrus or cirrostratus clouds.

Before we continue, a quick note on the degrees deal you’ve been seeing. Angular distance is used to measure distances between objects in the sky and the size of said objects. The 22° in the 22° halo refers to the halo’s size—a little smaller than the width of an outstretched hand held at arm’s length—while degrees mentioned with regards to the position of the sun or moon refer to where they are in their arc. Zenith position is 90° and the horizon is 0°, with the halfway point between the two being 45°.

A circumscribed halo
Link to Image

At times the 22° halo will appear with a circumscribed halo surrounding it, which can give it the appearance of an enormous eye. On top of just straight-up looking uncanny(and beautiful), this kind of halo has some fun fantasy possibilities, such as being a representation for the eye of a god or some other cosmic entity.

It’s important to note, however, that a circumscribed halo will only have an eye-like appearance along certain portions of the sun or moon’s arc. When nearing the zenith position(starting around an elevation of 70°), the circumscribed halo will become a circle and merge with the 22° halo, intensifying its color. It is between 70° and 50° that it maintains an oval shape and the eye-like appearance is apparent on its own, while sufficiently tall objects such as forests, mountains, or buildings are needed to cover the drooping lobes of the circumscribed halo between 50° and 32° in order to maintain the illusion of an eye. Below 32° the circumscribed halo will split into upper and lower tangent arcs. This site provides a simulator that gives a good visual of what the circumscribed halo looks like along the sun or moon’s arc.

Another companion to the 22° halo is the sun dog, where a pair of false suns appear on either side of the sun along the halo’s edge. This display is most easily visible when the sun is near the horizon and it can occur anywhere in the world and during any season.

Sun dog with a faint 22° halo, a sun pillar, and a parahelic arc
Link to Image

Yet another potential accompaniment to the 22° halo is the light pillar, pictured above along with the sun dog and parahelic arc. While light pillar is the general name for this phenomenon, it is specifically called a sun pillar or solar pillar when it has the sun as its light source.

Words for Describing It

Neutral

Nouns

  • Halo
  • Inner edge (sharp and distinct, with a red color to it)
  • Moon ring
  • Nimbus
  • Outer edge (blue-tinged, fading)
  • Ring
  • Sun dog
  • Winter halo (if the moon is the light source)

Adjectives

  • Multicolored
  • Pale
  • Prismatic
  • Rainbow
  • Slender
  • Slight
  • Slim
  • Thin
  • White

Verbs

  • Drift
  • Encircle
  • Flare (sun dog)
  • Float
  • Gaze (with circumscribed halo)
  • Hang
  • Hover
  • Reflect
  • Refract
  • Shimmer
  • Shine
  • Watch (with circumscribed halo)

Interactions

  • Clouds (low clouds can obscure parts of the halo or the light source)
  • Light source
    • Sun
    • Moon

Metaphor

  • Eye (with circumscribed halo)

Example

“High clouds rolled in, creating a faint halo around the sun.”

Positive

Nouns

  • Crown
  • Promise

Adjectives

  • Beautiful
  • Brilliant
  • Dainty
  • Dazzling
  • Delicate
  • Fine
  • Flawless
  • Gleam (sun dog)
  • Opalescent
  • Opaline
  • Perfect
  • Radiant
  • Vibrant

Verbs

  • Blaze (sun dog)
  • Gleam
  • Grace
  • Promise

Example

“A halo crowned the sun as it climbed to its zenith, its prismatic ring shining against the pale sky behind it.”

Negative

Nouns

  • Omen
  • Portent
  • Warning

Adjectives

  • Apathetic
  • Baleful
  • Cold
  • Dim
  • Dispassionate
  • Fragile
  • Ghostly
  • Hollow
  • Illusory
  • Impassive
  • Indifferent
  • Phantom
  • Spectral
  • Uncanny
  • Unearthly
  • Unfeeling
  • Washed-out

Verbs

  • Foretell
  • Glare (with circumscribed halo)
  • Glower (with circumscribed halo)
  • Judge
  • Loom

Example

“An enormous eye loomed behind the eastern peak, with the moon as its stark, staring pupil. It watched, cold and indifferent, as they made their way through the darkened valley.”

Associated Phenomena

  • 46° halo
  • Circumhorizontal arc
  • Circumzenithal arc
  • Cirrostratus clouds
  • Cirrus clouds
  • Diamond dust
  • Light pillars
  • Parahelic circle
  • Sun dogs
  • Supralateral arc
  • Upper tangent arc

I highly recommend that you do some research on halos yourself, as there are some absolutely incredible photos and footage to see of this phenomenon. And as you’re going about your business outside, maybe keep an eye out when there are high clouds overhead.

If you like what you see, please consider supporting the site on Patreon! I would like to keep things ad-free, so any support is deeply appreciated.

Got anything you’re curious about? Let me know down in the comments or ping me on Twitter or Tumblr!

Writing Process: Flash Card Plotting

December 30, 2019 / / 0 Comments

So if you’re like me and future arcs, scenes, and twists just materialize in your head without a fixed place in the overall story, then you might find this plotting technique useful.

The basic idea is to keep the order of events fluid and easily changeable by writing arcs, events, chapters, etc. on flash cards and swapping them around as you please. You can also record little notes and reminders for things you want to accomplish in the story or specific arc that are kept along with the collection. Putting events and arcs on flash cards allows for easy order swapping, and gives a different view of the plot as a whole when it’s physically laid out in front of you.

For starters let’s work with five types of cards: Arc, Event, Chapter, Character, and Note. You can always make up new types as needed.

First we’ll start with the Arc card:

The “Arc” label goes in the top left corner, and the title of the arc in the center; a shorthand description of the arc and what is accomplished goes on the back of the card.

This is the start of an arc that various events, chapters, pieces of character development, and notes may fall under. Write the major goals for the arc on the back of the card.

Next, the Event card:

The “Event” label goes in the top left corner, the title of the relevant arc goes in the bottom left corner, and the event’s title in the middle; a shorthand description of the event and what it accomplishes goes on the back of the card.

Events can be a single scene or a series of them, and can span multiple chapters. The “Arc Title” section can be left blank until you decide which arc the event belongs to.

For individual chapters:

The “Chapter” label goes in the top left corner, the title of the relevant arc in the bottom left corner, and the chapter’s title in the middle; a basic summary of what happens in the chapter goes on the back of the card.

I find that going by chapter can be useful when dealing with stories that run on the more episodic side, with specific chapters forming their own mini-story within the larger narrative arc.

Next is the Character Development card:

The “Character Development” label goes in the top left corner, the title of the arc in the bottom left corner, and the character’s name in the middle; a basic rundown of the character’s development by the end of the arc goes on the back.

Record goals for the named character’s development by the end of the arc. These can be kept at the top or bottom of the arc’s stack, whichever is more convenient.

Last but not least, the Note card:

The “Note” label goes in the top left corner, the title of the arc in the bottom left corner, and the note’s title in the middle; shorthand notes for the arc go on the back of the card.

These cards are for more general notes, like small but important background details that run throughout the story arc. These can be kept at the top or bottom of the arc’s stack, whichever is more convenient.

I find flash card plotting to be particularly useful for writing ongoing fanfic, where you’re updating chapter to chapter without being able to edit the whole thing before publishing. I always like to have some idea of where I’m going, and this achieves that while also being malleable enough to accommodate an actively evolving plot. The fic below mostly goes event by event when it comes to the cards, while other more episodic fics I’ve done have gone chapter by chapter.

The horizontal cards have a set place in the plot, while the diagonal cards have a rough order but do not have a solid place yet.

I also suggest keeping a writing journal where you can keep more long-form descriptions of planned arcs, events, and such so you can keep the information on the backs of the cards concise and avoid losing anything as time passes. The flash cards are also a good accompaniment in that they can be used to quickly reference the highlights of previous chapters instead of having to spend time flipping through your writing journal.

I hope you find this useful in your writing endeavors! Good luck and have fun!

If you like what you see, please consider supporting the site on Patreon! I would like to keep things ad-free, so any support is deeply appreciated.

Got anything you’re curious about? Let me know down in the comments or ping me on Twitter or Tumblr!

Natural Wonders: Diamond Dust

December 17, 2019 / / 1 Comment

At a Glance

If you want to add a little magic to a snowy winter scene, fantasy or no, diamond dust might be what you want to go for. Your characters look up to find that diamond dust sparkles in the clear air around them, bringing another element of beauty to the snowy landscape.

How It Works

Diamond dust is, at the most basic level of description, a ground-level cloud of ice crystals. These ice crystals form slowly and are simple in structure, either forming as hexagonal plates or columns. This is what gives diamond dust its reflective properties.

The formation of diamond dust relies on temperature and water vapor. It can form anywhere the temperature is in the range of -10 °C(14 °F) to -39 °C(38 °F), with Antarctica sporting the phenomenon almost year-round. The second element required, water vapor, comes from a warmer moisture-bearing mass of air moving over the cold ground-level air. Ice crystals form as these two masses of air interact and then fall to the ground as diamond dust. Since clouds are not required for the formation of diamond dust, it tends to appear under clear skies. Diamond dust is distinct from ice fog, and doesn’t tend to impede visibility.

The crystal types that make up diamond dust are also associated with optical phenomena such as halos, light pillars, and dun dogs.

Words for Describing It

Neutral

Nouns

  • Diamond dust
  • Facets
  • Flecks
  • Ice-crystal haze
  • Ice crystals

Adjectives

  • Brief
  • Cold
  • Fleeting
  • Minute
  • Pale
  • Silver
  • Thin
  • Tiny

Verbs

  • Blink
  • Drift
  • Flash
  • Float
  • Glint
  • Reflect
  • Refract
  • Shine
  • Sift
  • Wink

Interactions

  • Air currents
  • Light source
  • Solid objects

Example

    “Diamond dust sifted down from the clear sky above, reflecting the sun with tiny flashes of light.”

Positive

Adjectives

  • Brilliant
  • Ephemeral
  • Magical
  • Whimsical

Verbs

  • Dance
  • Glitter
  • Shimmer
  • Sparkle
  • Swirl
  • Twinkle

Metaphor

  • Fairy dust
  • Glitter
  • Stars
  • Stardust

Example

“Diamond dust danced and glittered in the clear air.”

Negative

It’s going to be a little difficult to make this phenomenon directly negative as far as I can see, but focusing on the bitter cold that is required for it or contrasting its beauty with something horrible going on in the scene could do it. An unnatural light source that they’re picking up could also work.

Adjectives

  • Frigid
  • Ghostly
  • Sharp
  • Steely

Verbs

  • Mock

Example

“The shadows glinted with the ghostly flashes of diamond dust, its presence revealed by the wretched red glow of eldritch flames.”

Associated Phenomena

  • Cirrostratus clouds
  • Halos
  • Light pillars
  • Sun dogs

Got anything you’re curious about? Let us know down in the comments!

© 2025 Writing with Curiosity

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑