Many people happen to be introverted, meaning that you're more comfortable spending time alone or with your own thoughts. If this sounds like you, don't force yourself to completely become an outgoing, social person. Doing so can lead to stress, anxiety, and heart disease. Instead, spend time in social situations you already enjoy and try to have meaningful conversations. By accepting your introverted nature, you can focus on the quality of your social interactions rather than trying to increase the number of social interactions you have. You can become socially confident by engaging other people in a way that interests them and makes them feel heard. These skills, along with the ability to make others feel heard, are known as social competence. Research has shown that improving social competence actually increases positive self-perceptions and acceptance during social situations. Practicing social competence can create opportunities for yourself, since you're more likely to approach others. How you see yourself is one of the most common factors that influences your confidence. You may think that you're giving off a negative impression to others in social situations, but you're probably just looking for anything to confirm your own beliefs. If you don't see yourself as socially confident, it can be easy to look for evidence that confirms your belief, since people prefer experiences to match their predictions. Instead, reframe a situation to challenge how you see yourself. Catch yourself thinking negative thoughts and ask yourself what evidence you see or hear that proves the thought. For example, imagine you're out and think, "I know everyone here thinks I'm boring because I have nothing interesting to say." Stop thinking the negative thought and ask yourself what proves that thought without a doubt. Once you've started looking for evidence to support how you feel, test the evidence to see if it was caused by other things beyond your control. Don't assume that others' reactions are caused by you, because this can often leave you feeling deflated. Realize that others' reactions are a product of themselves and not you. It may be helpful to steer your assumptions in the direction of compassion for the other person while taking a position of caring curiosity about what might be going on with them. For example, maybe you saw someone make a face, and you thought that they were uninterested in what you were talking about, or you saw someone end a conversation prematurely and run off. Ask yourself if these could be attributed to other things. The person who made the face may not be feeling well or may be uncomfortable in that seat, or may have seen someone he or she was hoping not to run into. The person who rushed out could she have been late for a meeting and forgot to mention it. Or maybe he or she has been stressed and really needed some alone time. If you express compassion towards others, you'll be creating a positive environment when you interact with other people. The more positive social interactions you have, the more you could build your confidence. Being able to pick up on social cues and express empathy, are important parts of engaging meaningfully with others. For example, if your friend rushes out, you could text or call her later to see if she's alright. She'll most likely appreciate your compassion and understanding. At times, people just don't click with each other, even when they make an effort to be social and put themselves forward. It's natural, and everyone goes through this. To build your social confidence, remember that you cannot take responsibility for the way other people feel and act. If a person you're trying to speak with isn't responding, that's on the other person, not you. Shrug it off and move on. There will be someone who you will click with, or at the very least, have enough social skill to engage in pleasant, polite conversation.

Summary: Accept your personality. Understand the importance of confidence. Avoid negative thoughts. Test your beliefs. Express compassion for others. Maintain healthy expectations.

Establish your main character in the first scene of the script. Open with dialogue that shows the viewer the character. Place the main character in the setting and have them interact or reflect on the setting. Give the viewer a sense of the main character so they can feel immersed in the story. For example, you may open with a scene where your main character goes to work at their job on Mars, showing their daily routine to introduce them to the reader. Or you may open with dialogue of a fight between the main character and their partner, showing their complicated relationship. The conflict can be something the main character wants, but has a difficult time getting due to obstacles or issues. It can also be a conflict between the main character and another character, where neither character can agree or find common ground. The conflict can also come from an outside factor, such as a bad boss, a mean teacher, or a natural disaster. For example, you may focus on a simple conflict like the main character doesn't want to go to school that day. You can then come up with what the main character would do instead if they skipped school, focusing on the weird or strange things they might do. Bring the setting to life by including details that make it unique and visually engaging. Make the setting particular by including certain objects in a room. Decide what the climate or weather is in the setting. Include buildings and structures that add to the world of the story. For example, you may set your script in a carnival that caters to aliens. You may then include rides that blast the rider to another galaxy or carnival foods that aliens might enjoy. Dialogue in your script should always be doing two things: exploring character and building conflict. Avoid dialogue like "Hi, how are you?" or "Nice day today." Write dialogue that cuts to the chase and tells the reader something about the character. For example, you may give one character a catchphrase that they say whenever they feel stressed or surprised, such as Homer Simpson's famous "D'oh!" You can also have one character with a more casual way of speaking and another character with a more formal way of speaking to create contrast. For example, one character may say, "Sup, alien?" and another character may respond, "Hello there, my illustrious alien friend, how lovely to see you."

Summary: Introduce the main character. Include conflict that involves the main character. Keep the setting engaging. Write dialogue that explores character and conflict.

If you have other items that you would like to get rid of, then having a yard sale may be the best option for selling your bridesmaid dress. Choose a day (or a couple of days) to have your sale and set up a little shop in your front yard or garage. You could even band together with your neighbors and plan to have yard sales on the same days to increase the number of people who stop by. Post large, easy to read signs directing people to the sale as well. Mention the dress in ads or signs that you use to promote your yard sale. Display your bridesmaid dress where people will see it. Hang it on the front of a rack or put it on a dress form if you have one. Be prepared to haggle. You may want to put a slightly higher price on the dress than you want. For example, if you would like to get $75 for the dress, then put $95 on it. Then, if someone asks if you'd be willing to take less, you can let them know you'd be willing to go as low as $75. Some smaller bridal shops may purchase and resell used bridesmaid dresses for more than you might get at a for-profit thrift shop. Check with bridal shops in your area to see if they do this. You will likely have to go to the shop with your dress to find out how much they might be willing to pay for it. Try calling and saying, "I have a bridesmaid dress that I only wore 1 time. Do you purchase used dresses that are in good condition?" Some for-profit thrift shops will buy used clothing. Check with thrift shops in your area to see if any of them buy used clothing. If you find one that does, take your dress in and see what they would be willing to pay you for it. Keep in mind that you do not need to sell your dress if you don't like the price they are willing to pay. Some thrift stores may give you more if you accept store credit than if you take cash. If you need some new clothes, then you may be able to exchange your bridesmaid dress for some nice gently used items. Your friends and family may know someone who is in need of a bridesmaid dress and who would be willing to buy your dress. Let people know that you have a bridesmaid dress for sale and ask them to tell anyone they think might be interested.
Summary: Have a yard sale. Check out local bridal shops. Visit a local thrift store. Tell friends and family you are selling the dress.