qid int64 1 2.78M | question stringlengths 2 66.6k | answers list | date stringlengths 10 10 | metadata list |
|---|---|---|---|---|
45,023 | This question is about **genre** and **reader expectations**. I'm not trying to change my story to fit a mainstream genre. I have already taken steps to broaden it's appeal, but it's too late to create an entirely different type of story.
I'm writing and illustrating a graphic novel. My difficulty is that I have issues communicating what it's about, the "1-minute elevator pitch".
Describe the story in 2 words...
--------------------------------
I was fine with calling it **Science Fiction**, but I noticed *non-writers had certain genre expectations* which they get from mainstream works that I wouldn't even consider to strictly be sci-fi. My story is character-driven. It lacks *melodramatic villains*. There are no *fantasy races* or *magic aliens* or *telepaths*. Explaining this, I'd watch people's eyes glaze over. I can't get people excited by saying how it's *not* all these other things they expect.
In niche communities like *Writers* and *Worldbuilding*, genres have a narrower definition. To get around gatekeeping debates with other community members about scientific plausibility, I switched my genre label to **Space Opera**. It got them to accept my "alternative science" (it's consistent, but based on a specific pseudo-science) as not requiring a deep explanation (not integral to the plot). However, I'm still not providing genre expectations like *dogfights in space*, *laser shootouts*, *space empires* and *half-dressed space princesses*. I'm not fulfilling the promise-to-the-reader of what I think a Space Opera ought to be. None of the action even takes place in outer space.
Subverting expectations, or genre salad…?
-----------------------------------------
At each phase, I took steps to try to make my story more *commercial* (in a George R. R. Martin sense) suggesting the implied genre promises but subverting expectations to get back to *my* story: a "melodrama villain" is taken out early leaving unanswered questions, the "action hero" isn't able to solve problems with a laserpistol, and the "half-dressed space princess" is a social-climbing thot trying to get to another planet. Feminist and social justice themes were subverted in favor of more complicated, frustrating characters who act in their own self-interest. No one's a "hero", no one's a "villain". Characters are imperfect and no one gets exactly what they want.
While this made the *drama* better, it moved further away from mainstream sci-fi. Looking critically at my full script, it's like I hang a lampshade on some mainstream tropes and then wander away to do something else. To try to be clear, it's not just that I have grey-morality and adult themes, it's more like "is this story even in this genre?"
Wait, it's actually some obscure genre no one has heard of that has zero marketing appeal…
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Earlier this year I found the term **Planetary Romance**, and it fits. My story isn't really a "clash of worlds" so much as it's a clash of individuals from different worlds. The story takes place (mostly) on one planet where the socio-political situation is more important than technology, and the conflicts are small and inter-personal, at first anyway.
[For anyone who knows the origins of Planetary Romance](http://sf-encyclopedia.uk/fe.php?nm=planetary_romance), I feel they would accept the story in the spirit it's intended. It's a modern twist on the **White Savior goes to a Primitive Planet, rescues a native princess, and sparks a revolution**, except the planet is a libertarian slum and all the hero and damsel tropes are subverted.
I know "romance" here is not indicating an actual relationship, as in **Romance** genre – but to anyone who doesn't know the term (non-writers) it at least gives them the right sense of scale to the conflict. Of course there is more than boy-meets-girl-on-Planet-Z, but if someone came with that expectation I feel they would be happily surprised by a complex character-driven story with some exotic stage dressing. There is a "which guy will she choose" aspect they can read into that carries through.
I'm at the stage where I need to solidify how I discuss this project. The script is finished and the artwork is in production. I can't keep fishing for genre labels. I need to communicate the basic scope of the story quickly so I can turn attention to the individual characters the story is really about.
Can I call my graphic novel a planetary romance?
------------------------------------------------
Does it help me communicate the idea, or is it just too obscure to be useful? | [
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45,035 | Software developers don't ever work in text editors, instead they use IDEs (integrated development environments) full of code assistance tools, etc.
Why don't writers use similarly advanced writing environments full of writing assistance tools, text analysis, and functions for improving their productivity? Is that because there is no actual need for that or is it a product opportunity here?
Full disclosure:
I'm a software developer looking for opportunities across different fields and I also tried to write a book several times in the past. I always ended up realizing that I'm not good at writing, though it would be great if I could provide some value to good writers (unlike me) and help them be more productive. | [
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"text": "IDE-like tools exist for writers. Scrivener is a powerful general-purpose tool (also with [questions here](https... | 2019/05/07 | [
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45,042 | Let's suppose you have finished your novel, through all the appropriate stages of drafting and editing needed. You begin submitting the book to various agents and/or publishing companies, but none of your queries gets answers.
I'm talking about a worst-case scenario, where you either get copypasted replies or no reply at all, and no feedback about how your work could be improved.
Given this grim setting, **when do you stop, if ever, sending queries for that particular novel? Is it safe to assume that it's either badly written or there's no market for it?** Do you keep it in a locker and try to publish it again years later?
Edit: To be completely clear, I'm not in this situation right now, but I figure it's an interesting question to ask. | [
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45,045 | I don't know the exact word for it, but I hope I make it clear what I mean by "impact" soon. My favorite pieces of writing are Rosa Luxemburg's [Junius Pamphlet](https://www.marxists.org/archive/luxemburg/1915/junius/ch01.htm), the lyrics to this [Phil Ochs](https://genius.com/Phil-ochs-heres-to-the-state-of-mississippi-lyrics) song, and [Chapter 25 of the Grapes Of Wrath.](https://genius.com/John-steinbeck-grapes-of-wrath-chapter-25-annotated)
All of these are seperate lines from the song
>
> For underneath her borders, the devil draws no lines
>
>
> They're guarding all the bastions of their phony legal fort
>
>
> The sweating of their souls can't wash the blood from off their hands
>
>
> Where the cross, once made of silver, now is caked with rust, and the Sunday morning sermons pander to their lust
>
>
> Their bellies bounce inside them when they knock you to the floor,
> No they don't like taking prisoners in their private little war
>
>
>
All of this stuff sounds really powerful, and incorporates a lot of references and metaphors. How do I begin to work towards this? Are there specific resources?
>
> Violated, dishonored, wading in blood, dripping filth – there stands bourgeois society. This is it [in reality]. Not all spic and span and moral, with pretense to culture, philosophy, ethics, order, peace, and the rule of law – but the ravening beast, the witches’ sabbath of anarchy, a plague to culture and humanity. Thus it reveals itself in its true, its naked form. (The Junius Pamphlet)
>
>
> There is a crime here that goes beyond denunciation. There is a sorrow here that weeping cannot symbolize. There is a failure here that topples all our success. The fertile earth, the straight tree rows, the sturdy trunks, and the ripe fruit. And children dying of pellagra must die because a profit cannot be taken from an orange. And coroners must fill in the certificate—died of malnutrition—because the food must rot, must be forced to rot. (The Grapes of Wrath)
>
>
>
I thought that "wordplay" was a better word, but these passages are filled with "impact" even though they aren't really heavy on wordplay or metaphor. It still has very striking imagery, and you can almost feel the rage and despair in their words. What about them is so great? How do I emulate that?
Not really related, but if my question is a bit too "purple" I'd also like some help with that. I feel like I go on too long and use too many descriptors. | [
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45,062 | **Science Fiction** is a "big tent" genre, and we all know it when we see it. Even if we argue about the specific tropes – and what might make something lean heavily towards another classification (science-fantasy, speculative fiction, etc), **is every story that takes place in the future "science fiction?"**
Are there exceptions? | [
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"text": "Books set in the future are [Speculative Fiction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speculative_fiction)\n=================... | 2019/05/08 | [
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45,073 | Here are a few examples of the narrator knowing more than he should.
(A) In a humourous short story about Bezhue Wooster and Jeeves, Bezhue is talking about a situation involving two strangers and Jeeves suggests referring to them as A & B. When another stranger enters that situation, Jeeves suggests "We will call him C, sir" and Bezhue says, "Caesar is a good name".
It is a pun, "C, sir" sounding like "Caesar", but how could Bezhue write "C, sir" correctly and still use "Caesar"?
It is lazy writing because, it is easy to rectify, with Jeeves later saying something like "not Caesar, sir, but rather the letter C". With that minor alteration, everything makes sense.
[[ This is an example of a minor issue which has no impact on the rest of the story ]]
(B) In a detective story, a criminal who is a habitual liar talks about a crime involving "Deyme" and the narrator uses this name throughout the novel but gets no matching record.
He assumes the criminal is lying until he checks with alternate spellings like "Doyel" & "Doile" and gets the matching records.
Here the narrator does not write more than he knows, because he uses the wrong name until the end.
[[ This is an example of good writing and the story is consistent and logical ]]
(C) In too many movies, we see cases like the narrator explaining how something happened, but the flashback scenes include scenes where the narrator is not around or cannot know. E.g., "Hearing a noise, I woke up at 3 AM and was knocked unconscious before I saw anything and the three thieves took all my money and documents. One guy was thin and had a rough voice, another was clumsy and silent, the third was foolish and fat."
We, the audience, see all this and confirm what the narrator says. But how could the narrator describe the thieves if he had been knocked out before he saw anything?
(C1) In "better" stories or movies, this fact is used to accuse the narrator of staging the crime. (C2) In lazily written movies, the description is used to catch the thieves. It could be rectified if it was claimed that the narrator gained consciousness after a while and thereby heard and saw the thieves.
[[ C1 is an example of better writing. C2 is an example of lazy or bad or sloppy writing having a major issue which makes the rest of the story inconsistent or illogical ]]
Now, A and C2 are examples of lazy writing. But is it also bad writing or bad storytelling? Or is it irrelevant because intended readers are okay with it? | [
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45,083 | My guile heroine's character arc is almost entirely **sex and manipulation**.
I tell (not show) she was a sex worker in the past, it's left ambiguous (likely) that she still is. She has powerplay scenes with multiple characters where she is able to change the stakes during a sexually-charged situation. Other scenes where she has no sexual power, her opinions and agency are dismissed. She is coded as sympathetic – doing what she has to do, and willing to play the game to get ahead.
Her sexuality becomes polemic, manipulative (when she can), and unsubtle. I try to show in each of her powerplay scenes that she is adapting to whatever her target responds to – demure with one, pervy with another, relationship-y with a third. When she can't pin down the hero (it's complicated) she retaliates by turning up the heat towards his co-workers.
Her decision processes are all *subtext* – maybe she is not even aware of it. The hero lampshades the manipulations by ignoring her sexplay, forcing her to switch tactics and become smarter. He's the foil that reveals her true goals. She doesn't change though. She continues playing the other characters, and once you see the strings she is coded as a *femme fatale*.
She's intended to be an **anti-heroine**, whatever that is I am trying to figure out. She's the opposite of a "strong female character" she is a thot heroine who plays every card and has no moral compass. Someone in my reader group called her "the villain".
There are a lot of **near-sex** scenes, scenes in **sex clubs**, scenes with explicit **sex talk**, many *many* scenes with **sexual subtext**, and 1 **post-sex** scene. There are no actual sex scenes.
**This is a graphic novel. I don't want to limit my distribution options.** OTOH, I have a main character who, on the surface, is a *schizo-nympho* bad girl going after nearly all the other characters (as many as 8, 3 confirmed). It would be easy to go more explicit so some of this is actually fulfilled. I feel like I have a gunslinger who never has an actual duel onscreen, but everyone constantly argues about what an dangerous gunslinger he is.
**How do I decide where to draw the line?** I am like this heroine, I don't understand where the boundaries are. Right now I'm strictly telling the arc, showing the character development and story beats. I think it's probably showing her as a worse person than she is intended. We just see the manipulation not the sex, and maybe more important we don't see her fall for her own guile. It doesn't look like a character flaw or a handicap, she's just a trampy b\*\*\*\*. Ironically, I'm starting to think I need the sex scenes so people will like her more.
Is there a **publishing or distribution guide** to how far I can or should go with sexual content in a graphic novel? How do I decide what to show, and would it even work to soften this character? Her arc is actually about "leveling up" so she doesn't need to use sex to get ahead, but it's part of her habitual nature and it's not something she self-examines. | [
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45,094 | This question is somewhat inspired by [Is there a need for better software for writers?](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/45035/is-there-a-need-for-better-software-for-writers)
I'm currently using Google Docs for writing, and it's a great tool: simple enough, has some nice features, cloud-based, free, etc. But the question I've mentioned above made me think, what if I could use some super-powers that IDE gives to programmers to help me write? (Yep, I do write code for living as well.)
While there seem to be a lot of writers who want to (or need to) have an advanced map of characters, locations, and events, there are also those who don't. I am a very text-first writer, and I'm comfortable with having the map in my head. The main problem for me (the one that I'm trying to solve) is that I don't always remember what exactly I wrote about my characters, especially about episodic characters. So I need a way to quickly look-up whether some guy has a straight hair or curly, or what colour his eyes are. Stuff like that.
I've tried several different writing tools and none of them has any IDE-ish features that I'd like to have. But maybe it exists and I just can't find it?
So, here's a list of features I need from an IDE:
* Formatting support (basically RTF level, no need for super-fancy stuff)
* Some cloudness (either their own, or Google Drive sync)
* **Available for Mac** (would be super-cool if also available for Windows)
* Ability to organize chapters into folders (tree structure)
* Spell-checker (That's a tough one as I'm writing in Russian and I need a spell-checker for Russian). It might not have its own spell-checker, but it should then allow 3rd-party ones to work with it.
* Character list
* **IDE-like reference tool** (that's actually what gDocs totally lacks)
* "Find in project" would also be a nice feature, especially if it'd support regExps
* **Should either be free or have a free trial**, as I'm not buying a cat in a sac
A bit of explanation of what an 'IDE-like reference tool' is:
1. It should allow me to quickly create character from selected text.
For example, in chapter 1 I have a sentence "Vally Xvuwc, a tall blonde girl, was waiting for her work day to end". I'll select "Vally Xvuwc", press some key combination, and there will be a character creation window or panel, to which I can copy the description).
2. It should also allow "binding" a character to the selected text.
For example, in chapter 2 I have a sentence "Sarlb stormed into the office and started shouting". Cmd+hover over the word "Sarlb" and the IDE should suggest something like "Did you mean Vally Xvuwc (tall blonde girl from chapter 1)?")
3. Once the text is bound to a character, it should be highlighted and I should be able to hover it (or cmd+hover, or cmd+click, or whatever) to see a tooltip or a small window with character info (including chapters where she can be found).
Does something like this exist?
---
The locked question [Is there a special software for writers?](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/9/is-there-a-special-software-for-writers)) is similar, but it has no details about what writing software can and can't do, and answers provide an unsortable list of distraction-free editors, mind-mapping tools and writing IDEs (for the lack of a better term). This question however is much more specific. | [
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45,096 | I just finished writing the first draft of my novel. (BTW, this is my first)
As luck would have it, something just popped up in the news which is directly related to my story. The topic has been trending on Google for months and is still going strong. But the problem is that I was planning on spending the next 2 years editing. My book isn't ready for release. Not by far.
Here's the options I've brainstormed so far:
* Start a blog and build a readership I can later market my book to (but the blog will require a time commitment and pull me away from my novel, delaying the release even further)
* Release an average to above-average novel now... and a second edition in 2 years
* Split my book into 4 parts (100-150 pages each). Release one book every six months
* Serh and say this wasn't meant to be (doing some research, I estimate it will take 10-20 years for this topic to start trending again)
* Quit my job and get this book out there now (haha)
Any advice on what I should do? | [
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45,102 | According to [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epilogue),
>
> An epilogue is the final chapter at the end of a story **that often serves to reveal the fates of the characters**. Some epilogues may feature scenes only tangentially related to the subject of the story. They can be used to hint at a sequel or **wrap up all the loose ends**. They can occur at a significant period of time after the main plot has ended. In some cases, the epilogue is used to allow the main character a chance to "speak freely".
>
>
>
Now, my understanding is that in most cases the epilogue is at most one chapter.
Yet, if you have multiple characters in your story, you may want to "wrap loose ends" for each one of them. This is especially true if your narrator has a limited perspective of the events, and wouldn't be able to talk of all the relevant characters in a single chapter.
So, can you write more than one epilogue?
-----------------------------------------
Of course, I'm well aware that you can put how many chapters you wish at the end of your novel. What I'm interested in is if it would be possible to "extend" the notion of epilogue to a subset of chapters.
E.g, if we have three characters, Aluke, Bob and Chorkia, we may want to have:
* Epilogue: Aluke
* Epilogue: Bob
* Epilogue: Chorkia
Each one keeps the basic functions of an epilogue described above. | [
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45,107 | Being given a prompt makes me freeze up immediately.
Let me clarify. I'm talking about high school writing prompts. You know. *Those.* The ones that ask you to write an essay about what you would change about something. Or the ones that ask you to write about a personal experience. Or the ones that ask you to write about what you want to do. Or the ones that ask you what you would theoretically do in a given situation. Or the ones that ask you to explain why it's important to... you get the point. Those. Here are several examples. The one in bold is the one answered in my sample response.
>
> Is there a book that you feel should be required reading for
> everyone? Write an essay persuading your audience to read this
> book.
>
>
> Some people think of the United States as a nation of “couch
> potatoes.” Write an essay persuading readers to be more
> physically active.
>
>
> As the saying goes, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”
> Describe a time when you persisted until you achieved your goal.
>
>
> Describe the purposes of the Internet. Include various viewpoints,
> including that of users and providers.
>
>
> **We all have things that we are afraid of, and sometimes we find
> ourselves in situations that force us to face our deepest fears. Tell
> about a time when you had to face one of your greatest fears.**
>
>
>
---
Here's the first paragraph of the sample "level six" response they provided, which is the "perfect" response according to the textbook.
>
> Every kid in the neighborhood knew the Rabiygox house and avoided it like
> a bowl of Brussels sprouts. Mr. Rabiygox was a notorious crank, the house
> was always dark and creepy, and his dog was a terror—a mean, fang-toothed
> creature that looked like she would love to tear you apart.
>
>
>
I can't write these. Well, I **hate** writing these. They seem so weird and... middle school. The writing is okay, but I hate feeling like I'm writing... fanfiction. Mediocre fanfiction.
So, it's not horrible, but I hate it. Why? Am I too picky? Personal taste? It just feels like a kid's show. Should I stomach it, or try a different approach? | [
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45,130 | I'm compiling in-world legends for my built world, and would like them to feel like established legends from our own human experience.
What should I keep in mind while writing these legends? What elements, styles of prose, turns of phrases, structure, length, and so on are more likely to be found in legends than in a more routine work of fiction? What makes a legend sound like a legend? | [
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45,136 | In narrative essays, writing literary devices almost always makes the reader feel more of what is in the story. However, sometimes I like writing reflective narratives, where thoughts of the character are more important. And nobody in real life thinks like literary devices. Nobody would think, “My body shook so hard that it could be ranked on a Richter Scale.” Most probably it would be something like “I was so scared!” In my reflective narratives I hardly use literary devices, because using them sort of disrupts the mood and atmosphere of it. You know, those that make the mood really melancholy, or deep sadness. I don’t know how to describe it, but here’s an example:
>
> The wolf stood quietly at the edge of the pond. She was staring at her reflection, which no longer showed signs of her youth. If wolves’s faces were capable of making sad expressions, it would have been right there on her face. On her front limb, there was still a faded mark. What did it represent? The wolf lifted her snout, staring off into the trees. Her unique, blue eyes focused on a hole. A hole now so small she could only fit her snout in. A hole which once belonged to her, her beloved Den.
>
>
>
As you can see, I tend to use repetition and focused only on the wolf and her thoughts. My question is, **if I used literary devices, would it necessarily be better? Or is it fine without them?** | [
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"text": "Writing can be fine without metaphors or similes or other \"literary devices\". Your particular writing has problem... | 2019/05/12 | [
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45,139 | I am working with an author, whose approach is to write her text, approximately divided by indicators where she wants the breaks to be, with the idea that later she and I would improve the breaks and decide, what will the sections become: parts, chapters, sections, etc. This is mostly based on the `LaTeX` `memoir` document class which I used to typeset the book.
The book is a science fiction novel, but not purely science fiction. It has elements of a psychological drama and bits of other styles, such as crime and action. The overall volume of the manuscript is around 700 pages and she is planning a sequel or several under the same title with different subtitles. Currently it is divided into 8 chapters and each has from 2 to 10 sections with 8 being most common.
The work is almost complete and I have typeset it for the time being as chapters and sections, but now we both are debating, whether our chapters look rather like parts, and our sections should be chapters. The only problem is that early in the manuscript the chapters are much shorter, and increase in length as the text goes.
The chapters currently contain hugely different locations as the plot moves across the book's universe. The sections contain more of a high-level topic as the plot develops within one location. We are kind of content with this sectioning and are not necessarily looking to change it - we are only looking for any well-articulated and commonly accepted reasons to improve what we have.
We are aware of [this question](https://writing.stackexchange.com/q/7083) and agree with both answers; however, they are more than 6 years old. Are there any commonly accepted guidelines for choosing parts vs chapters vs sections for the work described above and where could we read about it? | [
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45,157 | I have written a piece stemming from an idea about a particular process that leads to the attainment of magical abilities. The working title was written for the small, 250 word, treatise that I used to get my thoughts on the subject codified before starting the narrative. Now with the finished piece in the 1600 word range the title doesn't work particularly well and in fact I'm not sure if the treatise itself has has a role in the overall piece or not. My question is what aspects of the story, if any, have the greatest bearing on changing the title to something that encompasses the finished tale as a whole? | [
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"text": "What is it about? What will entice a reader to read it without deceiving them about the content? Is there a sen... | 2019/05/13 | [
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45,159 | For instance, in my high school novel, I have the main characters attend a football game, the Homecoming Dance, the basketball game, other dances, the Prom, etc. Then I have the characters react to, or comment on the occurrences that happen at these events.
For instance, at the games, one character "jumps up and down" (not literally), when the home team scores, while another character analyzes the flow of play in trying to determine the likely result. Or at the Prom, one character merely observes other peoples' words and actions while another tries to interpret those words and actions.
Another format used to develop character is to have long conversations between the main character and others. This, in my experience, usually "does the job," but also seems "contrived" to me. Most characters (that I know in "real life") are not highly introspective, and will reveal themselves primarily at critical points and events in their lives.
Can an event driven format, with brief (introspective) post mortems be sufficient to develop the characters in my novels? Or does one need to "make time" in a story for strategically placed "asides" to produce character development, even though this may or may not happen in real life? | [
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45,161 | I've been kind of interested in writing a grey vs gray story. For those who don't know grey vs gray is two or more sides of conflict that aren't full on good or full on evil.
I'm writing a webcomic that will become an animation with this idea. Basically the idea is that there is a planet filled with an alien race called stick figures (inspired by Hyun's Dojo and Stickpage versions of stick figures which are more stylized, you can [view one of their best here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34NfuVCrfok)) who love to fight yet are great companions in their group evolution. Which explains how they haven't died off (since last I checked in regular evolution the evolved species in question must get along with each other).
I'm inspired by Hyun's Dojo (obviously), My Hero Academia, Avatar The Last Airbender, Dragon Ball Z, Makvog movies, martial arts movies, etc.
The trouble is figuring out how to do it. I don't want to risk having multiple sides look like pricks (especially since I use to day dream scenes that are very angsty and it's a little hard to put those into scripts). So how do I show all the sides not being assholes? | [
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"text": "Remember two things:\n\n* \"no man is all of one stripe\" meaning that people are always multi-faceted, villains who se... | 2019/05/13 | [
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45,165 | My novel takes place in a big world, with MANY POVs. Although I know when things are happening, I am afraid my reader doesn't know, due to the aforementioned fact. I do not want my reader to be confused, and become unfocused on the story because they're constantly wondering when this is all happening. It's bad confusion in my opinion, simply impractical (unless it's intentional like in the movie *Memento*).
So, the first solution I thought of was making my own version of the weekdays, months and some random year, and featuring them as a subtitle to every chapter. This would work terrifically (in a practical sense) to keep the reader completely aware of when everything, from the many events happening within a small time periods, to the larger plots taking years.
But is this organic? Is it good story-telling, or is lazy. And lazy in an unacceptable way? Does it take the reader out of the story?
I also thought of just writing in the characters sometimes mentioning what day it is, though this seems like it could very easily become unnatural and inorganic.
So, what is the widely used alternative, and what alternative has worked best? | [
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45,187 | I gave my latest book to my favorite beta readers, and they liked it except for the very ending, i.e. the last 20 pages, which they thought fell short and a bit rushed. I therefore decided to try and lengthen it.
One option would have been just be to lengthen the ending by sustaining a longer climax, and a longer epilogue perhaps. I went for the second option, that was to insert a new substantial amount of plot to the manuscript. After three weeks, I am still stuck at the story planning phase.
The original plot was along the lines of the "overcoming the monster" archetype:
1. Learn about the monster, get a glimpse of it.
2. MC prepares to fend off the monster.
3. The monster power is revealed and looks like the MC is no match for it.
4. Epic climatic confrontation, the peak is when the MC is about to lose everything
5. MC manages to slay the monster.
My plan was to spare the monster and hook another archetypal plot to the 5th step. I have three concerns:
1. Unless I do major editing throughout the entire book, the result may look like a disconnected blob. A bit like glueing two books with the same characters by the cover.
2. There may be backlash in going through a very strong climatic point, only to discover that it is not over. It feels that I would owe the reader an even stronger climax near the end.
3. I could insert the foreshadowing of an even greater one, and resolve it as a new fifth step of a larger "kill the monster" plot. As I sketched this on paper, it sounded like a boring repetition and that is why I focused on trying to glue a different archetype.
The question is: how to avoid the obvious pitfalls when trying to seamlessly glue an archetypal plot onto the back of an existing story? | [
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45,188 | So, I am a person who writes titillating stories. Problem is, I want a way to tell people what I write in a way that doesn't seem like I'm some sort of pornstar or filmmaker. Because "I write porn/erotica/smut" is typically frowned upon, how do I tell people without being blunt about it? Or should I be blunt about it? | [
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"text": "There's nothing wrong with the word [**erotica**](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/erotica). That'... | 2019/05/15 | [
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45,198 | I'm stuck on a POV question in a short story I'm writing. The entire story is written in 3rd Person, but not omniscient - I guess it's either "distant limited" or "deep" (I'm not sure exactly the difference and where my story lands, maybe someone can help). That said there are only 2-3 parts where I'm wondering if I need to cut for consistency, or is it ok? If it's ok, does that put it in "omniscient" or "occasional omniscient" if there is such a thing?
Examples:
1. There is a main character (but not the POV) who at one point says something like: "...some people called him a jerk, others called him an idiot; still others called stupid..." But the POV character wouldn't have heard that himself or have a way of knowing that. But I feel it's important to explain (and I can't show it because those events would never be in front of the POV character to observe it) - would I need to take that out to keep consistent? Or is it justified somehow and what would the POV then be?
2. The main POV character is approaching a truck with two men in it. The windows are rolled up so the main character couldn't actually hear them. I had a couple of lines of dialogue for the men in the truck. Something like, "Who's that kid?" and the other replying "How would I know?" Again, since the POV character can't actually hear them, do I need to take that out, or if I leave it in, how is it justified? What kind of POV do I have then?
3. In one scene, the parents of a boy are arguing in the kitchen. To keep within the POV, would only the conversation that the boy could actually hear be written? Currently, that's how I did it, but what if I wanted to include a scene here or there where maybe the parents say something out of earshot?
I think in the whole story these are the only 2-3 places that may break from what the POV character can see and know. But can one sprinkle the odd POV position throughout a story or does that smack of amateurish writing? Thanks in advance for any clarification. | [
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45,204 | I know that Bradbury was rejected about 800 times. I know the famous JK Rowling story. Yet the question is lurking in my mind, becoming stronger and clearer with each rejection: what if?
What if I am really not that good, what if I am simply an acute case of the graphomania disease, and nobody will ever be interested in anything I have to say. What if I am wasting my time, my money, my family's patience on nothing, nothing at all?
I cannot stop writing. I do not seek fame or wealth, I seek an audience. I want my books to be read. Almost each and every beta reader (not personal acquaintance) told me I am good. But how would I really know if I am any good? If I have this right to ask unknown people to spend some hours of their lives with my books?
EDIT: All the answers were very insightful and very helpful. Thank you. I am going to accept @Liquid's answer just because it was the first and it was there when I needed it most. | [
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"text": "I'll give my two cents, as someone who feels the same struggles. \n\nYou'll never get **completely** over the fear of... | 2019/05/16 | [
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45,213 | I'm trying to make flags for all my fictional countries. On some of these flags, it makes a great deal of sense to use a crest, similar to the real flags of [Andorra](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Andorra) and [Spain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Spain). A lot of these crests use words as an integral part of the crest.
I would like to make crests like these, but I realized that (considering it was a fantasy world) it makes no sense to use the latin alphabet, or any real alphabet for that matter. I was wondering; **would using the Latin alphabet to write a message (written in a fictional language) make any sense at all?**
I have no plans to start constructing an alphabet. It would be a considerable amount of work for a very small issue and the story and world-building doesn't rely on it at all.
In a fantasy world, there's no good reason that the characters would end up similar, but it seems like a waste of time to create an entire alphabet just for the use of crests on flags. I'm wondering how to proceed.
So I was wondering if it makes any sense to use a real alphabet. The language would be fictional, as that is fairly easy (throw a few syllables together) but the alphabet would be latin, which realistically makes no sense for a completely removed setting. **Does it make sense to use real alphabets for fantasy languages on map or emblems?** | [
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45,223 | I often need to introduce one, if not several, made up dialects.
We're talking about fictional worldbuilding: so any real world dialect is ruled out. They can be used as a source of inspiration, but they can't be straight up applied.
Creating a dialect from scratch is easier than making a completely new language, since it relays a lot on an already existing and estabilished tongue. If English is the base, we'll have a lot of vocabulary and grammar to draw from.
Yet making a dialect comes with its own challenges.
I'm specifically looking for ways to change, distort and "misuse" the base language in a convincing way, while mantaining readability for the readers. More on this point:
* I'd rather not use **nonces** and completely made up words. While dialects usually have a lot of new terms, it's hard for the reader to familiarize with new vocabulary. And I'd rather avoid the *squanch* effect (Source: no less than a [a rick&morty scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE_Lk5fVGxs)).
* For a similar reason, I'm kinda wary of accents. They are hard to convey without telling the reader (**she was speanking with a southern accent ... she used to drag on the vocal at the end of each word ..**) and can't be transcribed in text effectively\*.
As a point of reference, I consider Brandon Sanderson' High Imperial a well made dialect, albeit delightfully confusing: [link](https://coppermind.net/wiki/High_Imperial).
**Related:**
* [Introduce new English dialect](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/32460/introduce-new-english-dialect)
* [How realistic should dialogue and character voices be?](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/20468/how-realistic-should-dialogue-and-character-voices-be)
\*N.B.: to be fair, some accents probably CAN be transcribed effectly, but while this is somewhat doable for real dialects with actual references, I feel it would be significantly difficult for an invented one. | [
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45,224 | One of my characters has a flashback to when he was 5 years old. At the time, he didn't have a name (he goes by a physical description instead). What's the correct way to refer to him in this flashback: by the "name" he had then, or by the name he has now?
The PoV is third-person limited. | [
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"text": "Depending on how you want to play that, both ways are viable. \nYou could explicity tell that **the character hadn't... | 2019/05/17 | [
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45,225 | In the pilot episode of "The Americans" Olilabatp has a flashback to something that happened twenty years earlier. Seeing her reflection triggers the flashback, but a reflection seems to have no earlier reference in the plot line. The flashback makes sense once the scene is over, but that is after the fact.
Is it an accepted technique for the protagonist to have an internally logical flashback, even if the audience doesn't know the reason for the flashback? | [
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"text": "I'd argue that most flashbacks make sense only later in a story, exspecially in visual media, so **yes, it is an acce... | 2019/05/17 | [
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45,242 | So, I have a character who starts off a complete ass to everyone. She hates the world, especially the protagonist. Then again, she had no parents to her memory, her people are enslaved and continuously abused, and she had her fair share of whacks from her previous masters.
Thing is, I want her to soften her heart through the course of the story. I want the readers to understand her story, and it's not like she doesn't care about anyone at all. She just is the tough love kind of girl. But I'm afraid that if I initially make her more an ass, then people won't like her, even if she changes.
This can be applied to any character, not just mine. I'm just using this character as an example. | [
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"text": "As the story unfolds, slowly reveal her past. Make the reader empathize with her.\n\nAll of us are a bit of a pill ... | 2019/05/18 | [
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45,243 | So, my story doesn't have a romance subplot until way later in the series, but I think that there are elements of the romance very early on.
A little background info: The story is set in a fantastical world where humans are the dominant race, and all others are servants or slaves. The MC is a banished prince seeking his throne, and the love interest is one of his slaves (Whom he will free later.)
The thing is, I want to tease the romance later, but if there are elements already planted in the reader's brain, I don't want them to think I'm giving them a cat and mouse chase. How do I avoid this?
I should clarify now, that he does not mistreat his slaves, and the slave is freed completely later in the story. He also goes out of his way to save them instead of himself, and to complete requests (Another slave has a daughter she wants to reunite, but it takes a long time to search for her.) His slaves are actually pretty much free. Just not on paper. | [
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45,245 | So, I have a character who was going to just be an unlikable character at the start of the novel, but now I want to make her more caring towards certain people, like the innocent character. Thing is, I also don't want to go overboard all over again. I want to balance her character between tough love, and being a complete ass. she needs to be disliked, still, but you can also see that she's redeemable with character development. But how do I do that? | [
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"text": "Look at her motives.\n\n\"Tough love\" is someone making hard calls or asking difficult things for the... | 2019/05/18 | [
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45,256 | I live in India.
And the stories I write don't want to.
The thing is, as you all might already know, my country has an extremely- excessively, perhaps- rich cultural and historical heritage. It's imbued in each and every part of our daily life in some capacity or the other, and the Indian subcontinent has a very particular flavor when it comes to the people here and the places here. It's different from the first world, and proudly so. The stories we write, the movies we make, the music we compose all have a heavy root of 'Indianness' in them (in terms of content, character, language, setting) and while we may be extremely erudite of external culture, all of art produced in our country chooses to remain sundered from it and exploit our own cultural bounty.
But the thing is, I don't really want to.
I want to be a fiction novelist. And growing up as a millennial, my exposure to world literature and cinema and music has naturally been much more varied and diverse than previous generations. So the style of stories I want to tell, and the kind of plots I want to cook up, are such that just won't fit in the Indian context. I'm not saying that the Indian audience wouldn't consume something like that- we have a rich market for international authors and artists- but while writers from places like Europe or the US may benefit from already hailing from countries which have already influenced the world's taste in modern literature, I don't.
I want to tell stories free from the cultural restrictions of my country- but the problem is that even a fantasy world would seem incongruous with 'unindian' names and 'foreign' mythical creatures coming from an Indian writer. I want to make it in this country, the one I live in. But the content and type of stories I want to write- very different from the mainstream writers/filmmakers of the current industry- feel like they won't fit in. I'm not saying we don't have good artists to boast of- filmmakers like Inurah Rapmyup and writers like Amish Tripathi constantly push the boundary of what the Indian audiences can consume. But like I said! While their ideas and stories may be very new-age, they're still rooted heavily in India, stemming from Indian stories and settings and characters!
Be it a potboiler, or a noir style thriller, or a Bradbury style SF, I am constantly and continuously restricted by the tone/style of literature produced/consumed in my country. While American writers can without restriction cook up a diverse fantasy world with wild ideas and crazy conjurings and names (all rooted in American culture perhaps), I cannot really. Because it would seem out of place for an Indian writer of fiction.
Can someone help me figure out this dilemma?
EDIT: Okay, I'm just so overwhelmed by the complexity of the answers I've received here on my first question on SE. I've used this website previously too but am putting my own perspective out there for the first time so must thank everybody for their beautifully researched answers.
Now a little about myself for further context in case anybody else comes digging with the same quandary.
I'm a 19 year old from India who published a SF/Fantasy novel 2 years ago. That story involved Indian characters in Indian settings but were quickly whisked away to foreign arenas (ie different planets) where such cultural idiosyncrasies become irrelevant because well, you're a representative of all of Earth there, not just a country. So that's how I subverted my dilemma in that particular story. Meanwhile, I've also written a bunch of short stories/poems/pieces over the years which try to tackle this problem by giving characters unique names (which can't immediately be associated with ANY particular country/region/culture in the world) or placing them in settings free from national boundaries. So basically, that's the dilemma that plagues me often whenever I begin a new story, so I decided to pose the question here. Thanks so much for all the answers here, and I sure do have a lot of thinking to do in relation to this- it's not an easy one-size-fits-all resolution for sure! | [
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45,260 | When posting an excerpt of my book on a critiquing site, someone commented on my use of "hahaha" inside the dialogue instead of just having a laughing verb after or before it. They said it took them out of the reading. Obviously, this is subjective, so rather I will ask this:
Which alternative is the most popular and professional? Which do you see the most in writing?
The answers to this question said to use speech tags. But I thought this was bad, and within the phenomenon called *filtering*. In [another question](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/34417/how-to-avoid-using-he-she-it-repetitively-in-action), a user taught me about this, and I've tried to take it to heart.
I thought the alternative was a separate line under, like this.
>
> -That's so funny!
>
>
> A thundering laugh rolled out of him.
>
>
>
Instead of:
>
> -That's so funny, Mucc laughed.
>
>
>
The latter having *filtering*, in the way there's a "Mucc laughed" in between the dialogue and the rest of the text.
So, I thought the alternatives were "hahaha" and having this separate line under. The problem is, which someone once told me, having specification for the dialogue at **a later time** isn't good, because it often makes the reader have to go back. The person said this in relation to not including name tags after the dialogue, but I believe it applies to the **way** dialogue is uttered, as in if it is laughed or said normally. | [
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45,262 | Recently, I have stumbled upon a problem. After releasing an issue, I think that I failed to earn the trust of my readers. My analysis is that they did not have enough faith in me to make the "right choices" about my story. Let me explain:
>
> One of my protagonist closest friend is a traitor secretly working for the bad guy. He plans to kill the hero, and the reader is **not aware of that**. I have made sure that he looks like a genuine sidekick, though there is plenty of evidence that suggests he will do something.
>
>
> Before a battle, he ultimately **poisons the hero** with a unique type of toxin designed to induce bloodlust and insanity amongst men. I introduced a Chekhov's gun just before to showcase the moment Traitor poisons the hero, but **nothing is explicit**, a.k.a. the reader does not know that the hero has been poisoned. Then, during the battle, the hero goes on a rampage and kills people from both sides due to the effect of the poison. An action which causes him to lose most of his support and makes him question everything he has been fighting for.
>
>
> Following this event, he will find a way to win *without fighting* because he fears to lose his mind a second time. It's only later that we learn the hero rampage was caused by the poison, and that **it was all Traitor's fault**.
>
>
>
The scene during which the protagonist goes insane was all but successful. Instead of asking themselves *"what happened", "why did the hero do that"*, the readers came with critics like *"the hero would never do that"*, *"it makes no sense"* or *"the story lost its potential"*. Moreover, if I try to bring the poison and explains it all now, it will sound *forced* and as if I was trying to "make up" for my mistake (even though it was definitely planned!).
I am confused about this reaction, and I don't know how to handle it. I don't think the plot is the cause. The hero had to go through this trial, and the traitor had to provoke it. Yet, I have been wondering what went wrong. The explanation I came with is that *I did not build enough trust*. Which begs the question:
**What should have I done to have the readers trust me and my story?** | [
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45,270 | My protagonist is finally meeting with the big boss of a mafia. At least, he thinks he is. The boss actually sends someone to pretend to be him.
I'm writing from the protagonist's (limited) POV. If I say "MC met the boss," that's dishonest and the reader will feel that I lied to them when it's later revealed that the boss doesn't actually show his face until the very end of the book. But if I say "MC met the fake boss," that's not only awkward... but it also implies that the MC knows. The MC does eventually figure it out... but how to I reference the fake boss while the MC still thinks that he's meeting with the real boss? | [
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45,284 | I'm working on a novel of my own and, looking back at the bits of it I have so far brought into light, that almost everything in it is dialogue. Is this a bad thing? How could I fix this if it is? | [
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"text": "It is hard to overdo good dialogue; but not all dialogue is written well.\n\nToo often a great deal of dialogue is a... | 2019/05/20 | [
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45,291 | It feels like there is something wrong with using impersonal descriptions in fiction. But what is it?
As an example, I'm unhappy with the following passage I wrote, because the descriptions aren't attached to a person's actions. But is that really a bad thing? And if so, how do you get around it?
>
> The projector beamed a short footage onto a large white sheet in the
> darkness of the room. The light were completely shut close and there
> we could only see this cone of light in the middle of the room
> projecting its rays onto the white sheet in the front of the room.
> However, peculiarly enough, there was enough light to see the white
> matter of the eyes of there people inside the room which was starring
> at the projected footage with undivided attention. It was as if their
> eyes were possessed by a ghost as their eyes would barely budge
> regardless of how many times the footage looped on itself. Even after
> the footage had played a dozen of times, their eyes were as wide open
> as ever.
>
>
> | [
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45,294 | A caesura is a slight pause that's important in poetry, because for example alexandrines require a caesura in the middle.
But the question is where can we put them. I know that we tend to put them in places where there's a punctuation mark like a comma, but there are also authors who put them almost anywhere.
Such seem to be the case with this verse:
>
> Ye sacred Bards, that to ¦ your harps' melodious strings
>
>
>
The caesura is placed between *to* and *your*, which breaks the natural flow of the verse. So I was wondering if I could place a caesura basically anywhere as long as it's not in the middle of a word. | [
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45,300 | I'm a data scientist and for my next project I'm looking for a location where I can find stories broken down by structure. I.e. [The basics of the seven point story structure](https://thewritingkylie.com/blog/the-basics-of-the-seven-point-story-structure-and-how-to-use-it), or [wikipedia dramatic structure](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dramatic_structure), etc...
I've found <https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/story-structures/> but I was looking for something less articulate. Something that would break it down by chapters or some other dry quantitative metric instead of the qualitative / descriptive one found in the link above.
For all I know this is too much of a subjective question to be boiled down as I'm asking (if so I'll need to do it manually and it won't be a fun task for a non native English speaker).
At the end of the day I would need the open source story (short, novel, play, ...) and some way of telling when the structure changes (climax, Rising action, Exposition, ...). | [
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"text": "The first thing you need to understand is that plot points aren't a hard fact. There are quite a few different narrativ... | 2019/05/21 | [
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45,306 | I joined a writers group that meets every three weeks. I submitted the first eighteen pages of my work and also sent the same file to a publisher at AuthorHouse.
The writers group had varied opinions including I need more identifiers because the characters sound the same. I don’t think that they do. I was told to simplify my language and reword certain passages. I was told that I use *that* too often (4300 occurrences in nearly 300k words).
However, my cousin remarked that I used the word unremarkable four times in one paragraph (I asked him if I used that too often).
The gentleman at AuthorHouse told me nothing disturbed his immersion and he wants to read more. He said he always knew who was saying what and to whom and that good writers use minimal identifiers. He also said that writers groups can end up confusing writers as their purpose is to tear it apart looking for mistakes. Not to worry.
How much weight would one give the critique? I know it is feedback and completely optional. | [
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45,315 | I am looking for the representative references on writing style in English that would pre-date Strunk and White's *The Elements of Style* (possibly in the period between 1750 - 2000). I would like to understand the evolution of what was taught to be good style in written English before the only book on the topic that I know of.
British English references would be preferable, but American English is also welcome in the absence of European equivalents.
The reason:
I am working on a short novel where I have a long-lived character (born 1750 - dead 2000), who is described through her epistolary correspondence. The MC is convinced that there is a treasure hidden amidst all these letters. I wanted to give a bit of flavour to it. I can safely alter word usage to give a feeling of older times. I was hoping to be able to adapt the writing style as well.
So far:
I just browsed lazily through period texts. However, rather than imitate specific authors, I was hoping I could put myself in the mindset of an "average" learning writer of that time. [Note: keeping in mind that learning writers might have been far from average in the past] | [
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"text": "Westlake, J. Wutbil (James Willis), 1830-1912, wrote at least three \"how-to-write\" books, including [*How to wri... | 2019/05/21 | [
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45,317 | We all have seen at least one of these clickbaits (or some variation thereof):
>
> "single mom discovers the meaning of life with a simple trick"
>
>
>
or
>
> "billionaires don't want you to know this secret"
>
>
>
or
>
> "the 10 things that only real survivors do"
>
>
>
or
>
> "you could be sitting on a fortune"
>
>
>
At face value they just seem cheap psychological tricks. They place the reader in the position to wish to belong to a certain group, and they suggest that membership can be attained with the only effort of clicking somewhere.
As a test I wrote:
>
> If you want to be really famous you only have to click here.
>
>
>
but it does not quite stand the comparison.
Am I being too strict in judging my own clickbait, or is there a deeper art to crafting it? | [
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45,331 | I have read a couple romance books at most and so don’t claim to have very much experience with romance and clichés.
But here are the ones I can think of:
* Something happens to make them hate each other when they meet even though they are otherwise compatible and they end up getting together.
* Third wheel
* Love triangle
* A is in love with B but B is either oblivious, too focused on something else, or doesn’t love them back.
* They’re in love from the start.
* Getting together is blocked by one of them already being in a relationship or by one or both of them being committed to something else.
* A waiting too long to confess their affection and by that time B is in a relationship.
* They don’t even see each other as a potential love interest until something happens to one of them and the other flips out and has a panic attack and/or mental breakdown.
* One or both people hiding their emotions by pretending they don’t like the other.
I’m not sure if all of these are stereotypes. But if they are, then I’m *almost* wondering what’s left.
**Is a combination of these enough to avoid a cliché? Can that still be accomplished when the romance is a subplot? Are any of these such common clichés/stereotypes that they shouldn’t even be combined with something else?** | [
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45,337 | One of my characters gets drunk and accidentally kills another. He has a couple of lines where he needs to sound obnoxiously, falling-down drunk.
Is there a good way to accomplish this? What sounds should he have trouble pronouncing, and what letters should I replace (like *s* -> *sh*)? | [
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45,340 | Could you suggest a style guide or an exercise book that could teach how one sentence can be written in alternative ways, or how to rephrase a sentence in various structures, especially sentences involving modal verbs like should and would in third person.
The purpose is to avoid repetition of modal verbs and make the writing more persuasive.
Examples include: the parliament should pass the antiterrorism bill could be rewritten as: *it is incumbent upon the parliament to pass the antiterrorism bill*; the finance minister must wither away the economic crisis as *the economic crisis demands that the finance minister takes immediate action*, and so on. | [
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"text": "> \n> The purpose is to avoid repetition of modal verbs and make the writing more persuasive.\n> \n> \n> \n\nI... | 2019/05/23 | [
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45,342 | I want to write a short story (and maybe later a book) together with a colleague from work.
**Is there an online service which we can use to do this in a convenient way?**
Useful features would be (not all necessary):
* write at the same time and immediately see what the other one is changing
* see latest updates from the other writer highlighted
* manage tasks (maybe in a kanban board)
* manage timelines like upcoming deadlines | [
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45,350 | Young Adult fiction is distinguished from Adult fiction typically by the age of the protagonist(s) and the subject matter or experiences involved. You can, of course, have adult novels starring children (nobody would consider *A Game of Thrones* to be YA, even though most of the protagonists are children or teenagers), and there is some overlap (I've seen *Ender's Game* sitting on both shelves of the same store), but the two are generally pretty distinct.
I would prefer my novel not be classified as YA, for various reasons. My protagonist is a teenager, and while I intend to involve some adult themes I don't want them to feel forced or out of place. But ultimately, who makes that call? | [
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45,354 | I am working on a psychological horror with an extra element. Monsters, and I don’t mean ghosts. My characters will face suspicions, distrust, paranoia and emotional disturbances. They will deal with these issues while trying to stop and survive these monsters in an empty city where no one (other than the main characters) will save them. My questions are: Can a story still be a psychological horror with physical monsters? What additional guidelines are needed to keep within the parameters of psychological horror? | [
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"text": "It's a difficult setting, but it could be done.\n-----------------------------------------------\n\nThe point of psy... | 2019/05/23 | [
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45,356 | I have a very crudely written book that I self published through Amazon in 2013. I did not do any advertising for the book and it only sold about 80 copies. I am now in the process of a query letter to a publishing company, and they have two different categories, published writers and unpublished writers. How should I send it, as a published or unpublished writer? Thanks. | [
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45,358 | I am asking this from the point of a reader not a writer and just wondering why, so sorry if this is a bad place.
I read loads of books to my kids and the construct always seems to go:
>
> "What a day," gleefully burbled Pabe
>
>
>
With all of the information needed after the fact for reading out loud: who is speaking and the mood of the speech.
So why is that preferred over:
>
> Pabe gleefully burbled "what a day."
>
>
>
---
This example is chosen to show a quote which I would read in a gloomy voice to discover I was completely wrong after the fact. | [
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45,368 | I’m putting together this story and its formative stages are almost complete. However, I am genuinely interested as to how the ending would appear to the reader.
My protagonist is a skilled character whose powerful traits allow him to succeed continuously throughout the story. He is challenged by foes along the way, but he eventually overcomes them all. By the end, he encounters the main antagonist, his worst nightmare. This is where the plot twist comes into play. The protagonist begins to overpower the antagonist, but in a shocking turn of fate, the protagonist is defeated. This is not a plot twist in the sense that the protagonist turns out to be a “bad guy” all along, but rather one where the protagonist is clearly expected to win until the very last second where the antagonist wins by luck, so to speak.
So I am wondering, is this in general a poor way to end a story, or an effective one? Would this kind of ending make sense, or would it be too sudden and immediately turn off the reader? Should any instances of foreshadowing be implicated in order to ever so slightly predict the protagonist’s eventual demise, or would it best go down as a surprise moment? | [
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45,384 | A little info as to the story:
'Lolj' was abandoned when she was young. She is a Deviant, a group of people who are born with powers, and across the universe either seen as either blasphemies, miracles or just people.
She's trapped on a planet, and survives through thievery. One day she meets another deviant 'Diisb', a girl who wants to befriend her. 'Lolj' is suspicious, she's survived by only looking out for herself, and by trusting no one. This deviant does offer an opportunity though, as trading a Deviant is worth a ship. Worth freedom.-and that's all you get to know.
So my story is about 'deviants', not so subtle allegory for poc/queer/disability. And I really want to make sure I portray 'Lolj's autism in a non stereotypical/uninformed way. From my research so far this is how her autism presents itself:
* uncomfortable with crowds
* can't stand slimy texture or squelching sounds
* She is verbal, but her words are usually spare and short.
* she has issues understanding body language, tone
* she can't help but steal, as it's become part of her routine and she becomes angry and distressed as a result
So I've been cross-referencing a bunch of people on their experiences with autism. I'm still confused though as to whether there are some things that are universal, like avoiding eye contact, sensory issues.
And if there are issues with my listing- like can you be disgusted by specific sensations?
And how do things change when time passes? Can you be sensitive to loud places as a kid, but change when you're an adult? | [
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45,387 | I am currently working on a historical fiction novel set during the tail end of the Harlem Renaissance, in the 1930s. As such, I would really like to have the story take place *in* Harlem. However, the specific places I plan to have my characters interact with, are at the moment, fictional. How much will this throw off readers?
For example, the story centers around a troupe of actors. If I place them in a made up theatre on Lenox Avenue, and no such theatre existed on Lenox Avenue in the 1930s, will that then make the novel less realistic?
Any advice is appreciated! Just want to make sure I can actually make this story work before I get too emotionally invested in it. | [
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"text": "It'd make it less realistic, but it's an appropriate break from realism. It doesn't violate any 'contract' you... | 2019/05/24 | [
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45,403 | This may seem like an awkward scenario for a story's ending. My plot revolves around a constant struggle of the protagonist against the antagonist's forces, and eventually the antagonist himself. I've had some trouble finding an appropriate ending - I've already theorized about having the antagonist succeed over the protagonist, subverting a common trope of the "hero always wins" dilemma. However, recently another proposition had also crossed my mind.
What if neither the protagonist nor the antagonist is successful? Is this realistic, as a general idea? Would it be possible for neither side's goals to be accomplished, and in their attempt to fulfill their ambition, they sacrifice themselves and fail as a result? It is indeed partly to give a sense of "unfinished scrutiny" as victory is given to nobody, and failure is awarded to both sides. While the antagonist is no longer a threat, the protagonist is no longer a hero.
I understand that this is only plausible if the two opposing side's motives are not solely to eliminate each other as individuals, in which case both would be the winners. Rather, their influence is what has been left damaged - the protagonist's positive influence has been destroyed, while the antagonist's negative influence has been destroyed as well. Overall, I see this as creating a sort of "neutral" effect - neither good nor bad has come out of the final climactic ending, because of the two ideological opposites that collide with each other and eventually collapse.
Is this kind of scenario technically impossible, because the concept of defeat for either the protagonist or antagonist is dependent on the other's victory?
This kind of concluding effect may seem quite vague and hard to grasp, as I'm not sure as to whether the ending to any story is meant to be based on a black and white perspective of success vs. failure on either side. | [
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45,416 | I'm looking for ways to discover what others might think when they hear or see a metaphor used in a speech. I tend to think a certain way. I have certain prejudices. I think we all do. If I use a metaphor, I'm pretty certain that it will invoke the response I intended to that segment of the audience of like-minded individuals.
What about other people? People who are not like-minded? How will they interpret the meaning behind the metaphor? I want to learn and understand how other people, "non like-minded people" might interpret that same metaphor.
Are there some sort of exercises I can do? Is there a standard set of questions out there I can use to figure out the different interpretations other people might have towards the same metaphor?
**For example:**
I'm a 60 year old male. If I say "***I am a roll of toilet paper on the inside third.***" I know what 60+ year old people think about that metaphor. I'd like to understand what 20 somethings, or 30 somethings, or 40, and 50 somethings might think.
**Update**
I ordered a book two days ago called "Lead With A Story" by Peil Smucd and it came in the mail today. Chapter 24 is titled **Metaphors and analogies**. How ironical is that. Swoth tells about using what is called the Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET).
[Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaltman_metaphor_elicitation_technique)
I also found some very interesting resources:
<http://sixminutes.dlugan.com/metaphor-speech-examples/>
<https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/staff/eiaes/Pragglejaz_Group_2007.pdf>
<http://www.mt-archive.info/CLRU-1959-Wordley-1.pdf> | [
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45,420 | How do you show the softer side of a rough person without loosing the gruffness? I have a character that was the antagonist in one story and will be the protagonist in another where he will fall in love. He was very harsh and cruel. He's a hard person with a heavy background, but he's not evil and not all bad. He has a soft spot. He found his perfect mate, but reader feedback has told me that when I try to show that he's in love, he turns too mushy and is not the same man.
So how does one walk that line between bad boy and pitiful Romeo? Any tips or tricks? | [
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45,421 | What kind of metaphor is "trees in the wind"?
>
> I saw God in the Forest
>
>
> Teachin' Tai Chi
>
>
> **To the trees in the wind**
>
>
> Bowing to the sea
>
>
>
Excerpt from <http://www.bensollee.com/panning-for-gold>
What I find odd is that the reference is "trees in the wind" and not just a word and the referee is not obvious, because it doesn't seem to be comparing it to anything and the intended can be just "trees moving with the wind" instead of "tree in the wind" as if the trees are flying in the wind. What's the intended effect and what kind of metaphor is this if it indeed is a metaphor? I am talking about "trees in the wind" specifically and not "teachin' Tai Chi to the trees in the wind". | [
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45,439 | I am writing an argumentative essay and it goes along the following lines...
* Advantage 1; rebuttal 1
* Advantage 2; rebuttal 2
* Disadvantages
Would it be better to address the rebuttals in the disadvantages paragraph altogether, or should I tackle each point right after.
For the former, it seems like it's more organised, because I'm not jumping from advantages to disadvantages, then back to advantages again. However, for the latter, it reminds the reader the point I was making instead of going back to check what points I have made.
Would be grateful for any advice!
P.S. I am new to this forum, so I'm not sure whether this content befits "writing". | [
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45,440 | Is it ok to put a subplot to a story that is never meant to contribute to the development of the main plot? In Game of Thrones season 8, a lot of the subplots that were explored in previous seasons were completely dismissed or ignored. While this is an example that tells you it's a bad thing, is there a good case for doing this? When is it ok to do this and why? Could you provide some examples? | [
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"text": "Of course. It adds depth to your characters. Take for example ***3 Men In A Boat***. This whole book contains su... | 2019/05/26 | [
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45,443 | What are the recognizable tropes to a "train heist", or more broadly **the action sequences where a protagonist boards a moving train in order to stop it**?
My protagonist is the unreliable *guile heroine* who has been *playing at hero* the entire book. She typically over-inflates intrigue, misreads clues, and bumbles her way through moral conundrums. She alternates between 4D chess and being able to manipulate people by reading their reactions – meaning she has been making it up as she goes. At this point she's no longer sure if she's running a *long con* or actually becoming a hero, but she knows she's not going to be left out.
Unfortunately I have plotted a very trope-y action climax, but now that I write it, I realize the standard action-hero tone feels wrong so I need to identify the main tropes in order to subvert them. To be clear the protagonists *do* board the train and it does stop – that still has to happen so it's not a *failed trope*.
How do I subvert the tropes of a train heist?
---------------------------------------------
---
The responses are becoming random so I've picked the top answer which addresses the question about **train heist tropes**.
The question is about **identifying established tropes** in order to invoke and subvert them, not asking to suggest random *surprise endings* that avoid these story elements altogether – which would be too broad for this site anyway. | [
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45,447 | I have just finished a short story, set in what is known as [20 Minutes into the Future](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture) - a time frame that's only a little into the future from our own. There is a change from modern times, but it is sociological rather than technological.
I opened with the element that's different, set it and the process that led to it within the first page, and thought that it would be enough. More specifically, I took a conflict that's ongoing right now, and explored what happens after one side "wins". However, while the existence of the conflict is known, its current status, as it turned out - less so.
First question I get from a beta reader: "When is this happening? I looked through Wikipedia, it doesn't seem to fit anything in the past decades."
**How can I establish the setting as "tomorrow"?** I suppose I can mention a year, but that would make the work dated the moment the year passes. I can mention some event that had clearly not happened, like the monarchy in Spain being voted out, but that feels forced, too big to just be a timestamp. What other options do I have?
To make things more difficult, the story is narrated in third-person limited, following very closely a protagonist who is 16 at the time of the story, with the "change" happening when he was 5. So **I need to establish that his "reference point in the past" is in our future**. | [
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45,448 | Would it be jarring if in an original (non-translated) story, the characters, who don't speak English in-universe, use "untranslatable" wordplay/puns that are specific to English?
By "untranslatable" I mean that if a pun is translated literally into another language, it's not apparent why it's funny, and you need to explain why it's funny in the original language: see [here](https://forum.unilang.org/viewtopic.php?t=46200) ([archived version](https://archive.fo/tli2F)) for some examples.
Arguments against non-English speakers using English-specific wordplay:
* [**Lack of realism can hurt fiction**](https://writing.stackexchange.com/a/43076/39422): granted, this applies more to fiction that tries to be realistic, or to the specific readers know more about a technical field than you do, and in my case, I'm not writing for an audience of linguists.
* **I can't shake off the gut feeling that it just feels gimmicky**: it's almost an "added" in translation, because there is no equivalent in the foreign language, the characters don't know English, and I'm not trying to adapt existing wordplay into English because it's not a translation. There is no logical justification, so to speak, for that English-specific pun to exist, if not for the sake of it.
Arguments in favor of poetic licenses:
* [**Storytelling is about telling a logically coherent story, not realism**](https://writing.stackexchange.com/a/27416/39422): this is probably the most compelling argument.
* **The audience doesn't care**: the average layperson doesn't know or care about the minutiae of translating wordplay, they care more about a good story.
* **It's restrictive otherwise**: taken to the logical extreme, it would mean that original stories can only be written in the language that is spoken by the characters, because there are many words that have a deeper meaning to them, that just cannot be reproduced in other languages. For example, [Greek has four words for "love"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_words_for_love), and while you can translate "eros" as "lust", it's not the same.
*The audience probably doesn't care, but I definitely do...* | [
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45,458 | People mostly say that the characters of a story have to be developed first, but I don't really understand why characters play such an active role. Can't the characters simply be classified as objects? | [
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45,465 | I'm currently writing a story which started out as a short story but kept growing, until I discovered it would work well as a visual novel. I have all of the possible endings in mind, but for now I'm focusing on what I think of as the "main" path - the True Ending. That means it's just a single story so far, though.
I'm having trouble visualizing where player choices could occur and affect the story. So my question is, **how do I go about adding choices to make it a branching narrative, so that I can use the other endings I came up with?** I don't think just shoehorning choices into the story as an afterthought is fair to the story or the readers/players. And what kind of choices could there be? I suppose that depends on my particular story, so I understand if that can't be answered. | [
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45,478 | I often find myself coming up with seemingly compelling premises and world settings, but unable to come up with equally compelling character or plot.
For example, I am currently thinking about a premise where a desert empire's emperor becomes obsessed with building a tower, and mobilizing the entire empire in a grueling construction project that seem to never finish, because no matter how tall the tower reached, the emperor simply demanded taller. The story is supposed to begin after this obsession had seized the emperor for decades, and the endlessly ambitious task had fundamentally transformed the empire itself into a ceaseless engine of conquest and industry. The main character, whoever that be, is supposed to infiltrate the empire's ranks, perhaps seeking vengeance against the emperor's cruel conquests, or perhaps simply curious about the reason behind the emperor's obsession, whatever the case, the main character will eventually form some idea about the truth of the matter.
All that being said, I have little clue what the specific character or storyline should be, and have no clue where to start either. I want to know if there is any procedure that other writers use to conceive plot and character based on setting and themes. | [
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45,489 | How do you show that a character is suffering from lovesickness in a story plot, but not distract the reader from the actual main plot of the story? | [
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45,506 | So, in a WW2-ish story featuring a co-ed military, I have a female soldier who is very kind and caring. I'm setting her up to be a mascot and somewhat of the postergirl. Trouble is, she dies further down the story to kind of remind the player that this is a war game, not a war-themed visual novel, and to send the unit into the endgame. Problem is, I don't want to kill her because I've been suckered by her charm! So, for those who slay their characters you enjoy, how do you detach from a character you've grown attached to?
Some background: I planned to have her die by sniper fire, and have her death sort of motivate the platoon to go for an all out assault on the final destination/mission. | [
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45,508 | So, with the recent craze in waifu games, I've decided to try my hand at making one. I have a semi-intricate plot with twists, and some events planned with their own snippet of story. Problem is, I have no idea if it's even necessary. I mean, a lot of people are going to be in it for the waifus, and not at all for the story. So, should I even bother?
Background: a waifu game is a game where the main point is to collect fighters or characters, typically sexy anime girls. Examples are Azur Lane, Girl's Frontline, and Valkyrie Crusade. | [
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45,521 | My POV character has been seriously injured and is bedridden for three months.
But life stops for no one. In fact, a major epic battle is brewing and to delay it would be unrealistic. If anything, the enemy would surely seek to strike while the hero has been forced onto the sidelines.
I've already written the huge battle... and it's epic. But I can't figure out that to do with it.
Do I delete the scene and replace it with how the POV character hears the news after the fact? But three months of doing nothing is really boring.
Or, do I keep the scene but switch to a new POV character for just one scene? (Would it be confusing to have a secondary POV character for only one scene?) | [
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45,525 | Disclaimer: Also works for guys, if you have the problem, but genderbent.
So, in my plots, I typically have a "tough girl" character in my thing. She's confident and upfront, and is stubborn to the core. Thing is, I don't want to cross over in the realm of asshole with some of them. They take no crap, but they're not there to start fights. So, what's the difference between a tough gal and an asshole? | [
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"text": "**Question**: \n\nWhat is the difference between an up-front character and an jerk?\n\n**Answer:**\n\nFor any indiv... | 2019/05/28 | [
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45,542 | Recently I've stumbled across China Miéville's novels. Apparently, they fit in a genre called **Weird Fiction**, or to be even more specific **New Weird**, where the "new" is used to distinguish new writers from literary sources as Lovecraft.
Yet, in my opinion, a book like *Perdido Street Station* could be defined as a crossbreed between fantasy and steampunk. In short, I'm having trouble understanding what the "New Weird" as a genre entails.
On [the Wikipedia page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_weird) a bunch of definitions can be found:
>
> ... according to Jeff VanderMeer and Ann VanderMeer, in their introduction to the anthology The New Weird, the genre is "*a type of urban, secondary-world fiction that subverts the romanticized ideas about place found in traditional fantasy, largely by choosing realistic, complex real-world models as the jumping-off point for creation of settings that may combine elements of both science fiction and fantasy*"
>
>
>
However,
>
> Robin Anne ReentR notes that while the definition of the new weird is disputed, "a general consensus uses the term" to describe fictions that "subvert cliches of the fantastic in order to put them to discomfiting, rather than consoling ends". [1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_weird) ReentR also notes the genre tends to break down the barriers between fantasy, science fiction and supernatural horror.
>
>
>
And then again, from a more historic point of view:
>
> Part of this genre's roots derive from pulp horror authors, whose stories were sometimes described as "weird fiction".
>
>
>
My point here being that there is no specific consensus about this. So, a new author wanting to write a Weird Fiction novel will either find himself expanding the definition, or missing it completely.
After all, other genres can be seen as a breaking of barriers between fantasy and science-fiction (as steampunk, maybe) or fantasy and horror (dark fantasy or grimdark).
So, what would be the most important characteristic, the one that you absolutely cannot miss, when writing New Weird? | [
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45,547 | My novella won the 2017 Watty Award and has garnered a lot of reads- currently at 67k reads (if were longer, it'd be double that number, but the reads are counted per chapter- It's only 8 chapters in length). I want to query this novella, but I'm not sure if it currently having public exposure is a good, bad or neutral thing. Anyone with experience, please chime in. Thanks in advance. | [
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45,549 | So, I have a kinda loudmouthed character who's always the first to fight and first to go on the offensive (This is a fantasy, so she fights a lot.) But, later in the story, she comes across someone she truly fears, and finds that she must fight that person in order to free the townspeople of an oppressive ruler.
Thing is, I want her to have a moment when she's weeping on her bed, and the MC/her love interest comes to comfort her. Then again, I don't want (insert group here) screaming in criticism and tearing that scene apart.
My question is: How do I show her vulnerability, and have a comforting moment, and tease the romance, without being overly cliche or overboard? | [
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45,558 | I'll explain my question by citing what was done on the TV show *Doxlar*. Halfway through an episode (Season 4, episode 4, 'All in the Family') two established characters (one of them being Werorac) were flirting while talking about the value of another character. During this scene there is a brief discussion, and joke, about a beat up old $20 guitar from a pawn shop. Five scenes (and ten minutes of the show) later Werorac said she felt manipulated by the character spoken of earlier, that he "played me like a f--king $20 dollar guitar."
Just before her line, Doxlar recites what he just heard from a defendant. It is important that he recites it as he is going to repeat that line to Biti, seven scenes later (12 minutes of the show) later.
I take it this is not foreshadowing? It doesn't seem like that to me. Is there a term for this device (if it is a device) to bring up something, especially as with Werorac's which is so casual, only to make it important or even a key moment later on? | [
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45,563 | For the recent [writing exercise](https://writing.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/2027/) I wanted to tackle Beowulf's character.
In the original saga, the hero Beowulf comes to the aid of king Hrothgar to defeat two monsters. Then, after a period of 50 years, he faces a third monster.
I wanted to create my Beowulf around these 50 years of pause. Clearly he must have done some interesting deeds in such a long period, but none worthy of a hero of his caliber. Luckily for him, a slave finally steals a cup from a dragon's lair. The monster awakes bringing destruction all around, and Beowulf has to defeat it.
The twist is that in my version of the story Beowulf forces the slave to provoke the dragon.
My issue is that mythology heroes like Beowulf are largely two-dimensional. This is a requirement to make them the absolute moral reference. On the other hand, to reveal that a hero always had a Machiavellian side, would require depth, and thus question their value as absolute reference.
My question is: in the context of a mythological tale, how to expand the dimensionality of the hero so that he can be turned into a scheming villain, without losing its value as absolute reference, nor altering the setup of the story?
To clarify, I thought of three approaches, but they seem to fall short of the initial goal:
1. The extra dimension come from a different aspect of the story altogether. For instance, Beowulf is still the compass of morality, but he is not immune to boredom. In my opinion this has the risk of turning the hero into a clown.
2. The extra dimension is given by the divergence of the world and the hero. The hero does not change, but the world does. Beowulf has always been a scheming villain, but this was accepted in the past, and now it is frowned upon. This seems to require rewriting the setup of the story, which was not my original intent.
3. The extra dimension is a result of the hero's actions. Beowulf regrets his past actions, and the guilt corrupts his soul. This would be great, but it would also imply that his initial actions were far from being a great moral reference, as the story would otherwise suggest. | [
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45,575 | So, I have a couple moments in a fantasy story where I want the heroes' actions to actually have consequences (Well, that are really impactful to the story.) One is where the MCs kill a minor lord, causing a major disruption as the daughter takes over as a child ruler. Luckily, she's mature for her age, and will try to rule fairly and kindly, unlike her father, but that's another tale.
The other moment is when an MC, a prince thought to be dead, shows up in his
home country, and finds it in ruins. Well, a magician has gone on a year or two long power trip, and hadn't thought to actually rule the country, and therefore, all the petty nobles are controlling their own territories. I want there still to be hope in the story after these two events happen, but I also want there to be realistic consequences for their actions.
My question is: how do I portray realism without making the whole situation a s\*\*\*show? | [
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45,578 | I am new to writing. I wrote a lot when I was a kid and teen. I wrote my first book at 6 and then again in high school. I was also in journalism. After high school, life happened. I took an almost 20 year break, so I consider myself "new". I'm currently writing a YA Paranormal, but I'm unsure if it's meaningful, if it has enough depth. How do I determine this? Can I provide a synopsis, is that allowed here? | [
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"text": "A good way to ask if your work has meaning is to ask this simple question:\n\n*What is this story about?*\n\nW... | 2019/05/30 | [
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45,584 | I'm currently planning a book series that is told from the first person perspective of 5 different characters. I have a different voice for all of the characters, but I think that 2 of the characters should narrate in the present tense and the others in the past tense. Is that acceptable or is it too jarring for the reader? The only reason I want to do this is that these two characters are really fast-paced, in the moment kind of characters. Thanks for any input you have. | [
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45,596 | I wrote a scene that I put my heart and soul into. It was received well by most of my readers, but I'm struggling with crafting a new scene for a book I'm currently writing. Here's some comments from my beta readers on the first scene in which I was able to captivate my audience:
>
> "OMG I love how you set the mood!"
> "Love it! The details and it was so graphic, made me feel like I was there. I had to stop reading for a minute because I felt like I was there,"
> "Beautifully written"
>
>
>
I want to be able to do this again in my new book, but I'm finding it so difficult. How can I get back to that place? | [
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45,600 | When writing an error prompt, should we end the sentence with a exclamation mark or a dot?
I am writing an application for iPhone and I have some error prompt in my application like "Your password must be 8 character long with alphanumeric characters!" However, I am not completely sold on the idea of putting an exclamation mark (!) on error prompt. Are there situation where it might be warranted, and what about just replacing exclamation marks with dots? Is there a sort of standard among programmers? | [
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"text": "**No**, you don't need an exclamation mark. *Particularly* in English. Nor ellipsis (...) or anything special. It's a ... | 2019/05/31 | [
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45,607 | I occasionally write short essays about classic films, and have been thinking about converting them into *video essay* for YouTube.
What I observe are 2 very different types of essay – I'm not sure what to call them.
One type approaches the work as a **superfan**. The *canon story* is revered, and the details are often about explaining the ending, or discussing plot points that are entirely *within* the work. When this type of essay turns critical, it often takes the form of "fixing" the story. Sometimes these videos are clickbait, "trashing" the bad choices of the filmmakers, but since the criticisms are still mostly canon and in-world, I put these in the same "superfan" category.
The other type of essay is more aligned with **social criticism**. The details in the story are not as important as the *technique* and *intent*. The work is put in cultural and historic context, stepping out of the "review" to discuss broader themes, compare other work that covers similar ground, its impact on the entertainment industry or its place in the career of the actors and director, or how the work reflects (or ignores) social conventions of its time.
There is crossover between the two, but the approach is so fundamentally different it's usually easy to separate the two essay styles almost immediately. A *superfan review* expects the viewer to be familiar with the subject, and speaks as one fan to another. They can feel a bit naive and *consumerist*. There is social cache in being an authority of the canon.
The *social criticism essays* don't presume the viewer has seen the film, and can be pretentious and pondering, speaking as one savvy intellectual to another. The viewer probably needs an awareness of film theory and an interest in film as an artform. The social cache is being an authority of art history and social movements.
The films I write about are not current box office, so my essays tend to lean towards the latter rather than the former. Are there any accepted *terms* – or maybe other cues I can use to signal the difference? | [
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45,609 | When writing fictional polytheisms, it's tempting to draw inspiration from the existing ones.
In ancient religions (I'm mainly thinking of the Greek/Latin, Egyptian and Norse pantheons) there are some common tropes and similarities. They all have a "father"-god figure, they have gods of war, fertility gods and gods associated with wisdom.
Yet, it can be argued that those similarities are rather superficial. Odin is not Zuub by a far stretch. Týr and Oros, while being both associated with war and masculinity, are not the same. Those mythological figures have arisen in different places and times in history, and are expressions of very different cultures.
So, when inventing gods for a fictional pantheon, how do you avoid falling into those cliches?
---
I'd further clarify that having a "God of War" is not a problem, if it makes sense in the context. It is a cliché if the god of war in question is just "filling a seat." | [
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45,617 | I have some material for a "world" (more fantasy than sci-fi at this point). I've noodled around with this world off-and-on for ages but have never had a story to put in the world. I have some brief character descriptions for the regional leaders.
So, do you have any tips on how to essentially grow a story out of the environment? I have a vague notion but am hoping there are some suggested pathways. Thanks! | [
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45,620 | One piece of feedback that I got on a story I wrote is that my settings feel irrelevant, or that the entire book could have been a phone call. I am not sure how to go about fixing this. The characters, for example, are in an office, or a restaurant, or a different office at various times throughout the story ― but any of these places are interchangeable as my story currently stands.
**How can I tie the scenes and dialogue in my story into where the characters are?** Are there techniques that I could use to mention the setting in relation to things that the character say or do, or to make the settings matter more? | [
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45,632 | When my work was being critiqued, one of the critics said that the exposition given away in my dialogue was forced and unnatural. Though, this exposition is crucial, so leaving it out is out of the picture. The critic said it would be better to break the "show don't tell" rule by actually just giving the exposition straight up, no dialogue.
This does eliminate the chance of the exposition feeling unnatural in dialogue, but to me it feels cheap. The easy way out. And I also feel it takes the reader out of the experience. But without the information itself, the reader is not getting the full experience, nor is understanding/seeing the full picture.
Now, (this is opinion-based) I felt the exposition wasn't unnatural, due to the fact it was very relevant to the topic, and it seemed to me like something a person, and more importantly, the character in question would say in that situation. But is this **irrelevant**? Will **any exposition** given through dialogue feel **forced** and **unnatural**? Is it all better to just give it as **unfiltered** **exposition** in a paragraph? | [
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45,635 | I have been told by my friends that my writing seems a bit blunt in the sense of I rarely practice "Show, Don't Tell" (SDT) in my stories. However, I personally find SDT hard because...I just don't get it due to my Asperger Syndrome.
Having Asperger Syndrome means that I simply lack the knowledge non-verbal communication including body languages, facial expression, and social cue. For example, we all know that somebody who "clenches their fist" is someone who is angry or somebody "who raises their eyebrow" is surprised, right? Unfortunately, I didn't know about it for a very good portion of my life. Funnily enough--I learned about these cues from a "Show, Don't Tell" chapter of a writing book.
Obviously, I read more books and I picked up on more social cues and people have publicized lists of phrases commonly used to describe emotions, but it feels..formula-ish. For me, the process for writing SDT is like.
1. Write the emotion I'm trying to demonstrate (e.g. surprised)
2. Look up on google what do people do when they're surprised (ooh, they raise their eyebrow.)
3. Replace the emotion of being surprised in my novel with their action of raising their eyebrow.
It works, but it doesn't take long before I ran out of phrases and starts becoming repetitive. I lack the finesse for SDT and I'm a bit flustered and hope you can provide me with some guidance.
Update:
There has been some (deleted) discussion on the true nature of Asperger Syndrome (ie. how big in a disadvantage are they, are they truly lacking or they just need to "learn it") which has been rather controversial. Regardless of the actual nature of Asperger Syndrome, I think the premise of the question still holds. This is a writing technique question, not a mental health question. | [
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45,654 | <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tab_(interface)>
I have made a medical record application that allows someone to record data about someone, but the application also allows us to add the data of a relative. So basically you can have a tab for the main user, and a tab for a relative like the spouse and enter them at the same time, because of this, all error prompt must indicate to the user in which tab the error occurred. So for example:
>
> The last name can only contain alphanumeric characters (tab: Rumerz).
>
>
>
The problem with the above is that it looks weird, so I am wondering if there's a better way for it. I have never used an application that indicates in which tab an error occurred, so I have no idea what format I should use for the error prompt. | [
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45,660 | When I googled "[The Difference between Resume and CV](https://www.google.com/search?q=difference%20between%20cv%20and%20resume&rlz=1C1CHZL_enIN840IN840&oq=difference%20between%20cv%20and%20resume&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j69i57j69i60j69i59l2j69i60.2771j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8)", the first result I bumped into was [this](https://www.thebalancecareers.com/cv-vs-resume-2058495). I am highlighting a few points that are mentioned in it below:
>
> The primary differences between a resume and a curriculum vitae (CV) are length, what is included, and what each is used for. While both
> are used in job applications, a resume and a CV are not always
> interchangeable.
>
>
> Most resumes in the United States are competency-based: they are
> personal marketing documents intended to showcase the candidate’s
> skills, notable achievements, and work experience to the greatest
> advantage. US CVs, submitted for jobs in academia, scientific
> research and medical fields are credential-based, providing a
> comprehensive (and often lengthy) listing of one’s education,
> certifications, research experience, and professional affiliations and
> memberships.
>
>
>
Now, I do have my own resume (or CV, I am confused already), that is 7 pages long and includes each detail chronologically. I am a non-US resident, so I am not sure whether my resume *is* a resume or a CV.
More generally, what changes in terms of writing make a resume, resume and a CV, CV? What voice should a career document have (first person, active)? How does the narrative of articulating oneself differ in CV and resume? | [
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45,663 | Here's a critique I've received more than once: "your character talks like a character from a book. He's too eloquent, nobody really talks like that, unless they grew up in a library."
Now, to some extent, characters not talking like we really do is an acceptable break from reality: interjections, pauses when we look for the right word etc. break the flow of the narrative, so they would only be used to that deliberate effect, and sparingly, or they get annoying. (See also TV Tropes: [Realistic Diction is Unrealistic](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RealisticDictionIsUnrealistic) and discussion of the trope [here](http://gavthorpe.co.uk/2008/05/07/realism-is-fake/))
However, the flip side of this coin is, if I have a modern teenager saying "I will not forsake the land of my forefathers", I'm breaking the readers' suspension of disbelief. My character might reasonably feel like this, but that's not how he would express his feelings. And the moment my character has become to my readers "a character from a book" rather than "a human", I've lost their sympathy for him.
How do I keep to the golden mean between those two problems? What techniques can I use to ensure my characters talk in a way that's neither too bookish, nor too literal? My goal is for the dialogue to feel natural (even though it really isn't - see links above), so readers listen to *what* is being said, while *how* it's being said becomes transparent, or else enhances the story - definitely doesn't distract. The question is particularly pertinent for main characters: side characters with little "screen time" can get away with verbal tics that would become annoying in the characters whose speech one has to follow all the time. | [
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45,668 | My attempt at the current [writing challenge](https://writing.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/2027/) features a flock of sparrows.
Since the actual "dialogue" between two sparrows would sound like a bunch of cheeping, I need another way to show what they're saying.
Here are the options I've considered so far:
1. **Normal quotation marks.** (Example: "This crumb is MINE.") This feels like the weakest option - the sparrows aren't speaking English. Normally I could add "she replied in (language)", but the sparrows don't have an official language, and it doesn't feel right to give them one.
2. **Showing the effect on the character.** (Example: Raider was having none of it. The crumb was HERS, she insisted.) Sounds a little flat.
3. **Italics.** (Example: *This crumb is MINE.*) I think this is my strongest option, but also might make the sparrows sound telepathic.
Are there any other options? | [
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45,670 | As I've already mentioned, I'm working on a sci-fi novel.
One of the main feelings that I wanted to represent when I started is the sense of a vast, empty, artificial world, mostly cold and uncaring of human life; the kind of impression you can have glancing at [Tsutomu Nihei's](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsutomu_Nihei) landscapes in manga such as [Blame!](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blame!) or [Biomega](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomega_(manga)).
Being inspired by his works, and other masters of the cyberpunk genre, I started to work on my novel. While I did manage to give out that feeling (according to some beta readers) I wonder if something could be done better, hence the question.
How do you show an hard and uncaring world?
-------------------------------------------
How do you picture a stark contrast between the characters' struggle and an uncaring, hostile environment?
I'm mainly interested in stylistic devices (e.g. the use of certain images, similes, pairing up the character's internal emotion with a description of the outside world ...) that I could employ to make the difference even more clear cut. | [
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45,672 | For example, let's say that someone says a word, but then immediately "corrects" it to a different word. Do you use a comma, an em dash, or what?
In addition, if it's at the beginning of a sentence, does it count as restarting the sentence (and thus necessitating capitalizing the next word)?
In this example, which is correct?
1. "If, no, when Zotn arrives, he'll have some explaining to do." (comma, no sentence restart)
2. "If-no, when Zotn arrives, he'll have some explaining to do." (hyphen, no sentence restart)
3. "If—no, when Zotn arrives, he'll have some explaining to do." (em dash, no sentence restart)
4. "If-No, when Zotn arrives, he'll have some explaining to do." (hyphen, sentence restart)
5. "If—No, when Zotn arrives, he'll have some explaining to do." (em dash, sentence restart)
Thank you for your help.
This is not the same question as the one this is marked as a possible duplicate of, as it refers to immediate negation of a previous word, and does not necessarily involve starting the sentence over. | [
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"text": "Some elements that can be clearly seen and described occur to me:\n\n* Graffiti is common where people feel [disenfranc... | 2019/06/02 | [
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45,681 | What format should I use when beginning a chapter with the time and location of the events?
I was thinking to use:
>
> Nine pm. Sunday, in Los Angeles, CA, USA.
>
>
>
but I don't think it looks good, so I was wondering what were the alternatives and which ones were the most popular ones.
For example:
>
> Nine pm. Sunday, in Los Angeles, CA, USA. Skepe got out of the office
> earlier than usual, and took a cab to meet his friend who was sitting
> on a park bench by his lonesome.
>
>
> | [
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"text": "Depends. If it's a one-off indication, you should introduce it as prose: \"It was 9 P.M. on a Su... | 2019/06/02 | [
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45,682 | My beta readers are family and friends - people who read a lot, but do not write. They are people whose opinion I trust, and who are genuinely trying to be helpful. (And I haven't found a writing group.)
Here's the problem: sometimes the critique I get is: "I understand the character's motivations, but I don't really connect, don't know why." Or, "something's off, can't really put my finger on what".
How can I help my beta readers figure out what it is that doesn't work for them? What kind of questions can I ask them, to help me understand what's wrong with my story? | [
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"text": "**I'd try some of these:**\n\nDo you feel the character is a 'real person?' If not, would you say the problem might... | 2019/06/02 | [
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45,687 | I am asking this as a general thing, be it a race that is never seen but heard about (which is fairly easy,) but much more so for a race that the reader becomes well acquainted with, especially one that in general is friendly.
One thing I was thinking about for instance, is have them fly off the handle and kill foreigners for little reason, such as killing thousands over theft, etc. | [
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"text": "If you're referring to how to make a sympathetic character be understandably xenophobic, there's several ways ... | 2019/06/03 | [
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45,719 | The pros and cons of alternatives to professional editors have already been discussed here. It has already been established that nothing can quite replace the many alternatives that exist, as these alternatives are best used in conjunction with a professional editor.
I'm becoming increasingly convinced that I need to pay for a professional editor. But first, I want to know: is it worth the cost? If I was convinced that professional editing would really improve sales, I would be willing to sink hundreds of dollars into an editor if I knew that it was a worthwhile investment which could be recovered through selling more copies.
I'd like to hear from people who really did shell out the hundreds (or thousands) of dollars required to hire an editor and either recovered the costs in sales or lost money altogether. I'd also like to hear from people who self-edited and whether or not they wish they had hired a professional. | [
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"text": "I can't quite answer your point directly because I wouldn't dream of publishing without three rounds of edits: developme... | 2019/06/04 | [
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45,725 | The demigods of this world are avatars of the one true God known as Dea and built in the image of humanity. They are independent and have their own opinions from each other, but are connected by a universal consciousness that operates similarly to a hive mind. This "super-consciousnesses" underlies their actions and governs them according to a set of universal laws and principles, which they are instinctively aware of. This prevents them from interfering with the mortal plane in most cases. These gods exist in the hundreds, and can be male or female.
These demigods breed differently from mortals. When a man and woman get busy, they produce an offspring which shares half of their parents DNA. These influences gene expression and creates a completely new individual. Demigods breed by leaving their physical avatars and combining their souls with each other to create a new soul. Every demigod currently alive will participate in this process together, causing the resulting offspring to have literally hundreds of "parents" who are also their siblings.
I want to represent these gods as beings that are connected to each other as a hive mind, yet still retain individual qualities and personalities like "normal" people. What would be the best way to showcase this in writing form? | [
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"text": "A good example you could take inspiration from are the Vortigaunts of Half Life fame. In Half Life 2, they go ... | 2019/06/04 | [
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45,735 | There is worldbuilding and/or writing that I know I need to do, and even want to do on some level, but I keep not doing it. I don't have what I think of as traditional writers block, because I'm not even getting as far as looking at a page that I'm not writing on. I'm not even putting off what I need to do by doing other things (until I started typing this question), I'm sitting doing nothing when I know I need to reread some notes and then do ***something***; either writing more of an existing narrative or do some ancillary worldbuilding work if I don't think things are quite ready yet.
My question is how do people get themselves moving when they know they have work to do and time to do it?
Any suggests for techniques or tools that make staying on track with writing projects easier much appreciated. | [
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"text": "Procrastination is as much as part of this job as creativity. We all do it. Writing isn't easy most of the time, and mo... | 2019/06/04 | [
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45,737 | I have written a novel in which none of the characters are ever described. It started out by accident (3 chapters in when I realized).
Question: Is this a good/unique approach or shot myself in foot?
Note: Due to a number of characters being cryogenic subjects, it was not necessary to describe them. All characters do have names but no descriptions. Thank you. | [
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"text": "It depends if their appearance has anything to offer/indicate about the character. If not, then I'm happy to g... | 2019/06/04 | [
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45,746 | I am a first-time author, and a few months ago I completed a picture book manuscript. After completing the manuscript, I had it professionally edited. I also completed a query letter, which was professionally reviewed/edited as well.
My original plan was to send my query letter and manuscript to various agents, but then I got cold feet and decided to send my manuscript to a few publishing companies instead (who accept unsolicited submissions). I did this for different reasons, but one of them being that I question whether an agent will actually want to work with me as I’m not pursuing or working on other manuscripts at this time - nor do I necessarily plan to. So I decided to go straight to a publisher instead, although I know this is highly competitive and response time can be ~6 months (if at all). I have a graduate degree and work in the medical field, and I don’t plan to make a career out of writing.
So my questions, if anyone can answer, are:
1. Would agents even want to work with someone such as myself, who may have a manuscript that is appealing to them but I don’t necessarily have intentions to write another?
2. If I do decide to submit my manuscript to agents, should I tell them in my query letter that I already submitted to a few publishers? Or could I be more vague and simply mention that it’s a simultaneous submission?
I don’t plan to pursue additional publishers on my own. And perhaps this decision already decreased my chances with agents. But I suppose it doesn’t hurt to try.
I’m learning more and more as I go, and I would love some feedback about whether most agents expect their clients to work on new projects/books. | [
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45,748 | Many of the short stories that I write feel too short. Now, I know that there's nothing wrong with a (very) short story, but often I feel like I'm rushing the story because I have an idea for the ending and want to get there as soon as possible. Sometimes I feel like I need more scenes to make the character development more gradual, but I'm never sure what to write.
For example, I recently wrote a short story which only turned about to be about 1,500 words and is meant to show character development over the course of the story, but I worry that this is not long enough for the reader to get a sense of who the character is and get a sense of how they change.
**How can I avoid rushing plot/character development?** How can I make sure that my stories are long enough that the important information is included? | [
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45,751 | I'm currently working on a script for a college project and there's one part of the script that sorta goes like this:
A character heard a scream from outside of the room they're in and decided to investigate.
It then transitions over to the next scene, showing the moments that lead up to the person outside the room screaming, that chronologically happens at the same time as the previous scene.
It then continues off to the next scene continuing where both left off.
How can I convey that "this scene takes place and ends at the same time as the previous scene" in the script? | [
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