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 issu... | [
{
"answer_id": 45027,
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"text": "There are two separate issues here:\n\n1. What do you call your story as you pitch it?\n2. How would your story be mark... | 2019/05/07 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45023",
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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 bec... | [
{
"answer_id": 45037,
"author": "Monica Cellio",
"author_id": 1993,
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"pm_score": 7,
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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 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45035",
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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... | [
{
"answer_id": 45046,
"author": "Kirk",
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"text": "I have heard that the number of queries you should expect to write is somewhere between 100 and 250. However, if you'r... | 2019/05/08 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45042",
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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-mississipp... | [
{
"answer_id": 45052,
"author": "GGx",
"author_id": 28942,
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"text": "I think if any of us could tell you how to write like a Nobel Prize winning author, we wouldn't be in this forum :)\n\n... | 2019/05/08 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45045",
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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 ther... | [
{
"answer_id": 45063,
"author": "Cyn",
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"text": "Books set in the future are [Speculative Fiction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speculative_fiction)\n=================... | 2019/05/08 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45062",
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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... | [
{
"answer_id": 45075,
"author": "Lauren-Clear-Monica-Ipsum",
"author_id": 553,
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"text": "> \n> (A) In a humourous short story about Bezhue Wooster and Jeeves, Bezhue is talking about a situat... | 2019/05/09 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45073",
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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 wh... | [
{
"answer_id": 45084,
"author": "Amadeus",
"author_id": 26047,
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"text": "Although I personally have no problem either writing or reading explicit sex scenes (sex is a form of entertainment... | 2019/05/09 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45083",
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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. ... | [
{
"answer_id": 45106,
"author": "April Salutes Monica C.",
"author_id": 36670,
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"text": "Something that may do SOME of what you want (the \"binding\" of character to event is what made me... | 2019/05/09 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45094",
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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... | [
{
"answer_id": 45097,
"author": "Arcanist Lupus",
"author_id": 27311,
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"text": "Finish your book, make it the best you can, move on to the next\n--------------------------------------------... | 2019/05/10 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45096",
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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 **w... | [
{
"answer_id": 45112,
"author": "Chris Sunami",
"author_id": 10479,
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"text": "You can, but it's self-indulgent and kind of sloppy --a bunch of disconnected scenes outside the body of your ... | 2019/05/10 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45102",
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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 a... | [
{
"answer_id": 45114,
"author": "Chris Sunami",
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"text": "**You can and should answer these prompts *in your own style and voice***. I do have my doubts and concerns ab... | 2019/05/10 | [
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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... | [
{
"answer_id": 45131,
"author": "Amadeus",
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"text": "I think of legends and mythology (I took a college elective on it) as being about black-and-white extremes, like wr... | 2019/05/11 | [
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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 th... | [
{
"answer_id": 45138,
"author": "Amadeus",
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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` docu... | [
{
"answer_id": 45141,
"author": "wetcircuit",
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"selected": false,
"text": "**It sounds like the divisions emerged organically and intrinsically from the story – that's how it should be**.... | 2019/05/12 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45139",
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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 ra... | [
{
"answer_id": 45163,
"author": "S. Mitchell",
"author_id": 13409,
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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... | [
{
"answer_id": 45160,
"author": "Ash",
"author_id": 26012,
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"text": "Any time you're using a first person narrative the story is a continuous introspective irregardless of the level of sou... | 2019/05/13 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45159",
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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 cal... | [
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"answer_id": 45162,
"author": "Ash",
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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 confusio... | [
{
"answer_id": 45166,
"author": "Erk",
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"text": "It is probably not going to be possible to keep your readers aware of the time and date all the time, at least not in an... | 2019/05/13 | [
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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 epil... | [
{
"answer_id": 45192,
"author": "Cyn",
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"text": "Think about why you're doing this.\n\nYour readers liked everything about your story except they wanted more of the endi... | 2019/05/15 | [
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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? | [
{
"answer_id": 45189,
"author": "Jason Bassford",
"author_id": 30561,
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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 ne... | [
{
"answer_id": 45199,
"author": "Lauren-Clear-Monica-Ipsum",
"author_id": 553,
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"selected": false,
"text": "You cannot randomly change POV in the middle of a paragraph just to get in that one critical snipe at... | 2019/05/16 | [
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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 ... | [
{
"answer_id": 45205,
"author": "Liquid",
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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 p... | [
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"answer_id": 45216,
"author": "S. Mitchell",
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"selected": false,
"text": "Using a different alphabet has huge problems. (I've tried it and it kept being a nightmare, particularly when I... | 2019/05/16 | [
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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, si... | [
{
"answer_id": 45278,
"author": "A. Kvåle",
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"text": "This is a difficult conundrum. Some sounds and ways of pronunciation are simply not made for paper. For example, th... | 2019/05/17 | [
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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. | [
{
"answer_id": 45227,
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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 a... | [
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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 thr... | [
{
"answer_id": 45244,
"author": "Caspian",
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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 ... | [
{
"answer_id": 45246,
"author": "Amadeus",
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"text": "I have seen, IRL, a solution to this problem.\n\nI would say, make one (or both) of the characters unavailable; alr... | 2019/05/18 | [
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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 comple... | [
{
"answer_id": 45247,
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"author_id": 553,
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"selected": true,
"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 part... | [
{
"answer_id": 45257,
"author": "SC for reinstatement of Monica",
"author_id": 22074,
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"text": "You may benefit from taking a big breath and looking at the situation from outside.\n\nYou a... | 2019/05/19 | [
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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 ... | [
{
"answer_id": 45261,
"author": "Cyn",
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"selected": false,
"text": "Dialogue quotes are for things a character actually says.\n=========================================================\n\... | 2019/05/19 | [
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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... | [
{
"answer_id": 45265,
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"text": "What you should have done, and should do in rewrite, is make it clear to the reader a traitor exists, perhaps make i... | 2019/05/19 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45262",
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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 ... | [
{
"answer_id": 45271,
"author": "Nicol Bolas",
"author_id": 22796,
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"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "If the narrator is clearly non-omniscient, from the main character's perspective, then you describe things as t... | 2019/05/20 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45270",
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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? | [
{
"answer_id": 45287,
"author": "Amadeus",
"author_id": 26047,
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"selected": true,
"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 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45284",
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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 ... | [
{
"answer_id": 45292,
"author": "Chris Sunami",
"author_id": 10479,
"author_profile": "https://writers.stackexchange.com/users/10479",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "You don't necessarily need for your descriptions to be attached to a person or to an action, but you generally ... | 2019/05/20 | [
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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 se... | [
{
"answer_id": 45297,
"author": "Cyn",
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"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "Put your pauses wherever you wish but know that they will tell the reader how to read it.\n\nPoetry is meant to be read ... | 2019/05/20 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45294",
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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.... | [
{
"answer_id": 45637,
"author": "Community",
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"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"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 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45300",
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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 sim... | [
{
"answer_id": 45308,
"author": "SFWriter",
"author_id": 26683,
"author_profile": "https://writers.stackexchange.com/users/26683",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "First of all, as a simple metric, your use of the word 'that' is 50% higher than my own (I have 930 occurrences in... | 2019/05/21 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45306",
"https://writers.stackexchange.com",
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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... | [
{
"answer_id": 45316,
"author": "Kev MacD",
"author_id": 39354,
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"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "Westlake, J. Wutbil (James Willis), 1830-1912, wrote at least three \"how-to-write\" books, including [*How to wri... | 2019/05/21 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45315",
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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 sittin... | [
{
"answer_id": 45320,
"author": "ShadoCat",
"author_id": 37232,
"author_profile": "https://writers.stackexchange.com/users/37232",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "Click bait works by pushing psychological buttons.\n\nMost of those buttons are in the form of tangible curiosity ... | 2019/05/21 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45317",
"https://writers.stackexchange.com",
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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 tr... | [
{
"answer_id": 45335,
"author": "Amadeus",
"author_id": 26047,
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"selected": false,
"text": "Actually, in romance the clichés to avoid are the obvious ones. \"weak, helpless woman\" (or princess) needs \"stro... | 2019/05/22 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45331",
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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*)? | [
{
"answer_id": 45338,
"author": "Caspian",
"author_id": 39193,
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"pm_score": 3,
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"text": "I have read books where authors deliberately misspelled words to try to describe the character's speaking. However,... | 2019/05/22 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45337",
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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 th... | [
{
"answer_id": 45846,
"author": "Kenneth Odle",
"author_id": 39657,
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"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"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 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45340",
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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 fr... | [
{
"answer_id": 45346,
"author": "mario mario",
"author_id": 36522,
"author_profile": "https://writers.stackexchange.com/users/36522",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "Only tool I can think of would be Google docs.\n\nYou can have multiple people writing in a document at the sam... | 2019/05/23 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45342",
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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),... | [
{
"answer_id": 45351,
"author": "Cyn",
"author_id": 32946,
"author_profile": "https://writers.stackexchange.com/users/32946",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "Young adult vs adult fiction isn't about the age of the characters (though that usually does vary too), it's about the a... | 2019/05/23 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45350",
"https://writers.stackexchange.com",
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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 characte... | [
{
"answer_id": 45359,
"author": "Liquid",
"author_id": 25517,
"author_profile": "https://writers.stackexchange.com/users/25517",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "It's a difficult setting, but it could be done.\n-----------------------------------------------\n\nThe point of psy... | 2019/05/23 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45354",
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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 ... | [
{
"answer_id": 45357,
"author": "Liquid",
"author_id": 25517,
"author_profile": "https://writers.stackexchange.com/users/25517",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "It's about marketing.\n---------------------\n\nFrom a purely logical standpoint, you are already a published author... | 2019/05/23 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45356",
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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 sp... | [
{
"answer_id": 45360,
"author": "GGx",
"author_id": 28942,
"author_profile": "https://writers.stackexchange.com/users/28942",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "Adding dialogue tags with adverbs is generally considered poor form and lazy writing because it removes the need for th... | 2019/05/23 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45358",
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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, ... | [
{
"answer_id": 45371,
"author": "linksassin",
"author_id": 33442,
"author_profile": "https://writers.stackexchange.com/users/33442",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "You can absolutely do this\n==========================\n\n**WARNING: This answer contains multiple spoilers, bew... | 2019/05/24 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45368",
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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 'Diis... | [
{
"answer_id": 45385,
"author": "Zeiss Ikon",
"author_id": 26297,
"author_profile": "https://writers.stackexchange.com/users/26297",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "As one on the Autistic Spectrum, I would caution that there is no \"universal\" feature. Especially among the hi... | 2019/05/24 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45384",
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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... | [
{
"answer_id": 45388,
"author": "Matthew Dave",
"author_id": 32552,
"author_profile": "https://writers.stackexchange.com/users/32552",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"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 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45387",
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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 pr... | [
{
"answer_id": 45410,
"author": "SFWriter",
"author_id": 26683,
"author_profile": "https://writers.stackexchange.com/users/26683",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "Set up the novel so the reader knows what to expect, and you should be OK. \n\nIn other words, in the opening scen... | 2019/05/24 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45403",
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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 indi... | [
{
"answer_id": 45410,
"author": "SFWriter",
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"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "Set up the novel so the reader knows what to expect, and you should be OK. \n\nIn other words, in the opening scen... | 2019/05/25 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45416",
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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... | [
{
"answer_id": 45426,
"author": "Fayth85",
"author_id": 21105,
"author_profile": "https://writers.stackexchange.com/users/21105",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "This is...challenging. You see, it's possible that love changes this ex-antagonist into someone else entirely. But ... | 2019/05/25 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45420",
"https://writers.stackexchange.com",
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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... | [
{
"answer_id": 45423,
"author": "Amadeus",
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"text": "More explicitly stated, the metaphor is that the trees move to and fro in the wind because God (using the wind) is ... | 2019/05/25 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45421",
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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 or... | [
{
"answer_id": 45496,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://writers.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "Usually the description of an argument and its rebuttal need more than one paragraph. Whole books have been written arg... | 2019/05/26 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45439",
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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 d... | [
{
"answer_id": 45441,
"author": "Aman Kumar",
"author_id": 39360,
"author_profile": "https://writers.stackexchange.com/users/39360",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"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 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45440",
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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 bumble... | [
{
"answer_id": 45446,
"author": "Amadeus",
"author_id": 26047,
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"selected": true,
"text": "I think the tropes are galloping horse, convenient boarding point, leaping from horse to train (and horse then veeri... | 2019/05/26 | [
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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 ope... | [
{
"answer_id": 45453,
"author": "Cyn",
"author_id": 32946,
"author_profile": "https://writers.stackexchange.com/users/32946",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "I'm not sure what you want is possible.\n\nYou can set the time to be a bit ahead of right now. And do it by outright s... | 2019/05/26 | [
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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 e... | [
{
"answer_id": 45449,
"author": "Laurel",
"author_id": 34330,
"author_profile": "https://writers.stackexchange.com/users/34330",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "Yes, non-English-speaking characters can use English wordplay.\n----------------------------------------------------... | 2019/05/27 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45448",
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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? | [
{
"answer_id": 45460,
"author": "SF.",
"author_id": 4291,
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"selected": false,
"text": "Writing stories is all about evoking feelings and emotions in the reader - specific emotions you want to evoke with your ... | 2019/05/27 | [
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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... | [
{
"answer_id": 45469,
"author": "F1Krazy",
"author_id": 23927,
"author_profile": "https://writers.stackexchange.com/users/23927",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "You have your main path already, which is a good start. What I would do from there is identify the main choices tha... | 2019/05/27 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45465",
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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 gruel... | [
{
"answer_id": 45479,
"author": "SFWriter",
"author_id": 26683,
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"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "It's OK to start with **characters** who are not yet fully fleshed out, because characters tend to develop as you ... | 2019/05/27 | [
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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? | [
{
"answer_id": 45490,
"author": "tryin",
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"pm_score": 2,
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"text": "I feel like this question is two fold - you're asking about how to write a pining character, and about how to make it... | 2019/05/28 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45489",
"https://writers.stackexchange.com",
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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 ... | [
{
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"author_id": 37845,
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"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "Don't detach yourself emotionally from the character. Rather, experience the character's death as a major pa... | 2019/05/28 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45506",
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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 ... | [
{
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"author": "Cyn",
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"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "There are plenty of genres that exist solely for a particular purpose or to deliver a type of scene.\n\n* Pornography (... | 2019/05/28 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45508",
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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 ba... | [
{
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"text": "### Rewrite.\n\nI don't think it is a good idea to have a new POV character for one scene.\n\nYou have control of h... | 2019/05/28 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45521",
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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 ... | [
{
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"author": "SFWriter",
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"selected": true,
"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 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45525",
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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... | [
{
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"text": "If 'new weird' is a reference to the Weird Tales of the likes of HP Lovecraft and other writings in the Cthulh... | 2019/05/29 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45542",
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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... | [
{
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"text": "Any writing award is a good thing, and so the Wezty is fabulous--congrats. You also have an arguable fan base, and... | 2019/05/29 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45547",
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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... | [
{
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"text": "I always search for words that would convey or express the characters emotion when the character is in an emotio... | 2019/05/29 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45549",
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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... | [
{
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"text": "I think that's what *TV Tropes* would call a [meaningful echo](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MeaningfulE... | 2019/05/29 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45558",
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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 a... | [
{
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"text": "(Warning: I haven't actually read Beowulf.)\n\nOption #3 sounds like your strongest choice. Start by accepting the myth... | 2019/05/29 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45563",
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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... | [
{
"answer_id": 45577,
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"selected": true,
"text": "Realism means variety, because real life isn't all one thing\n-----------------------------------------------------... | 2019/05/30 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45575",
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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 ... | [
{
"answer_id": 45579,
"author": "Matthew Dave",
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"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"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 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45578",
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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 re... | [
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"selected": false,
"text": "It would be inconsistent, but weird style/tone shifts have been done before, and not always to the detriment o... | 2019/05/30 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45584",
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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!... | [
{
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"pm_score": 3,
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"text": "You write. If what comes under your fingers is not great, if you're not satisfied, you rewri... | 2019/05/30 | [
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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 exclam... | [
{
"answer_id": 45601,
"author": "Zeus",
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"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "**No**, you don't need an exclamation mark. *Particularly* in English. Nor ellipsis (...) or anything special. It's a ... | 2019/05/31 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45600",
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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 of... | [
{
"answer_id": 45611,
"author": "hszmv",
"author_id": 25666,
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"text": "I would recommend watching SFDebris' various \"Opinionated Guides to Star Trek\" (which to date have entries for all ... | 2019/05/31 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45607",
"https://writers.stackexchange.com",
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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 as... | [
{
"answer_id": 45613,
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"pm_score": 7,
"selected": true,
"text": "I think my answer may be a tad tinted by my atheism, as I believe every faith and pantheon operates as a functi... | 2019/05/31 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45609",
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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 ... | [
{
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"text": "Think of the real world, the one in which we live. How do you grow a story out of it?\n\nThe... | 2019/05/31 | [
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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 ... | [
{
"answer_id": 45622,
"author": "SFWriter",
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"selected": true,
"text": "I've seen this feedback to a bunch of folks lately. That's got me thinking. \n\nHere's a few things to consider.\n\... | 2019/05/31 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45620",
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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 str... | [
{
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"text": "The thing that is often unnatural about giving exposition in dialogue is that both people hav... | 2019/06/01 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45632",
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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 communicat... | [
{
"answer_id": 45636,
"author": "J.G.",
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"selected": false,
"text": "I also have Asperger Syndrome. Before I explain how I \"write around it\", let me talk a little about showing and tell... | 2019/06/01 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45635",
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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 ... | [
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"selected": false,
"text": "I also have Asperger Syndrome. Before I explain how I \"write around it\", let me talk a little about showing and tell... | 2019/06/01 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45654",
"https://writers.stackexchange.com",
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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]... | [
{
"answer_id": 45662,
"author": "Amadeus",
"author_id": 26047,
"author_profile": "https://writers.stackexchange.com/users/26047",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "I have both a resume and a CV; I am a research scientist with a PhD and two Master's degrees.\n\nBoth a resume and a... | 2019/06/02 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45660",
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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 ... | [
{
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"author": "Cyn",
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"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "You still want your dialogue to be real speech. It's just cleaned up speech. \n\nIf you have a critique group, read the... | 2019/06/02 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45663",
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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. **... | [
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"text": "Tell your audience that the sparrows are cheeping and use italics for the translation. This is a technique that I've see... | 2019/06/02 | [
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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_... | [
{
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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 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45670",
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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 i... | [
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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 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45672",
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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... | [
{
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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 ... | [
{
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"selected": true,
"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 foreig... | [
{
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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 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45687",
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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 ... | [
{
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"author": "GGx",
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"selected": true,
"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 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/45719",
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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 go... | [
{
"answer_id": 45726,
"author": "Matthew Dave",
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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 oth... | [
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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 ... | [
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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 t... | [
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"text": "Agents and publishers usually publish guidelines for how to reach out to them with a manuscript. Most reputabl... | 2019/06/04 | [
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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... | [
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"text": "Agents and publishers usually publish guidelines for how to reach out to them with a manuscript. Most reputabl... | 2019/06/04 | [
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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 s... | [
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"text": "There are as many ways to solve a writing problem as there are writers.\n\nOne of the cliches of the monochrome Western... | 2019/06/04 | [
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