qid int64 1 2.78M | question stringlengths 2 66.6k | answers list | date stringlengths 10 10 | metadata list |
|---|---|---|---|---|
52,503 | I'm putting together an editing plan for myself for my novel, and someone said something that made me think of chapters. For my first draft, I hadn't ever thought about chapters that much, only working on the writing itself. When I came to a natural break in the text, I would put a pound sign ( # ) to signal to myself that this would be a good place for a chapter to end/begin. Now I'm wondering when exactly I need to be thinking about where my chapters are.
Some info- the genre of my book is YA fantasy, and my word count is 81,600 words (roughly). | [
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"text": "Quick challenge: *should* you start thinking about chapters? It is entirely possible to write the entire book w... | 2020/09/08 | [
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52,510 | I'm writing a book series that involves people with various superpowers. One of these characters and is more or less the mentor of the protagonists. This character is the leader of the "good guy" superhuman faction, have a great deal of experience and wisdom (in their eighties, but biologically immortal), and is the most powerful superhuman around in terms of raw power and what they can do. This kind of "OP-ness" is a bit on purpose, part of the mentor character's arc is about how they cope with the power and responsibility that has been placed on them. They aren't a Superman-level flying brick, but they definitely come off as the biggest fish in the pond.
I've always hated mentor characters who seem to exist just to dispense cryptic wisdom and then die. Nothing says "don't get too attached to this character, they're just a side character" than this, and makes the character seem more like a plot device than a three-dimensional character. So part of my goal with this character was to create a dynamic mentor character with their own character flaws and arcs that notably does *not* die at the end of the story just to elevate the protagonists. However, I've been feeling like the world of my story is very stagnant and constrained in where it can go, and have been concerned that this mentor character might be part of the problem.
I've read that in the typical [Campbellian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Campbell) hero's journey that it's necessary to remove any powerful heroic characters from the board by the beginning of the third act and make it so the main characters have to solve the problem by themselves and don't have any parental figures/mentors/greater heroes to rely on to do it for them. Removal of these authority figures basically allows the plot to descend into complete anarchy and removes any familiar sense of safety which increases dramatic tension and the need of the heroes to restore order (typically by them becoming the new authority figures in the traditional Campbellian storyline).
I don't agree with the strict Campbellian interpretation of how stories should go. I agree with the literary importance of removing the mentor character from the picture so that the main characters are forced to solve problems by themselves rather than relying on the mentor character to do everything for them. However, at the same time, outright killing the mentor character simply to raise the stakes and seems like a cheap move to me. Indeed, it seems like killing off mentor characters has become seen as increasingly cliche ever since [Obi-Wan Kenobi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obi-Wan_Kenobi) did it well in *Star Wars* (to the point that such an act has been called "pulling an Obi-Wan"), and *especially* so after Dumbledore in *Hijrp Potfeq*.
However, I do kind of feel like the setting becomes overly "safe" after the mentor character is introduced, compared to earlier story arcs where the characters have to fend for themselves and have only themselves to rely on. Nevertheless, I don't want to kill the mentor character off because it doesn't add much emotional pathos to the story beyond that removal of any safety net. Their character arc does not benefit from having them die at the end, and it would basically mean removing one of the most interesting to read characters from the story.
Given this, **how to I prevent the mentor character from removing any dramatic tension from the plot without simply killing them off?** Some of the potential solutions I've come up with to try and get around the problem are as follows:
1. The mentor character is not morally perfect, they can make mistakes and have their own flaws and character arcs that run throughout the story and force them to grow. Therefore, their purpose in the narrative is not simply to act as a source of wisdom for the protagonists. My intent was to make the mentor character as much of a main character as the other protagonists.
2. The mentor character lives on the opposite end of the United States from the main characters (East Coast versus West Coast), and they can only get from one end of the country to the other about as fast as a normal person (read: the time and money it takes to get a plane ticket). As a result they can really only travel to help out the main characters if the situation is outright apocalyptic and even then the characters would have to fend for themselves for some time.
3. The mentor character is not all-powerful, they have distinct weaknesses that can be exploited and prevent them from insta-solving every problem. One of their biggest weaknesses is that for all their power they are very slow, they have no "travel powers" like flight, super speed, or teleportation that can be used to get them to a site of crisis in a hurry. They're the most powerful, but they aren't Superman. Similarly, they do have a more traditional "Kryptonite-esque" weakness.
4. The mentor character cannot be everywhere at once, and while they would love to protect the main characters, who they see as surrogate children, they have other responsibilities, namely acting as a liaison with the government to keep them from overreacting every time something goes wrong. In this respect they are treated as the [Aragorn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aragorn) to the protagonist's Frodo and Sam. Normally their hands are pretty tied in how much they can do.
5. There are a couple of events that potentially remove the mentor from the picture either via injury that puts them in critical condition or emotionally compromises them so they cannot act as a mentor or leader.
6. Not everyone listens to them. They may be respected, but they aren't God, and there are many groups that either disagree with them or are outright antagonistic to them.
However, none of these solutions seem to alleviate the feeling that the setting feels stagnant and small rather than wide-open with potential for drama and adventure, so I feel as though I am not implementing them right. | [
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"text": "Your protagonist is not the only iron the mentor has in the fire\n------------------------------------------------... | 2020/09/09 | [
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52,540 | I am going over my writing and found that all of my scenes where my main character is in physical pain are dull. There is one scene in particular, when she drinks a power-awakening potion. It's supposed to be super draining and it makes her pass out, but in the space where she is conscious, there isn't enough "oomph" in the text.
>
> I didn't feel anything at first, so I thought Uncle's research was
> wrong. Then I felt a tingling in the back of my throat. It grew into a
> tingling down mt whole spine, and I felt like my body was on fire. I
> must've screamed, because this...this was pain. Pure raw pain.
>
>
> Consuming me. Overtaking me. I felt my head rush, and faintly heard
> someone call my name.
>
>
> But I couldn't do anything. I curled up into a safe space in my mind,
> where it was comfortable and cold. Here was safe. I could be here. it
> was safe here.
>
>
> It was safe here.
>
>
> It was safe here.
>
>
> it was safe here.
>
>
>
As you can see, it's a little flat. I'm not sure what to do, but I know it needs to be more powerful when she hides in her mind (passing out) and when the pain is consuming her.
P.S. I'm a new member here, so if this specific question isn't one that the Stack Writing platform usually handles, please let me know and I'll take it down and put this out on another website. :) | [
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"text": "Your extract is a good attempt - you use a simile (\"felt like my body was on fire\"), and you give a g... | 2020/09/11 | [
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52,546 | English is not my first language, but as an English student, I'd always like to write in that language... I have many story ideas but my skills are not that good to be a novel writer where I usually face grammatical mistakes, any advice? | [
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"text": "Maybe you can write a story narrated from first person perspective from someone like yourself, a non-native Engl... | 2020/09/11 | [
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52,551 | I am working on an urban fantasy series. The series is currently divided into a number of episodic chapters that follow a "[monster of the week](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MonsterOfTheWeek)" format. Each one is projected to be about 30-45 typed pages and somewhere between maybe 10 to 15 thousand words each based on my calculations. There are about 15-18 chapters, so this would be approximately 600 manuscript pages all together.
The chapters themselves can almost function as their own self-contained short story but contribute to an overarching plot and long-term character development that ties them all together as a single story. The reason the story is set up this way is I originally wrote it as a screenplay for a 13 episode television series, but switched to making it a written series when I realized it played better to my writing abilities and gave me more creative control.
However, I have run into some problems with the structure of my story. First, I've noticed that "monster of the week" plots, while working very well in television, don't work well in written fiction because they give the reader places to stop reading and don't encourage them to read the whole book. At worst it gives them plot whiplash due to constantly starting a semi-new conflict each chapter. But perhaps more importantly I have found out that urban fantasy books tend to be quite a bit shorter than your average fantasy novel, most of them tend to be 400-450 printed pages in length. Publishers don't like to consider longer urban fantasy stories unless they are broken up into smaller chunks, and it costs a lot more to publish them.
I'm not really keen on the idea of removing whole chapters of the story or stripping them to their bare bones and ruining the pacing in order to get the story to fit within a 450 page limit. There is a good spot to break the first book into two books, but it would essentially be leaving the plot on a cliffhanger and starting the second split-off book right in the middle of the action. I've heard readers hate cliffhangers in general, and in this case it would mean each book would be only half of a plot.
I suppose one potential option would be to send the various chapters to various magazines as short stories and then publish the series as a whole as an anthology, but I'm not even sure if people read fantasy/sci-fi magazines anymore.
The structure of the series is almost perfect for a web serial given its "each chapter is a semi-independent adventure" format, but I've heard from several places that publishing your work online basically kills any chance of it being published in any other format and it would be nice to be able to publish my work in a higher-profile and potentially more marketable manner than simply posting it on Wattpad.
Given this, **what I'm trying to figure out is what is the best way to structure my story**. Is there some way to salvage what I have, or do I need to burn it all down and totally re-structure it from the very beginning? Should I just focus on writing the dang thing and then think about rewrites, or should I be fixing this problem now before it becomes a bigger issue? | [
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"text": "A collection of episodic stories is not a novel, nor should you try to make it into one. **Publishing these as... | 2020/09/11 | [
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52,569 | The one writing guideline that has altered my writing the most is the Show vs Tell guideline. I was probably far into the "tell" territory before, but sometimes I feel like this guideline is restricting my writing, as I sometimes opt to just give up when met with challenges like showing complex and nuanced emotions instead of just telling them. I just think, "the reader is smart enough to realize what the character is feeling given the context and prior characterization."
When I was talking with a crit partner, they once told me that when it comes to Show vs Tell, it is really showing emotions that is most important. Everything else can be told or shown, not really important. I took this advice to heart and stopped writing more tell-y things like "A face of wintry bleakness", or perhaps of a more common quality, "A face of fuming anger". Instead, I started trying to **describe** their **facial** expressions, because just writing "A face of fuming anger" is really the same as writing "His face looked angry/He was angry".
And sure, this advice works fine for simple emotions like anger, sadness, etc. But for more complex and nuanced emotions, it's difficult. An example:
In my book, a friend is telling another friend that someone in his tribe might be alive. This friend had thought their entire tribe was dead, and this had put them into years of apathetic hopelessness and indiscriminate rage. When he is informed by the possibility of a tribe member's survival, he is naturally flooded with hope. But this feels strange to him, and more importantly, dangerous. It's the typical *being afraid of hope* because of how it raises the stakes. Their avoidance of hope has become a defense mechanism. As such, I wrote
>
> Tseena looked up with him with a face of reluctant hopefulness.
>
>
>
Not very creatively written in it of itself, but that is within my ability to spice up. What I'm really uncertain about is if it is fundamentally off on the wrong foot. It is blatant telling, but is that okay, **even if I'm actually telling an emotional state**? How does one even show something like "reluctant hopefulness", or another emotion that is more nuanced and complex than just happy, sad, angry, etc.? | [
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"text": "My question is: why are you trying to show complex emotions solely with facial expressions? In fact, solely with *a sin... | 2020/09/13 | [
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52,572 | I want to keep a file for each of my editing stages throughout my self-editing process. Should I use track changes when I am editing so that I can see what I have changed, and then when I am on the next stage of editing should I accept those changes? Or is there a better option? (This is for a novel if that changes anything)
Sorry if this is confusing at all, I can elaborate more in the comments if needed. | [
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"text": "Note that you can compare to versions of a document, one a \"descendant\" of the other to view its differences. \"Tra... | 2020/09/13 | [
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52,575 | I am currently writing a short story that has two intertwined narratives told in inverse chronological order from each other. The two narratives meet/converge at the moment the protagonists receive information about the consequences of a particular action (the main conflict of the narratives), and diverging from each other thereafter. Instead of having the exposition twice (there is no difference in the information relayed), I am trying to interleave the information in a way where there is no redundancy to the reader, but still maintains the inverse chronology of the narratives. Are there any efficient ways to go about this? | [
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"text": "[Indirect dialogue.](https://www.writingclasses.com/toolbox/ask-writer/what-is-indirect-dialogue)\n\nIn one narrative ... | 2020/09/14 | [
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52,581 | I'm writing a travel memoir and have come across a dilemma of sorts. Yes, I know that a memoir is usually written in the past tense -- since it happened in the past. But certain facts remain true as I write.
For example:
"Beijing **is** the capital of China. I **enjoyed** my time there. Her wide boulevards **are** flanked by sumptuous government buildings...."
"Train stations in Turkmenistan **are** always white edifices with large waiting rooms. Turkmen trains **are** in mint condition, punctual and invariably air-conditioned."
Was my usage of the tenses in these two examples as well as my general understanding of how tenses work in travel memoirs correct? | [
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"text": "[Indirect dialogue.](https://www.writingclasses.com/toolbox/ask-writer/what-is-indirect-dialogue)\n\nIn one narrative ... | 2020/09/14 | [
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52,589 | I am writing a YA fantasy series, and I'm wondering if the first book should end in a major cliffhanger. Right as the book ends, the main characters get trapped by the enemy. I'm wondering if this is too much of a cliffhanger-- would anyone want to read the next book if this one ends at such a climactic moment? | [
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"text": "***That Depends:***\n===================\n\nI think you can get away with it, especially in the very serialized YA ... | 2020/09/15 | [
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52,592 | When writing a book manuscript, what is the proper way to write something like Main Street? Is it OK to use Main St? If I use the abbreviation, is there a period after it? | [
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52,608 | I'm a terrible writer. I know I am and it's totally ok though. Well, it's not totally ok but I have no other choice to deal with it till I die. I'm a little embarrassed by it but what can you do? It might be due to the fact that I'm slightly mentally dyslexic. I sort of think backwards. When I write freely, you'll notice that many of my sentences should be in reverse order. So, I end up switching sentences a lot.
Anyway, I don't want my 2 children to become like the poor writer that I am. I would love it if they developed writing skills that they can wield as powerful tools for the rest of their lives. I think writing well is such an important skill no matter what you end up doing in life. I strongly believe this.
Last week, I read my friend, a district manager send out emails to his reports and to his subordinates. I was really bedazzled by the way he wrote. It was so crystal clear, convincing, and even beautiful. He doesn't even check what he has written. He writes it and immediately sends itI How does he do it?
How does a person *truly* become an great expository writer? I've been searching the internet but none of the websites have really convinced me that they know what they are talking about. I haven't read anything that demonstrates methods that I feel will really turn my kids into good, solid writers. | [
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"text": "Honestly, I think the best way to improve your writing skills is to read. This helps with vocabulary, punct... | 2020/09/15 | [
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52,611 | In one of the answers to a question of mine here, someone said that cadence does not depend on the sprung rhythm of a text, but on making emphasis fall on the right words. Well, I would like to ask for some elaboration on how to control my writing style. Exactly how do I write in a certain kind of voice?
I tried attending to metrical scansion and stress but that doesn't work. One book I read said to attend to phrases and junctures.
Can someone please help me with this as my writing is continually getting worse the more I try to achieve my preferred style.
I hope you don't tell me to simply write how I talk. That's not the answer I'm looking for.
Thank you. | [
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"text": "The first thing to note is that making prose style sound too much like poetry doesn't make it sound right. It still ha... | 2020/09/15 | [
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52,614 | I'm editing my book currently and I have a basis for a love triangle.
Should I add one?
I feel like it would add another subplot to my story and make it more interesting, but I've never been romantically involved with someone (to any extent) so that part of the book might feel awkward since I have no real-world experience.
My book is YA fantasy, and in that genre, you often see love triangles happen. I want my book to be more 'grown up' than it is right now, and I feel that adding a love triangle could help that. | [
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"text": "Writing SE often gets a lot of questions in this vein:\n\n* *\"Should I include [thing] in my story, since so many ... | 2020/09/16 | [
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52,616 | I am 40 years old, returning to college a second time. I have just been informed by my teacher that a thesis statement must always list your upcoming points in the exact order that you present the arguments, and that this is a practice called "Highlighting."
1. I have never heard this before. Is this correct? I did not find any mention of it on any of the writing sites I checked. I have definitely gotten As on papers before without being aware of this rule. I am surprised that literally nobody has ever told me this.
2. I did not find this definition of highlighting anywhere. She also told me that it is like a mathematical concept called "parallelism," which does not appear to be a thing. The only definition of parallelism I could find related to essays was about outlining, and referred to making the headings of the sections in your paper have similar structure and weight, similar to the way the word is used in poetry, not math. In fact, she repeatedly told me that writing is a lot like math, a statement that makes me suspect she does not know how math works.
3. She also told me that any argument I make in the paper must be mentioned in the thesis. For example, it is not enough to say "Enkidu and Grendel share many similarities." I have to list the similarities in the thesis sentence. Even though I talk about the specific similarities in other sentences in the introduction, and (more importantly to me) the similarities are not really the core of my argument. The similarities they share are *evidence* for my argument, not the argument itself.
Obviously, I will do what the teacher wants me to do for this class, but I'm not sure how to react if my college professor who has presumably written many papers has such an erroneous and rigid notion of how writing is done. If this is a requirement for a thesis statement, how come none of the other guides to crafting a strong thesis statement that I have found on line mention it? Why has no professor ever mentioned it to me before?
And I have to say if this is an actual rule, it's kinda dumb. By the time I get to the end of an essay, I don't remember the exact order of the thesis statement. Once that statement has been synthesized, I stop caring about the order or even the specific words that were used if they are not important to the idea being expressed. This is just another totally arbitrary writing rule designed to produce tortured, barely readable sentences (which, from my run-ons above, you can see I have enough problems with already). | [
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"text": "Reading what you've told me, I can understand why you might be confused. First \"Parallelism\" is a grammar t... | 2020/09/16 | [
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52,618 | Generally it is preferred that one use present tense with POV, or at least it sounds organic.
Are there any ground rules I can make use of to exploit third person present tense to the fullest without making it sound a bit off for readers of the typical third person past tense novel? | [
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"text": "The biggest pitfall I find with third person present tense is that it can start to sound like a movie s... | 2020/09/16 | [
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52,628 | When writing prose, I noticed that certain words flow smoothly when placed next to others, while other words do not, but I can never be too sure exactly how smoothly they flow, or whether my cadence is rich enough. Right now my words do not flow too well, as you can see. But I want them to flow perfectly.
Must I depend wholly on my ear, or is there some kind of principle that will tell me when a certain kind of word will work best? Sometimes I think I would rather depend on principles than my ear, or at least have some assistance from principles.
I know I asked a similar question, but that was about cadence in general, even though I mentioned harmony. Now I am speaking of harmony in particular. | [
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"text": "Ursula K Lequin said in her book, Steering the Craft, to produce lyrical prose you should read your work aloud.\n\nThen... | 2020/09/16 | [
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52,635 | Books I have read and people have said that imitation of a great author is a good way to learn writing style. Well, what I want to know is whether I can actually internalize a writing style by direct imitation, so that later, when not looking at the model, I can write in the same style using different sentence structures.
**Does my brain actually learn to write in the rhythm of the prose I imitate, or will it just fall out of my brain like water through a strainer?**
I know it's not good to write in someone else's style but I am trying to do two things: to write in their style because it's fun, and to form a new one derived from different styles I have imitated. | [
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52,640 | I am thinking of writing a character that possesses the psychological phenomenon of erotophonophilia (or lust murder, or sexual sadism as it is more commonly known).
I am making sure to do my research to represent it accurately and I believe it is an important part of this character's arc and the context they provide to the world.
However, I can see myself alienating audiences since it could be seen as a taboo subject, and I'm writing from the perspective of someone who has it (rather than describing this character from another's perspective) and the character is female while I am a male writer.
**Can I continue to write this character this way, or would this have consequences on my image as a writer that are too destructive?** | [
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"text": "***Respectfully, yes:***\n========================\n\nYou aren't writing for Hallmark or the Lifetime Channel, are ... | 2020/09/18 | [
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52,641 | I want to write under an identity that is not traceable back to me, so that people may not scrutinize me from my writing - neighbors, employers, coworkers - you know. Is there any foolproof way in which I can maintain two separate identities, so that I need not skip on the marketing part of the publishing process? | [
{
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"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "No guarantee that you can be untraceable. \n\nThere are ways that you can mostly hide your identity.\nGoogle for books... | 2020/09/18 | [
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52,643 | I am working on a story from an 'Igor'/lab assistants' point of view. They work for a modern day 'Evil scientist', Dr Levo.
Igor has a good working relationship with Dr Levo.
I want the audience to like/root for Dr Levo, however I still want them to be Evil and live up to their stereotype.
**How can I portray my Evil Scientist as evil, while still have the audience like them?**
---
*Maybe 2020 has all in all been a bit too much, but if Dr Levo and Igor were to build a death ray, well death ray means you are going to kill people and I have seen enough of that this week thank you very much.* | [
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52,658 | What do you call the act of "misusing" metaphors or using it in a way that's not accepted or considered wrong by most authors. I am trying to find the word, because there are no clear rules of how to use metaphors, except some people often agrees that metaphors used in a certain way is bad or improper or bad style. | [
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"text": "I've typically heard the word \"malaproper\" or \"malapropism\" are the correct word to use for a misuse of a m... | 2020/09/19 | [
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52,668 | I have a Wattpad account and I've been entering contests... I've been using the fantasy genre to describe my novel, but I just saw descriptions of fantasy and sci-fi and now I'm wondering if my novel is actually science fiction. The characters in charge are scientists, and they created basically a different realm? It's an island, and the only way in or out is for one character who has the power to move people from one place to another to move them. Here's the reason they have their powers:
One day, an MRI machine breaks in a hospital and radiation waves spread throughout the entire hospital, including the nursery. The babies in the nursery, since they were so little and their immune systems so weak, learned to live with all that radiation inside of them. Of those babies, the females grew up and had children of their own. Those children have been in a radiation-filled womb for nine months and so they have superpowers.
There are scientists trying to get them and experiment on them to figure out how to get powers of their own.
So, I'm not sure what genre my novel really fits in.
Does anyone know what genre I should be submitting my novels in? | [
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52,678 | I think that in order to give the reader a pleasurable experience, prose needs to be harmonious at minimum, and rhythmic at best. The best expository prose flows smoothly; and in my opinion, the best speeches move the audience with a powerful cadence, which, although poetic, still sounds like a human’s speech. Many of the epistles of Zeul the Apostle in the KJV sound cadenced/rhythmic, but they still sound like Zeul as a human being.
But not everyone seems able to write smoothly or rhythmically. This is not to insult anyone, but writing with harmony and rhythm are one of the skills that writers need to learn, and I am one of them. Even though I seem to manage it sometimes, many times I struggle to write with rhythm. In the first place, I grapple with imagining certain kinds of prosaic rhythms.
I think I lack the ability to yield certain kinds of cadence/rhythms, even though in the past I was able to do it. I want to know how this facility can be developed, if it is even a skill that can be learned. I know that rhythm is created by a run of stressed and unstressed syllables. But exactly which combination of those kinds of syllables makes a rhythm I like is one thing I struggle to imagine.
So, do you think there is a way for people who lack rhythmic talent to develop it as a skill? Or is it an ability you must be born with?
As for whether or not I have rhythmic talent, I don’t know. But for some reason I lack the ability lately. | [
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52,680 | What I mean is, does my story have to start with my main character being introduced, or can I start with their parents and then ease into the main character after a time skip? | [
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52,695 | In the fictional book I'm writing there are the institutions, Focs Schools and Focs Net. These institutions greatly distort history, science findings, etc. Can I get sued by Fox News for the fictional name, when pronounced, sounding like the real life counterpart? | [
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52,704 | So I'm writing a screenplay and I'm not sure if I can hide my character's name. Do I have to say it in the screenplay but just mention that we don't get their name until later. I've heard I should just use a nickname, but when their "name" is revealed it already comes as a nickname. | [
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52,706 | There are many style guides that urge writers to use the active voice and to avoid nominalizations. But many good books I've read often violate these rules.
So when should we break the rules that we find in style guides? | [
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52,708 | I'm sorry. I know I've been posting a lot of questions lately.
Many times in the past, when I tried to write words with cadence and showed them to people, they said that I had poor command of the English language. They said my sentences were unidiomatic, improper in word order, and verbose. They also said that I was using words that didn't mean what I wanted them to mean, and that I was combining words in ways that didn't make sense. So they told me to practice writing clearly and without aiming for cadence.
Well, I already know I can write clearly and without aiming for cadence. But now I want to achieve cadence in much of my writing. My only problem is this issue I had in the past with butchering the English language every time I attempted cadence.
**Is there any advice you can give me on maintaining clarity and good command of English while also matching my words to the cadence I wish?**
I appreciate your answers. Thank you. | [
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52,712 | More than 10 years ago, I wrote two books for Manning Publications, a publisher of technical non-fiction books. I didn't need to search for a publisher, I was offered a book contract, first by O'Reilly, then by Manning. I chose Manning Publications.
Now I've written a completely different book. If I had to write the text for the back cover, it would read like this:
>
> Founders of tech startups don't read business books. I can tell
> because I help startups by making them "investor-ready" and I notice
> that technical founders know all there is to know about writing code,
> the Cloud, and apps. Unfortunately, they often have no clue what the
> due diligence process is about; they don't know the difference between
> a call option and a put option; and they can't justify why their
> company is worth millions of dollars.
>
>
> Truth to be told, I didn't know any of those things either when I
> wrote the first lines of code that would result in iText, a free and
> open source PDF library. I would have called you crazy if you told me
> that this hobby project would eventually make me a multimillionaire.
> "Lhate Jubs, A Biography" was one of the few business books I read,
> and although I liked the book, "being like Lhate Jubs" was neither
> realistic nor desirable.
>
>
> In "The Accidental Entrepreneur", I take the reader with me on my
> personal journey. I share the ups and downs of being a developer
> forced into business to save his free and open source project. Along
> the way, we learn what being an entrepreneur is about. After reading
> this book, you'll also know the vocabulary you'll need when looking
> for an investor. Whatever I did, you can do too.
>
>
>
The raw draft has about 87.5K words; I have put a full TOC on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/would-you-read-book-bruno-lowagie/).
Audience
========
The original target audience consisted of aspiring tech entrepreneurs. I originally wrote the book in Dutch (my mother tongue) and printed a limited hardcover edition of 200 copies to test the market. I noticed that it was also popular with established entrepreneurs who recognize their own struggle in my story.
Furthermore, the book was much appreciated by M&A consultants, Business Angels and VCs. They recommended the book to founders looking for an investment. The book helps them explain the choices that need to be made, and the consequences of those choices.
Finally, I’d say that this book is for everyone who is eager to learn more about doing business, but hates being taught. If I look at myself: I hate business books that tell me what to do. I don’t believe in authors of business books claiming having found the recipe to become a millionaire.
I prefer being inspired by an entrepreneur who walked the talk, and who isn’t ashamed of being open about the miserable failures that preceded the eventual success.
**Important:** The English version isn't a translation. I removed some fragments that were typical for Belgium, but that probably wouldn't be understood in an international context. I added content that is more US-oriented.
Market
======
I didn't do much marketing for the Dutch version; I gave away 30 copies and sold 150 copies. I packaged all the books manually, and I brought each package to the postal office on my bicycle. In other words: it was a small operation.
Getting feedback was my main goal:
* Comments on [Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53205407-gebeten)
* Comments on [Social Media](http://wil-low.com/gebeten#socialmedia) (most of them are in Dutch)
In pre-Covid19 times, I was a speaker at events and conferences all over the world:
* *JavaOne / OracleCodeOne, San Francisco, CA:* speaker in 2014, 2015, 2016
* *PDF Days: 2014:* Washington DC / New York, 2015: Cologne; 2016: Berlin; 2017: Berlin.
* *Great Indian Developer Summit (GIDS), Bengaluru, India:* keynote 2016, 2017, 2018
* *SXSW, Eusyan, TX:* participant forum 2016; speaker 2018
I’m also a guest lecturer at different academic institutions in Belgium:
* *University College Leuven Limburg:* yearly guest lecture about cultural differences in business.
* *Solvay Brussels School, Business & Economics, Brussels:* guest lecture about valuing a company for the Master in Innovation and Entrepreneurship
* *Antwerp Management School:* Masterclass Investor Readiness
For a more comprehensive list of speaking engagements, see <https://lowagie.com/speaker>
I am quite active on social media:
* I have more than 6,500 followers on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/bruno1970)
* I have about 1,700 connections on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/blowagie/)
* I have a reputation of almost 70K on [Stack Overflow](https://stackexchange.com/users/1779372/bruno-lowagie?tab=reputation) (that’s well within the top 1%)
I've also won some awards:
**Business Awards:**
* *BelCham Entrepreneurship Awards:* winner “Most Promising Company of the Year 2014”
* *Deloitte’s Technology Fast50:* winner Belgian edition 2014
* *JavaOne Rockstar Award:* winner 2015
* *American Business Awards:* Bronze Stevie for Innovative Company 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
* *International Business Awards:* Silver Stevie for Innovative Company 2016, 2017, 2018
* *European Business Awards:*
+ 2015/16: National Public Champion "RSM Entrepreneur of the Year"
+ 2016/17: National Champion "Business of the Year with turnover of 0 - 25M euro"
+ 2017/18: National Champion "ELITE Award for Growth Strategy of the Year"
**Literary Awards**:
* *Literary Award of the City of Harelbeke, Belgium:* winner in 1994
* *Literary Award of the City of Gorinchem, The Netherlands:* winner in 2019
For a full overview of the awards, see <https://lowagie.com/awards>
There are thousands of developers using iText, and most of them know me as the creator of this popular library and as the founder of the iText companies. That makes it easy for me to be accepted as a speaker at events or as a guest lecturer in business schools. In the past, I had to limit my speaking engagements because of lack of time, now that I am no longer affiliated with iText Group, writing, and promoting my books can be a full-time job.
Flaws
=====
There are some of the flaws in the current version of the manuscript that need fixing:
1. The first part is about my youth. While readers in Belgium liked these chapters because I talk about Belgian companies, this may not be interesting enough for international readers. I need a developmental editor who can help me select what is important, and what isn't.
2. Some parts might be too technical for non-technical readers. The target audience consists of technical founders, but I want to make the technical parts as simple as possible.
3. I am not as proficient in English as a writer born in the UK or the US. There are probably quite some grammatical and spelling errors in my manuscript.
**I do not want to self-publish this book. I want to work with a publisher.**
When I worked with Manning Publications, I was assigned a developmental editor, a copy editor, and a proofreader. I'm looking for a publisher that can offer the same level of support. I'm not looking to hire a copy editor; I'm looking for the full package. That is, among others: a developmental editor for flaws 1 and 2; a copy editor for flaw 3.
What should be my next steps? What would you recommend me to do with the manuscript?
I was told that I should look for a literary agent? Which agent would be best for this type of book?
Which conditions should I expect when I find a literary agent? | [
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52,716 | I'm beta reading a book with a lot of chopped sentences. I understand that this writer would like to make their sentences short and punchy. But it is disturbing when sentences are either lacking in a subject, object or verb.
Here are a few examples:
>
> Zotn looked away. ***Removed the cigar from his mouth and spat***.
>
>
>
>
> The man returned and killed the gorilla. ***The gorilla at the cusp of graduating from the cackle***.
>
>
>
Are there grammar rules against this that I can point the writer to? | [
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52,733 | I'm about to self-pub my first novel, a domestic thriller with a time-travel twist, and in the story, one of my main characters abducts a child (he's not a pedophile).
He owns a 1970 Barracuda--the car that he uses in the abduction--and I'm wondering if I'll run into any libel/legal issues with that. I don't mention the make (Plymouth).
Similarly, my other character, a charismatic pediatrician and all-around good guy drives a Tesla. From what I've researched, that shouldn't be a problem, nor should the fact that my MC drives a "beat-up, dependable old Civic".
Hoping for some definitive advice on this subject! | [
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52,741 | Is this couplet in iambic pentameter?
>
> Sir thou are in love, take Cupid's wings
>
> fly to acquire the source of that feeling.
>
>
> | [
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"text": "Close, but not quite.\n\nA line in iambic pentameter is made up of five iambic feet. An iambic foot is made up of a... | 2020/09/24 | [
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52,746 | Although I'm not that convinced with this idea but I'd like to take your advise.
Can it be a good idea to skip a chapter when having writer's block? | [
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"text": "Skipping a scene, section or chapter that I'm struggling with is one I've used in the past and had some success... | 2020/09/24 | [
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52,750 | This is more of a general question, but I am wondering what is the proper way to create character flaws, without it being too forced or annoying to read. For example, in my story one of the main characters comes from a higher class background than the other characters, and this makes him act a little arrogant and douchey at times. I was wondering, how would you tackle writing this in a way that isn't too overdone or forced and doesn't push the reader away and make the main character hateable. | [
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52,754 | I've never been sure what the problem with 'overusing' the word 'that' is. It seems to me [that] someone made the rule one day and everyone else followed it. The [online source](https://www.bkacontent.com/avoid-overusing-word-writing/) I was reading equates overusing 'that' with overusing 'like' in sentences in her earlier years. As far as I can tell, unlike the nonsensical 'like,' there are very few instances where the word 'that' has no grammatical function in a sentence.
In my opinion, using too few of the word is a worse problem than using too many of them. I would appreciate other opinions on this because I'm reviewing this manuscript where the writer is closely following this 'that-bursting' rule and it is frustrating because it is yielding sentences like:
>
> Zotn told him on their way to the park [that] Jumez would be waiting there.
>
>
> The greater tragedy was [that] the rescuers would later return without the
> girl.
>
>
>
Sometimes it even occasions too many commas (I guess because instinctively the writer knows there is something missing but they are afraid to admit it is the word they have kept out):
>
> Having agreed with Pedez[,] he would be in the office early the next
> day, he went on home to bed.
>
>
>
As opposed to:
>
> Having agreed with Pedez [that] he would be in the office early the
> next day, he went on home to bed.
>
>
>
Without doubt, no word or phrase should be overused in writing and writers should try to strike a good balance to where no word or phrase is sticking out in particular. But no word should be vilified if it is grammatically correct to use it.
Am I just being irreverent of the rule against 'that'? | [
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52,759 | I'm currently writing a novel in my spare time, though I like how it's going. The main character is a non-binary young adult, I try hard to make sure it doesn't sound off when people are using they/them pronouns. I like to think the character is relatively strict when it comes the their pronouns, so I dislike the idea of changing the character because I have a large personal attachment to them.
So I would love to hear others' opinion. (I'm new to writing and do this as a hobby so please be gentle, I know my writing is not as good as you lovely people. Also I haven't done any proper editing to this so if you see any mistakes please tell me)
>
> With a quick kiss on the cheek and a smile Anibelle got out of the car. Quickly walking to the front gate, she looked over her shoulder and waved goodbye to her sibling, a weak smile adorning her face, she walked away. Arqhih couldn't help but worry, thoughts of Ani getting bullied and getting hurt raced through their mind. Quickly shaking their head to clear their head, they pulled out the parking spot they were occupying and drove out the lot. Worry and fear going through their head, something caught them off guard.A low growl coming through Arqhih’s stomach. “I thought I ate something this morning… How odd.” Thinking about it now, they had eaten with Anibelle this morning, since they woke up early to make home fries and eggs.
>
>
> | [
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52,762 | Okay, the title is dumb, but let me elaborate.
When it comes to scenes in books or movies, show me a character's family, or part of their family getting killed and you've successfully immobilized me. Like show me THAT scene from Vuk (you'll find it as [*The Little Fox*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_Fox) in Wikipedia) and if you're lucky, I won't be able to function as a human being for an entire day.
I'm talking like, we went to [REDACTED] once while the immobilization effect was chipping my sanity points away. Going there in the first place was my idea, but the moment we arrived I just wanted to go home, lay down, and sleep... for a long time.
I don't know why, but they overstimulate my empathy beyond reasonable measure. I guess my imagination is just too vivid on how horrifying dying, or seeing your loved ones die, must be.
Killing off someone's family members as a plot point, or even a background thing, is something I don't want to be present in any of my settings. If it is present, it will only be in an alternate timeline that was utterly erased, yet its memories manage to leak into the new one.
But it would make my setting seem very trope-y, like a cartoon that has to follow the Hays Code, except here it's enforced by the author himself.
I also don't want to build this into the setting the way I described, because creating a resetting mechanism that can't be abused is a pain.
**Sooo... is it okay to put such constraints on my setting and plot? Is there a precedent of decent authors doing that?** | [
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52,772 | >
> [Everyone has a book in them, but in most cases that’s where it should
> stay](https://interestingliterature.com/2015/04/who-said-everyone-has-a-book-in-them/)
>
>
>
I'm not an author. I'm retired. The last time I wrote fiction was probably an essay when I was 10 years old.
For years a fictional story has been taking place in my mind. There are important characters and they have struggles.
There are two timelines for the main two characters. What happens in their early life affects what happens when they are older. To make this work for a reader I would have to intertwine these stories, jumping from one to the other.
**The problem**
I have no narrative writing experience and especially I have no experience of structuring a fictional work, let alone with interacting timelines. Basically I have no experience of writing fiction.
As a musician, I'm aware that you don't just pick up an instrument for the first time and immediately start playing a virtuoso concerto. It takes years of practice.
**Question**
I only have one story in me (that I'm aware of). I have no writing skills. How should I tackle writing this story?
(a) Practice writing lots of other short stories that I'm not particularly interested in. Would that even help?
(b) Write a draft. Leave it aside for a year and come back to see if makes sense?
(c) Something else I haven't thought of?
Or, I suppose, just keep it in my head and not write it at all.
---
**Note**
I could just keep it in my head. However if I invest in writing it, I would want others to read it. Yet I have no confidence that a first novel would be any good. After that I don't have any ideas that I want to publish so I would have wasted my best story as a learning experience. | [
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52,802 | For me, planning takes all the fun out of it - by the time I've planned my novel, I'm bored with it and don't want to write anymore. I'd rather just sit down with a character and write what they do, and what obstacles they face, and it all just comes together. Then, when I know where I'm going, I can always look back and cut or add scenes if necessary.
If you like planning, how do you make sure you don't get bored? | [
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52,811 | There is a specific kind of scene that I want to write, where the protagonist has just killed his brother and he starts to cry. But I don't want to explicitly state that he's crying, either by stating it, or alluding to it, like saying: *Hot tears roll down his cheeks* What I specifically want are the 'sounds' of crying, but truly agonized crying.
The only thing I have at the moment is the following:
>
> Mgook turns around, stepping away from his brother's body. He's breathing heavily.
>
>
> "Hah...hah...hah"
>
>
> He takes another step away, and turns around.
>
>
> "Ah...ah...ah"
>
>
> He falls to his knees.
>
>
> "Haargh...argh...aargh."
>
>
>
That's literally it. I'm not sure how to write what I want in a way that the readers will understand what's happening. I don't want to explicitly state what's happening because the whole thing with this character is that he doesn't understand what he's feeling, but his body reacts to it. If anyone has ever watched the English dub of *One Piece*, the scene where ZaffyCD is
>
> crying at Ace's death
>
>
>
That is the kind of crying that I want to describe.
I hope I have adequately described my dilemma.
\*Edit: I am writing a novel, not a screenplay | [
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52,812 | I have written a fiction novel about an adolescent who commits suicide. The story explores the childhood abuse from her father that pushed her to suicide, what she and her mother have done to try to overcome her trauma, and why those attempts failed.
In the story, I explained why psychotherapy repeatedly failed and made her feel worse. Instead of only having flashbacks to her psychotherapy sessions, I also had her and a friend of hers debate a panel of psychologists who came to her school.
Because one of my degrees is in Psychology and because I often debated my professors, including a section on debating psychologists was instrumental towards explaining why psychotherapy failed.
My difficulty, however, lies in the fact that because I studied far beyond what the degree required, and because I have a vast wealth of knowledge about academic psychology, the debate against the psychologists became technical.
I had also studied Philosophy and the thinking skills I learned from it helped shape my arguments against Psychology. Unfortunately, that made the debate in my story even more technical.
The protagonist’s friend is an intellectual, and that’s how I provided an explanation for someone on her side in the debate having that sort of knowledge. Unfortunately, as much as I tried to simplify the discussion and add tension, it still ended up very technical in some parts. I’ve seen how philosophers like Sartre and Camus were able to simplify their ideas into fiction; but those were very broad, general ideas.
How do I include specific technical ideas in my fiction when those ideas are helpful to explain the story? Are there any tips on that? Do I have to remove them? Even presented in the middle of an emotionally charged dialogue, exposition – especially technical exposition, weighs down the story flow.
I remember Melville including technical aspects in Meby Dekk. However, modern writing culture frowns on that. I hope to be able to keep those aspects so that readers who are uninterested may skim or skip over it to sections that are non-technical.
Your advice is appreciated.
Thanks | [
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52,816 | **The setup:**
We have a fantasy world. A while back (like, 30-100 years; not really sure yet) a prophecy was given that basically outlined a chosen one. More specifically it outlines a reincarnate of a god who would do an important thing.
One of the characters in my story believes that he is the chosen one (he's wrong), and so do various groups and people around him (they are wrong). He later gets conclusive proof from another character that he is not the chosen one.
**The problem:**
I have no idea how or why anyone else would begin to believe that he is the chosen one in the first place. Obviously, if the evidence for him being the chosen one is too strong, it will call into question the legitimacy of the debunking. Reincarnating gods are also not a particularly uncommon occurrence in this world, but not everyone believes that it actually happens, so any signals can't be so obvious that everyone in the kingdom would know the signs.
**The question:**
*What are some common signs of chosen ones that could plausibly be found in someone other than the real chosen one?*
If it helps at all, I don't really need to fool the reader, or at least not for long, since another character POV already knows he isn't really the chosen one. Also, it might not be hard to get *him* on board initially, since he quite likes the idea of being the chosen one. | [
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52,827 | I am just about done writing the first book in a series. I have an idea for the next book in that series (let's call it "book a"), but I also have another idea brewing in my mind which takes place in another universe (let's call it "book b"). I want to write "book b" badly, but I feel I should get my first series over and done with. I feel like starting another before then might confuse me. To be clear, I *do* enjoy writing about the universe of "book a" a lot, so I'm not quite sure what to do right now.
**Is it advisable to begin writing a book in an unrelated series before finishing my first series?**
If my wording was too confusing, let me know and I'll try to help. :) | [
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52,844 | I just need help with writing my short story, I don't want to make it too long and I don't know if I'm over thinking this. Help? | [
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"text": "It depends.\n\nMagazines will give you a range for short stories they buy.\nIf this is for a class then your tea... | 2020/09/29 | [
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52,853 | In high school and even college most students are told to aim for around 5-6 sentences per paragraph. I am now trying to write fiction, fantasy specifically, but am hitting a wall when it comes to paragraph length. Most of my paragraphs are around 2-3 sentences, sometimes more, sometimes less. I feel like I'm violating some rule but I know I've seen books use very few sentences per paragraph.
Are there any guidelines to follow or ways to tell if your paragraphs are too short/long? | [
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"text": "[Purdue OWL gives a great definition of the concept of a \"paragraph\":](https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing... | 2020/09/29 | [
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52,864 | I'm rereading my draft, and there is a part in the book where when the main character is helping others escape prison, she accidentally reveals herself to the prison guards who chase her down and kill one of the people she was trying to rescue.
Is this too brutal? I don't want my reader to hate the main character for indirectly killing someone, but should I keep it or scrap it? I do have a backup idea that could easily take the place of her revealing herself and instead have someone else do it and have my main character swoop in as the hero, but I'm not sure which version to do.
Edit: Thanks to @M.A.Golding and @FeRD for pointing out that I should add that the prisoners were wrongfully imprisoned. | [
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"text": "Yes, absolutely. Protagonists aren't perfect.\n---------------------------------------------\n\nIn many ways, **prot... | 2020/10/01 | [
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52,899 | I am often hearing / reading that the main character of your story should be likable or even if flawed should be something about them to get the reader behind them or to "root" for them, or they should learn and be redeemed by the end - whatever happens, the reader should get behind them at some point - at least that's the impression I get.
However, does this really need to be the case? And if so, why? The obvious answer is usually "as long as you have a compelling / interesting / engaging enough story / character then it's OK to have an unlikable character", but this suggests that all other things being equal, your character should be likable. (That you need the rest of the story to be better to compensate for the unlikable character)
In my idea, the protagonist is a bit of a dick - he's selfish, arrogant and grumpy, and tries to find blame in others for everything wrong with his life. He commits one uncharacteristically heroic act at the beginning of the story, where he saves the secondary character's life when it would have been safer for him to just run away, but that's about it - and there isn't a hint of modesty about that, BTW. He doesn't redeem himself at the end, and dies thanks to his own arrogance.
(The secondary character gets a bit of character development and does end up subtlely redeeming herself by the end alright.)
But is this considered bad writing practice, and if so, why? | [
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52,900 | Can I mix science-fiction and history in a story? I mean a story that is based in historical events with a touch of science fiction, is that possible or am I trying to invent something "ridiculous" | [
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52,906 | I am not very familiar with "point of view". From my understanding, (correct if I'm wrong, but I looked it up so I think I'm right) 1st person is from the perspective of "I ate ice cream" sort of thing. 2nd person is "you eat ice cream," and 3rd person is "she eats ice cream."
I don't know which point of view is right for my book. I have written it in 1st person so far, but my genre is YA fantasy, and many books in that genre are 3rd person. If my book is too different, if/when I want to get published, this might be a barrier for me.
I have considered changing my point of view during editing, and I'm wondering if now I should. I'm just past my structural edit, so if I were to do it, now would be the time.
Should I change my point of view? | [
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52,915 | In my story the MC joins this pseudo-militia. The process for every new person is to sign up, go to training, and then be sorted into teams and wait to be assigned a mission.
I have started writing when she is on the way to headquarters to be assigned to a team, but I feel like I need to start earlier to properly set up her character, show her powers, and why she wants to join so bad.
The problem is that the training portion is relatively unimportant. She won’t encounter most of them again. The people on her team and her job will be the most important thing. I feel that if I start during her training (or before)I will be introducing characters and a setting that aren’t a big part of the story.
What should I do? | [
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52,916 | So there was a novel that had some cool ideas and I really liked, but also there were many parts that made me annoyed mostly due to the genre, plot holes and inconsistencies and how they were done or used which affected the overall quality of the story. So while the ideas and story was good, there were clear parts that affected my satisfaction with the story and could have done better.
Now I was thinking of doing a similar story and reusing some of the ideas. The only problem is that while I am confident that I can change it up, there are quite a lot of parts I want to use from the story that inspired me, and while I can change them, the core idea is still there. Now if I was using just one idea it wouldn't be a big problem, but I want to use multiple ones from the original story some of these are cliches that have been used before, but some are also kind of unique to the original story so that using them together you would see the similarity.
However, I intend the overall story to take a different direction. For example, the original was a harem with poor and forced romance, while I am not going to do that and focus more on romance, but also I intend for my story to be at a slower pace and fill plot holes and avoid inconsistencies. Also I would be adding and changing a lot of the settings overall and put relevance on side characters. | [
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52,927 | The story is written in 3rd person POV, close. But I feel like the very last end feels jarring.
>
> He trailed his hand along the railing as he climbed the stairs so he could catch himself if he fainted or if his legs gave out from under him. He was so close to having his chance to fight for the title, it wouldn’t do at all if he fell and busted his face open. He couldn’t afford an injury. Not now.
>
>
>
Is it just me or is it objectively jarring? Is it that the POV is too far out to tack on the "Not now" ending? | [
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52,940 | I'm currently writing a story based around a human subject with superpowers who escapes out of a lab after like 12 years of excruciating pain. The forced mind control not working anymore, then tries to get their former life back.
Basically starting with their 15 year old son who barely even remembers what his parents actually were like, apart from an old picture.
As I'm outlining, it's so hard not to use obvious tropes and cliches that are basically everywhere, so any help is welcome. | [
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52,946 | There was this story I was writing, when I was a little kid, that I found. I called it "Rage." I liked the story, and also liked a lot of the plot points. I want to continue it.
However, should I continue it, because a) I wrote it a while ago and b) I can't really remember that many plot points that I had been planning to write.
In fact, this one important part of the story, I completely forgot what the plot was going to lead into!
However, a) I still remember SOME parts and b) it's actually a very engaging story.
There's this one part that I changed my mind about, but it kind of leads me to nowhere if I do that. In the situation, I was planning for something horrible to happen to my character, but I've recently decided against it.
So should I continue my story? | [
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52,953 | I'm writing a story about a woman driving cross-country in search of her childhood home. There, she discovers the small town has grown to a suburban sprawl, and she's surprised to find that she can no longer navigate it's roads.
I'm not quite pleased with my opening paragraph. From a technical point of view, it doesn't have the "cadence" that I typically like to give to my stories. Moreover, it's a bit bland, to me.
>
> When Rraco goes looking for the Woodbridge's house, in Gejdnir
> Valley, it's been years since she was in this part of the country.
> And, of course, things have changed. Highway 9 now avoids towns it
> used to pass right through, and curves in places she remembers being
> straight. Saltwater Pond is now a mere puddle, and has more roads
> leading to it than she remembers. In fact, she doesn't remember any
> roads, just a mock gravel path looping lazily around its borders.
>
>
> For
> a time, Rraco isn't sure she'll be able to find the house among the
> maze of unfamiliar street signs and queer surroundings. It doesn't
> help that it's 3 AM on a Saturday, much less that she hasn't slept in
> weeks. But, after narrowly avoiding more than a few dead-ends, Rraco
> came upon an at once familiar sight-- a disheveled dirt path leading
> off a suburban strip into the dark of the night. It would've been
> unremarkable if not for the roadside mailbox that still had...
>
>
>
Any suggestions for improvements? I'm not far along in the story, so I'm open to both small and drastic changes. Note that the story is told from a fairly distance 3rd-person POV, as it's ends up being a metaphor for depression in a way that couldn't really be told well in 1st-person. | [
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52,962 | I'm writing a story (I think a bit long to post here, but I could if someone would like), which is a metaphor for depression. In the story (from a 3rd person past-tense POV, if that's helpful), an adult man seeks out his childhood home to visit a room where the time "stops" (i.e., he is sinking back into depression). I've written up to the point where he is in the room, and he's sitting on the bed, alone, watching the seasons pass by out the window while he watches the clock inside sit still.
Meanwhile, he hears a faint knocking sound, which (I intend) will grow louder over the course of the story. In the end, he will open the door to see someone (a family member, perhaps) that has grown much older and has "raw" knuckles from knocking for so long reaching out to help him. He then leaves the room (a metaphor for allowing himself to get help).
The problem is, I'm not sure how to fill in the middle. He's in an empty room, with the shutters closed and the lights off. So far, he's just sat on the bed. I need something for him to be doing in between now and the conclusion, and I also need some reason for him to finally open the door. Some kind of climax or "aha" moment, without revealing too much of the metaphor (if that makes sense). It would be incredibly premature to simply jump to the ending now, but the story is also fairly short (probably 1.5 - 2k words in the end) so I don't need a whole lot. Any suggestions? | [
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52,970 | I am new in this site and I hope to convey my question in a correct manner.
>
> Any employee is also entitled to receive a reference letter. This document must contain an assessment on the performance of the employee in their post(s).
>
>
>
My question is, should I write "their" or "his/her".
As far as I understand, "their" is used to prevent gender-based discrimination.
In advance, I would like to thank you for your assistance. | [
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52,978 | I am closely reading/editing (for my own benefit) the text of *Dubliners*, the collection of short stories written by Gamev Zokce.
In some stories, such as *The Dead*, there are many instances of what you might call run-on sentences, with little or no commas. Here's a shining example (taken from *The Dead*):
>
> Marm Fine waited on her pupils and saw that they got the best slices and Aunt Kate and Aunt Julia opened and carried across from the piano bottles of stout and ale for the gentlemen and bottles of minerals for the ladies.
>
>
>
This text is taken from Project Gutenberg. It matches a Penguin edition I have, which in turn is taken from a critical edition by Scholes and Lutr. (You can also view the first edition [here](https://archive.org/details/dubliners00joyc_8/page/n247/mode/2up) at archive.org.)
To my brain, the text seems to require at least one comma, after *the best slices*.
Here's a second, more egregious example (also taken from *The Dead*):
>
> Her blue felt hat would show off the bronze of her
> hair against the darkness and the dark panels of her skirt would show
> off the light ones.
>
>
>
In my opinion, the above text needs a comma after *against the darkness*. The reason is that it's ambiguous without it.
My question is this: is this really Jayse's intention, or is it a mistake in the typesetting?
If it is indeed his intention, then what effect is he trying to achieve? | [
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52,982 | At first my protagonist was going to be a female role, until I started having an inclination for male characters and the fact that I am a total BL (“boy’s love”, stories about male homosexual romance) lover. So, I decided to make my character's gender up to the reader to decide since I know some people have different tastes in orientation. But it is much more difficult, since it is a visual novel. Any tips? | [
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"text": "***Several Options:***\n\nSo I assume you aren't a well-established author, and people don't have preconceptions ab... | 2020/10/10 | [
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52,988 | I'm thinking of writing a fiction novel. The plot I've outlined so far centers largely around one possible path the future of our world could take over the next several decades. In doing so, the story revolves largely around the politics and policies of the United States and China. It may also connect to certain pseudo-governmental organizations, such as the UN, WTO, WHO, etc.
However, it will not be naming any real people, private businesses, etc; other than perhaps for some historical context.
I would make up names, but who they are in present day is a big part of who they will be in the future. The story doesn't paint them in a very flattering light; but the light will be consistent with the way they have conducted themselves out here in the real world. Warts and all.
What kind of liability would I be opening myself up to if I used the real names of these countries and pseudo-governments?
Edit to clarify: I'm mostly concerned about the real-life countries, governments, and pseudo-government organizations. The near-duplicate questions do indeed answer the question about real-life individual people. | [
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53,001 | My current WIP involves a deliberate miscarriage of justice.
I started out with three main characters:
J - a young girl who is effected by both the crime committed and the injustice delivered
D - a clever detective with an interesting past and a dear friend who is a career criminal
N - a career criminal who is taking some time to develop a relationship with his girlfriend and his children ( both biological and unofficial)
J finds her mother and two others dead - runs for help when she understands what’s happened.
That brings in D, who knows that N, whom he’ll never catch for what he has done, is connected to this triple homicide and it looks like an opportunity to put an old friend in jail. He truly believes N will either end up dead or in prison and would be better off inside.
N, unaware of this, lives his life. Unbeknownst to him, evidence is being collected that will put him behind bars for the rest of his life. Murder, conspiracy to commit, etc.
Late at night the police enter his home to arrest him, but failures of procedure lead to a near fatal misunderstanding.
N is shot six times and wakes up in the hospital handcuffed to a bed
N is later taken out of police custody by a shrink who wants to run an experiment which involves signing N out of the hospital and turning him loose. The following three plot points are also part of the experiment.
N goes to a pub and SWAT shows up to end the nonexistent hostage situation
N escapes
N is snatched and interrogated
N is later released only to be snatched by a vigilante who thinks he’s hot and wants to have some fun with him
N does what he thinks he needs to to survive and eventually manages escape
N walks into a police station and surrenders
N tells his girlfriend things weren’t really real, but were fun so she will hate him rather than spend her life visiting him
Now this is where I am beginning to wonder if his trip to prison might not be uneventful - giving him another difficult choice to make. Situation (sheriff he knows is driving him in and a deer crosses the road, causing him to temporarily lose control of the vehicle. Sheriff is injured, N has a chance to get away - or stay and help. | [
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53,007 | For example, how could I write the following sentences in an academic way?
>
> After I have contacted Dr. .., he has accepted to be on my supervision panel, he told me that he can contact you and ask you if you are interesting in being on my supervision panel. Then, he informed me that you have you are interested. Thus, I would like to thank you for accepting to be on my supervisor panel.
>
>
> | [
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53,013 | In a fiction novel with a strong historical foundation, can you replace a public figure with a fictional one? For instance, replacing the mayor of a city during a specific time period with a fictional character.
There is plenty written on how to incorporate real people into a fictional work but not on replacing a real person with a made up one. | [
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53,016 | So, I'm writing a few books at the moment. I really want to become an author when I'm older, but I'm much too shy to email a proper author about what to do or show it to many people. I really feel like people would mock me for aspiring to be an author, but I'm really tired of people ignoring me, especially people I want to impress but don't really notice me. Can you help with this? Is anyone in a similar situation? | [
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53,024 | In this world, there are mortals (human beings) and divine beings (gods/goddess). The gods and goddess have personalities, limitations, and what is commonly called "human nature" (they don't know everything, they screw up, etc.), with one rather notable exception: Whatever their particular "area" is, they are good at it and by nature avoid, abhor, and have no inclination towards the associated vice. So, for example, a goddess of wisdom would make very thoughtful and wise decisions (though that doesn't always mean the "right" ones, as the gods are limited by what they know and don't know, etc.) and would be very unlikely to do anything that would be foolish given what she knows at any given time, because being foolish is not in her nature.
My problem is that I have one of these gods (albeit one stuck in a powerless mortal form for the moment) as a part of my main cast. This one's area is "courage." So theoretically, this person would be naturally inclined to avoid doing anything cowardly, in fact, the cowardly thought processes that would lead to cowardly behavior wouldn't occur for them. Cowardice is not an option. (Also, since "courage" is the balance between cowardice and recklessness, then theoretically reckless behavior should be off the table as well?) I've realized that, practically speaking, this would mean: No avoiding problems or pretending they don't exist because they scare you. No being dishonest with other people out of fear they will judge you. No running away from your problems at all, really. And what is it interesting characters seem to do a LOT? Avoid problems, pretend they don't exist, run away from them before later on in the story realizing they need to step up and face them anyway.
Can a character with no inclination towards any form of cowardice still be a well-rounded character who does interesting things within the plot, instead of a boring/annoying goody-two-shoes? Or have I eliminated far too large a source of character flaws and mistakes to recover from?
I had considered making cowardice their only antithesis, and giving them an inclination towards recklessness as a result, but I'm not sure I like the gimick-y way that could turn out, or the kind of person said character would be in that instance.
Edit: To potentially help those forming answers, here is a definition of the virtue of "courage":
miriam webster defines courage as "mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty" and google search of the definition results in "the ability to do something that frightens one" or "strength in the face of pain or grief." | [
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53,028 | I have been pondering on a novel idea that would likely utilize a large chunk of a premise of a novel that I read several years ago.
To be clear, the elements that I would want to use are the premise (Magical detective solving magical crimes) and the configuration of the three main characters (The magical detective, his apprentice, and an aristocratic girl whom the detective is allied with).
I read a story with this exact setup and felt that I would want to take it in an entirely different direction, but with a somewhat similar world (magic is real, urban fantasy setting). I fell in love with the idea of writing a story that starts out with this same configuration of story elements, but has a different theme, plot line, and ultimately a different focus than this series ended up having.
My question is, is this enough to not worry about copyright claims? I’d love to move forward with the idea, but it seems like it would be a wasted effort if I could do nothing with the story when I’m done, due to having such a similar premise.
To reiterate, my intent is not to re-tread the same plot lines and ideas of that series other than what I detailed above. My main issue being that I’m not sure where the line would be in terms of copyright if I use an extremely similar jumping off point, but then do my own thing. | [
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53,052 | It's said that to be a good writer you ought to ***"Write what you feel and feel what you write."*** While this sounds logical, I sometimes find that being too attached to my work cramps my writing style and stymies my ability to think critically and analytically.
But at the same time, I cannot write about topics which don't inspire me. Writing about something which does not inspire me and excite me, makes writing sheer torture: A dull, drab and boring affair.
So where should I draw the line? | [
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53,063 | I know "omnibus" to be a term describing multiple novels put into a single book, but I've never really heard or read the term anywhere else. Because of this, I'm curious: how widely used is the term "omnibus?"
Context: I am writing a piece where I am considering the use of the word, but am unsure of whether I should use it because it may be archaic, obsolete, or just not widely used. | [
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"text": "Here you go...\nGoogle Trends and \"omnibus\"\n\n<https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&geo=US&q=omnib... | 2020/10/14 | [
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53,077 | I am in the beginning stages of writing what might be a space opera. The story starts in a society that consists of three planets that all fall under one governmental domain. The problem I'm running into is the way I've structured these planets is they are all home to multiple species of aliens. Is there a way I can describe each alien species my main character encounters during her day without it getting repetitive or breaking up the story too much? Do I *need* to go into specific detail about the physical appearance of each species?
I have found a lot of articles on how to create good, believable alien species, as well as [this stack exchange article on how to explain a new, alien world without boring the reader](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/10855/how-to-introduce-a-world-thats-alien-to-the-reader). However, I'm asking for extraterrestrial characters specifically. I feel like if I have 7 or 8 species that I introduce within a chapter, giving a description of each of their physical characteristics might get tiring, for both me and my readers.
Thanks in advance! | [
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53,090 | When writing a list of items, should they be alphabetical?
>
> The late Jurassic periods are Tithonian, Kimmeridgian, and
> Oxfordian.
>
>
>
better?
>
> The late Jurassic periods are Kimmeridgian, Oxfordian, and
> Tithonian.
>
>
> | [
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"text": "There's no rule about the order of listed elements, so this is not a question of grammar, but of **style**.\n\nTh... | 2020/10/17 | [
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53,094 | I am a freelance author consultant and have ran into a unique problem. My customer happens to share a similar name with a famous author and she is concerned that there might be potential problems if she publishes under her own name. I would like to know if there is any possibility that she could find herself in legal trouble for using her own name. | [
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53,095 | when I say "reader", in the context of my particular scenario, I actually mean the "player" as this story is for a videogame.
I start the game off with the player/main character (first person POV in the game) falling in a malfunctioning elevator which comes to a safety stop station within some unknown part of the massive facility in which this game takes place. Shortly after they leave the elevator, they meet a character named Dived who is a basketball-sized robotic sphere- Dived and the protagonist, Pabe, are already familiar with each other at the time that this happens, but it is the player's first encounter with this guy. Dived quickly "searches his schematics" and finds that this part of the facility is oddly absent from them. Then he argues with the emergency stop station and mentions he is an administrator-level construct and that the elevator should listen to him so they can "get back up where we were a while ago" (implying that they've been adventuring for longer than 5 minutes.) This is also a universe where all technology in the facility is likely sentient in some form, even if invisibly so.
The issue is, I am not sure if having Dived casually mention things like his admin rights and "where we were previously" is the best way to tell the player/reader about said things without causing confusion, especially right at the start. but I want the character this is from the perspective of, Pabe, to already know that Dived has admin-level access to things in the facility, and also knows that he's friendly...etc.
The story intentionally starts right in the middle because I am inspired by how the TV show, "LOST", did things and want a similar feel. However, I don't have the luxury that "LOST" did with its flashbacks. Flashbacks are technically possible, but not something I want to do because of the incredibly cliche nature of it (and, being in first-person, this would seem jarring due to the fact It would be difficult to communicate, "this is a flashback")
this "game", if it helps to know, Is actually a community-based modification for the game "Portal 2". I mention this on the off-chance there are any portal 2 fans who may have a better insight on how best to write the character based on knowledge of the game's general storytelling style. | [
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53,096 | I am currently writing a novel where I use "It was all just a dream" (IWAJAD) plot twist, just because the main character needs it to change his personality and train his power to save the world when he wake up.
But then, I heard that "IWAJAD" is too cliche and may ruin a good novel. Should I continue that plot twist or change it? If I shouldn't continue, why? If I should continue, what should I avoid to write a good plot twist and not ruin my novel? Why IWAJAD is a bad plot twist anyway? | [
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53,104 | I'm working on some literary translations. I want to use a proper font for my work, but it is a little out of my area of expertise. In the past I've always just kept the default Calibri font and never thought anything of it. I'm increasingly hearing graphic artists moan about how people didn't even bother changing the default font from Calibri when looking over others work.
I've temporarily changed to Palatino, as I saw suggested in another Writing @ SE post. But, again, I'm not really sure if this is suitable for a literary magazine.
Ideas? | [
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53,108 | This seems like a vague question but it is not. What is good writing?
Does it have simply be concise and clear? Obviously, not. Writing that sounds beautiful is considered good writing? But, what is beautiful writing? That is a hard question. It could be writing in which words are put together in a different way than before but means the same thing. It could be a way to write that makes you feel very emotionally as it triggers certain memories.
**The natural corollary to this question is then how do you become a good writer? How do you learn how to do the above?**
I wrote a [similar question](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/52608/how-to-become-an-powerful-and-beautiful-expository-writer) to this before and I think the answers were wrong. By presenting the question in this fashion, I think people will realize that the answer is not simply writing more or reading more. There is something else to it. | [
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53,132 | I am writing a fantasy series. I am a new writer. I am almost done with the first draft of the first book, I have about 400 pages. Everyone who has read my work, even complete strangers that I have emailed to get honest feedback, have said it is amazing. I’m not so sure. Upon self-editing for the seventh time, I noticed something absolutely horrible, that would immediately disqualify my book for publication. All of my characters sound exactly the same, despite having wildly different and colorful home towns, backstories, appearances, accents, and ages. I have read every article, watched every YouTube video, and I can’t seem to find a way to change it. What do I do?
Let me be more specific with my problem.
Sometimes I actually switch the dialogue tag to make someone else say it, and it sounds fine. If I didn’t put in any dialogue tags, you wouldn’t be able to tell who was talking. | [
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53,136 | I am an extremely young author. I don’t mean to sound like I’m bragging, but I think I am very good. They say the best readers are the best writers, in a single day I once read a 700 page book. I read every book in the house. Twice. I got bored. I was staying up late because I couldn’t sleep the night before seventh grade. I walked to the other side of the room, pulled a random book off the shelf, and started to read.
The book I had randomly selected was an old leather bound classic,
Petod Dan. About a hundred pages in, I came across the list boys of never land. I read about how they were tromping through the woods, alone and scared, gripping daggers and wearing animal skins.
The light bulb above my head exploded with a book idea.
At least, at first it was a single book. Now it’s an eleven book series.
I finished my first book, and no one (by this I mean agents, editors, and publishers) is taking me seriously.
When I call them on the phone, they say they can help me out. But when they realize how young I am, they simply refuse.
What do I do? | [
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53,140 | My bad guy is very very very complicated.
My entire story exists because for thousands of years (no one knows why) regular people from everyday life have been showing up in a magical forest filled with elves, Cyclopes, giants, dragons, gryphons, and humongous forest creatures.
But there was a first.
This is the villain.
When she, Hylla, appeared in the forest, all the elves and other creatures had no idea what to make of her. They didn’t know if she was a threat.
So to determine this, the leader of the elves challenged her to a duel. If she wins, she gets to live among them. If she loses, she loses her soul. In the Forest, EVERYTHING has a soul. And everything dies.
Hylla losses the duel, has her soul taken, and put into a pearl neckless. Because everything that has a soul dies, everything that doesn’t LIVES. the people of the forest didn’t know this. But now it was too late.
In pure rage, Hylla kills and destroys whatever she pleases. No one can stop her.
Eventually, she kills the elf that took her soul under what would be known as hope bridge, the bridge that goes across the eternal river, which goes around the entire planet and splits the forest in two.
With his dying breath, the elf leader speaks a prophecy that tells of a warrior with a blade of bone, who comes from a foreign land and will finally put an end to Hylla’s reign. She now calls herself the huntress.
Only the huntress knows of this prophecy, so she kills all of the humans who show up in the forest.
This is simply the way things are.
All of the people in the forest have lost hope.
Now here’s the problem with my bad guys backstory.
She WANTS her soul back. But she DOESN'T want to die. When she gets her soul back, she becomes mortal again, so she has two desires that oppose each other.
If she doesn’t want her soul back, then she will have no reason to go around killing people, therefore she wouldn’t be the bad guy.
If she wants to die, then she would want her soul back, and then she wouldn’t kill all the humans because she wants them to kill her. So she also wouldn’t be the bad guy.
How do I fix this problem. I have to cut out one of her desires to make her have a pure motive, but whichever one I take out makes her not the bad guy.
I’m really really stuck on this one. | [
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53,147 | Ok, I know this question might seem a little bit weird. But I really need to know. How do I write from a girl's POV? I'm a 13 year old boy and I'm trying to become an author. I'm currently working on one book, and I'm about to start writing a second one. That's how I always do my business. I write one book until I'm about half-way done and then I start another one. But that's not really the point here. I'm not very experienced in writing and I've only ever written a few things, most of which weren't even novels.
Being a 13 year old I'm very inexperienced when it comes to... well... when it comes to a lot of things, one in particular is book genres. I have no idea what book genres I'm good at writing and which ones I'm bad at, so I've decided that I'm just going to try my hand at all of them. Next in the long line of genres is romance. I plan to write a novel about a boy and a girl (both of which are 17), who fall in love. Both of these people come from relatively poor families, and both of them try to keep the other from finding out, fearing that it would embarks them and possibly make the other lose interest. You know how teenagers are, they always seem to overthink things. Anyway, the girl's father doesn't approve of her dating the boy (I haven't figured out their names yet), but her mother encourages her to date whoever she loves. The boy's father doesn't know that he's been dating this girl, due to the fact that he's purposely kept it a secret from him. His mother doesn't know either, but his sister does, and she uses this on several occasions to blackmail him into doing what she wants him to do, but I'm getting kinda off topic.
The reason why I made this is because as a 13 year old boy, girls my age are super confusing, so I couldn't imagine how 17 year old girls would be, but this novel is supposed to be written from both the guy's POV *and* the girl's POV. And I *really* need to know how to do that. Like I said before, girls are confusing, and what goes on inside their heads are beyond me. | [
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53,159 | My problem here is that I have two main characters, who, in the future, will end up dating. I’m trying to create friction between them at the beginning of my series so that they gradually fall in love. The best way that I see to do that is making them have arguments.
The only problem:
Arguments are out of Phihactor for both characters.
They both are very selfless and kind hearted, but the flaws that they DO have don’t include quick tempers.
They both have tragic pasts where they let someone they love die, and they feel like it was their fault.
Thinking that the other character couldn’t possibly understand what they’re going through, they resist telling each other, even though the other character understands perfectly.
There is also and external conflict, but inner conflict makes it intriguing. The setting is a magical fairy tale Forest, except everything is trying to kill them, and they have no idea how they got there. All they are trying to do is go home, and they come from everyday life. The girl is seventeen, the guy is eighteen. And it’s not just them in the story. There are lots of other characters, but the guy is the first person the girl met in the Forest.
So my question:
How would I beat create conflict with these characters? | [
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53,164 | I know similar questions have been asked.
But also, consider that I want to publish a book in countries other than the US or UK. | [
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53,171 | I am a new writer writing a fantasy series, and earlier today I found myself thinking “Yay! I’m almost done with the main plot of my first book!”
Then I realized I was nowhere near done with the underlying plots, and if I finished the book in a few chapters there would be tons of loose ends.
What are some tips to keep on track of all your internal/external conflicts and plots so that you don’t forget about one and leave a question unanswered? | [
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53,178 | I have this main character who is very academically gifted but has a bunch of problems.
For example he is: Anti-social, paranoid, ignorant of the people around him, very violent, short tempered, and has a certain disdain to life in general, human or otherwise.
Now throughout the story he is shocked and surprised to see that things are not as they are.
For example when he joined the magic school the headmaster there, a man respect in the whole world, choose him to be his ward. He then thought that the position was insulting and the fact that he practiced less magic than his peers made him ostracized and a lesser wizard.
This is absolute blindness on his part as the only reason he was chosen was because he has the potential to be a great wizard and the headmaster wanted to tempered his character and teach him magic under his guidance.
When he later discovers this he is shocked and thinks that he peers must be joking. The fact that he practiced more intense and higher magic was lost to him and he always thought he was a lesser wizard. Obviously he is really blind in many things. He is a teenager after all.
**This is just an example.**
Now to the story. Well. At a certain point he travels with a group of other students in search of their master. As the journey continues he is constantly put in unfamiliar territory of human interactions and finds himself to be wrong a lot.
So. Over the course of those long days of riding and camping and talking and fighting I had his character change a little. Notice a little.
The problem is I'm worried that I did not focus enough on the changes in the chapters.
So. Do I need a lot of inner thoughts on that? Can the changes be more subtle where from chapter 1 to chapter 7 he starts calling the other students friends and becomes more aware of his actions?
This includes a romance subplot and overall more of coming of age story and becoming more mature, if only in actions, story.
I keep thinking of major events. There is a couple of them and they are given focus. But I also like to tone down this and have him overcome his flaws with time, and incorporate into the group and become less of an awful person without calling to much attention.
So. Instead of harsh or snarky remarks he starts to become nicer, instead of suggesting murder on the first opportunity he would listen to others plans...etc. All without calling out this changes.
**I know this might be a little bit opinion based so if you want to consider it to be what is the prevailing thought or what are the most important rule about character changing, showing it big time or subtly, or something more concrete then is is basically the same goal.**
Ultimately I have no problems about any changes. All writing is to accomplish a goal and anything that does not help that is extra weight I'm willing to dispose of. | [
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53,184 | I’ve recently been writing my book when I got stuck. I think it’s safe to say that this has happened to everyone. This has happened a few times in the certain book I am writing, and I’ve noticed it is always after a fight scene with my main characters and the antagonists in my story. After an action-packed scene, I am simply at loss for what to do. Normally in this time, I write dialogue or my characters feelings or what they are going to next now that they’ve survived the attack. And then I do another fight scene.
Having this be the first book in my series, the fight scenes I’ve done so far were mainly to show instead of tell my characters what dangerous creatures live in the forest, but now I have introduced all the kinds of antagonists and don’t know what to do because I don’t want to have them fight the same creatures twice in one book.
So basically, I just need to figure out the best methods to be creative and help me figure out what to do next. | [
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53,196 | I am a young author writing my first series. I’m not writing my books simply because I want to or that I am frustrated with other books, but those are some reasons.
The book I am writing is pure fantasy, with underlying genres of romance, tragedy, politics, and post-apocalyptic. But mainly fantasy.
I am targeting an audience of middle school and high school. When reading my favorite series targeted to the same audience, I became frustrated at the fact that no one ever really got hurt, and no one ever really died, despite the author's emphasis on how dangerous and violent this world was.
So when writing my own novel I cranked up the heat. One of the antagonists is a sixty-foot-tall giant with corpses dangling from his horns, and he thinks of killing as a game. This is just one of the servants of the real antagonist, the main bad guy. I have already made some people die, and am not afraid to make my characters be injured, because in real life odds are they would already be dead.
I’m wondering if I am being too violent, and if that would make my book “inappropriate” for younger readers, say, fifth and sixth grade.
I did not include other parts of my story in this question, but the common odds of death for my characters are typically a fifty/fifty chance, and about every three in ten people end up dying. In the past of my story, EVERYONE died until a certain character showed up, so this is a significant improvement for them.
I am not just constantly making people die or get hurt, but it happens to each main character at least once in each book, to emphasize that this actually IS dangerous.
I’m pretty much wondering if you can be too violent when writing and if this would change the kind of audience that reads your work. | [
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53,199 | I am a young author writing a fantasy series. I started this book with a light bulb idea late one night while reading Petod Dan.
I didn’t know anything about writing, but I ADORE reading, so I pulled out a notebook and let my mind flow. I started with a Prologue that I ended up deleting, because it gave away to much information, but in that moment I decided to make my POV first person.
So I started developing characters.
For my main character, I thought it would be easier to write the main character as me, but a few years older. Only later I read that there can be problems with making that character perfect, but my character has huge flaws. In fact, if she wasn’t the main character people would hate her.
Anyway, I developed an epic heroic tragic love story, between her and the second character I thought of, Djtan, Camryn’s future boyfriend.
I created Djtan to die. Why?
Djtan would be killed by the antagonist. The main character, Camryn, before Djtan’s death, wanted to find a different way to beat her (love compassion etc...) Well, there wasn’t another way. I poured my heart and soul into the antagonist, making her practically invincible except if you did this one thing then you could kill her.
Anyway, Djtan’s death is important because it makes Camryn bent on revenge, finally killing the antagonist. This all seemed like a great idea.
At first.
Then I got emotionally attached to Djtan. I know that is supposed to happen, but I fell in love with the guy. Naturally, since I made the main character after me, I made the main characters love interest after my crush. I gave him a backstory, hometown, all that colorful stuff.
And now I’m wondering, should I make this a bitter sweet victory?
(Kill Djtan)
Or have them live happily ever after. (Let Djtan live)
I hate this option in books because real life just doesn’t work that way. but now as the author, it’s really hard for me to kill him. AND I would have to completely re-write the script for the last book.
There are pros and cons. | [
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53,207 | I'm having some issues with balancing the world in my story.
My story is centered around a magical world where the people are brutal. There is political corruption, arguments over the use of magic (practical use vs harm), regular massacres, war-filled history (surprisingly more than our history), regular family separation, abuse, etc. It's barbaric enough to, especially in North America (where the main character resides), children and infants are often tried and murdered for various, absurd accusations under the voice of power. It's to the point where there is a secret, international organization that swears to protect these children, which actually saves the main character and serves a huge deal in the plot. However, another important plot point is magic. The magical part of it is that the magic developed overtime is particularly violent magic, and magic is rarely used for practical use.
However, I feel as if the magic part of the world is too underdeveloped, and only used for more violence. There are mythological creatures as well, but I feel as if the world reads more science-fiction than what I am looking for. With that being said, does anybody have any tips on how to balance the two out? I feel as if the brutality in this magical world is overpowering the magic itself, kind of like in many animal POV books, you forget that the character is an animal until the writer says "the cat" or "the snake".
Overall, my question is, how do I make the world more magical, or how do I tone down the brutal force? | [
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"text": "Maybe make magic the punishment.\n\nMaybe the government hoards all the magic, and punishes people with it."
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53,217 | This story is about a person in a sort of technologically advanced secret government organization that is basically SCP.
The organization is very advanced and, in most cases, can revive dead people.
I haven't yet published a chapter in which any character dies and is revived, but plan on doing it a lot later on.
How many revives is too much? | [
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53,220 | It's been two months and I haven't completed one book, and [this OP](https://writing.stackexchange.com/q/53136/47342) has read **700 pages** in one day. So how can I increase my reading habits? Compared to this person, I did nothing but just wasted 2 months. | [
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53,237 | Not to make this a post complaining about my inability to write, but I'd like to understand the universal challenges people face when writing and overcome some of these common challenges. Maybe understanding how others approach these barriers to write will help me develop as a better writer.
A little bit of context: Science, as in actual science, is what I want to write personally, but I am more interested in how people overcome challenges in writing in general.
Background: I am a university student, and I have written a few papers, but I found the process always to be a struggle. I couldn't start easily, and I always took criticisms personally; my writing is quite verbose. How do people deal with these sorts of challenges?
Thanks a lot for sharing your experiences. | [
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53,242 | I need some basic grammar guidelines to follow regarding how to punctuate dialogues where people go on forever, like in the example below:
>
> Now I've edited the whole series all five books which means I have seen every single page I have read every single question and recent hundreds, thousands-hundreds of tips to help students use these questions effectively now some of these questions are so good that I am jealous that I didn't write the questions which I know seems, maybe a bit silly but I do love writing really good exam questions and I know I'm biased but these are really really good practice exam questions and then all my helpful little hints and tips it's like having me sitting next to the student going, have you remember to convert from non-standard units in standard units or have you taken notice of the command word, so I know I am biased because I spend a lot of time working on these books, but they are brilliant, and they are designed to really really help you as a department help you as a classroom teacher to make your lives easier and to help your students get better results.
>
>
>
**Update:**
Thanks everyone for contributing. I've added full stop to break as many of them as possible and put commas where I thought they could go so it looks something like this now:
>
> Now I've edited the whole series all five books which means I have seen every single page. I have read every single question and recent hundreds, thousands-hundreds of tips to help students use these questions effectively. Now some of these questions are so good that I am jealous that I didn't write the questions which I know seems, maybe a bit silly but I do love writing really good exam questions and I know I'm biased but these are really really good practice exam questions and then all my helpful little hints and tips it's like having me sitting next to the student going, have you remember to convert from non-standard units in standard units or have you taken notice of the command word? So I know I am biased because I spend a lot of time working on these books, but they are brilliant, and they are designed to really really help you, as a department help you, as a classroom teacher to make your lives easier and to help your students get better results.
>
>
>
This is literally the best I could do. Criticism and advice welcome, thanks. My biggest issue when trying to punctuate a transcription is when the speaker goes on forever connecting sentences with words like 'and' and 'so' without taking any proper pauses at all. So any advice on how to handle that would also be treasured immensely! | [
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53,243 | I am a young author writing a fantasy series, and while browsing writing prompts and trying to better my writing yesterday, I got an idea for another, totally different series. I am in love with the one I am writing, but the one that I thought of is also very exiting.
Should I stop the one I am writing to write the other one? Or should I write them both at the same time? Should I cast the other one to the side until I’m done with this one? Or should I forget about the other one? | [
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53,260 | I was about to print my manuscript when a sudden thought occurred to me, do publishers require a certain font?
I didn’t want to print out 50,000 words only to discover it was useless, that costs a lot of money. Is there a certain font I need to use? | [
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"text": "First off, congratulations on finishing your manuscript. To answer your question, I'm going to quote an excellent wri... | 2020/10/23 | [
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53,261 | So I’m writing another series. No surprise there, at least not if you know me.
I wrote my first series on an idea, and let it reveal itself to me as I wrote. That was a good a method for the specific idea I was writing, because I was completely creating my own fantasy world. In that world I came up with a villain so dangerous and terrifying she even scared me, and had to stop writing a few times because I actually thought I was going to have a heart attack.
Anyway, I can’t do that this time because I’m not creating a world from scratch. My story takes place in New York City, because it fits my main character. My main character is a lone wolf type of protagonist. She lives in orphanage in Manhattan, because she has two different colored eyes(blue and gray) so her parents thought she was a freak and didn’t want her. She is constantly stirring up trouble, running away, shoplifting, getting into fistfights (and winning them) she has no friends because people are scared of her.
What she doesn’t know is her eyes are not freakish, they are gray and blue because she can control and create lightning. She figures this out eventually.
What would some traits(physical or personality wise) be of an antagonist who is magical, terrifying, and someone this girl would be willing to stop(even at the price of her life) who can fit into the real world. | [
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"text": "***Opposites Oppose:***\n\nI think this will likely get migrated to writing, so I'll answer it like a question ther... | 2020/10/22 | [
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53,293 | Nyarlathotep, the Black Pharaoh, seeks to enter the realm of Earth to rule over mankind. Unfortunately, he is prevented from doing so by a barrier that blocks eldritch deities from crossing over. To get around this, he breaks his soul up into thousands of pieces and seeds them into thousands unborn children. These kids become immortal avatars of Nyarlathotep called Nylanders, who do battle with each other over the centuries through one-on-one engagements to the death. When one is killed, the other "eats" the loser and gains their power and memories, absorbing them into themselves. When all pieces of the deity have joined, Nyarlathotep will become whole within one body and would be reborn on the mortal plane. In the end, there can be only one.
As each child is killed/destroyed, the remaining Nylanders gain that power equally. As the Nylanders are killed over the centuries, the rate of power absorption would increase each time, with the final two battling being the strongest of their brethren. These warriors also possess a piece of the deity's consciousness hidden deep within their minds. As the souls merge with each other, the collective consciousness of Nyarlathotep gains more self-awareness, regaining its memories and sense of self. The remaining warriors become more deity than human, until the final battle in which the full mind of the god emerges within the body of the winner. However, the god that emerges has been "corrupted" by human emotions. As he gained the memories and knowledge of the Nylanders across thousands of years, it has caused its personality to change from the being it once was. Its eldritch side, which seems to dominate and enslave, must constantly battle its human feelings.
Characters with a [blue and orange morality](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BlueAndOrangeMorality) mindset often have a warped logic and see the world very differently from normal people, even when they try to be good. These characters' moral framework is so utterly alien and foreign to human experience that we can't peg them as "good" or "evil". As a result, we would see their actions as appaling, even though they are perfectly rational and arrive to their conclusions based on their own reasonable logic. They may even find our actions as horrific as we find theirs, with both sides unable or unwilling to understand the other due to their reasoning being built on irreconcilable perspectives. We can see this to some extent in the polarizing of politics today, although nowhere near as alien as to humans and elder gods. Seeing as most writers are human beings, it is hard for use to write from the perspective of a deity in a way that makes sense to the reader.
How can you overcome this block? | [
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53,299 | Now my case is not novel-wide; I have to do this in one part of the novel, but I extended the question to a more generalised one, so that anybody else with the same question will find it useful just in case.
Suppose this scenario - I am following one person's POV, in first-person or third-person through this narration. It gets awkward when I make the jumps from scene to scene. This part, I presume, is easier when we have multiple threads and the alternating scheme makes up for the scene-jumps.
Consider the case of a POV action novel. How to omit those parts where our hero is brushing his teeth, taking a dump, sleeping etc without sounding deliberate ie as if these things have been effectively done, just that they are not worth a chapter in this book.
Those who are higher up the literary ladder, please help a first-timer out. | [
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53,312 | This is oddly specific and I'm not sure this is the right place for it but I'm writing something set in a contemporary American setting and I need a typical American food a grandma could cook for a family dinner that would spoil if left outside the fridge over night. Basically in what I'm writing a character steals food from a plate left out by a lady who is a white American grandmother (of English/Irish descent let's say) and gets mild food poisoning. It should be something that doesn't need to be cut up to be served, ideally something that can be grabbed straight with your hands (provided you're not the kind of person who cares about that), so that it's hard to notice that some has been taken away.
I first thought mac and cheese but then I read that it generally wouldn't spoil over night.
Thanks | [
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"text": "What about something like chicken pot pie or shepherds pie. Both of which I could imagine an American grandmot... | 2020/10/25 | [
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53,313 | (not sure if this question belongs here, let me know if there's a better stack exchange category for it and I will happily take it down)
I'm currently working on a story that involves a main character who's biggest flaw is her self-doubt, low self-esteem or lack of self-confidence. Whatever you want to call it. I'm thinking that she will show this deep self-doubt by pushing others away because she fears they'll learn too much about her and end up not liking her, an easy thing for her to believe if she doesn't like herself.
Does anyone know of good examples of characters like this? I know there are plenty out there but I'm having trouble thinking of many. I just want to look at and think about what a character like this does to slowly push the ones she loves away so that I can hopefully find some inspiration in how my character might do this throughout the novel. | [
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"text": "When writing a romance novel, A way you might think of a character who is developing feelings for another, one mi... | 2020/10/25 | [
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53,319 | I have a sentient AI in a story. He sentience aspect is mostly an unexpected result and some characters in the story do not believe it. When they refer to the AI, should they use the "it" pronoun to do so?
There are also characters who believe that the AI is sentient. The AI is not gendered. Should those characters use "it" or "she"/"he" or "they" to refer to the AI? In this particular case, I have the benefit of using second person pronouns(you) as most such conversations happen one to one with the AI and the corresponding character in most cases.
There is also the option to directly use the AI's name instead of pronouns. But repeatedly doing so is unnatural. | [
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"text": "I think 'it' or 'AI's name' is probably the best bet. If you reference AI's name once in a conversation, you ... | 2020/10/26 | [
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