qid int64 1 2.78M | question stringlengths 2 66.6k | answers list | date stringlengths 10 10 | metadata list |
|---|---|---|---|---|
53,332 | I am a young author writing a fantasy series. In my series, the main character has two different eye colors and looks down on herself because she thinks she is ugly. If people who also have two different eye colors were to read my work, would that be considered offensive?
I also have the problem of another character in my story. One of the characters is an African American police officer who offers to adopt the main character. The MC hates the officer because the MC is kind of a bad person and always getting in trouble. She resents the idea of having an police officer for a mom. I’m wondering if because the person the MC hates is African American, if that would be considered racist. The MC’s hate of this character has nothing to do with her race though. I just want to be sure. | [
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"text": "As long as you play it right, it should be fine. Most people will be rather forgiving with this stuff, unless... | 2020/10/26 | [
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53,338 | I've finally started writing my romance novel. There's a scene in the novel where the girl (KumaZd) is sneaking in from her boyfriend's house. Her dad, however, was waiting for her. The scene goes something like this:
>
> But that's not what her dad cared about. This specifically was a video of her and him... kissing. But they weren't just kissing, they were making out. As KumaZd’s hand reached under Xavier’s shirt her dad turned off his phone in disgust. **“You were talking and stuff, huh!? Is that what you call talking and stuff!?** I’m disgusted with you, Sarlb, I really expected you would know better, now go to your room and don’t you dare come out until I tell you to!”
>
>
>
The parts that are bolded, as you can see, both have a *!?* in them, and I really need to know if I'm breaking any rules doing that. | [
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"author": "Chris Sunami",
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"text": "‽\n\nQuestion mark + exclamation mark is a relatively common combination of punctuation marks, although usuall... | 2020/10/26 | [
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53,348 | I am having the main protagonist find their imaginary friend that they had previously forgotten. How would I make some flashbacks without making the plot too confusing or sounding choppy and forced? How would I go about this in such a way that the reader will understand what's going on, without boring them? What point of view should the flashbacks be in? | [
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"text": "If you want to do the flashbacks, make sure the reader knows that it is a flashback. I would do this with a l... | 2020/10/27 | [
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53,349 | Basically what I'm wondering here is if it's distracting or poor technique to switch the view point character to one of the bad guys just for a few pages or a very short scene in a novel.
I'm working on a novel length piece of fiction and there is a time when the protagonist is captured by the antagonist. What happens then is that the antagonist gets the information that they want and decides it's better if the protagonist gets away so that no alarms are raised (the protagonist and company don't think that the antagonist has any important information that way).
I obviously want the reader to know that the antagonist let the protagonist get away to increase tension and raise the question of why but I don't want the main characters to realize this until much later, possibly not even until a later book in the series. What I've thought may be a good way to show this, without giving up too much information is by switching the viewpoint character to the antagonist but only for a very short chapter of the book. So far, the novel is written with two other viewpoint characters, both of whom are the main protagonists and even still, the viewpoint doesn't switch very often between the two.
So, will it be more of a distraction or even just poor technique to jump into the antagonists shoes for a brief scene? | [
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"text": "I see no problem with this and have seen it a few times before. As long as you make it clear that this new PO... | 2020/10/27 | [
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53,363 | I'm writing a short story told in **first person** by a character who, an avid book lover, is much more likely to grow her vocabulary by way of ancient books than by talking to other people. Because of this, she tends to use **rare or even outdated words** when telling her story. This is an important part of her character, and I love how her personality shines through in her voice. However, I'm starting to wonder if I'm overdoing it and it's making the story too difficult to understand.
Of course this is only my first draft, and **I know I'll have to tone it down later. But how can I do that without losing part of the main character's personality?**
This is only a problem for the narrative. I've yet to encounter a piece of dialogue where another character would have to ask her to "translate" her own speech. Sometimes, she'll preemptively repeat a statement in different words, but most of the time, other characters get the gist of what she's saying without even that. But there's no reason for her to "dumb down" the narrative inside her own head, where she'll happily make use of her large vocabulary. (She's not writing a book or letter that would force her to simplify her thoughts for an imaginary audience.)
Some limitations:
* I'm writing in English, even though it's not my native language. While I'm more than comfortable writing in English, this makes it much harder for me to guess what the average reader might understand.
* My usual beta readers have a lower level of English than I do. (They're great at pointing out mistakes in the plot or character development, but I wouldn't ask them to proofread.)
* My audience is likely to also include non-native English speakers.
If the reader doesn't understand the literal meaning of *every* word, that's exactly the effect I'd like to achieve, but they should still be able to follow the plot and the main character's thoughts based on the surrounding context. In other words, the story should absolutely not require the reader to consult a dictionary every 5 minutes (or, worse, give up in frustration).
I already know not to use words I don't understand. While I frequently use a thesaurus to help me find the right synonym, I only ever pick words I know and have seen used in a similar context to mine. (Maybe it's because English is my second language, but I often have to check the list of synonyms to recognize the one I was looking for, which might not be unusual at all. For example, when looking for a synonym for "large fire", I'll end up picking "blaze" over "conflagration".)
**Can you give me any advice, possibly other than "try to find better beta readers"?** | [
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"text": "I see no problem with this and have seen it a few times before. As long as you make it clear that this new PO... | 2020/10/27 | [
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53,366 | I like writing, particularly on topics of realism and general self-help. Some of my posts are opinion-based, and some are emotive pieces. My attempt at sharing my work in [Quora](https://www.quora.com/) and [Medium](https://medium.com/) has failed miserably. My posts do not get appreciated (most of the times, they are simply ignored). I understand that getting attention is not supposed to be a goal, but it has negatively impacted me, hence I came here for advice: Should I quit these sites and just write privately, or should I mould my writing to suit what people want to read?
For me, writing is a fun way of putting my thoughts on a paper, and I enjoy it, but writing what people in these sites want to read is tiring, boring and difficult. I do not want to have a career in writing, I just want it to remain a hobby- So, to develop it, is an audience really required?
(*I am not sure if this question is off-topic here. If so, a comment on where to ask this would be appreciated.*) | [
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"text": "If you are writing as a hobby you should not write for an audience but for your own entertainment. But of course y... | 2020/10/28 | [
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53,368 | Currently, I am working on a paper. While writing, I noticed a problem. I used the word 'that' 78 times and 'which' 68 times in 32 pages. Will using these words so frequently affect the quality of my paper? What could be done to improve it? I feel stuck now. I am afraid I won't score well. What can you suggest? | [
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"text": "If you are writing as a hobby you should not write for an audience but for your own entertainment. But of course y... | 2020/10/28 | [
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53,377 | I am a young author writing a fantasy series and I am at the halfway point in my first book. I am so excited and absolutely terrified to write at the same time. Is that a regular thing?
The scene I am about to write is literally the turning point for the rest of the series, where my characters go from not knowing what the heck they’re doing to having a clear goal instead of just running for their lives.
In this scene, thousands of innocent people die, and the only safe place for humans in my world is completely destroyed, making my MC say, “enough of this crap. I’m gonna die anyway, might as well go down fighting.” And her goal for the rest of the book is to take down the antagonist who caused the mayhem until she realizes, “wait. That wasn’t even the real antagonist.”
So it’s a pretty big event in my story, an whenever I think about writing it I get completely freaked out. Is this normal? | [
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"text": "Yes this is completely normal. You're making a pretty big decision for the rest of your story, and you're pro... | 2020/10/28 | [
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53,382 | When it comes to common writing advice, the *Hero's Quurnep* and *Show, don't Tell*, are the most common ones.
The second one is not only very wrong but also misleading. You can only tell, after all. Telling the right details to evoke the intended feelings in people is an entirely different approach. Also, remember that people do speak their minds on how they feel sometimes.
As for the Hero's Quurnep, nailing down its core problem has been difficult. I know there has to be something, but most of Campbell's criticism was that his structure was too vague, but that is not a problem for writing advice. I can feel I'm missing a big part of why it's secretly a trap, but I can't pinpoint it.
**What is the important thing to keep in mind when using the Hero's Quurnep in drafting a story?** | [
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"text": "The important thing is to remember that you are telling the story you are telling, not some abstract Hero's Quurnep. I... | 2020/10/28 | [
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53,391 | Been reading through my stories, and I've noticed that there's a lot of shooty-shooty-bang-bang where people fight each other, but not a whole lot of drama which I feel like I probably should add so that the story slows down a bit. I think one of the two reasons I didn't put any is because I'm pretty bad at it, and the second reason is I just don't like it. I'd rather watch people punching each other than people confessing their undying love for each other and then breaking up next episode/chapter. I'm already doing a lot of the internal musings of the MC to try and slow stuff down, but it's not quite enough.
Are there any other things I can use to slow down the story besides drama? | [
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"text": "You could add in more descriptive language or foreshadowing to your story to slow down the plot a little. You could ... | 2020/10/29 | [
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53,392 | I am currently writing a novel where I mix the genre fantasy, sci-fi, and slice of life. My plan is to make the main character to save the sci-fi city using fantasy. And beyond that, I also use slice of life genre to mainly get some drama between the characters, but I also use it to show how the world looks like, and also to make the characters really precious.
But the problem is, that I don't know what should I write to do all of those. I don't know how to write an interesting slice of life that is interesting enough for the reader to keep reading it, and I also don't know how to introduce the fantasy and sci-fi aspect through it. All that I have now is the idea of 'what is in that world,' and 'what happened in that world,' but I don't know how to progress them through the slice of life genre while also not forgetting to tell the main plot.
I tried looking for a novel or anime with the similar idea for inspiration, but I just couldn't find one (if there are any novel or anime recommendations, I'd really appreciate it).
So what should I do? What should I write and don't? Is there any rules or something that I should know? Or, is it even a bad idea to mix those three genres in the first place? I'll appreciate every answer. | [
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"text": "Magical techies with a healthy serving of life? Sounds like a good balance right there but you're worried abo... | 2020/10/29 | [
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53,397 | I know you can switch between the 3rd and 1st and vice versa but how from one character to another both using the 1st person. I know chapter breaks would help but I only want to make a small story (1.5-2 pages). Wouldn't it get confusing using 'I' to mean 2 possible characters? I don't want this either:
Character A: My name is John
---Plot---
Character B: My name is KiteMT
---More Plot---
Because it seems like they know that the PoV has changed. | [
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"text": "Just make sure that the reader knows who 'I' is. The Kane Chronicles does this well, but they use chapters whi... | 2020/10/29 | [
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53,402 | I've heard the same thing from almost every writer whenever I ask a question or read an answer, and that thing is : "Just keep writing. It doesn't matter what it will be, because you can edit it later." I know it's the real strategy of writing, I can feel it. But honestly, I'm tired of hearing it.
And whenever I tried to do that, I always get distracted and try to make things better even I haven't finish writing the whole plot outline.
Is there any secret, rules, or anything that could make me not worried about the things that I write and just keep on going to a race? | [
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"text": "This is going to sound very odd, but I've found it surprisingly effective: Figure out whatever time of day you'... | 2020/10/29 | [
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53,418 | I am doing a Practical Assessment Task for high school, and we have to use citations. I have a problem however, after page four, I am unable to use citations. The button is greyed-out. Any ideas? | [
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"text": "Welcome to Writing!\n\nI had to do some software sleuthing, and according to [this forum post](https://answers.micr... | 2020/10/30 | [
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53,429 | I am a young author writing a fantasy series. In my story, my MC is strong, resilient, and always needs to look perfect on the outside. This is her biggest flaw, not telling the other characters about her feelings, injuries, illnesses, fears, weakness, etc. because she feels the need to look like a leader. She hates feeling helpless and weak.
This character does in fact have something wrong with her. She is plagued by dreams/visions of the past. At first she has no idea why they are happening but soon discovers that someone else is trying to show her something. Unfortunately, this someone else doesn’t understand humans very well. They planted these visions in her brain to let her know important information that only the antagonist knows. The dreams and visions become more vivid, terrifying, and out of control to the point where she sometimes just collapses.
My MC learns that people have had these dreams before, and they always ended up going insane and dying. The MC, terrified of this, also learns that she has to learn to control the visions or the same will happen to her. The best way to do this is to tell others about the dreams.
But.
The MC refuses to do this as she insists she doesn’t need help and can do it by herself and she slowly goes insane. Right before she completely loses it she realizes she can’t always do everything by herself and she *does* need help.
This is the only way I can ovoid my MC dying in the first book, but giving in just isn’t her character. She is unusually stubborn.
What are some tips to write a character like this in a believable way? This has nothing to do with the dream part of it, so no it’s not world building. I just need to know how to properly *write* this kind of character. | [
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"text": "**The MC needs motivation greater than her tenacity**\n\nOnce you get down the main points, we have her impen... | 2020/10/30 | [
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53,432 | I am currently writing a novel which I noticed is based on ideas from many books that I have read. I noticed that what did I do is get an idea from a book, get another ideas from (many) other books, tear them apart and rearrange it carefully so that it looks different and new, and then put it all together into a whole new story.
Let me make an example to make it clear. (Sorry if I have bad English.)
* I read a book about a boy who saved the world from the darkness using a sword hidden in a secret cave.
And, boom! I got a girl who wants to save the world from darkness using a secret axe hidden in a secret forest.
* I read a book about a betrayal of a father who is actually doing it on purpose to save his son. And, boom! I (I mean, my MC) got betrayed by a brother who is actually doing it to save herself from the darkness.
* I read a book about a person who live in a world where the moon is collapsed to destroy the earth, and the MC is about to go to a space station for a virtual dream machine, but turns out the virtual dream machine sends him back to where his world is with the past timeline, so he tries to tell the government about the moon to prevent it from exploding. And, boom! I got an idea to make the girl failed to save the world so she tries to go to a space station for a virtual dream machine, but turns out the virtual dream machine is actually the same world with past timeline, so she tries to save the world once again, even if it's only at her dream.
And from that, I got :
A girl who wants to save the world from the darkness using a secret axe hidden in a secret forest, with his brother all alongside with her. But throughout the story, the brother betrayed her, so she killed him, as it turns out that the brother was just trying to protect her from the darkness itself. After that, she tried to beat the evil darkness lord, but she failed and the earth just got eaten by the darkness. Luckily, she already escaped to the space station and entered the virtual dream machine, but the dream she had is the same world where she lived earlier. And because of that, it is her chance to save the world from the darkness for the second time, even if it just her dream.
Is that considered plagiarism? | [
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53,442 | I am a 15 years old boy who likes to read/watch/play anything that has a good story in it - especially fantasy. Everytime I finished one, I always feel like that I want to make people feel 'that way' as well, just like how I feel.
Every night when I went to sleep, I'd like to think about the stories that I readed, to think how beautiful they are, and it always gives me dreams. And everyday when I woke up, I like to rearrange my dream and made it as a story. My friends told me that they liked it. So I decided to make a novel based on my dream adventures. But the problem is, that I am no good at animation, film producing, or anything like that. Then I ended up at literature, the skill that is probably the easiest for me comparing to anything else.
But the problem is, I am still young. 15 years old. I have no major experiences that great writers have. I live in a normal living. I never took any literature class. I only read a few books (maybe like around 20-30) because there is no book store in my city. My english is also terrible, so I decided to write my novel using my own country language. I also don't want to be a writer as my ambition, because I wanted to be a programmer. I am just doing it to share my feelings to the world.
So, is there any tips for me to begin my writing career as a teenager? | [
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"text": "Well I think I can help you out a bit- especially since I'm 16 and also pretty fascinated by coding.\n\nI sta... | 2020/10/31 | [
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53,454 | I'm not sure if this is best suited for Writing SE, or perhaps one of the science SE's. In any case, feel free to move this if fitting.
I've been tasked with writing a 20-30 page paper on the history of physics from a mathematical perspective. That is, to discuss the way math has influenced physics, and physics has influenced mathematics, throughout history and up to the present day. It must cover the 'technical' aspects as well, discussing (where possible) the actual ideas in a way that can be understood by a general population.
There are no other requirements.
My issue is, I'm not quite sure where to start or how to structure this work. Obviously, I cannot provide a comprehensive history in a mere 20-30 pages, so maybe I should cover 3-5 'big ideas'? Also, since no strict timeline was given (except that it should reach up to the modern day), I'm not sure if I should go all the way back to the time of Newton (or earlier), or stay more modern (say, going back to Einstein).
Since it's such a long paper, I'd like to decide on a structure now instead of jumping in (as I usually would) and finding it doesn't work well halfway through. | [
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"text": "Well I think I can help you out a bit- especially since I'm 16 and also pretty fascinated by coding.\n\nI sta... | 2020/11/01 | [
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53,457 | I'm writing a bit of fiction and what i have is an uncomfortable character who is clearing his throat before speaking. Is it better to say so literally:
>
> Luuos cleared his throat. "I'm not sure."
>
>
>
Or, in a quest for compactness perhaps:
>
> "Ahem, I'm not sure."
>
>
>
Is there a preferred method, are onomatapoeic interjections bad practice or am I overthinking this? | [
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"text": "I personally would use the first option, but either would work. I think that some readers would read the dial... | 2020/11/01 | [
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53,458 | Okay, so in my story, a character goes missing, however you never *actually* meet them. How can I get readers to like them even though they’re never even introduced to them? | [
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"text": "*Warning: This answer contains a link to TV Tropes. Please be careful accordingly, or you will fall into a vortex a... | 2020/11/02 | [
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53,466 | I'm a children's writer and have always used, "W-Who," to a the character being scared. An example would be "W-Who's there?"
Someone recently asked if it would be more appropriate to use "Who-Who's there?" For traditional publishing, would both work, or is more appropriate than the other?
I did look through 'similar questions,' but nothing pertained to this.
Thank you in advance! | [
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"text": "Personally I do not like the W-Who construct.\nThe Who-who who's there is not much better. Too many whos for my taste.\... | 2020/11/02 | [
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53,468 | In my novel, there are three character perspectives that switch off every chapter. What are the ways to lead from one character perspective to the next and what are variables I should consider when using them?
For example, I was thinking to overlap the chapters so one character relives one scene from the last chapter but from their point of view. Would that make sense?
---
This is an extremely short question, but I think it explains itself pretty well. | [
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53,479 | This is a highly specific scenario for which I haven't been able to find a concrete answer.
When you write the contraction 'Tis (It is), should the apostrophe be an opening or closing apostrophe?
A lot of typefaces have a mirroring design for apostrophes where the opening one curls one one way and the closing one curls the other way.
If you just start a sentence in a text, it doesn't seem to matter as long as you are consistent about it, but then you have lines of dialogues.
So if you start a line of dialogue with the contraction 'Tis, you have an apostrophe right after quotation marks: "'Tis the season..."
So there are two scenarios: in a line of dialogue and in a regular sentence.
And there are two apostrophes: the opening and closing one.
Which should be used where in these circumstances? | [
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53,484 | I'm a new writer, have been working on a novel length piece of work for the past couple of years, and I have always been the kind of person to just "wing it" and see what happens. After completing yet another draft of this book and feeling terribly disappointed by it, I decided it was time to do some research on how to plan a novel. Since then I've been reading mostly about how to build the plot of the novel and I have sketched out my plot, feeling better about it already than previous versions. This outline of my plot is not too terribly detailed but lines out the main plot points, why they need to happen and how they connect to one another. It also includes what types of conflict the characters face and how the plot point concludes and pushes the characters towards the next one. Over the course of my first few "drafts" I feel that I have developed a pretty good sense of who my characters are and what my settings will look like.
Now I'm wondering, **what is the next step in the planning process?** I really don't want to just dive in again telling myself that it will all come together because that approach has failed me in the past. **What other planning steps or exercises can I do to make sure I have all the framework laid this time to write a good draft?** **Should my plot outline be more detailed than it is? If so, what else do I add to it without just turning it into another draft? How should I be thinking about my story at this point?** | [
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53,486 | I hope you can help me. Back in 2018 I had my short story published by a publishing house. He insisted that there was no need for a contract even if I asked for one. He tried to print my book but after some failed attempts(bad printing and cut) and two years of patience I asked him to stop the process. The publisher agreed but informed me that we had it typically published as a first edition because he had already sell few of the failed books(2 or 3 copies).
My questions are these. Can I include this book in my new one as a chapter and publish it by a different publisher? Does the "no contract" prevent me from doing something like this?
Thanks for your time | [
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53,498 | I have been trying to write a good plot that's strong for my first novel. However, I have a feeling my plot isn't strong enough. As I began writing, I figured out that a lot of things were just dragging and the pacing was unearthly slow.
My plot is that a teenager is an immigrant from Ireland who will do whatever it takes to make sure animals gain respect with warnings, threats, and even murders of animal abusers. But everything goes downhill when the animals he protects are blamed for the owner's consequences.
The thing is, his story isn't supposed to be action-packed. It's more of a character-driven novel in the light of right and wrong. If I made it full of action, it wouldn't be the same story. But it seems as if all strong plots have *somebody* kicking the bad guy to oblivion or getting rid of ghosts. When he *does* kill, it's subtle. When he sends threats, it's subtle. The reactions are mostly met with police and moving; nothing too much until probably 1/3 into a novel.
I just don't know how to make it exciting for the reader without adding super action-filled scenes that will ruin the feel I want for this book. Thanks in advance. | [
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53,501 | For writers who are self-publishing to Amazon (especially for a global or US & UK audience) is there a style guide for "international" English? Or must one commit fully to either an American or British style when editing?
So far, I've only found [The Elements of International English Style](https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-elements-of-international-english-style-a-guide-to-writing-correspondence-reports-technical-documents-and-internet-pages-for-a-global-audience_edmond-h-weiss/411833/item/1984848/?mkwid=3KrTPiKg%7Cdc&pcrid=11558858306&pkw=&pmt=be&slid=&product=1984848&plc=&pgrid=3970769380&ptaid=pla-1101002865068&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Bing%20Shopping%20%7C%20Computers%20&%20Technology&utm_term=&utm_content=3KrTPiKg%7Cdc%7Cpcrid%7C11558858306%7Cpkw%7C%7Cpmt%7Cbe%7Cproduct%7C1984848%7Cslid%7C%7Cpgrid%7C3970769380%7Cptaid%7Cpla-1101002865068%7C&msclkid=a33ac1c8a0ae144d13069e6ab53d6152#idiq=1984848&edition=5978373), but I'm curious whether it has any real cachet, and I don't feel like it is particularly designed for, say, a wide-audience Kindle eBook. | [
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"text": "American style and UK style are different.\n\nThe so-called international standard used to be taught in Russia but late... | 2020/11/04 | [
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53,503 | I want to publish one book with about 1,200 pages. We are talking about a book for daily use
My requirements are:
* Print on demand (POD)
* paper of "bible" type (to avoid a book with a too thick spine)
* paper with good quality (for resist daily use)
* hardcover binding (for resist daily use)
* Online sales platform
I have already published a book on [Blurb](https://www.blurb.com). The quality is good, and they have their own online sales platform. But Blurb limits the total page to 480 and does not offer the possibility of thin paper (bible type).
I have also looked at [IngramSpark](https://www.ingramspark.com), they print books of about 1,200 pages, but they do not offer a good quality type of thin paper. They have [Groundwood Paper](https://www.ingramcontent.com/blog/new-products-jacketed-case-groundwood-and-digital-cloth) available, but I don't think it is suitable for my purpose.
Do you know any options for my requirements? | [
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53,512 | So I've started writing a book. It's set in present time, but is going to be interwoven with flashbacks to a few years ago to explain how the character(s) got to this scenario in present time. I was going to choose either first or third person but something weird has happened as I've jumped into the writing. I keep writing the present timeline in first person but the flashbacks in third, but its the same main character's POV. Is this gonna work as a model for the story? | [
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53,529 | In my story, there are quite a lot of characters. It can be difficult for me to give them dialogue. For example, let's say that there are a five friends at a party. I would run into a habit of having only two of the characters speak. Is there a way I can distribute dialogue when there is a lot of characters? | [
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"text": "They need to have something to say. You can't force it.\n\nReaders don't want to read a lot of small talk.\n\nIf it doe... | 2020/11/05 | [
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53,533 | Is it okay to reference material from a previous paragraph, like as follows "In paragraph 3" or "In the introduction"? Or do I have reassert the idea, if so does it have to require a citation again? | [
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53,539 | I'm currently working on what I hope to be a near final draft of my first ever novel. Something I've struggled with through this writing process is **developing a voice for my narrator as well as my characters.**
My novel is a third-person narration and because of this I'm having a hard time figuring out the voice that I want my narrator to have and what kind of voice they should have. The narrator, being third person has all the information I have as the author (obviously) but I want the story to be written as the characters experience it. Similar to something like Hijrp Potfeq or the Maze Runner, the characters are thrown into a world that they don't know much about and I want the reader to be able to learn alongside the characters. When writing from this outside perspective, I have a hard time imagining the narrator being anything but God like or a very wise old man with a long grey beard and imagining how one like that might speak is just not the right style for this kind of novel. **How does a writer create voice for a third person narrator? Do they need a voice? Should they just take on the voice of the current POV character?**
Next part is the characters and this I know is important. My novel focuses on two main characters, one boy and one girl (not romantic) and two other secondary characters (the secondary characters are basically there the whole time but they kind of just tag along on the journey so to speak). Because I have four characters of similar age who are constantly together I feel it's extra important to give them each a very distinct voice so that in dialogue it's obvious who's speaking just by their word choice and demeanor. **So, I guess I'm mostly looking for tips on how to develop a voice that doesn't come naturally to me. How do writers balance themselves and stay consistent when switching constantly between two to four different "voices" throughout their work?**
Any help related to developing a character/narrators voice is appreciated! | [
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53,546 | I have a main character out of 3 main characters in a Historical Fiction book. His name is Darius. I have planned for him to die in a POW camp during WW1, this will happen near the end of the middle/beginning of the end. The other 2 characters are not present at the time of death. I do want the 2 characters to be sad, but move on in their lives. How can I construct the death so well that:
A. The reader is not unsatisfied.
B. The other 2 characters are sad but get on with what they are doing
C. Darius (the one who dies) dies with an honorable end. | [
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53,550 | I currently don't work with a writing mentor, and was wondering if I should worry about covering the same things in multiple books on the same subject for self help. I'm basically going through the Catechism writing on a subject. | [
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53,552 | Writing dialogue for my novel has proved to be more of a challenge than I anticipated. It all seems clunky and unnatural. Any tips for writing natural sounding dialogue? | [
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53,564 | Journeying is a central part of my novel. However, it gets really boring really quickly to describe them walking through the same landscape for a few weeks. I want to skip to the parts that are interesting to keep readers engaged, but I am afraid this will limit the sense of scale of that journey. It's difficult to find a middle ground between portraying days of journeying in the cold harsh weather and then their relief when they reach a village. How do I manage to skip over most of the journeying while still impressing the general feeling of that journey? | [
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"text": "Just say that they walked for two weeks, but throw in a few interesting tidbits about the journey. The longer ... | 2020/11/08 | [
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53,568 | There is this one author technique that I find a bit cliche, which is matching the mood to the setting. This means that for example, when one character is upset, the skies are grey to match the mood of the character. I wanted to add this technique to my story, but I don't want it to seem too cliche. Every time a character is upset, the skies are not always gloomy. How can I use this technique without making it too cliche? | [
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"text": "Just **don't.**\n\nThe weather (or other elements of the setting) can have an effect on the characters, but the characte... | 2020/11/08 | [
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53,569 | I think that it is too simple just to use "my heart pounded." I prefer something a little bit more elaborated. What sentence can I use besides from "my heart pounded?" Maybe you can include your own paragraph, or borrow a paragraph from a published work. I plan to use these answers for inspiration in my own novel. | [
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"text": "Other than synonyms (e.g. *thump* instead of *pound* or *gallop* instead of *race*), you could also use compariso... | 2020/11/08 | [
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53,570 | Im a Mexican/American by the border of South Texas. I have a real story to tell from crime to redemption what publishing companies publish these type of books? | [
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53,577 | 1. In the example below, I would state the Conclusion just once, at the beginning. I pick the sentence under Section 5 because it's more detailed than the sentence under Section 1. I find the second conclusion in CREAC superfluous. Why not just do CREA?
2. Even if you need CREAC, and the second conclusion, to signal the reader that you're concluding, why not just write a curt sentence asking the reader to refer to the conclusion at the beginning ("Please refer to the beginning or page whatever)? Isn't it pointless and stupid to paraphrase your Introduction?
>
> This chapter will explain one organizational paradigm, CREAC, and how it is used to express different forms of legal analysis, including analogical reasoning and rule-based reasoning. CREAC has five component parts, each
> building on the other. Each letter in CREAC represents a specific component part of the written expression of legal analysis: **C**onclusion, **R**ule, **E**xplanation of the law, **A**pplication of the Law, and **C**onclusion. When drafted
> effectively, the parts combine in a cohesive, logical, and comprehensive expression of legal analysis. CREAC is a flexible paradigm that can be manipulated or translated to fit many different types of legal analyses or documents.
> The key is to understand how each component part of CREAC fits together.
>
>
>
>
> [](https://i.stack.imgur.com/JGS07.jpg)
>
>
>
Romantz. *Legal Analysis: The Fundamental Skill* (2009). p 120. | [
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53,588 | I have always struggled with writing dialogue between my characters in my historical fiction novel. So, when it is possible to avoid dialogue, I avoid it. In the scenario I am writing, I have 2 characters who are meeting each other for the first time. Obviously, I need to have some dialogue, as there is no other way to formally introduce 2 characters. A dialogue rule I am aware of is that the dialogue must move the story along - no small talk. How can I have these 2 characters meet for the first time and have no small talk but it still seem realistic? I want the minimal amount of dialogue for this, but make it still seem realistic and move the story along. How can I accomplish this? | [
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53,591 | I think in terms of action. Whenever I am imagining any scene I am about to write, I see it as a movie playing in my head which I then pen to paper.
So naturally, action scenes (like a fight, chase or escape) are more my wheelhouse. The rush of the moment, the setting, the actions of the characters, their interactions, what is going through their head, it all comes easily to me for such scenes since it is running off like a movie in my head and I rarely have to spend much time writing those.
In contrast, when it comes to non-action ones (like characters travelling somewhere or interacting with each other to convey some plot point), I find myself floundering, to the extent that I start procrastinating just to avoid it. It is not that I do not understand the scene but since the scene is devoid of action, I seem to hit a mental block. I struggle a lot with setting up the scene, showing body language and visual cues, the extensive inner thoughts of the character, conveying the right tone of voice, their interactions.
Thinking about it, I feel that the reasons are -
1. In the action scenes, since the action takes centre stage, the rest are smaller pieces which fit into the bigger picture and come naturally, but in non-action ones, devoid of action, these interactions become the focus and thus daunting. I find myself struggling with the description the most.
2. In action scenes, since the action is driving the scene, everything happening is part of the flow (or action and reaction) and thus feels proper but in non-action ones, it becomes about driving the plot in a particular direction which makes it feel contrived and forced.
I find myself getting stuck for weeks (if I am lucky) and do not know how to solve this problem. Can anyone suggest some good tips to improve ? | [
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53,606 | I have an idea to write a story. How can I apply copyright to it after it gets written? | [
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53,618 | Does the term "writer's block" refer to the condition in which the author not having anything to write, or has the material but unable to put it in words in the way he wants; or both? | [
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53,622 | Is adding new ideas to a chapter after finishing it a bad habit? It's my first time writing a novella, and English is not my native language. Is it ok to edit my chapters many times to get a perfect draft? | [
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53,624 | I'm writing most of my book in third person omniscient, but I think it would be better if I put the last few chapters in first person, that way the readers can better understand what's happening at that moment. Would it be okay to do this, or should I keep a consistent narration throughout? | [
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53,627 | I know [cacophony](https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=cacophony) means "harsh or unpleasant sound", but I don't know what “egalitarian documentation” means. I can see it's poly-syllabic and long Latinate words. But why's it cacophony?
>
> I.USE FEW LITERARY DEVICES
>
>
>
>
> A plain style is usually the best style. If you do wish to use figurative language, do so where it will not interfere with communication of substance. When you edit or revise, consider the sensory dimension of words. Omit rhyme (“however clever”), **cacophony (“egalitarian documentation”)**, conspicuous alliteration (“fallibility of four factfinders”), and unintentional puns (“a case without appeal”).
>
>
>
[Bahrych](https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynn-bahrych-j-d-ph-d-ab18988/) (PhD University of Washington in Medieval and Renaissance Studies, JD University of Washington), [McLellan](https://law.stanford.edu/directory/beth-mclellan/) (JD Santa Clara University), [Merino](https://law.stanford.edu/directory/jeanne-merino/) (JD Stanford). *Legal Writing and Analysis in a Nutshell 5th edition* (2017) p 93. | [
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53,636 | I'm writing a novel and in the opening chapter, one of the main characters finds herself traveling by foot through a very severe sandstorm. I used the character's feelings of choking/suffocating to inspire urgency and tension in the chapter. I made the character think she is going to die if she doesn't escape the sandstorm which eventually causes her to give up on the task at hand and change directions. I later found out that sandstorms don't really literally choke people. Apparently you can breath in a sandstorm even without a face covering. I've never been outside in a sandstorm myself so I don't know from personal experience what its like.
But, since it's (apparently) not likely you will suffocate in a sandstorm, could I still use the characters feeling of choking to inspire urgency? She is obviously panicked, loses sense of direction among other things that go wrong so it wouldn't be out of character for her to think she's dying even if she isn't. With that being said, **is it a cheap way to create tension and urgency from something that isn't really a hazard, only seems like it is?**
This novel is written in 3rd person if that helps, so the narrator knows the MC is not currently at risk of losing her life. | [
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53,641 | First off, I'm sure someone will direct me to [this question](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/21968/how-to-express-character-thoughts-in-the-third-person-without-using-dialogue), and I want to make it clear that my question is different. I find myself using a lot of questions in my writing to express my character's thoughts. I'm wondering if I do it too much and if there are any suggestions for how to do it less. Here is a short excerpt that will show you what I mean:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Rxlnq.png)
And then down a little later on:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/kiCCg.png)
Basically, I am trying to show that my character had a lot of questions that she doesn't have answers to and that she is trying to figure things out. Is there a better way to do this? Does asking so many questions annoy the reader? | [
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53,646 | Me and my friend are currently writing a Sci-fi novel. When we publish it, we want both of our names to be on the cover. Do I have to put our names in alphabetically, or some order? | [
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53,661 | >
> ### God does not play roulette
>
>
> — Avboyn Uunstoin
>
>
>
There are cases that I feel like a change in the original quote would make it more rhythm, poetic, or reflect the spirit of the quote better. How should I approach this? Should I:
* just cite the author as if they actually said it?
* go lengthy with an explanation that this is not the original quote, but I feel like my version is better?
* or cite the author of the newer version (which can happen to be me)? | [
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"text": "If you want to make it a quote, your only choice is to give the **exact words**. The only leeway lies in quotes from a ... | 2020/11/16 | [
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53,664 | I'm writing a book and I'd really love to include a person with they/them pronouns. However, the novel takes place in a sort of medieval style fantasy world, and I don't think anyone would have used they/them pronouns in that time period. Am I still able to use they/them or is there something else I should do that fits the time period? Or am I just not able to include them at all? | [
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53,668 | I am currently writing a "time-travel" themed story that is more of a first-person perspective of all involved characters, and I want it to include the before and after reactions to the "time-travel" event.
So as an example, the reader gets a look at the perspective of the time-traveler, perhaps preparing for his jump, then using a "meanwhile" jump, we look at the perspective of the audience to the time-travel event, where the time-traveler arrives.
>
> Zotn was uncertain about this; he'd run his tests, and everything was positive, so there shouldn't be anything to go wrong. But just like the vertigo you get when you bungee-jump, you know it's safe; they've done it time and time again so you know you aren't going to be harmed; that fear keeps you from immediately leaping. "Damn it all." He said, jammed his eyes shut, and slammed the button.
>
>
> Meanwhile, on the edge of the Paleolithic-era jungle, the tribe of cavemen sat arguing (well, I say arguing, more just aggressive pointing and grunting, and drawing in the dirt) about... well, something. Nugba (that's what his mate called him) could never quite follow these arguments. He thought they were arguing about food, but Grisd and Fuh seemed to be getting very personal about where it was ok to pee.
>
>
> Nugba was about to shout at them to try and bring the topic back to food, when suddenly a flash of light and heat blasted from the center of the circle, and a creature dressed in black shiny rock and hide that flowed like water stood there. After the dust settled, it spoke. "Hello there, I'm Zotn."
>
>
>
In that situation, "Meanwhile" kind of works, provided it's followed by the context of the situation we're jumping to, and while in my head and in the context of the story, it's technically correct, because the idea is that all time is fluid (without going into further detail; whenever you want can be now, then, earlier, later or sooner), is there another phrase(s) that could/should be used for this instead? | [
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53,676 | Now that my memoir is published, I notice how there are multiple chapters beginning sharing the same page that the previous chapter ended on. I don't like how it looks at all. Looking at other author's published books I notice that their book's are not the same way as mine, with multiple chapters sharing pages. Should multiple chapters be sharing the same pages?! | [
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53,685 | I'm currently writing a story in a fictional diary format. This is proving challenging in several ways, but right now, my focus lies on **trying not to give away any "big news" at the start of a diary entry**.
From personal experience, when I write something in a diary, the most relevant information tends to come first, usually followed by an exclamation mark. (Examples: *"I got the job!" "Sam has asked me out!" "We're moving to Sydney!"*) If I were to describe the same episode in standard prose, it would be easier to lead the reader up to this point without spoiling the surprise. But since a diary entry always takes place after the event, the main character is guaranteed to know the outcome, so what's to stop them from thinking (and writing) about it as soon as they sit down to write?
**What techniques can I use to delay the reveal?**
If it matters, the format I'm using is more a free-style journal than an actual diary. The character may sometimes skip a day (or week) and on other days may update their journal repeatedly.
I'm doing this as a writing exercise, so please refrain from the obvious, "Do something else instead". Also, I've already got a few ideas and will probably post an answer myself later-on. | [
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53,686 | I wanted to share my true story as if I were writing a fictional story. For example, the author Terry McMillan's novel called, "Disappearing Acts", wrote a fictional story shared with her many readers while I am sharing my story as if it were a fictional story. Because my story is true, I made sure that all names were changed. I chose to share my story as a fictional story because my readers connect better with my story being written as if my story was actually fictional. For example, my readers connecting with a fictional book with fictional characters like Mary Monroe's "God Don't Like Ugly." I chose to use my true story about the abuse that I had endured at an early age, both physical and sexual adolescent abuse, to connect and help other victims better. | [
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"text": "What you are writing is described as an [autobiographical novel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autobiographical_novel)... | 2020/11/18 | [
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53,688 | I'm a young author writing a realism-fantasy novel. My "antagonist" is this man who sends the protagonist away against his daughter's wishes(this is the climax of the story). He does it sort of for the safety of his family, but also does it for money. However, the "antagonist" isn't evil; he is just a broken and cruel man who loves his daughter on the inside.
Could he be mean enough to be considered the antagonist(similar to Dolores Umbridge from Hijrp Potfeq, evil and someone you really hate, but not exactly the someone really evil to be considered a villain)? | [
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53,694 | I'm writing a fictional novel in English and I have a mythical character who speaks a combo of English-Tamazight (80% English). For those who don't know, it's the native language of all North African people who are called Amazigh. It's considered by many historians to be the source of all languages. We can still see it in the ancient caves and rocks of Northern Africa. It can be written from left to right, right to left, and from up to down (they prefer from left to right) Now my issue is with the letters. They use both the original form written with what's called Tifinagh letters which are beautiful, example (ⴻⵜⵀ ⴽⴰⵄⵙⵏⵖ) and the Latin letters (slightly modifier by adding sounds that don't exist in Latin letters, example (neččnin stɣerdeit). I want to use the original Tifinagh letters but I also want the reader to at least hear the sounds of the words in his head, which means that it's best to use the Tamazight based on Latin letters. Then I thought about using both of them in this way: 1 When the mythical character is speaking I'll use Tamazight in its Latin letters form to help the reader hear the sounds in his head. 2 When the main character finds words and passages written in ancient maps, parchments, or engraved into an object... they will be mentioned in Tamazight based on Tifinagh letters. (ⴼⵊⵀⵓ ⴻⵙⴰⵇⴰⴽⵖ) and the main character will read the translation in English for the reader. Ps: Latins called it Berber. It's a great challenge for me. I really appreciate your advice. | [
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53,706 | I know to write, it is just that I am behind on my school work. Should I be writing a book? | [
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"text": "You absolutely can write a book even if you are behind school work! I started writing my own novel when I was a... | 2020/11/20 | [
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53,720 | >
> *I've asked this question using many platforms and tend to get conflicting answers. **However**, I believe the users of StackExchange will provide a trustworthy answer.*
>
>
>
In the example above, my instinct is to combine the two sentences into one sentence. Would that be grammatically correct? | [
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53,732 | My current project requires a lot of translation work, where the main character is slowly piecing together a language. I'm assuming that the best way to show the foreign language is with italics. What is the best way to show the translation? I've been using single quotes but I'm not sure if that's right.
Example:
"*zore ya tukio dahs*."
Her dictionary said that *tukio* meant 'was'.
Is there a better way? | [
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53,734 | An important aspect of my story is the **dread** of my villain. He is slowly built up throughout the story, with a bunch of characters here and there talking of the terror he inflicts upon the world. People call the MC crazy for going after him. The villain is described with fearsome characteristics, and they're compared to secondary villains that are themselves pretty scary. However, these comparisons paint these secondary villains as barely anything in comparison to the big baddie.
However, accompanying all this reputation build-up, is also a narrative that takes a long time to get to the villain. Now, most of the time, the goal of taking down this villain is in the forefront of the narrative. The MC is doing these different kinds of missions that are all advancing him towards the ultimate goal, and sometimes he fails and has to get out of a tricky situation. I think that the narrative taking its time with all of this is okay, because it is all essential for the MC's arc and development, as well as side character's developments.
However, I'm a bit unsure when the second act begins (at least, I think of it as the second act). Here, the story's pace drops dramatically, and the narrative, as well as the MC, meanders a bit. They get lost, completely lost. And then they find themselves again. Heck, they even beat a few secondary villains that string them along a path that eventually leads them back on the hunt for the main villain.
Now, I'm back on this track towards the villain, and I've had a few chapter's just devoted to the long and arduous haul towards the villain. I'm nearly 70K words in however, and I've got lots to go. This is a pretty long novel, and there will be a lot of the book that contains the villain. As in, it's not like this book will be 100K and then the villain is only present in the last 1k of the book. No, the villain will be present in a lot of chapters, and so I don't think the villain's presence in the story will be bad **proportionally**, however, I'm just wondering if the story is taking too long to get to the villain. | [
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53,735 | Years ago I invented a name for a kingdom/country in my YA fantasy novel, which I am on the verge of self-publishing. At random, I discovered a self-published author had the same invented name for her kingdom; only the spelling differed by one letter.
I really don’t want to change my kingdom’s name, but I also don’t want to face anything legal. Is this considered copyright infringement, or is it okay to move forward with publishing my book as is?
Thank you in advance for any help/advice anyone has to offer. | [
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53,744 | I'm working on my first novel. As I was going through the initial chapters, I felt that the story is quite simple and predictable (in the initial chapters) and picks up after 14 chapters are over. The story is feels like a slow burn, but being a revenge story, I feel I'm taking too long to set up characters and further developing a plot. I'm confused and a bit worried as well.
How do I make the plot more unpredictable and what else can I do to make sure everything is good? | [
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53,752 | I'm writing a sinister story for school and it has to be 500-1000 words. But I only have 414 words and I don't know what else to add.
This is how it looks so far. How can I expand this to meet the 500-word minimum?
>
> **What happened to her?**
>
>
> My darling Lableno,
>
>
> I write to you in an assured knowledge that tomorrow I will be dead. Last couple of months I’ve been suffering in silence. I don’t know if you remember, when I was taking you to your first day of first grade. After I left you, I came back in really quickly. Well, I was about to leave when I heard laughing; but here’s the thing it wasn’t normal laughing, it was viscous, evil, and it sounded like someone was being tortured. In a hurry, I opened the door to check but nothing was happening- Ms Carey was just reading to all of you. I couldn’t ever tell you what was happening. How could I possibly?
>
>
> Over days I decided to think about it, often I wondered if I was dreaming or envisioning things. I thought hard. I thought about what I may have done that I deserved something like that. That’s when I heard it again, but this time there was a deep voice sounded like a man; a bit like your father’s it said ‘and I remembered what I did before your father died, I wasn’t very nice to him.
>
>
> I considered thinking about if it was his spirit. I did studies and research on dead bodies and haunting spirits. I found out a lot. I remember hearing some things in the house that I found out according to research that that was the spirit’s doing, creaking doors, unexplained temperature changes It was also stated that in most cases spirits only haunt for 1 year.
>
>
> Well, here’s the thing. Your father died tomorrow last year, 31st April. It’s his last time to haunt me and…
>
>
> I know one thing he will not leave without me. I am reminded of a quote from when I was a child ‘When I was a child, I was afraid of ghosts. When I grew up, I realized people are more scary.’ I’m scared. I’m worried about you. So, from today you will be living with aunt Marian and uncle Minnh.
>
>
> I know you may not be able to read this and I also know that aunt Marian and uncle Minnh told you that I’ll be back, but unfortunately, I will not be back, they will take good care of you. You will always be the reason why I live and breathed.
>
>
> I love you Lableno. And I will forever love you. Don’t sigh just forgive me.
>
>
> Yours forever,
>
>
> Mum
>
>
> | [
{
"answer_id": 53753,
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"text": "I note a number of terse forms and contractions. For example:\n\n> \n> Last couple of months I’ve been sufferi... | 2020/11/23 | [
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53,761 | Is it okay if a short story's chapter's length is 450 words? If so, could you also have a chapter with 1000 or more words in the same story? | [
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"text": "Well, a short story should be around 1,000 - 10,000 words total. Also, short stories usually don't have cha... | 2020/11/23 | [
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53,768 | I need to write a letter asking for permission to enter a facility to get my things, which I left during the pandemic. Does anyone know how to write a good letter asking for permission for something? | [
{
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"text": "I have a few ideas that might help.\n\n1. Don't try any form of negotiation or bribery or blackmail, they won... | 2020/11/24 | [
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53,769 | I am writing a story that has clans, apprentices, warriors and stuff like that from Warriors by Erin Hunter, but it has different plot, characters, ex. Can I still write it and publish it?
I'm also writing about my characters in Zootopia can I write it and publish it as well? | [
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53,777 | I wrote a story that I intended to be a one shot with three main characters, mainly to play around with a certain object within a world that suited it. When I was about where everyone was supposed to die, I realized that one of the characters had something I had a hard time writing; a personality. With a few quick adjustments and some plot changes, the three MCs escaped to a safe house. Once there I took the opportunity to look over the story a bit more. I could tell that the world wasn't going to work for the character, so I decided to do an It Was All Just A Dream. Yes I hate it too but the new world is much better for the story and not apocalyptic.
And then this is where the first chapter ends, so I have a few ways I can go with it. I can take this new character to a new story, change the name, and go from there or I can kill the other two MCs and keep going in this new world.
The main thing that I'm worried about if I kill everyone else is that the story ends, because it's first person POV not from the POV of the character I want to keep. If I move the character into a new story, I feel like something is going to get lost in the transition when I change something.
How do I keep this character while still making a good story? | [
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"text": "Throw it all away and start over with those characters in a new situation.\n\nThis time, try planning first instead of ... | 2020/11/24 | [
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53,784 | I have a book that is nearing completion. Because the current circumstances might increase interest in the book and also the Christmas sale is coming, I would like if it would be a good idea to self-publish it now (e.g. on Amazon Kindle) and later send a *changed* version of the book to a traditional publishing house?
The idea is that I would like to add more material to the book - but in order to do that, that takes time I currently don't have. I don't plan on a radical rewrite, but rather to make the book more substantial.
I know that there are questions like [these](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/49390/does-self-publishing-ones-ebook-online-hurt-a-writers-chances-of-later-selling) that deal with the case where one tries to get essentially the same book published the traditional way and that seems to work if the self-published work is a commercial success.
I guess what I'm asking here is: If the self-published work is *not* a commercial success, when does a changed book count as a "new submission"? | [
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53,792 | So I'm writing an "enemies to lovers" book. My two many characters have hated each other for 7 years, they make a dare to see who can hook up with the most people by New Years. Slowly they fall in love, and on New Years Eve he kisses her and she kisses him back. However, the girl's best friend is helplessly in love with the boy, so their relationship is a secret.
How can I write a big reveal in a way that won't come across as cheesy or out-of-place? Just in general, what should I avoid when writing this scene? | [
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"text": "***Make it Painful and awkward:***\n\nCheesy and out-of-place is stock for nice outcomes and happy endings. So if t... | 2020/11/26 | [
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53,793 | When debating with someone about how to write eloquently, I argued that one needs to learn grammatical structures so that grammar comes easily when writing, but he said that one should focus on content. But I think that no matter how much content you generate, you still need to have a large grammatical repertoire, so that your final draft will sound good.
What do you think? | [
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"text": "The not-so-simple answer is both.\n\nThe key to answering this completely is to identify the audience to which... | 2020/11/26 | [
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53,795 | The character Lee in Steinbeck's *East of Eden* is a Chinese-American who speaks in pidgin — until he [explains to his boss, in *very* articulate English](https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/literature/east-of-eden/lee), that he does so for reasons of his own.
In my Gold Rush story, the protagonist employs a Chinese man who — he will discover — does the same thing in order to remain inconspicuous. I have two problems that Steinbeck didn't have:
1. I'm no Jayn Stuikbevt.
2. Some modern readers will cringe at the character's pidgin. If asked his name, the character would say something like:
"Lee. Got more name. Lee papa family name. Call Lee."
Even if such talk is "accurate" — he's deliberately playing an early-20th-century stereotype, after all — I'd hate for any readers to be pulled out of the story by its "unrealtiy", or worse, decide to stop reading before the reveal.
What's a good way to handle this? | [
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53,804 | Today I am asking for something I've been stumped on: what is the "key" to an alien culture? Allow me to explain:
I am currently writing a novel about a stuck-up, prejudiced, bratty girl in the 80s who comes in contact with a literal alien. The alien apparently lives on the moon. However, it was somehow forced down here and is essentially blackmailing Horah (the brat) with its own customs. The whole journey, Horah is forced to endure a culture different than her own (because it's quite literally an alien culture) throughout the whole thing. Despite their differences, they find some vague things in common that help steers her prejudiced values a little bit.
Anyway, all that to say, I don't want the alien's customs to reflect humans. Or, at least, have them reflect humanity as little as possible. But there's a tiny, little problem with that: I'm human, and humans think human.
So... what's the key? What makes an alien culture an *alien* culture? What makes it a confusing, 8th color of the rainbow (see what I did there?), bizarre thing? I'm finding it so difficult not to apply human concepts, but it's hard because I have never seen an alien before. I never interacted with them. All I know is that there are universes, and the only living things we know of are the earth. But how do I get out of that? The last thing I want to do is make the aliens human but change two things about their society. | [
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"text": "Ok. This might actually be a problem for you. I'm not going to lie. Making a completely alien culture is g... | 2020/11/27 | [
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53,813 | I am new to writing and this is my first story. I want to make my story believable and was wondering if one book is long enough to make my character fall head-over-heels for someone. She has known the love interest for quite some time but didn't think much of him because she was in a relationship with someone else. She breaks up with the previous guy because she is dealing with trauma, and then falls in love with the current love interest.
I don't plan on her realizing her feeling for him until the last book. Will one book be enough for her to go from liking him to being head-over-heels in love with him? | [
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"text": "It depends really. If this a book that takes place over a couple of days then it may not be ... | 2020/11/28 | [
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53,817 | I'm currently writing a realism fantasy novel targeted for a 9-12 age group. Since it became so long(the first draft turned out to be at least 90,000 words), I figured it would be best to split the book up into a series. Now after finishing the first book of the series, it somehow managed to be 70,000-80,000 words. Doing a quick Google search, according to [this](https://jerichowriters.com/hub/average-novel-wordcount/), it claims that the average word count for Children's novels would be 50,000-70,000 words as the average.
There is going to be like, 5 sequels to the first book, so the first book is just the beginning. This is the type of those books when there is a long journey. For most of the series, it's basically the character journeying around and running into many mini conflicts. So while yes, I could easily just cut off a part of the story and carry it to the second book and so on, this is going to be a bit difficult to do, because the ending of the first book is a cliffhanger, and I kind of like it that way.
Is my story too long for a Children's novel(targeted to that specific age range)? What can I do to make it shorter(perhaps I did too much fancy language or the show-not-tell?)?
Edit: I got my little sister to read the book. She's only seven, but she gobbled the whole book in one day. She said it was good, so I think that if she read it so quickly, then kids over than her would most likely too. However, she did skip over a few pages that were about my main character writing her diary entries. | [
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"text": "It's not too long if it's good enough. I had a look on my shelf and I can see a couple of the Skullduggery Plea... | 2020/11/28 | [
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53,821 | First off, my question is not [this question.](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/31410/what-would-you-call-non-human-people) I am asking about a creature resembling a human and not a bug. Also, I put this question on World-Building SE and it was recommended I post it here, but if the question is still off-topic or confusing, comment and I can fix it.
I have an elf/fairy-like creature in my book called faeries, and I don't know what to call them in large groups. When I'm narrating, the word "people" sounds a bit strange to me since I associate "people" with "humans," but the faeries look and act on the basic level that a human does (with the added presence of magic).
Am I overthinking the use of "people" or should I use another term?
(I would/only use "people" when not saying "everyone," "faeries," or another broad term) | [
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"text": "***Hey folks:***\n----------------\n\nI believe traditionally faeries were collectively referred to as \"folk.\" Co... | 2020/11/29 | [
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53,826 | The question says it all, but the only results I'm getting are battlefield scenarios that wouldn't translate well into the themes of my own story--which is more about escape, scheming, tactics, strategies, betrayal, the battle of the wits, over battle formations, bombs, and etc. Death can play a part in this kind of story, but it's less about any physical battle. Any in-depth answers will be much appreciated! | [
{
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"text": "You need to really understand the situation and your character to do this. I would first recommend reading th... | 2020/11/29 | [
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53,832 | So I’m currently writing a story where my character has emotion-based powers. When she is angry or scared she can do pretty powerful things, but they leave her completely weak and worn-out.
I’m not a very experienced writer, so I was wondering how exactly I could write her as weak and exhausted? In the part I'm writing, my character has just used a whole load of power because she was scared and angry. She fainted and has woken up a few seconds later and is physically weak.
I’ve got her as finding it hard to move, she’s super dizzy, she can barely keep her eyes open and she can’t think straight. Is there anything else that either would help me or that I could write in to show how weak she is? | [
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53,835 | Since I took up writing as a hobby, I've learnt that it's recommended to only use "say" and "ask" as dialogue tags, and to skip even these if the attribution can be supplied in another way. I realize that the abundancy of synonyms I used in previous texts is way over the top, and I'm working hard on toning it down. However, sometimes, "say" just doesn't express the tone of what's being said. So I'm wondering if it might be permissible to use alternatives in very specific cases.
With the examples that are usually given in these writing guidelines, it's always very obvious why the dialogue tag doesn't work. *Of course* you can't gasp or spit a run-on sentence or hiss a sentence that doesn't contain any sibilants. But what if those "obvious" reasons don't apply?
>
> "No!" I gasped.
>
>
> "Right," she spat.
>
>
> "I love you!" he blurted out.
>
>
> "It is what it is," he hissed, shrugging.
>
>
>
Of course, there are other ways of describing these, but are these *better*?
>
> "No!" I said with a gasp.
>
>
> "Right," she said, almost spitting the word.
>
>
> "I love you!" *Oops, he hadn't meant to say that.*
>
>
>
Is that really more "invisible" than simply using the verb instead? (That's hard for me to judge because the old way is so ingrained in my writing habits. Maybe in a year, I'll look back at this question and laugh.)
I agree that the hissing can be described in more detail:
>
> "It is what it is," he said with a shrug, hissing each sibillant in a way reminiscent of the viper he was.
>
>
>
But while that might work once, if this is a common habit of the character, it seems like always having to include the description would get old pretty quickly.
My question is not how to get rid of the dialogue tags. If the tag doesn't add anything, I prefer not having one at all. I've been using these tags because they describe how the characters are speaking, in addition to any action that takes place in-between.
**How can I convey the information currently contained in the dialogue tags in a different way?** | [
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53,836 | I have two characters in mind, both share many traits.
One of them is a side character (E) and one is a supporting (Z), but I'm wondering if I should mesh them together into Z.
E only appears in two scenes but is mentioned other times. Z is in a lot more scenes (I couldn't tell you how many), so to me, it makes sense to delete E and make him part of Z. Should I keep E to fill out the book, or delete him?
Any advice is appreciated, thank you! | [
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"text": "In general, **if you can combine characters, you should** --in my opinion. A story with a smaller cast is not ... | 2020/11/29 | [
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53,838 | I'm in my final stages of editing before I send my manuscript to beta readers. I'm wondering how I should format chapter titles. Do I put them as a header, or as a slightly larger, bolder font?
(This is the first thing I am sending out to beta readers, so I have never done this before and I don't know if there is a standard that everyone follows. Just wondering) | [
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53,849 | I am a young author writing a fantasy series. When I was looking over my manuscript, I realized that in chapter seven I’d added a character named Autumn. She’s a tiny fairy who rides around on the MCs shoulder. She can’t actually talk though, because in my fantasy world fairies cannot be heard, similar to the fairies in the Tinker-Bell movies.
Because Autumn can’t talk, I accidentally forget about her by chapter twelve because so much was happening. That made me wonder if this character was even necessary to the overall story line.
She’s more of a symbol than an actual character though, because in chapter seven the fairy Queen sent Autumn with my main characters as a symbol of friendship and well being, then later in chapter 22 brings her whole army to help the characters fight in the final battle against the antagonists army, therefore turning the tides of the fight. (The fairies are warriors the size of your finger. Very difficult to actually fight, especially when there’s a lot of them)
Autumn is sort of like an ambassador, but I don’t believe she’s truly needed. (Sorry Autumn)
Should I keep or delete this character? | [
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53,860 | I am a young author writing a fantasy series. In my series, I have five main characters. Camryn, Dylan, Willow, Cuson, and Horah.
In the first book the main character of the six and the first person narrator (Camryn) went through extremely hard decisions,(that could get thousands of people killed) came to terms with the death of her family,(which she blamed herself for) found out her little brother was alive only to have him die again, led an army, defeated who she thought was the bad guy, and then figured out that the actual person she needed to kill to set the planet free couldn’t actually be killed.
While all this was happening, the other five MCs sat in the back and didn’t really do anything. I decided that each book would put a different MC in a tough spot, so they each went through something like this. The flattest MC of them all was Cuson.
Cuson (in the first book) seemed to be a pretty straightforward guy. He helped out, kept everyone’s spirits up, and pretty much just acted as the comic relief. He’s a pretty flat character, even though he’s a main one. He didn’t even have a backstory, and he was the only character without one.
For the second book, I decided that Camryn couldn’t be the only person losing people and making tough decisions. While the second book is still told from her POV, I decided to make this one about Cuson.
I also decided that he would be a spy.
In the first book, the bad guys always knew where my characters were, what they were doing, who cared about who the most, etc. this doesn’t really make sense, unless they had a man on the inside, which is exactly what Cuson was.
In the second book, the antagonist knows all of my characters greatest fears. He manipulates them and tries to turn them on each other.
Cuson has always been a spy for this reason: The Huntress(Main antagonist) has his girlfriend. She’ll be killed if he doesn’t cooperate. By the end of the first book, Cuson has become good friends with all of the other MCs, and is now torn by continuing to spy on them and get them killed, or join them and get his girlfriend killed. (His girlfriend does end up getting killed)
In the first book, none of this is revealed, and Cuson is just a simple flat character. His greatest fear is that when he tells his friends he was a spy, that they won’t forgive him. He’s especially worried about the MC, Camryn, because he was the reason her brother died.
Is the second book too late to add all this into the character, or does it make a good plot twist? | [
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53,867 | Consider, for example, that the following sentence is from an external source and that I desire to quote it in my own work (please pay attention to the structure of the sentence, not its ambiguous or odd content):
>
> A and B originate from X in a peculiar way and nobody regards them as Y.
>
>
>
In light of the rules of the Chicago Manual of Style, is it permissible to quote the text in the first way (see below), or must I do it the second way?
1. According to my source, A "originate[s] from X in a peculiar way and nobody regards [it] as Y."
2. According to my source, A originates "from X in a peculiar way and nobody regards" it "as Y."
[This source suggests that the things that I wish to do are permissible in MLA style](https://depts.washington.edu/engl/askbetty/changing_quotations.php), and I wonder if the same is permissible in Chicago style. | [
{
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"text": "That is not a quote.\nYou can rephrase it that way but do not use the quote marks.\nJust say: A originates from X in a... | 2020/12/01 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/53867",
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53,874 | I'm writing a short story in which my protagonist is a little boy. An unexpected event happens and makes his life upside down which is blindness. This latter causes him depression and now I don't know how to make him get rid of this depression.
How can my young protagonist overcome this depression due to their sudden unexpected loss of sight and the life changes that ensue? | [
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"text": "A good question this is, you just have to know how to empathize! As I was reading I could already tell, me... | 2020/12/01 | [
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53,881 | About a month ago, I stumbled upon a website that claims to pay writers fairly and transparently out of advertising revenue. For the life of me, I cannot remember the name of the site, and after trawling through my internet history and various Google searches, I cannot find it again.
They had a distinctive yellow website identity, and I think the name started with 'D' -- something like 'Discourse' or 'Discursive'. They seemed to be a new outfit, intent on disrupting online publishing norms.
I know this is nearly nothing to go on, but I am at my wit's end. Please help me, hive mind: is anyone familiar with the site I'm talking about? | [
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"text": "A good question this is, you just have to know how to empathize! As I was reading I could already tell, me... | 2020/12/02 | [
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53,884 | Let me explain.
My book is about a little boy directed by a "wolf" to burn his farm's sheep. Consequently, it burns on the grass and his house, making him kill or seriously injure most of his family. The facility takes him afterward. It's actually a place to raise children in an animal environment who were previously tragically associated with animals. At the end of the book, our character is killed by being taken to an international children's' meat processor on an island.
I want to make this a children's book, but after looking at darker examples, the closest they get are hunted dolls with happy endings. I need help. Should my story be geared towards those who are older instead? Or should I try and find a way to make these hidden themes subtle? If so, what are some universal tips for doing so? Or is this plot just not suitable for children at all?
The book is aimed at children aged 5-9. | [
{
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"text": "**No mainstream publisher would publish this as a picture book**, because this is not a book that parents woul... | 2020/12/02 | [
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53,885 | I write song lyrics for fun and I always add simple music so the song can be performed.
About 40% of my songs are in 3/4 (6/8) signature which is kind of unusual in the big picture.
It's just that lyrics coming to me already feel 3/4 and I'm unable to force them to be 4/4.
I feel like I'm getting kind of boring with 3/4.
Obviously I can create 4/4 song since more than half of my songs are 4/4 and none of them were/feel forced.
I don't feel like 4/4 songs use different words or stuffing words or weird pauses. Writing in different language makes no difference.
Is there a writing concept/trick for good sounding 4/4 lyrics or for 3/4 to 4/4 conversion or should I ask music theory to fix my feeling? | [
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"text": "Personally, I love songs in 3/4, they tend to be more rare in the bigger picture. But yes, there are several wa... | 2020/12/02 | [
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53,886 | Is this an acceptable introductory paragraph to a fictional character's memoir? I'm not sure if the first sentence should be in quotations or have its own line and be italicized..
How often do you get the chance to find your dream in life? This is what I was thinking when the rotten smell crawled into my nose inside the killing floor. The floor was dirty, an ocean of blood, but like many oceans, it could be crossed. This is why I took a job at this theatre, Schnaufer’s. The hope of finding myself in my dream was the wind behind the sails on my ship of glory. | [
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"text": "Personally, I love songs in 3/4, they tend to be more rare in the bigger picture. But yes, there are several wa... | 2020/12/02 | [
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53,893 | I am a young author writing a fantasy series. In my series I have six main characters. If you have read my most previous question, I explained that I have six main characters and want each book to put a different character’s loyalty/strength/will/courage/skills to the test.
I finished the first book, and now I’m working on the second. The problem I have is if each book is about a different character, I would like to write the book in the POV of the character it’s about.
Why’s that a problem? Because I’m planning on publishing my work. I know that most people hate it when you switch the character POV in a series, but the original character who narrated the first book doesn’t do anything in the second book.
Should I alternate POV chapters? Should I write the same story twice in both their POV?
The character my second book is about is [Cuson. This question explains his role in the second book.](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/53860/i-developed-this-character-in-the-second-book-instead-of-the-first)
I would like to write the book in his POV, since it’s about him, but everyone hates it when POV changes. Should I just keep the POV the way it is? | [
{
"answer_id": 53894,
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"text": "I can see why this would be annoying to some readers, but as with all writing its fine if you do it right. In... | 2020/12/02 | [
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53,901 | Writing low-quality novels on my spare time is my hobby and I'm currently "working" on one where the story about a country with an ongoing civil war. I'd like to alternate between different narrators (a teacher, a farmer whose village was burned to the ground, a soldier and a high-ranking officer) to show a variety of perspectives (always in first-person).
My idea is to change narrators after each chapter without warning. As one chapter ends, a new one starts with a different narrator. This method would be ideal but I'm not sure if this would confuse potential readers. I've also considered writing in four different fonts, one for each narrator, but what about dialogue then?
So my question for you is: do you know of any sound technique for handling narrator changes? | [
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"text": "I can see why this would be annoying to some readers, but as with all writing its fine if you do it right. In... | 2020/12/03 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/53901",
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53,904 | >
> Entering the park, a slight breeze rustles the leaves making them fall to the ground one by one. It was a small park with a jungly gym, a couple of tables and a few benches for people to sit in every corner and jogging tracks were all around the edges.
>
>
> Then I saw two tall figures.
>
>
>
---
She can only see the face of character Nr 1, the other one is hooded. The wind eventually blew the hood away, revealing his face. She gets surprised to see who it is. I don’t know how to describe the scene: how they’re standing, her getting surprised etc | [
{
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"text": "**Write a picture.**\n\nSure it doesn't make much sense, but that's what you need to do. Write what you see i... | 2020/12/03 | [
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53,905 | For instance, the author that is commentating on the primary source is named Fistad.
The primary source is Panpe's Inferno. I want to make reference to the primary source that Fistad is addressing in the in-text citation but I also want to reference Fistad.
In APA format, should the sentence look like this:
Fistad (1964) notes that Panpe makes use of x, y and z (p. 101, Inf. XVI, 23).
p. 101 is for Fistad, while Inf. XVI, 23 is for Panpe. | [
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"text": "**Write a picture.**\n\nSure it doesn't make much sense, but that's what you need to do. Write what you see i... | 2020/12/03 | [
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53,927 | I am a young author writing a fantasy series. When I was writing the first book, it was easy and words literally flew onto the page. Now that I’m starting the second book (even though I know what it’s about) it’s a *lot* harder. Its like my writing’s constipated or something. I just can’t get the words out.
It’s not writers block, I know what I’m writing about. And I have written some. It’s just harder. I don’t really know how to explain it. Is this normal or is it just me? If it’s normal, how can I get over it? | [
{
"answer_id": 53928,
"author": "Alexandrang",
"author_id": 47474,
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"selected": false,
"text": "Starting a book can be extremely difficult. So yes, it is very normal.\n\nSome books are just easier to start, ... | 2020/12/04 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/53927",
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53,930 | I’m a young author writing a fantasy series. I decided to try writing the ending first because I was having trouble writing the first part. In my second book, they’re supposed to lose, and this guy’s girlfriend is killed after he’d betrayed everyone he knew trying to save her. The bad guy escapes after he kills the girlfriend.
Here are a few paragraphs so you can get the feel of the situation:
>
> I woke up propped against a wall. My head hurt. The stab wound in my gut felt like it was on fire again. My friends were gathered around me. I stared at them, still unable to speak.
>
>
> Suddenly I remembered AmmuiV was dead. I looked down and started to cry. And I mean *really* cry. I wept into my hands, horrible sobs racking my chest. I had never let myself cry like this before. It hurt. In fact, everything did. I was lightheaded and dizzy. My friends voices sounded far away. I stopped crying and took a long, slow, raspy breath to steady my vision. I felt hollow and weak. I knew I was still badly injured.
>
>
> Camryn looked me in the eyes. ”I forgive you.”
>
>
> My breath was ripped away. I had completely forgotten I’d put her through the *exact same thing.* Even though I felt like bawling, I was too weak to start crying again. My gut was warm and wet, and I realized I was bleeding through my bandages. But I deserved the pain. All of it. I’d *deserved* for AmmuiV to die.
>
>
>
It goes on like this for a bit, him summing up all the things he did wrong and completely giving up, asking his friends to kill him and just get it over with so he can finally be with his girlfriend. Of course, they don’t actually kill him, but they can’t even think of a good argument as to why he shouldn’t give up. This is the ending of the book.
Is this too depressing? My targeted audience is middle school age, and my characters are 16. | [
{
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"text": "**Go for it:**\n\nWhy not? People love a happy ending, but you can give them that in book 3. *The Empire Strikes Ba... | 2020/12/05 | [
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53,938 | I'm looking for another way to say, “I looked around, until my eyes landed on a man.” I’m sick of the sentence “I looked around”, but it’s important that she does since she wakes up in an unfamiliar place. | [
{
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"selected": false,
"text": "Instead of saying that your character is looking somewhere, you could use the opportunity to describe the situati... | 2020/12/06 | [
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53,945 | I wrote the first chapter for one of my stories in which I have a character who went through a bunch of training for a secret government organization and ended up an emotionless killing machine. Only problem is, I keep finding out that I'm not keeping him emotionless.
In the beginning of the 2nd chapter I'm sending him to a 'psychologist' who will get him back to his emotionless state. But from here on out, how do I not write emotions in this character? I'm able to stay away from mentioning emotions, but I have trouble when my character will react to certain circumstances in a way that he shouldn't(ie saving other people).
I checked out [this question](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/51728/writing-an-emotionless-character) but the answer doesn't help much because he has no emotions and just talks about how they a hidden. | [
{
"answer_id": 53946,
"author": "Kate Gregory",
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"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "You need to give the character a reason for what he does other than acting on emotion. So if he saves someone, ... | 2020/12/06 | [
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53,947 | I'm trying to write a long dialog with multiple exchanges between characters. How can I keep it clear which character is speaking without filling the story without repeating 'he said/she said'. Repeating 'he said/she said' a zillion times just seems distracting.
I was thinking that I should to left justify the first character speaking in a particular section of the story then indent the second. I can't remember seeing that done, however. Is it acceptable? | [
{
"answer_id": 53948,
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"selected": false,
"text": "Make sure the characters have their own voices. You can throw in accents, slang, formality, whatever. If they a... | 2020/12/06 | [
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53,950 | In the book I am writing, I have ran into a small problem. One character is retelling an event to a different character, but It's a somewhat longer explanation than I thought it would be. I'm happy with the actual content of the explanation, but looking at it, I see that it takes up quite a bit of space (350 word count) of just one character talking. It is useful to my storyline - but I don't want to bore the reader or make an unnaturally long quote. **Should/How can I break up the quote?**.
BTW, my question is not how to break the quote up into different paragraphs like [this question](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/17958/should-i-ever-break-up-a-long-line-of-dialogue-in-different-paragraphs), but how to break it up with other dialogue, action, etc. to make it more natural and flowing.
Thank you! | [
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"selected": true,
"text": "**Simple Descriptions:**\n------------------------\n\nSo you have a person giving this long quote. Continuous talkin... | 2020/12/07 | [
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