qid int64 1 2.78M | question stringlengths 2 66.6k | answers list | date stringlengths 10 10 | metadata list |
|---|---|---|---|---|
54,689 | The SCP foundation is an world wide organization given the task of protecting the world from dangerous anomalies. These artifacts or individuals pose a threat to the normalcy of our reality, and are contained at specially designed facilities to be studied. This research usually requires prisoners, referred to as D-clas... | [
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"text": "Keep in mind that SCP is at it's core a black comedy series, with the various articles getting a very clinical scient... | 2021/01/27 | [
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54,692 | I have a character that falls into a particular character archetype. Specifically the [genki girl](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GenkiGirl). I remember seeing characters with that sort of personality in other works and wanted to try writing a character with that sort of personality.
The character was exp... | [
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"text": "Characters are interesting because of their personalities and how the specifics of those personalities interac... | 2021/01/27 | [
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54,695 | The system of writing in my work contains eight basic shapes that get a number of permutations each. One of my viewpoint characters is learning this system of writing for the first time, and I want to give the reader at least a good feel for what these glyphs look like.
As prior to this, the character in question is wh... | [
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"text": "I think there is a clever way to set this right without the tedium of price inserting glyphs even for this work of ... | 2021/01/27 | [
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54,701 | So basically I'm writing two books right now, and there's something that's been bugging me since day one, when I wrote the very first word of the very first chapter of the very first book, and that is, should I really be using "ok" in professional writing, like a book or novel? Or should I be using OK? Which one is cor... | [
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"text": "\"OK\" is definitely **not** used in professional writing, with the obvious exception being for character dialogue i... | 2021/01/28 | [
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54,706 | I'm writing a children's novel, and after handing it to my younger sister for her feedback (my sister's seven, the targeted age range is 8-12), she said it was very easy for her, but she appeared to like the plot and characters.
I must have been trying too hard to make it fit into my target age group, but I probably o... | [
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"text": "There are a few things you can do:\n\nJust use bigger words. This will probably be the most obvious solution,... | 2021/01/28 | [
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54,707 | I always struggle with making introductions and conclusions.
* How can I write a good hook that attracts my readers?
* How can I conclude effectively at the end of a literary essay? | [
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"text": "There are a few things you can do:\n\nJust use bigger words. This will probably be the most obvious solution,... | 2021/01/28 | [
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54,714 | Would the word **and** be omitted before the last item in either of these two sentences?
>
> Maximum tree-ring counts for species sampled are as follows: American beech (50), tuliptree (125), white ash (221), sugar maple (80), red maple (~240), chestnut oak (180), sweet birch (250), **and** eastern hemlock (314)
>
>... | [
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"text": "I believe that this is a matter of style. Some presctiptivist grammar texts used to insist that the \"and\" (or... | 2021/01/28 | [
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54,726 | Typically an exposition is a few sentences or paragraphs to clue the reader into the time and place, and maybe set a bit of the mood for the core of the story. However, I would like to dedicate 100 or so pages to the exposition. The target length of my book is roughly 500 pages, and so a 100-page exposition would const... | [
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"text": "My son is an attorney. On his desk is a brass plaque that reads, \"Legal but Stupid\". He has need to point to ... | 2021/01/29 | [
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54,740 | I am not an author. Occasionally I have an idea for a story but I've never been inspired to invent and connect ideas to make a convincing tale.
Recently; however, possibly because of some medication I have to take\*, I started having long involved dreams that subjectively go on for hours. They have logic, surprises, a... | [
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"text": "I don't believe there are many authors who do this on a regular basis, but it's certainly not unknown for authors t... | 2021/01/30 | [
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54,742 | I am writing a scholarship essay and one of my sentences is:
>
> "Although both of my parents have bachelor’s degrees now, they were not **as** well educated or stably employed when I was growing up."
>
>
>
When I asked someone to read it over, they suggested that I use *so* instead of *as*. I looked it up, and I... | [
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"text": "Ok so neither of them sound right. if you were to write ¨Not as educated as¨, that would be better. Hope this ... | 2021/01/30 | [
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54,744 | I was recently sent a document to beta review, so I transferred it to Google Docs and started making suggestions. Once I'm through the four pages, there's about thirty miscellaneous spelling/minor plot errors, plus a page of feedback on the bottom about larger plot, personality, description, and word repetition issues,... | [
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"text": "No such thing:\n--------------\n\nBy saying you are going to beta-read someone's work, you are promising them help ... | 2021/01/30 | [
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54,765 | Just some background: I'm writing a story centered around a boy who is not special. As in, there is nothing too defining about him physically. The thing is, he isn't in a realistic setting. He is trapped in something of a hellhole, but it's highly unlikely he will survive on his own. He has to make a lot of deals, take... | [
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"text": "### **More Normal People**\n\nHere's the thing, if your protagonist is [the only normal person in a world full ... | 2021/02/01 | [
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54,767 | I'm writing a book and I was wondering how I could expand it? My chapters feel like they have 500 characters while 1 chapter should become 3000 - 5000 words.
Is there a way to expand it?
Note:
I'm writing a first-person ghost romance story in which I'm a ghost and buried in a graveyard and then I meet my love. | [
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"text": "A chapter should be exactly as long as it needs to be, no longer, no shorter. I’ve seen chapters as long as a si... | 2021/02/01 | [
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54,780 | I was taught in my childhood that an **ampersand** is not supposed to be used in a formal context and it is best suitable **between abbreviations.**
Do experts agree with this?
Looking forward to getting a reply soon. | [
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"text": "Formal writing like legal documents, newspapers, research papers for publication, have their own style guides that defi... | 2021/02/02 | [
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54,784 | For example, if one might describe themselves as an "occasional writer;" or, identifies as a writer, yet only "writes occasionally." Would "sometimes-writer" be a more laconic way to express this? | [
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54,792 | During the lockdown, I wrote 60,000 words of my children's fiction book. It wasn't a consistent process and as such, it has many inconsistencies and obsolete scenes.
At the moment, the draft looks like a mess of unrelated scenes. How can I put the scenes together into a cohesive whole? I am happy to rewrite the whole ... | [
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"author": "Chris Sunami",
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"text": "You are actually in a great place to be in your process, with plenty of material to work with. It's not about ... | 2021/02/03 | [
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54,797 | Which would be the proper style for a scientific publication:
1. It is required that a, b, and, depending on a and b, c is given.
2. It is required that a, b, and - depending on a and b - c is given.
3. It is required that a, b, and (depending on a and b) c is given.
Thank you! | [
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"text": "Personally, I would prefer choice 2. But almost all scientific publications specify a specific style guide or ... | 2021/02/03 | [
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54,799 | I have an intelligent character. He's basically there just for comic relief, but also helps the MC.
One of the special things about him is his dialogue. He speaks usually out of annoyance, like when people provide misinformation. I want my dialogue to show his intelligence, but I'm not quite sure how to do that. I tri... | [
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"text": "What a lot of TV shows and movies do, and what I'd avoid doing, is looking up a bunch of technical terms from the characte... | 2021/02/03 | [
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54,802 | I am considering writing a line of dialogue in which character A calls character B (not to their face) "a lunatic". In the context of my story, it is clear that character A has a simplistic understanding of character B, and therefore character A's assessment of character B as "a lunatic" is incorrect. Additionally, cha... | [
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"text": "Some may call it so, and they might be right, but it's of no consequence.\n\nCreating realistic and believable and symp... | 2021/02/03 | [
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54,809 | If the protagonist seeks to stop themselves and creates conflict for themselves are they a protagonist, an antagonist, or both? | [
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"text": "The character would be a protagonist with internal conflict. An antagonist is another third party."
},
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"answe... | 2021/02/04 | [
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54,812 | In a novel, what is the proper way in US English to refer to a group by the character's self-styled label?
For example: In a novel, assume a group of software coders are working on an extremely challenging problem. While doing so, they start referring to themselves as the "Hacker\_Masters."
In the text of the novel, ... | [
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"text": "Since you can't do the underscore (\"\\_\") in dialogue (if your text has it?), if one of them said, \"We're the Hacker... | 2021/02/05 | [
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54,816 | I'm hoping to publish a book in July or August through Amazon, probably with a paperback option as well as E-book. There's been some people who've really helped along the way, and with another huge wave of reviewing before I publish, there's gonna be a lot of people who help. I know that Betas mostly work for free, but... | [
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"author": "Terri Simon",
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"text": "I did a Google search on KDP free and got the following:\n\n> \n> To set up a free book promotion, follow these... | 2021/02/05 | [
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54,819 | I'm writing a chapter where my character is having an educational competition and I feel that my writing is very poor. I can't find events to write about aside from asking and answering questions of the competition. Should I just drop this chapter? | [
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"text": "If there are no events, it's very likely that this chapter is not moving the story forward.\n\nWhat is the conflict of... | 2021/02/05 | [
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54,835 | I am writing a story for a video game.
For the story, I created a male lead but have some female characters.
I love their personality, traits, etc. It makes them very fun and interesting. However, I am extremely discouraged from sharing how they look because of a fear of people taking these characters that I love a... | [
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"text": "In a way this is an irrational fear, not because it will *never* happen, but because of the *reverse* - short o... | 2021/02/08 | [
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54,855 | So I'm writing a book, and in my book, I have a habit to name every one of my characters based on their personality. My main characters, KumaZd and Cgras mean sun and moon, but not only are they soul mates, but KumaZd is also a calm and kind person, and Cgras is always a bit hyped up and excited.
And as for KumaZd's f... | [
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"text": "Why Not?\n--------\n\nPersonally, I LOVE making things in my writing with double meaning, loading with foreshadowing... | 2021/02/09 | [
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54,872 | I like writing in English (knowing that it's not my mother tongue), but I'm always haunted by thoughts of rejection by readers which makes me hesitate to publish my work and sometimes makes me stop writing, especially since I can't find a partner to proofread or edit my writing.
How can I move forward? | [
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"text": "The only thing you can do to move forward is ignore all fear of anyone thinking anything of you. You want ... | 2021/02/11 | [
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54,876 | I would like to use flashbacks in my novel. I am not sure when to place them - in the middle of a chapter, at the end of a chapter, as a chapter on its own. What are the advantages and common usages for flashbacks that I can refer to? | [
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"text": "Generally, you can place flashbacks in the beginning, middle, or end of a chapter. Or dedicate a full chapter to them.\... | 2021/02/12 | [
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54,894 | I was talking with some writers, and they were mentioning how writing is fundamentally about "the human condition, our take on it, what we see in our world and experience. All stories, no matter the genre, are people stories. We're always writing about the human condition, our take on it, what we see in our world and e... | [
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"text": "What you've been told is true... From a certain point of view\n---------------------------------------------------... | 2021/02/14 | [
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54,906 | I am writing a part where the sixteen-year-old protagonist meets a male character who is eighteen-years-old. I am not sure how to refer to him - boy or man.
The male character is legally an adult, he has a job and makes his own money. The chapter is written from the protagonist's perspective, third-person narrative, a... | [
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"text": "You could call him a teen or a teenager, if the protagonist thinks from his appearance that he is over 13 and... | 2021/02/15 | [
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54,914 | So, I'm writing fiction but in it, historical events, such as wars between the French and British, are taking place. But, after doing research, it's looking to be difficult to squeeze my little fiction story into real events and still make sense. I'm still looking deeper to find a timeframe and space where it **will** ... | [
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"text": "I assume you mean something along the lines of Napoleon winning at Jatarxio, or the British not getting caught w... | 2021/02/15 | [
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54,919 | I am writing a story in English and my main character is bilingual and of a different culture. The characters and narrator uses common words in the familiar language (e.g. Spanish).
Do I need to explain what the words mean or assume the reader will figure it out from the information presented? Also, I read that the for... | [
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"text": "This depends a bit on the frequency of new vocabulary. If you stick to a very few commonly used words, you can just us... | 2021/02/16 | [
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54,939 | Not a duplicate of [Trying to avoid being cliché](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/20916/trying-to-avoid-being-clich%C3%A9) as that question asks about the opening line, rather than an opening event.
---
I am trying to avoid the many clichés out there, so I had a question about one:
**Would an action-pack... | [
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"text": "**cli·ché** /klēˈSHā/\nnoun\n1.\na phrase or opinion that is overused and betrays a lack of original thought.\n\"the ol... | 2021/02/17 | [
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54,943 | I'm writing this fantasy story with the MC slowly transforming into a non-human being. Which makes him invulnerable... Or at least quite resistant. The problem is that I'm still not fully sure which the limitations should be.
* Hard to kill, with some weak point, like your typical monster (vampires with a stake in the... | [
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"text": "That character must have a moment of weakness/vulnerability.\n\nFor instance, Superman is unkillable (almost). ... | 2021/02/17 | [
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54,948 | My protagonist isn't very good with people. It's not because she is timid or an introvert but because she hasn't known anyone besides her grandmother and cousin for as long as she can remember. She hasn't had any social life. She however *is* talkative in front of people she is used to.
In this particular scene, the p... | [
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54,954 | My teacher once said that a daily diary is pretty much the same thing as a letter to a friend, except; it begins with "Dear diary" instead of "Dear friend".
Is this true? | [
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"text": "Do you have to hand in diary entries (real or thought up)? \n\nIf so, write those pages as the teacher tells you t... | 2021/02/17 | [
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54,962 | Let's say my character is Amox, a young man and an actor. I'm describing a long dialogue of him and another person. I need to specify he is a person speaking quite often so the reader is not confused who said what.
I refer to him as "Amox", "an actor" and "a man". It feels like I'm repeating these words way too often.... | [
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"answer_id": 54963,
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"text": "If Amox is speaking to someone of the opposite gender, then using pronouns will help a lot.\n\nHowever, regard... | 2021/02/17 | [
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54,970 | How to prevent other elements from an allegorical film from being misinterpreted? Let's say you make a film where the character is in a dark world and runs after a light. The light is the end of the tunnel, where the end is death. The dark world is the tunnel. How do you prevent other elements of the movie from impacti... | [
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"text": "You can't. Nor shouldn't.\n\nIf you want to be symbolic, you should stick with it to the end. Taking out the su... | 2021/02/18 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/54970",
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54,986 | The question basically explains it all. How should I write thought? Should I use quotations? Italization? Or should I just leave it be? This question has been bugging me for a while and I decided today I would finally ask so there it is. | [
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"text": "There are two general conventions, following from how dialog is handled.\n\nLike Direct Speech, dialog spoken by the ch... | 2021/02/19 | [
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54,988 | I just wrote [a blog post](https://robinwinslow.uk/regex), and then I went to publish it on our team blog. The Wordpress instance for the team has this "Yoast SEO" plugin. Among other things, it judges my writing style:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/mf... | [
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"text": "Avoid them.\n-----------\n\nI'm the kind of writer who advocates snapping on the gloves and doing the surgical metho... | 2021/02/19 | [
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55,002 | I am looking for a word to describe what we see when we look up. For us, it's the sky. But, if you are, say, under the sea, that would be the surface of the sea. I need a word that can be used in both situations, because I want the conceal from the reader whether our hero is under the water looking up or on the land lo... | [
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"answer_id": 55003,
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"text": "You could call it the \"overhead\" I suppose, but that seems rather contrived. It might be that people who spen... | 2021/02/21 | [
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55,005 | I'm writing a story where the villain is a powerful crime-boss. The hero is a young woman who is forcibly recruited into his mafia and is looking for an escape. In the end, I want to have the villain be taken in by the police, but I don't want the hero to be the reason for that.
Is it considered bad writing if my hero... | [
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"answer_id": 55006,
"author": "Erin Tesden",
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"text": "Not at all.\n\nIt's not the usual, but the fact is that the hero being the one to fight and defeat/kill the vil... | 2021/02/21 | [
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55,022 | Do English-language speakers care about grammar so much? For example when someone makes errors concerning mixed tenses does that bother readers so much? | [
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"text": "Assuming you are talking about prose and not actually speaking, as long as the meaning of the sentence is absolutely cl... | 2021/02/21 | [
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55,024 | Okay, so this is odd, but hear me out. We've all heard the story, Person A finds a cursed video game cartridge, plays it, every character dies, Person B gets involved and dies, Person A gets rid of game forever. It's the classic creepypasta format.
But if I were to get serious about writing a novel based on this parti... | [
{
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"author": "SF.",
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"text": "In this case your issue is Trademark, not Copyright. The contents of the game are used in a way that is thoroughly transf... | 2021/02/22 | [
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55,042 | I'm writing this fantasy story that focuses on two main characters.
The story was supposed to start with the male protagonist. So, in the first four chapters or so, we get to know his current situation and the world in which the story takes place through his interactions with the people around him.
Then something rea... | [
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"text": "Dude, I think you could keep this beginning linear, so you can have an introduction where people can understand the ... | 2021/02/23 | [
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55,050 | While writing dialogue, I came across this confusion. There are some moments when the characters are deep in their thoughts (past troubling thoughts), and something happens that makes them flip-out. This is the voice I am trying to capture.
>
> Dipis walked towards, and stopped close to me — he was tall — he tried to... | [
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"text": "*Italics* can represent emphasis, so that is your best option.\n\nYou can write it as, \"*Yeah?* Sue me t... | 2021/02/23 | [
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55,053 | Knowing that I'm writing using the present simple, should I switch to the past simple when summarizing an event that does not need a long description? Or this would be considered as a misuse of tenses?
For example, I'm describing a group of students discovering a place during an educational trip, should I say
>
> "W... | [
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"text": "I am not sure how you would be able to do anything else. What you are describing happened in the past as far a... | 2021/02/23 | [
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55,058 | I am writing a fantasy series where the protagonist's main flaw is that she feels she doesn't deserve happiness. In the **mid point**, the protagonist and the antagonist come face-to-face and the antagonist is revealed to be the protagonist's ex, whose heart she broke. The antagonist gives the protagonist a clear shot ... | [
{
"answer_id": 55061,
"author": "Erk",
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"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "Message via story\n-----------------\n\nYour intuition is probably right.\n\nThe best way to convey a message is via St... | 2021/02/24 | [
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55,068 | Example:
>
> Standing in front of the sliding glass door, he began to sweat. The
> last time **he had stepped into a convenience store was a year ago.**
>
>
>
This is past tense narration. The **bolded** part is talking about the past within that past tense narration.
It states that the event happened a year ago... | [
{
"answer_id": 55069,
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"selected": true,
"text": "As you’ve written it, I think *had* is necessary. It reads off without it.\n\nBut re-arranging things, it's not needed.\... | 2021/02/25 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/55068",
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55,071 | I've been worrying if my marketing will still be effective for my self-published books when I market them almost a year after the novels have been released.
My plan is to self-publish more novels this year and advertise the old novels with the new novels.
* Will my marketing for my previously published books be harde... | [
{
"answer_id": 55271,
"author": "veryverde",
"author_id": 47814,
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"text": "Plenty of books get a rebranding years, even decades after they've been written. Most recently an widely known, t... | 2021/02/25 | [
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55,073 | I'm writing a YA sci-fi/post apocalyptic type novel with **two view point characters**. The book is all written in **third person** and so far **every time I switch between view point characters use a chapter break**. For most of the book, the two view point characters are together experiencing the same situations (tho... | [
{
"answer_id": 55074,
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"text": "I guess it depends on your intentions.\n\nExample, a place like Tapas, in which you can upload original novels,... | 2021/02/25 | [
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55,079 | I'm planning out and (will hopefully be writing) a trilogy takes that takes itself pretty seriously and very dark while having a distinct absence of comedy. The reason is behind this choice that I feel humour is borderline obtrusive in many fictional works these days (I won't be naming any suspects, so use your imagina... | [
{
"answer_id": 55084,
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"selected": false,
"text": "I think you can remove most comedy from a book, but even just keeping a little bit will help a ton. Just skim... | 2021/02/26 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/55079",
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55,081 | How was Tcoklef Kubdihk able to make a film that could be interpreted in so many ways? Is there a technique that allows you to make a film that can be interpreted in many different ways? *The Shining* has several interpretations and none of them are completely satisfactory. | [
{
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"selected": false,
"text": "One way to do this is to seed the question by having characters deliberately ask it or invoke the audience to ask it.... | 2021/02/26 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/55081",
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55,083 | In school and from books, I was taught that every prose composition must be planned before it is written and that the first step of planning a composition is to define for it a single purpose, whether it is to inform, narrate, describe, or persuade, concerning a particular subject or theme.
But for a long time, I wond... | [
{
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"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "A written work, whether it is a short essay, or a novel, a song, or a text book, can indeed serve multiple pur... | 2021/02/26 | [
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55,095 | What level of understanding should you have of Quantum Physics to write a hard science fiction novel? And how should you learn Quantum Physics in order to be able to write a hard science fiction novel? What's the least time-consuming way of doing so? | [
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"text": "To echo the comment from F1Krazy, you only need knowledge of quantum physics if your story depends upon quantum... | 2021/02/27 | [
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55,096 | I have searched and found some tools for writing, but I need a platform to be able to plan a book - can anyone point me in the right direction? This is for a group of people who want to plan and create the ultimate reading experience. We have tried other options like Google Docs and directory structure in other Cloud s... | [
{
"answer_id": 55102,
"author": "Matt",
"author_id": 44480,
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"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "You could try **[Lizo](https://miro.com/).**\n\nYou can create multiple boards to plan various aspects. We have been u... | 2021/02/27 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/55096",
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55,099 | Show don't tell is what people say poet advise you to do, but how can you say that a land is desolate without using the word desolate, lonely or any synonym? Is there a way to do this? | [
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"text": "What kind of land is it?\n------------------------\n\nNo man is an island, and no desolation is empty.\n\n* The moon... | 2021/02/28 | [
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55,111 | Let's say I want to publish a novel that deals with a fictional character within a video game universe (for example TloZ Ocarine of Time). The background, the events and the races within the story are very similar to those that occurred in the video game universe, with slight modifications. The name of the universe and... | [
{
"answer_id": 55114,
"author": "David Siegel",
"author_id": 37041,
"author_profile": "https://writers.stackexchange.com/users/37041",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": true,
"text": "Plagiarism and copyright infringement are quite different things, although they often go together. Acknowledgin... | 2021/03/01 | [
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55,115 | I'm struggling with my thoughts about what I see as a dichotomy.
Basically, I'm not sure when started, but emulating some novels I read, I started using mainly narration to describing the thoughts and internal conflicts of my POV characters.
Very rarely actually writing internal dialogue. It's kinda become part of my... | [
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"text": "**Show, don't tell.** Narrator saying \"His uncle was content about...\" is committing first degree sin against this rule... | 2021/03/02 | [
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55,130 | Is it possible to be signed up to a publisher but to also self publish? I am currently working with a publisher but in the future I would quite like to write a book series and the publishers do not have that option. | [
{
"answer_id": 55131,
"author": "Zeiss Ikon",
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"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "Most publishers will require exclusive rights within some market before they'll buy your book. That means you wo... | 2021/03/03 | [
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55,132 | I have a story in my mind and put it onto paper. The contains a lot of content: characters appearance and personalities, plot, action. My issue is usually I end up having several pages while giving away load of ideas.
Then I look at some published novel, that is considered good reads. Somehow I see 15 pages of text wh... | [
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"selected": false,
"text": "First things first is that don't go by page or word count: If your using a word processor, most are written to 8.5x11... | 2021/03/03 | [
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55,136 | I am editing a piece of writing for my English-speaking friends from a rough translation. I need softer words to replace "vagina", "penis", "breasts" etc. I have used words such as "mounds" (breasts), "flower" (vagina) and "rod" (penis).
Example:
>
> As he pulled down his pants, revealing a bulging rod ready to pier... | [
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"text": "The clinical terms, “vagina,” “penis” and “breasts” would be considered the softer option (ages ago when I used... | 2021/03/03 | [
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55,141 | I am writing a paper on Aparthied and I was going to use the word "coloured" in it, but I wasn't sure if it would be offensive or not. For context, it was a word used in South Africa to describe people of mixed descent. If it is offensive, what are some other words I could use instead? | [
{
"answer_id": 55144,
"author": "stanri",
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"selected": true,
"text": "I live in South Africa. The word \"coloured\" here is used extremely commonly to refer to both a general group of mul... | 2021/03/04 | [
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55,145 | When adding a legal notice to a user interface, or in a data file for download, I want to include a legal warning. It needs to mention that the data is confidential and it should not be shared with 3rd parties.
The text I proposed was something like this:
>
> The data in this table is confidential and should only be... | [
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"author": "Polygnome",
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"selected": false,
"text": "(My background is that as a software engineer, I have read and written many such notices).\n\n**Data File or Down... | 2021/03/04 | [
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55,150 | I'm helping to proofread a friend's novel manuscript and I cannot find the answer to this on Google. To me, it reads oddly, but I would like to know if there are any established rules for this. Also, if these kinds of phrases are acceptable, is there a particular way to reference them? Thanks! | [
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"selected": false,
"text": "Yes, they are acceptable in creative writing. They might be awkward in scientific writing, but for a novel, the phras... | 2021/03/04 | [
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55,159 | My husband is a writer. We've been married for several years and I've seen him go through various phases of book-obsession over various aspects of his new book ideas and the worlds that he's creating.
I'm not a writer, but I do like to support him and listen to his ideas. However, sometimes he gets really obsessed and... | [
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"text": "I will say this is off topic in that \"my husband has an interested I don't share\" is not an issue for writers... Yo... | 2021/03/05 | [
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55,167 | The scenario is to write a hook for an argumentative essay. The topic is "Can tigers be kept in zoos?", as they have less space in zoos compared to nature, and for other reasons they should not be kept in zoos. | [
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"text": "Maybe you should do some reasearch, maybe on the internet, for stories about tigers in zoos. If you find a bu... | 2021/03/06 | [
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55,173 | I am new to Medium and submitted a link of my draft article to a Medium publication 4 days ago (via an online form). I have not heard back from the editor with a decision. I want to submit the link of the draft article to a different publication. How do I withdraw the draft article from consideration at the current pub... | [
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"text": "I couldn't find an answer to your question in the Medium Help Center. I assume it is something very few people ... | 2021/03/08 | [
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55,175 | >
> Mio smirked, **her** eyebrows drooped.
>
>
> Mio smirked **with** drooped eyebrows.
>
>
>
Is there any difference between the two (semantically or stylistically speaking)? Or they are exactly the same? | [
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"text": "Semantically, the first would indicate that the two things (smirk and drooped eyebrows) are separate occurrences, while... | 2021/03/08 | [
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55,190 | I don't like writing rough drafts, preferring to edit as I write. But I seem to get tired after writing only a little, though I somewhat succeed in achieving the style that I want.
Is this because I'm not accustomed to writing so much? What should I do? | [
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"text": "Oddly enough, [mental exertion burns calories](https://time.com/5400025/does-thinking-burn-calories/), just li... | 2021/03/09 | [
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55,196 | I hope that this question follows the rules.
One of my characters has a kalimba that, when played, allows the player to hear the thoughts of everyone around them, and everyone around them can hear the player's thoughts. These thoughts can also control each other, so everyone involved can make each other do anything th... | [
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"text": "Your magical item is distinct from the One Ring because it simultaneously takes control of others *and grants ... | 2021/03/09 | [
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55,200 | Some people have suggested that my writing muscles are in need of being exercised. Is this true?
Many times, when attempting writing, I find the task of writing down my main ideas to be challenging and I subsequently fail to create a simple outline.
**Creating a simple outline seems difficult to me, how can I exercis... | [
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"text": "*Before solving a problem, see if you can remove the problem* -probably somebody at some point\n\nI don't thi... | 2021/03/09 | [
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55,201 | What are other ways of using metaphors aside using it to describe something visually similar?
For example, we use the metaphor "a city of stars" to say that the sky at night looks like a city during nighttime because of the small lights, but is there other ways to use metaphors that I am somehow not aware of yet? I ca... | [
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"text": "> \n> [**met·a·phor**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphor)\n> \n> \n> /ˈmedəˌfôr,ˈmedəˌfər/\n> \n> \n> **noun** a f... | 2021/03/10 | [
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55,210 | Have you ever been reading a book and thought, "dang that must've been a long day?"
I'm writing a YA fiction novel and in my plotting/planning/drafting/whatever you want to call it, I managed to sandwich a good chunk of chapters into one day. I have 6 chapters (approximately 10000 words over 37 pages) all jammed into ... | [
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55,215 | I understand the phrase
>
> to dwell on a dream
>
>
>
as
>
> to think about that dream after waking up, maybe often or maybe sometime after I had dreamed it.
>
>
>
I also like the possibility that one can interpret it as if you are actually living in a dream, not in the real world.
The goal of the phrase i... | [
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55,217 | Yes, Acme is an actual company name used by many real companies - bricks, bikes, food, real estate, etc.
But more relevant to this point, it has also been used for ages for fictional purposes - not just as a company making all kinds of dangerous stuff in Road Runner cartoons, but also as a fictional company in trainin... | [
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"text": "Since the word acme means the best, but is kind of dated. You can get the same effect as Acme Co. With a more modern, w... | 2021/03/11 | [
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55,220 | The expected pattern for a formal letter to close the correspondence with the name of the correspondent.
But, sometimes people write their names in the body of the letter as well.
Is it superfluous to write your name and other information in the body of the letter, as we must write it at the bottom anyway? As in shou... | [
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"text": "It depends on how formal the letter is. It is often the case that the correspondent states their company name and... | 2021/03/11 | [
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55,229 | I'm currently writing my first novel and I can't figure out whether I am able to reference an abundance of different people, places, and/or things.
I've had this idea of wanting to sneak in a sizable amount of references into my novel of people places and/or things that I've come into contact with or loved as a kid gr... | [
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"text": "I've read the laws for a while, and it *seems* that there are no loopholes. You will just have to try t... | 2021/03/12 | [
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55,235 | Pleasurable to many is thought evoking language and words never heard in the past. So how does one advance to the level by which they can form them? | [
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"text": "For one, you must read much; second, you must think about what you have read; third, journal or write about the ide... | 2021/03/12 | [
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55,236 | We have developed a software package and need to write a user manual. I'm trying to determine if the manual should be approached from the perspective of "process" (i.e. accomplishing specific business tasks) or "features" (i.e. the different parts of the system).
The best example of what I mean would be that documenti... | [
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"text": "In most cases, I think, it is best to organize an end-user manual by process because this is what the user cares about.... | 2021/03/12 | [
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55,251 | Perhaps one of the more difficult parts of writing is making the reader invested in the characters. It's really easy to make your character somebody boring and not interesting to follow in novels. However, it's even more common in novellas.
With novellas, you have 100-250 pages or so to make your reader see the comple... | [
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"text": "The trick I use, is have a duality to every action of the character (I write short stories). Every single thing th... | 2021/03/13 | [
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55,268 | I've heard some advice on writing, which says that writers should read their drafts aloud, in order to hear any flaws in the sound of their writing. But after I've done this, how should I change my draft? As many books suggest, writing should not only use strong verbs but also use words economically. But what if my str... | [
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"text": "The order of words tends to have grammatical restrictions that don't allow for you to change this. Everything els... | 2021/03/14 | [
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55,286 | I like to write long sentences, but people complain that I move from thought to thought in the same sentence, and that it ought to be split into multiple sentences. Although I'd like to correct this problem, I'm not sure how to define a complete thought. Can someone please define it for me? Thank you. | [
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"text": "The order of words tends to have grammatical restrictions that don't allow for you to change this. Everything els... | 2021/03/16 | [
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55,288 | I’ve posted several chapters of my in-progress trilogy on several writing critique websites, and while many of my fellow writers have praised my worldbuilding abilities, they have remarked that I always tend to overexplained things with exposition. One described it as if I had this burning desire to get all of the idea... | [
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"text": "Those who build worlds inevitably want to show off their skills. The trick is not to be boring.\n\nOne approach... | 2021/03/16 | [
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55,289 | I'm researching about different mythical creatures for my book, and I want to use Nymphs in it, there are different types of them such as mountain nymphs and sea nymphs. In Greek mythology they have names for them, for example:
Sea nymphs are Nereids and nymphs of mountains are Oreads.
So should I use the pre-existing... | [
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"text": "I'd recommend using preexisting names for a few reasons.\n\nJaaqon 1- you need less explanation of the creatur... | 2021/03/16 | [
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55,300 | Is it possible for there to be a story of a villain on a rampage only told in his perspective and his victims? Near the beginning, he defeats the only characters brave enough to stand up against him. I was thinking it might work since you won't get attached to the heroes, now dead, but again, he's a villain. So, my que... | [
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"text": "The protagonist is the entity that the story happens to and then later the entity that takes control of the sto... | 2021/03/17 | [
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55,305 | We are writing a collaborative paper that will include various examples of data types. When stating the data type file extension, how should it be presented?
For example,
"The platform will be able to process multiple image formats such as..."
* jpg, tiff, gif, png (lowercase, no periods)
* JPG, TIFF, GIF, PNG (upper... | [
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"text": "The filename is irrelevant. If I have my resume as a Word document, and I rename it to `bohemian-rhapsody.jpg`... | 2021/03/18 | [
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55,308 | The cliché scene where a man dies on the hospital bed and ECG goes "beep beep beep" is seen by everyone in movies. The problem is that someone told me that I go too sentimental in scenes like these while writing. How can I write hospital death scenes in a more creative way? | [
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"text": "If you like the sentimentalism, do that. It’s not good to let others tell you that you are too much this or too much... | 2021/03/18 | [
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55,317 | I want to describe this action. How should I describe this action?
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/kmkQP.gif) | [
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55,326 | I am writing a story of a slice of life of a teenager girl who seeks her forgotten past and run away from her forced marriage to follow her dreams. I want to add another story of her cousin and her best friend who gets pregnant early in age. Would it be too weird if I do so?
I want to add some points of teenage pregnan... | [
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"text": "Personally, I believe that it would seem kind of weird in the same story, and if they do not overlap/are completel... | 2021/03/20 | [
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55,334 | I have a situation where a character is locked in a cell for about two week’s time. This is a medieval setting. For plot reasons, the character is chained to a block in the middle of the cell. The problem is, I have no idea how he would pee and such. I find it really awkward to think about, and I don’t think it’s relev... | [
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"text": "This stinks!\n------------\n\nThis is a slightly obscure question, and might be better answered someplace like the ... | 2021/03/22 | [
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55,346 | I am writing a story from the perspective of a man telling his audience what happened to him. During his monologue, somebody walks into the room in real-time and tells him something. What is the best way to do this?
Perhaps a clean break in narrative?
>
> I look around the room, wondering where they'll take me.
> ... | [
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"text": "I would say the second one, however different people have different taste. Pick the one that you like best and... | 2021/03/24 | [
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55,355 | When describing a character I usually provide some indication of their race/ethnicity since a lot of my work has multiracial characters and I tend to use elements of ethnicity in characterization. Most of the time I find a tasteful way to describe the color of their skin and start them in a scenario that allows them to... | [
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"text": "The reason film scripts are very upfront about it is because the final product, the film, is not: Though explicit ... | 2021/03/25 | [
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55,357 | I'm at a point in my story where the main character(M17) was in a huge car crash. He'd been in an overturned vehicle for about 10 minutes and had sustained heavy damage. A few of his friends had come to his aid. At first, I had made a character(F18) break down after someone else(F17) who is overprotective of the MC put... | [
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"text": "Suffering is Drama (and transformation):\n----------------------------------------\n\nUnfortunately, I think this mi... | 2021/03/25 | [
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55,360 | >
> Stephen: I am your daddy.
>
>
> Rumerz:
> NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>
>
>
The question is how do you write no in a way that looks professional without removing the "audio" information of how the "no" should be uttered by an actor, how long and loud the actor should... | [
{
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"text": "That many 'O's and exclamation marks is probably excessive, because it will spill over the line break. Beyond tha... | 2021/03/26 | [
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55,372 | I am trying to convert a fiction book into a film script. The book uses third-person past tense narration that switches between several characters from chapter to chapter and thus is always from a particular character's viewpoint. There is quite a bit of indirect thought from the narrator/character in which they add mo... | [
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"text": "The media of cinema and literature are different enough that it's almost impossible to convert one into the... | 2021/03/27 | [
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55,376 | I have a romance arc as one of the major series-long plots of my story. In the first major story arc, the two romantic leads aren't actively together as a couple, this part of the story focuses on when they first met to the point where they realize that they have mutual feelings for one another. Essentially, they both ... | [
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"text": "Subtlety, Subtlety, Subtlety:\n-----------------------------\n\nYou want to handle this very subtly. Every interact... | 2021/03/27 | [
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55,385 | When the main character in Fleabag and Miranda TV series, talks to the camera, is that 3rd person or another technical term for the point of view?
It's often used in TV adverts I notice too.
They talk to the camera to convey their thoughts to the viewer. I can see it as the equivalent of the thought bubble in comics. | [
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"text": "This sounds like the TV trope Breaking the Fourth Wall:\n\n[tvtropes - Breaking The Fourth Wall](https://tvtr... | 2021/03/28 | [
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55,392 | I am working on a series of episodes that will be made into individual videos to explain different technologies and how they interrelate at different levels within a specific application domain (the aim being to produce something that is similar to a video-based Wikipedia). To try to keep this engaging and manageable (... | [
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55,393 | Background
----------
The book series I'm working on can basically be summed up as a science-fantasy series that starts out leaning much more on the fantasy end of the spectrum but moves more and more towards the sci-fi end of the spectrum as it progresses until it looks like a cross between the Legend of Korra and St... | [
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"text": "Controversy and Emotion:\n------------------------\n\nThere are lots of publications about industrialization and co... | 2021/03/29 | [
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55,395 | My story has a cast of 59 characters, 25 of which are either protagonists or antagonists. Nine of these characters are very well-rounded and important, and most make an appearance at least once in each book.
Though not the MC, my favorite character of the entire series is one of these nine and is extremely important t... | [
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"text": "Short answer, is you don't include everyone's *dialogue*.\n\nWhile it's tempting to have every character have the... | 2021/03/29 | [
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