qid int64 1 2.78M | question stringlengths 2 66.6k | answers list | date stringlengths 10 10 | metadata list |
|---|---|---|---|---|
55,396 | I am working on a comic book script right now. Nothing of my draft (except dialogues) will be read by readers; the only purpose of my draft is to narrate the story to my friend, the illustrator.
Anytime I introduce a new character, I could write a few hundred words... or I could attach a photo of my character's appearance.
The problem is to find the right picture on the Internet.
Is there any free gallery of human faces? A website I could type "woman, 35-40, blonde" into, receiving a hundred different face types I could choose from? | [
{
"answer_id": 55402,
"author": "veryverde",
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"text": "The closest thing I can come up with is an unfree, [AI-generated face library](https://generated.photos/faces).\n... | 2021/03/29 | [
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55,419 | I'm trying to find the right verb for database documentation. I have to write a lot of these and it is very long; so I am working for a consistent and reusable way to phrase this.
What I have now:
>
> This tag is assigned if the field *FieldName* is *Value*.
>
>
>
It may look like
>
> This tag is assigned if the field *City* is *Chicago*.
>
>
>
I'm struggling with the 2nd *is*.
Perhaps the following:
>
> This tag is assigned if the *FieldName* contains *Value*.
>
>
>
That may be a little open-ended if one value is expected.
>
> This tag is assigned if the *FieldName* value is *Value*.
>
>
>
What verb would you choose in this case, or how would you rework the sentence?
For context, I'm trying to document an SQL query like:
```
select * from locations where city = 'chicago'
``` | [
{
"answer_id": 55420,
"author": "Juhasz",
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"text": "Your first suggestion looks fine. It doesn't seem likely to be misconstrued. There are other similar sentences that w... | 2021/03/31 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/55419",
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55,435 | Would having characters not feel sad about death, but instead fascinated about it be offensive to those who lost others? I always felt as if death is natural and should not be sad, but would writing it that way be offensive? | [
{
"answer_id": 55437,
"author": "user11111111111",
"author_id": 47470,
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"text": "No\n==\n\nThere will be characters who faint when they see a dead body and there will be those who say \"is... | 2021/04/01 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/55435",
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55,446 | What are several different ways to incorporate true facts into historical fiction without just giving a massive info dump?
Whether big or little details, I want to inform the reader of facts without flat out saying "on \_\_\_, \_\_\_ happened, which was a massive development in \_\_\_, causing president \_\_\_ to say...." which seems kind of boring and info-dumpish.
Are there strategies or techniques to subtly add historical facts to a historical fiction storyline?
My story is in third person POV, past tense. | [
{
"answer_id": 55447,
"author": "DWKraus",
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"text": "A Few Thoughts:\n---------------\n\nI'm far from an expert, but here are a few things that come to mind. I struggle... | 2021/04/04 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/55446",
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55,454 | I have written a book recently, and I want to share it so it can be reviewed, but I am worried over that it might get stolen if I do so.
So is there a way, like a watermark or signature, to protect it, showing that the work belongs to me? | [
{
"answer_id": 55455,
"author": "DWKraus",
"author_id": 46563,
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"selected": true,
"text": "The law is your friend:\n-----------------------\n\nLegally, the work does belong to you. Once you start freely dist... | 2021/04/04 | [
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55,466 | I have a blind depressed character and I'd like to write a chapter that talks only about his internal conflict, i.e, struggling with his inner self, like going inside his mind, but I find difficulties not knowing on what should I focus and what should I describe exactly, so I can get people empathize with the character. | [
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"selected": true,
"text": "The law is your friend:\n-----------------------\n\nLegally, the work does belong to you. Once you start freely dist... | 2021/04/05 | [
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55,476 | I just read a novel where the main character is overpowered: he has unbeatable superpowers, many girls that are interested in him, enemies that get scared just by facing him, etc. I find it annoying because it doesn't really provide any tension for me when reading it, but I'm really curious about how many people (especially teens, because it's a teen novel) find it amazing and love him. The novel itself is so popular that no-one on the novel website could miss it.
It makes me wonder, could an overpowered main character be interesting at some point? If so, how come? | [
{
"answer_id": 55477,
"author": "Zeiss Ikon",
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"text": "The comics have covered this a number of times over the past eighty years.\n\nThe \"simple\" solution is to make... | 2021/04/07 | [
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55,488 | I'm writing a policy-relevant paper with policy recommendation. My supervisor (non-native in English) told me that I should not use a word 'should' for writing sentences for policy recommendation because the term is too strong in academic papers. An example of the sentence is like '..., the \*\*\* should be taken into account.' Do you have any suggestions for alternative words/phrases for 'should'? | [
{
"answer_id": 55490,
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"text": "The word \"should\" is not appropriate if you are recommending a policy action.\n\nIt is not, as you suggest, tha... | 2021/04/08 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/55488",
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55,492 | Been reading through my writing and I noticed that 90% of my sentences follow the same basic structure of
>
> [phraseA], [phraseB].
>
>
>
The few exceptions I could find were very short sentences I put there for effect (ie 'oops' or 'that's not good'). Looking a bit closer to try and split things up, I found it was really hard because I had unintentionally made it where phraseA was an independent clause, and phraseB was dependent. Example:
>
> I climbed up the arm into the cockpit, hoping I could remember how to pilot a mech.
>
>
>
When I try to split it up, it ends up a lot like
>
> I climbed up the arm into the cockpit. Hopefully I could remember how to pilot a mech.
>
>
>
In my mind, this seems very short and jerky, which I suppose is why I write them all in the first way. I know I need structure variety, which I expect to be a decent chunk of editing.
Moving forward, how do I keep from doing the same sentence structure over and over?
Note: if you look closely, most of the sentences in this question follow that sentence structure. | [
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"text": "So sentence structure is the basic format sentences should take (have you ever in grammar courses graphed a sentence?... | 2021/04/08 | [
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55,502 | I'm writing my first novel which is set in an alternate universe, a place which is set on Earth but in a different ecosystem where story can get affected by nature and might take the reader to locations that are weird at its best.
So, how can I integrate a world where the secondary threat is the world itself, but not overshadowing the main story and a wide array of unique characters. | [
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"text": "So sentence structure is the basic format sentences should take (have you ever in grammar courses graphed a sentence?... | 2021/04/08 | [
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55,508 | Which sentence works best in regards to ',' or '-'?
>
> If you don't, the track record will become diluted
>
>
>
or
>
> If you don't - the track record will become diluted
>
>
> | [
{
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"text": "Use the comma. Dash denotes a break in the thought or an definition association. Better yet, use \"If you don't, then... | 2021/04/09 | [
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55,513 | Basically what the title asks: **is it possible to write non-canon works in a fictional universe you've created**? In my example, I've created a fictional universe set on a non-Earth planet, however I have written a novel in which the characters on the non-Earth planet have traveled to Earth. Is it possible to make said novel non-canon, as in it has no bearing on the actual plotlines of the original novel(s)? Furthermore, is it possible for an author of significant works to publish a story or book that is non-canon to the other works they've created? | [
{
"answer_id": 55515,
"author": "Oui I Are",
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"text": "**Yes, it is indeed possible,** especially because it is your own creation.\n\nWhatever you do to your characters,... | 2021/04/09 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/55513",
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55,519 | I am getting confused about whether rules determine new paragraph positions or if it's sometimes arbitrary. Some choices seem clear cut, but in the sentence: 'I regarded...' it reads fine to me in both the first 2 options; it appears to me a paragraph could end in more than one place and the sense is virtually the same. Is this right?
Is the 3rd better? I feel it is and allows for intended meaning.
**1- ACTIONS AFTER DIALOGUE**
>
> 'Do not lose hope, the day is yet young my sleepy chicas.' I regarded the non-committal air of resignation before me. A fidgety Norman Dive two rows back was frowning at me.
>
>
> 'Stick to Science if I was you Mr Naqmab.' A loud interjection came from a group in the far corner.
>
>
> 'Is Dive still that trombone thing Sir?' I spied who appeared to be the central figure, a surly boy called Feakins.
>
>
> 'I’m the trumpet ain’t I?' Dive answered.
>
>
>
**2- ACTIONS BEFORE DIALOGUE**
>
> 'Do not lose hope, the day is yet young my sleepy chicas.'
>
>
> I regarded the non-committal air of resignation before me. A fidgety Norman Dive two rows back was frowning at me. 'Stick to Science if I was you Mr Naqmab.'
>
>
> A loud interjection came from a group in the far corner. 'Is Dive still that trombone thing Sir?'
>
>
> I spied who appeared to be the central figure, a surly boy called Feakins. 'I’m the trumpet ain’t I?' Dive answered.
>
>
>
**[3- BEORE AND AFTER DEPENDENT ON CONTEXT]**
>
> 'Do not lose hope, the day is yet young my sleepy chicas.' I regarded the non-committal air of resignation before me.
>
>
> A fidgety Norman Dive two rows back was frowning at me. 'Stick to Science if I was you Mr Naqmab.'
>
>
> A loud interjection came from a group in the far corner. 'Is Dive still that trombone thing Sir?' I spied who appeared to be the central figure, a surly boy called Feakins.
>
>
> 'I’m the trumpet ain’t I?' Dive answered.
>
>
> | [
{
"answer_id": 55523,
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"text": "I suggest you always start a new paragraph when you change: speaker; place; time; topic; or character. Consider... | 2021/04/10 | [
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55,525 | I'm writing about large subjects such as human society, human culture, and human behavior.
I need to identify and discuss various phenomena, and make specific arguments, but I also want to avoid the great trap of absolutes, while also avoiding weasel words.
I discovered that in my efforts to avoid absolutes, I've used the word "often" when introducing types of behaviors and cultural conditions.
I have a great concern for the trap of absolutes.
Any suggestions or ideas about this -- for me -- conundrum? | [
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"text": "I think it would be best to make it clear early on that you recognize there are exceptions to almost everything. Make... | 2021/04/10 | [
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55,530 | I have a character in my story who openly identifies as part of the goth subculture. I've taken pains to make sure they have a three-dimensional personality and aspects to their character beyond just being "that goth". About the only stereotypical "goth" thing about them is that they're crabby and cynical, but their personality is understandable in-universe and part of that is character motifs of the individual having a thorny exterior appearance to match their personality.
However, I've been noticing a problem in that while the character openly says they're a goth, it never quite feels like I am depicting a goth. Their characterization just feels shallow and undeveloped compared to many of my other characters, specifically because I don't know how to handle their gothiness. There don't seem to be many resources as to how goth subculture works or advice on how to depict it in fiction. I get that goth subculture is defined by individual expression so its pretty hard to pin down, yet there are still some clear dos and don't to differentiate it from, say, emo.
Adding to this is the fact that the character is not white (specifically, they're Native American in a modern setting), so it's really hard to figure out how gothiness interacts with culture. For example, I know many goths favor ostentatious jewelry, but many native traditions frown on wearing too much jewelry outside of formal occasions. I know that Native American goths exist (I've seen writings from several on how they get fed up how Native characters are typically only brought up in a Wild West context), but I don't know any personally to ask how goth and native traditions intersect. I've tried reading about the actual traditions and beliefs of the nation they belong to, though said nation hasn't actually written about a lot of them.
Because goth subculture is a common character archetype that shows up in fiction, I thought it would be a worthwhile question to ask here. **How do I go about depicting a goth character and actually make them feel like they are a goth, rather than a shallow depiction of goth subculture?** | [
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"text": "**How much does it matter that they are a goth?**\n\nI am not going to say that you shouldn't write characters wit... | 2021/04/11 | [
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55,535 | I've just written such a paragraph:
>
> He turned around and started walking to the nearby store. He bought a
> bread and a yoghurt. Then he came back and gave the groceries to the
> homeless guy.
>
>
>
There are several points to this text:
* I feel like all this is necessary. I want to get from the point where main character talks to homeless person to the point when he gives them food. Skiping any of the actions may confuse reader as it would sound as hero conjured something out of nowhere.
* I don't see anything worth mentioning here. The description of the
surrounding was already given. There is no side story to this thread. If I add anything here it will feel like a filler to me.
* I'm not sure about English, but at least in my motherlanguage it sounds
terrible due to the high count of verbs. This speeds up the pace
unintentionally and may confuse the reader.
Overall I think this paragraph sounds extremally bad, but I can't find a way to alter it. I will appreciate any idea on what can I do with such a snag. | [
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"text": "Compare your paragraph to\n\n> \n> He went and bought a bread and yoghurt for the homeless guy.\n> \n> \n> \n\nThis is... | 2021/04/11 | [
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55,542 | I have a scene where a character is recounting their side of a story in a courtroom. The character tells a good chunk of their story, and then we see the experiences he is recounting instead of his testimony itself. How would this be best formatted in a screenplay? The scene would cut back and forth several times between the character telling the story and the actual story unfolding. Is each transition a call for a new location? A whole new scene? | [
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"text": "I would highly recommend you watch Akira Kurosawa's Roshomone which does this exactly, multiple times (Much of the fi... | 2021/04/12 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/55542",
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55,553 | I am writing a scene in which I want to show how my MC is still weak and vulnerable. My character is emotionally strong, but I am not able to describe a scene where she is crying in a room alone, so she doesn't seem as strong as she thinks she is. How do you write about vulnerability without explicitly stating that? | [
{
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"text": "Crying? Who, Me? (sniff):\n-------------------------\n\nI think you want something like this:\n\nMC is reflecting o... | 2021/04/13 | [
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55,562 | Writing isn't like drawing, and I can't take a step back and look at it and search for flaws in the story, because it's in my head already, and I know it, and I can't forget it. So when I write I write blindly, not knowing the quality of the end result. I wonder if there are ways to help me there, so even if I didn't know with my heart, I knew with my mind that at least it's not wrong in this and that.
One of the ways I came up with is to plan my story arcs instead of just writing it. Another way to have a friend who'd read my story and be my guiding dog, but I don't have friends or editors or money for editors.
So, do you know any other ways to help my problem? | [
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"text": "There are two sides of writing. First, is the glorious act of creation, thinking up plots, fleshing out charac... | 2021/04/14 | [
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55,565 | Sample text:
>
> Xute had long been **sceptical** of abrupt changes in weather.
>
>
>
(Quoted from an Australian author.)
As an American, I was startled to see the alternative spelling of **skeptical**. Perhaps I am over-thinking, however, I found it distracting.
Sceptical is the British form of skeptical. <https://wikidiff.com/sceptical/skeptical>
When one's goal is to reach the majority of English readers, is there a widely accepted English form of spelling to accomplish this goal? | [
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55,572 | I'm writing a sci-fi novel and am having a hard time coming up with a new energy source that DOESN'T revolve around the widely popular "nuclear" option everyone favors so much. I've tried researching other energy types that scientists are investigating but everyone just assumes solar, wind, or nuclear are the future and none of those are interesting nor special in a science fiction novel. My writing style can't fathom just random facts or conjure up nonsense out of thin air. I'm trying to make my project as close to scientifically possible and accurate as I can, but this might be the thing that makes or breaks that idea. I've so far been given advice from friends and D&D DM's that I should do research into Tukar power and Dahk Mantoh. The problems with these are that Tukar is just another form of Solar energy and Dahk Mantoh is so impossible to study that its properties are yet to be explored or tested in a controlled environment. So my question is simple: What would you try exploring as an alternate energy source for the future that doesn't follow the stereotype of nukes, the sun, and wind turbines? | [
{
"answer_id": 55573,
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"text": "There are a lot of non-nuclear forms of energy with our current technological abilities. And nuclear can be divided i... | 2021/04/14 | [
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55,576 | I am writing an action scene in which a character is thrown/falls and while they are flying through the air either the top or bottom half of their body hits an immovable object mid air, causing them to continue in the same direction but with their body at a different rotation now, without starting to spin because of it. It's essentially like a rug pull but happening in mid air if that makes sense? I think I have read this as "jackknifing" in other writing but I'm not sure if that is the correct use case and meaning? Here is a [video example](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz4JSTXuP9E) except the character spins after impact, which is **not** desired.
I have included a diagram to help illustrate this as well (side on view, top of arrows are character's heads, grey object is the ground, green object is stationary and immovable):
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/oAuA8.png)
Example sentence:
Red guy hit blue guy, sending him flying back into a green object, which \_\_\_\_\_\_ his body. | [
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"text": "The motion is a tilt. \"to cause to lean, incline, slope, or slant.\"\n\nso you sentence could end \"which tilted his... | 2021/04/15 | [
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55,579 | How would you punctuate quotes for multiple people talking simultaneously in the same paragraph? I.e.,
>
> They lined up and waited for the last bell of the day and cheered with their tiny voices, "It was nice to meet you, Ms. Himey", "I hope you come again", "You are a nice teacher".
>
>
>
Also, when using a quote mid-speech do you use a period at the end of that speech or a comma; none at all? I.e.,
>
> As I walked away, I could hear several echoes of ‘Bye, Ms. Himey.’ until their voices faded in the distance, no longer heard.
>
>
> | [
{
"answer_id": 55591,
"author": "Preyansh0605",
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55,588 | I'm trying to plan a very long-form meta-story with multiple shifts in tone and scope, the first part of which consists of a very small-scale character story with an ensemble cast of 4 main characters. Right now I'm planning on only one of them being alive by the time the first part ends.
My main concern is that by giving each of the MCs an equal focus and not having any one be the 'main character', then killing off three out of four of them and switching the focus to the remaining one for the other parts of the story, it's kind of erasing the importance of the rest of the cast and making their lives, and consequently their characters mean nothing. To a certain extent, this is intentional, as the series explores themes of absurdity and existentialism and the shift from the first to the second part represents a major tonal shift from somewhat grey to something pretty black.
But I'm worried that I'm not thinking about this from the perspective of my audience. Is this definitely a bad idea, or is it the kind of thing that depends on how I handle it? | [
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55,589 | I'm currently finishing up my bachelors' thesis and I'm experimenting with the abstract.
I checked my first draft with Grammarly and right away some words were underlined that Grammarly felt were missing the definitive article 'the'.
Some examples ( \_\_ means 'the' is missing):
>
> Through \_\_ introduction of roles and contexts, the behavior of objects
> can be adapted at run-time via addition or modification of attributes
> and methods.
>
>
>
>
> Recent research has found a remedy inspired by polymorphic inline
> caches, allowing reuse of so-called dispatch plans which encode the
> steps directly required for \_\_ execution of adaptations.
>
>
>
I thought that in academic writing leaving out 'the' to sound more concise is accepted?
By the way, I am not a native speaker and my University is in a non-English speaking country. | [
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55,593 | At times in conversations, there are pauses for various reasons; in videos, the contexts of these pauses are clear because of the characters facial expression. But while writing, at first you can use filler description to annotate these pauses, but if you are writing about a character who does this a lot, then the description starts to fall apart, and the problem escalates if further in the story you have to write about them again. Since you have used every trick in the bag while you were writing about the character, the chances of reputation increases and soon the description seems cliches.
These long pauses arrive during:
1. When people say something unexpected, and the other character does not know what to say.
2. When the character gets an answer (in the heat of an argument) and he does not know what to say.
3. Staring deep into the eyes scene.
4. When the character gets smacked in an argument.
These are a few examples at the top of my head, but I am sure there are more (if you know any, feel free to add). In general, what should a writer do about these situations?
I have read these answers:
[This one](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/46492/how-do-we-handle-pauses-in-a-dialogue) was helpful, but not what I am looking for.
[This one](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/23942/how-do-i-convey-messages-that-are-clear-but-unspoken) didn't have a proper answer.
[This was](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/26468/how-to-show-a-brief-hesitation-around-a-word) a nice question, but it talked more about emphasis rather than the scene and surrounding. | [
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55,596 | So, I know that questions regarding the usage of real-life company names [has been brought](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/49995/use-of-real-company-name-in-fiction-generic-common-names) [up before](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/12369/pros-and-cons-of-using-real-brand-company-names?rq=1), but this is a really weird example that I've run into that doesn't seem covered by the previous examples.
I don't know if this is the case for other countries, but in North America in addition to the major chains that everyone thinks of when fast food is brought up (e.g., *McDonalds*, *Domuxi's*, *KFC*, *Subway*) there are a number of smaller regional chains that are unique to certain areas. For example:
* *Tim Horton's* is located predominantly in Canada and the states bordering Canada across the Great Lakes, to the point that Canadians eating at *Tim Horton's* is practically a Canadian stereotype.
* *Sonic* is a drive-in burger chain based out of Oklahoma and is primarily found in the American Deep South where the weather is warm enough for their business model to work. *Whataburger* is a similar chain located primarily in Texas and Oklahoma. Locals in Oklahoma and Texas love eating at *Sonic* and *Whataburger*, to the point that when I've visited the state the local *McDonalds* tended to be rather empty.
* *In-N-Out* is a similar drive-in burger chain that is primarily located in California and is really popular among Californians. There are a couple of other chains which are common along the Pacific Coast.
* *Taco John's* and *Arctic Circle* are two really weird examples that are virtually unique to the Rocky Mountain states like Utah, Wyoming, and the surrounding regions.
These fast food chains are often notable parts of the local culture of an area and can do a pretty good job of setting the different regions of North America apart. I.e., if you wandered out of the woods after being lost and saw a *Tim Horton's*, you're probably in Canada. I have a case where I have a story set in a particular region of the United States, and there was a minor comedic subplot that included one of these regional franchises. I wanted to include a reference to this fast food franchise to make the setting seem more authentic: i.e., readers that had been to the region would go "oh, the author does know what life is like in that state" rather than just depicting the region as a genetic flyover state with the numbers filed off.
The issue is I'm worried about the legality of the whole thing. The idea was that a teenage character gets a part-time job working at this fast food restaurant, and its your typical soul-crushing burger-flipping job that many young people go through in the Western world, played for fish-out-of-water comedy because the character is a nonhuman being with no social skills. The character ends up getting fired, but they're fired because of their own flaws. What I'm worried is that this will get me in legal trouble because it will be seen as disparaging to the chain. The chain has hundreds of locations, so it's not like I'm making fun of a very small chain. And the comedy is just generic "teenager hates being forced to work a fast food job" than anything specifically aimed at the franchise. I liked the fact that I was able to include the reference as there aren't a ton of thing in that part of the U.S. that scream "this is set in this state", but at the same time I don't want to get sued for defamation. | [
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55,615 | I'm currently writing my first graphic novel/comic and am wondering when people feel SFX should be added. I know it probably depends on the tone of the story (for reference mine leans on the more serious side, a sci-fi civil war story). I know for myself I intend to limit them mainly to combat scenes.
Some comics like The Walking Dead seem to have SFX for every action in combat scenes, from explosions to gunshots, where as others such as Marvel's X-Men don't. Just flipping through X-Men 8-10, many actions such as slashing of swords and explosions had no SFX whatsoever, while others did, which kind of confuses me.
So this leaves me with the question of when should I add them? Are there some cases such as a particularly significant explosion when no SFX should be added? What's the general rule, if any?
Any advice and thoughts on this topic are much appreciated, thanks :) | [
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55,620 | I'm currently outlining a YA dystopian/science fiction novel, with two alternating POV's, but I realized I don't really have a solid climax--which I've always known as a turning point for the characters and usually the most dramatic part of the story.
**Some background:** I plan for Character A and Character B--the two POV's--to become lovers at some point in the story/series. They are brought together after B saves A's sister, and then ally with a group of supporting characters in a plan to save people who were taken away by the government as part of a "corrupted plan," lets call it, they don't know about. My "climax" was originally going to be when this corrupted plan is revealed by the president of this dystopian society. This causes the main characters to connect the dots from what they've seen in the past and now they find themselves needing to stop this plan.
I was thinking the climax should have something to do with Characters A and B. But their romance is more of subplot, not really affecting the main plot much. The main part of the plot would be stopping the "corrupted plan." Stopping the plan and everything that goes with it is basically the whole premise of the story, but its reveal doesn't really seem like a turning point for my characters.
Is there a way I could keep that climax (the reveal) and have a separate climax for A and B? Or combine them? Or just figure out a whole new climax?
I hope this is clear.
(By the way, I don't plan for this novel to be a standalone) | [
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55,633 | This is a highly embarrassing question that my friend asked me one day and I was caught unprepared.
She was like, "You're writing in a boy's perspective, right?"
I said, "Yeah. What wrong with it?"
Then her eyes widened. "What if your character went into the restroom?!"
I still didn't understand the problem until she was like: "You never been in the boy's restroom before, how do you know what it like inside?"
And I was like, "I'm going to avoid describing the restroom by typing 'I went to the restroom then went out.' There! Issue solved." But she kinda went psyched about the topic. So that why I'm typing this question for her.
How do authors describe the inside of private *inside* when they never been in before? | [
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55,637 | I'm trying to write an essay but find myself tempted to spin off in too many directions. Once I do, it's difficult to weave all of the threads back together.
Any tips/resources for selecting the correct scope for an essay or structuring one to accommodate several threads? (If 1 is the absolute maximum for some reason, an explanation for that would be helpful as well.)
Thanks! | [
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55,646 | I've noticed I have a thing for commas, but I don't know if it's a big enough deal. I do try to sparse my longer sentences, but it leaves these lingering ones with probably an overuse of commas? I noticed that the prepositions in the following examples were sandwiched between commas. I felt that I wanted to keep that pause between, but then it leaves a sentence that's scattered with commas.
There is this one, which I can just split in half:
>
> The cottage had a weary, tired look, but, little in size, it looked almost childish, with overgrown weeds and wildflowers adorning the brick.
>
>
>
But then, I have many other sentences like this where I'm not quite sure how to fix:
>
> All the drizzles of rain shedding across the window beautifully smudged at the glass, and distorted the outside, where, like rain, leaves also danced down when winds carried through.
>
>
>
Are these big enough problems? These are only two examples, but I'm seeing this throughout the story I'm writing... Should I fix an overuse of commas in general? How would I go about doing that? | [
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55,652 | This question
[https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/55633/restrooms-for-characters[1]](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/55633/restrooms-for-characters%5B1%5D)
inspires me to ask about a story idea I have been thinking about.
The problems of using a fake identity as a member of a different gender in a contemporary American high school.
And of course there are many thousands of contemporary American high schools and there are probably at least a few where the character would not have any problems with their deception, but It would be better if they could manage it in a more typical high school.
The premise is that a rather weird and eccentric ten year old boy has three separate strong reasons to take on a new identity, which I won't bother explaining. So, with the advice and cooperation of a few adults he plans to move to a new community and assume a new identity as a ten-year-old girl entering the seventh grade junior high school. Being highly intelligent it is easy for him to skip a grade, and he intends to only take about every other grade and graduate much sooner than usual, skipping several more grades.
HIs only reason for going to a school instead of studying on the internet is to have a chance of making at least one friend to replace the ones in the old school he had to leave.
Fortunately he is so cute that in his old neighbordhood he was often described as a beautiful little girl dressed like a boy, so if he dresses iike a girl he should not be suspected of being a boy, and everyone will think he is a weird and eccentric little girl instead of weird and eccentric little boy.
Obviously it would be wrong for him to use either the boy's bathroom or the girl's bathroom. I never used the boy's bathroom in six years at my high school, but my home was just a block away so I went home and used our bathroom during lunch break -I only ate in the school cafeteria once. But it might not be possible for him to go home during lunch break, and he might not be able to avoid using the bathroom all day.
I hear that some modern schools have restrooms for students who are not gender typical, and those should be small enough for only one person at a time, so he might be able to get permission to such such a bathroom.
When I was in high school such an impersonation would never work, because the boys showered after gym class, and presumably the girls also did. But I have read that in some modern high schools that is no longer the practice. If that is the case he can get away with his deception.
As I remember, kids changed into and out of their gym costumes for gym class. And of course if he did that with the girls he would see them in their underwear or less. Being a highly eccentric child, he prides himself on never doing anything wrong, and on his reputation, and if it is ever discovered that he is a boy, his reputation will suffer.
So maybe he will wear his gym costume instead of regular clothes all the school day instead of changing into it for gym class. Or maybe he will negotiate a reason to be exempted from taking gym class, perhaps on the grounds he will probably graduate before becoming full grown and thus will always be much smaller than his classmates.
Anyway, those are the main factors I can think of which might make such an impersonation impossible.
So how could my charcter handle those problems and are there any other big problems I haven't thought of?
Added 04-25-2021
One thing he could do is go to an all boys school which is going to becoming co ed in the future. So they plan to build facilities for future girl students a few years in the future.
So possibly the school might be persuaded to take him as a test to see how the boys might react to girls. Though of course they wouldn't realize just how much different he is from a typical girl or boy, or how little the school's experience with him will relate to their future experience with normal girls.
Thus he would be except from using the boy's locker room and showers, and the girl's locker room and showers would not exist yet. | [
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55,653 | I am looking to publish an audiobook on ACX, and I am 13 years old. **Is there any age restriction on publishing an audiobook on ACX?** For example, during registration, it asks me if I hold a US tax ID for the payments from ACX. | [
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55,655 | It should be clearly understood that I am not an avid reader and I accept I may be missing a lot of things about writing. I want to write a thought-provoking and a deep story with interesting characters and I want to I really want to write and tell the story in the most unique way possible.
But, conceptualizing the idea of my story into a full fledged fiction novel has turned out to be a nightmare for me. Every time I review my work, my writing seems so scattered and I find it makes me cringe.
What should I do to write better and where to start?
Any piece of advice will be highly appreciated! | [
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55,664 | I'm writing a ficional story about a historical figure. My MC takes twelve years to achieve a major success. But the bulk of the work takes place in three stages: at ages 17, 23, and 29.
I have divided my book into three parts... but no matter what I do, it feels jolting skipping the time gap.
The quirks that the reader will find endearing when the MC is 17 suddenly vanish when we skip to when she's 23. The things important at age 23 are meaningless at age 29.
I tried writing chapters to fill the gaps, but adding a chapter at age 20 made it worse. Beta readers hated it even more. The reader would fall in love with the MC at age 17, skip to age 20 and feel like they don't know her, but not spend enough time to grow to like this "new" MC before we were off to age 23.
I also tried to write one chapter for each year, and this was also bad. The reader spent too much time in limbo before they could settle down a MC they could connect with.
So, I feel like I'm having to choose between writing an entertaining story and rewriting history. If I made this complete fiction and less history, I could speed up time and make the MC accomplish an impossible feat in a span of 2-3 years. It would be more pleasing to read, but it would lose the lesson I wanted to teach in thr first place: sometimes, you have to labor for twelve years to achieve success.
What can I do to fix my story? | [
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55,684 | I'm currently writing a story about a psychopathic serial killer that meets a detective (the murderer owns a restaurant and the detective and his wife meet him there) that is investigating the victims of his. One thing that has me inching is that I don't know how to raise the stakes for the characters. While the characters are mostly great, with the villain with his own engaging aspects (his charisma, taste, master manipulator etc.) and the detective with his sympathetic side, I feel like I don't know how to set the stakes for my killer to focus on his next victims (he kills people that either annoyed him in some way or got in his way) and what the detective knows. So I would like any recommendation on how to make their relationship more dynamic. | [
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55,690 | How to capitalize the words of a section title? In particular, when Should I capitalize the word "to?" Sometimes I see it capitalized and sometimes not. | [
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55,696 | Like my question above, I am mostly messing up at describing my character without making a huge list of words.
It sucks to know that readers are now skipping over the description that tends to be boring and go right into the story. So I would like some advice to fix my 'Describing' problem. | [
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55,720 | There is one thing I did not like to admit: I don't know how to lie.
I could make up some random excuses but it wouldn't be convincing enough. And there is always a saying that I can't manage to get my head around: The best lies contain some of the truth inside.
My character is trying to cook up some believable story to cover up someone's absence and he's failing it because he can't be believable enough and the fault was mine. I would like people to explain the art of lying to me so I could get past this situation. | [
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55,723 | I'm doing an extensive write-up project, and I'm stumped for how an alien species similar to the human analogue morphology (Two Arms, Two Legs, and Plantigrade-Bipedal standing/maneuvering) should be called. I don't want to go for Humanoid, because that's to on the nose and too humancentric for the type of setting I'm developing.
I want something more neutral, so I went for the terminology "Bipedaloid", but I don't know how easily parse-able a person seeing that at face value would know I'm denoting to a rough morphology similar too a human.
Do you think such a terminology I thought up is good or feasible, or can there be a suggestion for anything else that can help? | [
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55,740 | I've never had a solid template for outlining my novels. I don't even know if I'm doing it right, if there's a right way to do it.
For my characters, I have a list of questions that I fill out. For my world building, I jot down details, such as where, when, who governs, what rules there are, appearance, etc. Maybe that's not enough, but that's what I've always done.
My actual plot is where I doubt myself. I write a short description of each scene in chronological order, organized by bullet points. Sometimes, I write short sentences and sometimes I write a paragraph. It gets stressful, it's not very productive, and it's very slow. I've been outlining since October 2020 and am still outlining now. I'm dying to start writing, but I feel like I should complete the outline. I've written with an unfinished outline before and it was disastrous.
I'm a plotser, which you may have figured out already. I used to be more of a pantser but I didn't get anywhere; by the time I'd get to the middle of my story, I didn't know where I was going, like I mentioned earlier. So after that, I began to write detailed outlines before starting my novel.
I've also heard of different apps you could use, video tutorials that claim you can outline your novel on a single sheet of paper, scene cards, but none have really worked for me. I've also looked for downloadable or printable templates, but end up returning to my old way of bullet pointing every scene from beginning to end.
In short, is there a "right" way to outline a novel? Are there certain methods I can use? Should I just continue the way I'm outlining? | [
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55,744 | I'm writing a book in which there is a character with no gender.
I don't know what pronouns I should use for this character.
I can't use he/she.
What pronouns should I use?
Example:
With gender:
>
> She kissed him
>
>
>
Without gender:
>
> It kissed him
>
>
>
It doesn't seem nice to say "It kissed him", especially with agender humans. | [
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"text": "1. Classic approach\n\nGenderless character is assigned a \"gender\" nevertheless, just for the purpose of conve... | 2021/04/29 | [
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55,748 | I am not a writer, but I always wondered why characters tend to not talk using discourse markers, specifically cognitive markers to create flow in the dialogue. There aren't any "um", "so", "uh", pauses, etc. Realistically, people use discourse markers almost every utterance. Even someone confident on what they have to say still uses it, especially if they're still formulating their thoughts. Wouldn't use of it make dialogue much more believable? | [
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55,755 | In a murder mystery novel or stories alike, how do you give out hints and foreshadow key details without being obvious that those details are important yet if the readers read through it again after the plot twist, they will say something along the lines of "Oh! It's so obvious!"? | [
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55,763 | In song lyrics, how do you convey that a line or parts of a line is spoken at the same time?
Example:
>
> You are a fool, yeah that's right.
>
>
>
"You are a fool" is spoken by a different person. "Yeah that's right" is also spoken by a different person. The "Yeah" starts before "fool", how do you convey that? | [
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"text": "[Sometimes film scripts have a similar problem](https://screenwriting.io/in-dialogue-how-do-you-express-that-one-cha... | 2021/05/01 | [
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55,769 | By this I mean, if I used a Latin phrase or used a Latin title for something, would that make sense?
For example, I was thinking of using a Latin title for an in-world book. Or a Latin species scientific names.
Or use the name of some kind of Latin title.
Thanks, | [
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"text": "Yes, if your world is in the right location. You specify medieval in the tags. *(Edit: This questi... | 2021/05/02 | [
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55,773 | I'm writing a novel in third person limited point of view. I want my prologue to feature an event that is referenced later in the novel, but my protagonist is not involved in the event. (e.x the prologue is a murder, the novel has the protagonist searching for the killer). If my novel is written with the protagonist as the narrative focus, is it all right for my prologue to have an objective pov? Thank you! | [
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55,788 | I want some advice on how to come up with a good story idea
I have to create a story that has the 12-stage hero's journey structure, with a Byronic hero.
Right now I can't seem to think of any good story ideas except for the 'hero goes to find an object/treasure, and tries to defeat an enemy' which is pretty bland. Or, 'the hero tries to stop the villain from doing something bad, after getting a call', which also is kind of generic.
I think my ideas aren't bad, but want to come up with something more original | [
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55,789 | It is generally considered bad practice to include these in your writing, so what should be used instead? How would you show that your character is pondering something, or unsure about something, without using “um” or “uh” or similar phrases?
Note: this question is about fictional writings, not nonfiction books. | [
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"text": "Presuming your character has a level of speaking experience that allows avoiding these \"pause noises\" (or that ... | 2021/05/04 | [
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55,797 | I was wondering, how many books do authors write at the same time? I usually try to focus on one project at a time, but I sometimes get inspiration for something else and want to write something inspired from that. I still want to write Project 1 but Project 2 is already developing in my mind and I don't want to let go of it just because I'm already writing something else that is completely different.
Is it okay to divide your attention between two or more projects or stay focused on just one? Is it common for authors to be working on one project, then have an idea for a new one and start working on that one, even though they haven't finished the first one?
Hope this is clear. | [
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"text": "To be honest, it's all up to you. How many books do you think you can handle writing at a time? Figure tha... | 2021/05/05 | [
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55,814 | I was thinking of ways to make my audience like my characters.
I always try to figure out my target audience and make the main hero as relatable as possible.
Quite often do I embrace their integrity. They are empathetic and they help those in need. They would be the one person that stands out and does something brave. Basically, they are good people.
However I think there may be more to that. Some of the methods I mentioned could end up making the story a cliche. I wonder if there are more sophisticated techniques to build a character, that will make the reader root for them. | [
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"text": "[Likeable traits](https://jerryjenkins.com/create-character-empathy)\n\nDeeds and talents are often sprung f... | 2021/05/06 | [
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55,815 | I am trying to create a children's story that explains how a dog is lost and can't find its way back home. After around 6 pages, the dog is found and rescued. I want to insert a "flashback" type of feeling, without a flashback. I was thinking something along the lines of,
>
> Surprisingly, while Max was lost, his owner set up fliers to look for him!
>
>
>
I don't know if this is suitable for a child to understand though. If you have other ideas for me to express this "flashback" in a casual way, please let me know! | [
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"text": "Split Screen:\n-------------\n\nIt's a children's book. Have a page with the dog wandering lost on one side, the own... | 2021/05/06 | [
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55,819 | Since I'm the type of person that doesn't use a word over and over again, it turns my masterpiece into a synonym dictionary (Kind of like a thesaurus.)
If I used the words 'informal conversation' two times in a chapter, I resolved to use another word to replace it but it turns out the word isn't often used and no one knows the meaning. For example, 'Colloquialism' also means informal conversation but when I read it to my friends, they didn't have a clue what I was talking about. One thing I remember them saying was "Talk English!"
I want to change this habit but each time I type, it becomes even harder to understand. I don't want to sound condescending or repetitious yet I don't want to sound like a person that is out of vocabulary.
How do I fix this problem? | [
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"text": "The comments to your question are quite on point, and could probably serve as answers. I'll suggest that you also c... | 2021/05/07 | [
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55,824 | My friend has asked me to give feedback on a light novel that he's writing, and I've been clueless on how to proceed. I'm an avid reader of non-fiction, and although I don't read much fiction anymore, I've had to analyze numerous books and short stories for some classes that I was taking. Suffice to say, I felt that I would be able to help, but when reading the text, the style and mood were so alien to me that I felt incapable of giving any good advice.
To give some background, the light novel falls within the fantasy genre and tries to explore the depths of human emotion through abuse, neglect, illness, etc., however, it also has a very unrealistic nature to it, in that it has a wacky sense of humor and sometimes cringe-worthy cliches.
I haven't read a light novel before, but these seem like very strange stylistic/mood choices to me when trying to write something that is dark and profound, so my main question is **whether this is typical of popular light novels such as "Sword Art Online" or of the art form as a whole**. Furthermore, **how does the style/mood/themes of light novels differ from that of more traditional novels?**
I've looked around on Stack Exchange and I've found some answers that touch on these differences, but don't really mention style/mood. I've also looked online and it seems as though many light novels contain some of the aspects I explained above, but I wasn't able to find anything concrete. | [
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55,826 | When you write lyrics, is it better to make sure that every line has the same number of syllables? Let's say you have 5 lines in a "verse", is it better to make sure that every line has 4-5 syllables, or is it ok if you have 1 line with 8-10 syllables?
Also does symmetry matter? Should your next verse have the same amount of syllables and lines? Not sure if musical theory is involved here... | [
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"text": "I'm assuming Lyrics = Song Lyrics. (Not lyric poetry...)\n\nWriting lyrics is all about melody. At least when I do it..... | 2021/05/08 | [
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55,829 | I'm writing a story set in Bristol, UK (specifically the town of Avonmouth). So far everything has been geographically accurate, but if I want to make the story flow smoothly, I may have to replace parts of Bristol that do exist in the real world. My character has to go to an amusement arcade for... reasons, though to my knowledge, such a building doesn't exist in Avonmouth. I do not plan on publicly releasing the story, merely sharing it with a group of friends. It should be noted that this arcade will be a regular location the character visits. | [
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"text": "I mean, why not?\n\nIt easy to get carried away by the story and if a geographical feature disrupts your sto... | 2021/05/08 | [
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55,830 | Can you use the landscape and personification to imply what a person is thinking?
Example:
>
> The forest thought that these branches could be good for hanging myself (suicide).
>
>
>
Is this a valid figure of speech? I am not saying if it sounds nice or good, which it does not for some reason. It sounds stupid. I am asking if we can do stuffs like this. | [
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"text": "I think in your example you are personifying the 'Forest' because\n\n> \n> **The forest thought** that these branches co... | 2021/05/08 | [
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55,833 | >
> She suddenly began singing "Cruella De Vil Cruella De Vil If she
> doesn't scare you No evil thing will To see her is to take a sudden
> chill Cruella, Cruella She's like a spider waiting for the kill Look
> out for Cruella De Vil".
>
>
>
How do you insert a sung part without skipping lines like in a lyrics? Do you replace the line breaks with spaces? Can you do this without using line breaks? What are the standards? | [
{
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"text": "I remember seeing lines separated with slashes in several books, although those were all non-fictional. This results in... | 2021/05/09 | [
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55,844 | I've begun 'putting my life down on paper'. My husband and adult children know very little about my 'real' childhood. I've sheltered them from the worst of it, for fear it would change their view of some family members. But, I would like them to someday know what events have led up to what has 'made me the wife and mother I am today'. Is anyone willing to read/judge what I’ve done so far, & advise whether or not to continue? | [
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"text": "I could answer your second question about advising. You should definitely write your story on paper since it... | 2021/05/10 | [
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55,850 | I'm a person that is usually trying to save as much money as possible. If I draw my own book cover, is it okay? or do I really need to hire an artist? | [
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"text": "I'd say, yes, of course, you can.\n\nFor instance, authors of children's books can many times do both the text and the a... | 2021/05/11 | [
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55,854 | A nonprofit magazine called NFT (Nerd For Tech) with a Medium account (<https://editorialteamnft.medium.com/>) and its own website (<https://www.nerdfortech.org/>) contacted me out of the blue at my Medium blog and said they liked one particular nonfiction (recreational mathematics/math education) article of mine (<https://bartshmatthew.medium.com/its-easy-to-convert-from-base-ten-to-base-one-thousand-ae0bf72d53d4>) that I had published on my Medium blog. They added that they wanted to feature it.
But then their system said they never pay for articles, and I would retain full ownership and could remove it from their system whenever I wanted. The 'nonprofit' Medium account has a couple of thousand followers. I couldn't find anything on Google about the website.
I am a complete writing for publication noob, having never sold any writing, nor ever tried to, so I was quite surprised and pleased by this.
Then I thought, why not negotiate for payment? After all, even a pittance would allow me to say honestly that I had *sold* the article (or at least got paid), making me a professional writer. Is there any chance they would make an exception in my case, and pay me some money? | [
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"text": "It is very unlikely that a Medium publication would pay. I am not aware of any that do. That is because Medium ... | 2021/05/11 | [
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55,855 | I am attempting to write a YA novel, and I keep wondering if it is important these days to include at least one LGBT character. So far, no LGBT character has 'organically' come up in the story, and since I am not LGBT, I feel awkward writing such a character, since I cannot relate. Also, I fear that going out of my way to indicate that a character is LGBT will seem forced and seen as playing to the crowd.
On the other hand, since LGBT rates are rising in young people, I feel like having LGBT characters is not only what publishers are looking for, but also something young readers are looking for and can relate to.
My fear is just that a publisher will reject my work stating (among other reasons, of course) that it does not have enough LGBT representation. Am I just paranoid or is this something I should be concerned about? | [
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55,873 | I asked this [question](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/55744/what-pronouns-should-i-use-for-a-character-with-no-gender) some weeks ago.
I have settled on using they/them
But using they/them singular sounds weird and grammatically incorrect.
IE:
>
> They is struggling in school
>
>
>
Compared to the plural
>
> They are struggling in school
>
>
>
Even Grammarly suggests it's wrong. How do I use they/them on non-binary singular nouns? | [
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55,875 | So I'm starting a story right now that isn't non-fiction but idk if it could be classified as fiction. It's set on Earth in the USA, basically the main thing is that a tsunami occurs. I'm debating on whether or not if I should research about a real Tsunami and make up a family or just make up the whole thing. | [
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"text": "If you're writing something based on a real tsunami with a made-up family, then your genre would be **Histor... | 2021/05/12 | [
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55,892 | Lyrics with "lalalalala" or "nanananana"? Is there any lyrics of a popular song where the "lalalalala" is written? I noticed a lot of lyrics, don't have them, but the singers sing them for some reason. Is there an example of the opposite? The more popular the song, the better. | [
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"text": "I don't know....but it sounds suspiciously like the famous Christmas song 'Deck the hallways'.\n\n[Lyrics](h... | 2021/05/14 | [
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55,898 | I have finally finished my first book, but I'm not quite sure where to look for editing or publishing. I'm interested in traditional publishing, but from what I've heard and read, I need an agency for that and I don't want to risk losing my book to an untrustworthy agency. Are there any agencies that have been used by other authors and proven trustworthy? Where should I look for editors, and later on, publishers? | [
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"text": "You can start the editing process on your own. Reread what you wrote and give print copies to trusted Beta Readers (I... | 2021/05/14 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/55898",
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55,902 | I am writing fantasy.
When I look up "what authors should know about their characters" I get advice like "know what you character fears", "know your character's central motivation", "know your character's worldview" etc.
However, when I actually think about the characters from fantasy fictions I enjoyed, I don't really find myself all that interested in those questions. In fact, the characters don't even make that strong of an impression on me.
Examples of things I like and what I thought about their characters:
1. *Name of the Wind*: the protagonist is a goodie-two-shoes f\*\*\*boy who has generic tragic backstory and likes women, but his adventures through the world is cool and I am intrigued when he interacts with the magic system.
2. *Worm (web serial)*: the protagonist is a generic "not-like-other-girl" with a weak affinity towards conventional morality, but it's captivating to watch her fight her enemies using her apparently mediocre powers or her surprising diplomatic genius.
3. *Wizard of Earthsea*: the protagonist just wants to learn magic, and after his fall-from-grace moment he just wanted to fight off the monster chasing him. It's fun watching him interacting with his world and its magic, but I have no memory of what his personality is like, and I had no awareness of his character development while reading the story itself.
4. *Hijrp Potfeq (series)* I actually don't recall anything about the titular character besides his generic tragic backstory. He does not seem to have any motivation besides trying to solve his immediate problems. He might not have done anything story-worthy had his problems not been forcefully thrusted upon him.
In summary: while I have very little interest in the characters themselves, I nevertheless enjoyed their respective stories, mostly because their settings are interesting and/or because the characters solved their problems in interesting ways.
With that in mind, I wonder if it is actually important to know things like "a character's worldview" or their "greatest, subconscious fears and desires", when such things are never realized in the writing in a memorable way. What's going on? Am I just too much of a psychopath to notice those character's inner thoughts, or are things like the appearance/superficial gimmicks of the characters actually more important? | [
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"text": "Authors use characters' wants and fears when crafting the narrative because authors want readers' engagement with their... | 2021/05/15 | [
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55,916 | I'm working on an urban fantasy story that has a species of monsters that regularly prey on human beings, as in many, many other settings (e.g., various monsters in *Buffy*/*Supernatural*/*The Dresden Files*, ghouls in *Tokyo Ghoul*, hollows in *Bleach*, etc.). These monsters are notably in that they don't *have* to eat humans for sustainance, but they're natural predators and will eat anything big enough that they can catch and kill, and in urban environments humans just happen to be the most common prey. Again, as in many of these stories, these creatures were once human beings that have become monsters.
These creatures are the main antagonists of my story (the protagonists being the ones who hunt them). The problem is I am having trouble diversifying the personalities of my antagonists to make them interesting. All of them seem to be either "snarling, non-sapient monster" or "Hannibal Lecter". It's really hard to make the antagonists distinct when they all have the same generic "serial killer" personality. I have done research into actual personality disorders to get a better idea of what kinds of dysfunctional worldviews could lead someone to behave this way, but with little success. The monsters have a brutally social Darwinist society when they do form groups, though that is so common in urban fantasy that there isn't much to explore. Notably, there *are* good members of these groups that don't eat humans (they're the protagonists), and I've had an easy time fleshing out their diverse personalities and backstories, but it's the evil ones who are supposed to be the primary antagonistic thrust of the story that have remained mostly boring. And, of course, if you don't have a strong antagonist you don't have a story.
**Given this, how can I diversify the personalities of my antagonist characters to make them more interesting while still keeping them villainous and antagonistic?** | [
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"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "**Don't ascribe human motivations to non-human creatures**\n----------------------------------------------------------\... | 2021/05/17 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/55916",
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55,921 | I have been thinking of writing a Science Fantasy novel, basically a world with both magic and not currently invented science. I have concerns that it might just have *too much* fantasy, too much extraordinary, so the world would seem stretched, unbelievable, unrelatable. The mixing of extraordinary magic and science would overload the reader, making them confused and unable to tell what is happening.
Do you think this would be a real problem? | [
{
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"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "The key to writing speculative fiction is comprehensive world building. It's quite possible to take a junk-yar... | 2021/05/18 | [
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55,927 | What is the best way to explain the pre-decimal British Pound in a text that has multiple references to it.
I already have something written to explain how to convert from pre-decimal to post-decimal to add as an appendix, along with something to help convert the value (i.e £x y shillings and z pence in 1935 = £x.xx in 2020.
However: The text has multiple references to money spanning several decades, thus it becomes not just about converting from £sd to £p but accounting for inflation as well as £1 in 1935 doesn't amount to £1 in 1945 for example.
Leaving a footnote for each and every monetary reference seems overly messy as some pages have several such references.
Is there a better way to deal with this? | [
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"text": "The key to writing speculative fiction is comprehensive world building. It's quite possible to take a junk-yar... | 2021/05/18 | [
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55,930 | As a writer I'm not only looking up to great books, but I take many inspirations from movies as well.
I wonder though if there are any techniques that don't translate well between those mediums. Are there plot twists, that astonish a film viewer, but are a cliche for a reader? Maybe something in character development, that is well suited only for 1,5h dynamic story? | [
{
"answer_id": 55931,
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"author_id": 46506,
"author_profile": "https://writers.stackexchange.com/users/46506",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "Music doesn't work too well.\n\nTry writing a scene to a song. It doesn't work that well. I've tried a few, b... | 2021/05/18 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/55930",
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55,947 | For a long time I put off writing a novel, having been preoccupied with the contemplation of how to accomplish prose rhythm, and having little knowledge of the elements of story-telling and of the methods necessary for writing an excellent story. But having now obtained more proficiency with prose rhythm, by polishing rough drafts according to my ear, I am ready to begin the process of writing a novel. But with this among other things I am experiencing trouble: moving myself to learn.
Knowing that this site is one about writing, and not one concerning self-help, but seeing this problem chiefly pertains to writing, I ask you to demonstrate patience with what is my question, which is what exactly do I need to accomplish to learn and to master story-telling, whether reading books which are written about it and developing stories with their techniques, or writing novels with concern for no formulas with dependence on my power to imagine, of which it is necessary to build up the measure through practice? | [
{
"answer_id": 55948,
"author": "Chris Sunami",
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"selected": false,
"text": "**Doing a lot of writing AND getting feedback on it** is key to developing *any* writing skill. I would recomm... | 2021/05/19 | [
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55,960 | I have a story that I have been working on on and off since 2011. It's a plot idea that I really find interesting and it really means a lot to me.
I also struggle a lot with treatment-resistant depression. I've spent about half my adult life crippled by it in one form or another (including my most productive years), not even getting into the side effects of the medication used to treat it. Most recently, the most recent medication I have been prescribed has utterly destroyed my ability to focus and create, and despite wanting to write the thoughts and ideas won't come, and the act of working on the story is no longer enjoyable to me because everything I do (not just writing, but everything) feels numb. The recent COVID pandemic and the general lack of stimulation obviously aren't helping either. This is very distressing to me given how important creativity is to me. This is not even getting into "normal" writer's block or losing interest in the idea.
Something I have worried about a lot is the possibility of dying before I ever get my story out to the public in some form. I'm not extremely old by any means, but I am well aware that life is finite and with my health and medication issues (as well as the fact that writing is not my career) I have reason to worry that I may never create anything again. I’m also very aware that as one gets older, their free time, creativity, and ability to focus generally goes down. This is something I've worried about a lot recently with the announcement that Kentaro Miura, creator of *Berserk*, passed away at 54 without being able to finish his story.
I understand that normally with concerns about mortality, the general answer is "well use this fear as motivation to get what you want done in a reasonable time frame", but what do you do if your ability to create is hindered by outside forces that you have little control over? | [
{
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"text": "A Few Thoughts:\n---------------\n\nHere are a few things to think about. ***Warning:*** this is depressing (but up... | 2021/05/20 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/55960",
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55,964 | Would the question mark come after the single quotation mark and before the double quotation mark? Like this:
>
> "You've never heard 'Dancing Queen'?"
>
>
>
This is dialogue in fiction, so the double quotations are necessary I believe. According to grammarly and numerous other sources, shorter works like songs go in quotes, whereas a longer piece like an album would be italicized. So is this question mark placement correct? Or is there another way to format? | [
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"text": "It would probably be better to *Italicize* the title in this context. Either way, it doesn't come off looking great a... | 2021/05/20 | [
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55,968 | When people aspire to become writers, asking people questions, often they get answers telling them this, to keep on practicing with no technique, and they are given upvotes. And even I too upvote these answers, reckoning them to be useful.
But I think that those learners ought to read books, and to apply the things which are written in them. When it comes to story-telling, techniques, I am sure, are useful.
So my question now is, which according to my knowledge, was not asked before on this site, is this: What are some books for learning to write, whether books on prose style, or books on story-telling, or books on clarity, or any book covering how to write. | [
{
"answer_id": 55969,
"author": "garbus",
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"selected": false,
"text": "Here are some books which I read.\n\nThe Elements of Style\n\nStyle: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace\n\nBuilding Gr... | 2021/05/20 | [
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55,987 | Many times in reading, I saw many symbols that indicate the time skip. I wanted to create the exact same stylish marks that many authors use but I wonder what's the exact name for it. I call it time symbols, others called it Dinkus or ornaments, are all those the correct term for it?
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/JLMl3.png) | [
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"text": "Here are some books which I read.\n\nThe Elements of Style\n\nStyle: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace\n\nBuilding Gr... | 2021/05/21 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/55987",
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55,992 | Suppose I heard three local residents talking about the bridge construction on a radio or podcast show.
* **C**ara Deleon: I don’t know if it is **K**ara.
* M**u**ha**mma**d Alif: I don’t know if it is M**o**ha**mma**d, M**o**ha**mme**d, M**o**ha**ma**d, M**o**ha**me**d, etc.
* H**oà**ng **T**ấn Nguyễn: If I only speak English but not Vietnamese, I would guess that the spelling of the name is H**oo**ang **D**an.
I only know the pronunciation of the name, not the spelling. Suppose I have no way to get the spelling of their names. When I write an article, how do I let readers know that these spellings are inferred from pronunciation, and may not be the correct spelling?
H**oo**ang **D**an Ngodun (\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_), said ... | [
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"answer_id": 59165,
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"text": "One way of conveying the sound of a word in print is to use the [International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)](https://... | 2021/05/21 | [
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55,993 | I'm done with self-editing the first draft of my manuscript. What should I do first? I'm having troubles on whether I should pick the latter or the former:
Step 1: Beta reading
Step 2: Hire a copyeditor
Step 3: Revising
Step 4: Submit manuscript to a publisher
Or
Step 1: Hire a copyeditor
Step 2: Beta reading
Step 3: Revising
Step 4: Submit manuscript to a publisher
---
Or should I go with the beta reading step, revise, and only then, hire a copyeditor before submitting it to a publisher? | [
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"text": "Beta Readers:\n-------------\n\nSelf-editing is good, but it's no substitute for either beta readers or copy editor... | 2021/05/22 | [
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56,010 | I am writing an essay for a course with the title 'A day in the life', I have never thought about doing this before but for some reason I am running with it. What are your thoughts for something like the below:
```
So that’s what my company does but…
**Where do I fit in?**
```
I was thinking about doing this throughout the essay but as it's not something I've done before I'm not sure whether to do this as a one of, none of or a running theme. So essentially is it ever okay to have the last sentence of a paragraph a broken sentence with an ellipsis which is completed by the next tile?
What are your thoughts? | [
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"text": "Honestly, I'm not sure if it's OK for an essay. But creativity it sounds great. You can tell how your characte... | 2021/05/24 | [
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56,015 | I'm writing a story in the past tense, third person, deep POV. Similar to the first person, that implies that some of the narration can be read as the character's thoughts. Here are two trite examples:
Direct thought, e.g. these are the actual words he heard in his mind:
>
> He stared at the foreclosure notice in his hand. *They can't do this*, he thought.
>
>
>
Free indirect thought, e.g. this is his thought, or the gist of it, or a paraphrasing, etc.:
>
> He stared at the foreclosure notice in his hand. They can't do this.
>
>
>
In both cases, the sentence is in past tense but the thought is in present tense. This mimicks dialogue. I prefer to use the latter form, because it doesn't require a filter word, and is emotionally much closer to the character.
But... I have sent a couple of short stories to beta readers, and they've been pulling out the red markers about my tense switches.
Here are a few lines they had singled out. I'm going to tackle them in the order of my escalating confusion.
>
> The force with which she slammed the door made the windows rattle. Gosh, that woman has a temper.
>
>
>
The slamming of the door is an action, and is relayed in past tense. The comment about her temper is a thought, and is in present tense. To me, that seems correct.
>
> she’d been nagging him about the damned cupboard door that won’t stay shut.
>
>
>
The nagging is an action that happened in the past. The door that won't stay shut is a fact that is still true during the scene being narrated. It's not the same as the example above, but the POV character knows the door won't stay shut, even if he doesn't think *The door won't stay shut.* Changing it to say the door *wouldn't* stay shut, leaves it open for interpretation whether the door still had that problem at the time of the narration.
The final example, from another story in past tense, third-person.
>
> Death, it seems, fears no man.
>
>
>
This one breaks my brain. To the character it *seemed* at the time, so that's an action in the past. My mistake, I get it. But Death not fearing man is surely a universal truth, unbound by time. Arrrrgh!
Please help me out. In which of these instances should I use present tense, and in which mustn't I? And why? What's the rule? | [
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56,018 | >
> "I wanna be - pants the president."
>
>
>
How do you format a dialogue when it is interrupted by an action verb or sound? I don't think this is the proper way. I am looking for a better alternative or the best alternative to format this properly. I am wondering what to do with the quotes and what to do with pants and how to indicate there's an interruption in speech. | [
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"text": "At a minimum you have to interrupt the dialog. Either explain beforehand what the interruption is going to be, ... | 2021/05/24 | [
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56,027 | When a character is mentally recalling prior dialog verbatim, should the dialog be surrounded by double-quotes or single-quotes, be italicized, or get no special treatment at all?
For example:
>
> O'Malley remembered the witness's directions precisely: "Take the first left on Pine, then the second right on Maple."
>
>
>
>
> O'Malley remembered the witness's directions precisely: 'Take the first left on Pine, then the second right on Maple.'
>
>
>
>
> O'Malley remembered the witness's directions precisely: *Take the first left on Pine, then the second right on Maple*.
>
>
>
>
> O'Malley remembered the witness's directions precisely: Take the first left on Pine, then the second right on Maple.
>
>
> | [
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"text": "American English convention is double quotes for dialog, with single quotes reserved for nested dialog, so we c... | 2021/05/25 | [
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56,047 | I am translating a World War II memoir from Hungarian to English. I keep running into certain words which I understand perfectly, but have a hard time finding a proper translation. Can you guys help me out? Not with the translation itself, but to find a good English equivalent.
The original word is "karpaszományos". The word itself literally translates as "person with a ribbon on his arm". It means a soldier, either conscripted or volunteer, who completed high school. That was a fairly high academic achievement in the 1930's, so these guys received special privileges in the army, and were often sent to NCO training or officer school. Even if they didn't want to, they were usually promoted to sergeants.
So, they're NOT cadets, NOT officer candidates, NOT simply conscripts and it's NOT a rank but a privilege class. For that matter no English speaking army ever had privilege classes.
A "karpaszományos" wore a thin band around the arms of his jacket, indicating his status. It was not rank insignia. Here is a picture of a "karpaszományos" jacket.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/krJSP.jpg)
I am looking for a single, descriptive English word to denote these soldiers, which can be used when addressing them (similarly to calling someone by his rank), or can be a title before their actual rank ("karpaszományos zászlós" = ensign with armband).
I don't think "armband" can be used here in any form because armbands are generally used to indicate a person on special duty (MPs, traffic controllers, officers on duty). The word "paszomány" means something like lacing, braiding, knotted decoration. | [
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"text": "I suggest getting a Hungarian-English dictionary if you don't already have one. I sometimes find myself bringing my Swe... | 2021/05/26 | [
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56,054 | I know that some books contain strong languages that aren't appropriate in stories but in the end, I think my book needs them for extra violent highlights that would do well for the villains. I aim for an audience level of middle grade and up, so I refrained from adding in any 'Curse' words. As my story drag on longer, I began to think that adding in the words may be a good idea if it weren't for the grade level.
Is it fine for me to add strong language to my book or should I refrain from adding it since it might reflect badly on me as a person? Considering that I'm not supposed to know the F-word at the age of thirteen. | [
{
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"text": "In dialogues for sure. Characters should swear the same way real people swear. But note that the more it is used, ... | 2021/05/27 | [
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56,059 | In my earlier question [Could I use strong language?](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/56054/could-i-use-strong-language), I was wondering if I could use strong language in my mid-grade book. This time I wanted to ask if someone could tell me is it okay for me to use symbols to replace the curse words so that the reader wouldn't be too affected by the strong language.
Main question: If I use symbols like '@#$^^' would this be able to replace the need for me to write out the curse word in the story? | [
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56,062 | "one easy way to timestamp an idea is to email it to yourself using something like gmail. Since you are not able to falsify gmail's timestamps, you can use it as evidence of the timing of an idea" said Ben I. in a comment to one of my (closed) questions (<https://cseducators.stackexchange.com/q/6963/10585>).
Would this be foolproof? If it is, then there seems to be no point in using trusted timestamp authorities. If it is, it is an ingenious and elegant solution to a problem quite a few writers grapple with, especially if not very good with computers, and hence with cryptography. | [
{
"answer_id": 56063,
"author": "Mary",
"author_id": 44281,
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"pm_score": 2,
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"text": "This is the technological equivalent of the old urban legend that you should mail yourself a copy and use the cancella... | 2021/05/27 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/56062",
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56,065 | It is taught that before beginning a draft, you need to form an outline, this according to what is called the writing process. But it seems that to formulate many thoughts and to put them in order afterward, is method which is equally as good. But are these methods completely different, or under the same category? Please discuss these methods in further detail. | [
{
"answer_id": 56066,
"author": "Chris Sunami",
"author_id": 10479,
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"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "These are the two main approaches to writing, often known informally as:\n\n* **plotting** - Making a detailed... | 2021/05/28 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/56065",
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56,069 | I've noticed that I have had a lot of dialogue between characters with words that need to be said with a noticeable amount of emphasis, and in order to get that emphasis I have had to *italicize* lots of words throughout many sentences that my characters are saying and it has gotten repetitive, somewhat. I want to know of there is some other way to emphasize words or a group of words without italicizing, for example:
>
> "This is *so* much better that *that* old thing"
>
>
>
or does the emphasis come across the same without the emphasis:
>
> "This is so much better than that old thing"
>
>
>
Or better yet:
>
> "*I don't know* if I know what I know or if it was the doing of
> someone else"
>
>
>
or
>
> "I don't know if I know what I know or if it was the doing of someone else"
>
>
>
So, my question is: Is there another way, or are there other ways to show emphasis on a words or a word phrase without using italics? | [
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"text": "These are the two main approaches to writing, often known informally as:\n\n* **plotting** - Making a detailed... | 2021/05/28 | [
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56,075 | Why do authors invent fictional countries on earth in their novels and how do you keep the lie up? For example, if you talk about neighboring countries, don't these neighboring countries also have to be fictional so that there's no logic gap? If you were to use real countries then the fictional countries or country would be out of place and you wouldn't be able to really locate them, or some conflicts would arise because it could be next to countries that cannot be neighboring it, so how do you deal with these issues? | [
{
"answer_id": 56077,
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"selected": true,
"text": "BE DODGY:\n---------\n\nIf you want to have a setting, but reality comes with a lot of baggage, then you need to cre... | 2021/05/29 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/56075",
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56,084 | I'm currently outlining my novel, and I'm having trouble coming up with scenes/situations to put my characters in. I've tried scene prompts but they don't work for me. Sometimes I will think of a random scene, but it ends up not fitting in my story, or I can't figure out how to fit it into my story. I don't know how some authors are so creative with some scenes in their books; I've just never achieved that with my writing yet.
How do you come up with believable, interesting scenes that are relevant to your plot? How do I be more creative? This problem is kind of holding up my outlining process. I oftentimes just stare at my screen not knowing where to go next, even though I know what's going to happen in my plot. I need to figure out what's going to happen in between those important plot points. I'm a heavy plotser, so it wouldn't be very productive for me to come up with scenes/situations on the spot while writing. | [
{
"answer_id": 56090,
"author": "Oren_C",
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"text": "Here's a cool exercise for you to try:\nWhen you finish your day, right before bed, take a pencil and a notebook (or... | 2021/05/29 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/56084",
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56,087 | >
> "Hey, this is dumb," one of the men replied.
>
>
> "You're right, it's dumb," another man replied.
>
>
> "Yes, I know," the other replied.
>
>
> "Yeah.." the other man replied.
>
>
>
It can be confusing when you use "one of the men", because you can't reuse it, and it forces you into an awkward situation. How can you prevent this? | [
{
"answer_id": 56088,
"author": "signedav",
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"selected": true,
"text": "After mentioning it once, it should be clear in a dialogue between only two people.\n\nHowever, if the dialog becom... | 2021/05/30 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/56087",
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56,098 | This is a question that I don't know whether to release since I know that anything that is 'Good' could have an evil secret and anything that is 'Evil' could have a good secret yet there are so many cases where it has characters choosing sides. Is there more to writing than just 'Good' and 'Evil'? | [
{
"answer_id": 56100,
"author": "EDL",
"author_id": 39219,
"author_profile": "https://writers.stackexchange.com/users/39219",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "Engaging and interesting stories revolve around conflict.\n---------------------------------------------------------\n\... | 2021/05/31 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/56098",
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56,104 | I’m wanting to write a protagonist that is from a fictional land with fictional languages and isn’t incredibly fluid in English. I’m thinking that when she narrates in her own head, she sounds pretty coherent but when she actually speaks to other characters out loud, her dialogue will have much poorer grammatical structure and be, y’know, broken. I still want her to be understandable to the readers but for other characters to notice she is definitely some kind of foreigner.
Do you think I could actually pull this off or would it make her character voice too inconsistent (or at worst annoying to the reader)? I’m curious what your thoughts are. | [
{
"answer_id": 56105,
"author": "EDL",
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"selected": false,
"text": "Having a main character dialogue shown in a patois, dialect, or pidgin is a challenge to write because it distances the... | 2021/05/31 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/56104",
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56,106 | I’m struggling to clearly yet briefly explain what’s going on. I’m fairly sure this sentence is grammatically correct, but it still sounds clunky and confusing.
For context, my POV character sits down at a table with a lot of other people. A few of them notice her at first, but the rest only do when she’s addressed by another character.
>
> Everyone who hadn’t already turned in my direction.
>
>
>
Even if I try rephrasing it, it still seems off.
>
> Everyone who hadn’t turned to me already did so now.
>
>
>
Should I split this sentence up into different parts, or is it clear enough as it is? | [
{
"answer_id": 56118,
"author": "Stef",
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"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "You could omit the \"turn\" action and talk about the result directly:\n\n> \n> Suddenly everyone was looking at me.\n... | 2021/05/31 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/56106",
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56,120 | I have so many ideas for different stories, a little too much to be honest. I would love it to write them all, but I can't focus on just one idea. My mind keeps going to other stories, or getting more ideas. I have been stuck on this for a few years already, I can't get myself to write more than 1/2 chapters because of all the ideas.
I want to be able to focus on just 1 story, and actually finish it. Any advice? | [
{
"answer_id": 56121,
"author": "Ceramicmrno0b",
"author_id": 46506,
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"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "I see two questions here. First, the question in your body.\n\n> \n> I want to be able to focus on just 1 sto... | 2021/06/01 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/56120",
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56,124 | So I've just been sent through a publishing contract for my debut novel. I don't have a literary agent as I submitted straight to the publisher. They liked the manuscript and have sent me a contract but I'm really not sure if I should go with them.
The publisher are a small company with only 3 previous titles, none of which look as though they've sold well though they have good reviews. They want exclusive world rights to publish the story in any format, books, ebooks, film, TV, audio book etc.
It also says once the novel is published it will remain with the publisher which will protect its asset as sole owner.
The final thing that seems dodgy is that they are going to pay an upfront fee but then nothing else. No royalties from book sales, no fee if it gets picked up as an audio book or film or TV (I know this is highly unlikely but it still doesn't sit right that I wouldn't receive any money if it does do well.)
Apart from the lack of royalties, which I know is unusual, does any of that sound strange or are they fairly ordinary publishing contract terms?
Would you advise I take this deal or run away? | [
{
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"selected": false,
"text": "It isn't ordinary. It is a scam. Publishers always give royalties. Most likely, the reviews are scripted. Oh yes... | 2021/06/01 | [
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56,127 | So I am a new writer and I am working on a fantasy novel. One of the main characters is Nokon. He is a boy that was born on another planet but was sent to Earth as a baby. When he is 18, a person comes and brings him back. For this scene, I am having trouble describing his feeling in the third person. I want him to be angry and confused, but I am not sure how to describe it with words. I am also not sure what I am supposed to include in regards to emotion when writing in the 3rd person. | [
{
"answer_id": 56128,
"author": "Mary",
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"selected": false,
"text": "Go into detail about what makes him angry and confused.\n\nIf he doesn't understand what is happening, that could be c... | 2021/06/02 | [
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56,146 | I wrote a scene of a psychiatrist talking to a traumatized child, and I read and read it several times but still not convinced and satisfied with it. Are there any book recommendations or extracts that deal with the same “theme”, if so I may say, that could help guide me or at least, give me a general idea on the way psychiatrists talk? | [
{
"answer_id": 56148,
"author": "Peixoto",
"author_id": 50075,
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"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "How old the child is will determine the approach the psychologist/psychiatrist will have.\n\nAlso, another matter t... | 2021/06/04 | [
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56,150 | If I was to publish an original short story to get feedback for a concept and characters, would publishers find it distasteful if I then wanted to include the same text later as the prologue part of a novel?
On the one hand, I could see how that might give them indigestion since they'd be carrying the cost of publishing retreaded work. Some buyers may feel ripped off too.
On the other, if it strengthens the work as a whole then it seems like the net result would be more shelf appeal. | [
{
"answer_id": 56151,
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"selected": false,
"text": "No Problem!\n-----------\n\nI have heard of several authors turning a good short story later into a novel. A lot of... | 2021/06/05 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/56150",
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