qid int64 1 2.78M | question stringlengths 2 66.6k | answers list | date stringlengths 10 10 | metadata list |
|---|---|---|---|---|
58,860 | One thing I see very commonly when reading about famous authors is that their first books were rejected by publishers. Often, an author might have their first several works rejected.
This makes perfect sense - it takes practice - but a novel represents a huge amount of work. How do/should new authors deal with the reality that they are investing months of work into something that in all likelihood is "a practice"?
For instance, if you have a really strong, original story idea it almost seems a shame to 'waste' it but what author is going to *not* use their best ideas?! How can anyone write a novel with the expectation it won't get read?
Do writing courses deal with this issue and offer any advice? Perhaps authors never consider they won't be published and I'm too pragmatic to be asking the question?! | [
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"text": "I know of two basic ways. In both cases you need to commit to writing as a long term, perhaps lifetime endeavor.\n... | 2021/08/19 | [
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58,870 | I wrote a short story about a 6 men on a rescue mission to save a family during WWII. I originally called them a "platoon" and wrote about the main characters "platoon mates"; however, I have since learned that a "Squad" is made of 7-14 men and a "Platoon" is supposedly made of 3-4 "squads".
I was wondering if anyone here was able to answer the question of which is the right wording (or even if either one is correct) for this small group of men on the rescue mission?
Thank You! | [
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"text": "I believe it would still be squad. A squad could be 7-14 but in a typical U.S. Army it would be 6-10 men. Your ... | 2021/08/20 | [
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58,874 | In order to end up with a finished work, in which there are parallelism and all kinds of other rhetorical devices, do you need to do anything to prepare for it in your rough draft, or can you add this ornamentation to any kind of rough draft? | [
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"text": "I believe it would still be squad. A squad could be 7-14 but in a typical U.S. Army it would be 6-10 men. Your ... | 2021/08/20 | [
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58,878 | I'm making my own book, but I'm not sure what to do in the following situation:
If you were to write a line of dialogue when introducing a new character, then describe the same character, do you describe them within the same paragraph, or start a new paragraph?
So, like this:
>
> "Oh, come on, dude, get over yourself." said my best friend Trevor. He was pretty tall, he had black hair, looked like your average cool kid.
>
>
>
Or like this:
>
> "Oh, come on, dude, get over yourself" said my best friend Trevor.
>
>
> He was pretty tall, had black hair, looked like your average cool kid.
>
>
> | [
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"text": "Both your examples seem awkward to me.\n\nUnless your POV character hears Thavon's voice before they see him he should ... | 2021/08/21 | [
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58,883 | So I'm going through a list of reasons to choose something, followed by a semicolon and then an explanation.
* Aerodynamic resistance: The reason that this is important is bla bla bla...
vs
* Aerodynamic resistance: the reason that this is important is bla bla bla...
Is the first word after the colon capitalized? | [
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"text": "You mention a 'semicolon' but then (correctly) use a colon.\n\nA colon is nearly always preceded by a complet... | 2021/08/21 | [
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58,897 | This question is inspired by a different one - [How to communicate characters' inner states?](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/58787/how-to-communicate-characters-inner-states). Although it may seem similar at first glance, I find the difference quite profound. My question regards character's thinking process - when they came up to certain conclusions.
Quite often in my stories, I include the situation when after a certain event main characters start thinking - and end up with some kind of change in their current behavior. I used to describe it quite literally. I tend to write down the hero's thoughts - both in the first and third person.
As I am analyzing my own writing, I started looking at this particular tendency. Somehow I feel that this way is not ideal. My impression is these paragraphs' are too dense.
They also seem to be deeply internal. Suddenly I move from describing external events to the inside of the character's head. Then with the same rapidity, I come back right to the world.
Here is an example from my recent story. Please notice that English is not my native language and this is just a translation. Apologies for its imperfectness.
>
> Banners and loudspeakers landed on the ground, and furious people stuck to the front of the bus. Ulovor studied their faces and saw no trace of self-control.
>
>
> The bus continued to move forward. The floor of the vehicle rose slightly on the right side. A new message appeared on the dashboard: Accident! For a moment, Ulovor's heart skipped. There was silence in the cabin. The soldiers stood unresponsive. The dynamics of the protesters have changed.
>
>
> Terror, weakness appeared on their faces. They ran to the right-hand side of the bus. Thus, they cleared the space leading to the gate. Bald Tom took advantage of the opportunity to accelerate a bit. The entrance to the base opened automatically upon sensing an allied unit. They entered.
>
>
> Ulovor sat down. He was examining the curvature of the floor with his feet. His imagination kept coming up with images of a man getting entangled in a wheel. He thought it was his fault, only his. A person died because of him.
>
>
> He had never been present at someone's death before. All he did was piloting ships. Delivering people and goods. He was overwhelmed with remorse of a caliber he had never imagined before.
>
>
> However he had one clear thought as well. He will make it on time. He will get to do training. His dream, put aside for a moment, came back as graspable as never before. This relief only fuelled the guilt he already felt.
>
>
> As a result, he felt a confusion of emotions and he did not know whether what happened was good or bad.
>
>
>
And another one:
>
> Shufeno sighed: 'I think it's time for me to take the lead.'
>
>
> Ulovor felt offended. If he gives up control now, the teacher will remember him as a failure. He couldn't agree to this. He knew he could handle planes very well, even in space. And he wished Shufeno was aware of this fact. He even imagined Stefan's Instagram story, where he tells how Ulovor impressed him.
>
>
> -Not yet. I know how to reach Jupiter. I did it on the simulator.
>
>
>
I hope I made my concern clear. If not I'll be happy to clarify the problem. I have learned quite a lot from this community and I'm really interested in the opinions of more experienced writers. | [
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"text": "First, \"Show don't tell\" is not a rule for the sentence-by-sentence analysis of a story. It doesn't mean that... | 2021/08/23 | [
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58,911 | What are corridor scenes in novels used for? Usually, most novels don't continuously follow a characters for more than 1-2 chapters, but what if you did that for 10 chapters in a row and included scenes where the characters just walk through a corridor, does that make sense? If not, when should you have corridor scenes?
Let's say you have several scenes and they are as follow:
Room1 (10-300 second time gap)
Corridor1 (10-300 second time gap)
Corridor2 (10-300 second time gap)
Corridor3 (10-300 second time gap)
Room2 (10-300 second time gap)
Corridor1 (10-300 second time gap)
Corridor2 (10-300 second time gap)
Should you remove all corridor scenes? What should you do with them and when does it make sense to add a corridor scene? I was reading something I wrote and because of corridor scenes there's no big time gap between the scenes, but it makes things clunky for some reason. | [
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"text": "Corridor scenes serve basically the same purpose as other traveling scenes, and much the same purpose as scenes set... | 2021/08/25 | [
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58,918 | How do you show and not tell an action such as "installed a virus"? I am wondering if saying "installed a virus on his machine" is a description rather than an action. If so, is there a better way to show that the action happened?
According to [Wikipedia's Show, Don't Tell article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Show,_don%27t_tell):
>
> Show, don't tell is a technique used in various kinds of texts to
> allow the reader to experience the story through action, words,
> thoughts, senses, and feelings rather than through the author's
> exposition, summarization, and description.[1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Show,_don%27t_tell) It avoids adjectives
> describing the author's analysis, but instead describes the scene in
> such a way that the reader can draw his or her own conclusions
>
>
>
I am wondering if this is a case where "tell, don't show" applies. | [
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58,923 | I'm writing a short story where a mysterious rich man has just died and his friends are gathering to find out his will. The dead man was quite eccentric and wanted to send them all on a wild goose chase regarding his inheritance/or perhaps lack of, going as far perhaps as hiring people to cause even more confusion and so on.
I was wondering how you write scenes that quickly become more and more farcical, i.e. more and more people from the local town become involved, the characters become increasingly excited/frustrated, etc. Are there any good stories with a similar theme or that evoke similar emotions?
And how many different characters should I be considering having? | [
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58,925 | Is it bad if you start all your chapters with a description of the surroundings? I wrote 4 chapters and it looks terrible, because I always start in a room and I am just describing the room with the most accuracy possible, which sounds weird, what are some other ways to start a chapter? Could you provide a few examples? | [
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"text": "Alright, I haven't answered a question in a long time but I guess I'm back.\n\nSo, in my opinion there isn... | 2021/08/27 | [
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58,926 | @Standback wrote in an answer to ["How difficult is it to break into screenwriting?"](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/1704/how-difficult-is-it-to-break-into-screenwriting):
>
> It's extremely, extremely difficult.
>
>
> Not too many people making movies. Lots of people writing screenplays.
> Gargantuan investment to get a movie made. Not an easy sell.
>
>
>
You would think then that only the very best of the very best screenplays become movies. However, I don't think it's particularly controversial to say that the average movie plot has obvious flaws, such as:
* Scientifically implausible "sci"-fi
* Historically inaccurate "historical" movies
* Boring movies (nothing happens until the end)
* The character keeps getting saved by a series of miracles, it starts to insult your intelligence
* Bad guys shoot worse than kindergarteners
* etc. etc. etc.
What would explain this paradox: If the selection process for movie scripts is extremely competitive, why do most movie plots have obvious flaws? | [
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"text": "Movies, like wars, are made by people.\n--------------------------------------\n\nWhat you are calling a paradox is a c... | 2021/08/27 | [
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58,936 | I'm curious to know if it can apply to an episode, volume, season, or an individual book of a trilogy. If it does apply, how do you apply those individual episodes into a whole story whilst following the beat sheet?
For the people who don't know what Save the Cat is, it's basically A story structure method that uses 15-beat blueprint writers can follow to craft engaging, well-paced, and satisfying stories.
The 15 beats are:
**OPENING IMAGE** (THE IMAGE THAT WELCOMES THE READER INTO THE STORY’S WORLD)
**THEME STATED** (A BRIEF BUT CLEAR STATEMENT OF THE STORY’S THEME)
**SETUP** (A LONGER BEAT THAT INTRODUCES RELEVANT DETAIL AND THE CHARACTER’S STATUS QUO)
**CATALYST** (THE EVENT THAT BREAKS THAT STATUS QUO AND PROVIDES AN OPPORTUNITY)
**DEBATE** (THE PROTAGONIST DEBATES WHETHER THEY SHOULD ACCEPT THE OPPORTUNITY)
**BREAK INTO TWO** (THE PROTAGONIST DECIDES TO FOLLOW THROUGH ON THE OPPORTUNITY. A PLAN IS SET IN MOTION)
**B STORY** (A SUBPLOT IS INTRODUCED, OFTEN AT THE BEGINNING OF AN IMPORTANT RELATIONSHIP)
**FUN AND GAMES** (THE PROMISE OF THE PREMISE PLAYS OUT AS THE GOAL IS SOUGHT)
**MIDPOINT** (A TURNING POINT OF CONFLICT. OFTEN A MOMENT OF FALSE SUCCESS OR FALSE DEFEAT)
**BAD GUYS CLOSING IN** (THE STAKES RISES AND THE FORCES OF ANTAGONISM BECOMES MORE THREATENING)
**ALL IS LOST**(IT SEEMS THERE IS NO WAY FORWARD FOR THE PROTAGONIST)
**DARK KNIGHT OF THE SOUL** (THE PROTAGONIST MUST LOOK INWARD AND FIND STRENGTH TO MOVE FORWARD)
**BREAK INTO THREE** (A NEW PLAN IS HATCHED AS THE CHARACTER FIND STRENGTH TO MAKE A FINAL ATTEMPT AT THEIR GOAL)
**FINALE** (THE MOMENT OF HIGHEST TENSION IN THE STORY, WHERE THE GOAL IS EITHER WON OR LOST)
**FINAL IMAGE** (THE FINAL IMPRESSION THE STORY LEAVES ON THE READER) | [
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58,954 | How do you imply something that doesn't have a visible effect? For example, it's easy to imply someone died by saying something like:
>
> A pool of blood formed under her feet.
>
>
>
But how do you imply that someone installed a virus? Without mentioning that the virus was installed? Is there a way to do this? I can say something like:
>
> Robots started making strange noises.
>
>
>
But this is so terrible I am thinking there must be some better way, and people would probably have some insights on this. | [
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"text": "What is infected?\n=================\n\nEverything has computers in it nowadays. There could be any number of effect... | 2021/08/31 | [
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58,958 | My book is a health/ wellness/ diet book/ metabolic issues etc. Throughout my book which I am 3/4 of the way through I have added in the website links after a piece of evidence. I have used 95% of my evidence from NCBI, which is ((The National Center for Biotechnology Information is part of the United States National Library of Medicine)), so science backed evidence. How I have placed it in the book is as an example:
Obesity has evolved through the last 30 years on a huge scale due to the rise in blah blah blah blah. <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/labs/pmc/articles/PMC4859313/>. Then continues writing blah blah blah...
Can someone tell me if this is ok to do this. I have also got a lot of statements as bullet points where I need to have the links in to confirm the facts such as:
* Diabetes is currently 75% of the US population. <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/labs/pmc/articles/PMC4859313/>
If anyone can tell me that this is ok, that would be much appreciated
Thank you in advance | [
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58,962 | Something I've noticed when worldbuilding fictional setting is that there are generally two distinct ways of referring to fantastical elements in a story.
1. Using a general descriptor with broadly-understood language that explains what the thing is in layperson's terms
2. Using a word or phrase that gives a very specific name or title to the object or phenomenon being discussed
Two examples I can think of that I noticed in recent fiction (both from urban fantasy series) are as follows...
* In some works magic spells are referred to as "sleep spells" or "fire spells" or whatever, versus other works that give them specific names like a "Somniosus" or something like Harry Potter's spell names (Wingardium Leviosa, Avada Kevadra). The same is true with magical artifacts and other supernatural phenomena.
* In an unpublished work that discussed the societal office of a person whose job it was to police the supernatural and keep it hidden, the author was debating whether to refer to the position in very general terms (i.e., regional head) or give the post a specific title and use that throughout the story (e.g., marshal, praetor, or something like that).
I was mostly wondering when it was appropriate to use more generic descriptor names versus more specific names. More generic names can be useful because readers will intuitively know what a "sleep spell" or "regional head" does, and people to tend to talk in that manner, but on the other hand people often *will* use specific terminology when discussing something, especially if the meaning of that term is well-understood. | [
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58,963 | I created my story last year in the nanowrimo challenge, and I finished the whole thing, I was quite happy even if it was a mess. Then I tried to edit it to give it a little more clarity and fixing errors, but after editing the first chapter, the main motivation of the main character has changed... that renders the rest of the story (or big parts at least) obsolete.
Should I give up on the edition? Pressing through even if I have to rewrite the whole thing?
This had me paralyzed for months and I don't know what to do.
To add more details...
The setting involved the first contact between humans and elves, which lead to several deaths and the danger of a full scale war. My protagonist was the son of one of the first victim of the conflict, initially his motivation was revenge... but moving along, he never displayed the sort of burning hate required, more like a wishy washy attitude, mixed with some morbid curiosity about the elves.
My options were to change "I want to kill them" to "I want to understand them" or rewrite all the scenes to make him more aggressive and hateful, but any option involves some heavy editing.
But I guess there is no way to avoid that. | [
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"text": "More Editing...:\n================\n\nEditing is both awful and wonderful. Everything can be changed - for good or ... | 2021/08/31 | [
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58,979 | I'm writing a story where the main character is going into different parallel universes.
Can you get in trouble for referencing a real person or thing if they’re in one of those different universes? | [
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"text": "I'd say the golden rule is: **If a person or thing is recognizable in your alternative universes, the fact that the... | 2021/09/03 | [
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58,980 | Lately, I've been having great trouble revising my work for rhythm, because it is hard, not only to think of different word orders and sentence structures, but also to think of other words and phrases to use for the same word or phrase. This seems to happen because I attempt to do it haphazardly while revising a sentence, having no process. So should I write down all the synonyms for each content word before revising a sentence, so that I will have plenty of things to try out, in my head or on paper?
What process should I use? Thank you. | [
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58,982 | I have compiled about a hundred books to read before I start writing a book I have planned, and feel I'll never write the book if I take the two or so years to read all the books first. Should I skip the research entirely and just write the book? | [
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"text": "As I understand it, you have a story you want to tell in the fantasy genre, and that this would be your 'first se... | 2021/09/05 | [
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58,987 | How do you format a chapter intended just for exposition? Let's say your worldbuilding is really hard to digest for most readers so you create one chapters just for that, what are the various way to write a chapter like that and how do you format it? I was thinking of writing a chapter where there are only descriptive paragraphs explaining various actors, the history and technology, but I am wondering if it can be considered to be a chapter at all and if it even makes sense to put it in the middle of the book. If it's never done like this, what are some other ways of doing it according to the writers of some popular books? | [
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"text": "I would never read all that as a single chapter. It's fine for you to write it all down in one place, but you ... | 2021/09/05 | [
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58,993 | What are some of the ways you can cue in your reader that your chapter is a timeskip to the past? Let's say you write a chapter just to go back in time and reveal some details about some characters' pasts, how do you cue in your reader without literally telling them there was a time skip? | [
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59,001 | I am translating a book published in 1961. The author has been dead for more than 50 years. I would like to use the same illustrations, but do not know who to ask. The painter is dead, and he did not have a family. The publisher has been closed for a long time. | [
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59,024 | I am at a certain part in my book where a group of six people travel and talk with each other. I would like to make them all talk, as that would be what would happen in real life but I can't really figure out how to specify who is talking without using. "Character said" or "Character noted". Are there any other words then those two or is there even a way to avoid it all together? | [
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"text": "If you have previously established a speaking style of some of the characters then you can try using dialogue tags on... | 2021/09/08 | [
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59,035 | I'm looking for a word or poetry genre to describe a short **free-form lyrical and poetic sentence, verse, or paragraph.**
Something like "free form Haiku", but without any rules like number of syllables, sentences, rhymes etc..
Also without it being constrained to certain content, like cynical, funny or dramatic. | [
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"text": "It would help if you could give more examples and context.\n\n\"Aphorism\" (or perhaps \"witticism\" or \"epigram\"... | 2021/09/09 | [
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59,040 | I am trying to figure out if ti is correct to write either miss de Vries or miss De Vries.
I am Dutch and our rules sat it should be mevrouw(miss) De Vries if there is no first name or initials.
So, it's mevrouw De Vries and mevrouw S. de Vries.
What is the correct way in English?
I have searched quite a bit but I couldn't find the answer concerning the English grammar. | [
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"text": "Typically in English, the capitalization is preserved so \"Miss de Vries\" is acceptable. Additionally, English tends ... | 2021/09/10 | [
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59,052 | I tried using Quillbot and Grammarly, but they sometimes give inappropriate edits, or not enough information to justify edits so I am often left confused. Any suggestion would be helpful.
P.S: If such a question already exists on this forum, please guide me towards it. | [
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59,054 | I often find myself with two (or more) characters speaking, and too often my descriptions would be "he paused," "he sighed," "he rubbed the bridge of his nose," etc.
Too often I find myself in a situation where my instinct is to make every character sigh with every line (says something about myself, doesn't it?) and it's hard for me to find other things for them to "do". This has probably been asked, but I wouldn't know what to search. These aren't dialogue tags or anything I have a term for.
"Silence filled the room" is one I always overuse, too. I'm afraid it gets very old, very quickly. | [
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"text": "Paint a Picture With All Senses:\n================================\n\nYou want to convey the emotions of your story... | 2021/09/12 | [
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59,059 | In my novel, the world is made entirely out of islands, but I don’t know how to explain this without using the word *islands*. In that world, there are only islands so they are just called *countries*. Now how should I tell the reader that world is made up of islands? | [
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"selected": false,
"text": "Keep it simple:\n===============\n\nAn island is still an island, since a country could be part of an island, or se... | 2021/09/12 | [
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59,081 | I like writing suspense-based short stories similar to this one on [Wattpad](https://www.wattpad.com/898773826-the-sunset-naughty-surprise), but I don’t know how to assess if my writing is good or meets the expectations of the suspense genre, or if my stories qualify as short stories.
What metrics or concepts or principles should I use to evaluate my writing so I can determine if I am writing a good short story? | [
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"text": "There is no one set of quality metrics when it comes to content, we can say some objective things about the structure an... | 2021/09/14 | [
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59,085 | This is a question I've had in my mind and have been a bit curious about. Let's say I finish writing a novel but before publishing it, I want to get feedback on it. Should I publish it online somewhere? I was thinking having it online for free would probably discourage publishers from publishing your book.
Is it fine to publish it online? If yes, are there specific sites that I should/should not use for this? If no, what would be a good alternative way to get feedback and opinions from people? | [
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59,097 | How would you describe a complex dogfight? The issue is that to describe a simple single movement is hard enough, but there are many of them happening in a short period of time. So how exactly can you describe a dogfight?
>
> Airplane 1 flew over the other airplane, then it swung to the left,
> swung to the right and then performed a somersault.
>
>
> Airplane 2 decelerated, swung to the left and decelerated some more
> and got shot down.
>
>
>
The issue is you have single actions and a series of them and then you need to describe the movement of 2 airplanes at the same time. I have no idea how to do this, and also you can't use poetic language in a dogfight or at least it would feel odd. | [
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59,103 | Some languages like Persian do not have gender for pronouns. For example, they use just one pronoun (Ou) to refer to he/she. This makes the language gender-neutral which to me it is more convenient in the modern world in which men and women are equal. For example, as a university lecturer in Sweden, we are facing this evaluation from students that we use more **he** or **she** when we are teaching and we are biased in our speaking.
I am wondering if in English there is a pronoun that I can replace with he and she that includes both? If not, is the modern English language is going toward inventing such a pronoun? | [
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"text": "You are looking for \"they\" (which can be used as singular or as plural)."
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59,107 | Ok, so this is originally attributed to Chuang Tzu who was around in the BC era. However, all the sources I can really find on it are from a translation in 1965. So what are the rules on this one? Is it ok to paraphrase the proverb? | [
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"text": "You are looking for \"they\" (which can be used as singular or as plural)."
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59,108 | For context, I'm writing a scene where a bunch of characters are having a serious but humorous, over-the-top argument about who should inherit a fortune.
So far, I've got a lot of dialogue but I haven't written much action/physical interaction between the characters apart from just saying "X exchanged glances with Y" / "Z's frustration began to build" etc. Do you think it is necessary to have some sort of relevant action going on in the background (e.g. physical actions by the characters, interaction with their environment/other characters) to keep it engaging and not too dialogue-heavy? | [
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"answer_id": 59109,
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59,110 | ([Similar question](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/37949/where-can-i-find-resources-to-look-up-native-american-names) can be found here, but I think mine is broader in scope, as that question only asks about names.)
Background
----------
I've been tinkering away at a few of my short story ideas with a friend of mine to warm myself back up from a long period of writer's block, and one of these stories, which was originally concepted by my friend and that I really loved and wanted to flesh out with her, features a character with American Indian heritage as the protagonist's close friend. ([I will use the word "Indian" in the body of this question because it is the word adopted by people on reservations to most sharply and accurately describe their peoples and heritage, despite its mixed and confused origins, as opposed to the less distinct and over-inclusive "Native American," as presented in this excellent CGP Grey video.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kh88fVP2FWQ) If you do not feel I should use this word, please tell me so, because I am not an expert on this area and would like to learn.)
The character is an aspiring teacher who grew up in the Navajo Nation in Arizona with her parents, and later moved away from the reservation at the age of seventeen after getting a scholarship to attend college, resulting in a culture clash and a pseudo-magical adventure with the protagonist that is the main focus of the story. We only catch up with her after she has moved away from the reservation and is already attending college with the protagonist, but her childhood and upbringing is obviously a big part of her character and something that makes her unique, and I'd really like to make sure I portray it accurately when she discusses it with the main character and talks about her family and heritage.
I am an outsider to the culture and am aware that there are many important nuances for writing this kind of character that I don't fully understand yet, hence my decision to do some research and ask for help before doing so.
The question
------------
I am aware that many authors who attempt to portray American Indian characters like this tend to fall back on harmful stereotypes, or have an overly simplistic understanding of their culture, heritage and history and fail to portray them in a sensitive way. Because of this, I would really like some advice on how to accurately portray this character, the research I should do, and things to avoid and things to include. **What areas of research should I focus on in order to accurately portray this character and her heritage, and what are some guidelines you would recommend for writing an American Indian character in general?**
Some of my specific sub-questions that I'd like to be addressed if possible are:
* The character has an Americanized name that she uses most of the time, but she also has a name given to her by her parents, a dichotomy which from my research is common among American Indian people. How should I choose this name to be accurate to her Navajo heritage, and are there any stereotypes/pitfalls to avoid? ([This article](https://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/98404743073/naming-native-american-characters) and [this database](https://names.mongabay.com/data/indians.html) has been very helpful, but I would still appreciate more viewpoints.)
* What cultural stereotypes should I avoid? What are some indicators that you would notice when this kind of character is being written by somebody who didn't do enough research?
Any other advice, links, or useful reading that you can offer is very helpful and appreciated! | [
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59,130 | I'm quite familiar with certain groups of people. In my career I often dealt with scientists, actors and artists. Therefore I'm quite confident describing such people in my stories. I am familiar with the way they think, how they dress, what kind of language they use. I know how they approach people and what are their unspoken rules they would never break. If my character is a scientist I know no one will despise them.
But what if I want a character from a group I've only seen in movies. For example in the novel I'm currently planning the protagonist's best friend will be a prosecutor. I have never met one. I haven't got the slightest idea what they're like.
What will stop me from giving them completely inadequate traits? I want my story to be fun to read by lawyers also. So how to get this right?
One perfect solution I can think of is to talk to some prosecutor myself. But this brings next question: how do I do that? Where can I find one that will share with me their do and don'ts, their attitude and mindset? How do I talk to them long enough to start noticing traits they consider so obvious they don't even talk about them?
I can imagine prosecutors are quite busy and also well paid. How can I persuade one to spare their precious time for a yet to be successful writer? | [
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59,141 | For my current project, the use of vivid description is essential for carrying across the particularly alien experience of the protagonist. This leads to a problem, however, when my protagonist needs to frequently revisit somewhere or do something they've already done before. I can mix up the description a little or focus on different elements, but ultimately there are only so many ways to tactfully do so before it becomes obviously repetitive or offensive. And I do feel the description is necessary because sometimes themes in a story benefit from a heavy-handed approach that never lets the reader forget - e.g. a story where the protagonist is deeply insecure about something and lets it color their every experience.
Is this asking too much from a long-form story? Should I trust my readers more? I am honestly lost for how to proceed.
**PS:** Apologies if this has already been asked or at least answered elsewhere on this website; I tried to search for relevant threads but most of it appears to deal with repetition on a smaller scale than what concerns me. | [
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"text": "The first technique is to have your character think about how repetitive it is. Makes it part of the immersion.\n\nThe... | 2021/09/22 | [
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59,148 | I have a scene in which my viewpoint character (effectively a manager) is conducting interviews for a role he must fill. Most of the characters he interviews (12 total) will have some impact on the story going forward, and I want to use this scene as a way to quickly get a rough introduction to each of them.
In film, we would likely see these individual interviews as a parallel montage, but that is not a technique that works in prose. Yet, I feel there is little point in showing each of these talks in full.
In a situation as this, what techniques can I best employ to maintain a balance between preservation of detail and pacing? | [
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"text": "I think a good way of handling this could be with line-dividers. Such as an hr tag:\n\n---\n\nThis acts as a clear del... | 2021/09/23 | [
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59,167 | a quick question here about non-fiction writing styles:
It is said that the German philosopher Omtinuul Dans intentionally wrote in a difficult and opaque style so as to force his readers to pay attention to his every word and sentence, and not passively skim through the text, thinking they had already understood everything.
However, this line of reasoning goes against our modern conception of writing. Today, we often advocate for the clearest and simplest of prose which supposedly facilitates reader comprehension.
Does writing in a simple easy-to-understand manner cause readers to become passive? Or should one strive to expound and explain difficult ideas in the simplest manner possible without simplifying them?—i.e. explain them in an unconvoluted manner without sacrificing content.
Thanks. | [
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59,168 | I'm writing a fantasy story in which a character accidentally travels into an unfamiliar fantasy coded world. However, I'm finding it difficult to find the voice for this character during this transition between real and fantasy worlds. I'm very conscious of info dumping, and so information is being conveyed through a secondary character, native to the fantasy world.
This issue I'm having, though, is that in the process of trickling this information to the reader through dialogue, the main character has a very constant questioning voice that comes across kind of whiny (ie, lots of "what are you talking about!?" "what does that mean?!" "I need help and answers!")
Which I guess, on one hand, is justified - he's scared, confused and wants answers but, to sustain mystery and avoid tedious exposition, it needs to be trickle fed to him. It does, however, make him read as fairly unlikeable and irritating - which isn't the vibe I'm going for with this character.
Just wondering if anyone has any advice for writing a character in this kind of situation - and striking the balance between believably confused and upset, but not so much so as to be irritating to the reader. | [
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59,170 | I'm translating a novel that has an expression that means "cast pearls before swine." i.e., it would be wasted on them.
She caresses the top of his head as she protests that a roast pig would **be wasted on these people**.
Does anyone know an equivalent expression that is a little more colorful? Doesn't have to be in wide use. The biblical expression seems out of place in this character's mouth, but my current solution seems a little bland. (Also they are literally discussing eating a pig.) THANKS! | [
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"text": "I suggest the phrase *casting swine before pearls* where the word *pearls* is used ironically."
},
... | 2021/09/27 | [
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59,172 | In this sentence:
>
> It’s not our lack of answers to these problems that causes us such pain.
>
>
>
My word processor tells me that "causes" should be in the plural form "cause", but I'm thinking the subject is "lack," and, therefore, singular. Am I wrong? | [
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"text": "I agree, it's not the answers (plural) that \"cause\" has to agree with, it's \"the lack of answers...\". You have A ... | 2021/09/27 | [
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59,192 | I really like to write but I have a problem. I am starting to write and I want to make it mostly in 3rd person, but I don't know if I can do that and not repeat the pronouns *she* or *he* a lot.
I am going to leave a little example here:
>
> It was 7 in the morning and has she opens her eyes she saw complete darkness, she turn to her bedside table and turn on the light, she put her feet on the ground and shiver as the cold ground met feet, she walked to her bathroom and looked in the mirror, it was to say that she didn’t hate what she saw but wasn't very happy about it. After washing her teeth she started wondering how her day would be. She walked to her closet and put her clothes on.
>
>
>
How do I not repeat *she* so much?
I am trying to write in 3rd person. | [
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59,201 | Which programs would you recommend for writing? Whatever they possess general functions to correct your texts and grammar, and/or functions specific for storytelling/worldbuilding (characters, places, events, etc).
I already know Scrivener, Quollwriter, and yWriter.
These programs are great in their own ways, but always lack some thing important.
[YWriter](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.spacejock.ywriter) is very complete, light and I liked it a lot, but it is like it took the actual text editor part a bit too lightly. It almost feels like it is a preferable to write in Word and then paste everything there because making corrections and formating directly in yWriter is a bit awkward.
[Scrivener](https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener/overview). I'm not going to lie. Despite having practically the same stuff as yWriter, it makes everything look so overwhelming and difficult to use. It wasn't really intuitive, at least not for me.
Finally, [Quoll](https://quollwriter.com/). It looks nice. Its text editor and corrector are an improvement over yWriter, but it is somehow kind of lacking in simple little QoL functions that were in yWriter. One of them being the ability to separate your story's chapters in scenes. Where in yWriter it was straightforward, in Quoll there is something similar, letting you add little tags but it is kind of weird.
I guess all of this is understandable. Each program has a slightly different focus. I'm still kind of looking for the perfect program for me. Which other software like these do you know?
Specially, free or at least cheap ones - my budget is very small.
I am a Windows PC user. | [
{
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59,220 | Can I mention the words "Conan" and/or "Robert E. Howard" in the subtitle of my book? They are certainly well-known. Please note that they won't appear *inside* the book, only in the subtitle. Trying to sell books with your own barbarian hero is next to impossible. Can I use the above as keywords to draw attention to my own book in search engines? | [
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"text": "I think it depends on *how* you reference them. You could probably get away with something like \"Inspired by the w... | 2021/10/03 | [
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59,226 | So I'm new to writing stories and I have thought about the plot too, it's about a girl who gets a chance to work in another country (She's a physiotherapist).She visits their and her patient is an old man who's son will be her love interest, Also love interest's brother would also interfere between them but it would be the love interest only in the end! But I don't know how to make them fall in love with each, I'm finding it very difficult, I would love to hear your ideas! | [
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"text": "Love can't be forced. It happens naturally.\n-------------------------------------------\n\nYou've probably heard \... | 2021/10/04 | [
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59,231 | What is the difference between a denouement and a resolution? Are they synonymous? | [
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"text": "Start with a dictionary instead of google.\n\n[From the Cambridge dictionary entry for \"denouement\":](https://diction... | 2021/10/05 | [
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59,240 | I want to write a story where the author is constantly addressed and made fun of. The author, is a separate person. The author is trying to write a meta story, however she makes it so meta, that it literally becomes self aware and attempts to escape the computer.
The entire story is riddled with “[insert very detailed description of how sad she was]” and “Let’s skip character development.” To blatantly show how meta it is.
I am simply wondering how I can pull this off without coming across as condescending or rude to other books. | [
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59,256 | I've got characters on an adventure together, nothing groundbreaking. But one of them (let's say "Aluke") loses a body part in one of their fights, and winds up in a dark mental place as a result. She becomes depressed, various levels of anhedonic, for at least a month. I think that this is a logical response to disfigurement, and I am doing medical research to ensure symptoms match up and are presented respectfully, including the recovery process.
But medical journals don't guide creative writing. I am not looking for words to describe sad people as I have some ideas. My problem is that depression is - obviously - a very dominant mental state. And any author would agree that when you write from a character's point of view, you pay attention to what they feel when things happen, even the mundane that's not connected to the plot. Bob cannot walk into a house without a wrinkled wallpaper reminding him of his childhood home where his uncle beat him. That stuff explores personality and makes scenes more interesting and vibrant.
So what when someone is depressed, and they are severely limited in their ability to experience joy or positivity... do I fill their PoV chapters with only negativity? I'll run out of synonyms for sad, and the reader will tune out long before that. It is worsened because the trauma Aluke is going through affects the other characters in the party as well, as they feel worried for her (in different ways). So for that month, everybody is racked to varying degrees.
And I cannot put the plot on the backseat either and limit the abundance of negativity by limiting the amount of scenes that are described in this timeframe. Important plot stuff happens in this month. Lots of chapters have to take place here. **I feel that, by allowing a character to maintain a mental condition for a longer time, I am straining myself to make mundane scene writing interesting, because every coincidental scene observation and dropped character trait has to be reflecting her depression.**
I worry that the only thing I can do is to just limit how often I enter Aluke's head for this month. I would prefer an alternative, something more logistically convenient. | [
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59,259 | Basically, I'm wondering if there's a fantasy novel or series of novels that has already met these broad characteristics.
As I was considering ideas for a novel, I noticed that the mythical creature merpeople had always been depicted in very specific ways in the past. Broadly, the most popular depiction is as only mermaids, depicted in a light hearted tone that is targeted towards young girls.
Then I've noticed on the other hand, that when they're depicted in a more "serious," "adult" way, they are depicted as dark, monstrous, etc.
So I set out to make a depiction of merpeople that is gender neutral - guys and girls from high school age upward will find them interesting, they are not targeted towards a specific taste. Also, they are depicted not just as small tribes, or a single city, but an actual civilization of just people that live their lives, not really aligning exclusively as being for any specific taste.
I should note lastly, that I don't mean times where merpeople are featured in a book, film, game, etc, where they meet this criteria, but works where the merpeople are the sole focus.
I'll note that if there is a story like this out there, it isn't the end of the world for me. However, if my story is on the more unique side, I want to use it as a selling point when trying to get my novel traditional published at some point. | [
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"text": "Merfolk, not mer-people\n-----------------------\n\nAs I mentioned in my comment, the common term is **Merfolk**... | 2021/10/10 | [
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59,263 | I am writing a series of criminal investigation games in an alternative version of the real modern world.
To avoid conflicts with real-world information, I am designing my own characters, corporations, and a fictional British town where the events take place.
But often, I make references to real-world subjects to telegraph to the player that this works just as it works in the real world, like other locations, medicine, web services, car brands, historical people, chemicals, and more.
Is there a universal symbol to highlight what is made up and what is taken from the real world? Currently, I am using the ◍ for made-up concepts and ○ for real-world concepts, but I was thinking that others might have struggled with this before me.
The symbol should indicate that the entity can be googled for more information, or if they know something about the subject, those things still apply.
Where the fictitious symbol should indicate that this is a made-up entity, and if any results appear when googling them will be entirely coincidental.
The symbols need to work in both digital and print media, and not conflict with any other commonly used symbols. | [
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"text": "To the best of my knowledge there are no universal or widely accepted symbols for such a purpose. If you think... | 2021/10/11 | [
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59,272 | I'm trying to figure out how to write a character that has a radically different worldview from my own while still keeping it logically consistent. I know there are a lot of questions about how to write characters that have different experiences from your own, but I find that pretty easy: I think about how I would react in that situation (assuming analogous traits are flipped and considering their own personal history) and how that would affect me emotionally as well as in my personal life going forward. This is different: this is more about writing a character that just plain has a different set of moral standards or priorities that results in a different train of thought that is still logically coherent (at least from their perspective). Things like "characters with historical standards that nowadays are considered illogical" kind of thing.
**Here's an example I ran into from my own writing.** The setting I am writing has a caste system in which the supernatural world is run by an aristocratic cabal composed of "men of good breeding" who see everyone else as assistants and footsoldiers to their "noble cause". The system isn't explicitly hereditary and claims to be meritocratic but is heavily nepotistic, in that the people in charge tend to pick people like them both in mindset and background for leadership positions. Most people are marginalized in their own system and there is almost no social mobility.
The protagonist, who is a member of a lower-ranking caste and hates the aristocracy, ends up leading a band of quirky misfits to save the supernatural aristocrats from an assassination plot by their groomed successors (mostly because the would-be usurpers are worse). There's a scene at the end of the story where the protagonist is debriefed about what happened: the leadership admits they treated the protagonist unfairly, misjudged the loyalty of their successors, and that the protagonist had gone above and beyond the call of duty by saving them while upholding all the ideals of the supernatural world despite having no reason to. *However* it is also revealed that the protagonist's "reward" for doing this is merely "we're going to treat you a little nicer, like a person instead of a thing" and a pat on the back, the protagonist is still seen as a servant/footsoldier with no social standing and no chance for advancement (which sets up later plots).
**Here's the problem**: when I try to write the scene I keep tripping over the representative of the leadership accidentally realizing they're being a hypocrite via their own argument. Namely that it feels like if I were in the leadership's shoes, the logical thing to do would be to give the stereotypical line of "we will be watching your career with great interest" and look into fast-tracking the protagonist into something akin to an officer rank with a potential future in leadership, especially as this person has just proven themselves loyal and capable in the line of duty and the society has just lost it's groomed heirs. I.e., similar to what ancient Rome or similar societies did when they found hypercompetent commoners who excelled in the line of duty. The protagonist is the wrong gender, ethnicity, type of supernatural being, etc., but the society isn't explicitly bigoted, only implicitly so (i.e., the leadership think that only people of a certain background make good leaders), so it doesn't make sense that the leadership wouldn't bend the rules in the manpower crisis (aside from their egotism, and they have a lot of it).
I know that this was a very common attitude in the past. E.g., it used to be that the officer corps of armies drew from the aristocracy and the rank-and-file from the commoners, and never the two would meet, with common folk only being promoted to non-commissioned officer rank at most. Or that in some cultures the servant, no matter how hypercompetent and loyal, would always be seen as inferior to a traitorous heir. I also understand that people are really good at self-delusion. However, I have been unable to figure out the reasons why a character thinks this way so they can make the argument from their perspective.
However, trying to figure out how an individual with this mindset would think without noticing the hypocrisy of their own worldview just feels completely alien. The plot kind of needs this to happen and the hypocrisy and unfairness of the situation is kind of the point, but it's really hard to justify how the leaders don't learn from the experience and stick to their elitist mindset, given recent events had just proved them wrong and nearly got them assassinated. **Specifically, I'm trying to figure out how the leader characters would be able to have a coherent stance on the situation so I can write their dialogue, i.e., how they justify their actions to themselves in a way that holds up to at least some scrutiny given their moral standards differ from the author.** | [
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59,274 | I've been mulling over this question for at least a year now. There may be a simple way to ask it but I lack the vocab if there is one.
I'm ready to ask it because I think I can express what I want with an illustration. But first some context.
When I was in high school, I wrote a novelette set in a fictional universe called Qavn. The universe was structurally simple with only a handful of materials that make up matter: liquid, stone and life (a sort of cytoplasm). The physics was simple too.
The problem came in, though, when I needed to convey this. It was out of the question to tell the reader the details about how the world was simpler because it would ruin the pace a lot or wouldn't really paint the right picture in the readers head.
My solution at the time was to just skimp on details lacking in Qavn but that are in our physical world. For example, suppose that in Qavn, people are colourless, humanoid blobs without hair. I would just not mention their hair or colour etc.
The characters wouldn't mention it either. Why would they? They've never known anything different (i.e. Maid and blob dialogue).
The overwhelming feedback was that readers where continuously disorientated because they could not place the setting. There were no hard, literary edges to orientate with because this is an abstract universe.
In one of my drafts I tried using a framing story to allow exposition in a Flatland-esque way but I couldn't convey enough of the setting detail with that.
Now that the context is out of the way, here is my illustration. Suppose I tell you about "a valley containing trees, surrounded by mountains."
You could draw it like this
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/rBAoA.jpg)
The funny thing about this is that more often than not, the components will be understood as symbolic abstractions. Both the stylized picture of a tree and the word "tree" contain an unspoken promise that the tree has bark, rings, is made up of cells, each cell contains such-and-such atoms etc. even if you are not explicitly told that they are there.
But what if the setting really looks like that picture? What if you go there first-hand and what you see is identical to that picture?
How can I convey the simplicity of the setting by using "negative space" so that the reader actually feels like the story is reliably being narrated?
If it doesn't make sense to use negative space at all, why and what should I do differently? | [
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59,287 | From my own experience reaction to rejection is very internal. I'm having troubles with coming up with actions that rejected people do, that would be perfect description for what they feel. It would help me a lot if I could learn a couple of examples. And I know people on this board know about their stuff. | [
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59,294 | When looking through various stories I have often noticed that stories with dynamic protagonists are often introverted and shy in some way. More specifically, I've noted that writing an introverted protagonist is often easier than writing an extroverted one because there is a ready-made character arc: the shy, insecure protagonist learns to discover themselves and gains more confidence as part of a coming-of-age story.\* Similarly, introverted characters tend to brood more and hence that can be used as a useful way of setting up reaction scenes. I've looked through a lot of YA or new adult coming-of-age stories and have found very few where the lead is very dynamic and yet not described as an introvert or at the very least introvert-esque (e.g., Hijrp Potfeq; somewhat sociable but not someone who thrives in social settings). Very few have extraverted or openly outgoing personalities (Peryy Yiwfsan and Naruto are the main ones I can think of), and those that do tend towards flat character arcs (i.e., the protagonist has a strong personality and their beliefs remain constant but the world around them changes).
I have a coming-of-age story where the protagonist has an extroverted, sociable personality. However, when plotting the story I have found that the introverted deuteragonist, which has that stereotypical shy, uncertain personality, comes off as more interesting because they go through a greater amount of change as part of their personal arc. The protagonist is supposed to go through character development (gaining direction and purpose in life), but ultimately the development comes off as uninteresting to watch because ultimately the character goes through comparably little internal change: they remain extroverted, headstrong, and sociable but merely channel that energy into a new direction. Thus, the change they go through is less extreme, and thus less interesting to readers (because readers like to see how characters made a big change from point A to point B).
I have been unable to figure out how to make that character development interesting to read. I have noticed this problem with pretty much all of my extroverted characters relative to the introverted ones. **I am trying to figure out how to make a sociable, extroverted character dynamic and interesting when I cannot rely on the paradigm shift of "shy, awkward character becomes confident" because it does not fit the character's personality.**
"\*" - I know that shyness =/= introversion, but authors tend to conflate the two when they write. Shy extraverts are generally rare in fiction. | [
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59,296 | Superhuman powers, with the exception of psionic abilities like telepathy, are primarily an element of visual spectacle. This is primarily why fiction with people with some form of superhuman abilities have proliferated in film, comic books, and anime/manga, because it is something the audience can see rather than feel/visualize.
However, in a written medium (i.e., books), visual spectacle is downplayed. I have often heard it said the meat of a visual work is the typically the spectacle or action, whereas in a written work it is dialogue and thought. This, in turn, is influenced by the traits of the work, in a visual medium the viewer can see flashy scenes or more easily notice subtle cues in the actor's voice or body language, whereas in written mediums the reader is able to get an internal look at the characters' thought processes.
I have a story that involves people with supernatural powers getting in fights with one another. The problem I'm noticing is that the action scenes feel boring to write and like filler. There are moments in the fight that result in character development (or how the supernatural powers affect their character), yet I find myself only interested in writing those parts and not the proper build-up to make the scene paced appropriately. I think a lot of this has to do with the fact that most superpowers are visually oriented and thus what would be a big-budget fight scene in a visual medium ends up just being a line of text in a written work.
However, it is not possible to simply excise these parts from the story, as they are key in influencing the character's thought processes and development. E.g., a lot of the actions the characters take are influenced by the fact they live in a dog-eat-dog world or are expected to fight to survive, and if I *don't* show this it feels like there are no stakes or conflict. **How can I make fight scenes with superpowers interesting when I do not have visual spectacle to fall back on?** | [
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59,301 | I began trying to write a book yesterday and saw that what I wanted to write in 10-15 pages I wrote in two. How do I lengthen the book so it won't be this short? | [
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59,304 | I wrote a novel in "third person omniscient" which worked well because it is a very long novel and certain scenes were better described from multiple characters' biased views along with the narrator's objective view. I particularly enjoyed it because the narrator had a sinister, lyrical, and antiquated tone which matched the story's darkness.
After finishing the first draft, I began reading more fiction "how to" books and for some reason I thought that I had to write in "third person limited."
Because of that misunderstanding, I've rewritten many chapters in 3rd-limited, but some seem awkward to me after the rewrite. In some chapters, however, the 3rd-limited style does indeed seem to me to function better.
Now I understand that 3rd-omnicient is permissible as long as the narrator maintains the same tone (according to Monica Wood's "Description" page 105 in The Elements of Fiction Writing series).
I feel like I've "painted myself in a corner" wherein some chapters are now in the original 3rd -omniscient and some are 3rd-limited (I don't see how I can easily go back). Also, some seem to work better in one style and some in another.
I'm wondering, can fiction novel chapters change style from one to another? That is, can some chapters be 3rd-omniscient and some 3rd-limited? Or does the entire story have to be in one POV style?
Please help. Choosing among the POV styles has turned out to be the most extremely difficult aspect of writing for me. | [
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59,308 | I am thinking of writing a spy thriller, and I am in the process of forming an outline. The plot in my mind involves 3-4 countries and would involve accusing some countries of heinous crimes, as an example say Country A. I have three sub questions:
1. Although fiction, but inspired by real events; countries will have to be named, and can their real names be used? Or should I find fictional names for these countries to prevent unwanted problems?
2. Are there any cases of real life problems due to real names being used? I am sure these won't create any diplomatic tensions, but could these create problems to authors; like prohibit entry of the author to Country A.
3. How are such problems overcome by writers apart from using fictional names? A disclaimer? | [
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59,322 | I'm writing a 3rd person limited multi-pov Sci-Fi. The thoughts of whatever POV is being followed at any point are sometimes shown in italicized writing. Suddenly, 42K words in, starting off chapter 11, are four paragraphs of a diary. The paragraphs are written in a different font, one that is clearly handwriting. After the diary entry, the POV is shown to close their diary, and the chapter goes on as normal.
Is a sudden and drastic, yet temporary and brief, format change like this jarring to the reader? The way I see it, it may either be entirely OK, problematic or completely off the table. If the first or last, why?
If it is problematic, how may one do it in a way that works? What does one need to consider? I don't feel like I fully grasp the consequences of doing something like this. I guess it is technically changing the story from 3rd person to 1st person. Then again, visual and narratives clues are given to show the reader that it is more like the reader is given a 3rd person view onto a diary page of the POV. It's not like the POV directly becomes the narrator, it's more like their diary narration is pulled to the forefront of the reader's perspective. But then again, that may just practically be the same thing. | [
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59,328 | I understand bandit attacks are themselves cliche, but ignoring that for now:
**Situation:** A guy is transporting a shipment of ice from atop a mountain, needs to get to the foothills asap. Cue cliche bandit ambush. He tries reasoning, fails, decides to rush an escape.
**My Goal:** He makes it past the roadblock, seems in the clear, but in doing so runs off the road and ends up having a terrible accident that concludes with the destruction of the carriage/cart.
**My problem:** The roadblock needs to be something he *could* conceivably make it around/past but without a guarantee of success.
What I'm working with right now:
* Felled tree
* Heavy Barrels rolled/released onto the road perpendicular to incoming traffic
* Him just going "F\*\*k it!" and riding through a slope thick with foliage towards a smaller path he can *just* make out through the trees.
---
FYI this is for a comic.
I'm keen to hear if anybody has ideas for barricades/road blocks that are viable for medieval bandits to pull off that are interesting.
That said, I'm leaning towards simple felled tree, because I think here the cliche actually works in my favor as making it instantly recognizable as what it is -- but I'd like to hear if anybody thinks otherwise. Or has a genius idea for something really out of the box! | [
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59,339 | I don't know why I always like to write things where my MCs are young, and when I say young, I mean from 7 to 14 years old. Maybe it makes it much easier and more comfortable for me to write, especially that English is not my mother tongue. Yet, I always wonder if I should post this kind of writings in Wattpad, but then I say no, no one will be interested to read it. So, what are your views considering this? | [
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59,348 | I’ve written a very long fiction story titled (over 700 pages) and I am in the second round of editing. It’s a very dark subject: teenage suicide and I’ve written it in epic format (media-res, a catalogue, deus ex machina scenes, etc).
Typically, when someone begins a story that takes place in a high-school, they assume they’re beginning a young-adult novel or perhaps a coming of age story.
Because I wanted to make it clear that this is not a typical teen story, and because I wanted to create something of a darkly ethereal, dream-like ambiance, I allowed myself license to write in what is disparagingly referred to as “purple prose.”
I understand that in our contemporary view of writing, florid prosody is considered ostentatious and distracting from the “magic” of the story (which seems contradictory to me).
Considering that this is a “journey to death” story set to cynically parallel a journey home story like The Odyssey or the Aeneid, that the protagonist is a larger than life type character, that I’m trying to create a dream-like / nightmarish atmosphere, and that I’m trying to demonstrate this is not a typical teen story, I reasoned that this story was an exception where heavy lyricism could be appropriate.
Here follows an example of perhaps the most ornate prose. I know that in a “realistic” style novel, it would be laughable, but I hoped that in the context of my story it could be appropriate:
>
> In her school, she flew amidst a pretty pitying of turtledoves,
> pulchritudinous girls who to some were genial, greeting them with
> amities and loves, columbine personas of paradise, au fait but demure,
> amiable and heavenly, luminous pearls frolicsome and cordial, dancing
> around them momentarily like uncatchable butterflies, noir fay in
> couture, mischievous bacchantes flittering away unexpectedly and
> forever, a swans’ bevy joined by belts of silver taking flight
> together.
>
>
> Upon others however they would inflict bitter welts of
> vituperation, riding down upon them, fell Valkyries brandishing verbal
> blades of emotional mortification. All including the most steadfast
> feared their aeries’ approaching dismal shades in mortal anticipation
> of their shredding talons’ heart crippling humiliation and their
> ripping beaks of pitiless obloquy.
>
>
> Such were Pabe and her corundum crown of aureate camarilla, a
> radiant representation of Artemis and her sidereal Pleiades,
> scintillating desirably but unattainable and inviolable in an
> eternally atramentous firmament, an unreachable empyrean of joy within
> an endless void, soaring as a sky parade, dancing as a constellation
> of sylphs in a moonlit glade.
>
>
> On a mid-September afternoon when maddened winds enrage the
> wine-dark seas to flaming waves of roaring foam, quiet Caleb sat alone
> and still in the senior cafeteria,…
>
>
>
Here’s another example:
>
> Looking at Pabe, he was stunned and saddened more than he had ever
> been, gazing at her smoky quartz eyes shining darkness as pained as
> children’s eyes glow joyous and hopeful; her eyes, dark as sadness
> manifest where light is as a darkness visible, a smoldering grief
> unnoticed by those who would see only her eyes’ laughing twinkle and
> miss the breathing embers burning in a gaze infinitely wrathful,
> helmed embers fierce in preparation for battle, fuming embers
> emanating from caverns of anguish deep within her soul, caverns
> descending into fathomless pitch where black memories drift in eternal
> turmoil.
>
>
>
Here’s my question: If it is excessive, even for the context, how do I know how much?
How can I discern what level is appropriate for a particular context?
Certainly, some discretion will be based on a reader’s subjective taste; but I expect that there should also be a somewhat objective-ish way of matching lyrical intensity to context.
Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian has lyricism almost as ornate, and that’s a western; yet somehow he pulled it off brilliantly. Evidently, it can be done successfully.
If I do need to pull back, how much? And how do I know?
**Edit**
Addendum: Just to clarify, very little of the story is descriptive prose. Most of it is dialogue, inner monologue, narrative action, etc.
I don’t want to make it seem like the whole story resembles the examples. Only fragments in select circumstances to combine description with ambiance.
**Edit: 11/12/2021**
This is to clarify some repeat/sample questions asked of the sample texts and comments expressing confusion:
The word, pitying, used as a noun has raised objections from several people.
When I wanted to describe the girls as a group of doves, I looked up what a group of doves was called, and several sources indicated that, pitying, was the correct word.
When some characters were walking on a railroad and stepping on the beams going across, I looked up the word for that and found that they were called, sleepers. That’s another one I’ve never heard used like that.
Must a writer really abandon a correct word because it is not commonly known? When I first read, “a murder of crows,” I was able to infer what it meant without needing to look it up. It seems odd to me that one would need to lookup, pitying.
However, since it confused so many people, I’ve abandoned it, to my disappointment.
You mention that in your experience, schoolgirls engaged in hugging and hand-holding.
The text I wrote had, amity, love, genial, amiable, etc. I don’t see how that contradicts hugging and hand-holding.
Re: “Have you ever seen a gaggle of schoolgirls greeting each other?”
When I was in school, I did see flocks of schoolgirls flittering about as though flying. I’m sure when you were in school you also saw them sometimes as demure as doves.
Doves are associated with peace which I do associate with being genial and amiable.
Therefore, I’m having difficulty seeing where the metaphor is mixed and where the sentence doesn’t show the motions at all.
Re: “However, you say 'cordial dancing', which is a mixed metaphor because 'cordial' implies distance and strangeness as politeness,"
I looked up, cordial, and the first definition I found was, “warm and friendly.”
The second definition was, “strongly felt.” I don’t see how you get distance and strangeness from cordial.
Re: “while 'dancing' usually indicates intimacy and passion.”
The dancing I’ve seen in ballet, renaissance style dancing, Victorian style dancing, square dancing, and many others were not passionate. However, I’ve also seen passionate dancing.
The idea that dancing must be intimate and passionate seems to be a modern vulgarization of dancing.
In any case, whatever interpretation is taken, it does not show a mixed metaphor unless one forces some meaning.
Re: “The point here is to stick with a theme for the duration of the description . . . so keep to the birds . . . skies”
The talons, beaks, and aeries do stick with the bird and sky theme.
Re: “You want to reinforce the duality of . . . don't start wandering off into the flesh and bone ripping because that's not important.”
Reinforcing the duality is precisely created by showing dual aspects of birds, the dove-like quality versus the raptor like quality. The emotional ripping is a necessary contrast to the amity and love described previously to show a duality.
Actually, I was not trying to show a duality. I was trying to show the unreliability of perception. That’s why I wrote, ‘who to some were’ . . . and to others they were . . .”
The attempted point is that whether they were seen as cruel or kind was perceptive and not actual.
Here follows that section as I see/read it:
she flew amidst a pretty
pitying of turtledoves,
pulchritudinous girls
who to some were genial,
greeting them with amities and loves,
columbine personas of paradise,
au fait but demure,
amiable and heavenly,
luminous pearls
frolicsome and cordial,
dancing around them momentarily
like uncatchable butterflies,
noir fay in couture,
mischievous bacchantes
flittering away unexpectedly
and forever,
a swans’ bevy
joined by belts of silver
taking flight together.
Notice the (pulchritudinous girls / luminous pearls ) rhyme.
Notice also please:
~ (pretty / heavenly / bevy ) and ( momentarily / unexpectedly)
~ turtledoves / amities and loves
~ paradise / butterflies
~ demure / couture
~ amities / bacchantes
~ demure / couture
~ forever / silver / together
Also, note the first two lines there:
she flew amidst a pretty
pitying of turtledoves
When I read it, it sounds almost iambic to me.
~ she flew , da-DA
~ amidst , da-DA
~ pretty , da-DA
Etc.
There are two syllables that break perfect iambic, but to me that breaks up monotony.
So, to say that there is a lack of structure seems odd or ill-read to me.
Some of the other comments also seemed to indicate a poor reading.
Re: “People who aren't familiar with the language are going to enjoy its strangeness,”
Actually, in Eastern cultures, the classic and grandiose epic styles are still enjoyed by the everyday person (at least it is among the Persians and so I assume among others also.)
In Iran, the epics of Ferdosi and the poetry of Jafuz are as alive today as though they were written yesterday.
In the West, Nvikuspeara, Dryden, and Goethe feel antiquated. Literature, music, dance, painting have become vulgar (nothing necessarily wrong with that in some occasions), mundane, etc.
Writing in a poetic and epic style seems more natural to those cultures that have not discarded the past as obsolete. The modern fiction saturation with realism has become cynical of elegance and approaches nihilism in its disregard of aesthetic unless it aesthetics only dares present itself humbly and ashamed of itself.
In the West, Nvikuspeara is often associated with some snooty upper-crust whereas in Iran, the everyday person can enjoy Jafuz and Ferdosi without feeling like they’re being ostentatious.
Re: Wind can be dry, hot, cold, bitter, etc.
But then, these are no longer metaphors. There is no more metaphor to be mixed.
Re: Obviously you're trying to equate it (maddened winds) to some negative emotion,
Oh, I see the confusion now. You took “maddened” as angry whereas I meant mad as in lunacy. Considering the antiquated tone, the context seemed clear to me; but perhaps you could offer me some suggestion as to how to clarify that “maddened” there means, insane, and not angry.
As for, maddened winds, to me it immediately conjures an image of winds crossing in erratic sheers and various unpredictable directions. I don’t see the difficulty except that “maddened” was taken to mean angry instead of insane (erratic).
Re: “As for the Pabe's eyes paragraph, all I'm going to say is that the structure is kept the same throughout so it's boring to read,”
Here is the Pabe paragraph as I read it:
As for the Pabe's eyes paragraph, all I'm going to say is that the structure is kept the same throughout so it's boring to read,
Of course the structure is kept the same. It’s a poem. Let’s read it like this:
saddened more than he had ever been, gazing
at her smoky quartz eyes shining
darkness as pained as children’s eyes glow joyous and hopeful;
her eyes, dark as sadness manifest where light is as a darkness visible,
a smoldering grief unnoticed by those who would see only her eyes’ laughing twinkle
and miss the breathing embers burning in a gaze infinitely wrathful,
helmed embers fierce in preparation for battle,
fuming embers emanating from caverns of anguish deep within her soul,
caverns descending into fathomless pitch where black memories drift in eternal turmoil.
There’s hopeful / visible / twinkle / wrathful / battle / soul / turmoil.
There’s gazing / shining smoldering etc.
I don’t see how that’s boring.
Re: “I still don't know what conclusion the male got from it.”
The text states, that he was “saddened more than he had ever been.”
Prior to the eyes description, there had been a section on her experiences in child abuse. The male character recognizes the anger as sourced in some deep pain which brings him to sadness and pity; but the sadness is explicitly worded.
Re: “Usually people are turned off by angry women, so... what is his reaction? “
This text goes out of its way to show that the anger is much deeper and much more intense than the typical anger that most people feel.
As for the male’s reaction, that is given further in sentences later not included here. It wouldn’t be realistic to include all that in one sentence. | [
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59,351 | Suppose an author is writing a novel that is heavily based on autobiographical material and is based in the USA and Canada. What steps would need to be taken for the author to avoid being sued for libel? I would like to avoid being sued for libel, getting my work demonetized, a restraining order, or even getting a letter from a lawyer.
Will this disclaimer be enough?
>
> This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
>
>
>
Would changing the setting, the physical characteristics of the characters, and creating composite characters be sufficient to avoid a suit? (And of course, not identifying it as autobiographical.) | [
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59,363 | Brought this question from Worldbuilding SE, and still not sure if I’m asking in the right place. If anyone knows a better place to ask, any advice would be appreciated.
The world I’m building revolves around a (albeit heavily exaggerated) religious extremist group/dystopian organization based on a twisted version of Catholic Christianity. This group is intended to be the antagonists and would be illustrated as irredeemably evil and corrupt, largely because of their devotion to their faith. Is this generally a thing to avoid, especially when much of the story involves the protagonist and the religious group killing each other? Is it better to invent some new hypothetical religion for a story involving direct violence?
I don’t want to offend people with my story, and I have nothing personal against Christians, of course, but the Christianity bit is kind of important for some of the imagery and thematic inspiration for my (mostly sci-fi) story, and I think using a realistic religion makes the story more raw. Are there any ways to easily illustrate that a religious group depicted in a story does not reflect the actual portrayal of the religion, without detracting from the group’s presence in the story? For example, I thought of making the protagonist Christian as well to avoid demonizing Christianity too much. Alternatively, should I just drop the Christianity bit altogether? | [
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59,377 | 'Why' is a straight forward question asking the reason for something.
"You should go to college."
"Why?" Or "Why should I go to college?"
BUT... "You should meet my friend's brother."
"Why-yy?"
This character is suddenly suspicious of her friend's suggestion. Is her friend trying to 'set her up' for a date? Which is part of the plot. If this was verbal dialogue, you would instantly hear the suggestion in the speech. But it's 'written', and I want to sound out the 'question' of 'why should I meet your friend's brother?" without having to write those extra words. Other than 'saying', *"Why?" Gemma asked with sudden suspicion*. That might be the best way, BUT can? how? should? I even worry about it and just stick with worded descriptions? | [
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59,391 | I'm having major issues with this. I'm working on papers for some literature classes I'm taking at Uni, and my professors are...less than helpful (it has been a wild two years, I can't blame them. They all have way too many students this semester). The tutoring center is at limited capacity due to pandemic restrictions in my area, so I instead turn to you wonderful people.
While working on my papers, I find that I am very good at making observations about a text (for example, the characters of Raymond Carver's fiction often go out of their way to avoid any and all epiphany or positive insight that could help better their situation), but that only gets me halfway. My issue is answering the, in my professor's words, "so what" question. As in, Carver's characters go out of their way to avoid epiphany, *so what?*
When I try to answer that question, it just makes my observation larger, but it does not make it into an arguable thesis. For example: The lengths to which Carver's characters go to avoid epiphany and positive insight suggest that they've found comfort in the disarray of their own lives. Again, that is an observation; I have to again ask so what?
How do you turn an observation into a thesis? Are there any examples online of the process?
Let me be clear, I do not expect (or even want) anyone to hand me a thesis to use in my paper. The example above is just something I spitballed together to illustrate my problem. I simply want to see how this process works so I can adapt to it and actually write these dang papers.
Much thanks <3 | [
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59,399 | Are there techniques that would minimize need to proof-read?
This puzzles me, because I find that it's difficult to get things right "while one writes" (because the flow is different, one may be looking different things). But it's possibly even more difficult to proof-read "a large bulk of unverified text".
Thus, I wonder if there's some magic to this that allows "good writers" to succeed? | [
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59,401 | It's an annoying problem with writing - I've got a bunch of characters that I've written, how do I keep them together for the adventure I want them to go on?
In some stories, this can be quite annoying - reading YA novels for example, where the teenagers save the world, and the adults did nothing, for some reason.
I am unfortunately falling slightly into that trap - my characters are late teens early twenties, so not as bad - one could conceive why they'd be allowed to be involved in big things. However, a lot of my characters don't have a ton of reason to be involved in things. Several of them have been imprisoned their whole lives and have little real world skill, especially as they are embarking on a mission to a country (and environment) that they have never been in before.
Complicating this further is that my fantasy novel is based around two nations - a human industrial era one, and a merfolk one in the adjacent ocean. This makes it difficult for the land and sea characters to interact.
So does anyone have suggestions on how to untangle the massive mess that is story logistics? | [
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59,407 | How "subjective" is "good-readability"?
Are there quality studies that can explain this?
I'm confused about that I perceive that different people seem to have different preferences regarding:
* usability
* informativeness
* comprehension
Or something that someone else might claim "cryptic", might be "very clear" to someone else. | [
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59,426 | What I mean is a parody/spoof is a comical adaptation.
The opposite would be a dramatic adaptation.
For examples, both *Batman: the Movie* (1966, Leslie H. Martinson, Disney/20th Century Studios) and *The Dark Knight Trilogy* (2005-2012, Chsurtopver Naven, Warner Bros. Pictures) are *Batman* adaptations, one has everything played for laughs, and the other has everything played for drama.
I would call that a tragedy because it rhymes with parody. | [
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59,427 | My story has two POV characters, Delilah and Seck, who start separate and meet ~ 1/4 of the way though. Delilah's story starts several years before the Seck's and is the entire reason he even has a story at all.
The thing I'm not sure about is, because Delilah's story starts so far ahead of Seck's, how do I structure the story so the the reader will care about both characters individually as well as their relationship once they meet, without the story being disjointed and ineffective
There's a few ideas I've thought of:
1. Start the story when they meet and going back to the starts of their respective stories and alternating chapters following each one past the point hen they meet, to the end of the book. But I've read that en media res is often kind of boring, as readers generally prefer chronological order, and aren't invested enough to put in the effort to follow the rest of the story.
2. Start the story when they meet and treat everything from before that point as back story, sprinkling it in as and when. That would probably be ok for Delilah, but I think Seck's character development would be better served starting sooner.
3. Follow one exclusively until they meet, the indruce the other.
I have obvious concerns with this one, for one, adding a POV character halfway though is always risky and I think both their stories deserve a share of the spotlight.
Alternatively, I could completely omit one character's POV. This has a similar problem. That both character arcs would work better as a POV. Internal stuff makes up a larger proportion of Seck's arc, so it wouldn't work that well without getting in his head, but Delilah's storyline up to the meeting is more dynamic.
4. Have their stories before they meet be two separate books and another book with alternating POV for the story after they've met. Their stories upto when they meet isn't particularly satisfying as it stands, but I'm still at the stage where I don't have many concrete ideas about what happens so it could be made into one relatively easily. However, I'd be changing to a character the reader doesn't already know, so that doesn't seem much better than the last option.
Obviously this isn't an exhaustive list of options! It's just the main ideas I've thought of and been able to research. I'd really appreciate any input you guys could give me on this! No knowing how I'm going to format the plot is one of the main things making it harder for me to push through perfectionism and actually write this damn thing! | [
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59,431 | I've written my prologue in present tense. The rest of it is a flash to the past that leads up to that moment which I write in past tense. When I get to the current part of the book where the prologue starts do I change back to present tense? | [
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59,434 | In my writing, I feel it can give a character distinction if they have an accent; our main character(s) have an American accent, but the newly-introduced one of them has an Irish accent.
My problem, though, is that in the medieval fantasy world this hypothetical story is set in, there is no such thing as America or Ireland.
I feel that using recognizable and familiar accents does two things:
1. It makes the story slightly more humorous and, more importantly,
2. It gives the reader something familiar and comfortable. They have experiences and know what an American accent or an Irish accent sound like. They have no experiences of what an elf’s accent sounds like.
So, ignoring the improbability of these same accents arising, how do I describe these accents to the reader without outright saying “American” or “Irish”, or saying, “…an accent you might call American.” | [
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"text": "You describe the letters they elongate, drop, clip etc... for example a [Scottish accent](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki... | 2021/11/01 | [
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59,437 | Let's say that for some math article there's a concept that is used many times, but the author does not know a standard name for this concept, if it exists. The author creates a name for this concept. How should the definition be written like? Op has considered the following possibilities:
>
> 1. Definition: Something that satisfies some properties will be called
>
>
>
>
> 2. Definition: Something that satisfies some properties is called
>
>
>
The first one sounds more correct to me, as that thing *will be called* by that name in the current article; however when op reads math texts, the second one seems more common. | [
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59,452 | There are sites where an author can self-publish free-to-access web novels, one short chapter at a time (500 to 1.5k words recommended per chapter). Many of the popular novels are published weekly and have 100+ chapters.
I see authors making money in several ways on these sites:
* Ad revenue
* Tips through the site (readers can watch extra ads to do this if they don't pay)
* Patreon or another external site
(This is quite different from "traditional" self-publishing. It shares some similarities with web comic publishing, though that offers more options for promotion.)
The first two options require your series reach a certain level of popularity (100-250 subscribers) on the site, otherwise you can't earn any money. And the last one is also linked quite a bit to how many people are reading your content.
I already know plenty of strategies I can use within the site (book cover, content length, content quality, engagement with readers, etc) and on Patreon (early access, bonus content). I suspect these alone won't be enough to reach that threshold of readership though. I want information beyond that on how to get more people reading.
How can an author promote and market their web novel? | [
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59,463 | I've seen a lot of advice that says you should scrap *all* non-'said' dialogue tags. I can see the value of this, but I'm not sure how to make it work in every instance.
It's pretty easy to show things like questions and exclamations through language and context without having to use 'creative' dialogue tags, but what about something like whispered? Is proximity enough? If I say someone 'leaned in and said something in so-and-so's ear' would that do it? That example feels like 'whispered in [x]'s ear' is such a common (cliché) phrase, that it would be more jarring to not have 'whispered'.
Is 'whispered' an exception to the rule or is it just me? | [
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59,479 | In a dice-based role-playing game, any action you take can either succeed or fail based entirely on the luck of the dice. This is part of what makes the story that is woven during a role-playing game so interesting - you have twists and turns that wouldn't otherwise have happened, purely because of a chance dice roll.
One of the members of a D&D group I played in was trying to take the transcriptions of our game (we played in text format, so the transcripts were readily available) and adapt it into a more traditional novel-like narrative - taking the story we had created during our game and adapting it into a readable story.
The snag I kept running into while reading and editing this, though, was that the sense of chance - that at any time, through no fault of your own, you could completely fail at what you were doing - was missing. Once you don't have that "What did you roll? ...a 1." in the story, you don't see the twists and turns of the dice affecting the story.
Is there any way to re-integrate this sense of uncertainty and possibility of failure into the story, or is this simply not possible in a novel-like format? | [
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59,495 | I've been accused of purple prose for single words. People will go through my work with a fine-tooth comb and interrogate me. "Why this big word?"
It feels like, if everyone doesn't understand my work, I've failed. I'm not communicating effectively. Language is about communication. Everything else is secondary. It feels like I need to embrace a Hemingway-esque radical minimalism, otherwise I'm being "pretentious".
And yet, William Faulkner's prose is praised by the same people. I don't mean to imply that my writing rivals Faulkner's, but if we're to judge by the criteria of ornateness, then his writing is more overwrought and difficult to follow than mine.
**What is Faulkner doing right that I'm doing wrong?** I'd like specificity. Gesturing towards Faulkner's mastery isn't sufficient. How likely is it that Faulkner never used a word without "purpose"? | [
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59,504 | When writing dialogue, I know it's sometimes normal/useful to drop attribution and provide only the direct quotes during dialogue, like so:
>
> "Like we used to Mamma?"
>
>
> "*Einmitt*, my little mouse, exactly"
>
>
>
I've seen this done when the characters speaking are established, and the author wants the dialogue to flow. It's also a way avoid overusing "he said, she said, they said..", but that's not my main concern here.
But the trade off seems to be that without anything but quotation, you lose flavour/nuance to explain how the characters are feeling and their motivation. If you did use some extradialogue flavour, it might look like:
>
> "Like we used to Mamma?" Hrafnhildur squeaked excitedly
>
>
> "*Einmitt*, my little mouse, exactly", said her mother nostalgically
>
>
>
or like (completely changing my original intent):
>
> "Like we used to Mamma?" Hrafnhildur intoned fearfully
>
>
> "*Einmitt*, my little mouse, exactly", said her mother determinedly
>
>
>
I'm not sure if those last two examples flow, but I hope they get across that even if the first excerpt without attribution is *fine*, there's extra nuance that could be added.
Is there a way to communicate the *flavour/nuance* without the attributing text outside of the quotes?
Some of the advice [here](https://writing.stackexchange.com/a/7119/3986) is helpful, but some is not relevant, and perhaps more specialised techniques are applicable in my example? | [
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59,529 | My first horror short story starts with a quite quiet scene, quickly escalating to the protagonist's little brother being brutally murdered, with the only thing separating a family conversation between her, her mother and stepfather, and her brother's murder, is a scream, then a quite violent scene of the primary antagonist killing the protagonist's brother. (The primary antagonist is a demon/alien that takes the form of a young child, mostly eats children but will also tolerate adults; it ate the protagonist's father in the prologue.) But this is writing, not a show. I can't simply turn on a dissonant soundtrack to amp up the suspense. I reviewed the opening chapter with a friend, and we both agreed that the scare of the killing/eating isn't enough. I need to be able to weave a suspenseful atmosphere from a mundane scene (just a family conversation) in order to create a fully terrifying start. How is this done? How is suspense created from mundane settings/positions prior to the "scare"? | [
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59,531 | Good techniques to keep track of error-freeness without ending up having to proof-read all of a long finished text?
This is a problem that I've had, but I assume that it's in fact quite common problem.
The problem is:
* You write your text (e.g. a research publication) and in the first passes, you blend adding information and checking references and grammar. It's possible that you also overlook checking grammar thinking that "well I will come to it later, once I figure out that the information given works".
* Now, you possibly lose track of what you've checked and what you haven't, since you multitask many things.
* If you continue doing this to the end of the text you will soon have, say, 150 pages of text where you cannot tell anymore which parts have been checked up to what point. **And now you need to check the full 150 pages.**
* But it's possible that you couldn't have checked them earlier, since you were having this multitasking going on.
So how does one merge checking and producing text, so that it doesn't end up like this? | [
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59,532 | How much opinion do you need in order to decide how "readable" something is?
If one person, even if experienced, says "this is not very well readable", then I think it not enough to conclude it's not very well readable. Reason:
* It's just one person
* It's based on what that one person sees as readable, even if he/she would have experience (which may be based on reading only texts he/she finds "readable")
So how many people does one need to sample in order to have a well-informed view on "readability"?
OTOH:
* If this one person is an accomplished reader (reads a lot), then is his/her opinion more informed?
* If the sample for "judges" here would include also people who read very little, then would these be "uninformed" reviewers, since they have read only a small sample? | [
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59,533 | Everybody knows how an important part of writing is the ability to compose proper dialogue. I've even heard that publishers tend to jump to the first conversation in a received draft and see if it works. This makes sense to me as nothing sets a reader further from the story than unnatural dialogue.
There are plenty of videos, articles and even questions on this site covering the topic. They usually focus on making characters' speeches organic. People often wonder about hero's lines presenting their personality or how to make them unique.
One would also easily find texts regarding the flow of dialogue. About the hidden conflicts and pushing the action forward. How they impact the plot.
In other words there is a lot of coverage of actual words being said in dialogue.
I have concern about another part of the matter: the background. The didascalies. The description of the second plan.
It comes from self-analysis of my own writing. I've noticed that in my stories conversations tend to have a repetitive setting. They usually happen at a coffee shop or in a park. Characters sit, eat or walk. It all comes from my own experiences as I tend to chat in such circumstances.
While writing I always try to expand the actual meaning of a dialogue with descriptions. A person being nervous will spill some wine. Characters having some mystery would hide their hands. A guilty individual can point a finger at himself.
I'm starting to feel though like I wander around a very small room, if it makes any sense. Following the aforementioned settings, it seems like all of my dialogue is the compilation of finite and quite small pack of activities. It's like I have a bunch of metaphors, all surrounding benches and tables, and I use them over and over again.
At this point I want to break out of this limited room. I would like my dialogue to vary as far as my imagination can reach. I want to use symbolism that is unique to the scene. I want each of my dialogues to be a fresh story.
I hope that makes sense to you. Thank you for reaching the end of my question and if any advice or thought comes to your mind, please share it. | [
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59,536 | I'm writing a fantasy story where I want to incorporate various pantheons of mythology, without having them actually belonging to any pantheon. Is that possible? I mean. I like the idea. But is it possible and would it work? Or should I create my own pantheon? | [
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59,538 | I am using *The Complete Rhyming Dictionary*, edited by Clement Wood, as a reference as I work through a poem.
I can't tell if my search is not thorough enough or if there is a shortage of this particular rhyme I am looking for.
I have exhausted all of my options for monosyllables and words accented on the last syllable, such as: field, wield, and repealed, etc
So, I flipped through the other two sections of the book--1) words accented on the syllable before the last (penults, feminine rhymes, double rhymes) and 2) words accented on the third syllable from the end (antepenults, and triple rhymes), and I am having trouble finding any of this particular rhyme i'm looking for. As mentioned in the title, I would be satisfied with assonance (vowel rhymes) as well.
I am certainly not looking for you to give me rhymes or to find them yourself--I am just wondering if you could indicate whether or not the rhyming words that I am after are far and few between or if I am just not looking hard enough and that there are, in fact, plenty.
Thank you! | [
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59,555 | With my book reaching a climax, there’s always a evil idea circulating through my head: Time to butcher up one of the characters.
But something is preventing me getting the right words and feeling in the pages, making me kinda stressed out.
What makes a character’s death meaningful? Was it because they sacrifice for the world? Was it because they sacrifice themselves to protect their love ones?
Those answers were repeatedly redundant as I wanted to create the one and only unique ending for my character. What is the best death that I could give to the character that doesn’t involve with the reasons above?
Tell me if you need more specifics. Thanks! | [
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59,568 | There are questions like, ‘What makes an ending happy?’ Or ‘What is considered a happy ending?’
That’s obviously not what I’m looking for. It’s more the opposite.
Tragic love plots gives me cringes while endings like, ‘They live happily ever after.’ really spoil my mood. To be honest, even ‘Romeo and Juleah’ by Nvikuspeara sounds extremely cheesy to me.
What makes a ending so tragic yet leaves a deep impression engraved into the reader’s mind?
Also before you could say ‘Because of Love’ I would like to say that this question stretches out to all genres. | [
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59,574 | Can I introduce dialogue as follows -
The headmaster entered the room: "Everybody sit down now!"
or -
"Everybody sit down now": The headmaster had entered the room
I know I could say -
The headmaster entered the room and said, "Everybody sit down now!"
but I am exploring acceptable alternatives | [
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59,588 | Please note I am posting as a UK English writer, I point this out as I know there are differences between American and UK grammar guidelines or accepted practices. I would also add that I am asking from a novelist point of view rather than a technical writer.
Ignoring for now, introducing dialogue or lists, do I really need to worry about colons or can I use semicolons when a comma or period does not suit.
Are there any situations, within a sentence, where a colon is really the only recommended solution.
For example, in researching on the internet I came across the following example :-
A dolphin is not fish: it is a warm-blooded mammal.
It seems to me that a semicolon or comma would equally suffice. I am not asking for the correct formatting of this sentence, or for it to be corrected grammatically but rather more generally:-
Are then any such situations, with two independent clauses where a colon is an absolute must, or grammatically preferred over a semicolon, and regarded as better, writing practice.
Thank you | [
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59,606 | I'm a good way through writing my fantasy story, and up until now, my antagonist has been portrayed as being a megalomaniac, and my protagonist (and myself) have believed this to be true.
However, I have had an idea that has suddenly made the antagonist's actions reasonable... while his actions have been more than a bit unethical and high-handed, they're quite justifiable all of a sudden.
The antagonist has been portrayed as a power-hungry megalomaniacal avatar of a god, who has murdered the avatars of his fellow gods in order to weaken them and allow him to gather more worshippers, and he appears to be gathering magical power solely for the sake of the power. The conflict between the antagonist and the protagonist has always been portrayed as the antagonist being the enemy of the protagonist (in trying to kill the avatars of the other gods of the pantheon), but the protagonist being the antagonist's *opponent*. The protagonist wants the antagonist to resume his natural place in the pantheon, and stop trying to dominate it.
However, the idea that I've had was that the antagonist has been trying to gather sufficient power so that he can go back in time (time travel has already been established being used by the protagonist, and the antagonist should be similarly capable) and enact a change to the world that will lock an even worse antagonist out of this universe forever. In essence, this change has already taken place, so long ago that it is almost forgotten, and no-one knows or really cared how it happened. The antagonist has decided that *he* must have gone back in time and done the deed, but it would require a stupendous amount of power to pull off... far, far more than he had access to at the time.
My problem is that this provides a good deal of justification for the antagonists's actions, especially considering that if he was actually the one who changed the world to ensure its safety, it could cause a paradox if he failed to go back in time to do the deed. Paradoxes are *bad*, even - or *especially* - for the gods and their avatars. It doesn't change the fact that the antagonist has been doing the wrong things... it merely provides justification.
My problem is that I can't decide if this new idea and its implications are a good or a bad thing. Either way, it won't require that I rewrite anything I've written so far... it will just change the nature and the result of the upcoming conflict between the antagonist and the protagonist.
Can anyone say what I should consider in making this decision? Am I making things too complex? Should my antagonist be unexpectedly sympathetic? Have I missed something important in the process of plotting and writing this story? | [
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59,610 | In my high school, a teacher had an acronym which was a guideline for writing an entry paragraph to an essay. The acronym was “RIOT”. Does anyone know what these letters stand for and can they locate the origin of this pedagogical idea? | [
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59,618 | I've written a few not-very-good books in the fantasy realm. One struggle I've had is juggling multiple plotlines. For the first book I wrote I wanted to write a twisty, intricate story with a lot of characters whose backstories all intertwined. I think it failed because in the end it was too convoluted and even I couldn't keep all of it straight. For the next one, I focused on a very simple plotline and one love interest side-plot and it felt paper-thin and predictable.
I'm wondering if there is a rule of thumb for how many different stories can intertwine in an average-length novel.
Any research I've attempted to conduct mentions lots about story arcs and character development, but nothing seems to answer this question directly. | [
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59,623 | I'm in the process of writing my prologue for my book, but it's going to also introduce the main characters. Long story short, the main Character, Devoss, goes into a magical forest to prove himself, and prove he can sword fight, even tho he can't. His best friend, Conway, and his rival, Iseli, are both introduced, and it shows how Conway feels about Devoss. It says:
"There's plenty to say about Devoss Croizin, but the fact he's barbaric and obsessive is just the tip of the iceberg. Never mind the fact he's also scornful, demanding, and deceitful, but fortunately, they're balanced out slightly by being fun-loving as well. Not to mention his natural-born cruelty, much to the annoyance of others. But when it's just us, he’s different. He’s open and witty if you look for it, and all considered it could be much worse. He could be a cold blood murderer.”
I also need help rewriting this, but that's for a different day. How do I show how Iseli feels, without making it repetitive, or boring down the prologue? | [
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"author": "Laurel",
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"text": "This is a paragraph *telling* us how one character feels about the other. Convert it into something *showing* that i... | 2021/11/23 | [
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59,627 | I was formatting my screenplay, and I wondered how to specify that the speaker changes who they are addressing. I figured it would simply be stated in a parenthetical:
>
> DUIRE
>
> What? I'm not Dracula Why would
>
> you say that? Do I *look* two-
>
> thousand years old?
>
> (to Ornan)
>
> Do I?
>
>
>
Is this the right way of proceeding? Also, is it common to specify the person addressed or is there some other usual way of doing so? | [
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"text": "This way I do it.\n\n```\nCiwe turn toward Zotn: \"Do You think I am that stupid.?\"\n\nHe raise a hand, t... | 2021/11/23 | [
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59,646 | In a father/son novel, there are two parts to the story: half the book follows the protagonist for a few years. Part two is twenty five years later. The story transitions with a 10 - 12 page narrative section giving a sense of what happened with the relationships of the main character during that time. The main character is now seventy and wants to fix the relationship with his son.
I'd like to see how authors have dealt with a big jump in time from one section to the next. Thanks | [
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"text": "Ytash back, can work.\n\n> \n> Zotn is sitting at the breakfast table looking at the empty plate.\n> \n> \n... | 2021/11/28 | [
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59,651 | Please read the following sentence:
>
> My interest in learning and thirst to seek out information whenever I can: my curiosity, is what I would consider my greatest talent.
>
>
>
In this situation, is the use of a colon followed by a comma acceptable? I've always used colons to indicate that the next set of words amplify (describe, delimit, explain) those which came before the colon, and then ending this amplification with a period. However, I have never found myself then continuing the sentence, so I am wondering would hyphens work better in this context, like this:
>
> My interest in learning and thirst to seek out information whenever I can- my curiosity- is what I would consider my greatest talent.
>
>
>
Or perhaps just a set of commas as "my curiosity" in this sentence is an appositive, like so:
>
> My interest in learning and thirst to seek out information whenever I can, my curiosity, is what I would consider my greatest talent.
>
>
>
What do you think? | [
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"text": "Do not use a comma before \"is\" in this sentence: My curiosity is what I would consider my biggest talent.\n\nA mor... | 2021/11/28 | [
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59,657 | I will be writing a fictional story whereby there are only antagonists -- conflict instigators. I know what you're thinking: without a protagonist to combat with, how can there be conflict? This is a question I have grappled with too.
My only idea here was to utilize the readers moral compass. Even without a in-text hero, the maliciousness of the subject matter will make it clear that there are bad guys and these bad guys are all "on the same team". Page by page, as the reader digests the actions of the antagonists the resultant unease could maybe serve as its own form of conflict.
I'd be curious to see if there is a precedent for having only a team of bad guys in the literature, but I haven't found such a case.
Question
--------
If there is not, would my way be engaging enough for readers and/or what other devices might we use to replace 'conflict' in the traditional sense to energize the readers of a fictional story?
**Note:** Can assume reader-base is niche but existent. | [
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"text": "The \"antagonist\" you open the story with is who the reader will assume is the \"main guy\" and try to identify wi... | 2021/11/30 | [
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59,663 | I'm writing a story in the 3rd person, but there are parts where I use italicized text in the 1st person to tell what the protagonist is thinking. This works pretty well most of the time, but there are some cases where there's non-thought text that I want to interweave in with the thought text, and I'm not sure if it's okay to put all of that in one paragraph or if I'm supposed to break it up. Normally, for dialog, you'd just start a new paragraph each time the speaker changes, but obviously when it's just one character thinking a bunch of things then that rule isn't very helpful.
How would you format the following passage? Would you leave it as one paragraph, or break it apart into separate paragraphs?
>
> *I’ll finally get to be in a class with people my own age,* she thought excitedly. *But what's with that weird girl I bumped into in the hall earlier?* Questions filled her thoughts, the ramifications spinning through her mind. *What if she's the one I'm looking for? What if Zotn had been right all along?*
>
>
>
You could break it apart into 3 paragraphs:
>
> *I’ll finally get to be in a class with people my own age,* she thought excitedly. *But what's with that weird girl I bumped into in the hall earlier?*
>
> Questions filled her thoughts, the ramifications spinning through her mind.
>
> *What if she's the one I'm looking for? What if Zotn had been right all along?*
>
>
>
Or you could break it apart into 2 paragraphs in a couple different ways:
>
> *I’ll finally get to be in a class with people my own age,* she thought excitedly. *But what's with that weird girl I bumped into in the hall earlier?* Questions filled her thoughts, the ramifications spinning through her mind.
>
> *What if she's the one I'm looking for? What if Zotn had been right all along?*
>
>
>
>
> *I’ll finally get to be in a class with people my own age,* she thought excitedly. *But what's with that weird girl I bumped into in the hall earlier?*
>
> Questions filled her thoughts, the ramifications spinning through her mind. *What if she's the one I'm looking for? What if Zotn had been right all along?*
>
>
>
Or you could leave it as 1 paragraph... What's the correct way to format it? | [
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59,664 | You normally break dialog up into separate paragraphs, but how are you supposed to format it when it's intermixed with non-dialog? Below is an example.
Is it correct to write the following exchange like so?:
>
> "Hi," called a woman's voice.
>
> Zotn looked up from his work to see who it was. "Hello," he called back.
>
>
>
Or like so?:
>
> "Hi," called a woman's voice.
>
> Zotn looked up from his work to see who it was.
>
> "Hello," he called back.
>
>
> | [
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"text": "I use action all the time for speech attribution, instead of using \"said.\"\n\nParr stopped at his open door. \"Ti... | 2021/12/01 | [
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