qid int64 1 2.78M | question stringlengths 2 66.6k | answers list | date stringlengths 10 10 | metadata list |
|---|---|---|---|---|
59,670 | The story I'm writing uses 'I' and 'I'm' way too much, and it's really obvious. The problem is that I cannot find words to replace the two, and when I do, it always changes and bends what I'm trying to portray, making it extremely difficult and confusing to understand.
Is there a way for me to stop using them so much?... | [
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"text": "The way to stop overusing 'I' and 'I'm' is to examine the words following those terms.\n--------------------------------... | 2021/12/01 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/59670",
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59,689 | My vocabulary size right now is ~10000 words and I want my vocabulary to be as big as a professional writer, I want to have the ability to manipulate words. I mean SUPERIOR vocabulary. | [
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"text": "Write a sentence...\n\nAdd an additive you know, and then search for 'Other words like'.\n\nI do it, when d... | 2021/12/04 | [
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59,697 | The way I understand it, the term *flat character* is used for a character that is **both** two-dimensional and has a flat character arc. Here, a *two-dimensional character* is character that shows a little, and not very complex, emotions and/or traits.
However, sometimes, I hear *two-dimensional character* explained ... | [
{
"answer_id": 59700,
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"text": "[The TVTropes article on Character Depth](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CharacterDepth) describes the... | 2021/12/06 | [
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59,698 | From most of the stories I've read, the plot development tends to follow a smooth curve. This has obvious advantages given the reader can start to use his/her imagination more, anticipating/worrying about what could happen next. In many cases this is fun and a desirable outcome. However, in some applications might it n... | [
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"text": "[The TVTropes article on Character Depth](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CharacterDepth) describes the... | 2021/12/06 | [
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59,706 | When writing a verse for a song a lot of times I find it easier to sing if I leave out function words (demonstratives/conjunctions). Is this a bad habit? It seems to cause lack of clarity but I see it done a lot in poetry. I also get tired of using the word 'and' so often.
```
Example:
When I went outs... | [
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"answer_id": 59707,
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"text": "When writing in general, you can omit words by punctuation:\n\n```\nWhen I went outside my home I had a feeling: ... | 2021/12/06 | [
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59,709 | My situation is this: in the dialogue I’m writing, the characters speak primarily English but occasionally use a German word for lack of a proper English equivalent. German capitalizes all nouns rather than just proper nouns like English does.
So, **would it be confusing for to a reader if I intersperse German nouns i... | [
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"text": "Unless your work has a good reason as to why one of the characters is using these words, of course it would be co... | 2021/12/07 | [
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59,710 | I think I have an ok good idea of what makes up a horror piece. But recently I've come across the term genre shift and wondered what exactly makes something not straight up horror but a piece that genre shifts into horror? Some movie examples:
**Sci-Fi shift to Horror/Thriller**
* Hollowman (2000): starts of as a sci... | [
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"text": "Unless your work has a good reason as to why one of the characters is using these words, of course it would be co... | 2021/12/07 | [
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59,718 | I maintain and operate an online bookings platform for all kinds of events and activities. Some of these events can span multiple dates and so require that customers completing a booking must select the date they wish to attend the event.
As part of the booking platform, we enable event organisers to control not only ... | [
{
"answer_id": 59723,
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"text": "I think there is confusion over what you mean by \"booking\".\n\nIf I understand this correctly, I would call it \"... | 2021/12/08 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/59718",
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59,719 | First, I'll explain what I mean when I say *core idea of a work of fiction*. It is the concept that the fictive work tries to be communicate (be it a poem or a piece of prose) through its metaphors, symbols, similes, plot, characters, etc. This idea can be a moral, or it could just be an interesting idea. I'm limiting ... | [
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"text": "No. Well, almost always no:\n===========================\n\nFrom your explanation, I suspect you are looking for ju... | 2021/12/08 | [
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59,721 | How can I avoid that these two sentences end up with medical system? I do not want to use a synonym for medical system to avoid ambiguity. I further do not want to change the word order of sentence two in a great way because I think it hinders the "flow" of reading. Further, I do not want to use "their" in the second s... | [
{
"answer_id": 59737,
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"text": "I would try to combine them in one sentence:\n\n\"First, Section 2.1 describes how bugs can impair the correct functio... | 2021/12/08 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/59721",
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59,732 | A while back, I finished my first draft and decided to make huge changes in the protagonist. I went back to replanning the entire story I have been familiar with for two years.
How I plan the plot before I start writing a new draft is bullet points for each chapter, referencing back to the original draft. It worked we... | [
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"text": "Writer's block is always tricky to work around, and I think everyone has different methods of what works for them.\n\... | 2021/12/10 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/59732",
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59,735 | I have a character in my novel who describes a creature's talon as "wicked sharp". My wife says this is something she would only hear in New England (and my character isn't from there). I'm from Colorado and have used this adjective all my life... But I also read a ton of Spepfuj Kunw growing up so maybe I picked it up... | [
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"text": "You’re safe as long as you don’t start saying wicked shahhhp\n---------------------------------------------------------... | 2021/12/10 | [
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59,741 | I am writing a Hijrp Potfeq-like DnD fantasy story, but for readers of ages 18+.
I have a description in my mind of the MC having lost his mother and his magic:
>
> The feeling is like a hand being severed by a chainsaw.
>
>
> Like a Chainsaw, cutting through the hand, Slowly and methodical.
>
>
> First You see ... | [
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"text": "I am critiquing this, I am not trying to insult you.\n\nThis is not too graphic; it is just too long, without addin... | 2021/12/10 | [
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59,751 | One of the characters in my book, the narrator, is suddenly knocked unconscious. How would I describe what he sees/feels?
Do I just have a big timeskip, with him confused as to what happened when he wakes up? Or do I add something along the lines of "I hear ambulance sirens || Back to silence"?
For those who want to ... | [
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"text": "In one of my stories (not first person, 3PL), the hero (a woman) is knocked unconscious in a car accident. She is s... | 2021/12/10 | [
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59,759 | I'm currently writing a sci-fi novel, where we've got some huge, solar system-spanning stuff going on, with huge stakes. I've got four POVs that are directly involved with this, whose decisions matter and are directly influenced by what happens.
Then I've got this guy on the side doing his own thing, and his decisions... | [
{
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"text": "Emotional Connection:\n=====================\n\nMy normal advice for someone with a minor character POV would be to ... | 2021/12/11 | [
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59,763 | I'm struggling with figuring out a way to describe subtle movements in a scene that wouldn't normally be picked up on if not shown. For example:
>
> A character is being put in a prison cell and another
> character slips them a key or a small pin behind their back.
>
>
>
Or:
>
> Like in the movie Gladiator, whe... | [
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"text": "Go Bold or Go Home or Be Chill Little Fonzies\n---------------------------------------------\n\nThe examples you cite f... | 2021/12/12 | [
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59,768 | I was wondering which of the two sentences are correct:
1. The homework was due today
2. The homework is due today
My story is written in past tense, but character X says this in narration during the morning of the due date, not after, thus giving me the feeling that it should be 'the homework is due today'. However,... | [
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"text": "Tenses in direct speech are different from the tense written otherwise. \"was\" suggests that the character has m... | 2021/12/12 | [
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59,782 | I want to add sections within my novel where multiple characters are sending text messages to each other, but don't how to format it or if there's a certain way of doing it. For example, would I do it like this:
>
> He decided to distract himself by sending Amy a message: How are things going on your end? He was look... | [
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"text": "I don't think there is a standard yet, invent something easy to recognize and convert. I'd follow the pictorial appr... | 2021/12/13 | [
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59,787 | Chapter 1 takes place in 1953. A girl is kidnapped. She manages to write a note to her friend (they both go to school together but the boy has moved). The letter is destroyed. Her friend is the protagonist. I wanted a good 'hook', which it is, but the protagonist is only 9 years old at the time of the event.
It's quit... | [
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59,791 | I want the premise to be that throughout the 20th century, witches and wizards have faced a steep decline in numbers and due to the Cold War, secrecy has become more important, but with the fast development of technology, magic could cease to exist soon. I plan to have a school and the elite school be in the US with ma... | [
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"text": "It is only \"too close\" to Hijrp Potfeq if it is targeted at children, as Hijrp Potfeq is, or copies too many of t... | 2021/12/14 | [
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59,798 | So let's say I have characters A and B who are chatting about a video that Character A recorded of themselves. In between their chatting, the dialogue of the video can also be heard, for example:
>
> "Hey look at this... why isn't it working?" said Character A.
>
>
> "You didn't press play," said Character B.
>
> ... | [
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"text": "It is only \"too close\" to Hijrp Potfeq if it is targeted at children, as Hijrp Potfeq is, or copies too many of t... | 2021/12/15 | [
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60,806 | I'm doing a writing circle with friends where I had to review a fan fiction. I was far from the ideal reviewer for it because I didn't play the game it was based on, only a few hours of a later one in the series. Plus, I've barely read any fan fiction before.
I left a lot of comments for the author (more than my co-re... | [
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"text": "You can minimize ignorant, unhelpful feedback in fan fiction the same way you minimize ignorant and unhelpful feedback ... | 2021/12/16 | [
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60,808 | I saw that ending somewhere once, and have been using it ever since. Just wanted to confirm if there's anything wrong with adding that in a request letter for a medical leave | [
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"text": "You can minimize ignorant, unhelpful feedback in fan fiction the same way you minimize ignorant and unhelpful feedback ... | 2021/12/16 | [
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60,810 | Consider the following extract of text (content not important, only sentence structure):
>
> When the jump is made, from seeing a subject as vocational, to worthy
> of study for the sake of knowledge alone, that subject can be enjoyed
> as beautiful and intriguing. With for example the works of the
> masters, subject... | [
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"text": "It should be corrected, to me it reads awkwardly.\n\n> \n> With the emergence of truly novel thinkers, intriguing i... | 2021/12/16 | [
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60,825 | What's the solution for "language being subjective" affecting readability? To write more concisely or what?
To me it seems like knowing how to make a "well understood" text seems like lottery.
What techniques can be used to make them more universally appealing?
Something related:
Why are research papers hard to rea... | [
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"answer_id": 60832,
"author": "Kevin",
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"text": "Here are a few thoughts:\n\nMozh is rigorous, so use math.\n==============================\n\nThe field of math has a v... | 2021/12/18 | [
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60,826 | **TL;DR: How can I psychologically justify why relatively normal (i.e., non-sociopathic) human beings that have turned into monsters (like vampires or werewolves) devolve into feral beasts or vicious predators without relying on some innate supernatural biological drive compelling them to harm people or otherwise turn ... | [
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"text": "Psychology is Weird:\n====================\n\nHumans are remarkably free of instincts - which means that we can conv... | 2021/12/18 | [
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60,829 | My first horror/fantasy novel has received some criticism from peers, many of them claiming that I introduce the antagonist too early. The introduction of the antagonist is nearly instant, but extremely ambiguous. It appears in 2 major forms, as a young boy, and a demon-like creature that vaguely resembles a very tall ... | [
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"text": "Trust your Beta Readers:\n========================\n\nWithout knowing HOW exactly you're doing it, I can't give you... | 2021/12/19 | [
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60,846 | I have a character idea where said character is a gadgeteer/artificer type, and they have these nanobots in their blood stream that they use to make the items they need. The nanobots also have an artificial intelligence that allows them to think on the fly, almost like a human. | [
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"text": "Actually, this isn't too hard to think about, since it very well could be reality soon. Many healthcare companies... | 2021/12/21 | [
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60,853 | Another writer was critiquing my story, and she mentioned that I should describe the scream and show the reaction of the character instead of having the character actually scream out "Ahhhh!"
Any suggestions or feedback about this advice? | [
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"author": "Nick Bedford",
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"text": "When reactions are shown, even if they are vocal, they can be much more powerful and emotive. A scream is a part o... | 2021/12/22 | [
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60,862 | I am a few days away from sending in a manuscript for a textbook to a publisher. The publisher's site instructs prospective authors to attach a cover letter describing the work, including why the author wrote the work.
In my case, this came to criticisms of existing textbooks, and the belief that my product addresses ... | [
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"text": "In this case I don't think it is unprofessional; the reason most textbooks are written is in response to complaints... | 2021/12/23 | [
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60,866 | It just seems to me that for some novels -- especially those published in the last ten years or so -- that the author goes out of their way to make a point that a character is Asian, or black, or whatever. It's almost as if someone, an editor, say, said, "Hey, this is a really good book, but it would be so much better ... | [
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"text": "Perish the thought:\n===================\n\nThis is an unverifiable question, and it may get closed for being opini... | 2021/12/23 | [
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60,871 | A common piece of advice young writers get is to use all of the senses with which the POV character perceives their surroundings.
I can feel how important this piece is. I would like to describe subtle, yet inspirational details that affect the character in different ways; I want them to fully experience the scene.
U... | [
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"text": "Research. Read non-fiction. Watch Videos. Seek and find Nature documentaries.\n\nDo not copy the journals of others... | 2021/12/24 | [
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60,880 | I've been writing some flavor text for my next board game release, which is about settling a colony in/on different planets, and I am not sure if I'm using those two prepositions correctly, if I have to use always the same or if it depends on the context.
Some of the examples are:
1. This is a tough planet to settle ... | [
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"text": "What sounds right:\n==================\n\nI can tell you what sounds and feels right, but I'm not an English major.... | 2021/12/27 | [
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60,881 | Something I'm working on in my mind- a detective is called in to investigate what turns out to be a man having taken his own life. Once it's confirmed to be a suicide, it stands to reason the detective's superiors would want him to close the case and move on, but if that happens I have no story. So how do I explain the... | [
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"text": "Maybe they knew each other, and it seems heavily out of character. Say, he/she has never seemed depressed and al... | 2021/12/27 | [
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60,888 | I can't figure out if my songs are stories since they don't contain a climax, multiple characters, or a resolution.
For example is this song a story? It lacks conflict and climax and resolution but it tells the 'story' of someone who wants to go somewhere.
```
I want to go to that open field
way out west on the old f... | [
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"text": "No, your song represents an emotion; longing. Many songs do that.\n\nA story, at its minimum, is a sequence of caus... | 2021/12/28 | [
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60,893 | Until very recently I had a world building first approach (architecture writing) to writing. But now I've found a compelling character to write about, I'm making choices about the setting and her background on the fly (gardener writing).
I've already noted the same detail down twice, but differently in the same docume... | [
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"text": "Different people have different approaches to writing.\n\nWherever you start, you still need to be able to create... | 2021/12/29 | [
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60,913 | I am planning on writing a story about witches and wizards and I want to have child and teen protagonists, but not copy Hijrp Potfeq too much. One of the ways I thought of doing this is by having school on the SIDE so that I do not repeat the idea of magic school too much. Any ideas? | [
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"text": "Like Hitler ruined the little moustache and the name Adolph:\n=====================================================... | 2021/12/30 | [
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60,915 | My sci-fi story is told from an alien wild animal's perspective. The story is immersive, so the reader directly follows the thoughts and reflexes of the alien. I enjoy writing this way, because the immersion allows me to slowly reveal things the alien thinks are irrelevant (for example, the alien calls humans "outsider... | [
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"text": "I'm not sure there's an easy answer; this is a problem in a lot of first-person narratives even with people. Here ... | 2021/12/31 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/60915",
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60,923 | im building a world for a screenplay and i would like to have some main characters I have already made some character profiles for some of them but i was wondering whether or not if adding too many characters will make the storyline confusing. I want to make 6 main characters, 24 secondary characters and 70 tertiary ch... | [
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"text": "I don't think there's such a thing as too many characters. Especially tertiary characters. A good amount of small... | 2021/12/31 | [
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60,927 | I'm trying to properly phrase a main sentence on a banner. Imagine that you had a dream to do something but it had to be put aside (let's say into a drawer) to wait for a better times. Now, I want to ask a viewer whether it is a good time now to get back to his dream and make it true. Does the following sentence make s... | [
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"selected": false,
"text": "Typically for billboards or banners you want to keep your word count at 6 or less. Or syllables under 8. That is wh... | 2022/01/01 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/60927",
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60,931 | how do you make a character feel like an actual person and not just a character that you're reading on a page? I'm aware that they should have likes/dislikes, flaws, a dialect, etc. But what else could I add to make them more relatable and feel like real people? | [
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"answer_id": 63529,
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"selected": false,
"text": "A backstory, a goal or three, needs, living conditions, people they relate to, skills and their limits...\nThe thin... | 2022/01/01 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/60931",
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60,942 | Suppose an author created a book "Learning Mandarin", which contained a bunch of readings and assignments in English and Chinese for learning the language. The problem is, they have to work with a special publisher who can publish both in the western markets and in China, so they use a Chinese textbook publisher capabl... | [
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"text": "It entirely depends on the details of the contract. Certainly a substantial part of the text is repeated, but the cont... | 2022/01/02 | [
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60,945 | I am writing a script where there are quick flash cuts, where the current present action is then 'captured' in a still photo which is representing a 'highlight' on an Instagram post/story shown for one second, and then it goes back into present action. It's as if someone is going around capturing these highlighted mome... | [
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"text": "If you are doing something unusual, explain it at the beginning. I would use something like what you have writt... | 2022/01/02 | [
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60,947 | Ok, I'm trying to write a book but I lack in going into detail when it comes to fighting scenes. (I'm working on that) Now I would just skip this and come back to it at a later date *but* I can't this time. as this seance in the book is essential for the rest of the book. That may not be much help but it's what I've go... | [
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"text": "Confusion, Pain and emotion:\n============================\n\nAll fight scenes are a platform for you to transform ... | 2022/01/03 | [
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60,965 | What are the fair use rules in the USA for short quotes from books or song lyrics in a novel when they are explicitly quoted and attributed to their source? I'm looking at self-published work (otherwise, it would be the publisher's headache), so probably not more than 1000 copies. | [
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"text": "Confusion, Pain and emotion:\n============================\n\nAll fight scenes are a platform for you to transform ... | 2022/01/04 | [
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60,970 | So I have a character who is often very vulnerable. She's easily scared, put down, and often fails at what she's trying to do. But there are a lot of times when she gets serious (particularly in battle, as it's a fantasy novel) and is a very capable fighter. However, the two characters seem so distant from each other, ... | [
{
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"text": "Vulnerability can be used to communicate capability *and* humanize your character.\n-------------------------------... | 2022/01/04 | [
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60,976 | I'm stuck trying to figure out if I should put numbers or words. Which one looks better?
1. After it took me 4 hours and 24 minutes
2. After it took me four hours and twenty-four minutes | [
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"text": "In creative writing it depends on the tone of your writing, the genre and the audience.\n-----------------------------... | 2022/01/04 | [
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60,992 | Is there a technical name for a character that is mentioned by name but is never present in a story?
For example, a parent who is discussed by their children and still alive but has no screen time whatsoever?
Is "estranged" or "offscreen" character good enough? | [
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"answer_id": 60996,
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"text": "Unseen Character\n----------------\n\n> \n> s there a technical name for a character that is mentioned by name bu... | 2022/01/06 | [
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60,994 | I want to write a sad scene where a mother finds out that her son passed away. What things/clichés should I avoid in order to not make it overly dramatic? | [
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"text": "By \"over drama\" you probably mean \"melodramatic.\" The following article gives us several clues to keep it dramati... | 2022/01/07 | [
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60,998 | For the sleuth, I'm having some problems brainstorming some internal and external goals apart from the main goal of catching the culprit or villain. I understand that both internal and external goals should be in opposition to each other, but I'm having some difficulties. Can you give some examples or guiding principle... | [
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"text": "Internal and external goals may conflict, or may align, or may be sort of sidewise to each other. As the quest... | 2022/01/07 | [
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61,004 | In a book I’m writing, the main character (a 15-year-old girl) has/struggles with [selective mutism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_mutism). I’ve quickly run into the problem where she is in a “mute situation” where she doesn’t talk. I’ve tried just focusing on what other characters are saying and doing, but I... | [
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"text": "This is definitely a bit of a writing challenge, as a character who doesn't speak may be harder for readers to autom... | 2022/01/08 | [
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61,017 | I read some movie scripts and I know how to write one, but I haven't seen one for comics books. I heard some people use movie scripts to write comics, but I need a template that associates each dialogue and description to a single panel. (A panel consists of a single drawing depicting a frozen moment, and one page cont... | [
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"text": "This is definitely a bit of a writing challenge, as a character who doesn't speak may be harder for readers to autom... | 2022/01/09 | [
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61,040 | My protagonist is living under a curse, with added amnesia, making her have a false name. Halfway through the book, she learns what her real name is and chooses to become that person again, with all the things it means as well. After this, when writing the dialogue tags - to show who has spoken - should I use the false... | [
{
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"selected": true,
"text": "Imagine such a revelation taking place in your life: your birth name is not the one you have been bearing all this time... | 2022/01/12 | [
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61,045 | I'm working on my first novel, and my main character is going on a 'no contact' vacation where she doesn't communicate with anyone in her life. I'm struggling to figure out how to write it even though it's only temporary (one month). This is what I have so far;
>
> "Are you sure?"
>
>
> "Yes," I say to my obnoxious... | [
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"text": "You can call it \"off the grid\" for a month.\n\nOr a \"meditation retreat\", which is what it sounds like.\n\nOr s... | 2022/01/12 | [
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61,060 | I'm building a D&D campaign and I'm at the point where I have to create a villain. There's also a character that will join the players a few times as a hero. In an attempt to make them more memorable, I'd like the villain and the hero to feel like they were made for one another. What makes two characters, like a hero a... | [
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"text": "When creating any villain, or any antagonist, it important to have some characteristic (that you want to attenuat... | 2022/01/13 | [
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61,063 | I've often been accused of "head-hopping" in my stories and not always being consistent with POV. Also, I got a note from a beta-reader once saying that at some points, it sounded like they were reading a narrator's observations instead of the perspective character's. | [
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"selected": false,
"text": "Third Person Omniscient (3PO) and Third Person Limited (3PL).\n\nI always write in 3PL; I follow one POV character,... | 2022/01/13 | [
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61,067 | In my three book, fantasy series, I have a character who is a traitor to the group of protagonists.
The reader knows from the beginner that there is a spy somewhere because the anagonists discuss the fact that they have a spy, but it's very nebulous to begin with, though I am careful to leave a couple of hints here an... | [
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"text": "I would say that it depends on the climax of Book 1. I have done the same, finished a story with a tease to the next... | 2022/01/13 | [
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61,071 | Mystery novel with a cast of five suspects. The plot moves from red herring to red herring, making the reader suspect each of the five characters *at least once*.
In principle, one could go in circles and make each character fall under suspicion multiple times. There is however a diminishing return such that after a f... | [
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"text": "I wouldn't go much beyond the rule of three. You see this in all kinds of detective stories and TV series; two red ... | 2022/01/13 | [
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61,074 | I have an idea, fiction, which uses the following moral:
"Young, fallible hero seeks to improve his life by exploiting a higher power, however, the angry Gods don't just punish the hero, they extend their wrath to everyone the hero touches, including those he loves".
However, as an experiment, I'd like not to limit m... | [
{
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"text": "A [moral](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral) is usually a pithy one-liner giving a symbolic reco... | 2022/01/14 | [
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61,075 | In a comic panel, how do you show your readers that the voice is heard within? Do you use a different font, do you use italics, do you use bold characters? And how do you write this in a comic book script? I saw people use BOX: to refer to descriptions inside of box and then BOB: to refer to what people say, but I am n... | [
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"text": "What I've seen is either italics for the text or quotation marks around it to indicate that this is interior mo... | 2022/01/14 | [
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61,078 | How do you write a character with goes from A to Z and back to A realistically? Let's say the characters is extremely in love, then wants to murder the person she was in love with and then go back to being completely in love. How do you do that realistically without resorting to cheap tricks like amnesia, magic and oth... | [
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"answer_id": 61080,
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"selected": false,
"text": "Let's call our girl Aluke, and her love interest is the naive Seck. We totally frame Seck. In her eyes, Seck is gui... | 2022/01/14 | [
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61,092 | What are some tricks you can use to write a good story if you don't know how people talk and behave? Are there some tips and tricks on how to be able to still write a good story if you try to avoid making your characters talk as much as possible to not show how clueless you are about how normal people react in certain ... | [
{
"answer_id": 61093,
"author": "Murphy L.",
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"selected": true,
"text": "There are no normal people. Everyone's going to react differently, so it's your choice what they do.\n\nBut for ti... | 2022/01/15 | [
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61,097 | This is a question that often comes to my mind while writing. I can't know whether I should respect the sequence of events chronologically as they happened or try to include backstories/flashbacks.
How do I know what entertains more a reader in such a story and attracts him/her to continue reading?
Currently, I'm writ... | [
{
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"text": "One common element that keeps a reader reading is the feeling that the stakes are rising and tension is building. Ther... | 2022/01/16 | [
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61,099 | Is it bad to end a story with a lot of loose points? Are there some exceptions where some loose points are permitted as long as the main questions are answered? I heard it's bad, but I see a lot of stories with loose points. If your story is complex, isn't it natural to have loose points? And also ending a story with a... | [
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"selected": true,
"text": "### TL;DR\n\nYou can end the story with loose ends as long as the main story arc is fully resolved to a satisfying end.... | 2022/01/17 | [
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61,102 | I recently watched the entire *Hijrp Potfeq* series in December 2021. I really loved the *Hijrp Potfeq* world and all the characters.
Even after days, I couldn't stop myself from thinking about it and I'm pretty happy about the innovative idea that struck me about writing a sequel for the series. I really want to publ... | [
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"text": "I'm sorry, but the chances of JK Rowling letting an amateur, unpublished writer use her ideas is zero. She and her ... | 2022/01/17 | [
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61,119 | For context, this would be from the POV of children who are trapped in a high-rise office building during a monster attack in the city. They wouldn't have any injuries from the event; they would just be unable to move. | [
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"text": "Provided that you cannot come up with what your character could feel and think, you have several options to get some f... | 2022/01/18 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/61119",
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61,121 | not exactly sure how to solve this, and haven't used the app before. Just started story writing. So ya, I don't know what else to say | [
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"text": "I've always used just a simple, 'he grinned' or 'smiled, or for greater effect 'chuckled' or 'laughed', during th... | 2022/01/18 | [
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61,123 | I am working on a price list. On the price list I have a column for the name of the model and a second column for a specification.
Currently I have an asterisk on each model. I also have a footnote (1) next to each specification.
I have to add another note related to TWO models only in the list I have (out of eight).... | [
{
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"text": "There are many symbols you can use as footnote markers.\nAccording to wikipedia\\*, the traditional order of use in Eng... | 2022/01/18 | [
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61,130 | I have a hard time viewing clothing outside of the simplest descriptors. A shirt is just a shirt, shoes are simply shoes, pants, etc.
Basically, what I'm asking for is some clothing terminology? | [
{
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"text": "I offer a couple of my own:\n\n\"She recognized him as soon as he came in the door. He was one of the few men wh... | 2022/01/19 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/61130",
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61,143 | How does one go about showing a characters tone/pitch while talking?
For example, if someone said something that someone else doesn't believe and they reacted like:
>
> bullsHIIt
>
>
>
or
>
> whaAATt
>
>
>
Where the capitalized letters show a change in pitch from disbelief. Of course, the capitalized lette... | [
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"text": "I imagine you are asking about fiction.\n\nSpelling alterations similar to the ones proposed in the OP tend to have a c... | 2022/01/21 | [
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61,149 | I am creating a series of student workbooks for use in classrooms. The page count is quite high, so I'll need to divide it into many separate books, but I'm not sure if I need to split it into 3, 5, 10, etc. books. Assuming approximately letter/A4 size, is there a physical limit to the number of pages that printing mac... | [
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"text": "I imagine you are asking about fiction.\n\nSpelling alterations similar to the ones proposed in the OP tend to have a c... | 2022/01/21 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/61149",
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61,162 | How would you write the following in fiction given that my style guide says write out numbers up to and including 99?
*From the till, she robbed six 50,000-won notes, two 10,000s and eight thousands.*
I think some exceptions need to be made, not least to keep it informal and to respect the fact that there is a list. ... | [
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"text": "I imagine you are asking about fiction.\n\nSpelling alterations similar to the ones proposed in the OP tend to have a c... | 2022/01/23 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/61162",
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61,164 | Let's say you wrote a comic book about F1 racing, how would you cover an entire race? Should you spend 10 volumes to cover a single race, or should you just skip times very often? For example, 3 panels for 30 seconds in lap 3, then 4 panels for 40 seconds in lap 18 and 3 panels for 10 seconds in lap 45 and 4 panels for... | [
{
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"selected": true,
"text": "Focus on the conflict driving your story.\n=========================================\n\nAnd please skip the rest!\n----... | 2022/01/23 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/61164",
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61,166 | How do you write a worldbuilding manuscript? I am wondering what a worldbuilding manuscript should look like. I am planning on writing a novel with a really detailed world, so I was wondering what I should put in there and how I should format it. | [
{
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"text": "I am not aware of any standard format.\n\nMost worldbuilding exercises I have seen begin with a map of the world, ci... | 2022/01/24 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/61166",
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61,172 | A typical approach when presenting an elaborated plan and wanting to show its execution is to make sure that something goes wrong with it. In this way we can have a fairly detailed exposition during the planning phase and tension building during the (failed) execution.
Consider instead the case in which we want to est... | [
{
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"text": "A daring plan that *does* work is a common trope - both in fiction and real life.\n\nExecution of such plan creat... | 2022/01/25 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/61172",
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61,174 | What are the most important parts of worldbuilding that may have a big impact on the story or narration? I want to focus on the part that would have the biggest impact on the story or narration so I can spend as little time as possible worldbuilding. Do you have any insight on this? | [
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"text": "It Doesn't Work that Way:\n=========================\n\nWorldbuilding is not just a step in writing, where you need... | 2022/01/25 | [
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61,185 | What do you need to understand in order to be able to craft complex political intrigues with ease? I feel there are some missing pieces that prevent me from being productive in this area. I can't think of a good political intrigue that will make my story a lot more interesting and with full of unexpected turns. | [
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"text": "Many moving parts:\n==================\n\nI won't say it's simple, because by definition intrigue is complex and dec... | 2022/01/26 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/61185",
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61,196 | How do you catch people by surprise when crafting a political intrigue? Whenever I put some politics in my story, people know exactly what's gonna happen, so I have trouble coming up with some kind of political intrigue that catch people off guard and make them excited. Is there some kind of trick to it? | [
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"selected": true,
"text": "Outrageous Fortune:\n===================\n\nHow do you surprise anyone about anything? You throw a wrench into the n... | 2022/01/27 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/61196",
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61,198 | Taking suggestions from your readers on how to progress your story without being liable to legal damage? Is there a way to navigate this, or this should be a no no at all times, because the risk of a lawsuit outweigh any positive impact it might have on your story? | [
{
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"text": "**Make them waive their rights before making suggestions.** \n\nFor example, you could have a contact form on your webs... | 2022/01/27 | [
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61,207 | I want to describe the look of a room. In particular I would like for the reader to be overwhelmed by the many objects stacked on the shelves. This list of objects serves no purpose in the rest of the story other than giving the reader a >wow< moment when reading this particular passage.
I tried just going with the pl... | [
{
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"selected": false,
"text": "\"The shelves were coated, like snow, with items, from books to bottles, statues to jewelry. \\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\... | 2022/01/27 | [
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61,208 | >
> "Brrrrrr, it's cold, brrrrr!" said Eyadual
>
>
> "teeth grinding noise" it's cold, teeth grinding noise" said
> Eyadual.
>
>
>
Is there a way to add noises that don't have an onomatopoeia? I can't think of a way to express the sound inside quotes. Is there a way to do this? How is this usually done? | [
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"text": "I'd say something along the lines of: \"'It's so cold. So cold.' Eyadual said, grinding his teeth while he did so... | 2022/01/28 | [
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61,216 | I had been planning a story/novel for a short while and started by focusing on worldbuilding. After I got the basics down, created a character (with flaws, motivations and hooks into the world I build and the story I want to write) and I then made an outline for the plot. But I'm finding that I'm not motivated to write... | [
{
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"selected": false,
"text": "I've had similar experiences.\n\nBoy Meets World\n---------------\n\n**Boy Meets World** seems to have more disc... | 2022/01/28 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/61216",
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61,226 | What's the minimum panel for a single scene in a comics? I guess it's one, but if a single scene consists of 1 panel it's going to be hard to understand when you have 9 scenes in a single page and each of them has a single panel. What are some rules of determining how many panel a comics scene should have and when can ... | [
{
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"selected": true,
"text": "This is not how comics work\n---------------------------\n\nComic panels are not storyboards. They do not need to... | 2022/01/30 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/61226",
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61,227 | I'm writing a story where one of the characters is taken in by three other characters, but they don't know the first character's name. I'm having a lot of trouble figuring out how to write this scene, since they can't refer to the first character by name.
>
> Soat couldn't help but nervously glance over his shoulder ... | [
{
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"text": "\"**Boy**\" seems a good start.\n\n> \n> Soat couldn't help but nervously glance over his shoulder at the unconscious *... | 2022/01/30 | [
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61,233 | What are things you can do to insure your plot doesn't have hole while you're writing after you wrote the plot? Is there some kind of trick or tip to insure that after the plot is written, the subplot or parts of the plot doesn't cause some kind of plot hole down the road? | [
{
"answer_id": 61245,
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"text": "There are any number of times and places to discover and deal with plot holes.\n\nFirst, you mentioned writing ... | 2022/01/31 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/61233",
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61,238 | Sometimes, in movies, you see people (2-3 persons) talking while we zoom into a flower or some seemingly unrelated shots or shots that have symbolic meaning. I am wondering if it makes sense to do that in a comics book, because it would be harder to understand what's happening, because the text bubbles would make it im... | [
{
"answer_id": 61239,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
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"pm_score": 1,
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"text": "Two devices I've seen used to make it clear which characters are talking when they're not in-panel are:\n\n* give all c... | 2022/01/31 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/61238",
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61,241 | I am writing a paper, and I was wondering if I could use an asterisk and dagger symbol to add a note in the footnotes section explaining a word in Chicago style.?
Example:
>
> Lola\* and other plenipotentiaries† signed the document.
>
>
>
>
> ---
>
>
> \*Filipino word meaning "grandma."
>
>
> †Diplomatic rep... | [
{
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"text": "The references[1](https://research.wou.edu/c.php?g=551307&p=3785233), [2](https://www.scribbr.com/chicago-style/footno... | 2022/01/31 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/61241",
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61,255 | Consider the following sentences
>
> She did not feel the bullet going through her skull.
>
>
>
vs
>
> She did not feel the 9mm NATO Parabellum lead bullet going through her skull.
>
>
>
vs
>
> She did not feel the nine millimeter NATO Parabellum lead bullet going through her skull.
>
>
>
I have the i... | [
{
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"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "An effective method to lengthen an important moment is to expand it with specific details. \n\nFrom 'A Bullet to the Br... | 2022/02/01 | [
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61,257 | I am writing a book, and I'm trying to figure out how to reveal the main character's identity. It is a crime book set in modern day and is a story told in the perspective of a serial killer. I plan for the reveal to come somewhat early in the book and display the main character's thoughts and mental process throughout ... | [
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"selected": false,
"text": "Just have the POV character be introduced to a new person by a mutual acquaintance, they have a short exchange (\"w... | 2022/02/02 | [
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61,266 | I've been working on a story for close to two years, and have (almost) everything fleshed out — the world, the background, the characters and most scenes. I recently gave it to a friend to read, who loved everything but pointed out that my main character lacks an ultimate goal.
I'm struggling to find it, but I want to... | [
{
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"author_id": 27311,
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"selected": false,
"text": "What is at stake?\n-----------------\n\nFundamentally, conflict is about potential loss. The character must ... | 2022/02/03 | [
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61,277 | So, I'm writing a piece of fiction where there is a King with three daughters. In order to decide who becomes the next Quuan, he sets three trials. Trials of Heart, Mind and Might. I'm done with the first trial and have a good idea about what will happen in the second one.
But try as I might, I can't come up with a te... | [
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"text": "I would (as an author) invent some historical puzzles, and quiz them on that. Any new Quuan should be well versed in... | 2022/02/05 | [
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61,278 | How do you explain that the people talking English in a comic book are talking in another language that isn't English? Let's say that in panels 1, 2, and 4 the characters don't talk in English, but the dialogue is still translated into English inside the text bubbles. However, in panel 3 the people are *actually* talki... | [
{
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"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
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"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "Put the text in angle brackets and add a footnote at the bottom of the first panel (or page) where you do it, to say whi... | 2022/02/05 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/61278",
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61,286 | How do you make characters sound like non-native English speakers without using any grammar error in their dialogues? I don't want to make people uncomfortable by having a character speak like an idiot of some sort like they did during the 18th century. | [
{
"answer_id": 61290,
"author": "DWKraus",
"author_id": 46563,
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"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "Colloquial, Archaic, big, and non-English insertions:\n=====================================================\n\nTo g... | 2022/02/06 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/61286",
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61,293 | I've started to write [a book](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-VMXftN_SCYkSpaJT1vH6heC5IQ-q6PkZIQf3cdCGi8/edit#heading=h.c24cwmxt7ech) of short stories about a quirky nerdy guy and his growth into an adult man (see [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/themiddle/comments/ru90ja/writing_the_middlestyle_book/hvrfm4u/?cont... | [
{
"answer_id": 61294,
"author": "EDL",
"author_id": 39219,
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"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "If you stay in the first person POV (and not shifting POVs is the preferred approach for short stories) then you need t... | 2022/02/06 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/61293",
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61,300 | How do you show, not tell when a person poisons someone? Instead of saying, "Rumerz put poison in his drink", what do you do to show that Rumerz did it? Do you just heavily suggest it was done by describing how the poison fluid spreads inside the cup of water? What are the things you can do? | [
{
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"selected": true,
"text": "Pick your Poison:\n=================\n\nPoisoning would involve an action, or the action could take place prior, in ... | 2022/02/07 | [
"https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/61300",
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61,310 | I see a lot of films using allegory. For example, a scene from a movie can be a Biblical allegory of Musu crossing the sea. But rarely do they seem to do anything with it. It's like the allegory added doesn't really serve a purpose. Is it possible that an allegory is added just for the sake of it without serving some g... | [
{
"answer_id": 61316,
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61,325 | <https://screenwritingbae.tumblr.com/post/133954599046/an-outline-of-whiplash-2014-please-share>
I see set-up and inciting incident, but then there's call to adventure, which seems like something random that not every story beat should have, and even worse last chance to chicken out. So I was wondering if there was a ... | [
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61,330 | I'm writing a story with 3 POV's. One of which is a 6 year old girl. The problem is simply this: I'm neither a girl nor in first grade. In fact, I'm quite a bit older. The first problem I've more-or-less gotten, but it's the second one I'm having issues with. I've looked at the question [How can I make dialog sound lik... | [
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"text": "I have a few ideas, gleaned from writing exercises that imposed this:\n\nStarting with, avoid misspellings and anything... | 2022/02/09 | [
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61,341 | In my writing, I’ve found that (in dialogue) I use the em dash to show a sudden break from dialogue, and I use an ellipsis for trailing off, often coupled with a pause.
I’ve run into the situation where a character suddenly stops talking and pauses for a while. It feels clunky to interrupt the dialogue, so I arrived a... | [
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61,354 | I'm an undergraduate student who's currently self-studying writing in quarantine. At present, I've read some books and browsed writing workshop websites on academic or technical writing. However, the more I learn, the more I notice the differences between professional writers' writing and mine, without knowing why.
Th... | [
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"text": "For fiction, I recommend Stephen King's book, \"On Writing\". There is also a series called \"The Elements of Ficti... | 2022/02/11 | [
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