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How many errors should I expect from a proofreader? I hired a proofreader (typos, commonly confused words, minor grammar issues etc) to look at my work, which I plan to self publish. She found most typos, but from a 66,000 word novel, missed about 10. Things like using 'its' instead of 'it's', 'you' for 'your' etc. I found these on my own last read. Now I realise nobody is perfect, but if I'm hiring a professional proofreader, how many errors are acceptable? <Q> Ten out of 66,000 words would be acceptable to me, particularly if the proofreader has only gone through it once. <S> You always catch more on the second round because on the first you're reading for both structure and sense, and the second time is primarily for structure. <A> I wouldn't even allow one mistake. <S> I am a proofreader and I do not rest until every error is corrected... <S> No matter how many words. <S> He obviously didnt do what you asked for. <S> Find another proofreader. <A> This is a difficult question to answer because an awful lot depends on your own personal expectations of what you expect a proofreader to achieve. <S> Having said that, a good proofreader should find all mistakes in a proofed draft, no mistakes should be acceptable; otherwise, what are you paying them for? <S> On the other hand, in my experience (and in my opinion) proofreaders are asked to do too much. <S> If you want someone to check your grammar, correct word use, sense and consistency etc., hire a copy-editor, that's not the job of a proofreader. <S> I accept that the dividing line between what a copy editor does and a proofreader does is blurred <S> but it's important to understand the distinction between the two to get the best results from both disciplines. <A> You're working with a human <S> so you'll usually be disappointed if you expect perfection. <S> But as the author you are right to have high standards. <S> There are proofreading techniques, such as breaking up chapters and long paragraphs so errors stand out. <S> Perhaps your proofreader is early in their career, perhaps not. <S> Instinctively I'd suggest a few rounds of proofreading. <S> Two or three. <A> Perfection is a very difficult standard to achieve. <S> I think the more practical standards are: <S> At what point does the number of errors in the text become distracting to the reader? <S> Ten typos or grammar errors in a 66,000 word novel doesn't sound to me like something that would be really annoying. <S> What is typical in the industry? <S> What's the average number of errors per 1000 words or whatever in the average published book? <S> Does anybody have any statistics on this? <S> Bear in mind that if a proofreader misses an error, it's likely that many readers will not notice it either. <A> From the information you have provided, the issue here is not the number of errors missed but the type of error. <S> Proofreading is an iterative process. <S> The industry standard for a professional proofreader is that they should identify 95% of indisputable errors. <S> Therefore, a process of two rounds of proofreading should eliminate AT LEAST 99.75% of errors. <S> This implies that the number of rounds required depends on the number of errors present in the copy immediately prior to proofreading. <S> That said, errors such as you/yours and its/ <S> it's should ALWAYS be spotted by a proofreader working in electronic formats, as they are basic errors that are easily identified by application of standard macros. <S> Even a straightforward search for such errors will identify 100%, provided the proofreader is applying due diligence and clicking through. <A> I'm a bit late on this answer, but my experience with a proofreader at an academic publisher is that they can do much better. <S> My proofreader made one mistake, changing a technical term into a more common homynym, but I only found two or three things she missed, and these weren't misspellings but rather inconsistencies in punctuation. <S> (I should say that the manuscript--85,000 words--was very clean copy to start with.) <S> I'd have been bothered if things like you're/your had been missed, though. <S> That's what one is paying for: to appear literate. :-)
| If you ask a proofreader to take on part of the role of a copy editor as well as proofreader they will make mistakes.
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How many short stories make a collection I would like to know, from someone who has marketed a collection of short stories (or is otherwise knowledgeable in these affairs), about how many short stories a publisher is looking for to constitute a collection. Let's assume all the short stories are between two and ten pages long. <Q> I think the thumb rule is 40,000 words totally. <S> The reader who buys your collection will feel he/ <S> she has got his/her money's worth if there are at least 40,000 words to read. <S> At an average of 2500 words per story, that makes 16 stories. <S> Less no. <S> of stories <S> if they are longer. <S> Hope that helps. <A> My rule of thumb <S> : Publish when the paperback is thick enough to put a readable title on the spine. <S> I use CreateSpace for my paperbacks. <S> For CreateSpace, you need a minimum of 110 pages to put text on the spine. <S> That gives 1/8" of room for the title. <S> That's maybe an 11 or 12 point font (assuming all caps or small caps with no descenders), which is pretty darned small. <S> The amount of text you need depends on a bunch of parameters that affect page count: trim size, font, font size, leading (aka line spacing), margins, paragraph length, amount of frontmatter and backmatter. <S> I know numerous writers (including me) who publish collections with 5 stories. <S> My one collection (so far) has 27000 words, including 24000 words of story content, an introduction for the collection, and 300–500 of author notes for each story. <A> Short story collections are notoriously had to place over the transom. <S> Typically a writer will have published most or all of the stories in other venues and then work with an agent to market the collection... <S> at which point the length will vary widely depending on the publisher. <S> At any rate, there's really no rule of thumb due to the differences between publishers. <S> Do you have publishers in mind? <S> Have you published any of the stories in publications that are likely to be of interest to a publisher? <A> I'm in the UK <S> but I've had my first short story collection published at the tail end of 2018 by an American publisher who had previously published academic publications, but was interested in branching out with my collection of fictional stories, which are all cello based, including a lot of historical research. <S> I aimed for between 40 and 45,000 words, and provided illustrations for all the stories, and it was published as I submitted it, already proofread and with a list of illustration attributions and permissions. <S> As I was writing in a field that also is difficult to place <S> I feel very lucky to have found the right publisher for that collection. <S> I have no agent at present, but joined the Society of Authors who give useful advice on contracts.
| So I figure a minimum of 130 pages total, including frontmatter and backmatter.
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Using dashes in writing dialogue Does anyone use em dashes (or two hyphens) to denote speakers in dialogue passages? Joyce does this as does William Gaddis. Many others. I practice it, but my only "conceptual understanding" is that the dash-dialogue format allows you to group a character's entire range of actions, thoughts, and words into one chunk, headed by a dash. I really like this idea; it's very dramatic. Here's an example which will lead to a more specific question. Rick and Nelly walked through the cathedral. -- It always makes me feel cold when I come here, he said shivering. I think it's something in the prayers. One thing I seldom if ever have seen with dash-dialogue is the placement of the speaker tag at the end. So never this: -- It always makes me feel cold when I come here, Rick said shivering. So, I have made up a sort-of rule in my head that any speech tags or character blocking written into normal dialogue should only be inserted into the middle of dash-dialogue and not at the beginning or the end. My question is: does anyone know if there are specific rules to follow in writing this kind of dialogue? <Q> I think that's the default in Spanish; I grew up reading stuff written that way, and I find the quotes... strange. <S> I do use it a lot to add description to the dialogue. <S> The way I use it slightly different to yours, though: <S> Rick and Nelly walked through the cathedral. <S> -- It always makes me feel cold when I come here, - he said shivering. <S> - I think it's something in the prayers. <S> It's called a "quotation dash", apparently. <S> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quotation_mark,_non-English_usage#Quotation_dash <A> This is also standard in Polish. <S> It's useful by freeing up the quotation mark for paraphrases, figurative expressions and inner quotes, while the long dash takes care of all dialogue needs and makes it really stand out from normal paragraphs. <S> Note we use the long dashes throughout the whole length, not just long at the beginning and short in the middle, and they replace the commas too. <S> And they are often seriously long. <S> Sometimes as long as an equivalent of a double or triple of your puny em-dash. <S> Rick and Nelly walked through the cathedral. <S> –– <S> It always makes me feel cold when I come here –– he said shivering. <S> –– I think it's something in the prayers. <A> <A> There's no such thing as 'two hyphens' for an em dash. <S> There's 3 types of dash in use, hyphen, en dash and em dash: : - hyphen <S> : – en dash : — em dash <S> The term traditionally comes from the width of the capital letter M in cold metal type and is a consistent width to size of the font being used. <S> eg in a 12 point font, the em dash width would be 12 points. <S> An en dash is the width of a capital letter N, or approximately half that of the em dash. <S> A hyphen is generally the width of a a numerical figure in most fonts. <S> Two hyphens do not equal the width of an em dash. <A> Check out the English examples here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-English_usage_of_quotation_marks#Quotation_dash <S> In, for example, "Dubliners" Joyce puts the speaker tag at the end a lot. <S> He appears to just be doing away with conventions of a lot of punctuation that isn`t necessary. <S> In something like "Trainspotting," it appears to be more of a dialectical thing, where he doesn't use many speaker tags at all. <S> Other writers use both to distinguish 2 types of speech. <S> I think that there aren't really any set rules, as most writers who uses dashes use them for the fact that it is different or does something that puntuation marks don't. <S> But you might run into trouble with editors.
| An em dash inidicates a special kind of pause — perhaps a pause for thought, or a digression — that isn't really represented in any other way.
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How can I help a writing-phobic but competent student develop their writing? I am a professor in a science department and I am working with a student that has significant anxiety about writing, such that they have opted to receive a lower final grade rather than turn in required writing assignments. In discussing the situation with the student they indicated that the pressure of putting their thoughts perfectly on the page was too much for them. They enjoyed the research for the papers but froze when confronted with the blank page. In part they seemed to indicate that this was due to fear of judgement. In the end this student has essentially stopped doing any writing except that which cannot be avoided and most of this is now late so under increased pressure. I should note that the writing that I have seen from the student is actually well above average. My initial thoughts are that I need to encourage the student to use writing as a tool for understanding under much lower pressure situations so that they can learn to write for themselves as much as for dissemination. But I am not sure how to go about this or if this is even the correct approach. I am going to be working closely with this student next semester outside of the classroom on independent research so I will have a lot of freedom to develop custom writing assignments. What approach should I use to help this student overcome their fear of writing? <Q> I had a friend who was a substitute elementary teacher who had a similar problem. <S> Granted, he was working with a fourth-grader, but essentially, he sat down with her and line by line they created the paragraph together. <S> He suggested something, she suggested something, etc. <S> At the end, she kept insisting, "I don't do A-plus work." <S> He pointed at the paper and said, "You just did ." <S> If your student is terrified of being judged — making the perfect the enemy of the good — then maybe sitting down and holding the student's hand and actually showing the student, line by line, "I will not critique this. <S> This can be critiqued. <S> This is fine. <S> This is fine too." will work. <S> Actually force your way past the judgment point so <S> the student sees it's not quite the Harshmageddon expected. <S> This answer might also be useful; if the student gets used to assembling notes and phrases, then fine-tuning might be easier. <S> ETA something practical which is also rep bait for John Smithers: Another idea might be to get the student to focus on a topic s <S> /he absolutely loves and can talk about for hours: Justin Bieber, Star Trek, dragons. <S> Then ask to student to do an infodump on everything <S> s/ <S> he knows about the topic, including Anne McCaffrey, Arthurian legends, George R.R. Martin, and Dreamworks movies. <S> Getting excited about the topic might help the student get past the fear of having every word weighed. <A> Since the student is fearful of judgement, which I interpret as meaning "getting a poor grade," and has also told you that putting down thoughts perfectly is an obstacle, it seems that the student's conception of how writing works is malformed. <S> I would suggest that you require several drafts of a particular assignment (which aren't graded) and you together work through the revision process. <S> This should mitigate the fear of judgement since there is no worry about the grade, and the student will (hopefully) have confidence that the final version is worthy of a good grade. <S> Additionally, these exercises should help the student develop good editing skills while coming to the understanding that "perfect" is something that you work at after you write, not while you are trying to compose a first draft. <S> That should help your student breakthrough the anxiety of starting to write. <A> A few things I've done, with some success, with students: Supervised writing sprints: have the student write in the classroom or during office-hours for a short, intense amount of time. <S> Whatever they write is what they provide for review. <S> After the first few sessions, some of the fear is gone and some of the benefits of the draft/feedback/revision cycle become apparent to the student. <S> Have the student write drafts (or parts of drafts) by hand. <S> I tried using an editor that had a mode that only allowed typing forward, but writing by hand was just more workable. <S> Unfortunately, the best techniques--and there are scads of sites out there that repeat all the common advice-- <S> demand willingness on the part of the student (and tie more directly to intrinsic motivations). <S> If they aren't willing or able to "adjust their head" then it's nearly impossible to adjust it for them. <A> There's a technique that can be helpful for someone imprisoned by perfectionism, but it does require a certain amount of willingness to try it: <S> The idea is that you commit to producing a certain amount of writing daily --say 1 page --and that the writing should be deliberately bad: nonsense, stream of consciousness, even just keyboard mashing. <S> It doesn't need to be on topic in any way, and no editing, or fixing of errors is allowed. <S> The writing should not be graded or judged in any way. <S> In fact, it doesn't even need to be read, as long as you can confirm it's actually being produced. <S> The idea is that it opens the gates, and gets past the tyranny of the blank page. <S> However, it may take a while of doing this exercise before purposeful writing can be reintroduced.
| Your student will benefit from learning that no writing is perfect on the first round.
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Can you reprint screen shots of a game application or program without permission? It seems pretty normal to see screenshots of MS Word, steps for "this is how you generate a template". I don't think Microsoft would object. But I'm not sure about reprinting images from in-game scenes for specific games, like Diablo II. Do you need to obtain permission to include a screenshot of a game in your book? <Q> There are four factors to determining Fair Use of copyrighted material that must be weighed in the balance: Purpose and character of use...better if not for profit; better if transforming in some way <S> The nature of the work... <S> factual is better, creative works less <S> so <S> The amount and substance of the work... <S> less is better; uses that don't get at "the heart of the work" are better. <S> There are no rules about percentages, etc, despite myths to the contrary. <S> The effect of the use on market value...if it doesn't take away from real or potential profit, better <S> Depending on the nature of the book you are writing, you are probably quite safe using screenshots. <S> You are likely writing something that will stimulate sales and that isn't going to reveal workings of the game that are protected. <S> Your publisher should have experience with this and probably has a policy for when they ask permission. <S> Unfortunately, many people and organizations don't understand Fair Use and err too far on the side of caution, ceding rights they don't actually have to. <S> I teach about Fair Use regularly; you can find more information here: http://iteachu.uaf.edu/develop-courses/constructing-a-course/copyright/ <A> There is a legal consideration concerning using part of one copyright work in another. <S> The rules around it involve the quantity of material copied and the purpose for which it used. <S> However in your case there may be an over-riding consideration. <S> If Blizzard Entertainment took exception to your use of material from Diablo II , would it harm the market for your book? <S> If there could be a negative impact from not seeking approval, then ask, whether or not you are strictly required to by law. <A> Depends highly on the use. <S> If you were for example to make a story book and just use diablo screenshots as illustrations, that would (probably) not be considered fair use even if it is transformative. <S> Neither would it be if you would just publish an outright art book by using the game assets as they are. <S> If you were making a book about the history of gaming in general, you do not need permissions to use screenshots. <S> For this there is plenty of precedent and it is generally accepted practice, much the same that if you're making a documentary about 80's action movies you don't need permission to show the terminator 2 poster in context in the documentary. <S> However, it would be better for you if you took the screenshots yourself as that can put in another entity into the copyright chain. <S> In other words you can't just copy the screenshots from a book containing all the nintendo games ever published and put them in your book about all the nintendo and sega games published. <S> Even including long stretches of video from a game even in a highly critical piece just badmouthing the game for 15 minutes is fair use(jim sterling vs. digital homicide, although that lawsuit wasn't just about the video <S> I think they tried to claim copyright over it as well along the way). <A> The copyright information included with the game itself should tell you the answer to this. <S> They will set out the parameters of what you can and can't do. <S> However, you would really need to consult a lawyer specialising in copyright to know what you can and cannot do legally.
| My hunch would be that a specific screenshot of a game in action, created by yourself, would be considered 'an original creative work' and would therefore not be restricted by the game publishers copyright rules.
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Converting Word pages to book pages, for novels? The title says it all. How can I gauge how long my novel would be, if for example I've written 400 single-spaced pages of size 12 Times New Romans in Microsoft Word? <Q> I cheated once: I pulled a book off my shelf and recreated it (in InDesign, but you might be able to do it in Word). <S> Page size, margins (I used a ruler), font, type size, everything. <S> Once I recreated what was on the page, I had a gauge for size. <S> Then I dumped my current work into that, and I had a rough idea of how long my "novel" was. <A> This is the technique that was used back in the days before computers could instantaneously count the number of words in a document. <S> It also has the incidental advantage of accounting for the actual length of your paragraphs on the page, so that long passages of dialogue (which consist of lots of short paragraphs) or lists are correctly adjusted for. <A> It's almost impossible to be able to calculate this without knowing the final format the printed work will be in. <S> There are a huge number of variables that will all have an impact on the length of the text - The font chosen, the type size, the linefeed (font leading), the paragraph spacing, the hyphenation settings, whether the text is justified or unjustified, the kerning, the letter and word spacing, the text column width, the text column depth, the likely number of footnotes and so on. <S> Without really knowing these parameters any estimation will only be a very rough one which could be out by as much as 40-50%. <A> You can set a page size in Word. <S> Don't use 8.5 x 11, use whatever the real, final page size will be. <S> Also set the correct margins. <S> If you're self-publishing and producing your own master, you can produce the PDF or whatever format directly from this <S> and you'll know exactly what will be on every page. <S> But even in general, it will at least give you a rough idea of how much fits on each page and how many pages the final book will be. <S> I did my second book with the intended final page size and margins in Word <S> and I found that helpful to give me a feel for how long chapters would look, as well as to help me keep toward my targetted total length. <S> In my case I figured that 250-300 pages was a good length for that particular book <S> and I had it divided into five sections <S> so I wanted at least roughly 50 pages each. <S> So as I was working I had a feel for whether I was beeing too wordy or not wordy enough, whether I needed more material or had to trim, etc. <A> If you are using Word to create your manuscript, then you can use Word Count to find its length and work from there. <S> I would expect typical text (whatever that is) set in 12 point Times New Roman to contain approximately 600 words (4000 characters) per page. <S> So a 400 page manuscript would be about 240,000 words. <S> That will be a big book! <S> The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova is around that size and it weighs in at 900 pages in paperback. <S> Have you considered whether your magnum opus would "work" in two volumes? <A> It also would depend on dialogue I think. <S> I pulled out a book last night that had 4 novels in one. <S> Page size was around 8x10. <S> I looked up the first novel and the original paperback had 200 pages. <S> In the version I had in the bigger format it was type set on 90 pages.
| The standard way of calculating word count, aside from simply using the "word count" feature of your word processor, is to format your document in standard submission format and then multiply the number of pages by 250.
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Non-cheap ways to make villains evil? Do you have any tried and true techniques to make villains of your stories truly hated by the audience? I mean, frequently it's "eh, sure, that's bad, he's got to be stopped" but the audience would rather observe the villain more, learn, maybe try to get them to change their ways. Or worst of all, pity the villain in the end for failing to execute their just revenge, or not getting along with their plan for what would -really- be a better future, even if through baptism of fire. Now what to do if you want the readers to wish the villain dead in worst way possible? Of course getting the villain to kill one of most liked characters may work wonders here. Except it will definitely alienate the audience, it's cheap and disliked. It's something that will make the readers hate the villain and hate the author for writing the story that way. Now what to do to have the readers feel a warm fuzzy when the villain gets hurt? A good healthy dose of schadenfreude? A good dose of ire when the villain gets away with their shenanigans? Make them love to hate that character, feel the story was written just right, no cheap gimmicks, and the villain is still really worth all their hate? This all without loss of the basics: keeping the character fully believable and with completely logical (or at least sufficiently emotional) motives driving them, at least moderately competent and sufficiently interesting. <Q> A villain you want to take down is, at his/her core, someone who does not care about the suffering of others. <S> An evil wizard who wants to murder every witch or wizard who isn't a"pureblood," regardless of how skilled or what the person has done. <S> A plutocrat who became rich by destroying businesses, and then dismisses people who don't pay income taxes as "refusingto take responsibility for their lives." <S> A religious fanatic who thinks that everyone not of his faithdeserves to die, and that he is fulfilling God's will by killing "theinfidels." <S> A parent who thinks that his/her child is so tainted and corrupt bybeing gay that the child should be shunned, disowned, and thrown outof the house, never to return. <S> A bishop who moves a child-molesting priest to a new parish ratherthan reporting the crime to the police, and then refuses the victim Communion when he speaks up. <S> You get the idea: someone without empathy. <S> Someone who either does not see that other people (heroes, villains, NPCs) are also people with feelings, or simply does not care because the villain him/herself is convinced of his/her own absolute and utter superiority. <A> On the flip side, let me comment that one thing I really dislike in many works of fiction is when we are told that someone is a villian, but he never actually does anything evil. <S> To take a well-known book as an example: Consider "The Picture of Dorian Gray". <S> The whole point of the book is that Dorian Gray is a horribly evil person who nevertheless does not suffer for his crimes. <S> And yet ... what does he actually do that is evil? <S> He's rude to his girlfriend. <S> That's about it. <S> The fact that his rudeness leads her to commit suicide left me thinking more that she was mentally unstable than that he was to blame for her death. <S> I've seen lots of movies where at some point I find myself saying, Wait, what did this guy do that justifies the hero destroying him like this? <A> I love villains, so this is difficult. <S> What I love about them is their brazen disregard for convention—moral, ethical, political, etc. <S> They represent a freedom that the hero doesn't have. <S> The hero is constrained by some rule or code while the villain runs free. <S> This freedom allows the villain to evolve in ways that inspire our imagination. <S> We wonder, how vile can he become ? <S> By this logic, I would hate a villain that didn't acknowledge his egregious position, his freedom. <S> What I mean is, I would hate a villain that believed that he was more moral (I'm only using moral as an example) than the hero. <S> If this hyper-moral villain became so constrained by his morality that his actions became formulaic, I would hate him. <S> He would have lost the potential to surprise me, to horrify me; he would shackle my imagination. <S> I would wait for his death as a relief. <S> An example that comes to mind is Blake in the John Cheever story <S> The Five-Forty-Eight . <S> He has done something awful to someone <S> and he is oblivious to it. <S> He is confronted by the victim of his awful act, and he is remorseless, ignorant even, of his misdeeds. <S> Because he does not embrace his awful deeds, he cannot step outside of conventional morality, run free, and scare me. <S> He is simply fighting a moral battle that the reader believes he should lose. <S> Now that I think about it, O'brien in 1984 is a villain that I hate even more. <S> He is claustrophobic, oppressive, and fearsome. <S> He isn't imaginative at all. <S> He is formulaic, and I can't help but hate the mental confinement. <S> Hate becomes my only form of rebellion. <S> For me, the irony surrounding good villains is that I want them to meet their demise, but I don't want this to happen just after their villainy has been established. <A> This may not be blatantly obvious when they have power to wield, because they hide behind it. <S> If they stripped of it, however, they're reduced to a sniveling heap on the floor, begging the hero for clemency or mercy and betraying everyone and everything they can so they won't be hurt or killed. <S> For I think there's still a certain, reluctant admiration for villains who go down screaming their beliefs to the end. <S> We may be totally against what they believe, and furious at their reluctance to see reason, but we still get that sense of loyalty - of their dedication to their cause, however abhorrent. <S> That's as opposed to someone who is truly out for themselves only, who commits atrocities out of self-interest. <S> And when they are finally confronted, having exhausted their power to hurt/torture/kill the hero(es) and those around them, they immediately promise the hero(es) anything they want - including the fate of all who were loyal to the villain.
| The villains I absolutely hate are selfish and self-serving, but they are also cowards. I want them to thrive and then fall.
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Are music lyrics copyrighted? I tried to find copyright information about music lyrics, but it is too confusing, because it is related to the usage. There are lots of websites providing lyrics, but it seems they are somehow illegal (though no complaint against them). Most of them put copyright notice that the copyright holder is the owner, and some indicate that the lyrics have been contributed by users (probably claiming that they have not been copied from the commercial CD). However, the case of copyright for published materials like books is more serious. Consider a book about music, is it needed to obtain copyright permission for including a song lyric? It is popular to translate the lyrics of a song to another language, and the final book contains the original lyrics and its translation. Is copyright permission needed, or it is treated as referenced materials (no need for copyright permission as we are referring to/citing the original work). Moreover, the main part of a song is its music rather than lyrics. <Q> While I am not a lawyer, if you purchase a physical CD (bit of a rarity these days, I know) and look at the booklet which has the liner notes, you should see copyright notices for each song. <S> If lyrics have been provided, the notice will be at the end of each set of lyrics. <S> (KISS used to copyright theirs under an entity called "Opporknockity Tunes," which always made me laugh.) <S> And yes, you would need permission to quote a song lyric in a book. <S> Look at the frontspiece for Stephen King's novel <S> The Stand, <S> and you'll see the copyright and permissions notes for all the songs he references. <S> As far as "the main part of a song is its music rather than lyrics," I don't think that's true <S> — you can copyright an a cappella song, which uses no musical instruments beyond the human voice. <S> I don't know about translations. <S> As a general rule, if you are referencing or using someone else's work in yours, and yours is for profit in any capacity, then you should make an effort to get permission first. <S> Websites just listing lyrics are more of a gray area, since the only "profit" is from the ads, but if the person on the page is using an ad blocker, then even that source of revenue is eliminated. <A> Yes. <S> The lyrics are covered by copyright <S> and you need permission to reproduce them. <S> I think at least some of the "lyrics search engines" on the web pay their dues to the copyright holders ( Wikipedia says : Lyrics licenses could be obtained in North America through one of the two aggregators; Gracenote Inc. and LyricFind.) <S> Translations are also covered by copyright. <S> If you are the one translating, yours. <S> It's worth remembering that copyright exists even if you don't register it with the Copyright Office. <A> Yes, they are copyrighted. <S> BUT, if you aren't quoting them in their entirety you don't necessarily need to obtain copyright permissions if your use is a fair one according to the rules of Fair Use. <S> This includes uses for profit. <S> See my answer on this question for a breakdown of how to determine if your use is fair: <S> Can you reprint screen shots of a game application or program without permission? <S> An original translation is a difficult area. <S> If you translated it, you would be fine using that translation. <S> But using the entire original lyric alongside it would be less likely to be considered fair. <S> Also, as my note in the above link indicates: you should see how your publisher handles it. <S> Many will attempt to get permissions even when they don't really need to (such as in the Stephen King example cited in an answer here, assuming it was a part of the song's lyric rather than the whole thing. <S> The only "problem" with simply always asking permission is that a copyright holder can say no even if your right is fair. <S> You are not then required to abide by their decision, if you think your use is fair, but it makes things needlessly more difficult. <S> There's a poet whose son says no to EVERY proposed use even, in his words, a single word from any of his father's poems. <S> This is an extreme example, but it's not uncommon at all to ask and be refused or asked to provide compensation that you don't actually have to. <A> It is not treated as referenced materials. <S> Whether you intend to profit from the book or wherever you intend to reproduce the lyrics is entirely irrelevant. <S> The copyright holder holds the rights to those lyrics and he/she/they can stop you from reproducing them without his/her/their permission. <S> If the lyrics are demonstrably in the public domain <S> you can reproduce them without permission, but not copyrighted ones. <A> Music lyrics are "poems," and are therefore copyrightable independent of music. <S> That makes it invalid to say that "the main part of a song is its music rather than lyrics. <S> " There's little or no truth to that argument, and even if there was, it would not prevent lyrics from being copyrighted. <A> Others answered the key points. <S> Let me address just one lesser issue. <S> "the main part of a song is its music rather than lyrics. <S> " <S> Maybe true and maybe not. <S> I recall Gilbert and Sullivan had something of a falling out over whether the lyrics (Gilbert) or the music (Sullivan) was more important. <S> But even if true, the fact that a part of a copyrighted work is less important than some other part doesn't mean you can freely copy it. <S> Like, if someone said that chapter 3 of a book is not a very important chapter and not really central to what the author was trying to say, therefore I'm going to copy the entire chapter into a book of my own without permission .... <S> I can't imagine that a court would listen for a moment to an argument that this is okay because the chapter is "not the main part" of the book.
| Yes you require permission from the copyright holder of the lyrics in question to reproduce them in a book.
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Is it a bad writing practice to start sentences with a verb? I realized I start sentences with the , he , she , it , after and then all the time. So I'm starting to use verbs instead. Here is an example of something I wrote: Erin left out a sigh. "Why am I thinking so much about this?" She decided to forget about the thing, and go lie on bed instead. Talking to herself had really made her tired; a little bit moreand she would go crazy. She reached to her desk and grabbed her phone.Hearing Benjamin's voice would probably snap her back to reality. I remember having read about this long ago (but I don't remember if the author considered it good or bad writing). <Q> Sentences should start with anything that makes grammatical and syntactical sense. <S> Writers create, so create your own rules. <S> As long as they make sense, your reader will understand. <S> Your example is actually a gerund, which does act as a noun, but consider these: "To be or not to be?" <S> (Starts with a preposition.) <S> "Brilliantly, he began his sentence with a verb." <S> (Starts with anadverb.) <S> "Skilled and astute, he quickly posted his question on StackExchange." <S> (Starts with an adjective.) <S> "And even some sentences can start with conjunctions." <S> (Starts with... a conjunction.) <S> I believe that all of these are correct. <A> None of your sentences start with verbs, though two of them start with gerunds , which is not quite the same thing. <S> In any case, I think that you are fretting about nothing. <S> If your sentences sound fine to you as an English speaker and they avoid the monotony that you were noticing before, then by all means write them however you want. <S> I can't think of many things less useful for a writer than worrying about imaginary rules like "don't start with a verb". <A> Then do an exercise where you begin sentences with adjectives. <S> Then do an exercise where you begin sentences with words that rhyme with blue . <S> Any and all techniques that force you out of your comfort zone and get you to practice new forms of writing are good. <S> Ultimately, you should seek variety in your writing, but this is not something you just do. <S> As you have found, once you get used to a certain organizational structure, you start thinking that way. <S> Other sentence constructions have to become comfortable to you before you can start implementing them effectively. <S> So, while the simple advice is to just unfetter yourself, the hard truth is that it's going to seem like you're writing gibberish until new writing constructions feel natural. <A> Begin a sentence with a verb sometimes. <S> See, I just did. <S> Twice. <S> As others have noted, you're apparently confusing gerunds with verbs in your example. <S> But that said, gerunds are perfectly good words and can be used to vary your sentence structure. <S> I don't know where you were told that a sentence can never begin with a verb. <S> Imperative sentences (i.e. commands) routinely start with verbs: "Go to the store." <S> "Bring me the book. <S> " Etc. <S> It's relatively rare otherwise in English, as the conventional structure is subject-verb-object, but it's not unheard of. <S> " <S> Thinking quickly, Bob leaped for the door." <S> "'Leaving so soon?' <S> Sally asked. <S> " Sometimes it's effective to use a non-standard word order for emphasis or to save an unexpected word for last. <S> " <S> Left in the middle of the night, he did." <S> "Kill me they might, but they will never defeat me." If you find that you are in a rut and all your sentences follow the same pattern, then, as Tylerharms says, I would definitely make an effort to consciously break the pattern. <S> (Now that you mention this, I have to look at my own writing and see if I've fallen into this!) <S> Of course one should avoid the opposite extreme, of trying so hard to vary your sentence constructions that you over-use odd phrasings.
| If you are struggling with variety in your sentence structure, I think you should make it a writing exercise to begin sentences with verbs.
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Looking for a verb that means "making something looks very simple by ignoring its complexity or details" I'm looking for a verb that means "making something looks very simple by ignoring its complexity or details". Here is the text that I'm composing: "Reducing" complicated social problems to bad influence of media on “disturbed kids” is basically ignoring the main roots of the problem and putting the fault on the media. I consider verbs like Degrade, Reduce, Decrease but none of them are enough accurate. Do you have any suggestion? <Q> You are talking about oversimplification or misrepresentation . <S> For example, "Oversimplifying social problems by attributing them to bad media influence on disturbed kids is basically ignoring the main root of the problem and putting the fault on the media." <S> Or, to use the active voice, "Attributing social problems to bad media influence on disturbed kids <S> oversimplifies the problem, ignores the root cause, and puts the fault on the media." <A> No one except an optometrist would get this, but "hyperopic" would be a great adjective to use for this meaning. <S> I know you want a verb, so what about "overdistilling" or "hyperdistilling"? <S> I lean toward the latter -- it has a hyperbolic feel to it. <A> Abstraction ? <S> Abstracting complicated social problems to bad influence of media on “disturbed kids” is basically ignoring the main roots of the problem and putting the fault on the media. <S> Other suggestions (apart from oversimplification ) are: curtail (curtailing complicated...), <S> restrict (restricting complicated social...)...
| I think oversimplification is probably the best choice to replace reduce , but you would have to alter the construction of the sentence slightly to make it work.
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Where to find editors to hire for tech blog? Recently, I secured a job with big MNC. Now, I want to concentrate on it and appoint 2-3 editors to look after mildly popular tech blog. Can you guys suggest where should I search or post to hire part-time/full-time editors? <Q> From what you have so far stated in the question you already have the resource but have not yet utilized it. <S> On every forum you will have multiple users who are avidly active posting on blogs giving their opinions and in general helping the community off their own backs. <S> The problem with hiring freelance people is that they would be coming onto your blog without knowing what it’s all about. <S> By trying to find an already present user that has contributed to the blog, they already know what you, the MNC and the blog are trying to achieve. <S> Consider creating a separate part on the blog or even a blog post advertising that you require a few part time blog editors and try find a few examples of blog job requirements and look for crucial parts that you need and tailor it to that. <A> If it's mildly popular, and you are looking to pay editors, you might be better off concentrating your funds to pay just one editor. <S> Writers are often pretty reliable, so one should be plenty. <S> If there are any repeat commenters or authors in your community, the best (and cheapest) option is to crowdsource this. <S> i.e., get one or more volunteers. <S> Make it worth their while by giving them some extra perks and swag, and they can make an impact by helping your community. <A> Sites like Problogger have job boards focused on this kind of role. <S> You might also consider writing/editing-heavy freelancing boards like FreelanceSwitch. <A> Try www.elance.com or www.guru.com <S> These sites are technically for individual jobs, but it would give you a chance to give potential editors a test run.
| There are several job boards particularly aimed at experienced bloggers, editors, and other on-line content workers.
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Peeking through character's mask Normally, I specialize in strong, determined, uncompromising, extroverted protagonists, "If the laws of physics are against us, too bad, they need to be changed." I'm pretty good in getting them right. But this time I tried at someone opposite: a character who is introverted, shy, uncertain, afraid, lost and confused. Unable to fit in, afraid to experiment and try to accept the overwhelming world, a recluse, outcast, working a disrespectful, dead-end job, and not daring to speak up against abusers. Meanwhile, a very nice and smart person, though rarely given any opportunity to shine, and the few times when he tries to take initiative, it backfires badly, discouraging him even further. I've managed to get the primary, larger scale elements sketched: the abuse, finding him in a scapegoat position, underlining his avoidance of spotlight positions, reluctance towards taking any initiative. Still, the closer image is lacking badly and I really don't know how to proceed. The image I have drawn so far could be misinterpreted as someone who is thick-skinned, naturally passive (lazy), dull in their unwillingness to act, emotionless, or just hard to understand and alien. The stranger is in fact very emotive, terribly afraid, suffering from solitude badly, often powerlessly angry, and suffering from terrible self-esteem. Thing is, he hides his emotions, keeps them in not to let others hurt him further and take for even weaker than he feels. For the world he is a dull, thick-skinned nobody, and so I fail to make him anybody else for the reader. This mask is too efficient, and narrating from perspective of an external observer I'm having a very hard time getting the emotions across to the reader. I'm trying to show rare glimpses when the mask drops momentarily, but I'm afraid that's not enough, the readers may consider them more as my omissions and mistakes than as essential pieces of revelation. They are too little to get the readers to like him for who he really is, and feel compassionate. I need something better, something stronger, that will get the reader deeper into the mindset of the unfortunate stranger, and it needs to be applicable early enough into the story that the revelation doesn't come as a late surprise to the bored and impassive reader but gets them into the character's inner sanctum, revealing their true self without breaking the plot - friendless, lonely recluse won't normally allow any stranger there, one would need a good build-up of trust towards that, and that build-up takes time, and so the revelation gets delayed... you get it. I consider some bullies just "breaking in", but then how to make it not destroy the poor character? So, how would you paint this kind of character? What kind of motives would you use? Do you know any literary works with such protagonists? I know a few examples of movies - Woody Allen, Charlie Chaplin, Roberto Benigni managed to masterfully draw that type of characters in saddest of their comedies. Still, the expressiveness of the medium, their wonderful play with whole body, indescribable facial expressions, and hard to copy situations are something which is probably beyond my skill of transferring to paper. (some more info: the setting is similar to modern, a medium-sized town with its corrupt "ruling elite" and neutral citizens mostly honest but staying out of trouble, the character is obviously a foreigner, an immigrant/refugee not of a kind common there, and while probably he would find some good help and even friends if he just started looking, he's too afraid to try.) <Q> What you need to do is show your introvert to the reader when no other characters are looking, or when he's with people he's close to in some sense. <S> Does your introvert cry when he goes home from his job? <S> Write in his journal or a private blog? <S> Kick himself for not speaking up about something? <S> What about when he talks to his parents, his brother, his landlady? <S> Does he tell him things he wouldn't tell his boss? <S> Another similar technique is <S> [WARNING: <S> TVTROPES LINK] called Pet <S> The Dog , which shows us an otherwise Jerk character doing something nice, so we realize the Jerk has a heart of gold under the crusty exterior. <A> It's natural that under a lot of stress, his facade would start to crack. <S> Put him in some high-pressure situations, but snatch him away at the last moment if you don't want him to be too damaged, especially if it's early on. <S> It's your story, so you can give him an out. <S> Coincidences do happen in real life, and it may even be a chance for your observer character to connect with this guy. <S> It may also be a good way to convey to your readers the extent of the abuse he endures, which also helps them empathise with him. <A> The way I went about it, is giving the Stranger a Single-serving friend , to whom the Stranger dares to open up just enough to give us a glimpse, and who happens to be not nearly as single-serving as it seemed (leading to the protagonist and the Stranger to meet later.) <S> Quoting <S> Fight Club: <S> Narrator: <S> Everywhere I travel, tiny life. <S> Single-serving sugar, single-serving cream, single pat of butter. <S> The microwave Cordon Bleu hobby kit. <S> Shampoo-conditioner combos, sample-packaged mouthwash, tiny bars of soap. <S> The people I meet on each flight? <S> They're single-serving friends. <A> I like the pet the dog <S> reference real well. <S> I don't think it amounts to much more than one character observing and compiling observations of The Stranger because she is interested in understanding him. <S> Plenty of thick-skinned characters come to mind, but it doesn't do to go into detail. <S> Inscrutability is not a reason to dislike or write off a character. <S> In fact, it is a reason to look closely at him. <S> We want to know why he is cryptic and closed off. <S> If you are providing small clues to his reasoning throughout the story, you are doing the right thing; you're stringing your reader along, and he will follow. <A> Bring the Narrator <S> Closer <S> The richness of the character is inside their own head, so bring the narrator in to give the reader a view inside. <S> As a quick example:If A asks B a question, and the reader sees B mumble " <S> Sure" as a response, B comes off as surly. <S> But if A asks B a question, and the reader sees B panic internally at the thought of speaking in front of a group, and then realize they have waited too long to answer and blurt out a muttered "Sure" to end the painfully awkward interaction... well then B comes off as something completely different. <S> I think it's going to be difficult to get this character across without letting the reader know a little of what they are thinking and feeling.
| What will become a significant plot element, what will keep us interested in The Stranger, is how you allow his inner struggles to surface through another character's eyes. On the contrary, if the character, whose initial impression is introverted, emotes too strongly early in the story, that won't make sense, and he may be written off because of it. Having bullies "breaking in", as you put it, doesn't necessarily have to destroy the character.
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Text Editors. Suggesting & Tracking Changes to Plain-Text Documents Many word processors are capable to tracking and displaying changes made to a document. Those changes are typically displayed in special markup supported by the editor. E.g. But when using a plain text editor (like Microsoft's Notepad), is there a useful markup technique that editors can use to suggest changes, without losing any of the original text? <Q> I kind of doubt that there is a standard for it, at least. <S> You might get away with using some marker that isn't used anywhere else, like ### , to indicate a changed passage, but I'm not sure if that really qualifies as markup. <S> In any case, it would have to be an agreement between the people involved which marker(s) to use and what they mean. <S> Something like this: Tracked changes look like ###this[WAS: these]###. <S> That said, depending on the technical inclination of the author(s) and editor(s), you might get away with something like setting up a GitHub account and uploading the text file there. <S> Source control systems tend to be somewhat more geared toward programmers, but they solve your problem quite nicely: they allow multiple persons to work on a single text file (even simultaneously), tracking changes over time, displaying the differences between arbitrary versions, going back and forward between versions, and selectively rolling back any changes made. <S> It may take a little getting used to for someone who isn't technically inclined, but if you are serious about doing this with only plain text files, it's a reasonably easy way forward once you get over the initial learning curve. <S> And for writing, there's likely no need to deal with the more complex issues such as branching/merging and such; a linear history will likely work well enough. <A> It's been a few years since the above question was posed. <S> http://criticmarkup.com <A> This is a good question. <S> Unfortunately, outside of the programming realm, there's no system for tracking changes at the character level that I'm aware of. <S> (If there is one, I'd love to know about it!) <S> I suspect there are many, many such systems that have been cobbled together by individuals, however. <S> This comes up often when blogging <S> : Do we use Word files with their awesome change tracking features and then deal with all the garbage they produce before posting (possibly introducing errors)? <S> Or do we work in plain text from the start, cobbling together some sort of change system like the one Michael suggests? <S> If you absolutely need something like this, I recommend using marks that are catch the eye. <S> [[[triple brackets]]] <S> or <S> ***lots of asterisks <S> *** or ###other such signs###. <S> (If you're working on source code or HTML, this could cause problems later. <S> And, as you can see, sometimes lots of asterisks render as bold-italic text, indicating yet another problem.) <S> Rather than embedding changes in the text itself, is it possible <S> you could simply use versioning and the name of the person? <S> For example, SampleFile_EditorNF_v1.0.1.txt may have meaning if you and your colleagues have agreed on a system. <S> You could then use the compare revisions of a robust editor (such as BBEdit) to compare versions and see the changes. <S> Another option is to use commenting to describe the changes. <A> Personally, I would use a simple version control system like mercurial: there's no need for a server, you just pack up the entire directory (which contains the repository with all the version history), and trade it back and forth in email, for instance. <S> You could also use a simple text-comparison tool, like diff : save your original file and have your editor make all of their changes and save that to a different file. <S> Then you can just run diff to compare the two versions and see what changed. <S> The nice thing about this is that your editor could run diff and save the comparison to a patch file, and then add comments directly to the patch file to explain each change that was made. <A> I've never used Notepad, but can it create PDFs? <S> Or at least print to PDF? <S> Because Acrobat Pro has a dandy set of markup tools which I use all the time for proofreading emails: <S> Highlights <S> Sticky notes <S> Callouts (with arrows, lines, squares, circles, clouds, text cross-outs, polygon) <S> I think there's even a freehand pencil tool. <A> If you want to mark-up a text then the obvious solution is to use a mark-up language. <S> The best known example today is HTML but the power of XML is that you can create your own tags (and share them with your collaborators through a DTD). <S> You can <suggest >track </suggest > follow changes such as removing redundant <replaced > unnecessary extra </replaced > words. <S> Note that Markdown interprets invented tags as mark-up even when it does not know what to do with them. <S> To get the paragraph above to appear correctly, I have used the tick character as an escape on the eginning and end of tags. <A> The earliest/simplest I had known and the one that survives to-date with enough support is <S> the classic was: -- (it's already been mentioned in the passing by @Michael Kjörling in his answer). <S> I do not know much beyond the near-horizon (spatially and temporally) <S> what people did or are doing, but I still use it in config files and the sort. <S> PDL_NAME= <S> devNAME <S> UninstallLevel=1 <S> PST_DEL= <S> OFF <S> AUTHORITYCHECK= <S> ON <S> CheckJobMonitor= <S> ON [was: OFF] DelRestoreFile= <S> OFF <S> Suggested changes similarly are indicated by a "query": <S> PDL_NAME= <S> devNAME <S> [? <S> portNAME]UninstallLevel=1 PST_DEL= <S> OFF <S> AUTHORITYCHECK= <S> ON <S> CheckJobMonitor= <S> ON <S> DelRestoreFile=OFF <A> I'm not sure. <S> You could save the file as an html document and use the <! <S> -- <S> Hello -- <S> > <S> tags to denote suggested changes. <S> When I worked at a freebie weekly, we used the comment function in Windows Word to suggest changes. <S> The changes were then added in using red text and strike through's.
| Now, there is at least one system, CriticMarkup, designed to give plain text writers functionality that is similar to Microsoft Word's "track changes" feature.
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Correct word for "Pulling some one into work, with continuous effort"? Please consider the below excerpt. 'How long is your break?' I shouted. A group of labourers sat under the banyan tree near the main campus building. 'It's two-thirty, lunch ended an hour ago' The workers tightened their turbans. They picked up their brushes and moved to the classrooms, I remained under the banyan tree, exhausted by my daily ritual of _ __ _ __ _ up the men every two hours. I need some help to figure it out correct word to fill the blank among the below set of words. I am giving words along with their meanings those I have found in Oxford English Dictionary. How different word changes if I use one instead another? haul = (of a person) pull or drag with effort or force. Drag = pull (someone or something) along forcefully, roughly, or with difficult. <Q> Neither of the two words you have selected are appropriate in the context you are using them in. <S> Are you physically having to drag or pull the men back to work? <S> If so, either of those words would work, but only if you are physically dragging them back to work. <S> You'll notice in your word meanings, both say haul a person or <S> pull someone <S> they can only be used if you are physically pulling a person. <S> In your sample text you suggest that you are verbally encouraging them back to work, ('How long is your break?' <S> I shouted.) <S> if that is the case then chivvy would be a better word to use - From OED - chivvy, v.1 To harry, harass, trouble, worry. <S> and I chivvied the chicken around till we caught her. <S> ...exhausted by my daily ritual of chivvying up the men every two hours. <S> The word up is not strictly necessary and would work with or without it. <A> 1) I rather like "herding the cats. <S> " <S> The idea is that cats are very independent and don't take well to being told what to do, and will scatter and go their own way if forced. <S> You can herd cattle, sheep, or horses because they are group animals which naturally follow a leader and respond to goading from behind. <S> I remained under the banyan tree, exhausted by my daily ritual of herding the cats every two hours. <S> 2) just use "rounding." <S> I remained under the banyan tree, exhausted by my daily ritual of rounding up the men every two hours. <S> 3) Extend the cattle/sheep/horse image. <S> I remained under the banyan tree, exhausted by my daily ritual of rounding up the men and corralling them back to work every two hours. <A> I remained under the banyan tree, exhausted by my daily ritual of dragooning the men every two hours. <S> Although a dragoon was originally a member of a heavy cavalry unit, the use of such forces to impose the will of a conqueror on unwilling people led to the use of dragooning to mean "demanding compliance by threat or coercion". <S> In recent times, the meaning has softened as it was used for exaggerated effect. <S> "I was dragooned into helping with the childrens' bath time." <S> In that sense, it is suitable for your case where there is certainly a lack of cooperation but the resistance is passive. <A> The workers tightened their turbans. <S> They picked up their brushes and moved to the classrooms, I remained under the banyan tree, exhausted by my daily ritual of marshalling up the men every two hours. <A> rounding upassemblingcollectingdragooninggatheringmusteringmarshallingcorraling, herding, driving I think "dragoon" is a wonderfully descriptive term, and has the sense of forcing someone to do service that many of the other terms lack (though supplied here by context in the passage). <S> I don't know how many people would understand it today, but it'd probably be my first choice as well. <S> I don't think "marshal" fits quite as well as some other choices. <S> If the word "up" must remain, I favor "collecting", "gathering", "mustering", and "corralling" the best. <S> I don't think either "hauling up" or "dragging up" fits well at all.
| In use - Doris..
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Switching from past to present tense? I'm thinking of writing a novel where my character narrates flashbacks through the hardest times of his life written in past tense, leading up to the present tense. I was considering switching to present tense only directly before and throughout the climax of the book so that the reader can understand the character's actions. By writing the beggining of the book as a series of flashbacks I can skip through many years without boring the reader. Then, when he has described the events up to the present day, he will describe his current location and condition and proceed to initiate the climax. So would this kind of switch be ok for a book written in first person point of view? By the way, I'm not a pro writer at all this was just an idea that I had and would like to try. <Q> That actually might be really interesting. <S> Particularly if you label the flashbacks as "1958" or "Forty years ago," and then the present is "now" or "Present day." <S> And if your flashbacks get closer together (one year ago, six months ago, four months ago, six weeks ago, three weeks ago, one week ago, three days ago, thirty-six hours ago...) and speed up, that adds its own tension. <S> I say go for it and <S> see if you can make it work. <S> At worst, if it fails, you'll only have to change the last part to past tense. <A> This might not be exactly what you are doing, but in any case my advice would be to consider an in medias res structure. <S> Instead of narrating consecutive flashbacks leading up to the present, begin with a moment just before the climax in present tense, and then revert to flashbacks. <S> This introduces the narrator, introduces the conflict, and gives some context to the flashbacks. <S> It also gives the reader added motivation to figure out what links the flashbacks. <S> The key when using flashbacks of any kind, though, is in the effectiveness of the narrative transitions into and out of the present. <A> One can debate the validity of the flashback technique, as Lauren Ipsum and Tylerharms do in the comments on another answer. <S> Like many techniques, it can be done well and it can be done lamely. <S> (Oh, how I hate movies that start out with a character brooding over the scene of the disaster -- whether it's the end of his marriage or the end of the world or whatever -- <S> and then he stares soulfully at the camera and says, "Let me remember, how did it all begin ... <S> " <S> Lame lame lame!!) <S> What's the difference between a good use of flashbacks and a lame use of flashbacks? <S> I wish I knew simple criteria I could give. <S> One point <S> : Make it clear to the reader what's the present and what's a flashback. <S> I've read many books where I got really confused because it wasn't clear what was what. <S> I'd be halfway through a scene before I realized it was a flashback. <S> I recall one book where I was halfway through the book before I realized that it was all a flashback from the first scene. <S> Whether that's a simple, "Twenty years ago ..." or something more artistic, make it obvious.
| I think that beginning with a series of flashbacks might be difficult for the reader to follow if there was no sense of what they are moving towards.
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Combatting Excessive Familiarity Of Writing Since writing my last question, I've been able to write a handful more items and have tried to nail down some more specific items I can ask about improving my writing. This issue became readily apparent. In writing programming code, I've found that it can be really easy for things to just wash together so you can't see what is there. I've found many times that something I struggled with one day was easily solvable by going back the next day and looking simply because everything washed together and I didn't see something. I'm finding that in my writing, as well, especially if it has markup in it. I can write something and then put it away and come back about 2-4 weeks later and see stupid things like poor phrasing that renders the expressed idea into nonsense, grammar issues, and so on. Now obviously, I can't sit on everything I do that long without moving onto something else, but I find even that I don't see things in the next day or two because what I want to say is so ingrained in my mind that I substitute that for what is actually being said by the written word. So how do you get around the aspect of your writing being so fresh in your mind that you can't see what is actually being communicated by it? <Q> A good way to assess yourself from a new point of view is to: <S> Read your work out loud. <S> Your ear catches things your eye misses, both on the level of content and form. <S> how well you've achieved a desired tone rhythm emotional range <S> how real/believable/human you sound <S> Writers tend to think of communicating from page to brain, but it's worth reminding ourselves from time to time that story writing was born of an oral tradition. <S> Here are a couple links that discuss this topic: http://www.forbes.com/sites/katelee/2012/08/01/to-write-like-a-human-read-your-work-out-loud/ http://www.juliamccutchen.com/blog/?p=697 <A> You have to look at it in a different way, different perspective, different mindset or different time frame. <S> Go away and do something different, come back and look at it again. <S> Anything you write will generally need to go through a number of revision, editing and proof reading stages to correct and sharpen the writing. <S> Whether you apply these as actual stages or whether you do them instinctively and innately is up to you and how you work. <S> When you first write something you should really only consider it as a rough draft or mind dump of thoughts and ideas. <S> The above stages then mould and shape this into a final draft which should be free of grammatical, spelling errors, cliches etc. <S> You're probably thinking, gee that's going to be a lot of work, but as you become more experienced you'll become faster and more accurate in <S> how and what you write which ultimately means less revision stages and hopefully less corrections to go through. <S> The more you write, the more you edit and revise the faster and more accurate you will become. <A> Take breaks, spread it out in time. <S> Change perspective. <S> Take proofreading to a park. <S> Take it to a pub. <S> Change your environment. <S> This isn't very efficient but it helps some. <S> If your productivity suffers due to breaks, work on a few things in parallel. <S> Write two different novels a scene at a time, skipping between one and the other, and squeeze a short story or two in between. <S> Edit, edit, edit, edit. <S> I usually spend two-three times as long editing as writing. <S> And I often go back to editing first chapters while still writing later ones, way before the end of the novel. <S> If an imagery of given, further section is vivid, write it out of sequence. <S> Squeeze it out to free your mind for writing the parts at hand. <S> Use it later, when its time comes. <A> Don't re-read your work immediately. <S> Just write. <S> Keep yourself on track with your outline (you have an outline of some kind, right? <S> Even if you're a pantser, you have some idea of where the story is going) and don't look over what you did for <S> however long you need to lose familiarity with it. <S> In fact, you could even try starting each day with a fresh document and not allowing yourself to look at anything less than 14 days old (date each document). <S> You don't want to stop writing, but you can stop re-reading. <S> Or as SF. <S> notes, try working on two things at once. <A> For something book-length, just don't do your re-read immediately. <S> Don't Write chapter 1, re-read and update chapter 1, write chapter 2, re-read and update chapter 2, etc. <S> Instead, write chapter 1, write chapter 2, re-read and update chapter 1, write chapter 3, re-read and update chapter 2, etc. <S> When you're done with the whole book, then go back and re-read the whole thing and do more updates. <S> By the time I finished my books I must have read every word at least four or five times. <S> Also, get someone else to read it and tell you what they think. <S> I've had a few times where I had a chain of logic that made perfect sense to me, than I showed it to someone else <S> and she said, "Wait, how did you get from step 3 to step 4? <S> " <S> In a novel it might be more like, "Wait, why would Sally suddenly decide to call her brother?" <S> As the writer you have all sorts of information about the characters or the subject in your head that may never make it to the paper. <S> Sometimes this leaves gaps for the reader that you just can't see because you're too close to it. <S> (Like, "But Sally and her brother are very close. <S> She always calls him when she's in trouble. <S> Oh yeah <S> , I guess I never mentioned that in the story, did I? <S> And I cut out the two previous references to her brother because they were slowing down the plot, so now this just comes out of nowhere ...")
| If you need two weeks, then write for two weeks and don't look at anything you've written until 14 days have passed. Have some other person to read it and point out shortcomings. Some things your ears will notice better than your eyes: unwanted repetition of words and phrases word choice
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How many different words are in the average novel? I realize there's going to be a bit of variation here from one author to the next and depending on length of the novel, but the range shouldn't really be too large. The thing is, I really have no idea where the middle of that range lies. 5,000 words? 10,000? 20,000? I know the average adult vocabulary (in English) ranges between 20,000 and 30,000 words, although I don't know if that number includes variations (like, likes, liked, liking), but I would expect this number to be significantly less than the full breadth of a person's vocabulary. I had trouble finding any information. Is there anyone who is familiar with this subject? <Q> I pieced the below data together from a number different websites. <S> Basically putting the text versions of the three titles shown, individually into a site that can quickly filter out the unique words. <S> I then used the data to feed into a homemade random word generator to be used it typing practice. <S> It is more challenging to get newer titles, but this gives a cross section of what you could come across. <S> Hope this helps. <S> A Separate Peace , by John Knowles <S> Word Count: 54,050 Unique Words: 6,418 <S> The Outsiders , by S.E Hinton <S> Word Count: 49,444 Unique words: 3,898 Catcher in the Rye , by J.D Salinger Word Count: 74,193 Unique words: 4,206 <A> You know that you have an important question when your topic already has a recognised acronym NDW . <S> However it is typically used in the medical field rather creative writing. <S> It appears to have arisen from the rehabilitation of patients with brain injury such as stroke. <S> The University of Albert Department of Linguistics has a fairly extensive discussion on using NDW as one measure (among many) in interpreting the complexity of texts. <S> And the short answer to your good question <S> Any "average" value is likely to be meaningful only for the sample from which it was calculated. <S> You could calculate an NDW for Stephen King novels but that would have little value in making predictions about the work of Umberto Eco. <S> A concordance of the Bible gives an interesting way to examine some of the issues. <S> (Although this is KJV. <S> I would be interersted to see the differences in GNT.) <A> While I can't answer the "big" question of an average, I can answer the smaller question of whether anyone's heard/seen anything on the subject before. <S> If anyone has answered a question like this I would assume it would be Franco Moretti or someone doing similar computational research into the statistical profiles of large literary corpora. <S> Wired did an article on Moretti's research a few years ago. <S> He floats a concept of "distant reading" wherein we cover a lot of ground traditional criticism can't meaningfully cover through statistical methods. <S> I haven't read him widely, so it's possible he's covered this somewhere. <S> I've emailed him before and he was responsive to my questions, though I note from his faculty page that he's on leave this year which may have some effect (as might any pending publications he has on the topic). <S> He also has related books, like Graphs, Maps, Trees & Distant Reading . <A> I originally posted this in another form as a comment, but I think it deserves an answer. <S> However, I will not answer it as-asked, but as-interesting. <S> At least in the USA educational system, there are criteria for selecting appropriate reading materials. <S> I refer not to intellectual, moral, or social content, but to readability. <S> The concept is that at any point in time, each student has a certain reading level, which can be measured. <S> Then, the student should be assigned reading materials at a slightly higher reading level, so that the level gradually increases as more and more difficult material is assigned. <S> There are several quantitative methods. <S> One of them, private copyrighted and trademarked, is known as "Lexile. <S> " There are others. <S> The inputs to the calculation vary with the method. <S> I believe that Lexile is proprietary, so its exact algorithm is not publicly known. <S> Other methods are publicly known. <S> One possible input to the calculation, among others, is the number of different words used in the book. <S> That may be scaled for whether the words are unusual in usage or unusually long. <S> However, this can be gamed. <S> Many famous novels are simply written, despite their profound content. <S> That was intentional. <S> They were written in an era when education was taken seriously at each grade level, but most folks did not graduate high school. <S> Thus, they are written so that someone at about the eighth grade level of reading (real grade 8, not "everyone passes") can read the book. <S> But then, such books would not be sufficiently "advanced" for typical native-English readers in grade nine! <S> Here's an example: Grapes of Wrath , by John Steinbeck. <S> Thus, some authors will intentionally include more words, unusual words, and longer words, in order to raise the reading level. <S> That helps their otherwise-obscure book score better for more advanced readers, even if the intellectual content is much lower. <S> Especially in fantastic fiction, there may be many characters with unique names (no wizard is ever named "John"), places, and even objects. <A> This is almost impossible to answer with any degree of accuracy as it depends on so many variables. <S> However, as a very rough and general guide the average novel length is about 80-100,000 words <S> of which about 5-10,000 words would be unique and differentiated. <A> Last year, I looked up average word counts for Historical Fiction (which is what I write), but I ended up taking notes for several other genres (though not all) out of curiosity. <S> Here they are: adult novels in general: 80,000-100,000 (this includes literary, crime, romance, ...) <S> sci-fi and fantasy: <S> 90,000-115,000 (though the limit 120,000 is often mentioned too) <S> historical: <S> mystery: 70,000-90,000 <S> (though Agatha Christie's average was 40,000-60,000) <S> romance: 50,000-100,000 <S> (so, from really short to general adult novel length) <S> YA: 55,000-80,000 (though 55,000-70,000 is often mentioned too) <S> At the time, I saw tens of pages until I came up with these averages, since some websites had conflicting numbers for some genres, but here are some of the first links to pop up after a similar google search: link 1 link 2 <S> link 3 link 4
| 90,000-110,000 (though the limit 120,000 is often mentioned too) : IT DEPENDS on a huge range of factors.
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Very simple markup language for writing fiction I'm using a plain text editor (Vim) to write a fiction piece (chapter book), and I'm wondering what markup languages others use for such a task? I'm looking for something exceedingly simple, it does not have to be powerful at all. Minimum requirements would be supporting basic styling like bold, italics, and underline; markup to indicate titled chapters, and scene splits within chapters; markup for footnotes/endnotes; and markup must be nestable. But most importantly, the markup should not get in the way of my writing. In other words, I don't want to spend 25% of my keystrokes writing markup, and it should be easily readable even with the markup exposed. For instance, I find REStructured Text to be ugly and difficult to read smoothly. My end goal is to "publish" to ePub and possibly latex. I'm currently using a very simple markup of my own devising, and a parser for it that generates both of those formats. However, it's a somewhat ugly markup (it uses curly braces which don't read smoothly) and my parser is rather clumsy, unable to handle things like paragraph breaks inside quotes. So I can either improve on my own markup and rewrite my parser, or I can use something that already exists if anybody has any suggestions. Update: I should have guessed that this would be the end result: I've spent the past week or so redefining my own markup and rewriting a parser for it and a number of output converters for it. Thanks for all the good answers ; I think you've pointed out the best markup languages that are available, but I'm finding that there just aren't any available that are well suited for writing novels, at least not for what I have in mind. If anyone is interested or potentially interested in using this, let me know; I will most likely be putting this on bitbucket in the next few weeks as a set of python scripts and scons tools. <Q> To then go from Markdown to a proper ebook format, you can use some automated tools to do the conversion for you. <S> Web Book Boilerplate <S> If you want to run locally with your edits, and view them in various formats, the Web Book Boilerplate GitHub project offers an easy way to do this: With the Web Book Boilerplate you have the perfect place to start writing your book! <S> It uses plain old markdown and generates a well structured HTML version of your written words. <S> Leanpub <S> If you are looking for an all-in-one service for formatting, generating ebooks and finally publishing and listing your ebooks, have a look at Leanpub : <S> Leanpub manuscripts are written in a very simple plain text format called Markdown. <S> You can generate PDF, EPUB and MOBI versions of your books from your manuscripts in one click. <S> Since Leanpub provides a storefront for you, you can also sell them in one click. <A> Markdown is good for fiction. <S> It's a small, simple language and easy to type. <S> It's very similar to the markup language used here on Stack Exchange. <S> If want to do something tricky that markdown doesn't support, you can drop into HTML. <S> Those situations are rare in fiction. <S> There are vim plugins to highlight markdown syntax. <S> (I use MacVim which has markdown syntax highlighting built in.) <A> I think you want MultiMarkdown . <S> It has built-in support for <S> ** <S> bold <S> ** , _italics_ , and footnotes ( <S> footnote syntax: [^footnote] ). <S> It's similarly easy to specify headers with # , and it can publish directly to <S> LaTeX. Best of all, it's extremely easy to incorporate without getting distracted. <S> I write MultiMarkdown blog posts full of footnotes and links from my iPhone; I've even composed whole MMD tables on the Metro for my RPG projects. <S> MultiMarkdown is especially great if you're a Mac user; there's tons of great software to support it like Marked to preview your output; Scrivener to organize larger projects; and Sublime Text 2 + Markdown Editing for Sublime Text 2 . <S> None of that is really necessary, though: A plaintext editor and the command line can do everything, if you roll that way. <S> It doesn't support underlines, unfortunately. <S> I've yet to find a simple markup language that does. <A> I have tried to write in XML and latex but neither seems very stream lined for fiction. <S> A lot of people have said markdown <S> but I think wiki creole is better. <S> It is really simple and efficient and it is trying to be a standard markup language for use by all wikis <S> so maybe it will become widely adopted which would make it a good thing to write in. <A> I'm quite late to this question, but was searching for exactly the same thing. <S> I discovered PML . <S> Unfortunately it's still under development and only have a windows client. <S> But the syntax and structure is exactly what I was looking for in a markup language. <S> I'm tempted to write my own parser/renderer for linux/macos, since the language looks promising to me. <S> Background <S> I use Vim. <S> I wanted a structured markup language that isn't too verbose (xml, html) and didn't have strange markup edge cases like reStrcturedText or Markdown <S> (the need to do weird escapes and workarounds for some edge cases). <A> As mentioned above, I ended up developing my own tools and markup language to suit my needs. <S> As requested by @corvec, I'm posting a new answer with a link to the project: https://bitbucket.org/bmearns/tome . <S> It's an open source project released under GNU AGPLv3, so if anyone would like to contribute, please feel free to contact me on bitbucket. <A> Why do you need to mark it up at all whilst you're writing it? <S> To save time later? <S> This is false economy. <S> You should focus all your efforts on your writing, proof reading, editing etc. <S> Then when you've finished doing all of that, export your data/writing into a program to mark it up. <S> Mark up should happen right at the end, not whilst you're writing. <S> Focus on one thing at a time. <A> Just because markup preferences are personal, I will mention the markup system I developed for writing my last non-fiction book. <S> It is called SAM (Semantic Authoring Markdown). <S> It is a general purpose language, like XML, but with lightweight syntax, like Markdown. <S> This means that while it has standard markup for the common stuff like paragraphs, bold, italic, lists, etc, you can also make up your own tags. <S> You can also validate it using an XML schema. <S> It uses indents for structure (like Python) <S> so if you like indents you may like it, but if you don't like indents you probably won't like SAM. <S> It outputs to XML or HTML (with semantic tagging) and you can process the XML output to produce whatever final format you want. <S> The project is available on GitHub here: https://github.com/mbakeranalecta/sam
| Markdown is almost certainly the way to go for simple formatting.
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How to number the equations in an academic paper? I know that the figures and tables are numbered consecutively throughout thewhile paper. What about the equation numbering? Suppose I have four equations in the paper, but I want to number only two of them. Is it appropriate to do it? Any advise is very welcome. <Q> I believe the standard is to only number equations that are referenced in the text. <S> On the other hand there is no real harm in numbering all of the equations especially when you have so few of them. <A> Consider looking at a similar question here: <S> https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/29267/which-equations-should-be-numbered <S> In general, for technical subjects, number all equations even though you may not have referenced them in the text. <S> It is almost always recommended that you do so, so that other people can refer to it easily and also so that any queries that are asked regarding it, can be directly done. <S> For example, if you have two unnumbered equations and your reader has a question regarding one of them, there is no way for them to do so <S> (they would have to be ambiguous... <S> that equation that appears after this paragraph , which is something most of us would not like to do (and not preferable in an academic setting). <S> So, in general, go ahead and number all of them. <A> It is then optional to number equations to which there is no reference. <A> What purpose is served by an equation to which you do not refer in the text? <S> Is it an illustration? <S> If the equation does not need a number, does the reader need to see it? <S> I would number them all. <A> When you write a paper, you normally want to show the derivation of your mathematical results. <S> Every step should be numbered. <S> Then it is up to you to mention them or not in the text. <S> LaTeX ( TeX Stack Exhange ) does the numbering automatically for you!
| The general rule that I often use is to number all equations that will be referred to in the text.
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Writing exercises to practice the art of giving unique voice to characters? I've read many blogs which teach you how to give a unique voice to each of your characters. I feel I understand how to do it, but I think I'm a little stuck in the voice I've been using since I started writing. I was wondering if there are some writing exercises to help me in this area? (The only thing that comes to mind is to write a dialogue using people I know. But I'm not sure how effective that will be.) <Q> I think that the easiest way to write engaging and organic dialogue is to know your character inside and out. <S> This way, you will find their inner voice--their way of speaking, thinking. <S> To know them is to let their unique voice ring true. <S> Write a monologue for your character, a plan to get them out of the situation, either triumphantly or tragically. <S> Etc. <S> , etc., for the rest of your characters. <S> Every character you can think of to write is merely an extension of yourself. <S> We are all multi-faceted. <S> Just dig in there and find that character in yourself. <S> Good luck. <A> I can think of a fairly easy exercise. <S> Write a dialogue for 3 or more characters without ever identifying the speakers beyond the early introduction. <S> Make sure the reader is able to tell them apart by their voices alone. <S> Give it to someone to read (I think even posting that here would be okay) to see if you succeeded. <A> One exercise would be to write a dialogue with characters from very different backgrounds. <S> e.g. A poor French teenager, an old rich English man and a small town Texan housewife stranded in a train station waiting room. <S> Besides their accents, try to capture expressions and attitudes appropriate for each character. <S> For example the Texan might be very polite and indirect, as she comes from a small town. <S> I guess I am saying think about how the character's age, sex, height, attractiveness, wealth, background, history and location could affect their way of speaking and how they would say it. <S> Vary each of these things and write something from that perspective. <S> Another exercise could be to write a diary from a character's point of view to go alongside your story. <S> The diary would be written directly in the character's voice - explaining what is happening in the story from their point of view and in their own language and voice. <S> A good example of these exercises is No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy, where monologue chapters keep re-occurring in the book. <S> These monologues are from Sheriff Bell, a Texan country sheriff getting near retirement. <S> Bell uses expressions that I have never heard before, but also makes you feel how old he is, his regrets and his fears through the character's focus on how things used to be and his own failings. <S> His voice is sad, tired, old, defeated. <A> In order to write good dialogue, you have to be able to hear it. <S> This takes a lot of listening, which of course you should be doing all the time. <S> But here's a way to practice listening, and then to develop it in stages into writing. <S> Pick out some movies or TV <S> shows you like, and watch them in some format (such as DVD) that you can control. <S> Pick an interesting character and listen to that character's speech over and over. <S> And here's the crucial step <S> : Work on imitating that character's style of talking. <S> Start by just repeating the character's actual dialogue. <S> Eventually throw in ad-lib dialogue in that character's style. <S> Do it repeatedly until you can do an impersonation of that character. <S> You want to be able to talk like that person, and if you can, then you know you are hearing that voice. <S> When you can hear a voice inside your head in that way, you can write in that unique voice. <S> So, once you have internalized a character's mode of speaking, sit down and write a short speech that you think that character might say to a friend about something going on in his or her life. <S> At this point, you can begin to think about what kind of word choices, phrasings, hesitations, sentence lengths, interjections, and so on, are used by that person. <S> These are all the verbal characteristics that make that person's voice unique. <S> Do this for enough characters, and you'll start to learn what it means to hear a character's voice inside your head, and you'll start to find yourself creating new voices to replace the one you felt stuck in. <S> And by the way, screenwriters often do something pretty much like this in order to get their dialogue the way they want it; basically they play the character by speaking the dialogue out loud to see if it works. <A> The exercise I use is to listen to a whole lot of other people talk: <S> friends, family, even strangers at Starbucks. <S> The best talk is when they tell stories, like what happened last night at the club. <S> If you are naturally good at mimicry and pastiche, that may be all you need, but there are two additional steps I take. <S> First, I pretend I'm taking dictation and try to write exactly what was said. <S> Just a sentence or two, I'm not a court reporter. <S> I also take notes on overall speech patterns when they are interesting or unusual. <S> I once overheard a conversation between two people where one of them spoke nothing but questions and the other kept digressing to answer: <S> Hanna was so weird last night after the wedding rehearsal ... <S> Jane's wedding ... <S> you know, my neighbor from where I lived before ... <S> no, god, not that dump, the house I shared with Tisha and John ... <S> no, he's still in rehab, ... <S> Second, I try writing some dialogue, or maybe a monologue, in a style of speech <S> I'd practiced in Step 1, after I have enough material to have some ability to imitate and predict. <S> Bottom line <S> , the more you listen to real people, the easier it becomes to give your characters different styles of speech.
| An exercise might be to compile a back history on your intended character and put them in a small "situation". Writing verbatim forces you to ignore your own voice and just be the pen, or more to the point, the ears.
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How do authors gain strong familiarity with archaic and extremely rare words? I keep thinking about this because I've lately been reading Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy, and it's just ridiculous. I have to look up 1-2 words per sentence sometimes, something I'm only used to doing for Joyce. Apparently McCarthy is well known for doing this sort of thing. The book was written in the mid-1980s -- it's modern. But the terms used therein belong to another time, and are mostly unknown to modern English. How do authors pick up such a broad vocabulary of words that they can effectively disguise themselves as a hundred years older than they are? These words can't be used in day-to-day speech; nobody would understand you. If you can't use them, how do you remember them? Examples from Blood Meridian : rebozo, shellalegh, hackamore, osnaburg, bungstarter, weskit, jacal, farrier, escopeta, caesura. Not a single one of these words have I ever heard reference to anywhere else in my entire tour of existence. <Q> Read a lot of archaic and extremely rare books, take notes, and make a point of using your list as a thesaurus. <S> Practice using your list by writing paragraphs or stories as exercises just to get used to where the words fit. <A> The best way to expand your vocabulary is to read a lot of books with unfamiliar words in them, experiencing them in context. <S> However, there are ways to make this easier: Seeking out relatively modern authors who have a reputation for using their rich vocabularies well in-context will make these words' meanings at least somewhat plain. <S> (Gene Wolfe is my favorite writer along these lines.) <S> Reading these books on an e-reader will help, where looking up a word isn't much more complicated than tapping it on the screen. <S> Read annotated versions of older books. <S> These will have explanations of concepts and words unfamiliar to a modern audience. <S> Lastly, you can move outside of reading books and go to reference sources directly: <S> Browsing dictionaries and thesauri can be a heady if addictive pastime. <S> I don't recommend this to any but the most ardent reference junkies. <S> (Ahem.) <S> There are books about compiling reference books that may be more digestible. <S> For example, Reading the OED is a reader's journal of reading the entire Oxford English Dictionary. <S> Word-a-day calendars can be fun. <S> Similarly, the Dictionary.com and the Merriam-Webster Twitter feeds perform similar functions. <A> It may have been written in the mid 1980's but the setting is the in the mid 1800's - you really should expect some archaic, unusual and unfamiliar words in any book set in that timeframe. <S> Particularly so if the dialogue is intended to accurately reflect that of colloquial speech of the time. <S> Your primary question can be answered in one word: research. <S> Any book set in a historical context and intended to accurately reflect speech of that timeframe will use archaic and unfamiliar words to modern English. <S> It's deliberate. <A> I've just written a story of around 7000 words that I set in 1611, in a monastery, so wanted to use the old English terms of the day, like 'ye, thou, thee, etc. <S> 'Gaining familiarity with these terms was only done by looking at lots of information about it, and repeating the phrases like 'Where art thou" to make it more familiar to myself, and therefore correct, for this story. <A> I agree that the best way to improve your vocabulary is to read widely. <S> But I also like subscribing to the OED Word of the Day email service. <S> I save the off-beat words in a list, like kimet (foolish or stupid), psithurisma (whispering, whispering noise), psychopomp (guide to the underworld), nemophilist (person fond of woods or forests), melliferous (yielding or producing honey), preterhuman (outside the bounds of what is human), and timeous (prompt).
| Reading older books with unfamiliar words will give you a larger number of new words to learn, but more words to look up.
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Suggest any good text editor for Mac for writing in multiple languages I have been using iBook author , for a time and the simple Mac TextEdit along with openOffice TextDocument . And I recently downloaded Evernote in expectation of more (but that's something else and not writer specific). I also have been looking in an appstore for the same. I want some suggestion on good text editor that I can use for writing in multiple languages (specially English, Hindi, Arabic, and Urdu). Other language support would be great. <Q> I've been writing on the Mac for a number of years now. <S> Over that time, I've settled into using Scrivener for project organization, version control, and major publishing; and Sublime Text 2 + Markdown Editing for Sublime Text 2 for most of the actual writing. <S> (I mostly blog at Wordpress, and this workflow lets me quickly build reasonably complex blog posts). <S> See this introductory video for a good overview. <S> At its core, Scrivener lets you break up big projects into small chunks, organize them in whatever way suits you, and then get writing. <S> It's also got powerful version control <S> (I recommend using the Snapshots feature liberally), an attractive full-screen writing mode, and excellent publishing support (output to .doc, .pdf, ebook formats, .txt, MultiMarkdown, and god knows what else). <S> My favorite feature is that Scrivener allows you to bring your research materials directly into the project file, for easy access later. <S> Very useful for term papers. <S> It uses the standard Mac text-handling engine. <S> If OS X supports the languages you mention, I think Scrivener should too. <S> If in doubt, try the free demo. <S> The learning curve can be somewhat steep. <S> It's worth it, however, if you're managing a large writing project with a complex structure or one with lots of background information. <S> If you don't intend to do too much writing, or only write simple projects, you might be better off sticking with Word, Pages, or even just TextEdit at the start. <S> The tool is just that, a tool. <S> If it's getting in the way of your writing, then go back to a simpler tool. <A> You might try Scrivener . <S> I can't find anything in the documentation about those languages specifically, but it doesn't rule them out either. <S> Free to try for a month, so you've got nothing to lose. <A> So simple, so beautiful. <S> And with iCloud support you can use iDevices to continue your work where you left off. <A> Emacs is on the Mac. <S> Just type "emacs" at the terminal. <S> http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/emacs/International.html#International <S> It also comes with a project planner called org-mode (which also includes its own complete publishing system), artist-mode for ASCII art, dired file manager and a shell <S> so you never have to leave Emacs ever, <S> a browser, the French Revolutionary metric calendar, and a built-in psychotherapist. <A> You could try out Mellel: http://www.mellel.com/ <S> Apparently it's good at RTL languages which you mentioned you will be using (Arabic, Urdu) <S> and it's cheaper than MS Word etc. <S> That having been said, I use Scrivener, as various others have mentioned; but I haven't had much experience with multi-lingual documents.
| I use Marked for the publishing right now Unless you're technically-inclined, I'd recommend just using Scrivener. Give a try to IA Writer too. Emacs supports Unicode and bidirectional text (Arabic), etc.
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Software for collaborative writing for a small team I'm working on a writing project with a friend, and we're looking for some kind of (preferably cloud-based) project management and version control software so each of us can see how far the other has gotten on tasks and can review each others' documents. Does anything like that exist? I would prefer free, but will pay for software that meets my needs exactly (I've got a free solution I don't like at the moment). Edit: To be clearer, I'm looking for something where I can, say, assign a task to myself or my partner, set a due date, and keep tabs on the progress, with files being uploaded into the system upon completion of the task, to be kept in version control so if we make an edit we don't like we can roll back. We're doing a lot of world documentation, character references, and other non-chapter files we'll be working with frequently. <Q> I use git for version control, and it's terrific for writing projects. <S> We wrote plain text files in markdown format. <S> GitHub also has an Issues tracker that can easily be used to assign, accept, and track individual tasks. <S> My friend and I didn't need that to collaborate, but I've used it for some of my open source software projects, and it can easily adapt to a writing project. <S> There is a small fee to use GitHub for private projects. <S> BitBucket, for example, offers a free account with private projects and support for git and mercurial. <S> I don't know whether they have a built-in issues tracker. <S> You could always use a hosting site for versioning and sharing, and something like PivotalTracker for managing the work. <A> If you are programmers, then why not use the same tools you use in your day job? <S> Trello may meet your needs. <A> You may try a google drive shared folder, which can contain both text, which you can co-edit, even simultaneously, and other genre files. <S> And for tasks you can use a spreadsheet with the discussion system... <A> Check out booktype . <S> You can read the review on forbes.com . <S> Booktype, according to the article, is an open source software designed for the purpose of collaborative book writing with features like native formatting, social capabilities (you can interact with other collaborators including chat for real time conversation) and other cool features. <S> Even though this is not as mature as version control systems used in software development, I think this is very promising. <A> For me, as somebody said already, simple text files with markup languages (AKA Latex) with Github or Bitbucket is the best option not only because it will allow you to share your work with the people you need (editors and co-authors) but also because it will help you to safely backup your files and control every change. <S> Btw, both - Github and Bitbucket - are free for personal using. <S> The second one allows private repositories <A> If you don't mind minimal manual labor, use DropBox. <S> It's free, very user friendly, and you can use spreadsheets or just make new folders for version control. <S> We do the same thing for collaborative story telling with 4 users across 3 countries and haven't had any issues yet. <S> If more than one user edits the same document at the same time, it will even make separate copies <S> so there's no risk of overwrite. <A> Hackpad is nice. <S> CGScholar can be interesting to look at. <S> I bookmarked a few others as well, maybe worth checking out.
| I've used GitHub to share work in progress while collaborating with a friend. Perhaps there are other open source hosting sites that offer free private projects or lower fees, and support other version control systems.
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What structure should I use for each article in a technical travel guide? I am writing a technical guide for travelling and I'd like advice on what kind of structure I should use for each article. I have the articles written, but when I wrote them I didn't use a particular structure. Some articles offer information, some list ways of doing something, some speak from experience and others review equipment in a given context. The book's layout thus far is intro, pre-trip, and on-the-road, while topics covered are practical advice, communicating, dealing with problems, and equipment. <Q> <A> It's good to change up the structure for every few articles, so they don't bore the reader with all the same format. <S> Other than that, I think it would have to do quite a bit with your target audience. <A> I write technical instructions for software, and I've found that creating a "format" or "style" is an important step in the writing process. <S> What I would recommend here is that you have a specific style for the different content types. <S> You mentioned several content types: Practical Advice Communicating Dealing With Problems Equipment <S> I would start there <S> and I'd create a standard format and tone for each of these types of content, so all "Practical Advice" articles follow the same format and have the same tone. <S> This helps readers know what to expect and know what kind of information they expect to get, depending on the article type. <S> As was mentioned earlier, it is very important to do audience analysis to make sure you understand your audience. <S> If you are new to the idea, it can be helpful to create 'personas' for your different audience types. <S> You describe the characteristics of the person and you give them a name. <S> For example: Persona: Susan Susan is a single adult between the ages of 21 and 45. <S> She travels extensively, usually 2 to 3 times per year. <S> She loves outdoor activities and has hiked Machu Pichu and all the highest mountain peaks in the lower 48 states. <S> She has visited 60% of National Parks, but prefers state-side travel to international travel. <S> That is just a silly example, but it illustrates the idea. <S> Now as you are writing each section, you can think to yourself "What information would Susan be interested in? <S> How can I present it in a way that will be helpful for her?
| I have seen quite effective layouts where articles are thrown in with mixed “media” like recipes, lists, maps, things to do, drawings, opinions…
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What software do you use for writing and then structuring a book? I'm looking for good software for overseeing and rearranging the structure of a book. I have used Scrivener before, but found its exporting functionality frustrating and the software itself somewhat clunky. What are the alternatives? I have a load of articles I need to rearrange around a new structure, expand or edit, then ideally export directly to an ebook format - or if necessary to another piece of software where it's easy to construct an ebook. There may be new revisions of the book, so being able to edit in the original software then export is an advantage over formatting in separate software. <Q> I'm actually at the point now where I want to take hundreds of scrappy scenes and bits and pieces and try to give my novel some structure. <S> So the question you've asked is actually uppermost in my mind. <S> So I like Scrivener. <S> I use it for all my drafting. <S> But it doesn't quite cut it for the big-picture structure stuff, I'm finding. <S> When I tried to use Scrivener's 'corkboard' view, which lets you see all your little pieces of novel as pseudo-index cards on a pseudo corkboard, I found it impossible to manage because there were simply too many. <S> Maybe if I had several enormous monitors rather than a single 15" laptop, it would work better. <S> But it just didn't work for me. <S> What I'm finding works <S> much better is not software at all, but the very thing Scrivener is trying to emulate: a large corkboard and a big stack of small index cards. <S> I'm talking physical objects here - call me a Luddite. <S> Rearranging and grouping the scenes is easier and more satisfying because I can see everything at once. <S> If I run out of room I can just buy another corkboard - they're only about twenty bucks at Target. <S> Of course, there will be some additional work to apply what I come up with, structurally, onto my digital manuscript. <S> But I think it's worthwhile. <S> Convenience is overrated. <A> You found Scrivener clunky.... ::swoons:: ::recovers:: You might want to try Adobe InDesign, which will allow you to export directly to epub and PDF, at least. <S> Very easy to lay out, edit, and expand. <A> When the draft is done, I export it to Open Office , where you can use writer2epub to export. <S> Then Sigil for some final touches. <S> Have fun. <A> My books I've simply used MS Word with style sheets. <S> Write to PDF. <S> Sure, sometimes you have to do some klunky fine-tuning. <S> The only real issue I found with MS Word was keeping a consistent bottom margin, i.e. it's common for a page to come out a line or two shorter than others. <S> I know some people consider it very important to have a perfectly consistent bottom margin. <S> (Other than at the end of a chapter and a few such cases.) <S> Personally I just accepted the problem in most cases. <S> For my Kindle book, I dumped it to a text file and used Eclipse programmer's editor to clean it up. <S> Next time I'll probably use Notepad++. <S> But then, I'm a hammer and screwdriver kind of guy versus specialized power tools.
| For the first draft, I find Google Drive to be the best: I can access and edit my text from my Mac, iPad, and even iPhone.
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What work better for the following piece of writing? Past or present tense? I'm writing a short story but I'm not sure whether to write it in the past or the present tense. This is the opening paragraph: Sophia was awakened by the rattling sound of her washing machine. She groaned, rubbed her eyes, and glanced at her watch. It was just 2:00A.M. Barely conscious, she sat on the corner of her bed. It took her a moment to realize that she wasn't washing her clothes. That'd been something she'd decided to do in the morning. Besides, she would never think of doing the laundry at this time of the night. Sophia started to feel a sudden panic. Maybe someone entered the apartment, she thought. But it was ridiculous; who would enter someone's apartment in the middle of the night to wash the person's clothes? She stood up from the bed and walked towards her door. Then, she stared at the knob for a moment, gave it a turn, and exited the door. Sophia is waken up by the rattling sound of her washing machine. She groans, rubs her eyes, and glances at her watch. 2:00A.M. Barely conscious, she sits on the corner of her bed. It takes her a moment to realize that she isn't washing her clothes. That was something she'd decided to do in the morning. Besides, she would never think of doing the laundry at this time of the night. Sophia starts to feel a sudden panic. Maybe someone entered the apartment , she thinks. But it's ridiculous; who would enter someone's apartment in the middle of the night to wash the person's clothes? She stands up from the bed and walks towards her door. Then, she stares at the knob for a moment, gives it a turn, and exits the door. I've been rewriting my stories in the present tense recently, but I can never decide which one to use. What works better in this case? (And how do writers decide which one to use?) (By the way, does it grab your attention?) <Q> The second one is stronger but that will wear off as soon as the tension loosens its grip. <S> It's the default mode. <S> If that's a short story, you can keep it in present tense. <S> If you want a novel with slower passages, better either pick past tense or work on smooth switching of tenses - the point of switch, to be smooth, needs some special attention. <S> Writing whole novel in present tense? <S> I'd give it a pass. <A> I agree with SF. <S> Let me add: <S> It is conventional in English to write or tell stories in the past tense. <S> Anything else is unusual. <S> Any time you do something unusual, if you do it well and use it appropriately, it grabs the readers attention. <S> In this case, it gives a sense of immediacy. <S> But if overused, it becomes distracting and/or comes across as a cheap gimmick. <S> I've read lots of stories where the author tries to use some clever little gimmick like this to liven up a story. <S> Sometimes it works, but usually it doesn't. <S> In general, I think you should try to make a story interesting by having an interesting story, not by introducing a gimmick. <S> What is the difference between skillful use of language and a cheap gimmick? <S> If I could give a simple answer to that, I'd probably be a lot richer and more famous than I am. <S> I haven't seen the rest of your story, so maybe it works in this case. <S> But my advice would be: don't. <S> Or at least, be slow to do this. <S> Stick with the conventional past tense. <S> Because once you write one paragraph in the present tense, you're pretty much forced to write the entire story in present tense or there will be jarring breaks when you shift tenses. <S> You paint yourself into a corner where you have to beat the gimmick to death. <S> Some gimmicks are easy to slide in and out. <S> Like, you can write one paragraph where all the sentences are two words long to give some effect, and then shift to more normal sentences in the next paragraph. <S> It's tougher to do this with past vs present tense. <S> and it wouldn't become annoying, <S> but I doubt it. <S> Maybe you could find a way to make a smooth transition. <A> I'd say the past tense, the first entry would be the better one, because even a few minutes after the event, just after Sophia's woken up, is already in the past.
| Generally, past tense is easier to read, feels more natural for smooth storytelling. Maybe you could write the whole story in present tense
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How to write to a famous author? I once knew a famous author, but for complex reasons I lost the privilege of his acquaintance. In trying to begin a writing career concerned with many of the same subjects as his work, it occurs to me that he might not be the only person of his ilk that I could ever hope to meet, and that what I'm after is simply some personal acquaintance, some counsel, some support. How can I write to a big-name essayist or poet whose subjects I have something serious to say about? Any tips? And first and foremost, how do I find out where to send my letter? Is it best to just send it to the publisher asking them to forward it, or best to track down the individual's mailing address? <Q> My personal opinion? <S> Don't write. <S> They'll never be able to tell you're not some hack just from the letter, and they will not bother to check by replying. <S> Talk face to face. <S> Answer their questions. <S> Build a personal relationship. <S> And primarily, value the person for who that specific person is, not for being a celebrity. <S> You won't get far by picking one "because she's famous". <A> There are many good and great writers in the world to learn from. <S> You need not track down Faulkner. <S> It is most likely a quest that will result in much wasted time and little gain. <S> Many very great writers are easily accessible in their posts as college professors, where they have offices on campus you can find without any special effort, and get a chance to speak with them. <S> Do not walk in and ask to be their mentee. <S> It won't work. <S> Like a raindrop addressing a storm, you will be dropped and forgotten among many others. <S> If you can get into a good conversation with them, however, one where they're not looking at their watch and waiting for you to leave but are actually engaged and interested, you may be able to convince them to take a look at something you've written and give feedback. <S> If it works out, try to keep in touch. <S> Continue asking for feedback as you write. <S> Do not become an annoyance. <S> People are very, very busy. <S> The more well-known they are, the busier. <S> College professors especially barely have time to grade their class essays, let alone take on extra work. <S> Respect that fact. <A> As a teenager I once wrote a letter to my then favourite author. <S> That was before email and internet, so it was written on paper and travelled across the atlantic by ship. <S> A month or two later I received a friendly and lengthy reply to my many questions about that author's work and life. <S> I would guess that just as I am overwhelmed by spam email today, that author might no longer find the time and will to reply to most fan mail. <S> Some of my favourite authors today have websites, and in their FAQ they explain why they can no longer reply to email and that all inquiries should go to their agents. <S> The basic problem of your idea to write one of your favourite authors is that at least ten other fans will have the same idea each day. <S> Most authors spell it out to their fans: If they would reply to even a small part of the fan mail they receive, they would no longer find the time to write new books. <S> Those authors that even still read all those emails will usually answer the most common questions on their websites and blogs. <S> And in fact writer's blogs offer almost all the information and more that you could have received in a personal email. <S> So make Google your friend and find what is already out there. <S> It's a lot!
| Meet them in person at some book-signing or a conference or wherever they meet the public.
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Tracing dependencies and emergent plotholes during edits The fiction I write currently hit a major snag and needs a big overhaul of a major part of the story. A whole, large thread is being injected, a second conflict running in parallel with the main one and nearly as big - maybe smaller scale-wise but possibly even more complex. Thing is I have a big part of the story according to the old, single-threaded paradigm is already written. Most of it will be reused in almost unchanged shape content-wise, but will require serious edits on the "details" level. ...and with my experience from programming, adding a second, distinct functionality to a pre-existing module with one existing functionality creates much, much more bugs than writing this from scratch separately. I'm afraid my old story will be full of plot holes, pieces that depend on past that's been changed, on time-space relationships that are no longer valid, on knowledge that due to certain events became available or got lost in the changed version. For example: when before there was just the dark clouds on the horizon, there comes a whole new layer of plot and subterfuge, opponents at hand, observing the protagonists from the shadows. They will not hesitate to strike at any open vulnerabilities. Suddenly all (common) scenes where the protagonist just didn't care about immediate danger (because there was none) need to either excuse the opponents from striking at the exposed character, or provide some defense, or just turn into battles. Any moments where I leave the protagonist just exposed, and nothing bad happens, as he is most of the time now, become plot holes. So, are there any trusted techniques to trace such dependencies, and hunt all plot holes depending on changes of the story? Trace locations, knowledge, items to make them end up where they are? Like, in the old "Wolf, goat and cabbage" riddle, introduce a chicken and a sack of grain, and still reuse most of the old solution? <Q> I'd use a spreadsheet as a wireframe. <S> If you don't have such notes already, you may have to examine your story a section at a time, and make notes about each part detailing what's going on with Plot A. <S> Then use the spreadsheet to make notes about weaving in Plot B. <S> The advantage of the spreadsheet is that everything is modular, visible almost all at once, and very easy to move around. <S> It may be necessary to go over your book several times to fill in all the spreadsheet gaps, particularly once you actually start writing and you find threads which suddenly dangle, but using a verbal wireframe will make it much simpler to see where all the variables are. <S> Then find a really good editor and explain what you've done, so the editor knows to look for plot holes. <A> The best thing is to get someone else to read through what you have. <S> I find it difficult to look past the changes, because I know what was "supposed" to happen before the change. <S> Someone who is unfamiliar with your story will be better situated to go through it without preconceptions. <S> There's something to be said for doing this yourself. <S> It's amazing <S> how well just saying to yourself, "I haven't read this before, I have no idea what's going to happen," works. <S> I am also a big fan of drawing out a timeline of events. <S> Where was Bob when X was going on? <S> Why didn't Alice show up at Y? <S> Could Charlie have realistically gotten from here to there in the amount of time he had to travel? <S> Putting every event on your timeline will help you keep your characters, your events, and your plot on the straight and narrow. <S> As much as the IT folks like to scream, "Security through obscurity is no security at all," sometimes people don't exploit a weakness because they don't see it. <S> So your main character is standing exposed and no one takes a swing at him. <S> So what? <S> Sometimes the bad guys just don't notice . <S> If it helps, you can seal up your plot hole by pointing it out. <S> "Daniel stood in the field of battle, blinded by sweat and exhausted by the effort of simply standing. <S> Had anyone chosen to attack at that moment, he couldn't have fended them off with more than a stern expression. <S> Luckily, though the battle still raged, no one approached and the moment passed..." <A> I find mind mapping programs like Freemind or Freeplane to be especially helpful with sorting out continuity and plot devices. <S> Nodes can be formatted with different fonts, borders, colors, etc. <S> to visually separate different components of the story.
| Finally, I wouldn't necessarily worry about filling in every single perceived plot hole you find.
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What's the best version control system for a book writer? I'm a writer—no programming, only prose in text files, mostly in Emacs org-mode, some in markdown-mode. I want to implement a version control system for my writing projects. I work with two types of text files: drafts (textfile-v1.org, textfile-v2.org, etc) research files (research-notes.org) The latter, the research files, consist of hunks of text I have copy and pasted from the web. My workflow for the research files involves going through those files and deleting as I go. In other words, when I find a quote, I might copy it into a draft file, then delete the quote. This is my way of knowing what I have already processed or not. So that by the time my research file is blank, I know I'm done. When the research file is blank, I delete it so I know I'm done. For both these uses—writing multiple drafts, and destroying research files as I go—it strikes me that having a version control system would be helpful. I am NOT doing different branches as I go—just going forward as I make progress writing my book. I'm using Aquamacs Emacs on OSX. Which version control system would you recommend, and how would I go about integrating it with my Emacs workflow? <Q> There are a large number of version control systems out there, but I think that Git might be the best choice for you for a number of reasons. <S> The biggest reason is that everything is in a single folder, you don't have to check things out to work on them or rebuild anything. <S> You can just keep a full live copy on a pendrive and it just works. <S> You also don't need to set up servers or magic paths. <S> In addition, you don't have to check anything out, you just commit it when you're done. <S> You can also keep an offsite repository with very little work so you have that extra layer of protection. <S> Another upshot of git is you can just backup the whole thing by just copying the root folder. <S> Everything is copied over and will work just fine at it's new location. <S> I can't speak of how to integrate it into Emacs, but I suspect that part of the question can easy be answered at one of the other SE sites. <A> As a coder and blogger I am using Git for version control. <S> Actually my whole blog is run on it and I can recommend it a lot. <S> As you are on Mac and do handle text files mostly, I'd recommend using the great github mac UI ( http://mac.github.com ) <S> it makes it really easy to use <S> and you don't even need any github account - using this as a free backup and sharing tool is highly recommend as well. <A> This way you don’t have to keep duplicating and renaming your files. <S> Drawers in App Store <A> I have recently started writing with LaTeX in a version controlled git directory. <S> This has the advantage of using an algorithm to track changes in a paragraph independent of line breaks, where for example only a single word changes, whereas git-diff would show the entire line/paragraph as having changed. <S> I also use the LaTeX package gitinfo to embed git metadata into working documents. <S> The hook requires manual configuration, but once you're up and running, it's nice to quickly verify the commit corresponding to the PDF you sent to someone for review, for example. <S> So, in total, the workflow consists of: Git version control LaTeX document preparation system <S> latexdiff package <S> gitinfo package <S> And I love it! <S> It does everything <S> I want it to do and the output is beautiful. <S> In the course of preparing a manuscript for submission to an academic journal, it may undergo all sorts of rearrangements, edits, expansions and contractions depending on the requirements of the journal. <S> LaTeX is ideal for dealing with these sorts or rearrangements, especially when splitting the document into subdocuments by section (abstract.tex, results.tex, etc.). <S> I tend to create a new branch for each journal submission. <S> A document based on "my-dissertation-chapter" might have a new branch called "science" in which we reformat our article for Science magazine. <S> After it was rejected, we created a new branch called "nature" to submit it to Nature instead, complete with the appropriate changes to the bibliography style, etc. <S> This way, no informations gets lost. <S> You can always go back to a commit/snapshot to recover whatever you might need. <S> That beautiful paragraph you wrote but then deleted for space can be added back again when you resubmit to another journal with a more relaxed word count, etc. <S> The only issue is the learning curve for LaTeX and git to make all the parts work in concert. <S> I'm not a developer. <S> I don't even use vim . <S> I prefer to use the TeXShop <S> IDE provided in the MacTeX distribution of LaTeX to write and prepare my documents.
| If you are using mac, you can try Drawers, which is specially designed for writers, use it to manage versions and copies of works. I use latexdiff to track changes between commits.
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How to have a character be nameless for the first few paragraphs of a book? Let me first explain what is going in in the beginning of the story: My main character belongs to a tribal culture that requires their children pass a rite of passage to earn their name. So I'm kind of stuck on how to refer to the character while he is on his trial. (The story would start up right in the thick of battle as he is taking the test, which is done by going out into the jungle and stalking and killing some form of food that would feed the tribe.) Then a bit later I had planned to have my second character make her appearance, interrupting his trial so he technically never gets his name. However, she gives him one by making her nickname for him his name for the rest of the story. But up until that point I am not sure how to reference him if I am doing it from his perspective. <Q> You have a few things going on here: 1) <S> If the story is first-person, your problem is solved. <S> We rarely address ourselves by our given names in internal monologues. <S> 2) <S> If your story is in third person, then you have a cultural issue. <S> The children may not get official Names (Starfall, Willow, Runs With Scissors) until they do something to earn it. <S> But you still have to address someone before that age, since they have to have some level of competence to hunt and kill food. <S> A mother with three kids under the age of trial is not going to introduce them as Hey <S> You, Thing 1, and Pain <S> In My Butt <S> (even if that's how she thinks of them). <S> It could be a cutesy use-name, which is why a warrior of either gender would reject it(Starlight, Birdsong, Crushed Peony Booger). <S> It could be a mocking name (Screech, Sewage, Mr. Hankey the ChristmasPoo) because the tribe thinks the gods will steal children who havefine names, so they give them ugly names until they are old enough todefend themselves against the gods. <S> It could be a literal placeholder (Third Daughter of Two Blades). <S> 3) Cultural issues aside, if this is a short story and you really mean five or six paragraphs, using "the warrior" or "the boy on trial" is fine. <A> But: How do you suppose that the people in this culture refer to those who don't yet have names? <S> If you're in the person's presence, you could point and say "him", but what if you're not? <S> The fact that you are struggling with this for your narrative may indicate that you have created a society which, to this extent, is unbelievable. <S> I think this is a common trap for people writing fantasy and science fiction. <S> It's easy to write, <S> "The people in this society all walk on their hands." <S> But really, it's so wildly impractical, how long would such a thing last? <S> Surely sooner or later someone would say, "Hey, it's so much easier to walk on your feet!" <S> and no matter how much the authorities fought it, the advantages would be too obvious. <S> At the least you have to explain away the obvious problems. <S> Perhaps in this culture unnamed people really do have names, they just don't consider them "real names". <S> The name he's given as a child isn't considered a name, it's just something you call him by until he earns a real name. <S> Depending on what you're trying to do in the story, it might work to say, "He was called Flinghar, but that wasn't his name. <S> He hadn't yet earned a name. <S> He hoped to earn a name in the Trial at the next solstice ..." <S> Or maybe they're referred to by some description, like "Hamgar's Second Son" or "Boy of the Third New Moon" or some such. <S> If the society is highly ritualized, I'd think there'd be a formula to such things. <S> You wouldn't just use a random nickname. <A> What about something both direct and indirect, like "theUnnamed", "nameless" or "namelesstwo"... <S> That way we (as readers) could figure out who it is, but still keep within the rules of the story's universe.
| Depending on what happens in your opening scenes, you may be able to refer to him as "the boy" or "the unnamed person" or some such. So I think you need a culturally embarrassing placeholder address which is clearly not a name, which the nickname will then supplant.
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How can I express this fragment more clearly and concisely? For the 'who is this application for' section of an application user guide, I have the following alternatives, I'm not happy with either one. How can I convey both elements more clearly and consisely? What I want to convey: The business functions related to the specific metric ==> who in the sense of who might have to deal with the issue Why they would care ==> The specific issue the the application is meant to resolve Current: The intended audience is anyone tasked to ensure the accuracy of [analytic metric] generated by the their implementation of the [Specific Analytic Software] Platform, whether for [business function A], [business function B], [business function C], or [business function D]. Proposed: The intended audience includes personnel tasked with ensuring the accuracy of [analytic metric] sourced from the [Specific Analytic Software] Platform. This information could be included within any of the following: [business function A], [business function B], [business function C], or [business function D]. Update Based on your proposed solutions, here is my current, much improved take: This application is for anyone in [business function A], [business function B], [business function C], or [business function D] who compiles [analytic metric] using (ESP). It is designed to help you ensure the accuracy of the [analytic metric] by connecting to ESP to generate and collect, in just a few minutes, related analytic and underlying data that would otherwise take hours to compile. The compiled information is then organised and presented in a way that makes troubleshooting and documenting specific [analytic metric] values easier. Comments? <Q> Try something like this: <S> This application is for users of (ESP) who need to understand its results quickly and easily. <S> (Product) takes the metrics compiled by (ESP) and presents them in a way that makes troubleshooting and documentation easier. <S> (Product) produces reports for (business function A), (business function B), ... . <S> Rationale: <S> First, explain how it fits in with the context they already know. <S> Then tell them how your product fits into that world; they (presumably) know the pain of dealing with (ESP), but they've never heard of you. <S> Focus on what your product does for them , rather than who they are ; if you say, for example, that a product is for users of type X, then users of type Y who also need to do that thing may not realize you can help them. <S> But everybody has some idea of the problem he's trying to solve. <S> (Well, usually. <S> We hope. :-) ) <S> Depending on your house style, you might want to list the business functions your product addresses in a bulleted list instead of in running text like above. <S> This helps people who are skimming. <S> Think about the last set of product specs you read (online, on a physical package, or whatever) <S> ; it was probably a list, wasn't it? <S> It was designed to make you quickly realize "I need this"; so too is this section of your document. <A> As I understood, some unfortunate code monkey gets tasked with debugging a huge enterprise software product using your tool as aid in understanding what happens under the hood of that ESP. <S> That would mean the actual intended audience is the overlords of that code monkey. <S> Putting it in more PC terms, the intended audience is the businesses which perform functions [A,B,C,D] and the actual use/purpose is ensuring the accuracy. <S> The fact this purpose is achieved by harnessing said monkey to your tool and letting them loose on the ESP, is out of focus of the the business-side, an insignificant detail left for the technical crew which won't be interested in that section of the document anyway. <A> No matter if it is for [business function A], [business function B], [business function C], or [business function D]. <S> Your examples are exactly in that formal tone that makes me fall asleep. <S> Some guides are forced to be written in that tone, because of bosses who have no single clue about user guides (or especially users). <S> I hope you do not have to suffer one of these. <S> I wouldn't use adjectives (or derived adverbs) like "quick" and "easy". <S> Always I read stuff like this <S> I think automatically "Oh, what a splendid idea. <S> I always try to make my programs slow and hard to comprehend". <S> (Add sarcasm tags at will.)
| [The application] is designed with [business function A], [business function B], [business function C], and [business function D] in mind, with the specific purpose of ensuring accuracy of [analytic metric] generated by your implementation of the [Specific Analytic Software]. For everyone who wants to control the accuracy of [analytic metric] of their [Specific Analytic Software] Platform implementation.
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Punctuation and capitalisation in poetry I'm writing a poem entirely without commas, periods, colons, dashes, emdashes, etc. However, near the end of the poem I name a city and I want to capitalise it. On one hand, I think it would be jarring to read the name of a city without capitalisation. On the other, though, it might jar to see an appropriately capitalised proper name in a poem entirely without punctuation. The question, then, is: if one eschews punctuation altogether, then should one also eschew capitalisation, in order to be consistent? Or is capitalisation a separate beast from punctuation marks? (As it happens, my poem is a response to this poem , also written without any punctuation. In this poem, there is a street mentioned that is not capitalised. This does not jar (to my reading, at least), but the lack of capitalisation does actually let the street name fade from view somewhat, which I think is a part of the author's intent. In my case, I don't wish the city to fade from view (nor do I want it to shout).) <Q> In modern poetry, anything goes. <S> The only rule I would adhere to is the effect of the end result: whatever suits your intended purpose best is the right choice. <S> In other words, if you want the city to be instantly recognizable as a proper name, then by all means do capitalize. <A> You can eschew just punctuation, just capitalization, both, split the difference per stanza or per line, whatever works to convey your meaning. <S> If you've removed the capitals everywhere because it means something (the setting of the poem is supposed to be a monotone), and a capital letter signifies something else (a bright loud spark), then consider what capitalizing the city name will signify (this city is a bright loud spark!). <A> I agree with the other comments. <S> The beauty in poetry is its subjectivity. <S> If I were reading a poem without punctuation, yet the poet took the time to capitalize the city, I would take special note of that city. <S> If your goal is not to force the city to stand out, then forego the capitalization.
| If you're writing a poem, you are allowed to throw pretty much all the rules out the window. If it's significant to you as the poet that the city name should be capitalized, then capitalize it.
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Do I include the method of my research in the title? For my Masters Thesis, I am trying to find an appropriate title. The field of the research is in Forestry and Geographic Information Science (GIS).Currently my title is the following: "Determining harvest costs for private forest landowners in the Pacific Northwest (USA)" I am wondering if I should also include the method I used and change it to: "A spatial model to determine harvest costs for private forest landowners in the Pacific Northwest (USA)" <Q> A title tells the reader not only the general subject area, but also focus of your paper, the aspect of the subject that you will primarily emphasize. <S> Each of the following titles (your two plus one I added for contrast) suggests the same general subject area: <S> Harvest costs for private forest landowners in the Pacific Northwest USA. <S> But each suggests a different emphasis in your paper: <S> "Determining harvest costs for private forest landowners in the Pacific Northwest (USA)" "A spatial model to determine harvest costs for private forest landowners in the Pacific Northwest (USA)" "Harvest costs for private forest landowners in the Pacific Northwest (USA)" The first title emphasizes the process of determining costs. <S> The second emphasizes the model. <S> The third emphasizes the costs themselves. <S> So... <S> What aspect of your subject or method or conclusions do you wish to emphasize in your title? <A> Usually you include what is important and innovative about your paper. <S> If there is a method more than half of your domain uses, and you use it too, there is no point writing about that in the title. <S> If there are three competing methods, you may choose to include it in the title or not. <S> If you use a method maybe 5% of your coleagues use, say, because it requires three times the effort for 20% accuracy gain, by all means, include it. <S> Essentially, the title says what's special about your research. <S> If the method is, it belongs. <S> If it's generic, it does not. <A> It sounds like the point of your paper isn't so much the costs themselves but the way you determined them. <S> If you invented this model (or adapted it from an existing one with significant changes) and the point of the paper is to show how well it works, while also presenting your results, then the second title is better. <S> On the other hand, if your paper is more about how you applied or adapted an existing model to the specific challenges in that region, your first title is better. <A> The second title starting with 'spatial model' gives people an idea of what you've focussed on during the research.
| If your research is testing a new method on known set of data, it's the method that is a must in the title, not what is being checked.
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How can one plan elaborate crimes for fiction without getting into trouble? The crime of conspiracy is a limitation on free speech in the united states. Merely talking about, in fine detail, a crime can get one charged with conspiracy. It is slightly more complicated than that, for a conviction, but the point is, this chills free speech and makes it very difficult and is a deterrent for a fiction writer to get the details necessary for accuracy to allow for the suspension of disbelief How does one hash out their ideas for the elaborate crimes in their book or any other expressive medium, with peace of mind? <Q> Not online. <S> Try a writer's group, where it is absolutely and explicitly clear that you are discussing this in the service of a story, and whereother folks are discussing things just as potentially problematic. <S> One writer I work with is writing a crime story and actuallypaid a retired detective as a consultant to make sure she got her detailsright. <S> She interviewed him extensively and went over her story bit by bit to make sure it was feasible. <S> You also might find true-crime books (or blogs?) <S> to be useful, wheresomeone else has already put down the details you need, and you canadapt as necessary. <S> John Rogers, one of the creators of the late and much-lamented Leverage , sometimes jokes on his blog <S> that the things he'd had to research online probably have him on every government watch list in existence, because Leverage was about five master criminals acting as Robin Hoods — committing elaborate cons and crimes to help innocent people. <A> From the Official Code of Georgia (Annotated): A person commits the offense of conspiracy to commit a crime when he together with one or more persons conspires to commit any crime and any one or more of such persons does any overt act to effect the object of the conspiracy... <S> (OCGA 16-4-8). <S> Further, in the 'annotated' portion of the code, "Conspiracy to commit particular substantive offense cannot exist without at least the degree of criminal intent necessary for substantive offense itself." <S> This lets you off the hook in two different directions. <S> First, in order to commit the crime of conspiracy, you or someone else would have to take actual steps towards committing the underlying crime (i.e. the overt act element). <S> Secondly, and more importantly, Conspiracy is a specific intent crime, meaning there is a state of mind element required. <S> This is referred to as the Mens Rea (literally, 'Guilty Mind'). <S> This is based off the Georgia state legal code, but it is representative of the criminal code elsewhere. <A> I have to wonder if "merely talking about" crimes, no matter what the level of detail, can result in a charge of conspiracy. <S> Almost everyone talks about crimes at some level, because they are a matter of general interest. <S> Those involved in the investigation of crimes talk about them in massive detail at great length. <S> And crime writers research, talk about, and write about crimes extensively. <S> All of this happens without anyone being accused of conspiracy. <S> So even though merely discussing a crime might be considered conspiracy <S> , I think you have to assume that the crime discussed would have to be committed before you would have any genuine cause for concern. <S> Believe me, the thousands of people who write about crime research it, talk about it, and pick the brains of all kinds of experts in the field, all the time. <S> They don't worry about this issue, and neither should you. <A> I guess it's easy enough to imagine two writers discussing plot details for a book who are accidentally overheard by someone who thinks they are plotting a real crime. <S> Frankly though, if the police came by and you explained that you were working on a book, and there was no other evidence that you were planning an actual crime, I think the incident would be promptly dropped. <S> Maybe, possibly, they would put a note in a file somewhere so that if such a crime was actually committed, they'd come back looking for you. <S> The police have enough crimes that have actually occurred that they must investigate that they can't spend much time on so-and-so <S> thinks his neighbor is plotting a crime. <S> Conspiracy tends to be a charge made after the crime is committed, not before. <S> About the only conspiracies that police investigate before a crime is committed are threats against the president and terrorist attacks. <S> It is not a crime to discuss crime hypothetically. <S> People do it all the time. <S> If a prosecutor tried to charge you with conspiracy, they would need more than just, you were heard in a public place saying, " <S> Suppose someone wanted to kill his wife ... <S> " They'd have to show that you actually bought the poison or hired a hit man or something of the sort. <S> I suppose if your research includes buying bomb-making components to see what they look like and how they fit together, and you assemble a bomb in your garage, and you're overheard asking about Governor Jones travel schedule and security arrangements, and you rent an apartment overlooking the square where the governor plans to give a speech and the police find the place empty except for a chair and a sniper rifle, etc, the explanations might become more difficult.
| You can't commit conspiracy accidentally, you have to intend to actually commit the crime and you have to intend to conspire to do so. I have never heard of someone being charged with a crime because he discussed a hypothetical crime for a work of fiction.
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How to use parentheses Parentheses have many uses; I find myself reaching for them often. Increasingly though, I realise I can convey the same meaning without parentheses with little or only minor loss in succinctness. The benefits of not using parentheses, it seems to me, is that parentheses almost always throw off the reader in the reading flow of the sentence. Parentheses provide little information about how, when reading, the reader should enter and exit the parenthesised statement in a fluid manner. This is not always the case, for instance consider the sentence from wikipedia: "Mrs. Pennyfarthing (What? Yes, that was her name!) was my landlady." Here, the statement inside the parentheses evokes a switch in tone and style of narration that would be difficult to convey otherwise. Still it suffers from the fluidity problem. Other times as in the following sentence it is possible to remove the parentheses and accurately convey the same meaning, but necessarily with a loss in tone, e.g. "My very photogenic mother died in a freak accident (picnic, lightning) when I was three." But there are a huge number of cases when the parentheses appear easily omittable, such as: "Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please. (Facts are stubborn, but statistics are more pliable.)" Is there any benefit of using parentheses in these cases? <Q> You say the first example "suffers from the fluidity problem. <S> " <S> That is because it was meant to suffer from the fluidity problem. <S> It is a kind of anacoluthon—usually set off by dashes—which is an intentional break in sentence construction, meant to disrupt the flow for a rhetorical effect. <S> In the second case, parentheses offer a quick way to add information into the flow of the sentence without awkward or excessive addition of syntax. <S> To omit the parentheses there and still add examples, one would have to add extra words: <S> My very photogenic mother died in a freak accident involving lightning at a picnic when I was three. <S> That's still parenthetical information and it might benefit from commas, but the original version involving two words in parentheses conveys all that information in a more compact style. <S> In the third example, the parentheses are used as an aside, a turning away from the main narrative thrust to amplify a point that may deviate from the main narrative thread. <S> It is impossible to tell whether it does so without more context. <A> I think they're more properly used when they contain either a subjunctive clause, or an adjective. <S> Anything else is like intentionally breaking fluidity — and that's the job of a dash. <S> There are very few cases in which parentheses are actually necessary to your work. <S> The easiest example to cite when they are relevant is in technical writing (see Appendix A). <S> It can also be used, still in technical writing, to set up an acronym which you will use later. <S> Saying Theory of Constraints (TOC) now will save you time and space when you have to say TOC later. <S> I use it to clarify something that doesn't really deserve its own sentence, but you can't use em dashes for because you already are using the dash somewhere else in the same paragraph. <S> For example: "As compared with current policy, adopting a new machine reduces expected costs to PhP 4,290.71 (0.14% lower than simply changing policies), saving management PhP 143,152.56 over 365 days — a 1.6% increase compared to changing policies but not buying the new machine." <S> So, it feels like things in parentheses are less important than if you put them in the dashes. <S> "Still resting from yesterday, I suddenly found out I had an exam today <S> (I thought it was tomorrow), so I went ahead and crammed. <S> " <S> Versus " <S> Still resting from yesterday, I suddenly found out I had an exam today — I thought it was tomorrow — so I went ahead and crammed. <S> " <S> Of course, this is just my (incomplete) list, and again, you can use the parentheses with adjectives that feel more secondary to the sentence. <S> The fact that you can omit the things in the parentheses automatically make us think that they're already secondary, and less important. <S> That's why, when reading sentences aloud that have something enclosed in parentheses in them, we often skip the things said in the parentheses. <S> It might be easy to take these things for granted (and we often do), but they are quite important — especially if you're a writer. <S> (Sorry if this reply's use of parentheses seems forced. <S> There's just too many parentheses!) <A> Robusto has already discussed the way that the parentheses perform specific jobs. <S> In some ways, aren't they analogous to techniques like the passive voice? <S> Passive sentences can be used to accomplish specific goals ("The woman was praised by all the people" keeps the emphasis on the woman instead of on the people praising her), but can be easily overused and misused, and are therefore avoided by many writers.
| Sometimes, parentheses can be vital to your essay (except when they're not). Parentheses also feel like dashes that take less time mentally to pronounce.
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Not happy with format of self-published book. How to proceed? I currently have my book published on Amazon using createspace and Lulu (google weave of the ride). However, I am not happy with the quality of the product. I don't want a glossy cover, bleached white paper etc. I would like to have more control over this and get a more professional look that people are going to want to have as part of their collection. There is nothing wrong with my book, in fact it has some great reviews and feedback, but I feel the format is letting it down. What can I do? <Q> You could try Lightning Source . <S> I've heard good things about them <S> and I've seen a couple of the books - they look pretty good. <S> Considering using it for a volume this year (that I'm editing , I should add, not writing! <S> I'm not on board with this self-publishing malarkey). <S> Also, unlike CreateSpace, the printer's name isn't listed as the publisher in online bookstores (I don't know that for sure, <S> but that's what I've been told by the company). <A> You can also look to independent self-publishing outlets like Mill City Press and Troy Book Makers. <S> They offer a variety of trim sizes, lamination, paper stock. <S> Know that there are some industry limits regarding paper - a few different weights/ thicknesses (like 50#, 55#, and 60#) in either cream (natural) or plain white. <S> Getting an artistic paper (with, for example, a deckle edge) likely requires you work directly with a printer yourself. <S> A short print run could be quite expensive! <A> You sound like you are concerned with the quality of materials and other elements of a professional, polished presentation. <S> Why not hire a book designer? <S> Quantity has a bearing on what materials are available for your book. <S> For instance, if you are printing over 500 you can use our fine domestic book printers. <S> You may even have a printer in your own community who has the right binding equipment for your project. <S> Quality extends to design as well as materials, so a book designer can make that polished, custom design that will express your book. <S> The reason that CreateSpace and IngramSpark offer inexpensive design is because they have automated the process. <S> The price is right, but you may be the discerning author who actually needs human intelligence and creativity focused on your particular message, not a computer algorithm that solves the easy problems that satisfy the crowd.
| A book designer can guide you to printers that can produce the kind of books you are looking for.
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Should I write about how the character solved some riddle or let the reader solve it himself "Reaching an end to his path, Eric found a locked door, the lock was a combination of 4 numbers, and above the doorknob a script explaining the lock : 'finishing four circles, a lost day is found' " This is an imaginary script, I want to know if I should solve the riddle for the reader, or just say that the character discovered the solution and got past it and move on ? One last thing, A game is under-development based on this story, And I don't care if it will affect gameplay or not, because if he read the book he already knows the end of the game :p <Q> As always in a good story, I'd say it depends. <S> Is the riddle itself relevant to the story? <S> Or, is the method of solving it relevant to the story? <S> If so, I think it's fair to show the reader how the protagonist solves the riddle, even if it ends up boiling down only to something like he thought about it for a moment before it dawned on him that these astronomically centered people probably meant circles around the sun, making it obvious that they were somehow referring to leap years . <S> If the riddle or method of solution isn't relevant to the story, then I'd leave it out altogether. <S> The protagonist encounters some undecipherable (by him/her) symbols, which there is no need to explain further, next to a lock, and he starts thinking through what he knows of the people who left it or <S> even just tries combinations at random. <S> Exactly what works then would depend on the established backstory - obviously it can't be completely indecipherable if he is the established expert on the people or culture, for example. <S> Bottom line, the reader is probably reading the story for entertainment, not to be quizzed at puzzles. <S> So whether you decide to outline the process of solving the riddle in excruciating detail, or just do a little bit of hand-waving, don't simply dismiss the obstacle you introduced for your character. <S> There are few things more jarring (and breaking suspension of disbelief) than bits of story which are introduced and then left completely unexplained to the reader. <S> If you aren't willing to explain it (the lock in this case), don't introduce it at all (leave the door unlocked). <A> Then the method can be explained to reinforce the smugness of those who worked it out or to put the rest of us out of the misery of not knowing. <A> I think you need to be fair. <S> A puzzle with no solution offered to the reader seems like cheating to me. <S> My current novel has some encrypted text. <S> I show the full text to the reader. <S> The protagonist tries and fails to decipher it. <S> This gives the reader the opportunity to try for himself if he wants to, or just continue reading if he doesn't want to. <S> Later the protagonist figures out how to decipher the text. <S> This is briefly explained in the text, but the whole process isn't shown - just the finished result. <S> Again, the reader could decode the message by himself if he wants to.
| You can do both by leaving the riddle unexplained at the time but later have another character demand to know how the protagonist passed the door.
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Is it acceptable practice to use contractions in a fictional first person narrative for children? I am writing a children's story in first person, present tense. Aside from the quotes from characters, all of the text is meant to represent the narrator's own thoughts, and either describes what they see, do, or think, or their observations on other characters. I found that some areas seem more natural when I use contractions. Would it be appropriate for me to use contractions throughout the narration? Are there any authors who have done this successfully? <Q> Contractions are fine in narration. <A> If you are writing in first person, the language used needs to be roughly mainstream consistent with the age, location, etc. of the narrative character. <S> If the two are hugely out-of-sync, it can cause a lot of discord while being read because the "person" that is speaking is saying things and using words that are out of character, thus unexpected and often jarring. <S> That said, when writing books for young children (pre-teen or early-teen), you have the additional challenge of the fact that the people buying the books (parents or schools most often) want the kids to pick up good language and grammar skills while reading, instead of reinforcing bad ones. <S> Contractions are not typical for a very young child <S> but you could get away with them if your narrative character is a teen. <S> A six year old using a contraction "isn't" wouldn't ring true to me <S> and I wouldn't expect my six year old to know how to properly use it. <S> It's not as bad as a ten year old using the word "transcendental" but it would still jar. <S> Here are two potentially useful links: Contraction worksheet - 5th grade Language Skills Development <S> Note that the contraction worksheet is a 5th grade worksheet. <S> That translates to roughly 10-11 years of age in the US. <S> (My references are US references, I don't happen to have links handy for UK or other countries). <A> This page seems to suggest that books that teach contractions target children between the ages of 4-8, so it would depend on what age children you're targeting, it could be that the average 4 year old might not understand contractions however I would very surprised if an average 8 year old didn't understand them. <S> Otherwise, they're proper grammar <S> so if you expect your target audience to understand them, by all means use them. <S> I would add that, as someone has already mentioned, a first person narration should be written in a similar way to the narrator's natural way of speaking. <A> An additional consideration may be whether you want your children's story to be stocked in school libraries. <S> A colleague wrote a piece of Young Adult Fiction intended to encourage reluctant readers but found it was rejected by schools because of "the awful grammar"! <S> It was not considered to be a redeeming feature that the main character's expression changed (improved?) as he incorporated what he had read into his own thoughts and speech as the story progressed. <A> This is an old post but thought I'd say this anyway in case someone's googling. <S> I have worked as book designer for most of the top publishers (S&S, Harper, Penguin Random house etc) in NYC for over 20 years. <S> Specifically children's books. <S> Grammar, spelling etc is NOT my thing, I just make things pretty. <S> However, I had to work on a few templates over the years for other designers to follow <S> and I can say, at least in the houses i have worked for, contractions are not in picture books. <S> They start appearing in older chapter books but still those are pretty much frowned upon. <S> Stick to solid middle grade and above.
| As with other aspects of the narrator's diction and voice, the use or avoidance of contractions helps characterize the narrator, and indicates something about the formality/informality of the story.
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How should I introduce new and complex technologies or tools? I'm writing a Science Fiction book. While this book doesn't push reality very far, there are some new technologies and tools that I have added. One tool is used more frequently than all the others, and it has a very complex system (although there are other systems just as complex used somewhat less frequently in the story). For the sake of this question, we'll call it MYTO. The protagonist and the other supporting characters use MYTO on a regular basis, and an adequate understanding of it is critical to understanding and enjoying the story due to the frequent use of it. Normally, it wouldn't be a problem for me to introduce it and describe its functions. However, due to the complexity of MYTO and the systems surrounding it, I've found myself in a bit of a predicament. I've written several drafts and concepts trying to describe MYTO and the systems it uses, and I've ruled out an all-at-once approach - it would take too long, and the reader would get lost and bored. Because MYTO is used in settings with high action, it is very difficult to describe it as I go along. For a bit of a background, MYTO was a pre-existing technology based on other communication technologies used by the military and special forces in my story. My main character took it and modified it to create an improved version with several more functions and more polished functionality. I've tried to write this out, but it also gets very technical and boring, so I'm put back to square one. How should I go about introducing the technology and its functions? Some of the functions can and have been explained throughout the story as needed, but they are lesser functions. If any additional information is needed, please let me know in the comments. <Q> Lauren gave the single most universal method - let me expand on that. <S> Note there doesn't have to be a literal character for the cabbagehead - a virtual one will do. <S> Get some quotes from 'MYTO for dummies'. <S> Get a cautionary work safety series series "Accidents resulting from and involving mishandling MYTO". <S> Outright break the fourth wall having the omniscent narrator turn directly to readers (possibly in a condescending manner, for added irony if that's the tone). <S> If the system is complex, on top of brief summary of its function, if your publisher allows, you can throw a schematics in. <S> A picture is worth 1000 words and things like these add flavor to sci-fi. <S> Last but not least, one of characters may be tasked with writing an instruction manual for cabbageheads, and we can follow their struggles with the daunting task - say, editor complaining " <S> The readers won't understand complex words like 'shall', this must be changed!". <A> Introduce a cabbagehead character. <S> "Cabbagehead" is a term from Phil Farrand, who wrote the Nitpicker's Guides to various Star Trek series. <S> He points out that particularly in NextGen, it became necessary for one person to abruptly (and temporarily) develop the IQ of a head of cabbage, so that the other characters could explain the situation and the audience could get the information they needed. <S> This position rotated depending on the episode and the plot. <S> I would recommend trying to get away with as little explanation as you can in the beginning, though, since (as you noticed) too much exposition drags things down. <S> Teach the newbie the basics and then drop in more details elsewhere. <S> A chapter or two later, someone moderately skilled could come in and say, "Hey, Bob, I just tried out the Foo function you added to the MYTO. <S> That was amazing, man!" <S> and Fred says, "What's the Foo function?" <S> and Bob can explain what it is. <A> Lauren's and SF's answers give good advice for dealing with the necessary explanation. <S> My additional advice is: make sure it's really necessary . <S> Driving a car is a pretty complex task (ask anyone who's taught a teenager :-) ), and there are cases where it might be important to describe in detail the revving of the engine, the easing-out of the clutch, the braking technique to prevent a skid on ice, the timed firing of the rear thrusters -- <S> oh sorry, wrong technology :-) <S> -- <S> but usually this doesn't matter <S> and you can talk about the driving of the car in a less-specific manner. <S> Sometimes in the process of developing a new thing (technology, world, social structure, etc), one can come to over-emphasize it. <S> Remember that your technology is, fundamentally, a tool to help you tell a good story. <S> Focus on the story first and the rest will tend to follow. <S> Also, you don't need to do it all at once (and your readers may give up if you do). <A> Show it breaking or failing to work as intended. <S> You can describe the steps to get it working again as well as explaining why. <A> Show the guy who modified it leading a training session to teach others how to use it. <S> Doesn't have to be a classroom setting; it could be on-the-job or in-the-field. <S> This gives you plenty of opportunities to have the students ask the questions that the reader will want to know the answer to. <S> A whole room full of cabbageheads, so to speak, although for good reason. <S> Needn't be a huge number, but the people who are being trained should have reason to need the information. <S> To keep it fun, include some banter and give the cabbageheads distinct personalities. <S> At least one might be further involved in the story. <A> FWIW: <S> At the end of the story/book add an Appendix "History of the MYTO". <S> There you can add all the detail you want. <S> If a reader uses it, fine. <S> If they feel they don't need it, fine also. <S> This has the benefit of mentioning past history that can become other stories (you will have laid the groundwork for them in the "History" piece). <A> If a tech is very complicated to use for average Joe then there is another tech above it, a layer, that takes in simple inputs and control the complex tech. <S> So in your case, there should be another tech, the "MYTO Friendly!" <S> that is actually a nice interface device with most common scenarios installed, and the option to "download" more scenarios. <S> So average Joe "clicks" the "Clean all the house" option to the "MYTO Friendly!" device that in turn gives the MYTO all the complex instructions about what to do. <S> Just an idea... <S> And if MYTO is not for average Joe, but for few users, then by default those users should be trained and capable of using that high end tech, so using it is natural for them. <S> If my story involves a pilot fly somewhere i do not need to describe how a 500+ years spacecraft works. <S> My pilot enter the spaceship, take off landing bay, fly to space, enter destination port, end. <S> Adding an event, a meteoric object strike for example and damage ship O2 reserves still does not force me to explain all systems and functions of the +500 years star ship my pilot drives.
| Including quotes and excerpts doesn't work well in movies, and not at all in TV shows, but it's a well-established technique in novels, so you can use it freely to circumvent the need to introduce another character or lower IQ of any of existing ones. So if you have someone who's a newbie to the MYTO system, and your protagonist has to train him or her in its use (or at least explain the gist of it), that will allow you to give the basics to your audience. Let it come out in bits and pieces in the context of what's going on in the story.
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Words in author's native language? Why in some essays or articles there are words in the author's native language? (In other words, the essay is in English and there are some Spanish words spread out in the whole essay.) Does it necessarily mean the targeted audience is Spanish-speaking people or there is something else behind it? <Q> In many cases, the intent is to add a foreign flavor or a realistic touch to the narrative. <S> In other cases, the foreign word may be difficult to translate; or might not be specific enough in translation; or the author or translator may not have realized that a particular word was not an English word. <S> For example, in the books of Chinua Achebe (where words from Igbo , a Nigerian language, appear occasionally) <S> ogene is used for one kind of big drum, and <S> Ikolo for another, larger, drum. <S> This is an instance where translation would lose specificity. <A> Whenever you translate, there is a kind of "semantic loss", which may be easily circumvented when it comes to fictional texts but which may endanger the essence of nonfictional texts such as philosophical treaties or academical research, since the latter kind of texts may contain certain key phrases whose connotations would get lost in the process of translation. <S> If concepts of a certain general interest are concerned, the words signifying them are included into the language system that had no way of referring to those concepts beforehand. <S> Blitzkrieg, schadenfreude, realpolitik and gedankenexperiment are examples for such transfers into the English language. <S> If the concept signified by a certain word is more specific, there's no need to transfer it beyond the very text it is used in. " <S> Waldesruh" (literally "silence of the woods" or "silence within the woods") is a proper example. <S> I don't think that this word has found its way into English, and yet it's impossible to <S> really translate it, since "silence of the woods" doesn't convey the culturally related imagery (nor its allusions to romanticism or the implied pastoral atmosphere of peacefulness) of this very word. <A> "To have another language is to possess a second soul" <S> - Charlemagne <S> All languages are bound up within their particular cultural contexts. <S> Translation doesn't simply strip some words of their specificity, it can also change their meaning entirely, or how people from different cultures understand that meaning. <A> It used to be common practice in scholarly works and in popular works aimed at educated audiences to quote works in the the language they were written in, at least for major classical and modern European languages. <S> This is not a matter of the author using their native language, however, but of using the original language of the quotation. <S> This is less common practice today, presumably because Latin, Greek, French, German etc. are far less often taught in schools and far less often required for bachelor's or even advanced degrees. <S> However, examples of it may still exist. <A> For French words, at least, it is mostly a pretentious way to show the author is cultured, thought funnily enough their "French" is often incorrect, though it will pass mustard for most readers. <S> For other languages, there are words or concepts that are not easily translated like the German gestalt , the Czech litost , or the Japanese bakku-shan <S> Though, as suggested, it is also sometimes used to give it a foreign flavor and greater realism. <S> I think that it targets speakers of that second language only if the book is mostly culturally dependent and the readership is assumed to be bilingual. <S> For example a book using Spanish words whose MC is a Mexican descended teenager having a Quinciniera.
| By choosing not to translate the word, the author is implying that there is a connotation, context, or idea contained within that word, in that language, that is not present in the "equivalent" word in a different language.
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The value of labeling book sections My wife is beginning a novel, and she's written four chapters in under six pages. I suggested that she consider using page breaks, or lowercase Roman numbered sections, instead of chapters because a few of her chapters deal with a single event (an accident) and the hours after it (waking up in a hospital). As well, I find lots of chapters to be excessive in some way. Typically, this comes into play with tables of contents. Moby Dick, for example, has 135 chapters in its table of contents, and that table of contents is daunting to me; I can't use it to recall specific sections with any facility. Ulysses, on the other hand, has 18 chapters (episodes), and I find that I can peruse the table of contents and have a strong conceptual idea of each episode. True, I can recall Moby Dick with the same clarity as Ulysses, but the sheer number of chapters in Moby Dick doesn't seem very functional in aiding the recollection of the material in those chapters—even though those chapters are shorter than the chapters in Ulysses. I see the argument that this is a matter of preference, but I think that books with over, say, 50 chapters lose the significance of the chapter. I also see that chapters and sections, in many cases, derive organically from the material, but I still feel the need to caution against too many chapters. So, what is the best way to deal with many chapters so that they maintain some autonomy? Give them titles? Chapter One "The Sound of the Conch" Add brief sub-headings beneath the chapter number? Chapter One In which Maggie regains consciousness and faces the reality of the last 24 hours Add key elements of the chapter, like Twain does in Huck Finn? CHAPTER I. Civilizing Huck.—Miss Watson.—Tom Sawyer Waits. Add a quote that relates to the chapter: Chapter I The First Turn of the Screw Mephistopheles: "Was gibt es denn?" Wagner: "Es wird ein mensch gemacht." --Goethe Faust II I find that quotes are overdone, and, in longer books, could lose their impact. I'm drawn to short synopses under chapters, but it does sound slightly like a children's story book. Does anyone have any suggestions about insuring the identity of the chapter in books that have many chapters? <Q> I think you've mistitled your question. <S> The real question is not How many chapters should I have? , but rather How long should my chapters be? <S> Four chapters in six pages is probably not the right way to go. <S> Generally, in modern books a chapter runs between 2,000-6,000 words (10-30 typewritten pages in manuscript format), which is roughly the same length as a short story. <S> There are exceptions, of course, and there are some novels that eschew the chapter structure altogether, but this is a good guideline. <S> So my suggestion is that the "chapters" described above should really just be scenes in a single chapter. <A> Adapt multiple levels of division. <S> What I see as the worst problem is abusing chapters as sections. <S> Get your wife to adapt <S> * <S> ~ <S> * ~ <S> * section breaks with the current frequency of chapters, use chapters much more sparsely, possibly name each, and if that isn't enough, divide the whole thing into 2-4 parts. <S> The division into parts is clear, memorable and obvious though not very helpful in finding specific places. <S> But with parts, named chapters become entirely meaningful and really help locate points of the story. <S> Meanwhile the sections serve as thread separators, scenes for benefit of the flow. <S> They aren't for locating events but for keeping them distinct. <S> That is not to say some very short chapters are wrong. <S> If the event is the turning point of the whole story, the readers will certainly remember "that special chapter" and it will do the story good. <S> But 130 chapters in a moderately sized book? <S> No. <S> Just no. <A> It's really completely a matter of personal preference. <S> There is no set length or number of chapters at which it is considered to be too many. <S> I have read books with over 100 chapters and the existence of the chapter remains relevant as a separator. <S> Additionally, in most cases, none of the chapters have titles. <S> I do agree however, that adding a title to each chapter can help break monotony. <S> Nevertheless, the focus is usually on the content and therefore chapter titles do not always need titles, regardless of the number of chapters there are.
| Breaking the rule of chapter length and serving a fully featured chapter to present a single paragraph of text will certainly give that paragraph some weight.
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To translate a novel with Westerner's point of view I am an Easterner. I have been translating a novel, that is originally written in my native language, into English. During the process, I have also been learning about cultural things, meant to adjust my lines to the Western habit/culture because this novel is supposed to be published in Western countries by the author (he lives in Europe). Anyone could give me some suggestions please? I would post my questions regarding the obstacles I have met whilst working on this novel, if some of you are interested in sort of discussion. How about this line: a metal tubular-framed plastic covered cupboard Is it fine to picture a plastic cupboard with metal corners? What do you think if you have to translate a book and shift your cultural view whilst doing that? You would think it is a rare case? <Q> Writing isn't generally a place where you can live by hard and fast rules or quick and dirty little tricks; you generally have to go by feel, and the only way to really get a good, strong feel of what works is just to write a lot. <S> That being said, you're sort of asking here about how to describe things, and there kind of is a trick to this in Western literature at the very least: when you describe a room or a landscape or whatever, pick out a few little details - 3 to 5 <S> is all you usually need - and mention them in passing. <S> If there's something that is going to actually be used in the scene, make sure that's one of the 3-5 things. <S> If you really want to linger on it, you can describe it in terms of the same 3-5 aspects, but bear in mind that this is also revealing extra information about the importance of this item to the audience. <S> I first saw this "trick" in a letter from Chekhov to a fellow writer, but I know that Stephen King also invoked it in his book On Writing . <A> Translating another writer's book, you are limited: you have only the words that the author wrote. <S> You get to move them around, because grammar has to match. <S> You get to look for expressions in the target language that match expressions in the source material. <S> You get to struggle with semantic gaps, and do your best to fill them. <S> You do not "localise" the work, as it were. <S> What does that mean? <S> It means that culturally, your point of view remains source-culture. <S> If in the source culture giving a woman a red rose means "I hate you", and in the destination culture it means "I love you", you keep the red rose. <S> At most, you may add a "translator's note" as a footnote, explaining the situation. <S> Your translation must be perfectly legible in the destination language . <S> It should read as if written in the destination language, set in the source culture. <S> That means correct word usage and correct grammar, and also correct language register. <S> Your "metal tubular-framed plastic covered cupboard" doesn't do that. <S> I struggle to assign any meaning to that phrase. <S> " <S> Covered cupboard" - as opposed to one that has no cover? <S> Or does it have some additional cover, like a curtain over it? <S> " <S> Plastic" - OK, the cupboard is made of plastic. <S> But wait, you said just a moment ago that it was made of metal? " <S> Tubular-framed" - so its frame is one big tube? <S> How does that even work? <S> If what you mean is a plastic cupboard with metal corners, that's what you should say - "a plastic cupboard with metal corners". <S> At the same time, your translation must also read like the source - you cannot change the culture, the setting, etc. <S> If it's happening in Naples, you can't move it to "New City". <S> If measurement is in yards, you can't convert to meters. <S> If characters are celebrating Novy God , it's not Christmas. <A> Context is the key here and that on several levels. <S> First: You want to adapt the Western style/culture to the translation of the novel. <S> I doubt, that this is a good idea. <S> Translations normally do not try to change the context of the novel. <S> And the context of that book is the Eastern culture. <S> Many readers like stories from other cultures. <S> Second: Describing a cupboard is only interesting within the embedded context. <S> Why is it important to describe the cupboard? <S> Does some use it? <S> Put things in there <S> and you describe the splintered plastic cover? <S> Description combined with actions is a good way to build pictures in the reader's head. <S> If that's not done in the original novel, then maybe just "a metal cupboard covered with plastic" is enough. <S> As I said, all depends on context.
| So for me the way to go would be conserving as much as possible of this other culture, because that's probably one of the things that makes the story unique. Grammatical structures do not transfer between languages - you've got to adjust for that.
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Ways to improve your writing skills As a CS major I've learned that knowing how to write is critically important , but, I'm not really sure how to improve my writing skills. I'm currently trying to write a tech blog in English, but, whenever I sit down to write, it just reminds me of the fact that my English sucks... So, my question is; how can I develop a better understanding of the language? P.S. The book "The Elements of Style" wasn't particularly useful... <Q> Well, from my experience, I've always heard that reading helps on improving writing, and that worked for me! <S> I hence would suggest you read a lot. <S> This will help you expand your vocabulary, get more at ease with sentence structures, spelling and grammar and if you read specific things coming from newspapers, magazines and other articles relevant to what you are studying, it can definitely help you both in your English and in your own knowledge and awareness in your field! <S> You might also want to hang around chatrooms where they are people who share your interests. <S> Those are often more dynamic but less formal English, which also helps. <S> I'm sure you can find ones which can be at the same time interesting (even if you don't participate in the conversation) and help you with your own English. <S> Now, those people shouldn't be the type who 'txt spk', I wouldn't advise to hang around that chatroom if they speak like that. <S> I'm myself chatrooms where people discuss about programming languages and they don't text speak, so I'm pretty sure you can find some decent ones too. <A> In addition to reading (as suggested by others), practice writing in contexts that are already available to you. <S> (Starting a blog is good too, but if you can't build a reader base that can be discouraging.) <S> You're a CS major; that presumably means you are designing and implementing software. <S> There is more to software documentation than inline comments in the code; go beyond that, even if it's not part of the assigned work, and you will both practice writing and develop skills that will help you in a software career. <S> A lot of programmers can't write a coherent design document or technical specification; if you can, you're a step ahead. <S> Practicing writing is good, but how do you know how well you're doing? <S> If your professors aren't able/willing to review documentation as part of grading your code homework/projects, see if your university has advisors who can help with that. <S> Some schools have people whose job includes helping students improve their writing; usually (from what I understand) <S> this means graduate students working on theses, but ask your curriculum advisor, any professor, or someone in the careers center if your school has such services. <S> If it does, any of those should be able to connect you. <S> Finally, if your school has classes in technical writing (which will probably be offered by the English department), see if there's a low-level course that's open to non-majors. <S> Such a class is likely to focus less on "literary" writing and more on explanatory "nuts and bolts", which might be an easier introduction than, say, a creative-writing class. <A> Writing critically is all about having a sound logical structure, backing up our statements and making explicit what was otherwise implicit. <S> This last characteristic is the most important as this is the one that makes what we say clear or not. <S> Writing critically is what we do when we do analytical writing but all forms of writing can be said to be a subset of analytical writing as all kind of writing seem to put forward some argument or thesis about how the world is, or how people act, or advocate some sort of philosophy about how we should think about a topic or life in general. <S> One of he best book I found about critical writing is called "smart thinking: skills for critical understanding and writing", a little known gem available here -> <S> http://www.amazon.com/Smart-Thinking-Critical-Understanding-Writing/dp/0195517334 <S> (The used version is cheaper <S> and I think there is an ebook version available somewhere too.) <S> The book was made from a very successful critical thinking and writing course taught in an university in Australia <S> so it's not like it's some random rambling from an armchair amateur or something :-) <A> The other answers are correct to say that you need to read a lot. <S> But it's not enough just to read. <S> Anytime you read a passage that is particularly clear or compelling, stop and try to figure out what made it so. <S> Later, try to mimic that style in your own work. <S> When choosing what to read, look for writers who are masters of their craft. <S> You won't learn good technique from bad writers. <S> (Best-selling authors and popular bloggers tend to be excellent writers.) <A> @Wilbeibi <S> To improve my writing skills, I join on line writing communities. <S> That way I also learn more about writing by reading others' work. <S> The internet gives me so much advantages because I only need to sit in front of my computer then reach many ways to many spots. <S> Definitely every one has their own unique style for their writing, it is linked to their background of life. <S> When I am involved in the field of micro-organism, of course I have more vocabulary of micro-biology, so when I write my poem I could be inspired by that experience. <S> People work in army would gain another way to look at things, so it would influence either their way or their style of writing. <S> Good luck for you! <A> There are two simple answers to this question: read and write. <S> Considering you are a CS major this powerpoint that I read recently might help. <S> Read books about computer programming (technical, fictional, or nonfictional) and observe the way that the author writes. <S> Try to implement their styles into your own writing and, with enough time and practice, you will eventually develop a style of your own.
| You have to read like a writer. Try writing like a computer scientist.
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Is it unusual for a flashback to have a very long dialogue? This flashback is from a short story I'm writing (unedited first draft): I met Limei last summer. Our class had organized a graduation trip toGreen Island, where we stayed for fourteen days and fourteen nights.One of my friends had dragged her along. He barely knew Limei, but heapparently wanted to make a move on her. The reason she had acceptedescaped me. Probably because she didn't have many friends at that time,so an invitation like that was a big chance for her to make newacquaintances. She'd been specially quiet on the trip. She would would just sit alonein the beach, staring listlessly at the blue ocean. My friend hadalready lost interest on her by then, saying that talking to her wasas fun as talking to a lettuce. I sat next to her one day, without being quite sure about why. She wasn'texactly my type, but I had to admit she had a attractive facialfeatures; big deep eyes, a well-shaped nose, and smooth red lips. Iwasn't the kind who usually approached strangers either. So what did Iwant from her then? "Seagulls," Limei suddenly said, still gazing to the front. I stared at her for a moment, confused, and then turned to the sea.There was a flock of seagulls flying above us, moving randomly fromone spot to another, but never leaving the group. "You like seagulls?" I asked looking at her again. Her jet-black hairwas blowing with the wind. "Not really," she said, shaking her head. "I was just...wondering." One of the seagulls descended into the water, in an attempt to catch afish. But came out with nothing. "I was wondering—why do birds, like seagulls, have to migrate everyyear?" she continued. "Why don't they stay in the same place like mostanimals do?" "Well," I said. It was a difficult question. "I guess each animal hasdeveloped their own survival strategies. Maybe it doesn't matter whatthe strategy is, as long as it works, it will remain in the specie.And the genes responsible for that behavior will pass to the nextgeneration." Limei turned to look at me with a inquiring look. I wasn't surewhether I had answered her question or I had just annoyed her with myattempt of displaying knowledge in evolutionary biology. We remained silent for a while watching the seagulls. I had no ideawhy Limei was being more open to me than the others. Or could it bethat she had actually many things to talk about, just that no one hadsat beside her and actually listen to what she had to say? "Hey, I'm curious," I finally said, "why did you accept Jung'sinvitation for coming? I bet you don't particularly like him. Andbesides, you don't know any of the other guys." She looked at me again, and then fixed her eyes into the sand. I letout sigh, cursing myself. I'd always had a special talent for askinginappropriate questions. An awkward quietness surrounded us. Ipretended to be immersed in the fly of the seagulls. "I...just wanted to to leave my house," Limei suddenly said with asigh. "Family problems?" I asked. Limei shook her head. "It just that my dad's work requires him totravel constantly abroad. So, I spend most of the time alone at home.And it feels really strange to be just by myself in that big house.The empty space inside is so much that sometimes I feel like I canbarely breath." She raised her head. "I wish he spent more time athome." Her mini declaration had shocked me a bit. I wanted to ask: what aboutyour mom? But I decided to skip the question. Something told me thatshe wasn't around anymore. "But I guess that's the reality of things," Limei continued, gazing upat the seagulls in the sky. "Everything's always in constant movement.Nothing in this world remains still." Not sure if I'm mistaken, but I think authors usually just use telling in flashbacks instead of dialogue (e.g. We talked about this and this, and she also told me about this other thing...) Is this usually the case? Or it isn't? <Q> I don't see a problem with what you have done. <S> Flashbacks (like any literary device) can be implemented in many different ways. <S> Some authors prefer to simply tell the flashbacks as you mentioned, but I assure you that that does not necessarily establish an implicit norm. <S> I have read many texts and short stories that have dialogues in flashbacks. <S> In your case specifically, I think you made effective use of a flashback to establish the background information. <S> But again as Tom stated, I don't really know what's usual as I've seen a lot of different implementations. <S> All that matters is that you achieve your desired effect. <A> If a flashback is a paragraph or two, you can (sometimes) get by with telling. <S> But if a flashback is longer than that, it has to engage the reader in the same way that current-time events do. <S> And that usually means you have to show. <S> And that means that, once you transition into the flashback, it reads just like any other scene. <S> Note that the term flashback is not limited to short flashes. <S> Scene- and chapter-length flashbacks are common. <S> I've seen flashbacks that take up the middle third of a book--for example, Richard North Patterson's Caroline Masters. <A> Whatever is in that memory should be in the flashback. <S> (Even if it is not the character's memory, I still treat it as a memory). <S> If that memory contains a lot of dialogue, don't you think you should include it so the reader gets the full effect of what you're trying to convey? <S> I hope this helps!
| A flashback is usually a memory.
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1st person story, but the main character will die in the end and some of the story needs to be told after his death. How to solve this problem? I personally like to read stories told by the the main character, it's more "alive" to me. But the problem is that my character will die and some of the story will need to be told afterwards. Maybe 1 or 2 pages max. How to solve this problem? <Q> There are a few ways to solve this: 1) Switch narrators. <S> 2) <S> Your narrator continues narrating from after death in some supernatural fashion. <S> Your narrator could become a ghost or spirit, wander disembodied, communicate through Ouija board/séance, etc. <S> This was done very subtly in the novel Song of Achilles, written from the first-person perspective of Achilles's partner Patroclus. <S> Patroclus is killed by Hector. <S> (I assume I'm not spoiling anyone for the Trojan War...) <S> But for the Greeks, a person's soul couldn't enter Hades (the underworld) until s/ <S> he was given proper funeral rites and his/her grave marked. <S> So Patroclus is able to stay on as a disembodied soul for the last 15% of the book, telling us what happened after his death. <S> (I won't spoil the ending of that novel. <S> Go read it. <S> Moving, beautiful, amazing. <S> I cried.) <S> If it's literally only a page and a half, change to a third-person narrative style, maybe even set it in italics, to make it clear <S> it's an epilogue because your first-person narrator is dead. <S> Or have a series of newspaper articles, blog posts, emails, letters, etc. <S> reporting/discussing what happened after your narrator's death. <S> ETA 4) See the answers to this question: Ways for main character to influence world following their death <S> I'd forgotten about this question earlier. <S> It's not a duplicate by any means, since your story is not interactive, but you may find something useful in those answers. <A> Perhaps your character can tell the story while being in heaven (or hell) like in The Lovely Bones ? <S> (This won't work of course if your character is an atheist). <A> I see two problems. <S> First, if the person died, how did the story come to be set down in writing? <S> This is a problem whether the story continues after the narrator's death or not. <S> Some readers will accept this; others will not. <S> The second problem is the use of only an epilogue. <S> Readers often feel swindled if a new POV suddenly appears after the MC dies. <S> This can be a problem even for single-POV third person narrations. <S> One way way to reduce the second problem is to add not only an epilogue, but a frame. <S> Open the story from a different character's POV, then close the story from within the same frame narrator's POV. <S> A frame can also help with the first problem, as long as the frame narrator has some reason to know the first person story. <S> Not just the story, but the first person story. <S> Even better is if there is some strong relationship between the two narrators. <A> I struggled with this problem myself for a while until I came up with a few ideas to settle this issue. <S> You can use the main characters death as a plot device to kickstart a second POV that leads into the next book in the timeline and can tie up loose ends in the story <S> and it's timeline. <S> The way I did this is by starting the epilogue in the same way the prologue starts so the reader has a whoa <S> , that is what happened at the beginning moment. <S> Similar to the final paragraph of the outsiders. <S> In my book it starts with a prologue of the main character having a nightmare. <S> She <S> she wakes up <S> she does a reality check and starts listing some things about herself and the surroundings to make sure she isn't still dreaming. <S> In the epilogue after she dies I include a blank page after her last sentence as the first person POV. <S> In the epilogue it continues with her best friend doing the same kind of reality check and lists things about himself and his surroundings. <S> He does this because he is in denial of her death this brings back the feeling from the beginning of the book as well as allows the new character to clear up and show what happened after the main characters death. <A> I had this question a while ago <S> and I guess there are 2 good ways to do it.1) <S> In [insert very popular YA book here], the [number] book of the series is written in 2 POV's, unlike the rest of the series. <S> So when [main character that I was actually glad died b/c <S> I was trying to prove a point to my friend] <S> died, the other character narrated.2) Newspaper articles and emails. <A> Another possibility is to write absolutely nothing more because your character is dead and consider what you would have wanted to add as the beginning of your next book. <A> I know it's two years later, but in case others have the same question... <S> Just end it. <S> Write in the first person, try and tie up any loose ends before the death. <S> Then, BANG, your narrator is dead. <S> Last page. <S> Last sentence. <S> Bang. <S> The narrator never gets to finish the book. <S> With this, you can get creative. <S> Discuss chest pains, numbness in the left arm, nausea, all signs of a heart attack, and then the last sentence of the book ends mid-sentence signifying that your narrator died before they could finish the book. <A> You need not switch narrators or anything like that. <S> You can still continue the story to give the impression that the main character is still a mute witness watching over incidents from above. <S> If I am correct, in the novel "A Stone for Danny Fisher" by Harold Robbins, the main protagonist dies in the end but starts the novel from beyond the grave, explaining to his family how he got there and the story of his life. <S> Cheers. :)
| Everything is told by your main character until his/her death, at which point some other character finishes the story. 3) Switch narrative styles. Use the style which best suits you but keep in mind that the story and continuity of the novel should not be interrupted.
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Which e-book formats to use to get a larger readership? I am self-publishing a free e-book which I make available in several formats: EPUB, online HTML, PDF. I create (using my own programming scripts) EPUB and online HTML from XHTML sources which I write by hand (in a text editor). Then I also convert EPUB -> PDF using Calibre software. My question: Except for PDF, which of the other file formats supported by Calibre should I publish too? (For maximum readership of my e-book, provided that some formats may be probably rare and not worth supporting.) <Q> According to these figures, 55% of ebook buyers use the amazon kindle, regardless of their accuracy, the kindle is a very popular device. <S> The (non-drm) format which works best with the kindle is the mobi. <S> Pdf on the kindle is sometimes unreliable. <S> All other popular ereaders <S> I know of support epub, and people on a pc will be fine with html and/or PDF. <A> Wrong question. <S> You don't choose the ebook format, the retailer(distributor) does. <S> My advice is, don't waste time creating dozens of formats. <S> When you go to upload a book, the retailer will tell you which format they accept. <S> My only other advice is: Many retailers will say they accept MS word or PDF. <S> Never do this, as these formats sometimes lead to formatting errors when converting. <S> Stick to the pure ebook formats (Epub and mobi) <S> if they allow it. <A> I'm not sure that this is a choice that you really have to make -- there are services that will do these conversions for you. <S> I saw a presentation at the Digital Minds Conference 2013 by Autharium <S> that seemed to be suitable. <S> (I'm not associated with them, just in the general publishing software business area). <A> If you are self-publishing, there is no reason not to offer both EPUB and MOBI formats to ensure that the final output looks the way you want it to on the respective readers(EPUB for iOS/Nook and MOBI for Kindle). <S> Since you have the scripts to generate these formats from your XHTML source, you are set. <S> If you are going to publish through one of the channels, like Amazon/etc. <S> then you would just need to submit your EPUB or MOBI file to their specifications. <S> Once again, since you already have the scripts to manage this, this is a one-time setup. <S> However, once again, there is no reason why you can't offer PDF(s) for sale as well, if you are self-publishing and self-hosting the files.
| The two main ones are: Mobi for Kindle and Epub for everyone else. I would avoid PDF, as it poses many potential problems with e-readers(embedded fonts, reflow issues, and page formatting come to mind).
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What are the advantages of different date formats in resumes and CVs? I've seen a somewhat related question, but it doesn't answer my question quite right. Say you're writing an event that happened on a single day, and you need to put it in your resume or CV. So how would you write it? For example 11/21/2013: 21 November 2013 21st November 2013 21st Nov. 2013 November 21 2013 November 21st 2013 Nov. 21st 2013 Should I put a comma somewhere? Change the order? November 21 - 26 2013 November 21 -- 26 2013 November 21st - 26th 2013 And what if the event spans several days? And the span takes one day from one month to the next one? For example 11/29/2013 - 12/02/2013: November 29 - December 2 2013 November 29th - December 2nd 2013 <Q> The best date formats are the ones that are (1) clear and (2) familiar to your audience. <S> You want your readers to focus on the content of your resume/CV, and this will be difficult if they have to "translate" dates to a familiar format in their heads while reading. <S> In general, the two extremes - long, unambiguous dates verses shorter, more informal dates - run the spectrum from convenient to write and compact (if potentially unclear) to longer and harder to write (but clear). <S> And, the most important thing: <S> Pick a single date format for the document, and follow it everywhere. <S> Clarity Shorter date formats, such as 4/12/10, are familiar and comfortable, but they can be unclear. <S> Did I just write 12 April or 4 December? <S> 1910 or 2010? <S> (That last is unlikely to be a problem in a document like this.) <S> Choosing a date format and sticking with it for the entire document can help with this. <S> I'd find out what formats are the most common in your field and use those. <S> Familiarity <S> People are generally pretty good at recognizing different formats, but why make more work for them? <S> It's the work of a few minute to change the date formats to be appropriate and consistent. <S> While it's unlikely that an "odd" date format will cause someone to put your CV in the "circular file", if presented with two resumes that are roughly the same in terms of qualifications and experience, a hiring manager could easily simply choose the one that looks more familiar and comfortable. <S> Formatting <S> I'd avoid dates formatted like "November 2 2013" (i.e., no comma after the "2") because a too-narrow space can make the date hard to read. <S> (Even PDFs don't preserve spacing perfectly.) <S> Using spoken-word-type formatting like "3rd" can be a bit too chatty and conversational in a formal business document (as well as being another opportunity for typos to occur). <S> In terms of ranges: Most style guides suggest using an en or em dash ( not two hyphens in a row) for these. <A> Bear in mind that a compact numerical date format like 01/02/2013 uses a different convention in the US than in Europe. <S> In the US it's interpreted as month/day/year, while in Europe it's day/month/year. <S> So if you're writing a document that might be read in both hemispheres, I'd avoid the compact form. <S> If it's only one or the other, less of an issue. <S> A form like "November 2 2012", with no comma between the day and the year, is very uncommon, probably because it's a little hard to read. <S> Depending on the font and the reader's eyesight, the space might be lost. <S> If space is really tight, a two-digit year is unlikely to be ambiguous if you're talking about recent events. <S> For a resume, if you say you worked at Foobar Corporation from '08 to '11, I think we could safely assume that you mean 2008 to 2011 and not 1908 to 1911, unless you are a very, very old man. <S> But if you were writing in some larger context and you said that Foobar Corporation was founded in '08, it might not be at all clear whether you mean 2008, 1908, or for that matter 1508. <S> Personally, when I'm writing for an international audience, I generally use either "Nov 2, 2013" or "2 Nov 2013", i.e. use an abbreviation of the month name, a four-digit year, and if putting the day after the month, separate it from the year with a comma. <S> Both forms are unambiguous but still reasonably compact. <S> When I'm writing strictly for the US, I usually put 11/02/2013. <S> I heartily agree with Neil Fein that whatever you do, be consistent. <A> You can write the date like this : <S> e.g. : <S> 2nd November 2013e.g. <S> : From 2nd November 2013 till 29th December 2013 <S> Whatever format you choose, be consistent with that.. <A> IMHO in CVs the day is not that important, so you could go with Month Year, like Nov 2013 - Dec 2013: worked for Xmas Inc.
| Longer, unambiguous formats are preferred from the standpoint of being clear, but they take up more room (an issue in a resume, especially when formatting them for a single page) and can look clumsy to some audiences. Since about 1990 I always put a four-digit year to avoid any ambiguity.
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How to advertise a free e-book? I've created a free e-book in online HTML, EPUB, MOBI, and PDF formats. I've created a small site to advertise this book and an other site (currently supports forums) for the community of readers of my book. Also I have a blog related with this book. Now, which directories/catalogues/resources should I submit my book to? The purpose is to increase readership. <Q> There are a few organizations that focus on getting new authors introduced to more readers, the one I am mainly associated with is http://bookhubinc.wordpress.com/ . <S> They normally respond quickly. <S> You don't have to use them or feel restricted to only use them. <S> You may contact other organisations that offer the same service. <S> Book Hub also distributes a collection of books to reviewers who run blogs for them to review so the book becomes more widely known. <S> Alternitvly you may decide to skip the middle man and go straight to the reviewers, however using Book Hub you will probably get more reviews. <A> These are some websites where you can advertise your e-book for free : 1) http://ebookfreeadvertising.wonderbookland.com/ 2) http://www.librarything.com/ 3) http://www.scribd.com/ 4) http://www.goodreads.com/ 5) http://www.wattpad.com/ 6) http://authonomy.com/?from=bookarmy 7) <S> http://www.booktalk.org/ <S> 8) <S> http://list.ly/list/2hf-top-free-places-to-promote-your-ebook <A> If you have no Twitter account yet, I highly recommend it. <S> There are a lot of organizations that use twitter to promote products, and one of the companies I follow is freemykindle on Twitter, as well as other Twitter accounts that help promote authors. <S> Freemykindle specializes in advertising free, or really cheap E-books, and has 1342 followers.
| Basically contact them and say that you're a writer having writen a new free book and would like help getting it known.
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How should I begin my research for my Military Fiction? Where can I learn about the voice procedures, military jargons, submarine communications and politics involved in navy? <Q> It's an imageboard gathering fans of all things connected with weapons of all kinds, and military is a significant portion of their interests. <S> I'm not sure if they will know much detail about submarine communications and politics in the navy, but if anyone knows where to find that stuff, it will be them. <S> Be warned, 4chan is a specific subculture, many of its boards are NSFW and <S> while /k/ isn't one of these, the contents of others sometimes spill over into SFW boards and you may encounter NSFW content before moderators catch it. <S> Also, its specific culture is connected with particular jargon, ways of communication, and "traditions" <S> - I suggest you spend some time "lurking" (just browsing the board and learning local customs) before you start asking your questions. <S> The time spent will be useful - if your writing involves weapons, military, survival and such topics, you'll be returning to /k/ for advice. <A> Ideally look for biographic works, rather than factual books, as these will contain more insights into jargon, etc. <S> Do NOT use the internet as your primary source of information, as inaccuracies can slip into stuff like wikipedia and 4chan very easily. <S> If possible see if you can find a veteran's forum and ask questions there, from my experience ex-forces personnel are usually quite happy to answer questions. <A> There are several specific texts that could help you out. <S> First is the 'Blue Jackets Manual'. <S> This the text issued to Seamen during Basic, and covers pretty much everything you could ever want to know about functioning in the Navy (Think 'Boy Scout Handbook' for sailors). <S> Secondly, there is a smaller text issued to officers called 'Reefpoints' that is issued to Midshipmen at the Naval Academy. <S> As for politics, I can't recommend 'The Caine Mutiny' highly enough (the book, not the movie). <S> Speaking as a salvage ship veteran, that book could have been written by any of the junior officers onboard, despite being set in WWII.
| The best place I can suggest to turn to with this kind of open questions - on military and weapons - is 4chan/k/ . I would advise you to get hold of a number of non-fiction naval books and start reading!
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Best Practices To Learn By Reading? I've been browsing writers.se for a while and I've noticed a lot of folks state you have to READ to be able to write. I'm currently having trouble working time to read fiction into my daily routine. At first I waited until the kids would go to bed. I noticed then I would read at the most 5-10 pages before I would pass out. In the morning I would remember nothing about the story, let alone the narrative style. Then I tried getting in some kindle reading during breaks at work. What I noticed was that 10 minutes here and there had a negative cumulative effect. Instead of retaining bits of writing style my mind was starting to ignore the more descriptive pieces of text, only holding on to the actual events that took place. I need some ground rules on how to get the most out of reading fiction (in order to empower my own writing ability). Should I set aside an entire evening to just reading? Or, should I only do so on the weekends to preserve the "strength" of the words? Have any of you noticed better retention late at night if you bomb your system with caffeine? Thanks in advance. <Q> Suggestion: <S> Schedule time for your reading, just as you would schedule time for writing. <S> Read in an active manner, keeping a notepad, journal, or your chosen way of taking notes, so that you can jot down thoughts and realizations while reading. <S> compose your notes after your reading session, while the information is still fresh on your mind. <S> If it sounds like studying, that's probably because it kind of is like studying. <S> :) <S> I'm currently trying to get a handle on the writing style and flow of a few authors. <S> I'm finding that how I read, when I want to learn the style and flow is very different from reading for fun. <A> When people say you have to read to write, they aren't saying memorize every technique the authors use and mentally put them into your own stories. <S> No, no, no! <S> They aren't saying that at all. <S> What they mean is that when you read, and the more you read, the more the correct grammar and plot structure just seep into your bones. <S> If you read enough, the correct structure of a story comes out of the very fiber of your being. <S> Therefore, you don't have to even think about if the structure and grammar is correct. <S> You are learning by reading, but not necessarily by analyzing what is in that book. <S> Hope this helps! <A> Reading/writing is an iterative process. <S> Reading copious amounts of materials will help you develop your writing as you will learn the things you like and the things you don't like. <S> But the reverse is also true. <S> It's amazing <S> how producing a few short stories will affect the way you read. <S> If you're reading through several pages and only remember what happened, that writer is doing his or her job properly. <S> After you've tried to recreate that in your own writing, your brain will start to change its priorities. <S> Suddenly, how other people are writing becomes as important as what they are writing. <A> I can't give you any advice on how to "get more out of reading". <S> I can only help you read more. <S> Get a lightweight reader device and always carry it with you, in some very accessible place, like a side trousers pocket. <S> Make sure it's small and lightweight enough that taking it out is never too much hassle - I was using an old palmtop. <S> Reallocate time you spend doing unproductive stuff to reading. <S> Instead of commuting by car, switch to public transport, grab an ebook reader and spend the time reading. <S> Make reading your habit to kill any moment of time you spend unproductively. <S> Slow day at work? <S> Waiting for customers and already done your chores? <S> Read. <S> I read through like 30 books in a year while riding public transport, waiting in queues, waiting for a train or a bus, eating, waiting for laundry, cooking etc. <S> Allocating 2 hours a day for reading is nearly impossible. <S> Allocating fifteen 5-20min time chunks is entirely viable. <S> (if the book got me captivated, I would read until morning too. <S> I hated myself for that in the morning, but that still counts...) <A> Read when you feel like it. <S> so you have time to. <S> Pull out plots, styles, uses of writing elements, anything that would help.
| If you want to learn how to read, start writing. If you think that you don't have enough time, either don't read or change your schedule
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Visual methods of plot development? My 9 to 5 job is in an office, which has made me very adept at using flow charts and graphs to plan out my projects. Are there any writing methods which employ charts, graphs, or other visual mediums to show relation between aspects of a story? (something that is not a mind map) <Q> You might try OmniGraffle , which is a flowchart generator for Mac. <S> I've only seen it used once or twice <S> so I can't speak to how well it works, but it might fit your bill. <A> I use sequence diagrams to map non-fiction (design) stories. <S> Update after comment <S> @what: <S> A very simple example of a sequence diagram is: Or perhaps I want to write a story about me and my mapmaking obsession. <S> Then I would start like: <S> On the top row are the story's participants (humans, object, places, moments in time etcetera). <S> The arrows visualize the activities between the participants. <S> You read the sequence diagram top-down following the arrows in sequence. <A> This seems like an odd question to me. <S> Instead of asking how you can use graphs and flowcharts, ask yourself what tools you need to organize your story. <S> If a flowchart would help, then fine. <S> But maybe what you actually want is to write each scene on a notecard and keep them in a stack. <S> You should choose your tools to suit the task you have and the style of doing it that suits you best, not the other way around. <A> If you do a Google Image search for {Inception infographic} you will see an array of visual representations of the movie Inception . <S> Now these were analytical tools, but I imagine that the developers must have used similar story-boarding techniques in planning the production. <A> you should try mind mapping ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/mind_map ), it is a great way to explore ideas. <S> there are lots of applications available for desktop as well as tablet. <S> I personally use freemind (it's free). ...and also checkout this answer. : ) <A> So you want to use flow charts and graphs to tell a story? <S> Good. <S> Go right ahead. <S> Tools don't make the master, practice does and it sounds like you have lots. <S> Everyone does it different anyway. <S> Writers generally are mostly text based thinkers <S> then visual, filmmakers are visual since their medium is visual. <S> They make storyboards that help them see what they are planning on doing. <S> However, you can try something to practice on. <S> Good look up <S> monomyth aka Hero's Journey and enter that into you flowchart as the top level thing. <S> Then you can break it down into how you are going to pull off each of those steps. <S> You'll want to create character sheets and setting sheets to round out your world. <S> The main thing is to write a story to completion and get it out there. <S> Use the tools you know is fine. <S> There are plenty of article about how different authors did their work. <S> The one thing every successful writer does is finish the story and put it out there. <A> I like "The Board" as explained in Blake Snyder's book, Save the Cat. <S> Make a new row when there's a turning point. <S> It helps make sure the story is balanced. <S> Ideally you should have 10 scenes per row, with a critical act turning point at the end of each row. <S> Each card can have key information too, like who is in that scene, what the scene changes, and what the conflict is. <S> Also it's fun to tape flashcards all over your wall. <A> Here is an app that tries to make plotting out your story very easy: Plottr <S> It's got a timeline that is a very graphical way to show each story line (main plot and subplots) and each scene. <S> Across the top are the scenes and along the side are the story lines. <S> You aren't held to specific dates on the timeline. <S> It let's you put in whatever description you want across the top. <S> The nice thing is that you can flip it so the scenes are down the side and the story lines are across the top. <S> It's better for some people to see it like that. <S> Where the scene and story line intersect you can add a card which is just a place you can write a description about what happens at the intersection of those two. <S> You can even drag and drop cards easily anywhere around the timeline. <S> It also has a place for general notes, a place for characters, and a place for settings. <S> For characters and settings you can add custom attributes which is really handy. <S> And the notes you can tag with your characters or places. <S> I use it for my stories and it's been invaluable
| Write a summary of each scene on a flashcard and tape them to your wall in the order they should go.
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Why Use Excessively Short Chapters? Some of my favorite Frank Herbert books go 70 pages between chapters. All the James Patterson books go 2-3 pages between each chapter. I know non-fiction uses chapters to help navigate, which means chapters are dictated by the related content. What are the purposes of having extremely short chapters? Does it actually do anything for the overall reading experience? <Q> Using lots of very short chapters creates an impression in the reader of very rapid pace and lots of action. <S> For some genres (such as Patterson's thrillers), this accelerated pace is exactly the effect that you want. <S> Having long chapters creates the opposite effect: it slows the pace down and gives the author time to expand more fully a given section or theme. <S> This doesn't preclude fast-paced action, but it does allow for more breathing space and a sense of epic scope. <A> Short chapters are a gift to readers who may not have the time or stamina to handle 70 pages at a sitting. <S> For a young reader, reaching goals is important. <S> As their eyelids get heavy and their mind starts to wander into the dreamlands, they struggle to read just a little bit further. <S> If only they can make it to the end of the current chapter, then they will have accomplished something. <S> By keeping the end of each chapter within reach of even the most tired juvenille reader, an author facilitates little victories in the lives of those same young readers. <S> Those victories, as much as marvelous characters and unexpected plot twists, can fertilize a budding love of reading... <S> And that love of reading, in time, can lead to increased revenues for the author, when subsequent sequels and new series are released. <A> Short chapters in the literary world are like bite-sized snacks in the world of food. <S> They also provide an author the opportunity for rapid changes of mood, setting and viewpoint . <S> They've become increasingly popular in modern fiction, perhaps because of readers' decreasing attention spans and demands for continual novelty. <S> Of course, like any other technique, they can be misused, overused, or abused . <S> If they serve your work, use them, if not, don't.
| They are less intimidating and easier to digest, and they can be surprisingly addicting, because you finish one and want to immediately go on to the next one.
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Is it strange if a novel starts the first chapter without one of main characters? I'm writing a novel with the following structure (I'm not very sure what's the technical term): Chapter One (based on the POV of Character C): C sees B for the first time Chapter Two (based on the POV of Character A): A hears about B for the first time Chapter Three (based on the POV of Character B) Chapter Four (based on the POV of Character C) Chapter Five (based on the POV of Character A) Chapter Six (based on the POV of Character B) (and so on) A is the hero, B is the heroine and C is the girl who is in love with A (the plot isn't that cliched. I'm just trying to simplify here). I'm still debating whether this is a good idea or not. If this will come out as strange for the reader (but probably, this has been done many times before?) <Q> Nope, works fine. <S> Starting from the POV of a minor character to establish the setting is no problem at all; in fact, that can be an interesting prologue, particularly if you're dealing with a mystery. <S> It's sort of a sideways entrance into the story. <S> As an example, Susan Elia MacNeal has done this with all the books in her Maggie Hope mysteries. <S> Mr. Churchill's Secretary and Princess Elizabeth's Spy both open with secondary or cameo characters and a murder. <S> Book three, His Majesty's Hope , opens with cameo characters having a conversation. <S> In all three novels, the protagonist Maggie doesn't appear in the prologue — none of the main characters do. <S> None of the books read strangely to me for it. <A> Introducing the protagonist later in the book is generally done when there's a large cast involved. <S> In a situation like this, who the reader should consider the "main" character is less important. <S> While there are no rules about any of this, it's generally a good idea for the reader to be able to identify with the protagonist in some way. <S> And making the opening pages easy to relate to is important. <S> I'd be more concerned with juggling the multiple viewpoints than bringing in the main character late. <S> Are you setting this up in third person with follow-along points of view, or multiple first-person viewpoints? <S> The latter is trickier to pull off well, but possible with very distinctive narrator styles. <S> Alternately, maybe you can plant the seeds of the protagonist in the early pages, perhaps by mentioning the character. <S> Since the first chapter POV character is in love with your protagonist, that shouldn't be hard. <A> You get certain liberties with the first chapter. <S> Actually, I've seen this in a number of good published books. <S> So, no, it's not odd. <A> Introducing your story like this is no problem, however if C is normally unrelated to the story you may consider the first chapter not being a de facto chapter and call it an introduction/prologue instead. <S> It is a common characteristic of an introduction to introduce the plot via a side character. <S> Normally this is a very short chapter comprising of one short scene. <S> If your chapter falls into this description you may want to consider making it an Introduction/prologue.
| In a situation where the main character won't be identified up-front, you could have the first chapter be more obviously a scene-setting prologue to the action of the book.
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What is the proper format/style for using and properly citing code in an APA paper? I'm working on a paper that covers concurrency in Java, however to properly explain many concepts I feel code samples are basically needed. However, I don't know how to properly cite code I've borrowed, or how to properly format code that I've written myself. How is this accomplished? <Q> APA offers the following guidelines for citing a computer program/software/programming language (under the "Other electronic media" section): <S> Reference list entries are not necessary for standard off-the-shelf software and programming languages. <S> Provide entries for specialized software or programs with limited distribution. <S> In text, give the name of the software, the version number and year. <S> Do not italicise the names of software, programs, or languages. <S> Immediately after the title and version, identify with a source type such as [Computer program], [Computer language], or [Computer software]. <S> If no version number is available, include the retrieval date. <S> If the program can be downloaded or ordered from the web, give this information in the publisher position. <S> Schoonjans, F. (2008). <S> MedCalc Statistical Software (Version 9.5.2.0) <S> [Computer software]. <S> Retrieved from 3D2F.COM Software Directory: http://3d2f.com/programs/13-638-medcalc-statistical-software-download.shtml Accurate Personality Test [Computer software]. <S> (2007). <S> Retrieved June 19, 2008, from <S> http://www.sharewareconnection.com/accurate-personality-test.htm Tools and applications. <S> CultureGPS lite (Version 1.13) [Computer software]. <S> (2011). <S> Retrieved from http://itunes.apple.com/app/culturegps-lite/id297051765?mt=8 <S> Pages (Version 1.5) <S> [Computer software]. <S> (2011). <S> Retrieved from http://itunes.apple.com/us/pages/id361309726?mt=8&ls=1 Scott, C. (2011). <S> Treasure hunt - the interactive boardgame (Version 1.1) <S> [Computer software]. <S> Retrieved from <S> http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/treasure-hunt-the-interactive/id4425986640?mt=8 Consider looking at this page for a few helpful tips too (not APA though). <A> Maybe you can find what you want <S> In-Text Citations: <S> Author/Authors section, where they give additional rules for citing indirect sources, electronic sources, and sources without page numbers. <S> I believe it would work for source code. <A> To refer to the details of Proper citing code in an APA paper , here's a reference guide which may help you : http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/25/
| If an individual has proprietary rights to the software, name him or her as the author; otherwise, treat such references as unauthored works.
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How to convert handwriting into text Recently, I found a short story that I had written many years ago when computers were not that common. It is 25 pages of handwriting. Obviously, I don't want to spend hours typing it. My typing speed is not good. I am wondering what is an efficient but easy way to convert it into text, given the technological advancements of the last few years e.g. apps. I don't have a big budget so recommendation on a free, open source, but reliable software would be great. I am planning to publish the story so a good presentation is vital. <Q> Almost every computing platform now supports some form of speech recognition software. <S> Obviously you should test the software you choose on a few paragraphs before committing to reading in all 25 pages. <S> Some applications have a way of being "trained" to match your voice and will improve as you go. <S> to .txt; then you can read once and convert several times. <S> If different apps work better with particular portions of the document you can then edit together the various "takes" like a recording engineer. <S> You request for "good presentation" of the product will demand that you handle the formatting separately. <S> The conversion apps I use generate raw text not word processor files. <A> You won't like this answer, but I'm going to give it anyway. <S> The best way to convert handwriting into text is to type it up. <S> Don't skip it just because it's a little tedious. <S> Typing up work is a valuable opportunity for engaging with each word and sentence of the text. <S> Scanning over the text on the screen isn't the same thing. <S> I always use the typing-up of work to do an extra draft (usually I've done a couple of drafts longhand already). <S> Especially since this is an old story - surely in those intervening years you've grown as a writer, or have a different perspective than you had when you wrote it? <S> Isn't this a great chance to revise your work? <S> Another piece of (probably unwanted) advice. <S> Assuming you don't have a disability that prevents you from touch-typing at speed, you should learn to do so. <S> Finally, if you do decide to use OCR, you shouldn't rely on its accuracy. <S> Don't trust the damn thing as far as you can throw it. <S> The more accurate it looks , the more likely it is that some subtle error will slip through. <S> Assume it will fill your story with errors. <A> The best solution would be OCR Software ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_character_recognition ) since you can scan your pages and it will understand the handwrite and change them to plain text. <S> Expect a few errors. <S> It's normal, but most of the text will be fine. <S> A simple review should be enough. <A> Or, as a suggestion, find someone who does enjoy typing (and happens to be fast and accurate) and pay them to do it. <S> You wouldn't be the first, and I doubt there are writers who wouldn't mind a little extra cash on the side. <S> It's a thought. <S> Try a Craigslist posting for a Ghostwriter, give them a target deadline, and a quote for the price. <S> You might be surprise if you throw in a few extra dollars for people who prioritize it and get it done in say... <S> less than a week. <S> I do it rather regularly along with my own projects.
| If you can read your own handwriting, then that offers a cheap and relatively painless way of getting your draft into a text file. Another option would be to record your reading as an mp3 file and then investigate the programs that are designed to convert .mp3
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Do empty pages need a number? I would like to start each chapter on the right side of the book, as there are few chapters with a different point of view. I know numbering has to continue on the white page which might appear in between, but shall I print a number on it? All the books I consulted didn't start on a new page, so I could not get any information out of it! <Q> Since there will be nothing on the page to index, the number is not "necessary" for that purpose. <S> Nevertheless, it will often be be printed simply because it is easier to follow a single procedure (number every page) than it is to introduce exceptions. <S> If you are self-publishing, make up you own mind on what you like (and can manage). <S> If you are not, stop worrying about things outside your control. <A> The usual approach I saw is to keep the page completely blank - no number, nothing, but treat it as if there was one when it comes to the sequence, so you have, say, 50, 51, [blank], 53, [blank], 55, 56... <S> One of reasons is that even and odd pages remain to respective sides of the book, and if you are on page 51, and you want to get to 55, you flip two pages in the book, and not some nondescript number depending on number of blank pages in between. <S> Also, "irregular pages" - end paper, map fold-outs, color print inserts on different paper (these aren't common nowadays but you find them in XIX and earlier XX century books frequently) <S> etc don't get page numbers at all and are skipped in the numbering altogether. <S> All pages of the "core print" have numbers even if they don't show them. <S> It's not infrequent for the book to start with page 7, after 1 <S> : dedication, 3: title page, 5: part header. <A> I was just reading a book last night that begins each chapter on an odd-numbered page, and I remembered your question and checked. <S> When it skips the even-numbered page, that page is completely blank: no page number. <S> In my humble opinion, a page with just a page number and no other text looks odd, and I'd avoid it. <S> But on the scale of things, that would be very low on my list of things to worry about. <S> Update <S> As Hobbes says, sometimes folks will put "this page intentionally left blank" or a similar message on pages that would otherwise be blank. <S> But I can't think of any examples of this that I've seen other than in technical manuals. <S> I've never seen this done in a novel or other non-fiction books. <S> I presume the point is to re-assure the reader that the page is not blank because of a printing error. <S> But in most books, if a printing error did result in a page being unintentionally left blank, that would be pretty obvious as you read the book. <S> A sentence on the previous page would not be completed, there would be obvious missing information, etc. <S> I think I could see it more in a legal document, where a lawyer might deliberately replace a printed page with a blank page so he could claim that the contract that his client signed never included the clause under dispute and he had no way of knowing that the other party intended for such a clause to be in there, etc. <A> As mentioned before, you need to follow your publisher's guidelines, if there are any that cover this situation. <S> If it's up to the author, I personally prefer to have something written on the page, even if it's just the page number. <S> That way, it's clear that the page wasn't accidentally skipped during printing. <S> Some publishers even require something like "This page intentionally left blank", to make it clear that you're not missing something. <S> I once bought a reference book where a whole bunch of (non-contiguous) pages were blank due to a printing error. <S> From the context, it was clear that something was missing, but it may not always be so. <A> A blank page (no number) is ambiguous: it could mean that there has been a printing error and there should have been content on that page, or the blank page could be intentional. <S> This also means you can avoid the cumbersome <S> " this page has intentionally been left blank " you sometimes see. <S> Example of the use of 'intentionally left blank' in an IBM manual .
| If you put a page number on the page, there's no ambiguity: there's no printing error, so the blank page must be intentional. The question of whether a blank verso facing a chapter title carries its page number is a question of style determined by designers (if their publishing house does not already have a fixed policy.)
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How do I organize a paragraph that lists several steps after an introduction? I have a paragraph like below: A hypothetical solution is like this: first, we can use a table to record entries. These entries are imported from a library. . ..... Basically, this paragraph is to talk about a solution. After the colon : , I have several sentences, and I'm at a loss on how to choose punctuations. If I use a : as in the example, then it seems like the solution is just this sentence: first, we can use a table to record entries. , because there is a . after entries . How can I organize such a paragraph?Thanks! <Q> I haven't checked what the classic style guides say on this, but my personal practice is that in such cases, I capitalize what comes after the colon. <S> If each "point" is long enough to be its own paragraph, then I make the first one its own paragraph also. <S> Like: <S> A hypothetical solution might be set up like this: <S> First, we can use a table to record entries. <S> These entries are imported from a library or a database. <S> A spreadsheet program is easiest for data manipulation. <S> Second, we sort the entries according to the number of ninjas. <S> This will be useful when creating sorties. <S> Etc. <S> If the entries are short enough to all be in one paragraph, I still capitalize the first one: A hypothetical solution might be set up like this: First, we can use a table to record entries. <S> Second, we sort the entries according to the number of ninjas. <S> Third, etc. <A> There is no question here. <S> You are setting out to describe a solution or process in steps. <S> A series of sentences ending with periods is a perfectly legitimate way to do that. <S> There will be no confusion where the process ends because the reader will continue until the content suggests the solution is complete. <S> Also, you have written 'First,' which will suggest to the reader there is more to the solution if he for some reason wanted to stop after the first sentence. <A> This is fine as written, so long as later in the section you have Second and Third or Last and so forth. <S> I'd make each numbered item a separate paragraph, regardless of length, so it's easier to follow the steps. <S> A hypothetical solution might be set up like this: first, we can use a table to record entries. <S> These entries are imported from a library or a database. <S> A spreadsheet program is easiest for data manipulation. <S> Second, we sort the entries according to the number of ninjas. <S> This will be useful when creating sorties. <S> Third, we add rows for Vampires (Sparkly), Vampires (Non-Sparkly), Sharks, Starfleet Officers, and Other. <S> We'll fill in that data as appropriate. <S> We can add columns for whatever weaponry everyone is carrying, so the sorties will have balanced offensive and defensive skill sets. <S> Fourth, we establish commanders for our sorties, and give each division a cool name and a logo. <S> Finally, we summon our forces, hand out sortie assignments, and unleash them against the invading enemy.
| Capitalizing, and possibly making a separate paragraph for, the first entry creates a parallel construct with all the other entries.
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HTML Formatting for ebook I uploaded my short story on Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) yesterday. All went well and I am excited, given this is my first attempt to publish anything! I did some research prior to making the above attempt. Obviously, I wanted to get it right from the start. The one thing I was constantly alerted to by others was formatting. This included advice on using a professional, a third company etc. I am unsure whether it related to using a service provider such as Lulu (i.e. unsure if the latter related to formatting only or wider matters, including publishing on multiple platforms through lulu etc.) I appreciate the tips and advice I got. I was told to do HTML formating and all the coding was beyond me. I am unsure where I read it but I followed the following steps: Typed my story in Word (It was just three pages; I wanted to start with something I could manage.) Use the indent feature (under paragraph tab) to set the paragraphing. Saved my file as Web Page Filtered. I was told to use this (rather than Web Page) because it took care of the hidden codes in the document. I then logged into KDP and uploaded my document, previewed the format and then clicked OK. All the above was relatively easy. Question: Is there anything I am not doing in terms of formatting my document in HTML? <Q> MS Word brings a lot of trash along, when converted to HTML. <S> By trash, I mean unnecessary formating tags and styles that can mess your content if you decide to change it in the future. <S> I won't give much more details but MS Word was design to create Doc files, not HTML. <S> If you need something else than Doc files, Word is probably not for you. <S> HTML is extremely easy for basic documents like a 3 pages text, but it has its learning curve. <S> Besides, HTML will split content from formatting, and that means that you will probably need to learn a few more things to do small funky things like add extra space after a paragraph. <S> Again, it's not hard. <S> Anybody can learn basic HTML without any problems but it has its learning curve. <S> Of course, HTML was not exactly designed to book writing <S> so I don't think you will enjoy to write using HTML without a visual editor. <S> What I suggest is: use Markdown and Pandoc if you really intent to write ebooks. <S> Markdown is extremely simple. <S> I'm using it right now to write this answer and it was designed to create a text that could be read almost in the same way by a render software and by a human. <S> Also, it's plain text what means that can be edited in any text editor. <S> Using Pandoc, you will be able to compile (aka export) <S> your markdown file into almost anything you want: <S> DOC, HTML, PDF, LATEX,... <S> And the code Pandoc generate is way cleaner than MS Word. <S> So, you asked if there was anything you are not doing in terms of formatting my document in HTML, and the answer is: there's so many trash in a HTML document generated from MS Word that it would be hard to tell. <S> MS Word is a wonderful software, I just don't think it's the right tool to create web content. <A> When saving a file from Word as HTML, Word acts as a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) HTML editor. <S> From personal experience, the HTML produced by the program is passable and effective, though inelegant and usually not the absolute best it could be. <S> The only impact this has, the vast majority of the time, is that the file-size is the tiniest bit bigger than it could be - it's not really a big deal. <S> If you have tested the file in your browser and on an e-reader and it looks ok, then you aren't "missing" anything integral to having a functional e-book. <A> I've submitted books in Word .doc <S> , docx, filtered HTML and ePub formats. <S> As an ex website developer I know that Word makes a terrible mess of converting text to HTML - especially the older versions of it. <S> I would NOT submit a document in HTML produced by MS WORD.Amazon is quite happy to accept .doc or .docx files as the source but making the contents can be tricky. <S> My solution is to start with a Word .docx file. <S> I use File > inspect to strip out all the comments, personal data, headers and footers then re-save the document. <S> I then import that into the calibre ebook management program. <S> That's an open source program (free). <S> It allows me to edit the book's meta data and add 10 keywords (keyphrases really) <S> Amazon allows only 7. <S> I then convert the .docx file to ePub format. <S> That's easy in calibre and takes care of the contents file. <S> That ePub file is sent as the source document to Amazon. <S> EPub and MOBI/ <S> AZW3 files are actually a compressed version of HTML files. <S> calibre (yes - it is spelled with a lower case 'c') does a better job of converting to HTML than Word does. <S> You can get calibre at https://calibre-ebook.com/download
| You want to write eBooks, use proper eBooks tools.
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Is it better to omit phrases like: after a moment, after a while, for a moment, etc? I also find myself writing stuff like this: (dialogue) They remained silent for a moment . A dog barked at the distance. (dialogue) and this: His stomach started to growl after a moment , and only then he realized he was hungry. After a moment , he decided to walk west. Is it better if I omit the bold text? I think the text wouldn't change that much. Are they often necessary for pacing? <Q> To illustrate, let's rewrite your last example: "After a moment, he decided to walk west." <S> How about this? <S> " <S> He looked to the east. <S> In that direction lay nothing but the ruins of his former life. <S> Turning away, he decided to walk west." <S> Or: "Thinking about what she had said, he decided to walk west." <S> These are merely hypothetical, first-draft samples of random possibilities, but they demonstrate that creative writing works best when words (and opportunities) are not wasted. <S> On the other hand, there may be nothing valuable to convey about a particular moment; there may be no content worth communicating, in which case it's a good idea to try to eliminate the statement. <S> In your sentence, "His stomach started to growl after a moment, and only then he realized he was hungry," the phrase "after a moment" is entirely unnecessary. <S> Cut it out, and you'll see that the sentence works even better. <S> If it is essential to the story that the stomach growling must be shown to have started at some point distinctly after some other point in time, then again I would suggest making something happen in that crucial moment, thus: "The window of a restaurant caught his eye, and he stopped to look inside. <S> As if on cue, a waiter appeared, carrying a tray of plates laden with food. <S> His stomach started to growl...." <A> There's nothing wrong with phrases like "after a moment". <S> Just be careful not to overuse them. <S> If you find yourself writing: Al entered the room. <S> After a moment, Sally entered also. <S> A moment later, Al said, "Oh, Sally, it's you." <S> Sally paused for a moment ... Using the same word or phrase (other than an article, pronoun, or short preposition) <S> repeatedly in a short space tends to look awkward. <S> As John Landsberg says, in some cases you could replace the "after a moment" with some action. <S> In other cases you could simply omit it. <S> I'd say that the only time you should include it is when you intend to convey that nothing happened in that moment, that everyone was just waiting or standing dumbly. <S> For example: Bob picked up the book and opened to where he had left off. <S> After a little while, he put it back down. <S> The "after a little while" contributes nothing. <S> Indeed it leaves the statement ambiguous. <S> Is the intent that he was reading for a little while, that he just stood staring blankly at the pages, that he was thinking about something else, or what? <S> Better to say what he did <S> than just say that time passed. <S> On the other hand: Cathy burst into the room and announced to her family, "I've decided to marry Bob!" <S> She was met with total silence. <S> After a moment, her father said slowly, "I suppose the wedding will have to wait until Bob gets out of prison ..." <S> Here, the idea that everyone stands around saying nothing for a little while contributes to the mood. <A> There are different phrases you could use to describe passage of time, like: •minutes later•after some time•a while later•after a long pause•following a brief pause
| Merely stating that a moment of time passed wastes the opportunity to convey what actually happened in that moment. Using "after a moment" isn't that bad, but don't use it a whole lot. In my opinion, the passage of a moment is better expressed by filling it with some action.
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Punctuating dialogue with oneself I am wondering what the convention is for punctuating dialogue with oneself. In particular, if a character speaks to himself, do the words need to be put in open and closed quotes? Note that the words in this case are merely the thoughts of the character. Examples: How could I be so complacent, Alex said to himself. I will not give in, Alex told himself. <Q> If they’re physically talking I’d present it as normal text. <S> Thought - <S> Damn it, what’s the matter with me? <S> She thought as she closed the door. <S> Speech - ‘Damn it, what’s the matter with me?’ <S> She cursed as she closed the door. <A> "Before I start my reply, I want to point that, afaik, in Portuguese speaking countries, the most common way to delimit dialogues is to use only dashes. <S> The quotation marks are reserved for thoughts and, sometimes, foreign words. <S> I'm answering based on that criteria." <S> I handle that in my books as a normal dialogues. <S> – <S> How could I be so complacent? <S> - Alex said to himself. <S> In the phrase below, maybe it makes more sense to consider it as a thought, but I don't know to context. <S> " I will not give in. " <S> – Alex thought while climbing the mountain. <S> – " I must continue on. " <S> Normally I rule that, if a character expects an answer from himself, he is dialogging with himself, otherwise, he's just toughing about something... <S> But that's only me. <S> You should choose what works better for you. <S> If it's a dialogue, don't quote. <S> If it's a thought, quote. <A> Ei. <S> the character is talking to himself. <S> Inner dialogue and thoughts should be italicized. <S> The only real difference between dialects should be small punctuation changes, like whether to use single quotes or double. <A> The Chicago Manual of Style says that "unspoken discourse" can be either in quotations marks or not according to the author's preference. <S> (Referencing some of the other respondents' contributions, Chicago does mention that in some countries em dashes are used for dialogue. <S> I can only come from an American English perspective on this.) <S> A good way to bypass this problem altogether is to write thoughts less like dialogue and, well, more like thoughts or urges, fleeting ideas floating through the synapses of the character's brain. <S> Instead of "Joe thought, "I want an apple" write " <S> Joe had a sudden hankering for an apple." <S> Or, referencing your examples: How could I be so complacent, Alex said to himself. <S> Alex wondered how he could have been so complacent. <S> I will not give in, Alex told himself. <S> Alex told himself not to give in.
| I guess the answer on quotes, depends on how you think you should deal with the dialogue. In most instances thought is presented as italicised text. In all written English, dialogue by a character should be quoted as well as any other vocalized words.
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First Chapter for Free? I am currently working on a novel, and am approximately 45% of the way through (~37,500 words / 100 A5 pages). Working full time, I am unable to finish my story within the next month, and I plan on completing it within the next three-to-five months. During this time, however, I would like to make people aware of its existence and was toying with the idea of offering the first chapter for free (personally, I believe that the try-before-you-buy system is a wonderful marketing strategy, plus it will also ensure that people who are likely to enjoy your book will be the only ones buying it, thus potentially providing positive feedback). I intend on publishing my novel myself in eBook format (.epub, .mobi, etc.) and was wondering which - if any - sites offer such a first-chapter-for-free service free of charge. Ideally, I will be listing with Amazon, but I understand that an eBook can only be listed in full (i.e. I cannot list merely the first chapter on there free of charge as a pre-release sample). Any suggestions would be great. Many thanks. <Q> I would strongly advice against offering a "pre-release sample". <S> Offering a first chapter or two for free to get your readers hooked before they have to pay is a nice touch in my opinion, but providing a portion of your novel before it is all <S> finished <S> sounds risky. <S> What if you realize by the 80% mark that something is horribly broken in the beginning and you need to go back to fix it? <S> If you have offered the first chapter, you cannot really change anything in or about the first chapter, which often includes a number of character introductions and world basics. <S> It seems to me to be a bad idea to limit your available options like that. <S> Another possibility, which has been pointed out in comments by both Monica Cellio and Paul A. Clayton , is to write and publish a separate short story. <S> It is more work than simply taking the first chapter of what you have written and dump that in peoples' laps, but it does give people a chance to see what your writing is actually like rather than risk being disappointed in only getting the very first portion, particularly if that is very little. <S> If you do go that route, you should consider that short story an "advertisement" and make sure you do your very best with it, because people are going to judge your longer novel based on that short story if they read it. <S> If the short story is bad, they will (right or wrong) conclude that you probably can't wing writing a novel any better. <S> If/when you decide to publish a portion of your novel for free, there are a couple of options. <S> One obvious one that I can see (and this said without knowing what Amazon's etc. <S> ebook publishing agreements are like) is to publish the first chapter separately either on a page on the merchant's site or on a site of your own, and provide a link from the purchase page. <S> You would probably need to work out the particulars with each merchant; have you contacted e.g. Amazon and asked if they have anything like what you are after? <S> They are, after all, the ones most qualified to answer questions about their services. <A> Nothing puts you down more than if you expect to get the full story, and then detect that it's only a part, and you have to pay for the rest. <S> This is true even if the author didn't intentionally hide the fact, but just made it not obvious enough for you to notice it. <S> At least that's how I react as a reader. <S> If I know up front that it's a sample, then I'll start reading under that premise, and then might buy it if I like it. <S> If I expect to get the full story, and notice the incompleteness only after getting to the (non-)end, I definitely do not feel like buying it. <S> I suggest to write at the very beginning of the actual ebook containing the free chapter that it is not the complete story. <S> That way, you also cover deep links directly to the text (which may fail to mention that it's not the complete story). <S> Note that this might include people coming from search engines (and you certainly don't want to alienate people discovering your work through search engines). <A> Finishing a First Draft is only the first step, and the easiest one in self publishing. <S> I spent twice as much time editing as I do writing. <S> After editing there is a lot of Marketing work to do... <S> I do mean a lot. <S> It is during this step that you give out free chapters. <S> Only after the book has been edited (Because you might change a lot more than you think during editing) and you have a release date. <S> Unless you link your free chapter to the pre-order button for buying the whole thing, you will annoy people with the tease.
| If you publish the initial chapter, there's one thing you should make damn sure: That the readers are guaranteed to know up front that they are reading only a part of the story.
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How long does it take to write a 1000-word news article? I write tech articles for my blog and for a news outlet here in my country (mostly in French). I've been doing this for years, but I've always thought that I was slow in readying my stories. I am not talking about the 'seek-and-collect' information phase, but the actual writing of the article. How long should it take to write e.g. a 1000-word article? How can I increase my efficiency and productivity during the desk hours? <Q> As an ex-journalist my guideline is - just write it, two hours and done. <S> Later try not to think too much about it, focus on the next story instead and come back. <S> If you've got the time for it, review the text on the next day, correct the most obvious things and send it. <S> Other way, if you spend too much time on it, you can pretty quickly get bored with writing at all, and you certainly don't want your job to be boring for you, right? <A> Your assumption about hours rather than days for the mechanical processes of writing (a feature article, for example) is probably correct. <S> I have "text entered" 1000 words in a day more than once. <S> The proviso is that the work has been built and rebuilt in my head over several days (possibly weeks) before I commit to the keyboard. <S> On those occasions when the work flows, it is almost as though I am transcribing a tale being told to me. <S> I am not "writing" for those few hours because all that work has been done before. <S> On the other hand, there are days when I sit down to turn out my 700-800 word masterpiece and never get past 200 because something that worked fine when running around in my head reveals dreadful flaws when viewed on the screen or page. <S> Some authors of how-to books advise that when that happens you simply keep typing as planned and do the fixing later. <S> I always think that I would like to do that, but when the issue arises I stop and tinker. <S> As in most aspects of writing, the short answer to your question is "It depends on ..." <A> I write news stories about technology. <S> This means that I have to be as quick as I can when reporting news. <S> It's not very easy to keep up with such a pace and over the years I learned some 'tricks' on how to improve my efficiency. <S> A big part of this process is eliminating the distraction. <S> So, when I sit to write, I close all the unnecessary tabs, especially those of GMail, Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites. <S> I use a simple and minimal online text-editor called Draft to write. <S> I also found out that, the quicker I finish a piece, the better it is. <S> If It takes me more than 2 - 3 hours to write a 1000-word story, for example, I would know that it will be rubbish. <S> Because I just start to rewrite every phrase three or four times, trying to make it 'perfect'. <S> So I started setting deadlines (I use this Task Timer for Google Chrome. <S> Not very fancy <S> but it's all I need), which helped improve both my efficiency and the quality of my articles. <S> Thinking fast about the 'what to say' instead of wasting a lot of time on 'how to say it' made my stories better. <S> Style DOES matter, but I always remind myself that I am not a poet and that the people who are reading my stuff are looking for information not for art. <S> In this case, a good writing style has one mission : keep the readers reading the article and and make simple to understand. <S> As the Facebook motto says : it's better done than perfect. <A> The best way to increase your efficiency and productivity is writing. <S> I mean, you can read 1000 books on the matter and listen to 1000 advised but <S> the only thing that will make you more productive is actually writing. <S> Of course you will be able to sit and put some of that theory to work also, but is the practice that it matters. <S> In any case, what I use to do is. <S> Think in the manuscript during the day, while I'm not writing and, when I start to write, I cease to think in the manuscript and focus in transcribing what I already thought to the paper. <S> And another thing. <A> The post inspired me a lot. <S> I write SEO articles in this sometimes takes several months just to get it going. <S> Analyzing too much is not good compared to "just writing". <S> I actually just looked at draft which was mentioned earlier in this article and it is great :) <S> Sometimes the goal of a long article of 7.000 words can scare your actions. <S> It is better to leave the analyzing and get something written on paper. <S> When I changed this mindset on quickly began to create content. <S> I wrote this article about cycling jerseys in just a few days - but I had the idea for several months. <S> So to answer the question it depends <S> but if you want to be productive 1.000 words should not take more than 2 hours.
| For me, it works really great to have a specific time of the day to write.
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How to do dialogue? Whenever I'm writing, I use this style: "I don't see why I have to put up with this nonsense." I muttered. However, I see this type of writing in books: "This room is full of idiots," he muttered. Is the style I use okay, or do I have to change it to the one I see in books? <Q> If you end the quote with a period, that makes it a complete sentence. <S> And that turns: I muttered. <S> into a second sentence. <A> Dialogue has a bit of a different style. <S> Here's some examples of correct dialogue grammar (with respect to punctuation at the end): <S> "You're looking well this morning," said Tommy. <S> "I'm doing well," said Theresa, "thank you kindly." <S> Katherine said, "Let's have pasta for dinner." <S> "That sounds good," said Austin. <S> "Do you want to go to the place on Broad Street?" <S> So yes, the way you see dialogue written in books is correct and you should change the grammar of your dialogue to match. <A> I agree with the two other posters and would like to caution you from always using correct grammar for dialogue. <S> When people are talking out loud, they don't use it. <S> Off the top of my head, this is an example: <S> "Something I said?" he asked. <S> "Every time, another complaint," she said. <S> "Try living with yourself sometime," he said. <S> "Comm Ave," she said. <S> " <S> There." <S> "What?" <S> he asked. <S> "Comm Ave, where I lived with myself and loved it. <S> Absolutely." <S> If you're at a restaurant or coffee shop, try recording two people nearby talking to each other. <S> Just for a brief bit. <S> Then take dictation - write down exactly what each one says to the other from the recording. <S> It will inform your writing.
| If you want to indicate that he (or I) muttered the words between the quotation marks, then yes, you must end the quoted words with a comma.
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Is it correct to use verbs like "sighed" and "laughed" as dialogue tags? In other words, is it correct to write something like this: "Oh," he laughed. "Sorry, I'm not sure what's with me today." (Every time I see something like this, I think: "How is this peson laughing an talking at the same time? But other times seems OK for me. Strange.) as an shorter version of this? "Oh," he said with a laugh. "Sorry, I'm not sure what's with me today." "Oh," he said laughing. "Sorry, I'm not sure what's with me today." Other example: "OK," she said with a sigh. "Just this time." "OK," she said, sighing. "Just this time." "OK," she sighed. "Just this time." Because I've noticed by dialogues are cluttering with "withs" all of the sudden. <Q> I don't have a problem with them (they're called bookisms, I believe) if : You don't overdo it. <S> It's tempting to make every dialogue tag something vivid or extra. <S> Don't. <S> D.W. Smith pointed out in a writing tutorial once that "the word said is invisible. <S> " It really is. <S> Be judicious with bookisms. <S> Think of them as salt: a little is good; too much ruins the dish. <S> You use them when they are necessary. <S> That is, you use "sighed" because it conveys extra meaning which would otherwise be lost, and which can't be conveyed another way. <S> For example: "'I hate you,' she crooned." <S> Crooned means something very specific which is very difficult to describe using <S> she said with TKTKTK. <S> (Credit Kate Sherwood) <S> Other answers which will be useful to you: Attributives in dialogue <S> I'm getting tired of "he said" "she said" in dialogue; how do I get around it? <S> Dialog, just what's the best way to write it? <A> As a reader, I interpret sentences like <S> "Ok," she said, sighing. " <S> Just this time. <S> " <S> "Ok," she said with a sigh. " <S> Just this time. <S> " <S> "Ok," she sighed. <S> "Just this time." <S> differently. <S> In the first one, the character seems to be saying "Ok," sighing with a pause, and then saying "Just this time". <S> When she talks, it is separate from the sigh and her speaking voice is a normal tone. <S> Similarly for the second example. <S> For the third example though, the character isn't saying "Ok" in a normal speaking voice. <S> She's being expressive with her tone and the sigh is part of what she's saying. <S> It's like a groan or a yell - <S> it's how the person says it vs. what they're doing while they say it. <S> For the laughing example, I always interpret it as the character is laughing and manages to get the words out in between or after the giggles. <S> Generally, you don't want to do it too much, but not doing it at all can potentially leave the dialogue flat and without inflection. <S> Find the balance between describing how the character's talking, showing what they're doing while they're talking, and just letting them talk. <A> I like to test a dialog tag by putting the tag into a question like this: <S> What did he <tag> ? <S> If the question makes sense, and if you would answer the question with words, the tag is probably okay. <S> For example: What did he say? <S> That's a meaningful question, and you'd answer it with words. <S> So say is legit as a dialogue tag. <S> On the other hand: What did he laugh? <S> This fits only in the very rare case where the person is uttering the words as laughs. <S> Mostly, people don't laugh words. <S> So laugh doesn't (usually) work as a dialogue tag. <S> What did he sigh? <S> Same as laugh. <S> The examples you chose are interesting ones. <S> Each action involves exhalation,so it's possible to utter words as part of the exhalation. <S> And when the words are uttered as part of the exhalation,I'm okay with them as dialogue tags. <S> But unless you mean "he uttered the words while exhaling in this way,"the tag doesn't seem technically correct. <S> Another fun one: <S> "Apoplexy," he belched. <S> In the examples you gave,there is a simple fix that involves no extra words,no extra characters. <S> You can simply change the comma to a period. <S> " <S> Oh." <S> He laughed. <S> " <S> Sorry, ..." <S> This makes the action separate from the uttering. <S> Of course, this means that it is no longer a dialogue tag. <S> Also, it (in my mind) shifts the rhythm ever so slightly,suggesting a slightly longer beat between "oh" and "sorry." <A> Using it as "'...' laughed John" is valid and syntactically correct. <S> If you want different words, you can go the J.K. Rowling route of always writing "said (word)-ly," or you can use the link below, which has (I think) just about every word you can use instead of "said" in the English language. <S> Examples of How to Use <S> : Words instead of Said
| Using words like laughed and sighed give more information about how the person is talking while using adverbs like laughing and sighing tell what the talker is doing while communicating. Definitely doable, definitely something that occurs in real life. To answer your question, it depends what you're trying to convey.
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Techniques to write for a wider audience Many years ago, I wrote a short story that used specific information from my cultural background e.g. a belief that if you dream something, it is a form of a vision (superstition, some may say!). This was an asset because my target audience then was mostly people from my cultural background. I want to update the story now and publish it to a wider audience who obviously are not aware of the cultural significance of the information. The cultural information hold the plot of the story so it cannot be simply discarded. Question: Are there techniques that I can use to make any story sound less culture-specific? Perhaps the alternative question is : How do you blend cultural information in a story so that it can also appeal to a wider audience? <Q> I had a similar problem with my book, since it was aimed mainly for Portuguese speakers but the two main Portuguese speaking countries - Brazil and Portugal - have really different cultural scenes and even the language is somewhat different. <S> In some cases, I had to use footnotes and explain outside of the narrative what somethings were. <S> At other points, my characters spoke in the book about the cultural thing that needed to be explained. <S> I don't see how you can escape from those two approaches if you want to make your " localized " book accessible to people who are not familiar with you culture. <S> Quentin Tarantino has a wonderful example of how to do it in Pulp Fiction in the famous Quarter Pounder with cheese scene . <S> He uses some hilarious European details and toys with them under the optic of an American; in the end, the viewer understands the differences perfectly with amusement. <S> Having the characters use those localized cultural details in the book is better; but sometimes that is not possible. <S> In such cases you might try my approach: use footnotes to explain the less important ones and characters to explain the more important ones. <A> If these are insignificant details, footnotes or mentions by characters are okay. <S> If these are more central to the story but not likely to be widely known, a cabbagehead may ask for detailed information. <S> If it's central to the story, the culture and all characters, something quite a bit too common for a cabbagehead to ask, or too broad to answer, write a prologue about that. <S> An example of this: <S> Fallout: <S> Equestria prologue "Of PipBucks and Cutie Marks," containing the sacramental sentence: <S> So yes, PipBucks really are a testament to unicorn pony arcane science. <S> And yes, having a PipBuck is a big advantage. <S> So with how wonderful and miraculous all that just sounded, it’s hard to impress upon ponies who never lived in a Stable just how ordinary <S> , how pedestrian a PipBuck was in the eyes of the ponies living in Stable Two. <S> It would be absolutely stupid to seek a cabbagehead who needed this explained. <S> That was far too common, too pedestrian to explain differently than through a chapter where the protagonist turns directly to the readers with explanation, ending the prologue with "Pleased to meet you. <S> Here is my story..." <A> If you want to appeal to an universal audience, you should talk about universal problems. <S> then it's probable that they won't find any appeal in your story. <S> Regarding your case, I think the concept of dreams as premonitions is an universal thought. <S> You can find the concept spread across various cultures. <S> So I don't see any problem in it. <S> All cultures have their own traditions but if you analyze them keenly you will find similarities among them. <S> Exploit the similarities. <S> A personal example: I'm writing a novel about the soul. <S> If I had chosen to focus it on the Christian view, it would had been more or less culture-specific. <S> But I chose to just talk about the soul in an universal way (e.g. Does the soul really exist or it's just an human invention?). <S> So, I hope, it will appeal (or annoy) <S> the majority of cultures. <S> You can also add the various perspectives to the story. <S> Or the opposition to your statement (e.g. if dreams are more real than we think, why is that Atheists don't usually dream about God whereas Christians do most of the time? <S> As Philip K. Dick said, "reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.") <S> Of course, many people like to delve in other cultures, but that takes an special interest. <S> And you can't predict that.
| You can use footnotes and very detailed descriptions but if the readers don't relate to them (because they don't identify with your culture)
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In end user documentation, should screenshots come before or after the text that references them? The end user documentation I'm writing makes use of screenshots (and partial screenshots) to show the user what I'm referring to in procedural instructions or conceptual explanations of the software. However, I'm never quite sure whether to put the screenshot before the paragraph that refers to the screenshot or afterward. What is most readable? Furthermore, I'm not using figure captions. So, the problem might be that I have large sections of text referring to the screenshot at all. Maybe the caption should explain the screenshot and the text shouldn't directly refer to it. What are some practices in technical writing that would help me here? <Q> If a reader follows a reasonable path 1 through your documentation, there should never be a point where he's looking at something incomprehensible. <S> This applies to text, code samples, diagrams...and screen shots. <S> Therefore, unless the structure of your document itself provides this (e.g. through section titles and a consistent format, like in a catalogue), you should always have some explanatory text before the screen shot to provide context. <S> However, this principle applies to text too <S> -- you don't want to have a page of text describing stuff that will only make sense after someone sees the screen shot, either. <S> This is true with or without figure numbers and captions. <S> 1 <S> At minimum (for non-reference doc), starting at the beginning and reading through. <S> But also consider the case of someone who looks something up in the table of contents and jumps there, <S> and, if applicable, the use of your documentation in online context-sensitive help. <A> 1) Put the descriptive text first, then the screenshot immediately afterwards. <S> We read down. <S> In the Print dialog box, click Export to PDF. <S> [SCREENSHOT of dialog box] <S> 2) <S> You may or may not need a caption, but you should at least label each screenshot. <S> Fig. 1, Screen B, Ralph, something. <S> That allows you to refer to it elsewhere in the text. <A> An introductory text should always come before the screenshot that you are about to display. <S> This will help the user to get an idea of what is about to be displayed in the screenshot. <S> Then you can definitely provide the descriptive text for what exactly is happening in the screenshot for better understanding of the user. <A> Using columns can improve readability and keep illustrations from being separated across pages from the text that references them.
| So in my experience the norm is: text that sets the stage, then the screen shot, then details that refer to the screen shot. Screenshots can also come to the right or left of text that references them.
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Is it a bad idea to use a culture-specific word in the title of a story? I wrote a short story long ago called The End of the World . I thought the title was too common so I renamed it to The Kid with the Gigaku Mask and the End of the World . But then, I found that title to be too long, so I just left it as The Kid with the Gigaku Mask. I'm clear that no Western reader would know what a gigaku mask is, but I think at least, they will know that is something related to Japan. I'm asking this because at first, I thought it was a bad idea to use a culture-specific word in a title. But judging from the number of views I got in comparison with my other stories, I think I was wrong. Well, anyway, is this a bad or a good idea to have titles like this (in terms of marketing)? <Q> I don't know what a Gigaku Mask is, but I had no idea what The Stone Dance of the Chameleon was either, and that didn't prevent me to buy - and love - that book. <S> Don't forget that the reader buys also by the cover and the resume, and that will probably give them more insight. <S> If I had seen the picture of a Gigaku Mask, I would know it was some kind of theatrical Japanese mask. <S> I think exotic titles might awaken curiosity more than drive back readers, specially because Japanese culture is somewhat liked by the westerns. <S> Being Portuguese, and with all the relationship both countries had in the past, I must say I'm particularly interested by a lot of Japanese things. <S> I wouldn't worry at all with that title. <S> I liked it a lot <S> but, on the other hand, if it gets published you editor will, for sure, say if he thinks the title is not good enough. <A> I think a title has two purposes: to get the attention of the potential reader, and to give him a clue what the story is about. <S> A natural response is, "What does that mean?", which may get them to look for more information. <S> If the potential reader doesn't know the word than it can't convey a lot of information to him, but if he can at least guess at the language or the field the word comes from, it still conveys something. <S> Let's look at your example, "The Kid With the Gigaku Mask". <S> My immediate thoughts are: "gigaku" sounds Japanese or Korean or maybe some other culture from that part of the world. <S> So I guess the story has something to do with Japanese (or whatever) culture. <S> I don't know if "mask" in this context is referring to a mask that might be worn in some traditional theater, or something used in religious or mystical ceremonies, or perhaps something related to some sort of holiday celebration. <S> I'm sure there are other possibilities. <S> " <S> Kid" in the title leads me to believe that it is a story for children. <S> (Of course not all stories with children as main characters are intended to be read by children, but they usually are.) <S> If you keep the "and the end of the world", then I suppose that the story is fantasy or science fiction. <S> With the reference to the mask, I'd guess some sort of fantasy. <S> Of course others may not have exactly the same thoughts I do, but I think what I just outlined is what many would assume. <S> If that's right, than cool. <S> If not, you may want to rethink that title some. <A> It all depends on what you're aiming at with your title. <S> The title may not be meaningful. <S> Take Nana by Émile Zola or Old Father <S> Goriot by Honoré de Balzac. <S> It's merely the name of the protagonist or just a significant character. <S> It tells nothing about the content, the story, and is too generic to indicate anything about what kind of story it is. <S> Such a title requires a rather reputable author to sell well though. <S> The title may be just as short but augmented with a subtitle. <S> The full title of Sir Thaddeus by Adam Mickiewicz is Sir Thaddeus, or the Last Lithuanian Foray: A Nobleman's Tale from the Years of 1811 and 1812 in Twelve Books of Verse . <S> That is sure to tell more about the content. <S> Or the title may be mysterious, hinting at the content - like in your example. " <S> Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" <S> - you get a bit of clue it will be about magical themes, and it has a bit of "book for youngsters" ring to it. <S> There's of course a whole range of other titles, more revealing, completely mysterious by being written in a strange language (even made-up language), or ones outright misguiding. <S> Nevertheless, your fares well mid-way the range, and is actually a rather common (that doesn't mean bad!) <S> approach. <S> It won't make the title too long <S> but it will add a little for those who hesitate a second before picking it (and <S> you're right <S> , it's too generic - but then nowadays apocalyptic/postapocalyptic stories sell like hot cakes, so it would surely attract audience.)
| Putting a foreign word or a word that is likely to be unfamiliar to most potential readers can attract attention. Also, if you want to keep "The End of the World" you can use it as the subtitle, an optional extra.
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How to avoid repetition How do you avoid too much repetition both in writing and speech? I feel like I'm repeating the same word over and over again when I'm writing or talking to people. The price of this tablet is X and the price of that tablet is Y. In this example, I feel like I'm repeating "price" and "tablet" too much. I even feel like I'm repeating the same sentence construction. Is there a shorter/better way to say this? X is being sold in that store at $200 and Y is being sold in that store at $300. If the two "that store" are referring to the same store, what kind of information can I delete without losing too much information? Styluses X are $3 per dozen and styluses Y are $4 per dozen . In this example, I'm not sure if I can leave out the second "per dozen" and still convey the same meaning. Styluses X are $3 per dozen and styluses Y are $4 (per dozen is implied?) . Or should I even do this to avoid repeating the same construction? Styluses X are $3 if ordered in dozens and styluses Y are $4 if ordered by the dozen . I tried to change things around a bit but I'm not sure if this works. <Q> Put the two subjects together to make one clause. <S> For example: "The prices of X tablet and <S> Y tablet are $120.00 and $140.00 respectively <S> " Join the two subjects with "both" and use a different preposition: <S> "X and Y are both sold in that store for $200.00 and $300.00" <S> Sometimes for clarity's sake you might need to repeat the same expression but adding "while" as a conjunction makes the sentence flow more smoothly. <S> Stylus X are $3 per dozen while stylus <S> Y are $4 per dozen. <S> You could swap the clauses: <S> If ordered by the dozen stylus <S> X is $3 and stylus <S> Y is $4 <S> I changed the plural noun styluses to the singular stylus because I presume each stylus has a different price tag, but if company X sells several different styluses all at the same price than it's perfectly correct to keep the plural form. <S> EDIT: <S> Suggestion <S> No 2 seems open to misinterpretations, so here are other alternatives. <S> If X and Y are priced identically: <S> "X and Y are both sold in that store for $200.00 <S> But if not: <S> "X and Y are sold in that store for $200.00 and $300.00 respectively . <S> and X is $200.00 and Y is $300.00 sold in that store. <A> In the examples you gave, I don't think the repetition is bad at all. <S> These are parallel constructions and repetition makes that clear. <S> Contrast your examples with a sentence like <S> , "Bob decided he needed a new tablet. <S> So he went to a store that sells tablets where the tablet salesman showed him a variety of tablets. <S> He particularly liked tablet XR-17, but tablet Ultra Foo, a tablet made by Acme, was cheaper. ... <S> " <S> Here the repetition of "tablet" is distracting and it would be a good idea to look for alternative phrasing. <S> Others have mentioned substituting synonyms. <S> I assume by "tablet" here you mean tablet computers and by "stylus" you mean styluses used with computer screens. <S> If not, the same ideas apply though the details would be different. <S> But in that case I don't know of any synonyms, though you could use more general terms. <S> In context a general term could pretty unambiguously refer to a specific item. <S> Like if you're talking about tablets and then instead of saying "tablet XR-17" you say "model XR-17", the reader would generally assume this was a model of tablet and not a car or a toaster. <S> In other cases you could drop the word completely as it's already been established by context. <S> Like the above paragraph could be reworded to, "Bob decided he needed a new tablet. <S> So he went to a store that sells computers where the salesman showed him a variety of models. <S> He particularly liked the XR-17, but the Ultra Foo by Acme was cheaper ..." <S> But in your examples, substituting synonyms could create ambiguity. <S> Like if instead of "The price of this tablet is <S> X and the price of that tablet is Y <S> " you wrote, say, "The price of this tablet is $200 and the cost of that computer is $300", a reader might well wonder if your switch from "price" to "cost" was simply to avoid repetition or if you are trying to convey a different meaning. <S> Similarly they might wonder if the second item is also a tablet or if it is some other kind of computer. <A> Mari-Lou A gave many good ways to do it. <S> Let me just add about using em-dash to replace repeating part. <S> The price of this tablet is X, and that — Y. X is being sold in that store at $200 and Y — in that one, at $300. <S> Styluses X are $3 per dozen and styluses <S> Y — $4. <S> And no, in your case: Styluses X are $3 per dozen and styluses <S> Y are $4 (per dozen is implied?). <S> No, the second "per dozen" is not implied - specifically because you alliterate "styluses <S> Y are $4" which is not the same as the prior clause at all. <S> If you use the em-dash omission, the dash means "the same as before" and then the dozen actually is implied.
| You can and should repeat words when your intent is to show that two things are similar.
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Is the following sentence structure allowed in fiction? I'm not very sure why, but the following sentence structure came out from my mind: Disclaimer: this is a first draft. The realization just came to her now. Or perhaps, she knew it all along; it just that she didn't want to accept it. She was alone in a small, compressed space, with the rest of the world very far away from her. And maybe she would never be able to come back to it. Ruth, Benjamin, and the people she loved and cared about—she would probably never seen them again. Things would change. They would change from one state to another, just like ice turns into water, and water into gas. Is that sentence structure allowed in fiction? Is OK right to use the em dash in this situation? (Does it read clumsily?) <Q> No! <S> Absolutely forbidden! <S> The Rule Book XVII of the Writers Inquisition explicitly forbids under pains of corporal punishment!! <S> Just kidding. <S> That's a pretty standard, rather nice form. <S> I usually use ellipsis where you used em-dash, but both are acceptable (and some use a colon, it's acceptable there too.) <S> There are a few mild typos/mistakes ( "it was just that she...", "come back", you usually put spaces on both sides of em-dash, plus the last sentence sounds a little cheesy to me... ) <S> but the particular construction is quite common and well accepted. <S> Don't abuse it - too much will be tiring, but using it from time to time is fine.) <A> It's perfectly alright, though it sounds weird in my head because you've drawn attention to that sentence. <S> As a result, I feel like it could be changed in a way that it reads better. <S> And maybe she would never be able to come back to it. <S> The people she loved and cared about. <S> Ruth, Benjamin — she would probably never seen them again. <S> Things would change. <S> Or, why not <S> And maybe she would never be able to come back to it. <S> The people she loved and cared about — she would probably never seen them again. <S> She thought about Ruth, Benjamin. <S> Things would change. <S> And I agree with SF that the last line just sounds too cheesy. <S> But, your form is not weird at all. <S> Finally, removing the "I thought" portion <S> And maybe she would never be able to come back to it. <S> The people she loved and cared about — she would probably never seen them again. <S> Ruth, Benjamin. <S> Things would change. <A> It's not grammatically correct standard written English, but it needn't be. <S> It's perfectly comprehensible and imitates real stream of consciousness just fine. <A> It looks like you are referring broadly to your use of sentence fragments in this paragraph. <S> While frowned upon in formal writing (eg. <S> essays, research papers) <S> , they are one of the creative writer's tools! <S> Sentence fragments also allow the writer to vary the sentence length and thus pacing, which prevents a paragraph from feeling monotone and plodding to the reader. <S> Perhaps this structure came naturally to you for this section because you are well-read and intuitively picked up on techniques other writers use! <A> The realisation just came to her now... <S> This is tautology , saying the same thing twice in different words. <S> It probably would not be the best idea. <S> Also, it should be see instead of seen in the bolded part. <S> Aside from that, there is nothing wrong with your passage, though you probably will edit it in later drafts. <S> Don't worry about that right now. <S> If you can't improve it immediately, leave it in there until you think of something, then you can add that change in a later draft. <S> So long as the problem is out of the way before you send it...
| They are allowed because they mimic thought and experience, which are not always in fully formed logical sentences.
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What is first electronic rights? I am unsure if I adequately understand the concept of first electronic rights. If I post a story on a writers' website for free but also publish it through Amazon, will it affect me? <Q> The Amazon agreement says: " You grant to each Amazon party, throughout the term of this Agreement, a nonexclusive , irrevocable, right and license to distribute Digital Books, directly and through third-party distributors, in all digital formats by all digital distribution means available ". <S> That means you can also distribute your digital book through other media - free or paid - what includes a a free writing website. <S> In legal terms of exclusivity, it won't affect you. <S> On the other hand. <S> a lot of people will have access to your content freely and may not be willing to pay for it. <S> Of course there are a lot of people who choose such an approach, appealing to those who like the content to buy it or donate money as support. <S> That will affect you, but not necessarily in a bad way. <S> It's hard to say if offering the book for free will make you earn or lose money. <S> It depends on a lot of things and, especially for a not well known writer, it may mean profits. <A> In general, "First [X] Rights" means "the right to be the first person/entity to do [X]," or "...to publish this piece in format [X]. <S> " <S> In this context, emailing a copy to your best friend isn't publication, but posting it on a publicly-accessible site (e.g. your blog, or a writers' website) is; publishing as an ebook available on Amazon certainly is. <S> In general, as soon as you post or sell your story in any public venue online, you no longer have any First Electronic Rights to sell. <S> That being said, not having First Electronic Rights doesn't mean you don't have any Electronic Rights - they're just not first anymore. <S> They'll likely still have value, particularly if you can eliminate the "first" source of publication, which lets you provide exclusivity. <S> There's lots and lots of things you can do with Electronic Rights - it's so broad, that it's a good idea to negotiate very clearly on specific projects rather than the catch-all "electronic rights." <S> Note, also, that publishing digitally can also been seen as "taking" other rights, particularly First Serial rights - having published something online can make publishing it in print less attractive; it's no longer the "first" publication of the work. <S> All this being said, rights are negotiated over, and the precise degree to which you're likely to be able to sell any one right or a combination <S> thereof (and for how much!) depends heavily on your particular piece and situation. <A> this URL seems to answer the title question: <S> http://www.writing-world.com/rights/rights.shtml In granting/selling your First Electronic Rights to PublisherX, that means you send them a copy, and wait for them to publish it before you submit it to anywhere else. <S> Furthermore, Let's say PublisherX and PublisherY, both only want submissions that grant them First Electronic Rights. <S> Well, you already sent it to <S> PubX. <S> You need to wait to see if they accept it before sending to PubY. <S> If PubX rejects it, then you can submit it to PubY because they are now the "first" to possibly publish it. <S> If PubX accepts it, you MAY NOT sell it to anybody else as First, because they aren't the first. <S> I found this, because a site I am considering sending a submission to only accepts First Electronic Rights/First Printed Rights. <S> Meaning that I can't simul-submit, and if they did accept and I found somebody else with the same deal, that story would not qualify. <S> The good news is, you still own your story. <S> You can self-publish it later or build an anthology or something. <S> You just have to understand that First rights is a big deal to what you can re-sell it as. <S> Only one publisher can have First Rights.
| "First Electronic Rights" means first publication in a digital format.
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Opening a story with a reference to what someone just said followed by a setting description An example: Naomi's words hung in the air as I gazed out of the hotel window. The mountain lay quietly in the dark, like a calm, sleeping giant. A cluster of city lights glittered beyond. In the forest nearby, pine trees bowed slightly in the wind, and the loud cries of cicadas reverberated among the trunks. "The Giant Ancient Tree?" I said, making sure I had heard right. Naomi nodded. I turned to look at her. "I thought it was just a myth." I would like to know if this reads smoothly, and whether it feels clumsy to start with a reference to what someone just said, and then follow that with a setting description (of course, with the topic being reveled immediately after). <Q> Yep, works for me. <S> Particularly if this is the literal opening of the story, not just the scene; I like to establish some sort of setting fairly early on. <S> You don't linger too much. <S> You're giving us just enough for us to grasp where she is, and then get back to the dialogue. <A> I think your first paragraph works well. <S> You create a tiny mystery right off the bat -- what was it that Naomi said that her words are still "hanging in the air"? <S> -- that sucks the reader in. <S> It's often said that if you can hook the reader in the first couple of sentences, you've got him. <S> (I may plagiarize this idea myself someday. :-) <S> A great piece of advice I read once was from an editor who said that a writer submitted a story to him and explained, "My story really starts rolling in chapter 2. <S> " The editor's response was, "Then start the story with chapter 2." <S> I'll add that personally <S> , I don't like the <S> "I thought it was just a myth. <S> " I think that's a line that has been beaten to death. <S> It seems like every time a strange tale or object is introduced in an adventure story, someone says, "I thought that was just a myth. <S> " <S> Also, "the Giant Ancient Tree" is a rather dull name for something that sounds like it's going to turn into a key element in the story. <A> I didn't think it read clumsily at all. <S> I think it sets up a nice conflict and mystery at the start. <S> The way you get right into the dialogue is nice as well. <S> It might be fun to play with some kind of interplay between the viewpoint character's thoughts about Naomi's words and the description of the scenery, but that's the only suggestion I would have. <A> The organization and flow are good. <S> As other answers mention, a slight sense of mystery or perhaps foreboding arises. <S> But because of several minor problems it doesn't read smoothly for me. <S> For example, the second sentence ends verbosely or clumsily; “who had just gone to sleep” could change to “just now asleep”. <S> “At the distance” [since edited out] instead of the more-usual “in the distance” was jarring. <S> I don't find “pine trees swung slightly” accurate as a description of pine trees in wind – <S> perhaps my problem with it is that I think of swinging things as suspended from above. <S> Perhaps try “pine trees bowed and nodded” instead. <S> If the forest is an important part of the story, make its first mention more interesting and specific; “nearby” lends little interest. <S> Is it all around? <S> Adjectives like great, deep, ancient, dark, brooding <S> , impenetrable are perhaps overused as modifiers of forest , but if any of them apply to your concept of the forest, then use one or two, or look at synonyms and find a word that's descriptive, striking, and less-used. <S> “Faded cries of cicadas reverberated” seems self-contradictory to me because I regard a “faded cry” as a memory of a cry, rather than an attenuated cry; and regard something that reverberates (or “rings with many echos”) <S> as necessarily loud and audible. <S> Thus, while one might accurately say loud cries reverberated, or the buzz and rattle of cicadas reverberated, or faded cries of cicadas tinged the air, it seems to me that faded is incompatible with reverberated . <S> “Gave me quick nod” seems clumsy. <S> Perhaps revise the last two paragraphs to one: <S> Naomi nodded when I turned to her; and then I asked, “But isn't it just a myth?” <S> In summary, the organization is sound, and the minor flaws I mentioned should be easy to smooth out. <A> In fact, it's a great idea. <S> In your example, I think you've handled it really well! <S> I see that you have the concept down perfectly, and this is a first draft that you can polish into something terrific. <S> There are of course a kazillion ways of doing it, so forgive me for just going ahead and taking my own turn at the plate here. <S> Let me just have a go for fun: <S> Behind me, Naomi repeated the name. <S> She knew she would have to, even though she couldn't see the scorn on my face. <S> Before me, the mountain was a sleeping giant in the dark. <S> A cluster of city lights glittered at its feet. <S> Cicadas chirped and chattered in the surrounding forest. <S> "The Dragon's Egg Tree," was what she had said, for the second time. <S> I turned away from the hotel window and strode past her. <S> "Drink?" <S> I asked, grabbing a bottle on the side bar. <S> She scowled. <S> " <S> That's all you have to say?" <S> I dumped some tonic into her gin and shoved the glass into her hand. <S> "What else should I say if you bring me three thousand miles to talk about fairy tales? <S> Cheers, Naomi!" <S> I downed my Scotch in one gulp.
| Alex, the basic concept of opening with a reference to what someone has just said, followed by a scene description, is absolutely fine.
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About the Author description Whether we like it or not, the "About the Author" description is a marketing tool. It contains selective personal and professional information which is deemed to have the potential to create a positive impression about the author on the readers. I have just written a paragraph about myself in which I mention my academic qualification. I am hoping the readers of my short stories would make a connection between my qualification and writing. e.g. the qualification puts me in a better/stronger position to "know what I am writing" (even if it is a work of fiction). i.e. the qualification has made me a better observer of social processes etc. (The qualification is not in creative writing.) Is it appropriate/wise to include one's qualification when describing oneself as a writer? <Q> If your qualification is related to your story, then yes. <S> For example, Mercedes Lackey keeps hawks and horses, both of which feature prominently in her stories. <S> So I know that any details about them are reasonably based in fact. <S> If your degree is in underwater basket-weaving and your story is about WWII England, then not so much. <A> Presumably the point here is marketing. <S> So the question really is, Will the mention of this particular credential help to sell this book? <S> Some credentials would be a pretty obvious plus. <S> If you've written a book about how to design automobiles, mentioning that you've spent 20 years as an automotive engineer for a major car company would surely be a helpful credential. <S> Mentioning that you have a degree in French poetry would sound pretty irrelevant. <S> If you give a bunch of credentials that are all irrelevant, that would signal to me as a reader that you have no relevant qualifications, or you would have brought them up. <S> In such a case, better to say nothing. <S> Like, okay, this has nothing to do with a book, but I got a campaign flyer from someone running for office once that had a panel with his qualifications, and they all sounded trivial and irrelevant to me. <S> Like -- seriously, this was one of the things he listed -- "Had perfect attendance in high school". <S> Listing such things led me to believe that he probably wasn't qualified for the job. <S> Credentials mentioned might signal the reader what kind of book this is. <S> Like if you've written a book about automobile design and you list as your primary credential that you've spent 20 years as an environmental activist, I think readers would expect that your book is going to be about the environmental impact of design decisions. <S> A book on vegetarian cooking that lists as the author's main credential that he is chairman of the National Beef Producers' Association would likely lead vegetarians to question if this is a book they are interested in. <S> You may be able to tie a seemingly-irrelevant credential to the subject. <S> Like, my first book was about database design, and my second book was about the Bible. <S> So in the about-the-author stuff I wrote that I was a software engineer and that I brought this technical and analytic viewpoint to my Bible commentary. <S> Whether that worked or not I can't really say. <S> I'm sure that the principle works if done well. <S> It can not only let you use the credentials that you've got, but if done right can give the reader the impression that you are bringing a fresh or special perspective to the subject. <A> I would be interested in knowing that Robin Cook is a doctor, since he writes fiction books that heavily relies on medicine. <S> It would be weird if he was a computer technician. <S> On the other hand, I don't care at all about what Margaret Weis studied in college. <S> If you write fiction, what kind of fiction you write? <S> If it's social based, it makes sense you say that you have academic qualification <S> but it's not mandatory. <S> If you write fantasy books with elves and dwarves, will it make any difference if you haven't graduated at all? <S> That's to say I wouldn't go for that path expecting to impress readers and make them to buy your work, because I think most of them will care more about the book description than the author qualifications... <S> But I think a good "about the author" might reach the ones who want know more. <S> So, the answer is <S> yes, it's appropriate to include such information, specially because most of publishers do in their books. <S> I just think it could not be yes if aimed for " making a connection between my qualification and writing for the readers ".
| In some cases a credential could be taken by likely readers as a negative. In my opinion, the difference lies on your writing.
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Variation in paragraph length I've learned that variation in sentence length is good. How about paragraph length? I always end up with paragraphs like this: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat Ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat Amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat (I think my mind unconsciously tries to even out the paragraph length every time I write). Sometimes I do this: Ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat Something of great significance happened Amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat Sometimes dialogue adds up for some variation (I guess): Amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat Consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat "Dolor in hendrerit in vulputate." Consectetuer adipiscing. "Veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper." "Hendrerit in vulputate." Adipiscing. Sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat But as you can see, there isn't much. Is variation in paragraph length good? Or it doesn't matter so much? <Q> As long as the short paragraph works (that is, the short punchy statement has a reason for being there, that the punchiness creates a dramatic or humorous moment or in some way serves the narrative), it's great for breaking up the monotony of prose. <S> Yes, it's good. <S> But don't use it for decoration. <S> Use it because it's necessary. <A> Yes, variation is good, whether it's word length, sentence length, paragraph length or even chapter length. <S> But at the same time, you need to keep something else in mind: the paragraph needs to be as long as it needs to be. <S> What I mean is, if you need to write a paragraph that's just one sentence long to make an impact ("Something of great significance happened" in your example) then do it. <S> If you're doing it just to variate the paragraph length, you'll probably break the rhythm of the narration. <S> If you have a long paragraph where a sum of things are happening, then make it long. <S> If you join several paragraphs together just so you can have a long paragraph, you're misusing your paragraphs :) <S> Also, something else to think about: if your paragraphs are all the same length as in the first example, what's happening in the story? <S> Why aren't there any dialogues? <S> Why isn't there anything of significance happening? <S> What I mean is, same length paragraphs can make the story appear monotonous, but also, the same length paragraphs can be a product of a monotonous story. <S> If you notice that the paragraphs are the same length, you might want to examine the story to see why they're all the same length, and is there a way to spice up the storytelling. <S> Chances are, if you make the story dynamic, the paragraph lengths will follow. <A> Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell.......... <S> Word length really shouldn't vary much more than the correct spelling of each word <S> attempts to enforce, in most cases. <S> I think variation in sentence length has a great deal to commend it except that you must beware of allowing a sentence to become overlong to the point at which it could cause readers to lose interest and even lose track of where the sentence is going if there are so many elements in the sentence that no one could even keep track of where the sentence started and what it is trying to say and <S> the sentence itself actually becomes a paragraph in and of itself even without the need of a single punctuation mark if you don't count the period that inevitably must be placed at the end. <S> Paragraph length should vary. <S> Really. <S> However much you want. <S> It maintains interest. <S> Credo in gente Anglorum confundit <S> Latine scribere. <S> So you might want to give it to us in English, maybe. <S> And I believe in humor to make a point. <S> I think you probably guessed that. :D
| Variation in paragraph length can be very useful, the same way variation in sentence length can be useful.
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Roadblocks in my story: The Gladys Tribe I am writing a book and I've come to some roadblocks in the plot. Here is the basic storyline: A tribe of people live in a grand city deep inside the caves and large caverns in a mountain. Outside is so cold and always snowing that someone could freeze to death if they ventured out. The walls of the caverns have a sort of magical crystal all over it that glows, therefor lightening the caves with white light, and also allowing plants to grow. But in result to some accident they all had to leave the city and move to other parts of the mountain's caves and caverns. The maps were lost and somehow the beautiful city with crystals on the walls is lost and thought never to be found again. Several generations later a young man in the city has a map that is the last of it's kind from his great great great grandfather. It tells where the long forgotten and now legendary city is. The young man goes on a journey alone to find the city. He finds the city but does not know that his good friend the princess has followed him. The man is lost because he can not find is way back, but the princess follows his tracks and eventually finds him and the city. The people go in search of the princess when they find she is missing and find her tracks and follow them and soon find her, and the man, and the city. Because there were so many people searching for her they knew the way back and then everyone in the city moves to the wonderful land, the long forgotten legendary crystal city from several generations ago. That's the happy ending. But I have some problems and I am sure there are more so please tell me of any if you see any. My problems: How do I make it realistic that there would be a place such as this; where outside is too cold to live, and the caves somehow give warmth. Perhaps it is a volcano mountain? How do I make the crystals realistic, does such crystals exist anywhere on earth? Or shall I make it another world where the crystals are natural. Any other ideas? What would have caused the people to leave the city generations ago, yet without destroying the city by a cave in or anything because they must be able to come back to it later? It does not seam all that realistic that the princess would be friends with this man who thinks he can find the city. But there needs to be a main character that is attractive to the reader. So if not the princess, who else would make sense? And perhaps the man does not lose himself therefor can go back himself to tell the people. Since these people live underground and can not go out for long, what would be their main food source? I would like the man to be rather young, but younger does not make sense, so how young can he be and what past would he have that would motivate him to find this city and have him to happen to have a map from his ancestor? I would greatly appreciate your input, answer as many questions as you can, and also, I would like as many answers as I can get so I can compare them. And please, be a critic and tell me what's wrong with my story. Thanks a lot! By the way, this story is copyright 2013. Please don't use the plot anywhere. <Q> When I read your questions, it made me think about the genres of fantasy vs. science fiction and I wondered whether you know which category you are aiming for. <S> Is it important that you come up with scientific-sounding explanations, or can you simply construct a fantasy world that will support your crystals/etc.? <S> For example, some kind of powerful/divine/fairy beings could have created the crystals & etc., but attached rules for their use. <S> Perhaps improper use (or neglect of gratitude toward the divine beings) resulted in the city becoming unlivable. <S> Perhaps return is only possible once the divine ones have gotten over being angry, or the people have realized that they must repent. <S> Other potential reasons for leaving the city that come to mind: <S> A plague (natural or magical) could have struck. <S> The inhabitants flee the germs, and lose the way back. <S> By the time they actually return the contamination is gone. <S> The same could apply to an attack or infestation of nasty magical bats/insects/gnomes, etc. <S> (plus, they could fight a pitched battle against the nasty magical bats/insects/gnomes at the end to get their city back). <S> The main group of dwellers could have exiled a small group before themselves getting wiped out by plague, civil war, etc. <S> The exiled folk could repopulate the city once they find their way back. <S> You have a lot of questions about your story. <S> When I am in the early stages of writing, I find it helpful to make lists of possibilities and potential solutions to such problems (I write down everything that occurs to me, no matter how silly, because the lack of pressure helps me produce more). <S> Once I cross off all of the silly and unworkable ideas, I usually have enough to start with. <A> Lizzy, you have many elements of a beautiful story here, and with some work you should be able to make a lovely romantic adventure out of it. <S> Since you are asking for what elements of the story could stand some improvement, I would like to focus on one particular connected stream in the storyline that I think would benefit from some attention. <S> So here's my connected series of questions that really all pertain to the same thing: If there is a map that clearly shows the way back to the original city, why did the great great grandfather not use it to lead everyone back in the first place? <S> Why did no one in that family down through the generations not use it ever before? <S> If it didn't come to light for some reason until this particular young man found it, why did he not show it to the whole community? <S> Why did he not show it to the leaders of the community so they could lead everyone back to the original city? <S> If he was a friend of the princess, why did he not show it to the princess? <S> If he decided to go off on his own (which seems like a dangerous and foolhardy thing to do) why would he not take some kind of precautions for his own safety? <S> If the princess was going to follow him, why would she not follow him closely enough so that she wouldn't have to "follow his tracks? <S> " If the young man had a map that could get him to the original city, how could he get lost? <S> He could just follow the map back again. <S> Even if he did get lost, you say the princess could follow his tracks to find him; why couldn't he follow his own tracks back and rescue himself? <S> If the princess wanted to go save her friend, why wouldn't she go with a rescue party? <S> She's a princess, after all. <S> Plausibility in a storyline rests on paying very careful attention to microscopic details like this, so I hope you can see why it's worth my pointing them out. <S> Best wishes on your story! <A> My two cents: <S> Perhaps the cave is warmed up by geothermal heated groundwater from the earth's crust. <S> The crystals could be two types that by mere proximity have a reaction to each other that cause light. <S> Perhaps people left because of famine, war or extreme weather. <S> The cave could be within a day's walk and not vulnerable to the aforementioned possibilities. <S> The princess could know the man and like the man because he is an artist and she experienced one of his paintings or songs. <S> The man, if he was an artist as described above, could have seen a painting/drawing as a child that described this cave/city and has always been curious. <S> He could have dreams/visions that call to him and compel him to go on a journey.
| If the crystals and living conditions are the result of some kind of magic, you could use the rules of that magic to explain many of the other plot issues.
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What steps can be taken to avoid libel / copyright issues in social commentary? I'm interested in the social, cultural, and political landscape around me, and I think I've "got a book in me" on the topic. A major source of material would be the writings of everyday people in places like Tweets and letters to the editor. Q: Is making a "value judgment" about a public statement someone have any legal risks? Q: Would I need permission to quote a publicly made available statement, such as a Tweet? <Q> Think it right, everything has legal risks , since anything can originate arguments that may seem as valid for somebody. <S> That's the reason why court houses exist: to judge if an argumentation is legally valid . <S> I know this might be a quite extreme affirmation but, yet, it's a valid one. <S> In the first place, you have the legal right to have and express opinion. <S> If you read or watch something, you can make a value judgment on it. <S> There's a difference, by the way, in giving your opinion - what's a product of personal believes - and affirmation - <S> what's a product of a fact . <S> About permissions, that's why licenses and terms service are for. <S> Check Tweeter Terms of Service ! <S> You retain your rights to any Content you submit, post or display on or through the Services. <S> By submitting, posting or displaying Content on or through the Services, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, reproduce, process, adapt, modify, publish, transmit, display and distribute such Content in any and all media or distribution methods (now known or later developed). <S> Also <S> This license is you authorizing us to make your Tweets available to the rest of the world and to let others do the same. <S> You can use tweets as much as you like <S> as far you respect the terms of service. <S> If you want to use other sources of data, you will need to check the license of that source. <S> Of course, you will always have the right to express your opinion on a book even if it forbids reproduction, as far as you don't use any of its content. <A> Q1: <S> Make sure you made it clear you are stating opinions, not facts. " <S> He's a thief" is a libel. <S> "In my opinion, he's a thief" is free speech. <S> Also, until sentenced, the culprit is merely "allegedly culprit". <S> IANAL <S> so I'm not sure if more rules or exceptions to that don't apply. <S> Q2: Make sure to read up on Fair Use. <S> It's not much of reading <S> but it's important. <S> Use of quotes in news reporting, criticism and commentary (and other categories not quite applicable here) is allowed. <S> You are still required to assign credit where it's due, and note, they can still sue you for copyright violation <S> - it's then your duty to prove before the judge that Fair Use exceptions apply. <S> It's a protection against losing the lawsuit, not against the lawsuit. <A> I am not a lawyer, but my understanding: In the U.S., you generally have the right to express your opinion on any subject you like. <S> If you talk about specific people, you have to beware of libel and slander laws. <S> Basically, you can express opinions about people, but if you make statements of fact, you must have some substantiation that those facts are accurate. <S> For example, if you say, "I hate Senator Jones", that's a statement of opinion and should be absolutely protected. <S> If you say, "Senator Jones accepted a bribe from XYZ Corporation", that's a claim of fact and he could sue you for libel if it's not true. <S> If you falsely say that someone committed a crime, that's always libel. <S> Other statements about them could be libel if they can show that it causes them harm. <S> Like if you say, "Mr Smith was born in Maryland" when he was born in Connecticut, the statement is provably false, but unless Smith can show that this error causes him some harm, he's not going to win a law suit. <S> That said, there are growing numbers of "hate speech" laws that you have to be wary of. <S> Like, a representative of the US Justice Department recently told a newspaper that criticizing Islam on Facebook and other social media is a violation of Federal civil rights laws. <S> http://www.tullahomanews.com/?p=15360 Regarding quoting public statements: As SF says, you need to read up on "fair use". <S> The law is vague because the concept is vague. <S> Like, there is no legal definition of "short". <S> When someone sues, a judge decides it on a case-by-case basis.
| Basically, you can use short quotes of statements that others have written or said for purposes of commentary, criticism, or education without getting their permission.
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Does this sound like a good description of someone falling asleep due exhaustion? Anything I can do to make it sound better? I'm trying to describe somebody falling asleep from exhaustion, in first person. I'm currently using a longer, detailed description, but is that the best way? Never had a few moments deliberation seemed like an eternity as I feel my consciousness ebbing away, and my thoughts, as clear and concise as they were mere moments ago, were coming to an end. My eyes grow heavy from the strenuous effects of excessive agitation of the brain--that faculty which, in all its strength, I had not prepared for such a weakness. At once, I was struck with incoherence, an inconsistency to my thoughts, as I kneeled down and leaned a shoulder against the wall—for I had already decided to give myself away to my pursuer, to exhaustion , to be dead to the world before the rest of me ever hit the cold concrete floor… <Q> A bit too wordy for my taste, but that's purely subjective. <S> I'd have to see the rest of the piece to make a better judgement. <S> The overall imagery could work. <S> For example: My eyes grow heavy from the overwhelming effects of excessive agitation of the brain for which, in all its power, I had not prepared for its weakness. <S> This sentence is just not right. <S> If you leave out the inserted sentence "in all its power", you get: <S> My eyes grow heavy from the overwhelming effects of excessive agitation of the brain for which I had not prepared for its weakness. <S> which makes no sense, grammatically. <S> At once, I was struck with incoherence—an inconsistency to my thoughts, as I kneeled down and leaned a shoulder against the wall—for I had already decided to give myself away to my pursuer—to exhaustion—to be dead to the world before the rest of me ever hit the cold concrete floor… <S> There are so many — here that I don't know to what they refer to, what sections are they surrounding. <S> For example, it looks as if "—an inconsistency to my thoughts, as I kneeled down and leaned a shoulder against the wall—" is an inserted sentence, which makes no sense. <S> I believe you were going for " <S> At once, I was struck with incoherence — an inconsistency to my thoughts — as I kneeled down and leaned a shoulder against the wall" but even so, the em dashes make it so awkward. <S> I think it would look somewhat clearer like this: <S> At once, I was struck with incoherence, an inconsistency to my thoughts, as I kneeled down and leaned a shoulder against the wall—for I had already decided to give myself away to my pursuer, to exhaustion, to be dead to the world before the rest of me ever hit the cold concrete floor… <S> It's still a pretty awkward sentence though. <S> As I said already, long, run-on sentences are perfect for this situation, but they still need to be clear and readable to the reader. <S> I had to go back several times to get my head around it. <A> Using shorter sentences (and varying their length) can make the piece more readable: Never had a brief span seem like an eternity. <S> As I feel my consciousness ebbing away, as clear and concise as it was mere moments ago, it was coming to an end. <S> My eyes grow heavy from the strenuous effects of excessive agitation. <S> At once, I was struck with incoherence, an inconsistency to my thoughts, as I kneeled down and leaned a shoulder against the wall. <S> I decided to give myself away to my pursuer, to exhaustion. <S> And I would be dead to the world before the rest of me ever hit the cold concrete floor. <S> I'm not sure if the piece makes sense after my edit. <S> But you get the idea. <A> I'm not clear on the timing. <S> Is this first person narrative in the moment, or the narrator recalling the event after the fact? <S> If it is the former, it is overwritten by about 100 to 1, since someone that exhausted shouldn't be able to think such detailed imagery. <S> If it is the latter, the present tense should be changed to past tense. <A> Try this: My eyes flickered into darkness due to exhaustion.
| The long, run-on sentences work well in showing fatigue, but some of it might need a bit of a clean up.
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Describing a character's panic and confusion I wrote the following: When I opened my eyes, it was still dark. Halfasleep, I got out of bed, and entered the bathroom. As I emptied my bladder, I checked my face in the mirror. For an instant, I couldn'trecognize the person reflected in it. Only when I waved my hand and personwaved back that I realized it was me. When had been the last time I'dlooked at myself in the mirror? A slight headache came upon me. Afterflushing the toilet and washing my hands, I searched the cabinet forsome painkillers only to realize there wasn't one. Right, I was in ahotel in Jade Mountain—not at home. Shaking the water off my hands, I walked across the room, but thenstopped abruptly in the middle. An unsettling feeling began wellinginside me. There's was something wrong in the room—but I couldn'tquite tell what it was. I felt as though I had entered a house withthe gas stove left on; the atmosphere was dense and strange, thoughtapparently invisible to my eyes. Suddenly, I realized what it was: Naomi was nolonger in the room. I turned on the light and glanced around. Her purse, her clothes; allher things were still here. Everything except her shoes. My heart started pounding at a increasingly rapid pace. I checked mywatch. Almost midnight. Where could she have gone at thistime? I turned to look at the window. The trees were stillswaying in the wind and the leaves still rustling against the ground. Quickly, I put on my jacket, my shoes, and then rushed downstairs. Am effectively describing the character's panic and confusion? Does it feel natural and smooth? <Q> The important thing about writing is to show, not tell. <S> Here's a re-write that attempts to do that <S> : I opened my eyes. <S> In the dark stillness, I couldn't see much, but the dim glow of the bedside clock and the vague shadow of the lamp next to it. <S> Half alseep, I fumbled with the covers and stumbled to the bathroom. <S> After emptying my bladder and flushing the toliet, I checked my reflection in the mirror. <S> I waved my hand and the person waved back. <S> Good <S> , I sighed, I'm still me . <S> A dozen needles danced their way across my forehead. <S> I searched the cabinet above the sink and didn't find much but a few small bars of soap. <S> Right, I was in a hotel in Jade Mountain—not at home. <S> Washing my hands, I switched off the bathroom light and waited. <S> After my eyes adjusted to the murkiness, I glanced toward the bed. <S> Even before my mind registered the flatness, I knew she wasn't there. <S> Flipping on the overhead, I scanned the room. <S> Wallet and keys peeked out from the jumbled pile that overflowed from a over-sized purse turned on its side. <S> I glanced at the open closet near the door. <S> Everything hung straight and level, except for a gap where her dark, leather coat should have been. <S> I checked my watch. <S> Almost midnight. <S> Where could Naomi have gone at this late hour? <S> Quickly, I put on my jacket, my shoes, and rushed downstairs. <A> I think it reads well. <S> One key that helped me in writing a panicked state of a character was being told to use short sentences during that scene. <S> You do that well <S> and I think it helps bring that sense of urgency <S> you are going for. <A> I came here from a search looking for panic facial expressions. <S> Want to make sure I do it right. <S> Anyway, I think that the OP needs to tweek the first couple of paragraphs or get rid if them all, jump right into <S> were he feels that something is wrong. <S> You know how you can sometimes wake up in a tizzy sure that something is so very wrong? <S> It's wrong for anyone to rewite that for you as without meaning to they'll put their own writing style into it, you have to do this in your own style and voice. <S> Hope you read this <S> , I know it's an old toppic. <A> How do you guys like this? <S> I was filled with trepidation. <S> My heart was thumping so loud that I was sure everyone around me could hear it. <S> In front of me, I could see my instructor’s mouth moving, words flying past my head. <S> There was just one question popping up in my mind. <S> What did I do to deserve this? <S> In my logical mind I knew the water was calm, but my imagination was running wild, with rough waves tumbling angrily, pounding the shores. <S> Also, with abundant mountains all around me, It felt like I was being cornered and trapped, with nowhere to go. <S> A familiar voice woke me up from my reverie.
| You want to draw your reader into the moment by relying on the character's senses and then walk them through the moment as if they were your character. The haunted eyes and dark circles underneath them made the long, drawn-in face almost unrecognizable. Have his heart race from the moment he wakes up, have him jump out if bed as if someone yanked him out if his dreams and dumped him into this feeling of panic.
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Books for children: complexity I am wondering how complex the story can be so that small children can understand it (younger than eight). Are there any rules of thumb of how many characters can be introduced before the child looses track of it? Is it alright to have more than one plot? Finally, are there any significant changes (due age) in child's perception that have to be accounted for, so that it can enjoy the book? For example, is it possible that (due to some change at ~4.5 years) a book targeted for 4-5-olds would have to be a failure, while those targeted for 3-4 or 5-6 might be fine? Of course, all things vary, but I'm asking about rough averages and estimates. Maybe someone knows appropriate literature? Thanks in advance! <Q> Your question relates to the developmental psychology of children more than their capacity to decode text. <S> As such it has very little to do with chronological age because there is so much variation across individuals. <S> Even though publishers (or booksellers) may want to use labels such as 5-7 year-olds , these are essentially meaningless. <S> The issue is not simply variation across the population because the accessibility for an individual of books written in similar styles will also vary with content. <S> A reader fascinated by dinosaurs will keep track of four plot lines in three time periods involving 10 Latin names with apparent ease, but then be completely stumped by what (to an editor) seems a simpler book about flowers or fish. <S> The difference lies in background knowledge and intrinsic motivation. <S> The classic works most often cited are those of Jean Piaget (although he has tended to fall out of fashion). <S> If you are interested in how children handle the progression in complexity of situations, I recommend the SOLO taxonomy of John Biggs as a starting point. <S> Although it was developed for categorising assessment and curriculum tasks, the underlying understanding of number of elements and their inter-relationships applies well to plot construction. <S> One possible use is in suggesting mechanisms for reducing the demand of a text that you have written but find too complex for your target audience. <S> SOLO gives you a basis for identifying the features that are creating the barriers. <A> In addition to academic knowledge about child development, there's nothing like experiencing real children and seeing how they respond to books. <S> If you don't have young children in your life, I'd suggest "borrowing" some who are within your target age-range and willing to help. <S> See if they understand your story (ask them to explain it-- they may have reached very different conclusions than you intended). <S> See if they like it. <S> Talk to them and find out what their interests are, and what other books they like. <S> Possible ways to find these small workshoppers: <S> Contact a local teacher or librarian and see if they would be interested in hosting a "meet an aspiring author" session. <S> You could offer to talk about how to write a story as well as sharing your own. <S> See if any neighbor families would be willing to read your story and give feedback. <S> Kids usually like helping and might feel rather important in this role. <S> Mail <S> a copy to any young relations and see if they will tell you how they like it (especially if your story is for slighter older/more independent readers). <A> There could be some who are ready to read Harry Potter by themselves starting in first grade (6-7 years old) while their classmates could just be starting to make the shift to easy chapter books. <S> I don't think that the best way to go about this is to target a specific age group. <S> A better way would probably be to go about figuring where in the progression of learning to read <S> you want your book to fit in - just learning/picture books, books with more words but still a large amount of pictures, easy easy chapter books, chapter books such that a child would find at a Scholastic book fair... <S> up to young adult books (young teens) and older YA books. <S> Another way to go about this is to just write the story you're trying to write and see how complex it is when it's finished.
| It's important to keep in mind that children learn to read at slightly different ages and that reading comprehension/ability can vary greatly even among kids the same age.
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How to become a productive/accomplished writer? I prefer writing short stories. Over the years, I have learnt many essential skills that I employ in my work. I believe (and this is my personal assessment) that my stories are of good quality (i.e have an intriguing plot, good character development, good dialogue, smooth flow etc.). I have recently hit the wall (writer's block) and I cannot think of any story ideas. As creative writing is a side interest for me, I am unable to devote too much time to it because of work and family pressures. I read somewhere that these and other factors should not be stumbling blocks because talent is a myth. I am aware (through blogs, forums etc.) that some people have written more than 100 short stories (in addition to other works!). That is a monumental achievement by any measure. I have not set any such target for myself but would love to get more stories published. To date, I have published five stories through Amazon. Question: What can some key things that I can do to become a more productive and accomplished writer? (I know there is a difference between "productivity" and "accomplishment" but both are important in my case.) I guess one of the things I can do is to learn how to quickly turn an idea into a plot. I am unsure how other writers do this in a short time. <Q> Well, "productive" and "accomplished" are two different goals, so <S> don't lump them together. <S> Period. <S> Sleep less, give up a hobby, write on your commute, write on your lunch break, whatever you need to do. <S> To produce writing, you must write. <S> If by "accomplished" <S> you mean a better writer, then you have to find one or more good editors, and learn how to revise well. <S> If you mean "published," then you have to start submitting, and perhaps find an agent. <S> As far as "I read somewhere that these and other factors should not be stumbling blocks," it's true that if you are sufficiently inspired, you will find a way around whatever is stopping you from writing (lack of time, lack of skill). <S> But, as John M. Landsberg points out, if you don't have the fire in the belly for writing, then those are not "stumbling blocks. <S> " Those are the reasons writing is a hobby for you and not a calling. <A> Javeer, I strongly commend you for having published so much already, and for having such a strong desire to write more. <S> But having worked with literally hundreds of new writers, I have often seen the problem you are experiencing, and it very often means something very important, and I'm afraid it's something you might not want to hear. <S> But you should listen to this. <S> People who have something to write about, write stories. <S> People who don't have something to write about, don't. <S> If you want to write, but you can't "come up with" something to write about, you need to ask yourself why you want to write. <S> Is it because writing is cool? <S> It is because you want to be famous? <S> Is it because you think writers make a lot of money? <S> Is it because you just wish you could escape your stressful life and writing <S> seems like fun? <S> If it's anything like any of those reasons, forget it. <S> If you have something to write about, and you write stories because you HAVE to , THEN you're a writer. <S> But if you have to struggle and strain just to figure out what you could possibly write about, then you really need to ask yourself why you want to write. <S> It would be like saying you want to build a dog house for your dog, but actually you don't own a dog, and, well, you're allergic to dogs anyway. <S> Real writers are always being asked where they get their ideas, but real writers don't even understand the question. <S> Why don't they understand? <S> Because real writers don't get their ideas from anywhere. <S> Their ideas are always there . <S> Their ideas are always swimming in their heads, and popping up unbidden, and appearing without warning, and forcing themselves upon the unsuspecting writers' brains, and demanding to be presented to the world. <S> If you can prove me wrong, if you can say "no, you're crazy, you don't know what you're talking about, you're not going to stop me!" <S> and then what I said gets you fired up and you write a dozen stories <S> and you get them all published, then good for you! <S> So let's see you do it. <S> But if you think about it seriously, and you realize I'm right, then maybe I've saved you a lot of trouble and worry. <A> Writer's block is a myth. <S> Talent? <S> Well, it's a problematic and often misused term if you ask me. <S> Replace it with "skill" and then you have something to work on. <S> Skill you can train, skill you can improve. <S> Read books about writing, blogs, take courses, on and on. <S> There are many ways to get a better writer. <S> That's how you can get "accomplished". <S> Lauren already answered the productive part pretty well (also I cannot upvote her answer, because I do not think that agents and submitting is still the way to go). <S> Nonetheless let me add how "writer's block" can be replaced with another <S> (better) word: laziness. <S> Some also call it "resistance". <S> No matter how you name it so, it must be challenged. <S> We are all lazy and we must defeat this laziness every day, whatever we do. <S> Browsing the internet, watching tv, there are so many distractions, all so much easier than doing the work that matters. <S> What leads us to Landsberg's answer (upvoted this time). <S> If writing does not matter to you, don't do it. <S> If it does, do! <S> What "matter" means, is exclusively defined by you. <S> So if it matters, grab your pen/keyboard and start writing. <S> It doesn't matter if you have ideas or not. <S> It matters if you want to write or not. <S> Put down letters, form them to words and construct sentences. <S> Ideas will follow.
| If you want to be productive, carve out time to write. You're not a writer.
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Does my title/opening paragraph grab your attention? Saki's Sixth Finger Saki gripped her extra finger as she peered down at the beach. The plane was reaching Phuket, finally. Watching the crystalline turquoise water and shiny white sand had somehow calmed her down. Coming here had been a good decision after all. Who could possibly feel tense in such a paradise like this? But still, rivers of sweat traveled down her neck, and her black dress had glued itself to her back. Maybe something had happened to the air conditioning. Saki glanced around trying to locate a stewardess, but spotted none. They were probably taking a break. Giving up, she sank back on the her seat, and let out a sigh. No, it's just me, she thought to herself. Calm down. You just have to calm down. none. They were probably taking a break. Giving up, she sank back on the her seat, and let out a sigh. No, it's just me, she thought to herself. Calm down. You just have to calm down. Would you feel like reading the story purely based on the title? How about after reading the fist sentence? <Q> The key to an effective opening paragraph, and story as a whole, is you don't want your readers to think about sentence structure and other technicalities. <S> You want them riding the roller coaster of your characters' experiences and emotions. <S> This intro doesn't do that for me. <S> One, I'm not sure where I am. <S> At first I think I'm on a beach <S> and then I find myself on an airplane. <S> Then there is the use of it and and. <S> It had been a good decision after all Could be written as: <S> Coming here had been a good decision after all. <S> And <S> But still, rivers of sweat traveled down her neck, and her black dress had glued itself to her back. <S> Could be written as: Rivers of sweat traveled down her neck gluing her black dress to her back. <A> No, sorry. <S> I stopped reading at, "crystalline turquoise water and shiny white sand". <S> Two adjectives per noun makes for ponderous reading. <S> Plus, the use of "gripped" and "finally" implied tension to me, which was then contradicted by the sand and water sentence. <S> Is she tense or is she calm? <S> I don't mind the idea of an extra finger, but would this character really think about it as "extra"? <S> If I had been born with six fingers, I wouldn't think of one in particular being the extra one. <S> I might think of being cursed, or defective, crippled, weird, freakish, or, on the other hand, blessed, special, lucky, unique. <S> The words you choose to describe the extra finger will say volumes about Saki as a person and her attitude towards the anomalous finger. <S> Compare this opening sentence: "Saki peered down and saw beach at last, relaxing her grip on Double Digit." versus <S> "Sake peered down and saw beach at last, tightening her grip on the devil finger." <S> In the first case, she (or someone) has given the extra finger a pet name that's a pun. <S> She sees humor in it. <S> The second case implies a more negative attitude towards the extra finger. <S> She reviles it. <A> I like your opening paragraph as a whole (i.e. not the first sentence). <S> It does grab my attention. <S> It takes me into the moment. <S> You create suspense and I would love to find out what it is. <S> However, I agree with others about "sixth finger". <S> I am unsure what it means. <S> More importantly, it has negative connotations. <S> Ask yourself: why sixth finger? <S> Or seventh finger? <S> What difference does it make? <S> People generally don't count their fingers in the way you describe it. <S> Perhaps it is a cultural 'thing' (i.e. there may be cultural significance to using the sixth finger).
| I'm intrigued by the title but not by the intro. Based on my (limited) experience, the more universal your story is, the better you can target your readers.
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Why do authors start a paragraph in an indirect way? I found that many writers of magazines or novels say something in a way that is not straightforward and to the point. Like this: Dressed like a latter-day Steve Jobs in a tight black long-sleeve sweater, blue jeans, and white sneakers, Dropbox founder and CEO Drew Houston addressed a crowd of developers, reporters, and some tech royalty (including Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg) at the company’s first developer conference in San Francisco. (source: How Dropbox Could Rule a Multi-Platform World by Rachel Metz) This paragraph is about the Dropbox CEO, but leads with the half-sentence is about Steve Jobs and his dress. I am also confused why the author described Dropbox CEO's dressing. Does it imply a kind of characteristics, or any similarity with Jobs? <Q> Yes, the paragraph is explicitly comparing Drew Houston to Steve Jobs, in both dress and demeanor. <S> It's an artistic way of dropping in the information. <S> It varies sentence structure, and sometimes you can't get that description into the paragraph another way and have it read smoothly. <S> Describing how the person is dressed for a presentation can be important if the person is not wearing standard office attire. <S> Particularly in this case, Houston was wearing an outfit which deliberately invoked the one Steve Jobs wore for practically every Apple conference, which I'm sure was not accidental. <A> The first half isn't about Steve Job's dressing. <S> It's about how Drew Huston is dressing like Steve Jobs. <S> I think he was simply implying that Dropbox's CEO was dressing like the late Steve Jobs and/or wanted to emulate him. <S> Of course, doing it too much would just confuse the reader. <A> There's no one answer to this, and there might have been many reasons for the author tot write the article like she did. <S> My guess is that it's an attempt to make the Dropbox CEO seem innovative and hip, like Steve Jobs was. <S> Or it might be a comment on his attempt to seem innovative and hip by dressing up like a known innovator. <S> Or it could simply be an attempt to portray the image the company projects. <S> No matter what the intent was, a sentence like this can set the scene and make information more colorful. <S> IT articles can be dry, and spicing them up with some color like this can make them more enjoyable to read. <S> Also, writing the same information in the same way every time would be boring to read. <S> Changing the structure by putting the actual information after a description of the presentation can help.
| Now to answer your questions, starting a paragraph in a non-straight way can add spice or other connotation to the paragraph.
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How do I improve my knowledge of English well enough to write in it? I have a long-term goal to write a non-fiction book: a critical book about the current state of humanity's moral methodologies and how humanity is better off dead. Much like Friedrich Nietzsche but with a persuasive writing style. To this end, how do I learn new words? What kinds of books should I read to feed more knowledge into my brain to improve my knowledge of English? Should I be reading books about English (like style guides)? Should I read examples of the genre I want to write? General English-language writing like newspapers, magazines, or blogs? Something else? Note: I was referred from the English forum to here. English is my second language. <Q> When I was learning another language, it didn't matter what I read (well, ok, I avoided the tabloids). <S> Books, textbooks, magazines, and good newspapers all contributed to my vocabulary and comfortable feel for the language. <S> Everything helps! <S> Just read as much as you can, as often as you can. <A> This doesn't necessarily mean travelling to a location where the language is spoken, though that would certainly help. <S> Here are some other things you can do. <S> The more you do, and the more often, the higher your proficiency will be. <S> Read newspapers. <S> This would provide you with vocabulary related to everyday subjects, as well as expose you to modern-day language. <S> With rare exceptions, you can trust newspapers to use correct grammar and punctuation. <S> Read literature. <S> Literature offers a wider vocabulary and a wider range of registers. <S> It can, however, be more flexible with standard grammar, and the usage of some words, structures, or figures of speech might be antiquated. <S> Read nonfiction. <S> That is what you want to write, so read it. <S> See how people express their ideas. <S> Watch movies. <S> It's important to hear the language, not just to read it. <S> Even if your goal is writing rather than speaking. <S> Listen to songs you like. <S> Find the lyrics and sing along. <S> This helps you remember both individual words and larger structures. <S> Play computer games, if that's your thing. <S> Being exposed to a language through fun activities doesn't feel like "work", but you're learning the language just the same. <S> Communicate in writing. <S> There's Stack Exchange <S> , there are forums <S> , there's Reddit <S> , there's Facebook and Twitter <S> ... Find whatever platforms suit you best, express your thoughts, get responses. <S> Passive acquisition of the language is insufficient - you need to actively use it if you wish to write. <S> Find people you can talk with, preferably native speakers. <S> For the same reason as above, only now faster - you cannot open a dictionary to find the right word, you need to find it at the speed of thought. <S> Learn the grammar rules. <S> This shouldn't be your focus - grammar should come naturally, same as it does in your native language. <S> But if you find yourself in doubt, you can always fall back on the rule. <A> Consider watching movies, interviews, listening to podcasts... <S> A feel for spoken language will give your written language a fluidity you might not acquire through reading alone. <S> Reading poetry is another good exercise because good poetry stretches the possibilities of syntax and grammer. <S> Song lyrics, too. <A> English is my fourth language and the three things I can recommend are (1) learn the grammar rules, (2) learn sentence structures and (3) expand your vocabulary. <S> Watch these aspects as you read different forms of writing. <S> Words create image. <S> There is a tone in everything. <S> With the basics taken care of, you can write anything.
| To improve your mastery of a language, you need to immerse yourself in it, as much as you can.
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Swearing - Censor, allude, or include? I was reading this thread , but it didn't quite the answer a question I had about creative writing and whether profanity should be used or not, in a way that is best for creative storytelling. Here's what I mean: James swore under his breath, his hands rummaging through the suitcase - where was the USB drive? Here, the reader is allowed to imagine what the character might be saying. For the last twenty chapters, you've made your own image of 'James', and you might think he'd say things differently to how someone else might. Versus: "Shit!" James cursed, his hands rummaging through the suitcase - where was the USB drive? Here, I've used the actual curse. Sure, there might be a bit of shock value (and we could scale up the profanity if we need to), but the reader is being told exactly what type of profanity James is using. I know that books and movies are fundamentally different, but movies having been using the Precision F-Strike for years, to deliver impact just to escape an unfavorable rating. Books don't have ratings, but some might argue about 'target audience'. For the sake of this argument, let's say that the target audience doesn't mind a bit of swearing (they're not children), but they're not oil-rig workers either. So, my main questions is: Is it better to use actual swearing, or use 'creative' methods like above? As a side note, should profanity in conversation be included? "I've had enough of your bullshit," Andrew snarled, throwing down his badge onto the desk. <Q> Again not the answer you're looking for, but it depends! <S> Don't put in swear words for the sake of it, but when they add strength to a piece of dialogue then go ahead. <S> So when a man kills a man in front of another man is it better for that other man to say <S> "What was that for?" <S> or "What the fuck was that for?" <S> Note the increased impression of anger here? <S> I could have said "What was that for?" <S> John shouted , but the John shouted takes the reader out of the moment. <S> It's a classic Show <S> Don't Tell situation. <S> As with any media it's easy to fill our writing with swearing, and it's hard to know when to leave it out. <S> In your example; James swore under his breath , you do a great job of expressing the way in which he swore, which is more important in that scene. <S> By this I mean that if you'd said "Shit," James swore under his breath , it would have been unnecessarily clunky and would have damaged the flow of the writing. <S> The only external force ( <S> so not what you think fits the situation best) that you should worry about <S> is your target audience. <S> There are degrees of severity for swear words, and audiences who appreciate different degrees. <S> If you're writing adult fiction (by which I mean Peter F Hamilton, Robin Hobb, China Mieville; not E L James) then any degree that is appropriate to the moment is fine, but if you're writing for kids or even teens you need to consider that degree of swear severity very carefully. <A> Part of it depends on your character. <S> Is he one to toss around profanity like a kid playing catch? <S> Or is this unusual for him? <S> Do you want the "shock value" of using the actual word? <S> Personally I prefer writing (and reading) the more creative phrasings authors use to cover up the profanity <S> She swore, using words no proper young lady should know and that even a construction worker wouldn't be caught dead saying. <S> If you can do it well, it adds a little humor. <S> It also shows that the character is really stressed/scared/pissed off for them to do something so out of character. <S> If profanity is more part of their vocabulary, it would be weird to use this technique so you might as well use the actual word. <A> Is the swearing important or decorative? <S> "James swore under his breath" is not the important part of that scene; the important part is that he can't find the USB stick. <S> But Anthony snarling, "I've had enough of your bullshit" actually is the point of that line of dialogue, so using the profanity makes sense. <S> This could go either way with the description of the young lady who makes construction workers blush. <S> If the book is meant for a more delicate (read: younger) audience, then we don't need to hear the actual obscenities; the reader knows she's angry enough to act out of character, and we move on. <S> If the book is for grownups, then drop the colorful metaphor and just have her spew a string of swear words. <S> If the character has been written correctly, it will be sufficiently shocking. <A> In my current story, a character just came into a room and saw our protagonist standing among a room full of dead bodies. <S> In utter shock and fear (as he had no expectation of this) he proclaimed "What the fuck did you do?" <S> I don't think without the included profanity, the scene works. <S> He hardly is a character to throw around profanity in regular conversation, but he isn't a priest either and if something shocks him, there is every likely it will come forth. <S> Anthony <A> I'll repeat the main point I tried to make in the thread you referenced: <S> Regardless of how you think this character would actually speak in real life, and regardless of your own opinions about profanity, there are many people who find profanity distasteful or offensive, and who will not read a book if the quantity or intensity of profanity passes a certain point. <S> Personally, I don't use profanity and I don't like to hear it. <S> If someone uses profanity in a conversation with me, I don't faint or scold them or anything, but I don't like it. <S> I am not going to pay for a book and go out of my way to read a book that I find unpleasant. <S> If a book is otherwise good I'll skim over a few obscenities, but I've had plenty of books that I've thrown away because I just got tired of the vulgarity. <S> On the flip side, I have never heard someone say that he would not read a book because it didn't contain enough profanity. <S> So I think that from a marketing perspective, there is little to gain and much to lose by using profanity. <S> As you say in your question, in many cases you can avoid using specific vulgar words by saying "Fred swore loudly" or some such. <S> In other cases you can just leave out the swear words. <S> Instead of writing <S> "This is f---in terrible, he cried" just write " <S> This is terrible, he cried. <S> " Does it really lose that much? <S> I've said this in other context and someone will always say, "Hey, what are you upset about? <S> They're just words." <S> But the whole reason why you're using these particular words is because they shock and offend people. <S> You can't on the one hand say that you need to use these particular words because of the effectiveness of their shock value, and then turn around and say that you just can't understand why some silly people are shocked by them.
| If it's not clear to the reader that a character is angry or upset without including swear words in the dialog, there are problems with your writing. I think you need to consider the context.
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Attributing quotes to fictional characters Let's say, for example, that I want to post my favourite quote from Babylon 5 somewhere: "I'm not saying what I'm saying. I'm not saying what I'm thinking. As a matter of fact, I'm not thinking what I'm thinking." - John Sheridan, Babylon 5 How can I make it clear in the attribution that this is a line spoken by a character rather than an excerpt from a book called Babylon 5 written by a guy named John Sheridan? <Q> The easy part: <S> According to MLA Handbook, you cite a movie as: title underlined (we often use italics instead of underlining), director, distributor, and year released. <S> You may mention writers, actors, and/or producer. <S> Example: <S> It's a Wonderful Life . <S> Dir. <S> Frank Capra. <S> Perf. <S> James Stewart, Donna Reed. <S> RKO, 1946. <S> For a TV series, they say title of the episode in quotes, title of the program underlined (or italics), title of the series (by which they seem to mean a group of related episodes within a program) <S> neither underlined nor in quotes, name of the network, call letters and city of the local station if applicable, and broadcast date. <S> Example: <S> "Chrysalis", Babylon 5 , PTEN. <S> Oct 26, 1994. <S> The harder part is how to attribute words of a fictional character. <S> If you just name the character, it gives the impression that that's a real person. <S> But if you just give the author, that loses context for people who are familiar with the character, and it could be very misleading, implying that the author really believes those words, when it could be that he put them in the mouth of a fool or a villain. <S> Also, when you're quoting characters from a TV show or movie, it's not always easy to find out exactly who wrote the line you're quoting: many such programs have multiple screen writers and the actors may ad lib. <S> It's common when quoting TV and movie characters to put the character's name <S> followed by the actor in parentheses. <S> Like: <S> "Things are not always what they seem." <S> G'Kar (Andreas Katsulas) <S> That's probably what I'd do for a TV show. <S> For a novel, I'd want to mention the character and the author, but I don't know a consistent, recognized format for this and couldn't find one with a little web searching. <S> I'd think something like: Sherlock Holmes, in Doyle, Arthur Conan. " <S> A Study in Scarlet", The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes etc. <A> A minimalistic approach is to place the character's name in quotes: <S> Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur... – “John Sheridan”, Babylon 5 <S> Here is an example from a literary quotation ethics <S> webpage: <S> “We are all brothers under the skin—and I, for one, would be willing to skin humanity to prove it.” <S> — “Ellsworth Toohey” in the novel <S> The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. <S> Wikiquote's page about quoting from fictional characters unfortunately is not helpful on this issue; the bulk of the page lists places where Wikiquote does not allow such quotes. <S> The page does not address how to format such quotes. <A> I'd write it as: "With all these new personalities floating around, it's a shame we can't find one for you." — Holodoc to Tuvok, "Infinite Regress," Star Trek: <S> Voyager <S> I'd find it weird to have the character name in quotes. <S> They look like scare quotes or "this is fake" quotes. <S> You italicize the name of the show, and the put the episode name in quotes (using magazine-vs.-article logic; big things get italics, little things get quotes). <A> I'm also looking for a proper way to do this. <S> I find especially for novelists who deal extensively in irony or satire, it's important to directly call out both the character and the author separately. <S> Until someone can convince me of a better proper way to do this, my solution has been something of the following: <S> "We must stem the tide of malice, and pour into the wounded bosoms of each other the balm of sisterly consolation" ~ Mary Bennet, Pride & Prejudice, by Jane Austen <A> Why would you give any attribution to the actor ? <S> Is there a source that advocates this? <S> They've merely delivered a line and had nothing to do with originating it or even saying it-- technically <S> their character said it. <S> I would recommend finding out who wrote the episode and embedding the character while citing the author as you normally would in-text. <S> For example, The Eleventh Doctor once said, "We are all stories in the end" (Moffat, 2010). <S> This is APA, but it could work with any citation style/format. <S> For more formal work, you might include the season and episode numbers or episode title as well. <S> In "The Big Bang," season 5, episode 13, the Eleventh Doctor said, "We are all stories in the end" (Moffat, 2010).
| A more-proper method is to mention the character-name in quotes, the work (or series and episode), and the author.
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How to decide whether or not to accept publishing offer for short story? I am an unpublished writer straight out of college. After graduation, I sent out a few stories to a handful of places-- no more than five or six. It is now about 1.5 months later and I just received a letter from the fiction editor of a new literary magazine with an enthusiastic offer to publish (after some edits are made.) The magazine is a thrice-annual online publication with an anthologized print issue every December with that year's best works. It is almost one year old, I believe. The piece that they accepted is one of the best ones in my collection. I am so, so excited and grateful to have been accepted for publication! Question: I am still wondering if I should wait it out to see if I get any other bites? How long is appropriate to wait to respond to this editor? I am also concerned because it is such a fledgling magazine, and I've heard it is wise to be wary of online publishers who might fold easily. I do enjoy the magazine's mission and, admittedly, their issue's theme is right in keeping with my content. But I just want to make an informed decision before signing any contracts! (My body of finished work is not exactly prolific, so once this piece is published I won't have too many other chances until I can generate more material.) <Q> Answer them now. <S> They have put time into your story, at your request. <S> Do not ask them to waste their time while you decide whether you want them to publish the story that you asked them to consider. <S> This is why most publishers forbid simultaneous submissions. <S> If the publisher in question allows them, give them the courtesy of a prompt reply. <S> It sounds like you've created a problem for yourself in two ways: <S> Submitting a single story to multiple markets. <S> Submitting to a market you may not want to be published in. <A> Alex, Alex, Alex, Alex, Alex. <S> Tsk, tsk, tsk. <S> ACCEPT!!! <S> Dale is absolutely correct. <S> You are looking a gift horse in the mouth. <S> You have already committed a major faux pas by submitting your story to more than one market. <S> You have no idea <S> how difficult it is to publish a story in any market at any time. <S> You have no idea how many writers' walls have been blanketed by rejection slips before they made their first sale. <S> Immediately tell these people how grateful and honored <S> you are that they have accepted you. <S> Immediately tell all the other places to which you have submitted that you went temporarily insane from the stress of your favorite pet cockroach developing leprosy <S> and so you forgot you had already submitted your story to ONE other place (you can't even remember where), <S> but you beg their forgiveness because you are so brand new <S> and you really didn't even know the etiquette anyway <S> and it will never happen again and would they kindly withdraw your story from consideration. <S> (By the way, in case you didn't know, I'm being FACETIOUS, but you have to come up with a good, tactful excuse.) <S> If by some chance your story doesn't wind up being published, then you can submit it elsewhere later. <S> Phew. <A> What Dale said. <S> Many writers go years without getting published. <S> I'm sure there are writers out there who have been sending out submissions for decades and have yet to be published. <S> If your writing career takes off and someday you are a rich and famous author, you can afford to play games with publishers and shop around for the best offer.
| When you're just starting, the goal is to get published somewhere, anywhere.
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When to use contractions and when to use complete words? These are some passages from Man-Eating Cats by Haruki Murakami . He'd been dead set against out marriage from the start, and his tone of voice said he'd finally been proved right. He had taken a pair of scissors to every stitch of clothing she owned. She had no idea where he had gone. She and her husband had been high school sweet-hears. It seems like the author decided to use contractions in some of the sentences and not to use them in others. I tried figuring out the pattern without much luck. So this happens to me often. I can't figure out when to use contractions and when to use complete words. Is there any rule for this? Or I just have to figure out what "sounds better"? <Q> Contractions are often considered inappropriate in formal writing. <S> The more formal, the less acceptable. <S> Probably debatable in narration in a novel. <S> Where acceptable, whether to use a contraction depends on the rhythm of the sentence. <S> For example, consider "Where is he? <S> " You could use a contraction and replace this with "Where's he?" <S> But this sounds very abrupt. <S> I often hear people say, "Where's he at?" which grates on my nerves for some reason. <S> You shortened the sentence from "Where is he?" <S> to "Where's he? <S> ", but then you apparently decided this was too short, so you stuck a useless extra word, "at" on the end to pad it back out! <S> :-P <A> That is, they're used by people in everyday speech, but rarely in more formal writing. <S> I'd therefore say a good rule of thumb is to avoid them except in those circumstances where it is within character to have them e.g. it fits the speech pattern of the characters, or the narrator. <A> If you are writing something informal, it's appropriate to use contractions. <S> However, at the time of formal communication such as composing an email to colleagues,boss communicating with clients, it's advisable to avoid using contractions and use the complete words so as to make things easy to understand.
| Contractions are generally viewed as being informal. They are always acceptable in dialog if that is how the character would talk in real life. Sometimes a contraction makes a sentence or part of a sentence seem too abrupt.
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At what point can a story be considered "erotic"? I would like to ask for any guidelines that could help to determine when a story can be considered "erotic". Is it based on the words, the number of scenes or on how detailed they are? Shortly, if I talk about the story, from which point on should I say "It's an erotic story about [...]"? <Q> I'd say it's erotic if: 1) <S> the sex is a major part of the action (not necessarily the plot) AND 2) <S> the text is explicit enough that if it were a movie, minors couldn't see it. <S> So something which has a lot of sexual contact but the "camera" always cuts away before the deed starts wouldn't be erotic. <S> Something which describes sex in gauzy or vague terms ("they melted into one another's arms and twined their limbs together until they fell through the clouds and rain into bliss") wouldn't be erotic either. <S> Something which reads like a transcript of an adult film with lots of tab A into slot B is erotic. <A> I guess there's no answer at all to your question, unless you are writing an erotic story. <S> If you are writing an erotic book, by definition, it's erotic since you will do it that way. <S> Some countries/cultures have a much easier concept on what's erotic and what is not . <S> Maybe in USA, your book would be classified as erotic, and in France it would be quite normal. <S> I remember I read a wonderful fantasy book where the two main characters were gay and lovers, but <S> it was only a fantasy book. <S> For me, the sexual orientation of the characters didn't play such an important role to classify it as anything else than fantasy. <S> Even so, I was quite shocked when I saw it classified as gay literature in Amazon. <S> Like I said, it depends a lot of where and who are tracing the lines. <S> In any case, the answer lies in my first phrase. <S> You can't know how people will classify your work, but you know how do you classify your work. <S> Another thing, being erotic depends also on the weight eroticism has in the plot . <S> You don't need to be sexually explicit – or describe in details how the characters are having sex – to make it erotic, you just have to make sure the eroticism in your book is higher than in a "normal" book. <S> Darkfever and Highlander chronicles and awesome examples. <S> It's fantasy in <S> it's best and, even so, it's highly erotic. <S> Mooning writes fantasy in a great way but uses large doses of eroticism and spices the story in a way women love it – <S> her eroticism is clearly aimed at women – and men also, since the fantasy plot is very good either. <S> Even with that high doses of eroticism, her books are classified as fantasy. <S> Resuming, writing an erotic book depends on what you want to write, and the context of the readers . <A> A story can be considered erotic if it arouses you sexually or makes you horny. <S> Erotic stories usually contain elements such as seduction, foreplay, and intercourse. <S> Such stories can be great literature works as well and not only involving sex or sexual sequence. <S> And yes, words play an important role in classifying a story as erotic or not, technically. <S> However, detailed narration may not be always be present in an erotic story. <S> I suggest you check the stories published in popular sites such as Literotica , IndianSexStories , <S> Asstr etc to understand the level or classfication of a story as erotic.
| If you write an erotic book, it's erotic.
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First person pov with more than one main chars I really love -- and most of time write in -- first person point of view . The novel I'm writing is somewhat different from what I'm used to. I have four main characters -- I don't see any of them as more important than the others -- each one of them with his own separate plot ( even being related some way to fulfill the story ). Like I said, I like to write using first person. I was thinking to title each chapter with the name of the dominant char -- since each chapter will be told from a single character point of view -- and write the contents in first person. Example : Mark - The Wishing Well My doubt is: does this work, or it can be too confusing for the reader to deal with different characters in different chapters, all using first person point of view ? I have seen this type of subterfuge -- chapters titled with character names for more than one main char -- but always from 3rd person point of view. I'm really not sure if I should go on with first person or just drop it, using instead 3rd person. <Q> I've read at least one book which successfully did this; the author just titled each chapter "Bruno" and "Melusine," depending on whose perspective it was. <S> The timeline was mostly chronological, although there was some overlap <S> so we see how one felt about the other's actions. <S> It worked perfectly fine for me. <S> It's not subterfuge. <S> Label each chapter, throw in a time stamp if you want to be crystal clear, and you're fine. <A> If you need a great example of this, read As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner. <S> Each chapter was told from a different 1st person POV character, and the chapters were labeled with just the character's name. <S> The voices are very distinctive, and after awhile, I didn't need to read the chapter title to know who was narrating that chapter. <A> I think this is a terrific, creative idea, but you have to be very skillful to pull it off. <S> I agree that each character has to be rendered very distinctively. <S> Ken Kesey did something like this on his novel <S> Sometimes a Great Notion which is a wonderful family saga where different points of view are distinguished by italics and normal fonts. <A> As lonehorseend said, it's important to make sure characters seem different - but adding the character's names is very important. <S> Case in point - go read some of the I <S> Am Number Four novels, particular the second and third novels. <S> They swap (in third person) to different characters, without even using asterisks as breaks. <S> It's nearly impossible to determine which character is which, and it makes for a very confusing read. <S> Even if you have to fall to traditional tropes, make your characters unique. <S> Eg, have a 'bitter and moody' character, a 'mysterious past' character, a 'ditzy, but means- <S> well' character etc. <S> Overplay it a little bit, but the reader will clearly understand the differences between the POVs. <S> To be honest, I would go with placing the character's name at the start of the chapter - if you even think for a moment that a reader might get confused, then don't be ambiguous about it, and put the name there. <S> There's no harm in putting it in. <A> I am currently also writing in first person with multiple character point of views.. <S> at two instances the stories overlap.. it's really not too difficult to do.. tricky, but not too difficult. <S> The trick is not to switch too quickly between characters, as with 3rd person. <S> My 3 main characters are worlds apart. <S> Darian is witty, sarcastic, clever and a deep thinkerYnara is very observant, but clear-cut. <S> Asjghar is angry, bitter and vulgar. <S> I have chapters with their titles and then subheadings that indicate in whose head you are at the moment.. <S> On another note I am currently reading a series of novels that read in first person as the main character. <S> When you follow any of the other characters it is narrated in third person. <S> I think it is wildly creative, but she neglects to let you know right away who you are following. <S> Can be frustrating.. <S> I wish you all the best in your writing journey! <A> There's a French sci-fi novel, "La Horde du Contrevent" by Alain Damasio, that does exactly this. <S> Actually, it's even more complicated than that: <S> there's ~15 protagonists, and each of them may be the (first-person) dominant char for ~10s paragraphs. <S> When there's a switch, there's only a symbol (not the name!) <S> of the new speaking character. <S> But there's more: the feat is: each character has a very specific style of speech (poetic, slang, scholar, "normal", funny, ...). <S> At first, you're a bit lost, but after a few chapters, you can easily guess who is speaking simply by reading 2 ou 3 sentences. <S> This also make you know the characters as if they were in your real life. <S> This is a huge piece of sci-fi <S> (everyone I know who read it loved it), and the author has a real linguistic talent. <S> I think it may be translated to English in the next months/years (I wish good luck to the translator!) <S> The main point is: don't add too much information. <S> Trust the readers. <S> They may love guessing what's happening; this may even be a huge appeal of your book. <S> Don't tell too much, show. <A> The key with first person point of view is that your character's voice has to come through. <S> So if you write three separate first persons, they all have to sound different meaning <S> the writing style has to be distinct for each one. <S> You can't just slap a character name on the chapter and hope your reader can go by that alone if there is no other context or way to distinguish who's speaking. <S> It might be easier to choose a main narrator <S> , write that one in first person and then write everyone else in third person. <A> I have read a series that alternated between two to for main characters every chapter or so an <S> it was really well written. <S> It was all in first person and it didn't get confusing at all each time it would switch character point of view <S> it would tell you which character it was turning to. <S> The series is called The Wolves of Mercy Falls <S> it is really good at that kind of story telling method. <A> I've definitely seen it done and enjoyed those books. <S> Done right, it's not confusing <S> but you need to separate by chapters and label by name. <S> If people aren't paying attention, they may not realize who is the subject of the chapter until a little while in <S> but that's something you can't help.
| Using 1st person is a brilliant way to really get inside each character's head, especially if they are very different.
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Ways of presenting a metaphor/simile/analogy This is something I wrote ( adult content —and very bad description of sex): Strangely, it didn't feel much like sex. I felt we were just exchanging feelings that we couldn't be put into words. Thoughts we could only share by joining our bodies as though they were one. It was a strange sensation— like I was being sucked into a dark void, blending with it, losing myself in it. Yet feeling completely at peace, understanding everything it had to tell me . Nana continued moving for a few more seconds until—not being to contain it anymore—I came. I came over and over again, with a violence that I had never experienced before. As if someone had punched a big hole in a dam . Exhausted, I spread my arms on the bed, trying to catch my breath. Nana got herself off, and cuddled next to me. We remained like that for a while, holding each other naked in the dark like two newborn infants. So, right now, I'm just starting my metaphors/similes with like and as if In which other ways I can present them? <Q> You can use other indicators other than "as if" and "like" e.g. "akin to". <S> Since it's first person, you can also say, "reminding me of". <S> For example, "It was a strange sensation, drifting, falling, sucked into a dark void, blending with it, losing myself in it." <S> Or, "We remained like that for a while, holding each other naked in the dark, two newborn infants gazing at the world with fresh eyes." <A> By definition, similes always make the fact that you're making the comparison explicit. <S> He was as slippery as an eel, or else a very slippery thing. <S> She was somewhat slippier than a bee. <S> Metaphors on the other hand don't make the comparison explicit and leave the audience to figure this out on their own. <S> Mike was a lion in the Giants' backfield, roaming through the Astroturf like it was the Serengeti and not merely tackling but physically destroying his prey. <S> Okay, there was a simile wrapped up inside there, but the overall point was that Mike is not literally a big cat, but a stealthy, hard-hitting linebacker. <S> It's my experience that we tend to use metaphor a lot more than we realize <S> but otherwise, it's really personal preference and <S> what sounds better to you in a given situation. <S> There is no real hard and fast rule as to when to use the one versus the other. <S> Sometimes you want to be subtle, sometimes you don't. <A> I would like to add to Craig Sefton's note that you can use other markers and note that sometimes, you can remove markers entirely. <S> You can cut your passage down to, Thoughts we could only share by joining our bodies as though they were one. <S> It was a strange sensation; I was being sucked into a dark void, blending with it, losing myself in it, yet feeling completely at peace and understanding everything it had to tell me. <S> And would still make sense. <S> On a side note: "Like a hole being punched in a dam." <S> , made me explode with laughter, because of the imagery of what this mind me to the poor person on the receiving end of this orgasm. <S> Do not take this as a personal attack. <S> This is laughter I've heard from others quite when reading my stories, I just think you might want to consider something else <S> a little less fluid related for describing an unprecedented orgasm.
| Another technique is to omit those words, and write it as if it were literal; the reader will pick up the metaphor.
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Writing an effective summary for a story I just published my first short story at Amazon. Although many people downloaded it while in its free promotion days, no one has purchased it yet. People have praised the cover (apparently I design better than I write), so I thought maybe the summary is not compelling enough: Saki travels to Patong Beach, Thailand with the objective of getting rid of a life-long affliction. I was thinking of changing it into something like this: Saki travels to Patong Beach, Thailand to have a surgery done. One that could put an end to her life-long affliction, and finally give her the change to life a normal life. But I'm not very sure about it. How to write an effective summary for a story? One that would hook the reader immediately? Edited version of the summary: Saki travels to Patong Beach, Thailand to have a surgery done. One that could put an end to her life-long affliction, and finally give her the chance to live a normal life. But is her problem merely physical? Or is rather a condition more related to her soul? (By the way, here's the full story via Docdroid . There are a few typos, but I corrected them in the final version). <Q> There's a saying in Brazil -- " De graça, até injeção na testa " / " For free, even a shot (injection) in forehead" . <S> That's to say, it's quite normal to have a lot of more downloads of your free book, than your payed one (even if both are the same). <S> Remember the eBooks "offer" is really higher than the "market". <S> When I read it, I already get everything. <S> Saki goes to a beach, undergoes a surgery, gets cured, end of story. <S> Why should I buy your story if I already know everything that happens in it only by reading the summary? <S> A good summary must leave a -- <S> I want to know what is happening -- feeling in the reader/buyer. <S> If it fails to raise your reader's attention, it won't work. <S> Saki travels to Patong Beach, Thailand to have a surgery done. <S> She was hoping to finally put an end to her life-long affliction, but things are never so easy as we thing they should be. <S> What's is the deal with Mark? <S> What is really happening in the hospital? <S> Will she be able to uncover the truth before it's too late? <S> Sometimes the cure can kill you. <S> Of course, I don't know your story. <S> I just invented Mark, something mysterious about the hospital to raise the reader's attention. <A> You are confusing three things: summary, teaser and spoiler. <S> Focus on the teaser. <S> That is what you must have to entice readers. <S> Tell them a few key things about your story and then holdback! <S> That will excite potential readers. <S> They must want to read the rest of your story to find out. <S> And they will buy it. <S> If you present a summary and spolier (as you do above), you reveal the storyline and all the twists and turns that make the plot. <S> Why would any one want to buy 20 pages when they got the gist of it in half a page. <S> In short, a teaser will sell your story. <S> Make it short (one paragraph) and snappy. <S> Read it loudly to yourself. <S> If it sounds exciting, it probably is. <A> Suspense is the thing that creates curiosity in the readers to read the story and know what's going to happen at the end ? <S> or how the end of the story would be ? <S> You might have noticed that all daily soaps end their episodes with some suspense so that viewers wait for another day and watch it to see what's going to happen. <S> Curiosity is the main thing you need to create among readers so as to make your story worth reading. <A> Focus on the conflict and changes. <S> People are generally looking for themselves when they read. <S> They want to see people in situations they can understand. <S> Summaries don't have to be long. <S> But they do have to sum up what happens in a compelling way. <S> Try reading your summary as if it were written by somebody else. <S> What do you think of it? <S> The summary is incredibly important because it is the first or second thing an intern or agency runner will read when sorting through the hundreds of daily of submissions. <S> "What should I show my boss?" <A> The first thing to do is to make 100% sure that all the basics are rock solid. <S> Your spelling is imperfect "a change to life a normal life" = <S> > "a chance to live a normale life". <S> Spelling and grammar are basic tools for a writer, for me that would be a reason to not buy anything from you. <S> Sorry if that sounds harsh, but first impressions count a lot, and if the decision to buy is made based on two lines, then every word in those lines has to be perfect. <S> You need to have something called a hook in the summary. <S> A point that makes the reader want to know how it continues or how it ends. <S> If I'm not curious what comes next, why should I buy? <S> Finally, it is absolutely normal that there is a massive difference between free and paid, <S> no matter the price. <S> I run an online game that you can play for free, or donate an amount of your choice for a few extras. <S> About 1% of players donate.
| You just need to change that eye catching phrases to something that fits your plot but, to do a good summary, you must create expectation and a desire to buy the book. Well, I think there's something is missing in your summary, probably the mystery of your story, the conflict. By content, your longer summaries are much more interesting than the short one.
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Does a character have to define himself to be engaging? I have a short story named Cured (which asks the question "What if you could take a pill to increase your empathy?"), in which the main character (Tony) doesn't talk or show much about himself until later, although he is described by his friends. A criticism I have received is that as a result of early self-definition, Tony is boring and completely un-engaging. This is really bad because this is supposed to be a mostly character driven story. Is this a legitimate problem and if so, what are some heuristics that I can apply to tell if I'm not letting the main character talk/act/define himself enough? Alternatively, if this is not a problem in general, but that my story has other issues that are crippling it, I will start a new question for the sole purpous of critique. <Q> I read your story. <S> It's not that Tony is boring; the problem is that he's too predictable and easy to understand. <S> You only have to read the beginning of the story to know what's going on with him: he's depressed and emotionally unresponsive. <S> There's very little the reader need to discover or know about him after that. <S> If you do that, the reader will feel interested even if the character is boring. <S> Few examples: <S> The character spends the whole day in his apartment cooking spaghetti. <S> (Is he depressed? <S> Is he an antisocial? <S> Why spaghetti of all food?) <S> The character has been having a hard-on since his wife died. <S> (What could the hard-on symbolize? <S> Anger? <S> Frustration? <S> Repressed sexual desire? <S> The character has decided to spend the rest of his life with a cardboard on his head. <S> (Reader: <S> OK, what the hell?) <S> OK, not the best examples, <S> but I think you get my idea. <A> Have you considered writing out a character bio? <S> I come at writing from a bit of an RPGing background <S> so the idea of a character sheet is sort of normal for me, but if it's not to you, just try and put together a little dossier - an FBI file - of what you know about your person. <S> What's his demeanor like? <S> Did his parents love each other? <S> What was his childhood like? <S> Describe a typical day at work for this guy. <S> And so on and so forth. <S> Note that not only does not of this have to be in the story proper, none of it probably should be in there. <S> This is solely for you, the author, to understand who this person you're writing about is. <S> Once you figure that out, my experience is that that character will start to come a lot more vibrant and have a lot more agency all on its own. <A> Does a character (presumably the protagonist) have to be definable to be engaging? <S> In a word, yes. <S> The character’s nature could be defined as anything. <S> In fact, inconsistent suggests conflicted (internal conflict), but the audience must be able to define the character in some way. <S> Otherwise, they cannot connect or care. <S> I’ve struggled with protagonists whom readers didn’t care about for reasons similar to what you’re facing; they were do-nothing characters. <S> Plot, story, and character while independent concepts, overlap. <S> A character driven story is not devoid of plot, because a story without plot provides no opportunity to demonstrate the protagonist’s character. <S> Often we confuse characterization with true character. <S> Characterization are all of the details of a character - what they look like, where they’re from, how they talk, walk, or dress. <S> Also, what they say to themselves in they’re own head. <S> This is all surface, adding little to the story. <S> Particularly, in response to dilemmas, the high stakes decisions. <S> When the bulk of the plot results from the world reacting to the protagonist’s decisions, that is a character-driven story, but the character must decide. <S> If I follow you’re question right, your protagonist lacks empathy. <S> His or her initial decisions must demonstrate this lack of empathy. <S> The events which result would then suggest to the protagonist that he or she must change. <S> Thus, the decision to take the empathy pill. <S> Or the world could force the taking of the pill, but this would lean away from character-driven. <S> Readers connect with characters who feel real. <S> To feel real they must act (make decisions). <S> Without the choices, the character is a sketch, a police description describing the subject’s appearance - not a person.
| In order to engage the reader you have to make a character unpredictable and difficult to understand . True character is demonstrated by the decisions the protagonist makes in response to events (plot).
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Does this passage break the rules of telling and not showing? I wrote a story called Tempo , which I enjoy (this does not mean that it is good), but that has a chunk where the main character has an internal monologue. This is usually bad, but I can't tell how bad it is or how I should go about fixing it. Here is the passage: It's only as she speaks those words that I understood that I had thought, for some time, that relationships were the key to some locked-away chest of happiness. What is unsettling is that I can't figure out if I'm offended by her attacking me or if I'm angry at myself for feeling attacked. If it wasn't someone else that brought happiness, what was I supposed to do? Loneliness certainly didn't seem to be a viable option. Or maybe it is just my personal brand of brooding loneliness, which seems to follow me around like some pathetic cartoon rain cloud. In the story of my life that I keep on building in my head, I had always drawn my idealized self with a woman. Someone to share experiences with. Someone to recount the tales and adventures back to me and say: "Yes, this was worth it." God, what a terrible fantasy. I didn't want a lover, I wanted someone to confirm I wasn't wasting my life and to reflect what Hollywood and every brainless pop song on the radio claims to be happiness. Why didn't I think I could have adventures on my own? Where did this neediness come from? I try to disguise my childish inner turmoil, talking about the weather in San Francisco as we pay our bills. Outside of the cafe, Dev's question leaks from my head to my mouth. I could turn this into dialogue, but I don't think that would be much better. I also really don't want to cut it out completely from the story because it's kind of the main character's epiphany moment and the pay-off for all his turmoil up until then. How else should I go about transmitting this idea? Is it not the format of transmission (the inner monlogue), but it's length? <Q> Yes, I think the internal monologue in the passage above is a clear example of telling (which could be good or bad depending on the situation). <S> Personally, I tend to avoid internal monologue as much as I can. <S> Here are some methods I use (plus examples taken from my own writing): 1) Using something from the character's surrounding as an analogy for his emotions/thoughts. <S> I raised my eyes, thinking about the question. <S> A moth was hovering around the wall lamp. <S> Yuki was right <S> : why I was so certain about it? <S> True, the idea of the Flying Stone was as shapeless as the insect's shadow dancing on the ceiling. <S> But what if there was something <S> actually real casting it? <S> 2) Using a symbolic action to show the character's emotions/thoughts Taking a few deep breaths, Saki lifted the box slowly over her head, and then threw it to the front with all her might. <S> The box made a plunking sound as it hit the water. <S> Saki followed it with her eyes as <S> it sank in the deepness of the ocean. <S> (Note: this is the epiphany of the story) 3) <S> Using a metaphor/ <S> simile to describe the character's emotions <S> /thoughts <S> Eyes closed, Saki sank back into the seat, and let the darkness surround her. <S> Her mind reminded tonight's events, and tried to picture those that would follow tomorrow. <S> The more she thought about the them, the more unreal they seemed to become. <S> But then, gradually, those images started to lose their shape, until they finally disintegrated and scattered around like sand in the wind. <A> Unless this is a screenplay you're perfectly fine describing the character's thoughts. <S> That's what the best authors do <S> (If memory serves me, I think like 95% of Crime and Punishment was internal ruminations) <S> Anyway, the problem for me is that I had a hard time deciphering the point you were trying to make. <S> I had to re-read <S> it about 4 times. <S> For example, If it wasn't someone else that brought happiness, what was I supposed to do? <S> Could be more clearly written as <S> If being with another woman couldn't bring me happiness, what was I supposed to do? <S> And the next sentence was even more confusing: <S> I didn't want a lover, I wanted someone to confirm I wasn't wasting my life and to reflect what Hollywood and every brainless pop song on the radio claims to be happiness. <S> since I was expecting a single thought, and had to re-read it several times to get to the point where what I believe you're saying is that: 1.) <S> Your character wanted companionship for abnormal reasons AND 2.) <S> Your character wanted to conform to popular society's expectations <S> Consider breaking that out into at least two sentences, which gives you more room to expand on those thoughts. <A> In your example, you are sharing your thoughts. <S> How would you show your thoughts, other than by telling us what they are? <S> Being able to share your thoughts, by telling us your thoughts, is one of the great advantages of prose. <S> When it comes to action, however, always try to show, not tell. <A> I would say that this is foreshadowing which is not strictly telling or showing. <S> Presumably this will self-fulfill later on - just don't make the mistake of hanging a neon sign on what's happening. <S> Let the character (in this case) ease the reader into showing (or telling) <A> I don't think this is necessarily a problem depending on the context, but yes, this is exactly what telling vs. showing is. <S> It's a good rule for beginning writers because there's kind of a tendency to tell everything ("Bob was patient and kind") rather than showing it (putting Bob in a situation where patience and kindness is kind of a problem). <S> That being said, almost all writers tell all the time. <S> It's not that big of a deal. <S> Even Raymond Carver, who was huge into minimalismm and was therefore about as show-y <S> as you could get, told things every now and then. <A> I don't think there is a tell versus show problem, but it's not really an interior monologue either. <S> For me, an interior monologue is a soliloquy, that is, a dialog with oneself. <S> You wrote: What is unsettling is that I can't figure out if I'm offended by her attacking me or if I'm angry at myself for feeling attacked. <S> As an oversimplification, I should be able to put quotes around that and recognize it as something the character would say out loud to someone else or to the mirror. <S> It doesn't really read that way, though. <S> It's like the difference between <S> , "What makes me mad is her selfishness," compared to, "Damn! <S> She's so f-ing selfish!" <A> I'll throw this out there even though this question has been answered. <S> Showing requires description. <S> Your passage: <S> In the story of my life that I keep on building in my head, I had always drawn my idealized self with a woman. <S> Someone to share experiences with. <S> Someone to recount the tales and adventures back to me and say: "Yes, this was worth it." <S> Tells the reader exactly what the narrator feels. <S> It is almost as if he or she has direct access to his or her subconscious. <S> A descriptive version would be: <S> I picture an ideal woman, dirty fingernails from rock-climbing, a soft bottom that is as warm as a toaster when we spoon at night. <S> Someone who would rather wander the streets aimlessly than watch T.V. on a Tuesday night, but most of all someone who wants to be by my side until the day one of us dies. <S> My example may not be what you are going for, but I think it has a level of descriptiveness that shows the narrator desires someone adventurous yet tender.
| In brief, make use of senses , metaphors, and surroundings to reveal the character's emotions or thoughts. "Telling, not showing," is not really a "rule" that applies to thoughts .
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Making a female character sound more boyish/masculine There are two characters in the following dialogue. One of them (Yuki) is a tomboy. She has short hair, dresses like a man, and likes girls. I want to make her sound more masculine (but not exactly like a man). Yuki waved to the waitress and asked for another vodka. Then she turned back to Eri and said, "Hey. Forgot to tell you. I finally got my visa." "Really? That’s great! So, when did you say you're going? Next year?" "Next month." "Oh." Eri laughed. "Sorry, I'm not sure what's with my memory tonight." She inspected Yuki's face. "What's wrong?" "To tell you the truth, I'm not longer sure whether to go or not." "Come on. You're just afraid. That's normal. After all, it's your first time abroad." "Well, the thing is that, at first, the whole idea seemed very exciting to me. Damn, it'd been the only thing in my mind for the last few months. But I don't know, I'm starting to wonder whether this really makes sense. Like, why am I so crazy about the US anyway? It's not like my life's going to suddenly change because of studying in the most imperialist country on Earth." "You'll never find out if you don't try." Eri took a sip of her drink. "The idea is to experience something first, and decide if it makes sense later." “Yeah,” Yuki said, staring thoughtfully at the ceiling. “I guess you're right.” The waitress came back with Yuki's order, placed it on the table, and walked away. She did all this mechanically, as if on autopilot. "How about you?" Yuki asked. "You never thought of leaving the country?" "Not really," Eri said, resting her fist under her chin. "And it's not that I’m against traveling or studying abroad. It's just that I'm not against staying where I am either.” "Don't you feel like talking a break from your life?" "Well, I think you ought to build your life in such a way that you don't feel like taking a break from it." "You think I'm escaping from something?" Eri shook her head. "I didn't mean that. On the contrary, I think you're pretty good at solving problems. Not only yours, but also other people's." "Glad you think that,” Yuki said, smiling slightly. “But sure you can handle yours after I'm gone?" "I'll be OK. It'll be boring without you, though." "I guess you'll have more time to spend with Takashi." "Yeah." Eri bit her lower lip, looking to the side. "Now that you mention it, we haven't spent much time together, recently." "That's how relationships are—everything is exciting and magical at the beginning. But after a few years, you can't even stand seeing each other's faces anymore, not even put in a cute, little photo frame." Eri laughed. "Nothing like that. It's just that work is keeping him busy this time around. That's all." "I see. Just don't let things go too far. As that U2 song says, 'it leaves you baby, if you don't care for it.'" "OK, I'll keep it in mind." Any suggestions? <Q> It's not just the topics that are stereotypically masculine or feminine. <S> It is also the way they are discussed. <S> Women tend to discuss more about relationships and feelings and men tend to talk about accomplishments and personal worth. <S> (I'm searching for a citation for this; I know I've read an article about it.) <S> For instance, a woman might talk to her friend about how she went shopping with her sister so they could pick out a wedding dress together. <S> The focus of the conversation would be on her relationship with her sister and how important it was to her that her sister valued her input and how the experience made her feel closer to her sister. <S> The story would be a vehicle to describe the woman's emotional connection to her sister, and the listener would be expected to reflect and validate those feelings. <S> A man might describe a similar situation to his friend about how he went shopping with his brother to buy a tux, but the focus would be completely different. <S> He would be more likely to focus on the facts of the trip, how the task was accomplished, and the satisfaction that he derived from helping his brother. <S> He would be more likely to tell the story in order to increase his status or increase the listener's respect for him. <S> So what strikes me most as feminine in your dialogue is that Yuki breaks from a practical examination of her trip to discuss her friend's personal relationship. <S> She initiates the relationship discussion and her view is almost romantic—exciting and magical has girl written all over it—and although she is admittedly jaded, her view still seems very feminine to me. <S> The rest of the conversation is suitably tomboyish, though I think. <A> Another question to consider is whether your character self-consciously tries to act more masculine (that is, puts on a bit of an act, perhaps through insecurity), or whether she's just naturally less feminine than most women. <S> If she's deliberately taking on the mannerisms of a male, she might overdo it ( <S> mock other people's emotions, boast about her own prowess in "masculine" tasks, use only short, incomplete sentences, speak with an overly harsh/low pitched voice, treat the wait staff aggressively, burp, slouch exaggeratedly, etc.). <S> If instead you are simply trying to signal "tomboyish" behavior, she might appear less attuned to /aware of the emotional connotations of the conversation, less inclined to plan ahead with the detail/fussiness of a woman <S> (I know, that's a stereotype, but women love details) <S> , readier to "rough it" on her trip, etc. <S> She might dress very plainly rather than fuss about clothes (her companion could notice or comment on how Yuki always seems to wear the same outfit, and Yuki could defend it in a way that signals her attitude toward clothing-- <S> "I hate shopping," "This is comfortable," "I want to be able to run if I feel like it," etc.). <S> She could also feel more free to stretch/scratch <S> /rumple her hair, <S> etc., than most women do in public. <S> Tomboys in books are usually either very athletic or very clumsy, so she could be either. <S> Presumably you don't need to establish all of this in one, dialogue filled scene, but if you do, a little bit of conflict between the characters <S> could help-- <S> either one could comment on what they see as the overly feminine/masculine behavior of the other (whether in relation to clothes, trip planning, manners, or something else). <A> The principle surely isn't difficult: have her talk about traditionally masculine subjects like mechanics and sports rather than traditionally feminine subjects like fashion and housekeeping. <S> Especially in asides, like metaphors and analogies that she uses. <S> Somewhere along the line I came across a web site that claims to be able to tell whether a piece of writing was written by a man or a woman by a mechanical analysis. <S> I ran about half a dozen paragraph by known authors through it and it got every one right. <S> Their technique was to look for certain key words that they say tend to be preferred by one sex or the other. <S> Like they say women use personal pronouns, especially "you", more often; while men use numbers more often. <S> (They had a much longer list, those are just the couple I remember.) <S> The trick, I think, is how far to push it. <S> Too little and the reader may miss it; too much <S> and it becomes blatant and over the top. <S> (I suppose that's true of any attempt at characterization. <S> I recall seeing a movie once where the writer apparently wanted to give the idea that two people were very religious. <S> So as the one is leaving the other says, "The Lord be with you. <S> " If he'd stopped there it would have been plausible and given the message. <S> But then the second character says something like "God bless you while I'm away", and then the first makes some similar religious-theme parting statement, and then the second makes another, for like four exchanges. <S> And I could only think, what, did the writer put every religious-sounding word or phrase he could think of into this one scene?) <A> Tip: Find a guy you know that either is like the character you want <S> -or- can at least act like it, then hold this conversation. <S> Writing characters of the opposite gender is hard, but writing characters of the same gender with just enough mannerisms to show their bending towards the opposite's traits may be harder. <S> This especially comes into play when this tomboyish-ness is relevant to the plot, but it wouldn't make sense to substitute, well, an actual boy.
| If all else fails, make the character more confident and headstrong, and a little less sensitive and empathetic and you have a midway point between male and female conversation.
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Can several related short-stories make a good base to write a novel? I've been writing related short-stories for years, but around 10 months ago, I started to think about a novel based on these stories. The same universe, the same main characters but a longer story which takes place during a longer part of their lives. I don't want to transform one of my short-stories into a novel (like in this question ) but really write a different story. My previous texts could be a kind of extension for this novel. Anyway, I continue to write short-stories to go deeper in several points to prepare my longer story. Is this a good idea or should I stop writing short-stories in order to write my novel? <Q> It sounds like your shorts stories would be backstory to the main novel. <S> Things that happened to the main characters before the novel. <S> That is not unusual, the Silmarillion is much the same for Lord of the Rings . <S> You would want to have the main characters have previous interactions that they refer to and these short stories would be them. <S> This is a good way to provide real depth to your world. <A> A really good example for this is Night Watch . <S> Sergei Lukyanenko wrote three related "short stories" that, read together, form the book. <S> Another point of view would be Matrix Reloaded , even not being a book, but a movie. <S> Matrix is the main plot line but in Animatrix <S> you will find a lot of related short stories that will help to understand the main plot and even open the curtains for it. <S> I guess this second option would fit into what you want, since you already have the shorties and want to write a novel that could extends them. <A> Passion is the main thing that gives you good writing. <S> If short stories catch more of your interest then you can go for them. <S> If you wish to have change or some keen interest to deliver some message via novel, then you can go for a novel. <S> Or if you wish both can be done simultaneously. <S> Thanks.
| So, related stories that could be linked to a same plot, could be released as a single novel.
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Is muteness appearing without explicit reason acceptable? In one of my stories, my main character was once able to speak, but after being alone for 3 or 4 years in his early 20's without speaking a word, he became mute, unable to speak at all. Is this situation credible, or would people who speak normally become mute only as a result of accident or illness? <Q> I've seen so many books and movies with similar reasons for people to lose their ability to speak that, in a mere reader point of view, I would have no reason at all to doubt that it could happen. <S> I don't think many readers would doubt it could happen also. <S> But I think if you really want to know for sure, research is the way. <S> There's a nice -- and helpful book -- titled Writer's Guide to Psychology: How to Write Accurately About Psychological Disorders, Clinical Treatment & Human Behavior <S> that I believe could do the trick. <S> I have a psychology degree (although I graduated 1999) <S> so I just wanted this as a backup. <S> I found it would be perfectly accessible to the layman, making all mental health and psychological issues easy to understand and imagine. <S> If you write about this subject, or are interested in brushing up skills to work as a carer in mental health, you could do worse than buying this book. <A> The issue is that you have your character losing the ability to speak as a young adult. <S> There has to be some kind of trauma (physical or emotional) for that to happen. <S> The neurological pathways for language are formed starting in infancy (they really get going around 9-10 months) and continue for several years. <S> If your character knows how to talk at 20, he's not going to abruptly lose the capacity just because he didn't use it for several years. <S> It's not like walking where you lose muscle tone. <S> (Also, I don't know about you, but I talk to myself all the time even when there's no one else around. <S> I laugh out loud at things I read, I call the cat, I sing along with music, I talk back to the TV, I yell obscenities if I hurt myself <S> , I mutter if I'm looking for something. <S> Being in isolation for several years does not by itself <S> mean I won't speak for several years.) <S> Now, there's a difference between losing the ability to speak (he wants to, but can't) and losing the desire to speak (he can, but doesn't want to). <S> It might be more interesting if the reason for your character's muteness is a mystery which the other characters (and the reader) have to figure out. <S> There either is some trauma which makes him afraid to speak, or he took some kind of vow of silence <S> so he's choosing not to speak. <S> That could be political, religious, cultural, or just personal persnicketiness. <A> Is the point of the story to realistically discuss how this person became mute, in some clinical sense, or to spin a story around the initial premise that he is mute? <S> If the story is intended to be a discussion of medical or psychological realities, than this is the wrong place to ask. <S> You should be asking this on a medical web site, or studying books on the brain and language development. <S> Just through in a couple of lines about how the psychological trauma caused him to become mute or how that section of his brain atrophied from disuse or whatever. <S> If it's important for your story for X to happen, then just make up some maybe-plausible-sounding explanation and do it. <S> Writers do this all the time. <S> I sincerely doubt that it is possible to travel in time <S> and there's lot of good physics that says it's impossible to travel faster than light, but characters in science fiction do these things all the time and my technical doubts do nothing to diminish the entertainment value of the story. <S> I find it implausible that Perry Mason only gets murder cases with innocent clients and that the person who really did it always breaks down and confesses in court. <S> I don't believe that the thin and sexy little girls on Charlie's Angels can really beat up not just any man in the house, but every man in the house simultaneously: Women I've met who were tough enough to beat up any man in sight also tended to look tougher than any man in sight. <S> Etc. <S> If the story is entertaining, readers will accept an implausible premise to get it rolling. <A> Speaking as a physician, I find it implausible at best. <S> As a professional writer, I find it an inadequately developed motivation. <S> I would urge you to think quite a bit more about why such a profound life change would happen to someone. <S> If you can't come up with a really convincing reason, then why is it in your story? <S> In my opinion, it's not merely the fact of his muteness that should play a part in the story, but the reason for the muteness that should have something to do with the heart of the story. <A> Neurological illnesses or a conversion disorder can cause muteness with no apparent reason. <S> See this related question over at cogsci.stackexchange.com: https://cogsci.stackexchange.com/questions/4458/why-does-a-person-temporarily-go-blind-without-any-apparent-cause <A> Loneliness can do anything. <S> It can make a person mute without any reason. <S> What our subconscious mind decides strongly, it can do. <S> It doesn't require any reason. <S> So, your character is apt. <S> Thanks.
| But if the point of your story is just to explore what happens to this character after he becomes mute, how it affects his life or whatever, than I wouldn't worry too much about how realistic it is. As premises for a story go, this would be far from the most implausible thing that a writer has ever tried to pull.
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How to use creative commons materials? Creative commons materials are popular on the web, and people are using these materials for creating new websites, as there is no severe copyright restriction. How does creative commons copyright allow reprint in books? For example, does it allow reprinting an entire article of Wikipedia in a book? How much is creative commons similar to public domain when reprinting the material in a book? <Q> That's a tricky question because the Creative Commons license allows a high degree of freedom. <S> That means, there are lots of Creative Commons license flavors and you can check them better in their very page . <S> Basically, when you choose the Creative Commons license, you choose also -- among other things -- if you: Allow or not people changing your work Allow or not people selling and charging for your work <S> So, every work need to have its specific CC license checked because one CC may allow you to distribute and sell the book, other may allow you to change and sell the book, other may allow you only to read and share the book. <A> The set of licences that are creative commons allow for copying and distribution of the works, as long as some restrictions are met. <S> These restrictions are represented by two-letter abbreviations, that are added to CC, for example CC-BY-SA (the license Wikipedia uses). <S> The meaning of the abbreviations are: BY: Attribution - Credit <S> the creator(s) <S> NC: <S> Non commercial - it isn't permitted to use the work commercially ND: <S> Non derivate - it isn't permitted to change the work <S> SA: Share alike - it is permitted to change the work as long as the derivate is distributed under the same license <S> Read more about it on their website . <S> As some books containing content of the Wikipedia already do. <S> The NC-clause would disallow you to ask for money for distribution the book (luckily not the case for Wikipedia). <S> The ND-clause would disallow to change the content, obviously not the right choice for Wikipedia, as an article wouldn't be allowed to be changed from someone different than the original author. <S> Every CC-license allows to copy, if it is non-commercial, unchanged and credits the author. <A> Wikipedia articles are available under the CC BY-SA license. <S> If you reproduce the entire article within a larger work, you must credit the authors (which is typically done with a link to the article's "view history" page; see the Wikipedia terms of use for more info. <S> This is the "BY" (or "attribution") component of the requirement. <S> If you're quoting an entire article within a larger work, you're not creating a "derivative work," so the "SA" (or "share alike") requirement does not apply. <S> You can keep your book, overall, under full copyright, or apply any license you like.
| So, the CC-BY-SA of Wikipedia means you can print a book of articles, as long as you credit the authors and distribute the contents of the books under the same license CC-BY-SA.
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Concept map software that concentrates on ease of use? ...and scales well? I'm in the process of writing a text game / "Make your own adventure" novel, with a fairly convoluted, non-linear plot. Getting that plot under control has proven to be a rather daunting task, and I started using a Concept Map to map out the interconnections between the scenes. The problem is I tried pretty much everything from the List of Concept Mapping software and it either restrains me to tree-like structures, or (usually) concentrates on pretty presentation at cost of usability. The final map will be at least 100 boxes, probably more, with mostly top-down flow and core nodes where action converges and diverges, but there will be jumps, irregularities, dependencies. (that's why not mind map, which is a tree-like structure, no freeform links.) The simpler programs start getting crowded with 10 boxes and don't allow for easily scaling the map up, making it a big, easily zoomable sheet. The more complex ones throw a thousand presentation prerequisites at me; adding one node takes a few minutes, I lose the focus, flow and perspective muddled in clicking through endless dialogs designed to make the final chart pleasing to the eye of audience, a tool for presentation. So far I tried two approaches: A drawing in Google Docs draw tool. It works, but it began seriously slowing down on my netbook which is my primary tool. It's burdensome, not really designed for this work but better than others - at least it let me create a huge canvas easily. Arrows-and-Boxes which is fairly fast and has all I need, but requires me to write everything in a fancy script; it's very good to look and acceptable for adding stuff, but a pain in the neck to edit/modify. As you can see, they are far from optimal. Google Docs will probably be unacceptably slow with several hundred elements to draw, and the Arrows-And-Boxes could quickly grow unmaintainable (plus syntax errors are difficult to find). Can you suggest a better tool for that task? Something lightweight that scales up easily for the huge project, is easy to fill in and doesn't muddle the process of planning with irrelevant requirements? <Q> It is clearly powerful and easy to use, based off the short demonstration video . <S> How scalable it is (especially for output) <S> I am not entirely clear on. <S> But in general, within the software itself, it seems to be "infinitely" scalable. <S> An example they have on their site is this: <S> So it is just a matter of zoom level to see detail versus big picture. <A> It is a long time since I used this software so I cannot vouch for the current version; but CmapTools from the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition was both powerful and flexible for quite complex concept maps. <A> I use CMAP tools frequently and like it, but it doesn't shine for ease of use. <S> Not bad, but not great. <S> The one that I believe will fit your needs best is http://bubbl.us - it's a browser-based app. <S> It has the least friction between brain and screen. <S> Its disadvantage is that, unlike CMAP, it is not totally free of charge. <S> You can make three maps free, but you have to susbscribe if you want to preserve more than three. <S> There is another - Inspiration - but it's overkill for the use you describe. <S> Roy
| Scapple I realize this is an old thread, but the Scapple software might be a good choice (though it is not a free software, if one is seeking that).
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Is it possible to establish a relation between word count and page count? I found some nice replies dealing with word counting , but my question is slightly different. I want to know if it's possible to establish a relation between word count and the number of pages in an average formatted book, so I can have an idea of how many pages my manuscript probably has so far. Of course this should be just an average, not an exact answer. Basically, I want to know, in average, how many words a page has. <Q> An easy, highly variable way: <S> Pick up a book that is formatted approximately as you think yours might be. <S> Pick five random pages in the book. <S> Do not involve your eyes in picking the pages. <S> Count the number of words per page, and compute the mean. <S> Divide <S> your word count by that mean. <S> A more reliable way, involving somewhat more work: Pick up a book that is formatted approximately as you think yours might be. <S> Type five pages of that book into your word processor. <S> Adjust the following settings until they appear on your screen as closely as you can manage like the book you're using as a reference <S> Font (face and size) <S> Line spacing <S> Paragraph spacing Page margins Space between scenes Extra space at the top of a chapter Format <S> your book using the same settings. <A> Really?It's not possible. <S> If you write a book full of dialogue, like theatre, or a book without blank typo, you won't have the same wordcount for the same number of page. <S> For a manuscript, in general, it's not the word count that you have to take. <S> It's the character count. <S> You take some pages, you see the word count, you divide (?) <S> by the number of pages, you ave an average for one of Your pages. <S> And after, you see. <S> But I really don't think you can make a good average with other books, for yours. <A> Most sites I saw, indicated a media of 400 as acceptable, but you can raise it to reflect most condensed books. <S> In that way, a good way to calculate the probably page count of a manuscript is to divide it by 400. <S> This answer was given after some more intense Internet research, where these pages arouse: Matching word count to page size Word Count and Book Length Page Estimator Words per page <S> (MS Word) <S> Vs. <S> Standard Sized Paperback Novel
| You can make an average for your book, already. It seems that the average word count for a page varies from 250 to 400, in normal books.
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How detailed should I be when writing a character bio? Basically, I have about 7 or 8 characters (excluding the antagonist) who each have important roles in the story. My problem is that my characters tend to develop themselves, so to speak. I have no problem with this - in fact, I find it rather amusing - but it leads to an increased chance of them going out of character later. The way to prevent this is, obviously, to write up a bio - the character's personality, back story (to some extent), and some other basic traits. The question is, how detailed should I be? I don't want to be overly basic - again, that leads to out of character moments (and plot holes) - but I also don't want to go into extreme detail on something only I am likely to see. I want to at least include some important events that helped shape who the character is now. I've finished one, and it's almost over the top in detail. I'd rather not do that 6 more times. I'd like some advice on what I should and should not include in a character bio, as well as the level of detail I should go into. <Q> Before starting your story, write as much as you need to feel comfortable with the character. <S> That could be pages and pages, or only a paragraph. <S> (For example, the Harry Potter trio were asked to write up something in the voice of their characters. <S> Radcliffe did a page, Watson did 20, and Grint did nothing. <S> When asked why, he said, "Ron would never turn in such an assignment." <S> The director was like, "Yep, you totally understand Ron.") <S> If your first one is "over the top," then don't write the others so long. <S> Or alternatively, go ahead; why not? <S> Who cares if you write 50 pages of stuff only for you, if you decide you need it? <S> As you go along, keep checking back with your notes, and add, remove, or edit as needed. <S> If some character trait is crucial to the plot (he's afraid of fire because his brother burned him as a child, she was inspired by her grandmother to be a singer no matter what the cost), then you need to iron that out first, and stick to it. <S> As far as "my characters evolve out of character," either you need to be more disciplined and stick with the character you created, or you have to change your plot (and therefore your character bio) to accommodate the new information. <A> Short : It depend what you need. <S> Long : <S> Firstly, I think you need to know what your character remember. <S> It's obvious, but I know some people who forget it. <S> Sure, it's could be difficult with character who have a good memory, but if you need he/she tell something of his/her past, you won't have to think about the event but only the way this event was tell. <S> What you probably want to know is the rest. <S> An important part of his or her behavior could depend of his past, and you will probably need to know this events. <S> It could be something he/ <S> she forgot <S> but it's why he/she is protective, greedy, paranoiac... <S> All. <S> If an event don't leave any kind of scar (physical or psychological) on your character, it's not necessary to write it. <S> After, some part have to be more detailed than others. <S> You don't need to write each hour of each event of course, but the most important 'scars' would probably be more detailed than others. <S> You can easily resume quickly what was his/her education, but you'll probably need to be more detailed on his/her first love, a first failure... <S> If you think something is important, wrote it. <S> If it's really important, detail it. <S> If not, just a quick note would be enough. <A> First of all you should make for each character a short personal description - what they like, what they don't like, what problems they have, how they relate to each other, and so on. <S> Just little things to give your character a defined personality. <S> Some bullet points would be enough. <S> Then write a short text only about the background story of your character. <S> Write the things that will help you to remember the core content. <S> That's enough because this way you'll have the possibility to embellish the story while writing. <S> That's the way I do it <S> and it helps a lot to define and save the personality of my characters which I want for them. <S> You have a guideline but you are also not bound.
| Write all you need to explain why your character is like that.
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Third Person Multiple POV in a single scene, how to refer each other if one character does not know the name of other character and vice versa I am writing a romance novel.I have two main characters, Niranjan (male) and Jennifer.POV is Third Person Multiple (above two). I have a scene where they meet first time in a restaurant.While the current POV is of Jennifer's and she does not know Niranjan's name. Can narrator use Niranjan's name while referring him? For Example, can I write "Jennifer walked inside the restaurant and saw Niranjan waiting for the free table"OR"Jennifer walked inside the restaurant and saw an Indian waiting for the free table" Which one is correct? <Q> If the POV is Jennifer's, we are getting her perspective, as if we're riding on her shoulder. <S> Whether we get her thoughts is up to you, but if this is from Jennifer's eyes, then no, we cannot know his name until he gives it to her. <S> So you have to describe him the way she sees him: an Indian man, a short man with skin the color of coffee beans, a tall man in a sharp dove-gray suit and a tremulous smile, etc. <A> As far as creative writing is concerned, nothing is right or wrong. <S> That said, writing just "Jennifer walked inside the restaurant and saw Niranjan waiting for the free table" sounds kind of lame and plain, whereas the second kind of sentence adds a slight element of suspense to the reader and sounds better. <S> More than saying he's just Indian, you can also use some characteristics of Niranjan (like his manners or way of talking) to imply the character. <S> At the same time, take care to give enough hints to the reader to imply that it is Niranjan, so that the reader isn't confused. <S> Hope it helps. <S> Cheers! <A> There are different levels of 3rd person narration, so it depends. <S> Your narrator might describe the scene like someone viewing a movie. <S> Or the narrator might be omniscient. <S> If you're inside someone's head then, yes, describe only what they experience or know. <S> Given the way these two characters are meeting, it would be very easy for you to have them introduce themselves and get that out of the way. <S> If you want to put it off, let another character say the person's name. <S> "Niranjan? <S> Your table is ready." <S> or "Hey, Jen, don't forget you're closing tomorrow. <S> See ya in the morning. <S> " <S> If your narrator is not in a character's head and just follows one of them around at a time, then you could use both names right away. <S> Especially because it's just the two of them <S> the narrator "knows" so well.
| What yours sounds like is a narrator that goes inside the character's head and describes things as if they were in first person, just using the 3rd person point of view. It's entirely up to you, the writer, to describe the scenes in your own way.
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