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Why do writers sometimes use so much description? Why do many writers use a lot of description when presenting a character or a scene? Is this a writing tradition? Many characters in a book have been described in minute detail , in some ways preventing a reader from using their own imagination. The same happens with many described scenes. Is this a tradition? <Q> I (sometimes/often) do the total opposite; I barely describe some characters and leave it almost entirely up to the reader to decide what they look like. <S> I may give general descriptions, such as "male", "forties", etc., <S> but that's about it. <S> Why? <S> Well, because I am writing a story and the story itself is what matters most - not what colour the protagonist's moustache is (unless, of course, the story is specifically about the colour of the protagonist's facial hair). <S> However , I should also point out that some characters' descriptions being highly-detailed is often vital. <S> Take J.R.R. Tolkein's "The Hobbit" <S> - there are a great many wonderful creatures featuring in that classic story, some little, some large, and some stunning plains upon which the action takes place, and it makes sense to describe each thoroughly due to the fantastical nature of the tale that he tells - Tolkein clearly wanted to paint a very specific picture in the reader's mind <S> (although, I'm sure, we all now picture Martin Freeman whenever we hear the name "Bilbo Baggins" but that's the film industry for you!). <S> As mentioned by the user what, I too am unsure of what your "question" might be; it may well be that you yourself are unsure, but I do not condemn you (for lack of a better phrase) for your post at all as it is clear that you have some doubts and are most probably looking to ask something along the lines of " What relevance do highly-detailed character and/or scene descriptions have in a story? " <A> Depending on the flair of the writer's technique, the description will vary, but all writers who wish to expose the characters or scenes they are introducing and developing must use an expanse of description - not only does this picture the image in the reader's mind, it allows adaptations of the reader's imagination to rest this image in their thoughts. <A> I don't know why your question got voted down; it's a perfectly legitimate question. <S> Most works <S> I read nowadays <S> (I don't know how we can discuss writing without discussing existing works) don't have that much description. <S> It seems most writers nowadays adhere to the school of minimalism or follow the style of the modernists (Ezra Pound, Hemingway, etc). <S> If you read a lot of Hemingway's short stories, he didn't use a lot of character descriptions. <S> In fact, he doesn't describe the characters at all in "Hills Like White Elephants. <S> " You can get away with not describing the characters. <S> Stein said "I like to see what the characters look like and what they're wearing from the way they talk." <S> On the other hand if you're good with descriptions then why not use them. <S> You have to write to your strengths. <S> If you're bad with descriptions then don't use them; if you're bad at spelling then don't use big words. <S> It worked with Hemingway!
| Heavy description also prevents an overload later on, to allow the flow of the plot; it also, in my case, provides the author with the solid image of what their character is determined to be.
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Is there a free online alternative to Scrivener? I currently use Google Drive/Docs to pen all of my novels and short stories, but really feel that I could do with a management suite of sorts, such as Scrivener. However, as Scrivener costs actual money, I was wondering if there is a free alternative available, but with the caveat that it operates online via a cloud server. Does such a thing exist that anybody has experience with? <Q> It's not an online tool <S> but it if you need it on the go it can be run from a usb pen drive. <S> The only free and online tools I can think of are litlift which is at litlift.com and Hiveword from hiveword.com and Inklewriter which is at inklestudios.com/inklewriter <S> but I've not used any of them <S> so you have a fun time of discovery to come! <A> It is very minimalistic and has a basic chapter feature. <A> I know this is an old thread, but I wanted to jump on and contribute this response for anyone else who may wander by in the future. <S> I found WaveMaker at https://wavemaker.co.uk/ . <S> For writing anytime or anywhere, this software cannot be beat! <S> Here's what it can do: <S> Synch your work to any computer, anywhere, at any time. <S> Works in your browser or can be downloaded locally. <S> Works on ANY device with an internet browser. <S> Works offline. <S> 100% COMPLETELY FREE! <S> As if those things weren't enough, it has a METRIC CRAPTON of other features. <S> I won't get into them here because frankly, I haven't used them all. <S> But, if you go to the website, they're all laid out there. <S> I'm telling you, for anybody looking for a flexible writing app, LOOK. <S> NO. <S> FURTHER. <S> For the record: NO, I'm not getting any kind of kickbacks or anything for promoting this software. <S> It took me forever to find this software. <S> Unfortunately, I had already spent money on other options before I did. <S> So, I am hoping to help others put an end to their writing software blues by getting this info in their hands. <A> A lot of writers swear by that one. <S> It's not exactly like Scrivener, but it does a lot of nice things and can be very versatile. <S> Alternatively, Microsoft is giving away OneNote , which is similar, if you're familiar with the concept of an electronic notebook. <S> It can also output the pages created as Word documents or RTF files (I think). <S> And a +1 for both Hiveword and yWriter, too. <A> Scrivener is a fantastic tool that's also a remarkably well-written piece of software. <S> The programmer deserves recompense for his effort. <S> Neither Word nor Evernote nor OneNote are sufficiently similar to Scrivener to merit comparison. <S> Look at the Literature and Latte website. <S> Read about it. <S> Check out Gwen Hernandez site; she's an expert on Scrivener. <S> Yes, it costs money. <S> Yes, yes, yes, it's worth it. <A> I think you'll find that TrueNovelist just about fulfils your requirements. <S> Free, online with a management suite. <S> Here's some blurb from the site Organize your writing and research in a way that makes sense to you. <S> Create separate folders for characters, places, research, and more. <S> You can create as many folders and scenes as you like. <S> Nothing is more motivating than knowing how much progress you have made on your story. <S> See daily statistics on your words per minute, overall words typed, and more. <S> Set daily word count goals, and track your overall progress. <S> View the last few days and see how many times you have reached your goal. <S> Doing a little bit of experimental writing on a scene? <S> Take snapshots of your work, so you can rollback to an earlier version at any time. <S> Work is autosaved to the cloud as soon as you stop typing - work anywhere <S> you have an internet connection. <S> Another online alternative is Yarny <A> Seequill (seequill.net) is not free but it's pretty close ($30/year). <S> But I have been very happy with Seequill. <S> It's got a very clean interface. <S> You can do the basics of what Scrivener can do (reorder scenes and chapters, etc.) <S> plus it lets you store images for characters and locations. <S> It also has a timeline feature to track you characters in your story. <S> And you can export to Word. <A> If you're on IOS and write on the go like I do? <S> You should try out Storyist. <S> It's more of a management suite like Scrivener. <S> Works really well on iPad with BT keyboard. <S> The price is affordable, way less than what you'd likely spend on Scrivener for comparable capabilities. <A> truenovelist.com for online CherryTree for offline
| I just tried Novlr and it seems to work pretty well. You could look at Evernote . There is a great free novel writing tool available, it's called yWriter and it can be downloaded from spacejock.com. WaveMaker's got you covered. I think you'd find it hard to find a free version online, unless you don't mind it being plastered with ads.
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First-time author...can I publish in English in Mexico? I'm writing a novel, my first ever, and I hope to finally finish the story and get it published. I live in Mexico, but I am writing in English...could I get the book published here, or would I have to approach a publishing company in an English-speaking country? I'm thinking maybe I can do it here because I live in Cancún and everyone here speaks English...however, what if it weren't English? What if I wanted to publish a novel in, say, Romanian, or any other "uncommon" language? <Q> If you live in Mexico, reach out to U.S. (or even Canadian) <S> publishing houses with your manuscript. <S> You're more likely to get a bite. <S> Then find an agent that can get it translated and published in Mexico in Spanish. <A> As I am not in mexico, I will look at this from a slightly more abstract position. <S> First to note In my hometown <S> I only know of one publisher, but my dad retired from that after publishing only one book. <S> Chances are that you will not find a publisher in your home town. <S> Most of the ones I know of are based in New York. <S> Let's try another question, what are the most influential publishers where you live? <S> the way to find out this is to just go to a bookstore, or library and find out who published the books that are locally available. <S> But what about the language issue? <S> Well, in your case I would wander over to the english section of the bookstore/library. <S> It gets harder if you can't buy books in the chosen language locally. <A> What you might be able to do locally, and this might be really fun -- would be to serialize your work in a local English newspaper or magazine. <S> Think of Dickens! <A> Yes, it is possible to get an English language book published in Mexico or any non-native language book published in foreign countries. <S> I've listed two ways you could go below. <S> Find yourself a literary agent. <S> I did some googling and found this http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/guide-to-literary-agents/literary-fiction-agents <S> but I'd suggest reaching out to some local writers groups in your area and see if you can find any connections through them or reading up on industry news through sources like http://www.publishersweekly.com/ and see if you can find new agents that are accepting submissions. <S> Submit your work directly to publishing houses, specifically ones that have Spanish language divisions. <S> This is probably not going to be as successful as going through an agent as editors tend to prefer to deal with authors who have agents.
| A literary agent will handle all the work for you in reaching out to publishers and negotiating international rights. Typically, it's difficult to publish in one country using the language of another. Even in the U.S., where there is an ever-growing increase in Spanish-speaking persons, it's difficult to find a publisher for Spanish language books.
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How should I write a post containing analysis and python code? I have written a python script that takes in data analyses them and gives some results. I want to write a blog post analyzing these results. I am not sure if I should include my python script in the blog post and how much should I explain it ? I want to emphasize the python aspect. Maybe in a separate post ?Do you know any examples I should look ? <Q> If a reader is not interested in the script, it is easy for them to ignore the link. <S> But if a reader is interested in the script, then they will likely also appreciate GitHub’s high-quality code-viewing features, and easy code-sharing features. <S> They may even send you patches or improvements to your code. <S> And there is a certain cachet to being the maintainer of a GitHub project. <S> Schools and employers are often impressed by that. <S> You can maintain the focus on the results in your blog post and the focus on the code in your GitHub project. <A> I often put snippets of code right into bodies of text. <S> When I do, I typically format it in courier or another fixed-space font, and indent the entire code one or two tabs. <S> It makes it more obvious that it's code so that uninterested parties can skim past it. <A> Blogs can have many purposes. <S> They can be to inform others, they can be to gain an audience, they can even be just a personal journal with the distinction that it's readable by others. <S> Assuming you yourself are the driving force behind the blog, then just remember that you call the shots and there's really no rules you need to abide by. <S> Just write it <S> however you feel it should be written. <S> If you find you're giving it too much thought to the point <S> it's becoming a chore, then why bother? <S> With that said, here are some pointers for your situation. <S> If the blog is primarily an online journal of your activities for your future self, then you probably want to include the code in case you find later down the road that you need to reuse it. <S> If the blog is to inform others, then consider whether your main accomplishment is related to the script, the analysis, or the results, or some combination. <S> For example, if you feel your script is really clever and does the bulk of the analysis automatically, then include it in the body and explain it (in addition to the code comments inline). <S> If the script mainly serves to 'massage' the data (narrow down large amounts of data and get it into a format readable by humans for example) and the human is doing the bulk of the analysis, then maybe the script is better off as an appendix near the bottom of your post. <S> If your blog exists mainly to inform readers of the results of your analysis, then you could even omit the script altogether or put it in a separate blog intended for Python developers. <A> You will have to decide what is important. <S> If you look at the DZone website, it has links to a large number of blogs. <S> Sometimes these blogs include code and sometimes they don't depending on the purpose and focus of the blog. <S> I would recommend you visit the site and see. <A> GitHub pages , which allows you to keep your script and to post the analyses in the blog, may fill the bill. <S> Follow the README in this project , you'll dig it out within less than one hour.
| You might want to put the Python script into a GitHub project, and then link to that project from your blog post.
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Writing about a real place I am writing about a real place and the real history of a family. However, there are some things I want to include that aren't the truth. Is this legal to do? Many thanks, Ciera <Q> Typically, you would change all the names and present it as fiction (perhaps as "inspired by a true story"). <S> This is called a roman à clef <S> and it's a widely used technique to allow poetic license with the truth while avoiding legal trouble. <S> Even with this approach, however, people have still been sued, so you might want to use caution. <A> Have you ever watched a "docudrama"? <S> These days, even straight-up documentaries on TV often include "dramatic re-enactments" of key scenes. <S> I often find such docudrama frustrating because, if I don't already know the facts, there's no easy way to tell what actually happened, what's been added or altered to make the story more dramatic or otherwise entertaining, and what's been added or altered to inject the producer's political, social, religious or otherwise philosophical interpretations. <S> Books claiming to be non-fiction accounts of historical events rarely do this, but there are plenty of historical novels out there. <S> Some just use some very general historical backdrop and populate it with totally fictional characters. <S> But others are all about real people. <S> In these cases they may take a few actual historical facts -- this man really was king and he really did marry a princess from Bavaria <S> and he really did go on a Crusade, etc -- <S> but then they fill it out with a lot of fictional material to make an entertaining story. <S> If they're centuries dead, I doubt their great-great-great-grandchildren are going to sue you, and I doubt they'd get far if they tried. <S> I suppose if you wrote a story portraying some much-loved historical figure in a bad light you could take some heat, like if you portrayed Abraham Lincoln as a rapist or something, but I don't think there'd be much anyone could do legally. <A> What you want to say will partly determine what you can do. <S> If you want to say that someone is a baby-killing paedophile, and that person is easily identified from what you write, expect trouble. <S> If you just change the names and embroider a story, you shouldn't have to worry. <S> Many people add to what is actually known. <S> I recently watched a film about Anne Frank. <S> Of course all the dialogue was made up and many of the events. <S> Problem? <S> No.
| If the people you're writing about are still alive or are not all that long dead, you may have issues with libel.
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A grand scheme or destiny in literature There's one thing in literature that no matter how cliche or over used it might be, I always find very compelling. For example, when a story unfolds as if there is a larger force at work moving all of the events to a single purpose. When even the most distant flashbacks seem to have purpose and effects to the current day events and how the plot unfolds. Honestly, I can't actually think of any pure examples of this off the top of my head but I was wondering if there is a technical term for this or a way that I can look up examples of this. EDIT: Some better thoughts are things like "The Chosen One" in literature. Where a prophecy is made and one of the main characters seems to be determined to fit that role. <Q> Life is random. <S> Fiction is not. <S> This is called "plot". <S> The basic rule of (most, regular) fiction is that everything that goes on in the narration must somehow relate to the protagonist and his goals. <S> You do not fill your story will irrelavant details or randomly string together people and events that lead nowhere. <S> In life, things might happen that have no relation to what you are on about. <S> For example, a husband might try to save his wife from a kidnapper and get run over by a drunk diver. <S> End of story. <S> In a novel, this would make the readers throw away the book and never buy anything by that author again. <S> In fiction, the husband must battle the kidnapper, not the randomness of the world. <S> The reason for this is that we do not experience life as random. <S> We look back on our lives and see how everything appears to have happened to lead us just to this moment. <S> Richard Feynman uses this perception to illustrate the fallacy of a posteriori conclusions: <S> You know, the most amazing thing happened to me tonight. <S> I was coming here, on the way to the lecture, and I came in through the parking lot. <S> And you won’t believe what happened. <S> I saw a car with the license plate ARW 357. <S> Can you imagine? <S> Of all the millions of license plates in the state, what was the chance that I would see that particular one tonight? <S> Amazing! <S> Fate is how we feel about our lives, and fiction – which is usually told in the mode of looking back on events and attempting to make sense of them – does just that <S> : make sense of randomness. <S> Of course there is experimental fiction that breaks the basic rule of having a coherent plot and plays with the reader's expectation, but even this fiction only works before the background of that convention. <A> A good example would for what you're talking about may be found in the Harry Potter series, in which, correspondingly to your EDIT, there is a spotlight on Harry Potter being the chosen one. <S> Her literary shortcomings aside, Rowling weaved the most intricate plot i have ever witnessed in a series. <S> In fact, upon finishing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, i was completely mind-bugled trying to comprehend the scope and cross-book connections of the series. <S> She also utilizes plenty of flashbacks containing crucial information on the protagonist and antagonist. <S> I haven't heard of a term for what you're describing, but as for an example, i daresay you'd be hard pressed to find one better than Harry Potter. <A>
| One of the main techniques that can be used to build a sense of epic destiny is foreshadowing , where events that will come later in the narrative are hinted at, or alluded to earlier.
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Filter Words in Dialog I realize there are lists of words that writers aren't supposed to use, but does the same apply to dialog? http://penningtonpublishing.com/blog/grammar_mechanics/how-to-eliminate-to-be-verbs-in-writing/ http://writeitsideways.com/are-these-filter-words-weakening-your-fiction/ Are the main examples I'm referring to. <Q> The dialogue should above all be natural and matching the characters. <S> That means there is no list of "wrong words" in general. <S> Only "per character" - meaning you won't have a junkie punk speaking in elaborate formal language, nor, conversely, a scientist using street slang. <S> This applies to all in-world texts, not just dialogue. <S> If your story contains snippets of letters, texts of labels on some containers, samples of terrible prose written by a teenage protagonist, all these "good writing" rules are replaced with "believable, realistic, matching the context. <S> " The "good writing" rules essentially apply only to narration. <S> Of course don't overdo it. <S> If you pictured your first-person protagonist as coming from Russia, it vould be silly to ryeplyace all narryation with russyan accyent. <S> Keep the core text following rules of good writing and modify it to match "special needs" only as extra flavors. <S> Your Russian protagonist may mention some russian cussword or otherwise express their nationality, but - as the central character of the story - should stick to proper English with rules like "avoiding weak words" observed. <A> I think that the articles you cite look like very bad advice. <S> I see what they're saying, but I wonder if following these rules will really cause a reader to decide that a story touches them more or makes them realize deeper insights. <S> Okay, seriously -- <S> and I admit up front <S> , I am about to get highly opinionated here: Yes, there's a point in there about drawing the reader into the action. <S> But to say that using these words makes a bad story and not using them makes a good story is not just mind-numbingly simplistic, it's in an entirely wrong direction. <S> "She wondered how she could make it across the busy road" is lame but "How could she make it across the busy road?" is enthralling? <S> Get real. <S> If only good writing could be reduced to such a simple formula. <S> The argument here seems to be that writing in the first person, or a sort of pseudo-first person, is good; but writing in the third person is bad. <S> No. <S> Each has its place. <S> Learn the pros and cons of each. <S> The to-be article is even sillier. <S> For example, it contrasts "That school is great" -- bad sentence, with "That school has wonderful teachers, terrific students, and supportive parents" -- good sentence. <S> I agree that the second is a more interesting sentence. <S> But is the important difference that the first uses "is" and the second doesn't? <S> No. <S> What if we rewrote them as, "That school does great" and "That school is a place with wonderful teachers, terrific students, and supportive parents. <S> " Now I've switched which uses "is" and which doesn't. <S> Did that make the first sentence the better one? <S> No. <S> The difference is that the first has no depth <S> , it gives us no reason for the judgment, while the second gives some explanation. <S> Actually I think the second is still a pretty dull sentence, as it gives no clue why the writer thinks the teachers are wonderful, etc. <S> It's still a statement of unsupported opinion, just a slightly more detailed one. <S> There may be some simple formulas to better writing, but I don't think these are it. <S> End of opinionated rant. <A> Most beginning writers forget that their narrator is a person with a character who speaks in a voice and narrates in a style that befits his personality. <S> Whichever words (and grammar and imagery and so on) you use or don't use is determined by the character of your narrator. <S> In literature, no words or expressions are forbidden or unusable in and of themselves. <S> The resources you list are unreliable in that they dogmatically recommend to avoid certain words, irrelevant of your writing style, audience and story. <S> There are many works of fiction in which the narrative rests on just these words and would no longer work without them. <A> No. <S> Filter words in dialogue don't matter. <S> You can do what you want in dialogue. <S> Would it be cliche to write in a narration that it was raining cats and dogs outside? <S> Yes it would because this is creative writing. <S> Surely you can come up with a better way to describe it raining hard. <S> But if your character runs inside, dripping wet, and exclaims,"Damn. <S> It's raining cats and dogs out there!" <S> Maybe that's how the character talks. <S> "I watched her run into the burning building. <S> "vs"She ran into the burning building." <S> The two will say the same thing to the casual reader. <S> The first is supposedly wrong because of the filter word, but what if the character feels guilty about watching and doing nothing. <S> So there very well can be a time when filter words are just fine.
| The language used should be such, as given character would use normally in given situation.
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How political can an author's note be, would the following fly? "If the ANC does to you what the apartheid government did to you, then you must do to the ANC what you did to the apartheid government." – Nelson Mandela I wrote this novel in what was at the time my 3rd language. My motivations are too complex to explain here, but I must address one matter. Revolutions have often ended terrible governments. Unfortunately, they have also brought to power the worst of humanity. Tsar Nicholas III made way for the Bolshevik terror that nearly consumed the earth. Lon Nol was replaced by Pol Pot. Batista was overthrown by Fidel Castro. What has happened in South Africa is similarly tragic. The world rightly refused to accept the racist apartheid government. No sane person would support them. I grew up hearing about my own father’s disputes with them, which ended in him taking the Minister of Police to court and winning. However, having the ANC as a replacement has been an unmitigated disaster. To understand why, a frank assessment of the ANC is necessary. Necklacing, a murder method where ANC supporters put tires around the necks of fellow blacks and burned them alive, was common in the townships. It is one of the most painful ways to die, taking up to twenty minutes. Winnie Mandela said: "With our matches and necklaces we shall liberate this country." She was also actively involved in the kidnapping and murder of an innocent 14-year-old black child, Stompie Moeketsi. Winnie is presently a member of the ANC’s National Executive Committee, the highest organ of the ANC. A party truly concerned about black rights would never accept such a monster. Aside from the understandable confrontation with the apartheid government, the ANC engaged in senseless terrorism. On May 20, 1983, a car bomb was set off during rush hour in Pretoria. 17 people were killed and 217 seriously injured. Oliver Tambo, president of the ANC, authorized the terrorist attack. In 2006, South Africa’s international airport was renamed after Tambo. This is an affront to everyone affected by terrorism. Renaming an airport after a terrorist is especially disrespectful to the victims of 9/11. Nelson Mandela deserves praise for avoiding a racial bloodbath during the transfer of power. He showed us all what a difference the right attitude can make. Still, it is important to see the new government formation in context with what was to come. The ANC installed a corrupt police force, making South Africa one of the most dangerous countries on earth. It has a war zone murder rate. Charles Nqakula, Minister of Safety and Security, told those worried about crime to emigrate. South Africa has the most people with HIV/AIDS in the entire world. This tragedy has not been helped by the ANC’s abysmal public education, which according to academic Rabelani Dagada is worse than the Bantu education of the apartheid government. The complete lack of compassion that the ANC government has for its people can be highlighted by the Minister of Health, Manto Msimang, who advocated using beetroot instead of ARV’s to treat HIV. Her policies are estimated to have caused the deaths of over 300,000 South Africans. She served under president Thabo Mbeki, who is an AIDS denialist. Other ignorant beliefs are common in parts of South Africa. One is the removal of a child’s ring finger to prevent bed-wetting. Another is the trust that sex with virgins cures HIV. It has contributed to South Africa having one of the highest rape rates in the world. Even president Jacob Zuma was charged with rape. He was acquitted, but admitted to having unprotected sex with a woman he knew had HIV. When asked why he didn’t use protection, he said he took a shower to ward off the disease. Zuma has many other moral and legal failings. Regarding homosexuality, he said: "When I was growing up, a homosexual would not have stood in front of me. I would knock him out." He stated that Afrikaners were the only real white South Africans. His solution to teenage pregnancy is to confiscate the children and force the mothers to obtain degrees. He was linked to the Arms Scandal with his friend Schabir Shaik. At ANC rallies, he sings songs calling for whites to be slaughtered. He also brags about having practiced witchcraft against whites during apartheid. In 2012, he built a private mansion with taxpayer money of $20 million. On democracy, Zuma said: "You have more rights because you're a majority; you have less rights because you're a minority. That's how democracy works." This statement is an accurate description of the state of South African politics. Since 2003, the ANC has implemented institutional racism. They compel companies to hire blacks over whites and give preference to deals with other black businesses. Patrice Motsepe amassed $2.9 billion through his ANC connections. His children must be given employment preference over whites living in squatter camps. Government tenders are also given to black companies regardless if they can produce. If no black candidate can be found for a government job, it is kept open rather than filled by a qualified white candidate. Innocent white children are subject to racist sport quotas. Listing all the other evil policies and actions of the ANC would require a book on its own. South Africa is doomed with them at the helm. Unemployment is 25-30%. AIDS, murder, rape, inflation, rolling blackouts, and corruption are a way of life. Apartheid is dead. That’s vital, but means nothing with the ANC in power. It is time that the world sees these red chameleon comrades for what they are and for what they have done. There are brilliant South Africans, of all races, who would thrive under proper leadership. This beautiful country deserves better. <Q> Politics will limit your audience. <S> If your novel is highly political, your author's note will fit right in. <S> The author's note may even be a draw for people who agree with the politics. <S> A political author's note up front will annoy many readers. <S> Annoyed readers may close the book and not open it again. <S> They may be annoyed with themselves for having spent money on your book. <S> They will likely not buy your next book. <S> Their final experience of your book will be annoyance. <S> They will not buy your next book. <A> What Dale said. <S> And: I think that your novel should contain a short, biographical author's note including the URL of your webpage. <S> On your webpage you can have either a page dedicated to your political views, or a blog where, besides other writerly blog posts, you voice your political opinion. <S> I would keep the book as the book and not water it down with anything. <S> Add no more than acknowlegements (sources, helpful people) in the back, if necessary, and a one sentence dedication ("To ...") at the beginning. <S> Add a preface only to explain the circumstances of the books inception and writing. <S> Keep yourself out of your book. <A> Echoing what Dale said, politics will alienate your readers. <S> However, if your political statement (that you wish to address in the author's note) is central to the book, then the book description should do enough to deter readers who would be put off by the note. <S> You mentioned that it will be at the back of the book (which is where I've seen most author's notes); do be sure it is at the back. <S> A lot of front matter will also deter readers. <S> If it's in fact at the end of the book, you may not alienate readers from that book, but you could potentially lose future readers. <S> It's up to you how in-depth you want to be about politics. <S> A note about author's notes: <S> all of the ones I've seen have been primarily fact-based, not opinion-based. <S> They serve the purpose of providing explanations and insights into research, so that's another option you have: write it so that it's research, not your opinion. <S> That being said, if you are looking to publish with an established publishing firm, you may want to consult with them on what their requirements are. <S> If you're self-publishing, you can do what you want (with consideration to your readers).
| If your novel is not itself political, a political afterword will annoy many readers who enjoyed the novel.
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What makes a piece "lyrical"? I've been thinking about this question for a while. This is my definition of what makes a sentence lyrical: 1. The use of metaphors: So I walked back to my room and collapsed on the bottom bunk, thinking that if people were rain, I was drizzle and she was hurricane. ― John Green, Looking for Alaska 2. The use of words related to nature: "When I closed my eyes, the scent of the wind wafted up toward me. A May wind, swelling up like a piece of fruit, with a rough outer skin, slimy flesh, dozens of seeds." ― Haruki Murakami Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman. 3. The use of rhythm (alternating short sentences with long sentences): "Memory is a funny thing. When I was in the scene, I hardly paid it any mind. I never stopped to think of it as something that would make a lasting impression, certainly never imagined that eighteen years later I would recall it in such detail. I didn't give a damn about the scenery that day. I was thinking about myself. I was thinking about the beautiful girl walking next to me. I was thinking about the two of us together, and then about myself again." I would like to hear other definitions, or to know whether I'm mistaken. <Q> Songs are inherently emotive and use rhythm and sound to convey a sense beyond the literal. <S> The rhythmic aspect includes not merely higher-level structure but also accentuation, syllabic pacing, repetition of sound patterns, and other mechanisms. <S> Songs generally have a compression and a subtlety of expression that is not typical of ordinary prose. <S> The use of imagery accomplishes both subtlety and compression. <S> Other forms of indirect expression can also provide a lyrical quality, perhaps primarily from subtly which can intensify the emotive effect. <S> (The use of subtly might be similar to telling a joke; the lead up disguises the punchline and the punchline by itself is generally not funny but with the whole there is a powerful reaction.) <S> One might even argue that "show don't tell" is a step in the lyrical direction. <S> Natural images are not essential to lyrical expression, though they have the benefit of being broadly appreciated and having nearly an intrinsic emotive quality. <A> The word lyrical does not mean "like a song lyric". <S> If anything the derivation probably goes the other way. <S> Lyrical means expressing the writer's emotions in a beautiful or imaginative way. <S> Thus you can have poetry that is lyrical and poetry that is not lyrical. <S> You can have prose that is lyrical but not rhythmic, and <S> prose that is rhythmic but not lyrical. <S> (I have been arguing with my editor recently about sentence rhythm in my forthcoming technical book. <S> The prose in that book is a rhythmic as I can reasonably make it, but no part of it is in any way lyrical.) <S> Of course, in expressing your emotions in beautiful and imaginative language you may very well use metaphors, make references to nature, and use rhythm. <S> Then again you could do all of these things in a biology textbook that was not lyrical at all. <S> Finally, alternating short and long sentences is not rhythm. <S> Rhythm has to do with where stresses fall in a sentence. <S> Thus: We shall go on to the end. <S> We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. <S> We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender <A> This is merely meant to support Paul A. Clayton's excellent answer. <S> What unifies the three examples you've presented is the impeccable rhythm (meter) of the prose. <S> As Paul Clayton notes, prose lyricism can extend to poetic techniques (sound patterns) such as alliteration, internal rhymes and near rhymes, among others. <S> If you're not familiar with it already, you may be interested in Eliot's Four Quartets . <S> The bulk of the poem is written in natural, modern English, rendered poetry not by rhyme, but by the rhythmic structure. <S> (One of the implications of this modern poem is that rhythm is the fundamental trait of poetry, over and above rhyme or even meaning.) <S> Similarly, lyricism in prose writing is primarily a factor of impeccable metric structure which results in perfect "flow" for the reader. <S> Poetic imagery may be applied for the reasons Clayton mentions. <S> A clue as to the use of "lyric" can be found in the etymology. <S> The word derives from the Ancient Greek musical instrument known as the lyre . <S> Erato is the muse of lyric poetry, although in later accounts, Euterpe was also associated with this form. <S> Lyric refers to the musical qualities of language <S> This is to say the metric and phonetic (auditory) qualities that elevate common prose to lyrical prose. <S> PS- <S> With the Green quote, that has the feeling of a short poem nested in a prose narrative because of the rhyme. <S> Typically one would avoid overt rhymes in line endings in lyrical prose to distinguish it from poetry (or even doggerel), but Green's use demonstrates how it can be skillfully utilized for effect.
| Lyrical refers to song-like qualities. Prose rhythm, at least as I think of it, has to do with how the natural stresses in a sentence support the meaning of that sentence.
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Technical Documentation Voice Preference : "Active Voice" - "Passive Voice" - A Mixture of both We are working on a technical documentation project which includes the rewriting, modernization, restructuring, enrichment of the content. I'm doing the content rewriting and translation parts of the job and my voice preference has always been on "passive" but sometimes the urge to switch to the active voice becomes hard to resist. I'm finding it hard to explain to the project leaders, too, because they do interfere from time to time to the content and they always tend to switch to active voice. Would using both active and passive voice in different sections of technical manuals, training documentation, service manuals etc be a bad choice? Are there any styling guides on technical documentation which cover this topic? <Q> Active voice is the appropriate choice for all types and sections of technical documentation, and for training and service manuals. <S> The Microsoft Manual of Style is used by professional technical writers. <S> The 4th edition (2012) says: <S> In general, use active voice. <S> Active voice emphasizes the person or thing performing the action. <S> It's more direct than passive voice, which can be confusing or sound formal. <S> Use passive voice sparingly. <S> It is all right to use passive voice in the following situations: <S> To avoid a wordy or awkward construction. <S> When the action, not the doer, is the focus of the sentence. <S> When the subject is unknown. <S> In error messages, to avoid giving the impression that the user is to blame. <A> Whatever results in the less convoluted and easier to understand syntax. <S> Even research articles are today usually written in active voice and avoid confusing self-reference-avoidance (do: "We conducted a study...", don't: "A study was conducted ..." [by whom?]). <S> Machines are operated by persons, they are not "being operated" by a mysterious force. <S> The APA Manual – which, admittedly, aims at scientific manuscripts, but is often more widely applicable – has this to say about passive voice: ... <S> the passive voice suggests individuals are acted on instead of being actors ("the students completed the survey" is preferable to " <S> the students were given the survey or "the survey was administered to the students"). <S> (p. 73) <S> Dangling modifiers have no referent in the sentence. <S> Many of these result from the use of the passive voice. <S> By writing in the active voice, you can avoid many dangling modifiers. <S> Correct: Using this procedure, I tested the participants. <S> [I, not the participants, used the procedure.] <S> (p. 81) <S> Incorrect: The participants were tested using this procedure. <S> But the passive voice is a valid mode and has its uses, too, of course: <S> For example, "The speakers were attached to either side of the chair" emphasizes the placement of speakers, not who placed them—the more appropriate focus in the Method section. <S> "The President was shot" emphasizes the importance of the person shot. <S> (p. 77) <A> My preference is for passive voice for reference material, some active for tutorials/howtos and whatever is easiest to understand for instructional or theoretical overviews. <S> For example a mechanic changing a tire will check the manual for inflation pressure and lug torques (reference), a teenager will want a youtube video (howto), but an engineer will want to know why (theoretical overview, then reference) <A> Passive voice always sounds more 'professional', but a big reason people write that way by habit is because they want to avoid the subject - the actor. <S> If you have an error message all about how the file templates <S> /banff.html isn't found, it sounds goofy to use the first person, as if the software is speaking:"I cannot find the file templates/banff.html"Running through a bunch of alternatives, often feels similarly strange. <S> So, we avoid stating the subject by using the passive voice:"The file templates/banff.html cannot be found." <S> But imagine that you're reading instructions about making your way through a bureaucracy. <S> You read this sentence:"The application then has the applicant's license and registration number filled in. <S> " <S> Are YOU supposed to fill them in? <S> Or does it happen automatically? <S> Are the numbers filled in for you, by someone in the bureaucracy? <S> Whoever wrote it left that detail out. <S> I have had situations like that, and I continue reading forward, keeping the question in my mind, hoping I'll get a clue further on down as to whether I'm expected to do it or not. <S> Everything I read has to be doubled: "If I fill in the numbers, then that means..., <S> but if they fill in the numbers, then that means....". <S> I've had many situations where I run into yet another similar ambiguity, and I have to carry around three or four cases in my head, plowing through the instructions, hoping for some clues that sometimes never come, because the author continues to write passive voice. <S> Every passive sentence could become one of these fork situations that adds to the reader's mental load. <S> Remember, also, that nobody complains about bad documentation. <S> They don't want to look stupid, they ask somebody, defeating the whole purpose of the docs you wrote. <S> So just cuz you've done a lot of writing with passive voice <S> , doesn't mean it was a good idea to do so.
| Usually people find it easier to understand active voice. The passive voice is acceptable in expository writing and when you want to focus on the object or recipient of the action rather than on the actor.
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Do words like "start", "realize", and "decide" add ambiguity to actions? My heart started to race. Did the heart actually race or not yet? Later that night, I realized I couldn't sleep. Did the person try to sleep? Or knew that before even trying? We decided to go to the balcony. Did they only decide? Or actually do the action? Well, I'm not sure. Maybe they are necessary at times? If so, when? (The reason I add those words is to make the action sound less "abrupt." But again, I'm not sure whether I'm making things worse.) <Q> I think you're trying to hard to find a formula. <S> I think "my heart started to race" is pretty clear. <S> It wasn't racing before; it is racing now. <S> The other two, yes, as isolated sentences, they are ambiguous. <S> But you could say that about a lot of perfectly good sentences. <S> To take a silly example, suppose I told you that a story includes the sentence, "She wasn't there. <S> " By itself, that's horribly ambiguous. <S> Who wasn't there? <S> Where are we talking about? <S> Wasn't there when? <S> Should the reader have expected her to be there <S> so this is a surprise, or is this what we would expect? <S> Etc. <S> But that could be a perfectly clear statement in the right context. <S> So, for example. <S> "I knew I needed to get some rest before the contest tomorrow, but I was too nervous and jumpy. <S> I realized I couldn't sleep. <S> Rather than go to bed when I knew I would just lie awake <S> worrying <S> , I decided to ... <S> " <S> In that context, clearly I mean that I came to this realization before going to bed. <S> But, "I lay in bed staring at the ceiling. <S> I realized I couldn't sleep. <S> " <S> Clearly I'm in bed trying to sleep but can't. <S> The problem isn't that words like "decided" and "realized" <S> are evil words that lead to ambiguous sentences. <S> You certainly should be careful that, taken in full context, it is clear what is happening. <S> (Or that any ambiguity is deliberate.) <S> I am suddenly reminded of some writing advice I came across years ago: A good story should keep the reader wondering what happens next. <S> This is not the same as having the reader wondering what's happening now. <A> For instance, I don't care that your heart started to race, I care about why that's happening. <S> I think it's because using start/realize/decide makes the action <S> intentional instead of simply describing the action. <S> It gives too much focus to something that should be peripheral. <S> Of course, in context, it might be fine. <S> Here's an example of when it's probably suitable: <S> "Is this your cat?" <S> the man asked me. <S> My heart started to race. <S> " <S> Uh, no," I stuttered, backing slowly away. <S> "I think it's ... " I pointed to the house down the street. " <S> Jenkins. <S> " Then I turned and fled, not looking back. <S> In this context, the sentence helps illustrate that I am suddenly nervous or frightened. <S> Here it is less appropriate (in my opinion): <S> I stretched for a few minutes <S> then I decided to start running. <S> My heart started to race. <S> I realized that I had not brought my water bottle, so I decided to stop at a fountain that I knew was down the path a little farther. <S> In this context, this whole paragraph is giving me a step-by-step thought process. <S> It is exceptionally boring and tedious to listen to someone's internal monologue like this. <S> This is the essence of telling-not-showing. <S> You are concerned about the abruptness of the action (sometimes abrupt may be what you want though), so there are two suggestions that I would make. <S> One is to use gerund phrases to smooth the action out: <S> I tossed and turned for several hours, thinking of her face. <S> Realizing I couldn't sleep, I got up and put the kettle on. <S> Here, you are smoothly connecting the consequence of the realization with the action that the character took, which is what moves the plot forward. <S> The other suggestion is to take more time to describe the important bits of the setting and movements of your characters: <S> We had been talking for hours. <S> The sunlight turned golden, then narrowed through the windows on the mezzanine. <S> She smiled at me in the dim light and took my hand. <S> I followed her out on to the balcony as the first stars began to shine in the darkening sky. <A> Couple of useful answers here <S> but here's my take which is another way of looking Kit J Fox's answer. <S> It's about energy. <S> "My heart started to race" is as limp as a biscuit dipped in tea (or coffee, your choice). <S> "I couldn't sleep" vs "that really long-winded thing you wrote", the same. <S> Ditto <S> "We went out onto the balcony" as opposed to the other thing.
| "My heart raced" has immediacy and energy. There can be a problem if the sentence is poorly worded in context. Using these kinds of phrases makes me feel like you are telling more than showing.
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Use of ampersand, colon and dash in the title of a newsletter article Is it correct to use an ampersand and colon in a the title of a newsletter article: Something & Something Else: A Subtitle Or is it more correct to use the word "and" and a dash: Something and Something Else - A Subtitle Or a similar combination of either one? <Q> I would use a colon rather than a dash <S> and I would write the word 'and' instead of using a symbol. <S> Although colons and dashes are often interchangeable, in this case the extra piece could be considered a 'title' or 'definition' of what went before. <S> Dashes are usually used for extra information. <S> Also, if you look at article titles (in anything I read), they use a colon. <S> My comment about 'and' is really just personal preference. <S> I always use the full word unless I am writing notes or space is really precious. <A> I would stick with the colon rather than a dash. <S> It's a matter of perception. <S> As for the ampersand, I would say it depends on a few things: <S> Does the publication have or follow a style guide that dictates thisusage? <S> What is the medium? <S> I tend to disagree with one of thecomments on an answer above, that it should only be used inWeb-based media. <S> In fact, I would say the exact opposite, becausespace is rarely an issue in a fluid medium like a blog or e-zine. <S> In print, however, titles/headlines need to be short because spaceis at a premium. <S> Web media give you more freedom, and at that pointthe question becomes stylistic more so than convention. <A> I would use colon too. <S> Never used a dash in a title before. <S> About & or and, to me, if it's a web article, then I'll use &. <S> But if the article is gonna publish in newspaper or any kind of traditional media, "and" is used a lot; "&" not quite.
| Generally, a colon indicates that what follows is critical information, while a dash tends to imply that the following information is simply an addition and further explains what has already been stated.
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Female Pet Names that a Londoner might use? I was wondering about female pet names, like darling , sweetie , pet , babe , etc. One of my characters refers to his other half as "pet" but I've been told that this is common to the North East (UK). As my character is from London, I was wondering what pet names are used by Londoners? I've tried Googling this, but it may be that I have the wrong terminology! I keep getting results for what to call your female animal pet! All help appreciated! ---EDIT--- I found this after I Googled "terms of endearment" - I found it really useful so hopefully someone else will as well! http://www.shesnotfromyorkshire.com/2009/04/29/england-pet-names-and-you/ <Q> Try looking up "British terms of endearment" instead. <S> You should find several links. <S> This one looks good in particular. <A> Terms of endearment are, by their very nature, quite individual. <S> You may want one that is common and doesn't draw attention to itself. <S> In that case go for something like 'darling'. <S> However, if you want to give your character uniqueness, have them use individual terms, such as 'lotus blossom'. <S> Pick something that will reveal something about him or her. <S> You can also have your character do what some people do <S> : use a set of themed terms, for example, 'possum', 'platypus', 'emu', 'kookaburra'. <A> I grew up in London and live within commuting distance. <S> These are just my impressions - I haven't done a survey! <S> Between spouses or couples <S> "Love" is more working class, "Darling" more middle class. <S> However there is a lot of overlap. <S> Both terms could be used either by men or women. <S> The use of any pet name between the partners would suggest to me that it is a long established relationship - people who have just started going out tend to simply use each other's first names. <S> It would also suggest to me that the people are middle aged or older. <S> I'd guess that "darling" and "love" are also the most common pet names used by people who don't know the person spoken to - e.g. a market trader addressing a customer. <S> In this context use of pet names is very much a working class thing. <S> Middle class Londoners are more formal. <S> My impression is that any sort of pet names are used less often in London and SE England than in other parts of the UK.
| I would say the most common pet names used in London and the surrounding area are "Darling" and "Love".
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Creating species/race names for supernatural/fantasy fiction In urban fantasy style fiction with multiple supernatural characters, is it understandable to the reader if race names of each group are a combination of stereotypical species names (such as 'vampire' or 'fairy') with made-up names or regular names that have been altered somehow? A quick example for the sake of my question could be spelling fairy as 'fayree' or using latin/ancient language terms in the name such as 'necro' being part of the created name for zombies? I want my story to contain some of the usual creatures of fantasy but I also want to avoid cliches with the trope-y boring names and connotations associated with such. I am worried that creating my own titles alongside normal ones could create too much confusion for the reader. I want to assume my reader already relates/has some knowledge of my alternate reality similarly to the way the Sookie Stackhouse books are set. Like, in our relatively current time period, with mostly the same history that the reader is familiar with, except to highlight my created alternate history/difference to explain the fantasy elements existence. Any advice on how to structure narrative to explain any created names/traits etc without info-dumping yet making it easily understandable to the reader that if for instance they read the word 'fayree' without too much background info that they would immediately associate it with the common ideal of fairy? <Q> I personally find it a little odd when authors go out of their way not to call something what it is. <S> If you have an undead entity that sleeps in a coffin, hates sunlight, and drinks blood, why not call it a vampire? <S> If it's because the word "vampire" is cliche, why is the creature itself not cliche as well? <S> That being said, there are a few ways around using generic names like "vampire" and "fairy. <S> " Technically, those are both blanket terms for many different types of creatures. <S> If your vampire is African and likes to attack its victims from the trees, you can call it an asanbosam. <S> If your fairy is attuned to the element of water and has a hypnotic voice, it can be called a nixie. <S> If you have a fairy-vampire hybrid, why not make it a baobhan sith? <S> Heck, Romero-style zombies are technically better described as ghouls or draugr. <S> If you're invested in making up your own names I would probably suggest not basing them on the existing words <S> , e.g. "fayree" could potentially leave the viewer wondering why you didn't just say "fairy." <A> I'm sure that unusually-spelt variations on words like "vampire" and "fairy" would be comprehensible to most readers, but, unfortunately that is partly because "vampyre" and "faerie" are a bit of a cliché themselves. " <S> Faerie" has more than 15 million hits on Google. <S> Evolving yourself some names from Latin source words seems a more promising strategy. <S> Lesser known languages would be even better. <S> As for how to explain without info-dumping, my advice is show, don't tell. <S> Introduce the word for vampire by having a bloody great [Whatever] sink its teeth into the main character's neck. <A> First of all, I think you have to give your readers enough credit to understand what you are talking about when you use the term "fayree" instead of "fairy". <S> Secondly, the burden of responsibility falls on you to write a character that is not only recognizable but also adheres to certain expectations that your reader might have for that type of character or creature or race. <S> Just remember that a rose by any other name is still a rose, just like a vampire by any other name is still a blood-sucking ghoul. <A> You might end up with The Walking Dead problem. <S> No one calls a zombie a zombie. <S> It becomes a distraction. <S> "Dead?" <S> Yup. <S> "Drinks blood?" <S> Yup. "Turns into a bat?" <S> Yup. <S> "Is it a vampire?" <S> No, we call it a plasmosucking werebat. <S> "Err <S> ... <S> you know what a vampire is, right?" <A> In urban fantasy style fiction with multiple supernatural characters, is it understandable to the reader if race names of each group are a combination of stereotypical species names (such as 'vampire' or 'fairy') with made-up names or regular names that have been altered somehow? <S> A quick example for the sake of my question could be spelling fairy as 'fayree' or using latin/ancient language terms in the name such as 'necro' being part of the created name for zombies? <S> There's a balance here, but I'd say err on the side of caution. <S> Using latin or ancient terms in the name might be appropriate, but it depends on your audience and how common the term is. <S> Your example of necro is great, but something like vulpine might not fly. <S> I want my story to contain some of the usual creatures of fantasy <S> but I also want to avoid cliches with the trope-y boring names and connotations associated with such. <S> I am worried that creating my own titles alongside normal ones could create too much confusion for the reader. <S> Hold on a minute. <S> Tropes need not be boring. <S> Tropes are the touchstone for your reader; they're a great shorthand. <S> It sounds like this is exactly what you're trying to do, so don't throw the baby out with the bathwater by not using a name everyone recognizes. <S> It'll make the twist much more satisfying ( <S> "Wait, the vampires in this setting aren't afraid of crucifixes!?") <S> Any advice on how to structure narrative to explain any created names/traits etc without info-dumping yet making it easily understandable to the reader that if for instance they read the word 'fayree' without too much background info that they would immediately associate it with the common ideal of fairy? <S> Show, don't tell. <S> Seriously. <S> You dole out the information. <S> One way to do it is to give the name away immediately with a story element that keeps with the trope. <S> Next scene (or chapter or whatever) introduces the unfamiliar element. <S> Go back and forth introducing familiar and unfamiliar elements to keep the reader engaged and on their toes.
| The trick is to use the trope, like the name, but then put your twist on it. As long as your spelling of the word doesn't get so obscure as to be unrecognizable, then you shouldn't have anything to worry about. If you try to write a story about a creature that goes around sucking blood from people's necks and you call that creature a "fayree", then you are more than likely going to lose some credibility with your readers.
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Can I legally use experimental items in my book? I am looking to write a book and include real experimental weapons and aircrafts. Is this possible or could I be sued. Say for example if the american government had a prototype aircraft that was A. The programme was dropped and manufacturing was ended so never went to full production beyond the prototype stage or B. It is still a rumour and evidence is unsubstantiated but details or possible details are rumoured and discussed on online sites. Can I use these details in my book. <Q> If the item is a legitimate experiment from the military and it's not public knowledge <S> (e.g. you have security clearances with access to that info), I would most definitely ask a lawyer, but my gut says no. <S> If it is public knowledge, then pretty much anything is fair game, especially if you're writing fiction. <S> Though to ease your mind, you may still want to ask a lawyer. <S> Keep in mind, that if you're writing the book now, that technology could be widely publicized or possibly even out-of-date by the time it's published, depending on what route you decide to publish through. <A> In both of the examples you gave, I would assume that there is some level of public knowledge or information that has already been shared publicly. <S> As a result, there would be no reason for you to not be able to write about it. <S> One way to help you answer your own question is to ask yourself how you came to know about it. <S> If you read about it online or thrugh a public forum or any other source where information was shared freely, then you probably wouldn't have any cause for concern. <S> If you read about it in a magazine article or a book that was previously published by another author, then you have to be careful about how you use the information. <S> I wouldn't be concerned so much about violating a copyright or borrowing from someone else's ideas, ut I would be concerned about the legitimacy of the information that person provides. <S> Is that person a credible source, where did they get their information, and what amount of research did they do before writing their work? <S> These are questions you should ask yourself before deciding to expand on the source information. <S> If you do end up using information from other sources, you will be able to circumvent some of you problems by attributing the information to the original source, assuming it isn't your own first hand knowledge. <S> If it is based on your own first hand knowledge, then you need to make sure that you aren't bound by any type of non-disclosure agreement before proceeding. <A> I could be wrong, but I wonder what you could possibly know, unless you worked for them, that a government, etc. would get upset about you publishing. <S> If it is public knowledge it is exactly that. <S> Anthony Horowitz published a book where everyone given a particular injection would be killed when a radio transmitter was turned on activating the ingredients of the injection. <S> He said, and I believe him because I can imagine how it could be done, that it was technology that exists today. <S> That being said, I have decided not to publish a story where terrorists completely disrupt the British transport system. <S> The way they could do it would be cheap, hard to detect and quite devastating. <S> I decided that it wasn't for publication because someone might actually implement it. <S> I have to consider the greater public good. <A> If this is classified information and you only know about it because you have a high-level security clearance, than publishing the information in any form could put you in danger of criminal charges. <S> You are completely free to describe objects that exist in the real world. <S> Just like: If you mention that a character drove a car, car makers can't sue you for mentioning their product without permission. <S> Or if you say the character put on a shirt, the National Association of Clothing Manufacturers cannot sue you. <S> If you mention a specific brand name, you do have to use it properly, like you can't write "coke" with a small "c" or the Coca-Cola company lawyers may be contacting you. <S> And of course if you write disparagingly of a particular brand -- if you say that Coke causes brain cancer or some such -- the owner of that trademark might have grounds to sue you for libel. <S> Whether they'd win would depend on just what you said, etc, but that's getting on a different subject. <S> BTW, under U.S. law, any information published by the government is public domain: it is not copyrighted. <S> The reasoning is that as taxpayers paid to produce it, it belongs to the people and not to the government. <S> There is something of a loophole in the law that if a private company produces some document or pictures or whatever, it can sell the copyright to the government, so if you see "Copyright 2015 United States Army" or some other branch of government, it was a copyright the government bought.
| But assuming that this is publicly available information, so that there's no issue of espionage or treason charges, and you're just thinking about copyright or trademark violation: No, there's no issue.
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How do you decide where to place a filler? Examples: "I've always been interested in marine biology, as far as I canremember . " As far as I canremember , I've always been interested in marine biology, Of course , we can't just set all criminals free. We can't just set all criminals free, of course . Maybe a good rule is to put them at the beginning if the main sentence is long, and at the end if the main sentence is short? <Q> But speech can be different, since it is also characterization. <S> A hesitant or unsure character might habitually tack qualifiers to the ends of his statements. <S> "A dog is a mammal, I think. <S> " <S> "People should be nice to children, I suppose. <S> " <S> "If you take one step closer I'll shoot you -- and don't think I won't, because I will. <S> I'll shoot you; I'm not kidding." <S> A very logical person might habitually preface his statements with qualifiers. <S> " <S> According to folklore, Santa lives at the North Pole." <S> "Most societies would say your mother is worthy of respect." <S> "Considering your past betrayals, I'll slit your throat if you even twitch." <S> And, of course, a muddle-headed (or brilliant) person will habitually have qualifiers all over his statements. <S> It has been said, perhaps with some overstatement, that love -- that is, "romantic love" -- conquers all. <S> I know he's lying, because he said he petted a penguin at the North Pole, and penguins live only at the South Pole -- or, more properly, in the southern reaches of the southern hemisphere. <S> I'm sure everyone would agree that Aunt Betty, God rest her soul, was the best seamstress in the northwest suburbs of Dubuque, or at least one of the top five still living as of three days ago. <A> Think about what fillers are used for. <S> They can be habitual. <S> For example, some people start every utterance with 'well'. <S> Mostly, they are used to give the person a little bit more time to think. <S> One thing to be careful of: Don't overuse them. <S> Remember you are trying to represent real life, not copy it exactly. <A> Filler is just like metadiscourse. <S> Don't use them, just get straight to your point.
| You (usually) should put the thing first that you want to emphasize. Work out when your character most needs that time (at the beginning because they don't know what to say or half way through because they don't know what to say next) and then place them there.
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Who do I cite as my source? When you have multiple sources for information like a quote, which source do you use in your book or essay. The one you may have gotten from an authors work about what a particular individual said or do you cite this persons original work? For example I have this passage in a book I'm reading. Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274) believed that intercourse with a pregnant woman was a mortal sin only when there was a danger of miscarriage (Commentary on the Sentences 4, 31, 2, 3) If in my essay or book I wanted to say that Aquinas believed intercourse with a pregnant woman was sinful, do I cite the author's work above for my source or find exactly what Aquinas said in Commentary on the Sentences and cite that? <Q> You cite the (or a ) source that you used . <S> If you read it in Book A and that book says it came from Book B <S> , you cite Book A because that's your source. <S> If you choose to follow the reference and see it in Book B yourself, then you could cite either A or B (you used both). <S> In that kind of situation, it's generally best to cite the source that's closest to the source -- why cite A who cites B if you can cite B directly? <S> Why shouldn't you cite B if you read it in A <S> and you think A is reliable? <S> Well, partly because sometimes sources get it wrong -- B might not really say what A says it does. <S> But, more broadly, any author who's found to do this sort of thing -- citing a source that he didn't actually verify directly -- calls into question all of his citations. <S> If you think A is reliable then either (a) your readers probably do too, so citing A means something, or (b) you can explain why A is reliable. <A> Both the MLA Handbook and the APA Manual state that in academic writing you must have read what you cite. <S> The reason is that any citation might misrepresent the original or withhold relevant information or that you might come to completely different conclusions than the secondary author. <S> You may cite from a secondary source only if it was not possible for you to get hold of the original source, which, in this time of online publications, interlibrary loan and digitized texts, is a rare occurrence and needs to be explained in text. <S> Not having enough time to read all the relevant literature is no excuse. <S> When you do research you must read everything, otherwise your research will be irrelevant. <S> If you are not doing research and cannot read everything, then you must not quote what you haven't read. <A> Reference the quotes AND associated conclusions to respective authors. <S> You have two options in this case: <S> silently agree with the author of "Commentary..." and express their opinion as your own, supporting it with quote from Thomas Aquinas , and restrict your credit to relevant parts in the original "Sentences" - likely as sourced in the "Commentary". <S> This way you used "Commentary" only as a learning resource that aided you in finding the respective source and aided you in forming your own opinion. <S> You don't quote it, you quote Thomas Aquinus and express your own conclusions which happen to be similar to "Commentary" ones - you state <S> "Aquinas believed intercourse with a pregnant woman was sinful" refer opinion stated in the Commentary and present your own position in regard of that. <S> Provide a quote from "Commentary..." and credit it with relevant references *to the "Commentary...". <S> Include the full framing of the quote including opinion of the "Commentary" author and then express your opinion on that: "The author of 'Commentary on the Sentences' believes Aquinas believed intercourse with a pregnant woman was sinful. <S> Considering the quotes presented from the original Sentences <S> I'm inclined to agree with that conclusion." <S> It's up to you to choose the right option. <S> If the quoted Sentences unambiguously support your thesis, go with (1) for clear, strong impact. <S> If the quote is not so obvious, paraphrased, explained in finer details, referred etc, go with (2). <S> In the specific case you presented I don't see a single word directly quoted from Aquinas; this would mean you aren't referencing or quoting the source material - you are following the analysis, so (2) is the correct choice. <A> If A quotes or describes B, and you have read A but have not read B (whether because it's not available, you just didn't bother, or whatever), then you cite A. <S> It is generally considered better to go to original sources. <S> If some later writer says that Aquinas said sex with a pregnant woman is a sin -- and let me interject here that I have no idea what Aquinas said on the subject, I've read pieces of the Summa <S> but I've skipped many pieces too -- the later writer may be misquoting Aquinas or applying his own interpretation to something ambiguous. <S> If you were to say, "Aquinas said X" because some other writer claims he said X, that would simply be wrong. <S> Especially if the writer did not give the exact quote, but even with an exact quote, you could be missing the context. <S> So if your point is to say, "this is what Aquinas" said, you should go to the source and read and quote (and cite) <S> Aquinas. <S> It's easy enough to get copies of Aquinas on the web these days. <S> If your point is to say, "this is how so-and-so interprets Aquinas", than you should quote (and cite) so-and-so. <S> Some writers will give a citation like, "Aquinas, as quoted in ...". <S> This is a reasonable thing to do if the original source is difficult to obtain. <S> Like if he's quoting a book that is no longer in print <S> and you can't find a copy. <S> It's most clearly valid if the original book no longer exists, like if you're quoting a book written in AD 300 that quotes an earlier book and that earlier book has been lost to history. <S> But for something easily available like Aquinas, for a scholarly paper I'd just get the original.
| Since you cannot have read a source of which you know only a short passage quoted in another text, you must get the original, read it, and cite that. As others have noted, you cite the source that you actually used.
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How do I choose a name for my character? I am looking for a name for my fictional, European, mysterious old man who lived roughly in the 1600's to 1800's. I want the name to have plenty of character to it, but easy to read. How should I go about doing this? (I'm not asking for specific name suggestions but a method for finding names.) <Q> Finding the name for you is not what this site is about. <S> Instead I'll tell you how I would find that name. <S> Having limited my choices to names from a certain language, I would then go through lists of names of historical persons: politicians, writers, and so on. <S> These kinds of lists can be found or created (use the "category" function) on Wikipedia. <S> I would then note down every name I found interesting. <S> Making sure the character's name is dissimilar enough to the names of other characters in my novel, I would then create my character's name from the names I have found and noted down by mixing them to my pleasure. <S> Et voilà. <A> One: As What says, I would look for names of people of the appropriate sex, nationality, and historical era. <S> For contemporary people, there are plenty of baby name books and the like, both in print and on the web. <S> For an historical novel, I'd look for names of people from that era in discussions of the history of that place and time. <S> Two: <S> Next, you have to wrestle with the "tone" of a name. <S> Names often give us an immediate image of the person. <S> If you tell me that a character is named Brunhilda, I just don't picture a beauty contest winner. <S> If you tell me her name is Bambi, I don't expect the next sentence to be that she just won the Nobel prize for physics. <S> That's probably unfair stereotyping, but I think we all do it to one extent or another. <S> Unless the point of your story is to challenge that sort of fast assumption about people, you can take advantage of it to help create the image of the character that you want in the reader's mind. <S> But this sort of thing can certainly be taken too far. <S> I've read stories where the rich man is named Rich Miser and the thief is named Dirk Blackguard and the pretty girl is named Daffodil Sunshine and so on, and after a while it starts to sound more like an allegory or a morality play than a story. <A> Give your characters names that match their physical or psychological attributes. <S> For instance, in my fiction, I named a man Phil "Potter" because of his "pot-shaped" physique. <S> And a "corny" woman got the name "Cornelia."
| First, based on the person's character and other traits, as well as his role in the story, I would chose a nationality.
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Quoting lyrics in a book of film criticism I'm writing a book of film criticism, in which I refer to lyrics from the soundtrack as a way to empathise the narrative. Am I required to obtain permission for use of these lyrics? Or, because this is a work of critical nonfiction, am I just required to cite the songs authors? <Q> It depends on how significant the use is. <S> For just a line or two, attribution of who sang and/or wrote it in context <S> would suffice: <S> "Crossroads...seem to come and go.... <S> "--Greg <S> Allman <S> To publish the full lyrical text, I would contact the copyright holder and obtain permission--there may be a small licensing fee, equivalent to if you'd purchased the sheet music. <S> In this "excerpt" case, the above qualifies as fair use because the quote is insignificant in comparison to the body of the complete work (a variable definition) and if your lyric-quotes are relevant to the original ideas being expressed. <S> then you are sitting on pretty firm ground legally. <S> (also variable, but if your criticism is ~95 percent original content and ~5 percent "lyrical quotations," I'd say you are well within the boundaries of US copyright law. <S> along with a full citation in the appendices: I'm not sure of the exact form (it depends on your chosen style)--I normally use, Composer(s), track name, album name, &c year Record label name <S> In the case of this post, I used the first line of Greg Allman's first song to illustrate the answer (and provide an example) to a specific question about using a quotation from popular music in the body of a larger critique regarding film--intended to publicly inform readers about one particular instance of US Media Law. <S> Even the post itself meets the aforementioned criteria of being "mostly original content created by the author," (me) and <S> the lyric-quote is insignificant when compared to the rest of the post AND my use of it is relevant to the information I provided. <S> This meets the definition of fair use and doesn't violate copyright. <A> I am not a copyright specialist, but I think the general rule of thumb would be <S> However, there are rules for fair use and quotations that may apply. <S> Look them up. <S> I would look up some writers union where you live and see if you can ask their lawyer. <S> I did once when I had a similar problem (this was in Sweden <S> so it may or may not apply to your case). <A> I am not a lawyer, so please get competent legal counsel if other measures do not suffice. <S> Nevertheless, it would be wise to approach the copyright holder, and get their "blessing" (or at least acquiescence) to your own work. <S> There are several possible replies. <S> 1) <S> The copyright holder grants permission. <S> It is fair use, after all, and they may benefit financially from a "debate" about their film. <S> 2) <S> The copyright holder wants a small financial consideration, basically a "tribute" or acknowledgement of their copyright. <S> That's usually worth paying to avoid legal hassles. <S> 3) <S> The copyright holder refuses to give permission under any circumstances. <S> Here, you need to see a lawyer,even if you are in the right. <S> In that case, the company will fight your use, whether or not it has merit. <S> So "forewarned is forearmed." <S> Two Live Crew tried to get permission to do a parody of Roy Orbison's "Pretty Woman." <S> The copyright holder refused, and the case went all the way to the Supreme Court before the copyright holder relented. <S> On the other hand, Crew's experience made other copyright holders more willing to "cut a deal."
| What you are doing probably falls under the heading of "fair use," (for criticism), which is a defense against copyright infringement. yes, you always have to ask permission.
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Ethics of incorporating a supplier's technical documentation into one's own documentation? A company, M, buys components from company, S, to build into their product. Company S has technical documentation regarding safety and maintenance available in many languages and publicly available in the internet. Is it ethical for company M to incorporate this documentation into it's own product documentation without first getting permission from the supplier or, at least, indicating the source? <Q> I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice. <S> First, check any license terms that accompany Company S's documentation. <S> They might have published it with the intention that other vendors will incorporate it (e.g. some Apache platforms), or they might not intend that but allow it under their license (e.g. Stack Exchange, or anything else that uses the CC-BY-SA license). <S> Be sure to check whether any license you find permits commercial use; some don't. <S> In the absence of any explicit permission or license, incorporating their documentation into your own would be making a derivative work that might violate their copyright. <S> (Wholesale incorporation would very likely be a copyright violation; being selective would come down to a question of how much and what you selected, and the limits there probably vary by jurisdiction.) <S> Even if it is not, in my experience (technical writer in the software field) it's best to attribute anyway. <S> Not only is it more honest, but it's also visibly honest -- important if you're concerned that people who don't know that you had permission notice the copying. <S> You don't want to get a reputation as an unscrupulous business. <A> This is a legal issue. <S> Specifically, a copyright issue. <S> Assuming we are talking about the United States, company S owns the copyright to their documentation. <S> It is illegal for company M or anyone else to incorporate company S's documentation into their own without obtaining the right to do so from company S. <S> Consult an attorney. <S> Also, take a look at The Copyright Handbook, which explains the basics of copyright in a very clear way. <A> This is not an ethical question. <S> It is a legal question. <S> Ethics deals with professional conduct over and above what is required by law. <S> Copyright is a matter of law, not ethics. <S> In this particular case, however, it is also a matter of contracts. <S> You should be negotiating a licence to use their content as part of your purchase agreement with them, and you should also be negotiating for access to their source files so that you can reuse them more easily. <S> Ideally, you should negotiate for an ongoing window into their docs process so that you always get the latest content from them to include in your docs.
| If Company S's license permits incorporating their documentation into other products, check the license to see if attribution is also required.
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Recommendations for reputable writing critique site for non-native English speaker? I am non-native English speaker, living in US for 25 years. I have a long professional career, and, therefore, I am pretty comfortable with my business writing skills. However, about a year ago, I started writing a short fiction stories. Being a part of the writers group, I have been always received a good feedback but, for certain reason, it didn’t sound too convincing to me. I need to find an outlet to get more exposure, to get more opportunities to improve my writing. It would be great to find a reputable writing critique site that would include some open minded people, i.e. people who would understand writing from different perspective, people who would appreciate different writing style due to cultural differences. Do you have any recommendations? <Q> I've been using Scribophile for some time (a website where you can post your work and receive feedback). <S> Like you, I'm non-native English speaker, and the people there don't seem to care. <S> They also give very good suggestions. <S> Maybe you should give it a try. <A> You should look for local writers' groups in your area -- at the library, community college, church, coffee shop, etc. <S> -- because some of them focus mainly on fiction and/or short stories; groups may be listed in the local/regional newspaper, a newsletter or a poster on a bulletin board. <S> It can be a lot easier discussing with a group of writers (in person instead of online) any character development issues or dialogue questions that you have. <S> Good luck. <A> The majority of users there are friendly and people are always happy to help. <S> Another option is youwriteon.com, which I have not tried but have heard a lot of good things about. <S> I could not find a site with a focus on ESL writers, but both Scribophile and Critique Circle are definitely good places to try out.
| In addition to Scribophile, Critique Circle is also a good site.
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I want to name a character something but j feel like people would say I'm copying Veronica Roth, my favorite author. What should I do? I have a problem.I want to name a character (the main character's romantic interest) Tobias, but I feel like people would associate him with Tobias Eaton from Divergent, knowing how much I love that series.Even before Divergent came out, I adored that name, along with Miles and Christopher.I don't want to use the other two, because they don't fit the character.I'm so confused on what to do... <Q> Her's wasn't the first time that name has been used in fiction, either. <S> If on the other hand you are writing a Young Adult dystopia where teens have to undergo life or death trials and fight the rulers, you might want to make the name as dissimilar as possible so as not to appear as too much of a rip off. <S> Finally, I wouldn't worry about the name too much <S> , you can always change it after you finished the manuscript. <S> In fact publishers sometimes ask for a name change. <S> So just use whatever name you like during writing and then approach that question after you have received alpha reader feedback. <A> Ditto <S> What: I have never read anything by Veronica Roth, but if you're writing a story that is similar to her books, AND the characters have the same names, then yes, that looks like you're copying. <S> If the story is nothing at all the same, if her books are "young adult dystopia" (as What indicates) and yours are historical romances for senior citizens, the fact that a character has the same first name would probably not even be noticed. <S> I'm sure there are lots of books with characters named "John" or "Sally". :-) <S> At least, as long as the name isn't made up or extremely rare. <S> If you wrote a book with a character named "Darth Vader" or "Dumbledore", people would notice. <S> But "Tobias" is a real name that real people have. <S> That said, you talk as if the only possible names for your character are Tobias, Miles, and Christopher. <S> There are thousands, maybe millions, of names out there. <S> Get a baby name book, or look up a list of common names on the web. <S> If you think there's even a small chance that this name will cause you trouble, there are plenty of other possibilities. <A> I think of Tobias from Arrested Development . <S> I think enough people have a variety of Tobias examples that it may not immediately link to the other guy. <S> If that is a worry, think about what part of the name you like -- is it the rhythm, links to what the name historically means, the strong 2nd syllable, starting with the "T" or the "Oh" early on? <S> That it's a biblical name? <S> Playing with Naming Dictionaries may help you come up with some alternatives that match some of those characteristics. <S> (history of Tobias from Oxford Reference ) <S> https://www.name-generator.org.uk/?i=4la7sww <S> (100 TO+ starts) <S> (100 +AS ends)
| If your book is dissimilar enough from Roth's that it does not remind readers of her series, there is no problem if you use the same name.
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What's the best text editor for a technical reference manual? It is my first time writing tech manuals and I don't know what to use. Some people recommend me LATEX but I think it's too complex. I basically need a text editor that let me: Type latin characters (I will write it in Spanish) Type code (with some style and in a textbox) Insert some images (not many and w/b only) Easy to print it in a copy shop Any ideas? Thanks in advance! <Q> MS Word pretty much dominates the market. <S> Open Office is there for people who just want to rebel against Microsoft. <S> I'd need a very good reason to use anything else, as to function in a Western business, government, or academic environment <S> these days you pretty much have to use MS Word at some point. <S> Why bother learning something else in addition unless it offers specific advantages? <S> MS Word allows you to create "styles" that you can use to distinguish your main text from special types of text, like block quotes or examples or, as in your case, code snippets. <S> People do this all the time: I did it myself for my database book. <S> I think your time would be far better spent learning how to do this in MS Word than searching for some alternative word processing software that might possibly make it easier to do it. <S> If you're smart enough to write a technical reference manual, you should be able to learn how to do this in MS Word in, what, half an hour? <S> An hour? :-) <S> Personally I think Word's handling of embedded images is rather awkward and clumsy. <S> But it works, and the idea of learning a whole new word processor, and having to convert files back and forth any time I want to share them with others, doesn't seem worth the effort to me. <S> Maybe if I was creating a document with many images that had to be laid out in complex ways, I'd start searching for something else. <A> LATEX isn't a text editor, it is (broadly defined) a markup language. <S> The alternatives would be things like markdown, asciidoc, docbook, or simply using HTML directly, in tandem with your favorite plain text editor. <S> Docbook and HTML are "heavyweight" markup languages (you need a tag for every paragraph, etc), whereas markdown and asciidoc are lighter and paragraph breaks can be entered just by pressing return twice. <S> The question then becomes whether and how you intend to publish in print format. <S> If your copy shop can accept any PDF then you can use whatever you want so long as it can convert to a PDF or to HTML (which you can then convert to PDF using a web browser and PDF print driver). <S> Some publishers or print shops may have specific preferences for how you provide your document to them. <A> For Mac, take a look at BBEdit. <S> In particular, it has fully supported GREP search-and-replace functionality. <S> There's an e-book that can be bought with the BBEdit product, which is highly recommended because it provides usage examples for the GREP functionality. <S> For Windows, try Notepad+. <S> In addition to the base product, there are any number of plug-ins that can be installed to support your workflows. <S> It has the layout tools that (it sounds like) you need, and it gives you greater control for managing large documents. <S> This will also open the door for more advanced writing with other Adobe products, such as (structured) FrameMaker and RoboHelp. <A> Word is acceptable for short documents. <S> Make sure to set up paragraph styles and always use them (no manual formatting). <S> When your manual exceeds 50 pages or you have layout requirements beyond the basics, Word becomes increasingly troublesome: instability and document corruption are common in large documents. <S> You'll also run into trouble with the way Word handles images: you have to use linked images to keep your file size reasonable, but then you have to repair all the links when you move the Word file to a different directory. <S> For large documents, use e.g. FrameMaker, which is designed for technical documentation and much better at it than Word. <S> Whatever solution you choose: for printing at a print shop, always create a PDF on your workstation, check if the layout is correct and then take the PDF to the printshop. <S> Never assume the printshop can handle your source document. <A> What you are doing doesn't need extremely precise control over layout, including things like letter spacing. <S> In fact, you want each page to look the same. <S> If you use styles in a word processor, you can achieve consistency of look with little effort. <S> When you want to take your work to a print shop, export it as a pdf. <S> Most printers will work with common word processing formats, but with a pdf you can be sure of exactly what it will look like. <S> Things like type of printer won't change how it looks on the page.
| I think MS Word and Open Office would be the obvious candidates. On further thought, consider using Adobe InDesign. I couldn't really suggest MSWord, unless you knew that you were going to constrain your work to smaller documents. Having taken the considerable amount of time that it takes to learn how to use DTP software (most recently when I had the job of laying out a magazine) and knowing what results you can achieve, I would definitely recommend you just use a word processor such as Word or Open Office.
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How to convey newlines in tweeted poetry, if at all? Suppose I've written a haiku as 3 consecutive lines with standard punctuation as if it was normal free text, which means I don't use special punctuation at the end of a line just because it's the end of a line but only if normal language rules demand/allow punctuation. Now haikus in their concise nature seem well-suited to be published over Twitter (or your favourite alternative short message format), yet Twitter doesn't seem to support newlines very well while I think much of the beauty of a haiku might as well come from its 3-line structure. Being rather unexperienced with Twitter and writing poetry, though, I wonder if there is some commonly accepted way to at least convey the notion of "virtual" newlines in a continuous text in some other way, e.g. through the use of punctuation, say a hyphen or slash or whatever. Or maybe this is rather bad advice in general? Even if this is likely not an entirely strict rule there might be commonly accepted approaches to this or at least insights from more experienced writers in how to tackle this problem, if at all. Maybe this problem should just be ignored in favour of a better text-flow. <Q> "I've never seen a purple cow./I never hope to see <S> one./But I can tell you anyhow,/I'd rather see than be one. <S> " <S> I don't use Twitter <S> so I can't say if this convention is commonly used there, but it's the normal convention in other contexts. <A> If you hold down the Shift key and press Enter it adds a line break. <S> Apparently it won't work in some clients, but I just tried it on a tweet and it seems to work. <A> As Jay already said, the common convention to signify newlines inline are slashes. <S> On the other hand, if you use Twitter as a publishing medium, it is my opinion that you should develop a poetic form that is native to that channel. <S> There are narrative formats in books (novels), film, comics, radio plays and so on, and there are lyrical forms in books (poetry), film, comics and so on. <S> The "poetic" films, comics, radio plays etc. <S> don't have newlines, because they use the specific "language" of their medium to achieve what poetry achieves with printed words and whitespace. <S> So, if you plan to use Twitter as a regular publication channel and not only this once, instead of how to represent poetry on Twitter, your question should ask how to write poetry for Twitter.
| In general, to convey poetic line breaks in "continuous text", replace the line break with a slash.
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How Do I Fill In The Gaps Between The Chapters I know this may come off as weird or strange but i want to know how do i finish my novel. The thing is that i already know how to end it and i have a impeccable beginning but that isn't how a novel works. I need to know how should fill up novel by connecting the dots in orderly fashion without rushing or dragging the novel. Thank You In Advance <Q> It is time for the dreaded lists. <S> Lists are a valuable tool in building a complicated project. <S> The minor characters does not directly help your situation, but I find it very helpful (assuming you don't also have a list of major characters). <S> After you have prepared your lists (in pencil, not ink, as these will change as you work) start with the order of events, and look at what happens next. <S> Is it interesting? <S> Can it be skipped? <S> Would it help resolve an unresolved plot point? <S> can it be used to introduce another plot point? <S> If you decide not to skip it pick one to three plot points that may work well with that event and write the scene. <S> Update your lists by marking off events that are documented, plot points that have been introduced, and unresolved plot points that are now resolved. <S> Add any unresolved plot points that are new and new minor characters to the respective lists. <S> Lather, rinse, repeat. <A> With the middle of a book, the best considered method is small rises of tension followed by a slight drop (to allow your reader to recover). <S> To use a driving analogy, the beginning of your book is getting in the car and starting the engine, the end is arriving at your destination <S> but it's the middle part <S> that's actually the journey. <S> It could be a simple journey with no dramas but it could be filled with problems that need to be overcome (a flat tyre that needs changing, running out of fuel, narrowly missing an animal that runs in front of the car). <S> Each could be considered a potential end to the journey but the hero must and will overcome each problem and continue to the end. <S> Each problem must be realistic and usually, the hero should solve them his/herself though with help when it is available. <S> A kind stranger could stop to help change the tyre or give a lift to the nearest garage for fuel for example. <S> Or perhaps your hero is very untrustworthy and doesn't want to the help. <S> I can't post pictures <S> but if you Google 3 act story arc, you'll see examples of the rise up, small fall method. <A> Those that would apply here are: Plot Beginnings, Middles, & Ends Scene & Structure <A> The start and the end are mere bookends to the body of the story. <S> The body of the story is where characters develop and plot and events unfold. <S> That said a good start can hook a read and a good end can leave them satisfied and wanting more. <S> So assuming that you find the opening and the close where your creativity is strongest go with that. <S> Plan the journey (be that plot, character or otherwise) into episodes. <S> Then write the opener and the close of an episode. <S> Then tell the pertinent story that relates to the growth of the character and the key events of that episode. <S> Include any details that will matter in future episodes. <S> Before you know it you will have a series of chapters with each one resulting from the events of the one before. <S> Characters reacting to what happened and then reacting to the results of their reaction and before you know it you will have a well paced story of things that start and things that end and things that continue from one episode to the next. <S> The chances are that your chapters will be well paced and keep the reader hooked. <S> Your endings need only make them want to read the next chapter and the opening of that chapter <S> need only make them want to read the whole chapter. <S> The chances are that your first draft will not be perfect. <S> that's okay, <S> don't worry about it. <S> You can fix that later. <S> It is quite likely that there will be sense that are uninteresting, slow and not needed for the story - you can always remove them later just write them for now. <S> Tell the story and then fix the other issues later.
| Specifically I would make lists of unresolved plot points already in the narrative, plot points to be put in the narrative, order of events, and minor characters. The Elements of Fiction Writing series, published by Writers Digest Books, has some great books to help with this.
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Multiple POV novel - introducing rules of magic I have an urban fantasy story that is told from multiple view points. I'm wondering on the best way to introduce the rules of magic within this piece of work? I have about 10 points of view total throughout the whole work, however I don't want to just splurge in the first few chapters and have everything explained all at once. I was wondering what everyone thought was best Outline the rules of magic in the first two points of view and then move on from there only re-establishing rules from time to time throughout the novel. Slowly drip feed the rules to the reader throughout the whole novel, mentioning them as and when that point of view uses/witnesses magic? Something else entirely! All suggestions are very welcome! <Q> Imagine you are travelling to a foreign country with different laws, customs, traditions and so on. <S> You (the reader) travel in the company of someone who is familiar with that country (the narrator). <S> That companion will warn you of the most deadly pitfalls (such as the death sentence for drug trafficking or that you get your hand hacked off for shop lifting), but beyond that he will give you more details at the time they become relevant, so as not to overwhelm you. <S> So when you go eating at someone's home, your companion and your host will explain to you what they do and what you should do, and everyone will be quite friendly if you don't get it right the first time. <S> But sometimes you will be on your own and you won't understand everything and make mistakes and people will get angry, and only if you get home will your friend explain to you what it was all about and what you should have done. <S> A good story about a foreign country, that takes the reader by the hand and lets him or her encounter that culture, works much the same way, and a fantasy or science fiction story is basically nothing else but a sort of adventurous travel tale and follows the same basic rules. <S> In short, give the details of magic as they become relevant. <S> Let the characters discuss them, or the narrator explain them, or simply describe what is done and what happens and let the reader come to their own conclusions. <S> Sometimes the most intriguing books are those that don't explain it all and retain some level of mystery. <A> I'm not sure what multiple points of view would have to do with how you introduce the laws of magic in your world. <S> In general, I think a narrative flows better if you can introduce the rules spread out through early sections of the book. <S> Otherwise, you have a long dry intro. <S> Or have an excuse early in the story to present them, like have a character be introduced to these rules in the school for wizards, etc. <S> Readers would be likely to get bored. <S> Unless you can make the presentation of the rules entertaining in some way, like if the nature of the rules is that some of them are funny (if this is a light story) or particularly chilling (if this is a horror story). <S> Regarding multiple points of view: Be sure it's clear when you transition from one point of view to another. <S> And avoid making the shifts abrupt. <S> I was just recently reading a book where the writer regularly shifts point of view with no warning in the middle of a chapter. <S> I don't think I was ever confused about whose POV it now was, but I found the sudden switches distracting and disconcerting. <A> I believe you must set up all the rules of magic, and the story world as a whole in the first act. <S> Even if you're not doing 'acts' as such, you should set up the rules before your protagonist begins his/her problem solving. <S> You can hide them like a whodunnit hides clues, but they must be there from the start otherwise the readers will feel you're making things up whenever you get stuck. <S> Since I assume that you don't have a narrator to relate the rules, you can only do it via action or dialogue. <S> A very direct route would be to have an exciting scene which is almost entirely about what magic cannot do in your world. <S> You may have two characters trying to rob a bank, and they just can't do it because of rules <S> A, B and C. <S> In explaining what you can't do you get to quickly imply what you can do without all the plodding exposition, or showing stuff your readers will have read a hundred times before. <S> e.g. ' <S> But we can't get inside there because dislocation spells don't work through solid walls'. <A> Don't overload the reader with too much at once. <S> A easy mistake to make would be forgetting that you know the rules like the back of your hand, while your reader will be encountering them for the first time. <S> Heck <S> I be tempted to not explain the rules in the first few chapters and let the narrators be clueless to what going off in front of them, before slowly introducing the 'how' over the early half of the tale. <S> Regardless of how you do it, it be a good idea to have someone read it with fresh eyes, to see if its confusing for a first time reader or not.
| I think it be best if you show the rules and the consequences of breaking them in easily digestible chunks. If you can summarize your rules fairly quickly, like a page or so, you could simply start the book with a page labeled, "The Rules of Magic" or whatever and list them. I'd avoid having ten or twenty pages describing the rules before the story gets started.
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Is using "gonna" in first-person narrative acceptable? From what i understand, an author is supposed to conform to proper grammatical convention both when writing in third-person and first-person narrative. Is a sentence like this considered "acceptable" in a first-person narrative? And I was gonna make them pay. I feel that the slang usage adds an element of character to the narrative, as the character doesn't think with perfect grammar. On the other hand, i don't feel like i see this too often. <Q> When writing in first person limited view you are basically writing in the voice of the character. <S> So you should make what they say authentic. <S> Therefore in the right circumstances this is perfectly acceptable. <S> My advice would be to leave it in and write the story that way. <S> Then when it is done you can get a feel for if it "works" in that context. <S> I have seen this and far more "gritty" language used in what are known as "stream of consciousness" narratives. <S> It can be a very effective tool. <S> My only advice on slang and "flavour language" is that it is like salt - a little really improves a dish but too much <S> spoils it. <S> Add enough to bring the narrative to life and give the character an authentic voice but not so much that it is hard to read. <A> For the most part an author should try to conform to grammatical conventions as that makes it easier for people to read. <S> However, this isn't a set in stone rule. <S> You are free to violate "proper" grammatical conventions in both first-person and third-person narratives. <S> It is best if you have a decent grasp of the conventions you violate—that knowledge will help you know when you can get away with breaking a certain rule and when you can't. <S> As for your sentence, it is perfectly acceptable if it fits the character who is saying or thinking it. <S> Consider the examples below to see how two famous writers handled this sort of speech. <S> James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man opens with "Once upon a time and a very good time it was there was a moocow coming down along the road and this moocow that was coming down along the road met a nicens little boy named baby tuckoo... <S> " That novel is a third-person narrative and the diction changes as the main character grows up. <S> William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying is an excellent example of multiple first-person narratives where the diction changes to match the character speaking. <S> Some of the characters talk more "proper" than others. <S> For instance, take a section from Darl's point of view: <S> Pa leans above the bed in the twilight, his humped silhouette partaking of that owl-like quality of awry-feathered, disgruntled outrage within which lurks a wisdom too profound or too inert for even thought. <S> (Faulkner, As I Lay Dying ) <S> Now compare it with a section from Anse's point of view: <S> Durn that road. <S> And it fixing to rain, too. <S> I can stand here and same as see it with second-sight, a-shutting down behind them like a wall, shutting down betwixt them and my given promise. <S> I do the best I can, much as I can get my mind on anything, but durn them boys. <S> (Faulkner, As I Lay Dying ) <A> Yes. <S> Think of it this way <S> : everyone is different, talks different, and behaves different. <S> If you are writing about people, should they all behave like you? <S> Or should they be different too? <S> Draw inspiration from the world and make all of your characters different. <S> Don't worry about going too strong with slang or overusing words. <S> That can all be corrected in editing. <S> Write, then read it over and see what you think.
| Not only is it acceptable, if you don't do it your character will not reflect what you are trying to portray and the reader will not understand the character as intended.
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Dot after figure title? Whether there should be a dot after a figure title (in a scientific book)? Note that I have figures numbered like "Figure 1. ..." <Q> The example figure caption in section 5.23 (Figure Legends and Captions) of the 6th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association is formatted as follows: <S> Figure 3. <S> Fixation duration as a function of the delay between the duration of eye fixation and the onset of the stimulus in Experiment 1. <S> (American Psychological Association, 2010) <S> From this we can see that there is a period in the figure caption both after the number and after the descriptive phrase. <S> I suggest you check the style manual of whatever style you are following to make sure my example matches with that particular format. <A> If you're talking about only the caption of a figure/table/picture, all of the documentation I've worked with does have a dot, but only after the number: Figure 1. <S> References <S> I do technical writing frequently for my job, and this is the most common way I've seen captions noted. <A> Usually figure numbers are given consecutive numbers without the dot, or they are given chapter numbers with a dot to indicate which illustration it was in the chapter. <S> For example, 2.3 would be the third figure in chapter two. <S> If the chapter is broken down into sections, the number becomes a three figure one e.g. 2.3.4 is chapter two, section three, figure four. <A> The only exception is if the figure identifier directly precedes another numeral (which should be avoided at all costs) you may use additional punctuation to differentiate the two numbers, but it is better to reword.
| The figure number is an identifier or name if you will, so just as you don't automatically put a period after Bob every time it occurs the placing of punctuation after figure identifiers depends on where it is used in the sentence and ordinary rules of punctuation are used.
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Condensing words, to condense or not? I am doing a lot of writing lately. Novels, short stories, and so forth. I have one person that tells me, Immense improvement from the first version. A great deal of your description is dull... too many words to say something. The trouble is, some of these things need to be said.. but more forcefully and punchier. Drive the story don't let it amble along. I'm not sure if you're trying to create natural speech... problem can be to use with care... too many unnecessary words take away the impact of what you're trying to say to he reader. You're telling a story and entertaining the reader at the same time. Imagine this on a movie screen. The movie would be more animated. Then another person, whom I consider a mentor, and get advice from all the time, say's the following: You asked, Is that true, the less words the better, or are sometimes more words better? My answer: This is a HUGE pet peeve of mine. I am 100% against the whole condensing sentences rule. It affects the voice of the narrator. Character is by far the most important thing because that's what readers connect with the most. Sometimes voice doesn't work out, but that's not because "unnecessary" words are used. Understand, though, that I am very much a literary writer, so I focus a great deal on word choice and the rhythm of a sentence. It's not a style everyone enjoys, so I always have people telling me to cut back on my wordiness (just check out my latest critter for #######). And, they are right... I could condense a lot of my sentences, but then Sophia wouldn't sound the same. My suggestion to you on this is to find a style that you enjoy and stick with it despite what other critters say (including me). If you like condensing sentences, go right ahead and do so. I've found that I can enjoy any number of writing styles (and this is why I really don't focus on sentence structures unless they cause an issue in reading). After doing a lot of reading online, I find mixed opinions. Even DR. Seuss said, "So the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads." — Dr. Seuss I aspire to be a great writer, and I want to learn and do what is best for my readers. However, I just want to know what people's thoughts are on condensing? <Q> Some writers don't know which word to use <S> and so they use a dozen. <S> some writers are convinced that typewriter ribbons are too expensive and agonize over each word. <S> Both of these methods can produce enjoyable reading, but my favorite is when the pace of the words just seem to fit. <S> Not too much, not too few. <S> And the appropriate number of words is not a constant. <S> I can not even say that when things are moving fast you want to target five words per action, and thirty words per action when things are slow, although using fewer words to show speed or urgency is often helpful. <S> My recommendations are to never use less words than the minimum needed to express yourself, or enough words to bore your reader; don't condense sentences, condense thoughts; don't expand sentences, expand understanding. <S> If you think my advice sounds easy, you aren't a writer. <A> A lot of it has to do with context. <S> What type of story is it? <S> What is the genre? <S> hildred has a point in regard to number of words affecting urgency. <S> If you've got a fast-paced action sequence, for example, you don't want to be detailing every single movement of a character as this can easily slow the reader's imagination of the scene. <S> Instead, dropping some detail, and using very short sentences, can serve as a cue to the reader's brain which then makes them 'feel' the speed of the action and therefore get more engrossed in it. <S> Jamezrp also has a point with emotion. <S> Establish emotion, then worry about economy of words. <S> As far as description is concerned, a lot of the time you may want to detail everything about a place, whether that is to give a reader a true sense of the place or include some physical aspects of a character's surroundings which a reader should keep in mind in order for them to properly understand something. <S> Either way, condensing words might not be an option. <S> The best option in the event there is such a need and you feel as though there might be too many words, try focusing on the flow. <S> Ask yourself: Does this take too long to read? <S> Might someone be taken away from the feel you just created of the scene? <S> You can also try to spread out lengthy sentences, even in dialogue, by sprinkling some here and there, or adding something to break it all up into smaller paragraphs. <S> In short, try to imagine it from the reader's perspective, which might require getting a few beta readers or the like so you can get their opinions of your approaches to condensing/not condensing and keep what works. <S> Eventually you should build up a solid portfolio of ideal situations for host of options. <A> Words lead the reader to emotion. <S> Have enough words so the reader feels, but not so many that they stop feeling. <A> Part of the editing process is determining where to cut the fat. <S> Often, first drafts are just there to get ideas out on paper. <S> However, you don't want to make your writing too terse, and start omitting important details. <S> One thing you may want to be conscious of is the usage of superfluous/redundant words and/or phrases. <S> You also want to avoid repeating yourself. <S> If you find yourself writing details about a subject that has little or nothing to do with the character or story arc, it is best to avoid it unless it is a point that has something to do with the overarching theme of the story. <S> If that is the case then some occasional vignettes or asides may work. <S> Another thing to pay attention to is the pace. <S> Good writing has a fairly steady pace. <S> It can be sped up to denote action, or slowed down to add suspense. <S> If you feel like certain parts of the story are being bogged down by too many details, then consider condensing to keep the pace consistent. <A> Everyone works differently, but here's me: I put in details only when they're necessary. <S> That is, if they contribute to the story or reveal something about a character. <S> I rarely describe people or settings. <S> It's usually not important that she's blonde or that he's fat or that the trees are maples. <S> But then in action scenes details can slow things down <S> so we can see how much that slap hurt and how the car missed the baby carriage but hit the stop sign. <S> Using both low-description and high-description provides rhythm. <S> That is, some scenes deserve expansion, but I tend to condense by default.
| If you leave too much in, your reader may think you are rambling. There is a happy medium with deciding what should be edited out.
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Novel set in Forgotten Realms universe My question regards using the forgotten realms setting for writing a novel. I'll explain. My original intention was to request permission to write a novel using WotC's Forgotten Realms setting, but as they're page says they are not accepting unsolicited submissions for novels, I'm trying to find an alternative method. To be clear, in the book itself I wouldn't be referencing any specific characters used by other authors and or the game manuals. All characters would be 100% my own manufacturing. What I do desire to use is the history of the world, the rules and mechanics that govern it, the geographical fixtures of the world, and if possible, although I could remove this, the names of various organizations in the forgotten realms universe. I have a good idea for a book, and a very strong desire to pen and distribute said book, and I suppose my question is this: What would be the best method of doing so? If WotC is completely unwilling to even read/consider my book (its one thing for them to read my submission and say its not something they can see being marketable or such, that I could atleast understand) is there a loophole or another avenue I might be able to take to be able to publish my book? And finally, would it even be absolutely necessary to receive permission from WotC for this sort of idea? (P.s. I am not a lawyer and I do not know much about patent law or the like, but I am willing to do whatever research is necessary if such is suggested as a "work-around." Just looking for a "no" or "Yes its possible" and if yes, a starting point.) Thanks for any replies! <Q> Disclaimer: This is the opinion of someone with no legal expertise. <S> If a central part why you expect people to seek out your book is the enjoyment of the history and setting of a well-known universe, then you actually ARE seeking to profit off someone else's creative work and marketing, and you shouldn't do it unless they give you permission. <S> If the setting inspires you, but isn't the most important part of your book, then you should write the first draft in their world, and then change the setting to a similar but original universe. <S> A huge portion of modern fantasy is set in Tolkien-inspired settings, but good authors bring their own perspective to the foundations that Tolkien laid. <S> You could always go with a Plan A and Plan B: <S> Plan A, write the book in their world, and submit to them. <S> If it comes back, switch to Plan B and rewrite it to remove the WotC references. <A> The best method of going about this would be to first contact Ed Greenwood , as he is the one who created the Forgotten Realms in the first place. <S> I would ask him if you need to talk with him or Wizards of the Coast (WotC) to write in the Forgotten Realms . <S> If Ed Greenwood, then find out from him what you have to do to get permission. <S> If WotC, then read through the support answers on Idea Submissions and Use of Wizards' <S> Intellectual Property <S> if you have not already done so. <S> It's important to remember that the Forgotten Realms setting is copyrighted content. <S> Even if you don't use the characters, the geography, history, and so forth of the Forgotten Realms was created by Ed Greenwood. <S> For publishing for profit, no, there isn't a loophole that would allow you to get around not being given permission. <S> Also, getting an agent might help. <S> If you go the fan-fiction site route, then it is highly recommended that you get permission or at least research <S> how lenient WotC/Ed Greenwood is concerning such works. <S> If you decide just to print a single copy at a local print shop to share with just your family and friends, then you probably could get away without getting permission, but you wouldn't be able to distribute it. <S> And while creating a world of your own might be doing what so many others are doing, if you do end up having to go that route there is nothing stopping you from focusing on character development and plot. <S> But I hope that you are able to get permission to use the Forgotten Realms as a setting for your story. <A> If you intend to publish for free, just do it. <S> It falls under fanfiction clause. <S> Technically illegal, hardly ever fought. <S> The work improves strength of the franchise, solidifies the fandom, fighting it would be bad PR - so copyright owners simply let it be. <S> If you intend to publish commercially, disregard "not accepting unsolicited submissions for novels". <S> You don't want them <S> to publish it anyway; it doesn't apply to your case. <S> What you want, is to contact their legal department, and ask about purchasing a license for using the franchise for the purpose of self-publishing the novel. <S> Be ready to shell out a... pretty much arbitrary amount of cash they will quote you - it may be free, it may be a token amount, it may be a percentage, or it may be a barrier sum intended to deter you if they want to keep a tight hold on the franchise and not allow any third-party "paraphernalia". <S> Nevertheless, make sure you aren't appearing as a bothersome fan looking for freeloading on their IP. <S> You are a businessperson, a paying customer, willing to buy their product - specifically, a limited use of rights on their intellectual property. <S> You aren't "asking permission to extend their world". <S> You are making a purchase of a product they have.
| If you want to publish your story, then, yes, it is absolutely necessary to receive permission from the copyright holder (be it WotC or Ed Greenwood). However, if WotC puts on a writing contest (not sure how likely that is) or opens up a short story anthology to submissions, then it is possible you could get something smaller published that might open the door for a longer piece being accepted.
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Is breaking the fourth wall to the point of nonexistence appropriate for a comedy book? After considering the style and setting for my first book, I've decided on writing a comedy treasure hunt set in a not too distant alternate future. I still have some final things to figure out before I start writing the book itself (like how much of Earth the main empire has taken over), but I'm reaching the point where I'm running out of excuses and should start writing the damn thing. One of the things I'm wondering about is how much I can abuse the fourth wall, and whether that's even appropriate for a comedy book. Stuff like mentioning the author, arguing with him (like arguing about how you deserve a better opening than "a dark and stormy night"), medium awareness, lampshade hanging on implausible things,... Basically, acting like there is no fourth wall. It's something that sounds interesting to me, but I don't want to overdo it. <Q> Other media don't have such qualms to break the forth wall. <S> It's quite common in contemporary theatre, much of which is based on heavy audience involvement, and in plays such as Peter Handke's 1966 <S> Offending the Audience <S> there is no fourth wall at all. <S> Many contemporary movies love to play with the fourth wall ( compilation on Youtube ), especially parodies (Mel Brooks). <S> Comic books have been experimenting with the fourth wall since George Herriman's Krazy Kat ; here is a forum thread collecting more recent examples, such as She-Hulk arguing with her writers, when they have put her in a situation that she thinks unrealistic. <S> Google will find you a sheer endless series of examples from all over genres and media. <S> Certain genres of written fiction are somewhat obsessed with maintaining the illusion of not being fictitious, especially those, like Science Fiction and Fantasy, that rely very heavily on a suspension of disbelief, so they painstakingly avoid any reference to the fourth wall. <S> Having a character in a medieval setting love to read to escape from their unappy fictional reality was a no-go for a long time in escapist fiction. <S> But a bit back in history, it was quite common that the narrator addressed his "Dear Reader!", as Dickens did, and certain contemporary genres are much influenced by post-modern theory and writing and are written more with tongue in cheek and involving the reader in the metadiscourse. <S> If you "abused", as you say, the fourth wall in your writing, that would not be exceptional in fiction today at all, and you would stand in a long and eminent tradition. <S> On the contrary, I rather see a danger of "breaking the fourth wall" becoming overused and cliché. <S> So be careful and don't oversalt your meal. <A> For example Earlier today I was reading some User Friendly archives where the artist was trying to get his characters to tell jokes bashing Firefox instead of Internet Explorer, and failing. <S> The whole sequence was completely ridiculous, and very funny. <S> But the reason it worked was that it worked was everything in the strip is overdone. <S> Another example is in Sluggy Freelance <S> there was a need for some narration, so one of the characters faced camera, and narrated for a bit before another character walks in and asks what is going on, the first explains that he is breaking the fourth wall and the second questions his sanity. <S> Again completely over the top, which fits with the alien, mad scientist, hero, insane ferret and time traveling switchblade wielding rabbit that are some of the mainstays of the cast. <S> I would not worry about letting things get too silly. <S> The plot can be incredibly silly. <S> Your characters can be completely unhinged. <S> but if you don't have a story to tell and characters that are true to themselves, you are wasting your time, but with a plot and some decent characters you can have a fun story even if the plot is the quest for the missing belly button lint and your main character <S> is a bearded lumberjack named Francine and has a chip on his shoulder about pore character sketches and really wants to be a beautician. <S> Another thing to keep in mind with characters that break the fourth wall, Is that it is easy for them to ask for help solving their problems. <S> This should never work. <S> They can ask all they want, but if you give the characters what they ask for it should not be helpful. <S> This corresponds to Brandon Sanderson's advice about using magic to solve problems. <A> There's nothing wrong in principle with "breaking the fourth wall". <S> It's a matter of whether it adds to your particular story or subtracts from it, and how well you do it. <S> It's like asking, "Can I add a romance sub-plot to my adventure story? <S> " <S> Of course you can. <S> But will it make the story better or will it be an annoying distraction? <S> If you break a conventional rule just for the sake of breaking the rule, it can make your story sound bold and innovative. <S> But it can also quickly become a lame gimmick.
| I have seen a number of silly works break the fourth wall to good effect. The main concern is that the silly does not interfere with the plot or the characters. It depends on the nature of the story and how well you do it.
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How do you decide whether to use the infinitive or -ing version of a verb? Example: Three months had passed since she started to avoid me. Three months had passed since she started avoiding me. Right now, what I do is to search for the phrase with the most results in Google Books (e.g. she started to avoid me vs she started avoiding me ). Still, I wonder: is there any way to decide whether to use the former or the latter? <Q> I think it's subjective. <S> To my ear, to avoid is a series of individual events, while avoiding implies something continuous and ongoing. <S> "She started to avoid me <S> " sounds like "I called her <S> and she didn't return my call. <S> The next day I texted her but she didn't text back. <S> Two days later I sent her an email which she never opened." <S> "She started avoiding me" sounds like "I walked in the room <S> and she immediately left, and when I followed her she left the building." <S> That's just my opinion; others may hear them as interchangeable. <A> I would agree with Lauren that both constructs are equally valid from a grammatical point of view, but there are a number of other factors to bias the decision. <S> Character voice. <S> People who studied latin prefer infinitives, people who work with their hands prefer gerunds. <S> Tense. <S> infinitives work very well with future tense, gerunds work well with present tense. <S> Secondary connotations. <S> Some words or phrases may acquire additional meaning. <S> you may want to avoid or exploit that. <S> Poetry. <S> Match or break rhythm. <S> Puns and forced puns. <A> Michael Swan's Practical English Usage <S> (2nd ed., p. 285) <S> : <S> 296 <S> -ing forms used like nouns (5): <S> -ing form or infinitive? <S> ... <S> 10 <S> begin and start <S> Begin and start <S> can be followed by infinitives or -ing forms. <S> Usually there is no important difference. <S> She began playing / to play the guitar when she was six. ... <S> After progressive forms of begin and start , infinitives are preferred. <S> I'm beginning to learn karate . <S> (NOT <S> I'm beginning learning karate. ) <S> Infinitives are also preferred with stative verbs like understand , realise and know . <S> I slowly began to understand how she felt. <S> (NOT ... began understanding ...) <S> There's about 50 or so pages on first infinitives and <S> then -ing forms in that book, and I would think that other uses of those forms influence <S> how we perceive both options even in cases where both are grammatically equivalent. <S> I have described my feel for semantics in my other answer. <A> Adding to Lauren's excellent clarification, you could look at it from another perspective by referring to, let's say, money... and seeing where the latter could beg the question "why?" or "how?" <S> Three months had passed since she started to save money . <S> That sounds like a statement. <S> OK, so she saved money. <S> Three months had passed since she started saving money . <S> In a very subtle way, depending on the person, the latter may seem fuzzy -- saving money how? <S> Less shopping, more investments, less expenses, how? <S> Just an alternative way of looking at it, although this can be quite subjective. <A> Note: I am not a native speaker and know English mainly through reading the language. <S> My feel for language is therefore more influenced by written than by spoken English, a confoundation that might confuse some of the native speakers here, or a lack which might lead to Germanisms influencing me. <S> You be the judge :-) <S> To me the proper use is reflected in the following example: <S> Three months have passed since she has started to avoid me, and she has been avoiding me ever since. <S> I would say that you use the past or present continuous for events that are ongoing in the present or had been ongoing until a specified end point or for a specified duration, and the infinitive for activities that you plan, think, want, start to do <S> , that is that lie in the future of the thinking, starting and so on, but have not yet begun. <S> Viz. <S> : <S> Three months have passed since she had started to avoid me -- and given up and returned into my arms after that first attempt.
| They're both right, and I think the nuance of difference is so subtle that you could use either purely depending on which one you liked the sound of.
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Are there times when delayed character development is acceptable in fiction? In my screenplay, I have my female protagonist wear Prada, and perhaps drop other hints of her character, but not act like Miranda Priestly for the first two acts, until she gets a promotion at the end of Act II. In Act III, having arrived, she lets loose her inner Miranda, perhaps surprising the audience. A female critic of my script said, in effect, that the late character development is interesting, but did I have to wait so long? Does the plot (as I have outlined it) justify or support such a format? In most movies I've watched, or screenplays I've read there is a strong burst of character development as early as the first Scene of Act I. Is there a "conventional wisdom" for writers as to when, or how early, character development should take place? <Q> I think there's a difference between character development and character depth . <S> Development means change. <S> You can have an interesting villain who is only ever a villain, but still has backstory, motivation, relationships, and hobbies. <S> That's a deep character who doesn't change. <S> But if your character acts like a boring, shallow buffoon for two acts and then suddenly gets hit with a Plot Ball and turns into La Maupin , she's not going to be believable, and your readers will wonder where this fascinating spitfire was for the first two-thirds of the book. <S> Unless there's some compelling, in-character reason that she deliberately wants to hide her candle under a bushel, try to dole out hints of who she really is from reasonably early on. <S> You don't have to give away the whole game, or reveal her to the other characters, but the readers should realize there's more to her than what the other characters think. <A> That sounds more like a twist ending, the big reveal with "haha! <S> I was acting this entire time!" <S> Having the protagonist act one way the entire time and then pulling the rug out from the audience will leave them feeling a little bit confused and annoyed. <S> If they've rooted for a genuine person all along and then they turn out to be a bitch, they won't feel satisfied. <S> As to your question: in order to do a delayed character development, you really need strong supporting roles that the audience can identify with. <S> They are the ones that can be developed instead of your protagonist, and the audience can follow their progress instead through the eyes of your protagonist. <S> That can then affect your lead role later in the story. <S> If there is someone that your protagonist has worked with all through the crisis, and then at the last minute steps on to them to get to the top, the audience can at least sympathize with the support character. <S> Think about The Sixth Sense. <S> The character played by Bruce Willis is the protagonist, yet you follow the story of the little boy through his eyes. <S> You understand very little about anything of Bruce Willis' character until the end. <S> The mystery about him allows the shock reveal at the end, whilst still following the story of the boy. <S> If the kid wasn't as primary a role, either the reveal wouldn't work, or the film would be about nothing. <S> However, you can always show who that person is behind closed doors, and allow her to reveal herself to other characters rather than the audience. <S> It's OK to have an unlikable protagonist. <S> Think about Carrie from Sex and the City. <S> She is intensely unlikable, and just a horrible person, yet the story is told through her eyes. <S> But she has a very strong supporting cast that make up for her failings that the audience can identify with. <S> My advice would to put a secondary character in a more prominent role. <S> They don't need to be the main character, but an audience needs at least someone to engage with throughout the story. <A> I think you may need to look at the traditional three act structure. <S> Act one is setting up the every day life of your character(s) and ends with the inciting event which leads into act two. <S> Act two is the main bulk of the story, leading up to a large peak and ends with that moment where it looks like your hero(ine) <S> cannot possibly succeed. <S> Act three is where your hero(ine) does succeed then descends to tidy up the loose ends for a good emotional closure of your story. <S> For me, you'd be best to re-think your ideas of the three acts. <S> Have your character get her promotion at the end of act one <S> as that's your inciting event. <S> Act two becomes the new her when she has her promotion <S> but you need to think about what the journey is for the character and how you'll lead into act three and tie up the emotional journey. <S> Does she become a better character? <S> Does she get outwitted by the girl who actually is as nice as she seems? <S> Does she get everything she thought she wanted but actually ends up alone?
| The only way you can have a character change, even if it is the main character, is to reveal nothing about them.
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How much character description is considered necessary in a "plot driven" story?" Some stories begin with a rather full description of say, the main character. Here is a clip from Hello Dolly that describes in (for me) excruciating detail not only about what she does (matchmaking) but how she does it. And I can see why character description would be important in say, "Thelma and Louise," because "character" forces them to make choices that most people would not make. But my story is a plot-driven one that begins with a "crisis." (Think, earthquake or tsunami, or Dorothy Gale's tornado.) In such a situation, I need to know that Dorothy is from Kansas, and is a "hick from the sticks," but not about how she lives her everyday life on a farm that she's about to leave. I was once taught that in a plot driven story, you should know your characters at the level of a good newspaper article about them. Because that's the level of description that the underlying crisis is reported. Naturally, the heroine should be portrayed as vulnerable but not helpless, and the hero as brave but not foolhardy, so they are equal to the crisis. Is this an accepted standard? Or do readers and writers demand more character description than that in most stories? And if so, "how much" more? <Q> Your readers will substitute either themselves or a standard archetype for the hero unless you tell them otherwise. <S> They only will need to know enough to know why the hero is doing the things <S> he/ <S> she does, why <S> he/she is upset or angry at the actions of the antagonist or why the hero doesn't just take the obvious route to the story solution. <S> Even then you only need to give that information if it isn't obvious. <S> You don't need backstory to explain why someone would want to survive an earthquake. <S> It's rare that the colour of their hair will be an important factor in these things, but race, weight, upbringing, demeanour, hairstyle can all affect plot. <S> If you tell the readers the heroine looks an absolute mess you give them a shortcut to understanding that perhaps self-esteem is an issue, and that disguising herself as a contestant in a beauty pageant isn't going to be an easy choice of terrorist thwarting tactic. <S> You can get similar shortcuts from how they order a coffee, or their choice of car. <S> Read some thrillers to see how authors can sketch out their hero in a short paragraph, or even a single sentence: what he's doing, what he's wearing, the time of day, and how he addresses people getting in his way. <S> Give the readers only what they need, and give it to them when they least expect it will be relevant to plot points later. <S> Because the reader won't know at that point that it's plot, you need to keep it brief and punchy. <A> To me a plot driven story is like real life: you have no idea what goes on in another person's mind <S> and all you know about them you deduce from their actions . <S> If a person sees some event and reacts to this in a particular way, it is completely unnecessary to explain that person's motivation, because it is apparent. <S> That is the basis of "show, don't tell". <S> In an action driven story, you characterize your characters by their actions . <S> This is not contradicted by the advice that you , the author, should know more about your characters than what can be deduced from one particular scene. <S> You need to know your characters to decide how they will act. <S> But you need not write more than what the character does. <S> (And don't forget that "behavior" includes mimics and gestures and tone of voice. <S> A tear is something your character does.) <A> Reading is an imaginative act on behalf of the reader which means two things: You need to give a reader all the information necessary to imagine whatever it is you want them to imagine. <S> Readers will imagine whatever they want and you can only control them so much. <S> Typically in more old fashioned writing you will see huge amounts of description telling us what the character looks like and what their background is. <S> But readers form an impression of a character immediately from the rest of the story you've told and from inferences they will make. <S> So modern stories are more likely to leave it up to the reader. <S> If I introduce Tom as a 41-year-old plumber and the story is set in small town Ohio <S> then I've already given you enough information. <S> He's white, probably working class, and is balding and unfashionable. <S> You only need to guide us around the things we'll presume from basic information. <S> His mannerisms, his actions, his environment, and how others respond to him can tell us enough to fill in the rest. <S> What's more important than how much information you give is how evocative the information is and the voice and style you use to tell it to us. <S> Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian begins with: "See the child. <S> He is pale and thin, he wears a thin and ragged linen shirt." <S> In terms of physical description not much more is given than that opening line but it tells us so much about this character already. <S> We can also see from the style of writing that this is a stark and brooding tale and we'll read the character in that light.
| There aren't any rules about how much information you need to give and just as the rest of a story shapes the character, so too does description of a character shape the story.
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The backstory's overwhelming the actual story I have a character with a grim past (forced to watch torture). I need him to have that grim past in order to explain his behaviour in the story I am writing now: characters who did not know his past are taken by surprise by how nasty he is willing to be if it will help bring down the regime that did the torture. The trouble is that I'm beginning to feel the whole current story, which isn't nearly so grim or black-and-white as the backstory, looks trivial in comparison. I fear that anyone reading it is going to diagnose a case of what TV Tropes calls "They Wasted A Perfectly Good Plot" I have zero desire to ever write the grim stuff as a separate story. It's too depressing and also too monotonous. Nor do I want to simply delete his backstory, or scale it back drastically. It would mess up my whole picture of what he's like. The way that the backstory is overwhelming the main story isn't really a matter of how many words are devoted to each; it's more a matter of how much more emotionally charged the earlier events are in comparison to the events of the main plot. Any advice on how I can square the circle? <Q> Without knowing your plot its hard to say, but I think you might have already mentioned the word at the heart of a possible solution. <S> Circle . <S> Don't just have his past haunt him, and explain his actions. <S> Make him confront it again in the main plot. <S> Bring him full circle. <S> What you currently think is your main plot, is just the excuse to see him in action. <S> Turn a sudden corner and we find that somebody is making history repeat. <S> This guarantees equal grim-factor for the start and end, the middle ought to work itself out after that. <S> If you can't stomach that, then maybe you really ought to lose the backstory and redefine your hero. <S> It sounds like you want to make him a monster <S> but if that's the case he must visit some very dark places in the final chapters <S> otherwise what was the point? <A> Increase the emotional charge of the main plot. <S> Some possibilities: Increase the intensity of the main story. <S> Make the conflict more conflicty. <S> For example:Maybe some of his allies,horrified at having witnessed what he is capable of,begin to see him as just as evilas <S> the regime they are struggling to destroy. <S> Maybe some of them abandon him,or even turn against him. <S> Maybe the evil regime becomes even more evil,or stronger,or more widespread. <S> Maybe formerly good peoplebegin to accept the evil,or even participate. <S> Maybe the stakes become more personal for the hero,as the evil regime specifically targets the hero's loved ones. <S> Increase the difficulty of the main story. <S> Introduce obstacles,especially obstacles designed specifically to trouble <S> the hero.(Maybe <S> he has to torture a former ally.)Remove the resources and support that the hero was most counting on,especially the support of his most important allies and loved ones. <S> Bring the hero to the point of despair. <A> Try to look at it dispassionately; it sounds like maybe the problem is just that it's had enough of an emotional impact on you <S> that you feel like you need to give it the treatment it deserves, rather than paring it back to what is appropriate for your story. <S> What does the audience really need to know about the character? <S> You could write as little as Grim storms off, irritated with the others' soft attitudes Person 1: What's his problem? <S> Person 2: Don't mind him. <S> The villains tortured him as a kid; he's been looking for a chance for payback ever since, by any means possible. <S> ... <S> much later ... <S> Grim spots main villain Grim: You! <S> You're the one behind the torture <S> Climatic confrontation <S> Enough stories get by with little more than this, and so could yours , if it really needed to. <S> It's enough to know <S> he has a dark past; the audience isn't required to truly understand the dark past. <S> Surely, though, you can find ways to work in some more details here and there that won't darken your current story, or drop hints for people looking for it, and maybe imply the darker stuff for people to figure out if they really think about it. <A> There could be a simple answer to "rebalancing" the roles of the backstory and main story. <S> That is, pull part of your backstory into your main story, and leaving only a "remainder" as "backstory."
| Raise the stakes of the main story. If some facts of your backstory are so compelling, maybe they don't begin there. Your hero has to get neck deep into his past and his problems in order to resolve them.
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How can I learn to think and interpret things more critically? As a freelance journalist, I spend a lot of time reading the media. Often I'll come across an article that I admire, and feel is leaps and bounds above my own work. Naturally, I want to learn from such pieces: but often I struggle to understand exactly why I find them inspirational. Without that, they're not very helpful as learning tools. I understand the oft-given advice that to improve as a writer, one must read a lot and read with a critical mind. However, I frequently feel that I'm not doing the latter bit as well as I should. I studied Literature to A-level (age 16-18 - no idea what the US equivalent was), and did well. However as the years have passed and I've no longer needed to exercise those critical skills, they've atrophied. I've become more used to reading and interpreting things on their surface level, and not looking so hard to see what's underneath. This is of particular importance to me because much of what I write is criticism. A lot of the material I cover doesn't offer layers of allegory or metaphor. But when it's there, I'm sure I often miss it. So I need to learn to be critical not just of writing but other media, and to learn the language of critical theory that goes with it. There's also an element of self-discipline here. Why look harder when you don't need to? Especially when it comes to fast-paced media where it's easy to get caught up in the ride. When a moment rises that invites reflection, it's too late: you're swept on to the next scene. So - what can I do to learn more about how to think critically, and to encourage myself to use those skills? I'm aware that a lot of Universities offer free videos of lecture courses nowadays, which on the surface would seem an ideal resource - but almost everything I've found in that vein is STEM focussed. <Q> You could read a text (literary or media) and then look at what other people have said about it. <S> This can make you more aware of what to look for so that you can look for it in future and make you think about the text in a deeper way. <S> You could look into literary theory as a way to make you more aware of different ways of looking at texts. <S> Personally, when I was taught about semiotics it changed how I looked at Shakespeare. <S> If you want a start on literary theory I would recommend downloading the audio versions of the Open Yale course available here . <S> On a simpler level, try using the frameworks that you were given for analysing literature at A-Level. <A> If you want to (re)learn how to analyse and criticise literature, it would certainly help you to read analyses and criticisms. <S> Since you studied literature, you probably know all the resources you can turn to (bibliographies, libraries, databases, ...), so use them to locate and read literary theory, analytical methodology and examples of literature analysis and criticsm. <S> Try to find scholars that use the books you like to read privately as objects of their studies. <S> If what you like is not or only rarely studied by scholars of literature, try to find whatever comes closest. <S> There is of course more on Shakespeare and Hawthorne than contemporary fantasy, but there are scholars that look at contemporary popular media, too. <S> At first you might not want to spend too much time on writing this out, but just take some quick, shorthand notes, similar to what would serve as the basis for your actual writing. <S> Read a lot, and, more important, apply what you read as much and as often as you can. <S> Don't worry about wether <S> or not your analysis is "correct", but rather do as many of them as you can. <S> Revisit your older ones and see if you want to rethink them. <S> You could get feedback from likeminded peers, but more important than checking the opinion of others is that you practice what you want to be good at. <S> With time, with reading a lot of scholarly texts, and with analysing and criticizing different or the same texts again and again, you will finally find your own methods, style and approach. <S> Have fun! <A> Unfortunately there is no easy answer. <S> As changing ones modality of thought and interpretation, is no easy task. <S> @Tave has a great idea, that learning about the different frameworks, the skeletal structure of writing/differing types of media. <S> As that is a good and basic way to critique certain works. <S> But other than that, there is no real surefire way of changing the way you view pieces/works. <S> The issue here is that criticism, other than an objective assessment. <S> ((Spelled wrong, formatted poorly.) <S> With a slight portion of comparison between it and works of its ilk) <S> Is only your own personal emotional response. <S> Which is dependent upon your own life experiences. <S> The way you expand on that should be self evident. <S> If you need to learn how to be a better critic of food articles or shows. <S> Try enrolling in a basic culinary course. <S> I am not a painter, thus my criticism of fine works will be at a disadvantage, however, if i can find a way to illustrate what i am getting at. <S> In a palatable and understandable way. <S> Furthermore that point resonates with enough other people. <S> Then even my amateur status, can yield constructive and helpful criticisms. <S> uhhh <S> , i think you see what i am getting at. <S> Best of luck. <A> I would recommend studying philosophy. <S> Within philosophy, I would focus in on logic, which can help you perceive the underlying structure and/or structural flaws of any persuasive writing, as well as help you build stronger arguments of your own. <S> You can also read the Socratic dialogues of Plato, which are the classic example of how to approach all topics critically (as opposed to taking things at their face value).
| Whenever you have read a study or theory or methodology that resonates with you, try to apply what you read to a book you want to analyse. To immerse yourself in that world, in the hopes that you may have a better vantage point to criticize. In essence, my suggestion would be to try to "walk a mile in the shoes" of what ever topic or what have you...
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Is mathematical poetry a form of poetry? One author considers this mathematical statement by LeRoy Gorman entitled “The Birth of Tragedy” as a form of minimalist poetry: (!+?)^2 Is this mathematical statement really a poem? Creative writing highlights the value of human subjectivity. Mathematics, on the other hand, puts emphasis on rigor, logical validity, and precision. Wouldn't poetry be constricted by the rigid rules of mathematics if they were combined? <Q> Poetry doesn't have to be as free-flowing and messy as you're implying. <S> Some poetry throws out rules of form and function, but some adheres to them strictly. <S> Think of the meter and rhyme demands of a sonnet, or the syllable rules of a haiku. <S> If you don't follow those very rigid, precise requirements, you haven't written the poem correctly. <S> Honestly, I think that's a pretty funny poem that you've quoted. <S> It takes a bit of work on the part of the reader to understand it, but the thoughts expressed reflect the title well. <S> Why couldn't you use mathematics to express subjective thoughts? <A> Betrand Russell put it thus: Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty — a beauty cold and austere, like that of sculpture, without appeal to any part of our weaker nature, without the gorgeous trappings of painting or music, yet sublimely pure, and capable of a stern perfection such as only the greatest art can show. <S> The true spirit of delight, the exaltation, the sense of being more than Man, which is the touchstone of the highest excellence, is to be found in mathematics as surely as poetry. <S> Franz Kafka says that "poetry is always a search for truth". <S> Likewise, mathematics can be described as searching for truth, albeit with numbers. <S> The same beauty and elegance one strives for in mathematics is no different to that which a poet seeks with words. <S> To answer your question about whether poetry would be constricted by the rigid rules of mathematics, it's worth keeping in mind that a lot of poetry is about rules and rigidity: meter, rhyme, form. <S> Poetry strives for the same level of truth in beautiful, elegant, simple and minimal ways, very much like mathematics. <S> It may seem counter-intuitive, but such rigidity in poetry frees oneself to be creative, forcing you to choose your words carefully, to say what you mean in the best, most succinct way possible. <S> For a deeper look at the connection, I recommend the book "Mathematics, poetry and beauty" by Ron Aharoni, which attempts to connect the two domains. <S> It notes that "poets, like mathematicians, are hunters, engaged in the search for hidden patterns in the world". <S> Despite poetry being "invented", there are underlying truths that exist: A metaphor that is on target reveals a similarity that is concealed, but that is out there. <S> After all, "on target" implies that the target was already present. <S> When the poet Yehuda Amichai writes: Careful angels passed fate within fate, <S> Their hands shook not, nothing dropped or fell. <S> (Yehuda Amichai, "Twenty New Squares," Poems) <S> he expresses an existing truth: our fate is no more in our hands than the thread is master of its fate; there are forces that direct it, as the seamstress directs the thread. <S> This is beautiful, not because it is an invention, but, mainly, because it is true. <A> Possibly not being writer enough to answer this question, I consider myself mathematician enough to try to give an answer from the mathematical viewpoint. <S> (If this is not a great answer by itself, I hope it is a useful addition to the others given.) <S> What you say about mathematics, of rigor, validity, precision and rigid rules, holds true, to a certain extent. <S> The elementary mathematics is boring to sit through at school and often not even relevant to anything encountered in real life, while the more advanced mathematics scares people with its unusual notations and complexity. <S> But if you learn to read it (like advanced literature and poetry), it can be beautiful. <S> A well-written proof can read like a story, with characters making appearances, a surprising plot and a satisfying conclusion. <S> Some proofs can even be considered poetry for their elegance (there's a book written about the most elegant proofs, "Proofs from THE BOOK", see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proofs_from_THE_BOOK ). <S> Admittedly, some proofs can be like abstract paintings for the uninitiated - unless you've read the title and had someone explain both the painting and the title to you (twice), you've got no idea what it's trying to tell you - but they are merely an annoying anomaly to an otherwise beautiful and terribly underrated science. <S> Also, the 'rigid rules' thing works only one way; a mathematical expression has just one well-defined value, but there are often dozens and sometimes infinite other ways to express that same value. <S> Most of these ways will not often be used, because they are unnecessarily complex or simply require more writing, but I don't think poetry is about the most straightforward way to tell the reader something. <S> It is about the emotional content as well, and, if applied properly (as in your example), mathematics can do the trick. <A> It's important to note this isn't actually a well-formed mathematical statement, it's a typographical poem that uses mathematical symbols for effect. <S> It exploits the dual meaning of a symbol like "!" <S> as punctuation indicating excitement, intensity or surprise with the fact that it also has mathematical usages. <S> An actual well-formed mathematical statement could be beautiful, to a mathematician, but it probably wouldn't be considered poetry. <S> Here, however, the mathematical definitions are just being used as a way to extend the expressiveness of the typography. <A> I think Lauren Ipsum's final sentence constitutes the most apt answer for this. <S> Poetry is very subjective but, like mathematics, is up for the reader to scan and interpret on their own. <S> There is economy or precision of language (down to letters and symbols) in both poetry and mathematics. <S> This poem is conceptual. <S> The poem's value lies in the scantion experience and the cognitive work done; the audience must scan and dissect the poem, and then parse it for meaning (synonymous with 'truth'). <S> Users of mathematic formulas must also use the same task process to attempt to interpret formulas. <S> The confusion brought on by attempting to posit the validity of the poem may be the "tragedy".
| A number of philosophers and mathematicians do see a deep connection between poetry and mathematics.
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Should I prefer writing a Hard diary or Soft diary? I have never seriously written a diary before(not even tried casually). I am required to write a diary for my work as Intern and later report it. I think they would prefer a soft version but I can also write a Hard version and later scan it to report it(maybe). My question is, If I want to start seriously writing a diary, which mode(Hard or Soft) should I consider?(both? maybe...) What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? Is soft/hard preferable over other for technical purposes contrary to writing diary about life? I am kinda skeptical because of the rapid ongoing technology revolution and if you are aware the " Internet of Things " revolution in its infancy for which Google, Amazon, Facebook are preparing heavily. The point is, in coming years remaining soft is gonna be the " thing ". <Q> Coming from a science background: People prefer hardcopy lab notebooks (which are a kind of diary) because they don't trust softcopy. <S> It is too easy to retcon with softcopy. <S> There is software specifically written for making lab notebooks that prevents that kind of thing, but nobody trusts it because people are generally pretty stupid about change. <S> (Yeah, even scientists. <S> Go figure.) <S> However, the digital age is upon us, and change is being forced on people whether they want it or not. <S> Many large labs that want to be able to search their records are changing to software-based lab notebooks. <S> This is a long-winded way of saying that you should do what your boss wants, regardless of which way makes more sense. <S> If he/she is an old fogey who wants hardcopy, then use hardcopy. <S> If your boss is a "latest thing" type of person, then use softcopy. <S> If neither applies, use whatever you want. <S> Advantages of hardcopy <S> : 1) Instant on, no boot-up; 2) Easy to add hand-drawn diagrams, pictures, etc.; 3) <S> Anyone can access it, long after you're gone; 4) Can be used silently in a meeting; 5) <S> Nobody thinks you're surfing the web. <S> No access security; 4) Making copies is a pain in the neck; 5) <S> Space-limited; 6) Hard to incorporate stuff you've plagiarized from the internet; 7) Old-fashioned. <A> Take the one that most easily fits in your back pocket. <S> That way you can have access to your journal at all times. <A> And if you want to make it soft, just take xerox of each page and bind it : <S> p. <S> So soft :) <S> But technically I don't really think these matters :) <S> Just keep writing wherever you want to. <A> The answer to your question will depend on the purpose of your diary writing. <S> If you want to process the text for further use, a soft diary will make that much easier. <S> If the purpose is to order your thoughts, many people find that the analog experience makes that easier (but it will certainly depend on your life style). <S> Writing digitally: deteriorates the quality of my writing: <S> I undo, instead of thinking carefully, and with time have lost all feel for language; I'm currently relearning the stylistic elegance I once had before the advent of personal computers in my work and private life confuses my thinking: <S> organizing myself spacially helps organizing my thoughts; files on a computer do not have an organization that is in any way related to my physical experience, so on a gut level for me they all exist in an unorganized mess, with only the top most file (the active window) visible at any time <S> is sensually unpleasant: <S> famous Apple design notwithstanding <S> , a computer is still an ugly piece of plastic with an overcomplex interior; a paper notebook even smells and sounds nice to write in, it is a pleasurable thing to carry around, the handwriting looks beautiful and warm (unlike the anonymous, cold typeface), and a nice pen is a tool as beautiful and simple as a hammer <S> is unhealthy: I have tired, dry, bloodshot eyes every evening, unable to focus on anything closer than an outstreched arm, and I have tennis elbow from too much typing <S> Digital is like living enclosed in a prothesis; analog is like holding a sunwarmed stone in your hand. <S> Creativity will flourish. <S> Other people say the opposite.
| I prefer a hard diary, you can easily maintain it. Disadvantages of hardcopy: 1) Easy to lose taped-in stuff; 2) Your writing may be hard/impossible to read; 3)
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What is the story or format called when the protagonist is not the "hero?" For instance, in "Silence of the Lambs," the "hero is Clarice Starling, the FBI agent, and the protagonist is the villain, Hannibal Lecter. What is this kind of story format called? What happens if the protagonist is the "bad guy" or anti-hero? Can that make the antagonist the hero? <Q> There is no special name for this format of story. <S> All stories have the same basic elements, (exposition, conflict, rising action, climax, resolution) and they pertain to the protagonist, who is the main character and who the audience is supposed to identify with the most. <S> When in this role, they are often called the antihero . <S> Examples are <S> Now You See Me , the Fast and Furious series, and others where the protagonist is the "bad guy". <A> You are mixing up different literary theories. <S> The concept of the hero comes from a view on literature that is derived from ancient epics. <S> The concept of the protagonist is derived from Greek drama theory. <S> What is importatnt here is that the hero and the protagonist have nothing to do with each other. <S> They are different approaches at trying to understand how literature works. <S> A hero is a figure undertaking a quest (Odysseus). <S> Not every narrative has one. <S> The hero's journey is about self-discovery and self-development. <S> He is not necessarily up against anything (Hydra is not Hercules' opponent but a task he has to complete). <S> A hero acts in the context of fate and divine forces. <S> The protagonist is the primary actor. <S> By default, the hero is the protagonist of his narrative. <S> But a protagonist is not always a hero. <S> He may be fighting an antagonist that is on the same level as he and, unlike fate or the Greek gods, can be overcome. <A> A protagonist is the character that the audience is meant to most identify with, in Silence of the Lambs that would be Clarice Starling. <S> Jamie Gumm <S> (Buffalo Bill) is the primary antagonist, the catalyst and opposing force that Starling deals with, and develops from. <S> Lecter would be a split between antagonist and protagonist. <S> While Lecter is by far the most powerful and interesting character, Clarice is protagonist / hero of the story.
| The protagonist is the "hero" of their story, but they do not have to be the "good guy" per se.
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How to prioritize projects I'm just starting out with writing fiction seriously. I feel like this might be my "thing." Strangely enough, at the moment I find myself with a number of ideas, most in very early stages of development. As in notes, bare-bones plot outlines, rough character concepts, etc. A part of me is tempted to have them all active simultaneously, so that on any given day, depending on my mood and mindset, I have stuff to work on. Granted, with this approach I might not finish anything for centuries. Alternately, perhaps there's some method of prioritizing them, finishing them in an order of some sort. This way I might complete a project quickly, but in the meantime the other ideas might have floundered in my mind. I could really use some guidance on this. Thanks. <Q> What I would do in your situation is this: <S> Write them all in parallel for a fixed time, say a month, month and a half. <S> When that time is up, see which ones you're most excited about, and put the rest on hold. <S> Write and develop your select few for another set time. <S> Repeat till you know which ONE is your focus for now, and go at that one 100%, until its done. <S> That way you get to explore all your stories and discover which one pulls you most right now, and then focus on that ONE story until its complete. <S> Why one? <S> Because the only way to really do your best, is to focus. <A> Maybe the solution would be to schedule time for writing your main project, and for a couple of those sessions to allow yourself to be diverted onto other projects. <S> Mostly though it is understanding what your best method of working is, this will probably take some trial and error, you might find that distracting yourself on multiple projects helps you stay objective about the story lines. <S> Or you might realise that you simply can't juggle the multiple plots all at once. <S> Decide which one is your priority, and experiment with different ways of approaching it until you find the most productive <A> Different take: <S> Personally I've always had grand 'ideas' floating around in my head for stories (and still do), but could never muster the motivation to see them to the end. <S> I have begun writing my first novel but it turned out that a different strategy altogether seemed to work. <S> One day and idea popped into my head and before trying to plan it all out <S> I just started writing. <S> Since then it has changed a lot, and I have found opportunities to incorporate my other ideas as I have progressed. <S> Maybe instead of worrying about how to fit your ideas together, you can just start writing and see which ideas fall into the work naturally?
| But for someone bursting with new-found creative energy, the only way to focus is to know that this is simply the one you're writing now , and that it doesn't mean that you won't get to the other ones later.
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How important is being well read for a writer Back in the mists of time, I would put a lot of time into reading, and would read pretty much anything I could lay my hands on. Then I started writing, and it is very very rare that I read any fiction now. Yet whenever I look at any forum, writing advice etc, it always suggests that you read lots. The problem, for me, is that if I read a piece of writing that I particularly like, I will unconsciously allow the style, grammar, flow of that piece to seep into whatever I'm writing. Being well read makes me more likely to write in facsimiles of other's and I'd rather create my own style Is this something that other's tend to experience also? So, how important is being well read, for a writer... Edit to clarify In all aspects of life I enjoy figuring problems out, without relying too much on what has gone before. Often I find I have reinvented the wheel, I enjoy exploring the reasoning behind a problem, and the nuances of why it is a problem in the first place. To my mind, if I am struggling with some mechanism in a story, I could read other authors' work, and use their methods to solve the problem I've got, or I can explore the problem for myself and build my own mechanism to achieve the goal. I am reasonably content in my approach to my own writing, and can't imagine that changing any time soon, but I saw another question and thought this would make an interesting question for anyone else who might have a similar approach. <Q> Congratulations on being a natural mimic! <S> That is a marvelous skill to have as a fiction writer. <S> Now all you have to do is learn how to leverage it. <S> I'll give you a few clues here. <S> Unconscious mimicry is incredibly useful when your plot demands a dramatic diversion from your comfort zone. <S> For example, you may be very skilled at high-speed, high-action fight scenes. <S> You might have a gift for keeping your reader's heartrate accelerated and making the pages flash by. <S> This is your natural style that you are trying so hard to defend. <S> ... <S> and you are absolutely right <S> , it deserves to be defended because it makes your writing your own. <S> But stories aren't all action and adreneline. <S> Eventually your characters need to do something else; maybe some dialog or an lurid love scene. <S> Eventually, in your quest to write a complete story, you'll have to write some scenes that aren't in your comfort zone. <S> That is when being a mimic is a blessing. <S> There are a lot of great writers out there, but each and every one of them is BEST at only one or two types of scenes. <S> Eventually, you will have a library of earmarked books waiting to help you write every kind of scene imaginable. <S> And because of your skill at mimicry, you can use that library to enrich everything that you write. <S> Reading the right 5-10 pages from an expert in a particular type of scene, can elevate you into a master of that scene type as well. <S> Mimicry! <S> Embrace it! <S> That leaves you with one issue, the original issue from your question. <S> Outside of the scenarios described above, how do you keep what you read from effecting what you write? <S> The answer should come naturally to a mimic... <S> Right before you start writing, read 5-10 pages of what you have recently written. <S> This will reset your mimicry, making you into a mimic of yourself. <S> It will also serve to get you back into the mood and flow of your current writing, and remind you of plot elements which you might have forgotten since the last time you wrote. <A> I may have a very unpopular view on the subject but would say that I find myself more able to write in my preferred style by not reading a bunch of other people's work. <S> I'd say that it's more important to be a good researcher, planner, and editor. <S> The most important skills I practice to write at a level that I enjoy are: Self Editing Automatic Writing - <S> this one is hard because it means I have to turn off the internal censor when I write <S> but this is a practice in doing just that. <S> This helps my words flow directly from thought to keyboard though, with little if any intervention. <S> To me, writing is about doing. <S> The best way to get better is to keep doing it, and then reflect on your work at intervals while you create it, and after you've finished. <S> EDIT - I can't reasonably answer the part of your question about how important is it to be well read for an author because I'm not a known or paid author. <S> I do write and other people enjoy what I write <S> but I am not an author by vocation. <S> 2nd - I prefer to write instead of read because, and in addition to the reasons stated above, reading takes time, and I don't always like what another author writes. <S> So, I choose to spend the time writing - or researching for writing - instead of reading. <S> -- my thanks to commenters noting that I had not specifically answered OPs question. <S> I hope this does do with satisfaction. <S> Thanks for asking this question! <A> Be well read in the genre in which you wish to write. <S> Every genre has its clichés. <S> A writer could produce the best-written story imaginable and still have it rejected by editors and readers if they say, "oh, not that old chestnut again." <S> Conversely, there is nothing wrong with building on the work of the greatest past authors in your chosen genre. <S> Obviously by "building on" I do not mean plagiarism; I mean letting the virtues of the fiction that you have most liked reading be filtered and transformed by your own imagination into the fiction that you write. <S> You say you are happy to reinvent the wheel - so why not invent a better wheel? <S> As an example, many, many authors have done "locked room" mysteries in detective fiction. <S> If you haven't read much detective fiction then your locked room mystery is likely to be rejected as just another one in the same old style. <S> But if you are familiar with the past of this sub-genre and manage to pull off a new twist on an old idea, then people will love it. <S> I, too, suffer from the style of what I have just read infecting what I write so that it can come across as a parody of the other author. <S> The solution is not to stop reading but to put the "infected" piece of writing away for a while, then come back to it later when the passage of time lets you view it more objectively and re-write it. <A> Now is the time to write. <S> Don't worry about forums full of virgins explaining sex to married men.
| Start cataloging your favorite authors' strong points then use their writing to inject those skills into your writing at the moment when you need that kind of help. You have already read a lot.
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Is it copyright infringement to have a character too similiar to an already existing character? I have an idea for a book where several characters acquire elemental powers after dying and being resurrected; their powers all reflect the manner in which they died. One of the characters acquires water-based powers, and eventually his younger brother acquires ice-based powers. Now, I know there have to be plenty of Caucasian, male fictional characters that possess iced-based powers (e.g. Iceman from the X-Men). If I do this, will that be considered copyright infringement? I'm just constantly trying to make my characters as original as possible, but I have no idea where these copyright boundaries lie. <Q> I recommend reading this blog post by Larry Correia: http://monsterhunternation.com/2013/04/29/ask-correia-13-ripping-off-ideas/ <S> You've come up with characters that may be superficially similar to copyrighted characters in some respects, but that is not plagiarism <S> and it's more or less inevitable in a world where millions of stories have been written and told. <S> This is another article, outlining what copyright law covers in the first half: http://www.marklitwak.com/protecting-your-stories.html <S> What it boils down to is <S> story concepts and ideas are not covered by copyright law. <S> Excerpt: <S> A copyright does not protect story ideas, concepts or themes. <S> Such elements are not protected whether they are in a writer’s head, written down on paper, or published. <S> Ideas are as free as the air. <S> Ten authors can write a story about a doomed romance between lovers from different backgrounds. <S> This could be Romeo and Juliet, or West Side Story, or another variation on the theme. <S> Likewise, multiple authors can write biographies about George Washington. <S> Each is free to tell the story of George Washington’s life in the writer’s own words. <S> Each can borrow facts and historical incidents mentioned by prior authors. <S> What copyright law protects is the “expression of the author.” <S> This is the particular manner in which the writer tells the story, his approach to the material, his voice. <S> In other words, what is protected is the embellishment on the idea, not the idea itself. <S> The idea of a character being able to control water is too generic to be copyright-able. <S> And, it's been used in probably thousands of stories. <S> So don't worry about it. <S> The story ideas you've mentioned so far sound pretty cool, by the way. <A> Just because your character has similar powers doesn't make him or her the same as another fictional character. <S> In fact, you should try to make your character unique. <S> If you do that you don't have to worry about copyright. <S> As far as I understand, and I am not a lawyer, if you use a different name and alter the powers, you should just get on with writing and not worry about copying someone else. <A> Maybe the problem is, that as soon as you need to seriously ask whether your character is too similar to another, then in your head it probably already is. <S> Other people can give reasons why it isn't similar, but if you are asking the question then you already believe it to be true, and as a result of that the other characters are going to unconsciously seep into yours. <S> Think of a way to make the character yours <S> , maybe think about if you had that power how would you wield it. <S> You don't need to change the character per se, you just need to adjust your understanding of who the character is <A> Basically, an idea can't be copyrighted, only the expression of an idea. <S> There are several "knockoffs" of the game Monopoly. <S> The basic idea is the same, except that they have different street names, rental amounts, color codes, and "rulebooks." <S> So you can have characters that are "similar" to others; just don't describe them in the same way as other people. <A> It's not. " <S> Caucasian male with ice powers" is a very loose description, and you can flesh out your character more to make him unique. <S> Just because he shares some similarities does not constitute copyright infringement. <S> Take Deadpool, who obviously shares some glaring similarities with the comic book character Deathstroke, but he has his own personality and to some extent abilities and thus is his own unique character. <S> In fact, your origin story sounds quite unique. <S> That's a step towards your character's uniqueness for sure.
| As to your copyright question, if you're not blatantly taking characters from copyrighted works and using them in your own (as in fan fiction, or by copying them exactly except changing their names) don't worry about it.
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Trying to make a gun making scene realistic So here is the situation. I got a character who is a trained modern gunsmith and he finds himself thrown into a setting where the most advance firearm is the flintlock. I know some of the most advance guns are going to be out of reach because of the lack of machine tools and such, but I assume he be able to make something like a revolver or pistol with a bit of hard work. I want the scene and steps to ring true, what do I need to keep it real? <Q> Let's ignore the details and and focus on the methods of research and proofreading. <S> You need three gun nuts, and two of them should be antique gun nuts. <S> In the general case you need experts, and you need at least two or better three or four, specifically during the research phase <S> you need someone who knows the subject well enough to answer all your questions, and even better if you have two experts with different backgrounds so you can get multiple views. <S> you may find such folk at worldbuilding.se, the 1632 forum at baen's bar (or reading the grantville gazette), or the local shooting ranges and gun shops (maybe a texas antique store). <S> Then for the second group you need some early readers (before you show it to your editor) who are knowledgeable enough in the field to be able to tell you when you put your foot in it. <A> I would use the natural evolution of the firearm as the starting point. <S> As a gunsmith he might be tempted to try to engineer a modern rifle. <S> But in an army of flintlocks a springfield rifle would be devastating. <S> So his first area might be to find some brass type material, that could be used to construct a percussion cap. <S> So that a modern esque breech loading system could be developed. <S> Each of the steps in developing that could be a part of the story The best way for the steps to ring true, is to use the steps that actually took place in bringing gun technology to where it is now. <S> Although it could be interesting to follow the path of him discovering that, so maybe initially he does attempt to construct something modern, but realises it is just impossible (after a few abortive attempts - that could result in a few dangerous explosions) <A> These have to be very precisely made for them to work effectively. <S> Also, I would imagine that making the primer would not be a trivial task. <S> If you have every tried reloading bullets, you would know that you have to be very precise and use accurate instruments, and that is when you are using already manufactured casings, projectiles, etc. <S> If I was in your gunsmith's position, I would first look at ways of speeding up loading by doing what was actually done -- pre-packaging the gunpowder <S> so it could be loaded more quickly and accurately.
| The biggest problem that I can see is making the bullets.
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Using Pronoun 'It' repetitvely for emphasis? I'd like to know if using "It" repetitively (for emphasis) in this context is okay grammatically. TV has become the modern day baby sitter. It is raising our children. It is dictating the cultural narrative and shaping future society. It is raising the bored inattentive child. It is raising the consumer child. It is raising the aggressive child. It is raising the obese child. It is raising the misinformed and complacent child. It is raising the disenchanted child. And what’s more, it is doing all this with our smiling acquiescence. <Q> Grammatically, this is correct. <S> Stylistically, I think it would have better effect if you replaced "it" with "TV". <S> TV has become the modern day babysitter. <S> TV is raising our children. <S> TV is dictating the cultural narrative and shaping future society. <S> That would make the "it" more clear and would hammer the point into your readers' heads: <S> What's the modern day babysitter? <S> TV! <S> What's raising our children? <S> TV! <S> That is what you want readers to remember, not "what is raising our children? <S> It! <S> But...what's 'it' again?" <A> The name of this construction is anaphora <S> There are many examples on this wiki page to give you an idea. <S> I agree with other answerers that the "It" can probably be replaced with something with a bit more punch. <S> Example: <S> We shall not flag or fail. <S> We shall go on to the end. <S> We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. <S> We shall never surrender. <S> — <S> Winston Churchill <S> You may also want to look into zeugma which may give the sentence a different effect. <S> Vicit pudorem libido timorem audacia rationem amentia. <S> (Cicero, Pro Cluentio, VI.15) <S> "Lust conquered shame; audacity, fear; madness, reason." <A> It is simply a collection of short sentences. <S> However (personally) I would try to shorten it, to make the a little more quick fire. <S> keep the syllable count similar for each sentence. <S> (though I'm not entirely sure the question falls under the Q&A style of stackexchange - but that's a different issue!)
| I don't see any problem with the grammar of this.
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What is the role of memorable lines in movies? I'm referring to quotes like, "Go ahead and make my day," or "You want the truth? You can't handle the truth." I've read that actors like them, because they are more likely to win prizes, and that they are good for box office sales. What is the conventional wisdom regarding the assertion in the last paragraph? And is there an "objective" (scientific) way to determine how memorable a line is likely to be, or is this determined "after the fact," somewhat at random? <Q> The motivation for a quotable line typically has a variety of origins, such as the following: A thoughtful line that the screenwriter created, or a line by the original author that carried over into the screenplay. <S> An improvised line that the director or actor used at the time of shooting, perhaps under a tight shooting schedule that precluded "fixing" the line. <S> A planted line, usually by the producers, where they were seeking to introduce a phrase into the popular culture (there's a Futurama episode where the producers openly admitted their attempt to do this). <S> An actor's catch phrase that is introduced into the screenplay by the actor's personal scriptwriter, as part of the actor's contract. <S> In this case, the catch phrase is part of the actor's personal marketing. <S> Considering the various ways in which a quote can originate, they can be said to vary from intentional attempts to introduce some manner of poignancy to a scene, to being utterly unintentional. <S> Of course, unless the actor is completely candid, they might not be willing to admit that their quote, having entered the popular mainstream, was completely unintentional. <S> However, as far as determining in advance the popularity of a quote, like anything in business, it is a crap shoot. <A> I can't imagine there being a 'scientific' method of determining a memorable line. <S> I would have thought it is much more of a marketing thing. <S> Equally it is about the writing, I'm sure a large percentage of quotable lines in films where thought to be good lines by the writers (and equally sure that a similar number of lines the writers thought were great were completely ignored by everyone else) <S> I'd say it is very much an after the fact situation, depending on a lot of things. <S> From the quality of the line, to who says it, how they deliver it, and how it is marketed <A> Back in the day, all the sitcoms had these: Sandford & Son : <S> When Fred got into trouble he would clutch his heart and say, "I'm coming Elizabeth. <S> This is the big one." <S> (indicating a heart attack) <S> Chico and the Man : Chico, any time a person looked good or the situation was right, "Loooooookinnggggg Gooooddd!!!" <S> Good Times : <S> Any time something would go his way, Jimmy JJ would slap his hands and say, "Kid dyn-oh-mite!" <S> Differ't <S> Strokes : <S> Little boy (Arnold) any time something would be going odd, would say, "Whatchoo talkin' 'bout Willis?" <S> Very few shows use these now. <S> Probably an indication of how effective they are now. <S> I think maybe these catch-phrases have burned out. <A> If there was an objective way to determine how memorable a line is going to be, presumably all writers would run every line in their books through this formula to be sure they had some memorable lines. <S> And writers would study the tinker with lines they are hoping to make memorable to optimize the formula. <S> If there was a computer program you could run that would tell you the quality of a piece of writing in some truly objective sense ... <S> I'm not sure if that would be good or bad, but if it existed presumably the general quality of writing would be much better.
| One can attempt to play to their audience, but one cannot be certain that what they say, and how they say it, will resonate.
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Is a novel with 50K words more likely to sell than one with 40K? I'm asking this because I wrote a novel with 40K words, but somehow I feel it would sell more, or at least be more like a "novel" if I add stuff until it's 50K (I checked on Amazon and most best-sellers are 60K+). Now, the stuff I'm adding isn't entirely unnecessary: they fix some plot holes and add some background to the characters. Still, the novel reads just fine with the 40K. Is my novel more likely to sell/become popular if it has 50K words? Or it won't make any difference? <Q> 40k is a good volume for a MG novel. <S> YA is more like 60k. <S> There are some questions here that give more detail. <S> If two books are equal in everything else, a publisher will buy the book with the "best length". <S> But, as is more likely, if two books are different in everything including length, a publisher will buy the better book. <S> So, if your book is good enough that a publisher will buy it, length won't decide them against it. <A> I can't see that padding it out will make it sell better. <S> It would put me off. <S> Look at 'Of Mice and Men', 'A Christmas Carol', 'Animal Farm', etc. <A> Since @what's answer and your comment clarified that it is neither MG nor YA, <S> A manuscript standard length is about 100k; the general range is 80k-120k. <S> Yes some best-sellers may be short, but the author name can help sell a thin book. <S> Now, it does depend on genre too, <S> in some genres 60K may be the norm, while in others 150k-200k may be more common. <S> Personally if I am hesitating to buy a few similar books, I’ll decide based on width to get the most “bangs for my bucks”. <S> So yes, size matters :) <S> NB: <S> Some great novels are created when 2 smilingly different ideas are merged. <S> So maybe you could develop another concept to novella length and intertwine it with this one.
| A novel doesn't have to be long to sell well. 40k is way closer to a novella than a novel.
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Is a fictional story set in another world harder to get into? I am writing a fictional story (could be considered science-fiction) about slightly primitive people. It is set in cold environment where a day cycle takes a whole year. Inspired by Antarctica, with the weather being more of Canada. The story also includes a cave network with groundwater heated by volcanic activity, and natural crystals that glow a soft blue light. Most of it (other than glowing crystal) could happen in a natural environment such as Earth. Although perhaps would be more understandable in an environment such as a make believe world. My only concern in setting the story in a make believe world is that it seems to me, unless done very well, the story would feel unrealistic and be harder to get absorbed in. Would this be more believable set on Earth or in another world? <Q> ultimately it depends how how good your writing is! <S> Some are able to very fluently create alternative worlds and places and have a natural ability to describe the nuances that matter. <S> But then why do you need to specifically state where it is? <S> Describe your world as a place that will have an earth feel to it, but with occasional details thrown in that will make the reader wonder... <S> I would say that the first task is understanding your own ability to create that world, so maybe write some short pieces and develop your skill in that area. <S> Get some feedback and go from there... <A> A story set in another world is harder to get into as the differences between what we (the readers) experience compared to what happens to people on the other world. <S> The other answers are incorrect that it has to do with how good of a writer you are. <S> What matters is how well the story you are writing connects to the reader. <S> Plenty of fiction (mostly sci-fi) occur off earth, and plenty of those don't talk about or even mention earth. <S> But the people, the emotions, the experiences are similar in fashion, though the environment is different. <S> Think of it like this <S> : if you're writing about the Amazon river but have never been to it (like most people), it'll be a foreign environment. <S> That doesn't mean that now it's harder to connect to...unless everything remains foreign. <S> Because we can't connect to what we don't understand, and we don't understand what we don't know or see. <S> So deliver something for the reader to experience, with familiarity in some fashion, and slowly expand from there. <A> Rather than write a bunch of stuff about suspension of disbelief, I'll just direct you to this question from a few years back: <S> What breaks suspension of disbelief? <S> My advice is explain what you need to about your setting <S> so readers understand what's going on, but leave your setting as the backdrop . <S> Don't spend too many words on it. <S> People who choose to read science fiction stories know what they're getting into; they just need to know the rules of the fictional world. <A> I'm no professional writer but it depends on your target group for a young adult audience I would think to set it on earth despite some of the unrealistic partsI <S> don't know much of other audiences <S> but I think the main thing is the target audience
| The short answer is no, having a slightly fantastic setting won't make your story harder to fall into, unless you do things that break your readers' willing suspension of disbelief. So really it comes down to your skill as a writer.
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How to handle characters being funny in a dire situation without ruining the mood There's one thing I always find impressive and moving when I see it in accounts of historical events or depicted well in fiction: gallows humour, when a person who is facing likely or certain death cracks a joke. I'd like to put a little of this in a story I'm writing, partly to give a (possibly last) glimpse of the more likeable side of a character who has not been acting admirably earlier in the story. But I don't want the reader to laugh. At least not for more than a moment. Sorry, this is not a happy scene. I don't want to lose either the tension or the sadness of the characters' situation. Do people have any tips on how to pull this off, and/or examples of stories where it is done well? <Q> Gallows humor, in my experience, can be greatly assisted by the word wry . <S> This can be used to indicate that the character is aware of the gravity of the situation but is still making a joke. <S> For example: The executioner asked, "Any last words?" <S> Alex smiled wryly and replied, [some joke] Something else you can do is just not make the joke too silly or off topic, keeping the reader immersed in the situation. <S> This can be accomplished by adding elements that show the suspense/gravity of the situation. <S> Billy held his friend's cold hand. <S> "You were a good buddy," he said sadly. <S> [more laments possibly]. <S> He patted his friend's head and stood up. <S> "You know, you still owe me those fifty dollars." <S> Billy walked away from the body with a last sorrowful glance over his shoulder. <A> When Socrates was about to drink hemlock, he asked, "May I pour out a libation to the gods?" <S> And they told him "no", which is dark on another level. <S> He had no respect for them or their pantheon, but they still took everything so seriously. <S> After all, Socrates was dying because of their faith and their unwillingness to tolerate skepticism. <S> You may be wrong for not wanting your joke to cause laughter. <S> That will differ, depending on the individual reader. <S> I laughed out loud when I first heard about Socrates' joke, but it didn't lessen the impact of his death. <S> In fact, it created a contrast, which made the impact greater. <S> His death was so tragic because he was the only one who realized how absurd it was. <S> There's no formula for a perfect dying joke, but I might suggest a few elements: Deadpan Defiance Darkness <A> Like anything else, it won't work if you try to graft it on at the last moment. <S> It has to be true to the character and situation to not break your reader's suspension of disbelief. <S> Making jokes in serious or tragic situations happens in real life all the time, so it can read as real if it's really something your character would do. <S> But if not, it's going to be jarring --it <S> will feel like the author making a joke of the situation, not the characters. <A> Same old worn joke. <S> The humorous character did keep some running gag. <S> A kind of jab at a younger partner, or some silly "ritual", or a funny one-liner reply. <S> The reader is used to this joke, it was done at least twice in the story before, probably to a good humorous effect too (first time, sheer surprising humor, the other - a contextual humor that adds a second layer, say, the thing suddenly being surprisingly adequate for the situation). <S> Then used in the context of despair, it's poignant, not cheerful. <A> Make the joke relevant to the situation — this will stop the reader from being distracted by the humour of the joke, and keep the serious atmosphere. <S> And now some examples: <S> In the Time Riders series by Alex Scarrow, when two pirates are about to hanged, one says to the other "why are pirates called pirates? <S> Because they aarrr!" <S> and from the Wikipedia article on Dienekes : <S> According to Plutarch, when one of the soldiers complained to Leonidas that "Because of the arrows of the barbarians it is impossible to see the sun," Leonidas replied, "Won't it be nice, then, if we shall have shade in which to fight them?" <A> Immediately after the humorous moment, do something that amplifies the emotion you want to emphasize. <A> I think Dexter(tv series) is a good example. <S> Like in season 1 when he is about to kill a couple he asks them questions about their married life, so that he can use their suggestions for his life also. <S> He is about to kill them but still is able to make the situation filled with some sense of dark humor without degrading the scene.
| Even bad or very funny jokes can be used if the character delivers them correctly.
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How to assemble recipes without plagiarism? How does one collect and compile recipes for publication in an ethical way? Some cohorts want me to help build a website of culinary recipes, and their plan for content is to rely entirely (initially at least) on data scraped from a competitor (whose web application is not particularly good). Putting SEO concerns completely aside, I can't go forward with such a plagiarist action. So what alternative can I suggest to them? How does anyone collect and claim the right to print/upload recipes, whether for a cookbook or web application? (Crowdsourcing is something to use, to be sure, but that suggestion was already shot down because it would mean a launch with no material, which presents no attraction for contributors in the first place.) <Q> I own quite a few cook books full of mouthwatering images that contain recipes that do not work. <S> So as a father who has to create tasty meals for a bunch of otherwise grumpy kids, I can only beg you to: Collect recipes from whereever you want. <S> Cook them yourself , and then publish the instructions as you have found them to work. <S> Because that is what I expect from the author of a cook book: <S> that they don't just copy/paste recipes that they have never tried themselves, but that they know how to cook and share their knowledge . <A> I am not a lawyer. <S> But it's my understanding that recipes, in their barest form, cannot be copyrighted , as they are a description of a method of accomplishing something. <S> What IS copyrightable is the specific text that expresses those instructions, as well as any accompanying images, etc. <S> There may be other aspects of the way the recipe is organized that is copyrightable. <S> Scraping a website, yielding identical text and images, will surely fall afoul of copyright law, if nothing else for the images alone. <S> The directions of the recipes may be purely descriptive of a process or may be more creatively expressed; the creative ones will also trigger copyright protection. <S> Thus, as I understand the laws, I can publish on my blog or in a cookbook any recipe I want, as long as I express it in my own words and use my own images. <S> You should consult with a lawyer regarding recent decisions on the copyright of data. <S> For example, the Yellow Pages company often tried to copyright the contents of phone books to prevent competitors from producing similar listings. <S> They've had mixed success. <S> See, for example, this blog post which addresses UK law and which suggests that databases, that is, collections of electronically-accessed data, are offered at least some copyright protections. <S> This means that scraping a competitor's site might be illegal even if none of their content is individually copyrightable. <S> I'm not up to date on the US laws or the laws in other jurisdictions on this matter. <S> You could be on shaky grounds. <S> The laws might be contradictory: it might be the case that simply making a database of public-domain works makes it difficult or impossible for others to do the same. <S> Such is copyright law in this age. <S> The best way to build a collection of recipes is to curate the initial collection manually. <S> No matter where you get the recipes, review each one, rewrite all the copy, test them to see that they work, adjust the language to account for regional differences (i.e. I hate it when a recipe calls for, eg, a stick of butter... <S> I have never seen butter sold in sticks.) <S> Once you have a collection of recipes you've actually worked on, I am pretty sure all legal and ethical concerns would be alleviated. <S> As usual, the easy path is not the best path. <A> Having a competitor with a poor web interface is not justification for plagiarism. <S> However, it's clear that you understand this. <S> Used book stores and thrift shops are a good source for this, as are online bidding sites like eBay. <S> The challenge with older recipes is that the cooking times and temperatures are not precise, having been written in mind of cooking atop a cast iron stovetop fueled with wood. <S> However, once you know the ingredients for a given recipe, then it's simply a matter of looking up the recommended cooking time and temperature. <A> I assume, because you have a direct competitor, that your recipes would be quite specialised, for example, focused on using peanuts or Indian. <S> Having bought a large number of cookbooks over time, I tend now to focus on particular series or 'brands'. <S> One series we have about ten of is the 'Australian Woman's Weekly' because the instructions are clear, the pictures are good, the food tastes great and, most importantly, the recipes work. <S> They have been tried out extensively. <S> Even a cook like me can produce delicious food. <S> Copying someone else's site just isn't going to work. <S> Following their recipes so that you can take appropriate photos and then re-writing the text might. <S> (Think about 'charity' recipe books where the people that contribute to them will buy multiple copies to give to others and spread the word.)
| Conducting a competition to get recipes can not only give you material for publication but can attract a committed audience. To build your own library of recipes, seek used cookbooks that are so old that copyright no longer applies.
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What are conventions of ghost stories? When I realised I needed a ghost story for a class I found out that I don't know what the conventions of this genre are. Conversation with a colleague led to agreement that there needs to be a ghost or a supernatural event, but we weren't sure about other common features. For example, although the ending is usually bad (for someone) does it always end in a death? Are they usually third person narratives? Are most ghost stories Gothic i.e. medieval setting, lots of blood, death, etc.? I am not asking for examples of ghost stories -- I have read a few, though they are not my favourite genre -- but instead for ideas about what you think makes a good ghost story. (Can we take it that suspense and an element of fear are givens?) <Q> Mystery. <S> Ghost stories saturate themselve in the unknown. <S> Your lead characters may believe in a factual world, but that belief will be challenged as the story progresses. <S> From the first unexplainable event, their beliefs will be attacked by ever increasing, ever more obvious and undeniable, events which serve to beat down their confidence in their own understanding of how the world works. <S> The lucky ones will leave your story shattered; still alive be struggling to recapture their faith in a harmless reality. <S> Nightmares and doubt will plague them for the rest of their days. <S> Ghost stories must involve the afterlife (or at least appear to involve the afterlife). <S> They usually have something unsettling to say about what is waiting for us on the other side of the grave. <S> Happy endings are very rare in ghost stories. <S> But they are fertile ground for character growth and transformation. <S> Seeing a person when they are scared is more revealing than almost any other emotion. <S> So as you write your characters through their terror, take liberties to illuminate every dark secret and anxiety out of their past. <S> Use their histories to justify who lives and who dies, and try to leave your reader with a shiver in their spine and no hope for restful slumber. <A> Henry is entirely correct, but I would add a couple of things that seem to be common in ghost stories. <S> First is that there is a sense of escalation, so that at first things just seem odd or mysterious but not supernaturally terrifying. <S> There may be some possible non-ghostly alternative, i.e. "My brother is trying to drive me insane!". <S> This refusal, coupled with some mystery about what's really going on, can lead the reader down the garden path so that the final revelation of the ghost is much more effective. <A> You should leave your reader hooked and longing for more leaving them on a dramatic cliffhanger at the end of each the chapter is essential in this type of genre. <S> Also, a sense of emotion and trust the reader feels towards the character gives them a bond once again hooking them to the story.you should include a sense of paranormal fear and a thirst for the unknown and unidentifiable thing that is happening to the character in your story. <S> The character should be oblivious at the start and then a sense of realization once they are face to face with the paranormal being.
| Many characters in ghost stories refuse to believe they're dealing with ghosts until they are confronted with iron-clad evidence.
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Can a character arc "overshoot" and then revert? Most stories have a protagonist that undergoes a change of at least one character trait from Type A to Type B. For instance, a character might go from being timid in the beginning to assertive or aggressive? But are there stories where a character goes from being timid in the beginning to overly aggressive in the middle, to "responsibly" (and less) aggressive in the end? (For instance, Thelma and Louise would have ended differently if the women had reined in their newly found aggressiveness.) What is an example of such a story? <Q> It is possible, as the other answerers have given examples. <S> However, it requires more care. <S> If you are exploring a balance between two character traits, the method the character uses to about their journey becomes more important than the journey itself. <S> Instead, if the character backs off from one extreme to settle in a balance between them, the message is "neither extreme is ideal." <S> The latter message is tricky. <S> It's trivial to argue that there is a balance to be struck between timidness and aggressiveness, but it is hard for such a story to resound with readers because the correct balance between the extremes for the reader is, by necessity, very different from that of the character. <S> It is not the balance of extremes that is important, but an exploration of how that balance is achieved. <S> The reader will need to be shown how the character perceives the world and how it perceives the balance that needs to be struck. <S> The reader will need to be shown how the character acts to reach that balance. <S> The story of two timid women turning lawless, before eventually blunting their sharp edges against the long arm of the law and returning to simplicity is a very different story than the story of two timid women turning lawless, before developing self awareness and questioning their actions. <S> Likewise, these are also very different stories from two timid women turning lawless before doing a statistical cost/benefit ratio and deciding that opening a bakery provided a better ROI. <S> In my opinion, essential to these books will be giving the reader a sense that the character will remain balanced long after the last page of the book. <S> That way the reader can continue learning from the character long after the dust cover is closed. <A> I assume you don't mean the character returns to their original timidity, rather to an "older and wiser" state. <S> As such the structure seems something like a Hegelian dialectic (thesis/antithesis/synthesis or abstract/negative/concrete) played out by a single character. <S> I haven't read Chuck Palahniuk's novel, but the film Fight Club runs along these general lines. <S> The extreme aggression, shall we say, outlives its productive usefulness and eventually is tamed by a kind of assimilation. <S> Hamlet is by nature passive. <S> He kills Polonius and drives Ophelia to suicide with his wild aggression, then reins it in a bit (albeit not a lot) in order to focus on his real target. <S> Of course he's not "responsibly" anything at the very end, he's dead. <S> Michael Moorcock's various "eternal champion" characters often follow a pattern of being spurred by events from passivity or naivety into an act of excessive aggression, leading to a lengthy period of regret. <S> Of these, both Elric of Melniboné and John Daker / Erekosë receive a classic external "push to action" early on, and destroy entire civilisations before reaching more serene states. <S> She's not quite timid initially, but she's less directly assertive until her circumstances change. <S> Then she does become more headstrong and rash until disasters result <S> and she finds a more even keel. <S> I suppose her final state isn't really a reversion, more of a transcendence of her previous progression. <S> For an example where the protagonist ends up more passive than they started, consider Nineteen <S> Eighty-Four by George Orwell. <S> Here there's no synthesis, Winston Smith's recently-found passion and activity are simply beaten out of him. <S> The various authors here haven't necessarily set out explicitly to write a character overshooting and then reverting, although where they learn lessons this is no accident. <S> The characters follow something like the pattern you're looking for, but the importance of this fact to the structures of the stories varies. <A> The classic Flowers For Algernon - amazon link by Daniel Keyes is a great example of this type of thing. <S> The main character is mentally challenged, becomes extremely smart and then reverts to his old self again. <S> Along the way there is a lot of learning. <S> In that book the transformation of the character draws a lot of questions out about how other people are affected by a person who becomes succesful and much more <A> This may not be quite what you're looking for but there is a Marvel comic book story similar to this. <S> In the comic, Spider-man and Storm meet Rogue, the girl who steals people's abilities by touching them. <S> At first, Rogue is scared of her powers, but she then steals Storm's powers and becomes extremely power-hungry and destructive, before finally realizing what she did and giving back the powers, presumable becoming more reserved in the process.
| If your character goes from one extreme archetype to another, the story is a clearcut one of "this archetype is better than the other, as found out by the character." You could perhaps say that Bathsheba Everdene follows a path of this sort in Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy.
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Copyright of a TV series when used as reference? Is it considered fair use to have screenshots, or character likenesses, in a book as a descriptor or reference? For example, when describing time-travelers, can I use a few screenshots from Doctor Who? Or, when describing a vampire, can I used Bela Lugosi or some other actor in character? I know that law varies from country to country (I'm in Brazil BTW), but I couldn't find anything regarding this for my country, so answers regarding US or UK law (since they are the copyright owner on those examples) would suffice. <Q> This answer is tangential because it is about U.S. law and not Brazilian law, but maybe it will be helpful. <S> You can get an exhaustive list of court cases on U.S. "fair use" law here: <S> http://copyright.gov/fair-use/fair-index.html <S> I browsed through them trying to find something directly relevant, but I was rather surprised to find that I couldn't find quite the case you're talking about. <S> Maybe this is considered so obviously settled law that it hasn't come to court. <S> In general, criteria for qualifying for "fair use" are: <S> Did your copying hurt the market for the original work? <S> That is, is your copying such that people are likely to buy your copy rather than the original? <S> (Remember, copyright is all about PROPERTY rights, your right to make money from your property. <S> People often have the mistaken idea that it is about protecting your reputation as the author of the work and that sort of thing. <S> No.) <S> How much of the work was copied? <S> If you copy one sentence from a 300-page novel, you're on much firmer footing than if you copy 299 pages. <S> Was the use "transformative"? <S> That is, did you just copy what somebody else did, or have you "transformed" it in some way, such as using it for a purpose different from the original purpose, modifying it, parodying it, criticizing it, etc? <S> Was the use for purpose of education, research, or criticism? <S> Quoting someone else as part of a literary review or a movie review is given wider latitude than simply incorporating someone else's work into your own. <S> I am not a lawyer, but I'd think that including a screen grab as part of a review would be about as safe as it gets on a fair use defense. <S> The cases I read through included several where someone made a documentary about the history of film and included scenes from movies that they wanted to comment on, and these were consistently ruled fair use. <S> Another was someone using footage of a boxing match in a biography about the boxer, again ruled fair use. <A> Fair Use and Fair Dealing do not apply everywhere, and if I remember correctly Brazil has no equivalent <S> (I could be wrong, I know for sure several South American countries were on the list, and I think Brazil was one, but I don't remember). <A> Is it considered fair use to have screenshots, or character likenesses, in a book as a descriptor or reference? <S> If you discuss time travel in popular media in the context of education or an essay , and use an image of Doctor Who as an example of a time travel TV character, that is fair use. <S> If you are writing something like a role playing manual , and you have a category of time travelers or vampires and want to use some famous media stars as illustrations, this is not fair use.
| If you have a fictional character who is a time traveler , and you would like your readers to get the idea that this character is a lot like Doctor Who, this is not fair use. There is a long history in international law that the copyright law of where you are not the copyright law that the original was produced under applies. In The US this would be obvious fair use (even for commercial use), but this does not matter as you are in Brazil.
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Non-human protagonist - Good, bad, or up to the writing? In a novel I plan on writing soon, the main protagonist (and indeed nearly everyone else in the story as well) is an elf. Humans are present, but they are far in the mountains, living in disorganized tribes, and barely ever mentioned. Will my reader have trouble identifying with an elf at first, as opposed to a human? It seems that in a lot of fantasy fiction containing humans and elves, the hero is always a human. As I see it, the reason is to help the reader identify with the hero. Even Frodo, who is technically a Hobbit, is not portrayed too differently from a human. He is short, but that is rarely mentioned as I recall. My elf, on the other hand, can wield magic, looks different than a human, is skilled with the sword and bow, and is a lot more agile than a normal human. Will having an elf-hero distance the reader? Or is how the reader sees my hero entirely up to my writing? Note: I believe who the hero is doesn't determine how the reader sees him. I believe the writing decides that. I want to be sure though. <Q> Elric of Melniboné by Michael Moorcock involved an elvish emperor who sacrificed his own people, and was frequently in conflict with human warriors. <S> Elric's motivations and observations were described well by the author, such that the reader could relate. <S> Heaven's Reach by David Brin involved two non-human protagonists, one being a chimpanzee, the other being a member of the Jophur species. <S> With both protagonists, the author used internal monologue to help the reader understand their unique impressions and motivations, and both were quite relatable. <A> Originally, in folk belief, elves where dangerous and mysterious beings, whose motifs where unfathomable to man and like forces of nature beyond the categories of good or evil: if you put your hand in the fire it will burn you, without any evil intent on the fire's part; if you dealt with elves they were just as likely to help as to hurt you as the wind or the rain, and equally free of morality. <S> In twentieth century fantasy fiction, the elves have been styled as a variant of Native Amerucans, as woodland rangers, as angels, the dead, or simply as a different "race" of quasi-humans. <S> In most fantasy fiction they are just lije humans except for their pointed ears. <S> This makes them both boring and interchangeable. <S> Consequently, in fantasy fiction based computer games, the player can choose to play a human, an elf, a dwarf, or any other "race", and beyond some specific abilities <S> it makes no difference at all . <S> This is illustrated in the mixed groups of heroes that normally go on quests much like groups of mixed ethnicities have to get along and work together in real life (without one ethnicity being evil and the other good, but all human and all capable of both good and evil behavior). <S> In fantasy fiction today, elves -- or unicorns or extraterrestrials -- are nothing more than weird looking foreigners. <S> An elf protagonist is much like a gay protagonist: a bit of an outsider, but a normal human being nonetheless. <S> Like LGBT protagonists elf protagonists are not as frequent as straight human protagonists, and they can be a turn off for straight human readers (because it destroys the last remnant of the romance of the folk tale alienness and makes the elves completely banal and unexciting), but they are by no means rare and a significant number of readers will have no trouble identifying with them. <S> Personally I dislike this portrayal of elves, but I don't think my qualms are very representative. <S> The "other" is maybe even one typical protagonist today, from superheroes to bad guys and teen wolf. <A> Up to the writing. <S> If you create characters with whom your audience can identify in some fashion, someone to root for, then their species doesn't matter. <S> Diane Duane has many non-human protagonists and hero characters in her various books: sentient fish and trees in her Young Wizards series, Romulans and Vulcans in her Star Trek books, a series about sentient magic-wielding cats — it's all possible.
| Elves, in folklore, are completely alien to humans, and therefore both frightening and fascinating.
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What to Research for Military Fiction? I'm beginning to write a novel on a person in the military, and this is set in the future so the technology would be different, but I want a basic overview of every branch of the military. This would include weapons, ranks, strategies, jobs, everything. Does anyone have any recommended books or movies or even google searches? Please and thank you for your help. <Q> I suggest you do not try to read too much because you may overwhelm yourself where you never begin to write. <S> Instead read a couple of the best. <S> One Book Will Help <S> (non-fiction) amazon link <S> Reading that book will allow you to simmer inside the military lingo and honestly you could probably get everything you need from that book alone if you read it extremely carefully. <S> Second Book For Fun <S> Then also read a rip-roaring military fiction piece like John Ringo's Live Free or Die After you read those two -- or maybe even before you complete them -- START WRITING . <S> A lot of your story won't be any different than any other story and won't require you to know every detail of military anyways. <S> Good luck. <A> I am a big fan of Sun Tzu. <S> His "Art of War" is still relevant, so I suppose it would remain relevant in the future as well. <S> He writes about general concepts like supply lines, instead of specifics like cavalry or drones. <S> The concepts do not change, I guess. <S> It's absurdity and horror give a very good show of how military service actually feels. <S> Two things separating the military from civilian life are the lingo and the discipline. <S> That's the two things I remember best from my bootcamp, anyway. <S> You can assume your average reader would be a civilian, so his introduction to the military environment would be similar to the introduction of a rookie to bootcamp. <S> The lingo you can make up, since you're in the future. <S> The discipline - it's up to you just how uptight your military is <S> (there's wide variety between modern armies, and different divisions in the same armed force), but there would be something . <S> You can look here for more discussion of military discipline in fiction. <A> There are downloadable bundles of books full of this type of information. <S> Many of them are public domain books. <S> Military type manuals are also sometimes bundled with self-survival, bush life type of bundles, all of that info makes great source materials. <S> Also, don’t forget to read from the masters of the genre like David Weber, John Ringo, or Jack Campbell. <A> A book I would recommend is I Am A SEAL Team <S> Six Warrior by Howard Wasdin ( Amazon link ). <S> Wasdin was, as the title states, a member of SEAL Team Six and served in the Middle East. <S> Assuming you are researching the modern military, this would be a good primary source. <S> It may not be the best if you are researching other aspects of the military such as command or medical fields, but from a special forces and combat perspective, this should help you out. <S> Also, the Call Of Duty games may be a source of some realism. <S> One of the studios (Treyarch I think) has an ex-military member who helped with realism in speech patterns, call signs, slang, etc. <S> Hope this helped. <A> A History of Warfare by John Keegan (1993) is a very good staring point. <S> Beginning with his book branch from there using the extensive bibliography. <S> Then track down autobiographies written by military personnel. <S> For an overview of military equipment visit http://www.janes.com/ . <S> Any of the earlier books by Tom Clancy are pure gold. <S> The Hunt for Red October gained notoriety for discerning (what were at the time) <S> military secrets <S> [NY Times article] . <S> I refer you to that as an example of how -- with sufficient research -- "military fiction" can push through into fact. <S> PS: A nice essay on the topic of the Future of War appeared recently on Quora [link] . <A> You ought really read everything Liddell Hart wrote. <S> They are no nonsense literature, which is also very well written and easy to read. <S> Because the technology will be different (seeing how you said your fictional story takes place in the future) <S> real strategy is what you'd be best off studying. <S> For the equipment, anyone can go and read the latest scientific american and guess what kind of gear shall be around. <S> (And most of it had been anticipated by Smith, Vogt, and Heinlein long ago ... ) <S> Whatever anyone can do doesn't really pay. <S> Creative use of strategy will allow you to build in great plot twists, which are understated and unexpected. <S> Yet they have large impact as the story develops. <A> Similar to SaberWriter, I warn you not to let research become a barrier to writing. <S> While a convincing military setting is necessary, it's the story events and the characters in that setting that ultimately make it worth reading. <S> If you make a great story, and get the audience to invest in the characters, adding more accurate details or jargon is work you can do later. <S> Consider Steven Pressfield's post on research .
| I suggest you read a great book like Tom Clancy's Every Man a Tiger Another book I would recommend is "Catch 22". For an overview of military structure visit http://www.defense.gov/ , and click on "Organization" under the "About DOD" menu.
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How to express myself in a sensible way I find really hard to express myself I mean it's pretty difficult write clearly what I mean. Any time I try to write something even for my job I am stuck, I look at the page and no words come to my mind and I feel lost I really don't know how to tell what I need to say. To be honest now this problem is becoming a real obstacle because I have to write email to customer of suppliers. My manager constantly corrects my email saying that they don't make sense and some times are too rude. <Q> Explain what you need to convey out loud to someone not in the know or even to a rubber ducky from the bathtub. <S> When still unsure, wait a day and read it back to see if the text still makes sense. <S> Keep at it, talk about it, it is a learn-able skill! <A> A lot of what makes any communication seem morepolite is just the inclusion of some standard niceties (please,thank you, etc) that can basically be cut and pasted from one emailto the next. <S> You should easily be able to find some books or onlinetutorials for business communication. <S> If you follow the pattern, all you need to do is adapt it to your situation --it <S> doesn't need to be creative or inspired. <S> Rewrite -- never send an email until you have read it through a couple of times. <S> It might also help you get started on your writing if you tell yourself that the first version doesn't need to be perfect, since you'll be rewriting later. <S> Practice -- no one is good at writing until they do a lot of it. <A> I feel a very good and simple way to start is a scratch pad. <S> Hard to express is generally associated with difficulty in forming sentences which convey the intended thought. <S> We always have the basic words ready, but the sentences is what the problem is. <S> Just write whatever comes in your mind. <S> Words or sentences or pictures whatever it may be. <S> First put all of it down somewhere. <S> Let these just be random dots for now. <S> The next task is to join the dots. <S> Just repeat this iteratively and form sentences. <S> Finally you will get the intended. <S> Initially you may have to do this if you are really having a hard time expressing <S> but once you get a hang of the procedure. <S> You will do away will at the putting down part.
| Then write it down. You can try to "rubber duck". There is a three part solution to your problem: Format -- there are some standard forms for businesscommunication. It may help to read it out loud.
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Should you publish or share poetry that was written simply in an angry or sad rant? I've written a poem exploring my conflicting emotions of anger and the joy that the anger keeps supressing. Is it appropriate to publish a literary work based on such intense negative emotions? <Q> I don't think it matters what your state of mind was when writing; if anger motivates you to write, then why not use that as a muse? <S> What matters is whether the finished work is any good or not. <S> I'd suggest rereading and possibly editing the work later on, when you have a clear head and can be objective about its quality. <S> If it's a good poem, then go ahead and submit it for publication. <A> There are two reasons to write: because your writing earns you money (or status or power or affection); or because you feel strongly about something. <S> Almost all literary writing is motivated by the latter, and especially poetry is composed to express emotions and read for the feelings it contains. <S> Sadness, loneliness, anger and other non-happy feelings feature prominently in literature. <S> If you search for "anger poetry" you will find a wealth of examples. <S> From the perspective of publication, there is no difference between a poem expressing anger and one expressing love or a third one on poverty in Angola. <A> I believe in your case writing was the medium to express those strong emotions. <S> In case the emotions felt were towards a known person in your life, its better to share it with a few or the intended one only. <S> Publishing such a literary work to the common is not advisable. <S> But in case the emotions are generic that is felt by many, I would really advise you to publish it. <S> This will add voice to many silences. <S> Also in this case the emotion does not matter to that extent as all emotions express something. <A> In general it is good to write when ranting. <S> You get to capture your thoughts and ideas. <S> This makes for a great way to get them out of yourself and into a form that allows you to process them better. <S> Generally it is not good to share or publish these directly. <S> They should be contemplated, refined, and finally delivered from a place that is not one of anger or malice. <S> Especially when sharing them with the person who caused the anger in the first place. <S> The words should be able to convey the meaning and purpose behind the anger, not just the blind fury. <A> It could be happen, that what you wrote in anger is not in a condition that you like to publish it, but if you think it work that way, then you shouldn't be stopped by the emotional state <S> you were in writing this. <S> If you're unsure, give it someone else who you trust to read, if she/he says it is OK then publish. <S> And remember, many negative emotions like depression, sadness, anger or the like have influenced writers over the centuries, and sometimes their work is even better then written in such emotional states.
| Generally poetry in most cases transport emotions, that doesn't mean necessarily positive emotions.
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How to write when thinking in multiple languages? When writing, scenes come to my mind in different languages mixed together.For example in a single scene a description will be in French, some dialogues in English, with a few words of Spanish and Occitan appearing here and there. Sometimes a single sentence contains three different languages.The result can be an incomprehensible mess. How should I proceed? Should I write everything as it comes and have an editing phase later? Or should I try to translate my thought during the writing process? Are there exercises or rules I could follow to help me control/focus my thoughts? <Q> If it's your first draft, just write it as it comes. <S> You can't edit a blank page. <S> After your first draft, go back through and clean up the polyglossolalia. <S> If you're writing in third person, pick one language and make it all that. <S> (Obviously if your characters speak multiple languages, you can decide what to keep and what to translate.) <S> If you're writing in the first person, you may choose to have a multilingual narrator. <S> You then have to pick one "main" language (the language of whatever you think your audience will be) and figure out from there <S> how much of the other language(s) you want to translate for them. <S> For example, if the first-person narrator's main language is French, you can leave in a few swear words in Spanish, but if she's going to have a lengthy conversation in English, you need to translate that for your French readers. <S> There's a certain charm in code-switching (when a character changes languages for a few key words because the main language just doesn't have the term or phrase), so I wouldn't edit out your other languages entirely. <A> Exact, literal translation is not as important as conveying meaning. <S> Consider providing frequent, explicit crutches early in the text before settling on a minimal, but constant, scaffolding through to the end. <S> The reader will not need to know what "merde" is, as a material, if they understand that characters only utter when really angry. <S> Given the common roots of French and Spanish, and the number of borrowed words that appear in English, the gap between where you are writing and where your audience may be reading might be smaller than you fear. <A> I doubt that there's a definitive answer to this. <S> Different writers have different styles and different things that work for them. <S> Whatever comes to my mind <S> I type into the computer. <S> Once I have a whole bunch of words down, then I go back and clean it up. <S> I rewrite sentences that are poorly worded, re-arrange sentences or paragraphs so that the flow of the thought makes sense, drop text that doesn't really advance the thought, and add text when there are gaps. <S> When I was young and the idea of owning your own computer was in the same league as owning your own jet airplane, I wrote with a typewriter. <S> Then, once you typed a word, if you changed your mind you had to throw away the whole page and retype it. <S> If on page 10 you decided that you needed to add a paragraph to page 4, you would have to retype page 4, which would push some text from that page onto page 5, so you had to retype page 5, etc. <S> So back then I would type a first draft, make notes on it and scribble all over it, and then type a second draft, and declare myself done. <S> Today, with word processing software, I go back and forth through my work constantly. <S> It's easy to add or subtract a word or a sentence and let the computer adjust all the following pages. <S> Do it. <S> Hack and chop and go forward and backward and move things around. <S> It's easy today. <S> I don't really make "drafts" anymore, like first draft, second draft, third draft. <S> Rather, it's an ongoing process, change a little here, change a little there, until I'm satisfied that it's the best that I can produce. <S> (Or until I'm sick of reading and re-reading my own work.)
| One way of approaching this may be to commit to the linguistic styles of your characters and let the story develop a "slang" that you introduce to your readers through annotation provided by the narrator. Personally, my approach is that for the first draft, I just throw words on paper.
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Can I change my work and seel it if I am published with no contract? I have had a falling out with my publisher. She has published many of my works and is telling me I am not legally able to resell my work anywhere. I have no contract to refer to. There is no verbal agreement other than she would publish and I would get royalties. Since we had a falling out I would like to take my work and sell it elsewhere. I would be revamping my work with my own things. Title, clipart, adding and subtracting from the work itself. My question is why, when we have no legal agreement (and there is nothing implied anywhere), could I not take my work, change it, and sell it? Am I missing something? The issue I am now running into after reading, talking and reading some more is that I would like to do my own publishing. The items in questions are a preschool line, the whole alphabet. If I relinquish my rights and sign those over to her and she removes my name from them, would I then be free to create my own, ORIGINAL and completely different from what she has alphabet line. Yes, originally I was going to revamp what was there. I am no longer looking for that, it is to complicated. I am now looking just to do something original... from scratch. I don't see how I can be in any violation of any agreement or copyright whether verbal or otherwise, but after all the reading I have done nothing would surprise me. <Q> You do have a verbal contract. <S> You have an agreement that your publisher would publish your work and that you would get royalties. <S> That is a contract. <S> The fact that there are no further details is irrelevant to the question wether or not you have a contract. <S> In many jurisdictions, a verbal contract is as good as a written one. <S> In fact, historically the verbal contract precedes the written one, and (verbal agreements) were only fixed in writing to preserve them beyond the life and memory of the original contractual partners and witnesses. <S> Written contracts also replace witnesses if a dispute goes to court. <S> So if you have a verbal agreement (and witnesses) or any kind of communication (email, SMS) relating to your cooperation, that is (in many jurisdictions) as good as a written contract. <S> For example, if you buy a car and in your country such a car usually comes with a warranty, but it is legally possible to sign a contract that sells the car without warranty, in the absence of a contract (or in the absence of any mention of a warranty in your contract) <S> a warranty is assumed because it is the common and expected case. <S> This is so because basically the written law is only the written down version of social conventions and common morality and, mostly, cannot run counter to it. <S> So, in most jurisdictions, even if you don't have a contract, you in fact have one and are bound by what your contractual partner can reasonably expect. <S> In your case, the publisher can reasonably expect by convention that your cooperation does not simply end because you have been insulting each other and are no longer friends. <S> Business contracts are not touched by how friendly or unfriendly the parties deal with and how they feel about each other. <S> As you describe your case, I would assume that you are still bound to this publisher by convention, and that you have the usual options to cancel that cooperation but no right to cancel it one-sided or prematurely, if the publisher still does his part of the job of publishing your work correctly and appropriately. <S> But talk to a lawyer. <S> I ain't one. <A> There are two issues, the copyright registration, and the contract. <S> First Make sure the copyright is registered to you. <S> Right away, before you finish reading the answer. <S> Now! <S> The second is the contract, if verbal is still there. <S> In writing notify your publisher that you are terminating all rights to future publication of your works and that you are requiring a final accounting. <S> A lawyer can help you write it. <S> A good copyright attorney should be able to do this in less than fifteen minutes (templates are wonderful) and any lawyer should be able to do it in a couple hours. <S> at this point you should (as long as you have not signed any licencing agreements or copyright assignments) be able to do what you wish with your work. <A> I am writing as a published author. <S> The "standard" contract term is the so-called "next work <S> " right. <S> That is, the author needs to offer the publisher the rights to the "next work" s/he produces. <S> If the two parties, bargaining under good faith, can come to an accord on the work, the "next work" clause applies to the following product. <S> If there is no agreement on the "current" work, the relationship is broken. <S> Absent written evidence to the contrary, this is the interpretation that the courts may take based on the industry practice. <S> This practice would protect both parties' rights. <S> The publisher gets the "right of first refusal" on the first subsequent work. <S> The author would have the right to leave after one failed deal. <A> IANAL, but ... <S> You say you have no written contract. <S> Do you have any correspondence? <S> Letters, emails, etc? <S> Anything in writing to say who agreed to what? <S> If not, if all you have is a verbal agreement, then legally that is still a binding contract. <S> But the problem with verbal contracts is that there's no way to prove what was agreed to, and the parties may well not remember exactly what was said. <S> If there are no witnesses, I'd guess a court is just going to make assumptions based on what people typically do in such an agreement. <S> I'm frankly not sure exactly what the "typical" publishing contract says. <S> Most writers do not sign away all rights to their work. <S> Did anyone involved register the copyright? <S> If so, is it registered under your name, or as a "work done for hire" for the publisher? <S> If the copyright was never registered and never sold, than by default the author owns it. <S> You would have to have a VERY restrictive agreement to say that you cannot write a totally new book and publish it elsewhere. <S> The law does not generally assume that because you sold something to person X <S> that this means that you have given up all right for the rest of your life to ever sell something to anyone other than X. Like <S> if my boss fired me from my current job, I can't imagine that any court in the world would say that I'm not allowed to ever work for any other company ever. <S> Unless you have a contract saying that you give this publisher exclusive rights to anything you write for some period of time, I'd think you could take new material anywhere. <S> As always on legal questions, it would be smart to check with a lawyer. <S> I don't know how lawyers work wherever you live, but lawyers I've worked with will generally give you an "initial consultation" for somewhere between free and $100.
| If it's registered under your name, and there is no contract saying you sold the writes to the publisher, than you still own the copyright. If there is no contract, or if your (verbal or written) contract lacks details, in many jurisdictions the most common form of contract is thought to exist.
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Prologue and Epilogue in third person and chapters in first person doable? My current work is in first person. Well, it's a début so I didn't compare the benefits of first vs. third when I started writing it. I just picked the first because it was easy. Now the plot line has become layered, and there's multiple storylines running along and there were a lot of scenes which absolutely demanded a switch in pov. That's when I started cussing. I couldn't switch the pov so I hacked my way around those. I think the tweaks came along just fine. And now I'm working on the climax and I don't want to go back and change everything from first to third. But there's just this one scene which cannot be shown from the protagonist's pov. Just stretching a limb out. I'm planning to put it in the epilogue. It has to be in third person. can I do that? Can I write just that in third person while the rest of the script remains in first person? How about I keep the prologue and epilogue both in third person (just to even out things) and the rest remains in first person? Doable? <Q> Sounds fine to me. <A> In a sense, this is the whole point to an epilogue --if <S> it had the same feel as the main narrative, it would just be the last chapter. <S> Epilogues exist solely to solve the problem of authors wanting to tell the readers things that don't --for whatever reason --fit into the main framework of the novel (and the same is true for prologues). <S> That doesn't necessarily mean it's always a good idea. <S> The beloved classic <S> The Secret Garden has an epilogue so universally hated that it's actually omitted in most modern editions of the book. <S> NOTE: <S> According to the comments below, it's possible that the "epilogue" I remember might actually have been a late addition by another author. <A> I think everything is doable, if the reader gets the feeling it is fitting. <S> I see no problem in the approach to have the book in first person and switch to third for the finale.
| The prologue and epilogue are literally before and after the story, so it's fine for them to be formatted differently or have a different POV.
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Subtle writing and speed readers I want to write a dystopia and find it hard to convey that things aren't at all right. I had planned to convey this in subtle reading clues, but I am worried that certain types of readers - or perhaps most readers - won't get it. In my writing circles there are readers who admit they are completely oblivious to body language, social cues, and other subtle things in real life as well as reading on paper. When I speed-read, I am also equally oblivious, so I imagine the circle of people who are oblivious to subtle writing clues is quite large. In other words, I would want to write something like "John Smith stuck his credit card into the machine, waited, and walked away." But I fear that my readers won't get it. (This is a strange thing to do - John didn't get his card or anything else back, seemed to serve no purpose but to waste time.) I realize that this is a poor example, but I'm trying to have my example convey that something here is not at all right. The crux of my question is that I am worried people will miss subtle clues that explains what is going on. As an author, should I be giving the clues and then expound so the reader gets it? If I decide not to, am I a terrible person for disregarding readers who may have a disability/disadvantage/clinical issue - or should I write differently to make my work accessible to them? I also wonder if I should be catering to as many "reader types" as possible so my work will be read and enjoyed as much as possible? (Bonus: and did you notice what is wrong in the picture? I put it there to try to demonstrate subtleness and how we sometimes don't notice). <Q> In that example there aren't any clues to anything. <S> It is uncommon for someone to walk away without retrieving his credit card, but there are no clues as to what this might mean. <S> It is very likely that you make a mistake common to beginning writers: <S> you know what you want to say, and therefore you know what your text is supposed to say, and you mistakenly assume that this information is in the text, while in reality it is not there at all and you are in fact supplementing it from your mind. <S> When it comes to writing, the reader is always right. <S> This is not an intelligence test, but a product you are trying to sell. <S> If your customers don't "get it" -- that is, if they don't understand your meaning -- then they did not get what they paid for and they'll never buy a book of yours again. <S> And that is the end of your career as a writer. <S> So have your text read by test readers and believe every word they say . <S> Listen graciously and do not argue. <S> You are the one who must understand what is wrong with his text and correct that. <S> I don't want to go farther beyond the scope of the current question. <S> There is another recent question about how to deal with feedback where I and others wrote more on that: Feedback: <S> What to use and what to ignore? <S> As for this question, I didn't get your example. <S> I'm an unattentive reader and you will lose me with such subleties. <S> If John leaves the card on purpose, say so. <S> If John forgets it, say so. <S> If there is no explanation at all, I will interpret it as either random and meaningless (e.g. he's turned into a zombie and does random stuff) or as bad writing. <S> I'll repeat myself: genre writing is not a test of the reader's attentiveness, perceptiveness or ability to solve riddles. <S> Not disclosing information to the reader that the protagonist has is a cheap device. <S> It annoys the hell out of me. <A> Do you want to be such a writer that spells out everything? <S> Or do you want to write stories that make people think? <S> I think you know the answer already. <S> Please do not dumb down but write to the best of your ability! <S> It is a difficult balance to find, and proof-readers will help you get there. <S> Bear in mind that never ever you can serve everyone at once. <S> BTW Thanks for the nice cat picture. <S> Just a little out of place among the meerkat. <A> I think it very largely depends on what it is you are trying to convey. <S> If John Smith not retrieving his card is a point that is an essential plot point, then you probably need to amplify it somewhere. <S> If missing that fact alters the general flow of your story then it needs to be explained less subtly. <S> "John Smith stuck his credit card into the machine, waits, thinks, and walks away." <S> (slightly modified!) <S> If later you have a shop scene, where he realises he hasn't got his card, so abandon's his purchases, and goes home. <S> He explains to his wife that he didn't get courgettes because he seems to have lost his card. <S> So they can't have ratatouille, so they go out and eat instead, at the restaurant something happens and everyone dies! <S> For the reader who picked up on the fact that John didn't retrieve his card, they will pick up on the potential malevolence of him intentionally leaving his card behind. <S> For those who didn't pick up on it, The story hasn't significantly altered by that subtlety. <S> Such things can be used as a hint towards character traits or to provide early warnings for those who are paying attention, but safely ignored by those who don't. <S> (edited to make example vaguely more understandable) <A> It is alright to confuse your readers as long as they do not feel the story was confusing. <S> If they think they know what is going on, but don't agree with each other, you may have written a masterpiece. <S> For a good example let's look at Toy Story (Pixar does this alot). <S> My nieces and nephews loved it as did my aunts. <S> My uncles never did say if they liked it because they were not enjoying the flak they got for modifying toys as kids. <S> The kids never picked up on the subtleties and the things they enjoyed weren't significant to the adults. <S> If your readers are missing details related to subtexts <S> this is fine. <S> If your readers are missing plot related details, you may have a problem. <S> Redundant hints can help mitigate it. <A> Any time you drop a subtle hint, most readers will initially miss it. <S> That's not necessarily a bad thing. <S> It can be fun/gratifying for a reader to initially be blindsided by a development, only to realize that the clues were all there all along. <S> Also, just as in life, we process a lot of information subconsciously. <S> If you want a general sense of "something wrong," you don't want to beat people over the head with it. <S> However, at some point the pieces have to fall into place. <S> You can't go on being subtle for the whole book.
| Your readers don't have to understand everything, They just have to understand enough that they are not unduly confused.
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Can Bridging Conflict Work When the Answer is Known? The title is a little vague, so allow me to explain my question in depth here. If someone can think of a better way to phrase the title, feel free to edit it. First off, my definition of Bridging Conflict: Bridging Conflict is a minor conflict - usually a question the reader asks himself - that tides the reader over until the novel has introduced what is necessary for the main conflict to arrive (be that setting, characters, stakes, etc.). This is how I understand Bridging Conflict. My question is: can it still serve its purpose (to act as a substitute main conflict) if the answer to the question it asks is already known? For example, suppose I'm writing a novel about a zombie apocalypse (don't worry, this just an example). The Bridging Conflict could easily be why everyone is frightened, why there are extra security measures, why all the cities are surrounded by gates, so on and so forth. So far so good. The Bridging Conflict is the question the reader is asking himself: why are these things happening? What happens if the title of the book makes it plain that it is about zombies? Then the reader can easily answer the question of the Bridging Conflict. "Why are these things happening? Zombies." Nonetheless, if you do not actually mention zombies within the book itself, at least until the main conflict arrives, there is still an element of suspense and fear of the unknown, because the characters within the novel don't know the answer. Are these elements enough to override what the reader can infer from the title? Will the Bridging Conflict still work, or will the reader ultimately become frustrated that the characters don't know what's going on, while he does (assuming the Bridging Conflict lasted that long)? <Q> Just because the reader knows the reason for the Bridging Conflict doesn't mean the characters will be able to overcome it. <S> In your example, even if the reader knows all the extra security measures are because of the Zombie Apocalypse, that doesn't mean that the zombies won't break through the security measures. <S> In fact, it lends some extra tension. <S> The reader may not wonder why the city is gated, but may now wonder if the zombies will break through the gate before the heroine has a chance to create the cure. <A> "Bridging conflict" is nonsense. <S> You only need it if your characters are uninteresting. <S> A good book has a protagonist with a problem. <S> Apparently, on the surface, the book is about this person saving the world, but the real story is how he or she grows up and solves their personal problem. <S> The adventure (or whatever you want to call it) that begins with the inciting incident is nothing more than what forces and facilitates this maturing. <S> Therefore, what must come before the inciting incident is not some fake secondary conflict that you drop as soon as the real conflict arrives -- sort of like withdrawing your attention from your ugly boring geek coworker as soon as the hot stud junior boss walks in -- but the personal problem of your protagonist. <S> A book about beating back an alien invasion starts with a drunkard losing custody of his child. <S> The aliens force him to get his shit together or see his child die. <S> It ends with the ex wife giving him another chance. <S> The story you tell is the story of your protagonist and <S> the book starts with it right on the first page. <S> The big adventure is just a tool to get your character to change (or show how and why he fails). <A> I think there's a danger in writing anything to tide the reader over. <S> Especially in the opening, where readers don't yet know whether the story is worth their time. <S> That doesn't mean you have to start the story with the main conflict. <S> But you have to get us caring about the characters, <S> and you have to do that right away. <S> A great way to do that is to give the character a problem, and let us see the character dealing with it. <S> It has to be a character we care about. <S> And it has to be a problem that makes us care about the character. <S> So if you meant 'tides the reader over' the way I interpreted it, I think you're creating a problem for yourself. <S> Instead, figure out a problem or conflict that will compel us to care about the character (or at least invite us to). <S> As for this particular bridge: If you put zombies in the title, or on the cover art, or in the back cover copy, you have to assume that readers know there are zombies. <S> You told them that your book is a zombie thrill ride. <S> Readers got on your zombie thrill ride because that's the kind of thrill they want right now. <S> Instead of trying to build a bridge to the zombie thing, consider featuring the zombies right from the start. <S> Feature the thing that readers already know even before they open the book. <S> Tell the readers about the zombies, but don't tell the characters. <S> There's a term for when readers know things that the characters don't: Dramatic irony. <S> (I wouldn't have called it that, but nobody asked me.) <S> One of the awesome things about dramatic irony is that can create suspense. <S> You tell the readers about some nasty thing that the characters are walking into, and you don't tell the characters. <S> Readers fear for the characters, who have no idea what they're walking into.
| If the reader already knows things, whether from the title or the back cover copy or a friend's raving about how awesome your zombie book is, you won't be able to distract readers from that in your opening.
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How to make a character that doesn't speak about himself relatable? I have a character in my novel, De-Shi, who's the mentor and love interest of the protagonist, Li-Mei (nicknamed Hanging Pup). He listens to her feelings, gives her advice, jokes with her, shares philosophical thoughts with her. Anyway, here's a taste of their dialogue: Chapter 8 De-Shi sighed. "How does your boyfriend stand going on vacation with you?" "I don't have a boyfriend," I said. "And I don't go on vacations." "That explains your good temper ..." "No one forced you to bring me along." "Did you know that anger is the direct product of fear?" De-Shi said. "Animals developed this response to get rid or stay away from possible treats. Same for humans. Imagine what'd happen if we didn't feel rage toward a killer." Chapter 10 “You okay, Hanging Pup?” De-Shi’s voice came muffled from behind the sheet. “Yeah, I ... think so,” I answered. “I know how you feel. It was the same for me the first time.” I sat up and turned towards him. “Really?” A short silence. I imagined De-Shi nodding his head in the dark. “You feel as if something has crept inside you. Something dark and murky, like crude oil. It travels gradually, silently, polluting every cell, every nerve, every organ in your body. You can feel it. You can feel it eating you inside. And the worst part is, you’re the only one who’s aware of this. Yes, you can explain it to people, but just skin-deep. They can’t help you. So you have no choice but to fight alone. Fight this darkness alone.” But some readers say that they felt a "lack of connection" with De-Shi (which also affected their interest between Li-Mei's and De-Shi's romance). Here I quote one of the readers (he just read Chapter 10): I don't know anything about him other than he started this club. I assume since he was in that class where Li-Mei asked her question he is a veterinarian science major or something like that. But regardless, I never felt the chemistry between them. They have a similar interest, but it seems when De-Shi is talking, it's more like reading from an encyclopedia then a person sharing something. We need to flush out his personality. Why does he know what he knows? What is his major?... Have him tell a story that will endear him to the reader... This is something that I did intentionally. I wanted De-Shi to be funny, scientific, philosophical. And make him talk about his past only in the last chapters. (Guess I wanted to do that to make him a bit mysterious.) So my question is, how can I make this character who doesn't speak about himself relatable? EDIT (based on ShastriH's answer): The other characters do talk about De-Shi: "Don't worry, kiddo. I'm a tomb." She patted my arm. "I suggest you take the initiative, though. The guy might be an animal expert, but when it comes to human courtship, he's totally clueless." This doesn't happen too much, though. <Q> If you're insistent upon keeping his past and emotions a secret early on, one option might be to have the environment around <S> De-Shi fill that void. <S> Let the people around him give the reader clues as to his other side or true nature (depending on whether De-Shi always was like he is). <S> This is of course assuming either exists, and if not there is little that can be done to relate a robot to anyone. <S> As the reader you quoted said, De-Shi comes off a little too stiff, even from just those two passages you provided. <S> More details, maybe not even personal, might help. <S> Sure, there are some people out there who really are as limited emotionally and fixated upon facts, but they tend to not have romantic relationships, at least not one solid enough for a book. <S> Therefore, I'm going to assume there's much more to this character, and this side is what you have to hint at in the way his friends/family/acquaintances behave around him <S> , what they say about him, what he does when no one is looking, the little things Li-Mei notices when he lets his guard down etc. <S> You might be able to take advantage of facial expressions, various cues or just a break every now and then from the thesis quoting. <S> Of course, I don't think I know enough to say whether any of that is appropriate, so just take the suggestions under consideration. <A> I agree with what some of the others are saying. <S> The hardest part of writing (for many people) is making side characters who are just as interesting, round, and believable as the main character. <S> Readers aren't as likely to be in the side character's head, so they aren't privy to the constant inner monologue that must be happening there as much as in anyone else's. <S> In this case, I think the best way to remedy the situation is through the age old adage "Show, don't tell." <S> De-Shi's actions should speak for him, as well as the things other characters say about him, the way they react to him/his presence/mentions of him, and the things <S> Li-Mei thinks and feels. <S> As Chris said above, you might want to write something from De-Shi's perspective to get a feel for what's going on in his head. <S> It can be really eye opening. <S> Does he have any habits -- smoking, nervous ticks like hand gestures <S> , does he wear something specific that might seem odd to others (even something small and hidden, like a necklace or a pin). <S> What does he do for fun/to relax and unwind? <S> Where does he like to go? <S> These are things you may already know. <S> If so, find other things you don't already know about him and write about those. <S> Or anything else that will help you understand your character better. <S> And of course, this is just for you, so don't worry about including it in your main story. <S> No one will judge what you've written, and you can rewrite and explore to your heart's desire. <S> You may even discover new facets to his personality that you never noticed before (this happens to me all the time!). <S> Once you understand De-Shi better, it will start to bleed over into your writing and the readers will also start to understand him better. <S> He'll feel like a real person to them and to you. <S> Flat characters tend to trigger unease in readers because they subconsciously know something isn't quite right, but not being able to put their fingers on it puts them off. <S> Filling in his character for you and the readers should remedy this a bit. <S> Your readers obviously want to know more about him or they wouldn't have brought it up. <S> :) <S> As a side note, your writing overall flows really well! <S> Good luck on your novel! <A> I think you're misreading your feedback. <S> He's just there to serve a function in Li-Mei's story. <S> You might try spending some time writing De-Shi's own story from his perspective --not to go in the finished book, but just for your own purposes. <S> Once you know more about him and his motivations, you may be able to write him more believably, even if he's still mysterious and not inclined to talk about himself. <A> The problem I see with De Shi is that he doesn't have a "background" in the story on which to base his responses. <S> Or for others to base their reactions toward him. <S> You don't need a lot of background for him, but it has to be more than zero. <S> The best idea would be to have him disclose a small window into his past. <S> The second best would be to have another character "narrate his past.
| The problem isn't De-Shi not talking about himself, it's that he doesn't come off as a fully realized character, but rather as a plot device.
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How to suddenly introduce a scary character, but include description? I have a scene in my story where the main character (the story is told from his POV) opens a door and there is a monster in the room. I want a sudden introduction, to show how shocked the character is, but I also want to give a description of the monster, or at least give an idea of what it looks like. How can I achieve both in the same paragraph? The character was not expecting the monster, because monsters should not exist in his world. <Q> Imagine your reaction to entering that room, you're not going to pause your terror while you make a complete mental note of what it is and what it looks like. <S> You're going to be terrified at this thing coming at you (or whatever its doing) once that terror has subsided you would then start paying attention to what it is <S> So tell the reader that something scary happened, explain how he reacted to that, then explain a little more of what he is seeing, and explain his reaction to that... <S> Make them wonder for a while... <A> The first time the character sees the monster, he's only going to get a few basic details. <S> Christ, that thing is huge! <S> It's green! <S> and the teeth! <S> After he's ducked out of the way and looked back over his shoulder, then he's going to notice the matted fur, the slitted yellow eyes, the cracked horns, the sulphurous breath, et cetera. <S> So you describe it through the POV of the character and his terror. <A> Ditto MichaelB and LaurenIpsum. <S> Other alternative: <S> Find a way to introduce the monster first in a bland context. <S> Like have the characters discuss the legends about this monster, describe it, etc. <S> Then when the characters sees it, you just have to say "There was a frambar in the room!" <S> Depending on how it's done, this may telegraph to the reader that the characters will meet one of these later. <S> That may be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on what you're trying to achieve. <S> If you don't want to foreshadow it, you can give the description in a way that gives the impression that something ELSE about this scene is what's important and the mention of the monster is just a side note.
| Considering that a paragraph is intended to convey a single self contained concept, trying to convey a description of the monster and his reaction is going to make it unwieldy. Don't be too eager to spoil the suspense for the reader, let them wait to find out what's going on!
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Should I completely eliminate passive voice I have read that a lot of passive voice deadens the story to 2 dimensional even if you are just trying to show something that takes time when you use the passive voice. I quite often use passive voice. A few examples from the Rubiks World novel I am working on are: The 17x17 was most likely to be electrocuted. Unfortunately, the 17x17 was electrocuted.(This and the sentence above both refer to the thunderstorm that happened on the very first day before they even built shelter) While the 15x15 was pregnant, many new things were done. Now most of my passive voice sentences have "was" in them. An example though of one without was is: He could be attacked without dying.(this is referring to the collection of big cats for meat, bone, and domestication(mainly cheetahs for domestication and bigger cats for meat and bone)). In case you are wondering why I have numbers as characters, these numbers are representing the rubiks cubes and the rubiks cubes are the characters. So should I completely eliminate passive voice from this novel I am working on or do some sentences need to be in passive voice(like the ones referring to the thunderstorm)? <Q> Completely eliminate? <S> No. <S> Some reasons to use passive voice: <S> You don't know who did the action. <S> I was carjacked on February 19, 1999. <S> (True story.) <S> You wish to hide or deemphasize responsibility the action. <S> The person who did it is not important to the sentence at hand. <S> You wish to focus the reader on the effects of the action. <S> After Hiroshima was bombed in August, 1945... <S> Passive voice creates a better rhythm or pace for your sentence. <S> (Be careful with this one. <S> Often a better solution is to recast the sentence or the context in which it appears.) <A> "X was most likely to be electrocuted" doesn't have an actor, so that's fine as is. <S> But if you have "many new things were done," tell us by whom, and what they did. <S> While the 15x15 was pregnant, the three-bys were busy building houses, the 9x9s dug latrines, and the lone Whip-It sat in the makeshift cage, wondering when his sentence would be carried out. <S> I'd say make the effort to remove passive voice whenever you can, and add detail, action, and movement in those spots. <A> The use of active or passive voice is dictated by where your focus is: on the subject or object of the actiin. <S> Who is your sentence/paragraph/chapter about? <S> John or Bob? <S> If it is about John and what he does, use the active voice: John killed Bob. <S> If it is about Bob and what he experiences, use the passive voice: <S> Bob had been killed by John. <S> Should you build a car without a reverse gear just because driving backwards from New York to Baltimore <S> would get you arrested or killed? <S> The abuse of passive voice by mediocre writers does not make it useless.
| In general, prefer active voice unless you have a specific reason to use passive.
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What is considered an acceptable length for a technical document? I have written dozens of technical and requirement specifications, and edited dozens more in 8+ years of engineering. The largest I have drafted was perhaps 100 pages, but maybe 30-50% of it was diagrams and tables. Most were anywhere from 5-25 pages. My current position has documents that, if removed from the database and printed out, would be twice as long as War and Peace (I did the math). That is one supplementary document for one particular feature in one particular system. I want to know if there is a standard length that is considered 'usable' for a technical document. I would prefer to have documents broken down into smaller chunks, but I don't know that I could convince my current employer that this is something they should pursue unless there is some data to back it up. <Q> It all depends. <S> Size doesn't matter so much as what you do with it. <S> ;) <S> In my experience, what's been important is that the technical document serves the need of people in the organization to communicate, so that rather than asking a person to explain something, one can just look at the document. <S> If that process is not happening as needed, or not happening well, then something needs fixed (but the issue might not be length, it could be searchability) because the document isn't communicating. <S> Otherwise, I'd suggest letting them be. <A> You cannot sell a pocked digital camera with a five volume textbook on how to handle it. <S> But I'm sure you have also experienced situations where the documentation was brief to the point of becoming confusing. <S> The only consideration is usefulness. <S> Unlike Michael B <S> I don't think that volume decreases "findability". <S> That solely depends on proper indexing and an "intelligent" search algorithm – both digital and in print. <S> Using the example of the pocket camera, there really is no reason not to go beyond the mere technical explanations and include some basic information on how shutter and sharpness of an image relate to each other, or what the numbers on the shutter mean. <S> I always forget those things, and having them handy with the manual of my camera would be a nice feature. <S> This will bloat the documentation, but make it more useful for the target audience of amateur photographers. <S> (Good) illustrations, detailed examples and other non-basic information also helps understanding, while it drastically increases the size of the documentation. <S> But in a digital (hypertext) manual you can easily "switch" those features on or off with a simple button, essentially creating a short-and-long document in one document. <S> Of course you might want to print out your documentation for the purpose of backing it up or getting an overview, but that is one special use that should not dictate what the end user gets. <S> Only if the end user gets a printed copy should length be a factor. <S> Otherwise, as I said, the only relevant question is wether the information is useful or not. <S> If it is useful, put it in. <A> Acceptable to whom? <S> As with "quality", we are talking about a characteristic that is defined by the context. <S> Whatever the customer, user or other stakeholder accepts is "acceptable. <S> On the other hand, from a professional perspective there's a lot of experience you can draw on to suggest what users may find acceptable - without any guarantee that the customer agrees! <S> Finally, technical writing should aim to be comprehensive - the "length" or "size" (how do you measure these exactly?) of a document <S> can be correlated against the basic criterion "did I describe the whole topic?" - i.e. all the features; enough details for the user to understand the concept; links to all relevant references. <S> So - "how heavy is your topic"? <S> It's an interplay of internal and external factors, case-by-case. <S> Hence the profession exists. <A> I think the important metric is “is it usable?” <S> It doesn’t matter if it is 10,000 pages if the reader can find the 3 useful pages they need easily in a short time. <S> On the other hand, a confusing, disorganized 200 page document with mediocre data might frustrate readers and not help them at all. <S> Second metric to me would be “is it maintainable?” <S> If it is so big that it can’t be well-maintained and parts are always out of date, it will just decay and decay. <S> So if you go on the basis of usability and maintainability, you might determine that 1 giant book is better off as 10 shorter books. <S> The separate books act as a meta-index. <S> The reader or maintainer can ignore the other 9 books when appropriate. <S> It sounds like the document is frustrating <S> you , so maybe it is frustrating others also. <S> You might do a survey of readers and maintainers to see what their complaints are, ask them a few questions. <S> That could generate the hard data you need to suggest an improvement project, and maybe give you a list of things to focus on improving also. <A> I really don't think there is an answer. <S> Working in a technical field myself, I have been frustrated by documentation that is too short, and doesn't provide answers to the questions I'm looking for but also seen documentation that is simply too long and makes it impossible to find the quick answers you usually need as a reference. <S> I'd expect the documentation for a lightswitch to be reasonably short. <S> Whereas the documentation for a nuclear submarine should be considerable. <S> Documentation should simply be functional when used by someone with the appropriate skill level. <S> After that the length is irrelevant.
| (Short) length of technical documentation is a must if that documentation is printed to accompany a product sold to an end user. If the documentation is purely digital, there is no reason at all to limit "length". I think it is really about the quality and organization of the table of contents and the index and the data.
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Narrating something that happened between chapters as a flashback in a present-tense novel So say the novel is written in first-person tense.a chapter ends, and the next chapter starts 10 days later. Here I start narrating something that happened 5 days ago in past tense as a flashback. So instead of day1(present) > day5(present) > day10(present) I go day1(present) > day10(present) > day5(past. Flashback/backstory) Do you think this would add variety to the writing? Or just be too distracting of an excuse to break from the present-tense writing? <Q> I recommend you reading "Six Walks in the Fictional Woods" by Umberto Eco. <S> He explains in the book such narratives (and many other aspects of either ommiting parts of information or stating it in achronological order). <S> The short answer to you question is: yes, you obviously can do that. <S> Just remember (as Monica Cellio commented) to clearly state that the situation is back in time. <S> It does not mean you need to give time clearly, but the reader should know somehow what is the correct order of events (unless you intentionally want him to be uncertain, which could be a point if it is criminal story and the protagonist is a detective reconstructing events). <S> On the other hand you should not give more clues than necessary. <S> Fine way to introduce such flashback is to use parts of the story world rather than exact time. <S> You could even introduce some object/person into your story just to mark the time. <S> E.g. in first chapter a cat walks around your flat and (at the end) destroys your favourite cup <S> ; in second one cat is already dead (and obviously cup is gone); then in third you do not give clues about time, but cat is alive and the cup is broken. <S> This way both the reader knows at which time events occure and the story does not become boring. <A> For instance, you could give us day 1 (present, Character 1) -> day 10 (present, Character 1) -> day 5 (past, Character 2) if you want to reveal Character 2's actions after <S> you reveal how Character 1 reacted to the results of those actions (i.e. to build suspense), or if C1 and C2 aren't interacting <S> and it's more streamlined to split their actions up. <S> But don't just scramble your timeline to no purpose. <A> Agree with MissMonicaE's answer. <S> If you feel you need to change the sequence of events "just to mix things up", then your story was boring. <S> Now it is boring and confusing. <S> All other things being equal, people prefer linear storytelling. <S> For example, Tolkien skillfully uses nonlinear storytelling in Lord of the Rings, but only because he must -- he often has 3 (or 4!) <S> separate groups doing stuff at the same time. <S> Rather than referring to dates (that the reader won't remember), he refers to events that all his groups experience. <S> Occasionally the narrator reminds the reader what the other groups are doing. <S> Or, characters from one group will fill in other characters on what their group was doing. <S> (So the reader gets both narrative, self-commentary, and interaction, all in one passage.) <S> Of course, other writers do this. <S> Victor Hugo, Charles Dickens, Shakespeare. <S> It's a classic technique. <S> Even Homer does it. <S> Summary: Flashbacks are great, but only use them when they serve a distinct purpose, because they DO make it harder on your reader.
| It's fine to use flashbacks, but you should make sure you're doing it for a reason, rather than "just to mix things up."
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How to improve logic/reduce plot holes? One of my biggest weakness is logic/plot holes. And it's not only about inconsistency in my stories, but my character often have contradictory thoughts and do stuff that come up as unbelievable. I'm not sure if is because I'm a pantser: I don't outline, I just write as I go, like I'm watching a movie and just writing down the transcript. What are some tips to improve the logic of a story and reduce the plot holes (before showing it to beta-readers and an editor)? <Q> An author, whose name I forget, explained his procedure in the following way: <S> Write your story down. <S> Leave this version as it is, that is, do not attempt to close plot holes or correct continuity. <S> Repeat until you are happy with your result. <S> What this does is that plot holes happen because you are still exploring your story. <S> After you have written the first draft, you now know the story. <S> If you try to correct the first draft, you will be caught in incompatibilities that cannot be overcome. <S> we misremember facts or misinterpret them to achieve consistency, and this method makes use of that. <A> Think about your story. <S> All the time. <S> I once found an enormous plot hole in the bath. <S> (Er, I was in the bath and the plot hole was in my story, but you know what I mean.) <S> By the time I was drying my toes I had converted the plot hole into a plot point, namely the logical discrepancy by which the main character deduced that another character was lying. <S> If your story is with you while you commute to work, walk the dog, and do the washing up, then you will get to know its flaws and virtues. <S> Think through the whole story from the point of view of characters <S> other than the viewpoint ones. <S> Mentally re-write it as a first person narrative as told by the villain for instance. <S> If you can bear to put your pants aside (it's my day for double entendres ), make that mental re-write physical, at least in note form. <S> Although this process might as a bonus provide insights into the villain's motivations, the main point is to check the plot, so make the re-telling strictly chronological. <S> Most plot holes are to do with timing or with people knowing things they could not have known. <S> You will find these holes when you tell yourself how those tumultuous five days seemed from the villain's point of view. <A> I wonder whether what you're calling a plot hole might really be a character hole. <S> Go deeper into the character. <S> Does your character think contradictory thoughts because you don't understand the character very well? <S> If so, that's a character hole. <S> Solve that by going deeper into the character. <S> Find out more of the character's thoughts, especially the character's reactions to the people, places, and events of the story. <S> You can find those thoughts by writing them. <S> You don't have to keep them all in the manuscript. <S> Use contradictions to cause trouble. <S> Contradictory thoughts can be awesome for fiction. <S> They create dilemmas for the character. <S> They create conflicts with other characters, who see the character as capricious, or hypocritical, or unfair. <S> One way to handle contradictory thoughts is to feature them. <S> Make the contradictions cause trouble for the character. <S> At very least, have other characters comment on the contradictions. <S> Resolve the "contradictions." <S> Another possibility is to demonstrate that the "contradictions" are not contradictions at all--find some way that the seemingly opposing thoughts are compatible. <S> Again, the trick is not to eliminate the contradiction, but to feature it, this time by resolving it. <S> Another way to create a character hole is to plan the character's reactions around the plot. <S> If you're pantsing, perhaps you're not doing that... but check. <S> If you need the character to do something for plot purposes, instead of making the character do something out of character, change the situation to eliminate the other things that the character would rather do. <S> Motivate "unbelievable" actions. <S> Another way to create a character hole is to leave a surprising action or reaction unmotivated. <S> If the character does something that surprises you, you can cycle back to an earlier point in the manuscript and plant a little seed in the reader's mind. <A> Keep reading back your story and smooth out the holes you find. <S> Redact your own writing until you believe it is perfect. <S> Then redact again. <S> Make notes on stuff that comes back later if you need to ensure consistency. <S> Extremely hard work? <S> Yes. <S> Comes with the package I'm afraid. <A> You can also try to use the snowflake method. <S> It's a simple and iterative process that will help you gradually build your story, and have a clear vision of what your story is going to be about. <S> There are 10 steps, and you sometimes have to update what you produced in the previous steps. <S> But this is the interesting side of this technique, you have a vision of your work from a 'macroscopic' level (one sentence) to a 'microscopic' level (your draft). <S> Plot holes will appear more clearly and you will find it easier to solve them. <S> I know some people find this technique boring because your have some work to do before starting to write. <S> But never forget this is only a tool and you can adapt it so suit your needs.
| Force the character to do something contradictory. But if you write the story a second time, your mind will create a consistent version of your story (if you don't force it to keep the inconsistencies), because that is how the human mind works: Instead: Put that first version away, and Write the whole story again from scratch.
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Formatting to show system errors in fiction? Okay, here's the thing. I'll keep it simple. I use double quotes for general dialogues. Single quotes for flashback dialogues and italicized letters for monologues and emphasis words only. The doubt comes when I want to show a computer error in the scene. The novel's written in Times New Roman. I thought I could just use a different font like Courier New to show the computer error. Doable? <Q> For a printed book, consider a fixed-width font like Courier. <S> Or you can get fancier and use a font designed to look like 1990s computer text. <S> I know that computer text doesn't look like that any more, but readers will make allowances. <S> For e-books, you may not have any control over the font that the reader sees. <S> But you can try all caps, adding left and right indents, font size. <S> Maybe font color, though that can be problematic, given that current devices and apps allow readers to select from a variety of background colors. <S> If you're asking about how to format it in the manuscript, just set it off in some way to alert the editor that it is not normal body text. <S> Try all caps, indented left and right. <S> Maybe centered. <S> The context will make it clear that it is computer output. <S> Your publisher will figure out how to format it. <A> Are you asking if you can do it (from a publishing standpoint), or if you should do it (from a stylistic standpoint)? <S> If the former, sure, there's all sorts of books published with atypical formatting in whole or in parts. <S> House of Leaves would be the obvious example of doing that extensively; then there's also something like The Neverending Story which makes limited but effective use of it (with one storyline in green ink, the other in red). <S> The only publishing concern is that it might not work on some e-reading platforms. <S> If the latter, one drawback is that some readers might see it as somewhat tacky. <S> I guess the question to ask yourself is, how much does using the different font help you tell your story? <S> If it's integral, I'd say definitely do it. <S> If it's just a flourish, I'd say definitely don't. <S> Anywhere between... <S> Well, I'm not sure if that can be answered without better knowing the context. <A> Short Answer.... <S> Yes. <S> Doable. <S> But, there are a few other things programmers do... <S> Formatting the Text with Decorators... <S> Often times, computer errors will be presented with some type of inline decoration. <S> It is generally safe to assume that putting the '>' character in front of every new line of text will help make your error text look like computer generated text. <S> Example: >kernel error: <S> line segmentation fault in address 0x83af3a <S> Some programmers will add additional decorations for bringing the viewers eye to the fact that a warning is present: >::SYSTEM ERROR - FAULT CRASH:: line segmentation dump on daemon 0x002201 <S> Proper Font Selection is your Best Friend... <S> The standard computer code font is some variation of 'Courier.' <S> So, your original hunch is solid on font selection. <S> You could also investigate other fonts, especially if two computers are communicating. <S> To do so, you'd probably want to incorporate multiple computer type fonts which need to look hard-core, no-frills. <S> These fonts will be monospaced . <S> There are many examples of it on the web. <S> Here's another link that lists other programming fonts: http://hivelogic.com/articles/top-10-programming-fonts <S> Most of these are good choices, but I'd stay away from any that have rounded corners. <S> Using Good Jargon.... <S> I know the OP hasn't asked about this specifically, <S> but I'd recommend getting to know some cool and useful computer jargon. <S> Some catchy and ultra techy computer terms that could add authenticity are: kernel dump address <S> 0x000000 <--- the hexadecimal representation of numbers where each digit is 0-9 and a-f. <S> So this is a perfect example: 0xaa983d . <S> stack heap <S> compiler interpreter <S> command list <S> argv <S> * varargs <S> instruction set <S> Programmer syntax... <S> Anything that a programmer writes for a human to read will be short, to the point, and nearly devoid of emotion. <S> So, the errors and reports in your story, would be more authentic <S> if the text was extremely abbreviated with shortened sentences that border on sentence fragments.
| Just like excessive italicization or all-caps writing can come off as unrefined, so can using a different font.
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So, where do I begin? Where can an absolute newcomer to the discipline of writing begin to learn about the various types and genres of writing so as to become able to identify them simply by reading them? I have taken composition classes at my university in an attempt to learn about writing in general and develop this ability, but became disappointed when, after completing the classes, I still did not possess the ability. I of course, did glean a little general knowledge about academic writing, but found that each academic discipline has its own writing styles and conventions which take time to master, but not much more guidance beyond that as to how to become proficient in those writing styles. I would therefore like to deepen my knowledge of academic writing. But I would also like to explore other types of writing such as both fiction and nonfiction story writing, journalistic writing, business writing, and so on, as well. I'm not necessarily seeking to become a professional in all of those types of writing. I will probably choose one type of writing, such as ad writing, to master and pursue professionally. But nevertheless, I want to learn about all types of writing in order to gain a broad general perspective of writing as a craft. So my question is, are there any resources (for example, books, courses, etc.) that might provide such a broad introduction to the craft of writing, that might for example, provide comparisons among various types of writing such as academic writing and technical trade journal writing? I already read this post (@ What are some online guides for starting writers? ), but the advice provided in that post seems to be more helpful to a person who has a specific type of writing in mind that he or she would like to pursue, and who is simply seeking resources that might help him or her get started writing in that specific area. I appreciate any responses in this regard. <Q> To learn how to start writing, the best advice I've ever read or heard is just to start writing, followed closely by take in as much content as you put out. <S> Here's why: The best way to learn is to do it. <S> So go do it. <S> Practice. <S> Try things. <S> Experiment. <S> You will do poorly and you will grow, and if it hurts all the better because that means you're going to learn more. <S> The next best thing you can do is read great content. <S> Read the kind of material that you can emulate, then emulate it. <S> Find the stories that connect with you and study them, then go back to the pen and paper and use that inspiration to come up with your own story. <S> Then go write it. <A> So your experience so far has been that you have learned some theory but still find yourself unable to <S> do it. <S> And the solution you see is more of what you didn't find helpfull, that is, more theory? <S> How do you learn anything? <S> Do you learn walking by being told how to walk? <S> Do you learn riding a bike by reading books about how to ride bikes? <S> Do you learn maths by memorizing rules and formulas? <S> No! <S> You learn walking, biking and calculating by walking, biking and calculating. <S> You start easy, with only one step into the arms of your mother, with just rolling without pedaling, with one plus one, but whatever you want to learn, the first thing you do after having observed the behaviour you want to emulate is to emulate that behaviour. <S> You have read books. <S> You know what books are. <S> So write a book. <S> Or an article, poem, essay, reportage, and so on. <S> Then get feedback on what you wrote (that is, fall from your bike). <S> Learn from that feedback and try to do better next time. <S> Supplement that learning with theory, if the feedback alone is not enough to help you understand what went wrong. <S> But keep the theory limited to the current question and don't drift off into theoryzing. <S> "Don't talk about it, do it." <S> ~ Henry Rollins <A> As long as you're not a computer, if you learned to speak, it was through imitation. <S> Chances are, you learned to do a great many things through imitation. <S> As Jamezrp said, find what you want to emulate, and do it. <S> Don't worry too hard about what it is <S> you're learning, or else you'll waste your mind on jargon and rhetoric, and never really get around to the art. <S> Or, if you find the rhetoric and the jargon more fun, feel free to read the body of current criticism and begin writing that. <S> And (I promise I'll shut up in a minute), try not to be too results-oriented. <S> If you immediately demand of yourself a polished piece of prose, you're setting yourself up for disappointment. <S> Robert Olen Butler has a useful video series on Youtube meant, in part, to illustrate how tedious writing can be. <S> It's a seventeen-part series, each about 2 hour long. <S> The first is linked for your amusement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIcnmiT0Mc8 <S> I could go on and probably write my own rant-style book on how to write, but I think I've said my mind on the matter. <S> Happy writing! <A> Find what you like to read. <S> If you're not inspired by anything then stick to plumbing. <S> Write something. <S> Get all excited. <S> Read a book of writing dos and donts. <S> Revisit 2 Go to a live writers group. <S> Even if you start by just listening you'll soon pick up lots of what does and doesn't work. <S> Keep writing. <A> Personally, I would suggest to start reading. <S> That's what I found actually to be the best way to learn about different styles of writing, is to read samples of a particular writing style and see how they compare to other forms of writing. <S> Like if you want to take up fantasy, head down to your local library and pick up a fantasy novel. <S> Choosing the super hyped ones might serve your purpose the best because there is a reason they are as hyped as they are. <S> But seriously though, when I was taking my first writing class the first thing we did for each genre was read a pick of that genre. <S> That's how I got introduced to the Inheritance Cycle, because we read Eragon as our high fantasy pick and analyzed it to see what elements it used to make itself a high fantasy book.
| Read the kind of stuff you want to write.
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Should I ever break up a long line of dialogue in different paragraphs? I often second-guess myself in one particular scenario when writing dialogue. Convention says I should break different characters' lines in different lines or paragraphs (I've seen both), but what if one particular line of dialogue is longer than usual? Should I break that line in different paragraphs, even though it's said by the same person and therefore risking making it look like another person is speaking? Or is it expected that the line, along with some actions in between, are all in one big block of text. I'm asking mainly because the resulting block of text doesn't visually look, as a whole, as part of the dialogue, because it breaks the usual visual pattern of smaller lines going back-and-forth between different characters. <Q> The risk of misidentifying the speaker of subsequent paragraph parts is avoided by omiting the closing quotation mark from preceding parts to signify continuation, as demonstrated by the following answer: https://english.stackexchange.com/a/96613 <A> This may happen, for example, when someone is giving a detailed account of an event. <S> It is traditional to leave the inverted commas off the end if the same speaker continues (but still have them at the start to show it is speech). <A> In English, a new paragraph begins, when the topic changes. <S> The turn of each speaker in a dialog is perceived to be one topic, even if that turn is broken by pauses (and the description of the speaker's behavior during these pauses). <S> A paragraph can have any length and span many pages. <S> For better readability, long paragraphs can be broken into smaller paragraphs, but this may break arguments, description or actions and confuse the reader. <S> If a speaker's turn spans many topics, it is broken into paragraphs like any other part of writing. <A> As long as you can make the dialogues flow smoothly, I don't see any problem with dividing it into paragraphs. <S> With that said, I would like to point out that it isn't always the best way to build up suspense, tension or drama in a piece of fiction. <S> To make it easy to the eye and a lot less intimidating for the reader, make sure that the change in paragraphs only comes when the narrative sees a major change in subject. <S> Not a lot of contemporary writers use this in their work. <S> However, if used sparingly, this can definitely make for a tight yarn. <S> Sir Arthur Conan Doyle used an awful lot of this tack in his works. <S> You can find the complete Sherlock Holmes collection here . <S> This should suffice in giving you a fair idea of the intricacies of this technique. <S> Hope this helped! <A> The first thing you should remember is that it is the strength of your writing that determines it. <S> There's a saying: "First thought, best thought. <S> " What that means is to write the way you saw it in your mind the first time---word for word. <S> Do not edit, do not pause and rethink it, especially for a rule about 'readability' or dialogue exchange. <S> Get it out. <S> You could have one character speak for pages and pages if it feels right <S> (Sherlock Holmes was a great example; another is "Youth" by Joseph Conrad, or if you're really dedicated, Heart of Darkness ), and never worry about who will know who is speaking. <S> Intelligent readers come to intelligent writers, and will thank you for it. <S> That being said, when you go back to rewrite it--because writing is rewriting--you will see and understand more clearly what is or isn't right with it, but you cannot see this unless you had previously wrote what you thought, untrammeled. <S> You have to fail forward. <S> It's insane, I know, but just let it all out, and by making mistakes you will uncover truth. <S> Writing is like an old faucet: it's rusted, it's hard to turn on, it creaks and seems like it's going to break. <S> When you do finally get it on, what comes out? <S> Orange gunk. <S> Rust water. <S> But let it flow. <S> Soon it will be crystal clear.
| Long pieces of dialogue should be broken into paragraphs.
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Writing and proofreading a book in English - non-native speaker I started writing a book. I wanted to write fiction books for a long time, but never really got around doing it. I decided to write in English rather than in my own language for many reasons, one of them being that the subjects I write about aren't really popular in my country. Another motive is that I believe English language has become very rich and I really enjoy expressing myself in it. As the work progressed, it became apparent to me that my level of command of English language will always be below that of a native speaker. I do not intend to sell my book once completed, but I know it will be a good one. What I want to ask is what are my options in eliminating at least the glaring language mistakes that a native speaker would never make? Where should I look for people to help me with this? <Q> This is fiction? <S> Where is it set? <S> This is something authors work hard to create. <S> To further emphasize this use the wrong spelling for your market (use British spelling if you are targeting America and vice versa). <S> I give this advice as your English is excellent. <S> I would not necessarily give this advise to someone with weaker english. <A> Living in an English speaking country would be ideal, but you could get great benefits by watching lots of movies and series. <S> Although not ideal, and less natural than ordinary people speaking together, you will get a good sense of normal language use and vernacular. <S> my level of command of English language will always be below that of a native speaker. <S> It will be always different, though not necessarily lower. <S> What you have to realize is that most native speakers have a bad grasp of grammar and style. <S> So some turn of phrase will always come more natural to them. <S> Reading their text will always seem more natural even if there are grammatical mistakes because the native English speaker reader is used to them. <S> But many native speakers don’t know how to express themselves well or have horrendous styles. <S> However, as long as you do not commit blatant mistakes and weirdly odd turn of phrases you will be fine. <S> The goal of a good novel is to transport you, if it is done well you should not really see the text. <S> The brain translates it immediately into images, sensorial imput, and emotions. <A> You can pay an editor. <S> Google is your friend. <S> Or you can use books on grammar to try and copy-edit your book yourself. <S> For grammar I recommend Michael Swan, Practical English Usage . <S> It's the best book out there. <S> For word choice, use a bunch of dictionaries and thesauruses. <S> You can never have too many of these. <S> I have access to the OED online version through my university and shelves full of specialized dictionaries, thesauri and whatnot in my university library. <S> There are also many online resources that list word usage or synonyms. <S> Beware of using Google results! <S> Much of what Google lists as examples when you search for a word or phrase was written by non-native speakers making mistakes, or by native speakers with a weak grasp of their own language. <S> Much of what Google returns is simply false, and the fact that one phrase returns more hits than another does not mean anything for a writer looking for advice on how to properly use a word. <S> In my opinion you don't need Strunk & White's The Elements of Style . <S> I'm a non-native speaker myself and never found it helpful. <A> You might not want to rule out writing in your native language too quickly. <S> The noted Japanese author Murakami became famous partly on the strength of writing books with a distinctly American style and flavor, but in Japanese. <S> If you are committed to writing in English, why not give your book a first-person narrator from your own country? <S> Then any small oddities in expression will seem intentional, and add realism, not reduce it. <S> (This is partly based on Hildreth's answer, but doesn't rely on a foreign setting, only a foreign narrator.) <S> It's often quite enjoyable to read a good writer writing in a non-native language entirely because of the differences in perspective and voice, so it might be something you shouldn't worry too much about concealing. <S> Based on your earlier comments, it might work well for your book to have a narrator based loosely on yourself and your own experiences as a foreigner traveling in the US. <A> Many have systems in place for peer review and editing suggestions. <S> If, later, you decide to publish the book, you have two main options (once you have had a friend or relative run through the book for obvious errors): <S> If self publishing, pay for the services of a professional editor / proof reader. <S> A rough guide to the costs for doing this in the UK (recommended by the National Union of Journalists as an industry guideline for freelancers) is here http://www.londonfreelance.org/feesguide/index.php?§ion=Print+media&subsect=Editing%2Fproducing+books <S> Submit the work to a publisher who encourages authors to work with in-house editors to improve the quality of the book... <S> This is normally part of the author's contract and is factored in with the percentage of Royalties the author will receive from sales of the book, so is not charged for upfront. <S> Generally, this means avoiding vanity publishers as, you have to pay a great deal for the service as an extra. <A> I'm in a similar situation, though helped by the fact that I use a lot of english in daily life in both my profession and private life (international friends and relatives). <S> I've noticed that practice makes perfect, and I've been mistaken for a native speaker on a few occasions. <S> The main thing that I notices is that colloquialisms escape me, because I don't live in an english-speaking country. <S> Since most of my stories are not set in the contemporary world, that is not an issue. <S> When I write a short story set in modern-day america, this deficit is probably more visible. <S> You can find groupings such as critters.org around the Internet, where you can post your stories and get feedback. <S> This should help to get not just writing but also language issues out of the text.
| If you write what you know and set it where the native language is not english or the major characters don't speak english, you can emphasize your cultural background to give either a British Colonial or non British, non American feel to the work, your mistakes will appear to be part of the nature of the setting giving a foreign feel to the work. If you are writing the book for your own pleasure, you could join a writers' group or class.
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How to find the balance between research and the obvious I'm embarking on writing my first popular science book on a controversial subject. For sure the writing must be rational, coherent with a clear train of thought and littered with references to be convincing. On the other hand, too much of that and the book will be all but "popular." What I chose to call the obvious is the narrative, the self-evident and prevalent theories about connections with other fields of science. To me as a reader, this is usually the good parts as long as they're well supported by the research bits. Many scientists write very defensively to "cover all the bases," but to me that style of writing is boring with a pinch of gutlessness and I really want to avoid falling into that trap. Especially as I'll in the coming months will spend countless hours reading books and articles, and I have a strong feeling that the tone of writing is contagious. Most importantly I do want to write for people who are not very technical or familiar with scientific literature. So while the subject is controversial and thus requires some number-juggling, the style in many ways needs to be obvious . So how to strike a balance between the two? Can you think of any rule of thumb or perhaps even a successful example of such a book? I realize asking "how much fact is too much" is impossible to answer, but I'm thankful for any guidance I can get. <Q> It seems to me to mostly depend on your target audience. <S> Scientists of this field will want full throttle facts, General scientific types will expect to be convinced by strong backable data <S> Interested non-scientists may relate more to argument that make sense and are logical rather than specific proof, <S> The general skeptic reader will not trust any facts and may reject any attempts to convince him by “proofs” The general reader will not care either for logic or facts, as long as it is interesting. <S> If you attempt to reach the broadest audience, discard all the boring bits and write a fiction novel on the subject. <A> Try to keep the style light, so you're not overwhelming the reader with facts. <S> Keep the obvious stuff at the beginning, with clearly labelled chapters, and a paragraph at the top explaining what you're going to cover. <S> Perhaps instructing them to skip it if they are comfortable with those concepts. <S> When you start getting into the heavier topics, maybe have a couple of sentences reminding the reader of the bare outline of the chapter that explored that topic. <S> Popular science books are usually popular because they are enjoyable to read, and don't feel like a science lesson. <S> That is usually done by letting the personality of the writer seep out between the facts. <A> Successful example: Arthur C. Clarke's Rama series. <S> The first book, Rendezvous with Rama , read to me like a history book written 50 years from now. <S> Very hard sci-fi, technical, a bit dry. <S> The next three in the series, written with Gentry Lee, are more typical fiction, and center on the adventures of one family who are <S> (I think — it's been a while) <S> mentioned in the first book.
| I think the approach to this is to make what you write entertaining. Use a steady build up, make the first few chapters skipable by someone who understands the field, but allows the layman to grasp the basics of where you're going.
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How to handle a pidgin language? Question : In reference to this question about how to show a foreign language in a manuscript , I am wondering: What is the best way to handle a pidgin language in a manuscript? In a wider sense: How would you treat a heavy slang that came up with original words and phrases? Motivation : A pidgin language influenced by English, French, the Lingua Franca, Yiddish and others used in the 50s and 60s is the central symbol of a novel I am working on. It uses "original" words (in the sense that the "parent language" is not obvious) that I intend to highlight by using italics. However, as it was used mainly by English native speakers, some words are real English words but are either part of a phrase of the pidgin language or mean something entirely different. Problem, refined : Since I will not write the novel in English, I wonder whether it makes sense to translate these English pidgin words or simply keep them and treat them to italics. The advantage of keeping the English original is that it would add some extra "Englishness" to the story. The disadvantage : People not fluent in English might simply miss out on the creativity of some of the pidgin phrases. (Example: "lattie" means flat or house, and "lattie on water" is a ship. The "on water" is obviously easily translatable.) What do you think? Thanks for sharing your opinions with me. <Q> Personally I don't think you need to make the words italics, if you introduce a word that isn't part of the reader's vocabulary, and give them enough clues to understand what it is, then they will pick it up. <S> So for instance, if you had a sentence that said - 'Do you want to come to my lattie for supper' and later maybe said '... <S> its in my lattie' people are going to pick up what it means. <S> If later on you say 'we're catching the lattie-on-water' to cross the river, it won't make a difference whether the reader knows English, the ones that do will understand the subtlety, the ones that don't will simply see it as a bit more of a phrase they need to learn. <S> drip the words in slowly, guide the reader into understanding the meaning, and don't clog up your story with unneeded explanations. <A> For (an extremely made-up) example: "Jah, got might owie in me gulliver", said Collins. <S> God, my head really hurts. <S> Used sparingly, this might serve as a less intrusive way of expanding the reader's vocabulary bit by bit. <S> And if all else fails, you can always simply say something like "X means Y" where necessary. <S> Awkward, but maybe the lesser evil in some cases. <A> I was taught to handle foreign languages (and this would include pidgins) <S> as grace notes in the prose and dialog: there's enough there to remind the reader that characters are speaking a language other than English, but not so much to hinder the reader's progress. <S> So once you've made it clear that the characters are speaking the pidgin, most of the dialog would actually be in English but with important pidgin words thrown in. <S> By important pidgin words I mean an untranslatable term, a word characteristic of the culture (and perhaps ironically contradicting the inevitable prejudices against them), or a word of pride. <S> Including the lattie on water story is an ideal grace note because it not only reminds the reader of the pidgin <S> but it's an interesting story: I'll come away feeling like I've learned something good about a culture I never otherwise would have learned. <S> This sounds like a fun story to write and a great novel to read. <S> Good luck with it. <A> A pidgin by its nature could theoretically form from English mixed with the language you are writing in so constructing such artificial pidgin seems to be a good solution. <S> Just abandon grammar of your language and mix it with (commonly known) words from English and roman languages. <S> Translators in such situations sometimes do mix languages close related to target language to show somehow how the language of original text felt to the readers (e.g. translating a dialogue between serbian and croatian speaker into dialogue between polish and silesian speaker). <S> I think the same trick would work for pidgin. <S> But... it also is seen as something controversial or distracting/ <S> annoying by people knowing all the languages involved. <S> It is something grammar-nazi like, but some people react this way just because it breaks their cognitive schemas. <S> Similarly writing Яevolution instead of Revolution cmakes russian speakers confused while the others will have no problem reading it. <S> So you should not use the trick I described if you expect your readers to be familiar with the culture (and so language) you are writing about. <S> If you do not want the trick you may write pidgin phrases in italics (as you have mentioned) <S> but then you definitely should add footnotes. <S> It may be better solution as it would not involve such cognitive bias in people expecting rather the original language than translation <S> but it will raise the amount of text (➡footnotes) <S> so you need to choose how you expect your text to be read. <A> Alright, here I go: <S> Don't put "englishness" in every sentence <S> (i know you won't) <S> Maybe you could put it in italic. <S> (I personally would put because is foreign) <S> If you are worried about the non-speakers of english, put a note with the meaning, but just if is a difficult word or expression. <S> (A lot of notes distract the readers)
| As an alternative to footnotes, you could just immediately translate the first few statements containing a new pidgin word, perhaps putting the translation in italics.
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How to handle dialogue? I have difficulties to write more than simple dialogue that still works and is readable. So, I have two options here: Try harder, read more books with lots of dialogue and learn from them and apply this to my own writing? Avoid dialogue. Which direction should I go? <Q> Pick option three: <S> When writing, imagine you are actually saying this . <S> If you wouldn't say it, don't write it. <A> I struggled with writing dialogue for a long time, it bothered me that I could never make it sound like real conversation. <S> As I've previously written I don't like to solve problems by seeing how other's have resolved them i.e. by reading how other's approach dialogue <S> My resolution was to realise that you don't need to make it sound like real conversation, you are using characters speech to convey story concepts. <S> With that thought speech becomes a literary device that you employ in the appropriate situations to move your story along. <S> I started off with a desription of what I wanted them to say 'Julie talked to Mark about the train times' and put together a small exchange to convey that information. <S> Although there are also a number of novels that have relied on reported speech, so if that works for you, and the end product feels more comfortable, then perhaps that is better for you. <A> Keep writing dialogue. <S> Not using dialogue is not an option. <S> In rare cases, the characters might be fully established by their (mute) actions, but I repeat: <S> This is rare. <S> Although we usually rely on our sight much more heavily than on our other senses, it's mainly language through which we establish communication. <S> How to improve stiff, unnatural dialogue? <S> My advise would be: Be honest . <S> (This is similar to what @what suggested, just more character-driven. <S> I don't care whether I can speak the way the character does, it simply must be true to the character.) <S> To achieve this, I don't plot out the dialogue in advance, I simply have an idea of what the outcome of the conversation should be. <S> Then I sit down, start to write, and just let the characters talk. <S> The dialogue might be short or long, depending on what the character is going through in the scene - joy? <S> sadness? <S> anger? <S> - and what his/her general communication strategies are. <S> If you have a good understanding of your characters and a good idea of the plot - a plot that all characters are comfortable with, i.e. a plot that no character tries to break free from -, it will not be hard for your characters to come up with the topics and ideas that you have in mind for them. <S> Another thought: If you are interested in communication in general, maybe read some literature about that, sender-receiver theory and all. <S> The best dialogue, on the other hand, that I could think of spontanesouly, would be in Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray". <A> I find the key to dialog is subtext. <S> People are generally communicating at more than one level, and if you don't convey that in your dialog, it sounds unnatural. <S> Sexual tension, power struggles, rivalry, regret --all can be lurking under the surface of even the most innocuous smalltalk. <S> Even if this isn't always the case in real life, it makes for more interesting conversations in fiction. <A> You could try looking into spoken language. <S> Record some actual dialogue and then study it. <S> Look at the differences between spoken and written language. <S> Look at the linguistic areas called pragmatics and speech act theory. <S> You don't want to write completely realistic spoken language -- <S> that is boring, often doesn't make sense, <S> etc. -- but <S> the knowledge you gain can help you write better dialogue. <S> Also, read it out loud.
| Properly handled, your dialog shouldn't just be communication between the characters, it should also illuminate the relationship between the characters for the reader.
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When is repetition good? I'm aware that, in writing, repetition is sometimes bad. For example: "You forgot my birthday!" I said. "No, I didn't forget your birthday." "Then why didn't you wish me happy birthday?" I said. "Because I didn't want to embarrass you. You know, make you feel special and all that." (Note: I just came up with this dialogue. Probably the worst piece I've ever written in my life.) But when is repetition good? These are examples from my own writing. (I thought the repetition was good. But I'm not sure anymore.) Mike called me that weekend. To be honest, I'd been trying to avoid him. Not because I was pissed at him, but because I was starting to develop feelings for him---which I guess pissed me off. "The mind is a part of the body. More specifically the brain. That's why there are cases of head injuries where people had lost their capacity to recognize objects, faces, feel guilt or anger. Which is proof that our consciousness isn't really separated from our body. It's just feels that way. Anyhow, this notion is going away, especially now that we can literally look inside the human mind ." "I wish we could look inside the cat's mind ," I said. "We'd know what's wrong with her at once." <Q> Repetition gives emphasis whatever is repeated. <S> Repetition can create rhythms. <S> Repeated patterns can provoke expectations in the reader. <S> For an extreme, haunting, brilliant example of repetition, see Rick Moody's story "Boys" (PDF) . <A> Words or phrases should not be repeated within the space of a couple of lines (except for small common words like 'the') unless you are doing it for effect, for example: "No. <S> No. <S> No. <S> A thousand times no." <S> The difficulty is judging when it works and when it doesn't. <S> One way to see is to read it out loud. <A> I don't honestly see a problem with the two later examples. <S> You have repeated words ("mind" and "pissed off") because you're talking about the same things/emotions multiple times. <S> The only problem with the birthday example is that nobody talks like that. <S> If you wrote "You forgot my birthday!" <S> I said. <S> "I did not ! <S> I would never forget your birthday!" <S> "Then why didn't you even tell me 'happy birthday'?" <S> "Because I didn't want to embarrass you. <S> You know, make you feel special and all that." <S> you still have repetition of the word "birthday," but it sounds more like something people would actually tell say. <S> Repetition is NOT in and of itself bad, especially in a case like this where people repeat the name of the thing they're talking about . <S> That's one of those rules they teach in high school so you can get better grades on standardized tests. <A> I believe there are two different kinds of repetition, though they can appear as each other. <S> In the first case, for example, you have an inadvertent use of the same non-trivial word in two consecutive or nearby sentences. <S> It can have a dull repetitive sound to it, which can translate into boring. <S> In the second case, you have a deliberate use of repetition, for one or more reasons, designed to produce a certain effect. <S> Now you're dealing with the sound and rhythm of the words, the way the individual instances of the repeated word work with the words that surround it. <S> At that point, whether or not it's good or bad depends on how well you can pull it off, and how well it works in context with what comes before and after. <S> Repetition is neither good nor bad, but something you want to be in control of. <A> One problem with repetition in prose is that it's not very interesting. <S> In a sense it's a wasted opportunity. <S> When stating that you were pissed and then later that it pissed you off, you aren't giving the reader any new information. <S> Instead of wasting the reader's time by restating the same thing the opportunity should be taken to engage the reader with a different look at the same situation. <S> Not because I was pissed at him, but because I was starting to develop feelings for him---which made me confused and angry.
| Repetition calls attention to whatever is repeated, especially if the repeated thing is unusual or interesting.
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What do you think about having very different tones in a single story? What if a chapter is incredibly depressive, dark, with intense language. And the next reads almost like a dialogue from a Seth MacFarlane comedy. Or even better, what if the tone switches occur between scenes.I think most books I've read maintained a consistent mood, even if the characters emotions were flipping. So what do you think about breaking this rule? <Q> If one is Tina Fey and the other is Sylvia Plath, they will of course see the world differently. <S> The contrast will probably make your book lean more towards humor/dark humor/satire, so as long as you're okay with that, give it a shot. <S> This is not the same as a lighter passage in a bleak book or a dramatic scene in a funny book. <S> We're talking about entirely different tone, vocabulary, and imagery. <S> I would not have a third-person limited or omniscient narrative voice which changes from Fey to Plath without explanation. <S> The whiplash would be off-putting. <A> You don't want to break the reader's immersion. <S> With your writing, you build the reader's identification with your characters and his expectations about the future progress of the story. <S> If your characters suddenly act out of character, they become unbelievable. <S> If you story progresses in a random fashion, your readers will be confused. <S> Sure, life isn't always the same, and in long novels the characters often are granted a respite from their toil, so that they can tell campfire tales or make love, but these interludes have meaning in the overall storyline, they fit the internal logic of the fictional world, and they usually don't completely fall out of the rest of the narrative stylistically. <S> On the other hand, there are books that break all the rules and do whatever they want. <S> Apparently there are people who buy and read them. <S> I cannot say much on these, as I cannot bring myself to read them <S> , they annoy me so much. <S> If you like them, you should ignore my advice and probably know much better, what you want to do. <A> In Shakespeare's Othello, Othello's speech often changes tone between scenes. <S> He often sees himself as uncivilized however his tough is quite the contrary. <S> However, in some scenes his language becomes more "brutal". <S> This was just an example, I think that changing the tone of dialogue in a character can both allow the reader to identify the mood of a situation. <S> For example, if a character who is always optimistic suddenly starts contemplating his life and mortality it would allow the reader to see that this character is in a perhaps "grave" circumstance. <S> This question allows for a lot of opinion and this is just mine <S> , you may find some people who think that changing a characters tone is "inconsistent" with the story. <A> If you are writing a post-modernist novel, or a post-post-modernist novel (say, a fable about life in a you-tube-saturated short-attention-span society), this might be a good thing. <S> Otherwise, it is probably something to avoid.
| If you switch narrative tone, it will distance the reader and make it harder for him or her to achieve suspension of disbelief. You could get away with drastically different tones if you had two different POV narrators.
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At what point disappointment and frustration within the story makes the reader abandon it? Does Game of Thrones get any unpleasant when a whole bunch of characters die every season, for example? Leaving hooking elements aside, at what point does exploration of uncomfortable aspects from the reader within the story (yes), beloved characters suffering and dying, and unthinkable plots make the reader just put something like that aside? <Q> When there's no one likeable left alive. <S> Or if there is anyone, you just know they're either faking it or doomed. <S> TV Tropes calls it Darkness-Induced Audience Apathy . <S> I lasted until somewhere in the third Game of Thrones book. <S> Or maybe it was only the second, I can't remember. <S> Then I put the book down because I didn't want to read an account of a rape and murder at that moment, and somehow never got round to picking the book up again. <S> That said, the rest of my family continually urge me to reconsider. <S> Perhaps George R.R. Martin himself is suffering from the same malady! <A> I guess it really depends on the readers. <S> There's a lot of fuss about GRR Martin, and if he does have a tendency to kill off characters unexpectandly, there are less murders in the books than in the series. <S> And there are some author more prone to characters killing, as can be seen in many internet memes. <S> Nevertheless, IMHO, the key isn't the death toll, but the explanation for it. <S> If you kill your characters by building some pressure, letting some previous signs, or with a plot logic and in-world logic, than a lot of people will go on. <S> If you kill your characters for no reason, by lightning in a middle of a Sunny afternoon, when walking around: people might not understand. <S> If it appears logic, then no problem. <S> If it doesn't then it will bother people. <S> Again, back to GRRM. <S> Note that he is well read. <S> He does kill a few people, but there are mostly two death that are of importance, namely " Ned " and Robb Stark . <S> and those are made for a plot reason <S> To destabilise the readers by removing any (main) hero. <S> The honest-to-God good willing hero, or as he puts himself <S> "I killed Ned because everybody thinks he’s the hero and that <S> , sure, he’s going to get into trouble, but then he’ll somehow get out of it," said Martin. <S> and "The next predictable thing is to think his eldest son is going to rise up and avenge his father. <S> And everybody is going to expect that. <S> So immediately [killing Robb] became the next thing I had to do." <S> But on the top of that, it is realistic in the given world, and has some logic behind it, like folly and vengeance. <S> For me, gratuitous things are more a problem. <S> I had problems to start the series, as it left most of non-violent, non-sexual content out. <S> At what point does it bother readers? <S> Well if you do kill one important character in the middle, you will loose some readers. <S> This is inevitable. <S> The more the reasons for it are clear, the less you loose. <S> But you might consider the "trauma" of Aeris' death (in Final Fantasy) to see that one important character is often enough to mark the audience. <S> So it really depends on who you are writing for. <A> I came very close to this with Person of Interest in the middle of the most recent season. <S> There are a number of Good Folks and several groups of Bad Folks. <S> About mid-season the Bad Folks had racked up so many successes and the Good Folks were getting boxed into such a corner that I was struggling to see how the writers were going get the Good Folks past the obstacles. <S> The story, particularly a long-running serialized TV show, doesn't have to have a happy ending for every episode, or even every season, but the audience needs to have some hope that the protagonist(s) for whom we are rooting will have some measure of success at the end. <S> If every protagonist is killed off or removed from play by the antagonist, what the hell are we still watching for? <S> Ultimately the Good Folks were able to score some wins on the Bad Folks, and while they didn't defeat the Bad Folks overall, they are in a better place than they were mid-season. <S> That's all I ask for: some hope. <S> Separately, if there are so many rapes and humiliations that you give up hope that the women will ever have agency in their own lives or will ever defeat their personal nemeses, that might be enough to tip the scales.
| When hope that the protagonist(s) will win is snuffed out. In the case of Game of Thrones, it depends on whether you hope that any of the surviving characters will eventually defeat their adversaries, or at least will live long enough to team up against the White Walkers and the wights.
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When using freewriting, should I avoid correcting typos? My university recommends Freewriting to all its postgraduate students as a daily exercises to help overcome writer's block. I tend to make terrible typos, possibly related to my disgraphia . missing keys, all keys offset by one position, just plain being bad at spelling etc. Normally when writing I will fix a lot of these instinctively -- without even thinking about it I will hit back space a few times and fix it. Should I be doing that when freewriting? Should I just leave a space and write on? Should I fully disable the backspace, delete and arrow keys to force myself out of the habit? <Q> Personally I can't concentrate if I leave bad spelling behind me. <S> the solution to that for freewriting is to either go back and fix it (which isn't according to the 'rules' of freewriting) or write about the fact that you can't go back and fix what you've written until something else comes to mind. <S> Basically, do what works for you! <S> There's no point blindly following other people's ideas of how you should write. <A> Consider changing the medium! <S> If you put pen to paper, literally, you eliminate the physical problems keyboarding presents and you should be free to freewrite to your heart's content. <S> As an occupational therapist with an interest in this area, I would be most interested to learn how this approach works for you! <S> (I'm also theorizing on the response if you had to turn your paper-based "homework" in! <S> What was the last decade in which a grad student turned in a paper paper?) <A> You could make an audio recording instead of writing it down. <S> If you have a smart phone you could use that. <S> Alternatively, plug a microphone into your computer and use speech recognition software. <S> Once you are sure it is working turn off the screen or put a piece of paper in front on it so that you can't be distracted by what you have already done. <A> Well, I think the idea of "freewriting" is that you ignore typos and just keep throwing words at the screen. <S> So the textbook answer is probably to ignore your typos. <S> But in the long run, the question is surely, "What works for you?" <S> When someone with more experience gives me advice about how to do a job, I generally try their advice at least once -- whether that job is writing, auto mechanics, cooking, etc. <S> Even if it doesn't sound like a good idea, maybe if I try it, I will see why, in fact, it IS a good idea. <S> But once I've gained some experience myself, I usually find that there are many times when the textbook approach is a waste of time <S> and I can take short cuts. <S> Sometimes things that work for other people don't work for me. <S> Etc. <S> So I'd say: Try the textbook approach, that is, don't fix your typos, just push ahead. <S> When you feel like you've given this technique a fair try, then decide for yourself whether fixing your typos as you go is productive or not. <S> Personally, I wouldn't say that I use "freewriting" per se, but I do routinely just type in every idea that comes into my head, throwing text at the screen as fast as I can, and then later go back and clean it up and re-arrange it into a more logical sequence and delete stuff that I now realize is superfluous, etc. <S> If I notice a spelling or grammar error, I'll back up and fix it. <S> But I don't look for such errors. <S> I think if I really got a row off on the keyboard or some such so that everything I was typing was gibberish, I'd back up and fix it immediately, while I still remembered what it was I was trying to type. <A> Test both approaches! <S> Try with and without correcting and use the one that keeps you least writers blocked (I'm assuming your over all goal is to not be writers blocked?) <S> If you find not correcting gets you going most, and that you waste time going back and correcting, yes, disable your keys or better yet, find writing software that doesn't let you edit. <S> If you find you're still blocked, maybe you need another approach to unblock. <A> The rule of thumb I would use here: if the typos are going to prevent you from understanding what you wrote, then it makes sense to fix them. <S> Having a page full of illegible text may be cathartic but not helpful if you're trying to produce some usable material. <S> The general logic is that you want to stay in the creative mode while you freewrite. <S> That means that you avoid criticism, judgment, and worrying about typos and grammar. <S> Another option, if you notice that the words aren't being recorded how you want (because of incorrect keys), you could write it again. <S> Repeat yourself. <S> Don't go back and correct anything, just repeat the stuff that looks illegible. <S> Interesting things can come about through doing that. <S> Maybe you use it as an opportunity to refine your thinking as you freewrite, since reiterating something can have a reinforcing effect on comprehension and memory retention. <S> Something to experiment with!
| The concept of freewriting is to limber your mind up, if having bad spelling produces a mental block for you, and you can quickly correct them, then it would be more productive for you to go back and fix what bothers you. Do what works for you, write what you want to write...
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In a screenplay, how do you show people talking over each other? When writing a script where you have two (or more) people talking at the same time, how is that formatted? Side-by-side columns? Some other vertical grouping? Notes? Does it vary? Examples would be most helpful. <Q> There are a number of variations that are recommended in various on-line screenwriting guides, including side-by-side or linearly but using a directive like 'during' At Story Sense <S> they say When writing dialogue in two columns to indicate simultaneous speeches, the left margin of the first dialogue column must be inset slightly. <S> It must not start in the same column as the action or description margin. <S> That is all the information they give (no examples). <S> Screenwriting.io just says that most screenwriting editing software will format it for you as side-by-side. <S> When two characters are talking at the same time, it is referred to as “dual dialogue,” and the two speakers’ text blocks go side-by-side. <S> Most screenwriting programs have an option for this. <S> Again no examples. <S> Lazy Bee Scripts says to use 'at the same time' and gives an example: <S> Eric: (At the same time as Jane.) <S> Come on, Jane, you've known for weeks that he was coming, there's no point in making a fuss, just relax and let's hear what he has to say. <S> Jane: <S> (At the same time as Eric.) <S> He can't come in. <S> Not with you here, <S> Fred. <S> You've got to do something. <S> Anything! <S> Get in the cupboard! <S> None of these looks like a satisfying explanation to me. <A> Side by side dialog. <S> The screenwriting programs have a command to move selected paragraphs from inline to side by side. <S> Very straightforward. <A> I've seen this done either as a directive in the dialog, or as an action description beforehand. <S> It's such a rare case though, that I'd be surprised if there was a clear standard for it. <S> I haven't seen the side by side column thing out in the wild, but I'd wager the meaning would also be pretty clear if I did. <S> So, I've seen: AMY Look <S> , you really can't bring my mom into this, it's not fair. <S> She's never really said anything bad about you, you really have to... JOHN (simultaneously) <S> And your mom's is better? <S> Let me tell you, this is a hundred year old family recipe <S> and I'll be damned if you're going to feed that crap to Jack... <S> JACK drops his toy audibly in the doorway. <S> ... <S> or... AMY and JOHN begin yelling at each other simultaneously AMY Look <S> , you really can't bring my mom into this, it's not fair <S> she's never really said anything bad about you <S> , you really have to... JOHN <S> And your mom's is better? <S> Let me tell you, this is a hundred year old family recipe <S> and I'll be damned if you're going to feed that crap to Jack... <S> JACK drops his toy audibly in the doorway. <S> ... <S> both of which were self evident to me when I read them. <A> 4 years late, but if anyone stumbles across this like I did (in 2020) looking for answers, I have one! <S> I asked my lecturer who has worked in the industry <S> and he advised to format like the following: JOE / SAM / MARK [dialogue here] <S> And you have the option to add the parenthetical (in unison) as well if you want, <S> so: EMILY / KATE / RYAN (in unison) [dialogue here] <S> Hopefully this might help anyone who stumbles across this like me! <S> Hope <S> OP found their answer! <A> It's extremely easy in the case of two character. <S> Here's how: Dual Dialogue Format: <S> Every screenwriting software (FinalDraft, WriterDuet, Highland, etc.) <S> I know has this feature.
| At Screenwriting Goldmine , they suggest using 'during this' as a directive to the following dialog to say that it should be spoken simultaneously.
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Naming a book in a language different from where it would be published: is it good? The book is being written in Portuguese, would it be bad if the name is in English? The name is just "The Awakening". I prefer the title in English because it sounds better than in Portuguese ("O Despertar"), which sounds a bit like a generic fiction. But would it be good? Because "awakening" is a word of significant size, and have "W" and "K", and "ening". <Q> I cannot speak for Portugal, but in Germany, "American" (that is, US American) movies, music and books are considered to be great by default. <S> In media, "American" is a label that signals great entertainment to German consumers, and the most popular films, tv series, books and musical recordings are "Made in America". <S> On top of that, English is considered a "cool" language, everyone learns it in school, it is the language of the music we listen to as teens, and it is the lingua franca of the internet. <S> In Germany, many advertisings for "cool" products feature English slogans, and many products have English or English sounding names. <S> As for media, while movies are generally dubbed and books translated, American movies usually retain their original titles, even if those titles invovle puns or other features that are difficult for the average German to understand. <S> Books, on the other hand, often receive a new German title, which may or may not be a translation of the English title. <S> But recently many books from the Young Adult category have been published in a German translations with the original (Americal) English title. <S> An example is James Dashner's Maze Runner trilogy: <S> This may be a phase only, but it stands in the context of the general appreciation of American media and the English language that I tried to briefly describe above, and in fact there are books outside of YA that are published with their original English title, like Oliver Sacks Awakenings : <S> So, in Germany, a book with an English title would certainly work, especially if it was aimed at a younger audience, no matter if it was originally written in German or any other language. <S> On the other hand, "the awakening" can be easily translated into German as "das Erwachen", which has a nice sound and feel to it, and I don't think that any publisher would decide on the English title in that case. <S> They would only use the English title, if it sounded better than the German translation. <S> Maybe this will give you some ideas about your own language and country, which I am not familiar with. <A> If the target audience understand the meaning of the tittle, then its fine. <S> I'm an English only speaker, but if a book was titled 'El Diablo' that would be fine because I am familiar with those two specific spanish words. <S> Also I would probably assume that the book was set in a Spanish speaking country or has something to do with spanish speaking people. <S> Would an English tittle imply that the story had something to do with an English speaking culture? <S> Is that good or bad for your specific book? <S> When seen in book shops, would the customer falsely assume that the book was in English and not look at if if they can't read English? <S> Maybe you could have a Portuguese quoat on the cover as well. <A> I recently finished reading a novel in translation to English from Russian. <S> The title was in Latin (in the original edition, the title was transliterated to Russian, but the English edition was in English transliteration.). <S> In this case, the authors (a duo) used a Latin phrase because it had meaning within the book. <S> None of the characters spoke Latin (or anything else but Russian) but Latin is commonly used in literature (and movies too) for its nifty phrasing. <S> These characters used a few Latin phrases in their work, including the one used for the title. <S> But, if your only reason for changing the language of the title is because you think it sounds prettier, don't. <S> If it's not common in your country, it may come off as pretentious. <S> You'll turn readers off who don't know English too. <S> Another issue is there are already similarly named titles in English. <S> Over 12,000 listings in Goodreads with the word "Awakening" in the title (may not be an accurate count, but it's still gonna be big). <S> On a quick browse of the first two pages of the search, there are 5 titles that are simply "The Awakening." <S> Including the famous novel by Kate Chopin. <S> If the sound of the title is your focus, choose another phrase in Portuguese.
| If English has cache in your country, or if you're publishing in an English-speaking country, or if your characters use English terms, including the title, then what you're proposing may work well.
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Is it strange to describe the narrator's facial expressions in a first-person narrative? Examples: “Really?” I said, widening my eyes. "What?" My eyes lifted and I raised my brows in shock. I think this reads strange because the narrator can't see his or her own face (or wasn't able to back then). So I tend to write this instead: I was taken aback. “Really?” "What?" I said, startled. But I don't know, maybe I'm wrong and authors write stuff like the first examples all the time? <Q> Facial expressions are generally involuntary. <S> I don't raise my eyebrows in surprise -- they rather do it of their own accord. <S> Your writing could reflect this: " <S> Really? <S> " I gasped, eyes wide. <S> "What? <S> " My eyebrows flew up in amazement. <S> Your second examples also make sense, because we have access to the narrator's emotional state in first person POV. <S> " <S> Really? <S> " I was shocked. <S> "What? <S> " I couldn't believe what I was hearing. <S> It depends on what kind of effect you want. <A> As @kitzfox says, there are times when you would know what your face must look like, and it would be reasonable for a narrator to say so. <S> I stared wide-eyed. <S> Sometimes you would reasonably guess. <S> "Bob is the smartest man here", my girlfriend announced to the room. <S> I could feel myself reddening with embarrassment. <S> But other times it would be distinctly odd. <S> For example: I had a tired look on my face. <S> Umm, probably not. <S> You might say "I was tired", but you are unlikely to describe yourself as looking tired. <S> If it's somehow important to describe how a first-person narrator looks, to make it sound natural <S> you could either have someone else tell him how he looks, or provide some way that he sees himself. <S> I didn't realize how tired I must be until Sally said, "Wow, you look exhausted." <S> "Does it really show? <S> " I asked. <S> Or <S> As I walked passed the mirror, I glanced at it and saw my own reflection. <S> Wow, I looked tired! <A> When I think about myself, I only think something like <S> I raise my eyebrow <S> when I do it consciously, that is, when I "play" some emotion and "make a face". <S> In all other situations, when I face reflects my emotions, I am usually not aware of this, and in fact I have often been surprised when people told me that I look this or that way, because I was quite sure I was hiding that feeling. <S> So when I read a first person narrative, I expect to read about what a person thinks, what they feel, and what they experience, but not how their face moves or what it looks like. <S> Sometimes a person may think about what they look like from the outside, but this is rare and usually made explicit. <A> From my PoV, depends on the style of writing, example (sorry if it doesn't sound as great as in my mind, not english native): <S> The street lights were flickering. <S> From my seat in Builders Street bus stop i was able to see a shadow move between two piles of boxes. <S> I raised an eyebrow and shouted "Hey, is someone there?", but i got no response. <S> The lights flickered again, and i felt a cold chill on my spine. <S> There was another shadow besides mine...
| Although the narrator can't see his own face, he'd still feel his face moving, so I don't think that's the reason it feels strange. It sounds strange to me because the actions sound intentional.
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How to write a book in 2 weeks? I got challenged to write a book of 100 pages in two weeks. I see this challenge as a game that can be played in many different ways. What are the most effective strategies for writing a lot in a short period of time? <Q> NaNoWriMo <S> challenges everyone to write 50.000 words in one month. <S> I took part in November 2013 and wrote a little over 50.000 words in ten days. <S> What I did was just write, whatever came into my head, without caring much for perfect style or story logic. <S> I later went over the whole thing more slowly and rewrote to polish the language and clean up plot holes. <S> Personally, I didn't much think or worry about how to do this, because I had some previous writing experience. <S> But there are tips on the NaNoWriMo website and in their forums, as well as in a book published by the founder of the event (which I have but didn't yet read). <A> As "what" mentioned above, <S> Plan out how much you plan to write each day to meet your goal of 100 pages in 2 weeks. <S> (That's approximately 7 pages a day, but you'll probably want some time to revise, so go for 8-10 pages a day.) <S> Jot down your ideas when you're not writing. <S> If sudden inspiration strikes and you can't write at the moment, record them <S> so you don't forget later. <S> Don't worry too much about logistics at first. <S> First "dump" and just write all your ideas. <S> You can polish all of that during the editing period. <S> Stopping too often to change details will make you lose your train of thought. <S> Beat writer's block. <S> It's bound to happen. <S> Find out what works for you (e.g. reading, taking a quick jog, etc. <S> Every writer has their own preferences.) <S> Good luck! <S> I hope you find this project enjoyable and very rewarding. <A> First of all I'd ask myself what kind of book <S> it's supposed to be, and what kind of audience I'd make it for. <S> Then I'd ask myself what this audience expects me to produce (if writing a romance novel for instance there'd be a huge emphasis on describing the bodies; creating actual notes of word-banks that might be used might help). <S> Then I'd find a theme I'd write about and make a flowchart what are themes close to it - anything that comes to mind. <S> If the goal is 50k words <S> I'd plan roughly 1k-5k words per theme, and I'd also make a pretty precise plan about the expected wordcount per chapter/theme. <S> On day two I'd start writing and adapt the plan according to the output I produce. <A> As has been mentioned earlier, the method for NaNoWriMo is very effective. <S> It's how I got through my first manuscript in 2 and a half months. <S> I suggest a few things to help with this: Start with an outline/basic idea of what you want. <S> This will help prevent writers block and major rewrites later on. <S> Don't stop to consider word choice, sentence structure, etc. <S> You can always edit later. <S> If you are goal-driven, like I am, give yourself daily/weekly goals to achieve. <S> This will help keep you motivated and focused on the goal. <S> When you're not writing, keep something with you to take notes on. <S> You may get inspiration randomly sitting in a meeting at work or at the doctor's office. <S> If I'm going somewhere where it's acceptable, I usually carry my bluetooth keyboard and my phone, so I can write straight into the document when I'm away from my computer. <A> I would poke around Wikipedia and just find some obscure yet interesting event that happened 50 to 500 years ago. <S> Flesh out the story with your own made up stuff. <S> Boom, there you go! <S> Also, do an outline, it will help in fleshing out details. <S> Clyde Cussler does this a lot and he is a very successful writer.
| For your current project, these are my suggestions: Pace yourself. Just write and keep writing until you've blasted through your word count for the day. Keep going and don't dwell too much on the perfect word or way to phrase something. NaNoWriMo is definitely a great resource to use to motivate you to produce a lot of writing in a limited amount of time.
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Ways to remove "filtering" in narration? I have a lot of filtering in my writing: I decided to start my journey at the library. Why? Well, I figured it'd have more reliable information than the Internet... Once I reached there, though, I realized it wasn't the case. What are some techniques to remove filtering? EDIT: I tried this: The library was the best place to start my research. Why? Well, It had more reliable information than the Internet... However, it didn't turn out to be the case: Not sure if I improved or worsened the passage, though. <Q> It largely depends on the context and style of the story you're telling. <S> With the filtering the character would feel less confident, and potentially more inclined to be realistic when the character makes mistakes. <S> The edited version has more confidence and is a stronger sentence. <S> It could be a reflection of your lack of confidence. <S> A solution might be to write your first draft, allowing whatever filtering makes the writing work for you. <S> Then when you have got a feel for who the character is, go back and make their language sound like them. <S> If the character is someone who would filter a lot, then use it. <S> if not, filter it out! <S> You're aware enough of the filtering you are applying to the story to start naturally reducing it, so for the time being, don't worry about it too much and just enjoy the writing. <A> Why lay the blame on the narrator? <S> Why not lay the blame on the library? <S> "Why does the library have a reputation for being the place to coinduct proper researn? <S> Instead of stayiong home, I decided to waste my time and visit the library, and what good did it do?" <S> btw, i found your second sentence more troubling:"Once <S> I reached there, <S> though, I realized it wasn't the case"If you're writing dialog, even internal dialog, it's permissable to be a little less formal, so you could have used " <S> Once I got there" or even "Once there..." <A> I do the same thing when I write. <S> Your second passage does sound better. <S> It puts the reader deeper inside the character's mind -- because rather than reading what the character tells us <S> he's thinking, we're reading exactly what he's thinking. <S> Don't worry about these during the first draft, but in the next draft you can go through and simply remove all the "I felt", "I saw", "I realized", "I noticed", etc. <S> You'll end up with stronger prose for it.
| Get the story written, and then decide the tone and style.
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Is it possible to find authors' agents? I am trying to locate agents in my area of writing, so as to better target the limited amount of queries I'm sending. There are several other writers writing in similar genres/niches, and I would be interested in contacting their agents, who clearly have an affinity for this area of writing. Short of directly tweeting/emailing these authors to ask for their agents (which strikes me as discourteous/unprofessional), is there a database of authors and their agents I could consult? <Q> <A> In most books, the author will have an acknowledgements page or two, and they almost always include the name of their agent. <S> A few other helpful places to look: Acknowledgements page in the back of the author's book aaronline.org <S> (AAR is an association of agents that requires a certain level of ethics, e.g. no reading fees) <S> Writers Digest's Guide to Literary Agents and Writers Market Look for big conferences in your genre - they usually have visiting agents. <S> (For example, I write thrillers, so I looked at the International Thriller Writers conference page where they listed agents coming to the conference.) <S> BIG ONE <S> Look at Publishers Marketplace . <S> They have a listing of all agents, authors, book deals, etc. <S> that are going on right now in the industry. <S> It does cost a little, but it is definitely worth it. <A> find a copy of 2015 Guide to Literary Agents - Sambuchino, Chuck or 2015 <S> Writer's Market - Robert Lee Brewer <A> AgentQuery.com has a searchable directory of agents that can be filtered by genre and/or keyword.
| Look at The Complete Idiot's Guide to Finding a Literary Agent ( http://www.penguin.com/static/pages/cig/quickguides/literary-agent.php ), it lists lists of agents.
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Market for novellas and/or novelettes Does anybody know anything about the current market or demand for novellas or novelettes? I'm in the beginning stages of my writing career and it looks like, so far, I struggle with being concise enough for short stories but, also, I have yet to put down enough words for a full-on book. I'm curious if pieces in the 25,000 to 45,000 word count range have any place in modern literature. Please say yes. <Q> Check out Duotrope.com or Ralan.com for novella or novelette markets. <S> There are about four to eight market buyers per genre. <A> If you're planning to self-publish, then you would probably have a much better chance of selling your work. <S> Having said that, whether or not you truly find success will depend on how well you write, how ell you promote yourself, and what genre you choose to write in. <S> Some writers have even found success with genres such as mystery/suspense or paranormal. <S> One of the strategies that I have seen work well for some authors is to write novellas in a series. <S> They will then offer the first book in the series as a freebie or drastically reduced to get readers. <S> If they can get the reader hooked, then the follow-on sales from the other stories in the series can generate some income. <S> Another strategy is to make one book free or cheap, and then make your profits off of collections. <S> This may be more beneficial if you have more than a couple of stories that are not necessarily part of a series, but at least follow the same specific genre and might appeal to the same readers. <S> As long as you aren't trying to sell your short work at too high a price then you shouldn't have any problems. <S> I would strongly recommend that your book description include the word count and that you point out that it is a novella or short novel. <S> It is not uncommon for some people to give bad reviews if they were expecting an epic novel but only got a novella. <A> Novellas don't seem to attract as large of an audience as novels, but they definitely have a place in the market. <S> But if novellas are what you're interested in, definitely go for it! <S> There are several well-known novellas out there, including (but not limited to) The Little Prince, Animal Farm, Three Blind Mice , etc. <A> Colin Ennen, don’t be stingy with your words. <S> They may not be holy writ; <S> Yet! <S> :) <S> No "real" market for that size, expend it to novel length or discard it as a writing learning experience. <S> In your writing career, you’ll probably have to “throw away” many writing pieces.
| Some genres, such as romance or erotica, tend to sell a lot of novellas. Regardless of your genre, if you write enough of them, and they are written well, then you could find your own level of success.
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How do screenwriters incorporate song scenes into a screenplay for a musical? If the song is already written, sure, easy question. But say you're sitting down to write The Lion King before any composers have even been brought aboard, before pre-production has even been dreamt of. What do you write? <Insert song here about a life philosophy precluding worry or anxiety and focusing on happy times, preferably revolving around a made-up word like 'haboona-tratata'...characters will romp around the jungle while main lion grows older in montage sequence> How is this situation handled? <Q> A musical has 3 kinds of writing in it: the “book” (aka the “play”) written by the writer the lyrics, written by the lyricist the music, written by the composer … if you don’t write all 3 yourself then you need collaborators. <S> Generally speaking, the lyrics are written either first or concurrently with the book because they are the most important parts of the story, and the book weaves the various lyrics into one big quilt of a musical. <S> The music can be written at various times. <S> Of course, you can do it any way that you want. <S> But to me, writing the book first sounds like the hard way. <S> You risk a lot of wasted effort because you may put the lyrics in and notice that the book has to change a lot. <S> A lyric might obsolete whole sections of the book, or require whole new sections to be written. <A> Assuming it's something you're writing on spec, I think you need to write your best attempt at the song lyrics. <S> (Why write a musical if you don't write songs?) <S> If you're offering a musical and you write "Insert song here" it seems jarring for the reader. <S> It's a like reading "Insert great plot twist". <S> If a writer has been hired to write a musical, it could work in various ways. <S> The writer will be told how to proceed. <A> What I've done for myself is to insert "dummy songs" in my screenplay, that is, existing songs similar to the one that I might want. <S> Once the screenplay is finished, you have two options (with each song). <S> One is to write a new song to replace the dummy song that you put somewhere. <S> Two is to allow the "dummy" song to continue to fill the space (and get permission to do so). <S> The whole idea of these"dummy" songs is to maintain the flow of thought. <S> Once they've served the original purpose, they can be removed as "placebos," unless they are so central that it's worth retaining them. <A> There's not a single answer. <S> Mostly you would do whatever the studio, the lyricist and the other people working on the musical need. <S> You'll want to establish the points in your script where songs are needed; emotional moments, or revelatory ones, or even just where it needs to be broken up. <S> Then indicate in the script that a song is happening, explain briefly what the song is telling, and describe what will be seen onscreen during as it happens. <S> We see Sarah spin around and start to SING. <S> Tiny ANIMATED BIRDS fly in and help her as she prepares a pie and sings brightly about making do with what you have. <S> The pie crust is nearly done, we build to a crescendo, and she GRABS THE BIRDS, throws them in the pie one two three, pops it in the oven and finishes her song with a cheery flourish. <S> After the lyricist completes the song, add the lyrics in and change the action to suit the words. <S> But as long as everyone who will be reading the script can tell what's happening, there's not a hard and fast rule. <A> The alternative way is to have a bunch of songs, and then write the book and all the business to glue the musical numbers together. <S> For one example of many, the musical feature film "Sunshine on Leith", created from the music of the Proclaimers.
| They may work with the musician, or they may be told to incorporate certain songs that have already been written.
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Thinking as a character Months after starting my first novel (which hasn't made any progress and is still in its first draft) I feel I can only react to a given situation rather than create one. The same seems to apply to my characters. The conversations feel very forced and nothing seems to be helping me make them better. Even though I want the novel to be a third person narrative, would it help if I wrote from each character's POV to think like that character and understand how that particular character would react to the situation? What other methods would make the conversations feel more natural? Here is a link to what I have written so far. <Q> If the characters are only reacting, give each character something to want. <S> A desire strong enough that the character will struggle to achieve it. <S> Then make the character struggle. <S> For dialogue, give each character an agenda. <S> Things they want from the conversation. <S> Things they do not want to happen. <S> Things they do not want to reveal. <S> And make sure their agendas conflict. <S> The agendas may show up directly in the dialogue. <S> Or they may show up indirectly, in the way the characters say things, or in what they don't say, or in what they pay attention to, or in the way they react to each other. <A> I think the problem with dialogue is often that people try to make it sound like real conversation when that isn't the purpose at all. <S> The purpose of dialogue in a novel is to convey a point, but using a character to do so, instead of just telling the fact. <S> So maybe in your first draft simply have Bob told everyone he was going to the shop for a turnip. <S> then as you learn more about your character you will get a better feel for how he would say that line. <S> So your second draft might replace it with <S> "Hey everyone, I'm all out of turnips here! <S> I gotta go shop..." <S> Don't get too hung up with stuff that is to do with getting to know your characters, you will get to know them as the story progresses. <S> At the end of your first draft you will be able to go back and get a much better feel for what they are going to say. <S> Don't aim for perfect on the first draft. <S> (Or the second, third, forth or fifth for that matter) Just know the second (third, forth,fifth) will be a vast improvement. <A> Is it event driven (the volcano is about to erupt and everyone is reacting to that) or is people driven (a group of people decide to rob the local museum while everyone else is distracted by a volcano). <S> For some reason, it's easier to write when events drive the narrative. <S> Everyone just reacts to something external that's going on. <S> But that's exactly the problem you're describing. <S> Your characters aren't people, they're passengers. <S> Sometimes events happen. <S> Eventually the volcano will erupt and your characters will need to deal with it. <S> Before that, however, they need to drive the story, which means they need to control events. <S> It might be easier if you identify those goals in advance. <S> Instead of writing from the point of view of the character, write a very short biography instead. <S> A story should be about an individual's pursuit of happiness and all the flawed ways we go about obtaining it. <A> I've heard that you need to discover your character's strengths and weaknesses, motivations, and their backstory. <S> Get to know your characters and what makes them special. <S> Good characters should have these things directly influencing each other. <S> If you understand what makes your character who they are, what motivates them, ect. <S> , then you can understand how they specifically would respond to a given situation. <S> As for the issue of them reacting to situations and not creating them (if I'm understanding you right), maybe it's an issue of active vs. passive characters. <S> Main characters should be active (their decisions directly influence the plot), rather than passive (the plot influences them - active characters can be influenced by the plot, but their choices should matter). <S> One resource I've learned a lot from is the YouTube channel Writing With Jenna Moreci (be warned that she does use a lot of humor and bad words to relay her extremely helpful and intelligent information). <S> She has videos that go into detail about character backstories, arcs, and active vs. passive characters.
| The trick is to identify what is driving your story forward. Don't worry too much about what the character is saying, initially just get their point across, even if it is without dialogue. Identify what each character wants, what they are afraid of, who they care about, and (most importantly) why they want that, fear that, care about that person.
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Usage of archaic words I am a non-native speaker trying to write in English. Due to my reading of chiefly dated English literature, my vocabulary consists of many terms that are regarded as being archaic nowadays. In the majority of cases I don't know about their archaic condition until I look them up in a dictionary. Often, however, I conceive a great affection towards suchlike and would like to use them in my own writings. I don't know how this may be perceived by native speakers, though. How can I decide whether or not it is appropriate to use a term that is classed as archaic in modern works of literature? <Q> This is very difficult to answer with any finality so I'll present a few thoughts that come to mind and hope they help you: <S> Your use of such words creates a style to your writing. <S> Every author has a style and readers usually enjoy styles that are not common. <S> So, having a style that integrates the use of outmoded, though perfectly correct, words would bring a unique style to your writing. <S> The hurdle of using such words though is that if you use too many, you may alienate your readers. <S> This is a very ambiguous line and there is no perfect ratio of modern to archaic words that can be prescribed. <S> On the other side of this is the possibility that you could get readers interested in expanding their own vocabulary. <S> The ultimate success of your writing be will your ability, or lack thereof, to draw the reader in and create a compelling narrative, which is its own challenge regardless of the era of your vocabulary. <S> Best of luck! <S> Do you have any samples of writing to post here so that we can better gauge the efficacy of your word choice? <A> I think this is where the teaching of literature becomes confusing and many have been set on the wrong path. <S> Generally speaking, articles, essays, newspapers require very neutral distinct style. <S> If you read a newspaper article or a work of non fiction you'll simply get the information. <S> Novels are totally different, on reading a novel you'll hear the narrative voice. <S> A distinct narrative voice is essential. <S> Personally, I couldn't read a 300 page newspaper article. <S> The lack of voice is why so many journalists fail when attempting to write a novel. <S> Read John Grisham and <S> you'll notice that he 'sounds' like himself. <S> You 'hear' the Mississippi in his 'voice'. <S> Even a third-person narrator has an active component. ' <S> Who is telling the story?" <S> An archaic narrative would appear sympathetic if used in Historical Fiction. <S> But with correct framing the style can be applied to most genre. <S> The opening will set the tone. <S> Maybe the story through the eyes if Grandpa. <S> e.g. "Millennials lack decorum and sensibility, particularly the girls. <S> That turgid abomination: <S> Hippety-Hop music is the root cause of their wanton promiscuity. <S> They would be better to a more demure disposition, and they should wear frocks of a decent length." <S> Or maybe just watch this? <S> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7E-aoXLZGY <A> Using an occasional archaic word can give your stories a distinctive "feel". <S> I think some readers, at least, will enjoy occasionally learning a new word. <S> But I can think of two big reasons to limit this. <S> One, while YOU might use archaic words, would your characters? <S> If you have a character who is a literature professor and in dialog he uses words like "cozen" and "abjure", okay, not implausible. <S> But if you have a tough street gang member using such words ... that would just sound very implausible. <S> You might justify it, but you can't just throw it in. <S> Two, if you use too many archaic words, the reader is going to find your text incomprehensible. <S> To some extent you can avoid or reduce the problem by giving a hint of the meeting in context. <S> Like if you write, "He stabbed his victim with a sharp bodkin", the reader can readily guess that a "bodkin" must be some kind of knife or sword. <S> But, "He opened the box and was surprised to see a carcanet inside" ... <S> well that could be anything. <S> But in general, if you use one word that is likely to be unfamiliar to the reader every few pages, it can be interesting. <S> But ten per sentence and you might as well be writing in a foreign language. <S> I think it would break the feel of a book set in ancient Rome if a character says, "Oh no, Publius has Hansen's disease! <S> " If I was writing such a story, I'd have the character say that he has "leprosy". <S> One could quibble that presumably the characters are speaking Latin and the English is a translation, so why shouldn't we translate into 21st century English rather than 19th century English? <S> But it just ... feels wrong. <A> You use any word where it is appropriate. <S> There is a place for a colloquialism just like there is a place for an archaic word. <S> It has to match the voice of a character or narrator. <S> If you are writing about metro geeks, it would not be appropriate if they spoke like medieval peasants. <S> I worked with an editor who provided very harsh critique to my own writing along the same lines as what you are now concerned about. <S> She was concerned that I was using too many colloquialisms. <S> But my characters were very ordinary people who should be expected to speak in such voice! <S> She had an issue with my use of obsolete words. <S> But my characters were ancient beings who spent eternity in hibernation! <S> Take a step back and a second look at your work. <S> Are the characters using appropriate language? <S> Yes/ <S> No. <S> And if your command of English does not allow for making that determination by yourself then seek a competent editor.
| As a special case, if you are writing historical fiction, a certain amount of archaic words are expected and help to set the tone.
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Legal or copyright problems using Google drive or other cloud storage for story notes? What kind of problems (if any) might I have with copyright laws when keeping story notes and some or all of my writing on cloud based storage such as Google drive? How might this affect future publication? <Q> Any writing that you make available to the general public (whether anyone reads it or not) is published. <S> That will prevent you from selling various "first" rights, which is what publishers typically want. <S> If you haven't made it public, don't worry about it. <S> Google Drive is just storage. <S> As for the notes... <S> You own the copyright to those, too, but those are not the thing you'll be licensing to publishers. <S> If you make the notes public, and they include substantial chunks of the text of the manuscript, that might cause a problem when you shop the manuscript. <S> If your notes are mostly ideas for the story, and not the text of the story, that's fine. <S> You can't copyright ideas. <S> Only a particular expression of those ideas. <A> Google Drive's terms state: <S> “You retain ownership of any intellectual property rights that you hold in that content. <S> In short, what belongs to you stays yours.” <S> https://support.google.com/docs/answer/2733115 <A> Whether you write documents with a pencil and keep them in a drawer or save them electronically on your personal computer or on the Internet or chisel them into stone tablets and hide them in a cave, your copyright rights are the same. <S> If you send your writing to someone with the understanding that they will publish it, of course that's a different category. <S> Then they're not just storing it, they're publishing. <S> I suppose if you are using any sort of service where someone else has access to your writing in any manner, it makes sense to check any agreements before you sign them.
| In general, the form or medium or location in which you keep your writing has nothing to do with your copyright.
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Is it a good idea to stay away from past progressive in fiction? I never noticed this in my writing until one of my readers pointed it out: We were driving down the highway in Tom's Toyota 4Runner, dim streetlights passing by, the night city scene fading behind us. Awkward way to begin the chapter from a grammatical perspective. Is there a reason you chose to start in past progressive? I'm left unsure of where I am entirely. I wrote in the past progressive because I wanted to show that they were already in the highway. If I'd written "We drove down the highway...", it would have looked as if they were just arriving to the highway. Or maybe it's not the case? And I should stay away from the past progressive in situations like this as a rule? <Q> Past progressive is great for relating the context in which some event occurred: We were driving down the highway in Tom's Toyota 4Runner when the earthquake hit. <S> There are probably other uses, too. <S> But readers (like your reviewer) likely expect ongoing conditions expressed in past progressive to relate to something in simple past tense. <S> (Similar for present progressive and simple present tense.) <A> Boy, I hate the making of rules for fiction writing. <S> The previous poster has given a good explanation of why you might use the past progressive; I just want to add that I don't agree with your sense that "We drove down the highway" would suggest that they were just starting to drive down the highway. <S> Both choices give the sense that you're already on the highway. <A> Dale mentions a 'when' statement above, which illustrates the 'what happened'. <S> Here's an example of the 'why': <S> We were driving down the highway in Tom's Toyota 4Runner, radio blasting to drown out the sounds of our own fear. <S> Your existing sentence feels awkward because you're setting the scene rather than contextualizing the story. <S> The additional pieces are not related to the driving part, not really, but the progressive tense makes them feel like they should be, so when I read it, I try to connect them <S> and it doesn't immediately make sense. <S> They are more like stand-alone sentences. <S> This is more comfortable: We were driving down the highway in Tom's Toyota 4Runner. <S> Dim streetlights passed by and the night city scene faded behind us. <S> You could start with "We drove...". <S> It's less conversational feeling, more subdued, and makes the whole beginning into setting the scene. <S> We drove down the highway in Tom's Toyota 4Runner, dim streetlights passing by, the night city scene fading behind us. <A> Back in writing school, an author advised his students to write in the first-person present . <S> Even writing in the simple past tense adds a degree of separation between reader and action because it amplifies the presence of an intermediary, namely the storyteller or narrator that all fiction has. <S> The maximum degree of remove happens in epistolary fiction where someone gets a letter from someone else who describes in the letter what happened to yet another person. <S> That unnecessarily complicated chain of storytelling makes novels like Les Liaisons Dangereuses terribly tedious to read. <S> A young writer ambitious enough to rewrite the whole thing in first-person present, and maybe recast it into a promiscuous 21st century, could possibly make a fortune. <S> Tom drives his Toyota 4Runnerdown the highway. <S> Dim streetlights strobe by, and the night city scene fades behind us. <S> Seems more immediate to me.
| Starting with past progressive feels very conversational, and I expect the sentence to end with a phrase that gives some kind of context about why you are doing that or what happened when you did that. The objective is to place as few intermediaries as possible between the reader and the action of the story.
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How can I stress a certain word in a medium that doesn't allow for font embellishments? Many of us probably encountered it before on a social media like Facebook or Twitter, or in the comments section of a major website. You've decided what you want to say, but you want to stress a specific word or couple of words in your message. However, the medium does not allow you to do what you normally do with the font, like put it in bold, or in italics, or underlined, or in a slightly larger font, or in a different font. The only things you can do is use printable characters you can make with your keyboard. One of the most common solutions people thing of is using letter casing, but that can quickly devolve into "why are you shouting at me?" and isn't always suited. When in such a situation, what method can bring across the best impression of a stressed syllable/word/word group without offending people? And does this method depend on the type of stressing you want to give the word (pitch vs tone vs volume)? <Q> Internet tradition (dating back to list serves, etc.) has used the underbar as a signal for italics: I will _never_ <S> eat another steak. <S> The underbar harkens back to typing and handwriting (remember that?) <S> , when underlined text indicated what in print would be rendered in italics . <S> Some social sites, like Google+, will automatically render _text bounded by underbars <S> _ in italics . <S> Likewise, the star or asterisk ( * ) has traditionally been used to bound text that should be considered boldface . <S> So you might tweet: * <S> George R.R. Martin* is executive producer of HBO's _Game of Thrones_ because he wrote the books, but <S> *George Martin* produced _Abbey Road_ and many other Beatle albums. <S> But the best way to emphasize words lies within the words themselves, but that's a topic for another day (or an exercise left for the reader). <A> In Winnie-the-Pooh (or something of a similar genre) there was a Habit of capitalising important words to emphasis its importance to the narrator. <S> e.g. After all he really was A Very Important Bear. <S> I think this works a lot more subtlety than all caps, which tend to jolt you out of the flow of reading. <S> Capitalised words can be absorbed as part of the reading process, we are accustomed to seeing important places, names etc being capitalised. <S> Lending that to words that wouldn't normally be capitalised can make a subtle yet powerful impact. <S> Whereas writing in all caps breaks the reader from the flow of words, you tend to have to consciously read what is said rather than it being an automatic process. <A> I think the short answer is, Put the word in all caps. <S> The criticism of all caps is when you write your entire text in all caps. <S> Indicating that one WORD should be emphasized is perfectly reasonable. <S> TRYING TO EMPHASIZE EVERYTHING <S> YOU WRITE BY PUTTING WHOLE SENTENCES IN ALL CAPS <S> IS USUALLY DISTRACTING AND COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE. <S> Well, if you are writing a ten-page article and put one or two sentences that are particularly important in all caps, that could be fine and good. <S> But where it gets annoying is when you put the whole text -- the whole post or letter or whatever -- in caps. <S> By the way, the same is true for excessive punctuation!!! <S> Sometimes we need to emphasize a word to clarify the meaning of a sentence, and that's fine. <S> But if people don't believe what you're saying or they don't think it's true, saying it louder or writing it in bigger letters rarely helps. <A> An alternative to using _underscores_ to stress a word in a case where you'd normally use italics is to wrap the content in /slashes/. <S> If nothing else, it's less likely to cause a miscommunication of its meaning than "quoting" and less likely to cause an unintentional emotional effect on the reader than USING ALL CAPS. <S> It may be preferable if the other content you are writing contains underscores already, like website usernames: <S> Jeff87, pretty_pretty_princess, and <S> Buffalos_Rule /all/ logged out. <S> But if you're writing something with a lot of slashes in it anyway, maybe _underscore_ or *asterisk* would cause less confusion. <S> I've never been there/ <S> seen it/done *anything* like that! <S> I suppose if you were going to include any asterisked disclaimers <S> * you'd have to similarly choose what characters you want to use for emphasis carefully. <S> For me (and understanding that this is totally subjective), slashes have a similar effect as I read to italics -- causing emphasis, but somewhat gentler than underscores <S> (my brain makes an extra pause around the word when I see those), asterisks (which I associate with a word being bolded), or all caps (which, depending on the context and how many words are capitalized, is like a more intense bolding or outright yelling). <S> * such as this one <A> If I want to emphasize, I cap the first letter of the emphasizes word. <S> Italics seem a bit cheesy to me. <S> For example: You ate the Red biscuit?! <S> You Ate the red biscuit?! <S> You ate The red biscuit?! <S> Of course there are issues when the word would be capped for other reasons (name, start of sentence). <S> But that's what I do.
| Writing a word in ALL CAPS might be frowned upon because it is considered a visual equivalent of shouting, but shouting is a spoken form of emphasis, so ALL CAPS might be just what you need.
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Is showing motion by repeating words a sign of bad writing? I just noticed that I do this a lot: We continued marching and marching. The forest seemed endless. Either that or we were going in circles. Up and up I went, biting back the growing pain in my knees, blinded by sunlight that flashed through the twisted branches. Up and up and up until I was high enough to feel vertigo. Is this a sign of bad writing? Maybe the repetition doesn't say much about how far the character have gone and where he/she's currently located? <Q> Like most stylistic choices, I don't think this is a problem unless you're doing it a lot. <S> The repetition in your second example seems find because it's a deliberate echo, not an accidental one, but if you're using repetition over and over (see what I did there?), you may want to tone it down. <S> (In the first example, I'd say the "continued" is redundant, if you use the repetition. <S> "We marched and marched," seems like it would work more smoothly? <A> There's really very few unequivocal 'signs' of bad writing when it comes to word choice. <S> It's simply not that easy. <S> Depending on the character, age, education, temper, exhaustion, voice etc of the narrator, 'we marched and marched' may be a great choice. <S> The key word is choice . <S> If you're just noticing you do this a lot, then it probably is a sign that you need to treat examples of it in your writing as a flag. <S> The fact that you noticed it is commendable. <S> It's a good catch. <S> Reading books on the subject of careful writing helps me tune into my own opportunities for improvement. <S> I recommend The Careful Writer by Bernstein, Making Shapely Fiction by Stern, and <S> On Writing <S> Well by Zinsser. <A> So, writing with a current weakness. <S> Consider your above examples: "The forest seemed endless. <S> " This has roughly the same effect as the previous line with the repetition but is more effective. <S> You only need one of those lines, really. <S> In the second example, take out the 'up and up' sentences/clauses and you're left with much more vivid and effective prose. <S> Delete the repetitions <S> and it's an instant improvement. <S> Just because you haven't stated the idea you have in mind - he climbed for a long time - doesn't mean you haven't suggested it strongly (because you have). <S> Really, what is more interesting? <S> Feeling the character's exhaustion with them, or registering the subjective idea that he is exerting significant effort? <S> In a poetry class I was told that nouns are the key to description. <S> Nouns are the most direct way to an image or sensation. <S> Another way to interpret that observation is that specificity comes from something to focus upon. <S> Nouns are subjects, adjectives are mere modifiers. <S> So for example: if the characters are marching through a forest, a very specific, moss-covered trunk growing over a large stone is a sight the characters can encounter a second time in their marching. <S> When perceived along with their throbbing backs and strained knees, they realize their lack of progress and can only help but stop for a despair-soaked break. <S> Sensory details and characters reacting to a specific stimulus tell as much or more then describing the intended impression. <S> In a way, by repeating words you are focusing too much on 'telling' the idea you want to confer to the reader, instead of focusing on an image of stimulus that suggests that idea, aka 'showing.'
| It's not bad writing, but it is a common technique and has only light impact.
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Continue working it through or start over? I'm writing a novel, but due to lack of time because these years for me are very important for my academic future, it hasn't progressed that much. However, I like it very much and would like to finish it, plus I have invested a lot of time into editing and the like. The entire plot is ready with the exception of a few minor conflict kinks, and I have a trilogy planned. However, I'm the type of writer that gets struck with other inspirations, and currently I just got hit with one I'm itching to write--an 8 book series in which the entire plot for the first book is also planned out; yep, I got reaaally into it. Should I stick it out and work harder on the original project? That's what I lean to; I ought to finish the trilogy first. But at the same time, I find myself sketching the character designs for my other inspiration... <Q> Are you writing for fun and to relax after your job? <S> Then follow your inspiration as David Roberts suggests. <S> But do not expext to ever finish a book, because very likely what you perceive as inspiration is the joy in dreaming up stories coupled with an unwillingness to do the less pleasant parts of a writer's job. <S> Or are you writing to publish? <S> Then finish one book -- not one trilogy; one book! -- before you start on the next. <S> As explained elsewhere (in other answers on this site), a good time to start the next book is when the first is being reviewed by beta readers, but that is the most overlap that is not detrimental to finishing a project. <S> Discipline, I believe, is the key to success. <S> But, as I never tire of emphasizing, people are different. <S> Maybe you can work on – and actually make progress in – multiple parallel projects. <S> Maybe you know the kind of person you are, or you'll have to try and find out. <A> I've found that the best time to write is when the inspiration is active and flowing on its own. <S> Don't put it off. <S> Then, when the urgency to work on your 8 book series begins to wane, switch gears back to the novel you're currently writing and push to finish it up. <S> Also, the break might allow your subconscious some breathing room to work out the "kinks" on its own. <A> For me, personally, the most exciting point of any project is the initial burst of inspiration, and my interest always wanes near the end. <S> So when I start any project, I always need to make a personal commitment to finish it, or else I end up with all starts, and no finished projects.
| Note down ideas you have for the next book, so you won't forget them (and can free your mind), but don't explore them. If you've got thoughts and images pressing to the front of your brain and the words and outlines are presenting themselves - write them down!
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What's the best way to punctuate a list with an comma-containing item? Examples: She looked tough: pieced nose, broad eyebrows, tousled hair, almost spiky. I tried picturing him: his tiny body swinging above the ground, his eyes bloodshot, almost popping out, his tongue hanging to the side like a dead worm. Are lists like these confusing? If so, how can I improve their clarity? <Q> You can use semi-colons when you want to use commas as well. <S> For example: He had three ties: a red one, which he hated; a striped one, which he loved; and a green one that had been given to him by his aunt. <S> Sometimes you can enclose extra information in parentheses. <S> For example: I like several different dishes: lasagne (only if it is made with beef); pizza (has to have cheddar on it); and, chops (pork, of course). <S> Punctuation isn't always an exact science. <S> People disagree over how to do it 'correctly'. <S> Yes, there are some places the majority of people would say you need a full stop, etc. <S> but in other places different people would insist that their method of doing it is correct while others disagree. <S> In these situations make sure that your meaning is clear to the reader, be consistent in what you do and just get on with it. <A> Your sentences are exactly right, Alexandro. <S> In each case what follows the comma is a list of sentence elements in apposition to each other, one that is appropriately punctuated with commas. <S> In the first example, you have noun phrase appositives, and in the second, absolute phrases in apposition. <S> One item in each list has a comma within it : hair, almost spiky, and bloodshot eyes, almost popping out. <S> To me, these are not sufficiently complex to trigger the use of semicolons -- the lists are not confusing. <A> Another option (although I can't speak for its grammatical propriety) that might help guide the reader through different pauses that help distinguish items on the list from the side descriptions of them would be to use dashes. <S> She looked tough: pierced nose, broad eyebrows, tousled hair - almost spiky. <S> I tried picturing him: his tiny body swinging above the ground, his eyes bloodshot - almost popping out - and his tongue hanging to the side like a dead worm.
| If the items in your lists were more complex, with commas within each element, then you might want to avoid confusion by using semicolons.
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How much effort should I spend explaining plot device? I think it is good Idea to start by example: Main hero is given briefcase and informed, that such briefcase contains very powerful bomb. The goal is to assassinate Prime Minister of given country. Main hero goes undetected through security checks, disguised as press worker, having one to one interview with the Prime Minister. The briefcase goes boom earlier as expected, but luckily main hero's gut feeling saves him at the very last second, while the bomb not only kills Prime Minister, but also demolishes half of the building. From the story itself it is very clear that briefcase bomb is plot device. It has to go through security check and it has to go boom in order for story to progress. How much effort should I spend explaining contents of such briefcase? In story above (which I did read in one book) it is just handwoven with one sentence. As a reader, I got really curious of what might be in such briefcase so it passes security checks. But as a writer, I do not know if a story should actually explain it. <Q> I would say it would depend on whether specifics of the device has any bearing on the plot. <S> In your example the bomb specifications themselves don't seem to be relevant to the story. <A> I think your question is a bit shallow for proper answer, but i will try to discribe: <S> 1) <S> What kind of story are you telling? <S> Is is criminal story about your hero going in pathway of the briefcase bomb maker? <S> If it is, your hero will need some information about that briefcase. <S> Color, weight, maybe small details as locks, material of the briefcase or such things like that. <S> Your hero will need them to have some clues to work on as he will be searching for answers. <S> 2) Different story only about hero not researching crime? <S> I think in this case is your briefcase irrelevant. <S> It is only "thing" that made situation your hero is in. <S> So details of it is not relevant, only thing mentioned is that bomb was in briefcase and it done terrible things. <S> That's it. <A> My approach: <S> Focus on the main hero's viewpoint. <S> If the main hero thinks about the contents, write that. <S> If the main hero has an opinion about the contents, write that. <S> If the main hero feels some emotion about the contents write that. <S> The key to deciding what to put in is not what he knows, but what he thinks and feels in the course of the story. <S> For example: I imagine that the main hero would be quite concerned about how the bomb will go through security. <S> If the bomb is made of materials that might set off detectors, he would think about that as he goes through security. <S> If the explosive is some material that escapes detection, he might think about that.
| I will recommend you to think about, what story you want tell, and after that you will find what details about briefcase you need for a proper story.
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I am looking to self publish a book but I don't need everything the sites offer I have created a picture book and already have it designed and have a local printer who is going to handle the print-on-demand. I can not find a self publishing website that does not dictate the layout/design, and printing of the book. Can anyone tell me: Is there a site out there where I can register the book and myself as the self publisher without having to give up what I have already created? Do I have to "publish" the book? I have an ISBN and bar-code. I have my own website where the book will be sold as well as local shops. Of course I would be thrilled if it is on amazon.com. <Q> If you've already got a printer for the book, and a distribution plan, what else are you looking for? <S> Do you know how to format an e-book? <S> It's a bit finicky, but not that difficult - I really like Guido Henkels' guide ( http://guidohenkel.com/2010/12/take-pride-in-your-ebook-formatting/ ) <S> but it gives you way more information than you need, really. <S> You can also usually pay someone $50-75 to do the formatting for you. <S> Alternatively, some of the sites for uploading ebooks will do the formatting for you, as long as you put a reasonably clean version of the MS in at the start. <S> In terms of getting the book on Amazon? <S> You can do that yourself, just create an account at kdp.amazon.com. <S> If you want a print book sold at Amazon, I think you'll have to go through Createspace. <S> If you're looking for a way to hit other e-book retailers, be aware that this would disqualify you for the Kindle Select program, which may or may not be a big deal for you - worth looking into. <S> But if you don't want to use Kindle Select, you can go to Smashwords and put your e-book up there, and they will distribute it to other e-retailers. <S> ETA <S> : There's no secret button to push to "publish" your book. <S> As soon as you have a copy available to the public, it's published. <S> Good luck with it! <A> If you have a printer who is handling print-on-demand, what would you need an additional service for? <S> Lay out the book yourself, or hire a designer to do it, and send the end files to your POD printer. <S> To declare yourself the publisher you just put it in your colophon information: <S> Published by Final Frontier Enterprises <S> Excelsior, CO 74656 <S> You already have your ISBN and barcode. <S> You don't need CreateSpace/XLibris etc. <A> One of the first things you should consider is whether or not you are going to have to pay anything to this local printer in order to get your book "published". <S> If so, then you may want to consider a different approach. <S> Just being able to get your book printed doesn't guarantee that it is going to get sold to anyone, especially book stores or libraries, unless you put a lot of effort into promoting the book and drawing attention to it. <S> Whether or not it gets bought or ordered by book stores or libraries isn't going to be any easier or more assured, but it won't cost you anything. <S> (This is assuming you already have an appropriate book cover and have the book formatted. <S> If not, then you may have to pay for those services, but you'd have to do that either way.) <S> Before you take any action, you may want to do some more research into the different options you have available to you.
| If you use a publishing service such as CreateSpace, you can make your book available in print, you can use the ISBN you have already purchased, and you can have your book immediately available through Amazon.
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Writers block: Lost momentum, can't write even a sentence I've been writing a story for almost half a year. I worked on it almost every day because I really like doing it, but now that I have been away for a month on a vacation I can't seem to write a single sentence . I don't know what happened but it's so hard for me to continue writing. Either I can't concentrate or I just stare at the screen. I hate this so much because I want to finish my story, but I just cant. Could anyone please help me? <Q> Relax. <S> You just wrote a bunch of sentences in this post. <S> You're fine, you're just a little stuck. <S> Do you know what happens next in your story? <S> If not, your issue isn't with writing, it's with planning. <S> Try to brainstorm and figure out where you're going. <S> There are a lot of different outlining worksheets on the internet and you could try one of those. <S> If you know what happens next, do you know what happens after that? <S> Why don't you jump ahead and try to write that scene, and come back to this stuck one later? <S> Try a poem, a short story, a descriptive paragraph, or free writing. <S> Just make yourself put words on the page, even if it's "I don't know what to write" fifty times. <S> Let your brain get used to writing again. <S> Switch up your tools. <S> Do you normally type? <S> Try handwriting, or writing in crayon with pictograms every paragraph, or whatever else will pull you out of your brain. <S> Try a different location. <S> Talk to someone about your characters and remember why you care about them. <S> Leave this story behind. <S> Just because the story isn't finished doesn't mean you aren't finished with it. <S> Maybe it's time for you to start another story. <S> Overall? <S> RELAX. <S> The story isn't going anywhere, and it'll be waiting for you when you're ready. <A> Stuff that works for me: <S> I have a beer. <S> Alcohol is an disinhibitor, and disinhibition is the exact opposite of a block. <S> Not sure why, but it works too.) <S> I write thinking, " <S> Okay, I'll write the idea first <S> and I'll come back to fix the wording later. <S> " <S> I write while listening to music. <S> (For some reason, listening to words + rhythm, stimulates those that are tramped inside me.) <S> Try these out. <A> Just use Gemmell's rule, which is actually quite old. <S> Have a character ask a question, any question. <S> You'll never again get stuck with writers block. <S> For example, "So where are we going?" <S> The other man mumbled. <S> " <S> Gonna go buy steaks --" "What steaks? <S> And who're you, by the way? <S> I thought that we were ... " <S> Your last chapter of course has nothing about any steaks. <S> And really, who is this other guy? <S> Well it doesn't matter. <S> You don't know, you'll have to decide. <S> Oh! <S> and now you're not stuck anymore. <S> That's just a device to break through writers block. <S> You never intended to get stuck, so the plot has no such scenario. <S> However you did, in fact, get stuck. <S> Now it really doesn't matter what you wrote prior these three sentences, I repeat. <S> They force the story to move on. <S> You can always edit and improve the `unblocking' device later. <S> Works for academic writing too. <S> It's how most mathematics books are organized, why they're so all over the place in structure. <S> Even Byron did it. <S> Why else is a question about the sinking of Venice in the same text as a story about the Ukraine? <S> Anyway, nobody will complain. <S> Presumably you can make it interesting and worth reading. <S> Although it was an arbitrary event in the plot, it doesn't look arbitrary to the reader if you do it right. <S> And you simply cannot get stuck in that case. <A> You'll have to get to the root of what is bothering you. <S> Is it related to attaining perfection? <S> No one ever became perfect by doing nothing. <S> ~anonymous <S> Are you afraid that you'll get the words down <S> and they won't be perfect or as good as you hope <S> and it'll mean something about you? <S> Are you worried that you'll prove you are not a writer? <S> Here's an article I wrote on that: <S> Why Have You Stopped Writing? <S> Are your self-limiting thoughts & beliefs helping you? <S> Here's an article I wrote about that. <S> Maybe it'll encourage you: Self-limiting thoughts? <S> Do you feel like maybe you are wasting your time and not getting any better?Here's an article I wrote about on that <S> : Wasting Time Or Learning Maybe you feel like you are failing in your writing? <S> Here's an article I wrote about : <S> Why Failing Fast Is Succes : <S> Write More <S> I hope you'll find some encouragement in these. <S> I've written them at times to keep myself writing. <A> An author once told me just to write 10 minutes every day, without any thinking about what sense it makes. <S> That'll produce a lot of garbage, but sooner or later you'll find some great sentences and passages you might use to break through your blocking thoughts, because you have a new perspective. <S> So it's like loose the focus to get focused again. <S> Maybe that helps you too? <A> I could say to that critic, <S> yeah, I'll get there, and just keep writing. <S> It worked for me. <A> READ. <S> Read read read. <S> But make sure it's someone good: someone who gets you "pumped" to write. <S> Might I recommend David Foster Wallace? <S> Other stuff that worked for me: listening to emotional music before/slightly during; writing really really late at night (slash early in the morning—that middle-space); and, honestly, sometimes, just letting it lie. <S> Try some other sort of brain-stretching activity. <S> Do some math (fun stuff, not algebra—check AoPS or project Euler). <S> Exercise. <S> Disrupt all of your routines and resume them. <S> And don't worry. <S> It will work out.
| Some other ideas - try writing something else. When I went through a period of not being able to write, I finally made a deal with myself that in the first draft I could do no revisions, just write , but I allowed myself to make marginal notes on the order of "fix this," "this is crap," and so on. Talk to someone about your story and get excited again. I think it's pretty common to get to the point where your inner critic is pretty much paralyzing you. (If you don't drink alcohol maybe you can try coffee. I've been in your situation before, and reading helped.
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Is it legal to self-publish books independently (in any form) with no LTD, L.L.C., D.B.A., etc.? I want to know if I'm safe publishing a book(s) with no copyright/trademarks/etc. and avoiding any kind of business moniker (like a D.B.A. or registration) in order to just get right to the publishing part. Since anyone who makes money independently is basically a freelancer/self-employed person, and a self-employed person can use a pen name without a D.B.A. or the related such, I am assuming that publishing is as simple as writing, formatting, and completing -- then making it available to others. I shouldn't have to file taxes as long as I'm not making tons of money, as nobody will care. <Q> You'll need to check with the tax laws of the jurisdiction you're living in to be sure, but in general, you don't need to have any extra legal designations in order to publish, but you DO need to declare the income for tax purposes. <S> Amazon sends out 1099-MISC forms to their author/publishers detailing the money earned in each tax year. <S> One copy of that form goes to the citizen, another copy goes to the tax authority. <S> So if you're American, the IRS will know how much you made <S> and I imagine they'll expect you to declare it. <S> If you're not American, you'll have to look at local tax rules, but also be aware that Amazon will keep 30% of your sales as a withholding tax unless you jump through a lot of hoops, IRS-wise. <A> You own the copyright on your book. <S> It's a good idea to include a copyright notice when you publish. <S> In the copyright notice, you can claim the copyright in your own name. <S> You do not need to invent a company or alias. <S> You do not need to register the copyright (though that may be a good idea). <S> Publishing is more complex than you might imagine if you want to avoid looking like an amateur. <S> Formatting (whether paperback or ebook) is not trivial. <S> Book covers are not trivial. <S> It's all learnable, but it is by no means simple. <A> You simply operate as an individual publishing his own works, end of story. <S> Some writers do choose to pursue some form of incorporation, but most don't need to bother with it. <S> You should talk to a tax adviser to determine whether or not there is any benefit for you individually. <S> You are incorrect, however, in your assumption that you shouldn't have to file taxes. <S> If you publish through a company such as Kindle Direct Publishing (Amazon), they will send you a Form-1099 at the end of the year which identifies the full amount you earned from them in the previous year. <S> It doesn't matter whether it is $20 or $20,000. <S> The IRS will receive a copy of that same form, so you will be expected to declare that income, and it will need to be reported as self-employment income. <A> As others have noted, no, you do not have to create a business of any sort in order to write and publish. <S> Copyrights are usually registered in the name of an individual, not a company. <S> Almost all will be a person's name, not a business. <S> As a self-published author, the easiest way to get your books out there is to sell through on-line sites like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. <S> They then take care of all the "businessy" stuff. <S> As others have said, you'll get a 1099 reporting your income. <S> As a copy of this goes to the IRS, it is a really really good idea to report it on your income taxes. <S> To the government, the only crime worse than torturing and murdering innocent children is failing to pay your taxes. <S> The one thing that is going to be an issue is if you intend to personally sell your books retail, that is, sell books directly to customers rather than selling through Amazon or bookstores. <S> In that case, you have to collect sales tax, which means you have to register with the state to collect the sales tax and forward the money to the state. <S> Personally, I set up a business to handle the sales of my books. <S> It's just a sole proprietorship, not a corporation or an LLC or anything complicated. <S> I had to file a form with the county and pay a registration fee <S> , I think it's $100 for five years or something like that. <S> All that really does is give me the right to use the company name rather than my own name on "official" documents.
| You are correct in your assumption that you do not need to have any type of company designation regarding a publisher, whether it be as a sole proprietorship or "doing business as". Look at the copyright notice in the books on your shelf. Whether or not you actually owe any taxes will depend on how much you earn as a total between your self-employment (writing) income and all other forms of income.
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Write a book with "protected" characters/ideas without copyright? I want to write a book about an idea/story I've had for many years that I find many will truly enjoy when furnished out; however, I don't want this to be "open-source"; I don't want anyone to be able to re-use it as their own and profit like it's their work (as a Creative Commons kind of license). Is there any way I can "protect" ideas/characters without a copyright? Any simpler, easier, freer way? <Q> Copyright is free. <S> Registering copyright may cost something, depending on where you live, but it's of dubious value, really. <S> In the US, for example, registering copyright allows you to sue for punitive as well as compensatory damages, but it's really pretty rare for a copyright case to go that far anyway. <A> Once you write something, you officially own the copyright to it. <S> That basically means that nobody else can use your story, characters, or setting to create their own story, because it would be considered a derivative work. <S> Basic copyright laws protect the owner from such acts. <S> To help ensure that other people do not assume that your work is "open source", simply add the following tag: " <S> Copyright 2015 by Author Name". <S> By doing this, you make a public declaration that your work is under copyright protection and warns others that they cannot freely reuse your content. <S> Part of your question also mentions the word "ideas". <S> You should be aware that ideas themselves cannot be protected under copyright. <S> If you come up with an idea to write a story about a wife shooting her cheating husband, there is nothing that will prevent somebody else using that idea to write a story about different people in a different setting. <A> The best way to prevent anyone from stealing your idea, is to have a rubbish idea, and write it badly. <S> Anything more than that and what you write will become part of the canon and people will build from it. <S> You're protected from someone stealing the details of your story, but that isn't generally how work is copied. <S> I remember when I first saw Iron man, thinking that I'd really like to see a story that was based on Pepper Potts. <S> with all of the other mayhem going on in the background. <S> In that context I may have an issue calling her Pepper Potts, and the superhero couldn't be Iron man, but I could write something that built on that story by changing the names to protect the guilty (i.e. me) Romeo and Juliet, is probably one of the most known stories in the world, it has been copied, rehashed, built on, stolen from. <S> Imagine what we would have lost from the world if Shakespeare had been worried about someone stealing his ideas. <S> Stop worrying, get writing. <S> If its good, people will steal ideas from it, take it as a compliment, and move on to the next thing they can steal. <S> We're here to be creative, we take ideas from the canon, build on them, and give something new back for others to build from. <S> If you don't like that thought, go be a bricklayer.
| Assuming you're living in a country that's a signatory to the Berne Convention, which you almost certainly are, your work is copyrighted as soon as you record your ideas.
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Original writing is lost when using other people's ideas? Let's say you have a story about a fictional war on a futuristic world and you already have five chapters going on and you want to keep writing to get to the end but then, you're stuck because you don't really know how to kill the enemies without taking off the credibility of the story(adding something that can happen in real life) and then you ask for help on a forum or on worldbuilding stackexchange, or talking to other people about it. You get answers, and that give you some pretty good ideas, so you continue to write three more chapters, but then you're stuck again and ask for help again, and you get another answers, ideas from other people that fit perfectly with your story so you finish your story. So, when you reach that point, can you really say it was your original work, or truly yours? and so if there are any legal repercussions about it? <Q> Every work has inspiration from other works, or ideas that are present in other places. <S> Many excellent works don't even have novel plots. <S> As for legal repercussions, "ideas" are not protected by law. <S> Only the expression of the idea is protected by copyright. <S> "Inventions" that do useful things can be patented, but unless they ARE patented, they are not protected either. <S> So you're probably safe, legally, if you are writing your own work. <S> IANAL. <A> When we give credit to a designer for an article of clothing, we do not caveat our praise by pointing out that they did not weave the fabric or grow the cotton or design the sewing machine or smelt the metal used to build the sewing machine, or invent the concept of clothing. <S> All work is enculturated and builds on the work of others. <S> We give creative credit to the person who realizes the whole of the work, not to those who contribute all the elements that go into it. <S> Many voices contribute to the material that goes into a book. <S> The author is the person who weaves it all together. <A> In quantum physics, they say we might all share a portion of the atoms of Albert Einstein at a given point, so to answer with a question or two, who's atoms are they? <S> Do we ever truly own anything, or is it simply a case of passing things on to future generations?
| If you ask for help and someone gives to you an idea, then logically that idea then becomes yours, even if you have to reinvent it. The only works that are truly original are by people who've never had any contact with other people.
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