Questions tagged [creative-writing]

"Creative writing" is a vague term, but generally means fiction, or writing that's not non-fiction, technical, or business writing. This tag should be used when asking questions that apply to multiple categories of creative writing, such as when asking questions that could apply to fiction or poetry alike.

"Creative writing" is a vague term, but generally means , or writing that's not , , or . This tag should be used when asking questions that apply to multiple categories of creative writing, such as when asking questions that could apply to fiction or alike.

You should specify what your problem is, such as whether you are looking for or that can assist you in your writing , or if you are looking for a that will help you with a certain way of aspects of your world.

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Traits of Bad Writers - Analysing Popular Authors

I realise that this question can fall in the scope of personal opinion but I am looking for something concrete. Very often, not only on this site but other writing related sites, I find people constantly say that certain popular authors are, in…
user96551
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How to write strategy and schemes beyond my real-life capabilities?

I am interested in how to write compelling schemes, large-scale strategies and tactics etc. There are lots of fictional stories where the characters are amazing strategists, or incredibly intelligent. I doubt that authors, put into the same…
minseong
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I feel like my book is too small and I’m kind of just throwing all my ideas out too quick. Does this mean filler might be necessary?

My book seems like it’s going to be way too short. My goal was 300 pages but it seems like it’s barely gonna make 100. What should I do?
Angel
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How to know the reason for rejection?

Just out of curiousity, how do people figure out the reason their work is not accepted? I tried submitting my work to a newspaper but the editor rejected it with a brief message. How do people get feedback on their work besides friends and family? I…
Jeffrey04
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How do I write romance if I've never been in love?

I've been trying to write a good romance but it's falling a little flat. I think it might be because I've never been in love before. My favorite genre is romance (for reading and writing), but I'm kind of bad at writing it. I think it might be…
Diana Zhou
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How do you ensure that a red herring doesn't violate Chekhov's gun?

Red herrings appear to violate Chekhov's gun, but I've been told that not all red herrings are the same and it seems that some red herrings are OK​ if they serve some sort of purpose. How do you ensure that a red herring doesn't violate Chekhov's…
Sayaman
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What are the things that only Stories can do?

I've once heard in a youtube channel that only games could do things such as: getting the player into a flux state (something like getting into a meditation while doing something) and when that happens, you have reflexes and movements that you…
Hanilucas
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How do we create new idioms and use them in a novel?

I am not sure if people would agree, but I think because there were some authors who coined terms and idioms, anyone could create their own idioms. The questions is if there's a guideline, and if there's not what should be common rules our coined…
Sayaman
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New digital ways of presenting a novel in 2011?

The traditional way of presenting a novel is in a book. I know about e-books too. Do you know another digital ways of presenting a novel? For instance, a blog, a twitter novel or something like the mixture of a website and a novel. Having links and…
wyc
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Mixing dialogue and action tags

In my case, I never use dialogue and action tags in the same unit of dialogue (sorry, I just call them units because I had no idea what they are called). So I would never write something like this: Jane heaved a sigh, finally giving up. Then she…
wyc
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Is there a term for a storytelling style where a passage is repeated with more and more detail?

I've been writing some things in this style and I'm not entirely sure if there's a term for it - I'm sure I'm not the first person to think of something like this and I'd like to read some more about it to get better at it. Something like: "It was a…
Arfons
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Is it okay if I wrote a story based on true historical events?

I had a story in mind that basically came from a true historical event in the 1930's. I won't be using real people for the characters but the main storyline is somewhat based on what actually happened. I'll try making it a little different, a little…
Allis
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How to write a character's progression

In my story, the character has to learn a certain skill, with a mentor guiding him. I wrote the introduction and explained some principles regarding the discipline, but I don't want to bore the reader with the practice. And it is necessary that the…
Majuj
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Using pronouns properly in order to avoid confusion and repetition

Sample text without pronouns: I don't remember how it started but Monica began talking about Monica's mother—a topic Monica had always avoided before. Monica told me about how Monica's mother used to take trips to Mount Everest every time…
wyc
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How can a "hero" with blue and orange morality be made relatable?

Nyarlathotep, the Black Pharaoh, seeks to enter the realm of Earth to rule over mankind. Unfortunately, he is prevented from doing so by a barrier that blocks eldritch deities from crossing over. To get around this, he breaks his soul up into…
Incognito
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