Writing Stack Exchange
Writing Stack Exchange

Most Popular

more tags
1500 questions
10
votes
4 answers

Do I need to create fictional places to make things work?

The story I'm writing takes place in the USA. I have a huge problem as my protagonist is crossing states and needs to end up at a place where a lot of things have to come together. Like there need to be parks/woods all around, there needs to be a…
Sharktastic
  • 103
  • 1
  • 5
10
votes
10 answers

How do you come up with superpowers that haven't been overused?

It's hard to be really original during a time where you literally have TV shows and movies every few months, but some clichés seem to be recurring. For example, in a lot of superhero movies, you have: a badass character who can't die and has an…
Kiara Clément-Martin
  • 145
  • 1
  • 4
10
votes
6 answers

Is it ok to introduce something in a flashback if you forgot to introduce or foreshadow it before?

Let's say you make your character use a special magic wand to kill his opponent, but you forgot to mention and describe what the wand was, can you do a flashback as soon as your character brandishes the wand or after he uses it? If it's a bad thing…
Sayaman
  • 14,844
  • 2
  • 69
  • 140
10
votes
4 answers

Can a character death sometimes be unnecessary?

Is there a time where a character's death in a story would be unnecessary? Not the main character, but someone really important to the protagonist like a caretaker/parent to advance the plot? Deaths in fiction are mostly used for motivators like…
AmateurWriter
  • 308
  • 2
  • 8
10
votes
5 answers

How do you cover an F1 race in a comic book?

Let's say you wrote a comic book about F1 racing, how would you cover an entire race? Should you spend 10 volumes to cover a single race, or should you just skip times very often? For example, 3 panels for 30 seconds in lap 3, then 4 panels for 40…
Sayaman
  • 14,844
  • 2
  • 69
  • 140
10
votes
10 answers

How to separate scenes in a chapter?

I have multiple scenes in a chapter, sometimes from different POVs, or different locations/times. Now I would like to make it clear to the reader that they have left a scene and are entering a new one. Now, Scrivener (which I just started using, so…
Shantnu Tiwari
  • 6,913
  • 3
  • 27
  • 57
10
votes
3 answers

How do I give characters logical reasons to be with each other?

It's an annoying problem with writing - I've got a bunch of characters that I've written, how do I keep them together for the adventure I want them to go on? In some stories, this can be quite annoying - reading YA novels for example, where the…
WasatchWind
  • 737
  • 3
  • 10
10
votes
5 answers

Should you publish your book online for feedback?

This is a question I've had in my mind and have been a bit curious about. Let's say I finish writing a novel but before publishing it, I want to get feedback on it. Should I publish it online somewhere? I was thinking having it online for free would…
Fordy
  • 115
  • 1
  • 6
10
votes
2 answers

What is the proper way to add Creative Commons licensing information to a book?

I have prepared a book which utilizes some information which was licensed under a Creative Commons license of which a large number of people contributed. I believe that the use of this material requires me to release the book under Creative…
Village
  • 383
  • 4
  • 15
  • 31
10
votes
6 answers

How and where should you explain how the physical laws of your sci-fi universe significantly differ from the real world?

How and where should you explain how the laws of your sci-fi universe significantly differ from the real world? Let's say that the laws are so different from the what be construed from the theories of quantum physics and general relativity. How do…
Sayaman
  • 14,844
  • 2
  • 69
  • 140
10
votes
5 answers

Should I use the term vis-à-vis? How should I decide when to use/avoid a term?

I wrote a vision statement for a project using the term vis-à-vis (All X investments should be justified vis-à-vis quantified gain). A colleague suggested I shouldn't use vis-à-vis, and prefer simpler verbiage like "in relation to". The colleague is…
Yaniv Aknin
  • 203
  • 2
  • 6
10
votes
6 answers

Sympathetic portrayal of an evil protagonist with good motivations

I'm contemplating writing about a character with good motivations whose actions would be considered evil. In short the story would be about a necromancer killing an entire nation so that he can bring order and peace. My problem is that while I can…
Borgel
  • 639
  • 1
  • 6
  • 12
10
votes
7 answers

How can I diversify the personalities of supernatural predators?

I'm working on an urban fantasy story that has a species of monsters that regularly prey on human beings, as in many, many other settings (e.g., various monsters in Buffy/Supernatural/The Dresden Files, ghouls in Tokyo Ghoul, hollows in Bleach,…
user2352714
  • 4,685
  • 18
  • 45
10
votes
2 answers

Are online critique groups a good substitute for editors?

I'm thinking of self publishing. Now what all the blogs tell me I have to do is hire a professional editor, who will see any plot / character holes, other story problems etc. (For the moment, I'm not talking about copy editors). Problem is the good…
aaa
  • 173
  • 1
  • 5
10
votes
4 answers

Should user manuals be organized by feature or process?

We have developed a software package and need to write a user manual. I'm trying to determine if the manual should be approached from the perspective of "process" (i.e. accomplishing specific business tasks) or "features" (i.e. the different parts…
RHarris
  • 203
  • 1
  • 3
1 2 3
…
99 100