Writing Stack Exchange
Writing Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [structure]

For questions about the connections between and ordering of elements within a written work.

Questions about the different ways the elements of a piece of writing can be put together and how they affect the reader, including transitions from one section to another, time-line presentation and flashback usage, viewpoints, and writing approach.

For questions about the structure of sentences, use instead.

Related tags:

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How do you write a Stack Exchange answer?

Over my years on StackExchange I've come to view answering SE questions as its own, highly specialized writing subgenre, with its own demands, and its own ideal format. By trial and error, and observation of highly upvoted answers, and of answers…
Chris Sunami
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How do I stop using 'the' to start sentences so much?

Something that always bothers me in my writing is how often I start sentences with the word "the". A terrible nonsensical example: The dog ran through the rain-swept streets, chasing a ball he thought he'd lost. The ball was just ahead of him,…
linksassin
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How much can a reader remember?

I've been writing some fantasy. Now, inevitably because its a big piece of fantasy, its all very involved with the world, culture, story and general bits. Personally, I'm really enjoying writing it. I have noticed that in a few fantasy novels I have…
Featherball
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Dashes vs. Commas vs. parentheses?

Occasionally I write sentences containing subparts with extra information. I never know how to block off this information from the rest of the sentence. Three ways I have seen are dashes, commas, and parentheses. For example: When Bilbo sat down…
Wolf's Dilemma
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5 answers

Writing garbage to see if the characters do something interesting?

I need a change ~ 80% of the way through my story. At the moment, I'm just throwing my characters into different combinations and seeing if they come up with anything interesting. Two of my characters don't want to talk at all. I threw them…
SFWriter
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How can I make "acts of patience" exciting?

This answer to the question Averting Real Women Don’t Wear Dresses introduces a distinction between acts of patience and acts of daring. [...] when it comes to telling a story [...] acts of daring are easy to show, and acts of patience are not…
sesquipedalias
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How should a big universe be introduced without being boring?

If I have a big universe that I need to set up, with lots of characters, lots of locations, magic rules, technology, government rules, is it okay to introduce and explain all of this at the beginning? How much of can be introduced at the beginning…
SomeBeginner
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Are complex sentences uncommon or unwanted in English?

I wrote my opinion essay using a lot of different complex grammatical structures, linking words and so on, and some of the sentences were even over 4 lines long. However, I was afterwards told by my English teacher that this is a bad habit, and any…
Dafr
19
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4 answers

Should cliffhangers be used in every chapter?

This is not a great question but I use a lot of cliffhangers. And I have a habit of making cliffhangers in the end of every chapter that I write just to hook the reader. The question is, is it a good idea? Won't it look monotonous after a while…
Amin Mohamed Ajani
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4 answers

What's a typical trilogy structure?

Is there a typical structure for a fantasy trilogy? To be more specific, would they usually follow the three-act structure, with an act per book? And would each book need a self-contained story arc with a proper beginning and ending? Or could you…
Lexi
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Where should I put my tl;dr?

By definition TL;DR, short for "too long; didn't read", is Internet slang to say that some text being replied to has been ignored because of its length. In slang it can also stand for "Too lazy; didn't read". It is also used as a signifier for a…
Vylix
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Is there a method to estimating the length of a work before writing it?

I am writing my first novel, which I think likely will end up being several volumes. Although I have a lot of experience in poetry and short stories, this is a very different challenge! My question is about estimating the length of a work prior to…
DoctorWhom
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How important are good looking people in a novel/story?

I've read many books where the main protagonists are described as good looking people with Greek god looks, plenty of sex appeal, the perfect figure and all that. As a reader, how important would it be to portray your main characters as good…
srini
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Eliminating the Dash in Prose Writing

I have been accused — shock, horror — of using the dash (the one that indicates a three-quarters pause) too much in my fiction. Thing is — I quite like the effect (the space inserted in sentences by the slightly extended pause) it has on my writing…
robertcday
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Would it be wise to make the turning point of a story coincidental?

I've written a fictional story and the way my characters are coming together and forming a bond seems way too coincidental to me. A lady lives on the first floor while her tenant, a guy, lives on the ground floor. A girl is supposed to meet that…
Nikki
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