Writing Stack Exchange
Writing Stack Exchange

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1500 questions
33
votes
12 answers

How to write a sincerely religious protagonist without preaching or affirming or judging their worldview?

I am writing a book in which one of my main characters is a devout Catholic. His struggles with reconciling his religion and his experiences in life are crucial to his character and I'd like to portray them as unfiltered as I reasonably can through…
wordsworth
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33
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10 answers

How do I tell the reader that my character is autistic in Fantasy?

I am a woman with aspergers and writing an autistic character has always been close to my heart. Fiera Allas, a fantasy powerhouse with immense power and sword skills has always struck me as autistic (possibly because of how much of myself I put…
thelonelywriter
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33
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7 answers

When blogging recipes, how can I support both readers who want the narrative/journey and ones who want the printer-friendly recipe?

Increasingly often, if you Google for a recipe your search results will be full of long, image-rich blog posts that, somewhere in there, have the actual recipe you were looking for. Many of these have a "printer-friendly version" link to make that…
Monica Cellio
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33
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7 answers

Is there a hemisphere-neutral way of specifying a season?

I want to refer to the timeframe of Summer 2019 in the Northern hemisphere. However, the writing is intended for a global audience, and when it is Summer in the Northern hemisphere it will be Winter in the southern hemisphere. Is there terminology I…
Jimmy
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33
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2 answers

When should modifiers be avoided?

I've come across this Mark Twain quote: When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don't mean utterly, but kill most of them -- then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when they are close together. They give strength when they are wide apart.…
rem
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33
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5 answers

How does a writer go about consulting experts?

I'm writing a story that has a medical condition as a central plot point, and now I have questions to ask a doctor. The problem is, I don't know one. I could make up the details, but I feel like the narrative will suffer for it. It occurs to me…
IchabodE
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33
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10 answers

How to write dialogue for someone who is intelligent but barely speaks the language?

I have a character who is a refugee from another country. She comes to the protagonist, and they have a couple of scenes together, viewed from the protagonist. I read about how important it is to make dialogue convey information about the character,…
KeizerHarm
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33
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6 answers

How to get my book taken seriously as a teenager?

I have been working on a book for a while, and I probably will be done with it soon. My work is very original in my mind and in the end, this book will be very high quality. But I have been wondering about one important aspect of publishing. I am…
lightofdeanthomas
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33
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10 answers

Organizing your Universe?

When writing, I always have tons of ideas about the universe I'm creating as a whole: People, Places, Timelines. I'm just struggling to organize it. I'd like to avoid inconsistencies in later stories, requiring the need for a retcon or embarrassing…
Michael Stum
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33
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14 answers

How can I get into the mindset to write?

Depending on the weather, the days events, and other factors, I find myself with a different emotion everyday when I write which I'm afraid is making my novel a little bit choppy. For example, one chapter might be portrayed in a light mood, while…
Clangorous Chimera
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33
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5 answers

Pitfalls of writing a main character of different gender to the author, specifically first-person perspective?

This is my first question on here, so bear with me, if you will. My question is in two-parts: a) When writing in first-person, is it wise to choose a main character of a different gender to yourself (the author)? b) What are certain pitfalls to…
DeVil
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33
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5 answers

How Much Can You Make From Writing a Book?

Obviously this question has a lot of different answers. I'm interested in the typical total profit that a writer might expect to see from: A NYT Bestseller A diet or self-help book that sells 100,000 copies A romance novel that sells 10,000…
John Shedletsky
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33
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4 answers

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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32
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10 answers

Is there such a thing as too inconvenient?

I find myself often being irritated at elements in situations that help characters succeed, elements which are also highly unlikely or even illogical. But often, if not more, I find myself angered by things that too inconvenient. Improbably…
A. Kvåle
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9 answers

How do you cope with rejection?

I know that Bradbury was rejected about 800 times. I know the famous JK Rowling story. Yet the question is lurking in my mind, becoming stronger and clearer with each rejection: what if? What if I am really not that good, what if I am simply an…
kom
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