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1500 questions
28
votes
7 answers

Help! My Character is too much for her story!

A while ago, I started writing a short story for a competition. It was supposed to be about four girls in a shared student apartment. The plan was to have everyone conflict with everyone until they united against a common enemy (the landlord or the…
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28
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12 answers

Should we avoid writing fiction about historical events without extensive research?

I was thinking about writing about the Holocaust, but I am not sure if it's a good idea since I am not sure if people would feel offended if I exaggerate certain events or facts even if it makes the tragedy look more horrible. How can I go about…
user36239
28
votes
7 answers

What is a subtle way of mentioning a man became physically aroused?

In my novel, I'm currently writing from a male's perspective and I need a bit of help. It's not an erotic book, but I'm writing a flashback from his teenage years which involves a bosom hug and I think it's realistic and fitting to mention something…
Margaret Belt
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28
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9 answers

Do readers need to identify with fictional characters?

On the modern day many people complain about how models, actors are damaging to society because people can't identify with them. Males actors or models which are ''too'' muscular are considered ''unrealistic'' and not relatable to normal people…
user33870
28
votes
11 answers

How to make the villain relatable/human without making the hero seem like a monster for killing him?

I have a story I'm writing which has a villain that, in order to make him more human/developed, I gave him a relatable, tragic and/or disturbing life story, gave him plenty of reasons to be who he is and do what he does (understandable or almost),…
Yuuza
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28
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9 answers

How do I find logical errors in my novel?

I have completed writing a novel and have revised it many times. I am very worried that I may have made some logical mistakes, like not revealing a secret, or using different hair colour for same character. How do people keep track of these things?…
Abhishek dot py
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28
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10 answers

Using colloquialisms the reader may not be familiar with

I'm from Ireland, most of my stories take place in Ireland, and many of my characters will speak with Irish accents and/or dialects to varying degrees. For the most part I think this is OK, and can often be endearing to non-Irish readers. However I…
sudowoodo
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28
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6 answers

How much humour is effective in technical documentation?

It's well known that live presenters are often advised to add a dose of humour in order to engage the audience better. However, I very rarely see humour in written technical documentation; this despite it also being widely known that most people…
DVK
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28
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11 answers

Is it wrong if I kill off a black character?

He is one of two supporting characters that die in my screenplay. My wife says I shouldn’t make him black if he’s going to die. Would it be politically incorrect?
Marcus Meier
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27
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18 answers

Is having antagonists who believe in Christianity potentially offensive/harmful?

Brought this question from Worldbuilding SE, and still not sure if I’m asking in the right place. If anyone knows a better place to ask, any advice would be appreciated. The world I’m building revolves around a (albeit heavily exaggerated) religious…
Mark Price
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7 answers

Outlining the climax made me lose interest in writing the actual story

I am a discovery writer. I wrote more than 50% of my first novel's first draft. I got really confuse about some aspects of writing, so I took a break and analysed my plot. I've started developing my world much better and made an outline for the…
Sangeetha
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27
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10 answers

Any Technique to See if Your Idea is Original?

I usually get quite a lot of ideas for stories, but every time I want to develop them into a full fledged story, I get paranoid about how it might not be an original idea, and how it might be dismissed by people as a copy and not worth spending time…
JFW
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27
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5 answers

How can I hint that my character isn't real?

How can I make a side character's tangibility open to interpretations so the audience is unsure if she's even real? My short story is about identity. My main character is being pressured by a friend to do something. I don't want to reveal anything…
AyanaLuna
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27
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8 answers

Is an easily guessed plot twist a good plot twist?

In my post-apocalyptic novel, there are two "twists", but they're mostly tied up in each other. The first is that humans have developed different kinds of kineses, like hydrokinesis, telekinesis, and so on. The second is that the MC, Eris, has…
user34214
27
votes
10 answers

If I wouldn't want to read the story, is writing it still a good idea?

I struggle with forming full-fledged ideas. I'll come up with a snippet of an idea, have a hard time fleshing the idea out, and then lose interest before the idea becomes an actual story concept. Sometimes, I'll begin forming an idea, and then…
Alexis Strain
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