Writing Stack Exchange
Writing Stack Exchange

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1500 questions
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13 answers

For a fantasy world, what word can I use instead of "human" in order to include elves, dwarves, etc.?

I've been creating this fantasy world where many different races coexist, so most aren't human. I'm trying to write all the worldbuilding details down, and I'm stuck on a phrase "She is the goddess who blessed [redacted] with (...)". So, I can't say…
Bibi2801
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6 answers

What is "head popping" and why is it bad?

Most of my writing experience has been with first person, nonfiction stories. Now I want to try some fiction. I'm working in third person, but I'm a little bit confused about how to pull something off. Okay, say I'm telling the story from character…
Tim Elhajj
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6 answers

Grammarly editing my effects, should I keep them or listen to Grammarly?

I am a non-native English speaker. Grammarly is an online writing assistant. This is a line in my draft I liked the office, and I liked the environment-- the minimalist furniture, the Macs and Xerox machines, the coffee room, and the lounge. I…
The White Cloud
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Do I need copyright permission to rewrite an old classic?

I'm planning to rewrite some old classics such as "Oliver Twist", "David Copperfield", "Jane Eyre", etc. in simple English. They will be abridged adaptations (with due credit given to the original author of course) of the originals. I'm aiming to…
srini
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11 answers

How do I write about hacking and hackers?

Now, I don't want to learn hacking (but if I learn some I learn some), but I am writing a cyberpunk story so I need to have some idea what's going on. And, maybe how I can use VR to make it more interesting to the readers. I don't mind complex…
Clair
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2 answers

What techniques are used to plot long (multi-novel) story arcs?

As a very visual person, I have always considered plotting a story to be somewhat like knitting or macrame. How do series authors handle multi novel story arcs? Do they just keep throwing out lines and pick them up when they feel the need to pull…
Larry Smithmier
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4 answers

How do you map out your storyline?

There are various ways for mapping out the storyline that you will use for a story. One of them is to create a bullet-point outline, which would theoretically be useful because of the hierarchy system that you can make, but as it goes along you…
JFW
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4 answers

How to vary writing style?

I just had to edit a 40 page paper and I'm not kidding, there were paragraphs where every sentence started with "This." How do good writers learn to vary their sentence length and wording to flow? I don't feel I have this problem when I'm writing…
Phil Salesses
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4 answers

Is discovery or outline writing connected to personality type (e.g. MBTI)?

I'm on a bit of a Myers-Briggs spree at the moment (which is dangerous, because it is so easy to read way more into it than you are supposed to). For those of you who are not familiar with it, it is a personality test based on theories by Carl Jung,…
erikric
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3 answers

Is Scrivener involved in the editorial process, or is it strictly a writer's development tool?

Is there any reason that an editor should know how to use Scrivener? I generally see manuscripts after they're out of draft but before proofreading. (I'm an editor.) However, I see a lot of talk about Scrivener on this site, and I'd like to know…
Goodbye Stack Exchange
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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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10 answers

Is it possible to write a short story in 500 words?

There is a short story contest where the limit is five hundred (500) words and I want to know if that is a possible limit for a short story?
Felisha
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Writing about real people - not giving offence

The Spy is a Netflix series about Israeli spy and hero Eli Cohen. In a recent interview, Eli's widow Nadia expresses great dissatisfaction with the series: a lot of changes were made, ostensibly to "add drama", that in her opinion diminish him. She…
Galastel supports GoFundMonica
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How do I introduce dark themes?

My story involves a superhuman organization that aims to overthrow the main government, through any means necessary. This involves murder and some rather gruesome deaths. Additionally, there might be accidents involving dangerous animals, magical…
overlord
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Spicing up a moment of peace

In the ever swinging tone of a novel, one may wish to show a moment of peace amidst all the chaos. In my novel it happens a few times, most notably when characters are travelling across vast natural landscapes, or when they gaze at the stars at…
NofP
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