Writing Stack Exchange
Writing Stack Exchange

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1500 questions
18
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5 answers

Can I shop an unfinished novel?

I've been writing a novel that addresses some very current themes. My belief is that if I can get it out there quickly, it will succeed well. I'm working on it frantically, but will agents consider representing a work in progress? At what point is…
Lynn Beighley
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How do you make a story succeed in spite of an unsympathetic main character?

I'm looking for techniques specific to a story with an unsympathetic main character. Confederacy of Dunces, for example. Why does that work, and why wouldn't that work with a likable hero?
Lynn Beighley
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What can one do to get the most from limited writing time?

I do make an effort to write every day, and usually succeed, but I just have too much going on in my life right now to give my writing the time it would like to have. When I do have time, blog posts, tech papers, etc. try very hard to crowd out the…
HedgeMage
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What exactly is an editor?

I recently read the assertion that many great works of fiction were chiefly down the contribution of a good editor. I must admit I was a little taken aback by this statement. I had never really thought of the writer and editor as being like the…
One Monkey
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What should I do if my book's title is already taken?

I'm writing a novel, and I think I've come up with a very good title (The Power of the Powerless). It conveys the moral question of the story well, and gives a good sense of the style of the story. Unfortunately, when I googled the title, it was the…
SpiralStudios
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9 answers

What makes the death of a character satisfying?

My wife and I were watching a movie where one of the main characters died shortly after being reunited with his long lost love. His death was not meaningless -- he died defending his only son, but it was completely unsatisfying. I wasn't happy that…
user2859458
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9 answers

Writing from a hive mind POV

The story: Centuries ago, humanity have been incorporated into an alien hive mind, spread by a bacterial-like infection. The "bacteria" infects the blood and brain and allows the infected to join their minds together, there is no alien overlord,…
Babika Babaka
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3 answers

Getting My Rights Back

Back in the late 90's I wrote a picture book which eventually was published in 2002 by a big name publishing house. The book was critically acclaimed, won an award, and went through a couple of printings, before finally going out of print around…
Chris Sunami
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What's a good way to backup your writing?

One of the most important things for writers to do is to back up their work so that in the event of a computer failure, their work isn't lost. But where's a good place to do that? A lot of storage sites have little details in their TOS that gives…
Ralph Gallagher
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10 answers

Where is a good place to find writing prompts?

I love using writing prompts to come up with story ideas. I'm looking for good sites that have a lot of good writing prompts. One that updates fairly often would be best. :)
user563
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What book review sites allow authors to send a copy of their books for reviews?

Since I'm published with smaller publications, getting reviews is often one of the best ways to make sales. But what professional book review sites out there will write a review in exchange for a copy of the book? I don't want ones that'll give you…
Ralph Gallagher
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6 answers

How do I avoid getting depressed after receiving edits?

I just wrote my first op-ed for my college newspaper, and I've always considered myself a pretty okay writer; but after receiving my first round of edits I just feel so low, like I've disappointed the entire editing staff, and I never want to write…
Carson Edwards
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8 answers

How many commas is too many?

I find myself often in writing using too many commas, but then going through and editing many of them back out again or restructuring to use full-stops. Is there a rule of thumb I've forgotten from my school days (English language was never pushed…
Neil Barnwell
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9 answers

Text Editors. Suggesting & Tracking Changes to Plain-Text Documents

Many word processors are capable to tracking and displaying changes made to a document. Those changes are typically displayed in special markup supported by the editor. E.g. But when using a plain text editor (like Microsoft's Notepad), is there a…
Robert Cartaino
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7 answers

Characters with no names

I've got a few short stories going, and I've foregone naming any of my characters. It started because I just didn't have any good names in my head and I was going to take care of it later, but now I'm considering leaving them all nameless. It's…
tylerharms
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