Writing Stack Exchange
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1500 questions
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8 answers

In novel writing, should I change the name a character is referred to by when he reveals his name to the protagonist?

I'm a Chinese writer. Chinese people always tend to refer people by their full names, so the first name last name thing shouldn't be an issue. But now I'm working on a novel with a character from the US. Here is the scenario. Let's call the…
fat raccoon
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Which is more readable - array of ints or int array?

A similar example is field of carrots or carrot field. The latter feels better to me, especially in the carrot example, but when asking colleagues they preferred 'array of ints'. I'm not a professional writer, so I don't know if there is a clear…
Nimrod Fiat
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My character surprised me with their behaviour while writing them, should I keep that behaviour or stick to how I had planned them?

I was doing some exploratory writing without much planning/thinking and one of the characters acted in a way I wasn't expecting! In the narrative the character (normally kind/warm) is under stress, but I wasn't expecting them to behave the way I…
ProseFerret
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How do you determine if a plot device is too coincidental?

I see lazy plot devices as anything that is too coincidental. Person One just so happened to be in the 'area' when Person Two was attacked (then they end up running into each other a bunch of times afterwards--really?). Those nicks-of-time rescues.…
FearlessWriter
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Is it a good idea to make the actions of my antagonist reasonable?

I'm a good way through writing my fantasy story, and up until now, my antagonist has been portrayed as being a megalomaniac, and my protagonist (and myself) have believed this to be true. However, I have had an idea that has suddenly made the…
Monty Wild
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How do you insert lyrics into a novel?

She suddenly began singing "Cruella De Vil Cruella De Vil If she doesn't scare you No evil thing will To see her is to take a sudden chill Cruella, Cruella She's like a spider waiting for the kill Look out for Cruella De Vil". How do you insert a…
user36239
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3 answers

How much influence do authors have on the titles of their books?

The background to my question: I have always assumed that authors choose their titles, because I consider them an important part of the book, but then I read interviews with some authors who had a fight with their publishers on this subject. Is a…
Phira
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How do you vary dialogue within stories?

How do you vary dialogue within stories? I often find myself writing "'sentence/dialogue' said character", and it sometimes gets really repetitive. How is this managed? These are the only words that I can think of that can be used alternatively, but…
JFW
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Distorting historical facts for a historical fiction story

So, I'm writing fiction but in it, historical events, such as wars between the French and British, are taking place. But, after doing research, it's looking to be difficult to squeeze my little fiction story into real events and still make sense.…
Becca M
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How can I get self-confidence when writing?

I like writing in English (knowing that it's not my mother tongue), but I'm always haunted by thoughts of rejection by readers which makes me hesitate to publish my work and sometimes makes me stop writing, especially since I can't find a partner to…
Nour Fourti
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Is it offensive to kill my gay character at the end of my book?

In my novel, while the main characters are building the plot and driving it forward, there is a subplot with a gay couple. One of the gay partners is best friends with the female protagonist. At the end of the story, I plan to make the antagonist…
R.T.
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How do you find your unique style?

Let me preface this by saying I am quite young as writers go, only 20. Oftentimes as I am writing, I find myself simulating the style of whatever I most recently read-- sometimes the clipped and mysterious prose of Murakami, sometimes the very…
temporary_user_name
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If I remove the capacity for one of the primary flaws, is it inevitable I end up with a boring character?

In this world, there are mortals (human beings) and divine beings (gods/goddess). The gods and goddess have personalities, limitations, and what is commonly called "human nature" (they don't know everything, they screw up, etc.), with one rather…
MarielS
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How to clearly distinguish the settings of different scenes from each other, and make them "feel" different?

Background I've been working on doing nitty-gritty editor revisions of my detective novel in preparation for publishing, going over sentences and picking through details. In the course of the story, the detective visits a variety of locations in the…
Sciborg
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How can I know that I'm not plagiarizing?

New to the web. I just recently started to write again. I won a few highschool prizes writing short stories. Around the same time, I began to play Roleplaying games and to write different stories for different games. Lately, I have been thinking…
Tiklis
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