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1500 questions
12
votes
4 answers
En vs em dash and the one on the keyboard
The dash provided on my laptop keyboard (-) is always marked as a spelling mistake in my Word document, no matter how I choose to use it. This is the dash right next to the 0 on the line of numbers keys. When I right-click on the 'mistake', it…
Gemma H
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12
votes
5 answers
Is this character generator useful?
After some feedback from this site and a training course, I developed a little tool to help with character generation. It's called "20 Questions" and works just like that: It picks 20 questions (or more) which you can then answer to build an image…
Aaron Digulla
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12
votes
6 answers
How do I go about writing a tragic ending in a story while making it overall satisfying to the reader?
I am working on a horror-ish novel in my spare time and want to end it by killing off the protagonist or her failing somehow. For a bit of background, here are the basic plot points of my story, Under the Crow's Song:
Alice (Protag) is struggling to…
Allaster
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12
votes
3 answers
Is it bad to have similar themes in my novels?
I wrote two novels as a novice, and I'm on the third right now.
As I began writing it, I noticed my stories tend to revolve around two things (my genre being sci-fi):
An AI. Not the typical evil AI you'd see, not even a consistent type of AI (it…
Alphasaft
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12
votes
5 answers
How do I smoothly introduce alien units of measurement?
I’m writing some decently-hard science fiction which revolves heavily around an alien species on another planet, far away from our Solar System. Rather than live on a rocky planet, this species originates on the moon of a gas giant, superficially…
controlgroup
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12
votes
7 answers
Is it better for me to add more advanced words into my book, or is it better to use easy words that any average English-speaker can understand?
To be completely honest, my English vocabulary isn’t that advanced. Currently, my writing-style is very simple and easy to understand. It doesn’t use extremely advanced wording to express things. I’m afraid that because of this my writing my seem…
Nabi
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12
votes
4 answers
How can I make my book longer without it feeling like padding, while also not significantly changing the plot?
I'm writing the first draft of my first book. Lately, I have been working hard on it and reached about the 40k mark. At this point, I believe the main character arcs and main story events are done, with no room to add more without detracting from…
SmartBulbInc
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12
votes
4 answers
How to continue someone else's story gracefully, with fan-fiction?
I've been juggling some ideas for NaNoWriMo and one of them is a Doctor Who story. Now I've not read a great deal of fan fiction but I've never read any that I'd say that compares to the original, and often I feel most fan fiction is a written…
ProseFerret
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12
votes
3 answers
How to write a character that has a speech disorder (stuttering)?
A friend and I are writing a manga, and there is this mc(main character) that is having the speech disorder - she stutters.
Writing the question directly to avoid confusion.
Afterwards providing some attempts to clarify both what the question is…
Jane
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12
votes
8 answers
How do you make a story as sad as possible?
When I think of sad story, I think of Greek tragedies, so naturally they should have a sad ending, and the characters should not deserve what happens to them. So I was thinking that I simply need to make sure that the injustice is so great that it…
user36239
12
votes
4 answers
Why does all scene writing advice insist on the scene lead having a clear goal when this is often not practiced in bestsellers?
I've been reading a lot of books on scene writing. One thing in common--found in every single book--is that the main character in the scene should have a goal. That goal should be made obvious as early as possible and repeated often to make sure the…
Steve L
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12
votes
6 answers
When is it too late to introduce major characters?
Would you consider it too late to introduce major characters at the midpoint of book 1 in a trilogy?
By major characters I mean characters that aren’t the protagonist, don’t have POV chapters (my book is first person), but are with the protagonist…
a.m.d.
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12
votes
5 answers
How to push through your inner critic
I'm a real perfectionist and the cringe I often feel at what I write is quite strong and distracting. It's taking the enjoyment out of writing and I'm finding it hard to avoid focusing on how bad my writing is and actually write. I've seen/heard it…
aurorajack
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12
votes
6 answers
What type of protagonists get happy endings?
Obviously, the decision on how to write the ending is driven by the overall plot. That said, there seems to be a pattern on which protagonists get happy endings*. I'm not able to put my finger on it, but I get a sense that just from knowing the…
Kalev Maricq
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12
votes
3 answers
Is there a word for something that is structured like a parody, but utilizes an idealized or improved version of the original context?
(Edit: title frames the question better thanks to @TheRubberDuck)
This has been bugging me for a while; enough to join this wonderful community - thanks for any help you can offer! Keep in mind English/Literature isn't my field, so apologies in…
Wojtek
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