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1500 questions
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5 answers
How does one add puns in another language?
Back in college, I took a regular English course that was required for all majors. The teacher just happened to be a grad student in British Literature, so we read a lot of British literature. All the books we read were 19th century British…
Double U
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8 answers
How to think of a good beginning?
I've been thinking about my story for a while now and the problem I've run into is that I'm not sure how to start it. It isn't that I can't think of how to start it, I actually have a million ideas about how to do that, the problem is that I can't…
Allan Smithy
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Colloquial speech in pre-modern setting
Following this question, I'm struggling with writing the speech of pre-modern (in my case - 5th century) noble-born children among themselves.
Characters who are well-educated would not be making grammatical mistakes and would not be mispronouncing…
Galastel supports GoFundMonica
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11
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6 answers
Mentioning quickly repeated events in first person?
When writing in first person, is it better to mention as little repetition of events as possible? Or can it improve writing in some cases to have a character duplicate previous events and have them mentioned by the writer?
For example, would it be…
Jonathon D.
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4 answers
Innovative Ways to Provide Background Information
Think action movie. Think two heavily-armed men - one chasing the other over rooftops, down through buildings and into the mean streets of a crowded city. Think big guns, explosions and other loud noises. Think danger. Think high-octane thrills.
The…
robertcday
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11
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8 answers
Fiction Writing - has it all been done before?
It's a simple fact the there are more fiction books in existence now than one person could possibly read in a lifetime. Add to this the supposition that all plots, themes and genres have been thoroughly explored, and I arrive at the conclusion that…
robertcday
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11
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9 answers
Should I start work on a sequel before I have sold my book?
I finished the 1st draft of my book, and have put it in the freezer(as I asked about in this question). I was planning to start work on a sequel of the book in the meantime.
But I was told by someone that I should not work on a sequel till I have…
Shantnu Tiwari
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11
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4 answers
How do you deal with Chapter 2 when Chapter 1 is a volcano opening?
I know the logic behind volcano openings and why they’re problematic (they set the expectation that that level of action and excitement will continue; they’re a hard act to follow; they make a promise you can’t possibly fulfil; etc.) but it is the…
GGx
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11
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4 answers
How much can I trust my players to remember previous states of the story and not get confused?
In my game, the player may run into deadends in the story, which causes the game to end prematurely. This can range from the player simply getting killed, another important character in the story getting killed or an important event happening or not…
user23083
11
votes
6 answers
Do my characters need to have different mannerisms in order to be perceived as different?
My editor returned to me with her initial critique of my novel, saying some characters were too similar, and that they had the same likes and dislikes and flaws.
The characters she mentioned were exactly the characters whose personalities were more…
Klara Raškaj
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11
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4 answers
How do I write a deep conversation scene?
So two brothers are having a conversation about one wanting not to be a vampire anymore, and asks him if there is a way he can change to human. How do I make the conversation interesting and wanting the readers to read more?
Alison Smith
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11
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7 answers
Intentionally leaving out a part of the story, for a more interesting reveal?
In the story I am writing, I have a character who is working on a project and will present it to a group of judges who will mark it in a sort of examination. The project is a source of stress for the character, and also provides a sort of paradigm…
Erdrik Ironrose
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2 answers
Structure for software documentation: long vs short pages
For online, developer-centered documentation for a complex software product, which structure is going to be more usable: a smaller number of long, comprehensive pages, or a larger number of more granular pages? Which organization should I choose to…
user23425
11
votes
4 answers
How long should it take to Revise/Edit to get to Good Enough?
Editing, to focus my question a bit. My goal is to turn a book around from concept to publishable in a 2 year time period. Currently the plan is to write a draft in a year and revise the following, starting the next draft while the first is in…
Kirk
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11
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Why do ebooks often mimic the layout of the printed page?
I was recently editing a novel destined to be published primarily in e-book form, and made a list of pre-press instructions, to be followed when the final text is agreed upon. Some of these instructions were only needed because the text mimics the…
Goodbye Stack Exchange
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