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1500 questions
11
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8 answers

What Can Ensure Re-Readability?

I've come across some answers and questions on this site which have gotten me thinking about re-readability. It isn't something that I think about much, but now that I consider it, I think it could be the difference between buying a book and simply…
11
votes
8 answers

How to manage extensive notes?

I'm less than ten thousand words into a piece of fanfiction I'm writing, and I have significantly more than that in notes. Such areas covered in separate documents are: General world-building, environmental/culture aspects General character…
JJ Analytics
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11
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5 answers

Should I use the terms "people" "person" "man" and "woman" in fantasy setting?

So I'm writing a story and the setting is that there are two worlds: the world of humans and the world of (insert species name here). Now I'm wondering if it's okay to use the terms/words "people," "man," "woman," and "person" even though the…
zaizen14
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11
votes
4 answers

How to stop viewing your story as a film

When thinking about scenes and story ideas, I can't help but picture something playing out as a movie. It's so much easier to picture someone moving and doing things than to actually describe what they are doing and write about it. I understand that…
M. McGarry
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11
votes
9 answers

Will my readers feel like they are reading a children's storybook if there are illustrations in my novel?

I'm writing a novel. I also have good drawing skills. I would like to add illustrations of the setting, locations, and characters. I may include 8 or 10 illustrations (the novel is approximately 200 pages long). I have never seen a novel with…
wyc
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11
votes
10 answers

I'm not enjoying my attempt at a science-fiction novella; should I continue?

I'm only 12, and I've been writing seriously since last year. I tried writing a novel before (I wrote only 5 chapters; I gave up later due to time constraints). I've written a couple of short stories, which have generally received positive feedback.…
Soha Farhin Pine
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11
votes
6 answers

How do I avoid legal repercussions for writing a story based on events in my life?

How do I avoid legal repercussions for writing a story based on events in my life? Mainly, I have experienced events that I would like to share with the world. These events are somewhat disturbing and would expose the truly spiteful side of an…
timidlyunafraid
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11
votes
6 answers

Avoiding foot¬e disease

In his answer to Our note in footnote of a book, Malvolio writes: I hate numbered foot-notes personally, they're very distracting Which I agree with, but his recommendation, to use endnotes, I find much more more distracting: what havoc is played…
Charles Stewart
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11
votes
5 answers

Single author scientific paper, 'we' or 'I'?

I am authoring a single author paper. Usually when referring to oneself in a paper, 'we' is used. In single author papers I found both 'we' and 'I' (e.g., 'here we/I report xyz'). Which one is stylistically better? To me 'we' seems odd when I read a…
Dahlai
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11
votes
1 answer

How do I find an affordable editor?

I wrote a few chapters of a book several years ago. How do I find an affordable editor?
Phil Helix
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11
votes
6 answers

How should I "remind" the reader of something that they may have forgotten?

Say there is a small detail in the beginning of the book that has a big effect later on. The reader might've forgotten about that by the time they get to that part. How should I remind the reader about the detail, other than straight-up saying…
clickbait
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11
votes
10 answers

An alternative to saying 'users' when describing features

I'm creating some copy describing new web-app features for a number of different audiences (users, managers of sections of the site, owners of sub-sites which use our platform etc.). I'm finding myself using 'users' constantly: "Users will now be…
robomc
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11
votes
4 answers

Using "show not tell" while characters are planning for something that happens

In a narrative I'm writing, the characters have to plan an escape from a facility. The thing is, they'll be doing the actual escape in the chapter following them planning. I know usually the right way to go is to show, not tell. But, if I show the…
RE Lavender
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11
votes
9 answers

Why not God as our subject?

Certainly there are many Science Fiction writers who touch upon the subject of beings supreme to Man...but always Man is central in writing.
Doctor Zhivago
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11
votes
2 answers

How to clarify the objects of a sentence's two pronouns?

I am trying to describe a process. There are two players in the scenario. Player A tries to find player B. If player A finds player B, then player A tags player B. Something like that. Here is an example: A fox tries to find a rabbit that is…
feeling_lonely
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