Writing Stack Exchange
Writing Stack Exchange

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1500 questions
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4 answers

How do I write a gory scene?

I'm trying to write some gory scenes. I'm having a few problems, though. I asked around online and determined that I need to really highlight the senses when I'm writing something like this. Mostly people said to describe everything in exact detail.…
Ice-9
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How to distill a plot into a logline?

A logline is a one to three sentence summary of a story, used to pitch a script to producers and other buyers. It should contain: the protagonist the goal of the protagonist the antagonist the stakes of failure Obviously the logline must hook the…
user5645
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5 answers

Will e-books prevent books from going out of print (and rights from reverting)?

In the old days, books went out of print shortly after it stopped being profitable for the publisher to print new runs. My understanding is that good contracts had clauses that caused the rights to the book to revert to the author once it had been…
sjohnston
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If you get an advance do you ever have to give it back?

Do publishers give you an advance as some sort of earnest money for your manuscript? If your work doesn't sell very well do you have to give the advance back to them? Do they ever just buy your work and you get some money plus royalties? thanks.
johnny
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Should freelance writers keep their online business separate from offline?

Freelance writers have a lot of opportunity to write online, but in some cases the rates are less than the same writing project might command offline. Assuming that there are enough advantages in taking online writing gigs to offset the disadvantage…
ArcticLlama
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Does the Creative Commons license protect my writing on the web?

I usually write on the web and I would like to license my writings using one of the Creative Commons licenses, but I can't understand how that license can protect our works. We really like to share our thoughts, but they should be protected somehow.…
Donovan
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Why do writers use "said" instead of "asked" when someone asks a question?

I often see writers use "said" instead of "asked" when their character asks a question. e.g. From The Hobbit: “Where else should I be?” said the wizard Is it a mistake that hasn't been caught by the editor, or is it acceptable to ask a question…
Tim Gradwell
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5 answers

Third-person objective in action scene

I'm telling a story in third-person objective, the first part being basically an objective description of events around a certain character. I got to a brief action scene, and it fell flat. What the character does is of interest to the progression…
David Thornley
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3 answers

Using LaTeX with publishers?

Background: Im working on a rather long instructional book, and have just started trying to use LaTeX. The book doesn't have any scientific notation in it, and most of the diagrams I made in other software and rendered to still images. This will be…
elburzs
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Referencing, but not using, trademarked characters

Obviously, you're not allowed to use trademarked characters like Superman or Batman in your published works. If I wrote a novel about Superman fighting Lex Luthor, I could get sued. But what about referencing those characters in a real-world…
Nerrolken
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When is it acceptable to refer to an undefined group of people in academic writing?

Within my students' college writing, I found much writing referring to essentially imaginary, or not well-defined groups of people. Here are some examples: These days, more and more people carpool to work. Some people asked which method is best. I…
Village
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Characters with non-standard names

My characters' names are always easy-to-read and easy-to-remember because they are common western names (like John or Oscar). However, I am writing a story that has a cultural flavor. A western name sounds funny in this context. If I give local…
Javeer Baker
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Expectation of privacy using a pseudonym?

I'm wondering how possible anonymity is when using a pen name. I have no idea how that works with modern publishers. Your real name must be public information somewhere in that transaction. So is there any reasonable expectations of privacy if you…
grass_now
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Where can I find information about a contract that allows two authors to use a "shared world"?

A friend of mine was gracious enough to let me write a story using a setting he has been using for his own novel. I finished my novella while he is still working. I am looking at indie publishing the novella, but I want to make sure it is known he…
Frank Luke
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Using a world created by someone else for your own fiction

What is the procedure if you want to set a story in a world created by someone else?If, after reading someone else's novel I came up with some neat plot that would fit into that novel's world, but would be a separate story from the original, with…
slashmais
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