General Q&A about the craft of professional writing, editing, and publishing. Questions about all types of writing are welcome -- fiction, technical documentation, scholarly articles, poetry, scriptwriting, blogs, and more.
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I want to be a writer, but I have struggled with Schizoaffective Disorder for quite some time. Some of the symptoms of the disorder are amotivation and trouble with initiation (Getting things start...
I am choosing between two sentences: We display the values of X in Table 1. The values of X are displayed in Table 1. The first is more action-oriented, the second is more passive but focuses o...
In one book I read about writing, “Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace,” the author tries to teach you how to write with clarity and grace, but among the principles which he sets forth, not one...
My question is similar to one asked previously. I'm writing non-fiction, topics on the intersection between science and religion--quantum mechanics, cosmology, evolution. I've published ebooks o...
Please bear with me, the question really is for writers. I'm authoring software that manages ebooks. I'm to the point of representing the "profile" of authors who choose to use pen names. How sh...
I have observed that I often address the reader in my essays to lay down a point. To give you an example, I'll write: You can utilize every productivity hack that's out there, and still be b...
In formatting a script/screenplay. How do you handle greetings and goodbyes when there are several people? I can think of a few ways to handle it and don't like any of them. I was wondering which i...
I'm conceptualising a story involving two heroes who go on an epic journey and return bitter rivals etc. etc. and form their own forces in a sort of civil war. My issue is that I want them to both...
I found a public domain book that has never been re-published and I wanted to include illustrations with the book. If I submit manuscripts to publishers, how can I protect my idea? What if they jus...
I'm interested in the elements of how a good story is compiled. When in high school, I was exposed to Shakespeare plays where the stories were divided into different acts. While I was reading thr...
I believe that people should eat apples. or, People should eat apples. Which one is best, or when to use which? Is it good to say 'I believe' or 'We believe' in public speaking or public...
We ordered pork belly, beef liver, and lamb slices—a selection that made our tongues melt and our stomachs heat up. Rattled by a sound or shake that only Sumire had detected, she picked ...
I have always wanted to write a story so I finally started to take action rather than just dream about it. I have started writing down characters, their personalities, their roles in the story, a n...
Allow me to explain what I mean by 'thematic setting'. I'm talking about a setting which, simply by having the story located in it, shows the reader something: ideally a message - or theme - that y...
I'm writing a story about mental telepathy. In it, I have telepathic dialog between two characters. First let me say that I've been writing internal dialog i.e., thoughts, using italics. Example...
I am creating a website that serves as a directory of companies within a niche industry. In my site I would like to provide info on each of the companies and was wondering if it was ok for me to us...
We have finished our nonfiction, self-help, book draft. We require finding a mentor for improving the book's structure and for publishing and marketing. How can we find a mentor (not proofreader)?...
I am currently writing a book that I want to self-publish, so that I can keep the rights to it to write sequels for it later on. How do I self-publish for free and make it popular?
I'm faced with a writing dilemma where every real life situation I've tried to write feels forced/inaccurate. I'm a fairly young person and I don't have a large amount of experience regarding offic...
Let's say you have a scene with Maria, written in third person from Maria's point of view. Then you have a scene with Akash, written in third person from Akash's point of view - and suppose they do...
I want to write a novel, but I want to write that novel using my best idea currently... it's just that, I don't have an idea, at least not one that I deem worthy of the time and effort involved in ...
Each and every time I read my stories to people, only one comment is usually made, albeit in different ways... I'm just not sure if they're being honest, or if I am actually doing something right. ...
I have many abstract ideas for a novel, including characters, storyline etc.. I have found that writing my ideas down helps make them more real and concrete.The problem I am having is that I will ...
I'm a casual writer at best and tend to write in fits and starts when motivation hits. I tend to lack resolve and this leads to writer's block. I've been off-and-on writing a series of little vign...
I am in the process of writing a book and I'm considering setting up my own publishing agency to get it published, or else publish solely through the internet, but there is the obvious problem of d...
If I wanted to write a novel using three characters from a book published in 1910 - is this ok? I want to write the back story (my own invention) - in the vein of Wide Sargasso Sea. Any advice ...
I was told to write an article for a homework assignment. The topic was "How to get good sleep?". I was given the points I had to include, and the word limit was 120-150 words. When I submitted the...
I plan on writing a fantasy series at some point. Based on what I've read, my automatic assumption was that the protagonist of such a series would be a teenager, probably around the 17-18 year rang...
I'm new here. In the past, I've written countless articles for newspapers, and I almost never needed to edit more than a page or two. However, I have agreed to edit an entire (existing) novel for ...
I wrote a play that I performed this summer, and have done significant re-writes for an upcoming second performance run. In order to help me relearn my lines, I think it would be useful to see whic...
I'm in the writing stage of my first book, which is to be the first of three books which are all part of, let's say, Trilogy A. I'm planning on writing two more Trilogies (B and C) which all start...
I’m writing a scene that is on a phone call. I don't want to hear one person in a voiceover. Instead, I want to cut back and forth between the two people speaking. Do I have to use a new scene h...
As a writer, there are many things that can be claimed as expenses if they help you to generate income (or try to generate income). Postage is one, but my question is specifically this: Can you cl...
I know it is rather unusual, but I am toying with the idea of a king's daughter joining the army. This daughter is not the usual princessy princess, but she is serious, strong and often cold. If sh...
I'd like to write a scene where my character is thinking back and forth between decisions, and I'm not sure what the correct way is. Do I write all of his thoughts in italics, or just every other...
I know that some people say flashbacks are to be frowned upon. But I’m in a situation where I feel a flashback could maybe be more effective. It’s a crime/drama/mystery. Basically, Greg has gone...
I always want to start writing and maintain my diary, in which I want to write what I am doing daily. But I am confused about what to include, how to start, and where to start. Please guide me or ...
I have an idea for a novel series that I want to write. I'm into the first one, and I've got a pretty good idea of all that I want to happen in it. I also have some ideas as to events that I want t...
I don't want to use for 'sh*t' and 'f**k' in my work. What else can I use that gives similar meaning?
So, due to a smaller miracle, a scrapped concept, a badly timed Eragon review from Nostalgia Critic and the SAO abridged came together and created a good "filler" episode concept and a character i...
It seems that writing style varies from author to author, and from work to work, but how does the English language allow for so many different writing styles? In English there is syntax and word c...
I was thinking about paying someone to type up the handwritten pages of my novel, so that I can go straight to the editing process. (I prefer first drafts to be with pencil.). This way I can juggle...
This is probably a repeat of a previous question, but I have a slightly different problem when writing. I don't always want to refer to characters by their names (if I do, then I run into problems ...
It appears that most "rules" regarding internal monologue advise restricting its use to one or two POV characters. My novel, however, will have five or six major (POV) characters, and I would like ...
I have reached a point in my story in which the characters, who are in a sort of gang, will have to turn against each other. The specifics of it are not important; what is, is that capturing the ma...
If I am quoting a question, and the quotation comes at the end of a sentence with a citation, where does the question mark go? I have been told that question marks (and full stops) should come afte...
I'm 22 year old and when I read myself, my writing style feels juvenile. By that, I mean that everything seems enveloped in a drape of purity, of carelessness and that whatever happens will end wel...
Is it legitimate (acceptable) to use a 3rd person POV approach with the narration intentionally being a bit wobbly? I'm using an alternating 3rd person POV structure. One character (Let's call he...
If you are trying to convince readers that women are an important part of war in an alternate world, is sticking them in costumes designed to titillate instead of protect damage the worldbuilding c...
I'm willing to introduce a new character who speaks a different English - he uses all the words with -ed in the past and past perfect tenses and he doesn't use the continuous tenses: "Eh, they ...
