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 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...
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...
This might seem like an obvious question, but I'm curious if there's been any research into whether popularity correlates with linguistic simplicity. Furthermore, do popular novels use linguisti...
I know this isn't the conworlding forum, but I'm not asking for a critique on my conworld. I'm asking how people would receive such a thing as a constructed world not based off of ancient cultures,...
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 ...
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 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 ...
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'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...
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?
Example from my own writing: I cupped my nose—when I should have covered my ears. To block the wicked mocking of my classmates. I was told by another writer that I should avoid this kind o...
I am writing a 5 page thesis paper on Simon Bolivar for a history class. I am using the book "Bolivar" by Marie Arana as one of my source for writing the paper. Many times Arana uses primary sour...
So. I have a project I'm currently working on in which there are a number of characters who are connected to each other by various friendships/familial relationships, although they don't all know e...
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)?...
What are some print-on-demand (PoD) services that allow two-color printing? I would like to print a book that uses black and red ink only.
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...
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 at the stage where I have edited my novel to the best of my ability. I want a manuscript assessment and have sent off samples of my writing to a few lit consultancies, and have received very k...
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...
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 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...
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 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...
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...
Where to take names for characters? This is not about names, themselves. This is only about source for them. For examples: Cassandra, queen in post-apocalyptic age of my fantasy world, has na...
Our eyes are mysterious; driven lenses, full of exposure. The moonlight stood still in the face of adaptation. Looking forward, i saw growth. Her eyes were dull. Iris, like the flower. Her mustard ...
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...
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...
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...
I am writing a thriller novel set in St. Louis a lot of the important scenes occur at a university. I am familiar with the city because I live close to it but I don't think I know enough about the ...
Occasionally, it feels easier to write individual scenes of a prose and later connect them somehow. Does this method have any significant benefit and/or throwback over the regular "perpetual" way?
I plan on writing an ebook that's exactly 100 pages in length. This book will be comedy, basically my humorous take on situations. I think it's adequate as an ebook since ideally you'll read a pag...
I'm writing a paper that goes something like this: To quickly summarize MIT is located in Massachusetts FIU is in Florida, The tuition cost for MIT is 45 thousand versus 6 thousand for 30 credi...
I'm trying to describe an action (a gust of wind blows) and its result (the flame is doused) and its subsequent effect (the room is plunged into darkness). However, I'm facing some issues with how ...
For example, if I make the claim: "there are experts in the field that think X is fascinating." and if I insert a footnote source, like this: "there are experts in the field that think this way[...
I'm as novice a writer as one can get so please bear with me. I have read many times that a writer shouldn't mislead the reader otherwise the reader will lose trust in the author and lose his engag...
I am using Blogger currently. I have paid for a domain name, but my hosting is free and to be honest I don't really want to pay (being a student). I am a self-proclaimed cinema buff and I love writ...
i'm writing a story and i want to write two prologues the first one when the MC was being born and then later on when the MC is around ten years old before starting the main story. can i do that?
One of the answers to this question movitated me to ask this. I don't agree 100% with the answerer, however, I think he has good points. Do you really weaken the focus if you mix dialogue and acti...
I find myself writing these a lot: "Thanks." She tilted her head shyly to the side. As soon as she did, her chin-length hair slid off her face, revealing the bowl-sized bruise that made her...
I am currently writing a short story, and I am considering using two different first-person narrators in two different timelines. The two timelines will be clearly marked by headings stating the d...
I've heard it said on here that 100,000 words is about right for a novel, 20,000 is about a novella and much too much for a short story... What are the sources for these numbers, are there more I ...
I am planning to write a novel that is set in a solar system where the 1950's tropes are its reality. This means that my story is set on a Venus where lush, fertile jungles cover the majority of th...
If someone could explain - in the words of a layman - about copyright in general, I'd be much obliged. I'm still a long way from publishing, but I don't have the faintest clue how it works. Does i...
Hello everyone! I want to know how to format text to something normal as depicted in the image. How can this be done quickly? Thank you for your time!
For example, I am writing about my protagonist and her long time best friend. How could I convey closeness between the two characters in a way that feels like it could be a real relationship?
I have a website and I want to sell some books from different authors. Can anyone suggest who I should contact to get the legal rights to sell the books? I am selling them to other countries as wel...
Simply put, I've been noticing a general truth in bookstores: Nearly every new book on the shelf is part of a series - this is doubly true in the Fantasy and Sci-Fi genres, but no less true in othe...
I am writing my first novel, which I think likely will end up being several volumes. Although I have a lot of experience in poetry and short stories, this is a very different challenge! My questi...
Is it possible to get better critiques on a blog than showing my story to family members in real life? I have a blog where I post the progress of my story without posting the actual thing, would i...
