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Q&A

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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Should writers shun cognate stems that share roots, because readers take longer to process these stems? [closed]

Question 1 Here I am asking about merely reading and writing. Do human readers take longer to distinguish between stems (and bases) that share the same root, even if merely picoseconds? For exa...

0 answers  ·  posted 8mo ago by TextKit‭  ·  closed 8mo ago by Canina‭

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What is the Current State-of-the-Art / Any Successful Experiements with EPUB Format?

As a zipped web-page, EPUB has long offered the possibility of completely changing how a book looks and feels with dynamic content and interactive content. But since EPUB came out (2007), I really...

3 answers  ·  posted 9mo ago by James McLellan‭  ·  last activity 4mo ago by James McLellan‭

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Sphinx: API documentation: How to turn off creating links to Parameter/Argument link creation

For projects with API documentation generated by Sphinx, I've noticed that some project's don't include links to the Parameter/Argument types (str, file-like object, int, etc) and some projects do....

0 answers  ·  posted 8mo ago by CodeFarmer‭

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Why didn't 18-19th century Anglophone authors shorten their sentences, by starting more with Majuscules? Why lengthen them with commas, (semi)colons?

Shorter sentences have been proven more readable. Thus why didn't the authors below sunder their lengthy sentences, prolongated by commas and (semi)colons? Why not divide them into shorter sentence...

0 answers  ·  posted 1y ago by TextKit‭  ·  edited 1y ago by TextKit‭

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HTML tags versus CSS classes: is one preferred over the other for the same styling?

We publish documentation online using HTML. For things like fixed parameter names and other code literals, we use &lt;code&gt; tags. My question is about styling these in tables. On our referenc...

2 answers  ·  posted 1y ago by Monica Cellio‭  ·  last activity 11mo ago by Canina‭

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Do readers primarily identify with or judge heroes in a novel?

In this article about different categories of heroes, Matt Bird states that sensitive and unlucky heroes are hard to write because audiences have a hard time caring about them. He says: "Americans...

1 answer  ·  posted 2y ago by icanfathom‭  ·  edited 2y ago by Canina‭

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Want to Expand my Writing Career as Freelancer [closed]

I've been working as a content writer and blogger for a few local agencies. I want to start freelancing this year but am slightly afraid to start. Could anyone help me how to start freelancing as a...

0 answers  ·  posted 8mo ago by proptijohn‭  ·  closed 7mo ago by Mithical‭

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How do we prevent Madcap Flare from injecting non-breaking spaces in our documentation?

We use Madcap Flare for our documentation, and it has an annoying property: if you happen to have the shift key down when you type a space, it inserts a non-breaking space (&amp;#160;). Our docume...

1 answer  ·  posted 2y ago by Monica Cellio‭

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For starting a blog, is a niche blog or general/misc content better?

I am thinking of starting a blog and wondering how I should approach it. Is it better to have a niche blog or is general/miscellaneous content fine?

4 answers  ·  posted 2y ago by yashikaissrani‭  ·  last activity 3mo ago by Mithical‭

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block-quotation narrative with dialogue

Over on the Judaism site, I summarized a narrative text in a block quotation. Because the narrative is well-known, I expected many people to skip the block quotation; therefore, I did not want it t...

2 answers  ·  posted 2y ago by msh210‭  ·  last activity 1y ago by Mark Baker‭

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In 2021, which publishers distribute novellas?

The Hugo awards are prominent fan awards in the SF&amp;F genre. In 2021, I noticed that all of the finalists in the Novella category are from a single publisher, Tor.com. Novellas have, I underst...

2 answers  ·  posted 2y ago by Monica Cellio‭  ·  last activity 2y ago by Mark Baker‭

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How to show powerful emotion in a character trying to hide it?

This question deals with showing the emotions of characters when those characters are actively trying to hide their emotions. If the emotion is something subtle, like apprehension or annoyance, you...

3 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by Thomas Myron‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by Prahara‭

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How to train readers in Argot or Slang

I have a character which is typical street thug, criminal and did his time in jail. He is using a lot of underground Argot and thug slang. Example below At the end we got the ice, gravy train if y...

1 answer  ·  posted 2y ago by Prahara‭  ·  last activity 2y ago by Canina‭

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Syntax summaries use brackets for optional elements; how do I represent literal brackets in a way readers will understand?

In our documentation of SQL functions and statements, we include a BNF-style syntax summary. As is conventional, we indicate optional elements in square brackets, like this: CREATE [IF NOT EXISTS]...

4 answers  ·  posted 2y ago by Monica Cellio‭  ·  last activity 2y ago by Derek Elkins‭

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Steps in writing a university assignment paper

Can someone please explain me the steps in writing a university assignment paper.

1 answer  ·  posted 7mo ago by Baleonkennedy ‭  ·  last activity 2mo ago by InfiniteDissent‭

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"The tale how" vs. "The tale of how"

My SO and I were discussing the following sentence in his writing: This is the tale how once the Septemi helped King Nicodemus subdue walking firestorms, how we hunted cultists and mongrelfolk i...

2 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by Sigma‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by xtal‭

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When else ought you introduce new material in a final paragraph?

Are there any other "times" for introducing new content into a final paragraph? Have any other famous writers substantiate this bombshell? I was flabbergasted to read this para. because mo...

1 answer  ·  posted 2y ago by TextKit‭  ·  last activity 2y ago by Mark Baker‭

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How can we format code examples so that they work on a range of devices?

We use Madcap Flare to produce a large documentation set that contains many code examples (primarily SQL, but also C++, Java, and Python) and command-line operations. When the doc set was first pl...

1 answer  ·  posted 2y ago by Monica Cellio‭  ·  last activity 2y ago by manassehkatz‭

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Is there a formula for creating stakes?

I thrive off of formulas. I don't do well with brainstorming or figuring out how things in my stories should happen, but I can make a lot of progress if there's a one-size-fits-all formula which ca...

6 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by Thomas Myron‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by Kevin‭

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What topics can be used when meeting my readers?

I understand that I need not to be anxiety about any meetup - just come there and the conversation will flow to itself. However, after two meetups with two of my readers, I realize that I was quite...

1 answer  ·  posted 3y ago by Ooker‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by levininja‭

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What is the main publishing format authors should be using today?

I've recently begun investigating the publishing process, and what I as an author need to do to get my book read. I'm aware of the self-publishing option, but as I have not studied any options exte...

1 answer  ·  posted 2y ago by Thomas Myron‭  ·  last activity 2y ago by Mark Baker‭

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Need basic tools and ways to practice and polish my writing skills

What are the ways to practice and improve basic writing, like content and creative writing? I am not planning to write or learn to write fictional stories. By creative writing, I mean the essential...

3 answers  ·  posted 1y ago by Michael16‭  ·  last activity 1y ago by sinneddennis‭

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Why didn't 18-19th century Anglophone authors shorten their sentences, by starting more with Majuscules? Why lengthen them with comma + conjunction? [duplicate]

Shorter sentences have been proven more readable. Thus why didn't the authors below sunder their lengthy sentences, prolongated by comma + conjunction? Why not divide them into shorter sentences s...

0 answers  ·  posted 1y ago by TextKit‭  ·  edited 1y ago by TextKit‭

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+1 −0
How do we get Flare to stop modifying .gitignore?

We use Madcap Flare for our documentation, and the project is checked into git. (In case this matters, this is a locally-hosted git server, not GitHub.) The project uses a .gitignore file to aver...

1 answer  ·  posted 2y ago by Monica Cellio‭  ·  last activity 2y ago by Monica Cellio‭

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Should a scene break always be put in place when there is change in location, times, and dates?

I have read many books where the character is in one place at a certain time and, without a scene break being utilised, they are all of a sudden in a different place at a different time, but it wo...

3 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by N.Houghton‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by DPT‭

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How to write an introverted main character with accidental charisma

I’m planning a medieval-style fantasy epic in which a young protagonist is plucked from his humble life, acquires great powers, and ultimately saves his civilisation from the Big Baddie (a politica...

4 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by xtal‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by What?‭

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What innovative techniques can make a textbook for learning a foreign language "pop"?

One of the biggest obstacles I've encountered learning Chinese is the incredibly dull and boring textbooks. Yes, the grammar in them is important, but it's so boring! Typical writing reads like: ...

5 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by becky82‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by johnDanger‭

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How can garden path sentences be used (and misused)?

"A garden path sentence is a grammatically correct sentence that starts in such a way that a reader's most likely interpretation will be incorrect; the reader is lured into a parse that turns out t...

1 answer  ·  posted 1y ago by Paul A. Clayton‭  ·  last activity 1y ago by gmcgath‭

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How can I make a character sound condescending?

In one chapter, the PoV character meets up with her sister. Her sister is supposed to be fairly stuck-up and thinks she's a complete lowlife, so she talks down to her the whole time. I have the Po...

2 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by Evil Sparrow‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by Canina‭

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How to determine relative success of different, similar books published by different means?

This answer discusses how to choose between traditional print publishing, ebook publishing, self publishing, etc., and concludes by stating that You should publish your book using the channel wher...

1 answer  ·  posted 2y ago by Canina‭  ·  last activity 2y ago by msh210‭

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How can I make a character sound uneducated?

Some of my characters have little to no education, and I'm looking for ways to show that through their dialogue. (They're uneducated, but not necessarily stupid.) Here's what I've tried so far: ...

2 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by Evil Sparrow‭  ·  edited 3y ago by Evil Sparrow‭

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What are the advantages and disavantages of different triggers for character transformation?

I'm writing a story where my lead character has two forms and he swaps between them frequently. I'd like to know the advantages and disadvantages of various kinds of triggers for the transformation...

3 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by Josh‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by System‭

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Detail vs. filler

How can I minimise the "filler" text that I end up writing when fleshing out a scene with detail? An appropriate level of detail seems to me to be a fundamental requirement for good prose. Whateve...

7 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by sesquipedalias‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by DPT‭

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mice don't tap and tablet-users don't click: what word can I use for all audiences instead?

I am documenting features on a web site. The audience is end users, who could be anywhere from seasoned Internet veterans to relatively new people who came for my site's content but aren't general...

4 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by Monica Cellio‭  ·  edited 2y ago by Canina‭

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Is there any benefit when writing out instructions to split it up into lots of little paragraphs, or is it better to leave it in one paragraph?

I was putting together an instruction page (for setting up a game that my business created), which included a whole lot of various pointers, most of which were only a sentence or two long. These ex...

3 answers  ·  posted 2y ago by Mithical‭  ·  last activity 2y ago by Mark Baker‭

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Bad to start story with VR/non-real scene?

I'm coming up with an outline for a cyberpunk story. I want to establish (at some point) that the main character has marksmanship proficiency by starting my cyberpunk story with a VR sequence, in w...

3 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by Ninjalah‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by Mark Baker‭

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Should I use made-up words for spells? [closed]

I put work into making up my own names for spells. However, I feel like they come across as childish when I read over my writing This was also my impression when re-reading Harry Potter. It really...

1 answer  ·  posted 3y ago by klippy‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by System‭

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Are there any websites that show you the popularity and regional use of words?

There are some words and phrases in my manuscript that I think are used in America. However, a beta reader tells me my character sounds British. Are there any online sources I can use to check the ...

2 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by writersam‭  ·  edited 3y ago by Monica Cellio‭

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How can I portray a character with no fear of death, without them sounding utterly bored?

Imagine a fantasy hero with a 'time reset' ability like the protagonists of Groundhog Day or Edge of Tomorrow: they can 'rewind time' up to a few hours, resetting their own physical state and the r...

5 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by Stephen‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by System‭

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How to subvert expectations and abort plotlines without alienating the reader?

Subverting expectations and suddenly aborting plotlines was a no-go zone for me for a while. The only time I could successfully abort a plotline was in a thought train. After watching How To Tr...

2 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by Mephistopheles‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by System‭

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Is it a copyright violation to have the character share some characteristics with a known character?

More specifically, consider the following examples: 1) Say my protagonist is a boy who has a lightning-bolt scar on his forehead, wears round glasses, and has dark hair and green eyes. His name is ...

3 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by Adyescu‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by Mark Baker‭

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What genre would a fictional eyewitness account of a real historical event fall under?

I've written a short story about a true historical incident which involves a very famous person in history. The incident is true as are the people involved in it. But the story is a fictional eyewi...

1 answer  ·  posted 3y ago by srini‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by Mark Baker‭

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How to write a book from NOT the main character's POV and then organically switch the main character

How can you write a book from the point of view of a character who is not the main character and introduce the main character later on, who you want the story to focus on? How do I do this in an or...

0 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by Stupidzombiet ‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by System‭

pov
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Advice for indicating sources in tables

I'm writing a thesis about the Accords by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS). If I put a table exactly from the Accords, I write in the table note "Source: BCBS (year)". If I start...

1 answer  ·  posted 3y ago by CarLaTeX‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by Monica Cellio‭

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+1 −0
Idea overflow in plotting?

I've been working on a paranormal/romance/mystery kind of novel for over 4 years now and still haven't finished it. It all started out as a fanfiction but I decided that it had too much potential (...

4 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by AlexSkellington‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by Kevin‭

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How do I cite previously published print school newspapers on now online school newspaper?

I'm the adviser of a school newspaper that publishes exclusively online now. We have a page dedicated to revisiting the archives of our paper (60 years worth!). I cannot piece together how to prope...

1 answer  ·  posted 3y ago by TheChant‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by System‭

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How can a writer point out the merits of his or her own work?

It is generally taken that if I tell you a joke, then have it explain why it's funny - it's not probably not funny. I continually return to one of my own short pieces. If I submit it I believe it ...

2 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by Surtsey‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by Mark Baker‭

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What is the correct way to mark a section as a translation?

I am often in the situation where I would like to cite a source in another language, and as such include my own translation alongside the quotation. I have been told that translation is a form of ...

1 answer  ·  posted 1y ago by Moshi‭  ·  last activity 1y ago by dsr‭

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Does my protagonist need to be the most important character?

In my fantasy story that I'm slowly getting into, my MC Sirena is an apprentice witch. Her two fellow apprentices, Aster and Keeva, study alongside her under their High Priestess, and they all som...

5 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by weakdna says reinstate monica‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by System‭

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Is there such a thing as too inconvenient?

I find myself often being irritated at elements in situations that help characters succeed, elements which are also highly unlikely or even illogical. But often, if not more, I find myself angered ...

5 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by A. Kvåle‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by System‭

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