Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

Posts tagged conventions

This tag doesn't have any usage information yet.

This tag doesn't have a detailed wiki yet.

60%
+1 −0
Q&A How could the disregard for both plot and dialogue tell the story?

I want people to understand what I write, but I do not want to use conventions such as plot or dialogue to tell a story. Without a plot I have been criticized of not having written a story, but s...

4 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by cælvm‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Mark Baker‭

60%
+1 −0
Q&A Ambiguous sentences: How to tell when they need fixing?

A story of mine has the following sentence: Alyssa was possessed by a sudden, fierce urge to snatch the teacup out of her sister's hand and dump the contents into her perfectly arranged hai...

3 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by Evil Sparrow‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

60%
+1 −0
Q&A Can I use "fuck" as a non-vulgar verb in a fantasy/steampunk world?

I've been sending my fourth-ish novel through the my writing group. It is about a trio of teenagers running away from some mercenaries. One of them (Maris) is a girl who has only had a year of form...

3 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by dmoonfire‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A How to keep a main character nameless?

I'm currently writing a story about a girl who was found by a couple in a magical isolated town, where everyone is named by the leader. I want her to not have a name because of two reasons: She d...

5 answers  ·  posted 8y ago by Vee‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

60%
+1 −0
Q&A What is the benefit of writing formally?

It seems to me that formal writing has many practices that at best seem arbitrary and at worst seem harmful. Here are some examples: It discourages using contractions, even though they make writi...

2 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by Kelmikra‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Question conventions
50%
+0 −0
Q&A When is it correct to capitalize terms/phrases in a personal statement?

I'm writing a personal statement for graduate admissions, and I've a query regarding the use of capitalization in the midst of sentences. For example, is it correct/expected to capitalize the names...

1 answer  ·  posted 12y ago by TCSGrad‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A Writing a Lullaby

I need to write a short folk lullaby as part of my story, but am having trouble getting the feel of it in my lyrics. What are the general conventions of writing a lullaby? Any general principles s...

1 answer  ·  posted 12y ago by Lexi‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A Are paired adjectives bad style?

I have the habit of using paired adjectives in my writing: The noise from the engine lulled her with its slow and monotonous rythim ... ... the lights on the ceiling filled the room in a s...

2 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Liquid‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A What are some standards in naming a software/hardware version?

I am wondering if how we name a version of a spacecraft differs from how we name a version of a software. For software, I usually see things like "2.0.32.32" or something like that and sometimes th...

1 answer  ·  posted 4y ago by blackbird‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A Where's the middle ground between genre conventions and originality?

I've long been interested in writing a fantasy novel. Over the countless iterations I've gone through, one thing has remained clear: a quest for originality. I know some people like the fantasy c...

3 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Thomas Myron‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A What to do when my preview exceeds the requested submission length?

One of the agents I intend to query to requests the first fifty pages be attached to the query email. When I formatted the first four chapters and prologue into submission format, it reached 52 pag...

1 answer  ·  posted 8y ago by Taylor M‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

60%
+1 −0
Q&A Does writing regular diary entries count as writing practice?

One of the most common pieces of writing advice I hear is that you should write frequently and often. Writing regular entries in a diary should fit this criteria, but I'm hesistant to call my years...

2 answers  ·  posted 4y ago by ObsoleteUsername‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A The role of the supernatural in hard science fiction

The response to this question makes it clear to me that I haven't quite asked the question I had intended, the answers are useful but not quite what I'm looking for. So different but related ques...

5 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Ash‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A Is it okay to write a story where the protagonist is a Terrorist?

I am writing a side story called, The Afterglow of Jovian, which mainly takes place sometime during the final stages of the main story. Here's a brief gist of the main story to give some context, ...

3 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Frosty The DopeMan‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A How to open a novel?

Looking at the function of the beginning of a novel, it is clear that it should hook the reader and draw him or her into the story. Different techniques for achieving the hook have been described, ...

5 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by System‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A Where to put character responses in dialog?

I am not certain of convention. Is one of the two of these correct? Or are they equivalent? Jane said, "Let's chase the ball." Jack looked at her in disbelief. "We always chase the bal...

1 answer  ·  posted 6y ago by DPT‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Question conventions
50%
+0 −0
Q&A Why is character lifetime proportional to character development so often?

Hollywood movies are a good example of this, but also many books feature the rule. When the plot revolves around life and death situations, the first to die are the characters with least developme...

3 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Vorac‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A Is mixing cultures for the setting of a fantasy story frowned upon?

I am writing a fantasy/steampunk/horror novel, and I'm wondering if mixing different cultures is frowned upon. Specifically, my novel's setting is a mix of Italy, Ancient Rome, and Transalvania/Rom...

1 answer  ·  posted 7y ago by Jamie Whitt‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

60%
+1 −0
Q&A Can we use a title that alludes the opposite of what we're arguing for?

Let's say you decide to claim that time is absolute and not relative as Einstein said. Can you still use a title like "Einstein's time", "Relativity of time", "The geometry of time", "Time dilatati...

1 answer  ·  posted 4y ago by deliguy‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Question titles conventions
60%
+1 −0
Q&A Why is the construct "'hello' says Pete" most common?

I am asking this from the point of a reader not a writer and just wondering why, so sorry if this is a bad place. I read loads of books to my kids and the construct always seems to go: "What a...

0 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by WendyG‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

60%
+1 −0
Q&A How Can You Use "In Medias Res" To Beautify Your Amazing Masterpiece? [closed]

How do you write out the second build up without killing the essence of the masterpiece? What are the advantages and disadvantages of using Medias Res?

1 answer  ·  posted 6y ago by Phantom‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

60%
+1 −0
Q&A How does one gauge the strength of any particular adverb?

I am now editing for adverbs, as silly as that may sound to some people. :-) I have learned, 'by ear', that the advice to 'avoid adverbs' is actually not bad advice. But I am also learning that cer...

2 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by DPT‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A Writing a full conversation in free indirect speech

I'm writing a conversation between some no-good thievin' teens, and one of them has stolen a wallet, which has turned out to be that of an FBI member. They converse, written in indirect speech, wh...

2 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Piomicron‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

50%
+0 −0
Q&A How much and which parts of a manuscript should I submit to an agent?

I've got a book that I think is interesting and action packed - a traumatic scene begins right in the prologue, but chapter one is a bit slow while I introduce characters, the setting, and weave hi...

1 answer  ·  posted 7y ago by Williamz902‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭