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Q&A

Posts tagged fiction

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Q&A How to write a memorial plaque?

I've been tasked with drafting the text for a memorial plaque dedicated to group X. Group X was big, diverse, and had several hundred years of rich history. Amount of space I have is 2-3 sentences....

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

Question fiction non-fiction
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Q&A How to show the same emotion multiple times?

I think everyone has heard the "show don't tell" rule. My question is how can I show same emotion multiple times without the description being the same. For example if my character is scared I can ...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by Lymaba‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A What are the advantages and disadvantages of setting a story in a made up country, compared to a real one?

I have story ideas that involve civil wars or revolutions happening while a character is travelling. I was wondering what would be the advantages and disadvantages of setting such a story in a made...

4 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Empress Molly‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Question fiction setting
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Q&A How to present an alien culture with different morals, without it coming across as savage?

For a fiction story of mine (probably fantasy, if I had to categorize it), I've set it in a world that is in some ways similar to Earth, and in other ways very dissimilar from Earth. In place of ...

7 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Canina‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A The use of footnotes to translate foreign words in a novel

I'm writing a fantasy novel and one of my characters speaks in English, but sometimes utters single words in an ancient dead language, and I don't want to abusively use that language. For example:...

3 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by vanity‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A On Characters' Motivations

I'm currently writing a sort of serious superhero thriller. The main character finds out his father is a kingpin and drug lord. At the beginning of the story the main character, who has been living...

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

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Q&A Is this attribution clear and sufficient?

My characters are well read and some like to recite poetry. My MC is particularly fond of Paradise Lost and is known to quote a few lines here and there. In one scene he is thinking some of the li...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by Rasdashan‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Running four parallel stories

In my story, I have four important people (1 Protagonist and his friends). All four play a major part in dealing with the main conflict. Initially they do not know each other. They meet after a ser...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by Vishal Kompalli‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How do you make characters relatable if they exist in a completely different moral context?

Usually when I read books in ancient-like settings (settings that are either in real ancient civilizations on Earth, or fantasy settings similar to those), there are relatable characters who employ...

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

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Q&A Should we add a character in a story for realistic effect?

In my novel, the protagonist is divorced and moves from London to another city in Britain. The setting is 2013. The protagonist is depressed and stressed out; in real life, such a person would see...

3 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by White Cloud‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Quote at the beginning of a chapter, is it advisable for fiction novels?

I have read a few non-fiction works (mostly scientific) where there is a quote at the beginning of each new chapter. Sometimes the quote related to the chapter along with the title, sometimes it wa...

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

Question fiction quotes
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Q&A Is my book legal? Is my story too similiar to Harry Potter

I have been creating a story in my mind from early childhood. Now, I am very talented in writing, so I decided to give it a try one day. It was awesome! The book I imagine in my head was being writ...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by Nikola kreten‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How can I avoid a predictable plot?

When writing a novel, authors generally don't want the reader to know how things will end. This is especially true of mystery novels, but obviously applies to any creative story. (A few stories sho...

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

Question fiction plot
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Q&A How much realism do I put into a war simulation story for Young Adults?

I am writing an action/thriller light novel for YA audience. The story involves characters "playing" in a war-simulation game in an extremely realistic and full immersive Virtual Reality. By "full...

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

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Q&A Portraying the Brutality of War

I'm writing what might be described as a gas-lamp fantasy novel set in a realm similar to the Durrani Empire. Part of the main character's backstory is his experience growing up the son of a prosti...

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

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Q&A How many times should I mention a character's name when the interactions are among the same sex?

So, most of my main protagonists are female, and the usual him/her doesn't work when dealing with multiple females (or males, for that matter.) So, how would I make dialogue flow without mentioning...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by Kale Slade‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How to introduce a large amount of characters in the first chapter?

So, I have a novel idea where the lead characters (seven in total), all have to be introduced in the first scene in my novel. I've already started with a basic idea, but I wanted to know if anyone ...

3 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Kale Slade‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A What to call a main character who changes names?

I'd like to write a story, in the third-person perspective, centering on a character who changes her name several times in the course of the story. She uses her birth name for the first couple of ...

3 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Cerise St Hilaire‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How to describe movement in zero-G?

Within the setting of my personal project (a hard science fiction) I need to be able to describe movement in zero-G extensively. Because I wish to write a whole narrative involving very little gra...

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

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Q&A How does one discovery-write court intrigue?

Intrigue (any kind, really, but royal courts were particularly known for it) is a series of setups that lead to a pay-off. For example, a handkerchief moved from one room to another, a word whisper...

3 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Galastel‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Can fanfics be bestsellers? [closed]

Fanfiction is somewhat of an uncharted territory, which few actual writers/critics take serious note of or are very enthusiastic about. It has been long asked and established whether publishing fan...

3 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Soha Farhin Pine‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Question fiction fan-fiction
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Q&A Split up the section or flow straight through

Is it a good idea to “split” the action/setting to show actions of other characters elsewhere, or make it flow straight through? Example: My protagonist gets kidnapped. There’s a scene where she is...

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

Question fiction structure
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Q&A Creating fictional names - bands, hotels and companies

There are a nice plethora of "how do I create a name for my fictional country/area/character" but I can't see anything for band names or companies or hotels. Is there a good system to use to avoid...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by Puffafish‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Question fiction naming
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Q&A How to give cartography information in a fantasy setting without being too precise?

I'm writing a fantasy story set in an imaginary world. For the first time, I'm giving geographical information and... I don't really know how to give it, actually. My alpha reader told me it was ha...

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

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Q&A How should I deal with travel time in fantasy?

I suppose this is more of a question of if its even necessary, but I'll just assume it is. I am currently writing an outline for a fantasy story, and I don't know how to deal with distance. It's un...

3 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by M.Wallace‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How to write internally emotional characters?

Over the past couple of days, I've asked questions about writing female characters with agency, and writing female characters as a male writer. Both have sparked some interesting, and for me infor...

2 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by J.D. Ray‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Question fiction perspective
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Q&A If a main character is writing the story, can I change who writes the story in the next chapter?

I’m trying to write my first novel and I have come across an issue which I feel like it could change the whole story/flow. Originally it wouldn’t have mattered if I wrote in the third person but I ...

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

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Q&A How to write female characters as a male writer?

Yesterday I asked a question about writing a female character who has agency. Much to my surprise, it was well-received and generated a lot of great discussion. In reading that discussion, howeve...

5 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by J.D. Ray‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How to write female characters with agency?

I'm attempting to write a novel, an historical fiction with a small fantasy component (time travel through a portal). The travelers (main characters) are a young couple from the late 23rd Century ...

6 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by J.D. Ray‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Is head-hopping always bad?

The general consensus nowadays seems to be that being in the head of more than one character is bad. We should be "on the shoulders" or "in the head" of one character, and one character only, if no...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by Galastel‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Will my one sentence prologue work?

I know most readers don't like prologues, so I've tried to make it as simple as possible. I write the following knowing fully well how weird it’ll make me look. — A.B.G. A.B.G. Is the fi...

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

Question fiction prologues
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Q&A How far apart can the dots be?

I've written enough to know the kind of writer I am, my voice, my style. I am often accused of making the reader work too hard to put the plot points together. In my latest story: a man experienci...

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

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Q&A Proper handling of "sophisticated" English usage

Good day everyone! I am currently writing my first fan-fiction. Here are some basic traits of one of my characters. He usually talks in normal English with a small infusion of 'moi' and 'thou/th...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by Vadzim Savenok‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Does point of view matter drastically?

I've looked at a few other questions and answers but nothing that I was really looking for. The point of view is a little confusing at the beginning (and probably) throughout the novel. It starts w...

3 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Kyl‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How to improve a scene where the drama is one-sided and not with the POV character?

I have a scene I struggle with: it has potential for inherent drama, but it reads as an info dump. In a high-fantasy setting (more or less), character Alpha, a 14-year old daughter of a nobleman c...

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

Question fiction technique pov
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Q&A Invoking Deliberate Values Dissonance

Deliberate Values Dissonance is when the morals of a character or culture in-story (whether historical or fictional) that modern people don't agree with are presented in-universe. Not because the a...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by System‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Sensitivity with disorders/mental illnesses

The novel is overall very distressing and supposed to elicit emotion from the readers, it's practically dependent on it. A few of the characters in my novel will contain depressed and suicidal thou...

3 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Kyl‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How to research sex for writing?

I'm not writing erotica - I'm writing fantasy and sci-fi. But sometimes my characters make love, sometimes in ways I cannot be familiar with. In one story, it's two guys (I'm a girl). In another st...

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

Question fiction research sex
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Q&A How to convert a roleplay into a book?

My partner and I usually enjoy role-playing together in free-form. I was thinking perhaps we could convert one of our role-plays into a book and publish it online. I wanted to ask if there are any ...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by Maiko Chikyu‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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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

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Q&A The role of inexplicable events in hard science fiction

The modern world has few true mysteries, among them the fate of the Roanoke colonists and the crew of the Mary Celeste but do such happenings have a place in futuristic settings? In settings with ...

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

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Q&A Dialogue in First Person Fiction (Detective Mystery) [closed]

Karl is my detective protagonist. His girlfriend, Jenna, is with him. He is hospitalized, and his boss, Rob Tucker, shows up for a visit. Which example of dialogue is correct? In true first person,...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by Peter‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How can I make my anti-heroic protagonist more likable?

A while ago, I asked if there any possible way for my series to avoid causing Darkness Induced Audience Apathy. A well thought-out response stated that unless I give my readers a reason to care abo...

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

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Q&A How can I write about historical realities that readers mistakenly believe are unrealistic?

Readers have certain expectations about locations and time periods, things they "know". For example, people "know" that everybody in the Persian Empire was brown-skinned, that houses in Ancient Rom...

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

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Q&A Writing a short story set in a place I’ve never been

I’m writing a science fiction type short story set in Germany (actually Stuttgart). To some extent the location isn’t that important- it could be set anywhere but setting it there appeals to me and...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by auburg‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How does one add puns in another language?

Back in college, I took a regular English course that was required for all majors. The teacher just happened to be a grad student in British Literature, so we read a lot of British literature. All ...

4 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Double U‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How much value do publishers and editors place on informative/educational content in fiction stories?

I have heard people say that ‘good stories are educational as well as entertaining’. But how much does it actually matter in the eyes of editors and publishers? For example, if one is writing a sto...

3 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by user394536‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A The advantages and disadvantages of Fantasy-time

Many works of the High Fantasy genre are set in a pseudo-European fantasyland, in a rather amorphous time-period that mixes early-medieval and late-medieval arms and armour (but never gunpowder), l...

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

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Q&A How to survive editing

I am currently trying to edit a one my most recent novel. Trying is the keyword. I asked a few people to read my book as beta readers, but all of them have been busy, so no progress on that front. ...

5 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by White Eagle‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Is it a flaw if a book is readable, flows well, and gets the point across, BUT you can tell that the author is a non-native?

Even though English is not my first language, I have completed writing a fiction book in English. I have been in the US for over 40 years and I believe that I have a good command of the language....

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

Question fiction style