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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Someone told me that the way I write is almost like I'm writing from a template, how do I break away from this? I always end up with this: Saying what the person is doing in the present tense, ment...
I have just finished a mystery in which I have used the name of a real community organization. It's an organization that people either love or hate because it represents the upper echelon of societ...
I'm an aspiring fantasy and sci-fi writer and I my goal is to write a novel that is to be the first in a series within the same setting. I'm getting to a point where I can feel "the world coming to...
It happens fairly often, that when I get an idea, it seems really good. I start writing it, and midway or towards the end, or sometimes after completing the whole thing, I completely lose trust in ...
I just started a book, but i cant decide if its better to use the present or the past tense (written in the first person)
To make a long story short, writing used to be a huge part of my life. I found a project that I loved and was dedicated to making it a published novel. Several beta readers reviewed later drafts an...
So I'm writing a fantasy novel, and I have my plot fairly fleshed out, and I have my main players, my world is built, and now I've started to really flesh out my characters more. The only problem i...
I'm writing a sci-fi script for a T.V. pilot (my first) in which there is, initially, an AI (that runs a spaceship) with no avatar (that comes later). It is not a narration when that "character" sp...
I've just finished the first draft of my first novella, and as I'm going through for my second revision, I'm wondering whether or not I should lengthen it to a novel. If my work is good enough to p...
I'm trying to make an A-Z book for children to get them interested in science. Each letter will be a futuristic technology/invention/concept and will give an easy to read explanation. I need creati...
I read some English poems on the books or websites, and like to translate some poems from English to Chinese. So can I put these English poems with my translation on my blog? Which situation do I ...
What are some ways to write feelings of fear, such as: losing a loved one, almost dying, getting lost, getting yelled at by your overprotective mother and almost losing someone close to you. ...
I have written a long elegy in rhyming scheme. It has many subjects. How can I introduce characters (subjects in elegy) in detail to readers, before they start reading elegy? Are there conventions ...
I've been trying to find a decent answer to this question for days but no luck so far. I've decided to pose the question to you all, and hopefully some of you will know the answer. Tarzan is in th...
For example, in Skype conversations you use emoticons. I might use (headbang) after a phrase to express frustration, or I can have a (facepalm) moment, or I can write a joke and add (rofl), etc. B...
I recently finished writing my first novel. Many of the characters resemble people in real life, and they are not always portrayed in a flattering manner. Should I put in a disclaimer that it is ...
I've recently looked at the chat that talks about the question of referencing actual military weapons in your writing. Since I'm writing a science-fiction novel, that's not too big of a problem fo...
I am new to the writing scene but i have had the passion for it. One thing that has baffled my mind was how writers would not comment on other people's work but more concerned with their work. It h...
Rants and ranters are numerous and pretty damn popular, so I'd just like to ask about a formula or general tips for writing them, without making my readers rage.
I have this system of going back in my story so far and asking deeper questions about that scene. I plan on answering these questions in the actual story. Is this a good tactic because it makes m...
I have no idea what to write for this certain chapter in my book, and I don't know how to plot it out. I have a general idea that the character somehow betrays another, resulting in him being kic...
Wondering if anyone with great wisdom can help me... I have 2 problems really that have pretty much stopped me writing anything decent for a few weeks. I'm on my first ever novel and have no exper...
Why hello there, old sports. I guess we all know the spiel with this one, but I tell you anyway, using this handy-dandy step-list: You introduce a character who is likable. (optional)Keep him aro...
I have seen these diagrams in books. They display the strings of the guitar and the locations of the notes I want to present, as well as the name of the chord/scale/etc. You can see what I mean in ...
I'm new here, so, please, bear with me. I had a look at previous answers to similar questions, but my case is (possibly) a bit different. I am not a professional writer, so I wrote this (long) n...
Recently, I've been seeing a lot of discussions about works that subvert a given trope. I think I have an understanding of what this means (from context) but can someone offer a clear definition or...
I think there's a problem in my writings, that I can describe as not being fluid, and lacking in smooth transitions. Based upon this, I'm interested in tips at shifting focus smoothly between par...
Irrespective of all such debates on the limitations for rationally, one may consider a decision rational when it satisfies condition X. ______ in this paper a decision is considered rational...
I usually start writing and just let it spill out. But a couple sentences later I just cannot write. I then begin thinking of what to write next. During thinking I just kind of regret everything I ...
Does a work need to be sexually stimulating to be classified as erotica/erotic literature? Or will any book that deals extensively with human sexuality and sexual relationships be put in that genre...
Is it okay to have cussing, sex, drug use, rape, and brutal violence in a young adult novel? Can you give examples of published YA novels that have these things in them?
I'm writing a book that takes place in modern day but also involves the Greek gods and goddesses and Greek mythology. Is it frowned upon to change a small part of a certain myth to make it fit into...
Dr.House, the God-Emperor of Mankind, Han Solo, and so on, and so forth. Something is appealing about anti-heroes, for instance: Superman is bland, perfect and ultimately a bruh superhero, whose c...
Deus ex machina is considered by TV Tropes to be a sub-trope to asspulling, and thus, often considered a bad writing trope. Now, unlike most other bad writing tropes, that have their roots in fanf...
So the novel I'm writing is in (multiple) close third person perspective, or limited, as the whole action is seen through the eyes and thoughts of a given character. The issue I'm having is that it...
I've been trying to find a literary agent, but I've been coming across some terms that are foreign to me. I have a clue on what they mean, but would like to have more clarification. Terms: Serio...
A year or two ago I was leaning towards self-publishing, mostly to have more creative freedom over my work, but with how the market is so over satuated with books, I feel deterred because I see no ...
I wrote and self-published a MG fantasy book that did relatively well locally: It's in elementary school libraries, at the local public libraries, and as a student teacher I enjoy giving lessons on...
I have an idea for a novel however I don't know if it is possible as the story line is very controversial and being young I write in a very immature style. This would make the novel very conflictin...
When writing stories in past tense (which is majority of the time) whether it be an essay for class or an unassembled essay for home and in my own time, I often find myself writing some of my sente...
I'm writing a book (only a hobby, but I hope I can publish it one day). I've started writing a while ago and setting was somewhat of a near-future of an alternative reality. In my book, political ...
Here is my haiku I wrote it for this question Is it any good? I understand the mechanical basics of a haiku being the three line syllable pattern of 5-7-5, the contrast of two images with a "cutti...
The original "kick ass" government operative was James Bond. Since then we've had Jason Bourne and Jack Bauer. James Bond Jason Bourne Jack Bauer Seriously? Of course we all know "Hannibal" rh...
I am writing about a person who is transported 10 years into the past, and has the chance to relive their life (actually being able to: 'knowing what I know now I would...') The trouble is I keep ...
I hate asking this, but for some reason I am utterly confused: is small caps not capitalized? I assumed if I wrote a characters name, "JASON", for instance, and then highlighted it and selected the...
The vast majority of fictional books are one continuous story, which are closer in style to what films are in a visual medium. I was thinking about why we don't see more books that would be closer...
I want to write a scene from multiple peoples perspectives without making it incredibly long, or repetitive. Is there a correct way to go about this?
Let's say I'm writing an article (I don't think that's the proper name for it but anyway) and I'm not including any of my own opinions, just quoting and paraphrasing others' sayings with proper cit...
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'm thinking about sending what I've written off to get published soon, but I was wondering how much work I'd have to do after the publisher has actually got the contract with me and we're going to...
