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EDIT: In reconsidering this question and a conversation I had with a colleague the other day I believe I have something to add on this. He mentioned reading about the way Agatha Christie used to co...
Specifically on Tapply's Elements of Mystery Fiction, I bought the book, and was disappointed to find almost nothing concerning the plotting issues I raised in the question. Alas.
I highly recommend reading related articles / forums in one of the many Role-Playing Games Communities. Since writing adventures for a group of gamers often include mystery elements, lots of good ...
Maybe you can look into how Memento was written and use that as a framework? Stefano Ghislotti wrote an article in Film Anthology which discusses how Nolan provides the viewer with the cl...
You should dig into the Detection Club, which had Agatha Christie, Dorothy L Sayers, Chesterton, etc as its founding members. It's entry oath was: Do you promise that your detectives shall well...
I'm reading one of those accounting books that is best described by a reviewer who said it was like "going through WWI trench warfare". So here is what I did thanks to a friend who suggested this ...
I am not aware of any formal guidelines, but here is my subjective take: Continuous: Seems less formal, like what I would expect from an online FAQ/guide. Descriptive: This seems formal, like w...
I'm just rewriting. :) A bit of trimming, a bit of adding: "You understand — it's nothing personal." It wasn't quite a question. When Robert Jansen didn't quite provide an answer, the man turned a...
I like the flow just the way it is. I don't see any inconsistencies in these few paragraphs. And I think there is plenty here to intrigue readers. Several stylistic choices tripped me up as I read...
Born Into This- Charles Bukowski's documentary. It is more inspirational than you can imagine- Just avoid adopting his drinking habits.
I'd go with past, actually. If you use past perfect, there's no need to italicise, is there? It's effectively not a flashback, but just narration. Flashbacks are meant to take on an element of imme...
As someone mentioned earlier- anything can be published. If the real question is will a publisher pay you anything to publish it-The answer is will enough people pay money for the work to allow t...
There's no real limit on what can be published, and I don't think vulgarity is a barrier on poetry (in some markets, sure, but far from all). The question is who exactly you're aiming this propose...
If you have a notion that something is wrong then your "block" is that the method you have chosen is frustrating you. Stop! You have found a way that you are not comfortable writing even if as you ...
I don't think this is really a problem with the story being in first person. Regardless of the POV you use, you need to be able to really understand your characters, and you need to present that u...
Get a woman! Yeah, for proofreading, what did you think? This irking notion is not so much different from all the other irking notions which assail your mind during writing. If you write about a ...
If you've lost interest there is a good chance that an agent/audience will too. Put it away and try to write something else. We all have works in "non-progress." Better to find out now; it will dec...
The resource that most conlangers point to is the venerable Language Construction Kit. It's quite extensive. It mostly concerns the linguistic aspects of making your language, but it does address s...
I haven't actually seen any movies specifically about writing that are particularly inspirational. Writing is not the most movie-friendly of activities. I find the movies that give me inspiration ...
In programming, it is well known that context-switching is a productivity killer. Developers arrange their workdays to minimize interruptions so they can focus on one task. Once "flow" is interrupt...
In addition to Kate's and Lucy's excellent advice about working on one project per work period, I suggest making sure you're "cleansing your palate." In between work sessions on Project A and Pro...
I had to laugh when I read the header of your question. We try to encourage people jumping into NaNoWriMo and just write, and with that we unsettle people who are already well prepared. One Monkey...
There is absolutely no reason not to start the book with NaNoWriMo. In a recent discussion I was having about the writing process, someone brought up the idea that there were two types of writer...
There is no harm in starting Nanowrimo with a basic plot outline. Writing without plotting is very hard, and few people other than Stephen King can pull it off, as I said in another answer. The re...
I oscillate between handwriting and typing. I find handwriting preferable for first drafts or for getting ideas out, as I can simply scribble on the nearest piece of paper or notebook, have arrows ...
