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All stories are morality plays. That is, they all deal with moral questions and moral choices. They may express very different moral viewpoints, but to make a satisfying story, they have to speak t...
I'm using something called Clarizen http://www.clarizen.com/MediaCenter/ProductTours.aspx . It is project management software, not aimed at writers particularly, but it is flexible for almost any p...
Realism is just another style, fiction is never reality. With that said, unrealistic characters can make it harder to suspend disbelief, identify with the characters or care about them, regardless...
Microsoft's project management software has a comprehensive system which allows user-controlled scheduling. The best part of the software is that it has enhanced our organization's team collaborat...
To me, this question confuses what "realistic" means when it comes to characters in fantasy. Characters should be realistic in the sense that they're realistic for the story itself, not necessaril...
All stories are lies the participants conspire in, as opposed to the more harmful type where the liar tries to pass fakery off as the real thing leaving the recipient unaware. Stories are a currenc...
I think the best way to attenuate the blandness in your superhuman character is by dropping the superficiality of invulnerability. Your protagonist might be an epitome of impeccability but what you...
I'd recommend a character synopsis. In depth, google it. It'll force you to ask yourself some questions about your character(s) This brainstorming may lead to some ideas, or scenes coming to you t...
Great advice here, I would add a couple of things I learned that really helped me in a course I took recently: Since most people will read email on a smartphone a good portion of the time. Don't ...
It is one of those things that are a matter of personal taste. Sometimes referring to a character by its surname implies things - eg that they are inferior or superior to their peers depending on c...
Try to use bullet list form. As you have said people don't have the time to sit through and read long emails. If you are having trouble being concise use bullet lists and limit each bullet to a par...
In a variation of "Keep it consistent," you may change the reference to the character from last name to first if: The character is not the main character, and the main character's perception of t...
I probably use attribution other than he/she about 10% of the time, I intentionally try to write without it, and upon re-reading I look to see if anything I wrote is ambiguous, if a reader followin...
"In the" sounds like it's going on for a while — a chapter or two. "At the" sounds like a point on a line: he describes everything in one or two paragraphs and then moves on. Both are grammatical...
Either is fine. But they have slightly different... connotations. "In the beginning" makes most people in the western world think/associate that ancient book called the (Christian) Bible. Which ...
This is a terrible idea. If you, who wrote the damned thing, are having trouble telling characters apart, keeping track of scenes, identifying key ideas, reflect on how much more trouble your read...
I once read a book with a cast of thousands and an epic sweep that covered centuries of mythical action, bloody wars, magical happenings and whatnot. I read about four chapters and gave up because...
Remember there is always a journey in a story. Many writers will call this the "plot", but the two don't co-incide compeletely. You've put your two characters on a journey with each other through...
From a movie/tv perspective the classic "12 Angry Men" has 12 characters (it's a jury) and never leaves the jury deliberation chamber save for the ending. Similarly, the Deep Space 9 episode, whil...
These things have no bearing on whether the story is boring A boring story is boring if it fails to capture the imagination of the reader. A complex plot with dozens of characters and a detailed e...
People should talk as people talk. If the flow is in character with, well, your character, then it's ok, it won't be less credible. But if, say, a street though is talking like a Duke... well, that...
Dialog is a shortcut for conveying details about your story. For example: "I felt like my arms were going to fall off because I was carrying those heavy grocery bags.", said Alice as she flopped d...
I just finished working on a 150-page Corporate Style Guide, so while I can answer this question in great detail if you want, my answer is not for WritersSE, I think. AP and Chicago are mostly ab...
As another example, you can look at the Apple Publications Style Guide (2009 version; 224 page PDF). It includes information such as: Their funky capitalization ex: Mac mini vs. Mac Pro The righ...
I don't know if there's a rule, but I have a meta-rule: the description has to follow an eye-line. That is, everything is described in the order that a person might see it. So I might start with ...
