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It seems you have done enough reading/thinking about writing, and should go ahead with writing. You do have your "toolbox", now you need practice. Make outlines and follow through with writing. Wh...
"Don't judge a book by it's cover." We've all heard that, but how many of us actually adhere to it? I believe that is a totally antiquated statement, especially these days when more and more books ...
Another way to get a long story out is to use an argumentative listener. The biggest problem with a long story is that, IRL, nobody sits and listens to a long story from somebody they consider an ...
Western audiences are into heroic self sacrifices in "brother v. brother" conflicts, such as the archetypal death of Ben Kanobi at the hands of Darth Vader in Star Wars, Episode 4. Some, like the ...
You want to start a tale with an outlandish statement? Go ahead. Just listen to your heart, write and complete it. Now, if the whole story feels 'unoriginal', then you can make some changes. Write ...
The Big Flashback can work, but it's a tired cliché. The general strategy is to open with Louise fighting for her life the grip of the Acturan Octopus Tyrant, then jump back in time to her childh...
Kurt Vonnegut advised that writers “start as close to the ending as possible.” I recommend you decide what is the best ending you have right now, and then write that book. After that book is done,...
Plots are like skeletons. They're made up of individual bones called plot-points. You can look at any specific plot-structure and see how its plot-points are arranged. You can perceive where the...
Mathematico-logical: fairy tales are a subset of fantasy tales/stories. For second graders, one would want a short story with a happy ending. A story with a moral to it is a fable (a la Aesop or...
There is nothing wrong here it just feels you don't like your conflict to be nerve gripping and mind boggling. I understand your concern and find it very genuine cause as long as you don't satisfy ...
Google Maps is fine for geography, but your question mentions "cultural and political references." If you cannot travel there, you have to find some way to be exposed to and/or interact with the pe...
As others have said, the main conflict is what the main character wants and can't get. But I think the point that needs making here is about what plot is. I think it is all to easy to get into th...
Honestly, I think you might be overthinking it and trying to use improper abstraction to understand detective fiction. So instead of explaining conflict in typical detective fiction, I'll use an ab...
My two cents! Which cost me significantly more after this morning's referendum result, mind you... What's conflict? Conflict exists when one desire is opposed to another. The opposing desires ca...
Bold is one way to emphasize something in a sentence. Recasting the sentence to put the emphasis where you want it is another method. Is one preferable to another? I'm not sure. The point of any wr...
It's understandable that your character doesn't know many things about the world when he leaves his village. That's where he came from after all. But he should know "a lot more" by the end of the ...
The choice of "mom" or "mother" or some other word helps to characterize the narrator. They differ in formality, and perhaps other attributes. This offers an interesting opportunity: Your characte...
Addressing characters in dialogue: Anything goes. I usually call my mum 'mum', but I might call her 'mother' to be mock-serious. 'Queen of the Muffins'? Sure, if in the middle of some exchange it...
Lots of writers start writing with no idea where it will go, much less how it will end. Dean Wesley Smith has a book about that, called Writing Into the Dark. On the other hand, I once heard Richa...
It doesn't matter how much dialogue you have. If your story (the narration) is in present tense, then all the verbs have to be in present tense. All the dialogue tags, all the narration, everything...
There is one rule in writing from which everything else stems: you write for the reader. However, from that rule, you can deduce that if you turn out a novel that you know could have been better, y...
Of course! If people don't die, it's rather unrealistic in my opinion.
"Doors to manual and cross check" Good example of brevity, IMO. The instruction is not supposed to replace the cabin crew training course, nor explain aircraft operations to passengers, but to rem...
Surprise is the cheapest of literary devices. People often reread their favorite books and re-watch their favorite movies. They would not do so if their enjoyment of them depended on surprise. With...
The best approach is to query the agent first and ask them what their preference is. It is unlikely that they all have the same policy. Asking them first shows them that you are aware of the issue ...
