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When it comes to fiction there is no accepted tense. As long as you don't change tense, perspective or person midstream you're fine. Yes past tense is most common but I've read future, present, a...
I am not a lawyer. This is based on my understanding of U.S. copyright laws. Any part of B's story which is unique to B is, I believe, the property of B. So if B is writing an X-Files fanfic about...
Adding to the answer by @laurenipsum: Her answer applies also to an original that is out of copyright. For example, anybody can make any story they want using the original characters and setting f...
I'm also not a lawyer, and neither am I in the U.S. but I'll try a swing at this... The author of a derivative work (fanfic) certainly can register their copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office. ...
You might benefit from some ideas: 1. Avoid the info dump (a long description scene) 2. Add your description in showing/active sentences 3. Use character contrasting (contrast one character to ano...
As others here have mentioned, you want to show, not tell--have your smart, clever, insightful and thoughtful guy do smart, clever, insightful and thoughtful things, rather than just dictating a de...
I don't think any character is ever too complicated. Some may be alienating to more "mainstream" readers, but that only means you shift your target audience to more ambitious readers. Then, of cou...
I actually asked a similar question to this in a different SE site, and I think that GRRM actually provides enough evidence to prove that he is an incredibly accomplished swordsman. However, you a...
No matter what else you do, make sure you do this: Clearly distinguish the sidekick's personality from the main character's. Different attitudes. Different "voice," such as diction or accent or se...
Someone with a tactical bent quickly "resolves a problem into its clearest, simplest form" (Conrad Hilton). Someone of the other kind "overthinks." The second person is actually more analytical, ...
Well, the way I understand the tenses is as follows (warning: this is my personal understanding, which might not be entirely correct, especially since I'm not a native English speaker; if anything ...
A common approach is to give the detail, but to disguise its significance. Mystery writers are masters of this. One trick is to insert the relevant detail in the middle of a long list. Readers ten...
When I think about books which have truly surprised me with unexpected discoveries, they are usually books that avoid obvious genre tropes. When Jane Austen wrote Pride and Prejudice, readers were ...
You can insert narrative into dialogue wherever a speaker might pause: "You," she finally looks at me, "have been," her finger touches me on the chest, "much too reckless with my heart." She pu...
If you as the writer find the process of X fascinating, you will be able to translate that to the page in a way which makes it fascinating for the reader. If you enjoy math, you talk about the sa...
Your fears are correct: "all the details included" is a terrible way to write fiction. If all the details were included it wouldn't be fiction, it would be a textbook--and we all know how much fun...
"with all the details included" If you mean that literally, then your book will be teaching the reader Japanese. Which probably won't make for an interesting novel. If you can really merge together...
I've written manuals under a Scrum process, so I'll describe what worked for my team. I'm going to treat your task as if you're writing a new book. From your description, you'd be replacing the va...
Unless readers know they've picked up a trilogy or a book in a story arc, most will find a cliffhanger ending unsatisfying and wonder why the author didn't finish the story. As most television show...
From experience I would suggest as much as possible. Many writers/editors try to be smart and reduce the size of the index, but then you end up looking for something you know is in the book, but yo...
What goes into your index will be defined by your readers' needs. How will they use your book? Will they come in with knowledge of (and vocabulary from) a related subject? Are they experts or no...
In a case like this I would recommend looking up town records and using an old residential address that has since been demolished. This might take a bit of work, but gives the accuracy that your cl...
I would use a fictional house number. You don't want to end up with the 221B Baker Street problem — so many people over the years thought Sherlock Holmes was real and tried to reach him that the ge...
Introduction The Biggest reason documentation is written is to help developers learn about the software system and give them a reference to the tools they are using. This is a broad question and I ...
Foreshadowing occurs even in real life. Suppose you know some 10-year-old who is mouthy and disrespectful to adults, including his own parents. You say to yourself, "He'll turn out badly." You'r...
