Search
You only have to watch Downton Abbey to realize that the 1920s were a period of rapid social upheaval in the UK. Some people clung to the old ways with a death-grip; others cast aside all conventi...
I can't call specific examples to mind right now, but I've seen this sort of "wait, the world is not quite as it should be" situation handled by sharing the POV character's inner dialogue as he gra...
Monica is on the right track, but I'd push it more. If he's howling the name of his murdered wife in his grief, he's not aware of anything outside that grief. I would actually not show the husban...
I've been told that, when acting the part of a drunk, a good approach is to make it appear as though you are trying to present yourself as sober and failing. Similarly, the insane person believes ...
If the concern is your blog post, I would recommend you either: a) The hedgehog is 25% more spiky, if raised in temperature 5°C less than average (source) or b) According to the new study from D...
Absolutely cite any hard numbers you use. It's good practice and not nearly common enough, which means it should be encouraged. Given how quickly statistics become outdated, I would definitely cite...
Why don't you use a self publish site? There are many sites that are print on demand, which means that when someone buys your book, the company prints it and ships it. Which means that you don't ha...
Really simple answer is this: Write one book. Tie up all the loose ends. Make it one complete story. But imagine it as book one of a series. Don't let we the reader know that -- it should be undet...
Variation in paragraph length can be very useful, the same way variation in sentence length can be useful. As long as the short paragraph works (that is, the short punchy statement has a reason for...
Basically, Alex, the country matters if you want it to matter. Your story is what matters, and if your story is about something that pertains to the country, then the country matters to the story. ...
Yes, variation is good, whether it's word length, sentence length, paragraph length or even chapter length. But at the same time, you need to keep something else in mind: the paragraph needs to be ...
Buying guides, including reviews and prices, are not uncommon, with the quintessential example (at least in the US) being Consumer Reports, a monthly product-review magazine (with web site). Local...
NOTE: I am not a lawyer, and the following is just the result of some Google searching. You're allowed to publish basically anything you want; the concern is not whether you will be able to pu...
(The name for "Textual Weight" is Chekhov's Gun. Briefly, every element in the story must have a purpose, or don't put it in there. There are LOTS of examples and variants on TVTropes, with the sta...
There is a difference between unresolved conflict and unaddressed conflict. Unresolved conflict pushes a story, unaddressed conflict drags the story. Both use energy (both the author's and the read...
Javeer, I strongly commend you for having published so much already, and for having such a strong desire to write more. But having worked with literally hundreds of new writers, I have often seen t...
Writer's block is a myth. Talent? Well, it's a problematic and often misused term if you ask me. Replace it with "skill" and then you have something to work on. Skill you can train, skill you can ...
Unfortunately I think what you're looking for is too subjective to be of mass applicability. You suggest that books could be classified according to the "underlying purpose, moral, or message." T...
The best way to describe a gesture is how the body physically moves to make that gesture. Here's a few examples: Telling someone to come here He swept his hand toward his body. Flashing the...
Yes, you should try to be consistent. It is very distracting if you have bullet points with wildly inconsistent text. This looks silly: Include an invoice with the package. Free shipping; ...
You can use an em dash when the phrase on either side is not necessarily a full sentence. Semi-colons must join two full sentences. I turned and saw him — filthy, battered, exhausted, but unqu...
I've never written a travelogue, but of the few I've read, it depends on your intention. As one of your American readers trying to retrace your steps or find specific landmarks you mention, I would...
As lonehorseend said, it's important to make sure characters seem different - but adding the character's names is very important. Case in point - go read some of the I Am Number Four novels, parti...
The key with first person point of view is that your character's voice has to come through. So if you write three separate first persons, they all have to sound different meaning the writing style...
A story can be considered erotic if it arouses you sexually or makes you horny. Erotic stories usually contain elements such as seduction, foreplay, and intercourse. Such stories can be great liter...
