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Even when no-one steals my ideas, I don't want the bones of my book exhibited on the internet for all my readers and critics to pick over. I only post ideas and excerpts in closed forums with a sm...
Because it's less intrusive. Anything you speak is something you say; "asking" is merely a more specific description of how the thing is being said. Some writing wisdom holds that using "said" is...
It's stylistic. You can use either. "Said" isn't wrong. Some writers feel very strongly about "bookisms," which is using words instead of "said" which tend to be more elaborate and give some actio...
In this case he wasn't expecting an answer. Gandalf, that is.
Your problem is that your characters aren't rounded. They don't have distinguishable voices because they aren't distinguishable people. Do this as an exercise: Pick your favorite TV show, movie, b...
INT. STARBUCKS, LOS ANGELES People are sitting at tables and on couches, some on smartphones, many typing away on laptops. We pan to a man in his 40's, with a ponytail and reading glasses. He is c...
I also have multiple POVs in the story I'm currently working on, each mini-chapter switching between main characters and supporting ones, and the way I try to convey who the protagonist is is by ma...
The problem is that "glorified" is a sarcastic term. In means "wannabe" or "dressed up attempting to be something else." If you put a big fancy necklace on a dog, it's a "glorified collar." The t...
For our own technical products (rather complex and new technology) we typically need 5 mandays of academic to accurately and correctly derive business value readable for normal humans and Google op...
So I may be inferring to much from your question but... It may be worth your time to look at a collaboration suite...with a shop that small it wont cost much and the tools offer cloud storage and ...
Here's what we do for that. It's not cloud-based, but it is source-control-backed, like (I hope) your code already is. Tools and technologies involved: source control DocBook DTD your favorite ...
As far as I can tell, no. Use normal sentence case, where you capitalize the first word of a headline only. The exceptions are proper nouns, or other capitalized words listed in the style guide's s...
First off, technical non-writers make better technical writers, than non-technical writers do. They usually can write in a way mostly understandable to layman and factually correct (as opposed to n...
I'm hoping those weren't restaurant reviews! Also, IMHO, your phrase is a nod to Tolkien, a literary allusion. That is not plagiarism, any more than it would be plagiarism to say at the end of ...
When a phrase from a novel or movie becomes so widespread that it can be considered a common figure of speech, using it is no longer plagiarism. No-one in their right mind would accuse you of plag...
Stop making him passive, and make him a hero. He doesn't "go to visit his sister," he learns about his sister's trouble and affliction, and drops what he is doing to go save her. He doesn't "mee...
I like reading stories where the characters are given an initial run-down as they are introduced into the story. The run-down could roast the character in sarcasm, describing what others say and h...
I, as a reader, cannot really know what a character is like until I see that character tested. Any clod can say “I love you”, but what if the beloved replies “If you really loved me, you’d kill my ...
Well, what's the character's reaction to his real (waking) life? Is he bored? Impatient? Dazed? Curious? Eager? Anxious? Take us through his reactions rather than his day. John listened to his...
The idea of the term "lampshade" is too reduce the glare. Not to highlight it! Instead of completely shading the lamp, conventional lampshades will rather blend off parts of its emission, and let i...
You have to identify them somehow. Use adjectives. The tall man vs. the short man The older man vs. the younger man The long-haired man vs. the man with the thistle-down hair The carpenter vs. th...
Here is a problem I run into regularly as a short story writer. Sometimes I don't ever plan to give someone a name. Particularly if they are going to be disposed of in some fashion not warranting t...
I'd write it in the script. You have to hire someone to read the lines, and it's audible dialogue which the characters and audience have to hear and react to. GREG I've got the tea. Where are the ...
Number 13 on this page explains that ...if there’s a TV, and a reporter is talking, and your character is engaged with it, you need to provide all the dialogue. However, if its just backgrou...
Work backwards. Visualize the completed work in it's entirety In Dr. Wayne W. Dyer's PBS special 'Excuses Be Gone' he recommends actually having the cover sleeve made before trying to sit and wri...
