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I also have a confusing first name. When I want to clarify, I sign email as "Firstname Lastname (Ms.)". That conveys my gender as effectively as "Ms. Firstname Lastname", but by putting the title ...
How rephrase the following sentence so that it can be understood by a 13-year-old boy? Pocket squares are a standout amongst the most vital apparatuses for a man of style. It's important to hav...
A friend of mine once said, "Some stories don't end. They just stop." It is, of course, true that in real life not all crimes are solved, not all hidden treasures are found, not all romances lead ...
Just to emphasize what others have already said: If, as you say, your explanations "go in one ear and out the other", then that is because through your behavior you have indicated that your explan...
This problem is not unique to writing. It is a problem for anyone who works from home. Some people have understanding family/friends who do their best to avoid interrupting the work-from-home perso...
If rewording is indeed what's needed, then @NofP gives a good answer. However, what I take from your question, and the request from the teacher, is that maybe it's about the way you tell the read...
This question reminded me of the Agatha Christie novel '... And Then There Were None'. The setup is that ten strangers are brought to an island retreat by someone not known to any of them; it is t...
A story should finish what it starts. You control what, exactly, you choose to start. If you're not going to be finishing a murder mystery with a solution, you need to be careful not to set the st...
I am not much of a writer, these days anyways. I had written a story which got to 90,000 words under draft two and a half. At that point a few friends had a skim over it and they liked it (to the...
So speaking as someone who has "abandoned" a 50,000+ word novel and its 50,000+ word sequel that had been written and were in various stages of editing, I think I can help out a little. And the re...
Another thing to consider is the context. For instance, you might be "passing the time by hanging out" or you might be "subjected to the whims of Time". In the former example, time is an object. In...
Lots of opinions here, but let's look to a higher authority. According to the Chicago Manual of Style, the word after a colon is lowercase, even if it starts a complete sentence, unless it's a prop...
The Warming of A Cold Still Heart or New Light For a Dark Heart
Describing scenery is much like describing people. IRL we never (effectively never) go through a long litany of what we see, not scenery, people, buildings or cars or interiors. Instead we get a g...
What sticks out to me about this sentence is not that the descriptor "apparatus" for a pocket square is too difficult, but that it is simply wrong. An apparatus implies a complex assemblage of par...
For desensitizing yourself, I'd question the wisdom of that. If it's bad writing, it should hurt. Let it hurt if you want to learn from it. I purposefully read bad fiction in order to keep my criti...
The trick, I think, is to make this revelation in a way that, (a) does not invalidate everything that has happened before, and (b) that does not leave the reader wondering if the "new reality" is a...
Adverbs are not popular in modern writing, but one area where they are essential is in character development. If you are trying to present a character as effusive and excessively generous in their...
How does what comes after the reveal relate to what went before? If their newfound understanding makes their past lives irrelevant to your protagonists, then it will become irrelevant to the reader...
In a related issue, I've had run-ins with members of this group where they have criticized my communication as too abrupt, to the point they were offended a woman would talk in the manner th...
Revealing that your characters are AI comes with a great deal of risk. Up to the point of the reveal, (if you have handled the early chapters properly) your readers will relate to your characters,...
My advice is to try and act out the parts, actually say the lines, make the movements, and so on. If necessary, use cardboard boxes or other cheap stuff (empty aluminum cans as wine glasses or a la...
If you want your play to be performed, write with a particular theatre or acting troupe in mind, or a particular type of venue/ensemble. Research the sort of plays that they actually put on and thi...
The other answers outlined the basic methods and hopefully you've already used one of them in your story. Another possibility is that the protagonist works in an industry that the bad guys require...
I think it feels unnatural for a character to spend so much time info-dumping - unless there's a reason for it and/or is part of their character. Then, it can further the plot and/or reveal charact...
