Search
You appear to be a nonfiction or science fiction writer, attempting to create a work of fantasy. In either of the former disciplines, critics will come out of the woodwork to spotlight every inacc...
I'm gonna answer from experience as a reader, instead of a writer. When you make your character shriek you usually want to send a shiver down your reader's spine. There have been many suggestions...
Are their any ramifications of characters reading real books, following real blogs, and using real websites? Could I get into copyright trouble? I am not a lawyer, and this is a question for l...
Again ask lawyer, but you could identify the books with a pun-y misspellings or book tittle that summarizes the book in such a obvious way. In the book 'I am Charlotte Simmons' she goes to a Univ...
Fan fiction is fiction about characters or settings from an original work of fiction, created by fans of that work rather than by its creator. Therefore, so long as you steer away from using the s...
I haven't read "Blood on the Stars", but I don't think the details of that story matter here, so I'll plunge ahead. Maybe I should distinguish the legal issue of copyright from the artistic issue ...
I had this same problem while writing my ongoing superhero story. It starts with the obligatory origin arc: the protagonist gains his powers, is taken in by the government agency that regulates sup...
I wouldn't call this innovative, just borrowing a technique from other walks of life. The Sandwich method. You start with something they like, then something they might like less, then immediately...
The least obtrusive way to deliver background information is to leave it out. ...for now. You are painting an action scene with your words. Your goal is to keep the reader spellbound, excited ...
Movies and books are different mediums. With a skillfully engineered scene, a movie director can deliver enormous amounts of information in seconds; a 30 second chase scene tells us all we need to ...
This question is simply answered: Let others read your work! Others often have a different view on the project, especially if they are not related to you; they often deliver a pretty good review o...
Neither your individuality or your creativity is precious, no matter what they told you in kindergarten. Your story may or may not be precious, depending on whether it is any good or not. Creating ...
You need to recognize this is a tool in your toolbox as a writer. It isn't "wrong" to do it, it just has a specific effect and impact that you may or may not want: Use of slang, in general, estab...
Your answer is given by your first trope link; on DIAA, perhaps you have misunderstood it! The protagonist is incredibly self-centered, an existential nihilist Then why should the reader ca...
The real question here is: How often does it matter to the character where he is? If, as in your story, your character leaves his coat behind and wanders the streets in winter, he will probably f...
To transition to screenwriter from a novelist you need to: Master screenplay format, which is very strict and standardized Learn to approach writing as a collaboration, not a solo activity. ...
Each time it makes sense, no more, no less. You do not need to make recalls. Consider your character's POV. When does he think about the weather ? Closing the door of my house, I looked at the...
To recommend a second option without favouring either one, you need to refer to them equally. That means avoiding negative language and being quite explicit with what you are implying Your quote (...
Two things: There is a term in Philosophy called Fallacy Philosophers and Creative Writers don't always see eye to eye. To address the first matter: I'm not a professional philosopher, but I'm ...
Let me second what @ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere says, and elaborate. Fiddling with a setting is an endless task: you can delve into sociology, millennia of history, technology, geography, geology - ...
At the heart of every story there is a moral choice -- a choice about values. The hero will be brought by some means to a point where they must choose between two things that they love. They may ch...
It is absolutely certainly legal for what you describe to appear in literature. Consider, for instance, that Juliet was 14 when she married and had sex with Romeo. A more modern example: Song of Ic...
It sounds like you have some specific examples in mind where the whole point of the exchange is the language barrier. It could be an opportunity to trigger empathy in the reader, either as the bili...
Think what you would do the other way around. If the entire book were in Mandarin Chinese and you had an English speaking character - would you print their English in Latin-based script, it would y...
Transliteration is commonly used in cases such as you describe. Look for example at Ken Liu's short story Mono no aware: the title itself is a transliteration. Then, within the text, there is an ex...
