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I like to use the solution of Louis McMaster Bujold when I have been faced with that problem. She said, and I paraphrase, "...I try to think of what would be the worst possible thing that could h...
You can run into problems with publishers if you make the thing they're trying to sell for you for money free online. It's a direct attack on their business model, and if it was done by a pirate, ...
If your book truly needs to be this long, then it needs to be this long. Destroying your book by cutting it etc. will only diminish its quality and make it less publishable. If your book is truly ...
Several of my favourite authors have told me the same thing about writing for publication, don't their advice is to "write yourself the story you want to write, the way you want to write it". If it...
Yes, it will be disappointing, but that disappointment will not likely occur at the end, but much earlier when the reader begins to get the sense that the character they are following has no arc. O...
There's a truism, origin unknown, to the effect that "bad decisions make good stories." If everyone makes great choices all the time, it doesn't lead to much in the way of drama or suspense. On t...
Few short publications, that summarize the differences, and guide to a decision: 1) S1000D or DITA – Which Should You Use? ...A dude with 30+ years in the business of aerospace and software develo...
If something is a quotation, you put it in quotation marks. If you are replacing part of a quotation with a paraphrase, you put the paraphrase in square brackets. "[Faith] can be active and effe...
I'd recommend visiting your local cafe with a notebook. Sit and listen to the people around you and see how they talk. You'll find that people often speak in fairly clipped sentences, they don't sp...
Illustrated books for adults are not uncommon. Consider for example the illustrated Lord of the Rings or Stardust. In fact, illustrations might serve as an incentive for fans to buy an extra copy o...
Many stories share similarities. If one story is about a school, it doesn't mean that no story ever again can be about a school. If one story is about magic, it doesn't mean that other stories can'...
A story is like a person. Many people lead similar lives and yet each person we meet is unique. Every fireman we meet is a different fireman. Every nurse is a different nurse. Every teacher is a di...
No, it is very difficult to make any story great. And there is a ton of thought and intention that goes into picking even the right story to tell, from the right vantage point. It is not uncommon f...
I think you've hit on the key in your question: All secondary story arcs need to reach a satisfying conclusion prior to the twist. This is because what we seek at the end of a story is emotional ...
You say you maybe want your MC to leave the world and his friends. This is no problem and can make for a satisfying ending. Just look at LOTR. I also remember a different Story where the MC basical...
As We Write, We Learn There is a well-known quote by an author E. M. Forster: “How do I know what I think until I see what I say?” Freedom of Creation Allow yourself this first act of freed...
I'd say no, if they are well written you can get readers attached to many characters and as long as a main character is compelling and relatable they don't have to be particularly likable at all to...
As someone who is more of a consumer than a creator of writing (in the sense of storytelling), I'd like to offer an example of a piece of media that did just that. I'd like to preface that this an...
To some extent, you still can express intelligence with complex and detailed word choice, used sparingly, or even in the importance the person places on words. Schadenfreude is a very complex conce...
It is quite common for a work of fiction to show a "Calm before the storm". Maintaining good humor after the tonal shift is much more difficult, and rare. The movie "Life Is Beautiful" is the firs...
The difficulty with tonal shifts are their disruptive potential. A story may be chugging along nicely when out of nowhere a stereotypical romance turns into a survival horror. The key to pulling th...
In my mind's eye, the characters I write about are "real people": I do not ask myself what I want them to do. I ask myself what they would do in the given situation. I know their fears and their de...
Characters are ideas. First, you invent the concept. Then you dive in the concept. You do not need to know everything about it to be able to answer any question if you want to. Sometimes, you need ...
There should be a jolt when the main character dies, in fact when any character the readers sympathise with dies. Now, what to do with the first-person narration and the death? One option, is to ...
For us to be interested in your protagonist, there must be more at stake than mere survival. Survival is merely a technical problem. The physical action of an escape story is usually used to explor...
