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I have characters in my novels that quote the Bible and a couple lines of old nursery rhymes. Do I need to obtain permission in order to use these quotes in my books? What about quoting a popular...
I wrote my very first novel several months ago and I sold it to a publisher two weeks ago. Now I am thinking of writing something new. The problem is I can't get the idea of writing a sequel out o...
My anti-hero is good character; my female antagonist is the threat. How can I express a romantic relationship between them if I write a short novel? I am a new writer with almost no experience. I h...
I work (with a team) on a large documentation set for a complex software product. We publish HTML and have built-in search (plus, of course, there's Google). The doc set has a glossary, which pre...
I want to root for the protagonist. I want to feel the weight of his burdens so I can turn around and celebrate with him when he overcomes them. However, occasionally I come across a protagonist wh...
I am a book writer. I wrote this year a book and it is the first time I want to get my book published. Now, I have the soft copy of book in MS Word format, I set the page size to A4. The situation ...
Can I make a low-key reference to a Marvel movie in my book without anyone noticing? And if they do notice, can I get sued?
Can I rewrite and sell the material of an already published book about the history of literature in the form of Q&A? The purpose is educational/competitive. Will this be a breach of the Copy ...
In today's digitized world, does it pay to go analog? I mean who would waste time in writing using Pen and Paper when you can easily type the stuff using a variety of fonts in Word processing softw...
I'm not sure if this is okay, (also: we hear...) I realize that typically the sentence would say the same thing if removed but it seems to work in the midst of an action line like: Close on Bat...
My protagonist has an unique power, he can feel the souls of other beings with his mind. One day this guy meets a girl with the most wonderful soul on earth, she is happy at all times and loves eve...
Okay, so I have noticed that my one character, Liam, laughs a lot in my novel, due to something he thought was hilarious or to ease his mind. But he laughs too damn much. Would you guys like a ch...
I plan at several parts of my book to have war chants done in the fictional language of my main race/species. Would it be better to write the chant in their language? Put the fictional language w...
I want to use something like V.O. or O.S to indicate my character is in a shadow, what should I do? I like what the Wachowskis did in the Matrix, which is a major influence for me. Would readers ...
At work we provide three types of technical document, aimed at different kinds of users : The Quick Start Guide. Single laminated sheet, illustrations and basic explanation. The handbook. A5 form...
when writing knowledge base articles to support software users - is it ok to reference the screenshots I am using with the term "Figure"? For example, using '(See figure 1)' in the body text when ...
I was just reading about how when a character has something they truly care about, that the stakes are raised more now that they can lose it, which leads to suspicion. But what really drives peop...
According to psychologist Carl Jung, there are divisions into one's mind. The "Self" (often described as "Higher-Self" or "Soul") is what hold all of those divisions together (or try to). It is wha...
My prologue is set 17 years before the main story arc. I am reflecting on the discussion here, which was asked by another SE contributor. I'm trying to decide what to do with my prologue. Building ...
I have written a book about a medical doctor who died. This doctor's spirit however comes back and takes control of normal, random people to continue his medical profession. Hence, the spirit is a ...
I am unwilling to draft without editing as I go because I worry I won't be able to translate my thoughts into cumulative sentences. For instance let's take the sentence: "He walked to the store, an...
I am doing an argument essay on a quote that I agree with which is about being yourself, and the quote is from Ralph Waldo Emerson. I am having trouble getting started. We are to use the ethos, p...
Are some people, either due to lack of world experience, or creative talent, incapable of forming content for their writing, even for basic practice? If not, what would cause them such trouble whe...
I decided to included some offensive language in one of my novels as many novels do. I was wondering however at what point does it become poor dialogue or just plain bad English. Obviously I'm not ...
Example of citation: Doe, Jane. “The House.” World Literature. Ed. John Doe. New York: Penguin, 1986. 25-30. Print. What I have in the text is the quote from the chapter in the textbook, the quot...
