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Let it be awkward. I see you already got this advice, and there's a reason for it. People in general go through machinations of all sorts just to keep things from "being awkward" between them and...
I don't think the tag conveys the fact that there is violence, as Cyn's comment says, it sounds "old fashioned". From "Gentleman" and "Never Tells" my mind jumps to sexual trysts some woman must ...
Being vague is usually a bad idea, particularly early in the story. In the example, it doesn't make a difference what the author is planning or intends, all that matters is what the reader reads. I...
There are multiple ways to write a song. Sometimes a composer will pick up already written lyrics. Sometimes a lyricist will work off of an already written melody and arrangement (less common for...
It's been decades since I was a kid watching cartoons on TV, and I can still sing some of the Schoolhouse Rock songs. Schoolhouse Rock, for those unfamiliar with it, was a series of short (2-3 min...
It is acceptable, this kind of thing is done often in academic papers (to save space, there is often a page-limit in journal articles); but (B) is more clear than (A), that is probably why it was w...
Use an appendix The appendix is the perfect spot for longer documents you wish to include within a work (not just for a memoir). You can have as many as you want. Name each appendix. Appendix A...
In an action scene, short is better, and in a battle, people do not have time to reflect (unless they have magically fast thinking). IRL fight training, there is a strong emphasis on repetition to ...
This is more for my own curiosity than anything else but I was wondering if when reading about a character with no specified gender and no description of their looks, does the choice of words us...
The publisher decides everything. If there is payment. What money is available for payment. How that money is divided up. If the money is per unit, what the units are and how to count them. If th...
Only social success imply validation and agreement. It is entirely possible that these are given without verification. A bully may become socially successful when most people in society were not th...
Personally, I go by the number of scenes they are in. Basically: If they are in one scene, and neither mentioned or seen after that, they are one dimensional. They may not even have a name. Now, ...
The other answers correctly point out that "thalidomide" is a generic drug and is not trademarked. But I'd like to answer the more general question, which is if/how you can refer to a trademark in...
I would say an API needs reasonable examples of use, and needs attention paid (or links provided) to other closely related elements of the API; even if it is just like "See xyyGraphInit". You want...
Easiest example where not all protagonists find "someone else" is The Lord of the Rings. Of the nine members of the Fellowship, Aragorn and Sam are the only ones who marry within the course of the ...
Always This is somewhat of a frame challenge, but hear me out. You said: I need to know them better in order to know how they will act in the story Why is this any less true for minor charac...
One option that may work for you is Fiverr.com I have not personally used it yet, but I plan to both hire audio editors from it, and also offer my own services. There are articles about writing...
When it works. It's not something that has a particular formula. Nothing to count. No threshold to pass or avoid passing. Use your critique group or beta-readers or your favorite alpha reader. ...
Whether your novel is in the Romance genre or just a book where romance is the central topic, it's all about how you define your characters and their goals. We the readers need to know what would ...
A simile usually implies more than the mere appearance. In the comparison you link two entities that share some features. Sometimes the common elements are marked explicitly, for instance: her ha...
First of all, mazel tov! Your next step is to publish the book. This means that the book is in a final form and either printed on paper with a cover or in an e-book format. It also means you hav...
In general, writing for the web is expected to be shorter, with briefer sentences, paragraphs, and sections. I have found PlainLanguage.gov's guidelines extremely helpful. (I linked to the "be con...
No, you don't need to convey a moral. And probably shouldn't. Many blog posts are just informative and explanatory about what is going on in the world, from your point of view. The scope can be gl...
Many readers will not read everything you are writing. They will skim through everything you present them and will decide which of the things interest them and which do not. The most important way ...
It is not unusual for the main character, or the POV character (not necessarily the same thing) to be a writer. There's even a trope for this: Most Writers are Writers (tvtropes link). A famous ex...
