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Jane popped the stone in her hand. First, I think you know that isn't the right word, the image is like popping a balloon. Second, don't tell us, just show us, describe the scene, and don't w...
I am going for a frame challenge. While scanning the question all that I remembered was a big bag of buzz-words, starting with degenerate, barbarians, nomadic, Indo-Iranians, viruses, and further f...
NaNo editor Strengths: It handles text files. It runs natively in Linux, and it has a prettier interface compared to vim. It can also do spell checking after installing 'spell'. It has a GNU ...
Unless you are writing a police report or a scientific article, where telling the facts is of paramount importance, I fail to see the benefit or purpose of such a description. If the weighting of ...
In my experience hibernation doesn't help, unless you are so into a story that you're suffering from burnout. Nine times out of ten, if I leave a story unfinished, it will remain that way. In you...
you are weakening your argument by presenting the extreme edge of the phenomenon you wish to engage with rather than its mainstream. That can be true, at one extreme (IRL) people get out and p...
Creating a branch is the easy part To create a branch, as you read the book take note of every choice the character makes. Map those out - what that choice leads to, what does that in turn lead to...
You needn't reveal that the character has the ability, but you need to reveal the fact that the ability exists. Otherwise, indeed, this is a Deus ex Machina. How you reveal the existence of the ab...
As Galastel says, you have to talk about it. I do that with legends; and make sure my hero believes those legends maybe were real, but probably exaggerated, and certainly the descriptions have pro...
That formation is called an arch, and it connects what may soon become a stack to the main coastline. The key points of both archs and stacks is that they form by erosion. In contrast, a peninsula...
Avoid the imputation of naiveté. In the real world, of course, all most all people hold their beliefs reflexively and naively. Most atheists have not thought through or are even aware of the epist...
You don't need to describe the character of the father before hand. You could do that, but that would be irrelevant. In fact the conflict is between the daughter and the killer. In fact, you have...
Before you write a reference: check whether their data has a specific licence that would require a specific type of reference (e.g. copying part of the licence for derivative work). check whether...
If the authors of the website produced the data, then cite them like you would the authors of a work published on paper. If the website is a journal, it will have a name that you can also use in t...
If their data is used in your work, you have to reference them. This is important for several reasons: It shows that you didn't just make up that data on the spot. It doesn't give the false impre...
Use Scrivener. My answer here is heavily adapted from my answer to a different question, but I think it will be helpful to you: Scrivener is a tremendously flexible writing program. You can creat...
I would write it G, but you could write it Gi or Gee, if you like either of those better. This may be a "matter of opinion" question. In comments, there is a complaint "Gi" could be pronounced wit...
The reader only needs to be told how "G" sounds once. You can put the explanation in-story, e.g. the character says or thinks 'I hate it when Bob calls me G, I can just hear him thinking "Gee whiz"...
You need a prop. I will explain! Somebody fighting a losing argument is typically fighting because the consequences for them of losing the argument is giving up something valuable or dear to them,...
Does the character call him "G" or "Mr. G?" I'm thinking of in Buffy the Vampire Slayer how Faith refers to everyone, so she calls Buffy "B". And The Fonz in Happy Days calls everyone "Mrs. C...
Imagine the Nurse is a lesbian. In WW2 and in the military she wouldn't be "out", but it isn't like lesbians did not exist back then. Her fiancé is a ruse; I know single lesbians that still wear a ...
You are letting the characters develop naturally, according to what feels right for them, rather than forcing them to conform to an abstract plot point. This is good, of course. Now, if you really ...
Every reader comes at a work with a different perspective. One reader may not even notice the elements that are central for another. The only way to find out if your two beta readers were focusin...
Just note that there is an underlying value judgement that inevitably biases your view on the matter. Compare the following: "How to write a sincerely religious protagonist without preaching ...
I would say no. The phobias are more in the realm of irrational fears, not rational ones. So she might develop coulrophobia, but she doesn't have it just because she got raped by somebody dressed a...
