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While an unreliable narrator is someone who is deceiving the reader (or possibly himself), there are plenty of stories where the narrator is truthfully relaying what happened, but does not fully un...
I've started to write my first Fantasy novel. But there's one question that always bugs me. If I were to have a Kingdom, of course I would have a fictional name for it. So if I have a non-fictional...
Let's say two characters are conversing and one character interrupts the other in mid-sentence. How would that actually be shown in dialog? I have seen some use a hyphen at the end of the sentence ...
This topic has been discussed--but please advise me on this particular test case. The title of the fiction novel is "Shorter of Breath" -- a reference to a lyric in Pink Floyd's "Time." Chapter n...
Becoming nervous in the heat of a situation. Perhaps you witnessed something not for the faint of heart. Like, how would I describe shaky legs without being so boring about it.
Every now and then I come across a novel that is divided into sections. It contains Books 1,2, and 3. Or parts, or sections, or any other method to split the novel into several large chunks. Shou...
I have started writing a novel. I've done some character questionnaires for my main characters, and I've outlined the plot. I want to do this planning to keep my story from fizzling out, but I don'...
I am drafting a novel outline. The interesting part (and thus the part I should be writing) would come with several characters with preexisting romantic relationships. The choices they make will ha...
Say I want to quote from the bible in something I'm writing (think the famous passage in Pulp Fiction). What bible version should I quote from? I've done some research but only ended up more confu...
A series I am working on deals with an underlying storyline that progresses through each book. I'm afraid of confusing a reader if they decide to start reading a book somewhere in the middle of the...
Being possessed by a foreign entity seems very tame in the stories where I have seen it. The event doesn't have the gravity that I feel it should, and the person usually goes back to living a norma...
I'm currently a student and I write non-fiction every day. I've committed myself to writing 1000 words every day, and I am successfully doing this. However, I'm trying to improve a particular asp...
I have a chapter outline for the novel series I'm writing, and I have a few 'blank' chapters where I don't know what to write in them. I need to do something quickly, because I've started writing t...
I have run into a bit of a dilemma in my current story. The main character is on a journey to save her brother from the enemies. She suddenly finds that he is helping them willingly. Despite this...
I'm a poet and I write small poems. I know there is a lot to learn and update in the works I make, but how can I copyright my works? Is it one time for all the works or does every work need to be d...
Note: I have rewritten this question, upon realizing it was being misinterpreted. Please reread the question and provide new answers accordingly. Star Wars. Lord of the Rings. Star Trek. These ar...
I'm a newcomer to this community, and have recently started giving serious thought to my first novel. I'm basically working on an idea I had a few years back. It's fiction, has a lot to do with fae...
I've been working on a quite large story for a while now, but going through my drafts I noticed one weakness: My villains are very underdeveloped / weakly characterized. I'll try to generalize the...
My novel contains emails, titles of news articles, parts of technical journals, and snippets of computer output in addition to regular dialogue and action. Is it common/acceptable to use one font ...
I would like feedback on if this portrayal of male emotion is unrealistic. I have been told (beta readers) that men don't cry in real life (already know this is not true), he is crying too much, to...
I am currently developing a series of fantasy novels, and have discovered that I will likely be adding a second point of view in the second or third book (five books total in the series). Up until ...
Is it a good idea, to make the protagonist pull themselves together at a point in a work of fiction. I've been writing a novel, and for practically the entire first half the main protagonist has be...
Context introduction In my story the protagonist is both curious and fearful. He wants to know what is in a forest but is too afraid to go inside. He is also distracted by his basic needs for food ...
I'm asking this on Writing.SE because I'm doing a short presentation on "What is an anthology," and I'm not sure how to answer the question "Why is X an anthology and Y is not?" Merriam Webster de...
I'm writing a story that involves three main characters. They appear in linear form, each one's story leading to the other. So for example character A's story finishes leading to B's story which fi...
