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16.1k posts
 
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Q&A I have three dead-end chapters. Should I keep them or remove them?

The protagonist in my story decides to research a topic. Naturally, I wanted her to encounter some obstacles first, so I arranged the starting chapters like this: First frustration > Second ...

2 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by Alexandro Chen‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A Prologue and Epilogue in third person and chapters in first person doable?

My current work is in first person. Well, it's a début so I didn't compare the benefits of first vs. third when I started writing it. I just picked the first because it was easy. Now the plot line...

3 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by Amin Mohamed Ajani‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A Is the following deus-ex-machina? If so, should I remove it?

I wrote a novel called Animal Suicide. It's a mix of romance and dark humor. It's about a girl who, after a weird incident, postpones a pill overdose and starts researching about the topic of anima...

3 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by Alexandro Chen‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A How can I determine a genre's target audience?

I am making this question with the assumption in mind that specific genres attract certain types of people. How can I determine the target audience based off of genre alone? I'm looking for the r...

1 answer  ·  posted 9y ago by Thomas Myron‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Question genre audience
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Q&A Can Bridging Conflict Work When the Answer is Known?

The title is a little vague, so allow me to explain my question in depth here. If someone can think of a better way to phrase the title, feel free to edit it. First off, my definition of Bridging...

1 answer  ·  posted 9y ago by Thomas Myron‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Question plot
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Q&A How to suddenly introduce a scary character, but include description?

I have a scene in my story where the main character (the story is told from his POV) opens a door and there is a monster in the room. I want a sudden introduction, to show how shocked the characte...

1 answer  ·  posted 9y ago by Ryan Krage‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Question technique monsters
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Q&A Should I completely eliminate passive voice

I have read that a lot of passive voice deadens the story to 2 dimensional even if you are just trying to show something that takes time when you use the passive voice. I quite often use passive v...

2 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by Caters‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Question novel voice
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Q&A Manuscript format: Straight or curly quotation marks?

I'm writing (or at least trying to write) a novel, and using standard manuscript format: 12-point Courier, double-spaced, 1-inch margins, etc. I'm using Google Docs, which automatically converts s...

1 answer  ·  posted 9y ago by PinkAmpersand‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A What is a "reflection character?" How is s/he different from an antagonist?

My understanding is that a "reflection character" is someone who acts as a "foil" for the hero(ine). This is someone the main character fights with, or at least interacts with, a lot. How is this...

1 answer  ·  posted 9y ago by Tom Au‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Question characters
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Q&A My story passes in choppy blocks - how can I fix it?

Similar to this question, I am slowly coming to realize that my writing is getting choppy. Unlike that question however, my problem does not lie within sentences, or even paragraphs. It lies within...

2 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by Thomas Myron‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Question plot style scene
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Q&A Which citation style do I use if I'm writing a religious book?

Should a self published book on a biblical topic, use MLA or Chicago citation styles? It'll be a persuasive writing on a biblical subject. I want to persuade the reader to my point of view but I k...

1 answer  ·  posted 9y ago by brewpixels‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A How rough should a rough draft be

For a long time I would edit chapters as I wrote them, to make them as complete as possible. Unfortunately this often resulted in me running out of steam and never actually finishing them. I've r...

2 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by Michael B‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A How to find the balance between research and the obvious

I'm embarking on writing my first popular science book on a controversial subject. For sure the writing must be rational, coherent with a clear train of thought and littered with references to be c...

2 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by Jonas Byström‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A Using filler words like 'So', 'Anyway'

I find myself using these words all the time. Now (<-- there's one!), to be clear the context I'm using them is in conversational style writing, on social commentary, or in forum posts like th...

3 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by dwjohnston‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Question word-choice
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Q&A Fragmented sentence

I have a book I am writing, and every time I go into a grammar fixing program, I get a lot of "Fragmented Sentences." Can some one explain to me how to fix these with out losing any part of the sen...

1 answer  ·  posted 9y ago by Tearya‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A What do you think about having very different tones in a single story?

What if a chapter is incredibly depressive, dark, with intense language. And the next reads almost like a dialogue from a Seth MacFarlane comedy. Or even better, what if the tone switches occur bet...

1 answer  ·  posted 9y ago by Magdi Gamal‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A Capitalizing generic names

I have a story with several characters. I've decided that I won't give them names, but refer to them as their titles. For example, the grocer. The cleaner. The officer. Currently I capitalize ...

1 answer  ·  posted 9y ago by horse hair‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Question style
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Q&A How to decide whether a story is worth writing?

Sometimes I have inspiration for a story. In random pieces of spare time I daydream more and more details until I am satisfied with the concept and then I don't take it any farther. In my head, the...

3 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by DoubleDouble‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A A climax where the goal is instantly achieved - Is it satisfying?

I wasn't entirely sure how to phrase the title, so if a better way to put it occurs to anyone, please feel free to edit it. Here's the situation: the goal of a novel is to get the main character ...

3 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by Thomas Myron‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Question plot readers climax
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Q&A When Dialogue is used for more than one character?

When writing a dialogue for characters, say two or more who are speaking back and forth do you have to put who is speaking on every time you switch characters? Is it needed to put their name befo...

2 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by Tearya‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Question dialogue
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Q&A What do I put on my copyright page when self-publishing?

The question is pretty much what the title is. I do know that all intellectual property is protected by copyright law from the moment of it's creation. I have backed up my work with several methods...

3 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by user8727‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A How to Develop a Theme Before Writing a Novel

I've given some thought to this, and I decided that I want to either make or find a theme to my fantasy novel before I really get into it (as I have started a couple pages already). I did some rese...

1 answer  ·  posted 9y ago by Keychain1‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A Based on where I put a comma in a long sentence, can it confuse the readers from the way its supposed to be read?

One bad habit I have when writing sentences is that I make them too long and have to use commas. Problem: I get confused on where to put them to maintain the smooth structured balance of the senten...

1 answer  ·  posted 9y ago by Gabby‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Question punctuation
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Q&A Naming a book in a language different from where it would be published: is it good?

The book is being written in Portuguese, would it be bad if the name is in English? The name is just "The Awakening". I prefer the title in English because it sounds better than in Portuguese ("O...

2 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by Yuuza‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A What makes a bestseller - Writing or Setting?

Note: I define 'setting' as where and when a novel takes place, as well as what the genre entails. It is the background to the picture of the story. I realize there are a lot of factors that cont...

4 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by Thomas Myron‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭