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16.1k posts
 
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Q&A What are the Criteria that Distinguish a Thriller from Horror?

The criteria that come to mind are not exclusive to horror novels, so I'm a little confused and annoyed (annoyed because I find horror novels scary, and yet just cannot define it logically when I t...

3 answers  ·  posted 10y ago by user3422153‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A Changing a story's title to hint at story's meaning

I wrote a short story here http://zecountess.deviantart.com/art/Mirrors-440990952 whose ending explains everything that is narrated before. The feedback I got from my readers is varied, and none o...

1 answer  ·  posted 10y ago by Kuchiki Byakuya‭  ·  last activity 6mo ago by Monica Cellio‭

Question short-story titles
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Q&A How to "defy" physics on a sci-fi?

I am an amateur at worldbuilding and I am already building a sci-fi themed world with fantasy elements. In my world there will be different kinds of new elements to the periodic table and some fant...

3 answers  ·  posted 10y ago by Victor Matheus‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A Name of writing style or structure of novel that is in non-chronological order

What is the name of the structure of a novel that is not in chronological order but moves between characters (viewing the same or different topic)?

2 answers  ·  posted 10y ago by user8282‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A I need advice regarding the use of real-world locations in a novel

I've written a crime novel, which is on its final draft before seeking publication now. The novel is set in my hometown. A major "set piece" scene is set in a real location, a business, which I wo...

1 answer  ·  posted 10y ago by user8289‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Question fiction
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Q&A Should the word "The" be included in a label when labelling a character?

If I reference a character, whom, for the current context is given a label, such as "The Skull", should I include the word "The"? The following snippet should clarify my question: Our mission is...

1 answer  ·  posted 10y ago by Azriel‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Question naming
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Q&A Stardate(Julian Day) - Problem

In the history of the world I am building, there is a big time spam, divided by some important events that changed the course of human history many times. Brief: At first, we have these two sh...

1 answer  ·  posted 10y ago by Victor Matheus‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A What are the pros and cons of starting a novel with internal dialogue?

I'm thinking about starting a novel by having the first sentence be internal dialogue. What are the potential problems this could raise? What are the benefits? By internal dialogue I mean somethi...

2 answers  ·  posted 10y ago by user8335‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A When is a screenshot really useful in training documentation?

Software products evolve more rapidly each day. Technical documentation for those products must also follow their evolution. One of the biggest challenges is to maintain screenshots when the graphi...

3 answers  ·  posted 10y ago by Fuhrmanator‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A Should I highlight or downplay a character's quirk to make her seem more odd?

In a visual novel my friend and I are writing, I created a female character who is obsessed with making furniture out of (living) people. Yeah, it's weird, but everyone in the story has their quirk...

2 answers  ·  posted 10y ago by Ice-9‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A Is it acceptable to place a dash after a question mark?

Is it professionally acceptable to place a dash after a question mark in the following example? Bob: 'I don't like asking Matt but I need some help.' Peter: 'Why don't you go and ask him to help ...

1 answer  ·  posted 10y ago by nicholas ainsworth‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Question punctuation
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Q&A How does one avoid incomplete changes to documentation?

Having encountered errors in technical documentation that almost certainly came from incomplete editing after copying from earlier documentation, I am curious about what techniques can be used to a...

1 answer  ·  posted 10y ago by Paul A. Clayton‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A Whether to describe personality of a character or let the readers deduce it based on the actions

I am facing this situation where description of the personality of a character is quite important. Is it good to describe the personality traits or shall I let the readers deduce it based on the ac...

1 answer  ·  posted 10y ago by Mohit Kumar‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A Preventing units from being "broken" to the next line

I'm having trouble with keeping "units" on the same line, or together. For example, g C m-2 (grams of carbon per square meter) often gets broken between the "-" and "2". I realize it's possible to ...

1 answer  ·  posted 10y ago by SoilSciGuy‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A If not in the prologue/intro, where would a hook be?

For many stories I have seen, written or otherwise, a fight or some intimate moment is used to hook the reader. It is done A LOT, if not every time. Does a hook have to be in the beginning? Are ...

1 answer  ·  posted 10y ago by user2738698‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Question fiction style
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Q&A How to introduce a world that's alien to the reader

I'm writing sort of a space-opera and I was wondering what would the best way to explain everything about the world to my readers. The story is kind of a political intrigue, and it would be very ea...

2 answers  ·  posted 10y ago by Burnlan‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A "In order to" vs "To"

Can I always replace "In order to" with the shorter "To" in scientific writing? Example In order to prevent corrupting the data, regular updates are required. To prevent corrupting the data, reg...

1 answer  ·  posted 10y ago by Konrad Höffner‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A Can a good headline contain a pronoun?

My criteria for 'good' here is "not linkbait" I'd like to avoid all kinds of useless linkbait articles in my various social feeds, ("This guy does blah...", "She comes on stage and smeh...") and i...

1 answer  ·  posted 10y ago by StopTheLinkbait‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Question headlines
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Q&A How to distill a plot into a logline?

A logline is a one to three sentence summary of a story, used to pitch a script to producers and other buyers. It should contain: the protagonist the goal of the protagonist the antagonist the s...

2 answers  ·  posted 10y ago by System‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Question technique outline
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Q&A Is it OK to have two different POVs in a same paragraph (third-person omniscient narrator)?

This is my first time writing a third-person omniscient narrator. And just got stucked in a dilemma. This is the opening of the story: Once again Kuo found himself standing face to face with Me...

2 answers  ·  posted 10y ago by Alexandro Chen‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A How do you visualize plot structure?

I want to visualize the internal structure of my plot. I noticed several contradictions, and want to better understand what's going on in my tale. I'm not talking about different characters doing ...

2 answers  ·  posted 10y ago by System‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A Hyphen or en-dash

What is the correct dash usage when naming a title? I have an essay with the title: The success factors for successful e-commerce - A Linux-based e-commerce platform from an economic perspecti...

1 answer  ·  posted 10y ago by nicoX‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A What does "OFF" mean in a script?

Could anybody, please, enlighten me as to what "off" means in the following excerpts taken from the script for the TV show "Breaking Bad"? (I've also come across the same use of "off" in other scri...

1 answer  ·  posted 10y ago by Yukatan‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A Writing dialogue for a non-English speaker in English?

I am writing a story that features an illiterate Indian woman. Of course, while there are things only Hindi can satisfactorily express, I was wondering what would be a good way to construct dialogu...

1 answer  ·  posted 10y ago by Kuchiki Byakuya‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Question language dialogue
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Q&A Meeting with a respected publisher, what questions should I ask?

At a writing conference I've managed to snag a 15 minute appointment with a publisher (who published Terry Pratchett, my favourite author). I'm a debut fantasy novelist. She will have received a c...

2 answers  ·  posted 10y ago by Tristan Warner-Smith‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭