Search
If I want a character to respond with anger, I want the reader to understand why the character is angry. I want the reader to be caught up in the the events that lead to that anger and be given rea...
Im writing a fictional dieselpunk story based on the WW2 era in a world of my own. The protagonists are two squads (one from the "Axis" and the other from the "Allies") with the characters within t...
I was thinking about a translation of a book that is in the public domain. The author is Adam Smith. There is already a French translation of some of his works. Does this mean that I cannot publish...
Does a physical description have to be specific to make a character feel real, or can the physical description be general and the details be left to the reader's imagination?
I mean, what exactly defines a flaw for a character? I know that the character's flaws should have at least some impact in the story, instead of being just a mere detail, but what makes flaw X bett...
Note: As with any aspect of writing, I'm sure there are those who disagree with it. If you disagree with the conclusions I've come to below, I would like to hear your thoughts. However, I would ask...
I have a story I'm writing, and since when I started, it changed many times the route and focus, and in some of these changes, I found two possible paths for the story to advance on, and I already ...
In my first big novel-kind-of-thing I'm currently working on, I have a run-of-the-mill, super-non-special "Hero" - the Antagonist. A Jon Doe, someone, who knows how to handle everyday stuff and can...
I found a previous post about introducing terms, but it doesn't quite answer my question. I have a more specific question about the punctuation used when introducing a term, and not how to stylisti...
My writings tend to be a blend of multiple genre's. I know some can work well together, like sci-fi and fantasy, but are there genre's that should not be blended? Also, is it confusing to reader...
I am having a hard time with adding detail, I feel it may leave a good chunk of the story out, but I don't know for sure if I should really add it or not. If I do end up with too much detail, my re...
I've asked a couple of questions on this site over the past year or two about publishing. I've been thinking about going the self-publishing route. It still seems like the quickest and easiest wa...
About five years ago I self-published a novella "The Spoils of War". In the middle there's a section where the MC is packed of to Pakistan because the family don't want to face the embarrassment of...
Let's say a piece of writing is being composed. That piece of writing can, of course, be crafted with a slew of different techniques and artistic choices, but, one of those is the language used. Ho...
I've always struggled with this. I like to write at the top of my knowledge without leaving those not having the benefit my experience behind. It may sound arrogant but if I write for the lowest c...
I need to know because all of the anime that I watch have at least one character or more from another planet, and they're not usually friendly. I don't want to come off as one of those who "follow ...
I recently asked this question, about inner conflict. Mark Baker supplied an answer to that question which redefined how I saw inner conflict, and as a result, the whole process of making a novel. ...
I just started to plot out my scenes like this in bullet points Tess runs away Tess fights the bad guy Tess gets injured and so it goes on. So far I got 30. I know that I need a lot more. I am...
Unless a better writer can dissuade me I am minded to say no. The 'essential' 'conflict' is cultural. It is part of the western 'Human Condition' - Eastern cultures have stories without conflict. ...
By definition, melodrama is a clearly exaggerated drama, in which the characters' actions, reactions and speeches are intentionally very exaggerated. However, through my readings here on Writers SE...
I've been advised to sharpen my sidekick from an "intriguing second tier" character to the delegate for the readers. Is there a tried and tested formula succinctly captured somewhere? I'm looking t...
I am capable of dreaming up interesting settings and even placing things in a world, but I have trouble dreaming up characters and plot. Example: my first aborted attempt at a steampunk story ended...
I have a story that is primarily told from one POV character (third-person limited). However, plotted within this story are a few chapters from other characters. Most of my multiple-POV research r...
In a novel I've been writing, I begin by introducing a character and describing her history and personality from a third-person perspective. Now, I want to start talking about a different characte...
I love creating characters and my plots generally focus greatly on their inner conflicts and their relationships with other characters (my experience has almost exclusively been writing romance). T...
