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There is a whole genre of fiction which explore what would have happened if certain historic events turned out differently: Alternative History. If you market your work as part of this genre, then ...
The fanfic I'm writing is so that I may get into the swing of literature. A test story if you might like in the Mass Effect Universe. Please prepare for a long text because there's a lot of trivia ...
Use inner dialogue to create tension. Watching a sporting event as a fan always includes constant, intense inner dialogue (and some not so inner dialogue). There is no need to change POV. That c...
To me, uniqueness is not found in any one trait, but in the combinations of traits. You avoid writing a stereotype by acknowledging the stereotype exists, and then finding a natural way to subvert ...
What you describe in the question sounds perfectly fine to me. So if other people are telling you (or you're telling yourself) that it's not quite right, the problem isn't what you're doing, it's ...
I'm using online sources for an essay for my DE History course, and we're required to use in-text citations when we quote or paraphrase sources, with the format of author-page number, like (Johnson...
This is a challenging specialization to capture in a job title, which is why my LinkedIn tagline says "speaker to programmers". But that doesn't work as a job title at any but the edgiest startups...
Here's the thing about race: different people have very different ideas about what race means, and how race affects individual's lives. Some people's ideas of race is inextricably tied with their ...
I currently have a set of characters in which two of them have had (and still do have) history together, however I do not intend to drop the ball on the reader and write down their backstory becaus...
An alternative is to change your definition of "secret". For example, I knew two professors that were sleeping together and exclusively (one was a friend of mine outside of work), but very few of o...
To be science fiction, the story must depend upon fictional science or scientific achievements. Although that is most plausible for the future, it could be set in the present or past; e.g. we could...
If the idea is to have battles with a medieval feel, then the choice lies on Epitoma rei militaris by P. Vegati Renati (now better known as Vegetius). While Rome produced many excellent military ...
I suppose I can mention a year, but that would make the work dated the moment the year passes. I don't think it's really possible to do it without making reference to some time period. I would...
Orson Scott Card described 4 types of story he called M.I.C.E. The goal is not to exclusively write 1 type of story, but to be aware which type your story is, and then work to include some of the o...
The crawling chaos, Nyalathothep, has formed a cult on the mortal plane devoted to his cause which worships him as a god. This cult has been operating in secret for thousands of years, sowing destr...
Rewrite. I don't think it is a good idea to have a new POV character for one scene. You have control of history, don't injure your hero character, or don't injure her so badly, or go back in your...
I've always been a "prisoner of inspiration," but I've at long last come to understand/accept that there are technical, skill-based things that you can do to create those perfect scenes --you don't...
When writing fictional polytheisms, it's tempting to draw inspiration from the existing ones. In ancient religions (I'm mainly thinking of the Greek/Latin, Egyptian and Norse pantheons) there are ...
If you are following the design of classical civilisations and their pantheons, then it's worth considering two things. Firstly, the culture you're creating with inform how Gods with similar roles...
DPT and Sara Costa have provided great points. (Sara beat me by 4 minutes!) Having the characters interact with the setting is a way to make it matter for the scene. Most of the time when I see th...
You can do it in exposition, but in general if I find a conversation that requires exposition or background to proceed, it is a signal that the writer is "rushing to drama". The solution is previou...
I am considering writing a "history" of the Morlocks (based on the characters in the H. G. Wells novel). Question: Is this allowed, or do I need permission from his descendants?
One element of religious texts is the antiquated language. Since the text has been canonised, it has not changed while the language moved on. If you look at the Book of Esther as an example, it is...
You might want to present the in-story text as a parable which means the story has a teachable message, rather than words like "mythology" or "religion" which imply a spiritual calling. the rol...
My question is, for the sake of satisfying reader interest, would it be worthwhile writing an appendix summarising certain inessential worldbuilding entities that's entirely optional for a reade...
