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Q&A Which language to use when writing a multinational story

In general, it's my opinion that a story should pick a language and stick to it. Even though many people speak multiple languages, having a book in more than one language means you're limiting your...

posted 12y ago by Neil‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A Is the following piece of text comprehensible and written in good style?

(Note: The current edit of this post fixes some of these issues.) Clarity of objectives It's unclear, exactly, what you want people to critique; the way the post is written implies that there wi...

posted 12y ago by Neil‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A Knowing When To Cite?

You should cite it if it's not your idea. The simplest way would be something like: As Mark Zusak describes it in his novel The Book Thief, Death is he who steals our colors..... You're clear...

posted 12y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A Spiritual elements in a science-fiction novel

There are a few ways to answer this. Which answer you use depends on what you want to achieve - something lacking in the original question. Does the work already exist and you're just trying to cat...

posted 12y ago by Neil‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A Spiritual elements in a science-fiction novel

Does using unexplained spiritual elements (soul, "spiritual"/non-physical beings, afterlife, God, etc.) in a story with a futuristic setting make it science fantasy rather than science fiction? ...

posted 5y ago by Amadeus‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A When to use the em dash (—) in fiction writing?

Punctuation marks, like words and paragraph breaks, are tools. Overuse of any tool will make your writing inelegant, but using the proper tool at the right time will help you generate pages that ar...

posted 12y ago by Neil‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A What is "head popping" and why is it bad?

I would find it annoying, or annoyingly convenient, to be switching POVs repeatedly, particularly just for one sentence. I think even when you have an omniscient narrator, you need to stick with ...

posted 12y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A Avoiding unintended rudeness or accusatory tones in reminder emails

Good morning XXX, I wanted to touch base with you about the status of your article for the newsletter. Please advise whether you will be able to send it to me by the end of the week. If it doesn't...

posted 12y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A Email to request copy of paper

I don't think this is sufficient. It's polite, but why would this person share anything with you just because you asked? I think you need to explain who you are, how you found his work, and what y...

posted 12y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A Is the first draft of a novel usually shorter than the finished work?

The answer to your question is: It depends on how the writer works. This is a question that's impossible to answer in a general sense, since different writers will approach a story in different w...

posted 12y ago by Neil‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A Is the first draft of a novel usually shorter than the finished work?

And I didn't describe actions, dialogues, and settings with much detail. Should I go back and add the details before starting the second draft? I've seen your writing. The answer is yes. :) (A...

posted 12y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A How to represent dependencies in outlines

As Lauren said, the outline is a tool for your use, not a deliverable in its own right, so if you deviate from it, that's ok. You asked how to track these dependencies in an outline. A techniqu...

posted 11y ago by Monica Cellio‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A How much $ to calculate for an Editor

Your best bet is to get some quotes. I realize that sounds like I'm dodging the question, but I'm not. My method, for example, is to work on a manuscript for one hour and use that as gauge to esti...

posted 12y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A Should one use the legal "shall" in requirements documents and specification documents?

Although the ISO may favor keeping "shall," I agree with PlainLanguage for this one: https://plainlanguage.gov/guidelines/conversational/shall-and-must/ Use “must” not “shall” to impose require...

posted 5y ago by April Salutes Monica C.‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A Word Choice: When something negative happens that changes your perspective for the better

I would call it the Lemonade Effect. As in, "when life gives you lemons, make..."

posted 12y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A How to get over writer's block related to revising?

You've got the seeds of your answer in your edit. When you write, you're just dumping. Whatever comes to mind, without structure or discipline, and who among us doesn't love the sound of your own v...

posted 12y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A How to write time duration correctly

I couldn't find explicit guidance in either the Chicago Manual of Style or the Microsoft Style Guide, but what I have observed (and would write naturally) is with commas: The maximum time perio...

posted 7y ago by Monica Cellio‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A Is this essay title critical?

I think your title is fine as a subtitle or a deck, but it needs something catchier to start with. I Me Ours: A critical examination of individualism, narcissism and collectivism within Faceboo...

posted 12y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A Writing a very complex relationship

The simplest answer is that there has to be something which bridges the divide between master and slave and allows them to see and respect one another as equals. Does she show mercy to the slave wh...

posted 12y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A How to continue someone else's story gracefully, with fan-fiction?

I read recently (I think in a review of CBS's Elementary) that technically every adaption of Sherlock Holmes after Conan Doyle is "fanfiction" in a sense, and it's easy to see that some are really ...

posted 12y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A Is it ok to be autobiographical with a main character?

The answer is both, to some degree. Yes, you should always be working harder on your character development. Particularly if you're a beginning writer, you can always work harder on everything, but...

posted 12y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A How do authors incorporate languages they don't speak?

Mix and match between all the following methods. Research. If you're going to be using a language extensively, then you'll want to have at least an elementary grasp of the words you'll be using. ...

posted 12y ago by Standback‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A Should the transition sentence be placed in the end of the current section, or at the beginning of next section?

It depends on the context. In the example in this question, cars are being presented as connected to buses somehow, so it makes sense to have this kind of segue. However, in a chapter with a bunc...

posted 11y ago by Monica Cellio‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A How can people doing technical, archane work be portrayed interestingly?

Writing biographies like these for a mass audience will require that the reader understand the subject's work. This can be handled by long expository passages, or, as is more frequently done, conce...

posted 12y ago by Neil‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A Is the statement readable

I concur with Dale; this is so disjointed as to be incoherent. The paragraph needs some context and your sentences need to be simpler and more straightforward.

posted 12y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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