Search
I'm not sure. Is the narrator of "All Quiet on the Western Front" aware of the themes of the story? He is very much aware of the horror and the tragedy of the war, and of how much it has changed h...
People choose words to make distinctions. Sometimes the distinctions they are trying to make are fine-grained and sometimes they are not. In many cases, the people making the coarse-grained distinc...
In this case I think what you want is if...else. The slash tends to be used to suggest alternatives: yes/no answer. But you are talking about a case where both are present. The hyphen is used t...
People will type things the way you write them in the documentation. People are looking for concrete instructions on what to do, not philosophical discussion of the working of the system. So, ent...
Doxygen, etc. do not really generate documentation automatically. They restructure and format information that was written by hand, either in the form of code (which is a form of structured data) o...
If I answer late, I only answer if I can think of something not already said. With an exception for things said, but I think poorly, or weighted with unnecessary baggage. I +1 anything said that I ...
I like Secespitus' answer, and I also like Sphennings' point about actually answering the question. But I didn't see an answer which combined those two things, and addressed everything I've found i...
It is extremely difficult to measure the performance of a technical document because it is hard to gather the data and hard to interpret the data when you have it. Let's start with the aim of tech...
Structure your answer properly This is something that is relevant across all sites. You should be used to markdown and know at least the basics: Using headings Paragraphs and soft linebreaks lis...
That is an interesting question and and interesting observation. Is the Stack Exchange answer a distinct genre? Or perhaps more broadly is the QA site answer a distinct genre. If it is, I think it ...
People do not read the documentation through. They dip into a specific spot in pursuit of one instruction on how to accomplish their task of the moment. As far as the reader is concerned, therefo...
Conflict and Action. It doesn't make a difference what your character does, really, as long as she is in conflict in every scene, small or large. From disagreements with friends or enemies to figh...
Yes, I would consider this a DxM. To me, a DxM is any logically unjustified outcome, and this twist is not logical. I won't talk about how to fix it or how to write, just what makes me think so: ...
One way would be to condense the "Kansas" part as much as possible. I don't have "The Wizard of Oz" on me, but let's look at "The Hobbit" as a similar example. It starts with about two pages of wha...
You readers are invested in your character. There are multiple things they like about him, right? Those things cannot just disappear - that would leave your reader angry, frustrated, and feeling be...
The good character who turns bad is a classic feature of literature. It is the essence of the literary form we call tragedy. Thus Macbeth opens with high praise for the virtuous Macbeth: SOLDIER...
It is not and never has been about making the protagonist likable. It has always been about making them recognizable. If you want a great example of an unlikable protagonist, try Graham Greene's Br...
You don't You normally wouldn't start by writing the complete story from start to finish and then proceed to start developing the other parts of a game: gameplay, art, music, ... Regarding the st...
Give the reader something to connect to early on, and the protagonist doesn't even need to redeem themselves. (No reason why they shouldn't, it's just that it isn't necessary for not alienating the...
There are several risks you run with a character who mostly fails. Your character may feel incompetent. A protagonist usually needs to gain our sympathy and our respect. If the chain of failures ...
This is a useful book, Writer's Digest Character Naming Sourcebook. Each name comes with its original translation of meaning (although some are just 'mythical mother of Jason', or a few per page 'u...
From personal experience (central Europe) I would say that shaking your head is normally a "No" and nodding your head is normally a "Yes". But looking through English.SE: When moving one's head to ...
"Show, don't tell" is a guideline - not a rule There are no rules when writing fiction. There are tips and tricks for what works for most audiences and what does not work for most audiences. But u...
Rate the people giving you feedback on a personal scale of "How close are they to my target audience?" Not everyone will be equally close to your target audience. If you aim to write a book for pe...
Is there like a rule of thumb for these things? Three! I will take "rule of thumb" as meaning a rough measure that does not apply in all situations. It is actually hard for people to keep v...
