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Is it possible to make a sympathetic and likable character that has this flaw? Perhaps, it depends on the type of racism and how you balance it. In modern culture overt racism and race-hatred...
As a certain character from Zootopia would put it: "Fear always works." I soon explain it, but first, as per the universal guideline we found here: Because, unlike, Hitler, we can understand...
Be careful not to confuse the concept of protagonist with the concept of good guy or even hero. Protagonist simply means the main character of the story. Similarly, antagonist does not mean bad guy...
If you could remove that plot point and the story would remain the same, then it is not a deux ex machina. It is only deus ex machina if the entire resolution of the plot depends on an intervention...
The definition of the whole genre "Alternate History" is that you are mostly trying to be as realistic as possible, except for one or more historical events. It's completely up to you what those de...
When I am stressed out my clear thoughts are usually taking a backseat because I am focused on whatever is stressing me out. You can try to omit the stuff by simply not explicitly talking about it:...
A story has to be interesting all the way through. There are many cases of authors withholding information that could be given earlier in order to create a big reveal later. But it has to be done i...
You do it in chunks. Let the character explain that he is the right one for the job because he has done this thing in the past. Let another character a chapter later point out that they knew this c...
As has been noted before in relation to several questions on genre, a genre is a promise to the reader of a certain kind of literary pleasure. A blurb is essentially an expansion on that promise. I...
First person narratives are not inherently more intimate. You can achieve intimacy or distance in any narrative mode. But in some ways first person can actually diminish intimacy. But first we hav...
I think a story can work fine this way. Cinderella is helped by a fairy godmother at her crisis point in the story, that pretty much appears once in the story. Many mystery / adventure / mission s...
The situation you're describing reminds me very much of Bishop Myriel in Victor Hugo's Les Misérables: had he not granted Jean Valjean hospitality, had he not drawn him to a new path, we would neve...
Most plants have some commonly used names as humans don't really want to use weird latin descriptions in their everyday conversations. A quick look on Wikipedia for Vachellia tortilis for example y...
+1 Secespitus. However, I never use any name I don't think my reader would understand, especially not a name derived from the discoverer or a person being honored; those real-life people do not e...
One problem I notice with reading paperbacks from the past (whether from BookThing or my mom's trashy-lit shelves when I was a teen) is that they name-drop a LOT, but those names mean/meant nothing...
Here's a way to look at it: suppose a Cerberus the size of a horse shows up in the middle of a crowded shopping centre and starts grabbing people. Most "real" people would either run away screaming...
Since you're telling the story in first person, and the MC does something without understanding why, you could lampshade it. That is, after the fact, your MC could be commenting I don't know wh...
You know what famous character is not a leader, lacks endurance and strength, is not particularly brave, and has a beardless round face? Bilbo. Or Frodo, for that matter. Or Sam: 'I am sorry,' ...
Something in the range of $50/hour (assuming US dollars within the US or the equivalent in industrial countries) is reasonable for professionals. It's about what artists charge to do illustrations...
At 16, the books our school recommended included 1984 and All Quiet on the Western Front. Crime and Punishment was part of the matriculation exam at 17. Also at 17, we were visiting Auschwitz. You ...
If your premise is that she's really good at certain things and awful at others, your opening scene should show both. Without explaining it! Just show. I'd open with a scene of her at her best. ...
I'd point you to wetcircuit answer since it covers the topic well. Yet, I wanted to add my two cents (and they didn't fit in a comment). Actually I feel we might be similar: I imagine my stories ...
The Bechdel Test (which was originally about movies, not books, not that I know which your work is) is meant to apply to the work as a whole. It's not about individual scenes. Look at your work a...
Give him a talent. Make him a musician, or singer. Let him have a sense of fashion. Let him win some talent contests and awards with this talent. I'd say even a comic, but writing that dialogue cou...
I'd say that the qualities of motherly characters aren't inherently tied to being "able to bear children" or "old enough to be a mother". Aside from the fact that (as other noted) people used to ...
