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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...
Your description makes me think of Bioware games: the Mass Effect and Dragon Age franchises. Both explore multiple themes throughout each game, involve multiple cultures - the things you mention. D...
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 ...
Obviously as an author, you are going to wind up with 1) No girls, 2) Girl 1, 3) Girl 2, 4) Both girls. You have to decide. Probably, no matter the outcome, you should have him try with both girl...
Let's broaden the question. You have two paths down which the plot can proceed. You find both equally appealing. How do you choose? Consider, then, this: Which option offers more character growth...
I'm going to complicate this even more for you. Every printer is different! So, yes: More pages cost more. More copies costs less per copy. A larger page costs more. So you're going to have to...
This link at All Freelance Writers - Markets lists not only markets, but (when possible) their turnaround time on pay. https://allfreelancewriting.com/writers-markets/ With the "Fiction" limiter ...
The reason to have an agent is to get a publisher. The publisher may or may not do a lot of this marketing but they will take care of the release dates, getting the book into stores, number of cop...
Things are not as they seem. Time and again. What you present to the MC is not what it seems to be. It requires your imagination to figure why it isn't. You can conceive of a problem: Then try to ...
