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As a frequent beta-reader, often for friends, I struggled with this question -- and I'm pretty happy with the answers I've figured out. Don't pronounce judgment; help the author level up It makes...
Regularly I find myself writing emails to my colleagues which include some form of "column explanation". Which is the best way to format a HTML email for readability? Example: I send out a link to...
According to this question, you'd be in trouble if you quoted entire songs, but single lines should be okay. Making the quotes approximate would ensure you don't run into any legal issues, but woul...
I write LGB main characters, at least. (Nothing against TQ, just haven't had a story that needs that). My approach is to "show" not "tell". The female MC flirts with females. Or she picks up a gir...
The mold you want to break away from has - in my point of view - two distinct but collaborating aspects: A. A change in Status Quo and B. Avoiding Uncertainties at start and finish Now I like t...
Are these many layers of misery inflicted upon innocents too much for a reader to handle? You must be careful here: the way you phrase that statement, you appear to be laying the blame on the ...
Inspired by @ashleylee, but then I was going into even more detail. I think this CAN lead to being a mastery, but not if one ONLY copies ONE creator. It's a good learning tool, but studying more ...
Do you actually need to write longer narratives? A sparse writing style can often work well. Here, every word is important. You must carefully choose what you say and how you say it because you ...
I am a discovery writer; and one that completes novels. The key here, I think, is to remember you are discovering the story. If you are in the middle of the second act, then you have discovered h...
Intelligence is manifested in how one thinks: how one views problems, and how one solves them. Eliezer Yudkowsky, author of Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, explains his approach to the...
Don't avoid entire groups of people because you don't know how to write them. Learn how to write them. It's part of becoming a writer. You must learn how to get inside the heads of people who ar...
This seems to be asking within the context of either a software medium or some instructional material referring to said software, so I'm answering from that perspective. In these cases, it's helpf...
You must completely finish your manuscript, and be ready for it to be published as-is. There may be some changes requested, they may fix things, but don't submit something you think needs work. Sub...
You've got a plot planned out, you've got several scenes that you see vividly, you want to get them on paper, because they burn like a fire in your bones. Great. Now that you've done that, you must...
One approach is to give the chosen one a flaw that she must overcome. It is fine if she has ability. I agree with Mason Wheeler; special ability, particularly ability that demands training and atte...
In Quebec, an artist named Fred Pellerin became famous with an approach very similar to the one you are describing. I feel he doesn't alienate the public with his style because he invites them into...
There is a prince. (Or some other person of high rank.) And there is that prince's good friend, who, naturally, holds a somewhat lower rank. There are two ways I could show the close relationship ...
I'm a self-taught programmer which means I started writing software by sitting down at an IDE and hammering out some code. When my decisions ultimately coded me into a corner I would refactor and r...
I currently spend a good deal of time over at Code Review and I would love to improve the quality of the reviews I write. Can you give me any insight into the structure or approach you use when wri...
How you structure a code review depends on the tools you're using and the level of scrutiny that was requested. Instead of giving you an exact template, therefore, I'll address the different types...
It depends on the context Code reviews can be done for various reasons and the way to write one it heavily dependent on the purpose. Some of the reasons you might write a code review: As part of...
Three good examples of this I can think of, all with very different starting points, are Miss Marvel (a comic book series with a Muslim protagonist), Ready Player One (a book about 70s nerd nostalg...
Guilty. I'm one of the people who told you to do seemingly impossible things. The truth is, sometimes you can't. Shadowing someone at their job or activity is often really really hard, and nobod...
I recall "Two Meatballs In The Italian Kitchen", by Pino Luongo and Mark Straussman. It was two chefs with different styles of Italian restaurants that got together for a cookbook. The basic prem...
Full names and arbitrary names are good solutions to the question you asked. To address the question behind the one you asked -- the implicit "superiority" in ordering -- write examples that don't ...
