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As a novelist myself, who writes fiction about the game of checkers, I find the critical question is this: Who is your intended and expected audience? Makes a lot of difference in how you handle ...
Let me give you an idea as a chessplayer myself. First off though, it was a good suggestion to use names instead of white and black. You can tell the reader who was white and who was black on the s...
You either have to be precise, and include diagrams, or be "vaguely dramatic". There is no "middle ground" here. Literature has many examples of chess matches and chess players. Other answers have...
If you don't provide a hint, then readers will know only that somebody requested a meeting and that's considered an emergency. If you want to convey something about the nature of the organization ...
Ben Aaronovitch in his Rivers of London series often introduces an acronym without explaining it. Generally, the protagonist will introduce the acronym in his role as the narrator. Then he'll use t...
Some suggestions: Tommy slammed the door on Charlie's fingers. Charlie exploded with: some very colorful/ripe language. language that would make a sailor blush. language that made/would make his...
For me, my main characters want a dozen things; but the story is about them pursuing one thing that is important to them for one reason or another. Often this is a semi-existential reason. By "se...
Yes, Main Character may (and probably does) want more than one thing in her life. What Is A Story? However, what you're really banging up against here is the ultimate question of, what is a sto...
You don't necessarily need to focus on one topic. Many blogs are about one specific topic and use that to attract their readers, but there are also other types or blogs that are more focused on you...
Don't cut down, restart from scratch and build up. You've already done the major work. So, write a summary for your 3000 word document. Summarize the 3 most important points that you want someon...
I think there are subtle differences between "not caring what is right or wrong" and "only caring about myself" and "only caring about my own interests". A "self-interested" person sounds like som...
Each usage has its place. #1 is most commonly used in such situations. Even if you're not writing for children, you don't necessarily want every bit of cursing. Sometimes telling that the characte...
At the very least, I would try to reserve the URL for your real name (or pen name), and any others that may be relevant - such as the book's name, if that's coming soon. Get a dot-com if it is ava...
"She needs to accept that people need independence" - that includes her. Right now whatever wealth, power and prestige she has comes from other people. But is she satisfied with that, or does she s...
Caveat: I have not read the book but I've thought about wants and needs in the past, and I typically see wants as external (e.g. money) and needs as internal (e.g. love). You said: In my char...
Mainly ask yourself what will draw someone to buy this book. Sometimes it is a famous name, sometimes it is a genre, sometimes it is a theme (first contact, combat with aliens, giant thinking tank...
Bloggers and vloggers by definition have an online platform on which they've built their success. Their input on the necessity of having an online platform is biased. They cannot speak for all writ...
Every non-fiction writer should have a blog covering the topics they write about. You are trying to establish yourself as an authority on the subject, an influencer of ideas and opinions, or a cura...
I would like to break down your description into parts while answering this question. I've heard and read from many vlogger and blogger authors that an aspiring writer should have his own webpa...
Personally, I think that's a crock. It's understandable why someone would think having a website would be a benefit, but if you have it too early-on, it will come across as amateurish at best or b...
Does your university have a Writing Center? They probably have tutors, especially ones focused on ESL issues, and on graduate-school writing. I recommend going through them first.
You sign a contract with the copyright owner. The contract specifies the arrangement. Permission to use the quote in your work. Permission to use the quote in derivative works (electronic, tran...
If you are using short exerts and acknowledging the source, you don't have to ask permission or pay royalties (pictures are different). A quotation from a poem or a novel at the beginning of a chap...
"Maybe the answer is to go back and seed that these games, when they happen, are important?" This sounds like your strongest option - make the game itself a source of conflict. Give your PoV charac...
Full Disclosure: I am not a sports fan; but I do have family and friends with that disability. Basically tension in a story is created by making the reader wonder "what happens next." That is why ...
