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I couldn't disagree more! I almost argued in the comments but restrained myself because that would have been tangential and unproductive. Sure, asking what to write and not being able to write abo...
Is it okay? Well, it's likely legal (if the person is long dead anyway, and probably even if they're alive). You can do it. You might even get it published. For a large number of readers, the...
Getting your facts straight is one of the rules of literature. As with the other rules of literature, it is one thing to know the rule and know when to break it, but another thing to ignore the rul...
There is a whole genre of fiction which explore what would have happened if certain historic events turned out differently: Alternative History. If you market your work as part of this genre, then ...
Starting from a blank page is always hard. Read Writing Down The Bones by Natalie Goldberg. It's an excellent book to get you writing. Writing, you will find, is like any art. Like learning...
I have two previous answers that will help you, Here, on the Three Act Structure and Here, on Getting the first 50 pages or so started. These are geared to discovery writers, like me, but if you a...
When you're worried about a stroke of luck behaving like Deus Ex Machina, it is reasonable to think of that stroke of luck as something magical. Because of that, I believe invoking Sanderson's Fir...
Pick your stereotype. Use it. Break it. Do you need a dizzy party girl? Great. She dresses like a dizzy party girl. You've heard her talk like a dizzy party girl. But you see her at lunch, alone, ...
There is a difference between stereotypes and simply not fleshing a character out. For example, your main character goes into a coffeeshop, orders, and sits down to read. At the next table are tw...
I would like to ask, what is your goal with the blog posts? For example 1: If your goal is SEO; then publishing the content for later updates will be best. 2: If your goal the 300 posts are somet...
While I have no advice on what you can do for your character, I want to suggest you go watch a movie called "Grosse Pointe Blank." The main character is a hired assassin who is looking to retire a...
TL;DR, Give him the same personal traits as the here nameless human subject discussed in some of Anna Arendt's writings: a mediocre self-contented clown in need of constant approval from a group o...
Establishing a conflicted character My MC is in a dark line of work. He is an assassin. Good start, a character in a dark line of work is assumed to be dark until told otherwise. Start with a...
I'd rather make the luck indirect, I think it works out better that way. So if my character is hungry, the lucky thing is they find a piece of discarded stiff wire, but THEN they sharpen the wire o...
tl dr Before the siege focus on the planning and preparation that will need to occur. The more information the rebels have about the oncoming army the more they can do to plan their defense. During...
E. A scared Bob walks over to the door, hand on the knob. or BOB (scared) Who are you? While I haven't written scripts, I have acted some on stage. Giving the actor the basic reac...
Show, don't tell. Write a set of arguably challenging situations where the character is tested. Her decisions and reasoning behind said decisions are what makes a good character. As a reader I don'...
The tone of your writing will make the difference Written out in a cold hard list like that is certainly sounds brutal. MC2 has MC1 at their mercy and yet continues to threaten and abuse them. If ...
Assuming the detainer is a police officer, in many jurisdictions this would be considered unnecessary force, i.e. illegal, and would likely result in the detainee having to be released. Police fo...
Describe the important bits In my opinion Harry Potter is actually an excellent example of how to describe characters. Harry is described in detail because his exact appearance has important beari...
I am much like you in my process in that I see my characters’ persona but not their appearance unless it is important. I mention my MC’s height, his eye colour as that has bearing later on and tha...
Well, first thing, how would you differentiate these two people if you met them in real life? Imagine yourself with a group of friends talking about a couple of strangers and think of how you would...
When the men first come in, have the women invent names for them, make it a game. "Wow, what's his name, do you think?" "The dark haired guy? I say ... Richard." "No way, I say Willia...
You have a lot to talk about, in theory. A city under siege could last for months, sometimes a year, without reinforcements (by the way, wikipedia has a nice list of sieges here, both real and fict...
I suggest reading accounts of real sieges first of all. I read the siege of Lisbon in 1384, written by the chronicler Fernão Lopes, and it gives a vivid image. The way to portray a siege depends,...
