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It depends on two things. What your skill level is. What you feel comfortable doing. I began writing with fan fiction and fan fiction contests. (Note: these contests were loose and open. The...
I have been on the search (passively, that is) for some sort of database type tool to put characters in. I would want/need the basic stuff (height, birthdate, skin color, hair color, etc.) but I wo...
You could try a relational database (like FileMaker, although that's not free), a mind map (I've never used one, so I don't know what features they have), or some kind of wiki. I use Scrivener with...
When your givens are a problem, change your givens. Your protagonist wants to get Ms. X out of the building alive. He may find her, but they both still have to get out alive. So: Is she wounded?...
I received the following in unsolicited email: Hello, My name is ___________. I saw that you have written _________. My question for you is: may I promote the book at the Los Angeles Times...
I volunteer as an editor for the Mozilla Developer Network (MDN), an organization that creates free open source software such as the Firefox browser. MDN has a large number of technical topics awai...
I'm writing an essay but I struggle with thesis statements and paragraphs. My teacher wants my thesis to be significant, specific, single, and supportable. I often know what I want to write, but st...
"it just feels like a chore to read these sections" For me, I typically find it a chore to read long stretches of lengthy description. The key for writing a chapter like you mentioned is dial...
I think you'll find there's no one "correct" way (or two ways, or three, or ten). Everybody figures out what works for them. There are many ways to balance between outlining and improvising, incl...
Edit: There have been a few very good answers and comments. The feedback I've got so far has made me question whether I'm even going into the right direction with my story. I felt like the themes ...
You might try Critique Circle, which is a free online critiquing community. (I haven't used it, but others here have.) If you have enough rep, you could ask in our Chat Room, the Overlook Hotel. ...
The only rules you should feel free to violate are the rules about having a subject (which is implied), and possibly the trailing period of the sentence. All of the remaining rules should apply. Fo...
I suggest a popular literary technique called 'indirect characterisation' If your writing in first person; write about her thoughts and reasons and actions. If she is approached by someone who spe...
I am not a published author, though I am nearing that stage. This is because I decided many years ago to learn all I could about writing, and hone my skill with practice, before actually writing my...
Lots of helpful answers here. I'm adding one more as I think the suggestions which accompanied this quote... The show-don't-tell style that is so popular among aspiring writers today, forces yo...
The Web is an open book. If you make a connection between two personas it is there for people to find. How likely are they to find it? That is very hard to say. But if you don't acknowledge the rel...
I am a 12 year old aspiring writer who would love to enter writing contests. I'd like to find some writing contests that are free to enter, are for people my age, and preferably, have prizes. Ho...
It's a first person novel, and the main character has just overcome some emotional and mental barriers in order to unlock his telekinetic potential, under the training of his mentor. “Do it, A...
As a habit I read some educational General Literature and Factual/Referance on Google Books (previews are free) booksgoogle.com www.writersdigest.com
The kinds of poetry: blank verse, free verse, structured (limericks/sonnets/haiku etc.) Rhyme and meter: when they matter, when they don't, when to violate, when Mr. Pritchard should be told to su...
Copyright covers the expression of an idea. The author of the software has copyright on their code. But the result of that code is a subject in the public domain that anyone is free to write about....
The denouement, or resolution, has many story-related purposes, many of which Wikipedia nicely summarises, but it also has a reader-related purpose: that of gently guiding the reader out of the sto...
Background I'm a plotter, meaning that I develop my novel before I start writing it. You could say that I'm almost an extreme variety of plotter, as I narrow my outline down to the scene before ev...
I have two characters, Alice and Bob. They have just met and each is trying to deceive the other. But their thought processes and the nature of their deceptions are very different from one anothe...
I have the following sentence that I am thinking of using as headline ` Shop online. Locally. ` However, I am not sure if this headline connects well with it sub-headline. Pick up the g...
