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Background I studied writing in depth before ever seriously trying it myself. I read a lot, and I looked at reputable books on the subject. Over the years, I combined what I knew into a formula wh...
I'm only 12, and I've been writing seriously since last year. I tried writing a novel before (I wrote only 5 chapters; I gave up later due to time constraints). I've written a couple of short stori...
Your options are: Use modern terms Use antquated terms Use generic terms Use invented terms If you really think about it, that's all you have to work with. However, there's a wide palette of w...
In the story I'm writing, I want to include a character who is a free radical. At some points she helps the main group and at some points she hinders them. She may even end up joining the main grou...
Most stories are not psychological studies, and even those that are are not necessarily accurate. Indeed, many story characters undergo far more trauma than most ordinary people could ever psycholo...
In person would be great if you can find a class, or a person willing to help you. Do not neglect to consider auditing a class. This is much cheaper than enrolling. A community college Writing C...
Google Docs is an extremely helpful tool for Beta reading, and is used by several writers of my acquaintance. It allows commenting on individual selections of text, so it's easy to comment on a p...
Release them as Plot Bunnies! NaNoWriMo has forums for "adopting out" plot bunnies -- see https://www.wikiwrimo.org/wiki/Plot_bunny for more info. Or just create a blog post where you list thes...
There is nothing wrong with serendipity in a story. Our lives are like that anyway, governed largely by chance. What matters in a story is the moral arc of the characters. What chance occurrences s...
I would say the "Black Moment" is anywhere from the 50% to 75% mark in the story. I would prefer "Darkest Hour", and instead of "Point of Death" the "Last Chance". The Darkest Hour is when the MC ...
Repeating what I've said elsewhere. Writing Excuses is a podcast that specializes in Sci-Fi/Fantasy. They have a master course, that I mentioned earlier (season 10) on how to write a novel. It's fr...
I'm writing a sci-fi novel with more than one main character. Since I'm not an experienced writer, I still struggle with some basic "rules" within writing that may or may not exist. This issue ...
A story riddled with flashbacks is a sign of weakness, unless it's a device. But, I'm finding that for my MC, she's flashing back a bit to the past, a bit more than I'd like, and mayhap at too much...
When I write something, there maybe one or few grammar mistakes. Is there any online service like thing (for free) that can correct those for me? Just a curiosity to know.
Understand what an accent mark is There are many kinds of accent marks. For example, the acute accent in French signifies that the 'e' is to be pronounced at the end of a word. This is the most co...
I am considering to write a handbook on a certain subject. I will use concepts and methods used in other books to write this. So, nearly 80% content will come from other books which are bestseller...
Most stories carry some element of realisation. Whether that realisation is the best sort of fireball for defeating the Dark Overlord, or how I can lessen my pride to make my marriage work, the cha...
Both my husband's great grandfather and, on my side, my own great-great grandfather were published authors. Their books appear on the Bibliobazaar/Open Source sites. Although we are direct descen...
Since it is my answer you are referring to, I will take a stab at this. First, I would generally avoid saying that something is "bad" in writing. It is more useful to think in terms of everything...
I am using Blogger currently. I have paid for a domain name, but my hosting is free and to be honest I don't really want to pay (being a student). I am a self-proclaimed cinema buff and I love writ...
No, it is not eccentric at all. As I am sure you can tell from reading your two examples, the first is livelier and much easier to read -- and that is 95% of the argument in any question of style. ...
If your working on a piece for publishing that will attack a figure or orgainzation, "I believe" could be useful to denote that the accusation is not based in anything provable. For example "Spide...
First person limited is not a rule and therefore cannot be violated. It is an analytical category that can be used after the fact to describe what an author has done. The author's responsibility it...
There are no conventions for representing telepathic dialogue. This means you get to pick how you are going to do it. It also means that you have to clearly and explicitly establish your convention...
I am currently writing a book that I want to self-publish, so that I can keep the rights to it to write sequels for it later on. How do I self-publish for free and make it popular?
