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Posts by System‭

350 posts
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Q&A Are all writers, readers?

No. We always think of authors and other artists as people who were excited by some media experience (e.g. reading books, viewing movies, or playing computer games) and began a career in their med...

posted 6y ago by System‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A To read or not to read similar works before write my own?

This is a difficult question to answer, as, in my opinion, this is largely a matter of opinion. The short answer is to do both and see what works best for you.

posted 6y ago by System‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Do too many scenes exhaust the reader?

What are various ways to reduce reader fatigue by adjusting scenes? Make sure there is a point to the scene. Does the POV character have a goal? If not, consider adding one. A scene with a goal w...

posted 6y ago by System‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How to create tension during a conversation

As author Eric T. Benoit once said, your job as a writer isn’t to convey emotion, but to invoke it. Trying to convey emotion more often than not leads to tired clichés of clenched fists and sweat d...

posted 6y ago by System‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How can you utilize taboo themes in a setting without alienating a modern audience?

All of reality exists inside the cosmic womb of the goddess. People, planets, animals, etc, were all created when she bled into the universe, birthing life to all things. The faith honors this even...

1 answer  ·  posted 6y ago by System‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Question creative-writing
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Q&A Moving between a narrator's memories of the past and the "literary present"

The rule is simple in general: use the present tenses when discussing events in literary works. One situation where this gets more complicated is where you have to switch timelines because, for exa...

1 answer  ·  posted 6y ago by System‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How to tactfully inform readers of differences in the book world to the real world?

I want to write a fantasy novel, but there are a few issues that I have with the way that I should write it. One of my questions lies in the problem of how I, the narrator/book-writer, can inform m...

4 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by System‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Does Microsoft Word give a correct Word Count?

Different tools use different algorithms to count words in a document. For example, Apple's Pages counts 2-7 mg/v as four words while Microsoft Word counts the same string as two words. Or if for ...

posted 6y ago by System‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A What paper stock should I use for the soft cover of my book?

I do soft cover books and laminate the top side, and therein lies the problem. The cover keeps curling up too much. I have tried Ningbo 350gsm which works perfect except that now it's too stiff and...

1 answer  ·  posted 6y ago by System‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How does one cite a print chapter in a textbook without the exact page?

Example of citation: Doe, Jane. “The House.” World Literature. Ed. John Doe. New York: Penguin, 1986. 25-30. Print. What I have in the text is the quote from the chapter in the textbook, the quot...

1 answer  ·  posted 6y ago by System‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Question citations mla
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Q&A In searchable documentation, what function does a glossary serve?

Some thoughts: I would ask the users instead of guessing whether they use the in-page popups. Do a (small) survey. Some users may not use the glossary because they are unaware of it but would if ...

posted 6y ago by System‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Use of real organization in fiction

It is legally unproblematic to use institutions that are of a quasi-timeless nature such as the catholic church, the United States, or the egyptian pyramids. If you have "a president of the USA" i...

posted 6y ago by System‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A What can I do if I hate my own protagonist?

It seems to me that you might have begun to over-construct your characters (and maybe other parts of your narrative as well). Many aspiring writers look for rules and guidelines in how-to books or...

posted 6y ago by System‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A What are "good" writing habits?

I'm going to answer this from a different point of view. What you ask for, and what many inexperienced artists crave, is a secret or formula they can follow to create outstanding art. They read ho...

posted 7y ago by System‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A I wrote a novel, now what?

I'm German. The process of submitting manuscripts is almost identical to the one in the USA. I assume it will be similar in Italy, too. What you are expected to do is usually: Find an appropriate...

posted 6y ago by System‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Copyright of a book which is out of print

I have a question on a book which its last edition was published about 50 years ago and its author died about 47 years ago. Now it is out of print. The last edition of the book I am interested was ...

0 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by System‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Do 'text walls' scare off readers?

"Text wall" is a term that describes user-generated content in internet forums or on social media sites that take longer to read than the average eight second attention span of internet users. The...

posted 7y ago by System‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How feasible is it to write a story without any worldbuilding?

The question needs to be rephrased. Of course it is possible to write a story without any world-building. Here are some examples: War and Peace. Pride and Prejudice. The Autobiography of Malcolm X....

posted 7y ago by System‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How do I improve "beige" text?

Some of the current answers are part of the problem that you have: they provide a cognitive approach. When your writing lacks "color" it lacks emotion. You cannot analyse other texts and conscious...

posted 7y ago by System‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Metaphors and other "tricks" in scientific papers

2. The one fundamental rule in scientific writing is clarity. Analogies, metaphors, and other figures of speech are never clear in their meaning but open to interpretation. When I say, for exampl...

posted 7y ago by System‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Writing Montage in Novels

I really think people are much too obsessed with not telling. Many of the novels I enjoy most, tell. Lots. If you have, for example, a group of characters recovering from a fight, just friggin' sa...

posted 7y ago by System‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How to introduce alien flora/fauna without turning the fiction into a biology book?

I won't repeat my answer to this related question here, but instead briefly remind you that writing about an alien world is exactly like writing about the real world. You are stuck on the idea that...

posted 7y ago by System‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Is including a large number of twists a bad thing?

Readers of popular fiction (usually) want a clear protagonist, a clear goal, and a clear path of the protagonist to that goal. Readers also want the protagonist to struggle for his goal, so that wh...

posted 7y ago by System‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A How do I gain sufficient emotional distance from my work to edit it?

Different methods have been suggested for copyediting, that is, for finding spelling and grammar mistakes (such as printing text instead of copyediting at a screen, using a different font, reading ...

posted 7y ago by System‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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Q&A Do Epic Fantasy and Sci-Fi books have inherently more descriptive language?

I agree with Standback, but his answer is not generally true. In this time and age, most readers of Fantasy and Science Fiction have seen so many Science Fiction and Fantasy movies that their mind...

posted 7y ago by System‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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