Posts by Jay
Direct answer: Some consonants in English sound similar. They tend to fall in groups: b, d, p, t, th, v c, ch, g, j, k, q, s, sh, x, z f, p h l m, n r w ...
Originality is not a yes/no, true/false thing. There are degrees of originality. There are lots of stories about a boy and girl who meet and fall in love. They are not all rip-offs of "Romeo and J...
First, I'd check on the law where you live. Writing about a child engaging in sex might legally be considered child pornography. I write non-fiction so I've never personally had to deal with this...
Sure. There are two possibilities. Oh, you used religion as the example so let's continue with that example. Similar things would apply to an ethnic heritage, or for that matter to the subculture ...
I'd say yes, but ... not if it loses clarity. Warning labels have to be concise or people won't be able to read them, or won't bother to read them. For example, a label that says "HIGH VOLTAGE" e...
When you talk about the "translation", do you mean that you are writing your book in some language other than English and you are translating between English and your native language to ask this qu...
It depends how distinctive the name is. If you have a character named "John", well, there are lots of other fictional characters, and real people, named "John" would not bother me at all. There a...
I hear this worry from many beginning writers. Often the question includes something along the lines of "What legal steps can I take to protect my work from being stolen?". Here's my capsule advic...
I agree with most of what others have said. Let me just add: Unless your goal is to attack this organization, what do you gain by using a real organization? You're obviously aware of the danger:...
It's perfectly reasonable to say, "Hey, I think it was interesting the way this character was so calm under pressure, I'd like to use that in a story of my own." But if you write a story with a cha...
My first inclination would be to write it the same way it's written in school materials. If the course catalog or class schedule says "Algebra 2", that's what I'd write. I'd do something different...
I think it's a bad idea. Personally, I have no idea who "Benedict Cumberbatch" is. Maybe I've seen him on TV or in movies and don't remember the name, or maybe I've never seen him. The odds are t...
This is why many people laugh at feminism. Yes, saying that losing one's fertility is a price that some are reluctant to pay implies that fertility has value. Duh. Who in his or her right mind wou...
I haven't read "Blood on the Stars", but I don't think the details of that story matter here, so I'll plunge ahead. Maybe I should distinguish the legal issue of copyright from the artistic issue ...
I don't think I've ever referenced a real brand name in something I've gotten published, the issue just never came up. So I can't speak from experience with a publisher there. But I've read plenty ...
This is really a matter for personal preference. There's no provably right answer. Personally, for my books, I didn't worry about the index until about the 4th draft. When I was basically happy wi...
Easy answer: Don't include anachronistic pop culture references. "writing a geeky character who does not make such references is almost unrealistic" Well, maybe, but surely not jarringly so. I'm a ...
There are two issues here. One is whether technical documents should include "creative" language. The other is whether problems with style should be fixed despite looming deadlines. On the second ...
Do you really define every word every time you use it? That seems to me like it would be redundant and tedious. The first time I see a new word I want to know the definition. But I don't want to ha...
First, as others have noted, real people's lives are rarely as event-filled as the lives of fictional characters. For example, Howard Carter became a world-renowned archaeologist when he discovered...
What is your purpose in wanting to do this? If the story is 99% set in the real world, and then you throw in this one paragraph of alternate history, and then the story goes back to the real world...
A friend of mine once said, "Some stories don't end. They just stop." It is, of course, true that in real life not all crimes are solved, not all hidden treasures are found, not all romances lead ...
The trick, I think, is to make this revelation in a way that, (a) does not invalidate everything that has happened before, and (b) that does not leave the reader wondering if the "new reality" is a...
We've discussed use of vulgar language in fiction on this forum a number of times, e.g. Swearing - Censor, allude, or include? and Swearing in a book, within a context. Too offensive? To summarize...
As I understand it, then: The editor has said that if you don't have your character wear a hoodie, he will not publish your comic book. You have tried to talk him out of this and he won't budge. S...
