Activity for wetcircuit
| Type | On... | Excerpt | Status | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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A: How do I write real-world stories separate from my country of origin? Allow me to introduce you to a game-changing author who at age 19 wrote a morally complicated "pot boiler" about a privileged jerk who plays god then abandons his responsibility. This novel has everything: an anti-hero who fails his redemption arc, a villain who is articulate and sympathetic, and a h... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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Many sexual situations, but no actual sex scenes? My guile heroine's character arc is almost entirely sex and manipulation. I tell (not show) she was a sex worker in the past, it's left ambiguous (likely) that she still is. She has powerplay scenes with multiple characters where she is able to change the stakes during a sexually-charged situation. ... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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Is every story set in the future "science fiction"? Science Fiction is a "big tent" genre, and we all know it when we see it. Even if we argue about the specific tropes – and what might make something lean heavily towards another classification (science-fantasy, speculative fiction, etc), is every story that takes place in the future "science fiction... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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Can I bring back Planetary Romance as a genre? This question is about genre and reader expectations. I'm not trying to change my story to fit a mainstream genre. I have already taken steps to broaden it's appeal, but it's too late to create an entirely different type of story. I'm writing and illustrating a graphic novel. My difficulty is that I... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How to balance the agendas of co protagonists that periodically conflict? > How best to keep these occasionally polarizing aims balanced without creating reader whiplash? This is character conflict and it's a good thing I think it's not about which character is "winning" at any given moment, but about this trust dynamic between the characters. Over the course of the plo... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Does success imply validation and agreement? Yes. It's your main character, who is a bully, and wins. There is nothing ambiguous about this. 95% of people are already well aware of it. This is only a story to the children of wealthy people, and the 5% who are already the bullies. (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Does the reader need to like the PoV character? Some people need to like the MC, yes. And they don't seem to change their mind just because the writing is good or the situation is original. Me, I need consistent characters that have believable actions. I can put up with a lot of plot contrivances if the characters are well-written and their moti... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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What is the structure of a paranormal horror story? Building on the definition of a Paranormal Story (as opposed to Dark Fantasy) described in the answers here: What are most common tropes of a paranormal book and dark fantasy book?. A paranormal story is about a phenomenon that cannot be explained in-world. It defies natural laws, probably logic and... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Mortal danger in mid-grade literature In Star Wars , Luke Skywalker murders an estimated 250,000 civilian employees aboard the Death Star. The same source says there were over 1.5 million troops aboard who we learn from the sequels are not all evil – many have a moral compass, disagree with the Empire, and can be turned to the "good" sid... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: When should a starting writer get his own webpage? Every non-fiction writer should have a blog covering the topics they write about. You are trying to establish yourself as an authority on the subject, an influencer of ideas and opinions, or a curator of taste. If you write about historical subjects (or tea, or cocker spaniels), a blog about your to... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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How do I mix linear and non-linear "choices" in an interactive novel? In my interactive novel , I'm trying to keep the word count between choice prompts fairly short and consistent, but that means sometimes breaking up longer text into a few sections…. I've been using a single choice to indicate when the story is linear, and 3 choices when there are actual non-linear ... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Too soon for a plot twist? Hero 1 goes through the gauntlet to become a hero, and it's left him bitter. He's angry at how unfair it was. How many good men died just to prove purity (or whatever). He is a hero, but he's broken. Hero 2 goes through the gauntlet to follow in his idol's footsteps: Hero 1. He gets through the gau... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: What points should a "Character Interview" method for character building hit? 5 Hours, 5 Days, 5 years (ago) Unfortunately, I don't remember where I read this, but an author/writing guide I read suggested a simple rule of character interview 5 Hours, 5 Days, and 5 Years. Ask what they were doing at those 3 times and that's all you really need to know about them (according to ... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Should an author include user-interactive sections in his website? > An author website supposedly has a lot of functions, such as: > > - Promoting one's latest book; Keeping one's audience engaged with weekly updates; > - Keeping track of events or conventions where the author will be; > - Presenting additional materials, such as cut drafts, character descriptions... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: When does inspiration across artforms become plagiarism > Do Songs and Paintings have the same rules and protections as Books and Film for copying (into written form). Songs and paintings are protected under copyright laws, but it might be helpful to understand what copyright is meant to do. Copyright is not intended to rob you of your creativity under ... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How large should photos on my blog be? Any online image can be scaled to 100% of the width of the webpage, that means it will always fill the available width, regardless of the actual pixel size. compression is more important than pixel size Somewhat more important than pixel size is compression. TinyPNG, pngquant, ImageOptim, and other... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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How can I get readers to accept more than 1 "buy" in worldbuilding? An alternative "Occult Universe" I open my occult detective novel in what is ostensibly a "noir" style, but through worldbuilding I attempt to show that the story is set in an alternate occult universe which diverged from our own sometime during the early 19th Century, along with the rise in Victori... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Making him into a bully (how to show mild violence) Joe is insecure and craves approval Joe has a deperate need to be looked up to. It is more important to him than other people's feelings, or even his ability to read the room. Joe hangs out with 2 morons because they laugh when he makes jokes, and respond to his displays of power imbalance, which t... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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Should I signal completion of a decision point in an interactive novel? In my visual novel (an interactive, narrative-based video-game), I have a detective character who decides whether he believes interviewees controlled by the player. The detective doesn't explain his reason but it's buried in the choices. The reader can't anticipate which choice-combination will conv... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Sugar-coating a niche genre I have no advice about your mom. However, I notice that within the question you signal the story is not to your own taste, that beta readers held their noses but liked it ok, and that you are unsure what genre it might be and even if you did know it is obviously "just a niche". This is not selling ... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Using time travel without creating plot holes Time travel is cheating. You are already cheating. Even if you come up with a worldbuild-y excuse how your cheat works or what limits it, you are already cheating, so just accept it. Plot holes are not created by time travel, they are created by poor writing – like inventing "rules" for something th... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How to write painful torture scenes without being over-the-top All scenes have more than one thing going on. Scenes are never just a series of sequential facts, there are negotiations and compromises, misdirections and sacrifices – yes it's all scaled down to the one scene, but there is still the thing the character wants conflicted with the thing the character ... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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How can I portray body horror and still be sensitive to people with disabilities? Building on my answer in Proven psychological or scientific means of scaring people?, I'm working on a universal horror-theme structure for a branching-narrative series with an occult detective. I won't discuss the whole system, but the idea is that each story has multiple themes that progress increm... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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A: Is it bad to have no gender variety? It is such a wonderful idea, I am doing it right now. My story is 3 female protagonists who uncomfortably team up – frenemies. I made them all women because I wanted to see more women adventurers in sci-fi. And probably because I watched too much Charlie's Angels as a child, so … 3 women in spaaaace... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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A: Creating and keeping track of characters Logistics and Blocking What you are describing is logistics and blocking: > Colonel Mustard is in the Observatory with the Revolver. Adding the who-where-when details to a scene is no different than plotting the current location of a MacGuffin, or pacing the reveal of a plot twist. This informatio... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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A: Should I add racism in my book's world or have my world have no racism? > So should I use racism as one of the parts of my worldbuilding? Or write a story without racism as part of my worldbuilding? Yes, you should add racism to your worldbuilding. Wait – hear me out. Racism is real, and it's an "ism" – I mean, it's a society-shaping force. Racism is not neighbor squab... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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A: How to present an alien culture with different morals, without it coming across as savage? Have an "authority class" We have a society that tends to view a certain type of tall, blue-eyed, grey-haired male, in athletic shape for his age, as authority figures. If you've ever been in the upper corporate sphere, you encounter these men everywhere – far beyond their representation within the ... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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A: Convincing argument about something I don't agree with Give him a compassionate reason, even if it is wrong Like maybe mutants sometimes murder their friends in uncontrolled rages. Day believes (correctly, from one of your other questions) that these mutants don't have control over their emotions. Day's father seems stern and heavy-handed, but it's bec... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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A: I'm afraid that my setups will be overlooked SHOW, DON'T TELL Avoid "prophesies" or "maid and butler dialog" about those almost-forgotten immortals that would telegraph what is coming. This is "telling, not showing". It should be a surprise to both the characters and the reader if it is meant to have any narrative impact. The first time he is... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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A: Flashforward Tense The story's tense is all about your narrative voice. It can't orient the reader to a larger timeline structure because no matter what tense is used the reader's now is where they are reading. The narrator and reader exist in the reader's present. The narrator can use tense to indicate events in the ... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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A: How to write a good MacGuffin? the MacGuffin joke I've never understood Hitchcock's "joke" about the MacGuffin on a train. It's clear that it's some kind of nonsense diversion but the punchline just doesn't make sense: > “It’s an apparatus for trapping lions in the Scottish Highlands.” The first man says, “But there are no lions... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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A: Creating an incompetent antagonist > Alternatively, am I approaching this from the wrong direction, and need to have the Empire represent legitimate antagonistic force? You've got plenty of answers here so I'll offer a different approach. > The "real" tension in the story, and where most of the conflict will arise, is between the re... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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A: How should you use sexually deviant monsters in fantasy? Deviant in reproduction One of the better uses of a deviant monster is in Alien. A male crew member is "impregnated" orally. The resulting baby is described as something that "shouldn't exist", grows full-sized in hours, has acid for blood, etc. The monster is deviant from conception and defies all ... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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A: How do you know if your story concepts contradict each other? The Rain Queen is a real-world example that meets some of your requirements. There are also many explanations for the "contradiction" evolving over time. Many vestigial monarchies exist today which have no official power (Sweden, Japan). In the past your queen ruled and reigned. Over time the monar... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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A: How do I draw attention to a girl's chest without making it overly lewd? > introduce a... very well-endowed character. How do I write this so that I get the point across that she's that way, but not making it sound overly lewd or off-putting? I thought it was cute reading you describe it in just that way. Talk around it, politely and awkwardly. It's funny because it's ab... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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A: How do I handle different PoVs, at different times and places, each dealing with the same event? I think you have a good premise. It is worth asking some rhetorical questions about why you would (and would not) want to shift POV with an ensemble cast. "good" reasons: - Keeps the pace and tension strong. There is always something interesting happening somewhere. You have eyewitnesses at differ... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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A: How does one discovery-write court intrigue? > When one is a plotter of stories, every step of the intrigue is laid out before one starts writing. Well…, no. I sometimes think discovery writers imagine that plotters are passionless stone Easter Island heads who tonelessly drone about Destiny and the Immutability of Time. So it was outlined...... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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A: How to give cartography information in a fantasy setting without being too precise? Create a Fantasy Map. It doesn't need to be terribly detailed, and it is a beloved convention of fantasy genre.  Writing Excuses has a podcast on the topic: https://writingexcuses.com/2016/11/03/11-bonus-03-some-books-have-maps-in... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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A: How to write female characters as a male writer? The passage puts cart before horse. She fantasizes about having babies, and then gets around to trying to justify the man who is going to give her the babies, yet she doesn't sound like there is any sexual attraction to him. He just has some superficial traits (green eyes, curly hair) which presumabl... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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A: How do you write boy & girl protagonists without turning them into a love story? Many same-sex friendships are two of a similar "type" who are also competitors. When gendered male, the rivalry might be athletic or conspicuous displays of wealth. Gendered female the competition might be social or personal accomplishments (out-doing the other, as opposed to defeating the other). Ri... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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A: Establishing a social circle for a promiscuous character In my personal experience, there is a night-and-day difference in a friend who sleeps around, and a friend who sleeps with your boyfriend. Since everyone is college-age they will have ingrained opinions that don't align with their actions, and liberal platitudes can change abruptly when an issue eff... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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Archetype or Stereotype?  After feedback on character design for my visual novel, my grizzled Noir Detective is drifting into an Old Jazz Musician. There's a reason I post the artwork: what has gone unmentioned in this feedback is that he's African American... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: Where can I find information on how different genres are conventionally written? I think the term you're looking for is NARRATIVE VOICE , sometimes called Narrative POV but that oversimplifies it. The narrative voice sets the tone and pace for the story, but also signals how we're meant to approach the characters and situations. Without trying to sound airy-fairy or artistic, na... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: "Too modern" words Isn't this essentially the same question you already asked? At any rate, my answer is the same:Referencing modern pop culture in science fiction > Pop culture references in real life affirm tribal affiliations. Drop a recognized quote and it triggers an autonomic pleasure/reward response in your "tr... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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How do I ratchet down expectations in a genre that seems to have gone gonzo?  I've done worldbuilding and extensive plotting for a Book 1 based around a "detective" (not a literal detective but someone who fills that role) who hunts and resolves (neutralizes) occult objects. The character came from a differe... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: How does one include non-Latin-based script in an overall English work? I'm posting a second answer because this suggestion is a little out there, but it might be a way to have your cake and eat it too. If you are publishing a cybertext, make the bilingual stuff interactive. Any website or e-reader should be able to handle basic javascript that would allow the reader to... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: How does one include non-Latin-based script in an overall English work? It sounds like you have some specific examples in mind where the whole point of the exchange is the language barrier. It could be an opportunity to trigger empathy in the reader, either as the bilingual or the monolingual who misses part of the conversation. I live in a cosmopolitan city. Half the w... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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In a branching mystery, should branches be "self-correcting" or follow the impulse of the reader? A mystery with 3 subplots I'm writing a branching mystery novel. It's more Raymond Chandler than Agatha Christie: the mystery is a driver-of-plot rather than a puzzle for the reader to solve. Following modern cop-show/detective tropes, the various suspects are involved in 1 of 3 hidden subplots. Ove... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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How do I structure branching-narrative choice prompts for limited 3rd-person? Character POV My interactive novel has Old Cop, Young Cop protagonists with different skillsets, backgrounds, observation of details, etc. The POV switches between them using 3rd-person limited. Branching choices are intended to be in character – in other words, the available choices show the range ... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: Can I copy an existing magic system? You can watch almost any "kung fu" movie from the 1970s through 2000 and see "tao masters" waving their arms while various objects – water, swords, dinnerware, tree limbs – go flying and curving through space. I think you will discover as you write your stories it will be more interesting to come up... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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