Activity for Daniel Cann
| Type | On... | Excerpt | Status | Date |
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A: Help! I have no 'cheese-meter'! Definition I think a good definition of cheesy is this: > Something that is low quality, amateur, but is trying really hard to be good. It's a hard word to define for sure. Avoidance Beta Readers! They're the holy grail. You should get beta readers to check your work, however, there are a numbe... (more) |
— | over 7 years ago |
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A: Using accent marks in Fantasy novels 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 common use of the acute accent. You want to use accents to clarify your meaning or pronunciation. They sh... (more) |
— | over 7 years ago |
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A: How is a dialog interruption actually shown? The choice is stylistic. It's almost always your decision, as the author. Do what you feel would be appropriate and convey your meaning well. However, it goes without saying that some publishers may have a certain way they want you to format your work. Be sure to fit their guidelines. For me person... (more) |
— | over 7 years ago |
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Should each book in the series be a similar length? A very short question. I'm writing a trilogy. Book 1 was 88,000 words, but book 2 is probably only going to be 75,000 words. That's over 10,000 words less. > Should I find a way to make it longer? > > Is there anything to gain by making each book in a series a similar length? > > Is 70-75,000 wor... (more) |
— | over 7 years ago |
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Is it best to make a description metaphorical, or upfront? Background I've had this question for a really long time. A lot of my work seems quite 'floaty' and 'old style' because I describe things in a very metaphorical and surreal way. For example: > Her eyes were made dull by the inclement sky. I have this obsession with describing eyes to be shinier th... (more) |
— | over 7 years ago |
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Is it bad not to explain things? Background So I see a lot of questions on the site like this. They're all about deeply explaining worldbuilding and stuff, doing all of that explaining type of thing. Normally, I just skip that. For example: > My 'magic' system works by calling upon the power of the ancient tales and old gods. Tha... (more) |
— | almost 8 years ago |
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Is it bad storytelling to have things happen by complete chance? Background I recently noticed in my latest masterpiece novel there is quite a lot of things happening by chance. For example: > The main character just happens to pass by an old, frail warrior who can direct him to where he needs to go to advance the plot. He meets this warrior while being unable t... (more) |
— | almost 8 years ago |
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A: How much detail is too much? You said it yourself. When the reader cannot concentrate on the story because there are so many adjectives and adverbs, and other details and flourishes. Get other people to read your writing, and they will be able to easily comment on this. You are also falling into having too much detail if every ... (more) |
— | almost 8 years ago |
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A: What format/platform/structure is good for writing for a video game? The structure and complexity depends how intense and deep you want the story to be. However, when planning you must know the following thing: - The ending. For when you start work, the key to working effectively in a game design team and getting to a solid end is knowing what the ending is. You nee... (more) |
— | almost 8 years ago |
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Suffixing words with -ness, -ish, -like, and others Background In a huge amount of the books I read the author has coined a little term to help them describe something, or an onomatopoeia. Like: - Kindish (adding -ish to the end of a existing word) - Elfness (adding -ness to the end of an existing (race name) word) - Hobbit-like (very common. Addi... (more) |
— | almost 8 years ago |
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Is a bandit ambush a fatal, cliche mistake? Background I've planned the chapter I'll write tomorrow. It features a bandit ambush! That's so exciting! Wow! The sickly scent of blood, the glistening blades and powerless enemies. They are nothing compared to my godly knight who is so skilled with a sword she can slice asunder the shaft of an arr... (more) |
— | almost 8 years ago |
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Is it good to repeat the same form of event? Background So, long ago in my writing I wrote a chapter where a book housing a specific missing chapter was found in a treasury. As you can tell, it's super ultra convenient to just have it in the treasury all along and skip out about 10,000 words that I decided to edit out after writing it. I wrot... (more) |
— | almost 8 years ago |
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How much humour can you afford to have before losing a serious atmosphere? Background When I first tried writing fantasy - a long long time ago - I wrote a book that was meant to be really serious and intense. However, I wrote it in a way where the characters joked around, and had more fun than they should have been having in a really dire situation. The whole thing turned... (more) |
— | almost 8 years ago |
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A: Am I guilty of bad 'as' writing? Don't listen to them There are very few rules to writing and good writers know how to break them. Someone saying 'don't use as much' is totally wrong. They just are. In your prose, 'as' will be used exactly when it is needed. It is very hard to overuse a word which is very common in the English lang... (more) |
— | almost 8 years ago |
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A: Where to put a pronunciation key? At the back. People will notice it if it's at the back, I'm sure they will. Normally, lists of characters are at the back of the book, lists of pronunciations are at the back, and general information is at the back or in an afterword. You could have them at the front, if you pleased. It's really up ... (more) |
— | almost 8 years ago |
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A: How to prepare a manuscript for submission? So firstly, printing actual copies of your book to give to beta readers is a really bad idea. It costs loads of money when they could be reading it on the internet. When you are actually submitting to an agent or publisher, I would also highly recommend doing it electronically as that helps things go... (more) |
— | almost 8 years ago |
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A: Editing a memoir I remember reading a book called A Monster Calls, which had the same thing going on. The original idea was from Siobhan Dowd, but she died, and the book was completed by Patrick Ness. I would do something similar: > Originally written by X. Completed by Y. I would have an afterword detailing the wr... (more) |
— | almost 8 years ago |
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If I write a word with a letter that isn't used, will I confuse my reader? Background So I recently had my first ever issue with the spelling of places in my novel. Someone pronounced a rather illustrious city, Ethil, incorrectly. Ethil is not pronounced with a 'f' sound as in 'fill', it is pronounced with a 'th' sound as in 'the' or 'þorn)'. To be honest, removing þ from... (more) |
— | almost 8 years ago |
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A: How do speech writers find the contents that make their speeches so impressive? I disagree with what's comment. There are certain techniques used in these speeches that help convey meaning. I'm going to use Martin Luther King's I had a dream speech in my answer. What kinds of techniques are used which make a speech powerful? If you look at a few of these speeches you can see a... (more) |
— | almost 8 years ago |
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A: Should I italicize neologisms created by communities? It's entirely stylistic. In certain books neologisms will not be italicized, in others they will be. It's important to stick to it though and not change what you're doing. If you italicize one, be sure to italicize the rest. Out of most books I've read, they haven't actually been italicized, so perh... (more) |
— | almost 8 years ago |
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Will it help you to get published if you have a lot of followers of your writing? Background To be honest, I really didn't know how to title this question. Anyway, the background. I was sitting around in front of the plan for the second book of my trilogy. Woohoo! I finished the first one yesterday on new years eve, so I'll be able to say that that entire book is what I spent a l... (more) |
— | almost 8 years ago |
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Do I write the entire series and edit, or edit the books as I go? Background Woohoo! The time has come, my first book of a trilogy is one chapter away from finishing. I've done a little editing as I go, clearing up the bad chapters, but haven't properly gone through the whole thing or anything. Firstly, I saw this question, an interesting question, but I'm th... (more) |
— | almost 8 years ago |
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What kinds of skill does writing require? I legitimately don't know the answer. Background I said something a little silly today, and was told I was incorrect: > Writing requires no skill. You basically just have to write down what you're seeing in your head. I was told I was incorrect and writing required many skills, and was not a ... (more) |
— | almost 8 years ago |
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How to split up a book into a series? Related My book was never meant to be a series, so I'm genuinely uncertain on what to do. I only really write completely self-contained things. Background I've really been having a great time writing lately. On my latest masterpiece - book sorry - I've hit 70,000 words! Wow! It's about time the ch... (more) |
— | almost 8 years ago |
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A: How can I keep my writing from being perceived as "too complicated" No, your sentences are not at all confusing and your English teacher is wrong. > I could see the vague reflection of a stressed me breaking into a little grin on the damp window pane, as well as my surroundings. I am from England, and people use this sentence structure occasionally, so its totally ... (more) |
— | about 8 years ago |
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How can I respond to praise without appearing egotistical? Background Alright, so my friends and English teacher recently found out that I've written novels, and asked to read them. So, I gave them out because I have plenty of self-confidence and really enjoy writing. I let my friends read them and my teacher. All I've got now is massive, non-stop praise, a... (more) |
— | about 8 years ago |
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A: Could I have a writing phobia? My Personal Experience with Copy-Phobia I know exactly what you're talking about. Because I had exactly the same thing. For example, I love the video game Dark Souls 3 very much, and I took it as inspiration for my own writing. I heavily inspired a character arc based of 'Anri of Astora', but I did... (more) |
— | about 8 years ago |
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Does a reader care about how realistic a book is? Introduction I said a reader in the title. I don't know if I can answer this myself, as I'm not the kind of person who hates on something for not being good. I like virtually everything, and don't care if it's not realistic. I know for a fact that all readers won't be like me. Background Normally,... (more) |
— | about 8 years ago |
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A: Am I copying an idea too closely? In plagiarism, you copy another persons words and idea. As long as you're not doing precisely that you're fine! :) Seriously, I copy stuff all the time. In my writing, there's a city that was destroyed by a dragon. Sounds like Erebor from The Hobbit, right? Well, my city is crafted entirely of ash... (more) |
— | about 8 years ago |
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In multiple narratives, does time have to be in sync? This goes for any amount of narratives, dual, triple, quadruple, whatever. I'm writing a story with three points of views going on simultaneously right now, about at the same time. However, is it okay to have one of the characters a day ahead of the others, or one a day behind? If I end one chapter ... (more) |
— | about 8 years ago |
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How can I prevent the ends of my chapters from feeling forced? Background I've found that at the end of a lot of my chapters, the endings feel quite forced and abrupt. This is because I don't know where to go, I've done what I need to do. For example: - Excerpt from my own writing: > “Let us see this matter through. None need to know of this; it is a priv... (more) |
— | about 8 years ago |
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What is useful about writing software? Okay, so every 5 minutes I see a question uploaded to this site about writing software. What is writing software? Why don't you just plan on paper? I find it much easier to write out all of my muddled ideas in a big mind map than some ultimate sophisticated state-of-the-art godmode character organise... (more) |
— | about 8 years ago |
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Should I use contractions in my narrative? Should I use contractions in my narrative, or only use them in dialogue? I have noticed that in some books, like The Passage by Justin Crownin, contractions are used in the prose. In others, like The Faithful and Fallen series by John Gwynne, I don't think I ever remember seeing a contraction in his... (more) |
— | about 8 years ago |
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A: How to write a utopia? - How should I write a utopia? I think the utopian fiction you're describing would be challenging to write because it lacks climactic points. Its predictable. You describe it as if there is no wobbles, no wobbles at all in the relationships or whatever, and everything goes uphill with none who would... (more) |
— | about 8 years ago |
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How much can a reader remember? I've been writing some fantasy. Now, inevitably because its a big piece of fantasy, its all very involved with the world, culture, story and general bits. Personally, I'm really enjoying writing it. I have noticed that in a few fantasy novels I have read, I just haven't been able to remember who eve... (more) |
— | about 8 years ago |
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Is it a good idea to thwart everything? When can I go from thwarting, to destroying? For example, say the protagonist was working towards a goal, but towards the end they killed the people they had spent the novel with, as they became so obsessed with the desire and didn't want to be stopped. The threat was not destroyed, their friends we... (more) |
— | over 8 years ago |
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Are some ideas too cliched? So I was thinking, and I've been wondering if some ideas are so overused readers don't get the 'thrill' of reading them anymore. I'm really into last-man-standing type novels, I love them. I've written one, and I'm planning on writing another, but my question is, is this idea too overused? The Hunge... (more) |
— | over 8 years ago |
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Is it good to hate a character? I have a character that I want to give a huge slap across the face to. If I absolutely hate this character, does that mean my reader will hate him too? Is it good to purposely include a character in your writing which the reader is designed to hate? (more) |
— | over 8 years ago |
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A: How to make a dark story not-so-dark (Shining the light in darkness) What I would do, is give the characters something to look forward to. Give them something to fight for. They need a motivation to keep going, something to comfort them in their time of need. I think by giving the characters this, you'd be able to make them have more courage and generally be happier f... (more) |
— | over 8 years ago |
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Is it a good idea to make the protagonist pull themselves together Is it a good idea, to make the protagonist pull themselves together at a point in a work of fiction. I've been writing a novel, and for practically the entire first half the main protagonist has been running from everything, scared to kill, generally scared of the battle he has been plunged into. He ... (more) |
— | over 8 years ago |
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A: How to know whether to write in 3rd person or 1st person? Thanks everyone for your answers! After reading them through, I tried some things and found out what helped me settle into the first person. - Rewriting the story in different perspectives After rewriting the story, I found that in 3rd person the story didn't flow well, and it was harder to disti... (more) |
— | over 8 years ago |
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How to know whether to write in 3rd person or 1st person? How do I know, when I'm writing, which perspective I should write in? I almost always write with a 1st person narrative because it makes it easy to get great immersion in with the characters. Is it always okay to write in 1st person? In a piece of fiction writing, how do you know which perspective ... (more) |
— | over 8 years ago |
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A: Is it necessary for an article about a problem to address solutions as well? It would be a good idea to use a structure in your writing. -Topic sentence -Problem -Your opinion -Resoloution When writing a newspaper article you should keep things formal and precise. In newspaper's journalists often exaggerate so it doesn't matter if you exaggerate things too much. Further... (more) |
— | about 9 years ago |
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How to make horror events more interesting in daytime In a book I'm writing at the moment I have created a world with a day and night cycle. I have created a veil of mystery over this madman and this machine he's made, however, every event to do with the machine has happened at night. This machine is meant to be utterly horrible, but it's more of a psyc... (more) |
— | about 9 years ago |
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