Activity for tryin
| Type | On... | Excerpt | Status | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edit | Post #37991 | Initial revision | — | over 4 years ago |
| Edit | Post #37313 | Initial revision | — | over 4 years ago |
| Edit | Post #37144 | Initial revision | — | over 4 years ago |
| Edit | Post #37054 | Initial revision | — | over 4 years ago |
| Edit | Post #36672 | Initial revision | — | over 4 years ago |
| Edit | Post #36606 | Initial revision | — | over 4 years ago |
| Edit | Post #36250 | Initial revision | — | over 4 years ago |
| Edit | Post #36074 | Initial revision | — | over 4 years ago |
| Answer | — |
A: What should come first—characters or plot? A respected creative writing professor of mine always says that plot is character. Repetitive or stale plots can be saved by interesting, original characters. Boring characters can't be redeemed by an interesting plot. > Is crafting characters before plot a bad choice? No, not at all > which one i... (more) |
— | over 4 years ago |
| Question | — |
How to tell readers that I know my story is factually incorrect? Sometimes, it so happens that I do some research for a story and find that a major plot point could never work in real life. At this stage, I can either continue with my impossible (for a non-fantasy, non-scifi setting) idea, or scrap it completely. This happened to me earlier while I was writing fa... (more) |
— | almost 5 years ago |
| Answer | — |
A: How to deal with moral/legal subjects in writing? Shadowzee makes some excellent points in their answer, so I won't talk about those. Ideally, when arguing against a long-standing tradition/law (like speed limits), you would have some good arguments, something beyond "I want to go fast". You can use the setting of your story as a vehicle for those ... (more) |
— | almost 5 years ago |
| Question | — |
What are some bad ways to subvert tropes? I recently came across something I wrote in 4th or 5th grade, where the MCs, a girl and a boy, were superheroes. One wore a blue costume with knives, and the other wore a pink one with flowers... BUT PSYCH! The girl wore the blue one! And the boy wore the pink! Your stereotypes mean nothing to my uns... (more) |
— | almost 5 years ago |
| Question | — |
How can I radically time-jump for my epilogue well? I'm working on a branching narrative kind of story, and the entire story focuses on the reader uncovering a mystery in the house that they're in. There's only one ending where they survive. In the other ones, the loose ends remain unknown, since they're dead, but to tie them up in this ending, I wou... (more) |
— | almost 5 years ago |
| Answer | — |
A: Is it advisable to add a location heads-up when a scene changes in a novel? It's always a good idea to give your readers some indication that the setting (whether time or place) has changed. You could do something like > ... and she flopped onto the sofa, clutching the picture to her chest. Tears rolled down Alice's cheeks as she thought of her wife. > > > > Shanti lea... (more) |
— | almost 5 years ago |
| Answer | — |
A: 20 Minutes into the Future - problem with setting the period > I suppose I can mention a year, but that would make the work dated the moment the year passes. I don't think it's really possible to do it without making reference to some time period. I would've thought the conflict you made reference to as having ended would be good enough, but I guess not. You... (more) |
— | almost 5 years ago |
| Answer | — |
A: How do I write real-world stories separate from my country of origin? I totally get how you feel, and, I'm sorry to say, there isn't really a quick fix. You're right in that stories in styles very specific to western culture can feel out of place in an Indian setting - you can always tell the story of detective Ram taking down the Bombay mafia after a lady in a red sar... (more) |
— | almost 5 years ago |