Posts by Alexander
This is perfectly fine as long as your protagonist's character arc is satisfying and complete. If someone else is stealing the show at the end, there may be good reason for that, and lessons to lea...
Any book or article can be written with either personified (first-person) or non-personified narration. You just have to select one way or the other. Typically, reader can tell from the very start...
"Change of heart" may, or may not be real change of heart. There may be different scenarios to explain your events. Justice is above all. Your character "A" may be self-centered, but he has a str...
First of all, if your story is set 100 years in future, with all relevant technological advancements in place, you would want to make it all clear from the very beginning. You don't wont to create ...
Humility is the best when shown, not told. Design a scenario when your character has something that any normal person would brag about, only that he/she is never bragging. It is the best if the ot...
It is not necessary to run different character arcs chronologically synchronized. However, it is important not to create a false impression that these arcs are synchronized. For example in "A Song...
If you are writing via planning and worldbuilding, your creative process goes like this: idea => concept => detailed plot/setting Research can be (and should be) used in every step of the p...
Is your novel set in future? Generally speaking, yes. It is both reasonable and safe to assume that English will continue to serve as a primary language of scientific and engineering community. Th...
You either have to be precise, and include diagrams, or be "vaguely dramatic". There is no "middle ground" here. Literature has many examples of chess matches and chess players. Other answers have...
I see, basically, two scenarios how your MC's dark complexion can be relevant and require special description. Your MC skin tone is darker than the average, to the point that it might influence t...
Twist should be quick. Ideally, within a scope of a short paragraph reader's world should be turned upside down and the general idea of what was really going on must be formed. At this point, read...
I would say it all depends on your idea of the book. If you want your book to be depressing all the way, then you are good, and your story can be a very good one. However, I personally don't appre...
To add to other's answers, my own writing can be described by two loops: A. Creative loop: Excitement Exhaustion Writer's block B. Editing loop: Sensing flaws in my writing Revising While ...
It is quite common for a work of fiction to show a "Calm before the storm". Maintaining good humor after the tonal shift is much more difficult, and rare. The movie "Life Is Beautiful" is the firs...
There are "odd things", and there are "mysteries". Mysteries are supposed to get the audience on the hook, and get explained at some point later. Odd things just happen without explanation, and cha...
Complete resolution of a crisis would be a DXM. Pushing the story in a new direction (by creating another crisis that would need to be resolved) is all right. As far as I can see, your twist can m...
This is an interesting question, and while I don't believe there is a "prototypical" plot, let me try to find the answer by defining a contrast between typical male and typical female protagonist. ...
Consider style, plot and characters the three pillars on which your book is going to stand. All three should get a passing grade, a failure in one will ruin an otherwise promising book. If you thi...
First of all, your question is about "what to write" rather than "how to write". Now (before your question can be put on hold), take a good look at your characters. What conflict of interests coul...
You can (and probably should) tell your characters' background stories, but you should also ask yourself a question - "would it make my book better?" There are a few rules that I think are importa...
It all depends on your intention. 1) You want your reader to be suspicious about the character, but not know the true explanation. In this case you can put spotlight on this character, show some m...
I am developing a college-age female character and think that there may be a contradiction. This is an important secondary character, a good-natured girl, who is unfortunately quite promiscuous. T...
