Activity for Kate S.
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A: Show more not tell implementation in writing? Use your imagination. I mean, your imagination should be informed by experiences you've actually had and remembered, but you expand and explore and combine these experiences using your imagination, not your memories. By 'imagination' I don't mean wild flights of fancy. Don't throw a unicorn into a c... (more) |
— | over 8 years ago |
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A: What's the most natural way to show a passage of time between the prologue and chapter one? I'll refrain from standard cautions about the advisability of prologues vs. weaving the back story into the main story and assume that you've definitely decided a prologue is the way to go. With that in mind: I think just having the first chunk labelled "Prologue" cues most readers that there's a ti... (more) |
— | over 8 years ago |
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A: I am looking to self publish a book but I don't need everything the sites offer If you've already got a printer for the book, and a distribution plan, what else are you looking for? Do you know how to format an e-book? It's a bit finicky, but not that difficult - I really like Guido Henkels' guide (http://guidohenkel.com/2010/12/take-pride-in-your-ebook-formatting/) but it give... (more) |
— | over 8 years ago |
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A: How do you connect a non sequitur hook to a novel? Start a notebook. Jot down ideas like that, let them ruminate and meet up with your other ideas and have idea babies, and then when you're stuck for inspiration, read through the notebook. Or, yeah, if you have a story that goes with your line, you could use the line as an opening. But that means th... (more) |
— | over 12 years ago |
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A: How can I accurately represent young adult dialogue? I would be careful about being too specific with slang for teenagers. There are huge regional variations, and what may sound natural to teen readers in one region (or even part of town!) could sound unnatural and jarring to readers from not that far away. You also have to make sure you aren't 'datin... (more) |
— | over 12 years ago |
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A: The opposite sex in first person? I don't think this is really a problem with the story being in first person. Regardless of the POV you use, you need to be able to really understand your characters, and you need to present that understanding in a way that feels genuine. I think you need to decide whether there is something wrong, o... (more) |
— | over 12 years ago |
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Single character POV vs. two POVs - how to decide? I'm starting to look at my next novel, and I'm trying to decide whether I should tell it from one POV or two. I've used both techniques in the past, so I'm aware of the basic advantages/disadvantages, but I'm still having trouble deciding which is best for the story I want to tell. I realize that it... (more) |
— | over 12 years ago |
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A: So I finished my novel. Now what do I do? John Smithers' advice is good, but I'd add a few details (and leave it for longer than three weeks!) Before you put the MS away, make a first pass at your query letter, as well. This is good because the query needs some time away from your eyes just like the MS does, and because writing the query ca... (more) |
— | over 12 years ago |
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A: Book recommendations for writing better technical papers Strunk and White's Elements of Style gets a lot of love, although it's also been getting some criticism, lately. But it's more about style than pure grammar. I enjoyed Eats, Shoots and Leaves, but it's not exactly a basic grammar book. It mostly focuses on punctuation. I also like the Grammar Girl ... (more) |
— | over 12 years ago |
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Pros and Cons of different styles of publishing I was reading on the meta site that someone thinks we're hostile to self-publishing, and I read over some old questions looking for evidence. I didn't really find signs of hostility, but I certainly did see several people expressing concerns about it. I think we've danced around the question a bit, b... (more) |
— | over 12 years ago |
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A: Write to the finish, or edit as you go? I've been thinking about this site lately, and I think this question is one of the ones that illustrates why the site isn't totally satisfying to me. Because the answer to this question, as to so many other questions, is: It depends. What works for you? I really don't think that writing, at least f... (more) |
— | over 12 years ago |
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A: How can I create drama in a story that is mostly political and procedural? Characters. You have to make us care about the characters. If we really care about the teacher; if we believe in the passion of the person trying to get the teacher fired; if we see the effects incompetent teaching have had on students, and not just statistics, but actual living, breathing student c... (more) |
— | almost 13 years ago |
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A: Use of past vs. present tense in works of fiction A lot of it is just convention. Most people seem most accustomed to reading past tense, so it tends to not be noticed by the reader. There are exceptions to this, however. YA, especially, has a lot of present tense writing, and in that genre it seems to be totally unremarkable. Fans of present tens... (more) |
— | almost 13 years ago |
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A: How Do you Stave Off Boredom While Writing? I can totally relate to this. I have five published novels, NOW, but it took me years to get around to writing the first one. I went through the same thing you did. I thought I wanted to write, but it turned out that I mostly wanted to have written. For me, the solution lay in getting immediate feed... (more) |
— | almost 13 years ago |
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A: Vision/dream as an effective opening? Opening with a dream is a technique that I've seen get a lot of criticism. I think there's a few reasons for it. One, if you're using the dream/vision to immerse your readers in a world, it's asking a lot of them to get immersed in that world, and then a few paragraphs later have to jump into a whol... (more) |
— | almost 13 years ago |
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A: What methods can I use to revise my writing? It's hard to be too specific without seeing your writing, and I certainly have nothing close to an algorithm for you, but I was caught by your idea of reverse-engineering an outline. Does that mean that you didn't write from an outline to begin with? If so, and if you're having trouble with organiza... (more) |
— | about 13 years ago |
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A: Should you read your own genre? Is what you're doing working for you? Like, are you achieving your goals following this method? If so, then I'd keep doing it. If not, I'd switch. I know that's a bit vague, but I think it might be pretty accurate. I agree that there's a risk of becoming derivative if you read in your own genre, but... (more) |
— | about 13 years ago |
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A: Help! I've got Writer's Block I agree with most of the other posts on this topic, but I have a little bit to add: I think the answer will be different depending on whether you're an established, experienced writer having a dry spell, or if you're an aspiring writer who can't get started. If you're a fairly experienced writer: I... (more) |
— | about 13 years ago |
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A: Meretricious - A bit too fancy? To whom is your character speaking? You want your character to use "the correct words" - I'd say the most correct words are the ones that will convey the most meaning to the listener. So if your character is talking to someone else who's well-educated and has a large vocabulary, I think this could be... (more) |
— | about 13 years ago |