Activity for Standback
| Type | On... | Excerpt | Status | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edit | Post #39411 |
Post edited: Formatting for emphasis |
— | almost 5 years ago |
| Edit | Post #39411 | Initial revision | — | almost 5 years ago |
| Answer | — |
A: How do I know if my cast is diverse enough or too diverse? It's really important to understand that "diversity" isn't something you should be scoring along a single axis. It would certainly simplify things if you could tally up Diversity Points in your story, knowing that five Diversity Points are Not Enough but seventeen is Too Many, but obviously, that isn... (more) |
— | almost 5 years ago |
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A: Can I conceal an antihero's insanity - and should I? It sounds like you don't really know what kind of story you want to be telling. The story of a ruthless psychopath cutting her way towards the throne, is very different from the story of a sweet girl rising through society as the reader gradually realizes how disquieting and heartless she really is;... (more) |
— | about 5 years ago |
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A: Getting an editor after the second draft The ideal recourse, at this phase, is finding some good beta-readers. Beta-readers are fantastic because they give you a sense of how your novel is working; what's good and what isn't. Beta-readers don't need to be pros, but they do need to be (A) observant and (B) honest. That isn't necessarily eas... (more) |
— | about 5 years ago |
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A: Balancing setting, theme, and character arcs: how to deal with a setting that carries emotional weight but is left behind? Finish what you start. Your instincts are correct. The more weight you give an element, any element, the more readers are going to understand it as something that will be important later on. But, that doesn't necessarily mean that if an element is important, then you're required to build a whole su... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Plot twist where the antagonist wins You absolutely can do this, but there are two very important points to consider. 1. What is your purpose in choosing this ending? 2. In what way will this be a satisfying conclusion, from the reader's perspective? In your question, you're describing a particular sequence of events as being an unexp... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How to tell people you write smut/erotica/porn The big question here is: What is your purpose in telling people about your writing. Some people, some forums, and some audiences, will absolutely appreciate that writing erotica is a skill, a craft, something that people enjoy -- and you can just straight up say "I write erotica." Other people, fo... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Should a short story be submitted to a publisher in order to know if they would be interested in a book based on it? Alas, no. As an unpublished writer, you absolutely should not submit anything less than a complete novel. A few quotes to this effect: > You have to have a finished novel. > There are no exceptions to this. > > The first step for writing a query letter is to finish the novel. > > -- Query Shar... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How important are good looking people in a novel/story? It'll depend pretty heavily on what type of story you're telling and what type of readership you're aiming for. Generic sex appeal does different things in different context: - In a romance, they can help a love interest feel more appealing -- but, if it's poorly done, the whole romance might feel c... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: What are some effective ways to gain readers? There are dozens of different paths and strategies to gaining a readership. Listing all of them would take some serious doing, but I can give you some easy examples. - Get published by a major house. The path here is: Finish an entire novel; polish it as much as you can on your own and with beta-rea... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How to find the right literary agent in the USA? It's not easy, but the core answer is: You need to learn the market. Being from outside the U.S., or not having an existing platform, might be issues, but they shouldn't be dealbreakers -- lots of U.S. agents work with foreign clients, and a good book on a good topic can sell beautifully. But: you ... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Opening chapter foreshadowing or not? Either can work really well! The thing to pay attention to is that each option builds a different sequence and experience for the reader -- so you want to consider which of the two choices works better for your story. A good general guideline is that at the beginning of the book, the reader is looki... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Protagonist's race is hidden - should I reveal it? Here's the thing about race: different people have very different ideas about what race means, and how race affects individual's lives. Some people's ideas of race is inextricably tied with their experience of racism. Some people's idea is that race doesn't really matter, or that it shouldn't really... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Is it advisable to begin marketing a book before it is published? It's complicated. An indie writer who mostly does their own marketing winds up taking on two jobs -- writing new books, and marketing them. Although these can feel related, they're very, very different. For one you're writing fiction, working a bunch on a single story. For another, you're interacti... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: What benefits might there be to membership in a Writer's Guild? It depends on the specific organization. The one I know best is the SFWA -- the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. They're pretty amazing; so they're a great example of what benefits a good writers' organization might have to offer: Some of the things the SFWA does are: - Runs an Emerg... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: An LGBT main character, but the book isn't about LGBT issues All writing has political elements to it, whether you like it or not. Your question is a great demonstration of this. Some people consider LGBTQ people to inherently be (a) extremely rare, and (b) uniquely strange, fundamentally unlike cisgender, heterosexual people. Other people consider LGBTQ peo... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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A: What sort of details do potential short story beta readers need? I'd recommend against an overview. Short stories are short, and figuring out what they are and what they're doing is often a lot of the story's bulk. You want them coming in like a real reader would -- not knowing almost anything except what magazine or anthology they're reading. General Genre/Subg... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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A: What things should one highlight as good in beta reading feedback? My top recommendation is this: Identify what the story is attempting to do. Different stories are different creatures. "I'm pretty sure I know how this ends!" can be a harsh indictment for a mystery story, or excited anticipation for a romance. "You've really invested in this character's backstory"... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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A: I'm afraid that my setups will be overlooked The components of a really effective payoff, in my mind, are these: - The reader knows something is coming - But: they don't know what is coming. They have open questions; they have doubts. They're in a state of tension; anticipation. - The payoff resolves the tension, in a way that makes sense to t... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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A: I'm afraid of quashing the hopes of a new writer As a frequent beta-reader, often for friends, I struggled with this question -- and I'm pretty happy with the answers I've figured out. Don't pronounce judgment; help the author level up It makes a lot of sense to tell an author, "Listen, I don't think this is ready for publication." Because, reall... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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A: How to avoid turning dialogue into Q&A session? OK, I'm going to rephrase your question a little. Your problem is this: You have information to impart, which is (a) interesting and (b) important. However, the act of imparting that information is neither interesting nor important. I hope that sounds about right to you. And I think you'll find this... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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A: Writing a crying scene Do consider why you're choosing to write a crying scene. What it means; how it develops; what you're hoping to get out of it. Because I think a fair bet is: the point isn't to observe, in minute detail, this one character crying. It's not about how much or how long or how hard they cry. Instead, it... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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A: How can I indicate a magical compulsion to protect someone without truly disclosing it? I'd suggest giving some thought to how the magic actually works -- because figuring out a concrete magical effect will get you a long way towards answering the question "how does this escape the character's notice". Just a few examples off the top of my head: - The magic grants the protector great ... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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A: Narrative arc in erotica? In this case, recognizing the problem -- recognizing that you want a narrative arc, that something should be intensifying beyond the scope of a single sexual encounter -- is also half the solution. Once you know you want the story to have stakes beyond "when will they have sex," all you really need t... (more) |
— | almost 6 years ago |
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A: How do I draw attention to a girl's chest without making it overly lewd? The crucial question, which will help you figure out how to write this, is: why is this detail important. And that question has two angles: 1. Why is it important to your story? 2. Why is it important to your viewpoint character, at the specific point you want to get the information across? These t... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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A: Do Science Fiction Stories Follow A Particular Pattern? Science fiction has some unique staples, but there are a million structures and styles. Certainly there's no single structure that encompasses everything from the taste of genius in "Flowers for Algernon" to the mind-bending dual view of causality in "Story of Your Life"; no single structure that cap... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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A: Dropping subtle hints about a character's sexuality > I don't want to make it too obvious before the reveal. OK, question: why not? Consider the fundamental structure of a plot twist, or a reveal. It's usually either: - Reader is expecting A; has been building up the understanding that A is true. Finally, we find out that A isn't true at all. - Rea... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: Why do literary magazines insist on cover letters? Asimov's is one of the best-known, most-respected magazines in the SF genre. Their volume of submissions is immense (I don't know precise numbers, but e.g. F&SF very recently got 192 submissions in a two-day span, after a one-month submission freeze). They publish six issues a year; with usually on... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: Do I stand to lose anything if I reprint an already published story on my own site? If publishing rights are yours, then they're yours, and you can reprint the story as you like. Yes, it's possible some publishers will be uninterested (or less interested) in a story that's been published freely. On the other hand, the internet is a large and wild place -- it's unlikely that publish... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: Will it be disappointing for the reader to not know who the main character is until the end? It sounds to me like you have Book 1 with four main characters, and Book 2 with only one of those characters continuing. Lots of series do this, including Narnia and Dragonlance. But, it's important that Book 1 work in its own right. You don't want to get rid of major characters abruptly just becaus... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: How can I write about historical realities that readers mistakenly believe are unrealistic? One of the joys in fiction is learning new things. For many readers of historical fiction, learning new details -- even contrary to their own expectation -- is a lot of the fun. So you can definitely use these elements, and expect them to count in your favor. To make that work, you need to make it c... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: How do I know if a concept is sexist or not? Sexism isn't a yes/no kind of thing, and it's a mistake to treat it as such. Saying that a story or an idea is "sexist" is shorthand. What it means is that it creates, encourages, or reinforces sexist stereotypes, and that those stereotypes have real-world consequences. So, a good way to come at t... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: Should I list upcoming publications in a short story cover letter? It's absolutely fine, and quite correct! It gives the editor very helpful information -- namely, that two different venues have decided to publish your work (and, which, which can sometimes be a helpful indication of strengths and style). If you know when your story is slated to see print, that's w... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: How to survive editing Separate concerns. If you think of editing as "fixing everything in my novel," it's going to be a huge and unmanageable chore, and there's nowhere to begin it that will give you even a sense of progress. Instead, list the various aspects of the novel you want to fix. Plot is one aspect; fixing lan... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: Why do most literature magazines take so long (several weeks or months) to respond to submissions despite having only a few hundred subs per month? I think you're holding magazines to a very high bar here! F&SF and Clarkesworld are pretty amazing, but there are so many reasons for submissions to get replies more slowly than that -- and what they are will be different from magazine to magazine. Some options include: Batching reading windows. If... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: How to Win Short-Fiction Writing Competitions This is really the number one advice I can give anybody entering creative competitions: Learn how the competition works. Every competition has rules. Wordcount; formatting; themes. Some of them also have guidelines. Stuff the judges like; stuff the contest is kind of tired of; stuff that's conside... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: How do I ratchet down expectations in a genre that seems to have gone gonzo? You're worried that your own work is similar enough to a popular take on the genre, but substantially different from it -- so readers might be coming to it with the wrong expectations. That's a very fair thing to be concerned about. There are a few ways to approach this, and they all have to do with... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: Is it acceptable to use words like "heaven" and "god" when the narrator is agnostic? This depends on the character. You're quite right to realize that the set of images a character will use, should depend a lot on that character's "inner lexicon"; on the particular imagery that character would plausibly reach for and use. It makes sense that, when feeling unsteady on their feet, a s... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: How can someone become a beta reader? Great question! A great difficulty here is that there's not really much in the way of "professional beta readers." Someone who's really known for giving excellent feedback, and offers that as a service, is pretty much an editor of some stripe. So aiming to become "well-known", "popular", or "respec... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: Can I copy an existing magic system? There are two obvious concerns: One is being a plagiarist; the second is being derivative. Plagiarism has heavier consequences, but it's much easier to avoid. If your magic school is called Hugworts and people without magic are called Miggles, then yeah, you're going to have a problem -- but if you ... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: Why is character lifetime proportional to character development so often? Because maintaining suspense over who will live and who will die is only one of a story's many goals. And in most stories, it's not even a very important one. The fact that The Protagonist Survives is the flip side of the truism that We're Telling The Protagonist's Story. Since what we're telling is... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: How to derive a first sentence from a story? While there is no one single way, here's a practical approach. You need to be capable of answering a few crucial questions about your work: - What is the work's overall feel and style? - What, about the very first couple of pages, do you hope is going to grab the reader's attention , and earn their... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: What is the role of "flashback" in my novel? You should be able to answer a few questions here. Why is the flashback necessary for the story? What does it add or change, that makes this a better story than without it? Why is the flashback interesting now, to the reader? You may know the flashback is setting up important stuff, but the reader ... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: Foregone conclusion of novel's first part Add an additional point of uncertainty. "Will the story progress" is not an interesting stakes. But nothing's keeping you from adding other stakes that will grip the reader. Consider, for example: - Is MC willing to play dirty to secure his place? - Can MC keep his idealism and enthusiasm as he pro... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: Who translates made-up words from popular fiction into other languages? This is, indeed, the translator's job. For example, here's Gili Bar-Hilel, talking about translating the Harry Potter books into Hebrew: > Fantasy books are often full of imaginary words created by the author and I am curious how you go about translating such words. Do you rewrite them in Hebrew, m... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: Why are clichés discouraged in fiction writing? "Avoid Clichés" is a guideline, not a rule It would be a mistake to understand that any use of any cliché is "wrong," as you humorously do in your question. Clichés have certain problems (and certain strengths); understand what they are, and you'll better understand what the guideline is aiming at,... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: What journals publish surreal fiction? Fantasy and science-fiction is a genre that's bigger on the inside, and you'll find a lot of weird fiction enjoyed and celebrated within the genre. Surrealism and oddness definitely have their place -- see luminaries such as Kelly Link and Karen Joy Fowler, who have won Nebulas for weird short fictio... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: Writing an "honest" Blurb? In writing a blurb (or a query letter), it's crucial to find the true core of your book. If you shoehorn your book as a high-octane adventure, that might draw in a different readership, but they're going to be disappointed pretty quickly. If your book's strength is complexity, maturity, philosophy, t... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |
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A: Does my protagonist *have* to succeed? There are several risks you run with a character who mostly fails. Your character may feel incompetent. A protagonist usually needs to gain our sympathy and our respect. If the chain of failures is absolute, if they have no victories or notable accomplishments, that doesn't necessarily mean we don'... (more) |
— | over 6 years ago |