Activity for Galastelâ€
| Type | On... | Excerpt | Status | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Question | — |
How to evoke wonder in the reader, when there isn't an incredulous character? A "fish out of water" character can serve as a reader proxy: whether it is a wondrous view, an unusual custom, or what have you, the character experiences and responds to them, and through him - the reader. But what do I do if there's no "fish out of water character" for whom the situation is novel?... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
| Answer | — |
A: How to write a 'fish out of water' character? If you've ever played D&D, think of this character as having low wisdom, high intelligence: smart, but not knowledgeable. Curious. Interested in obtaining new information, looking at new things in wonder, awe - whatever emotion you wish to evoke in the reader. Consider not only the knowledge your cha... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
| Answer | — |
A: Is it acceptable to have the theme of a story remain hidden to its characters? I'm not sure. Is the narrator of "All Quiet on the Western Front" aware of the themes of the story? He is very much aware of the horror and the tragedy of the war, and of how much it has changed him, but is he aware of how senseless and futile parts of it were? Like his own death? Is his awareness o... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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A: Is there any way to get around having everyone in the world speak the same language? There are several ways to have more than one language in your world. Here are some ideas: - Your characters might be conversant in more than one language. If your characters are high-born or a hereditary merchants, it makes perfect sense for foreign languages to be part of their education. You can e... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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A: What are the advantages and disadvantages to leaving the narrator unnamed? Are you working with first person narration? Is the narrator's identity important? Is he the MC, or someone on the sidelines? Does anyone ever address the narrator in dialogue in a situation where it would make sense to use his name? Here's some examples I can think of: - Roger Zelazny's "Amber Chr... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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A: How do I write an action scene? One of the most memorable fight scenes I've read is duel between d'Artagnan on the one site, Athos, Porthos and Aramis on the other, Chapter 5 of "The Three Musketeers". A whole chapter albeit a short one, is just this one scene. So how does it work? We start from how the MC plans to go about the ba... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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A: Should the narrator use pseudonyms in writing? If it is your MC that's using a pseudonym, how do they think of themselves? Have they become the mask, adopted a new personality, put their real identity in a closed box? Or do they sometimes forget to respond when called by their pseudonym? You can convey information by the way your narrator calls y... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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A: How to write long extracts in a foreign language? You might look at "War and Peace" to see the effect of large parts of text being written in a foreign language: it is a book in Russian, with a significant part of the dialogues between nobles being in French. When Tolstoy was writing this, he could expect his readers to be bilingual. Nowadays, Russi... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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A: If I am writing from the first-person perspective of a non-English speaker in first person, what should I do? Think about it this way: surely you've read literature translated from another language? For example, Les Miserables, set in France. All characters speak French. Hugo doesn't need to tell you that they speak French, or that no character knows a word of English - the setting does that. You might be re... (more) |
— | about 6 years ago |
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A: Spacing out dialogue? Why do you believe you have too much dialogue? To take the question to an extreme, have you ever read a play? It's all dialogue, and yet plot happens. Now, I understand you're not trying to write a play. But if your strong point is good dialogues, why not work with it? You can write the dialogue, th... (more) |
— | over 8 years ago |
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A: What to Research for Military Fiction? I am a big fan of Sun Tzu. His "Art of War" is still relevant, so I suppose it would remain relevant in the future as well. He writes about general concepts like supply lines, instead of specifics like cavalry or drones. The concepts do not change, I guess. Another book I would recommend is "Catch 2... (more) |
— | almost 9 years ago |
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A: How to create good character names? I too am having problems with this. My way of solving the problem is to start with the setting. Is your plot set in a real place? If so, you can look for names from that region. If you like, you can do some research about the origins and meanings of those names, so you can be sure they fit your char... (more) |
— | almost 9 years ago |
| Question | — |
How to write about Autism and Intellectual Disability? In a novel I'm writing, I have a minor character who is either autistic, or has an intellectual disability. (I know they're different. But like I said, he's a minor character, so I haven't really decided yet.) Either way, my setting is fantasy, mostly inspired by 9th century middle east, so both cond... (more) |
— | almost 9 years ago |