Activity for Liquid
| Type | On... | Excerpt | Status | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Question | — |
Are paired adjectives bad style? I have the habit of using paired adjectives in my writing: > - The noise from the engine lulled her with its slow and monotonous rythim ... > - ... the lights on the ceiling filled the room in a soft and warm hue ... > - ... his skin was smooth and thin , like paper ... The examples may be not 100%... (more) |
— | about 5 years ago |
| Answer | — |
A: Will my book have a better chance at being successful if I include more gender diversity in it? I'm not sure that gender diversity directly makes you more marketable to a certain gender. You are already aware of certain points, so I'm gonna skip the very valuable advice "if it feels forced, don't do it" and the equally valuable "don't maim your plot for the sake of making it more marketable". ... (more) |
— | about 5 years ago |
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A: Everyone is beautiful It's okay if your noble characters are so well mannered to avoid judging people bu their looks. Yet, this doesn't mean you can't describe the ugly bits. First of all, as you mentioned: > They would consider it beneath them to think of a person as "ugly". If they look down on someone, it's in the "o... (more) |
— | about 5 years ago |
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A: Criticizing long fiction. How is it different from short? > Is size alone the only difference in such approaches? My answer: It's not about size, it's about a sense of scale. Short pieces are like snacks; easily eaten and digested. A bad one will leave a bad aftertaste in your mouth; a good one will leave you wanting for more, or, if it's really good, ma... (more) |
— | about 5 years ago |
| Question | — |
Should an author include user-interactive sections in his website? Related questions: - Should an author have one website or two? - As an new author, how important is to have a personal website? - Pros and Cons: A blog to get feedback A possible duplicate of , even if I'd like the question to be more generic: - What should I include (and not include) on a book's... (more) |
— | about 5 years ago |
| Question | — |
How many elements can you focus on during worldbuilding? Possibly related: - How can I get readers to accept more than 1 "buy" in worldbuilding? Worldbuilding is a tireless art; that's what our brother site Worldbuilding-SE is for, and why as a writer you can actually catch the infamous Worldbuilder's disease. A lot has been said on the topic. Brandon ... (more) |
— | about 5 years ago |
| Question | — |
Writing as a second job A lot of people here aren't professional writers, but write in their own free time or for their own pleasure. It's not uncommon, though, wanting (or dreaming) to make "something more" out of it, whether that something more is getting published or getting some extra cash in one's wallet. This conside... (more) |
— | about 5 years ago |
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A: What do you call a fact that doesn't match the settings? I'd go with inconsistency ; to be even more specific, I'd say the worldbuilding is not consistent or poor. I second J.G. in saying that you're interested in inconguities at large. (more) |
— | about 5 years ago |
| Answer | — |
A: How to tag distinct options/entities without giving any an implicit priority or suggested order? I think you may be overthinking the issue. In technical writing when you name three entities with elements of a specific subset, the ordering of the specific subset doesn't come into play unless it is specifically stated. There are plenty of examples where the common "A,B,C", or "X,Y,Z" are used wit... (more) |
— | about 5 years ago |
| Answer | — |
A: Is it okay for the final chapter to be a lot longer than all the other chapters? It's not a problem if only the final chapter does this. As Amadeus mentions, chapter length is a kind of unspoken pact with the readers. If your chapters are somewhat even around 2k words, most readers will expect another 2k words. Maybe coming into the final chapter they'll wonder, "hey, how is th... (more) |
— | about 5 years ago |
| Question | — |
Fictional races and fictional racism Possibly related questions: - Should I add racism in my book's world or have my world have no racism? - Is accurate human nature required for good writing, even in fantasy scenarios, or with fictional species? In fantasy, we've become accustomed to having a lot of different races; let's think abou... (more) |
— | about 5 years ago |
| Question | — |
Monsters of psychological horror According to Wikipedia, psychological horror is > Psychological horror is a subgenre of horror and psychological fiction that relies on mental, emotional and psychological states to frighten, disturb, or unsettle readers, [...] and it often uses mystery elements and characters with unstable, unrelia... (more) |
— | about 5 years ago |
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A: Making him into a bully (how to show mild violence) It doesn't need to be much. Being a bully doens't actually mean that everyday of school you are pushing people into lockers, smoking cigarettes in the bathroom and carving death threaths on school desks. While those things surely give the right impression, they are not necessarily the norm. Reputa... (more) |
— | about 5 years ago |
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A: How do I prevent a structure-breaking character from being seen as a fourth-wall-breaking joke? If you want the Big Reveal to be taken seriously, just present it as such. Make it serious. A 4th wall break cannot happen unless you specifically want it. Sure, some of your players will smirk and think "oh, so this is what your aiming at". But it will be clear that it's not played for jokes, or me... (more) |
— | about 5 years ago |
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A: How do I avoid the "chosen hero" feeling? A possible answer I thought of: Meet the Everyman The Everyman (or woman) is a character who's the epitome of being normal. This is played quite often in media to make the audience sympathize more easily with said character; even brought to extremes in some cases (a funnily well done example may be... (more) |
— | about 5 years ago |
| Question | — |
How do I avoid the "chosen hero" feeling? In many works of genre-fiction (I'm talking mainly about fantasy and sci-fi, but others genres can apply), and across many forms of media, the main characters ends up being special in some ways. Maybe it's the abilities the MC has, maybe there is a prophecy, maybe it's something in his/hers birth or... (more) |
— | about 5 years ago |
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A: When writing in a school context without ever having been to school, how do I make sure that my story is accurate within school context? Well, it may seem obvious, but you need research. From your point of view it may seem really difficult, since you didn't have any experience of schools after first grade, but don't worry. Most of us writers don't have direct experience with dragons, wars, swordfights, eldritch horrors, torture, espi... (more) |
— | about 5 years ago |
| Answer | — |
A: Structure for computer science research paper Adding to Maura's answer: " Detailed design" implies you will go in-depht showing the abstract structure of your project. This means showing what the program does, without looking at the code. Design decisions have to be discussed and explained, often with the aid of UML-like diagrams, either showin... (more) |
— | about 5 years ago |
| Answer | — |
A: Why write a book when there's a movie in my head? I'm gonna answer to the question in the title: Ultimately it's up to you. They are different media. Your friend must be right on some level. I too have the habit to imagine my stories as movies (and I suppose it's not uncommon at all). Sometimes is painstalkingly difficult to portray with words wh... (more) |
— | about 5 years ago |
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A: Writing a trilogy and editing In my opinion, you should. It's a good thing to plan ahead for sequels, but a first draft is not a finished book. There are at least two reasons that I can see to edit before going forward: 1. You may want to start sending your book one to an editor. In that case, it's way better to get out of the... (more) |
— | about 5 years ago |
| Answer | — |
A: Writing short stories in an original world setting Short answer: You should write just as much as necessary, and nothing more. Short stories are supposed to be like that - short. Even if it's a fantasy setting, maybe a wildly elaborate one, you should not describe more than you need to bring the short story to an effective, satisfying end. Any inf... (more) |
— | about 5 years ago |
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A: How should I describe a light beam coming out from any point in polar coordinates? You can treat the light beam as a geometrical object, as you have started to do in your explanation. You could go with something of the like "Imagine that every point on the surface of the sheet is emitting a light beam with angle Q ... as the sheet rotates, the light emission rotates also." You co... (more) |
— | about 5 years ago |
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A: Storing WorldBuilding Information Make a spreadsheet. In case you don't know: A spreadsheet is a file which stores data in a tabular form. Popular software for spreadsheet making are, of course, Microsoft Excel or the open source variant Libre Office Calc. Or you could use "Google Spreadsheets", if you like working with the Google ... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Any tip on naming a star, planet, geographical features and other non-living things? This is a chart of the stars in the Ursa Major:  And here, straight out from Wikipedia, is an explanation of the name "Tania Borealis", given to the star also known as Lambda Ursae Majoris: > It bore the traditional names Tania (s... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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Is it time to start closing up my novel? I realize this may be a duplicate question. I've seen, for reference [How long can a first novel be? ] yet I think my situation is a little more specific. I find myself in a similar situation. My novel is a science fiction about the coming-of-age journey of a young woman searching for her lost mothe... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
| Answer | — |
A: Tips and tricks to describe more Coming from a very short, scene and dialogue oriented style, I struggle with this too. I'd argue that sometimes you want brevity and a few quick lines of dialog between two characters are all that is needed to carry the plot forward. But since managing the pace of a story is a whole other can of wor... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Is this an oxymoron, and what would be the purpose of making seemingly illogical statements in writing? I don't think it's an oxymoron. Sure thing, you have chosen a strange mix of images to evoke - mainly due to the contrast between "cradling" and "rocked". But as far as I read it, it's a legitimate metaphor: the ship in this case is not bigger than a child in a cradle compared to the storm outside. ... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Not having any white MC's? My answer is somewhat similar to the ones already given, even from a slightly different perspective. > I had forgotten about their races because it wasn't important to me and I had not noticed while I was writing, because the story isn't about their racial backgrounds You already got the hang of it... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
| Answer | — |
A: Is the sentence "Love not self - love no one" easily understandable to an English reader? From a structure point of view, you're making it far too short to be easily understandable by a reader. > “Love not self - love no one” It sounds more like a commandment to live by rather than a causal implication. The fact that verbs are in their root forms makes the sentence look like an imperati... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
| Answer | — |
A: How to end a story without reaching a new status quo? > A popular writing theory states that any story worth telling describes the movement from one status quo to another, and that major uncertainties in the inception and conclusion should be avoided. Uncertainties "should" be avoided because as human beings we long for a satisfying conclusion. Up to a... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
| Question | — |
1000 words a day for a part-time writer I've got a 40h, full-time job, as many do. Yet I'd like to become a writer someday, or at least, bring a novel through the first draft. This considered, I'm trying to give myself a daily target of 1000 words to write each day at least. I'm starting to find that I work best under some kind of stress,... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How to determine which details are important enough to be mentioned in a text-based roleplay? I agree with bruglesco's answer about keeping the same word count. I'll add that it depends on the situation and on the given roleplay session. If it's a large group of people, your best bet is indeed emulating the behavior of the group, resorting to longer posts only when you want to emphasize cert... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
| Answer | — |
A: Writing a crying scene My answer is twofold: Ensure that the set-up to the crying is well-established: You want your reader to be able to understand why your character is crying, if you want the scene to be effective. There is an emotional setup to be done, otherwise there will be just a character crying for no clear rea... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How can you humanize infanticide of the evil-tainted? You won't be able to portray it in a less negative way, unless you try to really force your hand on the "good vs evil" theme, and even then you would raise eyebrows. You stated that those children are not born evil , so we are already on a different track. First of all, consider that one of the com... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Do I quote the author or artist from a comic? MLA > I understand that if you are quoting something that a character said, that you would do the usual (Author's Last name, Page number), but what if you're quoting a scene? I'd go with quoting the last names of both Author and Artist and the page number as bottom text (depending on what style you are ... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Using real words from a foreign culture feels like 'Calling a rabbit a "smeerp"' It's ultimately up to you, but you don't want your ancient Persia overridden by knights. You may as well make them wear full plate armor instead of describing whatever garment was in use in that age for the sake of simplicity, but at the same time you'de be losing something valuable. It's true that ... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
| Answer | — |
A: Would readers feel cheated if the villain is successful in convincing the protagonist to change sides? I'm adding my two cents to the answer of Rasdashan: It can be refreshing, but you have to do it well The main issue is that such a unexpected change has to be foreshadowed. If the story progressed exactly as you described, it would feel awful for the reader. Imagine the classic setup: > Hero goes... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: I noticed that several already-existing poems used the same highly specific puns and phrases that I used. Is this unintentional plagiarism on my part? You're being overly sensitive. Any combination of two words, no matter how original, could be already used elsewhere. That's not plagiarism, that's statistics. The only slightly worrying case is your exhibit A, since it's the most unusual sentence of the ones you cited. But then again, I wouldn't fr... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Keeping up with multiple projects at the same time You have two feet. Any attemp to wear three shoes will end badly. I'm the kind of writer who finds starting new projects and exploring new ideas more fun and easy to do, rather than stick to an already estabilished story and finish it through. So, I understand where you're coming from. My advice he... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How should sentient computer viruses act like? I'll try to answer your question: > Will computer virus characters tend to act like over-the-top villains? Is this the most likely way for them to act? With reasoning or not? Eh, no. There is no reason for every "viral" character to behave like the "Swayzak" you are referring too. I understand you ... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How to add depth to primary female character that contrasts well with primary male characters You are right: there is enough backstory to make a well built female character. I appreciated the contrast between the male protagonist, who lacks self-motivation, and your female lead, who seems to be struggling against prejudice. > but when writing her I tend to describe the environment or give mo... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Ripoff Character Yea, the similarities are there and they are evident. There's nothing wrong about being impressed with another author work. The point is that sometime some concepts and ideas influence us so deeply that we need an external output to point them out. As Wetcircuit and Thomo already said in the commen... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: I have no artistic skill, but I want to write for animated shows/movies I'd point you to wetcircuit answer since it covers the topic well. Yet, I wanted to add my two cents (and they didn't fit in a comment). Actually I feel we might be similar: I imagine my stories in a movie/animated form, usually with soundtracks too. I dabbled in 3d modeling and posing software too.... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Is writing solely about writing a plot? > However, is it really bad to include something just for fun or just because it conveys the rare (exotic and interesing) idea? It's not bad. Truth to be told, many successful authors do it to an extent. What you are describing is akin to the process of worldbuilding: As Matthew Dave said, sci-fi ... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: What is a subtle way of mentioning a man became physically aroused? You could be vague and mention him feeling his trousers or pants "getting tighter", or something of the like. It's pretty much the standard imagery used to represent an erection without actually mentioning anything, and it's also a quite accurate physical description that your male readers will have ... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Do readers need to identify with fictional characters? As I see it, you're asking two questions: Do fictional stories need to have relatable characters in order to be good? And the answer would be a resounding Yes But regarding the actual title, Do readers need to identify with fictional characters? No Being able to relate to a character has little... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How young can a "motherly" character be? I'd say that the qualities of motherly characters aren't inherently tied to being "able to bear children" or "old enough to be a mother". Aside from the fact that (as other noted) people used to make offspring earlier in the past (mainly due to culture and shorter lifespan), I'd say this: Most key ... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Writing a coherent alt-history universe Your proofreader felt disturbed because there may be some inconsistencies in your story. I'll point my finger against the fact that you changed some country names. This - per se - is not a problem, but it does depend on a lot of different factors. Let's review. In an alternate-history story, it's t... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How long should I mention an injured character’s pain? Galastel gave an already excellent answer about using the pain to propel the story forward. I'll add my two cents: What you want to avoid is showing the pain for the sake of it. As you said, you don't want your character to be immune to pain, and adding details such as changing dressings and dealin... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Authorship implications of presenting one’s manuscript as an older one in the prologue I don't think so. It's purely a literary device And an old one, at that. Some classical, widely recognized authors have used it in the past (Manzoni's Promessi Sposi - or The Betrothed%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FTheBetrothed(Manzoninovel)&usg=AOvVaw1S1-SrDn45g0aTQeAZk51U) comes to my mind. Another... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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