Activity for Lauren Ipsum
| Type | On... | Excerpt | Status | Date |
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A: Should the secret antagonist have dual goals set in the ending of Act I? I think it's going to depend on what the reasons are. If the antagonist (Andrew) is framing the protagonist (Peter), then Andrew wants Peter to take the blame for something which Peter didn't do. But then Andrew is going to help Peter out of the mess which Andrew created. So does that mean Andrew w... (more) |
— | about 13 years ago |
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A: Any documentaries or other inspirational movies about creative writing? Misery. ETA Allow me to explain my facetiousness. Misery is a Stephen King story about Paul, a writer of a popular series set in Victorian times starring Misery Chastain. Paul finally gets tired of the character and kills her off in what he believes to be the final book of the series. He gets into ... (more) |
— | about 13 years ago |
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A: How can I work more efficiently when writing multiple pieces of fiction at the same time? In addition to Kate's and Lucy's excellent advice about working on one project per work period, I suggest making sure you're "cleansing your palate." In between work sessions on Project A and Project B, spend some time not thinking about any of your projects. Do something non-writing-oriented which ... (more) |
— | about 13 years ago |
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A: Organizing text snippets for creating different variants of a document (customized for the reader) You could actually do this in Scrivener, if you break your jobs into individual Scrivener documents, use the Keywords function to tag each one, and then Compile in various combinations. I haven't used the Compile function a lot, but it's worth experimenting with. (more) |
— | about 13 years ago |
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A: Organization for epic fantasy writing Far be it from me to let my fans down... ;) There is no one standard way. I have found that my old friend Scrivener is great for this. You start by gathering your information about your world (characters, settings/places, plot events, world-building notes) on Scrivener pages. Just infodump. Then yo... (more) |
— | about 13 years ago |
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A: Am I too prepared to do NaNoWriMo? No, actually, I think it's perfect. NaNoWriMo kills your excuses for Not Writing. You've done homework, you've done plotting, you've done character sketches, blah blah blah fishcakes, just start writing the bloody thing already. The benefit of NaNoWriMo is that it encourages/forces you to dump onto... (more) |
— | about 13 years ago |
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A: How do you decide whether to dictate, type out or hand-write a piece of writing? I've been keyboarding for so many years that my handwriting has deteriorated past "chicken-scratch" into "hieroglyphics." If I write out a thank-you for a birthday gift, it's usually illegible by the third sentence. I literally couldn't write without a word processor. The flexibility and ease of edit... (more) |
— | about 13 years ago |
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A: Less universe-specific synonyms for "squib"? Isn't one of the non-Rowling definitions of "squib" "a firecracker which doesn't explode"? So Rowling took something which means "has potential or is expected to do something, and fails to deliver," and used it for slang in a very appropriate way. As I've said elsewhere, copy the work ethic, not the... (more) |
— | about 13 years ago |
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A: Are fantasy books expected to be trilogies? Your story should be only as long as it needs to be, and not a word more. If your protagonist has a lot to accomplish, then sure, write more than one book. But for FSM's sake don't pad it thinking that you must "commit trilogy." Just because CJ Cherryh gave that advice to Mercedes Lackey 25 years ag... (more) |
— | about 13 years ago |
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A: Italicize part of a word in fiction? Yep, works for me. You're reproducing a speech pattern in which part of the word is emphasized. (more) |
— | about 13 years ago |
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A: Is it OK to refer to some characters by first name and to others by last name? In a variation of "Keep it consistent," you may change the reference to the character from last name to first if: - The character is not the main character, and the main character's perception of this character changes. For example, your main character is a college student and the professor refers t... (more) |
— | about 13 years ago |
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A: How do I round out a powerful character? First off, unless "Mindblade" is a use-name he took or was given because he has some kind of esper abilities, give him a last name that doesn't sound like it was lifted from Shadowrun. Second, if you want him not to be a superman, give him some physical challenge he has to struggle with on an daily ... (more) |
— | about 13 years ago |
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A: Is there a good project management software for writers? My old friend Scrivener has a number of those features, although it's not freeware. But seriously, $45 is not expensive. (more) |
— | about 13 years ago |
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A: Can I write my sub stories separately? If you are having a huge problem getting the stories on paper because juggling both at once is confusing, then yes. I would certainly outline them individually. I prefer to write linearly — in the sense of writing the story pretty much in the order it will appear in the book, with a few exceptions f... (more) |
— | about 13 years ago |
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A: Single character POV vs. two POVs - how to decide? If you're looking to sow a lot of suspicion, I think you should use single character POV (with a judicious number of scenes outside that POV if absolutely necessary). Harry Potter is a great example of this. Because Harry can only know so much, being one person and not being an adult, we are restrict... (more) |
— | about 13 years ago |
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A: Is concurrent first person / third person usage absolutely unacceptable? While I'm usually fanatic about number agreement (like not using "they" as a gender-netural third-person-singular pronoun in English), Example #1 actually doesn't bother me. I think it's because I'm reading "ABC" as a collective noun, referring to all the staffers (who are the ones who actually have ... (more) |
— | about 13 years ago |
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A: Good examples of fear/terror inducing techniques used with enemies Ninety-five percent of the time, what you don't see is scarier than what you do see. Think about The Blair Witch Project, even though it's a movie. You never see the villain. That ending STILL gives me nightmares. Think about Voldemort and the Death Eaters rousing fear and suspicion among the wizar... (more) |
— | about 13 years ago |
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A: How do I start editing my novel? Read through your draft. If anything catches your eye, fix it or flag it for fixing later. Fix whatever you can. Then hand it off to a beta reader. Let someone else mark it up for problems. I find that nothing helps me to see the problems in a work faster than having an outside perspective. Then you... (more) |
— | about 13 years ago |
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What's "fair use" for borrowing someone else's invented term? Let's say I'm writing a sci-fi novel. I want to use a word which another writer has coined, which has become well-recognized outside the original book, for the name of an alien species in my story. I want to do something akin to this: > Jacob walked in the room, accompanied by Dori, who jumped on t... (more) |
— | about 13 years ago |
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A: What is a discovery writer? Expounding on John Smithers's excellent answer: > I would say if you have not plotted out your story (which happens in which chapter and why) before you start writing it down, then you are a discovery writer....But normally you are likely to get consistency problems (and other issues). Yes, and I w... (more) |
— | about 13 years ago |
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A: How do I successfully structure a long fiction piece? I think having an outline solves all three questions you pose. In reverse order: If you are not a "discovery writer," then YES, you need an outline. In fact, you should be getting a beta or two to look over your outline and bat that around for a while before even writing anything. You may have a few... (more) |
— | about 13 years ago |
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A: What's the most marketable title? I rather like "Hang Fire." Sounds mysterious and dangerous, it isn't quite grammatically correct as a phrase but it could be in the right context so it's got some tension pushing me towards exploring it, and it's visually evocative. I also encourage you to find a phrase or proverb in Russian which m... (more) |
— | about 13 years ago |
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A: What is the effect on the young reader when there is no "Happy Ending" in a story for children? I've only read the first two, but... isn't there a whole set of books called A Series of Unfortunate Events? Which make a point of saying they don't have happy endings? (more) |
— | over 13 years ago |
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A: Bogged Down with Legends of Wind You are trying to do too much at once. You're flailing around in a cloud. The easiest way for me to get out of the cloud is to start asking and answering hard, definable questions, and completing hard, definable tasks. - Create and define a character. - Decide what you want the character to do. Give... (more) |
— | over 13 years ago |
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A: Dialogue writing practices? Get a video recorder and a few friends. Explain to your friends what the scene is about, and what you want to have happen. (Eliot and Alec walk into a bar and order a drink. They start talking about inconsequential stuff. Their friend Nate walks in and asks Eliot for the $50 Eliot owes him. Eliot sa... (more) |
— | over 13 years ago |
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A: What is a beat? Since "break your scene into beats" was from my comment, let me see if I can add anything to the discussion here: You originally wrote "I divide my story into scenes, and put those scenes into chapters." So you understand how to break a story into smaller pieces. Let's create an example: SCENE: Jam... (more) |
— | over 13 years ago |
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A: Book recommendations for writing better technical papers I do actually read certain dictionaries and encyclopedias for fun, so I won't be of much help, other than offering another vote for Strunk & White. :) Actually, I feel like you're going about this a little backwards. You say you weren't given a bullet list of to-fixes, but you did a self-assessment.... (more) |
— | over 13 years ago |
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A: How do you manage all the different aspects of writing poetry? 1) Stop fixing everything at once. Write your first round to get it on paper. On your second round, pick one thing to fix: sharpen your rhymes, for example. Next round, work on the meter. Let it sit for a day. Come back with fresher eyes and work on word choice. 2) Kill your darlings. Editing o... (more) |
— | over 13 years ago |
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A: How to give the readers breathing space, without putting them to sleep? An analogue: I had a friend in college who was a choreographer. She had recently presented a piece to rave reviews, and was amused that one of the moments which got the most positive attention was a long, slow, sweeping movement (I don't recall what the dance term for it was). She told me, "This th... (more) |
— | over 13 years ago |
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A: Can a likeable character be unsympathetic? You have two items to consider: what makes a person likable, and why you would sympathize with someone. Why you find a person appealing is a matter of taste. But when you sympathize with someone, you are identifying with him or her; you are saying "yes, I could see myself in his/her shoes; I might h... (more) |
— | over 13 years ago |
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A: How do I keep the plot interesting in a humorous book? Write a plot with tension. As an example, Christopher Moore writes incredibly funny fantasy novels (demons, angels, vampires) with real plots, rounded characters, and genuine tension. So figure out a good story to tell first, and then figure out how to make it funny. (more) |
— | over 13 years ago |
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A: Improving Ad Script If this is a script being read over a video, then use #1, as #2 doesn't give enough information. It makes me want to hunt around and find actual directions. Suggested fixes: - I've never heard "chance" being used as a verb to mean "gamble." Try "wager" the first time and "the more points you bet" t... (more) |
— | over 13 years ago |
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A: I'm not a great pantser; what kind of preparation do I need for NaNoWriMo? NaNoWriMo would never ever work for me, because without the prep work, it's just logorrhea. But if you're trying to use the butt-in-chair time as a motivator, then instead of "when timer dings, start typing your book," maybe it should be "when timer dings, start working through your prep work." If a... (more) |
— | over 13 years ago |
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A: How can I break up a lengthy explanation? Phil Farrand of The Nitpicker's Guide to Star Trek called this "being the cabbagehead." Certain information had to be revealed to the audience, but it was information which the characters would reasonably already know. So the writers picked someone in the room to be the "cabbagehead," meaning someon... (more) |
— | over 13 years ago |
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A: All persons fictitious - where to place it? If you're creating this for a Quark tutorial, it's reasonable to assume that it will most frequently (if not always) be seen in the context of "someone learning Quark" rather than "accidentally winds up on newsstand or coffee table." So I don't think you need to put it on the cover. If you are parod... (more) |
— | over 13 years ago |
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A: Is there a quick way to know I have created a Mary Sue? Obvious Mary Sues are easy to spot... subtle ones less so. Just as it's very hard to proofread your own work, it's often hard for us to see when we've made a character unrealistic. My suggestion: get an editor. Or at least a beta reader. Find someone who will be honest with you. (more) |
— | over 13 years ago |
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A: Tense of Literary Essay If your essay is analytical (and I'm struggling to think of any other reason you'd write an essay about The Great Gatsby) then I'd put it in the present tense. > Gatsby loves Daisy, but Daisy is married to Tom. Gatsby doesn't have the bloodline to impress her; all he has is money. So he throws lavis... (more) |
— | over 13 years ago |
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A: What's a typical trilogy structure? There are two main ways to structure a series: each book is essentially a stand-alone with a continuing story as part of the plot (Harry Potter), or each book is a critical part of the whole and they are difficult to read out of sequence or without the other books (Lord of the Rings). Either is fine;... (more) |
— | over 13 years ago |
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A: When should one use a section sign (§)? I think your distinction is perfect. That's exactly how I'd do it. (more) |
— | over 13 years ago |
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A: Which English grammar should be followed when writing for a global audience? Seconding Kate's suggestion of the Chicago Manual of Style, and I'd also add Strunk & White's Elements of Style as another indispensable reference. (more) |
— | over 13 years ago |
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A: How to create space You have a scene already, right? John walks into the room, says something to Mary, Mary responds. Now, close your eyes and put yourself into the room. Engage all your senses — one at a time, if this is unfamiliar work for you. Start asking yourself these kinds of questions: - What does the room loo... (more) |
— | over 13 years ago |
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A: Should I start work on a sequel before I have sold my book? I say heed the Muse. If there's a story burning to be told, go ahead and write it. No effort is wasted. Even if your novel and its sequel are never published, you will have the experience of creating a universe and writing a sequel to an existing story, and you can always use that experience when cra... (more) |
— | over 13 years ago |
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A: Do you need to get author's permission to quote him in a non-fiction book? I'd ask. If you're not using the quotes to misrepresent the author or show the author in a negative light, I can't see why the person would say no. And I'm not sure where Fair Use ends and Infringement begins in terms of copyright. Besides, if this person is doing a lot of your heavy lifting, it wou... (more) |
— | over 13 years ago |
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A: What can I write to improve reader participation at this blog? While this isn't Graphic Design SE, my first impulse is to say "Change the COLOR SCHEME!" White text on black is seriously painful to read. Make it black text, larger, on a white or light-colored background. If you want interactivity, you need to ask questions of your readers and make it worthwhile ... (more) |
— | over 13 years ago |
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A: How do I balance work with my love of writing? Your writing career will only end if you stop writing. Period. So don't stop writing. You may not have as much time as you want, or as much as you think you need. But don't stop. Write at night, write on the weekend, write over lunch. If you want it badly enough, don't look for excuses to stop writ... (more) |
— | over 13 years ago |
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A: Source ideas for monsters in a fantasy novel? Look up "encyclopedia fairies" on Amazon and peruse some of the available books. Pick any being and start varying it. Cross a few. Add an unexpected characteristic. (Within reason. I think even Tolkien would be hard-pressed to pull off something like a half-vampire/half-weredragon who keeps kosher.) ... (more) |
— | over 13 years ago |
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A: Advice on interface text in a videogame Can the game do math? I might suggest "X needs n more MP to do that." "You must have n MP for that move." "Dammit, Scotty, I need more MP!" [yeah, I know, Paraborg's lawyers will come after you] (more) |
— | over 13 years ago |
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A: Author's notes: yay or nay? Sure, why not? I think thanks should be in front and information should be at the back. Gratitude should be expressed early on, and homework should only be offered if the reader is still interested. Otherwise the frontspiece turns into tl;dr. (more) |
— | over 13 years ago |
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A: Multiple POVs in a single scene This is fine with me. You can have just one POV, multiple POVs, you can even have multiple first-person POVs if you really want. (That might leave your reader confused, but that could be what you intend.) The only rule might be "Be consistent." If your story is consistently from one person's POV, do... (more) |
— | over 13 years ago |
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A: Software recommendations for magazine layout? Adobe InDesign or QuarkXPress. These are desktop publishing programs, which are designed to do exactly what you want to do (among many other things): lay out printed pieces like a magazine. (more) |
— | over 13 years ago |