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Posts by Lauren Ipsum‭

1.2k posts
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Q&A Building empathy with a character and interest in a story

Two suggestions: 1) The reader knows that the killer is after Pete the Protagonist, right? So the killer is stalking Pete, in increasingly tense scenarios. Each time the killer gets closer but doe...

posted 9y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A The difference between two speech formats

The dash may be European formatting, but it's not standard in English-speaking countries. Some information on the dialogue dash here: Using dashes in writing dialogue However, if your readers are ...

posted 9y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A How realistic should dialogue and character voices be?

Strike a balance. Your character who speaks in dialect uses different vocabulary, word order, grammar than the person who speaks in the Received Standard version of the language. Non-Dialect Amer...

posted 9y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A Are Novellas marketable?

A novella may do better as a self-pub or a e-book than a trade paperback. Or you could write a few novellas and combine them into one larger format, like Stephen King did with Different Seasons. No...

posted 9y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A Where to draw the line between fantasy and reality in a story?

If you're doing essentially the same thing as 90% of your genre (flying people achieve great heights immediately, people with superpowers never have issues with getting fuel for those powers, someo...

posted 9y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A How to write a story that spans decades

Skip the peaceful period. If there's no conflict, there's nothing to write about. Go to "Part II" of your book. Open with the characters having a party to celebrate two decades of peace. In the mi...

posted 9y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A When should my amnesiac protagonist regain memory?

"What the protagonist doesn't know" is an obstacle. Each obstacle should be overcome in order to advance the plot. You may have to plot out your entire story and work backwards, seeing where each ...

posted 9y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A Can anyone think of books that contain two separate stories or two very different perspectives on the same story being told together?

1) A similar but not exact iteration of this is the Water! trilogy by Gael Baudino. It's not well-known and I found the experimental format exhausting. Still, Your Mileage May Vary. In the three ...

posted 9y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A Plural of the scholastic grade A

There's no difference — As, Bs, Cs, Ds, Fs. No italic, no bold, no apostrophe.

posted 9y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A Help describing dogs' physical appearance and movement

I call this a "grains of rice" problem. It's from a question over on Graphic Design SE, How do I draw rice grains in Photoshop?, but the idea is the same. If you want to draw grains of rice, you ha...

posted 9y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A Switching to fiction software

Re compatibility: Scrivener allows you to export in many formats; the company makes a point of not holding you hostage to proprietary software. One of my favorite features of Scrivener is the orga...

posted 9y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A How many errata are too many?

If the errors make the book unusable — for example, switching "row" and "column" makes what you're reading unworkable — I'd look for a way to contact the publisher and inform it about the errors. T...

posted 9y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A In English non-fiction, should I try to place the important parts at the beginning of the sentence?

I would say it's dependent on context. There are times when you cannot "bury the lede," to borrow a term from journalism (and that is the correct spelling), and there are times when it's okay to pu...

posted 9y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&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 cha...

posted 13y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A How to make travel stories interesting?

I don't want to embellish, and it would go against my ethics to stray into creative writing in a non-fiction account I think you're off-base here. Memoirs (which is what you're writing) are n...

posted 9y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A How do I find flaws in a character I'm building?

Overbearing pride. He's done a lot. He's seen a lot. He has a lot of experience. He's very accomplished, and he thinks anyone would benefit from learning from him. The "nostalgia" and "being over...

posted 9y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A Term for stereotype stories

If you're referring to older, unsophisticated stories, where the author was being quite straightforward, then "clichéd" is probably what you want. (Plain old unsophisticated works too, or broad or ...

posted 9y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A Writing backwards

What you are describing is being a discovery writer, also called a pantser (as in "by the seat of your pants"). The purpose of an outline is to establish a coherent linear structure for your stor...

posted 9y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A How to write an elevator speech for MYSELF?

When you're looking for a job, you have (a) your skills, which is what you offer the company, and (b) your professional desires, which is what the company offers you. Examples: A graphic designer...

posted 9y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&A How to format neural actions in a story

I'm not aware of any particular consensus, so I think you should pick what works for you. I like the idea that you can nudge, push, or slam an option and each one means something different (even th...

posted 9y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&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.

posted 13y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&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.

posted 13y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&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...

posted 13y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&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 exampl...

posted 13y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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Q&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 abo...

posted 13y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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