Activity for Amadeus
| Type | On... | Excerpt | Status | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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A: Writing the dialogue of two travelers who dislike each other You could play them as opposites. He hardly talks at all, she talks enough for both of them! She is not unaware or oblivious to him, but she just chatters along, asking him questions that he doesn't answer, making up her own answers, telling about her life and things that happened and her family and... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Is it expected that a reader will skip parts of what you write? In your particular circumstance: No. That is not normal. If I am given something to provide feedback, then I will read it all; OR I will read it all until I have seen enough to not bother reading the rest. Then I will provide my advice, and if I didn't finish it I will tell them where I stopped, and... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How to trick the reader into thinking they're following a redshirt instead of the protagonist? +1, Wetcircuit, though I will disagree on the Buffy angle; she is right on the misdirection. This is difficult to pull off. The way I would do it is a little "close up magic"; you have to write from the POV of the hero but still mislead the reader into thinking she is doing something DIFFERENT than ... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Is a lack of character descriptions a problem? First, good for you, it is a good sign that you aren't feeling compelled to describe characters. To me, physical descriptions stalls the story, it is a lot of "telling", not showing. I always avoid prose that describes the physical characteristics of a person and does nothing else. IRL physical tra... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: I have a dialogue that I can't write directly. What would be a good alternative? Just use English, in quotes, like any dialogue. When we write about medieval fantasy, the narrator is always translating ancient languages to English for the reader. It is understood, whether you are writing for Hobbits or writing for sparrows or writing for medieval humans, that you are translating... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Too eloquent characters I used cleaned up speech; but I only use words I have actually heard people use in casual speech (or at least feel like I have heard used). I think the trick is to stick with things real people say in conversation. To some extent this depends on the character and how well they are educated, but not ... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: What are the differences in writing a narrative between a CV and a resume? I have both a resume and a CV; I am a research scientist with a PhD and two Master's degrees. Both a resume and a CV are telling a prospective employer what you can do for them, and how you can be a part of their team. But they are used to apply to different kinds of jobs. My resume is used to get ... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Should I "tell" my exposition or give it through dialogue? You can do it in exposition, but in general if I find a conversation that requires exposition or background to proceed, it is a signal that the writer is "rushing to drama". The solution is previous scenes or exposition that accomplish delivering the proper context of the scene, and not immediately b... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How do I write "Show, Don't Tell" as a person with Asperger Syndrome? I'm a professional scientist; my point of view might help. The only way I can think of is to approach it analytically. Body language is a language you don't know. There are books on it, some contradictory (giving you freedom to choose). The parts you are missing is that instead of understanding the l... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: When writing an error prompt, should we end the sentence with a exclamation mark or a dot? I've been a professional programmer for 40 years, I've written everything from operating systems to business app code to games, and I never use an exclamation point in business or OS code. Ever. Nor ellipsis, why would an error or warning message trail off? Or express any emotion? I use periods, just... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How to make a setting relevant? +1 DPT, yes your characters should be interacting with the setting. If the "entire thing could have been a phone call", I'd say you have a problem with the dialogue, and the character emotions. Dialogue itself should be influenced by the setting, and vice versa. Intimate dialogue is seldom exchange... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Avoiding cliches when writing gods You may want some of the traditional gods. War is pretty much a universal in human culture, as is love, brotherly love, luck, sexual attraction, in some forms "good" and "evil", death, birth, hunting, etc. Gods represent archetypes of human emotion; Aphrodite is the irresistible woman; Satan is the ... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: What determines genre? You almost have to assign your book a genre in order to describe it to an agent or publisher; the publisher will likely make the final determination of what genre they assign internally, and this can differ from publisher to publisher. As said before, genre is a marketing tool, it helps agents know ... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How can I add depth to my story or how do I determine if my story already has depth? +1 Galastel; I would say one way to approach an answer to her question, "What is the meaning of your story", is to ask yourself What do my characters learn? Deep stories, at least by my definition, have characters learning something about the world (our real world, not their fantasy world), how it w... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How to provide realism without making readers think grimdark Heroes Have Consequences. Heroes cause major changes, and every major change is likely to be negative for somebody, and often that person is an innocent. No matter what the setting, defeating evil is meaningless if the evil is not ruining lives (or about to ruin them). It may take a war to defeat th... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Adding depth to two-dimensional heroes from myths Make Beowulf more complex, which was your goal anyway. Consider Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) on NCIS. The ultimate cop: But he isn't. When his wife and child were murdered by a drug dealer, and the drug dealer escaped justice, Gibbs (an Army sniper) secretly hunted the man down in Mexico and put a bul... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Is there a term for this? The technical term I have heard in writing is resonance. In psychology, we would call it priming of the audience. As you say, it isn't exactly foreshadowing, but it puts an image into the reader/viewer mind, perhaps even subconsciously, so her metaphor a little later seems more significant than if i... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How to write a vulnerable moment without it seeming cliche or mushy? Switch the bravery. For this scene, her love interest is the brave one. As always, create a conflict between them. First draft of a long example: > Marcie heard something, a gasp, and moved to the back of the house. She heard it again, from Lexi's room, and moved to the door. Crying. Muffled crying.... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Where's the line between confident and upfront and being a jerk? Being upfront is about telling the truth, and unwilling to tell a white lie to preserve somebody's feelings. Being a jerk is about being selfish and uncaring. They don't give a shit about anybody but themselves; physically or emotionally. They show no empathy if they hurt somebody's feelings. they a... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How is character development a major role in the plot of a story No, characters aren't interchangeable. If they are, nobody wants to read it. The plot happens to the characters, and people read to identify with the characters, as people, and they develop feelings for them (good and bad). Even in a plot-heavy story line, like those used in the current series Eleme... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How to make the POV character sit on the sidelines without the reader getting bored Rewrite. I don't think it is a good idea to have a new POV character for one scene. You have control of history, don't injure your hero character, or don't injure her so badly, or go back in your story and figure out how to delay the battle until she can participate. It sounds like you are a disco... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How to detach yourself from a character you're going to kill? I think this may be a matter of opinion; different psychologies will answer differently. Personally, my characters feel real to me; but I remind myself of a few things. I go back over what I wrote for her, reminding myself that I invented her, all she really consists of is these words on paper. It i... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How to create a plot given theme and settings? As Galastel says (+1), your character needs to be involved and want something connected to the problem. If the empire has become an engine of conquest, perhaps your character is in danger of being conquered, or in the process of being conquered, or has been conquered, and their resources stolen. But... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How do I subvert the tropes of a train heist? I think the tropes are galloping horse, convenient boarding point, leaping from horse to train (and horse then veering off), a harrowing dangerous trip across the top of the train to get to the engine (perhaps almost falling off, perhaps with a gunfight or fistfight), holding the conductor at gunpoin... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How to make a villain fall in love? Falling in love is generally a combination of sexual attraction, complementarity, and commonality. Friendship is often founded on the last two; i.e. it is minus sexual attraction. Complementarity is the reason sometimes people say "opposites attract", but that phrase is much too broad. Instead,... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: What kind of metaphor is "trees in the wind"? More explicitly stated, the metaphor is that the trees move to and fro in the wind because God (using the wind) is teaching them Tai Chi. The imagery is the trees of the forest moving in unison like we see a group of people in the park move in unison when being led in a Tai Chi class. God is the ins... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How to subtly portray a secret relationship An alternative is to change your definition of "secret". For example, I knew two professors that were sleeping together and exclusively (one was a friend of mine outside of work), but very few of our colleagues knew the extent of their relationship. The department chair had been told by them (as requ... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How can a main character learn about a secret event that will take place? Plodding discovery. The hero is investigating many persons or places connected to the bad guys, and at one place happens to learn some big deal is supposed to be delivered on Day X. He doesn't know it is the key item, he is just there with his binoculars to find out what the big deal is. (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: What if neither the protagonist nor antagonist wins? Whether you can do this depends on the nature of the villain's goals and the MC's goals. If the villain seeks power, then even if it costs the MC her life, if she prevents the villain from getting power then she has unequivocally won. For example, in Armageddon; Bruce Willis has to blow up the aster... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Are these reasonable traits for someone with autism? I'd say the list is fine except the last one; she can't help but steal, as it's become part of her routine and she becomes angry and distressed as a result. I have an autistic grandson, 12. He has never stolen a thing as far as I am aware. And why does your character "become angry and distressed" as... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How to write a scene where the villain meets the protagonist? Personally, I'd think a few clichés to avoid are: 1) The villain does something stupid so the protagonist has no choice but to kill him, in self-defense of defense of an innocent. This relieves the protagonist of responsibility in the kill; and to me makes for a less satisfying ending. 2) The villa... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Decide on a theme/overarching meaning before writing a short story? Although I don't write themed stories (or the theme emerges naturally), the way I would approach this is kind of like a detective murder mystery story: Backwards. In a murder mystery, you basically start at the end of the story (somebody is dead), and then work out the twists from who really killed ... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Lots of confusion over which story to write Write the good story. Feeling your story is good will motivate you to finish it, to work through the problems you encounter, and to get better. JK Rowling says she rewrote the first Harry Potter five times. That isn't five drafts, it is five rewrites, and then it took a year to sell. I presume she k... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Is it possible to combine clichés/tropes to make it not a cliché? Actually, in romance the clichés to avoid are the obvious ones. "weak, helpless woman" (or princess) needs "strong, brave male" (knight in shining armor) to rescue her, and rewards him with love and affection. Or man meets the most beautiful woman alive and she falls for him, because, reasons that do... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: The art of clickbait captions All of those examples imply there is some specific kind of secret knowledge you can learn quickly that will change your life. In your example, "really famous" is not specific enough. First, in writing, "really" is an intensifier without meaning. What exactly is the difference between being "famous" ... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: What's wrong with impersonal and lifeless descriptions in a novel? OP: ... because the descriptions aren't attached to a person's actions. But you write as if the descriptions ARE attached to somebody; somebody not as rapt as the narrator, and this person has an experience and an opinion: "we could only see", "Peculiarly enough", and in general an attitude that som... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: What weight should be given to writers groups critiques? Ironically, you are basically asking another writer's group by posting here! In general, writing should be tight, and not repetitive. Using "unremarkable" four times in one paragraph might be warranted if the point is to use it for emphasis. But every place you can eliminate connective words like "t... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Does the word 'authored by' imply the non-existence of co-authors? Speaking as an academic and professor, I say you are right. "authored by" implies sole authorship and denies others the credit they are due. Use co-author, or "John Doe, et al" for specific papers. Or if you are talking about a mix and John Doe is the sole author of at least one, then "authored or co... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Using too much dialogue? It is hard to overdo good dialogue; but not all dialogue is written well. Too often a great deal of dialogue is a one-sided speech about how the author feels; it sounds preachy and unrealistic, because other than actual speeches by politicians and other leaders (e.g. preachers in church), we encount... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How to deceive the MC +1 colmde. I'd say you can just be careful with your wording, so technically you did not lie to the reader. Don't have the narrator call him "the boss". I will add an example: > The fat man listened to the piece in his ear, then said, "The boss will be here in a minute. Show some respect." > > MC s... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How do you earn the reader's trust? What you should have done, and should do in rewrite, is make it clear to the reader a traitor exists, perhaps make it clear a poison that does exactly that exists, etc. You can do that early in your book, in a story or fable. The readers already believe the MC would never do this thing. So you need ... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Writing "hahaha" versus describing the laugh +1 to Cyn, much my answer; use a tag. I can add, I use a single "Ha!" a handful of times in a book. You can also describe the laugh in more detail; Griselda laughed, and covered her mouth as she did for a few seconds. "Oh my god!" I would increase the visual of that, there must be twenty kinds of lau... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How do I write real-world stories separate from my country of origin? Stop being an Indian writer, and become a writer. There is an Elton John bio movie coming out. He was born Reginald Dwight and changed his name. In one of the preview clips somebody tells Reginald "You have to stop being the person you were born to be, and become the person you want to be." Same thi... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How do we properly manage transitions within a descriptive section? I think it sounds awkward too. First, I would start a new paragraph. Second; "He turned his head toward her" is awkward; "He looked at her" is less awkward. "made him cry a bit" sounds strange to me. I think whatever emotion he is feeling needs to be named. "as she stood beside him" detracts from ... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How to change the readers opinion of a character? This is very similar to your later question; I will copy part of my answer there. But you really shouldn't be posting basically the same question more than once; you can edit your questions if you think you have found a way to ask it better. First, she can be disliked without being hated, and withou... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Where is the line between a tough love character and a pure asshole? Tough Love requires Love. Bullying requires a disregard of the feelings or dignity of the victim; or even getting satisfaction out of causing pain, humiliation and distress. However, I'm gathering you want her to be disliked but also redeemable: That is possible without resorting to "tough love." F... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How to tease a romance without a cat and mouse chase? I have seen, IRL, a solution to this problem. I would say, make one (or both) of the characters unavailable; already coupled with or wanting a different romantic interest, and make it clear that to their future partner, at least, they seem unavailable. Under those circumstances, make them increasin... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Research overgrown main novel plan and writing I would not write the history. The history is background and setting; some of that will necessarily come out in the first ACT (about 25% of the story) and more can be revealed in the rest of the book as you go along. You also don't need a complete history of your main character, or the other charact... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: Should the audience be immediately aware of the reason for a flashback? The flashback is informing the audience; both literally and metaphorically she is looking at herself, and the flashback is about her past. Yes, it makes more sense later, but by showing us the flashback the author is telling us the woman is not just who she appears to be. Not to herself, and later, n... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |
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A: How do you cope with rejection? I can't say I cope well with rejection. That said, I query in small batches, so I can revise my query (and sample pages) as I go, if rejected. I have books and online resources for how to write query letters (and how to write books), I will revisit them and double-check to see if I have missed anyt... (more) |
— | over 5 years ago |