Posts by Amadeus
It is extremely firm, but not inviolate. The true issue is time. To fit into standard commercial slots you should be UNDER 120, unless you have written blockbusters in the past. Here is a graph of...
The Warming of A Cold Still Heart or New Light For a Dark Heart
My advice is to try and act out the parts, actually say the lines, make the movements, and so on. If necessary, use cardboard boxes or other cheap stuff (empty aluminum cans as wine glasses or a la...
Without being pejorative, six year olds are very shallow and (if not abused) very trusting, they believe what adults tell them. Unless they are rationally precocious, most believe (or would be happ...
You do it as you did, they just need to be short and pithy enough that people get what they are; slang or shorthand for something ridiculous or over the top. I would read them out loud (in my studi...
No, "dramatic" means you show only actions, you do not describe anybody's thoughts or feelings. It is related to movies/TV/Plays in that on screen you only see acting, (other than rare exceptions)...
To the extent you plan out arcs at all (many of us do not, and Stephen King does not), make a plan for each character present for a significant part of the story. For example, in 007 movies, Q is...
Arena driven story: A man crashes his airplane in the desert, breaking his leg. His radio doesn't work. If he stays there he will die. He splints his leg, takes all the water he can carry, and trie...
I think it is fine and reads well, however, I do not ever break the rules of breaking :-) I don't embed dialogue or italicized thought in exposition. No! I'm not a dengenerate! should appear as a ...
Why is the character black? This Wiki contains a chart, based on the US Census bureau and self-identified race, that shows 72.4% of Americans identify as White alone, and 12.6% of Americans identi...
Adverbs within dialogue are fine, if real people use them (like really). I would avoid stuffing an adverb into dialogue, or using dialogue as a cheat to express with an adverb what should be exposi...
For one, a literal story teller can use all the body language, vocal tones and facial expressions they want to convey what their characters mean, which you must find another way to do in print. One...
Just my opinion, but I think it depends on how many readers you have. Correcting actual errors in grammar or spelling is always useful. The same goes for other errors: I once almost missed a line ...
I was taught (long ago) to use three centered "---" on a line by itself in order to represent, within a chapter, a scene change or the passage of time. e.g. if somebody falls asleep; then "---", th...
Relatibility is more like understanding why people are doing what they are doing. Consider the movie franchise for Taken: the hero kills dozens of people without mercy. But we understand why, they ...
Although it IS okay to end a side story as soon as a character is killed off; it is NOT appropriate (i.e. seen as good writing by readers) to end a story without resolution of the character's arc. ...
Unhappiness, frustration, powerlessness at home or in life. Some bullies are sexually excited by power. Others enjoy hurting people as a kind of revenge against someone or some situation hurting th...
A trope is a cliché setup; of any kind, that audiences have come to expect. An example in a commercial is the great looking guy catching sight of a jaw-dropping girl, dropping everything to approa...
The problem with the analogy is that evolution is not just that certain shapes are more fit than others. There must be iteration, so that the best of terrible fits is selected. When I begin a gen...
Stop making him passive, and make him a hero. He doesn't "go to visit his sister," he learns about his sister's trouble and affliction, and drops what he is doing to go save her. He doesn't "mee...
To me the structure is fine, but your POV character definitely needs an arc, and a goal, These trips should have an arc that mirrors hers. My example, off the top of my head: She may, on the firs...
I believe you should only include angles if they are actually important to the plot; not if they are "artistic." If you need to show a bee flying up Mark's nose, perhaps. But even then, aren't you ...
+1 Daniel, I'm on board with that. Set an appointment and write. If you are worrying about other things: Write about them. Write what is in your head. If you worry about them every day, write them...
I am a discovery writer (aka pantser, but I dislike that term). You can see my approach to starting a novel in this answer to a different question. I'd also recommend this other answer that talks a...
Rewrite completely, immediately, and start looking into query letters. I disagree with any idea of "not rewriting" the first draft, or only correcting spelling and grammar errors. Definitely rew...
