Posts by Amadeus
Speaking as a programmer, the solution to your problem is "don't be lazy." Taking screenshots is easy but risks libeling others: It can include their logo, their product picture, their address and...
Describing scenery is much like describing people. IRL we never (effectively never) go through a long litany of what we see, not scenery, people, buildings or cars or interiors. Instead we get a g...
Some help is at my other answer: How firm is the 120 page limit on a screenplay. If you haven't sold a screenplay before, the more you exceed 120 pages the less likely you are to sell. That's just...
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...
I think the only postulate of literature, by which I mean an axiom, by which I mean something that must be self-evidently true and does not have to be proven, is that literature must have content a...
I do not have enough knowledge about the book-reading community as to what pleases them. What pleases them is what you see published and sell, they wouldn't buy it and read it if it did not p...
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 ...
I'd also say it is worth seeing what "light editorial" is about. It might be worth asking what is driving them to change, I'd ask about a few (three) specific changes you see as critical that are ...
On the contrary, they do copy from each other, all the time. See this link On Contract Drafting and Plagiarism. The key paragraph there is this, I have highlighted the most important sentence: ...
The easiest way to make your character an expert is to make all your other characters fear him, respect him, or be defeated by him, in his field. You characterize your Chief of the Bomb Squad as h...
In the second case, yes add it. It would make it more clear. In general, if you detect ambiguity, eliminate it, clarity trumps all else.
I wouldn't write that way. When I read, I internally hear what the characters are saying, and I certainly cannot hear any misspellings! If they are using slang or an actual local dialect, "y'all" ...
The lines should be interrupted. I open a random page in a best selling sci fi novel to find a dialogue, the author has whole paragraphs between utterances. Open Harry Potter to find a dialogue wit...
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...
I'll offer a middle ground that requires a lot of polishing as I go. I write polished and readable story as I go. The only thing I would say is 'first-draft' is that I may postpone easy details th...
+1 Thomo. To expand, IRL two people do not stand still and stare at each other and spout dialog while only moving their mouths. Even if they are on the phone! They are doing something, thinking som...
Like Loren's solution; I just use a separate document in another window (click "Window" then "New Window") which I normally have minimized on the task bar. I use LibreOffice too, my approach is jus...
Yes, all writers are readers. It isn't clear what you are asking, however. We comment on other people's work all the time, particularly published work. If what you mean is why don't we review oth...
In first person (as Ken says) thought verbs are less necessary or unnecessary, but they can be crucial in third person and absolutely necessary. Mary knew Jack was lying, but she smiled anyway...
My exercise for this is forcing my imagination. First we must define the difference between showing and telling in a useful way for writing. Showing is writing that assists the reader's imaginati...
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...
I don't have a problem with '?!', I think people understand it, so it is fair game. I would have a problem with the interrobang ('‽'). If I ran across that in a book it would drop me out of my rea...
The main thing to remember about critiquing somebody's writing is to not critique the person. What the piece is about is not a topic for criticism; what you think it says about the person that wrot...
I'd reject the advice to write to a sixth grade level, unless you are writing for kids or young-adults. I've seen the stats on reading levels in the USA somewhere; they must be online. But as I rec...
I think it is important to write what your intended readers will easily understand. If you are a native speaker and inclined toward English-sounding words; they are probably inclined to understand ...
