Posts by Amadeus
I think the problem is that for somebody that doesn't care, Banshee gets awfully worked up about not caring, and this emphasizes an evil side, not a neutral side. I think you are trying too hard to...
I would go analytical on this one. Talk about the missed opportunities, the lack of conflict, what makes you not give a crap about the characters, or the issues being presented, or in fact the reso...
I wouldn't shy away from "tiptoe", if I have a non-human species that has been around longer than humans, I consider everything I write about them translation of their language to English. If they ...
I look for popular names, but not the MOST popular names. For example, I just googled "most popular names in the UK" and found this at the top link. An excerpt: Boys Oliver - 6,259 Harry - 5,031 ...
I don't think the problem is a "limited point of view", many good stories are told in first person; and many stories are told in third with a limited narrator: They only know the thoughts and feeli...
I am not a lawyer, so all of this is a layman opinion. If the design on the cups is something done by the set designers or artists employed by the movie, then they own the copyright on that design,...
If you are having trouble outlining, or trouble following or completing a story from an outline that you wrote, you should try discovery writing. I am a discovery writer, and I finish books. In Th...
In novels you can parse sarcasm because you know the characters, specifically you know what they know and how they think, so you know the difference between a serious suggestion and a flip suggesti...
I think this is a matter of opinion; but you come close with In fact, not every person using the expression would be aware of its provenance. It becomes an "expression" or "colloquialism" when it ...
Do you wish to sell the book? Happy endings outsell unhappy endings about 10 to 1. This has actually been studied to some extent, and the difference comes down to word-of-mouth: Even if people say...
The marketing environment for books has become immensely more complicated and crowded than it was in the past. Partly due to the ongoing information explosion (which lets you and discuss this at al...
One way this has been done is by using a human foil; perhaps somebody that doesn't trust the robot. The way this works is the robot presents as a caring human you could care about. But the robot w...
I suggest this long answer of mine (90 votes) on a similar topic; it will define some of the terms you are using. A "sentient" or self-aware being (machine or biological) will have an internal mod...
I think the writing is fine as it is. To me, they sound like the conclusion of the reanalyzing: She was reanalyzing, and now she knows something: X cannot be true. Y should be true. In fact, "sho...
I would use a Foil. From the link: In fiction, a foil is a character who contrasts with another character, usually the protagonist, to highlight particular qualities of the other character. [.....
I am not a lawyer, and this is a legal question. Read This Recent Answer of mine. The answer is (supported by a link to an attorney blog) the courts will look at the totality of your work. If they...
It is hard to answer from what is in your question, but scenes you feel are too short are (in my experience) under-imagined, or under-conflicted, or you are engaging in too much 'telling' about how...
What's gained from NaNoWriMo? Obviously for some, motivation through a social event. For some, it is like running the marathon, not to come in first, and even if they come in last, they want t...
The beginning has a job to do, and the length depends upon how big the job is. The job is bigger if the Normal World is unfamiliar to the reader. The job, in essence, is to lay the cultural, physi...
+1 Mark. In keeping with his description, I consider most stories to be a description of a change or transformation of a main character, and potentially other characters in the show. This is true ...
Obviously, if the title is "The Neurotypical Tyranny", you are not starting out "neutral". :-) I wouldn't try. My grandson is autistic, and (contrary to most fiction) no superpowers in the mental ...
I think you name all the correct issues. The reader starts with no context, the setting is obscure, the reader won't be invested. And of course you don't want a cliche. On the plus side, however, ...
I guess this depends on your definition of "trust", so I will offer two takes on that. First, trust is most easily earned when it is least necessary: The more open and transparent one side can be,...
It might make more sense if you did the same thing, but shorten the chapters so the alternation is faster, event by event. Basically, "here is what Mike saw" then "here is what Nancy saw" for the t...
The safest time to take a break is between projects, I think. Taking a break in the middle of a project could kill it, there is too much of the project still in your head, held in 'working memory'....
