Posts by Amadeus
Yes, it is a cliché and yes you should probably avoid it. Even if you think it has happened in real life. In a way, it is implausible if they are BEST friends, that implies they have known each ot...
I agree with Klara. The strategy I often use is to devise a character that has both a superpower AND a significant weakness, and devise a plot in which her superpower is of very limited help, and t...
I wouldn't want a non-reader, I definitely want somebody that likes to read and gets immersed in fiction. But then, I wouldn't really care if they are a genre expert. A good story is a good story...
In general, do not give a laundry list of features. The reason for this is you are asking the reader to memorize a lot of stuff that is disconnected from the story. In order to connect their featu...
You are trying to describe two talking heads. Or One talking head. Do not replace "said" with anything else that means basically the same thing. Use adverbs extremely sparingly, it is far better ...
In 3rd person limited, which you are writing it, it is perfectly valid to describe what somebody is feeling, like panic, or horror, or anger, or whatever. That includes pain. It seems like you feel...
A "script" is general; a "screenplay" is something to be filmed. A "play" is something to be performed on a stage, and more limited because of that; for example all kinds of things can be done in a...
You can. You are writing a critique of something, and that is the thing in the title. I could write an article "Cash Bail" and argue how cash bail (in the USA) is discriminatory because it allows...
Whatever language your readers speak, they expect your book to be "translated" into that language. I write in English for English speakers, I have written stories set in the ancient past where the...
Yes, a citizen can investigate a murder. They don't have the tools of the police or courts, for example they can't force a store to release security tapes, or reveal employee records. But if they...
I am not a lawyer. Copyright violation is often up to human interpretation (not yours) by a judge or jury. They get to decide whether you are stealing a character or not. Chances are, they will de...
Analysis obviously has to include objective news as the subject of the analysis, but it is not necessarily opinion. For example, News might quote the President, or a candidate. Analysis might take...
I just wouldn't say "humble." Find a situation in which they have done something that is obviously humble, like they risked their life to save a child, but somebody else took credit and they did n...
It doesn't hurt to have other characters react to him, the potential problem I see here is in repeatedly showing the same reaction, which is likely. Confusion, a sense Hadden is a rude jerk, etc. T...
I'd say no, it is not clear. Just include a tag. He heard Mike sigh. "I'm sorry," Mike said. "Things ...
The services exist, google "critique service" (without the quotes). Ignore the "copyedit" services (if that is all they do), they are just checking spelling and grammar and formatting. Actual cri...
Copywriting Persuades People to Take Action in the Real World. The action may be buying something, or contributing to a charity, or calling or writing their congressman, or going out to vote for s...
You have an advantage that people in the moment do not have: You have all the time in the world to think it through, and you can time-travel to the past to fix anything that goes wrong. I wrote a ...
if I were to write fiction with the same characters, same names, Same as the mythology, or the same as recent authors? If it is an ancient text, or even a text out of copyright (like Shakespea...
The standard way of doing this in a novel is to use a single line with "---" centered or "***" centered, in between the intercuts. Don't let your editor auto-correct that into a horizontal line, it...
In the ordinary text following the table I wrote "Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs)", but should I put a footnote also in the table? You could but I don't think it is necessary and I would...
It depends on who said "Move!". If it is the person sidestepping, then no. But then you should have written "Move!" I said, and immediately sidestepped him. if the person sidestepping is respondin...
In general, the answer is no. There is no way to ensure that you will not be successfully sued for the theft of somebody else's intellectual property, violating copyright, and have to pay not only ...
... it does not make much sense to structure a mystery novel with alternating sequences of scenes and sequels which is composed of MRUs. I agree, I dislike this formulaic MRU theory, I don't t...
I'd say if you are inclined to write females, learn how to write females. Don't just read, but study how female writers write female protagonists. Katniss Everdeen of The Hunger Games is written by...
