Posts by Amadeus
Yes, if you want readers to be satisfied with your writing. You don't have to answer everything, or explain everything, but a story (long or short) has a central unknown that is the reason the rea...
I am a discovery writer (and find the term "pantster" as pejorative as "plodder" instead of "plotter."). All writers must go through a phase of discovering their story, whether it is inventing a de...
I suspect you are too focused on your idea. Most ideas for good novel length (or series length) stories are actually pretty simple, and can be summarized in a page. That includes best sellers like ...
To answer, I must admit to the world: I am a carnivore. That's right, people! I eat meat. Bacon, beef, pork, chicken, turkey -- I shamelessly and without guilt consume them all, and enjoy it. I am...
I am not a lawyer, but I would ask a lawyer about the following route to avoid your problem. I am pretty certain (because I have disabled relatives) that you CAN earn a certain amount of money th...
A premise statement (read the link, it is short) is not typically IN your story at all, not before it, not in the prose. As the link says: Every story has one premise. Only one. This premise...
I'll say what has been said in my own way: A long block of JUST dialogue is generally an under-imagined scene. The dialogue takes place in a setting, with its own sights, sounds, smells and temper...
My personal opinion is, don't make that mistake. I consider that similar to "world building disease". It is one reason I am a discovery writer, I first failed as a plodder. The error is that it is...
Wait. I am a discovery writer, meaning, I do not outline or plot or plan ahead, except in a minor way. I often don't know where the first Act ends, or what complications and setbacks will arrive, ...
Self-Defense, or Suicide. One way to do this is to make the hero killing the villain a matter of self-defense. Trap the villain, the hero would do the moral thing and take him alive, put him in a ...
You approach a story with a message the same way you approach a story without one: To make it compelling you need a good plot, good twists, and a hero the audience is hoping will succeed despite th...
I think you jump in too fast, remind him of the circumstances first. Be more specific. In March we spoke about me doing some research on one of your projects, and I expressed interest in doing ...
+1 to DPT and EBH, this is the only point I can think of to add to theirs. As the OP's link alludes, Magic appearing is typically (not always) a metaphor for puberty and the appearance of sexual de...
This is called the multi-paragraph quotation rule; see here: https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/96608/why-does-the-multi-paragraph-quotation-rule-exist Also read the top accepted answer ...
I would do what people actually do, and call it something descriptive. Here is an Online Etymology Dictionary that can tell you when and how various words in the English language originated and evo...
Change the story more (as you have already begun; sidekick isn't always invulnerable). Give the sidekick damage points that he can't recover for some turns after a battle: This becomes a part of st...
Past Commercial Success. Those ideas are called "tropes" or clichés; you can google for those; many TV tropes used. Steinbeck may have been the original author of that particular big-dumb, little...
Have a conversation first. Explain herself to her confidant, make it clear she IS a shapeshifter, and willing to prove it, until the person she is talking to demands a demonstration. Then provide ...
I am a professor and PhD that has been coding over 40 years. I'll restrict this comment to documenting code, which is different enough to warrant its own answer from a professional: I "grew up" (my...
I think you mean "filler," not pulp. In fiction "pulp fiction" meant stuff printed on very cheap paper, and by implication "cheap" both in writing and production values. Filler is anything that c...
Porn in general shows something for the excitement of it in and of itself. In a story, authors stray into porn when what we are showing does not advance the story, build character, or have any ram...
There's really only one plot: Somebody has a problem, and must deal with it. If that isn't true, there isn't really a story, just some descriptions of things. You might subdivide that into [happy...
I would not start with a volcano opening, I think that is your mistake. A story does not start with that, a story has to start with "the status quo" world of the MC. The reason for that is two-fol...
You don't have to explain much in sociopathy. Read Understanding the Sociopath: Cause, Motivation, Relationship, in "Psychology Today." An excerpt: In the media, I'm often asked what causes so...
I think this is a matter of opinion; successful stories have been written that break all kinds of writing conventions. For my part, in particular for a beginning writer, I'd recommend sticking to...
