Posts by Amadeus
YES it will be disappointing. +1 Mark, I think the same; a story is about a main character. I would add this: Introduce his POV first, he will be assumed to be the MC. Then yes, you can let his ...
I don't think 4000 words is too long; not at all. I am presuming this is a 100,000 word novel, I think you have 10% (10,000 words) for something "magical" to happen. I base that on the standard Thr...
Speaking as a professor (with a PhD), I would introduce myself, to a friend of a friend, by my first name. As an aside, a saleswoman should not be introduced as "a colleague" in a university settin...
Personally, I do not find this a satisfying ending, in fact in a way, it ruins the story. The villain's character arc was completed when he died in the major battle, they should have found his body...
After The First Draft, I do several things. I often have ten drafts (of novels that run over 120,000 words). Make sure you have a separate backup of your work before you begin changing it, every t...
+1 Arcanist Lupus for doing the research I was thinking of doing! I agree your novel is probably not too long and can get published. But I also believe it would be easier to attract agents if it ...
You are providing too much detail, and it is confusing, and therefore boring the reader. What you need to do is write the take-away consequences of these exchanges, forget the verbatim of what eith...
It is easy enough, I would think: Contrive some reason to mention the year. Mike opened the box to unveil Nancy's birthday cake. "What do you think?" Alice looked and suppressed a laugh, ...
My characters often have unusual traits or skills, and my solution to this dilemma is two-fold: First, they are born with their skill, along with some deficits. I never grant a skill without a pena...
Anchor Yourself. I would say, adopt a discovery writing paradigm, and focus on a character. Most of my stories begin with a character that has some rare (and interesting) real-world ability. I fin...
Yes, it is realistic. Other motivations may be out there, like mating and having children, acquiring wealth and/or fame, acquiring power -- but some of these are 'artificial' in the sense that earl...
From OP in comments: I turn 19 in a month. I've been writing fiction since I was about 8 or 9. I love it. I'm not in it for the money, I just want people to read my stories. I wouldn't care if ...
My own convention is to format thoughts much like dialogue, in italics, without the quotes. So I will often start a new paragraph, in italics. He's trying to trick me. I will intentionally, early...
Skip the flashbacks. That IS the story. Instead of flashbacks, just consider a story (trilogy or not) that shows present-tense scenes with time-skips between chapters showing the transformation fr...
People from the comments dislike dream twists but I'm curious how stories like "Alice in wonderland" or "Total recall" or "Wizard of Oz" pulled those endings off. The problem with "just a drea...
a writer does not have to worry about looking for a "great idea" for a story, but simply focus on taking fairly interesting story ideas and making them as enjoyable to read as possible. Is that ...
It is easy to get stuck on a word and overuse it. It is something a writer should be aware of; even if it is difficult. Part of writing is your self-analysis. WHY are you using "Well" ? What does ...
Speaking as a college professor, If "Work A" quotes "Work B", you should verify this is true in "Work B", and then reference "Work B" directly. If you cannot find "Work B", reference "Work A" and...
Terror, Cowardice, Selfishness and Greed. "Stupid" mistakes need to be understandable or the story is not satisfying. They can BE understandable if the stupidity is part of human nature: Somebody...
Professionals are used by the famous, and even the not-so-famous but successful. Nearly all of them. The reasons are simple; really, publishing enough books to let you be a full-time fiction write...
I write when I wake up. Every morning, 365 days a year, with perhaps 2% exceptions for travel days. Even then, I have written on airplanes. I work in 90 minute cycles, for both my job and writing....
As long as both mysteries are resolved, I don't see a problem with it. +1 Ash for Columbo. Also, there was recently some miniseries on TV about a woman, a young mother. In the opening, she inexpli...
+1 Galastel. Along the same lines, you can keep a "supernatural" element in the realm of science fiction by having characters refuse to acknowledge it as supernatural, and insisting (as scientists ...
I am a research scientist, and I have worked on teams ranging from two (I suppose the smallest group that could be called a team, although I have done solo research as well), to fifty six, if you i...
is there any room left for not being able to explain odd happenings? Yes, the flip side of high tech detection is high tech concealment. Criminals can know all the tricks used for detection, ...
