Posts by Amadeus
Although I am a strong believer in the 3AS, you don't really need a 3AS in a character study, which is what you are doing: A work of fiction in which the delineation of the central character's pers...
I think there is a mixed use case. I think your Friend Frank can be smart enough to use formal addresses with Prince Peter if they might be overheard, and informal address when there seems no chanc...
I don't find this story credible. First, why in the world does the kid give up and kill himself after a few weeks on his own? He works at one job for a few weeks, gets fired, and kills himself? Th...
I don't think you HAVE to give a trigger warning, but if you want to give one, give it like we do on movies or television shows, up front, before the story even starts. This fiction contains s...
Are there any strategies that can augment this for making writing that sounds more authentic and less "thesaurus-y?" In Non-Fiction: I don't believe there is a strategy, because "authentic" sp...
Leave the readers imagining the future. For me, at least, a satisfying ending, besides the things you have mentioned, leaves me imagining the future, for the MC(s), and/or for the world they live...
Dig until you discover what fundamental "truth" the bigot rejects. That will usually be the opposite of some fundamental "truth" you fully accept. Accept that people are rational. Reason proceeds ...
Even actors that play dead people in films get credit. A murdered hooker or mugging victim, for example, on a cop show. I am not sure about unnamed extras in a crowd scene, or shopping mall or stre...
You need to ask a lawyer. I am not a lawyer, but it is my understanding that in some States (of the USA) it is illegal to portray, even in simulation, animation or cartoon form, sexualized scenes o...
It is acceptable when relating a sequence of actions or events. Jake fed the chickens, then walked the rows of the tomato garden and pulled six new weeds that had sprouted, and now he was throw...
If the majority of readers don't get it, the dots are too far apart. Writing is like humor, in this respect. If the majority of your audience doesn't laugh at your jokes, then you aren't funny. F...
I have published several peer-reviewed scientific papers, also Master's Theses in two different disciplines and a long doctoral dissertation. Your proposed rule is not one I have ever followed, and...
I do not think this is a good strategy at all; for the same reason Galastel has cited: It is anti-climactic. There are no consequences to the drama, and the reader feels deceived by the narrator. T...
That is not particularly "big", and it is fine. (--added-- for what it is worth, chapters are generally 3000 to 5000 words long, but it is not a rule. The link goes into more details and examples.)...
It doesn't make sense that something can be 50% eaten AND fleshless; if all that is left is bones, it is 100% eaten. It sounds like the girl is using the tool of necromancy to further her love of ...
Query letters are absolutely worth writing. I cannot say self-publishing is NOT viable, but I think the success rate is even more abysmal than finding an agent and getting "traditionally" publishe...
I don't recall hearing at all about Transgenders in the 90's, and I'm very much a live-and-let-live liberal on all sexual orientation issues. I imagine the vast majority of people would just clas...
Try writing simply, and ignoring time. You are using too many intensifiers, and hyperbolic ones: quick glance pure disappointment instantly look anger exploded At least have he froze as little ...
To me, the line you cannot cross is your hero intentionally harming an innocent for their personal pleasure (or irrational anger); that includes not just adults and children but dogs and pets. Rap...
I'd leave it. As far as a 25 year old male "adopting" a 13 year old girl; my suspension of disbelief is already broken. Without a blood relation, I'd be amazed if any court allowed that, or closet ...
Yes, you should be able to 'feel' your outline. I admit I don't really outline in writing, although I do have well defined characters and a problem in my head before I begin writing, and I do feel...
The page turning effect can be for the long term, but it is much more important for it to be short term. The reader should always be wondering "what happens next", and this is much of what causes ...
It's not exactly lazy, it has the potential to be considered bad writing. If an agent asks you for the first five pages of your book (and many ask for just five), is that what you want to send them...
First, Ash's "drip-feed" is good advice. We are trying to avoid info-dumping, not information in general. As for technique, my personal favorite is through the thoughts and memories of the POV ch...
Generally, non-MC characters are killed to provide some sort of motivation or commitment to other characters, or to prove the lethality of the setting and raise the stakes of whatever the MC is doi...
