Posts by Amadeus
Similar to what has already been said, but I'd say do what they do in long-running television series. In Law and Order, they have mostly single episodes dealing with a new criminal. Same in many de...
Eliminate the FIRST citation, it doesn't make a difference that it is quoted. You have a single sentence, the second [3] is enough for the whole sentence. Further, you do not need to quote the fi...
This is a form of copywriting (ad writing) and I'd say broadly specialize, but not by label. Mention broad types of products you feel good at writing about. Tech products, household appliances, kit...
Yes, just do a different POV every chapter (or two if you must). You can handle the transition with chapter titles and sub-titles, or an identical opening on a particular day: Pick something like ...
You Jump In The Deep End Too Quick. Your Story Structure is Off. I'm pretty sure your story is "rushed" because you did not spend enough time in the setup. At 3000 words, I don't think that is pos...
Outlines are Absolutely Not Necessary. At All. You are probably a discovery writer, like Stephen King. And like me, and that is not a bad thing. Check out this advice: Six Secrets of Writing a N...
First, people do not notice "he said" or "she said", and you should use them more often. We expect them, they work, and they are not intrusive; stop thinking they are. That said: When there are on...
The big reason for rebellion is simple, the leaders are not delivering what they are supposed to: safety, prosperity (whatever that means to your culture, it may be as little as Food and water, or ...
If you have written fantasy, sci-fi can be written in the same structure. Pretty much all stories follow a 3-4 act structure (the second act in the 3 act structure can be broken into two acts). 1)...
I would use relative sizes to compare sizes or countries. "The armies of Asia are many hundreds of times our armies in Fengard", or "The map makers say five hundred of Fengard could fit ...
People on long journeys talk to each other, about themselves. Even life-long friends (I have traveled with some) talk about what they are seeing, what it reminds them of doing together, what it rem...
I agree, too much exposition. Which likely means, too little "setup" in your book. If Celeste thinks Marko is brilliant at chess or Go, that should have been shown earlier, in the story setup. (AC...
I'm going to agree with Galastel (write a person), and wetcircuit (Celeste sounds shallow). For the latter, when I think about my lover, I never take an inventory of their physical attributes. I ha...
Authors have to write about things they haven't experienced all the time. Just look at crime authors writing for TV or Movies: They must show characters being raped, murdered, burned alive, mugged ...
On "Jo Writes Stuff", Jo has produced an epic analysis of whether or not a character is a "strong female character"; and a test to go with it. Here is her instructions on How To Use The Test. She...
@Cyn has a good answer I will try not to repeat. Used to be, you could collect things from the trash to recycle, like aluminum cans, and sell them for $1 a pound or something. In some states, un...
Just do what you are already doing. First, make it necessary to perform some spells; they require the energy of two genders joined. I might even make it distasteful to the female, but she does it o...
I am a scientist, and my first reaction to poorly argued questions is often to criticize the logic. Which I will do here, but before I do, I will say there is nothing inherently wrong with head-hop...
The issue with Deus Ex Machina (DEM), regardless of when it occurs, is when you have led the reader (by whatever means) to expect your character to solve her own problem, and she gets a win by the ...
Preface: What the Snowflake method [SFM] doesn't provide. I have added this after my main post, to make this explicit. In SFM Step 3, you decide upon your main characters motivation, goal, conflic...
Although I don't recommend trying to reproduce the phonetic sound; it is pretty easy to figure out. The tongue cannot touch the palate (roof of the mouth) or the teeth because it is blocked by food...
Either way could work, but given this specific choice with no further information, I (a former university professor, a PhD, currently a full time research scientist) would report the version with t...
You can make a story like that a "change of life" story for your MC. "Coming of age" is just one kind of change of life, there are others, they all just mean she comes to a new understanding of lif...
I would suggest perusing the following list: American Women Firsts. I have listed excerpts below that definitely involved women being in charge of men, and men obviously accepting that. My conclus...
I think this depends on the time period of your story; if somebody recognizes those names as Nirvana but your story is set in medieval times or a fantasy world, this could jerk them out of any imme...
