Posts by Amadeus
To me, uniqueness is not found in any one trait, but in the combinations of traits. You avoid writing a stereotype by acknowledging the stereotype exists, and then finding a natural way to subvert ...
I think it is important to write what your intended readers will easily understand. If you are a native speaker and inclined toward English-sounding words; they are probably inclined to understand ...
Prologues are usually boring, because they are almost inevitably history lessons that have no suspense or action and they feel like a history lesson, right after lunch, and a snooze fest. You woul...
I'd reject the advice to write to a sixth grade level, unless you are writing for kids or young-adults. I've seen the stats on reading levels in the USA somewhere; they must be online. But as I rec...
+1 user37826, that is my answer. I understand you are showing the +/- in the superscript and subscript, respectively, but I don't like this format at all; for one it doesn't give the confidence lev...
I would do this like names from the culture. Different languages have different characteristic sounds, rhythm, and accents. Although I don't speak Spanish, Italian, German, French, Arabic or Mandar...
I use a double-dash, and specifically a double-dash (not an em dash), on both sides of the interruption. The demon -- he? she? -- gestured toward the supply wagons. Although in your example, ...
Speaking as a research scientist, one major refinement you would need is rejection of your gods. In 400BC, Aristotle published his theory of gravity; based on the notion that objects were composed ...
The main thing to remember about critiquing somebody's writing is to not critique the person. What the piece is about is not a topic for criticism; what you think it says about the person that wrot...
I don't believe there is any punctuation to accomplish what you want. I have seen it done as you have done it, but IMO this is effective but something that should be used very rarely; it gets tirin...
What keeps me motivated is I like writing for its own sake, it is my hobby, it can make me laugh, it makes me feel good to have figured things out, and for crafting a piece of art. Like other peopl...
I am not a lawyer, so this is not legal advice, but my understanding as an author is if somebody else can convince a jury that, for people that know the real person, the character in the book could...
It isn't science fiction, it is just Contemporary fiction, aka Realistic fiction. A Science Fiction story must rely heavily on some non-existing tech or some reasonably plausible guess at a futuri...
I don't think an author has to plan for an audio book, I would plan on getting published in print first. Trying to write a story that can be a book, a movie, an audio-book, a comic, and a Televisio...
I don't think the tag conveys the fact that there is violence, as Cyn's comment says, it sounds "old fashioned". From "Gentleman" and "Never Tells" my mind jumps to sexual trysts some woman must ...
It is acceptable, this kind of thing is done often in academic papers (to save space, there is often a page-limit in journal articles); but (B) is more clear than (A), that is probably why it was w...
In an action scene, short is better, and in a battle, people do not have time to reflect (unless they have magically fast thinking). IRL fight training, there is a strong emphasis on repetition to ...
Trying it yourself is free. Don't send out fifty queries! Typically, the advice from agents is to find the agents that match your story (MSWL = www.manuscriptwishlist.com; another collection is ag...
Being vague is usually a bad idea, particularly early in the story. In the example, it doesn't make a difference what the author is planning or intends, all that matters is what the reader reads. I...
I think an abstract goal needs to be more useful as a life philosophy than you can make "vengeance." If that is my life goal, what do I do on idle Sundays, ask neighbors if I can take some vengeanc...
You cannot prevent that suspicion altogether; especially because that is your plan. Which means your two characters are heterosexual; so you can't really use homosexuality as a show-stopper. I wou...
Embrace the opposite of the trope. Is there some reason Supergirl cannot love talking fashion, and own ten pairs of shoes? Is there some reason a brilliant chemist must also be mousy and with...
Management Difficulties Scale with Headcount Titles follow the same rule as billboard advertisements: no more than 7 words; no matter what their size. Scientifically speaking, billboard comprehens...
Yes, you can use a third person narrator in this way. In fact, this approach can be used somewhat liberally, to describe a thought process that may be difficult to form into distinct mental senten...
When a writer feels the need to ask others what to write, is that truly a sure sign that they need to change their story to something where they know what to write? No. This is mostly a disco...
