Posts by Amadeus
At least in the USA, you can also file a DBA (Doing Business As) for your pen name, which gives you the right to sign contracts and do other stuff without revealing your real name. IANAL, but busin...
This will be a matter of opinion. My opinion is no, it is not okay. I write in 3PL myself, exclusively, and everything I write is as if the MC is seeing it. You are doing nothing but saving space,...
In a modern setting, the prosecution may submit something like blogs or emails intended to prove the defendant was involved in some crime or had knowledge of it. But the judge, in reading these bl...
Along with Cyn's suggestion, another tool to introduce a cultural element is to present a conflict about it; somebody complaining that a death threat is being misused. Like being challenged to a d...
Many books follow a hero that does not really change; consider detective novels going back to Sherlock Holmes. What is essential for a story to be entertaining is that the book is spent on a hero...
I write LGB main characters, at least. (Nothing against TQ, just haven't had a story that needs that). My approach is to "show" not "tell". The female MC flirts with females. Or she picks up a gir...
I don't think there IS a good way to handle a lengthy monologue. Agents and publishers will reject them out of hand, or demand they be changed. Readers are looking to be entertained, not read a lec...
I haven't read his book, but I suspect he is wrong. A character should have some story arc, which will have some shape. I suppose every story arc, even one that lasts only a few hours, could someh...
I think the route taken in "Unbreakable" (a Bruce Willis movie) is a good example of how to do this. Mainly, there are compelling clues that can be interpreted as either an effect, or extremely go...
Should I be myself and write what I really want, even though it isn't getting much traction? Change what you really want! If writing only for yourself pleases you or is cathartic or menta...
You do this in italics, without quote marks, usually as a new paragraph (like dialogue). It reminds me of when I visited Shirakami-Sanchi, that forest up North. If we see the thoughts of more tha...
Very likely a rejection. I have a book written by an agent that interviews dozens of other agents, the bottom line is that agents are looking for a reason to say NO, because they have 50 queries fo...
One advantage of actually writing is you can edit, revise, add and delete to the story. You don't have to have a whole story in your head, or a plot, to start writing a story and finish it. Read t...
How do you escalate a story's plot after killing the Big Bad? A Series? It sounds like you plot a series. For those, from the beginning your intent should be to defeat a new villain in each 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...
Get out of your own stereotypes, and stick with actual science. When any male tells me he can't write females, I think they need to break through the false stereotypes of male and female roles. T...
Although a sidekick is good, some such characters are called a "foil", meaning one character that is in some sense the opposite of another, and thus highlights a trait of the MC. In your example,...
"It Was All Just a Dream" [IWAJAD] is useful for "character" stories; Dorothy undergoes a large transformation in the Wizard of Oz, from being a little girl to being at first an unintentional hero ...
The obvious hints are support for any potential murderer, and the "If I had done it ..." comments. "If we're lucky, somebody killed him, and we owe them a party. Maybe I'll throw it!" "If ...
When does a supporting character become necessary for the plot? Think of a supporting character (SC) as a partner to the main character (MC), somebody they can rely on when they need help in ...
Is writing solely about writing a plot? No. A plot is needed, but writing is about far more than the plot. It is (IMO) impossible to write a good story without conflict going on. If there is ...
There may be action, but perhaps what you are missing is conflict. (Conflict is the MC personally having to make choices and solve problems, not just reacting to or living through "action".) Your c...
You don't have to PLOT, you just need to realize, as you discover the story, that you have somebody plotting against them. Then, as we write, this is something we keep in mind (and perhaps notes). ...
No, a story does not need a villain. There are many stories in which a person struggles against nature, struggles to survive, struggles to invent something new, etc. All the story requires (to be...
For a video game: One approach to being post-racial is to just have racial mixing. As many cultures today are, due to migrations (forced by slavery or not) and inter-mixing of genes. We have had t...
