Posts by Amadeus
I don't think you should describe the accent, what you should describe is the effect that accent has on a listener. Obviously if the listener has the same accent, then the effect is zero. (An exce...
I don't think it is possible to avoid giving offense unintentionally, obviously (to me) that is possible even if you think hard about not giving offense. I also don't think it is reasonable to dem...
You can claim it is anything you want; you are writing a fantasy about an inanimate object that can cogitate, observe its surroundings, etc. I would consider it no different than a first-person ta...
I always start with characters. For me, as a discovery writer, characters drive the story, when I'm looking for a new idea, I look for a new MC, until one grabs me. Then I think about that MC obse...
In general, a first person POV is where the narrator is a character and says I pointed the gun at his head. I said, "Notice, I am taking the safety off." He spit at me. Stories have bee...
I want to draw on traditional, arguably "cliché" (?) fantasy species, like elves, orcs, goblins, dwarves, faeries, etc. How can I involve some of these older elements, while leaving behind...
In general, @Galastel is correct; the problem is the costs. That said, the first Harry Potter Book by J.K. Rowling contains "illustrations", my copy of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" conta...
Thinking about it. This bit expands on Chris Sunami's suggestion, one way to extend the dialogue is to describe the thoughts and feelings of the POV character as the dialogue progresses, or as the...
+1 Galastel, Your style is literally like your voice, instantly recognizable as "you" but nearly impossible to convey to somebody else in words. It is how you, with your thought processes and train...
I would say anything that seems to come out of nowhere is unrealistic fiction, unless the fact that it comes out of nowhere is fairly concealed. For example, I can make my protagonist's father a c...
Read about and learn story structure. This is not to plot your story, but to understand the types of writing in each part of a story. I break the 3 act structure into four equal parts; each of whic...
Yes, please start in the MC's Normal World. The point of beginning in The Normal World is directly related to the inciting incident: Namely, the inciting incident has the potential to change the c...
Nearly all stories, including novels and movies and even comic book series, begin with the MC in their "normal world." There is no law demanding that, other than the laws of economics: We want the ...
what are the important elements to consider, and how long should the description be, before getting on with the narration? The most important element to consider is why the reader is reading i...
I separate my narrator from my main character's voice. I do not write in first person, I write in 3rd person limited, with a deep POV. (Deep 3PL). Meaning, for those unfamiliar, my narrator knows t...
Presuming maiden is Jacobs, married is Williams: Mary Williams née Jacobs Mary Williams (Jacobs) Mary Jacobs Williams It isn't like space is limited on the cover or copyright pages; I'd use the...
I think you need either a more general title for your book, or a more specific title for your first chapter. The main thing I see wrong with that is it will make it seem like the whole story is ab...
I will disagree with everyone! The best way to improve as a writer is to analyze how writers you really like, of books you really like, accomplished what they did. Don't just read them, that quic...
A backstory needs to matter to the story; in this case it probably matters to the MC; few people fall in love with a person they know nothing about. They fall in lust, certainly, and that lust can ...
If your MC is some kind of detective or police officer or whatever, somebody that addresses crime, and Matt is seeking help from them, then you probably have to have Matt explain and prove he is a ...
How do you handle, the introduction of a concept and its use? There are many ways to do this. Generally, you don't introduce it at all, you just have a character (or, say, a sign or something...
If you show excerpts and cited the book, it is obvious you are crediting the book, and it is not plagiarism. You are not claiming the passages from the book are your own writing, and it is "fair us...
Real Buddhist meditations are probably public domain (not copyrighted, or in current USA law copyright lasts for the lifetime of the author plus 70 years). Presumably they are very old meditations...
Jane popped the stone in her hand. First, I think you know that isn't the right word, the image is like popping a balloon. Second, don't tell us, just show us, describe the scene, and don't w...
As Galastel says, you have to talk about it. I do that with legends; and make sure my hero believes those legends maybe were real, but probably exaggerated, and certainly the descriptions have pro...
