Posts by Amadeus
Another alternative is to have other characters question the existing of the friend, accuse the MC of making up stuff, and the imaginary character is never there when the MC could prove their exist...
I suspect your problem is a lack of story. Sex can be central to your story, but what stories are about is generally a problem the protagonist is compelled (or feels compelled) to solve. None of t...
The reason for the "adverbs are the devil" rule is they are generally "telling", not "showing". The reason we want to "show" instead of "tell" is that it is the writer's job to assist the imaginat...
Picking an Alias, also for Picking a Character Name One approach is to use a common name as your alias. This doesn't have to be Smith or Jones, Here is a list of the Most Common Surnames in North ...
The main aspect is tension. Read up on the Three Act Structure, or Save The Cat, which similarly shows the structure of screenplays. You have to introduce characters and their "normal world". Eve...
First, I am not a business lawyer, or tax attorney. The following are my understandings from being in business, do not rely on this as legal advice, and you should consult with a business lawyer or...
007 doesn't come off as a psychopath, but is singularly unafraid of death. In one movie he dives off a cliff, without a parachute, to intercept and land on the wings of a private plane. He's always...
In your section (5), when A feels sympathy, it isn't enough to feel sympathy. You have to give A some reason to reject their previous life. Personally, I'd revise this: A is too much in charge. Fo...
I would say the "Black Moment" is anywhere from the 50% to 75% mark in the story. I would prefer "Darkest Hour", and instead of "Point of Death" the "Last Chance". The Darkest Hour is when the MC ...
If you want to self-publish, then probably you do need a site. If you intend to find an agent that finds you a publisher, then probably not. If anything, you can rely on your publisher to handle a...
What if they spend three nights (and three scenes) at the same pitstop, but the scenes greatly develop the relationship between two important characters? Yes, that would be fine, with one cave...
Yes, you can introduce a villain before a crime is committed. You don't need to use any clichés or tropes. The essence of villainy is, in general, selfishness to the point of not caring about the ...
That struck me as wrong; because since the character is experiencing it, for them the walls don't seem to be moving, they are moving. No, the word "seemed" is appropriate, if the character kno...
Sigh. Must agree with Galastel, again! You need tension, just a different kind of tension, or conflict. Even friendly disagreement, filled with laughter, represents tension. The laughter (or mourn...
Personally, I don't think there IS an internal monologue; irrational anger is all feeling and emotion, perhaps single words, and I would describe those, not try to transcribe those thoughts. The di...
Unless you are a famous author with a track record of finishing books, publishers are going to judge you based on the first book, alone. Each book in a trilogy (or longer series) has to stand on it...
As @ChrisSunami says, most non-fiction books are sold before they are written. Typically you have a synopsis, the Chapters and an outline for each, and for some books, a list of people you plan to...
I don't agree with McKee's definition of "Story", like many writers I think this difference between a "beat" and an "event" are contrived. I think the way McKee intends them to be used, "beats" are...
I thought both The Bourne Identity and the beginning of the TV Series Blindspot did a decent job with amnesiac MCs. In both cases, the MC was obviously worried about their lack of memory, but also...
I think people would not give much thought to it, particularly if no other characters gave much thought to it. On the other hand, if other characters are upset about this cross-species "mixed marr...
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...
If the narrator is describing what a person said and thought, then the narrator can use their name. Typically direct thoughts of a character are in italics, while tags and words from the narrator a...
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...
I think that my problem with thinking of this as serious writing practice is because it's already a habit of mine and it feels like cheating to accept something that I already do and don't have ...
