Posts by linksassin
It depends on the context Code reviews can be done for various reasons and the way to write one it heavily dependent on the purpose. Some of the reasons you might write a code review: As part of...
Describe don't name To summarise your problem, you have a very serious, very deadly in world threat that bears an unfortunate resemblance to something out of world that the reader's will identify ...
Is your handwriting slow? This article claims the average speed for adult handwriting is; 68 letters per minute (approximately 13 wpm), with the range from a minimum of 26 to a maximum of 113 ...
I am a long time Dungeon Master of Dungeons and Dragons and Pathfinder. My games run in a custom world of my own making. However, I utilise a lot of the traditional lore and races of D&D. I'm ...
Something that always bothers me in my writing is how often I start sentences with the word "the". A terrible nonsensical example: The dog ran through the rain-swept streets, chasing a ball he...
Chapter length is a stylist choice There is no correct answer to this. The length of the chapters in any given book is entirely dependant on writing style. How you use them can effect the tone of ...
It depends on the audience Personally I feel that technical writing is far too dry. However as an engineer I've done plenty of it. I always try to add humour and levity to make it more enjoyable. ...
Almost every ending to a romance is cliche An ending needs to provide closure for your characters. Whatever their motivation or journey through the novel is, at the end they need an ending. When w...
These things have no bearing on whether the story is boring A boring story is boring if it fails to capture the imagination of the reader. A complex plot with dozens of characters and a detailed e...
If you do this, lean into it Skipping a scene in an otherwise continuous story will always be jarring. The last thing readers want to feel is "this doesn't make any sense". You want your story to ...
Another stack site I use is currently having an election and I am considering nominating. There are two parts to the nomination process; the nomination itself and the questionnaire to candidates. T...
Recently while doing some world-building for a role-playing game with a friend we were seriously struggling with naming character consistently. By consistently I mean make the names feel as though...
My first question on the site was How do I stop using 'the' to start sentences so much? , One of the answers said: I would suggest reading more English poetry to pick up some techniques. I co...
Establishing a conflicted character My MC is in a dark line of work. He is an assassin. Good start, a character in a dark line of work is assumed to be dark until told otherwise. Start with a...
Describe the important bits In my opinion Harry Potter is actually an excellent example of how to describe characters. Harry is described in detail because his exact appearance has important beari...
The tone of your writing will make the difference Written out in a cold hard list like that is certainly sounds brutal. MC2 has MC1 at their mercy and yet continues to threaten and abuse them. If ...
Generals are where they are needed most Disclaimer: Historical fiction isn't my area of expertise, most of this is drawn from fantasy works instead. I think some of it is useful though. The best ...
Indirection is only a problem when reader can't tell which layer of the story they are on Using a narrator that is retelling events from their life is a common literary technique. Many books do it...
You can do this as stylistic choice Footnotes to help explain a complex technology, add additional information or provide a humorous aside. Terry Pratchett used footnotes liberally to great effect...
It depends on the purpose of the song Songs in fiction can serve multiple purposes. They can provide lore and background details, they can be used as a metaphor, they can portray emotion or confli...
In this comments of How many elements can you focus on during worldbuilding? a conversation arose about the usefulness of non-genre savvy beta-readers. Another question Are "non-readers" useful be...
For my Pathfinder campaign I write an update each session which I share with my players. The goal for these updates is: Provide a brief recap of the previous session Get people excited for the ne...
You absolutely can do this What is appropriate or not is entirely a matter of your own personal style. How you handle character deaths is part of that style, and it may separate good works from th...
This isn't bad style "A crown of fire" is a an evocative statement full of imagery and connotations. Instantly, I can imagine the burning ring of flame, progressing outward and reaching up to the ...
You need to change more than just the narrator As I understand it based on your question and comments; you want a character to narrate in third person for 1/2-2/3 of the story, then switch to an o...
