Kevin‭

Don't worry about it and use "and" when you need to. Some words in writing are effectively invisible. They perform such basic grammatical functions that it is very rare for readers to be grated by...

posted 5y ago by Kevin‭

In the eternal battle between pantsers and planners, I'm a very hard planner. I don't feel comfortable writing the first page of a story until I know the overall structure and the main characters, ...

posted 5y ago by Kevin‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Kevin‭

A story is about main characters trying to overcome a conflict. The ending is happy if the characters succeed. The ending is sad if the characters fail. The ending is mixed if the characters overco...

posted 4y ago by Kevin‭  ·  edited 4y ago by Kevin‭

Frequently, you make it as painful and explicit as possible. One of the most compelling ideas I've heard about art in general, including writing, is that each piece of work has a gesture, or overa...

posted 7y ago by Kevin‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Honestly, you don't. Everything that happens in your story must move the plot forward to justify its inclusion. It should give your characters personality (and strongly so - everyone has a daily r...

posted 6y ago by Kevin‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Just to be clear - I'm not trying to change the amount of work, or the reduce time it takes, I'm merely asking for ways to avoid excessive editing (something I don't enjoy) by doing other things s...

posted 6y ago by Kevin‭  ·  edited 5y ago by Kevin‭

I think you'll be surprised by how little detail you need to include in your story to get the point across. If you're worried about how to include all of your ideas thoroughly enough to tell the st...

posted 5y ago by Kevin‭

There is a formula! Mechanically, stakes are rather straightforward; The protagonist has a goal. The antagonist (or antagonistic force) is doing something that gets in the way of said goal. In th...

posted 4y ago by Kevin‭  ·  edited 4y ago by Kevin‭

Excellent writing is one of the primary selling points of some games - but it is by no means necessary. It can even be counterproductive in some situations. There has been research into what aspec...

posted 7y ago by Kevin‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

There are three things that make a Mary Sue. You want to avoid all three of them: The character has a backstory that is desperately tragic, but doesn't encounter serious problems in the story. (T...

posted 6y ago by Kevin‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

This website shows the rubric used to grade SAT tests. It does not discuss contractions anywhere. So I believe that as long as you use a style that fits the criteria described by the rubric, whethe...

posted 6y ago by Kevin‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

With that many characters, you're dealing with an ensemble cast. That means you're going to have to carefully structure your story so that each major protagonist is introduced to the story in a way...

posted 6y ago by Kevin‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Good writing isn't good because of the specific words or style used. Good writing is good because it communicates an idea clearly, in a well-organized structure, and with a style that is pleasant t...

posted 5y ago by Kevin‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

I wrote an answer to a similar question a while ago: https://writing.codidact.com/questions/34255#answer-34261 Like in that answer, to be honest, I think you're spending too much time thinking abo...

posted 5y ago by Kevin‭

I don't have a lot of respect for the three-act structure for exactly the reason you've run into: It doesn't get you any mileage out of the second act. In fact, I'm going to go further than that: T...

posted 5y ago by Kevin‭  ·  edited 5y ago by Kevin‭