"Creative writing" is a vague term, but generally means fiction, or writing that's not non-fiction, technical, or business writing.
1
vote
1answer
47 views
Using senses and similes in descriptions
I'm trying to make my descriptions to look less like a bunch of bullet points.
So I decided to use more senses and similes.
This is something I wrote:
The sun hung in the cloudless sky, like a ...
4
votes
4answers
133 views
Does writing in a certain mood change how a writer writes?
I'm not sure if this is right for this part of Stackexchange, but since there is no psychology section, here we go:
I'm currently writing the same short story several times with the intention of ...
0
votes
1answer
118 views
To translate a novel with Westerner's point of view
I am an Easterner. I have been translating a novel, that is originally written in my native language, into English. During the process, I have also been learning about cultural things, meant to ...
0
votes
2answers
52 views
Writing style — comma, period and re-referring the object of the first sentence again as subject in second sentence
Alex look around the room, it's almost empty except few small empty boxes and few clothes.
Alex look around the room. It's almost empty except few small empty boxes and few clothes.
Alex ...
0
votes
2answers
64 views
Tips For A Good Medieval Fantasy Novel [closed]
I'm thinking of writing my first fiction novel based on a medieval fantasy setting and I know nothing about writing. Any pointers for this type of genre? I think I read somewhere that you need a hero, ...
9
votes
4answers
416 views
New digital ways of presenting a novel in 2011?
The traditional way of presenting a novel is in a book. I know about e-books too.
Do you know another digital ways of presenting a novel?
For instance, a blog, a twitter novel or something like the ...
1
vote
2answers
71 views
Is there a reference for “dumbing down” material?
I've noticed some fiction authors (James Patterson, for instance) over time "dumbed down" their writing to include less obscure words and less poetic descriptions.
It's my understanding that this ...
0
votes
1answer
91 views
How to elegantly convey the finer nuances of language in written form
I am fascinated by the idea of how to convey, in the written form, as much detail of expressive nuance as you originally intended in your head (i.e. what you hear when first coming up with it). I ...
11
votes
8answers
494 views
What's the benefit of using invented languages in-story?
I'm working on a fictional story set in a fantastical (although coherent) universe; I'm used to seeing, in works like this, invented languages: Tolkien's languages for The Lord of the Rings, or ...
2
votes
4answers
135 views
Hooking the reader by omitting a piece of information
I'm writing a short story. I decided to opening it in the following way:
We were in Y, doing Z when she mentioned X. I wasn't sure whether she had misheard X's name or had gotten the wrong ...
6
votes
6answers
168 views
Should dull dialogue be removed completely?
The following dialogue is from a novel I'm writing (first draft):
"You're quiet tonight," Erin said to Benjamin, who seemed to be lost
in thoughts.
He looked up and took a sip of his drink. ...
0
votes
1answer
41 views
What types of research do writers do in advance of writing? [closed]
I'm trying to determine how universal story research is, and to what extent writers actually do research vs making everything up from personal experience and imagination.
I know writing is a very ...
2
votes
3answers
93 views
Is a glossary needed in a novel?
Is a glossary needed in a translated-novel?
or I would only need to put the translation of the native words under the brackets?
1
vote
2answers
68 views
Tenses I should use in a translated-novel
I have been translating a novel that is originally written in my native language into English. Considering that the book's plot is the author's experience of a life that has happened in the past, I've ...
2
votes
3answers
86 views
Is it unusual for a flashback to have a very long dialogue?
This flashback is from a short story I'm writing (unedited first draft):
I met Limei last summer. Our class had organized a graduation trip to
Green Island, where we stayed for fourteen days and ...
0
votes
1answer
64 views
A more effective way of writing this dialogue:
I'm translating a story, and there is scene in it where an ex-colleague asks the man who had slapped the female protagonist the reason for his doing so. In reply, all he says is something like, “What ...
0
votes
1answer
45 views
german tourist or German tourist? [closed]
I have learned that 'german' as a noun, written with upper case letter whilst 'german' as an adjective should be with lower case letter. Please guide me more by posting the rules if necessary, thank ...
5
votes
4answers
123 views
How to avoid specifying the gender in English when the original text does not specify it?
I'm translating a short story from Korean into English. One problem I frequently face is the 'antecedent pronoun agreement' when the original text leaves the 'gender' of the subject unspecified (and ...
4
votes
3answers
122 views
How should I introduce new and complex technologies or tools?
I'm writing a Science Fiction book. While this book doesn't push reality very far, there are some new technologies and tools that I have added. One tool is used more frequently than all the others, ...
4
votes
2answers
107 views
Tips for writing sentences like a native speaker
English isn't my native tongue, but I've been writing novels in English for a while. Most of the time, I can be aware of what's grammatically correct and what's not. But making sure that a sentence ...
2
votes
0answers
61 views
How can I sell articles about TV shows online?
I am a writer, and I write mostly articles about tv shows. How can I sell them?
I researched the freelance content marketplace, but I mostly just found the general sites like fiverr, freelancer, ...
5
votes
3answers
126 views
Tracing dependencies and emergent plotholes during edits
The fiction I write currently hit a major snag and needs a big overhaul of a major part of the story. A whole, large thread is being injected, a second conflict running in parallel with the main one ...
7
votes
5answers
328 views
Avoiding cultural differences
I'm not a native English speaker, but I write in English.
I'm now visiting the US, and I have made some very interesting observation regarding the way ordinary life goes on here. It made me think of ...
1
vote
2answers
92 views
Which animal symbolises trade? [closed]
Different animals symbolise different objects or actions. For example:
Bird for letter or postman.
Horse for speed and power.
Bull for aggressivitet and anger.
Im looking for an animal or ...
4
votes
3answers
197 views
It is a sign of bad writing to have many scenes that are disconnected with the main plot?
So my novel look like this (I took this diagram idea from this site, but I'm not sure exactly from whom):
The beginning and end focuses on the mystery that the heroine is trying to solve (main ...
3
votes
3answers
88 views
Putting a dialogue a tag before a quote
Sometimes I see stuff like this:
X said, "..."
"..." X did this, and then said, "..."
Is it used to just vary sentence structure? Or to make dialogue more readable or smoother in certain ...
1
vote
1answer
82 views
Setting up for writing
I am a work professional and the writer by choice. I have been writing since a long but basically poems, short stories and my reviews on books that I read so far. But since yet I have been writing via ...
8
votes
5answers
431 views
What is a discovery writer?
From an answer to this question: How do I successfully structure a long fiction piece?
I think I can infer the meaning from the usage but some elaboration would be helpful.
7
votes
4answers
311 views
Is the first draft of a novel usually shorter than the finished work?
I finished the first draft of a novel I'm writing. Right now, it has 17000 words. I've heard that novels these days range from 60,000 to 150,000 words, so I'm a little bit worried (I'm hoping to have ...
-1
votes
4answers
178 views
What genre appeals to the widest audience?
My writing is focused primarily on love stories, i.e. the romance genre, and I believe this reaches a relatively small audience.
Is there one genre that appeals to a far wider audience than its ...
3
votes
2answers
134 views
Do the characters in the following dialogue sound the same?
The following unedited dialogue is from a novel I'm writing (which is based on a short story I wrote a while ago):
"I hope it's not an inappropriate question," Icaro said, after
hesitating for a ...
2
votes
2answers
69 views
Writing exercises to practice the art of giving unique voice to characters?
I've read many blogs where they teach you how to give an unique voice to your characters. I feel I understand how to do it, but I think I'm a little stuck the the voice that I've been using since I ...
4
votes
2answers
121 views
What is the difference between “creative writing” and “fiction writing”?
My college offers many writing courses. I notice, one course is called "Creative Writing" and another is called "Fiction Writing". What is the difference between creative writing and fiction writing?
2
votes
3answers
127 views
Gadgets that make the world/story broken
Every so often I see a nice piece of fiction where its author adds something (to save the plot, or to make it interesting, whatever) that makes the story broken (usually it makes the world, setting or ...
2
votes
2answers
128 views
Resource for generic plot hooks?
I'm in a long and painful recovery from many years of writer's block. Coming up with even quite simple story ideas costs me unreasonable amount of effort. Sometimes inspiration is generous and I'm ...
11
votes
3answers
203 views
Should I remove scenes that I myself find “boring”?
Sometimes, I find myself writing a scene that does everything I think it should do: reveal details about the protagonist, drive the plot forward, show other elements related to the story, etc. There's ...
4
votes
2answers
161 views
How to keep the reader engaged in a novel where “not much happens”?
(Hope I don't get an answer like this).
I'm writing a novel where "not much happens," instead, it focuses on things that could happen. In other words, the protagonist does not directly experience ...
1
vote
2answers
117 views
How much influence does blogging have on learning to write better?
I have 100 blogs and have written for 10 years in my language (Persian), but I'm not focused on increasing my ability to write better.
What exercises should a writer focus on when blogging to be a ...
5
votes
1answer
102 views
Researching sensitive subjects
How do you research subjects for a novel that might be sensitive? Both cultural and jurisdictional.
Example: I usually try to "research" the setting and characters for my texts from real life. When I ...
2
votes
1answer
79 views
Dealing with lackluster plot failure
So, I wrote the beginning of something about novel-sized.
I drafted totally sweet, lovable protagonists in an interesting, original relationship, I placed them in a solid world, I painted the ...
7
votes
4answers
117 views
Is it a bad practice to occasionally add first-person narrative to third-person narrative?
This is a sample of something I wrote:
Erin watched Ruth as she disappeared between the cars and the
multitude of people crossing the street. She stood there for a moment,
staring at the city ...
3
votes
8answers
211 views
Is it possible that my short novel will be boring to my readers because it only has two characters and the location doesn't change?
In my story, there are two characters: a schoolgirl and a strange person with a creepy mask who gives her a tour in an art museum at night. Well, actually there is a third character; the boyfriend of ...
7
votes
2answers
159 views
Learning storywriting for videogames - Handling deep nonlinearities
A recent question asked for pointers for writing for games, and the gist of the answers was that it's not very unlike writing books. The underlined differences were only superficial. There's a ...
6
votes
4answers
152 views
Peeking through character's mask
Normally, I specialize in strong, determined, uncompromising, extroverted protagonists, "If the laws of physics are against us, too bad, they need to be changed." I'm pretty good in getting them ...
2
votes
4answers
213 views
Is it a bad writing practice to start sentences with a verb?
I realized I start sentences with the, he, she, it, after and then all the time. So I'm starting to use verbs instead. Here is an example of something I wrote:
Erin left out a sigh. "Why am I ...
6
votes
4answers
186 views
Non-cheap ways to make villains evil?
Do you have any tried and true techniques to make villains of your stories truly hated by the audience?
I mean, frequently it's "eh, sure, that's bad, he's got to be stopped" but the audience would ...
10
votes
9answers
757 views
Where to find some good examples of combat or action scenes?
I always learn a lot about about writing by reading other works and following their examples. Right now I'm very bad at writing action scenes; the best I can do is write around them, describing the ...
6
votes
3answers
311 views
How to avoid repetitive sentence structure?
I've realized that I always start sentences with (name of character), he, she, it, they, her, his, the, after (a moment/that), and then.
I wonder if there's any useful exercise or tip to reduce this?
...
4
votes
4answers
316 views
Does this opening paragraph grab your attention? (very normal setting)
This is the beginning of a short story I'm writing:
Jun was standing motionless at entrance of the 7-eleven. He was staring down,
searching for something in his memory as students picked their
...
2
votes
2answers
121 views
What existing platforms use crowdsourcing to develop creative writing and editing?
What existing platforms use crowdsourcing to develop creative writing and editing?
What are the barriers in developing an active community? Why would this not work? Has it been tried? Was it ...
