If the answer is "pick a method and be consistent", your question may be one of style.
9
votes
6answers
747 views
What are the tricks to avoid repetition in writing?
After some time of working on my research, I usually have a structured information of my results, which I can best describe in bullets/numbers. Unfortunately, this is not what academia expects. For ...
9
votes
5answers
357 views
How can I learn how to outline, so I can write like an architect?
I've just watched one part of Brandon Sanderson's lecture on writing, the section entitled Gardeners & Architects and I realised I'm a Gardener, almost exclusively. This often ends up with me ...
9
votes
4answers
310 views
How do you avoid the problem of all the characters in your story sounding the same?
There's a common flaw that I can easily detect in amateur writing, (and of course my own) which essentially boils down to all the characters "sounding the same", dialogue-wise anyway. Trying to ...
9
votes
2answers
240 views
Striking the balance between dialogue and narrative
I am participating in National Novel Writing Month this year. I have never in my life written so much of a single story. Although I am supposed to tell my inner editor to shut up this month, she is ...
9
votes
3answers
268 views
How can multiple viewpoints be used without breaking the flow of the story?
I'm currently writing a story in first-person that has a connection to a series of external events - things that the main character has no way of knowing but are vital to the progression of the ...
9
votes
2answers
2k views
Techniques for writing internal monologue
I've seen the thoughts of a character written in a few different ways:
Example 1: Indirect
Ender liked it better, though, when two boys played against each other. Then they had to use each other's ...
8
votes
5answers
655 views
Do you have to be good at grammar to get published?
I am not very good at grammar. Is there someone who would go through and correct your grammatical mistakes, even if you are not good at grammar? Who would this person be?
8
votes
5answers
548 views
How should dialog be formatted?
Is there any "official" rule that I should keep in mind when formatting character dialog?
Line breaks, placement of quotes, mixing dialog with action descriptions etc.
For example, I want to build a ...
8
votes
5answers
119 views
What style suggestions are common for which words are used in hyperlinks?
With a purpose of avoiding "More details here" style links that do not provide any information in the link itself, what styles are common/popular/suggested?
A good example case (with bold as the ...
8
votes
3answers
707 views
What's the best practice for displaying a personal website url in a resume?
Like most veteran coders in the IT industry, I have an out-of-date website that I use to link to different activities I'm involved with online, like Twitter and Stack Overflow. Up until now, I haven't ...
8
votes
3answers
776 views
Little did he know
In the movie "Stranger Than Fiction" the professor of literature makes quite a big deal about the phrase "little did he know."
I've written papers on "Little did he know." I've taught classes on ...
8
votes
3answers
1k views
What's the difference between academic and journalistic writing?
I'm not talking about "boring" academic papers that are 99% science and 0% interesting. But in comments on a draft of my senior thesis, my teacher made the comment that my writing style was quite ...
8
votes
1answer
6k views
What are the differences between narrative and descriptive writing?
What are the differences between narrative and descriptive writing? While writing either what should we keep in mind?
8
votes
2answers
139 views
Overuse of bullet points
I collaborate with someone who insists on making every sentence (or two) in a business document into a bullet point, by prefacing it with a bullet.
This is typically done across a multi-page ...
8
votes
2answers
202 views
A Polish manual of style.
English language has a number of popular manuals of style. There's Chicago Manual of Style, Elements of Style etc.
Do you know any such resource for the Polish language?
8
votes
1answer
744 views
What are widely-used UK-English style guides?
In the UK, what are the equivalents to Chicago Manual of Style, the Associated Press style guide, Yahoo, APA, MLA, etc? Most importantly, what are their intended audiences? (AP is used for ...
7
votes
4answers
320 views
Spaceships - It or She?
I'm writing a Science Fiction novel and describing a space ship. Sea Ships are usually feminine, while space ships don't seem to be either feminine or neutral.
Would you stick to one? Or would you ...
7
votes
6answers
201 views
How deeply should I study the background of a community before writing about it?
By "background", I mean the dialects, habits and culture of the community. Also, I wonder if it is even possible to write about a community without being a part of it?
I am only asking this in terms ...
7
votes
9answers
869 views
How to write realistic female dialogue
I just can't make my dialogue sound like it's being said by a woman. As a friend of mine pointed out, "This woman talks just like you, Jack."
I tried imitating the speech patterns of various females ...
7
votes
4answers
274 views
Using poetry in novels a good option?
I write fiction as well as poetry. And many a times I use poetry as a tool to bring out that acute feeling of pain or love (as required) in my explanations. What if I use poetry to introduce or end a ...
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 ...
7
votes
5answers
3k views
All persons fictitious disclaimer — ideas regarding modification?
I'm creating a parody/spoof magazine which contains some "real" advertisements and businesses in.
How should I word an "all persons fictitious" disclaimer to include fictitious businesses?
This is ...
7
votes
2answers
249 views
How to emphasize a quote is written, not spoken?
In a similar question on EL&U, I asked about suggestions for indicating that a quote is written instead of spoken.
Robusto's answer suggested several possible approaches:
For longer quotes of ...
7
votes
6answers
536 views
Examples for books that don't use (traditional) chapters?
I'm a big fan of Terry Pratchett, and he doesn't use chapters (mostly). Are there any other authors who don't or tend to not use chapters?
7
votes
2answers
247 views
How many liberties can one take with syntax and grammar rules when writing poetry?
I've begun to wrote a small fable in verse for my girlfriend, whereas she gets one part of the story for each day before Christmas since the 1st December. She likes it, however she tells me nearly ...
7
votes
2answers
527 views
6
votes
4answers
4k views
Should I indent the first line of the first paragraph in a chapter?
I was reading a thesis report of a friend and I noticed that he didn't indent the first line of the first paragraph in each chapter. I don't remember noticing it anywhere before until I saw it there ...
6
votes
2answers
929 views
What is the most effective way to deal with flashbacks in a novel structure ?
In writing a novel, often flashbacks are difficult to manage: if too long and detailed, they can appear as second class (at worst, aborted) plots whose only task is to sustain the main plot line; if ...
6
votes
4answers
1k views
Help with Impersonal Past Tense
'The Report is to be presented in the “impersonal past tense” e.g.
Personal – I worked in the Design Department.
Impersonal – The work was carried out in the Design Department.'
...
6
votes
5answers
233 views
Must every piece of speech get its own paragraph?
I've had a few people read pieces of narrative writing I've done, and they seem to take issue with the fact that I sometimes put a piece of speech inline with the rest of a non-dialogue paragraph, ...
6
votes
2answers
104 views
Is there some guideline that I can point to about the overuse of bold and underline?
I am getting really tired of getting emails and PowerPoint presentations in which half of the words are bold and underlined. There is also excessive use of exclamation points, all caps, and overly ...
6
votes
2answers
75 views
First person with co-authors?
I'm rewriting a technical book that will list two authors: the original author and me. Much of the text has been changed and there are some informal parts where reader is addressed in first person: "I ...
6
votes
2answers
132 views
What is this writing standard called, and where can I look up the exact details?
My English instructor said that he wants us to submit a heading and a header on our essays, taking the following form.
The first page only should have our name, his name, the date, the subject (not ...
6
votes
2answers
408 views
How not to overuse ellipsis?
I always… feel… so… expressive when I see this little nicy dots!.. I just can't stop to put them more… and more… and more… Please teach me how to stop!..
Update: I guess people misunderstood me. I ...
6
votes
2answers
220 views
What exactly is wrong with 'It was a dark and stormy night'? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Why is “It was a dark and stormy night..” not a good opening?
The phrase in question is derided everywhere. Wikipedia calls it infamous and purple prose, the ...
5
votes
3answers
374 views
Is emphasizing a point by underlining still appropriate?
Instinctively I find underlining for emphasis distracting and much prefer bold or italic. From my research it seems underlining is a carryover from typewriters that were incapable of italicizing or ...
5
votes
3answers
158 views
Italicize part of a word in fiction?
I am wondering if I can or should take a bit of stylistic license and italicize just part of a word:
He took a sharp turn back into a side street, and collided hard with something that sent him ...
5
votes
4answers
298 views
Rules and resources for scientific writing
The writing style in scientific papers in the natural sciences, e.g. chemistry and biology, seems very different from many other kinds of writing. There are usually severe restrictions on the length ...
5
votes
1answer
332 views
Is an overview clearer when outlined with bullet points, or when written in paragraphs?
I am writing a short piece for a technical audience. In essence I have three main points, each with sub-points. A few of the sub-points themselves have sub-points. I cannot help but find it clearer ...
5
votes
2answers
503 views
How to make a letter interesting?
I have a question regarding the art of letter writing.
I believe in the old-fashioned way of maintaining pen friendships (not necessarily a relationship, but could be) through hand-written letters, ...
5
votes
4answers
125 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 ...
5
votes
1answer
89 views
What is the correct way to write a fractional number in a formal letter?
If I'm talking about a length of time in a cover letter, let's say 5.5 years, what would be the correct way to write this?
five-and-a-half years
5-1/2 years
5.5 years
5
votes
2answers
450 views
Should I prefer long or short sentences in scientific writing?
Currently, I am writing papers with rather short sentences: About half of them contain around 20 words, about 10% to 20% even less. I am doing this for three reasons:
I find short sentences easier ...
5
votes
4answers
346 views
What makes a good action scene?
Action, in any storytelling medium, is the relationship between build up and pay off. While cinema may emphasize the payoff (pyrotechnics play well to theater-going crowds) it seems that the written ...
5
votes
1answer
109 views
What are some appropriate uses of readability tests?
Do you use readability metrics (such as Gunning fog or Flesch-Kincaid) as you're working on a piece?
If so, how do you use them, and what benefit do you get from using them?
5
votes
4answers
159 views
Best Practices To Learn By Reading?
I've been browsing writers.se for a while and I've noticed a lot of folks state you have to READ to be able to write. I'm currently having trouble working time to read fiction into my daily routine.
...
5
votes
2answers
80 views
Could anyone point me in the direction of some resources on conversational writing
Im looking to improve my writing , i would love to know if anyone has any tips on developing an engaging conversational writing style.
5
votes
1answer
90 views
How to quote from a foreign journal that has not been translated?
I need to quote from a journal written in Arabic. What should I do? Write it first in Arabic then followed by translation and indicating that it is my own translation (translated by author)? Can I ...
5
votes
3answers
69 views
Deaf speechmarks? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
How does one present spoken dialogue as a secondary language to signed speech?
I want to write a novel and I was thinking of including a deaf character. I want to know ...
5
votes
2answers
191 views
How can you build an interactive tone into articles?
I was wondering about tone in articles lately. My articles don't tend to be interactive. It feels like most of them are just flowing one way.
How does actually tone contribute to the quality of an ...
