If the answer is "pick a method and be consistent", your question may be one of style.
10
votes
9answers
758 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 ...
15
votes
4answers
481 views
As a non-native English speaker, Is it better to get translated or get copyedited for long texts?
My English level is average. I can write fluently and my vocabulary is not too limited.
With the thought in mind that the end result must be perfect, is it better for me to write my long text (100 ...
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?
12
votes
4answers
351 views
How can I transition from academic writing to fiction writing?
I always receive the same critique when I write fiction. The critique is good for my characters and plot, but I am told that my writing style is stiff, awkward and amateurish. When I wrote academic ...
15
votes
7answers
917 views
What's Essential In A Combat Scene?
I've just been reading a bunch of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files books. Although they were the most enjoyable read I'd had in ages I always found myself skimming long segments that described involved ...
12
votes
5answers
417 views
What is flash fiction?
Is it simply defined by its short word count? Or are there other accepted conventions in flash fiction? If it's just the word count, how short is too short? How long is too long?
19
votes
4answers
814 views
How do you avoid purple prose?
I try to watch out for bland, overused adjectives and I keep adverbs to a minimum but -- I hear this phrase a lot and I'm not even sure what it means?
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 ...
11
votes
4answers
16k views
Citation in AP style journalism
I'm writing feature articles and trying to adhere to AP style, but I'm not sure how to attribute a source. I'm familiar with academic citation (APA, MLA), but have never done this in journalism.
...
12
votes
5answers
524 views
How much should I describe things or persons, that are not important for the story?
I discussed a book with a friend, and he disliked that the author described a person who is dying shortly after and has no further effect on the story over a page or more. The same would go for ...
12
votes
3answers
1k views
Writing 19th century upperclass English dialog
I was recently rereading bits of Pride and Prejudice and the dialog is absolutely brilliant. How can I learn to write dialog that sounds like it is from this general era? For example are there any ...
11
votes
5answers
446 views
When is a prologue useful?
Prologues tend to get a bad rap on the internet, and sometimes for good reason. They're often used by as an excuse to start a novel with an info-dump. However, it seems to me that people often ...
7
votes
6answers
533 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
245 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 ...
9
votes
3answers
267 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 ...
14
votes
6answers
572 views
What are some ingredients of really engaging non-fiction?
Some of the best non-fiction writers, in terms of sales at least, seem to be able to write in a really engaging and easy to read style that makes their work hard to put down. For example, ...
12
votes
8answers
350 views
How much leeway can be expected from an editor regarding my preference for nonstandard punctuation?
As I hope to present a unique style to the world, as I am not especially tolerant of being told I'm doing things "wrong" when that's a subjective statement related to writing style, and as I've never ...
64
votes
18answers
2k views
The “Rules” of Writing
There are a lot of axioms that get tossed around in creative writing courses, books on writing, and of course, the internet. Often, these little gems are explained to new writers as though they were ...
3
votes
4answers
4k views
Do you use the word “that” too much?
I find myself using the word "that" too much. How do you really know when you need that "that" word there? Like just now. I don't think I need "that" there. Do you have words you overuse?
13
votes
5answers
2k views
What does active voice mean?
I was reading on here about passive voice but didn't really know what active voice was. I read some examples but was hoping for more insight. What does it mean to write with the active voice?
14
votes
7answers
910 views
What makes writing emotional?
Over the years, my English professors seem to have agreed on one thing: that I'm a superb technical writer, but terrible at eliciting emotional response in something like a story or an argumentative ...
16
votes
9answers
845 views
Tips for expanding my vocabulary?
Looking back through my texts, I noticed that I often use a lot of the same words and resort to using quite a basic vocabulary. I was wondering if there are any good exercises or anything else for ...
10
votes
4answers
162 views
What are the usual methods for getting a daily word count?
Do, normally, only words which are eventually to be kept count, or do you also count rewrites? For example, if I rewrite a 50 word paragraph 10 times, is my daily count up to 50 or up to 500?
34
votes
19answers
2k views
How to overcome the fact that I can't write?
My problem is that I basically suck at writing. Especially prose.
Part of it is basically because I don't practice as much as I could.
Part of it is because I'm just not talented in that way.
...
4
votes
1answer
175 views
Pros and cons of using perspectives?
What are the pros and cons of using first person/second person/third person perspective in your story?
12
votes
4answers
370 views
How do you map out your storyline?
There are various ways for mapping out the storyline that you will use for a story. One of them is to create a bullet-point outline, which would theoretically be useful because of the hierarchy system ...
11
votes
4answers
326 views
How do you vary dialogue within stories?
How do you vary dialogue within stories? I often find myself writing "'sentence/dialogue' said character", and it sometimes gets really repetitive. How is this managed?
These are the only words that ...
12
votes
4answers
221 views
How to vary writing style?
I just had to edit a 40 page paper and I'm not kidding, there were paragraphs where every sentence started with "This."
How do good writers learn to vary their sentence length and wording to flow? I ...
11
votes
4answers
440 views
When should I avoid the passive voice? When might I use it?
An opinion exists that overusing of the passive voice can make writing harder for reading and understanding. Is it true for all kinds of writing? How to follow this advice without overemphasizing it? ...
12
votes
5answers
471 views
Is discovery or outline writing connected to personality type (e.g. MBTI)
I'm on a bit of a Myers-Briggs spree at the moment (which is dangerous, because it is so easy to read way more into it than you are supposed to).
For those of you who are not familiar with it, it is ...
11
votes
4answers
110 views
Writing for an Audio book. What are specifics?
What are specific requirements, a writer should follow, when writing something that is going to be (or just can possibly be) not only read but listened as well?
17
votes
7answers
520 views
Should I avoid modern words/phrases in fantasy writing?
When writing, I tend to want to use words or phrases that have meaning in the real world, but wouldn't necessarily have meaning in the world in which I'm writing. For example, in a fantasy world, a ...
14
votes
2answers
347 views
When modifiers should be avoided?
I've come across the Mark Twain's quote:
"When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don't mean utterly, but kill most of them -- then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when they are close ...
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 ...
12
votes
7answers
366 views
What helpful writing exercises do you use?
The two I do most are dialog and description related. When I meet a person or I'm just sitting people watching, I try to write their description in my head as if I was describing a character in a ...
12
votes
3answers
219 views
Avoiding Deus Ex Machina resolutions?
Most Crime/Thriller Novels usually have a sudden, unexpected plot twist that puts the main character in a really hopeless situation.
One way to resolve this is by using a "Deus Ex Machina", that is a ...
10
votes
4answers
378 views
Switching POV: Should it ever be done at all?
When I started, I had a nasty habit of hopping from perspective to perspective to perspective. I forced myself down to one perspective per chapter, but I still wonder if it's acceptable to do it at ...
15
votes
7answers
454 views
Could I reach the level of good writing style as non-native language speaker?
I currently write in Russian, but I think of switching to English to gain more audience and to play with both languages and linguistics.
So could I ever reach the level of native English writers and ...
2
votes
3answers
55 views
Spelling style in academic papers
When an article is submitted to a conference or journal, is it better to use British or American spelling? Does it have to be according to the conference or journal's style (based on where it is being ...
2
votes
1answer
149 views
Are different styles/storylines prefered in different languages/cultures?
I'm a german and I write in german. Can I apply the hints for style or storybuilding given here or from english authors without a second thought to my work? Or exists differences in how are a style or ...
4
votes
3answers
95 views
When and how often edit the style and content of a story?
An early story I did I edited again and again to make it better. But in the end, I got the feeling the result was worse than before. Recently I tried to write (short-stories) in one go and only check ...
26
votes
18answers
2k views
How to name the characters of your story?
I find it hard to name my characters. Every normal name sounds funny if applied to a product of my fantasy. If I take a common name, I may get the image of someone I know into my head. And that may ...
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 ...
10
votes
9answers
369 views
Initial Writing Medium
I am curious which is better for a beginning writer (or writer) starting a new story. Pen and paper or the computer?
Pen & Paper is a lot more sketchy (like the layout of this site) which gives ...
16
votes
5answers
716 views
What are the most common style manuals?
From Wikipedia:
A style guide or style manual is a set
of standards for the writing and
design of documents, either for
general use or for a specific
publication, organization or field.
...
24
votes
7answers
556 views
When is it okay to tell?
One of the major mantras of writing fiction is "show, don't tell".
Is it ever okay to tell? When?
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?
