All Questions

1
vote
3answers
95 views

Critique: Make excerpt more visual/flow better

I have this excerpt I'm not sure is fluid and visual enough: Peter came out of the café rubbing his tummy. The chipmunk had a smile on the face and seemed content. Not too far behind him ...
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 ...
2
votes
2answers
100 views

How to tell if my story is finished, or needs more?

Slightly obtuse title, let me elaborate. I'm writing my first screenplay, and I'm trying to keep it simple while making it simultaneously wonderful. It's just a rom-com. But as I write and modify ...
1
vote
3answers
34 views

How to express concisely the circular concept of a beginning and future simultaneously?

There are many movies/books which have an ending that is the foundation for the beginning of the story, an example is Terry Pratchett's book Pyramids. In a way these stories become trapped in a ...
3
votes
4answers
115 views

Iambic pentameter: how do you use words with 'secondary stressed' syllables?

I'm trying to create textbook-perfect iambic pentameter. I may be wrong in my assumption of there being such a thing as a 'secondary stressed syllable', but in the word 'poetry', the rhythm of it ...
8
votes
2answers
132 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 ...
1
vote
3answers
85 views

How should I begin my research for my Military Fiction?

Where can I learn about the voice procedures, military jargons, submarine communications and politics involved in navy?
1
vote
0answers
54 views

Steven Johnson's DevonThink writing workflow: is creating & accumulating 50-500 word snippets worth the effort?

Steven Berlin Johnson talks in this much cited article about his research workflow using DevonThink. In short, he advocates for creating 50-500 word focused text snippets from your research readings ...
3
votes
2answers
102 views

How do I create a book on iBookstore without having a Mac?

I use Linux, and I'd like to format a book for the iBookstore. When I go to signup to iTunes Connect to upload my books, it says: 3. Download iTunes Producer Download our delivery ...
1
vote
1answer
55 views

Does this excerpt strike a balance between the formality of steampunk and accessible writing?

I'm having a bit of trouble, since I'm writing in a semi-new genre. I ordinarily write fantasy with a modern-day setting, but my latest experiment is steampunk set in not-exactly-Earth, so it has a ...
1
vote
1answer
57 views

Multiple tasks and a step by step tutorial

To my knowledge step-by-step tutorials should have the form of a ladder, where you describe how to get to a place step by step– accomplishing a single task at the end. Is it possible to accomplish ...
3
votes
1answer
91 views

Best practice for stories based on other writers' stories

I want to rewrite someone else's novel in a different way. Just to show the other side of his characters. My story will be based on these characters, but they will have more "realistic" sides. What ...
3
votes
1answer
77 views

How to advertise a free e-book?

I've created a free e-book in online HTML, EPUB, MOBI, and PDF formats. I've created a small site to advertise this book and an other site (currently supports forums) for the community of readers of ...
0
votes
2answers
61 views

Essay critique: flow and how compelling it is

I dragged myself sluggishly out of bed and instinctively reached for my phone, then I remembered: there was no cell coverage or wifi. I wasn’t used to waking up this early. I didn’t think anyone ...
0
votes
2answers
49 views

What is the correct word/term that needs to be before the names of the maker of the project?

I am doing a project with one other person, we have finished the project and we are working on a cover page. We are not sure what to write out before our names, we have thought of a couple of ...
0
votes
2answers
48 views

How to describe the dissipation of tension between two people?

I'd like to describe the sense of two people, one who is angry (call him Joe) at another (call him Bob), but upon hearing Bob's retort, Joe reconsiders his position and changes his mind about being ...
0
votes
2answers
49 views

What are the advantages of different date formats in resumes and CVs?

I've seen a somewhat related question, but it doesn't answer my question quite right. Say you're writing an event that happened on a single day, and you need to put it in your resume or CV. So how ...
2
votes
2answers
110 views

Where can I find lists of commonly used words to avoid?

I have a theory that good prose style comes in part from avoiding complicated, abstract, and pretentious words. Are there any good lists of words to avoid, preferably with suggested alternatives? I'm ...
1
vote
3answers
77 views

Improving techniques independently: Description

How can I improve my technique in description? Which things I should avoid in description? How can I know, that I put "enough" description and will go to narration? My description technique is bad ...
2
votes
2answers
53 views

Does DRM affect copyright or the restrictions on distribution by the author?

I hear how it is easier for the user to select DRM (digital rights management) free options so that they can use more software packages to read the book, but does that affect in anyway the authors ...
3
votes
4answers
111 views

Which e-book formats to use to get a larger readership?

I am self-publishing a free e-book which I make available in several formats: EPUB, online HTML, PDF. I create (using my own programming scripts) EPUB and online HTML from XHTML sources which I write ...
1
vote
1answer
43 views

PDF e-book page size and fonts

I am self-publishing a free e-book which I will make available in several formats: EPUB, online HTML, PDF. What characteristics should the PDF e-book file have? What should the page size, font size, ...
1
vote
2answers
110 views

What is the smallest amount of text that can be plagiarized?

Can the following be considered plagiarized? I am interested in finding out the limit of words one is allowed to use. Java is a programming platform that's used for developing computer ...
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 ...
3
votes
3answers
125 views

Critique a short essay

So There I was in the scorching, afternoon, summer heat of Cairo. It was a huge change from the UK’s mild weather, and together with the fact that I had been fasting - as in no food or drink- for ...
0
votes
1answer
47 views

Comma between the following clauses in AP Style?

The AP style says that a comma is not needed between two clauses that have the same subject. However, it would become ambiguous if I removed the comma fromt the following: When you walk straight ...
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 ...
10
votes
4answers
210 views

Can a self publishing author use a Pen name/Pseudonym?

I know that an author can use a Pen name/Pseudonym instead of a true name when publishing the traditional way. This is done by signing contracts with the publisher/agent using the real name ...
2
votes
1answer
91 views

Automated correction of google translated documents

We have google translated docs which are almost error free and require only minor (about 10%) corrections, and even these corrections are redundant which could be learned by an intelligent machine ...
5
votes
3answers
171 views

1st person story, but the main character will die in the end and some of the story needs to be told after his death. How to solve this problem?

I personally like to read stories told by the the main character, it's more "alive" to me. But the problem is that my character will die and some of the story will need to be told afterwards. Maybe 1 ...
5
votes
1answer
57 views

How can I improve my analytical writing for a standardized test?

I will be taking the GRE test, which is an exam for students from non-English speaking countries who want to go to the US for graduate study. The test basically tests your English ability and your ...
-2
votes
1answer
58 views

Writing in second language [closed]

I am an Indonesian but mostly write in English. Most of my poems are written in English. What terms and rules should I notice? considering that my idea comes to mind in English not my native ...
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 ...
-2
votes
1answer
94 views

Ideas for nicknames of characters in a story

I'm translating a short story into English. 1). The protagonist is a woman in her mid-forties. There was a time when she used to copy out verses from poems and paste them on her wall. The people in ...
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 ...
1
vote
2answers
67 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 ...
5
votes
4answers
235 views

Ways to improve your writing skills

As a CS major I've learned that knowing how to write is critically important, but, I'm not really sure how to improve my writing skills. I'm currently trying to write a tech blog in English, but, ...
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 ...
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?
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 ...
1
vote
3answers
120 views

The value of labeling book sections

My wife is beginning a novel, and she's written four chapters in under six pages. I suggested that she consider using page breaks or lowercase Roman numeraled sections instead of chapters because a ...
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 ...
1
vote
1answer
60 views

What is an envelope line?

We're putting together a physical direct mailer advertising leaflet. I'm embarrassed to ask my colleague who asked me to include this request in addition to my headline.
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 ...
2
votes
3answers
97 views

How likely is the “five consecutive word rule” to detect “random,” as opposed to intentional plagiarism?

I refer to the old fable that if you set enough monkeys at enough keyboards for a long enough period of time, they will (through random typing), reproduce the "Complete Works of Shakespeare," or any ...
3
votes
2answers
61 views

How is parallel construction viewed in literature?

I wrote a "take-off" on a French song using a technique that I believe is called "parallel construction." ...
0
votes
2answers
75 views

Strange ungooglable symbol. What does it mean? What is it called? § [closed]

I'm not sure if this symbol will show up in everyone's browser, so I'll describe it also; It looks like an S with a o in the centre vertically. Here it is: § I've seen this symbol used as a bullet ...
3
votes
1answer
66 views

Dealing with potential copyright issues: manga

I have been spinning yarn around Kuchiyose Edo Tensei, a reincarnation technique I came across in the popular anime/manga series Naruto. Further developing on that, the concept of bloodlines (or ...
3
votes
4answers
183 views

Ways to speed up my writing to 15 - 20 pages a day

I am currently at 5 - 10 pages (250 words/page) a day. How to increase my speed to be able to write 15 - 20 a day?
1
vote
2answers
146 views

What exactly is the “five (consecutive) word” plagiarism rule?

My understanding is that the toughest standard regarding plagiarism is the "five (consecutive) word" rule, which holds that, if there are five consecutive words identical to someone else's writing, ...

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