All Questions
13
votes
8answers
1k views
Resources on plotting mystery stories
I'm looking for books, essays and articles on plotting mystery/detective/investigation stories (and novels). The type of story I'm aiming for is in the vein of Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie, or ...
13
votes
6answers
241 views
What are some ways to get to know your characters?
For example, I have recently taken to analyzing all my characters within the scope of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. I already had my characters in place; I just used this test as a tool to get in ...
13
votes
4answers
287 views
When to accept an editor's rewrite request?
So there's an editor who has accepted a story of mine for publication... but he wants me to change the ending. Normally I'm pretty open to editorial changes, but in this case the proposed changes ...
13
votes
5answers
321 views
Best Way to Develop a Daily Writing Routine?
I would like to go about making a habit of writing to a journal or blog on a daily basis. What techniques or patterns have been the most useful in accomplishing this task?
13
votes
2answers
140 views
How do you avoid the problem of a collaborative work having separate voices?
I've not done collaborative writing before, but I've read several works, and sometimes the text strikes me as having a split personality: some parts were clearly written by one author, while others ...
13
votes
9answers
714 views
How do I overcome a lack of motivation to write at home?
Late October I decided to take the plunge and attempt NaNoWriMo. I haven't done much writing in some time and thought it would be a fun attempt to jump back into things. So far it's been pretty fun ...
13
votes
5answers
1k views
How do you come up with non-fiction story ideas?
My biggest problem is that I'm often at a dearth of ideas. I can target a publication or radio show or whatnot once I've got it, but I'm just not good at coming up with them. Tips?
13
votes
11answers
1k views
Internet communities where I can read/rate/review short fiction, and post my own?
So what active internet communities are out there where I can post my own short fiction, for others to read, rate, review and discuss?
(Note that I'm not asking about local writer's groups, or ...
13
votes
3answers
364 views
When publishing a Fantasy novel, do I look for a specific Fantasy-only publisher, editor, and/or agent?
When attempting to publish a fantasy book, how will I go about selecting a publisher? Is it possible to find a list of publishers that publish specifically fantasy books?
Similar to publishers being ...
13
votes
4answers
1k views
Using the real world in writing
To what extent can you use locations, businesses, etc. from the real world in fiction? I know someone cannot copyright a city, but what about a particular location in the city that's private. Can I ...
13
votes
5answers
1k views
Dashes vs. Commas vs. parentheses?
Occasionally I write sentences containing subparts with extra information. I never know how to block off his information from the rest of the sentence. Three ways I have seen are dashes, commas, and ...
13
votes
3answers
228 views
How do I write a synopsis?
I have to write a synopsis to submit to an agent. Are there any guidelines for writing a good synopsis?
13
votes
6answers
1k views
What makes first person plural a tricky narrative voice?
I absolutely loved Joshua Ferris's debut novel Then We Came to the End. Critics highly praised his use for the first person plural as a narrator. The work is set in an office and the "we" used ...
13
votes
1answer
247 views
Checklist for making sure your writing is Atomic?
Question:
Can someone please give me a list of things to check when reviewing a document to make sure that it is atomic.
Atomic?
Meaning that anyone can start reading at any section in a document ...
13
votes
2answers
311 views
Techniques to disguise authorship of text
As Wikipedia and at least one answer on this site suggest, the name stylometry encompasses certain techniques to determine authorship of text. Although stylometry itself appears to require a certain ...
13
votes
2answers
278 views
Are agents too busy for new clients? What should I do next?
As a first time writer, most publishers insist that you approach via a literary agent. However, all the literary agents I have contacted claim to be too busy to take on new clients, as they receive ...
12
votes
8answers
352 views
Is it so bad to end up with a “done before” plot?
I'm not delusional about the nature of the science fiction novel I'm (very) slowly working on. A brief run down might be as follows:
Set 10's of millennia in Human's future but in a neighbouring ...
12
votes
5answers
673 views
I'm getting tired of “he said” “she said” in dialogue; how do I get around it?
I get tired of "he said", "she said", "they replied". Is there a better, but still reasonable way, to indicate dialogue?
12
votes
8answers
354 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 ...
12
votes
11answers
793 views
Is touch typing skill important for being a good writer?
Yes, I know - it is important. But my question is: does it influence the speed only? Do "two finger typing" and "peek typing" eat part of writer's attention and destroy creativity?
Does the method ...
12
votes
8answers
685 views
Time measures in fantasy worlds
I wonder, what could be a good way to provide time measures in a fantasy universe. I don't mean the calendar which is covered in the question: Out of this world... Giving it time?, but measures like ...
12
votes
6answers
354 views
Should one use the legal “shall” in requirements documents and specification documents?
At least in the US, "will" has replaced "shall" in most every context, with the notable exception of the "legal shall". Shall is used instead of will in legal documents to indicate a sense of ...
12
votes
9answers
499 views
Is there a rule of thumb about the number of pages a work of fiction should have?
To be considered a "real" book, is there a rule of thumb about the number of pages one should have? If it has too few then people call it a short story (e.g., Fahrenheit 451) and if it has too many ...
12
votes
7answers
289 views
Should you read your own genre?
In terms of novel writing, I tend to avoid my own genre, at least for the most part. Some of the reasons why:
Genre Blindness / Genre Trap:
Too much reading of your own genre blinds you to the ...
12
votes
7answers
1k views
How should I break up chapters in a novel?
Is it acceptable to pace my chapters in terms of an event? Can I get away with a 4 page chapter here, and a 30 page chapter there?
Are there any reason why I should or should not be sticking to a ...
12
votes
6answers
3k views
What is the difference between writing in the first and the third person?
What kind of story is better suited for each one? Are there advantages or disadvantages inherent to each form?
For example, writing in the first person you are always following a character, while in ...
12
votes
4answers
223 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 ...
12
votes
5answers
433 views
Can I self-publish, and how much would it cost?
With the barrier to having a publisher sign a new author seemingly high, especially without prior success or experience, are there any good author-funded alternatives out there to the repeated mailing ...
12
votes
3answers
246 views
How to create space
Recently, a few snippets of my fiction have received critiques along the lines of 'Does not give a sense of space'. Or 'needs more description, sights and sounds'.
I think where I am going wrong is ...
12
votes
4answers
497 views
How do you make a story succeed in spite of an unsympathetic main character?
I'm looking for techniques specific to a story with an unsympathetic main character. Confederacy of Dunces, for example. Why does that work, and why wouldn't that work with a likable hero?
12
votes
3answers
223 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 ...
12
votes
3answers
72 views
How much influence do authors have on their titles?
The background to my question:
I have always assumed that authors choose their titles, because I consider them an important part of the book, but then I read interviews with some authors who had a ...
12
votes
5answers
530 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
2answers
777 views
What needs to be included in a corporate style guide?
What kinds of things need to be included in a corporate style guide that can't already be found in S&W, AP, Chicago Style, etc?
12
votes
3answers
301 views
How to avoid hearing “that's me!” from your friends when they read your characters?
I recently asked about getting inside of someone else's head for writing good characters who are noticeably different from myself and received some great answers. One answer suggested that you should ...
12
votes
5answers
419 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?
12
votes
4answers
372 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 ...
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 ...
12
votes
2answers
644 views
Other options for “had had”?
Although the use of "had had" is grammatically correct, it doesn't read well and seems awkward to me. Take for example the following sentence: "I had had enough of this nonsense and was ready to move ...
12
votes
7answers
1k views
Why does using this “-ing” verb construction make my writing weaker?
I had to write a scholarship essay, wherein I wrote this sentence:
Over the ensuing years I read as much as I could, trying to increase my knowledge and understanding of my own language.
I sent ...
12
votes
7answers
383 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
447 views
Confusing writing in order to show how character is falling asleep - is it OK?
Generally, writing something confusing is not good.
On the other hand, a writer should show rather than tell. (Generally.)
What I'm trying to do is imitate the way one's thoughts get all muddled ...
12
votes
3answers
275 views
Writers Communities?
I don't mean writer's circles, or "auditioning sites", although some of these have forums tacked on as a by the by. Usually places to talk about the beardy philosophy of writing are moribund places as ...
12
votes
3answers
344 views
Learning storywriting for videogames - where to start?
Over the years, games that affected me emotionally convinced me that storywriting is a very rewarding work.
I thought about learning from novelists. But it seemed that some of the skills, i.e. ...
12
votes
6answers
240 views
Using today's moral compass in fantasy
During Roman and medieval times the use of slaves was very common in most civilisations.
Crimes often carried punishments that would fall under "cruel and unusual" today.
Is it possible to write a ...
12
votes
5answers
593 views
Best practices for maintaining documented code examples?
A good SDK (software development kit) includes plenty of well-documented examples. It also includes good tutorials and developer guides, which introduce concepts in logical progressions, typically ...
12
votes
2answers
845 views
What should be in a cover letter for short story submission to a magazine?
It's been about five years since I last submitted any of my work for publication, and my memory of what I was taught then to put in my cover letter is getting rusty.
What kind of information should ...
12
votes
5answers
479 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 ...
12
votes
2answers
58 views
Notes Placement
Why is it standard for a book's notes to be placed at the very end of the book—book endnotes—while only a small minority of books place each chapter's notes at the end of each respective ...
12
votes
4answers
354 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 ...
