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1500 questions
26
votes
8 answers
How can I Avoid Being Frightened by the Horror Story I am Writing?
Yes, I have to admit it. I don't like horror movies because (shocker) I find them scary. Unlike other people in my house, I do not like being scared. Especially right before I go to bed. I dislike going into haunted houses. I also dislike being…
Thomas Reinstate Monica Myron
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26
votes
12 answers
What does Show don't Tell actually mean
I am asking this question because I think we need a precise definition of what Show Don't Tell means if we are to decide if it is good advice or bad, or if it is a valid suggestion for certain passages but not a general rule for a whole book.
Orson…
user16226
26
votes
6 answers
How to write a homosexual character, whose homosexuality isn't the point of the story?
I'm writing a modern fantasy novel, with a female protagonist whose principal romantic interest is another girl. I want to know how I can write her without having her homosexuality being the predominant aspect of her character. The main plot…
Silver
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26
votes
7 answers
Signs of Bad Character Development
When creating a character, what red flags would show me that I'm creating an unbelievable or unsympathetic character? I know that to be believable and sympathetic a character must not lean too much to a single extreme or be a caricature. Besides…
justkt
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26
votes
11 answers
What's the best way to show a foreign language in a manuscript?
What's the best way to show a character speaking a foreign language in a fiction manuscript? Should the foreign words be italicized and include a translation? Should it just be included in the sentence and try and make sure the reader can guess at…
Ralph Gallagher
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26
votes
5 answers
How to avoid hearing "that's me!" from your friends when they read your characters, and that wasn't your intent?
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 absolutely not borrow traits from friends. On…
justkt
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25
votes
4 answers
From Markdown to .odt and vice-versa: a possible distraction-free writing workflow?
I'm writing a master thesis (Sociology) and I'm really penalized by distractions. I would happily shift to a markdown full-screen environment but I wrote an half of the thesis in .odt via LibreOffice, so I would like to know if it's possible to…
Kropot
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25
votes
14 answers
How to deal with self-criticism?
I write non-fiction articles for my website and a weekly paid newsletter, and I’m doing that for some time now. However, I still struggle a lot with self-criticism, and find it hard to regard an article as “good”, let alone something I’m proud of.…
Jura
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25
votes
10 answers
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 getting back into writing about something I hashed…
Tim
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25
votes
7 answers
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.
The implementation of a style guide
provides…
Josh Leitzel
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25
votes
11 answers
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 expanding my active vocabulary. I know that the…
pHneuma
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25
votes
7 answers
How can one effectively organize scenes and snippets?
I tend to write bits of stories out of order. If I have a great idea for a scene, I want to get it down it while I have it, even if it doesn't come until three chapters later than the part I'm on right now. I also have smaller bits lying around --…
HedgeMage
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25
votes
10 answers
Not wanting to "spoil" a story due to lack of skill
I have a story that is dear to me and that I would very much want to write about. However, I don't have lots of experience in writing so I'm afraid if I do try to write it, it won't be as good "as it deserves to be" (at best) or I will botch it (at…
Totofofo
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25
votes
7 answers
How to identify whether a publisher is genuine or not?
Despite an identical title: This question is in no means duplicate of this question.
In my local area, there have been various ads running on social media that invite novice writers to contribute their original writings for their upcoming…
Karan Desai
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25
votes
9 answers
A torrent of foreign terms
I am writing a short story, about a particular field with multiple specific terms, none of which are in English. (Specifically, I'm writing about bullfighting, but the question could apply to other fields.)
My POV character lives that particular…
Galastel supports GoFundMonica
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