Writing Stack Exchange
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1500 questions
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9 answers

How do I get my readers through the early, "hardship" part of my fiction?

A reader of one of my works told me, "It was very interesting, the last two thirds of it anyway." Her fear was that I might lose my readers in the first one-third of the work. The above work was a three act play, with a crisis and hardship in the…
Tom Au
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What are the standard genre characteristics of contemporary women's fantasy

I want to write a fantasy novel with a female protagonist, and I want to familiarize myself with reader expectations. Is there still a tradition of (medieval-type) fantasy by and for women, and what are its prototypical themes and plot? Or, in…
Sorry for that
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How should I document a product release with an inherently flawed design?

The deadline is looming and someone realizes the product can't be shipped without documentation. Once the product leaves the remit of the software engineers (who obviously only ever write wonderful code) and is passed on to a more objective audience…
Jason Fox
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Where should I put my tl;dr?

By definition TL;DR, short for "too long; didn't read", is Internet slang to say that some text being replied to has been ignored because of its length. In slang it can also stand for "Too lazy; didn't read". It is also used as a signifier for a…
Vylix
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Does misspelling words for the sake of bad English improve the immersion or distract the reader?

I am trying to write a character that speaks English poorly. I do not want to grossly misspell words for sounds or use bad grammar. I find those techniques to sound juvenile and the bad grammar is never the correct bad grammar a language would…
Andrey
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6 answers

How can I make a story bigger?

I have written a first draft of what I want to be a novel -- aiming for 50-70K words. When the ending arrived I was at about 30K. So I essentially have to double the length. My list of notes scattered throughout the ms adds some scenes, but that's…
bstpierre
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10 answers

Is there a method to estimating the length of a work before writing it?

I am writing my first novel, which I think likely will end up being several volumes. Although I have a lot of experience in poetry and short stories, this is a very different challenge! My question is about estimating the length of a work prior to…
DoctorWhom
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Technical Writing Software

I'm interested in newer software/software stack to use in writing technical papers. For the longest time I have been use LaTeX to handle this but in looking at getting longer pieces published, such as books, other software is being used. The one…
Travis
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In What Way are Most First Drafts Bad?

I've heard from a lot of people - both on this site and elsewhere - that your first draft will be terrible. Some even say that you will barely use any of it. This has me wondering: What about the first draft is so bad? Is it that the wording will…
Thomas Reinstate Monica Myron
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How do I incorporate Vocabulary in my writing that I already know?

I seem to have this problem where I know a lot of words but can't always seem to think them up when I write an article or a story. I know the meaning of most of these words, but when I write, some everyday phrase or idiom comes to my mind first or I…
Rio1210
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Would it be wise to make the turning point of a story coincidental?

I've written a fictional story and the way my characters are coming together and forming a bond seems way too coincidental to me. A lady lives on the first floor while her tenant, a guy, lives on the ground floor. A girl is supposed to meet that…
Nikki
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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 it to my mom to look over in case I did something…
kitukwfyer
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Can I shop an unfinished novel?

I've been writing a novel that addresses some very current themes. My belief is that if I can get it out there quickly, it will succeed well. I'm working on it frantically, but will agents consider representing a work in progress? At what point is…
Lynn Beighley
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How do expert writers avoid using "I" when they have to refer to themselves in their article?

How do competent authors, in a refined and perhaps (slightly) formal way, refer to themselves without saying I? I've seen the term "this writer" somewhere. How is it with a native? Are there other terms that are a little bit more formal and delicate…
Itsme
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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?
Ben
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