Writing Stack Exchange
Writing Stack Exchange

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1500 questions
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16 answers

How do I say that someone is black?

Sorry if this is an ancient solved problem to ask in 2019, but I googled about this and Quora isn't really answering me. I searched for the words black and race and politically as key-words on this website but still not a satisfactory answer. The…
user37170
15
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6 answers

Borrowing Characters

Would it be a violation of copyright and/or plagiarism to “borrow” a character from another novel? For example, I have a short story and want to include as a side character Ender (of Ender’s Game). I would preserve Ender’s name, family, personality,…
LN6595
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Should I make up my own names for the days of the week/months

I'm writing a light fantasy book. I think it will end up falling into the YA genre. I'm considering making my own names up for the days of the week/months. The book is set in a fantasy world, so it would make sense, but I feel like I'm over…
klippy
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I'm afraid that my setups will be overlooked

I have a main character that cannot die. I'm trying to convey this information to the reader, but since my character isn't aware of this, I've decided to leave hints throughout the adventure. This is mainly done through rumours that are dismissed…
Valrog
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Should the name of a mythological creature be capitalized?

The name of the mythological creature in my novel is "manananggal". When I'm referring to it, should I capitalize what it is?
R. Narine The Author
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10 answers

Choosing between two people in a romance?

So, my dilemma is as follows. I have a romance project with the MC trying to choose between two women who he cares for very much. Each has broken his heart, but are willing to make amends and provided justification for their misdeeds. In order to…
Kale Slade
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Does this scene fail the Bechdel test?

My novel has approximately a dozen women in it, but they don’t tend to talk to each other. Most of them are separated geographically or philosophically and sitting down for a chat does not seem something they would do as they are busy doing other…
Rasdashan
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People like my book, starting halfway through

This is kind of an alternate take on my other recent question, as well as the inverse problem to this question. I've been told by more than one beta reader that there's a specific chapter where they went from "meh" on my book to really feeling…
Chris Sunami
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How do you normalize a taboo custom in a setting that most readers would not agree with?

This setting' world is populated by witch covens that function as both royal houses and political entities. They are matriarchial, with witches had the head of families who directly control their houses and have indirect control over smaller branch…
Incognito
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Promoting controversial opinions in a work of fiction

I'm writing a first person novel and main character has highly controversial views, many of which the majority of people would probably consider immoral. Would a character with controversial attitudes be a no-no for a reader? Or maybe a publisher?…
rus9384
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Is it bad if I sidetrack to a backstory that’s not really necessary but is interesting?

My story is about two children and one of them dies in the first chapter. I give a four page backstory of how his parents came to the town they are in now, it is unnecessary but very interesting. Should I just remove it? I mostly added it because…
Angel
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What software/techniques do people use to gather ideas?

I'm planning to create a game. It won't be the first game I've created (or even released), but it will be my first game with any story to speak of. I'm still very much in the planning phase of the entire thing (even earlier than that perhaps), and I…
Shadow
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What techniques do you use to maintain your writing focus and maximise your productivity?

How do you keep writing no matter what’s going on around you? How do you avoid the distractions of social media, that dishwasher that needs unloading, that wash that needs putting on, that cup of tea you’re dying to take a break for? How do you…
GGx
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How do Red Herrings work?

The more distractions you have in your narrative, the fresher the plot/character twist. They were used in ‘The Da Vinci Code’ and the Harry Potter series, to keep the audiences focussed on a different ‘conclusion’. How are they done, exactly?
Edmund Frost
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Are connotations with certain names inevitable?

In my book (fantasy novel), there's a character named Brad. Unfortunately, Brad has become synonymous with "douchebag". Now, when I first introduced him I just came up with a name. It needed to be on "B", because he was a butcher. "Brad the…
A. Kvåle
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