Questions tagged [fiction]
Fiction is a form of prose writing that deals with at least partly artificial or imagined events and characters. This tag should be used for any questions relating to fiction, including fiction formatting, techniques and publishing.
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How to write symbolism into a story?
I'm writing a dark academia/Gothic romance. It's about this guy named Humphry who accidentally summons a ghost girl named Cal after a failed experiment. He at first is freaked out and wants nothing to ...
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Can I switch the POV of a main character? [duplicate]
So I'm momentarily writing a fictional story for a class I'm taking, and I've run into a problem. I have one main character, but there is a scene where that character passes out. Is it possible to ...
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Describing exclaimations from a group
My character, an old woman, has been knocked down, injured and can't get up. There is a crowd of people, spread across a park, who all witnessed the accident. From her view, at ground level, she is ...
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How do I make a situation that looks like a planet will be destroyed, but without actually destroying it? [closed]
Here are some details for context:
There are two civilisations, A and B. B is significantly smaller, around a few hundred people.
B is visiting A's home world via a magic item that can teleport a ...
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Blending First and Third Person: A Wording Question
I'm writing a book with a blending of first and third person, and it switches whenever I need it to and not across chapters. The third person follows every character until the perspective changes to ...
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How to refer to different versions of a character?
In my historical spy thriller, there are five different characters named Miku that our protagonist has to fight. So initially, they're refered to as Idol Miku, Vampire Miku, etc. etc. etc. But then ...
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Should I flesh out the start of my fictional story?
The plot I’m thinking of goes from very normal, with fleshed out characters, to surreal towards the end. I want to wrap it around to have strange foreshadowing at the very beginning of the book to ...
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Can I use a place from another book in my own?
I am starting to write a book. I have original characters and plot (it should be original). It is about Greek mythology but Camp Half-Blood is not in it. I want my character to go to Olympus. Can I ...
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How Should We Implement the Given-before-New Principle in Fiction?
It's safe to say I've become a bit of a grammar nerd since I started writing my first novel. Three years after my first words landed on the page, I'm only now coming to the end of my final round of ...
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Is it inadvisable to use a racial slur in my story?
I’m currently writing a story which is an erotic thriller/romance set in the music/TV industry. The protagonist is a Taylor Swift-type confessional songwriter who is the biggest popstar in the world, ...
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If a character has multiple names, how can my narrator refer to them?
I'm writing a story about a spy. The narrator is third person omniscient. However, our spy has multiple names.
Her fellow spies refer to her as "Spy 94" but her real name is "Kafu"....
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Fictional settings & fictional towns - how to be realistic with geography for a realistic setting?
I've been writing a short story - and the setting is semi-important to it, it's not just a backdrop.
It's historical fiction of a sort - the 2000s is the era it's set in. Would this qualify as a ...
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What is an inciting incident?
I've been struggling to find a clear definition of what exactly an inciting incident is.
According to Masterclass, an inciting incident is:
The inciting incident of a story is the event that sets the ...
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How do you know if it is morning or evening if I write 9 o'clock?
If I write 9 o'clock in my novel - or any o'clock - how does the reader know if that's morning or evening?
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I am seeking for a partner to finish a fictional story. Where can I find somebody to work with me?
I have written a fictional novel of about 40,000 words with a very bad translation to English. I need someone to expand it with 30,000 more words to reach 70,000 and become a partner with me for ...
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What if the narrator forgets the names of the characters?
My writing project involves flashbacks and explanations that may already be hard to follow to the reader. But the most important point in it, is that in the end, no one remembers what ever happened. ...
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How do I write a superintelligent character?
A very similar question has been asked here.
Writing a Super Intelligent AI
I ask this question for multiple reasons. I was writing a sci-fi work and I decided it'd make sense that the characters have ...
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Would a story about a character who dies by suicide and regrets it in the afterlife be disrespectful or inappropriate?
I've had this story idea on my mind for months. It is rather taboo as its centered around a suicide and the afterlife, and I want to know the best ways I can go about it respectfully and considerately ...
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What examples are there of a major character being written out *without* dying?
Mainly talking about stories that span multiple instalments, like TV shows with multiple seasons or a novel series with multiple books.
In my experience, when a main character exits a series ...
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Is a self-introduction of the main character speaking to the reader appropriate to start a novel?
I'm authoring a horror/corruption/murder novel. The book starts off with the Main Character telling the reader about who he is and his physical appearance (now in his 60s), how he got to be ...
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Selectively mute character where language is a barrier
I have a mc that speaks only mandarin and is taken in by pirates that are mostly English speakers. He didn't speak much before being taken by them. So how would I write a character that is basically ...
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Do I need to ask real locations' permission to use them in my story?
I have written a children's book about dragons and the things they do in Texas. Do I need to ask i.e. the Lubbock Arboretum if it's okay that I mention them in my story? So my question is: When do I ...
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What is the difference between the 5-Act structure and the 6-Act structure of storytelling?
There is a YouTube channel called 6-Act Structure, which I will be citing as a reference, run by an Marshall Dotson who wrote The Story Structure Secret: Actions and Goals. The author argues in favor ...
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How do you turn a protagonist's desire to get revenge on an antagonist without killing the antagonist into a quantifiable and tangible goal?
I'm writing a story inspired by the 2010 South Korean movie called I Saw the Devil. The movie is about a secret service agent called Kim Soo-Hyun who enacts his revenge on a serial killer called Jang ...
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Tips for writing a contemporary story
I have a couple ideas for an upcoming novella that I am writing - one that I am quite excited about happens to fit into the contemporary fiction category. I don't consider myself to be a contemporary ...
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How Do I Keep My Writing Interesting?
I'm a beginning writer, and I constantly find myself struggling with my own sentences. Sometimes I even find them boring and uninteresting which I know can be a serious killer if I want to keep my ...
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How can I make a good prologue that fits with the story?
I'm new to this website, so I'm sorry for anything I accidentally do wrong, or if my question is hard to understand.
I just started writing my story and used certain structures to keep each event in ...
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Building a relationship off of a previous one
In this story, I kind of want to hint to a blossoming relationship, without being too explicit. So I'm kind of planning on having the main character remember parts of a previous, first wholesome ...
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How can I make my character motivations drive the story forward and not the other way around?
I'm having trouble writing my first real novel. The first three chapters in my story are dedicated to set up, introducing the main characters, and providing character motivations.
However, I have ...
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How to provide translations, moods, and registry in multilanguage dialog within an narration in English?
I am starting a serious writing project (a novel book from a story I once drafted as a TV show; I am not a script writer either). Furthermore I decided to write in English, which is not my native ...
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I'm trying to find enough sensory description for my book
How do I describe when a person falls unconscious with enough sensory details?
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Is it morally wrong to use tragic historical events as character background/development?
I'm writing crime fiction. The current scenario is that I have a main character (late 20's) who is Algerian but the story is set in Chicago. He lives in the United States because, as a baby, he fled ...
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Is using diverse verbs on action beats to tag speech frowned upon?
Watching a video from an editor yesterday, she said authors should refrain from using too many verbs on action beats, instead relying mostly on "said" and "asked".
I think it is ...
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How to show slow character development when switching perspectives
I'm in the process of writing the first draft of my first novel (a medieval low-fantasy). In the story, I have multiple characters who slowly get possessed over time. The possession occurs through ...
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When does a story benefit from or is made better by not having a central theme?
On online forums, I often see the argument that not every story needs a theme. This is the flip side version of the question of when a story needs a theme. I felt that those arguing that some stories ...
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Is it acceptable to have two different publishers for one book?
I've completed a novella and understand that it will fare better if it comes out in hardcover first. Indie publishers usually produce paperback and ebook versions. Does it make sense to self-publish ...
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I need some help polishing my protagonist's motivations
I'm writing a survival horror story that's a mixture between Bloodborne and The Last of Us. The story follows an emotionally distant woman and a physically disabled child as they trek through a world ...
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Is it better to slowly introduce a character's looks rather than describing it all in one paragraph?
I've been rewriting a book, and I've realised how blocky and kind of boring my character descriptions were in my first version of the book, and I thought that maybe instead of writing a character that ...
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What would happen if all humans disappeared from the world today? [closed]
I would like to write a science fiction novel where, as of today (30 April 2023) all humans disappeared from the universe. All other animals, plants & fishes exist, just not humans.
What would be ...
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Writing apartment numbers in dialog
I am editing a mystery that takes place in an apartment building. Various apartment numbers are referenced often. 503 is where the murder takes place. Everyone always says each digit when referring to ...
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How propose a story / write / publish for an established universe or franchise? [duplicate]
I would like to know the process of proposing a story or manuscript for an established universe or franchise. Some examples of universes include Star Wars, Star Trek, Horizon, etc. My question is ...
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Novel begins with a number of chapters concerning the father of the main character, but does not include the main character
Table of Contents:
Prologue
24 Years Ago: Omissions of the Past
A number of chapters of backstory (life) of father of main character, but son, who is the main character for rest of book is not in it, ...
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A podcast episode as a setting/scene
In a book I'm writing, I want to write a chapter involving a main character being a conspiracy theory podcaster.
How can I format this into a writing idea?
My plan was to include a fake advertisement ...
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Issues to avoid when writing military sci-fi?
As I plan to write a war story, I'm considering issues I should try to avoid.
Few that come to my mind already:
Glorification of violence, meaning depiction of violence in a positive way, ignoring ...
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Is it a copyright infringement if I tell the meaning of a name in a book?
I used the name Byron in my book stating it meant strong one. is that copyright infringement?
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How to write character names in mystery novel where they are supposed to have their mind erased?
I'm writing a story about 5 characters without any recollection of their past and their journey to get their memories back.
I want to reveal their identity at the end of the story and I am struggling ...
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How do you write a book in which the main character has amnesia?
I was thinking about writing my first book (Blood on Her Hands.) There will be a main character who has amnesia. That's a problem for the book because she can't remember her past and anyone in it (...
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Should a first-time novel writer have more than 5-7 characters?
I have never wrote more than a short story in my life yet. That being said, I am planning to complete a novel soon. I feel like I might have too many characters. I have around 28 minus the ones not a ...
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How to describe a sinister expression
I'm a noob at writing and I wanted to find out how to describe someone's face contorting into a sinister expression. I'm having a bit of trouble doing so. The most prominent features I want to focus ...
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How to write an event in a story with a memory gap (Repressed memory)?
Scenario: The protagonist goes to a party, gets drugged, and is assaulted. This event is not in the characters history. It happens during the course of the story.
Perspective: First Person
Genre: ...
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