Questions tagged [ideas]
This tag should be used for questions that deal with the management of ideas in the process of writing your work.
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How can I balance an FTL system in a sci-fi story?
I'm currently writing up a sci-fi universe where humanity is the newbies to the intergalactic community. Because nobody likes stories of extremely slow yet realistic interstellar voyages (with ...
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What makes a paragraph?
Some say that a paragraph should have (only) one idea (or subject or topic). In that case, what constitutes an idea (or subject or topic)? And how might one verify that a putative paragraph possesses ...
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Writing an eerie yet good Afterlife System
The story I'm writing has an afterlife system (a main focus of the story), and I'm trying to do it in a way that isn't Christianity-esque (ie. hell with no redemption, heaven being an all-powerful ...
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Is my story about an alien revolution against a fascist government a good idea? If so, how will my character get into the conflict?
My story is about an alien planet, the aliens call it "Creatchiuhk" (Although I may change that name.)
In 2078, the "New Soviet Union" discovers a power source to go extremely fast ...
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How do you come up with superpowers that haven't been overused? [closed]
It's hard to be really original during a time where you literally have TV shows and movies every few months, but some clichés seem to be recurring.
For example, in a lot of superhero movies, you have: ...
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How do I produce a useful piece of literature out of an idea?
I have an idea.
People help each other not because they feel pity for someone else but because they feel pity for themselves by imagining as if it were them in that situation like the other person ...
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Where do you organize ideas you have for a series that are not related to the plot?
I started writing beat sheets, but I noticed it doesn't include details about history, society, lore, natural laws, etc. The issue with that is when you want to write a long story, the beat sheet won'...
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How can I get better at generating ideas and content (in any genre)?
What can I do to develop my muscle for generating themes, purposes, and content, as very often I haven't used it, focusing mostly on style?
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What should I do if I have similar concepts for characters but different roles?
In one of my previous questions, I asked about how to get solid concepts. This one is similar but I'm asking what to do if I have two characters with similar concepts but whose differences make it ...
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When do you have to kill a character?
We all know that a character dying is very common in the world of fiction. I'm struggling to find reasons to kill a character. One reason I know of is killing a character, when their whole potential ...
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How to write a novel with a mixture of horror and crime (detective) thriller? [closed]
I just had a idea where what if A Detective and his buddy have to face supernatural creatures, cases full of mystery... Like two stories : Sherlock Holmes + Goosebumps ( orIT) smashed together into ...
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Ways to construct a temporary medieval road block? [closed]
I understand bandit attacks are themselves cliche, but ignoring that for now:
Situation: A guy is transporting a shipment of ice from atop a mountain, needs to get to the foothills asap. Cue cliche ...
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How do writers in spy fiction overcome problems by naming countries accused of heinous crimes?
I am thinking of writing a spy thriller, and I am in the process of forming an outline. The plot in my mind involves 3-4 countries and would involve accusing some countries of heinous crimes, as an ...
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Writing ideas for regrets someone would have after death and how to overcome them [closed]
Not completely sure if this is the right place for this question, but I had an idea for a story involving teens that have died with regrets/undealt with trauma being sent to an "afterlife" ...
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Writing Detailed Paragraphs
Often, whenever I write a topic sentence, whether or not I include it in the paragraph, I cannot expound on the topic for any length. I seem to be so deficient in the ability to add detail to a simple ...
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Does having some same characteristics invoke copyright?
I want to make a manga. The complex story uses characters from toys that I played with as a child. These characters were Legos and not rendered in 2D.
And, I mixed some parts of their body so they ...
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Are real English words trivial to poetic language? [closed]
I have been writing poetry for a short time now, and many times I had the urge to use a word that isn't in the English language, but expresses my feelings in the clearest way.
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How to find out which story idea is the best to write & too many ideas advice?
I have so many ideas for different stories, a little too much to be honest. I would love it to write them all, but I can't focus on just one idea. My mind keeps going to other stories, or getting more ...
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Is emailing an original idea to oneself using Gmail a foolproof way to timestamp it?
"one easy way to timestamp an idea is to email it to yourself using something like gmail. Since you are not able to falsify gmail's timestamps, you can use it as evidence of the timing of an idea&...
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Turning ideas into hero's journey story [closed]
I want some advice on how to come up with a good story idea
I have to create a story that has the 12-stage hero's journey structure, with a Byronic hero.
Right now I can't seem to think of any good ...
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How can I raise the stakes for my villain protagonist?
I'm currently writing a story about a psychopathic serial killer that meets a detective (the murderer owns a restaurant and the detective and his wife meet him there) that is investigating the victims ...
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Shortage of Ideas
Oftentimes, when trying to write, I run into trouble comming up with all I intend to say, barely managing to author the main points. As to whether this is due to some cognitive defect, or due to some ...
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What could be the turning point for the protagonist? [closed]
What is/are life changing event(s) (positive or negative) that leads a young solitary physicist to enquire into spirituality? [Later protagonist turns into modern monk and figures out way to ...
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Stuck with writer's block; how can my young protagonist overcome depression due to sudden loss of sight? [closed]
I'm writing a short story in which my protagonist is a little boy. An unexpected event happens and makes his life upside down which is blindness. This latter causes him depression and now I don't know ...
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How can a newbie writer secure a self-written story for him/herself using copyright? [closed]
I have an idea to write a story. How can I apply copyright to it after it gets written?
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What really is considered as plagiarism?
I am currently writing a novel which I noticed is based on ideas from many books that I have read. I noticed that what did I do is get an idea from a book, get another ideas from (many) other books, ...
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How can I find a good idea for a dragon-battle scene? [closed]
First of all, hello!
I really, really, really do want to have an answer for my question. I’ve been writing a novel about dragons, but I can’t finish it. I’m just at loss of words (and ideas).
To ...
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How get rid of writer's block? [duplicate]
Not long ago, I used to be a regular person with a normal office job, but one day I quit it and started writing articles, sharing stories, and useful tips about life on a small farm. Later I became a ...
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How to develop ideas?
I participated in a weekly challenge prompt app and many asked me to continue writing and to make it a book but I can't find a good idea to develop that short story.
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Making the mutants in my setting more unique?
Okay, so I’m writing a post-apocalyptic story, and what’s a post-apocalypse without mutants? So, I decided I’d create a few. There’s just one problem.
So, after reviewing my writing for them, I feel ...
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Need a driving circumstance to drive mc into new world [closed]
I’m struggling to find a driving circumstance for my character to want to enter train and get better in my fictional world. I have tried letting the antagonist try to kill him to drive him there but ...
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Should a writer be a good reader?
Someone who wants to be a writer, has a good idea in his/her brain but is not much of a reader. Can that person be a good writer given that he/she has read a few novels but wants to write a great ...
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What to do with a story fragment?
What should I do when I write an idea, for example a fight scene, but then I find it difficult to write a solution or way to switch from that idea? Should I cancel the whole idea or what, knowing ...
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Enjoying my writing vs. maintaining writing habit
How do I resolve the conflict between:
Being interested in what I write about
Ignoring my inner critic, pushing past writer's block, starting writing, maintaining a writing habit, etc.
When I find ...
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Has the idea for my story already been taken?
I want to write a story about a place called Kingdom Come, where you can come in but you cannot go (i.e. you are not allowed to leave). Has this idea already been taken? It really sounds like the sort ...
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Is my general plot idea original enough or totally common?
I got a very general idea the other day for a story plot, which can be summed up like this:
An ordinary, well-respected man is going about his day and accidentally discovers some kind of unbelievable ...
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Heaven's authorities reject person and revive instead [closed]
I have this specific issue I am trying to work out:
Each time this one particular person dies on planet Earth as he ends up in heaven and from there reaches the authorities, they tell him they can ...
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What exactly makes a story interesting? (philosophical) [closed]
So I am trying to write a story for a game.
I am more of a systems guy so this is uncharted territory.
I try not to follow examples ("make terrible things happen to the characters") but rather the ...
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How to keep my ideas organized and respecting a timeline?
I've always wanted to get into writing but always found myself coming up with increments of an event that already happened or imagine something that would only happen a bit ahead, distracting me from ...
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If I wouldn't want to read the story, is writing it still a good idea?
I struggle with forming full-fledged ideas. I'll come up with a snippet of an idea, have a hard time fleshing the idea out, and then lose interest before the idea becomes an actual story concept.
...
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At what point does an interesting analogy become a distraction?
I've written a book.
My question is if it is in bad {taste, karma, policy} to use an analogy that is disrupting to the reader's stream of consciousness. The quote in question is this:
Like a ...
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Is my book to similar to Matched by Allie Condie [duplicate]
I'm currently writing a book about a government that designs its citizens' DNA and assigns them each to a job or purpose in life best suited to improve the society as a whole. My main character does ...
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How to add depth to primary female character that contrasts well with primary male characters
I am attempting to write a relatively complex SciFi military novel following 3 primary characters. A male and female protagonist, and a male antagonist. So far none of those characters are aware of ...
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How do you keep track of projects/ideas until you have time to write them down?
I've read the answers to this question but they focus on getting ideas written down pretty much as they occur, that's not my issue, I have both digital and analog methods for doing so with me at all ...
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Explaining made up card game
In my book I've made up a card game where I've already thought out the rules. Now I want some of the characters playing this game.
My questions are:
Should the reader know the rules?
If I want to ...
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How do I finish my stories although I have both ideas and titles for them?
Almost every day I come up with new titles and rough ideas for new books to write. I e-mail them to myself, happy and longing to write them down. I have published two books, and I know I can write. ...
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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 ...
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Advice for a "Gift of Words" [closed]
So we have a friend, having a milestone birthday, and his wife requested that we provide a gift of words. This friend is about the age of my children, and a creative type person.
The trouble is ...
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Should I focus on ideas which the market enjoys, or ideas which I enjoy?
Two approaches to writing:
Writing about ideas that are currently 'hot' in the market (a bit like when the Hunger Games came out, many authors quickly released books which incorporated the same set ...
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Should I take breaks, or focus harder?
I often have trouble deciding whether (or how often) to take breaks from writing, or to "double down" and try to write, and try to eliminate anything distracting me from that.
I am not looking for ...
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