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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What do you do if you enjoy writing, but have no ideas?
I've done some writing in the past - mostly short descriptive pieces, although I once wrote 9000+ words of a story idea I had.
What I enjoy about it are the technical, intellectual, creative ...
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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 ...
CommunityBot
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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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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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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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I have lots of ideas to write, what should I do? And what writing groups online that can keep me motivated?
I have three different ideas for three novel series , each one of them needs work on plot holes, world building and reasoning.
My problem is that I wish to do them all but I get overwhelmed and I get ...
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Help creating a name for a series [closed]
I am writing a series and need help creating a name for them. An example of what I am looking for would be something like Cassandra Claire's Mortal Instruments or Christopher Paolini's Inheritance ...
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What is the best way to generate ideas?
I want to write a novel, but I want to write that novel using my best idea currently... it's just that, I don't have an idea, at least not one that I deem worthy of the time and effort involved in ...
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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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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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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 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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Source ideas for monsters in a fantasy novel?
Does anyone have any suggestions on where to go to get some ideas on different types of monsters that can be created for a fantasy novel? I'm not talking about different variations of zombies or ...
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How to finish a story?
I do realize that this is a very generic question, and I apologize if it doesn't meet the requirements of this forum.
I have plenty of ideas for stories and I come up with new ones all the time, ...
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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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