Questions tagged [prose]
This tag should be used for questions about prose in your own writing, such as how to write in a natural manner from a different perspective or finding resources about writing in prose as opposed to writing in stylised forms, such as in rhythm.
38
questions
0
votes
1
answer
97
views
Unsure how to go about referencing/paying homage to a thematically similar text
I'm currently on the fourth draft of my novel and am at the stage at last of getting to go sentence by sentence and approach things on quite a molecular level. My book is a sci-fi reimagining of the ...
0
votes
2
answers
89
views
Should I Make Prose “Flow?” (Can Sounds be Overused?)
By “flow,” I do not mean rhythm or word structure or that stuff. I’m talking about phonemes.
I’ve read and reread the prose of a short story I’m currently writing. Multiple times. Aloud. Even ran it ...
- 3
0
votes
1
answer
94
views
How do I maintain interesting prose outside of the introduction/hook when I start getting into my anecdotes?
This is a personal narrative where I want to narrate my creative side. I start off strong with figurative language, descriptions, and metaphors. But as I get into my anecdote and what I learned from ...
- 1
0
votes
1
answer
32
views
What are the criteria that determines the flow of the prose?
People sometimes tell me that a longer sentence sometimes improves the flow of the prose. So I was wondering what they meant by that. How do you determine the flow of a prose, and how do you measure ...
user36239
3
votes
1
answer
47
views
Would using poetry to represent a character's dreams be viable?
In a couple of my writing projects I have used poetry to represent the dreams of the POV character. That way some of the content of the dreams and hopefully some of the emotion/feeling of the dreams ...
- 1,141
2
votes
1
answer
141
views
When do you break a paragraph when transitioning from dialogue back to prose?
Dialogue can get messy, jumping from character to character with beats and prose mixed in here and there. How do you handle all the paragraph breaks? Obviously anytime a new character speaks you have ...
- 197
0
votes
1
answer
99
views
I doubt myself as a writer. Is there anything I can do to better my writing? [closed]
Over the years I have fallen in love with writing narratives. I found the passion when I began to experiment with emotes as a teenager on a Peer-2-Peer program used to download music. Some of the ...
- 3
2
votes
1
answer
95
views
Can you suggest a book that focuses on the prose aspect of creative writing?
There are a lot of books on creative writing to choose from. However, most of them focus on the "plot" aspect of writing, and those books that talk about prose are usually very beginner-...
- 123
4
votes
7
answers
531
views
When is prosody in fiction too ornate?
I’ve written a very long fiction story titled (over 700 pages) and I am in the second round of editing. It’s a very dark subject: teenage suicide and I’ve written it in epic format (media-res, a ...
- 196
3
votes
2
answers
149
views
How do you convey a simple world through negative space?
I've been mulling over this question for at least a year now. There may be a simple way to ask it but I lack the vocab if there is one.
I'm ready to ask it because I think I can express what I want ...
- 173
2
votes
2
answers
153
views
Does Simple Writing Lead to Passive Reading? [closed]
a quick question here about non-fiction writing styles:
It is said that the German philosopher Immanuel Kant intentionally wrote in a difficult and opaque style so as to force his readers to pay ...
- 149
2
votes
3
answers
191
views
What to do when a sentence is too confusing
I’m struggling to clearly yet briefly explain what’s going on. I’m fairly sure this sentence is grammatically correct, but it still sounds clunky and confusing.
For context, my POV character sits down ...
- 1,006
0
votes
3
answers
218
views
Writing Deep Things
Pleasurable to many is thought evoking language and words never heard in the past. So how does one advance to the level by which they can form them?
- 1,758
0
votes
2
answers
122
views
Can a work of prose have multiple purposes?
In school and from books, I was taught that every prose composition must be planned before it is written and that the first step of planning a composition is to define for it a single purpose, whether ...
- 1,758
3
votes
3
answers
126
views
How to add symbolic things "in the background" without giving them focus?
my primary interest is video game development and I picked up writing (short stories) as a secondary skill. Because making games is a visual art that encompasses a bit of painting, cinematography and ...
2
votes
1
answer
112
views
Modes of Prose Rhythm
Any good prose is bound to be pervaded by rhythm. But in my opinion, there are different modes of rhythm. There is, to coin a term, quasi-metrical rhythm, a kind of rhythm where similar groups of feet ...
- 1,758
2
votes
2
answers
127
views
How to "inform" the reader of changes in narrator?
Writing low-quality novels on my spare time is my hobby and I'm currently "working" on one where the story about a country with an ongoing civil war. I'd like to alternate between different ...
- 151
1
vote
1
answer
114
views
How can you add light, quirky, humor or sarcasm into dialog?
Looking back at my book, I'm realizing how flat the dialog is. I'm not known for being funny and I don't consider myself naturally funny, so this is hard for me. How can I make the characters talk to ...
- 1,664
4
votes
5
answers
2k
views
How to write a character who speaks with Russian mannerisms
One of my characters is Russian and speaks English as a second language. I know that people with Russian accents tend to leave out words like “the” and “a” because they don’t exist in Russian.
My ...
- 1,006
5
votes
5
answers
724
views
How do I write less like a screenplay?
I've come to notice I have a very specific manner of writing. Specifically, I've noticed that while I'm writing a book, I tend to pace and set up things more like I'm writing a screenplay than a novel....
- 4,676
2
votes
2
answers
59
views
Is this the correct way to use quotes and commas when there are two quotes within one quote?
“He said, ‘spend a week more on the west wall and do your job diligently,’ and that at the end of the week, 'he would see,'” Yarpres said.
I did research https://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/...
3
votes
1
answer
141
views
Third person omniscient or limited?
This is kind of difficult to explain (im sorry if its really long) and I haven't found a question yet that addresses my exact issue. Apologies in advance if this breaks a rule, I can't find them ...
- 221
1
vote
4
answers
484
views
How do I describe something vividly without being purple?
I feel that the following example from Rosa Luxemburg is good at describing my goal. Despite using "complicated" words it doesn't come off as pretentious or edgy, but it still manages to give off the ...
1
vote
2
answers
908
views
Is it acceptable to render poems embedded in prose in two columns?
I am working on a book is going through the typesetting stage for self-publishing. In order to keep page count down, is it acceptable to typeset poetry with about a dozen of stanzas in more than one ...
- 149
2
votes
2
answers
287
views
What makes a strong mental image?
Images, as I call them, are an important part of your prose.
Now, let's look at examples of bad images:
From Onision's (from now on, Onii-san) book, Reaper's Creek :
Maybe that current lead him ...
- 3,347
21
votes
7
answers
2k
views
Detail vs. filler
How can I minimise the "filler" text that I end up writing when fleshing out a scene with detail?
An appropriate level of detail seems to me to be a fundamental requirement for good prose. Whatever I ...
- 3,448
3
votes
2
answers
188
views
How do I improve my "impact" in writing?
I don't know the exact word for it, but I hope I make it clear what I mean by "impact" soon. My favorite pieces of writing are Rosa Luxemburg's Junius Pamphlet, the lyrics to this Phil Ochs ...
13
votes
8
answers
2k
views
How is simplicity better than precision and clarity in prose?
Many recommend the Hemingway app, which pushes simplicity and the lowest possible reading level. Where I live, an illiterate person is defined as any person who reads below a grade nine level. The ...
- 12.3k
2
votes
1
answer
65
views
Writing effectively under very brief constraints
I recently noticed a trend to a few of my questions. I am attracted to writing in places with extreme brevity. This makes sense to me on a personal level. I've always been attracted to one-liners and ...
- 4,471
7
votes
1
answer
156
views
The English language, if England had a dictatorship
European dictatorships left a profound cultural footprint in the local culture, to the point that a certain vocabulary, a certain manner of writing, and even a certain manner of speaking is evocative ...
- 10.6k
2
votes
2
answers
285
views
Class/Course Names in Fiction
sorry if this has already been asked. But how are course or class names written in fiction (both prose and screenplay)? For example, if someone has a second-level algebra course on their schedule, ...
3
votes
2
answers
145
views
How do you decide the voice of your narrative?
Any guidelines to consider while deciding the voice of your narrative, i.e whether it should be a first-person account, or should the story be narrated by the voice of an omnipresent storyteller?
...
- 133
5
votes
1
answer
735
views
Mixing prose with character dialogue rhymes - childrens book
I've written my first children's picture book manuscript and it uses a mix of prose for the narration and rhyme for the character's dialogue. It feels to me like it gives more colour and life to the ...
- 153
30
votes
9
answers
7k
views
How to avoid constantly starting paragraphs with "The character did this" "The character did that"?
This is one of the tics I've noticed in my writing recently, and it's starting to bug me. Almost every single one of my paragraphs, particularly during dialogue sequences, starts with "The ...
- 10.9k
2
votes
3
answers
381
views
How do you escape "wanting-to-be-deep-ism"?
When I write (non-formal essays for/to myself or others), I frequently stumble and freeze on trying to be deep. I usually have the argument or point, but I'll get stuck on phrasing that has a certain "...
- 123
3
votes
4
answers
2k
views
Where to break paragraphs in dialogue?
I'm going through an editing something I wrote and am stuck on where to break paragraphs containing dialogue. I know I need to break when a new character speaks, but I'm not sure where to start a new ...
- 133
5
votes
5
answers
6k
views
Are rhymes bad in prose?
They are the good in lyrics and poems, but what about prose?
An example from my own writing:
I fall to the ceramic floor, blood and bile dripping from my lips, my
stomach full but my muscles ...
- 1,143
23
votes
7
answers
4k
views
How do I improve "beige" text?
I have a tendency to write text that's on the "beige" side. I think it's the engineer in me that tends to write text that's very straightforward and strictly factual. To a certain degree, that's good, ...
- 599