All Questions
35 questions
14
votes
3
answers
713
views
How to create space
Recently, a few snippets of my fiction have received critiques along the lines of 'Does not give a sense of space'. Or 'needs more description, sights and sounds'.
I think where I am going wrong is ...
- 462
56
votes
8
answers
36k
views
"All of a sudden..." ?
I am writing a manuscript for a novel. It's my first attempt, and often I find myself wanting to write "suddenly" or "all of a sudden". I do this when I want the scene to change in an instant, or ...
- 735
18
votes
9
answers
4k
views
Referencing modern pop culture in science fiction
A geek today is quite likely to reference the pop culture of 30 years ago: "Do or do not, there is no try", "Beam me up, Scotty" and "Ground control to Major Tom" are easily and commonly recognisable. ...
9
votes
4
answers
609
views
How to write a good fight/action scene?
It dawned on me the other day, after struggling through a fight scene, that I am lost when it comes to writing action. I usually write slower, dialogue-heavy scenes, and I have become used to taking ...
- 268
43
votes
16
answers
13k
views
Do hard to pronounce names break immersion?
I have a character in my book named Jiolluav (with the correct accent, Zholl-you-of or /ʒōl-'yoo-äv/), and I've written my entire "novel" (it's a work in progress) using this name. When I asked a ...
- 581
22
votes
9
answers
12k
views
What breaks suspension of disbelief?
So much of Sci-Fi and Fantasy requires the viewer (or reader) to suspend their disbelief: The speed of light can be circumvented, magic works, vampires are real (and may or may not sparkle), etc.
...
- 323
22
votes
7
answers
7k
views
Is head-hopping always bad?
The general consensus nowadays seems to be that being in the head of more than one character is bad. We should be "on the shoulders" or "in the head" of one character, and one character only, if not ...
20
votes
6
answers
3k
views
Avoiding Darkness-Induced Audience Apathy
Darkness-Induced Audience Apathy is when the audience is put off by the incredibly dark nature of a fictional work and won't care what happens next, lose interest or want all the characters to die off....
user29299
7
votes
6
answers
13k
views
Examples for books that don't use (traditional) chapters? [closed]
I'm a big fan of Terry Pratchett, and he doesn't use chapters (mostly). Are there any other authors who tend to not use traditional chapters or chapters at all in novels?
4
votes
3
answers
784
views
Should I write out numbers or use the actual numbers (ordinals)?
Born late in the year, Adam was the only kid in his small 4th grade
class that had already turned 11. Every morning he got up at exactly
4:56, the latest he could rouse in the morning with ...
- 920
4
votes
4
answers
1k
views
Should I use ellipses or em dashes to denote pauses in speech?
I flipped open its latch and peered inside. A—gold tooth?
I flipped open its latch and peered inside. A ... gold tooth?
Was it an elephant? No, elephants didn't frequent beaches. It ...
- 12.4k
4
votes
3
answers
335
views
How can I steer myself away from using pronouns too often as I write in 3rd person?
I noticed that I use "she", "he", and "they" - and a lot of sentences also begin with the aforementioned pronouns. How can I steer away from doing this so often as I ...
- 1,075
1
vote
2
answers
2k
views
Can a male writer write from a female perspective? [duplicate]
The question is pretty straightforward. Can a male writer write a first person story of a female protagonist? What limitations might he face in writing about the other gender? Should he just stick to ...
27
votes
10
answers
7k
views
Does everything have to be accurate?
Do I have to make everything apply to logic, physics, science, etc?
The Harry Potter series has been a major hit, and it is nowhere near to being scientifically possible. But I've noticed that I can'...
- 587
21
votes
8
answers
4k
views
Is it frustrating not to know the narrator's gender?
I have written a 1st person piece and reading it I realize it's very difficult to tell if the narrator is male or female. There are one or two clues, and they come pretty late in the piece.
Would ...
- 491
18
votes
6
answers
4k
views
What is "head popping" and why is it bad?
Most of my writing experience has been with first person, nonfiction stories. Now I want to try some fiction. I'm working in third person, but I'm a little bit confused about how to pull something off....
- 381
15
votes
14
answers
8k
views
How can I Switch Protagonists Between Books?
Disclaimer: I am not intending on doing this. It is just a question I thought was fascinating and might be useful to other writers.
Here's the scenario. You're writing a series of novels. After the ...
12
votes
6
answers
2k
views
Can I switch from past tense to present tense in an epilogue?
I have written my entire novel thus far in past tense. However, I feel like my final chapter/epilogue would work better in present tense. I want to give the reader the sense that everything s/he has ...
- 121
8
votes
6
answers
3k
views
How to stop projecting yourself into your writing?
I am writing about a person who is transported 10 years into the past, and has the chance to relive their life (actually being able to: 'knowing what I know now I would...')
The trouble is I keep ...
- 303
8
votes
1
answer
1k
views
How to cut down on using too many pronouns (he, she, his etc.) while writing paragraphs (fiction)
I'm a relatively new writer and decided I would try and write something for fun. For the most part I have been finding it alright, however, I am really having trouble with repetitive sentences with ...
- 157
7
votes
5
answers
881
views
Is it strange/confusing to initiate/introduce a dialogue without a dialogue tag?
In other words, is it strange/confusing to do this?
For the next few seconds, I watched Aiko read the letter with her lips
agape---lips that steadily curled up into a smile. A contagious one.
...
- 1,143
6
votes
2
answers
454
views
Scene switching and how to do it?
So I am writing a story that is in my head for millions of years already and it is finally progressing. I like how things going for a first draft and I am pretty happy to get things going.
But lately ...
- 1,987
6
votes
4
answers
2k
views
How to make a dark story not-so-dark (Shining the light in darkness)
I'm writing a war story, and it's dark. However, I find that every scene turns out to be depressing because of it. Readers will be overwhelmed. Are there ways I can induce hope/shine the light in the ...
- 866
6
votes
5
answers
340
views
How can I convey something without going into details?
I am considering writing a novel in which society has fallen into a perverse pit of debauchery. This is necessary to the novel, but it also presents some problems. I want the reader to know just how ...
6
votes
2
answers
339
views
To what extent 'Reality' be included while writing 'Realistic' Fiction literature?
According to wiki,
Realistic fiction typically involves a story whose basic setting (time and location in the world) is real and whose events could
feasibly happen in that real-world setting.
...
- 1,987
5
votes
3
answers
5k
views
How do I write numbers in dialogue?
My proofreader recently revealed to me the following, which I was wholly unaware of:
...when a number/code/serial or whatever is said in dialogue, you write the whole thing out...
I had written ...
5
votes
1
answer
234
views
Is it okay to attempt to write in the style of another person, and how is that done well?
I want to write like Neal Stephenson- I read Snow Crash and absolutely fell in love with the style. I'm trying to write a cyberpunk style book myself, and I have a good plot (I think), but I want to ...
- 297
5
votes
6
answers
601
views
Are there words that are "stronger" than others? If so, why?
By strong I mean causing intense feelings in the reader. I thought about this while I was editing my novel (I consider the second cases to be stronger words):
I turned to the left
I twisted to ...
- 12.4k
5
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Pros and cons of writing a first person narrative in the present versus past tense?
I'm not sure if I should write my first book in the present or past tense.
The book is about a doctor in a clinic who is analysing his patients.
E.g.:
I said vs I say.
I thought for a while vs I ...
- 12.4k
3
votes
3
answers
446
views
Numbers in a name in dialogue
If someone is speaking the name of something that includes a number, should the number be spelled out or not? For example...
"I just bought a Mustang Boss 302."
Or
"I just bought a ...
- 31
3
votes
4
answers
895
views
How to deal with cliche dialogue?
The following is from a story I'm writing:
"Goodbye Choco," my mother said, to end the prayer, “may your soul
rest in peace,” and crossed herself.
“Sorry I couldn’t come earlier,” I said. “I’...
- 12.4k
3
votes
3
answers
684
views
Ways to reduce the -ing verbs in dialogue and action tags?
I find myself writing these a lot:
"Thanks." She tilted her head shyly to the side. As soon as she did,
her chin-length hair slid off her face, revealing the bowl-sized
bruise that made her ...
- 1,143
3
votes
1
answer
169
views
Ongoings in a character's mind
My story consists of a character that thinks a lot. The main idea is actually in his thought. How do I bring it out? The point of view is in third person, and it changes with every chapter.
- 441
2
votes
5
answers
747
views
What are the Criteria that Distinguish a Thriller from Horror?
The criteria that come to mind are not exclusive to horror novels, so I'm a little confused and annoyed (annoyed because I find horror novels scary, and yet just cannot define it logically when I try ...
- 164
1
vote
4
answers
310
views
How much information should a narrative sentence contain ,from experience on average, for good readability?
While randomly browsing, i noticed fiction writings contain much more comas in their sentences as lets say sentences in chats or instruction leaflets.
just for contrast
simple sentence:
i live in ...
- 189