Questions tagged [style]
This tag should be used for questions that deal with a consistent style in your writing, such as when asking about typical ways to introduce a certain aspect to your reader by showing-telling or if you are concerned that your readers might feel that a change in the point of view might be perceived as inconcsistency.
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What are the usual methods for getting a daily word count?
Do, normally, only words which are eventually to be kept count, or do you also count rewrites? For example, if I rewrite a 50 word paragraph 10 times, is my daily count up to 50 or up to 500?
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How to overcome the fact that I can't write?
My problem is that I basically suck at writing. Especially prose.
Part of it is basically because I don't practice as much as I could.
Part of it is because I'm just not talented in that way.
...
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Pros and cons of using perspectives?
What are the pros and cons of using first person/second person/third person perspective in your story?
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How do you map out your storyline?
There are various ways for mapping out the storyline that you will use for a story. One of them is to create a bullet-point outline, which would theoretically be useful because of the hierarchy system ...
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How do you vary dialogue within stories? [duplicate]
How do you vary dialogue within stories? I often find myself writing "'sentence/dialogue' said character", and it sometimes gets really repetitive. How is this managed?
These are the only words that ...
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How to vary writing style?
I just had to edit a 40 page paper and I'm not kidding, there were paragraphs where every sentence started with "This."
How do good writers learn to vary their sentence length and wording to flow? I ...
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When should I avoid the passive voice? When might I use it?
An opinion exists that overusing of the passive voice can make writing harder for reading and understanding. Is it true for all kinds of writing? How to follow this advice without overemphasizing it? ...
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Is discovery or outline writing connected to personality type (e.g. MBTI)?
I'm on a bit of a Myers-Briggs spree at the moment (which is dangerous, because it is so easy to read way more into it than you are supposed to).
For those of you who are not familiar with it, it is ...
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Writing for an Audio book. What are specifics?
What are specific requirements, a writer should follow, when writing something that is going to be (or just can possibly be) not only read but listened as well?
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Should I avoid modern words/phrases in fantasy writing?
When writing, I tend to want to use words or phrases that have meaning in the real world, but wouldn't necessarily have meaning in the world in which I'm writing. For example, in a fantasy world, a ...
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When should modifiers be avoided?
I've come across this Mark Twain quote:
When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don't mean utterly, but kill most of them -- then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when they are close ...
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How not to overuse ellipsis?
I always… feel… so… expressive when I see this little nicy dots!.. I just can't stop to put them more… and more… and more… Please teach me how to stop!..
Update: I guess people misunderstood me. I ...
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What helpful writing exercises do you use?
The two I do most are dialog and description related. When I meet a person or I'm just sitting people watching, I try to write their description in my head as if I was describing a character in a ...
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Avoiding Deus Ex Machina resolutions?
Most Crime/Thriller Novels usually have a sudden, unexpected plot twist that puts the main character in a really hopeless situation.
One way to resolve this is by using a "Deus Ex Machina", that is a ...
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Switching POV: Should it ever be done at all?
When I started, I had a nasty habit of hopping from perspective to perspective to perspective. I forced myself down to one perspective per chapter, but I still wonder if it's acceptable to do it at ...
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Could I reach the level of good writing style as non-native language speaker?
I currently write in Russian, but I think of switching to English to gain more audience and to play with both languages and linguistics.
So could I ever reach the level of native English writers and ...
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Spelling style in academic papers
When an article is submitted to a conference or journal, is it better to use British or American spelling? Does it have to be according to the conference or journal's style (based on where it is being ...
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Are different styles/storylines prefered in different languages/cultures?
I am German. Can I apply the hints for style or story-building given here, or by English authors, without a second thought to my own work written in German? Or are there differences in how style or ...
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When and how often edit the style and content of a story?
An early story I did I edited again and again to make it better. But in the end, I got the feeling the result was worse than before. Recently I tried to write (short-stories) in one go and only check ...
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Choosing character names is a constant difficulty
I find it hard to name my characters. Every normal name sounds funny if applied to a product of my fantasy. If I take a common name, I may get the image of someone I know into my head. And that may ...
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How deeply should I study the background of a community before writing about it?
By "background", I mean the dialects, habits and culture of the community. Also, I wonder if it is even possible to write about a community without being a part of it?
I am only asking this in terms ...
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Initial Writing Medium
I am curious which is better for a beginning writer (or writer) starting a new story. Pen and paper or the computer?
Pen & Paper is a lot more sketchy (like the layout of this site) which gives ...
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What are the most common style manuals?
From Wikipedia:
A style guide or style manual is a set
of standards for the writing and
design of documents, either for
general use or for a specific
publication, organization or field.
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When is it okay to "tell", instead of "show"?
One of the major mantras of writing fiction is "show, don't tell".
Is it ever okay to tell? When?
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What are the differences between narrative and descriptive writing?
What are the differences between narrative and descriptive writing? What should we keep in mind while writing it?
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