36
votes
Accepted
Grammarly editing my effects, should I keep them or listen to Grammarly?
You are writing in first person. Under the circumstances, ignore Grammarly and write conversationally, like you feel the person would actually talk. If Grammarly shows you something that makes you say ...
- 91k
34
votes
Grammarly editing my effects, should I keep them or listen to Grammarly?
I fed Grammarly this random sample from Hemingway.
"A Farewell To Arms"
She won't die [in childbirth]. She's just having a bad time. The initial labor is usually protracted. She's only ...
- 7,505
19
votes
My character surprised me with their behaviour while writing them, should I keep that behaviour or stick to how I had planned them?
Can It Serve A Purpose?
I personally find that these little events in the story with character acting out of character are god-sends for writing. I get subtle sub-plots appearing and unexpected ...
- 12.6k
15
votes
Grammarly editing my effects, should I keep them or listen to Grammarly?
Never blindly follow a grammar checker.
Never even blindly follow a spelling checker, but grammar checkers are worse. There has never yet been a grammar checker that would not choke on unusual but ...
- 5,228
13
votes
My character surprised me with their behaviour while writing them, should I keep that behaviour or stick to how I had planned them?
As a Discovery Writer, I live for those moments, I absolutely want my characters to surprise me and act on their own.
At the start of the story, all my characters are malformed lumps of clay; I have ...
- 91k
12
votes
Grammarly editing my effects, should I keep them or listen to Grammarly?
As a professional writer, I've never been convinced that Grammarly is capable of handling poetic elements and timing well. I would definitely go with your version and, for anything less than a ...
- 331
9
votes
Accepted
My character surprised me with their behaviour while writing them, should I keep that behaviour or stick to how I had planned them?
In general, I agree with Joelle, but I think it depends on a number of factors:
What is the role of this character? In particular, is this character intended to be static or to develop?
If this ...
- 1,086
9
votes
Is it ok to name a character after one in a well-known book?
When using the name of a famous character, you want to consider two things.
1-Will people accuse you of stealing it?
Pride and Prejudice is from 1813, so copyright is no problem, but the book is ...
- 508
8
votes
Is it ok to name a character after one in a well-known book?
"Pride and Prejudice" was published in 1813 and is in public domain now. You are free to use any names from it.
Another question is if you really want to create this name allusion for the ...
- 5,888
7
votes
Grammarly editing my effects, should I keep them or listen to Grammarly?
I like your sentence very much. Your first person narrator has a confident, distinctive voice. If you maintain that voice, you are better than many of the students in my classes who are native ...
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7
votes
My character surprised me with their behaviour while writing them, should I keep that behaviour or stick to how I had planned them?
My answer would be to keep the reaction to the stress.
This kind of thing where characters sometimes react and do things I do not expect is something that I let influence my writing and I usually feel ...
- 504
4
votes
How do I warn/prepare my beta readers when giving them small excerpts to read?
The Slings and Arrows of Outrageous Fortune:
I think that technically what you are using these folk for is as alpha readers. That's fine, but the expectations of alpha readers is a little higher than ...
- 12.6k
3
votes
How can I write a young adult character as very excited without sounding like a child?
There is some overlap, but excited adults do not beg or excessively thank somebody, and adults are generally not as emotionally expressive as children.
When adults are excited, they are in a good mood,...
- 91k
3
votes
How important is your first sentence?
I don't think first sentences are that important; other than being clear and understandable. In fact, I roll my eyes at pretentious first sentences, or those in which the author seems focused on ...
- 91k
3
votes
How do I warn/prepare my beta readers when giving them small excerpts to read?
Adapt the Consent Checklist
The RPG Consent Checklist is a list of potentially objectionable things that might be encountered in an RPG. Each item has checkboxes for the player to indicate how they ...
- 3,463
2
votes
How can I steer myself away from using pronouns too often as I write in 3rd person?
Pronouns Aren't the Problem
I see two potential issues here: repetitive sentence structure, and focus on choreography.
Repetitive Sentence Structure
She [did a thing] [connecting word] [another thing]...
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2
votes
How can I steer myself away from using pronouns too often as I write in 3rd person?
I worried about this recently, so decided to do some analysis on some ebooks I owned by exporting sections into word and writing some VBA code to analyse the sentence starter words. Pronouns and ...
- 323
2
votes
How important is your first sentence?
"Call me Ishmael." opens Moby Dick.
On its own, standing there, by its lonesome, it's okay, but to me, it is not a wowzer. But, it serves a terrific purpose. It sets the tone for the ...
- 7,505
2
votes
Grammarly editing my effects, should I keep them or listen to Grammarly?
Grammerly is not a writing checker. It's a set of business-writing algorithms.
In writing fiction, or creative non-fiction, I'd be VERY careful about taking its advice. If it says you messed up ...
- 1,220
2
votes
Is it a odd concept for a superhero with superhuman powers to used technology/gadgets and also relied on tech?
Magneto's helmet:
It is not really shocking for a character to have a combination of physical and technological/magical enhancements to "raise the bar" on what they can do. Magneto has a ...
- 12.6k
2
votes
Is it a odd concept for a superhero with superhuman powers to used technology/gadgets and also relied on tech?
No, I don't think so; its not automatically bad to have a superpowered character to be relying on tech. But you have to show why they rely on their tech. Example: Spiderman, he has superpowers of a ...
- 805
2
votes
Is it a odd concept for a superhero with superhuman powers to used technology/gadgets and also relied on tech?
Yes and no
Superhumans are commonly using conceptually simple weapons or armor, often produced with the involvement of high tech. Thor is using Mjollnir, Captain America is using his shield, Jedi ...
- 5,888
1
vote
Working backwards from "Delete the people, keep the math and jazz." (SciFi short story)
You’ve a start at an idea. And, as you’ve recognized an idea isn’t a story.
The term for the next step is Pre-writing. The web is full of differing processes and ideas on this subject. One process ...
- 7,505
1
vote
Is it a odd concept for a superhero with superhuman powers to used technology/gadgets and also relied on tech?
I don't think it's silly at all, nor odd.
I once created an RPG superhero character who had the abilities to become invisible, phase through solid matter, and levitate -- but his forward flight ...
- 4,586
1
vote
Is it a odd concept for a superhero with superhuman powers to used technology/gadgets and also relied on tech?
I agree it is silly, and I think it would make sense.
Even if somebody's superpower were invulnerability, without any attack powers they should still carry something that helps them subdue bad guys. ...
- 91k
1
vote
When it comes to superhero stories, particularly the X-Men. Would it be too much to focus on other types of superhumans in the setting?
If that's what you want to write, write it. But yes, I think it is too much.
The problem with writing fiction is you are typically introducing a concept like X-men, or Magic, or Vampires, or Zombies, ...
- 91k
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