54
votes
Accepted
How do you add LGBT characters in your story in an organic fashion without coming off as "pandering"?
Let's see here. (Looks at his extensive collection of comic books, novels, DVDs, etc.)
For the most part, when a character is introduced to the typical story line, their sexuality is not an early ...
- 687
28
votes
How do you add LGBT characters in your story in an organic fashion without coming off as "pandering"?
TLDR: sexuality really isn't that important a character trait, don't make a big deal out of it unless it's really integral to the plot.
As a member of the alphabet people, I think a lot of the other ...
- 667
27
votes
Accepted
Can you completely skip bridge scenes in movies or comic books?
What is the story you actually want to tell?
Is it "Mario gathers information about where the Princess is being held?" or is it "Mario rescues the princess?"
When the whole process ...
- 6,225
24
votes
Accepted
Is it ok to introduce something in a flashback if you forgot to introduce or foreshadow it before?
Not really, it is not ok. You can do a flashback; but it will still seem to the audience a deus ex machina.
Readers aren't stupid and they expect characters to survive by wits, not luck. This seems to ...
- 99.7k
20
votes
How do you make a story as sad as possible?
The sharpest tragedy is intimately personal
The world blew up and everybody died. The end.
This is not a very sad story. There is an infamous quote, "One death is a tragedy. A million is a ...
- 8,659
19
votes
How do you make an unhappy ending satisfying for the readers?
I can't help but feel that you're looking at this backwards - for a "bad" ending to work effectively it needs to be a natural product of the story. Starting with the idea of "I want a ...
- 7,213
16
votes
Accepted
Why is it generally important to be consistent with the tone and style of writing?
While there's nothing to say you can't do this, it's unusual for a reason.
When a reader selects and starts reading a book, they become invested in it (hopefully!). They say that the first 20k or so ...
- 1,428
15
votes
Accepted
How do you make a story as sad as possible?
To no fault of their own.
In my opinion the saddest stories are where the characters do everything right and still lose.
Examples:
A princess is sick, and a brave knight goes on a quest to save her......
- 2,403
12
votes
How do you make an unhappy ending satisfying for the readers?
The goals of the protagonist may be different from the goals of the story.
Suppose that all that the protagonist really wants is to find a wife, marry, have kids, be happy. Instead, in pursuit of that ...
- 149
11
votes
Is it ok to introduce something in a flashback if you forgot to introduce or foreshadow it before?
If you really are releasing your story in pieces, and at the high point of piece #7, you want your character to use an item that they must have obtained back in piece #3, but you didn't mention in ...
- 3,692
10
votes
How do you add LGBT characters in your story in an organic fashion without coming off as "pandering"?
The answer by BillOnne is a good one, and I'll echo many of the points there. If I were to rephrase it a bit, I'd say it really goes down to good characterization and showing, not telling. Ideally ...
- 197
10
votes
How do you make a story as sad as possible?
I think the most important part to achieve your goal is to focus on connection between the reader and the character(s).
A feeling of sadness only arises if the reader is emotionally invested in the ...
- 201
10
votes
Why is it generally important to be consistent with the tone and style of writing?
Expanding on Phil's answer:
He's right that you run the risk of alienating readers. But maybe that's okay. Much like genre, tone sets the expectation for your reader and is something of a contract; ...
- 885
9
votes
Struggling at writing dialogue. What to do?
Dialog is for Charisma Skill Checks
Do dialog if a D&D DM would call for a Charisma skill check.
Fred wants to convince Barney to join the bank job (Roll Persuasion)
Wilma wants to convince Betty ...
- 1,722
9
votes
How do you make a story as sad as possible?
The saddest things are when you combine as many of the following as possible.
Something bad happens to an innocent
It is not the fault of the suffering person
It isn't anybody's else's fault either
...
- 1,668
9
votes
Can you ignore your own death flags and spare a character if you changed your mind?
Depending on what kind of story you write it could work as a "teachable" moment. Having a character face her or his own mortality can be part of their character growth, the death flags you ...
- 2,403
8
votes
Can you completely skip bridge scenes in movies or comic books?
Skip the boring bridge scenes that are not required for plausibility. If skipping a scene might break audience immersion, include enough to patch that leak in your story.
For example, in many shows, ...
- 99.7k
8
votes
Accepted
What is the primary reason why sequels often suck?
Sequels are often rather crummy because the author managed (by luck or intent) to write a good book or screen play that actually communicated something to the reader or viewer, then writes the sequel ...
- 3,129
7
votes
Accepted
Can you ignore the 7 main beats of the story, what are some alternatives?
These aren't "the 7 main beats of the story". This is one writer's particular way of describing the outline of a story. There are hundreds of other methods of doing this.
What they're ...
- 116
7
votes
How do you add LGBT characters in your story in an organic fashion without coming off as "pandering"?
You need to balance three things, tokenism, veiling, and whether masculinity is ok.
There are three extremes that people often go to. One extreme is tokenism, when people make an lgbt person an ...
- 197
7
votes
How do you make an unhappy ending satisfying for the readers?
Your readers' satisfaction may be indirect: Your story made them live through strong emotions — in the end sadness, sure, but still strong.
Stories with a sad ending are commonly called tragedies. ...
7
votes
Can you ignore your own death flags and spare a character if you changed your mind?
You can't just ignore the hints you've given that something bad is going to happen.
If you just ignore them and everything turns out fine, then you'll aggravate your readers.
You'll need to go back ...
- 3,129
6
votes
Accepted
Why is it wrong to have your LGBT character find a love interest as soon as possible in your story if, in your setting, people are not LGBT-friendly?
Is it "as soon as possible" from the perspective of the story, or the in-universe events? If the story, then I don't really see what's wrong with it either. Finding each other can even be ...
- 2,296
6
votes
Should you always write a strong antagonist?
The Lord of the Rings is (IMO) not really about Sauron; it is a character story about people struggling to do what is right without becoming evil themselves.
When your story is about characters ...
- 99.7k
5
votes
Can you completely skip bridge scenes in movies or comic books?
The question is whether you confuse the reader. Therefore the important thing is to convey any information that the reader would have learned in them.
For instance, if the first scene ends with ...
- 8,662
5
votes
How do you add LGBT characters in your story in an organic fashion without coming off as "pandering"?
Make it appropriate for your setting
I believe that people with the desires and feelings that we currently call "LGBT" exist all around the world, have done throughout history, and will ...
- 445
5
votes
How do you make a story as sad as possible?
I see you accepted an answer anyway, but here is some advice.
Read really tragic stories.
I remember reading a story from a Norse saga involving a shipwreck. The protagonist's wife gives birth to ...
- 2,467
5
votes
How do you work with a story with an ending that's obvious from the very start?
When writing to a foregone conclusion, the story is in the path, not the destination.
If I choose to hike the Appalachian Trail, it's foregone that (barring hike-ending injury or other emergency or my ...
- 5,272
5
votes
I'm afraid of being accused that I copied, even when I'm the one writing earlier
a story is a gift
You cannot share a story and keep it to yourself.
You have the good fortune of a small group of friends who support your interest in writing. You will, at times, need to compromise ...
- 27.1k
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