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
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 ...
- 7,223
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 ...
- 1,438
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
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; ...
- 900
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
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 ...
- 3,127
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 ...
- 3,127
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 ...
- 2,501
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 ...
- 100k
6
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 ...
- 5,282
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 ...
- 2,497
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 ...
- 27.2k
5
votes
I want to write a short story without naming the places the characters visit
You can include a description. You don't have to mention the name if you don't want to.
- 2,501
5
votes
Why is it generally important to be consistent with the tone and style of writing?
I think this comes down to something similar to what Brandon Sanderson describes as promises and payoff (YouTube link), except where he is discussing plot, you are talking about tone and style. But I ...
- 258
4
votes
Should you always write a strong antagonist?
You usually want to create drama. The archetype source of drama is conflict. The canonical sources of conflict are: man vs man, man vs himself, man vs nature. In fantasy we add on magic under "...
- 1,668
3
votes
How do you make a story as sad as possible?
Just tell the truth.
Nothing is sadder or more legitimately evocative of sorrow than the genuine sufferings and privations of real people, even if anonymized.
Many of the most ingenious and heart-...
- 159
3
votes
Accepted
How do you write a character with multiple personalities?
Apart from the obvious "do the research", which I haven't and can't tell you what exactly you should learn, an intimate way to show your character's experience is to write from their point ...
- 2,501
3
votes
How do you add LGBT characters in your story in an organic fashion without coming off as "pandering"?
I agree with the highly-voted answers in terms of practical advice, but I think they risk overreaching and implying that a character being LGBTQ is only relevant to their romantic/sexual lives. That's ...
- 455
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible