Writing Stack Exchange is a Q&A site for anybody interested in the craft of professional writing, editing, and publishing. We cover a wide variety of topics, including fiction, technical documentation, scholarly articles, business writing, non-fiction, scripts, and blogs. Writers Stack Exchange is built and run by you as part of the Stack Exchange network of Q&A sites. With your help, we're working together to build a library of detailed answers to every question about professional writing.
We're a little bit different from other sites. Here's how:
This site is all about getting answers. It's not a discussion forum. There's no chit-chat.
Just questions...
...and answers.
Good answers are voted up and rise to the top.
The best answers show up first so that they are always easy to find.
The person who asked can mark one answer as "accepted".
Accepting doesn't mean it's the best answer, it just means that it worked for the person who asked.
One of my biggest issues is staying focussed on a single novel.
My imagination is always creating new and wonderful ideas. I write a few chapters on this story, a few on that story, but never finish.
What disciplines / habits can I put into place to stay focussed and finish a single novel?
1) So, don't. Keep several books going at once. What's stopping you? Maybe you need to switch gears often to keep yourself fresh.
2) Write short stories. Easier to finish in a bite.
3) Write an outline of your novel. When you get bored working on IIA3d, move to IVE12c. Jump around within the book and write scenes.
The only one I know of is "write fast". But then I'm not known for my ability to do big writing projects either.
Focus on questions about an actual problem you have faced. Include details about what you have tried and exactly what you are trying to do.
Ask about...
Not all questions work well in our format. Avoid questions that are primarily opinion-based, or that are likely to generate discussion rather than answers.
Questions that need improvement may be closed until someone fixes them.
Don't ask about...
All questions are tagged with their subject areas. Each can have up to 5 tags, since a question might be related to several subjects.
Click any tag to see a list of questions with that tag, or go to the tag list to browse for topics that interest you.
One of my biggest issues is staying focussed on a single novel.
My imagination is always creating new and wonderful ideas. I write a few chapters on this story, a few on that story, but never finish.
What disciplines / habits can I put into place to stay focussed and finish a single novel?
Your reputation score goes up when others vote up your questions, answers and edits.
As you earn reputation, you'll unlock new privileges like the ability to vote, comment, and even edit other people's posts.
| Reputation | Privilege |
|---|---|
| 15 | Vote up |
| 50 | Leave comments |
| 125 | Vote down (costs 1 rep on answers) |
At the highest levels, you'll have access to special moderation tools. You'll be able to work alongside our community moderators to keep the site focused and helpful.
| 500 | Vote to close, reopen, or migrate questions |
|---|---|
| 1000 | Edit other people's posts |
| 2000 | Access to moderation tools |
Our goal is to have the best answers to every question, so if you see questions or answers that can be improved, you can edit them.
Use edits to fix mistakes, improve formatting, or clarify the meaning of a post.
1) So, don't. Keep several books going at once. What's stopping you? Maybe you need to switch gears often to keep yourself fresh.
2) Write short stories. Easier to finish in a bite.
3) Write an outline of your novel. When you get bored working on IIA3d, move to IVE12c. Jump around within the book and write scenes.
Badges are special achievements you earn for participating on the site. They come in three levels: bronze, silver, and gold.
| Student | First question with score of 1 or more |
| Editor | First edit |
| Good Answer | Answer score of 25 or more |
| Civic Duty | Vote 300 or more times |
| Famous Question | Question with 10,000 views |
Signing up allows you to:
Like this site? Stack Exchange is a network of 173 Q&A sites just like it. Check out the full list of sites.
Use comments to ask for more information or clarify a question or answer.
You can always comment on your own questions and answers. Once you earn 50 reputation, you can comment on anybody's post.
Remember: we're all here to learn, so be friendly and helpful!