Posts by Popular Members

: I tend to find technical books through recommendations on Hacker News. You can also submit to other, similar venues - Reddit, Digg, Slashdot, etc. If you feel like being a bit subversive,

@Shelton455

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: +1 to Elmore Leonard, esp. his 10 Rules for Writing. (Read the reviews or get it from the library before you buy new; some people think it's a waste of money. I think it's priceless.)

@Becky328

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: There are two approaches that are historically used in your situation, and some more modern ones that some people are trying. The first thing often done is to only have evil characters misbehave.

@Voss1744584

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: Is this story worth publishing? A Nightmare A horrifying scream from his daughter’s room woke him up, he rushed to

@Twilah982

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: I agree with John M Lawler. In this particular case, I think it definitely is: Like a true anthropologist, Bill Bryson takes the reader on a highly informational journey...< The

@Marchetta100

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: I would not change capitalization to conform to some standard. You are quoting someone else: you should quote him as accurately as possible. The original writer may or may not have had a

@Nickens642

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: When a character commits an evil act and you want to frame it as evil, there are different ways to acknowledge it. Describe it from the perspective of the victim. When the reader is confronted

@YK4692630

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: Another example of this as well as Doctor Evil is Darth Vader. Starts off an innocent boy Corrupted to become evil and follow his new master under the pretense that he'll save his wife Convinced

@Looi5811334

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: First, I have to ask you the most important question: If this is such a dilemma for you, why did you write this villain as a woman? You are literally in control of every aspect, why a

@RJPawlick285

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: Like @elburz, I also thought the spring was a real spring in the earth. However, the real point of confusion for me was that I would not readily identify a "flamy spring... dormant in me"

@Bethany377

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: Alright, so to infuse personality into a paper, there are lots of things you can try. This might seem silly, but it works. Read something unusual. If you're having problems because your prose

@Cody1607638

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: McCarthy did it because his writing is strong enough to allow him to get away with it. James Joyce did it too. My fellow students in fourth grade also wrote with little or no punctuation.

@Nimeshi163

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: I think another aspect here is what you're writing, especially if it's non-fiction. Sometimes the subject matter itself has a "native language". For example I would never even start writing

@Samaraweera193

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: Novels are long-form prose fiction, typically over 40,000 words. Questions that use this tag can relate to writing, editing, publishing, formatting or techniques as applied specifically to novels.

@Hamaas631

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: My experience with this is two-fold: I did translation work for some time. I come from a family of professional translators (my aunt still being in the business). Working for a company routinely

@Si5022468

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: The most important part of telling dialogue is the dialogue itself, though many times people make a strong effort to think of "exciting" words to replace the word "said". Using a "fancy" word

@Sent2472441

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: Congratulations on your book offer! It depends on how quickly the publisher's legal department generates and sends the contract to you and/or your agent. One service your agent should be providing

@Bryan361

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: What are good dialog writing tips? Possible Duplicate: How should dialog be formatted? Writing dialogue has been a challenge. From the punctuations to the tags, it all still very

@Vandalay250

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: I've done a fair bit of tech writing and would put a lot of effort into writing simple, short sentences devoid of ambiguity and profligacy. I am currently reading a Richard Ford novel (The

@Welton431

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: It sounds as though you are describing the concept of the Anti-Hero. Basically, this is a situation where the person whose story is being told, the protagonist, is not the standard person

@Alves689

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: Questions dealing with writing criticism, and with receiving criticism from others. Please do not use this tag for critique questions.

@Sarah872

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: What is the original source of the Lawrence Durrell quote starting with "My spirit turns more and more [...]"? This may be more appropriately called a "Literature" or "History" question but as

@Murphy332

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: Is Strunk and White's "The Elements" full of "stupid grammar advice?" In a previous question I asked about The Elements, RegDwight posted a comment containing a link to this article by Geoffrey

@Ravi5107385

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: I love "Self Editing For Fiction Writers"; get it here: http://amzn.to/eKcfJP

@Goswami879

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: I am a young writer too! :) I've been creating a series with my best friend we are both young and I we found an author that have invested in us and has taken the time to really get

@Angela458

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: Yeah, I'm afraid I'm with Dori on this one, as much as it pains me. I tried my own hand at translating something into French a while back. Then I sent it to a publisher-friend. His reply

@Dunderdale623

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: Which Pen Is Best For Writing/Signing Important Documents? Regular pens or gel ink pens? What do you say?

@BetL639

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: Deep, convincing characters always work. Others have suggested that a comedic approach might work best. It does not have to be broad comedy. The darkness of your fantasy can remain pretty

@Yeniel532

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: If you are looking at how-to books, both Stephen King and Orson Scott Card have some excellent books on the subject. Don't be put off by their genres. Reading is very important, but don't

@Shakeerah107

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: Referencing a website in-text using Harvard style I have the following website page that I need to reference using Harvard style: http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/science_and_impacts/science/what-is-genetic-engineering.html

@Ogunnowo420

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: I used a Neo for several years for NaNoWriMo. I loved it for writing first drafts. The features I loved the most: It is (more or less) good only for typing. You can't play World of Warcraft

@Kevin153

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: Use extremely short sentences. Emphasise seemingly irrelevant details (carefully). A feldgrau uniform in the door. Triggrer pulled. Serves you right, Fritz. Reload. Another potato masher lands the

@Turnbaugh521

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: I think a main feature to action is suspense; so, you can let the reader/viewer know what's happening, but almost hold back in a certain way. Thus, during the down fall, you can expand on

@Phylliss352

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: Parenthetical phrases within dialog I'm curious about the history and use of parenthetical phrases within dialog. I offer two contrasting examples: An example of an "unvoiced" parenthetical phrase

@Pierce369

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: Your best bet is to contact your publisher and ask. I'm in a similar situation. I contacted my publisher and am awaiting an answer.

@Jessie137

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: Writing is not a single task, as made plain by the fact that your plots and characters work but your style doesn't. In just the same way as a sportsman can work on a part of the game

@Lee1909368

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: As you say, it will be very challenging to create a likable evil character. A lot of people aren't going to relate to a person that does nothing but wreak misery on those around them.

@Tiffany377

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: I think another aspect of a good action scene is to not overload the reader/viewer with too much at once. Like you said, there's areas in an action scene which can totally isolate themselves

@Cofer669

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: This is an interesting and thought provoking question: "How do I write as an 18 year-old, non-native speaker would write?" And assume I am not one. I found this site looking for tips on my

@Holmes449

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: Ingram is the largest book distributor in the business. You can call their automated stock check number at (800) 937-0995. Enter a book's ISBN, and you'll get back its current sales data.

@Jamie945

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