@Merenda569
Last seen: Mon 17 May, 2021
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: Is using the layout of anothers published work in danger of plagiarisim if nothing else is the same? I started writing a book that uses the ‘layout’ or ‘style’ of another very popular
I started writing a book that uses the ‘layout’ or ‘style’ of another very popular book. I started it as a joke, but then fell in love with the characters and the idea. There is nothing the same in my book aside from how the story is layed out and arcs. I used the layout of one book, but in trying to justify my continued use of it, I found it to be similar to tons of other books. Stop me if you’ve heard this:
A girl is in highschool. Mysterious new student starts school. Mysterious student takes interest in girl and vice versa. Something significant happens to girl and mysterious student saves the day. Supernatural element revealed. Mysterious girl is okay with and keeps the supernatural secret. etc. etc. and the story continues.
This vague description is the ‘plot’ for tons of ya novels, tv shows etc.
My book however follows one books layout a little more closely. The setting, how they meet and the inciting incident are 75% the same minus the names, location, supernatural element etc. ONLY the base or foundation is the same, nothing else.
As an example, lets say I'm talking about buffy the vampire slayer. Except that buffy is regina the alien hunter. Regina goes to school, discovers her unique power to find and fight aliens but then falls in love with one of them and befriends several others. The story's the same but is it different enough?
More than likely I will try to change the majority of this in order to feel comfortable about the world I re-created enough to publish. And like I said, it started as a joke, but then I wanted it as my own. So don’t drag me too harshly.
I’m curious though, how bad is it to use an existing foundation as your own to build on? And is this plagiarisim or a version of it?
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: Re: If I remove the capacity for one of the primary flaws, is it inevitable I end up with a boring character? In this world, there are mortals (human beings) and divine beings (gods/goddess). The
Also, since "courage" is the balance between cowardice and recklessness, then theoretically reckless behavior should be off the table as well?
That is a very nuanced version of courage. A more basic description is "willingness to do 'the right thing' regardless of consequence". Which does not remotely rule out recklessness, short-sightedness, or lack of concern for collateral damage.
Look, I've done time in a combat zone, and I've seen courage in action. It's quite remarkable how often it's indistinguishable from stupidity.
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: Re: How to Become an Powerful and Beautiful Expository Writer? I'm a terrible writer. I know I am and it's totally ok though. Well, it's not totally ok but I have no other choice to deal
Honestly, I think the best way to improve your writing skills is to read. This helps with vocabulary, punctuation, clarity and delivery. You can even look at some samples and try to identify what's wrong, or what could have been written better.
It takes a lot of practice to be able to send out emails without checking them, so that's what you should do. Write two emails every day, then sit down to proof them. You don't have to send these to anybody.
There are a lot of Chrome extensions that help check your writing. They make it easier to read and more fun.
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: Re: How do I write "fantasy counterpart cultures" without being accused of cultural appropriation? In my book series, the various planets of the galaxy are inhabited by different cultures, most of
An Example
Robert Jordan's best-selling Wheel of Time series is full of different cultures. The best explored of these are the Aiel who mostly have blue, grey or green eyes and usually have red hair. They have very distinctive cultural beliefs and practices.
Physically, Aiel can be recognized through their unusual height,
characteristic pale eyes and light-colored hair, as well as their
distinctive clothing. wot.fandom.com/wiki/Aiel
There are also numerous descriptions of other cultures' different styles of dress and way of talking. In addition we hear about differences in complexion, for example the sea-folk have dark skins.
The Sea Folk, ... are a seafaring people who live on ships and the
islands ... They typically have a dark complexion, and are seen as
"exotic" by mainlanders. wot.fandom.com/wiki/Atha%27an_Miere
In particular the main male protagonist turns out to be different in many physical characteristics from his fellow villagers who are described as being of the same blood as one another. These factors turn out to be vital to the plot.
As far as I am aware there have been no complaints about the 'racial' distinctions within the novels from any source. Jordan himself says in an interview that many of his cultural references and systems of belief have grounding in historical reality.
However, now that the series is being dramatised for television, something different has happened. Casting appears to be deliberately 'colour-blind' in the sense that people from the same heritage in the novels are not matched in terms of the actors' background. I personally have no objection to this but, as usual when watching the movie of the book, one's mental images have to be readjusted. In this case considerably because of lack of racial distinctions.
The casting news comes after Rafe Judkins revealed his ideas of how
the show was going to handle casting. Judkins posted a script grab
that read:
“As much as possible, our cast should look like America will in a few
hundred years — a beautiful mix of white, brown, black and everything
in between.†boundingintocomics.com/2019/08/18/amazons-wheel-of-time-series-race-swaps-egwene-perrin-and-nynaeve/
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: Re: Creating a unique spin on a nuclear apocalypse? Basically, my story follows a group of 6 people (and 1 mutant human) exploring a barren wasteland of what used to be the USA. The world they
One option would be to approach the results of the nuclear war from a totally different angle than previous stories have.
Perhaps instead of a world full of anarchy and weapons you end up with a kind of utopia. Since most people died of the nuclear fallout and winter rather than from the bomb blast itself, most of their stuff will be perfectly usable. After the population drops you suddenly have a lot of resources and technology that is now split between fewer people. Do you need a new car? Go take one from the side of the road, whoever owned it before is definitely dead. Want to live in a mansion? No problem, there are plenty to go around for the few people who are left alive.
No one would need to horde anything or be overly protective of their things the way we see in most post-apocalyptic settings because there would be no scarcity.
I would think that in that situation people would end up congregating around city centers and using the new abundance of resources to set up a communal social structure. They could use their various types of expertise to start getting things back up and running, at least enough to keep their community supplied while they try to work out how to start farming/ranching again.
Eventually the resources that were abundant would begin to run out, and certain things would become either unavailable or very expensive, such as gas which takes a significant infrastructure and specialized workforce to produce.
You could also explore how that society would grow over time. One option would be a kind of social stratification that would occur as people continue to trickle into the city. The people who got there first claimed the best houses/cars/etc. and people who got there later have to settle for the simpler things. This could turn the formerly communal society into a kind of caste system based on when you became a resident.
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: Re: My autobiography is exciting, but I'm an unknown. Should I make it a novel instead? I've kept diaries all my life and now have over 100...which I've recently started turning into an autobiography
You might benefit from clarifying the difference between an autobiography and a memoir. There are many articles on these topics on the Internet. They might help you find an answer. Autobiographies tend to be chronological; memoirs focus on a theme, topic or event. What makes any story standout is getting the voice right: if you create an engaging persona as a storyteller and tell a good story in an engaging way, the actual genre whether autobiography, novel or memoir will matter less and be a marketing issue rather than a stylistic one.
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: Re: Is starting each chapter with a diary entry cliche? In my post-apocalyptic story, my narrator keeps a journal, and each new chapter starts with a journal entry of hers that's relevant to the
I will agree with Lupus in that it can be incredibly useful for natural world-building and character development. I will also directly answer the question and say that it is hardly cliche, at least not on the same level as other cliches. It can even be done quite well, with the best examples I've seen being done as if telling the story as a foregone conclusion (i.e., "They dressed them up as pigs and sent them out to die." - History of the War).
The other question is to ask if they are needed. Including impressions of events discussed in your book would simply be repeating content, especially if your story would already be in first-person. Then, the style change doesn't serve a good purpose, and it could be dropped. However, if you include small moments from the characters past, that wouldn't come up in the course of normal conversation/flashbacks, then it would be encouraged.
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: How do I avoid using to many "I and My in first person narratives To give you a little context below. "Yesterday, I was smiling, and tomorrow, I will try to hold my head up high. But
To give you a little context below.
"Yesterday, I was smiling, and tomorrow, I will try to hold my head up high. But today, tears welled up in my eyes, as my worst fear looked me in the eyes as my life unfolded before me like a bad movie. It felt like a hurricane had slammed into my world and nothing seemed the same."
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: Re: How can one "treat writing as a job" even though it doesn't pay? I hear this advice a lot: "Treat your writing as a job." But it seems to me that this is easier said/done when it is actually
A "Job" is something where you work diligently to be paid a guaranteed sum of money at the end of the day / week/ month. Since you are getting paid, therefore you will give your best effort and dedication to do a decent 'Job' of it.
In the same way, people say treat writing as a "Job" to bring in the necessary discipline and dedication to churn out good works. Writing is not as easy as it seems and it requires a good amount of dedication and discipline to sit and type out a story everyday. It may seem easy, but it's not. You may have a great imagination to come up with brilliant plot ideas. But unless you have the discipline to sit down, type out those plots to make meaningful stories, things won't work.
So when people say treat writing like a 'job', I guess they mean treat it with the seriousness it deserves. Of course, don't expect money to come gushing in at first. But keep at it and you will certainly become good at your field. Money, Awards and plaudits will follow.
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: Examples of dialog beats and bookism I was wondering if there is a list of ideas on how to add beats to dialog. For example: "Listen to me!", John said excitedly. "We can sell all these
I was wondering if there is a list of ideas on how to add beats to dialog. For example:
"Listen to me!", John said excitedly. "We can sell all these coins now
and get rich today." He got closer to Sarah. "Let me take care of it for you, ok?", he said as he lowered his voice.
"But what are the risks?", Sarah said shifting in her chair. "I'm sure it
wouldn't be that simple."
My question is what are some alternatives that can be replaced for beat phrases like "John said excitedly" or "Sarah said shifting in her chair". What are other things that people do while they talk? My list of things to add are short and I quickly run out of them. I really want them to add something to the scene and the character rather than just to break a long monologue.
Here are a few things that I have on my list:
Replacing "said" with other words
Doing something to their body: scratching head, what else??
Doing various things with their props (glasses, cigarettes, etc.)
Moving (shifting in the chair, getting closer to the other person, etc.) , what else??
Saying (adverb)ly, like he said excitedly.
Saying while there is a change in their body language or body: she said smiling or she said with a twinkle in her eye , what else??
What else?
My problem is usually with the second or third beat in a monologue:
"Listen to me!", John said excitedly. "We can sell all these coins now
and get rich today." He said as he got even more excited. "Let me take care of it for you, ok?", he said as he lowered his voice. "I can make you rich Sarah, just trust me!" ----[usually harder to add beat phrases here]--- "I have made many people rich in the past. I know how this is done." ----[usually harder to add beat phrases here]---
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: Re: Citing a paper presented at conference I have found this source for a research project. From what I can see, it was presented at the Institute for New Economic Thinking: Plenary Conference.
Victoria University in Melbourne, Australia, has guidance for citing conference proceedings at libraryguides.vu.edu.au/apa-referencing/conference-proceedings
Hope this helps:
The basics of a reference list entry for a paper in a published conference proceedings:
•Author or authors of paper. Surname followed by first initials.
•Year (in round brackets).
•Title of paper.
•Editors of conference proceedings.
•Title of conference proceedings (in italics).
•Pages of paper (in round brackets).
•Location of publisher.
•Publisher.
•The first line of each citation is left adjusted. Every subsequent line is indented 5-7 spaces.
Example:
Blakey, N., Guinea, S., & Saghafi, F. (2017). Transforming undergraduate nursing curriculum by aligning models of clinical reasoning through simulation. In R. Walker, & S. Bedford (Eds.), HERDSA 2017 Conference: Research and Development in Higher Education: Curriculum Transformation (pp. 25-37). Hammondville, NSW: Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia. Retrieved from www.herdsa.org.au/research-and-development-higher-education-vol-40-25
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: Re: In this day and age should the definition / categorisation of erotica be revised? My experience tells me that a disproportionate number of wannabe writers are prudes. I recently wrote a scene
You didn't say who lost their minds, but your question implies that it was wannabe writers. Did you read this to a writers' group? It is quite explicit erotically, and it's not right to assume that everybody should be comfortable reading it or hearing about it. Labeling them "prudes" says that there's something wrong with their attitude. It would show respect for others to preface such material with an announcement that it contains vivid sexual content and give people a chance to opt out.
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: Re: How can I get into the mindset to write? Depending on the weather, the days events, and other factors, I find myself with a different emotion everyday when I write which I'm afraid is making
The first and foremost requirement for a writing mindset is the desire to tell a story, or prove your point. Without that, writing becomes sheer torture. Before writing, think on why you want to write, whom are you targeting and how will it impact readers.
The next thing to do is to start writing ....
As mentioned in some answers above, the only way to get into a writing mindset is to start writing and keep at it ... no matter what.
Writing is like exercising, programming, art ... whatever. Even if you do possess talent and imagination, you will not do good by not writing. You need to just write, write and write.
When you're writing ... it's only you and your notepad / laptop and your imagination at work. Take some time off the day, not necessarily early morning, but could be late at night or anytime when you're sure you won't be distubed. It would help if you did not have any distractions next to you (as you mentioned .... one bad phone call can alter your mood).
But don't overdo it and stretch yourself. Too much thinking might alter your writing as well and might hamper creativity. Like all things, start small and keep going as you grow in confidence.
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: Re: To what extent should we fear giving offense? Recently we have seen multiple questions on various aspects of political correctness. They have sparked some measure of disagreement, which is what
The editor “will see to it that the sensibilities of the readers … have been respected and not unnecessarily offendedâ€â€”Words Into Type (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1974), p. 57. I agree, and it applies to writers, too, not just editors: Treat the readers with respect. Don’t offend them if it isn’t necessary. Is disturbing content or harsh language necessary to what you’re writing? OK. Include it. If it’s not necessary, think twice before using it.
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: Re: Are illustrations in novels frowned upon? Lately I've been thinking that I don't know of a single novel that has illustrations in it. I've tried finding out the reason why, and came across
It's an entirely Western thing to not have illustrations in novels. The general consensus I found in other boards is that, "Illustrations lack maturity, thus they are only in children's to YA books." The other drawback is the cost of hiring an artist and having them draw stuff.
The artistic reason is that a "good" author should be able to paint the picture in your head, while a "bad" author needs to rely on visuals to get their point across. Graphic novels, where the art is used to convey the story (as opposed to illustrations showing a few scenes) falls into a middle ground, however there is still the cost of hiring an artist (unless, as OP is, you are so inclined).
If you want examples of novels with illustrations, you need to look East a little ways. Japanese light novels, the cheaper alternative to their manga, are exactly what you describe. Even there, however, the images are added later (since many modern light novels are adapted from web novels, which are even cheaper to produce) and are used as a marketing tool rather than artistic choice.
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: How should I quote American English speakers in a British English essay? I am working on a formal essay where I have to quote a few American English speakers, but my essay is written in British
I am working on a formal essay where I have to quote a few American English speakers, but my essay is written in British English. Should I change terms like color to colour?
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: Re: what techniques or approaches can I use to explore distasteful concepts while also making them necessary? In my story democracy crumbles in a nation, replaced by a powerful dictatorship. Our world
If you wan't to portray a distasteful concept in a way tolerable to the reader, you need to make sure it's a conflict for the characters the reader is supposed to relate to:
A: Look at what we've become. We are slaves!
B: No. We are survivors. Xe showed us how to survive!
A: But we've murdered innocents!
B: We've purged treachery! We did what we had to do!
...
B: ...listen. It's either this or defeat. Them or us.
A: It's wrong.
B: Nyalathotep doesn't give a f#*:k about what's wrong.
B: Just do your damn job.
Even if you don't wan't your story to be about a crusade against fascism you need to make sure that there are at least small acts of rebellion. Something heavy on the shoulders of your characters. Even if inconsequential to the story, it's important to characterize their moral compass. It's not about glorification. It's about drawing a line. The point where it becomes too much.
Sweat running through her forehead, her gun pointed at the thief. He
cried helplessly. Dammit. Why is this happening on my shift?
A: The penalty for theft is death. Are you stupid?
B: Please don't kill me. I'll leave and never come back. Just please
don't shoot me.
A: Stealing from the Party's Granary is stealing from your own people!
B: ...my child is sick. We are starving.
F#{[k! F#{[k! F#{[k!
A: Get out of here!
He stared in disbelief, fear in his eyes. Hardly moving.
A: Are you deaf?! GET OUT, RUN! If I catch you here again I'll shoot
you and your baby.
B: Thank you so m...
A: RUN you miserable bastard!
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: Re: Can a successful book series let the bad guy win? I have a five book series and I have plotted them all out. The main bad guy wins in the end. My problem with this is my girlfriend keeps
Yes.
A sterling example is the "Parker" series of books by Donald Westlake, written under the pen name Ricard Stark. Parker is a "bad guy" but the protagonist of the series, and always wins in the end, usually against the odds. These books challenge the notion of what a "bad guy" is, which is what you must do in your books if your bad guy is going to win.
A ruthless career criminal, Parker has almost no traditional redeeming qualities, aside from efficiency and professionalism. Parker is callous, meticulous, and perfectly willing to commit murder if he deems it necessary. (wikipedia)
See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parker_(Stark_novels_character) or even better, read a couple of these books.
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: Re: How do I become a better writer when I hate reading? I like telling stories, but I don't care so much for reading them. It's not for me. But the number one advice to become a better author
Analyse what aspects of reading causes you to "hate" it, then make sure to avoid them in your work. This suggestion, however, implies that reading is again part of your solution...
You will then be able to write perfect prose for youself - but this has its own special problems!
I hope you find a solution, my regards, Barry.
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: How important are good looking people in a novel/story? I've read many books where the main protagonists are described as good looking people with Greek god looks, plenty of sex appeal, the
I've read many books where the main protagonists are described as good looking people with Greek god looks, plenty of sex appeal, the perfect figure and all that. As a reader, how important would it be to portray your main characters as good looking? Does it increase the prospects of people buying your book?
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: How to write the action of someone reading in a story? An example, please I am rather a very amateur writer, who is trying to write a thriller/fiction novel for a class, and I find myself
I am rather a very amateur writer, who is trying to write a thriller/fiction novel for a class, and I find myself absolutely dumbfounded as to how to write into my story the action of a character reading a piece of text. Can anybody please help me? To provide context for a more specific answer the main character notices an email on his computer and begins to read it. This email is sort of a catalyst, and I already have it written down how it will be read. I just am kind of stumped as to how to write the action of him beginning to read it.
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: Re: My story is written in English, but is set in my home country. What language should I use for the dialogue? I'm an amateur writer from the Philippines. I am writing a novelette for an
I will add an example of literature being translated to English, on the grounds that due to language differences translation can be equivalent to writing a different story.
In translated Japanese light novels, words and phrases that don't have an exact translation, but are generally assumed to be understood by the audience, tend to be left in the story and italicized to emphasize their being in a different language. For Japanese, that means that honorifics are either left in or translated, mainstream slang such as hikkikomori (shut-in) will either be left in italics or translated, and if there is a discussion that specifically involves the Japanese writing system then the original symbols are included as reference (such as "snail" being derivative of "cow" in Bakemonogatari). Cultural reference are also maintained.
The bulk of the translated text remains in English, as that is the intended audience of the translation, with words that don't make sense in English being left in Japanese.
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: Re: Will it be accepted, if there is no ''Main Character" stereotype? There is a character in every story. Special One. It becomes the center of the story. i.e. the Main character. The author
Calling it the "main character" is just an easy way to communicate the underlying mechanic in its most common form; the main character is just another way of saying, the focal-point of the story, or the thing that catches the reader's interest; what they follow.
It could be a person, a place, a concept, a timeline, and any number of other interesting things. It just happens to usually be a person, because people are interesting and its easier to talk about them than many other things for any length of time in an engaging way.
For example, think of when you were very young and learned a mind-expanding concept in an early science class that captivated you. In an analogous sense, that thing you learned about was the main character of that "story".
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: Re: Do I really need to have a scientific explanation for my premise? So, in my post-apocalyptic novel, the world was caught up in an international war (basically WWIII), and all the world's nuclear
There is no need to justify your explanation scientifically. But. You must not, under any circumstances try to scientifically justify anything else. In effect, by making a scientifically implausible claim to establish your world, you've shifted from SF to fantasy.
However, fantasy does not have to include unicorns or vampires, or anything else. Just establish your world and get on with the story.
As an example of something very much along the lines of what you're talking about, but even more so, try finding David Drake's "Men Like Us", about a post-nuclear war world, with 3 characters roaming the country making sure that nobody resurrects nuclear power. The trio are ultimately revealed to be immortal, and they got that way by being caught close to a nuclear blast.
So, that's not remotely science, but the story's pretty good nonetheless.
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: Re: How to write a chaotic neutral protagonist and prevent my readers from thinking they are evil? I've come across a problem with one of the main characters in my book. The "heroine" of my story
This coordinate system of Good through Neutral to Evil along one axis, and Lawful through Neutral to Chaotic along the other, is actually pretty specific to gaming. I'm sure the concept has spread beyond Dungeons and Dragons, but Googling "lawful evil wiki" takes you to the article "Alignment (Dungeons and Dragons)."
Many of your readers will not think of the world that way, and I would argue that perhaps you shouldn't either. Having a coordinate system in which to place the values of the characters is useful in a game, where it helps to have an somewhat abstractly described framework, almost a jungle gym on which to play the game. When you become sufficiently abstract to describe it in a game rulebook, you lose nuance. You have to treat your character as an individual who is, as we all do, making it up as she goes along.
Having said that, your question still stands. It's not like you have a dramatis personae at the beginning where each character has their alignment specified. Readers will decide what they think of your character whether or not they apply the label "chaotic neutral." And some will definitely dislike her for being selfish (probably myself included), but I think the only thing you can do is be true to your vision of her. You might think about why you believe that selfishness is not at least a mild form of evil, and try to embody your reasons in the story.
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: Re: How do I avoid the "chosen hero" feeling? In many works of genre-fiction (I'm talking mainly about fantasy and sci-fi, but others genres can apply), and across many forms of media, the main
While other answers have done well in suggesting specifics, let me try to generalize a bit.
Avoid narrative simplicity.
And yes, this is three simple words which will cause you no end of extra work. Deal with it.
If you have a strong narrative thrust and a simple conflict, the Good Guy has to be easily identified. Go read Conan the Barbarian stories.
How do you get around this? Other answers have interesting ideas. Probably the biggest and best current example of this is Game of Thrones. Presumably, there's going to be a victor, but at this telling there's no lack of uncertainty among the fan base. You might the call this the
GRRM Principle - have many credible heroes, and kill them off.
Of course, so far this has taken 7 seasons (on TV) and six very large books. Are you up for the challenge? It takes a lot of effort to establish a credible, sympathetic character who deserves to win. Once you've done that, it's hard to put in the effort to develop another (and another and another and ...), but that's what you have to do.
There are other possibilities, of course. One is to make the road to victory so painful that you blunt the thrust of the hero's progress. In GOT terms, for instance, you have
Jaime Lannister losing his right hand, Sansa Stark getting raped by
her husband(s), Arya Stark going through a very rough road to becoming
a Faceless Man (and arguably becoming a sociopath), and Bran Stark
becoming paralyzed. Not to mention Jon Snow getting stabbed to death.
None of the contenders for the throne are unscarred.
And some of them are going to die.
But this, of course, makes for a messy, nasty story, not a clean one with a clear goal and a virtuous, deserving winner.
Are you up for it?
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: Re: Screenwriting Techniques: Emotional Projection NECESSARY INFORMATION Recently I saw someone on the internet say that Revenge Of The Sith was so powerful because of an effect called "Emotional Projection."
In the case of Revenge of the Sith, these characters are you and your best friend because you have been able to empathize with them and their relationship. You've seen them fight together, take wounds for each other, banter, and show-off. You've just spent the last hour-and-a-half watching one of them spiral out of control partially because the other wasn't there for them.
The key is to create empathy between the audience and the characters relationships. The final fight hits hard because these friends, that we've seen being incredibly close, are now put on opposite sides of the battle over another person, despite still holding the same ideals, just different ways of carrying them out. It's a much more violent version of the "drift apart" style of ending friendships, but that's what it needed to convey to show how these characters are now on opposite sides of a dichotomy.
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: Re: Making a female character sound more boyish/masculine There are two characters in the following dialogue. One of them (Yuki) is a tomboy. She has short hair, dresses like a man, and likes girls.
Tip: Find a guy you know that either is like the character you want -or- can at least act like it, then hold this conversation.
Writing characters of the opposite gender is hard, but writing characters of the same gender with just enough mannerisms to show their bending towards the opposite's traits may be harder. This especially comes into play when this tomboyish-ness is relevant to the plot, but it wouldn't make sense to substitute, well, an actual boy.
If all else fails, make the character more confident and headstrong, and a little less sensitive and empathetic and you have a midway point between male and female conversation.
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: Re: Should dull dialogue be removed completely? The following dialogue is from a novel I'm writing (first draft): "You're quiet tonight," Erin said to Benjamin, who seemed to be lost in thoughts.
If you have dull dialogue, make it intentional. Use it to set up a sense of normalcy before throwing the characters into turmoil. Many Japanese Light Novels start off the new volume with a slice-of-life story to establish the new setting and any new information, regardless of how boring, before putting them into the action again.
You can also use this time to establish problems, build characters and their relationships, or flesh out the world. The best story building comes from non-exposition-dumps, so causally mentioning details in conversation is a good way to go.
If the conversation is ultimately pointless to the characters, plot, tension, or themes of your story, then you should either make it relevant or axe it.
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: Integrating complex philosophical concepts into a story I would like to integrate the concept of "Nietzschean affirmation" in my short story. What are the typical ways to go about it? I don't
I would like to integrate the concept of "Nietzschean affirmation" in my short story. What are the typical ways to go about it? I don't want to put it there in plain sight, but make it obvious enough for an astute reader to see my intention.
I am asking how to integrate philosophical concepts regardless of whether they are controversial or not.
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