@Murray831
Last seen: Mon 17 May, 2021
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: Re: Is This An Acceptable Way Of Formatting Character Thoughts? Is this an acceptable introductory paragraph to a fictional character's memoir? I'm not sure if the first sentence should be in quotations
I would italicize or put in quotes, as right away it isn't immediately recognizable as thoughts. If that's what you want, though, then it seems fine.
As always, it's fine if you write it well enough.
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: Re: How should I format chapters in my manuscript? I'm in my final stages of editing before I send my manuscript to beta readers. I'm wondering how I should format chapter titles. Do I put them
Looking at the 2 Beta requests I have right now, the chapter headings are bolded and centered before the main body.
Honestly I could care less if the chapter heading was rainbow colored and Comic Sans, it just needs to be there and make it clear that it's a new chapter. As @Mary says, we(or at least I) aren't looking for fancy formatting and stuff like that.
Hope this helps, and Good luck!
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: Re: How long can a Children's Novel be? I'm currently writing a realism fantasy novel targeted for a 9-12 age group. Since it became so long(the first draft turned out to be at least 90,000 words),
There is no right answer. You can do something as short as 100 pages if you want, or go beyond 300 pages. There's the Percy Jackson series(plus all the other series in the same universe) that are about 200-300 pages each. There's the Harry Potter series which get longer the farther along in the series you get. There's shorter stories that hover around 100 pages(although most of them are stand alone stories). There's so much variation that there can be no right answer.
What I think a good length would be is however long you can keep them interested. If you really need to test your length, then find a few 9-12 year olds and hand them the book. ask them to read it, and when the finish to tell you how long it took and what the thought. If they take a few weeks, your book is either too long and boring or they forgot it in the back of their closet. You should probably get the book back in 1-3 days if you did good.
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: Re: How much can you change a self-published book for it to count as a "new" book in the eyes of a traditional publisher? I have a book that is nearing completion. Because the current circumstances
I have no idea. BUT here is what I would think you could get away with.
I would go ahead and make sure you can add a few more pages of story to what you have now. Probably you should be able to increase the length by 3-10%(shorter books should be lengthened more). Instead of just tacking three extra chapters on the end and a long epilogue, you can go back and add a few extra scenes here and there. Then self-publish your shorter version and see how that goes. On your self-published book, add a bit in the credits or authors note or whatever about 'I'm taking a version of this book to a publisher with extra (insert extra stuff here) and is in general a better story. If you want to see this then like and fav and all that jazz'.
Once you've finished your longer version, send THAT to the publisher saying 'yeah this is this book here(linked to your book) but it's got some extra stuff so maybe you want to publish it'. If you got a bunch of 'likes and favs and all that jazz' then the publisher will also know that the people want this bigger version and will probably be more willing to publish it.
Technically, it probably wouldn't count as a new submission but if you change names and maybe the setting you can probably get away with it as a new submission.
I have absolutely no experience with publishers and stuff so this is probably not the best answer you will get but maybe it will help you some.
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: Re: Can I write a story with the same variations of another? I am writing a story that has clans, apprentices, warriors and stuff like that from Warriors by Erin Hunter, but it has different plot,
The first one, I think so. If you're doing cats as well then you might have some trouble. You can definitely write, although publishing might be a problem.
For your Zootopia one, you have the same problem. If you're just taking the setting, then you can probably get away with it but get too close to the original and you get trouble.
But fear not! For the infinite wonders of the interwebs have provided a solution to such problems as these! Behold! fanfiction.net! If your stories get too close to the original inspiration, you can post it here as fanfiction. Yeah it's a rather dead site and you don't get paid or anything but at least you can put it on the internet. Probably better platforms somewhere. IDK if wattpad takes fanfiction but that would be a better choice if they do.
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: Re: How can I make the story less predictable? I'm working on my first novel. As I was going through the initial chapters, I felt that the story is quite simple and predictable (in the initial
And when all seemed lost, laser unicorns flew down from the sky and obliterated the fifteenth regiment and the battle was won
If you want to make your story more unpredictable, then just do that. Maybe add a few extra plot points to break up the predictable bits. Maybe you don't need laser unicorns...but that would be funny. Just change it up a bit, maybe a travelling group of people decide to try and rob your characters(extra fight scene that wasn't there before!) or the map you had been following was apparently upside down the whole time(welp, back through the land of cannibals!) or something like that.
If you can't afford to change the plot because something doesn't work that way, then you just need to pull an IWAJAD(It Was All Just A Dream). The readers might hate you for it, so maybe only do 1-2 of these.
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: Re: Using alternative phrases to "meanwhile" or "elsewhen" to describe a non-linear flow of time as two consecutive events I am currently writing a "time-travel" themed story that is more
Two things you should know about time travel; 1- it's confusing sometimes. 2- its really really confusing the rest of the time.
I wouldn't use meanwhile between time jumps, or at least not to follow the time machine because where the time machine is going is probably not happening around the same time the time machine exited time. I would use 'X years before,'. BUT you seem to be doing this pretty well, so I think you using meanwhile will work well for you.
But you want substitutions, so here's a few ideas. Mostly unrelated, but this worldbuilding question might help a bit in other areas of your story.
Besides the 'X years ago', maybe you could start adding a sort of little text bit between each jump as the computer checks all the information or whatever to make sure it's working right. This could include the time it's jumping to, as well as any damages it's taken if that comes into your story at any point. If you don't like the text, maybe the time machine has a speaker it uses to tell the passengers the next stop. Might not keep the flow as it's a break in the story, but it's a thought.
Possibly whenever you do a time jump, you have to do a space jump as well to get at the right spot. Before you space jump though, you check what time you are at, correct if needed, then space jump to the part of earth you want. If you want to get really technical, then if you time travel back three months you'll be sitting in space as the earth hasn't yet gotten to that part of it's orbit yet.
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: Re: Is it okay to switch narration styles towards the end of a story? I'm writing most of my book in third person omniscient, but I think it would be better if I put the last few chapters in
This is completely okay, as long as you do it right. First you should finish up your first person POV, maybe even at the end of a chapter or a cliffhanger, right before Bob hurls himself into the reactor core to overload the death star and save the galaxy, or at the start of a very fast paced and complicated scene or whatever else you need a POV change for.
Then you need to make it clear to the readers that the POV is changing. Don't say that the POV is changing, just put an extra line break or something that you can keep constant with any more POV changes.
Now that it's third person omniscient, you can just write it out and then when you need it switch back to first person POV using the method you decided on above. If you decide to end your book in third person, I don't think you need to do you line break switch at the end of this book or the beginning of the next book. If you end the third person at the end of a chapter, then you should probably put the line break switch although you could probably do fine without it.
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: Re: Using minimal amount of dialogue to introduce two characters but still move the story along I have always struggled with writing dialogue between my characters in my historical fiction novel.
Before you read this answer, do something first; I want to find that rule book that says no small talk, set it on the ground outside, light it on fire, shoot it half a dozen times, and then put whatever is left in the garbage can. Done? Good. Continue reading.
Besides grammar and spelling and general formatting rules that your English teacher probably taught you, 'rules' are just practices or strategies that somebody decided worked well for them. What worked well for somebody writing story X won't work the same for your story Y. I used to not use much small talk in some of my stories, and they ended up being rather bland and not all that interesting. Now I'm trying to change that, and the result is a lot better than before. One other thing I want to point out is that if your story is all 'run run run run run' between plot points, it's a really quick novel. Good for convincing people not to put it down, but it will get rather repetitive.
In answer to your question;
To have no small talk, just have them talk about important stuff like the back story of how they got there and whatever else will come into your story later. This is called the Chekhov's Gun principle, which I personally think isn't a very good idea because you really have to strip your story down to just the big things.
In answer to what I think you should be asking; How to write a good first encounter?
Take the opportunity to slow down, your characters are meeting for the first time. First impressions mean quite a bit, in writing and in real life. If you go with the no small talk option you seem to want to go with, then all your characters will end up sounding like single minded robots only trying to accomplish whatever it is they set out to do. Although robots would probably just attach a USB cable and download the information, but you get the idea. Anyway, back to the encounter. Depending on what the POV is, it will vary how you go through this next bit but it's pretty interchangeable for whatever POV you use.
Describe the person(s). Before you talk to someone, you probably see them(if not then skip to #2 ). Spend a bit on describing the character you are encountering, if your in the middle of a firefight then keep it short, maybe just a quick sentence. If nothing important is going on, maybe do a whole paragraph.
Start the conversation. Go ahead, get friendly and talk about whatever you think the characters will find important. This will also be the place where you have to describe their voice if it's the first time. Maybe they have a cold, or are dehydrated, which might make them sound a bit different than they normally would.
Keep talking. Once you get the conversation going, it can be hard to stop. Go ahead and just write it all out, or at least until the evil guys find them and they have to run away. Probably you'll have something else besides just talking to sprinkle around the dialogue. If not, thats fine to. Is one of them sick? Do they need some food or water? Medical attention for their injuries?
End the conversation and continue with the story. Since you don't seem to like writing dialogue, then this should be an easy step for you. Once you've gotten all the important stuff done and finished a decent amount of small talk, then you can finish bandaging that wound/feeding them/finding the medicine and continue with the plot.
Hope this helps, good luck!
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: Re: Main Character Death I have a main character out of 3 main characters in a Historical Fiction book. His name is Darius. I have planned for him to die in a POW camp during WW1, this will
For point A; Darius needs to have finished up most of what you want him to do. maybe leave a few loose ends because death isn't always convenient.
For point B; You can't give the other two characters time to stand around for a few hours crying, they have to keep moving and if they stop they die.
For point C; Darius sacrifices himself to save the other 2 MC, or warn a troop of soldiers they're about to be ambushed, or something like that.
Overall, I think you can check all these boxes if Darius dies distracting guards while the other two MCs escape from the POW camp. Good luck!
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: Re: Any tips for young writers? I am a 15 years old boy who likes to read/watch/play anything that has a good story in it - especially fantasy. Everytime I finished one, I always feel like that
Well I think I can help you out a bit- especially since I'm 16 and also pretty fascinated by coding.
I started out posting on fictionpress, but there's not a whole lot of activity over there so you probably won't get many visitors(my stories all have under 20 views). I haven't used Wattpad before but it's probably a good bet. There are a bunch of sites where you can publish it, so you can probably find something that works for you rather easily.
Starting out, just put it out there and write. If you want people to review it and give feedback, look for beta reviewers. If you want people to just read it, post it everywhere you can find. If you want to publish, start with beta readers and then talk to a publisher.
Good luck!
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: Re: Your character has something wrong with them, they are supposed to be strong I am a young author writing a fantasy series. In my story, my MC is strong, resilient, and always needs to look
The MC needs motivation greater than her tenacity
Once you get down the main points, we have her impending doom trying against her tenacity. Since impending doom isn't quite enough to make her give in, you need to either A) make her less stubborn or B) increase the threat or C) add a third party intervention. The MC probably has some people with her, add onto her impending doom the fact that she'll probably kill them if she doesn't let them in on the secret.
Still not enough? Death will be slow and painful. Doesn't fear death? She will live forever slowly molding in a cave as bugs and vermin eat away at her body. Still not giving in? Give them a bad day where everything goes wrong to push her over the edge and spill the beans.
As for option C, this one will probably mess with your latter plot if you've already planned that out. Have a shaman/mind reader/fortune teller show up to the group. The shaman is basically Sherlock who then proceeds to strip away every bit of secrecy in the group and then just leaves everyone in a very awkward silence where they all feel exposed and forcing the MC to let everyone in on her vision secret.
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: How can I slow down my story without drama? Been reading through my stories, and I've noticed that there's a lot of shooty-shooty-bang-bang where people fight each other, but not a whole lot
Been reading through my stories, and I've noticed that there's a lot of shooty-shooty-bang-bang where people fight each other, but not a whole lot of drama which I feel like I probably should add so that the story slows down a bit. I think one of the two reasons I didn't put any is because I'm pretty bad at it, and the second reason is I just don't like it. I'd rather watch people punching each other than people confessing their undying love for each other and then breaking up next episode/chapter. I'm already doing a lot of the internal musings of the MC to try and slow stuff down, but it's not quite enough.
Are there any other things I can use to slow down the story besides drama?
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: Re: What pronoun to use for a sentient, self aware AI? I have a sentient AI in a story. He sentience aspect is mostly an unexpected result and some characters in the story do not believe it.
I think 'it' or 'AI's name' is probably the best bet. If you reference AI's name once in a conversation, you can then switch to calling it 'it' as long as it is clear that 'it' refers to the AI. If this gets in the way of your dialogue, maybe just go by the name. in Person of Interest, they called their AI 'The Machine' or 'Samaritan'(there were two) and that worked out well.
If you want to, you could call the AI a she(also done in Person of Interest). A lot of big things people make(boats, planes, etc) get referred to as feminine objects in speech. Yes, the AI technically is genderless, but people do stuff like this sometimes.
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: Re: I got a message from an Author Liaison representative. Can someone please give me advice on what to do? I have received the message below on Wattpad and I think it's a scam. I am not that
I got the same thing, ignoring it would be the best thing to do. It's just a bot message to get more content on their site.
I say to ignore it because in their legal section, if it's the same site as the one I got, you don't really own your story once it's on their site. Even if you don't plan on publishing or anything later on, still ignore it in case you change your mind later.
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: Another answer says to make them opposites, but I have another idea: Make them similar You describe your character as constantly getting into trouble, beating people up in fights, and scaring
Another answer says to make them opposites, but I have another idea:
Make them similar
You describe your character as constantly getting into trouble, beating people up in fights, and scaring people away from her. That absolutely smacks as a good villain backstory to me. However, I'm assuming that you're planning on having her grow towards being a 'good' character (hence 'protagonist'), but this leaves the door open to one thought: what if she didn't?
The goal of this villain archetype is that the hero can see themselves in the villain. They can relate, and they can see how they have walked similar paths. However, the main difference is that the villain has accepted certain evils that the protagonist finds repulsive. The terrifying part is that the protagonist can see a clear path how they could end up as a very similar villain if they continue down their self-destructive path, and it can be a great way to spur change.
Here are some examples of what that might look like paired with your character:
A loner who has disassociated from others so much that she sociopathically uses and manipulates people for her own selfish ends.
A powerful individual who has been rejected so much that she uses her power to bully, intimidate, and coerce people to get what she wants. This is a big theme in X Men villains.
A jealous individual who sees the protagonist's growth and ability to rise above her and attempts to drag her down to her own level by any means at her disposal. This kind of villain gets personal. This is like what The Joker is to Batman.
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: Re: All my characters sound the same. How can I change this? I am writing a fantasy series. I am a new writer. I am almost done with the first draft of the first book, I have about 400 pages.
Just like Playing D&D
I've run into this problem a few times, although the characters were across different stories and then everything started to sound the same in different settings. My solution? I role-played my characters, even in one case made a dnd character sheet. Writing down your characters personality/traits/pet peeves and constantly checking that against your story will help you brighten it up a bit. Put yourself in their position and figure out what they say/do. The little details make a big difference.
Side note-sounds like a really cool story, could I get a link?
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: Re: Does the main character have to be likable? I am often hearing / reading that the main character of your story should be likable or even if flawed should be something about them to get the
You can do this, but I think you have to ask what you're hoping to achieve by doing so.
When you say:
The obvious answer is usually "as long as you have a compelling / interesting / engaging enough story / character then it's OK to have an unlikable character", but this suggests that all other things being equal, your character should be likable.
I think this can be true - to an extent at least. People will tolerate an unlikable character if the story is enjoyable in spite of them, but perhaps a better way to think about it is that it's OK to have a deliberately unlikable character if the character is sufficiently compelling, interesting or engaging.
The difficulty bar for pulling that off the main character is particularly high as by definition the reader is going to be spending so much time with them and how we experience a story is going to be inextricably linked with how we experience the main character(s) - I'm fairly sure for example that a substantial factor in my enduring disdain for A Catcher in the Rye is down to how much I loathed Holden Caulfied.
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: Re: When writing and formatting a novel, what are the rules for scene breaks? Is it okay to use both asterisks and double spaces? I have found information on this topic of scene breaks available
Can someone please guide me on what is acceptable and what is the most preferred? Do editors change your formatting if they don't like it?
There's no hard and fast rule on what to use. Personally I've used various combinations depending on what suited the particular piece - if I find myself regularly needing harder scene breaks during a chapter (such as a change in POV) then I'll usually have a visual clue (such as asterisks). On the other hand if such harder breaks are very rare I'll avoid that and instead use a chapter boundary or similar.
The most important thing really is to be consistent within your work - that way the reader can pick up on what you are accomplishing with the break-formatting you're choosing to use.
Do editors change your formatting if they don't like it?
Potentially - either because the formatting you've chosen makes the text harder to follow or because of typesetting concerns for the final format.
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: Re: Does my book need to have a love triangle in it? I'm editing my book currently and I have a basis for a love triangle. Should I add one? I feel like it would add another subplot to my story
My advice: explore ways that this subplot could contribute to the existing, main, central plot of the storyline. If this love-triangle subplot will strengthen the main plot, add it in! But don't add it just for "extra plot". It will distract and make the whole story weaker.
Specifically, consider how this subplot will affect your protagonist's character arc/weakness, how it will connect to the existing character dynamics between central characters and the opponent, and how it will help build to the climax of the story by making the stakes higher or creating more conflict or contributing to a clever culmination, etc.
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: How do we count syllable at the end of a line when there's a comma? I am an able-bodied person and she is a horse, 15 A big blue horse, a really big horse, 12 Like the one we see in
I am an able-bodied person and she is a horse, 15
A big blue horse, a really big horse, 12
Like the one we see in movies. 8
I am wondering if it should be 14, 11 and 8, because we usually pause at the end of a line when reading a poem. What are the rules regarding this? Do comma at the end of a line behave the same way as a comma in the middle of a line when it comes to counting syllable in a poem?
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: Got a message from an Author Liaison representative representing Webnovel about the story I wrote. Any advice? I just published a story on fiction press, and although it only has 9 views, someone
I just published a story on fiction press, and although it only has 9 views, someone from Author Liaison representing Webnovel sent me a PM through the site. Some googling showed that this seems to be a legit thing, but I know that I am not a very good writer. At all. Most of my stories get next to no attention, and only one has ever gotten feedback, and that one was not this one.
I did look through the message a few times and I think it might have been just a copy+paste thing or even a bot. the first thing that tipped me off is that he doesn't specify the story, even though I've only posted one. the second thing I see is that he says 'initial chapters', and I've only posted one so far. I haven't yet contacted him back, because I don't really want to mess this up if it ends up being something that could help me become a better writer.
So is this some practical joke or scam, or am I a better writer than I think I am? I'm kinda freakin out since I never expected anyone to really like my stories, so what should I do?
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: Where should I post my unfinished story I'm still writing? I've written a few bad stories before, but I post them online anyway. All my past ones have been put on a fanfiction site, but the
I've written a few bad stories before, but I post them online anyway. All my past ones have been put on a fanfiction site, but the one I'm working on doesn't go there. It's still a work in progress, and I'm adding on regularly. I would like to keep it as 1 document the entire time I'm writing it so I don't have to run through my files to find a small detail. It's fiction, and I don't plan on making it a series. I would like a site where I can go back in the published version if I decide to add or remove details from a certain point. I looked into Inkitt, and it seems like a good option but I would like to find a site with a better writing format, and I didn't really like the general feel of the site. I'd like a site where my story could be reviewed, and have some communication method besides talking in the comments. That's one of the features I really liked about the fanfiction site, you could talk to other authors.
Sorry this question is kinda all over the place. Just looking for a site where-
I can post my unfinished story
and keep it in one document
while still updating regularly, adding onto the story or going back to change something
and getting advice/criticism from other authors
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: Re: Hyphen or no-hyphen for adjective phrase for impact/emphasis/clarity? Here are two alternatives, one with a hyphen of previously-obscured one without as previously obscured: As our global society
“A well-placed hyphen can lend writing c-l-a-r-i-t-y†... Also see dashes and spelling compound words with or without hyphens. ... It produces a sudden jolt of emphasis, an abrupt pause that draws a dramatic halt to the rhythm ... Intended for the eye rather than the ear, it functions without personality, style, or rhythmic impact.
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: Re: Misspelling and punctuation how to improve? Love telling/writing stories except I am the absolute worst at both spelling along with punctuation. Normally I care less about these things because
Good grammar was created to help us communicate our ideas accurately and effectively. In general, using good grammar will improve your writing.
In general, though, the perfect grammar community is just another religion designed to create a club from which they can exclude others to make themselves feel included. (Other such clubs are etiquette, Ivy League schools, etc.)
Always be aware that sometimes the rules will interfere with communicating your ideas. ("This is the type of bloody nonsense up with which I will not put.") In those cases, don't worry about it. There will always be someone who will point out flaws in your work.
Writing is about heart. Use Grammarly if you wish, but anyone can follow the rules. Create your prose and hire a proofreader to fix it later.
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: General wisdom says starting sentences with conjunctions, conjunctive adverb, etc. can weaken your sentences, especially if done frequently in the same text. Plenty of good writers start sentences
General wisdom says starting sentences with conjunctions, conjunctive adverb, etc. can weaken your sentences, especially if done frequently in the same text.
Plenty of good writers start sentences in this way. As with all general rules, you should understand why people say don't do it before you decide to break it.
"Know the rules well, so you can break them effectively." -- The Dalai Lama
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: Re: Correctly ending a sentence with "?" or "!" spacing? Specifically, should there be a space after a sentence last letter or directly after the written last letter ? I personally prefer a space
You should never leave a space between the end of a sentence and punctuation marks that is what all grammar references say.
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: Re: Can I query a book in two countries simultaneously? Can I send a query to agents in non-English speaking country and translated version to agents in English country at the same time? I assume
Foreign distribution to a publisher means $$, so yes, you have to be honest when querying regarding your intent to market your work overseas. Understand, however, that such a move may be off-putting to many potential publishers.
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: Re: Characters with apostrophe names I have created a world, and one of the cultures has mainly apostrophe names - Vax'Ildan, Vex'Ahlia, Soih'Ym... How would this work grammatically - possessive and
As far as possessives, nothing should change provided the apostrophe that is part of the name does not appear as the final character in the name:
Vex'Ahlia's coat would be fine, but
A name like Sov'Yk' (not one of your examples, but just for argument's sake) would present its own problems.
(I would prefer to see Sov'Yk's shirt over Sov'Yk''s shirt, for example.)
As far as nicknames, you should be free to create variations on the character's name that sound natural.
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: Re: Markup langage to easily write technical texts I'm looking for a syntax that allows me to write in a simple way (not like in LaTeX or HTML) documents with technical elements (chess boards,
My first guess would be Markdown. You can include png files in it too.
Its syntax is easy to use and very well documented.
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