Writer Senses

I have read all over that the last thing you want to do is start your story with a dream. The thing is, it's not my intent to start my story out in a cheesy dream sequence. In fact, it's not even a dream. It's a premonition that is relative to the plot of the story. When I chose to start out this way, it wasn't because I thought "ah! I'm going to start my story in a cool dream just to throw the reader for a loop once they realize this isn't really happening". It's how I saw my story starting. And it's not intended to throw my reader for a loop, it's intended for the reader to want to know more about this premonition. Now after the premonition takes place, if you read further, you will see that it's not a dream. You will learn as you read that my MC has the gift of premonitions, and that this particular premonition has manifested itself in her waking state, as she received an injury from the premonition. So the problem is, I underst...

I have a scene where the MC wakes up in her boyfriend's bed. She talks with him for a while then makes an excuse to leave. At some point, I though, "Hm, they didn't even mentioned or ate breakfast." Note: the time is around eight a.m. In another scene, they meet for a date. In the first draft, they go to a restaurant, but then I changed the location to a library. At some point, I thought, "Hm, they don't eat dinner in the whole date." Note: the time is around seven p.m. Do you think this is an issue? Or the reader will just assume the characters ate between scenes (or behind scenes)? Or maybe the readers don't care at all? (Right now, I only make the characters eat when they are in a bar, restaurant, or while they are doing something else like using the computer.) ******** Dear Writer, There are two main ideas to consider. First is "Chekhov's Gun." Anton Chekhov argued that if a gun is present on stage in act I of a pla...

So I'm working on a book about grim reapers and I just discovered its almost exactly like the plot of "dead like me"....I'm so mad. Ive never even seen this show before. How can I fix it without redoing all my work? ******** Dear Writer, Audre Lorde said, "There are no new ideas, there are only new ways of making them felt." She is getting at the heart of your question. This concerns tropes and how to use them. Fact is, at this point in history, no one is going to write something that has never been seen before in at least some respects. Every writer must at contend with this truth, get over it, and keep writing. My advice is that you not concern yourself with how much your original work may overlap with existing work in your medium or another medium. This happens to all of us from time to time in varying degrees. Focus on the unique things you bring to the table. Research and be inspired. Your perspectives, passions, and expertise...

So I'm writing a book. This book is about Japanese people. It's a fictional book. I chose Japan as the setting because I thought it was different from my native USA. I read once that so many novels take place in the Anglophone world, it's boring. And I thought it would be interesting to explore Japan for a few other reasons that I won't go into here, but you can ask me if you like through PM. Anyway, I don't want to misrepresent Japan. I only know what little I've read about, and of course what they allow you to see through anime. I know from "educating" myself that anybody from any culture can be spunky and fiery. But it's hard to believe when you've never experienced that culture for yourself and can't vouch for the types of spunkiness allowed. Is it spunkiness filtered through misogyny? What sort? I want my one of my characters to be curious about Western things, but be ultimately patriotic and pro-Japan. I want another to be ...

My protagonist is a doctor who euthanizes the terminally ill and suicidal - anyone who asks for his help to come to a quick and painless end. Now I'm at a scene where he and another character are arguing their philosophies, with my intent of digging into the nuances of each position: life vs death. However, I'm so far stuck in my MC's head that I'm drawing a blank on his opposition. His argument: "Everyone suffered and died. He wondered why anyone lived these days." So what would justify a miserable existence suffering indefinitely to the mere possibility that life gets better? (Also note that this is a low-tech fantasy world, where there aren't psychologists or psychiatric drugs. So no one's going to get any professional help.) So can you answer him?: If someone wants to die, why don't you let them? Why shouldn't you help them come to a quick, painless, and humane end if their life isn't worth living anymore? If they're suffer...

Writer: Is it ever OK to deliberately write poorly, as long as it serves a function of the story? I have a character who, throughout the story, has their memory altered to forget certain events, or to influence their perception. From a critic's perspective, it would seem as though the character just isn't written well; they don't react the way a normal character would given their circumstances, except that's intentional on my part. Flowers for Algernon did something similar, I remember, with its main character's speech changing over the course of the story. The MC's dialogue, in the beginning, has poor spelling/grammar, but it's OK because the story allows for this. In Flowers for Algernon it's easy to accept the poor grammar and spelling because we, as readers, know it's a part of the story up front. Is this OK? Can poor writing be excused by the plot? What about if the plot requires it to be kept secret? Can it be conveyed in other ways that so...

Image courtesy of Pixabay.com. Writer: 1. Do you describe the surroundings only when they drive the plot/story forward? Or [do] you like to describe them to give the reader a sense of the mood/setting/atmosphere? 2. How long are your descriptions? How do you decide the length? Dear Writer, Questions of craft are tethered to context. That said: I often want the reader to be oriented to the immediate setting, even if the immediate setting isn't the most significant setting. In such cases, I choose a handful—usually no more than three—orienting details that engage some of the five senses and establish in broad terms where the characters are and what it's like to be there. Even in a film or television shot of a detailed setting, the camera often doesn't linger on the setting's details unless it is to draw attention to something significant (Chekhov's Gun). More often, the cinematographer will use wide shots to broadly establish the setting and then cut to c...