Novelist4679

I'm in need of a Welsh speaker with a decent vocabulary. I would normally use a machine translator, but it has been brought to my attention that they are not reliable even for single words on some occasions. The job is not at all difficult or time consuming, but it isn't very interesting either. It mainly consists of translating words, phrases, help with pronunciation, and maybe a few lessons. Any help is appreciated.

I'm in need of a Welsh speaker with a decent vocabulary. I would normally use a machine translator, but it has been brought to my attention that they are not reliable even for single words. The job is not at all difficult or time consuming. I'd highly appreciate any assistance! If you want to know more, please contact me on my profile.

I'm having some trouble coming up with enough to fill my series. There are only a few feasible stopping points, so I must conform to this. The past two book outlines I've done have given me trouble because they are so short. I thought about fusing them into one book, but I feel it throws off the pacing of the story in addition to putting in a ton of important content into one book. Do you know any exercises to help smooth along the process or should I just get down the bare bones and then slowly fill in minor events (probably what I'll do if no better options are suggested)? Also, after outlining, how many times do you find yourself revising it? Do you have people review your story with you?

If so, why? What was it about?

I had one story that started as a sci-fi romance between a high functioning military robot from an apocalyptic future and a young woman. As I started to develop it, I realized I was writing the sci-fi equivalent of Twilight without a love triangle and scrapped the idea, keeping the male lead character in 'storage' so to speak.

I'm having trouble deciding whether to include a prologue for my story (and the contents of the prologue, but I'll figure that out myself), does anyone have a rule about prologues and when they should be used or anything similar? I'm conflicted.

I've heard a lot of people say they write best when they don't feel like writing and I've seen a lot of really respected/famous writers turn their pain/sadness into great writing.

When do you write best? How do you feel when you're writing your best work? Do you find any times in particular work for you? I'm just curious, I'm in a bad place right now and I need something to keep my mind occupied.

In my story, there is a cave that is pitch black so that nobody can see in it (it's supposed to stop people from obtaining something inside the cave that could be seriously misused). The only way to get through the cave is to have cave's guardian, who has memorized the layout, guide you. The problem is that fire exists, both as the thing we know and something that people can produce (something akin to magic). I've decided the cave will have a seal on it that prevents the use of 'magic', but I can't figure out how to make fires go out without taking away oxygen from the cave. I don't want to have something in the air like methane to discourage it. I want to make it literally impossible, not just a bad idea. I know fire needs oxygen, heat, and a fuel source to survive. Oxygen is off the menu and I don't think I can get rid of heat. I can't use magic either, because my world's 'magic' system doesn't work like that.

I'd like it to be scientifically accurate if possible. Any help is appreciated, I'm stumped.

If you whisked your character out of their world into the room you are sitting in and had to tell them the truth that they are a fictional character that you created for a story, how would they handle it? How about if you told them that you know every detail of their future and how they die?

I think my main character would deny it at first, but slowly begin to accept it. I think I' have to give him a hug eventually because I'd feel bad for him. If I told him I knew his future, he'd probably decline to learn. He'd rather be surprised by it.

For those who've been through the world building process, this question is for you. I'm currently working on developing my world and coming up with decent results but also significant problems. For one, I have one continent that is unrealistically large. Due to plot reasons and some mathematics, I am having trouble splitting the continent up and keeping my requirements intact. Do you have any suggestions for first time world builders? What steps did you go through creating your world's geography? Any tips would be appreciated.

What would it be about? Genre? Setting? What kind of characters would there be? Would you read it? etc.

I think if my main character had to write a story, it would be a romance story about a young man and a young woman who are both shy and innocent but somehow manage to overcome their shyness and start talking to each other, eventualy falling in love. (Honestly, I wouldn't read it haha)

I'd love to see what you come up with!

It's a fantasy setting, though the details are a little fuzzy. I was a child at the time, but the main character had to collect some very important gemstones from around the world (fairly sure it was either 7 or 8). He wore the gemstones on a belt. They each had a power over anyone who touched them. I'm fairly sure one stone made somebody tell the truth and such. Another saw through illusions and was used to see through the illusion of two mages who spoke backwards.

On the side of each book, the belt is pictured with each gem the character had collected. I looked through my home but it appears my mom donated them or something. I'd like to take a look again and any help would be greatly appreciated!

I would honestly say music influences my writing most, after other stories. I am always listening to music on the computer and sometimes in the middle of a brainstorm, the perfect song pops up and gives me a new idea. It's also made me revise minor details. Does anyone else find Pandora to be their second best brainstorming tool?

My novel is set in a fictional future where our society was wiped out a long time ago, but traces still remain. As a result, English is more or less the equivalent of Latin to us except almost unheard of. My problem is that I need a way to show when English is being used instead of the common language. I'm not sure how I could execute this gracefully without drawing attention away from the story. My current thought is to have all writing and speech in English described rather than written on paper since my main character does not know English. For example:

The two spoke in a way that he had never heard before. The 'words' sounded nothing like words at all. He didn't hear anything close to familiar through the entire exchange.

There were markings on the wall. They were too precise to be accidental but too strange to be man-made either. The symbols almost looked alien to him. The more he looked, the stranger it seemed.

Any suggestions on how to do this without distracting from the story and convey that English is foreign to the characters would be appreciated.

I've been writing out a bit of my story and I'd really appreciate somebody to exchange criticisms with. What I want is:

- Somebody into fantasy

- Not adverse to violence, light adult themes, mild to excessive swearing (If you're not a fan of cursing, it's really only for one character who doesn't come in until around half way through the story. Up until then it is fine)

- Reads frequently

- Willing to offer honest constructive criticism and advise for improvement

- Has a story they are writing that I can return the favor on! I mainly prefer sci-fi, fantasy, and mystery, but other genres are welcomed... except romance. I just can't get into romance focused stories. I'd prefer novel length stories since then the lengths are comparable. It wouldn't be fair if I only editted a short story in exchange for a novel, right?

- Has eyes good enough to notice the misspelling and incorrect word use I made somewhere in here

If you'd like to work together, I can be contacted directly through my profile. In your first message, correct the misspelling and incorrect word choice so I know that you know what you're doing. If you can find any other mistakes, I will be very impressed.

BQ: What's your favorite genre?

I am writing a fantasy series and after developing the plot and characters I have turned my attention to world building. I find that my world is slightly lacking in different races. Thus far, I have:

Succubi

Dragons

Vampires (Yes, I know what you're thinking. I was very resistant to this at first as well, but I actually managed to make them very different from both the original and the watered down version. If you want to know, ask away)

Golems

The longer the list, the better. I will not be taking suggestions for what to do with these races; I will be adding my own twists to make them less generic. Less common races are highly appreciated. If you have any links with lists, feel free. I found an incredible one a while ago, but I can't locate it again. I don't need a summary of any of these, I'd rather do my own research.

I know that it is a bad idea to immediately start with action, but I am unsure about mystery. My concern is that it leaves several unanswered questions before anything takes place. I've seen some stories do this, but I am simply undecided as to whether I should start my own story with such a scene because I have one in mind.

I'm writing a novel and I was thinking about having small pieces from a character's diary (for lack of a better word) at the beginning of each chapter. The pieces are relevant to the background of the story and should help the reader get a better sense of the world. Have you read a book that does this and do you feel it was a good idea or did it subtract too much from the story and interrupt the flow of the story (this is my main concern)? Also, does anyone know exactly what this would be called? My vocabulary is failing me right now.

From any media at all, who is your favorite character? What is it that really endears you to them?

I'd have to say Nier from the game of that title. He's the perfect protagonist for the story, really. The world Nier lives in and its darkest truths embody the idea that we cannot know the whole truth to any matter and that decisions we may think are black and white are truly grey. Nier contrasts this perfectly, believing in black and white ethics. Again and again, Nier encounters situations that would make normal people hesitate and wonder what the right thing to do is, but doesn't hesitate at all and goes with what he believes to be the only right decision. While Nier is a very static character and does not change much over his epic, he's still a great character because of his interaction with the plot and other characters. He's both ends of the spectrum and it really shocked and awed me to see the guy who'd fight for people just to make their lives a tiny bit better turn around and not hesitate to continue his fight after a plot twist that made me feel morally conflicted. He's a very strong character and I'd suggest to anyone remotely interested in fantasy stories to at least watch a playthrough.

For the writers, who of your characters is your favorite? Mine is my anti hero character and the main character's rival, Liam. Since I already typed a rant above, I'll just leave it with the fact that he's my most dynamic and complicated character (tied with my main antagonist). I genuinely enjoy writing his scenes, developing him further, and the challenge of making a man who has killed upwards of a thousand people seem like a human being with emotions and a heart.

First person to answer gets ten free points! I can't find my last two questions on the site except through my page, so I'm wondering if my questions are showing up at all since neither have gotten answers. Please answer or even star this question so I know for sure!

I usually try to eliminate all options down to two, then flip a coin. I pay attention to my instant gut reaction to the result, and make my decision based on that feeling. What do you do? I usually don't ask people's opinions on it, since I know my story better than anyone and almost all of it is in my head at the moment.