Arcane
You can change this now in User CP.
- Reaction score
- 87
Personally I don't believe in names having "hidden meanings". If it's something like a tribal or cultural thing then it's okay, but otherwise I'm hesitant.
Everyone who took typing class in high school learned that you always put two spaces after a period. The same goes for colons, questions marks, and exclamation points. Well, times have changed, and the two-space rule is dead.
Today, using just one space is correct. In BC times (Before Computers), printing presses and typewriters used letters that were all the same width. To help readers see that a new sentence was starting, we inserted two spaces. Today, computers compensate for the varying widths of letters. An "m" no longer takes up the same amount of space as an "i" does. Thanks to these proportional fonts, we no longer need that extra space.
Ugh, my college English teacher took points off of people's papers for not putting 2 spaces. I'll just try to keep in mind that if my teacher is old, 2 spaces, young, 1 space.
It is not necessary. Look at "A Song of Ice and Fire". Without these biblical, and truthfully, overused connotations, the book went fine as it was.
I think you've posted those before. They're great tips and I love Vonnegut, but I think those tips apply to his writing style alone. Or at least the 8th tip does. Vonnegut is a master at getting the plot out of the way early on, letting you know what happens as fast as possible. But that doesn't work for all books. Vonnegut spurns suspense, but that doesn't mean we all should.
No, there is more advice below.
Even though this thread is a little...dated...I thought I'd add something I've come to find.
ALWAYS be thinking of new ways to torture your characters. Their trials and hardships are pretty much what shape them in the end, make it count, and make it brutal.
Also: A tortured antagonist is always a nice addition to the story.
I only half agree with you there; if there is no reason for the torture other than to simply fill pages, you are right, nobody would like it.That is true, writers are often afraid to hurt their characters.
But no one likes a tortured sou