3 general questions

[GrotesqueHeaven]

Hello, I have few general questions to ask.

1 - First question is about tags - is it better to put tags of future/planned content or add them as they appear for the first time in the story?

2 - Second one - novel's covers. For now, i have this one.

I tried to generate some ai images but didn't like neither of them. Is it better to use colors and text or ai image? Maybe i should change font or colors to be more likeable?

3 - Character speech. I am not native English user and books that i read have this type of speech:

- Are bananas yellow? - asked charX
- No, they are blue. - charY answered.

And I am using " " for character's thoughts.

But most authors here use " " for the character's speech.

Is it too confusing or acceptable? Should i change it to the second (english) version? If yes, that what about the thoughts?

Thanks in advance to anyone answering.

 

[Cossimeri]

1. A mix of both. If you know for a fact that something is going to show up, go ahead and add the tag. But remember that tags can actually drive people away from your story too. Sometimes I'll add tags for content I ultimately never end up writing (and then I go back and remove the tag) but I've been told that people have avoided my work on tags alone. At least once the tag was one I removed.

2. In the past it was "get an anime girl on your cover" but these days I dunno. Several stories have hit trending without any kind of cover at all.

3. In English commonly we use " " for speech and italics for internal dialogue. I believe readers will adapt to your formatting, but honestly you'd probably be better off adopting the English standard if you're writing in English.

Example text:


"Would you like to go to the movies?" Jane asked.

"As if she'd ever go out with me," Jane thought to herself.

 

[LilRora]

1. If they're gonna appear relatively soon and you are sure they're going to be there, feel free to add them; some additional exposure is always good unless it's a bad tag (like mind control, a lot of people are turned off by that) but even then you may want to include it for the sake of honesty (it's an even worse turn-off when you're hit out of the blue with something you don't like).

2. Honestly, I feel like there's no rules now.
ad. 2 - neither should be used only when you've got two things to choose from, and you're doing a double negation.

3. I don't know if you "should" change it but it can be offputting to read a story in a completely different format. If it's not too much trouble, I recommend changing.

 

[GlassRose]

3. In English commonly we use " " for speech and italics for internal dialogue. I believe readers will adapt to your formatting, but honestly you'd probably be better off adopting the English standard if you're writing in English.

If using Italics, you shouldn't use quotes at the same time, so the result would be more like this:

"Would you like to go to the movies?" Jane asked. As if she'd ever go out with me.

Also, you don't use dialogue tags for thoughts, it's implied, the reader already knows who's thinking cause they're the POV character, and that it's a thought because it's italic. You should treat it as dialogue in that they should be in their own paragraphs, separated from normal text or other lines of dialogue, though there are occasional exceptions to that, like in the above example where it's a natural continuation of something the character said, that's being left unsaid, or if it's a small introject.

 

[Deleted member 172779]

If using Italics, you shouldn't use quotes at the same time, so the result would be more like this:

"Would you like to go to the movies?" Jane asked. As if she'd ever go out with me.

Also, you don't use dialogue tags for thoughts, it's implied, the reader already knows who's thinking cause they're the POV character, and that it's a thought because it's italic. You should treat it as dialogue in that they should be in their own paragraphs, separated from normal text or other lines of dialogue, though there are occasional exceptions to that, like in the above example where it's a natural continuation of something the character said, that's being left unsaid, or if it's a small introject.

I scroll the comment, and look at this one. "Seriously, who the guys think he is, to control someone's writing."

In the end of the day. Its just the Internet, Ahem... I mean Scribble Hub tech support.

 

[Cossimeri]

If using Italics, you shouldn't use quotes at the same time, so the result would be more like this:

"Would you like to go to the movies?" Jane asked. As if she'd ever go out with me.

Also, you don't use dialogue tags for thoughts, it's implied, the reader already knows who's thinking cause they're the POV character, and that it's a thought because it's italic. You should treat it as dialogue in that they should be in their own paragraphs, separated from normal text or other lines of dialogue, though there are occasional exceptions to that, like in the above example where it's a natural continuation of something the character said, that's being left unsaid, or if it's a small introject.

Using dialogue tags for thoughts has been done forever. I'm not sure what standard you're basing this statement on, but it seems a bit overly pedantic.

As for not double dipping with quotations and italics, there may be some merit to that. I personally prefer to use both for thoughts. As someone who writes First Person POV predominantly I like to make it very clear where the split between internal narration and dialogue is. Using both is also great for content posted on the web. As depending on how someone's browser is setup type formatting may be nonexistent or diminished.

 

[Anonjohn20]

Sometimes I'll add tags for content I ultimately never end up writing (and then I go back and remove the tag)

On two occasions I started a story that had the smut tag only to read many chapters without smut and the author removes the tag. I got played like a damn fiddle.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Hello, I have few general questions to ask.

1 - First question is about tags - is it better to put tags of future/planned content or add them as they appear for the first time in the story?

How central is it to the story? If it shows up a lot, or takes over at some point then put it out up front; if not, add it in later.

2 - Second one - novel's covers. For now, i have this one. View attachment 34926 I tried to generate some ai images but didn't like neither of them. Is it better to use colors and text or ai image? Maybe i should change font or colors to be more likeable?

Either stick with what you have or go down in the Artists forum and post a few possible options for either feedback, or to see if someone can suggest or even make something for you.

3 - Character speech. I am not native English user and books that i read have this type of speech:

- Are bananas yellow? - asked charX
- No, they are blue. - charY answered.

And I am using " " for character's thoughts.

But most authors here use " " for the character's speech.

Is it too confusing or acceptable? Should i change it to the second (english) version? If yes, that what about the thoughts?

Thanks in advance to anyone answering.

From another thread it seems the
- spoken words - speaker - more spoken words - thing for speech and
"thoughts" thinker "more thoughts" for, well, thoughts is typical of Russian novels or at least modern Russian webnovels.

I've also seen 'spoken words' speaker 'more spoken words' for speech and
"thoughts" thinker "more thoughts" for thoughts - though it is far more common to either see only the double quotes ("") for both, or
"spoken words" speaker "more spoken words" for speech and
'thoughts' thinker 'more thoughts' for thoughts.

Just pick one and be consistent - maybe, if you feel self conscious about it, use an Author's Note in the first chapter to explain your choice.

I have one where, when the character talks to his System, it is
<<communication>> communicator <<more communications>>, but "stuff" doer of stuff "more stuff" for speech and thoughts.

 

[fcures]

For writing style you should do what you like best since it's your writing style but I suggest you look into other people's writing styles and see what you like best and mix them to something you are comfortable with. Since this is creative writing, for stuff that are not creative writing (such as essay or such) you can't really do that. For me I changed my writing style like 3 times already but I'm still experimenting with different stuff to see what I like more.

 

[GlassRose]

I scroll the comment, and look at this one. "Seriously, who the guys think he is, to control someone's writing."

In the end of the day. Its just the Internet, Ahem... I mean Scribble Hub tech support.

Someone asked a question on writing, I was giving my answer? I mean, I'm not the end-all be-all, that's just my take/preference/what I've seen most frequently.

 

[BigBadBoi]

1. Put tags for planned content. For example, Readers suddenly finding out the MC is gay, get NTRed, has aharem, etc. will be put off and will review bomb you if they hate it enough.
2. Heavily depends. AIslop is good enough for a generic cover. Generic text don't catch the eye.
3. Most people use " " for speech and use ' ' for thought bubbles. You can go with what you want but clarify at the start at least.

 

[soupsabaw]

1. You should apply all tags whenever. Say you have someone wanting to find a story with an established relationship. If you're not at the established relationship part of the book yet, then you won't add it, so this person searching for a story with an established relationship will overlook your book. There are multiple other reasons, but this is just one of them.

2. I personally have no issues with covers that take on this appearance since I also make my own, but you should probably make something more appealing. These colors don't really flow well together; and they clash. You can use Canva to create images that'll fit perfectly and use their gradients, colors, and other elements for details.

3. What BigBadBoi said! " " is usually dialogue, and ' ' is for inner thoughts. However, you're free to do what you wish. Just make sure if you're doing something other people don't normally do that you inform your readers how your writing works.