Anyone know what the rule is on writing numbers? Is there a rule? I've been writing them as - If the number is lower than 10, then spell it out, example seven, but if it's 10 or higher, use the actual number, example 15.

Is that a right way to do it? And if so does that mean if one chapter i wrote out 5 percent, but in a future chapter I wrote 100%, is that correct or inconsistent. Thanks!

I'm working on a Science Fiction novel right now, and I'm really enjoying it. But I'm not worrying so much abut the technicalities of what to include as of right now - this is just my first draft after all. However, once it's completed, I'm going to want to go back and fill in all that stuff, whether it be warp travel or laser fire or quantum polymer infusers.

So, to anyone who has written or read a lot of sci-fi work, what advice would you give? What makes a good sci-fi story (With the exception to character development, conflict and plot)

Something to consider when answering - I don't intend on this book being a hard sci-fi novel. It's first person perspective, and the main character is something of a rogue, sort of like Han Solo I guess. And the story will be set up very much like a detective/treasure hunting book, depening on which direction I take it.

Hopefully I've made sense, Thanks again everyone! 

As I work on my big project every now and then I hit slumps or blocks, which can sometimes take shape of a wife, 10 month old or 3 year old, playing, chatting, screaming, throwing, abusing little brothers, stealing from big brothers......sorry getting carried away.

Anywho, during these times I find myself not writing, and I know a good practice to get into is writing every day, no matter what it is your writing about. So then yesterday I came up with this idea of a first person space adventure, sort of like Dresden in space, though without the magic, and not related what so ever to Mr. Butchers work. Do you think there would be reader interest in something like this? The ideas I came up with were pure fun factor, and I can see it being something I can turn to and write just a few sentences at a time when family life gets busy.

Strangely enough I was working on my story, setting on a first person perspective when a character currently unnamed came to me in my mind and said;

"It's bad enough I don't have a name yet, but you seriously forgot that there's a scene later in the book that I'm in and your main character isn't?! So how the hell are you going to work that Mr. Aspiring Author if your book is in first person?"

So after we fought with phaser sabers (yes I merged Star Wars/ Trek weapons, which I can do in my brain) I decided that I was confident that this book could be written in third person after all.

Anywho, to the point - When I start my chapters I had an idea of how to start them, and that was each chapters first sentence would start with the name of the character the chapter was following. So for example:

Chapter 1
John walked to the park.

Chapter 2
Sarah heard the phone ringing.

Chapter 3
Percy transformed into a herb eating velociraptor before his evening bath.

And so forth. If the following chapter stayed with the same person, then there would be no name. My question to you folks is - Would that bog things down to much? Or turn people and/or baby hippo's off of the book? Would it just be better for me to place the name under the chapter number ala Geroge RR Martin? If that is considered a no-no in the literary creation world I would prefer to stay away from it, but in my mind it seemed cool.

I appreciate all and any advice as I always do

This is sort of an expansion to my old post, "Are Readers Growing Tired of New Urban Fantasy?"

I thought I would make a new topic to discuss all fiction in general - what are people growing tired of? Is it time for aspiring writers to look past UF? What's the new "in" genre? Jim Butcher is currently working on a Steampunk novel, and tomorrow Jay Kristoff's "Stormdancer" is released (Which I am VERY excited about) so do you see Steampunk making a big push in the next year?

What do you think? Where is Sci-Fi currently sitting at? or Dystopian? While it's important for aspiring writers to write where they feel the most comfortable and what they love, I also think it's important to pay attention to the current and potential future trends in order to attract readers.

Okay, so I have multiple story ideas, but there are two that I'm having difficulty deciding on. Both are first person POV, UF Genre. The one I began writing about a year ago, and to this day I have close to 76,000 words of a rough draft. This is a story I really like, and I even have enough data to turn it into a multiple book series. My issue is, I'm worried about two things:

1. There's not enough back story - Since we're on the JB boards, I'll use the Dresden Files as an example. I'm not beginning this story like Storm Front, well into Harry's wizarding life. I mean by SF, and so on. My book is essentially JB writing his first Harry Dresden novel at the point where .

2. The main character isn't conflicted or complex enough. Me being a first time writer, I'm not exactly sure how complex or conflicted the main character should be? He's essentially just an average joe at the moment. For the most part he's satisfied with his life. When he's told he's special and may have powers he's excited. Now at the same time he does have terrible nightmares, and his mother is somewhat wacky, but I'm concerned that's just not enough to make the reader want to care about him.

Now, here's the kicker - My other idea in my opinion doesn't have these problems. The main character has problems, and throughout the first book he learns how to cope with them. He's been through things, lost loved ones, and more. He knows a lot more about the supernatural world. Also, the world has more of a back story. Where as in my other book, hell is breaking loose in THAT book, in this book, hell's been there and left, and now it's all about adapting and surviving. My plot isn't as fleshed out as my other book, but that comes with the writing.

So, one book over half done, but with no back bone, or a brand new book, with some meat. My wife is losing faith in my passion for writing I think because I am willing to move away from a book I worked so long on, but at the same time I want my book to be something I can be proud of and friends and others can enjoy reading.

The way I see it, I have three options -
1. Work through the blocks and the muck and fix any problems or dull areas in my first book until I'm satisfied with it.
2. In order to ensure my original writing project has enough complexity and back story, take my idea for book 2 (same series as book 1), and make that book 1, essentially using everything I've written for book 1 as a history lesson.
3. Move along and start writing the new book.

I come to you, would-be-writers and successful writers. I'm not asking you to choose for me, but any advice, opinions, or general chatter that may prove helpful would be awesomesauce, and greatly appreciated.

What's the best way to go about submitting a manuscript for an existing property? I see it all the time - Star Wars, Star Trek, even videogame novels released by various authors.

I myself, while having a multitude of ideas for original works, am a HUGE Transformer fan. I would absolutely love to write a story set in their universe, possibly a first person novel. I can just imagine how fun it would be to write about the transforming process from the thoughts of the protagonist.

But how would I go about this? Should I just find any new novels in the franchise and see who the publisher is, and then try and submit the work to said publisher?

What I'd love to do is try and create my own original idea involving transforming robots, but I think that's pretty much impossible without it sounding like Transformers lol