Writing 101

This was a lively discussion last year, and I stumbled across this article by Orson Scott Card regarding trademark usage in your novels:

http://www.hatrack.com/writingclass/lessons/2004-04-01-2.shtml

It's really enlightening... you, as an author, are under no obligation to respect trademark. So you can, in fact, have your character go into a McDonald's.

So use this thread for your knotty pop culture questions... someone out there can probably answer, or at least subject you to their opinion on the matter. ;)

Okay, so there's this scholar. This amazingly egotistical scholar who acts as a mentor (and actually works as a teacher) to these two, 15 year-old kids. In my novel, the town they're in is arsoned by these mentally unstable characters, and he helps the kids escape the library, the place they were in before the mess started, sacrificing himself to buy them more time to get away.

My question is: what's the proper term for a scholar dying in a library? I'm pretty sure it ain't irony, but I'm not sure about being sure, either.

Excerpt:
Alone, Claude chuckled to himself. Here he was, Claude Sébastien, the wonderful, fun, almighty scholar-slash-teacher, in a library that was to be his final resting place.

Hi guys. I'm currently trying to study for my exam (it's in an hour!) and I just CANNOT get past this sentence.

"Although American English spelling is becoming more and more accepted, it was once common to change American books published in Britain to English spelling; such was the concern to maintain a standard."

Now my question is... is "such was the concern to maintain a standard" an independent clause? On its own, it doesn't seem like it would be, and therefore it can't be attached to the sentence by a semicolon... right?

Basically, I'm just confusing the heck out of myself :P Help would be lovely so I can move on!

I have some grammar questions for my final editing and when I am typing my last few thousand words.

If you think something is going to happen is it accept or except.
As in "The meeting went as (accepted or excepted)."

When writing dialouge where do the commas go and capitlziations

“Hold on,” He twisted the wheel furiously as the car bounced off the road, “Let’s see him follow that."

Do I have commas in the right places and should he and let's be capitlized?

Thanks in advance!

My MC has just woken up and i'm giving her the ability to hear others thoughts but i have no idea how to write it. I'm not sure how to write this in.

I have just realised that I'm using terminology in my novel, from a character's PoV, that wouldn't have been thought of at this point. I'll have to edit it out later, but I've come across a word (recently written) I am unsure whether or not it would fit.

The word is 'autopilot', as in 'my feet are on autopilot', but there are no cars, trains or even the vaguest thought about planes in this era of time (I don't really have a date because it's an alternative universe, not historical). Technology is sparse, the closest thing they have to a computer is about four room's worth of awful machinery.

Is this wrong? And, if it is, does anyone have any idea of what word I could use in replacement? Please and thank you in advance!

I'm at 42,000+ words on my first ever novel. I like how the story's going, but have a question.

I picked up a book and started reading it on Sunday (probably not a smart move). I notice that the book has almost no dialogue. The story is told mostly in descriptive paragraphs. Mine is just the opposite. There's a lot of dialogue.

I'll begin the revision process in December. I don't want to rewrite the whole thing and take out most of the dialogue, How do you know when there's too much dialogue? Is this a common mistake for new writers to make?

Help, I'm slipping into panic mode, here...

And no, I don't mean sites on the web like Preditors & Editors. (although their unbelievable helpful - check 'em out: http://www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/ ) I mean the old fashioned stuff. The BOOKS. And these aren't books warning you about publishers. They're about the horrendous deeds that have been done to the English language over the last few years. I'll start with my favorite three. If you feel inclined to check 'em out, you could Google...but I advise you check the good ol' bookstore first.

The Modern Researcher
Jacques Barzun & Henry F. Graff

The Careful Writer
A Modern Guide to English Usage
Theodore M. Bernstein

Fowler's Modern English Usage
First Edition: H.W. Fowler
Revised Third Edition: R.W. Burchfield

So I usually self edit, but I feel like I miss things a lot. I don't think I'd try to get this published, even after serious edits, but I'm toying with the idea of getting a second opinion just the same. I'd like to improve, but there's only so much you can do on your own.

So has having a beta reader been a good experience for you? How did you find one? Can you really trust them?

Thanks for your experiences :)

Hi all!

(I'm sorry if this is in the wrong place, please move me mods if you see fit to.)

I've never had to describe a terrifying creature before. Well my good friend found a picture for me to use as reference. It's great! Maybe it's just because I'm writing it that I don't feel *quite* as feared by it as my readers will but I feel like it's just a big creature that growls.

http://kidfrodo.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/carl_aspuria_werewolf2.jp...

I decided to omit the tail and give it actual feet/paws instead of walking on its knuckles. But what are somethings you'd say to describe this terrible beasty?

Thanks everyone!! ^_^