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I'd like to lose "Book lovers" from the audience. It confuses the target subject matter and will lead to noise. – Jeff Yates Jun 10 '10 at 12:52

Because the questions that book lovers ask compared to those that authors/writers ask are completely different. One is about the creation of new written work, the other is about the appreciation of existing work. Just scan the questions suggested so far and its clear that the ones that one might expect book lovers to ask are being pushed aside. – Jeff Yates Jun 10 '10 at 12:59

... if you are not familiar with the SE Q&A Engine (judging by your profile) you will be surprised on how well it works at separating subjects. On stackoverflow, there are millions of programmers, and it's very easy to track and participate in those languages or topics you're interested in! Stick around and find out! @dori – Juan Manuel Jun 16 '10 at 23:20

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This proposal is now in the Beta phase — example questions are locked!

55 Example Questions (8 closed)

active oldest votes

up vote 0 down vote

added by Juan Manuel Jun 2 '10 at 0:15

closed as off topic by Maxim Zaslavsky, Jeff Yates, Robert Cartaino♦, Aaron Digulla, Simon Brown Jun 16 '10 at 15:22

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

I don't think I want to see everyone's opinion on Stephen King's best books, but if the question was "What books has Stephen King written?", then I'd say it belongs. – Roger Pate Jun 7 '10 at 0:55

Well, what books he has written is easy to find. I wouldn't rule out a little discussion but that's just my opinion @rog – Juan Manuel Jun 7 '10 at 1:27

But shouldn't that discussion be individual questions about a specific book ("How did [character development] achieve [whatever] in [King's Carrie ]?" is more specific) or be lightly done in comments? Extremely broad discussion questions shouldn't belong, I think. @jua – Roger Pate Jun 7 '10 at 19:02

I would make this on-topic, esp. if the question were What are some of his/her books? - I have no votes left. – IAbstract Jun 7 '10 at 22:59

@dbo: That's the difference I tried to point out, "What are [author's] books?" vs "What are [author's] best books?" I'd also vote on-topic for the former, yet off-topic on the latter and this question. I don't think you can easily edit one into the other: if someone includes "best", they probably mean it and are off-topic as extremely broad discussion. – Roger Pate Jun 7 '10 at 23:02

show 1 more comment

up vote 0 down vote

added by Rog Jun 2 '10 at 0:21

closed as off topic by Maxim Zaslavsky, Jeff Yates, Charles Stewart, Robert Cartaino♦, Aaron Digulla Jun 13 '10 at 18:35

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

	This seems more suitable to book makers than writers. Off topic. – Jeff Yates Jun 10 '10 at 12:56
	This would be within scope for After Writing, area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/5093/… – Charles Stewart Jun 15 '10 at 9:39
	This proposal would cover "after" writing, it hasn't an scope defined, it's for writing in all its stages – Juan Manuel Jun 15 '10 at 11:11
	@Juan: Book-binding is not something writers usually do, or need to have knowledge of. Do you take writing to be anything to do with the making things that are later read? – Charles Stewart Jun 15 '10 at 11:42
	@charles, perhaps you're right and I'm missing something. Who does the binding in the process of making a book? (by "process" I mean from having the idea, to writing, to selling/distributing it). I ask because I don't know... – Juan Manuel Jun 15 '10 at 13:15

up vote 0 down vote

added by Artemis Jun 28 '10 at 0:53

	Are you getting at what books about the process of writing, or books to inspire/inform you by example? – JohnFx Jun 28 '10 at 16:04
	Agreed, redo this question clarifying whether it's books about writing or examples of good books within the target genre – MGOwen Jun 29 '10 at 1:18

up vote 0 down vote

added by David Thornley Jun 29 '10 at 4:42

I hope you're not generating your plots with software. – JSBᾶngs Jun 29 '10 at 15:34

@JS Bangs: I think he means tools for organizing plots, not software that creates random (or otherwise) plots. – Randolpho Jun 29 '10 at 17:36

up vote 0 down vote

added by CrazyJugglerDrummer Jun 29 '10 at 20:33

up vote 0 down vote

added by way0utwest Jun 29 '10 at 22:23

up vote 0 down vote

added by Satanicpuppy Jul 1 '10 at 14:25

	NaGE: Weaker sibling of area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/1623/writing/… – Charles Stewart Jul 1 '10 at 15:25
	@Charles Stewart: I completely disagree. In one you're talking about the relative merits of first person as a narrative device (which is horribly broad), and in the other you're talking about the mechanics of writing in a voice other than your own. – Satanicpuppy Jul 1 '10 at 21:54
	I wouldn't call it NaGE, just don't vote on it, but it's on subject I think – Juan Manuel Jul 1 '10 at 23:33
	@Sat: "Horribly broad" - would you go so far as to NaGE the sibling example? No one has, I note. @Juan: I'm fairly ruthless about overlapping questions. Only the fittest should survive. – Charles Stewart Jul 2 '10 at 3:28
	I agree with that puppy over there. This is a totally different question. – MGOwen Jul 2 '10 at 5:03

show 1 more comment

up vote 0 down vote

added by Satanicpuppy Jul 1 '10 at 14:26

up vote -1 down vote

added by Juan Manuel Jun 2 '10 at 0:13

closed as off topic by Charles Stewart, Jeff Yates, JohnFx, David Thornley, Walter Mundt Jun 25 '10 at 16:12

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

up vote -1 down vote

added by Juan Manuel Jun 2 '10 at 0:23

This is too subjective and argumentative: not a good example – Jeff Yates Jun 10 '10 at 12:53

+1, I can imagine good answers like links to research or other useful info. Subjective or argumentative answers would just be down-voted as usual. – MGOwen Jun 17 '10 at 2:39

up vote -1 down vote

added by Juan Manuel Jun 2 '10 at 0:24

closed as off topic by Mike Sherov, Firas Assaad, IAbstract, Maxim Zaslavsky, Jeff Yates Jun 10 '10 at 12:57

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

up vote -1 down vote

added by Jeff Yates Jun 10 '10 at 12:54

	IMHO off topic: As an author, if you can't come up with some lyrics on your own, you can always change the story to leave them out. – Aaron Digulla Jun 13 '10 at 18:37
	This is completely on-topic: it's a problem only faced by published or soon-to-be published authors, and it's not necessarily easy to do (contra @Aaron). – JSBᾶngs Jun 16 '10 at 19:51

up vote -1 down vote

added by JSBᾶngs Jun 17 '10 at 18:34

closed as off topic by Sinan Ünür, Simon Brown, Foster Brereton, Sean Moubry, Lorenzo Jul 2 '10 at 11:47

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

	I'm amazed that this is getting "off-topic" votes, since I thought that it was clearly on-topic. – JSBᾶngs Jun 18 '10 at 17:00
	hmm... I didn't vote, but what answers would you expect from this question? – Juan Manuel Jun 18 '10 at 17:13
	Yes or no seem valid. – Jeff Yates Jun 18 '10 at 19:25
	Right, which makes it a not so good question @jeff – Juan Manuel Jun 18 '10 at 19:46
	@juan: Certainly on-topic though, and it has a clear answer. Not sure why people think it is off-topic. – Jeff Yates Jun 18 '10 at 21:54

show 1 more comment

up vote -1 down vote

added by Emory Bell Jun 26 '10 at 15:29

up vote -1 down vote

added by CrazyJugglerDrummer Jun 29 '10 at 20:39

NaGE: Weaker sibling of area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/1623/writing/… – Charles Stewart Jul 1 '10 at 15:30

up vote -2 down vote

added by Simon Brown Jun 16 '10 at 15:23

The answer to this will always be 'yes.' – SuchAwfulPoetry Jun 19 '10 at 2:56

I think this is totally on-topic. It isn't a bad question even though as @SuchAwfulPoetry says, the answer will always be yes. The question still pertains to the process of writing, and is a great opportunity for the asker to learn about the limited nature of plots. – Jim Jun 19 '10 at 15:20

up vote -2 down vote

added by Jonathan Campbell Jun 17 '10 at 3:45

Technically on-topic, but not what I would consider the core topic of the site. – JSBᾶngs Jun 17 '10 at 18:43

up vote -2 down vote

added by J. Pablo Fernández Jun 19 '10 at 23:51

not about writing, about English itself – CrazyJugglerDrummer Jun 22 '10 at 22:39

up vote -2 down vote

added by Wilhelm Jun 25 '10 at 20:14

covered here: area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/1623/writing/… – Juan Manuel Jun 25 '10 at 20:30

up vote -3 down vote

added by Juan Manuel Jun 2 '10 at 0:15

closed as off topic by Mike Sherov, Firas Assaad, IAbstract, Maxim Zaslavsky, Jeff Yates Jun 10 '10 at 12:51

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

"Not a book review site"? – Roger Pate Jun 2 '10 at 18:07

Well this can be a good question for books proposal. – Binoj Antony Jun 18 '10 at 6:25

I don't understand how is this a GREAT off-topic example. 'I'm thinking about starting reading..' I can't understand the question. – Tugga Jun 25 '10 at 20:08

Because it focuses on reading instead of writing, that's the spirit – Juan Manuel Jun 25 '10 at 20:29

up vote -3 down vote

added by justkt Jun 3 '10 at 13:10

closed as off topic by Mike Sherov, Juan Manuel, IAbstract, Maxim Zaslavsky, Robert Harvey Jun 9 '10 at 22:33

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

up vote -3 down vote

added by Jonathan Campbell Jun 17 '10 at 3:32

I would consider this on-topic, but barely so (since for professional purposes, nobody cares whether you follow the rules of NaNoWriMo). Marked as "Not a good example". – JSBᾶngs Jun 17 '10 at 3:59

up vote -4 down vote

added by percent20 Jun 2 '10 at 23:18

Subjective and open-ended. Better suited for a discussion site. (This proposal is not a discussion site, right?) – Roger Pate Jun 5 '10 at 12:30

up vote -5 down vote

added by Rog Jun 2 '10 at 0:20

Subjective and argumentative – Jeff Yates Jun 10 '10 at 12:56

I wouldn't say it's a NAGE, perhaps off-topic, or perhaps it could be phrased differently – Juan Manuel Jun 10 '10 at 19:47

If reworded, this could be a great example of on topic. e.g. What are the benefits/drawbacks of writng in the 3rd person? – Jim Jun 19 '10 at 15:27

To add to Jim's comment, discuss POV pros and cons. – mbowles Jun 21 '10 at 11:46

up vote -7 down vote

added by Aaron Digulla Jun 13 '10 at 19:41

closed as off topic by Sinan Ünür, chiguire, Walter Mundt, Emory Bell, Artemis Jun 27 '10 at 19:27

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

	Example for OT of course :-) – Aaron Digulla Jun 13 '10 at 19:43
	Off topic unless one MUST read it for what it has to say/show about craft. – SuchAwfulPoetry Jun 19 '10 at 2:54