From ' I'm a genius!' To 'omg this should be thrown in a lake.' constantly. Over and over.

Please don't make it something generic like: "I never expected this to happen." Or "It was a quiet, midsummer evening." Try to force me into a certain direction with specific sentences like: "You shouldn't ask why I beat that child to death." Or "I despise the whirring sounds of fans."

I'm excited to see what you come up with!

There have been several posts recently regarding the fears of agents or editors compromising the artistic integrity of a writer's vision, how they don't want anyone else to tell them how to tell their story. This is a completely valid thing to want. But it's worth calling that what it is, because it has an implication that I think writers are skipping past.

Traditional publishing is built from the ground up on the following proposition: your submitted manuscript is a draft of the book, not the final version. It was never meant to be a neutral pipeline that only ever introduces the occasional editorial note. Instead, it is meant to be a group of people helping you to build your manuscript into a polished and consumable form, a form that is often its best one.

Some of this stems from, I think, writers commonly operating in a bit of a literary bubble, outside of perhaps a critique or writers group (or reddit, God forbid), and that true collaboration feels foreign. Before I wrote, I was a musician. Still am. Musical collaborations have, to this point, been the most rewarding (and successful) art I've created. I encourage you to think of collaboration in writing less as theft or a wresting of control, and rather someone seeing something in your art that you did not see, and at least entertaining their idea as a good one.

Think of your favorite novel. Good chance an editor touched that and brought something else out of it, and that the book you love isn't the same one that arrived on that editor's desk. I'd even argue that you already trust the editorial process, but haven't seen the seams of collaboration in real time, and therefore it feels alien or somehow in violation of you as an artist.

I try to think about it like this. An editor's job is to make your book connect with people other than the one person with all of the pages already in their head, all the ideas already contextualized and in perfect order. It's their job to take this story that only works for you and make it work for others, because if it only works for you, then is it really finished?

But you're the writer, and you get to decide how you want to tell your story. If collaboration is a bridge too far, and you want full and total control over plot and voice and content, that is totally fine. But it also means that traditional publishing isn't for you.

This is most I have ever written. I am so excited! I still have so much else to write too. I feel like this is a decent accomplishment. I only started it on June 12th. It’s my summer project, and is really becoming something, yay!

I'm writing a long series planned to be 7 books, so ever since I hit 100K I recorded the day I hit the next 100K benchmarks. I'm glad to say that my words per day has increased each time!

0 June 2016

100K June 10, 2021 (55 wpd)

200K Jan 31, 2024 (100 wpd)

300K April 8, 2025 (230 wpd)

400K January 7, 2026 (365 wpd)

500K July 22, 2026 (510 wpd)

I have a story that I've been wanting to adapt into comic book recently, and it's almost finished. However, I can't immediately spot the inconsistencies and mistakes in the story. For example, an idea that had made perfect sense to me for months suddenly started to seem completely ridiculous just yesterday, so I changed it. I'm worried that there might be plenty more mistakes like this in the story that I haven't noticed.

Does anyone have any ideas or advice please?

For the first time in years I haven't really been writing or reading the work I make on a daily basis, I still look at my drafts, write new ones, edit them, the who shebang, and I don't have a specific project I'm working on, no scripts, novels, or what have you, but I still felt like I should be writing a lot of the times when I wasn't. Not so much in a guilty "I should be more productive" way, but like excercising muscles to make sure they don't atrophy sort of way.

So, somewhat recently, I decided to read some books I read in childhood again. Not so much the Diary of a Wimpy Kids and Captain Underpants, moreso the literature novels and book franchises that made me fall in love with reading and encouraged me to write my own stories. With adult eyes I understand a lot of the decisions better, why some things stuck with me more than others, and I had a lot of things recontextualised for that I was able to appreciate more. I started because I wanted to reread The Hunger Games in preparation for the most recent prequel and things sort of snowballed from there.

Books like Bud, Not Buddy, Walk Two Moons, and Bridge to Terribithia were amongst some of the first (relatively) pictureless books I can remember reading on my own, they shaped a lot of my tastes and writing style, and getting to reexamine and appreciate them has given me so many new ideas and thoughts on how to approach certain subjects and of techniques I could use. And it also encouraged me to read books I 'missed out on' that I didn't look twice at as a kid; I'm picking up on fantasy and sci-fi novels now, when I mostly ever read realistic fiction and black literature before. That or books with at least four rewards on the cover.

And honestly I feel like the writing I've pumped out since then has only improved for it. Which isn't to say I wasn't reading before or that I exclusively read and write for younger audiences, I think it just helped to be reminded of what gave me that spark to write in the first place. And also to see what's considered timeless and see what modern releases are being placed on the shelves with those books.

Anyway, do you have any books or pieces that inspired you to pick up writing, maybe something you'd recommend to expand by tastes or that taught you a technique you could use in your own? Would you have any general book reccomendations you think writers can learn from while reading? It doesn't have to be general audience or children's literature. :)

So l've finally hit the point in my smutty horror novel where, after 8 chapters and 81k words of buildup, foreshadowing, and deliberately obfuscated and hazy wording, the MC sees his love interest in her full nightmarish monster form. I've had this scene in mind going on 2 years, imagine a fucked up take on the ally rescue scene in the first Spiderman. But now that l've finished the violence and reached the point he sees her clearly, straight up describing her feels really clunky and anti-climactic.

I'd love some recommendations for the best scenes and passages out there that give the reader their first real look at a monster/villian/antagonist. Classic, gothic, modern, whatever, anything that might give me a little inspiration juice would be amazing!

I can't help it I've been trying to write a novel for years but I always hate everything I write I don't even know why. I know I would read it if it wasn't mine and I know my writing style is pretty good all my teachers always loved my short stories but I hate what I write. I don't if I'm afraid nobody will like it or if I just gave better in mind.

I am a bit extroverted and enjoy discussing my stories as I write. I have friends who enjoy such discussions. However, my newest work in progress is not something that anyone seems interested in. It centers around a WLW relationship and goes in a really dark direction. Most of my friends don't really like WLW pairings or question why I'm writing something like this.

Also, people don't seem to get that it's a work in progress and keep comparing it to other things without giving me anything constructive. I get that it has a similar theme to existing works, but the approach and series of events are completely different.

I don't know where to go to find communities or new writer friends, so any direction would be appreciated.

Hello, all! I have just finished a book of short stories about my fictional town. It is 92,000 words and they are all horror stories. They are set either in the town, nearby or are in some way related to the town. (Just for general information about me)

My question is, I've looked at all sorts of websites, etc. but I just don't know where my next step should be placed. I self-edited my book (I know, bad idea) should I now copyright it before attempting to put it on Amazon? (Which is my plan)? Also, which path is best on Amazon? If I am not mistaken there is KDP and KDP Select? Sorry if these questions have been asked, I'm new to reddit/this subreddit. Additionally, if I posted a story on a subreddit, or social media site, does that count as published and make my story or book ineligible for copyright?

I’m an hobby writer and post some of my stuff i write on Wattpad. Of course I don’t get much traction but I didn’t really expect to. But I would love for more people to see my work and give me feedback.
Any advice or suggestions are greatly appreciated!!

I've been thinking about writing a novel for a while, and I finally want to give it a serious try. It'll be my first one, so I'm pretty excited but also a bit overwhelmed.

I'm interested in psychological stories with deep characters and meaningful themes, but I have no idea where to begin. Should I plan everything first or just start writing and see where the story goes?

What are some things you wish you knew before writing your first novel? Any tips, mistakes to avoid, or resources you'd recommend? I'd love to hear your experiences.

Some feedback I recently got from a beta reader was that the beginning of my book was too slow and they almost wanted to not finish it, but that it became significantly more interesting after the betrayal reveal that happened about 1/3rd of the way though.

l'm kind of stuck at this point because on one hand I know I can't put too much stock into the words of one beta, but on the other I do agree that some readers won't push through a slow start and that it can make it hard to publish. I don't see how I can cut much from the beginning because I need the character development for the betrayal to matter and I need some scenes for foreshadowing and the inciting incident to actually start the story.

Does anyone have any suggestions on ways to increase the pace towards the beginning or maybe have examples of how you've delt with similar feedback in your own work?

Hello fellow writers, not sure if this is allowed.

I’m currently writing my first novel and I’m about 50k words in on my rough draft, which is awesome. However, that was 2 monjts ago that I hit that milestone.

I’ve been in such a slump with my writing lately and I’m not sure how to get out of it. Writing is therapeutic for me but I just can’t seem to write anything worth a damn.

My goal is to finish my rough draft this year. My biggest issue is just I guess continuing the story. I’m just in a weird spot.

If there’s any advice yall have that have helped, I’d love to hear it.

Here’s a pic just for shits and gigs

Chapter 1

“My name is Yuri Sadisuto, and I am just like you.”

As I stand in front of the class, I can already feel the audience's eyes glaze over. Looking over the room, not a single person is focused on me. Even then, the show must go on. I adjust the collar on my brown wool sweater, the room is a bit hot even for the fall, or is that just my nerves eating away at me and making me think it's hot.

“Just like you in that, I want to understand what is going on in the universe, I want to understand its secrets. In my club, the supernatural exploration club, we seek to discover those secrets.”

It's finally time. I thought to myself.

Shut up. The other voice in my head thought back.

As my heart beats a little faster, I clench my open hands, pushing my finger nails into my palm; there’s a little bit of relieving pain.

“We investigate the existence of super heroes, magic users, aliens, and psychics.”

Immediately, several people perk up.

They think you're insane.

Would you shut up?

“We seek to discover that such entities not only exist, but are currently among us.”

Someone laughs under their breath, another laugh, this time exaggerated to make sure I hear it. I can feel the little beads of sweat forming on my forehead.

Great, now they're making fun of you.

Look, let's just get this over with already.

“Anyone who is interested in such pursuits are welcome to join the supernatural exploration club.”

And now it's time to get out of here as fast as possible.

“I have a question.”

Before I can run out of the room, someone raises their hand. It's a man in the back, long black hair and wearing a black leather jacket.

Don't make me talk, please don't make me talk.

What an asshole.

“Yes, of course. Ask away.”

“Yeah, are you serious?”

“Am I serious? Am I serious… You know, that is an excellent question. I'm very serious. This is a serious club that seriously investigates the supernatural.”

“What, like ghosts and stuff?”

“Exactly.” I snap back.

I had indeed looked for ghosts in the past, I distinctly remember one night spent in the city’s most famous haunted site, the civic theater. I had just bought a variety of different “ghost hunting” equipment and that, on top of my own home made gear, was used to search for spirits haunting the theater. Ultimately, I never found any ghosts, nor any tangible trace of them. But just because I didn't find them that night, doesn't mean they do not exist.

“Wait, you guys seriously investigate ghosts?” The heckler interrupted my recollection, I can feel the tone in his voice, it's the same tone everyone has when they hear about the ghost part.

“What guys? She’s the only club member.” Another person in the back chimes in.

Hi, guys, I need some advice. I'm really interested in working online, and copywriting appeals to me the most. But it's a little intimidating-I mean, I don't know where to start, and I don't understand what I need to do. I've been trying to learn copywriting from books and Telegram channels, but I feel like that's not the right approach. That's why I'm turning to you for help: if you can give me any advice, please share your experience and real-life examples that might help me-and maybe you have some tips that helped you master copywriting

I've been writing a book over the past year related to education. Originally it started out as education advice, but as I read dozens, into eventually 100+ book, it became more of a management, education, and technology book all in one. My own opinions about certain concepts, approaches, etc. are mixed with both opinions, facts, and direct citations to other works within the text. It includes an exploration of other non-education concepts and areas I could tie back into education to improve it.

Already done at least 2 rounds of full document self edits, as of this writing, too.

This is also the first time I've ever written a book period, so Im not familiar with any publishing methods or platforms or formatting. I wouldn't mind publishing it for free either (under a CC-BY 4.0 license at that), since I originally wrote it as a project I could talk about with anyone, including employers.

At this point, I'm not sure what to do next. Do I:

1. Try to self-publish it after another round of final edits and source/accidental plagiarism checks?

2. Pitch it to a traditional publisher (or agent first, if that's a thing).

3. Some other method I'm not aware of.

I may not get back to responding quickly as I'm out in the countryside at the time of posting.