I started writing about 2 weeks ago, but since then I've been working on a couple different projects. I havent finished any, but i make an effort to write 2.5K words everyday.

The main thing I seem to notice is that my work seems like slop, and I feel like im not improving one bit. I feel really stuck and genuinly dont know what to do

Raymond Carver. If I can steal a quote from him:

“It's possible, in a poem or short story, to write about commonplace things and objects using commonplace but precise language, and to endow those things—a chair, a window curtain, a fork, a stone, a woman's earring—with immense, even startling power.”

Its probably an overused quote in writing circles but I feel it stands. Reading Carver really helped me find a voice for my writing. Too much maybe, probably.

Is language really that important, or am I overthinking it? Sometimes when I'm writing, I feel like every sentence has to use unique and distinctive vocabulary, and I try not to repeat the same word more than twice. Do I really need to put that much focus on the language and writing style?

Okay so im starting a new comic but a little stuck with the names I have a few titles and names for two of my characters but idk what fits

For a little context the web comic is kinda based on online games these two people meet online and became really close best friends (they play fantasy like games like RPGs dnd etc)

But unknowingly to each other they are rivals in person at school constantly at each other's throats, annoying each other etc

Titles names

Digital : unmasking

Digital : strangers

Faith : assignment

Names:

Main OC (kinda awkward, very nerdy, kind, but also stubborn and can be hot headed at times, a bit of a overthinker)

Cloud

Miles

Luke

Avery

Elias

Quincy

Remi

Yuki

Second OC

( Quiet, goofball, keeps to himself alot, comes off as kinda a jerk but is really attentive, and caring when he gets comfortable with someone)

Matthew (matt for short)

Aiden

Zenith (Zen for short)

Lynx

Seth

Reece

Echo

Noah

I dont wanna give too much of the story away but any advice would be appreciated if you need more context lemme know!

I've been surfing the Internet for a way to improve my writing, and I saw that copywork was by far one of the most recommended techniques. Most websites I've visited that talk about it just tell me to copy from any work I want. But is there anything else I should be doing? Like an analysis while/after copying? Or is it really just that simple?

take this down if i tagged it wrong or something

so im doing this short dialogue for this game but it just doesnt feel right and i also need to add 3 more lines or so... any help?

(for context the character in this game is a library clerk who is friendly but has also read every book ever)

-oh hey! hi! whats up... how long have you been there

-10 seconds? super sorry its just that on 250 re-read this book actually gets good

-anywho welcome to here. you can make yourself at home if you dont mind termites

-you can ask me any questions just dont make them to stupid

-recommendations? everything here is unique thats for sure. what genres are you into?

-romance? thats funny i like you you!

-you know what heres a library card enjoy the libary

uh hi!! So I'm not an amputee myself, but I am writing an amputee protagonist in my high fantasy work. Her name is Petra and she has an arm amputee (half way down arm/elbow down) due to a MAJORLY infected injury she got. She got it when she was a kid (10, shes 14 when plot starts) and in the story she doesn't use a prosthetic, generally able to adapt fine without one (due to feeling they are personally bulky for her /ones she is able to afford). I am wondering how to exactly handle her in the story? for example write her in combat /action scenes (generally is a scout /rogue for her group) , anything specific to do or don't do, etc? not just relating to action but in general. I'm not trying to go that realistic at all since it high fantasy, but atleast be able to write a semi accurate experience.

I am writing a Xianxia, eldritch progression fantasy webnovel. This is usually supposed to be more fast paced than traditional writing, but i feel like this is very fast. I wrote it yesterday and it seemed amazing, but now that I re read it, i do not feel any emotions as i read this this and feel like its very fast, extremely fast.

I really need your opinions on this, what am i doing and where am i going wrong.

Link to doc

How do you deal with having cringe dialogue and banter?

Howdy everyone. I'm writing a narrative adventure game that's a different style from what I'm more comfortable with. It's a silly project with a lot of banter and low stakes conversations.

I personally find writing banter as pretty vulnerable, and I find it very difficult to evaluate as a result. I'm not sure if I'm writing stuff that I would enjoy reading myself, and the way game writing works is you write the script in isolation, then add the conversations to the scenes at a different stage in development.

Has anyone else basically been unsure if the humor works or been embarrassed by their writing? I'm trying not to over edit, which is something I usually do. For playful dialogue and banter, is having it be a little bit cringe going to be something the audience will notice, or will they be caught up in the moment and simply enjoy the ride?

I also wonder how much my personal taste comes into this. I'm writing banter that is a little more broad than my own taste. Idk if that affects my judgement.

Does anyone have any suggestions or have any of their own experiences to share? I've been working on this project for a while and I think I've totally lost my perspective haha.

I'm really passionate about fashion so obviously I want to dress my characters in a lot of my favorite designer looks- but when I do, I feel like it sounds similar to My Immortal and it's drawn out, repetitive descriptions of outfits and I make myself cringe. Does anyone else deal with this? How do I stop this feeling or do I just try to get over the cringe?

I'm working on a story/comic and I have a lot of things though out, but the problem is that about 70% of my characters are female. I also accidentally made 80% of the male characters antagonists. I have thought about swapping genders for some characters but it's always somehow tied to their backstory and it feels awkward changing their gender. All and any help is appreciated. I really would like to add more male characters but I've already filled out the more important spots so it would feel weird if every other side/background character is male because of that.

EDIT: The problem is more of a "I accidentally made all my male characters antagonists or villains".

EDIT 2: I feel like I didn't word myself clearly before. The main thing I was worried about was that my story might be seen as sexist towards mean and people might think I'm a misandrist. I thank you all for your honest feedback and try to use tips given to me.

In my story my character has a curse that slowly spreads across her body, slowly paralyzing her entire body and killing her. In the beginning, it only affects one of her legs so she uses a cane to walk. It functions very similarly to a disability in some places. Eventually I was planning on having the curse be cured, but I'm not sure if this would send a bad message? In the end, she'll still need the cane every now and then, but the curse will be cured. Is calling it a curse giving a bad message about disability? Sorry if this is a weird question, but I'm very paranoid about accidentally hurting people by being ignorant.

After reading some replies, I also thought of a different ending:

Her curse isn't cured in the end, but she gets to fulfil her wish of exploring the world (under different circumstances than she originally planned). Would that send a better message?

The whole idea is the main character sleeps with someone after getting drunk. Its not a scene in the book, but we know by showing certain hints the next day. The exclusive scene happens in the morning when she is hungover. This scene is pretty important to the plot since it lets her explore her sense of self (she is lesbian) outside of her world. However, during that scene, I stopped and read what I wrote and I judged myself. I'm becoming the author I hate. Hinting on drunken sex is not okay at all, even though the exclusive scene is consensual. It's also important to note that drinking as a coping mechanism for her, so leading to that scene seems logical but not ethical. What do you think?

I do NOT use AI. Ever, in life or writing.

I’m writing a novel and with the ‘shy girl’ controversy I ran it through a detector. It came back as 48% detected!! I’m so upset about this.

What am I doing wrong? Is this normal?

My dream is to publish or self-publish this novel (or any novel) but now I’m afraid I’ll get swept up in a controversy when I truly never used AI for this. This is so frustrating, has anyone else had experience with this?

Edit: the first I ran it through said 48%, second said 0% third said 26%.

I am very new to writing and have not gone through any formal training of any kind for the same. However I want to start to document my life, the sheer breadth and depth of emotion of it. However whenever I write, I feel I go into a performative mode, like I am trying to act cool for someone else instead of being true to my own story. Does anyone else experience this? And how do you overcome something like this?

Some background - I have found myself to be people pleasing unnecessarily at many occasions. Even at work, I get uncomfortable in being authoritative at times even though I hold a mid senior position. I am very aware of this behaviour and correct it often. I feel this writing style is also emerging from my deep need to be liked by who ever is reading.

Any suggestions on how to overcome this are welcome. Thanks!

I don't just mean a fanfiction; I mean make your own character that's loosely based on another character, whether it's because you were thinking, I could do much better than this! or because you wanted to try your hand at writing them.

In my case, I've recently gotten into Junker Queen from Overwatch. Her tenacity to fight daily in the apocalyptic wasteland, her creative weaponry, and her tough-as-nails personality being shaped by her growing up in a harsh environment, despite how she actually cares about her fellow junkers, even helping Geiger from getting struck or promising she wouldn't shoot Meri in the back, all leading up to an arena battle where she has won and become the queen of Junkertown. I've enjoyed her animated short, and I kinda wanted to see what she's gone through, what she had to experience to get to where she is today.

I've also considered writing something for Rey Skywalker; I'm reading the novelization of The Force Awakens, and I feel like Rey could work as a character- just a few touchups, and she could work and have people actually like her and her journey.

Going a bit off topic, I think part of her failure is that today, the Force is MUCH more diverse. Back then, it was just telepathy, fancy mind tricks, and lightning. Now we've got force healing, laser/lightsaber parrying, hypersonic speed, stuff that Rey could casually do with no training

Hey! I’m a writer who loves thriller and psychological novel and I’m currently (re)writing my first book.

I have so many ideas and scenes I want to write, but I have one problem with starting a book…

Like, I have the whole scene planned out but why do I feel like my 100% is only 40% while reading back on it? I’ve been struggling with continuing my journey to write it because I don’t want to write a mediocre start then suddenly become better when going through my plot because I want my hook to intrigue people, not make them feel like the rest of the book is going to be bad.

Maybe that’s just me, but i want to say thank you for everyone who chooses to give advice! x

I've written myself into a situation where my character would be doing a whole lot of nothing for at least a month, and mundanity is driving him crazy, but I also don't want to just write him doing a whole lot of nothing with repetitive internal dialogue, and subsequently drive the reader crazy with boredom as well. I also would like him to otherwise not go through many changes at this point in the story, other than just being so incredibly ready to be done with his month of boredom, which is why I'm hesitant to come up with things to happen to him in the meantime. I would like it to be a timeskip, but I'm weary of it feeling like 'and then a bunch of time passed'. Any advice is appreciated ^^

Hi there! I've started writing a novelette just as a hobby, and while I'm still at the start I'm hoping to get a little critique on my writing. It's a classic "bond with a big magical animal, face adversity" type story haha.

I've got four chapters, but you could just read the first one if it gets the gist across. If there's any weaknesses in my style (pacing, repetitive descriptions, unclear worldbuilding etc) I'd appreciate help identifying them so I can try to improve as I go! ❤️

Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/story/401792388-imperial-bonds

Google doc: docs.google.com/document/d/16m0MB92evOyA4nmt60Ep4s0UHGXHnIYbTrk3eMnpL5s

He was loving throwing tantrum like a spoiled brat toddler,and crybaby,basically fat obesed bear who act like a spoiled brat toddler,but he still very dangerous main villain,yes he is impulsive,but he would be more patient if for his plan,he is master strategist,and even can fighting too despite being loud and chaotic,he is also goofy type villain,he can be very petty,even though sometimes his anger can make him doing a little bit mistake,but would be much more patient if he truly want the plan succeed,usually villain is calm calculating one,although i don't think spoink dumbass,yes he is dumb when not try to think,since sometimes he is too lazy for thinking,but if he want to thinking,he can be very smart and dangerous,he also manipulative,able to deceived and manipulate them,do you think he would be a bad main villain?

I'm writing a story where the character is basically dead and all their diallage and exposition is expressed through thought since they no longer have a physical body, and I don't know how to express regret or sadness with basically no physical sensation to draw from.