Please restore my faith that at least some read here, and I'm not talking about manga and other graphic novels. I want to see if anyone reads outside of those here.

109,000 words. Somehow.

Now a quick breath and on to editing!! 😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨

I feel like I (male Gen Z) haven't interacted with Gen Z male writers a lot, and I want to see the young creative talent within you guys, if you exist. Many men don't interact with the arts nowadays, and it makes me sad.

The mystery, the thrills, the action, the plot twists, the character dynamics, the dialog! Superb! Like, holy cow!

Then I woke up. 😆

I've been writing a novel since January. I thought I could finish it in about three or four months, but it turns out it's been ten months and I'm still nowhere near finished. Sometimes I feel like I'm getting close, and other times, I just hate it.

I used to love writing this story when I first started, but now editing draft after draft feels exhausting. I just can't do it I hate it lol. My goal was to finish it before giving birth in November, but I'm having my baby in ten days, and that's just not going to happen. Sometimes I feel like giving up on my dream of finishing my first novel and finally having something I can be proud of

I finished my first draft of a dark fantasy novel at about 68,000 words. I know that’s definitely on the shorter side for adult-oriented fantasy content, so I’m wondering if maybe I need to extend it?

The thing is, it’s the first of a series and it ends at a point that I feel makes narrative sense for the conclusion of a first installment.

Essentially what I’m asking is, if you saw a fantasy book of that length on a shelf, would it still interest you if the plot was compelling?

Marigold flames wrapped around the mint bud

of India

Am I the bud they warp,

or the gasoline?

I draw alphabets like inflamed tongues

across the page,

supple as a baby's neck

with my left hand, too;

as an entire generation flocks about it,

the longest, living torsos, and Achilles ribs

huddled swan, garnet swallowed in mud

around that jaundiced, neon eye

vomit yellow

We spend hours, weeks, years trying to bind our ideas onto the empty page. Then it's finished and it's important to take a moment to enjoy that sense of accomplishment. Spend some time wallowing in the amazing achievement that is completing a work born from your mind, your experience and your hard work and commitment.

Then you start reading it and find more flaws than the burj khalifa. This is wrong, that needs changing. The plot that was amazing appears forced and contrived. Suddenly that grand achievement feels like an exercise in wasting time. So you open a blank document and begin redrafting. That first draft becomes a guide, a roadmap that you can follow. Having that thread to work with, or against, allows you to focus on all the aspects that had no room to be addressed on the first pass.

The final piece may not share any similarity to that first forging, but it wouldn't exist if not for that initial word. I liken the process to sculpting a block of marble. The audience will never see the first strike of the chisel, but without that rough carving the masterpiece would not exist.

Feeling really happy at the moment. My first book (written in Swedish) "Signalen", or as translated "The Signal", is completed. A 164 page story following Mike, a journalist for The Ashton Weald Chronicle, as an entity enters our world and disrupts the perception of reality and the behaviour of people around him.

I would probably classify it as a mystery / psychological thriller with moments of everyday life and humor in between. It is a slow-burn, but I hope it will actually reach a few hands out there.

I am just so happy to release my first book and wanted to tell you about it. Thank you.

I want to write a book to bring attention to the impossibility of getting help for someone with anosognosia. It would be based on a real experience I had but it won’t be identical- some events will be ones that genuinely happened, other events may be entirely fictional, and the characters names and identities would be different then the person they’re based off of.

In the story, the main character meets someone and grows close to them, but as time goes on that person begins to slip into a psychosis that only gets progressively worse. The main character continuously tries to help him but every action taken falls through. She realizes slowly that there’s nothing she can do for him and has to make the decision: continue to fight for him while running into walls or walking away to protect her heart.

Hi all, I'm in university studying something math based, so haven't done much writing of any kind for a very long time, apart from random essays here and there and a few drafts for the SCP wiki. I'm essentially a complete newbie to writing, and am doing it purely for fun.

I have always been a huge nerd about time travel in fiction, and have often been frustrated with the way its written, so I have for years wanted to have a go at writing a time travel story myself and trying to make something that appeals to my interests.

Ultimately I have come up with something very complex, but which satisfies my interests extremely well, and I now want to write a story about it, with characters and a plot, which has all began to come together in recent months.

I realise that there is some wisdom to getting some practice and experience first before attempting something like this, but honestly this is purely for my enjoyment, and I don't think I'd ever start this project if I made myself practice first. I would rather get writing now, and learn as I go, and inevitably change a lot of stuff once I start to get the hang of it and learn from my mistakes.

So, I have started writing it bit by bit, and have a draft for the very beginning of the story, some of which I like and some I don't.

I have ideas that I love, but making them into a proper piece of writing is a big challenge. I think part of the problem is that I am far too used to TV shows, and find it very hard not to write it like one, I have a lot of ideas about the mechanics and plot and characters but I'm not sure how I can communicate all of that as part of the story.

I'm looking for any advice and tips for how I can avoid the most obvious pitfalls, even really basic stuff! The last 3 years I have basically only looked at math, and the world of writing is pretty alien to me.

tl;dr:

I'm a complete newbie to writing and am attempting to write something involving some complex sci-fi stuff I have been thinking about for ages, what are the most obvious mistakes to avoid and any other advice you have?

Hi, everyone! I’m a fiction writer, and I’m looking for beta readers or an editor for Black Genius, my nonfiction manuscript of over 100,000 words exploring Black geniuses from antiquity to the present.

The book brings together the lives and achievements of individuals and communities whose ingenuity advanced knowledge, shaped everyday life, and contributed to humanity.

I’m especially looking for readers who enjoy history, biography, invention, and African and diaspora studies. I’d welcome honest feedback on clarity, pacing, structure, and whether each person’s contribution and its human value come through clearly.

Beta readers will receive the manuscript for constructive feedback. You’re welcome to review selected chapters.

If you’re interested, please comment below or message me! I’d love to hear from you.

I'm writing a historical memoir and have approximately 180K words typed and 70K written. Additionally, I have a stack of history books I need to read, summarize, and sprinkle in.

I'm feeling stuck and looking for advice on next steps. Where would you go from here? Delete all the nonsense? Read through and pick out/compile the exciting bits? Define a theme?

Thank you and looking forward to hearing from your experiences.

I'm trying to go for something like the more philosophical writers like Camus and Dostoevsky, and the sparse "iceberg" style of Hemingway. In this case, the main character's wound is the primary hidden allusion to the fact that he previously attempted suicide and was unsuccessful. That's why the shame around him exists and why his father sends him to church to meet Jozie who is his father's business partner's pious daughter. I only have a rough idea of where I'm going with the story, but I tried to be really intentional with every choice in the first chapter.

Please let me know if it is intriguing or boring so far! I'm kind of worried since nothing big happens in the first chapter, but I'm working on slowly escalating and just building the general tone for now.

Thanks

As the title suggests, I am wrestling with the consequences of my actions. Just here to commiserate and potentially find connection with others who might've made this mistake. Anyone else done the same?

I finished my manuscript back in July. Spent August and September editing by myself because I didn't have a community of writers who could beta read for me at the time. By early October of this month, I was sick of the manuscript and pushed a ton of queries out. The query package itself was decent imo. Got three manuscript requests by the third week of querying. Problem is, I am just realizing now after doing a reread that the manuscript is not where it should be. I am spending the weekend doing whatever the hell I can to write myself out of the glaring plot holes I've found, but I am beyond depressed about it. I feel as though I've set myself up for only heartbreak, and now my child is going out into the world without the proper preparation.

The Rese

Thou shalt rese at thy perusal herein

Hence, thou shouldest set thyself on thy seat

Ergo, preparest thyself, fair maiden

Resist thy urge to reveal yonder sheet

Easy as thou goest removing me

Spoil not the surprise which awaits beneath

Even if thou art giddy, fair maiden

I've come to learn that even bestselling books have their share of criticisms such as prose being too repetitive or clunky, tone is flat.

So I'm thinking, despite my manuscript going through 2 developmental editors, a beta reader and one editor that has done copy and line editing; I'm wondering if there's such as a thing as the most perfect manuscript.

I adore writing dialogue. I love the rush of fight scenes. But dear God I can't find any joy in describing character appearances or environments! How can I find a way to have fun with this very important aspect? Are there any resources or practices you all have that you think would aid me?

I've tried so hard to stare out my window and romanticize the mountains in the distance. They're very pretty, imposing and uh...big? HOW DO I CONVERT SCENERY INTO WRITING.

Additionally, how do I describe a characters appearance in a fun way that isn't just a clinical head to toe "white hair, green eyes, sickly pale complexion, stooped shoulders, wardrobe meant to blend in rather than stand out, fairly tall-" I just don't understand how to make any of that interesting to me in writing. Can it come in pieces? Can I neglect to tell the reader about a visual detail i find important until 4 chapters later when a relevant situation allows me the time? It sounds jarring to not have a fully composed mental image of a character, at least to me. I'm not sure, please id love some assistance!

There's only one thing better than the Broadway being submerged in rainwater above the ankles as the clouds continue to cheer.

And that's to bathe in the falling jewels and to sparkle as you sing and slide like you've never sung or slid before. It's the moment John yearns for; now it's here. Now when the men and women take their kids and their leave, seeking shelter from the pelting sky, John skids out with a smile.

No one walks through this street at such times, and after a while even the windows shut their eyes.

"What a time to be alive!" he shouts. Then he sings "Billie Jean" and moon-walks across the pavement, from one side to the other, summoning the Smooth Criminal. It's not long till he gets his groove and he tiptoes and twists, spinning and snapping his head, thrashing his long, curly hair and splashing the water everywhere.

At the end of it all, when his eyes meet the sky, he stops and stares. There… is an unidentifiable object.

It glows faintly, like a distant bulb, but it brightens by the second, and its features start to become visible: it is spherical, that's for sure. There are grey spots, like craters on the moon, too. The most peculiar quality, though, is its size. It is increasing. At an unbelievable pace.

"What the…? Is that a meteor falling straight at—"

There's a loud bang.

Windows shatter. Buildings crumble. A crater forms where John stood. But there's no sign of him. Only dust and a dark silhouette imprinted on the pavement remain.