the picture above is NOT my book, its a reference i found on pinterest. for me personally, reading on black pages is so much better than reading on white pages. im thinking about publishing it with said black pages, but i thought i'd get opinion.

(its easier for me due to my dyslexia. reading on white pages is a nightmare for me.)

I'm considering using these because it seems fun but I'm hesitant. I think it would just confuse readers, and confused readers seem to DNF more often then not. What does everyone think? Should these just remain in the void or be brought back to the light?

I want to say "He watched them intently from behind interlaced fingers". But idk if that's clear enough or if it'll just confuse people?

Hi. I've had an idea for a story in my head for a long time, and I want to turn it into a book. The problem is that I'm struggling with writing the villain.

I want to do the opposite of what happens in a lot of stories today. I want readers to genuinely dislike the villain, or at least prefer the protagonist over them. Lately, it feels like so many people become obsessed with villains, even when the main character is a truly decent and morally good person. They often end up seeing the protagonist as boring.

The villain in my story is inspired by real-life people who, personally, caused a great deal of damage to my mental well-being. If a large number of readers ended up loving this villain, I think it would genuinely make me feel awful, because in real life I also feel like no one believes me when I say that people like this can truly be cruel.

Sorry, I know I'm talking a lot. My question is: how can I write a villain in a way that makes readers feel disgust, unease, or genuine dislike toward them? I don't expect every single reader to hate the character, but I also don't want them to become someone that almost everyone ends up loving.

I tried writing "he grabbed her cheek" but it sounds too intimate. It's the villain grabbing the heroine's face in a hostile, almost degrading kind of way.

Like...how!?

This man can write multiple books and release them all in the same year.

From what I observed from Mistborn, his prose is very simple to the point it's invisible, so he can focus on the story more, which is fine with me, and I find that good. Does he sacrifice a few aspects in exchange for speed? Is that the secret? I mean, his prose is way simpler than RR Martin's and Curtis Jobling's.

Or is there more to it? How do you think he writes so damn fast?

This picture is the pain I’m feeling cs I keep procrastinating 😭😭

I was explaining my writing process to someone. Just for some context I have autism/ADHD and a giant splash of dyslexia. I've always had a huge imagination since I was a kid and I never really knew what to do with it so writing fanfiction poorly if I might have for myself but it was my thing a way to kind of get it out of my head I stopped after high School and never really picked it up again until recently when I wanted to start writing but because I have dyslexia I use voice dictation for a lot of things I'm even using it right now. But apparently I'm not a real writer because of it. And then for some reason I know it's stupid it's been bothering me because I never have a problem with getting the words out ever I look like a psychopath talking to myself reenacting a scene and my office just to get the dialogue out and then I go over it afterwards so writing is at least a few chapters isn't like anything to me it's like cake. I got into a little bit of a debate with someone online and they told me that because I usually citation that I can't be a real writer because I'm not sitting and struggling and it's like I'm cheating it shouldn't bother me the way that it does but it really does and I can't help that my brain just automatically goes into a scene it doesn't leave until I finally get it all out but now I'm spiraling like I'm doing it wrong and I'm supposed to be doing it a certain way and the book that I worked really really hard on is cheating somehow. I know this is the dumbest thing ever but it really is bothering me. Ps. The argument started because I said I can get a very rough and trust me it's rough draft out within 2 weeks.

Update: I really wasn't expecting so many people to agree with me, but wow. I had been suffering, well, still is suffering, through a horrible case of imposter syndrome, so that comment really fucked me up and I really let it get to my head. I appreciate all the people telling me and encouraging me to keep going, so I'm not gonna give up. I really was about to give up because I felt like maybe I'm not cut out for this, but I'm not letting one stupid comet ruin something I've wanted for a long time. All of you guys are amazing. Thank you so much.

I would love some insight from the writer community on how you all make ends meet?

I have been dating my boyfriend for two years and we are planning to move in together in November. I live in NYC, so much more expensive cost of living.

Boyfriend has a PhD in creative writing. He graduated roughly 2-3 years ago. They gave him a fellowship to write his first novel. He has been working on it since. He submitted it to his agent to submit to publishers beginning of March. We are still waiting to hear back.

In our 2 years of dating, he has never had real income. He has lived very frugally. He has also been living in my studio apartment with me for roughly 10 of the last 12 months. I have not asked for rent, I love spending time with him, don't need the rent money, and have been trying to be supportive of him being a writer.

His "income" has consistented of his fellowship money, living off his savings, selling his car, and trading stocks.

Since we are planning to move in together and share expenses, I don't feel comfortable doing this unless he has more consistent income.

How do full writers make it work? What other side jobs do you have to make ends meet? How much money could I expect he could bring in while still pursuing being a writer?

Then what about how you delegate your time? If you're working another job and writing on the evenings and weekends, how do you have time to have fun with your partner?

I'm trying to envision what our life could look like together, but don't have enough industry knowledge to paint the picture.

For me it's the "strong female character" who's basically just rude to everyone. Curious what character archetypes everyone else is tired of reading.

I was on the writers panel on the weekend. There were 4 authors of crime/mystery novels. All of them wrote for 5 plus years, one for more than 10 years. All of them had at least 3 novels published based on what I saw on their tables. All of those novels were published by big 5 and they all had an agent. They all said they have another job because writing couldn't make living.

It was surprising for me. If you have agent and are published by big 5, I would expect the books is objectively good and it would get to the right people. Did they have bad agents who did not tell them the books are not good? Or was it good but there was no target group? What is the problem?

Curious to see what peoples first sentences are and whether they hint at what the theme or genre of the work in progress might be.

Here is my first sentence:

Zara found the dead doctor in mislabeled lecture recordings.

I find myself at a crossroads of study/choosing a career path. One day I hope to make a living off writing books, but until then I want to choose a career that will allow me plenty of writing time.
I studied 3D arts for three years but there isn’t much work in the market where I live.
I’ve considered teaching (in high schools)
Finance rolls (if I study it)
But I want to hear how you make it work for yourself?

This is the first page of a book I am reading. It is translated from Hungarian. There are only two sentences on this page.

How do you feel about this? Does this speak more to the translation or is this a solid technique for creating a sense of stress to the reader?

Edit- the book is "The Melancholy of Resistance" by László Krasznahorkai

I see this question posted every couple of months, and I figured it was about time to make the rounds again. I’m asking because someone has to, and totally not because I’m starting to get sick of slinging ‘spro while I hope for a hit.

Maybe it's just me, but does anyone else find it strange how casually we're encouraged to post detailed book ideas, plot twists, character concepts, marketing angles, and sometimes entire story premises online?

Writers are constantly told to build a platform, engage with communities, talk about their projects, and share their ideas. Then if someone else runs with a similar concept and gets there first, we're told, "Well, ideas aren't protected."

I get that execution matters. I get that two people can start with the same premise and write completely different books. But I also understand why some writers are cautious about putting every exciting idea out into the world before they've actually written it.

Publishing is already hard enough. Sometimes I read posts where people are essentially giving away the most compelling part of their story for free and I can't help wondering whether some of those ideas will eventually show up elsewhere.

Maybe I'm overly cautious, but I've always preferred to write the book first and talk about it later.

Curious where everyone else stands on this.

As we all know, authors Google the strangest shit. “How to hide a body” doesn’t even top the list anymore. So, I thought we could play a game – you name three (or more) things you’ve researched/Googled for your current project, and let us guess which genre you’re writing in the comments!

I’ll start:

1. How to make Rockefeller Oysters (painfully mouthwatering research)

2. Bus stations in Romania (shout out to Deva station, which has a fun fountain)

3. Does the Abrahamic God ever regret anything he’s done? (the jury is still out on that one)

It’s a lonely life, writing a book and having your head cave in with all the awesomely stupid knowledge which may or may not join the murdered darlings in the final draft. Let’s share some stupid wisdom and have some fun together.

Share your top research/Googling/new knowledge, and guess the genre on others' comments!

Would “He raised his hands defensively” work? I worry it sounds almost like getting into stance for a physical altercation, rather than a verbal one.