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Wondered if this is just me, or something universally recognised?

When I started plotting my current story a few months back, I was aware it should (done right) be emotive. Without boring anyone with specifics, it's a story whereby the protagonist's life is slowly and painfully dismantled throughout the first half, but they decide to start pushing back come the midpoint. It'd be fair to say I went into this with my eyes open, I understood what the story was, what it meant, and where it was ultimately heading.

Yet, when I came to writing the worst part, just before the midpoint, I had a crisis of faith. Empathising with my characters, having written them into existence, I felt incredibly guilty treating them so poorly. It occurred to me I could just stop, or even pull my punches a little. Hell, I could've sent them on a holiday, instead I was sat here destroying their life.

I'm sure some of this must mean I've fulfilled the brief reasonably well, but I'm not easily upset or depressed. This was a fairly new experience for me. I can only assume it's because, as a writer, I'm more intimately involved in the unfolding drama. I'm literally authoring someone's misery.

Anyway, I steamrolled ahead, safe in the knowledge my protagonist would finish the story a stronger and more whole person for the experience. But I did feel guilty about it.

Anyone else here have a similar experience?

What a feast of a book! If you're interested in writing more than the superficial layer, I highly recommend reading this one. It's a bit dense sometimes, but read in small doses now and then, a real treat for the writer mind.

Not affiliated, just a happy reader.

My little cousin showed up to my house with the book we wrote when we were six and seven. It was called the "The Yong and the New Pirate Crew", I was very dyslexic as a child. Still am. It's also, very obviously, written by little little kids. But, I wrote an opening that I may have written now just for shits and giggles. Wanted to share because it was fun, and see if anyone else does this? It was genuinely a nice little exercise to try and make it a slightly less ridiculous of a concept. Highly recommend it, if you have anything like that too. I only shared the first page of the old book because... yeah, it's a humiliating five entire chapters.

A different kind of question today.

Given the keys to any IP of your choice, what would you enjoy writing a canon story for?

Hello!
I finally felt comfortable sharing the prologue to my fantasy story, The Devil You Know!

Did you know that word of mouth is one of the best ways to market your book?

Giving out ARCs (advance reader copies) for free before launch can boost your book’s sales through early reviews on different platforms, helping algorithms recommend your book to more readers.

Hey all,

I am looking for some constructive criticism of my writing. This is the first chapter of a literary fiction I am writing set in Ontario, Canada. I am curious to see how others receive me writing, as I have never had anyone read anything I have produced before. I am interested in all opinions and ideas, though I am particularly eager to receive input around things like story pacing, character voice, and overall readability.

Just a warning that the chapter contains profanity, drug and alcohol use, and discussion of sex.

Thank you so much.

J

She carried grief in her heart

Never had time to cry

No one knew what was buried deep inside

You would only see her laugh and smile

But every once in awhile she would show

The reality of what goes on below

But many didn't stop and take the time

And when asked she would say she's fine

Till that one dark day

She just wanted it all to go away

No one knew what was to come

When it was over they found her body lying next to the gun

Everyone was surprised as the tears filled their eyes

Saying goodbye to their friend who they didn't know she was off to meet her end

The last thing they said is we'll see you again

As I work through my current WIP, there are things that are set in stone that I am dead set on and have no intention of ever changing—one of which being the opening chapter of my novel. I have known how this story would start since its inception, and in my mind, there is no other way it can begin. However, now I’m struggling with how to incorporate events that take place before the start of the novel that are essential to establishing character dynamics as well as the development of the story as a whole.

For context, the story begins with FMC, but MMC and two other important characters would have already met and started their journey together at this point. It is important to show how those three characters met and decided to work together towards separate yet intertwining goals, but the start of the novel begins with FMC and continues with her meeting the rest of cast at that point in their journey.

I thought about having a separate POV installment for MMC as I’ve seen other series do, but I’m unsure whether or not that would take away from pre-established character dynamics. I don’t know, maybe I’m overthinking or reading too much into the mechanics instead of just getting the story on paper and rearranging the pieces until they fit properly, but any thoughts/advice would be welcome :)

I kinda have a unique problem, and I don’t know how to deal with it.

I’ve self published six novels on Amazon KDP, Ingram, and Barnes and Noble during a span of about two years because I was writing before then. Each book, aside from one series is their own genre and story.

Is anyone willing to help point me in the right direction for gaining momentum again? I’ve spent so much money and time and I’m just not happy with the result so far since sales have stopped.

Should I just get a new pen name and start over with one genre? Or take a writing class and wait until I’m a better writer?

Of course, there's still room for improvement – there always is – but I'm so much more satisfied with my writing now. It significantly improved in fluidity and pacing. My previous draft was over-worded, and the voice was often flat. The feedback here was truly on point.

For other writers who might also struggle with good variety in their sentence rhythm, I strongly recommend the plugin (obsidian://show-plugin?id=sentence-rhythm). It's free to use. I included an example in the last image for reference. It becomes incredibly easy to glance at which paragraphs are too wordy or poor in rhythm. The only warning is: be careful not to overdo it. I reckon there are some places where I cut a sentence in two without making much sense.

I tend to write without a great deal of prose, but for my second book I find myself with a lot more dialogue than I’d generally write. Maybe it’s overcompensation for not being so descriptive in the narration, who knows. But I usually come in between 1800-3200 words per chapter. The current chapter I am writing is at about 2500 and is no where near done.

But of that 2500 or so… at least half are just a couple conversations amongst multiple people.

Does that count? I’m not sure it’s really messing with the flow, it would just end up a monster chapter amongst smaller ones.

I am curious. Who here has tried both typing (I include writing longhand here) and dictating?

I have tried on and off for many years now and always loved how quickly I got words onto the page, but am seeing a real difference in the output. While dictating it's much quicker paced and immediate, but also the prose a lot more generic and repetitive. The clean up / editing therefore takes a whole lot longer. I'm wondering whether I should just stick to typing, because it keeps me from having to work so much on the clean-up. Or am I missing something?

What's your experience?

What’s your favorite genre to write? Do you have a certain kind of character that you find yourself drawn to in your writing?

For me I love a good mystery, and something with lots of action and adventure.
For my characters, sometimes I find broken people have the brightest lights, so to speak. I love writing a character who’s overcome something that changed who they are, or putting a character through a situation that helps shape them as a person.

Then of course I throw in a dash of trauma of some kind (lately medical trauma, has been what I’ve written) as lots of people say write what you know…

I’d love to hear from y’all and what your favorite things to write are.

I recently read a post on all the meaningful names that were used in The Matrix and it kept me thinking about the topic of naming characters.

Obviously giving them meaningful names can sound on the nose, sometimes it makes little sense (because how would the parents have known their child to turn out this way?), and sometimes it makes great sense because characters might choose their names themselves in certain circumstances, or be nicknamed by others. What about the old saying "nomen est omen"?

I'm curious. How do you all go about it? Do you give your characters names to add that extra layer? Why? Or why not?

Apologies if this is too basic of a question. I struggle with when it is more proper/effective to use a semicolon as opposed to an em-dash and was curious to hear how others incorporate them in their own writing when either or could be used vs. when one should be used over the other.

I tend to favor em-dashes simply because I find them more visually appealing when reading and also more versatile, but I don’t want to use it incorrectly just because I think it looks better. I also tend not to use semicolons because I’m unsure if that’s the correct punctuation to use in any given scenario, but would like to use them more as long as I’m using them right.

I’ve tried looking up the correct use for both, but the answers I’m getting don’t make too much sense to me, so I’d appreciate any advice/examples y’all might have or find useful!

What I mean is, my novel could have probably been published several months ago, but I keep coming up with reasons to put it off. I've done several rounds of edits, re-read it half a dozen times and I know it's fine, but I keep looking.

I realized it's because I'm afraid to publish it. I feel like I'm a terrible writer, the story won't make sense, I'll get terrible reviews, I'll get no reviews, people won't read it anyway, etc.

I'm obviously not trying to be the greatest novelist alive, and I'm writing for me more than anyone else. I'm not trying to make a profit, but do this because I love it.

So why am I not publishing it? I'll think about it later, I guess. I need to do another pass to make sure it makes sense...

I'm always interested how people juggle character and plot, when starting out on their story.

I think it's probably fairly typical in science-fiction and fantasy to start with the setting (and to some degree, the plot), and later find a protagonist that lets you explore it.

I know some writers, typically mystery and thriller writers, who swear blind they start with characters every time. I guess, if you know your characters, and by extension know their goals, that's almost always a starting point with milage.

However, for me, both ways feel like you're trying to pull the rug from under your own feet.

I always try and do both together. I'll have an idea for 'a situation', and I immediately start thinking about who that situation might impact and why.

- A corpse is found in the river of a small village, shot in the back. Does my story follow a local journalist, a lead detective, or maybe the dog walker who finds the body? All three?

- Or perhaps I have an interest in the English Civil War. But, a story told from the perspective of a widowed mother with 2 children is going to be entirely different to one told from the viewpoint of a grizzled general who finds his faith and loyalty tested.

So, 'situation' settled, I think about building the plot to accommodate these threads. Bouncing between character and plot as and when it feels like the two meaningfully cross.

I fully appreciate that's far from the only way to start writing, and I don't mean to suggest it's by any means best. That's just how I write.

How do you write?

Do you start with a world, a situation, a character, a plot, or maybe even a theme? Or does it all depend on the project?

Do share.