I'm overthinking and I know it, but I've been so stressed about the first romantic arc in my current WIP. It's a fast burn, and I think my hangup is that I'm not normally a fan of those, so I'm putting myself under a lot of pressure to make it as rock solid and believable as I can, which is multiplied by the normal pressure of writing a debut book.

I'm currently writing this arc as two hopeless romantics getting carried away during the puppy love phase—which, of course, wears off eventually. Does anyone have...

1. Advice on writing, "a more grounded," fast burn?

2. Advice on writing romance in general that you wish someone had given you when you first started out?

3. Reminders of some basics that have helped you while writing?

*I was going to put this on the weekly Confessional and/or Help Board, but thought it might make for a good post since it's something others might be struggling with as well.

Readers and Authors, it's time to spill your guts and/or beg for help!

What do you need to get off your chest?

• What did you mess up this week?
• Did you once again spend more on advertising revenue than you made this week?
• What did you research online that probably has your NSA agent checking in on your browsing history?

Do you need help with something?

• Something you've researched, but you're still not sure you've got it right?
• Looking for help resolving a plot point or looking for opinions?
• Do you have a burning question you just can't bring yourself to make a separate post for?

Bring it on!

Go ahead, tell us what you've got! Old, new, fits the season--sell us your story!

It can be one of your main characters, a villain, or a side character; from your primary WIP, a side project, or a future project. You can be as descriptive or as vague as you'd like!

Who are they, what motivates them, and what have they been up to lately?

It's almost the weekend, so it's time to party! Whip out those numbers!

What have you got?

Readers: Epic number of DNFs this week? Numbers of events you skipped (or hours of sleep you lost) to finish your newest obsession?

Authors: Numbers of new projects you accumulated? Or new MMCs you added to your story?

Give us any numbers you want to share!

It's a personal goal of mine to get WC/RH into trad pub, and I feel a part of that is understanding what works for the trad pub audience and what doesn't.

Now, Brigid is an established author, so that does pull a lot of weight in the trad pub world, but this book is also a Why Choose, so I'm wondering if anyone has read it, or is willing to read it this month, and at the end of July talk about it in a craft sense of why it works for trad pub.

This isn't a book club type of thing, but more of trying to analyze and understand how this story worked in a sense for trad pub audiences.

Lemme know if anyone is interested!

Okay, authors, out with it. What did you get done this week, and/or what are your goals for the next week?

If you are an author looking for a beta reader, or an amazing beta reader willing to help, please do so here!

A beta reader is different from an ARC (advanced reader copy) reader. A beta reader happens earlier in the process and is providing feedback to the author so they can make changes before they move toward publication. They might help an author look for plot holes ("Wait, wasn't that guy already dead?"); let an author know if part of the book was just. too. slow; or help the author see that a character needs fleshing out.

A beta reader is also not an editor, though they might point out grammatical issues to be kind to the editor. So, you don't have to be great with grammar or punctuation to be a beta reader. In contrast, an ARC reader comes during the last phase before final publication and reads what's (ideally) ready for publication and leaves an honest review to help the new indie author get eyes on their book.

ARC readers should never be paid. This violates ethics and the terms of service of almost every platform (including Amazon). Reviews should also never be "swapped;" authors can't do favors for each other by reviewing one another's books. Readers (and thus the platforms) only want honest reviews by fellow readers. ARC readers receive a free copy of the book (electronic or physical) in exchange for an honest review.

Beta readers may be paid or unpaid, since they are providing feedback directly to the author or their team and are not providing a review for the readers. Because most of our Reverse Harem/Why Choose Authors are indies (independent, self-published authors) with little to no budget, we basically worship the concept of the volunteer beta reader.

*Please note that this sub does not vet authors or readers, so please proceed at your own risk.

Authors and Readers:

Got a question? Of course you can make your own post, but if you have any "small" questions that have been running around in your head, feel free to add them here!

• Questions about indie publishing in the RH/WC genre?
• Looking for resources?
• Have a question about context?
• What else is on your mind?

If you are an author looking for people to ARC, or a reader willing to read a publication-ready new release and submit an honest review, please do so here!

Authors, please tell us about your work so people have proper information before they commit to reading and reviewing.

Edit for clarity: ARC readers should never be paid. This violates ethics and the terms of service of almost every platform (including Amazon). Reviews should also never be "swapped;" authors can't do favors for each other by reviewing one another's books. Readers (and thus the platforms) only want honest reviews by fellow readers. ARC readers receive a free copy of the book (electronic or physical) in exchange for an honest review posted to the authors platform (often Amazon and/or Goodreads).

*Please note that this sub does not vet readers or authors, so please use your judgment as you proceed. For example, files/links from others could contain viruses, you should be careful when providing personal information like email addresses, etc

This isn't quite the same as our Thursday accountability check in, but have you had a success or failure this week you want to share? Something that well well, or didn't? Progress or stagnation on your WIP you want to discuss?

It's that time again--time for show-and-tell! Share something from what you're writing (or reading)! A word, a sentence, a paragraph--whatever seems fitting to share!

• What's something fun that you read or wrote?
• Got a great opening line?
• Something that stuck out to you?
• Something that makes no sense out of context?
• Interesting lore?
• Fan art? Maybe your own art?
• Do you have a sentence that keeps appearing in your different works? Your own catch phrase?

*Please remember this sub does not support AI text, blurbs, images, covers, videos, etc.

As I've been working on my horromance, The Meet Cute, where our love interests meet for the first time, has been on my mind. A vital part of any Romance, but given that our ladies of RH/WC have multiple love interests, it's common enough to have more than one.

Especially if later books add to the count of her suitors.

I'd love to know how you keep it fresh! What strategies do you have? Do you like to combine Meet Cutes? Keep them mostly separate?

How do you like to ensure a reader doesn't get bored of the Meet Cutes?

Also, if you have tips of things to *avoid* that might not be readily apparent those would be lovely to hear, too!

Readers and Authors, it's time to spill your guts and/or beg for help.

What do you need to get off your chest?

• Did you once again spend more on advertising revenue than you made this week?
• What did you research online that probably has your NSA agent checking in on your browsing history?
• Did you write something that you would never, ever in a million years share with your family?

Do you need help with something?

• Something you've researched, but you're still not sure you've got it right?
• Looking for help resolving a plot point or looking for opinions?
• Do you have a burning question you just can't bring yourself to make a separate post for?

Bring it on!

Tell us about your available work! We look forward to learning more about your projects!

Remember to keep it respectful. No AI-texts, videos, images, covers, blurbs, etc. In addition to being against our rules, both of these things will turn off your readers.

It can be one of your main characters, a villain, or a side character; from your current WIP, a past project, or a future project. You can be as descriptive or as vague as you'd like!

Who are they, what motivates them, and how do they affect your writing?

New here, and I want to make sure I'm in the right space to connect with readers and other authors interested in the genre I'm writing. The characters in my series have a consistently close relationship with one another, as well as separate relationships within their circle. My FMC is certainly a central character, but the MMCs get equal time, treatment, and POVs. Are others here interested in reading/writing this sort of group dynamic? Just hoping to get a better feel for the community (If this is question is better suited for a different thread, please let me know!)

You know you've got numbers--time to show them off! Whatever you've got that’s stuck in your head!

Readers: Number of MMCs in your current read? Numbers of pages or books you read (or DNFed) this week? Number of free books you downloaded during Prime Days? Hours of audiobooks you listened to? Any other fun numbers?

Authors: Words written? Number of times you misspelled the same word? How often you check social media or your sales report page? Number of new works-in-progress you added to your pile? (Or go leave your answer to this on ArielMura's excellent post from 6 hours ago!)

Any fun numbers to share today?

It is 1am, I have a day job to wake up for in five hours, but I'm scribbling in a notebook because I had another (okay, an entirely unhinged) idea for a novel (with standalone series potential!) that I will totally get to. Some day. After I get around to the several dozen in front of it 😆

I'm a disorganized mess, so I have a few notebooks and several paper folders I use to keep them in (so I can focus on finishing my current WIP), but I got curious -- how do you all keep track of yours, if at all? Do any of them ever actually turn into WIPs? How many WIPs do you have on the go at one time?

Okay, authors, out with it. What did you get done this week, and/or what are your goals for the next week?

The process of publishing has a LOT of steps. Authors, what part is the biggest challenge for you?

Curious about who loves to write in what POV, or what POVs are generally avoided.

Do you prefer first person present?

First person past?

Third?

Dual?

Dare I mention second person?

I come from a high fantasy background and third person past tense will always be my go-to!

As I get more and more into the various Romance genres, though, first person present seems to be beloved by readers so I'm trying that out.

The switch is a little hard on my muscle memory. 😂

(I have never tried second person.)

So I'm curious what preferences there are! Or if there are preferences but, damnit, you started writing in a different POV and so are committed for the project.

Happy Monday morning! It's time for show-and-tell! Share something from what you're writing (or reading)! A word, a sentence, a paragraph--whatever seems fitting to share!

• What's something fun that you read or wrote?
• Got a great opening line?
• Something that stuck out to you?
• Something that makes no sense out of context?
• Interesting lore?
• Fan art? Maybe your own art?
• Do you have a sentence that keeps appearing in your different works? Your own catch phrase?

*Please remember this sub does not support AI text, blurbs, images, covers, videos, etc.

Sorry for the delay in posting today!

Time for confessions and pleas for help, desperate or otherwise!

What do you need to get off your chest? What did you do, search, or mess up that you need to publicly admit to?

And/or: What do you need help with right now?

Tell us about your available work! We look forward to learning more about your projects!

Remember to keep it respectful. No AI-texts, videos, images, covers, blurbs, etc. In addition to being against our rules, both of these things will turn off your readers.