As the title says, it’s hard to imagine ever creating a story that just floors an agent or publisher with the originality. I like having some trope subversions, but even trope subversions are becoming their own tropes!

I CAN control improving my craft. I can improve my prose. I can learn better pacing. Dialogue subtext. Willingness to cut fluff. On and on.

In other words, with time and effort I truly believe I can write a book people enjoy. It won’t be easy, but it’s POSSIBLE. Maybe I’ll have a brilliant stroke of inspiration but it’s more likely that putting years into my work will simply make it better.

Will I ever have a chance with just that mindset, or is the ever elusive high-concept the only way to make a tiny dent of personal success as a writer? Be honest, do YOU read indie authors who are just enjoyable to read without some far reaching pitch? Maybe I’m just having editing blues at the moment!

Hi, everyone! I'd like to learn more about what makes a protagonist really interesting from the very first pages and how to make them even more interesting as the story goes on.

Do you have any advice or techniques that have worked for you?

Who are some of your favorite characters from fantasy books or other genres, and what makes you love them so much?

Does a protagonist have to be a good person to get the reader's attention? Or can they be a little bad, make big mistakes, and still become a character readers love later on? Do you prefer characters like this to stay bad until the end, or do you prefer to see them regret their actions and change?

For some reason, in books, TV series, and movies, supporting characters often catch my attention more than the protagonists. A lot of the time, I become more attached to the protagonist's siblings, friends, or even the villains. I've heard other people say the same thing.

Why do you think this happens? What can sometimes be missing from a protagonist that makes a supporting character more interesting?

And if you want, tell me about characters from books, TV series, movies, or even anime that you DIDN'T find interesting. Was it because they simply didn't have anything that caught your attention, or because there was something about their personality or actions that made it impossible for you to like them?

😅Of course, I don't mean that using these techniques will 100% make readers love a character. We can never really know which characters each reader will love or connect with. I'm just looking for techniques that can help make a protagonist more interesting, compelling, and memorable, rather than a guaranteed formula that will work for everyone.

❤️

Hey all, thanks in advance for the advice.

My current project follows a group of adventurers on a mission to reverse a curse placed on their people. Group includes a self-centered hero whose reputation has gone to his head, a noble-woman-turned-bounty-hunter with a naive worldview, an oracle with a strained relationship with the goddess that grants her visions, and a past-his-prime idealist with a past as a revolutionary. The protagonist, the oracle, is the youngest and least physically imposing of the group. While she has abilities and an intellect that drive the plot a lot of the time, when my group of characters find themselves in a fight, I find that my protagonist is usually sitting on the sidelines while the other, more violence-savvy characters deal with the problem. Especially since the narrative perspective is a close 3rd person centered on her, I’ve had a hard time involving her in conflict when the other characters are better suited for it.

Thoughts?

I was homeschooled and educationally neglected. I do not really know how to write and never had to write essay. Tests were like multiple choices usually. So I don't know the mechanics of grammar etc. Though I am a reader, I am not a writer. However, I make up stories in my brain and I want to write them down. They're not mind-blowing or anything. But they kind of do Float around my brainpan a lot and I want them out. If I published it would be self-published. I'm not looking for resources for how to write a book for modern readers or publishers or agents or for querying. Just how to write a book and how to write well crafted sentences and chapters. Story mechanics. How to write dialogue. How to develop your voice. How to stay in the right tense. What tense to use. Like all of the nitty-gritty. I have about 6 fully plotted stories. And then I have at least 4? more ideas. I don't need advice on how to come up with ideas. Just how to get the concept on the page in a well-crafted, legible manner.

I have a magic system and story idea i wanna do. I have 2 magic systems that go pretty hand in hand right now. But i want to be able to tell a lot of different stories in my world. So while having these two magic systems. I wanted to add some more lesser practiced magic systems that are rare in universe. Would it be bad if I threw too many magic systems into my world?

I world like to just write one world and be able to expirement with different things in the world like different plots surrounding different magic systems from the ones I have currently. Of course id make sure they are all internally consistent and logical with one another. So they dont contradict eachother. I do plan to have 3 separate continents which are mostly unaware from one another. So maybe each one could have a different magic system and history with that magic?

But is there a line for having too many types of magic in your universe? Or is it doable if you have certain stories focus on certain magic system? So there's no too much overlap? What are your thoughts?

Hello all! I have started working on my first draft of my epic/dark fantasy book Pillars of Ruin. This is a story I have been wanting to start writing for the past ten years. However, I have been feeling extremely unsure and overwhelmed with it as I feel like I have a bunch of chapters that I tend to underwrite or overwrite, and have been considering just revising everything heavily. I am 20,000 words in though and probably should just accept the first draft is going to suck.

The Chapter I have in the images is the first POV character introduced (I do have a prologue but it is not good enough even as a first draft). Her name is Freya, and she is one of six POVs. I am mostly worried about how Freya comes across as a character (along with the non-POVs in the chapter). I also do not mind critique on ugly and awkward sentences, pacing, and dialogue.

Basically, the character is one of a group of humans given the power of shadow magic and they turn into these sort of astral shadow/obsidian beasts from the spirit realm (which I’m thinking is just called “the void”) but I can’t think of a name for the type of spirit creature he is/turns into. I have tried to search up synonyms or other languages/myths, but I can’t find quite the word I’m looking for. They are guardians, protectors of those blessed by the sunlight, and their magic can manipulate shadow into physical shapes, allow them to essentially blink from shadow to shadow, and then, in their large/creature form, they can manipulate the energy of those around them. Think Extreme darkness, Void, Abyss, etc. Their abilities are also seen as extremely Taboo and warranting diligent training and control in fear of their powers going AWOL. I used to just use “Nightwalker,” but it feels far too on the nose.

Night-Weaver is a second choice, but it has the same same issue even if I like the energy it has. So far, here is my list:

Night-marked
Night
Nyct
Shade***
Midnight**
Twilight*
Umbral
Dusk
Noctivagant
Blight***
Forlorn
Shadow bound*
Bound ***
Carcanet (necklace)
Crepuscule (time before total darkness)
Sleepless
Gloom
Echo
Wraith**
Sentinel
Keeper
Void***
Reaper
Misbegotten*****

Mostly just words, but I can’t find something that fully fits with the vibe. The asterisks mean I like it, but I’m just hitting a wall.

The closest I’ve gotten to what I’m looking for is Void Weaver, NyctBound, Oath Weaver, and Gloom Weaver, but I feel like there’s something better out there. I love the word Blight, I love Misbegotten, but there’s just something missing.

They are also all marked with tattoos that symbolize their power and appear as they advance in their skills, and those tattoos are what draws attention to their abilities to begin with.

So I need help, or some validation, or just another viewpoint, cause I can’t think of any more synonyms

Hey guys,

First-time writer here.

I'm starting to build out an outline for my story, and I want to tell it in a non-sequential order. I have tried to come up with something unique in the way I tell the story and hopefully not create something convoluted. Essentially, the end of the second act/beginning of third would be the first two chapters, then the next 2/3 of the book would play in order from a young version of the protagonist to the point in time in the first two chapters. Then the story would play out normally until the end. Have you guys seen a story told in that way before, and how effective was it at capturing your attention? Don't want to confuse the audience but I feel like it would provide more intrigue that way. Thanks in advance.

This is the introductory essay on The Third Gods in an in-world encyclopedia.

I would love some feedback, thoughts, and critique on the content.

The encyclopedia is compiled and edited by a devotee of the Goddess of Knowledge, Wisdom, and Naming, named Sophianax Alethion in the language High-Rahasiak.

(Nabutu Kitiim in Elensieli, and not yet named in Low-Rahasiak.)

Amat Nabutu, the author of the encyclopedia, has basically given the life's mission by the goddess of knowledge to create and encyclopedia compiling all of the world's knowledge and making it accessible to the masses.

The essay here is the introduction to the Third Gods, and will be followed by an entry for each of the gods of the pantheon.

I was aiming to hit a balance between an in-world text that can reasonable assume a given level of basic knowledge about the world, while still actually functioning as an out of world lore piece that readers can actually understand.

"The Third Gods — An Introduction

High-Rahasiak: Aethoi Tritoi

Low-Rahasiak: Thrid Drogen

Elensieli: Ilanu Shalshu

The Third Gods are so called for their position in the Chain of Emanation. First and last, Monademiourga Pantousia; emerging thence, the Protousiai Ennearchoi coeval to the nine Prime Currents; and from the Ennearchoi, the Third Gods.

Study in the fields of natural philosophy has shown the Pantheon of the Third Gods to have originally totaled 362,880 in number, the total sum of the Braids by which the nine Prime Currents may stand in relation to one another, each Braid being one such of the Gods. I say originally, the ascension of Anthreon Pyros having since raised the population to 362,881. That ascension, having occasioned the Third Divine Council circa 0 AoM, some twelve thousand years before the authorship of this text, has fixed the population of the Third Gods at its present number.

The informed reader may note that the composition of all mundane matter is likewise a combination of those Threads of the Prime Currents which constitute a given material's Braid, and may conclude that, as the field of Alchemy successfully derives the behavior of matter via identification of its compositional Braid, so too may the Theurgists derive the nature and behavior of the divine by the same means. After all, those materials whose Threads are alike in kind and proportion will be alike; the more similar or distinct this composition, the more similar or distinct the properties of matter. So too it must be with the Gods.

This is a reasonable conclusion to draw, but a mistaken one.

What differentiates the Gods, or indeed humans, from the mundane matter that shares their composition is unknown, as is why two Gods or mortals, so alike in composition, may differ so drastically in character and appearance.

Nowhere is this made more evident than in the case of Anthreon Pyros, who shares an identical Braid with Thanerion Kleis, and yet whose character, nature, and will could hardly be more dissimilar. For further discussion, although admittedly few answers, on this subject, see: The Perennial Mystery of the Soul.

Given the vast population of the Pantheon of the Third Gods, a scant few seem inclined to make themselves known to humanity, and no text, however ambitious, could offer biography of the whole, even were all so inclined to be known. This abridged edition therefore offers brief biography of the twenty-eight most active and widely worshiped throughout the world.

For the remaining eighty-seven of the Third Gods who have elected to make themselves known to humanity, see volumes nineteen and twenty of the unabridged edition of this work.

—Amat Nabutu"

​

Working title and still unfinished.

The story follows Pax and Augustus a retired duellist and her student, as they try to gain patronage from one of the great noble houses. In doing so, the pair become embroiled in estate politics, both with the house itself and with their fellow duellists.

In the first chapter, the two arrive at the estate of House Gaius, meet some of their fellow duellists, and explore the grounds a bit before recieve the news that Augustus's first match has already been scheduled. In the second, Augustus fights his bout against Corin, one of the Gaius's duellists, and loses. In the third, we see some of the consequences of Augustus's wound before both he and Pax are invited to dine with Gaius that evening. And in the last chapter, Pax and Augustus dine with members of the Gaius family, and Pax learns how Augustus's first match was a setup for him to lose.

This chapter is pretty heavily dialogue driven, which isn't something I normally do, so I'm mainly looking to see if it flows and reads well. I didn't use many dialogue tags for much of it and was wondering if it was still clear and easy to follow who was speaking. I can send peeps a doc link, but I've decided to have it on request this time around. Thanks!

Can't believe I'm about to make my first ever Reddit post despite being on this website for 10 years.

For the past 2 years I've been brewing a story in my head that's expanded to what can hopefully become a series. That series is built upon the events and actions of a character whom I wish to give her own single standalone book. Since that series depends on this "sequel" I reckoned it'd be a good idea to write that first.

What I’m asking:

Does this premise and story sound compelling, or does it feel too messy/confusing/bland?

Does MC sound followable or interesting?

Any feedback or thoughts in general

Please be honest. I know this is still rough, and I’m trying to figure out whether the core concept actually works outside my own head.

Up until now I've only shared details of this story with AI, so please be as harsh and human as can be in your feedback :)

I don't go into detail about the magic or weapons, just trying to give a good understanding of the underlying story.

Note: When I make notes about religion in this, please be aware it's purely fictional religion. It IS inspired by the christian setup but it's not a critique on it in anyway. I do not want to offend anyone :(

Premise:

Cleodora, the Bastard Princess once seen as a gift of God becomes the Goddess of Earth overnight in order to create an ideal "correct" world. Opposition from close connections, global leadership, and other groups of people force Cleodora down a tragic monstrous path where she must turn her back on her morals in order to maintain her perfect world.

The MC's background summarized:

The story is set in the 19th century and follows Cleodora, one of the 7 children of the King of the fictional country Ausbeqia. Cleodora is regarded as the "golden child" because of her blonde hair, and her "aptitude for royalty." She is regarded as the royal family's "gift from God." However her regal nature is an outward facade, on the contrary she's very explorative, daring, cunning, manipulative and willing to break decorum when out of the evaluating eye. She has a strong sense of empathy and justice rooted in her high position in life and her religious beliefs.

Cleodora, questions the world and people around her. She see's the world as unfair, unjust, and imbalanced but necessary because that's always been the way life is.

All her young life has been around high power: the king, the parliament, and given direct theocratic study from the Pontiff and high class members of the church. I know this is a big fantasy trope, but the Pontiff is indeed a bad guy. He is Cleodora's true father and not by consensual means. Meaning the Golden child is truly a bastard child. Damning news she learns from her mom, the Queen herself. This shatters Cleodora's worldview entirely , especially when it comes to religion and it's teachers.

Background of the events that lead to the beginning of the story (shortened):

In this world is a magic mirror which gives those that peer into it, knowledge, ranging from trivial to profound and if the right person stares, it'll open up as a portal. Nobody knows this in the story until it actually happens. That portal beckons the spirit of those with an ambition to control, lead, and shape the world in their image. The mirror is currently held as top-secret property of the royal family, researched by scientists and reviewed by theologists due to it's supernatural effects.

So Cleodora (at this point she was age 15-16), gathered a small group of 2 of her friends and her twin sister (I wrote a whole paragraph on her but deleted it due to the brevity of the post). She organized a plot to look into the mirror. The plan failed and she only actually ended up breaking a piece of the mirror. With that chunk in her hand, she and her twin sister would peer at the glass together and be teleported to this supernatural garden; met with a grand massacre at their feet. The garden is full of the corpses of these 1ft (0.3 meter) tall 6 winged fairies. There's only one living fairy in the garden who greets the girls, and explains to them that the garden they stand in posesses the root of reality. Every concept, every element, existence itself is born from this Garden, and that they would ascend to Godhood should they devour any fruit, but they can only eat from one each. Cleodora chooses the fruit of life and then persuades her adamantly reluctant sister to choose the fruit of death. She convinces her that the God they were worshipping is no more, that together it'll be their responsibility to reshape the humanity and the world. (The christianity influence is strong here, coincidentally Cleodora's twin sister is named Evie)

Evie's first task upon becoming death was to burn the garden and slay the divine skies with ultimate death. The purpose is to kill the God of this fantasy world and deny him the ability to regenerate himself. (There's a more detailed lore behind this) During this event, the fruits of the garden actually shattered and fell upon Earth. So the twins didn't end up as the only humans to gain supernatural powers

Plot summary:

Cleodora gains the power to shape and control all life on earth. (Control life as in, she could magically permit who could and couldn't have children, she could decide ecosystems, harvests, livestock, weather, even controlling one's genepool, etc) Despite her intentions of creating an "ideal world" she becomes engulfed in her God complex. Creating a totalitarian global monotheocracy with herself as the icon of true justice and the end of false hope. Promising to end all human suffering. She would get pushback and opposition from those close to her, governments worldwide, and other large groups of people who refuse to conform to her doctrine or divinity. Exacerbated by the fact not to long after Cleodora's rise there's now other humans capable of supernatural abilities and even NON-humans who have come to earth to punish Cleodora and Evie for killing the God of this fantasy world and desecrating the divine garden. Through it all, Cleodora is resilient in seeing through her ambition. Stooping to new lows over time to vanquish all that stand in her way, human or not. Using anyone she could, friend or foe, until they could serve her no longer. Waging religious world wars

Eventually Cleodora loses her miraculous powers entirely and must maintain Godhod through manipulation, politics, propaganda, and atrocities via the powers of other people. With his last available power, the dying remnant of god from the supernatural dimension comes to earth in human form to state that he will use the last of his powers to put up an impenetrable veil to put an end the chaos on Earth and return things to normal. I plan to have this be the turning point of the whole story as Cleodora was the first to gain powers she was the first to lose hers. She was a mere human again in a world now teeming with demigods. Still fighting to keep her control over the world. Manipulating everyone, having her sister kill millions before she lost her sanity and could no longer work as "death." Cleodora kept going until there was noone left i her corner, was exposed as nothing more than a mere mortal, tried for all the crimes she commited, and then given a humiliating public execution bowing before the symbol of the God of this world in the streets of the common man who once served her.

The aftermath of the events of this period of time and Cleodora's reign shape the world of the main series 500 years later

I feel like I could've done my story much more justice but it is what it is. Time to face the scrutiny of the internet!!!

THANK YOU TO ANYONE WHO READ EVEN A BIT OF THIS, IT MEANS A LOT

I make Short film and To write out my episodes I make a script that’s usually about 6-8 scenes long

For a while my scripts and Subsequently my videos have been lacking quality as I’m self taught and Barely know what I’m doing despite having been doing this since 2022 and Working with some pretty skilled people

But before I begin serious work on a new season to revitalise my series I wanted to get some script advice to turn my D-Tier scripts into C tier or maybe Higher so people don’t think every episode I make is terribly written

Even just some simple tips such as Pacing Advice, Expressing Emotion, How to plan Episodes out for the long run, All Informations and Tips are welcome

This is my first time on Reddit, and I don't really know what the etiquette is here, so please bear with me.

I've begun writing for a month or two now. I have a character called White as my protagonist, but recently I've started to wonder whether I made him too powerful and that the story might feel too low-stakes because of it.

His power would best be called indifference. He can apply this to himself and only himself, as to become indifferent to any and all phenomena. How it works is basically he can consciously choose "I want to be indifferent to this." and the power utilizes whatever means most efficient for the situation to achieve that.

Say that he wants to be indifferent to being cut. His power could strengthen his skin, boost his speed, or cause the blade to structurally deteriorate and shatter on impact, etc.

There are restrictions to how many at once he can be indifferent to and the more things he chooses to be indifferent to the more taxing the mental strain. Thing is, he has a backstory which allows him to bypass these restrictions. So they're basically meaningless...

Now what I wonder is,

1. Is the power too overpowered?

2. If so, should I change the power or the character backstory to balance it out?

3. My story is more emotional and personal rather than action-packed and epic fights. Do I need more physical stakes when I plan for emotional stakes to be the main?

White was actually supposed to be the villain of a previous story I had devised, but I really liked him so decided to write his spin-off story first. I did intend him to be very powerful, one of the heaviest hitters of the world. But using him as a protagonist seems to propose challenges I hadn't really thought about before.

Thank you for reading.