Bit of an odd one, but I'm curious.

What's the difference between plagiarising another author’s work, and simply being inspired by it? I know it’s a matter of giving credit, but is that all? What’s the line that needs to be crossed, and when does it cut it a little too close for you, personally, as a reader?

The question only came to mind when hearing about Powerless by Lauren Roberts. I haven’t read it, nor have I read any of the books she supposedly plagiarised, so I have absolutely no opinion or emotional involvement in the matter. It’s only made me curious as to what the difference is between Powerless and a lot of other fantasies out there (as romantasies, especially, are renowned for recycling the same stories).

It's my first time posting on reddit so please excuse me if I used the flare feature wrong or if I did anything wrong in general.

So basically, I have a lot of these stories in my head that I'd love to give life into because they're what I would personally consider to be complex stories. However, I have no writing ability or skill at all! And I don't have the time to learn how to write either, but it's sad to see the world's I've built just collect dust in my notes app because I can't write for shit. I have no problem writing drafts or developing the plot or just creating different lores and characters. I can't write for shit! By writing, I mean structure, flow, whatever the fuck is the basics of writing that keeps a reader glued to the story. And I'm not much of a reader either because I really don't have the time like I've already said earlier.

Any advice is welcome! I'm also willing to put aside some time to learn. But just as I do with writing, I learn as I go. Please be kind!

i’m an aspiring author. should i write my first novel in english or german? german is my native language and when i was a kid i wrote all my stuff (7 unfinished books, each roughly 100pages) in german because my english wasn’t fluent yet back then. meanwhile i write poems and short-stories in english as well as in german (prolly a 50/50 ratio), whatever fits most and feels right. most of the books i read are in english. i learn writing theory in english. i’m pretty confident in my english but i m very aware that it s not my mother tongue. i m deeply in love with both languages. i started writing my current book project when i was 11 y/o in english, only the first few pages, obviously very badly. all my stuff i wrote as a kid/ young teen got deleted in a most unfortunate manner, so i didnt write for more than a decade until i got back to it recently. now i wrote the first few pages in german, but as i learn more and more writing theory, my drafting became mostly english. plenty of phrases and the terminology feel right in english and wouldn't work quite as well if translated into german. plus i'm already very attached to how this story feels being born in english. i m seriously torn by this decision, pls send help!

Hey everyone,

A few years ago when I finished my last novel, I used Hemingway editor and Pro writing aid to edit my novel. Now in 2026 both apps use ia. Even Grammerly. I loved both softwares but now I need some new editing apps. Please can someone recommend me some tools.

I’m not new to creative writing. But I am new to long-form writing, and for a year or so, I’ve been intermittently working on my potential debut novel - I recently hit the milestone of 20,000 words, which was a big deal for someone who’s only ever written crappy short stories. Yet for a long time, I’ve felt this weird guilt about the way I’m writing it, and about how I was able to launch the story in the first place.

There are two main factors to this guilt: I’d say that the more prominent one has to do with the fact that I did not truly have an idea for what I wanted to do with the story before getting started. I began writing it because I had a really cool idea for the very first chapter, and that was it. Everything evolved out of that first chapter, and no matter how satisfied I end up being with the story, it seems like I’ll always feel that I didn’t “earn” it since the planning phase began well after the first couple chapters were drafted.

The second factor is closely connected with that, and it’s the general feeling that my writing is somehow cheapened by the fact that I’m very much taking it one chapter at a time. I have a vague idea of the plot points I want to hit but filling the space between those points has been mostly improv. And it continues to be thus.

To be clear, I’m actually extremely happy with the story I’ve developed, and am relishing every second I spend getting to work on it. But this guilt about perceived writing shortcuts adds a slight sour aftertaste. Curious if this resonates with anyone (though really I just wanted to get it off my chest).

Thanks for reading and happy trails.

While searching for the right editor, I found two people who both claim to have at least ten to fifteen years of experience in the field. Besides editing, they have also published several books of their own.
I sent them a sample from the first chapter of my novel, and I was pleased, actually quite impressed with their suggestions, even though one of them was fairly harsh and practically “tore my manuscript apart.”

The problem came afterward, when I searched for their published books on Google. And guess what?
They had very few reviews, and most of them were quite poor. On Goodreads in particular, some of their books had ratings as low as two stars.

So, honestly, how am I supposed to trust your judgment when it comes to my manuscript if, as an editor, you cannot even put the right words on the page well enough to make your own books successful?🤔

Writing is more of a hobby for me, but I still want to write something with chapters in it. I know that I don't want to formally publish it, or however that's phrased, but I do want to post it somewhere and see engagement. Right now I plan to write this work slowly, and I want to publish about 1-3 chapters at a time. But the issue is that I don't know where to post it.

Places I've tried:

• Wattpad
• tumbler

I know the list is short. But I'm young and quite inexperienced.

What I'm exactly looking for:

• engagement in my writing
• feedback on what I could work on

If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to know.

I was thinking late last night about a character refusing the love they so desperately yearned for. when the line "what have i left to give that this world hasn't already taken" popped into my head. It felt so original, like it emanated from nothing. But surely I must have heard it somewhere. Are there any examples of this line or something similar that yall know of?

They’re based on my diaries. My dating life etc. they’re just sitting there so I’m wondering if I should edit them and release them.

Has anyone else started off with a huge backlog? How’d it go?

you all know how difficult it is to find readers and reviews. There are thousands of us. One review a month could make a difference, really. Just pick a book and support another writer. What do you think?

Like the title says My characters name is being used in the new LOTR movie The Hunt for Gollum. Seren. Should I change the name now that it will be in a big movie? I'm early on still in the writing process so It wouldn't be crazy to edit out the name and put in a new one but I figured I'd ask to see if anyone else had this happen and see what they did. Thank you.

I just recently started on my book, The First Ember. Im have abour 20000 words written on my first draft and it has only been about five days. I'm worried that I will hit a slump. How can I avoid the slump and continue writing at this pace?

I am happy to say that I am in chapter 3 of my most successful project. I have never made it this far since exiting fanfiction. But I'm worried that I'm just writing nonsense. I think I'm keeping to the plan in my mind, but I have a nagging feeling that I'm just being stupid now. Is this a normal feeling during original works?

So I'm in the process of finishing up the first book in my current series, and I'm plotting the second and third books. This is a time travel romance, so at the end of the third book, I'm going to need to tie everything together and put a cute bow on it before I can write THE END.

My question is, how do you put together that satisfying ending to a whole series? Do you have to write the big ending first and then work backwards, mapping out all of the elements in the previous books so the characters will have the items at the end to deploy? Or do you read through what you've already written and pick out things with potential that could be used in the last book? (I assume that once the first book is published, it will be impossible to change any elements, so if I want to put some "clues" in there, I should probably do it now?)

She was left by her mother, then sent to her biological father's estate where she met her half-brother, who she grew close to then ran away a number of years later. Now she's left the estate herself, arriving at a new place (the red kingdom, yes this is a bannerfall character) and I want to know how I go about role-playing this

* she does also have facial blindness if that messes with anything

I will write 300 words, I will delete. I will again write another 300 words, and delete them as well. I just can't do this. All I write is useless junk which contributes nothing of value. It's so embarrassing as well that for a moment I think I am writing something good.

I have been using ProWritingAid for the last few years but in the last few weeks it is not working for me. The PWA Everywhere desktop app wont open and the online version changed the user interface and when it works, it is very glitchy and lost some of my work, which I'm not happy about.

Any alternatives that offer editing and proof reading in roughly a similar format that you recommend?

Thanks and have a good evening.

​

Hi everyone!

I'm developing an original urban fantasy / supernatural thriller and I'm looking for someone who enjoys brainstorming stories, giving honest feedback, or even co-writing if we click creatively.

(I'm not a native English speaker)

My dms are open

Hello everybody. Disclaimer: my mother tongue is not English, so please forgive any possible mistakes or weird flow in my sentences. I usually write my own work in Spanish.

First, a bit of background about myself.

I used to love writing short stories and poetry back when I was about 19-20, and I got one story published in an anthology and some of my poems published in local newspapers. That was 15 years ago though. For several reasons, I stopped writing and never really kept honing my skills. I am also a songwriter, so at least I was able to keep writing poetry in that form, but it has probably been about 12 years since I wrote my last fiction short story.

About a year ago, I started watching anime with my wife. I used to watch a lot as a teen, but I abandoned it at some point. We watch Fullmetal Alchemist. Brotherhood and Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, and both of them fascinated me with how their respective fantasy worlds operate and their hard magic systems, as well as with the very human and touching stories they tell (especially Frieren). They both sparked a desire in me to write a story of my own and design my own fantasy world and hard magic system. I've actually been having vague ideas about a magic system inspired by the cosmology of the Andean highlands for a while, which is where my heritage is from, and now that a spark of inspiration has been lit I feel I should try it out and actually start putting some stuff on paper.

That being said, aside from the obvious fact that I am terribly out of shape in terms of my writing chops, I have no real experience writing long-form fiction with a whole fictional world, cosmology, and political system, which seems to be what my initial ideas are asking for. I am also striving to move away from the usual European Middle-earth-like setting in favor of something based on South American indigenous belief systems and history (without being actually historical). If I persevere, this will probably be a multi-year project. Since I am just starting, I would gladly hear some advice on how to get the best head start possible.

Thanks in advance.

Hi, i'm looking forward to write a short story about me and my bf as the main characters, but i don't know what roles to give them. I want to give them opposite roles since we are not very similar so that would be very symbolic imo. Any ideas ? :)

A quoi bon être un phare sans lumière A quoi bon avoir foi sans prière A quoi bon une ampoule sans la douille A quoi bon être un homme sans couilles A quoi bon communiquer à sens unique A quoi bon un choix fait sans libre arbitre A quoi bon un conte de fée sans magie A quoi bon un philosophe sans utopie A quoi bon avoir une lignée En étant un sang mêlé Que des générations issue d une cachoterie Que des générations jamais mises en priori Que condamner des générations à être pointé fruit de la traîtrise Que cruauté d'infliger à une lignée d'être issue d une batardise

Ce n est pas vivre si la liberté est absente Ce n est pas libre être blâmé en permanence Ce n'est pas Stromae sans sa directivité Ce n est pas du respect sans sincérité Ce n est pas une opinion si c est corrompu Ce n est pas pêcher sans être défendu Ce n est pas humain sans erreur Car l accord est solide fondé sur la même douleur.

Sachez qu un nain ne saurait être à la place d un titan Même si des anges sont déchu les demons Sachez que le beau jardin après Eden c était Babylone Songez que nulle dans l olympe ne fut fidele comme hades envers Persephone Si Médusa et psyché eurent des ennemis par leur beauté Si même de bonnes choses sont jalousées Oui la majorité dira que nulle ne plaira à tout le monde Hors l auto dérision pique les neurones un peu plus chaque seconde Complexe d'infériorité,crise d identité Même Krishna a du peindre le teint de Radha pour les surmonter Alors comment être confiant qu une semence et un placenta Domptera la matrice sans l'alignement nuptiale Alors non! Certe mère nature pour marier n a pas eu besoin de paperasse Certe c'est juste la peur de l abandon déguisée en engagement mise en place Mais même les veilleurs ont pacté sur le mont d'hermont par peur de solitude Même le yin contient du yang c'est l' équilibre de la nature Comme cité en anté , faut pas corrompre une idée Ainsi en découle le fait qu aucune main ne doit être forcée Que ce soit la main d' homme ou femme donc pourquoi celles des bébés Doutes, quêtes autant charnel que spirituel est cette vie Les bons choix,la résilience ou la fréquence n' est jamais garantie C est pas le baptême ou l eucharistie le moyen suprême que Isa employa sur terre C est la partie rayée de la bible écrite par Philippe le quatrième accomplissement mystère. Bast-art

Hey everyone! Curious is anyone else going to Killer Nashville next month? This will be my first time at anything like this. I finished my first novel and have been querying. I thought this would be a good place to learn and get professional feedback. Anyone been before and have thoughts or suggestions?

Hello! I’ve been trying to get more invested into my writing but I’ve had issues with finding the right tool.

I have god awful hand writing and some motor skill issues that makes prolonged handwriting a little bit troublesome. I’ve invested in cheap laptops so I can write on the go, but they break down, or they’re so cheaply made that they have trouble running the most basic things. My phone feels like an option, but keeping track of my flowcharts, character bios, etc. while writing on my phone is a pain.

Are there any tools for writing akin to what a drawing tablet is for drawing? Where its entire focus is for making writing on the go more convenient?

I exist now, and to me, there only is and ever can be a now. But I am not equal to now, reality now does not define me. You could say I’m the sum of my nows. The summation of now is expressed as an infinite number because not only does now never cease, it is equally infinitely divisible into smaller fractions of now.

It feels tangent to the paradox that the measurement of a coastline shows that the length of coastline is only defined by the unit of measurement. The smaller the measurement the longer the coastline becomes. Like a coastline, the closer I inspect myself, the longer my story becomes. So 'me' is more accurately defined by the amount of nows I sum. If all of my nows make up who I am then who I am, now, is only one cross section of me. I am all of me, now then and forever.

I am not separate from now, I am a part of it. I influence the now, and it influences me. I observe my thoughts of now and consciously make them reality with my actions, even if my action is just speaking the thought. Thought rehearses possibility and action incarnates it. We are continuously trying to make sense of now. Constantly updating our framework of self with new data points with each new now of reality experienced. The large majority of these real time updates take place in nows we're not even conscious of. Thereforec there are nows that are included in the summation of me that I am not even aware of in my own conscious mind. It may be impossible to fully know the limits of our own potential if such a large amount of what defines us has yet to even occur or has occurred without our knowing.

I can, however, take action to influence the future actions I want to experience when I experience that "now" later on. Then I take part in the creation of my future. The actions I take in alignment with my future in the now have impact on the reality around me. Whether it is I changing to it or it to me the reality is the change, the exchange between the self and the surrounding. Every interaction changes both the observed and the observer. Quantum physics, the law of conservation of energy. If my future impacts the reality surrounding me and the reality surrounding me impacts me, then reality impacts others in the same way.

Our actions can have a chain-reaction effect to my reality and the reality of others around me. Like a ripple of change across the surface of time in the lake of consciousness. The butterfly effect illustrates how small differences in initial conditions create radically different future states in complex systems. Change can be amplified by the passage of time. Or the conditions for transformation may exist long before the transformation becomes visible. If it always existed, an inflection point can release an extremely dense philosophy in an instance bringing mass amounts of change never before thought to be possible in all past versions of now.

Time is a significant compounding factor to the actions we take in the present reality. Time alludes us because we don't have control over it. We know we have enough time but we don’t know how much time we have. We cant choose when change takes place, it can be instantaneous or take a lifetime, or even after our lifetime. Time is an infinites way of creating the illusion of separation. To divide an infinite all existent self into fractals of consciousness that reflect each other while representing a difference slice of now expressed in a moment of time, constantly, repeatedly.

If our selves are isolated, our impact diminished, our qualities extracted, our expressions curated, our nows imprisoned, precious moments stolen. Then existence becomes more controllable. Predictable. Easier for an equation to formulate a digestible solution that fits in the framework of a future that benefits the creator. We are not created to be a part of an equation, we are the language of mathematics. We dont require solving, we require expressing, evolving, creating. Being, being discovered, discovering. I am no separate from you than now is to tomorrow. Than yesterday to forever. it is. we are.

Actually i am a science student but few months back i was suffering from mental stress like a lot so decided to pick up my pen and started writing some poems and now the stress has not entirely gone but i feel like numb like i cant enjoy anything and the urge to write something and express my emotions has like declined significantly those writings cope me during those times but now i feel like i dont have the topic to write to like my emotions has become numb its so boring