If you feel uncomfortable thinking about or discussing some subjects, I am going to leave a bunch of tags of what I will address in this post.

TW: SA, CP, torture, racial discrimination, slavery, genocide, war, murder.

This is not really a rant, but this is going to be a long post. So, you know, if you want to be productive today, I think you should look the other way. Also, English is not my first language, so I am sorry for any mistakes.

Context :

Those who frequent the Warhammer community on Reddit will know what I am talking about. Recently, a quite skilled artist posted on Twitter a drawing depicting several abhumans. One of the female characters had clear marks of SA on her body. It was reposted on several Warhammer subs, and everyone had a meltdown over it.

Now, the artist is an infamous individual known to have drawn guro porn. If you don't know what guro is, it's pretty much torture porn depicted in a sexual manner. It often portrays childlike characters. So, it would be an euphemism to say it's not the greatest use of art skills mankind has seen.

Since this is Reddit, I will also say that in no way do I condone the artist. Not only is he an extremely amoral person who needs to consume pure violence to feel anything, but in the country I live in, where we like to boast for being very pro-freedom of speech, he would be prosecuted and jailed for CP.

Since, this is out of the way, I wanted to talk about writing.

The common school of thought in r/writing is to say, "You can write whatever you want, as long as you do your research and depict it in a fair manner. However, if you're doing something nefarious, don't expect people to put up with that, and don't expect it to be marketable." At the very least, we can all agree with that statement.

Now here comes Warhammer 40K, the grandfather of grim darkness, with its famous tagline: "In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war."

Grimdark. The whole genre is known to explore dystopian, amoral, and violent worlds.

So, I was a bit surprised that the community of the precursor of Grimdark, known for its gratuitous depiction of violance, had such a strong reaction to a character being SA.

It got me thinking about my writing. I don't want to depict SA in my writing, for the same reason most of you don't want to read about it.

1. It is often used for cheap shock value. It often has very small narrative gains in exchange for a very bad experience for a fair chunk of readers. If SA trauma can be easily replaced with another type of trauma, then maybe it will be better to switch out.

2. It's not marketable; if you want to be published in the industry, it's a big DON'T. Not everyone is Joe Abercrombie, and we have a good number of writers who tend to add SA in their stories with only one hand on the keyboard. There isn't even an attempt to hide it; here the writers never want to disguise their fetish.

Ironically, the only subgenre that gets away with it is Dark Erotica. A subgenre of romance, often written by women for women, where they can explore more darker sexual fantasies. I am not talking about 50 Shades of Grey, if that water can be called a dark sexual fantasy. Maybe this is one excused more easily since it's seen as a safe space where women can put their thoughts on paper without being judged.

3. As I said, not everyone is Joe Abercrombie, and even he got flamed pretty hard for adding SA to his work. So, imagine us? Your integrity would be the first thing to be questioned. I can even tell what your most liked comment on Goodreads would read like.

"Why did this author choose to depict SA? It's super creepy; I think he needs to have his hardware checked by the FBI. I'm so tired of it; it's everywhere in all the books. The obsession with rape is real. I want to escape from reality, not run to it."

To everyone who feels this way, I want to say that your feelings are valid. Even these types of comments, I often see on Goodread going straight for the good faith of the author, are understandable, minus the passive aggressive accusations.

I am a man; my father died from a heart attack when I was four. We were watching football. One moment he was there, the next he wasn't. I was raised by my mother and maternal grandmother the most. My mother was a flight attendant and my grandmother a civil servant. I can't even begin to tell you the nightmare stories they have told about how their colleagues were treated in the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s, and I could keep going until today. The Metoo movement wasn't born from a single affair; it was the accumulation of women who have been treated pretty much always.

Still, I have an issue with it. Please tell me how an author is supposed to depict cruelty without showing cruelty. How is he supposed to be depicting war and genocide without some of its more gratuitious aspects? How is an author supposed to show the deshumanization of a racial group without showing it's effects and consequences?

Oh, but Warhammer is an over-the-top universe. There is a lot of dark comedy in there. You're not supposed to write about "real" things.

Right. I remember a passage in a 40K book where a bunch of orcs were slauthering a whole village, children included, and making broth out of their bones. But suddenly, one of the tanks got dammaged. Everyone was sad. Poor orcs; they can't use their vehicles to have fun. But, don't worry guys! They had a mekboy with them; he just wrote "vroumvroum" on one of the engines, and the party kept going!

The depiction of something abominable can put a grim smile on my lips, and yours too. I am sure you have laughed to something that wouldn't boast about in front of others.

Please, don't put words in my mouth that I didn't pronouce. I am not advising you to try to do the same with SA. No one would gain anything, and it will just be in bad taste.

But it does showcase some kind of hypocrisy in my eyes. Any depiction of violence is accepted, as long as it's not a sexual one. Even though our world is riddled with sexual violence, in fact, exactly because our world is riddled with sexual violence.

Oh, but SA is different; it's too close to home; war and murder are so far from reality.

It's far from reality for YOU. I have family members who have been exposed to war. I have family members who had to have their home invaded. I have family members who had to leave their fields behind because they didn't want to be murdered by their very real genocidal neighbor. That reality is not far from me. And you know what? It's the reality of millions of people. So why would you depict that type of violence in your book?

What? Do you have a battle scene in your book? And there are people getting killed in it? You creep. You think I don't see through your games? You get off from violence, huh? You sicko. Is that what your boat flot? Have you no shame? You think it's fun to depict the struggle of victims in war? Don't you understand how much you could hurt the feelings of my family if they stumble on your book? Is it fun to monetize the pain of others? You're a disgusting human being.

You see what I am getting at? At what point do you justify violence in your writing? There is this quote from the Witcher that often comes up.

“Evil is evil. Lesser, greater, middling... Makes no difference. The degree is arbitary. The definition’s blurred. If I’m to choose between one evil and another... I’d rather not choose at all.”

You get it right? All violence is violence. So, just to be sure. Don't be like the other creeps and weirdos. All violence is violence. So stop depicting any of it in your book. It may hurt someone in ways you don't know.

Or, ignore that and write about you; you must write. Just be sure to depicting any violence with understanding. I for one will not throw a stone at you for it, if you put in care and good faith.

Also, if you get off from depictions of sexual violence, it's not normal, but it's not too late either. Please check with a therapist or an addictologue. You may have a pornography addiction that pushes you to keep looking for more and more extreme depictions.

i’m a screenwriting student and my course load requires me to be working on both a full length feature film and multiple short films at the same time. i feel like once i get really focused on a project its hard for me to get into another one- each project feels like it requires me to enter a completely different headspace and switch back and forth has proven really really hard and it’s causing problems!! do yall have any advice on how to shift gears between different projects?

Hi everyone, just wondering how you feel about stories in which the chronology isn’t shared… well, in a chronological order?

I’m writing a story that alternates between the events before and after a specific point in time. The main character starts to remember what happened “before” just as the reader is discovering it.

Have you read something like this before? If yes, how do you feel about it? Also, are there any good examples of stories in which this type of plot is really well crafted?

Thank you!

I'm not a book writer. I'm actually making a manga, and I really, really wanted to include famous songs in my pages (I mean using their lyrics and maybe even telling the reader the name of the song so they can listen to it as they read the scene).. But since copyright is an issue, I don't know what to do. I wanted to use Dazzle by Siouxsie And The Banshees in a scene for example because I love the mood of the song, but I obvously I don't have the money to pay for licensing. How could I possibly capture the same mood and energy of a song without actually using it?

Does anyone have any quick references for how to properly punctuate and capitalize grammar in dialogue? Below is a super simple example of what I'm referring to. Some of it may be wrong? I DON'T KNOW!

"Well, she was thinking about going to the store today," I said.

"Well, she was thinking about going to the store today." I said as I pulled on my boots.

I pulled on my boots and said, "Well, she was thinking about going to the store today."

"Well, " I started as I pulled on my boots, "she was thinking about going to the store today."

I feel like I'm overthinking all of it. And what about question marks and exclamations? Does anyone have any quick reference grammar aids that helped them?

(Note: i'm french so please excuse my english)

Hi everyone, i'm trying to understand the difference between story and plot and from what i'm reading on internet from looking into that looks a lot like character arc to me but since nobody call it that way they still insist to call it " story " i guess that it must be character journey more than character arc but then i have a hard time figuring out the difference between character arc and character journey

Can you guys give example with movies ? Separating story from plot ? So that i can have something to think about ? Thanks everyone.

I'm working on a webnovel and I'm wondering what site should I post it on?

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A person doesn’t know how to do something but they know how you should do it. They have nothing positive going on in their life but they know how you should run yours. They know how to have a successful relationship but are divorced. They have no diploma but they know what you should study. They refuse to have a job but know where you should apply/work.

Every now and again I'll have this very annoying thought. It's hard to explain, but characters names are a good example, their parents named them, it shouldn't have anything to do with their destiny, powers or personality. A plot point, a character just so happens to have a niche that can fix a major issue in the climax? Or even a character meeting another who just so happened to know their dead parents in that small timeframe between battles. Just no.

I guess im kind of wondering what is too much, a coincidence or believable.

I’ll start by quoting Patrick Ness: “I can’t tell you how to write, only how I write”.

This is an overview of my steps taking an idea and turning it into an independently published book. I write clean contemporary young adult fantasy and currently am working on my fourth full length novel. I have been a beneficiary of many writing craft books, hours of podcasts and in-person workshops. Feel free to steal anything that resonates with you and discard the rest.

Ideation: When I’m starting a project I’m thinking of two things. First, who is my character and what is their flaw. What do they think they need and what do they actually need. Second, what is going on in the world around them that will force them to overcome their flaw. Once I’ve figured those two ideas out, I can start plotting an outline of how the character gets from point A to point B.

Outline: I always start with an outline, and it rarely is more than two pages. This simply a list of chapters with a sentence or two saying what needs to happen. This is a living document that changes as I write. More than anything, it’s a roadmap for ‘what is the next scene?’ that keeps me headed in the right direction. This is also where I start figuring out the supporting cast of my story. Who needs to be there? Why? Every character needs a purpose. Down the track, multiple characters may get folded into one, but that’s irrelevant at this stage.

Write: This used to be the stage where I got stuck. This went away when I started writing with an outline, and now it’s just about moving forward and getting words on the page. At this stage I don’t worry about the quality of the words, just that the story needs to be told to completion. If I’m feeling ‘blocked’, I know it’s because something I’ve already written is wrong, so I look backwards, find the wrong turn and correct it. The first draft only has one job though. The job isn’t to be good. The job isn’t to make sense. The job of the first draft is to be finished—so that’s my focus. Anything written at this stage can (and generally will) be fixed later. I don’t need to stress, I just need to write.

First and Second Edit: My first edit takes place a few months after I finish the draft. At this stage I’ve stopped writing and started reading as much as possible to distance myself from the story. The first edit is always the same. Read the story start to finish and make notes at the end of each chapter of what needs to be added, removed or rewritten and why. This becomes my guiding document for the first rewrite. Once this is done, I’ll repeat it again, but the second edit is always much shorter and less intensive.

Third Edit: This is a digitally assisted edit where I go through chapter by chapter using AutoCrit and ProWritingAid. This edit is about removing passive sentences, repeated words, weak verbs, redundancies and cliches. It’s also good spelling and grammar scrub before a final audio-edit.

Fourth Edit: This is where I listen to the full manuscript. For my last book I used NaturalReader which was much better than Microsoft word. This is a final chance to capture small cohesion errors or word processing echoes that the previous edits (or software) did not pick up.

Editor: From here the manuscript goes to a human editor for a copy edit (and a cultural edit too as I’m an Australian writing for a US audience, so there are some turns of phrase or words I consider normal that my American editor picks up on)

Final Edit: This is the last pass through with an objective editors notes. Some things I change, others I don’t, but if I’m ignoring a suggestion it’s because I can articulate the reason why.

Formatting: I do my own eBook and paperback formatting using Vellum. Vellum is a beautiful piece of software that works like a charm.

Final Proof: I have a team of three amazing volunteers who get an early copy to do a final proofread. I am always amazed that—even after five edits—a handful of mistakes make it through, but these volunteers have eagle eyes and are amazing at finding the words or punctuation I miss.

Launch: After the final proof, I put out a notice to my email subscriber list for ARC readers. These are the wonderful folks who swap a free early copy for an honest review on launch day. Files are uploaded to the Amazon for digital copies and IngramSpark for paperbacks and the book is free to set sail into the world. I spend a nervous week waiting for reviews and then it’s back to ideation for the next novel.

And that’s it. I’m sure I could do an entire post on any one of those steps, but I thought it might be helpful for any newer writers to get a birds-eye view of one authors process.

Happy to answer any questions or clarify anything from the above. Happy writing!

I started thinking about writing a short novel for the first time, two months ago. I always been an artist, so I thought writing would be “faster” than drawing. I don’t expect the final product to be good at all because I have no experience, but I am happy with trying and getting the story completed.

Well, I didn’t expect that deciding the outline of the story would be so difficult. I have a sense of what I wanted the story to be, but trying for it to ”make sense” and to be interesting, as well as the characters having agency, conflict, direction… It is not done yet honestly. When I start to write something, one thousand unresolved questions will rise. It is like trying to seal a leak with your hands and two more appear.

Trying to establish the characters and the world is also overwhelming. The story is based on real life with some fantasy elements, and there is a ton of research to be done, even for the smallest things.

And finally, actually writing it. I had the general outline for the first four chapters, after two months of preparation and shorting things out. I decided it didn’t have to make sense, just describe what will happen in the chapter, fill the blanks later.

I started writing yesterday and after four hours I got to write four pages of pure nothing, barebones stuff. Four hours! The first draft of the first chapter is not even finished! And this is me with no pressure about it turning out good whatsoever.

So I just want to say, mad respect for all the writers out there, professional and hobbyist, it is insanely difficult and a lot of work to actually create a story in written form.

What are the first “walls” you encountered when you started writing? Does it become easier with time?

I'm currently planning the beginning of my first novel in my head. It's kinda a mystery/science fiction/horror story. I'm thinking a family in a car, experiencing something unexplainable which they are going to run from.

So, that's my outer conflict. But what about inner conflict, is that always necessary? Wouldn't it be nice with a normal/healthy family instead of two parents on the brink of a divorce, a troubled teenager who hates everyone etc etc? I feel that's such an old cliche...

What would you have done? Would you have put just one person in that car, a couple, maybe even a dog? :)

Hey peeps!

I'm creating a graphic novel. I'm getting hung up on a few points to do with process so I'd love to hear your thoughts on how you all do it across analogue and digital forms!

This is my process currently:

1. Wrote it out as a very rough short story
2. Refined, mapped out major plot points, and defined characters
3. Started the more organic process of basically creating it page by page in rough format, writing out the script, and planning out the images at the same time. (This seems to work for me as the writing informs the images and the images inform the writing). I confess I'm also working into some of the images already now (as I can't help myself cause I love it, and cause I'm pretty sure I will be able to use them in the final thing).
4. Once I have the whole thing mapped out I will refine, edit, (and again), then do up as a final version.

I'm sort of working half in Affinity Publisher where I'm writing out the script and plotting it into text boxes (my project is a mix of dialogue in illos, and some narration in blocks also) and half in Procreate where I'm drawing out the illustrations. This is proving difficult. I want something in front of me, preferably IRL to see it all coming together, but I'm working digitally. How do you manage this?

And right now I'm just sort of sketching things out then drawing a container around them. Should I be deciding already now what size containers I want my illos in, and sticking to that from day 1? And similarly, should I know already now what my final size of book will be?

I wonder if I'm making life hard for myself by mapping it out 'in detail' digitally page by page, rather than doing the whole thing as a rough pencil on paper sketch situation, but I just don't really work like that. I need to see it looking pretty real with text and images in the right place in order for it to come to life in my mind, and flow. It would also be very difficult to map it out on paper with pencil when there are blocks of digital text - Unless I should be writing these out by hand with pencil also? Hmm, feeling confused!

Thanks in advance for any advice :-)

Im in the process of rewriting and editing my first novel and every time I go back to a sentences or paragraph or whatever I find things to change. It never seems to stop. I think I've rewritten the first ten pages twenty times by now. How many times are one supposed to rewrite something? Its driving me nuts.

I've had a few album reviews published, the first for a school newspaper, another for a mag where I just sent in the review I'd written in said school newspaper, and the other couple I sporadically got just spreading those. But now there's a posting from a seemingly decent size online publication asking for writing samples which were not published before. This is an interesting posting which I'm not opposed to sending in as I have a bunch of reviews stashed (I really enjoy writing them and write one often when I have much of anything to say about a new album), but I just don't know what's the best protocol. Do I send in a positive review? Negative? Obscure/underground album? Popular? Controversial opinion? In line with the consensus? I just don't know what's best practice to send in.

Hello, new member here. I wanted to discuss a touchy subject. (Trigger warning: Mentions of child abuse, SA, pedophilia) Just to be clear, I HATE pedophiles and child molesters, I think they should be punished accordingly. However, would it be alright if I wrote a child rapist character trying to improve himself if: It's for genuinely selfless reasons, characters still being allowed to not forgive him and not getting shamed for it, him still facing the consequences and having to go through centuries of hell after the story and it being framed as him just trying to improve himself and NOT "Look he's becoming a good person so his actions are immediately forgiven"?

I tried reading novels but finishing a whole book seems too much for my attention span, but I like reading and dissecting poems and I love the words and everything in it. I feel like they might help me express my thoughts and feelings better, and maybe in some other areas. I was wondering if It will help me improve my writing skills in general, not specifically for writing books.

Hi everyone! I have a question. My story got accepted to Dark Horses magazine (https://darkhorsesmagazine.mystrikingly.com) , but it's not a publication I'm very familiar with, and I'm not sure if I should publish there. Does anyone know this magazine? Does anyone read that magazine?

I just started writing my first romance and i was wondering how i make the romance natural? Its important to note that this is a gay romance, and i would like it to be slow-paced. Anything i should note?

Hi, I have just started writing stories an I have only published on Wattpad. But noone is reading it. How can I promote my book?

I always see people criticizing deus ex machinas but are they truly bad?

Wasn't sure how to categorize this so I'll just tag it here under "grievance."

Been wanting to write a book of our D&D adventures for a while now. As the DM, I thought it would be nice to chronicle the (mis)adventures of my friend's characters, and present it to them as a novel gift for some future holiday

Started writing the novel about a succubus queen taking over a city, and the attempts by our heroes to release the City of the Gods from her ever expanding grip over the region. Additionally, they are trying to solve a murder of a prominent figure while protecting a girl that seems to be the common thread through all of it.

Gave the Google Drive link to several friends and even co-workers that had expressed interest in reading it and offering notes. But after 2 1/2 months and 7 chapters, nobody's said anything or has even started it. It's such a demotivating lack of interest, that it's ground my writing to a halt.

I want to write more, but I just don't feel like there's an interest. And without an interest, what's the point?

Any advice?

EDIT - In hindsight I feel like the better title is, how to stop myself from stalling in the middle of my first draft.

I'm trying to learn to actually write in drafts, because I've always just kind of. Written everything in order, editing as I go, and then almost always end up stuck on a particular line or paragraph or scene and then stalling entirely, not being able to go past it to the other stuff that I know is past it.

I'm struggling, psychologically, to break this habit. Any tips on how to get myself to not get stuck on a bit that just doesn't feel right, and just let the first draft be shitty and finished?

Also, i write fanfiction, so I mean a draft on a chapter by chapter basis, if that matters. 500-3000 words.

A little back story. When I was 30 years old my shoulder was broken beyong repair. I had a 2 1/2 year old and a 6 year old to raise. Surgeries upon surgeries have been tried. It's now 14 years later. Pain is my constant companion and best friend. I use to make up stories about my youngest favorite stuffed animal every night. I have taken those stories and written them out and painfully typed them. One handed typing isn't something I'm very good at. Right before my Mom passed away 11 months ago she told me to publish them. She said that my imagination had a way of speaking to the hearts of children. Here is my problem. I tried to figure out the world of publishing and I cannot sit there for hours trying to find the right person or place to try to get into contact with. I've heard ups and downs about Amazon. Some people I talked to feel that going that way killed any chance of really getting their book out there. Living in pain everyday changes you, and takes all of the hope and joy out of life. I missed out on so much of my babies lives because I was stuck at home. I'd love more than anything to be able to give her a copy of the stories we both were able to enjoy together. If anyone has any ideas or helpful advice I'd appreciate it. I feel worthless. Like this is one more thing that I just can't do.

hi! i am a new author working on her first book and to likely no ones surprise i am having a hard time of it. i am of course new to writing a whole novel and i am having a hard time pushing through all of the steps to get the first draft done.

ive heard a lot about writing workshops and how they are meant to be almost "classes" that help you go through all of the steps of writing and have a mentor and group share sessions to help you work through it. do any of you have any suggestions of any workshops i could look in to? physical ones are nice if possible but also very difficult to corrordinate to you all while staying anonymous. perhaps do any of you know any good online workshops or ones you personally have gone through that you could recomend? perhaps any advice in general for a new author?

Hey! A bit of a casual short story writer here, and a lot of my friends and family have quite adamantly been pushing me to try send my stories to publishers or any other profitable outlet. In my (frankly, quite limited) research, I have found two main avenues to attempt to convert my hobby into money; getting published in a short story magazine or winning some sort of short story competition (of which my country seems to host plenty).

I would be interested in hearing the experiences of anyone who has ventured further in this direction; which option represents more success (I know it obviously depends on the individual magazine/competition you are submitting to, but any anecdotal experiences would be welcome no matter how specific), any other avenues I have neglected to research, and I would be grateful for any relevant information at all considering I am quite new to the whole writing scene.

Thanks a lot in advance!

What are the chances of me marketing my story as something similar and have it be successful?

I am aware they're very popular in Japan... but i don't live there. I'm not even American. I'm a third worlder with a dream. This is just a hobby someone can make fun of me for wanting to make it into a career instead of something that "makes money like being a doctor".

The book series i dream of publishing is fantasy... And i wonder if marketing it alongside an RPG rulesbook would be good. Not all of the worldbuilding might appear in the story itself, And it shouldn't, but a tabletop RPG rulebook is perfect for lore.

And the rulebooks wouldn't be the only thing with images. I would enjoy if my series also had a fair share of illustrations in impactful moments, such as "first kiss or "the emperor's true form".

Is that too unrealistic for publishing?

When I was in middle school, I specifically remember my teachers saying that you shouldn't start subsequent paragraph with the same word. She even made us read these short stories and rate them on various rules, including that one. And it's been stuck in my head ever since, and constantly blocks me from having fluid writing.

For example, who cares if three paragraphs in a row start with the word "he"? It's a common word, and avoiding it just makes my writing all clunky. And I can't think of any reader who actually notices the words paragraphs start with.

So is this an actual writing rule, or am I just going crazy?

EDIT: I know there are no writing rules, I just needed confirmation that it wasn't completely necessary. So thanks for commenting.

I'm sure everyone knows what it's like to pick up and drop projects out of the blue, regardless of how much or little progress you made on them. I know people take "breaks" away from their novel for months or even years, but I'm talking about complete abandonment. Sometimes I struggle to get through 1k words in a week, sometimes I put out upwards of 10k words in two. A lot of the time it's in between, but nearly ALL of the time I just find myself losing interest and just...moving on to something else.

I'll be the first to say a fair portion of my story ideas are influenced by whatever I'm reading/watching at the moment (reading a medieval fantasy will probably end with me wanting to write about dragons), and once I'm over that, or something new catches my eye, my interest in writing the original story also wanes. This doesn't happen with every single idea I ever have; sometimes inspiration just comes without being based on anything, and I naturally feel that urge to put pen to paper.

But even then, eventually I lose interest before even getting to the halfway point. When I try to force myself to keep writing, it feels like a slog and I end up hating every sentence. I just want to finish something, just so I know for a fact that I can. I can do short stories (maybe 2k words or less) just fine, but I want to tackle a multi-chapter project and complete it (the first draft, at least). Is it about motivation, or discipline?