Please do not downvote. I really need some solid advice.

I finished writing my first novel—a Christian time-travel romance that has a slightly edgier tone than typical Christian fiction and offers a fresh twist on the genre. I'm struggling to find the right fit for this novel.

Here is I’m Looking For: • Publishing Services or Agencies: Companies or agents that can refine my manuscript or help with the submission process. • Traditional or Hybrid Publishers: Open to working with first-time authors in Christian fiction.

If you’ve published in this niche or know great resources, I’d love your advice. Recommendations for affordable hybrid publishers or agents would be especially helpful. Especially ones that have marketing power. I don't just want a place that publishes my book and then forgets about me

Hello, first time poster here, hope this is at the right place..

The story has rain as a recurring theme, with one of the MC, Seojin, is appreciative of the rain and would often play in the rain as he associates it with good omens or memories. The second MC, Lukari despises rain as he finds it similar to showers, where memories of his SA would be triggered.

-In order to deal with that trigger, Lukari would play music during his quick showers to distract his mind. However, there were times where he'd forget to play music.

-Ever since Lukari was SA'd by his middle school teacher during his last day of school(graduation) in an empty storage closet, he had troubles showering as he would never ever feel 'clean' and would continuously feel 'dirty' because he would have flashbacks of the SA. Sometimes he would even scrub his skin till it bled while showering.

-He would also avoid going into empty rooms with a person unless he knows that he has the upper hand in the room, which was why he agreed to being roommates with Seojin as he was shy and quiet.

-He usually has flings where he is typically 'in control' of the partner and in the act. If there was a case where he wasn't in control, he would panic but 'fight' for the control, losing interest if it didn't work.

-He struggled to process that he had been SA'd as he was aroused during the process and only realized when he told one of his friends, who confirmed that it was indeed SA. He was in denial for a while after that, but as he kept bandaging the wounds on his arms because of the intense scrubbing in the shower, he began to accept that it had happened; painfully and slowly.

-He only ever told that one friend about his SA as he felt like it was an embarrassing topic. He chose to keep it a secret to his mother, Seojin and his other friends as he didn't want to cause trouble with his middle school teacher(His mother is known to be a feisty woman, and Lukari later on discovers that Seojin was also feisty, which is a separate conflict).

-When he began to fall for Seojin, he began to tolerate the rain a little more and only felt comfortable to play in the rain at the end of the story when he started appreciating the rain like Seojin did as he began to associate it with his fun times with Seojin and his friends.

Please let me know if Lukari's experiences are unrealistic or not and tell me how I can improve.

More character info about Lukari:

Personality:

-Party animal: He loves the loud noises and the joyous vibe.
-Comedian: Cracks jokes often, would even crack jokes to avoid serious topics, or would turn silent if it gets really serious.
-Certified Yapper: Seojin and his friends never listen 60% of the time though.
-Momma's boy: Despite his mother being fierce, he adores his mother's cooking and care.

What will the main characters do:

1. their objective is to get back to the human realm by weakening and sealing the mythological creatures so they can open the gate to go home, ensuring safety of mortal realm.
2. Their second objective is to rip out each of the creatures left eye in every encounter as payment to the sailor ghost who gives them ride while exploring the creature realm.

So I have a few mythological creature which are the Sianach from Scottish mythology, Moai stone statue by Rapa Nui, Anubis from Egypt myths , Shenlong from Chinese mythologies which gonna be one off appearance as they travel through the realm. I wonder if it's be disrespectful to include them as the protagonists would be fighting them to "exorcist" and "sealing/weaken" them? I heard some culture have more strict rules in mentioning or using their myths for "writing stories" as it can enforce bad stereotypes and such. Any ideas or comment is appreacited.

Hey everyone, I tried writing on my phone today, and honestly, it was such a frustrating experience. The small screen and constant typos just kill my motivation almost immediately. Does anyone actually enjoy or even prefer writing on their phone? How do you manage it

I study translation and need some material for translating into my language, I need something of an artistic value, not too long, not mainstream. Do you have any suggestions?

Title. I'll start:

In my universe, the soul generates a spiritual essence called Ether. It suffuses the body like a wellspring, and it is both finite and replenishing. As time wore on, people began figuring out how to use ether to fuel what is known as Magical Phenomena. This led to the first mages being born.

As civilizations grew, as well as their understanding of how magic worked, they discovered that Ether can be drawn out of the body and stored. This led to the innovation of the Arcan Rod. The Arcan Rod is a device that allows an individual to "Divest" themselves of their ether, which would be housed in a small etheric battery.

These batteries would initially be consumed to replenish what is basically a mage's "mana reserves" in the event that they "Ran Dry."

Later, the best and the brightest of civilizations discovered that Ether could be used to replace our mundane methods of generating electricity. They discovered that it was safer, and infinitely replenishing. This led to a second magical industrialization! In short, the entire universe runs off of magitek.

I'd love to hear everyone else's ideas.

I'm thinking of doing a writing exercise where I transplant the same 'feeling' of pulp into decidedly non-pulp settings: specifically I'm starting off with something with lots of zombies, demons, nightmares and that kind of thing.

So in your opinion, what are some of the essential elements of pulp that make it feel the way it does? I know that with two-fisted tales you have a lot of the feeling of exploration and human skill and talent, and I can definitely have my characters wrestle zombie alligators and tigers but there's obviously more to it than that.

So what advice would you give me so as to hit all the right notes?

Hi All :)

I wondered if anyone had any suggestions of books on writing stories? My partner is interested in graphic novel writing specifically, but a story is a story so anything with some tips would be ideal!

I'm a writer myself, but he's quite new to the craft and I thought this might be a nice Christmas present for him.

I published a story I worked very hard on and am proud of, and I'm struggling not to feel utterly heartbroken that despite posting a link to it on all my social media channels, FB groups, etc., very few people even acknowledged the post, let alone clicked on the link and read my story. The story even won a prize and on some social media channels, no one even said, "Congrats." I feel childish for admitting my disappointment, but I'm so disappointed. I did get some good response on my personal Facebook, but not nearly what would reflect that all of these people know me IRL and you'd think it wouldn't kill them to at least congratulate me, or at the very very least, to "like" the post. It seems that all the effort to get published is just the start--then you have to find readers. It doesn't help that the journal in which my story is published is small and new, though they're also a terrific journal.

So as I try to wipe away my tears of disappointment, what are your thoughts? What's the best way to attract readers when you're new to getting your work out there and no one knows you in the writing world? And what does it mean that no one seems to be interested in reading my story? I *know* it's good--and I'm very hard on myself and rarely say that. But I'm really proud of this story, and it's short, too. What have you found to be successful for truly getting your work out there, since it's not enough just to get it published?

I have been a developmental editor for about fifteen years and during this time I have worked with more writers than I can count. I recently did a talk for a local writing group about tips I would give new writers and I thought I’d share the stuff I spoke about.

So, here are the things I would suggest new writers consider when starting a novel. I wanted to avoid the topics you usually hear a lot and try to offer something new.

Have a plan

Let me start by saying that I am not suggesting you have a full-on-scene-by-scene plan, though this is certainly a possibility. I am also not delving into the pantser/planner debate. What I am suggesting is that you have some idea where your story is going from the start.

I see so many writers lose steam in the middle of a book because they don’t have a clear path for the novel. They start fully motivated but quickly find the process overwhelming. Motivation is not enough (see the next point). To avoid this you should have an understanding of the start, middle, and end of your story.

There are many ways for you to do this but for me, one way is to ask yourself the following:

1. What does your character want most in the world?
2. What must they overcome to get this?
3. What does success and/or failure look like?

The answer to these will give you a rough structure for your novel.

Make time for writing

This is a more pragmatic tip. Writing a novel is hard, and simple motivation will not be enough to get you to the end. Life WILL get in the way. When you start a novel you are dedicating many months, if not years, to the project.

I would urge you to develop a robust writing routine from the start. One that’s going to get you to the end. I have no idea what will work for you but you need something. This might be an hour at night when everyone is asleep or getting up early. I recently worked with a writer who would write in his car during his lunch break. This meant that each day he knew when he would be writing and would just grind it out. It’s not important how or when, it’s more important that you willfully earmark the time to write.

Use character sheets

I am often surprised that more writers don't routinely create character sheets. For me, they should be one of the first things you do, since they offer several very clear benefits.

To start, they allow you to be consistent with physical descriptions of your characters. If you have a detailed description in the character sheets, it gives you a constant reference source when you are writing. You can also use them as a store for any information about a character you want to keep for future reference.

However, the main reason is, for me, the most powerful. The character sheet should clearly set out the drives and motivations of the character.

Ask yourself - what does this character want most in the world?

(As a side tip, this is a great question to ask when writing any scene - what does the main character want most in this current moment?)

This one simple question will give you a road map to navigate the character's reaction in most scenes. I would actually urge you to include more information about the motivations and fears of the character. The more you know the more 'truthfully' the character will act.

Your goal, as a writer, is to have your characters act in a truthful manner in any given situation. The more you know about them and their motivations, the easier it is to write actions and reactions.

Consider your viewpoint

I often feel that writers don't give viewpoints enough consideration. The default tends to be third-person limited, and that's fine. In fact, this is a solid default. The reality is that third-person omniscient is often considered a little 'old fashioned' and tends to be tricky to use and can leave a novel feeling a little dated.

However, first-person is sometimes a solution that is overlooked. One thing that first person does really well is allow you to pass internal dialogue via the narrator. The problem is that when doing this in the third person, it is all too easy to slip into telling, not showing. You can quickly fall into having the narrator 'telling' the story instead of focusing on the words and actions of the characters.

Of course, first-person has its limitations and it is often not the correct choice, especially if you are telling a large sweeping story with many characters. Yet even in this situation, it is possible to use multiple first-person viewpoints, with each a different chapter. However, if you do this, I suggest three characters is probably the maximum you can use until it becomes confusing.

Get draft zero done and dusted

I saw a great comment a few weeks ago where a Redditor had referred to their first draft as 'draft zero'. I feel this has such power. Writers often get hung up on creating a perfect first draft, but this is next to impossible. By re-framing your first draft as draft zero it is much easier to allow yourself to write and get it done.

Think about it... no one is expecting draft zero to be anything other than a collection of words that seem to somehow tell a story!

Draft zero is all about getting the story down, sorting out the characters, and mapping out the main beats of the story. This needs to be done in a way that acknowledges that things WILL change. That's the process.

So, give yourself the freedom to just plug away and fix the problems later.

Oh... and forget word count. The length of draft zero is what it needs to be. It might be 20,000 words, but it might also be 120,000 words. It is not important at this point, just let the story flow out. You can address word count down the line. 

Understanding chapters

Stick with me on this one.

One problem I sometimes encounter is that writers will write scenes or chapters because they feel they are either 'cool' or required. They will do this without considering the story as a whole. However, each chapter needs to be seen in the wider context of the novel.

Every chapter should be one (if not both) of these two things. It should be moving the plot forward and/or it should be developing the characters. At the end of each chapter, the reader should know something new.

Now, there's something else to consider.

Each chapter should also not be a standalone. You should not be able to delete a chapter and the novel still makes sense. In other words, each chapter should be critical to the story.

Think of it like this...

Chapter 1 happens, therefore, Chapter 2 happens.

In this situation, each chapter is dependent on the previous chapter, if you remove one chapter the following chapters lose some meaning or become confusing. If you take this approach you will avoid writing chapters that live in isolation.

I have a lot of headings within my creative, nonfiction manuscript, to help me highlight major events and organize passages throughout the book. This has made it difficult for me to determine where to place the chapter breaks. Honestly, I'd rather have as few chapters as possible, and just reword the the passage headings/titles accordingly for the reader.

I only plan to self-publish via epub, so are official chapters in a table of contents even necessary for ereading purposes if you can just bookmark or tab anywhere you want?

Obviously this is all "In MY Opinion", curious to hear people's thoughts and their own examples.

• For me at least, the absolute worst word is "ok/okay". No matter how good the writing, it immediately takes me out of the story. I prefer "fine", or "alright", or "well". Also - "hi". "Hello" is fine, but I prefer them to say "good morrow", or something equivalent.
• Modern slang like "dude" or "cool" or "rizz" or "yolo" are obviously out for me. Even if you are "translating" their slang into ours, it just grates on me.
• "Bra", especially when it's smut. They did not have bras, they had breast-bands, stays, corsets, bindings, etc (obviously again, the specifics depend on your setting). I don't even like the word "underwear" - smallclothes or undergarments, work better.
• People's use of idioms like "deer in headlights". How would your character know what a headlight is?
• Modern social movements, like the use of the word "gay" or "LGBT" or "non-binary". I'm not saying these ideas should be avoided, or have to be a bad thing in-universe (said community was obviously alot less accepted then than now) but the phrase might be better as "prefers the company of men/women", or "wasn't interested in sex" or describe a character that "wore clothes that rejected the social conventions of their sex." If you've seen that/those scene/s from Dragon Age: Veilguard, you know what I mean.
• Some references to technology that shouldn't exist are more forgivable in fantasy, which may have developed things on a different timeline to us. But unless you establish that, saying things like "electricity" in a world that does not have electricity, is a problem for me. "Lightening" is more correct. "Cake" is fine, "pavlova" is not.
• I'm hesitant to use any words like "vaccine", "cells" or "germs", unless its established they know what these things are. I'm OK (lol) with "brain matter", "nerves", "veins/arteries" or "adrenaline" as even a primitive society would have some understanding of how that works within their own body.
• Fantasy in particular should avoid any real-world references - for example I spent about 10 minutes trying to to think of how to convey that a character had a "French braid", without saying "French braid".
• References to animals that should not exist. Generally speaking sheep, horses, cattle, dogs, cats - all probably fine. But a pug specifically (looking at you, House of the Dragon) is a very artificially selected animal, and although some form of pug has existed for a few hundred years, they didn't look like the squashed nose little things we have today.
• I know some people dislike the idea of potatoes and tomatoes in medieval eras, but personally I think this is more acceptable. The average person simply doesn't know when they became mainstream. So this is a personal choice.

I should also note, this may also be a case of the "Tiffany Problem", where the name Tiffany is considered modern and sounds jarring in an old timey context, but the name itself dates back hundreds of years - however, hearing a Medieval King talk to a "Tiffany" would be strange to most people, but it could be historically accurate. So the word or idea may be technically correct, but still distracting.

I don't know if this belongs here but I'm not sure where to ask. For background, the story takes place in the real world, no fantasy elements or made up places (it's set in the US) so I'm wondering if I'm obligated to make the 2020 pandemic canon to the story, in which case I'd prefer to set it before 2020. Would it be weird to make it take place around 2020 without acknowledging or referencing it as if i never happened in the story?

I see in a lot of first person stories I'm reading that to express thoughts you can use italic. Can I do the same in a 3rd person view for more than just the main character? For example..

I wonder where she is going.. he thought to himself

This is kind-of a how question, so if it is considered one, please remove this post. How do I write a hook sentence? I know that this is more of a book and story writing subreddit (you guys are amazing idk how you do it), but I need help. It is for an English essay about heroes in To Kill A Mockingbird. The final draft was due last week and I don't even have anything at all for my rough draft. All I know about hook sentences are that they have to be interesting and it has to get the readers attention. I think that I'm pushing my English teacher to her limit especially since I'm the only one w/o a rough or final draft. Again, please help. Ty!

So I want to turn my writing into a side gig. Don’t expect to make much but it’d be nice to have something to show for my pursuit in this hobby. Maybe I’m being overly fixated on money and I should just enjoy writing as it is without expecting a return but let me know in the comments. I post my short stories on another account and people can read it for free ofc. Sometimes YouTubers toss me a few dollars to narrate my stories on their channels although most don’t. It’s kinda like how artists get paid in exposure and I’m not nearly successful or popular enough to turn them down. I was wondering if there’s somewhere to post stories in an episodic format like chapters. Kinda like WEBTOON where the first 20 chapters are free but afterwards you pay a few cents to read the next one. I feel somewhat arrogant and ungrateful to consider monetary compensation for something I started doing for fun. I just spend a lot of time crafting stories so I kinda want it to be more than just a hobby.

So most of my characters all have the same arc structure I.e. the disillusionment arc with only one having a redemption arc. However all of these disillusionment arcs are concerning different things, viz. one concerns control, the other love, and another freedom and love. So my question then is if this is bad? Will readers get bored? In pride and prejudice though both Darcy and Elizabeth go through positive character arcs?

I only just started submitting my writing to literary contests, so it's possible that this is completely normal, but I wanted to check with other people who have submitted to things like this.

I submitted to Quarter After Eight's Robert J. DeMott Short Prose competition. The deadline was midnight on Dec 1 (so essentially 11:59 on Nov 30). I just received (evening of Dec 2) a rejection email. The email says there was a "higher-than-average number of submissions" and that mine wasn't chosen for publication. The content is not surprising.

What's surprising to me is the timing: They've only had one business day since the contest ended to read the entries...how did they read a higher-than-average number so quickly? I was made to believe that these contests usually took at least a month to get back to you. Does this seem weird to anyone, or is it normal?

so i looked at some writing tips and saw that it's best to just write a bunch without overthinking it, even if it's horrible, and then edit once you have a good chunk written. i've taken this advice to action and have been enjoying writing some small things here and there.

i know there's no right answer for this so i wanna hear your thoughts - how much do you guys write before you go back to make changes? do you do a whole chapter or more or less? what affects your decision making process for this?

looking forward to hearing your responses ^^

I probably wrote too much, so if you want you can go at the end of the post and read the little summary

I have been putting down this post apocalypse story for a while and since the beginning I have always seen it as a two arcs - long story (the main one, as a basic "people survive the apocalypse" type of story and the second one as a "it has always been an inside job" story).

The problem is that I just realised i probably need to give more depht to my characters + probably give some proper worldbuilding and both these things cannot be described in just two arcs. So, I believed the best option was to put another arc in the middle to focus more on character growth and worldbuilding.

However I realised that despite character growth and worldbuilding I have nothing else to talk about, so it would just feel unnecessary and probably boring, also because I can easily solve this problem by putting more worldbuilding and character growth in the other main arcs.

I'll try to put an example to make things clearer:

1. In the first arc two characters explore the post apocalyptic world and manage to save their people, but during their journey one loses his fiancè while the other one breaks up with her partner as he joined the bad guys. They didn't have a good bond, but by the end of the arc they feel closer due to the common difficulties and traumas they have faced.

There would be enough worldbuilding to set a story but not enough to understand the whole scenario.

2. in the final arc, these two friends would have already overcome their traumas and would now return in society and have a less dangerous adventure (which will gradually lead to a mystery story and then to a shocking revelation about what they have been facing for all this time). By the end of the second arc they will realize they feel something more than a friendship and will end up together. This arc should explain all the lore and solve all the questions brought by the first arc.

Considering that I don't feel like describing a "acquaintances>friends>lovers" story by skipping almost completely the most conflictual and interesting part (overcoming their past, accepting what happened, knowing eachother, having problems and solving them together) and just put something like "they broke up with their partners in the first arc, but now let's skip the part when they know eachother so that i can make them have an unworthy lovely relationship".

Also, in the middle arc I would be able to focus more on other locations of the world that weren't described before: For example: -the first arc is located in a single city, completely taken over by the apocalypse -the final one describes the whole continent restoring everything, while the main story is located in a city that never experienced the horrors of the catastrophe So, the reader would probably need an intermediate step, maybe an arc that describes the situation of a few cities or of a single country/state

I hope I wrote in a comprehensible way, sorry in advance for probable grammar mistakes. Thank you for the help!

Summary: I don't know if I should put an intermediate arc between the main arc and the final arc, because I feel like two arcs are not enough to give proper character depth and worldbuilding

Pretty self explanatory- obviously you can get others to read it… but the truth is that everyone has different taste, so how can you tell whether you are improving or staying the same?

I don’t feel like my style has changed since highschool… but I never wrote the way people classicist say ‘13 year old girls writing vampire fanfics wrote’ (plenty are amazing, but I think we all know the type).

Are there other ways to tell if you are improving?

One thing I like the most about it is that each character can reveal the reader on what's going on in their life, as well as what they think about the other person. I think it can be especially effective if the two characters come from different backgrounds (ex: two countries, two social classes, etc.)

Anyway what do you think?

Young writers, please pay attention!

When posting here, especially if you're a minor, do not say it. Don't give your age, don't indicate how young you might be. The internet is a dangerous place and there are people everywhere who will act in bad faith and use that knowledge to their advantage. If you're new to writing, then that's all you need to really mention, leave any age indicators out of it.

The amount of posts I've seen recently with young kids just freely giving their ages out is insane to me. I've seen an 11 year old in this sub asking for assistance before. I grew up in an age where it was drilled repeatedly into our heads just how dangerous the internet is and to not give away information. This needs to be brought back.

I'm not saying all this to bust your balls boys and girls. Even when I was younger and didn't share my age, I still had people try and pull shit with me because they somehow figured out I was a minor at the time. You guys need to be careful and protect yourself as best as you can in this increasingly super connected digital age. Please stop sharing your ages and be safe!

[Directed mostly at minors but applicable to all]

Edit: spelling errors and clarification

I’m rather newish to this sub, and I’ve enjoyed my time gathering opinions and seeing many questions from other redditors that have similar questions.

I’m nearly done with my first novel, an historical fiction taken place during the American Civil War period. I’m wondering what is the best path towards publication.

I’ve got considerable experience in digital marketing. Does it make sense to create a digital version and sell on book marketplaces, or is it smarter to try and find an agent and publisher? If I go the latter route, where do I even start?

Thanks in advance for all this sub has provided for me!

I'm really curious about this because for me personally, it comes from a rather emotional place. I've a very descriptive writer and in the same sense I focus more on the emotions of each scene as opposed to the actual visuals. Basically I'll let the visuals come through to the reader based on what I want them to feel for the tone, or vice versa where the environment is symbolic of the emotions.

I write mainly in the genre of dark fantasy, because that's where my strongest emotional thoughts are. I've been through a lot in my life, and having that attachment to my words really drives the narrative I'm working on at the moment. If I can't feel that attachment, I genuinely run into a wall where my writing becomes absolute shit compared to the rest of the narrative. Sadness and pain, although dark subjects, are definitely where I excel as a writer. In a sense, and in a healthy way, dark themes are my home where my art is at its strongest. If I'm sleep deprived, it's even more so.

So where does your writing come from? Are you emotional, physical, does it have to be something you experienced or something you would rather study? Where does your best writing stem from?

i see people discussing the 90 quintillion trillion million different characters that they have and the first thing that comes to mind is HOW?

how do you make so many characters, each one having SOME role to play (even if just to be killed off)?

it is impossibly difficult to fathom to me how people can think so far ahead into their story and work with it

this may be because i've only recently gotten into writing (two weeks ago) but i am just baffled

what's your process for creating characters? do you create concepts for a character and see if they work? how many discarded characters on average do you usually have, and how far in do you usually introduce them?

A story is a collection of words that fools our brain into caring about fictional people.

I figure the ‘why’ and ‘how’ are self evident (human empathy) but the ‘what’ is very interesting to me.

What do you think makes people care about your characters? What aspects do you care about in other characters?

I've lurked in this sub for quite some time, and seen plenty of people saying something along the lines of "writing being therapeutic exercise" for them. Today, one unrelated discomforting thought suddenly visited me, and so I got a question. Not about writing itself, but related to it.

I'll avoid giving personal context for now (it's not a secret, just don't want to turn straightforward question into bloated saddening rant), and will to try to avoid making it into validation post, so, here it is.

If you can say that artistic writing have therapeutic effect on you, could you please explain - what it does to you emotionally? Do you base your ideas and stories on your experiences and pain? What do you personally feel when you're putting your real emotions on figurative paper?

I recently landed a new job and am now in charge of the company's blog posts on their website. My boss asked me to come up with a list of writing/editing/grammar items I want to improve upon stepping into this role and that she can teach me. I am not sure where to even begin...I majored in English Lit, but haven't done any kind of professional writing with my degree up til now (it's been a while since I graduated). I feel weakest in grammar, but also maybe need to know the general structure of web articles? I am just struggling coming up with a list besides, "Grammar, editing, web article format skills," which feels very lacking. I was hoping someone had any insight on direction I can give her, and I can provide more info if needed. TIA

I'm writing a story, and I keep coming up with more and more ideas. Sometimes, I'm not even sure what genre the story falls under.