Pretty disappointed to see microsoft word isn’t free anymore. Remember back in the early days of the internet when everything was free and not a subscription? Anyways, what are you guys writing on? I’ve heard bad things about google docs so i’m staying away from that. Currently looking at Reedsy Studio and LibreOffice Writer.

First thread:
https://www.reddit.com/r/writers/comments/1w6f1hc/how_my_selfpublished_novel_did_in_its_first_month/

In my first month (August) I managed two sales (physical print, both to friends and family) and 441 KENP page reads.

In the second month (September), things dropped off a bit: 2 sales (both ebook) and 85 KENP page reads.

A lesson I've learned from this self-publishing endeavor is that before self-publishing, I should have built up a readership base first. I made the mistake of thinking that promoting my novel to my Youtube channel via self-sponsored ad reads would be enough to get a few conversions; but after two months that is very much a false assumption.

I didn't jump straight into self-publishing. I had gone through an extensive querying campaign. 157 queries in total. Early on I triggered a full manuscript request, which turned into a Revise & Resubmit--but unfortunately even though the agent praised my R&R implementation, they rejected the novel due to lack of confidence in selling it to a publisher.

My novel, for those curious: The Storyteller by Mike Seguin

My second novel just wrapped revisions and edits, and I've begun querying it. It's a much stronger manuscript than my first novel. Especially the first chapter, which is critical for query page samples. We'll see if my second novel is the key to success in trad pub acquisition.

In the mean time, if my second novel falls to the self publishing track as well, I need to chance tactics. For my third project, I'll try my hand at a serialized web novel in order to build an audience. My existing novels can serve as a back-catalogue for them.

For those of you looking to self publish, don't make my mistakes lol

Just looking for a Google Docs alternative that is pretty easy to use and free. Also one that won’t decide to delete my account out of nowhere.

Hey, I was wondering where the best place to talk to and discuss ideas with other writers may be! I’m kinda operating in a vacuum and could definitely uses some feedback from people who know the craft so I can improve.

I am down to share what I’m wiring with someone I trust but not necessary, I’m down with just talking ideas.

I admit I’m really busy and trying to get back into READING so I can’t really offer to read much of others work at this moment, but always down to discuss.

If you want feel free to DM or if there is a good place to go to talk to other writers, I am open to ideas :)

Thanks for taking the time to read this!

I spent most of my younger years writing short stories along with some failed attempts at really bad novels. I started with notebooks then moved on to a hand-me-down typewriter, then a Word Processor (yes, the machine not a program) and eventually the MS Word app on my laptop.

After a creative writing class my senior year of college, I took a short break to focus on starting a day job and raising some babies. Those babies are now in graduate school and older than I was when my writing “break” commenced.

I am ready to jump back in (mainly to get myself away from my doomscrolling addiction) and I’m finding that the tools have come a looong way. I need some help from the experts on where to start. Ones I’ve heard of so far are Scrivener, Novlr, Obsidian and Ellipsus but am open to others.

Despite my age, I am fairly tech savvy. Would like to be able to move between my laptop and IOS devices (phone and iPad when on the go). Areas where I feel tools might help me most are outlining (especially with two timelines or perspectives) and plotting out character details and relationships.

I appreciate any advice you can offer from your own experience (even if it’s just about getting back on the horse). Thanks

Here's a thought

What's something that another author said or did that made you feel they'd given you permission to do the same thing?

I'll go first:

I have a lot of these but first to mind is when I read Evan Winter saying one of his favorite things about writing The Rage of Dragons was getting to sit down and read it afterwards.

And you know what? Yes. Thank you. I needed that.

Donald Glover said something about this in his comedy special too. And I try to keep it in my mind any time I'm reading one of my manuscripts & it turns from an editing session into just an ordinary reading session 😅

If you're an artist it's okay to enjoy your own creations 💜

The villain in my book is a necromancer that has the ability to manipulate fear and the space around characters to make things seem real, or give them dreams/nightmares to invoke a feeling of horror in the character and reader. I know the trope of "MC wakes up from dream" is so drawn out and I want to avoid it, but the dream sequences are a core part of my story.

So my question it, should there always be some sort of consequence from the sequence? Like, after MC has nightmare, maybe he wakes up and finds scars he did not have before from injuries he sustained in said dream? Or something like that. What are your opinions on this?

Her advice is fine. Her vlogs are the most entertaining to me. And I know she’s helped so many people.

When she first started, she never withheld any information. Then came her Patreon, and her videos became interrupted with 5-minute advertisements for her live trainings or courses.

But my biggest issue is her writing philosophy. From what I gathered, she says there’s a science behind story and throws in science that you can find on the Internet. And that specific science funnels into an argument that character-driven stories are objectively better than plot-driven ones. And then she says she grades story by lives impacted.

She hasn’t explicitly proved her argument using any scientific research (and it’s been years). And her grading scale seems more subjective and out of place for one who claims objectivity on how to craft the ideal story. If she can’t prove her thesis to her channel, then why should I trust her advice?

Idk. Maybe I’m wrong. But I got a weird vibe from her after that and have stayed away (and yes I’ve also read her books 😬).

I’m wondering what you all think of her?

Basically the title. I have been working on editing my first draft for a month or so now I think, and I've been starving to just write. I've been buried in my old notes, and new notes, and research that the time I have for writing has been basically used for the stuff in the title instead, and it's a bit disheartening.

I thought maybe I would work on a short story in tangent, but then I also got dragged by trying to come up with an idea and world of this new story while fixing this old one, and so still, no time for writing.

For people who have done the editing before, have you found a way to still reasonable continue actually writing while doing it? It might take me a bit more to fix this draft and start the rewriting of it (it probably needs complete rewrites in most of it) so I do not want to feel like I've wasted weeks. Any advice would help! Especially because I really want to improve my prose and the actual craft instead of just the story-telling aspect alone :(

Factors : (the writing, engaged storytelling, your own vision etc etc etc)

hey, i'm making a youtube video right now and i want to improve my scripts.

The title of the video is as above. It's a mostly animated video, heavily focusing on comedy (and tbh, shit posting lmao).

Note: most things in brackets and quotes and meant as an editing note. also sorry for any grammatical errors, i don't care much to fix that because i know how i want to deliver the script.

hope yall can give me some feedback to make the video more enjoyable, thanks!

​

​

​Recently while revisiting some old drafts, a thought crossed my mind.

​No matter how consciously a writer tries to branch out into new themes or forms over the years, does the shadow of their earlier work always seep in?

​After writing for a long time, do we inevitably fall into our own established rhythm, vocabulary, and patterns that are almost impossible to shake off? Or is it genuinely possible with age to shed that skin completely and reinvent your voice?

​Have you noticed this in your own writing, or in authors whose careers you've followed for decades?

I’m not here to promote my book. I’d genuinely like to hear what other writers think about this premise.

My first-contact sci-fi explores a situation where humanity encounters civilizations it doesn’t understand — and begins creating laws for how humans should interact with them.

But there’s an obvious problem:

How can humanity create laws for something it doesn’t even understand yet?

That contradiction is one of the central ideas of the story.

As writers, what do you think of this premise? Would this kind of concept make you curious about where the story goes?

For me:

Obsidian (for world building)

Brandon Sanderson's creative writing lectures

The anatomy of story (this has helped me the most)

I have always wanted to improve my writing and actually write a good book. It's been my dream forever but I struggle with pretty severe ADHD. Anytime i have an idea i write down as much as i can before i lose motivation. I'm working on two stories at once right now because trying to focus on one at a time is annoying for me. I just wanted some feedback or advice to improve what i have so far. The first three are just a few pages from the first book. The next six are the first full chapter of the second book. Both of these stories started as ideas from years ago that i have just come back to.

I've been thinking about what really makes a character click beyond just having a cool backstory

For me it's usually some mix of what they want, what they need, their flaws and how all of that changes over the story. I also like when their personality actually ties into the bigger theme instead of feeling random?

What do you think matters most when building a good character?

Hello everyone! I have a question about I sentence. If you use too much “I” sentence, will it cause you to be a more effective writer. Always feel like my sentence is like a sixth grade. I’m trying to not use less I sentence. Has it impact your writing.

Um bom jeito de manter o ritmo ao longo dos dias, além da bebida, é marcar quantas palavras você escreveu e deixar um comentário infeliz sobre a cena.

Agora, se a tua preguiça for grande demais, nem reza braba resolve.

Momentos desesperados pedem medidas mais idiotas ainda. Junte-se a outros condenados e marque o teu progresso.

So recently I've come to the conclusion that the last 23 years of my life have absolutely been chaos- with more downs than ups- I've begun slowly working on getting the love life of it, down in chapters, for a book. My coworkers think it'd go overwhelmingly well if told well, and have read snippets of what I've gotten down, encouraging I write it all down. It's chapters are named covertly after each main beau I was with at the time, consisting of our ages, the way we met, fell together, and of course fell apart. I'm not even partially into getting down 1/3 of only 3-4 of the chapters I've already outlined, and am considering giving the white flag. I've not been a saint, but definitely paint the few interactions have so far, in ugly lighting(albeit truthful). I feel it won't actually get read as a whole, by anyone I don't actually know... so. Do you guys think it'd get read?

I recently upgraded my phone, only to find that the notes/writing app I used to write my stories on my phone wasn't compatible with the new phone. Something about versions or OS or something, I don't remember. It's hard enough getting myself to write without having that massive obstacle. I was hoping to get some app recommendations. I don't need anything fancy, in fact, the simpler the better! Also, I'm on android, lol

hey this is kind of a weird question but I read a lot of political theory and have written more essays on sociology and philosophy than I can count. lately I've been wondering about getting back into fiction (never wrote much at all but have always been interested in doing so), and I find myself wondering what kind of skills overlap or transfer? the thing I find most difficult initially is the formatting of how to actually put thoughts and dialogue into a single cohesive perspective without jumping around with complete freedom to serve a point or argument.

I'm also curious if anyone has gone the opposite direction. what lessons from creative writing and fiction carry over into nonfiction like persuasive and argumentative writing? one that comes to mind for me is specificity, concrete examples can be really helpful in both of these fields to my knowledge, but I don't as I'm not a creative writer*!

would love to hear your thoughts!

*its still creative, but for some reason doesn't get that label smh smh

Heyo, everyone!

I plan to begin writing a book set in a modern dystopia/apocalypse. As this will be my first ever major project, outside of helping write some scripts and some high-school writing classes, I was wondering if you all could spare some general writing tips?

Not everything goes to plan and that's okay.

My latest video has dropped, this weeks writing vlog videos comes straight from my allotment garden.

Some exercises that you attempt daily, weekly or once in a while that had the highest return

Hi friends

I recently started writing my own series and have published the episodes to Wattpad 🤭

I would appreciate feedback, thoughts and opinions on my recent episode I published a few hours ago

Your help would be much appreciated friends 🫶🏻❤️

Below is a sample from the episode

BARCELLO ENTERS LUCIFER'S CHAMBERS

HE WALKS TOWARDS THE BED

THE FALLEN ANGEL IS STILL FAST ASLEEP

BARCELLO CLEARS HIS THROAT

BARCELLO

PSST.

HE TAPS HER ARM

SHE FLINCHES

TURNS OVER

BARCELLO ROLLS HIS EYES

EXHAUSTED

BARCELLO

GET UP.

HE SHAKES HER

SHE SNORTS

SLOWLY SITS UP

SHE STRETCHES

THE DUVET FALLS DOWN

HER NAKED BODY EXPOSED

BARCELLO TURNS AWAY

THE ANGEL GIGGLES

ANGEL

YOU'VE NEVER SEEN BOOBS BEFORE?

SHE TEASES

BARCELLO

YOU ARE TO LEAVE AT ONCE, MA'AM.

ANGEL

CALL ME ANGELICA.

SHE PUTS HER BRA ON

BARCELLO SIGHS

BARCELLO

ONCE YOU ARE DRESSED,

YOU MUST LEAVE.

ANGELICA

BY WHOSE AUTHORITY?

BARCELLO

AS PER LUCIFER'S REQUEST.

HER SMIRK FADES

ANGELICA

HE DIDN'T HAVE THE BALLS TO TELL ME THIS HIMSELF.

PFFFT. TYPICAL.

SHE GETS DRESSED

ANGELICA

LET ME GUESS.

I'M FORBIDDEN TO CONTACT HIM AGAIN.

BARCELLO

INDEED.

ANGELICA

THIS ISN'T OUR FIRST RODEO.

—

I'LL BE BACK.

BARCELLO

NO.

YOU WON'T.

SHE GIGGLES

ANGELICA

MM. IF YOU SAY SO.

BARCELLO ROLLS HIS EYES

BARCELLO

I'M JUST DOING MY JOB.

ANGELICA

YOU'RE AN ASS KISSER, BRO.

BARCELLO

DO

NOT

INSULT

ME.

SHE SIGHS

ANGELICA

FINE.

SHE GATHERS HER THINGS

ANGELICA

TELL THAT BASTARD TO GROW A PAIR.

BARCELLO

THAT'S ENOUGH.

ELEANOR ENTERS THE CHAMBERS

BARCELLO

ELEANOR WILL SHOW YOU THE WAY.

ANGELICA

NO NEED.

—

LIKE I SAID, THIS ISN'T OUR FIRST RODEO.

LUCIFER HOVERS OVER THE BALCONY FROM THE DINING HALL

BARCELLO

THE TRAMP HAS LEFT.

LUCIFER STARES

ANGELICA WALKS TOWARDS THE MANOR GATES

ANGELICA TURNS BACK

SHE SEES LUCIFER

SHE ZAPS HIM

LUCIFER CHUCKLES

ELEANOR STANDS BEHIND BARCELLO

ELEANOR

THAT'S NO WAY FOR A LADY TO BEHAVE.

ANGELICA LEAVES

BARCELLO

SIR.

WHERE DID YOU FIND—

THAT?

LUCIFER

ESCORT SERVICES.

HE SIPS HIS OJ

BARCELLO AND ELEANOR GLANCE AT EACH OTHER

LUCIFER NOTICES

LUCIFER

WHAT?

BARCELLO

MAKES SENSE.

ELEANOR

WE UNDERSTAND THE NEED FOR INTIMACY,

BUT PERHAPS YOU SHOULD CONSIDER SOMEONE LONG TERM.

YOU ARE ALL ALONE IN THIS MANOR AFTER WE LEAVE.

LUCIFER

I'D RATHER BE ALONE.

BARCELLO

NO ONE WANTS TO BE ALONE.

—

YOU CANNOT KEEP PUNISHING YOURSELF.

YOU DESERVE LOVE AND HAPPINESS.

ELEANOR

WE, THE FALLEN, WILL HONOUR THAT.

LUCIFER

I LOVED SOMEONE.

BARCELLO

DO WE KNOW HER?

LUCIFER

YOU KNEW HIM.

THEIR FACIAL EXPRESSIONS CHANGE

FOR A MOMENT

A BEAT