I don't even know why it hit me so hard. It was just a casual comment over coffee. I mentioned I'd been working on something for a while, and they rolled their eyes and said, "Isn't everyone writing a novel these days? It's like the new Instagram." They said it like it was nothing. Like it was just a funny observation. And I laughed along because that's what you do. But inside, something shut off. I went home and stared at my manuscript and all I could hear was that voice: everyone is writing a novel. What makes you so special? Why do you think yours matters? I know they didn't mean it that way. I know they weren't trying to hurt me. But I can't unhear it. Every time I open the document now, I feel stupid. Not stuck — just stupid. Like I'm playing pretend at something that doesn't matter. Has anyone else had one comment from one person completely derail them? How do you get the momentum back when the doubt isn't even about your writing — it's about whether writing is even worth doing?

I saw a cloud that looked like a feather and a leaf. And I’ve long wanted to write something serious. This cloud is slightly altered, but that’s done to emphasize the silhouette.

Please I beg someone out there recommend me a website or SOMETHING to do with generating names. I'm so sick of tired of my characters not having a real name even though it is already 2/3 into the storyline. Or how did y'all think of names?! Should I just type randomly on the keyboard and hope for the best?! Is this just a "me" problem?

Dear god this name thing is going to suck all the life out of me before the 1st chapter even published.

My index fingers move quickly, but I have to look at the keyboard all the time (there are times when my index fingers find the keys on their own), yet most of the time I look at the keyboard rather than at what I am typing on the screen.

I looked up a website with a typing course. And I swear to God... I feel like my whole body is crashing and my fingers ache; my stomach churns and it becomes hard to breathe every time I try to stick with the lesson for more than five minutes.

I want to learn touch typing, but it feels like my whole body is resisting it even more. I know it’s normal to make mistakes at first, but it bothers me so much that I slam the computer shut and get angry with myself for not doing it.

Right now, I’m typing rapidly with my two index fingers, fueled by the rage I feel (an example of a time when I don’t really need to look at the keyboard). And every time I try to recall it, my body starts to feel the same way it did while doing the lesson: disoriented, unwell, churned up, irritable.

What do I do?

I usually write in fantasy, scifi, horror or anything speculative and i tend to avoid realistic fiction because that means i have to make it REALISTIC and ACCURATE like in the real world. Thats why i tend to avoid it. When i write fantasies and scifis, I can never finish ANY of them. When i felt burnt out from writing those genres, I decided to slow down and went for a change of pace writing in other genres as an experiment. Cuz i heard you’ll learn a lot if you dive into other genres you’re not familiar with. Originally, its supposed to be a short story but💀 idk how the word count ended up like this. I chose Rom-Com since i used to read lots of romcom mangas and light novels in the past. I love consuming that mix of genre. When i wrote it for the first time without any plans, the inner pantser within me UNLEASHED and i wrote a lot compared to my fantasies and scifis. Cuz i outline and plan a lot in those genres but i barely wrote anything despite planning a lot. I actually enjoyed writing in this unfamiliar genre and had a lot of fun. And when i was getting closer to my ending, i wanted to slow it down to around 2-3k words because…that means i have to say goodbye to this side project🥲 i wanted to take my time with it. When i ACTUALLY finished it for the first time, i was like “I…I ACTUALLY DID IT!?”. Now, will i stop writing fantasies and sci-fi? Of course not, i’ll try to finish those WIPs too AND try other genres as well. I want to see where my potential lies and what will i learn from those. And will i stop outlining? I’ll still do it but i want to experiment with other methods of writing and see what works for me. My takeaway from this is…don’t be afraid to write in a genre you’re not familiar with, trust me, you’ll learn and improve A LOT.

Hi! I recently started writing my first novel. it's a YA and I'd love to know which tropes and clichés you hate the most in these kinds of books

The idea of this first chapter was around a commentary novel where every chapter starts with "They tell..." with a group of people who are only referred to as it, us, them, me, etc.. Please note that instances where the use of the word I is replaced by me or them is replaced they is very intentional as that is how our main character refers to himself or they. If possible I want feedback if you can take your time to read this and especially on a very specific line(Another story...) and whether or not that gets annoying in this first chapter. Also, I've never studied philosophy but very interested in it that's why i included elements of it. Anyways, here it is(NOTE: the syntax of dialogue did not transfer over to reddit so that's why it might look weird):

They tell me to trust them. They tell me so I believe. 
“Your name, sir,” the deadpan of they drones. It sounds like a softened machine gun firing faster than intended. How fast is a machine gun supposed to fire? They stay silent. I say this because I presume they know my thoughts. But then, why ask me my name? They know I don’t know if it were true they could read my mind.
“I don’t know.”
“Well, since we have no identification of your instance we will have to settle for something more practical than ‘unnamed subject’… unless that is what you prefer to be called?” they ask. It seems like a rather peculiar amalgamation of words. Unnamed subject. What is my preference? Well that takes out the idea they know what I think. All these questions would be useless, unless they want to mess with me? But who am I? A different person might tell you that’s a story for a different day. Maybe a different person would never tell you what makes them up. Well sadly, that different person is me. It might sound like a cliche but that makes it all the weirder for a person of my stature(or rather lack thereof) who is anything but cliche to not know who they are. How do I know that I am not a cliche human. Does the hero have no memory of the world “before”. In a certain story it could be possible. But then, who decides who is the hero? The winner? Some people may tell you that and that is certainly true for most stories or maybe even most history. Well, neither of these are true in a way. I have memories of something but also nothing. Would you understand a full explanation, I think not. Am I one to fully speak on the terms of your intellect? That is one of your choosing. Identification is a unique idea I would think. Most people would make up a name at this time as a point of familiarity perhaps. Perhaps I would have done this.
“We don't quite have the time for meaningless pleasantries to deal with a form of identification. For now we will have to settle with no identification. However, to give this information as early as possible, we have your wife and 3 daughters in custody inside another facility,” they say. As I am sure your imagination runs wild with who “they” are. I must tell you, I don't know. Maybe you think that’s another cliche which seems like a large coincidence for the man who isn’t cliche. Not knowing who your capturer is is quite an overused trope. For what I can tell you from my knowledge, they sound like a chorus of voices in unison. Not like a choir but more like the same person, with very slightly different timings giving it the sound of a round like Helena used to sing with her friends.
“I do not have multiple daughters… being,” trying to address an unknown entity. Is it an entity? In a different story you could eventually learn what the thing is. But this isn’t that story. It’s a story about me and about they. About Us, them, and it… most certainly it. But that’s too far ahead for someone with no sense of time in this world. For now we must go back to what me knows.
“Me, we have three people in custody from which we have taken samples matching your samples. Unfortunately your state after the return from the program has left… the rest of this sentence would have aroused precautions in our system. As a simple fact for your simple brain, we have three daughters of yours as well as your wife in custody,” they say.
“May I see Helena,” Me asks. There is no word to explain the way I ask things. At least not one simple enough for your likings. You may ask the question of how I know your knowledge. I must say that I never intended for questions to be asked by people. But we are getting ahead of ourselves. Sorry, Me is getting ahead of ourselves. In a few stories someone might drone on about questions they want to answer. This is not that story. Certain individuals would ask me why. For the people who ask me the truth, that is exactly why me can’t answer.
“We are sorry to be unable to help in any manner without clarification into the matter of Helena,” they enunciate. Enunciate would be a word some authors would avoid. But focusing on the truth of what I know that would be accurate to the situation. Another thing some authors would avoid is the idea of subtlety. Some stories would do the same. But this story would be different from those stories. Because, they know what I know.
“My daughter, Helena. May I see her?” Me clarifies.
“We know, however, according to our records, you do not have anyone… There is no person with the name Helena. You do however have three daughters who are currently in custody with your wife,” they say, “Those three daughters have given up their names for your safety.” The irony of such a statement could be debated in another story. Perhaps another story would tell you that what they say is wrong or perhaps even right, but this is not that story.
“I only have one daughter,” I say with what another story would say ironclad will.
“We are sorry for your confusion however we must continue onward and will therefore leave you alone at this point.”
“Prove to me that I’m hallucinating!” I scream. Screaming is something that other stories would leave at that; an enunciated statement that's loud that they may even leave the idea reverberation out of it. But perhaps as you might have caught on, this is not that story. Maybe a few stories would go into how that scream sounds, maybe show it instead of telling as some may see. This story would not be that story. Every story is different yet we group them to try to prove points. But that is beyond what happens.
They don’t respond. Some stories would tell you what happens next: a man continues screaming at something with no answer trying to find answers. You don’t need the rest of that sentence.
“Show my supposed daughters!” “Or show me proof that Helena isn’t real!” His words reverberated around the room.
“Is that what I would think it is! Silence? Show me the truth you try to hide!”
Silence.
“What is that; there is no truth? Or does you silence say something else?”
Silence.
“Answer me!”
“Answer me.”
“Answer me,” I whisper.
Answer me, I think. A different story would tell you how the valiant fall of the hero or heroine would cause the truth to come from a story, yet, you know the rest of what happens — at least in part.
I fall on the floor as the silence fills my mind. You go black.

I'll go first:

"Smoke lowering down from chimney-pots, making a soft black drizzle, with flakes of soot in it as big as full-grown snow-flakes — gone into mourning, one might imagine, for the death of the sun.”

(Charles Dickens - Bleak House)

Its a pretty common experience in this sub that naming your own story is really hard, so Ive been doing some thought experiments and felt curious about this. There are plenty of books with interesting titles, so based on how you understand the story, what could've been a nice alternate title to you? Can be a book, movie, show, anything.

I'll go first. A series I really liked was "From." Its about a group of people trapped in a mysterious town with no escape. I would personally rename the series "Faraway" because it captures the theme of being separated from the rest of the world and references the name for important trees in the story.

My book series that I’m writing (I’m working on the last one in the trilogy), like, it is written as a series of transcripts from cassette tapes (similar to The Handmaid’s Tale and The Testaments). And, like, in both of those books, for the bits in which the narrators (Offred, Agnes, Daisy and Aunt Lydia) are reflecting on past events, like, there are no quote marks surrounding dialogue, which I find to be a really powerful technique. And, thus, I have borrowed that, and as such, my books, the dialogue is not quoted since my narrator is remembering past events, not physically recounting them word for word. Is this okay? I feel like, the no quotemarks add to the mystery and the eventual tragedy that my books have. However, at teh same time, I feel like it would be really confusing (I know that when I first read THT, I was rather confused as to who was speaking, but I’ve since reread it and kinda get it). I feel like for my books, it could be really powerful, but at the same time, really confusing if I dont have “…, Betty said” or “…, Ms. Carter said.” at the end of each piece of dialogue.

Hey guys! I am currently working on my third short story. I will be uploading the other 2, once I edit, to get some feedback and see how everyone likes it. The end goal is to start my first trilogy and get it published. :) I am a newbie. Let's see how this goes!

I really enjoy reading stories on Webtoon, manhwa, manga, and other platforms, and it made me want to try writing my own stories. I’m not necessarily trying to become a professional novelist, I just really want to get better at storytelling and eventually create stories that people enjoy reading.

For anyone who writes stories, what tips would you give to someone who’s just starting out? I’d especially love advice on creating characters, plots, dialogue, and actually staying motivated enough to finish a story!

I’m writing a YA novel, and I feel like I’m done, but I’m afraid that it might be too short

A novel I'm working on is a slow paced thoughtful science fiction. I'm trying to make the science as hard as I can while still giving allowances for fantastic future technology (like gravity manipulation and functioning Alcubierre drives)

The main character is Nabihah El Sayid. A starship captain within SEAD (Space Exploration and Analysis Directorate) Which is kind of like NASA. She's a scientist first, and also a competent leader. She's idealistic and a pacifist.

The story revolves around her being the Captain on the Starship አሲሲ (Assissi) Which is one of 20 brand new top of the line D-Srev (Deep-Space Research and Exploration Vessel) which are part of the next wave of deep space exploration.

When she is interviewed for the role, she finds out that there will be a platoon of Marines assigned to the ship as well. She's very not happy about this, she believes that the military is a dinosaur and should've been disbanded long ago since Earth hasn't had any military conflict for over a hundred years. Her objections are over ridden.

Alejandra Monero is a Captain within the Commonwealth Marine Corps. And commanding officer of the Marines assigned to the አሲሲ. Whereas Nabihah is a bit more laid back and casual in her command style, Alejandra is very much a military woman, and she believes that humanity still needs a dedicated fighting force because as idealistic as you might be, you just never know what might be out there.

So, the ideological conflicts of these two characters serve to explore many of the themes in this story, and by the end they of course get a new appreciation and understanding of the others point of view. But every time I've talked about this book and discussed the story to other people, almost all of them ask if there's a romance between the two.

I think I might have entertained the notion a while ago possibly. But it was never any intention for that. I in fact absolutely hate "unneeded" romances, especially if it's the lead boy and lead girl just getting paired off for no reason. I find I often will rarely have romances in my stories unless there's a specific story reason for it.

In fact, those two had different relationships happening. Nabihah met someone on Earth at the beginning of the book and they try a long distance relationship while she's on the ship. And Alejandra was in a polyamorous relationship with other people on Earth.

But a few people have told me now that I should really consider having a romance between the two, even if it's just subtextual. Apparently it will give the story some more mainstream appeal. But I wonder if that's even something I should be thinking about considering it's a slow and thoughtful hard sci fi.

Anyway, what do you think? Any opinions? Similar anecdotes?

I have this villain i've intoduced at the end of chapter 7. In chapter 8 i establish his thinking and how much of a threat he is. That chapter ends with him "winning".

Next chapter he dies.

I don't want to write his whole arc but i wondered if 2 chapters (3 if you count the one page introduction in chapter 7)

I felt like you get a lot but you don't drag it out?

I got some comments that hit slightly hard somewhere else, and i wanted to also just get advice on this in general, maybe itll get me out of my writers block n all and help me maybe write more awesome things. :)

Hey there! This is my first ever post. I wanted some advice or opinions/suggestions on my UNCOMPLETED writing for my Honors English 10 class. It’s supposed to be a satirical piece, kinda like Harrison Bergeron mixed with the utter sarcasm of political comics/posters from back in the day. It’s my first writing of my sophomore year.

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“If we all have the same thing, is anyone impoverished?”

9/10 people pretend that they don't see the unhoused people on the sides of roads, standing at the corners of intersections, sleeping on benches outside of the mall, or the ones stumbling through dim alleyways. Here’s a fun fact you'll probably ignore (because you're likely a part of that blissfully ignorant 9/10): Poverty is the 4th leading cause of death according to the major study done by the JAMA Network on April 17th, 2023. 

Around 15,250 people die in a month because they are victims of poverty (183,000 a year; that's the real math..) How many of those people get ignored? 46%. 46% of impoverished people are ignored, they receive no financial aid or any protection provided from the government. Interestingly enough, the government has never directly said “We’re sorry for ignoring the homeless and starving people dying on the streets of our country”. Though, in 1999 Bill Clinton spoke out about the national neglect of those struggling. He said “There is really no excuse for the neglect we have shown, especially to our children” -Bill Clinton

So! How do we fix this problem that is plaguing our country and our general planet? Well, equality. That’s what everyone wants at the end of the day, right? That’s exactly why government officials and those serving in the military will be ordered to remove you from your home for 10 months while the whole country is rebuilt. Say goodbye to your “aesthetic and minimalistic executive home”! Everyone will be given a ranch style house, as that's what the president thinks is the most basic form of housing nowadays. You and your neighbor will have so much in common (because we know in the 13 years you've lived in your neighborhood, you've never once spoken to them, so consider this a conversation starter). You’ll both have the same color walls, and same style masonry on your fireplace, same basic couch, same armchair, same kitchen counter, and your sink will both have a leak that leaves water stains on your floor.

Everyone will also have a food quota. When you go to the grocery store, it’ll be the most uncanny thing you'll ever see. 10 eggs per each household, per week. 1 gallon of milk (we sincerely hope the country likes 2%) 1 loaf of bread, 1 case of distilled water, 1 pound of rice, 5 tomatoes, 5 onions and one family sized bag of Classic Lays Potato Chips. Of course you can't try to cheat the system! How silly.. Of course we cut costs from the United States Space Force  (again) to create a database that tracks exactly how much you can buy. “How will you know what we’ve already eaten?”...We’ll know…We will know.

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Like I said, I’m not done with it yet. I have to wait 2 days until I’m back in class to continue writing it because she has to see us write it to make sure we don’t use Artificial sources. But I’m not a loser and I wasn’t gonna use Artificial sources anyhow.

Cheers!!