u/malaabobo

the romance is working as the tension's building right and then i hit a spicy scene and the whole book just stops

the momentum i spent three chapters building drains out, and when i come out the other side it takes another chapter to get moving again.

i think i'm treating these scenes as separate from the plot instead of part of it.

like the story pauses, we do the scene, the story resumes and i suspect the good books weave them in so they actually advance something, character, power dynamic, the relationship shifting. but i can't see how to do it in my own work

this is such a specific craft problem and there is genuinely no one i can ask. friends, no. family, god no. general writing subs get weird about it.

where do romantasy writers talk about this openly? i need a room where "my spice is wrecking my pacing" is a normal sentence. please drop it

finally said it out loud to a friend "i'm writing a novel." been working on it privately for over a year and just decided to let one person in

she was lovely about it asked questions, seemed genuinely interested and the whole time i was smiling and answering i had this sinking feeling, like i'd handed over something i wasn't ready to give and by the time i got home i half wished i'd never said anything

idk she did nothing wrong it's that the second it existed in someone else's head it stopped being entirely mine, and i hadn't expected to feel the loss of that.

i don't know if this makes me a private person or a coward or just a writer. but i'd love to talk to people who've felt it is there a community where this kind of thing isn't weird to admit? like I wanna talk talk and not wait for some starnger to comment on my posts, any group or server?