u/schmarfooligan_

I feel like there’s probably some crossover demographic here, haha. I am an OG Bernie girl, I was at his rallies back in 2016. I am very progressive, Free Palestine, “the children are always ours” girl/mom.

Really this is more of a vent about the demand for liberal perfectionism. I do not understand why ACOTAR criticism is rivaling JKR criticism online, when JKR (a huge heartbreak for me btw) is actively causing harm, versus SJM used to post for liberal causes and after being scrutinized and nitpicked and criticized basically went off the grid completely. I feel like the demands on her (as someone who myself works in licensing and entertainment) are just totally unrealistic and frankly unfair.

I just feel like it’s a perfect case study for like “you need to be a perfect liberal all the time or else you are not a liberal.” Like all of it — misreading her characters, misunderstanding the story, bashing her for selling at Target, like Jesus idk, it all feels very toxic and like misplaced rage?

About two months ago, after 20+ years of writing and 4+ years of working on my current book, I finished a first draft for the first time. 🥳 I took about a month off and then I jumped into my second draft — and honestly, it’s going so well (*knock on wood*) that I am at least attempting to finish the second draft this year.

That being said — how polished should the second draft typically be? I did some light editing on the first draft, so I’m pleased to say that this draft is very much reading like “a real book” already. Obviously, it’s still a very long road ahead.

I’m thinking that maybe I will try to get the second draft to about 75% polish? What I mean by that is that I want it to read well, but I don’t want to get too caught up in the line level yet. I also want to make sure there are no major inconsistencies and that the story is complete and all the beats are in place.

I originally was planning on self publishing, but I’m increasingly considering at least attempting to query, and then self publishing if it doesn’t get picked up by anyone. I am unsure when I may want to seek out beta readers. I do think I may want to pay for a developmental editor even if I decide to query.

Thoughts? How many drafts on average do you typically complete? How do you treat each draft?

I’m 13 years away still but what wondering if anyone has dealt with it yet?

So I just finished my first draft in July (yay!), and I am taking a month to do a full read through and take notes on changes, etc. I need to make throughout. One thing I’m noticing is that my current execution of first person past tense can sometimes bog down the narrative and reduce momentum. Obviously, this is perfectly fixable without changing tenses. And I do think that this issue is primarily grounded in the fact that this is just a first draft, and so I wasn’t siting there trying to craft perfect, punchy sentences for the most part.

That being said — is it maybe preferable to switch to first person present tense? I am trying to flip through different books on my shelf that I know are in the first person. I do want my book to have somewhat more of a classic fantasy feel (it’s a fantasy romance ever so slightly favoring the romance genre, but with strong fantasy and mystery elements — with later books in the series having elements of political and epic fantasy while still having the romance(s) be relatively central to the story). I feel like a lot of more classic fantasy books are third person or first person past tense.

Idk — thoughts? Pros cons? I tried re-drafting my first paragraph in first person present tense and, while I think it grips the reader better, it feels a hair too modern. Idkkkk.

I am just shy of 3 years postpartum after my first child and I can tell I am retaining a lot of fluid (though the last of the baby weight is finally melting off with better sleep the past few months). I have ADHD and idk I have a mental block against consistent gua sha and face exercises, and also feel like I have fluid elsewhere. I also work 40+ hours a week in an intense corporate job and am writing a book (and frankly look at my phone too much and have terrible computer set ups) and my back is all screwed up.

Daily walks and wearing a mouth guard (TMJ) help these things, but I need more. Thoughts?

Crickets, I check every 1-3 days and even log in to check my inbox to be sure. This is such a mess. Like on the one hand, I’m not surprised it’s a mess, on the other, I’m surprised it’s THIS much of a mess. And no, I’m not choosing a plan early — who knows what could happen in the coming months.

I’m thinking of booking one for my birthday. Should I do House of Color? 10-16-23 system? Something else?

Idk why but 2.5 years out I look more like a bog witch than ever. I guess I should be happy it’s growing back but it’s literally more upsetting than it falling out dealing with the regrowth. It’s dry, and frizzes up no matter WTF I do, does not stay smooth with the rest of my hair for more than 30 minutes. I do the Abby Yung method and that has helped my hair overall a lot bit the regrowth has finally come in full throttle up top and it’s miserable! Even my best slick backs done straight out of the shower are fuzzy within a few hours now.

To make it worse — it’s dry and frizzy, and if I use ANY taming wand, then it looks somehow greasy, dry, and frizzy, and squiggly along my hairline instead of straight.

Please has anyone cracked the code it’s honestly destroying my confidence. I’m dealing with 1.5 years of secondary infertility and I feel like I will never like my hair again.

I already submitted my request but omg it’s driving me bananas!! It takes FOREVER to delete. 💀