Writer's Workshop

Hi,
So as the title suggests, is protagonist age really the main distinguisher between YA and adult fiction. Like what if a book is dual POV with a teen and adult protagonist, which category would it fall under? Or then would the next distinguisher be who drives the plot more between the two ? And if the adult did happen to drive the plot more, could it still be marketed as YA if it does explore some YA themes ?

Morning.

We have made the following addendum to our How to Post guide which hopefully removes confusion about how this rule is enforced.

The entire rule now reads (amendments in italics):

No Generative AI

• Removed - Any post suspected to have been generated by AI
• Removed - Any post which supports the use of generative AI during any point of the creative process including brainstorming, proofreading, translation, or “bouncing ideas”
• Removed - Any post which references (including neutrally or in the past tense, regardless of word choice) the use of generative AI during any point if the creative process including brainstorming, proofreading, translation, or “bouncing ideas”
• Removed - Any post asking for reviews or use cases for software programs whose primary, non-optional function includes generative AI for anything other than spell check within a native word processor
• Approved - Nothing. We do not allow users to introduce the topic of generative AI on this subreddit. We moderate this AGGRESSIVELY.

 

Keep in mind the spirit of our rule against generative AI is not to police your use of AI in your creative process, nor to police your personal feelings about AI. It is to prevent the subreddit from being clogged by a subject matter that is low quality, leads to constant fights, is ripe for karma farming, and doesn't produce anything of value to anyone's writing craft. We will moderate these topics based on the spirit of the rule. Attempts to obfuscate an AI topic will be considered the same as explicitly introducing AI.

END

We hope this offers clarity. Please do not post about generative AI on this subreddit. If you see a post about generative AI, report it to the moderators and do not participate in the discussion.

Your feedback is welcome in this thread and in modmail.

Happy writing!

I’m writing my very first manuscript. I genuinely love this idea and hope it could work as a strong standalone with series potential later on.

The problem is that I keep seeing opposite advice. Some writers say to just write the story you care about most because your first book teaches you how to write. Others say not to “use” your favorite idea too early while you’re still developing your skills and process.

So now I’m conflicted.

In your opinion, should I go ahead and write the story, or should I write something else first to improve as a writer before tackling the story I care about most?

I’d really appreciate advice from writers who’ve been through this.

I’ve been researching laptops mainly for writing novels and essays, and every review keeps mentioning keyboard quality like it’s the most important thing. I do type for hours sometimes, but I’m not sure how much difference it really makes until you actually use it long term.

For people who write a lot, did you actually notice a big difference between laptops with “good” keyboards vs average ones, or is it something you just adapt to over time? Also curious if external keyboards ended up being part of your setup later on.

I have been approached by a book club that wants to feature my book in their club. The kicker is they want $150 to $350 to do so. Based on what I make per book about half of their 295 members would need to buy a copy for me to make my money back. Anyone ever hear of Leeds Book Club? There is an old website that hasn't been updated in a while, twitter account etc.. Do book clubs usually charge to be 'featured'. Can't tell how much of a scam this is or isn't.

I help organize book features and reader engagement opportunities through our growing reading community, including the Leeds Book Club with 295 active members. What makes our features different is that authors do not need to travel or join live sessions. Everything is organized remotely, making it simple and stress-free for authors while still giving the book strong exposure to real readers.

For selected titles, we help create visibility through:

• Goodreads and Amazon reader reviews
• Professional teaser clips and cinematic book mockups
• Reader discussions and audience engagement
• Digital newspaper-style features authors can later reuse for podcasts, speaking events, interviews, press coverage, media kits, and future promotions
• Social media exposure across active reading communities
• Promotional materials that continue helping the book long after the feature is completed

To prepare everything properly, we usually need:

• Author bio
• Author journey/story behind the book
• Author photo
• Book cover
• Book purchase links
• Discussion guide or reader questions (if available)
• Any existing media materials you would like included

There is only a one-time administrative contribution involved. This simply helps us cover teaser production, promotional logistics, newspaper-style features, snacks and coffee for club sessions, and coordination for the campaign.

Your book truly sounds like the kind of book readers enjoy talking about, and I can already see strong potential for engagement and visibility around it. Many authors appreciate having promotional materials they can continue using again and again for future interviews, podcasts, speaking events, and media opportunities long after the feature is completed.

I would really love to see your book become one of the featured titles we spotlight next.

I’m currently in the final editing stage of my novel and I keep thinking about the same question over and over:

Should I try traditional publishing and look for a literary agent, or should I go with Amazon Kindle self publishing?

Part of me loves the idea of holding a printed book in my hands, turning the pages, even that smell of paper and ink. It feels real in a different way.

But self publishing gives me full control over everything. Cover decisions, release dates, marketing, updates, freedom.

I honestly don’t know what the right path is.

Some of you have probably already been through this. Maybe some of you made mistakes. Maybe some of you would choose differently if you had another chance.

What did you do?

Did you go traditional or self publish?

Would you do it again the same way?

I keep thinking about this constantly and I’d really appreciate honest advice from people who have already walked this road. Thanks in advance.

hi, i want to write some movie trailers for non existing movies, mostly for fun but also as a way to have a director´s reel, and i have a lot of ideas and i can see them in my mind very well, i know exactly what i want to show...

but i dont know if a usual script works for a trailer since a lot of it is just some extreme close ups, or reaction shots, basically shots that are there for like a second

so what is the right format for something like that?

Apparently a short story that won the commonwealth competition was written by Artifical Intelligence. I also noticed that the junior commonwealth story competition the top 2 winners also seemed like they used it heavily to write the whole thing.
One thing I noticed that all stories are metaphor after metaphor … just horribly written … one can immediately tell. They were not good or interesting. Just sounded like people using artificl intelligence to sound very intellectual. Why can’t a simple easy to read story win? One that actually looks like it’s written by a human.

With Steven Speilbergs movie coming out soon, all the US government releases on UFOs, USO, UAP, what have you...at what point does writing about aliens become fiction, non-fiction, or any other genre other than sci fi?

I'm not sure something like this has happened in our history, but if everything coming out is true, and disclosure is happening, at what point are aliens no longer considered scifi? Is there some kind of metric? Does it have to do with provable tech?

Let's say hypothetically one species appears, the next day someone writes a book about them in a crime solving novel. It can't be sci fi anymore because they actually appeared, right?

What is the onus here? Looking for a serious answer as the topic is just interesting to me and I'm curious what others would need to determine aliens are no longer science fiction.

Love,

AB

So I’m writing a book series, and I started wondering if people might decide not to read it because of the inconsistency in the cover, length, and style of the first book.

All the other books will probably be about the same length, and the covers will look really similar. Each one will be about a different character, and the cover design is pretty similar for each of them, just with a different silhouette on it. They’ll mostly focus on the life and backstory of each character.

The first book is different though. It will be a lot shorter, and it focuses on three characters who encounter one of the later important characters in the series. The cover will also be slightly different. It still has the main silhouette of the character they encounter, but in the front there are three silhouettes of the protagonists, shown in white, because they’re kind of meant to stand out as “different” from the rest of the characters.

And I’m not sure if that would put people off, since everything else in the series is very consistent, but the first book breaks that pattern a bit with the shorter length, multiple main characters, and slightly different cover.

At the same time, you don’t technically need to read the first book. It’s not necessary to understand the rest. The books are meant to be standalone anyway. The first one is more like an introduction to the world and how everything connects.

So I guess my question is: would that feel weird or off-putting to you as a reader, or is it fine and pretty normal?

I've recently thought of an idea for a novel. The single most important thing for me at the moment is to know is how everyone interprets these two words. "The Fool"

I’m not looking for a “correct” interpretation or fantasy-style definition. Just say what comes to mind immediately when you hear it. What it feels like to you, even if it’s simple or abstract.

Is it from social media posts, links in your books? What is working for you to drive people to giving you the sacred email address?

Hey published writers!

What’s the most important lesson you learned through the writing process that still stays with you today? It can be anything, from the biggest revelation to the smallest habit.

Thinking about it myself, one of the most important things I learned was how to keep pushing myself forward. More than 15 years ago, I was struggling with writing as a whole. Nothing was clicking, and I felt genuinely depressed because of it. So I made a very simple decision: I would write just one sentence today, and another one tomorrow. It was so easy to sit down for one sentence that I kept doing it every day. Before long, I got hooked on my own writing process. A month later, I was gradually building up to 5-hour writing sessions.

So, what about you?

Does anyone else have a recurring motive of all their books.

All my books kind of tie in together. they can be completly different characters, timelines, lives lived and Genres of fiction but they all tie back in together.

I have built over my manuscripts the theory that all lives in all worlds are leaves on the tree of life. Some burn brightly, some fall before they are ready, some end happy and some end sad but they are all from the same place "The rainbow tree".

For example Three books
Raising riley
Becoming Riley
Angry skies

All have the same characters imbedded in them but somethint changed on their leafs that changed the trajectory of their lives and shaped them into different people with different life experiences.

Hello everyone! I want to improve my writing but I really have a hard time in making progress. I do know reading books help but I want to find alternative ways to improve. Anything helps! Thank you.

FAQ: How to post to a weekly thread?

Feedback Guide for New Writers

This is a thread for giving and receiving feedback on 5 of your screenplay pages.

• Post a link to five pages of your screenplay in a top comment. They can be any 5, but if they are not your first 5, give some context in the same comment you're linking in.

• As a courtesy, you can also include some of this info.

  Title: Format: Page Length: Genres: Logline or Summary: Feedback Concerns:

• Provide feedback in reply-comments. Please do not share full scripts and link only to your 5 pages. If someone wants to see your full script, they can let you know.

Hello there. I am not a screenwriter, although it’s an idea that keeps coming back to me (like a splinter - in my mind).

I don’t know the industry. I am about to write something about the final episode of “The Boys” but no spoilers. To those who have seen it - to me the ending seems lazy and meh. And I’ve seen many shows or movies where ending feels that way.

Is it so difficult to write a good ending or are there other forces in play that meddle with good writing and make it bad?

I’m in my early 40s and seriously considering a shift toward screenwriting after spending the last decade in nonprofit executive leadership. That experience has given me a lot of, shall we say, enriching texture and insight into human nature (and drama). I’m financially and professionally stable enough to finally devote real time to a writing practice, but I’m also trying to be honest with myself as an outsider entering this late.

I’ve completed and rewritten a TV pilot, built a pitch deck, entered a contest, and started developing additional projects. I read scripts regularly, try to craft a logline daily, and am beginning to reach out through my personal network and queries to managers and producers.

I’m not coming at this completely out of nowhere. I have a journalism degree, sold freelance stuff for magazines earlier in my career, wrote a play in college, and have spent years doing story-driven grant and proposal writing. I also know screenwriting is its own craft and industry, and I’m trying not to assume that my competencies in other areas equal actual professional readiness.

Part of this drive comes from family history too. My late father was a talented but unsuccessful screenwriter and novelist who struggled to accept feedback (if you’ve seen Bojack Horseman, you know the type) and watching that shaped a lot of my career decisions. I took the “responsible” path for a long time, but the desire to write seriously never really left.

Bill Dubuque’s path from corporate recruiting into screenwriting has been especially interesting to me, and the closest parallel I’ve come across in my research into journeys that could resemble my own. Though I’m sure survivorship bias is very real.

Ultimately, I guess I want to know what realistic expectations someone in my position should have? What mindset and actions distinguish people who successfully pivot into this work from another career from those just romanticizing escape from burnout? Thanks in advance.

As someone who has always wished to be a father, when I wrote a part of my story where the main character and his wife(1st chapter BTW) had their kid, thinking they were uninfected by the hankov virus(a hybrid between hanta and covid viruses) the virus is intelligent, so it detects near death, then forces the host into sneezing violently until they die of short breath. The virus treats infancy just as it treats near death. The second the main character's baby was born, he started sneezing, even before screaming. And because of the sharp sneezing pressure, the infant's eyes came out of their socket then back in. He started twisting his body around like a sheep that has just been slaughtered, but never stopped sneezing. And before long, the child died. This thing got my eyes running, man. The kid being infected means one of the parents had the virus. And it also means it's a certain death for the infant. I'm currently single and i never had a child, but if I do. Man I am gonna make them walk around with 5 packets of alcohol and masks and everything, man.

I am posting this here, hoping other authors can avoid having an awful experience with Reedsy. Within the 6 weeks it took to get a final decision from them, I have a new editor because of the errors and lack of editing this editor provided. The difference was night and day.

I hired an editor through Reedsy for a line/copy editing package on my novel for $880. I was really excited to work with this editor since they had excellent reviews and offered a 2 day proofread (which despite being the most expensive of the editors I was looking at is the main reason I chose them). But the edits I was provided were nothing like the sample edits. They did a complete bait-and-switch from before to after I accepted the offer.

What I received (3 days late) was riddled with errors. There were no explanatory comments for some of their edits, even though they agreed to leave them and it's mentioned within the package, and they introduced problems that weren't in my original prose.
- When I brought up there were no explanatory comments, they said it "is not an efficient use of my time" and that they don't offer this with their services.
- Some errors introduced by the editor: There were grammatical and spelling errors. Floating dialogue that they disconnected from their tags. Stated "the Sphinx" had to be "the Great Sphinx" because it could be confused with the cat breed Sphynx that they incorrectly spelled Sphinx.
- They told me I used filter words like "I see" and "I hear" as issues in my prose, despite that not being present. It was only a few times in the character's dialogue.
- Flagged a word as a crutch word, despite it only being added by them in my prose.
- Applied contradictory italics rules across different chapters.

When pushed, the editor admitted they didn’t provide me with a full line edit in writing.

They revealed they had identified extensive recurring line/copy-editing issues in my writing but never flagged them during the edits, despite agreeing to do so. They then blamed me for not providing full edits, claiming I showed "reluctance" during the sample edit. My pre-agreement messages show the opposite: I told them multiple times to feel free to leave all their thoughts, and that I could always keep edits as suggestions if I didn't agree with them. I also told them they should never feel the need to hold back.

Communication was a recurring issue. They ghosted me three times, regarding communication preferences and reaching out after a deliverable was late.

There were other issues I won't go into here, like unilaterally changing our terms after I had accepted the offer and calling things we had agreed upon "courtesy extras."

I filed a report through Reedsy for a full refund. Provided them all documentation and communication via Reedsy. They offered a 30% refund for the canceled proofread only, despite the editor themselves openly admitting that they did not do a full line/copy edit when pushed. In their response, they did not address any of the major errors I pointed out and sided fully with the editor. 

I emailed Reedsy, pointing out that they completely ignored the errors I brought up, and they only increased the refund to 40% and said no more changes would be made to the refund amount. They acknowledged only some of the errors I pointed out after mentioning I had another editor look at the manuscript and identified even more errors that I hadn’t caught. Still, they said that I reaped the benefits of her other edits. I did not.

I went with Reedsy because I thought their vetting process would prevent a situation like this. I am so disappointed that they are not making the situation right and siding with the editor who admitted to not providing what we agreed upon.

TLDR: An editor on Reedsy pulled a complete bait-and-switch. They delivered a manuscript riddled with errors, missing elements that had been agreed upon before the offer was accepted. When pushed, the editor admitted to not providing full line/copy edits. I had to hire another editor to fix what they provided me. Reedsy only provided a 30% refund for the canceled proofread and an additional 10% for all the errors introduced and missed. I am disappointed they are not making the situation right and siding with the editor who admitted to not providing what we agreed upon.