r/writingadvice

I’m writing a story in the perspective of a very repressed gay man in the 40s who is ‘friends’ with a black man who he somewhat fetishes and views as less black. (if that helps with anything). he ends up falling in love with this man but ruining his reputation with rumours and such. The friend HATES the protag very much because of the rumours and avoids him in general, however they work together with a mutual friend to buy contraband to sell in the college they attend.

While the protag and friend are alone, the protag confesses and the friend is disgusted. Protag basically comes onto him and begins aggressively kissing him and the friend shoves him off after punching him in the head, cusses him out, and leaves.

The protag is very delusional and is constantly shocked that his friend doesnt reciprocate his feelings.

The thing is I‘ve Never written a scene like this before and I have no idea how to write it in the perspective of someone so terrible. Any help is appreciated! Also if I worded anything of this oddly please tell me so I can edit it.

I am writing a light novel in first person and I wanted to express what a character (that isn't the narrating character) thinks of the MC without using a dialogue since that would inform the MC of what he is thinking.

I am a fairly new writer so any advice is wellcome

I've been working on a story idea for a while and have gotten to the point where I am beginning to write scenes that I have in my head. As a reader, I tend to prefer third person close, and have always imagined writing this story as third person. However, every time I sit down to write, it's coming out in first person. For a bit, I've was going back and changing it. But it kept happening and now it's taken me aback and I can't decide which POV to go with. I'm not sure if it's the way the story wants to be told, or if it's just a "bad habit" because I haven't written fiction in some years.

How do you typically decide? Do you typically go with your subconscious/instinct or take a more crafted, deliberate approach?

I'm writing a short story about a world where, when something really bad happens to someone, there's a slight chance they'll turn into a Terror, a monster that's a twisted version of a human. This phenomenon is pretty rare and only started recently, so people still don't take it seriously. Most of the story is from the perspective of a man who finds out his wife is cheating on him and how he becomes a Terror. I want to add a bit from the perspective of the woman who cheated.

The idea is that it's a combination of self-sabotage (she doesn't believe she deserves to be with him), the fact that they've been together since high school (she doesn't know who she is without him), and a toxic friend who convinces her to cheat. The problem is, I cut toxic people out of my life pretty quickly, I don't know how they think and what arguments they can bring to such a situation.

Apologies if this question is too simple. Whilst searching on Google, I've honestly been struggling a bit with getting a good answer regarding it as to me, there seems to be a number of different aspects that contribute to the classification of a book as either Young Adult or Adult fiction

For example, the age of the main character, the level of violence and sexual content, the overall word count (though I might be mistaken on if these actually matter, which is part of why I'm making this post).

I'm just wondering if I can get some advice on what classification my plan would fall into:

* The protagonist is a 13 year old boy and the deuteragonist is a 17 year old boy

* There is no sexual content at all (90% sure that won't change)

* However, there will be a decent level of violence including violence & injury towards the protagonist and another teen of the same age. Not graphic violence at all, but to a higher degree than I've normally seen in YA books I've read

* Many of the events of the book are set off by the murder of a 13 year old girl

* This probably doesn't matter because I've read YA books with this before, but the book does have a tragic ending. Nothing happy about it

I really appreciate any advice I can get!

So, for the last few weeks I've been writing a story for myself. Simply as a creative exercise. It's about this girl Mary, who has a crush on a half-time worker from the local farm, and fellow student, Cole. She's been trying to get his attention for quite a while now, but he always politely declines, saying that he is busy. Not willing to take a "No" for an answer, she looks for a way to interact with him during his work. It is at this moment that she finds an old crystal bottle in her grandmother's house, which says that it can bring someone's love to them if they drink its contents. She takes the bottle home and drinks it. Quickly, she is transformed into a cow. After understandably freaking out, she reasons that THIS is the way to connect with Cole. So after the effects wear off, she goes to the farm, transforms and approaches him. He is quite friendly to her in this new form, and so they spend more and more time together. After this part, I am struggling on how to continue the story. I know that I want Cole to turn into an animal as well, but I don't know how to do it in a natural way. You guys got any ideas?

Hi. The problem in my case is that I think I have a story. Because of depression, I fell into what doctors call anhedonia (I am unsure how it’s written). For those who don’t know, it’s the lack of any feeling. Like, in my case, I don’t know what I like or love (I know what I despise, though everything else is indifferent to me).

So I have been collecting these ideas for around a year now. And I think I have this story inside me I need to tell.

However, yesterday, I saw a post here yesterday that said something along the lines of: maybe you don’t have a story, so that’s why you don’t have plot. The thing that he argued is that you should fall in love with the story you write, and I just can’t do it because I frankly don’t feel anything.

I do writing because it’s ”the only thing that’s less annoying than all else”, and it gives me something to work with. But when I sit to write, it’s just…nothing. And at the same time, I feel limited. I write in a language that is not my native one, and I feel like it’s total trash when it deserves to be good. For reference, I’ve written two books, and I find it all so overwhelming. It’s the only thing I can do because I completely fell off due to the mental health issue and have nothing to do (I can’t see a psychologist anymore for personal reasons and am constantly tortured at where I am getting my education). Do you have any advice on what I can do?

Hello.

Do want to stress, Im not asking for someone to go back to my old post and criticize it now. I'm asking for future reference.

I do genuinely want to get help and improve. Rather not, stew in an echo chamber. So when this first draft of my book/novel is finished and i start my 2nd draft. Hoping I might get a better chance of, well, any feedback. For better or worse, this is a subject I want to write about, sadly...

I realized the subject matter, might not be for everyone. Thinking I might give a chapter that doesn't handle the subject matter? Though, any synopsis for missing context will still have to be explain, that the subject matter happen.

Thank you for your time. Have a wonderful day.

There are tons of typing apps out there - when i was starting to look for a course I wasn't sure what to pick - mavis beacon was a classic in my days but it's fairly outdated now.

here are some of apps I've tried so far - i wanted something for both myself and my son to use to learn (kinda of a challenge for both of us as we both write but never learned to type correctly

Here's a breakdown of 5 platforms I looked into

1. TypeQuicker.com

the first that showed up on a few searches; seems to be most recent and most 'premium'. has courses, has practice, has an option to use your own texts, has an option to create/generate text based on any topic.

i liked that it shows you weakpoints (which finger is slowest, etc).

TypeQuicker.com

Price: starts at $10.25/mo but i got a deal for 3 months which was like $28.

Languages: only English it seems which is fine for me

2. TypingClub

just one big course pretty much with some games thrown in - seems to be better for my son than me tbh; feels like their product is made more towards shools instead of adults learning to type

Price: Free but riddle with ads; otherwise its $9 per month if you want a usable experience

Languages: 20+

3. typing.com

Large course with hundreds of exercises - same as above pretty much

Languages: 20+ interface languages

4. monkey type

very basic site - mostly for practicing; not really learning. has a minimal/clean ux

Following up on my last post, I think I've found the root of the issue.

I've been watching a video where 10 artists design characters independently, and it made me notice two different directions a story can run, sometimes the world and its rules dictate how characters act, and their actions drive the plot. And then the characters' goals and choices are what drive the plot, and the world just sits underneath that.

The clearest example from the video was a fantasy/post apocalyptic zombie story as the concept, a member of a 6 person group gets infected and runs off to find a cure, which pulls her toward a scientist and learning about how she could save humanity brought her to necromancy and ties back to the villain and the group and scientist searching for her is what eventually brings everyone together for the final confrontation. There the world's setting kind of dictated how characters had acted and decisions they made, and the way they acted dictated the plot.

I'm new to this, so correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like most stories lean this way

Here's why this matters for me: my characters didn't start out in this story. They began as side characters somewhere else, and now I'm trying to fit a world underneath them, so I have the conflict but the characters aren't grounded in that world to make decisions to have the plot moving.

So my question is: How do I take characters who already exist and ground them in a world so their personalities and actions feel like a natural product of that setting, so then it can eventually generate plot from they're choices and actions?

On a side note I hope got my point was clear I tend to overexplain sometimes.

Hello all! As the title states, I'm currently trying to create a codename for a person in my book that my main character is actively hunting down. The person in question is a soccer coach at a middle school and I'm looking for the codename to allude to that in some way, shape, or form. The codename, optimistically, would hint at the person's job as a soccer coach. I've been having a tough time thinking this one through. There have been two other people in this book who work at the school who also have codenames, so hopefully these give you a frame of reference for what I mean. The first is codenamed Polaris, and the person in question is a school counselor; Polaris being the North star that guides/has guided many people and a counselor acts as a point of guidance in a school. The second is codenamed Ranger and the person in question is a Groundskeeper. This is a touch less clever, as a Ranger in fantasy watches over and observes a particular area outdoors. Any help with the third codename would be greatly helpful!

Is it just me or im still struggling to come up with Ideas and I dont like it. like I was writing lore for an oc but like ideas came up but god bro I had to keep searching shit up then I would get an Idea came up with the dude got punched in the face and thats why his nose is so crooked then his caretaker got executed but I feel like the ideas not mine bc now that Im thinking about it in the maze runner minho punched gally (from what I remember) and thats why he has a deformed nose? so idk bro and I also came up for my oc how he was created and shit but dude idk its still hard to come up with ideas. any help? and was this normal for you guys too? did it overtime get better and you can come up with creative ideas? Like I dont know what ideas are mine and I just feel like my ideas are shit ive seen and arent actually new. Im trying to get over an obsession that ruined my creativity but idk if its making it worse or what. literally every second while trying to make lore I was searching up like character traits, things to add in a characters past. Like I put one of his traits are gifted and then searched up shit for past then searched up gifted shit decided on one. But also took something from a youtuber she said she made her oc only remember like the sensory details from his past so I added that. is that copying or is this normal for like creative processes? because I just want my ideas to be my own.

Okay i need advice. I'm writing a romance that takes place in hell but as you can guess hell is not the most romantic place. In my vision, hell is entirely pointless the way its described. How can you grow from burning for all eternity isolated from the people that made you who you are and the people you hurt? its not accountability at all. My themes are accountability and codependency so all the people of this hell are in pairs. I envisioned that this hell was some sort of garden or something. An illogical world like wonderland or something. Its a lesbian romance if you wanted to know. The premise is good and everything, the setting is the problem. If you see this, please interact with it. For some reason, i get so many views and like 2 responses.

I haven't written fiction in a long time, and I seem to have forgotten how to actually structure a plot. I did use to struggle with this even when I was writing daily.

I usually get my ideas randomly. For example, I might be staring at the clock and it pops up in my head that I could write a story from its perspective. I immediately note down that initial thought somewhere. But when I sit down to start writing, I'm usually blank. And if I'm not, I can't continue writing from where I left off. This really frustrates me.

I suppose I'm looking for a step-by-step breakdown of how to get started with an idea. Or any exercises that might help me. At this point, any input is valuable.

Thanks!

Hi! I’m writing a story about a pastors kid who gets outed for being gay then gets sent to conversion camp. I have this set up when Caleb (the protagonist) meets one of his dorm mates, Asher. I have a bunch of different dialogue options and I’m curious which is funniest or sounds best. Any suggestions or if anyone wants to rank all ten or give me other variants are welcome!

Heres the setup.

Asher: “Welcome pastors boy.”
Caleb: “How do you know my dad’s a pastor?”

And heres my ideas for his next line;

1. ⁠“Please. My black magic sensed your Bible vibes five minutes before you got here.”
2. ⁠“Your outfit just screams ‘I wanna make my Christian daddy proud’.”
3. ⁠“I felt a strange presence when you entered the threshold. Also my crystals shattered.”
4. ⁠“I started instinctively hissing the second you got into the building.”
5. ⁠“You reek of prayers and 1 Corinthians. My power crystals broke on sight.”
6. ⁠“My evil spirits hightailed it out of my body the second you entered. I’m practically cured now.”
7. ⁠“Satan called me personally and told me to watch out for your purity. He said you might infect me with your goodness and I’d perish into dust.”
8. ⁠“My inner demons cried in terror. Same thing happened when I met Josiah. I’m probably gonna die from too much exposure to all these virtues.”
9. ⁠“Oh. My Oujia board started flashing neon lights and proclaimed a pure child of God had arrived.” gestures grandly to Caleb “He has risen.”
10. ⁠“The demons inside me curled up and started screaming ‘NOOOO HE’S TOO PURE!!!’” dramatically collapses on the bed
11. ⁠“Witchcraft, obviously. I don’t wear all black for nothing.”

I have this idea for a dark fantasy world im crafting. To give context to what im cooking up, its being influenced mainly by H.P.Lovecraft. It has a vast world with many different creatures and cultures. Im making (or trying to at least) a magic/power system for it. Im also wanting to add horror elements here and there. (Sorry if thats vague, im really attached to this and dont want anyone stealing my ideas if I put it on the internet)

My question is this: Given that ive never written a fictional story before, what's some advice that yall can give to help steer me in the right direction?

This is the biggest thing ive ever started and im really trying to follow through with it. Ive never had an original idea before this and im really excited for it. I just want to do justice to myself and this work.

I don't mind people with associative thinking but my friend who is very supportive btw often calls simple stuff "plagiarism". She doesn't say it directly but u can guess by the tone. If she has seen something in a media she liked, it becomes copy in any other media. I tokd her my main character's name and she immediately thought about a character from another book. I really want to show her my draft but I know she will find something that she saw somewhere else and it'll break my heart. I don't know how to tell her nicely not to do that since I don't want to offend her or something.

After numerous rounds of advice, I'm learning that one of the problems with fridging is that the woman's (specifically love interest's) death CANNOT be SOLELY to motivate the MMC. Also, if the wife/gf's death can be replaced with a dog, then rewrite; then, if she were to survive and it doesn't fundamentally change the story, then rewrite.

I'm running into these problems: in a story specifically about grief---which I feel is fair to write about---the woman therefore cannot survive, otherwise it is not a story about grief anymore, and in the same vein fundamentally has to be a motivation for the MMC.

Now, this is what I've ensured for my own dead wife character: she actively tries to fight her own death and has goals if she were to survive that are cut short due to the fact that she does not (making it a tragedy); the MMC also does not try to "save" her in any way that she does not approve of, therefore giving utmost agency; the community is affected by her loss, not in a plot-driven way, but in a wide-spread mournfulness that does affect people's individual lives that is shown on-page; her presence, while not physical, permeates the remainder of the story and she is not left on the page that she died on.

My question then becomes: despite all of these precautions, is she still rendered "fridged" because her death serves as the main plot motivation for MMC? Because it is a wife and not a husband, father, brother, does this make her automatically fridged? - (For the sake of word count, I cannot describe every detail why it matters that she is the wife in this instance, but let us assume that the context is there for the sake of discussion)

How do I do this? I have my main character find a book where he discovers his powers. My problem is how to not make it boring.

Most books I've read have their mc learn through a mentor as a kind of narrative device. I'd like to know if you have any suggestions where this has been done.

I've been debating if I'm burnt out or not. I did look it up, and generally, it's when you don't enjoy writing and it feels like a chore. But that's not how I feel, so I thought I'd ask. For me, I just feel tired whenever I try writing. I'm 100% invested, have the idea ready, have my plot outlined, everything's waiting, but it just feels like all my energy has been stolen and I can't bring myself to write a word.