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qfceya | writing_train | 0.85 | Is it ill-advised to write a story without any sort of notes or guidelines regarding the world prepared? I have a general idea of the world state I want in my head, and I discuss the details with my friend and writing partner fairly often in our DMs, but I haven't actually taken the time to write out any proper notes regarding the world and characters. Is this ill-advised? | hi2ydjh | hhz41u9 | 1,635,226,781 | 1,635,162,620 | 3 | 1 | I've written a series of 3 low fantasy books and I quickly discovered that I don't like world building. At all. Personally, I like to jump into the story and write. After I finished the 1st book, I reread it and the worldbuilding needed a lot of work, so I really fleshed it on in the 2nd draft and that method worked for me. I think if I was writing high fantasy, it would be very hard to work this way, but so long as you have a grasp of what's going on and you're willing to make changes in latter drafts then it's fine. You might be making more work for yourself, you might be saving yourself a lot of work, but if you want to write and you feel you know enough to do it, then write. | That depends on you, and if you can keep it all straight without notes. | 1 | 64,161 | 3 | ||
qfceya | writing_train | 0.85 | Is it ill-advised to write a story without any sort of notes or guidelines regarding the world prepared? I have a general idea of the world state I want in my head, and I discuss the details with my friend and writing partner fairly often in our DMs, but I haven't actually taken the time to write out any proper notes regarding the world and characters. Is this ill-advised? | hi2ydjh | hhz4tx9 | 1,635,226,781 | 1,635,163,132 | 3 | 1 | I've written a series of 3 low fantasy books and I quickly discovered that I don't like world building. At all. Personally, I like to jump into the story and write. After I finished the 1st book, I reread it and the worldbuilding needed a lot of work, so I really fleshed it on in the 2nd draft and that method worked for me. I think if I was writing high fantasy, it would be very hard to work this way, but so long as you have a grasp of what's going on and you're willing to make changes in latter drafts then it's fine. You might be making more work for yourself, you might be saving yourself a lot of work, but if you want to write and you feel you know enough to do it, then write. | It’s pretty much the same thing if you’re writing anything down. If you’re expecting the story to come out easily then let me just disabuse you of such notions. No matter which order you take it: it’s not going to be easy. But no there’s no “better” way than to _write_. | 1 | 63,649 | 3 | ||
qfceya | writing_train | 0.85 | Is it ill-advised to write a story without any sort of notes or guidelines regarding the world prepared? I have a general idea of the world state I want in my head, and I discuss the details with my friend and writing partner fairly often in our DMs, but I haven't actually taken the time to write out any proper notes regarding the world and characters. Is this ill-advised? | hhz9vyr | hi2ydjh | 1,635,166,179 | 1,635,226,781 | 1 | 3 | My first novel that I completed, I barely had any idea on the plot written down or even thought of. I literally just had a premise and wrote! Ended up being over 65k words. Obviously, I built on things as I went along but when it comes to starting, I say no you don’t need it to start out. | I've written a series of 3 low fantasy books and I quickly discovered that I don't like world building. At all. Personally, I like to jump into the story and write. After I finished the 1st book, I reread it and the worldbuilding needed a lot of work, so I really fleshed it on in the 2nd draft and that method worked for me. I think if I was writing high fantasy, it would be very hard to work this way, but so long as you have a grasp of what's going on and you're willing to make changes in latter drafts then it's fine. You might be making more work for yourself, you might be saving yourself a lot of work, but if you want to write and you feel you know enough to do it, then write. | 0 | 60,602 | 3 | ||
qfceya | writing_train | 0.85 | Is it ill-advised to write a story without any sort of notes or guidelines regarding the world prepared? I have a general idea of the world state I want in my head, and I discuss the details with my friend and writing partner fairly often in our DMs, but I haven't actually taken the time to write out any proper notes regarding the world and characters. Is this ill-advised? | hhzfnvy | hi2ydjh | 1,635,169,156 | 1,635,226,781 | 1 | 3 | I take notes as part of brainstorming. If I’m feeling industrious, because I’m an organization freak sometimes and i got into the habit for D&D campaigns, I’ll put everything into OneNote. But the truth is i know I won’t really refer to it. I typically remember the important shit and most of the little details i make up on the spot anyways. I will say, if i write it it down, it sticks a lot better than typed notes. | I've written a series of 3 low fantasy books and I quickly discovered that I don't like world building. At all. Personally, I like to jump into the story and write. After I finished the 1st book, I reread it and the worldbuilding needed a lot of work, so I really fleshed it on in the 2nd draft and that method worked for me. I think if I was writing high fantasy, it would be very hard to work this way, but so long as you have a grasp of what's going on and you're willing to make changes in latter drafts then it's fine. You might be making more work for yourself, you might be saving yourself a lot of work, but if you want to write and you feel you know enough to do it, then write. | 0 | 57,625 | 3 | ||
qfceya | writing_train | 0.85 | Is it ill-advised to write a story without any sort of notes or guidelines regarding the world prepared? I have a general idea of the world state I want in my head, and I discuss the details with my friend and writing partner fairly often in our DMs, but I haven't actually taken the time to write out any proper notes regarding the world and characters. Is this ill-advised? | hhzjusd | hi2ydjh | 1,635,171,117 | 1,635,226,781 | 1 | 3 | Personally? I think it's a lot easier to just roll with whatever world I envision, without having to put it all down in notes. Sometimes it's actually \*fun\* to put it all down in notes, especially if it's a world I might end up using for a story later. I usually don't even put down many static notes for characters because if I evolve the character later, I end up going back to my old notes and finding things that conflict. As long as I've got a good idea of their personality, I'm good to go. The main thing I can't live without is a plot outline. I \*need\* to spend time thinking it through and laying it out, otherwise I start second-guessing myself. Personally I feel like I need to know where I'm going. | I've written a series of 3 low fantasy books and I quickly discovered that I don't like world building. At all. Personally, I like to jump into the story and write. After I finished the 1st book, I reread it and the worldbuilding needed a lot of work, so I really fleshed it on in the 2nd draft and that method worked for me. I think if I was writing high fantasy, it would be very hard to work this way, but so long as you have a grasp of what's going on and you're willing to make changes in latter drafts then it's fine. You might be making more work for yourself, you might be saving yourself a lot of work, but if you want to write and you feel you know enough to do it, then write. | 0 | 55,664 | 3 | ||
qfceya | writing_train | 0.85 | Is it ill-advised to write a story without any sort of notes or guidelines regarding the world prepared? I have a general idea of the world state I want in my head, and I discuss the details with my friend and writing partner fairly often in our DMs, but I haven't actually taken the time to write out any proper notes regarding the world and characters. Is this ill-advised? | hhzvtia | hi2ydjh | 1,635,176,347 | 1,635,226,781 | 0 | 3 | Is it ill-advised to write a story where you don't consider your slightly younger and less experienced self to be the boss of your slightly older and more experienced self? No. Is it ill-advised to be skeptical of the idea that "planning" has some kind of magical mojo that "doing" does not? No. Is it ill-advised to craft the story, its settings, and its characters all at the same time, for maximum synergy? No. If you're confused, it is a good idea to make a few basic decisions to give yourself some stars to steer by? Sure. If you don't frequently reread the chapters you've written so far, is an up-to-date outline a reasonable substitute to keep you from forgetting what's in your story? Sure. | I've written a series of 3 low fantasy books and I quickly discovered that I don't like world building. At all. Personally, I like to jump into the story and write. After I finished the 1st book, I reread it and the worldbuilding needed a lot of work, so I really fleshed it on in the 2nd draft and that method worked for me. I think if I was writing high fantasy, it would be very hard to work this way, but so long as you have a grasp of what's going on and you're willing to make changes in latter drafts then it's fine. You might be making more work for yourself, you might be saving yourself a lot of work, but if you want to write and you feel you know enough to do it, then write. | 0 | 50,434 | 3,000 | ||
qfceya | writing_train | 0.85 | Is it ill-advised to write a story without any sort of notes or guidelines regarding the world prepared? I have a general idea of the world state I want in my head, and I discuss the details with my friend and writing partner fairly often in our DMs, but I haven't actually taken the time to write out any proper notes regarding the world and characters. Is this ill-advised? | hi09m7w | hi2ydjh | 1,635,182,009 | 1,635,226,781 | 1 | 3 | There's really no right or wrong way to approach a story when it comes to planning. A general idea can certainly be enough. Some writers prefer to plan a lot, others not so much. If you want to just start writing, I say go for it. You'll discover what works for you. You can always pause and plan more concretely. | I've written a series of 3 low fantasy books and I quickly discovered that I don't like world building. At all. Personally, I like to jump into the story and write. After I finished the 1st book, I reread it and the worldbuilding needed a lot of work, so I really fleshed it on in the 2nd draft and that method worked for me. I think if I was writing high fantasy, it would be very hard to work this way, but so long as you have a grasp of what's going on and you're willing to make changes in latter drafts then it's fine. You might be making more work for yourself, you might be saving yourself a lot of work, but if you want to write and you feel you know enough to do it, then write. | 0 | 44,772 | 3 | ||
qfceya | writing_train | 0.85 | Is it ill-advised to write a story without any sort of notes or guidelines regarding the world prepared? I have a general idea of the world state I want in my head, and I discuss the details with my friend and writing partner fairly often in our DMs, but I haven't actually taken the time to write out any proper notes regarding the world and characters. Is this ill-advised? | hi2ydjh | hi0bh7p | 1,635,226,781 | 1,635,182,766 | 3 | 1 | I've written a series of 3 low fantasy books and I quickly discovered that I don't like world building. At all. Personally, I like to jump into the story and write. After I finished the 1st book, I reread it and the worldbuilding needed a lot of work, so I really fleshed it on in the 2nd draft and that method worked for me. I think if I was writing high fantasy, it would be very hard to work this way, but so long as you have a grasp of what's going on and you're willing to make changes in latter drafts then it's fine. You might be making more work for yourself, you might be saving yourself a lot of work, but if you want to write and you feel you know enough to do it, then write. | Writing a story without notes is like sailing without sails. You can still get to where you're going, it's just a hell of a lot harder. | 1 | 44,015 | 3 | ||
qfceya | writing_train | 0.85 | Is it ill-advised to write a story without any sort of notes or guidelines regarding the world prepared? I have a general idea of the world state I want in my head, and I discuss the details with my friend and writing partner fairly often in our DMs, but I haven't actually taken the time to write out any proper notes regarding the world and characters. Is this ill-advised? | hi0bv0e | hi2ydjh | 1,635,182,922 | 1,635,226,781 | 1 | 3 | Everything I write is usually off rip because I’m not a planning type person so it is easier for me to just go with the flow | I've written a series of 3 low fantasy books and I quickly discovered that I don't like world building. At all. Personally, I like to jump into the story and write. After I finished the 1st book, I reread it and the worldbuilding needed a lot of work, so I really fleshed it on in the 2nd draft and that method worked for me. I think if I was writing high fantasy, it would be very hard to work this way, but so long as you have a grasp of what's going on and you're willing to make changes in latter drafts then it's fine. You might be making more work for yourself, you might be saving yourself a lot of work, but if you want to write and you feel you know enough to do it, then write. | 0 | 43,859 | 3 | ||
qfceya | writing_train | 0.85 | Is it ill-advised to write a story without any sort of notes or guidelines regarding the world prepared? I have a general idea of the world state I want in my head, and I discuss the details with my friend and writing partner fairly often in our DMs, but I haven't actually taken the time to write out any proper notes regarding the world and characters. Is this ill-advised? | hi0erdg | hi2ydjh | 1,635,184,106 | 1,635,226,781 | 1 | 3 | What are you inspired to do and do you have a deadline? I had a great idea. I had a crew assembled from assorted short stories I'd written, transferred to the new universe. I wrote two novellas in the series, workshopped it, and then did a total rebuild of the world, and now I have a novel series. I have multiple novels-worth of deleted scenes and rewrites. I'm okay with that. To me, resetting to canon and taking off in a new direction is fun. I love discovering as I write way more than outlining. Now that I'm more practiced and better at world building, I can jot down a page of notes and get a much more focused story with significantly less rewrite, but that came with time, practice, and honing of the craft. For your first book, do what you're inspired to do, and hone the craft. Worry about optimizing your process later. | I've written a series of 3 low fantasy books and I quickly discovered that I don't like world building. At all. Personally, I like to jump into the story and write. After I finished the 1st book, I reread it and the worldbuilding needed a lot of work, so I really fleshed it on in the 2nd draft and that method worked for me. I think if I was writing high fantasy, it would be very hard to work this way, but so long as you have a grasp of what's going on and you're willing to make changes in latter drafts then it's fine. You might be making more work for yourself, you might be saving yourself a lot of work, but if you want to write and you feel you know enough to do it, then write. | 0 | 42,675 | 3 | ||
qfceya | writing_train | 0.85 | Is it ill-advised to write a story without any sort of notes or guidelines regarding the world prepared? I have a general idea of the world state I want in my head, and I discuss the details with my friend and writing partner fairly often in our DMs, but I haven't actually taken the time to write out any proper notes regarding the world and characters. Is this ill-advised? | hi0h21z | hi2ydjh | 1,635,185,050 | 1,635,226,781 | 1 | 3 | There are a breed of writers who fall into the "spontaneous" tribe, myself included. You have a general idea, then just sit down and write. Haruki Murakami is probably the most famous of these writers. iirc he does use any sort of notes or guidelines for the world, just what fits in the moment as he writes. Of course you want to follow any rules you set as you write. This type of writing results in a lot of editing and rewrites for consistency, at least in my anecdotal experience. At the end of the day, if you are writing, you are doing it right! I failed writing two books and countless short stories before I happily ended my first complete novel. | I've written a series of 3 low fantasy books and I quickly discovered that I don't like world building. At all. Personally, I like to jump into the story and write. After I finished the 1st book, I reread it and the worldbuilding needed a lot of work, so I really fleshed it on in the 2nd draft and that method worked for me. I think if I was writing high fantasy, it would be very hard to work this way, but so long as you have a grasp of what's going on and you're willing to make changes in latter drafts then it's fine. You might be making more work for yourself, you might be saving yourself a lot of work, but if you want to write and you feel you know enough to do it, then write. | 0 | 41,731 | 3 | ||
qfceya | writing_train | 0.85 | Is it ill-advised to write a story without any sort of notes or guidelines regarding the world prepared? I have a general idea of the world state I want in my head, and I discuss the details with my friend and writing partner fairly often in our DMs, but I haven't actually taken the time to write out any proper notes regarding the world and characters. Is this ill-advised? | hi0n6yh | hi2ydjh | 1,635,187,547 | 1,635,226,781 | 1 | 3 | At the end of the day you have to find what works for you. There's a few big categories: Personally, I like to mull things over until I have a decent idea of what the piece is about, then I word vomit a bunch of themes associations actions characters etc into what looks like a manic list of nonsense. Then I start adding sentences and moving stuff around, and the notes transform into the draft. \[intuitive plotter\] Some people like to make detailed notes and keep them to the side: these are the folks that fill out character sheets and plot beat sheets, worldbuilding and history research, etc. The notes themselves can often be as much writing as the text, and often as a pre-writing exercise -- J.R.R Tolkien comes to mind. \[methodoligical pantser\] Some people like to jump in and get their feet wet and figure it out on the way. These people won't even know what the story is about until it's on the page. Stephen King says he writes this way. George RR Martin as well. \[intuitive pantser\] Some people have a methodology to writing that they follow, that may be written or unwritten, but no matter what when they start a project they already know what they'll do because they have a formula for success. They can be *extremely* prodigious because of this. They'll often have main characters across multiple books, or plots which echo each other. -- Lee Child, for example. \[methodological plotter\] | I've written a series of 3 low fantasy books and I quickly discovered that I don't like world building. At all. Personally, I like to jump into the story and write. After I finished the 1st book, I reread it and the worldbuilding needed a lot of work, so I really fleshed it on in the 2nd draft and that method worked for me. I think if I was writing high fantasy, it would be very hard to work this way, but so long as you have a grasp of what's going on and you're willing to make changes in latter drafts then it's fine. You might be making more work for yourself, you might be saving yourself a lot of work, but if you want to write and you feel you know enough to do it, then write. | 0 | 39,234 | 3 | ||
qfceya | writing_train | 0.85 | Is it ill-advised to write a story without any sort of notes or guidelines regarding the world prepared? I have a general idea of the world state I want in my head, and I discuss the details with my friend and writing partner fairly often in our DMs, but I haven't actually taken the time to write out any proper notes regarding the world and characters. Is this ill-advised? | hi2ydjh | hi0ydxj | 1,635,226,781 | 1,635,191,983 | 3 | 1 | I've written a series of 3 low fantasy books and I quickly discovered that I don't like world building. At all. Personally, I like to jump into the story and write. After I finished the 1st book, I reread it and the worldbuilding needed a lot of work, so I really fleshed it on in the 2nd draft and that method worked for me. I think if I was writing high fantasy, it would be very hard to work this way, but so long as you have a grasp of what's going on and you're willing to make changes in latter drafts then it's fine. You might be making more work for yourself, you might be saving yourself a lot of work, but if you want to write and you feel you know enough to do it, then write. | Just know that staring a story with notes and outlined and starting a story off the cuff does not mean you are “starting” in the same position. You can begin writing in any way you choose but without preparation the finish line is much further away. | 1 | 34,798 | 3 | ||
qfceya | writing_train | 0.85 | Is it ill-advised to write a story without any sort of notes or guidelines regarding the world prepared? I have a general idea of the world state I want in my head, and I discuss the details with my friend and writing partner fairly often in our DMs, but I haven't actually taken the time to write out any proper notes regarding the world and characters. Is this ill-advised? | hi2ydjh | hi10pgr | 1,635,226,781 | 1,635,192,918 | 3 | 1 | I've written a series of 3 low fantasy books and I quickly discovered that I don't like world building. At all. Personally, I like to jump into the story and write. After I finished the 1st book, I reread it and the worldbuilding needed a lot of work, so I really fleshed it on in the 2nd draft and that method worked for me. I think if I was writing high fantasy, it would be very hard to work this way, but so long as you have a grasp of what's going on and you're willing to make changes in latter drafts then it's fine. You might be making more work for yourself, you might be saving yourself a lot of work, but if you want to write and you feel you know enough to do it, then write. | You've waded into a ancient discussion here. Pantsers vs planners. For any fictional book to be successful it requires suspension of belief on the part of the reader. If you lose that - you lose the audience. There is no way to recover from that ailment. Your question depends on many factors. A fantasy book set in a fantasy world requires a lot more world building than would a supernatural thriller set in modern times. In the latter the world is already created and the only thing that needs to be accounted for would be the supernatural element. In most cases this isn't even necessary as the supernatural is already in play. People believe in ghosts and bigfoot already and those that don't will usually buy into the premise readily. In the former, however, the readers must be able to understand the rules of the world and will quickly realize when those rules are violated. There are ways of introducing new rules(or rules that nobody understood until then. magic is tricky after all). But when this is done there must be good reason for it and it must not violate the established precedent. In other words, it must make sense to the reader. In the Sword of Truth novels we are given the rules of magic. The confessor, when she touches a person, can turn them into a thrall, essentially, and that person devotes their life to the confessor. Once this occurs there is no reversing it. We are given ample examples of this in the form of anecdotes. The confessors never married simply because in the act of making love they could not control their power. It was released and their lover turned into a thrall. Which is the reason that the confessors never took as a lover someone that they truly loved. At the end of the first book(if I recall properly) the confessor is forced to use her power on the protagonist in order for the antagonist to secure some knowledge that the protagonist alone has(that was as hard to write as it is to read, sorry). When this occurs, he acts as a thrall would and gives the antagonist the information, which turns out to be false, and we realize that the protagonist was not fazed by the power of the confessor. How can this be? The rules were clearly delineated and this appears to be a huge violation. Then it is explained to us. The protagonist is in love with the confessor. And in love we already devote ourselves fully to those we love. The power of the confessor was useless because the protagonist is already devoted to her in a far deeper way than the power of the confessor could match. Love is a much truer bond than magic. The rule was already in place but it was never understood due to the fear of the confessors turning someone they cared about into a mindless thrall. The answer makes perfect sense in the context of that world. This was only possible because the writer understood intimately the rules of magic in his world. The more world creation that you do, and the deeper that you understand the rules of your world, the more your audience can suspend disbelief. Can you write with minimal world building? Yes. Is it advisable? For a beginner, I'd advise against it. Without that background info, you're more likely to jump to cliches or try to manipulate the rules of your world in order to force outcomes. Readers will see this and your audience will evaporate. However, it can be done. Pantsers do it often, to a lesser or greater degree of efficacy. The question is, then, do you have the skill to pull it off? Can you keep all of these details straight in your mind while writing the story? Can you put together a cogent world in your head and then present that to an audience in a compelling fashion? That's ultimately for you to decide. I hope that I've provided at least a little insight on this subject. Best of luck to you. | 1 | 33,863 | 3 | ||
qfceya | writing_train | 0.85 | Is it ill-advised to write a story without any sort of notes or guidelines regarding the world prepared? I have a general idea of the world state I want in my head, and I discuss the details with my friend and writing partner fairly often in our DMs, but I haven't actually taken the time to write out any proper notes regarding the world and characters. Is this ill-advised? | hi2fqhm | hi2ydjh | 1,635,215,686 | 1,635,226,781 | 1 | 3 | I just write. I seem to not like plans or having it wrote out in a timeline. | I've written a series of 3 low fantasy books and I quickly discovered that I don't like world building. At all. Personally, I like to jump into the story and write. After I finished the 1st book, I reread it and the worldbuilding needed a lot of work, so I really fleshed it on in the 2nd draft and that method worked for me. I think if I was writing high fantasy, it would be very hard to work this way, but so long as you have a grasp of what's going on and you're willing to make changes in latter drafts then it's fine. You might be making more work for yourself, you might be saving yourself a lot of work, but if you want to write and you feel you know enough to do it, then write. | 0 | 11,095 | 3 | ||
qfceya | writing_train | 0.85 | Is it ill-advised to write a story without any sort of notes or guidelines regarding the world prepared? I have a general idea of the world state I want in my head, and I discuss the details with my friend and writing partner fairly often in our DMs, but I haven't actually taken the time to write out any proper notes regarding the world and characters. Is this ill-advised? | hhyrhrj | hhz0nfp | 1,635,152,434 | 1,635,160,232 | 1 | 2 | Yes. If you invent the world as you write, you will almost certainly contradict yourself at some point. Which will necessitate additional editorial load. Now, that's okay if you are still fleshing out your world in a rough draft, but if you want a more polished product with less work in post, or struggling to remember how you made things while writing, I would strongly suggest detailing your world now and putting together a style guide to help you along as you go. I wish I had. | there's no bad way to write. the only difference is the amount of work you'll have to do in editing. | 0 | 7,798 | 2 | ||
qfceya | writing_train | 0.85 | Is it ill-advised to write a story without any sort of notes or guidelines regarding the world prepared? I have a general idea of the world state I want in my head, and I discuss the details with my friend and writing partner fairly often in our DMs, but I haven't actually taken the time to write out any proper notes regarding the world and characters. Is this ill-advised? | hi09m7w | hhzvtia | 1,635,182,009 | 1,635,176,347 | 1 | 0 | There's really no right or wrong way to approach a story when it comes to planning. A general idea can certainly be enough. Some writers prefer to plan a lot, others not so much. If you want to just start writing, I say go for it. You'll discover what works for you. You can always pause and plan more concretely. | Is it ill-advised to write a story where you don't consider your slightly younger and less experienced self to be the boss of your slightly older and more experienced self? No. Is it ill-advised to be skeptical of the idea that "planning" has some kind of magical mojo that "doing" does not? No. Is it ill-advised to craft the story, its settings, and its characters all at the same time, for maximum synergy? No. If you're confused, it is a good idea to make a few basic decisions to give yourself some stars to steer by? Sure. If you don't frequently reread the chapters you've written so far, is an up-to-date outline a reasonable substitute to keep you from forgetting what's in your story? Sure. | 1 | 5,662 | 1,000 | ||
qfceya | writing_train | 0.85 | Is it ill-advised to write a story without any sort of notes or guidelines regarding the world prepared? I have a general idea of the world state I want in my head, and I discuss the details with my friend and writing partner fairly often in our DMs, but I haven't actually taken the time to write out any proper notes regarding the world and characters. Is this ill-advised? | hhzvtia | hi0bh7p | 1,635,176,347 | 1,635,182,766 | 0 | 1 | Is it ill-advised to write a story where you don't consider your slightly younger and less experienced self to be the boss of your slightly older and more experienced self? No. Is it ill-advised to be skeptical of the idea that "planning" has some kind of magical mojo that "doing" does not? No. Is it ill-advised to craft the story, its settings, and its characters all at the same time, for maximum synergy? No. If you're confused, it is a good idea to make a few basic decisions to give yourself some stars to steer by? Sure. If you don't frequently reread the chapters you've written so far, is an up-to-date outline a reasonable substitute to keep you from forgetting what's in your story? Sure. | Writing a story without notes is like sailing without sails. You can still get to where you're going, it's just a hell of a lot harder. | 0 | 6,419 | 1,000 | ||
qfceya | writing_train | 0.85 | Is it ill-advised to write a story without any sort of notes or guidelines regarding the world prepared? I have a general idea of the world state I want in my head, and I discuss the details with my friend and writing partner fairly often in our DMs, but I haven't actually taken the time to write out any proper notes regarding the world and characters. Is this ill-advised? | hhzvtia | hi0bv0e | 1,635,176,347 | 1,635,182,922 | 0 | 1 | Is it ill-advised to write a story where you don't consider your slightly younger and less experienced self to be the boss of your slightly older and more experienced self? No. Is it ill-advised to be skeptical of the idea that "planning" has some kind of magical mojo that "doing" does not? No. Is it ill-advised to craft the story, its settings, and its characters all at the same time, for maximum synergy? No. If you're confused, it is a good idea to make a few basic decisions to give yourself some stars to steer by? Sure. If you don't frequently reread the chapters you've written so far, is an up-to-date outline a reasonable substitute to keep you from forgetting what's in your story? Sure. | Everything I write is usually off rip because I’m not a planning type person so it is easier for me to just go with the flow | 0 | 6,575 | 1,000 | ||
qfceya | writing_train | 0.85 | Is it ill-advised to write a story without any sort of notes or guidelines regarding the world prepared? I have a general idea of the world state I want in my head, and I discuss the details with my friend and writing partner fairly often in our DMs, but I haven't actually taken the time to write out any proper notes regarding the world and characters. Is this ill-advised? | hhzvtia | hi0erdg | 1,635,176,347 | 1,635,184,106 | 0 | 1 | Is it ill-advised to write a story where you don't consider your slightly younger and less experienced self to be the boss of your slightly older and more experienced self? No. Is it ill-advised to be skeptical of the idea that "planning" has some kind of magical mojo that "doing" does not? No. Is it ill-advised to craft the story, its settings, and its characters all at the same time, for maximum synergy? No. If you're confused, it is a good idea to make a few basic decisions to give yourself some stars to steer by? Sure. If you don't frequently reread the chapters you've written so far, is an up-to-date outline a reasonable substitute to keep you from forgetting what's in your story? Sure. | What are you inspired to do and do you have a deadline? I had a great idea. I had a crew assembled from assorted short stories I'd written, transferred to the new universe. I wrote two novellas in the series, workshopped it, and then did a total rebuild of the world, and now I have a novel series. I have multiple novels-worth of deleted scenes and rewrites. I'm okay with that. To me, resetting to canon and taking off in a new direction is fun. I love discovering as I write way more than outlining. Now that I'm more practiced and better at world building, I can jot down a page of notes and get a much more focused story with significantly less rewrite, but that came with time, practice, and honing of the craft. For your first book, do what you're inspired to do, and hone the craft. Worry about optimizing your process later. | 0 | 7,759 | 1,000 | ||
qfceya | writing_train | 0.85 | Is it ill-advised to write a story without any sort of notes or guidelines regarding the world prepared? I have a general idea of the world state I want in my head, and I discuss the details with my friend and writing partner fairly often in our DMs, but I haven't actually taken the time to write out any proper notes regarding the world and characters. Is this ill-advised? | hi0h21z | hhzvtia | 1,635,185,050 | 1,635,176,347 | 1 | 0 | There are a breed of writers who fall into the "spontaneous" tribe, myself included. You have a general idea, then just sit down and write. Haruki Murakami is probably the most famous of these writers. iirc he does use any sort of notes or guidelines for the world, just what fits in the moment as he writes. Of course you want to follow any rules you set as you write. This type of writing results in a lot of editing and rewrites for consistency, at least in my anecdotal experience. At the end of the day, if you are writing, you are doing it right! I failed writing two books and countless short stories before I happily ended my first complete novel. | Is it ill-advised to write a story where you don't consider your slightly younger and less experienced self to be the boss of your slightly older and more experienced self? No. Is it ill-advised to be skeptical of the idea that "planning" has some kind of magical mojo that "doing" does not? No. Is it ill-advised to craft the story, its settings, and its characters all at the same time, for maximum synergy? No. If you're confused, it is a good idea to make a few basic decisions to give yourself some stars to steer by? Sure. If you don't frequently reread the chapters you've written so far, is an up-to-date outline a reasonable substitute to keep you from forgetting what's in your story? Sure. | 1 | 8,703 | 1,000 | ||
qfceya | writing_train | 0.85 | Is it ill-advised to write a story without any sort of notes or guidelines regarding the world prepared? I have a general idea of the world state I want in my head, and I discuss the details with my friend and writing partner fairly often in our DMs, but I haven't actually taken the time to write out any proper notes regarding the world and characters. Is this ill-advised? | hi0n6yh | hhzvtia | 1,635,187,547 | 1,635,176,347 | 1 | 0 | At the end of the day you have to find what works for you. There's a few big categories: Personally, I like to mull things over until I have a decent idea of what the piece is about, then I word vomit a bunch of themes associations actions characters etc into what looks like a manic list of nonsense. Then I start adding sentences and moving stuff around, and the notes transform into the draft. \[intuitive plotter\] Some people like to make detailed notes and keep them to the side: these are the folks that fill out character sheets and plot beat sheets, worldbuilding and history research, etc. The notes themselves can often be as much writing as the text, and often as a pre-writing exercise -- J.R.R Tolkien comes to mind. \[methodoligical pantser\] Some people like to jump in and get their feet wet and figure it out on the way. These people won't even know what the story is about until it's on the page. Stephen King says he writes this way. George RR Martin as well. \[intuitive pantser\] Some people have a methodology to writing that they follow, that may be written or unwritten, but no matter what when they start a project they already know what they'll do because they have a formula for success. They can be *extremely* prodigious because of this. They'll often have main characters across multiple books, or plots which echo each other. -- Lee Child, for example. \[methodological plotter\] | Is it ill-advised to write a story where you don't consider your slightly younger and less experienced self to be the boss of your slightly older and more experienced self? No. Is it ill-advised to be skeptical of the idea that "planning" has some kind of magical mojo that "doing" does not? No. Is it ill-advised to craft the story, its settings, and its characters all at the same time, for maximum synergy? No. If you're confused, it is a good idea to make a few basic decisions to give yourself some stars to steer by? Sure. If you don't frequently reread the chapters you've written so far, is an up-to-date outline a reasonable substitute to keep you from forgetting what's in your story? Sure. | 1 | 11,200 | 1,000 | ||
qfceya | writing_train | 0.85 | Is it ill-advised to write a story without any sort of notes or guidelines regarding the world prepared? I have a general idea of the world state I want in my head, and I discuss the details with my friend and writing partner fairly often in our DMs, but I haven't actually taken the time to write out any proper notes regarding the world and characters. Is this ill-advised? | hi0ydxj | hhzvtia | 1,635,191,983 | 1,635,176,347 | 1 | 0 | Just know that staring a story with notes and outlined and starting a story off the cuff does not mean you are “starting” in the same position. You can begin writing in any way you choose but without preparation the finish line is much further away. | Is it ill-advised to write a story where you don't consider your slightly younger and less experienced self to be the boss of your slightly older and more experienced self? No. Is it ill-advised to be skeptical of the idea that "planning" has some kind of magical mojo that "doing" does not? No. Is it ill-advised to craft the story, its settings, and its characters all at the same time, for maximum synergy? No. If you're confused, it is a good idea to make a few basic decisions to give yourself some stars to steer by? Sure. If you don't frequently reread the chapters you've written so far, is an up-to-date outline a reasonable substitute to keep you from forgetting what's in your story? Sure. | 1 | 15,636 | 1,000 | ||
qfceya | writing_train | 0.85 | Is it ill-advised to write a story without any sort of notes or guidelines regarding the world prepared? I have a general idea of the world state I want in my head, and I discuss the details with my friend and writing partner fairly often in our DMs, but I haven't actually taken the time to write out any proper notes regarding the world and characters. Is this ill-advised? | hi10pgr | hhzvtia | 1,635,192,918 | 1,635,176,347 | 1 | 0 | You've waded into a ancient discussion here. Pantsers vs planners. For any fictional book to be successful it requires suspension of belief on the part of the reader. If you lose that - you lose the audience. There is no way to recover from that ailment. Your question depends on many factors. A fantasy book set in a fantasy world requires a lot more world building than would a supernatural thriller set in modern times. In the latter the world is already created and the only thing that needs to be accounted for would be the supernatural element. In most cases this isn't even necessary as the supernatural is already in play. People believe in ghosts and bigfoot already and those that don't will usually buy into the premise readily. In the former, however, the readers must be able to understand the rules of the world and will quickly realize when those rules are violated. There are ways of introducing new rules(or rules that nobody understood until then. magic is tricky after all). But when this is done there must be good reason for it and it must not violate the established precedent. In other words, it must make sense to the reader. In the Sword of Truth novels we are given the rules of magic. The confessor, when she touches a person, can turn them into a thrall, essentially, and that person devotes their life to the confessor. Once this occurs there is no reversing it. We are given ample examples of this in the form of anecdotes. The confessors never married simply because in the act of making love they could not control their power. It was released and their lover turned into a thrall. Which is the reason that the confessors never took as a lover someone that they truly loved. At the end of the first book(if I recall properly) the confessor is forced to use her power on the protagonist in order for the antagonist to secure some knowledge that the protagonist alone has(that was as hard to write as it is to read, sorry). When this occurs, he acts as a thrall would and gives the antagonist the information, which turns out to be false, and we realize that the protagonist was not fazed by the power of the confessor. How can this be? The rules were clearly delineated and this appears to be a huge violation. Then it is explained to us. The protagonist is in love with the confessor. And in love we already devote ourselves fully to those we love. The power of the confessor was useless because the protagonist is already devoted to her in a far deeper way than the power of the confessor could match. Love is a much truer bond than magic. The rule was already in place but it was never understood due to the fear of the confessors turning someone they cared about into a mindless thrall. The answer makes perfect sense in the context of that world. This was only possible because the writer understood intimately the rules of magic in his world. The more world creation that you do, and the deeper that you understand the rules of your world, the more your audience can suspend disbelief. Can you write with minimal world building? Yes. Is it advisable? For a beginner, I'd advise against it. Without that background info, you're more likely to jump to cliches or try to manipulate the rules of your world in order to force outcomes. Readers will see this and your audience will evaporate. However, it can be done. Pantsers do it often, to a lesser or greater degree of efficacy. The question is, then, do you have the skill to pull it off? Can you keep all of these details straight in your mind while writing the story? Can you put together a cogent world in your head and then present that to an audience in a compelling fashion? That's ultimately for you to decide. I hope that I've provided at least a little insight on this subject. Best of luck to you. | Is it ill-advised to write a story where you don't consider your slightly younger and less experienced self to be the boss of your slightly older and more experienced self? No. Is it ill-advised to be skeptical of the idea that "planning" has some kind of magical mojo that "doing" does not? No. Is it ill-advised to craft the story, its settings, and its characters all at the same time, for maximum synergy? No. If you're confused, it is a good idea to make a few basic decisions to give yourself some stars to steer by? Sure. If you don't frequently reread the chapters you've written so far, is an up-to-date outline a reasonable substitute to keep you from forgetting what's in your story? Sure. | 1 | 16,571 | 1,000 | ||
qfceya | writing_train | 0.85 | Is it ill-advised to write a story without any sort of notes or guidelines regarding the world prepared? I have a general idea of the world state I want in my head, and I discuss the details with my friend and writing partner fairly often in our DMs, but I haven't actually taken the time to write out any proper notes regarding the world and characters. Is this ill-advised? | hi2fqhm | hhzvtia | 1,635,215,686 | 1,635,176,347 | 1 | 0 | I just write. I seem to not like plans or having it wrote out in a timeline. | Is it ill-advised to write a story where you don't consider your slightly younger and less experienced self to be the boss of your slightly older and more experienced self? No. Is it ill-advised to be skeptical of the idea that "planning" has some kind of magical mojo that "doing" does not? No. Is it ill-advised to craft the story, its settings, and its characters all at the same time, for maximum synergy? No. If you're confused, it is a good idea to make a few basic decisions to give yourself some stars to steer by? Sure. If you don't frequently reread the chapters you've written so far, is an up-to-date outline a reasonable substitute to keep you from forgetting what's in your story? Sure. | 1 | 39,339 | 1,000 | ||
9c286c | writing_train | 0.87 | [need advice] I want to write my own novel, but my brain is so wired to writing fan fiction that I can’t create anything. I started writing fan fiction when I was about 13 and really enjoyed it. It helped me improve my style and story telling abilities and generally taught me a lot. It’s easy to write and learn and explore characters, setting, narrative style and ideas that are already created by someone else. Let it not be mistaken. I am capable of creating original characters. All my fan fictions have original characters in them and sometimes I deviate the canon so much that it doesn’t even resemble the original. My problem is that I can’t seem to be able to get original ideas for really any part of a story to truly call my own. Even when I do get a flash of inspiration it’s there for like two seconds before my brain automatically goes back to developing original characters from a fan fiction. Anyone had a similar problem? Got any remedies? | e57h3cu | e57fw81 | 1,535,802,674 | 1,535,800,443 | 14 | 7 | I think I have a solution for you, just write your novel as if it was fanfiction. . Let me explain :D Starting off, I'm a huge weeb, and all the examples from my own writing are going to be anime-based. If you're part of a different fandom hopefully you can still get the gist of my process through my anecdotes. So I don't think I've ever written something 100% "original", at least not in the way you seem to be describing. A lot of my stories start with a handful of characters or concepts created directly from shows I love. I've had magic based on HxH nen, characters representing people like monogstari's Shinobu, settings resembling stuff like RWBY. I don't consider anything I've written fan fiction or rip-offs, however. The reason being I never directly copy. What I do take the character or thing I want to emulate and boil it down. Not to it's core values, but to the reason i want to emulate it. What I love about the concept. With shinobu, for example, it was her harsh no-nonsense attitude with a dependable underlying loyalty to the things she cared about. Once I had that, I started building her up again. Making a character with a different personality, backstory, and abilities that still represented that core of what I loved about shinobu. Same thing with everything else I take inspiration from. The more I did this, the more my ideas started to take a shape of their own. My current wip's magic system started from a misunderstanding about why the monogatari series' vampires drank blood and turned into this giant system where humans are naturally resurrected as supernatural creatures called mythics that are like funhouse mirror versions of famous creatures from legend, with the only connection to the anime being that my protag is a vampire and drinks blood for the reason I thought the monogatari series' had. Another easier to type example is that I'm attempting to figure out exactly how sports and shounen anime create hype and mimic that formula in my own work. So yeah, my ideas are my own, but they don't always come from a place that is my own, you know? If you can't stop creating fanfic, maybe the reason is that you're trying to abandon too much of your inspiration for writing under the misguided thought that "my novel's ideas have to be 100% my own". At least in my opinion, they really don't. To use a quote from a completely different industry "I only see this far because I stand on the shoulders of giants". Don't abandon what you love. Be inspired, and use that to create something for someone else to write fanfiction about. | All literature is fan fiction. Just pick and choose from authors you like. Standing on the shoulders of giants and whatnot | 1 | 2,231 | 2 | ||
9c286c | writing_train | 0.87 | [need advice] I want to write my own novel, but my brain is so wired to writing fan fiction that I can’t create anything. I started writing fan fiction when I was about 13 and really enjoyed it. It helped me improve my style and story telling abilities and generally taught me a lot. It’s easy to write and learn and explore characters, setting, narrative style and ideas that are already created by someone else. Let it not be mistaken. I am capable of creating original characters. All my fan fictions have original characters in them and sometimes I deviate the canon so much that it doesn’t even resemble the original. My problem is that I can’t seem to be able to get original ideas for really any part of a story to truly call my own. Even when I do get a flash of inspiration it’s there for like two seconds before my brain automatically goes back to developing original characters from a fan fiction. Anyone had a similar problem? Got any remedies? | e57gboz | e57h3cu | 1,535,801,292 | 1,535,802,674 | 5 | 14 | So I also went from writing fic for years to writing novels and honestly? What you wrote about writing original characters and your stories deviating hard from the source material? I also started to do that a couple years ago, which is when I started to focus more on the OCs and less on the canon characters. Writing “AU” stories was a Perfect way to wean myself off the lean on canon characters and worlds and start to feel comfortable just playing with my characters. Years ago I tried to write novels but I wasn’t as invested my characters then. Now, after making characters to fit the worlds of my favorite games and shows, I have a lot more confidence in my writing and have finally been able to jump into writing purely original work. It’s really, really hard, but that you’re already so into your OCs is telling. You’ll be able to write novels easily, just give yourself time to adjust to it. I hope this makes sense. Your post is exactly where I was just a short while ago so it really spoke to me. Don’t feel discouraged if you take a while to make the switch, brains are weird like that. Just play around with the characters themselves and you’ll start to get more comfortable not using the worlds you used to use in your fics. This is why I suggest AUs- sometimes if your OCs are alive enough in your head, they’ll shape the plot, rather than the plot shaping them. That’s what mine are doing and it’s a process that works for me. I have more novel ideas now than I have time to write. Good luck! | I think I have a solution for you, just write your novel as if it was fanfiction. . Let me explain :D Starting off, I'm a huge weeb, and all the examples from my own writing are going to be anime-based. If you're part of a different fandom hopefully you can still get the gist of my process through my anecdotes. So I don't think I've ever written something 100% "original", at least not in the way you seem to be describing. A lot of my stories start with a handful of characters or concepts created directly from shows I love. I've had magic based on HxH nen, characters representing people like monogstari's Shinobu, settings resembling stuff like RWBY. I don't consider anything I've written fan fiction or rip-offs, however. The reason being I never directly copy. What I do take the character or thing I want to emulate and boil it down. Not to it's core values, but to the reason i want to emulate it. What I love about the concept. With shinobu, for example, it was her harsh no-nonsense attitude with a dependable underlying loyalty to the things she cared about. Once I had that, I started building her up again. Making a character with a different personality, backstory, and abilities that still represented that core of what I loved about shinobu. Same thing with everything else I take inspiration from. The more I did this, the more my ideas started to take a shape of their own. My current wip's magic system started from a misunderstanding about why the monogatari series' vampires drank blood and turned into this giant system where humans are naturally resurrected as supernatural creatures called mythics that are like funhouse mirror versions of famous creatures from legend, with the only connection to the anime being that my protag is a vampire and drinks blood for the reason I thought the monogatari series' had. Another easier to type example is that I'm attempting to figure out exactly how sports and shounen anime create hype and mimic that formula in my own work. So yeah, my ideas are my own, but they don't always come from a place that is my own, you know? If you can't stop creating fanfic, maybe the reason is that you're trying to abandon too much of your inspiration for writing under the misguided thought that "my novel's ideas have to be 100% my own". At least in my opinion, they really don't. To use a quote from a completely different industry "I only see this far because I stand on the shoulders of giants". Don't abandon what you love. Be inspired, and use that to create something for someone else to write fanfiction about. | 0 | 1,382 | 2.8 | ||
9c286c | writing_train | 0.87 | [need advice] I want to write my own novel, but my brain is so wired to writing fan fiction that I can’t create anything. I started writing fan fiction when I was about 13 and really enjoyed it. It helped me improve my style and story telling abilities and generally taught me a lot. It’s easy to write and learn and explore characters, setting, narrative style and ideas that are already created by someone else. Let it not be mistaken. I am capable of creating original characters. All my fan fictions have original characters in them and sometimes I deviate the canon so much that it doesn’t even resemble the original. My problem is that I can’t seem to be able to get original ideas for really any part of a story to truly call my own. Even when I do get a flash of inspiration it’s there for like two seconds before my brain automatically goes back to developing original characters from a fan fiction. Anyone had a similar problem? Got any remedies? | e57h3cu | e57gmnu | 1,535,802,674 | 1,535,801,863 | 14 | 3 | I think I have a solution for you, just write your novel as if it was fanfiction. . Let me explain :D Starting off, I'm a huge weeb, and all the examples from my own writing are going to be anime-based. If you're part of a different fandom hopefully you can still get the gist of my process through my anecdotes. So I don't think I've ever written something 100% "original", at least not in the way you seem to be describing. A lot of my stories start with a handful of characters or concepts created directly from shows I love. I've had magic based on HxH nen, characters representing people like monogstari's Shinobu, settings resembling stuff like RWBY. I don't consider anything I've written fan fiction or rip-offs, however. The reason being I never directly copy. What I do take the character or thing I want to emulate and boil it down. Not to it's core values, but to the reason i want to emulate it. What I love about the concept. With shinobu, for example, it was her harsh no-nonsense attitude with a dependable underlying loyalty to the things she cared about. Once I had that, I started building her up again. Making a character with a different personality, backstory, and abilities that still represented that core of what I loved about shinobu. Same thing with everything else I take inspiration from. The more I did this, the more my ideas started to take a shape of their own. My current wip's magic system started from a misunderstanding about why the monogatari series' vampires drank blood and turned into this giant system where humans are naturally resurrected as supernatural creatures called mythics that are like funhouse mirror versions of famous creatures from legend, with the only connection to the anime being that my protag is a vampire and drinks blood for the reason I thought the monogatari series' had. Another easier to type example is that I'm attempting to figure out exactly how sports and shounen anime create hype and mimic that formula in my own work. So yeah, my ideas are my own, but they don't always come from a place that is my own, you know? If you can't stop creating fanfic, maybe the reason is that you're trying to abandon too much of your inspiration for writing under the misguided thought that "my novel's ideas have to be 100% my own". At least in my opinion, they really don't. To use a quote from a completely different industry "I only see this far because I stand on the shoulders of giants". Don't abandon what you love. Be inspired, and use that to create something for someone else to write fanfiction about. | One of the problems is that it's actually restrictions that breed creativity. It's like watering a plant, too much or too little can both kill it. So previously you've been using the restrictions of the original work and now you have the entire spectrum of possibilities. What you need to find is a new framework of restrictions to bounce off of, but luckily that can be anything. Here's a thing to try: Get 20-50 scraps of paper. Divide them into two piles. For one pile go through each scrap and write down one thing you love to write; story themes, character archetypes, environments, backgrounds, concepts, whatever. For the other go through and write a complete random things on each - Guatamala, Poverty, Yellow, 84, Antelope, whatever. Then turn them over and shuffle them and pick 4-6 of them at random and try and write something based on the things that you've chosen. Shuffling them all together is fine but you can also leave them as two separate piles if you want to guarantee getting things you like to write. | 1 | 811 | 4.666667 | ||
9c286c | writing_train | 0.87 | [need advice] I want to write my own novel, but my brain is so wired to writing fan fiction that I can’t create anything. I started writing fan fiction when I was about 13 and really enjoyed it. It helped me improve my style and story telling abilities and generally taught me a lot. It’s easy to write and learn and explore characters, setting, narrative style and ideas that are already created by someone else. Let it not be mistaken. I am capable of creating original characters. All my fan fictions have original characters in them and sometimes I deviate the canon so much that it doesn’t even resemble the original. My problem is that I can’t seem to be able to get original ideas for really any part of a story to truly call my own. Even when I do get a flash of inspiration it’s there for like two seconds before my brain automatically goes back to developing original characters from a fan fiction. Anyone had a similar problem? Got any remedies? | e57h3cu | e57g73d | 1,535,802,674 | 1,535,801,044 | 14 | 1 | I think I have a solution for you, just write your novel as if it was fanfiction. . Let me explain :D Starting off, I'm a huge weeb, and all the examples from my own writing are going to be anime-based. If you're part of a different fandom hopefully you can still get the gist of my process through my anecdotes. So I don't think I've ever written something 100% "original", at least not in the way you seem to be describing. A lot of my stories start with a handful of characters or concepts created directly from shows I love. I've had magic based on HxH nen, characters representing people like monogstari's Shinobu, settings resembling stuff like RWBY. I don't consider anything I've written fan fiction or rip-offs, however. The reason being I never directly copy. What I do take the character or thing I want to emulate and boil it down. Not to it's core values, but to the reason i want to emulate it. What I love about the concept. With shinobu, for example, it was her harsh no-nonsense attitude with a dependable underlying loyalty to the things she cared about. Once I had that, I started building her up again. Making a character with a different personality, backstory, and abilities that still represented that core of what I loved about shinobu. Same thing with everything else I take inspiration from. The more I did this, the more my ideas started to take a shape of their own. My current wip's magic system started from a misunderstanding about why the monogatari series' vampires drank blood and turned into this giant system where humans are naturally resurrected as supernatural creatures called mythics that are like funhouse mirror versions of famous creatures from legend, with the only connection to the anime being that my protag is a vampire and drinks blood for the reason I thought the monogatari series' had. Another easier to type example is that I'm attempting to figure out exactly how sports and shounen anime create hype and mimic that formula in my own work. So yeah, my ideas are my own, but they don't always come from a place that is my own, you know? If you can't stop creating fanfic, maybe the reason is that you're trying to abandon too much of your inspiration for writing under the misguided thought that "my novel's ideas have to be 100% my own". At least in my opinion, they really don't. To use a quote from a completely different industry "I only see this far because I stand on the shoulders of giants". Don't abandon what you love. Be inspired, and use that to create something for someone else to write fanfiction about. | I'm not sure I understand what your problem is. You start writing something with original characters then, before you know it, you look back and someone's copyrighted character suddenly appeared without your conscious control? If you try to write without using someone else's characters (which you say is no problem), then.... what? In what way do you suddenly stop writing original stuff? | 1 | 1,630 | 14 | ||
9c286c | writing_train | 0.87 | [need advice] I want to write my own novel, but my brain is so wired to writing fan fiction that I can’t create anything. I started writing fan fiction when I was about 13 and really enjoyed it. It helped me improve my style and story telling abilities and generally taught me a lot. It’s easy to write and learn and explore characters, setting, narrative style and ideas that are already created by someone else. Let it not be mistaken. I am capable of creating original characters. All my fan fictions have original characters in them and sometimes I deviate the canon so much that it doesn’t even resemble the original. My problem is that I can’t seem to be able to get original ideas for really any part of a story to truly call my own. Even when I do get a flash of inspiration it’s there for like two seconds before my brain automatically goes back to developing original characters from a fan fiction. Anyone had a similar problem? Got any remedies? | e57gjs2 | e57h3cu | 1,535,801,712 | 1,535,802,674 | 1 | 14 | Don't get me wrong, I'm not a very good author. But a few books I've read have shaped my writing style immensely. There have been some shows and some books that have really inspired me. Art is all about imitation and inspiration. Let that fan fic inspire you!! | I think I have a solution for you, just write your novel as if it was fanfiction. . Let me explain :D Starting off, I'm a huge weeb, and all the examples from my own writing are going to be anime-based. If you're part of a different fandom hopefully you can still get the gist of my process through my anecdotes. So I don't think I've ever written something 100% "original", at least not in the way you seem to be describing. A lot of my stories start with a handful of characters or concepts created directly from shows I love. I've had magic based on HxH nen, characters representing people like monogstari's Shinobu, settings resembling stuff like RWBY. I don't consider anything I've written fan fiction or rip-offs, however. The reason being I never directly copy. What I do take the character or thing I want to emulate and boil it down. Not to it's core values, but to the reason i want to emulate it. What I love about the concept. With shinobu, for example, it was her harsh no-nonsense attitude with a dependable underlying loyalty to the things she cared about. Once I had that, I started building her up again. Making a character with a different personality, backstory, and abilities that still represented that core of what I loved about shinobu. Same thing with everything else I take inspiration from. The more I did this, the more my ideas started to take a shape of their own. My current wip's magic system started from a misunderstanding about why the monogatari series' vampires drank blood and turned into this giant system where humans are naturally resurrected as supernatural creatures called mythics that are like funhouse mirror versions of famous creatures from legend, with the only connection to the anime being that my protag is a vampire and drinks blood for the reason I thought the monogatari series' had. Another easier to type example is that I'm attempting to figure out exactly how sports and shounen anime create hype and mimic that formula in my own work. So yeah, my ideas are my own, but they don't always come from a place that is my own, you know? If you can't stop creating fanfic, maybe the reason is that you're trying to abandon too much of your inspiration for writing under the misguided thought that "my novel's ideas have to be 100% my own". At least in my opinion, they really don't. To use a quote from a completely different industry "I only see this far because I stand on the shoulders of giants". Don't abandon what you love. Be inspired, and use that to create something for someone else to write fanfiction about. | 0 | 962 | 14 | ||
9c286c | writing_train | 0.87 | [need advice] I want to write my own novel, but my brain is so wired to writing fan fiction that I can’t create anything. I started writing fan fiction when I was about 13 and really enjoyed it. It helped me improve my style and story telling abilities and generally taught me a lot. It’s easy to write and learn and explore characters, setting, narrative style and ideas that are already created by someone else. Let it not be mistaken. I am capable of creating original characters. All my fan fictions have original characters in them and sometimes I deviate the canon so much that it doesn’t even resemble the original. My problem is that I can’t seem to be able to get original ideas for really any part of a story to truly call my own. Even when I do get a flash of inspiration it’s there for like two seconds before my brain automatically goes back to developing original characters from a fan fiction. Anyone had a similar problem? Got any remedies? | e57g73d | e57gboz | 1,535,801,044 | 1,535,801,292 | 1 | 5 | I'm not sure I understand what your problem is. You start writing something with original characters then, before you know it, you look back and someone's copyrighted character suddenly appeared without your conscious control? If you try to write without using someone else's characters (which you say is no problem), then.... what? In what way do you suddenly stop writing original stuff? | So I also went from writing fic for years to writing novels and honestly? What you wrote about writing original characters and your stories deviating hard from the source material? I also started to do that a couple years ago, which is when I started to focus more on the OCs and less on the canon characters. Writing “AU” stories was a Perfect way to wean myself off the lean on canon characters and worlds and start to feel comfortable just playing with my characters. Years ago I tried to write novels but I wasn’t as invested my characters then. Now, after making characters to fit the worlds of my favorite games and shows, I have a lot more confidence in my writing and have finally been able to jump into writing purely original work. It’s really, really hard, but that you’re already so into your OCs is telling. You’ll be able to write novels easily, just give yourself time to adjust to it. I hope this makes sense. Your post is exactly where I was just a short while ago so it really spoke to me. Don’t feel discouraged if you take a while to make the switch, brains are weird like that. Just play around with the characters themselves and you’ll start to get more comfortable not using the worlds you used to use in your fics. This is why I suggest AUs- sometimes if your OCs are alive enough in your head, they’ll shape the plot, rather than the plot shaping them. That’s what mine are doing and it’s a process that works for me. I have more novel ideas now than I have time to write. Good luck! | 0 | 248 | 5 | ||
9c286c | writing_train | 0.87 | [need advice] I want to write my own novel, but my brain is so wired to writing fan fiction that I can’t create anything. I started writing fan fiction when I was about 13 and really enjoyed it. It helped me improve my style and story telling abilities and generally taught me a lot. It’s easy to write and learn and explore characters, setting, narrative style and ideas that are already created by someone else. Let it not be mistaken. I am capable of creating original characters. All my fan fictions have original characters in them and sometimes I deviate the canon so much that it doesn’t even resemble the original. My problem is that I can’t seem to be able to get original ideas for really any part of a story to truly call my own. Even when I do get a flash of inspiration it’s there for like two seconds before my brain automatically goes back to developing original characters from a fan fiction. Anyone had a similar problem? Got any remedies? | e57gmnu | e57g73d | 1,535,801,863 | 1,535,801,044 | 3 | 1 | One of the problems is that it's actually restrictions that breed creativity. It's like watering a plant, too much or too little can both kill it. So previously you've been using the restrictions of the original work and now you have the entire spectrum of possibilities. What you need to find is a new framework of restrictions to bounce off of, but luckily that can be anything. Here's a thing to try: Get 20-50 scraps of paper. Divide them into two piles. For one pile go through each scrap and write down one thing you love to write; story themes, character archetypes, environments, backgrounds, concepts, whatever. For the other go through and write a complete random things on each - Guatamala, Poverty, Yellow, 84, Antelope, whatever. Then turn them over and shuffle them and pick 4-6 of them at random and try and write something based on the things that you've chosen. Shuffling them all together is fine but you can also leave them as two separate piles if you want to guarantee getting things you like to write. | I'm not sure I understand what your problem is. You start writing something with original characters then, before you know it, you look back and someone's copyrighted character suddenly appeared without your conscious control? If you try to write without using someone else's characters (which you say is no problem), then.... what? In what way do you suddenly stop writing original stuff? | 1 | 819 | 3 | ||
9c286c | writing_train | 0.87 | [need advice] I want to write my own novel, but my brain is so wired to writing fan fiction that I can’t create anything. I started writing fan fiction when I was about 13 and really enjoyed it. It helped me improve my style and story telling abilities and generally taught me a lot. It’s easy to write and learn and explore characters, setting, narrative style and ideas that are already created by someone else. Let it not be mistaken. I am capable of creating original characters. All my fan fictions have original characters in them and sometimes I deviate the canon so much that it doesn’t even resemble the original. My problem is that I can’t seem to be able to get original ideas for really any part of a story to truly call my own. Even when I do get a flash of inspiration it’s there for like two seconds before my brain automatically goes back to developing original characters from a fan fiction. Anyone had a similar problem? Got any remedies? | e57gmnu | e57gjs2 | 1,535,801,863 | 1,535,801,712 | 3 | 1 | One of the problems is that it's actually restrictions that breed creativity. It's like watering a plant, too much or too little can both kill it. So previously you've been using the restrictions of the original work and now you have the entire spectrum of possibilities. What you need to find is a new framework of restrictions to bounce off of, but luckily that can be anything. Here's a thing to try: Get 20-50 scraps of paper. Divide them into two piles. For one pile go through each scrap and write down one thing you love to write; story themes, character archetypes, environments, backgrounds, concepts, whatever. For the other go through and write a complete random things on each - Guatamala, Poverty, Yellow, 84, Antelope, whatever. Then turn them over and shuffle them and pick 4-6 of them at random and try and write something based on the things that you've chosen. Shuffling them all together is fine but you can also leave them as two separate piles if you want to guarantee getting things you like to write. | Don't get me wrong, I'm not a very good author. But a few books I've read have shaped my writing style immensely. There have been some shows and some books that have really inspired me. Art is all about imitation and inspiration. Let that fan fic inspire you!! | 1 | 151 | 3 | ||
9c286c | writing_train | 0.87 | [need advice] I want to write my own novel, but my brain is so wired to writing fan fiction that I can’t create anything. I started writing fan fiction when I was about 13 and really enjoyed it. It helped me improve my style and story telling abilities and generally taught me a lot. It’s easy to write and learn and explore characters, setting, narrative style and ideas that are already created by someone else. Let it not be mistaken. I am capable of creating original characters. All my fan fictions have original characters in them and sometimes I deviate the canon so much that it doesn’t even resemble the original. My problem is that I can’t seem to be able to get original ideas for really any part of a story to truly call my own. Even when I do get a flash of inspiration it’s there for like two seconds before my brain automatically goes back to developing original characters from a fan fiction. Anyone had a similar problem? Got any remedies? | e57zzah | e57g73d | 1,535,823,085 | 1,535,801,044 | 3 | 1 | What I did was literally start out with nicknames I personally gave for each character (because my stuff is heavily based off of weeb content, except my short stories). Then I just chose a background, and this is what works *for me* and used it as the background of my story. For more info, I just started writing a story because I found a cool picture of Sasuke and Sakura as adults, and I wanted to write their horrible dynamic that they seem to have (plus I hate that they're together, it's annoying to me cause their dynamic all the way up to Shippuuden was crap, but that's where the challenge comes in), and then I changed their names once I was to a point where the character of Sakura was so unlike Sakura, but similar in some ways, and I was able to take down the background of Sasuke and Sakura and continue onward with, now my very own characters that are now just influenced by the two. Like, the Sasuke character is still dark and brooding, but he also has a sense of humor, wisdom, and protection for the Sakura character and is her guiding light. My character based off Sakura, on the other hand, still has pink hair, and that's about it. I made her a rebel and she's irritating her parents right now, which we know she loves her parents (if you read the manga/watched the anime). Except, her hair is OBVIOUSLY not naturally pink. So, don't feel like you can't do it, in fact, go ahead with it, and then challenge yourself to change aspects of things. So, Sasuke wouldn't normally tell Sakura to check in with her parents, he'd probably not care at all, but I made this version of Sasuke tell Sakura to do so, and I made him dress like Marilyn Manson cause why not? It's not like this is a serious project (I love my side stories), Just try an AU approach and then you'll be able to use nicknames for the characters, and then eventually, they'll shape out of the characters you've based them on, and a name appropriate for them will pop into your head. Just my two cents, I wish you the best! | I'm not sure I understand what your problem is. You start writing something with original characters then, before you know it, you look back and someone's copyrighted character suddenly appeared without your conscious control? If you try to write without using someone else's characters (which you say is no problem), then.... what? In what way do you suddenly stop writing original stuff? | 1 | 22,041 | 3 | ||
9c286c | writing_train | 0.87 | [need advice] I want to write my own novel, but my brain is so wired to writing fan fiction that I can’t create anything. I started writing fan fiction when I was about 13 and really enjoyed it. It helped me improve my style and story telling abilities and generally taught me a lot. It’s easy to write and learn and explore characters, setting, narrative style and ideas that are already created by someone else. Let it not be mistaken. I am capable of creating original characters. All my fan fictions have original characters in them and sometimes I deviate the canon so much that it doesn’t even resemble the original. My problem is that I can’t seem to be able to get original ideas for really any part of a story to truly call my own. Even when I do get a flash of inspiration it’s there for like two seconds before my brain automatically goes back to developing original characters from a fan fiction. Anyone had a similar problem? Got any remedies? | e57zzah | e57gjs2 | 1,535,823,085 | 1,535,801,712 | 3 | 1 | What I did was literally start out with nicknames I personally gave for each character (because my stuff is heavily based off of weeb content, except my short stories). Then I just chose a background, and this is what works *for me* and used it as the background of my story. For more info, I just started writing a story because I found a cool picture of Sasuke and Sakura as adults, and I wanted to write their horrible dynamic that they seem to have (plus I hate that they're together, it's annoying to me cause their dynamic all the way up to Shippuuden was crap, but that's where the challenge comes in), and then I changed their names once I was to a point where the character of Sakura was so unlike Sakura, but similar in some ways, and I was able to take down the background of Sasuke and Sakura and continue onward with, now my very own characters that are now just influenced by the two. Like, the Sasuke character is still dark and brooding, but he also has a sense of humor, wisdom, and protection for the Sakura character and is her guiding light. My character based off Sakura, on the other hand, still has pink hair, and that's about it. I made her a rebel and she's irritating her parents right now, which we know she loves her parents (if you read the manga/watched the anime). Except, her hair is OBVIOUSLY not naturally pink. So, don't feel like you can't do it, in fact, go ahead with it, and then challenge yourself to change aspects of things. So, Sasuke wouldn't normally tell Sakura to check in with her parents, he'd probably not care at all, but I made this version of Sasuke tell Sakura to do so, and I made him dress like Marilyn Manson cause why not? It's not like this is a serious project (I love my side stories), Just try an AU approach and then you'll be able to use nicknames for the characters, and then eventually, they'll shape out of the characters you've based them on, and a name appropriate for them will pop into your head. Just my two cents, I wish you the best! | Don't get me wrong, I'm not a very good author. But a few books I've read have shaped my writing style immensely. There have been some shows and some books that have really inspired me. Art is all about imitation and inspiration. Let that fan fic inspire you!! | 1 | 21,373 | 3 | ||
9c286c | writing_train | 0.87 | [need advice] I want to write my own novel, but my brain is so wired to writing fan fiction that I can’t create anything. I started writing fan fiction when I was about 13 and really enjoyed it. It helped me improve my style and story telling abilities and generally taught me a lot. It’s easy to write and learn and explore characters, setting, narrative style and ideas that are already created by someone else. Let it not be mistaken. I am capable of creating original characters. All my fan fictions have original characters in them and sometimes I deviate the canon so much that it doesn’t even resemble the original. My problem is that I can’t seem to be able to get original ideas for really any part of a story to truly call my own. Even when I do get a flash of inspiration it’s there for like two seconds before my brain automatically goes back to developing original characters from a fan fiction. Anyone had a similar problem? Got any remedies? | e57hoil | e57zzah | 1,535,803,671 | 1,535,823,085 | 1 | 3 | Just think of a kernel and expand from there. GRRM's kernel was the Starks and their dire wolves | What I did was literally start out with nicknames I personally gave for each character (because my stuff is heavily based off of weeb content, except my short stories). Then I just chose a background, and this is what works *for me* and used it as the background of my story. For more info, I just started writing a story because I found a cool picture of Sasuke and Sakura as adults, and I wanted to write their horrible dynamic that they seem to have (plus I hate that they're together, it's annoying to me cause their dynamic all the way up to Shippuuden was crap, but that's where the challenge comes in), and then I changed their names once I was to a point where the character of Sakura was so unlike Sakura, but similar in some ways, and I was able to take down the background of Sasuke and Sakura and continue onward with, now my very own characters that are now just influenced by the two. Like, the Sasuke character is still dark and brooding, but he also has a sense of humor, wisdom, and protection for the Sakura character and is her guiding light. My character based off Sakura, on the other hand, still has pink hair, and that's about it. I made her a rebel and she's irritating her parents right now, which we know she loves her parents (if you read the manga/watched the anime). Except, her hair is OBVIOUSLY not naturally pink. So, don't feel like you can't do it, in fact, go ahead with it, and then challenge yourself to change aspects of things. So, Sasuke wouldn't normally tell Sakura to check in with her parents, he'd probably not care at all, but I made this version of Sasuke tell Sakura to do so, and I made him dress like Marilyn Manson cause why not? It's not like this is a serious project (I love my side stories), Just try an AU approach and then you'll be able to use nicknames for the characters, and then eventually, they'll shape out of the characters you've based them on, and a name appropriate for them will pop into your head. Just my two cents, I wish you the best! | 0 | 19,414 | 3 | ||
9c286c | writing_train | 0.87 | [need advice] I want to write my own novel, but my brain is so wired to writing fan fiction that I can’t create anything. I started writing fan fiction when I was about 13 and really enjoyed it. It helped me improve my style and story telling abilities and generally taught me a lot. It’s easy to write and learn and explore characters, setting, narrative style and ideas that are already created by someone else. Let it not be mistaken. I am capable of creating original characters. All my fan fictions have original characters in them and sometimes I deviate the canon so much that it doesn’t even resemble the original. My problem is that I can’t seem to be able to get original ideas for really any part of a story to truly call my own. Even when I do get a flash of inspiration it’s there for like two seconds before my brain automatically goes back to developing original characters from a fan fiction. Anyone had a similar problem? Got any remedies? | e57zzah | e57ifm5 | 1,535,823,085 | 1,535,804,861 | 3 | 1 | What I did was literally start out with nicknames I personally gave for each character (because my stuff is heavily based off of weeb content, except my short stories). Then I just chose a background, and this is what works *for me* and used it as the background of my story. For more info, I just started writing a story because I found a cool picture of Sasuke and Sakura as adults, and I wanted to write their horrible dynamic that they seem to have (plus I hate that they're together, it's annoying to me cause their dynamic all the way up to Shippuuden was crap, but that's where the challenge comes in), and then I changed their names once I was to a point where the character of Sakura was so unlike Sakura, but similar in some ways, and I was able to take down the background of Sasuke and Sakura and continue onward with, now my very own characters that are now just influenced by the two. Like, the Sasuke character is still dark and brooding, but he also has a sense of humor, wisdom, and protection for the Sakura character and is her guiding light. My character based off Sakura, on the other hand, still has pink hair, and that's about it. I made her a rebel and she's irritating her parents right now, which we know she loves her parents (if you read the manga/watched the anime). Except, her hair is OBVIOUSLY not naturally pink. So, don't feel like you can't do it, in fact, go ahead with it, and then challenge yourself to change aspects of things. So, Sasuke wouldn't normally tell Sakura to check in with her parents, he'd probably not care at all, but I made this version of Sasuke tell Sakura to do so, and I made him dress like Marilyn Manson cause why not? It's not like this is a serious project (I love my side stories), Just try an AU approach and then you'll be able to use nicknames for the characters, and then eventually, they'll shape out of the characters you've based them on, and a name appropriate for them will pop into your head. Just my two cents, I wish you the best! | I won't pretend that I get your issue fully, because you might be doing well and are just harsh on yourself. Just keep doing what you're doing but commit to your seemingly unoriginal idea, don't just keep abandoning it for the sake of finding a better and more original one. If you keep expanding on one idea and invest years on it, it will naturally ferment into a new substance. You'll find yourself switching the spotlight to your original characters while the spotlight on established characters would dim and eventually disappear. With enough time and pressure carbon would turn to diamond. I have yet to meet someone willing to spend a decade on his story and not just wanting to get it done in a month, so don't be in a rush and have patience and faith in your creativity. | 1 | 18,224 | 3 | ||
9c286c | writing_train | 0.87 | [need advice] I want to write my own novel, but my brain is so wired to writing fan fiction that I can’t create anything. I started writing fan fiction when I was about 13 and really enjoyed it. It helped me improve my style and story telling abilities and generally taught me a lot. It’s easy to write and learn and explore characters, setting, narrative style and ideas that are already created by someone else. Let it not be mistaken. I am capable of creating original characters. All my fan fictions have original characters in them and sometimes I deviate the canon so much that it doesn’t even resemble the original. My problem is that I can’t seem to be able to get original ideas for really any part of a story to truly call my own. Even when I do get a flash of inspiration it’s there for like two seconds before my brain automatically goes back to developing original characters from a fan fiction. Anyone had a similar problem? Got any remedies? | e57zzah | e57qe0l | 1,535,823,085 | 1,535,814,075 | 3 | 1 | What I did was literally start out with nicknames I personally gave for each character (because my stuff is heavily based off of weeb content, except my short stories). Then I just chose a background, and this is what works *for me* and used it as the background of my story. For more info, I just started writing a story because I found a cool picture of Sasuke and Sakura as adults, and I wanted to write their horrible dynamic that they seem to have (plus I hate that they're together, it's annoying to me cause their dynamic all the way up to Shippuuden was crap, but that's where the challenge comes in), and then I changed their names once I was to a point where the character of Sakura was so unlike Sakura, but similar in some ways, and I was able to take down the background of Sasuke and Sakura and continue onward with, now my very own characters that are now just influenced by the two. Like, the Sasuke character is still dark and brooding, but he also has a sense of humor, wisdom, and protection for the Sakura character and is her guiding light. My character based off Sakura, on the other hand, still has pink hair, and that's about it. I made her a rebel and she's irritating her parents right now, which we know she loves her parents (if you read the manga/watched the anime). Except, her hair is OBVIOUSLY not naturally pink. So, don't feel like you can't do it, in fact, go ahead with it, and then challenge yourself to change aspects of things. So, Sasuke wouldn't normally tell Sakura to check in with her parents, he'd probably not care at all, but I made this version of Sasuke tell Sakura to do so, and I made him dress like Marilyn Manson cause why not? It's not like this is a serious project (I love my side stories), Just try an AU approach and then you'll be able to use nicknames for the characters, and then eventually, they'll shape out of the characters you've based them on, and a name appropriate for them will pop into your head. Just my two cents, I wish you the best! | Do you read novels, or have you stayed within fandom and fan-fic for your pleasure reading? | 1 | 9,010 | 3 | ||
9c286c | writing_train | 0.87 | [need advice] I want to write my own novel, but my brain is so wired to writing fan fiction that I can’t create anything. I started writing fan fiction when I was about 13 and really enjoyed it. It helped me improve my style and story telling abilities and generally taught me a lot. It’s easy to write and learn and explore characters, setting, narrative style and ideas that are already created by someone else. Let it not be mistaken. I am capable of creating original characters. All my fan fictions have original characters in them and sometimes I deviate the canon so much that it doesn’t even resemble the original. My problem is that I can’t seem to be able to get original ideas for really any part of a story to truly call my own. Even when I do get a flash of inspiration it’s there for like two seconds before my brain automatically goes back to developing original characters from a fan fiction. Anyone had a similar problem? Got any remedies? | e57yp2c | e57zzah | 1,535,821,915 | 1,535,823,085 | 1 | 3 | Fan fiction is a common entry into 'real' writing. Twilight started as Buffy the Vampire slayer fan fiction. Fifty Shades of Grey started as Twilight fan fiction. Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan novels started as Star Trek Fan Fiction. So... write it as fan fiction, without being careful to stay within canon (ie change whatever you want to change to make it better). When you're done, go back and change the nouns until it isn't fan fiction any more. | What I did was literally start out with nicknames I personally gave for each character (because my stuff is heavily based off of weeb content, except my short stories). Then I just chose a background, and this is what works *for me* and used it as the background of my story. For more info, I just started writing a story because I found a cool picture of Sasuke and Sakura as adults, and I wanted to write their horrible dynamic that they seem to have (plus I hate that they're together, it's annoying to me cause their dynamic all the way up to Shippuuden was crap, but that's where the challenge comes in), and then I changed their names once I was to a point where the character of Sakura was so unlike Sakura, but similar in some ways, and I was able to take down the background of Sasuke and Sakura and continue onward with, now my very own characters that are now just influenced by the two. Like, the Sasuke character is still dark and brooding, but he also has a sense of humor, wisdom, and protection for the Sakura character and is her guiding light. My character based off Sakura, on the other hand, still has pink hair, and that's about it. I made her a rebel and she's irritating her parents right now, which we know she loves her parents (if you read the manga/watched the anime). Except, her hair is OBVIOUSLY not naturally pink. So, don't feel like you can't do it, in fact, go ahead with it, and then challenge yourself to change aspects of things. So, Sasuke wouldn't normally tell Sakura to check in with her parents, he'd probably not care at all, but I made this version of Sasuke tell Sakura to do so, and I made him dress like Marilyn Manson cause why not? It's not like this is a serious project (I love my side stories), Just try an AU approach and then you'll be able to use nicknames for the characters, and then eventually, they'll shape out of the characters you've based them on, and a name appropriate for them will pop into your head. Just my two cents, I wish you the best! | 0 | 1,170 | 3 | ||
9c286c | writing_train | 0.87 | [need advice] I want to write my own novel, but my brain is so wired to writing fan fiction that I can’t create anything. I started writing fan fiction when I was about 13 and really enjoyed it. It helped me improve my style and story telling abilities and generally taught me a lot. It’s easy to write and learn and explore characters, setting, narrative style and ideas that are already created by someone else. Let it not be mistaken. I am capable of creating original characters. All my fan fictions have original characters in them and sometimes I deviate the canon so much that it doesn’t even resemble the original. My problem is that I can’t seem to be able to get original ideas for really any part of a story to truly call my own. Even when I do get a flash of inspiration it’s there for like two seconds before my brain automatically goes back to developing original characters from a fan fiction. Anyone had a similar problem? Got any remedies? | e582gq3 | e57g73d | 1,535,825,408 | 1,535,801,044 | 3 | 1 | Not saying much that hasn't been said already, but take your problem and find a way to twist it into something that works for you. My 'big' project that I'm currently trying to find a literary agent for, it's basically a distant relative to Star Wars fan fiction when you get right down to the core of it. The central character basically started out as a Star Wars fan character. The book, it's basically the result of enjoying writing this character, and seeing that the people who were reading him were also enjoying the character, and then deciding to myself I was going to make a whole new universe for him to run around in, which I created by taking heavy influence from the Lucasverse. Note that Star Wars, in turn, basically exists because Lucas couldn't get the rights to Flash Gordon, which means that Star Wars, one of the biggest franchises of all time, is arguably a distant relative to Flash Gordon fan fiction. Likewise, the original Donkey Kong exists because Nintendo couldn't get the rights to Popeye, which means that one of the biggest video game franchises arguably has its roots in 'fan fiction' as well. The book I'm currently working on while trying to find an agent for that other book? It too isn't an wholly original idea - It exists because I'm looking at a more recent popular project, looking at the admittedly cool core underlying idea, and applying the concepts of 'Great Artists Steal' and 'I can do that better' to it. It's very much it's own thing, but build off the back of another work that I'm taking a metaphorical wrecking ball to first, knocking down the building but leaving what I consider to be the best, most important parts of the underlying foundation. So me, personally, I think the solution is to take the approach of 'it's not a problem, it's a feature'. | I'm not sure I understand what your problem is. You start writing something with original characters then, before you know it, you look back and someone's copyrighted character suddenly appeared without your conscious control? If you try to write without using someone else's characters (which you say is no problem), then.... what? In what way do you suddenly stop writing original stuff? | 1 | 24,364 | 3 | ||
9c286c | writing_train | 0.87 | [need advice] I want to write my own novel, but my brain is so wired to writing fan fiction that I can’t create anything. I started writing fan fiction when I was about 13 and really enjoyed it. It helped me improve my style and story telling abilities and generally taught me a lot. It’s easy to write and learn and explore characters, setting, narrative style and ideas that are already created by someone else. Let it not be mistaken. I am capable of creating original characters. All my fan fictions have original characters in them and sometimes I deviate the canon so much that it doesn’t even resemble the original. My problem is that I can’t seem to be able to get original ideas for really any part of a story to truly call my own. Even when I do get a flash of inspiration it’s there for like two seconds before my brain automatically goes back to developing original characters from a fan fiction. Anyone had a similar problem? Got any remedies? | e582gq3 | e57gjs2 | 1,535,825,408 | 1,535,801,712 | 3 | 1 | Not saying much that hasn't been said already, but take your problem and find a way to twist it into something that works for you. My 'big' project that I'm currently trying to find a literary agent for, it's basically a distant relative to Star Wars fan fiction when you get right down to the core of it. The central character basically started out as a Star Wars fan character. The book, it's basically the result of enjoying writing this character, and seeing that the people who were reading him were also enjoying the character, and then deciding to myself I was going to make a whole new universe for him to run around in, which I created by taking heavy influence from the Lucasverse. Note that Star Wars, in turn, basically exists because Lucas couldn't get the rights to Flash Gordon, which means that Star Wars, one of the biggest franchises of all time, is arguably a distant relative to Flash Gordon fan fiction. Likewise, the original Donkey Kong exists because Nintendo couldn't get the rights to Popeye, which means that one of the biggest video game franchises arguably has its roots in 'fan fiction' as well. The book I'm currently working on while trying to find an agent for that other book? It too isn't an wholly original idea - It exists because I'm looking at a more recent popular project, looking at the admittedly cool core underlying idea, and applying the concepts of 'Great Artists Steal' and 'I can do that better' to it. It's very much it's own thing, but build off the back of another work that I'm taking a metaphorical wrecking ball to first, knocking down the building but leaving what I consider to be the best, most important parts of the underlying foundation. So me, personally, I think the solution is to take the approach of 'it's not a problem, it's a feature'. | Don't get me wrong, I'm not a very good author. But a few books I've read have shaped my writing style immensely. There have been some shows and some books that have really inspired me. Art is all about imitation and inspiration. Let that fan fic inspire you!! | 1 | 23,696 | 3 | ||
9c286c | writing_train | 0.87 | [need advice] I want to write my own novel, but my brain is so wired to writing fan fiction that I can’t create anything. I started writing fan fiction when I was about 13 and really enjoyed it. It helped me improve my style and story telling abilities and generally taught me a lot. It’s easy to write and learn and explore characters, setting, narrative style and ideas that are already created by someone else. Let it not be mistaken. I am capable of creating original characters. All my fan fictions have original characters in them and sometimes I deviate the canon so much that it doesn’t even resemble the original. My problem is that I can’t seem to be able to get original ideas for really any part of a story to truly call my own. Even when I do get a flash of inspiration it’s there for like two seconds before my brain automatically goes back to developing original characters from a fan fiction. Anyone had a similar problem? Got any remedies? | e57hoil | e582gq3 | 1,535,803,671 | 1,535,825,408 | 1 | 3 | Just think of a kernel and expand from there. GRRM's kernel was the Starks and their dire wolves | Not saying much that hasn't been said already, but take your problem and find a way to twist it into something that works for you. My 'big' project that I'm currently trying to find a literary agent for, it's basically a distant relative to Star Wars fan fiction when you get right down to the core of it. The central character basically started out as a Star Wars fan character. The book, it's basically the result of enjoying writing this character, and seeing that the people who were reading him were also enjoying the character, and then deciding to myself I was going to make a whole new universe for him to run around in, which I created by taking heavy influence from the Lucasverse. Note that Star Wars, in turn, basically exists because Lucas couldn't get the rights to Flash Gordon, which means that Star Wars, one of the biggest franchises of all time, is arguably a distant relative to Flash Gordon fan fiction. Likewise, the original Donkey Kong exists because Nintendo couldn't get the rights to Popeye, which means that one of the biggest video game franchises arguably has its roots in 'fan fiction' as well. The book I'm currently working on while trying to find an agent for that other book? It too isn't an wholly original idea - It exists because I'm looking at a more recent popular project, looking at the admittedly cool core underlying idea, and applying the concepts of 'Great Artists Steal' and 'I can do that better' to it. It's very much it's own thing, but build off the back of another work that I'm taking a metaphorical wrecking ball to first, knocking down the building but leaving what I consider to be the best, most important parts of the underlying foundation. So me, personally, I think the solution is to take the approach of 'it's not a problem, it's a feature'. | 0 | 21,737 | 3 | ||
9c286c | writing_train | 0.87 | [need advice] I want to write my own novel, but my brain is so wired to writing fan fiction that I can’t create anything. I started writing fan fiction when I was about 13 and really enjoyed it. It helped me improve my style and story telling abilities and generally taught me a lot. It’s easy to write and learn and explore characters, setting, narrative style and ideas that are already created by someone else. Let it not be mistaken. I am capable of creating original characters. All my fan fictions have original characters in them and sometimes I deviate the canon so much that it doesn’t even resemble the original. My problem is that I can’t seem to be able to get original ideas for really any part of a story to truly call my own. Even when I do get a flash of inspiration it’s there for like two seconds before my brain automatically goes back to developing original characters from a fan fiction. Anyone had a similar problem? Got any remedies? | e57ifm5 | e582gq3 | 1,535,804,861 | 1,535,825,408 | 1 | 3 | I won't pretend that I get your issue fully, because you might be doing well and are just harsh on yourself. Just keep doing what you're doing but commit to your seemingly unoriginal idea, don't just keep abandoning it for the sake of finding a better and more original one. If you keep expanding on one idea and invest years on it, it will naturally ferment into a new substance. You'll find yourself switching the spotlight to your original characters while the spotlight on established characters would dim and eventually disappear. With enough time and pressure carbon would turn to diamond. I have yet to meet someone willing to spend a decade on his story and not just wanting to get it done in a month, so don't be in a rush and have patience and faith in your creativity. | Not saying much that hasn't been said already, but take your problem and find a way to twist it into something that works for you. My 'big' project that I'm currently trying to find a literary agent for, it's basically a distant relative to Star Wars fan fiction when you get right down to the core of it. The central character basically started out as a Star Wars fan character. The book, it's basically the result of enjoying writing this character, and seeing that the people who were reading him were also enjoying the character, and then deciding to myself I was going to make a whole new universe for him to run around in, which I created by taking heavy influence from the Lucasverse. Note that Star Wars, in turn, basically exists because Lucas couldn't get the rights to Flash Gordon, which means that Star Wars, one of the biggest franchises of all time, is arguably a distant relative to Flash Gordon fan fiction. Likewise, the original Donkey Kong exists because Nintendo couldn't get the rights to Popeye, which means that one of the biggest video game franchises arguably has its roots in 'fan fiction' as well. The book I'm currently working on while trying to find an agent for that other book? It too isn't an wholly original idea - It exists because I'm looking at a more recent popular project, looking at the admittedly cool core underlying idea, and applying the concepts of 'Great Artists Steal' and 'I can do that better' to it. It's very much it's own thing, but build off the back of another work that I'm taking a metaphorical wrecking ball to first, knocking down the building but leaving what I consider to be the best, most important parts of the underlying foundation. So me, personally, I think the solution is to take the approach of 'it's not a problem, it's a feature'. | 0 | 20,547 | 3 | ||
9c286c | writing_train | 0.87 | [need advice] I want to write my own novel, but my brain is so wired to writing fan fiction that I can’t create anything. I started writing fan fiction when I was about 13 and really enjoyed it. It helped me improve my style and story telling abilities and generally taught me a lot. It’s easy to write and learn and explore characters, setting, narrative style and ideas that are already created by someone else. Let it not be mistaken. I am capable of creating original characters. All my fan fictions have original characters in them and sometimes I deviate the canon so much that it doesn’t even resemble the original. My problem is that I can’t seem to be able to get original ideas for really any part of a story to truly call my own. Even when I do get a flash of inspiration it’s there for like two seconds before my brain automatically goes back to developing original characters from a fan fiction. Anyone had a similar problem? Got any remedies? | e582gq3 | e57qe0l | 1,535,825,408 | 1,535,814,075 | 3 | 1 | Not saying much that hasn't been said already, but take your problem and find a way to twist it into something that works for you. My 'big' project that I'm currently trying to find a literary agent for, it's basically a distant relative to Star Wars fan fiction when you get right down to the core of it. The central character basically started out as a Star Wars fan character. The book, it's basically the result of enjoying writing this character, and seeing that the people who were reading him were also enjoying the character, and then deciding to myself I was going to make a whole new universe for him to run around in, which I created by taking heavy influence from the Lucasverse. Note that Star Wars, in turn, basically exists because Lucas couldn't get the rights to Flash Gordon, which means that Star Wars, one of the biggest franchises of all time, is arguably a distant relative to Flash Gordon fan fiction. Likewise, the original Donkey Kong exists because Nintendo couldn't get the rights to Popeye, which means that one of the biggest video game franchises arguably has its roots in 'fan fiction' as well. The book I'm currently working on while trying to find an agent for that other book? It too isn't an wholly original idea - It exists because I'm looking at a more recent popular project, looking at the admittedly cool core underlying idea, and applying the concepts of 'Great Artists Steal' and 'I can do that better' to it. It's very much it's own thing, but build off the back of another work that I'm taking a metaphorical wrecking ball to first, knocking down the building but leaving what I consider to be the best, most important parts of the underlying foundation. So me, personally, I think the solution is to take the approach of 'it's not a problem, it's a feature'. | Do you read novels, or have you stayed within fandom and fan-fic for your pleasure reading? | 1 | 11,333 | 3 | ||
9c286c | writing_train | 0.87 | [need advice] I want to write my own novel, but my brain is so wired to writing fan fiction that I can’t create anything. I started writing fan fiction when I was about 13 and really enjoyed it. It helped me improve my style and story telling abilities and generally taught me a lot. It’s easy to write and learn and explore characters, setting, narrative style and ideas that are already created by someone else. Let it not be mistaken. I am capable of creating original characters. All my fan fictions have original characters in them and sometimes I deviate the canon so much that it doesn’t even resemble the original. My problem is that I can’t seem to be able to get original ideas for really any part of a story to truly call my own. Even when I do get a flash of inspiration it’s there for like two seconds before my brain automatically goes back to developing original characters from a fan fiction. Anyone had a similar problem? Got any remedies? | e582gq3 | e57yp2c | 1,535,825,408 | 1,535,821,915 | 3 | 1 | Not saying much that hasn't been said already, but take your problem and find a way to twist it into something that works for you. My 'big' project that I'm currently trying to find a literary agent for, it's basically a distant relative to Star Wars fan fiction when you get right down to the core of it. The central character basically started out as a Star Wars fan character. The book, it's basically the result of enjoying writing this character, and seeing that the people who were reading him were also enjoying the character, and then deciding to myself I was going to make a whole new universe for him to run around in, which I created by taking heavy influence from the Lucasverse. Note that Star Wars, in turn, basically exists because Lucas couldn't get the rights to Flash Gordon, which means that Star Wars, one of the biggest franchises of all time, is arguably a distant relative to Flash Gordon fan fiction. Likewise, the original Donkey Kong exists because Nintendo couldn't get the rights to Popeye, which means that one of the biggest video game franchises arguably has its roots in 'fan fiction' as well. The book I'm currently working on while trying to find an agent for that other book? It too isn't an wholly original idea - It exists because I'm looking at a more recent popular project, looking at the admittedly cool core underlying idea, and applying the concepts of 'Great Artists Steal' and 'I can do that better' to it. It's very much it's own thing, but build off the back of another work that I'm taking a metaphorical wrecking ball to first, knocking down the building but leaving what I consider to be the best, most important parts of the underlying foundation. So me, personally, I think the solution is to take the approach of 'it's not a problem, it's a feature'. | Fan fiction is a common entry into 'real' writing. Twilight started as Buffy the Vampire slayer fan fiction. Fifty Shades of Grey started as Twilight fan fiction. Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan novels started as Star Trek Fan Fiction. So... write it as fan fiction, without being careful to stay within canon (ie change whatever you want to change to make it better). When you're done, go back and change the nouns until it isn't fan fiction any more. | 1 | 3,493 | 3 | ||
9c286c | writing_train | 0.87 | [need advice] I want to write my own novel, but my brain is so wired to writing fan fiction that I can’t create anything. I started writing fan fiction when I was about 13 and really enjoyed it. It helped me improve my style and story telling abilities and generally taught me a lot. It’s easy to write and learn and explore characters, setting, narrative style and ideas that are already created by someone else. Let it not be mistaken. I am capable of creating original characters. All my fan fictions have original characters in them and sometimes I deviate the canon so much that it doesn’t even resemble the original. My problem is that I can’t seem to be able to get original ideas for really any part of a story to truly call my own. Even when I do get a flash of inspiration it’s there for like two seconds before my brain automatically goes back to developing original characters from a fan fiction. Anyone had a similar problem? Got any remedies? | e581ggh | e582gq3 | 1,535,824,443 | 1,535,825,408 | 1 | 3 | This is how I started my own novel. As fan fiction. I just decided to deviate far from the original. And now it's unique. | Not saying much that hasn't been said already, but take your problem and find a way to twist it into something that works for you. My 'big' project that I'm currently trying to find a literary agent for, it's basically a distant relative to Star Wars fan fiction when you get right down to the core of it. The central character basically started out as a Star Wars fan character. The book, it's basically the result of enjoying writing this character, and seeing that the people who were reading him were also enjoying the character, and then deciding to myself I was going to make a whole new universe for him to run around in, which I created by taking heavy influence from the Lucasverse. Note that Star Wars, in turn, basically exists because Lucas couldn't get the rights to Flash Gordon, which means that Star Wars, one of the biggest franchises of all time, is arguably a distant relative to Flash Gordon fan fiction. Likewise, the original Donkey Kong exists because Nintendo couldn't get the rights to Popeye, which means that one of the biggest video game franchises arguably has its roots in 'fan fiction' as well. The book I'm currently working on while trying to find an agent for that other book? It too isn't an wholly original idea - It exists because I'm looking at a more recent popular project, looking at the admittedly cool core underlying idea, and applying the concepts of 'Great Artists Steal' and 'I can do that better' to it. It's very much it's own thing, but build off the back of another work that I'm taking a metaphorical wrecking ball to first, knocking down the building but leaving what I consider to be the best, most important parts of the underlying foundation. So me, personally, I think the solution is to take the approach of 'it's not a problem, it's a feature'. | 0 | 965 | 3 | ||
9c286c | writing_train | 0.87 | [need advice] I want to write my own novel, but my brain is so wired to writing fan fiction that I can’t create anything. I started writing fan fiction when I was about 13 and really enjoyed it. It helped me improve my style and story telling abilities and generally taught me a lot. It’s easy to write and learn and explore characters, setting, narrative style and ideas that are already created by someone else. Let it not be mistaken. I am capable of creating original characters. All my fan fictions have original characters in them and sometimes I deviate the canon so much that it doesn’t even resemble the original. My problem is that I can’t seem to be able to get original ideas for really any part of a story to truly call my own. Even when I do get a flash of inspiration it’s there for like two seconds before my brain automatically goes back to developing original characters from a fan fiction. Anyone had a similar problem? Got any remedies? | e57g73d | e586vgp | 1,535,801,044 | 1,535,829,684 | 1 | 2 | I'm not sure I understand what your problem is. You start writing something with original characters then, before you know it, you look back and someone's copyrighted character suddenly appeared without your conscious control? If you try to write without using someone else's characters (which you say is no problem), then.... what? In what way do you suddenly stop writing original stuff? | No one has 100% of true original material. Everyone is always inspired by someone or something else. Grab whatever it is that makes you creative and build upon it. Make it your own story, from a different perspective. | 0 | 28,640 | 2 | ||
9c286c | writing_train | 0.87 | [need advice] I want to write my own novel, but my brain is so wired to writing fan fiction that I can’t create anything. I started writing fan fiction when I was about 13 and really enjoyed it. It helped me improve my style and story telling abilities and generally taught me a lot. It’s easy to write and learn and explore characters, setting, narrative style and ideas that are already created by someone else. Let it not be mistaken. I am capable of creating original characters. All my fan fictions have original characters in them and sometimes I deviate the canon so much that it doesn’t even resemble the original. My problem is that I can’t seem to be able to get original ideas for really any part of a story to truly call my own. Even when I do get a flash of inspiration it’s there for like two seconds before my brain automatically goes back to developing original characters from a fan fiction. Anyone had a similar problem? Got any remedies? | e57gjs2 | e586vgp | 1,535,801,712 | 1,535,829,684 | 1 | 2 | Don't get me wrong, I'm not a very good author. But a few books I've read have shaped my writing style immensely. There have been some shows and some books that have really inspired me. Art is all about imitation and inspiration. Let that fan fic inspire you!! | No one has 100% of true original material. Everyone is always inspired by someone or something else. Grab whatever it is that makes you creative and build upon it. Make it your own story, from a different perspective. | 0 | 27,972 | 2 | ||
9c286c | writing_train | 0.87 | [need advice] I want to write my own novel, but my brain is so wired to writing fan fiction that I can’t create anything. I started writing fan fiction when I was about 13 and really enjoyed it. It helped me improve my style and story telling abilities and generally taught me a lot. It’s easy to write and learn and explore characters, setting, narrative style and ideas that are already created by someone else. Let it not be mistaken. I am capable of creating original characters. All my fan fictions have original characters in them and sometimes I deviate the canon so much that it doesn’t even resemble the original. My problem is that I can’t seem to be able to get original ideas for really any part of a story to truly call my own. Even when I do get a flash of inspiration it’s there for like two seconds before my brain automatically goes back to developing original characters from a fan fiction. Anyone had a similar problem? Got any remedies? | e586vgp | e57hoil | 1,535,829,684 | 1,535,803,671 | 2 | 1 | No one has 100% of true original material. Everyone is always inspired by someone or something else. Grab whatever it is that makes you creative and build upon it. Make it your own story, from a different perspective. | Just think of a kernel and expand from there. GRRM's kernel was the Starks and their dire wolves | 1 | 26,013 | 2 | ||
9c286c | writing_train | 0.87 | [need advice] I want to write my own novel, but my brain is so wired to writing fan fiction that I can’t create anything. I started writing fan fiction when I was about 13 and really enjoyed it. It helped me improve my style and story telling abilities and generally taught me a lot. It’s easy to write and learn and explore characters, setting, narrative style and ideas that are already created by someone else. Let it not be mistaken. I am capable of creating original characters. All my fan fictions have original characters in them and sometimes I deviate the canon so much that it doesn’t even resemble the original. My problem is that I can’t seem to be able to get original ideas for really any part of a story to truly call my own. Even when I do get a flash of inspiration it’s there for like two seconds before my brain automatically goes back to developing original characters from a fan fiction. Anyone had a similar problem? Got any remedies? | e586vgp | e57ifm5 | 1,535,829,684 | 1,535,804,861 | 2 | 1 | No one has 100% of true original material. Everyone is always inspired by someone or something else. Grab whatever it is that makes you creative and build upon it. Make it your own story, from a different perspective. | I won't pretend that I get your issue fully, because you might be doing well and are just harsh on yourself. Just keep doing what you're doing but commit to your seemingly unoriginal idea, don't just keep abandoning it for the sake of finding a better and more original one. If you keep expanding on one idea and invest years on it, it will naturally ferment into a new substance. You'll find yourself switching the spotlight to your original characters while the spotlight on established characters would dim and eventually disappear. With enough time and pressure carbon would turn to diamond. I have yet to meet someone willing to spend a decade on his story and not just wanting to get it done in a month, so don't be in a rush and have patience and faith in your creativity. | 1 | 24,823 | 2 | ||
9c286c | writing_train | 0.87 | [need advice] I want to write my own novel, but my brain is so wired to writing fan fiction that I can’t create anything. I started writing fan fiction when I was about 13 and really enjoyed it. It helped me improve my style and story telling abilities and generally taught me a lot. It’s easy to write and learn and explore characters, setting, narrative style and ideas that are already created by someone else. Let it not be mistaken. I am capable of creating original characters. All my fan fictions have original characters in them and sometimes I deviate the canon so much that it doesn’t even resemble the original. My problem is that I can’t seem to be able to get original ideas for really any part of a story to truly call my own. Even when I do get a flash of inspiration it’s there for like two seconds before my brain automatically goes back to developing original characters from a fan fiction. Anyone had a similar problem? Got any remedies? | e586vgp | e57qe0l | 1,535,829,684 | 1,535,814,075 | 2 | 1 | No one has 100% of true original material. Everyone is always inspired by someone or something else. Grab whatever it is that makes you creative and build upon it. Make it your own story, from a different perspective. | Do you read novels, or have you stayed within fandom and fan-fic for your pleasure reading? | 1 | 15,609 | 2 | ||
9c286c | writing_train | 0.87 | [need advice] I want to write my own novel, but my brain is so wired to writing fan fiction that I can’t create anything. I started writing fan fiction when I was about 13 and really enjoyed it. It helped me improve my style and story telling abilities and generally taught me a lot. It’s easy to write and learn and explore characters, setting, narrative style and ideas that are already created by someone else. Let it not be mistaken. I am capable of creating original characters. All my fan fictions have original characters in them and sometimes I deviate the canon so much that it doesn’t even resemble the original. My problem is that I can’t seem to be able to get original ideas for really any part of a story to truly call my own. Even when I do get a flash of inspiration it’s there for like two seconds before my brain automatically goes back to developing original characters from a fan fiction. Anyone had a similar problem? Got any remedies? | e57yp2c | e586vgp | 1,535,821,915 | 1,535,829,684 | 1 | 2 | Fan fiction is a common entry into 'real' writing. Twilight started as Buffy the Vampire slayer fan fiction. Fifty Shades of Grey started as Twilight fan fiction. Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan novels started as Star Trek Fan Fiction. So... write it as fan fiction, without being careful to stay within canon (ie change whatever you want to change to make it better). When you're done, go back and change the nouns until it isn't fan fiction any more. | No one has 100% of true original material. Everyone is always inspired by someone or something else. Grab whatever it is that makes you creative and build upon it. Make it your own story, from a different perspective. | 0 | 7,769 | 2 | ||
9c286c | writing_train | 0.87 | [need advice] I want to write my own novel, but my brain is so wired to writing fan fiction that I can’t create anything. I started writing fan fiction when I was about 13 and really enjoyed it. It helped me improve my style and story telling abilities and generally taught me a lot. It’s easy to write and learn and explore characters, setting, narrative style and ideas that are already created by someone else. Let it not be mistaken. I am capable of creating original characters. All my fan fictions have original characters in them and sometimes I deviate the canon so much that it doesn’t even resemble the original. My problem is that I can’t seem to be able to get original ideas for really any part of a story to truly call my own. Even when I do get a flash of inspiration it’s there for like two seconds before my brain automatically goes back to developing original characters from a fan fiction. Anyone had a similar problem? Got any remedies? | e586vgp | e581ggh | 1,535,829,684 | 1,535,824,443 | 2 | 1 | No one has 100% of true original material. Everyone is always inspired by someone or something else. Grab whatever it is that makes you creative and build upon it. Make it your own story, from a different perspective. | This is how I started my own novel. As fan fiction. I just decided to deviate far from the original. And now it's unique. | 1 | 5,241 | 2 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i11hxe6 | i11g31m | 1,647,537,041 | 1,647,536,334 | 24 | 6 | The length of your chapters can change your pacing. Generally shorter chapters mean faster pacing. Length of chapter varies for genre too. A good rule of thumb is chapters that are 2000-5000 words. Here's an article that goes into more detail. https://blog.reedsy.com/how-long-should-a-chapter-be/ As for lengthening your story in general, try reading through your content bit by bit. Focus on what you want that scene to look like, feel like, sound like. Is it conveying the mood you want to set? Could it be doing a better job of giving clear imagery, nuance, or emotions? These are the types of questions I ask myself after I've already written my first draft because I'm usually just itching to get out all of my thoughts. I hope this helps. | Just combine two of your chapters together into one longer chapter. | 1 | 707 | 4 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i11odkw | i11g31m | 1,647,539,501 | 1,647,536,334 | 19 | 6 | Chapter length doesn't matter. I have a chapter that's only 375 words. | Just combine two of your chapters together into one longer chapter. | 1 | 3,167 | 3.166667 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i11odkw | i11nrsb | 1,647,539,501 | 1,647,539,273 | 19 | 5 | Chapter length doesn't matter. I have a chapter that's only 375 words. | Odds are, you’re an underwriter. You’re probably not including as much as you should be. Look up a couple guides on how to write more, and then just keep writing. Maybe sideline this story and work on another one, or write some short stories, if you want to get more practice. I used to have the same problem. That problem went away once I honed my skill and learned what information needs to be conveyed and how | 1 | 228 | 3.8 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i12ekr1 | i120eff | 1,647,549,507 | 1,647,544,101 | 3 | 2 | Subplots that branch and connect to the main storyline will increase total word count. Answering Who/What/Where/When/Why/How on a chapter by chapter basis will increase chapter word counts. Who is fairly simple, but it's also complicated. Who isn't just "the names of the people in this chapter". It's deeper than that. *Who are they?* What are their goals, likes, dislikes, emotional state? You're not always going to answer this level of detail in every chapter, but this is how we learn who your characters are. Even something as simple as witty banter back and forth or an internal introspection or a confession of love tells us "Who" the characters are. What is actually simple. What are the characters doing? It's not enough to just hold a conversation to get dialogue across. Are they investigating something? Having dinner? What interactions do they have with their environment (in other words, consider the choreography of the scene). Where and When don't get enough detail by a lot of novice authors. Remember, we aren't in your mind, we have no idea what the setting of the story is beyond what you tell us. It's not enough to tell us they are in a city named Araedi. What does Araedi look like? >*Yet as large as Araedi was, and with how densely the population was packed together, the city housed less than a quarter of what it was designed to. Most of the city only lived in the southern and central two thirds of the city, with the north being almost entirely uninhabited. Yet even in these portions of the city, many of the buildings went unoccupied.* > >*Caleb gasped several times as they wandered through the city, reminding Tyree that this was his first time this far north. “This city is huge, but wasn’t the war several hundred years ago? How come no one’s bothered to fix any of the buildings? Half of them are missing rooftops or have holes blown into them.”* > >*“The war ended when the assault on Araedi overwhelmed the magic barrier surrounding the city. When the barrier fell, much of the city in the north was destroyed. The city surrendered and when the barrier went back up, the buildings were basically frozen as they were.” Tyree answered.* > >*The Serethi were actually quite resourceful with how they handled the issue of the buildings being indestructible. New buildings had grown on top of the existing towers like mushrooms clinging to a tree’s trunk.* Araedi is a major location, and its description comes up from the perspective of several characters. This is how you would go indepth into answering "Where". You aren't always going to (and shouldn't) be this specific. Why and How require more thought on the part of the author. Why does this chapter matter? How does it tie into the previous and next chapter? The entire story? In short, what is the key takeaway of the chapter? That should be at the forefront of your mind as you write it and should be the poignant thing the reader gets from reading it. In my above example, this chapter and the previous 2 chapters show the rough happenings going on in the world following the disappearance of the Guardians, magical beings that fight off goblins and other monsters that cities have had to deal with for the last several hundred years, as well as the onset of an epidemic. The takeway is: the people are having a rough go of it. | Don't worry about it. My chapters tend to be short, and they still sell. I know of another professionally published author who has had chapters as small as two words, but she was using that to make a point. Personally, I think shorter or better but go with what feels right. | 1 | 5,406 | 1.5 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i12ekr1 | i125oto | 1,647,549,507 | 1,647,546,144 | 3 | 2 | Subplots that branch and connect to the main storyline will increase total word count. Answering Who/What/Where/When/Why/How on a chapter by chapter basis will increase chapter word counts. Who is fairly simple, but it's also complicated. Who isn't just "the names of the people in this chapter". It's deeper than that. *Who are they?* What are their goals, likes, dislikes, emotional state? You're not always going to answer this level of detail in every chapter, but this is how we learn who your characters are. Even something as simple as witty banter back and forth or an internal introspection or a confession of love tells us "Who" the characters are. What is actually simple. What are the characters doing? It's not enough to just hold a conversation to get dialogue across. Are they investigating something? Having dinner? What interactions do they have with their environment (in other words, consider the choreography of the scene). Where and When don't get enough detail by a lot of novice authors. Remember, we aren't in your mind, we have no idea what the setting of the story is beyond what you tell us. It's not enough to tell us they are in a city named Araedi. What does Araedi look like? >*Yet as large as Araedi was, and with how densely the population was packed together, the city housed less than a quarter of what it was designed to. Most of the city only lived in the southern and central two thirds of the city, with the north being almost entirely uninhabited. Yet even in these portions of the city, many of the buildings went unoccupied.* > >*Caleb gasped several times as they wandered through the city, reminding Tyree that this was his first time this far north. “This city is huge, but wasn’t the war several hundred years ago? How come no one’s bothered to fix any of the buildings? Half of them are missing rooftops or have holes blown into them.”* > >*“The war ended when the assault on Araedi overwhelmed the magic barrier surrounding the city. When the barrier fell, much of the city in the north was destroyed. The city surrendered and when the barrier went back up, the buildings were basically frozen as they were.” Tyree answered.* > >*The Serethi were actually quite resourceful with how they handled the issue of the buildings being indestructible. New buildings had grown on top of the existing towers like mushrooms clinging to a tree’s trunk.* Araedi is a major location, and its description comes up from the perspective of several characters. This is how you would go indepth into answering "Where". You aren't always going to (and shouldn't) be this specific. Why and How require more thought on the part of the author. Why does this chapter matter? How does it tie into the previous and next chapter? The entire story? In short, what is the key takeaway of the chapter? That should be at the forefront of your mind as you write it and should be the poignant thing the reader gets from reading it. In my above example, this chapter and the previous 2 chapters show the rough happenings going on in the world following the disappearance of the Guardians, magical beings that fight off goblins and other monsters that cities have had to deal with for the last several hundred years, as well as the onset of an epidemic. The takeway is: the people are having a rough go of it. | There is no such thing. Chapter length can vary from book to book. I've written stories with 5000 word chapters and stories with 1800-2500 word chapters. Neither is too short or too long, it's just what came naturally to that story. | 1 | 3,363 | 1.5 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i125bmx | i12ekr1 | 1,647,546,008 | 1,647,549,507 | 1 | 3 | Chapter length is a preference, and longer or shorter chapters have their own benefits and hazards. In my mind, the only thing that matters is consistency. Plus, a lot of writers tend to underestimate the length of their story when they're writing in a word processor, like Word or Docs. There, you're writing on 8.5×11 printer paper, whereas your book will most likely be some much smaller paperback if published. There's a difference you have to split when estimating length, there. | Subplots that branch and connect to the main storyline will increase total word count. Answering Who/What/Where/When/Why/How on a chapter by chapter basis will increase chapter word counts. Who is fairly simple, but it's also complicated. Who isn't just "the names of the people in this chapter". It's deeper than that. *Who are they?* What are their goals, likes, dislikes, emotional state? You're not always going to answer this level of detail in every chapter, but this is how we learn who your characters are. Even something as simple as witty banter back and forth or an internal introspection or a confession of love tells us "Who" the characters are. What is actually simple. What are the characters doing? It's not enough to just hold a conversation to get dialogue across. Are they investigating something? Having dinner? What interactions do they have with their environment (in other words, consider the choreography of the scene). Where and When don't get enough detail by a lot of novice authors. Remember, we aren't in your mind, we have no idea what the setting of the story is beyond what you tell us. It's not enough to tell us they are in a city named Araedi. What does Araedi look like? >*Yet as large as Araedi was, and with how densely the population was packed together, the city housed less than a quarter of what it was designed to. Most of the city only lived in the southern and central two thirds of the city, with the north being almost entirely uninhabited. Yet even in these portions of the city, many of the buildings went unoccupied.* > >*Caleb gasped several times as they wandered through the city, reminding Tyree that this was his first time this far north. “This city is huge, but wasn’t the war several hundred years ago? How come no one’s bothered to fix any of the buildings? Half of them are missing rooftops or have holes blown into them.”* > >*“The war ended when the assault on Araedi overwhelmed the magic barrier surrounding the city. When the barrier fell, much of the city in the north was destroyed. The city surrendered and when the barrier went back up, the buildings were basically frozen as they were.” Tyree answered.* > >*The Serethi were actually quite resourceful with how they handled the issue of the buildings being indestructible. New buildings had grown on top of the existing towers like mushrooms clinging to a tree’s trunk.* Araedi is a major location, and its description comes up from the perspective of several characters. This is how you would go indepth into answering "Where". You aren't always going to (and shouldn't) be this specific. Why and How require more thought on the part of the author. Why does this chapter matter? How does it tie into the previous and next chapter? The entire story? In short, what is the key takeaway of the chapter? That should be at the forefront of your mind as you write it and should be the poignant thing the reader gets from reading it. In my above example, this chapter and the previous 2 chapters show the rough happenings going on in the world following the disappearance of the Guardians, magical beings that fight off goblins and other monsters that cities have had to deal with for the last several hundred years, as well as the onset of an epidemic. The takeway is: the people are having a rough go of it. | 0 | 3,499 | 3 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i120eff | i13lxra | 1,647,544,101 | 1,647,567,911 | 2 | 3 | Don't worry about it. My chapters tend to be short, and they still sell. I know of another professionally published author who has had chapters as small as two words, but she was using that to make a point. Personally, I think shorter or better but go with what feels right. | Look at James Patterson’s books. Very short chapeters. | 0 | 23,810 | 1.5 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i13lxra | i125oto | 1,647,567,911 | 1,647,546,144 | 3 | 2 | Look at James Patterson’s books. Very short chapeters. | There is no such thing. Chapter length can vary from book to book. I've written stories with 5000 word chapters and stories with 1800-2500 word chapters. Neither is too short or too long, it's just what came naturally to that story. | 1 | 21,767 | 1.5 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i12f6a4 | i13lxra | 1,647,549,737 | 1,647,567,911 | 2 | 3 | Whatever I’m feeling for the chapter is what I write. Literally have chapters that are only 200 words or so. Length doesn’t matter. Just don’t waste time. | Look at James Patterson’s books. Very short chapeters. | 0 | 18,174 | 1.5 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i13lxra | i12vdtr | 1,647,567,911 | 1,647,556,116 | 3 | 2 | Look at James Patterson’s books. Very short chapeters. | u don't know your writing style... but maybe try describing places more detailed and in general try to well i suppose you could say paint with your words.. like write descriptive and don't cut tooo short on the details | 1 | 11,795 | 1.5 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i131028 | i13lxra | 1,647,558,496 | 1,647,567,911 | 2 | 3 | you know the saying it’s better to have more than less…personally, i feel this is the only case in which it doesn’t apply. if i have learned anything about being a reader it’s this: everyone loves short chapters. short chapters are so much easier to read than longer chapters, just as long as each chapter has a purpose then you aren’t doing anything wrong. | Look at James Patterson’s books. Very short chapeters. | 0 | 9,415 | 1.5 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i135jgk | i13lxra | 1,647,560,461 | 1,647,567,911 | 2 | 3 | Write longer chapters. Yes that sounds flippant, but I'm serious. If you want longer chapters you need to put more in them. More dialogue, more inner monologue, more description, more action, more plot points, more...whatever. Dissect your chapters. What all is going on? How much of it is worldbuilding (descriptive/informative), how much of it is narrative (story/plot advancement), and how much is dialogue (spoken or thought)? Whichever one is the lightest, double down on that and keep the other two at about the same ratio and you're going to wind up with a well balanced chapter. It's okay to have lopsided chapters sometimes, occassionally there is call for 15 pages of one guy telling another about the history of something or other and how all of that affects them in the here and now. Sometimes you just need to have a chapter that's almost pure narrative; battle chapters or challenge/skill test chapters for example. Sometimes you just need for your cast to TALK to each other simply to maintain their relationships. | Look at James Patterson’s books. Very short chapeters. | 0 | 7,450 | 1.5 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i125bmx | i13lxra | 1,647,546,008 | 1,647,567,911 | 1 | 3 | Chapter length is a preference, and longer or shorter chapters have their own benefits and hazards. In my mind, the only thing that matters is consistency. Plus, a lot of writers tend to underestimate the length of their story when they're writing in a word processor, like Word or Docs. There, you're writing on 8.5×11 printer paper, whereas your book will most likely be some much smaller paperback if published. There's a difference you have to split when estimating length, there. | Look at James Patterson’s books. Very short chapeters. | 0 | 21,903 | 3 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i120eff | i14c964 | 1,647,544,101 | 1,647,582,060 | 2 | 3 | Don't worry about it. My chapters tend to be short, and they still sell. I know of another professionally published author who has had chapters as small as two words, but she was using that to make a point. Personally, I think shorter or better but go with what feels right. | They're probably not, I've read books if essentially equal length that had 30 chapters and some that have 130 chapters. You shouldn't be trying to make them longer to fit some arbitrary length that you *think* they should be, if your concluding that scene or collection of related scenes with an appropriate level of detail, not being overly brief or getting bigger down in uncessary detail, that's what matters, if you do that in 800 words or 8000, it is what it is. | 0 | 37,959 | 1.5 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i125oto | i14c964 | 1,647,546,144 | 1,647,582,060 | 2 | 3 | There is no such thing. Chapter length can vary from book to book. I've written stories with 5000 word chapters and stories with 1800-2500 word chapters. Neither is too short or too long, it's just what came naturally to that story. | They're probably not, I've read books if essentially equal length that had 30 chapters and some that have 130 chapters. You shouldn't be trying to make them longer to fit some arbitrary length that you *think* they should be, if your concluding that scene or collection of related scenes with an appropriate level of detail, not being overly brief or getting bigger down in uncessary detail, that's what matters, if you do that in 800 words or 8000, it is what it is. | 0 | 35,916 | 1.5 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i14c964 | i12f6a4 | 1,647,582,060 | 1,647,549,737 | 3 | 2 | They're probably not, I've read books if essentially equal length that had 30 chapters and some that have 130 chapters. You shouldn't be trying to make them longer to fit some arbitrary length that you *think* they should be, if your concluding that scene or collection of related scenes with an appropriate level of detail, not being overly brief or getting bigger down in uncessary detail, that's what matters, if you do that in 800 words or 8000, it is what it is. | Whatever I’m feeling for the chapter is what I write. Literally have chapters that are only 200 words or so. Length doesn’t matter. Just don’t waste time. | 1 | 32,323 | 1.5 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i12vdtr | i14c964 | 1,647,556,116 | 1,647,582,060 | 2 | 3 | u don't know your writing style... but maybe try describing places more detailed and in general try to well i suppose you could say paint with your words.. like write descriptive and don't cut tooo short on the details | They're probably not, I've read books if essentially equal length that had 30 chapters and some that have 130 chapters. You shouldn't be trying to make them longer to fit some arbitrary length that you *think* they should be, if your concluding that scene or collection of related scenes with an appropriate level of detail, not being overly brief or getting bigger down in uncessary detail, that's what matters, if you do that in 800 words or 8000, it is what it is. | 0 | 25,944 | 1.5 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i14c964 | i131028 | 1,647,582,060 | 1,647,558,496 | 3 | 2 | They're probably not, I've read books if essentially equal length that had 30 chapters and some that have 130 chapters. You shouldn't be trying to make them longer to fit some arbitrary length that you *think* they should be, if your concluding that scene or collection of related scenes with an appropriate level of detail, not being overly brief or getting bigger down in uncessary detail, that's what matters, if you do that in 800 words or 8000, it is what it is. | you know the saying it’s better to have more than less…personally, i feel this is the only case in which it doesn’t apply. if i have learned anything about being a reader it’s this: everyone loves short chapters. short chapters are so much easier to read than longer chapters, just as long as each chapter has a purpose then you aren’t doing anything wrong. | 1 | 23,564 | 1.5 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i135jgk | i14c964 | 1,647,560,461 | 1,647,582,060 | 2 | 3 | Write longer chapters. Yes that sounds flippant, but I'm serious. If you want longer chapters you need to put more in them. More dialogue, more inner monologue, more description, more action, more plot points, more...whatever. Dissect your chapters. What all is going on? How much of it is worldbuilding (descriptive/informative), how much of it is narrative (story/plot advancement), and how much is dialogue (spoken or thought)? Whichever one is the lightest, double down on that and keep the other two at about the same ratio and you're going to wind up with a well balanced chapter. It's okay to have lopsided chapters sometimes, occassionally there is call for 15 pages of one guy telling another about the history of something or other and how all of that affects them in the here and now. Sometimes you just need to have a chapter that's almost pure narrative; battle chapters or challenge/skill test chapters for example. Sometimes you just need for your cast to TALK to each other simply to maintain their relationships. | They're probably not, I've read books if essentially equal length that had 30 chapters and some that have 130 chapters. You shouldn't be trying to make them longer to fit some arbitrary length that you *think* they should be, if your concluding that scene or collection of related scenes with an appropriate level of detail, not being overly brief or getting bigger down in uncessary detail, that's what matters, if you do that in 800 words or 8000, it is what it is. | 0 | 21,599 | 1.5 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i13m4y7 | i14c964 | 1,647,568,000 | 1,647,582,060 | 2 | 3 | I don't think it matters. Station Eleven has some short chapters and it works. | They're probably not, I've read books if essentially equal length that had 30 chapters and some that have 130 chapters. You shouldn't be trying to make them longer to fit some arbitrary length that you *think* they should be, if your concluding that scene or collection of related scenes with an appropriate level of detail, not being overly brief or getting bigger down in uncessary detail, that's what matters, if you do that in 800 words or 8000, it is what it is. | 0 | 14,060 | 1.5 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i14c964 | i13vd5d | 1,647,582,060 | 1,647,572,359 | 3 | 2 | They're probably not, I've read books if essentially equal length that had 30 chapters and some that have 130 chapters. You shouldn't be trying to make them longer to fit some arbitrary length that you *think* they should be, if your concluding that scene or collection of related scenes with an appropriate level of detail, not being overly brief or getting bigger down in uncessary detail, that's what matters, if you do that in 800 words or 8000, it is what it is. | Does it read too quick as well? You might be skipping over the Sequel portion to your Scenes. | 1 | 9,701 | 1.5 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i14c964 | i13vdfj | 1,647,582,060 | 1,647,572,363 | 3 | 2 | They're probably not, I've read books if essentially equal length that had 30 chapters and some that have 130 chapters. You shouldn't be trying to make them longer to fit some arbitrary length that you *think* they should be, if your concluding that scene or collection of related scenes with an appropriate level of detail, not being overly brief or getting bigger down in uncessary detail, that's what matters, if you do that in 800 words or 8000, it is what it is. | My chapters range from 1000-2000 I think it depends on the POV you are writing from, too. But I can recommend being very descriptive, talking about the characters feelings, what they are wearing, what they see, feel, hear. You know like the senses. Don't be afraid to really paint an image | 1 | 9,697 | 1.5 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i13vywd | i14c964 | 1,647,572,664 | 1,647,582,060 | 2 | 3 | I get positive feedback on my short chapters. Not something to worry about. From the readers perspective, think about them like potato chips. Always ruin for one more. | They're probably not, I've read books if essentially equal length that had 30 chapters and some that have 130 chapters. You shouldn't be trying to make them longer to fit some arbitrary length that you *think* they should be, if your concluding that scene or collection of related scenes with an appropriate level of detail, not being overly brief or getting bigger down in uncessary detail, that's what matters, if you do that in 800 words or 8000, it is what it is. | 0 | 9,396 | 1.5 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i14c964 | i13wbn3 | 1,647,582,060 | 1,647,572,844 | 3 | 2 | They're probably not, I've read books if essentially equal length that had 30 chapters and some that have 130 chapters. You shouldn't be trying to make them longer to fit some arbitrary length that you *think* they should be, if your concluding that scene or collection of related scenes with an appropriate level of detail, not being overly brief or getting bigger down in uncessary detail, that's what matters, if you do that in 800 words or 8000, it is what it is. | You have to stop where it feels right. Don’t get too wrapped up in making everything structured in such a way that feels forced. | 1 | 9,216 | 1.5 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i14c964 | i14bz6x | 1,647,582,060 | 1,647,581,862 | 3 | 2 | They're probably not, I've read books if essentially equal length that had 30 chapters and some that have 130 chapters. You shouldn't be trying to make them longer to fit some arbitrary length that you *think* they should be, if your concluding that scene or collection of related scenes with an appropriate level of detail, not being overly brief or getting bigger down in uncessary detail, that's what matters, if you do that in 800 words or 8000, it is what it is. | I try to keep my chapters all to about 10 pages (standard ms format), any longer and you start to bore your readers. But I like to keep them consistent because it establishes a rhythm, and 10 pages is a good length to tell a mini story with a beginning, middle, and end. | 1 | 198 | 1.5 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i14c964 | i125bmx | 1,647,582,060 | 1,647,546,008 | 3 | 1 | They're probably not, I've read books if essentially equal length that had 30 chapters and some that have 130 chapters. You shouldn't be trying to make them longer to fit some arbitrary length that you *think* they should be, if your concluding that scene or collection of related scenes with an appropriate level of detail, not being overly brief or getting bigger down in uncessary detail, that's what matters, if you do that in 800 words or 8000, it is what it is. | Chapter length is a preference, and longer or shorter chapters have their own benefits and hazards. In my mind, the only thing that matters is consistency. Plus, a lot of writers tend to underestimate the length of their story when they're writing in a word processor, like Word or Docs. There, you're writing on 8.5×11 printer paper, whereas your book will most likely be some much smaller paperback if published. There's a difference you have to split when estimating length, there. | 1 | 36,052 | 3 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i13yx6d | i14c964 | 1,647,574,158 | 1,647,582,060 | 1 | 3 | Says who? | They're probably not, I've read books if essentially equal length that had 30 chapters and some that have 130 chapters. You shouldn't be trying to make them longer to fit some arbitrary length that you *think* they should be, if your concluding that scene or collection of related scenes with an appropriate level of detail, not being overly brief or getting bigger down in uncessary detail, that's what matters, if you do that in 800 words or 8000, it is what it is. | 0 | 7,902 | 3 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i125oto | i125bmx | 1,647,546,144 | 1,647,546,008 | 2 | 1 | There is no such thing. Chapter length can vary from book to book. I've written stories with 5000 word chapters and stories with 1800-2500 word chapters. Neither is too short or too long, it's just what came naturally to that story. | Chapter length is a preference, and longer or shorter chapters have their own benefits and hazards. In my mind, the only thing that matters is consistency. Plus, a lot of writers tend to underestimate the length of their story when they're writing in a word processor, like Word or Docs. There, you're writing on 8.5×11 printer paper, whereas your book will most likely be some much smaller paperback if published. There's a difference you have to split when estimating length, there. | 1 | 136 | 2 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i12f6a4 | i125bmx | 1,647,549,737 | 1,647,546,008 | 2 | 1 | Whatever I’m feeling for the chapter is what I write. Literally have chapters that are only 200 words or so. Length doesn’t matter. Just don’t waste time. | Chapter length is a preference, and longer or shorter chapters have their own benefits and hazards. In my mind, the only thing that matters is consistency. Plus, a lot of writers tend to underestimate the length of their story when they're writing in a word processor, like Word or Docs. There, you're writing on 8.5×11 printer paper, whereas your book will most likely be some much smaller paperback if published. There's a difference you have to split when estimating length, there. | 1 | 3,729 | 2 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i12vdtr | i125bmx | 1,647,556,116 | 1,647,546,008 | 2 | 1 | u don't know your writing style... but maybe try describing places more detailed and in general try to well i suppose you could say paint with your words.. like write descriptive and don't cut tooo short on the details | Chapter length is a preference, and longer or shorter chapters have their own benefits and hazards. In my mind, the only thing that matters is consistency. Plus, a lot of writers tend to underestimate the length of their story when they're writing in a word processor, like Word or Docs. There, you're writing on 8.5×11 printer paper, whereas your book will most likely be some much smaller paperback if published. There's a difference you have to split when estimating length, there. | 1 | 10,108 | 2 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i131028 | i125bmx | 1,647,558,496 | 1,647,546,008 | 2 | 1 | you know the saying it’s better to have more than less…personally, i feel this is the only case in which it doesn’t apply. if i have learned anything about being a reader it’s this: everyone loves short chapters. short chapters are so much easier to read than longer chapters, just as long as each chapter has a purpose then you aren’t doing anything wrong. | Chapter length is a preference, and longer or shorter chapters have their own benefits and hazards. In my mind, the only thing that matters is consistency. Plus, a lot of writers tend to underestimate the length of their story when they're writing in a word processor, like Word or Docs. There, you're writing on 8.5×11 printer paper, whereas your book will most likely be some much smaller paperback if published. There's a difference you have to split when estimating length, there. | 1 | 12,488 | 2 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i125bmx | i135jgk | 1,647,546,008 | 1,647,560,461 | 1 | 2 | Chapter length is a preference, and longer or shorter chapters have their own benefits and hazards. In my mind, the only thing that matters is consistency. Plus, a lot of writers tend to underestimate the length of their story when they're writing in a word processor, like Word or Docs. There, you're writing on 8.5×11 printer paper, whereas your book will most likely be some much smaller paperback if published. There's a difference you have to split when estimating length, there. | Write longer chapters. Yes that sounds flippant, but I'm serious. If you want longer chapters you need to put more in them. More dialogue, more inner monologue, more description, more action, more plot points, more...whatever. Dissect your chapters. What all is going on? How much of it is worldbuilding (descriptive/informative), how much of it is narrative (story/plot advancement), and how much is dialogue (spoken or thought)? Whichever one is the lightest, double down on that and keep the other two at about the same ratio and you're going to wind up with a well balanced chapter. It's okay to have lopsided chapters sometimes, occassionally there is call for 15 pages of one guy telling another about the history of something or other and how all of that affects them in the here and now. Sometimes you just need to have a chapter that's almost pure narrative; battle chapters or challenge/skill test chapters for example. Sometimes you just need for your cast to TALK to each other simply to maintain their relationships. | 0 | 14,453 | 2 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i13m4y7 | i125bmx | 1,647,568,000 | 1,647,546,008 | 2 | 1 | I don't think it matters. Station Eleven has some short chapters and it works. | Chapter length is a preference, and longer or shorter chapters have their own benefits and hazards. In my mind, the only thing that matters is consistency. Plus, a lot of writers tend to underestimate the length of their story when they're writing in a word processor, like Word or Docs. There, you're writing on 8.5×11 printer paper, whereas your book will most likely be some much smaller paperback if published. There's a difference you have to split when estimating length, there. | 1 | 21,992 | 2 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i125bmx | i13vd5d | 1,647,546,008 | 1,647,572,359 | 1 | 2 | Chapter length is a preference, and longer or shorter chapters have their own benefits and hazards. In my mind, the only thing that matters is consistency. Plus, a lot of writers tend to underestimate the length of their story when they're writing in a word processor, like Word or Docs. There, you're writing on 8.5×11 printer paper, whereas your book will most likely be some much smaller paperback if published. There's a difference you have to split when estimating length, there. | Does it read too quick as well? You might be skipping over the Sequel portion to your Scenes. | 0 | 26,351 | 2 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i125bmx | i13vdfj | 1,647,546,008 | 1,647,572,363 | 1 | 2 | Chapter length is a preference, and longer or shorter chapters have their own benefits and hazards. In my mind, the only thing that matters is consistency. Plus, a lot of writers tend to underestimate the length of their story when they're writing in a word processor, like Word or Docs. There, you're writing on 8.5×11 printer paper, whereas your book will most likely be some much smaller paperback if published. There's a difference you have to split when estimating length, there. | My chapters range from 1000-2000 I think it depends on the POV you are writing from, too. But I can recommend being very descriptive, talking about the characters feelings, what they are wearing, what they see, feel, hear. You know like the senses. Don't be afraid to really paint an image | 0 | 26,355 | 2 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i13vywd | i125bmx | 1,647,572,664 | 1,647,546,008 | 2 | 1 | I get positive feedback on my short chapters. Not something to worry about. From the readers perspective, think about them like potato chips. Always ruin for one more. | Chapter length is a preference, and longer or shorter chapters have their own benefits and hazards. In my mind, the only thing that matters is consistency. Plus, a lot of writers tend to underestimate the length of their story when they're writing in a word processor, like Word or Docs. There, you're writing on 8.5×11 printer paper, whereas your book will most likely be some much smaller paperback if published. There's a difference you have to split when estimating length, there. | 1 | 26,656 | 2 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i125bmx | i13wbn3 | 1,647,546,008 | 1,647,572,844 | 1 | 2 | Chapter length is a preference, and longer or shorter chapters have their own benefits and hazards. In my mind, the only thing that matters is consistency. Plus, a lot of writers tend to underestimate the length of their story when they're writing in a word processor, like Word or Docs. There, you're writing on 8.5×11 printer paper, whereas your book will most likely be some much smaller paperback if published. There's a difference you have to split when estimating length, there. | You have to stop where it feels right. Don’t get too wrapped up in making everything structured in such a way that feels forced. | 0 | 26,836 | 2 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i14bz6x | i125bmx | 1,647,581,862 | 1,647,546,008 | 2 | 1 | I try to keep my chapters all to about 10 pages (standard ms format), any longer and you start to bore your readers. But I like to keep them consistent because it establishes a rhythm, and 10 pages is a good length to tell a mini story with a beginning, middle, and end. | Chapter length is a preference, and longer or shorter chapters have their own benefits and hazards. In my mind, the only thing that matters is consistency. Plus, a lot of writers tend to underestimate the length of their story when they're writing in a word processor, like Word or Docs. There, you're writing on 8.5×11 printer paper, whereas your book will most likely be some much smaller paperback if published. There's a difference you have to split when estimating length, there. | 1 | 35,854 | 2 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i14bz6x | i13yx6d | 1,647,581,862 | 1,647,574,158 | 2 | 1 | I try to keep my chapters all to about 10 pages (standard ms format), any longer and you start to bore your readers. But I like to keep them consistent because it establishes a rhythm, and 10 pages is a good length to tell a mini story with a beginning, middle, and end. | Says who? | 1 | 7,704 | 2 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i14ftbv | i125bmx | 1,647,584,727 | 1,647,546,008 | 2 | 1 | There is a common average length of chapter, as you have noticed, but there is no hard rule. To be completely straight with you, when reading, I find a shorter chapter better than a longer one. Also, when writing, I feel a chapter more on the short side to be better than those on the long side. But again there is no hard rule. Do what you find comfortable for yourself, and for your reader if possible. | Chapter length is a preference, and longer or shorter chapters have their own benefits and hazards. In my mind, the only thing that matters is consistency. Plus, a lot of writers tend to underestimate the length of their story when they're writing in a word processor, like Word or Docs. There, you're writing on 8.5×11 printer paper, whereas your book will most likely be some much smaller paperback if published. There's a difference you have to split when estimating length, there. | 1 | 38,719 | 2 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i13yx6d | i14ftbv | 1,647,574,158 | 1,647,584,727 | 1 | 2 | Says who? | There is a common average length of chapter, as you have noticed, but there is no hard rule. To be completely straight with you, when reading, I find a shorter chapter better than a longer one. Also, when writing, I feel a chapter more on the short side to be better than those on the long side. But again there is no hard rule. Do what you find comfortable for yourself, and for your reader if possible. | 0 | 10,569 | 2 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i14tm0b | i125bmx | 1,647,596,468 | 1,647,546,008 | 2 | 1 | Same I can only do 1k words a chapter | Chapter length is a preference, and longer or shorter chapters have their own benefits and hazards. In my mind, the only thing that matters is consistency. Plus, a lot of writers tend to underestimate the length of their story when they're writing in a word processor, like Word or Docs. There, you're writing on 8.5×11 printer paper, whereas your book will most likely be some much smaller paperback if published. There's a difference you have to split when estimating length, there. | 1 | 50,460 | 2 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i13yx6d | i14tm0b | 1,647,574,158 | 1,647,596,468 | 1 | 2 | Says who? | Same I can only do 1k words a chapter | 0 | 22,310 | 2 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i125bmx | i14ugjq | 1,647,546,008 | 1,647,597,179 | 1 | 2 | Chapter length is a preference, and longer or shorter chapters have their own benefits and hazards. In my mind, the only thing that matters is consistency. Plus, a lot of writers tend to underestimate the length of their story when they're writing in a word processor, like Word or Docs. There, you're writing on 8.5×11 printer paper, whereas your book will most likely be some much smaller paperback if published. There's a difference you have to split when estimating length, there. | The shortest chapter I've seen is in Sanderson's book, Warbreaker. Granted there may be many but this was about 150 words, maximum? So I'd say not to worry about the things such as chapter lengths. The length always depends on the pacing and what is important to the story. | 0 | 51,171 | 2 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i14ugjq | i13yx6d | 1,647,597,179 | 1,647,574,158 | 2 | 1 | The shortest chapter I've seen is in Sanderson's book, Warbreaker. Granted there may be many but this was about 150 words, maximum? So I'd say not to worry about the things such as chapter lengths. The length always depends on the pacing and what is important to the story. | Says who? | 1 | 23,021 | 2 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i157kyz | i125bmx | 1,647,606,203 | 1,647,546,008 | 2 | 1 | Do your chapters move the story? In the end, that's what matters. My chapters are between 1200-3000 words, and I've never had an editor or my publisher tell me they're too short. | Chapter length is a preference, and longer or shorter chapters have their own benefits and hazards. In my mind, the only thing that matters is consistency. Plus, a lot of writers tend to underestimate the length of their story when they're writing in a word processor, like Word or Docs. There, you're writing on 8.5×11 printer paper, whereas your book will most likely be some much smaller paperback if published. There's a difference you have to split when estimating length, there. | 1 | 60,195 | 2 | ||
tgeqtj | writing_train | 0.89 | My chapters are too short I have been having a problem with my stories. When I look back to actual published books, the chapters are written much longer than mine. I don't have an example right now, but maybe there are a few tips to make a chapter longer and keep it interesting. It would be really nice to get someone's advice on this. | i13yx6d | i157kyz | 1,647,574,158 | 1,647,606,203 | 1 | 2 | Says who? | Do your chapters move the story? In the end, that's what matters. My chapters are between 1200-3000 words, and I've never had an editor or my publisher tell me they're too short. | 0 | 32,045 | 2 |
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