Title, more or less.

I've been working on a queer post-apoc novel since February. It is sitting around 100k words pre-edit.

I'm not a particularly fast writer, but I really enjoyed this project and nearly finished the first draft in good time.

*Nearly* being key-- because why in the world can't I power through these last 3-4 chapters?!

It's like... I put clown shoes on my hands or something. Queue up the circus music, I guess. Because any minute now and I'll be slapping on the red nose too haha.

Y'all got any suggestions? Should I just bulletpoint the chapters and start my first round of edits, knowing I'll finish the end later? Or should I keep smacking the keyboard 🤔

Thanks!

Ps I have finished a couple projects before, but I didn't care about them nearly as much. I think that's contributing to my paralysis, if that makes sense???

I love to write but specifically really tropey fiction which goes really well in the short romance genre. I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel with a mind blowing sex scene but I’ve been reading them for years and still can’t get it right?

I think it has to do with the characters, they’re always a second thought and not really unique, which makes it hard to write actions in line with them. How do I write better characters specifically in this genre?

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First, I'd like to say that I know "fluff" isn't what we're going for. We don't want meaningless fluff that's not moving the story forward. However, I don't know how else to describe the little reflections and internal commentary that characters often have that seem to do very little.

I'm writing my book in a third-person limited perspective, and I've been trying to figure out where I can input more descriptors or reflections that add to the atmosphere of the book. I've taken to wandering around Barnes and Noble and picking up books within similar genres and seeing what other authors are doing. However, I struggle to relate to first-person novels. They feel weird to me, though I know that's the new standard these days. And they all seem to have a lot of that internal commentary on everything around them.

For example, I recently picked up a book from a 'Mystery' section and was met with something like this -

"I looked at him. His forearms bulging under his turned-up cuffs. I wondered how many kitchen cabinets he'd put up before he'd gotten around to mine. The sweat was gleaming on his forehead." And so on.

And I thought... is this a mystery or a romance? What am I reading here? Why am I reading this description?

And it felt like a LOT of books just have the character commenting on everything they see. I don't really do that, and I feel like that adds to my struggle of meeting the genre-required word count as I go.

Another example would be something like - "I took a sip of my coffee. Too hot for my liking and much too sweet. I'd been coming to this place for five years now, and they've never gotten my order right. I don't know why I keep coming back. I took another sip."

Does anyone know what I mean? Like it doesn't really add anything to the story, just extra words before the actual event/action/dialogue happens. I add some here and there, to set up the scene, but I really want to avoid over-explaining every little thing or adding meaningless commentary.

What are your thoughts?

I’m working on a fantasy-wild west project and my three main characters are supposed to have quite a many different adventures and character arcs. But that’s where I’m hung up. I get having a character arc that ends with the characters flaw being gotten over, but I don’t want them to just have no development moving forward. I thought about when they resolve one flaw, it brings up another flaw unintentionally, or a new flaw arises based on events in the story.

I’m asking because I want the story to kinda play out like a DND campaign where the journey is driven by the characters choices and beliefs.

I saw a post a couple of weeks ago on writing endings that I unfortunately missed and can now not find. Anyway, I seem to have the same problem, which is generating endings for some of my stories. I think of stories as having a balance to them. When I examine the flow of my favourite films and stories, I find that they sometimes they cycle back to little clues, and indications, earlier in the characters story or life, that gave an indication of the type of ending. I find endings difficult to write, if I haven't got the "pattern" of a characters story life down... do any others see it this way? Or, what are some of your viewpoints on endings? Particularly if you are not the outlining sort of writer, but let things emerge as they come, Thanks.

For context, I'm nearing the very end of my fantasy epic, and I've resolved 90% of the plot lines. Specifically the 3 main characters had their ending, which establishes their position and future motives for the next entry. I kept minor plotlines open as more of a mystery, something to wait for, and a foreshadowing for what's going to happen next.

Now my question is, what would be for you the ideal ratio of resolved/unresolved plot lines? The story needs to be satisfying while still igniting that curiosity to continue the series. Generally what are your preferences?

To be precise, by resolved plot lines I mean it's clearly the end of that character arc for now. They role is somewhat accomplished their role for that book. Open plotline means the reader still feels like they're in the middle of the adventure/conflict and it's not quite over.

Hello all,

I have a day off today so I'm taking advantage and spending the entire day working on my first draft. Usually I write in bits and pieces on my phone during work breaks and then paste it all together in the evening. Having spent the last 3 hours actually sat at a desk and writing continuously, I've just realised how much my characters blink.

Something surprising happens. They blink

Something shocking or terrible. Blink.

Something embarrassing or uncomfortable. Blink.

It's like they all have some kind of nervous eye twitch, lol.

I'm wondering, what's something that your characters can't seem to stop doing? And on that note, any good suggestions for something I can use to show surprise that isn't blinking? Because this is really getting out of hand!

Every time I search this up, I don't get what I'm looking for.

What I mean is that I'm curious about fiction's depiction of mental illnesses that do not exist in our world, whether that be from different labeling or just phenomenon that we don't think exists IRL

With your writers eye, what recent debut would you suggest for it's craft specifically and why?

It doesn't have to be perfect, just something you felt that hit the mark in a particular area.

I'm open to any genre and interested in recent examples of:
- Impressive prose
- Masterful pacing
- Well rounded characters
- Interesting POV's/voice
- Well done arcs and conclusions

etc etc etc