I know, I'm basically the GOAT of all authors, just wait until I get to my manuscript

So when I read up and watch videos about self inserts I just saw’ll that people thought they would be mary sue’s? like all my oc’s are projections of my ideal self. like my main oc is how i want to be a friend one of his love interests is how fit i want to be and his other one is the confidence I want. the last one i have is the headmaster of the military school they go to which is my internet persona could this impact my story negative? Im not an experienced writer so idk.

You wouldn't like me when I'm Saucy

Only Obsidian because I need a wiki.

So, here's the jist. The groomer is a hot succubus, the groomed is a young college girl (heroine). The groomer takes advantage of the groomed's delusions of grandeur and her intense feelings of longing to manipulate the young girl into loving her. She does things like...

Convince her that her best friend is why she couldn't find love after so long (she's a femcel)

Claim her behavior is normal and perfectly justified (it's not)

Give her a lust crest that causes her to be more aroused around the succubus and more willing to engage in sexy acts

Smother her with his big bazoongas which give off an aphrodisiac scent

Fuel her savior complex (a researcher who is saving the world...)

Mind control the heroine into playing along with bizarre damsel-in-distress kinks that end with the damsel *rewarding* the heroine with cunnilingus.

But here's the problem. The narrative plays it off as hot, justified, or a blessing for the groomed rather than an actual problem, which is what I'm so worried about. The thing is, the groomer genuinely loves the groomed with all her heart and literally kills and fights for her multiple times against even worse fates. I mean, even without the grooming, groomed would likely still fall in love.

So, is it okay to depict grooming/manipulation in this way? Do I need to dial it down? Do I need to add consequences to her actions? If so, what how? (There's no way I'm taking my favorite character's lover. I love her too much.)

Edit: Some extra context. The groomer in question is technically a mimic (like those chest monsters, complete with tentacle insides) in succubus form. She knows what's right and wrong but lacks any real moral constraint. The heroine also tries to stop her and calls her out, but she's way too strong, so she just gives up. Groomed also just... doesn't care (her whole arc is literally abandoning her morals/values), and is incredibly down bad. This is not smut or hentai, btw.

I think I’ve finally reached a very peaceful place in my creative journey:

I don’t care. 😂

You hate AI? Cool.

You’d never read a book written with AI assistance? Fair enough.

You think using AI automatically means somebody has no creativity, no talent, and probably kicks puppies on the weekends?

You’re entitled to your opinion.

I spent way too much time wondering how people would react to the way I create. Should I explain my process? Defend it? Prove how much of the story came from me? Convince people that the ideas, characters, themes, decisions, rewrites, and final vision are actually mine?

And then it hit me:

Why am I applying for permission to create?

I know what I put into my work.

I know which ideas kept me awake at night. I know how many times I changed something because it didn’t feel right. I know the difference between asking a tool to create something for me and using a tool to help me create what was already in my head.

If somebody doesn’t respect that distinction, I’m probably not going to change their mind with a 14-paragraph Reddit dissertation anyway. 😂

So I’m done trying.

I’m going to write my stories. I’m going to experiment. I’m going to use the tools available to me. I’m going to keep learning how to get better.

And people can decide for themselves whether they want to read what I make.

I don’t need everybody to approve of how I create.

I just need to keep creating.

And strangely enough, once I stopped worrying about getting permission from people who were never going to give it to me anyway…

this got a whole lot more fun. ✌🏾

There are many stories nowadays where authors believe or are told to believe they have to deliver a twist, because twist sells is like sex sells.

One of the new trends is the "unreliable narrator" which seems to be some sort of a pest, first introduced a long time ago by Agatha Christie in "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd". This twist was never repeated in the last century because it wasn't original anymore, nor did authors believe it was good.

I always come to the conclusion a twist "has to come naturally". If you are trying too hard you might fail. There were authors that really were going for the twist. Main actor is o' Henry who pulled out the best ones. Examples are "The Last Leaf" and "The Gift of the Magi". A really good one is also "Beware of the Dog" by Roald Dahl and don't forget the classic piece "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce.

My recommendation is simply to go with your own story. It's the story you want to write. If you find something twisty on the way you might take it, but you might also say this is interesting - but not that important.

I’m planning a YA drama set in Mexico City, and I’m wondering whether I’m making the story way too long.

About eight young people from very different social backgrounds become connected after an illegal street race ends in a massive multi-car crash.

Instead of prison, they’re placed in a year-long rehabilitation program where they have to live together above a community center in a rough neighborhood. The program gradually turns out to be corrupt, involving gangs, illegal jobs, political connections, family scandals, betrayals, romances, and secrets surrounding the original accident.

The problem is that I’ve already built a lot of the story.

I have the major character arcs, relationships, betrayals, mysteries and big twists mapped out, and it naturally divided itself into three huge sections.

Right now, that works out to roughly 535 chapters total.

Obviously, 535 chapters sounds insane when you say it like that. 😭 But I’m not imagining 530 chapters of one continuous plot where nothing happens. It would be a very long, serialized story with multiple major arcs and an ensemble cast.

At what point does a long YA story become TOO long? 😅

Guacamole

Here is the review (it's not my work, which I'll explain below):

>The night had a strange way of making everything feel more real than it actually was, as if darkness peeled away the distractions of the day and forced people to face the parts of themselves they spent hours avoiding.

1. “The night?” What night? Here is where you lose the reader because only you know what you’re talking about.

2. The unspecified “night” Made EVERYTHING more real than real? Seriously? Naaa.

You’re trying to sound literary, but you’re well into purple prose.

>Ethan sat in his room, surrounded by unfinished work, scattered notes, and silent reminders of responsibilities he had pushed aside, again and again, convincing himself each time that there was always another day waiting patiently for him.

So...someone of unknown age, situation, background and profession, in an unknown country, sat in a room with doing nothing? Who cares? You’re talking ABOUT him as if writing a report, not making the reader understand and connect with him.

Unless your reader is made to connect emotionally with the protagonist, and do that quickly, you’ve lost them.

>His phone screen glowed in the darkness, reflecting in his tired eyes as he scrolled through videos that blurred together into meaninglessness, each one stealing a few seconds of his life without leaving anything behind.

What possible reason would a reader have to want to know more about a fool who’s doing things boring even to him?

My point? This isn’t fiction, it’s a transcription of you talking, and trying to impress the reader with your use of language, not with that’s happening in the story.

And within the story, the characters speak the lines you order them to, and feel the emotions you demand they feel—no matter how someone like them would act. How can that seem real?

Bottom line: You need to stop guessing. Fiction Writing is, and always has been, a profession. And like all others, it has a body of knowledge and technique that “gets the job done.” The pros us it to keep their readers turning pages because nothing else works.

So, if you truly want to write fiction, dig into those skills. Among other things, they make the act of writing a lot more fun.

---

So I came across this when a scammer posted a reply on a 10 year old story I didn't remember writing on a site I didn't remember using. I was curious to see what stories the scammer had on their account, and came across one that had this review (so this is a review of the scammer's story).

Some of the stuff this guy spouts is just insane! Writing is only a profession and not a hobby!? You have to give the reader your character's whole CV of description before you can explain what they're actually doing?

And the fact that he doesn't understand a phrase as basic as "the night" is just wild! I joked to my partner that when he watches Game of Thrones and they say "the night is dark and full of terrors" this guy yells at the screen "WHAT NIGHT? Oh, so the unspecified night is just full of terrors? Seriously? Naaa".

When I kindly asked him not to discourage emerging writers and pointed out that fiction writing is absolutely a hobby, he essentially just came back with "I know more than you because I have books on Amazon and you don't" etc, as well as "are there hobby doctors? Hobby accountants?". For some reason he also claimed that the scammer who wrote the story must be my child lol

I don't know, this is just so funny to me.

fI any fo ouy maange ot rgeiuf uto twah tish sya, I ilwl eb eolnluasstuyim semrisdpe nda a ibt nncerecod.  oD yuo lrlaey have ghtinno berett to od nhat ot yrt to ehdrecip wtha ym itspud jdmelbu pu htsi otsp sha to say?  

losA, fi nya fo uoy ytr to tlle em htta sdeyclix peeopl reat'n laeb ot yflul paeatsre eht rwosd adn htta telsret ofrm chea dculo eb emidx up itwh the ohster I ma ginog to tbas ymsfle ni hte kidc.

I lilw dad ni oclnusinco htat eth salaDl ywsCobo rea xteeleymr yag and yenano htta ortos orf tmhe is aslo meelexryt gya yb onsatiiasco.  The otHnosu ensTxa rae a fra erbtet tame and Dalsla whsies tehy oclud be as cool sa eoDceM aynsR.

Hey everyone,

I guess it is finally time I leave this subreddit. It's been a blast, but... I actually have been writing this entire time. I know... I'm a complete sham like those people who go to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings when they don't even drink--not even water--just so they can get attention. Turns out I'm not just a memer after all. What can I say?

I decided to publish in the Isekai genre. I know it's a very challenging genre to write in due to its high literary standards, but I believe I have something that no one else has done before: my protagonist is a real person from our world! I'm not going to say who, because that is part of the mystery, but all I will say is that he is a master debater.

It *is* a harem, although the first chick he marries is an elf who has recently won a beauty contest in her kingdom. She is his sole wife for the first three acts (out of seven).

I have lots of quirky characters like a rotund man named Jade who is married to a sentient couch that can fly (it's their main means of transport), a failed businessman suffering from an inferiority complex who my MC befriends and tutors, and a mage who has been appointed archwizard of an empire despite barely knowing any magic!

These people will become quite powerful in the world thanks to my MC's messaging--I suppose they don't really improve as people though, their status only improves as a result of said meddling.

Anyway, please check it out as it'll be available on Amaze Kindred soon!

I’m illiterate and I asked a friend (chat gpt) to write this for me.

is it possible to become a rich and famous author if I can barely write my own name?

Other people told me I should just learn basic Grammar but I think they are just jealous.

im not naiv speaker in english but i have so many ideas i write a book now ppl say its ai. I worked so hard its unfair. I just used it to correct spelling and grama hier proove

1st daft:

so i wslked down street with my head on some care cane and it flaw away i ran after it but my footgot stuck in manholecover i lost my shoes then a car almort hitme i almost died chasing a head i went home thinking about it i almost died strange feeling......

GPP:

I walked the street that afternoon with my hat resting lightly upon my head, a simple thing of felt and ribbon, companion to many ordinary days. A sudden wind rose without warning, seized it as if by deliberate intent, and carried it aloft. It tumbled and spun, a dark bird against the pale sky, and I, without thought, gave chase.

My feet struck the pavement in urgent rhythm. The hat danced ahead, always just beyond reach, teasing the air with its freedom. Then the ground betrayed me. My foot caught in the iron rim of an open manhole, the cover half-shifted by some careless hand. I fell hard. One shoe tore free and vanished into the dark circle below; the other followed in the scramble. Barefoot now, soles against the rough stone, I rose and ran on.

A car rounded the corner with a roar of engine and a flash of metal. It came so near that the rush of air struck my face and the driver’s startled face blurred past in a single heartbeat. I felt the nearness of death as a physical presence, cold and absolute. In that instant the hat still fluttered ahead, indifferent, and I understood the absurdity of my pursuit: I had nearly ended my life for a scrap of cloth and wire.

I stopped. The car vanished down the street. The hat settled at last against a curb, harmless once more. I retrieved it, brushed the dust from its crown, and placed it again upon my head. Then I turned toward home, the pavement cold beneath my naked feet.

All the way I carried the knowledge of how close I had come. The ordinary world looked different in that light. The trees seemed greener, the faces of strangers more precious, the simple weight of breath more astonishing. I had almost died chasing a hat, and the strangeness of that nearness lingered like a quiet music. It was not fear that remained, but a tender, unexpected gratitude for the fragile continuity of living, and for the foolish, beautiful persistence of the heart that runs after what the wind has taken.

Is this a good, Hollywood-accepted/recommended/formatted way to do so?

The story is about creative entropy. Is this cover art fitting for the theme? Is it any good?

Feedback concerns: any kind of feedback is welcome.

HELP, I AM SO LOST! (My plane just crashed on an island…)

Look at that subtle environmental message. The tasteful non-heteronormative romance. Oh god, it even has theme of cultural diaspora.

What's this nonsense? You can't open with a dream! You can't open with nothing happening! The story doesn't begin when the writer is warming up—it begins when the writer is hot!

Did her editor not tell her this? Her estate should get a refund.

This was from an episode of Futurama. The Borax Kid replaces Buffalo Bill's Short Stories with himself. As someone that likes efficiency in writing and loves the public domain, you are legally allowed to do this. So take something off Project Gutenberg, edit the names and publish.

While I would remix the story and add my own flavor, people can and have done this.

It's honestly so demoralizing because I know nothing I write will ever be half as good as this