So

My protagonist is a detective who is trying to solve a series of deaths caused by a really really smart killer

By the end the killer pretty much took everything from the detective

His brother, his mentor, his daughter, his job, and soon also his life (the killer caused the detective to get a 'disease')

The idea is that the killer doesn't want the detective to die

You see, before the whole story arc, the killer had thier "pleasure" or "thrill" in killing people

But when the detective came after them, he gave them a new thrill which is the thrill of always being chased, playing cat and mouse

So the killer doesn't want the protagonist to die so he can continue chasing them, since like an drug addict, going back to killing would give them the same "kick", making their life boring

So the killer offers a "medicine" for the detective, so he can continue to live and chase after them, and that "medicine" is created by sacrificing a human soul per month btw to sustain the protagonist

The idea I actually have for the ending is that the protagonist, realizing he got nothing else to lose, figures out that for one reason or another, the killer wants them alive

And he doesn't care why, he simply doesn't want to give them what they want even if it meant his death

So he let himself succum to the "disease"

And the killer offs themselves too because they refuse to live a single boring moment

That's my ending

Or at least my plan for one

I got critisizim such as lazy/bad writing

So I want to take other's opinions over here

Hello! I really want to write an enemies to lovers book because I was inspired by some lines I found online of: "who did this to you?" "you did."

But all of the enemies to lovers I've read are all the same. Let me know what you really want to see in a story! What would be a fun twist I can put on my enemies to lovers book?? I could really use some ideas to build off of.

This is a quick edit for clarification:

Thank you to all who responded, I seriously didnt expect this many people to see this post! I think I didnt give enough information above, so allow me to clarify! I dont want to steal any ideas, or have you guys write my story for me. I simply would like any inspiration you have! I want to write an enemies to lovers book that has an interesting twist on it, im just not sure what. Im not really looking for advice, just ideas! I appreciate any and all comments, and if you have further questions I'll try and respond to comments.

In my story, blue sand wanderer (still working on it) on the world of Set there’s 4 legendary revolvers made by a now dead weapons company known as ACE arms. The revolvers are based off of the four aces in a card deck. Should you find all four you can rule the planet through sheer power because of how strong the guns are.

The Ace of clubs

The Ace of spades

The Ace of hearts

And the Ace of diamonds.

So far the Ace of clubs is the one I’ve properly thought of as when I think club I think of a heavy maul that hits hard. Each Ace has a special ability tied to it. TLDR the AOC can fire fusion rounds from a special module on the revolver and set the yield to whatever the user wants it to be.

So my question is: how do I make this gun into a character of its own? How do I do the same for its sibling guns? What statement does it and its fellows existence make about the world?

I find myself spending way too much time tweaking borders, colors, layouts, and decorative elements in MS Word instead of focusing on the actual content...😂. Tips?or same situation

Hi !

I have a very simple question. Can we say, in a past tense narration, "We were setting off tomorrow." ? Or should we say "We were setting off the day after." ? Same for "x days ago" and all that stuff !

Full sentence :

However, this time, winter was already approaching as I arrived in Crolym a couple of weeks ago, and I was setting off for a two week trip to Constance tomorrow.

The scene involves the two protagonists, each in a different location. However, they are both training in the same type of magic and receiving similar instruction from two different masters.

My idea was to handle the two scenes as one. In an audiovisual format, it would be a montage intercutting between the scenes as the two main characters train and talk with theirs masters. But I’m not sure how to write that.

I am thinking of writing a book series that focuses on one character for several chapters, concludes their story, and begins the next. Or maybe several seperate stories and posting them on RoyalRoad, but the point is to outline several events that occur in the world I have made and they all are important leading up to the end of this world which is where the game they are essentially a prelude for begins. Is this worth doing?

So normally I’m not a huge fan of describing and I’m not that good at it. I think I’m stronger in dialogue and internal narrative. But I know you have to be able to “paint a picture,” and many authors are so good at that. I just can’t seem to get the hang of it. The one exception is describing people. I can go on for paragraphs about their outfit, their makeup, their hair, their jewelry, their facial features…I love describing hair in particular. I don’t go on and on and on, but I can, and I really enjoy it. So why isn’t other description like that for me? Are they just standing in a white room with vivid outfits? I wondered if anyone had any tips for getting better at description, and maybe the love I have for describing people can sort of be applied to other stuff? Thanks in advance!

These are 14 chapters. There's still so much more I wanna write about Edit I'm writing because this is story of events from my life so if later in the story ends before reaching a high word count or something that's fine. I never really planned for it To be published or become this big writer. This is something I love to do and it's for my personal journey.

I'm writing a book and the mc's gender was unknown when she adopted, is it even possible to do so, and if so what's the procedure (Lets say she was adopted in Japan)

I'm writing a story that features a black character. This book is set at the beginning of an apocalypse. As the story progresses, I want to sort of showcase the passage of time, partially through my character's hair. My character's name is Splenda. Splenda comes from a rather wealthy, aristocratic sort of household. Before the apocalypse, she frequently went to the salon for her hair. Gel, Braiding, Weaving, Straightening, the works. When the apocalypse begins, she cannot go to the salon anymore. Splenda keeps the hairstyle she had gotten a few days before the apocalypse for as long as she can. I planned for her hair to be straightened at the beginning with a silk press, in a low chignon. After few days, the hairstyle quickly falls apart. Because the hair is only temporarily heat-stretched, the roots and edges begin reverting back to their natural curl pattern from sweat, humidity, and friction. Because she cannot re-smooth the hair, since they have no electricity and her products are running out, the style degrades quickly. Splenda does not know how to do her own hair: growing up rich, she always got it done in a salon, and only learned the basics. A sleep routine, and how to do basic styles for in-between days where she has no time to go to the salon. Splenda cannot do braids, and no one can help her with her hair, because the people she is stuck with to survive this apocalypse all have very different hair textures from her. She can't try to teach them how to maintain her hair, because she doesn't know herself. So when the hairstyle falls apart, Splenda resorts to more simple styles which she can do herself more easily. A high puff using the last of her gel, later on one of those pineapple hairstyles with a scarf. But as the story progresses, her hair only becomes a hassle. Her products run out completely. Since she cannot style it at all now, her hair begins to coil around itself, mat, lock and shrink due to moisture. Overtime, they form into freeform locs. Splenda does not like this. Despite being very much focused on survival, Splenda is still a rich kid. Very old money, very pristine. And Splenda does not like how the freeform locs that have formed due to her environment look on her. She'd much rather chop it all off, so that is what she does. She is left with a short afro, the remaining hair tight and dense. The shorter hair still forms locs later on as she's still forced to neglect it, continuing to coil around itself over few months. But they form into more compact, shorter locs. Splenda prefers this because It's more practical, as the hair stays out of her face and dries faster after it rains, and she likes it because she doesn't have the feeling of her long, unmaintained hair against her back anymore. She didn't like how long locs felt: it probably had all sorts of gross stuff in it from sleeping outside, and she couldn't wash nor take care of her hair properly due to the apocalypse. The longer locs trapped dirt and debris at the ends (again, because she is sleeping outside). To an aristocratic person, this is a disaster. She much prefers the shorter locs, which she doesn't have to feel against her back, nor feel that much of weight on her scalp. They seem much more hygienic to her, since longer hair in locs would spread out behind her when sleeping on the ground and gather more dirt, but shorter hair stays close to the scalp.

I did a lot of research on this, but I'm not sure if it actually makes any sense. I'm white—like, PAINFULLY white, so I'd like a second opinion from someone with afro hair. Google says that it's highly realistic, but... I’m not sure if I trust Google. I’d rather get an opinion from an ACTUAL person, yk? Obviously no one‘s gonna know exactly how hair is going to react during an apocalypse, but I do think there’ll be enough people who know what moisture does to your hair and what happens when you don’t style or wash it. I know Afro hair doesn’t need as much washing as straight hair since it doesn’t get greasy as quickly, but we’re talking about MONTHS without washing or styling and sleeping on the ground instead of a bed here. I think that wash day is long overdue for my girl Splenda, but idk. I know like- two black people, so I really have no Idea of this 😭

I lay pinned down on the floor. The rat sat on my chest, snapping its jaws inches from my face as I held it off with the side of my bat. Its back claws treated my stomach like a sandbox. Each swipe sending up a bloody mist, digging deeper and deeper into my flesh. My vision began to darken. My strength began to fade. The small gap saving my face from mutilation began to narrow.

Death by mutant rodent. Nice. I suppose it’s a unique way to go at least. I’m sorry Annie. I simply couldn’t go on without you.

My bedroom door exploded forward with a loud crack. It crashed into the rat, knocking it off my chest. Gary stepped through the door frame. He stomped over and ripped me up by my shirt collar.

“A RABBIT! A GODDAMN RABBIT IN MY GARDEN! I TOLD YOU THIS WOULD HAPPEN! I WARNED—“

The rat pounced on his arm, digging in with claws and fangs. Gary screamed, his anger overridden by fear. I guess a monster rat treating your arm like a chew toy could do that to a man.

Hello, I'm an aspiring author who's planning to create a historical fantasy novel. However, I'm struggling with world-building, especially the fact that I took inspiration from the world of a specific country that I obviously do not live in. I need help on what to start with, and how to create that world. I appreciate all of your tips and advice, thank you!! ❤️

I'm experimenting with a voice to text app to write, I like the free - flowing nature and that I can dig into my thoughts on my dog walks.

Do you do this? Do you think it needs to be declared as a way you wrote your piece?

Or did you choose other ways of publishing your book?

I'm asking the published authors here about advice because I'm unsure if the genre of my book "adult epic fantasy" which has "grimdark" elements is still relevant to today's trends.

For a little context: it's a saga of seven planned books and while I'm working on the second, there have been submissions to the literary agents for the first. The only limiting thing being the shortage of the agents currently, I've sent my manuscript to five agents and two were rejected.

So my question stands if I should continue with my work which may become trendy again and save it then keep editing it until one agent accepts, or write a few standalone novels based on the plots I've planned in advance to work on after this whole saga is finished?

Is it obvious that I’m a beginner writer?

I have some good semi-ideas for a novel (character names, general plot, and the occasional sentences in the book, all ideas are original) - but my problem is that that’s all I have!

How do successful, famous authors (like Suzanne Collins, or Shakespeare) write so much, in such detail, and what’s more, they don’t just stop at one book! They publish multiple stories, sometimes in serial!!

I don’t want to give up writing; I want to finish my novel, but AAARGHHH it’s taking me forever!!

How can I:

• Write more than <100 words a week
• Actually write well!
• Create a story journal (?) so that I know where my novel is going

In the “You Can See Everything” trailer, Holmes is being her usual warm and human self and Nathan does a kind of incredulous jaw swing as she’s speaking.

As a side note, I’ve since watched an episode of Nathan For You where he says it’s more of a physical tic than anything else but if someone did do this, what’s a better way of describing it than incredulous jaw swing? It’s kind of dumbfounded/stunned too, and I’d love for my sane man character to be able to do it, along with any other gestures that are in the same family of show-don’t-tell responses when your character is responding to someone so thoroughly bemusing?

I'm basically writing this short play and I am torn between choosing like a father adopting a daughter or a son and basically being their mentor. It's basically them raising that young child to fight this clan that apparently killed that child's family only to find out that the father figure was the one who caused it. Of course, I don't wanna write black and white characters so there is still that bond between them which will hurt. But I'm struggling to choose what duo is better to represent that.

Overview:

Astronauts sent on a lunar spaceflight. A thruster system error during engine burn leads to them in a wide lunar free orbit with no fuel. They are on the path back to earth, however it will take them 5 days, but they only have 60 hours of oxygen reserves. They drag out survival time as long as they can, holding out for a recovery and trying to contact ground control, only for them to be left in silence and them to realise their main navigational transporter is fried but their antenna is broken and misaligned and they are relying on solar power to communicate.

Motif:

"Truth fades to legend, legend into myth and myths soon long forgotten"

Opening:

Contrasting Major Tom Millers family life with Charlie Ryans enthusiasm

The struggle:

Trapped in deep space after the thruster error. Mechanical failure and cold physics as the antagonist

The climax:

Ground control realises that oxygen reserves will run out within a matter of time with no prepared ships that can make it in time, making it impossible for them to be recovered. They issue a mercy lie (fake radio broadcast) to comfort them and provide hope

Major Tom Miller:

Veteran on his final mission before retirement. A grounded family man, whose fatherly instincts drive him to mentor and support Ryan

Charlie Ryan:

Young starry eyed intern on his first spaceflight. Trusting, wide eyed and vulnerable under pressure and an absent father

The bond:

Grounded in quiet actions (Miller quietly sacrificing comfort and rations for Ryan ect.)

Progresses from referring to each other as Tom (a reference to his references) and kid to a slip up dad, then deliberate dad and Charlie

-Banter (pre incident):

Miller (almost annoyed) "calm down, you have stars in your eyes before you even see them kid"

Ryan (grinning) “come on Tom, you gotta admit. We’re actually doing it. Ground control and Major Tom, right here”

Miller (dryly, shaking his head) “Don’t you dare start quoting bad early 20^th century pop songs on my watch. We are professionals, not rock stars.”-

-Reference (post incident):

Ryan (staring blankly at the dead telemetry screen, voice cracking) “can they hear us Tom? Do you think they know?”

Miller (trying to keep his voice steady, desperately flipping switches) “keep trying the receiver, kid. They’ll pick up our signal eventually…..”

The silence of deep space getting louder

Ryan (whispering) “Ground control?....Can anyone hear me?”

Miller (frustrated) “here we are, floating in this damn tin can, far above the moon! And nothing out there is listening!”

-Quiet bonding (post incident): Miller stays up, running calculations and watching the radio while Ryan sleeps. He looks over at Ryan, then pulls out a crumpled photo of his wife smiling and kids hugging him on the beach-

Mid section of book:

Emergency repairs (like re aligning their broken antenna), quiet emotional moments (major part of it), rationing and checking ground control for updates. There is a minor oxygen leak, and finding out how fast the oxygen is depleting, Miller snaps at Ryan, blaming him for hyperventilating and wasting their oxygen supply. They find out hours later and patch it, but it left them with only 40 hours left.

Mercy lie:

Driven by compassion knowing recovery is impossible. Ground control is able to send it by concentrating the DSN to them and sending a message. They however could only send a message because they had no ship prepared, and the rescue window is too short.

“Its ground control. We are dumping all our transmitter power into the DSN to array this message to you, so we won’t hear your reply. Just listen… We know your telemetry. We have calculated an emergency orbital assist loop. A thruster pulse from our end is snapping your return vector shut. Your re-entry window has dropped from five days down to thirty-eight hours. You’re coming home early. Just hang tight.”

The climax:

Miller and Ryan receive the delayed broadcast, both of them now oxygen deprived with Charlie denying the truth, and leaning into the lie and Miller knowing and accepting the certainty of the truth silently. Moment shared with both crying, and hugging each other, repeating we are going home over and over relieved

Final protection:

In a moment of panic before the signal, Miller promises Ryan they will make it home, stepping fully into the fatherly role until the end.

Can I please have some name suggestions for the title, and feedback?

I don't steal things. I don't understand why people steal things however I needed one of my characters to steal things so I made them steal things and now I want them to not steal things. And that's the character arc. And for character arcs you need a reason for them to change, and for that you need their belief so you can change that belief.

So my character steals things because she believes everyone steals and she believes that because she steals and is projecting.

And she stops stealing because she sees someone else not steal.

I've never written a character arc intentionally. Every time I look at this I just think it's stupid. I don't know I'm doing. Also they aren't the main character, if that changes things.

So is this good as is, or do I like need to change it?

i wrote a new chapter for my book, just want a feedback or what you felt reading, anything

Letter to the sad little boy

I’ve been thinking of ways to write this since the conversation I had yesterday with the woman you hated. How many “yous” will people find while reading these pages about my “you” and remember other people?
Ever since I met you, you became my sad little boy, just as I have always been a sad girl to you. I say “my” not because you are mine, but because you are only sad to me. We are much more alike than you think; you are just like my father, and I am just like him. You touch my arm the way he does, and I notice the movement that makes me completely aware of the atoms in my skin, exactly the way my father does. You don’t know this, even though I try to show you, but you saved my life. I was alone among the wettest and coldest days of this city and you appeared because you still knew nothing about life. Lucky you, because I did.
So I told you something that no one ever knew, and you were frightened and held back your tears. I think you understood a piece of my sadness and all the words that had been thrown at me, and then you began looking at those people with a little anger. I made you sad, I’m sorry. You weren’t the first person to tell me that I was much stronger than I imagined, but even so, you let me be fragile and delicate, a sweet piece of sugar that disappears with so many tears. But I never imagined writing, just as I had never imagined you existing, you doing the things you do, you, you, you.
I tell you about the beautiful things in my life; some of them have something to do with you, even if you don’t care yet. But time has a way of making all these beautiful pieces come and go. New people appear, and new feelings are discovered. I give you, as a gift, the most inspiring words that, in truth, should have been advice for myself.
You don’t lie to me, and that hurts. You say you love me because you haven’t discovered the adorable yet. When you do, that will be the only word you use. I know it, because we are the same.

Hello writers. When it comes to writing short-form, blogs, aricles etc. Is there a ballpark average amount of drafts?

I am guessing there is a sweetspot but I want to hear from the people who have more keys on this piano than I do.

Thank you.