Hello guys, I'm here again.
I just want to know how some of my fellow men have finish a novel, how did you manage, and how did you come.up with your ideas. I'm currently stuck at how I'll make up a fight between my antagonist and protagonist, and bring an end to their fight in the most satisfyingly read I want,(me, me not the readers)
If you would be willing to give me your precious time, master, I thank you.
(This is my first novel I really want to finish, I've already abandoned 3 stories. I don't wanna do that again.)
Hello guys, I'm here again.
I just want to know how some of my fellow men have finish a novel, how did you manage, and how did you come.up with your ideas. I'm currently stuck at how I'll make up a fight between my antagonist and protagonist, and bring an end to their fight in the most satisfyingly read I want,(me, me not the readers)
If you would be willing to give me your precious time, master, I thank you.
(This is my first novel I really want to finish, I've already abandoned 3 stories. I don't wanna do that again.)
You asked how to make up a fight ... So I assumed you needed a reason and plot to get them going, but ... That doesn't seem to be the case. So you just need action scene advice?
Hello guys, I'm here again.
I just want to know how some of my fellow men have finish a novel, how did you manage, and how did you come.up with your ideas. I'm currently stuck at how I'll make up a fight between my antagonist and protagonist, and bring an end to their fight in the most satisfyingly read I want.
I always began writing with knowing what the end will be. It had an end goal and to reach that there was other main points planned in my head. I suppose you have something similar? I guess? Because then it shouldn't be that hard; just have the antagonist be the last hurdle to achieve the goal of the MC.
Hello guys, I'm here again.
I just want to know how some of my fellow men have finish a novel, how did you manage, and how did you come.up with your ideas. I'm currently stuck at how I'll make up a fight between my antagonist and protagonist, and bring an end to their fight in the most satisfyingly read I want,(me, me not the readers)
If you would be willing to give me your precious time, master, I thank you.
(This is my first novel I really want to finish, I've already abandoned 3 stories. I don't wanna do that again.)
I plan my works, from start to finish. My long running series, The Human Saint is Bored, currently has 18 books (the 18th volume isn't released just yet, though I'm done with the edits and is in beta-reading stage). I managed to reach that long because I have a general plan, which was then broken down into several 'arcs', and the arcs are divided into volumes. The volumes are also planned, though it was plotted (start, rising action, climax, falling tension, and) instead of planning each chapter.
Also, I'm known for doing the extreme when I need to focus on writing. This is my third SHF account, since I deleted my second one in an effort to keep me distracted while writing my volumes. And yes, when I'm in my writing mode, I tend to self-isolate, forsaking game time, doing illustrations, watching shows, and reading stories. My mind is only focused on the particular volume I'm writing at the moment.
Let me add that I give myself deadlines. And I try to meet those, even when no one is pushing me. For me, writing requires a bit of inspiration, lots of hard work, and 100% of self-discipline to stay consistent until the end.
Best thing to do is write what you want to happen for your first story. After that you can learn from that experience and make the next one more interesting.
Protagonist yells as he pulls back his fist- flashback- aims punch at antagonist, the punch is about to hit- Flashback. Punch hits antagonist, antagonist falls- flashback...
This is the best thing I've ever learned when it comes storytelling: know the reader's expectation.
In the setup phrase, you make promises to readers. If our lovable protagonist gets betrayed, we would naturally want him to get revenge or at least see the betrayer meets their downfall somehow. If they have a dream or intense passion for something, we want to see them succeed. If they start off annoying, we expect them to become better. If our MC has a good chemistry with someone, we want to see some romance.
See what I mean? These are the reader's expectations. Once you understand this, you can plan out how to deliver it at the payoff so that it's very satisfying.
A good tip is to delivery more than you've promised. Say, the reader wants the MC to get their revenge. You might end with them having achieved their revenge but also taken over whatever powerful position the antagonist used to hold. This will make the payoff extremely satisfying.
So, understand what you've promised—the reader's expectations—and find the best angle to delivery it at the payoff.
First and foremost, you need to know where the story is going - know the ending before you begin. If that ending where to change along the way, so be it. It's important that you have that safe haven of knowing where you are going before you start, but if that destination starts deviating, it means you still know where to go. That's the important part.
As long as you know that, you will find ways to go in order to reach it. Then look at your characters: Why are they antagonizing each other? How would their fight affect the world they exist in? How does that world even function? Work within those rules to create the best possible route toward your ending.
That's how I did it, at least. I finished up a couple of novels in my time.
Set up some kind of conflict where your protagonist and antagonist are on opposite sides. By the end, the final decision of what happens with that conflict will be decided, so they're forced to fight to determine what happens.
Make the conflict whatever you want: a romance, important decision, fate of the world, whatever. Just make sure it matters for the characters involved.
I plan my works, from start to finish. My long running series, The Human Saint is Bored, currently has 18 books (the 18th volume isn't released just yet, though I'm done with the edits and is in beta-reading stage). I managed to reach that long because I have a general plan, which was then broken down into several 'arcs', and the arcs are divided into volumes. The volumes are also planned, though it was plotted (start, rising action, climax, falling tension, and) instead of planning each chapter.
Also, I'm known for doing the extreme when I need to focus on writing. This is my third SHF account, since I deleted my second one in an effort to keep me distracted while writing my volumes. And yes, when I'm in my writing mode, I tend to self-isolate, forsaking game time, doing illustrations, watching shows, and reading stories. My mind is only focused on the particular volume I'm writing at the moment.
Let me add that I give myself deadlines. And I try to meet those, even when no one is pushing me. For me, writing requires a bit of inspiration, lots of hard work, and 100% of self-discipline to stay consistent until the end.
So, basically how you should approach any skill if one's after sheer mastery? Cause imo that's how it works for anything in life. As my brother says (quoting other sources), it's not about what you've gained, but it's what you have sacrificed to achieve your gains.
Hello guys, I'm here again.
I just want to know how some of my fellow men have finish a novel, how did you manage, and how did you come.up with your ideas. I'm currently stuck at how I'll make up a fight between my antagonist and protagonist, and bring an end to their fight in the most satisfyingly read I want,(me, me not the readers)
If you would be willing to give me your precious time, master, I thank you.
(This is my first novel I really want to finish, I've already abandoned 3 stories. I don't wanna do that again.)
As others have asked, which is it? You want advice on how to make a satisfying climatic showdown, or general guidance on how to finish writing projects?
Cause that's two different queries.
Anyway, I'll assume you seek knowledge on the latter, given how your post tends to open and close with that issue. (And the fight stuff is oddly sandwiched in between.)
Here we go:
- First, Hans.Trondheim has pointed out, consistency in effort always pays off. You can't do anything without discipline (anything worthwhile, at least). Motivation is a secondary, but also important component. In general, you should work on these two qualities with diligence and effort, because they are crucial to successful life in general.
With discipline, motivation (internal preferringly), and some advance planning you can do anything. Anything. Well, dumb luck can help (or hinder) immensely, but that's more of a wildcard; the core components define the end result 9 times out of 10.
- Second, again already mentioned, have an idea how you want your story to end. Seriously, that's important; it's also often overlooked in creative writing classes/mentoring. Only the most extreme of gardeners (like Stephen King) write without a definite ending in mind, and even then it's not always the case. Know in advance how your story should end. That way you have A) definitive stop point (prevents kudzu plots and aimless writing), B) you can plan in advance the "junctions" through which your story can or must go in order to reach that ending.
Note: During writing, it's fine if story suddenly starts to demand a different ending. That just shows that what you have on your hands is a genuine article; a living, breathing tale. Do not fight it, but rather adapt: either find a way to fuse both the original ending and the organic one, or through the original away entirely. Few things are worse than forced endings (at least from my perspective).
- Third, another core question you should ask yourself before sitting down to write: Why is this story important? Specifically, why is it important to you? What makes you want to tell it? What emotions, or thoughts, or associations it evokes in you?
These are very, very important guiding questions, if you want to "stick the landing" and finish anything. If it's just a whim or a fancy, chances are 50:50 the project survives to the end; either it does, or it doesn't. But if you, the creator, have a driving passion for this particular thing you want to bring forth into the world, then you wield one of the universe's greatest powers; few things can stop you then from achieving your goal(s). Perhaps nothing, if you are passionate (and disciplined) enough.
- Fourth, write even when you don't feel like it. That's one of the main differences between professionals/serious writers and idle amateurs. Creative writing is art, true, but it's not only art; inspiration and creativity, in fact, hold the minority share. (Irrespective of their importance.) The vast majority of writing is like any other skill or labor - you just have to take pickaxe and start grinding away. Day in, day out.
Of course, everybody decides their own tempo. It's not about frequency, but about regularity. Even if you decide to write (consistently) only once a month, you damn well sit down and write when the time comes, regardless of how you fee. You can do it more often, but not less; exceptions are okay, excuses are not. This is how discipline is tested and forged.
- Fifth, like what you do. This seems like a no-brainer, but I know enough people who do stuff without actually enjoying it (myself included on certain occasions). Unless somebody is paying you (and you agreed beforehand), make or do things because you find some inherent enjoyment or satisfaction in them. Otherwise, fuck it; life is finite, YOLO, #CarpeDiem, chase your dreams, and so on.
Okay, so I listed the things that came off the top of my head. If you have more specific questions I'll answer them.
Oh, originally I would've talked how I did finish my English debut novel, but decided to pass along the lessons I've learned, rather than just write a colorful anecdote with dubious practical value.
Before you start a book, you need to have some sort of ending in mind.
If you're a pantser like me, it's extremely hard, so I rather focus on a general middle-ending that I follow like a guide. My goal for ending my first book was to resolve conflicts and answer lingering questions throughout the series. Once I did those two things, I felt satisfied and left an open-ended narrative for my readers to speculate on.
Everyone's formula is different, but it's good to do one or the other: Already have an ending (e.g. Hero kills Villain) or resolve conflicts and answer the question (e.g. The actual killer all along was...). As an author, you'll know exactly when to end based on these theories.
This is beautiful. Absolute genius of memetic shorthand. It belongs in textbooks for creative writing. Like, for real.
So, basically how you should approach any skill if one's after sheer mastery? Cause imo that's how it works for anything in life. As my brother says (quoting other sources), it's not about what you've gained, but it's what you have sacrificed to achieve your gains.
As others have asked, which is it? You want advice on how to make a satisfying climatic showdown, or general guidance on how to finish writing projects?
Cause that's two different queries.
Anyway, I'll assume you seek knowledge on the latter, given how your post tends to open and close with that issue. (And the fight stuff is oddly sandwiched in between.)
Here we go:
- First, Hans.Trondheim has pointed out, consistency in effort always pays off. You can't do anything without discipline (anything worthwhile, at least). Motivation is a secondary, but also important component. In general, you should work on these two qualities with diligence and effort, because they are crucial to successful life in general.
With discipline, motivation (internal preferringly), and some advance planning you can do anything. Anything. Well, dumb luck can help (or hinder) immensely, but that's more of a wildcard; the core components define the end result 9 times out of 10.
- Second, again already mentioned, have an idea how you want your story to end. Seriously, that's important; it's also often overlooked in creative writing classes/mentoring. Only the most extreme of gardeners (like Stephen King) write without a definite ending in mind, and even then it's not always the case. Know in advance how your story should end. That way you have A) definitive stop point (prevents kudzu plots and aimless writing), B) you can plan in advance the "junctions" through which your story can or must go in order to reach that ending.
Note: During writing, it's fine if story suddenly starts to demand a different ending. That just shows that what you have on your hands is a genuine article; a living, breathing tale. Do not fight it, but rather adapt: either find a way to fuse both the original ending and the organic one, or through the original away entirely. Few things are worse than forced endings (at least from my perspective).
- Third, another core question you should ask yourself before sitting down to write: Why is this story important? Specifically, why is it important to you? What makes you want to tell it? What emotions, or thoughts, or associations it evokes in you?
These are very, very important guiding questions, if you want to "stick the landing" and finish anything. If it's just a whim or a fancy, chances are 50:50 the project survives to the end; either it does, or it doesn't. But if you, the creator, have a driving passion for this particular thing you want to bring forth into the world, then you wield one of the universe's greatest powers; few things can stop you then from achieving your goal(s). Perhaps nothing, if you are passionate (and disciplined) enough.
- Fourth, write even when you don't feel like it. That's one of the main differences between professionals/serious writers and idle amateurs. Creative writing is art, true, but it's not only art; inspiration and creativity, in fact, hold the minority share. (Irrespective of their importance.) The vast majority of writing is like any other skill or labor - you just have to take pickaxe and start grinding away. Day in, day out.
Of course, everybody decides their own tempo. It's not about frequency, but about regularity. Even if you decide to write (consistently) only once a month, you damn well sit down and write when the time comes, regardless of how you fee. You can do it more often, but not less; exceptions are okay, excuses are not. This is how discipline is tested and forged.
- Fifth, like what you do. This seems like a no-brainer, but I know enough people who do stuff without actually enjoying it (myself included on certain occasions). Unless somebody is paying you (and you agreed beforehand), make or do things because you find some inherent enjoyment or satisfaction in them. Otherwise, fuck it; life is finite, YOLO, #CarpeDiem, chase your dreams, and so on.
Okay, so I listed the things that came off the top of my head. If you have more specific questions I'll answer them.
Oh, originally I would've talked how I did finish my English debut novel, but decided to pass along the lessons I've learned, rather than just write a colorful anecdote with dubious practical value.
I started this novel with the end in mind at first but now that I'm close to writing that ending, I just found out that my story is not entirely finish there, it still in the middle, that's why I'm currently stuck.
I really want to finish it because there's one character in this story that I really love,(not the mc) and want to have her a good end
I started this novel with the end in mind at first but now that I'm close to writing that ending, I just found out that my story is not entirely finish there, it still in the middle, that's why I'm currently stuck.
I really want to finish it because there's one character in this story that I really love,(not the mc) and want to have her a good end
If I understand correctly, you are near the end of your book, but not the end of the story itself? Heh. That sounds like a classic case for a sequel. Which is a good thing! It means the story just turned out larger than you planned it. :)
If that's the case, what is stopping you from writing a sequel? What's the roadblock?
I always began writing with knowing what the end will be. It had an end goal and to reach that there was other main points planned in my head. I suppose you have something similar? I guess? Because then it shouldn't be that hard; just have the antagonist be the last hurdle to achieve the goal of the MC.
same, i thought the norm when you first start thinking of a story was to figure out the beginning and the end and maybe fill in the middle as you go along. Usually, my end goal ends up shifting according to what I have in the middle though.
Hello guys, I'm here again.
I just want to know how some of my fellow men have finish a novel, how did you manage, and how did you come.up with your ideas. I'm currently stuck at how I'll make up a fight between my antagonist and protagonist, and bring an end to their fight in the most satisfyingly read I want,(me, me not the readers)
If you would be willing to give me your precious time, master, I thank you.
(This is my first novel I really want to finish, I've already abandoned 3 stories. I don't wanna do that again.)
1) The first sentence is what grabs my attention to read the first paragraph.
2) The first paragraph is what sells the first chapter.
3) The first chapter gives me a question that the reader should be curious about and your book should be the only way to answer that question.
I have a pattern.
Single Line at the start of the chapter to be a zinger.
Then I have a little exposition at the start of most chapters.
A paragraph explaining the setup.
Paragraphs are broken up by topic.
Occasionally a one-liner where I hit the reader with a single idea.
I will sometimes put something all by itself after many carriage returns to make it ESPECIALLY stand out.
"When having a conversation I have words inside quotations and get rid of the word 'said' whenever possible." Eldritch had discovered that people are smart enough to figure it out for themselves, "You just need a comma and some quotes to get people to know who is talking. The important part is to start a new chapter whenever the speaking subject changes.
My imagination interrupted, "This would be an example of that." It looked around and wiggled its tendrils, "Actions can be done by anyone and rolled into the paragraph." Eldritch nodded as my Imagination continued, "As long as who is talking inside the quotes remains the same."
"So Expositions should be all at the start of the chapter, with maybe a small wrap-up at the end, but if you get in the habit of having conversations like this, you can group things up in a way that is easier on the reader's eyes. It knows where one speaker ends and another begins. In fact, if you keep up the pattern, you won't even need to point out who is talking, the reader will figure it out by style of speech, or the fact only two people are talking."
Then, finally, I try to have a final zinger line to end the chapter on.
It's cheap psychological manipulation, but it works.
How about an example?
Author Note: This is my first time writing a novel, so bear with me now.
"Keugh... is this.. how I leave this world?" He coughs blood, and after a slight pause he laughs and smiles. "Oh well, whatever all I can do now is hope."
My life was full of stupid shit honestly, I never spent my time well.. if I could I wish I could go to a different world like Murim with some system, man, I should've stopped reading those weird novels, but whatever honestly, in the end, it's the survival of the fittest, even in this so-called "comfortable" world. All I hope now is that I at least don't go to hell, or get reborn, since me going to Heaven is the equivalent of letting a crazy murderer not go to jail while being caught.
"G-goodbye you shitty world." he tries to yell out loud while on the concrete ground, but only to output a barely audible voice with a lot of people looking down at him in worry, with sirens in the background.
Suddenly, he wakes up on a bunch of leaves and some grass, with rays of sun on his face. Still not comprehending what has happened, he looks around to see many tall trees with lots of leaves on them. He then feels a different type of clothing on his body, he sees himself wearing a red and black Hanfu. (I believe a Hanfu is the things people wear in wuxia or murim please tell me what the name is of what they wear.) When he tries to look around he notices his long hair going all the way down to his upper back. Upon noticing all of these details, he begins to check if he still has his manhood.
"Oh... thank god, I'm still a man." He redirects his attention back to his surroundings. "So where am I? By the looks of it it seems like I'm in a different universe?" He begins to remember the life he's lived giving him a irritated expression on his face. "AGH! Whatever, I just need to be better then last time, this time I will try to actually do something with my life."
And then out of nowhere a blue square appears right in front of him, not bounded by gravity or the laws of physics.
[Initializing...]
After looking in confusion for a little bit, a light begins to pop up in his head, causing him to grin a little bit at the realization of what has just appeared right in front him.
"My god, haha... is that a fucking system!? Please let it be a system and not just me being crazy." At those words the blue square begins to show numbers indicating the percentage of something.
[Initializing... 4% 7% 13% 25% 43% 77% 99%]
"What the hell, I'm not hallucinating? It really is a system!"
[Initializing... 100% Congratulations, Thank You For Playing Our Game!"
"Keugh... is this.. how I leave this world?"
Melvin was dying. he held his hand to his mouth as he coughed and pulled his cupped hand away to look at it. The odd mix of blood and mucus actually distracted him from the sucking chest wound for a few seconds. For just a moment, he forgot there was a small bullet hole in his back and the frickin Holand Tunnel out the front.
He fell to his knees, not quite sure who shot him in the back. Given the time of day, it was most likely anyone who knew his schedule. That meant this assassination was a betrayal, "Oh well, whatever all I can do now is hope."
The funny thing was, he had just realized he was doing things wrong. His whole life he'd be a bastard. He'd only thought about number one. He justified it with how life had treated him. His father was a working stiff who never got anywhere. Mom always bitched at dad and only thought about how much happier she could have been if she had only married Jack back in college.
Melvin spent most of his childhood getting the crap beat out of him, so as soon as he had his chance to get ahead, he took it. He had learned nobody cares, so he cared about no one. He was a very good liar and got ahead by backstabbing, betraying, and never ever showing mercy.
One day, that changed.
He realized everything he did was to get back at the people who beat the crap out of him. Everyone he hurt, was just an attempt to make things "right" to make things fair. But one day he realized something. He was just evil.
It started small. he couldn't do his job. He couldn't focus. he started trying to stop, get out. Nothing made him happy anymore so he just stopped doing drugs, stopped having sex, and stopped doing everything. He finally made up his mind. He was going to quit.
Unfortunately, his partners figured it out first.
Now he was face first on the sidewalk, people screaming, people running. He doubted anyone would catch the bastard who killed him, nor would anyone care. He just stared at the growing pool of blood under himself as he thought, ~Honestly, I really was going to try and fix things.~ He closed his eyes, ~Ah well, at least there's a special place in Hell for someone like me.~
Now, compare these two What is the QUESTION?
The original: What is this guy going to do?
My Rewrite: Is this guy going to make good on turning over a new leaf?
Which question is more compelling? Which one is more likely to get you to read to the end of the book to find out?
People like a question that goes somewhere and isn't open-ended. Keep that in mind.
2. Run it through a simple spell checker like Word.
3. Go to ChatGPT and type "Rephrase The Following Paragraph" Take one paragraph of at least 3 sentences and save it in a separate file. Feed that paragraph to ChatGPT. Copy the resulting paragraph to a separate file. Make a hybrid paragraph of the best of both.
4. Repeat step 3 until you have done every paragraph.
5. Turn on Grammerly. Just use the spell-checking feature. Screw the suggestions.
6. Go through your chapter to search for the following words:
Suddenly
Very/really
Started
Just
Somewhat/slightly
Somehow
Seem(s)
Definitely
If you see any of these words, reconsider them. Usually, these words are misused. If someone is speaking, no problem, but outside of the conversation, they usually are a bad sign.
7. If any sections don't feel right use the following at random:
prowritingaid.com/rephrase
sudowrite.com/app
writesonic.com/
But they do not allow unlimited use, so just use these occasionally to get a different perspective on how you phrased something.
8. Put it through Text Edit and turn on the text-to-speech feature. Listen to the chapter and fix it as it reads it out loud to you.
9. Go through and check for words that you keep using over and over. Using the same word too often will stand out. Try to have at least three different ways of referring to any main character. Avoid using the same word more than once in any given paragraph, or at least no more than once a page (pronouns/conjunctions not included, obviously). The English language is incredibly diverse, so the more you force yourself to get creative using alternatives, the more interesting your work is.
10. Turn on Grammerly one last time for spell-checking.
-----------------
START AT THE END.
You need to know what the ending of a plotline is, At least the final gut punch you plan for the reader to have. You can have an epilogue afterward, but you need that final scene in your head at least. Just writing because "I have a cool idea." Doesn't work. You need to know the ending.
Most books are three acts.
You need a plot that starts then finishes in Act/Act, in order of importance:
1/3
1/1
3/3
2/2
1/2
2/3
What I mean is you introduce a plot in Act 1, then it ends in Act 3, followed by Act 1 ends in Act 1.
The overall plot, that goes from plot 1 to plot 3 is the most important, but 1/1 is the second most important because it KEEPS THE READER READING.
That means, before you start the story, you need to have 6 endings. I don't care how much you write it out, but you need 6 plots and 6 plot endings. ANYTHING ELSE IS BOTH UNNEEDED AND DANGEROUS. You also need to know how the plot STARTS. So you need 6 beginnings and 6 endings. However, if you work those out ahead of time, everything else is just filler to get the story to move from one key scene to the next.
For example:
1/3: Joe is summoned and he has to defeat the demon lord
1/1: Joe is dropped into a strange situation and needs to adjust.
3/3: Joe will have a setback he needs to overcome
2/2: Joe will go on a training montage.
1/2: Joe will encounter the miniboss and have to overcome them.
2/3: Joe will have a romance subplot where he meets a girl and they fall in love by the end.
So three things begin in the first act, 2 starts in the second, 1 in the last.
There is one conclusion in the first, 2 in the second, then 3 in the ending
(and if you do it well, it all comes together in one scene.)
It's simple, it's formulaic, IT WORKS.
If you do this, you won't "write in the wrong direction" because you know where the ending is. Once you work out those 6 starts and 6 ends, everything else in the book is just connective tissue.
--------------------
If you are having problems making a character Here's my cheat sheet
Name
Race
Apparent Age
Actual Age
Sex
Gender
Height
Weight
Eye Color
Hair Color
Parents (How many, Sex, general Relations)
Place of birth
Current mental Age group: (Childhood/teen Age/Young Adult/Older Adult/Elder)
Where PC/NPC spent their (Childhood/teen Age/Young Adult/Older Adult/Elder)
Note Worthy Events of (Childhood/teen Age/Young Adult/Older Adult/Elder)
Current Socio-Economic Standing (Poor/Lower Class/Middle Class/Upper Class/SuperRich)
Nobody lives in a vacuum. However, everyone rhymes. get in your head the above groups and some stereotypical traits for each.
A guy whose morality is Objective 1, Subjective 1, Social 5, Outcome 1 is the kind of guy who believes in "Good" Outside himself and seeks to internalize it. he thinks society is corrupt, and willing to commit crimes if the outcome is positive.
ie Batman.
Charisma is personality, Manipulation is how controlling you can be, and appearance is how you look.
So your typical otome Villainess is a Chr 1, Manip 4, App 4.
When you get good at it, you can "shorthand" a character with ease
--------------------------
How to self-motivate:
Tell yourself, "NO ONE LOVES YOU! YOU ARE A WASTE OF SKIN! YOU ARE ONLY WORTH SOMETHING WHEN YOU DO SOMETHING! IF YOU AREN'T DOING SOMETHING, WHAT GOOD ARE YOU? EVERY MOMENT YOU WASTE NOT DOING SOMETHING PRODUCTIVE, A BABY KITTEN DIES! IF YOU ONLY TRIED HARDER, THERE WOULD BE LESS DEAD LOVED ONES IN YOUR LIFE! EVERYONE YOU EVER LOVED THAT DIED IS YOUR FAULT BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T WORK HARD ENOUGH!"
Then I get back to writing.
---------------------------
On units of measurement:
If you wanna use metrics in your story, go ahead. It's your story
But I always use "We put a flag on the fuckin' moon" units.
--------------------------
On How Much You Write:
Brevity is the soul of wit.
Something pounded into my head was, "WHAT CAN YOU CUT OUT OF YOUR STORY?"
Every word you include is a fraction of a second to read. Every fraction adds up. Time is the currency of exchange between an author and a reader. I am asking you for time. I am asking you to SPEND TIME ON ME. So, I go through and I pare it down. Carefully and deliberately ask myself, "What Does This Bring To The Story? Is it redundant? Have I already told this to the reader? Does repeating it serve a purpose? If not, how do I cut it? If it is new, then how can I make it serve a second purpose? Is there a way to have this information have a second meaning? A third meaning? Can I combine it with something else? Will It change when the reader knows the ending and will it be BETTER? Is there a better plot point I can use instead? Can I subvert their expectations and give them something BETTER than they expected and if so, how much can I keep hidden from the reader so they truly can't see it coming, yet will think it was obvious in retrospect?"
Smaller. Tighter. More concentrated. BIG is the enemy. Flowery fluffy filler is a sign of weakness. Hit him hard, let the reader breathe, then hit him again, but short rabbit punches.
I know that quality is what matters, but in the back of my head, I have this Big Is Evil, hang-up. 500k Well Written Words is fine. the 500k isn't the problem.
Except it's a problem.
Part of me wonders, like it or not, is it too much? Then I say, "If it's quality, then it doesn't matter. You can have large quantities of quality. It does happen."
Then I say, "No it doesn't. You arrogant FOOL!"
------------
BEST TIME TO POST CHAPTERS
The best time is subjective, just be consistent.
HOWEVER...
I have anecdotal evidence that the best time is 12:01 am local time so you have the maximum amount of exposure to the algorithm. To get the most amount of "hits", post once every three days for maximum return. But that's just my own systematic testing of the system. Take it with a boulder of salt.
Skip to the part where it reads, "START AT THE END"
)
What genre?
