I know. We've heard it all before. The first and often only piece of writing advice everyone wants to give everyone else. I used to get so frustrated with that. What does that even mean? I know the story I want to tell. I only have so many hours in the day and I don't want to read. I want to write. I'd tell myself, "I know enough good stories from movies and video games and books I read for school. I can just sit down and write. How hard can it be?" 

And yeah, I wrote a book and I thought it was brilliant. I thought it was perfect, as it was. Done in one go. "I must be truly talented." Pat myself on the back and let's see what other people think. 

The first bombshell: other people didn't like it. They wouldn't stay to read more than a page or two, said it was repetitive and amateur, and I never heard from them again. That was pretty heartbreaking. I wanted people to like my story. I wanted people to read it. To me, making art is two part; the creation and the interpretation. I didn't want my art to exist in a vacuum. I wanted to be heard.  

So I took feedback, I shared it around to everyone, did research, and started reading, because that's what everyone says is the first step. Who am I to tell best selling authors they're wrong? I went to a tech school for interior design 🤷🏻‍♀️ I don't know shit. 

The next bombshell: My book really was repetitive and amateur. Slowly, I started to see the issues and I could never unsee it. The story was working, but the writing was bad. The dialogue talking in circles, the unneeded details, the soapboxes I would stand on to make my point like I was teaching a class. It was horrible actually. Beta readers and random takes off reddit can only get you so far though. I was the one sitting at the keyboard and it was up to me to fix it. 

So I read more. I read classics and contemporary. I read trilogies and one-offs. I read within my genre and outside my genre, learning the differences. I wanted to understand why my book wasn't measuring up.  

And it hit me... that was the point. Without reading, I had no metric to judge my own writing to. I didn't know what good was to be good at it. How would I? Of course I think my story is brilliant. I wrote my story. It came out of my heart, my brain, my soul. I understand exactly what I'm trying to say. And that's great, but if you want to be a published author, the goal is to have your readers see things through your eyes, be entertained, come back to your book until the last page, and spend their hard-earned money on you. Your tastes are not the only tastes that matter anymore and promising "it gets better" will never be enough.

After a lot of soul searching, I made another breakthrough. I realized I am compelled to write, not because I'm a writer, but because I'm a storyteller. Because I have things to say, not because I'm particularly articulate. And that's ok. Writing is a skill and I knew then that reading was how you hone that skill. Studying the masters, expanding your vocabulary, understanding formatting and grammar. What makes a book easy or hard to read. What has already been done. Who has walked this path before you.

Frankenstein and Moby Dick are so good at what they do, they've been integrated into our culture for over 100 years. Stephen King is considered one of the best modern American authors with a billion movie renditions that people love. Nora Roberts barely has to title her books anymore. Her name is bigger than anything else on the cover. These people have clearly figured out what I wanted to know. And you don't need an English literature degree to figure out "I like this book because..." 

I read about a book a month now. I look forward to cracking open a new book and I'm bothered by my old writing samples, long-winded and giant blocks of text. This journey has only been about a year, but I've learned more in the past year than I did in the previous 20 while writing in isolation. My manuscript has just finished its second draft, with two more drafts in the future (that I know of). I've cut 85,000 words so far. I've lost nothing of the story I wanted to tell and I have three people who will read my story to the end. I'll be heard now. People are enjoying my words, my characters, my inner world. It still has a lot of work to be done, but I'm closer now than I've ever been before. 

I didn't go to a class. I didn't pay out the ass for an editor. I didn't sell my soul to the devil. I started reading and now I'll never stop. One day maybe you'll see my name on a best seller's list too and this will still the best advice I can give. Read everything, everywhere, all the time. Make time. It's worth it. The best writers are readers. 

Hello there! I'm 49F, read and write genre fiction over a pretty wide range of genres. I'm currently writing a somewhat to-market RomCom. I run a small, private Reddit sub where we post pet pics, complain about marketing, share wins, etc. We need more people for writing sprints, critique swaps, and to increase the daily participation levels.

Currently we have 28 members who range in age from 38-72, write in a range of genres, and have a range of experience from established authors to people just starting out.

Requirements: You write long form (50k+), are serious about publishing your work (planning to publish in the future is ok!), and write genre fiction without using Generative AI.

At this time, the group does not have the capacity to review/critique very dark romance, very violent fiction, or heavy kink. If we become able to open to those niches, I will post again.

Experience Level: Any!

Goals/Expectation/Commitment: Mutual support, regular check ins on progress, discussions of issues encountered in the writing process. Primarily interested in professional networking, building a friendly group who are serious about publishing, and authors who are creating WITHOUT generative AI.

Meeting place: The group is here on Reddit, and we are *not* open to Discord.

Genre: Open to most genres. To reiterate, we are not currently able to include very dark romance, very violent fiction, or heavy kink.

Max size: The more the merrier.

Please comment here, and then send a DM. This serves as a backup alert, as the DM widget doesn't always let me know I have a message. Hope to hear from you!

Would anyone be interested in joining a discord for MM writers? I find that it is so useful to talk to other writers who understand romance genre norms as well as people who have an understand of the MM space. I am also open to adding people who write other queer romances if there is interest!

* Genre/s: MM Romance of any subgenre

* Goals/expectations/commitment: Commitment to being active in the discord at least a few times a week. Willingness to engage in discussion as well as provide feedback on shared works. Perhaps a good place to exchange works for beta reading.

* Writing/experience level: Experienced writers ready to write for publishing - no AI allowed

* Meeting place: Discord

* Max size: perhaps 20 at this time with room to grow

Need help working through the basics of creating tech that could feasibly work in a cyberpunk world I’ve been creating

Hi everyone! 👋❤️

I hope you don’t mind me sharing something I’ve been working on!
I’m a writer myself, and over the past few months I’ve been building something called **DraftMatter.** It’s a platform designed to help writers organise and manage everything that comes with being an author, beyond just writing the actual book!
The idea came from my own experiences of trying to keep track of writing projects, manuscript versions, publishing plans, contacts, and all the other moving pieces that seem to multiply as you get further into your writing journey. 😂
I’m now getting ready to welcome a small group of **20 Founding Writers** into DraftMatter’s private alpha testing program, and I’d absolutely love to have some fellow writers involved!
It’s completely free to participate, and I’m looking for writers at all different stages. You could be working on your first manuscript, self-publishing, querying agents, traditionally published, or sharing your work online.
At this stage, I’m really looking for people who would enjoy exploring the platform, testing its features, sharing honest feedback, and helping shape what it eventually becomes.

If this sounds like something you’d enjoy being part of, I’ve put together a short application form here:

https://forms.gle/v9zq4PbzGsc5HTbZ9

And of course, if you have any questions about DraftMatter, please feel free to ask! I’m always happy to chat about it.
Thanks so much for reading, and hope the godawful (writers)block stays far, far away from you all! 🥲
— N.E.L.

Hello everyone! We just launched Writer's Evolution - a podcast featuring conversations with authors, editors, and publishing professionals to help aspiring and indie writers become better writers. Through conversations with New York Times best selling authors and Reedsy editors, we share practical advice, honest experiences and a little encouragement:) We just released our first couple episodes, hope it's helpful for everyone :) !

https://youtu.be/SJIgFNzLIBs?si=MI_aKBBk-ImYcvEk

https://youtu.be/-kv9ZF5klgE?si=-c5hcLh7O5h22rA8

I’m an aspiring animator that wants to make fast paced shorts that can tell a bigger narrative that it leads on but don’t know how to go about doing. (I also only recently learned story compression being a thing)

I struggle writing a beginning, middle, end that flows tightly and instead a lot of bits and it’s hard to figure out what elements are essential of maintaining the narrative and what elements that are too drawn or filler’y.

And when I tried looking up guides on YouTube, I mostly get audio stuff it seems.

If their any guides or tips that can help, I’d like to hear them.

Hello everyone 👋

Gooberductions is looking for a team of writers to help out coming up with story, scene planning, and eventually writing script for the story.

It will be a 2 hour animated fantasy film that takes place in the Viking era (979), and on completion be released onto YouTube.

Genre : Fantasy

Goal : have a writing session 1 - 3 times a week, coming up with story and planning scenes. Hope to get to the script writing phase by the end of November

Experience level : no experience needed, only passion

Meeting place : Team discord or WhatsApp

Team size : me and 3 others (4 total)

a run down of the story, it follows two close friends Asgeir and Bjorn. They've just had their home destroyed in a drastic war, and have been forced to relocate to a much harsher conditioned land. Asgeir and Bjorn grow up in a low class chiefdom, until everything changes when on a lackluster mining session, Bjorn spots a strange light in one of the caverns, in which the entity attaches to him and grants him immense power and abilities. With it, he aids his village to improve and prepare for the winter by using the light to grow crops, heal wounded soldiers, and aid merchants voyage across the ocean for trades. Overall it looks like a blessing on the surface, however things would quickly go south when Bjorn shares half of the light with his close friend Asgeir. Not long after the village starts to thrive, Asgeir's merchant business begins to plummet as Bjorn uses the light to collect more and more ores, grow more and more crops, and heal more and more soldiers, his products become less valuable and such he loses business.  Eventually Asgeir storms away to start his own kingdom, leading to a rivalry between the two once close friends which said rivalry comes with tragic consequences.

If you’re interested in taking part, feel free to DM me at Gooberductions.studio@gmail.com for more info and entry details!

Vers un réseau numérique belge sécurisé.

Une réflexion sur l’avenir des services numériques essentiels Concept prospectif visant à renforcer la sécurité des citoyens lors de l’utilisation des services bancaires, administratifs et gouvernementaux.

Contexte

Aujourd'hui, une grande partie de notre vie quotidienne passe par Internet. Les opérations bancaires, les démarches administratives et de nombreux services publics sont accessibles depuis nos smartphones et ordinateurs. Cette évolution apporte confort et rapidité, mais elle augmente également les enjeux liés à la cybersécurité.

« Et si les services les plus sensibles disposaient de leur propre infrastructure numérique sécurisée ? »

Une infrastructure dédiée aux services critiques L'idée consiste à créer un réseau numérique belge distinct de l'Internet public. Celui-ci serait développé avec les opérateurs de télécommunication et réservé aux services essentiels : banques, identité numérique, administrations, santé et autres plateformes reconnues d'intérêt général. Des normes de sécurité renforcées Seules les applications certifiées pourraient accéder à ce réseau. Elles seraient soumises à des audits réguliers, à des obligations de sécurité strictes et à une surveillance permanente des accès. Cette approche permettrait de réduire fortement les risques liés aux attaques informatiques, à la fraude et au vol d'identité. Des bénéfices pour les citoyens En séparant les opérations critiques du reste du trafic Internet, les citoyens bénéficieraient d'un environnement plus fiable pour leurs démarches importantes. Les virements, signatures électroniques et procédures administratives pourraient être exécutés dans un cadre contrôlé et hautement sécurisé. Un terminal spécialisé Le concept pourrait être complété par la création d'un terminal dédié. Contrairement à un smartphone classique, cet appareil serait conçu exclusivement pour les services essentiels. Son architecture verrouillée limiterait considérablement les possibilités d'altération ou d'installation de logiciels non autorisés. Vision d’avenir Cette proposition ne vise pas à remplacer Internet mais à imaginer une nouvelle couche de confiance numérique. À mesure que la transformation numérique progresse, disposer d'une infrastructure spécifiquement destinée aux échanges sensibles pourrait devenir un véritable atout pour la protection des citoyens et des institutions. Article de réflexion et d’innovation numériq

About once a week I see someone saying that it’s normal to like your work. That you need beta readers to tell you what’s wrong.

Except my beta readers like my book. But I hate my work. Every day I hate reading what I have written the day before. I got a publishing contract and daily I think they made a mistake. Nothing I write ever resonates the way it should until the 29th rewrite and then half the time it still sucks.

Like where do you get the ability to love what you write?!how to I develop such a delusion, because hating what I write is demoralizing.