Thanks! It has a lot going ddd. There's a character who is an evil wolf-like manifestation of alcoholism who talks in rhyme, Another character who is an ageless, genderless apparition who references Girls Aloud, Girlicous, Weirdly Sexy Geography Teachers, Daisy Dares You and Nicole Scherzinger's failed solo career inspired by ADHD, a gay sex scene and at least two mental breakdowns (but theres no actual gore or harm shown, just lots of clever words and trickery) oh and a rant about how lunchtime is mearly a concept and cake is an acceptable meal.
Writing General Discussion & Critique
- Thread starter Rainbow Trousers
- Start date
Yeah, it sounds bonkers in the best way but clever too.
That's what I was going for! I had an amazing tutor at my old Uni when I did my M.A and I pitched him two ideas a "safe" one I wasn't at all passionate about and then this one that I loved and he was like "you can do this one if you want and I'll help you and it'll be really fun but you won't get a good grade or you can play it safe but it'll be really boring but you'll get a good mark" and I was like "option one, always". He was amazing. He gave me so much guidance and freedome. He was as mad as a box of frogs but so am I. Honestly, he was the best thing about an otherwise quite mediocre course I felt very let down by.
Not strictly related, but I was pretty let down by my MFA creative writing program. The workshops were shit. People were not there to help you achieve your creative goals. They were there to make suggestions that re-affirmed their view of what writing should be.
I did finish the program, but the most valuable thing I got out of it was teaching experience ddddd.
Everyone's projects in here sound really interesting. I hope they get out into the world someday so I can read them!
Does anyone self-publish? I've been doing it for a few years and I honestly think I hate it. I received a really scathing one-star review a few weeks ago from someone who DNFed my book at 20% and it tanked my overall average and I just don't know how to promote it now. This person said there were so many mistakes and inconsistencies in my story and that I should unpublish it, and I really don't agree with that assessment.
It's frustrating for me because I've had beta readers, an editor, a judge from a popular self-publishing contest that I entered, strangers who've bought the book...etc!...all read it and no one picked up on any of these so-called mistakes. I take criticisms seriously so I even went through the book again to see if anything could be clarified.
If someone just doesn't like the story or characters, I get it. Not everything is for everyone. But why would a new reader pick up the book when one of my only reviews says it's filled with mistakes? I know I sound defensive, and that's because I am, but it suuuucks. I don't know how to turn this around. I'm currently running Facebook ads with the book discounted to see if that helps spur sales, but so far no luck there.
I just like writing silly/fun stories but maybe I should avoid self-publishing in the future. Womp womp.
(Sorry, I know this is super dramatic and really whiny [and I'm likely overthinking it], but I needed to vent!!)
Does anyone self-publish? I've been doing it for a few years and I honestly think I hate it. I received a really scathing one-star review a few weeks ago from someone who DNFed my book at 20% and it tanked my overall average and I just don't know how to promote it now. This person said there were so many mistakes and inconsistencies in my story and that I should unpublish it, and I really don't agree with that assessment.
It's frustrating for me because I've had beta readers, an editor, a judge from a popular self-publishing contest that I entered, strangers who've bought the book...etc!...all read it and no one picked up on any of these so-called mistakes. I take criticisms seriously so I even went through the book again to see if anything could be clarified.
If someone just doesn't like the story or characters, I get it. Not everything is for everyone. But why would a new reader pick up the book when one of my only reviews says it's filled with mistakes? I know I sound defensive, and that's because I am, but it suuuucks. I don't know how to turn this around. I'm currently running Facebook ads with the book discounted to see if that helps spur sales, but so far no luck there.
I just like writing silly/fun stories but maybe I should avoid self-publishing in the future. Womp womp.
(Sorry, I know this is super dramatic and really whiny [and I'm likely overthinking it], but I needed to vent!!)
Did that person give any specific examples? Not to downplay your concerns, but I think that you can still promote your book in spite of that review. Yeah, there might be some people that take that review seriously, but other people won’t and some people don’t even read user reviews. I certainly don’t.
I honestly hate when people harp on mistakes and inconsistencies in the first place. It’s the most base surface level kind of criticism. Even some of the greatest books have inconsistencies.
Thank you. I'm not sure why I was so riled up earlier but I've calmed down a bit. I think you're right about promoting. I hadn't received a bad rating in the year the book's been out before this one, so I think it's possible to turn it around. It's the name of the game, though. Everyone gets bad reviews sometimes!
As for the reviewer's comments, they highlighted some things on their Kindle so I can see them on Goodreads. For instance, at one point my character says something to the effect of someone he knows never having been secretive to him and the reviewer made a comment, "Everyone has secrets. How old are you again?" A few sentences later, the main character picked up on the secretiveness of the other character and the reviewer clocked that as an inconsistency.
Another one was that I had written something like, "'[Blah blah blah],' she said, taking a sip of her coffee," and the reviewer's comment was about how that was a simultaneous action and she'd be choking. I can see it, but I think a reader would know the character said something and then took a sip of her drink? I think the pettiness of it all bugged me the most, haha. But, either way, as I mentioned, I take it seriously, so I did go through and clarified things. There were some other comments about repetition, which I didn't view it as such but I removed some of it to be safe. That's the good part about self-publishing, I guess...I can always update things!
I really do want my work to be as professional as possible since I'm selling it. It's just such a struggle, though, when you don't really have a lot of ratings to balance out a single bad review.
As for the reviewer's comments, they highlighted some things on their Kindle so I can see them on Goodreads. For instance, at one point my character says something to the effect of someone he knows never having been secretive to him and the reviewer made a comment, "Everyone has secrets. How old are you again?" A few sentences later, the main character picked up on the secretiveness of the other character and the reviewer clocked that as an inconsistency.
Another one was that I had written something like, "'[Blah blah blah],' she said, taking a sip of her coffee," and the reviewer's comment was about how that was a simultaneous action and she'd be choking. I can see it, but I think a reader would know the character said something and then took a sip of her drink? I think the pettiness of it all bugged me the most, haha. But, either way, as I mentioned, I take it seriously, so I did go through and clarified things. There were some other comments about repetition, which I didn't view it as such but I removed some of it to be safe. That's the good part about self-publishing, I guess...I can always update things!
I really do want my work to be as professional as possible since I'm selling it. It's just such a struggle, though, when you don't really have a lot of ratings to balance out a single bad review.
Those are such nitpicks. Like you said, it’s a shame reviews like that have such an impact on the average. But for that person to say you should unpublish and then provide such weak examples is ridiculous.
Haha well so far where I've been so busy with my work and my course I haven't written a single thing down, it's all still living in my head, but excited to finally get the plot and characters all written down.
Oh, I know what you mean, I have so much fun writing villains.
Amazing! Love the sound of this and really want to see it!
Oh how frustrating. I agree with Raichu, these are such silly nitpicky things. I've read so many books where they have a character say something, while taking a sip of drink or a bite of food. Like, the reader gets what's happening. I'm sorry to hear it's affected the rating, but I'm sure you'll get some people with sense who'll leave some reviews.
The novel has reached 80,000+words, 322 written pages, and 150 typed pages. I'm probably a bit more than 50% done with it, though I never know how long certain scenes will turn out to be.
I'm finding that I'm getting a lot of writing done during the workday. I'm a teacher, so when I'm not giving lecture, the students are writing. I get so bored sometimes that I just start writing spontaneously.
And if all else fails, I just listen to what I've decided is the official theme song of my book:
The butterfly catcher dude actually appears as a character in the book!
I'm finding that I'm getting a lot of writing done during the workday. I'm a teacher, so when I'm not giving lecture, the students are writing. I get so bored sometimes that I just start writing spontaneously.
And if all else fails, I just listen to what I've decided is the official theme song of my book:
The butterfly catcher dude actually appears as a character in the book!
That's really impressive that you even once did that! My brain can only handle an hour or so at a time. But if I had more free time, maybe that would be different.
You can do it! Well, if you can, I get that it's harder with the rest of your life in the way.
I'm currently working on a YA novel. It's slow going and feels like a slog for the most part but I'm trying to enjoy the process as much as I can. I already have some readers and a small audience from previous stories I've posted on the net so that's keeping me going a little.
I'm not quite sure what the end game is. I quite like the idea of self publishing. Maybe I'll try to get an agent but I'm not too hopeful on that front because I've read that there's apparently a 1 in 65k chance(!) of getting a literary agent and I'm honestly not sure if what I'm writing would be deemed commercial or marketable enough.
I'm not quite sure what the end game is. I quite like the idea of self publishing. Maybe I'll try to get an agent but I'm not too hopeful on that front because I've read that there's apparently a 1 in 65k chance(!) of getting a literary agent and I'm honestly not sure if what I'm writing would be deemed commercial or marketable enough.
This is where I'm at. I don't have the energy to chase an agent and my book is also probably not that widely marketable. I'm just writing the novel for myself at the moment.
I'm starting to feel exhausted by the sheer complexity of what I'm doing though: building a fantasy world that is also a game world while also portraying autism in a realistic fashion. And then the plot itself is a bit mind-bendy.
I do like how the characterization has turned out so far though. The main character's character development is intricate and intense while the other characters are slightly flat but still have character. I did this intentionally to make the video game world feel somewhat real but also kind of dream-like. Too many round characters would distract.
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Your book sounds really interesting! I may go down the agent route. I'd be curious to see if I received any sort of response but I'd keep my expectations very low. Perhaps that's not the best attitude to have(!) but I'm trying to be realistic here. I genuinely do think the self-publishing route would be a good fit for me.
I'm also pretty sure self-publishing would be best for me, but I think I going to officially decide once I finish the book and revise it.
I've gotten some responses from agents, but it's been to tell me that while I seem to be a great writer, they have reservations that keep them from offering representation. One time that had to do with length and real celebrity names being used, but I could have made them fake names. If I ever show my pop novel to another agent, I will.
He/Him
Not sure if this is the right place but I've just started reguarly writing again after 6 years out of the game due to burn out from freelancing. Excited to read other people's works on here.
That's great. I found that teaching and writing rec letters and stuff like that burned me out for awhile.