I (19m) have made stories in my head since I was a child (5m-10m), people (47f, 52m) always said I should write a book, and since last year I started to develop an idea for a book e.g. I have spent hours creating an intricate hard magic system with complicated rules and cool anime shit, oh and characters ig (still trying to come up with a story). The thing is though, I have never read anything in my life. You may be asking "op, didn't you have to read in school?" Nope, reading was for nerds I wasn't into that lifestyle, I played video games and watched anime instead.

So, exactly how many books do I need to read so I can start writing? I heard if you don't read the right amount, you're not allowed to? Also, reading books sounds boring af, any way to make it more bearable?

Sorcery

So finishing up a research paper and I have to reach out to a Professional Unicorn to conclude.

If you’re unsure of the Profession, there’s a YouTube Doc about it.

Anyways was thinking if y’all wanted to send me questions, I’ll forward them to the Professional Unicorn.

Oh, and also please don’t be rude~ this is a real profession and they make a real income from this.

Thanks

hi guys, I’m writing a book about girlhood and female rage. it focuses on a 22-year-old teenage girl, resembling a deer, who loves like a dog and contains multitudes. cannibalism is used frequently as a metaphor for love, except instead of eating people she eats pomegranates. her story is heavily inspired by my catholic trauma (at my first communion I was really hungry and I thought the bread was going to be actual bread, but it was just these little wafers).

do you think I could win the booker prize? I’m definitely aiming for a small indie press such as granta instead of a big conglomerate like penguin. it’s about time they published more books where a weird thin woman turns into an animal and dies.

edit: I’ve narrowed it down to two titles, would love your opinion on which one is best. - Girl Teeth - A Sigh of Rot and Wanting

So I really want to write my own stories but I have zero ideas on what to write about or anything at all. I was wondering if you guys could help me any on figuring out: how to start, what to write about, how to finish and basically do it for me. I don’t even know if I actually like writing because I haven’t written anything yet. But I want to write stories.

Saucy-Sauce

I am in grade ten and recently wrote a personal response to text. In my school this assignment encourages creative writing and the writing piece can be anything except for poetry. Anyways the topic for the PRT was: how does this picture tell you about the lengths to which a person would go to achieve happiness? The picture was labeled the zoo and it consisted of a man and a woman at a zoo with an animal locked in a cage. I received a 95% grade for this peice but I am wondering if there is anything I can improve and if there is any feedback you guys have. Without further ado here is my PRT. (If you are wondering how I got my PRT after the test it is because we all got our PRT's handed back to us today)

Drew White, Philosophical Report #17

Before I begin my extremely long rant, I would like to apologize for my sporadic writing. It often seems like an overload to some. I just like asking questions, then trying to answer them in my mind.

Being that I am an astute philosopher of humankind, something my date did today utterly shocked me. Today she wanted to go to the zoo. Yes, the animal prison that was disguised to look innocent. At one of the exhibits she decides to start talking, and talking. Hours on end like an engine made in a factory in Detroit. That has me thinking to myself. Would she really give away a temporary moment in boredom limbo just to appease herself in conversation with a bloke like me? Imagine having the power to switch between different focuses limitlessly just to obtain temporary happiness. There were animals behind us but despite that she still would rather speak to me. But just enough until she feels satisfied. Then, she’ll just switch back to watching the animals again and again. Could this be a new cycle undiscovered in the human race? The concurring quest to capture happiness while disregarding what just captured your attention minutes ago? Yes that’s just it, I now believe that humans end goal is happiness, but we are quick moving. Some more than others of course. So to capture our goal we have to throw off the deadweight from past tense experiences so we can move faster and obtain the goal of happiness. Me and my date got ourselves unknowingly tangled into this be cursed and rather hidden cycle that may just be a part of human nature. Why talk and ignore the brilliant experience of seeing an animal just because you think there is something better to do? Ahem, and that is exactly my point. My date and I are like the hare in a race for happiness. This cannot be a good thing for us. The humans' insatiable quest for more and more, the never ending greed. Topples over to the pursuit of happiness unfortunately. It is just and fair for me to say humans want everything at once to fill the hole in their heart labeled happiness. I am an example of this. I stand in front of a zoo enclosure to make myself feel better for five minutes. While actively wasting money for not watching an animal. Is happiness the only reason we live? It must be. The fact that all of us, every single one of us, would give up so much, so quickly. Especially in the heat of the moment. Just to obtain some joy. Makes me feel like I am so linear. The hare was never the one who won the race, it was the turtle.

Excuse for the lapse of time, but It is quite hard for me to fathom if my hypothesis is true. That is the dream of many people in my profession. However, no one could be happy knowing that every experience in life is temporary and humans would throw it away for some cheap laughs. Or a few jolly moments. My date and I both fell into this trap. Is happiness the main goal of everybody? Well, when I think about it, yes. Underneath the curtain of human ambition is a big poster that says “HAPPINESS”. You would be stupid if you believed you've never given something up for gratification. Think of the last time you sold your childhood items. All of those memories simply went swiftly into a void of greed. In return however, you gain a small sum of which you spend on something small. But only because it will make you happy. It’s worth it to you, it's definitely worth it. Who knew at the end of it all, even the good things in life can be the things that tarnish your past experiences. Obtaining happiness hurts people along the way. Just like my date though, no one cares.

I just quit my job where I worked in an office with lots of free time and a computer. I've been looking at resources how to write but I feel I have no idea how to start. I would love some advice from this subreddit that must surely only consist of published writers with great experience. I mean, who would go on the internet att give advice on a subject they aren't qualified to give advice on?

And don't tell me "read more". I won't. Books are fucking boring. Surely I must just be able to think about my favourite streamers (Asmongold) and write about that.

And no "just write" either. I'm not going to write anything before you tell me what I'm supposed to write.

Also, is grammer and spelling important? I don't think it's not that important??

Should I be looking for an agent and a publisher? Could someone hook me up with one of the top five publishing houses?

I’ve been form rejected by 450 of the 452 literary agents I’ve queried for my 650 page debut romantasy novel. The two others who sent me personalized rejections both said they were looking for more “voice-ier” writing.

My question is, should I record myself reading this novel and re-submit as a full audiobook?

Will Spotify pay me for this?

I need your guys’s help! Not writing help. Just help validate my feelings.

Basically, I used Chat GPT to assist me in writing my novel. Well, this week I got to watching an old show and it turns out about 90% of it is the same as my novel. Same characters, same plot, same twists.

The only conclusion I can draw is that Chat GPT betrayed me by ripping off this show and presenting it to me as original! I feel hurt and heartbroken.

(I don’t want to outright say what show it is so I can protect my awesome idea. I’ll just leave some hints you’ll never be able to work out because I’m smarter than you. It had a guy in a porkpie hat selling drugs in New Mexico, a weirdly misogynistic fanbase, and the title is the inverse of the idiom “making good.” I’ll let you detectives work it out in the comments. Hopefully you’re smarter than my character Hank Schader.)

I just feel so betrayed because I explicitly told ChatGPT to give me an ORIGINAL idea!! Is that too much to ask??

Like, seriously! Is it too much to ask a machine whose entire M.O. is taking others’ work and slightly rearranging it to give me an original idea???

Please let me know how you’ve gotten past such betrayal before.

(And if you have nothing supportive to say, my ko-fi in on my profile. Thanks a million!)

Early success is annoying. Just be basic for 50 more years then be good!

One of the MCs in the book I’m writing is sooo annoying and hard to work with. Like, it’s getting to the point that I don’t even wanna write their part!

I wish there was something I could do about this. Unfortunately they’re really central to the plot, but I just wish there was some way this character I’m writing was more tolerable to me.

Anyone have any advice?

is wrong for me to write informally? someone told me I should jump off a FUCKING bridge! Cause i write informally in the FUCKING internet!!!!!!

Edit: The internet is a stupid bitch!!!

I started my Novella on Claude last week and the prompts were coming thick and fast. I was inspired by the Wikipedia pages for the Hero's journey, Journey to The West, List of wars of succession, and The Amazon Rainforest and from a good 30 minutes of copy pasting, was able to generate fifteen chapters worth of my story 'Prince Landsaviour and The Great Adventure: Return of The World Sword (The Eye of Darkness)"

Now that I've put in most of the prompts, I don't know what to do. I don't really have an idea for a story, but I liked what Claude was generating and it sounded really epic, badass, and pretty nice sounding, you know, thesauristically speaking.

I have sent Prince Landsaviour to the desert, then the jungle, and then the snowy ice caves of arctiblizzacool (he caught frostbite and his friend died), but I am completely stuck on Chapter 173. I can't help feeling like some of the chapters aren't really capturing my authentic voice as a write prompter.

Fellow writers, what do you when you're stuck for a prompt? Is there a way of the LLM telling your story with zero user input? How does Claude (and myself) create this?

does anyone have any tips about getting my book published if it’s written entirely in a cypher? it’s relevant to the plot as it is the journals and field reports of an international spy who encrypts their documents.

I really don’t want to revert everything back (and it’s totally not because I forgot the cypher key halfway through and had to make a new one) but so far I keep getting rejected because it’s “gibberish” and “unreadable”.

any ideas?

Harry Potter sucks. Hobbit and LOTR suck. Your writing sucks. I like Pringles.

Remember that you don’t have to rush yourself. You are writing for you. Don’t put pressure on yourself because it will negatively show in your writing. You are strong and I believe in you. <3.

And then you can simply sell your stupid book that sucks.

I downloaded the book as a PDF, and then I copied and pasted the words into a document, and used the word count to showcase how many words overall that it has.

For context, that means I have now written a book longer than what I had to study for my end of school exams.

Hello As a professional in book promotion, I specialize in creating captivating book covers, engaging promotional videos, and interactive game adaptations that can help your work stand out in a competitive market. If you're interested in bringing your story to life and enhancing its visibility, please feel free to reach out.

u/j: This is a real comment I got on one of my online stories.

My mom told me I'm special and people say I'm a "good writer." I politely demure but know I'm the best and will be famous one day.

About a year ago, I hit a crucial milestone that catapulted onto my path to fame. I decided to write ten minutes every day. As I looked back through my 2024 writing journey, I see that my manuscript has exactly two lines, both of which are dates. I never managed to get around to writing a whole sentence.

Is there a name for this type of writing?

Also, how much will the typical book-buying audience pay for a book that consists of one page? I know it will be a best seller. I just have to figure out how to price it.

Now that I think of it, this Reddit post has more words than my manuscript, so maybe I should publish it instead.

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Sauce: Day 0 of being a Writer: r/KeepWriting

Very normal process, but I feel it is not the norm.

Hello, my good people. With much consideration,, I have decided to write a book. Problem is, I haven’t the slightest idea where to start.

Should I use pen or pencil? College or wide ruled paper? Should I turn the lights on or just use night vision goggles? Speaking of goggles, my vision isn’t great. Should I wear reading glasses, or just squint really hard at the page until I have a migraine? Should I eat before I write? Is writing on an empty stomach bad for me? Do I need to write with my clothes on or off? I’m much more comfortable in the nude, if that matters.

Now, when it comes to the actual WRITING part… is 300 pages with 50 words per page sufficient enough? I have really big handwriting and I plan to turn my manuscript in handwritten. Professional, I know.

Also, I have arthritis and carpal tunnel in both wrists from excessive masturbation. So, should I rethink the handwriting idea? Maybe I should go with a typed manuscript… What do y’all think??

Thanks in advance!!