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PaperclipPerfector  3d ago (text post)   1955 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for May 29, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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After a fairly long stretch of rejections, I just had a piece shortlisted for a fiction anthology. It feels good to have a little success.

It really felt like 2025 was a dead year for hack writers like me, but 2026 might be improving. Any other writers here? How's your luck?

Good on you. I am not a real writer. I've always kind of sort of wished I was better at writing because sometimes I have cool and interesting ideas for stories and then if I start writing my standards are way higher than my talents, I get frustrated, then I get bored and quit a week or two later.

I just started trying again since I had the idea of using AI to critique my work and offer suggestions. Its actual suggests for prose are always garbage, but its critiques of which parts of what I wrote are bad and why help me focus on how to improve beyond my own vague instincts of "this isn't satisfying but I'm not sure why."

I managed to write one chapter in three weeks (as a side project, again, not a real writer). I suspect I need to just write more and edit less until later. At least that's advice I've heard about writing, but I'm not entirely convinced. I don't think my main character has a sufficiently well-developed personality yet but I made a lot of progress on establishing him better by rewriting scenes over and over again until they felt more interesting.

Any advice?

I suspect I need to just write more and edit less until later. At least that's advice I've heard about writing, but I'm not entirely convinced

My biggest weakness as an author is that I am convinced that my output is absolute dogshit. I've thrown out multiple novels that were over 70% finished because I was disgusted with the work. I'll end up in rewrite spirals and give up.

Lately, I've had a lot more success by Just Writing. I don't do anything but write forward until I have every major story beat on paper. Then and only then, do I allow myself to go back and rework things.

I don't think my main character has a sufficiently well-developed personality yet but I made a lot of progress on establishing him better by rewriting scenes over and over again until they felt more interesting.

I do this by doing two things:

  1. I write character sketches before starting for major characters. It's a pulp tool, but knowing a few things they'll always do, a few things they'll never do, the first thing you'd notice if you saw them, and the first thing you'd notice if you heard them helps a lot.
  2. If my main character starts driving the story off the rails? Well, then I have good character development and I need to change the story.

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