Writers Find It Hard to Sustain Story Conflict

“Sometimes an idea starts simple, then suddenly it has history, politics, side characters, worldbuilding, and consequences you didn't plan for. I think that can be exciting, but also overwhelming. How do you know when a story is big enough for one book, or when it needs to be narrowed down? submitted by /u/Ok_Relationship7540 [link] [comments]”

“If you are writing a story that takes place in a real location, I'd suggest seeing if there's a subreddit for it. If there is, go in and ask for help with your story. Ask for ideas of where your character(s) would go or what they could do. Give enough information about your characters and the story so people have an idea of what it is you're looking for. You don't have to let them in on the entire outline. Locals will be able to give you better information than Google or other ar”

“Hey! I've recently started rewriting a romance story I originally began a while ago, and I've just finished the new version of Chapter 1 (around 4,800 words). The story follows John, a high-achieving student who has become used to school coming relatively easily to him and genuinely wants someone who can challenge him academically. In this chapter, a transfer student named Isabel joins his class and, during a diagnostic test on one of his strongest subjects, gives him the first indicatio”

“I am writing a three-act short story and need ideas for the second act. This is where my MC tries different things to regain normalcy in life after pending job loss, cardiac event, and living through a national recession, Act I. Any recommendations or referrals to an 'idea generator?" I have three in mind. submitted by /u/CognisantCognizant71 [link] [comments]”

“After fighting with my guardian and parents i decided to become writer My guardian tell me I can i need to gave him good story in month and guess what I only has 5 days left and I made nothing My story is that mc big brother died suddenly and he traveled back in time 3 days before incident that is only thing I made I created 3 till mc his brother and serial killer ( who is not real killer btw) mc accidently killed his brother Killer backstory This is everything I has till I only has 5 days and I”

“Hello, I am looking for any kind of feedback. I stopped writing for so long and picked it up again some months ago but I don't know if I'm even any good. This is the opening of the story. Thanks in advance for anyone taking the time to read it. It was impossible to practice in peace with a bunch of screaming children running around. What happened to all the adults? Undisciplined brats should be locked up. With one motion he sheathed his sword and stormed into the dark corridor. Was it re”

“I have been stuck on the idea for this story for a while, I stopped writing for a few months and came back to try and finish this. I feel like it has potential, but I have no idea where to take it. Here's the basic intro that I have: The voicemail came a 2:09 a.m. Mara almost deleted it. An unknown number, thirty seconds long, no transcript. The only reason she decided to play it is because she couldn't sleep. At first, there was nothing but static. Then breathing. Wet, ragged. Close to”

“It's been 2ish days with no sleep and I'm alive only through the forces of spite and bad coffee. Does this actually make sense or is it sleep deprived nonsense. I've written some basic dialogue to try and get show the idea. Any help or thoughts would be welcome. The Druid has burnt a village to the ground after one of the villagers burnt a wasps nest in the woods because it was stinging foragers. The protagonist Knight comes across this and demands justice for this evil atrocity. Dru”

“Hello, precious friends. It's been a while. I would like some feedback on the beginning of my first chapter. I've posted the opener before and received such wonderful feedback that has helped me in such unwordable ways. I've tweaked it a bit and have been going back and forth on eight billion different directions for how to write it from there. It's been so long since I last wrote, and fresh eyes would help a lot. It's so fascinating how proud I am of the rest of the book, ye”

“I’ve recently gotten into writing a story. The story is heavily based on ice hockey being played by an American who’s forced to move to Hokkaido, Japan which is normally flipped with prospects coming out of Japan to play in the US typically. My story focuses heavily on hockey, which could be hard to describe at times especially for people who don’t know much about it. I added an auxiliary adding some slang definitions and rules to make it more clear. My main issue is that I’m not too sure if my”

“I'm developing a fantasy story and would love honest feedback on the plot. Spoilers ahead, since this is the full outline. Premise A human known as the Demon Lord waged war on the world for a hundred years. He was finally defeated by a party of Heroes called the Prophesized. As he lay dying, one Hero said, "May the gods strip your soul of evil and bless you with another life." He laughed, since he believed the gods had abandoned him. Then he died, and four hundred years passed. The”

“I’m in the process of outlining a full-fledged novel, but wanted to ask for feedback to help guide my thoughts as I proceed. Feedback/critique on anything from writing style, characters and setting, what lands or doesn’t, unanswered questions, inconsistencies, overall feel, suggestions and ideas on what to explore or consider in more depth etc. All welcome and appreciated. “Breathe. She has to breathe. Heart. Has to beat. Live. Live, burn you!” - this line’s a wheel of time easter egg (if you kn”

“There are two main characters. A grumpy guy and a talkative guy. They're both exceptional fighters and competent. They met in a prison and escaped it together. They parted their ways but reunited once again. The talkative guy decided to stay with the grumpy guy because he finds him cool but the grumpy guy finds this very annoying. They're currently wandering freelancers. Their job is to deliver a dead mage's box to a temple. However, every single faction is behind the box because all”

“I have a script i've been working on but i don't feel like it has the traditional format. The main character enters a competition near the beginning. The competition doesn't occur until the of the story when it becomes very important for the rewards. The problem is that the competition isn't necessarily the main story, it's kind of a side story until the end. There's no main antagonist. What drives the story is the group of friends continuously choosing the wrong/immature”

“Hello, I'm a beginner writer, I've followed many suggestions, and i've been refining this chapter for a week now. I'd hope to publish this as a webnovel one day. I've read my first chapter so many times I can't feel anything from it anymore. Please let me know if theres anything I should add or change to improve this chapter. My target audience is teenagers. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XT8vNJrFz0HpMG85mMYDJ9HHXK8zwnDg7W7zrsQbm1s/edit?usp=sharing Would you keep rea”

“It would change up a bit after this point, so I wanted to see if this standalone part is interesting enough to keep going. As a note: this is the beginning of the second part of a story that is split into two. This is not the story's actual beginning. submitted by /u/YOYOVILLERULER9 [link] [comments]”

submitted by /u/Ticket-Tight [link] [comments]

“Hey guys! So this was for a class and its already submitted sadly, but i was wondering how i can improve this. I really dont like how this turned out but i want to try to see what i can do better for next time. (note- i thought we had to write this double spaced and it turns out there was no such restriction ;-; Ive got a more detailed second copy of this but I had to cut a lot to make it fit the page limit) It was a prompt exercise for character POV and it had to be three pages long! This is th”

“https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KhOzsOHi-G40STj2qRK_oUquLoD0r1jGT73i8FEYbm4/edit?usp=sharing Hello, I'm a complete beginner when it comes to novel writing, but the idea for this story has been living in my head for a very long time, and I’ve finally decided to actually write it instead of just thinking about it. I know there’s a lot I still need to learn about writing. This chapter took me few days to write, and I’m not sure how much of what I’m doing is right or wrong yet. If you have t”

“Hi, I hope this all finds you well. I was wondering if someone would be able to read my story and tell me their thoughts. I'm a relatively new to writing (only written about three stories in two years, though one has been published in my college's spec fiction journal), so I imagine my stuff is pretty rough. I think I can conjure some pretty cool images and ideas, but I think that my prose needs some work. It's only about 1,200 words, so let me know what you think! -- STORY-- The Net”

submitted by /u/Dizzy-Eagle4750 [link] [comments]

“Moonrise found Mara barefoot beside Cinder Lake, clutching one brass key salvaged amid yesterday’s fire. Smoke veiled northern ridges; embers wandered skyward like red insects. Behind ruined cottages, grieving neighbors searched rubble, calling vanished children. Ahead waited Blackglass Observatory, abandoned since astronomer Vale predicted daylight would someday disappear. Courier remembered his warning. Nobody believed prophecy then. Now sunrise failed twice. Determined, orphaned messenger cro”

“Hey, so I've been working on this story of mine for a while now, and I've recently realized that my main character might be super reactive and isn't really doing anything proactive to move the story along—alot of the story is just happening to him or being handed to him—but im not quite sure. I dont think I really understand the difference between reactive and proactive characters, and am having some issues determining whether my main characters decisions are made out of proactively”

“Hi all - I'm just looking for feedback on the tone and hook of the story - does this grab your attention and make you want to read on? Or is there a pacing issue? I will be using an editor soon for line edits and but I would love some input from those who are not biased in their input (family and friends have read it, but that only has limited use and trustworthiness.) Thank you! submitted by /u/Stunning_Fennel8650 [link] [comments]”

“I have written the first draft of my manuscript but I’m having trouble on deciding certain plot points. As in I often have several choices I could make regarding how the plot progresses but I find myself unable to decide. When you are stuck at a fork in a road with two seemingly equal choices what do you do (broadly)? Get someone to read the section to help you decide (though my manuscript is a little early for beta readers), simply think on it? Go to a writers group and ask? For example: in my”

“I've seen an increase (in this and other writing subs) in the amount of requests for feedback I see followed by the the author criticizing the feedback. If you want your writing critiqued, then TAKE THE CRITICISM. Take it with a grain of salt, sure, but do consider that someone took the time to read your request, formulate coherent thoughts on the construction and effect of your writing and the feeling it may have evoked, and then took the additional time to offer up a critique, in the good”

“Hello all! This is my first time posting on Reddit. I’m working on a fictional book and I need some advice. I have a scene where the characters come across a deceased family member in a cave. They find an old book resting in their lap. The book is powerful and written in an old language that none of the characters recognize. The characters have come to retrieve the book, but written on the wall of the cave is a warning the family member wrote before they passed. Where I need some advice is with”

“Hello again! About a week ago I made a post asking for ideas for dark secrets that could work in the novel I'm writing, and I got some really helpful responses. I'm back with another worldbuilding question! I'm currently working on a horror/thriller set in a fictional rural Minnesota town. The town will be located in far northern Minnesota, somewhere roughly around the Kittson, Marshall, and Roseau County area, relatively close to the Canadian border. I'm looking for some help co”

“Hey Reddit, I’m writing a Survival horror a little in the style of Alone but a little weirder, and I have a problem: I block on the middle of my story, I have all the beginning and the whole climax but I have absolutely no idea of the middle, I give you a little pitch: Sarah is an 18-year-old woman who lives in the poor environment of Chicago, she miraculously managed to get a scholarship for Harvard, except that during the journey from Chicago to Harvard, a man will reverse and chase her throug”

“There is this big blowout conflict between my two main characters that has been brewing for a while, but the argument seems to move too fast. I feel like the dialogue is fine; everyone is saying what they need to say (but not too much), but it's the pauses between each sentence that feel too short. I considered putting more internal monologue, but I'm afraid I would bog it down, and I find myself using the word "pause" to indicate a moment of silence too much. Does anyone know”

Please and thank you! submitted by /u/Rubus_The_Raven [link] [comments]

“Basically my concept for it is, every chapter will dive into a different potential future/possibility for her (I was actually inspired by choose your own adventure books lol). Not a lot happens in this story, so I was contemplating either turning it into a novella of about 20k words that explores a bunch of different futures/possibilities with this framing device (I am pretty proud of the prose) or a poetry collection (which might serve the lack of a more conventional plot better). Let me know w”

“Okay so I will catch you all up to speed. I’m writing my first ever novel. It’s a YA sci-fi thriller. Currently finished up to chapter 4, so now that I have a grasp of what it should be it is time to ask for feedback. Plot outline: It is about six disabled/neurodivergent teenagers in a futuristic world where a semi-new system has full control over everything but has a pure data look at the world it exists in. So when a game is created by the six teenagers with its help it can be used by anyone w”

“Genre : Literary fiction? (Not sure if it would be) Word count: 652 Hi! I'm a young writer, and I've been working on this story called Glowing, Like Always . I'm hoping to get some honest feedback because I want to improve my writing rather than just hear that it's good. This is also my first-ever post, so if I have made a mistake in making this post, I sincerely apologize. I'm especially interested in: Does the opening make you want to keep reading? Does the poetic/lyrical s”

“So there's this story that I've been writing for quite a while now. Please evaluate its first chapter for me. Its first chapter is already published online. English is not my native language so the prose might sound unnatural in some places. Point out all the flaws you may find so that I can improve hopefully. A little description of the story is given below. Story title: Arth Prime Genre: Dark Fantasy Description/Synopsis: This is the 33rd century. Humanity was once a highly advanced ci”

“Hello Everyone! I decided to pick up writing recently, as I felt like I was lacking a creative hobby. I had lots of ideas but I went with this one that you can see below. I'm looking for feedback from people now on the first chapter. Please tell me how you feel about the narration, the characters, the pacing, the worldbuilding and whether or not you would continue reading after chapter 1. I have tons of plans already for the rest of the story, but first I would be excited to hear some feedba”

“For about a year now I have been working on & off on a story, a sci-fi shoen manga, to give a basic idea of what this story is about, at least the world building of it all. It’s supposed to be a combination of cyberpunk edgerunner & that one episode of batman beyond, where they did gene splicing to mix their DNA with that of animals. The main character is a superheroine who has the powers of a tic, basically she is thrown into a situation where she has to play detective & find her au”

“WARNING THIS STORY IS GOING TO INCLUDE GORE, THEMES OF ALL TYPES OF TRAUMA INCLUDING SA SH, ADULT LANGUAGE AND SUBSTANCE USE. Maudit is sitting at his desk tapping a notebook with his pencil, following the chord progression of Nirvana's Lounge act. His eyes traced the wall of text in his schoolbook. “—hello?!” Fingers snapped in front of his face. Irritated, he glanced up at his sister Sossie. Her mouth continued moving but all he caught was, “—your damn music off!” “Huh?” He pulled his head”

“So, I have been writing a progression fantasy without any system or LitRPG mechanic and while writing I keep facing a really familiar issue, which has finally forced me to make this post and hear how you guys deal with it. How do you explain to the reader a move or an attack if there is no system mechanic to show it?? Like for example, lets say a monster, not the sentient one, attacks and is about to do a special attack. Maybe the MC is facing the monster for the first time. How will you show it”

“Hey everyone! I've been working on a story called "The Other Side of the Wall" it's a romance set in a fractured, post apocalyptic world, following two people on opposite sides of a divide who keep finding their way back to each other. ‎ ‎I've got a bunch of chapters written already and I'm thinking about posting them here chapter by chapter. Before I start dropping them, I wanted to see if this is something people would actually want to read slow burn, some angst, foun”

“I would love critiques/comments on this draft of a few chapters from a story I'm writing. One note is that I'm playing around with a style, so at this point it is consciously and intentionally overwritten, with excessively overdone language and way, way too many adverbs. As such, it is self-aware and done for (hopefully) comedic effect. So, some of the advice that would be great to get is how to pare things down while maintaining that sense of style. HUMBLE In the fantastical world of a”

submitted by /u/Electronic-Kick-9082 [link] [comments]

“Not sure I should ask this on this subreddit or on another, but thought I might as well try. Chapter 6 3 people sit in the back of a vehicle, which rattles down a winding road. One person sits on one side who is cuffed and chained up and the other two sit on the other side. “Lights, camera, action” “Would you shunt up” “No, my answer is no” “Shut him up, young man” “With pleasure ma’am” “You know this goes against my… agh… rights ouch.” The vehicle they are in rattles along with the person on on”

“Could I get some tips from people. Please and thank you. Also have a good day either way. Well, I want to have better descriptions of things and areas. I also want to learn more about creating suspense. submitted by /u/SideCharacter1512 [link] [comments]”

“So basically I'm having writer's block but what's worse is that when i get ideas i don't know which way i want to take it. For instance (but not the only one) character A has been pretty much imprisoned by their parent/parental figure for majority of their life (think Rapunzel) but i don't know how i want the conflict to play out. It could be like Rapunzel and he has some sort of power the parent wants to take advantage of which could make it supernatural. Or I could make the”

“I'm 15, and writing for the first time. I'm not focused on the storyline of what I wrote (obviously), I'm focusing on improving my writing. Twilight, and death approaches hand in hand with the night, a chilling embrace. The clouds had not quite parted, and the moon shone imposingly through the gaps of the clouds, painting a pallid sheen over the gorge. This valley was seldom populated, apart from the animals and an odd pilgrim, whose destination was peace of mind and repose from popu”

“I’m looking for some advice on this short splatterpunk story I’ve been writing. I’m not too happy with the pacing but I’m open to any feedback good or bad! The misery that fills Our body is both comforting and agonizing, a deep wound whose pain provides a distraction from the monotony of My existence. We’re not dead, but we’re not living. We’re a shambling thing going through Our days as a passenger aboard this fleshy construct We call Our body. But when We look in the mirror, We don’t see Ourse”

“Hey so following this text will be the first chapter in a new story I'm thinking of writing, I have no professional experience which will be obvious. I'm only posting it here because I'd like people to potentially see and critique it, its a very rough draft I wrote up before bed, current title is "Hollow Mercury". Chapter 1: The two suns. We were approaching the Fly-By, in exactly 24 hours, the atlas sphere would be passing close to the earth. Almost all life on the surface”

“How should I break up this wall of text? submitted by /u/Chaos_Gal [link] [comments]”

“For context, this was part of a daily 20-minute writing challenge that I've been doing for the past week where I get 3 prompt words (I have a long list of random words and used wheelofnames to pick) and I have to create a story. The words can be used in any way (not necessarily a physical thing). I'm a beginner unpublished writer, have written around a dozen short stories, but I always struggled to find consistency between 2 projects. So the main goal with this exercise over anything is”

“This is a short summary or description of the plot of my story. Any thoughts or opinions? In an apocalypse where the self-blinded hunt humanity, a Prophet uses his ability to see both realities to guide a group of survivors—but every time he flips his vision to sneak past the killers, he edges closer to losing his mind and getting trapped in their horrific delusion. It’s meant to be simple and compact so that’s why there’s not that much info. submitted by /u/accardiff [link] [c”

“Hello everyone. Is there anyone willing to exchange views on my novel and offer constructive criticism to help me improve? submitted by /u/Weird_Vanilla5797 [link] [comments]”

“Am I doing good or need changes? I'm 1.4 trying to write a progression fantasy litrpg reincarnation story, since I like reading them. But I feel theres something off, maybe wordings or the flow, or its just bad in itself. I want help before i continue since ive been revising this shit a lot and cant even write past it. I also have a lotta dropped stories, maybe five or six stories dropped. I can't work it out smoothly Woild appreciate sum feedback n help submitted by /u/Straw”

“what do u call those introspective stories that lack conflict and consist only of thoughts, monologues, letters, and dialogues with other characters? I’m writing a "chill" story that fits that description but tbh i’m not putting much effort into it. It’s just to pass the time. It has plenty of plot holes, clichés, nonsense, and very little conflict. Honestly, it’s quite similar to My Immortal (by Tara Gilesbie). So what is this type of story called? Or has a story like this never reall”

“So I had previously written a set of short stories, that I didn't like the way they tied into each other. I decided to rewrite the whole thing as one single novel, with multiple books inside. I needed a new intro to the story, so I made a prologue. I don't think my prologue is quite long enough. My prologue is only about a page or two long. My chapters are much longer. Is it ok to have a short prologue? Should it be closer to chapter length? submitted by /u/Background_Pay6286”

“I'm currently brainstorming a short story for a writing competition; the story must be under 500 words. I've thought of about a dozen different storylines, but none seem to live up to my expectations. I'm not entirely sure if it's writer's block, lack of creativity or perhaps both? I've never participated in a writing competition before, and I don't have long to do it. Does anybody have any ideas for what I can do? Perhaps a starting point or a good way to fix this bl”

“Hey guys, it's me again. Well, recently, I finished the first chapter of my story (that will be something like an spin-off of my original story that has a great connection to my main story). I asked for the opinion of some friends and they said that the prose was a problem I should pay attention to, but I don't know how tbh. Other than this, I also think I added way too many details in the prologue, which, of course, are not directly and clearly explained, but could be seen as info dump,”

“So in my current screenplay, I’m sitting around 115. Genre is magical realism, modern romance, teen. My setup is tight, and I have a clear and satisfying push into act 2, but then things seem to go a bit laterally wide. Between introducing the b-story love interest, playing around in the new world, building relationships with all the characters, and escalating the primary problem, i drift into a soft midpoint and then struggle to wrangle all the set pieces into a coherent compression for the cri”

“As a beginner writer who is trying to write sci-fi stories, I struggle with turning my draft into an actual story because I felt the flow of the story is not matching between the first and second half. Therefore, I would re-write it again and this loop would continue which in the end I end up with nothing or may be 1-2 page that I am satisfied with. What advice do you have to manage this loop where I can get some of my stories written out and not stuck in the draft? submitted by /u/H”