Writers Grapple with Craft & Publishing

“Writers of Reddit, I’m nearly finished writing my 1st novel. Questions: How good is editor in google doc? How do you look for publishers? And do I need an editor too look at first? submitted by /u/Bitter_Willingness28 [link] [comments]”

“I need help figuring out the genre of my book. It's not a book I set out to write, but as I worked on it, it almost wrote itself. Okay, so main character is a 17-year-old girl in Canada (Alberta), year is 2007. Since she was young, she's been able to see shadow animals that she doesn't think anybody else can see. Since homelife is not great, she doesn't trust anybody enough to admit what she sees, and she can't figure out what makes them appear or why they are there. After a”

“hi guys, i plan on starting to write my first book and i need to know what good apps, websites, or physical items to use. literally any idea helps. thanks!! submitted by /u/Holiday-Plant-8788 [link] [comments]”

“Ok, so. I've been writing for some time now a book that I really want to publish, and I've written to like 5 literary agents so far. None of them responded. Problem is, my story always had a problem with my introduction of one of the characters, which I only found out NOW how to fix and stuff (aka make her more important to the story etc). But, again, I've sent the 'unfixed' version already. Do I resend it with an apology? Do I send it to others and hope the firsr five don&#3”

“Okay... so I just want to ask everyone here something. Is it weird or wrong..to query a novel at 16, especially at a global level? I've written a fantasy novel that I've been working on for around three years. I've edited it, gotten feedback, revised it, and honestly, I've done everything I can at this point. And today, I’m just sitting here, looking at the agent I’m supposed to query......and I can't bring myself to actually do it. I don't even know why. I just feel over”

“So I'm a 16 year old newbie writer and I'm planning on writing a Victorian novel and I need some advice. I have the general idea, but various ideas are scattered in my head and I'm writing them down one at a time, but the difficult part is organizing them and making sure u don't miss anything and I don't know how to give leeway to make sure I can add some extra details when I have a new idea. And I feel like adding to many details would make it boring. I read a lot of novels”

“Hi everybody. So i am a 23 year old female who dreamed about being an writer every since i was a kid. I'm currently writing my first book which is a mystery book And to be honest I'm loving it so far but i also have a pretty hard time writing. So i was wondering if some of you might have tips and advice for a newbie when it comes to writing a mystery story. What does work for you when it comes to writing ? What's something you wish you knew when you started writing? What's someth”

“Hello there! I’m a writer who likes to write books that I’d enjoy reading myself. I’ve been into writing since I was 12 but wasn’t able to do so for years because of limited time. Now I’m back to writing and was able to write 95+ chapters within 3 weeks. I really love the world I created and when I turn back and read my book so far I really enjoy the outcomes and the story line. The book is about a selection process that happens during medieval times (ik it’s cliche) but instead of one prince we”

“I have been tossing around the idea about making a book about brushing your teeth. The ages iyn aiming this to is about 2-6. I have a few lines of the story written and a character. I'm more of a YA writer so a children's book is definitely different for me. Any tips? Especially with poetry because my book is essentially a poem and it rhymes. I'd love advice from children's writers! submitted by /u/GarlicBread1996 [link] [comments]”

“hello i oddly wanted to write a book even though I don’t know dog water about grammer sayings or spelling idk just want to, I want to try so can you assist me in my grammar and punctuation please Id be enbarrised to ask in person about basic punctuation so I thought oh yeah INTERNET:3 but I would liek some help I don’t know where to start where to write or hwo to even make an idea! submitted by /u/Playful-Tomatillo554 [link] [comments]”

“I'm a beginner writer and I'm writing my first novel and I'm asking for tips or guides for my first novel. Speaking of which, I'm confused if it's necessary to describe every single bit of detail, like place, character, object etc., do you really need to describe every bit? because right now, I'm looking at other novels and every single one of them describes every single detail and sometimes I just copy their writing styles. And that's just one, i need y'all guys”

“Hello writers of reddit! I'm 19, currently writing my first novel with about 50 pages written so far and I've come here to ask some advice on writing your first novel. My novel genres are Fantasy, Medieval Fantasy, Dark, Political. I've taken lots of inspiration from Game of Thrones and the books ASOIAF. My biggest issue I find when writing is my grammar. I'm really liking my story so far and have made a vast world within my book but my grammar really holds me back. I find myself”

“it would be greatly appreciated if you could share some tips (: submitted by /u/frappucino_cup [link] [comments]”

“I am planning on getting an agent and editor for the novel I am writing. If I fashion a good synopsis and make sure have no grammatical errors, I would like to understand my chances at making it in the writing industry. Every reddit thread I've seen suggest it's highly unlikely, as agents don't look for teen authors, but I would love the writers of reddit to express their opinions on my situation. submitted by /u/Different_Rush_4241 [link] [comments]”

“Recently, I've been getting kind of annoyed because I post on multiple platforms for my novel, and it's just kind of annoying to have to go through all of them to post the same chapters and to keep track of all the stats and everything. And I was thinking that there has to be a better way to do this. So I want to get everybody's take on this. I haven't built anything or done any research. Just wanted to see if some people have similar problems? or if anyone has found a solution?”

“I published a book on Amazon about a year ago. I didn't market it, so it's just been sitting there. There's another book set in the same world. I'm thinking about removing them and send it to traditional book agents instead. An agent was interested in it in the past. He got too busy after a revision, so I went my own self-pub path with it but regret it somewhat. Is it generally too late to return to agents? My thought is change the pen name and title. Or, should I write a new sem”

“Hi everyone! I’ve recently come up with a really big book idea. I’m fairly young and have no experience with writing, although I do read occasionally. The idea has the potential to become a series, with each book being a standalone story while still sharing the same universe. I’m also still developing the story bible. The problem is that the whole thing is starting to feel a bit overwhelming. My questions are: How much should I put in Book 1 vs the later books? (This includes rules and new conce”

“For those who use Amazon KDP for their self publishing services. I’ve finished my manuscript and have long done editing, but I’ve been pulling m hair out for the last week trying to get my book up with minimal to zero formative issues. Thing is, every time I upload my manuscript to the service, for some reason the final product in the book preview feature, is leaving large blank spots on my pages where text should be. And on top of that, my headings and page numbers are not appearing in the fina”

“Hey all, I recently took a big leap and made my first attempt at writing a novel for ages 9-11. It's roughly 200 pages as a 12 font on Google docs, so I'm not sure what that translates to in a book once printed. I wanted to include a fun detailed splash page illustration before each chapter, but I was also hoping to include much simpler drawings once every couple of pages to help build the humor and imagination. My question is: if I feel that the written portion of the book is complete,”

“I wrote several novels in high school, and in 2024 I decided that I wanted to actually attempt my teenage dream of getting a book published. I came up with a YA storyline about an aspiring teen ballerina who has dyspraxia—which I learned I had through doing ballet myself. While plotting, I started going to my hometown hockey team’s games which inspired me to make the MMC love interest play hockey. At that time (fall 2024) I was shocked to see there were hardly any YA romance books with a hockey”

“Fellow authors, what's the biggest challenge you're facing with your book right now? Whether you're drafting, outlining, editing, revising your manuscript, struggling with pacing, characters, dialogue, worldbuilding, or just trying to stay motivated, I'd love to hear about it. Drop it in the comments, maybe someone else has faced the same hurdle, and we can help each other work through it. submitted by /u/Florence_smith2 [link] [comments]”

“I’m wanting to get into writing seriously but have no idea where to start. I have written in the past, mostly for Wattpad, but recently I’ve been wanting to try and write a complete novel. My issue is, I have no idea where to start. I have a general idea, but nothing more. Please help :) submitted by /u/OkTable9500 [link] [comments]”

“Debut novel is launching in less than a month. My impression was that you are to keep prices on all channels similar - despite the change in royalties on different platforms. I found one Author who said they hiked up KDP by a few bucks. But this either here nor there, because you can still price match to other site’s prices. We all know KDP is known for taking a lot for being the middle man. I have it set for pre-order there, but struggling to see how my price structure will guarantee sales to m”

“Hello everyone, I would like to know what type of dialogue you prefer to use in your novels or texts. Personally, I do not want to break the rhythm of my story, but with my ADHD, I sometimes lose myself in who is speaking at which moment. Maybe also because I did theater when I was younger, I tend to write dialogues like this: character name, dash, what they say, then sometimes a clarification in parentheses about their tone, their emotion, or their actions. Do you find that bad or awkward? What”

“I feel like I am always being taught to use descriptive and sophisticated vocabulary but I am a writing a first person novel from the perspective of a teenager so I’m not sure whether it’s appropriate or if it’s okay with simpler vocab. submitted by /u/Large-Video5823 [link] [comments]”

“Hello everyone, I need advice or maybe help. I am a new writer and a student. I just published my first ebook on kdp named Destined to New York on 26th July. But as a new author I can't make it reach people. I know such things take time but I have to put some efforts myself. But I don't know what to do. I am a person who doesn't have any Instagram account neither can post on YouTube nor snapchat. Now my real question is: Should I forget it for some weeks and let destiny do its work?”

“Can I post a small book(likely 15-40 pages) long on sites like AO3? How do you promote a book? And how do you make a book cover? submitted by /u/militaguygamery89 [link] [comments]”

“Specifically since I’m using Google Docs. Does anyone have any advice on what I should use? submitted by /u/Euphoric_Psycho [link] [comments]”

“Hello! I'm a teen writer who's writing a book with no writing experience whatsoever. I'm new to both reading and writing, so far I've read twisted series and king of sin series which inspired me to write my WIP. Its a romance novel and the trope is fake dating, I really want to write it and I AM writing it but honestly, I run out of motivation all the time. I run out of ideas on what to do in the next chapter or the current chapter itself and its just so frustrating. Because when”

“Hi! So I started writing the first page of my book and one thing I notice that is when I write I feel like I write too sophisticated for people to understand what I'm actually saying. For example this is the first page of the book: The attachment to step forward, where my face bears openness of life’s creation. Circumstances of vulnerability that freshen our breaths. Fractionalities of what presence possesses. Finger rubbing off from beneath, substances my tongue leeches on, “ Bleh ,” my elb”

“Hi everyone, I'm a teenager and I have some questions for veteran writers. I've been writing since I was about five (I'm sixteen now), and here's my first question: I can never find the inspiration to continue a novel. I have ideas that I personally find highly developable and could make a good novel, but in the end I barely write more than a page, partly because I don't know how to write the "outline" of the story, the empty parts like the beginning and possible en”

“Im a teen who publcihed a book, it was pretty mid. But im working on an epic new novel. I js need help im so confused where to start. Can someone help me in starting a chapter or writing tecnquies i have epic ideas js dont know where to start submitted by /u/Some-Disaster-6446 [link] [comments]”

“I wrote a book. Im 15 and trying to get opinions abt my book. Can this young soul be helped submitted by /u/k9rza [link] [comments]”

“I am a young new writer who is looking for some advice and help in creating a fictional novel. I am about to start writing for my first time besides school papers, and have run into a issue of how to make a conversation flow smoothly without using sayings like “Connor said to introduce that character’s dialogue. I was hoping someone could give me examples and help on creating smooth dialogue between two or more characters for my book if I decide to publish or just for my enjoyment. I also would”

“Sorry for my poor hand writing ;). As part of the feedback I've received, I started journaling. It is supposedly going to help you write what you know so you learn more about the world and become more authentic. You dont just expeirence; you analyze. And I think it's starting to kick off. Totally recommend submitted by /u/Dangerous-Duck-3493 [link] [comments]”

“I only self-published my book on kdp. I'm seeing it on google books. A couple of months ago, I saw one of my books in a bookstore I never heard of. I'm confused. This won't violate kdp select or anything if my book appears on other websites online that I have nothing to do with? submitted by /u/Ordinary_Count_203 [link] [comments]”

“Howdy-ho folks! There's this one idea that had been swimming in my head recently; one that I put on paper with a lil' 8K+ word introduction. Set in the future with four major factions rulling most of the known galaxy, the novel aims to tell the story of a man named Fenrir . A 'daredevil' resistance fighter that fought against a despotic empire known as the New Foundry . Having taken part of the infamous Kitrel Uprising, Fenrir manages to avoid capture for a few months after the u”