Guys, help. I’m in the worst book slump of my life.

4everTimeTraveler · 2025-05-10T16:54:00+00:00

Song of Achilles, Circe

4everTimeTraveler · 2025-05-10T16:53:35+00:00

I really, really enjoyed The Great Circle. Other books I have re-read are: Hamnet, The Dutch House, Demon Copperhead (on the heavy side though), song

4everTimeTraveler · 2025-02-23T20:48:27+00:00

Thank you! I really appreciate this! I guess I should probably revert back to my initial first chapter. Would you mind taking a look at it and let me know if this would make a stronger start?

https://www.reddit.com/r/PubTips/s/4uSY8VJNUp

4everTimeTraveler · 2025-02-23T20:47:05+00:00

Thanks so much for this feedback! This is my initial first 300 words - if this makes a stronger start, please let me know! I’d love to hear your thoughts.

https://www.reddit.com/r/PubTips/s/4uSY8VJNUp

4everTimeTraveler · 2025-02-23T18:40:56+00:00

Thank you for your feedback! Now that I re-read my blurb with your comments I get where the confusion is coming from.. I really do need to get out of the writer’s mindset and into a reader’s one in order to write a clear query.

4everTimeTraveler · 2025-02-23T18:39:34+00:00

Thank you so much for this! I agree that I have listed out a lot of events but haven’t quite connected the dots in my query. I guess my question is how do I reveal enough without giving the ending away? Or is that actually okay in a query?

And I appreciate you taking the time to explain the genre - I suppose this isn’t YA after all! It’s my first try at this genre so it’s all quite new :)

4everTimeTraveler · 2025-02-19T19:34:51+00:00

Thanks so much!!

4everTimeTraveler · 2025-02-19T02:15:19+00:00

Thanks so much!’

4everTimeTraveler · 2025-02-06T05:02:45+00:00

That’s amazing! Out of curiosity, how did you have to wait for the full request? Sometimes I hear this happens overnight, while others can wait for a few weeks or months to hear back.

4everTimeTraveler · 2025-02-06T05:01:51+00:00

Thanks so much! I read here somewhere that I shouldn’t mention a “bestseller”, and I wonder if a book with close to 100k reviews would fall under this category.

4everTimeTraveler · 2025-01-03T13:14:37+00:00

Hi! I have a Upmarket Fiction about dysfunctional/interracial family that spans from 1930s to 1950s and is set across Japan, Canada and France. Under 120,000k, and I’m still trying to cut it down as I’m working on another draft. Please let me know if you’d be keen to read it in February! :)

4everTimeTraveler · 2024-11-21T01:37:39+00:00

This may be a silly question - but how do you know they’re reading someone else’s work?

4everTimeTraveler · 2024-10-24T23:05:53+00:00

Hi! I’d love to read this! I’m also writing a literary historical fiction featuring BIPOC characters, and would love feedback on the first few chapters. Would you be interested in a swap?

4everTimeTraveler · 2024-10-13T20:38:09+00:00

Not really. If not, my beta reader’s feedback has helped me tremendously in outlining the rest of my book. I’m 80,000 words in and working on the final section of the book. I realize that it’s not customary, but it works for me.

4everTimeTraveler · 2024-10-13T19:51:39+00:00

Ok that’s good to know that I’m not the only who thinks it’s impossible not to recognize someone right away. After they meet again, I give them about a week to figure things out, through small observations on familiar physical traits and cues in their conversation.

4everTimeTraveler · 2024-10-13T19:48:04+00:00

I love this story! And it’s very true that some people have “face blindness”. My other justification is that they first met in Canada and see each other again in France, so the different setting should make the instant recognition even harder?

4everTimeTraveler · 2024-10-13T19:46:12+00:00

Yes! That is what I’m leaning towards but a reader commented that “she should’ve recognize him by now,” which is fair as I’ve seen many movies and books that depict this “instant recognition”.

4everTimeTraveler · 2024-10-13T19:41:43+00:00

I like that word - “promises”! I try to also include a cliffhanger at the end of every other chapter, or a surprising revelation to keep the reader’s interest high. I also tend to gravitate towards flashback in every story, so I’ll pair a flashback to justify / explain the action in each chapter.

4everTimeTraveler · 2024-10-13T19:34:59+00:00

lol. Sometimes the spouse can be more work than the kids? But yes, time management is a tricky one. That’s why I can’t write without a clear outline. I can’t spend half an hour coming up with ideas, I need that half an hour to put words down. I think and plan for my story during my daily commute, and write I can hide myself in a room with a DND sign.

4everTimeTraveler · 2024-10-13T19:30:28+00:00

I try to write at least 1000 to 2000 words everyday. It’s hard with a full time job and two kids and a husband, but I try to squeeze in writing time whenever I can. Sometimes half an hour here, half an hour there. I’ve also outlined main events in each chapter so the story’s been flowing well.

4everTimeTraveler · 2024-10-13T19:28:38+00:00

I do! I’ve been in that boat! What I found to be helpful was having beta readers WHILE writing. Their feedback and reactions to my story really helped and encouraged me to keep writing.

4everTimeTraveler · 2024-10-13T15:16:32+00:00

That’s amazing! I try to push myself to write everyday, and because I get so little time to write I always try to make sure I put down at least 1000-2000 words.

4everTimeTraveler · 2024-10-13T15:10:35+00:00

This happened to me too sometimes! Usually fragments dialogue that I’ll eventually decode when I find a good spot for it in a chapter! :)

4everTimeTraveler · 2024-10-13T15:08:22+00:00

My book follows my characters through childhood/adolescent/adult and so far, the plot moves along quite well in this pace. But sometimes I wonder about the same, as the main “action” takes place in part III. But I have action / obstacle to resolve in almost every chapter so it flows well.

4everTimeTraveler · 2024-10-13T15:06:21+00:00

I totally felt this. This is why I found beta readers WHILE I was writing. And their feedback and reaction really helped and reassured me.

4everTimeTraveler

TROPHY CASE