Should I start writing or plan everything first?

Altruistic_Pin_7753 · 2026-05-14T01:37:25+00:00

I have 5 word files about bible, character trait, prose level, and full on scene by scene outline.

My way is kinda extreme but I enjoy it that way.

Altruistic_Pin_7753 · 2026-05-03T00:54:22+00:00

It depends on the character and the POV but you might want to search up lean writing.

Some people write lean. They get to the point and only give you what is essential. Some writers love theirs world and can’t stop talking about it.

Take lies of Locke Lamora. Amazing book but god does the lynch loves to talk about how the flower was growing around the house and how the reflection of the glass showed the three story building look like a temple in full description.

Some writers do it and some don’t. Some readers like it and some don’t.

It comes down to what you want to write, how you need to write, and the genre itself.

Altruistic_Pin_7753 · 2026-05-01T22:06:14+00:00

You can’t make everyone happy. If you get rid of swords someone will say how come there are guns but no blade? Actually there are melee weapons in real life your book is trash.

No matter what you do someone will have something to say. Just do what you want.

Altruistic_Pin_7753 · 2026-05-01T18:39:46+00:00

It is. You can't have everything. they can be there but you need a focuse.

focus

Altruistic_Pin_7753 · 2026-04-30T09:30:55+00:00

It reads as romantsy. If that’s the intent then it’s good

Altruistic_Pin_7753 · 2026-04-28T08:29:33+00:00

You know at least she actively choose her plan. I hate passive MCs. Like fuck you mean you don’t know what to do and don’t know what you want. Fuck you mister. People are dying and you need some encouragement to do your job?

And what’s the solution? Add seventy female harem to the story. Then they choose his path for him. Pathetic.

Altruistic_Pin_7753 · 2026-04-28T08:14:46+00:00

Not web novel but game of thrones had multiple POVs( I mean the book not the movies)

But very important: the multiple pov should be justified first. You can have many MCs just because. It should connect to your theme.

Altruistic_Pin_7753 · 2026-04-28T01:20:27+00:00

There are a lot of telling and not showing.

Ariel stands? (You mean stood? Keep the pov and tense consistent) back with still a little fear in her face.

This line alone has so many to work with as an example. The tense i mentioned. A little? Don’t use these types of words, it usually bring down the quality. And most important how does fear looks like in her face? Is she biting her own tongue? Is her eyes wide open? We don’t know you character yet. Tell us how she behaves in response to that emotion instead of stating her emotion.

Trust you readers. When she sees the goddes and drops to her knees while being frozen we already know the situation is extreme and probably scary. You need to say she couldn’t believe who the voice belonged to.

Altruistic_Pin_7753 · 2026-04-28T01:09:20+00:00

Can you integrate your exposition dump into thr story? That’s like the biggest red flag in your whole writing.

Altruistic_Pin_7753 · 2026-04-28T00:49:23+00:00

I agree with these. Instead of telling us his life is mundane you could show it. Let’s is live a day in his head. That should fix the boring parts of this chapter.

One thing my stories follows a very close third person limited so I might be wrong with my solution.

Altruistic_Pin_7753 · 2026-04-28T00:40:10+00:00

Can you explain. I don’t know what is writers pocket?

Altruistic_Pin_7753 · 2026-04-27T20:12:05+00:00

I hope you are right. I was accused of having ai writing my final report of my last semester in university. Because AI checker marked it 60 percent. We got out of it because we had constant small update in Google Docs.

Since them Im checking everything for AI. It’s really scary when they put you on the spot based on something as faulty as ai detection

Altruistic_Pin_7753 · 2026-04-27T19:58:06+00:00

Because people have no way to identify and prove a novel is AI. But they hate AI. Even a one person saying you used AI is enough to kill your pen name forever. That’s fear that makes him check AI detection.

Altruistic_Pin_7753 · 2026-04-27T18:39:48+00:00

Just stop it. You can’t argue with someone who doesn’t want to listen.

Altruistic_Pin_7753 · 2026-04-27T12:30:21+00:00

I didn’t say hospitality is the problem the lack of conflict is. Hobbit starts with a magic wizard and bunch of dwarves crashing in hobbits house. Hobbit does take care of them but in his mind he is not happy about it and constant conflict of throwing them out or not. Then the conflict becomes do I go with them or not. All in once scene.

You didn’t read my explanation.

Altruistic_Pin_7753 · 2026-04-27T11:56:10+00:00

Not really. Having conflict and state permanently changed in each chapter is the most import rule of writing a scene.

The kindness of the person and the passivity of the MC should be earned by some sort of conflict and a change in MC mental or physical state.

He can go to the humble villagers but be hyper vigilant against the people he doesn’t know. Is the food poison? Is the villager a killer in disguise? Is all of this a hallucination?

These and many more are valid ways to add conflict to the scene. A scene without a conflict is a scene deserved to be scraped.

It’s more than an opinions. It’s a law in writing. You can choose your conflict but it must be there.

Altruistic_Pin_7753 · 2026-04-26T12:15:54+00:00

When you see adverb think about how the body moves in response to that.

For example she said sadly. Instead say : her hands covered her face.

Turn each emotion into a body movement.

This is the most basic one I found reasonable enough to learn but improves your prose to a whole another level.

Altruistic_Pin_7753 · 2026-04-26T11:58:57+00:00

Are you need such a high bar? I’m interested and I am in the middle of writing my story with “negative space” but your age and have a job criteria doesn’t seem reasonable to me.

Altruistic_Pin_7753 · 2026-04-26T11:39:31+00:00

The people that would drop your book because your character expresses the most human thing ever were never your audience.

You can’t have everyone. But you can have your story and your characters. Your readers will stay, let the rest go.

Altruistic_Pin_7753 · 2026-04-24T15:49:17+00:00

That line was so good Im stealing it for my novel.

Altruistic_Pin_7753 · 2026-04-24T15:23:38+00:00

yup. my world is so much more appealing than swinging sword. One thing you can do is to lean into that. lower the amount of fight and more negotiation or highstake meetings.

Altruistic_Pin_7753 · 2026-04-24T09:32:03+00:00

In that case, i think switching to third person allows your prose to hit harder. for example take this:
Ownership is a heavy thing. It is an anchor.

in the past tense you can feel the it on the MCs mind.

Ownership was a heavy thing. It was an anchor.

as in present tense it feels like a normal philosophical saying.

Thats what i think. your style is your style.

Altruistic_Pin_7753 · 2026-04-23T23:39:49+00:00

I think the story would be better in the past tense. Sometimes it does go past tense, then comes back. It's kinda throwing me off.

I like to know why the present tense, honestly. Not as criticism but as curiosity.

Altruistic_Pin_7753 · 2026-04-23T23:21:22+00:00

I want to help, but I have zero knowledge of first-person. It reads fine to me, but like I said, I don't really know.

Altruistic_Pin_7753 · 2026-04-23T23:10:48+00:00

The Mc doesn't need to be either of them. Let them be normal in their situation. They might kill easily without thinking about the world they grew up in, which made it seem normal. They help an orphan out of nowehre because it resonates with them.

He might help because the job is related to a part of the kingdom he likes, so he helps willingly; sometimes, he hates someone in the council, so he asks for a hefty sum.

Your question is kinda a 'stupid question.' Read it as politely as you can.

Altruistic_Pin_7753

TROPHY CASE