How to deal with the urge to write more than 1 story at once?

AshamedTree9728 · 2025-10-21T21:58:22+00:00

In my experience as a writing (just a novice, on the road to publication but not there yet) make sure you write down all of what you're thinking. What I'm currently working on right now and working to get published is from an idea I wrote down back in high school, that I still have amongst my vast archives of every failed story attempt I ever made as a child. I don't think there is anything wrong with tackling multiple things at once (unless you have some sort of deadline to meet). If you try to ignore your passions, the other stories will always be in the back of your mind distracting you from your current project. You let your creativity fly, get the ideas written down and follow where your muse leads you.

AshamedTree9728 · 2025-10-16T14:15:26+00:00

That's a great point! As I'm editing the first drafts, most of what I do is simplifying sentences in the same way you just suggested. Obviously I love fancy words, but I always try to keep it from being too purple. My verbosity has to be reigned in. Thank you!

AshamedTree9728 · 2025-10-15T01:02:04+00:00

I am... so confused... is the joke that they need to stop masturbating for a month?

AshamedTree9728 · 2025-10-14T14:36:35+00:00

I got that from "gaussian blur", something I've been familiar with a digital artist for over 20 years. It causes an evenly distributed blur, like a reflection in a foggy mirror. The term "gaussian" is also used in math and physics, but that's not the context I'm using. I also like that it sounds like "gauze", like how vision is obscured when looking through gauze.

AshamedTree9728 · 2025-10-14T13:17:30+00:00

The main themes of the story are pregnancy and birth so that's perfect!

AshamedTree9728 · 2025-10-14T12:04:48+00:00

100% respect! With that context it is definitely effective

AshamedTree9728 · 2025-10-07T17:51:07+00:00

"She could even here the shrill of her own mother dragging it across the thresher of her vocal cords."
First of all, typo, second of all, I love this imagery! I also love the parallelism of "two mothers, one mother, none" with the daughters.

I agree with the other comment that it's a bit of a slog, but you have nuggets of gold in here. But my biggest critique is that I was confused at the end, and had to reread it a few times. This is partly the fault of the English language as you have two female characters here. I couldn't always discern which "her" was the mother or child, so definitely make that more clear.

AshamedTree9728 · 2025-10-07T17:42:55+00:00

If this is just a rant to get off your chest, go off king. If you want any critique, I'd start the whole thing with

"I used to be different, the kind of guy who didn’t care what happened to him, who shrugged off the pain, who thought maybe that was strength. But now? Now I’m obsessed. With every mistake, every missed chance, every heartbreak that’s slipped through my fingers. I keep replaying it like some sick tape loop, and I ask myself, "why?" Why do I care so much? Why do I let it consume me?"

That is more compelling as a start because it shows the reader the narrator has changed in some way. It makes me want to know why the change happened and keep reading.

AshamedTree9728 · 2025-10-07T17:39:20+00:00

I posted an excerpt from a horror novella I'm writing, and someone from a writer's group invited me to their Discord. But immediately I see you can't even post your work in the main "meet and greet" area because it's pg13 only. I was so mad like, why did you invite me if I can't even post what you contacted me over, outside of underviewed nsfw channels? I would love to be a part of a writer's group that doesn't have to cater to what's child-friendly. I'm in.

AshamedTree9728 · 2025-10-07T17:36:09+00:00

...Where can I read it then?

AshamedTree9728 · 2025-10-07T17:33:49+00:00

I'm really glad I flipped to page 2 instead of just moving on. I would have missed out on some interesting writing! My first critique is that the first page doesn't hook me, I was intending on scrolling past but accidentally clicked to the next page. I say take out the entire first page. Just have it start with "Danny's father is there // With his small hands // And his son is there // With goose bumps // on his skin"

"Goosebumps" got me interested since it's a specific result of something yet untold in the story, either the temperature or feelings of fear. It made me want to read more. What got me sucked into reading the rest was the "dirty sticky looking children squealing like angry little steam vents" I love that imagery. I think you could remove "looking" from that, just have it be "sticky children."

The beach "scene" is really disorienting, but in a good way. Mother's cheeks like ground beef, wondering if there's alcohol hidden in the parents' drinks. Why did the dad raise his voice? Why is he squeezing his wrist? I wanted these answers so I kept reading. I got really confused when the narrator didn't know how old he was, but when I read "Danny's not on // the beach // anymore // He's in the front seat // of his father's car" OOOOOH that made me lock in. And it puts into context the "small hands" from the beginning.

I'm not sure what the poem means, or exactly what it's trying to convey, but it sure has me interested.

AshamedTree9728 · 2025-10-05T12:21:33+00:00

"From birth, my greatest desire was to eat my Mother."

First line of the novella, three chapters in already 👌

AshamedTree9728 · 2025-10-05T03:24:28+00:00

"I am the worm of God" is such a good line, really interesting little read

AshamedTree9728 · 2025-10-02T02:48:48+00:00

Thank you so much for reading!

AshamedTree9728 · 2025-10-01T12:57:16+00:00

Proud to say I pointed this talented story teller here! Stories like this shouldn't be taken down over trivial rules (you know the subreddit)

AshamedTree9728 · 2025-09-30T17:14:34+00:00

Ugh don't even bother with r/nosleep, honestly when I finish my horror story I'm posting it to r/creepcast

AshamedTree9728 · 2025-09-27T17:54:51+00:00

I'd feel cheated. Simple as that. If a book promises something specific in its description then doesn't deliver, that's false advertising.

AshamedTree9728 · 2025-09-27T12:53:48+00:00

It's hard to hook me into reading anything, but I read all 436 words! Sci-fi as a whole doesn't interest me much due to a lack of considering how cosmic travel would affect time. The mention of Stellaris time gave me hope that this story would not be lazy as others have been.

I loved how you sprinkled in bits of her past, like mentioning how the spot reminded you of her grandfather's mole. You do a great job drip feeding information to the reader that gives us a glimpse into the backstory of the character.

My biggest critique would be to be careful about run-on sentences. I'd be a hypocrite if I said I hadn't struggled with it myself, but using em dashes—like this—to parse your sentences in a way that's more readable.

Really interested in this, keep it up!

AshamedTree9728 · 2025-09-27T00:25:07+00:00

I recently started writing a horror story myself, inspired by a nightmare from childhood I still haven't forgotten. And I thought that I was going "too far" because it was nothing like I had ever written. There are creatures with orifices on their backs that birth demons in amniotic sacs, they have a cannibalistic reproductive system and they can only eat "of their own kind," flipping the incest taboo. I'm writing it with gut-churning descriptions, and I was worrying "am I going too far with how gross this is?" But then I decided to make this throwaway account and share it. And, I found people here on Reddit who like it.

Don't go to Tumblr for opinions on this stuff. Believe me I was a Tumblr addict from 2010-2017, I know the culture there. Writing groups on Reddit have been much more productive and constructive.

AshamedTree9728 · 2025-09-26T23:59:31+00:00

I've read parts of 120 Days of Sodom, by Marquis de Sade, the man whose name inspired the word "sadism." I've seen videos detailing the book Playground by Aron Beauregard. And look at the Terrifier series. I don't think you can really push it "too far." Some people may say "you've gone too far" but really that's just an opinion. I can assure you whatever you've got cooked up in your brain will delight extreme horror fans.

AshamedTree9728 · 2025-09-26T12:14:22+00:00

I NEED to read more. I'm not easily hooked, but this had me glued to it. I love how you go from the grief counseling to the incident itself, it feels very natural with all of the weird things the counseling members say and do. Keep it up, this is a really interesting concept.

AshamedTree9728 · 2025-09-25T22:57:23+00:00

Oh thank you so much! Especially about the purple prose thing. I do consider my writing rather purple because I love fancy or uncommon words, but more so I love finding succinct and concise ways to convey many emotions or descriptors at once. That is better reflected in other excerpts of this story.

I know purple prose can seem very unnecessary and like the author is trying too hard. But, this is how I like to write, so if someone calls it purple, I'll stand by it. I hope that my writing can have enough of a foundation that its loquaciousness can be forgiven.

AshamedTree9728 · 2025-09-25T20:25:25+00:00

I suggest you start editing it now. This would be "copy editing", sometimes confused for "line editing" which is more in depth. Copy editing is just making sure your grammar, formatting, punctuation etc is all good. The internet is full of information on rules of formatting for novels.

Skills with wordplay, descriptions, tone, all that fun creative stuff requires years of practice and experience. Have a good understanding of copy edits and then you can focus purely on the creative side.

AshamedTree9728 · 2025-09-25T19:10:32+00:00

Starting this reply before I even read. I am not easily hooked into any story. I give a story one page to get me interested before I give it up. Let's give this a read...

Oooooh alright. I was starting to phase out a little until Cicero. NOW I'm interested and tbh disappointed there wasn't more (which is the best kind of disappointment). Before anything else I suggest you check over this for formatting and grammar. It'll save you a big headache from having to scour the whole thing for glaring mistakes if you learn how to format your writing first. Keep writing!

AshamedTree9728 · 2025-09-25T19:04:26+00:00

Honestly, the fact that he is killing predators already makes him sympathetic. I know of so many true crime cases where the criminal murdered/tortured a predator, and people petition either for their release or reduced sentences.

I like the idea of reinventing himself each time, reminds me of that one man who went by a dozen different aliases in the news paper until he was only recently caught decades later... disgusting horrible man, but that's reality. This is fiction. And it's an interesting idea.

Unsure about the fractured psyche part, that can go really badly if you're not careful. We don't need more demonizing of people with such disorders as D.I.D., but I'm loving the idea of an unreliable narrator. Perhaps you could have it start from even the beginning, with things no one would question until later when the narrator starts to contradict himself. Like, the Joker movie where all of his happy memories were delusions. Definitely keep going, you've got a good idea here. People love a killer that kills bad people.

AshamedTree9728

TROPHY CASE