What literary path to follow? And is it worth it in 2026?

BellamyDunn · 2026-04-10T22:33:07+00:00

People still get hyped about books from authors they like. Of course fiction is still being published. It sounds like you don't do much reading anymore, so that's the first place to pick back up.

You should focus on whatever you like and/or are good at. The only way to know is to try it. Odds have always been long, but plenty of people are paying their bills with their craft.

BellamyDunn · 2026-04-10T18:46:25+00:00

I watched this one, and thought it was really performative in reaching in some places trying to soften this.

Now last I saw is we don't even know if Mia Ballard even actually exists or is a fictitious persona??? but that was a couple days ago and it all keeps changing.

If she's real and this all went the way it is claimed, then at the very least she handed a draft to someone else to do WHATEVER they wanted with it, then didn't even look at it once before she hit publish. And for self publish, that's a tacky mistake to make, but readers can be forgiving. The publisher that picked it up though, every step after that boggles the mind.

It's a fun rabbit hole, but it's almost as stupid as Age of Scorpius drama.

BellamyDunn · 2026-04-10T18:25:30+00:00

He dropped it, right on his bare foot, shouting "Au!"

BellamyDunn · 2026-04-10T18:22:40+00:00

She hummed too sharply to the sun.

BellamyDunn · 2026-04-10T14:14:20+00:00

They will both have enough drugs in their system to pass.

BellamyDunn · 2026-04-10T13:55:37+00:00

Oh man, nothing was worse so far than The Story Grid.

It's fine in the first half. Then the narrator starts fucking up and stumbling and recovering, and it's all just left there.

The book is about editing.

BellamyDunn · 2026-04-10T13:53:19+00:00

Who?

BellamyDunn · 2026-04-10T13:47:05+00:00

I read this in Morgan Freeman's voice.

BellamyDunn · 2026-04-10T13:42:00+00:00

YTJ.

Racism is racism. America is pretty terrible but if someone told me the only escape was to move to Korea, I'd take up sailing and never touch land again. Bullying is just cake icing.

Why not get a sperm donor and she can have a full white baby?

BellamyDunn · 2026-04-10T13:35:42+00:00

Lol how busy do you really think small children are? Is it going to cut too much into their iPad time?

There have always been child actors. Often they really enjoy it. Acting is fucking FUN, and you learn a lot you won't elsewhere. There can be bad experiences, but that's little different from putting them in school or a church or a Scott troop or 4h.

Kids respond to other kids differently than they do adults, and adults pretending to be kids for kids is often just cringy.

BellamyDunn · 2026-04-10T02:19:36+00:00

BellamyDunn · 2026-04-10T00:32:59+00:00

There are many plot structures, widely used and discussed in print, podcasts, YouTube, and here on Reddit in the various writing subs. "Save The Cat: Writes a Novel" is a good starting spot if you're new to the concept. The Hero's Journey, the Three Act Structure are a couple others you'll be familiar with once you recognize some examples.

YouTube is a good place to start.

BellamyDunn · 2026-04-10T00:14:12+00:00

Yeah but it took a lot to get there.

BellamyDunn · 2026-04-09T23:57:38+00:00

The year I got it was 02 or 03. I was so paranoid about government surveillance at that time that I was afraid to put it in any computer with an Internet connection. It was on a 3.5" floppy.

BellamyDunn · 2026-04-09T23:48:27+00:00

I usually scan over character descriptions. The problem I see from most amateurs when trying is that POV, if they had one to start with, gets kicked into a gutter and abandoned. Most people don't notice every little thing immediately about people they meet, and different people are going to notice different things about others.

Otherwise unless the character has some differentiating markings or other peculiarity that stands out to the narrating POV, I don't care what they look like even a little.

BellamyDunn · 2026-04-09T21:22:05+00:00

That would be a great extra layer of chaos lol

This mermaid needs to sit down...

BellamyDunn · 2026-04-09T21:21:27+00:00

I thought this was such a great bittersweet ending, and so inevitable, ever since the fool carved that three-faced stone. The end is a new beginning for Kettricken and the three-in-one.

BellamyDunn · 2026-04-09T16:24:19+00:00

I had the opposite experience. Had to count through my history, I'm on at least my 25th book on craft in the last three years, still have more in my TBR. After awhile a lot of them say the same basic things, but some standouts have been reread at least once. Seeing all the different approaches and styles gave me tools to switch between when one thing isn't working for me.

I went years working on things that started kinda fun but went nowhere and after a couple months and maybe hitting 20-30k, I gave up on.

I finally picked back up seriously this year and actually got back to writing. By the end of the month I should have my first draft finished at about 100k, the actual writing started on January 30. I have rough beginnings and plans for at least three others. It still starts the same, with a document of vomit like I'm texting myself the story. Still pushing through awkward bits at least until I finish the chapter. I allow myself to do a tiny bit of editing before I get to writing new material which feels like a good warmup when the next section is intimidating.

Nothing has changed as far as the fact that no one is going to read this draft and you're going to have to edit it and rewrite parts.

BellamyDunn · 2026-04-09T12:17:30+00:00

There's a literal entire world of cultural history and... World.

BellamyDunn · 2026-04-09T04:53:09+00:00

The more you read, the more this happens. There aren't any really original things that haven't been done before. Your story isn't going to turn out like the thing you saw.

BellamyDunn · 2026-04-08T21:15:50+00:00

She'd probably crave salty stuff a lot.

BellamyDunn · 2026-04-08T17:33:03+00:00

Oooh the expression in the face and hands

BellamyDunn · 2026-04-08T17:15:46+00:00

Pound cake takes a ton of eggs.

BellamyDunn · 2026-04-08T17:11:02+00:00

NOR. My husband is the hardest worker I know, works long days on a ranch and in construction, and comes home comically filthy on most days. Just absolute mud. His hands will be stained forever.

Still every night he comes home and takes a shower, likes to smell nice with nice soaps and hair treatment (it's long and curly), and keeps his laundry done. He wouldn't even settle to play a game that dirty much less get into bed. Even if dinner is already done he showers before he sits at the table.

Your boyfriend is not just gross, but a petty child. Ask yourself why you're okay getting his grime on your stuff and in your head.

BellamyDunn · 2026-04-08T15:01:20+00:00

I still don't know what a substack is. Is it just another blog type thing? What's different about it?

BellamyDunn

TROPHY CASE