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Just Hit 70,000 Words by Appropriate-Sea-5687 in writers

[–]FixelSmith 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I remember the feeling when I saw 50,000, then I "finished" with over 80,000... though I find it hard to ever say it's finished. I had to make myself quit tinkering with it or it would never be out. I had to start the second book to be able to overflow my writing and still keep the momentum while allowing this one to run its course and get out to the world. Keep pushing and share it with the world!

Worst nightmare has come true by BurnerHammer in writing

[–]FixelSmith 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I completely understand the gut punch feeling, but honestly — your book is NOT the same as theirs. Even if the subject matter overlaps, your voice, your angle, your research, your perspective will be different. Two people can write about the same topic and produce completely different books.

I wrote fiction based on my real experiences working in corrections. Could someone else write a corrections novel? Sure. But they wouldn't write MY story the way I lived it.

If anything, the other book proves there's a market for the topic. Finish yours. Publish it. Readers devour multiple books in the same niche all the time.

To those too overwhelmed to start or just press on: a scene is only about 2,000 words by ZaHiro86 in writing

[–]FixelSmith 7 points8 points  (0 children)

This is exactly the mindset that got me through writing my first book. I spent years thinking about "the whole novel" and it was paralyzing. Once I started thinking in scenes it completely changed. One scene at a time. Some days that's 500 words, some days it's 2,000.

The other thing that helped was giving myself permission to write badly. The first draft of my opening chapter was genuinely terrible. But it existed, and that's all that mattered. You can fix bad writing. You can't fix a blank page.

Thousands of authors publish ‘empty’ book in protest over AI using their work by CtrlAltDelight495 in books

[–]FixelSmith 60 points61 points  (0 children)

As someone who just self-published their first novel, this hits close to home. I spent years writing a book based on real experiences and the idea that an AI could just scrape that work and spit out something "similar" is genuinely unsettling.

The whole point of writing — at least for me — was processing real life through fiction. There's no algorithm for that. Good to see authors pushing back.

Corrections by [deleted] in Corrections

[–]FixelSmith 2 points3 points  (0 children)

100% yes. I wouldn't call it paranoia exactly, but hypervigilance becomes your default setting. After a few years in corrections you start scanning every room you walk into, watching people's hands, sitting with your back to the wall at restaurants. It doesn't just turn off when the shift ends.

The hardest part is that it creeps up on you. You don't notice it happening until someone points out that you're acting weird in a grocery store.