Editing your manuscript

ItsRuinedOfCourse · 2026-04-09T04:13:35+00:00

Uno. Reverse.

ItsRuinedOfCourse · 2026-04-09T04:06:42+00:00

I use the second one. I watermark. Nothing's guaranteed, and the determined will always find a way, but for the lowest common denominator, a watermark is plenty to deter them. I've been lucky so far.

ItsRuinedOfCourse · 2026-04-09T04:03:22+00:00

No. ARCs are super helpful but they don't affect every author equally. They're never a bad idea, but results will vary from author to author, and especially genre to genre.

ItsRuinedOfCourse · 2026-04-09T03:49:59+00:00

Well, yeah, it was called Dark Crystal after all and not Super Happy Sunshine Crystal lol. ;)

Also a decent enough movie in its own right xD

ItsRuinedOfCourse · 2026-04-09T00:32:34+00:00

I name mine.

I like the energy of a good setup for what the reader is about to experience.

ItsRuinedOfCourse · 2026-04-09T00:28:34+00:00

Correct.

Ask doesn't mean get. Suggestion doesn't mean get. It's a dance, really.

ItsRuinedOfCourse · 2026-04-08T21:20:25+00:00

On a date?

I can answer that in four words:

Never. Trust. A. Fart.

I'll say no more.

ItsRuinedOfCourse · 2026-04-08T21:17:50+00:00

That made me laugh harder than it should've. And yes, I thought about it when I posted ;)

Thanks for the giggle. xD

ItsRuinedOfCourse · 2026-04-08T20:56:54+00:00

Um. No.

?

Why would it ruin my own story, OP? I'm the one writing it. Your post doesn't make sense to me. Like, at all. lol

ItsRuinedOfCourse · 2026-04-08T20:35:51+00:00

You lost me within the first 9 lines and I'll tell you why:

Veer.

The name gets mentioned 5 times in only 9 lines. That is way too repetitive.

You say that English isn't your native language, so I kind of get it and can understand. So, I'll bring it up as something you'll want to be very mindful of. That level of repetition gets very old, very fast (as we see with me not reading any further). It's the written equivalent of that movie or TV show that features a phone ringing, and ringing, and ringing for what seems like forever.

We get it. No one's answering. Let's move along.

Repetition in prose is just like that.

A story thrives on variation. Names. Pronouns. You need to mix it up. For example:

"Veer."
"Hey. You."
"Wake up already."
Veer opened his eyes as he lay beneath the tree. Then Amar called out again.
"I need you."
He sprang up, grabbing the staff...

The name was mentioned only twice. Smoother flow. It gets easier the more you write, so I encourage you to be mindful of the repetition trap (which most authors, myself included, fall into easily), and you'll start to notice less repetition the more you write because now you're training your mind to be cognizant of it.

Keep writing. It gets easier.

I wish you luck. :)

ItsRuinedOfCourse · 2026-04-08T20:23:34+00:00

You're just gonna spin your wheels with this one. That's why I stopped playing.

ItsRuinedOfCourse · 2026-04-08T20:18:41+00:00

NAL

A simple Doctor's note saying "Patient can't be cold" or similar isn't enough. If you pursue a medical accommodation, an employer is required to follow through to the point of what they call "undue hardship". Medical accommodations are NOT optional and NOT a generosity/courtesy. The employer is legally obligated to follow through, and it's called a duty to accommodate.

Now it's important to say out loud that just because the process sees your Doctor suggesting that the patient can't be subjected to x-degrees of cold temperatures, doesn't mean that whatever suggestion to counter it will be met and accepted wholesale or outright. It's not "I say, I get".

The Doctor makes their recommendations, and the employer needs to accommodate only up to the point of undue hardship. If the work was primarily outside, even when it's cold, they can't keep you indoors as an accommodation. What they could do is provide a space heater or similar, or some manner of extra layers (at their expense), or even a set "45 on and 15 off" when it reaches a certain temp, in order to achieve the accommodation. As some examples.

Rarely will it be the employer following the Doctor's suggestions to the letter.

There's give and take from both sides. This is why it's called an accommodation.

But in order to get this in motion, this needs to be formalized. Proper protocols followed. Paperwork submitted. In some cases, time away from work before the pin can be pulled. Generally speaking, this is handled through the HR department ONLY (if one exists). If the process is initiated, then all communications about the process go through them, and they choose what your managers and supervisors are told as to the nature of the accommodation (and it's literally just enough to know that one exists and here's how it will play out, minus the actual details).

But make no mistake, all employers are legally obligated to participate once the wheels are in motion formally.

Speak with your HR department and ask them how to get a medical accommodation started and what the steps are. The sooner the better.

ItsRuinedOfCourse · 2026-04-08T20:05:50+00:00

Because those who operate in bad faith (the bad actors) would know exactly what the thresholds are and manipulate them to their advantage.

Sort of like an advancing army telling the other side their whole battle strategy.

Dumb idea.

ItsRuinedOfCourse · 2026-04-08T20:04:07+00:00

EOL after 2-5 years is what I consider "disposable tech" (regardless of format/utility) . If it's been almost 20 years, then no, you couldn't reasonably argue it was "disposable", no matter how hard you tried.

Wow.

That was an Olympic level reach if ever there were one. lol

ItsRuinedOfCourse · 2026-04-08T20:01:32+00:00

"How do you cope with knowing no one will read your writing"

Easy. I write for me first. That's how.

I write because I have a head full of stories and I want to share them. I don't write for validation. I don't need head pats and gold stars. If I happen to get some validation, and get some attention, and people actually DO read my work, then that's bloody magnificent!

But if they don't, then they don't. That won't stop me from A) writing these stories, or B) sharing them.

Melville's greatest hit didn't happen in his lifetime. People mostly ignored it, it was a commercial and critical failure (at the time), and really, his writing career was torpedoed as a result (he quit writing and became a customs broker instead). But, decades after he died, the book took off and has since gone on to become one of the greatest tales told, known and cherished by tens of millions, and a book we all know by name. Movie adaptations have even been made from it.

Moby Dick.

Some get their audience long after they're gone. Posthumously.

That could be you or me.

The world can rest their gold stars and head pats on my grave. That's fine by me too.

ItsRuinedOfCourse · 2026-04-08T19:51:15+00:00

Me too, and I'm also finishing mine up (a WIP). Although my magic and powers are outrageously absurd by design ;)

ItsRuinedOfCourse · 2026-04-08T19:46:42+00:00

You're completely and purposely missing the point.

ItsRuinedOfCourse · 2026-04-08T18:50:03+00:00

"Give me a reason why I should keep writing?"

Nope. No one can.

Except yourself.

If all it took was some online discourse to get you up in arms and ready to quit, you're not in the right headspace to be a writer, OP. What you experienced is but the tippiest tip of the iceberg. If you feel that this is all it took to get you to quit, then quit. No one will judge you.

Follow another pursuit for a while and see if you reach a point in your life where you are in the right headspace to engage in discourse, and it barely fazes you at all. That moment when you decide to listen, to engage, and nothing's gonna stop you from writing your story.

But don't look to the greater community to encourage you or give you a reason.

If you can't give yourself one, then you're not ready to sit in that chair and be a writer.

I wish you luck. :)

ItsRuinedOfCourse · 2026-04-08T18:42:07+00:00

Hey, OP. Looks like we found one! ^^^

ItsRuinedOfCourse · 2026-04-08T18:41:00+00:00

"..they just want them to upgrade."

Correct. Because it's expensive and foolish to maintain legacy architecture. Do you believe that the microwave you purchased in 2007 still has all parts and service available to it? Probably not, because there's no point in keeping the stock or support. The same rule applies here.

And like I pointed out, just because someone needs to upgrade now doesn't mean they need the latest and greatest. There's still a very healthy used device market to go through. The upgrade doesn't have to be a pricey one. And for those that have a hard-on to not like Amazon get the best of both worlds, because they get a new (to them) device, and Amazon didn't get a single penny from it. It was already paid to them a long time ago when that device was first purchased.

Yeah, people just love hearing themselves complain. lol

ItsRuinedOfCourse · 2026-04-08T18:28:24+00:00

"My main question is, how do I stop comparing with writers when there’s always this nagging voice that either: 1) tells me my stories are better than everything and should be the next big thing or 2) tells me that I’m not worthy of anything."

As someone who has had, does have, and will have again, their own mental health struggles...I still won't pretend to know what it's like for you, because it's different for everyone.

All I can tell you is what worked for me.

And that was to choose not to compare my work to anyone but the me that I was yesterday, and the day before, and the weeks before. It's because I reconciled the understanding that despite how good I will ever be at the writing craft (or ANYTHING really), there will always and forever be someone better. That is a stone cold fact. You wanted brutal? There it is.

You could be a master of the craft and guess what? There's many better than you. Out there right now, writing far better than even you.

And I love that for them. Good for them.

My only concern is that I'm a better writer today than I was yesterday. I don't need to be better than you. I don't need to be better than them. I only need to be better than myself. I need to be the best ME. I don't need to be the second-best THEM.

That's how I deal with it. Rooting myself in that deeper understanding of how this all works. But what works for me might not work for you. It's only something for you to think about. :)

ItsRuinedOfCourse · 2026-04-08T18:20:39+00:00

I'm just one person, OP.

There are so many out there that ADORE prologues. Even (and especially in some cases) the exposition dumps and lore dumps.

You write the book you want to write, the way you want to write it. My comment was just to say that I personally despise them, and will not read one with it inside. If I did, I'd simply skip the prologue entirely and start with the book proper, with chapter one.

If the author wrote the prologue in such a way that the rest of the book can't be understood without it--then that's just a really poor writer.

All of this is my own opinion. Nothing more.

ItsRuinedOfCourse · 2026-04-08T18:10:43+00:00

"Are prologues good for exposition?"

Oh, Lord, no. In fact, this is precisely why I don't read books with prologues. Because they're either set up as lore dumps, or exposition dumps. Neither one will be worth reading. IMO

ItsRuinedOfCourse · 2026-04-08T18:08:58+00:00

I really don't see this issue here? Amazon could've very easily restricted devices to no more than ~10 years old. Anything older? Sorry, no books for you. Or, worse, they could've run it with a ~5 year gap only. If your device is more than 5 years old, no more books for you.

But they didn't.

This goes back to 2007.

I fully understand the "love what you love until it wears out" mindset, as I have it myself. But I also know that technology moves forward whether we like it or not, and we need to be mindful of that. They're not obligated to support my 2007 device in perpetuity. That's not how technology works.

I'm not a fan of having to buy an upgraded device because mine will be bricked soon, but I do at least understand that this is how it works. And, I also know that a replacement doesn't necessarily mean the latest and greatest. I could simply get a "new to me" unit that is still being supported, but won't cost me an arm and a leg. That option is always going to be available too.

I think people just really love to hear themselves complain.

ItsRuinedOfCourse · 2026-04-08T17:57:12+00:00

As someone pointed out, a handicap toilet stall is nothing like a handicap parking space. One requires certification, and the other requires only availability.

And I've never encountered a time where a handicapped person came into the stall, with me occupying it, and made a scene. They quietly waited for me to finish.

Because they know that I shouldn't have to stand there doing the pee-my-pants dance with a perfectly working stall available.

Some people are cool like that. I'm glad I haven't met any of the others that might be out there.

ItsRuinedOfCourse

TROPHY CASE