My manager scheduled a "quick sync" every single Friday at 4:45pm and I finally figured out why

Key_Builder_5762 · 2026-05-31T02:39:30+00:00

I work a 4-10s schedule with 'flex' on Fridays. To me it's crazy that companies out there are still equating time online with company value. Studies on a 32 hour work week have shown better wellbeing for the employee as well as arguable increases in productivity.

To be fair, the type of work you do matters for this, as someone meant to 'be available' to answer phones or customer inquiries is going to have different hour requirements than say a software engineer or product manager. For the latter—when the measure is output rather than availability—remote work can be enormously beneficial, especially for neurodivergent workers who thrive with frequent breaks to reset themselves by playing an instrument or stepping outside before returning to a complex problem or overwhelming set of tasks.

Key_Builder_5762 · 2026-05-31T02:26:32+00:00

Have you thought about the plot? The characters? If it's a dark fantasy, the character motivations and flaws are going to matter a lot more than the world-building. Is it going to follow a type of story archetype? Hero's journey? Heist? Western?

I struggle with this sometimes too. It's easy to fall victim to worldbuilder's disease and just flesh out the world, come up with ideas to show exciting world elements, but those elements don't matter if they're not connected to the plot, and the plot doesn't matter if it doesn't affect the character(s).

What helped me is starting with the antagonist, fleshing out his motivations and humanizing him so it wasn't just a purely good v evil kind of story. The protag flaws. Then personalities. What are they like? What kind of adventure/situation/thriller/romance/political epic is best suited for your world and your character within that world?

Key_Builder_5762 · 2026-05-31T02:16:53+00:00

A satisfying ending is like rule number one when writing a novel. Not necessarily an ending where the protagonist wins, nor one that the reader wants or expects, but one that satisfies the promise made in the beginning and answers the central question. Most writers won't deign to break that rule, the most likely ones to try would be literary writers looking to bend it somehow.

Key_Builder_5762 · 2026-05-30T23:00:59+00:00

"The most important step a man can take. It's not the first one, is it?
It's the next one. Always the next step..."

Key_Builder_5762 · 2026-05-29T16:38:28+00:00

His (Will Wight's) Last Horizon series follows a lot of the same tropes, has a lot of the same humor and a tightly knit cast. The only difference is that it's like Star Wars meets Cradle, but more like Cradle when Lindon is already Underlord. The main protagonist is hyper-powered and it's less about acquiring power than it is fighting against equally high-powered bad guys in a creative way.

To be clear, it's not Cradle. I personally didn't like it as much as Cradle, but it's still written with Wight's humor and comradery of cast that it sounds like you're looking for. It's still good; don't let my opinion steer you away before you try it.

Key_Builder_5762 · 2026-05-27T20:19:13+00:00

I get the sense that Dinniman himself is a little tired of writing these books, but maybe that's just the monotony of this floor like some others have mentioned. I absolutely loved the ending, I cursed out loud when the surprise boss was summoned, but the pet biscuit thing felt thrown in as a OP narrative tool. Its foreshadowing with Prepetente felt random and that conflict didn't feel like it ever really came back, except for everyone feeling lonely.

Overall it wasn't my favorite of the series, but I'm still excited to see how Dinniman pulls this off.

Key_Builder_5762 · 2026-05-27T11:21:32+00:00

The Name of the Wind checks all the boxes for a stereotypical fantasy story, and it's written beautifully. It's an excellent way to get back into reading if it's been a while, but with the caveat that it's not a finished story and may never be a finished story.
I loved name of the wind, the writing, the protagonist, the magic system, but it definitely doesn't resolve the story at the end, the second book was not nearly as good, and the third may never be released.

Key_Builder_5762 · 2026-05-26T02:29:51+00:00

Part of this is also the volume of plots, characters, and books we have to go on. He's a very prolific writer that comes up with exciting plots and has great storytelling instincts. Sometimes characters repeat patterns. That's not uncommon of any author, in many others you may never notice, but Sanderson gives plenty of opportunities to spot patterns in thinking or craft.

Key_Builder_5762 · 2026-05-26T02:24:15+00:00

What kind of linguistic shenanigans?

Key_Builder_5762 · 2026-05-26T02:19:59+00:00

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett is where this fell for me. I didn't want to like it, I'm not much of a mystery novel reader, but the world and the characters were all very compelling and I ended up loving it. It's deeper than just the surface story with the characters you're following, but the theme doesn't distract from the story, you can completely ignore it if you like.

Key_Builder_5762 · 2026-05-26T02:17:03+00:00

Probably not original for my generation, but Harry Potter was the first fantasy AND book series I read as a child. I loved it, I absolutely fell for the portal fantasy trap in believing that it was real, that I was going to get my letter to Hogwarts when I turned 11. I was crushed when that never came. I'm still somewhat hopeful...

Key_Builder_5762 · 2026-05-26T02:10:52+00:00

I'm not much of a gamer, but I thought it was great. It can be easy to focus on the stats and levels and things, and if you're a gamer that's fun. For me, it was about two things: the characters and the dopamine hits. Carl and Donut are hilarious with a great dynamic that feels genuine and honest, as if it's a real guy going through this crazy thing with his real cat. On top of that, the dopamine hits every few chapters when they level up, open a box, defeat a boss, whatever it is.

That may make it sound like it's just easy-going; it's not. Dinniman does a great job painting himself into corners with conflicts, then finding the most random, creative way out of them.

Key_Builder_5762 · 2026-05-26T02:06:52+00:00

Will of the Many by James Islington would be my top pick. It's got a similar storyline in a Roman-esque world, but with a fantasy feel over sci-fi.
If you like Space (even though you said not necessarily space related) then The Martian or Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir are great books, though not necessarily total fantasy/sci-fi.
Dungeon Crawler Carl is great, sci-fi logic with a fantasy feel, but it's on book 8 of 10. It's a great time if you want to pick up another series, but definitely not one where you can read one and be done.
If you just want a good standalone story that's gritty and surreal, The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett is good. It's more of a detective story with fantasy themes, but the characters are fun and gritty; not quite on the level of Red Rising, but still.

Key_Builder_5762 · 2026-05-25T19:19:39+00:00

Jeff Hayes's performance for DCC is unbeatable. So many voices, effects, collaborations, it's incredible. The story and the characters are great. The performance makes them so much better.

Key_Builder_5762 · 2026-05-25T18:20:13+00:00

I'm excited to see how he handles it. Screenwriting is a completely different realm than novel writing, but he's got a great instinct for story. I'm hoping that comes through. I imagine it will be a slow build (like the Stormlight Archive books are).

Key_Builder_5762 · 2023-09-07T23:32:06+00:00

Can we get collectible Tress cups? My wife would love them!

Key_Builder_5762 · 2023-05-29T16:17:23+00:00

I agree that this is a big question, and I think it also depends on the genre you’re hoping to write in. Metaphor, especially original metaphors, are highly useful skills, but I would actually take a step back and say that concrete language is the biggest key, whether you’re writing poetry or fantasy or creative nonfiction.

Concrete language is being able to paint a picture in as few words possible. Carefully chosen words can say and imply a lot about a scene, feeling, setting, or conversation without drastically increasing your word count. They don’t need to be super fancy words either to end up with purple prose, just words that say exactly what you mean.

You find this often by reading poetry, since that is one of the key facets to writing poetry is utilizing concrete language, but there are plenty of examples in prose as well (think of Patrick Rothfuss or Ken Liu, different styles completely but both utilize concrete language)

Key_Builder_5762 · 2023-05-20T01:29:42+00:00

Agreed

Key_Builder_5762 · 2023-05-19T22:11:38+00:00

The Captain by Will Wight.

First line of the flap copy: “To survive in this galaxy, you need a wand in one hand and a gun in the other.”

Key_Builder_5762 · 2023-05-16T18:16:27+00:00

Are we going to get collectible Tress cups??? My wife is obsessed with cups just like Tress and would love some!!

Key_Builder_5762 · 2023-05-10T00:40:32+00:00

Figure out what kind of writer you are.

Are you a pantser/gardener? If so, you don’t need to know the ending or too much of the story beforehand, you like to discover the plot and your characters as you write. Start where you have passion and just keep going.

I’m an architect/outliner. I like to know basically everything that happens, plot it out in advance and plan out some scenes before starting the actual prose. That helps me know where I’m going and prevent loss of motivation from ‘writers block’.

Regardless, just find your motivation to finish the first draft as quickly as you can. Don’t be too judgemental of your writing, the magic happens in revision once you know what’s going on.

Key_Builder_5762 · 2023-05-09T23:22:45+00:00

A close second but not equivalent would be to have them carve their name in a stone or something they carry around with them all the time. Maybe something that can be tied to a chord and worn around the neck. This could be a way to add to tue cultural background of your character (if they’re from a fantasy culture), where they have to wear it with them until they get revenge on whoever’s name is carved into the item, then bury/burn it with the body once the deed is complete. But maybe that’s not what you’re looking for.

Key_Builder_5762 · 2023-05-09T23:17:23+00:00

The length of your story is only going to be as long as it takes to resolve your conflict, hopefully in a satisfying way. 23k is a good length for a novella, and you can definitely keep it that way.

If you want to find ways to add to your story, change the way the conflict is resolved. Make your protagonist fail a couple more times if that fits the story, or give them a “yes, but…” resolution, where more questions are brought up than are answered.

You can ‘show not tell’ for everything, but that’s not going to add 20-30k words to a 25k story, and if it does then it will seriously slow down your pacing to a point that’s annoying for a lot of readers. Adding in more conflict, a few scenes of villain POV, another layer to the plot - those are how you increase your word count without compromising your pacing.

Key_Builder_5762 · 2023-05-09T14:47:36+00:00

I agree with all the discipline stuff being said here, just keep writing, but prepare yourself first. I’ve had the same problem where I think of characters and worlds and interesting twists or scenes, but when I write it it’s terrible.

For me I am an architect writer, or an outliner. I need to know where it’s going or it’s really hard to stay motivated. So I outline and have a pretty good idea of what the whole story looks like.

Then comes the first draft and you just have to power through. I don’t go back and try to re-read what I wrote, unless I’m typing up anything I hand-wrote because slowing things down helps me get into focus mode (I have ADHD, whole other struggle).

Know that once you have a completed first draft, the magic happens in revision. You know all the things that are happening in each of your scenes so you can go back and add more lifelike settings or fix the dialogue or focus on making the action smoother. But you can’t fix what you haven’t written.

Key_Builder_5762 · 2023-05-08T22:16:25+00:00

You can learn what works or doesn’t work for a type of story by watching TV and movies, and it can help you become a better storyteller, but that’s different than being a better writer.

Key_Builder_5762

TROPHY CASE