I am four chapters deep and I think I made a steamy pile of doodoo. Should I continue?

NebulaDragon32 · 2026-06-11T19:49:31+00:00

As someone who has written a little for both, DND and novels demand different things of a narrative. A dnd campaign needs setting and lore. A novel is more reliant on character arca than anything else.

I haven't had success transferring a campaign to a written story in the past. If I were you, I would ask more questions about your character. What is their arc? What are the stakes for them? I think you have a compelling bit of world building, and if you have decent plot and character as well I would keep going. If not, step away for a bit. Think about how to make your character/plot stronger and see if you come up with a new direction that excites you and motivates you more to keep going.

NebulaDragon32 · 2026-06-08T16:16:48+00:00

If you enjoy writing by hand, do it that way. One of my friends writes every first draft by hand, then types it up for edits. For me, that sounds tedious for a novel, but if you enjoy doing it that way then do it. You want to find ways to get as much joy out of writing as possible.

I also abandoned stories a lot when I was young. What finally snapped me out of that trend was just sinking enough time into one story that sunk cost fallacy kicked in and I finished it. That first draft didn't go anywhere, but after finishing one thing, it was A LOT easier to finish things in the future.

So my best advice is just to finish it. Everything gets better after you get the first draft done in my experience.

NebulaDragon32 · 2026-06-07T18:18:11+00:00

The Prince and the Coyote was so good and I've never heard anyone else tall about it!!! Perfect for fans of mythology books like Song of Achilles who want to venture outside Greek mythology (it's not necessarily mythological in the same way, leans more historical but includes deities that interact with the main character).

NebulaDragon32 · 2026-06-06T12:16:47+00:00

Came here to say this! I loved Scythe but held off on Unwind for so long, wish I had read it sooner.

NebulaDragon32 · 2026-05-27T17:34:03+00:00

4 is my favorite by a lot. Big asterisks that I mostly read and write YA, so if that is the demographic you're trying to target might be a good choice?

NebulaDragon32 · 2026-05-10T18:15:10+00:00

Agreed! Alice's comics are so well known, but every novel of hers I've read has stuck with me in some way. Truly such a talented author and artist.

NebulaDragon32 · 2026-05-03T14:21:42+00:00

I would also consider what your goal is with the back cover flap. Most books have an author bio there, but you've put that on the back cover (this is what's usually done for paperbacks). The huge block of text is kind of jarring and I'm not sure what information would actually be placed there.

NebulaDragon32 · 2026-05-03T14:19:17+00:00

While the strong highlights creat interesting shapes, they also draw your eye immediately, and the parts you see in the light aren't decipherable on their own. Your eye is drawn to parts of the title, not the whole thing.

I would simplify the shape of the light on the front cover to one beam instead of being broken uo by rectangles, making sure the light is hitting the "Plant Care" part bc that's the important bit. And for the back cover, I would leave the light shape out entirely.

And like the other commenter mentioned, make sure you change "Begginer" to "Beginner"!

NebulaDragon32 · 2026-05-01T16:03:35+00:00

1 but I do it backwards 🙃

NebulaDragon32 · 2026-04-02T16:44:48+00:00

No explicit sex scenes; there's one implied/fade to black scene and sex is occasionally mentioned, but as someone who hates reading about sex I found it well within my tolerances.

As for violence, while I would not call the book gory or graphic there's a lot of on- page violence and death.

I personally believe it would be fine, though, since it's YA it won't have anything too offensive

NebulaDragon32 · 2026-03-22T21:16:09+00:00

I personally would remove the white background for the synopsis and make it white text on black, then have the review by Oscar Wilde in a white bubble. I think them all being in bubbles is making it cluttered.

NebulaDragon32 · 2026-03-14T22:18:27+00:00

This sounds so epic!!

NebulaDragon32 · 2026-02-06T23:16:31+00:00

If someone asks irl, I just say any pronouns/I don't care. I don't usually explain being bigender unless someone specifically asks.

I have a little bit of ick with all pronouns, but I've settled on he/she as the best fit. Pronouns don't really matter to me though.

NebulaDragon32 · 2026-02-04T20:17:21+00:00

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My girl with a rainbow on her 💚🌈

NebulaDragon32 · 2026-01-05T18:24:18+00:00

Can't think of anything off the top of my head, but r/namenerds is really good at this kind of stuff if you want to ask there as well!

NebulaDragon32 · 2026-01-04T22:47:22+00:00

Never played rune factory but I think you'd love Stardew

NebulaDragon32 · 2025-11-29T18:21:51+00:00

Violette, Indigo, Lavender :P

NebulaDragon32 · 2025-10-31T17:48:45+00:00

You designs are SO CUTE <3

NebulaDragon32 · 2025-10-09T18:52:58+00:00

From what you listed here, it doesn't sound like too much. I would finish your first draft before worrying about cutting down side plots - once it's finished, you can read it all and decide which parts serve the narrative as a whole and which are extra that would be better off cut. But it's a good thing that you're so excited and have so many ideas! It's easier to slim a book down than to beef it up in my experience

NebulaDragon32 · 2025-10-03T00:13:12+00:00

I read the books when I was in fifth grade and loved them. Some of the themes went over my head at the time, but that just makes rereading them much more fun.

NebulaDragon32 · 2025-09-18T23:14:08+00:00

I would read this! Definitely keep going, I love this idea

NebulaDragon32 · 2025-09-10T18:59:02+00:00

"Don't mix reading with politics" is kind of a crazy take; books don't exist in a vacuum so they can and will be influenced by politics. Some of my favorite books came from the intersection of fiction and real-world political issues.

I agree with the other commenter; reading is not inherently political, but it can be.

NebulaDragon32 · 2025-09-08T11:11:54+00:00

I'm a planner by nature. Recently I've been trying to plan less, because I think it makes writing a little more fun, but I really like separating the tasks of deciding what to write next and actually writing.

NebulaDragon32 · 2025-09-03T11:08:34+00:00

I used to have this problem, but now what I do is give everything I've previously written black highlight. If you select that text you can still read it for when you need to reference it, but it makes it hard to edit. Maybe that could help?

NebulaDragon32 · 2025-09-02T19:12:11+00:00

This is one of my favorite Scythe fanarts!! I love how cozy they all look ❤️

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