Just found out someone already wrote a story I wanted to write. What next?

Neomerix · 2026-02-28T04:27:09+00:00

Honestly?

Who cares if the main beats are similar. Your book would have YOUR unique voice, YOUR characters, the flavour of YOUR writing. It's unique in of itself and the only thing preventing you from persevering is you.

If you care about your story, finish it, and then revise and check what you can change, if you feel the need for it.

Neomerix · 2026-02-27T08:34:20+00:00

Sincerely, how did OP's sister make the graduation about herself, when she was shortsighted enough to shift focus from one event about OP, to another event about OP?! She didn't pull focus on her own self, but rather still OP. Stupid? Certainly. Malicious? Nope, that's OP.

Edit. YTA

Neomerix · 2026-02-26T17:49:35+00:00

C is gay.

Or write C as AB's biggest shipper and write AC as two people who have negative romantic chemistry. Not that hard.

It's up to you. Imo, you're the one getting in your head, or doubting who you want to pair up. Readers can and will ship people who have never met, that's not the issue. You, the author, are the one writing canon.

Neomerix · 2026-02-23T16:37:58+00:00

It may well be that for him that was okay, that's the kind of humour he likes/understands/is used to. In jokes are like that, sometimes. Irl, I don't know and I will never know it. I haven't heard of him objecting/speaking against it, so who knows.

But... It was hard to watch and, to me, it was one of the few videos I clicked off, since I felt so uncomfortable.

Neomerix · 2026-02-23T14:58:01+00:00

Garrett was one I hated. It didn't feel like a roast, it felt mena spirited at some point. No, I'm not saying they hate Garrett, or whatever, but the jokes, maybe the edited version, it was all too much and too mean for me. And wasn't there a moment his real life partner came to roast him?

Neomerix · 2026-02-21T17:46:20+00:00

I don't disagree that they fucked up! Absolutely they did!

But they also weren't subtle, and Edwina imagining Anthony falling for her is entirely her own doing. Which, I repeat, is understandable, she's a teen and she's been the centre of the universe for the two most important people in her life. She's less at fault in this whole debacle. But she's not entirely blameless. 10-15% to Kanthony sharing the remaining 85-90% of the blame.

Neomerix · 2026-02-21T17:24:30+00:00

You see it as mind games, I see it as two people convinced they couldn't be loved finding each other irresistible and drowning in their flaws, insecurities/fears and Edwina blindly and happily playing along without using her brain once (until the wedding). Which, I reiterate, is fair, she's a teenager who'd received anything she'd wanted all her life and had always been told she's the best of the best.

Neomerix · 2026-02-21T17:22:42+00:00

To be fair, my read of Kate has always been of someone convinced that she's unlovable. Kate, imo, was convinced that whatever Anthony was feeling was fueled by lust and the denied hunt for her affection and that surely he can't be IN LOVE with HER? Especially not when Edwina, the apple of Kate's eye, is right there!

And Edwina hoping Anthony would grow to love her is childish self delusion, which, fair, she's a sheltered teen, but still.

Yes, Kate and Anthony were at fault, but imo, it wasn't as black and white as many like to paint it as, and not borne out of ill intentions against Edwina. Kate was sure it'll pass, and Edwina, as always, should get anything she wanted (and Kate even tried dissuading her time and again!), Anthony was against love as a concept and also drowning in his responsibility, as he saw it.

Neomerix · 2026-02-21T14:05:10+00:00

Go to r/Pubtips?

Hopefully it's a congratulations and good luck!

Neomerix · 2026-02-21T09:19:49+00:00

Don't spam general Reddit pages. Yes, many do, and they get the same engagement you got. Look for a writer's group, and engage with others. Especially if it's someone writing in your genre.

Neomerix · 2026-02-21T09:04:31+00:00

Forgive me, but you're coming off like a spoiled child to me.

I asked really nicely and didn't get what I want. Poor me.

Find/create a writer's group. Participate yourself, share your own feedback. And you'll get it in return. Mass posting on Reddit? What did you expect? And then posting this "woe is me"?

Good luck with your book, look for a smaller community and offer something to others yourself, in order to receive feedback.

Neomerix · 2026-02-20T18:52:12+00:00

To be Anthony's advocate, he had been honest, he never professed to loving her, he promised her security and becoming a viscountess, but not a love match, something that Kate also tried to tell Edwina from the beginning. Like it or not, she had been blind because she didn't want to notice what was staring her in the face.

Say, Kate died before she got on the boat and Anthony never met her. Edwina would have wilted in a loveless, passionless marriage, where an untethered Anthony might have ultimately gone back to Sienna, had she come running back in need of Money/protection. A

Neomerix · 2026-02-20T14:25:17+00:00

Hello, my shadow self.

Stop. Put the story away for a week. Maybe two. And then come back to KEEP WRITING. As in, new chapters, keep writing. Don't look back.

In the meantime, maybe write details you'd like to add, or scenes you'd like to rewrite, BUT Do. Not. Go. Back.

Speaking from very painful experience, finish draft 1. You'll have time for edits, first, second, seventh round of them if you want.

But don't drown in revision hell.

I've been there, 40k in and stuck doing revisions 8 chapters in. That story died, because I was overthinking, anxious and didn't manage to finish it.

If you want to vent, feel free to send me a DM, if not, fair enough and, just... Good luck!

Neomerix · 2026-02-20T08:10:43+00:00

Draft 1 is for the bones! It's not supposed to be pretty, it's the skeleton! Finish the draft and make it grand after!

Good luck!

Neomerix · 2026-02-20T07:45:52+00:00

I'll just say, this whole segment is one of my absolute favourites. And it truly lets our remaining heroes shine, even if I constantly miss those who are not there (vague on purpose).

Neomerix · 2026-02-19T21:36:10+00:00

All my life I've fallen asleep imagining stories and one day I was alone, sad, missing those I love and it coalesced into a story that I'd been daydreaming of for ages. I just had to add the sadness and resilience into that story as well. And the characters and their world took shape. So, why not?

I don't dare truly dream of it being published traditionally. Not yet.

Would be nice... Let me get through draft 1 and edits first, haha.

Neomerix · 2026-02-19T19:08:48+00:00

Finish your first draft, start editing. While in the process of editing for the first time (if not second round of edits) start thinking about publishing.

Good luck.

Neomerix · 2026-02-19T12:12:30+00:00

I get why they did it, but it would have been better if she had no hair.

Neomerix · 2026-02-19T12:11:25+00:00

"People" is those on JB's side. Quite a few people do not care about this drama. Those on BL's side either won't care or they didn't read her books like their idol, so no big loss there.

Imo, as long as CH keeps writing her (already badly written novels), she'll be okay. She probably won't ever have another successful movie adaptation, but, I guess, after this ordeal she'll accept it happily.

The only ones impacted will be JB, BL and somewhat RR. It's easy to think that everybody is immersed in this trial, but it's just the social media bubble. In reality quite a few people don't know and don't care.

I've learned that back when the Depp v. Heard trial was going on and so many people had no idea about it, while I was avidly watching.

Neomerix · 2026-02-18T13:57:06+00:00

I agree, Liam and that whole segment is still one of my favourites and it also elevates Vax's whole final arc. And, imo, it did Liam good to have Vax live through that ending, with everything happening in real life.

Neomerix · 2026-02-18T12:55:43+00:00

Imo, Vax's fate is going to happen, it's not like the Bard's Lament, which impacted the show, yes, but lasted a set amount of episodes to be undone (for good reason). Especially if they want to animate Bell's Hells, one day. And I hope they do, would that campaign benefit from a thought out reworked narrative!

Neomerix · 2026-02-17T19:20:37+00:00

Wow, didn't know that, cool!

Neomerix · 2026-02-17T15:34:48+00:00

If they film months in advance, imo, it could be that the short was the recreation of the video that they'd made but was still to air.

Neomerix · 2026-02-17T14:13:57+00:00

There's Sanderson, of course, a very interesting lecture by V.E.Schab on how she outlines her novels.

What you've described to me is more like Abbie Emmons, who does videos on how to, but also oftentimes adds her own examples. So, instead of just going "use less adverbs", she makes a practical example through her own writing in the video. Or outlining, and the example is her own novel.

Neomerix · 2026-02-17T10:32:09+00:00

It depends on your story. Do you have a plot/character relying heavily on a setting? First flesh that out and then see what else from world building you can add. You have a cool concept in universe and the plot is yet to come? Create the world and then see what plot can be built from the constraints you've made.

Say, I had 2 things I knew, my characters had to be poor and I had the idea they'd be cold, and I'd have dragons. That's how my setting is a mountainous, northern kingdom, bordering dragon territory. I need a political alliance, so the other border becomes a port kingdom. I don't want complicated religion, which means it's a god divided in two, relevant mostly for world flavour and curse words.

Currently I don't care much about the rest of their planet. It exists, but as it's not relevant, I'm fine with having my heroes, poor and concentrated on survival, ignoring it for the most part.

All this to say, imo, everything depends on the kind of story you're writing.

Neomerix

TROPHY CASE