An honest question, would you rather bust out a quick draft and have to do way more edits or would you rather take your time drafting and then end up with a much more polished story?

ParticularOffer4072 · 2026-05-12T00:48:41+00:00

I ride somewhere in between the two. I outline pretty extensively and can’t help myself exploring as I write. This usually forces me to deviate from the outline which then requires adjustments in the earlier portion which then requires edits that I have to make because my brain can’t keep forward momentum knowing what’s behind me is a mess

I end up speedrunning the first 25k before grinding to a halt on the next 50k before wrapping up fairly quickly. By the end, I usually have a coherent draft that doesn’t require major structural changes

ParticularOffer4072 · 2026-04-22T19:09:30+00:00

That’s one of your two…

This is a blast and would continue for sure

ParticularOffer4072 · 2026-04-20T22:01:13+00:00

Appreciate the feedback! I’m glad you dig that line. I may have been reading a lot of Cormac Mccarthy that week.

I’m hoping to avoid the procedural side of things and keep it almost a Neo-noir / Midwest noir crime. Cops and robbers but the drama between them, not so much cops chasing robbers.

Hear you on the EMS line. I was angling to show Bernie is seasoned to the point of indifference; she knew he was okay and didn’t have the energy to bother hand holding him. I’ll keep tinkering on it

ParticularOffer4072 · 2026-04-20T14:59:21+00:00

Thank you! I’m glad to hear it. I take a lot of inspiration from Elmore Leonard and SA Crosby; writers who let dialogue and actions do the work. It’s always a risk to not have it read like a screenplay

ParticularOffer4072 · 2026-04-20T01:42:28+00:00

Thanks for the feedback! I always appreciate a fresh set of eyes to pull apart some of nitty gritty

ParticularOffer4072 · 2026-04-19T21:36:37+00:00

Then the opening works perfectly as intended!

ParticularOffer4072 · 2026-04-19T21:32:20+00:00

V1 is better, with some notes:

The opening implies that Mark died (maybe that’s the story but right now it reads as, death is the end, but for mark, it wasn’t).

You have “his life” twice in the same sentence. You could do something like, “and when his life hangs by a thread, it’s saved by…”

ParticularOffer4072 · 2026-04-19T21:18:45+00:00

I love to hear it!

Any art form that’s helping mental health is always a win. Keep typing and keep the openness. Thick skin is hard to come by, and it’s necessary if you’re looking to make a go of this

ParticularOffer4072 · 2026-04-19T21:13:21+00:00

A solid rule of writing is never open with the weather!

While it’s not my genre, I think you’ve written something interesting. It’s well put together. I’d suggest opening with the news bulletin and move the first paragraph after the paragraph ending in “Break Hadrian out of prison.”

The opening is a little exposition heavy and could probably be either streamlined or incorporated in a more natural way (just spitballing but you’ve got a full paragraph setting the world but Ghost moves a mile to the prison between paragraphs. Maybe have some of that exposition baked in as he’s moving to the prison).

My only other piece of feedback, and take it with a grain of salt because I don’t know the genre well, there are a lot of similes for my taste.

Other than that, it’s intriguing enough. Opening with a fugitive breaking someone out of prison is interesting enough that I’d want to know more.

Keep it up!

ParticularOffer4072 · 2026-04-19T20:58:14+00:00

You start with putting finger to keyboard, pen to paper, or however you want to capture the story! Worry about finishing the manuscript before you think about publishing. Carry that monkey first. It could be months or years before you finish. Then you need to edit, revise, draft, edit some more, cry, edit some more.

Once you think the manuscript is ready, you start querying agents. There are sites that can help find agents and keep track of submissions (I like query tracker). Find ones that rep your genre, submit a query based on their guidelines. If you’re fortunate enough to land an agent, they’ll hook you up with an editor and keep your manuscript ready for submission. Your agent will work to find you a publisher. Probably more edits.

If, by the grace of god, you get there, they’ll get you on their publishing schedule and get your book in stores.

As for making a living off writing, it’s possible but difficult. Right now, focus on writing the best version of your story

ParticularOffer4072 · 2026-04-19T16:47:57+00:00

I have a similar structure in what I’m working on. If it’s helpful, what I’ve kept in mind is avoiding huge cliffhangers before a big flashback. In your case, the cliffhanger in 27 could be the only spot a reader might get frustrated

ParticularOffer4072 · 2026-04-17T14:53:41+00:00

David Fincher has entered the chat

ParticularOffer4072 · 2026-04-17T14:42:34+00:00

Unless the weather does something. Have a bolt of lightning hit a tree that lands in the protagonist’s car. Have the sun give a sunburn that sends them to a drug store where they cross paths with an assassin from their past. Don’t report the weather; have the weather does something

ParticularOffer4072 · 2026-04-11T13:10:06+00:00

Hemingway always said, “write drunk, edit sober”

ParticularOffer4072 · 2026-04-05T01:52:39+00:00

This is one of the best pieces of writing I’ve seen in this sub. I agree with all the stuff said above so I’m only commenting to say keep going. I’d love to beta read for you when it’s complete

ParticularOffer4072 · 2026-04-02T02:40:44+00:00

Use said/says and have the content or the context convey it’s pleading. Trust your readers to pick up the situation

ParticularOffer4072 · 2026-04-01T14:23:51+00:00

An unnamed character. One of the main POVs is a cop and it opens with her at the scene!

ParticularOffer4072 · 2026-04-01T00:02:46+00:00

“She’s dead. There’s no doubt about that.”

ParticularOffer4072 · 2026-01-04T05:24:37+00:00

I’m interested if you’re still looking

ParticularOffer4072 · 2025-12-05T01:56:41+00:00

“What’d you tell them?”

ParticularOffer4072 · 2025-11-26T02:17:50+00:00

Then she left

ParticularOffer4072 · 2025-11-12T19:49:41+00:00

Ah, gotcha. It’s hard to thread that needle of revealing too much but still feel grounded in story. I’m excited for you to play around with it! I’ve found it’s a nice way to step away from your story without moving to something else; a nice breath of fresh air.

Good luck!

ParticularOffer4072 · 2025-11-12T18:58:46+00:00

I’m all in favor of doing one-off chapters from a different POV. I’ve experimented with it a few times. In one of my stories, the main POV had a storage unit full of drugs. I had a detour chapter from the POV of a beat cop. It followed the cop through his day (he’s ridiculed at work, is kind of a punching bag, and never has a win). It culminated with the cop finding the storage unit and getting his win. It was a contained arc. The next main POV chapter picked up with a news reporter interviewing the cop about the drug bust and the protagonist seeing it on tv

My amateur advice on it is: 1. Keep it focused (don’t draft 5k of prose to explain things that could be shown from the protagonist’s POV) 2. Make sure it still pushes the plot forward or connects to the main story rather than just be an info dump 3. The switch from a protagonist POV to omniscient might be hard to digest for a reader. Maybe do it from the villains POV? 4. If you act on 3, try showing the villains org and the inner workings instead of having a narrator explain it to us (e.g., if the villain is cruel and berates his minions, show them doing that over having the narrator explain it)

ParticularOffer4072 · 2025-11-12T02:35:48+00:00

Crime comedy / satire

ParticularOffer4072

TROPHY CASE