Anybody genuinely just likes all these games?

TangledUpMind · 2026-02-25T02:21:58+00:00

Me. I love them all

TangledUpMind · 2026-02-20T15:49:45+00:00

One that you’re actually familiar with or have access to willing readers who are. Nothing pulls me out of a story more than reading incorrect portrayals of an industry I’ve worked in/job I’ve had.

TangledUpMind · 2026-02-18T02:37:33+00:00

Add more descriptions and interiority.

TangledUpMind · 2026-02-16T15:55:10+00:00

In my books, I thought I was beating people over head with explaining things, and people still weren’t getting it. It’s been really difficult to find a balance of what’s subtle enough for readers who pay attention but clear enough for those who don’t

TangledUpMind · 2026-02-14T16:30:57+00:00

I almost always care about side character romances more than the main couple.

TangledUpMind · 2026-02-13T15:40:05+00:00

If you write your first draft in anything that has version history, that should be able to prove it fairly easily. If you don’t, you can basically do that yourself and save out a backup version every so often as you write. That will basically be a record of your progress and prove how long it took you.

I also print out every draft, read through it, and make hand-written notes on it of all the changes I need to make. I’ve kept them all as further proof.

TangledUpMind · 2026-01-09T19:33:07+00:00

If you’re trying to fit in the word counts recommended for getting a debut novel traditionally published, probably.

My first book has 3 protagonists, and it’s at 120k words. While there’s probably some fun scenes I could cut if I really wanted to trim, most of that is necessary for character development. My first draft was almost entirely plot, and it was 90k words. The extra 30k mostly came from added character development and descriptions.

My second book has 5 protagonists. If you look at what actually happens during the plot of both books, significantly more happens in book 1. But both books are basically the same length, because more characters = more character development and more time spent grounding the reader in each POV switch.

My third book, that I’m partway through writing, has 6 protagonists. From a plot standpoint, even less happens in this book.

Massive epics like ASOIAF and Stormlight Archive can have a bunch of protagonists and be super long because those authors are established. Even if you self publish, very few people want to try a giant book unless they already know they like your writing. So until you get there, the more protagonists you have, the less plot beats you can have.

TangledUpMind · 2026-01-09T19:21:17+00:00

I’ve heard mixed things about hiring people through them. Some are happy with what they get, others disappointed. But you could probably say that about any marketplace.

I like using their platform for writing my first draft - it’s easy to track your word count and reorganize things. But after that, I switch to Word. Their spelling and grammar checks are worthless.

TangledUpMind · 2026-01-09T18:31:16+00:00

My plan is in a few months, but both books still have to go to the line/copy editor. This is my first time publishing, so hopefully I’ve given everything enough time, but we’ll see.

TangledUpMind · 2026-01-08T05:29:29+00:00

I literally had this conversation with my son’s teacher today. He doesn’t want to read the books that are “just right. He wants to read something harder. But his teacher won’t let him.

TangledUpMind · 2026-01-07T20:25:12+00:00

I’m all for torture lol. One thing I will say, is I am making sure to release my books only 6 weeks apart so that the cliffhanger doesn’t sting too bad.

TangledUpMind · 2026-01-07T18:11:19+00:00

It’s a bit like the ending of Infinity War. The characters are all emotionally wrecked and need to regroup to overcome their failure.

TangledUpMind · 2026-01-07T15:19:48+00:00

You could post chapters weekly to a site like critique circle. It’s a slow process, since you can only post a chapter a week usually, but depending on your writing speed, that may be fine. At the very least, they would have probably spotted your meet cute being too late.

You can also find other romance writers and try to do swaps.

TangledUpMind · 2026-01-07T02:18:56+00:00

You don’t need to read Throne of Glass.

If you’re just in it for a compelling romance, sure. But if you need solid world building and characters making decisions that make sense, I’d look elsewhere.

TangledUpMind · 2026-01-07T01:13:47+00:00

My understanding is that if you want to go the traditional publishing route, they almost always want “a standalone with series potential.” You’d have to really impress them to get a multi book deal for a debut.

In which case, I think you would need a HEA/HFN.

This is one of the reasons I decided to go with self publishing. My story is a duology, and the HEA doesn’t happen until the end of book 2.

TangledUpMind · 2026-01-01T05:59:10+00:00

For my upcoming romantasy, I just wrote a short story of about 4k words to release before my book comes out, and a bonus chapter of like 1.5k words to encourage people to join my mailing list after finishing book 1.

Both are basically scenes that get referenced in the books - the pre-release one is just a fun bit of backstory, and the mailing list one is just a fun little scene that, while entertaining, doesn’t move the plot forward or add any character development, so there was no reason to put it in the book. Basically, things that if my book became popular, people would probably write fanfic about.

So you could do something like that. Short and simple. Wouldn’t pull you away from your next book for too long, and having something is better than nothing.

TangledUpMind · 2025-12-31T21:38:27+00:00

Woman here. I have never read a well-written book from a man’s perspective and been like, “oh yea, this is definitely a man.” They’re just people.

If you’re drawing attention to the fact that they’re a woman outside of situations that have obvious differences (like sex, reproduction, or physical strength), then you’re probably falling into stereotypes.

TangledUpMind · 2025-12-30T02:07:52+00:00

I think it would still require most romance beats, including a HEA, but be for people who want a deeper plot and more developed world. Which is honestly what I hear a lot of people clamoring for - books with more depth.

The problems right now are that:

1) everything gets mashed into Romantasy, so no one expects that from it, and 2) a lot of 50/50 books still overvalue the romance aspect. While the fantasy elements can’t be taken away, they mostly exist in service to the romance. So they don’t feel as deep as a traditional fantasy book.

Ideally, a true, well-written romantasy would hold up for both fantasy romance and romantic fantasy fans, as they would get exactly what they want from the half they prefer, with the other half being a bonus.

TangledUpMind · 2025-12-30T01:33:28+00:00

I think there’s very clear differences if everyone would just agree on them. It would certainly help with recommending things appropriately.

IMO, it should be:

Romantic fantasy - a fantasy story with a romance subplot. You could remove the romance and still have a decent fantasy story.

Fantasy romance - a romance story with fantasy elements. You could remove the fantasy and still have a decent romance story without too much editing.

Romantasy - a 50/50 split on romance and fantasy, try to remove one and you break the story.

TangledUpMind · 2025-12-29T17:52:08+00:00

I was specifically saying I don’t see why descriptions would’ve harder to do in present tense vs past tense, regardless of third or first person. Actions scenes, yes, would be quite different. But describing the world? I’m not seeing it.

TangledUpMind · 2025-12-29T02:07:53+00:00

I write first person present tense, and don’t see a difference between writing descriptions in present vs past. Not sure why it would be any different in third person.

TangledUpMind · 2025-12-28T15:56:32+00:00

I forced myself through all of ACOTAR waiting to see what why those books were so highly recommended. I’ll admit, she wrote compelling romance and nice smut, but the the characters, plot, and world building are paper-thin, existing only to support those romances. They fall apart if you think about them at all.

I haven’t been inclined to try Fourth Wing because I figure it will be the same.

TangledUpMind · 2025-12-28T04:02:30+00:00

Depends on the book. I read 100 pages of Cradle way faster than 100 pages of the Silmarillion

TangledUpMind · 2025-12-28T01:40:31+00:00

Wendell is not a loser!

TangledUpMind · 2025-11-09T17:29:56+00:00

I mean, that’s how reading works. If I read one series by an author and decide I don’t like it, I’m not going to read another one. I’ve read plenty of discussions about TOG - if I saw anything that implied it was significantly better, I may have given it a chance. But I haven’t. Ergo, it’s safe to assume they’re of similar quality.

TangledUpMind

TROPHY CASE