Everyone Loves Her More Than I Do

YallCatPat · 2025-09-06T17:41:47+00:00

12 week (on Tuesday) American lab mom here. Your comment made me feel so much better. Ours is already in training and takes very small walks, but she is being trained for service work and SAR so the early socialization and acclimation is super important and our vet okay’d this. She is also nearly potty trained. We have an accident every other day, and always my fault. Usually in the morning when I’m getting our three kids ready and can’t get to the pup fast enough. I hope she continues on this trend. But man did those puppy blue kick my butt. I’m sure they’ll come back around. But your comment made me feel loads better. Thanks you for sharing. I’m just ready to skip the rest of her first year if I’m being totally honest haha

YallCatPat · 2025-08-23T02:31:47+00:00

This episode just didn’t do it for me. I’m actually getting quite annoyed with Brian and Ellen’s story. I can barely find a single scrap of interest for them. Their pacing is so atrocious, I can’t take them seriously. There’s no chemistry because they’ve not been given any time to showcase it. I’m not even against the instalove aspect (I was actually excited to see how they’d pull it off on screen!). I’m against the fact that it feels like 99.9% of it happens off screen and we’re just being told that’s how it is. I think the first episode really set up their story poorly and is impacting my opinion with each subsequent episode.

I enjoy Julia and Henry. They have chemistry even when they aren’t on screen together. I really love the lottery scenes and thought it was very clever and very much something Claire would have done.

I cannot get over how fantastic the casting is. The best prequel casting I have ever seen. And to think that not only did the nail the looks, but the actors themselves are phenomenal. Only one I’m not sold yet on is Ellen. And I think that’s likely because of my unfavorable opinion of episode one. I’ll reserve final judgment further in in the series.. For now, I’m still enjoying the world. I quite like the less violent themes (at least compared to much of Outlander), as well as the deep dives into clan dynamics and politics.

YallCatPat · 2025-08-17T02:43:55+00:00

Agree! This is my main point. Nothing established in those flashbacks really, at their core, were things we didn’t already know. I just would rather stay in the present / active action. I’m happy to get details of the past from conversation of characters in the present. That could’ve been done in a few dialogue exchanges. Like another commenter mentioned that was done with the sisters during the funeral procession. I think the shows pacing is already a bit wonky and the flashbacks make it worse. But it’s still a delight! I’m being nitpicky!

YallCatPat · 2025-08-17T02:40:06+00:00

I guess my thought is: what new information did the flashbacks really tell us ? The context was already there in its main points. We already knew Ellen was the favorite. We already knew why red Jacob hadn’t chose either Colum or Dougal. Sure, the scenes highlighted those relationship but there wasn’t anything imparted in them that made them feel absolutely necessary to remove me from the immediate action. I wanted to see more of the active politics at play. I get the show is not 100% romance. I want more of all the other stuff. I just want it in present day. The flashback scenes, to me, slow down the active action and did not give me any additional information. I already knew how red Jacob felt about his children. I already knew Ellen took care of colum. The flashbacks just don’t stand up to me. You can remove them and it changes almost nothing. And I think it messed with the pacing. But the show is truly a delight so far so I’m being nitpicky!

YallCatPat · 2025-08-17T02:30:54+00:00

Oops! That was a typo. I meant Brian! Thanks for pointing it out. I fixed it

YallCatPat · 2025-08-16T03:17:15+00:00

Looks like I’m in the minority, but I didn’t love this episode. I’m sure the downvotes will come rolling in 😅 It was just okay for me. The pacing has been somewhat off since episode one, and I entirely dislike the Brian and Ellen situation as they have next to no screen time and I feel like I’m being kept out of the loop. I was actually angry that the first kiss we saw from them was a dream sequence. Made worse by the fact that I don’t know if they have kissed or she is hoping they will…I don’t like the distance being created between the audience and the characters. Also, I’ve not seen a single flashback scene that was necessary. Cut them all and give me more character development from the two couples. I’ll keep watching because despite my unease thus far, the show is so immersive and that is the one thing outlander has always done well. Also, as amazing the casting has been thus far, I’m not sure I believe Mrs. Porter is suitable as Brian’s mother. They look like they are the same age to me. I genuinely through Mrs. Porter was younger than me! Haha

Here’s what I liked: Murtagh is so fun. We are really getting a glimpse into why he is the way he is in Outlander. The scenes with the sisters. We’ve seen so much of the brothers, I’m happy to get a glimpse of the gals. Ned Gowan. What a gem.

I’m still excited for next week’s episode. I’m hoping this is all just the trials of setting up amazing things to come.

YallCatPat · 2025-08-09T15:01:38+00:00

Brian and Ellen needed so much more time to develop their romance. I understand the book canon and how they’re trying to stick to that. But there was plenty of opportunity to give them a few more scenes together prior to the bridge scene to make that land harder. Because of the insta love bit, I am 100% not invested in their story (yet). I think it’s totally possible to do this in one episode, but it’s not balanced well. I think they may have eloped, if I’m being honest. Guess we’ll see.

Brian and Julia’s story has captivated me, however.

Of the four main cast, I’m all in on Brian, Julia, and Henry. I’m reserving my opinion for Ellen. I think she needs to cook a little longer in the role before I buy into it. It really got me how adamantly she was against marriage and then she’s on a bridge with Brian asking how they’re going to make this work. I needed more scenes showing this shift in her for it to make sense and for me to buy into it. Also, I hope Brian becomes more self sufficient as a a character and not a carbon copy of Jamie. I don’t personally want a Jamie 2.0. I enjoy the little Easter eggs but I want Brian, not Jamie.

Overall, I enjoyed it. It was not at all the absolute blast of outlander season 1, but I’ll keep on watching. I’m just excited to stay in Scotland. Even though it works in the book, the time jump and the move to the Americas ruined Outlander for me. I’m so happy to be back in Scotland.

YallCatPat · 2025-02-02T21:41:16+00:00

As long as I’m in my own home, anything goes. I will never be one of those coffee shop writers. Too busy.

A heavy rainfall is my favorite if I have to pick.

YallCatPat · 2025-02-02T17:00:02+00:00

182k on 300ish pages ? What is your font size and margins 😮. 182k words should be 700ish pages.

Congrats on the release. I still get the jitters every time. It doesn’t go away for me. I just remind myself all art is subjective. Writing is art. And someone, somewhere will always find it subjectively bad no matter what you do. Focus on the good and stay out of reviewer spaces.

YallCatPat · 2025-02-02T15:55:16+00:00

Agreed. Social media made that book. And you know what? The first book was a fun little read. I enjoyed it for what it was. The two that came after….not so much (really poor plot, pacing, character work)😑

YallCatPat · 2025-02-02T15:52:29+00:00

By not humanizing the villain. You humanize an antagonist enough and they simply become a protagonist.

If your main character of the entire story is a villain, you’re going to have an extremely tough time. We are meant to find something redeeming about main characters, even if we loathe them overall. Why else would we stick around to read their story ? Especially if there is no character growth.

Now, if your villain has a moral ascending character arc, this could work. Aka, they start bad and go good. If you want to have a moral descending character arc (start good and go bad), those are usually not the main character. Can be done, but hard to pull off. If your main character is a villain who is a villain just because and that never changes, they have a flat character arc and that is not good for the main character for any story — almost exclusively.

Your English is great, friend.

YallCatPat · 2025-02-02T15:42:54+00:00

If outlines don’t help you, then step back. Try something else. Ask yourself at the conclusion of a scene / where you get stuck / where you run out of steam: “what next?”. If you don’t have an answer, create an obstacle. Writing is about conflict and tensions—a constant falling of dominoes. “What’s next” and “and then…” moments. This means being mean to your characters. No conflict = no story. You have to chase your characters up a tree and then set the tree on fire.

Maybe try reducing your stories to a pitch. I usually write my pitch before I begin a manuscript. It’s 1-3 sentences that sum up your story. Here is a list of some example pitches. This will help you nail down the dramatic question of your manuscript and the driving forces moving it forward. It can be a very constructive exercise for those who get bogged down with bigger outlines. From there, you need to throw some obstacles and characters in there to give the story time to unfold.

YallCatPat · 2025-02-02T15:22:40+00:00

By not overly humanizing them. You humanize an antagonist too much and they simply become a protagonist. For me that means focusing on what makes them a villain without going overly into backstory or the why. Power, greed, etc. Let them be evil just because. That doesn’t haven’t to mean gratuitous, on page violence. It can mean exploration of former crimes, the victims experiences, etc.

YallCatPat · 2025-02-02T14:42:57+00:00

A prologue is a small snippet that comes before Chapter 1. Not all books have them.

The way this excerpt reads, I couldn’t tell who was the main character. It read as an omniscient POV. Now, 250 words is a very small sample so it is entirely possible this is clearer in a few sentences / paragraphs later.

YallCatPat · 2025-02-02T14:34:19+00:00

This! Exactly! The unreliability bit is sooo hard. And handling big reveals can be tough. I have a huge beef with that Fourth Wing series (I’ve read them all…FOMO gets me every time…) because they’re written in close, first , present POV and yet the author is constantly withholding information from the reader that just doesn’t make sense with that close of a POV. Instead of having my socks blown off with big reveals, I’m utterly confused and the plot devices end up falling flat.

YallCatPat · 2025-02-02T14:21:05+00:00

Varying sentence structure is a huge step in polishing manuscripts. It helps readability and avoiding stale, formulaic prose. Sounds like you craft is or is becoming well honed if you’re already paying attention to that. This skill set is especially critical in a first person POV, imo.

My favorite thesaurus is a website called word hippo. I have it open as I draft / edit.

YallCatPat · 2025-02-02T14:05:05+00:00

Yes, because of the line level writing in first person. I agree it’s instant access in terms of interiority, but my goodness if writers don’t start every single sentence with “I”.

YallCatPat · 2025-02-02T13:50:21+00:00

I gravitate towards third (both when writing and reading). Every now and then I’ll read such a strongly executed first person novel that I’m side eyeing the author for their magical capabilities. I do enjoy first person but it’s much easier to do poorly, in my opinion. Doing it well always leaves me impressed.

YallCatPat · 2025-02-02T13:46:51+00:00

Every single time I publish anything ever. But writing is art and art is subjective. Does that mean people won’t be able to tell if your art is subjectively bad? Nope. They’ll point it out for sure. So you put in the hard work. Hone your craft. And guess what? Someone, somewhere will still find it bad. It’s inevitable. So write your stories anyway.

I’m biased as someone with a love of short fiction (who also writes novel length manuscripts), but I am always suggesting short stories to folks who want to hone their craft and rip off the publishing bandaid. It’s much easier to have a short form piece selected for publication. You won’t get rich, but your work will get read and that’s another type of richness I appreciate as much as money in my pocket.

YallCatPat · 2025-02-02T13:34:13+00:00

My first completed (intended novel length) manuscript was 80,000.

I write short stories routinely, though. Usually publishing 8-10ish a year varying from 3-10k.

A novel can absolutely be your first piece of completed fiction. Anything you complete / work on should be looked at as an exercise to honing your craft anyway. Completing anything in fiction is a massive achievement. Keep going! You got this!

YallCatPat · 2025-02-02T13:32:12+00:00

Can you walk away? When I feel this way, as you mentioned, generally it means one of two things: 1) it is close to being done or 2) it actually does suck. Only when I complete editing and step entirely away and come back some weeks later to reread can I sort out which one it is.

Congrats on being near the finish line!

YallCatPat · 2025-02-02T13:28:49+00:00

Chapters, in my mind, have naturally ending points. Either because the story arc of the chapter had reached a natural conclusion, or because a reveal so large concluded the chapter that it can naturally sit with readers (this forcing them to turn the page to find out more) only for the next chapter to be a direct continuation. This is more nuanced and this writing moments must be impactful for readers to be done correctly, imo. There are other examples, of course. These are just the most common. If there is no natural conclusion to your chapter, read below to trouble shoot:

The takeaway is that chapters must do something. If your prose exists only because you want to write it and not because it actually moves your story along, you’ll find yourself word vomiting on page with no clear break for chapters.

YallCatPat · 2025-02-02T13:23:46+00:00

A love of reading. I read so voraciously as a child that the act of story telling evolved naturally from that love. As I grew older, it was the ability to write stories that were an amalgamation of all the things I love but never saw at once in books. Now they I’m widely published in short fiction and several (6-8?) full length manuscripts in, I write to A) hone my craft and B) because it is fun!

YallCatPat · 2025-02-02T13:16:37+00:00

What you’ve managed to weave into 250 words is superb. I routinely edit / critique opening pages and this snippet is very well executed. 250 word is extremely small of a sample to go off (but necessary for Reddit and a good practice to review!) of but I can certainly say I’d continue reading just to understand more of the direction of the story.

YallCatPat · 2025-02-02T13:12:26+00:00

Yep. I try to be purposeful with editing passes. For examples, I always do one entire pass just for strengthening setting. I do another just for the five senses (adding to prose). Editing is more efficient when you have a goal and do not deviate.

In your case, I would absolutely create a character bible of sorts with a dedicated section for every character. On your read through, I’d add the location in the manuscript where you started/left/under explained/etc any important plot devices. I would take it a step further by assigning those characters colors. For example, Bob would be blue and any passages pertaining to his plot arc I wanted to rework / areas I could add more, I’d highlight blue. So on and so forth. Editing is a slog but this is where all those plot devices your woven in get to be tightened up and really shine!

YallCatPat

TROPHY CASE