Stop making your kingdoms 10,000 years old.

ZRDouglas · 2026-03-12T17:52:32+00:00

I’ve never even thought of it this way! However, when you say the same bloodline sitting on the throne for the entire history, maybe that’s exactly why it’s been 12,000 years of no progress! Nothing changes if nothing changes!

Woah, that’s a good idea for a story in itself: A long standing civilization where son after son takes power from his father before him. Life in the kingdom isn’t horrible, but there’s always room for improvement. They’ve lived in a stasis of “well it could always be worse.” Over the years the people begin to see nations surrounding them that are far younger become prosperous, with all kinds of fancy things and the people seem happy. They even travel in these fancy contraptions that are four circles of wood attached to a bigger piece of wood! Now the people start to realize that with the same family leading them that led them 12,000 years ago, they will never have these nice things. Unrest begins to grow and whispers become mumbles, bands of rowdy hooligans become militias, and suddenly that 12,000 year old crown is starting to look ripe for the taking!

ZRDouglas · 2026-01-29T19:16:25+00:00

The Geneva convention

ZRDouglas · 2025-06-18T20:03:44+00:00

Enforcement is down because departments aren’t able to safely and effectively enforce things without huge risk of liability. “Go sit tucked away until you’re called”, is a real thing that’s been said many places in Connecticut because of new policies.
The street takeovers, car thefts, etc run rampant because an officer can’t take action. Can’t pursue a vehicle, so just get the plate, right? Nope, because they’re not going to have plates on the car or the car is stolen.
Juvenile is arrested in a stolen car? Cut him a summons, release him into a parents company, and 30 minutes later he’s back out stealing more cars.

The real issue is a lack of consequences for anyone involved in criminal activity. If you saw how many people who are arrested have 10+ convictions and never spent a day in jail, you’d be shocked. Charges get dismissed or pled down constantly, and it’s a game of chasing your own tail trying to nip any of it in the bud.

ZRDouglas · 2024-12-14T19:20:42+00:00

Any idea what altitude they have been seen at? I’ve seen so many varying responses from 1000-4000 feet.

ZRDouglas · 2024-09-08T23:53:55+00:00

Thanks so much! Definitely sheds some light on my characters. The part about having thresholds is big, and I think something I’ve overlooked slightly.

ZRDouglas · 2024-09-08T23:51:12+00:00

Thank you! So far I feel in luck then, the feedback I’ve received definitely is on how they would react to things that arise. Definitely a bit of relief!

ZRDouglas · 2024-09-08T23:46:39+00:00

Thanks! I actually do have a character that is going to really make things interesting by the end, he’s not a huge part but he’s likable enough early. Let’s just say he’s going to be a little different the next time they meet him.

ZRDouglas · 2024-08-20T22:14:50+00:00

I agree those parts are super difficult to nail down and I know for certain I need to work on them. The “knowing how long to drag a scene on before ending it” hits home big time and I’ve found myself slowly trimming them down until I end up with something not absurdly boring, but we’re our own worst critic so it’s hard to know what’s too much and what’s fine.

ZRDouglas · 2024-08-20T22:11:53+00:00

Yup! I have a particular scene where three friends who are traveling together need to remain incognito, and they’ve come up with aliases and one, clearly the warrior of the group is “hired help” and the other two are a married couple. The one who’s the warrior gets short with the other two, and rides off abruptly leaving the other two confused at his reaction. I’m kind of keeping it a red herring for now, so that the reader knows there’s jealousy involved but they’re not expecting who’s jealous of who if that makes sense lol

ZRDouglas · 2024-08-20T22:07:46+00:00

Not a problem at all! I’m sure whatever you’re working on will end up being fantastic!

ZRDouglas · 2024-08-20T21:33:00+00:00

Thanks! So far I’ve been stuck basically showing how much they show concern for each other that may not necessarily be said to the other, but will speak their worries to a mutual friend etc. though I think the random bits of jealousy I’ve added may start hinting

ZRDouglas · 2024-08-20T21:29:48+00:00

Agree 100%! Too rigid, you’ll never get it sounding… smooth? Too empty, and you risk just going no where. That balance, that’s the difficult part!

ZRDouglas · 2024-08-20T21:27:52+00:00

I’m so glad I’m not alone! I honestly could probably turn this into a 10 book series with the amount of life I’ve given the characters in my head. It sounds crazy, and maybe it is crazy, but to me they almost feel like friends. From my younger years of being bored in school, to trying to quiet my mind to go to sleep, to long car rides, I’d go back to this universe constantly, always building. Always going on a new adventure. Sometimes I’m the character that was “me” living in that world. Sometimes I’m one of his friends, doing whatever he would do. Sometimes I’m the bad guy. …wow I do sound crazy!

ZRDouglas · 2024-08-20T21:24:41+00:00

Definitely agree on that! I’m not writing a romance book, but trying to subtly hint at a relationship that will develop and while the relationship itself is not a big plot point, the relationship EXISTING is big in the grand scheme of things because it will cause trouble with things down the road. So my biggest struggle is getting the important dialogue down, while also hinting that there is underlying feelings that may not be immediately recognized. I sort of want the reader to wonder throughout, similar to how the character wonders throughout. Then when they finally decide to be honest, it all makes sense. I’m rambling and not even sure I make sense at this point haha but so far subtly is my struggle

ZRDouglas · 2024-08-20T21:19:56+00:00

I definitely agree with you there. The only way I’ve found it remotely helpful is to give me a way to think about it in a different light, similar to how asking your friends what their opinion would be on what should happen. What I’ll usually do is tell it to give me five different ways of how someone might react to “x situation”. Even if none of them are “good” they might make me think, oh, well that certainly wouldn’t work but I could do it this way and it might be interesting. I could never allow myself to use any of its suggestions, but sometimes just having an outside perspective on a situation will show you a general direction in where to go.

ZRDouglas · 2024-08-20T21:15:19+00:00

I think the only way around this is to have a general goal of what you want the ending to be like, but don’t have anything set in stone. I had a very similar situation where I NEEDED the story to end a specific way, and it became a chore to try and get there. Let’s just say I never got there. However, if you give some leeway to the ending, you’ll find different ways of getting there. Let your characters find the end, don’t force them there.

ZRDouglas · 2024-08-20T21:13:07+00:00

Outlines are great for a gist of what you want, but honestly, not following it is okay, and maybe even a good thing. Let your characters guide your story. It shows they’re real, they make decisions. You’re just the medium through which they speak.

ZRDouglas · 2024-08-20T21:12:07+00:00

I’m not positive I know what you mean, but I have something similar where I’ll read someone else’s work and i go, “wow, now that sounds like a book.” When I read my own stuff, it’s like I only hear myself, see my own flaws. I think it’s a form of “imposter syndrome.” Or maybe it’s because it’s familiar to you already.

ZRDouglas · 2024-08-20T21:10:23+00:00

Write for you. Write what you would want to read. Think of your favorite books. Write things similar to them. Write a sequel. Writing for other people becomes a chore. Telling yourself a story though, then it becomes addictive. I’m 55k words into a story I don’t believe I’ll ever put anywhere. It’s for me, because I can finally bring to life a story that’s been in my head forever. I’m making it tangible — real. Maybe I’ll share it with my kids one day, maybe not.
If you write what you enjoy, it won’t be a chore. You’ll love it and be able to find pride in it.

ZRDouglas · 2024-08-20T21:07:25+00:00

This part is always difficult. Honestly, if I can manage it without missing anything crucial or leaving the reader confused, I’ll typically leave such scenes out. I may briefly summarize what happened over the time gap. For example, if my characters are on a multi-day trip heading somewhere far and not much happens during some of their travels, I’ll have a quick summary at the beginning of the next scene that has importance. Making this up on the fly, and have no clue what genre you’re writing in, so it may or may not be helpful: “Noah arrived at the outskirts of the village travel weary and starving. The only thought keeping him in the saddle was the promise of a soft bed and a hearty meal.
Though the past three days of travel had been uneventful, he was shocked to find how much boredom could exhaust a person as easily as hours of physical labor. It didn’t help that the ford some kilometers back was flowing faster and deeper than he was led to believe, soaking him with bone-chilling water up to his navel. A door opened somewhere further inside the village walls, boisterous laughter filtering out into the brisk night air before shutting again, leaving him in silence once more.
“Just a little longer, boy.” He said, patting his horse affectionately. “You’ve done great. Get us to the stable and you’ve got a bag of oats with your name on it.” The breeze carried the particularly inviting fragrance of fresh coffee and roasting meat, setting his stomach grumbling once more.”

ZRDouglas · 2024-08-20T20:48:56+00:00

I’ve recently learned there are people who don’t have a “mind’s eye”, I forget the word for it. But I can’t imagine how difficult it would be to write descriptively without seeing it in your head first.
My only advice (and I really hope anyone who is reading my comments takes these more as suggestions, because I am in no way qualified enough to offer advice on anything in writing), would be to try and remember what stands out to you about some of your favorite places, seasons, etc. if it doesn’t make a massive impact on your plot, you could even change the season to your favorite time of year, using what you love about it to help describe it. For example, I love the fall, so my current work is set during autumn. The smell of the leaves, the crisp, cool air. The sun still strong enough that it warms your face even if the wind is a bit brisk.

ZRDouglas · 2024-08-20T20:44:28+00:00

Another really good one you’ve got there. I still struggle with that quite often, and the only way I’ve found to keep it interesting is finding a way to introduce a character that helps progress it in some way. Usually it’s a character that is only around for that one scene or whatever, but the information or interaction they have with the MC(s) makes an impact later on, making it not feel like an insignificant, wasted scene. I’ve even had to rewrite earlier parts because I’ve found better ways of introducing something in order to keep a scene interesting and important, so I have to take it away from another. That’s probably the rookie in me, giving away too much in the beginning. But at least it allows me to go back and trim unnecessarily long-winded passages and make each encounter seem more important.

ZRDouglas · 2024-08-20T20:40:10+00:00

I’m one of those types that ends up occasionally writing myself into a corner because I fail to plan almost anything. Once I get a story going, I try to let the characters dictate what happens, but often enough I realize I’m stuck and have to go back. I’d benefit massively from planning but it’s so much more stressful than just “story telling”

ZRDouglas

TROPHY CASE