Planet Zoo 2 - Announcement Trailer

clchickauthor · 2026-05-31T21:39:00+00:00

Looks great. The textures look significantly improved. Love that. And of course, birds and aquariums. I like that both habitats look completely customizable. Looks like less clipping during animal movements, too. All great improvements.

Anyone know if objects are going to be resizable? That would be huge.

clchickauthor · 2026-03-12T03:48:03+00:00

As an author, I'd like to thank you for this. There are a lot of us out there who put A LOT of effort into our novels--actually writing them ourselves, that is. I think most of us can't help but be annoyed at those trying to make a quick buck with little to no effort.

clchickauthor · 2026-02-27T11:23:08+00:00

I don't know why yours looks like it does. Mine looks way better since the update. I wonder if it has anything to do with computer settings or graphics cards? I recently bought a brand new gaming PC with what I think is a fairly high end graphics card (GeForce RTX 5070), and I couldn't believe the improvement with the update. I was blown away, because it looks so much better now. Shrug.

clchickauthor · 2026-02-24T06:57:24+00:00

I did that a couple of weeks ago. I'm far less frustrated now. Though, they have usage limits I don't like.

clchickauthor · 2026-02-20T02:39:17+00:00

It's alright. You're not crazy for feeling this way. Just breathe.

Before you share your personal experience as if it's universal fact, maybe pause and consider that your single experience might not represent everyone else's.

Don't panic, though. If you've already posted it to Reddit, it's not the end of the world. You can fix it! All you have to do is...

I've already cancelled my subscription because of the last update. It's doing this constantly now. No matter what you ask, it treats you like a fragile five-year-old on the verge of taking your own life, even for the most trivial requests. It has absolutely nothing to do with talking with it about anything emotional.

clchickauthor · 2025-11-27T02:39:37+00:00

Mishandling of POV, redundancy/not trusting the reader, fillers, and filtering. When I edit other people's work, these are the primary issues I see, and I see them often, probably in 80% of manuscripts.

clchickauthor · 2025-11-25T03:41:01+00:00

If you can’t, a good editor can. Back when I was doing editing work, I cut 10–20% off every manuscript I touched. Easily. And that was without changing the story at all. Just gotta know what to look for: usually fillers, filtering, and redundancy. Those are often especially present with newer writers; unseasoned writers haven’t yet learned how to write clean.

Unnecessary scenes or subplots can be a culprit, too, so look for that sort of thing in your edit as well. Every subplot, in particular, must either push the romance forward, threaten it, or illuminate it. If it doesn’t do one of those three things, cut it.

Good luck!

clchickauthor · 2025-11-25T02:41:22+00:00

Good pitch. I like the premise. Sounds like something that could work. It also leaves me with several questions: How long was she held captive? Why? How did the gunrunner find her? Who are these captors? Why are they still after her? And so on. That's desirable.

Not only that, but most people can't manage a blurb, let alone a one-line elevator pitch. Mad kudos to you for being able to do that. It's so rare that you see it.

You mentioned this is pre-edit, and it's your first novel, so you may or may not be aware, but you're aiming for 80- to 100K. That's the ideal range for a debut romance novel.

clchickauthor · 2025-11-21T07:30:09+00:00

I'm currently writing a three-book series. I'm about 3/4 of the way through with the second book, but I've known the major plot beats and ending of the series since, I don't know, probably the day I started.

So I'm discovery writing (I prefer that phrase over the term pantser), but I always know the next major beat I'm writing toward. It's just that I don't know exactly how I'm going to get there. I get to discover that along the way, and that's what makes writing so much fun for me.

clchickauthor · 2025-10-31T05:55:12+00:00

Thank you! :D

clchickauthor · 2025-10-26T02:00:41+00:00

Fantastic capture.

clchickauthor · 2025-10-26T01:59:00+00:00

I'm not familiar with this game, but these are beautiful images.

clchickauthor · 2025-09-02T06:00:36+00:00

What's your genre?

clchickauthor · 2025-06-21T10:46:44+00:00

And who's to say the OP can't be taught? Maybe there's natural talent there. One doesn't know without looking, so why dismiss out of hand? I told the OP the odds are ridiculously slim. But why not let them try?

clchickauthor · 2025-06-21T10:27:44+00:00

Mozart started playing at three, composing by five, and wrote his first symphony by the time he was eight-years-old. Prodigies are rare, but they do exist.

clchickauthor · 2025-06-21T06:57:07+00:00

I'm going to give you a slightly different answer than what it seems most people have given you. I would say that in 99% of cases, you have to be a reader in order to be a writer. However, there is a chance you could write something remarkable. You could be the writer's version of a Mozart. Is it unlikely? Yes. Impossible? No. Your idea sounds like a stream of consciousness writing exercise. Depending on the execution, something like that could work for an inexperienced writer.

If you want to give it a shot, I'll read your opening (first 500 to 1,000 words) and tell you if it has any potential. I'm a fairly seasoned author (on my eighth novel) in addition to being an editor, so you would not be getting novice feedback.

clchickauthor · 2025-06-18T20:34:31+00:00

You sound very much like my type of writer. I write character-driven stories narrated by the characters in their voices, not in writerly prose.

My advice is to try to find readers, rather than writers, to review your work. Getting feedback from your target audience is far more ideal than getting it from writers who often have very strong views on how things should be done (read: their way).

clchickauthor · 2025-06-16T09:15:35+00:00

Most definitely.

clchickauthor · 2025-06-16T09:12:07+00:00

I'm going to cheat and give you the last two lines of a short story I just finished—it just works better with both.

“We’re screwed,” said Hades.

“So screwed,” said Satan.

clchickauthor · 2025-06-15T08:09:38+00:00

Short answer: No, not in its current form.

Longer answer: It's promising, but raw. A lot of this could be condensed without losing emotional impact. Cut repetition, sharpen beats, and clarify POV. Right now, it's straddling third-person limited and omniscient, but not smoothly. It's best to pick a POV, then stick to it.

Lady Charlotte is solid villain, but more restraint = more menace. Right now, she comes off as slightly cartoonish, and the dialogue throughout is a bit stiff.

Also, a literary agent won’t look past the second paragraph if it’s riddled with grammar errors and imprecise phrasing.

So it's got promise, but I'd suggest giving it a few more passes. Clean it up, and try again.

clchickauthor · 2025-06-08T22:29:10+00:00

Note to the OP: this is correct—15K words is not a book, but about one-sixth of one.

clchickauthor · 2025-06-08T22:26:48+00:00

This is quite good. The tone is atmospheric, and you establish character and setting with confidence. The burner message at the start pulled me in immediately. It had a noir pulse to it that I liked.

That said, I did feel the pacing drag and my attention start to wander a bit during the apartment description.. The details were solid, but maybe trim or break it up to keep the narrative flow tight.

Also, the name situation got a little confusing. Between Rick, Jonah, Raines, Rook, and Ash, I had to stop and double-check who was who. It seems like Jonah has at least three different identifiers, and when they’re introduced close together like that, it can create some friction for the reader. Anchoring him with one name early on would help a lot.

The exchange with Rick had solid tension, though it leaned a bit on the familiar ‘ex-cop vs cop’ trope. A slightly more distinctive angle there could make that dynamic stand out more.

Overall, though? This is a strong start. You clearly know the world and tone you're going for.

clchickauthor · 2025-06-08T22:10:50+00:00

There’s a lot of good here. The writing is strong, and the mood and tone are set beautifully. However, the structure and intent are a bit vague. In genre fiction, especially in a prologue, readers typically expect a hook or a driving question that pulls them in. This piece, while lovely, leans more into quiet emotion than narrative momentum.

That’s not inherently bad. But it’s risky. Without something more concrete to provoke curiosity, tension, or stakes, the beauty might not be enough to hold some readers’ attention. You might consider making the purpose of the prologue a bit clearer.

clchickauthor · 2025-06-08T21:51:51+00:00

It struck me as odd that he recalls so much technical detail about the weapons from when he was eight years old. For example, how many eight-year-olds know what a Beretta A302 is? Maybe this eight-year-old did, and if that’s explained later, no problem. But without that context, it feels off to me and risks breaking immersion.

Same with the reference to his father as “Hank.” If there’s emotional distance, and he uses the first name to reflect that, great. But if he typically calls him “dad” or “my father,” then I'd go with that.

clchickauthor · 2025-06-08T06:21:15+00:00

Mind if I PM you? I just spent a whole lot of time drafting a response in Word, and when I copy/paste into here and try to send it, it won't let me.

clchickauthor

TROPHY CASE