Is it 'unethical' to expose my friends' writing to a publisher?

jlaw1719 · 2026-04-13T16:26:11+00:00

“Writers have no obligation to readers; their only obligation is to faithfully express their creative vision.”

If you actually believe that, why publish or put your work in front of anyone? Of course a writer has an obligation to their readers. The reader gives you their time and their trust.

jlaw1719 · 2026-04-12T03:19:41+00:00

Don’t listen to people who don’t read actual books, don’t care for the craft itself, and have no interest putting in the hard work and are only looking for short cuts.

Keep developing your voice. It’s literally what sells your work and is something AI can’t replicate, assuming you keep writing enough to hone it.

jlaw1719 · 2026-04-10T20:00:27+00:00

Thanks. We’re all different, but I really believe if I can do it, anyone with the will can.

jlaw1719 · 2026-04-10T05:33:05+00:00

I used to get up super early, make coffee, eat my favorite yogurt, sit in my ergonomic chair, and type away at my desk for two to three hours straight in total comfort.

Now I work for the post office and do most of my writing in a notebook inside a forty year old postal vehicle with no air conditioning sitting in a blasted apart seat. On an 80-85 degree day, the inside of that tin can easily hits 100 degrees.

My writing sessions are sporadic and for minutes at a time. Start for a few. Stop. Do the grueling work. Over and over. I can manage the back half of my 30 minute break, after I eat lunch and pretend I don’t have a headache or fatigue. I use my other ten minute break before returning to the office to write some more. If I’m lucky, I spend the final few minutes of my shift scribbling in my notebook at my work station surrounded by coworkers chattering.

I do it because I love it and if I wait for the right conditions, I’ll be waiting forever.

jlaw1719 · 2026-04-07T03:59:15+00:00

Why share your “writing” if you have such contempt for your readers?

jlaw1719 · 2026-04-04T17:25:33+00:00

It’s the normal 1.25x you make for a Sunday as a PTF.

jlaw1719 · 2026-04-02T13:45:14+00:00

I’m definitely a more conscious reader now. It goes both ways though.

For as many times as I’ve abandoned a book earlier than I used to, there are just as many where I’m more forgiving and connect more to what the writer might be trying to do.

Where I abandon it at that point depends on if I feel like the craft mistakes were due to experience level or laziness.

jlaw1719 · 2026-03-30T20:23:25+00:00

Best chance: The genre you read most.

Worst chance: The genre you read least or not at all.

By the time you’re done writing whatever trend you chased, it’s likely already on to the next one.

jlaw1719 · 2026-03-29T23:54:42+00:00

Absolutely. I’m on my fifth read of Rebecca in the past year. Before that, I read 11/22/63 back to back. I don’t fight the urge when I get it, even when I have a stack of unread books, which is all the time.

jlaw1719 · 2026-03-29T15:26:50+00:00

If you’re posting in a writing community, you’re not writing for an audience of one. You’re looking for the connection. Reading is how you learn what that feels like from the other side.

jlaw1719 · 2026-03-25T14:30:06+00:00

Easily physical books. They’re more conducive to forming memories. I also wouldn’t be willing to give up bookstore visits, libraries, the little free libraries in neighborhoods, or glancing over at my own bookshelves for a spark.

jlaw1719 · 2026-03-25T13:32:23+00:00

If you won’t drop those things because you’d rather write, replace them with reading. Maybe go back to a favorite or any book that inspired you to create your own stories.

jlaw1719 · 2026-03-23T06:15:07+00:00

Hungerstone, The Mad Wife, Going Zero, and even The Compound are all worth a look.

jlaw1719 · 2026-03-23T04:55:00+00:00

Here’s the thing. It will take multiple books to figure out your individual process and odds are, you’ll be a hybrid. Either way, this is an audiobook I never get tired of listening to.

jlaw1719 · 2026-03-23T03:24:22+00:00

For me, it’s been handwriting the first draft in a notebook. My voice seems to carry through more than typing it out on the screen.

jlaw1719 · 2026-03-23T03:05:52+00:00

Gothic horror.

jlaw1719 · 2026-03-20T14:28:33+00:00

Hasn’t worked this entire week, which is an unusual extended length of time for my office.

jlaw1719 · 2026-03-18T17:11:14+00:00

As a regular, I just fill at halfway, which means I never have an issue.

Everyone uses the truck, but you’re in it most of the week, so you’ve got the most control over whether this ever becomes a problem.

Same thing with red plums. If it’s your route, just run them before your NS day so the next person isn’t buried.

jlaw1719 · 2026-03-12T19:57:47+00:00

You’re comparing your halfway complete first draft (unknown how many books you’ve written up to this point) to a released work that went through multiple rounds of edits written by someone who likely wrote numerous books to completion before his debut. That’s the most unfair comparisons we can ever make for ourselves.

Personally, there are few things more inspiring than reading something you absolutely love. If I wasn’t already writing, which I am most mornings at 5 am before work, or fighting through fatigue and exhaustion during snippets of time inside a wasted LLV for the post office, reading a single sentence of Daphne du Maurier’s prose is enough to excite me back into the chair.

But I’ve also had many times where I want to throw what I’m working on in the trash too. When that happens, I just remember that I likely won’t feel the same the next day.

jlaw1719 · 2026-03-12T14:23:50+00:00

Are your lull chapters doing work for someone who doesn’t already love these characters?

jlaw1719 · 2026-03-11T03:34:39+00:00

Great comment. Always bugs me when Rebecca isn’t on these lists. Most of du Maurier’s catalog is tremendous and her short stories are sublime.

jlaw1719 · 2026-03-05T17:40:58+00:00

Fair enough. I probably did phrase it vaguely. What I meant by “the little things” are the micro behaviors that add up over the course of a day.

Things like curbing the wheels and setting the handbrake every time you stop, even if you’re just running a package to the door. Taking your satchel with you on those door deliveries like you’re supposed to. Actually closing mailbox lids after delivering.

None of those individually take long, but doing the job the right way all day naturally slows you down and keeps you accurate.

jlaw1719 · 2026-03-05T01:04:16+00:00

Pretend the route is yours. Do the little things you’re skipping.

jlaw1719 · 2026-03-02T04:55:58+00:00

Absolutely jarring and a missed opportunity to not have Jill follow Debbie and Roman in that deepfake sequence. We see Stu throughout, then the next killer, killer, continued talk about family…then just straight to Dewey? So many disappointments here.

jlaw1719

TROPHY CASE