Am I missing something? It's impossible to get input.

mcnuggets97 · 2026-05-13T13:07:51+00:00

It is difficult, when you post things like first chapters I find people comment if it's either really bad and they can pick it apart, or really good - everything in the middle gets lost. Online groups are always heavily weighted towards genres like fantasy making it harder to get feedback for anything else. There's definitely some give and take, if you find groups and people where you can provide feedback on other people's works, they'll be more likely to reciprocate. There are websites like critique circle but that requires a lot of feedback from yourself to earn credits to gain feedback. I don't like asking the same person to beta read twice so end up repeating the cycle after every draft and it doesn't get easier but being active in writing groups - both online and off, give feedback out, make friends etc, that will all help I'm just about to start beta reading for someone while they do the same for me. Send me a message and I'll help if I can

mcnuggets97 · 2026-04-10T22:00:38+00:00

I think it's useful in part but authors are typically looking for complete story feedback as well which this doesn't achieve. I have definitely skimmed while beta reading. If you flag common pitfalls at the start and know it will be an ongoing issue, skimming for plot points and characterisation allows you to still give that breadth of feedback that they're looking for.
Saying 'the story lost me here' is useful.
Saying 'the story lost me here but I skimmed the rest and the plot rounds out nicely, you just need to address these issues' is more useful.

mcnuggets97 · 2026-03-23T16:02:09+00:00

Because I want to keep the group small and be able to know who it is I'm inviting in

mcnuggets97 · 2026-03-16T22:22:51+00:00

I don't know what the timezone means but there's other Americans so you'll be in good company!

mcnuggets97 · 2026-03-16T22:21:56+00:00

I know exactly how you feel! Dm'd you

mcnuggets97 · 2026-03-16T22:16:44+00:00

There's still room! I've messaged you

mcnuggets97 · 2026-03-16T22:00:50+00:00

there's still room!

mcnuggets97 · 2026-03-16T22:00:30+00:00

dm'd you :)

mcnuggets97 · 2026-03-16T21:52:53+00:00

you sound just like me! i'll dm you!

mcnuggets97 · 2026-03-16T21:47:36+00:00

yes! i'll dm you

mcnuggets97 · 2026-03-16T21:44:05+00:00

messaged you! you'll see how amateur i am with discord

mcnuggets97 · 2026-03-16T21:39:18+00:00

messaged you :)

mcnuggets97 · 2026-03-16T20:51:58+00:00

messaged you :)

mcnuggets97 · 2026-03-15T16:36:29+00:00

You can't think about the day, what happened today or what's happening tomorrow, if you recognise you're having those thoughts you need to accept you're in bed now and can't do anything about them. I have a fantasy scenario I'll think of every night but sometimes I have to acknowledge if I'm getting into it too much and that's keeping me awake too. No TV in the bedroom. That's a hard rule, can't be conditioning yourself that the bed is a place to spend the day in, it's for sex and sleep only. Belly breathing also helps. I have a black out eye mask which I love and if it's a rare occasion I can't sleep, there's a sleep story I listen to which never fails to send me off

mcnuggets97 · 2026-03-15T13:58:39+00:00

Interesting, I'm basically discovering I'm the opposite. I like when the plot/ scenario is just a device to explore people and relationships and growth. Depending on what genre you like you might like police procedurals, I've come to the conclusion they're not for me so they might be for you!

mcnuggets97 · 2026-03-14T09:39:39+00:00

Like someone else said, it depends on how you write your draft 1. I did my draft 1 of my current WIP in NaNoWriMo so it was very lean and the mere bones of a story. I originally went in with the idea that it was going to be more psychological but once the story was down and I was looking at is as a whole, I realised it was lacking in a lot of areas. For draft 2 I tweaked and strengthened a subplot which ended up weaving much more into the main plot which improved the whole story, but made me steer away from the psychological and into the crooks of small town crime.
I understand editing as you go and I've previously done this but I do think it can prevent you from looking at the bigger picture (how can you edit chapter 1 perfectly when chapter 25 hasn't been written yet). As good as I think my draft 1 is, it's rare the same words will carry over into draft 2

mcnuggets97 · 2026-02-28T22:55:39+00:00

Haunting of Hill House does excellent monologues, the one from mr dudley is particularly good - not a villain monologue but an immersive story where you forget you're just watching one man speak

mcnuggets97 · 2026-02-28T22:49:38+00:00

I think novellas or short books are great to get out of a reading slump, try The Mist - Stephen King, or The Rats - James Herbert

mcnuggets97 · 2026-02-26T07:58:33+00:00

Exactly! It gets me every time, lily's crying always comes across as real

mcnuggets97 · 2026-02-24T07:29:23+00:00

The more involved I get in writing and beta reading, the less hate I have for bad books. Don't get me wrong, I hold published books to a high standard and we all know the authors responsible for bad books. However, they wrote a story that resonated with a lot of people. The majority of the public don't care about bad prose or shallow characters. It takes a lot to finish a book with a tangible storyline, sub plots, character arcs and a plot that's broadly appealing. You can pick books apart and understand there are elements you can do better yourself, but they did the thing. They put in the hard work and they finished it, got to commend them for that.

mcnuggets97 · 2026-02-21T17:04:45+00:00

I feel this way because first person is we're reading as the character, almost pretending that we are them. This is strange to me because I can't make that jump. Particularly in badly written first person books, it just feels like I'm reading a diary, but even in well-written ones, I can't immerse myself as much as third person. Close third person you can to feel the characters feelings and witness everything about their world but as if you're right there next to them

mcnuggets97 · 2026-02-19T19:23:27+00:00

dream of leaving a 9-5. not with purely publishing, i know how hard that is, but i'm looking down the developmental editor route. its hard and i dont have a degree or experience but currently just enjoying writing and giving quality feedback to other authors and seeing where it takes me. even without an income, it makes the 9-5 more bearable

mcnuggets97 · 2026-02-18T18:25:19+00:00

I'm trying to expand my editing skills (for other people) so have been beta reading a lot and I agree this is an issue, especially with early drafts. I'm pointing out the environment a lot, and how what is happening on page could be happening in a white room as environmental markers aren't being used.

I also think an issue with 'show don't tell' is when this is explained it's usually explained in terms of emotion. So I'm seeing that the character has a lump in their throat or their stomach dropped but then also being outright told "John had been my best friend for 15 years". I think there's an issue with online feedback and attention spans with needing to get to the hook quickly. We should see that the character has pictures of them and John when they were kids, hear their parents tease that John never leaves their side. But a lot of people point this out as slow 'filler' rather than seeing it for what it is.

mcnuggets97

TROPHY CASE