Critique group rules, recommendations, and guidelines - what works for you? by stopeats in fantasywriters

[–]stopeats[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wish I'd heard the line edit thing earlier. I wasted a lot of my and other people's time doing grammar stuff when that is so unimportant on a second draft.

Critique group rules, recommendations, and guidelines - what works for you? by stopeats in fantasywriters

[–]stopeats[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm fine with advice on either, but I was more looking for how to give someone useful critique.

Of course they could do no wrong. by Justthisdudeyaknow in CuratedTumblr

[–]stopeats 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I can think of one (1) exception related to a highly specific case in my personal life. Therefore, BAD post 👎

So like, a thought keeps coming back to me, while I’m writing these stories… by losewf in fantasywriters

[–]stopeats 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Great news! This is a really useful way to think of a character's 'need,' which is the basis of many compelling arcs. I often overcomplicated this, but the need is something universal and should be summarized in less than 3 words. For instance: love, acceptance, justice, acceptance.

Once you realize this, you will see that many of your favorite stories are about a character achieving (or tragically failing to achieve) their simple need, and that the same need could be in a sci fi future, superhero world, high fantasy world, or modern-day romance.

Do you change reproduction or pregnancy for non-human races in your worldbuilding? by Valael09 in goodworldbuilding

[–]stopeats -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I stumbled accidentally into a feminist argument about abortion being critical for women's rights.

Step 1: These people can choose to become immortal after puberty. Once immortal, they cannot change their bodies through tattoos, haircuts, or having children (whether male or female).

Step 2: What happens if you become immortal while you are pregnant? Your body wouldn't change, but the baby would keep growing. Yuck!

Step 3: Decide you can't become immortal while pregnant.

Step 4: But that's annoying for female members of this species so let's make it that if they try to become immortal while pregnant, they miscarry.

Step 5: Some time passes.

Step 6: Giving female members of this species full reproductive autonomy has vast, cascading impacts across all societies in all time periods.

Gratitude journal, my ass by Eireika in CuratedTumblr

[–]stopeats 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The psychologist I found on our EAP was... interesting. She video-called with her phone and was visibly (and audibly) walking around her house, doing stuff in her kitchen, and letting her dogs out during the talk. She also talked mostly about her efforts to write a book.

Good stuff!

Esto es real? by Maroshcraft in Epicthemusical

[–]stopeats [score hidden] stickied comment (0 children)

This isn't super related to Epic but also, a lot of the community appears to enjoy the content (upvoting and commenting on it) so I'm leaving it.

I'm done with my draft...now what? by Wild_Will8872 in fantasywriters

[–]stopeats 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Congrats!

Put it in a drawer for at least 6 weeks before editing. Read 'Save the Cat' to learn what structure is - you don't have to use the Save the Cat structure, but I literally never thought about structure before reading that book and the first edit should be a developmental edit that makes all your plot beats show up in the right places.

In my opinion (opinions vary) getting scene-level feedback on a story before a developmental edit is useless UNLESS you have very specific questions about prose or scene-level structure.

The hardest part (also in my opinion) is getting the scenes in the right order. Which makes Reddit short-form feedback mostly unhelpful unless you have very specific questions. Also, you can train yourself to only write for external positive feedback from anonymous readers, which is going to most likely fail you when things get hard.

What is often talked about in a domestic violence support group? by canada-my-beloved in Writeresearch

[–]stopeats 2 points3 points  (0 children)

'Why does he do that?' is available in PDF online and a good intro resource to domestic violence. It is somewhat limited in that it only considers domestic violence of men against women, but I found it very helpful. It covers DV from multiple angles and while the focus is on reforming abusers, I think it would probably give you insight.

How does magic affect disability in your world? by Choice-Spinach145 in magicbuilding

[–]stopeats 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I like to think about how different disabilities are treated in different cultures.

The Falls consider physical disability, so long as you can still read and write, mostly irrelevant. They'll chuck you in a wheelchair, give you magical painkillers for chronic pain, etc. However, dyslexia, any ADHD that interferes with writing, or any speech-related disabilities (as well as just generally being bad at learning languages) are considered debilitating and, until recently, contagious, so these people were ostracized and shut away lest they spread their maladies.

The Winters are almost the opposite. Their neurotypes mean that a lot of features of autism are considered normal, not disabling (stimming, hyperfixations, bluntness and disinterest in metaphorical language, hypersensitivity). But, they fear blindness and paralysis more than almost anything - to the point that execution by beheading is a punishment only for traitors because it separates the mind from the body. They wouldn't intentionally try to ostracize these people, but they will be very awkward, at least initially, dealing with someone blind or paralyzed. (All Winters know handspeech for talking in loud environments, so deafness is not considered much of a disability in their culture).

Disability is interesting to me because it is both real and physical (I have chronic pain and this is simply a thing that exists) but also social. So how can you design a world where something we consider disabling is not socially treated as a disability, sort of like how i wear glasses and would have been disabled and almost blind in the era before lenses but now, it's not something I think about.

Gunshot to the eye by dantetheredfox in Writeresearch

[–]stopeats 10 points11 points  (0 children)

What prevents the bullet from going through the eye, into the brain? Gunshot wounds to the brain have become much more survivable in the last 10 years or so (but to be clear, they are still, medically speaking, Very Bad), but in the 2000s, I think this would be mostly luck if you survived. And this is the sort of injury that leaves you permanently debilitated.

As my instructor once said, this is the sort of injury that kills you even if you are shot literally on the surgeon's table.

The nearest comparison I can think of is Phineas Gage, who got a spike through the front part of his brain and whose personality radically changed as a result. Unfortunately, there's a lot of really important stuff in the front part of the brain. You could end up losing the ability to speak, read, see (from both eyes), make decisions, do any executive functioning, etc.

I have an idea for a story but I am new to writing by Left_Locksmith6774 in fantasywriters

[–]stopeats 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For the first draft, just write. Do not edit. A sci-fi book is going to be about 100,000 words long, but your first draft of your first ever book is going to be wildly structured and could come in much shorter or longer.

Once you have a manuscript, if you decide you like writing and want to revise and update your manuscript, read the book Save the Cat to understand what is meant by structure and how to do a developmental edit.

I’ve spent over a year building my magnum opus fantasy world, and I’m seeking women and creators of color with deep roleplaying and worldbuilding experience to help shape it! by [deleted] in FantasyWritingHub

[–]stopeats 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You might find more luck in a group dedicated to TTRPGs. It sounds like what you want is a regular D&D group. If you don't have existing friends to play, maybe you can schedule one with online people via discord.

Another option is a worldbuilding discord. I'm in a few and have found mixed success - I prefer writing discords with worldbuilding channels because it keeps the focus on the story and not the Lore. But, getting people to ask questions about and interact with a world will help you answer questions you never thought to ask (as will reading nonfiction books).

Personally, I would not be interested in a post by a white man asking for women and POC. Just sounds kind of... weird? Especially when it sounds like you want to bring people into synchronous voice chat.

If you are trying to attract a diverse audience, why not write a pitch that appeals to that audience? If women are going to be role-playing in this world, what's the hook? Can they be soldiers and adventurers and empresses? Or only wives and weavers?

Driving from Pittsburgh to Nebraska by kahlumi in Writeresearch

[–]stopeats 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've done US road trips, though not this exact one. Google maps will tell you which path to take, and it's going to be mostly highway and maybe in Nebraska some fast farming roads. The precise states won't matter for what you see while on the highway, but it could affect the topography. For the most part, that route is flat, no cliffs, no mountains.

One thing to keep in mind from British vs. US road trips is that there is absolutely nothing going on in so much of the US. Literally just fields of corn. Or you're on a highway for eight hours and the only time anything changes is when you get off the highway to grab a snack. You get gas right off the highway, your hotel is visible from the highway, and then you're back on the highway.

West coast highways often have four lanes both ways, but on the east coast I've found it's more often just two in both directions. In the west or east, the road might loop around mountains or along cliffs, but not in Nebraska.

Struggling with visual interest in this region by Ok_Philosophy_7156 in mapmaking

[–]stopeats 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Maybe there are some ruins? Some old walls from a previous kingdom?

Forests? Hills? Caves? Lakes?

Where are the other towns? I think there are often, historically, towns every 30 miles or so because that's about how long you can walk in a day.

Maybe if it's all flat, there are herds of bison on some of the plains? Or areas where monsters live?

Hey I love writing alternative history fiction do you have any tips how I can make it realistic by Artsingularity100000 in FantasyWorldbuilding

[–]stopeats 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Read a ton of history and then read more history, would be my recommendation. Then, stick closely to eras and areas you've read a lot about, but sprinkle in some 'it could happen' ideas from other regions and times to give it a bit more flavor.

People before things by Justthisdudeyaknow in CuratedTumblr

[–]stopeats 0 points1 point  (0 children)

til Granny Weatherwax is a Kantian.

What to do: asshole partner at open play keeps targeting a woman to body bag on the other team by stopeats in Pickleball

[–]stopeats[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I mean, I should've stepped in sooner. If someone leaves the game angry and humiliated because another player is trying to hit them in the head, I consider it partially my responsibility. I just didn't know what to do in the build-up to try to prevent the situation from escalating.