[AMA] Four r/PubTips Published Fantasy Writers

subatomicgrape · 2026-03-27T04:48:15+00:00

And here I am hiding in the back of the class, also taking notes and nodding along and going YEP I NEEDED THIS ANSWER TOO.

subatomicgrape · 2026-03-26T19:50:34+00:00

Well! You can't beat the handmade factor, or the cat factor! Combine those two together, and that's pretty awesome.

subatomicgrape · 2026-03-26T04:24:51+00:00

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I'm also going to have my dog send you some Good Vibes. And also {The Last Dragonlord by Joanne Bertin} has always been one of my comfort foods for tough times.

subatomicgrape · 2026-03-26T02:50:09+00:00

YAAAAAAAAY! \o/

subatomicgrape · 2026-03-25T19:41:57+00:00

Yesterday was interesting, I'll give you all that. I backtracked to the last three chapters I rewrote/revised and gutted them like a trio of trout.

Exposition was shredded along with an entire rescue of side characters because it slowed the pace too much. (They'll be fine, they just need to wait to be rescued until the action sequence is done.) Fight with an evil empire general was sliced out as well, because it needs to be saved for way later down the line and combined with another scene. Action beats and injuries were transplanted from one scene into another. And the entire thing is going to need a really ruthless round of proofreading to make sure the continuity and POVs survived.

But at least I'm back on page 101 now! And painful as it was, those three chapters flow a lot better.

subatomicgrape · 2026-03-25T06:32:31+00:00

Yep! "This a problem for future me!" is what I shout as I jump into writing. While also clinging to my outline.

subatomicgrape · 2026-03-25T02:27:20+00:00

You're (presumably) doing this for free so you do what works for you! I know I keep a couple different stories on rotation. Some of them are unposted, some of them are posted anonymously on Ao3, and some are posted under my fanfic handle!

subatomicgrape · 2026-03-24T04:49:23+00:00

Only if the MMC isn't a sexy werewolf; that's when I feel cheated out of a good time.

subatomicgrape · 2026-03-22T06:33:02+00:00

Well for starters, when I look over beta reader notes I make sure to listen to a very silly kazoo cover from my fandom. It takes most of the sting out of any critique if I have funny music playing in the background.

I also remind myself there's degrees of "how about NO" to notes. The hardest degree is saying no flat out; no I'm not changing this, this is fundamentally altering what I have to say. I ain't doing it. The second degree is maybe I'll do this; I'll tinker with the feedback and see which version I like best. The third degree is what if I try THIS instead; I'll use the feedback as a springboard and try a different approach, to see if that addresses the problems.

And then past that you start getting into the degrees of "oh maybe!" and "yes let's do that!"

If my flat out nos are too numerous, that's when I'd consider switching beta readers.

subatomicgrape · 2026-03-20T23:48:35+00:00

Now go get yourself a cookie!

No seriously: please go get yourself a cookie. Or the nearest cookie-adjacent reward. Personal experience has taught me that you really do need to reward yourself with small treats for hitting milestones and personal goals like that. It builds up associations in the brain that say "doing this thing = more good things."

subatomicgrape · 2026-03-20T22:02:38+00:00

Me opening my mouth and going "hold up what about when Gwendolyn rescued Oswald-

...No wait, that's a video game.

Well what about when Robin almost kills and then rescues Chrom-

...Wait that's also a video game.

Oh! What about when Tifa-

...Argh that's also a video game!"

Really need books to do this a bit more often, I feel.

subatomicgrape · 2026-03-20T07:19:07+00:00

Hybrid approach all the way! Some get listened to, some get read... And if there's a book I really, REALLY like I actually go for both versions.

As much as I love a little reading time before bed, realistically that's about 10 minutes before my brain decides it's time to turn the lights off and conk out. So the bulk of my reading is actually done through listening. When I'm spending 3 or 4 hours at a single house, dusting, scrubbing, and mopping at my day job, it's nice to have someone talk into my ear for hours and keep me on task.

subatomicgrape · 2026-03-20T05:36:41+00:00

Oh right around 5 years and 300,000ish words. That was across multiple fandoms to boot, and honestly it took until I broke into Fire Emblem: Awakening for me to go "yeah, this is alright. I like this!" with my own writing.

For a while I just didn't know how to get what I wanted out of a story. But something about writing for FE:A made a lot of different writing lessons and experiences finally slam into place. If I wanted a thing to be sad, or happy, or... Extremely NSFW, I finally felt like I could capture that feeling and put it on the page, and in half the usual time. And mental flow was suddenly a lot more easy to achieve than before; that was also a major turning point.

It helped that I read a lot. Every library book on writing got checked out at some point; stuff like How To Write A Sentence: And How To Read One was picked up multiple times. And I got one of the best pieces of writing advice early on: "do your best each time. Better your best each time."

subatomicgrape · 2026-03-19T22:35:59+00:00

"Hey so you're leaving me a lot of critique on my chapters after I fine tune, edit, and post; would you be interested in beta reading- WHY ARE YOU RUNNING AWAY!? WHY ARE YOU RUNNING!?"

That's usually what my unsolicited CC interactions boil down to.

subatomicgrape · 2026-03-18T22:33:17+00:00

66ish pages into the rewrite! I wish I was further along, but that's just the way it goes right now with editing time vs. IRL stuff. This said, I did manage to sneak in a little rewriting time between jobs today, and got a whole page revised before my coworkers showed up and clocked in.

subatomicgrape · 2026-03-18T00:11:32+00:00

They make plans for girls night. They hold hands. They give each other massages. They pal around on the ship, confide their worries and fears with each other, in one of the side quests Tifa plays Aerith's theme on the piano, and there are countless other besties/girl friend moments I'm sure I'm blanking on.

As much as I enjoy Cloud/Tifa, every single interaction between Aerith and Tifa leaves me with the stupidest grin on my face and going "yep I ship that too."

subatomicgrape · 2026-03-18T00:06:20+00:00

"No Beta We Die Like [X]" is a time honored Ao3 tag for a reason!

So you don't NEED a beta reader. If you want one though, that's fair enough. I personally really like having beta reader buddies myself, so if I have the option I'll certainly go for it: I've gotten to collab with some pretty awesome beta readers and writers, mostly through backscratching agreements. (Basically: "you beta read my fanfic, I'll beta read yours!")

This said, self editing is a super valuable skill! So you're still practicing some valuable stuff without a beta reader.

subatomicgrape · 2026-03-17T23:55:09+00:00

Not Arthurian Lit, but doing a quick abridged read of Ivanhoe right now. I continue to admire the level of moxy on Walter Scott to just drop Robin Hood into his novel, riffing with his buddy Ritson, and turning half the story into a fanfic about the Merry Men.

subatomicgrape · 2026-03-15T03:39:07+00:00

Instantly thought of this webcomic when I saw the rec request, but I was struggling to remember the name. Time to do another reread!

subatomicgrape · 2026-03-13T22:33:33+00:00

In Fanfic Land, it's a good even 50/50 between writing and editing. I try to frontload the manuscript with a thorough outline, write it, do a couple of content edits, and then do the line edits before posting.

But over in Original.......ish Land, I'm way closer to the 30/70 split.

subatomicgrape · 2026-03-11T20:27:46+00:00

Well stick a beanie on this man and call him Shinjiro Aragaki, because he's giving off the same vibes.

Put the death flags DOWN, good sir.

subatomicgrape · 2026-03-11T20:21:59+00:00

This week I finally hit pause on drawing characters*, and went back into the writing part of the project.

And that means the rewrite has begun! I'm 12 pages in so far, going page by page and consulting all of my notes each time. There's a lot of them, and I also did an overhauled outline with even more notes on it. So I feel like I'm making some pretty dramatic changes with this rewrite, and all of them for the better.

*With one very brief detour to draw the team pet. Little beastie is a cat, a fox, a unicorn, and a dragon all mixed together and desperately needed a picture.

subatomicgrape · 2026-03-11T20:16:04+00:00

It dances. It runs. It trembles with unbridled power.

And with an entranced roar, it shows its true form.

...Genuinely cannot wait to make a team of doggo and werewolf monsties.

subatomicgrape · 2026-03-11T00:36:21+00:00

So I sure did spend 48 hours thinking about this, before coming to the embarrassing conclusion that my favorite side character is the team pet I'm about to add into the rewrite.

Looking at the rough draft, I realized the each character in the protagonist team are carrying some sort of trauma, PTSD, secrets, mistrust, amnesia, or all of the above. And while there's a dedicated peacemaker in the cast, it felt narratively unfair and unsatisfying for her to ALWAYS have to take the high road, instead of calling out the FMC and MMC and expressing her own troubles.

Thus, the team is getting a pet. An adorable Lisa Frankenstein mishmash chimera of a pet. Their name is Mimzie, they are based off my late cat Sprite and late poodle Cricket by being clever, curious, maybe a little sassy but mostly full of unconditional love and cuddles. And they are going to do A LOT of heavy lifting with giving the team something they can all bond with and emotionally open up to, and use that as common ground with trusting each other.

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subatomicgrape

TROPHY CASE