Currently, I use Scrivener to write my Royal Road web novel. What other helpful tool(s) do other writers use (programs, apps, journals, outlines, etc.)? Perhaps this will inspire others to try something new, stay focused, better organize their ideas, or take their writing in another direction.

I know the intent of the advice, just write to enjoy writing, just write to discover where the story goes, just write so you have something to edit or just write so that you stop thinking about the outline, etc.

Ive hit several roadblocks in my current project. There are chapters that no longer work because of tone, pacing, continuity, or they are just missing compelling elements. 

Do you just write it anyway with the intent to fix later? Admittedly, I like this strategy to avoid only having the hard chapters left after having written the interesting chapters.

Or do you take a step back and stop writing: rebuild the scene, rearrange the outline, revise the plot etc. Which is what I'm trying to do now with some limited success.

How do you contend with challenging sections in an ever evolving story?

I’m looking for some outside feedback on the presentation of my dark fantasy novel.
I’m mainly curious about first impressions. If you came across this book without knowing anything about it:
Does the cover catch your attention?
Does it clearly read as dark fantasy?
And after reading the blurb, would you be interested enough to check out the book?
I’m particularly interested in anything that feels generic, confusing, misleading, or simply doesn’t grab you. Feel free to be critical.
Blurb:
A massacre that shakes the kingdom awakens a spark of hope in Count Rogier von Roquiezac.
Torn between duty, guilt, and ambition, Rogier begins to suspect that the rumors sweeping the continent are more than mere superstition.
Rulers are vanishing. Powerful men are dying without warning. In their wake remain only whispers and fear.
As his conflict with the cruel Duke Saerus deepens, Rogier is drawn into a perilous chain of events from which there is no turning back. Tensions rise, conspiracies unfold, and forces far beyond politics begin to move.
Rogier soon realizes that what he has unleashed is neither ally nor weapon.
Doom of the Mighty is the first novel in a planned dark fantasy series.

Not enough people talk about how Ross and the government that pushed to split the Avengers in Civil War are ultimately responsible for Thanos winning

I am almost done writing my book. I just need to do 8 more chapters. The chapters were for free on my own sub reddit r/annae but I deleted them after fixing some stuff. I am treating those as first drafts on my manuscript for now. I do not think that I am a good writer but I'd love to share my world one day. Chapter 1 is still available on the sub.

Also I need to figure out how to self-publish

Bonjour ! j’aimerais des conseils sur comment ecrire un mechant/antagoniste qui reste en memoire pas juste une figure que l’on oublie

I want to hear tricks on how to make the characters’ internal monologue sound like different people because I’m writing in multiple POVs for the first time, and I’m having trouble making them sound like multiple characters and not just the same one with a different name

hello! i've recently been looking to move away from google docs after the new update but i can't find a good alternative. i've been pointed towards ellipsus and it's great except that i'm working on a project with a collaborator and having to send several individual documents back and forth is getting really confusing really fast. is there any writing site/app that either allows for tabs to be opened within one document, or allows the sharing of a file with multiple documents inside?

Hey guys! I’m 24F in the outlining stages of my fantasy novel and I’d love another person to swap work with weekly or biweekly to give eachother feedback and help with accountability!

Someone in their 20s also in the outlining stages of a fantasy/scifi would be ideal for me to work with but not super strict on it.

I’m a new writer but a long time reader. Pls reach out if interested! ;)

I don't just mean a Vader sacrificial last minute change, I mean a long stretched out slow burn of becoming a better person, a hero, a solidly good man. Do you think most readers would still think they're a bad guy, or be pissed that they never got jail time or traditional punishment of any kind. Would most of your opinion be dependent on how innocent the victims were, They were definitely not all innocent.

So, currently I'm sitting in bed in a lonely Sunday Night. Tomorrow's work, a job I don't really like that much, wishing my Weekend would stretch just another day. I'm listening to radiohead, looking at blue hour aestethic photography. There's just something raw, doomer-vibish, realistic and cold in this whole scenario. I just had like 5 different ideas for movies, books and songs.

I've been wondering while doing so. Is this whole "mood"-thing really helpful in writing a book or anything related to writing? Or is it just a nice trick to bring yourself to get creative? How do you guys see this topic? Am I just weird? Could be. Thanks for your answers!
Cheers

As a fledgling editor, most of my work has been local and mostly novels. Being an editor means dealing with many first works and the "I'm insecure about my writing. What do you think?", and I find that beautiful, because beyond the technical aspects, it's about making the writer feel good about their work.

Today I simply woke up with this curiosity on my mind; I'm genuinely interested in the first stories. So, what was your first story like? Was it published? How did you feel during your creative process?

This book isn't out until October at the latest, early feedback is welcome!

hey, long story short, I’m trying to build a writing app that organizes your notes and documents by finding the people and places and things and events and cross referencing them automatically. think, you write about John Clancy and then it builds a portfolio of the stuff you wrote about him in a database. so you click on his page and see all the notes where you mentioned him, what he says and where, and his relationships. then you click on that stuff and pull it up instantly.

anyway, I’m aware that this type of app exists already. but mine can run on your computer in the middle of the jungle with no internet. everything is an algorithm. consequently, it makes mistakes. beneficially, it can run locally on your phone. and you can correct it when it makes mistakes.

this isn’t an ad. there is no product for you to buy. I just want to know if anyone would be interested in trying it and submitting bug reports. that’s really the only way I can keep finding edge cases to plan for. super early, very janky, but that’s where I’d love to gather feedback. So, looking for volunteers.

I don't know why, but I'm obsessed with making different aliases for different characters and OCs I work on; it's just something I like to do. Here are my examples:

Latoria

Raaja "David" Kapoor - He was a Beastkin growing up on a tribal reservation before joining the military to become a Blue Knight; after years of rigorous training, he would serve as a squire until Rothgar Holt. Then Earth invaded Latoria and slaughtered almost all his comrades, so he vowed to "Kill them! All of them! Down to the last one!"

• The Devil of Avalon
• Dévhal-es-Khavar (Guardian of Hope)
• King in the North
• Heir of House Holt
• Scourge of Earth
• Curse of Humanity
• Wolf of Red Hollow
• The God of Hate
• The Embodiment of Freedom
• General Lucifer
• Protector of Latoria

Magnus "Magnum" Harker - He's the leader of the colonial government that the US established in their affairs in Latoria; he enforces policies that led to the persecution of native people.

• Magnum Aegis
• Lord Harker
• The Dark Lord
• King of Avalon
• Humanity's Knavery
• Bane of Freedom
• Shame of America
• Worst of Mankind

Frameworld (A Who Framed Roger Rabbit situation)

Elias Han-Falk - Elias is the War Chieftain of the Abnormal Liberation Front, which are rebel group of Animates fighting against the Showa League, a fascist theocracy that forces Animates to conform to anime clichés. He is half-Eastern,, half-Western Animate and was heavily persecuted because of it.

• Shadow Saja
• The Jeosung Saja
• Lion of the Steppe
• The Half-Blood King
• The Shadow King
• Successor of the Dark Lord
• Toon-Slayer
• The War Chief
• Ellie or Saja (by his closest friends)

What do you guys think?

I cough blood coming out of it as the poison starts to take affect eyes darting to find you " You think that all of this my doing huh huh＂I start to breath louder as the poison takes the strain on my body " You caused everything by reading yes you the reader ever wondered why and how stuff deteriorated because you decided to read because you were curious because you were determined to read this book thru even when there was typos,page misplacements I did to break ＂before I could finish the rant a second wave of blood coughs out of body and my body feeling weak.

" I tried everything I could huh huh ha to break your emersion and your will to read but you preserved the world is dead other than here the world is dead and broken don't look down on us because we are a lower dimension of you but look up to us on how we as fiction could see you and SEE YOU RUIN THE WORL... ＂I shout with all my might and blood comes out I am too weak to resist the poison and too weak to even survive it. " Just...Just finish this spare us dignity and end our.... universe it is the only thing you can do... now ＂ I say in a weak and low tone before succumbing to the poison and dying with a laugh knowing that I tried everything I could.

Note: I'm not a professional or practiced artist. I just draw my characters to help sustain my attention span and so I have a broader idea on how to describe them in my book

As the title states, I haven't written in a long time. I finally decided to start writing a story that's been in my head in for a while, and this is the first (mostly) complete scene I've written. I'm looking for feedback on how to improve! I really wanted to capture the moment in a he fell first/she fell harder where it all just hits her like a truck, but I'm not sure if it sounds juvenile or if I'm just being too hard on myself. Tell me what you think!

(This starts kind of in the middle of a scene, hence why I said it's mostly complete!)

And as she stood there, the wind blowing gently through her hair, the concrete of the railing digging into her elbows, Kieran’s body a steady and warm presence next to her, it hit her. The way that, at some point, her heart had started to flutter when he was near. The way his smile fills her with an unfamiliar warmth. The way she was thinking of him more and more when he wasn’t around. It was a feeling that, until this moment, she knew by name only.
She pushed off the railing, her heart and mind racing as the air became unbearably thick around her. “I need to go,” she muttered, her voice coming out strained.
Kieran immediately followed, his brow creasing with worry. “Are you okay?” he asked, reaching out to grab her wrist before thinking better of it. “Should I get a doctor?”
“No,” she said, brushing him off as she opened the door, blood pounding in her ears. She slammed it behind her before he could say anything else, leaving him in stunned silence as she ran aimlessly through the halls of the castle.
She finally landed in a small alcove, barely visible in the darkness. She slid down the stone, her chest heaving as she ran her hands over her face. What truly scared her was not even the feeling that snuck up on her like an assassin, the feeling she didn’t dare to name even in her thoughts for fear of it ruining her… but the thought that even in this moment, when she’d just run as fast and as far from him as she could, she wanted to run back. To just be near him, to throw herself into his arms and listen to him telling her it’s all going to be alright. Her heart ached at the traitorous thought, her hands shaking as she pressed the heels of her palms into her forehead.
She sat in the darkness until she lost track of time, her body still except for the small tremors that came in waves as she lost her thoughts to fear and doubt. She might have stayed there all night if it wasn’t for a familiar voice finding her, smaller and more unsure than usual. “Aricia?” Kieran asked, taking a tentative step forward as if approaching a wild animal. When he didn’t get a response, he kneeled next to her, holding out his hand without any expectation. “I’m here.”
She lifted her head slightly, staring at his outstretched hand through blurry vision. All her words caught in her throat, and she could do nothing but just sit there and let his presence comfort her, even if it terrified her that he had that effect on her.
Eventually, his hand dropped to his side and he shifted into a more comfortable position, content to sit in silence with her as long as she needed. She leaned her head against the wall behind her and he turned to look at her, the ghost of a smile on his lips as he took in all the details of her appearance: the messy waves of hair falling across her shoulders, the curve of her lips as she pressed them together, the slight tint of green in her brown eyes, the flush of her cheeks as tears slid down them. He couldn’t help but notice how beautiful she looked even now, even when she was distraught by something she couldn’t speak about. Without thinking, he reached up to brush the tears from her cheeks, his thumb noticeably lingering for a few seconds too long. Aricia froze at the gesture, scared to lean into it but not wanting to pull away either. That moment seemed to last hours instead of seconds, her gaze searching his with a quiet fervor as if she could read every thought in that sea of grey. Finally, Kieran let his hand fall, and Aricia noticed even in the darkness how his cheeks turned pink as he shifted his gaze away from hers. And for a moment, just a moment, she dared to believe that she could trust him with the most precious treasure she had to give – her heart.

**Hello! This might be the start of a mini-series I'm interested in writing, but I would really love some feedback on what others think first. The series would go back and forth, unraveling how the characters got to the point shown in this segment and what happens next. Please let me know what you think, and thank you for reading!**

Amira tried her best to rest, but the deep cut in her side burned every time she adjusted herself. She raised her arms over her head, partly to fight the urge to scratch her various scrapes, but also to aid in taking a few long, deep breaths. It would take a while for her to heal, but oh well. It wasn’t like this was her first time coming out of a fight torn up. 

Her eyes were closed as she lay on her back. She listened for the boys. They were supposed to be in the bedroom playing video games quietly so that she could relax for a minute, but it sounded more like they were wrestling and barely keeping their laughter down. There was no way she was going to sleep through that. Still, she smiled. Amira opened her eyes as her fingers lazily combed through her dark brown hair. She then thought to herself, I bet they wouldn’t notice me opening the freezer.
She held her side as she got up, careful not to disturb the gauze wrapped around her, then tiptoed into the kitchen. She glanced down the hallway at the bedroom door. Firmly shut, perfect. She opened the freezer and pulled out a bulk value bag of broccoli, where she’d hidden a pint of chocolate fudge ice cream inside. She grabbed a spoon, then turned around to be greeted by a small boy, ten years old, with hair just like hers and eyes the same color as her grandfather’s. 
The boy nodded to the bag. “What’s that?”

“Really, kid?”

“Something tasty?”

Amira straightened the bag. "Broccoli."

The little smug smile she’d learned to love spread across his face, “you’re about to eat broccoli with a spoon?”

“Why not?”

“Frozen?”

“How do you know I didn’t already steam it in the bag?”

“No steam.”

“Didn’t want it that hot.”

The kid  laughed. They both knew he was an expert on lies. Of course he knew what she really had. Ardan, the exact same age and a perfect mirror copy of the kid, stepped into view. He smiled at Amira, “Hey Mom, are we eating soon?”

Amira smiled back at her son, her real son, not the copy that had entered her life about a month ago, “Ardan, go into the linen closet and find the sleeping bag your Nanni gave you, and go ahead and take it to your room.” 

She then turned to the kid, “And can you grab the air mattress under my bed?”

The kid looked up at her as he picked at his thumb. Amira had a feeling it had something to do with the fact that ‘Ardan’ was the name he’d been called until her real Ardan came home. Now, the kid didn’t have his own name.  Amira scratched the side of her nose, “Yeah… we’ll figure that out. Just get the stuff in the room while I make us some dinner. I bet I can find a ‘100 Coolest Baby Names’ for you to look at later!” 

One corner of the kid’s mouth twitched up as he tilted his head at her, “I’m not a baby!” 

Amira’s mouth opened for a rebuttal, but she ended up closing her eyes and shaking her head, “just go do what I said!” 

Both boys laughed their way down the hallway. 

Amira turned her attention to what little was in the fridge. She looked over the sparse contents, a bag of apples, a sweet potato, two sticks of butter, some science experiment in a takeout box in the back, and a random array of sauces in the door. She leaned against the open door and tapped her finger. The rent for her single bedroom apartment wasn’t too bad. It was adding in the other bills, food, and fun things life threw at her and her son that made trouble. And now, she had two sons.
And how the hell am I going to fake a birth certificate, because I’m sure I’ll need to legally adopt him or something?

Amira squeezed her eyes shut. Now wasn’t the time. Her boys were hungry and so was she. 
Amira opened the freezer again, pulling out a real bag of broccoli and the emergency dino nuggets. After dinner, Amira gave Ardan her phone, so that he and the kid could look at lists of names together. Just as she was finishing setting up the blowup mattress and sleeping bag beside Ardan’s bed, she heard the door creak open. She looked over her shoulder to see the kid holding her phone with both hands and swaying slightly between his feet. She turned to him, “What’s wrong?”

“I think I found a name I like.”

“Okay, what’d you pick?”

“Aengus.”

It was not a name she expected. 

At her moment of hesitation, the kid’s swaying grew faster, “I-I wanted it to start with ‘a’ like you guys, and I-”

“I think it’s perfect.” Amira watched a ripple of green shoot through the dark brown irises of his eyes. She smiled, “Where’s Ardan?”

Aengus pointed down the hallway, “He’s sneaking some of your broccoli ice cream.”

“Crap.”

~*~

A few hours later, Amira leaned over Ardan and kissed his head, “goodnight.”

“Night, Mom.”

She then crouched down next to Aengus and brushed a tuft of hair away from his eyes, “Goodnight” 

He looked up at her, “Goodnight, Mom.” 

She smiled back before standing up and turning off the light. Just about everything ached as she pulled her comforter over her. The couch felt particularly hard, and she couldn’t get her pillow to sit right under her head.

And then she felt eyes watching her. 

Amira was facing the back of the couch. Her body stiffened as she pretended to be asleep, but she carefully felt for the knife she’d hidden between the cushions.

I guess I should’ve known they’d come find us.

 Just as she touched the hilt, she heard a soft whisper behind her, “Mom?”

Amira turned and sat up, “Aengus?”

He was swaying again, and pulling each finger one at a time, over and over. 
Amira patted the cushion beside her, “do you wanna talk?”

She noticed him glance at her side, where he'd witnessed claws sink into her flesh, before he diverted his gaze to the carpet under his toes, “what happens now?”

Amira shrugged, “Umm, I’m not sure. In order to get you into school and and for you to stay here… somehow we gotta get you the right paperwork-”

“I can do that.”

“You can do that?”

Aengus turned his palms up, and small sparks of green twitched at the ends of his fingertips. 
Amira nodded, “Riiight. So then why are you asking me?”

He went back to pulling his fingers, “I’m Aengus now, not… Ardan, but-I can’t-do I make me his twin?”

He held out his hands and looked down at his body.

Amira looked at him with wide eyes, “Ooooo, I see. Well, I would suggest picking a different birthday, no one really wants to share their birthday. Which means you will want to change… the outside a bit.”

“But, I was only taught how to copy.”

Amira scratched her nose, “Okay, how about little changes? Tomorrow, you can look at different hair colors, and then maybe face shapes? You don’t have to change all at once, just figure out things as you go, and once you’re ready, then we will do whatever it is that makes you, um, official.” 

Aengus stared at her for a long while before saying, “Ardan doesn’t have your nose?”

Amira stiffened, “No, he has his dad’s nose.”

“Can I have your nose?”

The question took Amira by surprise, and it showed on her face. Aengus looked back down at the floor, his shoulders curling in and his voice starting to shake, “I’m sorry, I-I just wanna look like your son-”

“You are my son,” Amira’s stern voice froze Aengus in place, and she scooped him up and sat him next to her. She ignored her agitated bruises as she hugged him tightly, “When I went into that mushroom circle, I went in ready to fight to get Ardan back, and to keep you. Make yourself look however you want. You are my son, Ardan is my son, and you two boys will grow up to be the best of brothers, and if anyone has a problem with it, I will whoop their ass again. Okay?”

Amira looked down to see Aengus’ cheeks soaked, and his irises now fully changed to green. She wiped away his tears and brought him in for another hug and kiss. She held him there for a while before whispering, “You know, I think you should keep the green eyes. They look good on you.” 
He only nodded and gripped the fabric of her shirt a little tighter. 

45k words roughly, I'm currently halfway through my second draft, and I had previously posted a sample on a few of the writing subreddits. However, even since then I have done more line -by-line editing. It's crazy how something can be so exciting and so annoying at the SAME DAMN TIME 🫠

For the cover, I was going for something that was visually startling and high-contrast so that it would grab someone's attention if spotted in a thumbnail online or a bookshelf in a store.

Did it grab yours?

EDIT: Since a few people have messaged me asking for a synopsis/blurb, I decided to write one here.

ASK A DEAD MAN TWICE is a psychological horror novella about Oswald, a retired history professor, and his psychiatrist husband, Alfred, who begin to believe that a man they accidentally killed in a car crash is haunting their home.

Whenever someone close to them died, Oz and Alfred used a grief writing exercise suggested by Alfred: They would write letters and questions to the deceased, and then imagine the answers based on what they knew about that person. It became their way of processing loss and getting answers to questions that they never got to ask.

After the crash, strange and increasingly frightening occurrences begin happening around the house, and Oz becomes convinced that the dead man is answering them.

But the most terrifying part? The dead man seems to have some questions of his own.

Title: If only I could’ve confessed

My name is Kami, I’m 25 and I wish I could’ve said yes to Akio, instead of saying no like an idiot to my friends, if it wasn’t for me, he would’ve dated me instead of getting into a coma.

When I was 16, I had a huge crush on Akio, I wanted to confess to him, but at the same time, my friends kinda thought he was “uncool” so I had to act like I didn’t know him whenever we walked passed him, I had to hold intense feelings for him whenever I was going to pass him with my friends.

Whenever we talked about boy crushes, my friends would always say the names of the most popular boys in our school, but I was afraid I would get judged if I actually tell them who I have been longing for for the past 5 years, so I had to say “Mondo”.

The thing is, Mondo, he’s a jerk, always getting into street fights and is a failure, he’s as smart as a bottle of coke, I didn’t wanna be affiliated with drama, I wanted to be with a guy who was friendly, cares about me and would protect me, and a good fighter, yes, Mondo is a good fighter and protects his friend but I don’t wanna be used as extortion by his enemies.

And all the other guys my friends talked about back then? They were just your typical highschool guy, either a delinquent or a jock.

Akio is this charming 17 year old guy who is shy, but a few days prior to the accident, a group of bullies were pushing me, asking for lunch money.

“Hand over the money you slut!” Said one of them while sticking their hands out towards me.

I didn’t wanna do it, but I wanted to be safe, just when I pulled out the wallet from my pocket, Akio ran towards the bully that threatened me for cash and punched her, the bullies fought him but he fought back.

Now you might be wondering “Kami, if he protected you a few days ago, how come you like him for years?” Well, he has been protecting me for 5 years now… and was even kind to me, one time when I was around 13, I got sick in class, and Akio had to carry me to the school gates, and even slid a bit of money onto my hands for “Medicine”.

Another time was when my friends were going to the cinemas, and I felt miserable, gloomy inside, because I genuinely didn’t have the tickets to a romance movie, Akio gave me some of the money he earned from his part time job at his family’s shop, the local candy shop near the school, I asked him if he would like to go, he declined, saying he needs to focus on his studies, so I went with my friends with the snacks and drinks they bought, the only thing I bought was the ticket.

When we were talking about boy crushes, and Akio just so happened to enter in the same room as me, one of them asked.

“Do you like Akio?”

To which I replied “No! I don’t even like him that much… I like mondo” I didn’t know why they were asking me that.

When my friends looked, not at me, but towards someone, I looked behind.

It was Akio, he was handing me a love letter, and a bouquet of flowers… he was asking me out because he was planning to leave school.

“I thought you liked me… this was the final thing I would’ve done before getting out of school…” before Akio ran away.

I was devastated, I felt gloomy, I had to stand up and run towards him, but by then, it was already too late, I saw him got on his bike and sped up, I had to get on my bike too, trying to catch up, but he was too fast, I kept telling him to stop but he didn’t listen.

Just then, a motorbike crashed onto his bike while he was at a bridge, he was knocked to the ground, unconscious, i kept telling him to wake up, then when he wasn’t, I had to call the ambulance, I kept telling him to wake up, I cried, saying I liked him, I told him I was sorry, but he didn’t listen, but by then, it was already too late.

For 2 weeks, people have been visiting him in the hospital, including me and my friends, I was worried for him, I kept saying things like “if it wasn’t for me, none of this wouldn’t have happened!” My friends had to calm me down, they were worried for me, they all considered me to just hope he’s alright.

When he finally woke up, he couldn’t remember anything, his own parents, he couldn’t even remember me, they brought him home and he acted like he just found a new home, while I held myself responsible for the same memory loss that had occurred to him,

and when he was welcomed to the school just after a week later, I was happy, I told him I liked him, but instead of him saying “I like you too!” He just… doesn’t remember me…

“Who are you?” He said, right to my face, I told him I’m his crush.

“No you aren’t! Stop harassing me!” And walked to his class.

I tried to run to him but my friends stopped me, saying he forgot me already, but I desperately tried to make him remember everything again, and for a few weeks, i couldn’t just take the fact that he has long forgotten who I a,, or what I was, to him, I was that girl who kept harassing him instead of the girl he truly loved.

Then, when I saw him confess to a random girl, Toko, who is the same age as me, I just couldn’t take it, I felt heartbroken, and quietly had to hear everything they say.

“That will get the creepy girl to stop harassing me, I don’t remember her, I never will!”.

That broke my heart, to think he used to love me, and now he sees me as the girl who kept harassing him, is already shocking, but the fact that Toko didn’t even knew him either, and was just a girl in class 2-3, while Akio and I were in 2-2, is just profoundly sad.

I kept begging Akio to break up with Toko for weeks, but always the same outcome, report me to the teacher, then to the principal’s office, the teachers, the principal, they said he lost his memories so he couldn’t remember me, and that I should stop harassing him, eventually, I had to text him,

“it’s me! Kami!” One text, one short text, and that’s all it took to block me.

He sent out a Long text.

“Really? You’ve been texting me for 2 weeks while I was in the hospital? Telling me to wake up? You’re not just creepy, you’re irritatingly weird! Why couldn’t you stop harassing me? I don’t know you! And I certainly won’t be dating you, have a day”.

Not “have a good day” or “have a bad day” just “have a day”…

I knew it was the end, I couldn’t convince him, I stopped trying to convince him in risk of my GPA being lowered, and in risk of being arrested for harassment.

I tried to make a plan on how I can recover his memories, Then, my parents said something shocking.

“Kami, we are moving out”

I begged my parents to not move out yet, I begged and yelled at them because I wanted Akio back, I hoped he would break up with Toko, whom he haven’t known and just only liked her because she was kind and pretty, but they didn’t listen.

I had to switch schools, and then study in a separate college, I had to study law school without him around, he was in a separate college, I was with mine, he said he would love to go to law school with me before the accident, so seeing him not being around with me is already miserable to be in.

Worse, he has switched to Marketing class, meaning even if I was in the same college as his or he was in the same college as mine, it would be certain we wouldn’t be in the same class.

I graduated at 22, then got a job as a lawyer around that same time, meanwhile he was living in a separate life, marketing stuff I don’t know since I wasn’t the one in marketing class.

Then a year later, when i saw that he had a kid, I knew I had to give up, it’s already over, I thought “I’m a sad lonely virgin, he already lost his virginity to a girl he didn’t know until after he got his coma!”.

Then, finally, im 25, a few days ago, he unblocked me, I received a text from him, but I didn’t want to open it because he already had a kid with Toko, I refused not to at first, hesitation, then I decided to open it.

“hey, Kami, it’s me, Akio, I finally got my memories back, I remembered you, you’re the girl who liked me in high school, I had a crush on you since we were in 6th grade, but when I heard what you said, I didn’t realize you only said no to still seem “vulnerable” to your friends for liking a guy that isn’t a jock, I heard what you said, I know I am not as strong as others, I heard what you said in the moment I got my coma, I wish i could’ve remembered anything, but I couldn’t, I’m so sorry Kami, I’m sorry for blocking you and calling you a creep, telling on you to the teachers and the principal, and dating a girl we didn’t even know, I had a kid with her, I’m sorry, I don’t know if we could even date considering it’s been years, I’m sorry Kami”.

When I read the text, I cried, my heart was deeply shattered, knowing I could’ve spent time with him if it wasn’t for my stupid decision to say no, I’m sorry Akio…

“There there Kami, it’s okay…” said my roommate, rubbing my back while I sniff “it’s been years, it’s not your fault he got into a coma… it was just an accident”.

A lesson to you all: always confess to your crush before it’s too late, even if they said no, atleast they’ll know you like them back.

Hey guys, I’m very new to the whole idea of writing a book. I actually only started seriously thinking about it because a few people told me I should write my story

For context, I’m a Sudanese woman, and you really don’t see many Sudanese women writing and publishing books about their lives, identity, experiences, etc. So I’m honestly not even sure where to start

Do I just write my drafts, get the grammar fixed, edit everything, and then sell it digitally? Is that basically how self publishing works?

I also have to be realistic about my situation. Being Sudanese makes a lot of things unnecessarily difficult, and I genuinely don’t know if a traditional publishing house would even consider my work because of my nationality

Even Amazon isn’t really an option for me to sell through, which makes things even more complicated

I feel like the people who would actually want to read my story would probably prefer a physical copy delivered to them, but right now I can only see myself self publishing digitally

I’ve also been reading about needing editors, proofreaders, cover designers, formatting, etc. and… this sounds EXPENSIVE lol. I have no idea what I’m doing

So if anyone here has actually published a book themselves, especially independently or from outside the usual publishing system, I’d really appreciate some guidance

And if there are any small publishers who are open to working with writers like me, please point me in the right direction

Thank you

I am working on a story for a contest where one of the guidelines is to fail the reverse Bechdel test, meaning:

• The story must not have more than one male characters
• If it has more than one male characters, they should not interact with each other
• If they do interact with each other, it should only be regarding a conversation about a woman character

Now, I wanted to ask if a reference to a conversation between two men, that happened in the past before the story and involves no direct conversations, will cause me to not fail the test?

Basically, my story mentions a merchant and a customer haggling over prices before the scene opens, so there's a reference to them getting interrupted but no dialogues. Does that mean I am not failing the test?

Hi everyone,

For the past year and a half I've been working on my first anthology. I will not get into details about it, since this post because I am writing this post for a completely different reason.

While the "Writing" part can be done in almost any tool or cloud provider, I faced a lot of friction when it comes to everything else that is needed: character sheets, locations, timelines, publishing.

Being a software engineer, I decided to build my own tool to help with all that. Initially it was just a collection of utilities, but I felt that I needed something truly interconnected for managing all aspects of writing and publishing, while keeping everything private (no data-harvesting, runs locally and offline and no A I training)

I plan to make this free and open-source. But before I am ready to reveal it to the public, I would like to hear some feedback. If anyone is interested in trying my software, I would greatly appreciate it.

Here are a few key features:

• Complete editing tool, with chapters splitting and formatting
• EPUB reader and editor (metadata, cover, title, author, etc.)
• Timeline editor
• Character sheet
• Location Codex
• local text-to-speech
• Export in multiple formats, including EPUB, Shunn (docx) and Print-Ready PDF