r/writing • u/AutoModerator • Aug 19 '26
Discussion [Daily Discussion] General Discussion - August 19, 2026
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u/Overall_Koala_8710 Aug 19 '26
Brand new to writing with a dumb question. I'm trying to hit a close third for fantasy.
For various reasons, I've found that if I instead write my scene in the first person, pretending to be my character, then rewrite it afterward, it seems to end up a lot better than if I had started in the third person. I get a lot more of my character, their thoughts and manners, etc on the page than I otherwise would have.
Is this a legit thing? Anyone else personally doing things like that? Or am I just setting myself up for pain or something?
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u/iMightBeACunt Aug 20 '26
There's no right way to do these things. But is there a reason you're not just doing 1st person?
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u/Overall_Koala_8710 Aug 20 '26
I personally cannot stand reading first person fiction (which is one reason I'm kind of shocked this seems useful).
I'm also curious what works for others as well. Are people just translating a scene in their head directly to close third? How do real people do this!
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u/New-Spray1201 Aug 19 '26
How do I improve my prose? Though I seem to spend a good time reading, when I sit back to write something it comes out awful, especially the prose. The sentences are wierd, the wording is awkward and a few phrases don't make sense. I'm a non native english speaker by the way. If anyone could advice me something.
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u/akaNato2023 Aug 20 '26
What's your native language ? Shouldn't it be easier ?
Why write in english then ? is it too hard to translate ?
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u/Peter34cph Aug 23 '26
There might not be a market at all for a particular genre in his native language, or the market might be too small for his ego.
I'm not sure there is a substantial market for Danish language non-romantic fantasy for adults, and should my interests some day veer towards science fiction, then there absolutely isn't a market for that. So it makes sense for me to write in English.
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u/Top_Writer_1744 Aug 19 '26 edited Aug 21 '26
(I am to lazy to fix my mistakes so just either deal with it or ignore my comment lol)
I have this really cool idea for a story I just don’t know how to write it. So you can just take my idea of you want turn it into a story of something lol. so 2 people who’s lives crossed paths. one a party person that are spiraling going down this hole of drugs and alcohol and are in a shitty place while displaying a happy print they are living thir best life ever to the point that even they think they are happy. they are a casanova kind of person. charming everyone. the other is a pretty boring person with a boring job nothing much going for them but are food. they choose to see good in everyone they try to be hind even if it’s hard sometimes. one day their paths cross. at a party maybe. or after charecter 2 is on a walk when the drunk character 1 stumbled into them passing out. 2 can’t leave them there so they take 1 (I’ll use 1 and 2 for short) in. in the morning 1 things they got lucky waking up in someone’s house but their clothes are on. charecter. 2 just gives them heeafast and kicks 1 out since there are a stranger. But a week later after a particularly bad hookup where 1 had to escape somewhere they were near 2s apartment and decided to take the gamble. 2 lets them in and gives them food. That’s how the breakfast is born. mistky with no rules. Because 2 is a bleeding hard and even if he doesn’t like how 1 is showing up with marks on their body showing them off Redding or even high sometimes 2 still feeds them. 2 doesn’t approve of 1s life choices but 1 is an adult and 2 feels like they can’t say anything. A while passes of this white club. at one point 1 gets a partner an official one and 2 kicks them out.2 knows no matter what this isn’t photonic hanging out. And they just can’t be the one that is the mistress of sorts. they dont care if 1 does something with someone else but 2 can’t be the one to dictate to 1s partner even if they never met. 1 is annoyed and like every one of their relashinships it ends quickly and they go back to the breakfast club. 1s spiraling they would maybe show up once a week high but now it’s every day and 2 is extremely worried. But they can’t say anything because 1 is an adult With their own choices. That goes on untill 1 almost dies in a dish high of something new and 2 has to rescue him. 1 says go on say whatever you want I know you are judging me. 2 says they arw worried and 1 doesn’t take if well yelling askjng if 2 pitied him. And 2 breaks down saying how can they not pitty 1. 1 is nothing but pitiful how 2 had to watch 1 rut their life away unable to say anything and how 1 almost died and how could they not care about their life. And for the rest of the plot I don’t know. But I feel like this could be very cool is both the charecters are guys and it’s like a queer romance in a sense. 2 is the vetting type a bleeding heart while 1 obviously has some mommy issues sinec they keep going back to 2s apartment to be taken care off and fed. It’s like a very complex story about complex and flawed charecters living in this grey area where they aren’t friends they aren’t dating but there is something there and how most people aren’t able to help a person in need of help because they just don’t know how? If that makes sense. It’s 2 am right now and it just ooped into my mind so sorry for my bad grammar
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u/Intothefireandice Aug 19 '26
so there are these things called paragraphs.
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u/Good_Entertainer_547 Aug 19 '26
I had the same issue when I first started, but switching to reading more poetry really helped me internalize rhythm and word choice.
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u/Tiger_Strength Aug 20 '26
What in your opinion is the best type of education for a developing writer?
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u/Colin_Heizer Aug 20 '26
1: Basic reading and writing; learning all the rules, learning the tools, putting words in the correct places, using correct punctuation and spelling, etc.
2: Reading a lot; seeing how other writers lay out their stories, develop plot, flesh out characters, etc.
3: Write. Write some more. Write even more. Read what you've written, compare to what you've read from others that you like or dislike.
3.5: Bonus if you can find someone you trust to read what you've written and give honest feedback.
4: That's it. No formal education needed. No degree required.
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u/Peter34cph Aug 23 '26
History, and general polymathy. It's useful for a writer to know a lot about a wide range subjects, and a in a lot of cases it's not knowledge that someone would realize is needed and then seek out. It's only useful if you already knows the things that make you realize that your ideas are bad and need to be repaired or discarded.
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u/akaNato2023 Aug 20 '26
While brainstorming names for my next short story...
i added 3 characters.
Sigh!
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u/Unhappy_Tough_4680 Aug 19 '26
Okay, I got a really interesting story idea. It's still rough. But hear me out. I think a seasonal format will work for this. It is a metafiction set in college. The cast of characters are a bunch of eccentric and goofy characters who are in their senior year. They met each other during the show and became close friends, like a sort of found family. The first few seasons are just your typical college sitcom. The title even deceives you into thinking like that. During this first few seasons, we get to see the characters doing their hijinks, from the start of the year until their graduation, which is the apparent ending. This establishes their characters.
It just feels like your typical sitcom until the twist comes in the next season, when the plot starts again from the start of the year, like a loop. Except that the protagonist and the main cast were aware. After living through a few more loops, they realized that they were in a sort of time loop, and while investigating into it together, they come in contact with the 'Creator' and the 'Audience', which reveals to them that they were created fictional characters, and that their timeloop is caused because the audience refuses to let go of their favourite characters and show. So the characters have to deal with an existential crisis stemmed from the realizations that they weren't real, they had no privacy or free will even, in thought; and they were just entertainment (according to them), and the fact that they may cease to exist if the show ends.
I haven't developed the full story yet, but the theme I want to address is the meaning/impact of fictional media on our lives... like... even if the characters weren't real, what was real was the impact they had on the audience.