Writing goals

[PrettyBirdRocky]

I my goal WAS 80k but I failed so I’ll just do a fourth of that

No such thing as writing failure unless you have a blank page!

Words are hard to get down! 16k is amazing! You've got this!

(Back to browsing this thread lol)

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

what do yall think so far?

It's a nice start. You're doing good with character voice too. My first thought reading it was you saying that this was for teens. Yes, teens swear, but should it be in a YA book? No. An adult book, maybe. Not all teens want to read books with swearing and their parents might not approve of a book with swearing in it. And you can't just censor it either. It pulls the reader from the story.

How about instead, give your character a word that would work in a YA book, like "Crap!" or "Shoot!" or even come up with a word that would be specific to your character and/or their world: "Pin feathers!"

Edit: "6-7!" doesn't count. It'll date your writing. And now most teens aren't saying it; only middle graders and adults who are trying to fit in with their teens.

 

[PrettyBirdRocky]

So hi! Im not caught up yet--now day here at work(public school) so I'm...cough... sitting and (technically editing) however I needed a break.

Anywho, I write smut. Yup. Romance with extra spice. WITH plot!!! LOL! serioulsy, I did a word count of my last novel and it was 29% smut. I count that a win lol out of 41k words.

My goal right now? Get through these two edits so I can get my head back into writing! I have 14(?) WIPs that need to be finished--i have the story in my head but Ive been so all over the place this month(life's been crazier than normal) that I haven't been able to focus.

I am a panster! Although I do have one series that I actually semi-plotted! (The horror!) Hehe

I have no--absolutely (-1000%) no idea what Im doing as an author but hey, I have fun, write for me, and if there are a few tears, who knows? Chickens tell no tales

Gonna go do a walk around then I'll be back to read more in this thread -think I made it to page 7? Lol

 

[Isabella7Storm5]

How about instead, give your character a word that would work in a YA book, like "Crap!" or "Shoot!" or even come up with a word that would be specific to your character and/or their world: "Pin feathers!"

 

[Isabella7Storm5]

So hi! Im not caught up yet--now day here at work(public school) so I'm...cough... sitting and (technically editing) however I needed a break.

Anywho, I write smut. Yup. Romance with extra spice. WITH plot!!! LOL! serioulsy, I did a word count of my last novel and it was 29% smut. I count that a win lol out of 41k words.

My goal right now? Get through these two edits so I can get my head back into writing! I have 14(?) WIPs that need to be finished--i have the story in my head but Ive been so all over the place this month(life's been crazier than normal) that I haven't been able to focus.

I am a panster! Although I do have one series that I actually semi-plotted! (The horror!) Hehe

I have no--absolutely (-1000%) no idea what Im doing as an author but hey, I have fun, write for me, and if there are a few tears, who knows? Chickens tell no tales

Gonna go do a walk around then I'll be back to read more in this thread -think I made it to page 7? Lol

Welcome!

I can’t even comprehend writing smut. Idk how y’all do it.
I personally don’t read it either cuz it’s out of my comfort zone.
Considering romantasy exists you definitely have an audience lol

Pantsing is the way
The only book related research and planning I do is pretty much linguistics for my conlang creation and even that is minimal. And anatomy for flight because I write a ridiculous amount of avians.

 

[RDchicken99]

It's a nice start. You're doing good with character voice too. My first thought reading it was you saying that this was for teens. Yes, teens swear, but should it be in a YA book? No. An adult book, maybe. Not all teens want to read books with swearing and their parents might not approve of a book with swearing in it. And you can't just censor it either. It pulls the reader from the story.

How about instead, give your character a word that would work in a YA book, like "Crap!" or "Shoot!" or even come up with a word that would be specific to your character and/or their world: "Pin feathers!"

Edit: "6-7!" doesn't count. It'll date your writing. And now most teens aren't saying it; only middle graders and adults who are trying to fit in with their teens.

what do yall think so far?

I hope you don't mind if I toss my two cents in here.

The topic of coarse language in writing is something that interests me to no end, as it carries potential to make or break a book.
For my second (not current) WIP, I've had to figure out how to handle it to actually further the story and characters.

Abstain from adding swear words just for the sake of adding swear words. Like Lacy said, yes, teens very much do swear. However, you are dealing with very particular teens that are made up.
Use this to your advantage. Use language to characterize.

I could go on for hours about the importance of dialogue to plot and characters and worldbuilding-- literally everything, dialogue is so important.
There is lots you can say about a character by their use of language. The first question, do they curse? Yes, or no?
If no, then why?
Would their parents scold them? Is it a personal moral upholding? Did they know someone that hurt them that had a habit of cursing constantly?
If yes, then why?
Because their friends do? Because their dad does? Because they want to be seen as tough? Do they want to in the first place, as in, is it a bad habit they want to shake?

Anyways, some things to mentally chew on. Actively use the way a character speaks as a tool. Don't throw words around willy-nilly.

 

[Beau plus penny]

I hope you don't mind if I toss my two cents in here.

The topic of coarse language in writing is something that interests me to no end, as it carries potential to make or break a book.
For my second (not current) WIP, I've had to figure out how to handle it to actually further the story and characters.

Abstain from adding swear words just for the sake of adding swear words. Like Lacy said, yes, teens very much do swear. However, you are dealing with very particular teens that are made up.
Use this to your advantage. Use language to characterize.

I could go on for hours about the importance of dialogue to plot and characters and worldbuilding-- literally everything, dialogue is so important.
There is lots you can say about a character by their use of language. The first question, do they curse? Yes, or no?
If no, then why?
Would their parents scold them? Is it a personal moral upholding? Did they know someone that hurt them that had a habit of cursing constantly?
If yes, then why?
Because their friends do? Because their dad does? Because they want to be seen as tough? Do they want to in the first place, as in, is it a bad habit they want to shake?

Anyways, some things to mentally chew on. Actively use the way a character speaks as a tool. Don't throw words around willy-nilly.

yea i only used it bc i felt it was neccisary for the situation

 

[RDchicken99]

yea i only used it bc i felt it was neccisary for the situation

Is that scene going to be the opener for your story?
If that's the case, you might find another word to use. If someone sees a swear word in the first few sentences they may very well not continue reading.