A question

[ssbob90]

If I put up a post for any advice to help me will I get advises, at least just one, or be ignored like last time for varying reasons?

For context: When I deleted and reposted my advice I didn't do it for the reasons you assume, the one I know is the assumption that I'm a thin-skinned narcissist who only wanted praise, but because I wanted a redo of my draft because I, admittingly, half-assed it, as I was rambling to get the outline. I took the advice of the anonymous commented to help streamline my explanation but I felt that any new comment mixed with the old would feel weird. So I deleted all but the comments, which I archived on the site for future reference, and put a fresh start, with clearer outline and the aesop I wanted to deliver. But since I was an idiot I didn't informed anyone before deleting it and negative assumptions began floating.

So if you still thinking of refusing to help me because of your own assumptions I hope this explains it. If not then I'll post my help for my villain on other websites, which I already done in the discord.

Comments

[epistler]

Look, you don't have to explain yourself, okay? I for one don't have a problem with you and didn't make any "assumptions" after you deleted that post. The only reason I didn't offer you my advice is because I had too much trouble following what you were trying to say. That's all.

With that said this isn't really a place for asking for writing advice; we're about criticism of published works, and when we do share our own creations it's generally reworks of Paolini's canon to show how we'd do it in his place. If you're not getting what you want here, then I think it would be a good idea to try your luck elsewhere.

[ssbob90]

I did get some good advice in the other post, and I understand that there are other who have other business to tend to. The reason why I asked here is because you, and the other, have better knowledge on writing then me.

But the problem is that this is this is the only site I know can ask for advice, since Bewdtamer deleted his dreamwidth account and writingevolution became dead, or at least the members aren't posting for a long time, and I feel that the discord one is slow. So do you know any dreamwidth, or other forums, I can go to ask for advice?

[epistler]

But the problem is that this is this is the only site I know can ask for advice, since Bewdtamer deleted his dreamwidth account and writingevolution became dead

Oh, that's a shame. 😟
It's been a long time since I was part of an online writing advice community, but I'll tell you what I'll do - I'll ask around and see if I can find a good one for you to try out.

[epistler]

Here are some possibilities to start with: https://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/top-websites-for-writers-10-online-writing-communities

[torylltales]

If you have a Facebook account, there's literally hundreds of writing groups, critique groups, advice pages, and so on. Just search for "writing" and click onto "groups" to find one.

[tt_7]

You can also try this reddit community if you don't mind direct and (potentially) brutal criticism:

https://www.reddit.com/r/DestructiveReaders/

I've only joined the community recently, so a quick scan of the community would tell you that the feedback given can be very direct, and another rule there is that you need to post your own critique of equal wordcount before asking for people to critique your work (ie if you want them to critique your work with 1000 words then you've got to submit a critique of 1000 words). A fair heads-up, the basis of critique there is summarised somewhat into word-for-word so you might want to read the rules thoroughly first and ask around there before posting your works.

There's also r/writing, a subreddit dedicated for the craft and feedback is pretty instantaneous there. I'm not sure if they allow you to post an entire book there as I'm still new to Reddit, but you can try looking round for a subreddit that may cater to beta reading your book.

If you'd like feedback on your works you can always pm me on reddit or dreamwidth but please bear in mind that I will not be able to give you instant feedback, provided my extremely hectic schedule as indicated by my long absence from AS dreamwidth as well as my twitter account used mostly for fiction writing. You might need to wait for a lengthy period of time and I'm not saying this to sound snobbish or anything. This is just a heads up. I'll always be open to review works but I cannot guarantee an instant reply.

[hidden_urchin]

Check out the Absolute Write forum. There are a ton of active boards dedicated to writing improvement and specific genres. There's even a section for members to share excerpts of their work and get feedback.

I would recommend reading a bit to get a feel for the place before you post, and definitely read all of the board stickies. It's a great community, but it has its own culture and expectations that sometimes trip up newcomers.

Link: https://absolutewrite.com/forums/forum.php

[dinogrrl]

I would also recommend checking out Meetup, Nanowrimo, your local libraries, Facebook maybe?, and other such places for local writing groups that will offer story sharing and critiques and such. Some groups can be great, others not so much, but you won't know until you try them out.

[torylltales]

There comes a time in every little worldbuilder's life when they either get The Talk, or learn it the hard way after years of struggle. Unfortunately I learned it the hard way, so I'm giving it to you in the hope that it will help.

ahem.

If you want to build a world, build it. If you want to write a story set in that world, write it. But do it because it's what you want to do, not because it's what you think others might like. Forever chasing the approval of other people before you've even finished developing your ideas will get you precisely nowhere. Stop posting about your ideas, and start actually writing them.

Second point: From what I've seen of what you've posted, one of the reasons I haven't commented much is because you're just trying to do too much. I don't even know where to start with it, because there's just so much to take in. To quote Gordon Ramsay, a good restaurant does a handful of things amazingly, a bad restaurant does a hundred things poorly. Or as Bruce Lee put it, I fear not the man who has practices a thousand techniques one, but one technique a thousand times.

Do one thing and do it well. Having a massive sprawling world with sixteen races and fourteen conlangs and this and that and the other thing is just too much. Your reach exceeds your grasp. My advice would be to scale it way the fuck down, focus on one culture, one location, one character, and do that well. Then gradually expand from there, but only after you're satisfied that you've done the best you can with that first one.

I say both of these things from hard experience, when I was 22 I had a massive super-continent mapped out with plans for over 20 conlangs, 8 or 9 different cultures, dozens of different political and religious groups, a few hundred thousand years of history... it was too much. Especially once I started actually studying the subjects instead of skimming the surface, and realised how much I still had to learn. More than a decade later I'm still focusing on the one element of worldbuilding that I want to focus on and that I want to get right,that being my conlang. And I'm not constantly posting about it seeking approval and validation, I do it for my own enjoyment and creative satisfaction.

[epistler]

For what it's worth, I learned this lesson the hard way too. At one point I tried to incorporate every country on the entire PLANET. Alternative Earth so I didn't have to come up with conlangs and original cultures and such, but I still ended up massively overreaching myself, which was one reason why that project ended up going nowhere.

[tt_7]

At one point I tried to incorporate every country on the entire PLANET

Relatable! Lol I admired Tolkien for the details in his worldbuilding and tried to create Alternative Earth and after a few weeks I got overwhelmed and ditched the thing,which is like making pancakes with too much water in the batter. There was no other way to salvage it which I find hilarious, now that I think of it.

Well at least I tried to emulate Tolkien...

[dinogrrl]

I too learned this lesson the hard way. The lesson being, you don't need a hugely complex original world to tell a good story. You just need a believable one. Complexity =/= believability. At all.

I won't say it was all wasted experience, but I could have saved myself a lot of time and grief that I ultimately didn't need to go through. After 20+ years, my original fantasy story still has three species, several countries, and at least four languages (though only one is used in the story, I gave up working out the others). But again, I've had two decades to work on these, and it's still a huge amount of simplification compared to the very earliest versions.

And my historical fantasy, it's got two locations. That's it. I am about to tear out my hair over all the research I'm having to do just for that. Unfortunately in this situation I can't pare it back to just one because the historical people involved in the story have important life events happen in both places. But man my brain's about ready to explode.

Until you get more experience under your belt, or are prepared to spend literal YEARS just working on worldbuilding, I would advise only dealing with one species/race/culture/location/etc for the story. Maybe two if you absolutely need it.
Also maybe don't pick an alternate-earth historical fantasy for your first project either. x_x

[tt_7]

Having a massive sprawling world with sixteen races and fourteen conlangs and this and that and the other thing is just too much. Your reach exceeds your grasp

Err...is it safe to say that GRRM had this problem too?

[epistler]

I would say he handled it very well, actually. While there are a lot of different countries and cultures in the GoT universe, he only focuses on the ones that are immediately relevant to the story. The rest are left in the background and only mentioned in passing.

[(Anonymous)]

As that anon who might've been the reason you reposted, I think most people had already said what they meant (and so didn't need to comment twice), and everyone else wasn't going to comment. Ultimately, this isn't really a general forum.

That said, there's always somewhere like Spacebattles (and others have mentioned other good sites). Although if you go there, keep in mind that the criticisms tend to be harsh. It's not a personal thing, that's just how SB is.