#I've shown people snippets and chapters from my book and they read the pages with awe

[thatweirddolldude]

I can write the saddest story, with genuine tragedy and despair that can still make you feel hope and hold on for what could be a happy end. . . but a joke?

If I try to write a joke I'm being lazy and not thinking how the character could use humor in a natural way to bring ease to both the audience and the other characters. If I write a joke I'm trying to make the audience laugh and not let the characters live in their moment.

THIS ISN'T ABOUT ANYONE ELSE BTW! If you use a lot of jokes in your writing, I love that for you! I love reading it! My favorite book is a comedy. I'm just not funny and you know if I'm trying to be funny and I don't just let the characters exist. . . then *I'm* being lazy.

[glitzandshadows]

hi! i'm currently writing a book, it's almost done. i've been writing it for about a year(ish) now. what do you do before you start querying? how much is too much to share online? i've only shared things from my prologue and first chapter. *nervous author noises* emily !! help a wicked saints fan out!

you finish the book and then you revise the book -- you don’t want to query a first draft! it’s not worth it! get eyes on it! spend time away from it! 

i have found that sharing online is an art form that few truly master but my method is this: find 1-3 scenes that has a lot of Enticing Moments that work without greater context. Carefully share just bits and pieces of those scenes but really just those scenes only. The way I share snippets masks almost entirely the actual story in the book (I shared a lot of WS when i was drafting it. So much. And everyone who had followed along, when they finally read the book, were like ‘ah that was. that was not what i thought it was going to be’ (in a good way lmao. or not idk it’s fine.) I’ve shared bits and pieces of Ruthless Gods and i know for certain that............. y’all don’t actually know where I go with that book. (though it’s cool if you do! i don’t see the merit in plot twists for the sake of them. I’m always surprised that people don’t see the ending of WS coming because i thought most readers would figure it out by chapter 12)

I wouldn’t share whole pages. Keep it to paragraphs. You want people to be interested, not feel like you’ve shown them everything there is to see. 

[tellemonstar]

So, I've finished posting the s3 re-write, and I will start posting s4 in September, I just want a little more written before I start posting. But, here is a snippet from the first chapter dealing with 4.01 - Everything's Okay. This story is a direct continuation from A Sin Worth Hurting For, so if you haven't read that, you might be a tad confused.

“What’s wrong?” Chloe sat on her bed, looking up at him with a concerned expression. Her daughter was safely tucked up in bed sound asleep after crashing halfway through a movie, and they had come upstairs, supposedly to get ready for bed themselves. “You’ve been acting strangely since we got to the crime scene this morning.” 

It was now or never, he supposed, to have this conversation. “Nothing’s wrong, exactly. I just don’t think you’ve handled seeing my Devil face as well as you think you have.”

“What?”

“It’s just… Well, darling, you had no reaction whatsoever, really. That’s not normal. You should have… reacted differently.”

She blinked, as if what he’d said didn’t make sense. “Lucifer, I’m not afraid of you. Do you want me to be afraid? I told you, when I saw it, that it didn’t scare me. I got a jolt, sure, but that’s because I wasn’t expecting it.”

“But you should be. You should have been terrified.”

“Why? I love you, and I know you’d never hurt me.”

“You don’t know that. I might.”

“Well, I guess you’re right. You’re certainly hurting my feelings by suggesting I don’t know how I feel about you.” She rose now, walking over to stand in front of him. “Didn’t we just spend two incredible weeks together, and one of those we spent without anyone else, mostly wrapped around each other? If I was afraid of you, don’t you think I’d have avoided spending any time alone with you, especially away from our family and friends?”

“It was an all expenses paid Euro-Mediterranean holiday. Most people would deal with a lot to have one of those.”

Clearly, it was the wrong thing to say as she took in a shocked gasp of air and turned her face from him. When she did look back, she was angry. “How dare you, Lucifer? I would never, ever take advantage of you, or what you can and will give me like that. I can’t believe you’d think that of me. If you truly believe that of me, then we are clearly on very different pages, maybe even in different books.”

He was doing this wrong. Saying the wrong thing, as usual. “Detective.” When she continued to bore holes into him with her eyes, he sighed. “Chloe. I don’t think that. I know you don’t care about the money I do or don’t have, and how uncomfortable you are when I spend what you consider to be excessive amounts on you.” At her raised eyebrow, he shifted; her steely glare enough to make him regret starting this conversation. “I’m not explaining myself very well.”

“Then do better.”

Still offended. He couldn’t blame her. “My Devil face has always been something I’ve used to show people what’s awaiting them when they die. It’s gotten more confessions out of people than even you know, as I was doing that long before I started working with you. It’s meant to be scary. Remember that horrendous woman who wanted to demolish LUX and turn it into a mega-mall, and I told you that I was going to get it back by turning her world into a ‘sphincter-loosening nightmare’?” She nodded once, curtly. “I would have shown her my face. Looked her deep in the eyes and shown her what awaited her when she died. She’ll wind up in Hell, no doubt. People like her usually do. There’s always one sale or one deal that they regret or the ruthlessness with which they lived their lives comes back to bite them. But that’s the reaction people have to my face. With the exception of Malcolm Graham, who had already been to Hell, and Pierce, who was dying by the time he saw it.”

This conversation was wearing him out, and he moved to sit in the armchair in the corner. It was time to come all the way clean, to tell her everything. “The Doctor thinks that maybe the reason I got it back in the first place is because I don’t regret killing Uriel as much as I feel I should, and I wanted to kill Pierce, and that perhaps now I see myself as evil. And that because I do, I subconsciously want you to reject me.” 

He looked at her now, partly shadowed by how the lamplight fell on her features. She was keeping her expression neutral, although he could see it was quite an effort on her end. “She’s right. At least about my not regretting Uriel’s death anymore. If I had to make the same choice again, I would. I’d make it forever if it meant saving you. I didn’t want to kill him. At the time, I didn’t even think about what I was doing. I just acted. Did the only thing I could think of to protect you. And yes, it saved Mum as well, but if I could go back, I’d send her straight into another universe as soon as I knew we had the flaming sword. I regret that I had to be the one that did it. That I’m always the one that has to do the things my siblings won’t do, distasteful and difficult things. But I can’t find it in myself to regret him not being here if it means you are. I should regret murdering my brother. I should want to have made a different choice, but I don’t. I wanted to kill Cain since he first looked your way. And surely that must make me a terrible person, if not evil.”

She crossed to him now, standing in front of him, so he had to tip his head all the way back to look at her unless he sat back. She cupped his face with her hands, making him look up at her. “I’m sorry that your family has made you the perpetual scapegoat. That you are always the one that seems to have to make the difficult and often extreme choices. But not regretting Uriel’s death doesn’t make you a bad person. It means you’ve come to terms with what happened. You had to make a decision in the heat of the moment, and looking back, I can see that you had no other choice if you wanted me and your mom safe. You shouldn’t have had to make that decision, and I agree with Amenadiel that your father should have put a stop to Uriel’s visit.”

She shifted, gently nudging his chest, and he sat back so she could straddle his lap, putting her hands on his shoulders. “I don’t regret killing Pierce for even an instant, and I’m glad you didn’t have to make that decision. I know angels aren’t supposed to kill humans. You told me that. So if that takes one decision off your conscious, then I’m even more glad it was me. I wanted to hurt him once we figured out he was behind your so-called sleep-flying. Maze might think it was her idea, but we both know it was his. I wanted to kill him when he took Trixie. I was already ready to punch him senseless for whatever role he had in your kidnapping, and seeing him pointing his gun at you in the loft, I knew I had to shoot first.” She leaned forward and laid her forehead against his. “I don’t regret it for a second, and I probably should. I should regret taking the life of another human, but in that case, I don’t.”

He let out a long breath. He knew it was still going to take him a while to accept what she was saying completely, but for now, it was enough. “I’m sorry.”

“I know.” They stayed as they were for a few minutes, then she shifted, sitting back to look at him again. “Show me again.”

“Show you what?”

“Your other face. Your Devil face.”

“Darling, really, there’s no need for you to see it again.”

“I want to. I want you to know one hundred percent that it doesn’t bother me.” He knew that tone of voice. It was the one she got when she was absolutely determined and no amount of argument would change her mind. With a sigh, and closing his eyes, he allowed that side of him to emerge. When he opened his eyes, she was still looking at him, but there was a tear running down her cheek. “Does it still hurt?”

“Hmm? Oh, no. This face has never hurt. I’m not sure how it even works, to be honest.” She traced lightly over the ravaged skin with her fingertips, tracing the lines of his face and around where his facial bones were. That was one thing that didn’t really change, no matter what form his face took.

“Why this form? This appearance?”

“I have no idea.” He closed his eyes for a moment as her fingers continued their gentle exploration. “I’ve never even thought about it, to be fair. It’s something I try not to think about.”

“Okay.” She pressed her lips to his, then sat back again. “You can come back now.” He made his Devil face disappear. “Still not afraid.”

“I can see that. Apparently nothing works on you, you freak.”

She punched him playfully on the arm. “I don’t think you should be calling your girlfriend a freak.”

“Perhaps not.” She leaned in close again, and he kissed her softly. “Even if she’s a freak in the sheets?”

“Lucifer!” Her laugh lightened the weight from him and he stood, lifting her up as he did, so her legs came around him. He carried her to the bed and dumped her lightly on it, then covered her body with his. Before their mouths met, she grinned up at him. “I will admit, seeing you grab Marshall Reynolds like that was pretty hot.” He chuckled, nipping lightly at her nose. “I forget you’re so strong, because you’re always so gentle with me and Trixie. I don’t mind seeing those casual displays of strength from time to time. Admittedly, I prefer when it’s not a suspect or a US Marshall, but beggars can’t be choosers.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too. Remember that.” She tugged him close and with a kiss that he put all of his emotions into, they forgot about the world for a while.