#novelette length

[tildeathiwillwrite]

An Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend and Eventual Lover (A Hero x Villain Whump Fic) (12015 words) by TilDeathIWillWrite Chapters: 12/12 Fandom: Original Work Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death Relationships: hero/villain - Relationship Characters: Hero, Villain - Character, Original Superhero Characters Additional Tags: Whump, Hero/Villain, hero x villain, Abuse, Gunshot Wounds, Death, Swearing, Painkillers, Anesthesia, Surgery, burn scars, Gender Not Specified, Blood, Medical Staples, Hero Whump, superhero whump, Revenge, Fire, collapsing building, Magic exhaustion, Burns, Dizziness, Fear, Adrenaline, Cryokinesis, Trapped, Crying, Guilt, pyrokinesis, Death Threats, referenced injury, Secrets, collapsed building, Paranoia, Unconsciousness, Handcuffs, Ambushed, Panic Attack, Denial, Manhandling, Threats, Pistol-Whipping, concussion, PTSD, Disassociation, Captivity, Captivity whump, Gaslighting, Referenced Torture, Helplessness, superpower whump, Torture, Anger, Choking, Last Resort, scream, weapon, Electrocution, assumed death, Shock, referenced injuries, Blood and Injury, Injury, Head Injury, delirious, bridal carry, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Happy Ending, Slow Burn Summary: Hero flees their abusive team and seeks solace with Villain. ----------

Guess who just spent the last forty minutes uploading the entirety of her Hero x Villain whump fic to Ao3?

[shoechoe]

Help im gonna have to cut this down

[atlaskrr]

me when the longest piece of literature ive ever read is a fanfic.

[cluepoke-archive]

If theirs one thing I can do in my life before I die,, it's convincing someone. anyone here to read the wayward children series by seanan mcguire. Go!!! I love you. Those books love you. I promise

[dduane]

Meanwhile, on the digital art side...

All the Middle Kingdoms maps for lo, these many years have been adaptations of one or another of the very old original landscape-oriented line art maps. (I'm still wondering why none of the editors ever asked for a portrait-format one, as better suited to the printed page. Except that by the time the series reached a major publisher, it was just finishing up the third volume of the main sequence, and they most likely thought ehh, nobody'll care... as maps were going out of vogue.)

Anyway, this version's a bit of a chimera—a compromise among several graphics styles and newer maps generated over the last few years. But at least it gives an accurate sense of the terrain, and of where things are in relation to one another, until I can get to grips with the World Creator software that'll let me rebuild the terrain, and its mapping, from the ground up. (So to speak.)

As a result, this map will for the time being be going out with the Ebooks Direct ebook editions of the MK books, when I have time to pull each one of them back into the machine to add it. (For the print versions, I have to consider whether to go greyscale on this one, or just back-engineer a line art version. Once I have a few minutes to rub together to start work on the reconstruction of this landscape in World Creator, I'll be better able to make a call on this.)

The map above also now appears in the just-refreshed version of Tales of the Five #1: The Levin-Gad. Tl:dr; I was recently rereading this work as research for something else and spotted a really obvious issue that needed to be fixed—a bit of character business. That discovery triggered a mini-edit of the novelette novella. (Why the hell can I not keep the relative lengths of "novelette" and "novella" straight? FFS.) Nothing major, but I wound up making revisions to a scene that needed adjustment so that things would wind up properly.

Anyway, if you've already purchased this particular work from Ebooks Direct, either on its own or as part of a bundle—such as the Whole Store Bundle or the 2023 Pride Package—and you'd like the revised edition of TOTF1, just drop a note to the store's support address and we'll send you a download link in a day or two.*

Thanks, all!

*Free, of course. It's not like we're funding a space program or anything. ;)

[euphoric-dramione]

January Dramione fanfic wrap-up *with links*

FULL-LENGTH:

Waifs and Strays by kyonomiko: very cute fluffy fic where draco is a cutiepie pine marten.

& Obey, Till Death Do Us Part by LongtimeLurker1111: his could’ve been a dark romance, but instead hermione decided to stay with “phin” theo and i just don’t understand it. the worst part wasn’t rapist draco bc he was the bad guy, it was rapist “phin” theo who was supposed to be good smut was nice at first.

Brand New World by NinaBinaBallerina: i loved loooved the beggining of this fic. then after they graduated and she found out she was pregnant i kinda lost the plot. i read until the point draco wanted her to move in with him while he was married to astoria and then i just skimmed until the epilogue.

In Silence And Submission by gillianeliza: this was a cool smutty bdsm fic, it had some nice things but i just think the writing was kinda wonky? nevertheless, very much enjoyed reading this.

The Fever by Flightglow32: this was supposed to be a smutty novelette but the smut happens in the very last chapter and only last five pages and we skim through the smut scenes like we’re a train on schedule and i just don’t understand why? especially because the fic was so sexual in its themes so why was the smut so lackluster??

Draconian by Noelle: It was like a really fluffy wartime with not-so big stakes, at first i thought how stragely whiny and crying hermione was all the time, but then we started to slowly find out what happened to her. I didn’t feel very much towards this story but it was entertaining and very readable.

Uncoffined by lady_of_clunn: it was nice, but due to the dubious ethics i’m quite conflicted of how i’m supposed to feel.

Damaged Goods by slytherin_after_dark: look, i know i had dnfed this when i had read only like one or two chapters, but lemme tell you how much i loed this fic when i picked it back up! it was all i needed - spicy, entertaining, angsty, with toxic but possessive and loving draco. although hermione felt ooc, it didn’t dim the reading experience.

The Politician's Wife by pir8fancier: this was so realistic, the romance was subtle but powerful, the little bit of smut we got was fantastic. also, it was incredibly well-written.

Seasons Pass (To This Ass) by mighbewriting: didn’t love it, but it was short, so i read it in one night. the smut was realistic as in how sex works but it wasn’t great smut if you know what i mean. loved draco’s quidditch player physique.

More Than One Way To Win by scullymurphy: i loooved the fake dating in this one, it was short but had all the scenes, i really liked it, although i wish there was more plot for after they got into an actual relationship.

Safe Home by khakis: cute kinda short kinda omegaverse story with draco as a werewolf but the werewolf part doesn’t play a huge part.

Breed by RoseDeVents: sooo muuuch breeeding.

The Curse of Malfoy Manor by alwaysaclaw11: a nice retelling of beauty and the beast, but it didn't leave a lasting impact on me.

Our Girl by geoblock: hands down the best smut i’ve ever read, and it's hermione x draco x theo x BLAISE

Innocent Monsters by itscometothis: very fluffy, but then draco gets depressed and a lot of attention is paid to his depression which i don’t mind, but it was a bit triggering. so not extremely fluffy, even though on of the tags was “tooth-rotting fluff”.

ONE-SHOTS:

Belladona by NinaBinaBallerina

(What’s a kink?) Between Friends by morriganmercy

Bond by spicyxpisces

Tell Me by GardenAtTwilight

Keep Me Safe by Skyfire2459

Perfect by CaityBell

Fourteen Days by its_banannaz

Marked as Mine by LilithShade

WORKS IN-PROGRESS:

Let The Dark In by senlinyu

The Sun, The Moon, The Truth by pinkinku

House Pet by NinaBinaBallerina

(all three of these are pretty dark and ansgty and VERY well written, i usually don't read wips)

[tozettastone]

I actually think I really like the kind of "series of novellas and novelettes" format for fic writing instead of really really long novel or epic length works chapter by chapter.

Like, for example, the maddieverse is, technically, all about the same general themes. But I would have felt like the fic itself was a meandering mess if I'd tried to post it as one story rather than a bunch of closely connected ones with their own internal arcs.

Generally speaking I prefer to read stories that are in that novella-to-light novel length range too, so maybe I just like that kind of structure.

[maypearlss]

𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐧 & 𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥! (𝐬𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐩 𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐜)

this wip isn't developed enough for me to write a full intro, so here's a mini intro to the very basics and the main characters, sutton quinn and rockwell detroit! i love them lots <3

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 ⋆｡°✩

⋆ supernatural romance

⋆ takes place on the sunset strip in 1983

⋆ i'm undecided on the length, but it's probably gonna be on the shorter side, maybe a novella or novelette

⋆ centers around an obsessive, codependent vampire romance and the effects of loneliness on immortal minds

⋆ inspired by the creatures of the night album by kiss (and to be honest, kiss's music in general) and a little bit by the lost boys (1987)

⋆ has one of my favorite wip playlists to date like i'm not kidding it fucks so hard

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 : 𝐬𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐧 ⋆｡°✩

⋆ she/her, bisexual ⋆ the feral one ⋆ vampire groupie who gets blood from the musicians she hunts sleeps with ⋆ rose from an unmarked grave and has no memory of her life ⋆ extreme hedonist ⋆ mini playlist: "secretly cruel" by kiss | "looks that kill" by mötley crüe | "sex action" by l.a. guns

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 : 𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐢𝐭 ⋆｡°✩

⋆ he/him, bisexual ⋆ the sad one ⋆ vampire rockstar, lead singer of a rock band called bad dogs ⋆ was turned into a vampire when he was still alive ⋆ wants to have a famous and successful band, but is forced to stay on the relative down-low so his identity as a vampire isn't discovered ⋆ mini playlist: "keep me comin'" by kiss | "love bites" by def leppard | "five years dead" by mötley crüe

[duskforged]

Badly Described WIPs Poll

Okay. I know this is kind of a weird move but I realized that in my first iteration of this, I actually did not include Lodestar. Shame on me!!! So I'm doing it again and tagging a new host of people.

Key: n = original novel/novella/novelette (lengths vary) c = comic (of some form)

I also have fanfic on the side which I might do. Not sure yet!!

Sanctuary

Amid Wisteria

Unto Summer Kings

Lodestar

The Vespertine

Wolf in Shepherd's Clothing

These Absent Gods (Title WIP)

Dame-Errant (Title WIP)

Witch Boy (Title WIP, coauthoring with @fallenorpheus)

The Black Dowry (unannounced)

Tagging: @marathefallen @aowna @encrucijada @chauceryfairytales @dreaminggoblin and anyone else that wants to tap in!!!

[tildeathiwillwrite]

Tag Game: Writeblr Interview

Thanks to @cowboybrunch for the tag, this looks fun!

Long post incoming.

----------

Short stories, novels, or poems?

I find I end up with novelette/novella-length stories more often than not. I've written plenty of one-shots and short stories for prompt events, and I like doing that especially when I'm doing fanfiction or nameless characters. When I write with ocs though I tend to stretch stuff out and what had originally started as a one-shot or short story ends up becoming a novella.

Don't get me wrong I have plenty of WIPs planned out to be novels (like Trials of the Six), but the first drafts of The Hunter, the Myth and the Cure and The Legend of Orian Goldeneye were both novella-length and will probably stay that way or end up being longer. My Hero x Villain series ended up being a novelette, so basically I can't plan for how long a story's gonna be lol.

I've written a little bit of poetry (heck, I wrote one for The Legend of Orian Goldeneye that may or may not get cut), but it's not my favorite thing to write because I way overthink things. But when I do compose poetry I usually do limericks.

What genre do you prefer reading?

Fantasy, no contest. And within fantasy, usually High Fantasy with a lightcore or hopecore focus. I read some gritty stuff, but I find they tend to have elements I don't really like more than the ones I do.

Are you a planner or a write as I go kind of person?

Both? I like having an idea of where the story's gonna go, and I plan that out either before writing or while writing, so I don't get stuck. But it's really loose and gives plenty of room for the characters to go feral. I'm in the middle, but I lean more panster than plotter.

What music do you listen to while writing?

Soundtracks, usually from videogames or movies. I really should start organizing my two writing playlists by vibes other than calming music and boss fight-type, but I'm pretty happy with how I have it now. I also have some seasonal aesthetic playlists which match the vibe of the current weather.

Field Music Playlist (calming background soundtracks)

Boss Fight Playlist (pump-up, more exciting soundtracks)

Seasonal Aesthetics: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter

Favorite books/movies?

Oh goodness.

Uhhhh. UHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

My knee-jerk answer for favorite movie is and always will be The Princess Bride. But I also really like Back to the Future, The Martian, and Clue.

With books I tend to separate them into categories. For fantasy I would say it's a tie between Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, The Death Gate Cycle: Hand of Chaos by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson, and Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynn Jones.

For sci-fi it's The Martian by Andy Weir, followed closely by Skyward by Brandon Sanderson.

My favorite classic is Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, followed by Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin.

And for nonfiction I like Stuck by Justina Van Manen, The Healing Imperative by Mike Aquilina, and Beautiful Holiness by Kathleen Beckman.

And of course the Holy Bible and the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Any current WIPs?

This post is getting long enough already, I talk about my WIPs here and they're all linked in my pinned post in one way or another.

Create a character description of yourself:

Quiet, and keeps to herself. Never without a book, never without a rosary. Her brown hair is long, reaching nearly past her waist, and often kept up in a ponytail or a braid. She dresses mostly in dark colors, black jeans or skirt and a shirt or blouse that is black, navy, or gray, but occasionally wears a bright shirt. She wears little to no makeup unless she feels like being extra fancy. She always has a ring on her right hand, and usually a bracelet that matches her outfit, both of which she fiddles with. Her friends are few but she loves them dearly, and they are often on her mind. Though she may be quiet most of the time, she never hesitates to speak up for what she believes in.

Do you like incorporating actual people you know into your writing?

Eh... not really. I know my own thoughts and experiences much better than those around me and I wouldn't wish a lot of the stuff I do to my characters on the people I know so it just feels kinda weird to me.

Are you kill happy with your characters?

I find I like to bring my characters to the brink of death and back again rather than just killing them unless I want to write about grief. I'm more kill happy with immortal characters for the same reason.

Coffee or Tea while writing?

Usually just water, but if I can get my favorite iced coffee drink than I'd be happy to drink that.

Slow or fast writer?

It varies depending on the amount of research I have to do in a scene, but I think I write pretty fast. I haven't measured my words-per-minute in a while but it was pretty good if I recall correctly.

If you were in a fantasy world, what would you be?

I'd love to be a guide of some kind, part of the group enough that I won't get killed off. I'm pretty good with navigation and maps, and I'd like to have powers (minor ones, not overpowered) but that would depend on the fantasy world.

Most fav book cliche:

Scoundrel with a heart of gold. I eat that up like a starving woman. Han Solo, Mat Cauthon, Ifan Ben-Medz, etc. Draven Cozenson, Diana Ozborne and Korfel Domin are two oc examples.

Least favorite cliche:

Love triangles. Frustrates me to no end, especially how most of them are resolved and how they really only seem to drive wedges in the fandoms (Keeper of the Lost Cities fandom, I'm looking at you.) I have no love triangles in my stories and I never will. I have minimal romance anyway but in the two I got there is no competition.

Favorite scene to write?

*evil grin* Love writing the whump or hurt/comfort scenes, all my ocs get whumped in some form or another, and I have fun every single time.

Reason for writing?

Creative expression, love for my ocs, with a dash of "I maked these :D"

In all seriousness, it's a hobby that I love. It sparks joy and it's a craft that I continuously improve upon and the more I write the better I get at writing. I also occasionally fantasize about publishing one day and my books having fandoms of their own. Maybe that will happen someday.

----------

This was fun! Tagging @fourwingedwriter @phoenixradiant @thewritingautisticat @writingphoenix @somethingclevermahogony

@agirlandherquill @happypup-kitcat24 @imsoveryveryconfusedatlife @geode-crystal @pluttskutt and open tag! :D

Blank list under the cut:

Short stories, novels, or poems?

What genre do you prefer reading?

Are you a planner or a write as I go kind of person?

What music do you listen to while writing?

Favorite books/movies?

Any current WIPs?

Create a character description of yourself:

Do you like incorporating actual people you know into your writing?

Are you kill happy with your characters?

Coffee or Tea while writing?

Slow or fast writer?

If you were in a fantasy world, what would you be?

Most fav book cliche:

Least favorite cliche:

Favorite scene to write?

Reason for writing?

[tryslora]

...but is it Hugo worthy?

The subconscious can be an evil thing.

When I was a teenager (15 to be exact) I already knew I wanted to be a writer, and had been working at my craft (such as it was) for three long years. I was starting to submit stories (they were rejected). I was growing up in fandom, attending literary SF cons, and on Labor Day weekend in 1983, I was at ConStellation—the World SF convention in Baltimore.

I attended the Hugo Award ceremony, and there I watched Connie Willis win her first Hugo for her Novelette “Fire Watch” (yes, I went and fact-checked my memory on this part). During her speech, she referenced being a teenager and listening to someone else give a speech about winning a Hugo… and I thought… this is my defining moment. I will never forget this. And when I win my own Hugo, I will reference this story.

I have obviously never won a Hugo.

I came to realize long ago that the words I write are not the kinds of stories that win the big awards. This is okay! And this is not a pity party. I write accessible fiction—popcorn fiction, I call it. The kind that has fairly simple language, character-oriented plotlines, and hopefully makes a reader want to sit down and read the whole thing (eat the whole bowl) and maybe grab the next because I’ve whet their appetite.

I know this is how my brain works. When I aim for a more literary style, I end up with incomprehensible text, plots that make no sense, and allusions that are weird enough to take a person out of the story. So… I don’t.

But I still have this expectation baked into my skin—into my soul—that the way to be a Real Writer is to write the kinds of stories that make someone say “this is the best thing I’ve read all year” and nominate it for an award.

Sometimes I read a story (of any length) by a writer who is my peer in some manner and I feel the imposter syndrome bubble up, surrounding me until I can’t think—can’t breathe—any more. The story is so good and sometimes is buried under independent or small press publishing where I know it won’t get the eyes/readers it deserves. I want to scream about it from the rooftops. This story, this amazing story that won’t have a ton of eyes on it, is in my mind Hugo worthy (or Nebula worthy… substitute in whatever proper award fits in your mind).

I also hear that little voice that says “well, isn’t it good you didn’t apply this anthology/magazine/press” or worse yet “you are in this too, and your work isn’t nearly this good” because that’s what I internalized as a teen. That this is the only way to be good. That this wonderful story I am reading, which twists words and plot in unique and fascinating ways, is the only kind of story that merits praise.

I don’t think that voice will ever completely go away.

I do feel better as I continue reading the anthology/magazine/whatever and realize that not every single story in it gives me that same “OMG” reaction. When I sit down and think about it, I know that love of a particular story is subjective. There is no truly objective way to judge the worth of words (despite what our high school English teachers tried to tell us). What a story is, and how it is told, may touch my soul and no one else’s. Or vice versa. I’ve read entire anthologies that are highly regarded without a single story striking me as amazing.

Sometimes I think back to what we say about writing fanfic: write what you love, and there is someone out there looking for this exact story who will be thrilled to find it.

I try to remind myself of this when I fall into the “is it Hugo worthy?” downward spiral.

For every story that sells, someone loves it enough to buy it. And they love it enough to think that there will be others who love it, too.

For every story that is written, there might be that editor out there—the one with all that love for the story (and it might take several failures before finding that one with the love). The trick is drafting the best set of words to tell the story to trip that moment of “I love that” in a reader’s eyes. 

The words don’t have to be necessarily elevated. Floofy. Literary. But they have to tell the story that I want to tell.

And if that story is one fluffy popped kernel in a bowl, that’s okay. My goal can be to make my reader reach for the next, rather than being award-worthy. It’s okay to be a delicious salty snack; people talk about those with joy, too.

I will probably never win a Hugo. I am still delighted every time someone bumps into me at a con and says “Oh, that’s how I know you!” after hearing about the books, stories, and fics I have written. Touching hearts is joy in itself.

[sophia-sol]

8 original fiction recs (4 short stories, 3 novelettes, 1 novella)

One Flew Over the Songhua River, by Qi Ran, translated by Andy Dudak

➤ scifi short story translated from chinese; originally published in 2021

➤ it's a fascinating outside-outside pov, a nephew telling the story of his aunt, whose story is that of her famous physicist-astronaut husband

➤ the multiple layers of abstraction work well for this story -- and the narrative loops around itself in how it's told, too, wandering forwards and backwards in time to circle around the heart of things

➤ which is really a story about family and about place and about how you decide what to prioritise in your life

➤ it's lovely and thoughtful and wistful. I really liked it!

➤ 7k words in length

Himalia, by Carrie Vaughn

➤ Scifi novelette about growing up somewhere you always know you're going to have to leave eventually, because it was never intended to be permanent

➤ and leaving your best friend behind, who wants to never leave, because it's home

➤ it's really good!! I had a lot of feelings about the characters, and the way Niri is drawn in Jenny's life through her absence in this day of her return

➤ also it's set in space, on one of the satellites of Jupiter!

➤ 8k words in length

The Weight of Your Own Ashes, by Carlie St. George

➤ scifi short story about a multi-bodied alien in a relationship with a human

➤ questions of identity, of whether you're being seen for who you truly are by people who want to interpret the whole world as being inhabited by people like them, eyes closed to the reality of differences

➤ I loved the intertwining of the worldbuilding and the relationship drama, and I loved that we got to see Yonder's relationships with other people, friends and siblings and so forth, the ways those relationships are different than the one with Alice

➤ 6k words in length

Half Sick of Shadows, by Elle Engel

➤ post-apocalyptic novelette about a girl who's the only survivor left in a tower that protected her and her ancestors from the outside world

➤ the whole story is just Lena and her interiority as she faces the realities of her situation, as she grows and changes and develops the strength of will to do what needs to be done

➤ and it's so well done! I was captivated the whole time

➤ 10k words in length

Blackjack, by Veronica Schanoes

➤ fantasy novelette about a jewish grandmother, after the death of her daughter, facing and dealing with the ways her troubled first marriage affected her life and her daughter

➤ Schanoes is so good at character and setting and emotion!

➤ and it's always great to have a story where the hero is an older woman

➤ 12k words in length

The Spindle of Necessity, by B. Pladek

➤ short story about a trans man who's obsessed with the m/m novels of a dead historical novelist who he's convinced was trans

➤ and about the dreams he has where he meets her and talks with her

➤ it's a story that feels unsatisfying but like, in a satisfying way?

➤ idk how to explain! it makes me want to reread it 3 more times and think about the way one's relationship with oneself is mediated through the stories one reads and loves

➤ it's really good

➤ 6k words in length

An Intergalactic Smuggler's Guide to Homecoming, by Tia Tashiro

➤ a scifi short story set in space, about a smuggler who left her sister behind when she left the shitty planet she grew up on

➤ but her latest mission has her returning to that planet to deliver the goods

➤ (the goods are hundreds of teeny tiny sentient bioluminescent jellyfish fleeing civil war)

➤ I enjoyed the worldbuilding, and the difficult emotions about family, and how the things that felt world-endingly true at 17 don't need to be true forever

➤ 7k words in length

Between Blades, by Filip Hajdar Drnovšek Zorko

➤ a full novella published online for free the same way a short story would be!

➤ secondary world fantasy about two women from the outskirts of empire, who don't fit the identities their cultures expect of them but who are also out of place within the empire

➤ they're gladiators in a partnership where one in a pair of gladiators takes a "swordform" and the other wields them

➤ great characters and great worldbuilding and great reflections on identity in this context!

➤ I loved Leris and Gerthe, and Ulmo too

➤ and the Empress herself and her story is fascinating, and I can see how in a different narrative her backstory would be the focus of a heroic narrative, and I love that that's not the story we get, this isn't a "monarchy is good with the right person in charge" kind of story like so much fantasy is

➤ the narrative perspective on religion is really cool too

➤ 36k words in length

[writingquestionsanswered]

Do you have any tips on how to move forward and discard certain plot ideas? I had decide to write a story I had in mind for a long time, but when I actually started planning, I realize most of the ideas I wanted to write can't coexist with each other. Is like I had a lot of concepts that work individually, but when together they contradict each other or it just becomes too much. And I can't decide which one I actually write, especially since I really like those ideas, and I don't think they would work in a different plot, since they are most based to fit a specific character.

Choosing Between Several Ideas Related to One Character

Is it possible these ideas could all be different plots for a series revolving around a single character? If you can find a way to interconnect the plots, it could be a traditional series. But if you can't, you could still do a series of stand alone novels featuring the same character, much like the Hardy Boys, Miss Marple, Sweet Valley High, etc. This kind of fiction can do really well, especially if you do novelette or novella length stories, because there are lots of people who prefer shorter fiction with a novel-breadth story.

If, on the other hand, you feel you must pick one idea and go with it, I would suggest doing two things:

1 - Try to do a paragraph long summary of what would happen in each plot... what would be the conflict? What would be the goal? What would be the story point?

2 - Do a list of pros and cons for each plot... for example: pro - this idea really resonates with me // con - something feels off about this setting to me.

Once you've done this, go through and eliminate the ones where the con list is bigger than the pro list. Then, read through the summaries and eliminate the one that interests you the least. Keep going with that method until you're down to one story. Alternatively, if they all interest you equally, you could eliminate the one with the most cons until you're down to one. If all else fails, you can write them all on a piece of paper and draw one out of a hat. Whatever works! :)

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I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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[twodeadchicks]

TOWL 1.01 | Years

Hello friends. It is a pure miracle we've gotten this far, in both the #Richonne fandom and also us, Melissa and Kia, remembering how any of this stuff works after a Rick Grimes length hiatus away from it all. But just like Andy, Danai and Gimple, we keep our promises and when we said we'd be back when Rick was, WE'RE BACK NOW THAT RICK IS!!!!! And what a reunion it was. From the opening scene with our man's eyes full of tears we were immediately ready to take this journey with Michonne and Rick because a) we only support winners and b) they are the ones who live.

And what a journey it was: a secret city, a secret army, a secret plan, a secret mission, secret desires. Secrets on secrets on secrets! Let's discuss them all!

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  Special thanks to Eden Burning for providing our music, “Glitter Girl.” Check them out at Reverb Nation

Check out this episode!

[bookshelf-in-progress]

A Guide to the Stories Posted to This Blog in 2023

Fairy Tale Retellings

Without Words

Word Count: 2,117

Point of view: First-person present tense

Summary: A retelling of "The Six Swans" focusing on the moment when the heroine's refusal to defend herself from murder charges forces her husband to sign her execution order.

Purity of Mind

Word Count: 679

Point of view: Third-person past tense

Summary: A retelling of "Bluebeard" in which the husband returns home to find that his wife doesn't remember marrying him.

The Golden Shoe

Word Count: 1,333

Point of view: Third-person past tense omniscient narrator

Summary: A gender-flipped retelling of "Cinderella", written in fairy tale style, about a princess who must search to find the man she loves with only a shoe to prove his identity.

Length of Years

Word Count: 1,596

Point of view: Third-person past tense

Summary: A "Rapunzel" retelling where Rapunzel doesn't escape the tower, and has been waiting a very long time for her prince to return.

Loving Memory

Word Count: 5,480

Point of view: First-person present tense

Summary: A retelling of "East of the Sun, West of the Moon" and "Alleleirauh" where a prince must uncover the mystery surrounding a strange woman who needs his help to find her lost love.

Original Fantasy

In Chains

Word Count: 1,373

Genre: Non-magical fantasy

Point of view: Third-person past tense

Summary: In an occupied nation, a priest who conducts illegal marriage ceremonies meets a young man whose request for help may endanger his mission.

A Song of Starlight

Word Count: 3,564

Genre: Non-magical fantasy in a world much like Victorian Europe

Point of view: Third-person past tense

Summary: A violinist falsely accused of the theft of a star finds that losing his position offers an unexpected opportunity to bring his music to a different stage.

Stars and Shadows: A Fairy Tale

Word Count: 2,021

Genre: Original fairy tale in a contemporary setting

Point of view: Second-person future tense

Summary: Going outside on a snowy night provides an opportunity to protect a mysterious child from the dangers of the dark.

The True Story: An Epistolary Novelette

Word Count: 9,955

Genre: Contemporary magical realism

Point of view: First-person epistolary with four narrators

Summary: After returning home to care for her injured grandmother, a woman's hunt for a book from her childhood puts her in contact with a shop that claims to provide books that exist nowhere else in our universe.

The Sylph in the Storm

Word Count: 2,847 (story unfinished)

Genre: Historical fantasy set in 1880s Canada

Point of view: First-person past tense

Summary: After a mermaid is lost in a storm at sea, her human guardian receives help from an unexpected source.

[coochiequeens]

Now that Neil Gaiman is being exposed for being an abuser can we talk about how he won the Newbery in 2009 even though since a whole chapter was previously published (and received another award) it shouldn't have qualified?

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2009

GRAVEYARD BOOK TO BE STRIPPED OF NEWBERY?

For the first time in history, a title selected for the highest honor in children’s literature, the John Newbery Medal, may be stripped of the prize. This past weekend, a committee of concerned librarians convened in Chicago with a petition demanding the American Library Association revoke the medal given to Neil Gaiman’s THE GRAVEYARD BOOK at the recent midwinter conference. At issue is the book’s eligibility for the award.

“The terms for the Newbery Medal are crystal clear,” states Carol Barbour of the Topeka Public Library, who is leading the anti-GRAVEYARD effort. “In order for a book to be eligible, it must be an original work published during the preceding year. If a book -- or even a portion of a book -- has been previously published it is considered out of contention.”

Ms. Barbour is referring to the fourth chapter of THE GRAVEYARD BOOK, titled “The Witch’s Gravestone,” which was previously published in at least two 2007 anthologies, WIZARDS : MAGICAL TALES FROM THE MASTERS OF MODERN FANTASY (Berkley) and M IS FOR MAGIC (HarperCollins.)

“Carol Barbour has no case,” says an ALA member, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Before a book can be considered for the Newbery, it must be thoroughly vetted by the Association for Library Service to Children. I’m quite sure that THE GRAVEYARD BOOK was deemed completely eligible in every regard. I can’t believe that anyone is taking this sideshow seriously.”

But the American Library Association apparently is taking Barbour’s complaint very seriously, even holding a rare closed-door meeting with her committee this past Sunday afternoon.

“It was insane,” said one ALA member in attendance. “Carol started the meeting by dramatically ripping the gold foil sticker off her copy of THE GRAVEYARD BOOK, then said that every librarian in the nation would soon be following suit when the award is revoked.”

Referring to Sunday’s closed-door session as “productive,” Barbour said, “I certainly wouldn’t be pressing this issue if Gaiman’s book contained just a few previously-published paragraphs, or even a short chapter. But “The Witch’s Headstone” is -- hello? -- forty-five pages in length and takes up nearly fifteen percent of the novel! When it was published in the WIZARDS anthology it won a Locus Award as the year’s ‘best novelette.’ Readers may approach THE GRAVEYARD BOOK expecting the literary equivalent of a gourmet meal, but what they’re really getting is Gaiman’s leftovers.”

Some ALA members have referred to Ms. Barbour as a “children’s book gadfly” who has tried to nominate herself for the Newbery, Caldecott

and other award committees many times in the past but has never received enough votes to serve on these juries. Some recall her aborted attempt to revoke the 2007 Newbery winner, THE HIGHER POWER OF LUCKY, because of its “unwholesome language.” Last year she protested Brian Selznick’s THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABRET winning the Caldecott because she considered it “too heavy for wee hands to hold.” But this year she seems to have found some major-league support in her attempt to bring down THE GRAVEYARD BOOK. The picture on the left shows a triumphant Barbour (in blue, holding Gaiman's book) after last Sunday’s meeting, posing with Shirley Sach of Ball State University, who served on the Newbery Committee that selected THE HIGHER POWER OF LUCKY and Lotta Shoppe of the Van Pelt Public Library, who was a member of the jury that awarded KIRA-KIRA the prize in 2005.

The American Library Association has issued a press release stating that the Association for Library Service to Children is “seriously” considering Barbour’s petition. If it takes the unprecedented move of revoking Gaiman’s award, they must decide whether a new winner will be selected -- possibly chosen from one of this year’s four Honor Books -- or whether 2009 will just go down in the record books as the first and only year in which no official winner was named.

Upon learning that his book may be stripped of the Newbery, author Neil Gaiman twittered, “@$#&! I might lose the @$#&ING NEWBERY! THIS IS SO @$#&ING AWFUL!”

When told of Gaiman’s comments, Carol Barbour rolled her eyes and said, “Isn’t that almost word-for-vulgar-word what he said when he thought he won the award? Hello? Even his tweets are repeats.”

The American Library Association has said they will make a ruling in this case very soon -- possibly as early as today, April 1, 2009.

POSTED BY PETER D. SIERUTA 

That chapter won a Locus award in 2008 the year before it became a chapter I the graveyard book.

https://www.locusmag.com/2008/Locus_Awards_Winners.html

And that's not even going into the theories that the committee behind the Newbery was trying get extra attention by giving it to Gaiman on January 26, 2009 soon before the much anticipated Coroline was released on February 6, 2009.