Recent content by DoodTheMan

I think a great example of a complex power system is Star Wars. Each Jedi's style, personality, and connection to the Force result in a power scale which is less linear and more nuanced. A good example of this is how Obi-Wan had much difficulty battling Count Dooku. Dooku practiced Form II which...

My two cents is that I would deepen the characters in order to avoid more ordinary "misunderstanding-type plots" that readers can find frustrating. For instance, the Godmother is attempting to match the Heroine with the Hero, but then she is executed. This results in the Hero wanting to kill the...

I think that they can be extremely relatable to a fault. At some point your character needs to be at least somewhat, a little bit responsible in order to advance to plot or confront the conflict, lest they become unlikable to the readers. This can work both ways. Either you see a bit of...

All I do is just describe my actual anxiety into words. Just think about how you would feel if some criminal was targeting you, or a family member was deathly ill. Its a pretty awful feeling that readers can instantly relate to.

Personally I wouldn't risk changing the work very much based on comments. If you think of your story like a moving vehicle, then a slight deviation to the trajectory could be fine and doable, especially if, as you say, you have buffer chapters ready to post that you can edit. If you crank the...

There's an interesting phenomena that can occur when writing "trash". Because you're not putting restrictions or expectations on yourself, and you're not worrying about what readers will/won't like, your work actually turns out better as a result. The stress or enthusiasm of the author will show...

The internet is already a fast-paced, impatient environment in the first place. Mix that with the fact that a lot of people lack media literacy, critical thinking skills, or the ability for in-depth analysis, and you end up with a person who reads like six paragraphs and goes "I don't like it...

I generally don't enjoy OP protagonist stories. That can work fine in a slow, military story because in order to build drama and draw out the story they usually have to introduce a cast of weaker side-characters to battle the villains and get their asses beat before the hero inevitably shows up...

I think drip-feeding the worldbuilding is the right way to go about it. You're not overwhelming the reader with information, and it allows them to wonder about things that you haven't gotten to yet, that you can explain later. My advice is not to be afraid of letting the characters do a little...

I tend to have the opposite issue, where I'm more worried that if I'm rushing and going too fast. Only after the fact do people tell me that my story is a slow burn and I reply with "oh, it is?" So I think I end up accidentally counter-balancing in the other direction. It makes me wonder if I...

I am cursed with having two black characters in my current novel who I can't really talk about too deeply at this time cuz it would be spoilers. Suffice to say that Nayantara and Manqoba both show up, kick people's asses, and refuse to elaborate further. I'm also attempting to write an isekai...

I'm not really a fan of litRPG stories, but I'm currently attempting to write one. I mainly dislike when the world is just inexplicably gamey, with menus, health bars, and experience points that are never or very poorly explained. It's also weird to me the idea that you could quantify a living...

Imo the best way to pull off a 4-way war is to split it into a pair of 1v1's. Have the protagonists fight the 3rd-strongest faction and struggle, while the 2nd and 1st strongest duke it out off-screen. That way you have a current antagonist who is a serious threat, but another looming in the...

Small man marry beeg woman. Give money so dirt not bad no more and grow corn. Also there are monsters. -Arranged Marriage to the Monster Countess

I used to worry about the actual length of a chapter, but then I found that I would be either rushing scenes in order to not make it so long, or I would be stretching a scene much further than what was interesting just to make it longer. Scene breaks, having multiple characters in different...