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Your sample reads a lot like a script for a play or movie. The reason that scripts can be so sparse is that it is the job of the actors to round out and bring the characters to life, while it is the job of the director and stage hands and such to bring the setting around the actor to life...

40+ years of reading fantasy novels. 35+ years of TTRPGs/D&D, video games, and anime/manga 30+ years of experience with interactive, short form writing (i.e., online roleplay via chatrooms and forums) Ongoing exposure to more stories and new ideas. I had been reading stories on Royal Road for...

Witch, because she's less likely to be confused and/or conflicted about her feelings, and you'll know pretty quickly whether you fall into the category of "datable", "friends only", or "go away before i turn you into a frog". The knight is going to be worried about whether a potential romance...

Over on RR, I had this guy try to rip into my story in the comments, except everything he said was a gross mischaracterization. Like, having a bad day much dude? And clearly he had trouble with reading comprehension. Here's an example: When the accurate version of events was her hitting with a...

I am incredibly inconsistent, as any and all interruptions/delays are amplified by the effects of ADHD. Including the self-inflicted ones.

I prefer 2k words minimum per chapter. As for the book size, many progression fantasy publishers want 80k words minimum. Podium specifically wants 90k-160k per volume/book. As this is a serial site, generally all the 'books' are just published under one title for the whole series.

"Depends". If someone has been hit with a curse, they are probably going to be feral. Nature of the curse. If you are looking several generations later, it becomes a matter of mastery, going from semi-feral to fully controlled with practice. But the shape shifting is no longer triggered by the...

So it seems that you specifically mean non-sexual intimacy? It can be a difficult balance, and I have to admit, there is a lot going on there that could lead to romance. Several layers of bonds, and I assume both are straight or bi. If it's feasible in your story, I would probably try to...

Modern alternative reality, assuming that I absolutely have to do either one of these, because they both sound like hell. I'll take 3 years of slightly worse hell and be back home please. Look, with specific training and knowledge, surviving in any reasonable biome on Earth is not terribly...

I'm going to have to go with "Journey before destination" here. Consider video games as a simple example: Yes, there is value in completing a game, knowing the story, having that satisfying ending. Yet, for many of us, there is also value in replaying even linear games, if the experience of...

Also, get an agent. I got my two offers first, then approached an agent, which also got me a discount as I had removed some of the work and a lot of the risk. To be clear: that's a smaller percentage/commission. Agents are *NEVER* paid up front/hourly, which is also why they can be picky. Any...

I'm 51, and I've been reading fantasy novels since at least 10, so I have a huge swath of fantasy and sci-fi material that influences me, with a particular love of stories that include a good romance. Add onto that cartoons, comics, anime, and video games with an ever evolving taste. For the...

I post here and on Royal Road. I have a contract with Podium to publish the first 3 books of my series, including audio books; professional editing is currently in progress. They were one of two offers I received after submitting to several smaller publishing houses. Note: I had been writing...

The biggest issue I have with the set up is that you have his social interactions sound like he lacks empathy, when all you removed was fear. Fear is danger sensing, which can trigger either avoidance or aggression behavior, but even without emotional fear driven reaction, you can care what...

Well, the narrator represents me to an extent, but also represents the PoV character. So even though I am writing in 3rd person, the text is flavored by whose PoV we are in, including how other character are referenced. Most of the time the 'camera' is sort of sitting on the PoV character...

Mordecai, Moriko, and Kazue would all be fine without equipment, they can just use some combination of magic, fox fire, and wind strikes to stay out of range. Kazue would, however, absolutely have some sort of intense and undoubtedly lewd romance book tucked away. Moriko might happen to have a...

I vote most strongly against clinical; the specific physicality of the situation in many ways is secondary to the emotional and mental stuff going on. Yes, it informs and modifies the mental state, but from a story perspective, it is not the important part. Also, if going clinical, then you...

Well, all three of them are blends, whether comparing them to canon ancestry or RW groupings/nationalities. Mordecai appears to be some blend of Mediterranean, including a little bit of Persian. Given that he literally designed his body, this was a choice that was influenced by an on-again...

So: Species, or 'races'? Elves and Dwarves are species, not races. The concept of race/ethnicity is basically a fiction already. "Hispanic" is the biggest example of this, as it is liberally used on both Native Americans from Mexico and nearby areas, as well as on the descendants of Spanish...

It will vary by needs. I have over 900K words written, and I never wrote a proper outline. However: While I only started with a basic scene and some characters, and just simply started writing from there, I discovered the general shape of my primary antagonist in the process. Great, I have a...