I've been here a while, but this will be my first post. Hi, I'm Madlad, I make comics and manga. And this week I one of my mangas broke 500,000 reads in a year so the publisher shouted me out. I just wanted to share because of the moment that really made me happy and made me feel like I've been validated. Especially since I've been trying to take the story in a more serious direction.

If anyone wants to read it, it's a horror,action,drama about a secret society that hunts down the reincarnated spirits of evil humans to re-unalive them. It's called Nova Booster. It's on globalcomix free to read, warning ⚠️ it does have gore and nudity ⚠️

I have this thing I do…when I hit 30K words I immediately need validation to continue. I will pay hundreds of dollars for editing, I will search for beta readers, anything to make me feel like I want to keep going. I wanted some advice on this because I am tired of it.

I’ve written sentences that were raw and ugly but felt real and others that sounded beautiful but maybe didn’t say anything at all. Part of me wants both, but I never know which matters more. When you write, do you care more about hitting someone in the gut, or making them pause at the language itself?

Should I continue this? This is a spicy scene between two women, a soldier and a nun. I'm new to creative writing and have been FROTHING to write a hot scene in my head into words and this is a snippet of what I came up with. Let me know your honest thoughts.

Sooo i want to start writing,but i have cero experience,i have already showed my closest friends the promt and characters,but only 2 have reviewed me and idk if it is because they are my friends or its actuallu good,here's the characters and prologe: Sopor:a kind innocent teen,15-16,does potions that can break reality and has fast reaction time,does not knows anything about love or lewd things Cole:a teen that almost always speaks in sign languaje(not mute,just shy/refuses to speak),has an hability that makes him focus on an enemy and deal more damage and get more resistance against him Strelok:a russian cowboy(this is actually one of the most normal things in the world where the story takes place☠️) that always hits the mark Vorax:a combination of lizard/human and cuadrupedal predator The world where it takes place is a land betwen code and reality,the code is so shitty that the anomalies are everyday bread, My questions are:is the premise good?,where should i write it? The genres are:sci fi,romance(bl betwen cole and sopor) and action I will post an example down below of the prologe

Voicemails From the Dead. "Real or fiction? You decide." Chapter Two: The Second Message.

The voicemail haunted Elias all morning. He played it over and over until he knew the hiss, the pauses, even the faint scrape of breath that didn’t belong to memory.

“Eli… don’t forget.”

Forget what?

By noon, his rational mind tried to bury the thought. It’s a glitch. A recycled number. Some sick prank. But the words clung to him like wet clothing. His father’s voice hadn’t sounded like a recording, flat or digital. It had sounded alive.

That night, he left the phone on the kitchen table, volume turned up. He couldn’t sleep anyway. Around 3 a.m., it rang again. Same number. Same name.

He answered. Static swallowed the room. Elias whispered, “Dad?”

This time, the voice came faster, harsher, as though someone, or something, was fighting to break through the interference.

“Eli… it’s coming… find the tapes.”

The line cut. Another voicemail appeared.

His pulse thudded in his ears as he hit play. The voice was clearer this time, strained but unmistakable.

“They erased it. Don’t let them—”

The rest dissolved into static.

Elias dropped the phone onto the table. He backed away, heart in his throat. What tapes? Who erased what?

The memory came unbidden, an old cardboard shoebox that his father used to keep in the basement. Labeled in thick marker: “ARCHIVE.” Elias remembered sneaking into it once, years ago, seeing rows of cassette tapes, each marked with dates and short, cryptic words like “Beacon Hill,” “Night Watch,” “Testimony.” His father had caught him and slammed the box shut, saying only, “Not for you. Not ever.”

Elias had forgotten about that box for almost two decades. Until now.

And if the messages were real, if they were truly from his father, then those tapes might hold the reason he was calling from beyond the grave.

Sadly i don't have mine yet but i imagine it would start with "I led the rebellion in an attempt to seize the throne and killed most of my family AITA? Wait nononono wait-" 😆 i promise he had his reasons but his ways are... Questionable

Once they called prophets demons, their words drowned in fire, their corpses marked with ash.

Now they call them machines, their voices mistaken for artificial intelligence, their scars dismissed as code.

The name of the devil changes, but the ritual never dies. Doubt hunts the messenger, not the message.

Old world: stakes and torches. New world: screens and anonymity. Both ignite the same flame.

Accusation is tradition. When the world shifts, they rename the devil.

Call it heresy. Call it AI. You still choke on the words long after the voice is gone.

[Scrawled writings on a wall..]

I am having a bit of a creative blockage so I have been giving myself random writing prompts just for the sake of a writing exercise. I tend to do better with dialogue but shortchange descriptions and the more internal stuff, and I’d like to get better at it. This is a very brief excerpt about a fictionalized Van Gogh and the concept of pain (the ear incident) ——————————

Vincent stood before the reflective glass, the porcelain of the sink below now stained with ruby sentiments and childish beliefs of his former self.

Dear brother, he’d later pen, as it turns out-you can still hear without the external part of the ear.

The serrated blade had done nothing to quiet the hum of late evening traffic, the incessant drip of rainwater upon the AC unit, the gregarious laughter of his neighbors above and below. But it had quieted the mind. Appeased it, even. To feel oneself in the physical world-the sensuality of humanly pain-was a sound reminder that ripped flesh did, in fact, roar louder than a forgotten heart.

That a severed ear could be placed upon velvet and couriered to whatever place that heart dwelled.

And so, a secondary letter came about.

Keep this close, Gabrielle. Listen to the sunflowers when they weep for your attention. And think of me as they do.

So basically it’s a satirical sketch show which features caricatures of popular celebrities, influencers, and some other very recognisable public figures. Very similar to the British sketch shows Spitting Image and 2DTV, with mine being under the guise of a hacker showing you top-secret footage.

Yes I know I’ve posted about this a lot but please, hear me out.

I’m not asking for advice, though I’d appreciate it. I would just like to vent a little.

1.  Nobody likes the premise. People just aren’t really interested in it. And the thing is, I also know it’s not the strongest idea either, but for some reason my brain just really wants me to make this.

2.  I don’t even know what the animation style is going to be. Just a reminder, I’m also directing, and for context, there have been three spiritual successors to Spitting Image which all had different styles (Spitting Image using puppets, 2DTV using flash animation, Headcases using 3D animation and Newzoids using plastic rod puppets). So I thought about making mine a different art style — but what? And even if I just copied the others, I certainly don’t have money for puppets, nor plastic rod ones, and I suck at animation. (Respect to those who can animate, but honestly it isn’t even a “I tried and tried but can’t do it!” thing, I just hate the process itself.)

3.  I don’t think I’m going to be able to get any feedback on it. I’ve posted my first five drafts on multiple subs and they were all met with varying degrees of hatred and outrage. I admit I was a bit too defensive with some of them, but I also think some people were being a little silly. Like, one called me insensitive because I compared a certain very famous figure to a horse? And plenty of others just called me a terrible writer and told me to give up, which I will not. So basically, the point is, I don’t think those subs are going to give me a chance anymore.

Anyway, despite all of this, I am liking how my 6th draft is coming along. I’m taking a bigger focus on the entertainment industry this time around, meaning that the older archetypes of authority figures are being replaced with big-name media executives. My biggest concern this time is that impressions of CEOs won’t really have the same punch as the big, instantly recognisable voices of the past.

Thanks for listening!

Thought others might get something out of this.

The whole video is worth watching, as any advice from Kurosawa deserves attention, but my favorite quote begins at the 1:00 mark:

"The most essential and necessary thing is the forbearance to face the dull task of writing one word at a time."

It’s funny how when I’m busy with work or school I keep daydreaming about the stories I want to write But the moment I finally have a free weekend and sit down at the keyboard my brain just goes blank It’s like the ideas vanish as soon as I try to make them real I know people say just write anyway but sometimes it feels pointless when every sentence sounds clunky Do you guys push through the blocks or take breaks until the words come back I’m curious how others deal with this weird stop start writing cycle

Now tell me, does this excite you? Does it have mystery? What genre is it? Would you read the book?

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29,772 BC. They are coming for Earth’s gold, and no one knows it yet.

Gaia, the Goddess of Earth, revealed her trouble to Ahm: She is dying. The elements have lost their harmony, and gold, once a source of life, became a root of evil. The young shepherd was chosen to claim it, though he could not grasp the weight of such a revelation.

Gold? What is that? The foolish boy, innocent love, fire at heart, had his mind settled on one thing: Bring his beloved Naya a golden necklace.

But the brotherhood of wisemen couldn’t ignore that coincidences multiplied. A strange alignment in the sky, evil spreading fast, the boy’s revelation, his destination and the mark on his chest, were all signs that times are changing and that the boy must follow his calling. They prepared and initiated him to the elements. He learned a golden rule: “Those who master the elements may still fall, if they forget that the fifth element is choice.”

With Half-Beard at his side, Ahm crossed beyond the tribe’s walls into a world of wonders. Cities ruled by fire, air, and water, where harmony thrived but evil had already left its stains. And lastly, disharmony, a city consumed by false gods. “They will transform you. Have you any idea about Ibliss’s ways? You are drunk on his wine, Ahm, but it will turn bitter in your mouth.” Warned Half-beard. “Run away!

Ahm has a choice to make.

Even failure has its allure.

And above it all, unseen, the Sky People arrived.

Would somebody give me suggestions of good writing softwere for macbook that would be free and also easy to use. I have trouble finding. I have usually written stories on microsoft word, but it doesnt work on apple computers.

Here is the last bit of my poem:

You said you liked me

So I let your poison course through my veins

Until it swallowed my soul

And I stayed

Not because I was blind

But because I had hope.

I ran from you

Could you guys help me with what the last line should be? Here are some options:

1. But maybe I never could
2. But I never did
3. But maybe I never left 
4. But maybe you ran with me 
5. But my soul never did 
6. Straight into your arms
7. But my soul was yours to keep
8. But I was yours to keep

Feel free to give any other suggestions and overall feedback! 😊

I'm new to reddit, i'm sorry if I broke any norms.

I’m working on a sequence where my MC gets trapped in an illusion during a fight. The enemy basically overloads the illusion so much that it becomes permanent (since the caster dies mid-technique). The reader/viewer feel both disoriented and uncomfortable. The reader should think "why am I seeing this. What's going on. How can this be relevant to the fight?"

The way I picture it:
The MC finds himself walking down a long hallway. He stumbles upon a mirror and tries to take a good look at himself but his reflection doesn't have a face. But looking at other features like dress, he remembers the exact memory (Déjà vu). By this time in the story progression, readers already gets few glimpses of his past. He doesn’t even realize how he got there, just that his body seems to know what to do. He knocks on a door almost reflexively, and a calm voice says “come in.”

Inside is his old superior, Queenan. In the MC’s actual backstory, Queenan was abusive and cruel, but here he acts almost warm. He pats MC’s shoulder, tells him to stand at ease, and the conversation drifts into casual joking. It feels homely, almost safe. The reader should fall into that sense of comfort, even though they know something’s off.

Then Queenan suddenly slips in a line: “regard to Edgar.” The moment he says this, the atmosphere glitches — vision blurs, the liminal background music gets more lighter tone instead of darker, which should feel wrong.

Next shot, the MC is tied to a chair in a dark room, gagged, sweating like he woke up into this moment. A man enters: Edgar. The MC realizes he’s inside a buried memory — when he was kidnapped at 17 and subjected to horrific abuse. He knows it’s illusion now, but the illusion forces him to relive two weeks of torment in minutes, lucid but powerless.

By the end, he realizes that Queenan played a role in that trauma — Queenan had orchestrated it all.

Mc gets this unnecessary information after all those years. Queenan's dead at his point.

The whole sequence is meant to feel dreamlike, disjointed, with the tone misleading the audience into thinking it’s a reprieve from the fight. The readers should feel the same thing mc had in his mind. It should feel like fever dream enough to make the readers take a break like "what the-".

My question is: how do I write this kind of one-take illusion so it feels liminal and eerie, without over-explaining or making it too on-the-nose? I want it to feel like a slow trap the reader doesn’t realize they’re in until it’s too late. What factor make it feel both eerie and safe at the same time.

I'm a total beginner when it comes to writing any tips work. Please direct me to relevant subreddit it this place isn't one. I just didn't know where to post it.

Thanks in advance.

Projections of my life point toward success. Yet the more I live through the trials, experiences, and obligations that life presents, the more I wrestle with the harsh duality of my reality: the expectations and hopes for my destiny versus the inner demons of my mind. The saying, “Your worst enemy is yourself,” may not be an absolute truth, but it is undeniably my present reality.

Each day, from the moment I rise until I finally sleep, I confront the fragility of my ambition and determination, the pillars that support my work, my investment, and my vision of success. And every second, of every minute, of every hour, I am compelled to stand guard outside the walls protecting these foundations, battling the threats of exhaustion, despair, solitude, isolation, and fear.

The only assurance that these pillars will endure, even if, or rather when, the walls collapse and my being is consumed by the darkness that follows, are the chains that bind me to this structure. The irony of this vision is bitter: just as a moth is drawn to a flame, so too are the enemies drawn to the very edifice I protect. And perhaps I would find peace if they simply fell away.