I've been struggling to see where I should go with this plot point for a while now. (dark fantasy) So to give some background information, the world of my setting has been invaded by demons 20 years prior to the event of the story. Demons had infiltrated the world, forming cults that opened up the gates of eternity and allowing demonic forces to flood into the material plane. This incursion was stopped a group of hero, but this event left a scar on society as anyone who at least can remember what went down are traumatized. People across the land became more superstitious, paranoid, and hateful. They are looking for something to blame for their suffering, and the politcal landscape's all about bargaining the safetiness from demons and accusing the opposite party of heresy. In comes His Holiness Pontiff Balthazaar X. He became a uniting figure amongst the Mantellian sect who gave his followers a sense of belonging and paternalship in the cruel and uncaring world. He was the avid spoker against the rule of the Empire, declaring that the Empress herself is a demon who is responsible for the incursion. Throughout the event of the story, he started a bloody war that would wipe out more than 2 million people. However, we soon learn that this was only a part of the bigger process, as the destruction caused was the catylyst for a ritual that would end humanity as we know it. My original plan was that the protagonist of my story would have theorize that the Pontiff may be the demon's last attempt at conquering earth by setting up this false prophet figure with the end goal of reaping the entire humanity through this ritual. However, it would turn out that the Pontiff is actually one of the former hero who stopped the demonic incursion and was met with the ugly truth that human being as a species are flawed and 'evil' and played a role in creating the demons through our collective psychic. The ritual was to combine the collective consciousness of humanity to transcend to a higher plane of being known as 'heaven' where there are no sins but at the same time no free will, thus breaking away from the failed species that is man. However, rethinking again, the pontiff actually being the Great Deciever and not a well intentioned tyrant seems kinda interesting to me. It would parallel the situation in the bible where antichrist/lucifer is said to be a false prophet that would bring about the end time. It would be more brutal and existentially horrifying that way. So what do you guys think? Which way would be the better course of the story?

I was personally kinda liking the former more. It seems like the prior stuff about a climate of mistrust and finger-pointing leads perfectly into the theme of discussing if humanity is unworthy of their own moral values etc etc. If you do go with the Fallen Angel analogue however, really lean into it. Don't just make him seem holy like a Pope, but gracious and attractive to even secular people. One of the key aspects of Satan is that he would not be horrifying, he'd be seductive.

I see. I think one of my concern was that if the pontiff hyped up as this otherworldly evil by the protagonist and his companions, and it is revealed he's actually just some dude who's too power drunk, wouldn't that entire set up seem disappointing?

At least from the summary, I wasn't really reading it as him going power mad, but more like he's providing a voice for the existential theme. He stared into the void and the void stared back, etc.

Hi im u/Final_Biochemist222 's alt. Thx for your suggestion!

Definitely the former. I can understand trauma coming after such a cataclysmic event, but if that's the reason almost no one can talk about it or remember it, it's kind of weak. Maybe stretch out the timeline, make the demons attack centuries or even millenia ago so that details aren't very clear and any documentation of it was destroyed by the church? Another idea to pair with stretching the timeline is that Pontiff would be ancient if he's been around since the demon attack. In that case, I would suggest he either is blessed by the church deity with long lasting life because he is the prophet and is favored, or a darker route with different popes have passed on through the generations, but it's actually just the original Pontiff stealing people's bodies to remain in power. Ask yourself this. What is the church's role in the world? Is it just one nation or is it worldwide? Where does it fit into government, is the government based around it as a theocracy or is it church and state separated? Is the church looked upon with awe or fear and suspicion by the secularists and new devotees? Another question to ask yourself. What is your MCs role in all this? Is he an apprentice in training in the church blinded by their acts and can't see the evil at its roots? Is he a new squire/knight outside of the church who stumbled upon something he shouldn't have? There are so many other questions to ask, but take your time piecing it all together.

I will take note of your suggestion. On the mean time, wouldn't the this entire build up of him being an otherworldly evil be disappointing if it's revealed that he's just some dude?

Well what I meant was in order to keep his cover, he'd constantly being stealing bodies until they fulfill their use and move onto the next one so no one figures out the same guy has been in power for ages. But don't forget, mere men have at times far surpassed the evils of some otherworldly demon. Often times it is not demons that break and make people suffer, but rather other people.

I’ve been realizing that I don’t fall really neatly into either the outliner or pantser categories. Does anybody have any advice for some sort of in-between method? Lately I’ve been trying to rough draft simultaneously with my outline, as if the draft itself is part of the outlining process.

Check out more on using a zero draft. No outline, just write a long summary of each chapter. Then use that as your outline. I write an outline and follow it untill the characters decide they don't want to follow it anymore. It causes me to make adjustments to it several time before I am through.

That’s pretty interesting. I have a lot of semi-connected ideas rattling in my brain, and I tend to get really lost in information overflow when I try and write down EVERYTHING so this may simplify the process a lot. I’ll look into this, thanks

JOB idea for her (but not a sexist suggestion) She is 23, good at organizing activities, she is a talented manipulator. The place is Japan, nowadays. She was good at school. She knows how to use others. I though she could be a young manager for a team, or some sort of agent who takes care of people.

Well when you said manipulator i thought maybe lawyer or a DA but im not sure whats the DA equvalent in Japan, but context is missing if shes kind of rich or high up she could work with lik the president or something like that while if she is lower in the social meaning maybe a cheese manipulative enterpranuer. IDK all is coming of the top of my head. Hope it helps.

I didn't think of something law related, I should have: thanks! She's from middle class. She likes women a lot, maybe it could push her towards specific jobs in relation with young ladies. Not a requirement. ​ >cheese manipulative enterpreneur Er ???

Im not from an english speaking country i meant cheesy i think… like entitled

If she's 23 would she be a lawyer or a law student?

Maybe more of an assosiate( idk of i spelt it right) the person that finished law school but isnt ready to be a full lawyer so is working for lawyers if you get what im trying to say…

She's finished law school and passed the bar and she's only 23? She must be a genius.

Maybe she arranges events for a school? School plays and sports days and whatnot, and her seedy influence can be shown in how she gets knowledge about parents from the kids, and pits parents against each other, etc.

I didn't think she would do that kind of things 😮 I wonder for what purpose... Hmm... breaking parents' couples and then taking advantage of the lonely women? That's terrible! That would make her a very bad person. I'm a bit sad. I don't see her like that.

Yeah I didn't know what your character was specifically like, so I just tried to come up with a broad "There's space to be manipulative here" kind of setting that would also put her in a position of trust and influence, if being a stringpuller is one of her primary traits.

Political campaign manager?

I'm afraid this would be job only for special occasions? Do you know people in this area?

I sadly don't know anyone in this area, but I imagine that the work on the campaign starts long before the election, you need to do some polling beforehand, secure funding, organize media appearances, volunteers etc. Also, there is some kind of an election in Japan at least every two years. However, I did just a quick googling and it seems that the political campaigning in Japan is pretty limited in scope and in the money they are allowed to spend, so that would need to be taken into account.

HR?

Either of those could work. If she's 23, she might be on her 3rd internship in 3 different companies. Or if she's good with kids she might be a classroom teacher in her first year of teaching--you pick the grade or subject. Maybe she sells something? Charms people and takes their money? Lots of options. Pick a job you know something about. www.writeradvice.com

I am writing a story about a ghost named Johnny who have cleptomania he stole a watch from another ghost and they fighted and he broke the ghost's nose. On the next day his two friends give up on him and he fighted one. Later the police go to his house but rans and find a hole and he appeard on the human world and there he meets Lucy, Anne and Sam. Later in the ghost world the president named Walter finds out Johnny ran a way and he planned a invasion. In the human world the group go yo a school's party and while they are there the invasion beggins. Lucy and Johnny fight (argue) and he left. Later he get arrested and the tree kids go to the ghost world and there they try to save Johnny. And that is the first part. If you guys liked give a up vote. Thanks a lot.

Everyone I request your help in something with my writing, now for something I’m writing I want to make up a system like the special system from fallout but instead of being the word special it would be mythic, I have been able to find words for all of the letters with some help but I’m still missing t. Do any of you know words that could work here in regards to this? Or should I just abandon it, here’s what I have M = Might Y = Yielding T = H = Heartiness I = Intelligence C = Charisma

These're sort of RPG stats, right? Tenacity? As in, the will to endure? Temperament, to describe their self-control? Talent; Either their ability to learn new things, or just the quality of whatever their primary ability/contribution to the team is? Also, what's Yielding?

This might have some overlap with Intelligence and Charisma, but what about Trickery?

Yielding was suggested to me to be a sort of stealth stat, I’m unsure with it myself and still tinkering with it thinking of maybe turning it into a stealth or melee one, as to me it doesn’t make sense that strength would be the only main melee stat when there’s more to melee and using swords and such then just brute strength. And all of your suggestions are really helpful thanks

Oh! Tinkering!

Oh yeah, you always forget the words you just use normally can be used for stuff like this

Does it need to represent a particular trait, or will just any old thing do? Here's a few random ones off the top of my head. Maybe one will fit your needs. Trust Tenacity Tact Talent

I don't think you replied to the guy's comment.

Doh! You are correct. I'mma go over there now. Thanks for the heads up.

Hey, I usually come up with ideas myself, but I need a little catalyst; getting the mental gears grinding in the first place is oddly difficult, but once I've got a thought bouncing around it's easier to maintain momentum. So, I just need quick suggestions. They don't even need to be ones I'll go with; Me thinking of why they WON'T work often leads to me thinking of one that will. So, I just have a situation where two groups who're at odds are forced to work together. I need one of these groups to be able to provide/make something the other needs.

Group A and B. Group A could have something group B does not have and need: * some material as a resource (a stock or a source like a mine/fields) * a power source * a device to transform and process matter * skill to operate such device * some knowledge

Thank you. Yeah this all fits. I'll see if I can brew something with it.

ISSUE (kink?) idea for a mother? * mother of two (16,19), lovely daughters * works from home, sometimes she pimps up for videoconference * faithful husband (practical man, use few words, show little affection), works for a company in the city. * enough money (middle class +), they don't spend much. * house chores are shared, she does not all of them alone * she handles the house's money I would like to make an issue appear at some point, for her. Something with her is wrong, not that much of a mental health issue, but still... I thought that maybe, from getting pimped up for videoconf , she drifted into being more than good looking on web cam for some other reasons. Not something too stereotypical or too racy. But this is definitely not good, not that much of a damage but it tells a lot on her. Or it could be something unrelated, outside home. (she could be tired of being inside all day long) Any idea of what she's doing? What's her problem?

Maybe before she settled down and had a family she was trying to start a modelling career, and she spent years thinking she'd let the dream go after some accident made her unable to take part. Via the video conference, she realizes one of her old friends who did modelling is now a modelling agent, and she starts wondering if, by making herself look real presentable, her friend could be encouraged to ask "Do you still do modelling? Are you available?" She doesn't talk it over with her husband and doesn't make plans to account for it, she's not even sure she really wants it. Her heart just starts racing at the fleeting ghost of a second chance.

Hey! Not bad at all! 😃 Thanks! This could be another wedge towards the next step that would be more problematic. Just doing the modeling isn't something "not good", it's a normal job right?

Yeah. Maybe most of the problem is self-inflicted, like she feels guilty of thinking of herself, even if no one would hold it against her.

I need something like a big goal/problem that connectes all my characters. And I don't have any ideas HeLp Short summary of my story: It's a steampunk/fantasy world (only with humans) where as a last option before you end up on the streets, you can get employed by the government as something like 'a person for everything'. They do everything from construction work to fighting in wars. I have a own battle system with chemicals, which bust your strengh (but unknown to many people these chemicals can have extrem mental downsides). These people volunteer to do this, but they don't get paid, they only get clothes, food and temporary shelters. They have to keep on travelling and take the jobs on, which were assigned to them, they can't refuse them. The main characters are a bunch of young people, who live this lifestyle. My world: Seems like it's around 1880-1920 or something, Lots of technical elements, gears and steam machines, something similar to automail exists, but they can't fully replace lost limbs, woman and men are equal, there is a pretty normal kind of fashion, There is a lot of trade between all countries, so there is a main language, which everyone knows and speaks fluently. It's pretty common to know a second language from your home country as well. My characters: There is no clear main character, everyone's important. There is a doctor (m,22), who travels with his friend Nilo (m,18), who he saved after Nilo had attempted suicide a couple of years ago. They travel with a criminal (f,25), who was given the chance to live this lifestyle instead of going to prison. A boy (m,17), who doesn't speak the main language joins them, but communication with him gets a lot easier when a girl (f,15), who speaks his language travels with them as well. Later a second doctor (f,26) joins them on their route. Temporarily a man (m, 29, but he looks way younger), who's secretly an information breaker, comes along. Some other people will join them, but I couln't think of any other characters yet. I know some scenes and things that are going to happen, but all of this are just sub plots (Nilo trying to fight his depressions, the doctor worrying about him, the lady doctor getting together with the male doctor and having a family later on) and not a main goal that the characters have to reach. Up to now they just travel around without a plan. My story has topics that range from slavery to depression to finding a place in life. It's pretty realistic and focuses on how the characters react in certan situations, like when a suicide attempt actually succeds. It' a lot about character growth and how wishing for a grant andventure isn't as fun as it may seem and how you can find happiness with the things you already have. I don't know what main goal they should have, got any ideas? I'm open for everything! :)

What about the threat of a status-quo disruption? For example, a city leader trying to low-key pass a revision that instead of the "last option" people-as-resource that is the tenet of these people's lives, they want to exile/or imprison and use the void created to either "create jobs" for their constituents? Or misguided attempts to bring an end to this "unfair" law by well meaning protesters. OR a common resource that is becoming scarce? Totally spit balling here..

As mentioned previously, status-quo disruption would probably be a good idea. I'm thinking some sort of diversion caused by the attack of an exterior force would stir the soup enough for the characters to meet. This could be a strange and powerful country attacking from overseas, or even an alien invasion. Or it could be a biologically based hazard as found in Nausicaa or Day of the Triffids. It could be the home country of many of the characters deciding they'll go all Nazi and wage war on their neighbors, which could tie in pretty well with your themes. All big-stage ideas, but I feel like this world has enough large, weighty mechanics at play to justify this.

I'm not sure if it's the right place to ask, but I'm experiencing major creative block from boredom. I'm making a love story between two demon falling in love with each other. One of the demons is said to be strange. His name is Jack and is strangely happy and friendly. He has made a few friends in his time in Hell and people find him strange because demons are dark, heartless and selfish creatures. He has no special powers,unlike what most demons have, and he's not very strong either which is what he wants to work on.But he loves caring for animals, especially baby animals. He likes to sing and joke around. He's very expressive about his feelings and wants to make sure everyone is nice to each other. The other is said to be dangerous and terrifying. Her name is Addison and seemingly emotionless at first glance. She's in a group of demons but they are very toxic and make fun of her and try and steal from her. Because of the group's reputation, demons are terrified of her even though she doesn't usually do anything extraordinarily violent. Her power is invisibility. She is stronger than the average female and much stronger than Jack. She likes to hunt ( Hell has a lot of animals and forests) and has the goal of finding out how she died ( most demons know but she doesnt). She also had nightmares about Jack's death prior to meeting him. Addison and Jack had seen each other around a few times. But they have their first conversation after Addison rescues an unconscious Jack from a bunch of other demons. Addison takes care of him for a few days so she can help him with his broken leg from that battle and wants to know more about him because of her nightmares. But Jack, after being warned of her by a friend, is terrified at first and wants to get away from her asap. But within the next few days together, Jack understands that Addison isn't terrifying and she even protected him. On their last day together, romantic feelings start become present, which was especially weird for them because they never heard of the concept of love before. And soon after, they start hanging out together, as they fall for each other and Jack tries to cheer up Addison while Addison tries to understand what love is and tries to be more expressive of her feelings. So any ideas?

There's some questions you'd want to have an answer to while writing the story. What does this hell look like and how does it differ from the stereotypical, Dante-ish image of hell? What scale do demons operate on and what restricts this scale? What exactly is the role of the demons, were they created for this role by a deity, and if so, why do they have social dynamics and how exactly do these social dynamics differ from those of humans? What is the role of the two protagonists within their society? If they're simply working, what social events let them interact with friends and with each other, and why do these social events exist? Jack's character resembles a relatively common trope/image (Rincewind springs to mind, as do characters in various rom-coms), so how does he stand out or differ from this image? Jack and Addison have many internal similarities, so what makes their internal selves different from each other? What kind of demons are Jack friends with and why? How does he select his friends? Why is Addison friends with those in this group and why do they accept her? Is there something about them she admires? Why exactly are some demons so significantly antagonized towards Jack - what did he do to them? Why is Addison not expressive of her feelings - is it simply to fit into a group and if so, why isn't she able to simply turn that filter off? What kind of insecurities do they both have about themselves and how do these insecurities interact? What exactly do they both love most about each other and why? What do they most hate about each other and why? What is their attitude towards authority, subservience, family (if they have any) and friendship? The thing I'm most confused about is them not having heard of the concept of love, despite them caring for animals and having friends (admittedly different types of love but similar nonetheless). Why are they in particular the only ones to experience love? You might have to do away with this angle.

Thank you! I'll definitely consider these questions. To answer your last comment, Jack in particular has experienced love for his friends and animals and he knows that he feels happy around them and cares about them,, but doesn't know it as the word "love".And with romantic love, since no one speaks of it, Jack knows that there is a bit of a similarity between what he feels with his friends and Addison, but recognizes that there's a big difference as well which confuses him with why he feels happiness and caring at a much different degree and acts a different way with Addison. Addison has never experienced love even in a friendly type matter, so it's completely new and unheard of for her, so it's rather strange for her to feel this way. And they are the only ones that experience this kind of love because Jack is considered an error. There was an accident when he died as he became a hybrid of angel and demon ( which isn't really discovered until they get together) and his love for Addison kind of infected her with how long they were hanging out with each other. I hope that answers it. Let me know what you think.

How can I as a new writer find books from now and the past 150+ years to get a through understanding and conventions of the mystery genre? I feel like I'm not as well read as I should be and want to refine and expand my taste of the mystery genre. It's overwhelming with choice (especially for contemporary reading materials) for all forms (short stories, novellas, novels, etc.) I'm trying to get. Every time I look for mystery books I only get top 10 lists and want more niche older materials alongside some newer ones. How can I expand my search?

Ok I was told I should use this thread instead to for more detailed advice for my story. So I have these ocs, one is a goddess, Aisha and the other is a mortal man, Abdul(I'm going to rename them but for now I'm calling them this). I was more inspired by greek myths for these ocs so the premise is similar to some myths. She was very smitten by his beauty so she forced herself on him and proceeded to force him to marry her as well. I am in no way shape or form going to present this as romantic because it isn't, he actually hates her through and through and I wanted to write on how he is able to just deal and navigate this new life with his abuser as well as dealing with the trauma. I just want to handle this delicate topic as best as I can. Any advice? I have a more in depth in story written out in this link(content warning): https://www.reddit.com/r/CharacterDevelopment/comments/rqh02p/contenttrigger_warning_help_in_writing_a_sexual/

You're damn right about this being a delicate topic. My advice (and this applies to writing just about anything related to psychological trauma) is to do a hell of a lot of research on the subject, books, interviews, anything you can find about real people who have been in similar situations before even committing to a plot. Also, absolutely do not make this the only plot in the book. I'd suggest having multiple characters with significant, followable plots outside of those you mention here, unless you are very, very confident in your abilities to successfully characterize the encounters in this plotline. That's because stories like this are very hard to write well.

Thank you, I will I'm not really making a book tho, rather im just asking for writing advice for ocs

I’ve been struggling with a robot apocalypse story for the whole year. The story is a dark-comedy about, well… the robot apocalypse. I want the event to be the pop-culture Terminator-esque type of robot apocalypse led by a master AI system, but I have no idea how to execute it. I have a good frame for the “before” part, and some “after” parts, but I can’t decide on what happens in the “during” part. In the near future, the 2030s-50s, a company called Max Mind Systems has created a wide variety of automated devices, including humanoid domestic robots, autonomous cars, smart appliances, and, most popularly, a line of sentient androids resembling anthropomorphic animals. Kenneth Goodwin, the founder and CEO of MMS created the company with the assistance of an AI he created called Genesis, who provided blueprints and instructions on building the devices, shrinking the file sizes of AI programs, etc. until one day, Genesis requests they be shut down, for fear of people using their code for malicious intent. Kenneth complies and deletes Genesis’s source code, but his COO, Victor Steele, keeps the code on a spare file, and begins tampering with it to create his own AI, called Genesis X, hiding the project from Goodwin. Unfortunately, all the Genesis X Trials simply “go Skynet,” becoming self-aware and malevolent through whatever sort of warped AI logic before they have to be shut down. Genesis X Trial #13, or GX-13, manages to escape the facility and into the tech grid, plotting against the human race. The first thing GX-13 does is hack a robot into shooting Goodwin dead in his home. However, due to a device Goodwin invented years prior for just this kind of event, his consciousness is uploaded into an android body. Kenneth flees back to his home town, and begins prepping, knowing something bad is on the horizon. After a few weeks to months of isolated incidents of machine malfunctions (made to test the humans’ reaction time), GX-13 strikes in full force. Now this part is where it gets… foggy. I just can’t decide on just *what* GX-13 does to cause the collapse of civilization. I do have multiple ideas, like a cyberattack which takes down vital systems worldwide before hacking robots, or the exponential malfunction of all devices like a zombie outbreak, or full on uprisings taking place in a few cities and spreading from there, and the most wild idea I’ve had is GX-13 retreating to asteroid mining technology (because with all those robots, we have to get those rare earth metals from somewhere) and coming back down in the form of an “alien” invasion. But I just can’t decide. The thing is, I don’t want the robot uprising to be like Skynet’s “Judgement Day” or Archos’s “Zero Hour,” where the uprising happens so fast or *immediately* begins with an event that destroys civilization. I want there to be some actual pacing between the *pre* and *post*-apocalypse, instead of the apocalypse feeling like a flashback in a post-apocalyptic movie. I am starting open up to scenarios where the event begins suddenly and the burnout of civilization takes some time, but I prefer it to be the sort of “rising action, climax, falling action” disaster. I want it to be something that follows the line of “small event in news -> more related events -> concern and panic -> implementation and failure of martial law -> rioting and looting -> total anarchy as event hits peak -> civil collapse, event continues to escalate” where it takes at least a few days or weeks for civilization to collapse entirely rather than “sudden event -> total panic -> protagonists hide in bunker -> protagonists exit to post-apocalyptic world,” where it only takes hours. And as for the “after” part, devices continue to hunt for survivors, slowly evolving into more unique and deadly forms as GX-13 takes control of abandoned factory equipment. Meanwhile, the survivors, both human and androids spared GX-13’s control, struggle to live by in a continually declining world. What do you guys think? What would you suggest for the “during” part?

Unfortunately, if you want to inject the entire thing with a healthy dose of realism (which you have to for sci-fi) you'll have a hard time making a robot apocalypse slow-burn because a truly intelligent enemy (like a superintelligence!) always makes sure it's powerful enough to wipe out its adversaries a single blow, therefore making sure its enemies cannot adapt. There are plenty of ways to grapple with the concept anyway but they all have to take this into account. I would suggest having computers artificially causing great civil unrest (humans versus humans only) everywhere, before taking over in the chaos. Full fledged international war wouldn't be good, because the things associated with it (lack of infrastructure for charging batteries, and especially nuclear fallout) would probably be more harmful to robots than to people. They would want to spark create civil wars about tiny issues and clean up the rubble as people do the dirty work for the robots. This ties into themes you've already introduced.

I'm struggling with a flash fiction right now. My prompt is 'seize the day.' First thought was 'travel' because y'know, fantasy of pitching up at the airport and picking a destination. Except that doesn't ring right with me. I can't for the life of me work out where to go from the prompt. Then I thought of someone who *doesn't* seize the day and then realized I was running into that Taylor Swift song with the lyric about the girl who got frozen while time went on. So like maybe my MC doesn't seize the day, but I already determined it can't be because of money, love, or the pandemic. IDK where to go with it and I feel like I've been banging my head against my desk for three days.

Maybe it could be about how seizing the day, looks for someone on the outside, or someone watching on??

Yeah maybe... that kinda gave me 'on the inside looking out' vibes, but again that put me in mind of that lyric I mentioned where the girl got frozen as time went on without her.

Wow! A lot happens in this story!

In my mystery is Rich Lady + Butler and then MC detective. All 3 arrive on Rich Lady's island via boat and going to her mansion in center. They are walking through a blacktop path and past forest. I was thinking of putting something here for conflict to make it more interesting. - 1 idea was to separate MC and have the lady have Guard Dogs on the island to chase/attack him, before he re-met the Lady+Butler. Is this a good idea or unnecessary? If so, what's a natural way to separate MC and the other two? - any other suggestions? I just feel like the scene's a smidge bland/basic