Why Using another Writer's Blueprint is a Bad idea

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Avatar for justanny
1 year ago

 

 

As a writer I find it hard to get inspiration sometimes. You can sit and stare at a blank page for hours and still won't get the Aha moment that you crave for. I had been approached by my editor and had given me a book idea. When I talk about a book idea I mean a whole plot outline for a new book to write.

 

The platform where I publish my books gives you an editor. For me they don't really do any editing as far as I know they're just there to keep track of your improvement and calculate your payment at the end of the year. Now let me explain to you how this started.

 

I had published my book a few months back and it had gotten popular, really popular with just getting around two hundred people adding it into their library in the first month and having fifty people following my writers account.

 

Now my editor is in charge of payed promotions and calculations. I simply write consistently and reply to Reader comments which is as simple as it gets.

 

How I make money from it is that I sign a contract with them stating that they have a write to publish my work and I get 50% percent of all gross income they get the other half. To be honest the contract isn't the best and it's only because I am a beginner that I chose it. You have a chance to negotiate when they see you’re potential.

 

Since my book was doing so well and in my fist month I got over a hundred dollars. Have in mind I began writing in the fourteenth of the month so in half a month a new writer had earned an amazing little income.

 

The problem was I was not consistent with my publishing because the book seemed to lack something. My editor noticed and told asked me if I was able to write a new story with the same contract limitations like the last one and he will give me a Plot outline which is a detailed chapter to chapter summary. The only thing is it will be an 18+ book. This means that there would be a few sex scenes within the story.

 

I write fantasy like I said and he had given me 10 chapters summaries to go through. I thought it would be a fun and good idea so why not. That’s where it all went wrong.

 

I never realized how much I like my freedom. I like writing about what I like and the novel summary was worse than what you would find in a wattpad fanfiction site.

 

The whole story was wrong and the female protagonist (the main character) was so flawed and stupid that even I find myself don’t want to write anything about her. As a woman I don't like it when a character is portrayed to be stupid and in love to the point that she forgives everything and she is really submissive.

 

I am obsessed with strong characters. I also hate the whole falling in love with your rapist bully who hit you so hard you almost died but you still love him.

That type of story line would be good in an erotica or a one direction fanfic but as a writer and a reader I cannot stand it. There are so many ways to do enemies to writers without abuse and creating a submissive character that likes being a doormat without any spine or fight to them.

 

Now I could have easily said no but I was trapped I forgot that everything is never as it seemed. The first chapter’s summaries were decent so I was like okay. I wrote the first chapters, signed the contract and waited for the other chapter summaries and then I regretted everything.

 

 The lucky thing is they gave me creative control without changing at most sixty percent of the chapter’s original content. Now I'm a good writer and that helped me. I can now alter a few of the scenes just fairly okay without making my editor mad and breaching contract and the story won't be a complete and total disaster.

 

  I don't think I will ever do something so stupid ever again in my whole life, to be able to write anything you want is something I like and having to use another’s blue print isn't something for me. I hope I'll be able to finish the book and quick and just forget about this cringe-worthy experience.

 

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Avatar for justanny
1 year ago

Comments

Yeap. Each writer has its own unique style to be honest, and some start by filler and add content, others start by content and add filler, some start by the headers, others start by the title... ... and the organization of ideas is different from brain to brain. You can start kind of copying other blogger's content, but ultimately you need to develop your own style and be comfortable in it to achieve the best results.

$ 0.03
1 year ago

Exactly my point thank you so much for reading my article ❤️

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1 year ago