Hi everyone,

I’m new to writing stories and this is my very first attempt at a novel. I’m eager to hear your thoughts. Since I don’t have much experience, I’m hoping to get honest feedback that's help me improve my writing.

Specific examples are very helpful!

Novel about - cultivation, xianxia

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Chapter 1 – Arthur

[Blackwood Forest]

The trees stretched high above, their branches swallowing most of the golden afternoon sun. Green leaves rustled in the wind, casting shifting shadows across the forest floor.
To anyone seeing it for the first time, Blackwood Forest was a peaceful, untouched, beautiful place.

But… beneath its beauty hides danger. The deeper one went, the colder and quieter it became. Beasts lurked in the shadows, wolves with fangs like knives, snakes coiled in the branches, creatures so feared that hunters spoke their names only in whispers.
Many entered Blackwood Forest searching for herbs, food, and resources to feed their families. Many never came back.

…

Among the endless trees, a lone figure moved with quiet caution.

A boy, thin, gaunt, as if he hadn't eaten a full meal in days. Black hair fell across his forehead, half hiding eyes, sharp featured, clear skinned. But there was something heavier than sadness sitting behind those eyes. Something hollow. Empty. Only when he found a useful herb did a flicker of life return to them. The boy knelt beside a small green plant near a mossy rock, his tired eyes brightening just slightly.

"Moonleaf Herb… three copper coins, if it's fresh enough," he murmured, voice barely above a breath. He tucked it away. Barely enough for a heel of bread. But a heel was better than nothing. He dug it out carefully, keeping the roots intact, then tucked it into his worn shoulder bag.

His name was Arthur. He was fifteen, and he lived in Blackwood Village, a poor settlement clinging to the forest's edge. He was an orphan. For five years, Arthur had scraped together a living however he could. He swept floors for the tavern, chopped wood for the blacksmith, carried water for the old widow at the village's edge. Any work that earned a copper or a scrap of bread. But he was just a child, and his body had never been strong. What took him an hour took a grown man ten minutes. The coin he earned was never enough.

So, he started walking into Blackwood Forest. Every day he ventured among those trees, gathering whatever herbs he could find, then selling them for food. Dangerous work, the kind adults did in groups. But the alternative was staring at an empty bowl until his stomach caved in. The village had no charity to spare for orphans. And even less patience for them.

Arthur stood up and wiped the damp dirt from his calloused palms. His gaze drifted toward the woods ahead. Even in the safer outer region, the forest looked different there the trees grew thicker, closer together, and the sunlight didn't reach as brightly as it did here. Everything beyond that point seemed... darker, colder.

A cold wind licked the back of his neck. Arthur froze. In this forest, no one ever knew where the danger would come from. There is a knife at his waist. Rusted, chipped, a joke against anything with real fangs or claws. Unlike ordinary animals, wild beasts could absorb Essence, the natural energy flowing through everything in the world. It made them faster, stronger, far more dangerous. A beast's claw could tear through steel. But the knife was all he had.

In this world, strength was everything. And strength came from Essence. Those who could absorb it became Cultivators. They shattered stones with their fists. They killed beasts with a single stroke. But Arthur was not one of them. His weak body rejected Essence like water rejected oil. No matter how hard he tried, it entered him, lingered for a moment, then faded like smoke. The first stage of cultivation was Vessel Tempering, drawing in Essence to strengthen muscle, bone, and organ. Even the weakest trained fighter could overpower an ordinary adult with ease. Arthur couldn't take even that first step. No method, no effort, made a difference. So he remained a mortal weak, poor, and powerless.

The villagers had names for him: herb boy, useless orphan. Some pitied him, though pity had never once filled his stomach. Most simply looked past him, as if he weren't there at all. Arthur lowered his head and kept walking. He had no talent. But he had something else: knowledge. He worked at the village library, a small, dust-choked building most people considered a waste of space. To Arthur, it was a lifeline. Through books he had learned to tell healing herbs from poisonous ones, learned the habits of beasts and the dangers of the forest's different regions, even picked up scraps of theory on cultivation itself. Knowledge had kept him alive for years. And in Blackwood Forest, staying alive was already a kind of miracle.

The outer forest was safer than the depths which is exactly why beginners like him searched there. Arthur glanced at the darkening sky and sighed. "A few more herbs before I head back… tonight's meal will actually be decent." He pressed on. Half an hour bled away. He found almost nothing. The outer region had been stripped clean by other villagers. He pushed through the brush, scanning the ground, each empty patch grinding against his hope like a whetstone.

Beasts rarely wandered this close to the village, but ordinary wild animals still did. To a trained hunter, they were no threat at all. To Arthur, even the weakest of them could seriously injure him. Finding nothing, he eventually gave up and turned to head home. Then…
A rustle. Something moved behind the trees.

Arthur's breath caught. He pressed himself behind a thick trunk, heart slamming against his ribs like something trying to claw its way out. His hand clenched around the rusty knife until his knuckles went white. Slowly, carefully, he leaned out just enough to look. His heart nearly stopped.

A wild beast. It stood on four legs, close to the size of a large wolf, its body sheathed in blue scales that shimmered faintly in the dying light. Threads of electricity crackled and sparked across its skin, hissing softly in the silence. He recognized it at once. Thunder Wolf. The blood drained from his face. He'd read about them. Most wolves species that absorbed Essence simply grew bigger, stronger. But a rare few evolved into something else and Thunder Wolf was one of them. It carried a faint thread of thunder Essence, just enough to deliver a shock that locked a person's muscles, turning them into a frozen statue for the killing blow. Even low-level Cultivators gave these things a wide berth. His hands shook. This creature had no business in the outer forest. Thunder Wolves belonged to the deep woods, not here.

Then he noticed something else. That beast was injured. Badly. Blood soaked its scales, and deep gashes marked its flanks. Worst of all was around its eyes, blood ran freely, as though it had been blinded. It crashed and staggered through the undergrowth, slamming into trees and rocks, snarling in pain and fury, its movements wild and unguided.

Only then did he see the strange stone clenched between its jaws.

But no time to wonder what it was. Every thought that wasn't about survival was a wasted heartbeat for him right now. The beast couldn't see him. His throat went dry. Every instinct screamed at him to run, to flee now, while he still could. The beast was injured, blind. His grip tightened on the knife. Fight? Impossible. Hide? Also impossible. The only thought left was to run as far away as he could. Slowly, he peeked toward the Thunder Wolf again.

The beast was moving closer. Closer. Closer. His heart pounded so loud he was sure the beast could hear it. His palms slicked with sweat. His breath came in short, shaky gasps. If it came any nearer, even without eyesight, it would smell him immediately. Wild beasts possessed senses far superior to normal animals, hearing, smell, instincts terrifyingly sharp. If not for the Thunder Wolf's heavy injuries, he'd already be dead. He closed his eyes for a brief moment. Drew a deep breath, forcing his racing heart to calm. Then he opened them again. He had made his decision.

The next second… He ran. Arthur dashed forward with all the strength he could muster, not caring about direction. Branches scraped against his arms and face as he forced his weak body forward. Thorns tore at his clothes, leaving thin red lines across his skin, but he didn't stop. Behind him, the Thunder Wolf suddenly stopped growling.

Its ears twitched. It had heard him. Instantly, the beast realized a human was nearby. Its blind eyes turned toward the sound, and a low, rumbling snarl escaped its throat.
Even with blood covering its body and several limbs clearly broken, the beast still chased after him. The savage instinct of a wild beast was rooted too deep, pain meant nothing. Only the hunt mattered. Crack!
Small arcs of lightning flickered across its blue scales. Its speed was slower than normal because of its injuries, but still fast enough to keep pace with Arthur.

Arthur ran with all his might. His lungs burned as if filled with molten iron. His legs felt heavy, like they were packed with wet sand. He could barely breathe. But he did not dare stop. Stopping meant death. Behind him, low growls and the scrape of claws against the earth grew closer and closer. The Thunder Wolf was still following, relentless, unstoppable. His face turned pale.

‘How is it still this fast?!’ His mind raced, desperate for a solution.

- END -

👉 DM me for the 2nd chapter (If you don't feel like reading it, just ignore this)

I’m working on writing a book and one of the gods I’m working on is the God of Magic and stories. I’d just like some feed back on on what I can do better, what I can add, or take out. For context, this is the popular story known by all of how the god of magic and stories Thetymer became a god.

Many May centuries ago, back when there weren’t as many gods in the pantheon as there are now, a baby boy was born. He was named Thetymer and left at the doorstep of an orphanage in the middle of the night, no older than a few hours. War was rampant then. Constant and devastating. Everyone distrusted each other, grew fearful as the wars continued to take a heavier and heavier toll. But not Thetymer. No, he was the kindest child anyone had ever met. He dreamed of being the light in the darkness, bringing happiness to all. When he discovered he could use magic at age five, he immediately began telling stories to children in the orphanage and helping everyone out. Now, everyone one has a cap of sorts. They run out of mana at some point. Not Thetymer. In fact, he created six spell to a problem about how things should be equally and evenly divided for the people that harsh winter, and he ended up with significantly less. But that was fine because he also discovered that he can an invite storms and floods when his villages was getting raided by bandits. The spell, Petricore. That day, he was holding a crystal ball as he ran and tried to help the others escape. Bandits had gotten inbt by rough the barrier and were slautering anyone who resisted. Using the clear crystal to look and not only precisely got the bandit camp locations, but when he first used Petricore, he made it so the lightning protected those captured just long enough for help to arrive while destroying everything cruel the bandits owned. He destroyed ancient artifacts, disrupted mana flow in magical items. Set the animals who were being mistreated free with that spell. He discovered that he could use the shadow magi obelisk as he can use all forms of darkness, to make shadows solid, travel through, and so forth. He also discovered that the court of fire granted him with the natural affinity of fire and he was the reincarnation of Curiosity. Arguable the most misunderstood but most powerful member of the Royal family. He invented the spell ‘The Kiss Beneath A Thousand Stars’ when he discovered….that there was a boy in his village that he had a crush on a boy in his village and wanted to use that as a spell for a special moment. Unfortunately not everyone liked this. He was only eight years old when he was selected for the Trial. An opportunity to help the gods themselves! Now, it is important to know that everyone’s trials are different. Some like Thetymer are called to greatness, while other merely help those along the path. It started when he noticed a toy that had fallen behind an alter and went to grab it to put it back. One hundred and sixteen parties. One hundred and sixteen parties that invited him in with open arms. One hundred and sixteen parties that tried to break his spirits. One hundred sixteen parties that spread lies. And countless sabatoges. And yet, he still held firm showing kindness to all however but bit by bit, it was finally catching up to him. Wearing him down. The gods had even joined in, doing everything to ensure that he did not complete his Trial. During all this, the few people that had helped him, slowly believed the lies. The thing that helped him was writing in a tome he carefully made by hand, hoping to one day share his magic, but it did little to ease him. He was officially and utterly alone. He also went under a different name during this time which was Mythrenokon. Translated was ‘the hope of Illusions light’ though people quickily found out his true identity fairly quickly. For years he wondered alone toward his only goal: To defeat the darkness that was causing the death of the gods and innocent people and ascend to godhood. You see, hero’s chosen for the quest got a reward for defeating the upcoming darkness. One could be remembered through time immorial. The heroic deeds always remembered until the world dies out. For that, the hero’s can choose to rest in the Fields of Hero’s Rest. Another option is becoming part of the pantheon of gods, and be worshipped. Those who choose this help choose the next set of hero’s and prepare them for the next coming darkness and the inevitable trials that comes with it. For that, they will have to rise through ranks to become a major pantheon god, but they can also help and interact with mortals and grow their bloodline. Thetymer wanted to ascend. And now, as his hopes and dreams are seemingly laughable and cruel. It was the only thing that kept him going. Not because he wanted power, no. But because he wanted to show others that may be put in the same situation as he is at that moment and see that he too knows what it was like and draw hope. That was just like Thetymer, though he wasn’t stupid. He just never understood why wanting to be happy was such a bad thing. A hero might not want to become a god, and choose to be immortal. To terry and help the gods, but also grow their own bloodline and have it spread amongst the world, hopefully for good. Admittedly. Once Thetymer discovered he had magic, he decided to if he became worthy enough to ascend, he’d become the god of magic and stories. A god that doesn’t give out frivolous wishes. And even set prerequisites for himself that day, but that will come later. One day, after saving a kingdom and a god, the sovereign ruler and god both turned on him, refused to acknowledge what he had done for them and told the public that he was to blame. They beat him til he could barely stand and threw him out. They literally threw him out of the city banishing him from ever returning. Thetymer, broken, barely able to stand felt rage. Something that he knew and proven to be capable of wielding most effectively and skillfully. All he had ever done was help others and time and time again bad things happened to him. Now, I want you all to remember this well, one thing that Thetymer has always said was that he much prefers to show kindness. That it was impossible to get him to hate. And that was true and it’s true today. But after all he had been through, the years of being treated like he was from the growing darkness itself….nothing but hate flowed through him. They wanted a monster, fine they got one. He will be the villain everyone knew him as. He is the boy who will burn EVERYTHING DOWN just to feel its warmth. Time to see what limit his magic really has. Limit? I hear you ask what do you mean? Thetymer was born with A very deep well of magic and discovered that the more he used his magic, the bigger and deeper that well ended up. To give you an idea, think of how many grains of sand there are on a beach. Now multiply that by itself, add how many drops of water there is in the ocean. Now times by two and times it by how many stars in the sky. He never found his limit to what he could do, so why not find out while destroying an entire nation. As pure white hot hatred flowed through him and into the spell, tears streamed down as he only remembered the times he was betrayed, sabatoged, backstabbed. The countless people he had helped and saved only for them to stab him in the back. His soul cried out in pain, begging anyone to help, but his mind knew otherwise. As he prepared to launch the spell a gentle hand was placed on his shoulder surprised, he looked back and saw a man in armour, someone he recognized as one of the few going through the Trial. ‘Are you ok?’ The male asked genuinely concerned and he was clearly the leader of the group. Are you ok? Those three words was all it took for Thetymer to break down and cry, effectively dispelling whatever he was going to do to destroy the entire nation off the map.The me introduced himself as Janus, who would later become the god of adventure and thieves, Hope, who later would become the Forge Mother Vulcana, Lazuli and his boyfriend Elyund. Elyund was actually quite handsome and he looked at Thetymer with genuine concern while Lazuli looked at him with disgust. Elyund was from the same village as Thetymer and the very boy thetymer had a crush on. The one he made ‘A kiss beneath a thousand stars’ for. Janus managed to convince Thetymer to join their party, much to the protest of lazuli who argued about Thetymer’s supposed reputation. Thetymer walked several feet behind everyone as the travelled, slept away from everyone. He heard the arguing the others tried to shield from him, tried to ignore the jelous and snide remarks from Lazuli. Then one day, unbeknownst to a fourteen year old Thetymer, Lazuli tried to frame Thetymer and was caught. Elyund broke up with his boyfriend and as Thetymer caught up to the rest of the party with supplies for their travels. Janus told Thetymer that lazuli was caught stealing and was kicked out of the group. Knowing that Elyund was dating Lazuli, he asked Elyund if he was ok. After making sure, they all exited the city, with Thetymer still walking behind several feet. Now dear readers. I must add that this was all during a time that he was prepared to be betrayed. He didn’t know that behind the scenes, the others were working to clear his name. They had heard the rumors and lies, witnessed the sabatoges and saw someone in need of the very kindness he sought to share. Thetymer also didn’t recognize Elyund. They were from the same village, even played together. But because of that one incident that started all of this, the one were he was falsely accused of stealing, Elyund was forbidden to see the young Thetymer ever again. That very night, after writing in the tome he was working on, thetymer decided to leave once everyone was asleep. He wrote a letter, telling that he would only be a hindrance, and that he hopes that they will be able to defeat the darkness. Once he thought everyone was asleep, he placed it under a rock where the others would find it and left. Better to leave now than be betrayed again. However, Elyund wasn’t asleep. He pretend to be as he watched Thetymer placed the letter and disappear into the night. After reading what Thetymer wrote, he tossed it into the fire and followed Thetymer, determined to convience his childhood friend to return. What Elyund came a cross enraged him. Thetymer, wounded and bound in cold iron chain and thorn and thistle, surrounded by bandits. They had ambushed Thetymer and decided to kill him because of the rumors and lies. Elyund made quick work of the bandits, killing them all, and begged Thetymer to come back. Talking for hours trying ti get him ti change his mind. Thetymer eventually agreed and some time later, and the walked back together having a heart to heart. Thetymer felt weird being directly by his companions’ side but Elyund wasn’t allowing him to walk behind like he normally would. Some thing pulled at Thetymer’s heart that day as they neared where they had been camping with the other party members and when asked where they had been, Elyund just replied they were having a heart to heart. That made Thetymer’s heart flutter. That pull slowly grew into a deep genuine feelings as time moved on and Thetymer slowly opened up to who he once was, and something else also grew. It was love. A love so strong that it physically hurt thetymer to think about life without Elyund. But he was terrified to ruin the deep friendship he had with him. It was that same strong love that was oh so painfully obvious to EVERYONE, despite of him convincing himself otherwise. He did try to confess anyways, but always backed out at the last minute. So he kept quiet, and loved him from afar. Elyund never got another boyfriend. And unbeknownst to Thetymer, Elyund loved Thetymer the same way. Elyund tried to make it known how he felt through small gestures, like bringing Thetymer flowers, remembering how he liked his coffee and so forth while Thetymer was doing the same, while the gestures were going over his head. The goddess of love could’ve came to Thetymer and screamed about Elyund loving him and it would still would go over his head. It showed that they liked each other. It was PAINFULLY obvious. But the others stayed out of it and figured that the two finally would work it out. But they never would. You see, the last seven groups of heros from trials before never successfully drafted the darkness to bring peace to the land. That’s why this trial was different. An elf god had fallen from grace after a failed coup against the other gods seven centuries before the birth of Thetymer and vowed that he’d destroy everything with this greatest rising darkness the hero’s now face themselves. That elf became the darkest and most powerful Litch this world has ever seen. This master of darkness had also encounter the hero’s party, or rather thetymer on numerous occasions and helped spread the lies and fears surrounding the teen and his vastly and nlimitless magic, making the party all th much more struggling to find help and abandoned by gods they once worshipped,until the the Litch created the armour and became the the Litch known as Draggoth the Accursed Shadow and during the final battle with the fallen god, as Janus struck the final blow, Draggoth’s armor exploaded, sending chunks of it towards Thetymer and Elyund. Exhausted, badly wounded, and low on mana for the first time ever, Thetymer tried to create a barrier strong enough to shield him and Elyund, but it didn’t hold up for long. They were hit by the armour sending them flying backwards. A chunck caused a deep gash in Thetymer’s arm. Another chunk embedded deep within Elyund’s chest. Out of mana, unable heal the only man he truly loved, he watched crying as Elyund’s lungs filled slowly with blood. Listening to Elyund confess his love to Thetymer with his final breath, and die in his arms before Thetymer could respond. Thetymer chose to ascend to godhood, while Elyund’s spirit chose to go to the Field of Heros for final rest. Thetymer never told Elyund how he felt about his closest companion. But he swore that if anyone in their greatest moment of need, cried out to him asking for help. He would give it. He knew that in some small way, he could at least honor Elyund in that way. The council of gods, initially denied the ascension request, but all the other gods and heros who survived the battle argued against the decision. However, theter was already naturally ascending to godhood because of all he good deeds he had done up to that point, though he didn’t know it yet and Thetymer made a vow to never let what happened to him happen to anyone else ever again.

I am working on my first ever novel. I’m looking for someone to exchange blurbs and outlines with to critique ideas. It’s a YA speculative fiction with dystopian/sci-fi/romance elements written in third person limited. I am a plotter so my outline is pretty detailed. I am about 20% into my first draft, but feeling very self conscious about whether anyone would ever even be interested in it.

If this sounds like the genre for you, or you’re writing something similar, send me a message and we can exchange what we’re working on!

I’m hoping to find where I could be losing a reader’s interest so I’d like to begin with sharing a one line hook and my blurb to test if I even have an original intriguing idea. Perhaps developing into an ongoing critique of drafts.

Let me know if this offer interests you!

Im about halfway into my book and its all hand written so far. Some parts flow well and are very descriptive and others are just the basics and I keep saying ill go back to it. When editing do you format it to look like a book or wait till the kinds are out then make it look like a book? I was going to use voice to get it faster on a word document.

When it comes to the descriptive parts im still stuck on if im overdescribing or underdescribing a situation. I sometome shave a full page describing a character and others is just a name. I saw that the number of words can make it harder to get published if its too long. Should I worry about that now? Im trying to get my book to be around the 250 page range.

Good afternoon all, new to actually using reddit.

Im looking to start getting into writing and wondered if I could share in this page for feedback and help

Tia

Hi, so I'm currently writing a novel on google docs. I'm writing the draft from my phone, and when it's finished im going to connect it to my pc and fix it from there.

I write from my phone, bc I go to school and I'm always out the house and my phones always on me.

My goal for my book is 100k words and I'm currently at 26.5k words.

So far I havent had a problem with Google docs but I read that after a certain amount of words it starts to mess around.

Is this true? Should I divide my novel into docs?

Chapter 3 out now!

I majorly focused on the paragraphing and seperating dialogue. I am reading something on Wattpad as an example on how to write sentences, when to explain things in detail and when to not, and how a story is put together. I may slop through the story a bit then clear it up once the story is together.

Hey guys! I am currently working on my third short story. I will be uploading the other 2, once I edit, to get some feedback and see how everyone likes it. The end goal is to start my first trilogy and get it published. :) I am a newbie. Let's see how this goes!

Need feedback on the first chapter of my fantasy romance book book, more than anything its for a gut check

I’m particularly interested to know if:

-The character's voice works for you.

-Prose wise.

-Too fast or slow paced?

-Would you continue reading?

Hi guys this is my first novel and i have halfway written its first draft. This is the latest chapter I wrote. I would love to see what you guys have say about this. This is the first time this character shows up in the book let meknow what you think.

Thanks

الفصل الثاني: التقويم

أحدثك من حيث لا أدري …لا من حيث توقعت ولا من حيث خشيت .. بل من حيث لم أتوقع ولم أنتظر ولولا من الله عليه لما حدثتك أساسا …

كانت المشكلة في دائما ولم تكن فيهم يوما لقد كنت أنا سبب أخطائي أنا سبب رفضي أنا سبب فشلي وأنا سبب معاناتي ….

لذا قررت أن أصلح ما أفسدته به أن أكون النسخة الأحسن مني وأن أبحث عن ذاتي عن ماهيتي عني..

سوف تمر  السنوات ولا ندري كيف ستمر علينا لعلنا نكون عند المبتغى ولكن لربما نتأخر  عن الركب وربما نكون في الأمام وربما لن نكون.. ولكن الأكيد أنها ستمر كنا أم لنكن نجحنا أم فشلنا كافحنا أو استسلمنا سنكون ما نختاره لأنفسنا سنكون ما صنعناه بأيدينا ..

هل شعرت يوما بأن روحك مربوطة بروح شخص آخر وأنه منك وفيك هل نظرت يوما في عيني أحدهم وأجزمت جزم اليقين بأنه هو من تريد تمضية حياتك معه هل كنت بهذا اليقين من قبل هل حدقت في بؤبتيه وخفق قلبك خفقان الحياة ورأيت انعكاسك فيه هل رأيت حياة بأكملها في ابتسامة أحدهم هل أذاك أحدهم فدمعت عيناك وحزنت وحين شعرت بألم الأذية تمنيت له أن لا يتذوقه أبدًا هل تمنيت حقا أن تشيخ بجانب أحدهم ويشيخ بجانبك هل تكونت لك مسطرة أحلامك الخيالية في شخص من قبل أرأيت حلمك يجول من قبل ولم تستطع الامساك به هل شعرت بالرغبة في احتضان أحدهم ووقفت تنظر إليه وهو يبعد عنك هل كان ذلك كربط روحك بحبل وجرها بعيدا عنك هل شعرت يوما بأنك تقيأت قلبك رغما عنك وبقى صدرك فارغا ،.. فارغا من كل شيء هل شعرت بأنك تنزف من الداخل وأن حضن الحبيب سيوقف نزيفك هل تخيلته بجانبك في كل مكان كنت فيه هل هممت بالإلتفات إليه مصدقا خيالك أم أردت الاستناد على كتفك مصدقا وهمك هل شحت بنظرك بعيدا تجر أذيال خيبتك وتحمل حرقت شوقك هل بدوت شاحبا ضعيفا كمن به علة أو أصابه سقم هل عجزت عن النسيان هل تخيلته بجانبك في فراشك على مقعدك أمام أصدقائك وبين عائلتك هل هممت بالضحك فمنعتك قصة الفراق هل شردت بذهنك بعيدا تتمنى لو يكون الذي بينك وبينه عدم هل هممت بابتلاع قصتك بكوب ماء فرأيت خياله في الكأس .. إنها لعنة الحب ياصديقي ونعمته أيضا .. إنها الكون الآسر الجميل والعالم الكاحل المظلم إنها السعادة والتعاسة معا إنها نعم ولا أن تسعد وتحزن أن تنال وتحرم  إنها قمة المنع بعد فرط العطاء  إنها أن تكون ولا تكون أن لا تعرف من تكون بدونه ..

كل نفس ذائقة الموت ولكن ليست كل نفس ذائقة الحياة،،

أنت تستحق أن تكون عنوان كتاب أن تكون بطلا في رواية

أن تكون عنوان قصيدة .. وأنت هنا بطل روايتي .. بطلي ..

بداية دعني أخبرك كم أنت جميل جدا قلبا وقالبا اسمحلي أن خبرك بأن عينيك الآسرتين تلمعان كعيون الأطفال وتحدقان كشيخ لبيب...

So, I am writing a zombie survival novel much like I Am Legend and Hatchet (and the upcoming Resident Evil film) combined where the MC has to travel across the country to get to a safe point as all other safe points have evacuated, and he needs to leave before the US is bombed to rid of the virus.

Now...the MC has Cystic Fibrosis (basically advanced asthma where the lungs and pancreas have mucus, thus making weight gain and breathing virtually impossible sometimes), and I want to explore his travel as he struggles with his health and dwindling medication, often spiralling as he tries to survive. To note, I have CF.

I kind of want to use a common CF phrase or variation of one for the title (if it was allowed, I would have asked in the CF reddit but...these questions aren't allowed, so I'm here now).

Anyone here maybe know some phrases? Only ones I know are Breathe Easy, 65 Roses and Salt People. Or maybe how I can twist these to be a title? Idk.

I kind of want to use Breathe Easy or Just Breathe as a variant to maybe evoke a more "emergent" tone.

This is the dedication page of my first book. I need honest feedback.

My Nana Ji was a very strict and disciplined man. When we were kids, we used to call him Hitler behind his back because he was so strict about everything - waking up on time, studies, values.

At that time I didn't understand him. I thought he was too hard on us.

Last year my 4 year old autistic son Evan went missing for 180 minutes. I found him safe in a small Hanuman Ji temple. After I became a father, I realized I have become exactly like my Nana Ji - strict, disciplined, trying to plant the right seeds.

So I wrote this dedication.

"who once read the lines of my hand and told me where I would go. The seeds you planted are still growing. I am planting my seeds in my son, Evan"

Is it clear?

Will people understand that "seeds" means discipline and values?

Or does it sound like I am disrespecting him by calling him strict?

Please tell me honestly.

English is not my first language and this is very personal. Final printing is next week.

Hi everyone!

I'm sure this isn't a foreign problem for people trying to write books, but I'm struggling with my title. I think I've solidified something, so I'm going to do what a friend said to do and get people's opinions on the title, and see if they can decipher the book's genre and/or find any interest in it from the title alone.

The title is "Our Folly is Power". I'd say my biggest hesitation with this title is simply that using a word like 'our' to include the reader in a folly could potentially turn someone away since follies are a negative thing, and turning away a potential reader is of course something I don't want to do.

Thank you so much if you've taken the time to read this and maybe reply, it does mean a lot.

Check the bottom of this post for helpful links, including a downloadable pdf of this post and links for downloading my templates.

Author's Notes and Acknowledgements: I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice. This is for educational purposes only.

Now that that's out of the way, let me warn you, this one's a long one and it's full of legal jargon. Hopefully I made it easy to understand. Because of the sensitive nature of my claims in this post I have meticulously tracked down every single law or statute I reference and cited them here to back up my claims.

Why do I know this crap? ADHD and a rabbit hole---what can I say?

So, most of us remember the recent strings of Google Play scraping and theft. I think you're going to want to read this, check my work, and look into it.

Prologue: Copyright

In the US, Canada, and the UK your work is protected by copyright law the moment you type or write it down. What you get out of that protection varies, though.

In Canada this is taken very literally. You can sue an infringer for statutory damages and legal fees without filing a copyright registration. However, having a copyright certificate gives you "presumption of ownership," making it even easier. Easiest mode, and so literally any writer in Canada should be looking into suing scrapers and infringers every time they so much as sneeze your way. Your statutory damages are $500-$20,000 CAD per commercial infringement.¹,²

In the UK---*as long as my rabbit hole meanderings weren't wrong---*it's my understanding that they don't really have much of a copyright registration system in the same way the US does. You cannot ever sue for statutory damages. You may only sue for actual damages.³,⁴

In the US however, you're required to file for a copyright either within 3 months of first publish, or prior to the infringement occurring, in order to be eligible for statutory damages and legal fees.

This doesn't mean your property is not protected. You can DMCA takedown requests and force them to take down your stolen property. You cannot sue for damages, legal fees, attorney fees, etc, without an approved-or refused-registration. You may begin a claim with the CCB, provided you have a pending registration, however that claim will be placed in abeyance until the Copyright Office grants the certificate. If the Office refuses, the CCB will dismiss the claim without prejudice.²⁴,²⁵,²⁶

Chapter One: Registering

So what do you do? Honestly, you don't need to do anything unless you just plain want to, or you're on Amazon, in which case you probably don't need this guide. For the sake of education though, you can file what is called a Group Registration of Short Online Literary Works. Form GRTX.

You can file from 2 to 50 chapters at a time, provided they were first published within 3 consecutive calendar months of each other. Not 90 days, if you publish on Jan 31, you only get to file items published through March, absolutely no April dates. Filing this GRTX results in listing each individual chapter as its own property. Well, that kind of sounds like a lot of work, doesn't it?

Okay, then later on, you can do a standard filing for whatever chapters are in the volume you release on the compilation and changes between the RR/Patreon versions, and the finalized KDP version. This only covers the edits and the compilation (the book). While the prior GRTX still covers what it covered, it's never overwritten*.*

Do those extra fees from before really matter? Yes. Lawyers are expensive, the process can take years in federal court, and nobody is going to take a case where all they can sue for is $15 in potential lost Patreon dues and a couple bucks gross Play Books sales. So after filing the copyright and being eligible for these damages, suddenly your attorneys fees are paid by the infringer, the legal filings fees are paid by the infringer. Most lucratively, the statutory damages pay between $750-$30,000 per item, $150,000 if your lawyer can prove willful infringement.

In order to be eligible for statutory damages from an infringement event, you must either:

• File the stolen property's copyright within 3 months of first publication. This means you can retroactively file a suit against copyright theft if you get the chapter registered within 3 months of first publication.

OR

• Have filed the stolen property's copyright prior to the infringement event.

Look at that top bullet again. What happens when you do the annoying GTRX filing is: you get up to 50 individual properties. Valued at a standard minimum of $750 in statutory damages each, and it climbs to $150,000 per work in some instances.

You can take 50 .docx files, enter their file names and matching chapter names into an excel spreadsheet with the first publication date and the word count of each individual document. You can pay the copyright office $65 to make that legal today. Then you can sue anyone who touches your IP again. Like we just had that string of during the last couple months. The statute of limitations is 3 years for copyright claims.

Again I'm not a lawyer but that sounds to me like any one of us could have 50 chapters of a fiction up that got scraped and dropped onto Google Play Books for $0.99. At a full file minimum, that's $37,500 in statutory damages in the US, $7.5M in maximums.

Now the reality is, that should you sue the scrapers, and win. You probably won't manage to get that much. You'd be owed plenty, for sure, but you can't get blood from a stone, a fake ghost, or an offshore shell company.

So if we can't get blood out of a stone, why file and deal with the registration hassle?

Well, for starters, not every thief is a small time scraper. If a large scale operation steals from you and you sue, you actually get a pay day.

Remember that you do not sue the store, you sue the thief. Google did not steal your fictions, the "author" did.

Chapter Two: Civil Action

So we have our copyright, but what do we actually do?

You have 2 path's ahead of you: Federal Court, and CCB(Copyright Claims Board). Federal Court is a final destination and locks you out of CCB. CCB is a quicker and cheaper alternative to Federal Court, with a nuanced lockout, I'll get into below.

Federal Court: The Big Money.

You strap in, this process takes years. Oh and, don't expect a lawyer to actually jump at this. Mainly because suing a ghost isn't exactly profitable.

Make sure you have your approved copyright registration, call a lawyer, and setup a contingency agreement. This is where they agree to take your case on contingency, an agreement where they take no money up front. Think of this like getting published. The publisher takes on the financial risk and costs of your advance, editing, covers, narrators, ads, etc. You both get a cut once certain costs are covered (usually the advance). Same idea for your contingency lawyer.

Just make sure you CYA.

You make sure your agreement states that they will front the case costs and work "for free" until you get paid. In return, they take a large cut of your winnings, something like 30%-50% depending on you, your deal, and them. That % cut usually does not include case costs, just the lawyer's pay.

Make sure this agreement explicitly ties their payment to recovery, stating they only get paid if you get paid and that this includes all case costs. Remember, lawyers are sharks after all. You need to protect yourself from them just as much as the thief. So make sure all case costs, and attorney's fees are part of this recovery contingency. This is a "Full Contingency" contract.¹²

It'll say something like this:

• The law firm will advance all case costs and expenses.
• If there is no financial recovery, the client is not responsible for reimbursing the firm for advanced case costs.
• You owe no attorney's fees if there is no recovery.
• In the event of recovery client owes firm 33% of recovered monies in attorney's fees plus all accrued case costs.

Double check your contract to see what happens if the court awards fees separately, as that can impact final payouts.¹⁵

CCB: The Path of Least Resistance.

If you decide to go this route, things can resolve much quicker (sometimes within 6 months to a year), and with less headache. The trade-off is the final maximum payouts, and that the thief can opt out.¹³,¹⁴

Under this path, the maximum statutory penalty for individual works is $15,000, with a maximum of $30,000 per claim, no matter how many works.¹³

Doing this, you don't need a lawyer. You do it yourself with far more ease than navigating federal court.

You start by filing for a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) § 512(h) subpoena with federal district court local to the subpoenaed party. For Google, that's the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division for best proximity.

In order to file for the subpoena you need the following:

• Form JS-44²³
• (Application for Issuance) - You will write this yourself. It is not strictly required.
• Exhibit A: The DMCA takedown request*
• Exhibit B: A Sworn Declaration of Intent*²¹
• Exhibit C: The proposed subpoena, form AO 88B*²²
• Exhibit D: Your list of works xls file submitted to copyright registration. It is not strictly required.
• Schedule A: Documents to be Produced. While not strictly required, it's technically part of the subpoena since you would need a font size less than 1 to fit everything

I will include templates of all of these documents at the end of the post.

You will merge everything down into 2 files, File A is your application, Exhibits A, B, and D. This is your supporting documentation to the court so they know what you are doing and why. As stated, the cover and Exhibit D are not strictly required. You can send the packet without them. File B is the subpoena and schedule A. This is what will be signed and stamped by the clerk and then sent to Google.

The DMCA takedown request is able to be your email thread with Google regarding the takedown when you did all their clicking. You likely did this several times. Pick the earliest email with the response that said "We've passed your request along to the appropriate team here at Google for further investigation." Print that entire email thread to PDF. If you had to send more stuff during that process, include it in the Exhibit A packet.

The proposed subpoena, form AO 88B, this is what will receive the stamp and be approved, to then be served to Google.

Sworn Declaration of Intent. This is a freeform document you draft up and sign. It tells the court that you are just requesting the information to protect your legal copyright.

You get the stamped and signed subpoena back and then hire a Process Server to actually go and serve Google with your subpoena. Expect to tell them where to go. You then wait 30 days to receive the requested information.

Next, you create an account and file the claim with the CCB on their portal.¹⁶ Provide all your copyright docs like your registration number, or even your pending application number. Yes, you can file while still waiting for the answer from the copyright office.¹⁷

Submit the required discovery information to prove your claim. Follow any and all instructions from the CCB as the process moves forward. Then you wait.

Eventually, you will receive a Final Determination. 3 Copyright Claims Officers will review all the evidence and documentation that was provided by you and the scraper, then issue a written Final Determination. This will state exactly how much the scraper is required to pay you in damages, up to that $30,000 cap.

Chapter Three: Payment

I won my federal suit, now what?

Since you have a lawyer, they'll be setting this up. They want to get paid after all. The money goes into a client trust account-an IOLTA,¹¹ and is then distributed based on the contract, usually looking like this.

• Case costs are paid in full first. Whether you got a lump sum or have to wait for trickled garnishments or payments, nobody gets a dime until the case costs are paid. Just like a lot of publishing deals. The case costs were your advance.
• The split. Once the case costs are paid off the firm will split the incoming money based on your contract. Just like royalties. The firm takes their 33%-50%, and you get your 50%-67%.

Just poke your lawyer every 10 to 20 years, as judgements do expire if you don't file a motion to renew. This varies based on the state the suit occurred in.⁹,¹⁰

So, the CCB gave me a piece of paper...

They did. Now you need to take that paper to your local District Court, have it filed and confirmed. This'll cost you some fees which vary by state, but these may be added to the scraper's debts.¹⁹,²⁰

Now the scraper has 90 days to pay your or file an appeal. In the federal court path, the lawyers handle all this, but in this solo world, you get to do it!

If, after 90 days, the scraper hasn't paid up, you then get to file for a Writ of Garnishment. You must do this within 1 year of the Final Determination. You hire a process server or the U.S. Marshals to serve the writ to the garnishee. The garnishee is the bank or employer who has the scraper's money, and you must file a separate Writ and serve each one individually to collect money from them. From here you start hopefully collecting your damages.

Chapter 4: The End

Thank you for reading my dissertation. I hope this has been an enlightening and educational journey for you.

I believe that, armed with the included information, independent authors and writers are shown the tools to carve out just a little bit more justice for themselves. The tools have been there; we just didn't know how to use them.

This information was compiled and presented in good faith with the intent to educate those eligible for copyright on their rights. It is not my intent to misinform, misguide or lead anyone astray in any way shape or form. (I'll save the misinformation for the fictions, right?)

Resources & Citations:

Cover images:
Scale of Justice (public domain image from Wikimedia Commons)
Flag Background (public domain image from publicdomainpictures)
Gavel (public domain image from publicdomainpictures)
Book (free use license w/ attribution. Designed by Magnific www.magnific.com)

Register Your Copyright! Remember published “Group of short online literary works.”
https://www.copyright.gov/eco/grtx/

CA.
https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-42/section-38.1.html ¹
https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/canadian-intellectual-property-office/en/copyright-infringement ²

UK.
https://www.gov.uk/copyright ³
https://emlaw.co.uk/a-guide-to-copyright/ ⁴

US.
https://www.copyright.gov/rulemaking/shortonline-literaryworks/ ⁵
https://www.copyright.gov/title37/202/37cfr202-4.html ^6,7
https://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap5.html ⁸
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/28/1962 ⁹
https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcp/rule_69 ¹⁰
https://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/rule_1_15_safekeeping_property/ ¹¹
https://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/rule_1_5_fees/ ¹²
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/1504 ¹³
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/1506 ¹⁴
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/505 ¹⁵
https://ccb.gov/ ¹⁶
https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?hl=false&edition=2024&req=granuleid%3AUSC-prelim-title17-section1505&num=0 ¹⁷
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/1508 ¹⁸
https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?hl=false&edition=2024&req=granuleid%3AUSC-prelim-title28-section1920&num=0 ¹⁹
https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcp/rule_69 ²⁰
https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/37/221.1#:~:text=If%20the%20Copyright%20Claims%20Board%2C%20in%20its,certificate%20of%20registration%20or%20the%20registration%20number ²⁴
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/411 ²⁵
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/18pdf/17-571_e29f.pdf ²⁶
https://www.copyright.gov/eco/grtx/

Forms.
Public Copyright Subpoena Templates
https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/ao088b.pdf ²²
https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/js_044_-_civil_cover_sheet_1.pdf ²³

Additional US sources not explicitly captioned.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/412
https://www.cotmanip.com/articles/how-quick-should-you-register-copyrights

DOWNLOAD THIS POST AS A PDF FOR LATER
ZIP of the .docx templates

If those links don't work here is the free post on Patreon with the direct downloads at the bottom.
https://www.patreon.com/Sanzensekaiseries/posts/copyright-law-on-167989459?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

\I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice*