Things in stories that make you NOT want to finish

I understand that frustration lol but since I’ve started coding like I understand why an author may take a long time to update.

Just for context: I have a job outside of episode and that takes up a majority of my time. And when I’m not working I have a day or two off, all I wanna do is just sleep, then I have other responsibilities to take care of IRL. And I have 2 published stories one of which only has like 13 episodes and I’ve been working on it since late 2020.

Some people have way more free time on their hands and just pump out batches of episodes at a time. I wish I had that type of free time 24/7 :smiling_face_with_tear:

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Wait, there’s a way to code the family to look similar to the MC??? :exploding_head: if that is a real thing I need to learn that ASAP. I’m not being sarcastic like I genuinely want to know how to do that.

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Agree, I legit hoped to spend time writhing today, because its my day off, but I had a major headeach and slept most of the day because of it.

people cant always have time to write. I am an adult, I have a job, I need to cock clean, and I have mental illness, I cant pump out a chapter a week, the one a mounth I do is actually quite a lot.

I once had one tell me, you have time to be on the forum all the time, Checking in for two minuts between work, is not the same as dedicate hours to writhing. which I try to do.

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Yes! Check out Dara Marie’s workshop! It was very helpful!

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I’m very noncommittal when it comes to my stories so I’m planning on writing it all first and then once it’s finished or close to being finished that’s when I’ll publish!

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The fact that this is still up and people are still commenting on it is insane! I love it :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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well. welcome back

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I have seen people responding for a while, and i get email notifications when they do. I am just shocked people still comment on it. It makes me smile that a post I started can be engaging to the community. I havent been on the forums myself in a while, but I still actively use the app

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Authors do that so when Episode reviews their stories, they don’t tell us to fix it since we can’t use real brands.

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I’m not going to lie, that be happening to me. :smiling_face_with_tear:
I can’t figure out why though, (new writer btw)

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OH MY GOSH
You mentioning stairway to heaven brought back MEMORIES that was the first episode story i read :sob:

Do you spot direct each character on a separate line? For example:

@CHARACTER1 stands screen center AND CHARACTER1 faces right
@CHARACTER2 stands screen right AND CHARACTER2 faces left
@CHARACTER3 stands screen left AND CHARACTER3 faces right

That would cause each character to pop up one by one. But if you use the AND command instead of separate lines, they will appear all at once:

@CHARACTER1 stands screen center AND CHARACTER1 faces right AND CHARACTER2 stands screen right AND CHARACTER2 faces left AND CHARACTER3 stands screen left AND CHARACTER3 faces right

And so on.

I hope that helps!

On-topic thingy:
Something that makes me not want to finish an Episode story is when it’s overladen with tropes and the dialogue doesn’t flow naturally.

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Or they could just use & instead of @ so they all appear at once

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Dara’s website explains it. You can either use a twin template and adjust it or you can use @MC becomes FAMILYMEMBER and then do things like @FAMILYMEMBER changes hair into Hairstyle so that they aren’t identical. The latter only works for same sexes. So you couldn’t do with a father/daughter for example.

I’d have to look back to see what I said before, but here are some new things I wanna add (if I posted before):

  1. When the MC and LI kiss in the first episode. Where’s my slowburn at?

  2. When the LI is dominant and pins you against the wall with basically no room to breathe.

  3. Mafia. Just mafia. Also New York involved.

  4. When every character has the same physical features even when they’re not related.

  5. Maybe this is just me, but when my MC ends up having the same name as another character in a story, I can’t continue becuase I get the two characters confused! I know there’s no 1 person without someone else having the same name as them, but still!

  6. Gem choices. Thanks, every Episode featured story.

  7. Basic-looking MCs (always pouty lips, generic eyes, and small nose)

  8. Super long narration just to describe a kiss. Too bad some of the good romance stories have this problem.

  9. Too many spelling errors and lack of punctuation. sorry not sorry, Hope Moon.

  10. Cultural appropriation.

  11. Too many episodes. I draw the line at 45.

  12. Super mature stories (again, like mafia, or even that Hot Daddy President story. I know Episode isn’t just made for teens, but come on. No need to go overboard with the s*x and crap.

That’s it.

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What’s wrong with a story being based in NY? :eyes:

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It’s just overused. It’s like the authors act like it’s the only place in the world to have a career, or the only place to have fun at, like clubs. I haven’t traveled much, but I know that the rest of North America has something to offer! Not just NY, LA, or Florida.

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Yeah that understandable, I can’t speak for everyone but I use places like NY & LA because it’s something I know I’ve lived in both places so it’s something I know for sure rather than speaking about a state like North Dakota I don’t know absolutely nothing about & I know some people tend to get offended. But one of my stories is based in France and I don’t know nothing about it but I’m giving it a try anyway (don’t kill me :joy:) with hopes I get it right cause there is this thing called google​:joy: so I can agree with you I would like to read more stories based in different places

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Oh, that’s totally fine! I don’t mind if you’ve lived there and that’s all you can write about! At least you are giving other places like France a try! :smile:

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Trapped in North Dakota: an Episode Horror Story

(Never been to ND. I imagine it has nice parts and sus parts like almost every US state, as long as you’re not there in winter!)

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