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I feel really bad for asking for some help with my story, as I’m still learning to write fiction. I would like some help, but as we can’t post links(even to Reedsy), I’m not sure what to do. I’m a teen who is trying to actually be able to write something publishable, some day. Thanks so much. For those of you who helped on First Contact, thanks. I’m not sure when I’ll finish either one, but would love some tips. I could try PMing the link, if u r okay with that.

Try going to scribophile. It is a website where you can get feedback on your writing. Try going to the Beta reading group and exchange with another writer of the same genre. Watt pad is another place to get feedback by publishing chapters of your book.

For now, try starting to learn through reading the books that you'll need for references later. Start with (and don't laugh) fiction writing for dummies by randy ingermanson and James Scott Bell's Plot and Structure. Those are two basic books. Another one you need to keep handy is Elements of Style.

Another great place to learn especially SciFi is a podcast called Writing Excuses. Start with Season 10. They are top selling writers.

The advice is all about learning your craft. Be prepared for a lot of negative feedback until you learn what you are doing. Also, remember that the first draft isn't really a book. It is a big idea that will eventually become a book. All the magic happens in the editing.

You may PM me with the link and I'll look at your writing. I can also give you a more complete list of things you can do other than reading a lot of books in your genre.

I joined scribophile as Alyssa Marie Smith. Have 3.53 karma!

Any tips for turning a rough draft to a better product?

If you know someone who can read that rough draft and give you honest feedback, that would be the best.

You mention you are a teenager. Can you not approach a teacher/professor at your school?

Akindle wrote: "Any tips for turning a rough draft to a better product?"

Learn about the craft of writing. Learn to be extra critical of your own writing. Then read your rough draft and improve everything you don't like. It should be about 100% of the book.

Then... do it again.

Then... do it again.

And again.

As someone else mentioned, one of the best ways to improve your writing is to read books that are in a similar genre.
This might seem strange, but don't read as a "reader", instead try to read as a "writer". Don't just focus on the story and characters, focus on the writing style instead.
Then, of course, practice, practice, ... and then more practice.

G.R. wrote: "You mention you are a teenager. Can you not approach a teacher/professor at your school?"

I’m trying to get my LA teacher to read it. They r busy.

It helps to know what you are looking for in the rough draft.
1. Start with plot. Do you have all the plot points and in the right place? If so, mark them.
2. Is there a definite midpoint where you MC looks at themself and decide if they can go on or not. This need to be real close to the exact middle of the book.
2, Does each section have a beginning, middle and ending? Those should be at the points you have identified above.
3. Does each chapter have a beginning, middle and ending that draws the reader to the next chapter? Does each chapter have a purpose to it?
4. Does each scene have a beginning, middle and end? Is there a purpose for the scene? If it isn't advancing the story or your character arc or is part of a subplot, redo of remove.
5. Once you have that all done, then look got plot holes. Did you leave out a very important piece of information? or give too much and messed up the plot. Is there an increase in tension from beginning to the ending?
6. Where is your conflict? not just fights but between characters be it good or bad. Without conflict you have no real story. Look at places where you can increase the conflict. In your fights, does it all make sense? Do have them doing the impossible? If so, you better have a good lead into why.
7. Once you have everything marked, now is the time to rewrite for the first time. You will fill in all the holde. Rearrange chapters, write that great scene where the MC has to make their decision after seeing they are a failure. Write that ending. Give more information on the world you are in or delete as necessary. Make those characters into real people, look at your dialogue and the tags, Can you change things so you are showing, not telling using action.?
8. Now that you have slogged through that first rewrite, this next one look at sentence structure, variations, showing, description, narration versus action/dialogue.
9. Go back and repeat. Fixing scenes chapters, characters. Make sure all the big stuff is where it belongs and the little stuff leads up to that.
10. Rewrite. refine, rewrite, refine. Look at over use of words: As, like, just, that, look, hear, feel, etc. (Use the free version of prowriting aid to get rid of those words. How many pronouns do you use at the start of a sentence. search and find them, paying attention to the word 'It. Nix as many as you can.
11. In the refinement process, you will look at using rhetorical device (look them up) action verb, getting rid of the passive voice. Did you us narration when you should have used action?
12. Writing is all about editing. Learn the makings of a good story. To make it shine, you will rewrite at least 6-7 or more times. Each time you will be looking for something different.
Try the Beta Reader group here in Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ. You read theirs for them reading yours. Develop a check list of what you need to look for when reading a book. You will not be doing grammar, spelling, etc, You will be looking for those wonderful characters, plot development, character arc, story arc. etc. so you do need to know what they are before beta reading.

You do have talent, now is the time to learn the craft.

Akindle wrote: "G.R. wrote: "You mention you are a teenager. Can you not approach a teacher/professor at your school?"

I’m trying to get my LA teacher to read it. They r busy."

My local library hosts programs for writers. A writer's group in which participants critique each other's work. Also short classes for writers. Check libraries in your area. Also, I have Googled, "writer's groups near me" and found several.
This way you can interact with other people interested in writing. Try to find a group that is open to working with young writers.

Hints? A few. Before anything else, follow the scout motto, and as in everything you do: Be Prepared. Reading the manual on how to use your parachute is best done before you jump. 😳

1. That rough draft, to be improved, must be written with the techniques of the Fiction-Writing profession. After all, if the universities offer majors in commercial fiction-writing, at least some of what they teach must be necessary. Right? And if you think about it, all professions are acquired in addition to the skills you’re perfecting in school. Those reports and essays you’ve been assigned over the years have made you pretty good at writing reports and essays—which have informing the reader as a goal. But as E. L. Doctorow put it, for fiction: “Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader. Not the fact that it’s raining, but the feeling of being rained upon.� And how much time have your teachers spent on how to do that on a professional level? In fact, did they even explain what a scene is on the page, and how it differs from one on the screen—and why it must? How about why a scene ends in disaster for the protagonist?

The “tricks of the trade� aren’t hard to learn, but they do need to be learned, because you can’t fix the problem you don’t see as being one. The library’s fiction writing section is a great resource: No tests. You work at your own page. And, no pressure.

It’s worth noting that the best book I’ve found to date on creating scenes that sing to the reader has gone out of copyright, and is available free on the Archive website. Just Google-search the title: Techniques of the Selling Writer, plus the word, “Archive.â€� Depending on your browser it may take you directly to a download page, or to the Archive site. If you land on the site, select Advanced Search and type the title in the proper block. It’s an old book, in which he assumes that all men smoke and women are housewifes. µþ³Ü³Ùâ€� he pulls back the curtain on the nuts-and-bolts issues of how and why things work, better than anyone else I’ve found.

2. Have your computer’s Narrator program read the work aloud, to hear awkward phasing, punctuation problems, and how different what the reader hears is from what you intend them to get.

3. Never give up.

4. Some things to keep in mind…advice from the past.

“Drama is life with the dull bits cut out.�
~ Alfred Hitchcock

“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.�
~ Mark Twain

“Don’t inflict the reader with irrelevant background material—get on with the story.�
~ James Schmitz

“It’s none of their business that you have to learn how to write. Let them think you were born that way.�
~Ernest Hemingway

“In sum, if you want to improve your chances of publication, keep your story visible on stage and yourself mum.�
~ Sol Stein

“A character, to be acceptable as more than a chess piece, has to be ignorant of the future, unsure about the past, and not at all sure of what he is supposed to be doing.�
-Anthony Burgess

“Don't say the old lady screamed. Bring her on and let her scream.�
~ Mark Twain

“There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.�
~ W. Somerset Maugham

“It is impossible to discourage the real writers - they don’t give a damn what you say, they’re going to write.�
~ Sinclair Lewis

Thanks 😀.

All rough drafts suck. It's the nature of that initial "mind puke" to get the story out of your head and onto the computer screen. I finished a rough draft in September that's such a mess that I'm purposely postponing going back to it for rewrites until after Christmas so I can regain my sanity from writing that chaotic mess. And I'm 46 years old and have been writing for over 20 years!

Just keep writing and keep working at it. Refresh yourself on the basics of English and Grammar every now and then, and follow these suggestions to connect with other writers, either in person or online.

As I read once when I started writing: fortune favors the persistent. If you quit, you have a 0% chance of success. If you keep at it, you'll surpass the others who quit and find your place.

That means a lot to me, thanks, Sherri.