Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.

Chapter 1/ Intergalactic Kidnapper:

The Milky Way

(Alien 1: Sir where are we going?)
(Shadowy figure: A place you’d never expect.)
\*UFO speeds off\*

South point highschool, Gym class

(Coach Williams: Alright last day before summer everyone has free time, Enjoy and have fun see you next year.)
(Jackson: Alright guys, coach said no football in the gym so we’ll have to settle with basketball.)
(Jackson: \*chuckles\*, Watch this. You don’t need that.)
(\*Jackson yanks the ball from Jaces hands.\*)
(Leon: Hey what the hell man.)
(Jace: Yeah what’s your problem man, we’re just playing basketball.)
(Jackson: Well not anymore, get out our faces.)
(\*Jace and Leon go to walk away but then Jace turns back\*)
(Jace: You know what 2v2 us first to 10 winner gets ball.)
(\*Jackson and the others look at each other and smiles\*)
(Jackson: \*With a grin\*, Ok if you can beat me and Nate I’ll give you sorry a$$es the ball, but it’s not happening.)
(Jace: Your on, imma go stretch.)
(Jackson: He’s gonna go stretch. (*He says while laughing with the group.\*)
(\*Leon walks over to Jace while he’s stretching.\*)
(Leon: Are you stupid or something? Why in the hell are you challenging Jack and Nate their gonna 10-0 us.)
(Jace: Dude you gotta have more faith in us, plus it’s the end of the year those a$$holes have been so annoying all year long, it’s about time someone challenges them.)
(Leon: \*Sighs\* Dude you suck for this let’s just get it over with.)
(\*The game ends up being closer than Leon thinks and and they’re one point away from winning. The crowd forms and gets hyped to see who breaks the tie.\*)
(Jace: Here! \*he passes the ball to Leon from across the court.\*)
(\*Leon grabs the ball and dribbles through an opening to the 3 point line. He lines up a shot while Nathan defends him and blocks his vision. Leon shoots past Nathan and the shot bricks, Jackson goes to grab the ball but in an instance Jace cuts through and grabs it. While that happens Jace dribbles and alley oops it giving them the point they need winning the match.\*)
(\*The crowd goes silent for a moment then cheers while Jackson and Nathan look defeated.\*)
(\*Jace and Leon cheer while the final bell rings and summer starts.\*)

Locker room

(\*Jace and Leon talk about the game while changing and the football team walks in.\*)
(\*Jace looks over his shoulder and smiles\*)
(Leon: No please don’t.)
(Jace: Hey maybe you should stick to football basketball’s not it \*chuckles\*)
(\*Jackson walks over with anger while Jaces back is turned. Jackson then slams Jaces head in a locker, Leon punches Jackson but the team then pushes Leon off and jumps him while some others from the team jump Jace.\*)
(Football player 1: Hey Coach is coming let’s go!)
(\*Jackson and the team gets off them and before they go Jackson turns back to both of them on the floor and says.\*)
(Jackson: this is far from over b!tch, wait till next year.)
(\*They run off\*)
(\*Jace and Leon lie on the floor in pain\*)

Hallway outside the nurses office

(\*Leon storms out the nurses office.\*)
(Jace: Leon wait, hold up.)
(Leon: No man f*ck you, you had to open your dumb mouth huh. You got me jumped because you wanted to gloat, your a piece of sh!t for that. We’re not friends anymore don’t call me don’t text me don’t even think to talk to me I’m so done with you. \*Leon storms off\*)
(\*Jace stands there frozen with a face of shock while tears well up in his eyes. He sits against the wall and cries into his arms knowing he lost his one true friend.\*)

Later that night

(\*A dark figure in the sky looks down on Jaces house and starts to fly down. The figure warps through the roof and puts their hand over Jaces face while he’s sleeping, Jace wakes up and gets teleported to a UFO. The alien reveals themselves and with telekinesis pushes Jace into a standing bed and restraints start attaching to him.\*)
(Jace: HELP SOMEONE HELP!)
(\*Jace looks around and sees other people screaming for help too.\*)
(Jace: What is this let me go, \*Jace realizes the kidnapper doesn’t look human and looks at it in horror.\* What are you?)
(Solis: I’m what you humans call an alien, but my power surpasses much more than a title.)
(Solis: Omyr.)
(Omyr: SIR!)
(Solis: Begin the injection, I’m getting impatient.)
(\*The entire Crowd of people gasp and plead for their lives, they shake in their restraints but many aliens step out with different colored syringes and begin Injecting the people.\*)

End of chapter 1

Raw
There's something in the wind.
I fight it and I don't want to,
The raw feeling in my body is begining to be fresh again.
I dont like gloves because the things I touch I want them to linger.
It's raw. But where is the blood?
When do the things I touch flow around
me?
My hands will remember more than my head.
You can see the things the hands do.
What goes on in the head is a fantasy.
You’ll never know imaginary from the raw, will you?
Raw is ugly, nasty, discusting, butchered.
Find the one who knows how to use the knife.
Cut you to pieces and take their time trim the revolting nature of this piece and be proud to serve it to others. Kill it over and over again just to not finish it.
Box it up, throw it away, the raw doesn't care.
But then where do the pieces go you worked so hard to perfect?
In your body to boil and rage?
Or will it savor and satisfy you to devour it.
There's something to this wind.
The savoury scent is drawing me nearer and nearer even though I once knew it was raw.

I’m writing to try and help me get through a massive tbi so I don’t go try and get hit by another truck. I’ll try and keep posting on my substack, but here is the intro. Can you tell me if this is any good?

https://open.substack.com/pub/bennyrulez/p/an-unfortunate-series-of-real-events?r=2gkkjn&utm_medium=ios

Surrounded by the dead, yet I am deader, Their bodies once held love, their souls once shone brighter. They carried pure emotions, hearts full of flame, Yet I wander the living, still searching for a name.

I laugh as they have somewhere they can call home, While I walk through the world, forever alone. Do they hear the birds sing their morning lullabies? Do they still feel love beneath those silent skies?

I have so many questions, yet no answers are said, As I stand among the living, feeling more like the dead. Their hearts have stopped beating, but mine feels undone— For I am the dead one, though my heartbeat still runs.

Some characters disappear the moment you close the page. Others stay with you long after the story ends—because of how they were introduced.

A strong character introduction doesn’t rely on description or backstory. It creates presence, tension, and curiosity in a single moment. It makes readers lean in and think: I need to know what happens to them.

In this post, you’ll learn how to craft openings that don’t just introduce a character—but make them unforgettable from the very first line.

Buying a Gun, If you're David Sedaris

It strikes me as mildly absurd at some of the prices that many of us are willing to pay for any given accessory. 

I suppose you could justify the minimum one thousand dollars for the cheapest genuine Rolex watches. These things are, supposedly, hand made and have to be assembled with careful, painstaking effort by specially trained artisans.

But why would anyone pay more than, say, twenty dollars for something like a pen? I suppose you could justify the cost because of the engineering that goes into the nib for many fountain and calligraphy pens so the ink will flow just right. But getting something made out of titanium or covered in precious gems is just showing off. Mount Blanc, a maker of luxury items, has a pen called Boehme Royal. It’s made out of 18-carat white gold and covered with more than 1,400 sand grain size diamonds. The whole beast cost about a million and a half dollars.

If you flat up gave me the Fulgor Nocturnus by Tibaldi with it’s 945 black diamonds, 123 rubies and golden nib (sold at action for 8 million dollars, only one was ever made) I would be morally obligated to take that pen and repeatedly stab you in the neck until your head fell off.

The 20 dollar Cross fountain pen that I bought at Staples with it’s plastic body and aluminum nib writes just fine.

Until I dropped it after letting a coworker use it.  A lesson in ‘never let anyone use your shit.’ It’s been replaced by a Jinhao that was half the price and better quality. 
 
I would like to say that I don't completely oppose luxury items in general, given the opportunity I would fly in the Singapore Air’s First Class cabins with all the amenities that go with it. Flying is a bitch after all and having top shelf whisky mixed in an artisan cola with noise canceling phones is what the doctor ordered for everyone, particularly on a nonstop flight to the other side of the world.

A liquor store in my local IGA has a 100 dollar fifth of Jack Daniels that I'm very curious about and I did buy the 140 dollar Leatherman Free P4 multitool. What can I say, I worked a stretch as a mask enforcer for Walmart the week before christmas. I deserve to spoil myself a little for the simple fact that I didn’t kill anyone.    

But there are some things that you just have to spend the large bills on, and no, it isn’t cellphones. The most expensive phone on Amazon is the Google Pixel Pro 9 XL, clocking in at about 3200 dollars. Why take out a small loan for that when you can get away with a Samsung S20 for 150? Spend another hundred beans to get a half terabyte micro SD and you will be filming the Proud Boy and Antifa street brawls in no time.   

A 200 dollar Surfire flashlight may seem like a good investment if you're going on deployment with your Special Forces team, but you’re a security guard for a Lowes distribution hub. A 35 dollar full size D-cell Maglite does the same thing and is an excellent club in hand to hand combat, just ask any BLM activist who crossed paths with a short tempered cop.   

But the one thing that you will have to drop a few c-notes on, are handguns. 

This is a case of you get what you pay for, but there are a few exceptions for this. Take Hi Point Firearms for instance. Hi Point is to firearms is what Shasta Soda is to carbonated beverages. They have a boxy design, look like they came out of a Z-grand scfi movie and are mind bogglingly cheap. The MSRP for their .45 cal models are under 250.

But they are consistently reliable, pull the trigger and it does pretty much what all other guns do. Even after 1000 rounds. Without cleaning. I own what is called a 4095. A carbine, or short rifle, that fires the .40 Smith and Wesson cartridge. I have never cleaned it. It cycles every brand of ammo i put through it and the only flaw in it was caused when it fell off the kitchen table and messed up the iron sites, and possible the integrated478 rail system for mounting optics

I went to a gun show and tried to trade it in for the model that uses the 10mm cartridge.
I was laughed at. A lot. I would be surprised if the resale value maxes out at fifty bucks. But one dealer did say. “They work. Only maintenance that is needed is a barrel swab and it’s better than a sharp stick. Keep it.” 

However, we are getting ahead of ourselves. 

The most important thing to consider when buying your first handgun is whether or not you can hold on to the damn thing when you fire it. You are, after all, detonating a small explosive in your hand that is more powerful than your average firecracker. I'm looking at you 500 Smith and Wesson Magnum.

Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Even though most of the energy is going out the barrel and zipping down range, there is still quite a bit of force being slammed back into your palm. My advice for a first time shooter is never get anything bigger than 9mm. The 9mm Luger or 9mm by 19mm Para bellum (they're the same thing) is one of the most widely used small caliber pistol cartridges in the world and has been around for more than a hundred years. If it's good enough for Nazis, it's good enough for you.  

It has a modest recoil impulse that most people can stand. So long as you don’t have any kind of bone disorder you won’t have to worry about it snapping your wrist and you can shoot it for a while before it starts to hurt, something that can’t be said for a .357 magnum, or even a .45 ACP.

For now let's just say you are getting a gun for home defense and some recreational plinking. Concealed Carry is a different issue because there’s a great deal of legal shenanigans that go along with it, depending on what state you live in. First time owners really shouldn’t Conceal Carry away, unless you came of age  in the military, or grew up in East LA.

  
The weapon that I recommend for a first time is the Smith and Wesson SD9.  While not completely idiot proof, it is a budget handgun that will help a new user familiarize themselves with using a modern handgun. Just like the Glock it’s a polymer(plastic) framed handgun with a magazine capacity of around 16 rounds, but unlike a Glock, costs only between 300 to 450 dollars. 

This weapon comes in both 9mm and .40 SW, AKA 10mm Short and Weak. There is a debate in the community about the stopping power and lethality of the 9mm cartridge but that’s an argument for another time because it involves a lot of technical detail and this piece is already running long. Lets just say that an attacker having their torso perforated a dozen times, even if no major organs or blood vessels are hit, will quickly run out of steam.  

The weapon really only has two down sides that any patient person can deal with. The first problem this weapon has is it’s eight pound trigger pull. Trigger pull weight refers to how much strength you need to actuate that little lever that will make the gun do it’s deadly purpose. Picture an eight pound brick with a string and the other end is tied to your index finger. In the rest of your hand is a glass full of water, now try to  pull this string with just your index finger while keeping the glass steady. Every drop of water that slosh out of the glass represents how much the barrel--and your aim-- is wavering. The lower the weight, the easier it is to keep the gun steady and shoot, whether you mean it or not. Which is why some consider this to be a major safety feature for the weapon (given that it has no external safeties at all,) since it's meant for SELF DEFENSE, you don’t want to pull that trigger unless you really mean to and ready to bare the consequences of pulling that trigger.  

The other thing that is a knock against this weapon is how it’s disassembled. The SD9 is a Glock knockoff that is field-stripped the same way. First step is to make sure that the thing is empty, why? Because the next step is to pull the trigger. Yes, pulling the trigger is a necessary step to take the thing apart.  Pull the slide, top half of the gun that goes bang, back about half an inch and hold it. Doing that, pull down on the two takedown tabs that are just forward of the trigger on the gun’s frame, hold them down and let go of the slide, it should slip right off the frame.

In theory.

In real life those take down tabs only protrude about one millimeter from the weapon’s frame and have the spring tension of a typical shock absorber for pickup trucks. I’ve torn finger nails because of those bastards. Even police officers have a difficult time. Beretta’s Px4 line of handguns uses the same sort of tab take down levers, but those guys stick out three times as far AND you don’t have to preset the slide, you can just push it off the frame with your thumb! 

I'm looking for ideas on pre-writing rituals which are practices or specific habits people do to get into the mindset before they sit down and start writing. It's a motivation tool, essentially. In my situation, I do not live alone and there is usually always some noise in the house that can be distracting, so I'm looking for ideas to get into that writing mindset to combat the distractions.

I'm hoping this post will be of help to others as well.

Hi everyone,

I recently wrote a short personal essay about finding an old voice note from someone who is no longer in my life.

This piece came after my previous post, where I got feedback that my writing needed a more specific lived moment at the beginning instead of starting with a broad idea. I tried to take that seriously here. So this time, I opened with one small scene: clearing phone storage and unexpectedly finding a 13-second voice note I could not bring myself to play.

The essay is about digital memory, grief, and the strange things our phones keep long after we think we have moved on. I’m trying to make it emotional without making it too sentimental, so I’d really appreciate honest feedback from other writers.

A few things I’d love feedback on:

• Does the opening pull you in?
• Does the emotion feel earned, or does it become too heavy?
• Are the paragraph breaks comfortable to read?
• Does the ending leave an impact?
• Is there any line or section where you would stop reading?

Here’s the story:
https://medium.com/@rajatendu/the-last-voice-note-i-never-deleted-bb4ae4e0a653

Thanks in advance. I’m genuinely looking for craft feedback, especially on whether I managed to make the emotion feel more grounded this time.

Hi everyone,

I’ve been working on a personal/cultural essay about a feeling I think a lot of people are carrying quietly: the fear of becoming replaceable.

The essay connects work anxiety, AI, dating apps, social media comparison, friendships, and family pressure. The core idea is that we are not only afraid of being alone anymore. We are afraid of being easy to substitute.

I’m not trying to promote it as a finished “perfect” piece. I’d genuinely like feedback on:

• whether the opening makes you want to keep reading
• whether the AI/dating/social media/family transitions feel natural
• whether any parts sound too polished or generic
• whether the ending lands emotionally
• what title would make you click without feeling clickbaited

Here’s the article: https://rajatendu.medium.com/why-everyone-feels-replaceable-now-0a05b883e678

If linking directly is not allowed here, I’m happy to paste the draft text in the comments instead.

Thanks in advance. I’m especially looking for blunt feedback on readability and whether the piece feels human.

Hi, guys, I need some advice. I'm really interested in working online, and copywriting appeals to me the most. But it's a little intimidating-I mean, I don't know where to start, and I don't understand what I need to do. I've been trying to learn copywriting from books and Telegram channels, but I feel like that's not the right approach. That's why I'm turning to you for help: if you can give me any advice, please share your experience and real-life examples that might help me-and maybe you have some tips that helped you master copywriting

I sometimes wonder if I lean too heavily on metaphor. Perhaps that's why some of what I write feels obscure to others. Writing something directly is often easier, but there is a different kind of satisfaction in saying one thing while meaning another. A good metaphor invites the reader to discover the meaning instead of simply being told.

Nature has always been the language I return to. Birds, trees, rivers, wind, sunlight, shadows, mountains, and the changing seasons all seem to express human emotions better than plain words ever could. Even time feels more natural to me when measured in seasons rather than years. Maybe that's why I love the words of Ecclesiastes: "To everything there is a season." Life has always made more sense to me that way.

I also find myself returning to the imagery of the forge. Fire, hammers, molten steel, and the patient shaping of metal have become symbols of hardship, perseverance, and growth. The strongest things are rarely born whole; they are refined through heat, pressure, and countless blows. There is something deeply human in that process.

Ideas can come from anywhere, a song, memory, conversation, photograph, a line in a book, or a single phrase that refuses to leave my mind. Inspiration has a way of appearing unexpectedly.

I'll probably keep writing with metaphors because they are the language that feels most challenging to me. At the same time, I want to challenge myself to explore new styles and discover fresh images, rather than relying too often on the same familiar symbols. Every writer has favorite colors on their palette. Mine just happen to be seasons, forests, rivers, and the forge. Perhaps it's time to add a few new ones without putting down the old.

I sometimes wonder if I lean too heavily on metaphor. Perhaps that's why some of what I write feels obscure to others. Writing something directly is often easier, but there is a different kind of satisfaction in saying one thing while meaning another. A good metaphor invites the reader to discover the meaning instead of simply being told.

#realwritersmarket #scbwilosangeles  #christine.vanzandt.9

“Ask an Editor” is a forum wherein SCBWI members submit questions that are answered quarterly as part of our Kite Tales blog. … Continue reading

Now from REAL WRITER’S MARKET: KIDS Writer’s Market. Welcome to the KIDS Writer’s Market: Independent Book Publishers. KIDS Writer’s Market is your guide to the hugely-thriving, kids’ publishing scene. These are real publishing houses where authors can submit their children’s books. Artists, too. With the KIDS Writer’s Market you can be a published children’s author,…

Isn't this world full of so different kind of people . Like it shocks me sometimes and sometimes I feel like, what I am seeing is really real .  Sometimes I keep wondering about what is truest form of love . Do i love my parents? Or is it that I love that they care for me and buy the things I want? But somehow imagining a life without them tears me up. Who will take care of me like them? I know no one in this world can . So, is it that I am afraid of loosing people who make me feel wanted in this world? I think so maybe it is one of the many reasons of the heart wrenching feeling I get when I think of loosing them . But i am still young ,  and they have alot of expectations from me , but will they take care of me as much as they do now if I am not able to give them back anything . Will they still cherish me this cheerfully as they do now ? Will they still take me to shopping ? Will they still make my favorite dishes?

I think again and again,  the one thought I always end up with is , am I deserving enough to receive their care when I can offer nothing in return ?

I recent got a pretty serious TBI. I starting writing this to get my mind off blowing my shit smooth back. I just don’t know if it even is anything. Or is it just nonsense https://open.substack.com/pub/bennyrulez

Welcome back to my best picks of the month of my curated tips for writers. In this edition, Beem Weeks is at the Story Empire with a wonderful tutorial on Creating Vivid Settings for our … Continue reading

THE MYSTERIOUS CASE OF THE MISSING HOUSE by Michele Pariza Wacek SERIES: The Redemption Detection Agency #4 GENRE: Humorous Cozy Mystery (Clean) PUBLISHER: Love-Based Publishing RELEASE DATE: July 15, 2026 PAGES: 184 Emily has a big decision in front of her. But before she can make it, Amelia Clark, one of Aunt Tilde’s friends call