A speculative retelling of GREAT EXPECTATIONS set in a world hungry for truth but obsessed with image, UNMET follows an aspiring journalist who strikes a pact with a shadowy fugitive—only to fall for a billionaire whose buried secrets could cost her everything. #QuestPit

Wondering about comp titles for literary fiction/upmarket. Authors aren't supposed to comp books that have won awards, but lit fic and upmarket are rare in the trad market, so when they break through, they win awards and/or international acclaim. Does this make them off limits?

#authors I will be doing another self-guided #NaNoWriMo January 15-Feb 15 as November is too busy. Let me know if you want in. I'll set up a discord for games, checkins, accountability, support, etc. Great way to hammer out a first draft (or half of one).

5. Let them change — or fail to. Growth (or refusal to grow) is what turns a character into a human being. By the end of the story, they should be different — even if that difference is heartbreakingly small.

4. Give them a past. You don’t need to dump a backstory on the reader, but you should know it. The way someone walks into a room, reacts to rejection, or shows love — it all comes from somewhere.

3. Listen to their voice. Dialogue is more than words; it’s rhythm, silence, and subtext. Pay attention to how your characters speak — their vocabulary, what they avoid saying, and what slips out when they’re tired or emotional.

2. Know what they want — and what they fear. Every decision a person makes is a tug-of-war between desire and fear. A believable character has both, and those forces drive the story far more than external events do.

1. Start with contradictions. Real people are full of them — brave but insecure, generous but stubborn, kind yet selfish in moments that matter. A good character contains tensions that make them unpredictable but understandable.

Believable characters don’t have to be perfect; in fact, they shouldn’t be. They just have to feel real. #amwritingfiction

We are SO excited to announce our 2025-2026 Round Table Mentors! The talent, dedication, and energy of this team is simply incredible. Full bios and wishlists will be up on our website soon! 📢🗓️For interested parties—mentee applications open Nov. 6, so mark your calendars!

This will be fun

6. Read it aloud—or better, get someone else to. Does the pacing drag in parts? Do scenes move too quickly to follow? Listening can help you feel the rhythm of your prose and spot places where it needs adjusting. #fiction #WritingCommunity

5. Know when to zoom in—or out. Not every moment needs a play-by-play. Sometimes summarizing can be more effective (and less boring). Other times, slowing down to focus on a character’s heartbeat or a single detail can heighten tension.

4. Use paragraph breaks strategically. White space matters. Frequent breaks can make a scene feel faster. Dense blocks of text slow the reader down. Use both intentionally.

or build the world. 3. Vary your sentence structure. Rhythmic variation affects how your prose feels. Short, punchy sentences speed things up. Longer, complex ones slow the reader down. Use this deliberately to control tension.

Slower, emotional, or reflective scenes benefit from longer sentences, deeper introspection, and richer detail. 2. Cut the clutter. Too much exposition, dialogue that goes nowhere, & monologues stall momentum. Every sentence should reveal character, advance the plot, or

Good pacing isn’t about being fast. It’s about being intentional. The right pace keeps readers hooked from beginning to end. Here’s how: 1. Match pace to the scene’s purpose. Action scenes should move quickly—short sentences, active verbs, minimal description help create urgency.

A retelling of GREAT EXPECTATIONS, UNMET follows a young journalist in a post-AI-collapse world who makes a supernatural pact to become immortal through her words—only to fall for the daughter of a billionaire recluse whose buried secrets could cost her everything. #SFPit

A speculative retelling of Great Expectations, set in a future reeling from AI-driven collapse. Dickens meets Kazuo Ishiguro in this dystopian love story with a dash of magic and a literary voice 📚Big 5 Editor interest ❤️Friends to lovers 🪄Magic realism + futurism #SFPit #SFF

I've been soaking up Kesia's writing & industry advice for a year now, and I can't tell you how pleased I am to have won her feedback for my dystopian retelling of GREAT EXPECTATIONS! Thank you so much, @keslupo 🎉🎉🎉