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Feb 13
  1. How do I find a beta reader for a story in which there are extreme triggers I have to warn for that leads to less people being willing to see it?
  2. How do people manage to keep a habit consistently enough that if they start missing days they don't forget it? Like I just cannot get into a drawing habit even though I am willing to and like to draw and know fully that I desperately need to start doing this and also drew an entire comic. Like I tried to make one day just the day to draw on so I would do a lot of drawing and somehow ended up doing less drawing that day than on a day where I wasn't going to draw.
  3. What do I do if I consistently get a piece of writing criticism that I do not want to use? Like it’s a change that I can only see making the story worse, or less interesting, or I can’t understand why it’s an issue in the first place.
  4. How do other writers get told problems with their story and solve the issue themselves? Like somehow every piece of criticism is either hyper specific like “this thing is inconsistent between scenes” or a puzzle box like “this entire story doesn’t seem to make any sense and I don’t know why anyone did anything at any time” or weird things like saying they did not understand the protagonist's instinct to save her mother, or not understanding why this character said a thing that was incorrect.
  5. How do I consistently end up in situations where I remember my behavior as agreeable and receptive and like I took a lot of good advice from something, only for everyone else to be in agreement that I did not and that I reacted wrong and got defensive?
  6. How do other people with autism manage to engage with social spaces online without everything being sucked into their orbit as they make the space in question worse? Because I've asked people to straight up block me because of my sheer inability to break this habit. Like do you also do this? What do you do when it's about to happen?
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    Feb 13
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    Feb 13
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  1. When looking for a beta reader, just simply list all the potential triggers. That way they can see up front if they want to still give it a read.
  2. Set a daily reminder on your phone or via a web app. You don't have to do long sessions, shoot for something like 30 minutes a day.
  3. If multiple people are pointing out the exact same things, then maybe there is an issue. If you see their suggestion as potentially downgrading the story, perhaps you need to rework the set up.
  4. You have to learn how to separate objective remarks and subjective remarks. For example, "too edgy" reads as very much a personal preference. But if a character does something that doesn't make sense to them, then you need to set up reasons why before hand in the narrative, or in a flashback, that explains why the character is the way that they are.
  1. Tell your reader ahead of time

  2. If you end up missing days, that is OK. Usually i can only draw on days where I am feeling good enough to draw. It's much easier to draw if I have a video playing in the background. So you could try drawing while binging a show or watching YouTube or listening to a podcast.

  3. It's hard to answer this one unless I get context. There is taste which is subjective. If your MC is a boy and readers keep suggest to change them to a girl, that might have more to do with their personal preference. But if you have a flaw, it might be worth making some adjustments.

  4. Have a someone who gives constructive criticism. Instead of people telling you "this is bad" find someone who can articulate what is not working and give suggestions.

I think I am also going to recommend just posting your work. If you feel a bit fed up with beta readers, you could just go straight to just posting the story and making edits later if needed. It does feel like you are in a bit of a spiral.

  1. No Clue
  2. This is likely an autism thing for you. Every neurodivergent person forms habits and routines differently. If you aren't getting the dopamine to practice something, it's like torture to do it. It's okay to take a break until you're mentally ready to do the task again. (*I don't know if this is the case, but it's really common and YOU know how you make routines best.)
  3. Listen to it and find a way to adapt it to fit the story needs. If you have ten people reading the same excerpt and all ten give you the same advice - it's probably a glaring plot hole that needs to be fixed.
  4. Like Joanne said, you have to learn how to separate out criticisms. Sometimes a critique is just someone's opinion. A lot of issues you can fix with time and practice. But if you aren't ready for criticism/critiques, don't ask for it.
  1. As someone else said here, I think that posting the story triggers warnings and all would probably result in the most people being willing to see it. Plus you could always rewrite anything that needs changing or add in stuff later.
  2. I don't know for this one. I struggle with making any hobby consistent. I like my routines relatively consistent but hobbies like reading or art are pretty much when inspiration hits. Fortunately I have been able to get spurts of inspiration that results in things like writing 4000 words written in a day, so I'm able to stay on track overall. I find for me, having a buffer and multiple projects helps though, because I can normally find something I want to work on at any given time.
  3. It is your story and it's up to you what to do with it. That being said, if it's something that makes it harder for the readers, it may be worth getting more information on what they want changed and why they want it changed.
  4. Sometimes things in a story don't make sense until they resolve. Some stories involve the reader in information the characters aren't aware of and sometimes the readers are kept in the dark to keep up with the suspense. It really just depends on the vibes you're going for with your book. Asking for clarification is always good though, sometimes it can help you understand what the reader thought was a flaw or problem in your story.