John Gipton

Introducing GHOSTS OF VESPERA Part One of the ILLUSION OF CHOICE trilogy. An adult cyberpunk psychological thriller about memory, control, and the question of free will. ~140k words | Beta-ready in 1–2 weeks. #QuestPit #W #A #SF #T #Cyberpunk

@reader_mimi Mostly by learning restraint the hard way. The first draft was instinctive, so I cut explanatory narration, repeated emotional beats, overlong transitions, and anything that told the reader what the scene should make them feel. Less “delete 100K,” more “learn a different eye.

@j_gipton Wow, that’s impressive! Cutting from 213K to 113K is huge. How did you decide what to trim?

One year. Nine full revisions. 213K words down to 113K. In a few weeks, GoV goes to editorial review. Turns out rewriting is mostly about learning restraint. #amwriting #amediting #WritingCommunity

Every author you love was once an unpublished writer who had no idea if their story was good enough. They faced the same self-doubt, the same fear of rejection, the same moments of wanting to give up. Here are 5 stories from some of the most iconic authors — BEFORE they made it big:

@vickyweberbooks The problem is I don't know how to stop.

What keeps you writing when it would be easier to stop?

Writing is my main passion, but music has always been part of my creative process. I sometimes produce electronic tracks while working on my stories. Here’s one of them. youtu.be/gMtrItNCjU8?si… via @YouTube

@DD58777 Thank you! 🙏

I never really wanted to entertain. I wanted to haunt. Do any readers still want honest, emotionally devastating stories? #amwriting #amediting #WritingCommunity

@DanielCrow75474 Thank you!

@j_gipton Congrats! May there be many more to come.

A milestone I didn’t see coming: my first official publication is on the horizon. It’s a short story (in Hungarian), born from a place I didn’t know I could write from. More soon. #WritingCommmunity

@Burg6Gemma Sure!

@j_gipton That's great.... Would you be up for a chat later?

Mistakes don't ruin a draft. They could reveal what the story was trying to say all along. #writingcommunity #amwriting #amediting

@Burg6Gemma Soon.

@j_gipton Oh, I see. Any published work?

@Burg6Gemma This one is cyberpunk noir. Usually I write thriller and sci-fi.

@j_gipton That’s amazing how a small fix opened up a whole new sequel! Curious. What are your main genres?

@Burg6Gemma It was a timeline gap. Fixed it with two sentences and suddenly the character had a childhood, the scene had emotion. And the gap turned into the seed of a whole new sequel. I’m still blown away.

@j_gipton Totally agree, half my ‘mistakes’ end up becoming plot magic 😄 What’s the last one that surprised you?

@GavinGraves777 @elchandler Not without cost. Resolution comes with a body count.

@j_gipton @elchandler Do they at least receive a resolution?

The worst about writing: having to hurt your favorite characters in order to advance the plot. The things you do for the story 🥺🥺

@jtmwrites Glad someone’s vibing with the neon dystopia 🖤

@j_gipton Cyberpunk is 🫶🔥 Glad someone is writing it!

Introducing GHOSTS OF VESPERA Part One of the ILLUSION OF CHOICE trilogy. An adult cyberpunk psychological thriller about memory, control, and the question of free will. ~140k words | Beta-ready in 1–2 weeks. #QuestPit #W #A #SF #T #Cyberpunk

@GavinGraves777 @elchandler Well, few of them grow. Most just… stop breathing. For character development. 😇

@j_gipton @elchandler Hopefully your characters grow by the end of it.

@jtmwrites Thank you so much for the offer. I’m all set with my beta team this round (f&f), but I really appreciate you reaching out! Good luck finding ARC readers, hope your book gets all the love it deserves.

@j_gipton Would be happy to beta read. I’m looking for ARC readers, as well. Did you go through a company or f&f.

After eight months of writing, cutting, rewriting, and losing my mind a few times… I finally sent my novel to beta readers. Terrified. Excited. Let’s see what survives the knives. #WritingCommunity #amwriting #amediting #dystopian #cyberpunk