/lit/ - Literature

Three quick tips that I would give you-

1) People rarely say what they mean/ say what's on their mind.
2) People rarely answer the question that you ask them.
3) People rarely talk in full sentences.

You should probably be mixing up your dialogue with a description of what your characters are doing, anyway, so it might not be as big of a problem as you think. If they dialogue isn't quite working, cut back, and say what they're doing as their talking. Body language can tell you just as much about what a character is thinking or feeling as their diction can.

>>1487318
I completely agree, and would only add that Sandman is absolutely excellent. It is the exception, I think, to Gaiman being overrated.

>>1487313
I lolled.

>The Story of the Eye

>trollface.jpg

Boa constrictors don't slither once they've eaten a huge meal, like children. They just stay put and digest. I TAKE ISSUE WITH YOUR GRASP OF ZOOLOGY!

I actually sort of like this list. Classics mixed in with some crunchy pulp? Not bad, especially if you want to get a feel of what you like. Though, just so you realize, some of those books are pretty hefty, and probably hard to enjoy if you're not already very well versed in that particular area of literature (I'm looking at you, Tolstoy).

As for recommendations, I would suggest Jorge Luis Borges and Robert Lewis Stevenson. They're both classics, but they can make for some pretty fun (and easy) reading too.

They're making a Walking Dead series, and those comics aren't over. At least I don't think they are.

>>1485948
I GAVE OUT FREE BOOKS, FOR CRAP'S SAKE!

>>1485924
No. Fuck off.

>>1485940
Because I want to be internet famous, goddamnit!!

>>1485937
This man (woman?) speaks 100% truth. Thank God, because I was about to go into a nerd rage.

Bitches don't know about my New Weird.

>>1485817
Yup. Also, I like how the only tipfags that anybody cares about are the trolls.

Someone who only uses their intelligence (or at least their self-perceived intelligence) for the purpose of feeling smug.

>>1485785
Robert Graves, really? I knew he wrote a ton of ancient Roman stuff, but he also did WW1?

>>1439054
lol at "The Blue Brothers."

mfw The top threads on /lit/ are about masturbation and anti-semitism.

Anyway, I love this book. Probably my favorite by PKD. I would agree that beautiful is the perfect word for it . Have you read "How to Build A Universe That Won't Fall Apart Three Days Later"? It's an essay that PKD wrote around the same time that he wrote this, and it will really give this story new meaning for you.

Do I ever. That's why I did the book-a-week playing card challenge. I'm currently working my way through Iron and Silk, by Mark Salzman.

Zamian Millon

>Are you attending/have you attended university? If so, where?

Graduated with a B.S. in Cognitive Neuroscience from Eastern Connecticut State University. It is a terrible, terrible school, and my time there would have been better spent chewing through my own legs. I liked the classes in my major though.

>What do you want to do with your life?

I dunno. Become a professor and do research I guess. Also, go into politics. Also, a ton of other things.

>What are you doing with your life right now?

Working full time at a used book store, living at home, applying to other jobs.

>Favorite author of all time?

Jorge Luis Borges.

mfw the illusion of free will, assuming it only is an illusion, is completely satisfactory.

Chronic City by Jonathan Lethem is probably one of the best books I have read in the past 5 years, if not more. It is, among other things, a very passionate and slightly bent exploration of Manhattan. I don't think I can recommend it highly enough.

OP, I think that's a great idea. That sort of writing exercise can only help you. I also have a tip that I want to share with you. I think it can be really powerful for improving your characterization. Start by thinking about yourself; obviously you know yourself better than anyone else. Then think about your character, and how they differ from you. When you can explain those differences satisfactorily, you've very nearly created a good character.

The trick to this exercise is to look at the character's actions. You can say broad things like "I'm not defensive, but this character is. That's because he was criticized a lot when he was younger," and they may be true, but they're not very helpful. You're usually still left with a character that feels flat, and you're also a lot more likely to "tell" rather than "show." So instead, take specific actions that your character does in the plot. Being able to defend exactly why a character let his enemy punch him in the face, for example, really informs how you right about it.

Oh, and one more thing. Even well defined characters can feel flat when their motivations are too obvious. People are complicated. Sometimes, it's what you don't say that gives a character depth. Actually, that's probably normally the case. Anyway, I hope that was helpful. I re-read it, and it might be stupid. Oh well.

(Diamond- Non fiction)
(2) Minds, Brains and Science- John Searle
(3) A Brief History of Time- Stephen Hawking
(4) Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind- Shunryu Suzuki
(5) An Anthropologist on Mars- Oliver Sacks
(6) Society of Mind- Marvin Minsky
(7) Iron and Silk- Mark Saltzman
(8) The Devil in the White City- Erik Larson
(9) A Short History of Nearly Everything- Bill Bryson
(10) How the Mind Works- Steven Pinker
(Jack) Freedom Evolves- Daniel C. Dennett
(Queen) Walden- Henry David Thoreau
(King) Bright Air, Brilliant Fire- Gerald M. Edelman

(Spades- Miscellaneous)
(2) Four Quartets- T.S. Eliot
(3) The Wasteland- T.S. Eliot
(4) The Lottery- Shirley Jackson
(5) The Prophet- Kahlil Gibran
(6) Maus I, II- Art Spiegelman
(7) Einstein's Dreams- Alan Lightman
(8) Portnoy's Complaint- Philip Roth
(9) The Namesake- Jhumpa Lahiri
(10) Kafka on the Shore- Haruki Murakami
(Jack) House of Leaves- Mark Z. Danielewski
(Queen) 100 Years of Solitude- Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Five wild cards in total.

Recaptcha- lordship's inecknor