/lit/ - Literature

It was just in January of 2014 that I left to live in New York City, on the advice of a mentor figure who believed it would be good for me. Since that time, I've burned through my savings and my parents' money, I've almost gotten a literary agent for a fantasy novel I've written, I've moved back to Texas, I've gotten accepted into graduate school, I've moved to Dallas, I've gotten several short stories published, I've gotten multiple poems published, I've been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and I've gotten some interest in Hollywood on a screenplay I've written.

It's amazing that it's only been five years. It feels like a lifetime. And it's really only been four years since my writing style changed and I seem to have completely transformed as a writer and a poet. I almost don't comprehend what I was like before 2014. It's like I became a totally new person in New York, and I just wasn't fully conscious before. I certainly am more successful and more accomplished than I ever was before I moved away.

And yet, it's not enough. Maybe I'm greedy, but I won't be satisfied with what's happened just in these past five years, and I already feel time pressing on me. Life is short, and time and strength limited. I feel compelled to become, not just a writer, but a great writer. My dream is to create works of genuine beauty and truth and goodness, works that move Heaven and Earth, works that glorify God and man. My ambition is to write a work the likes of which the world has never seen before, something that will be read long, long after I die. Something that matters to everyone who reads it, something that speaks to them and their own experiences and lives, something that has a thing to say about this time and all times. And I feel compelled to do it as quickly as possible. I have no idea how much time I have left. I'm already not as young as I used to be. I need to be great and I need it soon, because a long, peaceful life isn't guaranteed.

>writing both prose and poetry
>actively submitting both short stories and poems to journals and websites
>feel the need for constructive criticism and insight from readers
>writing group is too far of a drive to manage in a student's schedule
>friends are all busy and don't have the time to frequently respond
>critique threads on /lit/ can't be used because nothing shared there can be submitted to journals

What do, /lit/? I have a few friends whose judgments I trust, but, like I said, they're busy, and can't always respond to me in a timely fashion. How do you find people to share your work with who can intelligently comment on it, in a way that won't compromise your ability to submit those works?

My writing is going pretty well, overall. I actually just finished up a novel (albeit a fantasy novel) recently, and I also just recently got an essay accepted to a journal. Things are going well, but they could always be better. So I suppose that's the answer to the "are you improving" question, also. In addition, I'm experimenting with my prose again, trying to develop a style that will fit the satiric literary novel I'm planning to write.

I am actually incredibly arrogant and believe I am destined to go down in history as a great writer. Or, not "destined," but I know I have the talent and I'm determined to triumph. My goal is for my writing to be read a thousand years from now. I want to be in the Western Canon; I'll settle for nothing less.

Generally I enjoy writing. I often write deliberately, choosing words carefully to meet my overall prose style. It's fun to put words together to form sentences; they feel like puzzle pieces to me.

Is beauty in writing ineffable? Or, rather, undefinable?

I feel like, in all the languages, we know what beautiful writing is. With English, we can point to the best of Melville or Joyce or Shakespeare and say, "This is beautiful." But we don't seem to be able to say why. I guess we could dive into linguistics and phonetics, talk about assonance and consonance and such, but that seems to not be enough.

I guess beauty, in general, is pretty ineffable, but I wonder if it's particularly the case for writing.

>>8967385
Exploring the depths of electronic music right now. Kinda wish i could just do acid or shrooms and listen to music for hours while contemplating life desu.

>>8811116
Explain