/lit/ - Literature

What do you guys think of this, by the way?

https://www.reddit.com/user/johndavidcard/comments/mrqwjz/concept_pitch_shameless_fundraising/

>>18037682
>Any progress on your novels?
Yes, I'm done now. I was never going to become the next Faulkner, the next Nabokov or the next Joyce, but I hid behind the language barrier to avoid criticism for months, maintaining an illusion that was fun to live in while it lasted. I had thought my country's education system was topmost in the world, but this turned out to be utter bollocks.
This will be my final post on /lit/. I've been humiliated and exposed as a fraud. My writing is pretentious, infantile, banal drivel. My observations are dull, my language grade school level.
My tenses are mixed up, I use colloquialisms, ellipses and onomatopoeia. I mix tired and trite idioms together to obfuscate their unoriginality with a veneer of irony; I have continued to recite ornate Jewish chimpanzee parables with diminishing returns. The parable seemed very clearly to me to be asking me whether or not the now-grown-adult can choose. I say yes, of course, but that's not my issue.
I was never cut out for writing. I began writing my "book" on January 6th. Since then I've produced 74 thousand words for it. These words are a tide of garbage without value, without insight, without form. The themes of time, space, infinity, memory and pointless duelling are not present in my work. It was never real writing, it was anime and weebshit. Look how many words I wrote, because apparently literature is bodybuilding and just aimlessly typing will somehow improve my writing. I don't even know what genre it is that I'm writing. Is it autofiction? A comedy? A picaresque?
Regardless, I have failed. I have put down my pen. Never again will my fingers click-clack across the keyboard. No more outlines, no more characters. Goodbye.

>>18037707
>give me money

>>18037736
Yes.

>>18037707
fucking degenerate

>>18037822
All the great writers are, hon

>>18037708
bye

How you doing today /wg/

Is this marianne and hilda in the OP

I've read that Story Grnius book from the link now and have to say it definitely made my writing feel like it had a direction and force behind it. Every other first few pages felt like an incoherent mess where I wasn't even sure what the scene was about.

Good book. I wish she didn't say things like "brain science though"

>>18037682
kill yourself

>>18038185
Yeah it’s a little cringe, but the third rail stuff is useful to keep in mind.

I'm worried my plot points are stupid - and won't necessarily reflect the story I am trying to tell.

Basically my main character is going to join a post-modernist "secret society" called the Iconoclast international - the idea behind them is that they believe by destroying symbols and symbolic modes of communication humanity will finally be able to reach "objectivity and truth".

But upon subsequent meetings the group begins installing more and more ridiculous rules to stop members wearing or speaking in symbols.

I want this to continue to the point of absurdity - i.e. banning clothes as they are symbolic of wealth and status, before realising genetalia works as sexual symbols and order everyone to cover up etc.

This is supposed to reflect the characters nihilism - he is trying to find "truth" by deconstructing human symbols - and by watching these ridiculous ideas develop he will realise the necessity of symbols and narrative for a happy life. Realising that there is nothing to be gained and no meaning to be found in the destruction of symbols and ideas.

The character basically goes through a journey of trying to find meaning by tearing away at the subjective, cultural elements of life and will realise that this can only serve to make life more meaningless.

I've yet to decide if it's going to end in tragedy or him making a decision to leave and find meaning in something.

How does it sound anons?

something I have begun composing, will give more thought to it later
is it sensible?
is it frivolous?

I welcome all criticism

>>18038456
I think it sounds interesting

>>18038458
I like this, is it supposed to be a commentary on capitalism and how we just consume without considering those who provide?

>>18038458
your political stance is too evident (you are too politically engaged)

I'm totally autistic, explain humor to me /wg/. I'll probably never get it but I would at least like to know some of the mechanisms at work. Just why are certain situations or ways of phrasing things funny?

>>18039057
well most things are funny because it's true. but sometimes something is funny because it isn't true.

>>18038458
too pompous

I've been writing a poem a day before work - no editing.
I’d really love to make a tapestry, detailed in gold,

I’d love to carve a statue, chiseled clean and bold,

Making things is special, this little monkey knows,

Making this is the only way a little monkey grows.


The monkey wants to create some beauty,

To fulfil a primal duty, creating as he goes,

But it is not easy, upstream the monkey rows,

The boat shaking as he goes, imperfect,

Full of holes.


But the paddling gets easier, the boat

Travels faster, against the water monkey plows.

Until this monkey realises, he’s rowing in canals.

give it to me straight: what is the essence of good prose?

>>18039490
Flow

>>18039057
The essence of comedy is subverted expectation. You build an expectation only to subvert it.

This is an exerpt of the 1st page of a novel i'm trying to write. Any feedback is appreciated

I welcome the rain
I smile at the clouds
In Vegas the Spring blooms
At the Violet Hour

>>18040135
>notepad
Closed the image without reading, because you already outed yourself as a clinically retarded tryhard

>Word informs me that there are so many errors in my text they can no longer be displayed
I see. I should just write completely formal speech from now on.

>>18040496
post a sample

>>18040543
No.

The world of things entered your infant mind
To populate that crystal cabinet.
Within its walls the strangest partners met,
And things turned thoughts did propagate their kind.
For, once within, corporeal fact could find
A spirit. Fact and you in mutual debt
Built there your little microcosm - which yet
Had hugest tasks to its small self assigned.

Dead men can live there, and converse with stars:
Equator speaks with pole, and night with day;
Spirit dissolves the world's material bars -
A million isolations burn away.
The Universe can live and work and plan,
At last made God within the mind of man.

>>18040446
lol okay, here it is, not on a notepad:

The sun is about to set, Awawa is sitting in the living room of his appartment in a new boat-building of the sunken--city. through his window he watches dolphins jump out of the water. Nasalsa is speaking, she’s laying on a couch looking at the ceiling :” Do you really think there could be a country with just land, no water stream outside your door, no fish coming out of your sink, no boat-bus,no ferrys, no boat-cars, no boatos, no boats at all. A world where you don’t have to swim anywhere, you can just walk…” She pauses dramatically. “You can just walk anywhere your feet can take you... a world where you’re not in constant fear of drowning.” Awawa is still looking out the window with a very focus look, his eyes are narrow as if he was trying to see something afar and says confidently : “Dolphins are majestic, we are lucky to be able to live to see such a beautiful sight.” He stops and stares at the window, dolphins are still doing their dance while the sun is laying down gently on his bed of water. Awawa turns around to Nasalsa and looks at Nasalsa who is now sitting up in a buddhist like pose, he stares deep into her eyes. He states passionnately “I know countries of land once existed. Lands of dust and sand and dirt and planes and mountains. Countries where you could see them as far your eyes would let you. I shall find it.” She’s looking at him with awe as if his words didn’t make sense to her but also did, in a way. She responds “That sounds like the most amazing place ever. Maybe it exists on another planet.” Awawa stands up, stares at the window, dolphins are still jumping around, the sun has sunken into his bed waters but he still a reddish light dimly through the passing clouds. Awawa takes a second to grasp this beautiful sight, he takes a deep breath and sits next to Nasalsa, holds his hands, look intensely into her eyes and says : “The realm of land is real.” He pauses. “I shall take you there my love”.

I’m never not going to write cunnykino. All of my love interests will be underage, there is no better pairing than a man in his 20s or very early 30s and a girl 14-18.

>>18040732
wrong the best pairing is a woman in her mid-20s/early 30s and a 12 year old boy

>>18040699
Owowow

>>18040732
The best pairing is 15 year old boy and 17-18 year old girl. (unrelated) big sister kino>pedoshit and ancient roasties

>>18037682
You can tell that the guy who painted this has never seen a cactus in real life

my purpose i suppose
is simply sucking toes
in the deepest throes
i sniff your indigo
pantsu that you've
kept on
for days and days
and with no delay
despite how i plead and pray
my degeneracy has led me astray
but at least i never pay
your no whore
ejaculate is good for your pores

>>18040732
>girl 14-18
that's not cunny...............

>>18040699
I fear naming the female "nasal salsa" and calling the male by an onomatopoeia does little to lessen the impression of tryhardness. Also, the plural of ferry is ferries.

>>18038528
it's more that class conflict/exploitation of labor is perennial
even citizens of the empire who lambast its actions reap the reward of its victories, whether cruel or just
man seeks only satisfaction

>>18038659
observation is not ideological
politics are a spectacle, or a machine for the highest class to enact its will
I am a peasant, but I reside in the heart of the current world hegemon

>>18039083
the word choice is deliberate
is pomposity the inverse of vulgarity?
to call something pompous seems, ironically, only a prettier way of calling it cringe
in other words, it is an indictment of sincerity

>>18041471
>to call something pompous seems, ironically, only a prettier way of calling it cringe
cringe can be anything at all but pompous is pompous. pompous could be cringe, but cringe is not just pompous.

>>18037708
Sounds like you've got a severe case of impostor syndrome. Who are you to look at your own work and declare that is it devoid of interest? That's just as bad as someone believing their work is the greatest of all time.

Why not post your first page in a Docs and put it here so we can shit on it and see how much of a trainwreck it really is? I doubt it's that bad, considering how your post was written.

>>18041350
The names are not onomatopoeia, These are the female is Nasalsa. These are names of Emperors and Empresses of the Nubian Empire.
And yeah I will correct that "ferries" mistake, Thanks for pointing it out, I did not catch that

>>18041746
he posts this in every thread

>>18037861
That but change church to corporate media, 400 years ago to now, and killed to cancelled.

>>18038456
I love it.

>>18041471
>observation is not ideological
wrong, observation can be ideological depending on what you selectively choose to observe and your way of presenting what you are observing. your observation is definitely ideological, "politics are a spectacle, i am a peasant" is an ideological observation and it is your ideological stance.

>is pomposity the inverse of vulgarity?
pomposity is vulgar you hack. it's vulgarity, your poem is vulgar.

>>18041768
Well, looks like I ate that pasta.

>>18041471
>t-the word choice is deliberate!
kek, every single time, this is the perfect defence. i swear my writing was shitty on purpose!

>>18041783
you have attributed malice to me and your responses are empty invective
you have not engaged with me, but instead some illusory embodiment of that which you consider to be your enemy

>>18041811
I did not make a claim as to the quality of my writing, I was responding to criticism in hope of elaboration

when I respond to others in these threads, I offer insight according to my ability, whether it is useful or not

>>18041471
>the word choice is deliberate
That's not relevant.

>is pomposity the inverse of vulgarity?
No, it means "affectedly and irritatingly grand, solemn, or self-important." The opposite (I don't know why you used the word "inverse") of pompous is humble, or modest. One could be both pompous and vulgar. I don't think what you wrote is vulgar, though.

>it is an indictment of sincerity
I'm not questioning your sincerity. One can be sincere in their belief that they're superior to others.

In fact, I don't see how someone who was pompous could fail to be sincere. What is most annoying about a prideful person is that you can sense that they *sincerely* believe that they're better than others.

>to call something pompous seems, ironically, only a prettier way of calling it cringe

I'm not calling it cringe. I meant what I said!

>>18040699
>The sun is about to set, Awawa is sitting in the living room of his appartment in a new boat-building of the sunken--city.

Stopped reading because this is a run-on sentence.

>>18041994
>you have attributed malice to me and your responses are empty invective
>does the same thing
not the same anon, but it's no wonder you think clearly retarded shit like "observation is not ideological"

>>18041994
i have not attributed malice to you, "malice" where? learn what words mean before using them.

Whenever I post on /r/writingprompts I never get up-voted, does this mean I suck?

>>18042252
>posting on /r/writingprompts in the first place
yes

>>18042161
"The sky is blue."
Is this an ideological statement?
I accused him specifically of what I typed, not malice, nor do I think my accusation was empty

>>18042171
Malice, meaning wrongful intention
>what you selectively choose to observe and your way of presenting what you are observing

>>18042119
The question was rhetorical, not asking after a definition.
Essentially, does the sincere use of uncommon words or constructions make one pompous, such that anything that is not vulgar becomes pompous?
You provide another example of somebody using language as a rhetorical bludgeon (I am sure you did not have trouble understanding my use of the word "inverse").
Certainly two cavemen clubbing one another would arouse more excitement than the persiflage we engage in.

>https://justpaste.me/Pp3D

Part of a chapter from my bike novel / autofic retelling of my buddy and I riding our bicycles across Canada for mental health. Not incidentally, the novel explores themes related to mental health and isolation.

>>18042252
>he's so bad that he can't even be the smartest retard

>>18040699
The sun was about to set.

Awawa was in the living room of his apartment, watching dolphins jump out of the water.

Nasalsa was there with him. She was laying on the couch, looking up at the ceiling. "Do you really think," She said. "that there could be a country which was all land? No water outside your door..."

"No dolphins." He interjected.

"No boat bus..." She continued. "No ferries, no boat-cars, no boatos—no boats at all! A world where you can go anywhere you want, just by walking." She wiggled her legs for effect. "You wouldn't even have to be afraid of drowning."

Awawa was still looking out the window. "But no dolphins." He turned back to her. "I know places like that once existed. Whole countries of dust and sand and dirt and mountains. Like a giant boato with no water underneath it. Places where the land was all you could see. The land would be solid. Even ”

“That sounds amazing."

"Well, I'm sure that they would think the way we live is amazing. And it is, isn't it?" The sun was setting.

"Do places like that still exist?"

"Of course they do."

>>18042491
thanks a lot for this, mate !

can i post the rest of this so you can help me with it ?

>>18042126
I'm not a writer so i did not know what a run-on sentence was but thanks for pointing it out, i've learned something

>>18040753
danke

>>18040699
here's the paragraph that comes after this.

It’s 15 years earlier, Awawa, a little boy back then, was sitting on a chair on the deck of a ferry. His mother,Sogolon, is sitting next to him, silently, like most of the people in the ferry. Awawa and Sogolon are both watching dolphins play in the waves, the dolphins are jumping out of the water to have a peak at the sun, Awawa guesses. They are going to visit his father, Alara, in Pen-Island. Awawa only knows that his father’s been incarcerated for trafficking, the details of the case were still unknown to him as a child. Pen-Island is an island when all jails of Atlantis are as the name suggests. Pen-Island solely contains all prisons:from low to maximum security, from children to senile,woman, man, anyone convicted of a crime ends up in Pen-Island.
As the ferry is about arrive Pen-Island his mother embraces him and whispers in his ear : “Be a strong boy for your father, Awawa”. Awawa responds: “Yes mother”. As the ferry slows down they hear a loud horn and people start getting up to disembark. Awawa holds tightly his mother’s palms as they go through the crowd leaving the ship. They go through the administrative shenanigans.

>>18040753
danke

continuation of this
continuation of this
the following of this >>18040699


It’s 15 years earlier.

Awawa, a little boy back then, was sitting on a chair on the deck of a ferry. His mother,Sogolon, was sitting next to him, silently, like most of the people in the ferry.

Awawa and Sogolon are both watching dolphins play in the waves. Dolphins are jumping out of the water to have a peak at the sun, Awawa guesses. Awawa and his mother are going to visit his father, Alara, in Pen-Island.

Pen-Island is an island where all jails of Atlantis are, as the name suggests. Pen-Island solely contains all prisons:from low to maximum security, from children to senile,woman, man, anyone convicted of a crime ends up in Pen-Island. Awawa solely knows that his father’s been incarcerated for trafficking, the details of the case were still unknown to him as a child.

As the ferry was about to arrive at Pen-Island, Sogolon embraced him and whispered in his ear.

“Be a strong boy for your father, Awawa”.

Awawa squeezed his mother and responded in low voice.

“Yes mother”

As the ferry slowed down they heard a loud horn. People began to get up their seats to disembark. Awawa held tightly his mother’s palms as they went through the crowd leaving the ship and went through the administrative shenanigans.

>>18042314
Pretty good!

>I don't, like death, know how to face it.

Should be: "Like death, I don't know how to face it."

and perhaps:

>But I know, like death, that the end of the road is coming. Like death, I don't know how to face it.

>Or one-fifth the circumference of the earth.

Omit "or"

>My mattress lays atop the cold earth.

Odd way to put this.

>But I feel something under my bed.

Not sure why you mention this. Do you mean a rock is under you or something more abstract? Just make those two sentences clearer.

>I laugh because words cannot express what I would like them to.

This is some eat/pray/love stuff but I appreciate it cause it's authentic lol.

>In the dead of the night I crawl out of the tent fully nude and unclip the rain fly while the damp grass squishes between my bare feet. I throw the tarp away then squirm back inside the uncovered dome and lay under a blanket of blinking stars. It takes a while before I fall back asleep, inexplicably anxious. To be so alone.

Don't get what's happening here. Maybe I'm just not a hiking guy.

>I wake up to a breeze that heals better than medicine. I wipe tears from corneas flooded with sunlight.

Should be "eyes." Also not clear why you're crying. So it's a little too abstract. I'm not hating on you if you're crying at the sunrise's beauty, but you need to make that clearer.

>We eat our breakfasts at A&W, hashbrowns and sausage sandwiches with mayo, but I only taste the grease.

I think this is technically a run-on. Maybe use an em-dash after "A&W?"

>Only the call of a cigarette outside can bring us to our feet.

More nitpicking... it is the idea/prospect of smoking a cigarette outside which calls you to your feet, not just "a cigarette outside."

>Leafless branches drape overhead like chandeliers, or outstretched hands.

I don't quite "buy" the first comparison, but the second is really good.

>The biggest hills are those into Marathon

?

>... the wind felt in our bones. Simple moments of relief cannot be found.

WONK WONK WEE WOO WEE WOO NO PASSIVE VOICE ALLOWED

>A sign over the front door welcomes us to The Loose Moose. But it's the only thing that does.

This is a clever thought, but to land better it should be smushed into one sentence. Bit tricky to pull off, though.

>A radio plays from somewhere deep in the kitchen.

The only sound is a radio playing somewhere deep in the kitchen.

Good ass ending too. So yeah, just a bunch of caffeinated nit-picking, but it's good.

/wg/ im already writing anime trash, how much do i have to lose by naming a character Buster Knut?

>>18037861
>>18041784
Every thread there's at least one person who falls for it kek.

>>18042308
It's pompous to use big words when you don't need to, especially when they don't mean what you're trying to say.

The purpose of language is to communicate. Big words can help with precision, but when you misuse them, people can tell that you're more interesting in sounding smart than expressing yourself.

Like "persiflage," dude? Give me a break!

Persiflage means: Light and contemptuous mockery or banter.

I wasn't bantering with you, or mocking you, I was criticizing you.

>Certainly two cavemen clubbing one another would arouse more excitement than the persiflage we engage in.

Read this out loud. It just sounds bad.

>>18038185
Cool! What were the big things you learned? I'm too lazy to read it yourself. But if you think it can't be boiled down, I might give it a shot.

>>18038456
It sounds kinda funny. Reminds me of the Man who was Thursday.

Read what Chesterton says about symbols. It's very insightful.

I can't find the quote. But he says that a symbol isn't a means of deceiving, or hiding something (as psychoanalysts are popularly held to have believed). Rather, a symbol is an economic means of expressing a truth too deep to be confined to words.

>>18042308
malice means purposeful intent to inflict harm, you fucking retard. me saying that your observation is subjective, and therefore can be ideological, has nothing to do with attributing malice to you, shit for brains. learn to speak the language before using random words from thesaurus.

>>18038456
it's a good idea, keep working at it. analysis and synthesis: people always forget that second part. reminds me a little bit of foucault's pendulum, not really thematically, maybe a little, but mostly tangentially, but Umberto had a thing for symbols (being a "semotician") and the book itself was about secret societies

>>18043028
The basics are that a story boils down to two factors in your main character:

1. They must have a concrete desire
2. They must have an incorrect belief that prevents them from attaining this desire

That is the crux of the story and it has to be present in the story at every scene. If a scene doesn't impact the main characters belief or desire, then it isn't important.

Also other general tips about planning key moments in the characters life that cement this misbelief, whether you actually reference them in the writing or not isn't important.

It also goes into some psuedo science about why humans like stories, tl:dr we use them as models for potentiial encounters, because our brain is hardwired to do so.

>>18042988
Meaning is approximate, not definite.
You're splitting hairs for the purpose of argument.

>I'm not questioning your sincerity. One can be sincere in their belief they're superior to others.
This isn't derisive?

~~Cull~~ Shorten the dictionaries, removing words not within ~~contemporary~~ today's ~~parlance~~ ~~vernacular~~ ~~vocabulary~~ slang because their use seems ~~inauthentic~~ fake.

What are the things that make a character goal seem compelling for the reader?

>>18038446
>>18038185
That's basically what I got from it. Very worthwhile read, a little cringy, but overall definitely made me a stronger writer.

>>18043077
What I thought the main takeaway was was "think about the appeal of your story enough that you can write it clearly and succinctly, and figure out your protagonist in such a way that the appeal is fundamental to the journey they'll take."

>>18043152
Huh, I definitely focused on the belief/desire thing a lot when I read it, most of the first half revolved around using that in the planning stages.

I treated the second half as helpful tips more than the core message. Although I did feel it was a little one dimensional, I haven't found a book I couldn't apply it to. But, I have seen a lot of other media that it doesn't really work with.

Why does it feel like I'm the only one writing middle grade in any writing community I visit? Nobody seems interested in writing stories like the ones that inspired them to enjoy reading in the first place. I've been trying to find a critique partner for my novel's second draft, but nobody seems interested in children's stories.

any tips on writing a story for a videogame?

>>18042988
Meaning is approximate, not definite.
You're splitting hairs for the purpose of argument.

>I'm not questioning your sincerity. One can be sincere in their belief they're superior to others.
This isn't derisive?
Did I infer wrongly that you were saying I believed I was superior to others?

I am ready for the day legislation with emojis pass into law.

>>18043037
>selectively choose
This is an act of the will.
Intent informs will.
To say that someone chooses selectively to suit their ideology is calling them intellectually dishonest, which implies they must be acting with bad intent.

What is bad in this case?
Something which opposes your conception of reality.

I have not insulted anyone responding to me.

the actual content being described in the writing is far more important than the quality of the writing itself

remember this ;)

>>18043207
I wrote four books of middle grade fiction a couple years ago. They're trash right now, but I'll only rewrite them if I happen to get some other novel published.

>>18043268
Why is that? I plan on publishing my middle grade stuff under a pen name, sure, but I don't see any reason to sit on them until you've made something else work.

>>18043213
>To say that someone chooses selectively to suit their ideology is calling them intellectually dishonest
except that is completely wrong. as individuals we always selectively act in accordance with our beliefs and ideology, it's not malicious or dishonest, it's how we operate. we all have separate personalities and we are distinct. what do you think draws us toward different beliefs, interests, inclinations? we are subjective and selective creatures, which is not a bad or good thing. when someone chooses not to kill a person it is also a process of selection, a moral decision that stems from ideas of what's right and what's wrong. do yourself a favor and stop playing mental gymnastics. if i state that your observation is subjective, i don't fucking mean you have malicious intent. there is no rhetorical way around it for you.

>>18043295
They're not something that I can get published unless I'm already established. I'm going to write something safer and then get my more unconventional stuff through the gatekeepers.

>>18043213

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVwKjGbz60k

>>18043434
>middle grade
>unconventional
In a good way, or in a "my protagonist's butthole is described" way?

>>18043136
relatable or beautiful

>>18043580
what is that supposed to mean?

>>18043213
>Meaning is approximate, not definite.

That's just not true. Especially in a poem. And I am deriding you. You should be more humble, at least if you want to be a better writer.

>>18043586
Come up with a goal, and think about if it's relatable or beautiful.

Relatable goal: a guy has always wanted to be in love with a beautiful woman.

This goal may not be very "beautiful" in itself, but it will definitely be relatable to a lot of people.

Beautiful goal: A guy who suffered in some uniquely bad way fights to ensure that nobody else ever has to suffer what he has been through.

Fewer people can relate to dramatic goals, but they make up for that by being beautiful.

>>18043077
That's weirdly subjective. Surely one can imagine a story in which the impediment to the character's goals is physical, not mental.

This reminds me of Socrates' belief that evil is just due to a lack of information. But there's more to it than that.

>>18043725
You're confusing plot and theme. The resistance of external forces is the plot. The protagonist's desires and beliefs should be the theme. Take Harry Potter - the plot is Voldemort fucking around or whatever, but the theme is about a boy, who doesn't believe he can fit in anywhere in the world, finding his true home and working to fit in there. Obviously one of the major critiques you can make of that book is how little the plot and the theme relate, and better works often tie the plot and the theme closer, but they're fundamentally separate things.

I can’t fucking believe it. Call of the Crocodile is officially endorsed by this site now?

>>18043784
Gardener's come a long way. I guess it was bound to happen if he advertised here long enough.

>>18043784
advertisement
noun
a notice or announcement in a public medium promoting a product, service, or event or publicizing a job vacancy

>>18043801
If you're inferring I'm promoting that pile of shit you're retarded.

>>18043808
no I assumed you were retarded and were talking about one of the popup ads.
>officially endorsed
you know what, I'll assume you're not retarded and its true. its weird if true. good for him I guess

Any tips on roading epic battle scenes? Like helm's deep tier

>>18043931
*Writing

Alright, I'll let it all flow as concisely as possible but I need help, ok?
I want to get into writing, obviously but I'm puzzled as to the starting point, I have a passing interest in poetry but my main concern is writing stories, mainly fiction for the time being.
My doubts are very basic at times, and maybe some overthinking but I'd rather make a stupid question and get a direct answer as to keep doubting and therefore postponing.
>How do you start? as in properly start?

>I've heard characters are more important than plot, is this true? If so, how do you build a character? How do you build a person? How do you even begin to think, I want them to have x and y traits, behave like this, react like that, speak like this and that, I want them to stand for z? Is that how you go about it?

>How do you develop things?

> What are the best ways to learn?

> What's humor? What's flirting?

Now I'll admit to doing some non-productive research on characters by trying to investigate psychological traits and build my characters like Lego, but that wasn't that sound of an idea so I'll unlearn that I guess.

>>18044151
As you can see, I'm absolutely clueless when it comes to writing, I've downloaded some books and check them from time to time but required reading as to solve my almost autistic need for knowledge so that I can learn and write the right way and hopefully write something good?
Please help me, I really need it.

>>18044151
>>18044168
Read novels

I am always amazed when people ask for help creating a story. I never have to manually construct a world. It all comes to me naturally. The premises, the characters, the plot points. I still have to plot them out so they're less jumbled, but I can create them without trying.

I don't think you can be a good author, much less a speculative fiction author, unless you involuntarily create paracosms. You can create a world by manually bringing together various tropes, but it will never feel as authentic as one made up in a daydream for your own entertainment.

I know this can be subjective but what are some general characteristics of annoying characters?

>>18044649
The plot bends over backward to support their viewpoints when their ideology should not logically work in that setting.

Hey guys, sorry if this is asked very frequently and/or is a dumb question: are there any good sites out there where I can post my stuff? I'm not really looking to make money off it, just to put it out there to see what people think and shit.

>>18043756
Huh, interesting. I guess theme *must* be didactic like that. That’s really cool.

>>18044151
Just uh, go for it. Why do you want to write?

For characters I just cobble together things I see in others. It’s not really conscious. People prefer interesting characters to an interesting plot because characters are more interesting than events happening.

>>18044728
Where would you go if you wanted to read something?

>>18044893
Very insightful question. Thing is I don't really read online, I pirate pdf's and buy physical copies irl. That's why I'm so unexperienced int this particula topic :(

>>18044438
I do read novels.
>>18044586
If this is directed at me, don't be passive-aggressive sweetheart, grow a pair and say it like it this, I have stories and characters already mapped up, I want to refine things though. Work on implication and not an assumption.
>>18044888
>Why do you want to write?
Because I want to get some stories made, simple as that, I find it entertaining.
I do have characters based on whatever, people, concepts, it happens when daydreaming or consciously wanting to explore something because it could lead to something "fun" or engaging, or those late night realizations that hit like "oh, now that fits better", I just want to refine those vague ideas (not that vague but uncertain) and shape them into form, is this a logical and positive goal?

>>18044994
Hmm. I don't know. You could post stuff on Medium, maybe. That's what I would do. Reddit is aggressively mediocre and 4chan is just too aggressive.

>>18044438
But are you asking me to break them down into their parts or am I overthinking?

>>18045028
GTFO of this thread, WOMAN. This is the one refuge for male writers. Every other writing community is tailored toward women. We are the heirs to Hemingway.

>>18045138
We have a hundred books in the OP on how to craft stories and at least one or two of them are good
I'm not going to reprint what they say here for you
Go read Story Genius or something and remember to Just Write and etc.

>>18045028
Yeah, if you're not lying, I think your outlook on it is better than most.

Do you think you could be happy if no one ever read your stories?

I think you should just lean into the fun of it and post it in some semi-public square like medium or something.

I just googled "where to go online to read stories" and I found some cool places. I might post some stuff there myself now, lol.

The big one is apparently wattpad. But there are some more here: https://windowsradar.com/sites-like-wattpad/

Maybe you could join one of those sites and get involved.

>>18045138
I would just emulate what you enjoy.

That would involve analysis—i.e: how was this work able to touch me the way it did? Why was this so powerful?

But I wouldn't just tinker with things for the sake of tinkering.

>>18042785

Wow, thank you. Some very helpful recommendations here.

>But I feel something under my bed.

Damn. I thought I was onto something there. I wanted to portray the fact that I felt haunted by my anxiety/angst, the same way children perceive "something under their bed" i.e., a monster. I felt the same way. Only the only thing under me was the earth.

>n the dead of the night I crawl out of the tent fully nude and unclip the rain fly while the damp grass squishes between my bare feet. I throw the tarp away then squirm back inside the uncovered dome and lay under a blanket of blinking stars. It takes a while before I fall back asleep, inexplicably anxious. To be so alone.

I'm just taking the covering off the tent. Most high end tents are totally mesh structures, with a tarp that gets pulled over top, called a rain fly. I pull it off, so there's no covering and I can see the stars.

>I wake up to a breeze that heals better than medicine. I wipe tears from corneas flooded with sunlight.

I woke up with my eyes watering. Not crying. My bad.

>The biggest hills are those into Marathon
Marathon is a town we're riding into. The biggest hills yet, were those that led into Marathon.

Thanks again man. :)

>>18045370
>Damn. I thought I was onto something there. I wanted to portray the fact that I felt haunted by my anxiety/angst, the same way children perceive "something under their bed" i.e., a monster. I felt the same way. Only the only thing under me was the earth.

It works quite well as a thing, the metaphor between the discomfort of a rock under one's bed and some hidden unconscious anxiety is really good. You just have to make it clear that it's a metaphor.

>I'm just taking the covering off the tent. Most high end tents are totally mesh structures, with a tarp that gets pulled over top, called a rain fly. I pull it off, so there's no covering and I can see the stars.

Ok, I probably just don't get it cause I don't go camping. I mean, actually, I've been in a tent, and I know about the rain thing, but I didn't know that the roof was transparent. So just be like: I take off the top layer so I can see the stars.

But yeah, maybe it's just me.

>I woke up with my eyes watering. Not crying. My bad.

Why were they watering?

>Marathon is a town we're riding into. The biggest hills yet, were those that led into Marathon.

Yeah I guessed it was something like that. I would say change it to "those going into Marathon."

NP, keep it up

Welcome to Reddit everyone

Hope you enjoy your stay

I'll be upvoting everyone's posts above mine

Have a great day!

>>18037682
What the fuck are those shoes? You go out on a trail with shoes like that? You know how many fucking people need to be saved because they went on the trail with sneakers? How much of a fucking bother they are? Fuck them.

>>18046002
agreed this is why i don't wear shoes and neither does my main character who does a lot of hiking

>>18046002
You are one of these dudes with fancy boots, a camelback and a million caribiners right?

Who gets passed on the trail by kids wearing jelly crocs and holding their damaged barbies by the hair? Who reaches the summit only to find a group of bros drinking bears wearing beaten up old sneakers?

>>18046026
i want to read comfy stories about sherpas

how do I write my first story. I have no ideas.

>>18037682
Kys disgusting animetranny.

productivity tip: I completely cut out /wg/ and its animufags and pseuds for a week, I'm up 7000 quality edited words

think about it

>>18046002
They just look like stylised low-top women's trail runners. On flattish ground like that with a well-established trail, that'll do. You don't need some giant 2kg monster boot with crampons for that shit. Lightweight saves you effort too; if you're a 50kg girl and can cut 1kg off your boots you save 2% overall. Think about that.

>>18043372
Ah, then malice is an inherent trait of man.
A trait that is simultaneously arbitrary and fated as a function of the mechanics of the universe.
Nothing may be regarded as true, you may not trust your eyes because they are subjective.
You may not trust intellect which supplements the senses, because it too will betray you.
Truth may only be received from Those Who Really Know, otherwise it is mere ideology.

You are emotional for a ball rolling down a hill arguing with a piece of driftwood floating in the ocean.

>>18043635
>I wasn't mocking you
>I am deriding you

The feeling a word elicits from the one who reads it is just as important as its concrete meaning.
You are rude and guilty of the conceit you claim is mine, though perhaps we share it.

>>18046228
your poem sucks and your politics is crassly transparent, even if I were a filthy commie asking for a handy I wouldn't hold it up as anything I'd want representing me

heyo /wg/

I'm working on a detective mystery, my first. As part of the conceit I'm looking for a revolutionary technology or new discovery that can help in investigation. Not limited to forensics, but I'll take that too. So for those of you who are fans of police procedurals, CSI, etc, or anyone else with a bright idea, I'd like to know: what new development in police work or investigation could have a really big impact on how these things are done today?

also, can you recommend any good books giving an overview on this kind of police investigation stuff? Obviously it would help to know the general process and a couple of funfacts about police work

>>18046632
If you haven't watched Minority Report (starring Tom Cruise), then go watch it. If you're into anime, watch Psycho-Pass.

In short, a lot of new technologies are aimed to reduce response or eliminate responding altogether. Essentially, removing the crime before it happens.

In our world right now, AI is leading in almost everything. For police work, AI exists to find patterns and highlight them. I have no doubt that tech giants like Google, Facebook, IBM, etc., already have AI to solve data crime.

Social credit systems is another controversy. I think China has some form of this officially. Turn this up to eleven and you'll have a police state where law-breaking citizens are known immediately. This removes a lot of guesswork.

Our connectedness to social media has played a massive role in forensics. People leave trails of information that can be analysed and dissected. E.g. Elliot Rodger's VLOG's on YouTube. AI has made huge headways in identifying this kind of stuff.

The law itself is a handicap for a lot of police work. They generally can't act without an abundance of proof. Perhaps the future will have laws relaxed to allow police to do their job better.

The setting in Minority Report is to catch the perpetrator in the midst of the crime, while Psycho-Pass is catching the perpetrator before the crime. There are a lot of moral problems with catching the perpetrator before the crime.

I think if you're going to write detective stuff with futuristic technology, then it's impossible to ignore AI. This would mean criminals would be working around precognition. Things like red herrings might become more common as criminals work to evade the system. Police might see their roles turn into fulfilling only arrest warrants because peacekeepers aren't needed as much.

>>18046115
Write about yourself then. No matter what ideas you have, your first story will always be about you on some level so just own up to it.

>>18046952
Thanks, but I'm not going to go into predictive data analytics or social media. Or rather, I have other plans for that.

Any insights into other areas of development though?

Why is comedy so hard to write?

>>18046228
top kek, you are making yourself look so funny, i am laughing my ass off at you. you are actually doing it on purpose. i have not said that selectivity/ideology is bad, nor did i say that things being ideological diminishes their value. i have also never said that there is an absolute objective non-ideological truth out there that surpasses human ideology. it is written in my post : "it's not malicious or dishonest" / "it is not a good or bad thing" / "i don't mean you have malicious intent". read posts before replying to them. fucking schizophrenic.

>>18046228
>The feeling a word elicits from the one who reads it is just as important as its concrete meaning.
oh, so then nothing means anything, i can just arbitrarily attribute meanings to concepts that have nothing to do with them. here, if i call you a faggot, i actually intend to say something entirely else.

>>18040699
i feel like you're trying to write about gooks without being a gook

>>18040732
blessed post

>>18046115
Write a story about a bronze age greek sailor falling in love with a ten year old middle eastern girl

>>18040765
literally my first relationship

I'm curious. anyone else had the same?

>>18040995
don't the yuros pretty much all do it at 14 or 15?

fucking degens

>>18047135
You’re going to have to delve into science-fiction. I don’t think there’s any single revolutionary piece of technology that’ll change detective work. Perhaps vigilantism through social media, which has already happened.

Crypto-crime? This is a pretty big area of concern. If the blockchain is changed somehow, then Bitcoin and whatever other decentralised money is dead. Probably a good plot for a cyber heist.

I think human police work has peaked. The rest is up to robotics and AI.

>>18047315
>I think human police work has peaked
That's kind of the problem I'm facing. I trying to think of something that can spark the plot of bringing back "old-fashioned footwork" to the police investigation.

So I will have perps who are off-grid. That's why socmed, blockchain and even data analytics will not feature that much in my novel.

How many points should a good outline or story map have? I'm worried I don't have enough and when the story reaches its natural end I'm only at like 40k words or something.

>>18047374
Technology is moving towards removing the human. Reintroducing humans is just poor design.

>>18047428
As many as you want. There’s nothing wrong with writing novellas. I write by discovery, so I’m currently dealing with a plot point where I don’t have a solution, but it’s one that I’m sure will make my character less of a cardboard.

>>18043207
I've had a couple good ideas for it for a while now, but I also want to write shut books and I'm nervous people will think I'm a pedo.

>>18047483
Technology has always moved that way, but it only shifts the human work elsewhere.

>>18047483
Is there a good rule of thumb for how many words a story point has or should have? I'm not against novellas but I want this to be at least close to full length, and I don't want to resort to 'and then something crazier happened!' At the end.

>>18046115
Steal a story from somewhere else and retool it for your purposes. Mythology is a good source.

>have my book split into 3 parts
>they should be roughly even in size
>currently part 1 takes up almost half of what I've written
>I've only finished 8 of the 14 chapters that make up part 1
100k words is a pipedream. This is getting out of hand and I regret nothing.
Looks to me I'll be spending at least another 9k words wrapping up part 1. This would put me at a total of 84k words, and a mere 16k words to parts 2 and 3 just isn't going to cut it.
What the fuck am I supposed to do now? Nobody's going to publish a book over 100k words.

What's a good word for walking alongside something, like a wall or a mountain edge? I was going to use "strafe" but I found out the word "strafe" means something completely different than what I thought.

>>18047898
Tracing a wall is what I'd use.

>>18047804
Trim the fat.

>>18047918
I estimate I'll finish it somewhere around 137k words. I'll just go through it and try to cut 1/3rd out after I'm done.
Jesus wept.

This is probably a NGMI question, but;
In my story, I have a religious cult that exists. Everyone in the world knows about this cult to the point of it being pretty commonplace.
I don't think I need to explain the cult in an infodump, but my beta reader is saying the opposite.
Wouldn't it be better to just trickle information, and let the reader build up their own information, rather than just having a character acting like they don't know about this well established cult?
Am I writing for the world, or the reader?

>>18047970
Why is the reader saying that? Does an infodump improve setup, buildup or payoff?

>>18047970
i'm inclined to say your beta reader is wrong. who is your beta reader? do you trust their taste? what kind of literature do they usually consume?

>>18047804
I'm going to assume your story is retarded, but long books do get published

>2 am
>cant fall asleep
>get up to write
>fail to produce anything of value

>4 am
>lay back down
>start writing some of the best, most musical prose I've ever come up with in my mind

Any ambienpilled writers here?

wrote this in the speedwriting thread but it's dead and i ended up liking it so i'll post it here in case anyone would like to read.

At the Saint Anthony pancake breakfast, Milan stood over the packets of sweating margarine, nestled in a metal bowl, on top of a bowl in a bed of melting ice, condensation from all of the above making a ring of wetness on the table cloth, like ground zero of a the first water-propelled nuclear bomb. He grabs a few, absently, shoves them in his pockets for some reason, before he builds his medium stack of lukewarm pancakes, the reason he's here, the reason for his $10 donation at the door- to chow down on some bread and butter, syrup on top, no better. He doesn't even go to church. He can make the pancakes at home. But he's here.

Now, presently, at the round table with faces he doesn't recognize, older women, all of them, 60, 70+, white hair, golden crucifixes around their necks. Milan sits, gives them them a smile, the same you give a week old birthday card, while hovering over the trashcan, glitter speckling your hand, reading the comforting platitudes from mom one last time, a slight feeling of guilt, and then, letting go, letting it fall away. He takes the butter from his pockets - melted now, spreads easily. Time to eat. The ladies try talking to him but he doesn't hear a word. "Huh"? "I said what's your name?", "Anthony", Milan says, finishing his stack in the third bite, leaning back, content. "Well Anthony, you're certainly in good company."

Restarted my novel again. I find that I am just in a cycle of throwing drafts out due to not getting exactly what I want from it.
>>18048545
Try and use screenshots next time, reduces clutter.

>>18048500
post both sets or it didn't happen.

>>18037682
Who are your favourite booktubers? Would you ever consider becoming one?

>>18045179
Yikes.
Let's put aside our differences and come to a mutual understanding, sharing information could be vital to this.
>>18045247
Well, that's distribution, yes.
>>18045247
>Do you think you could be happy if no one ever read your stories?
Not really, I want to make more of what I want to see out there but if no one knows it's there, is it really there?
>>18045255
Yes, that's what I try to do, it's like jamming, you go with the flow, ok thanks a lot and wish you luck on your writing.
>>18045228
My apologies, I just like the conversation, thanks for giving me a rec.

Is em dash just an aesthetic version of parentheses?

>>18048545
Your opening sentence has 55 words. 300 characters. It's one tough string of Spartans in Thermopylae and they repelled me like I was Xerxes I.

>>18048638
>Slowly Red
I only watch this dude.
His opinions are sometimes shit, but for the most part he recommends pretty good books, if you are into Grimdark Fantasy.

>>18048886
Em dash can function as every piece of punctuation at once.

>>18048565
I scrapped the first set and am still working on transcribing the second.

>>18047970
Always trickle. An initial infodump is allowed, but limit it to a single paragraph. Treat any infodump as if you were telling your mother about the subject. That means, short, sweet, to the point, politely and without prejudice.

>>18048545
Well that was pointless

>>18048878
Before we start, 1 of the best writers I know on 4ch is a woman, so don't take the following as sexism. The reason I write this is because of the reply you received upthread. Clear? Okay. Moving on.

Firstly, not everyone should be a writer, the same way not anyone should be a pianist, dancer, long jumper, etc. Our brains and bodies develop differently from gestation to adulthood and are naturally inclined to different fields. Writing and media is hugely over-saturated in our prosperous modern times, and carries an attractive glamour that keeps drawing in literal millions of lemmings hoping for fame, fortune, whatever. The vast majority however aren't really cut out to be good writers, and that's not a bad thing. The world needs less artistes anyway. So think about not doing this, seriously.

Secondly, if you do want to be a writer, get it out of your head that you'll profit by it. Like I said, the field is fucking over-saturated. Go into this expecting to entertain only yourself. You're only setting yourself up for disappointment otherwise.

Thirdly, expect to only be good after a decade of study, and half a million words of practice, minimum. That's how long it took me to be halfway decent. And I'm only at the stage of being able to entertain the odd sod on the Internet, nowhere near publishing. (Over-saturation!) And many best-selling authors of the past 30 years have pretty much the same experience. If you're not willing to do all that, don't. I'm serious.

Lastly, if you're still here, go take a high school or college-level literature class. Learn to recognise the skin and muscle and bones that underlies, forms, makes up good writing. That's step one on the journey to be a writer. With the tools you learn in such classes, analyse the classics, the all-time best-sellers, find out what makes them tick. Then practise, post your work, get feedback, and incorporate suggested improvements. Practise, practise, then PRACTISE some more. I recommend short stories of around 500 words to start with. Seek out writing communities and get them to critique your work. Keep reading and learning and practising. In about a million words of completed stories you should have achieved your goal of being an entertaining writer, although probably still penniless.

Good luck.

>>18048878
>if no one knows it's there, is it really there?

Yes. Being known is not what makes something exist. Otherwise, one could never learn something for the first time.

>>18049479
You’re being too hardcore about it man. They just like writing, that’s enough, they’re not embarking on their destiny quest. I mean the advice is good but the way you speak makes it like writing is some sacred troth, which it really isn’t. It’s just a fun thing to do.

>>18048545
This sucks. Pretentious first paragraph and the second is just obnoxious. Milan comes across as a dick

>>18047898
Just say walking alongside the wall. The best word is typically the first that comes to mind.

>>18047804
Omit unnecessary stuff. If you’re scared don’t delete them but put them in a junk document.

>>18047708
It can be as long as you want, as long as it’s still interesting.

>>18046228
>The feeling a word elicits from the one who reads it is just as important as its concrete meaning.
>You are rude and guilty of the conceit you claim is mine, though perhaps we share it.

You’re right, I was kind of being a dick. Sorry man. It is hypocritical to call someone out as prideful.

>>18046115
Why do you want to write at all?

>>18049509
Perhaps. I fully expect the equivalent sperg if I were to ask /mu/ how to be a professional violinist though. Going from zero to paid media content creator is a very long journey, and I don't want to see anyone waste a good chunk of their lives chasing rainbows.

>>18048545
Stop, using, commas, after, every, word,

>>18047970
Show don't tell. Incomplete information is acceptable. The reader doesn't need a clear picture, just a hint. Half your work is creating something where the reader can fill in the blanks.
Expositions sucks.

>>18049982

Any anons willing to critique the following poem?

Of elegance and grace, you near,
Beaming light ‘fore my widening
Eyes, as the dawn, you are rising
‘oer the amber horizon clear

Beholden I, then your spirit turns,
Sol’s rays, so reverend and strong,
Engorges my heart with splendor burns,
Devout, lose not my sight for long

Held in place by your portrait gaze,
Coalesced drops of solar dew,
Gold flecked eyes light and set ablaze
My long-forgotten hearth anew.

“Drink to me only with thine eyes,
and I will pledge with mine.”

>>18050185
I don't really know poetry, but your first verse is ABBA, then the next two are ABAB, which doesn't appeal to me. It feels off. Maybe it's a common poetist format, but I prefer consistency throughout.

Individually though, I like it. Subject, and style are both pretty good and descriptive enough, while still leaving enough up to interpretation. Use of words is also great, and it all flows extremely well.

You should be proud of it, anon.
Great work!

Why do i feel the most satisfied when i write some sort of self indulgent fantasy?

I got drunk last night and wrote a short story about a fighter ace flying a MIG-21 defeating a squadron of airplanes while drunk and i felt really good about it

>>18050465
Post it

>>18050518
its kinda fucking embarassing and i would need to get drunk to post it

>>18050465
It's ok, man. In fact, that's healthier than a lot of stuff people do. Keep it up.

>>18050465
mig-21, you say?

>>18050858
damn how did you know that im also writting a mecha story inspired by muv luv

>>18050404
Thank you for the critique! Honestly, I don't know how I messed up my rhyme scheme. I'm glad you caught that for me.

>>18038456
Sounds hilarious

>>18044994
Try submitting to smaller literary magazines or online contests.

I asked in /sffg/ but they're a bit hard to talk to today, so I'm reposting here.

Is there any way to write a book that uses a VR (or neural-link style VR) game as a secondary world without descending into either 1. litrpg trash or 2. Ready Player One trash? I want my next novel to have a secondary world setup, and a cyberpunk story sounds interesting, but I don't think I've really seen it executed in an inspiring way. Any ideas for making it a fresh concept? I have a vague picture in my mind of the kind of brutality plucked from American Psycho and Blood Meridian majorly informing a cyberpunk world, but I don't know if that's all that it needs to be taken seriously.

>>18043208
It needs to have energy swords

>>18051412
>I asked in /sffg/ but they're a bit hard to talk to today
Just checked, I can't believe that anti-animefag is shitting up another general. Sorry about that, anon.

>Is there any way to write a book that uses a VR (or neural-link style VR) game as a secondary world without descending into either 1. litrpg trash or 2. Ready Player One trash?
I'm going to have to say kinda, but it depends heavily on you, anon. There's plenty of simulation games that allow multiple users to act out what they want. Use them as a reference. But if you're trying to make your book serious, then no, you have to take the litrpg seriously.

https://youtu.be/IZst1BH0YZg

>>18038456
Sounds shit and reflects how little of Derrida you have read. Fuck off Pseud

Tfw accepted for publication again

>>18050185

I really enjoy it!

>>18051736

What does yhis mean?

What are some good action oriented obstacles for a wilderness survival story besides large predators and natural disasters?

No crazy native tribes.

>>18051901
It means I WENT on submittable and submitted literary works, then got accepted four times.

>>18037682
>starting a new novel
>writing it in present-tense third person
I've nearly always written in past-tense beforehand, I've only just begun writing this piece but it feels off. It's going to be one of those things which becomes natural after the first chapter, but I can't shake this doubt just yet. Would any anons discourage me from writing in present-tense? It's occasionally action-orientated so I want to keep the tension up and reserve past tense for other aspects of the story.

>>18051975
>wilderness survival story
A lot of things. Think of your character/s hunting, building, exploring/climbing, almost everything they're going to do in that situation is action-based. Where is it set? That's a huge part of it.

>>18050535
Well, we'll be here. It's still the weekend ;)

>>18052153
It’s going to be in the Amazon, with los Piranhas and all sorts of diseases passed on by los mosquitos.

I wrote a short story that I want to send out on Submittable. But I have a potential problem. In it, a male protagonist saves a female character. Will this hurt my chances of getting it published?

>>18052162
Yes, make the saviour a black latinx they/them

Any epic battles between good and evil you’re working on? What’s the best way to write a tortured haunted guy?

>>18052160
The Amazon is a toughie, writing about disease and struggles with dehydration/hunger can be hard to keep entertaining. Then again, there are so many physiological issues which arise with such a struggles which could be fun to play on.

Going back to your original post
>no crazy native tribes
You don't need to include them or other travelers in your story, however the fear or delusion of others might be an obstacle you could include. But you're looking for action orientated obstacles, not physiological, so maybe not.

>>18051736
>>18051981
>>18052162
Is Submittable really any good? What are the advantages?

>>18052197
>Any epic battles between good and evil you’re working on?
Not exactly, but I'm working on a five-part epic where the protagonist of the second part becomes a villain and the protagonists of part one face him and lose in part four. In part five the protagonists of part three step up and defeat him.

>>18052225
It’s the only way to make it anon. Try to keep a 1 in 10 acceptance rate, but always read the publication and it’s submission guidelines first, otherwise you’ll needlessly lower your chances of being accepted. You’ll find a lot of legit organisations and publications through submittable

>>18052237
Sounds like final fantasy or something.... is it inspired by low culture or are you actually writing epic poetry

>>18052197
I'm writing a grey vs grey space opera where millions die meaningless deaths for terrible politicians I guess.

>>18052252
Is it like iain banks?

>>18052264
I'd say it's more like Yoshiki Tanaka

>>18052292
Oh, it's you

Are you still not reading actual books

>>18052249
I haven't started that collection of works as of yet. Each volume between one and three are planned to be stand-alone, I might even decide against merging them if it doesn't seem right. I'll have to wait and see how volume one is looking after the first few drafts, the last thing I want to do is foreshadow events or characters and not follow through.
>is it inspired by low culture
Probably. It's not my first collection of work, but they're inspired by a set of ideas I had towards the end of and after high school. I'm sure those original ideas will be replaced by more nuanced themes when I get to writing, I think much differently today than I did back then. I understand that the wording in my previous post makes the story seem immature, however it's more about the formation of bonds and friendships, along with their collapse, as opposed to direct conflict (although that too will likely be included).

>>18052327
What the fuck does Actual Books even mean?

How do I write mothers?

Why cant writer's block and anxiety just leave me the fuck alone?

I'm so, so tired of not being able to make my minuscule fucking word goal. I just want to be able to do this like I used to without struggling

a question with too many words:

how do i write a character who is deeply frustrated over the central theme?

we can all say something like "anything i make can be better than the latest starwars" but while that may be true, i still dont want a character to be annoying over a trouble he is supposed to be troubled over for long stretches of time, how would i write one?

this is more a me issue than an issue with anything actually in media today, it comes down to i cant even practice drawing a face or scene without feeling like its not worth it because there are already a million still framed pieces of the same angled object out there buy a million other people. it feels typical, i want it to be more.

but if i want it to be more am i just preaching to an empty choirs house? how can someone say "oh yes, im writing a book about a young man fighting against responsibilities he never asked for" and not be seen as "the fucker who thinks hes allowed to say anything he wants because he did." or "that sounds stupid and youre stupid"

its not the bad reception im worried about, but what if i really am just saying things blindly without understanding them? i put a lot of thought into things, like this anxiety ridden post, but could my thought on a topic i write about be too shallow to be a full book?

how do i write frustration? im frustrated, but could it be picked apart just by saying "this character is acting like a pussy and the writer needs to shut up"?

>>18052462
You’re acting like a pussy and you need to shut up.

>>18052242
All the payouts I've seen have been chump change in comparison to local contests or publishing deals. Have I been looking in the wrong place or do I have to pump out story after story to make any money on submittable?

>>18052197
Kind of. My MC is going to fight an evil god, but everyone else is working to convince him that the evil god doesn't exist. It's one of those things where you tell children the consequences of bad actions through stories, and the MC believes those stories. Everyone else thinks it's ridiculous.

Another character is going to go through an arc where she gets emotionally beaten. My characters are going to tell her to do X, but she can't do X because of her flaws. My goal is to emotionally alienate her from her friends by having her slowly crack each time she fails to progress. Her arc ends with something akin to what MC is fighting against.

>>18052458
never do word goals, do time goals. even if your hands arent on the keys every second of that allotted time you will still be thinking. you can always delete what you dont like, its easier to polish a turd than not having shit to work with at all.

>>18052420
they are people too, each person plays a role, not a character. if they mean something to the story they either are adding to the conflict or the initiative. theres no reason for every type of person to be there if you can sum each person up in one word. ask them what they want.

>>18052478
>he’s not already rich
Fuck off to Reddit if you haven’t got your shit sorted out.

>>18052471
time, 78 seconds, thats slow for 4chan. they usually call out the easiest blows much quicker, youre slipping up

>>18052494
I'm not in it for the money, but I'd like to spend more time writing and less time working if possible. I'm still young and don't have the luxury of time while still saving for my next home.

>>18052536
you really dont need time to write, if you have an idea youll make time when its needed. there will never be a better moment to write than the few moments you have when you get an idea. waiting for a better time expecting wiggle room as you actually have more time will always have you waiting for an even better time, its nothing but excuses. you wont be writing for the whole hour with 60 words a minute, chances are youll be dictating into voice memos and slowly sorting it out every time you sit down to see what works. its more a process than it is an hourly rate of words on a page, otherwise youre looking at it wrong and anything you put down wont be worth more than the sum of its parts.

>>18052490
Sounds like weebshit

>>18052572
Hey alright amigo take your meds and see you in the morning

>>18052572
I don't have problems with ideas, nor the writing process. I manage to sit down with pen in-hand, or a document up in front of me for about an hour each day. I feel like I want to be in front of my keyboard more than I am, even on my days off work I'm driving around getting things done. I'd like about three hours a day instead of one, but it rarely works out that way. Perhaps I should be sleeping less, either getting up earlier or heading to bed later. You're right for pinning the blame on me, but everything's so hard to juggle and it'd be easier with more time.

>>18052583
>ima faggot who needs to be paid to create art because everything is an exchange of time and value to me, like the NPC I am
>someone tells me that I should view it that way
>he MUST be crazy, he must take his meds ecksdee

>>18052462
you're way too self-conscious, man.

there's always, always room to do better. don't worry so much about what other people think. just try to make it good

>>18052595
Shouldn’t*
Sorry you made me seethe so hard I typed too quickly

>>18052603
Wasn't even me, kek.

>>18052607
You’re a fucking faggot regardless

>>18052594
i dont say it to criticize your ideas of course, but often times solos or teams of people working on ideas will get nothing done with the time they make. i personally make the most progress when i should have been asleep hours before or even stopping my shower just to record voice memos to look over later. i can put a lot of words on a page but its more molding clay, reshaping it and taking things out, than it is putting everything down as the minutes pass. i never really give myself specific times to do things, if there is something critical for me to write then i will.
but if you really need that extra time then of course, all i mean is that you could probably put all the words in a recording while exercising or on your daily commute and use your writing time more for refining and sorting through it. its terms of efficiency.

>>18052595
I called you a schizo because you wrote a schizo ass post that I tried to read, I honestly couldn't even tell what your opinion on the matter was
Take the meds

>>18052581
It is, for the most part. It's a heroic fantasy. MC's character arc is figuring out why everyone shits on his religion, his identity on whether to be the hero for the common people, and whether he should be religiously chasing an evil god that no one thinks exists.

>>18052642
You’re a faggot bitch I didn’t even type the reply you responded to; I guess you’re a redditor and don’t know how 4chan works, huh? Fuck off back to your subreddit where the rules are chiseled in reddit gold tablets.

>>18052599
yeah, i have anxiety, but i want to make something the best i can and i see that as worth being anxious over.
i bumped most of the questions to 11 more or less on purpose because of the idea of deep or dumb, is a criticism an actual argument or a shallow comment made when someone doesnt enjoy something?
annoying characters are annoying, how does one write them and how many people will refuse to sympathize with them because of it? how shallow are they in comparison what could be my possibly dumb rather than deep writings?

>>18052648
Sure thing man but just take the meds okay?

>>18052677
So ebin!!! Upvote!!!

i have a problem with putting memes into my rought drafts. Every time I get past the middle low point, I can't stop myself from having a character monologue about how "we tried so hard" and "got so far," but "in the end it didn't really matter."
And then when I go back for editing I get too attached to these stupid references and struggle to take them out.

>>18052462
>>18052654
Punctuation, nigger.

can someone post something to make me finish the last chapter of my erotica trash thing I'm writing

I'm out of adhd meds but I'm really close to being able to publish

>>18052782
Post something like what?

>>18052791
some kind of motivation or swearing at me or something please

>>18052794
Just write.

>>18052800
thank you

>>18052782
>>18052794
HAAAAAARK! HARK TRITON, HARK! TAKE YE THIS ANON AND PLUNGE HIM INTO THE ABYSSAL DEPTHS OF INKWELLS AND PAPER PULP, LOST TO ALL MEN, AND ALL TIME, UNTIL ANY PART OF ANON IS ANON NO MORE BUT IS ITSELF THE TEXT

>>18052816
So Reddit

>>18052794
you miss all the shots you don't take
- Ernest Hemingway

>>18052654
I don’t want to be mean but idk what you’re saying. Pls simplify your concern to a paragraph or less. It’s just a story man, go for a walk if it’s stressing you too hard.

Remember the point of doing that or anything is to make yourself happy. If it isn’t working, you should do something else.

>>18052969
If you know reddit so well, go back there and leave me to quote my cheap arthouse movies in peace.

>>18053051
>The Lighthouse
>Arthouse
Ngmi

>>18052581
Who fucking cares? Let that anon, write his story on how he wants to.

>>18052141
Write on how you want.

>>18052412
Something for pseudointellectuals.

>>18037682
>any progress on your novels?
Yes, I dare say I have finished it; the magnum opus, born of my intellect, crumbles like biscuits in my mouth. There’s no more writing to be done, no subtle endgame from which I can “win” this round of 5 dimensional chess. It has turned to dust, to dusty death, good sir.

>>18053187
You speak broken English. I suggest you go back to where you come from; don’t sully my language ever again.

>>18053263
Is this a new pasta.

>>18053266
Fuck off.

>>18052141
Write in third person present tense. Stand out against others.

>>18051412
>VR (or neural-link style VR) game as a secondary world without descending into either 1. litrpg trash or 2. Ready Player One trash?
Yeah, you're never going to make it.

>>18053289
It's kind of short. I look forward to seeing how it evolves.

>>18051412
>litrpg
was ist?

Yes, it's doable and been done before. Look up Charles Stross's Rule 34.

>>18053354
Well, I wish you luck on that front.

>>18051412
You’re a Mexican. I can smell it from here, Pedro.

>>18051412
>VR
Write AR.

>>18053361
I'm not the one who made it though

>>18053376
Oh, my bad, I thought since you replied, you were the one who made it. Sorry.

>>18053379
I was just showing my enthusiasm for a new pasta, as I am somewhat of a connoisseur of such things myself.

>>18053389
As am I, anon.

>any progress on your novels?
As for this question, I shall hazard to lean into the affirmative; there has been much thoroughfare and disturbances that kept me from writing, such as mother’s encroachments into the basement where I dwell and fashion epic journeys of my anti-hero, Testero, as he battles against the chaotic feminine; however, there’s been just as much progress, a linear advancement in my plot, for each altercation that has held me back, as, for instance, in my writing of the mantra, “Shantih,” over and again in the last section of my novel par excellence — reflecting not only a meta textual echo of Eliot’s “Wasteland” but also a cosmological topos of the spiritual multiverse from which my titular anti-hero quests and conquers metaphysically... albeit the progress is not ideal, I have mustered enough glyphs and constructed whole sentences, creating links to make sumptuous paragraphs, such that my novel amounts to two whole Infinite Jests, the marker of any great American novel qua door stopper... Testero seems to be my own stand-in, a writing into the world of letters and text, which can only be gestured towards with the words: “discernment of talent” .... uh, the critics are going to have a hard time understanding what high wires of textual acrobatics I am doing, since they are not maestros as I am, yet my progress will be recognised as a canonical work in a century or two, when the great literary critics war falls in the side of post-formalist distant reading, and I can once again enjoy the creative heights on Dante knew, and perhaps Toole, those heroes of virtue — one of unrequited love, the other of being the best lurker this world has ever seen — and I shall know what God decided of this world as he will explains his ways to me, a Bard of Bards, and I can take my seat next to Calliope up in the starry heavens above... that’s how my progress has been, such as it is.

>>18053413
Trying to hard.

>Capepunk story with psychological as a backdrop.
>Can focus on one character, or focus on three with the psychological aspect being diluted.
>all three characters arcs are interwoven for the first three arcs.
I know, I’m going to regret this, but should I do the stories separate or should I just write them together.

>>18053475
If all three characters' arcs are interwoven, wouldn't that mean making their stories separate defeat the purpose?

>>18053475
You have to choose one character as the "main" character - this doesn't mean they have to be the centre of it, they can be exactly 33.3% of the book. But you need to choose one character who acts as the point of connection to the reader - one character whose internal journey is always relevant and through whom we interpret the other two

>>18053484
I’m going to post my story on Royal Road, so that shouldn’t be much of a problem. The problem is, what I green text. I really want the psychological aspect of the story to be there. And I feel like focusing on one character at a time will help me on that. But at the same time, I feel writing the same story, with just a different perspective will burn me out.

>>18053488
>But you need to choose one character who acts as the point of connection to the reader
I think that’s the issue I’m having. If I pick one character to be the main character, and he or she fails to connect to the readers, how would I fix that. The worse if the reader chooses the other two instead and need to reorganize the story.

>>18053492
>>18053498
You're going to have to bite the bullet eventually. Your story is either going to be three separate stories interconnected and overlap with one another, or one story with three different P.O.V.

>>18053413
Way to pseud.

>>18053514
I know, i know. I just don’t want to do it. Thanks, and thank you >>18053488

>>18052197
>What’s the best way to write a tortured haunted guy?
Read Theon's chapters on A dance with Dragons,

>>18053369
Any real difference between AR and VR?

>>18050465
i know that feel. i wrote a shitty alt history thing once, felt great

>>18053586
Is it really that bad? I do it every time I need to get the creative juices pumping.

>>18053598
I really like the squiggly lines anon. Nice touch.

>>18053612
Thanks, I write short stories all the time, I think it helps me keep pace with writing more.

>>18053576
Yes? VR is fully in a computer, AR gives the author two layers that can see and interact with each other, although usually not physically.

STATEMENT BY MANAGEMENT:

4chan has a no tolerance policy towards behaviour in the venue that is sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic or ableist. People engaging in behaviour that is threatening, aggressive, abusive, harassment or bullying will be removed from the site.

If you have experienced behaviour in the site that has made you or someone you know feel unsafe, please contact us directly via email, social media or in person (either yourself or a representative).

4chan is an inclusive space that welcomes people from diverse backgrounds, including those in the LGBTQ+ community, to engage with art & each other in a safe, respectful and constructive manner. We welcome feedback from the community on how we can better achieve these aspirations.

4chan is wholly owned and operated by Moot. There are no other parties or shareholders involved in the business - previous management no longer have any involvement with the operations and management of 4chan.

Contact details

4chan.org
Jannies@gmail.com

>>18053628
So these short stories are basically writing exercises? Do those actually help? I feel like they will just make you burn out faster.

>>18053640
>Moot
Who

>>18053648
I take small breaks every now and again so I won't get burnt out by writing. I also don't have a fix wordcount, I feel it puts too much pressure.

>>18053655
the founder of the site, he sold it like 5 years ago or something

big weeb

>>18053663
I thought it was ideal to have a set word count so you can reach a goal and help you continue writing.

>>18053673
He sold it so he could become a wageslave on some company.

>>18053679
So he matured and decided to be a productive member of society.

>>18053681
Do you KNOW where you ARE?

>>18053684
A website full of man children?

>>18053689
I’m a genius millionaire heir studying a P to the h to the D, AND I don’t watch anime, I make flipbook animations instead

>>18053689
Don't act like you're any better.

>>18053684
Why did you capitalize those words any normal person who have emphasized the (you)s in those sentences

>>18053697
Most likely for dramatic effect.

>>18053697
Speak English. I have no clue what you’re saying, ESL monkey.

>>18053703
And again with the racism.

>>18053703
Oh yeah I made a bunch of typos in that. Anyway, you are gay.

>>18053708
Just ignore him

>>18053598
>>18053628
These are nice reads.

>>18053552
No, I don’t like a song of ice and fire.

A new thread.

>>18053720

>>18053707
Yo momma a she-boon, ma nigguh? She be cry when the huuyte man be making them books be good. Smh forreal cuh!

>>18037682
When the fish swam past the moon's midnight glow, a single drop of blood then cried from the blade's edge. Shortly after the elder man fell forward into death. There now loose from his left hand came also the dagger to the earth. Holding back her tears the woman seventeen summers retrieved the tanto and cleaned away the sin of her grandfather. A uniform steel and master worked the means of suciced where one hundred and fifty millimeter long, the spine being messed at two and three quarters milliliters. A red and white ribboned hilt and guild scabbard ornamented the tanto. Once it had been her mothers but the means of her death now lay in a pool of freshly sprung pool of blood. “Now the time of Heaven over Earth is over, I welcome the time of Earth over Heaven.” She minds to herself.

Testing

>>18054129
Just write. You'll have fewer problems if you just start working on it. I believe in you.

>>18053353
Shut up bitch

>>18053355
It's better if you don't know what litrpg is. Thanks for the rec.

>>18053367
White

>>18053369
That's an interesting idea but I'm not immediately coming up with anything good to do with it. I'll keep thinking.