/lit/ - Literature

>>18112321
Besides, Royal Road and Spacebattle. What other sites nurture writers? Anons were mentioning it.

>>18112335
>Spacebattle
Sweet salty christ, no
They make AO3 look reasonable.

>>18112342
What’s the issue with spacebattle? Haven’t really check it out. Just going off what other anons have said.

>>18112349
You know the extreme autism of sci-fi fans and forums in general? Ramp that up to eleven.

>>18112335
Scribblehub
Quotev
Wattpad, of course
Tapas
There's probably a few more. i can't think of any since I'm dying from alcohol right now.

>>18112359
That terrible? Is the politics of that forum also a negative.

>>18112362
Thanks, anon. I’ll check them out. But before I go, are there any warnings that I should consider?

>>18112383
It's not political in any real sense but it does have moderator politics.

reminder that the loser that makes these threads spams them towards the end so that he can make the thread.

>>18112335
Royalroad is the best site. As long as your work is readable (clear prose) and you maintain a constant schedule, you have very high chances to make it on trending. It doesn't have to be a LitRPG or a xanxia, just to be entertaining and compatible with serial-format. Plus, if you chat a bit with some of the writers during events, you can negotiate a shout out.

>>18112342
>They make AO3 look reasonable.
Is AO3 not reasonable? At least for fanfic

>>18112401
Tags are a cancer and such cancer is encouraged.
I prefer ff.net despite being dated.

>>18112388
>>18112388
I meant more on the user base. You know how forums are, I’m wondering if politically, It’s neutral or does it lean liberal/leftists.

>>18112399
Thanks for it. With how some anons describe Royal Road, they made it seem it was hard to make a breakthrough.

Alright /wg/, if Cormac McCarthy is such a great writer, how come he's only put out ten novels and two short stories despite being nearly 88 years old?

>>18112432
Quality over quantity, anon.

>>18112420
Well yeah, you're still competing with other writers.

>>18112420
>Thanks for it. With how some anons describe Royal Road, they made it seem it was hard to make a breakthrough.

No problem. And no, I read a lot on the site and there are new faces everyday. The hard part isn't getting on trending, it's to pump out chapters regularly and keep expectations high. It's easy to have fun writing in the beginning, but you will certainly want to write about other stuff after a while and that's exactly where you can get wrong. Writing entertaining stuff that resonates with everyone for months every week isn't easy.

>>18112432
A lot of writers don't have the stamina and are one-hit wonders. No surprise when a hit can make you so much money under the right conditions.

Everything I write feels like a ASOIAF fanfic

>>18112523
How do I fix this

>>18112523
Have you tried writing so that everything feels like a Finnegan's Wake fanfic instead?

>>18112451
I know I’m competing with other writers, but from what I got, it seemed like you only had to write a certain story if you even had a chance at getting noticed.

>>18112477
I can see why writers would be burnt out by it. Wouldn’t it be more ideal to make a series of short stories instead? To avoid that?

I'm interested in writing a fantasy novel. I want to stray away from traditional medieval fantasy and develop a more surreal landscape. I want to frame the story around that of adventure and discovery. Where are some good places to help me get started if I'm already confident in writing ability and characters? Alternatively, is fantasy a rabbit hole that I should avoid?
>>18112523
Read more books that aren't written by Martin. Flesh out your literary pool.

>>18112523
Try less bodily fluids.

>>18112576
No clue. You could also write your story beforehand and release chapters from your stockpile, using the time in-between each chapters to edit and cut loose-ends. The guy doing Perfect Run does that.

>>18112578
Non-medieval surrealist fantasy? I suppose Pat Rothfuss counts if you're looking to stay solely in literary fiction. You're making me realize a lot of fantasy is default medieval settings because of magic-and-swords archetypes. I took a look at bookbrowse.com and found a nice search tool, but the inventory on their site is pretty shallow. Barely 3000 books.

>>18112578
Ah, here we go. Maybe this can help if you're looking for books to read.
https://www.fictiondb.com/search/search.htm

>tfw modern fantasy with hints of sci-fi
Am I making a huge mistake?

>>18112646
In my opinion, any premise can produce a strong story as long as it nails the big three
>characters
>narrative
>prose
The setting is incredibly important also, but is less so when well written characters are thrown into an engaging plot. If you believe in your characters, story beats and your writing, you can pull it off anon.

>>18112618
>Non-medieval surrealist fantasy
>I suppose Pat Rothfuss counts if you're looking to stay solely in literary fiction.
holy fuck lol

>>18112578
Check out some of China Mieville's work if you want to see "surreal fantasy executed successfully." Wolfe's Book of the New Sun is classified as scifi but is very surreal and fantastical as well. You might also want to read some "magical realism" stuff, if only to know how to avoid being classified as such (if that isn't your goal.) In terms of learning to write an adventure, even if the setting and audience is different, you can't go wrong with a critical study of The Hobbit.

>>18112432
I suppose you can be a great writer and still have trouble when it comes to coming up with ideas. Maybe he's the sort of guy who'd have written a book a year if somebody else was feeding him their creative insights. Or maybe he's such a great writer that he spent a long time refining the few books he wrote. I believe coming up with great ideas and being able to express ideas well on paper are two separate skills, even if they often come hand in hand.

>>18112618
>You're making me realize a lot of fantasy is default medieval settings because of magic-and-swords archetypes
Exactly. Though I'd still like to use a magic system, it seems like virtually all fantasies borrow heavily from Tolkien and the medieval fantasy background. I've always wanted to try my hand at something more wondrous or outlandish.
>>18112742
Book of the New Sun looks really interesting, I'll definitely check Wolfe's stuff out.
>you can't go wrong with a critical study of The Hobbit.
I've been meaning to reread that book for so long now, its part of what ignited my passion for writing. Cheers, anons.

>>18112719
Well
>Magical Creatures are in preservations for being dangerous as well as facing extinction as a result of numerous purges throughout history
>Magic is something you're born with but few people are full blood mages
>Nature is abhorred because magical phenomena beyond human understanding happens occasionally in such places
>Vampires exist but they're miserable and assisted by governments to find a cure
>purely magical beings exist but they are alien and terrifying
>humanity is developing space tech because they fear what will happen farther down the line if they stay on earth because of leftover immortal prophecies
>aliens took one look at earth and ran the fuck away
>cybernetics exist
>gene editing is on its way
>mages had a terrible history of fucking things up for everyone, even when they assembled a council of immortals on the issue
>The gods of the world's religions either died, were killed, or fled the planet for some unknown reason. Some never existed to begin with

The story itself revolves around a troubled criminal mage and his tech-loving best friend trying to take control of things in their life without losing their minds. The world is fluff pretty much but I thought details like that would be important to let an atmosphere of anxiety set in.

>>18112786
Feel free to ask about Wolfe in /sffg/, everything he's written has been read by someone there, but I think BOTNS is the closest thing he's written to what you're looking for. (Latro is also close; it's in a Roman setting though.) I've been reading The Hobbit while I edit my story for prose inspiration and there's a lot to learn there.

>>18112808
*Greek setting; Roman soldier

>>18112719
this
write whatever plot you want, just write it well

>>18112222
Going to bed now. Wrote 2106 words. I'm trying a new thing where I stop mid-sentence, rather than at the end of a scene or a chapter. Maybe it will be easier for me to pick back up tomorrow - I procrastinated several days on starting this chapter. I also reached a bit of a milestone, since I got to use a bit of text from my first draft for the first time. There are only a few more chapters from here on that I'll have to rewrite entirely, which is nice.

Goodnight /wg/, don't forget to post your own blogs if you did anything useful today :)

>>18113082
I got home, opened my chapter documenet... stared at it and then went ham on drinking some dumb alcohol juice and rampantly shitposted in a voice chat for 6 hours straight while violently sad funny shitpost even harder in another chat at the same time. I'm 3 days past my deadline and am nowhere close to finishing this chapter at all. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

>>18112477
Why not finish a story then post it chapter by chapter?

>>18113097
Weird. Alcohol just makes me write more easily.

>>18113082
600+ here
wish I had your effort

>someone posts their writing
>/wg/ shits on it
>look at the writing
>its better than mine

>>18113150
I could post mine and you could shit on it too for being worse than yours, silly sad frogposter.

>>18113156
I dont shit, i give constructive criticism.

>>18113119
Because at some point the allure of feedback becomes too promising. Also, it takes a long time to "finish" the 400+ chapter stories on there.

>>18113198
Reminds me of questing but those are entirely reliant on feedback

>>18113213
Questing? Please forgive my newfaggotry.

>>18113239
Multiplayer CYOA games run/written by a Quest Master.
I ran a few myself but burned out.

>>18113150
Kek. I remember putting my work on here thinking it was okay and it was torn to shreds. That was two months ago and I haven't written a thing since.

tear me up baby

>>18113274
>Anan
Meta

>>18113265
Damn, that's actually sad.

>>18113274
>colon in the second sentence
>listing shit
too much exposition. take it slower.

>>18113274
Your phrasing is kind of... awkward.
>It was a frequent occurrence they were victims of
>One lifted a cigarette out of his pocket to his lips and turned to the other
Since he's already asking for a light, you can drop the "turned to the other". Better leave it implied.
>A glance answered him
Not a fan of this either. This doesn't tell me anything about the other man or how he's acting.
Maybe describe his gaze, characterize a bit more.
>what would've happened if that wasn't perfectly accurate
'what would've happened if you missed' seems more natural in conversation

But it seems interesting. Near the end you kind of get a feel for Anan and it's a good scene.

>>18113305
Is it really?
>>18113284
random name generator, it means fourth child in Akan or something

>tfw posted here many times
>neither got teared into nor praised
>only lukewarm responses or ignored
kind of emblematic of my life

>>18113323
Either your writing is very boring or decent with no obvious flaws.

>>18113323
I never get any responses, but I write for kids, so it's to be expected.

>>18112321
>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 to be topmost in the world, but this turned out to be utter bollocks. A child of 18, a person ten years my junior, has a greater vocabulary than I, who had to look up the word “topiary”, and no one likes the expression theory of art anymore, I am likened to a long lost dinosaur.
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 85 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!
Story arcs, character arcs, narrative arcs, these are all outdated terms. You say what you hear, and only the anime fandom uses the term “arc” anymore. I am a toad! Look how many words I wrote, because apparently literature is bodybuilding and just aimlessly typing will somehow improve my writing. My appetites grew as I wrote, I set a goal of a 100 thousand words when I began, only for the cancerous growth to demand a 137 thousand words soon enough to be completed, and still I don't even know what genre it is that I'm writing. Is it autofiction? A comedy? A picaresque? Am I merely shitposting edgelord-triggering diarrhea in neo-emo gothic revivalist gestalt?
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.

>>18113403
congesting this with random thread memes is a waste

>sitting here pretending that I'm trying to decide whether to write on my mystery/horror, fantasy, or "literary" novel, or maybe a short story that popped into my mind
>I'm actually just blowing it off because I'm a perfectionist and what if page two isn't as good as page one

Someone slap me.

>>18113403
Take your current perspective and write that.

>>18113507
But that's what it has been from the beginning, picking things people on /lit/ have said and adding them into the text.

>>18113522
Bitch slap

If I can write ambiguous pyrokinetic and stranger Men stuff, you can too

>>18113522
You clearly have a twisted view of what perfection is.

>>18112321
I’ve been writing for some time but it was just recently a few months ago I stopped. I don’t know why. I use to get excited writing and had so much fun but suddenly I just stopped.
At first I was using the excuse that I might be tired or bored or whatever but whenever I sit down again and tried to write I will still write but then just stop again. I usually post my terrible stories online and have a series of my own but its been months now and every time my personal deadline comes up, while at first I feel bad for not having anything done, I find myself just saying fuck it and won’t post anything, once again with the stupid excuse that I will work on it the next week and that next deadline will be when I will go back. But its all bullshit.
My real reason that I stopped writing was to see if anyone cared at all. Every day I check my homepage for anything. Any small amount of acknowledgement that someone gives half a shit. Anything. Yet, there’s nothing despite the fact that its been over a year since I started with everything I got. I keep telling myself that the point of writing is to enjoy myself but its all bullshit. I’m a pathetic piece of shit that only want attention. I’m disgusted with myself and in turn, disgusted every time I look at my work and my writing.

I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to fix any of this.

>>18113319
>is it really?
Not him, but describe those things throughout the first page rather than list them.

>>18113883
Eh, you should be picky about what you go into detail with. You can go on about random shit like the structure of a gazebo only for it to never pop up again and just make your readers wonder what the fuck's got you so obsessed with architecture.

>>18113317
>'what would've happened if you missed'
"Lucky you're handy with that flame, what would've happened if you missed?"

I'd also drop
>the cigarette burned to ash within a second
>within a second
Doesn't the finger snap already imply the action was instant? Maybe something more like
'With the snap of two fingers the cigarette burned (turned?) to ash'
That and I prefer burnt to burned.

>>18113900
Absolutely, it reads well enough but I'm a stickler for description. If it's the start of any chapter but the first it's solid, needs a bit more otherwise. Good stuff either way, I'm sure you've still got a lot of work to do on it so I won't criticize too harshly too early.

>>18113274
It's easier to give specific feedback when you post something that people can copy and paste from. Something this short could have just been dropped into a post.

That said, I have problems with this. Not much happens here, and the writing style isn't enough to carry it. Bluntly, it flows poorly. When you take the poor flow and then consider the wordiness, it gives the feel of an author stretching himself further than his (current) abilities allow. Being a wordy writer is fine. I'm a big fan of bucking the current minimalist stylistic trends which approach the sacrosanct for many. Go back and consider the way sentences feel in the mouth, the way words are made to flow into and out of one another. If you want to write in a "literary" style, you need to pay attention to your sentences. You need to find the rhythm. This isn't poetry so you're not restricted to any kind of consistent meter—key word: consistent—but the kind of person who's going to want to read a story where you say "downtrodden residents" instead of people, or "cleansing flame" (at all) are going to expect some degree of lyricism in the writing. An awkward sentence fragment like "a frequent occurrence they were victims of" is just not going to cut it.

>>18113868
Calm yourself anon, I spend far more time thinking about what to write than I do working on a peice. Think more about what you want to write and less about why you're not.

>>18113868
Write self-indulgent fanfiction. I get tons of interest and it practices my writing in a way I can experiment.

How many of you are going to publish in Amazon's new Vella?

>>18113987
Not me. I'm not a huge fan of serialized writing. I'm still holding out, hoping against hope, to eventually land a conventional publishing deal.

so im writing a comic and i compare myself in a weird way to other media and i just need some input on it.
im focusing a lot on narrative and what parts of my comic mean in a grander scheme to these characters, but if they fall flat i dont really feel like i have to worry too much because i see a lot of anime or tv that goes on for way too many seasons and see there's no narrative or theme anymore but people still enjoy it.
im still striving for a deeper meaning in my work, though i feel like a pretentious ass hat for it, but if i miss the mark is it bad for me to feel that "oh someone HAS to still enjoy this, look at what else is out there."?

> traditional book royalty rate: 5% to 12%
> self-publishing book royalty rate: 30% to 70%

amazing that people still fall for the publishing house jew

>>18114024
as for advertising? genuine question. i dont want to get scammed. i cant pay for either a scam or advertising.

>>18114024
I thought it was more like 33% royalties.

>>18113987
When it's available over here, I'll give it a go. Could be a fun side-project.

>>18114024
If I cared about money I wouldn't be writing.

>>18114035
in my experience, the typical self publishing royalty rate is 40% to 50%. You'll get 30% if you price your book very low, 99 cents, and 70% if you sign up for those exclusivity contracts with Kindle Unlimited.

>>18113900
Is it weird if I think I know what you're talking about? Like, it was even a meme where it was posted?

>>18114030
I don't pay for advertising, I rely entirely on people typing in the right search terms. I write mostly non fiction so this works out ok, but I've heard that the situation is much different for fiction

>>18114050
as for physical copies? whats the avenue for getting those into stores? or are you only digital?

>>18114053
I use both print on demand for physical prints and ebooks. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Google Play, and Kobo Ratuken. I've submitted my books for expanded distribution (meaning real bookstores can order them), but only a few of them have actually been approved for ED. It doesn't matter, as I havnt had a single sale from ED. I only make $20 a month though so maybe someone more financially successful can give you a second opinion

>>18114043
I was talking about traditional royalties.

www.dropbox.com/s/uh6mpokuun5ftj1/Final_trimmed.pdf
I'm taking a screenwriting course (I've never actually taken a writing course before, in the past I've only written prose/stories as a hobby) and I've just finished the first draft of my final - it's a screenplay of a short film, not long at all. Just your impressions on how bad/good it is would be great.
I'm the guy who got feedback some other time where I complained about how my mediocre screenplay got a meager B+ (the catch being that the prof usually grades super easy), but people told me that it was indeed mediocre and I should go kill myself yada yada. Now, here's something I put my heart into. Please be brutally honest.

>>18114097
And to add on I know there's a fair amount of typos and oddly worded things in the script. I didn't edit or revise it at all, saving that for after I get a general feel of where I'm at.

>>18114107
Why would you save that for another point? Fix your fucking typos.

>>18114093
33%??? Oh vey. You're killing me, do you know how tight our margins are? I cannot possibly afford a 25% royalty rate. Paying you 15% per book sold wouldn't leave enough money for your editor and producer and marketer. There won't be any money left for them if you take 10%. But you know, anon, you're such a talent and have a bright future. I'm going to give youa better royalty rate than anyone else, 8%. Now aren't you pleased with your 5%?

>>18114111
I just spent four hours straight writing this thing and you're right that I'm probably too eager to get feedback when I should probably put in a minimum of effort to edit it before sharing.
There are only like three typos though, the biggest issue is just awkward wording that I'm going to fix later. It's readable.

>>18113274
You're words are overly fancy.

>>18114111
>>18114120
Alright, I went ahead and fixed it. The dialogue was honestly kind of cringey so I worked it to be better for your sake. What I need feedback on is the entire piece as a whole, though.

Has writing become too formalized? On a lark I read the Wikipedia page on writing styles and it has a bunch of what I see as overly-definitive statements. For example, the article cites "writing experts" as having certain views (e.g. that the goal of writing is to be clear, concise and simple) but when you check the actual citations, none of them are actual authors. They're just academics who have never produced any significant work of literature and probably never will. Why is this just tacitly accepted as "the truth" by so many people? I have my theories but ultimately I just don't understand. To me it seems like personal taste masquerading as the output of some kind of scientific process.

>>18114201
What do you mean formalized? Writing has existed forever, and in the past it was mostly a hobby for the very wealthy (and for those wealthy enough to afford an education). So depending on what you mean by formalized, it probably was more formalized in the past.

>>18114201
> To me it seems like personal taste masquerading as the output of some kind of scientific process
Check the edit history of that Wikipedia article. It's most likely a high ranking editor or admin who is using their powers to write bullshit, like that Scots Wikipedia admin

>>18114201
>Wikipedia
Stopped reading.

>>18114211
Formalized as in defined. Solved, even. That's what the "expert" academicians think they've done, evidently. It's just so sterile and arrogant, the way the ivory tower types dictate to everyone what writing "should" be. Now, I don't think that my opinion is any better in a cosmic sense. But at the same time my methodologies are purely human ones. I have a set of preferences and predilections drawn from my own experiences. They are what makes sense to me, and I don't attempt to overreach or speak definitively. This is absolutely not the message coming out of academia, which seems full of careerists jockeying for some kind of doctrinal supremacy. I don't see what the confidence rests on.

>>18114232
You know that's the good thing about something as abstract as writing.
The proof is in the pudding. Rules are as good as garbage. Why would you spend any time at all agonizing over it?

>>18114243
It just bugs me. I know I shouldn't care. I guess it could be more of a problem with human nature rather than the specifics. It reminds me that there are ardent, zealous devotees of a cause I don't support. That's entirely their right, but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth when something so widespread more or less defines itself against the things I like. No less, it tries to put itself "ahead," rather than making any concessions whatsoever for some variability. At the same time, there's a lot of "gravitas" to academia. After all, I am just "me," and I'm just one person against the accumulated body of work of a bunch of people whose background and qualifications I don't have. It gets me doubting myself to see something stated so authoritatively with what seems like the entire Institution of Academia behind it.

>>18113150
>>18113265

Maybe now you're ready to take the next steps on your writing path.
1. Stop comparing yourself to others.
2. Recognize writing as plain manual labor instead of inviolable divine essence.
3. Learn to be critical towards your own writing.
4. Learn to analyze criticism, take from it what matters, and don't get hung up on the style of delivery.

>>18114287
>Recognize writing as plain manual labor instead of inviolable divine essence
I'm not sure how this should be taken. If you mean to say that you shouldn't see the products of your writing as scripture, I agree entirely. If your writing is scripture then who is anyone else say anything except in praise? But I do think that the act of writing itself is something that approaches divinity; if not in content then in the act itself.

>>18114317
its cuz you're a dumb dweeb
study hard, practice hard and work hard
don't be a mentally cucked romanticist who weighs themselves down with the phantoms of literary ideals

>>18114375
You're right, my mistake! I should definitely abandon my own opinions and instead adopt yours. I've been convinced!

>>18114383
it's less for your sake and more for anyone on the verge of pseudom
it's for the best if more potential writers view writing as a labor than as some embellished symbol of intellectualism
it's clear you're already too far gone

>>18114397
Ah, yes. People who share your personal opinions are TruIntellectuals(tm) and people who disagree with you are lowly pseudointellectuals. How could I not have seen this great, cosmic truth you've illuminated for us blundering plebeians? Thank you... thank you so much! The generosity of your magnanimous spirit is an ideal which the rest of us can but admire from afar. I realize now that by virtue of failing your Cosmic Litmus Test, I am forever a pseudointellectual. Might you permit me to kiss your boot? Suckle, perhaps, a solitary digit?

>>18114412
your identity as a pseud is preventing you from comprehending a mongolian throat singing forum post
the implication of the posts both made and replied to is of the value of a pragmatic view on both work ethic and results
I fear for the quality of your writing, what with your display of language processing skills. not to mention how your insecurities must effect your editing
get over yourself

>>18114433
It's so troubling to be so misunderstood... and to such a magnitude...

>>18114442
post your opinion on how one should frame their mind set when approaching writing
it'll help steer any on the fence anons away from the mental vacuity of pseudom if they see how embarassing it is forthright

amusingly you've demonstrated that you would almost definitely fail according to anons advices >>18114287
good advice btw. if a writer can get over these mental pitfalls they'll find much more productivity during their writing sessions and develop their skills more quickly

>>18114461
I'm fucking with you, retard. I really couldn't give less of a shit what your opinion is or in which ways it contrasts my own.

First or third person? Past or present tense?

>>18114474
Currently I'm using 1st person, past tense.

>>18114466
insecure and shameful; a completely ineffectual lie
why would you append your self aggrandizing opinions to good, actionable advice
there's enough idiots around without you 'pretending' to be retarded and perpetuating common flaws

>>18114474
you're going to write in second person, future tense

>>18114483
madman
also kek

>>18114195
did you really? the dialogue is still cringey

>>18114474
First person, present tense. Trying out stream of consciousness in a sci-fi setting... but I don’t think it’s working.

>>18114676
There's a reason most writing is third person.

>>18114474
past tense
sometimes first, more often third

>>18114683
Just wanted to try it out, and yea, there’s probably a reason

>>18114478
I'm not sure who it is you think you're talking to. The straw man looks pretty on fire, though.

>>18114474
I almost always write first person, present tense. When I don't, it's usually a first person recounting of the events occurring to a third party. Third person just feels really sterile, and too far removed. There's a lot more room for idiosyncrasy when you write in the first person that would otherwise read like the author dictating that to a reader rather than the reader experiencing it. When you add in the present tense it can get much more difficult, but when done well can give an almost cloying sense of immediacy or proximity to the narrator. Some people will just never like it because of that, but I don't really care about that personally.

>don't write all week
>have constant low stress over not writing
>sit down to do a flash
>finish instantly, have tons of fun
AAAAAAHHH
How do I break the short story curse. It feels so good bros. I never should have tried it. Just one little flash, what's the harm. You can go back to writing full length fiction whenever you want, just try it.
FUCK

>>18114474
First person recounting. I find it comfy and easy to write. Probably because I'm more used to telling stories verbally than writing them

>Write chapter about the characters being forced to play a logic game to get info out of the antagonist
>Get to the end and realize I want to do a different logic game because it's simply more coherent in written form
>Say fuck it and leave chapter as is, it's just draft 1 and I can fix it in revisions
That's how the pro's do it, right?

>>18114773
note down the quick barebones on your current idea and move on
I feel like I saw you posting about this recently
>follows through
>doesn't overwork
>makes progress
based anime writer. gl in your writing

>>18114773
If you truly are an anime writer then read Usogui. It's a manga but the whole premise seems to be what you're describing and it's considered one of the best gambling manga
Plenty of scenarios to draw from and even though it's a visual medium most of the game explanations are done through large bodies of text

>>18114474
Third person present tense, also fuck YA

>>18114780
Yes, it is I, Anime Writer-san

I can't even deny the accusation because the premise of the story was literally "What if Gantz was a tower climber and cared more about the resurrection than it did about Kei crying?"

>>18114797
Thanks for the reccomendation. Got a reader to use while Mangadex is down? I've heard mangasee is the current go to

>>18114803
>present tense
Disgusting

>>18115004
present tense being bad is a meme

>>18115073
I doubt anyone on this board has the chops to write present tense competently. Me included.

>>18115082
i do

>>18115082
who deluded you into thinking present tense is harder than past tense

>>18115082
Present tense is easy. Just write in present tense.

>>18115089
If you can't even tell why, then you can't do it.

>>18114317
>you shouldn't see the products of your writing as scripture
That's right. Many beginner writers treat their text like their baby, a new lifeform made of their heartblood, and any suggestion of change is a personal insult. It's alright to take writing seriously, but at the end of the day, it's just so many words on paper. You shouldn't be afraid to rip all of it to shreds with your own hands, if need be.

How do you guys think of a plot?
I can come up with characters or themes/concepts to talk about but plot doesn't come to me.
I can maybe think of a situation that i want to happen in the story or just the ending and stuff like that but how do I think of other shit to form a complete story?

Seconding the question above me

>>18115155
Depends on the story you want to tell. There might be different milestones for romance than adventure.
For what I'm writing now I already have an image of an ending in mind. The rest is blood, sweat and tears. I also used a calendar to track in-story time.

>>18115155
if you can think of a theme have a vague idea of what you want to write then just write
a big reason that the drafting process is so great is because it gives you the benefit of retrospection so that you can piece together a more cohesive story the next draft

>>18115155
>Think of a problem
>Think of what it takes to solve that problem
>Mix in sub plots

>>18115155
you don't really need a "plot" per se, you just need things that happen. narrative is much more essential than plot and also much more broad and encompassing. as long as you have a direction of events, the events themselves don't need to be super interesting scenes or whatever, especially if you're more thematically oriented. if your ideas are worth exploring, you should focus more on conveyance to buttress what could otherwise be a skeletal framework (assuming you even have one)

I don't know how to finish my story

>>18115288
The butler did it

>>18115155
when I had to double the size of my novel I had to do a lot of plotting on stuff I had no idea about. I took a lot of time, mostly going on walks or day-dreaming before bed, while staring at sky on park benches, imagining set pieces I wanted, moments and actions necessary and logical for the characters, the development of stakes and tensions between characters. Chapters came to me slowly but I spent months writing down everything I thought of on my phone mostly. Once you start you get a momentum, good ideas beget other good ideas. Eventually I had a whole draft written without much work. The hard part will be editing and smoothing out. But during a ketemine trip a person I described the plot to was super stoked about it, so I think it will be a banger. It took about a year part time writing to do about 60-80k words with this method.

>>18115125
no, see that's not an argument, either explain why you adhere to these arbitrary popular conventions of how literature should be written or shut the fuck up

>>18112321
>Story Genius: How to Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel (Before You Waste Three Years Writing 327 Pages That Go Nowhere)
>You can't just write cool random shit, it needs context and purpose for the characters
Yeah, I believed everyone who wants to write knew that already. Should I continue or that is the main message?

>>18115429
Sounds like the main message to me.

>>18115288
Make the last handful of chapters progressively off the rails then top it off with an it wuz all a dream, leaving nothing resolved. Works every time.

>>18115429
Yeah that’s the gist of it. Then it gives its own outlining technique that highlights the character development “third rail”

>>18115444
>its own outlining technique that highlights the character development
That sounds interesting. Which of those books on the OP did you get the most out of?

>>18115467
I’ve only read the story genius one and I liked it. You can get the story outline technique for free though. Just google story genius scene cards. Some people have put together how to PDFs for easy reference

>>18115429
>Yeah, I believed everyone who wants to write knew that already
Very wrong
The meat of the book is explaining how you can write a story with a consistent theme, anyhow
If you don't feel like you need help doing that, I don't know why you're reading books on writing rather than writing anyways

>>18115487
Well, reference is always good. If nothing else, the book made me pay more attention to context.

>>18115484
Thanks, anon.

>>18115487
Really. I'd rather brainlets write unhinged than think they can ascend by following rules some slightly less retarded person wrote down.

>>18115543


>>18115543
>I'd rather painters paint unhinged than think they can ascend by following rules some slightly less retarded person wrote down.

>>18115622
He's right you know. But knowing how to write a theme throughline is pretty important too.

Poets of /wg/,

I write poetry idly when inspiration strikes, without any desire to publish it or show it to anyone other than myself. But, if I wanted to have poetry published, will I be limited to the fact that I like to incorporate iambic pentameter/rhyme schemes? I get the impression metrical poetry isn't published any more.

After reviewing global rule 3c I think I'm fine to post this because it's not pornographic.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/28151856/chapters/68979423
>inb4 furry
>inb4 AO3 link
>inb4 mobshit
I think I've improved since Chapter 1 but it always helps to get new eyes on it. I'd appreciate feedback especially from Chap 9 onward. Thanks in advance.

>>18115622
Picasso finished his father's paintings better than he could when he was barely able to walk.
Form destroys art.

I want to write a novel for porn addicted, video game playing, sports watching permadolescent state of 21st century men that prescribes deep reading in fiction as way to take back greatness in this feminised world. The hook is that the book is a satire on the masturbatory writer writing about writers style that makes its way to the front of GoodReads. All I have is the line from a black female ceo brought in from a failed silicon valley startup to shake up a dying historic publishing house "Ladies, if reading is the only way we can mourn the truly dead, our mission is to be the first generation to administer the last rites on white men!"

I am going anywhere with this?

>>18115971
uhhh

>>18115971
Your target audience will never read your book.

>>18115971
ywnbaw(riter)

>>18115826
Stay on the /trash/ thread retard, hmofa is cringe anyways

>>18116046
Target audience is any man that's enjoyed writing as a boy but was told that words weren't for him after being brought into a world where 'bookclub' is synonymous for womens bickering group, dogshit dross living as a minority in the urban middle class makes it to the windows of every chain retailer, the staff at Penguin go on strike after Jordan Peterson attempts to publish a money spinning follow up self-help book (a man introduced Dostoevsky to millennial men). Any man whose creative impulse died and was resurrected as pointless rage after the culture industry told him that the 'we don't want people like you here'. People still read transgressive fiction, and even if the reading public is only 15% XY, surely there's enough men who dreamt of being Hemmingway and whose disillusions are unvoiced?

>>18116190
Yes, and you share a board with them, so there is a target audience. You ought to finish it.

>>18115971
cancer

>Start reading Bukowski
>It's just pure ramble with barely any story
>Can't put it down

How does he do it?
Is it more to do with identifying with the character, rather than the writing? Or was Bukowski some sort of subtle genius?

>>18116242
Characterization when you have a pallet of life experience to draw on, Bukowski is the same as Henry Miller.

>>18116190
You perhaps should know that the way you structure your sentences and express your line of thought makes you sound psychotic. Very disordered speech and loose associations. Look up schizophrenia speech patterns.

>>18116242
he always said when you write, whatever you put down has to be "pure juice" no nonsense, so every page is just littered with great lines and nothing else. although I bet it helps to identify. like reading post office, the hung over af MC just struggling to deliver the mail brought back so many memories of going to work blindingly hungover and just fighting through it.

>>18115151
Considering how many common is for writers to trash what they wrote and give up, I dont think this is true.

>>18116190
Your style of writing is not best suited for a novel. I would try writing on torn-out notebook pages taped to your front door, or maybe on scraps of cardboard found around the dumpster.

>>18116343
Tbf I am formally diagnosed with a Schioid spectrum disorder. Out of interest, would you suggest I indulge it by reading esoteric lit and risk ending up as part of a junkie suicide cult or 'seek help' and do my best to die as an NPC?

>>18113987
I don't see much of a reason to at all. 5k word limit on chapters seems arbitrary, and I'd have to make awkward restructuring on chapters and it wouldn't be worth it.

>>18114474
I'm utilizing 1st and 3rd person in my current fiction depending on the pov, but any chapter is restricted to one pov and has one or the other (1st/3rd). Both present tense in either case.

>struggle to right a few hundred words for a story I want to write
>lay down a good thousand for fabric

The fuck is wrong with me?

>>18116661
I waste thousands of words on fanfiction desu. It’s more fun to write.

>>18116665
...it's weird right? Like, somehow more gratifying

>>18115971
I'd read your novel, it might even be good. If that's what you want to write about, write about that. I wasn't expecting the replies you've got, but I guess it's the same reaction Confederacy of Dunces got - it's too real for people on this website, kek. The line on administering the last rites of white men is trash tho.

>>18116419
Are those the only options?

>>18116751
The content isn't what we're roasting him for.

>>18116665
Writing fanfics is such grateful work. Especially when you find that niche fetish that has been so neglected and you enjoy writing for.
I feel like Jesus cloning fish every time.

>>18116814
Lol what are you writing fanfic of?

>>18116857
It's incest and that's all I'm gonna say about it.

>>18116867
That was a given when you said "fanfic." More deets pls

>>18116319
If they gave up, then they aren't writers.

>>18115383
>see that's not an argument
Yes, it is.
>either explain why you adhere to these arbitrary popular conventions of how literature should be written
But that's not what we're talking about.

>>18116891
You'd be wrong because as I said it's a very neglected niche in the fandom. Surprising I know.
All right, I didn't publish on AO3, but on the other site. It's also from a very large fandom. Happy hunting.

What's the perfect book planning hierarchy in terms of what you should perfect in order? Is it
>Theme message setting characters narrative plot
Or
>Theme message setting narrative plot characters
And why am I always putting theme first

>>18113403
This is such a good pasta

>>18117068
respect for honoring the og without retarded tag cancer

Is under $100 proofread unrealistic for a 33,000 novella? All the fiverr rates are above $100

>>18117248
If you aren't prepared to pay for your craft, how can you expect anyone else to?

Just join a tranny discord and get it proofread for free.

>>18117266
I was expecting that response. Where are these discords?

>>18117274
>https://discord.gg/eSe3vHP
Here you go, senpai.

>>18116814
I don’t do lewd fanfics, literally Star Wars OCs just doing adventure-y shit. I don’t even post em anywhere. It’s all self insert garbage and I’m having a great time.

>>18117308
Write me a scene about futa cumming!!!!!!!

>https://ghostbin.com/paste/A0aXM

still working on something I posted here the other day, and got some really helpful input on. I'm at about 4,300 words now and am looking for a couple people to read and tell me if I'm interesting them or barking up the wrong tree. obv, that's quite a bit of words, so if you give me a review I'll gladly reciprocate for works of your at around the same word length. Still have a busy day, so I'll extend this offer to the first five people to give me a read. Thanks.

>>18114676
>>18114719
>>18114803
>>18116600
>present tense chads

Are paid writing courses always not worth it?
Are they any benefits to them that would greatly improve my below mediocre work?

>>18117757
Did a very brief skim. This paragraph is ungodly long. Also far too many periods in general when it comes to dialogue tags and punctuation. IE:

>“I have something for you, dear.” Lin tilted his shades, speaking low. “You must be there, tonight.”
“Okay, Lin.” The door slammed shut,
>“I have something for you, dear,” Lin tilted his shades, speaking low “you must be there, tonight.”
“Okay, Lin,” the door slammed shut,

Also, you need more dialogue indicators on who is talking. Also further down you have more x-box 1 huge paragraph that could be broken down into smaller paragraphs.

>>18114097
Bump.

>>18117781
I used to be a very piss poor prose writer for years while I was a teenager, now I'm 20 and "above average". The best advice I could give is constantly read books and compare it to your own work, have other writers read and critique your work, and constantly think about what you're doing wrong.
Paid courses can do some of that but you can also get it for free.

>>18117812
cool, thanks

>>18117757
Hi there tripfag

>A pebble, lodged between the grooves underneath Arda’s left sneaker, scratched like a metronome on the pavement as she made her way down another city block.
I don't exactly understand this metaphor. Metronomes don't scratch, they tick. It's a burdensome beginning that doesn't really hook me in.
>The sun was white-hot and it baked the concrete pads of the sidewalk until the smell of stale urine rose up like morning fog from a pond.
"The sun glowed white-hot, baking the concrete slabs of the sidewalk. Under the rays' influence, a smell of stale urine rose up from a nearby pond."
Use active words (not "was"), cut down unnecessary words and metaphors, shorten your convoluted sentences.
>Lonely figures swaddled in blankets and heavy coats sat all along each block in this part of the city with their eyes drooped and palms up, begging in hopeless monotone.
Alright. Arguably purple prose but that's just my own taste. At least, break it down a bit. Lonely figures swaddled in blankets and heavy coats sat all along each block in this part of the city. Their eyes drooped, their palms raised, as they begged in hopeless monotone.
>Some muttered nervously
>shouted angrily
>snored loudly
All three of those adverbs are implied by the context. Remove them.
>The shuffling of feet and groaning and the persistence of pleas for change coalesced into a routine of sound and motion the walkers were oblivious to. An old man with scabs creeping out from under his coat’s collar and sleeves stumbled forward, and a woman on her cell-phone simply brushed him back to the gutter with the back of her arm. To the walkers it was all unremarkable; the muttering and pleading and the stench represented only the sensory extension of what filled the gutter of any sidewalk on any day of the week: filth, detritus, someone else’s lost things.
I'm out of breath. Divide these sentences a bit, they're too long.
>The beggars were a part of the city architecture, imminent in it’s low overpasses and plentiful dumpsters, designed not to be noticed. Arda noticed. Though she made her way at the pace of the walkers and mirrored their tunnel-vision gazes, she couldn’t deny the apparent synchrony of the beggars. The unwritten rules of the city were made clear through this harmonious dance.
Not bad. This, I like. Maybe replace imminent with omnipresent.
>Pit-bulls changed magically into corgis and australian shepherds.
Remove magically.
>She nodded back, sure that this was probably one of Sandy’s friends from Michigan she met at the Halloween thing, probably. She kept moving.
If you're sure about something, then it's not probable, it's certain. Remove both of the "probably".

Will continue in next post

>>18117859
Thank you kindly!

>>18117859
>“PINCHE BABOSO!” and a long, unbroken honking interrupted Lin.
Remove "and" and break up the sentence. "“PINCHE BABOSO!” A long, unbroken[...]"
>One of the skinny guys was in the middle of making a point as Arda slipped noiselessly into the circle and took Mari’s cigarette for a drag.
"slipping" implies being quiet. Remove "noiselessly".
>One has to learn to temper their immediate reactions of shock or boredom or confusion or ambivalence with practiced expressions of pensive thought, and rumination. The little motions-- the soft furrowing of the brow, a gentle tilt of the head, finger and thumb at rest on the chin-- represent a careful commitment to the craft of taking-things-in. Only those particularly skilled observers can master such high-level responses as distaste, or disapproval. Delivered by an amateur, a reaction of disgust will backfire: the viewer then becomes the subject of their own silent judgement by their fellow viewers, amounting to a kind of defeat.
Kino. I can excuse the pretentious vocabulary, since it's narrated by a pretentious art critic. It's my favorite part of your work.
>One does not simply walk into a gallery and find something to look at, blankly agape.
"agape" implies being dumbfounded. Remove "blankly".
>Unfortunately it didn’t translate well into the piece that Arda wrote afterward (her editor received some pretty angry mail about it from some pretty sophisticated people, and gave Arda a “talking-to” she was still sour about) but it was a great show, and not one of her worst pieces.
This sentence is ridiculously long. Cut that down, split it up, anything.
>His head was drooped back lazily, and a made-up woman in a skimpy nurse’s uniform rubbed his shoulders and kept an eye on the fold of his elbow, where an hypodermic needle was placed and taped down.
"was" is unecessary, "lazily" is implied by "drooped", and the sentence is too long. You can split it in two it at either "drooped back" or "his elbow".

I enjoyed my read. It delves a little bit into racial minority experiences in a way that I found tactful and authentic - I'm not part of one, though, so maybe I'm talking out of my ass. Your biggest problems are your extremely convoluted sentences - I didn't highlight all of them here, only the worst ones in my opinion - but more could afford some trimming. Check your adverbs, adjectives and metaphors and make each one fight for its existence. Purge the weak that don't add anything to your piece. It's not that "words that require you to think" are bad, it's that they're spammed constantly in this piece and it gets exhausting. Otherwise, the content itself is vivid, emotional and I especially liked the part about art appreciation. Thanks for the read.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-gU3RsIeJlE-q7tJFl-pnfni_oxhgRC6YEDMCifTgfs/edit?usp=sharing
Your turn now, tripfag. It's only 750 words.

https://ghostbin.com/paste/1An8u

I am a newfag and ESL-fag all at once, which is why I don't know if this is the right place, but I would like feedback on a short poem I wrote and then translated.

>>18117991
That final line is a brutal return to reality after the jolly, dreamy imagery of the previous lines. Your poem lacks rhythm but I imagine that's simply because of the translation.

I'd remove Almost like a trepanned house and Back in her day as they felt unnecessary, but perhaps they're cool to have in your language?

>>18117991
I don't really get poetry, especially non-rhyming poems, but it was pretty good.

>As the protein drink dribbles down her chin
That's cum, right?

>listening to the radio
>"After the year that brought our world to a dark standstill... We are finally seeing daylight"
Who hires these fucking idiot writers

>>18118034
Thanks for help, and glad you liked the ending. Yeah i had to sacrifice rythm in exchange for accuracy. Im not skilled enough to create a convincing rythm in english. I agree that the lines you mentioned feel unneccessary. I will probably remove them or rewrite them.

>>18118037
whatever you want it to be, mon frere

>>18118042
Nepotism

>>18117967
first, thanks again, this is definitely the kind of input I'm looking for

for your piece, it's definitely more terse with each sentence, so I don't have much to say in terms of the nuts and bolts-- as far as I can tell you're trying to construct something with the text outside of just the story, and I think you've done so in a clever way.

personally, I would modify the level of anthropomorphism and have it build:
>My host’s blood fills my chambers.
change to: "host's blood filling all chambers"
>I shrivel and contract
change to: "shrivel; contract"
maybe not exactly those, but if you remove the personalization of the narrator in the beginning it would convey a sense of itself forming mind as it progresses. by the time it's saying "so festive, for a song of suffocation" it can be wholly self-actualized as a "me/my" it also contrasts artfully with what you've represented as the body, with a seemingly clear idea of itself. but maybe I misunderstand and that's not what you want.

anything in particular you have questions about? I thought it was engaging, but the style could be an impediment if you wanted to draw the story out.

>>18118102
Thank you for the feedback. I definitely agree that the story would benefit from your changes, as the concept of a construct slowly gaining free will was exactly what I was going for. Making the beginning more computer-like will strengthen this.
>the style could be an impediment if you wanted to draw the story out
That wasn't my intent. It was a small experiment to see if I could do something cool with the length and structure of the paragraphs contributing to the story by showing a rhythm losing track of itself.

>be me
>summer 4 years ago
>start writing a story based on an idea i had for a long while
>post some chapters on royal road
>start getting some views, even some regulars in the comments section
>run out of stocked chapters
>immediately run out of juice, get cold feet and drop it
Can i ever be forgiven?

>>18118207
You can only be redeemed if you finish what you started.

>>18118207
Yes, by starting again

>>18118207
Post link or GTFO

>>18114474
Second person, future tense. You will learn to love it.

>>18118207
Oh yes anon, please think of the poor souls who took the time out of their day to type "thanks for the chapter" into the comment box! Pity upon them! Restore to them the youth you've stolen by committing to their screen that work which they are owed!

>>18118321
You WILL write how I tell you to
You WILL enjoy it

>>18118323
Kek, at least they had the presence of mind to make their appreciation known. It’s better than nothing. I agree that you shouldn’t write if it’s a chore, but if you do like what you do, it’s okay to feed the retards once in a while. They’re the ones who donate on patreon, after all

>>18118321
>writing my magnum opus
>2nd person future tense, of course
>this is how life is going to be
>need to write about an event that happened in the past
>change to present tense
>currently bleeding out on the bathroom floor
>book ends

>>18118407
People here actually have Patreons? I thought that was a meme.

>>18118567
There are some disgusting amounts of money being made on Royal Road. Pic related is one of the worst cases, as he’s making bank from writing litrpg that looks like it was written by GPT-3. If you want to seethe a little bit, go on RR, click random popular stories and see if you can find patreon links. It’s insane.

>>18118608
Good God, and I've been languishing in Amazon KDP hell for 6 years? What is my problem?

https://ghostbin.com/paste/pofbL

This is the first thing I've written. You can tell.

Please rip me apart so I can learn, it's 800 words, sorry if that's too long I'm new.

>>18118654
Get on RR right now. That’s where the money is. I started one month ago and I’ve made 47$ now from about 10k words. It’s not much, but it’s growing by the day.

>>18118688
>this is the first thing I’ve written. You can tell.
Cringe. It clearly isn’t.
>please rip me apart
Double cringe. Don’t tell us what to do.
>Sorry if that’s too long
Triple cringe. It isn’t.
>I’m new
Quadra cringe for exposing yourself as a newfag.

I’ll add a fifth cringe for your general lack of self-esteem.

When I stop seething over the fact that what you wrote is ten times better than my magnum opus, I will give you some feedback.

>>18116965
Your position is baseless.

>>18118703
patreon or paypal?

>>18118764
Patreon all the way.

>>18118734
Ok thanks I guess.

>>18118703
God damn, I've got 490k words across 3 fully completed books I can put up there. That should keep me plenty occupied if I publish serially.

>>18118802
Charge in with bursts of about 10k words at once, every other day or so. Thank me in the next /wg/.

>>18118777
how are you even setting it up? usually they promote like 10 chapters ahead for larger paypiggies. are you just getting a bunch of people to give you like $5 a month instead

>>18118817
Here's how I do it. Release a chapter every six days, and always host the next chapter in Patreon six days in advance so my loyal minions can read it first before anyone else. Put down low donation tiers like 1$, 2$ and 5$. Cash in.

>>18118853
What happens when you run out of content?

>>18118892
A. Slow down output rate
B. Run away with the money and delete all accounts
C. Call the book finished and decide if I want to start a new one or not

non-fiction book under my real name is out, now I can reward myself and write some fiction

why are there so many writing books anyway? are all of them just the same contents being rehashed in different ways?
what are ultimately good writing books?

Anybody have experience releasing before editing is complete die to impatience?

I need some inspiration on the most cheesy "get the girl" romance events.
Can someone give me some media examples? Books, TV, Films, etc. is fine.

>>18119219
a couple weeks ago I released a chapter that I only spent maybe an hour editing on the day I released it. I then spent another 2-3 hours afterward editing it to fix that. usually I spend at least 2 days editing in order to spread it out and catch things I missed on the first past. I'd say don't do it, you'll regret it

>>18119254
Ya I finished my novella and want to release it already but patience is a virtue.

>>18118688
I like it anon. There are a few rough parts towards the end but I appreciate the flow and the understated descriptions. They fit the piece very well.

How many words makes an average session for you when you're working on draft 1?

>>18119246
you're talking like going to a carnival and getting stuck on the ferris wheel type shit or what?

>>18119246
Dawson's Creek. Secret life of the American Teenager.

>>18119312
Perfect.

>>18119297
On a good night, 1800-2500. On a typical night, 1000 or less.

>>18119297
I think about ~800 words on average if I'm reading my writing history right. I'm not entirely sure how or where it calculated 300k on the 1st. I think that's when I got around to importing my project into v3, so it probably factored in everything. I don't write every day though.

>>18119388
How did you get this info?

>>18119402
Ah you are using scrivener. Fair enough. Would you recommend? I have been using Word.

>>18119407
In Scrinever 3, it's in Projects > Writing History.

>>18119398
Yeah, I think it's good but I am a little biased of course. There's nothing wrong with using whatever you feel is necessary. It's basically like Word but with the ability to also put in misc research stuff and keep things nice and organized.

In a way, it's like offline Google docs but with far less lag. It's designed in mind to view scenes/chapters separately and not all as one document if things like that overwhelm you. It also has built-in compilation for epub/kindle among other things. Has a lot of templates to choose from for fictions or non-fictions, even plays as well, but you're more than free to write from a blank slate.

Enormous portions of my books are dialogue. In fact, I'd argue that my books are 75%+ dialogue. Do I give up and convert everything to screenplays or is this just how I'm gonna write

>>18119496
If the dialogue is interesting there isn't any problem. Perhaps you can use more body language, or incorporate more physical description but I couldn't tell you without sampling.

>>18119496
I'm sure there's a novel out there where it's just 2 people sitting in a room and they're just talking. I don't know how great it would be to read, though.

>>18119540
I can find a sample for next thread. I ask because I've noticed that a lot of people ITT post narration/exposition based stories whereas mine are very dialogue centric. In one sense I don't get the chance to flex those narrative muscles often and feel like I'm lacking in "prose beauty", but in another, I feel like dialogue is a really strong tool to express character thoughts and feelings without telling them to the reader directly.

How small can a city be?
I'm having one of my novels take place in an impoverished, small sized desert city and it needs to be large enough to host a well-used coliseum but also small enough to be overtaken by a rich slave driver and his band of mercenaries.

>>18119580
Dude, like 10000 people? Use your brain.

>>18119580
maybe make it that it used to be a big city but many people left.

>>18119672
adding to what this anon said make it so it used to be near a large river, but over the years the path of it changed, or something, increasing desertification. alternatively, make it so it used to be a trade hub and then a war broke out, or a new path was used, so less travelers came by and people started leaving

How to write a cozy fanatasy adventure?

>>18119752
you need a cozy plotot and interesting chararcters

>>18119752
Read something that's a cozy fantasy adventure?

Thoughts? Prompt is in the picture too, I wasn't going to post it again/so soon, but I feel like I'm getting somewhere.

Again, if you can, recommend books, recommend practice exercises, tell me what you hate about it, and please tell me what you like too.

>>18119752
>>18119760
What do you mean by 'cozy?'

>>18119788
And there we go again, I've already fucked up the second sentence. I'd probably fix that and the bit about the sunrise.

Also rate the passage out to 10 if you can too.

>>18119672
>>18119699
Cheers anons

>>18119788
I like it, reminds me of some of my own writing. I especially like the first paragraph,
>The day's sunrise desperately stretched its rays, but failed to spark joy.
>dried blood never broke off so cleanly
Good stuff anon.

>>18119788
Dear God that's awful. To be fair the prompt is retarded as well.

I am pleased to announce that I have finished the first draft of "Cumball's Awakening," the first middle grade novella in the Cum Saga. After I finish editing this, I will send this off to agents and begin writing "Cum Saga 2: Voyage to the Land of DICK and CUNT."

>>18119886
Thanks anon.

>>18119992
What? Why do you think it's bad?

>>18119776
Do you have any recommendations?

>>18120182
>What? Why do you think it's bad?
Because it doesn't achieve anything. Sun rays of unhappiness? Chipping off wood? A sad tree rotting away? Well slit your wrist why don't you. I really can't bring myself to care.

The prompt is speaking about war and loss. I don't see anything that refers to that aside from clumsy metaphors. It's just random pity baiting and that's why it sucks. Lay off the philosophy and try to paint a picture that tells me something. Just because you can't mention things doesn't mean you can't allude to them.

But as I said, the prompt sucks.

>>18120198
Can't help you there sadly. There are a few google results for 'cozy fantasy adventure' though.

>>18120223
>Because it doesn't achieve anything.
It's a description.

>try to paint a picture that tells me something.
Like what?

>Just because you can't mention things doesn't mean you can't allude to them.
I'm pretty sure that was the point of the exercise, anon.

>>18120306
Look if you don't get what I mean by "paint me a picture" then there's little I can do to help. Get some more reading done. I don't mean this in a denigrating way.

>>18120320
>Look if you don't get what I mean by "paint me a picture" then there's little I can do to help.
Anon, I've read quite a bit, and I think I've painted an alright picture. People in the last thread that I posted this in (the unedited version) seemed to agree, so I'm not talking out of my ass here. I'm asking you because your advice didn't tell me any specific ways to improve the paragraph.

>>18120332
It's hamfisted, I would've gone in detail before if you just plaintexted it.
>Man and cattle both stayed inside contemplating morality
Come on now. This is beyond facepalm level. Really there's no way for me to guarantee my opinion is valid. But an actual audience and the few /lit/tards who post philosophy garbage 24/7 is night and day.

You want real feedback, put your writing out there and start crunching numbers on how much attention it gets.

>>18120396
Okay, I might be retarded at this point but:
>It's hamfisted
>This is beyond facepalm level
Tell me nothing about what I'm actually doing wrong here. I admit that it was a shitty line, as was the bit about the sunlight after it (see: >>18119803) but I want to know why they're garbage, so that I can get rid of the problem.

>Really there's no way for me to guarantee my opinion is valid.
Thanks for understanding, and I hope you realize that's exactly I'm asking for advice beyond 'it's X' or 'X is bad.' It's also why I ask for number ratings.

>But an actual audience and the few /lit/tards who post philosophy garbage 24/7 is night and day.
I'm here for the /lit/tards though. The /lit/tards, right now, know more than me about good writing and composition. I just want to be good, not popular. I can already write YA-level crap.

>>18120477
I guess what I'm saying is that the piece as a whole doesn't appeal to me in any way, in fact the opposite. That makes it hard for me to nitpick about it in detail. And please don't think that the advice you get here is exclusively valid, it's just as dumb if not dumber than other literary circles.

>>18120503
>I guess what I'm saying is that the piece as a whole doesn't appeal to me in any way, in fact the opposite.
Yeah, I figured. Hence the questions.

>And please don't think that the advice you get here is exclusively valid
I don't

>it's just as dumb if not dumber than other literary circles.
Not true, I've gotten some solid advice from here. It's a matter of filtering the people who actually want to give constructive feedback from the ones who just didn't like my writing and needed to say it.

>>18120529
>Not true, I've gotten some solid advice from here.
As have I. Pretty much exclusively in these threads, mind you.

I wrote this, it’s incomplete, but I do know I need the criticism to help improve it.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hwxhnnuw5azbfdi/The%20Durids%20of%20Mount%20Illaband%20copy.docx?dl=0

>>18120648
At least post a brief synopsis before I waste my time clicking your links

>>18120648
To be honest with you, if you would post this on Royal Road, it would gain traction. Take that as a positive or a negative, but it is something I would definitely read in my spare time.

>>18113403
This post unironically made me want to read your whole book. I feel a lot of the same way about my own writing efforts.

>>18120884
It's a pasta, anon. Don't fall for it.

>Be in a writing group online.
>Someone ask for help in their stories.
>Decide to help.
>Every time I offer a critique or ask a question why they wrote this story this way, they get defensive and insist they meant it that way.
God, I don’t even know why I even bothered in the first place. Waste of my time, if people don’t accept critique.

>>18120856
not the guy our replying to, but does you or someone else want to post a referal link for royal road?
I dont even know what it does.

>>18121001
Anon, its literally in the OP

https://www.royalroad.com/

>I dont even know what it does.
It's a site for aspiring authors to post their work serially. Think of self-publishing.

>>18121009
I don't know why /wg/ has such a hardon for Royal Road, when Wattpad is so much bigger and popular. WP is like the Walmart of serial publishing

>>18121019
You have it in reverse, most anons are either indifferent or absolutely hate it. Only a few are using Royal Road to begin with. And even fewer still, link their story here.

>>18121019
I actually think anons should cross post their stories on multiple sites to have the higher coverage. Easier chance to get noticed.

What do you guys think of the opening scene to my short story? I have the otter getting a plastic bag knotted around its neck but maybe you can think of a better idea for human-caused pollutants hurting aquatic animals

Main character is a 25-year-old Irish American woman. She is 1/4 selkie and 3/4 human

> main character works part time at a pet shop
> because of her magic animal heritage, she can talk to the pet shop animals, dogs, cats, snakes, turtles, parakeets, parrots, goldfish, etc.
> one morning, as main character is opening pet shop, a bird flies into the shop and tells her that she needs to go to the river right away
> an otter is being choked by a plastic bag
> main character unties the bag and frees the otter
> otter thanks her and she's about to leave
> wait! say the aquatic animals
> river is full of trash and plastic bags, pls help?
> main character also has the power of super fast swimming
> she get giants trash bag and rapidly cleans the river of debris
> by the time she’s done, she realizes that she abruptly left in the middle of her shift
> she goes back and shop owner is locking up the store
> the shop owner is understanding, but as main character bikes home, she feels unhappy and regret
> she dropped out of college and got fired from her last few jobs because she kept running off to help the wild > animals
> she doesn’t feel like she belongs in the human world
> she wants to find a place where she belongs

>>18121048
I think you should write it and find out for yourself, instead of asking people online on how they feel about your story.

>>18121048
Is this some speculative zoology story?

>>18121048
>cant even write a single fucking scene without preemptive validation
ngmi

>>18121048
Good job anon you made me wish the MC got stuck in a trash bag or plastic beer can wrapping and died herself.

>>18121056
I want feedback though

>>18121061
I want to write something like Tarzan of the Apes or the Jungle Book, or the animal version of Avatar or Dances with Wolves, where a human integrates into animal society

>>18121077
>I want feedback though
Just write your story. Why are you seeking validation from strangers?

>>18121074
It does read like it’s satirical on the modern college woman. And a part of me, wishes it to be true.

>>18121081
>>18121071
is it bad to ask others if they like your idea or not

>>18121074
oh no

>>18121089
>is it bad to ask others if they like your idea or not
Anon, please tell me you’re just pretending to be retarded and this is just one big joke.

>>18121091
what do you think is supposed to happen in a writing general

>>18121099
So you can’t write your story without receiving some sort of preemptive approval from strangers online?

>>18121099
Anon, but asking strangers online if it’s okay to write your story is a bit far, even for /wg/. Grow some backbone and just write your story. Worry about if people like it for later.

>>18121077
>I want to write something like Tarzan of the Apes or the Jungle Book, or the animal version of Avatar or Dances with Wolves, where a human integrates into animal society
Hope you know a lot of science and biology because writing that is difficult as is.

New thread

>>18121109

>>18121107
>>18121101
what is this fixation on permission, validation, approval? all I did was ask for feedback and plot help

>>18121108
yeah, I anticipate it being difficult, thus the asking for ideas to make it better

>>18121009
I meant a referal code
Did you seriously think someone couldn't google royalroad on their own?

>>18121139
>Did you seriously think someone couldn't google royalroad on their own?
Considering that the majority of the questions ask here can be solved by a simple search on google? Yes.

>>18121139
The referral code only gives internet points to the referral person, not money. Royal Road has a video game level up system, where you get points for posting chapters or replying to people on the forums

>>18121144
which questions on this thread can be answered by a Google search, exactly?

>>18121166
Just a few:
>>18119580
>>18117248
>>18119398
>>18112335
>>18112432

>>18121182
the first question may be straightforward, although googleablity is less if the asker has specific worldbuilding in mind
second question is googleable
third question, running that through Google Images or Tineye wouldn't neccesarily return Scrivener
fourth question is not easily Googleable, nurturing is asking for personal opinions
and the fifth is a shitpost

so 1.5 questions out of 5

>>18118220
>>18118225
I'm too ashamed to just start dumping new chapters out of nowhere and I'm afraid I'll drop it again the moment i get bored
>>18118308
Feel free to take a huge steaming shit on it, perhaps that'll motivate me.
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/13542/the-legend-of-the-son-of-the-legendary-hero
Yes, it's isekaishit

>>18121308
Yes, what would your 6 followers think of your wavering dedication?

>>18121308
Thanks for the laugh, anon. I've never seen "I.E" used in fiction.

>>18121019
>Wattpad is so much bigger and popular
BECAUSE wattpad is much bigger and more popular. You will get no readers there without relentless shilling.

>>18121579
Hilarious

>>18121308
Anon, I try to be the kindest I can to others who post here. I like to think that my fellow posters aren't dissimilar to myself; inspired, ambitious - people who believe in their material, ideas and prose. Your "work" has brought out the worst in me tonight. I think that it's absolute arse and for the first time (probably ever) I'm not ashamed to say it. I'm not saying you're an awful writer, but let me give you some advice
>The legend of the son of the legendary hero.
If you want to make a statement about a preexisting story or genre, don't overstate it. You're doing yourself a disservice. If this is your attempt at something original, then Godspeed, you've made a right mess. At least capitalise the nouns.
>Handhold-less Virgin
Respect yourself. This was something I came to understand at a young age and it's disheartening to see others, who are so similar to myself, miss such an important life lesson. If you're trying to be funny or relatable with that handle, then you're not completely gone - only misguided. Think of people you respect, would they ever promote themselves as such filth? If you don't respect yourself no-one else will. Fuck anon, I try to see the best in people and with a username such as that you're turning even me off.
>Isekai
Why? I like to think that any premise can be made into a decent, if not good, story. Yet isekaishit? How come? Are you afraid of world building? Are you so terrible at writing characters that you need to resort to a self-insert or bland/generic archetype? Think about why you want to bring somebody from our world into your imagined world, rather than have your ideas flourish on their own. If you can't think of a solid reason, don't do it.
>All that dialogue
I rather like dialogue, but what the fuck are you doing? Your story is an absolute mess! Talk, talk talk… that's all well and good, but where the fuck is the writing? Give me fucking descriptions. I want to know about the fucking setting lad. Let me know about your character's actions, expressions, motivations, backstory. A bunch of quote mean nothing without that.

Don't even get me started on your prose. Writing isn't for everybody, yet I'm not the type of guy to tell someone to give up on their dreams. So do your best anon, but do better also.

>>18119788
>>18119803
Bump, might repost next thread (sorry.)