/lit/ - Literature

>>19370396
What if magic realism?

>>19370396
I haven't written in a very long time but I am going to write today, even though I don't want to. I have decided to make a career out of writing because I am never going to get a real job - let it be known!
I am currently browsing /lit/ as a last gasp of my procrastination but after that, to my great chagrin, I am going to get to work

Ahem. “What’s the point of this thread nobody here writes unless it’s anime and that’s not real writing because it’s retarded.”

>>19370438
Good stuff

We'll make it to the moon if we have to crawl anon

>>19370486
/lit/ writes and completes projects.

If you can come up with a good way of referring to snow that I haven't used already and this thing actually gets published I'll credit you right next to my mom.

>>19370499
That’s not /lit/, it’s shit(kickers).

>>19370516
Hahahahah that GIF is fucking awesome hahaha

Does it make sense for the heroes to risk themselves to save someone they were willing (and even eager) to kill at the start of the story, just because they’ve since gotten to know him and like him?
I feel like I’m autistic for even having to ask this.

>>19370576
Ask the Z fighters if they would step in to save Piccolo or Vegeta in the post Frieza years.

>>19370510
>a good way of referring to snow
Give context, setting, anything that we can latch on to

>>19370591
I had to look up WTF you were talking about. This is anime. So you’re saying not to do this, because it’s shitty anime writing?

>>19370492
Thanks anon. You keep going too.
>>19370510
Just use snow twice, anon.
>>19370576
It depends on everything else that happened between the beginning and the end lol, it's your job as the writer to create the shift from point A to point B. It also depends on the personalities of the heroes. Whether the readers will like it or not also depends on what your target audience is and the specifics of everything in your story.
But you could do it. For sure.

>>19370438
Here is my issue abs it a cycle that I know the answer to but I can’t do what is necessary. I work 40+ hours per week. Then when I go home I have a wife a child and two dogs and all the baggage that comes with that. At night when I finally get time alone, wife goes to bed early, I can do 1 of threeish things. Read, write, video games.
If I read I wish I was writing. If I write I wish I would read more to sharpen my writing knife, or that I was playing video games with friends. I have put a lot of money and time into my PC and games so I feel like I am wasting that if I don’t use it. So then I hope on and play video games abs guess what? Yep. I wish I was reading or writing. Does the madness ever end?

>>19370616
I'm just saying it could happen. I mentioned Dragonball Z as a joke.

If there was a military story with a few characters switching sides or something it could happen.
Or some kind of 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' situation.

>write non-fiction manuscript
>send it out to publishers
>half respond
>of those half, all responded that it met their "content" and "overall quality" criteria but not their "sales potential"
>rejected
Not even schizo publishers were interested. Shame, because self-publishing non-fiction seems to have a worse stigma than fiction in professional spheres. Any good self-publishing house for non-fiction history?

Do people here write everyday? It comes and goes for me, I'm worried.

>>19370724
Comes and goes for me too

Anyone ever heard of Hugo House Publishers? After I was rejected by Greenleaf Book Group, they suggested reaching out to them.

>>19370663
At this rate it sounds to me like you would probably find something to be crushed about even in better circumstances anon. Sit down and think long and hard about who you are, what is important to you, what you are going to spend your short life devoting yourself to. I am in a similar boat as you, except I have a lot of "free time" which I utterly squander. As a consequence, I have decided to only play games for no more than two (full) days per a month of holiday - maybe adding up to around two weeks a year. I reached this decision after realising I have 5000 hours in trash games that have not improved my life in any way. I, too, have also just bought a new computer, my first real gaming PC - but wasting my life is a bit more troublesome than wasting my computer.
I dearly hope that you figure out your life, just as I hope that I figure out mine. God bless you.
>>19370720
Amazon?
>>19370724
I used to write between 8 and 16 hours a day for a couple of years because I was irrationally obsessed with impressing a bunch of nerds I liked a lot. Then I realised they were dumb and I stopped liking them, so I also stopped writing and can now only force myself to do so like once every couple of months. I am pretty good now but I just can't be bothered even when I really want to. Nevertheless, I have to do this. So I am going to find a way, somehow. I try to think of it as putting in important work to make sure I can make a living with comfortable hours but I am too impulsive to keep in mind the fact that my time is running out and that if I can't make a career out of my writing in a couple of years I am going to be a bottom tier wagie for life.

>>19370663
You are not an artist, sorry.

>>19370755
>Sit down and think long and hard about who you are
Thanks anon. I have definitely shifted to writing and reading more but I still feel guilty. I am trying to do what I know I want to do which is write. Video games are a hobby but one that doesn’t improve intelligence the way writing and reading can.
>>19370802
>You are not an artist, sorry.
Define artist.

>>19370754
>https://hugohousepublishers.com
This site looks sketchy as fuck, which makes it even more surprising that Greenleaf (a legit indy publisher) would recommend it. I'd contact Greenleaf first and get a confirmation that these are the people they mean.

>>19370802
Nobody asked you anon.
>>19370821
You shouldn't feel guilty at any point. If you're feeling guilty, you're approaching this as some sort of job where you're trying to "maximise productivity" or whatever. That stuff's for nerds. Personally, I also feel bad when I procrastinate or waste time, but now I feel more of an exasperation, despair, sorrow etc instead of guilt. Not sure that's a step up, but at least there's no pressure now. The pressure that comes coupled with guilt generally poisons the experience of writing and makes it repulsive, which makes you more likely to seek out time wasters, which creates a stronger feedback loop etc. etc. You don't have to "productivise" your life. Figure out what you want to write, why you want to write it and what it means for you. Don't just write because you "have to do something with your life" or "self-improoov" or "be productive". Just my two cents of course.

>>19370821
"Artist" in the basic sense of the word, is someone who can endure the starving and setbacks that come with honest self-expression

>>19370724
I lack discipline yeah. Work a full-time job, but I'm steadily editing a draft after work. I do read every day.

>>19370486
writers of /lit/:
>40% coom/mydiary/edgeshit
>40% "anime writing"
>20% serious
i'm aiming for traditional publishing, upmarket. in 1 or 2 days i'll drop a photo of my printed stacc.

>>19370663
get wfh. usually when you work you have 4-6 hours of work in an 8 hour day. use the dead time to read. you wont be able to get into the mood to write, since you have to be prepared to drop it the instant an email or message comes in, but you can read during that time. plus no commute = more time for yourself.
>>19370720
try hitting up professors who write on your subject. ask if they would review your work and make comments, and you can fish for contacts. when i think of nonfiction history i think of university presses, eg cambridge. a lot of what i read comes from small uni presses. that doesnt apply to pop history though. so it depends on your subject and style.
if professional publishers are saying you meet their quality criteria that's great, anon. it isnt' their fault they can't sell it, they have to pay bills just like any business. also what era/country? i might want a copy if its my realm of interest.

>>19370951
>when i think of nonfiction history i think of university presses, eg cambridge. a lot of what i read comes from small uni presses. that doesnt apply to pop history though. so it depends on your subject and style.
The subject is terrorism. I would use a university press, but the problem is I wrote outside of my own field, so I'm not sure if it can be published this way. Also, as you said, it does have that "pop history" feel, I guess, though I'd like to think my 60 pages of references mean something.
>also what era/country? i might want a copy if its my realm of interest.
US, domestic Islamic terror cells.

>>19369663
Why

>>19370897
seriousfrens where you at?
I hope my story changes someone's life or at least makes them cry.

>>19371053
What about serious anime writing?

>>19371053
Just sent out another query for my finished manuscript. I already paid for editing and indexing, so it's basically ready to go, either from them accepting it and publishing it or from them rejecting it and me self-publishing it.

>>19371053
The Shitkickers is a serious novel with a darkly comedic side.

>>19371086
Please don't use Amazon.

>>19371086
Did you copyright it before you paid to have it edited?

>>19371115
I wasn't planning to, but I'm open to other options. Are there any legit self-publishers that use "Press" in their name to sound non-self-publishing? Heh, asking for a friend...

>>19371135
Yes. I've had it copyrighted since 2018, more than a year before another soul even saw a sample.

>>19370847
Thanks anon this was helpful. I’m writing because I think I can tell and interesting story. And even if the ones close to me enjoy it that’s all I could ask for. Dreams of publishing are there too but statistically improbable.
>>19370863
Thanks for confirming I am indeed an artist.
>>19370951
>get wfh
I wish I could. My profession is one that won’t be moving to wfh anytime soon. But I am reading during my lunch more and when clients cancel.

>>19371140
Be proud of self-publishing.

Trad pub is 100% pozzed.

>>19371146
You can use tentative titles for copyright, right? I'm not sure on one yet. Might leave it up to publishers.

>>19371168
I want a hardcover release alongside an e-book release, but self-publishers all just want to shill paperbacks, though.

>>19371053
>frens
Nice dog whistle chud you've been found out.

>>19371168
t. Paperback Schlock Chud

>>19371271
>Chud
Is there anyone that uses this term unironically?

If you've got a bunch of page-specific notes and references and shit, is it easier to convert your physical format to e-book yourself or to just pay a professional to do it?

>>19371056
I’d need to know what constitutes “anime” writing first.

>>19371271
The Shitkickers is not schlock.

>>19371360
I think of characters restating each other's names every episo--I mean, chapter.

>>19371360
well, what constitutes serious writing?

>>19371436
Writing what you want to say VS Writing for an audience

>>19371443
is the punchline here there is no difference then?

>>19371452
I'm sure I could make money writing schlock that talks about how racist Canada is and how blacks are damaged from it

Or

I could write The Shitkickers and deliver something from my heart

That is what I meant... racism always has an audience willing to sip from the cup of self-flagellation

>>19371014
not my area. find similar works and hit up their publishers.

>>19371462
Jfc not you again. Don’t you sleep? Take your meds.

>>19370396
85k and but im still not sure of my target audience!

Guys, I've done it! I've completed the first draft for the story I got suggested by an anon from /wg/. It's come around 20 pages; after some trimming there might be less, I don't know. I do need to edit it before I share it through here. I made it specifically to have it criticized by you guys, so I hope at least some of you will enjoy it. What's the best way to get it across here, Paste Bin?

>>19371601
Google Docs and turn comments (but not editing) on before sharing a link.

>>19371631
Okay, thanks.

>>19371601
>>19371646
Personally I would use pastebin, but you do you.

>>19371677
Pastebin is too long for 20 pages.

>>19371677
>>19371686
Docs also means comments can be amended directly to the text, whereas pastebin would require anons to pull out and repost sections here with comments. I'd just be clunkier to use pastebin.

>>19370726
Good, I thought it was a sign that I couldn't make it.

>>19370755
Literally me, except when I wrote every day my writing was awful. So I gained nothing from the experience.

>>19370879
Same, I have a reading habit but not a writing habit.

Reading The Sorrows of Young Werther rn and the prose is beautiful. How do I become as good a writer as Johann Goethe?

>>19371699
I'm wholly convinced. I've nevef used Google Docs before, but I'll figure it out.

>>19371767
Reading good prose but also analysis of why it is good if you can find it. I'm teaching myself about literary devices to make decisions on my own and deciding which ones I'm willing to use. We have unique voices, after all. I've found books in libraries that analyze various short stories by different aspects of narrative. There are many techniques out there so it takes time. Accept that you will be a lifelong learner.

can someone recommend good literary magazines in English?

>>19371716
read more works by great writers like him!

I'm really looking forward to editing my latest manuscript so that it is worthy of being shown. However, I've often heard that it's better to let it rest for a while before tinkering with it. How long do you recommend I wait?

>>19372028
2 months minimum 6 months max. Start writing something else to distract you.

>>19372028
agree with anon. you cant edit right now because youre too excited and cant approach it objectively. read other books in the meantime.
>>19372047

>>19371534
I write more than you do.

>>19372176
Volume of words spewing from your keyboard =/= quality writing. Especially since all you every talk about is shitkickers. Your obsession over liberal Canadians is tiresome. A failure to live your life effectively doesn’t make it someone else’s problem.

>>19372189
You sound like a female, I mean that in the worst way possible

>>19372047
>>19372140
Fuuuuuck. It's only 20 pages long, it's not like I've made a book. But okay, I'll hold off for a while. I do want it turn out well, even if probably no one will read it.

>>19372193
More oppressors of yours I assume?

>>19372210
>It's only 20 pages long
Well anon that is pretty short for a manuscript. Maybe wait a month?

>>19372211
Not even Jason, it's just a very effeminate form of thinking to consider bending over and accepting mainstream dogma as "living your life effectively"

>>19372210
...so it's a short story. jesus christ. just write 10 more and then circle back around.
>>19372193
incel

I've been convinced that we're currently living in Hell, that all of us are either NPCs or we're condemned to live in Hell which is here. The short story I am working on focuses on the realities of identity in todays world, the communalization, the equity warlords, the equality brigade. Identitat - from the Hebrew term of Attentat (attack) the very foundation of human life is now the plaything of nihilistic impulses and slow but certain decay. All is decay. We live in Hell, of this I am convinced. Our entire life we get shown beauty in many forms, from classical music, to Roman architecture, to Greek philosophy and so on. But it means nothing. aRound us we get the nauseauting post-modernism, the warped post-post modernist architecture of Nothing that means Nothing and makes only some absurdist comedy sketch suddenly a nature documentary.

>>19372222
>not Jason
>obsession with dogma
Nice try and nice quads. Now bleed back into the background.

>>19372259
I look at pop culture, pop music. It's occultism. It's Hell. We live in Hell. You can believe in whatever theory of the universe you want, but we live in Hell.

>>19372259
have sex incel

>>19372274
What a vapid remark, completely lifeless. Dude you speak in what, 3 different washed out memes at this point? When CNN started using incel in their daily news casts, you didn't stop for a moment and go, "Well maybe I'm just a giant faggot? Maybe I'm not even a person?"

>>19372285
The world is better now than it ever has been, don't get upset just because you're a loser that can't adapt

>>19372220
>Well anon that is pretty short for a manuscript. Maybe wait a month?
Perhaps I misused the term; I was under the impression that a manuscript was any unedited piece of writing regardless of length. Sorry for the confusion. A month sounds good.
>...so it's a short story. jesus christ. just write 10 more and then circle back around.
It's been kind of a miracle that I've been able to finish this one so quickly; it took me about 12 to 13 hours of writing over a period of 27 hours total. I do wish I could just follow your advice and write so many, but I took a break from working on my stuff from uni to write this one, so I won't be able to come up with 10 more tales for a long time, lest I get drowned in actual academic work. Still, I appreciate your advice.

>>19372293
>The world is better now
I'm really convinced you aren't a human being at all.

>>19372329
Have sex, incel.______________________________

>send a brief inquiry
>get a response an hour later
>they sound mildly interested
>they want a 3-page synopsis of the book
>type one up from pieces of my earlier queries and send it
>shill its merits hard
>they thank me and say their acquisitions team will review it
>they give me their phone number
Pray for me, bros.

>>19372349
I wonder what the TikTok flavor of the month meme will be next, and then I'll watch you fucking morons parrot that endlessly too. We live in Hell.

>>19372320
>Perhaps I misused the term
No no you used it correctly. It’s just, the loose end of the term I suppose. Who is the target audience? What is it about?

>>19372259
>Our entire life we get shown beauty in many forms, from classical music, to Roman architecture, to Greek philosophy and so on. But it means nothing.
Realizing there's an organized dark side to life was definitely hellish. You drive home and the road feels more narrow. The moon floating and observing the earth like a horror movie without end.
>Why'd you force me to do this? I just wanted to write books and bake bread.

>>19372397
That's some nice looking bread, how does it taste?

>>19372405
Focaccia. Flour, yeast, salt, water and olive oil. Added some rosemary. It's simple but remarkably tasty. Now it's time to start editing. Godspeed bros.

>>19372362
The target audience was originally /wg/. I started writing it as an excuse for a narrative exercise but I've actually come to think of it as decent. Some anon gave me a prompt and I decided to give it my own spin; bunch of guys get together to play basket, one of them goes to fetch some beer and tries to get the number of the cashier. I would have never worked on such a premise unless it was proposed to me and I think I've done a good job with it; just added a few changes. For example, the main part of the drama is that one of the guys got crippled and cannot play anymore, which is driving him crazy. Him hitting on a girl is something of a way to escape from his situation.

>>19372285
Based as fuck. Going to copy-and-paste this everywhere.

>>19372189
My life has been awesome, once the clown world and globohomo ramped up, my life became more difficult due to politics invading EVERYTHING.

I made a thread yesterday and it got some good responses. I figured it might be better just to keep it to this thread in particular

The jist is, post all of your ideas for books and let other people tell you which ideas sound the best, and give suggestions for how to improve them or things they'd like to see happen in the books. For example, my ideas are
>An old man tells stories about his people, going back tens of thousands of years, and expressing his culture's rich and fantastical history before dying and mourning that nobody will tell his story because he was the last person in his dying lineage
>An FBI agent investigates the unusual death of a redneck moonshiner in a shithole hillbilly town, and ends up globetrotting and eventually uncovering a doomsday cult that don't actually know anything about the moonshiner guy to begin with
>Far into the future the world is divided under Chinese and Islamic rule, and Americans, now basically the property of China, are conscripted to fight in a war in Islamic Africa for resources. Christians and homosexuals are persecuted in all territories in the world, though continue to hate eachother as bitterly as their Chinese and Islamic rulers do. The protagonist, a gay man, hides aboard a ship sailing on neutral waters until he is captured and sent to fight against his will.

>>19372496
>homosexuals existing as a sort of cohesive group far into the future
genetic dead ends don't reproduce. furthermore, depicting what is essentially a sexual fetish as a separate group is beyond stupid.

>>19372496
First story needs more context. The frame of the story might feel meaningful if those stories give the frame some special meaning. I do respect the theme of memories not passed down to the next generation, I personally explore this theme and think it's a worthy aspect of the human experience to write about.
The second story could be cool depending on what the cult is and the ultimate message. If that original lead is truly a red herring that'd be disappointing. Introducing things early and resolving the tension too late with "wasnt related lol" is kinda odd unless there's some deeper reason you have for it.

The last story I have reservations about because I don't expect it, though if that's what you want to write more power to you. I feel that militant Islam and modern China, despite their origins, are increasingly likely to desire independence from the push to globalization. America, Europe, Russia and others should also be part of that. I'm more expectant of a new Industrialism with more influence coming from business owners (not managers), shifting away from Pluralism (technocrats with lobbyists). If there is difficulty with technology paradigm shift or even technology suppression, it could be another century of new world powers vying for economic supremacy before the GNR revolution is so dangerous that it threatens humanity itself. Perhaps the story of the guy trying to avoid conscription could still fit into a cool story without that particular view of the future.

>>19372496
>Christians and homosexuals are persecuted in all territories in the world
Wow it sounds like an actual utopia where do I enlist

>>19372591
>The second story could be cool depending on what the cult is
It's not really a red herring, it's that the moonshiner guy raped the cult's god, had a freakish demigod offspring with it, which killed the moonshiner and its mother and ran off into the forest to rape and kill stuff indescriminately. The cult thinks the god is still alive and doesn't know jack shit about it having arrived on the planet like their prophecies foretold, or that some hillbilly on the other side of the planet raped it and lead to its premature death. Of the three stories I talked about I had the least defined idea of a message for the second one because it's a new idea to me and I was curious if it was worth pursuing and figuring out where the idea would even take me if that makes sense

>>19372351
cool

>>19372963
That reminds me of Lovecraft's novella "the Dunwich Horror" if Wilbur didn't get any POV and instead only focused on law enforcement. ICould be cool exploration of consequences going completely off the rails.
Also since I mentioned it here's a link to the novella: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/50133

>>19372259
>I've been convinced that we're currently living in Hell, that all of us are either NPCs or we're condemned to live in Hell which is here.

The material world is an inferior place, it is true.
Consider that your body decays to the point where it actually dies. When you die you leave the material world behind. You even leave your own body behind.
That's how lame matter is. All things here are transitory and low value when compared to the eternal nature of the spirit.

You are supposed to realise the nature of spirit as early as possible, so you can pre emptively deal with your ageing and death. If you can understand the final nature of life and death, letting go of your attachments to worldly things becomes much easier.

I wrote a novel, but I think the only people that will ever read it are my therapist and a friend I met at a writer's social club. I'd give it away for free online, but I don't want people on here to dox me or send it to my family members.

>>19373202
put it up on kindle under a pseudonym for like 5 bucks
and please make sure you edit it a good bit first

>>19371380
What is this book even about. NGL, judging the book by the cover, it looks like hipster trash.

>>19372351
If I believed in anything, I'd pray to it for you.
Here's hoping you make us proud!

They stood in the endless hall. Morbid sconces of bony arms held torches which burned with silent blue flames. The cold, stone floor peeked out on either side of a thick carpet which was almost black in the light.
A commotion rocked the banquet room they’d just left. Occasionally, the door would boom and shake against its jamb and some of those waiting outside would be startled while others looked elsewhere, feigning disinterest. Bonnelle pulled out the pin which held her hair up and began fidgeting with a lock of her red hair.
“What are we supposed to do, Bonnelle?” Ayara was fixated on the tangle of hair her boss was weaving between her fingers.
“The Dread Lord said someone would see us to our things and that his soldiers would ensure our safe return to the camp. So … I guess we’re waiting for an orc or goblin to get here and guide us out.”
Kornin sighed. “Come on, Bonnelle, you know that’s not—“
An orc arrived. He approached them with an awkward gait, rocking from side-to-side as he walked. He was shabbily dressed. Everywhere his sickly green and yellow skin showed it was crisscrossed with scars.
“I am Bargur, one of War Master Bigrummar’s War Party. I will show you back to the main gate.” His head was bowed, but he dared glances at the banquet door. He wrung his hands.
The crash of plates. Something struck the wall so hard that the whole hallway shook and knocked ages old grit from the ceiling. Then a noise, starting as an animal’s baying which turned to a big orc’s bawling, bled through the rock walls.
“War Master,” Bargur uttered, looking up.

>>19373637
“We must leave,” Chrincha said. He strode forward, his staff sticking into the carpet. He only made a few steps before realizing he was alone in his retreat and stopped.
“What’s going to happen? He’s hurting Bigrummar and Yurzan for killing the golden peacock, but he wouldn’t kill them for it, would he?” Ayara reached out and grabbed her uncle’s right hand in both of hers. She stooped to look him in the eyes.
“He’ll kill all of them,” T’loran eked out as he choked back his panic. He stood on his toes to look around Ayara, at the banquet door behind her. “They’ve humiliated the Dread Lord. First, Bigrummar and Yurzan made it seem like he wouldn’t or couldn’t respond to the World of Light. Then Gotta lead a campaign that made the Dread Lord’s forces seem incompetent.”
“They won the campaign! Tad captured half of us,” Ayara shouted.
“I do feel bad about trying to flay someone who wins a war without killing,” Renaut muttered from her squirrel squatting on Kornin’s right shoulder.
“It’s okay. We didn’t know that at the time,” Henri said from Kornin’s left shoulder.
“The Dread Lord wouldn’t hurt Hozza,” Bonnelle stepped forward and stumbled as he tight dress held her back. She looked up to T’loran, her worried face begging for a certain answer.
“Especially.” T’loran blinked back tears. “This isn’t about instilling fear among his soldiers or punishing insolence. This is the Dread Lord making sure he doesn’t appear weak to the other Dread Lords. His soldiers shamed him; that can only be responded to with the harshest punishment.”
“But the Dread Lord is your friend! Wouldn’t that compel them to spare Hozza?”
“We’re only mortal. We can’t compare to the Dread Lord’s reputation among their peers.”

>>19373641
“No,” Bonnelle whispered as she looked past the doctor.
Chrincha slammed the bottom of his staff into the floor. Once everyone’s attention was grabbed he cleared his throat. “Lest any of you forget, we were perfectly willing to kill Tad, Hozza, and all the other monsters upon our arrival here. It is the way of things in this land—some would say there are rules—that those lower creatures die for the honor of their Dread Lord. Just as their lives were ours to take as we waged this campaign, their lives are the Dread Lord’s to take any other time.” He pointed the staff’s head at T’loran, the jewel embedded there sparkled as it reflected the torches’ light. T’loran leaned away from the enchanted weapon, knowing its danger. “We have our prize. Those we were willing to kill to get him will be dead soon and no more dead than if we slayed them ourselves to get him.”
T’loran sneered at Chrincha, now pushing the staff aside as he stood nose-to-nose with the lieutenant. “We had an agreement, Chrincha, I would go to Yendell peacefully if I could take Hozza along.”
“At the time you had the Dread Lord’s ear and so could have us and my camp slaughtered with just a word. That is no longer the case, T’loran. The Dread Lord will do what they will and it’s best we leave before the Dread Lord turns on us as well,” Chrincha said.
Another scream. This voice was smaller. Perhaps the Dread Lord was working their will on Yurzan or Gotta. Ayara imagined that if the goblins were hurt, their screams would be like the cries of a child. She shivered as that sound echoed in her head. “Uncle, do you think you can calm the Dread Lord down?”
“I won’t allow this.” Chrincha now aimed his staff at Ayara. “Doctor T’loran may be the key to saving Yendell from ruin and I can’t risk that for the sake of some orcs.”

>>19373648
Ayara narrowed her eyes, staring down the shaft at the soldier before her. She balled her fists, wishing she felt her gloves wrapped around them. She doubted she could overcome him even with her weapons. He was injured, though, and these were close quarters, which could limit his staff’s movement. Those should help, right?
Quills struck the staff and broke its aim. Ayara threw her weight into her right arm as she slapped the staff against the wall. As the staff rattled the lieutenant she grabbed it and jammed its butt into his gut. He stumbled back and his injured leg gave out, stiffening. As he fell backwards he lost his grip on the staff.
The orc, his face twisted by confusion, grabbed Chrincha.
“Bigrummar commands you to hold him,” Ayara shouted.
The orc snagged Chrincha by the wrists and gripped so hard the Lieutenant gritted his teeth in pain as his lips pulled back in a scowl.
On Kornin’s shoulders, the sprites were cheering. These razor squirrels seemed a better ride than the birds they usually used.
The orc looked about himself with the wary eyes of someone who heard something somewhere in the dark woods. “Uuuuhhhhhhhhh,” he sounded with a gurgle.
“Something going on down there, Bargur,” was asked by an unseen orc down the hall. The clanging of armor and weapons accompanied his approaching voice. “Don’t tell me you’re starting shit with the invaders. You know the Dread Lord has forbidden it.” Several orcs strolled into view from the twisting halls. They stopped and readied their weapons. “Let him go, Bargur!” He jabbed his knife in the air, toward Bargur. “If I have to kill you myself …”
“Right, don’t let him go!” Bonnelle inched forward. Her raised arms halted anyone else’s movement.
Ayara stood, finding herself disappointed to feel the jeweled staff standing shorter than her. “Bonnelle—“
“Shut it, Ayara,” Bonnelle hissed, still inching. “We are going to have a very long discussion about the art of client relations.” She looked at the team of orcs. “Please, keep holding the Lieutenant while we discuss some business matters.”

>>19373654
She batted her eyes at Lt. Chrincha. “Lieutenant?”
“Yes,” Chrincha’s voice was drolly dry.
“About our contract …”
“What about it?”
“It’s technically just to bring him in to settle some unpaid taxes.”
“Yes.”
“What is the unpaid amount? It wasn’t stated in the contract.”
“Excuse me?”
“Well, you see, if it’s a criminal amount—based on what I’ve heard in the family is a ridiculously low number—then this contract would require that I take ‘an abundance of care’ to ensure his safe return. That family member ate like a king as the bounty hunter brought him into tax court. It was practically a vacation.”
Whatever pain the Lieutenant had suffered from his twisted wrists seemed relief to the horror curling his mouth as Bonnelle spoke.
Bonnelle paused for a breath, then: “So if T’loran is compelled to run in there to save that strapping orc he teaches or those other fellows—Ayara seems to like Tad—I have no choice but to take me and my team in there to keep him safe. Don’t blame me, though; blame the Tax Collection Statutes.”
Chrincha took no time to consider his terse answer: “It was a misdemeanor.”
Bonnelle and the Lieutenant held each other’s gazes. His was filled with fury. Hers? Amused.
“T’loran,” Bonnelle called.
“Yes,” the doctor asked.
“Were you making much as the tutor to a half-dwarf future pain in everybody’s ass?”
“I wish!”
“Great. I just bought your tax debt,” Bonnelle said. She smiled at the Lieutenant. “I’ve just guaranteed payment of his outstanding taxes, effectively settling the debt in lieu of delivering the man. I might have had some unscrupulous friends who made money by settling other friends’ debts while charging the government more to bring them in … or not, as it were … than they actually owed. Something about government math. It’s all in those statutes. Anyway, I just fulfilled our contract. Now, while none of us here are Yendell citizens and since we are in the Land of Darkness due to a coincidental accident caused by the Yendell military, you are required by law to take us back to where we came from, or else we can invoke the Treaty of of Third Obsidia-Yendell War.” She batted her eyes at the Lieutenant, hands clasped together.
He shuddered, then lowered his head. “Very well. I will allow T’loran to speak with the Dread Lord.”

>>19373408
After being mugged in broad daylight, a Vancouver man takes the law into his own hands to recover his prized bicycle- filming his vigilante action on his phone.

Uploading the video causes the government to brand him the "tent city terrorist", his identity known to a Machiavellian online temptress who blackmails him for her own sinister motives.

Will our hero evade capture by the government and free himself from the scheming tramp, or will he lose it all?

>>19373637
I like this but it is a wee bit wordy. Good descriptions but cut out a few of the words!

I am just making this up, you see, writing as you go along as Hemingway said but I think that I do have a story to tell you, or not you, not specifically "You" I mean. But I am confident someone out there needs this. Anyways, so it was a few years ago in late summer that I met Arienette. I'd just finished my undergraduate from a cheap community college but luckily, I was educated beyond what you would presume a community college undergraduate to be. I'd read everything that's considered by some to be the "western canon". I could also code my way out of any problem you threw at me. I was under the impression that I was in disguise when around richer and more educated people and this gave me a sense of power. I felt like the prince who pretends to be a beggar only to reveal himself at the last moment and order to hang all who were unkind to him. It was quite a feeling. Nietzsche believed the whole world ran on a living being striving towards power and Foucault believed that also. In fact, we have given this "striving towards things" all sorts of different names throughout history. In short, I knew "philosophy" was nothing but sophistry. All philosophical problems were caused by causistry which surely was the product of boredom. I'd come to a conclusion that since rich aristocrats of the past had nothing to do, nothing to "strive for", they became philosophers. Now, this was just one of the hundreds of conclusions I'd come to when I first met Arienette.

>>19373684
It’s Nano, my brosephino! It’s all about word count. But I do worry I indulge myself. I’ll keep that in mind when revising.

>>19373733
Can I make a quick suggestion?

Sconces held in bony arms burn with blue flames, a flickering, dim light casts on walls where shadows dance and play. In the dim light, a black carpet lies thick on the floor, welcoming guests like a hungry dragon's tongue.

>They stood in the endless hall. Morbid sconces of bony arms held torches which burned with silent blue flames. The cold, stone floor peeked out on either side of a thick carpet which was almost black in the light

I feel like my writing improves when I just try and eliminate as many words as possible, thickening the "sauce" of description?

I like your writing!

>14 hours yesterday spent on the edit
>14 hours today
I can print it tomorrow morning, read through once more, and begin the query process.

>>19373798
Nnnnnoooooooo! You can’t post anime in this super serious writing thread!

>>19373835
Yona a cute

>>19373798
>>19373835
Anime isn't the problem, it's the derivative shit that Westerners make from it because they haven't read Chinese Classic Novels to inform themselves of the aesthetics of the East.

So I was thinking of writing a chess isekai. A guy who is obsessed with chess and strategy lives a lonely life as between his attendance of tournaments and ruthless analysis of odds has left him unable to connect to others. He gets hit by a car and finds himself the ruler of a kingdom locked in war. His side is losing, but he deploys his soldiers (modeled after the pieces of the game) to contest the evil king. Quickly guessing the nature of the world he’s in he deploys units to combat the enemy based on sound strategy from his chess experience but he finds himself losing. The Queen explains that he screwed up by not taking into account other factors; the elevation of the land “it’s not some flat board out there, you know” or the units’ fatigue. She says he needs to get to know them if he’s to employ them correctly. So he starts conversing with the units and learns about them and life in general (the pawns are very “live in the now” while the knight is obsessed with honor and the bishop with faith) and begins making more sound decisions. He even connects with his Queen, who he avoids for a while after she initially put him in his place. Eventually he works his way to the enemy king and they duel. He’s about to slay the king, but they realize that everybody else is dead, and either victor will be left alone. They surrender to each other, acknowledging that victory at any cost has no meaning.
The protagonist then awakes from his truck induced coma with a renewed list for life. He’s shed his need for strategy and gaming and found a desire to connect with others instead. As he leaves the hospital and gets back into his life we see that the people he knows were a part of the dream and he uses his new insight into them to renew his relationships.

>>19373899
We make anime just fine, assclown.

Debating on writing a scene where the villain watches an orgy with his cronies at dinner for entertainment or keeping it PG.

>>19373922
You can keep it pg and still have him watch the orgy. Just don’t get graphic. It’s better that way, anyway. Even betterer, challenge yourself to not even use the word orgy. And keep it short.

>>19373835
no u

>>19370510
blanket of white

anyone want to take a jab at my thing for nano so far?
https://ghostbin.com/LSSmT

>>19370510
The world is a scalp coated in dandruff.

>>19373922
You can keep it PG, just use the right words.

>>19373935
>>19373954
>>19373922
i once had my main antagonist arrive in a room where he had his women hogtied and spread out as platters for him, where he was about to choose which one to take for the night and managed to keep it pg
and I'm a dumbass
so you can do it anon I belieb

>>19373911
This is great. You should write this and copyright it because you gave away too much of the plot, some asshole is going to throw a 30 page short story up about this and fuck you over. (Not me, I'm the Shitkickers guy)

I suggest you get a short story of this written and then work on the novel.

>>19373922
describe the dinner like it is an orgy

>>19373937
FUCK YOU YOU MOTHER FUCKING MOTHER FUCKER!

>>19373916
What even is that? Looks like utter trash adjacent to MLP. Shoot yourself!

>>19373988
imagine being this angry about cuteposting

>>19373993
It’s anime.
>>19373996
You won’t think it’s cute after I punch your dick so hard you shit your balls out your mouth!

>>19373956
>>19373935
>>19373954
Any good examples of what you mean? I know it sounds simple but it seems like even mentioning it is "too much"

>>19374028
I have what I wrote but eh

>Florence had travelled the world in his twenties, but nothing held a flame to the view he found before him. A table cleared of all conventional meats, for he had gotten his fill, and instead replaced with about three or four of his automation beauties. They were hogtied, poised as if beautifully dressed turkeys on display, bound up to the heels of their shoes by the lengths of their hair. The skin never flushed, never went so pink and unsightly like fleshy woman pigs, never overheated, never sweat, and they never tired or squealed as the previous. They instead looked at Florence, with their chins as low as they could muster, eyes all turned to meet his face that glowed as he looked down at them. Some sported apples between their jaws, others peaches or lemons. As Alia knelt to serve him his third drink, he wondered who he would choose first.

>>19373682
Sounds lame to (Me) but whatever at least you made it into a physical book. More than the other chuds ITT. Props mate.

>>19373988
I am going to write Ritsu Tainaka into the acknowledgments of my next book by one of the big-5 publishers and there's nothing you can do to stop me.

My story lost followers. This is the best storyarc yet, what the hell.

>>19374109
That's because you....don't write lol. It's okay no one in this general does.

>>19374092
If I had any idea who that was I bet I’d be seething right now. Anyway, you should KYS!
>>19374109
More marketing!

>>19374125
You will know.

Where did all the regulars go? Did they all get new jobs or something?

>>19374135
What regulars? You mean the copypasta?

>>19370396
I got really high, here are the notes I took

So much of spirituality, is psychoactive
They confuse the ends for the means, what we get vs how it happens, the idea for the matter
ADHD is in the deep mind, the non prefrontal cortex
Most of the mind is deep mind
Matter is behind the veil of illusions
This is a bunch if stoner bull shit
Everything is sonter bull shit
I can see void, sunatia
Is the connesness stored in the prefrontal cortex?
The puritans knew the truth was literal, but didnt know that souers were wrong.
We are clouds made of influences
Science is a better means of truth than faith
More understanding is more claerity
These more and more fundamental truths
Beyond what can be know, the self is in shadow void. Yet darkness is the light, only fear causes divisions. More shit is stoner / weed guy bullshit. The truth is fundemental not in the co
What it is to feel something greater clarity is then lost so theres is a more fundamental truth
Oh im high this is fucking dumb
Might have adhd
Moments of cloud
Most of the brain is not coness, who the self is, is a story
Meta
The truth is an agnostic love
Language is fundamental to understanding, consciousness
Complexity is a paradigm shifting idea
Science can prove it self right, thus it is right
Is history progress?
Wittgion stine
There is an esseinc e
Compassion is to understand what others understand
O they are blessed how love the sweet things of life, the little games and fear not. They who love the littel details, the beauty of being, rain and sun and song, and friends. They who know only fear is the enemy, well being sawart.

Language is key to understanding and clarity, in the beginning was the word.
History and literature are hand in hand, there they make the key to the truth.
SERVEIVAL OF THE SPEICEYS IS A CPRE TRUTH TO ALL BEINGING, DSEIN

Theres is beauty in the journey, the end is knowing the journey can be eternal. Fearlessness is the highest wisdom. Then one can see the beauty. It must be wisdom, for it would not be true and the actor would be foolish in risking suffering without wisdom.
The fool(us) to the empress(sophia/wisdom) to the magician (the hero/the master of skill)

>>19374135
They figured out that writing requires you to write so they left.

>>19374176
I write and I’m here! But I’m drawing now so I shit post too.

>>19374176
Shitkick schizo checking in, I'm already caving and doing an ebook version of The Shitkickers. Kind of makes me sad, but, well, fuck it.

>>19373961
Thanks. It was a shitpost, though. Because we hate isekai here

>>19374210
Aren't you that schizo retard who throws a tantrum whenever someone critiques your work.

>>19374194
>>19374176
>>19374149
I mean there were like 5 royal road posters, two poetry guys, a few “my 1,000,000 word fantasy novel is half complete” guys, there were a few running memes I don’t see in threads anymore. People who posted with a particular cadence. Even the “no one writes” post is an obligation fulfilled by someone who isn’t the original guy.

What about the first paragraph of my friend's novel-in-writing makes people not want to read past it?

>>19374264
Yes I am that schizo

>>19374310
Using the word "straw man"

https://ghostbin.com/MssEC/test

>>19374310
The words theoretical, and "video log". Screams space ship pseud weeb shit. but dont take my criticism too seriously, im a shitposter.

>>19374271
I've been slacking off this week with playing vidya. Been brainstorming next chapter and reaching out to my artist friend for a possible illustration of it.

I slammed into a brick wall on the second pass of my novel. My momentum just disappeared, and it feels like I lost sight of who my characters are. Everyday I don't write I feel guilty, and worse yet, I have a really good writing group that I'm now constantly missing the deadlines for. I don't want to step back and take a break and lose the thread, and drift away from my writing group. But I feel like some of my changes I do now are making the book worse.

>>19374310
The language is too abstract to start a novel with. The reader needs more information. You can build up to that sort of thing but you shouldn't start a novel with it.

>>19374344
>But I feel like some of my changes I do now are making the book worse.
Then stop making changes and revert the ones you did make.

>>19374380
Very good explanation!

Anyone wanna comment on the opening of the piece I'm working on? Any criticisms, compliments, whatever. What you feel, what it does for you, what it doesn't.

https://pastebin.com/2uS8kLM0

Thank you all in advance.

>>19370897
100% serious anime writing

>>19370510
frost, rime, powder, flakes, ice, flurry, pale precipitate

>>19370821
Define 'define.'

>>19374659
i like it. the content is compelling and the imagery is strong. as far as criticisms go, this is stylistic but i think you could strip out sections where the narrator tells us their exact thought process and represent their thoughts through an external context (action/interaction). ie, instead of
>I wanted to say something back. A joke. Ideas ran through my head, something witty and lighthearted. The deceased being late, something about them having all the time in the world, maybe not being so stiff or dead set...I had nothing to say.
do
>As though it would matter, I almost said. As though she would care. A flash of light, a clash of thunder. After a few moments of silence, the voice from the other side of the walls started up again.
Just action over description, show vs tell stuff.

I'm having a hard time cutting every mention of feet from my work. All of it seems necessary to the plot, but i need to get rid of at least some of it cause my writing group is getting the wrong idea.

>>19374940
Is this going to turn out like that "nigger" novel where the author says "nigger" every second word?
How many times do you mention feet, anon?

>>19370396
What do you think of "save the world" stories? Are they too cliche?

>>19375567
I only write save da world stories if the hero fails to save the world and the antagonist wins. Only for the antagonist to regret it after the fact

>>19375148
sorry not here for a rerun just wanted to vent. my protagonist doesn't wear shoes. of course im going to talk about her feet a lot. it's not a sex thing, it's just important.

my novel is going to be the smug anime reaction image of literature

I tried filing the serial numbers off my fanfic, recontextualizing it as a generic high fantasy because the worldbuilding had too many moving parts, and I ended up with ASOIAF with its implied ending from the show, but good. Should I proceed?

>>19375567
It's all a cliche. Fail the world stories are cliche too. Don't sweat it, write your story.

I should mention that my Jon Snow is a sexy androgynous twink and my Daenarys is an evil demigod with a name that isn't impossible to spell.

>>19375567
Saving the world is the logical conclusion of stories raising the stakes by threatening progressivel larger targets
>stop that guy with the gun
>stop that guy with the bombs
>stop that guy with the nukes
Same reason a lot of fantasy ends up fighting a king or deity at the end.
Of course, you can make a story tense without a bigger bomb. You nest the story, introducing important things earlier and resolving them later. The longer the reader has to worry about it, jerked this way and that as the conflicts of subplots jerk the main plot around, readers can feel how important a goal is to a character. Personal stories can have universal appeal, but saving the world is to brand the character a hero unequivocally.

>>19374040
Weird lol thanks

Today I finished another Vol of my story, now I don't know what else to do today.

>>19376217
Masturbate bro ALL DAY you earned it

>>19375567
Don't like 'em because it virtually robs the protagonists of agency and interesting motivations
It's not like you have any choices to make when everything will end if you don't succeed

writing habits: time limit or word limit?

>>19374788
Thank you so much for the feedback anon. At the point, any comments I get assist significantly in helping me develop a stronger sense of what I do right, where my strengths are, what comes off poorly, what doesn’t get across at all, and most importantly, helps me understand more what other’s thoughts are. Even if it’s a stylistic difference, it’s genuinely helpful for me to receive those kinds of comments as well.

>>19374659
Hoping to get more comments on this still, this is a fairly important developmental period because I want to refine and settle on a writing style / tempo as I’m starting to get further in the piece.

>>19376414
Time limit because I'm on a tight schedule with a day job and have to sleep eventually. Six hours of sleep is barely enough and I have dark circles under my eyes for a year now. If and when I break my wagechains I'd go by wordcount and have more time to myself for sleep and exercise.

>>19375567
It all depends on how it plays into the characters and themes. My character's struggle is deciding why he should save the world instead of succumbing to evil and reaping the rewards (power and pleasure)

How do I express that a father is happy that his son has met a girl, but make it clear that he’s not necessarily happy that the son is heterosexual and would be fine with him having met another boy without making it clear that I’m just trying to not offend readers?

>>19376570
Dude meds

>>19376597
I don’t understand. The character isn’t taking medication.

>>19373950
bumping myself because mmm crit

Publisher is looking over my query and said to expect a response by Friday. Wish me luck.

>>19374310
it's boring and goes nowhere. no one wants to read through a bunch of shit like that. ask yourself: what was the purpose of writing that shit? is it necessary to tell the story? or is it just wanking?
>>19376414
at one point you have to stop putting in new words and edit the words you already have. so strict word limits are dumb. quality over quantity. as long as you feel you made progress it shouldn't matter to hit an arbitrary number. and i say that as someone sitting here with a finished manuscript.

I'm writing today and nothing's gonna stop me

>>19376872
hey why don't you just check youtube quick first. just a quick check if there's any new vids up

>>19376760
Best of luck anon, that’s really super exciting.

/wg/'s opinion on Stephen King's "On Writing"?

>>19376872
good luck

>>19376929
I remember adverbs and dialogue tag usage from it. And probably internalized other stuff from it that I don't specifically remember being in the book.

>>19370510
Cocaine

>>19370576
It makes sense, but its up to you to make it work. If it feels natural and can affect your reader's emotions, then you're golden.

>>19370724
I'm pretty good about writing, it's editing that kills me. Where I can set aside two hours to write, if I do that with editing, I end up browsing Youtube or something after I get through two pages because it's just so fucking boring.

>>19376929
why would anyone want to learn how to write from that boomoid hack? do you also hit yourself in the head with a brick?

>>19370897
What the fuck is anime writing? Like Fate/Zero fanfiction or something?

>>19376992
Retard. He is an example of THE GRIND, he writes every day and is more successful than hacks like Sanderson and George R.R. Martin.

>>19371283
I think it plays a role in It by Stephen King. There's also some old horror movie with that name, but I've never seen it.

>>19376992
King's book is mostly about accountability and habit-building in order to find success. It's a pragmatic book.

>>19377002
it's an acronym for "cannibalistic humanoid underground dweller" that predates its current usage by a number of decades

>>19377027
Is it a good movie?

how much do you write a day anon?
I'm trying to determine how much I should write every day after nano. 1.6k is a lot to commit to.

>>19377040
I don't know. Probably not.

>>19377057
Perhaps try what I do: every week I try to spend more time than I did last week at writing. Slowly but steadily the habit has built and now I cannot go a work day without writing, as I know I would feel worse from skipping a day than from actually forcing me to sit down and write.

What's important is that you surpass your past self, and keep writing more, not that you adhere to some "ideal word count" that /lit/ speaks of. Comparisons are the enemy of productivity.

>>19377086
Right. I guess I just aspire for a balance. Right now during nano it's very much a "wake, work, eat, write, sleep, repeat" schedule, and while I love this wordcount, I think I couldn't do this eternally.
Maybe 1k words is the golden rule. Constantly getting a higher and higher wordcount every day sounds like a path to burnout?

>>19377096
For me it's about waking up early. I'm up at 4, write until 7, work all day and then eat and vegetate until 7pm when I go to sleep. Obviously I don't have much of a social life, but it keeps most of my productive, creative hours in my own hands instead of those of my employer.

>>19377116
That makes good sense to me. Evening writing gets it done but morning stuff probably would be better. I write (indeed articles) for a living, so by the end of the day my brain and wrists are pretty worn.

>>19377158
The secret is a medical grade sun lamp. It's like a cup of coffee without the jitters.

>>19376996
I really just don't know, but it's what every zoomer says he's doing, now.
>>19377001
1. it's ghostwritten
2. it's all godawful. i'd rather watch paint dry than read a stephen king novel
>>19377018
that's all well and good but have more emphasis on quality. the world doesn't need 10,000 shitty books a year pumped out. it's better to write 1 good novel every 3 years than 3 shitty novels every year. there's hardly anything on the shelves worth reading published in current year and misguided advising like nanowrimo and st*ph*n k*ng are to blame for that mindset. Do you want to cook like Emeril or do you want to cook like McDonalds?

>>19377180
link? never heard of this kind of product. although i kind of do live under a rock so

>>19377201
google it

>>19377116
I can only ever write if i'm in my bathroom

>>19374659
i literally read the first three sentences and lost interest... that's my feedback for you.

>>19377201
I have this one:
https://www.amazon.com/Bright-Light-Therapy-Box-Northern/dp/B003OWJCIM
note: the price is probably significantly marked up because "medical grade" is just a scam, but it had the best reviews so I went with it and paid the douchebag tax

>>19375567
kino but i prefer 'save my country/nation' kind of stories

>>19377194
>1. it's ghostwritten
Proofs?

>>19376879
I feel violently attacked by this post

>>19377339
google it shit for brains

>>19377220
That's helpful too, do you mind if I ask what genres you usually read or maybe more specifically what about the opening was uninteresting? Thanks for taking the time to provide feedback regardless if you respond or not.

how much do you read every day?
and what are you reading now?

>>19377429
So; no. All bullshit, just like your brain.

>>19377511
Almost nothing, because it's been a while since I found an interesting book I haven't read.

>>19377539
go call up your butt buddy stephen king and ask to physically instead of metaphorically suck his penis. i'm not taking time out of my day to look something up for you. you're the cretin who crawls in here seething mad someone insulted your daddy.

>>19377579
>getting this assmad because you're too lazy to back up your own claims

>>19377511
Been lazy and haven't read most of my usual stuff in about 28 days. Might binge through these later.

>>19377603
cope and dilate

>>19377511
30 minutes. Still reading Bradbury short stories. Gonna read Flannery O'Connor next month. When I have time to read more I pick up a novel or non-fiction. Currently reading a Persian history book.

Chapter 56 released.
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/40361/erased
>>19377194
>misguided advising like nanowrimo
I agree with this. Far better to write 500 words a day rather than do some stupid sprint in a month, but King is a great demonstration of the fact that 95% of success is just showing up. If your quantity doesn't exist, there's no quality to be found.

How can I be sure I’m not really terribly writer?

https://ghostbin.com/LSSmT

>>19377925
i don't know, I want to know too

>>19377511
Usually 30 mins on weekdays about an hour or to weekends. Currently reading sandworm and a short story by dunsany.

>>19377821
Hey Anon,

I hope you don’t mind me asking, but how sustainable (financially) is your stint on RoyalRoad?
I’m planning on doing a serialization type release for one of my works, but I wonder to what extent it’s viable. It seems like you’ve been at the grind for 9 months, anything you could share about that experience?

Thank you

>>19373899
that's not it
it;s the fact that kids read badly translated LN's and decide to copy the grammer from that one for word and it makes for a terrible story for EN languges

>>19378205
I started drafting this summer of 2020, but I drafted the lion's share between September 2020 to February 2021, basically I was at 30k words and I ended up at like 210k in Feb - no thanksgiving and no christmas because of covid really helped. Its currently at 265k drafted. I started putting it up on RR in February, one chapter a day until 10 were released, then basically once a week releases.

While I was releasing on RR I didn't really expect to make any money off it. If it had been a smash hit, ofc, I would have thrown up a patreon and whatever else, but the themes in the novel are niche enough I never really considered that a possibility. My plan was to release on RR - use the serialization time to edit the novel - and then, once its completely released and the sequel is far enough along in the drafting process, do another editing pass and then throw it up on Kindle Unlimited while simultaneously releasing the sequel on RR.

Then bribe my built up genuine readership base by giving them a reader copy to solicit reviews on amazon, and then, maybe, put up some sockpuppet reviews myself to get that ball rolling. I figure 6 months after its completely released I'll be far enough along in the sequel to start that whole process.

As far as the readership I've accumulated I'm happy with it. I've had chapters where I've net lost readers and ones where I've gained them. The book is abrasive enough and sometimes plays jokes on the reader where that's to be expected. But all in good fun.

If you are doing a serialization to make money there's no reason not to have a patreon linked just sitting there for people to sign up, but I find the best part of serialization is that it allows (forces) me to edit in small enough chunks in appropriate amounts of time.

>>19377974
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5V2CWPy9XGE

>>19370396
I want to make sure I'm not plagiarizing too much (ideally at all)

Does anyone remember the name of that story about the guy who adopts the personalities of people he meets rather than having his own?

>>19378500
This is exceptionally useful information (even if just to provide me with some background on how some people intend to use RR/their route to sustainability).

Thank you for the lengthy explanation and the tips going along with it. If there’s anything I can do in return let me know!

Explain dramatica

>>19377974
busy and only skimread, but i liked it, anon. what nice writing style.

>draft has been done for 5 months
>realized during editing that the antagonist makes no sense
>complete loss of faith in the story
Fixing the antagonist would require massive rewrites. Should I just move on for now, and come back to it when/if I'm an old man who's finished a few better stories and try to do it over right? I still like the idea, and I don't really want to let those 70,000 words go to waste, but maybe it would be for the best if I just considered it an educational cost.

How do I write romance if I've never been in love before?

>>19378649
hahaha thanks

>>19378713
90%+ of people have never been in love before so don't worry no one will notice.

>>19378758
huh? where'd ya pull that from anon?

>>19378762
anime girls don't count

>>19372259
Broaden your horizons, you see ancient monoliths as beauty when you can easily find beauty going for a walk in the park. You do not lack beauty in your life, you lack the ability to find beauty in everything. Only you are in control of your thoughts and perceptions and you fail to recognize that. It's why you're in hell.

Beautiful statues of idealic bodies are beautiful, you are not wrong in that, but you can easily find and admire craftsman ship by immersing yourself in museums or learning the art of sculpture to make that beauty yourself.

You make the world hell because you want to. It's the only way to cope with a fragile ego that refuses to change and instead wallows in misery.

>>19378577
(You)

>>19374271
I post about my self-published novel occasionally.

>>19376760
Well done, old bean. Best of luck to you.
It should happen to us.

>>19378517
Sonny Bono's autobiography?

>>19378577
It's like Metallica, but with drag queens.
Based on the way Metallica dresses...it's nearly impossible to tell them apart.

>>19373950
Starting stories with only quotes has a disorienting effect. It can be done well though, like the intro to Ender's Game. It's a bit abstract talking about gray and pink.
I respect you not editing the next two scenes yet, leave that for later after you finish the story.

I didn't enjoy Icarus waxing philosophic about the tree bark. A simple "put it back" would have sufficed. Let metaphors stew a while if you're going to explain what it means. You could just as well explain it with a parallel event or even leave it hidden and continue to explore the theme.
The candle dynamic felt tense. There's clearly something at stake that Sam doesn't quite get yet, but he's so kindhearted and naive that he'd offer it without understanding its value. That Sam offers the candle to Arebald speaks a lot to Sam's motivation and character, so now I'm interested in how he became this way.
Miss Cataway has a distinct motherly voice, that is good. I feel most of your characters so far have a different feel, even Trash Kid has a lazy, self-absorbed way of talking. The scenes in Bearing are imaginative and have so many different things in them. The giant eye squinting at Sam before slamming the door made me lul. Chapter 2's snake scene shocked me as it's the first actual violence. Make sure you analyze the pacing in your action scenes like that so they have impact; think of it like an argument.
>hand was freed almost instantly
It's nitpicky, but "suddenly" and "instantly" have the ironic effect of making something seem to happen less instantly.

So the idea of the candle burning out had me worried for a while. I think the snake revealed the consequence of it burning out at the right time. I'd explore this fear of it extinguishing a bit, Sam would worry about this right? I'm surprised that idea was suddenly replaced the next scene with "it's not that bad you just lose your soul." It seems almost as bad on the face of it, but looking at Icarus maybe not so much until Sam understands what you stand to lose becoming a soulless beast. I'd slowly explore those aspects of the beasts, but I do like Gardener mentioning that losing the flame could happen sooner than Sam might hope. Good candle symbolism calling back to guitar man too.

Good job anon you've written quite a bit this month already. I've mostly been editing this month but I added a pretty passionate scene today that I'm proud of it.

>>19379499
>Starting stories with only quotes has a disorienting effect.
While I agree about the disorienting effect, I can't comment on OP or you because I've literally never written a story that didn't start with a quote, at least since high school. lol

>>19379528
You can start a scene with a quote, I mean an entire passage in quotations with no context about what's actually going on. It gives a blank room, or disembodied voice feeling. If you start with one line of dialogue, especially about what's going on, and then narrative about what's going on it becomes more clear. Up to you though, rules can be broken if you get the desired result.

>>19374271
I publish on Vella.

>>19379499
Wow, thanks for reading all of that anon, your feedback means a lot.
Icarus is a weird guy, I wanted to write him like someone that tells you their life story on the train, insufferably dramatic and optimistic, and so I thought to *try* and do that by him waxing on, but yeah, there are probably better ways to go about it.
I'm glad you liked the eye guy! I was afraid people were going to think he was lame or "now you're just getting ridiculous" about it.
But yeah, that's actually something I'm struggling with right now, is the whole dynamic of "suddenly" "instantly" and how to make these things snap more. Just say them outright? That might be the best way to go now that I think about it, maybe.

Good luck on your editing man. The editing round for this is gonna give me the heebie jeebies.

End of shift. One last parcel. Heavy son of a bitch. He walked it up onto the porch and with the pen in hand he rang the bell, knocking his boots waiting for anyone at all to open the door. A voice from within called on him to wait, a normal occurrence. He tapped the pen on the clipboard and the door opened a crack. “A parcel?”

“Yes ma’am. And I’m gonna need your signature here.” When he looked up from that clipboard his jaw went slack. Not a drop of blood remained in his head to see that woman standing there in nothing but a silk robe tied tight at the waist and a body that could kill a man. Skin so pale and soft she was like something unreal. Some nymph fixed on stealing his soul. She bent to inspect the parcel and there he was exposed to cleavage for days. She caught him staring, her big knowing eyes tracing lines up his chest to his face and he matched them. She didn’t turn, didn’t run—only blushed. When she took the pen from his fingers there was a vacuum of blood sending it all right to his dick to feel her finger trail against his. She signed her name and asked him if he could help carry it inside. Took a breath to be able to answer her. “Yes ma’am. Where would you like it?”

“Right over by the couch is fine.” She walked with a sway in her hips. “You go to the gym?”

He nearly choked. “I do.”

“I can tell. That’s a heavy box. I bet you’ve been working all day.”

“I have.”

She was playing with the tie at her waist, leaning coyly against the arm of the couch. Her thigh peaked out from the split in the robe and a hint of muff got him harder still, she’d be blind not to notice. She looked him up and down. With a bit lip, she noticed. “Why don’t you sit down? Relax a minute.”

Maybe she might murder him. It would be as good a way to go out as any other. He sat. Now she was looking down over him, window light on her curves. Fresh from a shower, her hair still coiled wet down her chest and glistening beads of water at her throat, she bent to him with intent in her eyes and pushed him back into the cushions to kiss him with sweet, soft lips. He returned the kiss hard, and when their tongues met there was a fire in him that he wasn’t about to douse. A small moan from her and his hands were over her hips, gripping her waist. Some animalistic urge to take all of her in. She let her robe fall open and her tits were in his hands, nipples under his thumb and she moaned again.

She pulled back just enough to work on his buttons. “Would you believe me if I told you this was my first time doing anything like this?”

He couldn’t answer, not enough blood in his brain. His chest exposed, she trailed her fingers through his hair and over his muscles, her lips on his again and her hands working his belt. Her thigh pressed against him and her knee slid between his legs.

1/2

>>19379731
2/2

One hand at a breast and the other trailed south, squeezing her ass enough to have her take in a breath. She took his hand and placed it between her legs where he could feel how wet she was, slipping a finger up inside her where that sweet lubrication was ready for him. God damn he was as hard as he had ever been in his life.

His belt was undone and his fly was open. A delicate hand pried him free and his cock was at attention. When she stroked it, it was all he could feel. A gentle up and down, up and down. “You like it?”

Did she have to ask? “Yeah, I like it.”

She squeezed him harder. “Like this?”

“Yeah. Just like that.” His own hand was working her and she was slick. He felt her clit and her back arched like he had flipped a switch.

When she pulled away and his hand was chilled to the air he worried for a minute that they were done, she changed her mind—she smirked at him, catching his subtle look of terror. They were only just beginning, she went to her knees and her mouth engulfed him mercilessly like she was going to suck the life right out of him through his cock like a straw. She struggled to take him deep, but she knew tricks with her tongue—he could feel himself building up and told her to stop.

“You sure?” She asked, a trickle of drool down her chin, lips swollen to match her pussy.

He nodded, pulling her by the hips. He could smell himself on her breath. Straddling him, he guided her down and she was tight as a motherfucking drum—took a couple tries, her head tossed back and her tits bouncing with every thrust. She gripped his arms, his muscles flexed under her fingers. She rode him and the pressure built, and built, and built, and she was squeaking her pleasure and squeezing him tight inside—he could feel her cumming, with every muscle inside her squeezing his dick like he had never felt, bearing down on him, her squeaks turned to moans and he could feel her shudder and shake and he was close to bursting.

He pulled her off, and earned a sorrowful look. “You didn’t cum!” she cried, a quiver in her voice.

“I want you bent over,” he said, a deepness in his command that got her moving. She did as told, presenting herself like a cat in heat. He slipped inside again and slapped her ass and felt her squeeze at the jolt. He was fucking her hard, now. She was howling. Three blocks over and they’d know she was cumming. He was close. Dripping sweat. Hands around her waist he was bringing her to him again and again in a fury and he was going blind from how good she felt on him. Almost—almost—almost! He pulled out and shot his load all over her ass and up her back and a groan that shook the house.

Best damn delivery he ever made.

>>19379353
>>19378517
No it's like an actual fiction story. It might've even been made into a movie I forget. But it was just about the tendency to not have an original personality and sort of mimic those he met.

>>19379843
That's just the average NPC

>>19378500
>put up some sockpuppet reviews myself to get that ball rolling.

This is unethical. I'm going to have to call the authorities!

>write one sentence
>get back on the computer
Ya I'm thinking this things never getting wrote

>>19380177
you get back on that document, fire up instrumental music and get shit done anon
500 words at least, you can do it

>>19380177
Go find a nice place outside to write with no internet connection

A man in a war, what war, was no one’s guess. Here, no one cared for the war. Here, no one cared for themselves. Here, he only cared for the light above his holding place, and the water that dripped down to grace his tongue with a small respite from the sandy flames that consumed him. For all the humidity, it could be sweat returning to his insides, but he did not care. At every drop, at every morning with the rising sun, he caught it. He caught it sixty times.
He caught it seventy times.
He caught it eighty times.
He caught it ninety nine times.
Food so featureless was hardly an interruption to fitless nights and days of sleep. He would dream of his girlfriend, and sometimes wake to horror that he had forgotten her name, a sound so valuable in this prison. But her face, her face was all he needed. Something beautiful, a memory to present him with a better time. A memory of water running in the sink, free and full.
He caught it one hundred times.

He was eventually released, but the sores on his tongue never quite healed. He was released with gunfire, carnage and smoke. He was released as if the hands of god himself burrowed through the sand to release him, but instead all they did was burrow deeper and deeper.
His rescue day was one of black victory, carried out by men ten years younger than he. Skilled faces, new faces, enthusiastic voices, no one he ever knew on the surface. Had he been a less broken man, maybe he would have heard them call him an old man. Maybe he would have had a proper retort. Maybe he would have had a laugh at the pansies.
He at least had the heart enough to acknowledge that. They were lilly whites, poised as trees.
Maybe he would have informed them that he wasn’t even thirty yet.

He eventually received this and that badge of honor, a cacophony of smiling faces and stretched voices on microphones. Whenever they talked he could hear the spit in their voices, for everything had been so loud since release day. He could hear their tongues impatient, wet, whole, flattered and spoiled overall. He couldn’t grace an airport, a bar or even a godamn bathroom without hearing the disgusting way people talked. And the water, the water in all those places felt too plenty, felt as if it were gold being wasted. He had to stop himself from yelling at the kid next to him who left without turning the faucet all the way off. It would drip, and drip, and drip, and there was nothing to catch it.
Eventually, he’d regain his sense. It took a few hours, between landing and receiving pins and being on stage, but he gained it. The reminder to wave, smile, talk, it all came back to him like a familiar song. One that he hadn’t heard in ages. When he took the taxi back to his house, he even asked the driver to turn on the radio for him.
The driver told him to piss off.

>>19380438
When he made it home, the grass was cut in an odd way, but he supposed that was just her way of doing it. Before his stop he had bought her a gift from the local farmer’s market, a place they used to go often. Not that it would make the reunion any sweeter, but he figured she could use a new candle. When he opened the door, the lights were dimmed, most of them dark. Odd that she wasn’t home on what should be her day off. As he put his bag down at the kitchen table, he noticed how immaculate everything was. No takeout dinner on the table, no dinner trays in the living room. As he perused his home, more silent than a ghost to not spoil his own return from the dead, he looked about to find even one thing that was quintessentially her. Had she improved this much during his deployment? Next he felt he’d be finding a treadmill in the bedroom.
And then he remembered, the shoes. He shouldn’t be stomping around with boots if he wanted to surprise her. He took off one boot, then another before noticing the new shoes at the door. Her size, great pink ones. He never knew her to wear pink, but if this was the new way she was going, it was going to be great either way. He began to move quietly down the hall, on old carpet, through new light.
When he entered his own bedroom and flicked on and old light, he saw new colors. Fluorescent lights covered the room in a bath of purple, blue, pink, and all hues in between. They danced so new over his old sheets, they danced in waves over the two lying there.
Two beautiful women, one old, and one new.
When one opened her eyes, she screamed, scrambling back to the old bedpost, waking her partner. When he backed away, his hands in the air, she pulled something from the jacket on the nightstand. Something new. A gun.
He felt something...old. It ripped through him. Something old, it tore him apart. Something old, it sent him to his enemy. Something familiar, a broken soul.
He dropped his candle, it was shattered. It was something new.
And he was something old.
He was something tired.
He was something broken.

Do I have permission to include at least one silly footnote in an otherwise serious piece of nonfiction?

>>19380525
when asked to be or not be silly, the answer is always yes

>>19380177
you don't write on your computer? how? hand writing SUCKS

>>19380268
100% this. I signed up to proctor SATs, and ended up getting office duty. So, I just sat in an office for a full day, no internet or anything, with only a notebook, some outline notes, and a couple pencils. Every 45-60 minutes, I'd go around the classrooms and ask if the proctor needs a 10-minute break, and then go back to the office. Turns out, if you put yourself into a place where you are denied distractions, you very quickly start pumping out paragraphs.

>>19379731
Gettin real friendly around here!

>>19376872
I did it bros, I got 1.5k words in today.
Here's hoping that's my new standard moving forward

>>19380574
one of these days im going to buy a big stack of composition journals and spiral notebooks because i think that there's something special about creating something physical that makes me more productive.
im going to have to rewrite the thing during editing so might as well start on paper. Putting pen to paper is a commitment, unlike a virtual document that can be deleted at the slightest hint of dissatisfaction.

>>19379851
Ok sure but there was a book about it. what is it?

>>19380691
As a bonus, when retyping your longhand writings into Word, there's a good chance that, once you've finished retyping it, you'll be in the mood/rhythm/mindset to keep on going from where you left off.

>>19370396
I'd very much like to get started writing, but I genuinely just have no idea how. As in, I have no idea how to write characters, plots, scenes, even how to organize a narrative. I basically know how to write argumentative essays from school and that's it. I generally have a lot of interesting but abstract ideas throughout the day, should I just write them down and start from there? I feel like my biggest difficulty would be translating these concepts into an actual story, but I really don't want to write non-fiction or just thought.

>>19380954
>should I just write
Yes. No matter how stupid or irrelevant the idea in your head, just write. This is the most important thing for a new writer to do. Writer's block doesn't happen to you, you do it to yourself.
Your brain is a muscle like any other. You must work out to improve it in the ways that you want to use it. Your not going to run a marathon on your first day. Actually it is probably better to say that your brain is a like a colon. There is a ton of shit clogging up your bowels and you must take a laxative so that it all flows out and you can have healthier, more consistent shits in the future.

What you working on /wg/? I feel like posting some flash fiction.

I had posted a bit of writing a couple of threads ago and I got some really helpful feedback, I wanted to post the rewrite and see what you guys thought. Below is the original, the first reply to this is the rewrite.


Dust covered the few objects in the sole bedroom of the House. The room was a closed mezzanine with a small stained-glass window overlooking the only other room – excluding the basement – which was accessed through a cramped and narrow stone spiral staircase which Meg had to crouch to climb. This was her grandmother’s room. Within it was her bed on a simple grey wooden frame, it took up most of the room and navigating it was a labour. Tucked into the corner of the room across from the door, on the other side of the bed was a bedside table with three drawers which Meg had never had the desire to look in. A large, asymmetrical wardrobe towered over the end of the bed, so close that the doors could hardly open. Inside the wardrobe, on the floor, was a large chest. This is where the book is kept, among other objects which did not grab Meg’s attention as much as the forbidden history of magic and her family. The chest needed a key to be opened, a key which never left Meg’s grandmothers person. When the book entered the chest Meg was sure she would never be able to steal looks at it. However, her grandmother would often leave for the town and forget to lock the book away and Meg would know she had precious little time to uncover the secrets held in the large leather tome.
To Meg this room was sacred and being in it in any capacity felt like being in a church. The room was always noiseless, and the air felt thick and heavy. She didn’t like entering this austere room and could count on both hands how many times she had. Perhaps the oppressiveness of the room had seeped into her grandmother while she slept; Meg felt the opposite was true.
The woman in front of Meg was not her grandmother. Her grandmother was not so frail and pallid. Her grandmother commanded discipline from Meg in a way that Meg herself could not understand. A silent and unassuming look would wash into Meg’s blood and fill her heart with obsequiousness. Often, the two disagreed, but Meg knew she was bound to her family, and tradition stated that she takes orders from her grandmother. She was all Meg had; Meg was all she had. A creeping feeling came upon Meg and the thought descended upon her that she had been so servile and willing to placate the terrestrial whims of her grandmother because she pitied her. Seeing her grandmother fade out of existence seemed to leave a space for the thought to occupy, like air rushing into a vacuum.

>>19381417
Rewrite:


Light from the stained-glass window of the mezzanine filled the chamber pot in Meg’s hands. She trundled over to the corner of the room and dipped her head to avoid the low ceiling of the spiral staircase. The pass was so narrow Meg had to make sure not to knock any candles onto the cold floor, them not being recessed into the walls but reaching like arms through dungeon bars. The wooden door at the top of the staircase comes quickly, it’s imposition only acts to make the space more claustrophobic. The door catches and stops on the floor forcing Meg to shuffle inside. She knew there was a reason she didn’t come up here much; it was as if the whole House was bidding her to keep out.
It was hard to avoid looking at the bed once you were in the cell of a room. Meg watched the woman who she simultaneously knew to be her grandmother – she had brought her up to bed after all – and a frail and waxy woman who she had never seen before, clinging to life. Her grandmother was a disciplinarian. Even a slight and silent look would sink below Meg’s translucent skin and wash into her blood, filling her heart with obsequiousness. Despite the pull of servitude Meg would argue back, perhaps sensing the futility, and therefore the low risk of the gesture. She was proud to be of her family. Her grandmother had told her they came from a long line of witches and that this very shop had influenced the world in countless ways unseen; the crests carved into the walls of the house lent a sense of nobility to the history.
Meg caught herself standing awkwardly in the doorway, the oppressiveness of her grandmother’s room was church-like. A layer of dust blanketed over the austere room – its lack of decorations in stark contrast to the eclectic collection downstairs – and made her conscious of her breath. Soft creaks reverberated up her body as she passed between the gap between the chest at the foot of the bed and the wardrobe that loomed over the room. Meg fought hard not to look at the chest as she walked past, it being where the book was kept, the book that occupied Meg’s mind as the forbidden connection between her and the magic that facilitated the family business. The chest was large and ornate, and almost glowed on its own, though its lustre may have been amplified by Meg’s anticipation. The large padlock took only the key that never left her grandmother’s person and Meg had never seen inside. Only when her grandmother had been talking to clients or retrieving an item from the basement of the house was when Meg could frantically scan the pages of the large leather tome. She sat down on the stool beside the bed. It didn’t feel right to take the key while her grandmother was gravely ill. However, this time it wasn’t fear that drove her reluctance, but pity. Meg placed the chamber pot back under the bed and waited by her grandmother’s side.

>>19381417
>>19381421
The feedback had been that I was telling and not showing, with the description of the room feeling way too much like an inventory. I was also describing spaces that Meg was not in and that was pretty jarring. So now I have my character move through the area, with certain objects being described - and non important ones being ignored - and some objects perhaps stirring up a bit of a tangential description.

>>19379683
Also I forgot to mention, upper-case words can be difficult to read because words lose shape and all look like RECTANGLES. It has the intended LOUD effect, but you'd do better with italics and bold. You can use still use all caps, but I'd use it sparingly and on words that are easy to read when upper-case.

>>19380545
Computers are too distracting, plus I can scribble notes easier. Finally, it forces me to rewrite it on a computer which I like for editing.

why is plotting so hard

>>19381417
>>19381421
I'm the anon that replied to you a few times in the other thread.

I think this is a major step in the right direction, a lot of improvement in the pacing and there is much more being communicated. It's more fun to read and more organic feeling. I think if you continue in that direction you will solidify a style, I like some of the flair you put onto certain things.
I liked this line -
>Her grandmother had told her they came from a long line of witches and that this very shop had influenced the world in countless ways unseen; the crests carved into the walls of the house lent a sense of nobility to the history.
And I think you could follow it in some way with this line from your old example
>To Meg this room was sacred and being in it in any capacity felt like being in a church. The room was always noiseless, and the air felt thick and heavy.
Rather than
>the oppressiveness of her grandmother’s room was church-like.
Because a church is not inherently oppressive, but I get what you're aiming at. There is an austerity to the stone of a church, and the expanse of the high roof is grand. A church can be imposing and formal. Also I didn't like -church-like-

The air could be described as oppressively thick and heavy.
Also it says -being- twice in quite close together
You could try
>To Meg this room was sacred and being in it in any capacity felt like *standing* in a church. Her grandmothers room was always noiseless, and the air felt oppressively thick and heavy.

But yeah just my suggestions anon. Keep going.

>>19382074
Thanks for the advice, previously and now; I'm glad someone who gave me advice before saw the changes. Yeah though, you're right about church-like, it's very lazy writing by me. I'll add back in the other description like you mentioned in your last point. Adding the context of standing in the church is probably the right way to go, I might even go as far as to say "...felt like standing in an empty church," or something similar.

I finished a piece, it was 4281 words. I will now hide it in the bowels of my computer, never to be read by anyone.
On to the next piece.

>>19382067
Think more about the desires and behaviors of the characters. Then the conflicts. How can they approach the conflict? How can it get worse despite their success or failure? What happens when each character gets together in this setting, with these goals, or when this event happens, or with this question to answer? If you consider just a few of these things the story comes to life on its own.

My writing is picking up pace. I noticed I have less extremely complex sentences in my document when editing and go for rich description with only sparing use of adverbs. If all goes as planned I hope I'll be reading and writing on a homestead in a few years. For now, waging and writing is still comfy.

>>19382067
Are you making a detective/mystery, or describing an adventure? Latter can coast on character motivations.

>>19382373
>>19382373
it's an adventure, but there's a party and they left the area of interest in satisfyingly dramatic fashion, but now they need to awkwardly decide to go back in to engage with more of the plot mechanisms and there's not much reason for most of the party to agree to do so.

>>19382395
Then do what makes sense for now. Maybe a breather that builds up the reason to go back, or someone will give important information to one of them.

I naturally write in first person present tense. It seems to be very rare to me to find books written this way. Is it bad?

>>19382470
it's bad if you're a bad writer

I've heard a lot about the idea of a character's wants vs their needs. I have a character who wants to build their family business after inheriting it, what what they really need is to connect with their ancestry.

However, at the start of the book, the character regularly talks about feeling the loneliness of being the only living ancestor of her family. Does it make sense to then have my protagonist try to fill this void by building the business, when they know it's what they want and not what they need?

I guess my generalised question is: does the *want* have to be realised and the *need* unrealised by the character? Or can the character know what they need but do what they want in a misguided attempt to get what they need?

>>19382526
>Does it make sense to then have my protagonist try to fill this void by building the business, when they know it's what they want and not what they need?
of course. I assume she has multiple reasons for building the business - ie keeping a roof over her head - and she may find that in the process of doing so she runs into people who knew her deceased family members and gets to reconnect that way. I mean, the reality is there is no such thing as a need to connect with your ancestors. having her build a business and find someone to start a family with is only about a million times more important than some navel gazing family tree exercise

>>19382526
The author has to know the needs and wants of a character. It's up to you whether the characters figure it out or not, and how clear you want it to be to the reader. Dramatic irony, where you tell tge reader what's going on, while the character doesnt understand, can work. If the character is dynamic at all he'll change what he wants at some point in the story, but that decision doesnt have to be the right one to get him what he needs. You just need to provide a resolution to the conflict.

>>19382638
Yes precisely. I think as I wrote my comment I straightened it out in my head.
>>19382650
I think they'll start thinking they can rebuild the business to become closer to family, only to find the family had to commit horrible wrongs to keep it going all this time and she has to decide whether to abandon the connection or also commit to the evil the business comes with.

>>19383012
>>19383012
>>19383012
>>19383012

new

>>19381165
I'm writing a sci-fi military space opera