/lit/ - Literature

no one writes in /wg/

>list of /wg/ authors pastebin
https://pastebin.com/ruwQj7xQ
If you want to be on this list then reply to this post with the site you posted your novel on and your pen name.

>>19559674
what are the literary implication of being on this list?

>>19559789
You get to be called an animefag, but you also write in a general where no one writes.

Can fanfic writers post in this thread? Sorry I’m new to /lit/

>>19559844
I don't see that it's against the rules in the sticky, it should fall under creative writing.

Is this a good way to explain the area depicted in pic related
>The night came lit by a crescent moon and he began closing on the nearest hideout at the bottom of the hill.
>The three were snoring softly when he cut their throats one by one covering each one's mouth so as not to wake the other. He grabbed a quiver and bow from them before crouching over to the campsite adjacent to the feast's dining table and opposite the last campfire.

Please be patient, I have autism

>>19559844
Gimme a quick rundown of your fanfic and I'll decide.

>>19559445
Under what conditions do you guys think first-person narratives work best? In general, I prefer third-person, but I am attempting to start a new story and am debating whether it would be best told in first-person.

>>19559956
I’m juggling between three one-shots at the moment.

>1) a character dies and meets their universe’s equivalent of God before going back down to earth to reincarnate
>2) three characters fighting each other for the sake of fighting and showing off their power levels
>3) a character reminisces on his best friend’s deceased wife, who he thinks was a total bitch. the wife has been alluded to in canon but there’s no information about what her personality or relationship with her husband was like, so i’m using this fic to expand on her character.

>>19560052
Okay but what is this based on? That's the main thing I look at when judging how embarrassing fanfiction is.

>>19559950
Needs a comma after “moon” and “one by one”

>>19560073
Anime

>Standard Banner
>5* pity 47/90
>4* pity 8/10
>about a week until guaranteed 4*
>won't hit soft pity until spring
it's gonna be a long winter

>>19560114
a-anon....

>>19560111
Is it so bad you can't say?

>>19560114
genshinkek..

>>19560091
>needs a comma after "moon"
I disagree. There's a better sense of motion without the pause.

Can any lads give me some feedback on this dialogue? Do I get the semi-asshole boss vibe? Apologies, English isn't my first language.

Really enjoy seeing the work of talented people in here, and the spirit of camaraderie that occasionally surfaces through the bitterness and crab-bucket mindset. Love you all.

>>19560357
Dialogue is good, though I didn't really interpret the boss as much of an asshole if that's what you were going for. Just seemed curt to me. Your English is also good the only thing I could pinpoint that seemed ESL was the opening line:
>until the close of the day
It works, just sounds a bit awkward instead of saying:
>until the end of the day
Aside from that, what's the story about anon?

>>19559445
How do you introduce 8 different characters in a short amount of time?>>19559844
Ok. But please be patient

>>19560448
Thanks anon. I've just finished the first draft at around 8.5k words so polishing and trimming now. It's about a highly strung professional who falls ill and reflects on her life choices and conflict with her father. It's more interesting than it sounds (I think/hope!).

I much prefer to write in your beautiful language than in German.

Will amend the close of the day bit. Thank you.

>>19552655
>>19554172
>>19554322
The dislodging bit was supposed to be clearing each gap between the stones, one at a time, by reaching in with the billhook from a point below the water level, but the whole action of doing that was unnecessarily complicated. I had a real world location in mind and that's exactly how I'd approach the task; I should just have created a place that would be easier to describe, and had the character balance on the stones (above the water level) from the very start.

The lines about the sun and sky and love weren't intended to be metaphors; those are blatant and nonsensical lies that the character is telling himself, knowing that they are lies, just before he decides, for no reason at all, to hide a corpse. The lies and the hiding are the same type of action for him, the same impulse. I think third person narration would have helped to get this across, because he's not self-aware enough to explain why he says what he says. Also that thing called character development.

The first time I read your piece I was slightly drunk, so I somehow missed the jumping in with a stone, and wondered where the stone came from the parts after that. That's just bad reading, but the move from describing past habits to a more specific past incident, still in the second person, made it less clear to me where the new narrative had started and what step I'd missed. In that respect, the style isn't drunkard-proof.

>>19542565
It's finished. 3273 words.

>>19561645
Congrats anon! I’m proud of you

Kind of sucks how I'm fairly consistent with writing but it still takes months/years to finish a single book. I've had some false starts, rewrites, etc, the general process of it. I'm actually content with how its going but just sharing the frustration that I have 10 other solid stories I want to write but will have to wait until I'm done with the one I'm working on.

>>19561742
Im trying to finish a 60,000 word novel but spent all day today thinking of a new one.

I feel you.

>>19561613
(Thinking about it, that last paragraph is too obscure even for me, with my knowledge of the character's thought process.)

What do you guys think of the first page of my new novel? I'm almost 10k words in now. Would you want to read more? Please forgive typos. I'm shit at editing.

>>19561806
I think this could be edited down heavily for brevity. You stagnate the progress of the storytelling by going over certain details. Certain lines feel superfluous like you're feeling out the story for yourself - which is fine, but that means a redraft is in order to hide that part of the writing process. The over-writing of minor details detracts from the good that is there. Basically use less words for greater overall effect, but don't get too bogged down in it right now because you're telling yourself the story first, then you can go over and remove what didn't end up being relevant later. Hope this helps.

>>19561891
thanks man. I think you are onto something. In my last book I felt like I didn't use enough descriptive language so maybe I'm doing overkill here. My last book also struggled with pacing issues so I'm trying to take my time developing the setting and scenery, but I can definitely see how it may have gone in the opposite direction now. Thanks again.

how do i train writing?

>>19559674
No thanks. All my published works are linked to my Facebook page which has my real name and my picture and my family. But I do write.

>>19561935
It's like people. You meet someone, or listen to someone (like an internet personality) and you learn about them and find value in what they do. But most often you get tired of what they have to offer and you move on. You then have a history and breadth of knowledge about what the person was like before, during, and after. This is similar to writing where you'll work on a story, go through beginning, middle, and end of the process. You might like the story at the end or you might not, but the process of trying to aim for a good final outcome will inevitably provide knowledge and experience.

Just like how you wouldn't want to listen to a carbon copy of a person you don't think is worth your time anymore, you likewise change it up with the next person who ideally has something fresh to say. Which is to say your next story will benefit from the last one being attempted and/or finished, but you're trying something new.

It's a cycle of trial and error with an aim to have less error over time.

>>19561952
>>19561935
Not him and adding on to this, reading and watching media with solid writing and attempting to understand what makes the writing solid is a good way to study. Instead of passively watching a movie or reading a book, actively consuming and thinking about the structure will slowly trickle into your writing over time, especially if you put it into practice right away.

>>19560357
>>19560494
Pretty good desu. Couple of things to possibly improve:
1. The dialog is a bit...unnecessary. It makes me wonder if the story would be in anyway impacted if you replaced it with a summary or cut it altogether. It feels like the real dialog might begin right at the point you cut it off, but that's exactly where you end the dialog. What's point of that conversation?
2. You have a tendency to overuse polysyndeton or more generally lists of three. You should vary the number and the construction.
3. "Amidst the meandering train of inferences and connections seized upon" is a little overwritten.

It has nice flow otherwise, and seems like it's going somewhere. Would definitely like to read more.

If I self-publish multiple short stories, could a publisher still be interested in a collection of all of them?

>>19561996
No. They are not interested in your vanity projects, they want to make money.

>>19559445
I've started writing a novel, and I can already tell that it's going to be awful. Sort of like Scrotie McBoogerballs, but instead of disgusting my readers, I offend them. Are there any platforms out there that wouldn't ban a book like this?

>>19562034
&amp magazine

Howdy /wg/ how are you? It’s been a while. I got a new job and haven’t spent any time writing over the past few months. I bet these threads are better when I’m not here anyway. Hope you’re doing well. We are all gonna make it. Keep writing. Keep reading with a critical eye. Keep cranking out those word quotas. I believe in you all. Especially JK-Sama, he’s the only one here that writes.

I need motivation to work on my stories instead of wasting all my time on the internet.

>>19559445
anyone know if there's online creative writing materials like MIT OpenCourseWare has? like, i want to set my own deadlines to finish my own creative writing assignments, but i don't know what typical assignments even look like. i know peer criticism is a huge deal in those classes but i'd like to try without it, just to try to keep up with the reading/writing loads

Bump

>>19560494
Very good writing. Delete 'duty' and it solves the list of three problem. Happy to critique more if you want to post more

>>19559445
>spend a few months in prison because I did idiotic things
>pick up a book outside of a school setting for the very first time in my life
>fall in love with reading, eventually start writing
>in my arrogance I start to believe I am a fantastic writer due to being surrounded by retards who cant string a sentence together
>leave prison, join multiple clubs for reading and writing
>share my works which I've deluded myself into thinking are fantastic
>realize I am nowhere near the skill level I perceived myself to be
>even the average blokes at these clubs are years ahead of me
>struggling to find motivation to write again knowing how terrible I am at it
Thanks for reading my blog

I'm writing a story based on the Bosnian crisis of 1908 where the Austro-Hungarian empire annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina about a man who was given to an Imperial state orphanage as an infant as a part of a special secret program for unwed mothers to discretely deal with their shameful pregnancy, who was raised and trained to be a secret police agent and is sent to the newly annexed Bosnia in his first real independent mission in order to root out dissent and opposition and comes into conflict with the Serbian Black Hand.

My problem is I'm having a hard time capturing the specific level of historical accuracy in terms of the subtle details and world building. Should I just accept historical fiction inaccuracies, or should I try and make this a pseudo historical world of my own creation with entirely fictional nation states in a fictional historical time-line? I'm feeling the former as I want to mix influences from the 1890s to the 1920s

>>19563586
Pure arrogance, you don't even think about the other writers in the group as being real people. Stop trying to make yourself out as some savant and just work on your own writing and appreciate what other writers accomplish themselves. Somebody else being good at writing doesn't make you worse. It's this arrogance thatanded you in prison eating makeshift ramen hot frito burritos

>>19563599
I think it's fine to accept non-egregious historical inaccuracies. If there was never a General Vladimir Stopsovinkinsky and you make one up for this story, I don't think anyone will care. If you start changing events I can see lines being drawn. But then again, historical fiction is pretty loosely defined. Maybe as long as you're in the time period and keeping to realism you're in historical fiction.

ever just wish you could write a normal story?
when I was a kid I wanted sci fi and fantasy to not deal with the real world. then I started writing in imaginary worlds because of my lack of experience with the real one. Now I'm writing an alice in wonderland type of story, a twisted cyberpunk in name only story, three fanfictions and a swath of short stories.
only one of them has a normal setting. trash town USA kentucky.
I couldn't fathom writing about a world in history that doesn't exist anymore. That's a noble achievement to me.

>>19563693
Sounds like you're still developing, like the pendulum is to the other side and not balanced yet. Eventually you'll be able to write like PKD, and put personal real worldliness into a fictional setting

>>19563659
You're right anon. I know I am arrogant. However I did not realize my arrogance is so great that it overshadows an activity that I take up to better myself. Appreciate it.

>>19563710
his characters didn't seem very realistic, but maybe that's just me.
or the fact that I've only read androids dream of electric sheep.

>>19563693
on this topic, because as you can guess I'm super under read, are there any authors that hit this feel?
writing from a basement having not gone outside in x days kind of out of touch but still making sense

>>19563693
i have never had the desire to write a boring story.

>>19563717
That story is more on the side of his less personal works, as the protagonist is far removed from his own life, but most of his stories are about dealing with addiction and mental illness in a high concept setting

>>19563775
well yes I get that too but like
normal in the sense of there is a protagonist, in the real world, dealing with real problems, but interesting enough to keep an audience
I guess this does sound sort of boring now that I think about it out loud

>>19563809
Sounds childish, like you're an adolescent trying to seem adult

ever just realize what you're stressing over is completely fake?

>>19563715
Believe in yourself but believe in others too and don't be arrogant

>>19563811
more like I think I've just become delusioned that the world I don't experience is suddenly important because the grass is always greener

>>19561806
Lot of potential here. No joke.

>>19563693
I just wish I could write something people would care about

>>19563866
That’s not your goal. You want someone to care about what you write. You wish the world would shift to your expectations and not the other way around.

>>19563901
No?

>>19563942
If you wanted to write something people cared about you would find a target demographic that had a common interest and you would write about it based on your personal experience you want to share that would provide an interesting take on that mutually understood topic. If you aren’t doing that then your statement isn’t completely honest.

Does anyone know how much text is edited or changed between submitting the manuscript and getting published?

>>19563971
That would be true if I had said "I just wish I would write something people would care about", but this isn't a matter of will, it's a matter of ability. I can't do it, hence "I wish I could".
You can keep on arguing semantics and trying to pick a fight if you want but I'm not interested in replying to you any further.

>>19563971
>>19563901
How are you extracting all that shit from a one line reply? Are you a mind reader?

>>19559446
Fuck you, I just self-published two days ago.

>>19564016
If you can extrapolate and build off the words on a page the character behind the person who writes it, what are you doing in /wg/? The person replied to a post of someone who can only write outlandish things, lamenting the fact they can’t write realism, anon then responds with the post in question, complaining about the audience of his work, and not the content of the work itself. His post is an emotional outcry regarding his own self worth in regards to his work, which he sees as an intermediary to his actual goal, human connection. The logical trail is based on all the things he didn’t say. I feel for the anon and I hope he finds his place and finds personal value in the things he writes, that kind of self honesty is seen by others in the work. I hope Anon doesn’t go chasing attention in order to feel some semblance of self satisfaction.

>the less I sleep the more work I get done
>the less I sleep the more my work seems like absolute dog ass

>>19564069
Holy shit you are too smart for me, Big Brain. I can't compete. You work out at the library? 3x12 Infinite Jests a day?

>>19564079
why would anon try to rick and morty post here anon
it wouldn't benefit him at all

>>19564079
I’m not trying to troll or show off, anon. Can’t we have a discussion about it instead of making bad faith shitposts? If I’m off the mark then by all means we can go with the explanation >>19564009 but that post seems insincere and self deprecating about their own personal abilities, so I don’t see it as truth to the situation either. But if you want to just be self defensive and shitpost we can do that too.

>>19564069
No offense but it seems to me like you're just making shit up.

>>19562707
Dont wait to get motivated. Open your document, close everything you dont need on to write. Get clean and comfy, then look at what youre up to. You have something to say about what's on the page or your outline, all you have yo do is engage. Put the story in front of you more and more then you'll write. Everything else can wait.

>>19564146
Well, either my logical chains and filling in the gaps are right or it’s a good writing exercise. Either way I hope the anon finds his way.

>>19563909
It seems it seems like you like to repeat things, you repeat things a lot.
You repeat things.
You repeat things a lot.

>>19564275
I guess I was going for the perspective of someone who is so isolated and desperate that they repeat things to themselves to keep some sense of immediacy. probably came off as autistic

>>19564348
I exaggerated a little. Just a bit of variation here and there and it's fine

>>19564374
>accidentally took half joke seriously
I am very tired. Appreciate your time by the way, thanks.

>>19561806
Seems like a perfectly publishable example of that kind of literature. If I see a character the narrator calls Abuelo who speaks English and untranslated Spanish, I know exactly what I'm getting and I don't want to read more of it. But it must work for some demographic since a guy who wrote stuff like that had a professor position at my college, and the writing itself shows more talent than most of what gets posted here.

>>19564444
Anytime I see a mix of languages in an English book, especially French, I skip.

A short story collection is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get. Why not write one instead of a novel?

>>19564592
because my ideas are limited and I only need one narrative to write a book

question
I'm super fucking tired so this might come off as a dumbass take.
But if writers write to be their own voice and perspective as writers, then how were they initially inspired? You were inspired by something to write, so what do you do? Some people say to not rely in inspiration, or to abandon it all together and make writing a science you can master. Then there are people who just want to create a world or a book to sail with freely. Which one is actually right here?

>>19564629
Inspiration doesn't need to come from other writing, and probably shouldn't.

>>19564577
based i am tired of the french

>>19564647
then where? I started writing because I was inspired by some manga I read as a kid.

>>19564592
I'm doing both at the same time. It only takes a couple days out of a week to write a short story. I think 15-30 would be nice for a collection, but might as well write every week.

>>19564751
Real life. Maybe get a job?

>>19564760
> It only takes a couple days out of a week to write a short story.
It only takes a couple days out of a week to write a first draft for a short story *

>>19564751
I started writing because my brother showed me a LxLight smut fanfiction he wrote in his notebook

>>19564763
>work in chemistry research
The things I've seen happen here and the variety of people could inspire me for years. This job is crazy, and most parts of life are if you look close enough.

>>19564763
i have one
it seems the older I get the less i find an urge to create, but I'm still here because not doing it makes me feel gross
>>19564773
that's fucking hilarious

>>19564781
I've worked in two drastically different fields (construction and customer service) and the kinds of people you meet in both are just an endless fount of odd little episodes.
>>19564784
That's good, feeling gross is as good a motivation as any.

>>19564797
that kind of motivation is the speedrun tactic to turn yourself into a robotic work-whore you silly fucks

>>19564830
Beep-boop, must express one self! Express! Express!

If I share a google document for view only will it show who the owner is. I'd like to share my story :3

>>19565023
same wanna trade?

>want to write porn
>end up writing veiled criticism about the urban vs rural dichotomy with sex scenes
Why?

>>19565023
Google docs will show both who the owner of the file is and everyone that's reading it at the time.

>>19559950
>Lit only by a sliver of the crescent moon, night's curtain fell as he approached their hideout at the hill's base.
>Three "guards" lay asleep, the soft sounds of their snoring ending as he cut their throats, covering each one's mouth to avoid rousing the others.
>Carefully removing a quiver and bow from one of the bodies, he remained half-crouched and continued forward, silently circling a dying campfire by taking advantage of the shadows produced by the large dining table used in last night's feast.
>The other camp lay before him now...

IANAW but I've always thought that details are important to add a sense of presence to a scene. You don't want to go so far that describing the scene takes longer than what happens in the scene, but you need at least a baseline amount to avoid it being sterile.

>>19563843
Thanks a lot! Making slow and steady progress. The editing is what kills me.

>>19564444
Checked and thank you for the feedback. I might ditch the Spanish parts as I don’t know if it adds to the overall feeling of the novel. I don’t want it to just be a gimmick and I’m realizing that the more I write, the harder it is to keep it up. What don’t you like about the style?

>>19565051
>>19565255
Here's the whole story https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AvN2KgTx7Ys-c7rhl5E7IwNIyjy-WOs4rBwlhQwBaWs/edit?usp=sharing

>>19565381
mine's this
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lG1kU46xhbOtBK4cyygybXd74mo8802RZaCkntQPAqs/edit
it's unedited so sorry for tripping over typos in advance

I'll read when I get off work today

If you don't have a dedicated work space you're never going to make it.

>>19565400
Mines just a short story haha I'll give you impressions on the first pages or so which is what an agent does anyway

>>19565435
that's bullshit but most people believe it

Does a writer really choose his topics?

>>19565483
Only if you’re a nigger faggot. I pick topics out of a hat. God controls my writing. But an atheist pice of shit like you wouldn’t understand.

>>19565435
I'm legit thinking about getting one of those ladder desks and a dedicated chair for writing in. I just don't have a spot for it anywhere.
>>19565483
Yes, he does. He can develop any topic he wants but he ultimately chooses the one he loves the most

>>19565628
>He can develop any topic he wants
>he ultimately chooses the one he loves the most

>>19565649
Talk to me anon. What's on your mind?

what's your wc goal every day?
Do you write weekends?
typically I outline in my weekends or do writing adjacent stuff. Feels like enough rest for me on a day off.

>>19565662
1000 words a day minimum weekdays, 5000 on days off. Reading 1 short story, 1 poem daily after breakfast, chapters of a novel during my lunch break. I write Short stories on wednesdays. I write outlines at work or in waiting rooms.

>>19565697
Where do you read your short stories? I vaguely remember a good site being shared here but it's been a long time and I've lost it.

>>19565662
I open Word every day

>>19565707
Same but LibreOffice

>>19565703
I buy short story collections. Sometimes read for free on Project Gutenberg. Otherwise I try to find blogs that scanned books as pdfs.

I hope everyone is well. I was the anon who has been writing the short story that is heavily influeneced by McCarthy, but lost my job and had to get a new one, ended up driving trucks. Has been lonely and not had much opp to post on or browse 4chan.

Still, I hope everyone on /wg/ is well and achieving something.

>>19566028
>McCarthy
As far as lit goes, I'm inspired by Southerners like Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor, Eudora Welty, also Thomas Wolfe and James Dickey. I'll start reading McCarthy next year. Other than that I have inspiration from a lot of other places. I think I have a quaint, dark voice but not monotonously negative.

>>19566028
The state of clown world is making me homicidal

>>19566028
I did nano!
now 1k a day feels so lazy and I'm determined to fix this

>>19566299
Writing has helped me reflect more on the past and future. I am doing a few shorts to capture my feelings about the present, but I've loosened my grip on it. Yes, I still care but I've saved up all the resources I can and live as far from clown world as I can.

>>19566028
I spent the better part of four months blackout drunk. Now I'm almost two weeks sober and trying to make sense of the notes and drafts I started in that time. I've got the start of one story from that time that looks promising, but I don't think I can capture the same energy without being at the end of a similar bender.

>>19565348
The only book mixed languages worked in for me was Blood Meridian because it was serving to 1. show how far the kid had traveled and 2. show how the Mexican characters were dehumanized to him by the communication barrier. But there is basically a subgenre of American fiction now that is mostly written for Mexican/latino communities that explores (or, more generously, attempts to elevate/draw art from) the intersection of Spanish- and English-speaking communities. That genre does well enough that they keep publishing and awarding books in it, so I wouldn't necessarily drop it. I say either lean into it and write specifically for that genre, not anons here, or make it more obvious that you want to subvert the genre expectation from the start.

Opinion on "purple prose"?

>>19566998
Not good

>>19566998
Only for musical/rhythmic sensibility only. My opinion has changed slightly since hearing Joyce narrate sections of Finnegans Wake

Why is this general full of pathetic losers?

>>19567165
>aspiring writers
>something else other than pathetic losers
What did you expect from us?

>>19566998
Provide an example if you have one. The answer may vary, but it feels like 7 out of 10 times anon posts their purple prose it's usually 20 chunks of sentences crammed into one whole paragraph.

>>19567165
You know Chad writers are just a meme right? or are you still in high school?

>>19559445
>>Romance the Beat
isn't it Romancing the Beat?

Opinions on long paragraphs and just having fun with long sentences?

>>19567466
used sparingly for variety

Hey, uh, Mr. /wg/... Hate to do this to you man, but I can't write tonight. I have to study sports movies so I can write an effective parody.

>>19567628
You are taking notes while you watch, right? You definitely aren't going to just sit there and tell yourself its proper research.

>>19567628
this except I need to read some romance books.

>>19567717
I'm actually just going to write what I remember and rewatch the movie next week some time with a girl who hasn't seen it. It isn't going to be much. I'm just changing the parody from tennis to hockey.

>>19565058
>end up writing veiled criticism about the urban vs rural dichotomy with sex scenes
Lol that’s interesting. What’s the word count?

>>19567628
This except Project Zomboid is sucking my lifeforce out

This is a story I'm writing which ideally needs to be under 1000 words. I'm trying something slightly different this time, attempting to construct a plot-driven story instead of using the story as a vehicle for a political/literary idea.

It's unedited, lots of mistakes, and it's a fragment. I wanted to write more but for whatever reason I procrastinated during the whole day and I only wrote the 530 words in this pastebin. I should be able to reduce it to 400 I think.

https://pastebin.com/UgYBm7sx

>>19559445
Where do you guys go to practice writing? I remember hearing of a community where there were writing prompts and people to critique you, but I forgot what it was called. Also I'm worried any of those places will be very much like Reddit.

POV: you're reading my short story and you're enjoying it, but then it has footnotes.

how do you react? what are your feelings? is this gimmicky in principle, or are you willing to see what the words I wrote are?


>>19568152
okay, firstly, go ahead and do some editing because there are a good amount of technical errors (misplaced commas, clumsy sentences, etc.)
hard to say if your goal (making a good plot) is going to be met after reading it in this form. you clearly have ideas, but from whats been described I have no idea where its going to go. since i can't ultimately say whether you're getting to where you want to go without some more words on the page, I'll say that the voice is a little distinct, in the sense that it makes your narrator sound pompous and erudite. if you're going to proceed to make story portray the narrator as such then by all means go ahead, but if they're supposed to sound casual and familiar you should edit with a mind for compressing your sentences/ideas

>>19567976
At the risk of further life drain, have you played Cataclysm DDA?

>>19568254
now i like feet but im not sure what you mean for them to be in the context of a note?

>>19567903
So far around 12k, since I just started taking writing seriously (I've only done shitty 2k word fanfics outside of school) and my output is ridiculously low. I'm aiming for a max of 15k words on this story.

>>19559445
I have undone so much. this tie, countless lives, the man I loved. But this war must go on.

Me and the others... we leave for Algiers in the morning. Some will die, yes, but I don't care, this war must go on.

My boots are firm, my heart is stalwart, I must walk ever forward and trample the enemy.

On nights like these, the men under my command seem scarecely more than pawns. Am I cruel? No... they are useful to me.

But why am I doing this? Master... my teacher... please tell me.
You taught me how to murder, and when we reach our destination...
I will have made manifest your superb pedagogy.
I will crush the enemies of the world, for you.
Master... but... there is something... a man... is it you?
I know this color like no other, like no one else does.
The color of his speech, the color of his smell.
I, alshua filencia, have a mission.

The others do not trust me, I can tell, but they must.

The steamship will take us. Through the strait of gibraltar. The operation will not fail.

And when it's all over? I will do it again, and again, and again.

Until the goal is accomplished, I will not stop, I will never cease.

All those years ago, when I was just a child, you took me in.
In the desert, you taught me how to survive.
You saw my talents, and I walked behind you.
You showed me that I was a wolf, and then
you showed me that i was a woman...
Master... teacher... was it you?

To what degree does inserting a fetish or sexual element that strongly appeals to you effect your ability and motivation to tell the story?

>>19568438
Avoid the Magical Realm at all costs.

How badly do you self-insert in your writing?

>>19568538
Only when I literally write about myself, otherwise I try to distance from the characters completely and observe them as an outsider.

>>19568332
I watched Sseth's review of it but don't think I'll sink my teeth into it for the risk of literally never getting back into writing. I'm only playing Zomboid with my friends mainly.

I had a dream last night. I got up in the morning, went to my computer, opened my email and there it was, a publisher had accepted my book.
The rest of the dream was about orangutans but that first part made me feel so good

For those writing high fantasy stuff right now, how did you guys make the map of your world?
I'm having trouble figuring out how to place things geographically.

>>19561806
I like it, and I'd love to keep reading if you have more.

>>19561806
I really enjoy your use of descriptive language

>>19568760
>outline plot with no concern for geography
>more detailed outline including scenery details
>use knowledge of geology, climates etc. to arrange plot-relevant locations in a way that makes some sense

I don't actually have/need a super detailed map though. I think the geography should service the story, and that's about it.

>>19568922
Well I know that I can create a route for my characters to travel upon as the story progresses, but I also want the world they travel to have a sense of structure and not be loosely tied together. Especially if it concerns them returning to previous locations.

>>19568760
i really didn't see the appeal of maps, but then a friend held me up at gunpoint and forced me to use wonderdraft to make one.

is it possible to have men cry in your writing without making them come off as faggots?

Please stay out of /sffg/. I am glad there is /wg/ to contain most retarded monkeys.

>>19569317
But my totally original story about a guy building a harem of alien waifus once he wakes up in Star Wars (after being hit by a truck) is totally SFFG-related!

You will never be a writer, Moogy.

>>19569379
Is that a slur of some sort?

Be honest. How bad is it? This is the first time I've written anything.

>>19569379
Kek

>>19569437
It is perfect, now send it to the most prestigious literary publishers. Don't forget to mention you are trans ;)

Anyone know how to remember dreams in great detail? I experience full-fledged character driven dramas every night that leave me in tears in the morning and if I can just recall the dreams in more detail I'd never have to worry about coming up with a story idea again.

>>19569591
No one here actually writes. Go somewhere else, we only watch anime and "read" manga.

>>19561645
Have you read Eco's The Name of the Rose?

>>19561645
its probably shit anime inspired shit

>>19569302
It's usually what they're crying about and why that makes it faggoty or not

>>19566625
Good luck anon.

>>19569317
Isn't that a meme general

>>19570221
They're just clannish fags with a gigantic chip on their collective shoulder.
>not all genre fiction is trash!
Forever shadowboxing their imaginary oppressors.

>>19566998
Failed art, like all perversions of writing where the presence of the writer seeps in unintentionally.

>>19570230
To be fair, Bakker getting bullied by his professor for writing "children's books" will never not make me mad.

What would be the most ridiculous thing a super liberal white girl would shout while getting banged by her black boyfriend? Best I can think of is “use my pussy for reparations.”

>>19569591
Dreams often leave you (or me, at least) with a feeling of experiencing a great story, rather than the story itself. Like an acid trip, you get all the payoff of epiphany, without actually putting in the work if having one.

On the few occasions I woke up from a dream and wrote it all down, it was worse than something my 3 year old could make up. Some actual examples:
>I can fly, but only when I close my eyes. So all i ever see is falling.
>Someone invents a new way of running (like a way a kangaroo hops) and won the olympics with it.
>A massive ship that was also an traveling ancient library is attacked and burned by pirates.

Dreams are great to inspire and encourage. Like alcohol, they lower your guard and make you feel like a genius, but (as with alcohol) few of the things done seem as clever once you’ve sobered.

tl;dr
Don’t try to remember dreams, just try to recapture the feeling they give you

>>19570574
“Barack!”

>>19570082
Thanks, Anon. For the next few months I'll be doing research and polishing my skills with short stories while my liver recovers. I hope this ends up being worth the punishment I'll out my body through.

I cleaned up the start of my novel and tried to put it on RR. The staff approval took 20 hours to come through, and it went live at 3 am EST

God damn it

If any of you are interested in epic fantasy about a colonial revolt narrated by an evil wizard, give me a click. Maybe there's enough to influence the algorithm

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/49395/the-undying-emperor

https://pastebin.com/Wgpg5J5x
The start of a horror story about the vaccines causing people to turn into giant bugs. It takes place in 2038 when Brood X of the cicadas re-emerge.

>>19570574
"Fuck the white guilt out of my genes"

>>19570800
Really puts a new meaning to eating bugs, doesnt it?

>>19570574
"Put your cocoa butter in my babymaker"

>>19570653
The blurb sounds cool and is well written.

>>19571139
Thank you.

It's garnered very mixed reactions though.

>>19570653
This actually isn't that bad. The fourth-wall, dear-readers thing is always a gamble, but I like that you kept the shtick going with the blurb.
>Exhaustion and frustration is loosened and released by the flow of drinks. Very terrible things were loosened that night
I have problems with the way this is worded and with the echo of "loosened." It's an ugly word and you use it twice in a row. While the writing is on average miles and miles ahead of other RR "works," if you have time to do so, please try to pay attention to the rhythm and flow of the prose. I know a lot of you serialized guys just write at a breakneck speed because that's what you have to do on RR, but still. Good luck anon.

>>19571153
Is it aimed at a YA audience or at a literature fiction audience? Because it sounds perfectly up the YA/fantasy genre's alley.

>>19571189
A lot of my writing is auto-pilot, but that line was actually on purpose, but I guess it just didn't connect that 'loosened' sounds bad. The sentence works better as

>Exhaustion and frustations are released by the flow of drinks, but that night, very terrible things were released.

>>19571189
I know about varying sentence structure, but is there a good list of things that hurt your flow in prose? Can you be more specific about why using the same verb in two consecutive sentences is bad?

>>19571196
I'm a weeb, I like that intersection of markets that is "shounen for adults" basically where you get a story with content a bit too tough for a kid to chew, but still indulges in sword fights and cute girls and stuff

A lot of people who give feedback and critique on the internet just regurgitate stock advice they hear repeated often and don't understand it in the least. They've been trained to think that all writing should be at the most condensed form, with no regard for how sentence construction impacts the flow of ideas or the pace of ideas.

>>19571231
>shounen for adults
You mean seinen. This is the word you're looking for.

>>19571237
Isn't seinen to cover everything adult in the industry?

>>19571211
>Exhaustion and frustations are released by the flow of drinks—that night, many terrible things were released.

>>19571269
No. You could easily look up these words to find out what they mean, you have the fucking internet at your disposal. Let me spoonfeed you though.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seinen_manga
>Seinen manga (青年漫画) are Japanese comics marketed toward young adult men.[1] In Japanese, the word seinen literally means "youth", but the term "seinen manga" is also used to describe the target audience of magazines like Weekly Manga Times and Weekly Manga Goraku which cater specifically to men's interests, and are marketed towards a demographic of adult men between the ages of 18 and 40. Seinen manga are distinguished from shōnen manga which are for younger teen boys, although some seinen manga like xxxHolic share similarities with shōnen manga. Seinen manga can focus on action, politics, science fiction, fantasy, relationships, sports, or comedy.
Young adult, similarities to shounen. These are the operative words here, sir.

>get an amazing idea
>think about for an hour
>it seems self evident and childish
>feel stupid for even having to think about it
>give up idea
>I can't come up with anything intellectual enough to start writing seriously
Am I overthinking, a retard or a genius? Is image related me? How do you pick your ideas?

>>19571306
Just write. You have to get the crap out of your system or else it'll just keep getting recycled inside you.

>>19571295

>>19571220
I'd suggest chapter 2 of this book:
https://archive.org/details/TechniquesOfTheSellingWriterCUsersvenkatmGoogleDrive4FilmMakingBsc_ChennaiFilmSchoolPractice_Others/page/n15/mode/1up
Very pragmatic and straight forward advice.

>>19571306
only a midwit would believe his own ideas are childish.

>>19571295
My apologies

>>19571306
Write something that may change your life.

>>19571323
>>19571369
How do I pick an idea? After thinking about something for more than 10 seconds it becomes self evident and I don't want to end up rediscovering that water is actually wet.

>>19571310
I write some paragraphs every now and then but with no inner connection as I haven't picked any idea yet and probably never will

>>19571396
You write all your bad ideas until you run out and only the good ones are left.

>>19571404
I have an infinite supply of ideas. One idea generates 10 other equally bad ideas. I might be expanding the universe

>>19570653
I would recommend putting a very short (1-3 sentences, "for fans of" etc.) OOC pitch above the blurb you currently have. When you don't have reputation to sell the thing for you, you should have at least something quick to hook people.

>>19560357
I like it. The tedium in the dialogue helps to show the insistence of the boss implying you should put aside your well being for the company and it's relatable too with how it instills a mix of guilt and irritability.

>>19571396
i get you. My solution is to just keep going. Because it isn't like I'm going to stop writing anyway, even if all I create is garbage. At least it'll be my garbage that I can say I shat out with great effort from my anus.

>>19570653
Your blurb doesn't really stand out. There are a million stories on RR about Immortal Undying Mega Godking Emperor Something or the Other. What is the hook? Instead of giving us a reason to read this, you're already apologizing for the issues there are going to be in the very second paragraph of your synopsis. It doesn't exactly encourage me to go on. And cut the empty, banal platitudes ("History is a story we tell ourselves". Dude, just, dude. I bet that sounded really epic in your head.)
But at least you tried

I feel like my story is too weird and non-traditional plot wise and pacing wise for anyone to enjoy it. Anyone else have this problem?
I thought following the insane pathway of my own meandering brain would lead to a unique story but now I feel like I'm not only off my rocker but perhaps the entire porch in terms of making something that anyone can pick up and enjoy.

>>19571628
Write the entire thing and see the end result. Try to figure out which parts don't work. Typically problems arise when you go off the rails and don't follow the intention of whatever you were trying to write

>>19571628
who cares? write for you. if you enjoy it I'm sure others will too, even if there isn't some mass appeal.

>>19571640
My main plot is going to stay, it's just some middle stuff that shifts around. Mostly because I admire the fuck out of long journeys in books.
>>19571642
good point. I have this weird drive for writing that is almost evenly split between "I Have To Because If I Don't I Will Rot" and "Want To Make A Good Time For People"

STEP ONE: WRITE BOOK
STEP TWO: WRITE SHITTY FANFICTION FOR THREE FANDOMS OF YOUR CHOICE WHILE SHITTING ON THE TOILET
STEP THREE: UPDATE AND SHILL THE FANFICTION WHILE STEADILY UPDATING MAIN BOOK
STEP FOUR: SWITCH THE TWO AND START UPDATING YOUR BOOK MORE WHILE THE FANFICTION GETS DRIP UPDATES
STEP FIVE: RECRUIT MASS OF FANDOM READERS TO YOUR PAGE AND THEY READ YOUR REAL BOOK WHILE THEY WAIT FOR OTHERS TO UPDATE
STEP SIX: PROFIT

SIX STEPS TO MAKING IT

STEP 1. WRITE 39 WORDS A MONTH
STEP 2. READ 400 MILLION WORDS A DAY
STEP 3. WRITE IN CHINESE
STEP 4. REPORT ON LOCAL EVENTS TO A NEWSPAPER IN A TOWN YOU DON'T EVEN LIVE IN
STEP 5. SWALLOW YOUR PRIDE AND PREJUDICE FIRST EDITION COPY
STEP 6. SLEEP IN THE SHOWER

>>19570574
"My dad will be so mad when he hears about this!"

>realize in editing that a major character needs a revamp
>plan an alternate history for him
>that story sounds better than the one i wrote
>want to write it instead of edit
Fuck

>>19571811
Time to work on the spinoff!

Please write... I'm begging you...

>>19572517
Is this like dealing with whisky dick for writing?

Is there anything more pathetic than writing fiction? You’re wasting your life documenting the fake lives of fake people rather than enjoying a real life with real people.

>>19572553
Yes; writing poetry

>>19572553
>enjoying a real life with real people
fake people are better friends and companions than real ones

>>19572553
Is there anything more pathetic than writing a biography? You're wasting your life spending countless hours meticulously researching the life of someone else rather than trying to live an interesting life yourself.

>>19572553
but creating gives me a high that nothing else in the world can satisfy
in a perfect world I would divide my life equally between two things. witnessing the beauty of creation and witnessing the beauty of creation.

Is Firefly mandatory watch material for a sci-fi writer?

>>19572758
no
t. written 2 1/2 volumes in a sci-fi series so far and never touched it before

>>19572766
Post link I have nothing to read lately

>>19572758
What a retarded fucking question. Are you a nigger? Only a negro could ask something so dumb.

>>19572768
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/31062/saga-of-the-cosmic-heroes

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lG1kU46xhbOtBK4cyygybXd74mo8802RZaCkntQPAqs/edit

>>19572517
I just wore 1100 words about simping

do you think presenting an entire character's backstory in the form of a few scenes from their perspective is a stupid move? I wanted to just tell the tale but now I know it's more immersive and entertaining if I just slip into his view for all the critical scenes.
It goes on for about 17 pages. Double spaced though so it's not enormous, but I'm not sure what to make of it, and if I should do all the "and this is what came before" for my characters this way.

>>19572799
Waking up openings are so cliched and bad that this feels like it must be a parody.

>>19572867
Yes. Dumb idea. Pull your dick off as penance, faggot.

>>19572886
but then I can't have the joke about him being pissed that he's passing out and waking up too much later on in the book
>>19572890
idk bro that's kind of gay

>>19572798
Chapter 68: you still haven't googled how to format dialogue.

>>19572911
this give me the impression that you read sixty eight chapters of this guy's thing only for your single comment to be about grammar

>>19572901
No your a homo!

>>19572920
NO YOU ARE A HOMO!

>>19572923
Fuck you you faggot! I can writ better than you gay ass!

>>19572798
Ok nevermind, you couldn't pay me to read that, thanks though

>>19572919
kek

>>19572952
damb

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1B-RGdocpo
If you guys haven't seen already, this series used to get passed around /wg/ a few times and it's about time to get posted again. Robert Olen Butler goes into his writing process and explains choices he makes. You can watch him write in real time.

Do any of you write on paper and if so do you use moleskine I heard it makes your writing better.

>>19572937
Fuck you homo! i have MASSIVE writing skills beyond your comhrehenton!

>>19572798
How do you write a story for a year and a half and not make any noticeable improvement?

>>19572964
I wrote a bunch of goblin porn in a moleskine at the library back when I was 18, that was tight
I don't know if it answers your question though

>>19572798
Oh, never mind. I was only looking at Vol 1.
Chapter 98: still haven't googled how to format dialogue.

what is the backstory of this image

>>19572989
Goblin porn? Like … rapey goblins from Goblin Slayer or just vanilla goblin-on-goblin loving? I used to draw goblin porn on /ic/ but they told me to leave.
>>19572967
No u!

>>19572975
Classic skill vs talent question I suppose. I wouldn't say I have either though, of course. I'm not good by any means but I try my best. Personally, I think I've had noticeably better improvement around the ch30ishmark.

>>19573011
Waifu goblin
Also doesn't gigawix still draw goblins over there? I think they like goblins if they look nice

>>19573012
I think that if you have the writing energy to pump out that many chapters you should put some effort into trying to get some stuff traditionally published instead
It forces you to think about things a different way, and even if you go back to publishing webnovels afterwards, you'll probably be better at it
I personally don't think skill vs. talent is a thing in writing unless you have a literal disability. Everyone's brain has an excess of neurons devoted to language, unlike drawing and etc.

>>19573009
Sky King Rich Beebo

>>19573029
Can’t say I’m familiar with Gigawix. Weren’t nobody doing goblins that I recall the last couple years. Maybe mine were shit. Here’s some of my sfw shit.

>>19568766
>>19568782
Thanks fellas. I’ll post more once I get to about 15k words.

has anyone been so addicted to the art of writing that they did nothing but it? is there anyone that did this to the point of basically killing themselves?

what happens if a sociopath tries to write?

>>19573294
yes, but it only lasts a month or so and then you start to hate it

>>19571725
This how it be.

>>19573399
They won’t develop characters you’ll care about. Characters who do interesting things and drive plots you want to finish, but everyone is treated coldly. You’ll probably see some of them die unceremoniously, that kind of thing.
You see who I’m looking at.

>>19569963
Would a father cry if his son was killed? Or if he was reunited with a son he thought was dead?

>>19573414
Not everyone can get a heroic death with a witty quip and lots of explosions, idiot. Sometimes people just die or get killed. It’s a little thing called real life.

My narrator is a child, do you think a good way to remind the audience that they are young is by having them be nervous about lying, in both action and narration?

>>19573634
that or when they're worried about their pokeman cards

>>19573399
Here >>19573625 is another example.

>>19573620
I would, absolutely. That's my own flesh and blood, man. I know Harry Potter is a meme but that scene at the end of Goblet where the other instructor comes flying out of the crowd screaming "That's my son, that's my son! That's my boy...!" just tears me up. Nothing gay about that at all. That's love.

Wrote 1000 words today bros. I feel like they were mostly active and well thought out. I'm approaching my project with a new sense of vigor. I feel good about it.

>>19573698
same. we're gonna make it.

In the far future after humanity's fight to survive has driven all of society underground, technology has simultaneously evolved to the point where any consciousness can connect with another. As revolutionary as religion, this discovery has led to entire families living in the same body, putting other members in a preservation state for all of time as generations within each other are created and shared as history goes on. Humanity lived longer and moved society forward through these body sharings until they developed the technology to live together in a singular mind. This immortal being of melded consciousness created what would be considered miracles to an individual soul. As a result, the entirety of humanity solved many problems, such as an eternal source for nourishment and how to achieve the perfect mind in each of its bodies. The only thing the being could not replicate infinitely was creativity. It was something that died after a consciousness died a mental death. At this point humanity decided in a unanimous decision to use one body at a time to create entertainment. They watched individual beings live out their lives, some mediocre, some grand, but all to the entertainment of the scores of souls in the singular observing body with an entity.
One day, while working his boring fast food job, Blemy, a fat 18 year old who never learned how to drive notices weird things happening around the fast food place where he works, something that breaks the monotony he faces each day. He then begins to notice the days splitting apart some with more consciousness than others.
One day his lights won't come on. His boss' voice over the phone changes voices. His fries are all made out of ice. His phone suddenly turns into one from 1877. Then finally, when he goes outside after another day at work. he sees thousands of human skulls watching him.
When the world comes back from a blackness with a length of time he couldn't comprehend, he wakes in an old theater stage. The singular audience seat is empty, occupied by rats and vines. He collapses in an overgrown theater.

Well, I'm going to have to go back to 2k a day. I enjoyed a fortnight of reprieve, down to 1k a day, but this heist novel is ballooning in length, and getting traction on Royal Road is going to eat through my 28 chapter backlog faster than I would like

I really need to wrap up editing on some things badly.

in the description of "A Guide to Narrative Craft" it says one of the things to own is a style guide, can anyone recommend one for beginner in fiction writing?

>>19573012
>I'm not good by any means but I try my best.
You mean, try your best at ignoring every piece of advice ever given to you in these threads

Idea: serial killer that recites recipes as he methodically and coldly murders people; he could also just cook people the way he describes. Thoughts?

>>19559844
If so I can finally flaunt all the Fate Stay/Night shit I wrote two years back!

>>19574728
Boring and / or rather edgy.

>>19574728
In the Hannibal TV series, Hannibal Lecter picks business cards from his rolodex with his recipes written on the back, then finds and cooks the card's owner according to them. It's implied to be his way of complaining about customer service.

>>19574825
>Boring
What makes for interesting writing then?
>>19574831
Ok, I might try to rework it if it's too similar to something else.

are loli porn stories allowed
or are they too autistic?

>>19561806
So far, i’d read it and keep reading. Good work anon, YGMI

>>19574856
Hannibal was based. Take inspiration from what works.

Short story day today. I'm writing about a neighbor I used to have I was nearly convinced was a werewolf.

Here it comes, boys, my character is a street ratty african drugrunner ””gangster,”” and I need him to say the nigga word. The power is just surging in my veins.

Do I need to write under a female pseudonym to have a promiscuous alcoholic lesbian protagonist without getting cancelled?

>>19575896
No, just do it and let people complain if they don't like it. I wrote a slutty party animal girl lead once and no one seemed to care.

Anyone else go through phases of writing a lot and then not writing at all? Is there anything you do to get yourself back writing again when you've got out of the habit?

>>19575944
Every other day is productive, every other day is not. I rack a disciprine.

>>19575944
get rid of distractions and force yourself to write
it's a simple test of self control, if you can't overcome it you will never finish anything

>>19575969
I'm not distracted by anything though. I just seem to phase in and out of hobbies.

>>19575917
Even if she has a lot of detailed sex scenes?

>>19576003
Why not? As long as the literature is there. Hell even if they were sex scenes for their own sake, if you're writing erotica it has a point and purpose. The point I think people miss is writing promiscuous leads to get a good coom and then labeling it as literature. The author's intent always shines through. For my slut lead, she used sex and I used her sex scenes as a means of her escaping from responsibilities. It depends on what purpose it serves and how you present it.
>>19575975
>>19575944
Same here. I flip between writing, card/close up magic, and occasionally video games. But I always come back to writing. It's my foundational hobby.

i am still struggling to find misbeliefs for characters which propel their internal struggle when combined with their desires.

Viz. Cron.

Anyone read this book?

Another Anon recommended Art of Dramatic Writing, which I will also read

>>19574234

strunk and white - elements of style

>>19575888
How do I do this and not get cancelled?

>>19576203
say you identify as a transnigger

How's that best-selling novel going /wg/? Almost published there buddy?

>>19576671
I finished my comedy. I just have to wholly edit it and line edit it. The problem is I've never done either with a book whose purpose isn't to be literary.

>>19576671
Waiting on cover art

>>19574587
I haven't ignored anything.

>>19576671
Not yet, but I'm thinking really hard about working on it.

How much do i need to care about the implied author? Does the question ”what do my readers think about me, the author?” Matter more for realist fiction, than fantasy fiction writer?

>>19576933
I think the readers don't care about author in general. Unless he's famous and people want to know more.

>>19570653
day 2, chapter 2

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/49395/the-undying-emperor/chapter/806986/chapter-2-the-voluntaries?notification=True

>>19577379
I would avoid putting out smaller chapter every couple days. From everything I've heard from Royalroad people the best way to play the algorithm is to do regular uploads at a set time every 6-8 days. 4k-8k words per chapter.

>>19577411
That's short to you? Seems like a fairly average wordcount for a chapter. A chapter a day is ideal until you exhausted your backlog. Then you switch to posting once a week or something that you're comfortable with, like mon/wed/fri for example. Even Mond/Tuesdays, I sorta know the author and he has a insane word ethnic for producing words.

>>19577411
Who the hell writes 8k word chapters?

>>19577426
I know a anon who's work was usually always 8-10k mark. Needless to say he aborted it and wrote another story which was easier to digest, but then he abandoned that too for a new story. I've done a few myself here and there, and it certainly sucks the life out of you.

>>19577426
My first three books had chapters that went between 8k and 11k. I wouldn't ever write something that demandingly long now though

>>19577437
Man, I read what I think is a pretty varied selection of books, actual published books, and I feel like the longest chapter I've ever encounterd was 4k words

>>19577450
I attribute it to my autism. I wanted to write four perspectives (two per character; a villain and a hero) each with 2000ish words each in it so they were self contained segments of story, because there were six character pairs of villains and heroes plus interludes, and split into three parts. My first and second books averaged about 170,000 words before I got wise and tried to trim some fat off. The shortest in the trilogy ended up at 130k and the longest at 160k.

>>19577425
No that is incredibly retarded. If you even manage to build a following you've set unrealistic standards for yourself down the line. People who tune in every day are suddenly tuning in once per week.

>>19577426
The point is the RR algorithm really loves the average views number over the total views. The more chapters you have the more you thin out the early readers who drop it on chapter 1.

I would also avoid using obvious shill accounts for reviews. I've seen people get banned for this.

>>19577478
I'd appeal it, that's just my beta reader. It's a real person

>>19577475
Yeah that seems stupid. Why not just make that four 2k chapters?

>>19577478
Retarded or not, that's more or less a common practice on the site. The faster you get chapters out the better visibility you have pulling readers through recent updates and front page. As long as he lets readers know in the ANs that he is nearing or has reached the end of his backlog then they won't mind, and most readers have lives and other things to read so it doesn't particular matter at the end of the day.

Another thing is generally readers won't even bat an eye at your fiction until it has something like 20 chapters minimum, so there's that too.

>>19577537
>The faster you get chapters out the better visibility you have pulling readers through recent updates and front page.
Wrong.
The faster you get chapters out the faster you burn through your back log advertising to the same people and the faster your story balloons out of control. Do you know how many people here have read JK-Sama's story on RR? Close to 0, and it's all because sitting down and reading 400k words is a bit too steep of a commitment to dedicate to a middling space opera. JK-Sama has readers but he rarely gets new readers who dedicate themselves to trucking through that backlog. It's just too intimidating for the average Royal Road reader.

>Another thing is generally readers won't even bat an eye at your fiction until it has something like 20 chapters minimum, so there's that too.
Wrong again.
Most readers won't even give it two chapters before they drop the story. Your biggest burst of followers and favorites will come in your first 10-15 chapters. By that time you are advertising to people who have already passed your story by for one reason or another.
The best thing you can do is pace out your story over a long time with few chapters. This lets you advertise yourself to new users of the of site that join over time while keeping the algorithm happy.

>>19576671
Stop taunting me

Chapter 61 released.
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/40361/erased
>>19577612
>Your biggest burst of followers and favorites will come in your first 10-15 chapters.
I'm going to say based on my experience that's totally wrong. As of chapter 18 I had 18 followers. A lot of people on RR won't even open up stories that are less than 100k words. Now, at almost 200k words, I've had more views in the last 3 weeks than I did in the first 3 months. That may be an exaggeration, but probably not by too much.

>>19577612
>The best thing you can do is pace out your story over a long time with few chapters. This lets you advertise yourself to new users of the of site that join over time while keeping the algorithm happy.
And I'm going to disagree with this. Obviously the best thing is posting once a day, but that's tough. The next best thing is having a schedule, once or twice a week, or once every 2 weeks, or whatever, and sticking to it.

An interesting debate, but this webnovel is only my side project. I'm going to post bonus chapters to fuel the fire at the start, but I'm going to transition to once a week, monday at 4pm EST, every week, forever.

I've got other novels to write and I can't spend all my time on one epic fantasy piece

Gotta write about fat dragon stock brokers and shit

>>19577515
Because then it would mess with the 3 part story I put together for each book. It was a terrible idea without a doubt but in my mind I was like huh, big chapter is good chapter.

Is it better to finish a story as soon as possible or to come back to it when you have more experience?

>>19577821
If you don't finish stories you never will, and you'll never get as a result.

>>19577854
I got two stories on me but i feel like they are not as good as they could be, thinking of reading more and then getting back to them

It feels like im pulling teeth or something, i can't nail the things i want to nail

>>19577885
Other stories will come and your experience in writing will make them better than the others. If you really believe in a certain story that strongly, shelve it and work on other projects, but nothing grows a writer more than striving to perfect a story he loves the most.

Has this been done before?

I'm thinking about an isekai where the MC wants to return back to his life. He keeps dying in his rebirths and keeps getting iskai to new worlds, with the intent to return back to his original world. But after centuries of rebirths, he starts blurring his different mothers, his different families, things he knows, and eventually when he actually returns back to his original world, he can't remember if it's the right one or not.

>>19577936
If you don't understand why this kind of story wouldn't work, then you need to educate yourself more

6k+ on my upcoming chapter now, lads. Soon, very soon we shall see the MC breakdown like a little bitch again and use a harem as a coping mechanism.

>>19577997
I can't wait to read this autobiography, anon. It is autobiographical, right?

>>19559445
Rate my opener.
>Once upon a time, in that pale yonder past the evergreen forest, there sat an Antediluvian store formerly known as Chuck's Fuck and Suck; its wooden signpost was like a monolith to all things unholy, as its wood creaked like the sighs of a dormant forgotten god, with etched letters the same hue as lifeblood: Sneed's Feed and Seed.

>>19578363
You had me until chuck's. At least you tried aside from that.

>>19577977
please educate me

>>19578381
Investment is divided amongst characters. If you have to introduce so many worlds, so many families, friends, lovers, that they blur together, the reader won't care about any of them

Because they've blurred together

New thread
>>19578629
>>19578629