/lit/ - Literature

No one on /wg/ writes.

I just edited this chapter and I feel pretty good about it---I even keep rereading this bit and chuckling to myself. In case it's confusing, it's established earlier that he's talking to his plush toy. Based? Cringe?

>>19736420
jokes aren't as funny when they're overdone. tone it down.

welcome to airship city bitch

>>19735797
Here you go, anon. Here is your onion story. My boss called and I had to run some errands after I posted. Sorry it took so long.


https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/36209/burgerpunk-pizza-time/chapter/823633/it-aint-much-but-its-honest-work

Since /lit/ is Christian now:
Do you use theology in your writing? Are your characters or theme religious?

Alone with the walls
And the darkness therein
With no sense of knowing
How long it has been
I’ve really cracked now
A mind torn asunder
From however long here
It’s really no wonder
My skin’s melting off
the beasts, they surround
Bending back sideways
Never reaching the ground
The eternal abyss
grasping for air
Seeking death’s kiss
Is anyone there
Please someone help me
God, someone please
Change for the beggar,
A true friend indeed?
Someone please help me,
Something, come on, please,
Wilt not god save thee
You abandon thy kin
Then a flash of divinity
Boiled up from within
Saved, or Savior
I’m starting to remember
the simple why
of why I am left here
to rot and to lie
A man I was
A true man indeed
A man with purpose
A hater of greed
and of the villains
a hailer of youth
I knew for certain
the hated truth
That a man was more,
not flesh and shit,
a spark did store
and from sleep wake
The indomitable spirit,
cached eternally deep.
World, you will hear it,
when my time arrives,
and good men spill over
to brighten the skies,
and the sun shines again.

>>19736591
> My father played farming simulator professionally. He didn’t stream it, he lived it.
I laughed
>So they programmed a brain and taught it to farm. They scanned and OCR’d thousands of books on agriculture and farming practices into it. It learned quickly.
I don’t understand. Are the artificial brains put into the drones and controlled by the dad, or does the brain control the fleet of drones?

Why yes I am writing something irreverent and silly and looking for tips to grab beta readers how did you know?

>>19736647
The computer brain is the medium of the game between the dad and the flesh drones.

>>19736652
go onto any fandom discord, they'll do that shit for free

>>19736351
>For Prose:
>>The Art of Fiction, Gardner
>>The Anatomy of Story, Truby
>>Story Genius: How to Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel (Before You Waste Three Years Writing 327 Pages That Go Nowhere)
>>On Becoming A Novelist
>>The First Five Pages
>>Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft
>>How Fiction Works
>>The Rhetoric of Fiction
>>Steering the Craft
>>On Writing, Borges
So which of these should I actually read?

>>19736655
Oh, so is that why it’s called farming simulator simulator, because he is controlling the brain playing farming simulator?

>>19736671
Right. By the end of the story the man is controlling human office workers against their will who control human farmers against their will on the other side of the planet through a complex system of simulator games all run by an AI that knows how to farm really well.

>>19736660
A stupid question deserves a stupid answer: It depends.

Where are you in your writing journey? Are you new? Are you about to finish a novel? Are you on your fourth book? Are you churning out short stories? Are you developing a hard magic system for your own perverse Mormon sexual gratification?


You also forgot that /wg/ doesn't write. But /wg/ is part of /lit/, and the number one rule on /lit/ is that /lit/ doesn't read.

>"You are to be detained with the prisoners and thrown out of a 40th-story window with extreme prejudice. We’re also revoking your Top Secret clearance and Frequent Gambler gift shop discount and rewards card.”

>"You are to be detained with the prisoners and thrown out of a 40th-story window with extreme prejudice. We’re also revoking your Top Secret clearance and Frequent Gambler rewards card.”

>"You are to be detained with the prisoners and thrown out of a 40th-story window with extreme prejudice. We’re also revoking your Top Secret clearance, gift shop discount, and Frequent Gambler rewards card.”

I can't decide which of the three is funnier. Which would you pick?

>>19736709
I think the frequent gambler rewards card is actually the least funny. would remove that one

>>19736709
The second one. Gift shop discount doesn't have the same punch of specificity. I also believe the word defenestrate should be used.

>>19736709
Second one. I think Frequent Gambler rewards card and gift shop discount both achieve the same comedic purpose, so the third and first seem a little overlong/redundant.

How do I find an alpha reader?

>>19736751
Right here.

>>19736693
I have a plan set out for my novel, but I'm struggling a bit with driving the story forward on a scene-by-scene basis and things are dragging on. My sentence-to-sentence "flow" doesn't feel like it has any magic to it either, compared to something put out by someone like Fitzgerald.

I'm just worried that reading these "how to write a story" books will push me into following a set structure, instead of developing my own style of writing (if such a thing exists, lol). It's also more fun piecing things together on my own. I don't know whether I should read these books, or whether I should instead continue reading other actual fiction novels and use those to pick up ideas and improve.

Any idea if Story Genius, On Becoming A Novelist, or Steering the Craft are any good?

>>19736789
>I'm just worried that reading these "how to write a story" books will push me into following a set structure, instead of developing my own style
every novice in every craft has this absurdly hubristic thought. learn the rules before you "develop your style." and it's not like they're telling you to use formulas. the books give a toolkit and advice for you to use. it is RETARDED to avoid reading them and think you'll be better off for it.

download several and look at their opening and contents pages and see what appeals to you. there are a whole lot of shitty novice writers who think they're too special to need to study their craft and won't listen to advice. dont be another one.

>Question: Are you a frequent reader of novels?
>Answer: I am not a reader of novels, except for Stevenson, Conrad, Dickens, the Russian novelists. I don't read novels. Novels demand too much effort from me. Now a short story, a short story by Kipling, can be essential. Every word is usually essential. On the contrary, a novel has to justify itself with scenarios, with opinions, with dialogues that are not substantial.
I have an almost-finished novella and agree with this... but publishers don't want novellas. I found like 7 currently open novella contests online, whereas there are hundreds of agents open to novels. And I can't pad it into a full novel without adding other shitty characters or gay side-plots. what do

>>19736660
how fiction works by james woods is the single most helpful book on writing i've read

>>19736909
Staple novellas together.

>>19736909
Write a second novella, alternate them like shuffling a deck of cards, and write a final chapter where the two stories finally cross over.

>>19736420
what program are you using to write this

>>19736954
>the google cloud toddler marvels at a standard word processor

>>19736351
i am inspired to write.

>>19736358
today i wrote
and it was good

>>19736608
Somehow I very much doubt /lit/ believes yahweh is god. not the genital mutilation evil supremacist version, not the turn the other cheek and pay your taxes goy version and not the pray five times a day and wear bags over your head version. The idea that people actually believe something like yahweh is actually the Logos is an extremely repulsive thought.

>>19737124
>this level of seething
>he hasn't seen the bible threads max out in rapid succession
I write for God's glorification.

>>19736909
Find agents whl specialize in materials for young adults or younger?

>>19736816
>implying the people writing these are much more than glorified novices

There's got to be at least one agent that frequents /lit/, maybe even /wg/
He'd never admit it to his colleagues of course, but there's got to be at least one.

>>19736420
The closest you come to being funny is the line about the the crack on the bakery window. The rest is just a guy acting silly.

>>19737267
I hope he dies from asscancer.

>>19737267
Pretty sure there is and I know who.

3500 words today.

>>19737381
20 for me. I'm utterly stuck. I wrote myself in a box.

>>19737394
What's in the box? What's in the booo-ooox?

>>19737394
1. read some poetry or anything else and get ideas from there
2. if that fails, write anything so long as it gets you from A to B, even if it's bad, and come back later to re-write it
3. if 2 fails, revisit your outline because there's a more fundamental issue causing this

>>19736351
>had a writing habit while I was studying
>life went to shit
>no job now, neet with money
>all the time in the world
>writing habit is nowhere to be found
>writing skill is nowhere to be found

Help me.

>>19737408
I want to want to write, but sometimes, these things require pure willpower and discipline, being that you 1. know what to do, 2. command yourself to do it, and 3. by God, you actually did it!

>>19737408
1. Find a metaphor that you feel resonates with your feelings of having all the time in the world and no inclination to write. Professions are good metaphors. I won't offer any because it has to be your choice.
2. Write a three paragraph outline about the trials and tribulations of this person who's profession is a metaphor for where you are at in your life. Give them a goal, a dilemma that is standing in the way of that goal, and then describe a series of attempts - be they failures of successes - to rectify that dilemma
3. start writing the part that is most vivid to you... and don't stop until you've written the entire damn story as outlined

I know it's terribly formulaic "three act structure" shit, but at least it'll get the ball rolling. Good luck.

>>19737408
Write harder kid

>>19737408
Give your money to me and go flip burgers or something more suited to your cognitive faculties

"I'm a fuck up man," I lament.
"No, you're not man... it's just... life is difficult."
Your words fall on deaf ears, but you try to find a foothold amidst the labyrinth of plastic bottles, filled with auric piss.
"Just, put down the gun, man," you say with trepidation in your voice. "Everything's gonna be fine..."
"I'm fine, but I'm not really fine..."
The pistol is cocked, making a slight click, like a death rattle sounding.
"Don't do it, man! You have so much to live for!"
"Like what?" I retch with the barrel pressed against the top of my mouth.
"Like... like..." you search. "The next instalment of your favourite anime. What's the one with the centuries old dragon loli again?"
"I hate that shit..."
>BANG!
The body slumps back like a ragdoll, some lifeless sack of meat. Blood pours out onto the floor, as the knocked over piss bottles mix in with the lifeblood. A stream of red-yellowy brine catches up to you, and your shoes are sodden in the bodily fluid's of a NEET.

>>19737676
I'd like to write something in 2nd-person some time. Feels like you could do a lot of cool stuff with it

>>19737682
I think some metafiction does it really well, but there's been some cringe like Margaret Atwood's short meta prose.

>>19736478
How exactly would I tone it down?

>>19736954
I use neovim and pandoc, all in the terminal. Each chapter is a markdown file that I then compile into an epub.

>>19737270
Sounds like I reached my main goal.

>>19737961
>I use neovim and pandoc, all in the terminal. Each chapter is a markdown file that I then compile into an epub.
Why?

>>19736351
>"The Payback"
The editor-in-chief at the publishing house just fired one of his slushpile readers because they passed on your story, Anon. He was fuming (oh, how he swore!) and foaming at the mouth when he heard that your submission had been rejected. You would have loved the look of pure fear and despair on the face of that slush pile reader, that complete tyro. The fact the head honcho, Mr Editor, was so incensed was because he found your manuscript in the bin. It was only by some weird fate, but the title of the work caught the eyes of the editor. He read over the piece, then read over it again, and again and again. The sheer force of your prose, so beautiful and powerful, like a hurricane, almost swept him off his feet. It was almost like you'd be forgotten by one of the Big Six, Based Books, but Fortuna had been on your side that day. Now, you've been contacted by the editor himself, who apologised profusely for what he termed "slush pile skullduggery." He continued as you could barely contain your excitement: "We'll make up for all this, Anon, we're going to give you an upfront payment of 3 BTC, and a big chunk of royalties to boot. All the audiobook and adaptation rights? All yours. We need to get this book out there to save literature, Anon. What say you?"
Well?

>>19738118
I write to restore the lost age of chivalry.

>>19738118
Sounds like a scam, gotta be honest. It's all too good to be true. What's the catch? You know what, don't tell me. Tell it to my agent. I'm already querying other publishers and if it's as good as you say, they'll agree. Maybe then we can talk.

>>19738118
I knew that bowling class in college would pay off someday

Short story idea:
A fiery romance between Greta Thunberg and Kyle Rittenhouse, inspired by that /b/ copypasta where the ultra-American guy fucks her in candlewood suites and leaves in a f1 car. I would be attempting to recreate the overly flowery style of those old bodice-ripper romance books your childless aunt used to read.

>>19738066
As a Linux user, I'm most accustomed to the neovim text editor. It's filled with useful shortcuts, it's lightweight, there aren't fifty buttons on the screen at once. I can't use most other editors without cringing. Pandoc's the program I've found to be the best at converting text into pdfs/epubs. With how quick and simple it is, I can get a preview of what a final product might look like in just one command. And since I'm obviously not trad publishing, I can make and post a condensed epub instead of just plain .txts of every chapter.

>>19738308
Post your author page, I’ll give ya a read, anon. Or is nothing released yet?

>>19736608
Yes to both. Flannery O'Connor is one of my favorite authors. I do use a variety of faiths in writing. My first story has an agnostic, an Orthodox Christian from Ukraine, a Pentecostal, a Jew, a Luciferian, and an anti-natalist robot. All but two characters join the new world religion. Personally, I'm Southern Baptist.

Wrote this story and looking for feedback.

>>19738066

https://rudism.com/vim-creep/

Once you are good at vim, you can write and edit at the speed of thought. It's a harsh learning curve, but well worth it, and not just for code.

I'm not anon, but I have toyed with using vim as my main editor, but I have some functionality I depend on in Scrivener I am still replicating with plugins. The other thing that appeals to me is with raw text files I can use git for versioning.

>>19738312
Better not, all my work before this one isn't much higher in quality than the average Naruto fanfic. But if you reeaally want to cringe, you can go to https://inkbunny.net/s/1921241 for the oldest incarnation of what I'm writing now.

>>19738371

This isn't half bad. There are a few bits that felt like they took the attention off the woman so actually worked against the story. Creepy. Reminds me to stock up on mace for my daughter.

Also marks two thirds of writing on /lit/ I have read in the past 24 hours being about awkward men trying to approach women but at least this one's punchline isn't "well, I *could* rape you but I don't. So I'm the morally superior one here"

>>19738386
Thanks. What bits did you think were distracting?

>>19738397

I'm thinking mainly of this bit:
> her profile floated among the flourscent typographies of storefronts

By putting poetic emphasis on the shop signs, you pull the reader (and imply that Dan's attention is also pulled from) Emmy.

Actually, giving it a second pass over. This is the only bit. The rest is appropriately creepy and generally only draws attention to other things in a way that contrasts vs his lust for the stranger.

I think it's a really solid attempt. Stick it in a drawer for a month while you write something new and then edit it again.

Keep it up anon!

>>19738383
>tags: cub

What happened to dystopia genre?

>>19738817
People got tired of realist fiction

>>19738817
A lot of people are incredibly pessimistic and expect complete dissolution of civil society in their life time. So instead of dystopia we get post-apocylptic stories. While I'm not so naive to think collapse of some kind wont happen, I expect a civil part to continue and that's where I'd like to focus.

Mom texted me today and said she liked my stuff.

>>19739047
My mother looks apprehensive to discuss stories because of their tragic nature yet she reads them anyway. Of course my grandmother caught word that I'm "a writer" and she got proud and now prays about it everyday I've heard. I almost hope she never reads those stories because she's even more milquetoast than her daughters.

>>19739166
My brother said nothing happened in my latest piece while my mother told me it was "lifelike".

>>19736358

>No one on /wg/ writes.

Cope. The next post is someone's writing. What you mean is you don't write.

>>19736608
Define religious.

>>19739286
Indeed it is.
Pls rate my shity first draft.
Soz for spelling mistakes or bad formatting if it has that/those.

>>19739395
>Is this even real?
Try asking this another way. I thought the perspective was odd, and if your goal was to make me uncomfy it did. Snake bad. Read the whole thing and liked it in general except that the waking up didnt really end it. Crime and Punishment did a dream within a dream(when Rodya sees his victim in a chair) but it was a couple pages before you realize it. Perhaps try establishing a reality and then bring the snake back to show a more insidious blend of dream and reality.

>>19739483
The ambiguity of the story's message seems to be working

>>19739552
There's a message in that passage? I think Im alright at noticing themes but only after theyve been emphasized in a few scenes.

https://pastebin.com/y4nAjF8v

This is my first time in a long time writing something beyond film reviews/emails etc. Bare that in mind but feel free to rip it a part. I have a very concrete idea for a novel with this as a central dream sequence. I wanted to start with this to start practicing descriptive writing as dialogue i feel more comfortable with.

>>19739395
I liked the descriptive writing. The bubble at a childs birthday line did not sit well with me for some reason, makes the following passage feel somewhat cheap. As mentioned, the perspective is a strange choice but it kept me guessing as the usual use of "you" usually implies something universal and then you dive into something very particular

>>19737399
Outline?

Started reading Francine Prose's Reading Like a Writer, a writing and reading guide somebody recommended here once.

The author's method is to pick a book and go through it line by line, word by word, and dissect in autistic detail what the writing is meant to convey. It's so anally analytical and dry, I refuse to believe this person has ever taught human beings. I also think the definition of literacy expects you to understand the meaning of what you read without having it explained for you, so this guide doesn't give much to anyone who already has a brain and didn't go to school in America. I probably won't read on. But I get this funny feeling this book might be just what /wg/ needs, so check it out if the story rustled your almonds

>>19740030
writing without an outline is like painting without thought for the composition. stop being arrogant; you harm only yourselves.

How do I find out what jewish names look like so I don't accidentally misjew a character? I'm quite against antisemitism and, why, I wouldn't want to make a greedy hook-nosed handrubbing villain Jewish by accident. I know the stereotypical Goldbergsteins, but what about others like Rosenbaum? Is there a list I can reference?

>>19740084
you haven't lurked /pol/ long enough. i could write a compendium on the subtleties of jew identification. i have a sixth sense for the creatures. i can tell if a few lines of writing were or weren't written by a jew. i could probably scent them out from a crowd at this point.

>>19740084
I've found wiktionary categories to be really helpful in coming up with names. There's a few on last names borrowed from Yiddish, Hebrew, German, etc.

>>19740079
>you need to plan out every single word in every single sentence before you write your book!

>>19740102
What's that got to do with avoiding jewish last names? It's harder to do that for fictional characters.

>>19740123
They are, but there are problems. Take Brownfield. Wiktionary lists it as primarily White, but google reveals it to be Jewish.

How do I know if a book is too ambitious given my current abilities? I want to write but I get stuck because I feel like I need to do a lot more research.

>>19739928
Reminds me of the Lovecraft story Imprisoned with the pharaohs, with the dreamlike descriptions of opulent ancient architecture, chanting, horrifying animals and the verbose explanations of fear and body pains.

Interesting read with nice visuals and hair raising moments, but the descriptions of physical discomforts got a bit redundant after a while.

>>19740165
yet again: arrogance

>>19736608
>Since /lit/ is Christian
not me

>>19740206
just do a shitty first draft. i had the same issue. keep reading and improving, go back in a few years and rewrite it.

>>19737124
They're larpers. Or they were raised in that faith.

>>19740300
Shalom, could you help me with my story?

>>19740328
Sorry I don't believe in kike desert cults

I write meandering stuff with improvisation until I certain point, it normally works out to get a good base but now I am afraid I have surprised myself, the MC is and I went back and checked all interactions with, a closet pedo, don't know if I should run with this or edit all of it. I really need to learn how to plan things out

>>19740228
Thank you for your feedback i really appreciate it. Is the exert you posted the story you are referencing (i am guessing so)?

>>19737160
>thing popular therefore thing good
4chan's "christians" of now were the fedora atheists of 2012.

>>19740356
Holy kino. Keep it in and give him a LG love interest

>>19740356
>I write meandering stuff with improvisation until I certain point,
Can you give an example and elaborate on this process? It sounds interesting.

>>19740792
seconding this

>>19736351
Hey, is there any advice for someone who wants to write short stories but hates short stories? I'm having a crisis.

>>19740961
What do you normally write? t. Novelist here, hated short stories for a long fucking time until I tried writing flash fiction and then I "got" it in the sense that if a novel is a story, a short story is slightly longer than a vignette

>>19740982
I keep trying to write long form fiction, but I keep getting my inspiration from my dreams and that doesn't work, and I've been trying for years. Then suddenly I got the idea that maybe I could translate my dreams into short fiction... but I don't like short fiction! I don't even know why! At this point, I just want to finish a single story...

>>19741005
You sound too caught up in labels. Write something until it's finished and to hell with the length. Flash fiction is super good for windmilling your urges out so they don't pollute or distract you from your actual works.

>>19741407
what if using my ideas for flash-fiction uses up all the ideas for my long-fiction?

>>19741420
Then adapt a flash fiction piece you wrote for a full length piece, mate. There's no rule that says you can't thoroughly explore an idea you've done before in an extended form. If I write 800 words about say, a guy who sells shoes as penance for killing animals in his early life, and in 5 months time I want to turn it into a 85000 word novel by opening it up to more themes and ideas, I can only benefit. I'll also say for every 20 or 30 ideas you have, only half of those you'll want to turn into stories, and half of those will get loose drafts made, and 3 or 4 turned into projects, and only 1 or 2 written. You're always gonna have ideas. You won't run out and "use them all up"

>>19741466
I guess you're right. I'll do my best.

>>19741491
I believe in you, anon. Ganbarre

>>19741501
thank you anon. I really do want to try. I've only realized recently that my creativity is too stiff. I'm going to give my best (I'm very drunk, but I'm going to do my best otherwise).
'

Should I avoid having similar starts for my stories?
Like a guy receiving a call. That's it. Nothing else, it's about starting out with a guy receiving a call. Should I change it up to make each and every story of mine unique from each other?

>>19741638
I'd say that if all your stories began with a guy receiving a call, yet you managed to make all of them unique, and you could play with the theme so well as to make it fresh everytime, with almost infinite variation — then I'd say that you are a better writer than all of those who begin each of their stories a different way.

>>19736351
Did you guys actually read any of the books in the OP

>>19739928
That was worth the read. I think if this is the whole sequence, the introduction of the bull could be extended by some other minor event as it happens quickly so the tension isn’t built up as much.

>>19741904
i've read some of them

>>19741915
Which ones?

Might be late tonight with work, but I am taking burgerpunk promps.

>>19742040
journalists fear that Smart Toilets - the new gadget taking California by storm - are not only harming the environment, but are putting polynesian families of color at risk (US polynesians AND the ones actually in Asia).

>>19742040
A man used to a strip mall area near his local interstate leaves for a few years and comes back to find nearly every business has been replaced with "modern" ones

I have a very hard time coming up with names. Should I prepare a list of names in advance I can pepper a story with whenever I need to name a character, place, etc? Or should I work on my improv skills and only think of a name on the spot?

Why would you want to publish with one of the big 5? You’ll get 8-15% of the profits. You’d almost have to retarded to not self publish with a real marketing plan.

>>19742740
>let trained, experienced, connected professionals do the marketing for me and get me 50,000 readers, of which I earn 15%
>or leave myself to my own means and devices, get 50 sales, and keep 80%

Why? Because I can do math.

>>19736351
The First Lugrion revolt occurs due to a blockade from Beyegrion ships. Due to food from the east not arriving, the starving, over-taxed, and angry citizens, as well as slaves, rose up in revolt. The Lu elite cavalry attacked city after city until the uprising was stopped. In exchange for lifting the blockade, king Joah promised to give up some southern territory as well as to pay a tribute of 100k Iger (elephant tusks), and in addition, he agreed to have a limited navy of only 60 ships. Compare this to the roughly 3,000 Beyegrion ships. To king Joah, he realized that another revolt may cause that whole nation to fall into a crisis. Rather than lifting some taxes the citizens had to pay or being less hostile to them in general, he came up with the brilliant idea of hiring foreign mercenaries to be garrisoned across cities in the whole nation.

Thoughts?

>>19742323
Movie film credits, etymonline

>>19742772
at that point why bother writing fantasy when you could bite the bullet, do a bit of research, and write more or less the same thing but with the affirmative groundwork of reality and a less cringy genre appellation?

>>19742771
If you would only get 50 sales from a book it was both bad and poorly marketed. Also 8% ( average) of 50,000 books at $5 (generous) profit is only $20,000 retard.
$20,000 for a year worth of work and non of the glory? Sorry, I’d rather self publish, get 100% of the $5 profit, and only sell 4,000 copies and make the same $20,000.
Do the math idiot, it’s easy and you have no confidence in yourself.

>>19742126
>>19742061
I hope I delivered. Feedback and crit always welcome.

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/36209/burgerpunk-pizza-time/chapter/824341/19-its-good-to-be-home

Is royal road a good resource for getting feedback and criticism on your writings?

>>19742845
sure. YMMV though.

>>19742856
Ymmv?

Is the setting of a spooky town too unoriginal to work?

>>19742826
Look at this level of delusion. Something like 99% of self-published books make essentially $0.
>a year's worth of work
>only $20k
in the first place that number is pulled out of your asshole. In the second I have an actual job that pays my bills and then some. Getting a free chunk of $20k handed to me would be cute and a nice little boost. I write because I want to. Money is extra. I don't need to sell my soul grinding out cheap amazon smut meerkatted by spamming twatter and reddut about it.

Why don't you go work at McDonalds? It would be a more profitable use of your time. This self publishing shit is just COPE that no agent would accept your garbage novel.

>>19742897
Your mileage may vary. You may not even get feedback at all, or you might. It'll just come down to luck and rng.

>>19742900
There is literally nothing wrong with using a cliche setting or premise. If you can tell a good story no one will care.

>>19738373
I like your site. Did you code it yourself? I'm a techtard so this is basically magic for me

>She had the body of an hourglass and eyes so bright you could see your own reflected right back at you. She had long legs, like Egyptian pillars, and that's when I realized she was actually an hourglass and I was in an antique store
There now get out of my head
>>19742831
>The car slowly passed another store front. The parking spots that once buttressed against the entrance were now a series of wooden decks, covered in blue and black modernist tables and chairs. A sign above them in bright yellow, as to contrast any semblance of color pallet or continuity, said ‘Dino’s Bar and Grill’ and in smaller text bellow it said ‘y’know, like in that song by Thin Lizzy.’
The pain... This was irritatingly relatable

6300 words today. I might try to do another thousand after a break but I'm reaching my limit.

I'm afraid to start writing out of fear that it will be shit, but I'm starting to be more scared of doing nothing at all. So I'm finally going to start.

>>19742771
>implying they do any marketing for you

>>19743328
I have never, ever seen a publisher treat indies with any respect. The best way to get a publisher's interest and have them actually do their fucking job is to be successful already.

>>19743354
Yes that's my point, going to a publisher as some rando the first thing they're going to ask you is how you can market yourself. They're only going to spend money marketing you if you're already proven to be in demand.

>>19743354
what the fuck does that even mean. do you seething tards realize there are debut authors all the time who get promotion? if nothing else, 5/6 of your marketing is just being in print and offered at bookstores on the shelves. books aren't fast food. people who actually go to bookstores to buyfag books usually spend an hour browsing the shelves grabbing whatever they think looks interesting. Hell, just the cover design being done professionally instead of 'some anon's friend drew a think and he slapped a title on it" is itself more marketing than any of you are capable of.

you post just to whine and complain. the industry has serious issues but it is not literally impossible.

>>19743370
>just the cover design being done professionally
Go pay someone. They don't cost that much and it does make it look snazzier, and you won't have to deal with the bullshit a publisher asks of you.

>>19743369
go ahead and tell me what kind of "marketing" you think big publishers do for books. go ahead. what would satisfy you? TV commercials played during the superbowl? Oprah posting a booktube video about your shitty literally who YA schlock? What magical marketing do you think publishers are doing that their chosenites will succeed and you will never be given?
you literally cannot justify one god damned thing you say.

>>19743382
How much are they paying you?

>>19743370
Nobody is saying it's impossible, but if you go to a publisher expecting them to do the marketing for you as some random person you're very mistaken in how things work. If you have 0 social media presence and you're going to a major publisher you're going to have a hard time.

>>19743382
>TV commercials
kek you're either 12 or 120

>>19743389
go ahead and tell me what magical marketing these publishers are doing that you think you will be denied. qualify yourself. go ahead.

>>19743403
Are you illiterate or just retarded? You're the one who said you would have "trained, experienced, connected professionals" doing the marketing for you. I'm telling you that is not how it works. They're not going to do any marketing for you. They expect you to do that, to have a following on Twitter, to get your book to Youtube reviewers, to have it shilled by influencers to relevant audiences, etc. You are not getting anything in terms of marketing from a major publisher, and they're going to expect that you can do this yourself.

>>19743403
>>19743421
Like, I don't think you have any idea what it entails. I'm advising you to go talk to somebody who was published by a major publisher as a nobody, or somebody who tried if you know anybody like that, and ask them about it. Unless you're already a credentialed person in the field you're writing in, like an academic or a previously published author, they're not going to go out on a limb and give you all the bells and whistles. They're not going to book anything for you, they're not going to throw anything your way on social media, they're not going to pay people to shill your shit.

>>19743421
>>19743389
>>19743369
>>19743328
Meerkating Skum OUT!

On a more real world note, im 40k words into second book which is about 20%-25%, depending how the rest of the scenes write out.
How my other writebro's doin?

I'm practicing writing at least 1.5k - 2k words a day. There's a fiction writing group that's going to start meeting in my city this Sunday, but I've never done anything like that; not since school. Is it worth going? I haven't written a full body of work in a long time..

Marketing degree rape anon here. Since you retards are arguing about marketing strats again I’m going to butt in.
Yes, being marketable is a must for a publisher. Proving that you are marketable with a social media presence or success in self publishing will help you get published.
No, it is not necessary to have a social media presence. In many cases a blank slate is far more marketable than you with whatever baggage you’re carrying. That fucking mong doing the follow4follow scheme on Twitter who frequents this thread is a great example. No one wants your white supremacist pseud posts about how great the Greeks were. Having 500 followers or 50k followers does not change this.
No, you do not need a publisher to do your marketing for you. Chances are your 300k word incel manifesto is never going to get published anyway so best to look into self publishing. Target an audience and set aside a marketing budget. Even three figures is more than enough if you have realistic expectations of success. If you take this approach your goal should be discoverability, not marketability. Every name you craft for yourself or your work should be unique and memorable, not because that will attract people, but because people need to be able find you through word of mouth. One thing I see people get frustrated about with self service advertising is low click through rate, what people need to understand is that only a portion of people who are actually won over by an advertisement will click the ad. Many will find themselves searching up the name of F. Gardner 2 weeks after seeing the advertisement. Gardner has done a good job with his titles and alias, others here I cannot say the same about. One of the biggest sins in marketing I have seen from this general was the “Son of the Sun” author failing to capitalize on the goodwill he garnered from us with his advertising and limited time free copies. If you search “Son the the Sun” right now you will have the search engine veer off course before you find an Amazon listing for his book. Even searching “Son of the Sun book” will only offer a result for it in the images tab. I genuinely cannot recommend the book to people in passing because of this. I have to search up the authors generic name before doing so or just awkwardly hand them an Amazon link.

>>19743717
nice
i feel sorry for anons who struggle coming up with good titles

>>19743704

Yeah. I find writing groups really worth it. Even people whose writing sucks can still give good feedback, and also seeing how terrible some other people's writing can be is also motivating. Having a place to share something is motivating too.

>>19742772

This is way too dry, unless it is an aside or an appendix or something. Show me the revolt breaking out because of the blockade. Show me the starvation and rising anger. Show me the decision to call in the cavalry and their brutality. Show me how difficult that territory was to give up but how it was a worthwhile sacrifice. etc. This could be a chapter that's actually interesting and instead it reads like a history book I'd put down after the first page.

>>19741420


First: lots of long fiction starts as short stories. The most referenced example is Bradbury's short story The Fireman went on to become Farenheit 451.

Secondly: if you are running out of ideas, write more. The more you jot down ideas and get them out the more you will have and you should aim to be in a place where you have to make choices about what you are not writing more than what you are.

Basically, it's not something worth worrying about

>It's just incredible. It just does not explain. Or perhaps that's it: they don't explain and we are not supposed to know. We have a few old mouth-to-mouth tales, we exhume from old trunks and boxes and drawers letters without salutation or signature, in which men and women who once lived and breathed are now merely initials or nicknames out of some now incomprehensible affection which sound to us like Sanskrit or Chocktaw; we see dimly people, the people in whose living blood and seed we ourselves lay dormant and waiting, in this shadowy attenuation of time possessing now heroic proportions, performing their acts of simple passion and simple violence, impervious to time and inexplicable — Yes, Judith, Bon, Henry, Sutpen: all of them. They are there, yet something is missing; they are like a chemical formula exhumed along with the letters from that forgotten chest, carefully, the paper old and faded and falling to pieces, the writing faded, almost indecipherable, yet meaningful, familiar in shape and sense, the name and presence of volatile and sentient forces; you bring them together in the proportions called for, but nothing happens; you re-read, tedious and intent, poring, making sure that you have forgotten nothing, made no miscalculation; you bring them together again and again nothing happens: just the words, the symbols, the shapes themselves, shadowy inscrutable and serene, against that turgid background of a horrible and bloody mischancing of human affairs.

Wrote today

How do I get paid to write?

>>19743986
i will pay you to write my story for me
but you only get the money if it's to my exact specifications. and i won't credit you. all of it will be under my name.

>>19743965

> We have a few old mouth-to-mouth tales, we exhume from old trunks and boxes and drawers letters without salutation or signature, in which men and women who once lived and breathed are now merely initials or nicknames out of some now incomprehensible affection which sound to us like Sanskrit or Chocktaw; we see dimly people, the people in whose living blood and seed we ourselves lay dormant and waiting, in this shadowy attenuation of time possessing now heroic proportions, performing their acts of simple passion and simple violence, impervious to time and inexplicable — Yes, Judith, Bon, Henry, Sutpen: all of them

This sentence is way too long. It either needs more differentiation in its clauses, or just to be split up. It comes across as being more about the author trying to sound smart than trying to tell me anything.

> the paper old and faded and falling to pieces, the writing faded

Replace one of the 'faded's. Same comment again about the length and monotonous rhythym of the sentence.

Overall, I feel like you have an stylistic intuiton that you should continue to work on. There seems to be a hint of something that I don't think can be taught. And the rest is just down to experience and showing your stuff to more people to learn how to make it more engaging. At the moment, its pretty but I struggle to care

>>19743986

Technical writing. It won't be creative, but it takes skill and you can actually pay the rent.

> 1/2

On the third day, the man found the den hidden under the tree-line. Their source of water, a burn, trickled clear with the last of the snow melt, and the bird twittering joined its babbling as one sound under the stillness of the early morning woods, punctuated only by the distant cracks of branches snapping under animal footfall.
The ground was soft under the man’s boots, full with the light rain of early spring. What tracks had been left were smeared and faint in the mud, softened by the weather, but still there. He counted two. One larger than the other, leaving long flat treads: his quarry; the other’s prints were smaller but suggested good, healthy weight by their depth.
The man crept forward to inspect the den further, careful not to brush against the pine trees and leave his scent. He could see where they drank and ate and the wind blew such that he knew the relieved themselves only slightly west; away from the burn, their source of water. They had left an imprint on the ground, where they slept huddled together for warmth or comfort. He retreated, unsure when they might come back and force him to start his search anew.
The man rested against one of the many trees further up the glen, allowing himself to see unseen. The grand trees had been saved twice: temporarily at first by cheaper Baltic lumber; then finally and permanently by the iron flesh and steaming coal-black blood of the steamships that powered the Empire. He recalled the first great metal creature he had seen, a chimera beast of both sail and engine: his passage to Africa.
The man scanned for a vantage point that would allow him to see his prey approach, and cover its retreat if he missed. There were any of the trees at reasonable distance, like the one he lay his back against now, but they provided nowhere to rest his rifle and take aim. On the other side of the burn he saw a divot, deep enough to obscure him if he lay on his front until he had a clear shot. From within the hollow, he could see right down the burn, the most likely route of escape, though he would have to wait until they were upon the den.
He unslung the Lee-Enfield from his shoulder and balanced it on the lip of his hiding spot. He rested his right hand, his lame hand, under the stock for further support. Since burning it when torching a Boer farmstead, and being honourably discharged for the injury, he had learnt to shoot left-handed; though this was significantly slower, as one hand had to operate both the trigger and the bolt. If he missed, he would have to be fast to eject the spent cartridge and load the next, lest it escape unharmed. But the man was patient, and he waited.

> 2/2 (with proper line breaks)

There was little work for a man such as himself upon returning home. Without both hands, he could not labour; and without an education, he could not read. The poorhouse ashamed him: he was forced to see himself as equal to the infirm, and he refused to. The man had his service rifle and good eyes and protestant work ethic and these he combined into trade.

The shadows crept along the pine needles and the twigs as noon departed west. Birdsong came and went with flutterings overhead and the burn continued to mumble to itself. Twice the man thought he saw his target approaching, but both times were rabbits and not worth wasting his ammunition on, particularly not at the cost of scaring away his prey.

The sun sunk lower and the shadows grew longer down the glen when finally the man saw them. The first on the left, proud and tall, sinew and skin rippling under the gait of their limbs; the other, trailing just behind, head low and smelling the ground to and fro on the return home. They approached, but the pine trees hid them for moments too close together. The man waited until they came to the den.

The hammer fell and the sound ran out and the birds scattered from the trees and the poacher stumbled clutching his side and fell.

The deerhound froze by its master’s side, just long enough for the man to pull the bolt and load the next cartridge and take care of the dog in case it would defend.

The man rose from the divot and slung his rifle back upon his shoulder. He walked to the poacher, who coughed and spluttered blood as the wound in the hunter’s shoulder leaked into the pine needles and the mud which mingled together and clung to the man’s boots. The hound lay silent at the poacher’s side. The man looked down at his quarry as it swallowed to empty its mouth and ask its last question.

“Wha fir?” asked the deer poacher.

“Twa pound, an fifteen shilling,” replied the man.

>>19742040
Due to the crippling national debt and impending collapse, the U.S government determines that the best course of action is to declare bankruptcy. After seceding all government services it is revealed that megacorporations are some of the worlds largest doomsday prepper groups. Although some believe they caused the whole crisis in the first place ... Nonetheless, through a series of proxy wars, states are hired under the new management of said corporations. The only exception being California, a supposedly undesirable "neutral zone". Perhaps contrary to the whole burgerpunk genre, fast food companies are seen as religions found everywhere rather than nation-builders.

Whatever prompt(s) you choose, godspeed.

>>19736420
Derivative idc of whom

What do you use to format like that tho is it a app

Poetry reading!!

Daddy it’s too cold to eat ice cream

By me

Daddy it’s too cold too eat ice cream

Run me a hot bath

Sink me a tall ship

Daddy just eat the ice cream for me

My bf likes that b one ^.^

>>19742903
Cope. Didn’t like the math so you spergrd out. You need a trad pubber to midly succeed because you’re too afraid to do it alone.

>>19743453
>second book
>first one will never be published
>neither will book 2,3,4,5,6
>gets angry when anon says you need to learn marketing.

>>19744037

lmao "scottish english", write with real words pleb. its called a fucking stream unless you are inbred

at what point do you give up on a project thats not really working?

>>19744323
When it's finished.

>>19744327

Thanks anon. Tbh, I'm looking for an excuse to put it down and move onto something because I don't think I can pull it off but you have actually given me new resolve to just fucking do it.

>>19741638
Could become a cool motif if you can make the stories themselves unique and distinct.

>>19736351

"His nose was thoroughly ensconced in the beknickered arse of the wench. Suddenly there came a great big toot that blew his hair back and brought his sprig to life in one exquisite jolt. The alchemy of her naughtiness caused him to grow brave and his hands intrepidly began to explore the four points of her carnal encompass: arse; cunt; clit; & tit..."

>>19741638

There is nothing stopping you trying it both ways. I have a similar issue. About half of what I write starts with someone waking up and something being wrong or something weird happening.

>>19741904

I've not read any in the OP, but books on writing can be good even if a lot of their content is padding. It can give you different perspectives and ways of approaching things.

>>19744417

Fucking hilarious and good. I could go for 18th century erotica

>>19738373
>>19738066
>>19737961
>>19737270
>>19736420
You guys heard of this?
http://kakoune.org/

>Kakoune tries hard to fix one of the big problems with the vi model: its lack of interactivity. Because of the verb followed by object grammar, vi changes are made in the dark, we don’t see their effect until the whole editing sentence is finished. 5dw will delete to next five words, if you then realize that was one word too many, you need to undo, go back to your initial position, and try again with 4dw. In Kakoune, you would do 5W, see immediately that one more word than expected was selected, type BH to remove that word from the selection, then d to delete. At each step you get visual feedback, and have the opportunity to correct it.

>At the lower level, the problem is that vi treats moving around and selecting an object as two different things. Kakoune unifies that, moving is selecting. w does not just go to the next word, it selects from current position to the next word. By convention, capital commands tend to expand the selection, so W would expand the current selection to the next word.

>>19742831
Love this stuff, had to go and read some of the others you wrote (the only time I’ve ever read more on RR than what some anon asked to be reviewed).

I like the overall style, and I’m shocked by how fast you bang these out. From these quick sketches, I imagine I would love reading something you actually put time and polish into.

>>19744431

It sounds like this dude doesn't realise vim has Visual Mode as well as Insert Mode? I don't see what's new. I also don't really care about hitting `u` for undo and then typing again. It's not a big gain for me. It's fast enough to do it in a few keystrokes that its not an issue to make a mistake I can undo with one press

>>19742968

This isn't my site. It's just a semi-legendary vim meme

>>19744431

Reading through the site. It doesn't seem bad, but it does seem like stuff I can just acheive with plugins for vim? aside from the grammar reversal thing -- which I do kind of see the point off, but I just have so much vim muscle memory now that I couldn't be bothered switching. Maybe if I was starting from scratch and didn't know vim this stuff would be more appealing. Looks like a fine text editor though. I'd probably still go with vim because of the maturity of the plugin ecosystem though (but I also use it for code, not just text writing, and those needs are different)

>>19740165
To be fair you should probably use some outline even if it's not very strict. Other wise you will end up in a 10 year writersblock like GRRM.

>>19744037

I liked the twist, simple though it was

>>19744496
An idea of where to go with a story is critical, I agree. I was just lampooning the "You must outline" statement for (You)s

>>19744496
>GRRM
Please don't remind me Winds of Winter is never happening

>>19744523
how about you use one of your fancy outlines and write it yourself? didn't think of that did you huh

>>19744526
But my outlines are for other things. With blackjack, and hookers.

What do you expect people to remember about your first story?

>>19744553
I expect them to remember the twist, but I hope that they remember the main character was barefoot the whole time.

>>19744553
That while I didn't get the girl or grow as a person, I had frens for a while.

>>19744553
>expect
My first story is already out and I expect people remember it for the comfy adventure feel

>>19744553

Feeling mentally ill

>>19742786
What specifically should I study? Revolts across history?

>>19745088
I've done this before. You'll want to study revolts that closely mirror your own plans for the story so you can also study what led to the revolt and what the direct consequences were. For example in your story if there's a power struggle over the throne, the English civil wars are a good study

>>19743960
>Show me the revolt breaking out because of the blockade
Think of the blockade as the straw that breaks the camel's back.
You are a peasant stuck in a workers' village, Your leader is a barbarian in your eyes, he gives his kleptocratic elites more and more tax breaks in exchange for exerting loyalty, and as a result he imposes the first few taxes you and the rising merchant class had to pay (this was only a wartime measure to avoid generals from seceding from the Kingdom of Lu.

>Show me the starvation and rising anger. Show me the decision to call in the cavalry and their brutality.
I probably should've included how those who revolted attempted to try to come eye to eye with King Joah and formulate a plan which all parties could agree to before writing about the revolt.

> it reads like a history book I'd put down after the first page.
You were right on this part. I need to better explain why the origins of this occurred, why did those of all parties choose to do those decisions, and then explain what were the results of that.

>>19745265
Danke fren

Also does the Lugrion revolt sound gay?
Lu= the kingdom of Lu
Grion= People

>>19745266

No, its not about better explaining the causes and effects, its about actually making me as the reader care. Since it didn't actually happen, dry facts are not enough

>>19743704
I wish I knew of a writing group I could share my stories with... Instead I have to jump straight to self publishing out to the whole internet and that scares me.

>>19745286
It sounds fine to me. Not tryhard or weird.

>>19743717
did you get a degree in writing walls of text

>>19745266
>>19745354
You can try changing from just explanation to a narrative telling. I had a similar block of text explaining relevant history quickly and didn't like it, so I changed it so that I explain the relevant history to current day through my MC's mom telling him a bedtime story as a young boy. You can also get some early, fast characterization in. A few beta readers I've sent the first chapter to liked that.

What are you reading right now, has it influenced your writing? I just finished the first ungodly long chapter of Sound and the Fury. It's in Benjy's perspective, so the prose is simple, disordered and abstract because the kid's mentally challenged. I tend to write in a Southern Gothic fashion like the rest of this book, or try to, but the intro is interesting to tell a story from a point of ignorance. Definitely noteworthy effects on how it introduced everyone in this disfunctional way.

Why do people in here think that people who want to be traditionally published are losers?
Not everyone has $5000 to invest in possibly having your book sell $100 copies.

>>19745608
*100 copies, not $100

>>19745456
>through my MC's mom telling him a bedtime story as a young boy.
Would it work as effectively if I replaced it with political figures? I want this to feel like something historia civilis would produce

>>19745608
Your naivety is showing. It’s not that people who want to be traditionally published are losers, it’s that they are delusional. Traditional publishing is highly competitive and publishers are not starved for choice, especially right now with the pandemic creating so many aspiring authors.
When I see some first time author here saying that their novel is going to be traditionally published I know that this anon is either a moron or narcissistic to the point of delusion.
>Not everyone has $5000 to invest
If you know who your audience is you can easily set up a year long targeted advertising campaign for less than $400. Considering that even a month of targeted advertising before release is more than acceptable you could probably get by on a budget of $50.

My old ideas are crowding up my mind, and there are so many I want to do that I feel bad about committing to doing any one of them first, causing me to do write nothing, causing me to feel worse, causing the cycle to continue. How do I push past this?

>>19743717
>In many cases a blank slate is far more marketable than you with whatever baggage you’re carrying. That fucking mong doing the follow4follow scheme on Twitter who frequents this thread is a great example. No one wants your white supremacist pseud posts about how great the Greeks were.
based

>>19746272
I forgot the "best part" of this problem, feature creep ensues whenever I let an idea sit for too long, I start hammering out future plotlines and twists before I've truly committed to anything.

>>19746027
>the pandemic creating so many aspiring authors.
I really dont think it's that bad. a lot of wannabes post online about how they're a 'writer' but they never finish a manuscript that's to standard. that nanowrimo cancer has them believing you can shit out a novel in 1 month and 50k words of unedited schlock is sufficient to become a millionaire. 90% of people who say they want to write a book never will, and half the people who complete it won't meet any basic standard and are disqualified from the get-go.

of the 5% who complete a ms to spec, 90% of them are borderline illiterate retards or unhinged lunatics.

>>19746027
>the pandemic creating so many aspiring authors
Other way around, anon. The lockdown and fearmongering cutting down on social interaction has totally crippled most people, including aspiring authors.

>>19746324
this. normies say they have "depression" from it. no one is writing except us autists who are immune to propaganda.

>>19744027
>>19744037
I don't know, it seems like it's trying a little too hard to be literary. Like this sentence:
>The poorhouse ashamed him: he was forced to see himself as equal to the infirm, and he refused to.
That's never how you'd write that normally, it's very self-conscious. It's okay to stylise your writing somewhat but I don't think that's actually a good way of putting it and it seems a bit forced. Then there are sentences like
>the iron flesh and steaming coal-black blood of the steamships
which are clearly overwritten.

The details also didn't quite sit right with me. It feels superficial, like you knew a few things about early 20th century Scotland but don't really understand it outside facts from a history book, which you were keen to share. You go out of your way to mention things like the Lee Enfield rifle, the Boer War, the protestant work ethic, the poorhouse - I understand you're trying to locate the time and place without spelling it out, but again, it feels so self-conscious. Not to mention you're throwing everything you can at it without regard for how well it fits the story. Why would he be allowed to keep his rifle? That's army property. What kind of idiot burns themselves when setting fire to a cabin? If he's lost the use of a hand, how can he shoot a rifle?

And last but not least: the premise. I confess, I don't know enough myself to say for certain, but it feels like in the early 20th century you wouldn't shoot a man dead on the spot just for poaching. That feels very 18th century. Set it a hundred and thirty years earlier and take out all the references to the early 20th century and you'd have something that's not half bad.

>>19744316
If he's writing about Scots in Scotland then there's nothing wrong with it, fuck off.

>>19746324
>>19746329
In what world? With the sudden increase in free time normies have had to pick up new hobbies, ones that they can only do indoors. Yes, most of those mouth breathers took up being fearmongered as a hobby but many also took up writing. You see an increase in authors in this bubble because you are in this bubble. Look to other bubbles and you'll see the same thing.

>>19746410
to be fair i dont know what normalfaggots do all day, but last i heard they were all traumatized and depressed and have zero productivity.
not that it matters since they'll all die of the clot shot soon.

>>19746440
>they'll all die of the clot shot soon.
Just two more weeks, huh?

>>19746504
how's that curve looking? is it flat yet?

>>19746410
>With the sudden increase in free time normies have had to pick up new hobbies, ones that they can only do indoors
See, that's what you would think, but in practice, being limited in social interactions IRL has also limited their social interactions online. There is no bubble, in fact, if anything, there's a bust.

>>19746523
Flatten. As in, make more flat. Not make completely flat.

Since health services didn't collapse completely, we can say it was at least a moderate success in most places.

>>19746440
I got the shots, please tell me I'm not gonna die

>>19746537
>being limited in social interactions IRL has also limited their social interactions online.
Where do you think we are?

>>19746544
Well. Find God and ask for forgiveness I guess, anon. Sorry bro.
>>19746542
lmao kk is that why hospitals just fired half their staff for not getting shots, after 2 years of the "pandemic". because they were just so overburdened.
it's all fake, dude.

now, as i was saying. normies did not use their time productively. they were cooming and watching netflix while stuffing corn syrup in their faces. no one wrote anything. you think these hysteric retarded creatures have discipline?

my friend (male) writes lesbian stuff and i dunno how to feel about that

>>19746608
Suck his dick?

>>19745846
You can have a teacher lecture it to a student in some way that shows characterization of important characters or societal norms. Maybe the student questions history or the teacher is particularly biased/inflamed about a certain event, not knowing the student or students have been personally affected by it--or knowing and simply not caring. There's plenty of ways to skin a cat, depends on what you want to do.

Any tips for thinking out screenplays? I am trying to think of what's next but not sure what to go with. I am writing a horror script so I know where I want them to end up but I'm not sure the most entertaining way to get there

>>19746272
>>19746302
Put them down in writing, physically or digitally, and with anything you have ideas for start working on. Flash fiction and short stories get the inspo junk out very quickly while long term projects will continue to nag at you until they necessitate expansion. I've found that I have a lot of ideas for stuff but when I actually write down some of them I get bored or stuck and leave them alone and forget about them. It's not a bad thing to leave bad ideas to rot, nor to leave good ideas until they're ready to get worked on proper.

>>19746313
>>19746027
This reminds me how I started baking the year before corona and then suddenly people asked me if I started baking because of lockdown. Similarly with writing, I started years ago from too many sleepless nights over ideas bothering me and I used to creative write a decade ago. Now people asking me if I started writing and reading because I had nothing to do and why I'm writing about COVID (Im not). Am I just too late on everything and get lumped up with everyone else? It's irritating but whatever. If I succeeded like I have elsewhere in life I know I can do this if I keep at it.

>>19746544
>I work for big pharma, we helped manufacture hydroxychloroquine early on, and got cucked by the TGP (the pannel). I remain unvaxxed.

It depends on genetic defficiancy rates, where you go the shot from, what boosters you mixed, how early you got it ext. Even scientists have their limits, rushing the vaccine without long term studies in play means that we simply dont know yet. Early versions of the vaccine were meant to be a last resort to patients on their deathbeds, not some cure all for the virus like the media inflated it to be. Things are slowly getting better, we have more documentation about the virus and scientists are currently resarching the after effects. It's not as big of a killer as anti-vax'rs state, however its not as perfect as the TGP wants you to belive.
(picrel is old machine from the lab I work in)

>>19746722
Fellow scientistbro. I'm still waging in chemistry labs. I hope to continue it for some time because it's so crazy sometimes and great ideas for writing. If I wasnt here Id have to study history or hang out in town to experience life more.

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/49395/the-undying-emperor
Chapter 12 now live. I'm also building backlog again. I'm editing some manuscripts from last year before I dive into the second novel for 2022

>>19746896
How's the outreach and engagement been?

How depressing is too depressing?

>>19746960
I've gotten absolutely nothing from Royalroad as a site. I'm getting views, but they aren't becoming followers, they aren't commenting, and they sure aren't reviewing..

It has been nice in off-site communication though, since I can tell people "you can check out my webnovel here. By the way, I'm in the process of launching a novel to Amazon. So if you like my writing from the webnovel, you should check me out." That kind of stuff.

Allegedly, I'm still getting ignored since I have less than 20 chapters. Maybe that's true.

>>19747006
Fuck I was thinking about using royal road

>>19747021
Why not? We can all follow each other and inflate our numbers.

>>19746608
Why do you have to feel anything about it? Lots of men write lesbian stuff, some of them even do it well. Or, not horribly.

>>19747186
I dunno man, I'm just starting out and I don't want to get a reputation on here as a shitty writer to avoid at all costs

>Royalroad doesn't give me a notificaiton when someone comments on my story
What the fuck is this shit?

>>19747597
>TFW no one comments on your new stuff

I have the weirdest fear. I'm writing a book right now and I want to do it well. Really well. I figured that the publication process would filter me out if I didn't do well enough.

The problem is that the setting of my book is 'in' right now. Which means a mediocre product could still be appealing to publishers, and the rejection from agents won't be a reliable metric.

Writing quality is my top priority here. How do I go about achieving it and being sure about it?

>>19747953
Lots of beta readers and probably as many professional edits as you can afford.

>>19747953
if you're worried about quality you're on a good path compared to normies already anon. read good books, write good books, edit and rewrite a lot

>>19748356
Not him but I'm fretting over quality so much that I can't even start

>>19747953
I haven’t published anything, so the following is 100% pseud effortposting, but….

One possible way to get both beta readers, and to improve your book’s quality and likelihood of publishing is to target a ‘subject matter expert’. Let’s say that you were writing about AI. Find a great well-connected researcher, then start reaching out to that person’s grad students asking if they’d like to help ensure your accuracy and provide ideas. Worst case, they say no and you thank them and ask if there’s anyone else they would recommend. Likely case, you get a few notes (thank them very much). Best case, they connect you to someone higher up.

In any case, you can now show a potential publisher you did your homework, and have existing social connections within the field.

If this topic really is as hot as you say, and you expect multiple interested publishers (seems hard to believe), make your choice carefully and try to pick the best one for you. Be clear about what you expect from them, and why you feel they can help you make the best book possible.

>it's a research and notes day

>>19744256
I write to get the story out of my head, not to sell copies.
The point where I am successful is where i complete the story to my own standards.
The bonus is where another person can experience the world I've created.

Why the hell do you write?

>>19747953
is it LGBTQIA+ superhero kids?

>>19748260
>Lots of beta readers
I'm worried that they won't have the same standards as me, especially since it's hard to be tough with giving advice.

>professional edits
Ideally, I'd be good enough to write well on my own, but yeah, I'll look into professional editing.

>>19748356
I'll try. I'm also worried about the influence the books are having though. I've started writing a lot like Cormac McCarthy, which is bad because I want to develop my own style, and also because I'd rather my style not change drastically with every new book I've read.

>>19748387
The topic's fantasy stuff, but thanks anon. Also I'm actually in academia right now so I'd rather not cold email researchers.

I don't expect multiple publishers to be interested, I'm just worried in them being interested for the wrong reasons.

>>19748602
NTA but for the same reasons as you, but I want to show the world I've created with everyone I can reach. The more people I can show, the more they'll show their friends. I get such an awful itch if I don't get my writing ideas out and working full time has nearly killed that on several occasions.

>>19748692
Meerkating aside, the problem with getting a publisher involved is that they demand mandatory edits to someone else's standards. That's not even taking into account that if you dont reach x amount of people you wont be happy.
I'm not saying don't have goals, but is it worth it to feel so unfulfilled all the time?

>>19747953
>the setting of my book is 'in' right now
>>19748653
>The topic's fantasy stuff

I don’t think that’s a particularly recent genre…what’s the hook?

>>19748727
I'm self published myself and just getting my book out there was fulfillment enough for me, and the same for my second and third. Now I'm moving into my fourth and I want to take it all the way this time just to see if I can catch lightning in a bottle and get popular with a group of people I can form into a real community. It's like going into business for yourself. I'm the only one whose standards I have to meet.
I see the appeal of trad pubs but it seems so disheartening these days. I've seen trad pub snippets get posted here that's been dissuading me and pushing me more toward self pub. There was one where a guy who reached #2 on the political science genre on Amazon was complaining on Twitter that he was getting paid basically nothing from his publisher and that he would only self pub from now on.
I guess my point is, I think doing self pub makes me happier and I *want* to self market. It's a mindset thing. I'm not shilling some product like a Google ad. I'm sharing the joys I felt making my work with everyone I can reach, if that makes sense

>>19748748
The topic's fantasy stuff but the hook is YA-ish. I'd rather not say anything more than that.

>>19736351
the Hispanic Empire will rise again

>>19736351
I like to write

> carve out the very trunk of Europe?
Hispanics losing global hegemony and its consequences have been a disaster for humanity. It was a Hispanic man who took the throne of the Holy Roman Empire that resulted in a cacophony of attacks against Western Civilization. It was a Hispanic man unifying Europe culturally and and the world economically, which pushed the enemies of Western Civilization to attack what Hispanics were building.

>>19748772
Is this magic boarding school anon?
If so, I remember the hook, and yes it is very likely to be of interest.

>come back to my half-edited novel after not touching it for years
>there are plot holes in it so severe I have no idea how to resolve them
>this is in spite of the fact that both the main character and the main villain are utter idiots who have no idea what they're doing

what do I do /wg/?

I've finally begun to outline my story, nothing's gonna stop me now

>>19748797
scrap it and write something else honestly. i threw 2 such novels in the trash.

>>19748797
See >>19748801. Had a huge 3 book story planned out in high school, left it for years and came back and thought the whole thing and idea was unsalvageable self insert dogshit. Threw it away and never looked back

Which are you, anon?

The ghost of /wg/ past: >>19746272
The ghost of /wg/ present: >>19748800
The ghost of /wg/ yet to come: >>19748797

>>19748831
None, since I'm actually writing.

I've gotten so interested in blasting flash fictions these past 3 weeks I've let my novel rest unedited. This weekend I finish the second edit draft and start scouting for beta readers.

>>19748863
Are you burgerpunk anon?

>>19748882
Nope, I’m burgerpunk anon. Exceedingly hungover today, maybe I’ll bang a few out tomorrow.

>>19748831
I'm writing two novels and two long-ish short stories right now
And by right now I mean I'm procrastinating by hanging out on the 4chins

>>19748916
Haha, you’re the only one I see knockin’ out flashes. Really enjoyed the ones you’ve posted, i can tell your writing has improved a lot since the first chapters.

Imo, ‘burgerpunk’ is such a niche topic, I bet there’s a market for a novel that really leaned into it (perhaps a flash collection, but only if it’s clearly set in the same world like world war Z). When you google it, no books yet have it in their title other than Pizza Time.

The problem with pizza time is the cover art and banner ads are shit, and the first chapter is one of the weakest (too heavy-handed, too much world-building…your slice of life stuff is far better).

Would love to see a burgerpunk novel someday, and hope you take a bite of that branding cheesecake before some other parasite does.

>>19748958
You sure you're not spreading yourself too thin?

>>19748958
Brandon Sanderson, i didn’t know you posted to /wg/!

>>19748971
Nah, it's absolutely crucial to do it this way because whenever you feel tired of one, you can switch to another. The true secret of productivity is a short attention span that forces you to juggle multiple things.

Do you guys type or write your rough drafts?

>>19748788
It's not, I haven't been here in a while. Is someone writing a Harry Potter clone?

>>19737381
Ugh. I have the entire story planned out, I've got about 7 chapters done, I have the road map perfectly with plenty of wiggle room if I ever want to put more in or reduce shit. I just have to actually write it, but whenever I get a paragraph or two done I start second guessing every damn thing I write. I notice I repeat a lot of words (apparently I fucking love the word surge) and my chapters are short as hell.

>>19748824
I've been planning a story since I was 13 (30 now and finally actually writing it) and my retarded demon original the character main guy who started off as a total unbeatable badass is now a pathetic secondary main and inevitable antagonist. I turned those childish delusions of grandeur and self-assurance into flaws while the new main character grows and becomes a better person to contrast with him thinking he's 'whole' and right all the time.

Are creative writing courses worth it?

>>19749173
Don't take it if it's not in person. Anything you could want to learn about writing you can find online for free. You go to a class if you want to meet people, which is pretty important if you plan to be successful as a writer.
Otherwise just watch a lecture on youtube. You'll learn more with less effort and no money wasted.

I'm trying really really hard not to rip-off Ergo Proxy wholesale. When I first watched it years ago I thought it was pretentious bullshit but every consecutive rewatch makes me love it more.
https://youtu.be/QgRXIjHwxD4
and it's getting harder to distance myself from it's story beats and setting. I might just shelf my idea for now and write a whole different setting, but I'm enamored by post-apocalyptic entities finding humanity in themselves.

>>19748801
>>19748824

damn. thank god I managed to figure out how to fix the plot holes in the past hour and a half

I've finally finished my story outline. Now to start writing the fucking thing.

>>19749207
That's the hardest part.

>>19747006
RR has gone down in quality along with the increase in users (no surprise). When I started posting there years ago, everyone was really nice and respectful, the threshold for commenting was low and the comments were almost all encouraging in tone. Only over the past year or so, the style of feedback has turned into this incessant, passive-aggressive whining, where compliments are rare. You can tell the new readers are really young and mostly esl, they don't read or understand half of what they read and have no respect for the author. I'm honestly thinking about quitting the site and finding some other platform. If only there were any decent.

>>19746608
He probably doesn't want to have sex with you. Or is that the problem?

>>19746369

Thanks anon. Very detailed feedback. Appreciate it.

>>19747953
>Which means a mediocre product could still be appealing to publishers
Nope. There's a lot of competition and there are a lot of people that write to trends so there will be absolutely fuck tonnes of competition from people writing with that setting, whatever it may be. You will still have to be better than them.

After months of procrastinating and thinking my ideas were retarded and worthless, I've finally figured out how the characters in my fantasy setting properly use their magic system to fight each other. Things are finally falling into place, bros...

My ideas are still retarded and worthless, but now less than before. Do not give up hope. We're all gonna make it

>>19749314
Let's just say, I hope the comment on my first chapter came from RR native, and not from here

Once I hit chapter 20, I'm going to mirror my webnovel to honeyfeed if for no other reason than to attempt to convert my followers there to followers on RR. Then I'll repeat the process on wattpad I guess?

>>19738376
This is quite good. Not even worth nitpicking over.

I have come to the realization that my book has some characterization flaws, but I'm halfway through the novel. Should I start over now, or finish it the fix things up in a second draft / edit?

>>19750029
Finish what you started

>>19750048
Thanks :)

>>19749031
I wipe
my ass with them cause they're full of shit

>>19750115
>Grabs fistful of shit
>wipes ass
American detected

>>19749190
The question of human souls in robots/AI is a great theme if done well

>>19750305
No it's not because machines can't have souls and these stories always invariably boil down to "it's magic, ain't gotta explain shit" in the end

>>19750731
but what if they could have souls?

>>19749165
why the fuck would you take effort to write out some retarded genrefiction you thought up at age 13?

>>19750775
Man, the only thing I remember wanting to write at 13 was characters that dressed like the dudes in black suits from kingdom hearts with creatures that looked like 1-up mushrooms.

>>19750974
I remember wanting to write Gohan and Kiao Shin having anal sex

>>19750773
>these stories always invariably boil down to "it's magic, ain't gotta explain shit" in the end

>>19751033
Based. Kermit the frog just railing Bulma.

>>19751055
you're missing the point of the excercise man

>>19750974
When I was 13, I wrote an epic road trip story about me and my best friend traveling around the world when the biblical apocalypse hits and getting with anime chicks. I'd still like to do a more competent version. Kids can have fun ideas

>>19736351
Can someone link a book that'll teach me how to read spanish which I'm already familiar with? I speak it and can read it a little bit just cause I'm familiar with how it sounds but obviously I lose myself when the text gets a bit complicated

>>19751071
13 year old me:
>played pretend about a boy and his horse traveling around the wilderness
28 year old me:
>wrote essentially that

>>19751071
That sounds pretty fun. You could have all the Solomon demons come out the play and instead of anime chicks it’s demon chicks. Wheel angels. The demiurge. Etc. sound fun.

>>19751082
go to /int/ you retard

>>19736608
yeah my Borges influenced oppai loli milk farm story is written with an anagogical interpretation in mind, a la Flannery O'Conner

>>19751113
Bread baked

>>19751107
>Borges influenced oppai loli milk farm story
This phrase was a wild ride

>>19736351
https://worksbrief.blogspot.com/2022/01/metamorphosis.html

>>19744007
Bro he literally plagiarized absalom Absalom... How can you be this retarded? Even if I didn't recognize Sutpen I could tell from the writing style alone.

>action, action, dialogue, minimalist description
Fuck me, I've had enough. Marathoning Henry James.

>>19751101
It was like, the dead were coming back to life and the world was being overrun by demons. Guns didn't work but God gave people one last chance; if we could help this oracle chick vanquish nine archdemon souls, the apocalypse would be canceled. So we journeyed with this RPG party to places via stargates that appeared everywhere in the world, looking for the souls. It became a longass trilogy. Of course, it being told in the prose of a 13-year-old, most of the shit was unintelligible.