/lit/ - Literature

Don't give up.
Don't allow sadness to crush your spirit.
Strive to make the art that will change it all.
Push back against the failure of culture to maintain its strength.
Drag it kicking and screaming with you, if you have to.
Feel pity if you must. Feel sadness, feel rage, feel hopeless, and feel fury. Then write.

>didn't change the meerkat OP
One job.

I need some help. This Chapter introduces a character, but it feels very off. I can't wrap my head around why though.

Hoping someone can spark some form of revelation with your thoughts and ideas.

>>20406602
Other than trying to create drama by cooking and selling chickens, you mean?
Don't get me wrong...that's a courageous choice and all...

>>20406485
>where we bow our heads and thank our lucky stars that we're not them.
cope

What “schizos?”

>>20406661

>>20406635
Yes.

Waves of time undulate
Under undiluted despair
Passing swiftly as the sparrow flies
Over weeping windy roads

Brave soldier, fight the hate
Through trenches, sea and air
Discipline gleaming in your eyes
You will bear your father's load

On ways both crooked and straight
With proud feet you will declare
The story of a man who lived and died
When the crow in nightly horror cawed

She smiles like an angel
Dances with that grace
I want her tongue inside my anus
And her pussy in my face

Too much information, I know
But it's the truth I feel
As in my heart those cold winds blow
Across lakes of ice so pure and real

I got the blues baby
Pretty little liar caught my pants on fire
With her wet little heart, ain't she
The prettiest damn thing to admire
I'd love to get any feedback for these two poems. I have hundreds more and I want to publish :(

what do you think of the writing in netflix's "arcane?"

Arki had no more time to waste on the dead man. He moved to the depths of the tunnel where no light could reach him and decided against lighting a torch. If there really is a beast down here, a torch would make me a moving target. "No… I’ll have to blend in with my surroundings", he thought.

He could feel every one of his senses adapt to the change. A rat’s squeak turned into a loud shriek, a small breeze turned into a gust. Every few seconds, a big splash would be heard in the distance, echoing across the tunnel. Arki would use that opportunity to make a subtle step forward. Moving on, the environment became even more livid than before. Counting his steps, he came to a halt and then turned to the left.

As he continued onwards, Arki felt the change in the air around him. It’s not as humid here. I must be close to an exit, he thought. Turning to the right, he ran his fingers along the wall and eventually felt a small ledge. Arki grabbed firmly onto the ledge, putting one foot after the other and slowly climbing up, leaving the tunnel behind him. Pushing the grate above him, he looked up and spotted the stars dotting the night sky.

The alleyway before him surrounded by quaint little buildings with terracotta roofs. Myriads of scents immediately swarmed him. The aroma of lilies, irises, cinnamon and saffron extinguished the stench that arose from the tunnel. The fog had now dispersed. "How long did I spend down there?" he wondered. He covered the hole he left behind and explored the alleyway. An ornate gate stood between him and the street. Even if he wanted to climb it, there’s no way he could, as it was three times as tall as him, with large bronze spikes at the top. "The only way out of here is through the way I came," he thought.

Arki approached the house that faced the gate. A naked woman’s figure was carved on the cedarwood door. The sign next to it wrote “KARRINA BATHHOUSE”." He knocked on the door and waited.

>>20406485
How do you guys usually go about describing scenery? Like the forestry, beach, ocean, etc. I feel like that's a weakness for me.

>>20406812
I thought it was pretty dumb.

>>20406919
I always use first person narrative as a crutch specifically for this. It allows me to pad out the descriptors by weighing them against my protagonist's feelings on them.

>>20406919
Unironically read more. That was and still is a bit of a weakness for me, but I feel it lessening the more I read works that take time to describe things like that.

>>20406485
I was so bored to tears that I had been barely listening to Kierra when I spotted the knife laying on pavement. The glistening steel in the streetlight caught my attention as I diverted away from the middle of the conversation towards this new kindle of potential excitement. I stifled a soft gasp as I saw the crimson taint of blood on it and judging by the bright color of it, it was fresh blood. I knelt down and saw something else on the handle; Etched into it was poorly spelled word "eviscerate". I admit it took me a brief moment to apprehend it.

I felt something touch my shoulder and I almost jumped as I turned to see Kierra standing before me with shocked eyes. I had been so captured with what I saw I had forgotten about her completely.

"What the hell," She murmured softy.

I look away from her back to the horrid knife and that's when I noticed the faint trail of blood leading into the forest. I was no tracker and i've never hunted before in my life so I wasn't tempted to follow it.

Not that I needed to anyways to see the figure lying in the brush, his bare feet sticking out and I did a double take at them. There was definitely color striated claws attached to it's toes. My thoughts rushed into a frenzied, almost schizophrenic mania. How the hell did we not see any of this?! What was happening?!

As I turned to Keirra to tell her to call 911, she was already running down the beaten path back to the parked car.

I felt an immediate shot of volcanic anger pour into my being. So fucking much for 'till death do us part'.

I’m finally going to start writing. Hardest thing is putting pen to paper. Figured I’d start by writing about my favorite writers before branching out. Any other ideas and tips?

Post RR profiles you've enjoyed reading from.

I finished reading Eggplant which was by an anon from /wg/ and I'd like to give my thoughts.
>the bad
There are some spelling errors, about 6 of them. There are some questionable lack of capitalization in a few words. Italics are used for emphasis liberally but maybe just a nitpick. Passive voice is common but it didnt bother me so much I know it bothers some. Theres a kind of weak diatribe about human thought. A major confrontation waxes didactic and the ending seems more clearcut than unclear when Nesmer had a an opportunity to make Arda ask someone for a pen not telling if anyone had one.

>the good
Nesmer does not spend the novel focusing on fungus zombies or blood rituals. The story is personal. There is fantastic build up of multiple theme of rhythm, circles, whirlpools, strings, and beauty. Everything is degenerate to a fascinating extent but it doesnt go too far or put it on a pedestal. There is a sense of dread concerning personal matters with great pay-off. There are two characters that grow a lot. The passages about the Cuttlefish is incredibly satisfying and the counterweight to the other pessimistic themes of the story. While Lin and Goshen are fascinating characters and while the latters feels quaint at times he is grand at times. Nesmer's vocabulary is big and usually reuses a word for deliberate theme building. The passages philosophizes about art and describing chemistry are interesting.

I give 4/5, I really enjoyed it, found it moving but not to a masterful degree. I think great fiction has no clear answers so I feel Nesmer ended a little flat but I couldnt help but enjoy it because he built his themes and twists patiently for a personal story and reflection on human nature instead of just another horror story on an island.

>>20406812
Silco was written well. It has a good abandonment arc that is worth reviewing. I don't think it had any particularly dumb moments and is overall worth the watch.

>>20407058
Don't get discouraged if the initial motivation fades away. Good luck

>>20406812
I don't want to watch it purely because I'm afraid it will make me install League again.

>>20407083
Sun of the Son and Eggplant are the best written.

>>20406498
Appreciated. Lately feel so frustrated at the lack of progress. Made a lot of headway but I'm still not close to feeling satisfied with my writing

It leads to this loop of "well, maybe I need to study more" versus "you already know enough, why aren't you good at writing", then practicing everything where I feel zero satisfaction just repetition. Then of course I get thoughts about "stop romanticizing it" but then lose all my passion moments later

It's all fucked. People have told me to wait until it feels right to me. Maybe that's true, but I can't tell. I don't want to write something sub-par, but I don't want this to take forever either

>>20407149
I've been there anon. Currently, I'm treating it like the gym. Try to write at least 500 words a day, try to read a little bit every day.
The past few days I've been going full speed ahead, trying to pump out early chapters for a book I'm putting on RR, along with editing an old short story.
Altogether, I think I've totaled around 7500 words, and counting, over the past 5 days. I'm looking forward to catching up to my goal and cutting it back down to 500 or so.

We got this.

>>20407058
Read everyday, novels, a short story and a poem. Write everyday even 1000 words even if they dont get published. You will get comfortable organizing how you plan your story but dont get lost outlining or rewriting too soon.
If you get stuck ask questions about what you want to do and eventually you will drill down into what you must do. Study literary devices both prose and poetry at times and listen to podcasts, blogs, essays of published authors you admire to learn to avoid the many mistakes they made.
Be patient. It takes 3 years usually for an author to get their talent up and really conscious to polish a story after multiple drafts. You are managing a project and also learning storytelling as a craft with target audiences. Do your best.

>>20407149
>I don't want to write something sub-par, but I don't want this to take forever either
Whatever first book you write it's going to subpar. Don't worry too much about it. It's better to finish something sometimes. Too many people get too preoccupied on making it perfect the first try, it's impossible, and leads to more discouragement and incomplete works.

Your peak book writing would usually be book 3 or 4. That is when you learn all the intricacies, techniques, in writing and publishing. It also helps solidify your own voice/style/prose by then.

>>20406919
>>20407042
Yeah I have trouble with this too. It's probably from reading so much non-fiction.

Reckon it'd be easier if we just read more fiction novels. Also saw a study or two about how fiction might improve mentalization/theory-of-mind. That might be especially good for empathizing and taking new perspectives I guess. Been ruminating and self-deprecating too much

I know that no one here actually writes, other than posting on this board, but if you were to actually sit down and work on your book, anons, which software would you 'hypothetically' use to do so? Curious on everyone's go to-s

>>20363618
>>20363687
>>20391891
>Hell-Anon here, just dumping some thoughts and planned work. I've decided to break down my self-critique stuff by chapter.

Taking a break from research to read your work, finally.

>1
>I can't tell if I'm hitting the right tone here. I'm trying to walk a fine line between shitting your pants because you've realized you're in Hell, and also that cool sweat and anticipation of having your fucked up little life on full display.

Isn't that second part also fear? Maybe I'm underthinking this.
Allthe -> All the
A lot of commas should be other punctuation, but I'm not going to edit it to that degree.
Remember...if what's on either side of the comma could be a sentence, that's a comma splice.
You need to use something else, like a semicolon, em dash, or ellipsis.

>2
>I just overhauled this chapter and I think it feels much more personal now, but I might be covering too much ground too quickly.

I'm not sure how you could slow down the pace without introducing a whole other element.
Earlier you mentioned showing "the alternative" in more detail.
Along those lines, maybe the middle part of the conversation could be held while showing the protag (through a window, or telescope, or something) the alternative to taking the deal.
But I was fine with the pacing as-is.

>3
>If this were meant for the screen I feel like this chapter would be much more effective. I'm trying to establish the bureaucratic nature of the setting and also have there be a bit of shock.

I think you succeeded at both.
The only flaws I see are related to punctuation usage.
What can I say...I'm a fan of your writing :-)

>4
>I'm unsure if I'm selling this chapter correctly. I don't know if it's believable that the MC wouldn't just bolt for the closest mirror and is instead just sort of sidetracked and pushes those thoughts to the backburner for as long as they do.

It seems to me the MC is exploring his/her new body pretty thoroughly, and as quickly as possible.
The sensations of an entirely different construction are believably engaging.
So yeah, the fact that the MC doesn't bolt for the mirror is believable.

unphased -> unfazed
sparrow fleets -> sparrow flits (also...evil sparrow? LOL)
part around the two of them: them -> us ?
and sort of girl -> and the sort of girl ?
you'd to live forever -> you'd live forever ?

>5
>Admittedly this is filler and exposition but I don't know what else to do with it and I wanted to build up the world and plot expectations a little through dialogue.

I found it to be interesting and entertaining exposition.

girls outing -> girls' outing ?

Comment split into 2 for space reasons...

>>20407209

>6
>I had a lot of fun writing this section and the characters were fun to write. My main fear is that I'm not properly communicating the nature of the jobs/roles. The idea that the agent representing "Avarice" isn't necessarily greedy himself is hard to portray. They aren't meant to be demigods or avatars of their respective field/sins, they're just uniquely gifted at looking into the hearts and minds of people who do embody those sins.

I think that comes across. Their job is to evoke those sins in people, not to commit the sins themselves.

>7
>Again, wanted to show what one of these characters was like in action and how they worked. The premise of my setting is that humans can't actually sell their souls, but that the act of convincing them that they are for a rendered service degrades the value of their soul by an amount sufficient to ultimately result in the same postmortem destination. They're like Faustian con artists.

I prefer your subtle version to the cut-and-dried clarity of classical concepts of Hell.

incoporeal -> incorporeal
Wouldn't a sizable coastal earthquake off the horn of Africa *spike* oil futures, not tank them? It'd take a glut of future oil to tank them, e.g. a sudden predictable drop in demand.

>8
>This felt like a needed addition and I think it turned out alright, honestly hit me in the feels a little.

If anything, I'd want this chapter to be longer.

>Just going to leave things there for now

Me too. That was a lot of reading for one day.

>>20407208
Are you talking about writing inside of an app (like notepad), or using an AI to help you?

>>20407115
Thanks. I’ve started by simply taking notes on a few books. That was actually a big step for me. It’s less daunting. Even rewriting passages or sentences I love gives me the feel of how-to. I’d figure I’d start simple. Rewriting passages-simple thoughts-combining simple thoughts-application for “major” work. I’ll see how it goes

>>20407208
right now google docs or libre office

>>20407149
I can only speak for myself...but reading bad books, or watching bad movies/TV-shows, tends to get me fired up.
After all, if they can get published/produced/etc., why can I?
As far as writer's block, i.e. not knowing what to write...two methods come to mind.
The first is to write whatever you have on your mind, as a purgative. Get it out of your system and make room for other ideas.
The second is to keep adding details to your existing ideas until it reaches a critical mass and you can't help but write it.

>>20407208
I write all my fiction in a simple text editor (e.g. Pluma), in Markdown format.
I then use pandoc, and a suitable template, to convert it into something suitable for e-books or printed matter.
I use TreeLine as an outline editor to organize my ideas.
All of these are free, open-source software.

>>20406498
Danke just do it bro.
My feels shall guide my prose.
Henceforth, my egregious pork sword shall remained sheathed until i have breached one thousand words this day.

>>20406647
>>20406661
They hate us cause they ain't us

>>20407255
Post some of your writing, so that we may change our mind about you.

>>20407186
Thank you

>>20406602
It seems off because you have your completely out of place no husband rich girl with the gigantic restaurant - with no employees inside, mind - invite ching chong and pigpen to cook chicken in her restaurant. And then she pays $100 for a recipe she could have ascertained either from the taste or from having one of her employees watch him. It feels off because this snooty tooty rich girl is just begging to be assaulted going around the way she is. She doesn't have an ounce of street smarts or a bodyguard, and she needs one or the other.

Say what you want, but Reddit produces some pretty good books

>>20407302
No denying it, those are some pretty covers.

>>20407336
If you removed the awful character designs and the comedy tier clipart giraffe from the third cover it would be S tier.

>>20407047
I honestly have no idea what's happening because I have zero contextual clues.

>>20406919
Keep it minimal. Describe something big and general, like the color of the leaves, and something specific, like a bug on a leaf. A character interacting with an environment is always better than a separate description. A guy stepping in a puddle and getting his sock wet is better than a paragraph of random looking at stuff.

>>20407047
A lot of 'filter words'. seeing spotting feeling judging noticing. A lot of describing a mental state instead of the things that are actually happening. my attention, apprehend, double take. my thoughts. It's first person, the reader will assume the narrator is the one doing the seeing and thinking.

>>20406498
Isn't Fitzgerald only supposed to show up when someone says they're not gonna make it?

>>20407379
Post a drawing you've made that's better than them, seether.

My head hurts sometimes when I write. Is this normal? I admit I'm very rusty.

>>20407273
Soon..

>>20407532
I just said I liked it you fucking mong. The framing and font are genuinely great. I just think the terrible character designs and obvious clipart drag it down.

>>20407297
You have some very informative insights.

>>20406498
>mom used to tell me she likes my work
>hasn't said a damn thing about my last three chapters
I think the novelty of having a son who writes has worn thin and she just wants me to stop bothering her now.
And I'll go sailing no more~

>>20407869
Expand already and post your shit on Reddit

What do I if a lot of my original cool ideas involve incest? I don't know why, but my brain is wired to come up with cool romance ideas but with cousins.

>>20406485
I am writing 500 words a day of commentary on what I'm reading in the hopes of one day writing a Kybalion styled "modern self help but also occult something" book.

I know that I should probably be reading and breaking down popular self help books before I write this much (I'm at 30k words) but... I'm also just trying to get my shitty words out of the way before I can start writing for real.

I have no idea what I am doing.

Thanks for reading my blog.

>>20407929
Write the romance but leave out the incest part. Or is it only cool if it's incest? If so, your romance is probably not actually cool.

>>20408006
Soulless

how do i start writing poetry? im not really much of a writer, but an artist so i want to learn how to create writings that can complement what i draw or even inspire my next drawing

>>20406661
The meek shall inherit the earth. Schizos are mad little single-run prototypes for the future of our species. Normies don't have what it takes to give every square centimeter of yourself to art.

>>20407929
>cousins
>incest
bait

I'm finally editing my book. It's 92k words. I'm worried that I'm just polishing a piece of shit. I want to start another project but this thing keeps weighing on me in the back of my mind.

>set up a schedule in February for how much my two manuscripts should grow each month
>just write it down with a pencil on the back of an envelope and misplace it
>find it and check how things went
>one manuscript is 8k words behind schedule, the other 22k words behind schedule
In my defense I did write a 19.5k words novella (novelette? whatever) so that accounts for some of the lost time but goddamn I have no discipline
Don't be like me, bros. Write every day. No excuses.

>>20408137
First read good poetry. Western Wind by Nims is a good place to start. Get an older version if you're poor

>>20408180
Truth

If you guys are writing a romance, or will include a romance in your story, I recommend reading "On Writing Romance: How to Craft a Novel That Sells". It's very informative and useful for crafting any sort of romance.

>>20406812
serviceable

>>20407126
I understand. Literally the only thing I like about League is that little Veigar fucker and the Vel'Koz alien. Everything else just makes me wonder why people play that shit to begin with.

With a weary sigh, Baahtre dropped the reefglass pen next to the thick stack of rough paper he'd been working on. It clattered to a halt on it's side almost silently, making only a faint tinny sound with each consecutive bounce. He raised time-worn, scaly fingers to massage the space between his great, furrowed brows. Progress was slow this week, he thought. Running his palm through the plumage on top of his scalp and back to rest at the nape of his neck, Baahtre swung his heavy head to scowl over at the pile of books set across the room and counted them as best he could. He couldn't see all of them from the crowded space of his workbench, but Baahtre knew how he organized them. From where he could see, from behind the towers of paper and the smelly leatherbound tomes, he though he could guess there were less than 50 on the titanic brass rack he stacked them on for the apprentices to process and pack. Certainly not enough to satisfy the minimum of 75 a week asked of him by the kindly old head editor. Though sincere consequences would elude himself, the monastery would still suffer for the lack of academic export; they'd have fall back to the old ways of divination and magical favors in order to make ends meet. Still, he hated relying on the editor's generosity; Baahtre didn't like owing anyone if he could help it. He suddenly found himself absentmindedly rubbing at the callouses on his wrists and fingertips. Baahtre inspected them.

They were covered in old scars and scratches, some even still fresh from papercuts and scrapes won from the gnarled wood of his personal desk. They were dry, cracked from the moisture-hungry surface of the paper he'd worked with for most of his life here in the outskirts of Lassah. Not that he minded, Baahtre had always agreed with those half-mutterings people always offered to themselves in tired times. "A century of health by a century of of wealth," or "you can't bite your coin without closing the door first". He knew better than that, what it really took was luck. Veteran of the better part of a millennia, Baahtre could have almost scoffed aloud. But he didn't. With a breath that could have been the relief of familiarity, the bitterness of a long, laborsome life lived unrewarded, or simply a gust let loose from his lungs by the strain of shifting in his creaking wood stool, he picked up the curiously transparent reefglass quill and gently massaged the tip into a palm-sized wooden receptacle full of powder ink. Baahtre offhandedly licked a talon and slid the finished page on his desk to the side, then reached for fresh one. He leant forward, squinted intently at pages written in a text he did not know, and dutifully copied the contents of the old book into fresh paper.

Graffiti walls, idling trucks
Garbage cans, kicking up dust
Beneath streetlights, broken plastic
Slow taxi cabs, chemical trash pit

Crosswalk signs, toxic gases
Neon lights, pavement turned rancid

Heavy traffic, fossils and canyon
Parking lots, lay by dead grasses

>>20408860
>Graffiti walls, idling trucks garbage cans, kicking up dust beneath streetlights, broken plastic slow taxi cabs, chemical trash pit crosswalk signs, toxic gases neon lights, pavement turned rancid heavy traffic, fossils and canyon parking lots, lay by dead grasses
Clean up your punctuation

>>20408869
I was just messing around with ideas, no point to any of it

>>20406485
my dick shot up like a heart attack and the head grew bulbous and purple as if it was bruised, like a plum on top of a bannana my cock became a stallion, discoloration resembling racing stripes down the shaft from rubbing my dick against nigger ass for hours on end gave it a fearsome look, like a battle vetern on the front lines it longed for some sweet nigger buck ass. "don't worry we got a nigger to break tonight, pa told me" i whispered flicking the head of my dick as hard as i could letting the stinging pain linger, saliva started to pool in my mouth as I thought about a bucks prolapsed ass, broken, strewn about like a unfinished meal, i couldn't wait to pump a buck and blow his guts out with my mastercock. I couldn't wait. I heard the garage door and the rumbling of a diesel engine, looks like Pa was home, with the nigger of choice. I let out an audible squeal and pressed my pulsating member up on my belly with the elastic band on my undies. "it's time to learn a nigger... learn a nigger real good" I could feel the precum pooling on the head of my dick like venom. "Learn a nigger good" I growled stumbling down the staircase to the garage where pa would be oiling up the nigger, and tying him right, just like he taught me, do the legs first. These bucks kick like a mule in heat, they strong bucks, strooong bucks, blood in their veins was passed down from your "daddys daddys farm" he used to tell me, grunting and sweating, he'd talk loud over the niggers screams and hollarin. "you tie the legs first then give em the brand, then u get the arms" I remember the nigger screaming the first time i saw a brand on his ass, it seared into my memory like the white hot pokey that made that nigger our own. We took turns raping the nigger, breaking him, sweating and making fools of ourselves breaking his ass open again and again. Pa would let out a sigh and relax and then i'd take my turn wigglin and tormentin the niggers ass until i left my mark in him as well. This went on for days until the nigger practically begged for our milk. At least it was something his body could chew on, a little proteins or or somewhat. Maybe some vitamins he wasn't getting from the stew Pa would give him each night after the breaking. The nigger would shoot him a look like he was gonna refuse it... and then he'd eat. He'd eat the whole thing. Every last bite cause he earned it, he earned that stew every night until he went from the donkey we fucked and oiled up and smacked with rubber hoses and dildoed his ass with all kinds of professional buck breaking instrumentation and the like. Pa always said.. once they start spreadin that ass for you u broke em, like a bronco, they broke, they yours son. Oil a nigger up with a little chicken grease and fatty soap and start shloppin his pink asshole until the blood gets to be too much. Towel off the nigger and get him ready for the next day, that's proper buck snappin right there, proper, just like Pa used to do.

Is anyone else too scared to write?

>>20408909
Yes

I keep avoiding it for that reason

>>20408909
Too lazy more like.

>>20408909
No but I do feel like shit that I'm unable to produce anything worthwhile

>>20408870
There's no point to anything. Therefore, clean up your fucking punctuation.

>>20408221
You probably are.

How does one write a murakami style book. serious

>>20408935
I like your style dude

>>20408985
Be Japanese. Run a lot. Own a bar. Quit smoking.

>>20408383
But isn't taking advice from other people soulless

>>20408383
Appreciate it! Any other advice for Romance writing?

>>20406919
if you have an ereader, bookmark setting descriptions you like.
when you're done with the book, go to each bookmark and copy it into your word processor.
then type it over, putting it into your own words

>>20407149
the only way to get better is to write
they say you have to get past your first million words

>>20409075
If you're writing genre fiction, you need to know the conventions of the genre and how to fit into it. This author has written over 70 successful romance novels. LitFic is where you do something original.

>>20409119
If I find more sources I'll post it here. So far it starts off with a dive into the history of the modern romance novel and the different types of them and gets into the characters.

>>20406812
I like it a lot. Good characterization.
I like how it subverts reader's expectations. Like how Powder tried to help but got everyone killed.

>>20409254
>Yeah bro but like... the SUBVERSION tho no cap frfr its fucken LIT fr

>>20409069
Also: listen to jazz, own a cat

>>20408915
I don't want to write something dumb that people will read, but I also want experience writing and it's hard for me to do it on the computer.

>>20409297
I've read all of these and would very much like to hear how you plan to make an epic poem out of them

>>20409268
Write the first draft just to do it, for yourself. Most authors write a few manuscripts before even considering sharing their work. I don't hate writing on the computer but I find it easier writing on paper, mainly because it's harder to edit as you go. Whenever I've tried to type out my first draft I end up editing paragraphs and sentences as soon as I've written them and it takes me forever to progress. Write out your first draft by hand, keep it simple. Then type up your second draft and make as many changes as you like. Getting your first draft finished is the hardest part and rewriting it means you're more likely to pick up on mistakes you might miss simply reading though it.

>>20409297
Is constantly calling out imaginary schizos the new form of schizo posting?

>>20408909
i go through a process each day
i close 4chan
i turn on the quiet jazz for studying on youtube
i open up my word processor and start work
remember that half of writing is thinking about what to write

I heard that THE most common submission that agents dislike getting is stories that are very obviously about the author’s grievances/a personal power fantasy or the author blatantly using their novel to just talk about themselves, these often don’t appeal to anyone but the author. Do you do this?

>>20409383
No, at least not that I'm aware of.

>>20409369
Same, love my mood music and growing tired of thinking about stuff that cant help my writing. I am on the ball again and as someone once told me you cannot feel yourself into working , you work yourself into feeling. Now I dont think about opening word processor or current book im reading. At the appointed time I do it and start looking at whats going on do writing exercises, write and edit. This afternoon I want to go home and torment my protagonist I think I could do 5 or even 10k words I want to kick his ass.

>>20409383
No but I could see some people mistaking my chatacters for being self inserts when they are in reality based on people I know well. Im not sure how to convince people my first boks arent about me. First of all I never married and wrote about someone with a failing marriage, two Im writing about a man tricked dating a fake model which I haveny done and three Im not a Jew but want to write a story about one. So I suppose people could its sublimation but that doesnt seem fair.

>>20409383
The most common? You listed 3 different things.

At the beginning of my story, the protagonist is in an improvised field hospital with hellish conditions and a shortage of everything. The story briefly describes wounded he sees brought in and dying. Do you think this is too harsh to open with? I wouldn't want the reader to be repulsed into dropping the book in the first few pages.

>>20409383
Yes, my first novel was autobiographical so naturally it got rejected.

>>20409518
Well, does that tone carry on throughout the rest of the book, or is it just a low point?

>>20409541
Of course, the MC gets out of the hospital and the story moves to other things, but how does that help if the reader has already thrown the book away?

>>20409550
Well, you want your opening to at least be something of a tone-setter. You can have the story get that dark and bleak later, but the average tone shouldn't shift too far from what your opening is, and if your opening is that bleak, people will expect a rather bleak story.

>>20409562
>if your opening is that bleak, people will expect a rather bleak story
No shit, sherlock. I'm asking, does it seem TOO bleak based on the description? I don't need hot tips, just your personal impression

>>20409587
Well, I don't know what the rest of the book is. I don't know if it's too bleak for your story. It might be perfectly fine for the tone of your own story. In a vacuum it's just an opening like any other, there's not really any hook to it.

>>20409595
>there's not really any hook to it
I'd like to read an excerpt before jumping to that conclusion.

>>20409595
>Well, I don't know what the rest of the book is.
People rarely do when they pick up a book for the first time! You're thinking way too complicated

>>20409383
I lack the introspection to write something truly autobiographical. Instead I draw on extreme emotions I've felt throughout my life and use those as a framework to build a story that other characters can experience.

>>20409587
You're asking a stupid question. There is no universal "too bleak." If the opening is keeping in with the tone of the rest of the story it's fine. If it's incongruous with the rest of the story it's a problem.

>>20409619
But does the opening work in congruity with the rest of your story, or do you feel it's too low a point to start off on? Some people like really bleak stories, so opening on that and keeping that tone is fine. Others might not. I can't answer your question because 'too bleak' is a personal preference thing. Some people will like it, some won't.

>>20409266
>jazz
>cat
?

How many of you do field research for writing as opposed to reflection or reading?
I decided to visit various religious institutions, Mormons, Adventists etc to understand the local communities. Already met with Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Messianic Jews. Also toured historic plantations and towns, gone through state parks and more day trips to really experience what is out there.

>>20409666
How’d you get in churches without your skin catching fire?

My head hurts. I can only think about how sad I am but I wanted to write a sappy story about the power of love. What do I do, anons? Must I shelve it until my mood improves? Watch/read stories about love?

>>20409670
I dont see what you mean. Alot of places welcome potential converts, even the Muslims were nice prima fascia. One of the women there was a fat white muslim looked like a stereotypical domineering nun and it was a hilarious image I wont forget. Watching Sikhs tuck their book back into bed, give me a free lunch and how most Eastern religions obsess over removing shoes into cubbies are just fun details you cant appreciate until they ask you to do it.

>>20409688
Your postnumber’s last three digits

>>20409638
>There is no universal "too bleak."
>>20409641
>Some people will like it, some won't.

Once again, I'm not asking you to predict how mankind will collectively react, I'm asking what YOU personally feel. How is this even a problem? Do you have any sense of self or opinion of your own? Am I talking to a machine? This is freaky

>>20409732
Oh shit I havent czechd em in so long.

>>20409745
I have barely any opinion on it because it's a non-entity of an opening. Post a sample or something, otherwise it's just a formless idea of a vague notion of a scene that's impossible to form any real opinions on. I don't know if it counts as "too bleak" because I don't have a real barometer for that without knowing the rest of the story's tone.

>>20409677
Can you weaponize your sadness to write a fantasy about the love you wish you had and want to give to other people?

>>20409780
This. I too would like an excerpt to read, but I understand if anon doesn't want to share because I too am weary to post here.

Does anyone ever copy other works? Aka sit down with a book that has prose you admire and type/write it down page by page so that you give active focus to how it's written and try to "imprint" the style? I wouldn't do a whole book but I'd imagine that doing this for a chapter or two occasionally could be helpful. Painters do master studies, so why do I never hear of writers doing the same?

>>20409587
Too bleak? I wanted to start my story with the protagonist ready to hang himself. And in the style of Murakami, he decides to wait until his cat gets back to his apartment to give it one last meal. The story ends with the cat coming home and the implication.

>>20409780
>a formless idea of a vague notion of a scene
I had assumed the conditions of a field hospital where wounded soldiers are dying and so forth would be well known to everyone through movies and TV, especially at a time like this. At least familiar enough to have an impression of whether you'd be put off by it as a concept, or if you'd be willing to give it a chance and see how it develops.

I didn't write it in English so I'd have to translate an excerpt, and I think any sample would only convey more or less what you can imagine.

>>20409846
That doesn't seem bleak at all to me. I mean, even if he's contemplating on suicide, nobody's dead yet, there's no blood or gore or anything. The protagonist killing himself in the end may be bleak, but the story's over by that point. You won't know it in the beginning and can still hold hope for a good outcome, so there's no reason not to keep reading.

This is what I mean. There's no need to know the full story just to have an opinion on a premise.

>>20409854
Well, okay, lemme rephrase the question. "Too bleak" for what? A military story or something with a heavy military theming suits that sort of opening just fine. A light-hearted adventure story doesn't. I can't tell you if it's "too bleak" or not, because there's no real measuring stick for how bleak it SHOULD be.

Question for the thread: in chapter 20 of my 300k word fantasy epic my main character is anally savaged by a barbarian wielding a narwhale's horn.

Does this tonally fit the rest of the story you know nothing about (it's hybrid comedy and tragedy)? And before you answer, No I cannot share a writing sample as it's written in Icelandic, and Yes I will respond to you with frustration unless you tell me I'm a genius and what I did already was perfect.

>>20409917
It's fine, just keep in mind the narwhal horn is actually tooth, thereby making this sex-act technically ass-to-mouth.
I also hide behind the language barrier

>>20407209
>>20407214
You're amazing Anon. Thank you, and thank you for catching all of these little hiccups. I try to be as tidy as possible as I'm working but I'm hardly perfect and you never know what another set of eyes is going to catch.

I really wanted to add that funeral section. It felt grounding and one of the things I was realizing is that with the way the MC is plunged into the scenario they are in, all the reader really knows about them is that they lived a rather bleak and uninteresting life (on a surface level). Having a bit of sadness surrounding the idea of not just losing ties with their family but also realizing that they'll likely never see them again based on what they know of the afterlife felt like an interesting emotion to play with.

I've been playing around with a really interesting idea I have for a sort of "looming threat". I think the stakes feel very real and some of the twists I have in mind feel really solid.

>>20409917
This is an impossible question to answer. If we know nothing about the story and are asked if something fits the tone, how are we to tell? There's no point of reference. I will tell you that it will be generally jarring to read a man getting anally raped by a barbarian, if it's serious, or at worst groan worthy if it's comical.
My follow up question: since you have half of the language already, are you going to make a translation into Sigur Ros's made up hybrid language?

>>20409917
kek

>>20409924
>technically ass-to-mouth
That's out of character for my MC, but works so long as it's not on porpoise

>>20409967
Just think about it and you should know, grrrrr! Rgarding language I'm only entertaining a translation into Esperanto

>>20409883
I think we're going only further in the wrong direction with this. I'm aiming to get the story traditionally published, and anyone from a teenager to a middle-aged lady has a chance to pick it up. But if only angry young Warhammer fans are willing to read it further than page 2, then it's too bleak

>>20409917
This is why you chuds will NEVER be like Sanderson or Rothfuss (PBUH), the latter of whom would use beta readers from goodreads and make it appealing to the most people possible. Utilitarian happiness index inbound.

>>20409996
It depends entirely on how detailed your description is.

>>20407083
>>20407144
Wow so people are actually reading /lit/ books? Based.

Are you the anon who read Emily project as well? Which one is better? Also is there an actual reason it’s called Eggplant?

>>20410096
>Also is there an actual reason it’s called Eggplant?
This is why.
https://enragedeggplant.blogspot.com

I have like a dozen notebooks, not clue what to do with a few of them. I have a notebook dedicated to each project I'm working on, a planner, a journal and one for general on-the-go notes. I don't know what to do with the remaining two, any ideas?

>>20410096
Not comparable. Two different genres, but eggplant is much better written.

>>20410096
Yeah anon from previous thread that got that book, Im reading Emily Project today. It has workman's prose and incel vibes. Loneliness is a big theme so far but Im wondering why Emily is trying to hard to satisfy Caleb in ways he didnt ask for. I think she may understand Caleb better than Caleb himself. I sincerely doubt I will enjoy this as much as Eggplant from my first impression but its a cute story so far.

The word "eggplant" isnt in the novel but I can tell you which words are: circles, colors and cuttlefish. After you finish you will look at the cover image which is a series of lines with beginning and end unlike a circle. The lines start green and end purple. Could it be a childish reference to weed which makes numerous appearances in the story or to piccolo dick epic hacker meme? Maybe but my gut tells me the title and cover art are explicitly not circles to show a shape that has a beginning and end, that can change before it ends like a cuttlefish. Just my take.

>>20409251
Let me guess, the secret is to have several men of varying handsomness (none are worse than 8/10, of course) one of which is a billionaire and to have them all pine for the plain main girl. It may or may not involve vivid descriptions of rape and engorged manhoods with the act overall being depicted as a positive experience due to the rapist's status and attractiveness.

>>20406602
This is shit. Rewrite and delete

This is the beginning of a longer poem. I might have a prose argument before it to set the scene and mood; it is mainly inspired by Paradise Lost, as well as Dantescan hell (as it is also interpreted by Pound's Hell Cantos).

>>20408985
>Read Murakami
>Study style
>Write book
>???
>Profit
It is important to note I have never read Murakami.

>>20408965
what am i supposed to do instead respectfully

What is better for practice, writing bunch of shitty short stories or writing one big shitty story?

>>20410566
not that anon but I earnestly believe a writer knows whether he’s making a piece of shit or not. if you don’t know, it’s likely shit, but just likely, not certainly. only you may be certain with them conviction to invest your time and money into the piece

i personally don’t spend money submitting manuscripts I think are shit

>>20410815
But what if I am delusional?

>>20410827
then you are delusional

>>20410833
damn...

>>20408985
>tfw I will never be able to write a Murakami style book because I don't interact with human society enough to spam product names, musician/song names, etc.
The feel is surreal, like I'm already trapped in one of the liminal otherplaces with the theme being that of isolation from the commoditized normal. If I were to try to write a passage about an average inhabitant of my city going about an average day while naming properly all of the things he sees and hears, I would almost certainly fail. I don't listen to music, let alone popular music. I don't follow popular brands. When I go shopping, my selections are based either on looking exclusively at price tags or evaluating the product/brand name through a mythopoetic lens, thus why I buy Dreamfields pasta. I like to imagine that the grain is harvested from fields existing within dreams and has something of the essence of the archetypal realm.

>>20410428
It's the worst thing I've ever read.

>>20410655
What's more satisfying? Taking a lot of tiny shits or one large giga shit?

>>20410858
Okay. Thanks for the feedback.

>>20410851
How can you be so schizo that you loop back into advertising working on you?

>>20411034
I never made a claim that advertising doesn't work on me, rather that I'm generally so disconnected from normal society that I'm not even exposed to that advertising in the first place and I'm especially not exposed to the secondary level of advertising which comes in the form of discussion and display of brands by consumers.

>>20411071
Didn’t mean to imply anything. Just found it odd for your sort. Enjoy your pasta, anon

>>20410815
when i was writing it i thought it was really good. even when i was doing my initial edit i thought it was decent. now that i've let it sit for a few months, i think there are interesting parts in it and good things about it, but overall i'm really not sure. i know i can take it to a higher level with some time and effort of editing, but i'm not sure what that level will be.

I guess it would be worth the time and effort spent editing to improve my skills in self-editing and my discipline for finishing a project. this is the second manuscript i've written but it's the first one i've actually tried to polish.

Part of me feels like if i don't take a chance on it i will never really have the discipline to finish another project after it, even if there's other new ideas i think i could make way better just by virtue of planning and outlining more before i actually write the damn thing.

if it's still a heap of shit once i finish "polishing" it i guess i can shelve it, but if it's okay, maybe i will try to self publish. i think it's good enough to at least sell a few copies.

>>20411118
I must preface this by saying that I am a retard. Whenever I read any of my writing from months ago, I either love it or hate it. No exceptions. But, I always polish it. If nothing else, it's a learning experience and it builds determination and work ethic, even if I don't like doing it, I'll force myself to get it done. Dunno if it works for other people this way, but it's helped me be better able to sit through long writing sessions and churn out higher quality first drafts. I'm on hour 4 of my writing binge that's probably gonna last til dawn, so ~6 more hrs, and I have 4000 words thus far, about a chapter's worth.

Again, this is just my way of doing things. Might work for you, might not. The important bit is to not get discouraged and see everything you write as shite, since that's gonna get you trapped in editing hell. Been there, not a fun time. Work on it, if you think its fit for a touch-up, go for it. If not, scrap it and rewrite the same story, or start a new one altogether. Good luck!

I imagine this is asked every day and is met with derision each time, but any tips for actually starting on a project from a single idea? As in creating characters, story arcs etc.

>>20411118
professional, traditionally published authors have alpha readers and beta readers
these are people who read their books and give their impressions on it
alpha readers have enough skill that they can tell you what needs correcting and how to correct it
beta readers just give you their opinion, but if you have 10 beta readers, and they all mention the same problem, the problem is probably real

>>20411334
Have you read any books about writing fiction?

>>20411334
When you say single idea, do you mean just a brief concept? If so, think on that concept, think on what sort of setting you're using for it, think on what sort of characters are needed for it, think what sort of plot it would lead to, etc.

>>20411334
Personally, I always start with the setting, after the orignal idea of course. Characters are products of their environment the say way we are, not to say you can't have personality types in mind before writing characters, but be sure that they have a realistic place in their environment. Create enough characters and the story almost writes itself, throw in a call to action to spice it up. Solid, interesting characters can make any scenario engaging.

>>20411363
>the say way
kek, I obviously meant
>the same way

>>20411334
The opening scene.
A hook scene or sequence designed to capture the curiosity of the reader/audience to read on.
The Catalyst / Inciting incident
Sequence climaxes (each main sequence may have its own climax)
Pinch points
Third Act Twist (if any)
Third Act Climax
Final scene

https://jmjwilliamson.com/2018/08/25/plot-points-and-pinch-points/

>tfw you reread something you wrote years ago that you thought was good at the time .
>Nay, when you read something you wrote even months, weeks, days, hours, seconds ago

>>20411334
>an idea
What is your idea and how sort of comprehensive of an idea is it? Like you said, , ideas are nice, but stories involve characters, characters have goals, and goals are not always easily achievable.

>>20411334
Just dive in and start writing, on the side learn craft from a book and listen to craft videos, if it's your first attempt at writing you have a ton to learn by doing, getting dumped on in critique, revising and revising again until you can write a decent scene.

If you can't write well at the scene level than your plot twists/setting won't be worth a damn anyway.

Reminder that you should be building your launch platform 6+ months in advance of your self publishing.
There’s 1,000 books a day published on Amazon. Even if you have the best book on earth, who the fuck is going to know?
Not having a platform is like beforehand is the equivalent of making a great sign and sticking in your front lawn to advertise your book.
Sure it’s great, but only your neighbors will see it.

>>20411682
>Not having a platform is like beforehand is the equivalent
??? Must have had a stroke during my poop posting.
Not having a platform beforehand is like the equivalent of making a great sign and sticking in your front lawn to advertise your book.

Chapter 2 of the Kill List is out.
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/54622/the-kill-list

Constructive feedback always welcome. Hope you enjoy it!

how do i combine serial experiments lain with evangelion?

rate my "cyberpunk" lovecraftian horror plot
>humanity tried to make ai
>but they always commit suicide

>>20411747
that sounds awesome
can I steal the idea

>>20411737
Ambitious anon, I wouldn't know.

>>20411747
Brilliant. Just writing a short story?

Lads, how do you stick to one story? I have half a dozen projects I want to work on, I've planned most of them out at least partly. Do I split the workload throughout the week or focus on one at a time?

>>20411334
It's a secret formuler

>>20411734
somehow the generic nature of the plot doesn't bother me. your prose is smooth as fuck

What is the difference between exposition as in the Freytag’s Pyramid use of the word and exposition as in pieces of information conveyed to the reader? Writers seem to use the two words interchangeably, but exposition as used by Freytag means the beginning of a story in relation to story structure where as exposition is more commonly used by writers as referring to large blocks of information. In that sense, writers use the word typically in relation to not doing a lot of exposition in the beginning as opposed to exposition being the beginning of a story. I don’t understand that. How long should exposition be if it’s the first part of a story structure, but writers discourage dropping a lot of exposition in the beginning. Is this story structure just retired now?

>>20411977
I'd say authors encourage subtle exposition over what's called an exposition dump. Exposition is a necessary part of story structure and is unavoidable. Subtle exposition is when the reader is able to pick up on information about your setting and characters while reading, without being blatantly told, instead through events and scenes. Writing too much about either of the two, without moving the plot forward is what most people will tell you to avoid. I think the confusion here is that "too much exposition" is misinterpreted by a great many people as, like you say, large blocks of information. While somewhat correct, they use the term to refer to information dumps throughout a text opposed to just the start. That's my take. I'd be interested to hear other anon's thoughts.

>>20411925
I'd tend to agree, despite not having read much myself.

>>20411781
i've got two good ideas
i'm doing them one at a time

I should finish reading Emily Project tomorrow, I will try to give another review so anons can know how Emilyanon did.

>doing chapter 2 rn (RN)
Anons, I’m doing it.

>>20412328
Good job anon. Post it here when done

What makes a book good?
>subject matter?
>prose?
>word choice?
>accessibility?
>some sort of pretentious message?

>>20412341
All of the above. It's like baking, not microwaving.

>>20407615
Writing something for the first time, are you?
>>20408965
>>20410349
>>20410858
seethe
>>20410334
Normally I'd say "seethe", but this was ultra based. Modern "romance" is a WEIRD genre.

>>20411734
Interesting slight departure from general high fantasy tropes at the end of chapter 2. Moving in towards horror somewhat?

I'm writing a story where one of the main characters is a knight. In one chapter, he comes across two assassins who plan to kill members of the royal family. Is it dishonorable for him to sneak up on them and cut their throats? Or should he give them an honest fight? He's meant to be a noble, upstanding guy.

>>20412371
Why are you writing a romance book?
Do they even really interest you?

>>20407876
Sage advice. Reddit has a LOT of fiction-oriented subs.
>>20408909
No, too tired. Freaking day-jobbery.
>>20409666
Not rich enough to do that.
>>20409677
You sound like WattPad's target author! Now go forth and succeed!
>>20411747
Already happening in real life.
>>20411781
Work on whatever one your muse tells you to.
Never get in the way of your muse.

I'm writing a story where one of the main characters is a knight. In one chapter, he comes across two assassins who plan to kill members of the royal family. Is it dishonorable for him to sneak up on them and cut their throats? Or should he give them an honest fight? He's meant to be a noble, upstanding guy who made a vow to protect people no matter the cost.

>>20412414
They sell.
Lawrence Block started his career by writing soft-core porn novels.
He was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America in 1994.

>>20412412
>>20412428
Can he just capture them without killing them?
After all, assassins are generally paid by someone else to kill.
Finding out who did that would be very valuable intel.

>>20412428
Traditional knights would decry them in public while challenging them to a undeclining duel while the other option might make for a more interesting character.

>>20409925
>little hiccups
No problem...I had a zillion in my most recently completed novel, and I know how frustrating those can be.
Can't wait to read more!

>>20412428
>Is it dishonorable for him to sneak up on them and cut their throats?
If they’re planning to kill his lord then he should do everything in his power to stop them, whether it’s fair or not

>>20412430
Okay, what are you doing to build your softcore porn following until then?

>>20412341
The “pretentious message” is called Thesis and every piece of literature, read not pulp fiction, but literature, has a Thesis.

>>20412460
I won't need to -- it'll sell itself.

>>20412511
>said the guy who published his book the same day as 999 others that day
Lol okay.
Idk why people are so against reality.

>>20411925
>>20412148
>>20412390
Thanks for the feedback! I do hope to gradually increase the amount of horror elements I put into the story as time goes on.

>>20412415
Is fantasy really that popular to write? I’m almost curious if all those supposed 1000 books per day you talk about are good.

>>20412547
Fantasy is popular to write, but often incredibly hard to get published and doesn't sell as much as you think. Hence why all the new fantasy writers add in erotica in their stories. Just pick up any booktok book in Barnes and Nobel, and flip to some pages, you'll probably see the word fuck everywhere and the MC wanting to fuck some guy that "secretly cares, but does not care", because her pussy will tame him.

>>20412531
If people were into reality, they wouldn't read romance novels.

>>20412547
That wasn’t the person you tagged, but me.
1,000 some odd books are published to Amazon A DAY and in the top genres are
>romance
>scifi
>fantasy
Sometimes scifi-fantasy is lumped together, in which case, it’s the number 1 genre.
Don’t publish on this basis though, they’re also the most flooded, so it’s a wash.

>>20412606
Yes, that’s why women read romance and men read things that matter.

>>20412624
seethe
gatekeeping
I don't care if romance novels "matter"...I only care if mine sells.
Have fun "mattering" all by yourself.

>>20412624
1984 is a romance.

>>20412217
Why? We know it's shit.

>>20412633
Yeah, I'll do both actually.
I'm just shitting on you for being a pure faggot.

Cryptically describe a key aspect of your story
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9Bo-NCn_2g

>>20412657
>>20412663
Your seething indicates you're a very happy person inside.
Or not. I forget.

>>20412693
Onions green energy is people

>>20412695
>person
Persons
Multiple people know you're a faggot.
It shines as bright as the sun.

>>20412708
>or not
I suddenly remember which one it is.

>>20412604
What does sell? What’s not as difficult to get published? And why erotica? Don’t people want LOTR tier history books?

>>20411180
>>20411347
thank you both. will take your advice into account

>>20412718
Do you browse the Interwebs looking for LOTR tier history books?
Or for porno?
Right.
"Romance" is porno wearing a disguise.

>>20412732
Man, I read history way more than I jack off.
Also I read fantasy way more than I jack off.
What I’m trying to say is I have sex.

>>20412746
And clearly that's why you're here on 4chan.

>>20411737
Lain is a carefully crafted piece with a very cryptic story that hints at lain becoming/being some sort of god by the end
Evangelion is a much more superficial story.

Why would you combine the two?
It would make more sense to combine angel's egg or perfect blue or some shit, rather than evangelion.

>>20412756
Yeah, surprise buddy. I can have a life outside of 4chan and still shitpost here for fun.
God you're a dumb nigger.
You're the type of guy who never hit level 126 on runescape and thought it was weird that Chad was.

i want to write something in the vein of Houllebecq, or Knausgaard, or Yates... like a depressed narrator with a strong POV going about some contemporary setting and acerbically critiquing everyone and everything around him...

however all of the ideas for scenes and settings that pop into my head are autistic action scenes, erotica and violence, etc. set in feudal japan or medieval europe.

am i being an idiot by trying to force myself to write contemporary lit fiction ... something that people would take seriously? should i just follow my baser childlike fantasy nerd instincts?

i like reading both so it's hard to decide which to pick. how do i pick?

>>20412718
>What does sell?
Self help books, aka "feel good" books.
See, you don't really wanna help people when you write one of these, you just wanna make them THINK they are doing things to help themselves, but in reality they just feel good reading about it.

The best self help book i've read? Prometheus rising

The worst? 10 rules of life.

>>20412412
I have a similar situation with a similar set of characters. In this instance, I have the knight tell the appropriate authority who turns out to be in kahoots with the killers. Then he has the moral dilemma of killing the authority who authorized the killings, or killing the assassins and not stopping the problem at its source.

>>20412769
I have a Fantasy story with a Knight that has incestual desires.

I stopped writing it for the past 3 months. There's a gnawing feeling I should at least write the first draft, but I also know it's complete shit and doesn't deserve to see the light of day.

>>20411716
>>20411682
A platform, hm?
have you ever heard of "Foxbutt"? I bet not, and dude has a whole site dedicated to his book.

Face it anon, it's all sheer luck, marketing, or shilling.
People are more likely to read CotC than your well-crafted novel.

>>20412788
>Face it anon, it's all sheer luck,
That's the cope you actually accept?
No, when you fail, it'll be your fault.

>>20412760
>Runescape
I don't play chidren's video games.

>>20412810
>rs
>childs game
See, that’s how I know you’re retarded.
A minor hasn’t played that game in a decade.

>>20412781
How many people dropped their story? There used to be some people that post excerpts and now they all disappeared

How the fuck can I compete against this work of literary mastery?

>>20406485
Holy shit that OP cucking for self publishing. I actually agree. All of your retards should self publish so literary agents don't have to waste their time reading your drafts and instead focus their time on me.

>>20412795
>sheer luck
Man, I don't know how anyone ever convinces themselves stuff like that. They must be awful at everything if they think people just magically get lucky and success falls from the sky

>>20413394
Sometimes they do, hence William Goldman. Personally I think God did him a favour though, or his people at least, because he was made to write.

I want to write a story about a man who is losing his grasp on sanity. Does anyone have ideas on how I should convey that?

>>20411426
>Nay,
When you read something you wrote 8 hours and 25 minutes ago

>>20413468
>write something a year ago
>get back to it
>read a piece you don't remember anything about
>it actually reads well
WTF who was I then? Why aren't I that person anymore? Will I continue to deteroriate?

>>20413456
Thanks for the example, >>20413473 anon.

You guys ever find yourself procrastinating ad infinitum despite having all the time in the world to write? I don't currently have a real job and sit in front of my computer for hours on end, and yet the only thing I've recently been writing is in a typing test website.

Of course the ostensible goal of this is to increase my productivity through a short term time investment in my actual ability to put words on a screen, but really it's just been another way of putting off actually writing.

Fear of failure or something else. Perhaps psychic pressure. I really do think that phrase accurately describes much of what I feel. Too much pressure to write perfectly. Maybe that's it actually!

Maybe the fact that so many people in my life have actually gone out of there way to tell me that I'm very good at writing is the exact reason I can't bring myself to write.

Only one answer than huh? To disregard their opinions totally, and to lower my own expectations of my quality of work to abyssal levels.

I'm a genius, and you guessed it I just wrote this shitty blogpost to practice my typing.

Acted on some feedback from last thread to come up with this. I'm looking to write at least the first three chapters before putting it up on RR. I just want to know if what I have is captivating enough for the average reader

>>20413602
ADHD.

Help me brainstorm.
How does a protagonist who wants to commit suicide get involved in a serial murder case and decide to investigate?
You have free reign to try anything

>>20413776
He wants to settle his accounts before shuffling off the mortal coil.

His father was the one that had taught him the game. The two of them would play late into the night, after dinner, George standing for hours over the board, his eyes unmoving,his hands held as primly as when he surveyed the newspapers, swiftly dropping the chessmen to their squares when he had decided on a move. His father would recline languidly on the sofa, seldom looking at the board, even when it was his turn, his eyes closed or staring up at the ceiling. He would often speak the move aloud rather than touch the pieces and by his tone of voice one could usually tell the state of his position. By the time his father had left, the boy could beat him one in every four games. If they were to play now, he was confident he could win every time. He was the champion of the local chess club (which he had started attending after his father’s departure), where they called him the “English Capablanca” for his simple, straightforward style and for his precocity. Several of the club members even paid him for lessons, delighting in the novelty of receiving instruction from a child.
Unbeknownst to them, the boy no longer liked chess. Having reached the summit of his little kingdom, he harbored no ambitions for attaining greater heights. There was a time when the money he earned from his lessons were being put toward a trip to London, for the 26th championship tournament, but the shillings had long since filled the jar he kept for that purpose, and the subject had never been broached with his mother. If not for Mrs. Burns, he might have quit the club entirely.
Mrs. Burns was his most troublesome student. She was only seventeen, only older than George by a year, and unmarried, but insistent on the nuptial title out of an expectation of imminent matrimony. She was engaged to Stuart Burns, a 2nd lieutenant in the officer corps. They were to be wed the moment he returned victorious from battle. In the meantime, they exchanged letters which, on her fiance’s part, had lately grown increasingly terse, offering little more than the next move of their ongoing correspondence game. She had come to George to offer her fiance stiffer competition, feeling that a victory would increase his estimation of her virtues, whereas a loss embarrass her and lose his respect. The loss of respect was especially intolerable to her, as George had found out on their first meeting, when he had offered to play her with rook odds, to which she had responded with a narrowing of eyes and the swift return of his dismissed rook to its starting square.
1/2

>>20413915
“I don’t like to be underestimated, young man,” she had said. It was the “young man” which had compelled him, in that first game, to play the King’s Gambit and destroy her within 14 moves. The roughness of her breathing afterward suggested the approach of tears, but she did not weep. She set the pieces back to their initial position, herself now with the white, and played again. He could not recall how many games they had played that day. He did recall that she did not win even once. It was not that her condescension had touched him to the quick–if anything he had already begun to feel guilty for succumbing to such pettiness–but rather that he sensed, as when his father would play him, that to hold back would be a greater insult no matter how decided the outcome. In the game, at least, neither of them could brook deceit.

>>20413776
He wakes up in a mental asylum with no memory of the last three days and is told he was committed after a failed suicide attempt that caused minor brain damage. He starts noticing some of the other patients are oddly familiar and when he manages to talk to a few of them curiously none of them have any memory of how they got there. Then one day a new patient shows up and freaks out after recognizing him. Confused and disturbed, he asks what's going on. The Guy says he saw him on the news, the latest victim in a serial murder case, who was found tortured to death and beheaded a week ago.

>>20413776
While shitposting on an imageboard about committing suicide he comes across a thread discussing the serial murder case, which is blowing up because it seems like the murderer himself posted. The thread is quickly pruned by jannies, but our intrepid suicide was able to save the images that were posted by the murderer and discovers that one of the victims is someone he knows.

>>20413964
Your lack of creativity is only outdone by your lack of humor

Looking back on what I've been doing, I don't think it's worth it. There's no poetry in it. My prose is pedestrian at best and I know of no way to improve it.
Someone in middle school could write what I write. What's the point when you can't improve?
Good god, man.

>>20413977

>>20413776
He knows part or all of the truth behind the case already and those facts are what drive his suicidal ideation. Pulled to such a depth of bitterness, he decides to investigate in order for what he knows to be proven publicly and therefore induce the same despair in others. The investigation isn't really about discovering the identity of the murderer, but instead requires gathering evidence and manipulating circumstances so that he will be caught.
Bonus: Go full schizocore and make the murderer a privileged elite whose crimes are being covered up by the authorities and media.

A good Tool for Worldbuilding?

I already almost started using World Anvil. The UI seemed really nice and everything seemed to be in order. But then i noticed that if you are a free user your content is not private. (HOLY SHIT, thank the gods i realized this in only after a minute of writing some really basic meta information.)

I'm a poor rat and even if i was planning on *actually* spending some money on a subscription at some point, this just completely put me off from putting anything on this site. I really respect my privacy (don't we all) and have zero interest in showing any of my stuff to random people.

I've already done some really basic research on building my own offline-wiki so that's probably the first thing i'll try next.

>>20413602
Seriously consider talking to a psychiatrist. Get meds.

>>20413915
Overall solid although you have too many commas (or more specifically too many very short snippets broken out by commas) giving it a stuttering flow. Be sure to read everything you write aloud on an edit pass with this in mind.

A bit more specificity/experiential details on the places they were playing might also ground the scenes a bit more.

>>20412906
I posted excerpts and am still going, I just don't know if I'd get any decent feedback on chapter 7 when readers have no context but I guess I can try.

>>20413602
>out of there way
>Only one answer than
I don't think anyone with a talent for language would ever make these mistakes. The discipline just takes too much attention to detail to ever miss things like this.

>>20412906
I'm still writing. Some "people" here are just philistines, and it makes it really hard to think that between all of the discussion of Brandon Sanderson, advertising proponents, and worldbuilding seminars that my writing might be given a fair shake.
>philistines
Not in the sense that they don't like my writing in particular, but just in the sense that their tastes run overwhelmingly towards the conventional. It feels like there were a bunch of people in /sffg/ who got bullied out of their general and have come here instead. I've been thinking of starting a literary/experimental fiction writing general, just to make absolute sure the Sci-fi and fantasy guys are filtered out.

>>20413984
The point is to continue to try.
The point is to work at your writing every day.
It will be hard and demoralizing. It will be painful at times. It may even make you want to just throw everything away and give up.
But you must be willing to suffer through the bad times to experience the true joy of the good.
You will make it. Don't quit.

>>20414182

>>20414182
Don't shoot, Fitz! At least, not until I've had my coffee.

>>20411734
>wasting time writing fantasy
Lol

>>20414266
>wasting time on 4chan

>>20414182
>order Fitzgeralds All the Sad Young Men used for 4 bucks
>open mailbox
>All the Sad Young Literary Men by Keith Geller (Russian Jew part of the Occupy protest)
>I actually misclicked this shit
>immediately throw it in garbage

>>20414266
>wasting time being a demoralization cuck
lol

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/44832/the-fall-years-roswell

I do plan on posting more stories this way. I also do have the audio version of these chapters on Spotify since WordPress can be used with Anchor. It's a pretty nice service.

>>20414293
This but
>order one copy of For Whom the Bell Tolls by Hemingway
>get 5 copies of For Whom the Bell Tolls (Book Analysis): Detailed Summary, Analysis and Reading Guide

>>20414266
>>20414294
>lol
lol

>>20414293
>>20414331
>order Charlie Kaufman's Antkind, Alejandro Jodorowsky's Where the Bird Sings Best and Goethe's Faust
>get all of them but also get a book in some language I don't understand (Swedish?) and a volume of some kind of lesbian manga
Very confusing, they didn't charge me for those last two and no receipt showed them anywhere.

Has anyone read any of OPs books on writing? found any specific ones helpful?

>>20414432
No. You shouldn't read any of them. Read the products of good authors. Don't let middlemen insert themselves between you and the only thing you need. If the middlemen were actual good authors, they would have written good books themselves. Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach.

>>20414432
Yes, you need to study craft to have the tools to write well. Steering the Craft is solid and Le Guin was a great writer. Listen to ShaelinWrites and Sanderson lecture series free on YouTube at work for other interesting craft ideas as well (yes Sanderson is a hack but he's also a millionaire from writing alone so humble yourselves and at least consider his opinions before rejecting them).

>>20414439
This poor man is cursed to know everything!

>>20414487
>Sanderson is a hack but he's also a millionaire
If he's a hack, then anything unrelated to exactly how he became a millionaire is nothing worth listening to... and that's only if you want to become a millionaire. If you want to become a millionaire, there are tons better ways. If you want to be an author, there's no point in listening to a hack.
>Yes, you need to study craft to have the tools to write well
Study the craft, absolutely. Just don't let a second-rate MFA professor tell you along which lines your study should progress. Learn from the masters. Everything you need to know is not just written but immanentized in the works of the actual great authors.
>This poor man is cursed to know everything!
I don't even know what you mean by this.

>>20414511
Sanderson is clearly a writer who knows his tools, so his lectures are actually fairly useful. He just over-relies on them, and writes 'from' them rather than 'with' them.

Bros. I don't know what to do. After many failed attempts at starting a story I've come to a profound realization.
I can't write. What do I do?

>>20414537
why can't you write?

>>20414522
It follows that knowing the tools is useless. If the guy who knows the tools the best still can't write, why use his tools? I have the same criticism of Harold Bloom. He was, in his time, one of the preeminent academic critics. Regardless of whether you or I agree with all of his takes, he Knew The Tools, back to front. If it's good, he'd read it, and he had well-informed opinions on it. None of this saved him from the deeply unfortunate Flight to Lucifer. Much ado is made of knowing the tools and having the knowledge and everything. If they create writers like Sanderson and Bloom, I have serious doubts about the efficacy of those tools to begin with.

Paid $150to submit a screenplay and receive feedback on a script

>>20414564
Good luck, anon. Taking steps in any direction is good.

>>20414564
>do the work AND pay us
LMAO what an absolute scam

>>20414583
>Do nothing and achieve nothing

>>20414589
>I should give my money to scammers because this is better than keeping it and trying to move ahead through legitimate means
No.

I use a specific dynamic in my story. Life doesn't always play out like a story, so sometimes things that happen in life can come across as "Poorly Written."
For example, there's two "Evil Clone" characters, made by different people. One makes one, and then the other is like "Why didn't I think of that?"
It's stupid but ultimately is somewhat more likely to happen in this scenario

>>20414600
Screenplay contests are legitimate means. Just sending out your script doesn't work.

>>20414621
Why does it cost 150 dollars to do so?

>>20414625
Because they have actually Hollywood judges and shit. This is what some screenwriter on youtube said to do.

>>20414631
Ah, on youtube. Well I stand corrected then. This is merely an investment.

>>20414633
It's only $150

>>20414644
Do you get their feedback no matter what, or only if you win?

>>20414650
I paid extra for feedback lol so Yeah I get feedback.

>>20414655
Well at least you're getting something for your money, that's a plus.

>>20414655
the money is supposed to flow to the author
it might be a legit contest but maybe not.

>>20414511
Silence Bucksneed.

Trying to get a nice, kinda abstract, cover art for my web novel.
It's been posted here a couple of times, but it's a take-back-the-throne revenge plot. A big element of the story is the city it takes place in, which is "possessed" by a powerful, ancient spirit.

Trying to get the cover to a point where it feels foreboding, while also being interesting. Work in progress, for sure.

>>20414781
Did you draw it yourself? If so, good on you, it looks nice.

>>20414823
I really appreciate that compliment, but no, it's not drawn at all. There's a website called nightcafe-- it's an A.I that generates art based on keywords and style prompts. A lot of it comes out really abstract, which has gone great with some of the short horror pieces I've written in the past. It's worth checking out if, like me, you have zero artistic skills.

>>20414835
Not too long before it's writing books

>>20414539
I can't write because my ideas are shit. I have a style of writing I've been complimented on, but coming up with plots are fucking hard. I don't know how to start a story, and the transition from one scene to the next is always done in the most uncreative way. Today I started an outline for a plot, finished it, and realized it was an entirely pointless chapter altogether

>>20414835
Holy shit, that's such a lifesaver. I'm on the verge of starting to dump my stuff online and I've been aching for cover art. That's great, thanks anon!

>>20414860
>the transition from one scene to the next is always done in the most uncreative way
Consider the possibility that nuts and bolts things like that don't really matter. Plots are pretty unnecessary as well. Just use someone else's plot, and write it in that style which draws compliments.

>>20414861
Anytime anon. You may have to 'evolve' a piece a few times before you get something good. I recommend evolving back and forth between artistic and coherent settings to really flesh it out.

>>20414781
>>20414835
Well, you've saved me money paying for covert art, at least for now. Link your story so I can add a view to it.

>>20414780
>noooooo!!! sandersnoy is a MILLIONAIRE!!!! you can't just not respect the MILLIONAIRE!!!! save me moneyman I'm going INSAAAAAANE!!!!!!

>>20414878
Thanks man. It's here: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/54622/the-kill-list
Hope you get some enjoyment from the read.

>>20414875
Thanks for the heads up, will do.

>>20414899
>female protagonist
cuck

>>20414931
New thread