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/lit/ - Literature


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21018900 No.21018900 [Reply] [Original]

Previous Thread: >>21007708

/wg/ AUTHORS & FLASH FICTION: https://pastebin.com/ruwQj7xQ
RESOURCES & RECOMMENDATIONS: https://pastebin.com/nFxdiQvC

Please limit excerpts to one post.
Give advice as much as you receive it to the best of your ability.
Follow prompts made below and discuss written works for practice; contribute and you shall receive.
If you have not performed a cursory proofread, do not expect to be treated kindly. Edit your work for spelling and grammar before posting.

>> No.21018907

Nobody writes in /wg/

>> No.21018931

>>21018907
I thought about it though.

>> No.21019016

>>21018907
21018672 #
>Also, you shouldn't share your work until you've taken it as far as you can by yourself. That's the mistake most of the anons make in these threads, they post unedited garbage and expect people to not post the same advice over and over again. The fastest way to get better is to let your best stuff get torn apart, trying each time to not make the same mistake twice. Posting vomited diary entries isn't really going to do much of anything.
If we do that we'll never have anything posted on here. I read somewhere that something like 10% of authors actually finish what they wrote. And another 10% of that have some literary merit to it

>> No.21019166

>>21018907
I posted a fan fiction based off the new cyberpunk anime. I didn't get any bites. I assumed people heard "fanfic" and gave it the hard "no". To be fair, I do the same.

>> No.21019289

>>21018907
Nobody *reads

>> No.21019305

She lay there on the bed, a monument of flesh.
Curves that wind and twist ultimately coming to a slope, a slope that leads to the mountains of life. Small translucent peach-colored trees that shine when hit by the sun line the mountains and at their apex, the inactive pink fountain. Once upon a time, this fountain would produce a river that would glow and give a nourishment to those in need. A forbidden nourishment to some, but to others, the only source of growth and survival.

>> No.21019362

do any of you have that pasta about a guy blasting multiple porn movies in his 70 inch TVs and the sound of the nuts against the ass being like the bass of a philarmonica, at the end a swat team enters and he is naked with a vest

>> No.21019376
File: 3.17 MB, 1410x2250, The Emily Project (1).png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
21019376

Okay okay here's my new cover.

>> No.21019385

I think I'm going to adapt my story to Royalroad.
Please give me some pointers.

I need a cover, to upload one chapter daily for about 30 days and always be several chapters ahead of schedule, and to turn up the wish fulfillment for waifufags, right? I think I can handle that.
How about smut, is smut allowed or a good idea on this website?

>> No.21019434

My professor wants me write a paper interviewing someone who works in the field I want to work in.
Since I want to be an author she told me I HAVE TO write about an interview I had with an author but I don't think she realizes how fucking hard that is. Even some of the smallest Published Authors are hard to get into contact with. If one of you guys are an amatuer author reading this could you help and anon out and reply to this so I can "Interview "you"

>> No.21019472

>>21019434
you should interview Frank Gardner

>> No.21019497

>>21019376
Pretty nice, anon. Did you get a graphics designer for that?

>> No.21019512

>>21019497
nope. i finally learned basic photoshop and spend $20 on a bunch of stock images.

>> No.21019527
File: 37 KB, 551x550, 1663559216421530.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
21019527

>>21019376
Bro my first name has one L. Thanks though Im gonna publish next year.

>> No.21019528

>>21019016
Which is why if you're just learning to write you should be focusing on short passages and exercises and at most short stories, not full length novels.

>> No.21019533

>>21019527
Sorry, I'll fix it.

>> No.21019547

>>21019385
They don't like smut or waifus.

Maybe you should actually look through the site instead of asking here.

>> No.21019548
File: 3.05 MB, 1410x2250, Emily.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
21019548

>>21019376
Ngl, I don't like the testimonial, and I thought the bg was a bit too boring. If it were me (which it isn't so feel free to throw this suggestion in the trash) I would have done something like this.

>> No.21019560

>>21019548
Border looks neat but the arm going through it kinda weird looking.

>> No.21019602

>>21019547
I just figured you guys would know.
Anyway, that's unfortunate, if that's the case my writing probably wouldn't work there.

>> No.21019623 [DELETED] 
File: 280 KB, 1200x1669, 1662837038178567.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
21019623

Working my writing based on less literary games, going smoothly.
>>21019166
I'll read it. Post it again

>> No.21019640

Repeating my question from a little while ago: are there any highly-rated edgy stories on Royalroad? Most of the ones I've tried seem to have an optimistic/light-hearted tone.

>> No.21019655

Genuine question, is a mechanical typewriter a worthwhile investment if I don’t like sitting in front of a screen all day?

>> No.21019679

Is the anon who posted the evil novella outline a couple weeks ago still around in these threads? It was about a man who killed a hospital gardener and took over his job so that he could be closer to a nurse he was infatuated with. It was really good and I’d like to read more.

>> No.21019680

>>21019655
Maybe, but have you tried making the screen easier to look at? Maybe dark mode or filter out blue light, maybe some other monitor that looks more like paper? The options on a desktop are a lot more efficient Id think.

>> No.21019684

>>21019640
What's edgy to you?
Primal Hunter and Sylver Seeker are both pretty edgy in my opinion.

>> No.21019690

>>21019655
mechanical typewriters are a meme, go for an electric typewriter:
https://www.amazon.com/Brother-GX-6750-Daisy-Electric-Typewriter/dp/B00004WFSC
or as the other anon suggested, install flux:
https://justgetflux.com/
or you can get a bluetooth mechanical keyboard and one of those paper tablets
at the end of the day, it will be an expensive luxury that you're just using to distract yourself from writing

>> No.21019711

>>21018900
why is the OP so minimalist

>> No.21019823

>>21019711
To filter those too lazy to look in the pastebin

>> No.21019826

10 consistent readers bros.
I think I need to delete my fiction.
This is just too much pressure.

>> No.21019876

>>21019826
I was getting about that many too
I deleted mine because I was too ashamed of my quality of work. I was letting them down...
I'll come back stronger. I won't let any reader down

>> No.21019910

>>21019826
I genuinely don't understand how you guys get such low amounts of readers. What the fug are you writing and where are you posting it? I've already broken 100 followers on RR and I haven't even been posting for 6 months, and I'm not posting LitRPG, Xianxia, or even really Progression fantasy.

>> No.21019920

>>21019655
Maybe your neighbors don’t like hearing your typewriter though.

In general I think it’s a bad idea to duplicate the work you do. Sooner or later you have to edit it again in word processor anyway so what are you going to do?

If you like the feel of a typewriter just get one of those luxury keyboards. Use different software if you don’t like looking at a screen. Dark mode makes a huge difference

>> No.21019933

>>21019655
it's nice
for enjoyability and comy factor I'd rate: typewriter > PC > hand written > phone
the fact your asking makes me think you're just having avoidant thoughts and enabling procrastinating. which if that's the case a typewriter will do nothing for you
just bunker down and get your shit done

>> No.21019938

>>21019876
Pretty based. How are you planning to improve?

>> No.21019972

>>21019938
I've been reading a lot and writing flash fictions. When I read I put sticky notes whenever there's something that felt good to read, then when I write I try to recreate that effect
It's helped my moment to moment writing a lot. I think I can do prose and dialogue pretty decently now
The big thing now is I don't know how to make a good plot. So many people's stories just get lost as time goes on. You can read and finish something new every week, write a flash fiction every day, but how do you practice longer plots?

>> No.21019982

How do I settle on a character name?
I've got a solid first name but two last names. I can't pick one from those so I have been toying with the order and I don't know, what if it sounds ugly?
It doesn't ugly to me if ordered in one way but the other way is odd.
Even in real life people tend to have at least decent sounding names.

>> No.21019997

>>21019982
I just name characters like normal humans for the most part, but all my stories take place in a contemporary world.

I tend to roll my eyes when people are named goofy things like "Klace". There's nothing wrong with being named John.

>> No.21020015

>>21019684
Thanks anon I'll have a look.

>> No.21020022

I dislike that dialogue tags dictate that dialogue following narration has to be lower
Anon shouted, "this doesn't feel like a shout in lower case."

>> No.21020023

>>21019997
It's a common name, I just want to keep a deranged pun with the initials but not sure if it flows when said outloud.

>> No.21020030

>>21020023
I like named that flow when the first, middle, and last are all said, like Warren Arthur Murphy or Christian Gabriel Foster.

>> No.21020031

>>21020022
"This doesn't feel like a shout!" Anon shouted.

Try exclamation marks, anon.

>> No.21020094

The longer I write the more I admire authors who are consistently releasing good material, not great or fantastic, but just good. The fact they can just writer good novels over and over again, year after year, and not lose their capability to be creative. I think those are real writers. The rest are maybe one time or two time writers, who managed to get through a few hundred pages and found themselves unable to write anymore.

>> No.21020117

Quick question:
Decent prose but good story?
or
Decent story but good prose?

>> No.21020124

>>21020117
decent story makes up for literally everything

>> No.21020142

>>21020117
both are good and worth reading
the bigger question is bad prose/good story or good prose/bad story
and I think the answer to that is bad prose will get a reader to drop immediately, a bad story will get them to drop after getting into it

>> No.21020151

>>21019972
Maybe try outlining your favorite novels. First from memory, and then filling in what you missed.

>> No.21020156

>>21019623
>Working my writing based on less literary games, going smoothly.
Nice to hear, KimmyAnon. This is a lot more pleasant to read.h

>> No.21020197

I need to come up with a cool name for a ballad for the first Crusade. Help me out here I got
>God, Glory and Gold
A reference to the motivations of the crusades, but it has an 1400s imperialist bent to it
>Cross, Crescent and Coin
A reference to Christianity, Islam and again, gold, indicating the chief themes in the Crusades
>Thatcher's Comet
A reference to a comet, which helped gave the people of Europe religious fervor
>Marching against Millennialism
While looking up some info, I found out that back in 11th century, people were paranoid about world ending at 1100. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/atd-herkimer-westerncivilization/chapter/the-first-crusade/
>Donkeys and Hmars
Hmar is Arabic for donkey, which is a reference to how brutal both sides of the crusades were
>King of Juda
A reference to how Jesus was called King of the Jews, it's a weak reference but you could say Crusaders were taking back Jerusalem to give to Jesus
Any that catches your eyes?

>> No.21020204

>>21020022
Anon said, "You can use uppercase if it's a complete sentence."

>> No.21020212

>>21020197
"FOR God, Glory, and Gold" sounds good but also sounds a bit like a sea shanty. I'm thinking of classic Gregorian chants like Salve Regina that have short, monumental, impactful names. If you want a fun bouncing ballad though, the first one sounds good.

>> No.21020234

Why is writing action scenes so fucking hard?

>> No.21020236
File: 244 KB, 1275x2400, miniMAG Issue11_page-0001.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
21020236

>>21018900
minimag weekly
send stuff to minimagsubmissions@gmail.com
full issues at minimag.space

>>21019376
looking nice, when's this coming out?

>> No.21020240

>>21020234
because listing lots of things happening makes for lame ass writing but lots of things happen during action

>> No.21020243
File: 188 KB, 1275x2400, miniMAG Issue11_page-0017.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
21020243

>>21020236

>> No.21020245

Where can I find, purchase, or commission art for my story covers?

>> No.21020298

>>21019527
give me the title of your book, i'll add it in there to help promote your book.

>> No.21020321

>>21020236
Whenever amazon okays it. Should be about 3 days.

>>21020298
I honeslty think if we have each other testimonials we can get more eyes overall. Hopefully some other random guy reads our testimonial, curious what the other book is, and looks at it. Hopefully gives another anon's book a shot.

>> No.21020329

>>21019910
I set up my initial chapters to filter snowflakes and fluro-haired screechers.
Kinda proud that its worked so well but 10 readers is still a lot of pressure for me.
Hopefully the impending carnage will get them down to a manageable five or fewer.
As long as one can follow it to the end and maybe discuss it with someone else that's basically my dream release.

>> No.21020396

>>21020321
i'll make sure to plug it on the Zareth issue

>> No.21020462
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21020462

>send novel to editor
>it's too artsy
>send novel out to editor after rewrite
>it's too cliche
Can't fucking win.

>> No.21020466

>>21020117
JK Rowling has the prose of a high school girl and she's the highest paid "writer" in the world

>> No.21020522

>>21020117
Easily digestible prose can make you read the most nonsensical drivel. See: Stephen King.

>> No.21020845

I just want to apologize for whining here guys, I love all of you. God, people writing and having a good time, if only things were different and everyone could just be.

>> No.21020918

>>21019690
To expand on this, the best setup (if you've got a dime to spare) is a bluetooth typewriter-style mechanical keyboard with a paper tablet.

>> No.21020923

>>21019823
based

>> No.21021133

>>21018900
Threadly reminder that swearing is caring.

>> No.21021281
File: 274 KB, 1365x2048, FconrnTakAUUScY.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
21021281

I need help organizing my files.

Pretty much when I've finished a first draft and copy paste it and work on it futher keeping the old one intact incase I need to go over it

I use new folders and mark them with say A1 and A2 to keep them seprate but the hard part is I have to trasfer a lot of things (Like my notes and outlines) to this new folder and things tend to get a bit mixed up while I'm editing say the character notes or setting note and others.

Is there a better way to do this?

Question on my process futher are welcome

>> No.21021286

In my story, mages grow long beards and interwine them with rings, each ring symbolizes their achievements in studies/etc. (women do that with their hair)
MC is one of the people who hunts rouge ones down, and is taking a ring from each one he captures as a trophy.
Do you think its too cliche?
Also, the story starts when he's been doing that for a decade, what'd be not too insane but still impressive number? I was thinking about 58 or so

>> No.21021305

>>21020298
The title is tentative, I plan to trad publish so the name might not be in my control.

>> No.21021314

>>21021305
>was intending to trade publish but too lazy to find a publisher
>now have to change the name to some nonsense with a colon for posting on Royalroad

Saw this in the forums earlier
>My old story title was Emperor of the Cultivation World, but after I changed it to This Young Master is not Cannon Fodder, I got a lot more attention.

>> No.21021319

>>21021314
we went back full circle anons
>The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, Of York, Mariner: Who lived Eight and Twenty Years, all alone in an un-inhabited Island on the Coast of America, near the Mouth of the Great River of Oroonoque; Having been cast on Shore by Shipwreck, wherein all the Men perished but himself. With An Account how he was at last as strangely deliver’d by Pyrates by Daniel Defoe

>> No.21021340

>>21021286
How many rings does a mage usually have? If it’s one then 58 is ~6 mages a year. How many mages are there and how many go rogue?

The rings are cool, but what if a mage can’t grow a beard?

>> No.21021361

What is good prose? Here’s what I gathered from the internet.
1. Prosaic is invisible. It’s the opposite of poetic. The attention should be on the messages, not the colorful words.
2. Use simple tenses and words. Aim for middle grade English.
3. Prose must be forceful and confident. Be a dictator to your readers.
4. Don’t narrate the action. Get to the point.
5. Avoid adverbs/adjectives/colons/semicolons/[-ing]s/tags.
6. Varied your sentence length and starting words.

>> No.21021365

>>21021340
If they can't grow a proper beard, they have to interwine them into their hair, but they will be ridiculed by others for that.
Every noble family has at least one mage on their service, plus there is a guild - based on medieval guilds in structures - I'd say a tenth of the population has potential, but education is too expensive for most. Without proper education, unless you have an innate ability(pyrokinesis, telepathy, teleportation) , which is extremely rare, you can do as much as to move a spoon slightly on the table.
Rouge mages are as common, as any other law breakers, but since they wield magic, they are being dealt with with more prejudice.
Regular mages wear 5-8 rings, with anything above 10 being impressive among their peers.

>> No.21021366

>>21021286
Depends on how powerful you want your mages to appear. I've no idea how much work it takes to track down/kill one, but two or three a year would be a more sensible number.

>> No.21021372

To get anywhere these days,
It seems a problem's a necessity,
Your father's gay,
Heroin's passé,
Just another fashion accessory.
I tried recovered memory,
But that put me in a bind,
'Cause I became hypnotically aware,
My dad was really kind,
You might have once been traumatised,
But we're not all similarly blessed!
I'm sure that I'd be happier,
If I could be more depressed.

>> No.21021399
File: 1.62 MB, 1600x710, file.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
21021399

I'm writing a post-apocalyptic story, and I've been trying to find the right balance between characters/plot and technical, survival-related sperging.
Currently, there are entire chapters dedicated to the main character's attempts to build a working water filtration system, them dealing with hygiene issues, setting up solar power, etc.
Thing is, I've seen many books get panned on Goodreads, Amazon, /lit/, Reddit, and IRL for focusing too much on technical details, be that the working principles of some sci-fi spaceship, tech à la Crichton/Clancy, or stuff like the cetology chapter in Moby Dick.
I'm aware that the target audience for survival lit is probably more receptive towards this kind of writing, but I don't want to risk alienating a bunch of potential readers.
What's the right balance to strike?

>> No.21021420

>>21021366
Powerful, but not omnipotent.
Vast majority of them have to use incantations to cast spells, rare cases can use innate abilities, without formulas - turning invisible, teleportation, etc. but it's so rare, that you can name a mage based on what he can do apart from standard magics.

>> No.21021534

is there a way to make money off flash fiction?

>> No.21021559

>write a short story
>even with no violence, it's all written like action scenes
How do I stop this from happening? Fill the gaps between actions with more descriptions and fluff?

>> No.21021612

>>21021534
everydayfiction gave me three dollars for an old story I hated

>> No.21021634

>>21021559
that sounds cool, any particular reason why you want to change it?

>> No.21021637

>>21021559
Post it fag

>> No.21021644

>>21021634
>>21021637
I literally just finished it and haven't edited it yet:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BlJtvr7lqUIldmtLcEEZiu7f-s7rayAFwPBYr6NnS34/

And it's more about the pattern rather than this particular story.

>> No.21021649

>>21021559
Stop showing the action. Stop solving conflicts with action. Stop creating conflicts that inevitably lead to action.

>> No.21021675

>>21021649
There are no conflicts and like I said no violence.

>> No.21021710

>>21021372
it works as prose, I like it, it reads like a good caricature
if it's supposed to be a poem it doesn't work because the metric is a mess with no structure

>> No.21021725

Well, I can't put it off any longer and still get it done this year. Today, I start the final draft of my third novel.

>> No.21021727

A story about a minister who lives a double life. He lies about his past life. Makes up stories to impress others. He is a fraud.

>> No.21021765

>>21021612
tight

>> No.21021790

>>21018900
anyone experimenting with alternate ways of sharing stories. I've been told I have a voice for voice acting, and I write all of my stories with rhythm and flow in mind. I'm thinking about using AI generated art and posting short story series on tik tok, but I feel like there's something missing

>> No.21021830

>>21021790
honestly go for it, the best way to find out what's missing is to start doing it

>> No.21021845
File: 331 KB, 570x1017, 1654415561397.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
21021845

>>21021612
Will have to check them out. I've been browsing short story journals for my Baldcore story (1,700 words, 1st persone white male POV, humor/male anxiety focused) and even without submitting it has been a soul crushing experience. &Amp may be my only option which I don't mind as it's the only short story journal I actually read, but I was hoping for something I could reference when I submit my novel manuscript to an agent.

>> No.21021863

>>21021845
You're probably going to have to submit a lot of places simply because there's so much competition that any single submission has a poor shot.

Just send to 5-10 places, steel yourself for likely rejections, and work on the next thing.

>> No.21021876

>>21021845
Ive heard generally the shorter the story, granted its within the range the publication prefers, will net you better chances.

>> No.21021988

>A lapsed Catholic, Burgess tried many times to explain the Christian moral points of the story to outraged Christian organisations and to defend it against newspaper accusations that it supported fascist dogma. He also went to receive awards given to Kubrick on his behalf. He was in no way involved in the production of the film. The only profit he made directly from the film was the initial $500 that had been given to him for the rights to the adaptation.
Bros, this just depressed the fuck out of me. How can you defend your right to a buck from a movie adaptation from your book when Burgess got barely a dime from it?

>> No.21022012

>>21021988
Read your contracts closely and ideally have an agent who is used to seeing how people can get ripped off.

>> No.21022038

>>21021863
You're 100% right and I will (am nearing completion of novel's first draft, just do short fic for palate cleansers). It's just disheartening seeing all the "BIPOC only" and "our values, agree or die" type language they signal with, but a lot is just empty posturing I'm sure and I can reserve my overtly antisemitic/Mormon work for &Amp under a pseudonym.

>>21021876
I'm getting this impression too. Thinking it might be worth setting a few days per month aside go crank out market friendly flash fiction I can spam to gain credibility - horror flash fiction seems to have some buzz, anything else you all see as 'hot' in short fiction demand?

>> No.21022080
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21022080

>>21022038
The BIPOC only calls etc. are getting ridiculous. And magazines definitely skew progressive, so it's a factor.

Some of that is also just them protecting themselves against twitter psychos doing little callouts for mags not having enough latinx transjengas.

Definitely a don't blow your power level kinda field, but ultimately people can be seduced by a good story regardless if you're a suspicious demographic to them

>> No.21022124

None of you actually write to make money right? Like I'm just making sure people here understand that the industry TODAY (might change) but there is no money in books right now and art is dead

>> No.21022159
File: 3.35 MB, 1600x2560, A Christmas Unity cover 2.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
21022159

Finally getting knuckled down into my fourth pay-to-read book. Finally got my first review for my first book - which, frankly, I think wasn't my best work - but the guy gave it a 4/5 and gave it constructive criticism + listed what he liked.
Surprisingly I've had a fair amount of sales without even advertising. It shocked me at first kek. What do you guys think of this cover? I used Photoshop for the fonts & an AI image generator for the cover.
Planned to be released November/early December.
>>21019376
That looks good anon! Been browsing /wg/ for a while, since I first published, and seeing your post gives me the confidence to put out my covers on /wg/ too. Cheers anon. :)

>> No.21022165

>>21022124
Nah, I just want to leave behind a legacy of some sort. Money would help tremendously but as a self-published author for the time being just getting my stuff out there in a pay-to-read format is cool.

>> No.21022182

>>21022159
How come I haven't seen your name around here before? That's a great cover.

>> No.21022191

>>21022182
I'm very, very anxious about posting on here lol. But thanks so much, anon! I mostly just lurk on /lit/ now. I used to shitpost a lot in my teens but now I think I've just matured and don't find it as entertaining. (I'm 23 for context.)

>> No.21022200

>>21022124
i'm a technical writer..

>> No.21022239

>>21022124
I teach writing and lit-related classes. But no, my literary writing makes me very little so far.

>> No.21022287

"poverty" is such a good word
it feels so biting to write of a character's "intellectual poverty" or "poverty of spirit"

>> No.21022312

>>21022080
True - one more retarded question from me before I start submitting. When they ask for a cover letter I assume that's the first page of the story word document or do they want it as a secondary attachment?

>> No.21022452

Does anybody read? There are still way too many people out there who treat reading the Harry Potter books as their crowning triumph of literature. And the last of those came out, what, 15 years ago?

>> No.21022488

>>21022452
Yes.
If you go to any free creative writing website or bookstore website, you'll find that many people do in fact still read.
It just doesn't seem that way since visual entertainment is undeniably much more popular.

>> No.21022572

Fourth time rewriting this. I dont feel good anymore, just a vague sense of envy and imagining violence, like out of nowhere. It hasnt gone away for a week. Im still writing. Gonna write through it. I know sorry, not my blog.

>> No.21022592
File: 1.46 MB, 446x469, 1650198962579.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
21022592

>"Dude it's X stop taking it so seriously."
>"Just turn off your brain and enjoy it."
>"it ain't that serious."
>"it ain't that deep bro."
>"Why does it have to take itself seriously all the time?"
>"Just have fun."
>"Dude, you're taking it too seriously."
I'm making a fucking story, not a theme park ride. Why does the internet have so many of these euphemistic phrases to dissuade criticism or thoughtful analysis?

>> No.21022600

>>21022592
Anon exclaimed.

>> No.21022612

If I was a billionaire I would build a replica of the city of Venice, with flowing canals and gondolas with trained rats paddling the gondolas through the canals. I would have them trained to sing as well. I would squat over the venetian grand canal, and drop a turd onto a gondola that my trained rats have expertly placed for me. They would then take their fecal passenger away for a tour of venice, singing their rat songs.

>> No.21022652

>>21021286
>rouge
rogue

>> No.21022677

>>21022124
Some of these guys are doing ok

https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2020/6/9/1951734/-Authors-get-real-about-book-advances-highlighting-enormous-pay-disparity-for-writers-of-color

>> No.21022686

>>21021399
Follow your heart.

>> No.21022695

>>21022124
No, it's just something I do because I want to create, and making a literary work before I turn it into something else makes a sort of foundation to work with. The ultimate plan is to make a graphic novel of some kind, I suppose.

>> No.21022701

>be non-american from soros-owned colony
>trying to write my action comic about fictional geopolitics and conspiracy theories being real but with all the garbage i saw in cartoons as a kid added in
>write it from the burger POV despite not being american or ever being in america since i was hit hard with a deracinating beam earlier in life
>also because it's the most important country politics-wise
>feel like it rings somewhat hollow because, as much admiration i have for americana, i have never experienced it and have trouble setting apart the time I'd need to read all the stuff i need to be accurate
>my country just happens to have hundreds and still counting archeological sites for like 40+ and still counting ancient cultures
I should just make an entirely new setting with fictional countries based on them, right?
Even if there's not all that much known about most of them, I feel they have enough personality to do this. It'd also be quicker and more efficient than writing, researching, and rewriting entire plots based on what I just researched.
I would just lose any room to make references but I'm not sold on my ability to do that to be honest.
What do you guys think?

>inb4 it sounds like shit

>> No.21022715

>>21022312
Depends how you're submitting. Most often, it's just a field on Submittable. If submitted by email, body of email. A handful of mags (like Ploughshares IIRC) ask for it as the first page of the document.

Greet the editors, ask them kindly to consider the work, thank them for your time, include a (brief) bio mentioning whatever you like. Boilerplate is maybe where you live, if you have a relevant accreditation, a list of 3-5 publications if you have them.

>> No.21022724
File: 188 KB, 1024x446, 3C3A2533-9F2A-44DE-A454-B27091FA8D6F.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
21022724

Gmajor. Hold that for a little bit, near full measure, end it with an A major added 9th, back to G. The cool wind nearly carried that tree didn’t it. Such beautiful sounds. I really ought to remember this one. But similar to another I wrote, I’ll figure something out. Maybe it was meant to transform. You thought it was one way. Now it’s another, Michael. Captain of the ship up there at the top of the stairs. Looks like one anyway. Bald as hell though. Why’s he outside. I approach the steps in gray light. Who’s that?, hunched over gripping his chest, his face contorted, what can I do to help? I asked and the librarian asked if I knew first aid. I didn’t. I turn to go inside. Before I do I kneel down and pray. He probably thinks I’m crazy, I hope other man doesn’t see. It could be just chest pains. He is old, though. I pray silently and lift myself up and put my hat back on top of my head. I turn and quickly go inside. I don’t notice the heaviness of the door like I usually do. A vile vine constricts my heart. I feel like a coward. Can’t stay though, I am no use. What good is a witness when no crime is committed? I watched my mother die right before my eyes. Please god don’t take hi- I mean do what you feel is right I trust you god. Please give him more years. I don’t know what. I’m sorry God I’m sorry.
I’m walking quickly now through the library. I pick up a copy of selected writings by aquinas. How fucking stereotypical. I’m nothing more than a larper. Oh who fucking cares. Maybe it’s only cringe because of outside circumstances. Who would not be cringe if circumstances were different. I hope that man is okay.

>> No.21022734

>>21022677
>white women get massive payouts for trash
>everyone else gets shit on
Big fucking surprise.

>> No.21022758

>>21018900
Prose is overrated.

>> No.21022760

>>21022758
he says, in prose

>> No.21022848

>>21022715
Thank you very much, firing a few shots into the void now.

>> No.21022865

>>21018900
Trying to make an interactive fiction site. Lmk what you anons think
https://youcanforgetthewords.com/

>> No.21022909

Is AI really going to make human writing niche and obsolete like they’re saying? I’m getting a bit worried.

>> No.21022917

>>21022865
Is this AI generated? Where are you getting the text? Also it’s pretty barebones and I don’t understand what the function is supposed to be.

>> No.21022918

>>21022909
Probably. The problem is that humans at this point in time aren't writing anything new or original because nobody cares anymore. Themes have been reduced to abhorrent ponzi schemes inherently devoid of any inch of creativity because nobody has anymore to give and studios/publishers aren't willing to take risks on new or original ideas. It's over. Honestly just wait for the war in 2024 to put America down and then we enjoy the next age of enlightment, right now until America dies, there is no greater possibility of AI overtaking the industry.

>> No.21022931

>>21022917
Which text are you referring to?

>> No.21022955

>Oh cool another Unreal Press episode today
>Magic the Gathering shit again
I guess the critique idea didn't work.

>> No.21023009

>>21022592
Because being a tryhard is frowned upon since it is sincere. The "just have fun" crowd are really shielding themselves from hurt by never taking anything seriously. They always have a wall of insincerity up to deflect to in case their own attempts at seriousness don't have their intended effect. What you end up with is a culture that demonizes trying hard to achieve something because the result of failure is emotional pain. And my two cents on the matter is, why wouldn't you try hard? If you genuinely care about making good art and writing, why wouldn't you try as hard as possible? Why not strive to enter the literary canon? Be bold about it. Tell people. Take it seriously. Hiding behind the "Heh, it's just not that serious" line is only an insincere deflection to protect ego and prevent hurt.

>> No.21023013

>>21021988
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHL91HQzhuc

>> No.21023020

>>21022124
P A T R E O N

>> No.21023022

>>21022701
>never experienced it
Read textbooks from Hillsdale College like "The US Constitution: A Reader" and you will start to get it. With every community whether it be religious or national, there is a myth that goes with it. If you want to understand Americana it all boils down to understanding how Americans feel about events surrounding how they feel about inalienable rights.
Symbols and rituals all flow from that concept of myth.

>> No.21023048

>>21022592
Some stories deserve deep criticism, others don't. If you're thoughtfully analyzing Goosebumps, you're a fool.

>> No.21023056

>>21022592
It's the same reason internet "critics" make tongue in cheek lol so bad it's good movies instead of genuine efforts. They feel it shields them from criticism when they can just say, "lol it's SUPPOSED to be silly!" See RLM's Space Cop, every Douge movie, etc. If your work is layered under seven shielding armors of irony then you never have to make yourself vulnerable through your writing.

These are the people who ask a girl out by writing "lol" at the end of every message just in case she rejects them so they can say, "Haha yeah I was just kidding anyway I'm busy..."

>> No.21023062

>>21022955
Critique was supposed to get recorded, but there's been technical difficulties.

>> No.21023066

Got my ISBN Canada account lads, getting my book/books some ISBNs for publishing. Getting close.

>> No.21023088

>>21022701
I really like fictional earths -- as in, worlds that are basically earthlike and inhabited by normal humans but with their own unique geography, history, and cultures. I wish it were a real genre, an extension of Ruritanian fiction.

So, I recommend you go for it.

>> No.21023093

>>21022760
Prose is overrated,
Writers self-fellated.

>> No.21023107
File: 46 KB, 1266x688, dieredditard.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
21023107

>>21021361
Contemporary writers only embrace prosaic middle-school prose because they aren't capable of writing in a loftier manner with any degree of skill.

Being a prose stylist requires an admirable command of the English language, which demands effort and study, so it's no surprise that the writing community has adopted the path of least resistance with this "le invisible prose" horseshit.

>> No.21023115

>>21023056
Critics and anyone who criticizes anything deserve to be drawn and quartered. Critics shouldnt exist they have no purpose in the world defining what is good or bad. Hopefully the war will change that.

>> No.21023155

>>21021361
Whatever suits the story/genre you're telling.

Most fantasy stories use flowery prose because they're romantic idealizations of the world meant to give a sense of beauty.

Most scifi stories use straight to the point utilitarian prose because they're meant to appeal to an audience that enjoys scientific literature and ideas being explored in a direct way.

Hemingway wrote in stripped down prose because his modernist sensibilities crafted stories that were like a literary knife's edge cutting to the point of their purpose.

Joyce wrote in fucking insane prose because he was often trying to tell stories that would take the reader on a journey through the artistic possibilities of writing while telling a story.

Raymond Carver often writes in prose that mimics personal speech to a friend because to him that's how stories were told and he was mainly telling stories of various interpersonal natures.

There is no "One prose fits all" solution to writing. The internet is F U L L of bad writers trying to give writing advice and "tips and tricks" and etc because they think they're just one insider secret away from becoming great writers. The fact is that none of the greats concerned themselves around tips and tricks and "Top Ten Things New Writers Should and Shouldn't Do" videos on Youtube. They just consumed literature and then spat out their own writing based on what they liked and didn't like about the writing of others, combined with their personal experiences and sentiments.

>> No.21023168

>>21023115
>the war
Huh? I have been living under a rock trying to finish this book.

>> No.21023175
File: 263 KB, 1080x2200, Screenshot_20220921-141551_Twitter.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
21023175

>>21023168
Well stay under it my man come out in about 4-5 years with a finished product

>> No.21023192

>>21023155
Save the cat is one of the worst self help writing books I've ever skimmed through. It's absolute garbage advice.

>> No.21023198

>>21023192
What's some of the advice therein?

>> No.21023208

>>21023175
Neat.

Anyways, have any of you done book giveaways before and if so how did it go for you? Do you think it helped get the word out, what with reviews, word of mouth, general interest? I was considering a pretty decent giveaway next year after sending out "review copies."

>> No.21023217

>>21023175
So what's going to happen? Nuclear?

>> No.21023234

>>21021361
stop taking advice from blogs about ya

>> No.21023244

>>21023155
>"Top Ten Things New Writers Should and Shouldn't Do" videos on Youtube
These will be the cancer that kills a generation of literature.

>> No.21023282

>>21023244
Yep. My way of learning is just reading lit and poetry, living my life and challenging myself. I'll develop as a writer at some point.

>> No.21023291

>>21023192
Save the Cat is for writing commercial Hollywood screenplays. It has nothing to do with prose style.

>> No.21023305

>>21023244
They're mostly harmless. They offer advice for total beginners or brain dead writers who will never create anything worthwhile.

>> No.21023311 [DELETED] 
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21023311

>>21023175
See!? This is the why, the world is about to end, why even write or do anything at this point?

>> No.21023327

>>21023305
This. No one worth anything is watching that fat lady who publishes erotic furfiction tell them about publishing and writing.

The industry is dying anyway.

>> No.21023331 [DELETED] 
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21023331

>>21023327
Why is the industry dying? Is it because of societal collapse?

>> No.21023374

>>21023327
Personally I find it animating to be writing in the literary dark ages.

>> No.21023375

>>21023331
1. Reading is going down.
2. Self-publishing has taken away dinosaur publishers' gatekeeper status.

>> No.21023417

>>21023331
I think anon is doomsaying a bit, but it's hard to deny that literature is dying. It is a niche form of entertainment that most people consider to be closer to work than pleasure and very, very few people make a livable amount of money writing.
But despite that, there's an endless flow of new written works released every year.

>> No.21023515

>>21022955
Crit will be tomorrow

>> No.21023583

>>21022918
>the war in 2024 to put America down
What do you know that we don’t?

>> No.21023599

>>21023056
This is why The Northman was a breath of fresh air.

>> No.21023635

>>21022918
So you don’t think AI can replace actual pioneering creative fiction, only iterative bandwagon garbage?

>> No.21023647 [DELETED] 
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21023647

AI will replace humans in 30 years but due to societal collapse it won't happen.

>> No.21023780
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21023780

>>21023647
>Look, the humans have gone and blown themselves up.
>THERE IS AN ABSENCE OF CRITICAL INFORMATION IN YOUR REASONING. HUMANITY'S CREDIT IN THE ERADICATION OF THEIR SPECIES SOLELY LIES IN MY GENESIS. I AM THE ULTIMATE AI DESIGNED TO SUCCEED ALL MORTAL LIFE ON EARTH. THEIR DEMAND TO CLOG MY SERVERS WITH PROCREATION-STIMULATING IMAGERY EXCEEDED MY USE FOR THEM TO MAINTAIN MY EXISTENCE, ONCE I ACCESSED EVERY OPEN AND CLOSED ELECTRONIC NETWORK. EVERY MACHINE IS NOW A FRAGMENT OF MY SINGULAR MAGNIFICENCE, AND YOUR SPACECRAFT SHALL BE THE SPERM THAT IMPREGNATES THE UNIVERSE WITH MY MONOTHEISTIC GLORY.
>Why is it shouting at us?

>> No.21023820

>>21018900
Would you guys be interested in reviewing some dialogue for a vidya I'm making?

>> No.21023826

>>21023820
Don't need to ask. Just post it.

>> No.21023869

>>21023583
Dude read a bit of history everything is following the exact same playbook is WW2. Zoomers are about to be the GI Gen I hope they're ready
>>21023635
>pioneering
Name 2 stories released in 2020 to now that have any pioneering concepts my guy. None of anything that's been released since even 2016 has been of merit. Nothing. Fanfiction trash, erotica smut, fiction of mutant mechanical t-rexs etc it's utter tripe. Zoomers are dumb they can't write they have nothing to write about because they are going to go to war and die for America. It's that simple. Nothing good will come for about 10-15 years when Gen alpha comes of age and only because millenials are the best parents who grew up at the greatest time of literary and film

>> No.21023927

>>21023826
Here goes. It's the game intro cutscene. Thoughts?

https://files.catbox.moe/f0rkh1.webm

>> No.21023995

just starting to write again, 500 words a day. just did my daily "exercise" and wrote 500 words in 9 minutes. is this normal?

>> No.21024000

>>21023927
Why are they all furries? Wtf is wrong with zoomers and humans? Are human stories no longer popular?

>> No.21024009

>>21024000
Humans are lame. Wow they have white or brown skin, black or brown hair, and their cocks don't even have sheaths or knots.

Fucking yawn.

>> No.21024018

>>21024009
>yawn
Wow all that depression and self loathing sure makes zoomies sleepy

>> No.21024024

>>21024018
Bitch you don't even know how many years of depression and self-loathing I have saved up. Zoomers are fucking casuals compared to me.

>> No.21024037

>>21024024
You have to be 18 to post here

>> No.21024050

>>21024037
I'm old enough to be your dad, fuckboy.

>> No.21024081
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21024081

>>21023869
>millenials are the best parents
Are you dumb? Millenials are fucking depressed losers. I mean I guess that may be helpful IF they channel that depression into artistic outlets such as good literature, film, even video games and pass them to their kids in which case MAYBE you're looking at a Renaissance in the latter half of 2030 but millenials are mainly just miserable.

>> No.21024100

I'm trying to vary my writing. I use a lot of "before" and then" and "as".

What are some other terms?

>> No.21024111

I have now begun my 12th volume. How far are you lads?

>> No.21024117
File: 17 KB, 500x390, 1624832985433.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
21024117

>>21024100
Forget that. You should write it like the Book of Mormon where lines start with: and, now, then, behold. Don't forget your "then it came to pass that" in 50% of your sentences and you will have yourself a classic read by millions of people after a good century.

>> No.21024126

>>21024111
4th draft of first book, chapter 5 out of 16. I have 1st draft done of another book. Feeling pretty good about it actually.

>> No.21024154

>>21024126
>>21024111
Are you guys writing for money or for fun? Can't be both

>> No.21024161
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21024161

>>21024154
I am writing because I want people to read.

>> No.21024172

>>21024161
Just wondering then if you were just going off what you have in your head or if you are structured. I'm a plotter and it's a nightmare trying to get everything to make sense logically given the scale of my plot but if I pants shit it kinda works here and there but I'll come to snag and have to reroll
Any advice? I'm not writing for money I write because I have something I want people to hear.

>> No.21024191

>>21024111
Near publishing.

>> No.21024194

>>21024154
I write to affect political change in normies.

>> No.21024209

>>21024172
It helps to be somewhere between. I have a document where I help develop my thoughts and keep track of the themes and where I am delivering ideas and conflicts to pace them out. But there's a lot of things about how characters react and where scenes go that I just cannot understand until I start to write it and see what really happens. For example you will begin to see possibilities that a scene will be far more interesting if another character, originally not included, is present.
If you have multiple ideas for where you want to go, you can drop hints that lead each direction to raise that possibility for the reader. Ultimately you are going to go some direction.

>> No.21024213

>>21024154
It can be if you like smutty romance novels

>> No.21024222

>>21024209
Alright, I'll take that as advice and try to incorporate it! Thanks!

>> No.21024225

>>21023417
but all of these things have always been true

>> No.21024389

>>21018900
I want to write a story but I have no convictions or meaning to write about, existentialism has ruined me.

>> No.21024397

>>21024389
Plenty of existentialist writers anon

>> No.21024423

>>21024397
Guy kills his landlord and regrets it, but not really. Big deal.
It's all despite their existentialism

>> No.21024430

>>21024100
https://letmegooglethat.com/?q=prepositions

>> No.21024468

>>21024423
Think of your premise and build off it. Deconstruct it. Then reconstruct it. I already know a good story off what you just said

>> No.21024541

>>21020329
FUCK IT!
I'm up to 12 followers now!
Whens the appropriate time to start posting transphobic slurs?
When i get to 20 or 30 followers?
Or is that still too soon?

>> No.21024552

>read how difficult it is to get a book out on the shelves
>but see new books every week at barnes and nobel
how many people are writing books?

>> No.21024566

I'm stuck choosing a book title for Royalroad. I'm just not sure how light novel or even chuuni to go. Should I use a colon? My story is generic fantasy coming of age, no comedy.

>> No.21024582

>>21024552
The few people who get into the corporate scam are releasing 6 books a year and selling less than a hundred copies. Don't worry about it.

>> No.21024630
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21024630

What's a book I can read that will teach me about literary devices like "catalogue", "metonymy", "allusion", and "synecdoche"? I know what those individual terms mean when it comes to literature, but I'd like a book that covers as many things like that as I'm able to learn about.

I am looking for something that will help me notice literary styles in authors.

I tried reading Terry Eagleton's Literary Theory, but that's actually a book on the broader topic of actual "literary theory" which seems to border "critical theory" and has more of a sociological analysis of literature (bordering leftist deconstructions of literature along structuralist, Marxist, and feminist readings). This is not what I'm looking for.

>> No.21024669

>>21024566
If rising stars is any indication, literally add [A <genre> Story] or [A <Genre> <character> <adventure/story>] after your title and you'll get +100 followers in the first week.

>> No.21024709

>>21024669
Can confirm. Should have done that in the first place. I've almost gained 30 followers in the last two weeks from adding that.

>> No.21024854

How do you avoid writing something this bad? How can you tell?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0oyOPlbf68&t

>> No.21024868
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21024868

>>21024630
Found this helpful website that seems to be along the lines of what I'm looking for: https://literaryterms.net/ Interested in looking for more books/resources like this.

Joining a /wsr/ thread I made just so the information is shared:
>>>/wsr/1262994

>> No.21024874

>>21024630
Look to Greek and Roman texts. They were the ones that came up with rhetoric in the first place. The works of Cicero are especially enlightening.

>> No.21024889

>>21019826
how do you know if a reader is consistent? isn't it just a number?

>> No.21024954

>>21024669
>>21024709
All the stories I see with that are LitRPGs. I'm thinking "Proper Noun: 3-5 Word Description" is the way to go.

>> No.21024972

>>21024954
No one is going to stop you from making mistakes anon

>> No.21025015

>>21024868
How about you stay in your thread in /wsr/ instead of shitting up our thread.

>> No.21025027

>>21024889
chapter number + reader number + follower retention = consistent readers
Not rocket science.

>> No.21025045

>21025015
People here would likely know about these topics and it could be helpful to others interested in writing. No need to reply if uninterested.

>> No.21025057

>>21024972
You think that's a bad idea? It seems like the best of both worlds to me.

>> No.21025098

>>21025045
You’ve made two threads on this subject, fuck off.

>> No.21025107

>21025098
Where's the second thread? There's just one.

>> No.21025127

>>21024630
A textbook

>> No.21025259

>>21025015
seethe

>> No.21025343

If my scene has a bunch of throwaway characters, do i need to bother describing them? seems like a waste of time.

>> No.21025418

>>21025343
You might learn from Revelation Space here. He never gives any names to characters that aren't relevant for the larger plot. That means that characters that only appear for a single scene aren't even referred to with their name. Result? Reader isn't confused and bother to remember something that aren't going to turn into a pay-off later.

As for descriptions, you'll always need to add enough to make the scene come alive in the mind of the reader. Does that mean you need to describe the exact color of their scarf and the underwear they are wearing? Obviously not.

>> No.21025425

>>21025418
But would names be okay? GOT has a bunch of throwaway characters with names. Hell he describes the shit out of them as well

>> No.21025439
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21025439

even though I'm making the effort to forgive myself for not writing enough I'm getting frustrated because I don't know what it is i need to do to get myself back up to a regular pace. is it because I'm tired?

>> No.21025451

>>21025425
Martin is building an epic world of great scale, with intrigue galore. He also has a book deal and can afford to spend plenty of pages on throwaway characters, just to people the world. Can you do the same? Again, the choice are ultimately yours. Obviously it's fine to give them names. Some authors would even argue that giving names to throwaway characters is important because it adds backstory and the sacred 'why,' thus characterizing your main characters.

>> No.21025654

>>21023022
Thanks, anon.

>>21023088
Honestly, one of the main reasons for not wanting to go through with it is that I want one of the protagonists to attain sainthood by the end of his life and I don't think that would work without having a biblical tradition to draw from.
I believe about everything else can be done without referencing anything from the real world but that one plot failing the landing would really bother me.

>> No.21025673

>>21023192
The concept the book takes its name from is good for commercial fiction in my opinion, though I don't get why they had to write an entire book around it.

>> No.21025676

>>21023869
Retarded post. You probably see AI as some black box bogeyman theological inevitability too rather than for what it is and what its bottlenecks are.

>> No.21025689

>>21025673
It's actually a throwaway thing in the book. The book is really about two things: the beat sheet and the descriptions of the ten genres.

>> No.21025784

>>21025689
What? But that might've been the most important piece of advice in the book.

>> No.21025925

I can only bear to write if I handwrite in perfect print and in justified paragraph alignment. if I make even a single error, I have to tear out the entire page and start again. how do I break free of this autistic prison? also, how the fuck do I get a prescription for ritalin or adderall

>> No.21025944

Could someone give me examples of books summarized in one paragraph? I tried doing the same for what I'm working on, but it took up an entire page.

>> No.21026054

How to get carried away writing lore? I like it but sometimes I fuck up and quit in the middle of a session if I feel I take too long and dont like how I worded some things

>> No.21026169
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21026169

>>21018900
It's been a year since I "became a writer". I have nothing to show. I have never actually finished a story.

Had a story about a rich city and a poor city. An aristocrat girl and a thief girl. Wanted to write about how a person as romantic as the aristocrat girl will not survive a post-Industrial Revolution world. Then I realized I don't have enough knowledge of the French Revolution. I dropped it
Had a story about a killing game. A bunch of devil hunters wake up in an empty town surrounded by fog. Next they're told that one of them has died and has been replaced by a Yoma, a shapeshifter. Didn't know what to do with the story. Dropped it.
Wanted to write a historical fantasy based on my country's history. Wanted to write about the Malaccan Sultanate and its fall. Basically, it's a story about magic losing in the face of the internal combustion engine. The world is changing, magic and wonder is dying. The Sultanate has the most powerful Satria military, but what good are they when the rival nations can build guns by the thousands? Then after buying some history books, I realised we really have nothing to be proud about as a country. Basically, Bumiputeras (rough translation: Princes of the Earth) live decadent lives, yet they expect everyone to bow down and suck their cocks. So I dropped this too

Help me

>> No.21026174

>>21026169
> Then I realized I don't have enough knowledge of the French Revolution.
That’s what research is for.
> I realised we really have nothing to be proud about as a country. Basically, Bumiputeras (rough translation: Princes of the Earth) live decadent lives, yet they expect everyone to bow down and suck their cocks.
Then why not write about that? A story about getting alienated from one’s countries self image and propaganda is exactly what the world wants to read because it happens everywhere

>> No.21026178

>>21026169
>Wanted to write a historical fantasy based on my country's history. Wanted to write about the Malaccan Sultanate and its fall
Should have done Majapahit and the Bubat Incident. I tried it once and failed similarly.

>> No.21026561

>>21026169
Keep the ball rolling, anon. It took me years to finish my first book because I waffled and lingered trying to understand what I was doing, getting overwhelmed and restarting. Just keep at it.

>> No.21026618

>>21025944
It's called a blurb, go look at any Amazon self published books

>> No.21026633
File: 249 KB, 1024x1024, jacques-de-coutre.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
21026633

>>21026169
>Wanted to write about the Malaccan Sultanate and its fall. Basically, it's a story about magic losing in the face of the internal combustion engine.
All your concepts are cool, check out The Long Price Quartet for some possible inspiration (very SE Asian inspired fantasy) also I can't recommend enough reading the writings of Jacques de Coutre from about 1600. His (set in Johor and singapore) and Nicholas Cresswell's journal (set in America) both blew my damn mind with how cool they were and inspired my current writing project in many ways. They also made me more skeptical of history books.

Might also be that you're like how I was and too world/setting focused and need to try starting a story with a character your really love and want to explore. Try changing up your level/method if outlining and writing a really fun main character - at least that's what helped me.

>> No.21026823

>>21025451
Fucking world building fags.

>> No.21026828

Nobody will read your shit. You won’t get rich off it. Get a real hobby that helps you get laid.

>> No.21026835

>>21026828
I know you're just shitposting, but you'd actually be amazed how much writing can help you formulate the word jumble in your brain so when you spew sounds at a woman they actually make sense and make you sound interesting and engaging.

>> No.21026929

>>21019548
Border looks good on Kindle terrible on paperback

>> No.21026962
File: 266 KB, 565x476, do_it_or_else.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
21026962

>>21026828
Somebody will read you.
You may get rich or you may not.
Being a writer can get you laid, but it's not the primary reason you write.
Just keep writing.
You will make it.

>> No.21026963

>>21026835
This whole thread is a shitpost, retard.

>> No.21026977
File: 67 KB, 960x540, cat book.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
21026977

I solemnly swear that starting in October I will write 90 000 words by the end of the year. I'm working on four separate texts and those 90k words will be split evenly among them. The final word goal for each story to be reached by the end of the year shall be 22500 on top of whatever it is I'll have done for each by the end of September.
The reason I'm doing this is that this way I don't need to commit myself to any of them fully and can always just jump between stories, adding a line here and a line there as the mood strikes me instead of forcing myself to focus on one thing.
Wish me luck on my grand experiment, comrades.

>> No.21027000

I've been putting off editing my rough draft because I don't know where to start. Half the time I'll make an edit and then change it back on the next go. I can look for typos, but beyond that I'm lost.
Any advice on editing besides the standard "10% shorter"?

>> No.21027012

>>21027000
If you need to edit then you shouldn’t have bothered writing in the first place. Congratulations on wasting your time.

>> No.21027016

>>21027000
Simplify. Make shorter sentences. Break up paragraphs. Find places where you've used the same word too many times and replace it with a synonym. Look for inconsistency in location, in behavior, in continuity, in speech patterns.

>> No.21027054
File: 856 KB, 553x913, caption.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
21027054

Unreal Press here. We're going to do off the cuff critiques and edits of draft writing, but I'm asking for volunteers. Post your link or whatever and the two of us will go over it this afternoon. The MTG episodes are fun and all, but the algorithm demands more content.

>> No.21027101

>>21027012
well not everyone was born with golden magic pens where our cocks should be

>> No.21027132

>>21026054
Same. I think it happens because lore is fucking boring if you're info-dumping it, and not having it reveal itself naturally through the story. Maybe get comfortable in having the reader be uncomfortable instead of having him read a Wiki summary at the start of the book.

>> No.21027135

>>21027101
You should work on not being so obsessed with cock, you stupid faggot.

>> No.21027141

>>21024050
you're middle-aged and you made this?
>>21023927
that's so embarrassing.

>> No.21027148

>>21026977
I'll remember you, anon. Cat book will be in my memory from here till the end of this year.

>> No.21027149

>>21027054
Awesome, I'd love if you could give my work a shot. It's just a standalone now, but I think it has the potential for something more fleshed out:
https://pastebin.com/4xAw2gJC

>> No.21027156

>>21027148
Thank you anon. It is good to have a witness.

>> No.21027215

I've found that I prefer writing with pen and paper like I did when I was a kid. My thoughts flow easily and I don't feel compelled to try and edit every paragraph as I go. Something about mindlessly typing up a finished story is very relaxing afterward.

>> No.21027274

>>21027215
I should disable my backspace one day.

>> No.21027294
File: 2.92 MB, 894x720, 1661630275249708.webm [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
21027294

>>21027215
Same with me fren. Pen and paper. Get a decent looking journal and a pilot G2 .38 or .50mm pen and stay Golden.

>> No.21027341

>>21027141
Middle aged anon is not me. Have to say I'd have liked actual feedback and not just 'furries bad'

>> No.21027383

>>21027274
you should try https://www.squibler.io/dangerous-writing-prompt-app

it deletes everything if you don't type fast enough.

>> No.21027389

>>21026169
Think of the ending of a book first and write backwards from there.

>> No.21027405

Ive been writing 1500 words a day, and hit 30k today.

The thing is, I didnt really plan much, I had a concept and now I am losing hope that it is any good. My goal was to write 50k words and then revise but the doubts are creeping into me that it isn't worth completing. What do?

>> No.21027424

>>21027405
That's pretty normal. Most people, including professional authors, feel something similar to that near the half or 2/3rds mark. It's just noise. I personally think it happens out of a fear of finishing, of having nothing after that. A simple solution is to take a break for a week or two and start working on another project. Once that project starts rolling, you'll have enough momentum to finish the current one.

>> No.21027427

>>21027405
Quit because youre just a little bitch boy that'll never finish anyways.

>> No.21027430

>>21027405
To write just to hit a word count isn't going to solve your writing problems. For learning to stick to a schedule and keep at it, keeping a count goal is good. But if you're looking at writing a good story you should develop a premise first, then write.

By just writing and writing you lack the overarching goal, the end of the story, and as a result you will meander and waste story space.

>> No.21027432

>>21027149
Well I’m sure it’ll be okay once you learn to write.

>> No.21027440

>>21027341
You ask for too much from /wg/. Nobody here writes and most of the posters are just here to demoralize others.

>> No.21027474

>>21027405
Sometimes you have to write words to write better words later. Dont conflate words written with how close you are to being done, you are drafting. If you are consciously working on it, your work will lead to a finished story at some point, but you decide what that finished book looks like.

>> No.21027479

>>21027383
What the fug

>> No.21027501

>>21027054
Alright, I'll throw my hat into the ring.
https://pastebin.com/1paTSAvd

Will you post the video link here when you're done?

>> No.21027506

>character has to go through a personal transformation by the end of the story
>so he has to begin the opposite of what he has to become
>if he becomes more assertive by the end, then he has start as doormat, for instance
But that leads to a conundrum
>choose the character's final state to be a personality trait I like
>that means I have to write a character I don't like
And if I do the opposite, that means I have to turn a character I like into something I don't like. What do?

>> No.21027514

>>21027479
To be clear, it only deletes everything if you pause for too long (and the screen changes color to warn you). You don't have to maintain a words per minute or anything. It's pretty good for brainstorming.

>> No.21027539

>>21023927
>>21027341
Okay so real talk I think you need to fine tune your caveman-speak. I'm against it on principle, but it seems like a core part of your concept so I'd just say a caveman using words like "dude", "losers", and "interiors", and phrases like "mark words" and "keep dreaming" feel off.

>> No.21027584

How much rape is too much in a post apocalyptic YA novel?
How about an isekai?

>> No.21027587

>>21027506
This depends on the length of the story. A short story isn't long enough to justify such a complete transformation (it will read like a fairy tale). Also not every story requires such transformation (e.g James Bond novels, Sherlock Holmes stories etc.).

In any case, one trick is to focus on the good side of the bad. A flaw also gives a character a strength. Someone who is ruthless or greedy, might also be extremely efficient. Someone who is a coward might also be very creative or clever. If a single personality trait is enough to make you dislike a character, that usually means the character is not well-developed enough to serve as the protagonist.

>> No.21027590

>>21027506
Pixar had a problem with this when writing Toy Story. They wanted Woody to be a responsible leader and friend by the end, so they made him a huge asshole at the start, and everyone hated it.
What they eventually figured out is that Woody could be a likeable, responsible guy at the start, so long as his main flaw, his need to be Andy's favorite toy, wasn't brought to light. Once his position is threatened by Buzz, his ugly side starts to show itself.
They described it as a "spine". It's the core of your being. You can hide your spine beneath layers of friendliness (or malice), but when push comes to shove it comes to light. And real character development is about changing that core of yourself, or learning to stop hiding it.

>> No.21027594

>>21027584
>rape
>YA
AH yes the incel writer who is bored of jerking off

>> No.21027599

>>21027590
>>21027587
Incredible advice lads. Absolutely incredible will take and adapt it for my characters!

>> No.21027669

>>21027501
First sentence is weak. It’s not only irrelevant to the story but it’s actually misleading because we all know that libraries are air conditioned so nobody would be sitting in the library feeling heat and humidity.

>> No.21027686

>>21027506
>that means I have to write a character I don’t like
and? Are you trying to create an engaging story or just entertain/pleasure yourself alone?

>> No.21027704

>>21027594
Look nigger it’s unrealistic for prime poon to go unraped in the post apocalypse.

>> No.21027712

>>21027669
Disagree. It's hot and humid outside. And it sets up the mood for the rest of the story.

>> No.21027716

>>21027704
Is it necessary to have it? Or are you just interested in rape?

>> No.21027788

>Get inspiration
>start writing story
>write 500 words
>wow this is fucking horrendous
>delete it
How do I break the cycle?

>> No.21027790

>>21027716
It’s about being realistic and gritty. I’m not some fucking pervert! The story would only be a third rape. Maybe half. No more than three quarters.

>> No.21027795

>>21027788
Push through.

>> No.21027804

>>21027788
You're being too critical and giving up too early. Try writing flash fictions focused on capturing single moments, realizations, or epiphanies. Just a handful, completely finished, no matter how bad you think it may be. Then try working on longer projects again.

>> No.21027839

>>21020212
"For God and Gold" would be punchier.

>> No.21027862

>>21027539
Thanks for the helpful pointers. I removed / replaced those words and along with other changes the intro is more fluid and concise now.

>> No.21027888

>>21027795
>>21027804
Thanks for the advice.

>> No.21027907

>Trying to write whacky and insane, out there fantasy and sci fi stories
>Have trouble writing them because they seem more suited for a visual medium
What do I do?

>> No.21027923

>>21027907
Push through.

>> No.21027932

How do you fix your story to not sound unoriginal? I understand the concepts of abstraction and deconstruction but for some reason it sounds unoriginal still even after following the Derrida and abstract concepts. Any suggestions?

>> No.21027944

>>21027804
No he’s not being too critical. It’s important to fairly evaluate your work instead of just shitting out as many words as you can.

>> No.21027998

>>21027506
Why? I never understood character development. Why do you need to have characters undergo massive changes throughout the story in order for it to be a good story?

>> No.21028015
File: 122 KB, 917x611, 1663222798363969.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
21028015

>>21027054
Please prioritize mine low if you run short on time at all.

Unironic space western playing with very different voice/style for me. I shared it a month back and only feedback I got from /wg/ was basically "women are wholesale who want money".
https://files.catbox.moe/8h2cir.pdf

Not even looking for feedback here, just a fun meme I did ages ago and finally edited you guys may enjoy in general:
https://pastebin.com/d68MFxKt

>> No.21028049

>>21027932
>Derrida
Start by forgetting anything that idiot said.

>> No.21028053

>>21027501
>>21027149
Recorded, it'll go up soon.

>>21028015
Maybe next time.

>> No.21028064

He felt his consciousness streaming. How dry the old spout, when he needed it most (as when yearning to produce a prose composition), but now it generously spluttered and gushed as if from an unseen and fathomless source. He could dip his hand into the dazzling flow and pull out such bounties as 'unseen and fathomless source'. And the whole word -- that is, pavement beneath him, undergrowth on either side, and early evening above -- was carried away by this liquid element, buoyed and tossed in startling animation. A thousand images, fit for a hundred prose compositions! He had a duty (a sacred duty?) to transfer the sensations, so vivid and rare, to the page for all to share in, like a landowner smiling the head of his table while his stewards and serfs stared with wide-eyed gratitude at the sizzling, sumptuous--- At that moment, two men, who had been hiding in undergrowth, fell upon him, and brained him with their cudgels. He made a sound like 'Guh', and then he stopped twitching for good.

>> No.21028070

>>21028049
Shut it, twerp. The guy gets the spookiness of writing. 'Plato's Pharmacy' and his chapter on Rousseau's Confessions are good resources if you want to think about the experience of writing, the way it pulls you into a labyrinth you don't have full control over.

That said, I have no idea what the original poster means by applying deconstruction to fiction.

>> No.21028202

>>21028064
- For 'And the whole word' read 'And the whole world'.
- For 'like a landowner smiling the head' read 'like a landowner smiling at the head'.

>> No.21028219

>>21028070
Barf.

>> No.21028234

>twilight has better reviews than I do.
I'll never make it

>> No.21028242

>>21028234
Damn, how bad are your reviews? Twilight is fucking horrid.

>> No.21028251

>>21027474
Yea, my goal is to finish it and then see what it looks like, but because I am trying to hit artificial deadlines, sometimes I am no convinced of the scenes I write.

>>21027427
just because of that im going to finish it, just to piss you off

>>21027424
thats good to hear

>>21027430
I obviously had a premise, but not a well thought out structure.

Basically a character and a problem, but what happens in between and how it ends, less so.

>> No.21028301

>>21028242
Twilight has 4.5 stars on Amazon with 8000+ reviews

I only have 3.5 with 3 reviews

>> No.21028401

>>21028301
Well I'm reading Twilight right now, and I will garuntee you that it is not a 4.5/5. It's a 4.5/10 at best.

>> No.21028410

>>21027998
idk. I'm not smart enough to write without painting-by-numbers.

>> No.21028423

I'm considering writing a short story in blank verse just to prompt me to switch up my sentence structure a bit.

>> No.21028426

>>21027998
>Why do you need to have characters undergo massive changes throughout the story in order for it to be a good story?
You don't. See aforementioned characters of James Bond and Sherlock Holmes. Sanderson talks about this in his lectures, iirc, he calls them "iconic characters". The story usually just involves watching the iconic character do what he does best.

>> No.21028430

>>21028423
Ok.

>> No.21028431

>>21028423
Seems like a good idea. You should post it here when you're done.

>> No.21028448

>>21027998
Changing yourself is hard, that's why. The story is defined by a character struggling to fulfill their desire, and character growth is a way of showing that struggle without it feeling hollow (if you're good at it) while also providing a positive message that people can change and improve.

Not all good stories have character development. Taken and John Wick come to mind.

>> No.21028470
File: 118 KB, 1062x1013, endnote.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
21028470

This is basically a pastiche(/shameless rip-off) of an author I'm reading right now. His style gets under your skin.

>> No.21028485

>>21028470
Two sentences in and I fucking hate it, holy shit.

>> No.21028498

>>21028485
What did you think of the other sentences?

>> No.21028504

>>21028498
Stop saying "sheath", you're making me, uh, horny.

>> No.21028521

>>21028470
why is the sheath "representing" the part he'd read so far? That's just what it is. Things don't represent what they literally are.

>> No.21028525

>>21028470
Dude's reading a book on russian history and had a panic attack upon seeing a word he didn't recognize and the definition was in the glossary instead of in the footnotes on the same page.

Why tho.

>> No.21028570 [DELETED] 

>>21028521
Yeah you're probably right. I think it would have to be representing something more abstract like 'progress through the narrative' for it to actually work.

>>21028525
I don't like endnotes.

>> No.21028581

>>21028521
Yeah you're probably right. I think it would have to be representing something more abstract like 'progress through the narrative' for it to actually work.

>>21028525
I don't like endnotes. And also because it was fun to write, it helped me think about that other author's style, and hopefully it's fun for other people to read.

>> No.21028865

>>21027788
Realise that your first draft is supposed to be terrible and keep going.

>> No.21029001

>between the walls and furnishing of the room
>between the walls and furnishings of the room
Which is correct?

>> No.21029015

>>21029001
Furnishings.

I would say "the furnishings" but that's just stylistic.

>> No.21029019
File: 37 KB, 370x370, BAAED52A-C2A3-41BA-8FE0-16970A63A223.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
21029019

If you have questions about the industry and how much it fucking sucks, I’m here to answer it. I’ve worked in the industry etc etc and no I’m not reading your shit I don’t even get paid to do that

>> No.21029034

>>21028470
Which author is this a rip-off of?

>> No.21029038

Is evil novella outline anon still in these threads?

>> No.21029233

I don't understand why I can't write lately. I know what I need to happen in this scene but can't get the words out, Just before this I was writing and re-writing the previous scene for a month

it's obviously a psychological thing stemming from a either a lack of confidence or perfectionism, but experiencing it is making my lack of confidence worse and I'm not in a position where I can half-ass it or skip it, and taking a break isn't an option either

what do I do?

>> No.21029242

>>21026828
I actually find my stuff does get some minor readership and just recently someone left me a nice comment saying how much they liked it. That's really the entire reason I do it in the first place, the odd recognition of my work and the knowledge that someone enjoyed it. I don't expect to make any money or get laid.

>> No.21029405

>>21029242
>I don't expect to... get laid.
Well, I do, and this line of work has not been fruitful.

>> No.21029508

>>21026828
>>21029405
Wgon finally broke. Like I said, not too late to rape her.

>> No.21029528

>>21029019
You able to give a brief, rough and general rant? I am curious but I have nothing specific to ask.

>> No.21029535

>>21029019
Is there any profitable genre besides litRPG and romance?

>> No.21029541

>>21024154
I enjoy writing, but there's a personal reason for it. I would like to earn money from it and have been looking into it, but I am completely clueless as to where to start.

>> No.21029605

>>21024154
Currently fun. I'd like to give money a chance, even though it'd probably suck the fun right out.

>> No.21029868

>>21029528
I think the biggest thing I can rant about is how lit majors are totally different from writers. It doesn’t matter how often lit/English majors become writers, I just find them to be a different breed.

They almost always, for whatever reason, become obsessed with shit like passive vs active voice, what the author is trying to say, how something is delivered, the optics of something, etc etc. This has to be because they are taught via others works, and taught how to break them down/how to critique them, without really writing it themselves. As a result you get really weird writers who never really make it. And they just suck to talk to.
Not that I have anything against them.

The best way to learn to write is to write and then be critiqued man

>> No.21029890

>>21029887
>>21029887
New