/lit/ - Literature

What kind of literary technique did you learn from the last book you read?

How do you overcome jumbled first drafting syndrome short of coming back to it with freash eyes at a later date?

>>21250373
the inciting incident of one of my stories is an accident that kills the MCs parents and hits him so hard that he gets magic powers. so far, I've been using a car crash as a stand in, but that's so fucking overdone and boring. what're some good other accidents?

Not plane crash. I love a good survival story, but his powers basically make him retarded while he's using them, so he can't be alone afterwards.

>>21250464
Poor infrastructure. Roof of some kind fall down on them.

>>21250428
Pattern stories, from Chekhov's 'The Darling'. Particularly, the breaking of the pattern in an interesting way. He introduces three relationships, one after another, who each leave or are taken from the main character. Chekhov then introduces a cat, with the expectation he has set up we foresee the woman settling for the cat. However, the cat cozies up to her and she rejects it's affection. The next relationship is with the son of an ex (non-romantic). It was an interesting lesson in how to keep a reader on their toes, going from me thinking "Oh I see, she'll find a companion in the cat instead, something non-romantic", to "Oh, nevermind", to "Ah, I was half right!".

>>21250447
Better planning.

>>21250464
What's the setting? You could have a terrorist attack, a-la (pun intended) 1970's Belfast.

The more I think about commas the more confused I get. Should I be putting one here or not:
>Forcing the stuttering breath from his lungs felt more difficult than breathing in, despite the air becoming stale and heavy as he descended into the cave.
or
>Forcing the stuttering breath from his lungs felt more difficult than breathing in despite the air becoming stale and heavy as he descended into the cave.

Having the comma there feels right, but I do not understand enough to justify that.

>>21250589
This was me. On doing a bit of reading, I think the comma should be there because these are independent clauses:
>Forcing the stuttering breath from his lungs felt more difficult than breathing in.
>The air was becoming stale and heavy as he descended into the cave.
Seeing as I am joining them with 'despite' (although looking this up, despite cannot be used as a conjunction as I have used it here?) the comma would be present. Is that correct?

>>21250556
>You could have a terrorist attack, a-la (pun intended) 1970's Belfast.
that's really interesting, I like that, except I know fuck-all about that setting, and I don't think I could do it justice. I could pull off early 90s at best, I think.

https://youtu.be/FysBLda7A1w
Bros they got us.

>>21250599
It could be any kind of terrorist attack. What about present day, climate protestors are trying to cause a small explosion outside a government building but misjudge the explosive power?

>>21250428
Last book I read was F Gardner’s new one. I guess I learned that writing really retarded horror with twists helps. Don’t get me wrong. I had a fun time reading it and it was a lot like Call of the Crocodile.

Within the space of two chapters, my story has two graphic rape scenes — one where my narrator commits a rape, another where he is himself raped — a cuckolding scene where he wonders if he is jealous of the man who raped him or the girl the narrator raped as he watches the two of them have sex, and then starts the beginning of an "epic" poem scrawled with feces on the walls of the shack in which the narrator is imprisoned. I'm gonna finish the book out in verse. How fucked am I, bros?

>>21250715

>>21250715
Commercially? You're fucked.
Artistically? You've already made it, brah.

When to tell and when to show?

Be honest with me, /lit/ bros. How is it?

https://www.wattpad.com/story/326671968?utm_source=android&utm_medium=link&utm_content=share_writing&wp_page=create&wp_uname=Achilles2403&wp_originator=GT6xzDc0zFPcUXiQQMp4DKMthqF78zmGU6qV%2FCsuPvOgDOMozdvQJEOreXLINsu%2FS7S9C6Ptu2n5hOIgyelHj4g85s6DuKYI5g%2FypsFmzdKLbmx6Jh8tNUByQeFYGyI7

>>21250715
Didn't know Bakker browsed this place.

>>21250428
That most readers want a simple plot to follow with lots of action.

Does anyone know how lewd you can get with KDP if you're writing a non-erotic novel?
I'm writing an isekai, but I've never read a single example of the genre much less one published through KDP, so I don't know how often I'm allowed to reference huge tits.

I give up. Nothing I write will ever be good enough. Even if I were to write a 70k novel, it would be considered utter trash by my contemporary peers.

how to make this more entertaining?


Protagonist has failed. He has deferred his university course to pursue his dreams of becoming an acclaimed author. He has always desired a romantic relationship, but when the ‘one who got away’ gives him a second chance to do it all over again, he struggles to not make the same mistakes that destroyed them both before.
As his condition drives her further and further into the arms of another man, he is forced to confront the grim reality of life: That to be a man in this world it means accepting true responsibility for one’s actions, even when those actions aren’t a choice at all.

>>21250905
Give him a little alien sidekick that makes his life worse

>>21250948
Make sure the alien is a cute girl too.

>>21250951
we must share some brain cells because "cute girl sidekick" was gonna be my original suggestion

>>21250660
This is a writer's thread, not a spam-shilling unedited-garbage thread.
Deal with your basic spelling/grammar/punctuation issues, and maybe one day you'll have a place here.

>>21250972
It's better than Wing's Chinaman story last thread.

>>21250762
You're asking for the difference between "scene" and "sequel".
"Techniques Of The Selling Writer" by Dwight V. Swain explains this and much more.

>>21249526
Oh, please.
Gardner is the biggest bully here.
He's literally the seething schizo samefagging pseud that's been shitting up /wg/ for who knows how long.
As if his disgraceful behavior in the previous thread wasn't enough evidence.
>>21250977
At least Wing has the class not to stroke himself in public constantly.

>>21250849
Too short to comment on.
Looks to be leading somewhere peurile.

I have a website where i put my short stories on. What short stories do you think are most marketable outside erotica?

>>21250594
>I think the comma should be there because these are independent clauses:

It isn't an independent clause. You had to reword it to make it so.

A subordinate clause needs a comma when it comes first but not when it comes after the main clause. For example '...as he descended into the cave' doesn't need a comma before it. But if you wrote 'As he descended into the cave, the air become all gross and weird.' it would need one.

You do have something of a garden path sentence, and sometimes people add commas to prevent misreading. But I would usually rewrite the whole thing.

>>21250985
I finally got around to reading a preview of his writing.
>He's literally the seething schizo samefagging pseud
This is definitely not true. He's obviously just an autist who likes Goosebumps. He's the complete opposite of a pseud because he's not pretending to be anything he isn't, which is why I think he causes so much seethe among the people here who actually are the pseuds they claim he is.
>inb4 seethe
Work through your own shit instead of hating on some dude who likes writing. Damn.

>>21250998
Horror stories?

>>21251011
not him but you type like a high schooler and people are annoyed at Gardner for spamming, not for writing

Why would anyone post their shit on 4chan?

How do I come up with a pathetic protagonist like shinji in neon genesis?

I am basing the character on me

Let's say your forced at gun point to make a self-insert into the story you're currently writing. What are they like? Are they ugly or beautiful? Are they a shut-in or loudmouth?

>>21251070
im trying to come up with my protagonist

he is a self insert

i want the character to be as polarising as shinki in Neon genesis.

I would call him beautiful but he thinks that is ugly. He is described as narcassistic by people around him. They are a shut in because whenever they try to make friends he becomes possessive and abusive.

>>21251011
Just reviewing his books and giving them stern feedback along with his new material was enough for him to resort to childish name-calling. I find Gardner fascinating, but he's not much of a writer. I admire his output however. I think this is a very fair assessment

>>21251011
Gardner has incredible work habits. He finished a nano in 10 days. It may be unpolished but he gets things done.

>>21251011
I actually agree with you. Gardner is the complete opposite of a pseud. He just does what he wants and lets everyone else do what they want. It's an admirable quality when so many people around here are the exact opposite.

>>21251011
>>21251115
O rly?
Try reading the Seething Schizo Chronicles and then say that.
>>/lit/thread/S20710136
>>/lit/thread/S20714307
It continues for about a week, but these two are the worst of it.
And all because he got a bad review, i.e. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4736003886 .

>>21250977
No way. I refuse to believe his writing is worse than Gardner's. Bullshit

>>21251159
Don't care about your weird vendetta Boswell. It's obvious that you're being fucked with by people smarter than you. You've likely never even spoken to Frank.
Go put this energy into creating something worth reading.

>>21251206
Incoherent, dishonest response as always.

>>21251006
>It isn't an independent clause. You had to reword it to make it so.
Noted, thank you.
>garden path sentence
Damn I feel like this is pretty common for me. So you would rewrite to have them as two separate sentences (like in the post you responded to? Or would you just rewrite it entirely because I'm trying to say too much. Something like:
>The air was becoming stale and heavy as he descended into the cave and his breathing became labored and irregular.

>>21250875
So?

>>21250905
>how to make this more entertaining?
With specific detail. You've described this very broadly, but the entertainment is in the detail. It's in the conversations between exes. It's in the emotion and growth that coms from his condition that drive him to his realisation. It's in the setting, the period, the weather.

>>21250373
Trying to improve my prose. Am I able to hold attention? Example from my diary yesterday:

Buttcake quivered betwixt her buttcake-caked butt cheeks. All at once it roared forth, felicity curving her poopoo snake first hot & warm on the bridge of my nose & then roping down burning into the o of my open mouth. She moaned at first (the rush of doodoo having scratched an anal itch), a deep chest-vibrating moan, & now she's giggling and her thighs give & the white brown moon of her ass suddenly smears down across my face, soft & wet, crickling, now cracking my nose, one nose plug coming free, the other disappearing into me.

...

Charlotte's butt cheeks clapped closed. When I parted them again (like a favorite book) there was but an earth-toned Rorschach of buttcake with her Sarlacc in center and I brought my cakehorn close and blew a soft puff. Her Sarlcacc winked and the stink poofed silently towards my nose.

>>21250849
The random bolding is weird. I'd cut it out. Post more, and I'll leave more of a review, previous (You) was right: we need more to go on.

>>21251268
What do you mean so? If it's not good then my project is all for naught and deservely so! What good is a book of no one reads it? Personal self satisfaction? Hah! I scoff at such low expectations. No. My work must be hailed as the next entry into the western canon. Anything less would be a shame to me and my name.

Is this redeeming at all? I spent 5 weeks refining and refining and working it over for an assignment—

The turd in the toilet took two seconds to tear apart. My fingerprints rilled with shit. It was supposed to be inside, but it was all doo doo. I glare at grandma. 'Why?'

Next thing I know, I'm at Romanelli's Scrap Metal arguing with handless cashier over how much grandma's walker is worth. 'Wha? This is aluminium alloy—no, I don't know with what!'

Back at the house grandma beckons. 'It is in my cunt' she whispers against my ear. So I guide her in the bathroom, undo her pants, and help her sit on the toilet. With a breaststroke motion I part her knees, her skin oldwoman soft. I feel my way into her melanin drained bush, of course she's self lubricating, why not? Middle and ring finger, searching. Nothing. Has she been lying? Is she delusional? Insane?

My name is Alex Trebek, I may have all the Answers, but the real Answers are the Questions.

I was in DC all week. I got to sit next to Pope Francis today flying into JFK. Doing the NYT crossword, he turns to me, 'four letter word for a woman, ending in 'u-n-t'?'

'Aunt'

'Do you have an eraser?'

Now, in my voice: The Answers are the Questions.

And you probably don't believe I'm actually Alex Trebek. Which is just as well.

The plane passes through the morning sea mist, the mist silent, all encasing, heatshimmer off the engines. Pope wrote 'cunt' and one of us is an index of magic, tools, functions, gossip, and a nexus of tickles. And one of us lies about kissing babies while going around kissing babies.

An O-ring, also known as a packing, or a toric joint, is a mechanical gasket in the shape of a torus—it is a loop of elastomer with a round cross-section, designed to be seated in a groove and compressed during assembly between two or more parts, creating a seal at the interface. And a ring of opinions? Well a pinion: gear with a small number of teeth designed to mesh with a larger wheel. Where do you get yours?

You need to know the Answers to Questions you don't know the Answers to.

Pope wrote 'cunt' and maybe it's C-rings that are the problem. Why do women like being tied up?

>>21251331
i think you should kill yourself

>>21250905
>He has always desired a romantic relationship
Lol what?

>but when the ‘one who got away’
How can one get away if you never had a relationship? A girl talked to you via text? She was in the group Discord with you?

>gives him a second chance
You mean she broke up with her bf and is talking in the Discord again?

>destroyed them both before.
You mean being such a sperg loser that she was fine with dropping you? I mean him. The fictional guy.

>As his condition drives her further and further into the arms of another man
Elaborate.

>That to be a man in this world it means accepting true responsibility for one’s actions
What do you have in mind here?

>>21250428
Different voices for different characters. Need to take it to extremes so it's noticeable.

>>21250447
What's the rush? The leaving it alone sequence is essential.

>>21250905
Put a cute robot in it.

>>21250464
>inciting incident
>MC
>magic powers
You're on the wrong board and the wrong website.

Does anyone have any pointers on how to write a conniving, intellectual rogue character, kind of in the vein of Thomas Shelby?
Ask if you want context.

Also, pointers on how you can write a goodcharacter with nihilistic and bloodthirsty tendencies without coming off as an angsty 14 year old? I've tried studying Revy from Black Lagoon with little success so far.

>>21250589
Bad sentence. Trash it. Start fresh.

as he descended into the cave +
the air was becoming stale and heavy +
even breathing out became difficult

>>21251468
I was going to write more, but realized I was describing the guy from 'No country for old men'. So, in short, that guy except add a bit more self awareness and thought into the mix to keep it interesting, rather than scary.

>>21251468
>any pointers on how to write a ... character
Simulate the story around them and see how they act. Duh? Or is there no story yet? Huh?

>>21251452
don't say stupid shit

>>21251480
>but realized I was describing the guy from 'No country for old men
Which guy? Bell? Llewellyn? Chigurh?

>>21251486
Shut the fuck up lol.

>the inciting incident of one of my stories is an accident that kills the MCs parents and hits him so hard that he gets magic powers. so far, I've been using a car crash as a stand in, but that's so fucking overdone and boring. what're some good other accidents?

Hahaha. I can only imagine the powers. He goes supersaiyan and turns into a titan? His WRATH fixes the situation, just like yours would if you were to get angry enough, sometimes you're almost there, and They better just watch out, is all.

>>21251439
Amercrombie uses a technique where he uses Italics for the internal thoughts of one POV character, and not for the others.

>>21250726
lol

>>21251493
>Chigurh

duh

Dude pretty much writes the book on nihilistic 'baddies' without the edge-lord, linkin park type stuff. Just add in some elements to make the character actually interesting (perhaps a political belief, a trauma, an absurd quest, etc) and you're golden.

>>21251505
a+ projecting there, champ

>>21250762
Telling is a weapon. Your characters should do the telling. In doing this, you enhance their character and make events multidimensional.

Everything else should be a world of objects and motion.

When you read something and it's bad, it's because it's violating the above.

>>21251517
> Just add in some elements to make the character actually interesting (perhaps a political belief, a trauma, an absurd quest, etc) and you're golden.
No you're not. Then it becomes edgy 14 year old garbage. Chirgurh was allowed room to be mysterious. We get enough of a window into his beliefs to make him memorable. Turn him into V from the comic—or worse—the movie, you lose the power. No one liked V as a character.

>>21251518
Just calling out a universal teenager thing. Which your story idea is obvious just that. Funny that you can't see it. Hopefully you're not any older than 17 lol. Seriously though, go back to r*ddit faggot.

>>21251549
Fair point, but he explicitly asked for such a character. In that case, the only thing I can think of is try to play with the unreliable narrator aspect. Make a character who's sympathetic to a degree and motivated to the extreme, yet when view from the outside resembles such a character.

>>21250373
Can someone critique the first few pages of my postmodern doorstopper? I'm struggling to find the motivation to finish it. I need to know if it is entertaining.

https://pastebin.com/raw/tD0QNFUq

>>21251556
you realize that nearly every single story ever has an MC and an inciting incident, right? you dumb fuck.

>>21251561
Technically it's sound. Somebody wants to be the next DFW is the vibe I'm getting.

Does anyone have any pointers on how to write a pathetic, OCD simpy protagonist, kind of in the vein of shinji?
Ask if you want context.

>>21251609
just write shinji and then go back and change the name.

>>21251573
And that's how we know you're not from /lit/ lol. Please, please take it somewhere else, cousin. Please.

>>21251614
lol

>>21251609
Just be totally honest about yourself. Shinji is the biggest failure in the world (of the story). A loser failure who dooms humanity because of cowardice. Kinda like you but you're small scale. Your name isn't even on a single record that will last past the next 50 years. Do you even hear your own words coming back to you in other peoples' mouths? Are you having any effect on people's thinking even in your own life?

>>21251573
It surprises me that /lit/, and /wg/, contains so many wannabe writers that don't even understand the basics of story structure.
Then they wonder why their books are completely ignored.
>>21251622
Right.../lit/ is more about picrel.

>>21251637
>It surprises me that /lit/, and /wg/, contains so many wannabe writers that don't even understand the basics of story structure.
Oh, we do, samefag. But there are ways of talking about it that tell us what region of the internet you're from =)

>Then they wonder why their books are completely ignored.
This is insane lol. You're literally retarded.

>>21251632
Just bad things. Did you search my name? Do I have to add an interesting external plot to make the character study of a pathetic mans failed relationship bareable?

Month two since release and things've slowed down a lot. Slipped out of the 10k range for Kindle store but still consistently holding out at around 15k - 20k rankings-wise. The most common review gripes seem to be that the story stops without warning or any notice that it might be continuing. Partly my fault since this is just adapting a webserial that doesn't really stop, and partly my publisher's fault for not letting me tell people where they can continue reading additional chapters (because they're on RR for free lmao). Book two is about 1/3rd of the way finished.

Having a lot of trouble getting a publisher to pick up my other fiction, saying I don't want it to go KU closes every door. Will keep on trying though, my first book did admirably for not being KU, and honestly? Fuck Amazon exclusivity.

>>21251668
How did you get so many reviews?

What genre is this? Is it profitable?(mimimum wage)

>>21251668
What are you whining about you have 391 reviews at 4.5 stars.

>>21251677
I'm only middling in reviews and sales, but I can say the majority of both of those comes from building up a readerbase on RR, SH, A03, and SOL. Genre-wise I'm slice of life / do over genre subversion. No clue if it's profitable yet, my publisher won't give me hard numbers until next quarter when Amazon pays out for this.

>>21251688
Anything that doesn't earn a "Best Seller" laurel for their category or somewhere in the 500 - 1k reviews in their first month isn't a hit by my publisher's standards. There's a few other fics that released after mine that are doing a little worse, which is the only reason I can even claim that my fic has middling performance now, lol.

Any good examples of a character struggling with their Christain faith in a low fantasy setting? I'd especially like an example of what NOT to do? Will I come across as preachy if the MC's arc is centered around spiritual growth if I'm aiming this at a general/non-christian audience?

I'm not looking to sell. This is a practice story.

>>21251753
It has to be profitable. Most of the reviews come from RR. Why not have a print version too? I'm sure people will buy it

>>21251808
It does have a print version, lol. We went ebook audiobook hardback and paperback, even. The thing about print in general is that it's about as far from profitable as anything can get.

This is from July 23, 1983.
This is why the only real purpose of writing a novel is to sell the TV/movie rights.

>>21251841
Jesus fuck that tome could be split into 3. Glad you've made it anon. You've reached heights few could even even dream about

>>21251973
You'll muthafuckas don't see it cause your mind's clouded by the mullah. Writing's in a great place to do whatever the fuck you want because the normalfags have fucked off.

>>21251973

>>21251993
Exactly.
Which is why we should write novels, self-publish them, build up our fandom organically, and make Hollywood come to us.
Because it's the only viable way, apparently.
After all, it happened to Andy Weir.

>>21251993
I'll never make it now. And all I wanted to do was make this a hobby where i sell more than ten copies.

How do I know when I'm done editing?

>>21252050
When the feedback from beta readers stops being technical and you're just getting gripes with the type of magic system you have or something.

>>21251668
Hey man, haven't read 'Re:Trailer Trash', but liked your 'Animecon Harem' story. Is there a reason you stopped posting it on RR?

Also, what's the inspiration behind writing erotica (I guess that's the right genre label?) with such a strong focus on emotions and relationships? (I noticed almost all good erotica stories corellate strongly with such focus, so I'm curious)

Btw, the first 'Re:Trailer Trash' cover art I've seen many times on RR had more soul than the current one. The new one is so...sterile. Even though I haven't read it, the cover tempted me. This one is very generic.

Congratulations on publishing your book!

>>21250373
I've been reading some light novels and I found that the less a illustration shows the more I like it. Maybe it's because I always liked looking concept art and imagining things form there.
I manly write fantasy and aspics of my style have "YA" appeal so I'm thinking of doing something similar. Something like this animoo girl, just a reference sheet and the reader imagines the rest.

>>21251977
Man, I wish I could've split it up. There just weren't many satisfying points where I could divide it into volumes.

>>21252197
The next 100k or so section of AnimeCon is still in edit. Don't want to post anything up until I'm confident I won't have to make any more changes to it as serial readers have no patience for retcons or edits. The general idea for AnimeCon was to take a look at harem genre weaknesses (one-dimensional cardboard characters and blatant wish fulfillment) and see if I could shore up some of the weaknesses by going real in depth with each of the characters, to the point where the story is full on multi-protagonist. Unashamedly never going to address that it's blatant wish fulfillment.

The old trash cover was done by an artist who tried to screw me over, was happy to see it replaced even if it's not as attention grabbing. Fuck that dude

I've been free writing for 38 days now. I wake up and spend between 2 and 6 hours writing with the goal being to reach a sort of trance state or flow where I type without pausing and without deliberation to try and reach unconscious images and narratives. I write between 3k and 9k words a day. Sometimes I write an entire story, beginning to end in one go. Sometimes I only write fragment after fragment. It's been the most rewarding writing I have ever done in my life. No pressure, no goals, no expectations beyond moving my hands and removing my conscious self from the process. I have yet to move to the other stage, the part where I take what rough free writing I have done and rework it until it is a whole and finished piece. I have not incorporated that element into my life yet. But right now, at this stage, I do feel very good, and for the first time in my life (I am not young) I have developed and sustained a significant writing routine.

Just wanted to share my success, I guess. I'm happy about writing.

>>21252271
>I wake up and spend between 2 and 6 hours writing
Must be nice not having to work...

>>21252274
I have a full time job and do shift work, I just have no social life.

How do you stack up against them?

>>21252251
>The general idea for AnimeCon was to take a look at harem genre weaknesses (one-dimensional cardboard characters and blatant wish fulfillment) and see if I could shore up some of the weaknesses by going real in depth with each of the characters, to the point where the story is full on multi-protagonist. Unashamedly never going to address that it's blatant wish fulfillment.

I'm not sure if it's still a wish fullfilment story after so many big changes to the formula. I read the story long ago so I my memory of it might be spotty, but I recall the Protagonist to be kind of a successful guy with decent looks and sexual skills. Not to say that he was Gary Sue or something, but even if he had his own problems and weaknesses, you made him TOO MUCH of a character for the story to be a wish fullfilment.

I'm not one for self-inserts, but I know most people do that, especially in Harems, which are largely read to vicariously live through the main character. To that point, prtoagonists have to be at least somewhat relatable. Not saying that he's unrelatable, but he's doesn't seem relatable to the main consumers to the genre, or just webnovel readers in general.

>The old trash cover was done by an artist who tried to screw me over, was happy to see it replaced even if it's not as attention grabbing. Fuck that dude
Damn, that sucks, but I'm glad you got rid of him

>>21252251
Based

>>21252294
At least I can hold my moral highground of not using cringe genre-labeling in the titles to grab attention. Though generally the situation isn't that bad on RR. Damn eastern influence, we need to excise anime influence from fiction, root and stem before we get weebofied.

And use Dark theme for RR anon, it's bad for the eyes to read on white.

>>21252271

>>21252251
>>21252197

Any tips on plotting and characterisation for my tragic romance novel?

>>21252332
Write your first page

>>21252294
Three chapters and 15 views, no follows/comments. I'm just happy I'm finally writing something instead of being a lazy shit.

>writing something in a historical setting
>historical events and locations not fully gelling with the story you're writing
What do you do in situations like this? Just have placeholder names until you can research more?

>>21252366
Are you familiar with the sign 'Inspired by X' on every movie and book set in historical setting? That's because instead of autisticly going through every detail they just create and admit they are not going to pay attention to the minutae.

>>21252294
>Latest Updates and Rising Stars
If you don't stack up against them it's because you're not even posting chapters. Instead go to:
>Best Rated Completed, Best Rated Ongoing
If you want quality, and look at
>Popular this week
To see what's actually successful. Enable stubs to see which ones are actually making a ludicrous amount of money writing shit webfiction.

>>21252359
3 chapters ain't much for Royalroad.

>>21252307
Seeing terribly written and thematically tired anime shit roll in gook dollars pisses me off. I fucking hate anime. It was the same way when I worked on high effort video game mods. We were among the top downloads for the game, but right up there with us were badly made anime reskins and what have you - above other high effort projects.

>>21252359
>>21252449
Speaking of posting on RR, remember that you get to trending around 20-30 days in. That's how the algorythm works, it's only different if you are popular and the fic gets tons of traffic from the get go.

is /lit/ broken?

>>21250373
New article
https://adolfstalin.substack.com/p/on-heaven-and-hell-and-the-materialism

>>21252661
Did you write that? You should definitely consider how you can come across as less divisive (though I guess someone with a "Adolf Stalin handle doesn't care anyway). As someone who identifies strongly with a born-again experience, I know I've caught more flies with honey. No sentence there will draw normies closer to God.

Does anyone have any good examples of stories where the story kind of continues after the main character dies, but told in first person? Preferably not a suicide. I don't know what to do after the protagonist dies and I don't want the story to end abruptly. Do I just make him a ghost for the ending?

>>21252831
1. He narrates as a ghost
2. Someone else narrates the ending
3. You slow down time at the moment before his death and have him remember a bunch of shit to taper off the ending and then he dies

>>21252702
>draw normies closer to god

>>21252831
There are many examples of an important character dying. A great way to do that is to use another character's perspective throughout the scene. Reddit's favorite fat mormon does this in one of his books.

Even if you're writing something in first person and have not played with perspective previously, I'd encourage you to change that up for the finale.

>>21251632
>A loser failure who dooms humanity because of cowardice
speedwatcher alert

How can you tell if your prose is shit or if it's just your crippling self doubt telling you to kill yourself every time you write?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LhLLZvs5iH0

Holy fucking shit

>>21253097
His house is so fucking nice. And is that a real Japanese Kimono? How many copies did he fucking sell?

>>21253097
god damn... he made it.

>>21253097
20 minutes long and it can be summed up as 'writing is supernatural'. It's not much of an exaggeration to state that he says nothing else of worth or even expands on his idea. Perhaps his next video can be on padding and rambling in an attempt to milk content and waste people's time.

For what it is worth, I absolutely agree with the statement and have been reading about the topic extensively myself: all the ways imagination and language connect to mystical traditions and magic. It is interesting and it is enlightening and will make you a better writer and a better person and save your soul but you won't learn anything about it from him.

>>21253097
Gardner is so hot.

>>21253078
Read bad prose. Identify what you hate about it. Notice bad habits. It's always easier to spot other people's weaknesses.

Then reexamine your own work, looking for those same qualities.

>>21253113
>His parent's house
ftfy
>>21253125
>His parent made it
ftfy

>>21253078
Peer critique with someone who actually reads beyond genre. This will open up your weak spots.

I have these characters I want to write in different settings and tones. Can I do it without diminishing one or the other?

>>21253166
You're into survivors of fetal alcohol syndrome, are you?
Verification not required.

>>21252702
its not my intention to convert normalfags. there is a clear friend/enemy distinction at play here and if you're collectively (not individually) against us, there is no saving you from wrath.

also here is another one

https://adolfstalin.substack.com/p/war-of-the-material-versus-the-symbolic

What makes great prose? It feels like it's just opinion.

>>21253097
When is Gardner's "Adversary" going to make a channel

Cover for book I'm writing, what do you think?

>>21253318
When is Gardner going to admit he's his only fan?
Here are the actual Amazon rankings for his latest brain-dropping:
Day 1: #250723
Day 2: #191277 (hot damn! a sale!)
Day 3: #316013
Day 4: #434243
You can fake posts on 4chan, but you can't fake these.
You didn't have to be a bully...but you chose to anyway.

I recently started a job as a copywriter, but it is so draining and time consuming i do not have time or energy to work on the book i was writing. is it possible to have a writing job and write a book at the same time? i really want to quit. is there a job that is ideal to have while writing on the side? i'm more depressed than i have been in my entire life i think

>>21253350
grainy and looks elongated

>>21253399
Didn't think people would notice

>>21251070
A drunk passed out at the bar. He occasionally slurs something unintelligible. The protagonists have one-sided conversations with him as a way of dumping exposition

>>21251070
>Let's say your forced at gun point to make a self-insert into the story you're currently writing.
he's a generic grunt who dies to the first bullet while trying to write behind cover

>>21253318
>>21253379
I'm working on a Twitch channel with my sister where we read /wg/ books. She has big tits. Reviewfag out.

>>21253395
Become a security guard. There are sites where you do practically nothing and are all by yourself for hours at a time. I suggest construction and corporate sites, never, EVER touch retail.

>>21253399
Do you like this one?

>>21253489
Pretty good, this one's cool too

>>21253489
>>21253518
Are these all ai-gen or are you finding them somewhere?

>>21253528
https://creator.nightcafe.studio/
Ai gen

I'll never be in the top 0.00000000000000001 percent

Does anyone else insta-drop anything they read that is set in an American high school regardless of merit?

>>21253676
yes and I'm a burger

>>21253533
Hmmm, NightCafe is getting better.
I stopped using them months ago because I got tired of low-quality results.
I may have to give them another go.

>>21253690
Yeah it's very hit or miss

>>21253097
imagine the smell

Is the conversation decent or is there too much pauses and information that'll enrage the reader?

>nobody is writing or even attempting literary fiction
Why?

>>21253904
Because this is /lit/, no one here reads or writes.

>>21253904
I do though. I've got a bunch of litfic projects.

>>21253904
Writing?

>>21252831
The Song of Achilles does this really well

>>21253904
You should write for us

>>21253097
based, seeing 4chan poster succeed makes me smile.

>mfw I created a trolley problem so fucked up I can’t figure out whether the good guys are supposed to pull the lever or not
it never even began

>>21253097

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gTmMuJCTHrA

How many of these is he going to unleash? This is already based beyond words.

It seems strange that whenever I try to write on paper, my words are stilted and resemble MTL, yet whenever I type, my words flow and can become metaphor and the like.

Honestly, I think this is a symptom of my crippling addiction to chink mtl, and I don’t know how to solve this other than reading native English works in an attempt to ground myself.

1.2k today
Average still stronk.
My penis?
Stronker

>>21250428
Whenever I'm done with some self-contained component of the story, say a chapter, go back a few days later and force myself to remove about 10% of it. The last book I read was 'stay up all night finishing it' good, but the middle third was incredibly flabby and tedious. That'll stick with me as much as the rest of it, which I generally enjoyed.

Books on writing that seem trashy but are actually hidden archives of biblical-tier advice?
>The Fantasy Fiction Formula by Deborah Chester

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VpfWzd97pAM

He’s doing more lmfao. Fucking phenomenal.

Just had an epiphany. I was reading a chapter of a book and the prose really drew me in, even though it was really simple. All I could think of was "damn, I wish I could write prose that felt like it flowed this way". So I analyzed it and I realized it had no participle phrases.
I've defended participle phrases before, but I think I've just realized they're cringe. Zero participle phrases + active cause and effect = well-flowing prose. It seems so simple but this is news to me. Just don't use participle phrases bros.

>>21254450
Which book? I try to avoid participle phrases but I sometimes fail. I'd like to learn.

>>21253097
>>21254199
>>21254426
I'm new to this general (this is my first time here), everyone keeps posting this guys videos and I am able to infer based on context that he's some kind of /lit/ guru or someone who posted here who was really well-liked and became a career author. So I googled his most popular book and it only has 2.5/5 stars from viewers. This was the top review.
I shouldn't have got my hopes up at all but damn. If this is really the best /lit/ can do, even on the dedicated writing thread, I'm not sure I should stay. And to think I thought you guys were smart.

Can I get feedback on my short story? 1600 words. Mostly looking for if its a good read and consistent in quality throughout.
https://files.catbox.moe/a1iifg.pdf

>>21254471
Stopped reading after the first pararaph.
>Once upon a place there was a horribly ugly man and a very handsome goblin. His name was Bobert the Goblin, but we will refer to him as Rob the Hobgoblin for short. Richard Richard, who was truly a dreadful sight, was a man of much wealth, king of the Dicks. You see, Dick is ugly because he is an oil man, and all oil men are ugly. Rich was Rich, and that money is what attracted Rob to the Dicks. Rob the Hobgoblin was the one who kept the house. He would keep the dishes clean, keep the floor swept, keep the chickens fed, and keep having sex with Mrs. Dick (who doesn't matter at all). Richard was fond of all but one of these, but he never had much spine.
Who is who? How many characters are there in this scene? What is Richard fond of? What the fuck?

>>21254469
There are some decent /lit/ novels. I read one called Egregore on kindle unlimited that I thought put my writing to shame. I saw our review guy liked it a lot too and I trust his opinion.

>>21254471
I was interested enough to keep reading and laughed multiple times. I see what you're going for and it's not too bad for a /lit/ shitpost. You have potential.
Keep practicing anon, you're gonna make it.

>>21254469
Most of the people shilling for F. Gardner are F. Gardner.

>>21254426
We now have a treasure trove of F Gardner reaction shots.

>>21254565
>F Gardner is a white man who desperately wants to be Asian
>Waldun is an Asian man who desperately wants to be white
>Mike Ma is a white man who desperately wants to be a woman

>>21251401
If you write books the way you write comments then you're fucked. You write with an outdated style. The books that will be introduced into the western canon from our lifetime will be reflective of modern style and thought.

If that is seriously what your only goal is then quit now, you're not going to make it.

>>21254581
His outdated style is exactly reflective of modern thought; if it wasn't he wouldn't be thinking in that manner. Him reaching back into the past for some sort of eloquence or style or substance that he believes he cannot find in the presence is EXACTLY representative of certain currents of the present age. If he could find some self-reflection he could maintain the style and make something interesting, like Ignatius O'Reilly did.

>>21253904
I write it and I know others do. I just don't ask for criticism here.

>>21254471
>They go down on each other
>That seems like a dreadful afternoon for my little dick. My cock was smashed and made crooked?
>The running joke of the mother being unimportant
>The underlying theme of the virgin ugly oil man (who is ugly because all oil men are ugly) vs. the chad handsome hobgoblin
Love it.

>>21254199
So F Gardner’s become the modern Guenon now?

>>21254628
He’s not the “modern” anything. F. Gardner is literally just F. Gardner. The closest equivalent would be Tommy Wiseau.

>>21254469
You got filtered.

>>21254643
This. Every single complaint about Gardner is always

“Boo-Hoo! This book has too many commas! I am le sad!

The twist at the end is what made Call of the Crocodile good. But those retards won’t make it that far. F Gardner’s like the greatest filter there is.

I'm an honest guy. You know it's true, because I told you so myself. And an honest guy like me wouldn't lie about something like that

my character wants to be loved. He doesnt want sex. He wants to be loved. How do I turn this into a tragedy and not a melodrama?

Maybe the hubris is that my character thinks that he can be loved.
I need help turning this into a tragedy

How do I write and plot a tragic hero character arc?

this is my favorite sentence that I wrote:
In this scenario, I will be beheaded, and I will die bewildered.

>>21254773
Each step he takes messes up his situation more, until he realizes desiring love was too narrow-minded to begin with. Each step he takes brings him further away from the goal. Thus, he dug himself further and further into a hole, alienating himself and cutting off all his relationships, all because he desired something in the first place. In the end, it's too late, his youth is gone. All he has is rosy-retrospection and he can't even indulge in that, the brutal realizations start scaffolding. He never had any morals or character to begin with, he was short-sighted believing he was loveable at all

>>21253097
>>21254199
>>21254426
Gardner made a bunch of videos, featuring himself, talking about himself.
What a self-centered bore.
>>21254669
Well, that, as well as short sentence fragments, meandering viewpoints, typos, homonyms, overtelling rather than showing, inconsistent tense, cardboard-cutout characters that speak in cliches, philosophy out of nowhere, confusing plurals with possessives, mixing singular and plural, etc.

>>21254307
what bible-tier advice does that book offer?

>1/2
The Fur Paw Faux Pas

CHAPTER 1
Nighttime is my time, but 2am on a Thursday is no place for a dame

Three weeks of nights and a small-boned woman opened my door.

She looked down at the man in front of her. We’ll just call him Cairo. He lay there with a tube in his throat hooked to the ventilator rocking out to AC/VC. 1000 ml tidal volume, they were going to kill him.

His skin was jaundiced and he needed a shave. He’d always need a shave. Now he’d need a liver.
“Wife?”
She hesitated before saying
"Yes…The Emergency Doctor sent me to see you.”
I made my way bedside. “You can come in”. I went to turn on the brights but she stopped me.
“Oh, please don’t. I get migraines”.
Don’t we all
The lady was blonde with teardrop eyes like the diamonds on her ears. Her hair was dyed but the jewels were real. Fur or not, her coat wasn’t on a Resident’s salary.

“My name's Sam Spade. Resident. Doc wants me to find out what happened to your husband"
"And have you?"
"I told him I'd have to talk to you first."

Her smile went away. She studied my face gravely, feature by feature, then she said, "Certainly," and stepped back, taking a seat, drawing the door back with her.
"What's he like?"
"He likes slow horses and fast women” she said dispassionately, "how about you?”. She crossed her legs and rested her chin in her palm, eager to engage in the game.

2 am, four more hours... and I didn’t have time.

“I like fast nights and quicker answers- is he cirrhotic?”

“I don’t know, he hasn’t been to a doctor in years” she said without evidence of concern

“Neither have I. What can you tell me about his liver? Does he drink”.
I caught myself, she could tell and let out a smile.
“Does he drink?” She had me. “Oh, Sam…” she clicked her tongue mockingly. “They told me you were good… he drinks three meals a day. Do all professionals ask amateur questions or were you just following a script? I've always been curious to know how a Doctor works.”
I had had enough.
“Usually standing up, angel, but unlike writers the deadlines are literal.” The spotlight was back on her…“How much does he drink”.
“I don’t know. He said he quit but I know he still does”.

“Ever had fluid removed from his abdomen”
“Never”.
Something about what this dame was wearing and her answers wasn’t sitting right with me. And something was making my throat itch. I looked at her, back to Cairo, then at the notes. Hemoglobin 4. Platelets 35. He had seen better days but wouldn’t see tomorrow, not at this rate. I turned down the tidal volume on the ventilator.
“Has he been throwing up blood- anything in his stool?”
She pretended to almost faint.
“Heavens no!”
It would certainly have made things easier. Another pause.

>2/2
“So what’s the story here? His blood is almost as gone as his liver”
The dame couldn’t keep up. 2 am on a Thursday…it’s usually duvets and silk not 100-counts and nylon
“Aren’t you going to offer me water? Isn't that what a gentleman usually does under the circumstances?”
“I didn't say I was a gentleman. I said I was tired.”
She let out an exasperated sigh and buried her face in her hands. I’d seen that before.

“He’d been told he had to stop drinking, months ago, after they went into his throat and clipped something. But like I said, he didn’t quit”
They never do.
“Over the past couple weeks he had been acting strangely, forgetting things, losing strength. He’s always tired. But everything got worse yesterday so suddenly. Today before I called the ambulance he fell down the stairs.”

I turned up the lights to better see and made his way to the body. Icteric, jaundiced, enlarged abdomen with the rhythmic distentions from the ventilator. Didn’t think hearts could beat that fast, and Cairo’s right hand was scratched… rectum without blood.

“What’s this” I asked, pointing at the hand

“A few days ago our cat got into it with him”.

I paused, a sneeze cut the silence broken by a gesundheit. Cats.

"What does he do for a living?"

"He's a poet," she replied, "but nobody makes a living from that."
"So what does he do?"
She pretended to invent an answer but it didn’t matter. I knew where this was going and her words were as empty as my glass. I’d need another cup soon. By the time she stopped I was ready to end this tiresome ritual.
"How long've you been married?"
"We’ve been happily married two months, tomorrow is our anniversary".
That took me a second. "San Francisco all the time? No recent travel?"
“Not on a poet’s salary”
I nodded and smiled. Nicotine stains on his fingers gave up another vice. She wouldn’t get me twice.

“How much does he smoke”

“Pack a day since I’ve known him,heavens knows how long before”
“Any drugs”
“I wouldn’t know”.
Not that it mattered, he’d get the works.
“Any surgeries”
“Nothing besides that endoscopy”
“Is he taking any of the meds they sent him home with?”
“No he never picked them up”
They never do.
“Any family history of anything?”
“He never spoke about his family and I never asked”

I looked up at the ceiling and let out a sigh.

It seemed to have caught the dame’s attention.
She turned to me.
“Sam…”
I glanced at her.
“Miss Cairo.”
“I have a terrible feeling it’s going to be a rough time”

“The ICU is a pretty good place to have a bad night”

She almost cried. She might have, but dames dressed like her hadn’t had anything to cry about in years.
“Are you religious?” she asked.
“Are you?”
She looked at her husband and paused. “Should I be?”
“Depends”
“Depends on what, Sam”
“If it’s for your sake or his.” I closed the door and made his way to the lab.

>>21250373
After a successful capture on a town, what happens to the winning soldiers after that? Hypothetically, can a soldier do whatever he want? Like going to the local bars or brothels or wander on top of a nearby hill to look at the stars?

I'm currently reading Farewell To Arms, and I'm also writing something set in a war

>>21251059
>I am basing the character on me
There. That's pretty much it. I'm assuming you already know the basics of character writing

>>21255223
It could be anything from the parades in liberated Paris to the massacre at My Lai. It all depends on discipline and the intensity of the combat. When the Allies rolled into Paris, they took it easily. The heavy combats between Paris and the Normandy landings had passed — men had already been able to go back to Britain for some R&R. Stress was low, discipline high. Therefore, Paris was (relatively) peaceful and high-spirited. Contrast with the My Lai incident where Americans took the town in the midst of heavy, heavy combat. A unit with many conscripts, lax discipline and combat fatigue committed a massacre. It really depends.

>>21254773
>How do I turn this into a tragedy and not a melodrama?
It can't be tragedy because he lacks a heroic flaw. He's just a whiny bitch. No one wants to read that.

>>21254773
Not trying to make this about me but I'm encountering something similar. Cyberpunkish novella on the first draft and protagonist meets a woman from outside of the walled city.
He's torn because he now wants nothing more than to leave the city with her but he doesn't think he will be able to escape. (They do because I'm a retarded optimist).
Maybe your character could have the opposite: encounters love, actual love, and isn't able to hold onto it or the world rips it away from him.

>>21255223
Don't forget guerrilla attacks from enemy forces that remained hidden during the capture.
Look at the experience of American soldiers in any Iraqi/Afghani city/town for examples of that.

What would you do if that story you haven't updated for like 3 years keeps getting 'please update' comments (3 every year) when you have run out of steam for said story?

>>21255334
how do I make it so that he is a heroic flaw

>>21255402
If I had finished it already I would write a spiritual sequel maybe.

>>21255034
It's basically a full college-level course on writing novels (basics like plotting, characterizatoin, conflict, pacing, prose, etc. with actual practical tools instead of vague advice, plus some pretty advanced tips) with additional info on worldbuilding and speculative elements for fantasy/sci-fi, as well as very up-to-date publishing tips, how the market works, indie publishing, how to deal with agents, etc. And it's endorsed by Jim Butcher, he has a whole section in the beginning personally appraising the author, he credits her as his mentor.

>>21255368
I appreciate it.

I dont want him to be sympathetic but i also dont want the reader to be frustrated because the protag isnt relatable. I want it to be misery porn

>>21255402
Just don't ever log in or look at the comments. I stopped my RR story like 5 mo ago, and I can only imagine what my inbox looks like now.

>>21255764
This is the benefit of writing for /qst/. Since it's an 4chan you can just disappear, and there's no inbox, and you can pretend the angry nerds calling you a faggot for flaking don't exist until the thread 404s.

So, in one of my stories there's a cult dedicated to stopping an "evil" god coming to Earth and causing mayhem and all that. But what I want to happen in the story is for the god to actually come to Earth, only to just be some chill dude who just wants to hang out on Earth for a bit. One of my main characters had their life dedicated to this god, having killed people in the process.

So, basically, if this god were to come to Earth and just be chill and not cause mayhem, with the particular main character being distraught that the thing they were practically worshipping and killing for their whole life wasn't that big of a deal at all: would the reader most likely feel cheated in a way? Would it just be shit writing, is what I'm trying to ask.

>>21255797
it's all about set-up, foreshadowing, and tone early one
the reader should know very early that this story is not going the way they think

>>21255859
>the reader should know very early that this story is not going the way they think
At least I got that part cleared up.

>>21255797
Twists or expectation subversion are fine. I actually really like this twist and would be interested in reading your book. It's a novel idea, to my ears at least. It might not be for everyone, but nothing ever is.

>>21255916
Thanks for this, anon. This twist is actually apart of a story that's kind of full of deconstructions, subversions and parodies of villains and the idea of evil in general.

I actually posted an excerpt of the story here a couple of times before. Here's a link if anyone's curious: https://pastebin.com/K2dmRZZB

This excerpt is a bit old though, and I'm fully aware that there's a lot of work needed to be done with it.

>>21255402
I tell them to give me money

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/54622/the-kill-list

Chapter 6 of the Kill List is out. Feedback appreciated, as always. This particular chapter is heavy on the lore dumps, and I'm not sure if I did it gracefully, or if it instead turned out as good as my mspaint fantasy map did.

Anything I might overlook when trying to capture the spirit of low-budget flashy fantasy from the 1980s ala Conan and toy spin-off shows/movies?

I was born in the 90s so have no personal experience.

What's the difference between literary fiction and genre fiction?

>>21255797
As long as it doesn't contain cultivation your fine.

>>21256058
Pace. These stories move very quickly. Don't waste time. If the character says they wanna do something, they do it. If they think they want to go somewhere, they leave. The moral quandaries fit between the lines, inside the reader, so don't place them on the page, don't steal from them like that.

>>21256082
Books I like vs books I hate

>>21256088
Thank you. I will definitely watch for those as I look through media from the era.

>>21256082
Fiction that doesn't conform to or attempt to subvert the conventions of any genre with a healthy dose of >>21256095

If a book is disliked, it will be shoehorned into a genre and critics will complain that no one writes literary fiction anymore.

>>21256082
Literary fiction is books as drama is to movies. Genre fiction is to books as horror is to movies.

>>21256082
genre fiction - books people read
literary fiction - books failed authors read

>>21256011
this dialogue got a giggle from me

>>21255971
Damn. I don't care much for fantasy. Just not my bag, baby, but I still read this entire excerpt and wasn't bored out of my skull like with a lot of fantasy, so that's a good sign. I like your prose. No pretension or try-hard shit, but also not boring since you understand your characters and communicate them effectively.
It's a good concept and you've got the talent to execute it, so I'd go for it. Can't comment on how well it would go over with the fantasy crowd, as I'm not into that stuff, but as someone who likes the more grounded, personal and smaller in scope and focus, the idea's intriguing.
Again, this could be a taste difference, but to throw out my opinion I'd say it would have the most impact if this was a very focused and tight character driven story rather than grand narrative driven with a lot of world building.

>>21256157
>seats on the counsel
That should be council.
Counsel is a different word, it's advice that someone gives, or the verb to give advice.

>>21256082
Since nobody has answered seriously yet, literary fiction is a marketing label for people who want "artsy" or trendy fiction. It's the "I view fiction as an art form to appreciate rather than a means of entertainment" crowd. The difference between literary fiction and genre fiction is virtually identical to the difference between arthouse cinema and hollywood films.

>>21256157
Glad it paid off that way, anon. Thanks!

>>21256229
oof, embarrassing. Fixed that up. Thanks for pointing it out.

>>21256194
Ey, thanks for this feedback anon, I very much appreciate it.
>Again, this could be a taste difference, but to throw out my opinion I'd say it would have the most impact if this was a very focused and tight character driven story rather than grand narrative driven with a lot of world building.
That's how I plan to execute this story, mostly. Vexkamus is supposed to be a character driven entirely by how people see him, or rather, what he thinks people think of him. That's just the first half of the story.

And as for the world buildilng part...Funny thing is, I actually don't do a lot of worldbuilding. In fact, I actually kind of dislike it. Same goes for building magic systems and shit.

>>21250373
It's not looking good for me bros

>>21256314
Spend more time writing and less time making charts. Also, trying to linearly churn out word count never works. One day you get 500, the next it can be 3000. It all depends on the flow.

>>21256343
I just enter the daily count and it makes charts, but yeah I get the point.
The real problem is I caught up to my chapter-by-chapter outline. I still have a general novel outline, but now I can feel myself meandering and not sure what should happen next. I don't know how pantsers do this without writing pure shit.

>>21256353
I guess the question at this point is how much you need to fill in the gaps. Do you need to bake in some subplot to widen the story, or just polish the outline with some paragraphs here and there? Personally I find that thinking about "the present" from my character's perspectives tend to lead to new ideas for how to progress from moment to moment.

>>21254469
He's never put up his work to be critiqued in these threads.

>>21256616
I don't blame him, some of the criticism here is worthless.

>>21256157
People really think this is clever? Wow.

>>21256158
Litfic outsells fantasy and scifi combined

>>21256082
every response is wrong. Litfic is a term invented by publishers to sell "weird" books. It has no consistent definition other than "not genre fiction."
Genre Fiction is specifically fiction that sells based on genre alone, stuff that is popular BECAUSE of how predictable it is. The more popular the genre, the more strict the audience expectations are (see how romance readers freak out over unhappy endings.)
any other definition of these 2 terms is based on seethe and/or marketing jargon.

Breaking news guys. Gardner has a YouTube now

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VpfWzd97pAM&t=2968s

>>21257254
This guy's going to end up killing himself when he realizes he's being gangstalked.

Was I in the wrong here?

>In a MFA fiction workshop
>get to know everyone fairly well
>about 5 students who don't put any effort into their workshops, 2 of them don't even write or vocalize anything beyond general shit like "that's relatable" -- everyone hates them but they don't get dropped on account of attendance
>everyone else is putting in 2+ hours on each piece as told to us by the professor, who cares more about agreeableness than the work
>get to we'll say Jose's piece
>hardly anyone critiques his work
>feel proud that all of us who actually try and giving him his shit in return
>professor is awfully quiet, asking general questions about his work to incite some commentary, nothing is working
>Jose makes passive aggressive comments about no one reading his work
>I raise my hand when my professor gives everyone an option to say whatever they want about the piece, that "it's rude to expect other people to critique your work when you don't critique theirs"
>professor immediately stops the freetalk and then dismisses us as that was the only piece for the day
>jose calls me an asshole in passing
>paraphrasing a little

>>21257348
Yes. No need to rock the boat like that.

how publishable is it to have zero exposition in a third person novel?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GRgR_wILqoE

Gardner confirmed for Waldunchad

>>21257348
You did what you felt what was right according to your intuition, which sounds good from what you said. Fuck those guys and fuck your weak professor. Your next piece should explore cunts like him and weak leaders who allow them to prosper at the expense of others.

>>21257348
100% in the right.

>>21257254
>conspiracies I believe in:
>they say there are 7 billion people on earth: I don't believe that
>you go to get a tv dinner and it says calories on the box: they made that up; calories aren't real

Oh I am laffin.

>>21257254
This guy is legit retarded and he is identical to a guy I know with fetal alcohol syndrome.

>>21257760
Keep watching.
>I don't believe in aliens... they're making that up.
>BUT, I do believe in extra dimensional beings and undiscovered territories like Atlantis. Giant squids, right?
>While we're on it, I don't believe in outer space.
I'm only 11 minutes in. This is who you people shill for?>

>>21257838
>This is who you people shill for
Anon, it's that retard himself who's constantly shitting up /wg/. He mass replies to himself and viciously shills in the general on a daily basis because he's desperate for attention.
He made a pretty bad mistake doxxing himself like that, though.

>>21257838
>The most known book from /lit/ was written by a Flat Earther.

Yeah sounds about right. We get what we fucking deserve. Which is Call of the Crocodile and F Gardner.

I subbed to his channel, I like the guy. Didn't care too much for CoC but I think the YT channel is more my interest. I've never been a horror fan, but I like writing meta talk.

Memeable

He's the next Styxhexxenhammer.

>>21250373
Do you guys know of any place/method to get ideas for writing, even if it's just private shitflicks.

>>21257856
i did too. I want him to have 100k subscribers and he'll then get millions of dollars and millions more will buy CotC

>>21257889
Research 'imagination'. Imaginatio vera. Active imagination. Imaginal realm.

>>21255797
So, "The Divine Invasion" by Philip K. Dick?

>>21257760
He also claims to talk to an angel named Ambrose.
Odds are this guy gets lobotomized in less than a year.

>>21257889
Read. Talk to people. Live life.

>>21255683
What the heck...worth a download.

>>21255797
This is probably good enough for a short story but for a novel a "trick" ending like this is usually bad form (unless established to be comic from the beginning).

You may as well major in something useful...

>>21258000
Don't get your hopes up. It's just a rehash of Swains book.

>>21258035
...because you'll regret trying to make a living as a writer.

>>21258040
Thanks anon, that saves time...I'm about halfway through Swain's book.

>>21258043
If I'm not writing than I'm not really living.

>>21258061
Doesn't mean you have to make it your only option.
Herman Melville (Moby Dick) worked a number of day jobs because his writing didn't make enough to support his family.
Frank Herbert (Dune) spent his life in the publishing industry.
Philip K. Dick, despite writing 44 novels, struggled to make ends meet, only seeing real money when he sold the movie rights to "Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep" (which became "Blade Runner"). Sadly, he died before he could enjoy those fruits.
Don't quit your day job.

>>21258043
There's nothing wrong with liberal arts. It's demonized because engineers like to brag about their money stacks because money is everything, yet they couldn't tell Vermeer from Van Gogh or name an important event in 1588. The college cycle is focused on turning people into workers, not citizens, and the death of nationalism and cultural consciousness is directly related to the growing influence of corporations in turning every human being into a walking, talking, money making machine with no ties to the past and no idea of their future.

>>21258097
Some of us have enough money/cashflow anyway and want to pursue hobbies/intellectual stimulation instead of work.

I went into a job that was 200k starting out of school. It took all my time, I hated it, and quit to go live in the woods and make a median salary with a lot of free time, including reading and writing for hours every week. No more sleepless nights fellating some rich old guy in Dubai for me.

>>21258142
Reminds me of an old joke.
What did the liberal arts graduate say to the engineering graduate?
"You want fries with that?"
>>21258180
You're obviously not in the situation I was talking about.
More power to you!

>>21258212
Maybe some people have too much debt to service or are "grinding" to get some used-up post-wall to marry them? What I make now is enough for me to live and then some (I even have a house in bumfuck nowhere!). I don't know why you would put up with terrible hours otherwise when so many comfy 40 hour jobs exist.

I want to write a book. I had an idea to write an epic sci-fi satire of erotic novels that spans from the Sengoku period to a bizarre, transhumanist future. I haven't ever done any creative writing, so I just drafted up a sample of prose that I'd like someone to critique.

Something drips from the metallic superhighway into the darkness below the grates, where all things flow to the sea, where the fiends seeking refuge whisper to each other in disbelief and awe. The sun sets on pools of blood, dotted with small islands of flesh and offal, and a red haze chokes out the neon advertisements blinking furiously on chaotic megastructures. The streets of London are a bloodbath. A putrid odor lingers inside the bloody mist, binding the particles by intangible strings. There are faces, and parts of faces, looking up from the ground, mostly obscured by a tar which is more of drug metabolites than blood. Their eyes are dead, already glassy and reminiscent of fish at a ghetto market, something which ought to have been sold yesterday, but there is still a light flickering in them, a reflection of the blinking, probing, intrusive disorder of the city. The acrid stench of hemoglobin oxidizing, household cleaning chemicals, and faint undertones of red Kool-Aid fill AK's nostrils.

"What the fuck is this?" He nudged what he believes is a spleen, though he isn't sure. It looks like a spleen, although covered in an even less determinate liquid. The thing is spongy and small like a spleen, but it could be a kidney. The Chrome Dome can't identify it without him taking a sample. He thought to himself, but decided satisfying his morbid curiosity isn't worth putting that shit in his mouth.

"Hey man, let's get the fuck out of here. We got work to do"

"Sure."

AK, Jackson, and MC trudged through the shit and debris. Mr. Creme's headquarters is perched atop the Steel Cadbury Egg, jutting out like a minaret, menacingly looming in the distance. Hideous architecture, housing the most vile and occult secrets. Mr. Creme, that ancient alchemist, savant of the darkest darkness, now CEO of the largest chocolate and pharmaceutical corporation in the Nu-World, is watching and waiting.

"I can't wait to finally kill that fuck."

>>21257889
There's the old traditional method...

>>21258276
needs dialogue tags. first paragraph is too poetic for my taste, but again, that's taste. others might dig it. but dialogue tags for sure.

>>21258180
>I went into a job that was 200k starting out of school. It took all my time, I hated it
Wall Street banker/trader?

Is it possible to edit so much you make the story worse?

>>21258276
too much swearing. cursing is a seasoning--don't use too much of it.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=i6FQ1k7FMJs

New F Gardner kino

Honestly feel kind of defeated right now. I read Lolita or metamorphosis or the piano teacher out loud and every paragraph sounds like poetry, but when I read my own writing the prose is so terrible compared to it.

Do I just need to start actively paying attention and examining the prose of books I read to further improve my own?

>>21258672
Based

Anyone else find it easier to write in a notebook than on a computer?

>>21258699

nope, but I write in a notebook anyway just to look cool in public. no regrets and no shame.

Another day of falling into the conlang rabbit hole.

>>21258040
>>21258055
Uhhh no. It features MRUs but it's more like Swain's book mixed with Weiland's book, plus some worldbuilding tips that aren't in either book. And some original advice.

>>21258699
Yes. Its hardly comparable for me.
The only times when writing on a computer somewhat works for me is when I take the time to meditate on an entire scene or "act" or sometimes the whole rough sketch of the story, then very quickly after go to the computer and recall as much of it that I can.
Ultimately the good stuff has to end on the computer somehow. So note book writing or meditation is merely a phase of the larger method.

>>21258032
I should've probably said this before but this isn't the ending. This god coming to Earth, and the twist itself is around the middle of the book.

>>21258832
>>21258699
How do you end up writing in a notebook? I always end up either scratching out entire lines, or realizing it's borderline MTL shit and writing anti-Chinese racial slurs in the margins for no reason in particular, in spite of the fact that I am in Chinese, before continuing to write.

The only advantage I've had in writing in a notebook so far is that I've written more than I've ever written this entire week (250) words, and it's a lot easier to write a first draft because I can't just easily edit while writing the line.

>>21258854
>The only advantage I've had in writing in a notebook so far is that I've written more than I've ever written this entire week (250) words, and it's a lot easier to write a first draft because I can't just easily edit while writing the line.
This is the exact reason why it's better tbqhwy. Better creative flow and it's meant to be the first draft so nothing but the ideas should distract you, thus more ends up on the page.
What helped me even more was getting a reasonably nice notebook, nothing too fancy, but fancier than a school notebook. I find it improves the entire aesthetic including prose.

>>21258672
Does F Gardner have clones of himself? How is he making all these YouTube videos while simultaneously writing so many books?

>>21257941
>He also claims to talk to an angel named Ambrose.

That's good. It means he is in touch with a deep part of his imagination. It also means he's thrown off a certain amount of cultural expectations. Honestly, everyone here would be a better writer immeditately if they could get to a point as loose as that and as deep into their own heads. I talk a lot of shit on Gardner and his shills annoy me no end, but on some points, like his point on how writing is a supernatural act, I do agree.

>>21250715
Transcended and ascended

Could any anon here give me feedback on my writing? I would really appreciate it. I've never posted here before.
https://litter.catbox.moe/5cf6ri.pdf
>Why is there a passage from The Great Gatsby in the second paragraph?
This was submitted for a constrained writing contest where including that specific sentence was one of the requirements.
Any feedback would be appreciated. I'm serious about writing (my goal is to become a published genre author) so I can take hard facts.

1k today
More details already queued
Prose is for shite
At least output is consistent

>>21259324
what contest?
And "Remember your training. Confirm nothing." doesn't any sense.

could getting a low level job for a publishing company, admin or something, actually help my chances of getting published at all?

>>21259616
No. Nepotism exists, but you need to have actual good writing first anyway.

>>21259630
having good writing alone is no guarantee of publication though, would having a slight foot in the industry help if i also have good writing?

>>21259645
Yeah but I don't think an admin job at a publishing company counts as having a foot in the door. An editor? Yes. But not a position that has nothing to do with actual editing, writing, marketing, or publication.

>>21259019
Because his videos are as low-effort as his books.
No editing in either one.

>>21259019
Frank when are you going to write something that isn't the Call series? Or is that your brand forever? Would like to see something more polished.

>>21258805
I've read both books as well as her mentor's book. They are all derivatives of Swain (her mentor was a student of Swain). Yes, there are a few new pieces of advice and it is written for fantasy/sci-fi writers and isn't written in that annoyingly cheerful Socratic style that Swain likes, but the fundamentals are identical. If anon is already reading Swain, he'll learn more by writing and practice than from reading another book from the same school of thought. At some point it just becomes a way to procrastinate.

And have you read any of Chester's published works (or even the ones she references in that book?). I'm not even sure they sold very well. If you're writing fantasy/sci-fi you're better off learning from someone like Sanderson, who, if not the best writer, manages to at least sell.

Anyone doing november write a book challenge? Has anyone been able to leverage that challenge into something bigger?

>>21259937
>And have you read any of Chester's published works (or even the ones she references in that book?). I'm not even sure they sold very well. If you're writing fantasy/sci-fi you're better off learning from someone like Sanderson, who, if not the best writer, manages to at least sell.
The endorsement from Butcher is more than enough.

>>21260177
feels too much like a pancake eating contest for my liking. Like performative typing social media cuddly dickhead hour.

>>21258180
>go live in the woods

Yes, I can't wait to get back to my cabin. With electric, water, property tax it costs about $1k/year and its right on the river on ten acres.

New thread
>>21260544
>>21260544
>>21260544

>>21258679
the real truth is that you can't learn to write novels. You have to have a very specific type of personality and spend a very long time in a quiet room. If its making you miserable, you should just stop it and enjoy life. Nobody will care when you die either way, not for very long, no matter how popular you are. None of your friends/family/neighbors/famous people are going to care even if you create something incredible.

Maybe I've been reading too much Jack Woodford again lel

The only reason to do it is to amuse yourself. There is no money or glory in it.

Bump

>>21261039
>>21260545

>>21259369
It's a contest on reddit/spoiler]. Also your feedback is duly noted.

>>21260551
You can, however, learn to avoid basic mistakes.
A sanity check or two can't hurt either.
But yeah, spending a very long time in a quiet room...got that too.
t. tech worker

>>21251561
nice cutie frfr

>>21251985
Their money fucked off too.

>>21253448
Kind of a strange thing to share about your sister, but whatevs, I won't judge

>>21259280
No, it means he's gone schizo.