/lit/ - Literature

WOW I CAN'T MAKE A THREAD WITHOUT POSTING COOMBAIT ANIME BOOBA

"Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.
Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
The slogan 'Press On!' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race."
-Calvin Coolidge

You WILL finish your story. This is a threat.

Friendly reminder that all rough drafts will inevitably suck ass. Many have the misguided belief that whatever comes out of your fingers needs to be literary quality on the first go. This attitude has destroyed countless high potential writers before they could even start. Big shame.

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone who made my last poem my most popular one yet.

Also a big thanks to those who subscribed.

>>21775452
if I learn to write like a novelist and rely on drafts I won't be able to write like a serialist

>>21775452
Why are you still thinking in terms of drafts? Are you using a typewriter or something?

Show don't tell is fucking stupid. The most popular and successful litrpgs only use tell. It's easier and quicker to convey the message. Nobody wants to know how much heat was generated by a lighting blast. We want to know the 5000 degrees of energy being stopped by a single pin on the ground!
That's fucking storytelling.

>>21775487
>Litrpgs

>>21775487
you're right but for the wrong reasons
pick up a book

>>21775500
The most successful genre currently.

>>21775444
Ok.
>Then, suddenly and for no reason at all, everyone died.
>The end.
Happy now?

>>21775444
Put your first down anon, I'm at 29k and this novella will be done at about 35k

>>21775487
>5000 degrees of energy
Wat?

I'm done for today, I need to sleep on the next stanzas.
Only started this version of the story this week and already have about 130 lines of verse, I aim on making it a thousand or two in total, maybe more.
please give feedback
>https://songoftheotherlings.carrd.co/

>>21775487
it's not stupid, it's just misused. It's meant to criticize lines like this:
>John knew he had to eat fast otherwise he would be late for school.
where it's more like a mental note for the writer about where the story needs to go than it is actual narration. This happens when an amateur writer sits down and starts writing as a method of thinking through the story and most writers fairly quickly learn to notice and correct it.
People just latch on to the term to criticize prose they feel is dry or passive because they don't have any better way to phrase it.

>>21775427
https://pastebin.com/svxUvVML

>>21775556
Read more litrpgs

>>21775444
Checked, but you can't threaten me without knowing whether I will survive to do it or not.

Rate my writing

>As I sit day by day between these cold prison walls and reflect upon the unhappy course my life has taken, I feel my mind beginning to yield gradually to these hateful chains. Though I know I committed the act with a clear mind and in good conscience, believing it to be just, I sometimes find myself in doubt, and think perhaps it is right for me to be locked up here. No doubt this is nothing more than the confounding effect of prison working upon my mind. The human brain is versatile enough to adjust itself to any circumstance, no matter how dreadful it may be. But while I am not yet adjusted, and still maintain that my actions were just, I wish to write up a full account of the matter, so that in a moment of weakness I may read it over and put aside any challenges to my conscience.
>It is necessary for me to begin on that fateful summer of 1921, when I was just a little boy and my father left Munich to set up a rural life in the South of Argentina. This was a most surprising thing, for nobody who knew my father well could have imagined him to be capable of such an extraordinary feat. He was modest by nature; a teacher of literature who had been exempted from the war draft on the basis of his professorship; a man who preferred a strict routine and abhorred all change; a frugal and sensible sort of person who could live in a shack so long as he had his books. That such a man could leave all he had and go conquistador-like into the scorching plains of Argentina, to set up a vineyard, despite having no experience in tending one, was not to be believed. Yet it is often the case that our noblest traits remain hidden until they are forced out by some extremity of circumstance: such was the economic situation at the time.

>>21775630
I like it. It's very very good.

>using libreoffice offline
>make some edits, go to save
>tells me "document has been changed by others, do you still want to save?"
>panic
are the glowies on my PC messing with my draft?

>>21775461
>>21775485
It's true that drafting all the way through is not nearly as effective as going back and editing while you steadily add to the story. However, this is more for the mindset that 'whatever comes out first likely won't be great so instead of being hung up on that I should just continually work on what I have until it's done', whether that involves re-editing as you go or just accepting the whole draft.

>>21775630
been reading a lot of Thomas Mann?
not bad
>No doubt this is nothing more than the confounding effect of prison working upon my mind.
this sentence stands out to me as weak—consider rephrasing to follow up the doubt in the previous sentence with a more conflicted tone.
other than that, I like it

>>21775569
I like it, but I do feel like the reader needs some specific scenes and characters to get into the story; it’s a bit repetitive and vague so far, but maybe the rest of it will fix that once you’ve written it. Keep us updated, anon.

>>21775588
Why, because suddenly energy is measured in degrees, instead of watts or joules?
Shall we talk about gallons of heat, while we're at it?
You seem to have completely missed the point.

>>21775692
Yeah I haven't been able to actually set the scene so far, I want to begin the story with a discussion like a lot of epics do and after that jump into some events. I don't know if I like how repetitive it is because after reading it I do feel like some things are said so often but I also want to make it sound like one of those old stories with terms always reused.
schmank you fren

>>21775641
Yes, PLEASE jump directly to a government conspiracy centered around you personally.
It's probably just a software glitch.
Because you're nowhere near interesting enough for the government to pay any attention to you.
And I mean that in a nice way.

>>21775723
Yes. Nobody gives a shit about actual technical naming systems. We all know magic lightning shit out of some guys ass and gets stopped by a single rebar from home Depot acting as a ground. Litrpgs at it's finest.

>>21775752
>at it's finest
illiterate
opinion discarded

>>21775732
i know you are autistic but it was a joke
software glitches are terrifying doe, i don't make a backup every day

>>21775427
Don't give up anons, i made it and so can you

anyone know if there will be a &amp for April?

How do I get better at depicting landscape via writing? What I mean by this is to be able to write a description of a place the characters are at in such a way that the person reading could easily imagine such a place. Is it through writing more scenes like that? Incorporating vocabulary for specific kinds of buildings, such as portico, galley, etc?

>>21776062
read more 19th century authors

>>21776062
>>21776082
"Kidnapped" by Robert Louis Stevenson spends an unnaturally large amount of time describing outdoor environments.

>>21776100
in general they spent way more time establishing time and place back then. That's why impatient losers are always pulling out the "paid by the word" critique, but more often their prose was just a joy to read and they didn't have to worry about competing with TV or film.

>>21775588
no, I don't think I will

>>21776137
everything now reads like it's occurring in an empty room

>>21775630
Sounds archaic for the purported time period

>>21776207
I was gonna jokingly post a harry potter litrpg in response but i couldn't find one
So instead here, xianxia dumbledore

>>21774630
>>21774630
Here you go.

>>21776314
>xianxia
I am extremely proud to say I've never read a xianxia. in fact I have only the barest grasp of what that even is. my understanding is it's like naruto style training, sweeping the floor and going on vision quests, but absolutely slathered in ancient chinese orange duck sauce flavor. and cultivation doesn't mean the cultivation of plants, but doing saitama style 100 push ups, 100 sit ups, and running 10 kilometers every day, except ten or a hundred times that because that's only the beginner level workout and achieving enlightenment (are they aiming to achieve enlightenment?) is tougher than that

>>21776419
Honestly, you're not far off. Naruto could be considered a xianxia of sorts, ESPECIALLY the way Sage Mode is obtained.

I've only absorbed the slightest smattering of cultivation lingo through memes and it was enough to let me write a story that, according to a review, "puts an original western spin on xianxia while avoiding or subverting the typical tropes".

>>21775444
>almost finished 3rd book
>172k words rite nao
>Still one more booko to go
>comfy cooler months of writing ahead.
We are all gonna bake it lads!

https://pastebin.com/diM72LB5

>>21775427
question:
When is it appropriate to use parenthesis is narration?

>>21776613
as with everything: for effect
whether or not the effect is successful depends on your execution

>>21775452
Yeah, but no one here even writes.

>>21776613
Parentheses are a childish habit. Everytime I find myself wanting to use them I ask myself can I use hyphens or a comma instead, and the answer is always yes.

tell me what the fucking shortcut to epic prose is right now i wanna write like a real nigga

>>21776664
read everything aloud and if you don't cry while reading it then it wasn't good

>>21775630
t. Ignatious O'Reilly

>>21776664
the path to mastery is the same in everything
absorb
study
experiment
reflect

>>21776523
>to distract the Dread Lord from their fury?

>>21776740
absorb what
study who
experiment where
reflect for how long

>>21777067
Don't be dense.
>absorb information
Learn from every mistake you make as well as the mistakes of others. Remember what works and what doesn't.
>study literature & language
Read those who's prose you wish to learn from.
>experiment in your own works
Practicing your craft is the best way to observe your merits, as well as your pitfalls. Honestly, experimenting and playing around with your craft is the step which matters the most. The other steps are intuitive, they come naturally, but that's not to say being conscious of them isn't helpful.
>reflect
As if there's some arbitrary "ideal" reflection period you need to adhere to? Reflect until you find how you've improved and what you're still lacking. Absorb that information, study further, write more and then reflect again.

>>21776667
astonishingly good advice, it gives a great indicator as to what is cringe as well

>>21777067
NPC

>>21777067
>reflect for how long
your entire life

anybody else question why a book sells on one day and not another? Like why today and not yesterday or the day before?

>>21777339
I question why hardly anyone that bought one of my books can be bothered to leave a review.

>>21777357
posted my book into goodreads and day 1 it got a 3 star review :*(

>>21775487
I told her of my penis but she didn't believe me
Thus I showed it and she called the police

>>21777366
Ouch. I guess there are worse fates than not getting reviews.

>>21777405
didn't even say anything just plopped it with a 3 star....

>>21777412
lmao
wonder if its something like a bot that review bombs all new listings

I make mediocre stories with little to no payoff, god help me

>Sometimes Jack wondered how he got here, the promise of college, and the lackluster life he had procured for himself beyond graduation. But he didn’t know where exactly he went wrong. Maybe he should’ve pursued his passion for History, or perhaps he should’ve gone more in the applied direction and graduated with an Engineering degree. However, he split the ticket and managed to graduate with an Applied Statistics degree with a 2.9 GPA. He couldn’t code, so that was out of the picture for him. He barely learned anything from his degree, having cheated his way through most of the later courses in his program. Should he have tried harder? He wasn’t necessarily good at math, but the promise of a career led him onward through expectations and derivations of expectations, variances and derivations of variances, and an introductory class on R. But then the jobs which used his degree came with hard GPA cutoffs, Master’s degree requirements, and the dreaded “three years of experience for an entry level position”. Perhaps he should’ve done more internships? But he didn’t know of any companies that hired people with such low GPAs. Perhaps he should’ve majored in something else? Well, anything that didn’t require math up to and including vector calculus was automatically unemployable in terms of wider society’s eyes. It didn’t matter if he wasn’t good at math--he had to at least try to secure his financial future, correct? But he failed. So Jack was stuck in his position as a desk jockey, and stuck in a way that he couldn’t help but label it all as some kind of cruel cosmic fate for people like him in the twenty-first century. However, his parents paid for most of the things keeping him alive, like his electricity, food, and water, and he wasn’t a NEET. So that had to be good enough, for now.


I feel like this is a shit way to go about introducing a character but I have no idea *why* or how to make it not shit.

>>21777500
maybe you don't produce any expectations in the reader, why does the reader care? Will it be a payoff or because Jack is about to kills his parents? That paragraph also doesn't give the character anything memorable it describes a problem he has. Which may or may not be an interesting problem to the reader.
its good enough though, I don't see why you are unsatisfied with it

Is it acceptable (or even a good idea) to directly tackle one of your book's major themes right at the prologue? Like having a brief monologue about it? (and yes, I do need at prologue for a few reasons).
Keep in mind that by "theme" I refer to the thematic core readers usually only grasp after reading the book once (if not twice), the "nuance".
The equivalent of what I'm thinking to do would be Tolkien starting lotr with a few words about mortality and immortality, good and evil, and then starting the first chapter as usual.
It's difficult to explain, but there's a certain effect I'm hoping to achieve by doing this. What would you think?

Do we shill our wattpads here?

>>21777500
It's a lore dump. Why have it at all? Reveal its details when necessary to support the story.

>>21777521
As long as you keep them tastefully infrequent, and don't reply to yourself endlessly, pretending to be gushing fanbois that somehow show up whenever you grace /lit/ with your presence...I think you'll be fine.

>>21777500
It's not good because it produces a feeling of ennui. That's the position large swathes of the population are in. They don't want to read about that. They want to read about Jack finding a machine gun under his desk or finding out the office hottie is actually an elf queen from dimension IXIFNV. Or in, in a more serious vein, introducing Jack via his relationships with the other people around him. This is just both depressing and boring. People don't like boring. People like scary, exciting, mythical, exotic, and many other adjectives. But not boring.

>>21777500
Assuming it’s a main pov character, there’s no hook, which makes them boring. If your character doesn’t have any clearly defined goals, then he must either be doing something interesting or something interesting must be happening to him to entice the reader. Why should I continue reading about a painfully average person reflecting upon his painfully average life?

It’s not actually poorly written btw so don’t delete it. Save it in your notes and use it to explore the character. It doesn’t work as an introduction but it can be used for later.

>>21775444
I don't wanna go on anymore
I only sleep
what is the point, I don't wanna show what I do to anyone

>>21777585
Take your depressive prattling to >>>/lit/wwoym/ .

Rate a random thing I came up with as I was about to fall asleep last night:

>Each of the three scientists slowly crowded around, but held their breath not wishing to seem overly eager. The drugs should be wearing off soon and the cat should awake. This dose they were certain was the final one, the one they after all this time would succeed. Animals capable of human speech! A mad dream at first but one through rational study and thought combined with the thorough systematic advancement of science was about to pay off. The cat slowly opened its eyes waking from its sleep. They waited as it looked up at them. The cats eyes narrowed and made a peculiar expression as it looked at them. "God disapproves of what you have done. And your kind will be punished for this," the first words from another species slowly spoken before the cat turned away not wishing to speak more.

>>21777605
Cat was a stray. Heard a preacher on the street. Data results corrupted.

>>21777605
It's a fine summary for a short story, but not a short story itself.

>>21777593
sorry

I'm so bad at it. I love horror and want to write it. But I only enjoy it's aesthetic. I don't get scared. Anything I write is just not good enough. Can I ever write good horror?

>>21777616
Yeah, is a short story idea. Animals gain the ability to talk and all share a uncomfortable idea about a slightly unpleased threatening God that humans don't have. Humans question whether the animals know more about God due to being closer to nature or if their believes stem from by being less intelligent unenlightened animals.

>>21777665
Well, I say go for it! I like it!
I'm fond of religious fiction, for lack of a better term.
I once wrote a story about a comatose patient, someone the government wanted to interrogate.
They subjected him to a brutal psychological treatment that shattered his psyche.
They monitored his progress by machine, fascinated that an entire universe of separate beings had been created inside his shattered mind.
The patient's name was "Jehovah Lord".

>>21777521
>>21777537
Okay good idea

>https://www.wattpad.com/user/FiveMilesGone

Read my stuff and judge me, they're short and light-hearted. Don't be expecting greatness

>>21777648
Your writing shouldn't scare you, what you're writing about should scare you

>>21777687
Very whimsical, I'll give you that.
How the heck did you get ~125 views in 5 days?!
I posted ~20 of my short stories there nearly a year and a half ago, and have a total of 35 views across all of them (and I think one of them was from me posting it).
I feel like I'm cursed.

I'm rewriting my book and trying to create a tight outline / structure. I have multiple POV characters / protagonists. Do I structure each of their storylines as individual 3 act structures? Or how does one handle this?

>>21777726
Hey thanks anon, I really wanted them to be just something you could start and finish in a short period of time if you had a spare 20 minutes or so you didn't want to invest into a grand arching plot. And I have literally no idea I just got lucky I guess. I had some good comments and rating so maybe they attracted people or something but I don't really know how it works.
I'm writing another one right now actually.

>>21777687
Want on the author pastebin?

>>21777521
all i hear from everyone is that wattpad is chock full of atrocious writers
you really hang out in a dumpster for fun

>>21777744
Well, more power to you.
I wish I could catch a break.

Is Scrivener worth the cost if you read the manual or is it better to make seperate documents for each chapter?

>>21777759
Is that a thing? I thought you'd have to actually have a book to be on there but sure

>>21777760
Yeah I didn't really know where else to put it and that place has a lot of people so I figured why not

>>21777762
If you link your stuff I'll go through and rate some of it, see if that gives it a boost or something

>>21776405
Wtf am I reading? No way this is one chapter. What happens next?

>>21777778
It's for any /wg/ author but only the published books get any attention. Im convinced anons have a hard bias against any webnovel regardless of how well they're written

>>21777786
I honestly just don't like reading it on the screen

>feel like i had a shitty day
>take count of progress
>2500 words
man that was painful.

What font is best to use?

>>21777776
Separate files for chapters is not a good idea. You have to be able to quickly jump around when you are editing. Exporting yoru final document is also not going to be fun if you have it all in separate files.

>>21776405
How far into this little novel are you?

>>21775552
Truly the saddest tale of all time.

I've been writing but it's only outlines...
I'm scared to write for real, bros...

>>21777500
>I feel like this is a shit way to go about introducing a character but I have no idea *why* or how to make it not shit.

It's a summary. It would be fine for an unimportant side character. For a main character it needs to be teased out into something more substantial. You have to describe him actually doing his shitty job, talking to his parents, etc.

Rhetorical questions are a red flag that there's too much introspection and the character needs someone to talk to. Move that material to dialog.

Brendan Fraser's redemption has given me new hope

>>21775487
Litrpgs are for retards

>>21776661
I've seen some good books use them, although sparingly. One is from Shadow of the torturer.
>Just underground lies the examination room; beneath it, and thus outside the tower proper (for the examination room was the propulsion chamber of the original structure) stretches the labyrinth of the oubliette.
This of course is the narrator casually mentioning that his tower is actually a repurposed spacerocket

>>21777710
Thanks Confucius

>>21778347
Why else do you think they're popular.

>>21775630
YGMI. No matter what nitpicking is going on with sentences from lesser anons here, you are leagues above the rest here. We're gonna miss you.

If your writing doesn't make you feel something you should delete it.

Which AI did OP used to make pic related?


11:38 PM, Day, Clear Skies and Few Clouds

Two figures could be seen arguing in a grey old sedan cruising fast through the lanes. The driver, a handsome young man, 27 years of age with black hair and a shaven beard, wore a black rented suit. The young woman beside him had red hair, brown eyes, and was wearing a beautiful, but not vulgar, red dress.

Their banal argument was customary.

"I told you I just forgot the lights on. It can happen to everyone," Bruce, the driver, said. "It does happen to everyone, why are you making this into an argument? You don't even pay the goddamned bills."

"Ah yes, I was wondering when you were going to throw that in my face," Alice, the young woman in the passenger seat, said. "I am looking for a job, you moron."

"Moron?!" Bruce replied, looking over at her, almost forgetting the traffic.

"Just let me finish, for fuck's sake," Alice shouted. "You know I am looking for a job, and it was you that did not want me to work with Harry because of some crazy jealousy issue."

"So you are blaming me for not wanting you to work with that fucking faggot?" Bruce said, chuckling, as he was clearly getting angry. "You know what? Go work for him, go suck his cock like you did - Oh, wait, I forgot that you did more than that."

"Fuck you, Bruce, you are such a fucking child," she replied. "That was six years before I met you, and you keep throwing these bullshit things in my face, even after we have discussed and reached a fucking conclusion."

"Sorry for me not wanting my woman to be a whore at some dick's firm," Bruce said.


"What the fuck did you just say to me?" Alice replied, secretly thinking about how she wished Bruce would crash the car and get killed.

"I," Bruce spoke, loudly. "Am sorry," he said in a tone of mockery. "For not wanting my fucking girlfriend to be a fucking whore at some cocksucking faggot's firm." He shouted, very loudly. Then he gazed at her, his eyes widened eyes, in a way that to the outside viewer, he would appear as a clearly crazy man.

"Stop the car," Alice said.

"Ah, come on, stop it," Bruce said, gesturing with his right hand and rolling his eyes.

"Stop the car, now!" she shouted while blasting the car's panel with both her hands.

"Come on, babe, I take it back. You are not a fucking whore," Bruce replied, thinking how he got himself into yet another conflict.

"I swear to God that I'm gonna jump, Bruce," she said, looking directly at him with her hands on the car's door handle.
Thoughts? Too little exposition? Too much dialogue? Too much vulgarity? It would be the start of the book, about this couple's relationship. They are on their way to a friend's marriage, which would be were a considerable part of the book would be set.

Bump

I just realized I haven't put indentations into my paragraphs. How big should the indentation be? Sorry I'm retarded

>>21778517
kek, it took me a while to realize when I first started. Just hit tab anon.

>>21778578
That's a big dent though, is it too big?

>>21778580
In word processors, that's what the tab key is for. I've been through a few electric typewriters in my time and they've all had a tab key for that exact function. On modern computers, if you're using Word or the like, when you press enter after a paragraph which has an indentation the new paragraph will have an indentation also. How else do you think it's done? People aren't out there pressing the space key a few times. If it looks too big then try making your text size smaller and decrease your margins.

>>21778590
>How else do you think it's done?
Magic?

>>21778483
I like this.

>The sun was covered by snow clouds seconds before it was fully raised. Soldiers looked in terror at the beast, hundreds of meters of ice and snow came freezing every piece of life intact , all the greenery was destroyed that have been the same in their lands for centuries, all because of an unatural winter. Right as the snow dropped came with it several feet of snow, surrounding the formation of trees in thick snow, killing it instantly for absorption.
>All of the elven guards looked down below their homes main gate and the thousands of blockades made against their upcoming enemy. Blockades of elven metal luxuries had been melted and forged into the very silver that was supposed to help for this day of battle. Shiny pointed shields faced planted on its helm, thousands of long row column of upright spikes, and hundreds of thousands of spears ready to be tossed towards their enemy when the first sign of them in range. Every soldier didn't look upon their peoples hard work with charming optimism when they saw the thousands of yards filled with defenses and looked back upon their people armed to the teeth. Even the thought of every non combatant citizen hidden and accounted for in their stronghold catacombs, the safest place throughout the entire kingdom, kept their sanity. No, they only thought about falling to death. A fall to their death is something they can all tangibly realize and understand. The enemy with their freezing snow clouds they can't say the same. A threat so existential and unknown, it seemed like divine punishment for their hubris. To build a city of great advancement of culture and innovation only to be killed without a reason.

>Only for a race so unknown that only one legend of their eixistence is told, a story as old as oral history. That one legend is one of the oldest. A nightmare to all children of every race. The Ice Walkers is a group of uncivilized people who can control the weather into a society destroying winter. That leave nothing but a mountain of snow, it's inhabitants are either being killed by the cold, the weight, or by theirs people fury. The Ice Walkers didn't just use magic to win the battle that made them living nightmares. It was just a means of travel and a way of signifying their inevitable rule.

I hate the name so much for the Ice Walkers open to any names.

>>21777906
I was 50 k into it until I decided I needed to rewrite it. A fantasy setting doesn't lend itself to be as odd and dystopian as a cyberpunk setting. The story veered off from a serial killer trying to escape to now a serial killer trying to find notJesus.

>>21778660
Why does this feel like AI wrote this?

>>21778667
It's not my prose style, that's probably why. It's meant as a diagetic story read to little kids. That is meant to be pro imperialist propaganda once the excerpt is finished. I meant for it to be storybooky while also being too dark for any normal child to read, so young

>>21775866
im not gonna make it but ill keep writing anyway

>>21778483
>AI OP picrel
Stable Diffusion.
>>>/g/91898620

>>21778517
The paragraph-indent is done using your word processor's paragraph style.
Create a named style to represent your default paragraph.
Don't do it with tabs or spaces; then you won't be able to adjust it globally when you change your mind.

>>21778728
Oh wow, it changed every paragraph in the entire text with just a couple of clicks, nice. Thanks anon.

An opening I’m working on.

>It had taken Henrik only a moment to realise that he was going to die. Odo’s gurgles whimpered out to him, muffled under the heavy downpour of torrential rain. Their weapons laid in idle heaps, shallow puddles in the muddy road threatening to engulf them.
>Henrik crawled up to his hands and knees, drops of water sneaking into his mouth as he gasped for air. One hand travelled down to nurse his bruised stomach and he winced as it made contact. Wet, but given the weather, it could be a coincidence.
>Need… to get up…
>Odo was dead and he was next, Henrik knew that. But that’s where it had to stop. With a deep inhale of the cold night air, his stomach wailing all the while, Henrik inched himself towards his fallen sword. His fingers clutched around the damp leather hilt and he let out the breath, inviting another round of wails from his stomach. A pause, another deep breath, then Henrik forced himself onto his feet, teeth gritted as veins bulged, his steel acting more like a support than anything used for cutting and piercing.
>The vampire had stopped it’s relentless feast of Odo’s lifeless corpse. It rose with a lazy incline, red pellets flinging from its mouth as it violently twitched it’s head in unpredictable patterns. Henrik swallowed as he looked at his friend’s body, not bothering to question whether it was the rain or his own tears obscuring his vision

>>21778718
This cover has a Touhou game cover vibe

>>21778448
It makes me feel disappointment, so I'll keep it!

>>21778667
It doesn't. It's too incoherent for an AI.

>>21775630
The framing is a little typical but I like it.

Latest from Tooky's Mag - the curious tale of a Walmart man who walks into Trader Joe's. I'll admit to having too much fun playing with the AI voice on the narration - I used samples from 'There Will Be Blood' which included dissonant background music which created an interesting horror undertone.

https://tookys.substack.com/p/ray-of-sunshine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ngqvn1tHK4

>>21776613
When you're based
Good usage of parenthesis is fun

>thought of killing myself today
>no way, I'm only halfway through my book
based asf

>>21778483
You should write this story in your native language, anon.

>>21778791
I really like the last sentence

I want to put my story on Royal Road but I'm afraid it's not good enough

>>21779041
>Royal Road
That's a low, low, low bar. post your first chapter here, we'll shit on it so you can fix it up. writing is an iterative process, you won't get better if people aren't giving you critique

how do people on RR respond to you going back and updating already published chapters?
I pretty frequently go back and add details when new things come to me, but I can see how it would be annoying as a reader

>>21779060
they don't even notice. I view rr as a means of getting beta readers and allowing you to get some limited feedback while you're still working your way through the draft

>>21779060
why dont you just fucking write the entire thing in advance, you adhd zoom zoom? oh nooooo the zoomer can't into delayed gratification he's a little wigger who needs his attention whoring dopamine fix as soon as he craps out 500 words of draft!

>>21779052
It is a low bar, but there are things you need to do to get on trending and attract readers.

>>21779060
I think they'd be fine with it. People understand it's a site for amateurs writing first drafts. Maybe with every new chapter give patch notes so current readers can get the gist of it or go back to reread it.

there are certain scenes in my story I can't get out right unless I am drunk as shit
so I drink for my hobby.

>>21778980
>grey old sedan

https://www.englishgrammar101.com/module-6/modifiers-adjectives-and-adverbs/lesson-4/order-of-adjectives

when are you winning your nobel prize /wg/?

>>21777366
3 is better than 1 and 2. I am thinking people think 3 actually means ITS SHIT but the rubric says 3 stars meaned he liked it. Last time I left a 3 star the author was upset because I left a positive review and a "low score". Whatever I guess.

>>21779142
3 star has become "its bad" when it used to be average a liked it
4 star is liked
5 star is really liked
if its anything below a 4 everybody assumed you didn't like it

>>21776780
It’s probably asking too much of you, but did you have a point?

>>21779052
https://litter.catbox.moe/b1i7zm.pdf

>>21779155
>dong, johnson, choad, pecker, slick willy
I see
Anyway the problem is you spend the majority of the first chapter saying here's this character, this is how we met, what a wacky guy this guy is hurr hurr
What you should do is have something happen so you can show them interacting, and if you want to have a little blurb about them later on you can, but stringing each introduction one after another isn't engaging

What's a good job? I want to earn a decent living and have a good career going by the time I'm in my thirties, but I also want time to write. I have no delusions of writing for income.

>>21779169
but they are doing something. they were builiding a chicken shed for Dong and they are going to Johnson's house to swim.

>>21779210
the chapter is just shy of 1500 words, so it's short. when I remove all the "so this guy's name is ralphie cause he loooooves puking his guts out. that's how we met ol' ralphie, he was behind the 7 eleven by the dumpster puking his guts out" it drops to 750 words. not very much happens in this chapter.

>>21779169
>>21779223
oh okay, i see what you mean.

>>21778980
I forgot to check some misspellings.
>grey old sedan
Old gray sedan.

>>21779272
grey is correct

>>21775574
But I never learned. In fact I still don't know, what the fuck is the difference between telling and narration?

>>21779281
gray is US version

>>21779101
Trending is easy
>Don't challenge your readers
>Use some flavor of the month tags
>Have at least two female characters that are 'cute'
>Release update frequently
>Have a backlog of pre-written stuff
(you) can forward me your patreon earnings from (you)r goyslop now. The only downside is (you) will have known (you)'ve compromised (you)r mental integrity.

>>21779281
I'm retarded. I misspelled again. Anyway, what do you think of that text as the book opener? Ignoring the grammar mistakes

>>21779293
gray is for faggots and don't you try and pretend otherwise

>>21779300
Don't sell out man, don't sell out

https://youtu.be/WejrTSKKOL0?t=237

>>21779300
But anon, I did all of that! There's only one caveat; the female characters are elementary schoolers. That one weird detail derails everything.

>>21779302
I think you can clarify and cut some stuff
>Two figures could be seen arguing in a grey old sedan cruising fast through the lanes
So right now it seems like someone from the outside is watching them, but then
>The driver... wore a black rented suit.
How would an outside observer know it was a rented suit? So are they being watched from the outside, or are they not? You need to make that more clear.
>Their banal argument was customary
And then the argument we see is them yelling at each other and one wishing the other dead. So it isn't banal, even if it may be typical of their fucked up relationship.
>Bruce, the driver
we already know he's the driver
>Then he gazed at her, his eyes widened eyes, in a way that to the outside viewer, he would appear as a clearly crazy man.
So, are they being watched from the outside? Say he looks like a crazy man, not that he would appear as a clearly crazy man.

And then you can drop a couple instances of Alice/Bruce/he/she said. And I'd cut some of the swears because the ones that are there will become more impactful if you do.

>>21779330
You probably made the mistake of not calling them 'magical girls' or some shit.

>>21779345
It's supposed to be an omniscient observer, but I guess the description didn't work.
>So it isn't banal, even if it may be typical of their fucked up relationship
She is wishing him dead only in thought, in a time of extreme rage. They often fight, specially in the months preceding this particular fight.
>Say he looks like a crazy man
I guess I will change the descriptions then.

>>21779300
>>Release update frequently
>>Have a backlog of pre-written stuff
This part is correct.

>>21779378
I went full comic LO.

>>21779345
>he/she said
Never do this, ever. It's worthless clutter and word count filler.

>times new Roman makes my manuscript 350 pages
>Eb garromond makes it 385
Think I can trick people in thinking they're reading a longer book just by adjusting the margins and changing the font?

>>21779427
Embarrassing post

>>21779155
Forget about the listing of names. This story isn't a fantasy story Isekai. That won't work in royal road. At the end have them get transported into another world.

>>21779455
It doesn't have to be isekai. Straight fantasy does just fine on RR.
It doesn't even have to be litrpg. Just "progression fantasy".

>>21779431
are you 14 years old?

kys

>>21779460
Isn't an anons YA high school wish fulfillment story one of the most successful in RR?
I think people have too narrow of a view of what they can do there

>>21779513
Yeah, I don't understand the hyper-skewed view of RR that so many anons on here have. Probably sour grapes.

>>21777730
anyone?

>>21779563
There isn't any one way to do it
It's like asking "how do I write a novel" idk just do it

>>21779460
Is there any hope for fantasy that isn't progression or unending epics? Just classic 100k word volumes that each give a satisfying story before moving on to the characters' next adventure.

>>21779571
Yeah. I would say the only hard requirement for RR is significant volume. Treat it like writing a whole series rather than one book, and use the volumes feature to separate the books.

>>21779571
I've read a few like that. Theres an RR writer I like who does short sword and sorcery stories of his 3(4? I haven't been on RR in awhile) character cast having adventures, each installment probably like 60k~ each
Idk if he's making any money off it but I enjoyed his work and I think he was in that middling range of popularit

>>21779579
How interconnected do you mean when talking about it as a series? I lean more towards Mike Hammer than Stormlight, and although I have admittedly little knowledge of webnovels I don't know of any successful ones that are more episodic.
>>21779582
That sounds like a fun read. Do you remember the title?

>>21779582
>people will sit and consume literally one million words of asinine headvomit but think crime and punishment is "too long"

>>21779596
Clear chronological continuity and the same main character throughout. RR readers will be VERY unhappy if Vol. 3 suddenly has a different main character.

>>21779607
>>21779596
And I would strongly recommend that you have the main character become more capable/stronger as the story goes on. It doesn't have to be constant litrpg type grind. Y'know, gets better at fencing, learns new spells, that type of thing. Readers for these uber-longform serials really appreciate it.

>>21779601
Ridiculous ain't it? I was so optimistic to write and meet writers wanting to get away from all the promoted goyslop in TV and books but it turns out even the untalented are making it too. Just a different flavor to game the system to get a mass audience and for what?

>>21779625
Would progressively descending into alcoholism until hitting rock bottom and getting sober count as becoming stronger?

>>21779601
You're such a weird ass dweeb
Yes obviously lower barrier activities get more engagement than high ones. I read classics, poetry, and non-fic but I like literature and writing. It's here I put my effort
Most people are just tired wagies or put their energy in one thing while dabbling on others. I'm sure you have hobbies or interests that you don't take as seriously as lit
Come on bro theory of mind, you can't be retarded if you want to be a half decent writer

>>21779685
>defends atrocious webnovels that drag on longer than proust
>calls other people dumb
didnt read your post btw, too long for me

>>21779685
Actually retards make the best writers

>>21779703

>>21779829
>image for ants

What a terrible thing it was to ache for a world that no longer existed--she had heard it said that time heals all wounds, but the more distant her memories of the Monastery became, the more she yearned for back then when everything was veiled behind a gossamer of innocence. The relentless march of time had tragically begun smoothing away every flaw, until all she could do was look back with uncritical adoration, and an unquenchable longing.

>>21779833
The image is for re**itors

>wrote a chapter a month ago, thought it was fine
>read it again today
>line edits needed everywhere

>>21780033
That's a good thing; it means you're a good enough writer to know when something needs work.

>>21779833
Looks fine for me since I’m mobile scum.

>>21779918
Gorgeous painting

>>21780033
Same. But now that I have more feedback I'm starting to see where my writing has my voice and when it feels uninspired

>>21780087
Ruins of the Abbey of Heisterbach, Rhineland, 1863.

>>21780107
I can see how it could inspire such longing.

>>21780116
I’m a big art enthusiast, but I only used this painting to represent a location in the novel.

>>21779424
YA blew it,

>>21779417
The whole of it is.
I know most of you think challenging your readers means telegraphing traumatic events and then doing damage control for a couple of chapters afterward, but it isn't. That's just filler.

Is passive voice bad? I try to avoid it as much as possible but it's really difficult sometimes

>>21780587
can you sit down and read 20k words of your own writing in one sitting? If you get bored and stop part way through, that's a good sign that your reader will get bored way before that and you should put more effort into keeping the reader engaged.

>>21780587
Screeching about passive voice is the same as "le show don't tell"
Originally good basic advice that has been flanderized to the point of retardation

>>21780587
>Is passive voice bad?
No. Time and a place for everything. You should still focus on using active voice because it helps carry the narrative forward.

>>21775444
I don’t write. I’m a 4channer. I’m a self-pubber. I’m trans.

>>21780771
This but trad pub

>writing WIP
>use the word sniggers
>sniggers being a word that is still in relatively common usage and is featured in the dictionary
>it was even used in the fucking Harry Potter books
>show WIP to beta readers
>almost get cancelled for saying the n word

I fucking hate this world.

>>21780845
Your mistake for having woke subhumans as beta readers

>>21780850
Even Satan can appear as an angel of light, anon.

>>21780845
>they ctrl+f'd nigger
>they didn't even read the results
What the fuck lol

>>21780845
I prefer the word snicker, but that's simply because back in middle school one of the poems we read was T.S. Eliot's The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock and one of the lines always stuck with me.
>And I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker,
snigger, to my ear, is a very british word

Retribution Engine Vol. 3 is currently ranked 171,304 with 6 sales and a revenue of uh
like 20 bucks
lmao
it's really not worth the effort putting these up on amzn compared to patreon, but then I do it only for those who want physical copies

>>21780845
You first need to be successful before you get cancelled.

How do I meet writers near me? Preferably cute girls that write cheesy romance.

>A fragile wooden door to a small lodge, left carelessly ajar, creaked open with acute and alarming volume as a man entered.
Can I write that? Should it be
>when a man entered
If you couldn't tell I'm new to this and I don't want to screw up my tenses. I've been writing in present tense up until this story, heard past tense was easier and more common.

>>21781127
yeah, it's fine

>>21781090
If you're not young, nor at university then you'll struggle. If you can stomach it, throw a post out on a community facebook page.

>>21780046
>>21780100
why didn't i see all that shit to begin with. it's like i'm blind

>>21781145
only boomers use fb

anybody here use git for backing up their writing?
I use it for work and think it could be useful for plain text stuff too
I have my scrivener backups automatically uploaded, but it might be cool to make branches and do merges

>>21781145
I'm young, hot, and pretty fucking autistic

>>21781215
typical basedboy more concerned with gadgets than diligence
gulag archipelago was written on scrap paper he saved in his shoes and/or underwear and snuck in and out of prisons, and it's better than anything you'll ever write

>>21781228
it's way more lame and gay and wasteful to obsess over aesthetic austerity than it is to wonder if some technology might give me a slight boost in productivity

>be me
>first day as an IRS agent
>get assigned a tricky tax evasion case
>perp a known hermit and hard to get in contact with
>find his location
>knocks on door and announces who i am
>muffled music gets louder
>knock louder
>say I'll have to break in
>the mournful guitar just get turned up more.
>kick door down
>music pauses
>man who didnt even turn around says softly "sick em boys"
>10 tigers jump out and start gnawing on my flesh
>man laughs and says "enjoy your trip"
>reality starts to warp
>music continues as max volume
>die listening to Maggot Brain by Funk
>pic related
>it was the last thing i saw

>>21781222
post insta

>>21781215
yes, git is fine if you're writing in txt. It's useful for backups as you say and also for tagging releases (drafts).

>>21781001
Shame to, cause its the only slightly bearable work of pseudo cultivation i know of.

>>21781277
elaborate on "slightly bearable"

>>21781243
if you got the fuck off 4chan you'd have all the productivity you can handle, fagbait

Blood dripping from his nose at regular intervals, it follows the crevices of his face before going down through his chin, his tongue just barely long enough to lick it. The metal feeling. He smiles as he remember a old childhood memory, a knee bruise, index and middle finger, an exclamation of surprise, other kids laughing as they call him a robot. At the time he received it as a welcoming explanation. Why am I so different from everyone else? Being a machine, methodically and systematically gathering the data to understand, and who knows, maybe onde participate in human interactions. All that changed when his mother took him to a doctor and he received his diagnosis.

>>21781001
good you're getting $100 a month.

>>21781257
Don't have one; Literally all I do besides work is write and work out.
I know I'm at least decent looking from the relationships I've fallen into (never asked a girl out, but I've had a couple ask me out) and from old ladies who don't give a fuck anymore, but now that I'm out of college I have no social life.

Sourced a title from a poem line and I'm not sorry for being pretentious

>>21781001
If there are four books in this series, it’s called a tetralogy not a quadrology you smut-brained doofus

I got rejected from Asimov's magazine in under 12 hours. How the fuck did they get to my submission that fast? Are they dying or did they batch reject me for being male?

>>21781413
ran through your writing with an AI writing detector, and your writing was flagged as being too "Chat GPT"

>>21781424
Wouldn't they have said that in the rejection letter?

>>21781413
>Did they batch reject me for being male?
I want to say you're joking but something tells me that's entirely unrealistic.

Can someone explain to me why most erotica by males is harem?
What's up with that?

>>21779210
That is NOT doing something.
Scene structure is goal-conflict-disaster.
Otherwise, you're just writing an interlude, and interludes without scenes are boring.
See picrel for advice you need.

>>21781433
why bother? they have a generic rejection letter that takes them 2 seconds to send back

>>21779304
>"grey" is British
>"gray" is American
>anon claims "gray is for faggots"
>therefore anon is British
>therefore is claiming "gray is for bundles of sticks"
something doesn't add up here.

>>21781526
because that's what they want
same reason most erotica by females features rape or domination

>>21779431
No, they'll wonder why they paid so much for blank pages, and you'll never see another sale from them again.
Seriously, do you think people are incredibly stupid or something???

>>21781549
pack of fags?
you're a fag
no, fag is what they call cigarettes
shut up, you're a fag

>>21781551
Damn now we're talkin'
Where can I find books by women that feature rape? Sounds like good times.

>>21781551
Would a man be able to get away with making a book about rape? It sounds like one of those things women are allowed to do but not men.

>>21781215
Yes! I use git to save versions of my writing.
I write my stories in Markdown format, and use pandoc to convert it to something that can become a paperback or e-book.
Markdown diffs quite well when saved in git.
I save all my notes in an open-source outline editor called TreeLine.
Its file format is JSON, which also diffs/compresses well then saved in git.

>>21781561
50 Shades of Grey was written by a woman. A british woman. You can tell because it's spelled grey.

>>21781398
You're not allowed to give him crap about that unless you've written a 4-book series.
And trolling is a rule violation on /lit/ .
Why not take your trolling to /b/ and get your ass handed to you? Afraid?

>>21781576
Okay well
I was expecting something other than the most famous piece of dogshit erotica.
Fifty shades of grey may be really popular but I read the first book and it was trash. I regret it and want my time back.

>>21781542
it's fine, i'm never going to finish that story anyways.

>>21781583
Sorry for citing the most famous and well known book as the example. I'd choose another, but I don't read female authors.

>>21781567
I remember "The Rainbow Cadenza" by J. Neil Schulman having a lot of rape in it.
"Hogg" by Samuel R. Delany was another, but I didn't read that one.

>>21781587
So...you just came here to LARP, and waste our time?

>>21781593
No, I just realized I had no plot. I thought it would be fun to write a simple story about a bunch of boys do things while a little girl outside their group watches. Then later in the story, they find out the little girl gets arrested and sent to a mental facility for killing her abusive social worker. And it's a result of the boy's doing everyday things like chopping up hunt, fishing, digging holes, and other ways to dispose of a body terribly.

>>21781526
the dog chases the car but doesn't know what to do if it ever catches up
the male fantasizes over a harem of women but can only ejaculate once

>>21781638
It's more about having a different women every time

I’ve realized that I’ve been having a lot of fun writing lovecraftian fanfiction, to the point that when I want to write buff girl smut; I end up reading another short story by Lovecraft or Clark Ashton Smith, and then continue writing my fanfiction.

I am filled with the need to write muscle girl smut but I’m getting overtaken by my mighty sneed to try and mimic the writing of Lovecraft and CAS.

>>21781558
blank pages? what? the spacing and size of fonts are different.

And yes, people in general are incredibly stupid.

Why shouldn't I make my chapters around 2k words? 4k is a slog to read and write.

>>21781542
Fuck you, westoid.
>>21781587
Ignore that retard. You've got kino on your hands.
https://stilleatingoranges.tumblr.com/post/25153960313/the-significance-of-plot-without-conflict

>>21781681
to challenge yourself and grow
4k isnt that hard to write and certainly isn't hard to read

>>21781689
It is. I can read 5 2k webnovel chapters but a single 4k one is less than dirt in my eyes.

>>21781689
I'd read a 6k word chapter if it was interesting.
After reading Circe by Madeline Miller I realized how a skilled writer tells a lot of a story with fewer words. You can take as long or as little as you like as long as you're not wasting your words.

https://litter.catbox.moe/o5a3en.pdf

can anyone see if my first 10 pages makes any sense? I think I went a bit overboard.

>>21781674
>the gender quick to call women whores is obsessed with their own desire for promiscuity and has been so for as long as literature has been written
is there anything men say that isn't projection of their own vile inclinations onto others?

>>21781809
There's plenty, but as a woman you only accept selective truths that don't offend you.
Such as the fact that you blame men who you wouldn't date for the fact that the men you do want to date reject you as a long-term partner.

>>21779596
>That sounds like a fun read. Do you remember the title?
NTA, but prob Ogre's Pendant

>>21781285
Cultivation is mouth breather tier sub genre of literature.
Your prose makes it slightly bearable.

Since the Lovecraft Mythos is open source, I’ve been very tempted to write an Isekai story where the main protagonist is given the unabridged copies of every forbbiden text in the Mythos along with full understanding of their texts, which leads to horrors beyond man’s comprehension.

Now that I have written this idea in this board, I will either end up writing it, or shall see another person take up this idea and write it. Either way, I win.

How do you guys find inspiration?

Why are smut writers allowed to come here and shit up the general with their low impulse control prose and limbic system manipulation style? Nobody cares how large the breasts of your main character’s alien love interest are. You’ve destroyed genre fiction, you’ve destroyed literature, and you probably would have destroyed writing if someone didn’t invent ChatGPT to take your job

>>21781949
But that sounds boring and vague as fuck.

Are there any good options for getting my book bound? Should I just find a printing press and do it myself, or do people actually offer this service?

>>21782007
Look for meaning first. Propose a question about some broad important concept and combine it with a question of human behavior. From there pull inspiration from anywhere you want, just make sure that the superficials fit the fundamentals.

How does one go about getting beta readers without getting forced to read someone else's drivel?

>>21782007
i used to not watch a lot of movies but now im watching an entire list of movies recommended to me. i used to not read a lot of books but now i explore titles discussed a lot on /lit/. i also play a lot of games and watch anime and whatnot. im constantly exploring media so i have no shortage of ideas

>>21781347
Post your little balls and cock tucked under the gooch with a view of your plump arse
I am a sultan and I need pleasure boys in my bath house

>>21782246
Miyamoto refuses to accept people who list their primary interests as "video games" to his private division of Nintendo because (and I'm paraphrasing) hiring such people would lead to stagnation in terms of innovation because they would be less willing to try new ideas being that everything they've studied has already quite literally already been done. Instead he opts to hire people with a wider range of skills and interests. For example, if you liked birds he might bump you up on his list, if you like bird type Pokemon, he'll kick your ass out the door.

It is for a similar reason Id be unlikely to purchase any sort of media you developed, especially literature.

>>21782258
i dont care what a nintentard employee thinks when all their games are the same mass appeal drivel for children. sega is infinitely better anyway. and by your attitude i can already tell my works will filter you infinitely

>>21780587
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcbHKbvwCnU&list=PLNRhI4Cc_QmsihIjUtqro3uBkGG3BC6dk

>>21781001
What about Amazon ebooks?

>>21782263
I cant wait to see what you come up with after a diet of CS:GO and One Piece.
>Erm, ackshually, I only play complex games like Bioshock, and I read some clashical booksh this year.

>>21782275
Not that anon but One Piece has taught me many things

>>21782263
>sega is infinitely better anyway.
Tell me more about your Sonic fanfic. The point still stands.

>>21782278
Maybe I judged too fast

>>21781675
Some thing shouldn't be combined

>>21782275
i play and read things people rarely heard of or are unpopular because those are where the unique ideas are stored. most classic writers only got popular after their deaths because in their century their ideas were seen as retarded. ive found some meaningful things in modern times just by digging deep and i recognize the passion put into those projects. im a free thinker and innovator and ahead of the curved unlike most people

>>21782258
This is retarded. You don't necessarily copy ideas if you engage with them most people have their own interpretations. On the other hand if you're creating something while completely ignorant of the things made before, your craations will be primitive and unoriginal.

Tell me how retarded my Synopsis for my first attempt at writing a story.

Constructive criticism or just regular criticism welcome.

In a world where witches and monsters roam the land and hide among the people of an early 1750s colonial America style continent, a family of 3 is attacked one night by a stray werewolf on the hunt, leaving two orphans and a hunter harrowed by the death of Amelice Lowood. Loretta finds the fires of hatred and swears to take revenge on the werewolves while Liam is left by the experience in a far worse state. The hunter, a former friend of their mother takes them to an orphanage for a chance at life after losing their only parent, but as they grow in age their lives take them in far different directions.

I said 1750s colonial america style but there's probably way better ways to word it. The idea of the story is obviously a fantasy setting but this is just an exercise. I'm not actually trying to make a full book just trying to get experience putting together at least 6 chapters of something based on this.

>>21781398
Yeah, I know. I didn't typeset these covers, and I haven't bothered to redo it yet.
Also, if my work is smut, then near enough any fantasy book series with sex in it also counts as smut. I can count the number of explicit scenes on one hand across 820k words of writing.

>>21779427
>i use different words to describe dialogue
>anons say i need to use more he/she said
>i use it more
>anons say it's worthless filler

>>21781545
You make a fair point but its possible someone has evidence of precedent that they made a new rejection letter.

>>21779460
Just created an account on this Royal Road. It seems to be mostly composed of amateur anime/fanfic-styled books.

>>21782636
Your impression is correct.

>>21782636
>a site anyone can sign up to is full of amateurs
Gee fucking whiz no shit

>>21782645
I'm not stupid!
I'm not!

>>21782508
It's not groundbreaking (and it doesn't have to be) but it's not retarded. Just a normal fantasy story imo. Don't pull yourself down. What more important is execution, so go working on it.

>>21782508
Brb feeding this to chatGPT

>>21781773
2gay4me

>>21782645
>full if anime/fanfics styled books
Read much? Goddanmed retard.

>>21781680
Well, if you want to rely on incredibly stupid people to be your buyers, then you'd better write some low-brow shit.
>>21781809
Generalize much?
>>21782020
If you want to gatekeep, go to Reddit.
>>21782142
Kindle print-on-demand, like everyone else here does.
>>21782245
Major lack of self-awareness here.
>>21782597
I hope you've learned something about taking advice from anonymous strangers, i.e. most of it is worthless.

>>21782732
>If you want to gatekeep, go to Reddit.
If you want to post bargain bin commercial smut, go to >>>/trash/

Literally. They have a writing thread there.

>>21782020
>destroyed genre fiction
You're complaining about the integrity of a garbage pile

>>21782753
Be the change you want to see in /wg/ .
So what are you writing, anon?
I mean, besides seething denunciations of people who actually write.

>>21781773
Pastebin. Not downloading your virus

>>21782245
have friends
might be tough if you're a self centered cock

>>21782816
Eh? Anons here use catbox.moe to post PDFs all the time.
It's preferable to pastebin, which tends to censor anything "problematic".

>>21782884
Is there a similar site to pastebin without the censor?

>>21782933
pastes.io

Aura of roses
Airy, flowery fragrance
Alluding FO

>>21781001
>putts low-effort Wattpad smut on Amazon
>doesn’t sell that many copies
>“hurr durr Amazon is a bad market.”
That’s because it’s smut (oversaturated market) and the cover makes it looks amateurish and low-quality.

If you put something high-quality and polished on Amazon, even without any marketing it will sell better.

>>21782959
Naive
Everything will sell poorly if you don't network and shill
Quality has never been a factor

>>21781583
That’s the thing, they’re pretty much all trash. 99% of erotica written by women is trash, and 99% of “romance” written by women is actually just erotica disguised as romance. They usually feature rape or domination but they’re almost never good.

The Authentic Observer has some pretty funny rants about some of these books.

>>21782732
>Kindle print-on-demand, like everyone else here does
How does that affect things if you still want to try for traditional publishing? I want copies to give to beta readers since I think they'll be more likely to take an actual book series than a digital copy or loose pages, but I don't want my future options limited by getting in bed with Amazon.

>>21782959
It's not smut, retard. >>21782534
And I am neither surprised, nor upset at the low sales. My target customer base is my existing readers. When I announced the release of this volume, I explicitly told people that it's solely for those who want to get a physical copy, and to just go to my Patreon if they want to support me.

But of course, a room-temperature IQ bucket crab such as yourself doesn't care to know any of that, you just want to drag others down with you.

>>21781949
No one wants your boring idea for a generic Indiana Jones rip-off

>>21782983
Why would you have an erotic cover if it isn’t smut?

As for providing a physical copy for your existing readers, that only works well if you already have a large reader base. Obviously your low sales doesn’t mean publishing physical copies on Amazon isn’t worth it (plus, another anon brought up Kindle ebooks, which is another East source of money).

No one here is crab-bucketing; you’re getting defensive because people are rightfully criticizing your retarded behavior. Don’t go full Gardner.

>>21783008
>/wg/
>free of bucket crabs
Forgive me for not reading your post in the most charitable light, but that's an asinine thing to insinuate.

>>21781809
men cannot be whores since a man can be loyal to more than one woman at a time because he can have children with all of them. a woman can be loyal to only one man at once since she can only have a child with one man at a time. it's all biologically rooted. nice try tho roastie.

>>21783021
>>21783008
That said, I WILL change the Vol. 3 cover art once I get around to redoing the typesetting

>>21783021
I’m not saying /wh/ is crab-free, I’m saying you weren’t being crabbed. To elaborate on why:

You have what looks like a smut cover for a non-smut book. Smut covers are fine if you’re actually writing smut, but you said you’re not, so you give off the wrong impression. It also makes people who don’t want to read smut dismiss your book at a glance because it looks like smut. I took a look at the other books on Amazon, and book 1 also looks like smut, but book 2 doesn’t. If all of your covers were more like the book 2 cover, that would be a good place to start. But you probably don’t want to do that because covers cost money (or take a lot of effort if you’re doing them yourself).

As for the other guy claiming quality doesn’t matter, he only thinks that because he’s never made anything of polished quality. Polished books absolutely sell better on average. Even if a story is terrible, but the book has a nice cover, is professionally edited and formatted, and looks good on a shelf it can sell a lot of copies (any TikTok trend book). But obviously you should still strive to write good stories and not just focus on making a polished product, but definitely keep in mind that you’ll sell more copies of future works if they’re polished.

>>21783074
*/wg/

>>21783074
I strongly doubt that anon was talking about polish when he mentioned quality.

>>21783080
Depends what he means—quality of story, or the book’s physical quality. Having a good story can’t hurt, because it either doesn’t affect sales much, or it increases them via word of mouth. So absolutely quality of writing still matters. But quality of copy (polish) matters foremost because people can and will judge a book by its appearance; of a novel has a great story, but looks like amateur dogshit, it will never get word of mouth because no one will pick it up. If it’s polished it at least has a chance for some organic growth.

>>21781853
>e men you do want to date reject you
that's cool I'm going on 3 years with a guy who looks like he fell out of a ubermensch propaganda poster. so, again, you've projected your own romantic failures onto me, because you have no other way to argue. everything passing through the mind of a scrote revolves around gaining validation from women. and those same women you put on a pedestal and give the power of being your god and deciding whether you are fulfilled or in despair, then, you spin around and seethe in rage at them like a jew cursing the almighty.

>>21782142
barnes and noble offers the service. it cost me $7 per book, and they look and feel just like any other book they sell.
>>21782645
t. mad
anon is right. rr is the deviantart of literature.

>>21783263
Am I wrong in any sense of the word? No, I am not.
The fuck did you expect from RR? Even AO3 is full of amateurs, let alone RR of FFnet. Fool, buffoon that you are.

>>21783021
/wg/ is 90% crabs 10% helpful anons.
>>21783074
this man is correct. covers matter. if you ever look at a cover and go, "wow that looks bad, it looks like every other shitty sci-fi novel, why can't they just make a better cover for it," it's because you're the retard and the cover designer knows exactly what he's doing. books should look at a glance like what they are. that's why books within a given genre will all have similar covers. people looking for shitty sci-fi novels want to see a crappy photoshop drawing of tiddyelves with lightsabres. if you're selling a shitty sci-fi novel and give it a literary cover with a classic painting or some clean text-based graphic design, no one is going to pick it up. people make the hit or dump decision on books like they do on tinder profiles.

the publisher knows it's a shitty genre rag. that';s why they gave it the shitty genre rag cover. amateurs don't get this point, they try to market their shitty genre rag with the giftwrapping of the mona lisa, and wonder why it doesn't get hits. and if you have a gen fic and use a booba smut cover, people not wanting to read smut won't pick it up, and people who are looking for hornyshit won't be happy customers to find out there is no cheap spacewaifu anime sex.

covers are a marketing tool. you don't try to market a burger as 4 star gourmet french dining.

>>21783063
Before the thread dies, do you have any experience with the RR advertisements? These impressions seem pretty high, but how well does that translate into new readers?

>>21783291
Depends heavily on your ad. I would suggest running the campaign right after you put up a new chapter and pausing it during off days.
I've not run many ads but they seem to translate well enough. It's certainly a good deal for your money.

>>21783300
>>21783291
As an example, both memeshit ads and serious ones have been pretty popular lately

>>21783263
>rr is the deviantart of literature
Please name a more highbrow site on the internet to post stories, if you would. wattpad isn't. scribblehub isn't, archive of our own isn't. Please, if you know of one, tell us. Please.

>>21783315
https://fimfiction.net/

>>21783315
You'd really think AO3 would be but by god it isn't

>>21783320
I guess for the niche it caters to, this fits. I don't see any erotica or mature tags. Unfortunately it's not my genre but it's nice to see a place where nice things can be nice exists.

>>21783291
No idea but I bought 4chan ads, got about 700 clicks but 0 sales.

>>21783310
I hadn't considered it before, but a meme ad does seem pretty appealing. Fuck commission artists and AI, all I need is MS paint and ten minutes.

>>21781773
>Reads well
>Interesting introduction
>MC is gay
So much potential wasted.

>>21783366
Most RR ads use the cover art lol

>>21775487
How am I supposed to know what 5,000 degrees of energy actually equates to. If I were to write "the 750 grain projectile struck his plate at 1,400 fps, delivering 2,500 ft-lbs of force to his chest!" unless you were deeply familiar with firearms you'd have no idea what any of that mean.
If I instead wrote "the heavy bullet slammed into the plate at supersonic speed. It hit like a sledgehammer, knocking the wind from his chest." then you'd actually know what just happened without needing to read a technical manual.

>>21783373
I'll re-do that in ms paint too so it matches

>>21783382
You don't understand anime writing. Lal the technical terms are what that audience seeks in a false attempt to feel enlightened.

>>21783253
>scrote
Stopped there, only insufferable femcels use that reddit word unironically.

>>21783315
I've been using substack and found it's userbase pretty mature. Probably because it's less social media and more just loosely cross promoted blogging.

>>21783285
Well-said

>>21783320
>click
>get the /lit/ equivalent of lemonparty
fuck you dude

>>21783320

>>21783320
The fucked up part is that one of the most successful indie book series came out of that place
and it's just as cursed as you might expect

>>21783407
>You don't understand anime writing
Maybe its just series I've watched, but I've never noticed this phenomena in anime. Some of the simpler shonen animes will stop to explain things so the target audience can understand, but even they don't just start throwing out meaningless numbers.
>Lal the technical terms are what that audience seeks in a false attempt to feel enlightened
Really, people actually do that?

>>21783446
There's a substantial subset of anime writing that caters to powerscaler spergs
these are the works anon is talking about

>>21783446
Watch something like Bastard on Netflix. /a/ loves it. But when you watch it, it explains everything!
>Haha! My molten ball of lava is over 9000 degrees. Not even your sub zero wall of ice can stop it!
>Nani?!

I complained about all the shitty exposition, and /a/ promptly laughed me out of their thread saying I'm too stupid to handle all the explainations.

>>21783253
This is either the most intelligent trolling or the least self aware femcel post.

>>21783446
>but even they don't just start throwing out meaningless numbers.
The first season of My Hero Academia was excellent. Good pacing, characterization and character development. It was a huge success for a reason. And then the series went on and on and on after that. The numbers thing is absolutely real. It becomes a constant thing where the mc is using a certain percentage of their power and blah blah blah, like every fight now. Autists love numbers and anime.

More respectably proportioned new bread:
>>21783546
Where we can all 'go straight to hell'.

>>21781205
I don't know anon. You ever been on one of those uni confessions pages? Plenty of young adults (25-35) use it to monitor their local communities.