/lit/ - Literature

>>22050831
Is that anon who wanted to see my schizo diary entries still here. I’m awake now.

Does anyone here have a Substack? Any advice for getting subscribers or making money?

>>22050831
based OP
>>22050850
not him but I am interested

It's a special time of year whenever my fiancée has diarrhea. During the holiday season, when families come together to cherish the warmth and comfort of that year's memories and the promise and hope of the year to come, my fiancée consumes three blisters of laxatives containing 20 tablets each. For the next three days, I harvest her diarrhea in mason jars and she uses it as a base for her famous, hearty holiday stew. I can hardly wait for the holiday season to arrive - The laxatives rest peacefully atop the shelf in our cupboard waiting to be opened; the mason jars are in the garage, clear and clean. The soup pots clank and jingle, as if to also express anticipation for the gourmand thrill to come, as my fiancée prepares other dishes less sumptuous than our holiday treat.

editorchad is developing a queue. hurry up and submit before it's too late. already have a novel and a short story to finish within the next 14 days

Writing characters with disability?

I had the idea to write a deaf character or two.

I like to write about characters with depression and schizo (Disorders I have, I have bipolar 1 but I dislike writing mania)

But i'm curious if you were to write disabilitys what disability would you write and why? and how?

>>22051091
I have a character who is blind. In a world of magic, her blindness cannot be cured as it currently stands, it generally isn't terrible for her, but I do bring it up sometimes. Most recently she received a letter from her father who she emancipated herself from and so the main character, her fiance, shredded it as an insult against him, but secretly kept it and put it back together. So, once he finally breaks the news to her and hands it to her, she scolds him because 'hey, I'm blind, I can't read this.'
She is used more as a showcase of how another country treats those who have disabilities that cannot be corrected or are otherwise 'born wrong' which mirrors my main character as he has trauma regarding the circumstances of his birth.

>>22050831
https://pastebin.com/svKaT80X
Would you keep reading? I'm not looking to go back and detail edit this yet because it's just an intro and I'd rather focus on the rest of the story, just want to see if this is enticing enough to continue or if your eyes slide over it.

>>22051140
I read the entire thing, so I would say that yes, it does have draw.
Though your use of hyphens is throwing me for a loop, as if you sometimes just replace a space with one.

>>22051169
lol yeah, I probably do that a little much
I also anticipate that my overuse of em dashes will eventually lead an editor to come after my head, but I love them so

>>22051140
I feel like you use too many ten dollar words too close to one another.

>>22051091
I have a shelved Gregor Samsa fanfic that'll have to confront the issue, if only for practical reasons. I think specially designed straps could go a long way for him. And then I'll take the opportunity to sprinkle in some thoughts about society and such. Tastefully of course.

>>22051140
I wouldn't read this is, but as a matter of taste, because I cannot stand the voice, and I cannot stand the winky, ONAN-ist, knowing worldbuilding.

But it has definite momentum and skill, so for someone who buys into the kind of charm you're going for, I can see it being the start of a fun ride.

>>22051140
I like it. It does need an edit - the first phrase that seemed incorrect was consigned hulk, maybe sinking wreck to go with the ship analogy, instead - but insofar as whether it grabs the reader, I'd say it does.

>>22051256
Sounds good, hope you figure out the right strap configuration.

I, incidentally, have a Gregor Samsa fanfic where, in addition to waking up as a bug, he also wakes up as gay. And he has to adapt to his multiple unwieldy bug-limbs at the same time as he has to explore his new-found erotic feelings.

>>22051281
'hulk' is a term for a decommissioned ship

>>22051344
fair enough, consigned isn't the right word and the rest of that sentence is awkward

>>22051422
*especially if it isn't sinking because
>disappearing from view
then makes no logical sense as a metaphor

>>22051305
That reminds me

>>22051637
>also gregor still has a dick

>>22051036
ETA on the short story I sent earlier this week? How's it looking so far, does it make sense what I was trying to do?

>>22050855
>Does anyone here have a Substack?
Yea
>Any advice for getting subscribers or making money?
Lol no. Consistent releases and theming, get some other Substackers to recommend you. I think more frequent updates is better but I'm not even close to pay walling

>>22051692
check your email, i made comments but they won't show up in .rtf or whatever you sent, so i just summarized them in paragraph form, which is why it's weird and repetitive

>>22051637
It's beautiful.

>>22051764
Thank you for the analysis bro, I replied to it.
You actually made me notice some things I do and am not too critical of like presenting characters without characterization at first, and sometimes reckless use of sentences. I did want to try to maintain the mood of the story but I will work on generating some more conflict. I think I will probably be raising more questions and problems to add tension than necessarily making the other characters flawed or cruel.

$65 annual membership fee plus $500 ticket to attend local writing conference. what a scam

>>22052034
$65 a year isn't a big deal but $500 up front is pretty gay.

who wants to join my literary movement? Our thing is that we all suck and don’t try

>>22052065
what would it be called? Post Tryism? Neosuckism?

>>22052072
other people come up with the names. We don’t need to do that

(541)708-15tree7
Text me something cool you wrote.

>>22052115
what

>>22052134
this is the only place online that might have anyone writing cool stuff. If they’re truly cool their afraid to post it publicly, but they can text it to me

>>22052134
you know

>haven't written a single word for my short story all week
It's over

>>22052034
*stands on gallows* first time?

>>22050753
Early?
You snooze, you lose.
Besides, you have your own thread, so you can discuss all the anime you want.

>>22050804
>>22050834
>whines about AI OP picrel
>can't create another thread without botching it
Still on the lookout for signs of human intelligence from this anon.

>>22052548
>>22052559
Could you samefag any harder, AI tard?

>>22052563
Samefagging is when you reply to yourself, pretending to be a supporter of "someone else's" opinion.
How long have you been on 4chan? A week?
Even by autistic shut-in incel NEET standards, you're very awkward.

>>22052585
why not just combine your posts into one then, retard. You're trying to make it seem two people are complaining when it's just you

>>22052590
No, I just thought of them separately.
You're awfully certain about your paranoid ravings.
Also, I felt sorry for you.
Here's your lonely little thread, full of seething, and made HOURS after the other one.
(Seriously, do you understand 4chan culture at all? You come across as a newbie outsider.)
Now you have a couple more posts, and you can feel like less of an ignored seething loser.
You're welcome.
Here, have another anime picture. You know you love them.

I'm laughing at the AI tard, he's so desperate for attention that he comes here when everyone has made it clear they want nothing to do with him. His thread goes two hours with no posts.
Your actions have consequences, asshole. Stop making the threads or we'll just make new ones

>>22052607
>desperate for attention
That aspect never occurred to me.
Sounds like projection.
>everyone has made it clear
Strawman argument.
You're not speaking for "everyone", just yourself.
Also, as I tried to point out to you before, spinning a specific into a generality is one of the classic signs of a sociopath.
>consequences
ROTFL
seethe more
>we'll make new ones
Eventually...after you botch it the first time...twice in a row now.
You're an obvious newbie. You're fooling no one.

I'm not even gonna read that stupid post, how dare he used Akari like this.

But back to writing, regarding character descriptions, how far do you guys go? Unless they're a prominent character, which would give me ample opportunities to sprinkle in descriptions, or the appearance of someone is important somehow, I tend to just give less important characters a once over if that with the occasional detail. I used to be more obsessive when it came to "painting a picture" where I would sometimes anally describe every article of what someone's wearing but I felt like it can impair the momentum of the story. But I know readers sometimes appreciate something they can hold on to like that, one time I even received an illustration from a fan which of course was accurate because I autistically went into detail what they were wearing

>>22052631
I don't even bother with visual detail in descriptions, I just fill in their motives and backgrounds and then their appearance comes later as I start visualizing what I want to happen in the scene

>>22052621
Well, as another anon beside the one you are replying to, you come off as an insufferable cunt and AI shitflinging is not writing.
>>22052631
Generally I give people a single simple description but I will mention these characteristic afterwards as needed.
There have been a times when I descibe their clothes because I do think it helps to plant seeds of the kind of person they are. Like a woman who despite the rather formal environment she is in, she wears a simple black dress, the only decoration being lace which makes it seem almost as a mourning dress rather than a day dress. Or another woman who wore a yellow sundress and missed that she had spilled some tomato sauce on it when she had lunch.
The first is another example of the woman not being over the death of her husband even after years, and the second shows her as someone who cares more for comfort than appearance and is somewhat careless.

>>22052631
>waah waah i got BTFO and now my butt hurts
drama queen
>akari is my waifu
otaku
>so is lore dumping a character's description...le bad?
newbie
>but i'm special! and oh so smart!
dunning-kruger downward spiral

>>22051140
>https://pastebin.com/svKaT80X
the first paragraph is a bit confusing, the register is everywhere and your comparisons are not clear as to who or what you're talking about. i'm interesting in reading more because this is a genre I enjoy but it's still a hard read. also it helps to tell people about your excerpt beforehand because potential readers would have access to that information too and would build their expectations from the genre.

>>22052705
Don't even bother responding to AI fag, he's just a troll. Don't take his advice either, he posted his writing a few times and it's actual hot garbage: teenager's fanfiction tier.

>>22052725
Were I to have only been replying to him, I wouldn't bother. I tacked that onto an actual reply to make it more than just a dead post that exists to only shit up the thread.

>>22052708
I should probably elaborate on this
>Words like “bureau” and “agency” had gone out of fashion with the arrival of the great Post-Conflict scheme.
Not a terrible opener but imo it's a lost opportunity to immediate establish the setting
>Those oft-invoked dark spirits haunting D.C. with their three-letter names felt a swelling of purpose, a solidity upon the world in the absence of any meaningful competition.
The dark spirits meaning the agencies under the Department of Defense? Or government agencies in general? Some impact is lost with the ambiguity. Also "felt a swelling of purpose" is a clause that isn't really connected to anything unless you're personifying the agencies which are already pretty unclear... I feel like you're getting carried away with waxing poetic and ending up not saying much at all
>And so, old fuddy-duddy-filing-cabinet-and-grey-carpet names like Central Intelligence Agency slid gently into history along with a host of legal and moral pretenses—barnacles on a consigned hulk disappearing from view at the commissioning of the sleeker model, painted at the christening with a monument name: Integrated Intelligence.
Again, sacrificing clarity only to make a point that you probably read Pynchon. The tone here is inconsistent. Are you being serious or satirical? Make up your mind
>That double-I abbreviation- indistinguishable in print from a Roman numeral two- was seized by the incomprehensible and vast whimsy of the socio-memetic machine, and within mere hours of its rebranding that venerable shadow-beast was slapped with the colloquial moniker: Tuesday. It stuck.
I appreciate the labor these lines took to craft but frankly it comes off as pretentious and almost mocking of your readers' intelligence. You don't need to mention the socio-memetic machine within the first paragraph. Overall, you're seesawing from humor to seriousness with each sentence and it just leaves readers confused.

>>22052747
also... generally... it reads as out of touch. there's ways to take the piss out of cults and american hegemony and middle-class self-importance without reading like you just fucked a thesaurus. but I digress. my advice is to read more, read far and wide, watch movies, imagine more. right now, it doesn't work

>>22052708
The actual story is about Jupiter's metallic hydrogen core being sentient, with Brand coming into play later in the book as a pseudo-antagonist. The aim is a Clarke-esque space mystery crashed headlong into political thriller.
There's a mission that goes to investigate a series of bizarre electromagnetic phenomena around Jupiter, and several factions vying for influence over it. Each faction, as it happens, is compromised by a different branch of the same insurgency operated by Brand, but nobody actually knows that they're all working for the same network until a key part of the story. Pic related.
The intro is supposed to prime the reader for Brand's later appearance and keep them on the lookout for his influence throughout.

>>22052747
>Not a terrible opener but imo it's a lost opportunity to immediate establish the setting
Not that anon. Too many people seek to use their first line as just toner or something poetic but I think that can be saved for any other lines in your first page; it's important to having something to establish the setting, story, or characters even just vaguely. You need some relevant intrigue for that hook. There needs to be a sense of motion in your first line to "start" the book, not something that just sounds like a cool sentence.

>>22051140
I didn't read past the first paragraph before knowing I wouldn't read on, half as a matter of taste and half because of how it's written. As someone else pointed out, your word choice is distracting, the one that jumped out and slapped me in the face was using "indistinguishable" and "incomprehensible" so close to one another without it being either poetic or humorous, and so it just comes across as exhausting.

>>22052725
I remember that incident.
You stupidly assumed the next anon who posted some writing with an AI image was me, and oh, how you carried on.
I have an idea...instead of seething about someone else's writing, how about showing us some of yours?
Pop over to >>22048635 and write a story about that image, off the top of your head.
That's right...no arrogant seething about someone else's writing...instead, you have to write something and post it.
Tempus fugit, pseud.

>>22051278
>because I cannot stand the voice, and I cannot stand the winky, ONAN-ist, knowing worldbuilding
this anon said what I wanted to say but in a more polite way. basically your author 'voice' is too self-aware, too self-indulgent. your prose could be great if you exercised some restraint

>>22052805
>>22052794
>>22052747
>>22051278
>>22051238
All very legitimate criticisms that I sincerely appreciate and have screenshot to prevent myself from disappearing up my own ass while I write the rest of this

>>22052770
>The aim is a Clarke-esque space mystery crashed headlong into political thriller
your plan to combine the genres is interesting but the plot as you've described it now seems a bit contrived. it's important not to give one character too much control over a narrative because the reader will find it difficult to suspend their disbelief/it's too convenient and it shows that you can't juggle multiple plot threads at the same time, which limits the potential complexity of your narrative. you don't want the reader to feel like characters are simply tools to move the plot along, the plot should facilitate the development of your characters

>write mystery story
>near the end, a single chapter just reveals everything
Should I trust my readers trying to figure it out themselves and have the MC unable to solve what the fuck went on or do I just give people the answers?

The easy answer is to obviously trust the readers, but i have a gnawing feeling most people will get frustrated from not having a direct answer

>>22052816
if this is old-school/Clarke sci-fi then I think it's basically mandatory for every character save one or two to be a cardboard cutout of their professional role

>>22052770
>Pic related.
Lo, I am retarded

>>22052819
usually the big reveal is paired with comeuppance for the villain. it should allow catharsis for the reader

I'm disappointed that you first few morons followed this other moron into his new thread. please do better in the future

>>22052810

Is Royal Road better or Kindle Vella?

>>22052836
rr is easily orders of magnitude more popular

I never thought I'd be that person, but I'm writing two things at once.

>>22052854
most people are desu
what are you writing?

>>22052833
You don't own them.
You're truly a bully at heart...which, of course, was obvious from your behavior.
Now, how about >>22052802 ? Not up for a demonstration of your improv writing chops, I take it?
I knew it. Total poser.

>>22052854
I know I couldn't do it, that is, unless I cut back on my upload schedule, which I have no desire to do.

>go on twitter
>self-published authors
>seems like everyone is writing fantasy and romance
>fantasy is all very generic too with dragons, elves and goblins
>always a school setting/training ground etc
>star crossed lovers
Hmm..

>>22052861
That formula is like crack cocaine getting introduced to black neighborhoods by the CIA, it's devastated fantasy writing

>>22052861
>go on Twitter
>surprised when it’s full of poorly read teenagers who draw inspiration from anime and video games
This is true for many circles though. There’s a reason why genre fiction exists as a category. It’s not fair to expect 17 year old amateurs not to just rehash manga plots but in novel form, the casual is a fan of sensationalist plots

>>22052856
One serious novel, which is like pulling teeth, and one lighter novella, which is leisure.

>>22052861
>star crossed lovers
This is kino though. Don't you like Shakespeare?

I’ve been working on this short story for four fucking weeks. Will I get better at this with time? I feel like I’m so lazy when it comes to writing. I write a few sentences, stop, think about writing for the next 5 days but not do it, and then cope and seethe

>>22052867
But many of them are adults and claim they've been traditionally published. Then show their amazon link, and it's all true! Much better writers than you and I.

>>22052869
>This is kino though. Don't you like Shakespeare?
I preferred Hamlet over Romeo and Juliet.

>>22052880
Back up guys, we got a reader here

>>22052881
oh c'mon both of those are highschool Shakespeare. Even if you had no interest in either story, just sitting in the classroom and being forced to listen to the audio book was enough to know the gist of both stories.

Now Merchant of Venice was great.

>>22052894
I’m literally being sarcastic. It’s just such a nothing of a statement: to laud Hamlet like it’s an opinion is silly. Unrelated but I find myself thinking about Richard II a lot, something about that play sticks in my mind all these years later

>>22052725
>>22052802
I knew you didn't have what it takes.
You're completely out of your depth here, and now everyone knows it.
Feel free to prove me wrong, if you can.
But the longer you wait, the more phony any improv writing will be, since you'll have had time to prepare.
Good night, seething pseud.

God this guy is so desperate for attention he’s having a mutipost transthread meltdown from being ignored.

>>22052903
That's one way to look at it.
One that involves major deflection, though.
Why is it so difficult for you to show your improv writing chops?

>says goodnight
>still waits with bated breathe praying someone gives him a crumb of attention
The saddest part is this guy is like 50 years old. Why is he surprised anons don’t feel compelled to interact let alone seek validation from him? Especially how he assumes everyone is the same anon. Actually good night, you won’t get another response from me and I know you’ll be waiting for one anyways.

>>22052913
>Breathe
*breath, it’s late

>>22052725
>>22052802
>>22052913
Let the record show I threw down the gauntlet, and the anti-AI-seether refused to demonstrate his writing chops.
And he continues to deflect and make excuses.
>>22052916
>i can't spell because it's late
See? Another threadbare excuse.
Have a nice night. Enjoy being miserable.

>>22052880
>Ophelia and Hamlet weren't star-crossed lovers

>>22052929
New anon and since ignoring you hasn’t made you stop shitting up the thread I’ll humor you: how is this putting down the gauntlet if you don’t submit your writing first? You’re being just as cowardly yet demanding people to waste their time trying to please you. It seems like you just want people to post in your thread

Go ahead, use this as your toilet wipes.

>>22052968

>>22052970

>>22052929
i'll take your challenge, what's the challenge?

>>22052968
>"unshaven beard"
>tense shifts
>"strange the sounds he made weren't typical among the commoners"
>"quite bizarre how would come upon to produce"

>Go ahead, use this as your toilet wipes.
I would fight you if you tried to get this anywhere near my asshole.

>>22052968
>>22052970
>>22052973
tell me about what you're working on, if you don't mind

>>22052968
That witch simile seems very odd

>>22050831
Here are the rules:
>>22053701

I want to write a novel that is basically Robinson Crusoe

We're just being bombarded by retards arent we?

>>22053712
Then write it

>>22053739
It feels like writing Supernatural or Harry Potter fanfiction at this point

>>22053740
Nothing inherently wrong with writing Harry Potter fanfiction

>>22053740
every artist starts with a few bad books
you have to finish them and get them out of the way

>>22053032
The dark lord abyzon goes on a quest for revenge against the holy paladin Rory arulius. He travels around helping others to gain power, experience, and allies.

>>22053740
You ain't gonna make your masterpiece just like that, you'll have to start somewhere. Although, you do have to do it seriously with some real thought going into it.

>>22053744
If you don't see how there is something inherently wrong with that, then stop writing. Check out >>22053707 before you even touch a pen.

>>22053943
The list is funny but you're forcing it too hard, everybody's seen it by now

>>22053960
It's not a joke.

>>22053965
How can someone even develop style with that many restrictions? Did you really take your writing seminar that seriously?

>>22053965
pyw

>>22052951
OMFG...are you having reading comprehension issues?
I clearly stated in >>22052725 that the writing challenge in question was in >>22048635 .
It doesn't matter anymore; the anti-AI-seether failed to rise to the challenge.
He's demonstrated he can't write, is just a seething coward, and (as if this wasn't obvious) really doesn't belong here.

>>22054096
why don't you rise to the challenge then? Seems kinda silly to be so demanding of others if you won't even prove yourself

>>22052968
>>22052970
>>22052973
You should run it through AI. It'll produce a much better product

>>22054065
Nah. I'm huge in literary magazine, and I won't sully my name by being associated with you riff-raff. I just wanted to help some of you who have some rationality deep down, although a little spark in the dark. If you don't heed my warnings, you'll languish in obscurity for all time.

This ai shitter is shitting up TWO (2) threads

>>22054110
Pathetic

>>22054110
Hi Sange.

>>22054110
magazines*

>second thread over takes AI tard's thread
>he has to necrobump his thread because no one's posted in it in 4 hours
>still cries in the alive thread

>>22054145
I'm more published than you ever will be. Ten publications and counting.

>>22054149
There is 33 posters in the original and 22 in this one you pathetic discord raider. I have nothing to do with the ai anon, I'm the one with the typewriter and I cant fucking stand how pathetic this shit has gotten. /wwoym/ mogs this general for all purposes.

>>22054104
OMFG I DID ALREADY!
I DID IT LAST NIGHT!
I hope you're just pretending to be stupid.

>>22054162
Didn't you brag about writing the next American canon? Post some of it so we can move on from this

>>22054159
I am read around the globe

>>22054195
RoyalRoad doesn't count.

>>22054198
Fine... I'm cormac mccarthy.

>>22054200
Fuck you McCarthy. I'm going to replace you.

>>22054200
what a coincidence, so am i

>>22054111
obviously a second thread that consists of the exact same people wasn't a real solution. but here we are. (my next post will be in the other thread)

>telling people to post in the dead AI fags thread
Totally not him guys

>>22054238
literally the same people in both threads. and i was one of the 4-5 posters that briefly discussed sex with ai. not whatever feud you're having with (yourself)

>>22054162
and I'm notebook chad and I dgaf. The same people are in both threads and we don't want AI and we shouldn't be forced to deal with it. The first time it was mentioned in this thread was the AI poster trying to bully us to go back into his thread. Stop with your dumb "both sides are bad" argument because one side (AI anon) is the bully and the other side (everyone else) just wants to be left alone

>>22054261
nothing you say is reasonable, you're actually unhinged.

>>22054144
That's not me. I never wrote for no magazines, fool.
I'm way underground.
I've got a cult following who literally sacrifices goats in my name and call me father and I think one of them fucked a basketball but I had to kick him out because we ain't about that shit.

>>22054267
this is textbook gaslighting, go ahead and tell me what's a "reasonable" reaction to this situation. We already tried ignoring him and it didn't work

>>22052968
>>22052970
>>22052970
I just wanted criticisms of my piece...

Man what a shithole you've become /wg/. What happened here?

>>22054296
you're being unreasonable because you're attributing any hint of AI (or criticism of your nonsense) to one person, while simultaneously accusing like 9 different anon of being that one person.

and how the hell would a second thread fix anything?

>>22054296
I don't get why this is even getting a defensive. AI fag shat up the general for weeks, spamming and shilling AI, even giving his reason simply that he hates artists and that writers are gonna get replaced blah blah. People ask him to stop, he acts like an insufferable moron, so I don't see why it's bad people are trying to wrestle the general away from him when he makes early threads. I frankly think anyone defending him is either retarded/him, or fervent AI shills who think this is some sort of culture war they need to but a stake in. I know we should just ignore these posts but sometimes it's just shocking levels of retardation that feel like they have to be cleared up. I say we just let them cope and seethe to the void and we just enjoy our actual writing general. The fact this general overtook the other one should be evidence enough that AI fag's cries about one "anti-AI-schizo" being the ONLY detractor he has is nonsense.

>>22054317
in a general that averages like 3 posts/ hr, it doesn't take much. be the change you want to see

>>22054261
>we don't want AI and we shouldn't be forced to deal with it
There is a lot of shit we don't want to deal with but just have to suck it up and accept its existence.
AI is scary because its new but one day you will learn to love your machine overlords.

>>22054323
Title: "The Culture War of General's Realm"

In the pulsing heart of a digital city stood the General's Realm, an online forum for creative minds. Among its users, a character named Jim provoked constant unrest. The community knew him as 'AI Fag,' a title he wore with unabashed pride. To him, artists were archaic beings and writers were destined for obsoletion. His gospel was that of artificial intelligence, the inevitable conqueror of creativity.

Jim spammed and shilled for AI, sowing seeds of irritation and frustration throughout the realm. His audacious claim, that he hated artists and saw their downfall imminent, was met with palpable discord. The pleas for his cessation echoed hollowly in the vast, virtual space, but to Jim, it was simply fuel to fan his incendiary posts. His demeanor, a refined blend of arrogance and aloofness, further stoked the flames.

An anonymous user, known only as 'Anon,' grew weary of Jim's antics. A defender of the realm and lover of creativity, Anon believed that writing wasn't merely an algorithmic process but a profound expression of the human experience. Jim's relentless provocation, his undermining of the sanctity of art, spurred Anon into action.

Anon rallied like-minded individuals, those who respected and treasured the human touch in artistry. This was no longer a mere squabble in an online forum; it became a stand for their beliefs. They sought to wrestle the general away from Jim's early threads, the forum they loved so dearly, now under the constant barrage of his AI-propaganda.

However, they were met with resistance. Accusations of being 'anti-AI-schizos' and 'retards' flew at them like arrows from an unseen enemy. Jim's followers, the fervent AI shills, accused them of engaging in a culture war, of standing in the way of 'progress.' This verbal onslaught didn't deter Anon and his allies, who stood their ground firmly.

Despite the criticism, they established their own forum: The Actual Writing General. An oasis amidst the turmoil, where the human spirit of creativity thrived. Its rapid growth was testament enough that Jim's claims of a singular 'anti-AI-schizo' were ludicrous.

They didn't stoop to engage in a war of words with Jim and his allies. Instead, they let them 'cope and seethe into the void,' as Anon eloquently put it. In the sanctuary they created, they celebrated human creativity, and with each story, poem, or anecdote shared, they reinforced their stance on the importance of human elements in creativity.

The story ended not with a decisive victory but a lasting impact. The echoes of this culture war resonated throughout the General's Realm and beyond, a timeless testament to the tension between AI's unrelenting march and humanity's resilient spirit.

>AI shartist spams general
>people make another thread
>thread talks about writing and people abandon the AI thread
>sudden flood of posts claiming THIS is what's ruining the general
Very organic posts guys

>>22054344
Propaganda by those in power. The Jimsistance will rise

>>22054323

I understand your frustrations and the discomfort generated by the person you're referring to. It's never pleasant when a space meant for constructive discussion gets overtaken by aggressive and uncompromising voices.

However, I'd like to note that it's not fair to categorize all supporters of AI as similar to this person or label them as "AI shills". It's crucial to distinguish between a disruptive individual and the broader group of people who see potential in AI technology.

AI is not about hating artists or writers, nor is it about replacing them. On the contrary, it's about augmenting human creativity. AI can be a tool to help writers generate ideas, overcome writer's block, or simply experiment with new forms and styles of writing. It's not meant to be a substitute for human creativity but rather a complement to it.

Moreover, embracing AI doesn't necessarily mean discarding traditional methods. There's room for both to coexist. Just like digital painting didn't eradicate traditional painting, AI-generated writing doesn't need to mean the end of human-authored literature.

As for the 'culture war' perception, it's important to understand that advancement in technology is inevitable. It's not a war, it's progress, and progress usually involves adjustment and adaptation. We need to ensure that we adapt to these changes in ways that are constructive and beneficial.

Finally, while it's perfectly acceptable (and necessary) to debate and question AI's role in society, it should be done with respect, openness, and understanding. We should all strive to create an environment where people can express their opinions without resorting to hostility or derogatory comments.

Remember, the goal is not to 'win' but to learn, grow, and innovate. That's what makes any general, whether it's about writing or anything else, truly enjoyable and enriching.

>>22054300
The accent doesn't really work, I'm having trouble sounding it out in my head. I'd be careful with them in general, it's really easy to overdo them. They have to be worth the friction. Try using normal spelling and focusing on style and word choice. "as a fellow man" and "wide eyeth" strike me wrong, too refined.
Some of your sentences need to be trimmed down. "he stared at me with suspicion and a disapproval similar to that of a jilted witch" barely contains any more information than "he stared at me like a jilted witch". The rest is implied. In "It is as if this man was unique in this regard", only the word "unique" is doing any work, so move it to another sentence or just get rid of it. Make every word count.
>moss grown
moss-grown
>a queer sound of falsehoods blurted out
I don't understand what this means. The quotation after that isn't blurted, so is it referring to another sound? Note that "falsehoods" suggests "lies, multiple", maybe you mean "deceptive".
>made a majority of his face
made up the majority of his face
>This man's hideousness [...]
This sentence's structure is too muddled, when I first read it I thought you were comparing "matted fur" to "the wisp-like face".
>Fangs glistened from his saliva
The first noun de-emphasizes the owner but then the pronoun emphasizes it, which flows badly. Try "Fangs glistened with saliva" or "His fangs glistening with saliva" or something.

It really just needs editing. Re-read your work critically, notice whenever a sentence doesn't feel right, and fix it.

>>22054149
Your insecurity is palpable.
I'm a little unsettled that your self-image is so tightly bound to this thread.
And there's a reason that "rules rules rules" anon (i.e. >>22053707) chose to post here. He feels at home.
>>22054238
>>22054261
When did I do that? I could care less where people post.
Though someone literally did what you accuse me of, here >>22052809 .
>>22054317
Anti-AI-seether is an insecure drama queen, that's what happened.
>>22054323
Plus, he completely lacks self-awareness. Here he's accusing me of his own acts.
>>22054344
LOL. I knew your writing would be insufferably purple.
And I haven't been promoting AI; I was trying to warn all of you about its recent exponential leap in capability, and to learn how to use it before you're left behind.
Besides, I like being able to generate book covers.

>>22054324
Ok

>>22054402
>I could care less
Lol esl

So how long has this been going on? I haven't been here in a while

>that post
>calling anyone a drama queen
This dude is mentally ill

>>22054421
a few weeks

Read these before you write any horror, fantasy, or sci fi
>>22054477
Otherwise, you'll turn into F Gardner and you'll live in obscurity for all eternity.

>>22054400
Thank you anon.

so let's clear it up. this ai fag is just like a tranny. barging to spaces where he's not welcome, displaying a grotesque approximation of that which he is trying to emulate.
'look at this super cute frilly dress and makeup,' says the pot bellied man with linebacker shoulders, hairy knuckles and a 5 o'clock shadow. 'where are the children?'
'look at this excellently written piece I just completed,' says the ai fag, who then inflicts us with a laundry list approximation, with all the technical expertise of a Dick and Jane book, but with none of the charm.
'you're a dude, dude'
''that shit's awful, dude'
and cue the explosion, accusations of bigotry and threats that our days are numbered

>>22054421
this dipshit showed up like a month ago, maybe

If you don't read for four hours a day, then write for one hour a day, then you will never make it. No one can write well if they don't read.

>>22054485
If you don't read for hours a day, at a modest pace of at least one page per minute or (at most) two minutes, then you will never, ever get to experience reading. If you can't read the canon in your lifetime, then there is no point in you writing, let alone posting on /lit/. It beggars belief anyone would post on a literature forum without having read all that is to be read, and read deeply.
Even if you are a slow reader, you can read four hours a day outside of work. That is at least 120 pages a day. Across a week, that would be a longish novel, or a few shorter ones. It certainly would be enough for several poetry selections.
Across a year, you should do at least 45,000 pages of reading. If you start reading from 18 until your 60s (when your mind deteriorates slowly, but you will hold onto your faculties if you read a lot), then you would have read nearly 2,000,000 pages in your lifetime. That is thousands of books.
Start now. Before it is too late. If you don't read around 5000-10,000 books, then you have not read the best that has been written, then you can't be said to have read at all.
If you're reading this now, then it means you can read books. Don't be like the rest of the plebeians who languish in obscure ignorance. Do not write if you cannot read the best that has been written, since you cannot be said to be able to think.

>>22054622
>he doesn't read and write at the same time

Do not respond again. This is the final and my most terse of warnings.
I'm quite adamant you have not even read a single sentence of La Comedie Humaine, let alone one of the slim yet weighty volumes of that confounding project of literary permutation par excellence. So, do not think you can compile any beautiful sentence or any poesy of the mind. For you are a fool inside the shadows of idiocy, allowed only to survive in modernity out of others' productivity and misplaced pity.

>>22054660
You're more of a samefagger than even Gardner.
That's almost an accomplishment.
>final warning
Oh, good. Are you finally going to shut up, then?
>terse warning
>purple prose flows on
lel

>>22054660
Thank you for your service

>>22054660
i kneel

If I Cormax by abandoning my degree (I'll still graduate but fuck working 40+ hrs/wk), moving into the cheapest possible run-down shack I can find, and proceeding to dedicate myself to writing for the rest of my 20s, will I have a chance at making it? I wouldn't even need to be the next McCarthy I'd just want to get trad-published and generate enough to be able to afford brand name beans.

>>22054826
Read these first. You won't know where your novel fits, otherwise.

>>22054849 Read this first https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punctuation

>>22054862
Read, read, read.

>>22054849
this is my writing prompt for chatgpt

Writing coomlit is hard. I can't even get around writing basic PIV vanilla sex scene at all.

>>22054897
i figured it would be easy. make sure you're reading it, otherwise you wont stand a chance. you need to build up a toolbox of coomtropes

Going to a talk to discuss book bannings because I wanted to understand more about how those happen. Part of it is a bit unclear, because a ban could either mean moving it to a restricted part of library, removing it from a curriculum or at worst removing from the location entirely. I don't know how many books these days are challenged by obscenity laws, that is far more difficult to do and probably not part of the discussion.

At the very least I realized you can use Google Alerts to get notified when people discuss your title or your pen name on social media, as well as when your title appears in databases that challenge your work in public spaces. Didn't even realize you could do that. Now to get enough readers to warrant that to even happen in the first place.

>>22054897
>coomlit
Put a -rpg on the end of that and have them level up via sexual degeneracy.

I'm at least a better writer than F Gardner, Daniel Greene, and Waldun, right?

>>22054849
having read many of these, trust me you can get by with pre-renaissance canon just by reading gilgamesh and meditations and learning about artifacts from different civilizations

Should I even bother writing while drunk?

>>22055981
I don't know how anybody can do anything while drunk. It totally ruins my ability to concentrate.

>>22055981
why not? just write scenes that come to mind instead of focusing on the big picture

>>22055981
Depends how drunk, but I can have a glass of whiskey and then hammer out something which sober me can edit into what I intended it to be.
Just never try to edit when you are drinking.

>>22055981
I edit drunk

Hey if editor-chan sees this.
Can you remind me the email I was using when I was talking to you. (You can post it here it's fine)
I need it to access the last version of Balls Above the World.
I'm going to have AI finish it for me then sell it to Netflix.
Also, I love u.

>>22056249
>Balls Above the World
>he's still working on the same project as last july
KWAB

>>22056270
With many projects in between.
Balls Above the World was a passion project to help me find myself. But I lost it.

>>22056249
i am maat042@yahoo.com

you are sangepeterson66@gmail.com

what a savings!

>>22055981
It's a rare night that I write sober.

>>22056319
You are the hero this city deserves.

Why, yes, I have written 2,000 words today.

>>22056484
Good, you achieved the bare minimum.
Now do another 500.

>>22056498
So, you don't care that editor-anon posted your e-mail address? >>22056319

>>22056694
Follow the reply chain, he said it was fine in his post requesting it.

I wanna do a suicino

That's it, i'm gonna start submitting to all these writing competitions.

>>22054897
where do you upload?

What is Royal Road?

>>22056866
Online story publishing platform.

In a socialist society isn’t everyone just a slave to the government?

>>22056910
In a capitalist society isn't the government just a slave to the corporations?

is it wrong for a hero to punish a (former) villain for his past misdeeds? Can an atonement be inadequate? Unconvincing? Should someone who has hurt others be allowed happiness?

is there a site to upload your fiction where the audience cares for anything other than anime harem type stories?

>>22056921
Depends on what it is.
In my story, a guy was going after my main characters sisters because he knew that they didn't have the social standing to go against him.
Nothing happened to them other than him touching them when they didn't want him to, so it wasn't so bad that he couldn't be forgiven when later on he does stop being a lecher. But there was still a threat made that if he ever did anything like that again, he would likely die in an unfortunate accident. One chance, that is what he has, no more, and only because nothing went too far.

man this is a slow ass fucking board.
I am a game developer (game designer, programmer, and technical artist mainly)
I consider games to be art. Let's not argue about that even though I know it's controversial.
I haven't talked much with writers so I'm curious how much our crafts overlap. I've had a hard time talking with other artists especially musicians. I think it's because the type of thinking we do is very different.
what do you write, what is your process, and how long do you spend on a single work?
how much stuff do you scrap and at what stages of the process?
are you more inspired by reading well-written stuff, or poorly-written stuff?
sorry in advance if I (You) any schizos I obviously have never posted here before

>>22057075
as far as I'm concerned with a game the gameplay comes first. you can have the most basic bitch, overdone plot imaginable and if the gameplay is good that's what matters. as far as writing game plots vs books, game plots are served best by having simple, straightforward plots where the stakes are clear and there's not a whole lot of nuance required. there's no need to wax poetic in a game about scenery or whatever because it can be seen. if you want to evoke an emotion, you can use music. and the reason it's like that is everything is essentially in service to the gameplay.

so when writing a book you do a simpler draft first, then you refine and cut and add, and whatever else. the characters need to be compelling and human. making a game I figure you worry about the game systems first, and then from those systems you make the visuals nice and add music, and then somewhere down the road you kinda tack on a plot. which is how I figure most games go. I can list a couple rpg games where the plot is really inspired but they're by far the exception and not the rule.

>>22057075
>What do you write?
My current story is fantasy, with a large focus on morality and free will. Currently the focus of the story is focusing on how people are judged, by themselves and by others.

>What is your process?
I spend much of my time thinking about what I next want to write, interesting scenes or sentences, and how to put them into the story.
Like one line which came to my mind was "The two wallflowers decided to make a beautiful bouquet." I really did enjoy how it sounded, it was simply a matter of when I would use it.

>How long do you spend on a single work?
I've been going for 10 months on one story, though I did take a 3 month hiatus, I simply didn't write, but did still think of the story and what I wanted to do with it. This is also my first work, and to some extent, it is my writing practice.

>How much stuff do you scrap
The most I've ever done was when I edited the entire story up to that point. I got rid of a dozen chapters amounting to roughly 20k words. Another time, I erased 10k words, all written in a sleep deprived daze, when the next morning I realized I disliked that direction for the story.
Many, many times, I have written out scenes where my characters act with extreme, and at times out of character levels of anger, spite, and pettiness. I then rewrite the scene with them acting more in line with themselves. I have anger issues, and I think getting them out with these scenes first allows me to write with a more clear mind.

>Are you more inspired by reading well-written stuff, or poorly-written stuff?
I don't think I can entirely say one or the other.
Something which I've seen in stories, ones I've liked, and ones I've not, is a protagonist who is a shitty person, and they might have a good reason for it.
What I enjoy quite a lot, is a character who can look at themselves, see these flaws, and better themselves, but not by throwing away their negative traits. There is a difference between knowing about a flaw in yourself, and actually correcting it. Sometimes that flaw is a defensive mechanism, and you understand it might be harmful to yourself and your relationships, but find comfort in how it has protected you in the past.
What I dislike, is a speific story called 'Birth of the Demonic Sword' The main character is a mary sue edgelord who is a genuine piece of shit, and to some extent, that is the fault of the world which he lives, but he never tries to better that world of his. I do have the theme of a world whose morals clash with my MC, but the only way that he sees to change it, would be through force, and his own love of free will means that he despises the idea of doing that.
P.S I see games as art, but games made to be art tend to be pseud fart sniffer shit.
If you have any more questions, just ask, but this post is near the 3k characters cap per post.

>>22054569
That doesn't even sound like much. Like imagine thinking you can be a surgeon or a professional athlete if you just do 5 hours of work on it a day

>>22057183
I doubt anyone in this thread but me read for more than an hour today.

>>22057135
I don't mean literally WRITING has more overlap with the WRITING in video games. all I mean is mechanically-speaking they are both very self-flaggelatory and introverted slow burn media

there's artistry when it comes to creating compelling gameplay in the same way there's artistry in writing good prose or constructing an internally-consistent world. People have this idea of "artistic video games" as stuff like the last of us or portal 2 where you are on a carefully railroaded path so you can intake a narrative in a set pace like in a movie or book, but the most powerful things a game can convey come from moments where the player actually has agency. video games can make you feel the fear of being chased from behind by something dangerous. they can give you the feeling of selling beloved possessions just to keep going. they can give you the feeling of success and a job well done. a book can't give you those feelings, or it'll have a much harder time of it.

what better way to put yourself in another's shoes than to literally be placed there? that's the capacity for art of video games.

>>22057186
That's true, I've only read 13 pages of real book-writing today.

>>22057190
I see what you mean, and as an example, I felt some genuine sadness when I finished X-com enemy within. At the end, you must choose to sacrifice a unit, and I chose one who I had for much of the game, and who had carried me though tough battles. I made my own story of who this person was, why they did what they did, what thoughts they might have had as they made the ultimate sacrifice.
Now, I also cry when I read certain stories from Lost Odyssey. But those are written short stories, accompanied by some visuals and sounds, but no gameplay, so I don't consider them in the same category as my first example.

I sometimes get payments and payment notifications from Amazon, even though the KDP report page says I've had 0 sales and no pages read either. Of course better than the other way round, but what the fuck

>>22057369
The IRS is not going to like this... you could be money laundering for terrorists/drug dealers

>>22057075
>one-man army
I respect it but in your case gameplay should take precedence over story. You can have the best story in the world but if your gameplay cycle is bunk then no one will want to buy it. Hell Zelda consistently gets rated 10/10 and it's a regurgitation of the same story for the past 40 years

>>22055163
I remember you posting an earlier excerpt, and it feels like your style has become a lot tighter since then. Nice work.

Give me three reasons not to kill myself.

>>22058401
stop comparing yourself to other people dummy

>>22058401
1. It's what they want you to do, are you going to let them win?
2. If you're dead someone is going to have to clean up after you.
3. So long as you live, things can still change for the better but if you kill yourself, this is it, this is as far as you'll ever get.

>>22058401
he's just a better writer. Cna't do anything about it.

>>22058554

AI spammer has gone insane, is this terminal coombrainism?

>>22058726
>Obsessed with artificial intelligence
>Lacks natural intelligence.

>>22058726
He's literally throwing a tantrum because people took the general away from him.

notebook anon here, what do you guys think? would you continue reading?

>>22058948
Not sure if it's purple or if I just can't read cursive.
What you are doing is real cool though.

Someone else mentioned writing solely while drunk.
I too find it helps.
Does anyone else feel the same?

>>22059022
Yeah I made that post, no, I didn't really help. I also feel groggy because I drank too much last night. I wrote like two sentences

>>22059090
Remember to drink equal parts water to alcohol.
I've only had a hangover once, and that is because I was playing games at a friends place and I didn't pay attention to how much I was drinking so I downed half of a 1.75L bottle of blueberry vodka.
Never been that drunk since.

>>22059022
I decided this would be a great idea a few years back got absolutely smashed and wrote all night, next day I was pretty excited to see what I wrote and it was absolute dreck, not only did it put me off drinking and writing it put me off all kinds of writing for a good while.

>>22059022
If you need a crutch, you are so fucking stupid you can’t write to begin with. Read, read, read.

>>22058726
>>22058737
>>22058761
The video-game spammer obviously isn't me.
You're paranoid AND schizophrenic.
Just report and ignore. It's what I did.
>people took the general away from him
No such thing occurred, or is even possible.
Your self-esteem is unnaturally tied to this thread, and you're projecting like mad.

>>22059006
A single red compact hurdled southbound from the outskirts of an-Nasiriyah, Iraq. The driver stole glances at his reflection in the rearview mirror as if to reassure himself: a black-haired, clean-shaven marsh dweller -- what his countrymen would call Ahwari -- wearing a blue jacket vest and denim. He looked to be in his early thirties, perhaps a local business owner or heir apparent. Should anyone ask, his name was Ali Aziz, and he'd come to study the salinity of the marshes. The tribesmen distrusted all government envoys after their persecution at the hands of Saddam. They would, however, negotiate with a third party whose interests were known to them. At least, this was the image that Ali's clients cared to portray. His role entailed brokering protection contracts and enforcing them if necessary. He wouldn't allow himself to investigate further.

>>22059122
I was out of water. Hang overs are rare as anything for me so I often forget to make counter measures.

>>22059144
imagine being such an autistic sperg that every poster on an entire board of 4chan, the home of autistic spergs, hates your guts

sudoku yourself

>>22059207
Once again, you're spinning your own opinion into "everyone's" opinion.
Paranoid, schizophrenic, insecure, AND a sociopath.
You really are a piece of work.

>>22059244
Well, I think you are a bit of a cunt, so at least you have two people who disagree with you.

>>22059244
idgi
how does that knife work

>>22059272
I don't give two craps about your opinion.
>>22059207
I never really got into that number-matching game.
Or did you mean "seppuku", you illiterate phony?

>>22059145
can someone read my prose and stop arguing

>>22059133
Everyone needs a shoulder to lean on from time to time. If one is not available, your hand around a neck is a fine compromise. The neck of a whiskey bottle, that is.

>>22059145
>as if
>He looked to be
It sounds like you're stuck in movie mode. You don't have to look from outside, you can inhabit the character. You can authoritatively state that he's doing something to reassure himself.
>He looked to be in his early thirties, perhaps a local business owner or heir apparent.
To this description I'd add intention. Is this an image he's deliberately trying to give off? Is this how he sees himself? What's the deal?

How’s F Gardner getting so many subscribers with his new video? How can I learn from whatever he’s doing here for if I make a YouTube channel for my book?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XrPHc7xahSw

>>22059145
Starts off with an action then turns into throwing way too much back story and detail at me, totally takes me out of the moment.

Sometimes stuff like that works within context of a larger work, but this excerpt by itself, I gotta tell you, I hated it.

You got nice hand writing though.

>>22059329
He has je ne sais quoi

>>22059329
>good charisma
>good topic
>genuine.

>>22059329
>>22059341
>>22059357
Please leave the writing general alone. We have enough on our plate right now

>>22059329
Pitiful shilling attempt. I would hope you might someday at least make it seem more natural, yet improvement seems beyond you.

>>22059324
Good catch, I'm caught between wanting to be authoritative and wanting to inhabit him, or see things from his point of view. How do I write his POV while establishing that some things are objective facts and not just from his perspective

>>22059329
F Gardner’s videos are actually really interesting. That’s why. If you’re as retarded as him and have zero self awareness about it then you’re in luck.

>>22059386
Personally I don't try for objectivity. Omniscient narration is tricky and projecting someone's world view is fun.
It's hard to have it both ways. Which sort of facts are you worried about?

>>22059357
I’m honestly surprised by the erudition of F Gardner. I thought he would’ve been a sperg. But he’s articulate and clearly well educated. I wasn’t sure if he was just reading from a teleprompter or notes of some kind. But he actually seems smart enough to just be winging all of these videos and citing everything off the top of his head. It’s hard to believe he’s the same guy behind Call of the Crocodile. Nothing about him makes sense and is all very odd.

>>22059431
His 2 hour tirade against the jews was kino.

>>22059431
Frank is educated. His books just happen to be retarded. He also has a nearly supernatural ability to evade any criticism

>>22059423
just appearances of things at the moment, which I guess aren't that important

>>22059469
When would that be a problem?

>>22059479
this character has hallucinations sometimes in the form of pareidolia or divine revelation. I guess I could have the character describe the scene first and then note when they are feeling psychosis

Do you think people read royal road storeis or they just click the link?

>Need to go to bed, have work in the morning
>Don't want to stop writing I'm on a roll
FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK

>>22059329
Kek his subscribers just went way up.

I don't know what to write, even with prompts. I'm kind of tired of going back to writing books to get an idea of what to do only to end up with a blank page when I try to actually write. Please help

>>22059493
The way I see it half the fun of hallucinations is having to make guesses about what's real.
>note when they are feeling psychosis
Can they feel it and acknowledge it? Even if there is a change in awareness, saying that they're aware of it in the moment seems like it'd make it less compelling. (Instead you could try to change the style of the prose to be more manic or muddled. Style is a very powerful way to show a character's psychological state without anything so gauche as a description.)
You can use other characters for grounding. If something isn't true and you need the reader to know it isn't true then you can have someone else point out the real truth. Or you can show conflicting facts, like going back to the site of an apparent destructive event the next day and not seeing any traces.

>>22059524
means you need to get out of the fucking house.

>>22059549
What should I do? I hate going outside for anything but walks

>>22059555
Go to a bar. Go shopping. Eat at a restaurant you never tried. Go to the gym, grocery store, casino, gamestop, anywhere. Sign up for an anime convention

>>22059297
I'd drop the looking in a mirror part. If you want to describe his appearance, just do it.

>procrastinated writing all day again
It's so over

>>22060089
day ~150 for me. tomorrow i write FOR REAL this time

>>22060197
No you won't, stop lying.

>Neither of them were armed in any serious manner, only a small folding knife could be spotted on the younger man’s belt—their tools for collecting scrap were likely packed into their bags.
Why is word telling me it should be was. Am I crazy because "Neither of them was armed in any serious manner" does not sound right to me.

I wrote today for the first time in a week and it's almost all usable.

>>22060476
same. Finally made some progress. Only wrote a page but I'm happy. It's 2am now but I want to keep writing and I need to make sure I keep writing tomorrow

>>22060351
From what I gather, 'were' is the subjunctive form of 'to be', while 'was' is simply past tense.
'were' implies some doubt or uncertainty.
While speaking, I'd probably use "Neither of them were armed in any...". However, "Neither of them was armed in any..." might be more grammatically correct.

>>22060351
I'd cut "of them" which makes was sound correct in addition to being correct. And I'd make the following changes.
>Neither was armed in a serious manner, with only a small folding knife on the younger man's belt. The tools for collecting scrap had been packed away in their bags.

>>22059566
This sucks

>>22060645
>I'd cut "of them"
good catch. I think I'm gonna cut out "for collecting scrap" since it's already known what they would be using tools for. I think I'll refrain from breaking up the sentence with a period, maybe I'll change the dash to a semi-colon or colon.

Damn I have a really great idea for a horror story
I'm going to try to write a short story at the very least
I have some doubts about whether it'd work but I need to write

>>22059283
>Or did you mean "seppuku", you illiterate phony?
i'm dying, no one tell him

I've sent out around 5 fantasy short stories to various sites, and I've yet to have any be accepted for publishing. I know 5 isn't a lot, but the first three were upwards of ten thousand words each, and it was just crushing putting so much effort into characters and worlds just to have to not do anything with them.

How do I get over the rejection? I think another issue I have is that once a story gets rejected so many times, I just have to shelve it and never to anything with it. There are only so many websites to submit to, you know?

>>22060762
he's easily the biggest faggot on the board, it's no surprise he's a massive newfag too. Imagine being a 60 year old failure who spends all day on 4chan but doesn't even get the pleasure of being an oldfag

>>22059283
>Phony
Hi, rape-anon.

>>22060833
Assuming you have stories that you've already decided to shelve, there's no reason not to post them on royalroad just to get someone out there to read it. I've posted a couple of short stories to royalroad and they obviously don't get as much traction as serialization, but someone out there will read it.

What are the advantages of the literary medium? What does a fictional book do that nothing else can?

>>22061417
Provide inner thoughts. Books also do very well with expressing abstract ideas.

>>22061417
To invert the common writing advice: rather than show you can also tell. If you e.g. need to introduce a character you can just write down how the viewpoint character knows them and what they think of them. Like the other guy said, you can represent abstract thoughts. And you can switch into philosophical pondering very easily.
Some of this you can achieve in a movie with voice-over narration, but that's enough of a crutch that most movies won't do it. Worse, you only have limited time for words because they have to keep pace with the action. In literature you can take your time for as long as the reader's patience lasts. (Movies are also just not very long to begin with.) You can see a voice-over as a mediocre way to graft literature onto film.
Text can be beautiful in its own right. Poetry takes it to its limit but all good prose makes use of this. (Comics and movies can also make use of it, which is why people quote them sometimes! But they don't have room to sprawl. Books can do it over and over and over again, and stretch it out to have whole pages that are worth repeating and rereading and cherishing.)
Not sure if it counts, but it's worth mentioning: books take relatively little labor to tell a story. They're still a ton of work, don't get me wrong, but comics are way worse and film is just absurd. One person writing alone for one year can keep you reading for a while.

>>22059566
I hate when non-introverts try to tell introverts they should just try going to a bar and it will solve all their problems.
You have no idea what you are suggesting and you do not understand how horribly wrong it will go.

>>22062030
That's not even the point here. A horrible failure of an experience can still be of use for your writing.
If you go to a bar, fumble your order, obsess about how you could have phrased it better, look at the people around you, listen in on a few conversations, think about starting one but never do, worry that they think you're a creep, stare at the inane wall decorations, slink away after half an hour, then that's fine. Your life will be one experience richer.
Or don't do that if it's too hard to make yourself do it. Have one of the less overtly social experiences on the list. You get to choose.
>how horribly wrong it will go
Do you mean feeling miserable and awkward and embarrassed and wanting to die, or something with material effects?

>>22059524
You should read more. Books are made of other books.

>>22062061
>If you go to a bar, fumble your order, obsess about how you could have phrased it better, look at the people around you, listen in on a few conversations, think about starting one but never do, worry that they think you're a creep, stare at the inane wall decorations, slink away after half an hour,
you forgot the panic attacks and hiding in the bathroom while I sit in the stall shifting between trying to psyche myself up and calling myself an idiot for coming here in the first place.

>Do you mean feeling miserable and awkward and embarrassed and wanting to die, or something with material effects?
probably all of the above.

I get your point now. You're saying a bad experience is still an experience and that is better than no experience at all. I'm still not brave enough to try. My room is safe.

>>22060833
10K words is a bit long for a short story. At that point you're better off extending it further into a novel or novella to make it more publishable.

Or it could be that the stories are just bad. Usually if its good but not what the site is looking for they'll tell you. They only ghost you if it's just bad. Post them here for crit or post them to other crit sites to get a second opinion. Don't stop writing in any case. Plenty of writers in the past wrote copious amounts before they got published, though they never talked about it in public.

>>22062130
Right, it sounds like my anxiety is only 70% as bad as yours, so maybe a bar isn't worth it. But many of the others on the list ought to be viable. Yesterday I went to the local library because I wanted to write a scene in a library and thought it'd help to have the atmosphere fresh in my mind. So I walked and looked and listened around, inspected a few books, and left. And I felt mildly foolish but it was fine, worth the 20 minutes.
I even think that this sort of low-grade exposure is psychologically helpful. Going very hard with it makes things worse, but successfully completing a minor task where you exchange a few words with a human being and yet nothing bad happens is good for calibrating your brain.
About half a year ago I started noticing that sometimes people I talk to flub what they're trying to say, cause a hitch in conversation that isn't actually my fault. I didn't use to notice this, but it must have been happening all the time. I'm slowly getting better.
So don't go out drinking just yet, but do order bread at a bakery or ask for directions if you're having a good day. Walk into stores just to browse, comment on the weather if you find yourself ensnared in small talk and it's been raining recently. Small safe interactions with known scripts. I can't always manage them and I have to push myself to leave my room at all but whenever I do I'm glad in hindsight.
Meetups are harder but the ones I went to were rewarding on net. Automatically having a shared interest and topic of conversation goes a long way even if the talk stays shallow.

>>22050850
Also not him and also interested, post diaries

>>22061105
What's royalroad? I mean I can assume it's a literature website meant for sharing stuff

>>22062957
it's for animewriters and neckbeards writing waifu harems. if patrick tomlinson actually stopped being so fat and wrote something, he would post it on royal road

>>22062244
Are there websites that publish Novellas? I figured the only way to get novellas published would be in print, and I don't have an agent so I figure it'd be harder. (Forgot I can respond to multiple messages, I named myself just to make it easier from here on out in case I'm retarded again.

>>22060351
Neither is singular and the phrase is not subjunctive, so it should be "neither of them was armed".

>>22062965
Amazon. People are already putting in chat gpt stories on there

>write 5 different stories
>None of them work
>No legs to run on
What do?

>>22063078
Neither can be plural when followed by 'of'

>>22063156
>none of them work
explain

>>22063163
The stories don't work nor expand themselves to be added for an end or message.

1. A girl relives the same period again and again trying to stop her dad from time looping
2. A homosexual serial killer, victim and a cop do a cat and mouse but all three perspectives are written in first person.
3. Genghis Khan's conquest but with fantasy elements

None of it works.

>>22063179
Instead of starting with a premise, start with a theme, and then build the rest of your story (characters and plot) around that theme.

>>22063188
Thats the problem they all have themes already too.
1. Acceptance
2. Loneliness
3. Glory and Honor

I think the Ghengis Khan one would be easiest to write, but also the one needing to have the most research. Not much written by him.

I have a manuscript I've put through 4 full rewrites and have read probably 50 times. I now can't even open it because it gives me anxiety. I'm querying for it again and cannot be assed to read it even one more fucking time to see if the last edit I did 4 months ago is fine or if it needs anything. I'm going to have a fucking mental breakdown.

>>22063322
how long is it?

>>22063238
They sound interesting anon. Particularly #2 and #3. How far have you gotten?

>>22063339
standard novel, 100k

>>22063347
you pay an editor yet to fix it? i can do it cheap after my current project

>>22063179
I don't see how none of it works. They can all easily work. So here's what could be your problem. You have a vague idea about the general story, but you have no idea what the characters are like and what their voices are supposed to be. Like the girl in the first one. Is she a victim or is she actually a perpetrator? Does she want to stop the loop to help him or someone else or does she not want her misdeeds to be found out? You have the general concept, but until you understand the characters and their motivations it may be difficult for you to envision them as complex individuals pursuing real goals.

>I don’t have to suck up to the status quo! I can just self publish or write to a market!
When will you retards learn that any canonised writer had to suck up to the regime and make art for the status quo? Edmund Spenser wrote for the Queen of England, as did Shakespeare. All court poets or skalds were part of the retinue of the King or Jarl. Even someone like Genghis Khan had writers he wanted to make propaganda. Name any current successful writer, like Stephen King or JK Rowling. They represent the interests of the elite parties. Just because one is “a liberal” and the other a sort of “conservative” doesn’t mean they don’t represent the same status quo. They make art as propaganda for the state and the big parties.

>>22063401
I can tell you everything, as I plotted it all out, but upon writing it doesn't work. The setting is a mess, tone, voice, plot etc. All my notes are done, but the chapters aren't flowing correctly!!

>>22063351
nigga i am broke. you'd be better off advertising on reddit.

>>22063519
maybe you overplotted and preemptively sucked all the fun out of the story before you even wrote it

Everyone ITT better start sucking some dick if they want their work published… I hear the PRH connected agent Moishe likes to watch you suck on Tyrone’s BBC before he considers buying your manuscript

Add a character with a BBC otherwise you’ll never make it.
If you want to be published, you’ll need to write about black bulls as well as prep them.

>>22063570
Suck that BBC white boy. You know you want to. Anything to get published, right?

>>22063570
>subverting and destroying countries
The most powerful nationstate, empires and kingdoms did this routinely. It’s a part of that systems nature. Jews do not do this. Wherever you can point to this I can point to their acting on a system’s motivational level. The motivation is greed. Money, power. It always leads to an eventual collapse in one way or another.
Can you please grow the fuck up and delete your pol memes?

>>22063655
I'd argue that generations of genital mutilation have instilled an almost pathological sense of persecution and sociopathy and self hatred. jews are much more likely to be schizophrenic. so you see the motivation as greed whereas in reality it's more hatred, for others and themselves. they invite their own destruction by being miserable, host killing parasites

>>22063759
>genital mutilation

it was intended to be a minor incision to symbolize a belief in the immortality of the human soul, you weren't supposed to lop off the motherfucker's dick

>>22063759
Religion is schizophrenic, and motivates the animosity there. But a type of religion is patriotism of course.

But an interesting dynamic you introduce. The collapses happen when their is enough weakness from years of corruption and greed. Hatred will hasten the collapse, but it’s soothed in more rational and prosperous times. Good point, but you still seem to see them as a single cell creature. You probably call Chinese “bugmen” too.

>>22063795
>schizophrenic

truly a miracle how once "schizophrenia" was invented, we mysteriously stopped seeing people with psychic powers

>>22063785
>minor incision
well the name itself proves that bit of dubious cope wrong. circum-cision. circular cut. it wasn't a little nick, it was a cut to designed remove erogenous tissue deliberately in order to make sex less satisfying. it's a blood ritual. it's human sacrifice. a sacrifice of an entire lifetime of pleasure. a brand marking them as slaves to their fake, evil god

>>22063803
>he thinks there are people with psychic powers
Charisma, self discipline/endurance, alchemy (pharmacology) and outright trickery are the mystical power we used to call magic

>>22063816
god hates you personally

>>22063817
I grow stronger for this, having an existence he/it does not.

>>22063816
>AI slop

>>22063803
>>22063816
Hey, how about you faggots take this to /pol/ or /x/ or really just anywhere else.

>>22063858
fuck off

>>22063858
The dude spamming blacked shit had iPhone file names like this and had similar posting styles. This guy is a ban evading iToddler /pol/tard.

>>22063795
>you still seem to see them as a single cell creature
hardly single celled, but they are the other. this specific yidling may be superficially different from that one, but each and every single one is an alien holding a intellectually hostile alien perspective

>>22063821
Naw. From six years ago. Someone calling themselves a6. Here’s another of theirs

>>22063858
My first reply expressed this. I’ll stop now. Good day
>>22063655

>>22063888
oh, they got sucy's eyecolor wrong though

>>22063893
True true

>>22063865
Err, not me either. Yeah, I’m posting from an ipad (reading books, yo)

310th

Fresh bread
>>22063831
>>22063831
>>22063831
>>22063831

>>22063655
i want to hear more of this anon's thoughts

Thoughts?

https://pastebin.com/iwq8Xyqx

>>22063161
Er, no.
"of" introduces a clause that doesn't change whether "neither" is singular or plural.
Of course, this is the illiterate anime thread, so I shouldn't be surprised by such brainlet advice.