/lit/ - Literature

>>22523130
am I allowed to write a novel yet?

Draft two. Thoughts?

What's a good way to show that time isn't exactly right and something is off? I plan to make my main character walk for hours down an asphalt road before finally clicking in that something is wrong and time moves differently

>>22523227
As a matter of fact, you must write one.

>>22523255
you’ve made zero changes to the first part of this after posting it in previous threads (at least one). and it still has grammatical errors and is very confusing when it sometimes slips into first person. you probably need to do more than this to show a suspiciously long amount of time has passed.

>>22523255
Have you character encounter loops of other people or something, going through same area twice even. Maybe different sun/star positions in certain spots. 'Roadside picnic' was good at this.

>>22523236
the first thing you need to do is get the AI to give you actually appealing book cover layouts

>>22523236
I don't like the wristband or whatever that's supposed to be. Try drawing a sigil or finding a nice one online then using img2img to place it on the wrist, if it's supposed to be a curse then the mark should looks sufficiently curselike

>>22523303
yeah, it looks like one of those inpatient wristbands they give to people who stay overnight at hospitals which immediately makes me think it's a bad romance about psych ward patients

>>22523130
What are your thoughts on this excerpt?

You can call me insane and I may very well be by any definition but i'm never going to deny how mesmerizing it is when I watch a person's soul evaporate from their body like a fine kick of dust in the breeze. Sometimes I would even stick my mouth to their lips and eat their soul from their still warm corpse and feel a lightening strike of energy course through my head and heart. You have no reason to believe this and you'll just write this off as the rambling of a psychotic individual akin to the myriad throughout history.

But it's real. I know it is because every time I eat, a peculiar set of symptoms sets into my body. Like for one instance, I found myself able to crawl along the walls and ceilings like an insect. It was astonishing at first; Incredible and deliriously surreal. But then I began to crave more like an insatiable monster. And the more I ate, the more I accumulated that wonderous otherworldly power.

Sometimes people are born with the ability to see and experience more than just our physical world. Sometimes a mutation happens in that thin barrier between our world and the next. But that's not what happened with me and my family history did have a strong factor in it. But i'm not going to pontificate about my elite stature in the world. You'll learn about that soon enough, I fear.

I am an evil force in this world, there is no doubt about that, but the people I surround myself with are a whole other matter of satanic barbarity. As I write this, they're talking about how well their plans had come to fruition and how it would only be years and not decades off from their new world order revealing itself from the shadows. All thanks to the creature they've awoken centuries ago. This power I have came from it and i'm certainly not the only one with it's dark ethereal blessing.

Some of the others can fly, some of them walk inside your head while you sleep and rape your subconscious as you dream peacefully of a loved one; Some of us can walk on the sun and some of us can be killed just by prayer. These are mere examples of our powers so long as we eat, whether it be flesh or the soul. I'm telling you this because you should get in inkling of an idea of what you're going to face in the coming years.

You can't stop it though. Their rule is rooted into the core of the earth and it's not going to be toppled overnight by a sudden awakening of the masses. Even if you somehow were able to get to the six Princes you're not going to kill the creature they've summoned. It's eaten too much. It's belly is full of despair so thick you could feel it a mile away. It only hides away now because God is still a challenge to it. That is, the inalienable faith that's embedded into the human spirit to believe in more than just one self.

But that spirit has been on the rapid decline as the centuries progressed into materialism and devotion to the next easy pleasure, aided by permanent demoralization.

>>22523303
Oh no, it's very important the mark looks exactly like that. It took me ages to get the AI to spit that out.

>>22523302
Don't blame the AI, it's only generates the pictures, blame me for the layout.

>>22523255
Illegible

>>22523378
>Don't blame the AI, it's only generates the pictures, blame me for the layout.
the AI will generate a layout for you, if you ask it to
that's really one of the only decent uses for it

>>22523322
Only read the first paragraph. Personally, I found it too long winded.
>You can call me insane and I may very well be by any definition but
>I may be insane but
>I'm never going to deny how mesmerizing it is when I watch a person's soul evaporate from their body like a fine kick of dust in the breeze
>I find it mesmerizing when a person's body leaves their soul, like a kick of dust in the breeze
Either cut it down or punctuate more, it's a mouthful right off the bat.
And I don't understand the inclusion of "but". Your speaker isn't denying being (potentially) insane. The rest of the sentence has him admit to something insane. If there's a "but" before anything it should be before some sort of defence as to why he's sane.
>You can call me insane and I may very well be by any definition but I could never never find pleasure in death
For instance. However, that's not the route you're going down. You're highlighting his insanity and by the end of the sentence you've established it. So "but" should be either phrased as a question
>You can call me insane and I may very well be by any definition but is it because I'm never going to deny how mesmerizing it is when I watch a person's soul evaporate from their body like a fine kick of dust in the breeze?
>Is it insane that I find it mesmerizing when a person's body leaves their soul, like a kick of dust in the breeze?
Or in place of a question use something like "afterall"
>I may be insane, afterall I find it mesmerizing when a person's body leaves their soul, like a kick of dust in the breeze

>>22523322
Just seems like edginess generated by an AI fed nothing but 4chan posts.

>>22523435
Waiting for them to hook chatGPT up to DALL-E so I can feed it my whole book and generate a cover based on that.

>>22523322
too pseud

Why did you post that in /wg/ in August?

>>22523311
An inpatient wristband is actually the perfect parallel. You'd have to read it to find out how but that's almost exactly what it is.
Hopefully the dragon and the burning city will dissuade more observant readers from thinking it's a psych ward romance.

>>22523437
Thanks Anon. I will heed your advice. The starting sentence should be direct and to the point and I forgot to make it so when I was writing. I definitely need to work on correct punctuation. Again thank you.

>>22523484
It's fine for a first or even second draft, you know what you want to say and more or less how to say it. It only needs polish. Make it sharper, punchier. Keep any wordier passages you teasure and emphasise them by having the rest be tight and to the point. You'll get there anon, keep it up.

Is this prose too crude?

I did it
I wrote a novel where I did a self insert protagonist


ohgodwhy

>>22523654
a bit juvenile but seems appropriate
I wouldn't read it without a strong plot or characters

>>22523654
Too complex. Read some Japanese WNs for inspiration. KISS.

>>22523672
stop suggesting people read shit for inspiration

Went back to the drawing board. Now we're cooking.

>>22523683
much better.

>>22523683
there you go
I had a cover that looked similar to this and my story did pretty good til I dropped it
I'd give you my approval but your writing kinda sucks

Reposting from last thread
>>22520085
>People who don't know what to write about just don't know anything about writing or storytelling to begin with.
Can you please elaborate on this? What is it they don't know/need to know?

>>22523701
>your writing kinda sucks
Care to write anything that cuts deeper?

>>22523654
It's very stream-of-consciousness. No discernable point or purpose outside of expressing generational misery.

>>22523712
well, it’s just an excerpt. I mostly wanted to see if the prose was too off putting.

>writing
>know the scene feels tedious
>don't know what to do with it
>waste days thinking about it
I hate that the best move is to just shit out mediocrity and come back later

>>22523713
I wouldn't say off-putting but it is very casual, almost written like a 4chan post. None of these are necessarily negatives, depends on what you're going for

>>22523719
>the scene feels tedious
conflict, conflict, conflict

>>22523682
That's what I'm telling you, buddy. Quit the overwrought paragraphs. Nice, clean, simple lines.
Anime website.
Anime novels.

>>22523654
Legitimate schizo post but not in an artistic or experimental sort of way. It just comes off condescending and reads like some teenagers angsty blog.
If you're learning how to write, keep doing what you're doing.

>>22523743
oh im sure
I suppose that this method has helped your prose? wouldn't mind posting some would you?

>>22523774
It's certainly helped it feel more anime, because it deliberately emulates the style you see in so many.
...you do read web novels on syosetsu right?

>>22523782
>It's certainly helped it feel [worse]
O K

>>22523730
its a scene in which a voyeuristic woman watches the man she's interested in jerk off to her masturbation diary

>>22523800
>conflict
she tries to flick the bean but can't get wet or maybe the dude starts fingering his ass and it puts her off.
Not sure if that's a scene that would take more than a few pages considering it's all observation of a singular character.

>>22523723
I am trying to fabricate an immature voice but without being too overbearing. I could dial it back a bit.

>>22523757
> Legitimate schizo post but not in an artistic or experimental sort of way
Its over.

>>22523800
draw out the uncertainty about his reaction as long as possible.

>>22523784
>[worse]
Who are you quoting you stupid westoid?

>>22523822
>the dude starts fingering his ass and it puts her off
lmao. erotic comedy isn't exactly what i'm going for but that is an absurd development
it should only take a few pages and I'm sure I'm overthinking and being a perfectionist for no reason. just feels like a slog to write something when you don't have faith in it
>>22523832
that's actually a great thought. thanks

Ive been hyper autistic about like a weird power system. It working like a weird rock paper scissors deal. One of them involves humans forming a weird bond with dead animal corpses becoming animal human hybrids. Definitely being the more physical one with the latter being maybe more strategic? The latter being mold on foods/any object and the person gaining some weird form of energy manipulation/environmental manipulation. The 3rd one is what im confused about when it comes to having a full on rock paper scissors dynamic.

>>22523929
Did you run this post through google translate?

any discords based on lit? I need a deep understanding on what to improve on my fiction. And it seems this board is slow.

>>22524023
a bunch
most are shit but there's a couple good ones

>>22524023
Join the /wg/ discord or the &amp Discord

>>22524056
links?

how do you sit down with your entire story in front of you and write without going back and editing? My daily word count is fairly low because I spend about 75% of the time rereading the chapter and rearranging things and adjusting words. Sometimes I'll reread the chapter in between every sentence I write. Clearly this is not how books are written.

>>22524195
discipline, experience
you WILL get better results if you surrender yourself to the process
push through it

>>22524195
I don't.I will retcon things in and out without giving a fuck. If I deign to, I will provide an explanation. I will soldier on with the lowest quality sentences, the likes of which you have seen thousands of times before.
>Andre said "I've never done that."
>Robert choked on his coffee. "Are you fucking with me?"
>Pennywise shrugged. "Knew you couldn't be trusted."
This is how first drafts are born.

>>22524207
>improper dialogue tags
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

>>22524057
Here’s the link to the &amp server
https://discord.gg/ZxUhpNzP

and the /wg/ server:
https://discord.gg/AtDXjC5n

I've been listening to Brandon Sanderson's podcast and actually like it and find him charming

>>22524213
>improper dialogue tags
The only winning move... is not to play.

>>22524253
Yeah he's a fun, enthusiastic fellow. Shame he thinks quantity > quality

>>22524258
mostly I was won over when he said he actually really likes Moby Dick and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and I don't think I've once heard him call anything pretentious or try-hard, only criticize what he thinks worked or didn't work based on what he believes the goals of the author were.

>>22524273
isn't he a weird consoomer manchild?

>>22524277
he definitely is, but not the untalented, bitter kind that dominates most pop culture-adjacent spaces

Reposting because no one replied

>inspired by LA Noire
>synopsis: the guy that does chalk outlines for crime scenes takes his job too seriously

https://pastebin.com/Px73Xa8Z

I submitted it to a writing contest but it got rejected. I don't need to hear if my tenses are inconsistent or something, just wanna know, is it any good? Any other general critique?

>>22524316
yes it’s good. I would change the car crash scene into a scene where he goes to question someone he thinks is a suspect.

>another day of thinking about writing and not actually writing
there's something wrong with me nowadays. I used to wake up an hour early and just write. Now I can't even bring myself to concentrate for more than 5 minutes. I haven't finished a story in 2 years. Is there anybody that can help me?

>>22524316
>english have their country invaded by immigranti
>act like dicks to estabilish a hierarchy
>Koreans are a closed country, mostly taking to themselves
>can be polite and kind to it's citizens who they know will be kind and polite back
I hate the english but come on.

>>22524854
Don't think about doing things, think that the circuimstances in the universe are forcing you to do things ex:

-dont think
>"I want to write but dread to do it uhhh, I wont do it because uhhh [reason]"

-think like this
> It is late afternoon now, I have done my laundry and this means that I must write, obviously, because I have free time, god/nietsche/stalin/buddha/krishna intended so and it shows on the air, earth and water.

Think of your fate as predetermined, but predetermined to be good

>>22524871
>Think of your fate as predetermined, but predetermined to be good
I like this, anon. This is basically how I used to think when I wrote in the morning
>I'm awake because I need to write.
>Immediately start writing
thanks anon

how do I start writing If I'm a retard?

>>22524886
>have thoughts
>write them down

>>22524878
I used that method to cut off my addiction to playing videogames and to overindulge in bodily pleasures, still have to make my insomnia go away but it's slowly working, I keep going to sleep earlier and earlier

>>22524886
step by step guide by yours truly:

1. just write a small text like how you think will be best
2. send it to AI to "correct grammatical errors and the flow of text"
3. do so three times then pull the brakes
4. send it back here for critique and help
5. Learn from your mistakes to grow and make
6.continue writing texts
7. finish all of them for god's sake

seven deadly steps

>>22524893
>>22524898
okay maybe I'll start to write something here in october to see what do you guys think

I'm an ESL btw and I'll be semi autobiographic, I don't intend to try to publish it or something so I don't truly care, it will be for myself

>>22524898
Happy for you anon, insomnia is a fucker. I never dealt with it but my ex did and bad sleep fucks up every aspect of your waking life.

>>22524213
I don't even add dialogue tags to my first drafts

What are some good reasons one would have to desire someone they previously spurned and pushed away?

>>22525105
new perspectives. Here, I'll throw you a bone
MC took a peek under their clothes
MC found themselves in a need of money and that someone has money
MC has to stay somewhere where they are stationed and they learn more about each other

>>22525111
>MC found themselves in a need of money and that someone has money
You know I want to think no one's that fucking immorally two faced but goddamn I know I'm wrong

>>22525122
despite humans being well, human, it's very often that simple binary things shape our reality. Are you feeling in charge of your own reality or are you merely controlled by animalistic urges and untold social habits?

Work-in-progress, thoughts?
1/2

2/2

The last part got cut off but it's only a few lines after:
>Marie finished packing. She stacked the bricks in a neat pyramid next to the nightstand. She still wouldn’t have done a single thing different today. She thought about the photographs they took, about how they were probably on a plane now. She knew Owens would’ve liked it like this too.

>>22525221
these words (brackets for context) are unnecesary
>word repetition "cigarette ~ cigarette"
>closer to himself
>finally (to never run out of cigs)
>(they killed Owens) Dean

premise is fun, I really like crimestuff, your characters are very characteristic and thats a good thing. I think you are onto something. I got immediately captivated by the first three sentences.

>>22525224
mostly grammatical errors (there'd lol) like punctuation and comas ("[...]and in a few years" is a horrible sentence)


overall a solid 7/10 as is, without any context!

how do you integrate sensitivity readers into your workflow?

>>22525255
Thanks so much for the feedback and comments. I can't claim the first line; that was the writing contest prompt but the next two are mine. Cheers anon

>>22525264
ctrl+c then ctrl+v the thing into an AI and tell it to point out sensitive topics.

There is no point in bothering a real sensible human with this shit unless you are writing about some degenerate topics like african triangle slavery led by africans or completely theorizing about jewish-nazi alliance during 1912-1939 (source:trust me bro)

I am 28
Is it to late for me to start writing? I was reading a Thomas Ligotti interview in which he said that it took 10 years to write publishable short story. I also have a fear of words

>>22525340
It takes a certain amount of time to master a skill, the sooner you start the sooner you'll git gud. 28 is too late only if you plan on dying in the next ten years.

>>22525340
yes its too late if you think that it's too late because muh "biology" now gtfo >>>/lgbt/

>>22523130
more GILFs

>>22525224
How do you format your alignment to have such a nice spacing using justify alignment? Mine has random spaces all over the place

>>22525340
Why would it be too late? Becoming a published author is rare and doing that by your 30s even more so. Just write because you like doing it instead attaching an arbitrary deadline on yourself.

>>22525347
>. 28 is too late only if you plan on dying in the next ten years.
It's over.

>>22525340
The obsession zoomers have with seeing 30 as the end of their lives is really astonishing

>>22525388
You get one lifetime, same as everybody else.

>>22525393
If there is afterlife, I'm going to haunt you, pessimist, and if there is none I will fucking will it into existence just to torment you

How do we stem the tide of the litrpg menace?

My book is shit. Should I publish it anyways?

>>22525422
Write something more popular? What exactly is the "menace" of LitRPG, anyway?

>>22525422
AI will ruin it soon enough

>>22525402
I will carry you with me to fame.

>>22525371
No idea, that was from Google Docs. But in Word click on the little arrow on the lower right of the paragraph panel and make all the numbers 0

>>22525424
The only question you should ask yourself if you think about publishing is: Is it good enough?

>>22525371
No idea, that was from Google Docs. But in Word, highlight all text, click on the little arrow on the lower right of the paragraph panel, and make all the numbers 0

>>22523683
See, now you've got something less shitty.

I’ll never be good enough to compete with the popular serials on Royal Road. I can’t do 5,000 words a week. How do they manage such rapid perfection? Don’t they have day jobs? School?

>>22525468
they just have jobs where they can write like security guard or IT admin

>Alright stop!...
>It's writing time!
fucking get back in there

>>22525468
They write AI slop or write in bulk and then slowly release it. Also 5000 words a week is only 1000 words in 5 days you pussy.

>>22523322
Moderate. It's too wordy, and too edgy. There can be times to tread near those lines, but generally speaking subtlety is best. Here's a rewrite of the first sentence.

>Call me insane, and I will make no retort. While most seek life, it is death that mesmerizes me. To watch souls depart as petals in a gale, there exists no greater joy.

compared to

>You can call me insane and I may very well be by any definition but i'm never going to deny how mesmerizing it is when I watch a person's soul evaporate from their body like a fine kick of dust in the breeze

Even if you don't like the style I went with it's still a much clear, and cleaner reading experience.

>>22525511
Is that too much wine for a cat? I feel like it is. He might have a problem.

How do you decide the gender of a character and take into account the many ways it affects the story?

>>22525480
Actually I just deleted two paragraphs. This technically counts as progress.

>>22525535
it doesnt affect the story at all only the visual descriptions, unless all you write about is sex related, in which case it's not a story but smut and you should be executed with a crescent bardiche.
I swear transfags these days make their whole personality their sex.

>>22525535
The fuck is this image

Have you read some intentionally shit books? They’d almost certainly have to be comedy. I’d like to see something that lampoons common writing advice. Like, it would never use any adverbs, it would show-don’t-tell with excruciating detail to the detriment of all pacing, and constantly ratchet tension to hold the reader’s interest such that ordering coffee results in possible nuclear annihilation.

>>22525574
I don't have enough time to read things not worth reading

>>22525535
I just write a good story and add cute girls.
I write whatever fits. I generally do take into account if it would be better for a character to be male or female, mostly due to see above. I focus PRIMARILY on writing a good story with a good message, and then think about how to make people think "damn she's cute, I want to fuck her" so I can bait them into drawing my characters' art.
Trannies will never be women.
>>22525565
Mental illness.

>>22525584

>>22525574
>and constantly ratchet tension to hold the reader’s interest such that ordering coffee results in possible nuclear annihilation.
I would unironically want to read this.

>>22525468
Perfection? Really? Perfection? All writing on rr is dog shit and that's why they can write so much. It's easy to write a lot when you're writing bland effortless slop. You don't even have to think about character development because you can just write [+2 int] [New Skill: Charisma of the Demon King] at the end of the chapter.

>>22523322
He doesn't sound insane at all he sounds like a normal person pretending to be insane. Embrace your inner schizo when you write your prose.

>>22525634
I was hanging in there until the six arm heavenly zombie king killer move. AI went full anime.

>>22525574
There is literally nothing wrong with adverbs

>>22525759
There isn't, but their overuse is a sign of a shit writer or an ESL. Or both.

>>22525759
There's nothing wrong with anything unless it's done amateurishly and makes your prose worse, which adverbs have a tendency to do when used thoughtlessly.

>>22525766
Wrote the faggot faggotly, as he enthusiastically finished off another cock in his delectable selection of BBC, equally enthusiastically queued up for anon's eagerly awaiting mouth

>>22525780

/wg/ writers: consider submitting to &amp Magazine >>22523249

excerpt from current project.


"I think im going to die when I get out of here," Jacqelin said, and I asked what she meant. She took another long draw on her vape. Her voice wavered, but I couldn't tell if it was from the years of tobacco use or the emotions: "I'm just not cut out for the real world."
"The nurses will keep you safe," I lied.
We smoked for a while; there wasn't much else to do, and I didn't want to go downtown. I hadn't even smoked before getting to the hospital, never a single puff. They handed me the vape pen the first day I'd gotten there, a look of indignation on the nurse's round face. "We're out of mango. You'll have to do with raspberry," she said. I guess she thought I looked like the type who needed it. Cigarettes weren't allowed on the hospital grounds.
Jackie was the one who taught me to smoke it. She was about 65, maybe, I didn't think it polite to ask, but she dressed about 95. That wasn't her fault, though. It was hard to dress in anything but loungewear. That's what we were doing, anyway, mostly. Lounging. Waiting.
Well, not me. I knew when I was going home. Jackie was on a much harder course; she joked prisoners had it easier. She told me if she'd actually committed the crime she'd talked so much about, she would've had a set time limit of her life stolen away behind bars. But because she only talked about it, she was here on a UFN basis. That's what they called involuntary hold around here: Until Further Notice. It's not a good place be, and she'd repeatedly say, puffing her fake cigarette: This wasn't a good place to be.
I didn't correct her, I never corrected her. There was no need to, no point. It was all just talk anyway. But that mistake would cause everything that happened next.

i've come up with a couple donut steel races for a sci-fi fantasy setting
now how do i introduce them in a short story?

best idea i got is a character from each race going about their day when suddenly getting a mental invite to a tavern where they all meet up, fellowship of the ring style

>>22525862
>where do normal people meet?
>what is the racial characteristic?
>how do you want to portray them in the world?
>are there any ongoing events in the history of this world?
answer all these and you'll soon figure out how to do it.

>>22525634
Amazing writing that scifi general loves

>>22525866
good points, cheers
but the "where do normal people meet?" is that for the tavern or meant for where each of the races usually hang out?

>>22525809
I'm scared to get doxxed

First two pages of my short story. Any thoughts or pointers?

>>22525899
Don’t worry, &amp is solid. You can even submit under a pen name and use a sockpuppet email if you’re paranoid.

>>22525809
This is literally just one step above self-publishing.
I'm not going to shit on it but no.

>>22525921
its still a step up. and learning to put yourself out there and have a piece done that is suitable for something other than just yourself is pretty good. its not really gatekept but its still doing something and its not like you're doing anythings substantial with your works anyway right?

>>22525902
kind of deranged and confusing but fun

are there any guides to writing historical figures semi-accurately? I get that thrusting them into a fictional setting, you won't get accurate responses, but I do want to capture the fundamentals on such people

>>22525961
Semi-accurately means bringing them back down to earth. Hitler had tremors, Napoleon was at least Norwood lvl 4 and Alexander was kind of bratty. But at the same time, these people were exceptional for a reason. You shoud let that exceptionality shine, even if it is just a little.

>>22523130
isn't it interesting that anyone here has the capacity to write something that could end up being turned into a movie. the words exist, someone has thought them up for you. all you have to do is arrange them in the order.

>>22525921
whats is wrong with self-publishing? some of the greats went this route, from Nietzsche to Melville. seems you may be an elitist, and yet without elite tastes

>>22526005
>write something that could end up being turned into a movie
that doesn't say much, a lot of shitty stories has been turned into movies
if you want to make a popular book or movies it's all about knowing the right people, which the neets on this site doesn't

>>22526073
Nietzsche was a pseud. Nobody read Moby Dick until he fucking died.

>>22525998
>Hitler had tremors
That's because of his jew doctor prescribing him 6 million pills he didn't need.
He did have a bad case of gas though. That's probably where the idea came from.

>>22525105
The reasons for such a change of heart would really depend on why Character A chose to spurn Character B in the first place. Some possibilities: (not necessarily “good” reasons, but realistic ones)

A spurned B because he was blinded by his infatuation with someone else, and then later got over the other person and realized that he loved B.

A pushed B away because his whole life was taken over by various obligations, and he didn’t have the time or energy to consider a relationship. Then later when his priorities changed he realized that he wanted to be with B.

A rejected B because he was scared of physical or emotional intimacy (perhaps due to past trauma), but later managed to overcome his fear. He then realized that he cared for B and had made a mistake.

A spurned B for superficial reasons because of a shallow and immature mindset, but came to see B as desireable once he’d matured and his perspective had changed with hindsight.

A initially spurned B because he was repulsed by some aspect of her appearance, personality, lifestyle, or actions. Later, B changed in some way that made her more desireable to A, or A’s own values and desires changed in some way that made him start to see B as desireable.

Of course, there are many other possibilities. I’d have to know more contextual details and specifics of the plot you’re working on to actually advise you.

>>22523130
is that fucking Fripp

I've become too good. I like to read for inspiration, but now everything except my own writing just bores me.

>>22526285
maybe write in another language or consume encyclopedic content to bolster your own creativity and curiosity

>>22523130
Posting this again. It's stupid, but it made me laugh.

https://saddestvacantlot.blogspot.com/2023/09/there-are-two-things-that-universe-has.html

>>22526285
Sounds like delusional narcissism. Post a sample of your work so that we can be the judge of its quality.

>>22523130
PLAP PLAP PLAP PLAP PLAP PLAP PLAP PLAP GET PREGNANT GET PREGNANT GET PREGNANT GET PREGNANT

>america wakes up
>immediate shitpost alert
why are they like this.

Anyway how do you describe arousing characters without going into depraved category? I want to state that a man/woman would definitely go well with most of characters in my book but I don't want to be a senseless brute about it.

How do I go into subtlety?

>>22526109
It was worse than that. Nobody read Moby Dick until the 100th anniversary of Melville's birth (by which time he was long dead).

>>22526183
Character B is childish and annoying, does cringy shit. Also she has a bit of an unsettling appearance due to a curse. Her heartfelt gestures are interpreted negatively since she lacks the tact to express it in a non-cringy or non-creepy way.

She was fostered with her love interest for a time, to secure an alliance and in hopes they would marry. The love interest wants to choose his own bride, and dislikes how the cursed girl thinks they're betrothed when they're technically not.

So he spurns her and lists out all the things he doesn't like about her. Then he returns all her romantic gifts to him some weeks later with a courier. She leaves, marries another man who comforts her in her sadness.

They meet after she is married, and the man tries to apologize, but the lady deems it insufficient. To her it's too little, and too late. He humiliated her in front of some others years ago with a long tirade of insults, and only gives a short and brief apology in private. So she thinks it's not enough and tells him to leave- it's what he wanted after all.

More years pass, she has a son, but her husband dies. She inherits a large estate, and her old love interest also inherits a nice bit of land. Their people are on edge and the verge of conflict, so their advisors suggest a marriage to cool tensions.

The man wants their new marriage to potentially blossom into love, but the lady doesn't even want to bed him, and considers it to be purely political. He tries to convince her to let him into her heart again, promising to love her son as his own.

>>22526374
By writing how conventionally attractive the character is rather than coomshit.
Unless coomshit is what you are going for, then don't hold back.

>>22524316
>https://pastebin.com/Px73Xa8Z

You have too much musical stuff in here, it's not only distracting but not publishable unless you get permission from each of those copyright holders. You should also not assume that readers would know any of these songs, would "hear" any of it or know what 4/4 time is.

Other than that, your writing is fine but your story isn't compelling enough for a short story. I think it could work fine as the beginning of a story if more happens, something more dramatic and exciting. But as it is now, the climax or payoff doesn't make the story worth reading. I'd encourage you to continue with it and see if you can take it towards a more climactic ending.

First 14k of a story, tell me what you think

https://files.catbox.moe/j8pnga.pdf

Had a dream about a man who speaks to an old lady on a plane. The old lady gives him a book and asks him to read it. That night a man tries to kill him, but because he was awake readying the book he is able to fight him off. What do I write next

>stop obsessing over prose
>stop writing about the most boring shit imaginable

I will now read your book.

>>22527204
This in response to anything or just a general platitude?

>>22526991
i think you should read more books

>>22526921
>not publishable unless you get permission from each of those copyright holders
lol no

>>22524316
you desperately need to learn to get to the fucking point

>write 400,000 word manuscript
>too long, have to break it down/rewrite it
>story won't leave my head
>internalize the story deeply like it's an accomplishment instead of a waste of time

I just can't move on

Should I pay money to submit to magazines? Feels like buying a lotto ticket except even worse because the chance is based on my skill

>>22527299
Magazines charge you to submit to them?

If I'm a mediocre writer with big ideas, should I learn to draw and make a visual novel?

>>22527304
Some do. It's just a few dollars but still

>>22527329
it takes 3 years full time training to learn how to draw on a passable amateur level
it takes 5 to become proficient
If you want to invest that time then go for it, visual media will always be more popular

>>22527287
>too long
says who?

>>22527377
Most novels are expected to be within the 80-120k range, with 120k being the standard for ambitious fantasy.

>>22527382
>120K the standard
>mine will top out at 160K

Have I wasted these last 4 years?

>>22527393
I mean, cutting 40,000 words isn't impossible.

>>22527398
Which 40,000 should I cut?

>>22527081
The book is cursed and has forbidden knowledge.

Now write the rest and you have a decent plot.

>>22527329
I can't draw and I'm making one.
But the amount of /wg/ niggers making one right now is making me nervous.

>>22527414
Last VN to take off from here was Snoot Game, which was made as shitpost. Suffice to say you shouldn't really worry about competition

Do you guys give advice on writing smut?

There's a very explicit sex scene involving unusual genitalia I wanted to write but I'm not sure if that's okay to ask about here.

>>22527382
>expected to be
by who?

>>22527465
Publishers, agents.

>>22527287
400k words is on the small-to-medium side for RoyalRoad.

>>22527485
Well sure if you're making a webnovel you can have things be as long as Worm if you want, I was talking about publishing

>>22526921
First page impressions, it seems fun and I'd like to know more. If it were finished I would continue reading on which is more than I can say for the vast majority of stuff out there today. Take this out btw

>“Ughhhhh.”, Harigand groaned,

Just put Harrigand groaned lol

>>22527403
i know youre joking but probably the 3rd 75%

>>22527512
*3rd 25%
basically you can wrap shit up a lot quicker than you think you need to and readers won't mind

>>22526285
Post physique, I mean writing.

>>22527469
I wouldn’t rest your hopes on the idea of getting published without having an existing online following, and even then it’s like winning the lottery or something. You can take your fate into your own hands by putting it online.

>>22527523
>swallowed the demoralizing pill
nah it's not actually much harder than finding a job in any industry
just be good at what you do

>>22525937
Thanks, that’s what I was going for. Hope it isn’t too exhausting to keep up or read, since I want to actually tell a story as well.

>make 35 cents out of nowhere.
Thanks random anon buying my book

>>22527567
>anon already made 35 cents more than I did

>>22527580
Let the rage fill you. This guy is better than YOU? NO WAY! WILL YOU LET THIS SLIGHT STAND? GO MY CHAMPION MAKE A DOLLAR

>>22527304
Smaller publications generally do. It helps weed out low effort submissions, since they don't have the manpower to go through thousands of poorly written stories

>>22527393
I'd say you should err on the side of not being too overly ambitious with your word count until you're an established author and can get away with whatever. If you're publishing it as a webnovel, however, longer is good

>>22527580
I have a physical copy of a /wg/ anon's book on my shelf. I hope that thought ruins your night

>>22527461
anyone?

is this the wrong board for it?

>>22527494
At least you know what to do with it once you fail to publish it. Unless, of course, you're a black First Nation lesbian trans atheist Wiccan.

>>22527641
you asked if you can ask a question instead of asking the question which makes me immediately hate you too much to answer sorry

>>22527641
I sincerely doubt a board full of seething virgin incel NEETs can advise you on any sex-related topic. Try Smashwords.

>>22527651
Idk I've gotten banned for off-topic stuff before and I don't want to get banned from /lit/

>>22527652
ive had sex with both men and women and i've sold thousands of dollars of porn i've written. we're qualified to answer, i just don't care enough to beg him to ask his retarded question.

>>22527663
>ive had sex with both men
gay

I'll never finish my dystopian homosexual killer finding Jesus book.

>>22527680
is he a killer homosexual or he kills homosexuals?

>>22527628
>>22527589
No, I'm glad at least someone here is making it.

>>22527653
Just dodge the bans retard.

>>22527652
>le 4chan is one person and I hate him

If you look down on this place so much why even come here?

>>22527699
Both. He is a homosexual and the antagonist is a slutty priestess.

The story is a dystopian where there hasn't been any advances in technology for centuries because everyone is too absorbed in cooming to various different stimuli from porn, drugs, sex, material goods, etc, and the homosexual travels around trying to find an answer to cure his loneliness and depression. In his quest, he finds hints of Jesus (Who in the future has been corrupted by a tranny goat devil like figure), and the Priestess is trying to stop him from spreading the word of Christ to the people in the future or she's going to use him to become the Pope to which she can then rule all. Keeping the message of Christ hidden forevermore.

>>22527727
Okay

Premise is a woman is seducing a person of a nonhuman race, but he looks mostly human. Outwardly as close to human as say something like a Klingon from Star Trek would be.

However he's got really monstrous looking genitalia: https://imgchest.com/p/6eyreg367pz

What would a reasonable reaction be upon taking his pants down? She desires him but has never seen anything like that before.

>>22527783
Don't think I want to look at horsecocks.

I don't know your character, nigger. Is she just attracted to him and wants to fuck? Or does she actually like him as a person? Is she vain?

>>22527772
>(Who in the future has been corrupted by a tranny goat devil like figure)

>>22527853
She wants to become his lover, it's on a somewhat wild west desert planet and he's a growing powerful and influential warlord in the area. She also finds him attractive and does enjoy his company.

I will admit I was heavily inspired by the Real Barenziah from Daggerfall for this.

I like this idea of radiation slowing down hostile forces, but I don't like the name.

Any ideas on good names for a made-up type of radiation?

>>22527953
>studied conducted
studies*
the name is fine. there are irl radiation types named after greek letters iirc.

>that feeling when everything clicks perfectly after weeks of wrestling the plot and characters into something coherent

>>22528270
>tfw you had a structural problem and found a way to wedge everything in place without compromising the arbitrary form you chose for the story and decided to commit to as a lark

>>22528247
I forget that gamma radiation's gamma is a Greek letter too.

I don't like sigma though, I think I'll use Omega instead.

No better feeling than realizing something needs to be cut and cutting it.

>>22528392
Circumcision?

>>22528418
That only needs to be cut in the deranged minds of Americans.

>>22525902
Near the end the narrator refers to someone as "the guy" and I don't know if it means Randee or someone else. Otherwise neat story. Remarkably racist.

>>22528392
Female circumcision?

>>22527287
Split it into three volumes?

>>22523130
Are there any good writing apps on android that export to a word document? Currently only have one that does .txt which isn't professional enough to send via email.

why is the op fripp and toyah?
not complaining, like.

>>22523130
Is it possible to craft a believable Schrödinger's Cat scenario where a character is the cat? I think a car crash or an elevator that has barreled down to the ground floor would do the trick, but things get more complicated, as there's two separate cats/characters in this story

>>22528992
>asks a question
>answers his own question
>suggests that the question is actually irrelevant as there is another question that will not be explicitly stated
???

>>22523255
I'm sorry to say, but you need a lot of practice.
It's difficult to read, has FAR too many grammatical errors and is incredibly cheesy.

>>22528764
Because of the "visible old lady nipples" angle. It had that perfect blend of pervy and gross that embodies 4chan. Re: the thread theme, many people here may not know that Toyah dances like an aerobics instructor, and may appreciate the amusing interlude.

>>22525902
The writing is snappy and fun, I would just consider thinking of ways to squeeze in a bit more context so as to not lose the reader in the beginning.

>>22528461
>>22529126
Thanks! Your kind words mean a gigaton. I give some more context on the following page, but it fits better on the second.

Why must fantasy novels be so damned long? Are fantasy readers really that autistic, that anything less than 120k is considered "too short"?

>>22529277
A lot of it comes from trendy demands. You have to have exhausting amounts of lore, maps, descriptions of how someone’s crotch armour connects to their chausses or the culture of your not!Cultures. Anything hinted at or lowkey is LAZY!!!

>>22529300
That's why S&S is infinitely superior to modern fantasy crap, though sword and sorcery doesn't lend itself to novel length stuff that well. Even Tolkien wasn't as autistic as most modern fantasy writers.

>>22529326
Completely agree. There’s a place and logic for that stuff, but most of the time it just comes off as /tg/-tism. Personally, I blame Martin and D&D.

>>22529337
Martin--and more specifically the rise of "political intrigue fantasy"--is 100% to blame.

>>22529277
Yes. I wrote my fantasy story with about 90k words, but there wasn't enough lore for many readers. So it's complete shit.

>>22526239
yup

>>22529277
Wow. So people who read genre fiction are retards? What a shock!

>>22529300
You idiots told me I had to invent a language to properly name my characters, so why are you suddenly pretending to be against this sort of in depth world building? What’s changed?
Or are you faggots just being contrarian for the sake of it?

>>22529435
No.
Trendy fantasy readers are though.

>>22529452
Anon, you do understand that more than two people are posting here, don't you? It entirely possible that you got advice from a few retarded anons.

>>22529461
So it is just that you’re contrarian faggots. Got it.

>>22529465
I can't speak for other people, but I've always been against the concept of super autistic, overly detailed fantasy worlds that serve no purpose other than to bloat word count.

>>22529493
I’m sure you’re lying about that because you’re a piece of shit. Anyway, how much detail is too much detail?

>>22529507
Anything more than Tolkien is way too far. The level of detail that Howard put into the Conan stories is just about perfect.

>>22527497
>>22526991

Fun is what I'm going for, thanks

>>22528392
Cutting 3k words is a good pain

>>22529452
Thats just autism at work, names just need to be simple and memorable

If you think about publishing on RR, Webnovel, Wattpad, or ScribbleHub, let me tell you about my results in the first four days:
I am publishing a fantasy novel on all of these platforms by chapter, at the same time every day, with the first four chapters on the first day in a batch.
Here are the results:

Royal Road: 329 views, 41 average readers, 3 comments, 2 followers, 1 rating
Webnovel: 162 views
Wattpad: 0
ScribbleHub: 451 views, 17 readers, 2 ratings, 2 comments

No advertising, no social media or anything, just silent releases.
Hope this helps with making your choice.

>>22523654
Either embrace narrative structure and build a coherent parable, or make the statement of opinion more pointed. The message is diluted by the volume of words.

>>22527783
>Over 30 views on the fucked up dick
Out of morbid curiosity I hope?

>>22523661
Truth is, they're all self-inserts

>>22529729
>3 comments, 2 followers, 1 rating
>2 ratings, 2 comments
Fuck me, either you must be godlike or you're shilling your shit hardcore.
Most I got was 1 follower on RR.

>>22529813
I don't think I'm good at all, and I do NOT shill it anywhere. Just as I said silent releases.
And while these stats might look good, the bigger platforms in terms of biggest userbase are the ones with the weakest results: WattPad and webnovel

>>22525842
I like this; having family members who have been inpatients and having been in Personnel Awaiting Release recently this excerpt feels authentic. Did you do any research before writing this? If so, what was your process like?

>>22529300
>>22529326
>>22529366
>>22529602
I’m writing some fantasy short stories right now. I’ve run into the problem of bloated word counts a lot. What is necessary detail to make the world feel fantastical and what can be glossed over?

>>22529867
Everything that doesn't drive the story forward is irrelevant and should be cut. If you can't build your world without massive detours and filler, and the fantasy isn't an organic part of the narrative, then it was meaningless from the start

>>22527461
Just be emotionally present while you write; write horny and edit post-nut.

>>22529867
focus on the important, different and outstanding things when describing
for example if you every reader has an idea of what a dragon looks like, no need to describe it, even if every reader will imagine it different
therefore you can focus on how your dragon is different and you can just describe he has shark teeth in his mouth or his wings are like moth wings, or maybe the skin is see-through
same goes for ANY description of ANYthing

>>22529886
Any recommendations for fantasy that organically weaves fantastical elements into the narrative? My intro to fantasy was Sanderson and while I like his writing at the time I’ve grown to loath his disgustingly bloated books.

Currently my best frame of reference are the handful of Conan stories and the first two Witcher books(the ones where it was an anthology)

>>22523654
I find it disturbingly not crude enough. The word 'Meeker' describes the state of the text. Remember that you are what you write and if you do not like how you write you should change how you are. Sorry, I'm too cryptic now. Think of ways that you can do your utter best. If you were a Christian, would Jesus be proud of your work? Would you see Jesus in a dream signalling that he was proud of you and your efforts? If you believe in God, would your text be approved by God? Would God think 'Anon's writing is correct, I will send him/her and a +1 to heaven and improve the world according to his writings'? If you believe in Surfing the Kali Yuga, would you be accepted into the Golden Age because of that work? If you have any doubt, then the answer is likely 'no'.

Do not let doubt restrain you. Play around not only with what you write, but also with how you write. Try pencils, markers, fountain pens, white-gels-on-black-paper, write standing up, laying down, anyway. It's your text, anonymouse internet strangers on a Christian literature forum are your peers only if you want them to be and you can be judged by them if you want them to.
Et cetera.

>>22527783
Her reaction should be on the razor's edge of fear and excitement. She should ask questions and "geek out" about it. Really dig deep and describe the feeling of each surface on its way in and how surreal it is to have a living bad dragon toy inside you. The anal general on /d/ would be a great resource.

>>22529886
This is some stupid unless you’re writing flash fiction.

>>22529908
I don't read a lot of fantasy for the very reason that it's often an awful experience. The Witcher series does a pretty decent job at not rolling in its fantasy-ness, though it drops the ball later and gets pretty shit for other reasons. Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea is one series I'm personally fond of, with a pretty down-to-earth take on fantasy, though it's not really a pure representative of the style I'd tell people to aim for either. I'd sooner suggest reading non-fantasy and then writing fantasy in the way the books you like are written.

>>22529813
2 followers and 3 comments is such wild success that you say shilling is necessary to get there? /wg/ is so funny

>>22530092
It's full of doomers. There are even a handful of dedicated demoralisation posters. Beyond belief.

>>22530092
My mom will forever be my biggest fan anyway, so I'm +1 over you fuckers every day of the week.

>>22529908
The Witcher and Conan are great resources, so it's good that you're reading those already. Clark Ashton Smith's sword and sorcery stuff should be good as well, and even though they're kid stuff, Narnia and The Chronicles of Prydain might be useful as well.

>>22530097
Jokes on them. I’m writing because I enjoy it.

>>22530145
What a fag

>>22528708
>he writes on his phone
bruh

>>22526490
What do you think of this motivation for desiring his old childhood friend?

I was thinking also maybe he experienced betrayal and disappointment with a lover, and hopes to fall back on his childhood friend as a sort of safety net

>>22527953
Soros radiation

>>22530696
Did you have a point?

>>22529035
Nevermind. I'll figure it out myself :)

>>22530696
>capeshit and gary stu isekai
So this is the future of literature

The absolute state of redditors
https://www.reddit.com/r/fantasywriters/comments/16paa67/how_can_an_absolute_monarch_receive_consent/

I wrote some kind of fantasy folktale that I'm probably not going to ever actually work into my novel, so feel free to read it on its own if that's your thing. https://pastebin.com/ca1GSN3S
Now back to more productive writing.

>>22530696
Ha, joke's on them! I am writing an isekai!

>>22530844
https://youtu.be/cdX5UDgQ8x0?si=OF9jkQ4f5qe7iMPq

>>22530696
Isekai bros stay winning

How do some writers manage to tell stories without including their personal hangups? I just want to make fun shit but I can't get over myself.
I'm also an edgelord with a fucked mind, but I don't want to make something controversial.

I want to write but I have no audience. I don't want to share the depraved stuff I write with my family, I don't want to bug my professors or be weird around my classmates (I'm a STEM major and haven't taken any writing classes). I don't know where or how to post anything online. It all feels really worthless, just words on paper, and sometimes it feels like I ought to just throw it away when I'm done. What do I do?

>>22531561
>I don't want to share the depraved stuff I write with my family
What? You write porn with your family?

>>22531561
I like having
>just words on paper
hidden around my home in various files and cabinets. Art is very personal. Not all of it is to be shared, a lot of it is practice, most of mine is unfinished. Share it with whomever but only when it's ready and your audience is willing. I write to express myself to others like any one else. To express my creativity, my ideas and my skill. None of which should be exposed to an audience until it's worthy.
>"Build it and they will come"
If they don't then you're not finished. Write what you will until you are wholly statisfied. Only then should it be shared. Only then should there be expectation of appreciation, but always remember that art is personal and perspective is everything. Even if you're the only person in the world who will ever recognise your work, be greatful for that and allow your audience to be whoever they will.

>>22531545
You and I have the same problem when it comes to commas. I too throw them in before a "but" even when it's unnecessary.

>>22531581
Worse. Scifi.
But for real though some of it is porn but most of it is exploring sexuality in scifi future settings like sex with machines and computers and stuff. The violence and sex is graphic and uncensored. It might be borderline horror.

>>22531545
Your hangups are exactly what should go into your writing. "Write what you know." Personality gives flavor

Can you actually make good money with erotic fiction or is it a market over-flooded with free smut?

>>22532156
You can but you have to have a very high output while serving a market niche
This means writing to women with very specific fetishes
You need a pulp writers skillset (knowledge and practice with lots of plots, understanding of set up/pay off, and sheer output) and an erotica writers skillset (understanding of fetish tropes, strong dialogue, sex scenes that people can jerk off to, and sheer output)
If you can't shit out multiple decent 10k word novellas a week, its extremely unreliable

>>22532156
sure, but never as much as a decent day job

is my prose boring

>>22531545
write for an audience of one: your younger self.
>>22531561
keep writing. if you write enough, i predict you will eventually write something that you can’t help but share. when you are ready it won’t be hard to look online and find the places other writers post work similar to yours, whether it be royal road or amazon or whatever.

>>22532280
no, it’s not boring. I suggest adding a bit of characterization for the narrator in the first paragraph. maybe something about what he thinks or feels when the package first arrives or something like that.

>>22529941
pic related basically?

I’m an intentional author of unknown masterpieces: have been writing stuff since my late grandad challenged me, more than 20 years ago. The first book I wrote, I was 11 at the time, and it’s downright ludicrous (sports superstar loses arm, is contacted by devious man who replaces his lost arm with something built-in with advantagens that cannot be detected - sports superstar is humble and struggles with the advantage he’s been illegally gifted with; is an orphan, was eventually adopted by a couple, his adopted dad knows the suspicious dude from a previous situation…), but one could spot the talent for writing and knack for unprecedented stories, realistic dialogue, specific description, and so on.
I have written about 15 novels and at least 100 short stories, and the history of both my nations in poetry. I do have a problem, though, a mighty distressing one: I haven't completed any of them. fuck, one of them has almost one million words. fucked up big time by losing the notebook in which I had written all the pertinent info, charts, bios.
not all of what I wrote holds masterpiece-like quality, though, even though the storylines are quite imaginative (most beginning with events viewed as normal) and the writing skilful.
Need to discover a way to complete what I start. I'm a tad of retard when it comes to finishing things, as a matter of fact. Issue might be psychological more than, say, related to having difficulties in imagining an end, because every single time I sit my backside down to write, I can write thousands of words, but the will to sit down, that’s the “thing”.
My plan is to leave all this to my kids and let them publish what I wrote.
My advice is: keep a notebook, write down at least the nuclear parts of whatever you’re writing. I knew I had the talent because I used to add shit to the books I read. I remember when it all started: I was reading Stephen King and found myself correcting or adding words to King’s writing: a titanically egotistical thing to do, yes. As I am reading novels or non-fiction books, I’m constantly thinking that said sentence could be improved with this or that, and so on.

Good writing, cunts (pardon my french).

>>22532280
first paragraph is a slog and made me end up reading the rest with my eyes glazed over
pacing of everything feels a bit clunky and samey
random tense switching in a couple spots is really awkward

>>22532565
Im happy for you or im sorry for your loss or whatever

>>22532565
that's a really fucking long way to say you don't write
finish your shit, you can't even call yourself an author if you haven't finished a single thing, let alone fetishize it

>>22532593
I haven't even started one thing let alone finish

>>22532206

It certainly is not mainstream reading, but the thing is, I have read that book that broke records and inspired movies, and I found it to be lacking in almost everything: I have this perhaps radical idea about why it succeeded: because men aren't fucking do their job in bed, that is why.
Why not write an erotic novel with a non-retarded plot? mix genres but make it clear that the erotic element is the core of the story.

>>22532685

adding way more than just sex scenes might lure the prudes, tame their sense of "i'm too good to be reading this sort of thing".

>>22532593

wtf do you mean by "i don't write"?. I just told you I do write. A lot. But not frequently.
What I do not do is finish what I start, and by this I do not mean I abandon something after having wrote 4k words (every "novel" I've started has + 35k words). The difference is all but meaningless.

>>22532692
It's not meaningless. You can write for fun, that's fine. However 97% of people who begin writing a novel never finish it. Until you do you're just a hobbyist and can't claim to be a writer.

>>22532891
No,.you can claim to be a writer at any point. Claiming to be an author is a different story.

>>22532692
>"?.
ngmi
office hours are 3:00 to 4:00 every day

>>22532692
The only thing meaningless is your unfinished writing. You have not fulfilled any ambition. You have failed to give your stories the life they deserve. And worse, you have an ego over it. Humble yourself and finish something instead of bragging about your "masterpieces" which are paradoxically so incredible that they seem to bore you to the point of dropping them or perhaps have so thin a plot that you don't know how to continue them after the opening act. Amateurs who do nothing but write the start of a story and then give up over and over are a dime a dozen.

>>22523654
It’s been two years since the local middle school graduated its class of 2014. In that time the children blossomed into grown adults. Adolescents entered their prime years of learning and physical ability. That farmstead took the raw human material granted to it and yielded a new generation.

Here are a few consultants, a few engineers, a medical student. A small clique of homosexuals, some ignoring, others rebelling against their Catholic education. Did they not read of Dante’s sorrow at the pitiful sight Brunetto Latini?

Still, not all have succumbed to the free sexuality of the age. A male virgin can still be found amongst them.

And yet where is the artist? Where is the Robert Burns? Where is the devout priest shepherding the lost sheep? Where is the disciplined Olympian striving for supremacy at his craft.

This generation, unlike any before, was born with the totality of human knowledge, art, and experience available at its fingertips. Ideas and theories could be summoned instantly from some forgotten dark recess of history or from the shining edge of current understanding. And yet here they appear the same as the generation that preceded them, nay, the same but meeker.

This new generation, the same as the old. The same as the children of 68 who were a perceived burden on their parents. A restriction on their newly claimed freedom from the old ways. Those children sent to the French countryside to grow up where they woudlnt disturb new modern lifestyle. Today the countryside is brought to the children. This poor generation husbanded by screens and the friendly faces on them. Their social ability is left undeveloped. There are no bands of boys with whom to roam the bucolic countryside. A burden to their parents the same as before but they only solitude.


The best I could do with it. Not sure the purpose of the text but to critique society broadly.

>don't write your magnum opus first
Haha I'm gunna do it anyway.

>>22533638
>don't
*can't
Your first two works will be trash and once you have double digits worth you'll look back on them with embarassment

>>22533683
>Your first two works will be trash
>mfw my third was just as bad

Please tell me what you think of this.

When he heard the alarm go off, Pezaro half-dropped his fifth glass of beer on the swollen cup-holder, thus losing the bet he had made with another older jockey, and ran towards the siren, through the door of the canteen, across the corridor of his companions' stalls and down the spiral staircase to the level of the engine room, sneaking up to reach the emergency rope, which he pulled with a jerk, and he went down the ladder that gave access to the computer room, where the huge heat sink, attached to the processor of the automatic targeting system of the cannons, smoked and reddened, expelling at the same time an odor of hot silicon and a fat wave of heat that turned the room into a sauna clogged with electricity and patched rubber cables, and the high temperature gilded his skin, causing thin strands of sweat to sprout from his pimpled forehead, gaining weight and sliding down to accumulate on the contours of his nose until they leapt to the floor in explosions that synchronized with the rhythm of his accelerated heart, which pumped through his veins a mixture of blood and alcohol at such a speed that he could smell the alcohol evaporate through his pores while his hands skidded wetly over the latch of the first and second toolboxes until he found the blessed kevlar strips and the can of synthetic polymer, with which he made a mixture known to older jockeys as "wet dream", because both the smell and consistency of the polymer reminded him of his younger, soggy underpants while dreaming of Natasya Keppler, only this time the milky goo went in and patched up the broken cooling hoses, through which the coolant poured carrying the sweet odor of night flowers and gasoline.

>>22533773
Holy run-on Batman.

>>22532565
here's what I'd do if I were you:

Without re-reading a story of yours make up three versions for the ending. Write them in this order a) an anticlimax b) a lukewarm realistic one and c) a big bang. Write it, preferably, in a burst. Maybe throughout a Saturday night when the kids aren't home. Don't judge those writings yet. Stash it in a drawer and give it six weeks. Then read the novel from the beginning and when you reach a dead end where you feel like that ending would fit right in, pick up those three endings and read them, big bang first. If it fits but it's too much, go for the lukewarm or anticlimax. If none of those fit, redo the process with another story or give it a longer time in the drawer and redo the process.

The process of tying the story to the end is what will give you the most trouble, but you'll know that you already have something to aim for and it'll hopefully help you out. Cheers.

Boys I'm in the depths of a writing slump. I can't even bring myself to read.

I think I finally got a job lined up bros. I don't actually have to write a fantasy schlock novel to continue paying my mortgage anymore.

That said, I think I may try to finish said schlocky fantasy novel between now and the time that job starts. Since the pressure's off, I can write any dogshit I want and it won't matter.

>>22533983
then you might end up writing something good for a change

How would you guys go about outlining a story (or at least portions of it) that has five main perspectives that intertwine, and each of those perspectives then further breaks down into more?

What I plan to do is: go back through the parts of the story that I have already written without the use of any outline and try to make an outline with what's there. This way, I can go back and see what the causes and effects were, so then I can draw it all out and have at least some idea of how to go about actually creating one for the next portion(s). I wanted to write the whole thing without any serious outlines, but it's just too confusing trying to make everything coherent without one.

>>22534142
throw it in the trash and work on a better idea

New
>>22534186
>>22534186
>>22534186

>>22534142
write it first, arrange it later.