/lit/ - Literature

>Margaret Atwood
lol women authors

So what advice would you give for writing a good short story op?

>>2401975

When I was first starting I tried to stick with a setting that was close to my understanding. I grew up and live in a wonderful setting in Canada and it is full of "leads" I can pursue. Find your lead and writing will be very easy and fun. I try to stay away from issues I would have to research a lot right away until I have more experience with the subject.

One very common tip I always give is to carry around a small notepad and pen and examine the world around you while in your daily life. I have written numerous stories with a lead based in some mundane activity in life such as a couple of older kids playing street hockey or an elderly janitor at a hockey rink for example.

>>2401987
>>2401984
Ah, I see what you're saying. Examine life closely and find the stories that are already around you and try to write them.

>>2401991

Yes. It seems cliche but it does wonders for attaining or regaining the courage to write more ambitious works.

Another tip is to not always rely on a negative frame of mind while writing. A lot of young writers try to be cynical and "beyond their years" when they are starting out and it is rather cliche.

Write from a positive part of your soul when starting out and it is fun and easy. You can save the dark brooding tales of life on the futuristic wasteland when your vocabulary and writing ability can match your ambition

What are your favorite short stories? I'm trying to get around to reading everyone one of the stories in those roulette zips lit made.

>>2402027

There are too many to count. I love Alice Munro and Margaret Atwood and a good place to start would be Vintage Munro which you can find at most book stores.

I also love short stories by American authors such as Updike and Faulkner even though their content is outside of my grasp. Find some older copies of the New yorker and you can find some excellent content or go to the new yorker website and they have some of the best ones on display:

http://www.newyorker.com/online/podcasts/fiction

And of course Somerset Maugham has some of the best older short stories. There are numerous collections that encompass his best work

Nothing else? I am going to go to bed if that is all.

Make sure you enter that contest by the way. I would love to see you succeed.

Enjoyed your advice Stradlater, thanks for letting all Canada-bros on here know about this. If you could offer any additional advice for young writers that would be cool? Like what was the lead up to getting your first book published?

Bump

Britfag here. Just wondering if there's anything like this for young poets?

>>2403085

There is a similar poetry competition starting tomorrow.


I am available tonight if anyone has any specific writing questions or tips tonight. I wont be here all day tomorrow for Valentines day . Please bring your concerns!

I am not certain why there has been so little interest so far but hopefully it will pick up

Good advice on the short stories, there. I'd love to enter but unfortunately I'm American. Good luck to anyone from /lit/ who enters; this sounds like a great opportunity.

How accurate is this image?

>>2403787

This covers a lot of good areas. Surprisingly quite a few.

>>2403787
>a story is an account of change
Fucking, oh boy, here we go with the endless shit people create while bound to their rules of writing. Fucking read books and shit, stop being such brainless shit fucks

>>2403836
>read first sentence
>explode with rage

take your pills man

>>2401968
if i submit, will they ship my subscription to the magazine overseas?
i'm canadian, but don't live there

>>2403853

I have no idea, I do not represent the publication.

Well last bump for all Canadian lurkers of /lit/ before I let the thread fade away

>>2403787
It's weak. It started out preety cool and the guy made an effort to mention it's just his take, so it's all forgiven.

But a lot of things there are cringeworthy and highly debatable. Highly, to the point that you might actually get the contrary advice from someone else. It certainly helps those who doesn't have a clue. I've seen his example of stories that don't change and it's goddamn awful. Not the do-this, don't-do-that part is messed up in my opinion.

He says story first, grammar later, but he leaves the "tools of the trade" for the end, with things that, for me, are more important than the story itself. Story is plot and the things unfolding, but how they are unfolding is definitely much more important in my eyes. I don't care about his robot story at all, what is it going to give me? I think it must add to thought of the reader, except what he does there is just rule of cool all over the place. And big ears do make it more interesting, it also makes it more gratuitous. Reading this type of advice might lead to a book that is coherent, that could get away with, but wouldn't do anything for anyone's. No matter how physical the story is, the main idea has to be internal, not elves or dwarves, but the temptation of the Ring, for example. The rest is just an envelope.

And lol he doesn't know shit about abstract art to say that about the paintings, it's a shame really, that people think like that.

A tip that I like was to keep your mouth shut because explaining won't make your book better, though I dislike the idea of showing your story to others, as the story should be yours, not the fans. I would advise to show to few people you really really trust, just in case, but avoid writing FOR them.

Hemingway would cringe so hard if he saw this.

These tips can make you someone on the level of J. K. Rowling or Stephen King, if you are better, but not much more.

>>2403871

Unlike literature I do not think it worthwhile to be such an elitist while writing.

Writing is supposed to be a fun and honestly enjoyable hobby and profession. I do not think it is worthwhile to consider what Hemingway would think of your writing at every pass.

Just relax and write. Whether it turns out being terrible or Hemingway quality, you probably enjoyed the process.

>>2403888
I'm not an elitist, I never said people shouldn't have fun when writing, I never said people should consider what Hemingway would think at every pass (though sometimes it couldn't hurt), I never said not to relax, I never said anything about the process other than in relation to how the book is going to turn out.

So I don't have much to refute or something.

>>2403916

Oh alright. My mistake.