/lit/ - Literature

I write, but only philosophy. I just write what comes to mind, and number it.

>>2759998
Been writing a novel for a while, but have been too busy lately to get a consistent writing pace.
I just fit it in when I have some random time.

I like to poem, mostly.

I write bicycle user manuals. Finnigans Wake is my favorite novel and inspired me to write more.

I want to write but I'm afraid to start. I'm worried that I'll come to realize that I'm actually a really terrible writer, shattering my dreams of ever completing a work and being satisfied with the end product. Better to have not tried at all than to have tried and failed, right?

Yeah, I guess I identify as a writer of sorts, wrote a couple of shitty "novels" a few years back. Right now I just can't get a word on the page and it may be tearing me apart. So, I've started editing random stories on the internet to amuse myself whilst still being some-what productive.

>>2760028
Right. Now continue being a loser.

Write now I'm writing comics and a novel, both with friends. I wouldn't recommend it.

>>2760028
Writers are (or at least they should be) rather critical about their work anyways, but if you won't even give it a shot I guess you can continue on being a loser. And hey, Twilight got published...

I chip in a couple of hundred words every day. I work a day job and half a girlfriend so I'll usually steal the laptop for an hour or so just to continue. I reread what I've written and edit and edit.

I really like to write off the top of my head and keep what's there (Kerouac's method?) but I'll inevitably edit and edit.

I really want this but there's no time limit at the mo

How about some of you post excerpts. I'd like to see how terrible /lit/'s "writers" are.

>>2760044
“Remind me why we're here again,” Pink Lemonade said.
“Cause' we're protesting,” Earwig replied.
“Yeah!” Donald shouted a few seconds later. “Protesting!” Donald was the oldest of the gang and still hadn't replaced the hearing aid from his eighty fifth birthday.
“And remind me why we're doing that,” Pink Lemonade said. More than anything he enjoyed hearing the gangs eccentric motto repeated.
Earwig took a deep breath. “Because a fish in a farm is no fish freely, and only free fish should all fishes be really,” he recited. It had taken Pink Lemonade six weeks to teach him that.
“Precisely!” He exclaimed. “And today is the day we can finally get back at these spineless corporate fish-wranglers. I'd say it almost feels like Christmas.”
“Thanksgiving!” Donald shouted into Pink Lemonade's left ear. “Earwig, tell him about the Pilgrims.” Donald brandished his cane furiously in the air and growled at some passersby.
“Just watch the parade,” Pink Lemonade said crossly. “The boss told us not to make a scene until she gets back.”

>here's a shit intro i wrote the other day

I write essay-length emails to friends who respond in kind. We talk about anything and everything; some people I just talk to about life in general and what we're up to, I have at least one friend who's as into Plato as I am, etc.. I have no interest in making my writing into a career, but it's a great hobby.

>>2760044
I doubt many will be willing. People steal stuff all the time.

>>2760056
I liked it. Interested to see where it goes.

>>2760028
get the fuck out of here are you kidding me! afraid to start! the fuck is keeping you?
WRITE, my friend, WRITE!!!
its better than all the movies and books and music and driving and going to the store and websites ever! YOUR OWN THOUGHTS
DO NOT LET ANOTHER DAY PASS WHERE YOU DO NOT TAKE DOWN YOUR IDEAS
YOU HAVE A LIFE
IT IS INTERESTING
WRITE IT

>>2760056
No offence, bro, but cut down on the dialogue. Overall, not as bad as I expected.

/lit/ has a scribophile group and IRC channel that meets on Fridays to discuss their writing.

http://www.scribophile.com/groups/lit/
http://www.mibbit.com/#/lit/writers@irc.rizon.net

I mostly write diaries and confessions. They're somewhat based on what I've read from novels with first-person narratives like Notes from the Underground, Nausea or Confessions from a Mask. It's not very good or ground-breaking, but it helps me work out my anxiety.

I do write, though rarely do I write anything of any import. I write at least four or five short stories a week, though I often delete them, they being entirely private pieces. I have written columns for newspapers and websites, speeches for local politicians, and essays for various local publications. My goal is to release a novel, though I am still in the idea stage.

My process varies in relation to the nature of work I'm doing. If I am writing something official, like an essay or a research paper, I typically sit down to write it in very large chunks, sometimes only two or three (or one if it's below six pages or so). I often use this time to listen to new albums. I typically use a fairly assertive tone, similar to the one I use to post on 4chan (tip: if you're struggling with an argumentative or position paper, imagine that someone has just made a post arguing against your point, and that you need to construct a valid rebuttal). If I am writing a column, I listen to upbeat music and write in a generally informal tone, taking care to make my readers feel "included." If I am writing a speech, I visualize a screenplay and a storyboard, and I listen to powerful orchestral music (it's important to coach your speech reader on how to perform the speech). Finally, if I am writing fiction, my tone varies widely between academic and formal (purple, I suppose), and short and to the point. I listen to music that fits what I am writing.

>>2760061
We're not paranoid that someone will steal our stuff, we're just self-conscious about our writings.

>>2760056
I think I know what you're doing and it's been done to death recently. Which is a pity. That's a hell of a lot of dialogue for an intro by the way.

Right now, I'm writing a series of very short novels (~50 pages each). It's kind of like a tv series, but in novella form. The idea was to give people something quick and cheap to read on their kindles. It's kind of a sic-fi action adventure deal. The problem is my schedule and that writing is slow and laborious. I work 45-75 hours a week and just don't have the energy to keep up with the thousand words a day I'm trying for. If anybody wants to check it out it's on the kindle store. I wouldn't buy it. It'll be free in a couple of weeks or so when the next episode comes out. Also it'll have more content. Is it great literature? No. Is it good literature? Also, no. It's incoherent pulpy garbage. But I hope it's fun, incoherent, pulpy garbage. Just search for "Andiver Vasse" on kindle if you're interested. I'd put a link, but I feel that's bad form.

>>2760075
what am i doing? cause i haven't read any fiction written in the last 20 years so if its been done to death i dont know about it.

>>2760028
3/10

>>2760083
Pretty much every topic's been done to death anyways, you just need to TRY to make it your own and y'know, unique. I think it's really hard to come up with something totally original anyways, and since you're just starting out then cut yourself some slack, write fanfiction for all we care, just write.

>>2760056
Dialogue's good, flows naturally for the most part, and I'm never one to poo-poo lots of dialogue (one of Elmore Leonard's rules of writing is to cut out all the shit nobody wants to read: namely, lots and lots of scene description) but those fellers are just kinda floating in space.

>>2760095
it's a story about a geriatric gang lead by a 23 year old girl who hijack a parade float for a tunafish company and sink it in the hudson river. has that really been done before? fuck me

Enjoy, my writing from maybe a week back. I'm not proud of it, but as I said, I havn't gotten a word on the page lately. Keep in mind, I'm not a native English speaker.


The cooling summer breeze rolls in my window as I take another sip of this Thai whiskey Oscar had brought for me. It tasted like absolute shit, but with it being the only drop of alcohol in the house I decided I had brought my standards up a little too high.
I know Joy is awake, I'm not stupid. She sometimes does this, but I take comfort in her naked frame wrapped in my bedsheets. Her long, blonde hair in every direction. She really did compliment the room. She brought some light into the small, shabby-looking apartment of mine. The emerald-green walls looked better, the dirty, dark floors looked cleaner. Joy carried this virtuous aura everywhere, it was the one that made me fall in love with her. It was the one that kept me falling in love with her every single day.
“Elijah?” She mutters out, like she had just awoken. As always, I go along with the act.
“Morning, angle,” I stumble off my drunk ass and kiss her on the forehead, “How did you sleep?”
“Pretty good, I dreamt of you.”
“Oh really? What did you see” I say as Joy gets up as well and we both make our way to the kitchen. She starts making the coffee as I sit on the barely-stable red chair behind the old pine table.
“Well, it was you, but you looked like a talking pony and I wa-”
“Good morning, lovebirds! Isn't today a lovely Sunday morning? Say, do you mind doing it a little louder next night? I really do enjoy my sleep-deprived state.” Oscar interrupts.

>>2760109
Oh, reading it now, I see how horrible it is. Fuck me.

>>2760122
dont be too hard on yourself ol' chaperoo

>>2760153
>>2760122
I agree with this guy. For a non-native speaker it's actually pretty good on a word-by-word level. I don't know why I'm reading about these folks, but I don't mind doing it. However, this is 4chan, so I'm going to have to ask you to suck a million cocks and die in a fire.

Laughter without noise:
nobody knew he had a
carrot up his ass.

>>2760097
>>2760065
>>2760075
>hell of a lot of dialogue
Jesus christ, it's 8 lines. It's definitely not too much and I seriously question your quality of advice in a general sense.

It's good, finish your novel, anon.

>>2760202
I want this, in Japanese, on my back.

>>2760078
>Andiver Vasse
Neat little reference you have there, bro.

>>2760216
Yes, but those eight lines are 100% of what we know about this. There's less scene description than a movie script. Doesn't mean it isn't good.

i have all the time in the world but i never write

>>2760231
Scene description is absolute bullshit and if you had read anything worth your salt you'd know that you fantasy-addled twerptick.

It's good as it stands on its own, and I'm willing to bet the intro paragraphs to those short stories you've never finished are cringeworthy.

>>2760239
You're very angry. I thought it was good. I just wanted to know where they were talking. So, no scene description ever? Is that the new thing? It worked for french pornographers.

>>2760244
They're at a parade, it's autumn, they're immature, what more do you need to know Encyclopedia Brown?

>>2759998

I write poetry whenever the mood strikes me. It's free verse and mostly bad.

>>2760248
Not to mention they're somewhere by the ocean, fueled by the fishing industry.

>>2760250
thanksgiving, therefore united states

i write horror/pulpy/escapist stuff. blood, sex, monsters, etc. nothing too serious but it's fun!

sadly i have never finished any of it.

as for my process it's nothing special. usually i make a huge pot of coffee, put on my headphones, and listen to scary ambient music.

>>2760260
Canada has a Thanksgiving, too. And fish. And parades. And old hippies.

I write, though I get bored easily. I have close to fifty pages of notes in Microsoft Word for various stories.
I finished a horror short story a month ago because I made a bet with a friend. I hope to finish my superhero short story by the end of the month.
When it comes to actually doing the work, I tend to write disjointed scenes or chapters that strike me as cool or interesting. I found that writing the short story I did far easier when I wrote out the scenes that were the most vivid in my mind, then filling in the gaps and linking the story together.

I'm a moderately published poet. That basically means that I have a collection out and another on the way.

Which, in America, means dick all in terms of notoriety.

When do you start enjoying your work?

>>2760296

small press? How long did it take to get published (between finishing the manuscript and actual relase)?

>>2760296
>mfw published poets near me


Everyone and their mother publishes their shit poetry

You should pick up an instrument and try to become famous.

I write, but I'm fully aware that it isn't worth a shit so I don't attempt to force it on anyone else

>>2760296
>>2760301
>>2760308
>>2760306

This is the problem with writing for notoriety or for "yourself." If you write for others, you never worry about any of this- just how to make them happy.

>>2760312

why are you writing to make others happy? what sort of ingratiating nonsense is this shit?

it's cute that people want regurgitated mess they semi-recognize in subconscious bowels flushed daily of sustenance, but it's not good writing and it shows

you'll probably publish tons, no doubt doe, so go fo' if that's all ya know sho'

I've been writing for a few years now, I'm finally at the point where I enjoy my work. I'm working on a novel that follows a group of inner city kids. My process is to sit down in front of a computer screen for several hours until I have a solid chunk of words in front of me.

I'm writing a cyberpunk novel aimed at young adults with focus on plot and characters because my prose is not purple enough.
Going at 500+ words per day.

I know this ain't gonna end well, but fuck me if I'm not trying.

This thread should not need to be posted. /Lit/ is about writers. We all write. Nothing more to it.

>>2760331
>>2760331
Huge Cyberpunk fan right here. What's it about? Sauce or gtfo.

>>2760331

what is "purple prose" exactly? please define what you're discussing. what in words doesn't make sense? why is this demonization of eloquent usage singular to written formats? does your dumb faggot ass think nabakov or fitzgerald or pynchon are purple because they big words or something?

there is no "purple shot" pejorative that matches "purple prose" because shots are appreciated on the basis of their merit, just like literature should be. except genre-ics like yourself waddle on in, splay your crusted dorito-chapped ass cheeks, and blast all threads in sight with your sloshing, acidic stupidity.

fuck outta here nerd bird

>>2760351

sorry *they use

oops 4 editun errur

>>2760351

Nigga, you be cold as hell.

Why the hate? Can't we spread dat love?

>>2760351.
>thinks F. Scott uses big words.

Kid, you really need to improve your vocabulary

>>2760351
In my opinion (I'm not him, obviously), eloquent, flowery prose need to be used in moderation. Too little and the writing is dull and bland. But with too much, you have these massive, redundant sentences that are gratuitous and pointless. Most authors, particularly in fantasy because the lack of attention to prose, are to one extreme or the other. The best writers find a decent middle ground that leans to one side or the other.

People like Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard can do full-on purpose prose well, but that's only because they did it in small doses. This is the same reason why the Scarlet Letter is shit, but Nathaniel Hawthorne's short stories are far better.
>>2760361
Fitzgerald had a verbose style, not a complex style.

>>2760359
how insufferable

>>2760371
>pointless

Nope

>>2760361

you need to improve ur intelligence

fuck outta here nerd bird address the point or scoot

We lived far away from the city before moving there for Daddy’s new work. This meant leaving all the animals behind. Chief, my dog, isn’t the little spaz-machine he used to be. I think this is because his pal Inny Dog died or maybe he knows where Dad works now, maybe big Chief can smell the grease when Dad comes home. I sure can.

My favourite animals at our country house were the chickens, and one in particular, Flutter. I gave her this name because when I fed her she flapped her wings calmly, like an eagle, always careful, never biting – not even the first time, which was odd because we’d never met before.

I loved her like she was family.

Dad stole her eggs. I hated this but she didn’t seem to mind. I guess it reminded me, stupidly, of when Mummy tried to give me a sister but couldn’t. I told Dad one evening after feeding Flutter and he let me know I was being stupid.

‘Mummy can’t even make eggs,’ he told me, a little angrily, ‘let alone a sister.’ There was a mess of papers on his desk. I saw FINAL PAYMENT stamped on one. He sighed.

‘Why can’t she, Dad?’

I remember how his head fell, blocking the weak lamplight buzzing on the other side, the sharp shadows across his face. He looked at me.

‘Run along, kiddo. I need to figure this out.’

>>2760375
"Redundant" and "pointless" perfectly sum up what is commonly referred to as "Purple Prose". If you don't think so, you're simply an idiot or you've just grown up reading books with a POINTLESS style of writing and have grown complacent.

>>2760371

>full-on
>in small doses

reconcile with your bias b4 postin' again thanks
you also haven't defined what the fuck is meant by purple prose. does it consist of sentences with complex syntax, diction, improvisational grammar usage? adjectives should do shit, but abundant adjective usage should never be dismissed as gratuitous off-hand in good writing unless you're a dumbie

>>2760359

your story idea sounded pretty gay
watch how ya tone switches up now two-face bendy "takes it up the ass" propane

>>2760349
I'm completely improvising it and I'm only about 5,500 words in, so I myself have little idea where it will go, but I can say that if you're a huge cyberpunk fan, it might not be for you because I know that it's not gonna be as dark as most of them, unless you'd like that.

>>2760387
>Define
Complex syntax and redundant usage of adverbs, descriptive verbs, archaic words in LIBERAL DOSAGES. I'm not saying it's bad to be descriptive, but there is a line that, when crossed, the writer has walked into the territory of literary masturbation. All I'm saying is that perfect niche for a writer's prose is somewhere in the middle. The paradigm of prose, in my opinion, can be summed as "descriptive when necessary".
>improvisational grammar
Like Finnegan's Wake? That is essentially literary masturbation. The only sense I can find in improvisational grammar is for the author to have fun and fuck with the reader.

>>2760398

but no good writer does this in their good works

so purple prose is bad writing? as in all forms of bad writing? because you've just listed characteristics of bad writing. why not just call it bad writing if it's just bad writing? why the fancy name?

also no shit the paradigm of prose is descriptive when necessary - that's the point in storytelling. that doesn't help in defining purple prose.

i have no experience with finnegans wake so i won't comment on its intricacies

>>2760378
>>2760387
>>2760431
>>2760323
my first impression of you is that you're like 14 years old

I write largely book reviews, but dabble in short fiction and poetry.

So yeah.

All I ever wanted was inspiration. Looking back, I realized it was there the whole time.

I was a man with nothing in my mind save for the ability to write and the lack of knowledge of what to write about. I had no inspiration, no muse, nothing that could help me to kick start my writing process. I had looked through dozens of articles and paged through self-help books that all promised me that once I performed their rituals I would achieve a state of inspirational nirvana. It was as if my mind had dammed off any good ideas and these books offered me sledgehammers, jackhammers, explosives, any destructive tool that might help to break the barring and let the ideas flow freely into my mind. None of it worked. Every night I stayed up late thinking of what to write, and every night I fell asleep without having written a single word.

Part of a short story

I write adventures about board-tans solving mysteries and having awkward romantic encounters with each other, as well as stories based off of archived/legendary threads and Anonymous being a luckless fool caught up in spaghetti-wrenching social conundrums.

My process is:
(1) Consume lots and lots of:
- Pulp detective stories and short stories in general to solidify my understanding of the mechanics of a popularly appealing and well-constructed plot
- Fancy pants literature to inspire and to show me the way in terms of style and different ways of presenting a good tale
- Myths and epics for inspiration and to explore the manifestations of different character archetypes
- Poetry and plays to teach me about rhythm and good dialogue
- Gay fanfiction to give me boners and learn how I might give boners to others

(2) Open up Word Pad and experiment with the things I've been reading and stewing on

(3) Never show my work to anyone unless it makes me lol or gives me a boner

Reading threads like these inspires me to write.

She felt him thrust in, and then slowly pull out. As he pushed forward, she moved back. As he pulled back, she moved forward. Their forms were in perfect, dark, harmony. Other than the few loud cries she let out, the forest was silent. He made no sound. She stopped fighting back long ago. Through her tears she wondered how long she had been there. An hour at least. Her body was limp, and her arms hurt terribly from where he had been holding her. His many limbs were wrapped around her, twisting and shuffling around her body. She felt like she was drowning. She could feel him take her entire body in. She felt him wrap around her waist, slither into her throat, and thrust into her. In and out again. She let out another cry, but this one was not for the pain. She cried because she knew, deep down inside, there was a naturalistic sense of joy and pleasure rising from her body. She fought it. She could not fight him, but she could fight her body from enjoying it. Her body may have succumbed to the erotic rhythm of the thrust, but her mind would not.

>first paragraph from fantasy novella I'm writing
>after this, the rest of the novel sounds like a book written for 8th graders
>still try to write everyday, but only on the second chapter after like 4 weeks.

well, I'm a journalist, I need to write for live

besides my work, I make poems (yep, kill me), chronicles, and some projects of books

my new project is a sci fi based on Mars (yes, so original....whatever). In this case I need to do some ressearch, because this need to be in some form accurate (like the gravity, air composition, this kind of things).

not a big deal, I just sit, read some, and start my work. A good thing is make a routine, with time of begining and end and objectives, like a regular job

(sorry, english isn't my first language)

>>2760616
post an adventure about a legendary thread

something i wrote when i was 18

'She sees me standing in the doorway, those round eyes say yes. Such is the nature of tonight. The bed is white, and the hallway behind me dark, yet one must not draw such easy parallels with good and evil. Truth is, there is no truth. There is not black or white, right or wrong, even yes and no become blurred in the uncommitting halfway.
Who I am? She thinks she knows, and I know I don’t. The whole fucking situation is a kind of slow pleasurable torture, in which all aspects of a happening are held as one, contradictions intact. The doorway is really where I belong, it’s obvious. Too cowardly for a relationship, but too noble for one night stand with someone who wants more. Outcomes become unforeseeable as my path emerges, like a bad ending to a good book. Physically, we are together but are emotionally apart, and this happy fact is mine alone. I take solace in the physical, followed by a want of smokes. In the beginning, it seems like I have chosen rightly. After all, the exchange brought her pleasure, I have avoided fear and things continue as they always have.
Despite the enigmatic twist I find myself in, even with blurred edges I can still see my two options and how they would play out into my immediate and long term future. Leave it, run. This is the easiest for you and the cruelest for her. Keep her at arm’s length with excuses and distance, a prolonged feign of interest will keep her from outwardly confronting you, and thus you world proceeds as it has always done. You got your dick sucked without consequence or acceptance of responsibility. As always, you land on your feet and walk away. '

I had begun writing a script for a film but I just stopped for some reason.


EXT. FIELD - MORNING

A man is standing in the midst of a small field; he's taking in his surroundings and breathing in the fresh, cold morning air. It looks as if he is deep in thought, mentally preparing himself for the day ahead. He turns and heads up the dark-soiled slope towards an old small home, which is stood next to a strong and sturdy oak tree.

That's the first paragraph; it was going to be set in early-middle ages somewhere in Scandinavia.

I love to write when I feel like I've got a good idea going, but I feel obnoxious whenever I talk about it.

My process is pretty much me writing whatever idea I think it legitimate enough to put down, but I almost never follow through enough, or I simply don't finish. Lack of discipline I guess. I think I've finished a few good pieces, though.

>>2760948

Little bit of dialogue, too:

MAN
Is [name] awake yet?

WOMAN
He should be, I already called him.

A young boy enters the room running his fingers through his messy mid-length hair.

BOY
I'm here.

MAN
Come, it's time to get started on the soil.

BOY
Yes, father.

The man throws part of his cloak over his shoulder, turns, and heads back outside. The boy follows, clumsily shoving on his worn leather shoes.

Ok then guys, which authors influence your work (of which you're writing at the moment?

>>2760983
I'm not smart enough to write adult, so I usually end up scribbling up YA and such. I think both John Green and Patrick Ness contribute to my fabricated writing "style" of-sorts.

>>2760983

I´m
>>2760682

well, now are sci fi writers and scientific articles

but I need to make some stops in another style to mantain the rhythm. So I´m re-reading Dom Quixote and reading Bukowski, because they are fun (my taste)

>>2760957
Is this supposed to be bland? Like, "oh wow, it's just as boring as real life, this is great!" type idiocy?

>>2759998
I only write functional text messages to friends and women. I'm very good at it though, I've been complimented on them many times.

>>2761039
ur not 1 of d old skool purists, r u? U cn actuly be more xpressiv like dis, coz u have more room 2 play in d word limit.

>>2761002
>not smart enough

How can you not be not smart enough to write?

>>2760983
charlie clips (profound points, searing angles), yung ill (crazy wordplay), arsonal da rebel (impeccable delivery), with a tad loaded lux b/c he's got the joyce wordplay game down and i need some of dat diction airy game, you feel me?

I write screenplays for short films

>>2760957

Are you writing a sequel for The Village?

Well, I'm writing a story right now. But I'm really self conscious about it. My problem is that I'm too excitable. I'm always way too fast and eager to get to the good parts, that it just... explodes apart. Man.

As of right now I'm jotting down shit I think is funny in a notebook because I want to try stand up comedy in a month or so. Pleb level I know, but fuck the police.

I got like 15 pages in one novel, maybe 20 or so in another one and 76 pages with 34k words in the one that I have most of my hopes in. I wrote like 10k in one week, another 10k in the next week but I havent written more than a few thousand in a few weeks. Im gonna start writing once i get back from a vacation. Most of the stuff is fiction and i wouldnt wanna talk about what i have written exactly.

The way I look at it, theres so many people in the world that theres a good chance that there will be people interested in your idea.

I write legal documents for a living. My shit gets published in the public sphere almost daily.

Just like some people already said in this thread, I often feel a desire to express whatever is on my mind on paper, or to simply write a short story - about anything, really. But almost without exception, the desire is overcome by the feeling that it will suck. If not now, maybe in 5 years, when I will read my teenage ramblings and feel embarrassed about my own past.

I will try it some day, /lit/. I swear.

This is something I wrote while writing a while back when I was clownin

"Krazy the Klown, I can smile, I can frown; I can buy a pound break it down and flip it all around. I can make the kiddies scream, some giggle and some cry because some of them can embrace my folly and others are terrified. Go on let that light shine; I'm crazy for a lifetime, circus act for a dime, but only in the nighttime. My go-cart blows blueberry fumes when I rev it and the laughing gas it emits puts the audience in hysterics. Then they draw back into silence as I bring out both the lions; the enthroned king of the jungle and his simply stunning highness. I conduct them like a band and they will roar on my command, as I make the crowd melt like chocolate in my hand. I got jokes in my pockets and some tricks up my sleeves; my hair holds a brighter red than the autumn time leaves. Yes, I can ride a unicycle while juggling seven swords and I got gasoline in my pores so I can spit a flaming torch. I can hear the crowd roar, as fireworks begin to soar and the flowers of light illuminate the whole world. The entire tent erupts in thunderous ovation, thank you one and all for your support and cooperation. The show always ends and life always proceeds, but days outside the tent have brought my soul to its knees. When I'm a clown my world is peaceful and my mind achieves nirvana, but my life without my makeup is uglier than an iguana. The liquor kills my liver and the smoke infests my lungs, I might consider kamikaze but there's only water in my gun. I thought it would be fun to join the circus for a while, but now I'm a recluse of the ring and a slave to this smile."

>>2761368
Here's an excerpt. It's the last bit I wrote. Rereading it, I realize how chock full of cliches this piece of shit thing is.

>I can't decide on a CD. Inside my head, wailing and blinking neon bright, is the thought that Anthony's gonna set me up with some girl. Howling, over and over, all it says is "bad idea" and all I can think is that I can not do this.

>I look over my shoulder at Ant, so proud of himself, I just can't bring it over myself to tell him I changed my mind. Just one date, I'm telling myself. Just one and you can back out, quilt free. It might be fun. It might be great. And by the time I finally pick out a CD, I've convinced myself I'm looking forward to it. I really believe that.

>My beer tastes bitter and flat, but that doesn't stop me from drinking it.

But I'll try to finish it anyway.
because I'm still proud of it

>>2760066
>critiquing to get 5 points.
sigh
why are so many of them locked?

>>2760078
how easy is it to publish on Amazon?

>>2761417
I've refrained from posting my stuff on there, but I'm still critiquing just because I feel it's a charitable exercise

but then, you can always post something to pastebin instead; it's just a matter of whether anyone will read it, since they won't get any goddamned karma

>>2761424
You upload a file and they sell it.

Literally.

I do. I started trying to do magical realism stuff, but it felt a little forced. Now I write short, sarcastic observations about life.

>>2761405
That's fairly minimalist but nothing about that is bad. Finish it dude!

>>2761431
wow
thanks

>>2761437
It's on my to do list, it really is. But I've never managed to finish anything in my life. It'll probably end up as a novella, or something.

But, I've already got cover art! Nifty!

>>2761035

No, I didn't intend on it being bland, that was all I had written of the beginning and for some reason I just stopped and never continued.

I didn't have a full plot nailed down at that point, I just decided to write a little bit at the start, but I did have an idea for the plot to revolve around childhood friendships and family feuds. I didn't want to do anything like you'd see in hollywood, with those epic large scale battles and whatnot. Something similar to the Icelandic Sagas written over 1000 years ago, but I do want it to feel more real rather than "epic" or exaggerated.

How do people here plan their novels? Especially those that plan something big with many different things happening at once. I currently have an idea that revolves around a few stories happening at once (and not in the sense that they're all merely substories amongst a bigger plot) and it's difficult to plan so many bits on paper.

How far into detail do people go? Do you plan every scene? Only important ones, or just the over all story arc?

>>2761501
I also understand that in literature you have to grab the reader's attention from the start and I realise my script does not do this, but that is because it is for film and not literature. A page of script is equal to 1 minute screentime, so alot can happen within that time.

I write very infrequently. I write when I think I have a good idea. That doesn't happen often.

I don't write on a consistent basis. I probably should.

BOTTLE OF SCOTCH, SHITFACE, INTO PAPER!

Is /lit/ down for anyone else, too? I only got into this thread via link in google results.

>>2760949
>>2761368
>>2761391
>>2761510
>>2761528

>>2760066
Bumping for this tomorrow. Stop on by on Friday. Remember you can post your stories to a pastebin or google doc and link to them in the topic instead.

I come up with an idea, write 2 pages on Word, then stop and can't go on any further because I'm a total fuck. God please help me. I just want to finish one interesting work before I die.

Currently writing Fanfics but want to write a novel in the future. Normally romance, erotica but recently sci-fi adventure. I normally write (the only time I ever seem to write well) is just before bed or right before I have tea, which is frustrating.

Here's an excerpt from a story I'm "writing." Give me praise, criticism, or just shit on it if you must.

Julia Tenner rose above via the cream tiled elevator unfashionably decorated in a cherry-wood paneling encased in tarnished brass gilding. She stood by an old woman who she had seldom seen before, only in small occasions at the cafeteria. Besides the old woman was a wheeled cart stacked with syringes, vials, and wires that would have required specific attention to detail of their labels if one were to decipher their meaning. An array of IV's hinged to a blood pressure monitor rose as a mast for this caravel. Stuck with momentary company, the elevator was crowded with its typical occupation. In here, Julia rose above in many ways, but still held reservations of uneasiness. She looked around to observe her surroundings, and fiddled with her plastic buoyed keys by means of a gymnastic motion with her left hand. Without the anchoring of any ring on her finger, the keys slipped out of her grasp and into the vicinity of the neighboring woman. With a coy smile usually seen with the recognition of a playful accident, the woman reached down to retrieve Julia’s keys as a favor, gripping them lightly with her worn hands as the contortion of her squatted body crumpled the maroon scrubs she adorned.

"Let me get that for you dear," the purple woman said. Dropping them once again as she crouched, she remarked, "I'm sorry dear, these old tumbler-pin keys are such a pain to get a grip on, especially on the account of my arthritis. You know, they were planning to give us all key-cards this year. I know they'd have to change all the locks and whatnot, but I wish they'd do good on their word."

(cont)

"Oh, yes. They really must have tightened the budget," Julia responded. The woman had placed the keys in Juila's hand by this point. "Thank you so much!"

The woman responded with the same coy smile she made due at Juila's carelessness and departed once the elevator had climbed to the 3rd floor. She pushed her cart into the abyss, past the closing of the friction-less postern. Ms. Tenner exchanged momentary company for momentary solitude.

Usually before I sit down to write I finger my butthole a 'lil' with (rather specifically) the pinky finger of my left hand. I know, it may seem tame to only use the pinky, but you would be surprised, my asshole is incredibly tight. I have considered using more force to perhaps loosen me up a little, maybe an extra finger here or there, but I always get far too nervous. Well, anyways, I do that for a good half hour, finger my man-pussy pretty great and maybe lick my dick a little, and then once I come I sit down all naked and sticky and then I prepare myself to write. Now, really, usually, when I'm really sat down and ready to write, I will prefer to not actually look at the screen while typing, but rather just type. I find the best way to do this is to give myself auto-fellatio while I write. The intense pleasure and the man-taste flavor my writing excellently, I'd say. Very excellently. Now, I do that for a good while, really just sucking on my personal man-meat, going to town, and usually I'll reach ejaculation after a bit. I find the most important thing to do at this point is to NOT stop writing. I keep going! It really thrills my words a bit more, as I both ejaculate and gargle cum in my mouth-pussy while I write! Once it's all said and done I like to do the editing process while I lick myself clean of semen and other dirty things ejected from my body during my pleasure feast.

>>2761958
Too much focus on inane nothings.
>Julia Tenner rose above via the cream tiled elevator unfashionably decorated in a cherry-wood paneling encased in tarnished brass gilding.
>unfashionably decorated in a cherry-wood paneling encased in tarnished brass gilding.
>unfasionably
You're the kind of writer who should kill your adverbial darlings.

I've written a couple novels before, never published. Typically I like to focus on characters that have severe mental problems or deficiencies. For example, I have a hard boiled detective story where the detective has Huntington's disease.

I'm writing a slasher right now though.

I find that my best way to keep on a book is completely immerse myself in that world, and to think about it constantly. For the slasher I'm writing, the killer taunts his victims by playing songs where the lyrics relate to their deaths. I listen to these songs constantly, play out the scenes in my head while I listen to them, see if there's things I need to add or improve, constantly turn the scenes (and songs) over in my head. This keeps me interested and wanting to keep writing.

My problem is I have good ideas I'm just a useless writer. Especially when not writing in first person, which is annoying because most of my ideas aren't suited.

I can tell when writing isn't bad but I just can't write not bad stuff.

I was actually tremendously productive not too long ago, but as of late, haven't written a fucking word.

Depends. I have lots of methods. Used to be I'd just sit down on my computer and type.

Now I plan quite intensively. I'm writing notes for a novel right now on one of those white full paged lined notepads. I've filled up about forty pages of character analysis in the past four days.

I live in a heavily wooded area in Canada, and have a large yard, full of trees and wildlife. I like to sit outside in a comfortable chair, with my pipe. Usually I fill it with Early Morning Pipe, or some Plumcake pipe tobacco, and scribble out my notes. I find it very relaxing, and continually smoke as I write. It's probably going to wreck my pipe smoking it so much, but it helps me think.

Often times I'll leave the radio on, and open a window so I can hear it while I'm outside, I'll tune it to CBC2 which plays Classical music throughout the afternoon, and just work all day.

I'm also a journalist, so when I'm not working on my short stories, and my novels, I'm also tracking down leads on stories, making phone calls, writing notes, and eventually stories. This work I do inside on my computer, or at the office of my newspaper at which I am employed.

When I really want to focus because I feel the internet is too distracting, I'll go over to my old Royal Quite De Luxe typewriter that I've had since 1969 and punch out whatever I need to be working on. It gets the job done, and it's good if you don't mind the typos.

Writing is easy. You just have to actually get to it. I don't think. That comes later. I write the first thing that comes into my head, and if I hate it, I'll cut it out. I cut out the shit, and keep the good stuff, until I have good clean prose, or copy.

>>2761994
Your ideas actually sound interesting. Ever considered self-publishing? It's pretty easy these days.

I'm a writer, but also an English Grad student with a Creative Writing focus... sometimes it's hard to make myself write because of deadlines and all that. I need to be writing while I'm off right now but I always get so immersed in the research process that it eats up all my time. As I get into writing something else sparks my interest and I jump elsewhere. Oh well, senior thesis is coming up soon so I have to learn to buckle down to one project.

I just finished my first novel which is approximately 65,000 words long. I am currently peddling it to literary agents which is a soul crushing endeavor. So far I have queried five agents and all have rejected it based on my pitch.

I am so scared to start writing because I think once I begin I will realize how awful I am. I am not sure I could handle that kind of confidence shattering realization.

I want to tell people stories. I always have. I want to make people laugh, cry, and think. I want to entertain people. It's all I ever wanted.

Any advice over how to get over this anxiety?

>>2762988

That problem goes far beyond just writing and is a general self confidence issue. Have faith in yourself. Half of succeeding in life is simply having the confidence.

>>2762988
Just start writing and keep writing. The more you write the more natural it will feel and the better you will get. Also go to the library and check out some books on writing fiction/ and style. This will boost your confidence while teaching you to write well.

>>2762941
You should step your game up and have at least a pipe for every bowl of the day. It will immensely improve both the life of your pipes as their flavour. Smoke every pipe just once a day and properly clean it and you will enjoy your smoking ritual even more.

>>2763002
>how to out of doubting myself
>have confidence
>how to not be cold
>be warm
>mfhefneewfwreg

>>2762988
You're going to have to have kids, then have one of them go back in time, and encourage you to punch out your high school bully, thus changing history so that you're the boss and you're a confident, successful novelist.

>>2763016
Yeah. I'm thinking of purchasing a Peterson billiard next. Going to get a rotation started. I usually clean my pipe about once a day with some cleaners, and a bit of brandy, but it still would be better to have a rotation.

>>2762988

You will be awful when you first start writing, everyone is. Your favorite writer was and you will be too. The fun part is as you constantly write you will constantly improve, and most likely quickly. Read more and you will pick up styles, write more and you will come to find what works for you. Post works to be critiqued online, people will give you valuable insight into when not to use things and how to best voice your ideas (don't do that here, go to scribophile or something). The one thing I must stress is that as you progress you will look back at older things and hate them and feel embarrassed, but DON'T let this make you feel bad about your writing. This means you have improved, and will continue to do so. It means you notice what was wrong and you know what do know. It means you have taste, you know what makes things good, and with this knowledge you can make yourself good. You will think you're awful, and you will think you're genius. Continue writing and you will gain a talent for it, so long as you know to improve, to accept critique, and read good stuff.

>>2763026

Not a good analogy. Just think you're awesome. It's as simple as that. You're cool, you're awesome, you're boss as fuck, women want you. Do you think you're lying to yourself? Well, once you believe it in many peoples' eyes you have become it. Do this, practice basic hygiene, dress well, and get a good hair cut, and boom. You are now cool.

I write, but not well.
I've got no ideas as far as plot that strike me as worthy of building a world around. I realize that sitting around wishing for ideas is useless, though, so I write. I like the stuff that turns out, but it's got objectively shitty plot.

I'll usually start with the template of a man walking down a road and just write whatever the hell from there. Sometimes it's just his stream of thought and recalling a regretted life or some shit, or he might become bored with the world and literally walk out of it and into another.
Whatever strikes my fancy.
I'll usually continue with these for about 50 pages or so and dump them, because while I enjoy just writing, the end product turns out to be bad.

I wish literature were more like music. I can sit in front of a piano and just noodle around until I strike something cool and expand upon it. The same strategy doesn't seem to work for writing.
Oh, well.

I write compulsively, and it's been my habit since childhood. That being said, the process isn't always easy if I'm working on a main project and not sideline bullshit. Music is a constant companion, though. I put on my headphones and play something subtle. I shoot for a bare minimum of 500 words per night, but if I'm being too fickle or I'm in a shitty mood I'll end up deleting about 90% of my night's work. I have three "active" projects right now and some ideas stuffed away in notebooks. I'll probably find these things again years down the road and be thankful I didn't waste my time.

Journalism.

It's hard. Seems like publications don't even read my pitch before saying no.

I write anarchist propaganda for posters, small publications, and leaflets.

Generally I think of a concept or theme, write (with pen and paper) a few pages of notes and scribbles and brainstorming, and then set about turning that into a coherent and readable piece of writing which I then format according to intended use.

Am I the only one who writes better when a bit drunk? Is this alarming?

>>2763297

>>>then set about turning that into a coherent and readable piece of writing
>>>anarchist

pick one

Clearly not epistemological anarchist.

>>>lrn2bconsistent

Writing is the most painful masochistic thing I do to myself on a regular basis. I wish alcohol could make it stop.

>>2763265
Do you have a reputable degree?

It's not hard if you do. Also, start of small if you're in school still. Write for your school's paper. Some of them even pay. When I was in school I wrote my University's paper. I won scholarships from it, contests from the Canadian University Press, and was even paid 120 dollars an issue (there were four a week).

It's a great thing to put on a resume, and ultimately got me a secured job at a well-established major paper.

>>2763707

I do this sometimes. But it really only helps me get started when I'm blocked up. It helps me get that first few sentences on the page. Everything after that for me should probably be done sober.

>>2763707
Nah it gets the words flowing for me. Not so much drunk as buzzed.

I try to write. Mostly short stories. I don't think I'm great, but its a fun passtime and I'm always trying to improve. /lit/ is more than welcome to read some of it. I post a fair amount of what I've done here:

http://textbooknarcissist.blogspot.ca/

I am attempting to write a story right now, but it is a slow process.

I have an ideas book which I use to write down any and all of my ideas, no matter how retarded they may seem. If I think I can take an idea further, then I start planning out the story chapter by chapter.

I then fill it all in and ring-a-ding-ding a story is made. Well that's the idea anyway, I've never completed a story.

>>2764051
Hey bro, sorry for the late reply, posted that last night and just woke up.

I'm an undergraduate student. I've been writing for my school paper for a semester now, just wrote an article for the summer edition.

Shit, we don't get paid jack. Our paper is pretty well regarded too, won some awards and acclaim.

But I want to do something more. I've been working on a huge piece about protests here in the States since last December. I can't find anybody who will publish it.

It's too large and strange for the school paper.

I feel like I'm wasting my time, but at the same time it's something that must be done.

Fuck, I had no idea I could get scholarships for my work in the paper. I'll have to check that out, since I'm a poorfag.

Thanks.

Been writing a lot of short stories. Most of them never get finished, as I don't seem to have enough time for all the polishing nescessary. I'd love to write a nove, but I never get on with it. I have way too many ideas, some of them good, maybe even great. I lack deliberation, and being the blasted perfectionist I am, I'd need a lot of it to finish anything.

Most my writing is "general fiction", but I've been toying with the idea of doing something genre, sci-fi or fantasy.

>>2760431
So we agree?
Purple prose is a form of bad writing, not THE form of bad writing.
Sorry for the misunderstanding.

>>2759998
I don't write but I collect found poetry.

>>2764173
It sounds like you're doing some pretty important work on, and I'd encourage you to keep it up. I'd like to read about that sort of a story.

Student journalism is an odd realm. It's mostly focused towards on-campus happenings, even though all the writers would rather be writing about more hard-hitting topics that concern humanity, rather than students.

What I used to do when I was writing a topic that was too big for a school paper was I'd write the story specifically for the newspaper that I'd like to see publish it. I'd use their style guide, write it in their style, and then I'd personally hand deliver it to them with my business card, and a cover letter explaining my submission attached.

At first, they didn't respond, and I just dropped the submissions off every few weeks with the secretary and told her "deliver this to Mr. Burton" (The EIC) She'd nod, and smirk, and I'm positive she threw most of them in the wastebasket when I left the room. But eventually, I was submitting so much that they couldn't ignore me, and it was clear to them that I had become an expert on the topic I was covering, and none of their writers could keep up with my knowledge. I had something to offer them.

It was at this point instead of dropping off the dispatches with the secretary, I began asking to speak to the Chief. After a few phone calls, I was given an appointment, and brought in all my work, and plopped it on his desk. He said 'So, you're the kid whose been giving me all this coverage on this event, eh?'

He hired me for freelance that day. It's all a matter of being suave, knowing how people think and work, knowing your topic better than anyone, and most importantly, playing your cards right.

Good luck to you, my fellow scribbler. Be persistent, and play the game.

>>2764371
Can you be my dad?

>>2764408
Yes.

>>2764228

>>2761910
This. It's like my writing process in a nutshell. It's stupid, really, but if I'm not satisfied with the story then instead of working it out I throw a bitch-fit and thrash the whole idea. Fuck me.

>>2764371
Thanks man, I'll definitely take you advice.

Do you have any plans on how you revise? On my first swing though I focus on the adjectives and adverbs.

After that I try to get the prose to flow better. then another check for unneeded adjectives and adverbs.

If things look good I might head into another draft if the fondations of the story and scenes need improving. rinse, repeat until I'm satisfied.