/lit/ - Literature

The sort of stuff they want to write, and the sort of stuff they want to read.

>>2803515
You don't have to read instructional books, OP. Just pick up little things from the books you want to read.

>>2803515
Okay, but I want to write sci-fi and I'm concerned that reading only sci-fi books, no matter how great, will limit my writing abilities.

>>2803539
>You don't have to read instructional books

I don't think I HAVE to either, but I was just wondering if there were any that lots of authors recommended.

>>2803541
>Okay, but I want to write sci-fi and I'm concerned that reading only sci-fi books, no matter how great, will limit my writing abilities.

It will. Or not your writing abilities, but your imagination & your conception of what is possible for literature. Read as widely and as well as you can manage. Read everything. Read widely within science fiction - seriously, there's so much good science fiction out there, it's absurd, you owe it to yourself to be well-read within the genre - and also outside it. Read variety and read quality. Good luck sirrah.

>and the American way.
RUINED IT.

Sorry. You should read a little bit of everything. Just different styles to get a feel for all the different ways you can use them. And ways not to use them. There really is too wide a spectrum for an outside source to tell you, and I'm terrible at classifications, but start with what you like and gravitate outwards.

People should not try to be writers, they should write.

I don't think you should ask for directions, you should just go. Whatever happends, good or bad, at least is yours and yours alone. After you get there, once you look back, you'll see the things that inspired you, that changed your way of seeing things, that helped you become a better writer. There is no right or wrong reference, no instruction or method that serves more than one writer, because in the end, is what you do with what you have that will count and if what you do follows what others do, then you shouldn't even be writing.

I don't want to be seen as someone who doesn't want you to write, but I'm trying to clear your mind giving you what I think writing really means.

The advise "read everything" is sensible in that very sense. Have a full life, full of books, full of references, because when the instinct hits you, when you can't keep just receiving it and you feel like giving, you will write and no one is going to be able to stop it. That's the point that you need to get and there is nothing one can do for you to start that fire. Read everything and if the fire is there, it will rise all by itself. If it's not there, then you would be happier and more fulfilled doing something else, doing what other inner fires will tell you.

>>2803515
This is shit advice. If you only read sci-fi then try to write you're just going to end up writing the same regurgitated crap. If anything, you should read all the kinds of book that you aren't writing. Literary fiction, historical fiction, mystery/thriller, Shakespeare, non-fiction, etc. As far as instructional books go, they can only do so much. I'd suggest reading stuff that can help you develop better close reading skills such as Francine Prose's book "Reading Like a Writer" or "Writing Fiction" from the Gotham Workshop was a book that I enjoyed. They're all pretty much the same. Just find where the author isn't just talking about his own stuff the whole time. There's also a couple of books called "How to Literature Like a Professor" and "How to Read Novels like a Professor" which are really good at pointing out common themes, symbols, and story arcs. My basic point is to just read a lot of non-sci-fi and learn how to get more out of what you're reading and how to understand it. You wouldn't believe the number of stories I've heard from comedians who talk about recording famous comedy shows and just memorizing everything. They know the art form inside and out. Also, read this:

http://therumpus.net/2010/08/dear-sugar-the-rumpus-advice-column-48-write-like-a-motherfucker/

>>2803541
If you feel as if it will help you, then do so. I can assure it can only help you. I would also recommend reading outside your comfort-zone. I write fantasy and other stuff /lit/ blindly hates but reading classical works of literature have helped me.
>>2803577
This on so many levels.

>>2803541

You're correct. Read a lot of science fiction, but don't limit yourself. Good SF does not rely solely on the ways that it differs from our world (whether the setting or society or technology), you're still trying to tell a good story and the same principles that underlie it can be found across different genres and classics. Interesting themes, well-structured plots, compelling characters, good dialogue, good world-building, etc, these things aren't dependent on a particular genre. So yeah, read everything. Keep a Word file and jot down everything you particularly like, however trivial it seems. It could be a theme or a kind of character you can imagine yourself writing or a particular bit of detail in world-building that you never considered or just a cool setting or the kind of plot revelations you like. Identifying what works for you in a novel is useful because you're probably going to write best when writing the kind of novel you want to read. Which sounds obvious, but it's amazing how many people don't do this and just slog along with a story they're not that interested in or characters they don't really care for.

>>2803577
>People should not try to be writers, they should write.

Thank you, kind Anon. I will take this advice to heart.

And thanks to everyone else. I'm still reading, jotting down notes and always looking for sources. It will probably be a few years before my first manuscript is complete, but I'll stick with it.

bumping for the late night crowd

1. An introduction to literature/reading.
2. An introduction to critical thinking
3. A history of philosophy
4. A history of the world, or histories amounting to coverage of the world
5. At least two anthologies of every major medium of literature, such as the essay, the short story, the play, etcetera.
6. An anthology of the writer's native culture and language, such as The Norton Anthology of American Literature
7. At least one anthology of literary theory & criticism
8. As much literature in the intended medium as is possible. At least five hundred books is best.

Don't focus on science fiction, OP. More often than not, a novel of this genre is a horrid, nonsensical mess riddled with stereotypes, political propaganda, and hogwash.

>>2804497
And in this order, ideally.

I genuinely consider this to be minimum required for decent writing, besides, obviously, a lot of writing. However, one needn't read an anthology, for example, necessarily - as long as the underlying function of each item is satisfied by something. The list essentially serves to put the writer in touch with his or her context and medium and to stimulate their intellect.

>Dr. Manhattan
>Lawful Neutral
>Not True Neutral

Do you even read?

>>2804561
And for that matter, shouldn't Dexter be Chaotic Neutral anyway, as opposed to the ridiculous Lawful Evil?

>>2804561
On a similar note:
>kratos
>not chaotic evil

Anyway, what is sci-fi? Does Valis count? MGS series? Alternate histories that don't contain advanced technologies?

>>2804590
He follows a rigid code, making him lawful by definition. I think under D&D rules he would be evil, not because he kills people, but because he does so in unnecessarily cruel ways: Smite Evil pretty much just kills things, it doesn't drain their blood out.

>>2804602
Ok, so by that definition, the posterboy Chaotic Neutral Rorschach, who, in blatant disregard for the law, brutally and uncompromisingly administers his own concept of justice, would actually be Lawful Evil? After all, he follows a rigid code set by himself, and really likes hurting people. This doesn't make any sense...

>>2804611
Yes, for reasons you just explained. The problem with applying the D&D morality grid to real life is that in D&D Law, Evil, Good, and Chaos are all metaphysical concepts with personifications, rituals, and realms to themselves, rather than the catch-all labels that nearly anything an be hammered into that they are in real life.