/lit/ - Literature

I write on my pc, alone, in the quiet at night.

>>2922515

I take it that you don't allow any distractions?

>>2922517

Greatness takes effort. Effort takes focus.

>>2922523

Well said. I prefer two things when I'm working; fruit and my dog. When I have a small block, nothing works better than sitting back, petting my dog, and crunching into an apple.

Middle of the night/early morning, laptop, lights out, glass of beer on desk, headphones playing music, generally feel like shit.

Kindle author here.

I tend to find some ideas on accident. Most of the time, I sit back to my favorite music and brainstorm some ideas, something usually impossible or silly. I spend the next portion of the development process with fleshing out the idea, either using a web or a brainstorm inside Geany IDE (doubles as a text editor).

After that, I write out some key points of what I want to do with the idea: an end, a beginning, maybe a few select scenes. I ask myself what is the purpose of these snippets, ask myself why the characters are there, what journeys they must take to grow, etcetera.

Finally, I take my key points of the plot and characters and center them around a theme. From there on out, it's writing a basic outline for a series of events, then putting those events into chapters.

>>2922567

(con't.)

Rewrite the outline into something with a chapter layout, but longer and more precise. This is the longest part of the process.

Then, following my final outline, I write chapter by chapter. Most of the time, I set a word limit on each chapter or scene I'm writing. If, while writing it, I feel it's too long or short, I modify the outline and chapter to better suit the pace.

Times I tend to write are before work, rarely after, or on my days off. Coffee and cigarettes are essential, usually an energy drink of some kind. I'll play music that fits the central idea of the piece. It can range from classical, to Pink Floyd, to Tech N9ne, to experimental or noise. Just depends on the novel I'm writing.

Usually I lock the door to my office. The CRT TV usually has one of my favorite movies going as background noise, or I have a game going and go back and forth taking break either watching the film or messing around on a game.

>>2922568

(con't.)

Primary OS for writing is either Ubuntu (for the easy of Unity) or Fedora (I love Xfce - reminds me of Windows 2000).

I use Geany IDE for most of my preliminary work. There are some good mind maps out there as well, which can help if I'm stuck.

Depending on the work, I'll either use LibreOffice Writer or FocusWriter. FocusWriter is more for novellas dealing with an outrageous set of ideas, whereas I take what I write on Libre a bit more seriously.

My font is usually Liberation Serif at 10 - 11pt. Sometimes, I use Courier (usually for fan fiction or action works).

I'll sometimes change the theme of my DE or wallpaper to better suit the piece.

Most of the time, I save each chapter separate (this makes editing a lot easier on me). For the thing I'm working on now, it's all in one manuscript.

I make my cover art in GIMP. Not going to say who I am, but I've done a lot of covers. Usually the author is impressed, especially when I tell them I used free software. Designing cover art sometimes help with inspiring me to work on something.

Everywhere ; All the time.

>>2922572

(con't)

Lastly, I almost always use justify for the raw manuscript. Rare occasions, I use left align. Never, ever double-space. My novellas are usually 20,000 - 40,000 words. If I go above 40k, I feel the idea was better suited for a novel. I range my novels from 80k to 90k. My larger stuff, which I haven't written yet, can easily be up to 150k, though I max out here.

>>2922574

Thank you for writing all that out (or even just copying and pasting it from some other time you wrote about it). I was surprised to see you writing such (relatively) short works; your attention to detail led me to think you tended to create more massive works.

>>2922575
I usually do minimum length novels. I do have several works that would be massive, but I don't feel I'm ready to tackle them yet. I like to start out and take smaller steps to ensure I feel I know what I'm doing. I did the same thing in college - tested into college level algebra, but started with the absolute lowest mathematics course to refresh and solidify my understanding. The extra time really pays off.

I do tend to focus on making my themes complicated; I want whatever I write to have as many layers as possible without appearing complex on the surface. Every sentence is given a deep, nurturing focus. Same with names, chapter titles, artwork, etc.

It'll be a couple years before I'm ready to do something near 200k or above.

>>2922578

What you said brings a quote from a novel I like to mind. "I had talked too much. I had said too little." More concisely, "less is more".

dicks

I have all of my ideas planned out andreally want to start writing, but I haven't found the perfect coffe shop yet. Everyone always said that this would be the hardest part, they were right.

>>2922514
>>2922567
>tfw only 20 kindle sales this book ;__;

>>2922578
>>2922567
>writes schlock that can't even get published
>gives advice

I'm a ruthless self editor. I struggle to continue when I read back as I end up changing stuff. I've just finished my first chapter where I've written mostly the basics before I'll pad it out with details I haven't included or better ideas.