/lit/ - Literature

pls respond

>>5019054

I already wrote a short story about that - or something pretty close. It's in submissions now.

I did a lot of research on depression, and emailed back and forth with one of the US's top researchers on the subject.

I'd suggest a mid-distance third-person perspective. Part of the challenge of writing a story where the central character has a mental problem is that his interiority isn't grounded enough for the reader's awareness, so you need the scaffolding of a solid third-person perspective to ground his actions.

Some more adept writers (which you can't be if you're asking this question, which is fine, you may be one day) can pull this off with a little bit of trickery. The best example I can think of is "Tall Tales From the Mekong Delta" by Kate Braverman. You can read it online here: http://www.katebraverman.com/talltalesfromthemekongdelta.html

>>5019054
n

>>5019054
There's a fantasy quadrilogy which starts off with a man attempting to get himself hung by committing heinous crimes, at which point it turns out he's just a suicidal immortal.

>>5019146
>mid-distance third-person perspective
Can you give me an example?

I'm a noob and it's just easier for me to write in "point of view".

>I already wrote a short story about that
By "can't die" I mean something as in "immortal" or as in shooting yourself and then waking up in your bed like if nothing happened, without no one noticing it.

>>5019159
So, it's been done already, didn't want to make a "copy" of something. What's the name of the quadrilogy?

The way I see it, I'm either making my central character literally immortal, or the suicide attempts just being in his head, without no one noticing, not in a "psychological thriller" edgy way.

I don't want to sound like an edgy faggot, but the idea came to me because I'm depressed myself, and I started having suicidal ideation some years ago, but I can't manage to actually commit the act, so in a way, having the central character jump from a bridge, then wake up at home, could just be some intensive day dreaming.

>>5019168
>>>5019146 (You)
>>mid-distance third-person perspective
>Can you give me an example?

Sure. Let's stick with classics. Read "Hills Like White Elephants" by Papa.


>I'm a noob and it's just easier for me to write in "point of view".

"Point of View" isn't something you write in just like 'language' isn't something you choose to write in. You decide what type of 'point of view' to write in. 'First Person,' 'Second Person,' 'Third Person,' etc. are some of your choices.

>>5019178
>The way I see it, I'm either making my central character literally immortal, or the suicide attempts just being in his head, without no one noticing, not in a "psychological thriller" edgy way.

It doesn't matter; your fears are misdirected. The problem isn't that your story idea isn't original or interesting, it's that you don't have the skill level yet to make it interesting.

The idea itself is just a gimmick - it's just Groundhog Day. Don't be afraid to do your own take on that idea.

But do be afraid that you're waisting your time trying to fly before you can crawl. I suggest you take $10 and buy this book, and read it. Each of the stories is followed by an essay or interview by the author. When you finish and look back at your old writing, you won't recognize it and will be orders of magnitude better.

http://amzn.to/1nJ0PZB

pic related.

>>5019194
>"Point of View" isn't something you write in just like 'language' isn't something you choose to write in. You decide what type of 'point of view' to write in. 'First Person,' 'Second Person,' 'Third Person,' etc. are some of your choices.

Well by point of view I meant a first person narrator, something like:
>I went to the kitchen to look for a beer, I had a shit day at work.

>The problem isn't that your story idea isn't original or interesting, it's that you don't have the skill level yet to make it interesting.
Yes, this so much. I'm scared I can't deliver it, I actually have a fuckton of ideas. I tried writing and I liked it, I just suck shit, I don't know how to deliver an idea. I honestly don't know how to write in first person, I end up mixing past and present tense a lot and it sounds weird.

I'm actually a spic, and spanish is my first language. Can you recommend more popular stuff? It's bound to more likely have a translation in spanish.

>>5019227
>Well by point of view I meant a first person narrator, something like:
>>I went to the kitchen to look for a beer, I had a shit day at work.

So you want to write a book people will read, but you don't understand the terminology of the craft. It's like building a house without knowing what a hammer or a nail is. How do you think that house is going to look?

>I'm actually a spic, and spanish is my first language. Can you recommend more popular stuff?

First, what I recommended is more than popular; it's timeless.

Do you plan to write in Spanish or in English? If Spanish, well, Roberto Balano, Gabriel García Márquez, and Jorge Luis Borges are ones I'm familiar with. They all wrote short stuff, so easy to sample. Some consider "One-Hundred Years of Solitude" the greatest book ever written.

If you plan to write in English, well, you need some classes or you just need to read a whole helluva lot more and take some classes, too.

>>5019255
Well, thanks man. I actually hate GMC though, he's that type of writers people who don't actually read just namedrops to sound "smart". His stuff isn't that good as most people make it seem.

I overdosed one time and pretty much died for three days and came back. Swear to fucking god, I'm Jesus.

>>5019292
And that sort of shit WILL fuck with your head even more. Literally a cosmic fucking joke.

>>5019054
no.

no. write it anyway

>>5019271
Once you are a writer, you read not because of personal enjoyment but because you seek to learn from them. And GMC is your better.

I'd discourage you from taking any kind of hostile attitude like the one you have on GMC.

It
is
difficult
to
be
both
a
student
and
a
critic.