/lit/ - Literature

>>5999396

Slowly. And you, OP?

How do writers that aren't published yet make money?

It must be fucking depressing working in a factory or some shit and then get home and barely have any energy left to write shit.

>>5999419

It is. I've been serialized in a decent lit magazine, still at the 'factory,' writing in my off time. Publication is a gradual climb, not something that happens one day.

Until you can make the switch to being a full-time author, you'll always be working two jobs: Day job, and writing until you pass out. Wake up, do it again.

>>5999416
500 words a day, my friend. Slow but steady.

>>5999419
the usual bio is to have a bunch of different jobs so that you'll have more to write about

>>5999396
Good. I've already tod my friends and love interests about it. I'll probably start to write down my first concepts for it in the next few months.

>>5999419
>>5999426
just switch it around. write in the morning, work with the remaining energy.

>>5999436
Good luck sir. Just remember to not put off for too long.

I've written the first draft, but all of a sudden I want to add more to it. I don't know if I should end it where it is and save the rest for another story, or go ahead add it to the current one.

>>5999461
Add it for the second draft. Let it rest. Read the second draft a month after it is finished, then decide if it fits.

>>5999436
i see what you did there

>>5999436

Recently hit my first 50,000, but I find my self nagged by the constant specter of doubt as to whether the story has any merit to it.

So lets say you actually manage to finish your novel. Self publishing isnt an option. How do you go about dealing with publishers?

How can you ensure that at the very least your work will be read and not just thrown into the trash? Do you even get the chance to sell yourself?

Not that great I keep re editing or deleting my stuff :/

>>5999569
My solution to this was going to two "people's high schools" (a Scandinavian concept, not as communist as it sounds) taking writing classes, and thus getting connections in the writing world. Norway's literary world is extremely tiny, though, so that might very well not work anywhere else. EVEN SO, the general rule is "get connections, fuck bitches".

Trying to hammer out details of the setting before I can continue drawing out the plot in detail. So right now I'm at this block where I have to study history more before I can move forward. Originally the story was based on a certain time and region from history that had interesting events taking place. However, if I'm changing all the important individuals and tossing in some fantasy, then historical accuracy doesn't much matter, right?

>x event didn't happen in 749, it happened in 759
>they didn't have y until 750, why do you have it in 745?
>you have a shallow understanding of the surrounding nations at this time period
>"nigga did you miss the dragons? isn't that a bigger concern for realism?"

Disclaimer: novel involves neither dragons nor the eighth century.

I'm also thinking of tossing in a new character and plotline from the opposing nation's POV and having them converge at the end. I think it would be more interesting and allow me to show more of the setting without needing to shoehorn it in awkwardly to the existing characters.

The only literature worth writing nowadays are movie scripts - no one fucking reads, it's a dead art form.

>>5999718

Bullshit. More people than ever before read, and more people than ever before write, even accounting for population growth (aka as a percentage of the population).

>books are shit now so hurr

Only the absolute best books of yesteryear are still around. 99% of books then, as now, were shit.

I swear, /lit/ has the stupidest users on 4chan. Even /x/ is smarter and more creative than /lit/.

>>5999672
Lel, I did this too. I was going to write a historical novel but got too lazy to do research on the time period, so turned it into fantasy based on history.

>>5999794
but at least we are realistic

This is what I have:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tD9vOszL1Qn1jIEzG2kQj7yaljZIPp6Cwllzz73v5KM/edit?usp=docslist_api

It's just notes at this point. (Shitty notes)

>>5999431
Oh thank god, I thought my output was low. The most I've done lately is 1500, and that was a rare occasion

I've been writing like 4 or 5 pages in a college ruled composition notebook, but that's only like 800 or 1000 words, so I have like 10k. Which isn't a bad start, but I'm going broke because I've built a dependence on writing in a new coffee shop each time.

>>6002645
Thank you for making me feel self conscious.

>>5999436
Spot on.

>>5999604
Keep editing to a minimal. Focus on completing the work as a whole knowing that you are going to go back through and completely re-work everything once it's all together. You'll have a much better feel for what belongs and what doesnt and how it should fit once it's done.

As far as mine, it's been ok. I had a lot of output in a short period of time to begin with and then it slowed considerably and im trying to kick it back up. I've gotten in touch with some literary friends and engaged them to start sharing works around us all to critique/edit and that is helping me keep my head more in the game. I'm engaging myself in technical aspects in a broader context than just writing my own stuff. It's new, but I'm excited about it.

I have a 12,000 word outline for a very simple piece i'm working on. I'm having trouble finding time to write it out

Recently completed the first manuscript for my fifth web novel. 45k words in 8 days, I went all out with that. It will probably get a bit longer once I start editing it.
It's simple and painless when you don't worry about publication and profitability, but on the other hand, there's no profit either...

>tfw i have the immense urge to try to write a novel
>literally have no fucking clue what i want to write
this is a nightmare. i just stare at a blank screen with nothing but my frustration and urge. no characters or discernible plot appears in my head.

is it true that if you don't have a story that isn't trying to burst out of your brain to get onto the paper that you probably shouldn't try to write?

>>6002673
>writing in a coffee shop
Disgusting, are you american by any chance? Otherwise there is no reason not to go to an actual nice, old cafe (if you have to write in public).

>>6003003
false

brainstorm without thinking critically. think up a lot of ideas for character, moments, etc. then go back and be selective.

some people like mind mapping

>>6003003
I don't think that's true. If you want to write, you should write. You sound like you're nervous about making something good: don't be. Just start describing something, a process or an activity. Research something and write a summary. Review an experience you had. Anything.

As far as ideas, let yourself get bored. Go on a walk, a bike ride. Check some stuff out. Do things you wouldn't normally do, I mean,fuck, go to an AA meeting, they are free and totally bizarre. You know. Give yourself time to let your mind wander.

>>6003030
when Stephen King did that he got hit by a van and almost died

>>6003059
Yeah and he's one of the best selling authors of all time. Maybe you should go try and get hit by a van.

>>6003059
>King goes for a walk and almost dies, walks must be nearly lethal to all.

There are a few giant books; twilight, 50 shades, then there are the rest which sell up to 1000 copies each maybe.

How do you come up with your ideas? Do you sit one day and just think about interesting things to write, or does it come to you while taking a dump, and you write it down immediately?

>want to write a novel

Either
>medieval setting
>contemporary
>distant future

Is there an alternative to these three?

>>6003175
both/either. sometimes i take notes while reading/watching movie or tv

>>6003204
i don't know how this is a question. you have all of time to choose from.

>>6003215
>sometimes i take notes while reading/watching movie or tv

This is incredibly underrated.

>>6003175
>Do you sit one day and just think about interesting things to write

I try very hard not to do that. The best ideas just randomly pop out of nowhere. If I make effort to mechanically build a story, it's just not fun or interesting.

>>6003219
you should take notes while doing any activity whenever possible. think of all the thoughts that have been blown into the air because you forgot them.

>mfw ive forgotten 90% of my interesting thoughts because i didnt write them down

>>6003290
"A notebook is a fantastic way to immortalize bad ideas."

>>6003175
>>6003244
You think 'what COULD happen given these circumstances / character motivations?' If you think of something good, you'll feel it. Then you reverse engineer that one idea / visual, so you create things that will give it a bigger impact.

You think of reversals, what if a character loses everything, how does he recover? The more problems a character faces the better the story.

How do I deal with the crippling self-loathing I feel for myself and what I make whenever I finish writing something?

>>6003347
You're still a pleb though.

>>6003347

You git gud and replace it with the euphoria of having produced yet another masterpiece.

I've finished it and am almost through the first thorough edit. First edit stripped any tryhard humour (a result of a desire not to seem boring). Second edit corrected sentence structure and flow. Third edit developed parts that needed developing and cut parts that needed cutting. Now working through sentences / passages that can be written in a less formal and archaic way. Word count will probably be around fifty thousand by the time i'm done. Hoping to hear back from some small publishing houses I submitted to in December.

Work 8:30 to 5:30. Job demands constant attention and alertness, which makes it hard to concentrate on fiction in my spare time. Have a couple of vague ideas for the next thing which I've made several attempts to start properly, but hitting dead ends so far. Need the confidence of publication for some of my ideas.

>>6003347
Don't take writing so seriously

>>6003375
I'm not

Even when I have tons of fun writing something campy, I take one look at it when I'm done and just think I vomited all over the page. I hate almost everything I make, especially right after making it.

>>6003385
Same here, but the fact is all good writers experience this, and so don't let it overwhelm you. It suggests you have high standards, which is a good thing. One strategy I have for overcoming this feeling is having a small pile of short novels at hand on my desk, and to open on a random passage and begin reading.

>>6003385
Why don't you stop writing if it just makes you feel bad?

>>6003403
The act of writing itself is enjoyable, and I like putting stuff down on paper and creating stories.

It's just that I don't like how I've done it and don't think I've done a good job afterwords.

>>6003416

You just need to go through it and ask yourself, exactly what about it do you not like, what is not enjoyable, and then try to change that. Creating a satisfactory work is all about constant self-analysis and balancing.

>>6003416
No reason to hate yourself. It's just a stupid story, nothing that matters.

Do you guys need alcohol to write?

"Write when drunk, edit when sober."

>>6004567
Depends on what part of the process I'm on. Alcohol is for the phase where I'm just trying to pour my heart and soul out on paper and be brutally honest with myself. I'm passed that now. Now I'm on the adderall phase where I'm trying to temper that deluge of thought into something coherent.

I'm so focused on the big picture of my story that I'm unable to just start from the beginning and actually write it. I have everything planned out for every character, so it's hard for me to focus on the present without looking five moves ahead.

How do I counter this?

kolsti fuckin nuygen here. just finidhdd my frst 800 paeg draft oft he novel phuc stevenson. fuckin classic 2010s ulysses im talkin infinite jolks mixed with 05 fuck em plus govenrmnt pl8s. i need a dree editor hmu its in the dmail feeld wiol send nudes/nailcpolish remover for editr

>>6004606

Counter what? You're doing it write. You plan the overview of the plot, then you go to each plot point, make it into summarised scenes to best convey it. Do that for the whole thing. go back and turn the scenes to actual writing.

>>6004739
Well that's good to hear, since I thought I was doing it ass backwards in a way.

>>5999396
Too many ideas, can't finish the one I decided to start because something more interesting comes up and it's not like I do this for money or to support myself in anyway so work and school always takes priority away from writing.

>>6003416
of course your rough draft vomit is bad. you need to learn how to edit. editing makes your work better.

>>6005012
I'm just too invested in the story I'm trying to write. I don't want to see it be something terrible at any point. I see it's full potential at the end of the tunnel, but I can't get crawl through the shit to get there.

What I don't understand if how beginner authors write 100k+ first efforts. Start small, write something between 30k-50k and put it on Amazon or send it out. See if anyone bites. Publishers certainly don't want to read large drafts from no-names. Shorter has become better when it comes to selling online as well. My information comes from watching a lot of self-publishing and independent publisher videos on youtube along with podcasts. I'm in the editing stage of my first novella. Only 31k. Easily digestible.

>>6003385

I forget specifically who (and it may be more than one person) but one literary giant somewhere said that he never stopped hating the stuff he wrote. I feel the same way, even when people say it's good. Just go with it, I guess.

>>5999396
I've done about two thousand words today, and I'm not entirely happy with any of them. Probably going to stay up through the night and just keep hammering away. I'm at 55,000 words and act 3 now, can't exactly stop now.

How would one go about publishing an English novel in a non-Anglophone country?

Not that l'm writing anything, l'm just curious about this. Would you have to go to, say, England or the United States?

>>6005030
so write another story first and learn how to edit that. the only way you're going to get better is to write and learn how to edit.

I am about 34,000 words into the third draft. This will be the last draft, also, as I feel the idea, the main character, and the setting have all reached maturity.

It's fantasy[/spoiler[, but I think it might also have a chance at being rather good.

I'm having a problem with the story I'm working on right now. My intention is to make it kind of a conspiracy thriller type of story, with the protagonist slowly unraveling this mystery that keeps getting bigger and bigger until it reaches heights that challenge everything she knows not only about the world she lives in, but her entire being.

The issue I'm having is the beginning of my story is very very slow to get into the action. A big part of her character arc is living this unfulfilling frivolous lifestyle before she is suddenly shook out of it when the main plot kicks off. The problem is I think I did too well establishing her routine before everything kicks off. It's kind of a slow burn story, but I think I maybe made it burn a little too slow. I mean, even when the main driving force of the plot comes into play, things don't really start escalating until a good while longer into the story.

The only solution I can think of is doing it in media res style. I know exactly how everything in the story is going to play out, so I was thinking of showing how she ends up right before what would be the reversal in the eight point story arc structure, which is what I generally followed when putting my story together. It creates a way more exciting beginning, but I kind of feel like it ruins the surprise of the ending as well.

So what do you think, should I stick with a slow beginning where the protagonist goes through the routine of her life for a long stretch before getting shook out of it, or should I start with the provocative ending to whet peoples appetites for more?

>>6006341
Don't worry, I'm writing a fantasy story too. I think we all like the freedom it allows us deep down. To just cut loose and create a world fully open and nonrestrictive to our imaginations. It's undeniably fun.

It's a great feeling when the world you're trying to create reaches a point where it feels real and fully formed. I had that same moment, and it was the moment I decided to actually try to write it rather than just entertain it while I was in the shower or taking a shit or something. It was originally just a fun little thing I would think about, but it just took hold of me and became something more. Then I started really putting some honesty into it, allowing some of my real self to be expressed in the characters, and it became my main project.

What are you trying to do with your fantasy setting? Are you going fully alien to this world, or is it loosely based on this worlds history? Like what period of time would you say it feels the most like, if any at all? Some people go full antediluvian with their setting which allows them to do pretty much whatever they want with the cultures.

>>5999419
If you've got the aptitude and determination, you can write under any circumstances.
Of course, the pressure your occupation puts on you will reduce your spare time, but one the upside it can be beneficial in giving you new experience.
When I first started writing, it was in a military hospital, to which I got admitted after spending a week in intensive care after I caught pneumonia in the line of duty.
I continued to write through my treatment and rehabilitation, and then later on, when I returned to active service.

Fucking terribly.
I am great at short stories, but I just cannot write anything longer than 10,000 words.
I don't know what's wrong with me.

>>6006391
Once you get into longer stories, you have to start structuring the story more firmly. You have to have more of an architectural mindset, looking at the big picture and planning out everything.

>>5999396
Has anyone thought of just publishing your novel online for free, with a donation option available, and then promote it wherever you can?
I think this is the only chance to at least get noticed, I have zero cash, zero connections, and it's generally very difficult to publish anything in this country.

>>6006506
All the time. With a made up pen name too. I want to be out of the spotlight as much as possible

>>6006526
>made up pen name
What's the point, anyone knows everyone these days. Best way to make money these days is to build a following around your personality and get some sort of sponsorship or ad deal. Using a pseudonym is a luxury.

>>6006564
I want to write, but I love my privacy. I sort of live a fringe lifestyle and I don't want to give that up. I don't want to be dragged into proper society

>>6006585
there is nothing inherently proper about writing or publishing

>>6006611
Why would I want to be ordered around by an editor, or try to appeal to a target group, when I don't care about money?

>>6006621
we were talking about publishing online for free

>>6006645
Yes. The point of that is to avoid dealing with the publisher altogether.

>>6006658
I'm not sure you know what publishing means.

>>6006372
It's set in a version of Viking Age Europe (around the beginning of the 7th Century AD) in which all religions, myths, and legends are true. One consequence of this is that the Classical Age has lingered on instead of outright ending, and has sort of merged with the Dark/Viking Age. Chiefly, the Roman Empire is still around, and is still pagan.

This was done partly to achieve a sot of sword-and-sorcery feel to the story, a desire born of my love of Robert E. Howard, and partly because I wanted to tell a story about a demigoddess, who is the main character. The novel is very much about her coming of age.

Three months ago I decided to toss my 250k word novel after realizing I was nowhere near experienced enough to properly manage the story. It was just too much to take on and the finished product was nowhere near what I had hoped it would be and no amount of editing helped.

I decided instead to work on another novel I've had brewing for a few years. It's a short, tidy, easily digested story, but I just can't bring myself to write it. The first novel was such a big focus for so long, my mind is incapable of putting it aside. One day I hope to do the novel right, but I am just not good enough yet.

Any advice about moving on to something new would be greatly appreciated.

Does anyone actually consult with other people on aspects of their novel in the planning stages? I feel like every time I do, everyone except one person decides to interject their personal ideas on what they would do and that it's one million times better.

>>6007422
That is why you don't talk to people about your novel. You shut up, write a first draft, and then you show it to someone whom you trust.

>>6007517

I think that you are correct and I am sad I had to learn this the hard way. It sucks because I has one person who tells me exactly the kind of feedback I'm looking for, and everyone else is like "No thats stupid dude what you SHOULD do oh man I have this awesome idea ok heres what were going to do..." kind of shit and it drove me fucking crazy.

>>6002552
>But at least we are realistic

>>6006349
You always should start exciting. Even if you want to show her daily life, make it interesting even if its not fulfilling to her.

>>6006506
>Has anyone thought of just publishing your novel online for free, with a donation option available, and then promote it wherever you can?

That's what I did/do. There's no hope for me of ever being published in my country, and I had lots of stories coming up, so I just opened a website and have been dumping them there for a year now. Haven't put up a donation option yet and I hate the idea of going around advertising, so for now I'm just kind of trusting random visitors to spread the word.

>>6006564

I use a pseudonym, because I have a real life and a different career I'm trying to build and googling my name is supposed to bring up my customer works and portfolio, not out me as a lowbrow fiction author.

>>6008083
at least you picked something cute?

>>6008090

Yeah, cute was certainly the first thing on my mind.

I'm having trouble working out this character I once thought I was so sure of. At first, I imagined him as a humble but kind and able spirit, but now he's a no-life who works, eats, sleeps, and nothing else, who is adamant on keeping it that way because he doesn't know anything else and is afraid of change. The idea is that his acquaintance, a rich man, takes the character with him as one of a few bodyguards, and that the rich man would try his best to change his life around but he doesn't see anything in the rich man's lifestyle, and that's stayed the same, but now it's extended from just the bundles of ladies to dinner table conversation. What once I thought would be a poor and awkward attempt to sidestep things like girls flirting with him have turned into outright "I'm not dense, I just don't give a shit" and more strongly defensive than I'd prefer. He's hating the world more and more, when I just wanted him to be afraid. I don't like this change, but it's getting harder to imagine him any other way as the days go by.

>>6006932
there's no magic bullet but trust that your creative process will work just as well with new material. force yourself to write and you will start coming up with ideas for the new story.

>>6008155

It can be annoying when characters turn out different from how you expected in an undesired way, but it's difficult to force them to change again without completely leveling the field and starting from scratch. Once you get a certain picture in your mind, it's bound to stick.

70k into my first first draft. It's a total mess. I've changed my mind on so many things part of the way through. It's a little disheartening that I'm making a manuscript that isn't fit to read, but I guess it's just a natural consequence of writing something as sprawling as a novel. At some point you've spent more time writing than planning. Some ideas fall apart when you commit them to the page, and others are visible only when you're standing right there in the story to see them. I can't wait to start the second draft and make it more coherent, but I'm still struggling with how I want to wrap it all up. I want two characters who I introduce in the last third to commit suicide, but I can't help but shake the feeling that it'll come across as a cheap ploy to add tragedy. I think it's a natural action for the characters to take, but I'm still very conscious of the reader. I'm not one of those autists that doesn't consider how their writing will be perceived by the more jaded and cynical readers. In fact, I'm trying to court those kinds of readers, because they're the only ones I feel who are intelligent enough to pick up what I'm laying down. I myself am a cynical and jaded reader. But if nothing really 'happens'... if there's no climax... then I'm writing Literary Fiction. I don't like Litfic, and I don't think Litfic readers will like my story. My story values a sense of humour. I value narrative over prose. My story is about young people. On the other hand, it features a visual art related plot thread, and literature is discussed here and there by the characters. And I do try my hand with aesthetic prose, when the natural course of the story will let me. I feel like even this far into the story, I don't know what the fuck I'm writing or who's going to want to read it.

>>6008492
Key word is first draft. You fix those problems when you re-write it.

You have a list of problems and things you don't like, now you get to fix them in the re-write. Get to work.

>>5999396
well here's something. rip it apart and call me a fool, please. It's a story set in the 1900's. Brothers finding old Viking cairns and swords on Baffin Island from 900AD. Then some people die mysteriously and the remaining men leave. The rest of the story takes place on their steamship/ proto-icebreaker.

---

The black mass of the mountains form a ragged hem against a blueblack predawn sky, consuming the tiny figure of a man on the range, visible only when he passes through the darkness in the folds, appearing, gone again. [Wind blowing...] [Distant voices...] Sedge, rocks. The air through a man's nose is cold water, invigorating, the stuff of life. Closer now: the man carries a sack on his shoulders, blows small plumes of breath, he wears an old duckingcoat, looks out at the mountains of Baffin Island and then to the men behind.

They make camp there and sit in their bundles in the canvas tent against a lee in the rocks and the rain falling two days, [Raining...] [Wind blowing...] the men now used to the loud pocking on the canvas ceiling. A smokeflue juts through a hole in the top of the tent and a lantern dangles in the ceiling, jostles from the wind outside and dashes strange elliptical circles around the room. They stay close to the woodoven and eat from cans of beans which they hold smoking in their big sealskin mits.
[Cont. raining...] Nothing. The rain falls in the morning when they wake and this is their life for another day and a night. Davey takes his knife to the cans of beans and stands the cans in the woodoven and latches the door closed with a rag and woodsmoke fills the room before he can get up to flap the vent open for a moment. [Louder raining...] [Dribble of localized droplets of water pattering in from the vent combined with the soft pulsing hiss of droplets striking the iron oven-top below...] The others know and they look up at the grey sky where Davey holds the flap open and one of them says it looks like it's fair to clear. Time passes and the rain stops and they go outside into the wind. Beyond the range lays the steamship motionless on the freezing water in the strait like a pebble in a shallow pond, so distant and motionless it is, marked out by the thin penciled line of smoke from her single stack. She lets out a whistle across the water and it passes over the mountains.

>>6009709
I meant to say 1800's (specifically 1852)

>>5999794
>I swear, /lit/ has the stupidest users on 4chan.

I always said this is the worst board. Full of depressed fedoras and existentialist teenagers.

>>5999396
I have a huge block on how to make the story work from the point I am. I am 20 pages in and I'm confused. The idea I have tastes like it's a filler, and I fear it would feel stupid and incosequential.

It's strange because I am a fountain of ideas. I have a friend who's studying to become a director and I have written for him a huge number of scripts for short he use for his exams. No masterpieces but people seems to like my style (english is not my first language btw).

I feel like I'm an idiot to stop right here. The worst things is I have constantly new ideas for new novels I stop writing when I end the first page, and when I revisit it I change something or redo it entirely. One of them I remade the first page from scraps almost 4 times.

What should I do?

>>6009709
This is fucking sick, more?

>>6009931
Keep going man, you can obviously write if you can write 20 pages. write another 20 and another 20 and things will get better, I'm sure.

here's something from something I'm working on.


"Why would you get that dog?"
Mandy's dirtywhite terrier was yapping at an unbelievable volume. She and it had been living in the same apartment building for almost three years now and she didn't at all like “get that dog” because it implied the otherwise guaranteed separateness between the dog and her. In fact, the comment outright pissed her off.
“you know, you really piss me off sometimes.” she said to Max.
“nono,” he said, “I'm serious Mandy.” you could barely hear him over the screaming dog. “The things a fucking mess, it doesn't do anybody any good. It was entirely optional to get that dog, and it shouldn't've even been born.”

Max walked home in the cold half an hour later with an eighth-ounce of O.G. Kush in a little ziplock bag in his coat pocket. Being a Friday, and that he had nothing to do on Fridays, he would soon be at his desk sucking flaming plant matter (1 part tobacco, 3 parts O.G.) through the downstem of a rumbling bong, reading about how deep the Mariana Trench is (almost 11 kilometers, it turns out) or dig up info on that drug which David Foster Wallace referred to as DMZ, 3-quinuclidinyl benzilate, and its median lethal dosage (a horrifying death, worse than death, worse than any of life's goods are good) of over 3,800 mg (its normal incapacitating dosage being 110mg gives you an idea of how absolutely world-destroyingly a lethal dose would be). No thanks. Max was blown away by the fact that Wikipedia had an article on every single U-boat, its specifications, crew, history, it's fate (the hyperlink actually read “fate”) and how many ships the U-boat had sunk, if any, and their names. There were the exactly one hundred old U-boats of the early 1900's, and the SM series U-boats of the same period, all still used in the war, the UB coastal subs (154 of them), the UC mine-laying subs (105), and the over 1,250 U-boats of the Kriegsmarine. Pretty much all of them had articles on Wikipedia. This fact became less impressive to Max when he realized even more detailed documents on the U-boats and other stuff could be retrieved at a war museum archive or something.

>>6009750
Your fault for not being able to ignore them.

>>6009931
Outline your whole story in detail before you start writing. You have to frame the house before you start really building it.

>>5999618
So did you get published after? If so, what?

>>5999396
I started taking Adderall to help my ADD.

I can finally sit down and continuously write something. This story's no longer a pile of ideas and a game of connect-the-dots.

>>5999618
>Norway's literary world is extremely tiny
What's happening in that sphere, beside Karl Knausgard?

I seriously have an unbelievably hard time coming up with names for the fantastical elements of my story. It's a much bigger hindrance than I thought it would be. I just don't want to define these things in terms of the usual fantasy conventions.

For example, I have this race of creatures that I guess people would equate with elves, but what they are in my mind is so much different from what people would usually have in their minds as elves in their frame of reference. In my story, this race is entirely animalistic and primal, but with this eerie aura of some great spiritual element that you don't see in regular elements. Like a more human soul in the body of this base creature. They're dehumanized, bearing only slight resemblance to human beings, looking more like fox's. And I'm not talking about anime furry anthropomorphic style shit. No attractive muscular or athletic bodies or aesthetically appealing features by human standards. I don't want them to be sexual. More animal than human, with wild, furiously colored red and orange hair, with similarly colored skin, ranging from earthy browns to slight tones of gold and yellow. The thing that sets them apart from other animals is their almost entirely human eyes, that allows people that see them to establish this strange unnerving empathy with them, but still feeling their primal nature.

I'm trying to do away with this general feeling of "innocence" these stories always give to nature and beings that represent nature. These beings are savage and violent, killing and eating other living things the same way all animals do, no sentimental respect for life or nature. I want them to come across like a wild animal, where they can be beautiful and alluring, even playful in some childlike simplicity, but they're deeply unpredictable and dangerous. In groups, they're known to drive themselves into tantric states of lust, fury and revelry, losing themselves for days. In my story, spiritually inclined humans who live ascetic hermit lifestyles often go and live with this creatures developing spiritual practices and beliefs, becoming what people would equate to Druids. But again, I don't like defining it in those terms, as the term Druid carries too many connotations that I want to shed. These spiritual practices are more about man embracing his primal self rather than defending the beauty of the forest or whatever you usually see Druids do in most fantasy stories.

I just want them to convey this unnerving aura, not so much being these beautiful mystical creatures, but frightening unpredictable aspects of a violent, base nature. How should I name these things? I have such a clear idea of what they are, just no name.

>>6003204
Yup.
>Iron Age
>Renaissance, any period
>Any historical period away from Europe
>Early Modern Period
>Industrial era
>Whole of C20th
>Near future
>Something you've completely invented

>>6010329

Okay man, look.

Personally, I don't like indulging genre shit on /lit/, because it is really so often just complete shit. And I'm not saying you're not shit. But you're having thinks that I appreciate, again these are just my stupid opinions, but there you have it.

I'm a published author of fantasy, here's what I think--take it for what it's worth. Maybe fuck me. Maybe not. Point is this:

You familiar with the Anasazi? The Navajo peoples were constantly at war with them. The Navajo never knew what those people called themselves, or who they were in any real cultural sense. But they fought. Constantly. Anasazi is what we call them today. It's a Navajo word, and it means "Ancient Enemy."

This is how you name something properly. It takes an entire culture to do it like anything around you in your life that also has a name. If you want to be happy with your names, they have to be cultural colloquialisms.

Help?

anyone else prefer to work on prose by hand instead of digitally?

>>6010451
I use my hand to type. If you mean write on paper then I guess I do that if I'm not at a computer.

>>6010480
I prefer handwriting unless I'm just writing a story to entertain myself, but then of course I always have to transpose it to edit in msword

>>6010329
For a visual reference, think kind of like a larger more majestic version of this. I just want a snout like appearance.

>>6010451
>anyone else prefer making pointlessly hamfisted remarks to try and make ourselves sound superior by rejection modern conveniences even though we are all anons and no one knows who the fuck we are?

You might not have meant it this way, but you read like a teenaged shit trying way too hard to impress someone.

>>6010503
sorry that you're so anal about your 'method,' but surely you are aware that one thinks much more quickly than one types. I write at a higher standard with a pen, and writing well is obviously desireable. obviously it takes more time to do, but you can't act like everybody should compose with a computer just because it's a 'superior modern convenience'

>>6010514
holy shit how can you even use a computer with your head so far up your own anus

>>6010329
>fox's
go.

>>6010522
sorry m8, you're not going to write down anything too terrible in your own handwriting the same way that you might just take a shit for an entire paragraph on a computer, so depending on the quality of your ideas and the quality of your editing, there is certainly a conversation to be had for handwriting creative works

in my experience with journalistic writing, though, it's always better to use word

>>6010514
So you call someone out for being anal about their method and then proceed to be even more so about your own?

I hope a future of crippling arthritis is worth it for a false feeling of "authenticity."

>>6010558
>your reading comprehension
I only said I PREFER to hand-write. It has nothing to do with 'authenticity' or sentiment ... otherwise I'd be reading the manual for a 200-lb manual typewriter right now.

>>6010545
don't tell me what I will and won't do

>>6010569
do what? write bad things because you were typing so quickly and your creative attention deficit prevented you from making crucial changes to the text before it was too late and you had forgotten and moved on?

>>6010438
This, Germans are caled "the mutes" by most slavs. Barbarians are people who speak gibberish for Greeks. Noice

>>6010570
I can only type 21~ words a minute. I don't think that is very fast at all.

>>6010438
Shit, that actually did help. I'm thinking now that I should embrace the namelessness of these creatures, where they aren't defined in a human cultural context. That feels like a step in the right direction.

I've tried to root the foundation of this world I'm creating on real cultures, and I certainly think starting with that helped frame the world tremendously, but these cultures I've created have kind of taken a life of their own where they can only be said to be very loosely based on real things

>>6010582
Exactly. Not everyone is a fast typer, belting out a page per minute like >>6010570 seems to think. I bet this asshole hand writes their responses before posting them.

>>6010582
I hope you learn how to type more efficiently some day, but surely 21 words a minute is still quicker than you could hand-write and the results are also probably somewhat different

>>6010602
>implying I don't compose 4chan posts into a magical diary a la Ginny Weasley and Tom Riddle

>>6010614
I can shorthand almost 150~ wpm

>>6010624
neat, but technically speaking you could create a form of digital shorthand and surpass even 150

considering this entire discussion, my contention is this: unless a story's notes and outline are bulletproof, a writer would be better-served to hand-write and transpose for editing (given computer access)

>>6010654
points of order:
am not dum
am not gay
but am fag

>>5999508
same with me, maybe it was just a big waste of time

>>6010649
But your assertion that hand-writing makes for better quality work falls apart when you take editing into consideration. Anyone will tell you that editing is where the real magic happens.

So what does your method give you? A better rough draft than if it had been typed? Congratulations, you spent an unnecessary amount of time working on something that's not nearly as good as the finished product for reasons you are unable to articulate other than "it's just better."

>>6010698
>implying I don't edit
>implying I don't edit on a computer
>implying I only hand-write

u fokin what? I'm not an alchemist, so I'm going to assume that the quality of the ideas as written down the very first time they were written down has something to do with the quality of the final product. I think you're under-estimating my view of the purpose for editing, which is preposterous in a writer thread

I feel like I need to drink in order to write. Sober, all I want to do is research. I've got hours upon hours of research, maybe a few days straight worth, and a tenth that much of writing.

>>6006506

I might do that. I wrote a for-fun novel that's too shit to publish but I dunno, maybe people will enjoy it. I enjoyed it, and it's very appealing to a small niche. If I finish up some edit/formatting work I could do that.

I don't know if I want to do donations. I mean, if they give me twenty bux cumulatively, but then I have an obligation to them?

>>6010495

Fuck you for posting that. When I want /x/, I go to /x/.

>>6010597

Happy to help.

Best of luck not writing bad fantasy or otherwise stories just for the sake of a story, lord knows we don't need any more of that shit. I hope you're the real thing Anon.

Just keep after it, I guess. But then you already know that.

>>6010766
I'm writing what I believe falls under a science-fantasy sort of novel. Is there anything you can share that I should steer clear of doing in my story? I don't want my first novel to be a total fuck up...

>>6010706
>>6010706
Please point out exactly where I suggested that you don't edit. For someone who likes to accuse people of lacking reading comprehension, you seem to be missing quite a bit yourself.

I'm not, nor have I ever insulted the fact that you value trying to create a high quality first draft, as you are right to pursue that. It's the thought that hand-writing is inherently better at achieving this that is beyond ignorant.

Also, I'm underestimating your view of editing because you have been stressing a hand-written rough draft this whole time without suggesting any importance placed on editing beyond an afterthought. If taking your argument for what it was, as it was presented, is preposterous than I have nothing left to say to you.

>>6010766
Thanks anon. I really want to believe I have something genuine here too. Only time can tell I guess

>>6010815
I'm not getting involved, but I just want to say that reading the two of you has been a delight.

>>6010067
Nah, only in literary journals for the moment. One of Norway's two major publishers have read the first couple of chapters of a novel I'm working on, though, and are liking what they see. And I occasionally get contacted by literary journals to write stuff, though they're too small to actually pay me anything.

>>6010127
Loads of stuff! Though nothing translated yet, since most of it doesn't sell well enough. Oyvind Ellenes and Audun Mortensen are new "stars", while Tomas Espedal and Dag Solstad are old dudes still chugging along (the latter has been translated to English, and I whole-heartedly recommend him).

>>6010752

So I started drinking. Half a beer in and I've got a decent opening passage at last. This is psychological, isn't it? I just need an open beer in hand, not drunkenness. Fuck the research, I'm writing this shit.

>>6011602
don't forget to remember the alamo, bro

>>6009931
Just conclude it naturally and don't worry about length. It could be a novella or short story.

Its ok to write a story of any length.

I wrote 2000 words today, and it took me from 11 to 7. 6 Fucking hours.

After reading this thread I finally started to write this idea I've had in my head for a while. I'm pretty satisfied with what I've got but damn that was hard. I've written other stuff before that came to me way easier and just flowed out of my mind through my hands, why does something I really care about feel so forced and mechanical?

Will it get easier as I keep writing?

>>6014521
err, 11-17

>>6014521
You fear you won't write to your own standards, or possibly others'.

It'll get easier once you learn to chill and just let your creative process run its course.

>>6014596

It's not that I worry about the quality it's just that even though I have the whole core concept down and the plot and all the basic ideas and principles I just can't imagine in my head how all that stuff happens in detail, and write it down.

I've written tons of "wiki"-entries in my notebook, of events, hoping that if I just put the pen to the paper and write it, it'll come out and I'll think of more detail, but I don't.

And it's fucking ass.

>>6014644
You fear your life is meaningless without a deity and you succumb to the temptation to worship God.

It'll get easier once you learn to worship Jesus.

>>6014644
>>6014521
Just use the first draft to tell yourself the story, however shitty it may turn out.
Sit down every morning and write 500 words, minimum. At some point you will have written the story, and then you start worrying about making it good.

Would you read a story in which you most likely hate the protagonist with all your might?

So I'm new to /lit/ specifically. I thought they were only for reading books, but I guess I was wrong, thankfully.

Tell me, is the preference here literary fiction, where the only way to please the rest of the board is to be mega deep and groundbreaking and genre-fiction is sub-par reading/writing, or can I openly talk about my novel here?

Everywhere else I go on 4chan, it's closer to the former, where everyone's insanely elitist while at the same time holding no means to live up to their viewpoints... I'm actually curious about the opinions here.

>>6015381
>the only way to please the rest of the board is to be mega deep and groundbreaking
you really are new

>>5999396
The novel I should be writing is terrible and needs a lot of work so I don't touch it. It is book two of a series. The best part of the novel is the title, Nightmare Knights.

My children's "chapter book" is coming along great. Almost done. The character has learned his lesson and defeats the antagonist. The only thing is I feel embarrassed for having written something so simple.

I am having a lot of fun writing the outline for my scifi space epic. I enjoy doing a lot of research on history's great generals.

>>5999419
>not getting on neetbux so you can spend all your time reading and writing

>>6015435
Nightmare Nights would have been a superior title

>>5999419
Most people on /lit/ are still students.

>>6015451
>Most people on /lit/ are still high school students.
fixed

I have a question similar to >>6010329

In my novel I have this race of aliens. They are conscious masses of pure energy, and they each form all the stars in the universe. They're sentient stars.

The only issue I have is the name humans would be calling them. For the time being, I used a placeholder term and called them "celestial beings", but even now, I'm still pretty iffy on the name. Does anyone have any better idea for naming their race?

i find it difficult to connect the scenes and overall plot points in a cohesive manner

>tfw you realize everything you write just amounts to inane cliches

>>6015502
write young adult novels children and neckbeards don't know any better

>>6015502

its impossible to start out and not be a little cliche. do you really imagine your first attempts at writing will break through the already explored eons of human existence and expression on your first couple tries?

if i am to explore something unexplored i must first make my way threw all the familiar bits.

>tfw wrote a good character

Brainstorming for a sort of "science fiction inspired by epic fantasy" thing. Inspired by epic fantasy in that it's got numerous factions and lot of political intrigue. Think ASOIAF, Prince of Nothing, etc.

Dune is the closest thing I can think of to it right now, but I'm not having magic or space-magic or anything.

Unfortunately, I'm having trouble organizing everything. I really want a private online wiki (so I can get on anywhere and edit).

>So how's that novel coming along /lit/?

Horrible. I've got the idea but no motivation. I just don't know if anyone will want to read about a hero that goes around buggering Greek Harpies.

>feel when wrote a character you want to fug

>>6015572
Is that the whole plot? Is it extremely explicit?

>>6015582
Nah it has adventure, death and betrayal plus lots of cute bird-girl sex. It's explicit but It has a bit more going on than just the porn.

>>6010503
5 minutes typping and my fingers hurt

>>6015575
Every female character. Am I autistic?

>>6015713
I don't fuck fat chicks.

>>6015572
Can't be worse than dragons.

>have a lot of semi-clever ideas that could combine in Umberto Eco-esque conspiracy story
>enjoy putting comments into my writing but don't like when it creates really long sentences
>as a result, I use footnotes
>unable to write anything 'serious' without being terrible so I have to keep it silly and irreverent
>think about all these things for a while
>mfw realizing that I'm DFW
>mfw I haven't even read Infinite Jest
>mfw I've been doing this for long before I had ever read anything by Pynchon

>>6015794
cleverness is a curse

>>6015713
Or you just tend to make characters you like.

>>6010053
Thanks, didn't mention it took 3 years to do those 20 pages.

>>6015806
What do you mean, anon?

>>6015832
My name is Steven.

>>5999396
25k words. Going stronk.

>>6015575
>>6015713

I thought I'd never stoop this low, but then one night I saw a dream where I went on a date with a character I wrote, was convinced she was a real person and realized I love her so fucking much. It was pretty awkward waking up.

>>6015496

This might sound a little obvious, but why not just call them Stars...?

>>5999672
Decide if you want to write a textbook or a novel. Anachronism is part and parcel for literature, just think about shakespeare

>>6002901
Dont worry, at that rate you could write 3 novellas in a year

>>6015496
Make the first contact interesting and their name can be based on that, some object or place name that was part of it

>>6017988
remind me to never read your book

>>6018066

It was a support character in a short side story, which I already finished long ago, so my feelings for her did not affect her original portrayal.

>>6015333
Depends on the hate. Explain.

>>6015523
Why is everyone so concerned with cliche? You'll never avoid being a little cliche sometimes.

It's like that ignorant obsession with the idea of complete originality. At this point it's almost impossible.

I'm a short-story writer and I have enough income to sustain a proper life.
Should I drop studying Medicine and become a full-time writer /lit/?

>>6019176
No.

>>6018050
Just like moties

>>6014688
Absolutely. Keep writing, don't reread what you made last, just roll with it until you can step back and look at the whole thing at once.

>>6015333
Hate as in "has foul character"
Or as in "has bad character"

Why is an abundance of curse words considered juvenile when it's realistic?
Real life people have sailor tongues why can't written characters

>>6019447
Because muh serious prose

>>6019447
Because written characters, however realistic, are supposed to be condensed representations of people or personalities that are tasked with the purpose of moving a story, or illuminating some meaning about the readers' world. Cutting out mundane habits, such as swearing every other word, makes it easier for those characters to serve their purpose(s). Ever notice how most highly regarded works don't usually mention when their characters go to the bathroom or eat unless it pertains to the story's progression or the supposed meaning somehow?

Great. I finally had an explosion of ideas and managed to clean up and expand on my story. It's coming along very well.

>>6015575

This is why men are worse writers than women. Men can't keep it in their pants and have to stop every ten minutes to wank over their own work. They can't find a real woman willing to drain their nuts and so become sexually frustrated perverts.

>writing up a fucking storm for past 3 days
>everything is fucking amazing and fun and I am having such a fucking blast spewing out all this creativity
>each morning wake up excited to sit back down when I get some free time and continue working the story
>wake up on day off
>COMPLETELY devoid of ANY urge to write.
>can not be fucked to type anything down
>w/e I'll maybe try to flush out some sidelined short stories
>open one up, zero interest in writing
>know if I try to force anything it will come out as garbage


Just one of those days I suppose.

I want to write, but I sit down and my body screams no-fuck off!

Best of luck to everyone else in your endeavors today I suppose.

hopefully I can get back at it tomorrow

>>6019817
I'd say there are two ways to handle the situation.

1. Wait till tomorrow and hope your inspiration comes back. Take that chance.

2. Write the garbage that will come out if you force it. Writing something, even garbage, will still be something. You're getting words on paper. Fuck how good it is, that doesn't matter, just write.
For me, I have always found that it helps when not inspired. It forces your brain back into writing, and that gives inspiration.

>>5999396
Almost 8k words on one novel, and just under 2k on my other one. The first is fantasy, the second is science fiction. For right now, I'm focusing on the first one.

For the first novel, I've written what I want to get out of each chapter - like, if there's a specific character that I want to introduce, or a specific scene that I've already had in my head that I think would be good - and I've written down about eighteen concepts (related to the various fantasy races, cultural models, religion, family, background of the main character and his party, etc). I'm taking the writing fairly slow, but I don't want to put it off for too long.

It is a medieval setting, but I'm hoping that I can make it unique and interesting. It'd be good to get some critique on it, but I'm very hesitant to let family or friends read it because I know they won't be very honest with me.

>>6020357
What is it that you think makes your fantasy story stand apart from the rest of the genre

>>6019817
chunk out words. they can be shitty words. neil gaiman says to do that

>>5999396
i havent read anything or written anything since i started drinking daily. im planning on just going until i run out of $ and just drive west and shoot myself. im not depressed, but i really dont have the drive to keep working. its too much.

hell, its not even the work. its just that everything requires me to go out and do something for myself. i just want to do honest work and drink until i die. but im gonna just cut it short. no reason to keep struggling.

>>6020385
Don't do it. (That's all I've got.)

Middle grade sci-fantasy Manuscript is 4400 pages. Still editing.

>>6020385
Also, don't do it, man

>>6020376
That humans aren't indigenous to the planet. They're able to have viable children with the species that are (Elves, dwarves, orcs, goblins, giants, etc), but they're not indigenous. They're descendants of humans who crash landed on the planet, and had their memories wiped by terrified Elves when the Elves realized the metal in the human starship was resistant to magic.

Also the Elves thought the humans were an advance scout for an invasion, so wiping their memories meant they couldn't call for help.

And if they couldn't call for help, the other humans would figure that they're still searching.

Along the main character's quest (find the emperor's only living son and legitimate heir to the throne and get his ass home so the empire doesn't fall into civil war because the emperor's got like a dozen bastards who are all power hungry and the nobles are being dicks), they find out the truth and deal with the consequences and ramifications of it.

>>6020357
>writing a fantasy without using magical realism
anon no...

>>6020487
I wanted to see if I could write fantasy without magical realism.

How do I go about writing something /lit/? I've been meaning to write something for a while, dunno what, but I have no idea how to begin the writing process.

Starting is the hardest part for me in most things.

VERY bad. I wrote 700 words and that's all I have, it was a week ago. Today instead of writing I read what I wrote and made some changes.
Now I have 732 words.

>>6002569
This is utterly incoherent.

>>6020625
I liked it.

>>6004567
This is horrible advice.

>>6020570
Just write and be prepared for it to suck

>>6020628
ye, everyone knows you should write when high and let the editor edit your revelations

>>6020616
Holy shit, I reached 907 words!

>>6020481
What does /lit/ think?

>>6020901
It reminds me of the lore of Endless Legend

>fantasy setting with some SF features like robots thrown in
>humans actually crashed on that planet, but forgot most it
>planet has ancient highly technological society but most of it forgotten
>magic is just nanobots (or some shit like that)

>>6020901
why do the elves wipe memory instead of just killing the humans if they think theyre dangerous?

>>6020923
They hoped that if they're mindwiped, they would be less of a threat. Also, slavery of the humans put their fears at ease. The local king thought it would be better to keep them under watch, and slavery seemed like the best idea for that.

The elves aren't that nice. 2,000 years of slavery for humans, and it all ended in a massive slave uprising a few thousand years back. Now the humans are independent (splintered into about 20 states), but at least they're not that dangerous.

>>6020917
Really? I've never heard of that. I mean, the only difference (at least from what you've posted) is with mine, the tech level is around the High Middle Ages, magic is a legitimate thing, and there's no robots.

>>6020357
>It'd be good to get some critique on it, but I'm very hesitant to let family or friends read it because I know they won't be very honest with me.

post it here duh

>>6020385

bro you need help, you're clearly depressed and/or an alcoholic

you can't just say "i just want to do honest work and drunk until i die" without being one of those two things

get actual help from a professional or a support group before you consider anything more

>>6010053
Let me guess, you're in high school and your favorite author is Stephen King?

>>6020973
What's the best way? Google docs?

>>6021138
Make a new account before posting it, you don't want your email on 4chainz

>>6021145
I could also email someone using my throwaway...

>>6021145
Also, does anyone draw a map when they write? For me, when I write fantasy, I like to draw a map just to see where my characters are going to be, who they're going to interact with, etc.

>>6021183
i soliloquis every scene

>>6021201
That makes sense. I was always a visual learner in school, so it always made sense for me to draw the worlds I wanted my characters to live in.

>>6021183
>And I'll be here watching my bridges burn and feel nothing.
I really love seeing a map

>>6021253
Well, for you. Blank map of my fantasy world

>>6021273
The continent/islands on the bottom right looks fantastic. Not so much the others.

Depends. When I'm inspired I'm writing 40k words in a weekend. My plan is to write all the scenes I have in mind, then worry later about editing and cutting off parts that don't fit.

>>6021433
Thanks. Honestly, it was a trial run and I wanted to see how it turned out. I'll mostly likely edit it again and see how it turns out then.

Well, here's a little diddy I wrote. I've been touching up a short story (two pages). If you want more, I can post the doc.

>They didn't stop, I swear on the spirit, they didn't stop until they were sure we were ready to surrender. Depriving a Molrin of sleep is a good way to have him at your knees begging for a lifetime of silent captivity. It felt like the whole universe was collapsing each time a round would go off near our rock. A wave of heat would wash over us all and we'd look at each other, trapped in our own dreams, mouths open wide with basic understanding of the fact that we all might die in a couple seconds. We’d silently ask each other: Is this real? Is this actually happening or did we bite it a few hours back? I don’t know what kept us all from running out there and begging the spirit to make the next one count. Not that they’d listen to us anyway. There were no spirits, not on Earth at least. No god’s, no forces watching over us. Just humanity, coldly adjusting their degrees of fire and watching death arc over the wastelands, fall in low and muddy, and with a distant and dull thud, drive us deeper into madness. I watched two warriors, strongest of the whole crew, wander out there in between volleys because they thought they were back on Travlon. They both went up at the same time and were happier for it.


Is it crap, /lit/?

>>6021457

It's the blockiness of the other continents that doesn't do it for me. The one on the bottom right looks like it has a story for every little corner, whereas the others just look like they would be empty landmasses.

What really works for me is the half circle of islands, with the larger island in the middle, in the northwestern corner of the continent. It looks like a place that was made to look that way through unnatural means and I'm willing to bet some cool shit happens there.

>>6021860
>strongest of the whole crew
This seemed out of place compared to the rest of the piece.

But it's not shit, pretty good actually. I think we have the next John Green.

>>6021964
t-thanks

Though that John Green line was a low blow ;_;

Thanks for the feedback though. it does seem out of place, huh? I'll change it up

>>6020385

>>6021939
That's fair. Like I said, I'll probably rework the islands (I'll definitely start with the blockier islands) and see what works. What about the northern continent, near the polar ice cap? Is that fine too, or does all but the bottom right have to be done?

>>6021860
Not bad, actually. What's the plot?

>>6022979
It's not bad. Perhaps consider rotating it in either direction?

The massive ocean that takes up almost the entire right half of the map is interesting. Does it have any plot relevance? If not, I would spread things out a bit more.

>>6024052
It's bad I never thought about rotating it.

And the massive ocean is supposed to be where Humans thought they came from - the "Far Eastern Lands". No one has gone there and come back alive. Basically, after they got mind-wiped by the Elves, and they were held in bondage, they developed this religion that said they were created in the image of an "All-Maker". The All-Maker created them in this mythical paradise and they sailed out after falling out of the All-Maker's favor (so a little bit of Adam and Eve), and so it represents both the limits of the known world and where humanity thinks its origins are.

>>6020616
This is me on a daily basis.

What's wrong with us, anon?

>>6024079
And during the journey (mentioned >>6020481), the group discovers humanity's true origins and has to deal with the repercussions of it. And, more importantly, do they say anything? It would essentially destroy Human theology, possibly push humans into a bloodlust (the Elves and Humans don't really get along, y'know, cause of the 2,000 years of slavery) over the lost heritage of humanity, and might spark a world-wide war.

I still can't believe it, but I'm gonna be published. Small publisher, hardly any money involved, but it's a dream come true.

Hold on to your dreams, /lit/. They can come true.

>>6024205

>tfw not sure if going to finish novel before I kill myself

Fuck women. Fuck anti-depressants. Fuck my rebellious, insubordinate, flaccid dong. I should have known God was just trying to have the last laugh at my lowest point.

>>6024643
shit anon, all these feels
been to some of these, done some of that

though I personally feel that suicide shortly after blooming as a literary star makes the best sequel to an amazing literary work, so...

>>6024205
Give novel title, I'm genuinely interested.

Or at least an excerpt of your novel

I want to write a novel but I don't know what to do. I need a process and I don't have one. I started a semi-autobiographical thing but it turned into Waiting for Godot because my life is boring as all hell.

>>6024611
Zyzz didn't make it, though

>>6024679
Word up. I'll hold out until my sophomore manuscript for you, bro. Maybe a publisher will look at my work if it's found under my body. Probably not though.

Chris burst into the cabin, out of breathe and upending every table and chair on his way to his drawers. Theoden entered seconds after, wiping his feet on the doormat, gently closing the door behind him.
Theoden walked to the centre of the room, picking up one of the chairs. “So, you're gonna storm the gates of hell with nothing but a blunt axe and the clothes on your back?" he asked, a smirk forming on the side of his mouth.
"I’m not just gonna storm it," he said, taking a slingshot out of his drawers "I’m gonna burn the fucker down".
Theoden stared at him. "You're gonna burn down...hell?"
"Yep"
Theoden took a controlled breathe. "Do you even know what you're saying?"
"Yeah, of course" Chris said absently, rummaging through his drawers.
"Look - You can't 'burn down' hell, it's already burning, you idiot. How do you burn fire?"
Chris turned to him, brushing sweat from his brow and wiping it down his already filthy tunic.
"Well, then, I’ll just bloody blow it out then."
"Blow it out?" Theoden snorted, "What the hell do you mean by that?"
"Y'know, like a match. Just blow it out - poof, done.” He held up a finger and blew on it.
Theoden stared around the room open mouthed - as if inviting an invisible crowd to join him in his incredulity.
“Okay – let me get this straight. You're gonna 'blow out' the 'gates of hell' – the gates of hell - like you blow out a 'match', with a blunt axe and an old slingshot, whilst wearing your underwear?” He looked at Chris, shaking his head, “Do I have that right?"
Chris pointed his chin in the air and closed his eyes. "Yeup. Something like that".
Theoden brought a hand to his forehead, closing his eyes. He stayed that way for a second, before releasing a heavy groan and letting the hand slide down his face.

I have an idea for a novel in which a scientist invents a time machine and goes back in time to bring Mozart and Beethoven to the present, so they can co-write a symphony to help with the fight against Isis, don't know where to begin though

>>6025106
> what is Bill and Ted.

Wrote this a while ago /lit/ thinking this may start of my story. How'd I do? I think I have problems describing the movement of the machine.

The Wanderer:

He remembered his youth the fresh fruits, the tall grass, and the walls that once protected him all those years ago. He remembered the catacombs that laid beneath the city; the buried bodies and the ruins, the statues, the fire, the death. He remembered those in particular, the thoughts that overwhelmed his childhood memories.
The Suns rose over the great Aurie Desert casting twin shadows over the barren landscape. He halted, gazing into its magnificent beauty. It had been months since he had been able to experience such a sublime event. Their splendor never ceased to amaze him. This feeling of wonder, reminded him of the days he would spend hours watching the suns paint the sky gold and violet. The days of innocence, ignorance, and safety,feelings that had long departed from him. The desert seemed to stretch before him like a wide ocean. A sea of dust and sand, only to be ended by mystic mountains which had no end in sight. This illusion filled him with both enticement, and dread. He refocused himself as he slowly made his way to the speeder, the volantis; sitting on its cushion. He stared at his destination the mountains; which lay beneath voluminous and dismal storm clouds casting their dark shadows. Beyond the mountains was where had to go he thought to the mainland...
He thought of the catacombs the corridors between the walls which which led to the underbelly of the city.He remembered what he had found.....and what had happened.

"I dont know why i would come" he thought. He could still see the lucid images of his burning city, his families charred bodies and his father's final words. He grasped the pendant around his neck, his father's final gift and it weighed heavy on his soul. He thought of his fathers last, undying words......

Silence.

He stayed on the cliff watching the sunrise; there was a legend which said if one were to watch the suns rise on Iggnimarri one could see the birth of life itself. He knew that it did not hold the secret to life. The stories of the mainland, the palemen their flying machines; childrens stories and old fables.
The suns slowly rose , their great illusion of twilight had disappeared. His time of idleness had come to an end. He activated his machine, it dispersed the surrounding rocks and sand as it moved forward.

>>6024771
He died a god, a symbol of human perfection. He made it in ways most people could only ever dream of.

>>6025166
>He died a god, a symbol of human perfection
>>>/b/
>>>/reddit/
>>>/fit/

>>6024108
Perhaps consider making the map in a different format? Most fantasy novels don't give you the whole textbook view of the world at once for the very purpose that the worlds they create would look absurd as a whole. In fact they give you the maps that the people within that world would have. This then suggests a useful inaccuracy within the map by giving you wiggle room when taking the scale into consideration.

Your idea with the ocean is fantastic, but seeing it like this makes it not seem as impressive. Do they know that the world is round? If not, then the maps should reflect that.

A map like this is useful for you as the writer, but for the readers I would stick only with what is known, or only what is going to be shown, and expand from there as things progress.

>>6025476
I was looking doing something with the map, but yeah I'll try that. The way the map is set up, showing the whole, was honestly just for to see. A future map will definitely only show the known world of the peoples there (which is fairly limited despite a strong naval tradition).

Thank you. They don't know the world is round, so all they know is there's a vast ocean to the east that may hold where Humanity came from.

I'll definitely stick to what the character's know, and expand as needed. The story will mostly take place on land, but I may have some sea elements as well.

>>6025538
Cool. Be sure to post more of it in the future. You definitely have my interest.

>>6024205
That's great anon!
Title/Genre?

>>6025649
Thanks, Anon. Would you be willing to share a throwaway email? I'd love to get some form of review on it.

>>5999396
still early stages, got some passages down when I cant help but write, but otherwise its kinda hard to put thoughts into paper

>>6025680
Also, figured I'd post the first few paragraphs of chapter 1 (and only chapter) and see what people think.
- - -
Then he came out of the woods, sword thumping against his hip, and sighed as he looked at the fork in the road. Bron Galasar groaned, rubbed his head, and went to the left. The road to the city was short, and the inquisitive stares of the townspeople as he passed made him reflect on if this was his finest walk of shame.

He had many more walks of shame to make. Each would be more exciting than the last.

The heavy wrought-iron gate lifted to allow him in, and he flashed a quick smile to the two guards. As he passed the two, he could hear them guffawing, dying with peals of laughter. He groaned again, and entered the castle.

“Bron!” a voice called, angrily. Bron shuddered, the voice carrying the full weight of his oncoming punishment. He turned his head and watched as his father stepped down the cold stone steps, his black fur cloak trailing behind him. “Where in the name of the All-Maker were you?” He snarled, gesturing with his wrinkled hand to the Great Hall, as the impatient moans of his family echoed. “We’ve been waiting for you!”

Bron nodded apologetically. “I’m sorry, Father,” he began, his voice a soft baritone, before he was cut off.

“Don’t bother.” His father hissed, coming ever closer to the twenty-three year old, “I can smell the mead on your breath, boy.” He wrapped an arm around his son’s shoulder and steered him inside the Great Hall, a thin line where his lips were. At the sight of the second oldest child, the family sighed in relief and dove into the pile of food littering the table.

Bron began to reply, but his father sat him down at the table and positioned himself at the head. Willem Galasar, Earl of Ostovek, glanced once at his son before he began to eat.

“Bron,” his father began in between large bites of sausage and bread, “I think it would be best if you saw the rest of the Empire.”

“You’re sending me away?” Bron asked incredulously, “Because I had a bit to drink?”

“A bit wouldn’t mean your breath stink worse than a village drunk,” Willem hissed, as his wife silently urged him to breathe. “You are to go to Alerdus, the capital.” Willem sighed heavily, looking at his first-born son. Bron looked at the first-born too. “Why couldn’t you be more like Rickard?”

>>6010766
>otherwise stories just for the sake of a story
Oh god, I just realized that I might be doing this.
What do I do?

>>6025772
Put some soul in it

>>6024093
Lack of talent, will, depression issues?

I need my adderall....

I want to write a Kafkaesque story about how modern society is ruled by people operating behind these boxes we call computers, influencing humanity with subliminal messages but I have no idea where to start.

Maybe a cult type of thing wouldn't be too bad.

>>6025804
I hope I have talent, I'm not depressed, so I suppose it's the will.

>>6025680
sure
throwawayfunk@gmail.com

>>6025878
Thanks anon. Just don't make fun of the email I use. It's thankfully one I barely use anymore.

>>6025953
Actually, I made a new one.

>>6023337
Creative writing challenge about aliens trying to invade earth but being woefully unprepared for what they encounter

I had a friend tell me today that writers that self-publish make a shit ton more money and achieve more success than those who go about the traditional route. Please tell me this is the stupidest thing you've ever heard.

>>6026878
Yes. Yes it is.
>more money
in the short term, yes, but traditional publishing can build a long and lucrative career that self-publishing can never compete with, not to mention self-published authors have to promote the book all by themselves
>more success
not even close. name me one top selling self-published author who has even a shred of respect in the literary community.
i'll wait.

>>6025118
Instantly what I thought of
>Socrates!

Novel aint going so hot. I wrote the absolute fuck out of 20k words in the space of a week, then abruptly stopped for a month.

The good news is that I still like what I've written after letting it sit for a while, and I have a vague idea of where I want it to go. The bad news is that I keep getting distracted with other projects, and I'm not really sure how to fit new elements of the plot into it.

What I have so far is a post apocalyptic sci-fi story. The main character is a nameless kid who starts the story by climbing out of a mine shaft in the middle of the desert, with absolutely no memory where he came from, only the knowledge that he needs to get far away from the mine shaft.

At this point it's revealed that the kid has an artificial intelligence implanted in his brain. The AI names itself Val and informs the kid that his one and only goal is to make sure that he survives. To aid that goal he summons a small fleet of drones (the only bits of technology he's able to scavenge from wherever the kid came from) and orders the kid to start walking out of the desert.

I'm thinking about introducing supernatural elements, but am not really sure if it would mess with the tone too much or whatever. I just really need to keep writing and actually get somewhere with the plot, because I spent 20,000 words getting the kid and his AI companion to a creepy abandoned cult town in the middle of the desert and now I'm not really sure where to go from there.

>>6026951
Thank you. I didn't even know what to say to him it was so goddamn stupid. I think I'm going to cut off all contact with him. He's also kind of toxic and jealous. Never a good combo.

>>6026951
>traditional publishing can build a long and lucrative career that self-publishing can never compete with, not to mention self-published authors have to promote the book all by themselves

The odds of getting anything are really fucking shit at both though.

>>6027044
This is true. I wanted to say that to him, but I didn't think it mattered. He said that remark in this really snarky, arrogant way like self-published authors were making a vastly better living, when in reality I think the average published author of short stories, novels, poetry, etc makes 4,000 USD a year.

I've heard that you have to be in the top 1,000 readership in order to have a livable wage as a writer.

>>6027055

Self-published authors might get better income in the form of donations and such, if they're really popular and active online, but it's hard to find or keep credible account on the numbers involved. And living off of donation money isn't really something to be proud of anyway.

How do I write a short story? I'm not concerned about a novel right now.

>>6027107
Just come up with a short narrative that doesn't feel contrived for the sake of being short, and focus on the exposition that you think is important.

It's that easy.
Easier to quickly accentuate themes in a short story.

>>6027107
>>6027109

I've always found writing short stories to be incredibly hard. I mean, really short stories, like 10 pages max. If you write following the pattern of introduction-midpoint-ending, you just wind up with a novel by default, I can't squeeze any meaningful event into only a few pages, no matter what.

>>5999396

Finished one manuscript. Slowly transcribing it from longhand to electronic text. Beginning work on another while I transcribe/edit.

>>5999419

I don't really have a problem with this, to be honest. If anything, I find that work motivates me and keeps me strict on my writing.

I think a lot of it boils down to temperament and what kind of job you have. Obviously, working 12 hours in the oil field 7 days a week is a much different beast than working as a bank teller or a security guard or something.

>>6003003

False. Ideas tend to snowball; you don't often get hit with a bolt of lightning that forms a full story or plot in your mind. Usually, you get a scrap of something; a hint. You get a scene, a bit of dialogue, a character, a setting, something.

And from that something, you get more bits and pieces until eventually, you have enough that you can start to find the means to connect them. Use whatever metaphor you want; a seed growing into a tree, a snowball rolling downhill, whatever.

That blank-screen frustration never goes away entirely. I was about eight or nine chapters into a planning my novel when I hit a brick wall. I said fuck it and wrote those nine chapters. I had to write seven or eight chapters before the plotline after chapter nine started to come together in my head.

>>6027196
Have you not written college papers before?
Or short story writing in highschool even?
They're meant to teach you these skills.

>>6027235
>Have you not written college papers before?
>Or short story writing in highschool even?

We generally wrote non-fiction there. School teaches you how to present your opinion, report your analysis and observations, not how to compose fantasy.

57k words in, almost done. It's an episodic thing, so I'm having trouble making sure that things are consistent, and that characters/events/locations are introduced at reasonable times. I've gotten a friend to read through it, so he'll note it if and when oddities happen.

And I still don't have an ending, but I'll think of something.

How much planning is too much planning?
Gimme a ratio.

>>6027602
Depends entirely on what you're planning and how you're doing it/10

>>6027255
>School teaches you how to present your opinion, report your analysis and observations, not how to compose fantasy.
so none of your english classes covered any fiction whatsoever, and you don't know how to transfer the necessary pacing in writing highschool-college sized papers, to fictional story writing?

what a dolt

>>6027610

ayy lmao

>>6027602
480x360

>>5999396
mentally is great, its finding the time to sit down and write about it

How do you guys go about planning your novel?
I feel like I have a really good idea, but I keep writing drafts about characters, the world of the novel, etc - all of which I add to a flowchart I made to serve as some sort of a spine for the novel. It's been 3 months...

>>6002569
you should be ashamed of this, it is that bad, sounds like a 14 year old wrote it.

>>6026878
>Wanting what you write to be determined by "what sells"

>>6025140
Any rates?