/lit/ - Literature

One and only bump, regretting making this its own thread

>>6366352

What are your favorite books? How many books do you generally read a month? Do you read for prose? Do you mimic the styles of others? Do you experiment with your own style? Do you enjoy the process of writing itself? Do you feel as if you have an interesting new idea to contribute to literature?

Write constantly, pussy. Natural ability might determine how quickly and effortlessly you become proficient, but with genuine effort (which means not dicking around on /lit/ like a fuckwad) anyone can become at least pretty good at just about anything.

You're convincing yourself not to try because you're afraid of failure. THAT is where the scores of failed writers come from, not from people who tried. Any writer who says they started off skilled is either a liar or delusional.

Write every single day. Italo Calvino wrote 8 hours each day, even the day his son was dying in the hospital he still dedicated one third of his day to writing. You don't need to go this far but there's no need to stop your writing to have life experiences. Do both to become a well rounded human being but practice is much more important than experiences. There are many more writers with regular lives but great writing than there are those who write amazing stories because of what they did. Even then people like Hemmmingway, Kerouac or even Bukowsky kept writing along with whatever adventure they had. There are many more guys with complex lives than there are those who can write them interestingly.

Also, what experiences are you thinking? Like banging chicks, driving around, doing the same drugs your friends are doing and maybe visiting some city? If you live as much as your friends there isn't really a difference in you. Although you should try living your life, of course.

>>6366352
Keep writing and keep practicing constantly.

I've been writing music since I was 14 and about the time where my skills actually started developing, I started feeling the same way about my work.

You've developed the important skill of being able to critique your own work instead of thinking something's great just because you wrote it. This is how you start to move into the positive side of the Dunning-Kruger effect.

Now I'm 19 and I'm just now starting to be able to write stuff I like and can critique it with an experienced ear. If you keep writing, there's no way you'll get worse.

>>6366352
>I'm 18 and I find that everything I write is embarrassingly bad.

It probably is. You're 18, damn it.

>Write constantly
This. So one day when you won't be 18 your writing won't be embarrassingly bad.

>take a break and have more life experience

No. There's two kinds of experience: life experience and literary experience. The life experience of a 90 year old seaman won't help you write a good book if your literary experience is limited only to reading. You NEED TO keep practicing writing. Just lower your expectations a bit, but don't get overly critical of your work because it will affect your work even before you start writing it. Which is pointless.

>>6366352
why write when you can read/experience more?

there's no need to write when you have nothing unique to say. if, perchance, an interesting set of ideas or themes (or a sort of inspiration in general) comes to you, then you should consider writing. beyond that, though, you shouldn't bother.

>>6366352
Little babby-child eighteen year old anon, listen to me. You should not write with the intention of profiting from your work. You should write for yourself. You should write because yo enjoy it.
And remember, all great writers are great readers.

>>6367081
Here's some perspective if you don't take the time to write, but want to write.

>>/lit/thread/S6300202

Whoops
>>6367148
meant for>>6367116

>>6367116

> tfw I was the one who made that thread and made that reply possible

I truly am a part of literary history