/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.10156011]

How's the writing career coming, /lit/?

[Anonymous No.10156015]

>>10156011
Currently outlining the first story I'm gonna write.

[Anonymous No.10156016]

I wrote 0 words and thought of writing on 3 separate occasions.

[Anonymous No.10156020]

>>10156011
Don't think it's gonna happen desu. Spend most of my time on here creating race bait threads and compaining about women and jews. Haven't written a paragraph in 4 weeks and I haven't read a book since Febuary

[Anonymous No.10156066]

>>10156011
I had this really nice idea for 5 short stories with a common theme, and little connections between them. I already wrote a little of the first one(about 10 pages in word).
But I recently read really good books and became extremely disappointed in what I was writing. To the point I don't want to write the stories at all.

Why even try?

[Anonymous No.10156071]

>>10156011
Managed to convince the PI to let me write my papers in active voice recently.

[Anonymous No.10156076]

>>10156011

Horribly! Fuck you for asking

Still around 43k into the novel, made the massive mistake of trying to correct a previous chapter which set me back because I forgot where I wanted to go next. Dumb ass move - I'll never learn. Still chugging along

[Anonymous No.10156078]

>>10156011
I heard from a friend of mine who has a few books published that instead of the old days when publication was based on the decision of a single editor, these days manuscripts are reviewed by an entire committee so that only the most mediocre stuff that can satisfy everyone gets through.

[Anonymous No.10156172]

I had a friend who reviewed a short story of mine recently, one that I kind of jotted down quickly. She thought there wasn't much there, which wasn't surprising, but then she went on to say that my writing style sounds like I've only ever read old British guys and am trying to emulate them. She says I need to read more contemporary fiction to get a sense of how people speak and write in this day and age.

How do I respond to that? My writing emulates older writers because I happen to like them. I actually do think people like Dickens and Austen and Chesterton are among the greatest writers in the history of the English language, and so I go to them to learn how to be a writer. When I was younger, my writing was more simplistic and more "modern," but that's just because I didn't know any better. I write the way I do these days because I grew up and evolved.

It bugs me, because she also said I could wind up being a good, even great, writer if I could change my ways. But I'm not sure I want to change.

[Anonymous No.10156188]

>>10156011

I never written a novel before. Was going to try. Depression kind of getting in the way of really starting anything. I don't know what I want to do with my life. Everyone thinks im a loser.

[Anonymous No.10157046]

I can write, I know that. I think I've reliably got the hang of recognising when I'm writing something good so I can improve on it too. I'm about 40k words into this first draft; it's nearly all planned out to the end and I'm seemingly writing faster as time goes on.
No idea how long the edits and redrafts will take though.

[Anonymous No.10157076]

>>10156172
Dude I totally agree, I love reading old english authors, but the syntax is fucked, everything is too rigid and formal. just dial it back like halfway. structure your writing in a similar way, but make an effort to be a smoother read

[Anonymous No.10157077]

>>10156011
Having a novel published in a limited edition(2k books) in my native language.

[Anonymous No.10157105]

>>10156172

Try Bernard Cornwell.

He writes historical adventure fiction in an old-timey fashion that millenials can still understand.

[Anonymous No.10157121]

8000 words in the last week. Can't say any of them were particularly good, though

[Anonymous No.10157230]

>>10156011
On my 3rd draft of a 100k-word story. Sick to my teeth of revising the same sections over and over but I am told that I should feel that way.
Have to find a publisher though, and I have no fucking clue how to go about that. I looked into self-publishing a while back, but I'm fairly sure it ain't for me.

[Anonymous No.10157687]

>>10157121
Better to finish the story then go back and fix it. I always felt like the first goal should be finishing the story.

[Anonymous No.10157711]

>mfw just waiting to die and my gibberish novel will get picked up in 100 years and celebrated as a literary genius

[Anonymous No.10157717]

>>10157687
Unreservedly this. It is much easier to go back and retroactively fix a story once you have it complete.

[Anonymous No.10157723]

Terribly

I'm a white working class male

My actual workshop job is going ok though

[Anonymous No.10157751]

I am a post doc researcher and write a lot of papers, so that's going well, but of course I don't consider it the same as being a writer. It gives me an outlet but I find the format and culture a bit creatively stifling at times. Especially since I often have a supervisor tacking his name on my paper. I do all the work and write it up, but someone gets to say, "I don't like this" or make vague edits/suggestions that take me a lot of work to revise, and they get credit. Then come the reviewers. I welcome the science being reviewed and criticized, but sometimes they don't like your language, prefer run-of-the-mill words over more literary ones, complain that your discussion goes beyond the scope of the paper, etc.

It's been bothering me over the last couple years. I have very little free time, but one day I would like to start working on a fictional novel. I think this would give me the creative outlet I need.

[Anonymous No.10157775]

Didn't even receive a reply from any of the contests I entered

[Anonymous No.10157806]

>>10157723
transition and you might sell like hot cakes... imagine, a working-class T. woman with her own workshop... but, at night, they turn the workshop into a slam poetry extravaganza

[Anonymous No.10157818]

>>10156011
I always imagined it would happen but I'm 24 and have never written anything in my life.

[Anonymous No.10157849]

>>10157723
>my identity is why I can't get published and not my shitty derivative work
k

[Anonymous No.10157854]

>>10156020
So maybe stop posting retarded shit and ruining this board?

[Anonymous No.10157858]

>>10156172
>older = better
It doesn't. You probably just write purple as fuck anyway.

[Anonymous No.10157867]

>>10157751
>prefer run-of-the-mill words over more literary ones
It's almost like they want things to be understandable

[Anonymous No.10157885]

>>10156011
I just finished over 14,000 words in my play (Act II, Scene IV right now). All of them are in iambic pentameter. I'm doing well.

Over the last 4 weeks, I've gone to 4 different poetry nights at 4 different places. You can say what ever you want of my poetry, but I hope one could never said I was not a hard working poet.

[Anonymous No.10157892]

>>10157867
I admittedly like jargon but I know enough to stay away from getting to heavy in that, on account of general readership. However, sometimes less common words are simply better.

I don't know why people think having to look up a work is such a bad thing. If we don't use more obscure words, they effectively go extinct.

[Anonymous No.10157894]

>>10156011
I always get a (sometimes) good idea for a novel, then start writing around ~500 words into, conclude it's too boring and stop.

[Anonymous No.10157904]

>>10157892
>I don't know why people think having to look up a work is such a bad thing. If we don't use more obscure words, they effectively go extinct.
Because it's an academic paper, not a novel.

[Anonymous No.10157924]

Been trying for a year to get a literary agent to pick up my novel, but no dice. It kind of blows that only one in ten will even dignify you with a response after months of waiting and just copypasted boilerplate at that.

[Anonymous No.10157936]

>>10156172
You do you anon. Go with a style you excel at and actually enjoy writing. You'll produce better work.

[Anonymous No.10157957]

These nanowrimo tier Young Adult 'writer' people really bother me. They're like gardeners all competing to make the most perfect section of hedge, which is all very well but when you're done all you've done is make a hedge. They're all technically different, the plants have different branches, different leaves but they're all just hedges. All grown using the same rules to prune and feed them. None of them take chances, they never try other methods or aim for something other than a hedge, no experiments, no creativity, no personality.
Endless miles of tidy privet hedges.
Not one looks further than the end of their nose and takes it as a personal affront should anyone suggest there's anything out there beyond it, that perhaps gardening isn't just about making hedges using the same plant formula.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_2lGkEU4Xs

[Anonymous No.10157967]

>>10156172
Post your prose

[Anonymous No.10157972]

>>10156011
got my thousand words in today. was a littl vignette that im not sure if it will make the final cut.

waiting to hear back from a few journals for short story submissions. i dont hold out much hope but you never know.

also thinking about starting a blog to kill off my need for instant publishing gratification. not too keen on whoring myself on twitter to get readers, though

[Anonymous No.10157973]

>>10157904
Academic papers are above communicating (usually novel) ideas as precisely as possible. A focus on run of the words is a barrier to that.

[Anonymous No.10157974]

>>10157885
>but I hope one could never said I was not a hard working poet
When it comes to your grammar, you're obviously a hardly working poet

[Gaskun !!LKQ0Koj4uFz No.10157975]

It’s coming along. Just started a new novel. I’ve been a little rusty because I took some time off so I’m trying a little fan fiction for the first time to get limbered up.

[Anonymous No.10157976]

>>10156011
I'm trying to apply to philosophy grad school but I'm only convincing up close and in person. All the professors say I write really well and understand the material (one even bought me a beer), but I'm completely fucked when they ask me about my interests or what they ought to say about me in letters of rec. Same goes for picking out places to apply, they've all got these dumb webpages about "excellence" and other "a tour de force/ an instant classic" tier non-descriptions. I don't get how to understand schools without going through their faculty and reading one or two books by each professor (which I don't have the time to do). I've just been ensuring any time I'd normally waste moping goes into my fiction novel, since that just requires opening up word and getting down to business.

[Anonymous No.10157981]

>>10157957
These literary fiction 'writer' people really bother me. They're like gardeners all competing to make the most perfect section of hedge, which is all very well but when you're done all you've done is make a hedge. They're all technically different, the plants have different branches, different leaves but they're all just hedges. All grown using the same rules to prune and feed them. None of them take chances, they never try other methods or aim for something other than a hedge, no experiments, no creativity, no personality.
Endless miles of tidy privet hedges.
Not one looks further than the end of their nose and takes it as a personal affront should anyone suggest there's anything out there beyond it, that perhaps gardening isn't just about making hedges using the same plant formula.
https://www.youtube.com/autism

[Anonymous No.10157985]

>>10157981
You don't belong on this board, friendo.

[Anonymous No.10158010]

>>10157974
meh. This is a 4chan post. It's not like I'm focusing on making elegant and correct sentences.

[Anonymous No.10158012]

Any sane white non-faggot on this board aspiring to have a "career" in writing is delusional. There is literally no money there for you.

[Anonymous No.10158018]

>>10157975
You still working at that truck depot gaskun?

[Anonymous No.10158035]

I had a chance to get published recently but missed out because I failed to meet the deadline. How badly did I screw up?

[Anonymous No.10158053]

>>10158035
If you work is publishable, as it seemed to be, you can just let it get published by another publisher

[Anonymous No.10158057]

>>10158035
you screwed up so badly you missed the chance to get published recently

[Gaskun !!LKQ0Koj4uFz No.10158086]

>>10158018
Negative. I’m a manager at an organization that treats kids with autism. I should have them yelling about “David Foster Wallace being a spook” by the end of the week.

[Anonymous No.10158096]

>>10158086
>I should have them yelling about “David Foster Wallace being a spook” by the end of the week.
>Gaskun using memes trying to be hip

[Gaskun !!LKQ0Koj4uFz No.10158136]

>>10158096
Nah, just shitposting.

[Anonymous No.10158202]

>>10157975
I thought you were dead? Please rectify this.

[Anonymous No.10158225]

I’m 2 chapters in but college is taking up my time

[Anonymous No.10158235]

>>10157775
Lol, me too, but they take like half a year. I'll have sent about 10 before the end of the year, which is less than the 12 that I aimed for, but still ok.

[Anonymous No.10158238]

>>10157974
Don't judge writing quality based on 4chan posts, a lot of us only use English to post here.

[Anonymous No.10158345]

>>10157904
Yes but I can use an obscure word that precisely expresses an idea or character versus using a sentence to do so.

[Anonymous No.10158363]

Always when I write it turns to shit; I write everything too detailed, making sentences very boring, or I write everything leaving out details, which makes everything too fast-paced. This demotivates me, thus I've so far never written something longer than 1,000 words. Is practice the only way to let me write better?

[Gaskun !!LKQ0Koj4uFz No.10158376]

>>10158202
In fact, not dead.

[Anonymous No.10158386]

>>10156011
Not great since my marriage is at a bit of a low point. Really not feeling the stigmatism of sorrow creating better art. Just don't feel motivated at all.

[Anonymous No.10159864]

Can make about $100-$300 off my porn a week if I'd work at it harder. Getting ready to rewrite my first novel staring my fursona.

[Anonymous No.10160039]

>the rejection letters just keep coming

[Anonymous No.10160083]

>>10158363
You're probably like me. Here's my suggestion: write way too much so that if you write 1000 pages, you'll have a real solid fifty pages to go from. Just keep going. You might also be trying too hard to do something specific. Start with a few characters and analyze the crap out of them. Develop sentences outside your story with the only intention of getting better at prose writing. Read poetry and your favorite prose stylists for this.

[Anonymous No.10160087]

>>10158376
Please fix

[Anonymous No.10160179]

>>10159864
How do I into perversion for profit? I'm a sick fuck, I'd be willing to have a go at porn.

[Anonymous No.10160190]

>>10157975
Have you broke into 4 figures profit on your self published stuff?

[Anonymous No.10160201]

I got published over the summer. Sent a few other stories out there that are ok, but didn't get picked up. Decided to shelf them, probably could get them published if i kept spamming them out there, but it wouldn't really mean anything if they did get picked up. Just be another mediocre space saver in some journal nobody will really care about. Sent another decent one out to a ss contest, and have 2 really good ones laying around I should edit but haven't.

Working on this sort of insane idea for a short novel I want to self publish, just to see what happens basically.

Other than that...I got like 3 novels sitting around I still want to send out to publishers, but I wanted to build up more creds before I do that.

Just recovered from surgery too, and I'm trying to get back into the habit of writing.

[Anonymous No.10160209]

Got something I wrote published after a friend submitted it for me.

[Anonymous No.10160211]

>>10160209
why did you have your friend submit it...?

[Anonymous No.10160565]

>>10160211
He submitted it himself as a joke.

[Anonymous No.10160753]

>>10156011
A professor friend of mine proposed me to publish one or two of my short stories in one collection he is preparing for publish

So, I made my best effort and procrastinate the past few months and haven't written a single word. How do you cope with this anons? Do you have a efficient method of suicide?

[Anonymous No.10160819]

>>10156078
Just self publish

[Anonymous No.10160988]

>>10160819
Different anon but Isn't self publishing expensive af? At least outside of the US I'm pretty sure it is.
I'm only just barely starting writing my novel but every now and then I think about what I'll do once I get it done. I'll have to look for a publisher that will believe a thousand percent on my work and not screw me over like my sister was.
At the time she was a teen and besides the publisher wanting most of the profit made, they practically didn't promote her book at all. Now she's grown into a comic book hater with about 75 prints in her possesion that she can't get around to selling because she feels she failed miserably. That's her shame and she carries it around.

[Anonymous No.10161017]

I want to start writing fantasy books as a hobby. Atleast shitty ones that people would be willing to read for free.
Obviously, my first steps should be reading Tolkien's LOTR/Hobbit, learning how to make an OK fantasy map in Gimp
Any other steps that I must take? Maybe start writing shitty fiction on some site? I feel like I could write something 10 times better than those fucking chinese [x pages per hour] novelists.

[Anonymous No.10161022]

>>10160988
Self-publishing doesn't cost anything. What your sister did was get scammed by a vanity publisher. That's not the same.
https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/writers/advice/255/self-publishing/considering-self-publishing/self-publishing-vs-vanity-publishing-confused

[Anonymous No.10161099]

>>10156172
Archaic prose sounds pretentious, she is right.

[Anonymous No.10161193]

entering a monetary essay completion tomorrow. ez money
This is the first step of my master plan

[Anonymous No.10161206]

>>10156172
It's the same with me. My love of Conrad and Melville is simply too strong, I've even been accused of putting on airs or plagiarising on this board. Blaze your path but don't expect contempory urbanites to get excited.

[Anonymous No.10161335]

>>10160819
>self publish
>>>r/writing

[Anonymous No.10161613]

>>10157230
>On my 3rd draft of a 100k-word story. Sick to my teeth of revising the same sections over and over but I am told that I should feel that way.
Oh shit, nigga, you're totally me. Although I have 2k more words and trying to get it down to 100k. And I am at the last 14k.

As for publishing, manuscriptwishlist and querytracker are the best accessible portals I found to look for agents. Specially on the former, the majority probably isn't looking for what you got but there has to be one or two agents that fit. Besides, it's nice to overlook the general requirements.

>>10157894
That's like two pages ... why don't you start with a fucking outline first?

>>10157892
It's all about the frequency, even if you're writing a book for kids, a few complex and rare words can be pretty inspiring for the readers, especially if you made easy to deduce the meaning with context. If you're filling your entire prose with obscure shit, it's given that most readers will be annoyed since you're basically writing meaningless babble that could as well be in a foreign language.

>>10157973
To an audience comfortable with the jargon.

>>10158012
John Green isn't officially a faggot, is he?

[Anonymous No.10161625]

>>10161613
>That's like two pages ... why don't you start with a fucking outline first?
I have the story outlined in big parts, will make the outlines more detailed.

[Anonymous No.10161643]

>>10161625
That should help for sure. Did you start writing from the start? If yes perhaps switch to "easier" scenes in the middle/end, or even random mostly meaningless dialogue scenes. The more stuff you have, almost any kind of stuff, the easier it is to add more and more once it flows, and later you can trim and get rid of the bloat.

[Anonymous No.10161678]

>>10161625
start with the big parts then make the outlines gradually more and more detailed. voila, a story. now all you need to do is go through it making the notes into real sentences.

[Anonymous No.10161734]

>>10160179
Build a fan base on Fur Affinity and take cracks at commission, I do 2 cents a word. You better be good, could use a fire under my ass.

[Anonymous No.10162045]

>>10161613
Academic papers aren't for the uneducated masses. The understanding of specialist so the field can develop supercedes the understanding of the uneducated

[Anonymous No.10162136]

>>10162045
That was my point. They can use much more obscure jargon than any writer could get away with, because they are targeting a very specific group. Even first year pharmacological research makes Finnegans Wake look like a simplistic book for kindergarteners. Just what point is there in writing for a POTENTIAL readership of few thousands if one has any ambitions to become somewhat relevant?

[Anonymous No.10162262]

>>10161022
>Self-publishing doesn't cost anything
it has to cost something. A publisher simply won't let you publish your work as you like and then charge nothing for it.

[Anonymous No.10162302]

>>10157818
27 here. Didn’t get published until 26.

When you get down about your age, remember authors like DeLillo or Saunders or dare I say Murakami, who didn’t begin writing until their late twenties or early thirties.

Without question Life gets in the way, but don’t give up.

[Anonymous No.10162303]

Suffered for a couple years, poured my heart out into a narrative, got an agent, and subsequently got scammed.

>shit left me mortified

So now I spend my time drinking and psychologically torturing people, gaslighting my exes--even drove one into checking herself in a funny house. May write a story just about that, make it autobiographical.

>A pathetic, alcoholic writer angry at the world decides himself to be a cancer and takes joy in corrupting everything---perfect chevy chase esque comedy

[Anonymous No.10162314]

>>10162303
Horrendous plot, abandon immediately.

[Anonymous No.10162348]

>>10162303
jesus christ you're an awful person, i hope you're miserable

[Anonymous No.10162412]

>>10162303

Seems like you've been watching too much rick and morty, faggot

> Suffered for a couple years, poured my heart out into a narrative, got an agent, and subsequently got scammed.

quit ur bitchin

[Anonymous No.10162502]

>>10162262
>a publisher
>self publishing

[Anonymous No.10162517]

>>10162502
that's what I got from the article. What is it actually?

[Anonymous No.10162542]

>>10162303
Can't tell if satire or... but I got an agent too, however I was smart enough to know she wasn't full of shit and I bet your work isn't even worth a pubic hair in a public urinal, doused in chlamydia contaminated urine. You don't get anywhere in life as a horrible human being, in fact that makes you an even worse writer despite the common narrative. Everyone suffers, everyone gets fucked over, and nihilism isn't edgy. Went through that phase in college and it only got me thrown the fuck out. Sort yourself out bucko!

[Anonymous No.10162558]

>>10162262
Self-publishing today means making your book available on an amazon-like service and/or print-on-demand like lulu. It costs the writer nothing, the service just takes a cut from every sale.
If a 'publisher' says they want to publish your book but you'll have to pay some of the printing fees, it's a scam.

[Anonymous No.10162564]

>>10162558
well shit out of luck for me. I don't think there's such a system in Poortugal and I'm not writting in english

[Anonymous No.10162579]

>>10162564
Why would you be out of luck? Even if you were right, Portugal would still have a system for publishing like every other country did before the Internet.
Anyway;
https://www.portugalist.com/amazon-portugal-shipping/
http://www.publishersglobal.com/directory/portugal/publishers-in-portugal/
I got this with a brief search in English, if you actually speak Portuguese you can probably find even more useful information.

[Anonymous No.10162585]

>>10162579
well I'll be damned

[Anonymous No.10162615]

>>10156011
I'm writing 10 books actually. I plan to finish them around the same time.
I'm going to be declared the biggest writer of the decade. Not kidding.

[Anonymous No.10162618]

>>10162579
>>10162585
Now the REAL question is why the fuck would you ever self-publish?

[Anonymous No.10162636]

>>10162615
Gaskun beat you to it. That's nothing special.

>>10162618
That's why I dropped a link to actual publishers too.

[Anonymous No.10162658]

>>10162636
WHATs with his Gaskun meme

[Anonymous No.10162668]

>>10162658
He's an absolutely garbage writer who should really commit suicide

[Anonymous No.10162676]

>>10162668
He’s a writer? Sounds like the mispronunciation of a mediocre russian poet.

[Anonymous No.10162690]

>>10162676
He's not actually a writer. He just has the audacity to call himself one after putting down millions of words onto paper that added up to nothing more than complete drek not fit for consumption of any human being. On top of this he decided to actually self-publish (no doubt owing to the fact that he knew he would never meet a real publisher that wouldn't laugh directly in his face) and has the gall to charge people for his slop.

[Anonymous No.10162830]

>>10162303
I dont know whats with all the moralism in this thread, but I would definitely read something like that.

[Gaskun !!LKQ0Koj4uFz No.10162957]

>>10162690
I could add a vampire if it would make you happy.

[Anonymous No.10163179]

>>10156011
How does one even go about starting a career? Simply sending their writings to a publisher?

>>10157972
>also thinking about starting a blog

Me too, anon. Would you just post your writings on there or something else? I can't come up with a good idea on what my blog should be about. I was thinking reviews of books or other media I enjoy, but I feel I'm not particularly good at writing reviews.

[Anonymous No.10163288]

>>10162618

Because tons of people lie about making $100 every year doing it!

[Anonymous No.10163338]

>>10156188
well just fucking stop then

[Anonymous No.10163343]

>>10156066
well get fucking better then

[Anonymous No.10163355]

>>10156172
feels weird when you put in the time to perfect a certain style but it isn't what people are looking for. and it doesn't that you can argue it's merits, since almost all styles have them, the style you've chosen isn't kosher, not for now.

[Anonymous No.10163363]

>>10157711
prolly get more respect ig your'e more prolific. makes people think you were onto something

[Anonymous No.10163399]

>>10162957
Or you could kill yourself. Or at least fuck off to r/writing where you sci-fi garbage belongs.

[Anonymous No.10163403]

Unironically, does anyone have good methods for building discipline? I've got short writing jobs, but I'm so fucking bad at getting myself to put words on a page.

[Anonymous No.10163405]

>>10163403
Stop being a child and grow up

[Anonymous No.10163407]

>>10163405
That's a goal, not a method.

[Anonymous No.10163492]

>>10156011
I feel like I've been on a long hiatus in which I've atrophied because I was working on screenplays with a friend and writing freelance smut and not concentrating on my actual writing, but I'm on the upward climb again.

[Gaskun !!LKQ0Koj4uFz No.10163522]

>>10163403
You have to make time to write. In the Same manner you’d block off time to go see a movie, Start off by planning 30 mins. In which you’ll minimize distractions, put the phone aside and sit at a table or secluded space with paper or laptop. If you enjoy it, you’ll find that the 30 mins is over too soon and that the time amount needs to be extended. The more time you spend, the more you’ll want to commit more time to it. Eventually you’ll see everything BUT the writing as a distraction and you’ll be counting the minutes until you’re writing again. It worked for me. Good luck!

[Anonymous No.10164564]

So hypothetically, someone does decides to go through the self-publishing route. Your book can be purchased on Amazon and other sites.
The real question is, how do you promote it? How do you reach your target audience?

[Anonymous No.10164966]

>>10164564
With difficulty.

[Anonymous No.10165053]

this morning i've spent two hours drinking coffee and writing. got about two sentences written...

[Anonymous No.10165062]

>>10165053
Hemingway said he often only got about 300 a day because he would spend a lot of his time getting a sentence just right.

[Anonymous No.10165091]

>>10163522
Li Ho used take lengthy horse rides and whenever he felt inspired he would stop and jot down a poem that he would later complete and revise

[Anonymous No.10165108]

>>10156066
That's why writers need to read a lot, so that you can realize that some of your ideas are nothing new and then learn how to write something original

[Anonymous No.10165113]

>>10156172
Try writing styles that are outside your habits. You may learn something

[Anonymous No.10165126]

>>10165108
I can come up with original ideas, but they are shit. The good ideas are always unoriginal; they are always very similair to Orwell's works

[Anonymous No.10165195]

>>10156172
>she

[Anonymous No.10165201]

>>10156011
Pretty good. Being considered for a job at a major game company.

[Anonymous No.10165216]

>>10156011
Any other aspiring writers fall into this trap?
>finally have some free time off from work
>sit down to write
>decide no ones going to like your book
>dont write
>never finish
I like the idea of being an author, but it seems like I'm my own worst enemy regarding making that happen.

[Anonymous No.10165227]

>>10165216
>sit down to write
>worry people might not like it
>decide to write it better so they have to
>write

[Anonymous No.10165246]

>>10165216
>letting other people be an influence on whether you write or not

[Anonymous No.10165392]

>>10165216
>I like the idea of being an author
Then you're not even an aspiring writer but just some guy who loves to fantasise.

[Anonymous No.10165425]

>>10156011
> writing
> career
/lit/ really is the dumbest board.

[Anonymous No.10165547]

/lit/ scared me from writing pulp crap, I really just want to write pulp crap because I like it.

[Anonymous No.10165551]

>>10165547
Then that isn't /lit/ now is it?

[Anonymous No.10165563]

>>10165551
Well I read lit so I come here just not interested in writing it

[Anonymous No.10165800]

>>10165547
if you care about the opinion of /lit/ you've already lost

[Anonymous No.10165806]

>>10165547
Why would you listen to 4chan, its probably the biggest collection of losers on earth, of what you want.

[Anonymous No.10165916]

>>10165246
Honestly, this. I've never really cared what nameless others will think of my work. I write for myself or, when I'm getting paid, for an audience of one.

[Anonymous No.10165931]

>>10165806

True, as much as I like this site, it is ultimately a collection of the biggest losers on the planet, who really have no fucking clue of what they're talking about. Probably the worst place to go, literally the worst, for advice.

[Anonymous No.10166109]

>>10156011
I am twenty six and I’ve only had one short story published. Should I give up? I feel like I’m getting too old for this and need to get serious about focusing on my career, meeting someone, having a family. Thoughts?

[Anonymous No.10166143]

>>10166109
You're spooked as fuck my friend

[Anonymous No.10166177]

>>10166143
Elaborate.

[Anonymous No.10166938]

>>10166109
Literature is not about being published. Write id you like It. Besides, it is not too much time consuming an as long as you can afford pencils and paper you're fine

[Anonymous No.10167028]

>>10164966
could you like explain the steps

[Anonymous No.10167038]

>>10166938
>Literature is not about being published

It kind of is....by definition.

[Anonymous No.10167043]

>>10166109
You still have eight to ten years before you’re “old.” Fuck off and get writing.

[Anonymous No.10167049]

>>10165108
This is retarded as fuck, literally no successful writer discounts an idea just because it's unoriginal, unless it's a superficial concept like a boy going to wizard school.

Screenplays often have plot similarities with other written forms of art, but are unique in the way they display a philosophy or statement.

[Anonymous No.10167358]

>>10167038
If a tree falls in a forest but nobody is there, does it make any sound? Think about honing your craft and producing good art, popularity is secondary

[Anonymous No.10167644]

>>10156011
You know George Saunders who just won the Man Booker Prize? He didn’t publish his first story until he was 28. The literary journal he was published in doesn’t even exist anymore. He didn’t publish his first book until he was 37, and that was after he abandoned three projects. He didn’t get famous from that first book either. He only started getting well known in 2013 after he published Tenth of December, and then he published Lincoln in the Bardo and now he’s famous and arguably the best contemporary writer in America. He won the most prestigious literary award for novel writing in the world, on his debut novel. So it took from 1986-2013 to really see success. Imagine how many family events, christmases, class reunions, things he went to where people asked him how is writing career was going and he had basically nothing to show for it.

You just gotta keep at it. Humble yourself, work on improving your writing in a technical sense, read a lot of great books so you can see how others did it, and live your life. Don’t let short-sighted people get you down.

[Anonymous No.10167656]

>Think about honing your craft and producing good art

Then point to this, is to get published and become popular.

It's kind of a moot argument anyway, as 99.9% of people on this board are neither honing their craft, nor getting published.

[Anonymous No.10167679]

>>10167656
Many artists are simply driven to create art because it is in them demanding to be released. These people do it because they need to fulfil their compulsion/vocation and they achieve a sense of catharsis. Popularity and a living wage is a very nice secondary byproduct to creating their art.

[Anonymous No.10167703]

>>10167679

I am prepared to believe that complete failures of artists tell themselves this, yes.

[Anonymous No.10167710]

>>10167703
Perhaps you should read more, and look beyond the pop authors or generic "classics" recommended to high school and freshmen students.

[Anonymous No.10167734]

why does my edginess seep through when i write? i feel like a child.

[Anonymous No.10167762]

>>10156011
I wrote 2 pages in the last 5 days, 1 page in each 3 hr session, and this is, hilariously enough, probably the fastest I've ever written.

[Anonymous No.10167799]

>>10158238
Fuck off back to monkeyland then, you pleb.

[Anonymous No.10167811]

>>10166109
Come on, man. 26 is obviously young.

[Anonymous No.10167822]

>>10167762
2 pages means nothing. How many words?

[Anonymous No.10167837]

>>10156172
You do you dude
Nude attitude
Get real rude dude
Take a quallude
Cook some lewd food

But most of all
Just do you dude

Be archaic and pretentious
just make sure you find a willing audience

[Anonymous No.10167863]

Full length novel finished. Editing 4th draft now, 4-5 more months and it will be golden.

No idea how to get published though. Going to try and pickup an agent. If they can't help me get it into a medium or big sized house I'll try self publishing or go small/indie house. I know it's good work and a solid 1st book.

[Anonymous No.10167868]

>>10167734
Make the edge novel and/or built around a justifiable gimmick and you'll be fine. Plow ahead. Hell make it more edgy. Obviously this has to be balanced with actually having talent though.

[Anonymous No.10167872]

>>10165091
I don't know who this Ching Chong is so I guess I don't really care. Don't ever reply to me again.

[Anonymous No.10167900]

>>10167822
Fuck you, I'm not going to tell you, asshole.

[Anonymous No.10167905]

>>10167900
I bet you use size 18 font to fill up more spaces you plebeian

[Anonymous No.10167917]

>>10167905
Size 24 Arial with 4" margins on all sides, double spaced lines, and I hit the space bar twice after each period.

[Anonymous No.10167939]

>>10167917
Laurie Anderson pls

[Anonymous No.10168201]

>>10156011
I'll stick to reading books on my to-read list. It will take atleast 10 years before I'd consider trying "new" literature by some nobody.

[Anonymous No.10168277]

>>10167822
Ignore the mongrel on his first day on 4chan who replied to you.
Its 403 words exactly. Its the antagonist monologue were he explains much of his ideology, so im trying to be extra carefull

[Anonymous No.10168764]

>>10167703
The point I was trying to make is that the number of copies sold is not a good indicator of a book's merit

[Anonymous No.10168778]

>>10156011
Can't really call it a career but I have a good feeling atm. I'm nearly exclusivly writing short (as in most around 1k words) stories, but have got pretty good reception overall. Been to a few readings already, first time I got some cash for it was probably the best day of my life, and will keep doing that. My main focus is continuing with both of that, sharpening my writing and reading skills. I also have a idea for a longer story, maybe something like a short novel, with which I started a bit of experimenting. Oh, and my studies of "german literature" and "german linguistic" (german being my mother and main writing tongue) just started. So overall, yeah, ain't exploding but I'm on a good way.

[Anonymous No.10168789]

>>10167049
Yeah. Original doesn't mean something entirely new and never seen before. Granted. But remix culture is just so boring. Like, oh look it's the tale of snow white but in modern days. One of the dwarves is homosexual, so we get big ups for political correctedness

[Anonymous No.10168793]

>>10167872
Then go back to writing shitty lazy town fanfics. Oh look i write so many words a day i'm so smart bluh bluh

[Anonymous No.10169726]

>>10168789
this is such a weird tangent how is it relevant to the post you replied to?

[Anonymous No.10169736]

Daily reminder that it's a rigged game.

[Anonymous No.10169786]

>>10169736
fuck off with your conspiracy theories /pol/cuck

[Anonymous No.10169842]

>>10168764
Never said it was.

My point is the entire point of writing, is that you want somebody else to read it. Preferably a lot of people, and they pay you money.

[Anonymous No.10170351]

>>10157717
How do you fix a story if you don't even know what you're going for, though?

[Anonymous No.10170393]

>>10167644
This is actually really heartening, as somebody who only started to see any success as a writer when they turned 27. Thanks for the info, Anon.

[Anonymous No.10170461]

>>10169842
Agree with the want of being listened to and understood. That's the core motivation for a writer. You want money for other reasons and anyway writing isn't a good way to spend your time if what you seek is wealth

[Anonymous No.10170512]

>>10157957
Gee, you said it.

[Anonymous No.10170528]

update:

Just reread a certain great author who was infinitely more talented than even my most hyperbolic memories cared to tell me.

I really understand Bloom's idea of the anxiety of influence. What more needs to be said?

[Anonymous No.10171675]

>>10170528
>le emily jean is so le based and le cute xD
Kill yourself.

[Anonymous No.10172082]

My advice, forget career writing. Things will become obsolete, that's in of them. Along with lots of stores and restauarants.

[Anonymous No.10172979]

>>10171675
I chose that pic because it expresses frustration better than I could've with words alone

[Anonymous No.10172997]

>>10172082
Restaurants aren't going anywhere, and stores are simply change shape; instead of wasting your time going to a building, you can get the shit delivered right to you, it's a logical next step. Stories will never become obsolete, and books are still one of the few mediums that fit to tell one, with automation and more free time, they will only get more desirable. The only change comes with more people writing but as long you're good, it won't matter either way.

[Anonymous No.10173006]

>>10172082
Consciousness-led creativity will be the last career to become obsolete.

[Anonymous No.10173069]

>the play is a game-changer but i'll have to actually quit drinking and stop lying to my friends to write it
>the two or three movies are both instant classics, the other three ideas are worthwhile high-concept bullshit but could work with proper time
>just want to finish this fucking concept album but have to wait for the music to come, about halfway there but don't believe that the other father of the project is invested at all specifically because his alcoholism is worse than mine
NOT GREAT, BOB

[Anonymous No.10173071]

The more time I spend on this board the more I think there's some potential for me to get something published regardless of my lack of creativity and lack of any written works.

[Anonymous No.10173120]

>>10168789
you might have ADD, mate

[Anonymous No.10174168]

>>10156011
I'm scrapping my latest project and I'm going through a bout of depression because of it.
I'm just not interested. I don't know how to come up with a plot that interests me enough to write about.

[Anonymous No.10174433]

>>10158225
I like the picture, but is it all that accurate?

[Anonymous No.10174448]

>>10166143
The biggest spook is the idea of a spook
Get your life together or get off your life, nerd

[Anonymous No.10174602]

https://www.amazon.com/author/maxwannow

[Anonymous No.10174720]

>>10174602
I'm not sure what's worse; being that guy or choosing that picture to represent you if it isn't.

[Anonymous No.10174759]

>>10166109
>26 is old

fuck you

[Anonymous No.10174904]

>>10174720
Yes it's me. What am I doing wrong??

[Anonymous No.10174923]

Im working in my very first book at the moment
>tfw one day feel really excited about it
>the next feel really dejected
>think some ideas are good 1 day and shit the next
Is it always this much of an emotional roller-coaster?

[+ Alex + No.10174934]

Once upon a time I have made no money in this career yet.

[Anonymous No.10174951]

>>10174923
It feels great once you finish it. But it feels terrible when nobody buys it.
For writing, I recommend creating a routine

[Anonymous No.10174965]

>>10174951
Nobody reading it is a big fear, it is really cliche to say but if even one person buys and enjoys it ill be filled with happiness
Probably gonna have to shill it on reddit or something to help that happen

[Anonymous No.10175098]

Blog, surreal stuff from my life, random thoughts.

[Anonymous No.10176165]

>In the military
>Work 10-12 hour day so no time to write during the week
>Depressed
>No motivation to write in my free time
>Even if I do write it's My Little Pony fanfiction

I want to die.

[Anonymous No.10176232]

>>10174923
I'm in the middle of writing my first book and I experience that exactly, yea. We just have to keep going, get the words down.

[Anonymous No.10176778]

>>10157957
Terrible analogy anon, many people experiment to make the perfect hedge, and they all have different rules to follow. Maybe if you focused on your own writing instead of short stories to give kids morals you would have published by now.

[Anonymous No.10176793]

>>10176778
>missing the point this hard
Why can't YA writers read?

[Anonymous No.10176798]

>>10156011
Terrible, as I can't write short stories to save my life

[Anonymous No.10177017]

>>10174923
6 year after writing and "finishing" 2.5 books... yeah, pretty much, but knowing that helps you not to get affected too strongly and focus on actually writing and improving.

[Anonymous No.10177725]

>>10176793
>Trying so hard to turn this back on me
>Implying I was missing the point when you can't even clearly illustrate it
>"y-you're a YA writer!"
This is why you'll never be published anon, you can't accept any crit.

[Anonymous No.10177790]

I had a oddly vivid dream and jotted down the general plot of it. I think I could turn this into a short story, what do you boys think?
https://pastebin.com/YVw0wFL5

[Anonymous No.10177853]

>>10177790
Describing autism in a politically correct manner while also holding a purpose for the disorder will be your challenge

[Anonymous No.10177872]

>>10177853
The first-person narrator isn't autistic, that's a side character that happens to trigger the manhunt for the kids. I guess if I ever do turn this into a story that should be more obvious
Mind you, I still have no idea of what this place is, why they have trained search dogs for the students, if the kids even are students, or why there's an admin building.

[Anonymous No.10177933]

>>10177872
That's all shit you can use as some sort of metaphor for the real world, you just need to figure out how to make those connections. The story doesn't have to be precisely historically accurate to your dream

[Anonymous No.10177940]

>>10156011
i made the decision to try my hand at writing around three years ago. i wrote a very brief outline for a story and have written nothing since.

i think i'm just going to laze about until my parents decide that enough is enough, and then i'm going to drive my car off a cliff.

[Anonymous No.10177945]

Pretty good, I just wrote my memoirs after suckimg off 3 different CEOs of publishing companies

[Anonymous No.10178647]

>>10177933
I'm going to write it as-is as a short story and from there figure out where the biggest gaps are and how to fill them.
Worst case scenario it's an OK intro for an OK creepy story or something.

[Anonymous No.10179296]

>>10156011
Good I'd say. I just sent the first half of my first novel to an intern in a publishing house. She is my gateway to the upper level, since she already got me an interview with two editors working there.

The three of them have read it some months ago, praised it, but told me to revise the shit out of it if I wanted it to be published next year.

So I rewrote the first hundred pages and send it back to the intern. I'll go ahead with the rest of rewrite whatever she says, but since we know each other now, we are kinda working together. Also, she gave me solid advices last time.

I'm pissing myself right now. The publishing dream is close to become reality, or maybe I am delusional, I don't know.

[Anonymous No.10179315]

I'm at the end. Holy shit, it's so hard to end a novel.

I need a reader to bounce ideas off of, specifically one who is a trans woman

[Anonymous No.10179354]

>>10179315
Are you hesitating between different endings or don't know how to wrap the whole thing up?

[Anonymous No.10179368]

>>10179354

Yeah, different endings.

[Anonymous No.10179906]

>>10179296
Take solace in the fact that you weren't rejected outright and you are being groomed. Things are looking up. You're going to make it anon, but only if you work harder.

[Anonymous No.10179964]

Self published, tried to gain traction with books butterfly. Got 5 reviews books sitting at a 4.8, but still no real pull. How in the hell do you gain an audience without a major publisher? Or is this just first book syndrome? Hell either way I'm probably going with an agent for the sequel.

[Anonymous No.10179974]

>>10179315
I know that feel. For ages I could decide between two possible endings; a bittersweet but vaguely optimistic one, or a kick the reader in the balls on the last page one.

[Anonymous No.10180173]

>have a tonne of well structured short story ideas
>have a novella planned chapter by chapter
>can't start it properly without hating the beginning
> find problems with flow or simplicity or complexity of sentences
>sucker for self editing as I go along

This year I've finished one short story and about a handful of flash fiction. Beyond that I have had a shitty year.

I need to push past this inability to start a story. Any tips to get past the little shit in my mind telling me it sucks?

[Anonymous No.10180180]

Not very well as I'm working on a diploma at the moment. I try to jot down my ideas when I can, but nothing has come to fruition yet.