/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.11234540]

how does one get away from romanticizing the image of a writer rather than being a writer itself? every time I try to write I just go back to playing vidyas

[Anonymous No.11234563]

>>11234540
Have a word count that you have to meet everyday. If you don’t write, you’re not a writer.

[Anonymous No.11234569]

>>11234540
Looking at that IJ copy I noticed something
Is it worth to take notes out of fiction? I only do it with philosophy books, should I start doing it with fiction or at least the most complex ones? (Ulysses, Gravity Rainbow, Infinite Jest, Moby Dick and so on)

[Anonymous No.11234578]

>>11234569
Only the ones important to you and you reread for the rest of your life.

[Anonymous No.11234587]

>>11234563
Is writing 1000 words/day bullshit? People keep suggesting that I write that much if I want to improve. Seems like a lot. Should i work myself up to it?

>>11234569
I never write down details from fiction. I usually just note on whatever the story springs to mind. A friend writes down almost every detail, and she swears that it helps with memory. I myself find that it breaks the flow

[Anonymous No.11234594]

>>11234540
Strip away all those external loves and foster a love of words and a love of the push you need to put your own self in words.

If you take everything away and keep only a pen and paper, do you still want to write? Would you want to sketch and experiment with a sentence? Do you like sentences?

Take away everything - go into a field or a forest or anywhere that stops you from accessing external loves and labels of "I'm a writer."

In fact, stop "being a writer" and instead start writing. The latter will prove the former, but the former will not guarantee the latter action. Start with action, and motivation will follow. It's okay to slow down and take your time, as well.

[Anonymous No.11234750]

I have an issue like this OP. My writing becomes creative when I'm high. It is not that I cannot be creative while sober, it is that I cannot seem to get myself to slow down enough to gestate a thought or idea and then figure out how it plays into the greater narrative. When I am high, I am able to just sit and think about an idea from several perspectives. I am also more able to take the perspective of a reader and fine tune it as well.

Of course, I always have this paranoia that when I am high I am more easily amused and any sort of insight or creative tuning is all merely an illusion. But whatever. Robert Lowell used to write in mania and edit while depressed. Just let the swings of life take you where they will.

I think this is similar to your scenario in that you start to ask yourself "Am I truly a writer? Or am I just forcing something because I would like to be associated with the attributes that follow?"

For your situation, I think this posturing is because you are insecure in yourself as an individual. You need to identify things in other writers that you want to take and craft your identity around so that they become you. For example, I really like extremes, whether it be stuff like surrealism or flowery prose, I know what I like about them. Other people most likely hate my collective interests (especially on 4chan and it's disdain for surrealism and absurdism, and lol so randumb, which are perceived as very common and ordinary interests nowadays), but I do not care because I know who I am, I dont just like these things because other people like them, I identified something I admire in them, mainly the skill involved in selecting and describing the imagery specific to a feeling in a very exaggerated way. Hopefully that admiration leads to something unique in my own writing, but maybe it doesn't and that's okay. I think you need an identity and to be okay living and dying as that identity, whether or not admiration and respect from others is involved. Be a cavalier.

Be brave enough to disagree with others like 4chan and stand up for your beliefs, and the faculties that led you to those beliefs. Do not be afraid to be open-minded towards other beliefs though, just be in control of yourself, not following the whisp of the crowd. Try to understand what you like, then go and find stuff that has the qualities. This is what I've observed from great artists, they are forever chasing qualities and end up creating things that are inspired due to their pursuit.

If I've interpreted you wrong then I apologize. I tried to give you advice that would suffice for your situation, or any artist person and situation.

[Anonymous No.11235100]

>>11234540
This image is annoying. I really can't stand this petty, spiteful attitude.

Anyway, to answer the question, get into the grind of what a writer does: doing as much writing as you can, getting feedback, revising, sending it to editors. Rinse, repeat, see what happens.

The people who are able to do it have a combination of talent and commitment to a system something like what I've laid out above.

[Anonymous No.11235101]

>>11234540
You don't want to write, you want to stay home and not have a real job.

[Anonymous No.11235125]

>>11234750
>4chan hates surrealism and absurdism
It unironically runs on both.

[Anonymous No.11235128]

>>11234540
>Stoner is in there. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahauahauauauauahahaahaahahaahahahaahahahahahahhahahaah

[Anonymous No.11235171]

>>11234563
the daily word count thing might be a bit awful. I get a lot of satisfaction out of my school assignments, and writing a daily diary when I feel I have the time. If you aren't in school, then maybe a daily writing exercise would be really beneficial, but I can see it just getting kind of toxic.

[Anonymous No.11235178]

>>11234587
I don’t think it’s bullshit as long as you’re not writing gibberish or writing aimlessly about nothing. I don’t personally write every day, the last time I really sat down and wrote was a couple of weeks ago and I pounded out a 4K word story in one night, and I’ve been revising that since then.

I do think it would be interesting for /lit/ to to try to discuss writing more as a routine craft and what has helped people the most. I believe Stephen King writes 2k words a day. Yes, he is middlebrow to shit-tier but his work ethic has gotten him to shit out dozens upon dozens of books (and really if he had whittled those down to his 5-10 best works and 10-20 best short stories, he would probably be a pretty respected author). We would do well to emulate him. Ideally you should have a minimum word count each day, 1k is great, then spend some time journaling as well, write down any stray thoughts or notes or ideas for plots, titles, and characters in a notebook, and outline your novels/stories as you plan them (F. Scott Fitzgerald did extensive outlining before starting his novels).

Richard Ford also did a lot of preparation for his novels, collecting and writing tons of background so that he gets to “know” the characters so well that when he finally starts writing it feels obvious how the story will play out, what will feel real and in character.

But Flaubert and Joyce both wrote extremely slowly and I consider them two of the best of all time. Flaubert would spend days obsessing over single sentences.

I wonder what is known about Tolstoy’s writing habits?

[Anonymous No.11235179]

>>11234750
good tips. I second the idea about finding something in other writers you can really relate to and want to work with, and exploring it confidently.

[Anonymous No.11235242]

>>11234569
My copy of Infinite Jest is unironically tabbed to shit almost identical to the image. Same goes for a few dozen of my other books but IJ in particular because it's a fukkin encyclopedia and it makes it really easy to pinpoint interlinked events without an obligatory re-read.

As someone else has already replied, don't bother unless you legitimately like the work and know you're going to be reading from it for a very long time. Another habit of mine for your consideration is to find a thin, quality notebook to unobtrusively slip under the back cover. Only do this for soft covers you don't mind beating up.

[Anonymous No.11235748]

>>11234540
actually writing is a start as many have pointed out.
>>11234587
What >>11235178 said. You can get up to about 5k words per hour if you do short bursts where you don't stop at all. The only issue with this is that it's trash, and absolute gibberish. Unless, that is, you are doing to further a particular skill.

also for that anon, Tolstoy apparently was a huge revision fag. He redid war and peace about 7-8 times iirc.

[Anonymous No.11235754]

>>11234540
By not being a stupid fucking faggot for starters

[Anonymous No.11237290]

>>11234540
>that pic
that nigger definitely read infinite jest, but he definitely doesnt fucking smoke or write