/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.1125529]

/lit/ i have a problem
for being a writer you need to read a lot, i already read a lot but i cant write beyond 4 pages, i cant organize my ideas on paper

some times i have no ideas at all, should i finish the one i have first?

[STLFag !IeX.oK0HUk No.1125534]

>I can't write beyond 4 pages
Elaborate. You mean that when you have ideas to write about, you cannot draw it out to what you feel is a suitable length?

[Anonymous No.1125536]

>>1125534
hmm yes

[STLFag !IeX.oK0HUk No.1125537]

>>1125536
Give me an example. Do you have any samples you can show me (us)?

[Anonymous No.1125549]

>>1125537
thay arent in english

[Anonymous No.1125571]

i'm having the same problem right now too actually, makes me want to give the fuck up on the book i'm writing.

shit sucks man.

[Anonymous No.1125644]

bump for help

[Anonymous No.1125687]

>>1125529

Some people aren't good writers.

I'm sorry.

Put your efforts toward something else which will give you results. Best of luck.

[Anonymous No.1125692]

>>1125529
>>1125529

op, maybe you are a better story teller than a writer? hard to explain, but thats how i feel about my own skills you can think up a novel in your head, but when its time to write you freeze and nothing comes out

[Anonymous No.1125695]

>>1125529

splitting your book into chapters and chapters into what happens in the chapters helps

[Anonymous No.1125704]

>>1125692
i been thinking about that, recording myself telling the story and later putting in on paper

[Anonymous No.1126330]

[STLFag !IeX.oK0HUk No.1126373]

>>1125549
Then outline it for us. No fewer than 5 sentences.

[Anonymous No.1126458]

>>1126373
guive me a little time

[Anonymous No.1126465]

for being a writer you need to write a lot

write a page every day, don't try to force yourself to write it all at once.

[Anonymous No.1126603]

>>1126465
so is not reading, is writing?

[Anonymous No.1126616]

>>1126373
OK

>guy is on the train station and see a girl froma windo and then enters to the train

>guy talks to girl, girl says no, goy goes out

>see homicide in the corridor and run to tell girl about it

>they go to the corridor and see nothing

>guy goes insane and kills girl

>the murder is seen by the original killer

[Anonymous No.1126617]

>>1126603

it's both, but who the fuck thinks they're going to become a good writer by just reading a fucking lot? Reading a lot is only mentioned because it gives writers something to aspire to and see how it's done right.

Saying reading a lot makes someone good at writing itself is like saying you can become a great artist by staring at the masterpieces for a long time.

goddamit, am I being trolled right now?

[Anonymous No.1126623]

op, you change stories if that's where your interest takes you. although writing is intellectual the core of it is impulsive IMO. if you like an idea enough you will stick with it. if you find yourself getting burned out for thinking plot shit through then just try writing without having any story mapped out. if you feel you absolutely need to have a story mapped out then make an outline first.

but some people, it's about developing a really interesting character. once you have a character that feels right to you, the story should come easily.

[Anonymous No.1126624]

>>1126617
no no, you are really helping me

[Anonymous No.1126649]

>>1126623
yes, i know doing outlines help

[Anonymous No.1126664]

>>1126649
well you said you couldn't organize your thoughts on paper in the OP.

do you write four pages and get bored? do you write four and get stumped? do you write four and your hand hurts so you can't write anymore? do you feel you have said all you needed to in four pages?

some short stories are only a few pages and they can be good. some days i can write several pages in an hour. some days i can only write a paragraph. if the psychic distance is rather close, writing more than four pages shouldn't be too much of a problem. if it's not, you're probably telling the reader too much shit instead of showing the reader through scenes with your characters. when you've got dialogue and action going along, rather than stream of consciousness writing or a heavy narrative voice, a page can fill up kind of fast. sorry if this sounds like shit. i'm trying* to be helpful.

[Anonymous No.1126665]

>>1126616
Whatthefuckamireading.jpeg
You're going to explain why he exclusively picks the girl to tell in a relatable manner to the audience, and why he goes insane and kills her?

Consider this. He is the murderer, he just doesn't know it. The guy he thinks is the murderer is just the only witness to the crime, and he twists this shit in his head.

[Anonymous No.1126676]

>>1126616
why does the guy go insane and kill the girl? just because he saw something then it wasn't there anymore? that's not a particularly good reason. you could develop some scenes there to explain that.

i like that the original murderer sees the guy killing the girl, but how is this twist relevant? i think you could develop this to be really cool. is it some kind of kafkaesque symbolism? is the original killer a sadist and had it all planned out? maybe the original killer needed that girl dead for some reason. maybe not.

[Anonymous No.1126685]

>>1126664
i write the whole story in just 4 pages, i readed and see what else i can add but nothing comes to mu mind

[Anonymous No.1126695]

>guy is on the train station and see a girl froma windo and then enters to the train
-scene where guy gets on train. has casual convo with girl. the scene could extend so they ride through to the next stop together, justifying a longer convo.

>guy talks to girl, girl says no, goy goes out
-they get off of train. scene where guy is nervous and girl maybe likes the guy but simply isn't interested. slow build-up with subtle gestures showing anxiety to build tension.

>see homicide in the corridor and run to tell girl about it
-guy feels crummy and turns a corner. sees a homicide. but he can't just turn and flee right there. maybe get the reader inside his head for a fat paragraph or two. maybe the person being killed is someone he recognizes. maybe not.

>they go to the corridor and see nothing
-guy chases girl down. he doesn't know who else to tell. (why wouldn't he yell out bloody murder? give a reason for this when the guy sees the homicide). guy and girl argue because she thinks he's trying to trick her. after arguing guy finally convinces girl.

>guy goes insane and kills girl
they turn the corner and girl thinks she's right. the guy was trying to trick her! she freaks. maybe slips and hits her head MAKING IT LOOK LIKE the guy killed her. oh yes, that's better imo. more realistic anyways. and you don't have to justify why the guy would kill out of nowhere.

>the murder is seen by the original killer
-the original killer KNOWS it was an accident but can't tell the truth because then his own murder would come to light. OH SHIT TIGHT ASS TWIST RIGHT THAR.

some thoughts. use what you like and expand. you could crank out a 10 page short story out of this i think.

[Anonymous No.1126708]

>>1126665
>>1126676
there is an scene of how the reality descomposes, that is when he goes insane

also some indication that he was already insane

[Anonymous No.1126721]

>>1126695

[Anonymous No.1126724]

>>1126708
is that when the girl rejects him? he can't take rejection? maybe he grew up as a shut-in like many chantards.

maybe since the guy killer the girl, and the killer witnessed this, the killer confronts the guy as he's freaking out about him killing the girl. the killer says, "you better come with me. unless you want to get caught by the police."

guy and the killer become a duo. the crazy guy comes to his senses and kills the killer then himself.

some more thoughts for youz

[TyBrax !WvWWh.l.CE No.1126730]

Everyone ITT kill yourselves.

[Anonymous No.1126731]

>>1126695
OR if you play it out as an accident where it LOOKS like the guy killed the girl but really didn't (and the killer witnessed all this), maybe the story could be about an internal struggle about wanting to help the guy, by saying he saw it was an accident. but doing that would bring his own murder to light. maybe it was a justified murder. maybe he killed someone who killed a friend of his. or raped the killer's daughter or wife. so maybe there could be some sympathy for the killer. THEN you can focus the story on the killer's internal struggle from wanting to do the right thing for the guy, or to shut up and save his own skin.

[Anonymous No.1126734]

>>1126724

[Anonymous No.1126746]

>>1126730
someone wants writing help and all you do is post off-topic shit. go outside once in a while so atleast we can enjoy /lit/ occasionally. your self esteem is so shit that you have to lurk on 4chan all day pretending like people give a shit about what you say, simply because a few chantards actually remember your tripname. WOW. you're so interesting!

[Anonymous No.1126753]

>>1126724
eh. if not that maybe this?
>>1126731

these ideas are all off the top of my head.

[Anonymous No.1126771]

>>1126695

Good nucleus of a plot.

Premise suggestion: cruelty multiplies

The emotional progression of the characters must be preserved, if any are skipped you end up with melodrama (example, you can't have a character express romantic interest then jump immediately to rage, there has to be a naturalistic progression, something like romantic interest->disappointment (rejection)->shame->embarassment->spite->anger->rage)

If you can justify the high emotion of a recently rejected suitor witnessing a murder and then his mounting frustration at trying to do the right thing and tell the only other person around and coupling that frustration with his earlier rejection (the girl must behave very cruelly to help this along) until, in a fit he lashes out and kills her (maybe becoming aware the first murderer has seen him do it, even a little note of the 'shock of recognition' in Westerns between two major characters and you have the makings of a sinister and publishable short thriller.

hey /lit/ does this make sense? I want to answer your questions

pic loosely related: I think sunrise on Mars looks sinister yet attracts me, like the plot of this story.

[Anonymous No.1126792]

>>1126771
makes sense to me.

i mean, with what few details op gave it would be hard for me write it in only four pages. i don't know what the problem is.

[Anonymous No.1126804]

>>1126792

The four pages limit does make it very difficult. I've written 300 stories over the last five year on my fiction blog (b8a.blogspot.com) and 3 novels (unpublished, I know I'll know when it's time to submit one) and in my experience, at 250 words per page this is a 25 page story.

Captcha: sinned examen

[Anonymous No.1126810]

>>1126804
that's the thing. op doesn't have a "limit." she is having issues writing more than four pages.

i'm glad to hear you're so productive. i write about a ten page short story a month. no novels yet.

[Anonymous No.1126861]

>>1126810

Thanks for the vote of confidence but something bad happened to me this year, I submitted a story (finally, since I have some problem with submitting) and it got accepted THEN it got rejected because an internet search found the story on my blog (read by me and my 3 followers, real big audience, eh?) and said that blog post was prior publication and they couldn't take it.

My secret for the last five years was to give it away, now that I feel I can't have that happen my output has plummetted and this year, while I've kept plugging away at my longer projects my short story output has fallen through the floor.

If any of you have writing blogs, follow me and I'll follow you.

If you don't have one yet, use blogger, it's the easiest to get started with by far and maybe my trick will work for you too.

[Anonymous No.1127001]

>>1126730

can't take it

blocking you rn

good bye forever you retarded faggot

[Anonymous No.1127699]

OP here

so i just take the story and kkep adding and adding plot till it got the size i want?

[Chuck_Bass !K0GoSSIpGI No.1127855]

Just put ideas down on paper and flesh them out later.

The important thing is just to keep working.

[Anonymous No.1129297]

The issue is, if you don't cut corners and walk your reader through the necessary exposition of the scene and let the characters drive the action you'll naturally come to the right length.

Even if you reveal nothing to the reader about your characters, even if names are not mentioned in the story, you should know everything there is to know about them, use friends and family as templates and then modulate characteristics as necessary (ex: do you know a girl who can be cruel? Use her as the basis of your fictional character and just pump the cruelty)

When you have a firm grasp of your characters, the story can very nearly write itself, all you have to worry about regarding plotting with strong characters is how are you going to put them on a collision course?

What transpired before the boy met the girl? Was he already disturbed for some reason? Had he recently experienced something upsetting so that one more frustration would be enough to drive him over the edge?

Consider the meaning of plot in a graphic sense, to make a deliberate, calculated impression. To plot a course in navigational terms is another way to make it make sense, anyway, if you can love your characters enough to flesh them out but have the strength to subsequently put them through hell you've got the courage to write thrillers.

Personally I find them hard because I love my characters and don't want to see them hurt but if they're not compelling and appealling, no one will like them enough to care, if they're not put through adversity, there is no tension to the story, no sense of cathartic relief when they reach their end.

Look at some of my stories and feel free to steal any ideas you like, there is no copyright on ideas, only on their implementation, if you tried to write Romeo and Juliet right now you'd end up with your own personal R&J. So take a look at http://b8a.blogspot.com and I hope you find something that provokes new fiction. Keep writing!

[Anonymous No.1129305]

> wants to become a writer
> "so i just take the story and kkep adding and adding plot till it got the size i want?"

wtf, dude? (and no, I am not talking about orthography here)

just stop trying to become a writer or maybe wait untill you have finished elementary school

[Anonymous No.1129313]

>>1127699
definitely. the first COMPLETE draft is only half the work. the story i'm working on now is only about 5-6 pages. i'm finishing up the first draft. i have several ideas for it where i can make it several pages longer for sure.

[Anonymous No.1129419]

>>1129305

I respectfully disagree about waiting to be a writer. The first story I remember writing I was 9 years old. It takes miles of bad storytelling to get through to good storytelling, the craft of writing is something most can pick up in time but without a story to tell, it's not much good is it? Most people fail in this vocation because they aim for good writing right away, they should aim for bad writing and the best storytelling they are capable of.

If you have a story to tell, the writing will follow.

Hey OP, aim for bad, you'll be surprised how much sooner you reach good that way.

image somewhat related, pie always helps my creative juices

[Anonymous No.1129456]

on stop writing is the only option

[None !UyhAEqbnp. No.1129466]

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