Why even write?

[Anonymous No.11730160]

>TFW Being a short story writer in a novel dominated world.

[Anonymous No.11730170]

>>11730160
Write a whole bunch of short stories and tie them all together by some theme or plot element.

[Anonymous No.11730175]

>>11730170
>>11730160
Write a bunch of short stories that have the same protagonist and call it picaresque

[Anonymous No.11730182]

>>11730170
I have been working on something like that. I just feel like "short story collection" is not what people are looking for these day. Which is fine, I'm not trying to please the crowd, but it still weighs on my mind for some odd reason.

[Anonymous No.11730183]

I love short stories. In the Information Era, where the average attention span is about 6 seconds, they are the supreme form of literature.
You can always publish an antology.

[Anonymous No.11730189]

>>11730160
Even though the literacy rate is higher than it has ever been, nobody reads. Your work will reach whom it's supposed to. I know this feeling all too well. We have to keep going, though.

[Anonymous No.11730192]

>>11730160
i write overly romantic poetry about pseudomysticism you dont even know what being truly unfashionable is

[Anonymous No.11730355]

make that money

[Anonymous No.11730452]

>>11730355
'tis a meme i can get behind of!

[Anonymous No.11730475]

>>11730182
>but it still weighs on my mind for some odd reason.
Great way to tell us you're trying to please the crowd.

kys

[Anonymous No.11730484]

>>11730355
Not OP, but how does one 'make money.' I think I could write some potboiler trash if it gets me out of my wage slavery.

[Anonymous No.11730490]

>>11730192
This hits hard

[Anonymous No.11730670]

>>11730475
Maybe. Whenever I write, I'm putting myself into it. I guess it's impossible to not desire being liked by people. I'm definitely not trying to be some big pop culture hit, but I'd still like to connect with people, I guess. And no, I'm not planning on killing myself, but I will keep the suggestion in mind. Thanks for the feedback.

[Anonymous No.11730686]

>>11730189
based

[Anonymous No.11730692]

>>11730484
redeem potboiler trash if you can

[Anonymous No.11730709]

>>11730490
i accepted it a long time ago, i dont write so i can be published, i just love writing poetry, more than almost anything else

[Anonymous No.11730719]

>>11730160
Writing novels isn't any better in terms of what's "in" these days.

[Anonymous No.11730757]

>>11730160
If you keep on practicing you'll probably progress from short stories to novels eventually.

[Anonymous No.11730807]

>>11730692
I wouldn't mind being a pulp revivalist, or something along those lines. Maybe, writing some short pieces for people to read while they shit. Gotta start somewhere..

[Anonymous No.11731161]

>>11730709
post a poem.
not your best, just one that you find pretty ok.

[Anonymous No.11731483]

>>11730160
No one wants to publish novels right now OP. Short stories and essays are more approachable. Although if you want to be "successful" just become a self help con artist

[Anonymous No.11731494]

>>11730160
>novel dominated world

Novels are literally a dying medium that won't even exist 30 years from now. Short stories will be literature's last stand.

[Anonymous No.11732178]

>>11730182
a friend in punishing has told me something to that effect. Sort stories don't sell unless they are a part of some "BEST OF..." anthology.

But he mostly does sy-fy so it may be different elsewhere.

Still, as a short story writer you have the benefit of being able to submit to magazines and win competitions as a way of busting up your profile.

[Anonymous No.11732197]

>>11731494
>Novels are literally a dying medium
citation needed

[Anonymous No.11732252]

>>11730160
Write a 12 episode short story. Have a read of the screenwriters bible or related, turn your short stories into plot points and weave them together into a longer narrative. Books are dead, Film/TV is dying the only thing that acts as a vehicle for thought is damn Netflixs or Prime (notice how they're churning out their own series, often just a one off season 10-12 episodes - its like a long running pilot).

Anyway - you worry that you're writing is missing its audience, adapt the media to which you contact your audience.

Now, I'm a recent visitor to /lit/ and I'm ashamed to admit it but I'm a straggler of /b/, but do a lot of writing threads appear here? specifically those where we can share and critque ideas/concepts?

I tried the archive but found bupkis.

[Anonymous No.11732660]

>>11732197
[1] My own, distorted worldview

[Anonymous No.11732706]

>>11730160
> tfw being a screenwriter in a movie dominated world

why not make the leap, OP?

[Anonymous No.11732772]

>>11732706
Not OP, but Im trying to do this. But Im hopeless. My ideas are pretty plain as I can only bring in inspiration from my own life and I can't manifest my characters properly because it relies way more on the visuals and camera movements to portray their emotions than inner thoughts and detailed descriptions.

Do you have any tips you could share?

[Anonymous No.11732801]

>>11732772
Never detail camera movements in your spec scripts, anon. You're not the director nor are you the cinematographer and although it might be easier to think of it visually in your own head with certain camera shots, unfortunately it's not the responsibility of the screenwriter.

Consider ways of telling things visually without having paragraphs of exposition. If you need exposition, is it at least delivered in an engaging way - is someone asking questions and is the exposition delivered in small snippets as answers? Is there some conflict in the conversation? What is happening that's visual? (is someone combing their hair, are they eating, are they crossing the road, etc).

Sure it's good to write what you know but that does only get you so far. If you're uncertain on a specific topic that's important to your script, research it. Google is good to an extent but sometimes you'll need to outright email or call someone up and ask them a few questions. A lot of people are helpful, but I had a recent wall where I tried to get in contact with an off-duty officer through my local police station but I was just shoved from department to department and then told I was contacting the wrong department. That's an obstacle you might come across but there's other ways you can get answers (I couldn't ask a police officer questions but I knew someone who was a social worker who could answer most of the questions I had regarding british law with families, etc).

Think of ways to reveal your characters visually, through their actions and movements, or how they express themselves through dialogue. You don't need someone saying "I'm angry" to show how frustrated they are, but if you wrote the character to say "I'm fine" and they're gritting their teeth or something that's a lot more interesting as the audience can pick apart that character through the subtext.

Spend a good time on your characters though, anon. What do they want from the story and what do they actually need? What flaws do they have, what habits, what anxieties? What would be their highest point in the story? What would be their lowest point? What do they have to lose in the story if everything completely fucks up - always consider what's at stake.

I know /lit/ doesn't like screenwriting book suggestions, but I think they're helpful for people who are starting out, plus you can always learn and apply what you've read from a book and that's a lot more helpful than just going into a screenplay blind and hoping it leads somewhere. Here's some suggestions you might find useful:

David Corbett's The art of Character
John Yorke's Into The Woods (also Google John Yorke's ten questions - very useful guide for refining your story, characters and outline)
Robert McKee's Dialogue (a guide for different ways to express dialogue, subtext, character actions, beats, all that stuff)

Hope this helps, they're useful guides for beginners and the better you get the better you can flaunt these rules.

[Anonymous No.11732817]

>>11730189
>Your work will reach whom it's supposed to
Will it? Where are you publishing? If its physical then how few people are going to randomly pick up your book? If its online then how few people will frequent whatever esoteric website publishes Anon's Collection of Tiny Tales about Cliched Characters?

Writing seems like trying to win the lottery. If you enjoy it then its a good hobby but I cant imagine planning around it. Its a horribly oversaturated market with very small prospects for being discovered.

[Anonymous No.11732827]

>>11732252
Everyone comes in through /b/, but if it's 2010s /b/ you're here from, fuck off and stay there retard.

[Anonymous No.11732834]

>>11732827
> everyone comes in through /b/

not that guy but I came in through /x/ because I thought that if I spent long enough there on some nights i'd find something really scary and fun to come across and then someone I was talking to through MSN messenger said /mu/ was the place to be

[Anonymous No.11732855]

>>11730709
I fucking hate with passion those faggots that write for the masturbatory need to see themselves in print.
>>11730192
pls give me a hint how can I find and read your poetry if by chance you write it in english/slovak/czech!

[Anonymous No.11732869]

>>11732827
I came through /mu/ to try and find esoteric pretentious music to impress art hoes with

[Anonymous No.11732886]

>>11732869
Me too but art hoes didn't like that I also had heard of Grizzly Bear and Neutral Milk Hotel, it was really weird because there was one art hoe I really liked who loved those indie folk kind of bands and so did I but as soon as I mentioned that to her she just started criticising me saying I wasn't really into that kind of music and not many people really get it, etc etc. Really one of the oddest things Ive experienced at uni

[Anonymous No.11732900]

>>11732886
idk senpai I just found awful shitty music nobody would sincerely like and basically pull what that cunt did to you saying "you dont get it", "its not about sounding nice" or "you could never understand".
NMH is basic entry tier shit tho. Its not esoteric at all - go onto pitchfork, rolling stone or any major music website and its there as some gold standard.
I dont even remember the music I used to use desu. It made Trout Mask Replica sound like easy listening.
Glad I grew out of that

[Anonymous No.11732903]

>>11732801
Thanks a lot for the comprehensive answer, I really appreciate it! I'll look into it.

[Anonymous No.11733296]

>>11732827
define 2010's /b/? as in if I were visiting /b/ in 2010's then I can take a hike? What's the time scale? a long continuous dallance or dipping toes every year or so - just to touch base so to speak?