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/lit/ - Literature

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1393504 No.1393504 [Reply] [Original]

Ok, here's a thread for the writerfags.

I was wondering, what are your top rules of writing? Mine are:

1) Don't use a complicated word when a simple one will do.
2) Avoid cliches.
3) Only kill a character if it's integral to the plot, not for emotional impact.

>> No.1393525

Write like you think, once adjust.

Never, ever force anything, let it flow from your fingertips without a forethought and never dam or redirect it with pretense, just write.

Don't stew in doubt tying your train of thought in knots until you reach cul de sac after cul de sac of frustration.

>> No.1393534

1) Keep writing.

>> No.1394197
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1394197

Write everyday - journals, short stories, articles (I'm a journalist), blogs. It doesn't matter what you write, justmake sure it allows you to be creative.

READ! Read everything! Would you trust a doctor to perfrom delicate surgery on your heart if he hadn't ever touched a heart before?

Be true to yourself and what you know.

>> No.1394207

Avoiding "thought" verbs and "Q&A dialogue" are decent rules.

Also - if your story requires a sex scene, make it horribly frustrating and embarrassing..

>> No.1394215

>>1394207
>Avoiding "thought" verbs
What do you mean?

>> No.1394218

>>1394197
sauce

>> No.1394225
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1394225

-original plotline and rhythm

-original descriptions

-original underlying philosophy

Write from you and not how a past successful writer or collection of writers would of written it

imitation is suicide

>> No.1394230

>>1394225
what about parody?

>> No.1394236

Writing is like explaining a dream. You put some sense into your own abstract ideas and concepts to get your point across. I take this as my base, so sometimes I push it a little so that people would understand what I'm trying to pass, other times I have to hold myself back and let it flow.

>> No.1394239

1) After writing a piece, try observe it from a readers point of view. Imagine you dont have the whole picture in your mind.
2) Short hardboiled dialogs are not cool unless you're writing hardboiled story.
3) Use less words like "unimaginable" or "undescriptive". Dont be Lovecraft

>> No.1394241
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1394241

>>1394225
lr2mimesis

>> No.1394242

1.

Don't try.

>> No.1394248

>1) Don't use a complicated word when a simple one will do.

I had an old copy of The Kings' English that said only to use Saxon words. It is a good habit but sometimes the foreign word either can't be avoided or is too good to pass up.

>> No.1394247

>>1394230
only use the skeleton of the story that you are using

>> No.1394255

>>1394247
parody of a style/ author?

>> No.1394258

1. Never post anything on /lit/.

>> No.1394259

I don't have any rules when I write, at least not for first drafts. I just go with what I feel. For example, I think your third rule makes sense, OP, but I've written stories where I created a character and killed them off just because it made sense to me. Not because it was emotional, but because when I created the character in my head it just didn't make sense to me that he would live past a certain age.

So I guess my rule is to write what makes sense to me.

>> No.1394263

>>1394241
jim jarmusch had one good movie and the rest of his career was nothing more than a shadow to the great directors of our time

using him as a reference to how to write a story that will stand the test of time is fucking retarded

using someone's philosophy in order to achieve what you could never do by yourself is nothing more than sophisticated copying

>> No.1394271
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1394271

>>1394263
>jim jarmusch had one good movie and the rest of his career was nothing more than a shadow to the great directors of our time

I'm not who you're addressing, but allow me to step in. On the Jarmusch tip, what film do you consider the "one good one"

>> No.1394283

>>1394271

I'm not who you're addressing, but Jim Jarmusch doesn't have any good movies.

>> No.1394287

>>1394239
>Lovecraft
Weird Weird Weird Weird Weird Weird Weird Weird Weird Weird Eldritch Weird Weird Weird Weird Weird Weird Weird Weird Weird

>> No.1394298

>>1394283

that's disappointing. his work has a kind of "literary" quality to it that so many hacks aspire to, i'd think this board of any would appreciate it.

then again, you're probably just one stupid fantasy faggot with bad taste.

>> No.1394303

>>1394263
Art is copying. You only are what you are because of what you saw and what you heard, because of the world around you.

To be original is to be yourself, but that doesn't mean the very first idea came directly from some sort of inner personal entity that is not related to the outside world. When you see a tree and you describe it, you are connecting that sight to a billion other experiences from your life, vocabulary from all the books you've read, emotions from all the people you've met and from that you are creating something new and personal.

I think what we should avoid is getting to much reference from things that already went through the filters of people's mind. What I mean is that we should get closer to the real thing. Bram Stoker had an idea for a vampire that was an influence to many. Twilight is the same idea, but distorted by a thousand minds to a point where there's no connection between what it means and what we are reading. The vampire was not Stoker's idea, but it was close to the very thought of such a creature.

>> No.1394309

>>1394298
I'm another poster, but the only film of him I've seen is Ghost Dog. I loved it.

>> No.1394398

Write as a writer. Read as a reader.

>> No.1394403

OP is a wannabe Hemingway

>> No.1394411

>>1394398
expand please. what's difference

>> No.1394414

>>1394403
Who isn't?

>> No.1394427

>>1394414
anyone that wants to be a good writer

>> No.1394445
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1394445

Here are the correct rules:

1. Everybody is going to laugh at your sophomoric writing style
2. Most people hate authors and they will hate you more because you are a failed author
3. Print is a dying medium and you should focus your energy into something worthwhile, like having sex and getting a decent paying job

>> No.1394449

Write about what you care about.
If you're not writing about what you care about, stop.
Nine times out of ten, people will prefer a cocktail of what they've heard a million times over a completely new idea.
Flaunting your verbosity is for insipid, pedantic writers who are either unaware of how pretentious they sound, or are trying to write for insipid, pedantic people.
Don't show your work to family members, they will lie to you.

>> No.1394454

>>1394449
>Flaunting your verbosity
This is only bad if done intentionally, in my opinion. Sometimes an "advanced" word comes to you naturally, and fits better than any alternatives.

>> No.1394459

Top rules of writing:
1 do it all for the massive pussay you're going to get for being a badass writer
2 run away when you realize a massive pussy was a scary thing to wish for.

>> No.1394468

1. You are never going to pen the perfect anything. You are human, and it is human to be flawed.
2. First thought: Best Thought.

>> No.1394476

1. Get the rhythm right. Everything else will follow.

>> No.1394477
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1394477

>>1394468
>1. You are never going to pen anything worth reading.
fixed that for you

>> No.1394483

>>1394477
3. Don't expect a single person from /lit/ to not argue with you. They will. Over anything.

>> No.1394489

>>1394454
Oh my yes. Always choose the word that flows the best, but forcing it never looks good. People can tell it's forced, and it looks godafwul.

>> No.1394499

>>1394483

this is not true. i challenge you to textual duel. one in which i will reign victorious for, like ty and D&E, i have a rudimentary understanding of debate and exceptional googlin skillz.

>> No.1394506

I'm fine with using a complicated word if I think it sounds better. Also, I HATE when authors kill off their characters for no reason.

>> No.1394509

>>1394449
My family doesn't even know I write. They just think I'm a lonely fuckup who doesn't do anything in his room all day. If i told them, they'd either:
1) get me to stop so I can focus on getting a "real job"
2) lie, misunderstand, and get overly involved in my writing, so I couldn't be open about stuff again. It'd be like getting raped in your own bed.

Which I am, but I also write sometimes.

>> No.1394519

>>1394411
Don't write like a 13 year old gothic fanfiction girl. You know, a reader.

Don't read as you could see the entire picture as clearly as the writer. Because you are the writer.

Reading your work? Think as a reader. Writing your stuff? Careful with Mary Sue problems.

>> No.1394532

>>1394506
It's also bad when a writer refuses to kill a character, who clearly should have died for the better of the story.

>> No.1394539

>>1394489
I'm longing for the moment when I get to use my favorite word in English: "Abhorrent". I love how it sounds and how it feels to say it.

>> No.1394582

In any given situation have the characters or the plot do the third thing you think of.

>> No.1394592

>>1394582
hehe

>> No.1394616

>COMPREHENSIVE LIST WRITING RULES
1. Waste as little of the reader's time as possible.

>> No.1394689

I've always thought that a writer should kill characters according to the realistic likelihood that those characters would die. In many stories, there's no foreseeable reason anyone would die, and offing someone in a story like that with cancer or a car accident tends to seem shoed in from a reader's perspective. At the same time, if you're writing a war story, it's going to seem out of place if no one dies; indeed, under certain circumstances, I think there could be justification for literally killing off characters at random. (Depending on who they are; you don't want to kill, say, your protagonist without giving it some thought.)

>> No.1394739

My personal rule: Let your work sit for at least a few days before you go back to edit it/make changes/see if it's any good. You'll have a much more objective perspective on your material when it's not so fresh in your mind.

>> No.1395067

MINE ARE:

*AVOID CLICHÉS.
*SECOND THOUGHT IS BETTER THAN THE FIRST ONE.
*IGNORE THE ABOVE RULES WHEN NECESSARY.


I PRETTY MUCH DO NOT FOLLOW A METHOD. I SIMPLY LET GO AND WRITE.

>> No.1395213
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1395213

Rule 1: Have a good story to tell.
#2 Do the characters do things that make sense under given circumstances.
#3 Is the story believable?
#4 Is it fun to read or a pain in the ass?
#5 Do you care if lots of people read the story or are you writing it because it was fun to do. (Me? I write because it's fun.)

Valley of Death
http://valleyofdeath.yolasite.com/
or https://sites.google.com/site/williambebb/

>> No.1395775
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1395775

>>1394271
>>1394271

Deadman

the other post wasn't me

>> No.1395793

1) kill he writerfag
2) have his baddie 'partner' try to figure out why baddie writer died
3) host a seminar

>> No.1395810

1. I must have access to a theasaurus and a dictionary whenever I write, and I must use a theasaurus at least five times during a writing session, even if I don't find a synonym to replace a word.

2. I must not make corrections as I go along. I can edit when I have my thoughts out on paper/the screen.

3. I should write what I know - therefore, I need to make time for base jumping, crocodile wrestling, and sexual experimentation.

>> No.1396320

bump

>> No.1396326

>>1395213

>forensics

Sweet. Policy debater here. Good stuff man.

>> No.1397995

bamp

>> No.1398034

OP here, amazed that this thread is still fucking going.

Gotta love /lit/

>> No.1398068

Use Germanic/Saxon words only if writing poetry, all these gay ass romance speakings, don't fit in, break the flow and are one of the causes for poetry being a snobby hobby in the English speaking world.

>> No.1398077

>>1398034
No you're not. You bumped it, you faggot.

>> No.1398115

I'm sorry but half of these are horrible rules.
The whole 'don't write what you don't know' thing is ridiculous. Research it if you think you need to, but remember the character is handling the situation, not you.
Also one of the problems I've seen the most here is the overuse of adjectives or beige prose. If a word is uncalled for, remove it. Of all things, think like an editor when you're correcting your writing. If you begin with 12K words and end with 8K , so be it. It's better to be rational and worth it than to be gaudy and pretentious.

>> No.1398136

>>1398115
Nah it ain't you shmoe.
Try as hard as you can to "paint with words", you can never have too many adjectives.

>> No.1398194

>ITT: write simple etc.

so you want to write for a newspaper or do you just fear that you could lose the reader with some complicated words so he won't read your shitty story?

>> No.1398208

>>1398136
>you can never have too many adjectives.

I want to hurt you.

>> No.1398446

Edit the shit out of what you write. Always check it over before declaring it finished.

>> No.1398454

>>1398194

No. You're advised to write simply because using long words for the sake of using them disrupts narrative flow, and comes across as pretentious. You don't have to write like a toddler, but don't write like you've just swallowed a dictionary either.

>> No.1398464

>>1398136
>you can never have too many adjectives.

ok so in your mind this sentence is golden?

He awoke tiredly from a short, abbreviated, bare, condensed, curtailed, curtate, epigrammatic, undersized, meager, needing, niggardly, poor, scant, scanty, scarce, sleep.

>> No.1398470

>>1398454
of course some people overdo it, but decades ago books were more fun because their authors used the book as a medium in itself and not as a plain written movie script in disguise they're hoping to sell to some director

>> No.1398475

>>1398454
Economy is one of the main rules of the evolution of language. The question would be, is the language you are using necessary, does the text demand it? So, unless you are trying to write about some pedantic asshole, or some teenage kid that uses literature to compensate his lack of social skills, the use of unnecessary big words in a context that doesn't require them just doesn't work.

>> No.1398478

>>1398470

That's because our language has changed. Purple prose was acceptable in it's day because that's how people talked, or at least that's how the people who could afford books talked (I'm talking early 20th century here btw). Now the language has simplified, at least in speech, so our writing has to mirror that.

>> No.1398480

>>1398464
It's a pretty good sentence

>> No.1398485

>>1398478
>Purple prose was acceptable in it's day because that's how people talked, or at least that's how the people who could afford books talked

I think it's more a case of literary language converging with spoken language.

>> No.1398492

>>1398464
Sound like the start to a story which is over the top for over-the-top's sake - which could be funny.

>> No.1398493

never convey a thematic concept or emotional point with it being the subject of your sentence. always include them as secondary points, this is subtelty
"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your scources"- albert Einstien

>> No.1398499

DON'T write with a thesuaraus, if yu want to increase your vocabulary read thing that will have many wierd words in them

you should only use words that are contextually aprropriate for the context.
If you use a thesausaus your using words your not fully familiar with, and risk sounding like a jackass

>> No.1398506

>>1398493
Hide Your Scources Said the Einstein

>> No.1398516

1) You do not talk about Fight Club
2) You DO NOT talk about Fight Club

>> No.1398519

>>1398493
This
"George was tired" isn't as good as:
"There was a persistent grogginess he couldn't shake off."
Although it may change depending on the scene, saying "X was verb/X did verb/X felt verb" isn't nearly as good as showing it would be.