/wg/ - Writing General

[Anonymous No.17158553]

prev:>>17139439

Any progress on your novels?

For Prose:
>The Art of Fiction
>On Becoming A Novelist
>Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft
>How Fiction Works
>The Rhetoric of Fiction
>Steering the Craft

For Poetry:
>The Poetry Home Repair Manual
>Western Wind: An Introduction to Poetry

Related Material:
>What Editors Do
>A Student's Introduction to English Grammar
>Garner's Modern English Usage

Suggested books on storytelling:
>The Weekend Novelist
>Aristotle's Poetics
>Hero With a Thousand Faces
>Romance the Beat

Suggested books on getting your fucking work done you lazy piece of shit:
>Deep Work
>Atomic Habits

Traditional publishing
> Formatting manuscript
https://blog.reedsy.com/manuscript-format/
> Write a query
https://www.janefriedman.com/query-letters/
> Track your query
https://querytracker.net/


Other Resources
>General grammar/syntax/editing help
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/purdue_owl.html
> When/where/how should I write?
https://jamesclear.com/daily-routines-writers
> What software should I write with?
https://self-publishingschool.com/book-writing-software-best/
> Amazon Publishing to make that KDP monie
https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G200635650
> Be like Charles Dickens and write serially
https://www.royalroad.com/
> Basic overview of the Screenplay format
https://screenwriting.info/

[Anonymous No.17158569]

>>17158553
I am writing a serial on RR please wish me luck

[Anonymous No.17158597]

>>17158569
What genre laddie

[Anonymous No.17158598]

>>17158569
Good luck! Post your story so we can read and follow it anon

[Anonymous No.17158639]

He sat in the tub, curled up, submerged in bloody water. His face was twisted into a desperate grimace, tears streaming down his cheeks, moaning between sharp inhales. A bottle of open Jack Daniels lay on the mat beside the tub, empty enough so that no liquid was leaking out. He stared at the blood coated razor blade in his hand, glistening under the ceiling light as it bobbed up and down with each sob. Blood continued to trickle out from the perpendicular slice on his left wrist.
Parallel you pussy, you can’t even kill yourself correctly. Unless you’re just doing it for attention like a bitch.
But deep down, James knew he did not want to kill himself. He wanted to live; he just didn’t want to live his life. Someone else’s life, anyone else's life, would have been preferable, at least that’s what he told himself. He argued with himself constantly about why he should have it so much worse than anyone else, whether he actually does or if he’s just a coward who’s too scared to live the way he wants to live, or whether it’s even his fault he’s like this at all. He was too neurotic to cling to any one belief for long; all he knew was that he hated himself and could not see tomorrow or the next day getting any better.
For once in your life just commit you fucking pussy! You pathetic attention whore look at yourself!
James was braver than usual because of the alcohol but he also realized this might be the last decision he ever makes and it warranted strict consideration. As he became more and more set on actually killing himself, ending his existence completely and forever, his sobs turned into hyperventilations. He wailed as tears poured out of him, tightened his grip on the razor, and finally with intent he brought it up to his left wrist. He resolved that his current state of being, him in the tub like this, was reason enough to kill himself.
His family didn’t flash before his eyes, though he thought sadly about his dog for a few moments. He was disgusted by what did cross his mind though: Grace. She undoubtedly was not thinking of him nor had she in several weeks, he wasn’t even sure that his suicide would really, actually effect her at all. Who knows, she might even get a twisted kick out of it - that she was powerful enough to factor in to something like this.
Enough.

[Anonymous No.17158649]

>>17158639
He took one more swig of Jack, finishing the bottle, and through blurred vision he sank the edge of the blade into the large vein on his wrist.
Suddenly the locked door crashed open, ripping out of its hinges and imploding into the bathroom, crashing against the sink in front in front of it. The entire room seemed to shake and a wall of light ushered in as a godlike yet familiar stood before him. It was… him? James stood before James, but this new James was dressed in Timberland boots, slick dark pants and an olive green jacket.
What in the fuck?
James could not decide if he was having a stress and alcohol induced psychosis or if this was real life. The suicidal thoughts vanished and he was in the present for the first time in a very long time - how could he not be? The figure swatted the blade out of James’ hand and, swiftly lifting him under the armpits, dragged him out of the tub, out of the bathroom, and threw him into the hall with incredible strength. As James lay in the hall, completely awestruck, staring up at the figure that stood before him, space and time seemed to glitch, electricity crackled, and a burst of energy dented and charred the hallway around the two. Just as quickly as other James had appeared, he had disappeared. The naked and bloody James laid amongst the ruins of the hallway, finally with something else on his mind.

[Anonymous No.17158853]

>48,0000 words in
>first time I've gotten anywhere near this large of a story
>starting to see what people mean when they talk about burnout for that final third of the story
For the moment, I still have the discipline to finish it, but it's starting to feel a bit more like a chore now instead of fun.

[Anonymous No.17159464]

More descriptive autism.

[Anonymous No.17159561]

>>17158597
I honestly don't know. I don't read genre lit that much but I am thinking of something set in a fantasy world whose spatial and intellectual design is anything goes. However, any developments that follow are set in some defined reality.
>>17158598
Soon!

[Anonymous No.17159949]

/wg/, I came with a new explanation for my setting's weirdness that's more original, actionable and internally consistent but I'm still really attached to the old one. I know what I need to do, but I'm not sure it's a good idea to do it.

[Anonymous No.17160498]

>>17158569
Want to be friends? I am starting too (I actually already started). Building backlog right now. Would be nice to have someone to talk to/get feedback and swap ideas.

[Anonymous No.17160542]

>>17159464
marble is not reflective, it's slightly translucent but somewhat dull

[Anonymous No.17160603]

>>17160542
Hm, I'll consider changing that with a material that is more reflective. Thanks for that.

[Anonymous No.17160721]

>>17158553
Had a bit of a gap. How the fuck does one go about a second draft??

[Anonymous No.17161012]

>>17160721
What are you writing?

[Anonymous No.17161022]

Give a good plot for a short story, 2 pages or so.

[Anonymous No.17161070]

>>17160721
Oh shit, what a great idea with the excel. Don't worry man, in the past week I've written like 300 words or so, and I wanted to be done by the end of the year.

[Anonymous No.17161107]

I hate George Lucas so much. He has made it impossible to have space fantasy setting with swords that can cut through shit without being accused of ripping off Star Wars

[Anonymous No.17161140]

>>17160721
>that inflated average
Days you don't write count as zero, anon. Don't lie to yourself.

[Anonymous No.17161223]

>>17160721
With the help of friends. I can help you Anon.

[Anonymous No.17161251]

Do you guys write in English or your native language?

[Anonymous No.17161262]

>>17161251
English is my native language.

[Anonymous No.17161303]

>>17158553
In the process of editing. Have a few solid drafts made now, this one's just for cutting out the leftovers.

[Anonymous No.17161326]

>>17161251
I find English easier to write in than my native language (Italian), but I will cosider doing official translations of my works.

[Anonymous No.17161439]

Has anyone else had a moment of panic when you realized just how many journals and magazines and publishers are out there? How likely it is that any boat you push into the collective stream of consciousness will simply be washed away like a bug on the windshield of a transatlantic airliner? I've been looking at some winner-lists of minor literary prizes and found not even an author I recognize, let alone have read. Even the good lit is being drowned out by hordes of mediocrity. Even the good writers are drowning out their own moments of brilliance with rabbling, anodyne drivel to make themselves flush with the age. It's so hard to make it, bros. Somebody respond and wish me luck or call me a fag or something.

[Anonymous No.17161460]

>>17161326
Sorry, I meant consider, not cosider.

[Anonymous No.17161465]

>>17161439
Good luck, fag.

[Anonymous No.17161468]

>>17161439
fag

[Anonymous No.17161472]

HOW DO I ORGANIZE MY IDEAS???? AAAAAAAAAAAAH I CANT TAKE THIS

[Anonymous No.17161492]

>>17160721
Real pile of shit. Murder mystery/horror in the desert.
>>17161140
You're right, and previous month I added zeros, but I forgot since I barely added it for yesterday. I'm pretty much done with first draft, now feeling unsure where to go.
>>17161223
Thanks Anon. What should be my focus going back in? Plot points, characters? It's almost 100k words and I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed even tho it's not a crazy complicated story.

[Anonymous No.17161521]

>>17161492
>>17161140
Fixed it for you, Anon.

[Anonymous No.17161637]

>>17161492
>I'm pretty much done with first draft, now feeling unsure where to go.
Time to revise!

[Anonymous No.17161661]

Anyone else works better late at night when they lack sleep? Sleep deprivation allows my more unusual ideas to come out of the woodworks more often.

[Anonymous No.17161705]

>>17161661
Yeah, I get less self-critical when a lot of my higher-level functions are sort of inhibited and the weird stuff creeps up harder.

[Anonymous No.17161708]

>>17161661
yes, but it's probably conflated with the fact that I work best under the desperate, withering pressure of a deadline. Which is usually at midnight or 9 am.

[Anonymous No.17161778]

>>17161661
>>17161708
I seem to work best when chugging mosnter or coffee and my heart screams やめろ

[Anonymous No.17161785]

>>17161492
I meant I can help you work through it Anon like via Discord! But yes, plot points, foreshadowing, dialogue and so forth. First draft is your sketch in drawing terms now you add in the detail and in the third draft you add in the color.

[Anonymous No.17161791]

>>17158553
How do I get people to write with? Just buddies who like writing?

[Anonymous No.17161794]

>>17161791
Sounds kinda gay ngl senpai

[Anonymous No.17161803]

>>17161794
ngmi "senpai"

[Anonymous No.17161817]

>>17161785
Thank you, Anon, that's kind of you to offer. Even people I've told I'm writing don't seem interested in helping out.
But while I'm grateful, I think it's still too messy right now to even show to anyone. I need to have some sort of coherency pass, then if you're still around in these threads I'd love to have you look at it.

[Anonymous No.17161825]

So, what do you guys write about? Is essays, fiction, or?

[Anonymous No.17161884]

>>17161825
fiction right now a murder mystery with a side of politics and misanthropy

[Anonymous No.17161897]

>>17161884
Cool, do you write just for you own enjoyment or do you plan on publishing it?

[Anonymous No.17161908]

>>17161897
Ideally I'd like to have it published but if not at least it'll be good fun.

[Anonymous No.17161928]

>>17161825
My fiction right now is sci-fi space opera.

[Anonymous No.17161957]

How do i write like this?

https://www.reddit.com/r/SluttyConfessions/comments/knfrlb/i_was_raped_my_my_tinder_date_and_i_cant_stop/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

[Anonymous No.17161971]

>>17161957
anon...

[Anonymous No.17161979]

>>17161957
Like shitty erotic fiction?

[Anonymous No.17162014]

>>17160721
>tfw I want to ask why anons write so little per day but don't want to sound like a bragging douche bag
I aim for 3,000 words a day, which I almost always hit. I started my story on the 7th and I hit 49,000 words today. I take Sundays off and missed a few days last week because Christmas and all that shit.

[Anonymous No.17162022]

>>17161957
>most obviously fake thing in the world
>redditors all comment 'im so sorry this happened to you, wow'

[Anonymous No.17162188]

How do you guys get in the zone?

[Anonymous No.17162209]

>>17162188
Just write nigga.

[Anonymous No.17162211]

Rate my short story

It was thanksgiving and all my relatives were over visiting us. Around 10 people or so. I know these people but as soon as I enter the room it just turns weird. I'm known as that “weird guy”. It sucks but, hey, it's my own fault so it’s just the way it is. Anyways everyone is downstairs in the living room talking and enjoying themself, my mom, dad, uncle, cousins and the rest of them, while I’m sitting upstairs in my room doing my own thing. Consisting mostly of playing video games and browsing the internet and generally being the outcast that everyone knows I am. They are used to me being like this, but once in a while my mom comes upstairs trying to convince me to come downstairs and join them. I kindly decline, saying i'm fine and busy playing video games. She accepts this apology, she's used to it by now anyways, but she tells me dinner is ready soon and disappears downstairs. Not too worried about it but it’s going to be awkward that's for sure. I mean, sitting isolated upstairs, hardly seeing my relatives all day, it’s going to be bad.

Cont.

[Anonymous No.17162218]

What is the penultimate key to godlike writing?

[Anonymous No.17162220]

>>17162211
I do need to take shit before I join them, I think to myself. I might have time to slip downstairs to the toilet before dinner is ready. I decide to take the gamble and I sneak myself down the stairs like a ninja and I make a dash across the hallway to the toilet. Heh, I don't think anyone saw or heard me. They probably still think I’m upstairs. The toilet is right outside the living room so I have to be quiet though. I’m starting to press it out and I’m not quite sure whether it's going to be a wet 100 wipe shit or a hard 2 wipe shit. I'm hoping for the latter of course. Yeah, no it’s the wet one. Fuck. And it’s a proper wet and doughy one too. The one you have to dig out because it’s so sticky. “Dinner is ready!”. What the hell, not like this! I’m digging the shit out as fast as I can now, and it’s starting to smell rather bad too. I can hear them all sitting at the dinner table now. “We are all waiting for you now!”. I can’t reveal my position to them. “Hes probably got his stupid headseat on, someone go get him.”. Fuck, fuck, fuck! I can hear one of them leaving the table and heading towards the stairs right beside the toilet where my position is. “I can smell him, he's in the toilet!”. My last bits of dignity is gone at this point. I can even hear some laughter too and the smell, it must be all over the living room at this point. I have made good progress on wiping the shit away though. I take one more wipe and it comes back white. Perfect! I flush the toilet, but in the heat of the moment I had totally forgotten how much paper I had used. I could hear the water build up in the toilet and I waited for it all to eventually go down with a boom, but it never did. It was clogged. I had already spent too much time here and I had to get to the dinner as soon as possible. The toilet could wait a little later. I washed my hands and went out and made my way to the living room. They were all looking at me and the smell had as I feared made it to the living room. Horrible smell. Hopefully no one has to go to the toilet during the dinner.

[Anonymous No.17162232]

>>17162218
Live a tough life.

[Anonymous No.17162236]

redpill me on story structure

[Anonymous No.17162239]

>>17162211
>>17162220
Reads like a string of twitter posts by someone with a pixel art avatar.

[Anonymous No.17162261]

>>17162239
How to not write like someone with pixel art avatar?

[Anonymous No.17162266]

>>17162236
I can't name a single good book that follows that structure. Go to the /lit/ top 100 books and see if any of them follow it.

[Anonymous No.17162316]

I'm entering a flash fiction contest for my school. Has to be under 300 words. Thoughts on my first draft?

[Anonymous No.17162341]

I really am struggling with the filling out of the actual prose. I have a couple stories mapped out. The story beats, the themes, the characters. But when it comes to actually writing the thing, it end up being dialogue and basic actions. I assume just reading more in general will help me but it is still frustrating
>>17162188
Usually only when a new idea hits me and then I feel like I have to get it out. Or when I take Ritalin

[Anonymous No.17162351]

>>17162188
My only "requirement" is a mug of Earl Grey. Beyond that, nobody around, or at least a pair of headphones so I can block them out. Can't write if people are bothering me.

[Anonymous No.17162353]

>>17162232
>Bukowski
My nigga

[Anonymous No.17162361]

>>17158553
>>For Prose:
>>The Art of Fiction
>>On Becoming A Novelist
>>Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft
>>How Fiction Works
>>The Rhetoric of Fiction
>>Steering the Craft
>
>For Poetry:
>>The Poetry Home Repair Manual
>>Western Wind: An Introduction to Poetry
AND FOR PLAYS ??

[Anonymous No.17162373]

>>17162316

[Anonymous No.17162393]

>>17162361
AND FOR VIDEOGAMES? Asking for a friend

[Anonymous No.17162585]

>>17162014
>I want to show off on a chechnian sand collecting forum

[Anonymous No.17162612]

/wg/, what seems like a more viable idea

>publish my magnum opus as a series of webnovels that get physical releases when they're done so I can reap the rewards of a serialized release schedule
>as above but I publish the first book in the series physically, then switch to a webnovel format to serialize the sequels

[Anonymous No.17162844]

Let's say my ideas are mainly focused on locations and big action set piece sequences. How can I extract a plot out of those?

[Anonymous No.17162846]

>>17162844
Yes.

[Anonymous No.17162852]

>>17162846
very enlightening. thank you!

[Anonymous No.17162866]

>>17162585
This is specifically the opposite of what I requested

[Anonymous No.17162942]

>>17162014
It's probably because you're either writing fanfic/trash or writing poorly. I've topped out at 9000 words in 5ish hours doing an erotica commission and I think I could reliably hit 6000 a day if that was all I wanted to write. It's not something to really overthink; certain things are just easier to write than others for different people.

[Anonymous No.17162951]

>>17162942
I mean... I've written a number of different things at this point and it's all about the same. My only impediment is if I don't know what happens next. As long as I know where the story is going/what needs to happen in a scene, then I'm golden.

[Anonymous No.17162985]

>>17162951
Unless you're a published author making at least 50k please refer to my alternative about writing poorly

[Anonymous No.17163050]

How much research do you guys do when writing?

[Anonymous No.17163068]

>>17163050
Practically none, might google a few terms but that's about it.

[Anonymous No.17163077]

>>17163050
does browsing tvtropes count as research?

[Anonymous No.17163089]

How common is plagiarism in short stories? I want to put my work on a personal blog or something, but I'm paranoid that it'll get stolen or something

[Anonymous No.17163091]

>>17163089
or something

[Anonymous No.17163114]

Which guide should I follow that walks me step by step on creating my story?

[Anonymous No.17163148]

>>17163114
This:
>decide how long your book will be (approximate page count)
>divide this into chapters of 5000 words per chapter (at a rate of 300~ words per page you get 16 pages per chapter)
>once you have all your numerical chapters, you figure out what needs to happen in each of them
>to help with this, divide your book into three parts to follow the three act structure
>fill in things like what characters and locations appear in each chapter
>write summaries of the events that need to occur
>once you have about 300 words per chapter for every chapter in one of the acts, you can start to write the actual prose
Trust me I've written exactly 0 novels with this method

[Anonymous No.17163214]

"Sorry, I kind of zoned out there."
"What's up?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. Sometimes I feel like I'm just on a ride. Looking out the window watching the land go by." Looking out the window, her mouth opened and closed and opened again.
David watched, waiting. Still, she struggled to find words. After another moment passed, he asked, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah. It's just a feeling, you know?"
"...No."
Her fingers tapped against the windowsill, nails making a light, almost melodic clicking. Strums. She turned and looked at him. "Do you ever feel like you're not sure who you are? Or like you're not sure what's within you? That there's something else there, and it's exciting and frightening at the same time. Exciting because it's new and fresh. But there's something completely wrong, because how could I live all these years and not know its there. Only if I was hiding it. Suppressing it. Somewhere, deep down, I saw it and faced it and couldn't bear it, so I've covered it up. But there's some imprint on the surface that reminds me, some hint of memory where the only instinct is to not think of it, to not look any further. An instinct I built there."
David was lost as this unexpected soliloquy. He had hardly been able to follow. He looked back into her eyes wanting to give comfort or reassurance or sympathy. But he could only see himself, his failures. The deep certainty of their relationship, which was that she was not happy with him. Those words were just fluff.
The brief glimmer of light, of energy that had bridged their eyes faded and snapped. David stood up and shook his head, muttering, "Yeah. I'm sure it'll be okay." He cleared his throat. "We should get to that restaurant before it closes. You never know in these towns."

>any thoughts? pls and thank

[Anonymous No.17163231]

>>17163114
I write gibberish with no story arch. It's basically a set of random events one after the other.

[Anonymous No.17163238]

Is story structure outline with post it notes a meme?

[Anonymous No.17163335]

I wish I was clever/autistic enough to come up with a story as convoluted and interesting as homestuck and with just as few plot holes (the ending notwithstanding)

[Anonymous No.17163349]

>>17163335
imho Tails Gets Trolled is the first post-post-modern novel

[Anonymous No.17163411]

>>17163349
I don't care about who was first. Homestuck was a fucking masterpiece that had so much going for it that I wanted to emulate. No matter how much I try though, I just can't do that

[Anonymous No.17163435]

So how many of you have made the 2021 new year resolution of 'I will begin and/or finish my novel' ?

[Anonymous No.17163439]

>>17163435
I'm committed to participating in a local writing competition with a novel, yes.
And by novel I mean a humorous memoir of my time in the military, presented as a fictional novel.

[Anonymous No.17163813]

>>17163050

sometimes, before specific scenes, i spend more time researching than writing. Mostly googling stuff of course. What plants are edible, what the climate is in that type of climate and other things.
I guess it depends on what you're writing, but since i'm trying to write a realistic post apocalyptic setting, things have to be believable.

[Anonymous No.17163817]

>>17163813
err, biotope* instead of that second climate. You get it.

[Anonymous No.17163862]

>>17158553
i'm trying to seek and read modern english plays, as i've never written a play in english; any recommendations?

[Anonymous No.17163908]

>>17162218
Not using words like "penultimate" when you don't know what they mean.

[Anonymous No.17163934]

>>17163214

i have no idea what this is about but i'm getting the feeling that either she has ptsd (or some repressed trauma) or that she'll discover her magical powers. And i guess that's ok if you're into that sort of stuff.
What annoys me a bit is that there's a lot of focus on the relationship. And i know that this is what people mostly think of, at least when things are going bad, but reiterating the fear of breakup kinda... i zone out.
Then again, i'm old and in a stable relationship. Ther dialogue read realistically, and even though i think her predicament is cringy i think a lot of younger people will find it compelling.
It's decent, as in it won't make or break your novel. But skip the solilguyword in there. no one knows what it means.

[Anonymous No.17164014]

>>17158853
i'm most of the way thru the first draft of my first novel, and have had to overcome multiple humps like this

what's worked for me is just find a way to make it fun - if a scene feels like a chore, skip to a scene you're dying to write and go back to the other one later, or better yet skip it entirely and allude to it in other scenes

if something feels like a chore for you to write, chances are it's gonna feel like a chore for other people to read

[Anonymous No.17164031]

>>17161251
english is more natural to me (spent a large chunk of my childhood in london, all the books i grew up reading are in english), but this is a problem since i am ineligible for juicy grants and the creative writing MA program at my local uni

[Anonymous No.17164066]

>>17161251

any ESL who hasn't studied english at university level and thinks they can write as well in english as in their native language is an idiot and is bound to fail. You are not as good at english as you think, i'm sorry.

[Anonymous No.17164088]

>>17162014
Yes, you write at least 3k words a day. But how many of them are good words?
Even that degenerate King who writes 24/7 makes around 2k words a day. You probably write shit. Show your text. Let us see it.

[Anonymous No.17164097]

>>17161251
Of course my native language. My English level is for communication and shitposting on 4chan, not for writing a book.
Besides, my language is a lot more beautiful to write.

[Anonymous No.17164138]

>>17164014

this is the best advice on writing i've read so far. Just get from start to finish while having fun, then fill in the boring parts. I find that giving things time will also lead to getting new ideas about how you can solve a boring part in a more interesting way.

example: i had to write a part where we slowly get to know that a character that seems fine gradually reveals his true colors as a selfish bastard (and is eventually excluded).

For some reason i was stuck on this idea and i knew it would slow the book down as fuck. I got to the end of the book when it struck me: he gets caught red handed.
I wrote that part, got a great scene where we can get to know that the main character is afraid of conflict and it actually added to the tempo rather than slowing it down.

So give it time, your brain will solve it for you.

[Anonymous No.17164319]

What do you do for the new year?

[Anonymous No.17164360]

>>17164319
I hit the sauna with my dad. He doesn't even know I write at all.

[Anonymous No.17164385]

>>17164066
joke's on you, i can barely read/write in my native language

[Anonymous No.17164456]

How do I keep it simple when every idea I have ends up developing into some kind of epic?

[Anonymous No.17164600]

thoughts on purple prose?

[Anonymous No.17164611]

>>17164600
I love Lovecraft and Howard, of course.

[Anonymous No.17164708]

>try to write pretty sentences and details because /lit/ said this is what literature is
>people call you pretentious

[Anonymous No.17164714]

>>17164600
I love overly flowery and creative language with an almost fractal level of detail, the aversion towards it comes from too many platitudinous "just be yourself" pseuds.

[Anonymous No.17164756]

>>17161439
You are a fag.

[Anonymous No.17164763]

>>17164708
Just be yourself

[Anonymous No.17164774]

>>17164708
Post example.

[Anonymous No.17164777]

>>17164774
I don't write in English

[Anonymous No.17164780]

>read pynchon
>become hyperaware that I will never be as good as him
It doesn't make me want to give it up but it is kind of depressing

[Anonymous No.17164792]

>>17164780
At least you can look like him.

[Anonymous No.17164799]

>>17164792
>that thick head of hair
No, no I will never look this good

[Anonymous No.17164846]

>>17162373
Too shitty to even be a shitpost.
Throw it in the thrash, anon, and don't write this kind of shit anymore. You can do better, even in 300 words.

[Anonymous No.17164859]

>>17162316
xD

[Anonymous No.17164869]

>>17162316
You have to be over 18 to post on this website.

[Anonymous No.17164871]

>>17162316
enjoyable and based

[Anonymous No.17164956]

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/37998/wish-mountain/chapter/598841/one

>To tell of the things that occur on the great and mysterious Wish Mountain, one must delve into the very nature of what it means to be cursed. And if one is to speak of curses, there is no better example than a man by the name of Hress Crinny Dunter. As you follow this first act in his story, before he set foot on Wish Mountain, keep this question in mind: Was Hress Dunter cursed on Wish Mountain, or before?
>The glistening violet grapes were a novelty to Hress. Maybe he knew it was destined not to last. He lay on his king-sized bed that early evening dressed in his newly-tailored white suit with glitters and sparkles like stardust caught in cream. A warm breeze from the window nearby tickled his bare feet, and beyond, framed perfectly, wisps of clouds ushered the sun to sleep under a pink sky. Hress was tall and handsome, broad-shouldered and barrel-chested, with large hands. Big as he was, he retained a good deal of wiry, youthful muscle. His long reddish-brown hair was streaked back and tied in place like a pirate’s, with one long lock of hair curling downwards at the front. His most distinctive feature was his strong jawline and large dimpled chin.

>Earlier in the day for something to do he had gone to the thin strip of beach looking for crabs under rocks where the tide was still low. The clerk, furious with him for trekking sea mud all over the polished floor, but saying nothing, stood at the foot of the bed jotting down everything dictated to him onto eggshell parchment:


>To my dearest Mother and Father.
>“No, wait.”


>Mother. Father. I write to tell you your son has done what none in Knighthaven thought possible. I have become a successful…


>“Scratch that.”
>A man of wealth. Yes mother, I have finally learned how to read and write. I’m sure you’ve heard by now of my heroics at Baywater. In an hour I will be attending the Prince’s Ball where I am to be the guest of honour. The only reason I’m writing this letter to you is to make sure you know that if you turn up looking for a handout you’ll receive none from me. Destiny has determined that you be poor and I be a very rich man who gets everything he deserves.

>Your son, Hress Crinny Dunter.

[Anonymous No.17164983]

>>17160721
How did you get all the days in there? Did you just write them yourself

[Anonymous No.17165071]

>>17164014
>feels like a chore
Chore was the wrong word. I simply meant "I know what's coming, and it's just the laborious task of actually writing it that's left" and the steam I had for the first two thirds has starting to die out.

[Anonymous No.17165148]

>>17164708
Always remember /lit/ will never be satisfied.

[Anonymous No.17165572]

>>17158553
Can someone rate the writing in this? Ignore the scene, please, it was meant to be an ESL writing exercise.

[Anonymous No.17165584]

>>17165572
shit, forgot to post it:
The quick brown fox was as it always were. Eternally jumping over the lazy dog. Her eyes met mine halfway through my analysis of the scene – no, it was mine that met hers, for she was still looking at the same spot.
The spot was a hole in the canvas, something used to be there. By the look on the fox’s face, she was chasing something very important. Prey? Mate? Maybe some grapes? Maybe even God himself, ripped out of the painting since the time he was declared dead.
These are just some of the hypotheses everybody come up with when they see the painting. Some say that in the spot, there used to be just some scenery that the painter didn’t like and decided to rip it off in shame.
No one looks at the lazy dog, though.
The title of the painting is: “Fuck the dog, lazy son of a bitch.”

[Anonymous No.17165591]

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa i have enough I can't I won't make it
I will never be a writer AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[Anonymous No.17165606]

>>17164349
>Describe this image
an offering of oddities
cup of cum and commodities
figurines and a magazine
an ambition beyond the screen

to drop a single dimension
for 2d girls of perfection
a ritual for the lonely
real woman for me? if only
yet in this one-way trip for love
one thing i forgot to think of

strict instructions it read, the mail
the mag, men's tastes was the detail
demographic, i failed surveil
was also for someone female
now i'm unable to turn tail
both, they call themselves a girl (male)

[Anonymous No.17165624]

>>17165591
True, but you can still be a typist.

[Anonymous No.17165629]

>>17164956
Ah, the adventures of Fresh Cunny Hunter

[Anonymous No.17166284]

How do I make the cheery straight man an actually interesting character? He's just there to move the plot forward since the MC is kind of an indecisive bitch.

[Anonymous No.17166307]

>>17166284
you sound like a black woman fixated on race and sexuality
a woman who writes some retarded contemporary shit about gender studies

[Anonymous No.17166321]

>>17166307
Did you quote the wrong post? That certainly came out of nowhere.

[Anonymous No.17166399]

>>17163435
I'll be finishing the first volume of mine this year. Finishing the whole book will take another year or two.

[Anonymous No.17166401]

>>17165629
Fucking KEK

[Anonymous No.17166457]

I don't know where to start my story.

My MC is setting out on an adventure to avenge his dead wife.
I don't know whether to start before the linchpin, and show the relationship between the two, or just start at the lead up to the linchpin and scatter their relationship through out dialogue and/or flashbacks.

Either way, it feels like there will be a lot of preamble before the journey actually starts. Would this deter readers?

pls help

[Anonymous No.17166531]

I am lonely. Should I read or write on this New Year's Eve?

[Anonymous No.17166537]

Chaps I was proud of this paragraph but feel like I can improve it even more. Any suggestions?

[Anonymous No.17166561]

>>17166457
Start interesting, if something sounds boring to you then it will certainly be boringier to the reader.
This doesn't necessarily mean you have to begin at a crucial moment, but the build up to it better be good and be able to stand on its on.

>>17166531
Not using a writing general as your personal blog would be a good way to start the year.

[Anonymous No.17166571]

>>17166561
>Not using a writing general as your personal blog would be a good way to start the year.
I have no friends. You are my only people I can talk to. Can't you be nice?

[Anonymous No.17166579]

>>17166537
it seems like you substituted every other word for a synonym that sounded prettier. But yes, it is pretty good, very visual, just a wee bit pretentious.

[Saint Seiso !Mahdi26/jg No.17166580]

>>17166537
This looks like you wrote it with Microsoft Word's Right-click Synonym Suggester (idk what that thing is actually called, you know what I'm talking about).
This passage also has a lot of telling instead of showing.

[Anonymous No.17166584]

>>17166579
>it seems like you substituted every other word for a synonym that sounded prettier. But yes, it is pretty good, very visual, just a wee bit pretentious.
tfw i literally did this today for one paragraph

[Anonymous No.17166604]

>>17166579
Thank you I think

>>17166580
I don't have that on my word :( but it's just setting up a new scene in the short story.

[Anonymous No.17166627]

>>17166571
I don't even mean this in a hostile way, 4chan is not conductive to social needs and you will derive little gratification from emotionally hanging on to it. Find friends through videogames or something.

[Anonymous No.17166650]

>>17166537
I like it a lot lad. Don't listen to the tripfag, you've done a great job showing as well as telling. Some telling will always be inevitable. My only suggestion would be to tweak the opening line. As much as contrition or gaiety sound cool, it's the only bit that doesn't share the aloof lyricism which I think works really well through the rest of the passage. Maybe change to "over the following days she became aware that none of her efforts... House" and start the next with "her mother seemed to behold her with... Goodnight." then you're good to go. What's the novel about?

[Anonymous No.17166671]

>>17166457
if you don't rewrite your beginning after you've written your ending you are ngmi
do whatever gets you writing the fastest
imo in a long story it's better to show the relationship in a long novel so that near the climax you can have some emotional callback to it after the adventure has carried the protag away from that starting point
in a short story, probably just skip it

[Anonymous No.17166685]

>>17166537
cut sentences 1 and 4

[Anonymous No.17166689]

>>17166650
Thanks anon. That's a good call, I'll tweak the opening line. It's a ~3.5k short story about a family tragedy I'm submitting in the January window, if it gets anywhere I'll share the news with /wg/

[Anonymous No.17166694]

>>17166666

[Anonymous No.17166701]

>>17166537
Kino. How long have you been writing?

[Anonymous No.17166703]

If I get published next year, imma sponsor ever single author here to get their novel out there.

[Anonymous No.17166706]

>>17166321
he probably thought you meant that the man was straight because he's some ESL poltard
give him some trait that your MC aspires to so that when he exits the plot your MC has a reason to be emotional about it and feels a stronger need to internalize/embody whatever the other guy represented
that's at least one cheat code for making a temporary convenience character interesting

[Anonymous No.17166773]

>>17166701
Cheers lad, I've been writing a few years but only really took it seriously this year. I've got 2 short stories out for publication (this will be third) and finally started my novel. I'm not really a very good writer by any stretch but my writing definitely improved when I increased the number of books I read

[Anonymous No.17166798]

>>17166773
>>17166537
Post another excerpt

[Anonymous No.17167879]

>>17165584
>was as it always were
This is wrong.
>Mate
Pedantic but probably should be "a mate".
>These are just some of the hypotheses everybody come up with when they see the painting.
This is wrong.
>Some say that in the spot, there used to be just some scenery that the painter didn’t like and decided to rip it off in shame.
This isn't technically phrased incorrectly but is so clunky that it reads like it is.
Not going to go through and list them but there a lot of incorrect commas too. ESL/10.

[Anonymous No.17167923]

>>17158553
>Hero With a Thousand Faces
so i just read this and the moral of the story is:
>write literally anything happening and it will conform to the hero's journey
woaaaa there's a guy before he leaves his dad tells him to be careful... woaa athe wise old man....... hes walking... he thinks of a goal.... woaaaaaaaa now hes entered a new reality where everything is modulated by that goal.... woaaaaaa in order to complete the goal he has to face trials.. woa the biggest trial is symbolic of his father (the same one that told him to be careful this morning????) ... at some point in the past 3 hours probably after beating the trials he fucked a jezebel... now.... does he keep fucking jezebels or does he go back home at the end of the day?

the hero's journey: something happens to someone. wow what a useful template to write a story by

[Anonymous No.17167938]

>>17167923
>at some point in the past 3 hours probably after beating the trials he fucked a jezebe
HAHAHAHAHA Why did this make me laugh so hard?

[Frater Asemlen !XS8vrClKs2 No.17167960]

Wrote this poem concerning my feelings with the new year.

How chance the roses there do fade so fast?
and the virgin marble must be broken?
because the light of life must never last
and calm silence is the last word spoken


Shall I then silent be, or shall I speak?
and will I wake or shall I stay asleep?
the young trees are soft and terribly weak
yet the strong tree is slain and cannot weep

will the mother who’s maw mangles her young
mingle my breath with the briar’s own blight ?
or will the Welkin’s Wyvern whirl his ancient tongue
and let me dwell in eternal delight?

the question of the bard I shall not wait
my heart has chose to have undying faith

[Anonymous No.17169086]

>>17160542
Translucent means you can see through it though but not clearly

[Anonymous No.17169360]

>>17167879
Thank you, buddy.
>>17166703
WAGMI

[Anonymous No.17169408]

>start writing a story
>5k words
>start writing it differently
>5k words
>rewrite it again
>2k words
>again
do you also do this?

[Anonymous No.17169457]

>>17169408
Yeah. After a certain point, though, you've just got to go for it. Fiddle with the first 5k words once you've got 90k+ on the page.

[Anonymous No.17169542]

>>17164714
Lol nice

[Anonymous No.17169581]

>Part 1 - 20k words
>Part 2 - 45k words
>Part 3 - 20k words

Is this the easiest way to structure a novel? What structure does yours have?

[Anonymous No.17169600]

>>17169581
1st arc: 10k words
2nd arc: 18k words
3rd arc, current and ongoing: 156k words counting

Should note though, that the first 2 arcs were re-written out of order as I was midway into the 3rd arc.

[Anonymous No.17169692]

>>17160498
Sure man, how do I reach you?
Maybe you could email me your discord at [e-mail]

[Anonymous No.17169932]

>>17164708
I can relate to this

[Anonymous No.17170209]

guess who submitted their books to Bezos-sama's slaves today

[Anonymous No.17170261]

/wg/, if I build up a mystery regarding a main character growing up in a mysterious institute only to reveal it was actually a special ed school that left her with permanent self-esteem issues, would it feel like a retcon if I later revealed it actually was up to some mysterious and unethical mad science. the kids were picked because they were ideal test subjects

[Anonymous No.17170383]

How many protagonists are too many?