/wg/-Writing General

[Anonymous No.17959526]

Any progress on your novels?

previous thread:>>17950518

For Prose:
>The Art of Fiction
>Story Genius: How to Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel (Before You Waste Three Years Writing 327 Pages That Go Nowhere)
>On Becoming A Novelist
>Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft
>How Fiction Works
>The Rhetoric of Fiction
>Steering the Craft
>On Writing, Borges

For Poetry:
>The Poetry Home Repair Manual
>Western Wind: An Introduction to Poetry
>This Craft of Verse, Borges

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.17959562]

>Protag is isekai'ed into another world, finds himself inhabiting somebody else's life
>I was that person in that world and I'm this one in this world? What is *I*?

[Anonymous No.17959585]

Been writing jokes for this new non-fiction of mine, The Bumper Book of Mormon Humor. Would love feedback on these.

------------------

What did the Mormon girl do when she was offered a beer at her first frat party?

She pulled her pants back up and left indignantly.

---𐐸𐐪𐐸𐐪---

I saw a Mormon family pull up to one of the free pumps at the gas station at the exactly same time as I did alongside another.

Two women and a man were in the car. When the man got out to start pumping gas, I couldn’t help but lean over and ask him, “What’s it like having two wives?”

He laughed, “The one in the back is my oldest.”

I said back to him, “That’s a really blunt thing to say about one of your wives.”

---𐐸𐐪𐐸𐐪---

Day after debate held at BYU University discussing possible merits of state-wide cannabis legalization, Tribune headline reads: ‘LDS Elders concerned Marijuana could prove gateway drug to Coffee.’

---𐐸𐐪𐐸𐐪---

Following a crackdown on profanity, rowdy young Mormon men are being asked not to play ‘Fuck / Marry / Kill’.

The Church would prefer they stick to ‘Marry / Marry / Marry’.

---𐐸𐐪𐐸𐐪---

What’s the difference between a militant Mormon and a militant Muslim?

The Mormon gets his 72 virgins, before he kills himself.

---𐐸𐐪𐐸𐐪---

Did you hear they’re using Mormons instead of live white rabbits in laboratory testing nowadays?

Apparently, they breed faster and get less emotionally attached!

---𐐸𐐪𐐸𐐪---

-------------------------

Is this something you could see yourself reading potentially 40+ pages of? For only $2.99. My book's during not-too-shabby with the Utahn demographic, but I want to know if there jokes land well with you Gentiles (non-Mormons)?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B091B92XQF

Thanks

[Anonymous No.17959593]

>>17959580
what's it like?

[Anonymous No.17959602]

I am going to singlehandedly FIX the sorry state of modern fantasy

[Anonymous No.17959612]

>>17959526
>Any progress on your novels?
Yes, I'm done now. I was never going to become the next Faulkner, the next Nabokov or the next Joyce, but I hid behind the language barrier to avoid criticism for months, maintaining an illusion that was fun to live in while it lasted.
This will be my final post on /lit/. I've been humiliated and exposed as a fraud. My writing is pretentious, infantile, banal drivel. My observations are dull, my language grade school level. My tenses are mixed up, I use colloquialisms, ellipses and onomatopoeia.
I was never cut out for writing. I began writing my "book" on January 6th. Since then I've produced 65 thousand words for it. These words are a tide of garbage without value, without insight, without form. The themes of time, space, infinity, memory and pointless duelling are not present in my work. It was never real writing, it was anime and weebshit. I don't even know what genre I'm writing. Is it autofiction? A comedy? A picaresque?
Regardless, I have failed. Goodbye.

[Anonymous No.17959618]

>>17959585
>I saw a Mormon family pull up to one of the free pumps at the gas station at the exactly same time as I did alongside another.

>at the exactly same time as I did alongside another.

my critique is to hire an editor before you publish.

[Anonymous No.17959631]

>>17959602
No, I won't let you. I'll help.

>>17959612
>2000 words since last thread
Good job anon.

[Anonymous No.17959638]

>>17959618
There's nothing wrong with that sentence.

[Anonymous No.17959643]

>>17959631
Thanks, I had a really good day since weather prevented me from really spending time outside.

[Anonymous No.17959663]

why is good writing advise so elusive? I can never find good answers on how to practice my writing.

[Anonymous No.17959674]

>>17959638
>I was at the gas station when a Mormon family drove up

[Anonymous No.17959686]

>>17959663
Just fucking write you Neanderthal

[Anonymous No.17959691]

i wanna sniff matsuri

[Anonymous No.17959700]

>>17959686
exactly my point

[Anonymous No.17959701]

>>17959663
Because once you graduate into being traditionally published, you obtain a new circle of colleagues. You share the good information between yourselves and not the stinky unpublished authors. This leaves the unpublished authors only receiving tips from other amateurs like them.

[Anonymous No.17959706]

>>17959674
The persona telling the joke wasn't already "at the gas station", they pulled up "at the exactly same time".

You got filtered by a joke and didn't even understand the composition of the scene correctly.

[Anonymous No.17959723]

>>17959631
>I'll help.
thanks anon. that means a lot. let me know when you've finished my manuscript.

[Anonymous No.17959735]

>>17959706
that's totally wrong. the point of the joke is that the mormon doesn't actually have 2 wives. not your awkward setup

I was at the gas station when a Mormon family drove up.
Two women and a man were in the car. When the man got out to pump gas I couldn’t help but ask him, “What’s it like having two wives?”
He laughed, “The one in the back is my oldest.”
I said back to him, “That’s not really a nice thing to say about one of your wives.”

[Anonymous No.17959760]

>>17959735
Critique whole book?

[Anonymous No.17959764]

Why am I so ashamed of what I've written? I can never re-read my shit. I feel like throwing up and my skin crawls.

[Anonymous No.17959791]

>>17959764
I found some old printed pages of some things I wrote in high school, I read them and they were pretty funny. I even found some stuff from middle school that I did with a friend for a laugh and I still had fun with them, with no cringe or embarrassment on my part.
Maybe I'm narcissistic.

[Anonymous No.17959803]

>>17959760
I like those, they're nice and punchy.
maybe get rid of admittedly in the second joke, or change it
>Because after the 30th the elders (the church? is that what you'd call it?) won't pay for any more daycare fees

[Anonymous No.17959830]

>>17959803
Would you be able to get the whole $2.99 ebook and send any/all feedback to:

https://old.reddit.com/user/johndavidcard/comments/mgcg3o/profile_anchorpost_compiled_links_helpful/

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B091B92XQF

Much appreciated.

[Anonymous No.17959831]

>>17959764
You'll get used to it and eventually it'll stop being a problem.

[Anonymous No.17959934]

>>17959830
You want me to pay you money to critique your work.
With that chutzpah its no wonder the mormons own so much property in vegas while simultaneously purporting to be teetotalers
Just remember with jokes especially, less is more

[Anonymous No.17959951]

>>17959764
edit them

[Anonymous No.17960042]

>>17959791
Oh no, I can re-read really old writings just fine. I'm talking about recent stuff.
>>17959831
It's a recurring problem for me. Some days I can force myself to read through it and manage to edit and polish it. Most days though, the moment I start reading the first few sentences I recoil and want to shrivel up and die.
>>17959951
That's the issue. I go to edit them and can't continue.

[Anonymous No.17960111]

>>17959526
I finished it and you can buy it
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08XR19N6X/

[Anonymous No.17960162]

I'm working out the last kinks of my haremlit story and want a bit of feedback. It's a pretty standard human wizard breaking his vow of celibacy and discovering that he gets stronger with each woman he has sex with.

But I can't decide if this should be a power specific to him and maybe a small number of other chosen ones, or maybe even all humans? Could be neat to make humans super rare, but he doesn't realize it's weird until he goes out into the world or something. I don't want it full isekai, but I'm not against a partial isekai with him getting kidnapped and brought to this world by an evil faerie or something. Or maybe he has a bit of, say, pink dragon blood in his veins and gains power by growing his horde of women instead of gold - but that feels a little too anime-ey to me especially if I make other dragonborns into other villains too. Something like that could support a series on its own, I think. This is like, stuff at the end of the book that wouldn't really get explored unless I write a sequel, but I at least want it set for context and to keep in the back of my mind while I'm writing.

[Anonymous No.17960240]

>>17960162
>It's a pretty standard human wizard breaking his vow of celibacy and discovering that he gets stronger with each woman he has sex with
I guess the obvious issues.
1. why does he have a vow of celibacy? seriously. is it because other people know that having sex makes them gain power. seems tough to hide, in that case
2. this logically would lead to him raping people. or I suppose, more family friendly, charming people with magic first so it feels less rapey
>isekai
3. why? why would you do this in this story.

[Anonymous No.17960275]

>writing a fantasy novel
>characters aren't heroes
>they just sit around a bar talking about secondhand news they hear about the heroic exploits of others
>most non-talking action that happens in the whole story is one of the dudes stepping on and killing a rat
>his friend jokes "oh, looks like you're on your way to be a real adventurer now!"

[Anonymous No.17960377]

>>17960275
sounds comfy. give them day jobs where they have to deal with heroes in come capacity as well. like stableboy, or blacksmith's apprentice. nothing too prestigious

[Anonymous No.17960401]

>>17960240
Great points/questions, thanks. Having this outside perspective really helps. Definitely won't make it a universal wizard thing, then. I don't want it to get too dark with evil wizards going on raping sprees when they find out. Lots of stories have a plot like that and the main character doesn't rape because he's a good guy. I mean, would you start raping in that scenario? Plus. it starts pretty low key and lighthearted, so he has no real pressing reason to get stronger.

>why does he have a vow of celibacy?
Standard wizard thing. It clouds the mind, wizards are above such carnal desires, love corrupts and wizards have too much power to risk being corrupted, things like that. Think of it like a religious order's vow of celibacy. But yeah, maybe it started waaaaay back when because of a similar circumstance, but sex=power won't be a universal wizard thing.

>why? why would you do this in this story.
It seems to be pretty standard in haremlit and would solve why it's just him that gets the power up. But yeah, I usually don't like it so that's definitely out. Glad to know I'm not alone in disliking isekais.

So I've ruled a lot out, but still don't have a solid choice. I think the dragon blood thing has potential for a different series, but what about making him a changeling or faerie touched in some way? That way there can be plots about him finding the fae that took him and we can do a fun The Importance of Being Earnest thing when he finds his fetch. A heartwarming scene with his parents, leading to some danger when his new life follows him home, and maybe even a step-sister romance, if that's allowed on Amazon.

[Anonymous No.17960413]

>>17960275
>>17960377
Call it NPCs.

[Anonymous No.17960554]

>>17960401
>I don't want it to get too dark with evil wizards going on raping sprees when they find out.
that is a real issue
>I mean, would you start raping in that scenario
Do I have access to charm magic? Whats really the difference between charming some girl with your words and charming her with your magic words. Yeah they're different, but in both cases the girl becomes willing and its not "rape" rape.
>I'm not alone in disliking isekais
I have nothing against isekais, but I don't see how it would work in this story. the guy did join a magic order, you'd figure he's got to either have connections or real magical talent in order to do so. Bob Jones from heartland America falling through a portal I don't imagine would have either.
Giving him different ancestry would do it. Or, make it so there are different aspects of magic that people are naturally inclined to do. Like, every wizard can do the same basic shit but then it branches out. Like some can throw fire, some can't. He gets the very rare love one.

[Anonymous No.17960711]

>writing a children's novel
>plug first page into hemingwayapp out of curiosity
>grade 10 reading level
>wut
>plug the first page of Harry Potter into it
>grade 10 reading level
This app is trash.

[Anonymous No.17960758]

serious question but what are some ways to make a story with OP protag interesting?
I only know one punch man as a point of reference

[Anonymous No.17960774]

>>17960758
Internal conflict

[Anonymous No.17960837]

>>17960275
I like it. I'm not even joking, sounds fun.

okay mangs, here's my full pitch for another series I won't ever write
> main characters are three male college students
> they sneak in into college parties all the time
> everybody knows about them but no one really knows who they really are, just that they are always together, at every party, even if uninvited
> one night one of them goes missing in mysterious circumstances during the biggest party of the year (pre-covid)
> the party is on a rooftop
> every chapter is told in a different pov of one of the people present to the party, the perspectives adds new informations to the mystery so that the reader can retrace what happened
> every 3 chapters, it's a main character POV
> it turns out the three college students are part of an unofficial government organization researching strange shit named GRACED
> they're on a mission to locate some kind of SCP that was noticed because of the abnormal local male suicide rates
> the 2 that are searching for their mate can't talk about their mission but have to investigate on the disappearing of their mate by talking to everyone and singling outliers
> the party burns out when some guy grabs a gun and shoots himself in the head
> somebody locked the doors from the outside
> the more is known about the whereabouts of the missing investigator, the wilder things get
> in the end, they gather enough clues to roughly guess what kind of SCP is present there
> the SCP is controlling people and causing their deaths
> it's only targetting male students but not chads
> it's probably aware it's in danger, but controlled people aren't aware they're being controlled
> they recompose the puzzle
> ohfuck.jpg, it's a lesbian hivemind that can control weak-minded incels
> the two investigators aren't sure if they're themselves anymore, they're incels but they're partying like crazy all the time and are smart af, surely they can't be under the control of the hivemind
> or are they?
> they figure out that in the best case scenario, the SCP have a weird limit, like the number of people it can control at a time
> it probably kills people because it can't switch to controlling more people otherwise
> everyone is becoming mad, some guys are jumping off the rooftop to escape
> they figure out the noose is tightening, soon they'll be the only guys around, and they would probably get controlled before the chads
> the SCP must still be around, it must have some kind of area of effect
> it's still killing people like crazy
> why does it feel in danger?
> it must have a primary vessel it can't get out of at the moment since everyone is locked there
> or are they?
> the reader has guessed what's happening now
> the first person to go rogue must be patient zero
> the third investigator is missing since the beginning
> who locked the doors?
> itcantbe.jpg
> the main characters run like crazy
> they pull out some james bond shit, jumping over the rooftop
1/2

[Anonymous No.17960897]

>>17960837
> they break the windows, they get into the apartment downstairs, they beat the shit out of the owner
> they're out, they go up
> the third investigator was waiting for them, cackling madly
> they can't believe the third investigator was an incel all along
> you need to be detained.jpg
> they punch the shit out of him
> third investigator is unconscious
> they listen to the rooftop's door, the killing seems to have stopped
> relief
> back at GRACED, they detain the third investigator
> the guy wakes up but his mind is scrambled
> where is the lesbian hivemind?
> the reader knows
> the reader has known since the beginning but didn't realize at first
> it was the first investigator
> the hivemind has access to the host's memories
> it wanted to get to GRACED in order to eliminate all future threats and now it succeeded
> wait.jpg
> the director of GRACED is a chad
> the second investigator was a special agent from GRACED, charged with counter-espionnage
> the chad figured out everything that happened at the party, he comes down to greet the two returning heroes and ask them to stay in the main hall for a minute
> they get eliminated
> the hive mind is still detained in the primary vessel since it didn't die
> story is over

[Anonymous No.17960930]

copywriter here, some anon wanted to talk to one, so here I be if you are

[Anonymous No.17960937]

So how cliche are magic glass weapons?
>Are they cliche enough that I can get away with using them?
>Or are they obscure enough to be plagiarism
>Or are they so cliche that people will just shake their head if they read about them?

[Anonymous No.17960950]

>>17960937
weapons are scary and you should not include them in your book.

[Anonymous No.17960952]

>>17960911
If you're writing a fairy tale, the assumption is that your story will be a remix of all the common elements of other fairy tales. If you're writing a "serious adult fantasy," it's better to avoid things like that. For your case specifically, glass weapons are typically associated with stuff like elves. Using them wouldn't make or break any book for anyone, really, all other things being the same.

[Anonymous No.17961012]

>>17960937
Only example I've seen of glass weapons, with or without magic,is in The Elder Scrolls, where that's one of the stronger types of light weaponry. Though, granted, I don't read much in the way of fantasy.
What exactly would that even be plagiarizing from?

[Anonymous No.17961061]

>>17959526
any advice for starting a script for a comic? i wouldnt say im a very experienced writer, but i already know the exact story i want to write. im just mostly struggling with getting started, and remaining focused. also any other advice for script writing would be appreciated, im new to it

[Anonymous No.17961063]

>All the media I like to consume is generally about good hearted cute girls fighting monsters
>The only thing I write is about giant assholes fighting colossal dicks

Why do I do this?

[Anonymous No.17961282]

>>17960711
It is trash, but also kids are getting dumber so it may be right.

[Anonymous No.17961372]

>>17960711
Try giving it actual Hemingway and watch it go to town with the highlighting.

[Anonymous No.17961545]

>>17961063
because the greatest heroes get fucked in the ass and live to tell the tail

[Anonymous No.17961680]

>beta reader doesn't understand the saying 'as black as my hat'
>confused that no one is wearing a hat

Am I in the wrong here?

[Anonymous No.17961705]

>>17960837
>strange shit named GRACED
that wasnt a novel that was my childhood...
GATE Program survivor...

[Anonymous No.17961710]

>>17961680
post the segment

[Anonymous No.17961766]

>>17961680
I’ve never heard that phrase before

[Haha No.17961795]

>>17961680
I didn’t know it was a saying, but post the text.

[Anonymous No.17961835]

>>17961766
>>17961795
Not them, but it's an old British saying I think.
From a time when everyone wore black hats.
It just means something black/dark.

[Anonymous No.17962198]

>>17961680
It sounds weird to me and I have never heard anyone say this before, but I imagine it depends on the context

[Anonymous No.17962351]

>>17960111
Looks interesting I'll check it out

[Anonymous No.17962519]

>>17960758
come up with things he can't simply punch his way through or, if he does, it makes the situation worse

[Anonymous No.17962570]

>>17960275
Sounds very, very pointless. Literature is not cinema, people will not respond to deconstruction as an in itself because the standards are not so low.

[Anonymous No.17962609]

>he had to pay double what he usually paid.
What is wrong with this sentence?
I wanna say it's shit because "what" and "he" are both central determiners

Changing it to "He had to pay double his previous price" would correct it, just want to be sure I know why it's bad.

[Anonymous No.17962780]

>>17962609
because you're using an adverb
>he had to pay double the usual price

[Anonymous No.17962825]

>>17959585
This cant be serious, right

[Anonymous No.17962989]

>>17959638
You call yourself a writer? I've only been writing for 3 weeks now and even I can spot the basic mistakes present in this joke.

>I saw a Mormon family pull up to one of the free pumps at the gas station
For starters, too much telling, not enough showing. This is basic. How do we know the family is mormon? Is our narrator psychic? Instead:
>An suv pulled up to the gas station beside me. The back was plastered with Brigham-Young University stickers. "Mormons," I thought.

Now the dialogue.
>“What’s it like having two wives?”
How's that for a greeting? In real life, people say hello and stuff, and writing should always be realistic. I understand that you're going for characterization, but unfortunately you've characterized your characters all wrong. It's actually religious people who are nosy, rude, and bigoted. And if he's religious, shouldn't he be making his wife pump the gas? Actually, this is a GREAT chance for a metaphor of symbolism. Here's how I'd do it.
>The man stepped out from the driver's seat, hot asphalt sizzling beneath his feet. He unlatched the hose from the pump and violently thrust it into gas hole of his vehicle. He began pumping, savagely. The hose looked like a cross between a snake and a penis, and the gas hole was red, like a vagina or an apple. He turned to me and smiled. "Have you heard the good news?" he asked. "What's that?" I asked. His smile slowly turned down into a condescending smirk. "You're going to burn in hell unless you believe everything I say." He began spewing hypocrisy, savage burning hypocrisy, more inflammable than the gasoline he was raping his car with.

Unfortunately your punchline was a bit outdated. I'm gonna disregard that part entirely. I have a better one.

>Desperate to find some common ground, desperate to reach his heart which for so long had been bound frozen by ancient, outdated texts, I looked at the two women sitting in the car. One in front, one in back. Both covered in bruises, both cringing from my glance. "What's it like having two wives?" I asked. He laughed and smiled. "If god didn't want me to have two wives," he said. "Then he shouldn't have given me two fists."

I'm thinking about being an editor so if you want help just reply and ill do your story next.

[Anonymous No.17963058]

>skip the /wg/ for a couple days
>animefags have completely taken over
>conversation consists of magic scales, obviously terrible ideas on how to reinvent fantasy, and actually includes the phrase "OP" outside of a reference to the Original Poster of the thread
We're never going to make it, are we?

[Anonymous No.17963093]

>>17962989
this is perhaps the most plebbit post I've had the displeasure of reading in a long time. actually, in that respect, its a work of art. as satire, brilliant. if real, tragic. bravo anon

[Anonymous No.17963118]

>>17962989
dude its a joke book
you tell jokes

[Anonymous No.17963168]

Anyone here thinking about writing romance?

[Anonymous No.17963232]

>>17960711
Reading level is a meme anyway.

[Anonymous No.17963254]

>>17963168
Half the thread is writing romance as long as smut counts.

[Anonymous No.17963287]

Need a romance recommendations. Have barely read any romance so I figure need to go down the rabbit hole before I give it a go myself.

>>17963254
Not interested in that. Thanks though.

[Anonymous No.17963293]

>three years later and my first draft is still unfinished
>rarely feel excitement for my writing anymore
>rarely think about stories anymore
>procrastinate on writing

god, I feel like shit

[Anonymous No.17963484]

>>17963293
I've experienced this. If you are writing every day, you'll feel excitement for your writing. You'll think about it more and you'll be excited to get to it. Obviously burnout happens, and you'll need a short break, but the worst thing you can do is not write for an extended period. If you have to take a break, do so for no longer than a few days to recharge. If its longer what happened to you will happen. You won't be thinking about it anymore and you'll lose the plot.
Only way to fix it? You have to force yourself back to writing. Not editing or storyboarding, or whatever the fuck else, but writing.
You can do it anon I believe in you.

[Anonymous No.17963486]

>>17963293
No anon, pick yourself up. You can't lose this fight. I believe in you.

[Anonymous No.17963500]

>>17963293
that's okay anon. You'll get back to work tomorrow, ok? tomorrow will always be there for you.

[Anonymous No.17963834]

Wtf do you do with a 20,000 word manuscript? I'm not padding this thing another bit.

[Anonymous No.17963989]

>>17963168
My work kinda involves girls love

[Anonymous No.17964062]

>Another thread ruined.
>No link to books I'd like to read to get better at writing

What's the point in making the OP if you're going to be bad at it? Oh, yeah it's because you want to post your degenerate anime cartoons. Pathetic.

[Anonymous No.17964092]

>>17964062
we will overcome the weebs. the day will come when literature is glorified over cartoons.

[Anonymous No.17964097]

>>17964062
Yeah, I guess after the double-thread debacle we pseuds have given up for now. But holy shit this thread has taken a narcissistic spiral. We were definitely right about animefags fucking everything up.

[Anonymous No.17964160]

>>17964062
>>17964092
>>17964097
So what are some topics we can possibly form a new general thread around? I want it to seem intimidating to animefags but at the same time broad enough to bring in fresh eyes to admire my brilliant ad-lib thinkpieces and excerpts from my heavy-hitting floridawave novelette.

It's seriously starting to feel like tvtropes in here.

[Anonymous No.17964197]

>>17964062
I don't think the OP never had links even as far back as the early threads. It's always been the same links. I imagine if you post a OP template for others that includes some it could be incorporated though.

[Anonymous No.17964211]

>>17963058
>>17963293
>>17964062
>>17964092
>>17964097
>>17964160
>>17964197
Why do you fucks always try and shit up the thread? Always you faggots and never the weebs or anime favs or whatever.

[Anonymous No.17964246]

>>17964211
I was the last anon and I've been watching all this dumb crap unfold from the sidelines: I don't like it either. All it causes is just cause pointless division and gives /wg/ a bad rep.

[Anonymous No.17964254]

>>17964211
this thread is mostly mormon jokes with a little bit of smut and somehow anime is the problem? i guess im not seeing the connection.

[Anonymous No.17964261]

>Wrote over 5000 words today
what about you? how much did you write today?

[Anonymous No.17964269]

>>17964261
If I write one more word, it'll be the furthest in my story I've ever gotten.

[Anonymous No.17964277]

>>17964261
I wrote over 3k yesterday. As for today, I took a break to catch up on some series I've been neglecting.

[Anonymous No.17964310]

>>17964160
Make /crit/ but state in the OP at first that we're breaking away from /wg/ because of weebenism and that it doesn't represent literature, that it's off-topic.

We can also justify the thread by adding that the thread is for posting excerpts and asking for critiques, and discussing critiquing techniques. For example you wouldn't critique a short story the same as a novel. Something like that.

This thread is for asking "how to write" or "how should I do" and grammar stuff, which isn't what the new thread would be about.

We should also have the same OP image, or a handful in rotation to establish some continuity. Everyone one is welcome and since we have a rotation of approved OP's, anyone can make the thread.

what say you?

[Anonymous No.17964330]

>>17964310
there aren't enough people seeking criticism to keep /crit/ alive. Every time someone's tried to split /crit/ off from /wg/ it's just been reabsorbed again a few days later.

[Anonymous No.17964331]

>>17964310
>Make /crit/
Well, good luck. The last one that was posted had like 14 replies before it got archived.

[Anonymous No.17964369]

>>17964310
>Trying to trick people into making /crit/ again
Somethings never change, do they?

>>17964331
It died in 12 replies and half of those of was because some animefag posted his work on /crit/.

[Anonymous No.17964416]

>>17964369
>half of those
>was because some animefag

Interesting.....Kinda like here? He probably sabotaged it because he feared it would be a success, and where would he post his degeneracy if /wg/ died?


We need to take back /wg/, he can go make his anime writing general he chooses too.

[Anonymous No.17964417]

>browsing /wg/ on 4channel's /lit/ board
>people are both talking about and posting their writing
>meanwhile some fag comes along
>nonononono I don't like your writing animefag animefag reeeeeee
we're reaching levels pseud salt never before thought possible

[Anonymous No.17964431]

>>17964254
To me, it just seems like anime-based discussions are very shallow and self-centered. Look what we have in this thread: how can I come up with a threat to make my OP MC seem realistic? Here's 6000 characters describing the plot of a series I'll never produce. One guy legit thinks he can "reinvent" the fantasy genre by writing the world's dullest story. Look how many words I wrote, because apparently this is bodybuilding and just aimlessly typing will somehow improve your writing. People type this shit but all I see is "ME ME ME"

One thing I really like is discussing the relationship between word choice, story structure, and overall vision. How can we pack as much meaning as possible into as few words as necessary, to create prose which transcends simple imagery, language, and rhythm to more effectively communicate our meaning?

Since I'm not a teenager, I'd prefer to have these discussions regarding other people's work instead of trying to draw attention my own. When other people's work consists of anime drivel, there isn't much room for discussion. When a serious writer comes in to share something, and sees nothing but juvenile discussions about power levels, he is dissuaded because he doesn't want opinions from those people.

What you guys don't understand is that there's room for everything, so long as everyone is prepared to share this space. Serious writers can help to elevate your writing above clear prose describing cool ideas, but anime writers can't really help someone who's trying to be literary. It sounds pompous and conceited but it's the plain truth. What really bites is that we pseuds keep making compromises, but whoever keeps making the OP isn't prepared to be civil about this. They won't even choose an anime image which attempts to convey what we're doing here. They won't let us take turns.

This is 4chan, goddammit. There's no place else on the internet like this. Plain text, anonymity, and a complete lack of ranking system, all coming together could have a unique capacity for complete honesty which could seriously serve to turn a new corner in the literary world. We can be better. You can be better. We need only try, and that starts with you jackasses being a little more flexible about the goddamned OP image.

[Anonymous No.17964433]

>>17964417
Well, it stemmed from a schizo paranoid about the OP. Then others likely latched onto it and it snowballed so hard. All because of an anime OP. In all my years even in the toxic swamps of /vg/ I've never seen a general at eachother's throats over the OP being an anime girl or not. Schizophrenia, not even once.

[Anonymous No.17964460]

>>17964431
i am not going to reinvent fantasy, I'm going to FIX it. and I haven't said a word on the matter since because I don't want to say anything before I've got something to back it up. Maybe not a manuscript, maybe just some short stories to prototype my ideas. But I will NOT do the same shit everyone else is doing. I will go BACK to the roots of fantasy. I will go to very beginning of folklore and mythology itself if I have to. I will learn how the old greats did it and I will walk the path they have laid before me. I will be back, and I will FIX everything.

[Anonymous No.17964468]

There is nothing wrong with the name Hress Dunter.

[Anonymous No.17964482]

>>17964460
This might seem like a bit of a semantic squabble, but it looks like you just claimed that you weren't going to "reinvent" fantasy and then immediately proceeded to describe a plan to go back to the basics and re-walk the path of the original masters, until you've corrected the perceived flaws of the genre. Which sounds an awful lot like reinventing it.

[Anonymous No.17964489]

Thoughts on W. W. Watt's 'An American Rhetoric'?

[Anonymous No.17964500]

hi, im gay actor michael douglas

[Anonymous No.17964501]

>>17964431
>Since I'm not a teenager, I'd prefer to have these discussions regarding other people's work instead of trying to draw attention my own. When other people's work consists of anime drivel, there isn't much room for discussion. When a serious writer comes in to share something, and sees nothing but juvenile discussions about power levels, he is dissuaded because he doesn't want opinions from those people.
>What you guys don't understand is that there's room for everything, so long as everyone is prepared to share this space. Serious writers can help to elevate your writing above clear prose describing cool ideas, but anime writers can't really help someone who's trying to be literary. It sounds pompous and conceited but it's the plain truth. What really bites is that we pseuds keep making compromises, but whoever keeps making the OP isn't prepared to be civil about this. They won't even choose an anime image which attempts to convey what we're doing here. They won't let us take turns.
>This is 4chan, goddammit. There's no place else on the internet like this. Plain text, anonymity, and a complete lack of ranking system, all coming together could have a unique capacity for complete honesty which could seriously serve to turn a new corner in the literary world. We can be better. You can be better. We need only try, and that starts with you jackasses being a little more flexible about the goddamned OP image.

fucking this, this is the last bastion of hope and free speech and it's...it's being ruined by...by...by this fucking weeb!

[Anonymous No.17964508]

>>17964416
/crit/ always died because it was full of stupid pseud shit and poems and other trash and only a few critiques per thread. It died in favour of /wg/. To say otherwise is to show how delusional you are.

[Anonymous No.17964520]

Any books to help me getting better at prose?

[Anonymous No.17964545]

>>17964520
check the OP, there should be links.

[Anonymous No.17964559]

>>17964482
alright you win this time
but ill be back. and when im back ill have something so good even you will have to admit that it is at least a little bit ok and not anime in the slightest.

[Anonymous No.17964776]

>>17964431
This post is gold

[Anonymous No.17964837]

>>17959526
Is it true that the Isekai genre is oversaturated? I want to write a classical styled Xuanhuan / xianxia webnovel with reincarnation. However, I've seen a lot of people on youtube, reddit and 4chan complaining about the isekai genre. The general argument seems to be that it's generic, banal and overplayed.
I've seen hordes of people (especially on /a/ and /lit/) who will straight up refuse to read Isekai simply because they associate it with low quality.
With that in mind, do you guys think there's still a market for isekai? Or am I simply too late to the trend?

[Anonymous No.17964847]

>>17964837
>genre is shit on across the entire fuckin interwebs
>am I too late
ya think, anon?

why do you want isekai anyway? why not some other genre?

[Anonymous No.17964848]

>>17964837
we don't even want it in this general. we have a problem with weebs atm.

[Anonymous No.17964854]

>>17964848
This. Fucking Alice in Wonderland and Wizard of Oz ruined everything

[Anonymous No.17964870]

>>17964847
>why do you want isekai anyway
It would be a great way for me to throw a naive character into a dog eats dog world where only the strong survive; I want their to be this massive cultural shock for the protagonist who goes from his pampered life in modern times to a literal hell on earth warring state era society where only the strong survive - now there are ways I could do this without isekai but I would have to make massive, sweeping changes to my story's outline which would lead to a fundamentally different story then the one I currently have planned.

[Anonymous No.17964871]

>>17964854
The problem is not weebs writing, or weeb writing. It's the fact that the general is called "/wg/ - writing general" and the OP image is off-topic. There's random listing and no links and traditional publishing, really? most anons can't even make it on RR. it's absurd the state we're in.

[Anonymous No.17964896]

>>17964871
>OH NO THE OP IMAGE IS A WEEB IMAGE ON THE WEEB WEBSITE
Anon... you don't actually want to write anything. Otherwise you'd be doing it instead of complaining about the OP.
I myself have written 133 words this morning and more are to follow.

[FranxxRewrote No.17964903]

>>17964896
Put this weeb in the trash bin.

[Anonymous No.17964921]

>>17964896
>THE WEEB WEBSITE
This argument is flawed, this may have passed in 2008, but it's 2021 buddy. This is a mainstream image board. If you want to indulge in degeneracy, there is a board for it (/a/). I'm pretty sure that they'd allow a weeb writing general over there since it's on topic. Hey you can even draw little mangos! Doesn't that sound fun!

[Anonymous No.17964922]

>>17964837
There will always be a demand for isekai. Hell, Muv Luv Alternative is finally getting an anime adaptation in a little over 8 months and that's a precursor to most of the modern ones. But getting back on track, it depends on what "market" you're talking about. Are you referring to all the various western web novel platforms out there? Then yes, it very much still is.

Now if you're talking about kindle/amazon/Barnes and Nobles and whatever constitutes as tradpub, then I imagine the market is far smaller but that's a topic I don't specialize in. You would have to do some research for yourself to see what sells and what might have over 1k units of books sitting in your garage.

>>17964870
I imagine you can make it work as a foreigner being shipwrecked on a NotJapan/China/whatever island/continent. That way it can remain as a fantasy without the isekai elements. Even isekai notwithstanding, I imagine fantasy still sells pretty well in the western markets.

[Anonymous No.17964932]

>>17964870
>I want their to be this massive cultural shock for the protagonist
People used to do that just fine with bildungsroman, hero's journey type arcs and you can and should do that too

>I could do this without isekai but I would have to make massive, sweeping changes to my story's outline
Sounds to me like this is the real problem then. What are these massive, sweeping changes?

[Anonymous No.17964940]

>>17964871
I think a compromise for the OP is to at least find images of anime girls writing. There's like a thousand images on gelbooru for just searches of '1girl' and 'writing' tag combined.

>>17964921
I don't think /a/ allows for western stuff, the very first rule is 'All images and resulting discussion should pertain to anime or manga.' Having come from there a few months before /wg/ first popped up there did in fact used to be a niche homebrew group in the subset of the isekai threads. But a lot of writers either lost steam or were driven out by an extremely vocal autist and I think the jannies were cracking down on them as well.

[Anonymous No.17964966]

>>17964940
You don't understand, the general tried compromise BUT the moment someone else made the thread the weeb went into a nerd rage and started camping the thread, making threads at unholy hours of the night.. Pretty sure he same fags so that the post count works in his favor. This gen goes slow. He won't allow anyone. He's so petty that when someone makes a thread and he beats the next person to it, he won't link to the prev thread. it's amazing tbqhwy.

That's not all, he does this on three threads, check the file name and go check these out (https://boards.4channel.org/lit/thread/17937785)) same style as this one, and when he goes full autismo and makes them at weird times he'll use this file name (https://boards.4channel.org/lit/thread/17954975)), what do they all have in common my dear watson? All three have weeb op images.

That image doesn't represent what people do here. He can't even be bothered to make a good OP.

[Anonymous No.17964974]

>>17964966
>That image doesn't represent what people do here
i dont know sometimes ill sit outside and have a good long think

[Anonymous No.17964985]

>>17964966
Okay schizo

[FranxxRewrote No.17964990]

>>17964985
Oh, so he's you.

[Anonymous No.17965016]

>>17964966
You know, I actually had no idea about the other general's OPs. Interestingly it doesn't seem like either of them are complaining about the vtuber pics. I'm not sure what to make of it, really. I feel like anon(s) who complained about it blew things far too out of proportion but at the same time this subtle hijack is bizarre.

[Anonymous No.17965072]

>>17964966
>BUT the moment someone else made the thread the weeb went into a nerd rage
Not this shit again. Why do you keep pushing this shit that never happened? No anons was angry.

[FranxxRewrote No.17965161]

>>17964431
>Since I'm not a teenager, I'd prefer to have these discussions regarding other people's work instead of trying to draw attention my own. When other people's work consists of anime drivel, there isn't much room for discussion. When a serious writer comes in to share something, and sees nothing but juvenile discussions about power levels, he is dissuaded because he doesn't want opinions from those people.
What stupid dipshits ever go into power level discussions here?
>They won't even choose an anime image which attempts to convey what we're doing here. They won't let us take turns.
No one takes turns on 4chan. You either make the next thread or get beaten to it.

[Anonymous No.17965179]

What is your favourite thing about Wish Mountain?

[Anonymous No.17965196]

>>17965179

[Anonymous No.17965198]

>>17965179
bro i tried reading but you head hop like a motherfucker it's givin me whiplash man like if you're trying to do 3rd person limited please pick one pov and stick to it my neck hurts so bad

[Anonymous No.17965233]

>>17965179
That you are trying so hard

[Anonymous No.17965248]

>>17965198
I've cut down on head hopping a lot in later chapters. Will probably go over the first ten chapters and cut down the head hopping a lot. I am genuinely taking steps to deal with this issue.

[Anonymous No.17965255]

>>17965248
alright im going to have the page open and keep refreshing it, little man. i won't stop to read it until i see a good fuckin story.

[Anonymous No.17965259]

>>17965255
I think it just needs harder editing. Taking away the fat. It's easier to do with feedback so thanks.

[Anonymous No.17965285]

Do anons know the pain of working hard on a story only to get shitty feedback? I do...I do...

[Anonymous No.17965295]

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/37998/wish-mountain/chapter/609878/chapter-one

Changed the opening chapter structurally to start with the Prince's death.

A toast! to /lit/!

[Anonymous No.17965319]

70k words in. Having a hard time finishing it because the second half of the story almost feels like a different story. The main character undergoes a spiritual transformation and basically becomes a completely different person and the world is seen to be completely different. It's disorienting.

In the first part the main character is struggling against the world -- basically. In the second part, the main character becomes like buddha and the world then seems to struggle instead of him. So there's an inversion...where the world basically becomes the main character, in a sense, which has to now overcome the main character.

I can't seem to bring the two parts of the story together because all of the tension of the first part is resolved in order to give birth to the second part...and so the second part seems alien because it's not working to resolve the tensions developed/resolved in the first.

[Anonymous No.17965322]

>>17965295
wow fucking spoilers much?

>>17965285
post an excerpt, I'm curious.

[Anonymous No.17965330]

>>17965322
The Prince’s Ball came vividly to Hress. The music, dancing, and splendidly dressed nobility, the ballroom gleaming in golden tones, the high ceiling sparkling with a dozen chandeliers. And the polished ballroom floor doubled the wondrous opulence, as if the ballroom were a pocket of some other world where famine and decay could not linger.

Hress had felt like a stowaway that night at the Prince's Ball. It was two weeks since the night of the blood-drinker incident and in that time he had become a local hero in Baywater. He had grown enough in his celebrity to be given a special invitation as the guest of honour to the Prince’s ball. He had washed himself twice over and shaved, as was the manner of the wealthy. He had combed his hair and spent an inordinate amount of money on his sparkling outfit. Yet for all his efforts he couldn’t change the way he spoke, or how he fumbled through the little etiquettes of polite society. He felt like some accursed beast on show rather than the honoured guest he was supposed to be. Wanting to be on top of his game, Hress pretended to drink several glasses of the bubbling gold liquor offered to him every few minutes by one servant or another. He had drunk a large mug of water before leaving for the ball and he hadn’t drunk since. A game began where Hress put the champagne aside when he thought nobody was looking, only for one of the servants to accost him with yet another, which he accepted to save face. A servant girl had been on her way from the ground floor kitchen to the royal study when she came upon Hress Dunter in a lavish hallway adjacent to the ballroom, he was peeing into a large plant pot. He was dressed in a garish cream-coloured suit with a tall collar that sparkled ridiculously.

“What are you doing?” said the servant girl in a loud whisper.


“Just a sec,” said Hress, continuing to water the plant. He glanced over to the servant girl.

She was holding a tray of expensive wine bottles, looking both shocked and amused. “This is the Royal Palace!”

“Couldn’t find the lavatory,” said Hress. “My apologies. Almost there.”


The pee-stream continued.


“You’ll be in serious trouble for this,” said the servant girl.
“Probably.”
“Are you Hress Dunter?” she said, already knowing the answer.
“Naw. Who’s he?” said Hress.
“Liar!” said the servant girl playfully.

The servant girl left before Hress finished peeing a moment later. He buttoned his fly and watched her walk farther down the palace corridor, catching her gaze as she looked over her shoulder. Does she want me to follow? Hress thought. Maybe she wants me to find her once this ball is over. The idea was enticing. He had spoken to many of the wealthiest and most powerful men and women in Rose Kingdom for the past few hours and found himself bored out of his mind.

[Anonymous No.17965333]

>>17965285
That's art. Not everyone is going to resonate with your work. You just have to take it on the chin and know that others can't peer into your inner soul and see the work as you do.

[Anonymous No.17965498]

>>17965295
I like the intro change, straight into the action

[Anonymous No.17965508]

>>17965498
Thanks for the input, much appreciated.

[Anonymous No.17965581]

>>17965330
>>17965295
>The pee-stream continued.
>“Naw.
>The servant girl left before Hress finished peeing a moment later.
>Does she want me to follow?

lol, fucking lol. fucking wish mountain lmao. this reads like a comedy movie but the names keep it fantasy or sci-fi. This excerpt and the series art makes no sense, when do the big titty vampires come out?
>inb4 read and find out.

[Anonymous No.17965594]

>>17965581
Just embrace the parody wish mountain guy, it’s the best part

[Anonymous No.17965598]

>>17965594
I'm not the wish mountain guy. His story is all over the place, felt like I was reading a bond movie.

[FranxxRewrote No.17965618]

That reminds me. I am changing the intro to Franxx into something more atmospheric. I figured that with the setting in mind, you can go from watching over the ruin cities, to klaxosaurs roaming around them, and finally, the plantation. I figured that would be a more thrilling way to introduce the reader to the setting and its basic conflicts.
I always thought it was awkward on how there wasn't any real sense of sadness for humanity losing their homes to literal monsters. Monsters that only destroy what's left of it. It's more like a background detail that barely matters to any character in the show for some reason.

[Anonymous No.17965650]

In order to improve my vocabulary, I've been writing my own private dictionary for like months now. I just got to 100 pages, which is about 700 words.

[Anonymous No.17965653]

>>17965650
What the fuck? Just buy a thesaurus, you absolute idiot

[Anonymous No.17965654]

Let's see what lit thinks of my shitty short story. I'm an ESL.

[Anonymous No.17965663]

>>17965650
>doesn't use fancy vocabulary in his post.
ngmi energy.

[Anonymous No.17965705]

>>17965653
>Just buy a thesaurus, you absolute idiot
>buy
>thesaurus
>you absolute idiot
>absolute idiot
>buy

[Anonymous No.17965742]

To ameliorate mine own pitiable lexicon, I have undertaken the laborious endeavor of penning an especial vocabularium, an excursion which has taken many fortnights. 'tis be the hope that the accretion of words will coalesce into masterful wordsmithery, and I will develop an idiosyncratic style and flourish as an auteur. At present, I have written on one-hundred folios approximately at a rate of a heptad of words per page.

>>17965663
there happy

[Anonymous No.17965759]

>>17965705
purchase a book of synonyms you nincompoop

[Anonymous No.17965760]

>>17965742
fucking pseud.

[Anonymous No.17965793]

>>17959526
My editor told me that the way my novel is represented felt like it was rushed and lacking. I am depressed now.

[Anonymous No.17965798]

>>17965650
that's literally what an autist would do
if you want to flourish as an author, just write

[Anonymous No.17965799]

>>17964261
I wrote 5k words today. In the past days I wrote abut 40k words, but I had to delete it because of how awful it was. I am never following anyone who says 'just write' ever again.

[Anonymous No.17965853]

>>17965799
> "I deleted it because of how awful it was"
> he isn't aware reading your previous writings always make you cringe until you edit the shit out of it
> tfw man nearly write the first draft of his book and delete it while you struggle to even write 1k words a day

[Anonymous No.17966074]

I am using grammarly as my word processor.

[Anonymous No.17966083]

>>17965853
Not that anon, but I once abandoned a 100k+ word draft, because it was simply beyond repair. You can't achieve miracles in editing, sometimes it's better to just cut your losses.

[Anonymous No.17966108]

>>17965654
>I lighted up a cigarette

[Anonymous No.17966123]

>>17966108
had a block on the same thing, burgerland truly is another world

[Anonymous No.17966132]

>>17964261
zero but i just got my third ever short story published. it's some no-name website/journal and i really need to get back to writing. it's been a fucking month, fuck

[Anonymous No.17966174]

>>17959612
Please don't give up anon, you will regret the time you spent wallowing in your failures when you could have spent even more time improving. You clearly enjoy writing, so just do it for yourself for now until you are ready to come out and show your work again. You were never going to write the next Odyssey on your first try, so take what you have learnt and keep getting better. I know you can do it!

[Anonymous No.17966188]

>>17966174
Anon it's a pasta. It's a constantly evolving and changing pasta, yes, but a pasta nonetheless.

[Anonymous No.17966197]

>>17966188
Oh fuck, I've been had

[Anonymous No.17966206]

Hey /wg/. I'm Russian, but I'd like to write in English. I am fluent in English (and French by the way), however I do not have the vocabulary of a native speaker. I write in a rather simple and straightforward style. How fucked am I? Will I be able to write a novel in a language that isn't my mother tongue?

[Anonymous No.17966218]

>>17966206
Keep an online thesaurus handy and you can do it!

[Anonymous No.17966241]

>>17962989
Show don’t tell doesn’t apply to knock knock jokes anon

[Anonymous No.17966243]

>>17959526
Why isn't there a pastebin with the resources for download? I might provide one after I find and download shit from the pasta

[Anonymous No.17966257]

>>17963093
It's good satire, I think

[Anonymous No.17966260]

Show don't tell doesn't work. Anyone who says otherwise is a hack

[Anonymous No.17966276]

>>17966260
Huh

[Anonymous No.17966280]

>>17966132
Im proud of you

[Anonymous No.17966292]

How many words do you guys set as your daily writing goal?

[Anonymous No.17966320]

>>17966292
1k

[Anonymous No.17966325]

>>17966292
Counting words is fucking stupid in my opinion. Writing is not about word count. What if you reach your desired number of words, but your writing is still shit? Set goals like "I want to finish this scene today" / "I want to solve this particular problem" / "I want to get to this part of the narrative".

[Anonymous No.17966365]

>>17966325
>set specific goal
>fail
>don't make any progress
>get depressed
vs
>set word count goal
>no matter what troubles you run into in the narrative, you're always making some progress
>all writing helps you develop

[Anonymous No.17966405]

>>17964433
The worse thing about it, is that they keep denying this shit.

[Anonymous No.17966440]

>>17966292
word count doesn't matter, writing a good story does

[Anonymous No.17966447]

>>17966440
>can't write a good story
>stop writing
Bad advice.

[Anonymous No.17966463]

>>17966447
>write reams and reams of unreadable drivel
>wordcount matters, not quality
>feel unwarranted sense of accomplishment
>never actually improve
>"why aren't I getting better"
All things in moderation, lad.

[Anonymous No.17966471]

>>17966463
The only way to improve is by writing. You need to write, even if it's shit. If you say "I have to write something good", you'll fail, because you're not there yet.

[WishMountain !c1TjLrVNNA No.17966486]

I'm around if anybody has any questions about writing. You at least have my work as a benchmark for how much you should take my advice.

[Anonymous No.17966489]

>>17966365
No, if the words that you write are shit, you are not "making progress", you are deluding yourself into thinking you are doing something productive when you're not. It's procrastination. It's like the "just draw" advice for art, really. "All" writing doesn't help you develop, you have to be smart. Writing is not a mechanical process.

[Anonymous No.17966497]

>>17966489
Well if you think so, then I'm sure you have something to back it up.

[Anonymous No.17966501]

>>17966365
>set specific goal
>fail

Then don't fail.

[Anonymous No.17966506]

>>17966501
>just be good LMAO XD
Wow such good advice

[Anonymous No.17966520]

>>17966471
I know, lad, I have half a million words of drivel of varying ludicrosity under my belt. The difference is that I set out to write with improvement in mind, not with wordcount.

It's perfectly analogous to measuring exercise in reps instead of gains. You might think "oh look I jog 30 minutes and do 50 pushups every day I'm fucking sculpted" but in reality you aren't actually gaining because you continue to scarf burgers and chips

>>17966489
Yes, and this is exactly what most rookies think. "I'll just write and improve". But they end up never improving because they're just churning out loads and loads of shit

[Anonymous No.17966530]

>>17966520
I see, so instead of constantly working on our writing we should just be good and write well. I never would've thought of that myself.

[Anonymous No.17966554]

>>17966280
thanks i love you

[Anonymous No.17966567]

>>17966530
No, I suggest working on your writing instead of constantly writing.

Let me ask you, what is the number one writing mistake that you make which you are trying to improve in your current writing? How are you trying to improve it?

[Anonymous No.17966572]

>>17959526
My breakthrough philosophical journal yes. My breakthrough surrealist dystopian novel, no.

[Anonymous No.17966574]

>shower epiphanies
>dreams
>daydreams
>copy-pasting IRL shit but changing the names
How do you come up with your stories, /wg/?

[Anonymous No.17966578]

>>17966567
Typos
I try to get over the cringe of reading my own writing to catch the typos

[Anonymous No.17966584]

>>17966574
All of the above

[Anonymous No.17966591]

>>17966578
There you go. Now that's properly "working on your writing" - learning to edit instead of mindlessly shitting out hundreds and hundreds of poorly-spelled nonsense. You wouldn't begrudge the time spent tidying up your typos thinking "I could have spent that on writing more wordcount", and so you shouldn't.

Quality > quantity.

[Anonymous No.17966599]

>>17966591
I see, so I should just write well from the beginning without the practice.
I can't do that.
Therefore I should stop writing.

[Anonymous No.17966605]

>>17966599
You should do both

[Anonymous No.17966615]

>>17966605
But how do I work on my writing if I'm only allowed to write well? I'd rather write a lot. Practice makes perfect.

[Anonymous No.17966642]

>>17966615
Ignore him anon, typos are for the publisher to fix. Just write.

[Anonymous No.17966663]

>>17966260
Wrong. Show don't tell is one of the moat important fundamentals that a writer can learn. It's vital that an author is able to accurately describe the story within his reader's mind.

[Anonymous No.17966672]

>>17966574
Your greentext is exactly how I come up with my stories.

[Anonymous No.17966692]

>>17960275
Based. If done well it could be a comfy and interesting read
>>17962570
>Literature is not cinema,
That's exactly why his book idea is great, you mongoloid. Go back to suck sanderson's micropenis

[Anonymous No.17967007]

What are the biggest pros and cons of making your own universe? Is it better to just use a readymade one that has some popularity in a genre if I'm just starting to write?

[Anonymous No.17967020]

>>17967007
>What are the biggest pros and cons of making your own universe?
The Socio-political-economical backgrounds of characters and society.

[Anonymous No.17967041]

>>17967007
Worldbuilding is cringe and the biggest meme literature has produced in the last century.
Focus on characters, read poetry, learn how to properly express what you want to say and forget about making up countries and names

[Anonymous No.17967061]

>>17967041
You got to have some sort of worldbuilding, even if you hate it.

[Anonymous No.17967063]

>>17967061
No you don't

[Anonymous No.17967081]

>>17967007
Biggest pro is that you do what you want how you want. Biggest con is making readers care enough to learn it.

Also, remember that there's more to literature than contemporary or non-fiction. I mean, goodness gracious, if I ever read another story about a big guy with a big chip on his shoulder wrapped in a pretentious medieval or modern foil, I'll go read a chinese novel just to cleanse my pallet.

[Anonymous No.17967085]

>>17967063
Yeah, you do, anon. Especially if the story you're writing is fantasy or science-fiction. Even in non-fiction works, you have world building.

[Anonymous No.17967117]

>>17967041
Cringe: worldbuilding before you write the story
Cringe: not worldbuilding at all
Based: not worldbuilding in the first draft but doing it in the second

[Anonymous No.17967131]

>>17964489
Bump.

[Anonymous No.17967134]

>>17967085
>if the story you're writing is fantasy or science-fiction
That's where worldbuilding belongs to
>Even in non-fiction works, you have world building.
The world you are looking for is 'setting', not 'worldbuilding'

[Anonymous No.17967139]

>>17967117
>Cringe: worldbuilding
Fixed.

[Anonymous No.17967178]

If a character has a power to make things grow and uses it on fruit to stave off starvation, would it fill their stomach the same amount? The power only increases the size, it doesn't add matter.

[Anonymous No.17967183]

>>17967139
Shut the fuck up you fucking toad, what have you written? Have you finished a second draft of anything in your whole life? You're a fucking toad and I'll spit in your mouth. PTOO!

[Anonymous No.17967192]

>>17967178
But you already sidestepped the matter issue to increase the size? Or is it a specific limitation, turning a fruit into a balloon?

[Anonymous No.17967232]

>>17967192
Its limit is objects/people can only be increased 2x their original size. They're weaker structurally because their atoms are slightly larger but also spaced out from eachother.

[Anonymous No.17967242]

>>17965799
I think "just write" works better if you're doing nonfiction, which doesn't need to follow a cohesive narrative that you can screw up and have to totally redo if you write without too much thought. When I'm setting out to write an essay or something I usually start by shitting out every thought I have related to the topic into a mess of loosely-connected paragraphs, then once I'm sure I've laid out everything I want to say, I figure out how I want to structure it and do as much rewriting as need be, usually starting from scratch again.

[Anonymous No.17967262]

>>17967232
Then they would be as filling, volume wise, but half as nutritious.

[Anonymous No.17967295]

>>17967262
Thank you, that helps a lot

[Anonymous No.17967427]

>>17966584
>>17966672
nice

[Anonymous No.17967453]

For you wagecucks that have to work for a living to support your writing, what do you do and how do you not kill yourself because of it?

[Anonymous No.17967476]

>>17967453
Watch anime.

[Anonymous No.17967494]

>>17959526
I hope not, I hope everybody here is suffering from writers block and then subsequently the chopping block.

[Anonymous No.17967504]

>>17967453
I'm a receptionist at a television studio. I sit at my desk all day and do absolutely nothing (sometimes I have to give keys to certain people, but that's about it). Because there is nothing to do, I am allowed to have my PC with me. I write and read and browse 4chan all day. Being at work helps me focus on my writing and productivity as opposed to being at home where I focus on my second job (which is graphic design/concept art). I am currently at work eating a chocolate bar and drinking coffee. It's comfy.

[Anonymous No.17967533]

>>17967504
fuck are you me? i'm an admin at a real estate company, since the pandemic almost no one comes in so i watch anime and browse /lit/ til i punch out.

[Anonymous No.17967555]

>>17959526
I'm unemployed and have put my novel on hold to put food on the table writing erotic novellas to sell on Amazon.
I feel dirtier than a whore on OnlyFans right now

[Anonymous No.17967562]

How do I stop my character from losing his shit suddenly?

[Anonymous No.17967646]

>>17967562
By making him into an adult.

[Anonymous No.17967724]

>>17967453
Transcriptionist. I became a professional two years ago and because it needs a lot of writing. I make like 100$ dollars per day.

[Anonymous No.17967728]

>>17967555
Why? Writing Erotica is a legitimate way to make money?

[Anonymous No.17967763]

>>17967453
I don't do it to support my writing, because it's just a hobby until an agent likes my manuscript, but I work as a writing tutor at my college.

[Anonymous No.17967780]

>>17967453
>he doesn't earn 800$ dollaros a week, releasing shitty chapters in royalroadl once a week
Not going to make it

[Anonymous No.17967795]

>>17967646
I thought it's acceptable to lose your shit when an entire cave system collapses on top of you. Or is being numb about it being part of an adult as well?

[Anonymous No.17967955]

>>17967780
But the pseuds look down on that.

[Anonymous No.17967981]

>>17967728
I could make a fantasy adventure, for example, about a kingdom's heir and a shadow bodyguard taking revenge for being exiled to the ancient castle on the board of the magic beast land. Who then learned how to become proper royalty when the countrywas besieged by ancient evil.
On its own it would have a hard time getting noticed, because I'm neither a professional editor nor artist. But if I make the main characters into good looking women that manage to move plot forward despite having to use lewd magic, or having to be in bondage most of the time, it'll stand out to specific audience.

[Anonymous No.17968098]

>>17967981
Don't be ashamed of making erotica, anon. It's a viable way to earn money on the side or live on it.

[Anonymous No.17968120]

>>17967183
I've finished a second draft, currently on my third.

[Anonymous No.17968141]

Is it bad that I started making my outlines like greentexts?

[Anonymous No.17968169]

>>17968141
It's not "bad" per se, but over the years I've found that it's better to write them out in proper sentences

[Anonymous No.17968190]

Why is /wg/ so against editing? People are always crying about how their first drafts are no good.

[Anonymous No.17968193]

>>17968169
I mean I do write them in proper sentences now. Just for some some reason my autism makes me think that I am doing it better this way. I can't write outlines without them

[Anonymous No.17968212]

>>17968190
Silly anon, my draft needs to be perfect and if it's shit then it automatically goes to the bin without question.

[Anonymous No.17968214]

>>17968141
It's how I made mine.

[Anonymous No.17968221]

>>17968193
No no, you're on the right track. Take notes in proper sentences.

[Anonymous No.17968301]

>>17968190
>Why is /wg/ so against editing?
I'm not against editing. I know my first draft is going to be shit, so I just write what I can and check on it later. I know I have to do this shit for two or three more times.

[Anonymous No.17968318]

>>17968190
Because time spent editing is time not spent producing wordcount wordcount wordcount

[Anonymous No.17968433]

>>17968318
Editing is part of writing, anon. Every author has edited their draft multiple times.

[Anonymous No.17968638]

Athletes train every day.
Artists sketch every day.
What are some exercises a writer can do daily to level up their skills?

[Anonymous No.17968661]

>>17964431
>We need only try, and that starts with you jackasses being a little more flexible about the goddamned OP image.
Sounds great. Maybe you could practice what you preach instead of writing a pseud wall of text.

[Anonymous No.17968703]

>>17968638
>What are some exercises a writer can do daily to level up their skills?
I write short stories of my favorite shows when I was little. I helps me write more and gets me creative.

[Anonymous No.17968966]

>>17964508
>>17951661
I notice that you've copied this post but removed "anime trash". Hit a nerve, did it?

[Anonymous No.17969025]

>>17968190
>Why is /wg/ so against editing?
People are delusional enough to think that they only need one draft and they will be done with it. It's why they try to make it perfect. Seen it in highschool and in community college. Those type of people get burnt out quickly.

[Anonymous No.17969162]

>>17967780
>>he doesn't earn 800$ dollaros a week, releasing shitty chapters in royalroadl once a week
Fuck, how do you earn that much in a week?

[Anonymous No.17969195]

>>17969162
he doesn't. it's just a fucking ad. royal retard jannies do their advertising here and there's nothing we can do about it.

[Anonymous No.17969212]

>>17969195
that's why they need anime in the op image. that's the signal that gets weebs into the thread for them to advertise to.

[Anonymous No.17969247]

>>17969212
Are you still trying to stir up shit?

[Anonymous No.17969325]

>>17969195
There are people who earn a thousand dollars on royal road.

[Anonymous No.17969390]

>>17959585
the marry marry marry one is great.

[Anonymous No.17969392]

Chapter 24 released.
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/40361/erased
I rewrote the blurb based on the feedback I received from the previous thread, it should provide more context when starting the story and hopefully be less dogshit awful.
Hope you're all making progress on your projects.

[Anonymous No.17969404]

>>17969392
Forgot about you. I'll follow your story.

[Anonymous No.17969409]

>>17966292
500 words at minimum. I generally surpass it, but I don't always write every day.

>>17966574
One of my one-shot short stories was based on a dream. Other than that one in particular it's been anime

[Anonymous No.17969435]

Has any of you wrote a Social science fiction (they call it anticipation fiction here in France, I find the term "social science fiction" simplistic) piece? I'm thinking of writing one with a light touch of SF and surrealism.

[Anonymous No.17969543]

please

[Anonymous No.17969552]

>>17969543
>dialogue tags not punctuated properly
You know the drill, doesn't deserve any more critique than that, etc., etc.

[Anonymous No.17969569]

>>17969552
nah I don't know the drill, but whatever, your loss.

[Anonymous No.17969573]

>>17969392
Blurb is a lot more interesting now, way clearer what the story will be about

[Anonymous No.17969580]

What’s the quickest way to develop a full-time income from writing?

[Anonymous No.17969587]

>>17969569
Come ON, man. Lurk a little before posting.

[Anonymous No.17969599]

>>17969543
My autism hates your use of 'The'.

[Anonymous No.17969602]

>>17967453
I’m a budget analyst. I want to kill myself.

[Anonymous No.17969608]

>>17969404
appreciate it
>>17969573
thanks, I'm much happier with it

[Anonymous No.17969610]

>>17969587
why would I read any of the crap you people write lol

[Anonymous No.17969668]

Older work, I've never shared. Wrote it about 2 years ago, like to think I'm less verbose and more certain, but critique away mine as well edit and I'm sure some problems still linger in my newer work which I'm not comfortable to share just yet.

[Anonymous No.17969672]

>>17969610
>saying this with what you posted
Dunning-Kruger

[Anonymous No.17969674]

>>17969672
>implying you read it lol
proving my point

[Anonymous No.17969724]

>>17969668
"this reads like a self insert from a person who thinks they are way smarter than they are. It really does, and its garbage."

[Anonymous No.17969773]

>>17959585
As a Utah former Mormon, good for you, Anon.
But yeah, workshop em a bit more.

[Anonymous No.17969785]

>>17969724
That's an ad-hominen not a criticism, now say how I'd get it to sound more genuine bitch boy
It's just writing doesn't have to be so personal.

[Anonymous No.17969809]

>>17969785
Not me

>>17969724
I removed it, I screenshotted it without reading, it's iredeemable

[Anonymous No.17969824]

>>17968638
do pushups?

[Anonymous No.17969839]

>>17969785
make me

[Anonymous No.17969855]

What should I write about when I have no inspiration?

[Anonymous No.17969862]

>>17969543
>"began" is the main verb in three sentences in a row
>dialogue tags punctuated wrong
>exclamation mark ends a question
Three strikes and out.

>>17969668
There are two of my most hated things going on, telling, and describing, and both are without apparent meaning. The narrative is sort of witty, but talks about very generic things. It also comes painfully clear you don't know where to put the comma. It needs some focus.

[Anonymous No.17969875]

>>17969855
Nothing. Go find some.

[Anonymous No.17969885]

>>17969809
>I removed it
Man, don't be scared of criticism. Just take it as a learning experience. If the sample is 2 years old, it shouldn't feel so personal anymore.

[Anonymous No.17969922]

>>17969855
Personal experience? Your day?

[Anonymous No.17969932]

>>17969885
Eh, I re-read it and thought it sounded very stupid and aimless like writing for the sake of writing, I do that sometimes now, but it usually is in an un-serious work so it works better.
It's not personal, but it's just not good desu. I think I'll just commemorate it as something that was a building block and leave it. I had fun writing it and that's enough for me, I'll post some newer works when I finish, but thanks anon.

[Anonymous No.17969975]

>>17969608
Hope you keep on writing.

[Anonymous No.17969989]

>>17969855
A memory from your childhood. A weird old woman you saw on the street. I’ll tell you about a woman I encountered today, go write about her.

She’s real old, gotta be like 80, has her granddaughter in tow. I’m on the other side of the street in this scenario, mind you. They pause at the edge of the curb to cross, waiting for a car to pass and this old lady just starts wandering into the road. Her granddaughter is like, “Granny what the FUCK,” and I’m just here on the other side of the road about to see this old woman get crushed by a Range Rover. She looks at me as she’s crossing, Range Rover in her periphery, and rolls her eyes.

She says to me, “rather get killed quick, eh?”

[Anonymous No.17970022]

>>17969989
If this shit was in a story, people would say its filler.

[Anonymous No.17970075]

>>17969989
What happens next?

[Anonymous No.17970099]

>>17969932
Anon you can post shit here and no one knows who you are, don’t worry about it

[Anonymous No.17970112]

>>17970022
You can write a short story about anything, bud.

>>17970075
The range rover just slowed down, nothing interesting.

[Anonymous No.17970121]

>>17969580
Work a 9-5 job instead. But if you truly insist, write isekai litrpg on RR and be the next Mother of Learning.

[Anonymous No.17970124]

>>17970112
>You can write a short story about anything, bud.
Yeah, but would people read it though? That's the reason I ask.

[Anonymous No.17970129]

>>17970124
Who cares? Write what you want.

[Anonymous No.17970130]

>>17970121
also smut if you know where to look for lonely wine aunts wanting someone to self-insert their dead nieces

[Anonymous No.17970155]

>>17969862
>Three strikes and out.
your loss

[Anonymous No.17970161]

>>17970130
Which erotica website is a good indication of what women want to read? I'm thinking Literotica, but I could be wrong

[Anonymous No.17970167]

after 3000 words of preamble and 1600 words of character introduction, setting up where my protagonist begins the story, i go into a 2500 word recount of his youth and family history before getting back to the events that will bring this character to the bulk of the story. (probably going to be another 3000-5000)

this seems to me at best, turgidly 19th century, at worst, inept exposition dump, and i think i've decided it's best to move, break up, and disperse this somewhere further down the story, but it does serve a degree of immediate narrative function and i've transitioned into and out of it so well i dont want to touch it right now.

i'm basically just curious what you all think about this way of introducing a character with their history so shortly after introducing them and whether it's allowed in modern "realist" writing. and of course it all depends and of course you can't really tell without reading it but maybe there are some opinions here. idk.

[Anonymous No.17970183]

>>17970167
I like to just drop of my character on what they're doing. Unless relevant, their backstory is a non-factor.

[Anonymous No.17970204]

>>17970167
I think all the work you did will be great for fleshing out your character for you, and your story development will benefit from it. You don’t need to include it all for the reader though, or can include bits in pieces throughout the story as it becomes relevant.

[Anonymous No.17970216]

>>17970167
>i'm basically just curious what you all think about this way of introducing a character with their history so shortly after introducing them and whether it's allowed in modern "realist" writing.
Inept exposition dump. I'm sorry anon, but I wouldn't read that.

[Anonymous No.17970289]

>>17970129
I mean, I'm trying to gather an audience, so I don't want to write things they find boring.

[Anonymous No.17970340]

>>17969543
Is this some post-apocalyptic story, anon?

[Anonymous No.17970390]

>>17970289
I don’t know what audiences like. I just hope they like what I like to write about

[Anonymous No.17970401]

>>17970340
If it is, then it’s decent.

[Anonymous No.17970403]

>>17970390
I think that's the hard part of writing, the audience.

[Anonymous No.17970408]

Jim liked the idea of dying. It pleased him very much, and when a new disease was introduced to the public his immediate reaction was to com. Having exhausted all existential pondering and having committed all the socially acceptable vices to the point of mundanity, Jim’s depravity now manifested in random obsessions that were mostly sexual in nature, and thus the mere vestige of a deadly disease could swoon him into sybaritic tinge lasting week to week, fornication to fornication.

Aside from these sexual desires, his pettier hedonism consisted of popping zits and spending large amounts of money on useless things, stuff he’d forget he’d bought, or other times just giving the money away: throwing it on the floor, putting it in purses, or even flushing it down the toilet. Once he was arrested on shoplifting charges while slipping a 100 into a woman’s purse. She claimed he stole the 100 from her, and instead of contesting Jim agreed. Luckily, she didn’t feel compelled to press further charges, so Jim gifted her an extra 100 out of embarrassment.

The key to modern society lay in one’s ability to make themselves appear intelligent, and by virtue of indifference and a genuine lack of intelligence Jim found himself at home dwelling often, moving from lust to lust.

Driven from home Jim found himself on the streets, like a stray alley cat which he saw pass by him on the corner. He didn’t think to consummate this lust, so he spent his time admiring its velvety black skin. For cats can be very arousing, but one should never act on such thoughts, however this newfound disease’s sensuousness lingered on his mind, and with a swift motion he went into the bathroom of a Chipotle to clear his mind (and penis) of such thoughts.

The next day Jim woke up by a dumpster and a homeless man started shouting at him. Intrigued by such intensity, Jim decided to engage.
‘Hello sir.’
‘Yo mane whatcha say mane and I ain’t do none of that shit mane, and today mane… and … today... ah … hahah. … you funny… yes…. Yes. Mane… damn you a crazy nigga mane…. Told dat bitch it ain’t no fourth of July homie ja dig, na mane I ain’t do dat shit nigga I’m an innocent mothafucka.’

Unfortunately, Jim had trouble understanding this man, so he ignored him and continued to walk around the city. He approached the Metropolitan museum and pissed on the steps. Maybe that could be their newest exhibition, and this pleasant thought turned sour as the disease came back to Jim’s mind once again, even more troubling than yesterday as such trifles usually subside after the initial ejaculation, so after Jim’s piss on the steps he cleared his mind on the steps as well.

[Anonymous No.17970422]

New thread.
>>17970414

[Anonymous No.17971146]

Appreciate any feedback, lads.
It's a true story, btw.

[Anonymous No.17971245]

>>17969543
I hate the repetition of "began to" in the first paragraph. It doesn't add anything. If anything, it removes urgency.

I'm a little confused about the line "Greyson shook a bit under his blanket at the hacked-together workstation he built." Is Greyson under a blanket, at his workstation. Or is Greyson under a blanket, a blanket of which he built at the workstation?

Before I go on. I just want to say I think this story would be better in present tense. I personally think most narratives are.

Forgot your comma in the first dialogue sentence. should be

"Nothing," Cole said

>said with a blank blank blank. began. demanded. continued angrily. agreed. asked, calmer. answered.

Sign of a bad writer. Don't be afraid to use "said" and "reply." Or, don't even say "said [[name]]" especially if it is obvious who is speaking.

Also, don't use adverbs to describe someone's tone of voice, if you can replicate that tone of voice in what is actually be said.

>the north is impassible on foot
don't know why but impassible sounds weird here. Maybe use impenetrable? I think "impassible" actually should be "impassable" anyway...

>...if we shut down the network if we can't feed ourselves.
This whole line is a mess. I think it should be something like "Look, I've made some progress on the worm. We can shut down the network. But what good would that if we can't feed ourselves."

>...with a valid key, so we...
I like to use commas and periods to replicate breaks and pauses in conversation. I would change the comma after key to a period, get rid of "so" and start the next sentence with "We"

[Anonymous No.17971434]

>>17970216
thats fair i appreciate the honesty. i m inclined to think the same.