/wg/ writing general

[Anonymous No.18694825]

talentless hack edition, what are you talentless hacks writing today

Previous: >>18681301

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

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/

[not literature No.18694957]

>>18694825
piggu

[Anonymous No.18694995]

>>18694825
>talentless hack edition, what are you talentless hacks writing today
Chapter 90 of my novel. An unusual amount of struggling with developing it compared to what I'm used to. I think the fact that this is the second to last chapter and conclusion of this character arc, and being a few steps away from the finish line finishing this overall book/volume is real willpower draining.

[Anonymous No.18695059]

What’s the point of these writing threads when you retards hate discussing writing?

[Anonymous No.18695115]

>>18694825
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SUwOgmvzK4
Music: ON (currently playing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SUwOgmvzK4 )
Scrivener: ON
Coffee: READY
Two free hours: FOUND

See you on the publishing market. We're all gonna make it.

[Anonymous No.18695180]

>>18695059
It's just one autist baiting people. Ignore hateful posts and reply only to constructive comments, nothing harder than that.

[Anonymous No.18695215]

>>18695059
relax mofo, people don't have constant questions all the time but occasionally you need some feedback and this is a good place to get some. As good a place as any on the internet at least.
But yes, the majority of posts is bantering and procrastinating through pointless disputes. Just like i am doing right now.

[Anonymous No.18695224]

Anon, why are you not writing right now? Why are you on 4chan? I thought you wanted to "make it"?

[Anonymous No.18695237]

>>18695224
I have my routine

[Anonymous No.18695243]

>>18694825
I'm writing about that time I was confined to base for a week over a screw-up but spent 5 days of that week in the forest.

[Anonymous No.18695256]

>>18695215
No. I’ve seen people ask legit questions about writing (speech tags, “show, don’t tell”) and you dumbasses sperged the fuck out about it. I just don’t think you’re smart enough to discuss writing.
>>18695180
Don’t tell me what to do, you stupid fucking nigger. Go get buck broken, faggot.

[Anonymous No.18695267]

>>18695256
>show, don’t tell
>legit questions
bro...

[Anonymous No.18695322]

>>18695224
I literally have Scrienver open RIGHT NOW

[Anonymous No.18695336]

>>18695322
My god, man, you need to close that shit RIGHT NOW!! The hacker known as 4chan has been using Scrivener to scan peoples’ IPs and steal their social security numbers to commit hate crimes against trans lesbian latinx people in Sri Lanka!

[Anonymous No.18695368]

Half of my fantasy novel are fucking dialogues is it good?

[Anonymous No.18695392]

>>18695368
I don’t know. Share some of the dialogue with us.

[Anonymous No.18695411]

Chapter 40 released.
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/40361/erased
>>18695368
Good dialogue with mediocre descriptions is better than the opposite. Lansdcapes are whatever. Readers identify with characters and dialogue first and foremost. As far as descriptions less can be more.

[Anonymous No.18695421]

>>18695392
>>18695411
That's good, my descriptions still suck but I have pro experience in screenplays, I can write good dialogues.

[Anonymous No.18695458]

if isekai genre is considered trash then why a lot of people are still writing and consuming it?

[Anonymous No.18695488]

>>18695458
marvel movies are trash but a lot of people consume that. isekai is appealing because its pure escapism. it has a lot of trash and some gems

[Anonymous No.18695493]

>>18695458
If superhero movies are considered trash, then why are movie studios still churning them out and making spin-ff sequel tv shows or them even now? In Isekai's case, it's about as escapist as you can get in Asian markets, and thus prints money over there. Similar case for western isekai authors in some webnovel platforms. Easy premise coupled with sometimes fusing it with litrpg or gamelit. Readers like esacpism. Readers are also sometimes gamers or tabletop players and like numbers going up.

[Anonymous No.18695495]

>>18695458
Isekai is trash because most works in isekai is trash. Probably all I've seen, but I haven't seen much. I'm sure some are great.
It's possible to write a great isekai story if you're an actual writer. For example not some power fantasy shit but a smart novel with beautiful story exploring human minds, their ways, values and so on. Maybe something similar to Hunger by Hamsun but in isekai. Or Steppenwolf, but the guy is even more isolated because it's not even his world. Isekai could be great for supporting your themes.

[Anonymous No.18695761]

>>18695458
Money money money! Why not cash in by making a power fantasy with barely any lore.

[Anonymous No.18695782]

My fingers hurty from hand writing.
Why hand write instead of using a computer?
Because I think it's cool, that is all. Also my handwriting is below a 1st grade level.
How does one improve handwriting without making it girly, because fuck women? I don't really want to write cursive, but I'll try eventually.

[Anonymous No.18695790]

>>18694825
Getting close to the conclusion of the first chapter.

[Anonymous No.18695806]

>>18695782
like any sort of skill or hobby, you'll probably just need to practice. Just sit down, and maybe for about 30 minutes write single letters, as clear and best as you can. Then try to apply that to your writing.

[Anonymous No.18695824]

>>18695458
They’re trash because their low brow wish fulfillment pop media art forms, but because they’re popular. Gonzo pornography is trash but still very popular, and it’s perfectly natural for it to be so.

[Anonymous No.18695839]

>>18695059
/wg/ got worse since the pseuds purged the anime writers. Now it's been dying slowly and painfully.

[Anonymous No.18695918]

>>18695839
>purged
you're still here aren't you? Threads have improved quite significantly desu so i don't know what the whining is about.

[Anonymous No.18695926]

>>18695918
holy shit, it changes the abbreviation of to be honest to desu. testing again desu

[Anonymous No.18695931]

>>18695918
Just need to pop into the /wg/ and encourage people to keep writing and share their stuff!

[Anonymous No.18695944]

>>18695926

[Anonymous No.18695957]

>>18694825
Is it okay to write something inspired by another work of art? I don’t wanna take too much from other places but there’s some snippets I’m in love that I want to reproduce.

[Anonymous No.18695984]

>>18695957
Yes. "Good writers borrow, great writers steal". I do it myself, and I'm sure others here and across the web/in general do it too. No shame in it.

[Anonymous No.18696069]

>>18694825
>what are you talentless hacks writing today
More of the first main chapter for Vol 5 of my story. Or, was, rather, finished my 2k an hour ago.

[Anonymous No.18696085]

>>18696069
Why do you write with multiple commas when it’s unnecessary online?

[Anonymous No.18696131]

>>18696085
What, are, you, talking, about, bro, I, don't, get, it,

[Anonymous No.18696132]

>>18695267
Got it. You’re not smart enough to talk about writing.

[Anonymous No.18696153]

>>18696085
Don't really make a distinction between talking online and writing, to be entirely honest.

[Anonymous No.18696169]

I finally got the illustrations done for my book. They're not perfect, but the guy kept fucking them up, so they're good enough. There's also one punctuation issue.
I changed it around a bit with advice from some here, let me know what you think/if you think it'd be a good kids book. You should be able to get it for free.

https://www.amazon.com/Seeds-Doubt-Gulliver-Waverly-ebook/dp/B098FF85BP/

[Anonymous No.18696179]

>>18696169
Cover is a bit bland for a kids book, desu-desu.

[Anonymous No.18696259]

>>18695059
What's worse is the poor fucks that post their writing in hopes that they get critical advice and go through the entire thread unabated.

[Anonymous No.18696273]

>>18695918
>Threads have improved quite significantly
Delusional.

[Anonymous No.18696448]

>>18696273
'Quite significantly' I would say is a bit delusional of that statement, but he's right for the most part. I've been in this general since the first thread and seen its up and lows. The schizo anime op threads seem like a distant farcry now. Google reddit-tier questions or not, the gen has balanced back from the mind-numbling schizo postings. Last thread with the kiddo diddler stuff was unusually terrible though.

[Anonymous No.18696454]

The anti-writer crabs are getting bored of tearing people down.

[Anonymous No.18696469]

>>18696448
Not him but if you were here as you claim to have said then you wouldn’t be shock about the kiddie pedophile. He’s been here before. So really doubt you were here as you. But in the end, he’s right /wg/ has decline severely.

[Anonymous No.18696485]

>>18696454
What even is a crab at this point. Someone telling them the truth is somehow a crab. Is "crab" just the "animefag"? A phantom to excuse why people don't write anymore?

[Anonymous No.18696506]

>He hasn't been published when he was 21 years of age or younger
Oh nononono. NGMI.

[Anonymous No.18696627]

>>18696485
Anyone replying with things like "it's shit" is a crab.

[Anonymous No.18696698]

>>18696627
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xa4vBlzMaeQ
Shiiiii

[Anonymous No.18696760]

One must be one with their words. To be a great writer is to truly believe in the power of one's own words, as well as the power of masters before them. With great talent comes great wealth. Allay your fears if you truly wish to write and practice both reading and writing every day.

[Anonymous No.18696882]

Men, I'm writing more every day, I think I'm making it.

[Anonymous No.18696884]

>>18696760

[Anonymous No.18697092]

>>18694825
is that pic real? what is that thing?

[Anonymous No.18697129]

>>18697092
Tapir

>>18696884
I was paraphrasing C.S. Lewis, retard.

[Anonymous No.18697348]

>>18696469
So the way to improve it is to discuss anime more? Or just use anime images? There have been people asking about isekai. I suppose the kid diddler would be appropriate, too, since the maps love that “5000 year old vampire dragon thst looks like a 10 year old girl” shit.

[Anonymous No.18697386]

Dear Alex,

I’ve been marked. Fucking great. I let her go, and this is what I get? Betrayal? Does she not remember when I killed him with my own bare hands? Or is that why she broke the promise? I just… She doesn’t know what it’s like out there. She doesn’t know how to deal with death. That’s why. She doesn’t understand. And she never will. She’s incapable of returning. So, this is it, this is where we’re going? ‘Beyond.’
I knew I shouldn’t have gotten into any of this, I should’ve just kept my head down. I’m incapable of doing that however, and of course I had to stick my nose into this pile of shit. Not any kind of pile of shit, mind you, but the most powerful feces you’ll ever lay your eyes on. A disgusting pile of regurgitated food and what else that has the power to fuck us all over. And we gave it that power. And now I’m in with the rest of them. How much of a fucking retard was I to believe I could’ve ridden it out?
I should’ve gone with the plan. When she was in The Agora I should’ve made sure she never saw the light of day. But no. And now I lay on this floor like Caesar. What did I expect?

I don’t know why I’m writing this to you. I know we haven’t talked in 6 months, but this is better than nothing. Actually, I know why. The moon is closing in. I want you to take Sam and John to the parking lot. The password for the Odyssey is 8743. If you don’t remember what that means, remember that ‘a Three-legged goose is better than a four-legged raven.” That should jog your memory.
And before you go asking “why won’t you just go to the Sphere?” I have principles. I’m not going to give them an inch. I’ve done that too many times already.
Please take care of them. It may not be worth anything in the end, but just do it for the peace of mind of my decaying corpse. Please.
I’ve gone too far down this rabbit hole.

Michael

[Anonymous No.18697414]

How do I get around having to use 'one' a lot in narration when I'm writing in third person? I hate this shit, "one might say..." or "whatever one wants to call it..." I want to put an impersonal 'you' in it's place, "you might say..." so it sounds less robotic but I don't think a third person limited viewpoint could support it, and my workshop buddy is adamant that it's really bad form to use impersonal 'you' in third person narration. But I think 'one' reads even worse most of the time.

[Anonymous No.18697416]

>>18697414
tell your bud to get the stick out of his arse

[Anonymous No.18697429]

>>18697386
>I just....
Is this a letter or email? Why is he writing as though pausing in a conversation. No one does that irl.
>the most powerful feces you’ll ever lay your eyes on.
It would read better if it was "the most powerful feces you'll ever detect with your nose"
>A disgusting pile of regurgitated food
That's the complete opposite of shitting.
>I’ve gone too far down this rabbit hole.
This ends better. I like that it expresses what the character-letterer is thinking. I still don't really grasp why he's confessing to some murder, real or imagined, to Alex though. Is this the start or part of something bigger?

[Anonymous No.18697444]

>>18697416
are they wrong though? I was trying to think of books that use 'you' like that while still being third person but couldn't recall any

[Anonymous No.18697448]

>>18697129
I was just pulling your chain :)

[Anonymous No.18697482]

>>18697448
You better be careful, because I'm a straight razor if you get too close to me.

[Anonymous No.18697612]

>>18697482
Goddamn I love Manson interviews.

[Anonymous No.18697639]

finally figured out getting in 2 hours of writing a day during workday evenings is better than trying to wait until sunday to do an all-day session (which i never, ever get around to doing).
>>18695059
it's more like it takes so long to write a novel that if you gave details every time it would feel like namefagging, and also, if i make it i dont want to be associated with 4chan since nuchan archives threads.
>>18695368
i have hardly any dialogue in the stuff i write. a lot of books try to be witty with dialogue, or just have the characters speaking to explain the plot instead of showing the plot happening, or speak because they as a person never shut the fuck up and their brain thinks in terms of text messages and incessant smalltalk. unnecessary dialogue is possibly the worst thing in the world to have to read through, but it depends on the book. is it necessary? are you trying to show off witty jokes or is it plot relevant and meaningful?

[Anonymous No.18697652]

>>18695458
hotpockets and mcdonalds are trash but hundreds of millions of people still eat that shit.
>>18695782
you dont write cursive? what the fuck are you writing, kindergarten text print? zoomers are literally retarded.
>>18695957
yes. some of the best novels were inspired by other novels which are ironically now forgotten by comparison.
>>18696506
marguerite youcenar (sp) said there are some books you shouldn't attempt to write before age 40.

fuck off

[Anonymous No.18697669]

I am wasting away

[Anonymous No.18697762]

>>18697652
>marguerite youcenar
A woman, anon? Joyce and Pound were published when they were little kids. Also thank them for saving Homer and the classics from relative obscurity and the clutches of upper class English intellectuals

[Anonymous No.18697807]

>>18694825
I’m considering writing a novel critiquing modern work culture, and how it takes up the majority of our lives.
For the protagonist, should I make him pathetically unaware, convinced that he is living in some of the greatest times in history, or be aware of his situation, but feeling helpless to change it?

[Anonymous No.18697864]

>>18697807
Why not go from one to the other over the course of the novel?

[Anonymous No.18698065]

>>18697348
Don't be mad that you purged the only group of writers on this godforsaken general.

[Anonymous No.18698071]

>>18698065
Cringe

[Anonymous No.18698079]

>>18698071
Cringe.

[Anonymous No.18698087]

>>18698079
Based

[Anonymous No.18698132]

>>18698071
>>18697348
Will you never not fall for the animefag's bait? It's the same every fucking time

[Anonymous No.18698148]

>>18698132
You’re also pretty cringe

[Anonymous No.18698153]

>>18698132
Seek help.

[Anonymous No.18698264]

How do I develop my characters before writing?

[Anonymous No.18698274]

>>18698264
Cringe

[Anonymous No.18698306]

Is it based to tear someone a new one for cringe writing? Surely, you're doing them a service by pointing out glaring errors.

[Anonymous No.18698308]

>>18698264
Think of an arc you can give them, for example, I have a girl that starts of as part of a "Templar" order that puts a lot of emphasis on the continued existence of their virginity. She also struggled to get into the order so has confidence issues. Combine that with the order lifestyle and what follows is a major identity crisis as she has lost one of the main requirements regarding the order in question.

You don't have to do much, just think of a few details and work from there. Otherwise, you generally can't unless you have an active imagination and let the story play out in your head.

[Anonymous No.18698315]

>>18698264
How about you actually write.

[Anonymous No.18698331]

>>18698315
Cringe.

[Anonymous No.18698332]

>>18697092
pigge

[Anonymous No.18698435]

How the hell do I write humor, are there any books for robots?

[Anonymous No.18698455]

>>18698435
I imagine it's pretty different depending on the kind of humour and the target audience. Got any examples of what you mean?

[Anonymous No.18698496]

>>18698455
Something like Chapo Trap House or Cumtown, preferably. How do I be as funny as those boys?

[Anonymous No.18698506]

God, just let this general die already. The baits are just god-awful at this point.

[Anonymous No.18698507]

Lots of grammar and word choice issues I think, but how about the content?

[Anonymous No.18698580]

>>18698506
Report things for being off topic to the board or thread, summerfag.

[Anonymous No.18698583]

>>18698580
>Expend effort in trying to salvage this general
Why the fuck would I ever do that?

[Anonymous No.18698589]

>>18698583
You’re expending similar amounts of energy in replying, no? People just love to complain like little Polly Parrots loving the sound of their voice.

[Anonymous No.18698590]

>>18698583
Tragedy of the commons.

[Anonymous No.18698646]

>>18694825
Is this what they call a "pige"?

[Anonymous No.18698656]

>>18698646
How many times does this shit have to be repeated?

[Anonymous No.18698663]

I'm using LibreOffice currently, but for some reason when I try to use it with Grammarly it always crashes. Unfortunately, I don't have money for Hemingway, is there any alternative for proofreading? Or I should just use google docs with the browser extension Grammarly?

[Anonymous No.18698670]

>>18698663
>using software to write
Holy fucking shit, just learn how to edit yourself, poser.

[Anonymous No.18698677]

>>18698670
>/wg/
>writing
Anon....

[Anonymous No.18699021]

On a trip to Greece I met a young Serbian woman, we happened to be traveling in the same path for a time, and as it so happened we ended up eating dinner together overlooking the low-built and sprawling city. As she was still learning english and I didn't and don't know any Serbian, I attempted to get a feeling for the gap between the languages in an attempt to bridge communication, by asking about knock-knock jokes. She had never heard of them, so I gave her an example. She didn't see the point of such a childish form of humor, and couldn't see how there could be more than one knock-knock joke, as the premise is so flimsy that it doesn't warrant reuse. In rejoinder, curious to know what her conception of humor was like, I asked her to tell me a Serbian joke. She apologized in advance for the difficulty she would have translating it, and began. 'Three bats hang in a cave, the first bat says aloud "We will find who kills the most", and flies out of the cave. Returning shortly the bat points to a village. "You see that village, everyone who lived there is dead now", he says. The second bat flies out of the cave, and returns a lot later. "Do you see that city? Everyone in the city I have killed" He says. The third bat flies out of the cave and returns almost immediately. "Do you see that lampost?" he asks. They say yes. The third bat says "I didn't"' I found it quite humorous, but I said to her afterwards that a more typical joke in my culture would be a drawing of three baseball bats hanging in a cave.

[Anonymous No.18699049]

>>18695115
HOLY CRAP LOIS THEY MADE THAT T-SHIRT GRAPHIC INTO A BAND

[Anonymous No.18699079]

do you guys think it's better to read all the books in the OP and try to "learn" how to write?
cause i feel like most authors i like absolutely didn't do that.. many of them didn't even read a lot themselves. won't it be super inauthentic when i write based on how other people told me to write?

[Anonymous No.18699082]

>>18699079
Lots of excuses just to say "I don't want to write." Not that I expected anything different in this place.

[Anonymous No.18699085]

>>18699082
what do you mean? i am saying: i would prefer to just write, rather than read about how to write.

i do already write, i just haven't read any of the books in the OP, or really anything about "how to write". i just do it, and i'm wondering if that's the wrong way to go about it.

[Anonymous No.18699091]

>>18699085
>I do write
>But do I have to read books to write
Pick one and only one.

[Anonymous No.18699100]

>>18699091
sorry, i don't understand. does me never having read a book on how to write negate the fact that i've written things before?

[Anonymous No.18699103]

>>18699100
If you’ve written before then, why are you bothering with books? Just write.

[Anonymous No.18699127]

>>18698306
Only if they deserve it, like if they think they're a really great, artsy, deep etc writer when they're making basic errors and/or tryharding. If someone has their ego in check, tearing them down seems unnecessary because they won't ignore your advice in the first place warranting the tearing.

[Anonymous No.18699132]

>>18699103
oh okay. yeah alright then i'll do that, thank you.

[Anonymous No.18699273]

Do you guys reckon my sentence is grammatically correct?
>Her loving embrace enough to seduce any man at his weakest
Or do I need an 'is' after loving?

[Anonymous No.18699299]

>>18699273
>Or do I need an 'is' after loving?
>Her loving is embrace enough to seduce any man at his weakest
Depends on the rest of the sentence/paragraph, honestly

[Anonymous No.18699308]

>>18699299
I meant after embrace. Today is a late night for me

[Anonymous No.18699316]

>>18699132
I've read some in the past and they didn't help much, but I realized the reason I was trying to learn by reading books was simply because I was afraid to start writing. If you're already writing consistently, you're already over the biggest hurdle in my opinion

[Anonymous No.18699385]

>>18699273
I'd write it in a completely different way.
>In a moment of weakness, any man would be seduced by her embrace.

[Anonymous No.18699391]

>>18699308
Still depends on the rest of the sentence/paragraph

[Anonymous No.18699492]

>write a sentence that’s confusing because it seems to have two subjects like:
“The car raced on the hotness of the road, which was projected from the sun overhead.”

[Anonymous No.18699510]

>>18699492
Love is sweeter than a rose, the taste of which is bitter.

[Anonymous No.18699534]

How did you know writing was what you wanted to do? How did you know what kind of writing you wanted to do?

[Anonymous No.18699613]

>>18699534
I read and thought it was magical and wanted to participate. I want to write many kinds of things, because I contain multitudes.

[Anonymous No.18699823]

>>18699079
really the only thing writing books can teach you if you already have a firm grasp on grammar is to cut out unimportant shit because almost all early writers are overly descriptive, wordy, or write a lot of redundant shit.

[Anonymous No.18699849]

>>18699079
I think there’s a point where reading such books can be helpful but there’s also a point where it’s counterproductive. Writing education is actually not good, and while it does an okay job at lifting people off the lower bound of awful writing, it tends to install a ceiling just above mediocrity. I’m also wary of taking lessons from people who aren’t masters themselves. Personally, I’m a firm believer that we should listen to the masters and emulate the masters. Reading widely is good but reading deeply the authors that you really like is best and studying their methods is crucial. You’ll find people who cite let’s say Dostoevsky for example and say he’s a huge influence on their work, but they’ve only read The Brothers Karamazov, Crime and Punishment, and Demons. If he was really a an influence they should be reading his whole canon and specifically those early books of his when he was a beginner, like they are. Learning fundamentals like story structure, outlining, stuff like that is helpful but they’re tools and just tools. Sometimes you need to acquire basic tools first but once you have tools, you should be studying crafts by master craftsmen. You don’t want to be a samurai who got lost in studying how swords are made. You want to learn to use the sword. That’s my opinion anyway.

[Anonymous No.18699864]

I’m really struggling with whether writing novels is what I actually want to do.

[Anonymous No.18699889]

>>18699864
It isn't. You want to have novels written and to be praised, accepted and appreciated. NGMI.

[Anonymous No.18700034]

>want to write stories with a certain theme
>paranoia and other conditions flares up despite it having been done before
What should I do about this?

[Anonymous No.18700052]

>>18699889
Projection?

[Anonymous No.18700093]

>>18700034
I mean, being afraid of writing it.

[Anonymous No.18700257]

>>18700052
No, deduction based on your wishy-washy attitude. If you don't want to write, you're wasting your time trying to.

[Anonymous No.18700456]

500 words is enough for one day, right? I can go relax now, right?

[Anonymous No.18700457]

2277/120000
I'm d-d-definitely g-g-getting there.

[Anonymous No.18700475]

>>18700457
124486/137000(?)
Getting there but...

[Anonymous No.18700479]

>>18700257
Oh. Spare me. You’re projecting and it’s totally obvious.

[Anonymous No.18700490]

>>18700479
You can keep deflecting but it's a fact that you're not going to make it if you don't even think you want to.

[Anonymous No.18700493]

>see a kickstarter for an english "light novel" on twitter
Would you pay real money for a book that's not written yet, /wg/? Moreover, a LN?

[ᐋᒡᑖᓐ_ᓀᔅᒻᕐ !XfgPwJA7M6 No.18700503]

finally on chapter 15/15
don't care if it's meh, don't care if people don't even read it. I'm finally on the verge of actually pulling something out of my own head and putting it down on paper, seeing it all the way to the end.
shit's alright :)

[Anonymous No.18700510]

>>18699273
>Do you guys reckon my sentence is grammatically correct?
No.
>do I need an 'is' after loving?
No.
>I meant after embrace.
Yes.

The sentence is nonsensical in general. It doesn't take a lot to seduce a man at his weakest, so her loving embrace doesn't seem very impressive.

[Anonymous No.18700512]

>>18700493
no

>>18700456
ya

[Anonymous No.18700600]

>>18700490
Anon, I posted that because I could use some advice, not so I could get berated by someone who clearly has some projection issues and an axe to grind. You’ve made a number of assumptions which aren’t even true. So please, if you don’t have anything helpful to say and you’re not willing to be objective, stop responding so I can get some help from someone who intends to actually be helpful. Otherwise, there’s no reason to be here.

[Anonymous No.18700617]

>>18700600
Anon I have to run errands this morning, I'll be back later to take a look at your stuff. You'll notice there are several bad faith actors in these threads who exist to discourage and demoralize anyone writing.

[Anonymous No.18700636]

My friend asked me for feedback on one of his college essays. He sent me this excerpt: "Was it so wrong to value the ecstasy of experiencing such a flavor over the bitterness of disapproval from a thousand confidantes who constructed the disposition I had held thus far?"
Am I being an asshole or is this genuinely bad?

[ᐋᒡᑖᓐ_ᓀᔅᒻᕐ !XfgPwJA7M6 No.18700646]

>>18700636
no, that's pretty awful
what's even the topic?

[Anonymous No.18700673]

>>18700646
He didn’t tell me the topic. I told him that that excerpt was wordy and superfluous and he got defensive and told me that he would ask someone else for their advice

[ᐋᒡᑖᓐ_ᓀᔅᒻᕐ !XfgPwJA7M6 No.18700683]

>>18700673
lol, sounds about right.

[Anonymous No.18700712]

>>18700617
I appreciate that and I agree. I suppose I was too vague at the outset so it’s not his fault entirely. What I’m really struggling with is being pulled in two directions. I write and I love writing. But I also love making art. The fast few weeks I’ve just hit a tipping point where have this intense feeling like I need to just buckle down and focus on one snd yet I can’t decide what I want for myself. That’s why I said “I don’t know if it’s what I really want to do”. I don’t mean in a vacuum. I mean, I don’t know if this is what I’ll be glad I did 10 years from now or if I’ll be glad I went with art instead. I’m just so lost over this and my brain is tied in knots thinking about it. I can’t eat. I can’t sleep. I can’t even focus on work.

[Anonymous No.18700720]

>>18695957
My writing is unconsciously similar to the books I'm reading in the moment. The first story in my collection is bitter like Houellebec while the one I'm working on is more like Mason & Dixon. The point is if you like it, do it - but don't force it.

[Anonymous No.18700737]

>>18696169
Based schizo-core. It reminds me of the book written by that fat autistic faggot that likes Sonic and Pikachu.

[Anonymous No.18700797]

>>18700712
I know the exact feeling. What helped me is focusing on a product I can make, build, and sell. As long as I keep being creative in life, I will be on the right track.

Just make sure whatever you are doing has a path to a product. Art for art's sake is great but will force you to keep your creativity as a hobby rather than your front-foot forward in this world.

You'll never regret making art that you can look back on 10 years later, much better than looking back at yourself in the wagie cagie...

[Anonymous No.18700805]

How many words do you write per day? I just want not to worry so much all the time I'm not writing, as if I'm throwing my life away not focusing enough. It's like that guy who starts going to the gym and wants to lift for three hours straight.

[Anonymous No.18700829]

I have the opportunity to write and publish some stories that will make me a bit of money. It’s not easy or short work but it’s not exactly hard or long either. I don’t really have much interest in this sort of thing but I’m thinking about doing it only because it can give me some experience and make some money to help me spend more time writing what I really want to write. My big hangup is thinking maybe this will be counterproductive experience. Is any experience good experience or should you avoid spending time writing things you don’t want to write?

[Anonymous No.18700845]

>>18700797
I’m not really worried about selling actually. Yeah, I will want to publish and sell the thing but more so I want a finished work, and work that I enjoy and which I think other people can enjoy. Still, it’s so hard to figure out which direction to go on.

[Anonymous No.18700862]

>>18700829
You can try and transform the furry erotica you were comissioned into something you actually enjoy, like giving depth to the characters and putting some philosophical takes disguised here and there.

[Anonymous No.18700863]

>>18700805
If I don't write anything, it doesn't bother me, but when I do, it's interesting because I write the story I want. Positive renforcement.

[Anonymous No.18700874]

>>18700829
I don't think there's bad experience, just habits that might not work for future stories. But habits can be changed and you'll keep the experience outside of them.

[Anonymous No.18700923]

>>18700862
Kek. It’s not furry erotica so maybe it’s better than I thought.

[Anonymous No.18700942]

>>18700845
Keep working and living as an artist. You have to believe in yourself and this place has people actively working as hard as they can to make you believe you are shit and they do everything they can to make you demoralized into quitting.

[Anonymous No.18700973]

>>18700942
I plan to. That’s not my issue though.

[Anonymous No.18701148]

>>18700942
Jason you are a rapist.

[Anonymous No.18701166]

>>18694825
Finally got the cover done.

[Anonymous No.18701220]

>>18701148
Snuggles with struggles is true romance!

[Anonymous No.18701231]

>>18701166
Great cover!

Can I make a suggestion? The font you used for the title and your "written by..." part doesn't quite fit. The rest of the cover is awesome, how do you plan to do the spine and the back?

Change the font and I think you have a winner!

[Anonymous No.18701263]

>>18701231
>Can I make a suggestion? The font you used for the title and your "written by..." part doesn't quite fit
Your right I'll get to changing that.
>>18701231
>how do you plan to do the spine and the back?
Not sure desu I was planning to leave it only as an ebook.

[Anonymous No.18701266]

>>18701231
>posts this
>has advice
maybe you should run off and listen to green day or some shit, you sad boomer.

[Anonymous No.18701288]

>>18701266
I get a lot of compliments on the cover, it is much more unique than the average covers you find in a pile of books.

[Anonymous No.18701345]

>>18700712
I've had this before. Despite how you feel, there really is no need to pick one or the other and there is no need to buckle down in one. I did eventually decide that I favour writing over the other artform but that doesn't mean I no longer do the other art anymore. I just see it for what it is and try not to let it bother me that I'm no longer as dedicated to it. But, you can do both. You can have finished works that you are proud of in both fields. If you do really feel you need to pick one, perhaps you could devote an hour every day to both and record how you feel during/at the end of the activity. There might be a clearer preference that way.

[Anonymous No.18701355]

>>18701288
>lies
I don't give a fuck. I'M telling you it's bland childish garbage
>le teehee it has poopoo on the cover and messy text
this is what a boomer thinks 13 year olds think is edgy and cool.

[Anonymous No.18701451]

>>18701345
I’m not sure I can agree with that. When I look around I see people pouring 8, 10, 12 hours per day into their work and I just can’t do that if I’m going to be split between the two. From a personal standpoint, I do want to focus on one and only one so it’s not just necessity. It’s also preference.

[Anonymous No.18701517]

>>18701355

[Anonymous No.18701551]

>>18701517
well at least you're consistent in putting out garbage

[Anonymous No.18701632]

>>18701551
I am inspired by /lit/ to continue every day!

[Anonymous No.18701651]

>>18700805
Varies wildly. This was in Scrinever 3. I accidentally and without realizing it took a break on the 4th and it singlehandily killed my schedule and good pace I had going on. I could've divided a chapter into 2 and given myself some leeway, but I kept it as one and that fucked me up. Still haven't released my newest chapter yet since I spent this week struggling on how to start it, but I'm at the halfway point now so it could be finished soon.

[Anonymous No.18701672]

>>18694995
You’re so close to the end! You can do it!

[Anonymous No.18701693]

>>18701672
They're going to make it!

[Anonymous No.18701771]

>>18701451
Well nobody can tell you which you want to do. Which is what it seems like you want. Preference is fine but it just is not a necessity, that sounds like a pretty romanticised approach. You can keep one as a hobby and still create something worthwhile. People with jobs can still write, for example. Wouldn't we all love to have 12 hours to devote to our craft and be tortured whiskey drinking writers.

[Anonymous No.18701850]

>>18701632
Don’t compare yourself to Gardner. He’s a legend around /wg/ for being an anime who actually finish his books you fucking subhuman.

[Anonymous No.18702040]

Does anyone have experience putting serialized fiction up on the bigger websites? Things like Royal Road, Wattpad, Archive Of Our Own? Even the new Vella thing from Amazon?

I have a big story I'm writing. The first book is done and I want to do something with it. I've been querying literary agents but I'm willing to accept the possibility that I get rejected by all of them. If I do, I'd like to put the book out in serialized format, releasing parts of it at a time over several months. I actually have written a lot of fanfiction so I've got experience releasing big stories in serialized form. But I've never done it with original fiction before, and so I'm curious about the various sites that are out there.

[Anonymous No.18702125]

I forgot from which writing book but the advice was something along the line "the story should get something out from the reader, good or even bad reaction, rather than be boring"
do you agree with this?

[Anonymous No.18702267]

>>18702125
No, it should get a good reaction only. That advice is a dumb aphorism.

Also note: a cathartic reaction is still good.

[Anonymous No.18702325]

>>18702040
On sites like Royalroad and Scribblehub, it's recommended to post them every day until your backlog finishes and/or you get trending on Royalroad, then you either resort to posting once or twice weekly until the story finishes, you die, or lose interest. You can also do something like post a chapter once in the morning and again at night to cover time on front-page new releases.

A03 is only fanfiction in practice. It has original fiction, but you're not supposed to post it on there. I don't know how it works to be honest.

If you post on Vella you can't post it anywhere else. It's kinda like inkitt/tapas or paid wattpad where chapters cost currency. Haven't gone into it myself.

There's spacebattles—a forum so it has no discoverability benefits like the webserial ones. There's also r/redditserials and r/HFY if you think your story qualifies for it. I'm only on spacebattles so if you post there, it's recommended you post in the actual original fiction subforum in Creative Writing, not the actual Creative Writing forum which is mainly fanfiction. I'm not on the reddit subforums but I shot myself in the foot posting everything at once in the wrong CrW forum so my story is pretty much dead in the water.

2-3k is a sweet spot for chapter lengths for webnovels. Up to 5k is ok, but lots of 8-10k chapters can and will mean you will get virtually zero traction. If you think your chapter has good natural stopping points for that 2-5k range, absolutely do it, since you'll get some slightly more mileage out of it in the mid-long run.

RR supports on-site ads, so you want to get noticed there, do it. If not, it's just something to consider.

A thing to consider: if your story isn't isekai, litrpg, gamerpg, or any combo of the two you will have a hell of a time on RR and SH. There's other variables too, like your actual writing.

Since you're already familiar with fanfiction I don't think it's that much different from original fiction. If your prose/writing is good, you might have a chance of getting popular, and even then if your story isn't engaging (if its not the genres I mentioned) you might still still thrown into the abyss and have a very slow start.

All in all, it's literally unironically pure luck and RNG. Good luck.

[Anonymous No.18702540]

>>18702125
Yeah, I do.

[Anonymous No.18702972]

>>18694825
Pigge pls don't steal my shemale erotica

[Anonymous No.18702990]

>>18694825
My name is Samuel. A long time ago - don’t ask me how long – being poor with an empty wallet and as idle as a man can be in the country, I thought I would travel and see the bigger part of the world. It is my own trick for keeping good health and a keen mind. Whenever my eyes begin to droop sullenly; whenever I am feeling the approach of the long night; whenever I begin to stay in bed past noon, and allow the mail to clutter up the letterbox, and most importantly whenever I am so overcome with lethargy it requires all the strength I possess to put on my hat – it occurs to me to get to the city immediately. This I trade for my own shotgun. With stoic demeanor in ritual, the samurai mortally wounds himself; I go unannounced to the city. This is not remarkable. All men would, in their own way, esteem the city as I do, if they only knew it.
Consider the liberated metropolis of Manhattan, populated by skyscrapers as Polynesia by coconut trees – society flourishes with its constructions. In every direction, the streets take you towards its center. Its downtown is the main borough, where that golden city is illuminated by sunlight, and darkened by clouds, and any sign of a country beyond is nowhere to be found. Marvel at the crowds that gather there.

[Anonymous No.18703257]

>>18695926
Blessed newfag.

[Anonymous No.18703260]

>>18701166
>amazemnet

[Anonymous No.18703272]

>>18699127
I know people who think their story is the next big thing that will change their genre. And it's filled with basic spelling/grammar errors.

[Anonymous No.18703309]

>>18698496
Take notes for what exactly hits you with the giggles. I haven't watched Cumtown a lot but the dynamics between a beta and alpha competing for a Stav's favor is great. A lot of their humor is hard to translate into lit since it relies on impersonations and reactions.

[Anonymous No.18703312]

>>18703309
for Stav's*

[Anonymous No.18703313]

>>18702990
>bigger part
This reads a little awkwardly. Use "better part," maybe?
>the samurai mortally wounds himself
This is long-winded for what you're saying. Maybe just say: "This I trade for my own shotgun. Seppuku, Harakiri, whatever you call it. To the city, I go, unannounced."
>last paragraph
This is way more solid; it felt direct and the metaphor about growing industrialisation was nice. Perhaps try to put something in about how cities create more mental illness, crime, poverty, unemployment, etc., and that the narrator still "esteems" the city anyway. It'll make it sound a bit more stark.

[Anonymous No.18703325]

>>18699273
you could put a colon after embrace.

[Anonymous No.18703378]

>>18699864
Writing is complicated. I originally got into /lit/ as it seemed the best way to make something of my ideas and fantasies. Then I got swept by the beauty of literature, got bored of it, and now go back and forth. There's nothing else I want to dedicate myself to, but be it perfectionism or bad habits, getting the ball rolling is the hardest thing for me. Maybe it comes down to feeling fulfilled afterwards.

[Anonymous No.18703433]

>>18694825
That nigga looks like an eraser

[Anonymous No.18703467]

>>18703378
Try writing an essay about something nonfiction (eg an informative or critical essay). I never thought id write till i began reading essays written by writers i’ve always read.

[Anonymous No.18703484]

Just lie about being mentally ill to a psychiatrist (read about the symptoms of Bipolar, Schizophrenia, BPD) and fail at every job that you have. Sooner or later, the psychiatrist will say you're unable to work. Then go on Disability and write 4eva. You can write all day and never worry about paying the bills with NEETbux.

[Anonymous No.18703535]

>Spend all day thinking about writing at work
>come home, nothing comes to me
C'mon man

[Anonymous No.18703702]

>>18703535
Talentless hack. Go find another hobby. This is for rich kids and NEETs who don't have to worry about fatigue and wageslaving.

[Anonymous No.18703759]

>>18702990
Walk around the city on a clear afternoon. Go from ___ to ____ and southward to ____ . There you will see standing like trees in a landscape, tens of thousands of men dressed in business suits. Some resting against streetlights; some seated on benches; some looking through traffic; some aloft on balconies, as if to get a better skyward view. But these are all pencil-pushers who spent their days between drywall and duct work – tied to counters, nailed to chairs, clinched to desks. What are they doing here? How did this come to be? Have all the small towns vanished?
But look beneath its streets and you will see more crowds! Shuttling straight towards city center, on subway cars seemingly ready to burst. Crazy! Only the centermost point will satiate their desire; remaining in the shadow of a twenty-story tower will not do. They must get as close to the 100-story giants downtown as they possibly can without stepping on anyone’s foot. Thus, they stand together for miles and miles – leagues. Pencil-pushers, they come from boulevards and avenues, streets, and alleyways – north, east, south, and west. Yet here they all unite. What strange attraction do those tall buildings possess that draws them there?

[Anonymous No.18703855]

>Mid-fantasy setting
>Story begins in a gladiator arena
>Protagonist is a complete foreigner who doesn't understand the language
>Dominates a fight in which he was supposed to be killed as a warm up
>Starts working his way up and accepted by the other guys despite not knowing at all how to talk to them
>Politics of the world are unveiled to the audience but not to the protagonist because he half-understands shit
>Uses Magic in a fight
>he's held prisoner in the realm's palace for a while, being studied by the court wizard
>almost gets into a situation with the princess because she's a spoiled, curious bitch
>starts getting out of the gladiator pits to be studied by other magicians
>given freedom
>lives in the court because person of magical interest
>story starts branching out from there as politics happen/escalate to war
Should I stick to the gladiator thing or do I got something here?

[Anonymous No.18703863]

>>18703855
Whatever you want? It's your story.

[Anonymous No.18703920]

>>18702990
Is this... Is this Moby Dick?

[Anonymous No.18704001]

>>18703855
The beginning makes me think of A Princess of Mars, which is good if you're going for a pulp feel. I'd say it depends entirely on how the use of magic and change in station because of it is handled. Done poorly it would hit all the tropes of a bad isekai.

[Anonymous No.18704009]

>>18703535
Keep a notebook on you to scribble in. A ton of my writing I do when I'm supposed to be wageslaving.

>muh stealing company time
Just try 'n' stop me.

[Anonymous No.18704026]

>>18704009
The top page of the notebook can be work notes, contact numbers, reminders for work.

A couple pages deep put all your writing and ideas!

[Anonymous No.18704042]

>probably about 3/5ths finished novel project I've been doing on and off for a couple years now
>end is in sight, start to look forward to being finished
>suddenly beginning to get anxious about what to do for publishing

[Anonymous No.18704070]

>>18704042
For less than 2k you can be printing your own copies for about $1 per copy.

[Anonymous No.18704125]

>>18703920
well spotted.

[Anonymous No.18704174]

What if my novel is shit? Do I just delete it and never do this again?

[Anonymous No.18704182]

>>18701632
him selling a few hundred books makes me want to self publish and advertise on /lit/ as well.

[Anonymous No.18704210]

I need help. How do I have Puss in boots defeat the Big Bad Wolf? I'm thinking of him shoving his sword in his mouth and choking the wolf to death. But that seems too obvious and cliche.

Afterwards, Puss goes against Humpty Dumpty and the Ugly Duckling.

Humpty is easy because I'm going to have Puss kick Humpty into Dumpty until the King couldn't put him back together again. As for the Ugly Duckling, I think him telling him he's an ugly swan as well to destroy his psyche would be the best way for Puss to win.

[Anonymous No.18704281]

>>18704070
Less than 2k words?

[Anonymous No.18704292]

>>18704174
It's not shit anon, stop belittling yourself. Your self-expression is valid and desired, write to your hearts content, tell that story that you have deep in your soul. I believe in you and love you anon.

[Anonymous No.18704299]

>>18704174
Edit it until it isn't. Some people are great writers, others are great editors. If you're a great editor it means you can write dogshit then turn it into gold.

[Anonymous No.18704309]

Wrote 1600 words tonight. Feel pretty good. Fun character interactions in this part of the story.

[Anonymous No.18704320]

>>18704309
I did the opposite. Wrote a bunch but it's the lowest point of the story and about to hit the upswing.

[Anonymous No.18704404]

>>18696153
>The blurred, yet glaringly apparent, line between talking, writing, writing, and talking, is, to some of, shall we say, distinguished palates, a hitherto acquired taste that, altogether unknown to the rather ignorant masses, whose misfortune it is to be blind to an illuminating, beautiful tongue of two worlds, both oral and, fascinatingly, scrivened, is nonetheless soon to be established; firmly placed, that is, in the contemporary, authorial dialogue, from which a newly elevated speech pattern; that is, manner of speaking, can be duly administered, henceforth, in an increasingly progressive and, dare I say, utopian procession of enlightened and truly inspiring ideals that, fraught they may have been in the times of our intellectual forebearers by a dazzling, yet imprudent rigor, and unto which we surely must be grateful, we still seek and cling to, and without, we are but motes of dust.

[Anonymous No.18704526]

Why have the best titles been taken by terrible schlocky writers? Fuck them.

[Anonymous No.18704538]

>>18704526
>The Plague
Fuck Camus, fucking hack

[Anonymous No.18704559]

>>18704538
Did you read the entire title? Look at the bottom of the image, numb nuts.

[Anonymous No.18704596]

Just got a good idea for a drama about a novel about a virus that turns flesh into machinery and started writing. Thought I'd share since I won't ever finish it like all my other ideas.
I'm almost certain I've seen this machine virus thing before somewhere but I have no idea where. Any clue?

[Anonymous No.18704605]

>>18704596
https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-217
maybe from here?

[Anonymous No.18704615]

>>18704605
I've read all scp's before 2000 before so probably that, thanks anon.

[Anonymous No.18704648]

>>18704615
No problemo buddy
remember
>>18695984
I get alot of Inspo from SCPs too
Hope your story turns out great!

[Anonymous No.18704664]

>>18704009
Dude, if someone hired you they are making a profit from it. Make sure to minimize the discrepancy between your worth and their gain. Keep stealin time while i do the same.

[Anonymous No.18704691]

>>18702325
>it's recommended to post them every day until your backlog finishes and/or you get trending on Royalroad

That's not how trending works anymore. And readers can't keep up if you post every day, because not everyone is online every day, so there will be less comments and discussion, which you should encourage. Keeping a consistent release schedule is more important. Instead of going from rapid fire to trickle, post at a rate your writing speed can sustain the whole way.

[Anonymous No.18704697]

>>18701231
>Made in Canada
I always appreciate clear content warnings on the cover

[Anonymous No.18704698]

>>18696506
I wrote multiple large sections of the Coronameron while drunk during lockdown last year, that counts right?

[Anonymous No.18704792]

What's the most accurate conversion from Word Doc pages to physical book pages?

[Anonymous No.18704806]

>>18704792
Using the google search engine to find your answer.

[Anonymous No.18704815]

>>18694825
ban test

[Anonymous No.18704939]

>>18704806
>google
>reliable source of info

I'd rather ask /lit/

[Anonymous No.18704943]

>>18704939
>/lit/
>reliable source of info
I'd rather you ask google or any other search engine.

[Anonymous No.18705443]

>>18704792
Depends on font and text sixe. There is no standard for paperback, and it also depends on font and spacing on your google doc doc.

[Anonymous No.18705656]

>>18703260
Good catch I'll edit that out.

[Anonymous No.18705870]

When they lurked more through the browser on the laptop and looked at the green board the frog poster of the discord raid halted the anons and spoke to the schizoposter behind him and he in turn closed tab and took Behead All Satans PDFs from his USB and approached the seething trannies and gestured for them to show their ports and hold them out, showing how with his own laptop. He transferred them each a PDF in this manner and then they lurked more.

[Anonymous No.18705913]

>>18695458
Isekai isn't trash. The trashy isekais are trash. There are classical isekais, like Dante's Inferno

[Anonymous No.18705956]

>>18705913
Dante's Inferno, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Narnia, Wizard of Oz, it's a popular genre.

[Anonymous No.18705988]

>>18705913
>applying an alien genre retroactively to western literature
Just please think a bit harder before posting.

[Anonymous No.18706720]

>>18704792
Are you planning to print your book and bind it?

[Anonymous No.18707183]

>>18704939
There's bucksuckhoe -I mean, duckduckgo

[Anonymous No.18707514]

>>18704698
I loved that thing. We really should make another sometime. Moviebob vs the working class was legendary.

[Anonymous No.18707591]

daily reminder not to give up writing anons. there is no fucking way to tell how good or shit your book is. virgil requested that the manuscript of the Aeneid be burned. Even if only a few people end up reading it, even if it's not that good, your work can inspire others in ways you'd never imagine

[Anonymous No.18707604]

>>18707591
Thank you so much for your positive comment, based wholesome anon. Have a wonderful day!

[Anonymous No.18707667]

>>18707604
You too, anon

[Anonymous No.18707750]

>>18707591
oh i shouldn't have burned Sonic's Divine Comedy? my readers said it was too cringe when dr. eggman was at the 7th layer of hell

[Anonymous No.18707968]

>>18705870
amen

[Anonymous No.18708481]

What's a good way to practice writing before I tackle my better story ideas? I don't want to butcher my good ideas. I assume writing short stories and submitting them somewhere?

[Anonymous No.18708561]

>>18708481
I guess you could try Aidungeon.

[Anonymous No.18708714]

>>18708561
I mean like, something where I can write, get feedback and keep improving like that.

[Anonymous No.18708743]

I have 7 different ideas for my story
I need to use 1 or 2, at MOST 3
But I can't choose. I can't bring myself to scrap the other ones. They're like my children, I love them all equally

What do?

[Anonymous No.18709013]

I posted Chapter Seven!
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/41979/a-hero-among-monsters/chapter/721871/chapter-seven-lazy-supper

[Anonymous No.18709071]

is there such a thing as "being yourself" when writing? when i make an effort to use certain tips ive seen like engaging the senses, those sentences seem fake or jarringly different from the rest of the story'ss prose

[Anonymous No.18709073]

>>18708743
Write 7 different variations and beta read them from some dedicated beta readers. They can choose the best and you don’t feel regret because someone else chose for you.

[Anonymous No.18709087]

>>18709071
>seem fake or jarringly different
Why’s that? Do you not know how to relax and imagine what it’s like to smell a flower, touch water, or hear a bird’s singing?

[Anonymous No.18709091]

>>18709073
Okay I'll try

[Anonymous No.18709183]

I think you guys need to stop worrying about marketability or literariness. Just write how you want, and share with people you love. Don’t let writing become a means to an end. It is an end in itself.

[Anonymous No.18709458]

>>18709183
I THINK THAT'S FUCKING GAY AND RETARDED. MAKING MONEY IS THE ONLY WAY TO GET GOOD PUSSY.

[Anonymous No.18709464]

>>18709183
If /lit/ doesn't approve 100% I'm going to kys

[Anonymous No.18709466]

>>18709458
>good pussy
That is completely subjective.

[Anonymous No.18709480]

>>18709464
Then you’re a lost soul. Stop relying on the opinions of strangers here. Most of them aren’t ever serious enough to critique literature; many of them don’t even read or care about literature—they come here to shitpost.

[Anonymous No.18709484]

>>18709466
>Hurr durr everything's subjective. I'm so cool.
Where is your evidence. Certain things are objectively disgusting (rotten flesh) by that logic, there are some traits which are objectively beautiful.

[Anonymous No.18709498]

>>18709484
Figure 1:
>Someone Who Doesn’t Take Anything Seriously

[Anonymous No.18709528]

>>18709498
That is the worst rebuttal I've heard

[Anonymous No.18709543]

>>18709528
>yeah, I’ll post a frog. It’ll really show ‘em.
Alright, I’m done fishing for (you)s on this godforsaken website. Time to go do something productive.

[Anonymous No.18709591]

>>18695488
>>18695493
Why is Marvel trash? It does what it's meant to do pretty well.

[Anonymous No.18709690]

Honestly, after you understand the basics of writing, just do what you want. Being anal about rules and prose can kill writing for the writer. As long as it's sufficient and the book fulfills its purpose well, then you've done your job. Have fun with the process.

[Anonymous No.18709867]

>>18709690
What are the basics of writing?

[Anonymous No.18709946]

How do I turn a cluster of vague ideas into a story?

[Anonymous No.18709952]

>>18709867
>Plot is the 'stuff' of the story; it's what the reader will be following
>Characters are the main actors, who make actions and are connected with these actions
>Setting is debatable but it's usually where and when the story is set
>Themes are the overarching ideas that bring the piece together and can be boiled down to the message imparted by all the characters, plot, and setting interacting
>Subjects are what you focus on, like the subject of love

[Anonymous No.18709957]

>>18709946
Characters.

[Anonymous No.18709961]

>>18709952
If you're gonna simplify to that extent, the division between themes and subjects seems redudant

[Anonymous No.18709992]

>>18709961
Maybe I worded it poorly, and should have said the theme can be summed up as a word, e.g., 'love'. Here's the definition from Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms:
>A salient abstract idea that emerges from a literary work’s treatment of its subject-matter; or a topic recurring in a number of literary works. While the subject of a work is described concretely in terms of its action (e.g. ‘the adventures of a newcomer in the big city’), its theme or themes will be described in more abstract terms (e.g. love, war, revenge, betrayal, fate, etc.). The theme of a work may be announced explicitly, but more often it emerges indirectly through the recurrence of motifs. Adjective: thematic.

[Anonymous No.18710058]

>>18709992
Again, it's redudant. In your original post, your description of "Subject" directly aligns with "Theme".
In this post you completely changed the definition of "Subject" to what essentially boils down to the idea of "Premise" which is something encompassed within "Plot".

Narrowing "Story" down to "Plot" + "Characters" + "Setting" + "Theme" is reasonable enough, "Subject" adds nothing that isn't covered by the other 4.

[Anonymous No.18710089]

I've been playing around with alliterative poetry a bit anons.... what do you guys think? Two lifts per line, with an alliterative first stress on lifts in the same line (horizontally) and alliterative second stress of the first lift of the couplet (vertically).

The Baptism of St. Augustine

I wandered afar, with wonders and sights
Laden before me, laced through the nights;
Of beautiful things whose beauty was made,
The caves of white Thule, her castle me bade.

At last when I stopped, in Milan come to rest
I heard a great sound, holy professed:
"The treasures you seek are but troves of black dust;
I tell of a sovereign who's treasures wont rust!"

With sins in my heart and a sorrowful lip
The priest I hailed, who with purposeful grip
Took hold of my shoulders, took heed of my prayer,
Down at the shore, my life to refer.

What joy at the water, though it jumped up so base—
The burden I wained now broken by grace!
Slave that I was, servant to sin:
Free now I walked, divine fire within.

To Hippo returning I hailed my old friend
And wonders him told, my words now so grand.
For Holy is the One who hastened to me
And turned my own words, telling to me

The skills that before had usurped His own name
Were gifts that would fail, 'nless gifting Him fame.
So onwards with preaching— I go outwards from Rome
Till comes the parousia that calls us all home.

To God be the glory, who called me from sin—
The light which came gleaming, the Lord I live in;
Freed from the darkness foul with lies—
Praise now to Him in whom my soul flies!

[Anonymous No.18710101]

>>18710058
>Narrowing "Story" down to "Plot" + "Characters" + "Setting" + "Theme" is reasonable enough, "Subject" adds nothing that isn't covered by the other 4.
But that's what all literary scholarship has done before me.

[Anonymous No.18710120]

>>18710101
false

prove it

[Anonymous No.18710255]

>>18710120
Isn't this shit just common knowledge at this point? Or, do you think that a majority of people who say the following are wrong:
>Difference Between Theme and Subject Matter
>Sometimes it can be difficult to determine the difference between the theme and subject matter of a literary work. They are both closely related to each other; however, the subject matter is the topic that is overtly addressed and presented by the writer whereas the theme is the meaning or underlying message that is imparted through the writing.
>The subject matter of a written work is what the text is about and is, typically, clearly indicated by the writer. The theme of a literary work reflects why it was written and what the author hopes to convey on a deeper level to the reader without direct statements. A reader may infer and a writer may imply a theme within a literary work. However, the subject matter of a literary work is not inferred by the reader or implied by the writer; it is overtly stated and understood.
>For example, in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the subject matter is two young people from feuding families who fall deeply in love with each other. One theme of this play, and Romeo and Juliet certainly features several themes, is the power of romantic love and the futility of others to stop it. The subject matter is almost exclusively related to the foundational elements of the story, such as what happens and to which characters. The theme, in contrast, is the lingering meaning and thought left to the reader as a means of reaching a greater understanding of the play itself and the larger concept of love.
>Examples of Theme in Literature
>As a literary device, the purpose of theme is the main idea or underlying meaning that is explored by a writer in a work of literature. Writers can utilize a combination of elements in order to convey a story’s theme, including setting, plot, characters, dialogue, and more. For certain works of literature, such as fables, the theme is typically a “moral” or lesson for the reader. However, more complex works of literature tend to have a central theme that is open to interpretation and reflects a basic aspect of society or trait of humanity. Many longer works of literature, such as novels, convey several themes in order to explore the universality of human nature.
You can read about character here:
https://literarydevices.net/character/
You can read about plot here:
https://literarydevices.net/plot/
You can read about setting here:
https://literarydevices.net/setting/

[Anonymous No.18710346]

My story is a cluster fuck of simplistic writing made for people that can't read past the 8th grade!!!! I don't know how to use all these big fancy words!!!

[Anonymous No.18710352]

>>18710346
Read a good author with an extensive vocabulary. Take some words from them and learn from their usage. Pick up Faulkner if you're not sure what else to pick.

[Anonymous No.18710369]

>>18710346
Purchase a thesaurus. You'll be loquacious in no time at all.

[Anonymous No.18710414]

Is free writing good practice for someone who struggles to get himself to write for long periods of time?

[Anonymous No.18710422]

>>18710369
Real talk though if you use words like loquacious in your novel then your entire work better have a 1920's style.

[Anonymous No.18710474]

How do you write a conversation between to people via text? Italics? Block text. Quotes?

[Anonymous No.18710577]

Any tips about setting design? Not necessarily referring to fantasy/scifi-type speculative worldbuilding, just in regards to the value behind story space in general.
What fundamental considerations go into the locations from your stories? Be it in terms of characterization and/or plot function.

[Anonymous No.18710583]

>>18710474
"How do you do it?" he asked.
"Like this", I replied. Would that I had looked less smug while doing it, but the corners of my mouth could not help but curl up at my own perceived wit.

[Anonymous No.18710650]

>>18710577
Not sure if this answers your question, but I've always had a lot of trouble not being super specific about, say, the contents of a room and their position and orientation. I'm trying to get better at focusing on the impression the setting for a scene gives rather than the details, unless the details are necessary for the plot. Focus on finding the right adjectives for the feeling you want to impart on the reader. Use unexpected words for new, frightening, or absurd places, and common words for familiar places.

>>18710474
There's no set-in-stone way to do it. Just choose a style and keep it consistent.

[Anonymous No.18710653]

>>18710577
I'm writing a fantasy story where exploration is one of the main points, so I basically consider the environment one of the main characters. I spend a lot of time designing the locations, to make them appear unique and interesting when shown in text.

Basically, the setting is like the lighting system in a movie. The way it looks and is described sets the mood, not just for the reader, but the characters too. It should affect how they talk and behave. You can leave it less detailed and let the reader fill in the blanks in not so significant moments, but when it really matters, you don't want the setting to contradict the state of the characters and the story, but enhance it. Every detail that is brought up should serve the narrative.
Maybe that goes without saying, but it's a point not to be underestimated.

[Anonymous No.18710693]

>>18710577
I tend to focus more on characters, their dialogue, and dialogue beats. I keep settings somewhat brief to establish at least some atmosphere, and then I move on. Here's a WIP segment I wrote up in the past hour or so for my current chapter. I guess you can take away from it what or what you shouldn't do, I suppose.

We stand in front of a two-story establishment. Unlike others on the street, it’s traditional in contrast—dark, faded wooden paneling with a single sliding door. Covering the exterior itself is a beaded curtain that’s a lighter shade of caramel. “Is this where Simon wandered off to?” I ask Mark. He turns to us and nods, but before Mark can say anything, Brutus speaks in his stead.

“Yokohama Mori,” Brutus murmurs, as he slides the wooden door open.

“You’ve familiar with this place?” Olga asks. Brutus breathes heavily through his nose, and the five of us step inside to a moderately-sized interior that’s atmospherically cardinal, but also humble with its design and furnishing. Even so, it’s oddly nostalgic. It fondly reminds me of meeting with Miss Victoria in her commander’s captain’s quarters.

“Yeah,” Brutus answers, a brief pause. The big oaf glances at me as if hesitating to continue. “Julius and I used to visit here from time to time,” I follow his glance at Simon, who indeed sits alone at the counter. Though a stoic spectacled man—likely the bartender judging from his KASHIWAGI name tag—keeps the codger company. Kashiwagi watches us closely as we enter the lofty bar. Across the room are a dozen or so Mafia lieutenants having a rowdy time over drinks—some of them I recognize from my fleet.

“Mister Brutus,” Kashiwagi announces cordially, “it’s been a while, hasn’t it?” He asks as we take seats around Simon, “I was only now catching up with Mister Oliver on how rare it is to him stop by and without Mister Lee as well, though I found it regrettable that Sir Lee passed away not too long ago—a tragedy, even. It brought me great joy knowing he loved the Yokohama Mori’s fine selection of beverages,” through his rimmed glasses, Kashiwagi’s gaze shifts between his patrons, “no good Sir Julius today? That chap always did love barging in all loudly-like.”

[Anonymous No.18710731]

>>18710577

the average space given a massy descriptive treatment is going to combine three or more arrangements using distinct and double-duty diction, ie its arrangements could be a) the clogged accumulative lucifer-steering blocks of ammassed christian doctrines as b) blocky downtown architecture with its inhibitation of view, artificial lights, and stubbing-out of sunbeams with c) heraldic modifiers and statuary nouns presenting building ornaments slipping in meaning into d) irruptive demonic bestiaries and, suggested by a word or two but mostly by its absence, e) the celestial infinite. #d/#c are underlit by the lights in #b and emerge from #b/#a which block #e. all menace. separate the distinct dictions then add to each of them the doubling ones (those words which can mean both text and slab, corbel and angel, a blanket of blackness and the sky-smothering hoods of a crowd of colossol granite accolytes) and you get three collections of sentence fragments. the setting and its organs should rush and pump and fall, forward or back or among and into themselves, the subject succession and verbs you choose and the positions and actions of characters in the space will deploy its 'value'

[Anonymous No.18710824]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0BhdfrBWX0
>Xer doesn't listen to funky mamalovin' jams when he writes and reads
NGMI.

[Anonymous No.18710890]

How the fuck are these literotica authors able to pump out so much shit?

[Anonymous No.18710931]

>>18710824
I listen to Carbon Based Lifeforms

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AAbrmLOV8k

[Anonymous No.18710932]

>>18710890
It's pretty easy to write erotica. It basically writes itself. There's no plot to worry about. It's the literary equivalent of putting a step mother in a scenario where she's stuck under the oven, so her step son fucks her for some reason. It never takes effort.

[Anonymous No.18710944]

>>18710932
I don't know man, I've seen some pretty shit erotica and some stuff that is handled so well you can practically feel it.
Pumping out bargain-basement crap like in that pic is easy though.

[Anonymous No.18711023]

>>18710890
They actually write. You know, something that doesn't get done here on /wg/

[Anonymous No.18711263]

>>18700636
"Was it so wrong to value the ecstasy of such a flavor over the bitter disapproval of a thousand confidantes? Mind you, these confidantes had been responsible for the construction of my aforementioned disposition."
There, I made it better without even trying.

[Anonymous No.18711394]

Prince Harry gets a book for 4, FOUR, fucking books about "I suffer as a literal prince of England." I hate rich people

[Anonymous No.18711402]

>>18711394
*book deal

[Anonymous No.18711608]

>>18711394
>>18711402
Seethe more, poorfag. We run the jewels.

[Anonymous No.18712161]

I’ve been staying with my family and I’m finding it impossible to find productive alone time. What a nightmare.

[Anonymous No.18712672]

How many words do you think it takes for a story to get good? For instance could you have a kind-of okay story for 15k words and then it gets good? Or do you think a good story is a riveting read from the outset?

For reference it takes on average 1hr30mins to read 15k words.

[Anonymous No.18712730]

>>18712672
I mean, ideally the story should be good from the start, but I've read plenty of books that were okay until later in the book or even the freaking series.
What's making you doubt the first 15k of your story?

[Anonymous No.18712742]

>>18712672
It should be engaging at all times, otherwise I stop reading. I'll give you 10 minutes of reading to draw my attention, and that's generous in the current day.

[Anonymous No.18712779]

>>18712730
The first arc of about ten chapters of my story takes the point of view of two children that have lived very closeted lives. They are thrown into a very larger than life situation involving seven unique characters plus a new environment.

It takes ten chapters to establish the very basics of the characters and the environment, and then the rest of the story is a drama revolving around those characters + the children from multiple viewpoints on an episodic basis (it's a fantasy-sitcom).

I'm at about chapter 8 and the arc should be done by chapter 10, but which time I should hope the reader is ready and interested to see what the core of the series will be from then on.

[Anonymous No.18712794]

>>18712779
I dunno man, that's a long time to reach the "core" of the story. The only people still reading by that point will be people who have been told to keep reading and people who are enjoying those initial chapters and might therefore dislike the change once things get going.
Without going into specifics, is there a way to better streamline your introduction, or integrate it better into the actual core narrative?

[Anonymous No.18712797]

>>18712672
"Good" is such a fucking vague word and everyone's good means different things.

Do I expect riveting plot twists and revelations from page one? Of course not. Do I want all the answers right away? Not really. Do I expect the author to finish his opening line without a typo? Yes! Will I wait 15k words for the book to achieve some semblance of original thought? Hell no.

[Anonymous No.18712810]

>>18712794
The story gets fantastical pretty quick, and the narrative progression is hinged on a) one of the kids gets sick and the reader is baited to find out if she'll be okay in the end or not, and b) the characters introduced are cursed so they have amusing/interesting characterisation plus backstories hinted at. Navigating all these things in the beginning I hope gives the reader a constant series of things to be interested in, things to expect further down the line.

[Anonymous No.18712952]

Would /wg/ be interested in reading the first 2000 words of my VN? I'm trying to write a serious VN that isn't garbage nor hentai.

[Anonymous No.18712977]

>>18712952
Why a VN instead of a regular n?

[Anonymous No.18712991]

>>18712977
I made a post about it a while back, actually. The story is heavily entwined with art, so I think the visual aspect would help it a lot. Also, VN standards are really fucking low so I can be more successful.
I would definitely write it as a novel though if I didn't value letting readers see the art with their own eyes.

[Anonymous No.18713011]

>>18712991
Then you have this art?

[Anonymous No.18713018]

>>18713011
I have ten thousand dollars I'm willing to spend on it. Everything else I can do myself.

[Anonymous No.18713035]

>>18713018
Well without the art the words will be lacking then, won't they?
post them anyway you pansy

[Anonymous No.18713114]

>>18713035
Sure. Formatting probably isn't the nicest to read but I did a little editing so it's bearable: www.dropbox.com/s/l0wv4l48xe82dou/blahblah.docx

Overall writing a VN feels a lot more like writing a play or movie than a novel. Interesting experience for the short while I've been doing it.

[Anonymous No.18713357]

I just had this idea: <<The Twelfth Challenge>>.

Write 12 books over a year, so one per month.
Each book is 12 chapters X 12 pages, so 144 pages. (so 5 pages per day)

It seems smarter than writing a full book and change writing skills during the book, and also it trains organizing skills more intensely, and it is more motivating than writing one full book which will be ignored.

You would get the satisfaction from a good training.

[Anonymous No.18713416]

>She was wearing the same clothes as when she first appeared in the live house several weeks ago.
Please help me fix this sentence.

[Anonymous No.18713425]

>>18713416
"She was wearing the same clothes as her first appearance in the live house."

[Anonymous No.18713496]

>>18713425
Thank you.

[Anonymous No.18713603]

How would you guys write a character coming across some really traumatizing sight?

[Anonymous No.18713964]

>>18712991
>VN standards are really fucking low so I can be more successful.
Successful, how? Nobody reads indie VNs

[Anonymous No.18713980]

>>18713964
Yeah, well nobody reads your amazon self-published novellas either.

[Anonymous No.18714262]

>>18694825
>what are you talentless hacks writing today

first round revisions still. hoping to get it done before my birthday in august but I have half the damn book to go.

[Anonymous No.18714655]

>>18713357
That sounds a little too challenging. I struggle enough just completing and publishing a chapter of the same length per week for the past year. I also don't think you could measure your progress in pages. It should be as long as needed to tell a story in its entirely.

>>18713603
I think what traumatizing depiction I've done so far can basically be summed up as survivor's guilt and wondering if what they've done is the right thing. There's a part where my MC is forced into a deadly melee and kills a dude and I felt inspired by this interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XruYsAmKLyU

Basically psychological and vomiting, I guess.

[Anonymous No.18714831]

>>18713603
Just think back to when you've experienced some traumatic shit and tailor it to the scene.