/wg/ - Writing General

[Anonymous No.18963824]

>I don't know what the hell's going on, but there isn't currently a general so I'm making one Edition

Anyway
>Shapes of Stories edition
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOGru_4z1Vc [Embed]

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 Fyodor and write serially
https://www.royalroad.com/
> Basic overview of the Screenplay format
https://screenwriting.info/

>Previously on /wg/
(I don't actually know, maybe this?)
>>18900424

[Anonymous No.18963852]

Why write when you can close your eyes and sleep?

[Anonymous No.18963880]

>>18963824
Is it gay to use old latin or sumerian or greek words to name your characters? There's an evil old man in my story and I want to name him after an Assyrian God, or possibly a Jewish root word, but I feel like that might be too gay. Especially since it sounds extremely evil and antiquated. Why can't they have names like George or some shit.

[Anonymous No.18963900]

>>18963824
Is it infringing copyright, or otherwise just poor form, to mention a band or contemporary musician by name? Like, if I want to say that Daft Punk was playing on the radio, would I get sued by Daft Punk or their label or whatever for using their name without permission were I making profit off the story?
>>18963880
>evil old man
>Jewish root word
Lol. Also, personally, I love using old languages to create words when it comes to fantasy, just make sure its consistent and fits with the motif. Latin is kind of overdone, but Sumerian seems unique.

[Anonymous No.18963950]

>>18963852
Writing gets your dreams on to paper.

[Anonymous No.18964012]

>>18963950
But no one here writes?

[Anonymous No.18964035]

>>18963950
and?

[Anonymous No.18964038]

>>18964012
I'm writing a contemporary novel and I need a not-too-on-the-nose name for the evil old man. >>18963880

[Anonymous No.18964064]

>>18964038
And I’m writing a fantasy and need a use of the magic system. Such an easy lie

[Anonymous No.18964095]

>>18964012
People here write, I'm writing a space opera myself

[Anonymous No.18964106]

>>18964064
I won't say it's good, but it's not a lie

[Anonymous No.18964124]

>>18964106
Aw shit I have a grammar error showing with that period. Corrected.

[Anonymous No.18964131]

Does anyone have pdfs for the books in the OP?

[Anonymous No.18964143]

How can I make my book the next Call of the Crocodile? Is it possible to repeat a meme like that? Is it as simple as buying 4chan ads? I have a manuscript but no idea how to market it. I'm also worried that the sci-fi market is too saturated.

[Anonymous No.18964148]

>>18964131
No, and fuck off already.

[Anonymous No.18964174]

>>18963900
>infringing on copyright question
Nope, last time i googled it wasn’t and that goes for company names aswell. Slandering them however would probably get you a law suit, but not just mentioning them.

[Anonymous No.18964211]

>>18964148
Wow rude. This is why you have no friends sweaty

[Anonymous No.18964222]

>>18964211
>He says, coming here

[Anonymous No.18964231]

>>18964143
>worried that the sci-fi market is too saturated.
That’s a smart concern to have

[Anonymous No.18964240]

>>18964131
Yes, tbqh if they can’t be found for free they shouldn’t be put in the OPs of these threads

[Anonymous No.18964269]

>>18963824
ITT: OP fails at using archive
>>18946939

[Anonymous No.18964284]

Chapter 46 released.
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/40361/erased
>>18964038
>not-too-on-the-nose name for the evil old man
The one over the top evil character I have I called Rudolf. When I was writing him he came across in my head as a sort of Bela Lugosi dracula vibe. Complete chewing on the scenery evil. Is it an evil name? No, not really. Basically what I'm saying is as long as the guy isn't named Pippi or something like that the name will work if the character dialogue does.

[Anonymous No.18964289]

Take 2. Please tell me your level of interest. I'm displeased with the prose itself but right now just looking at a higher level.

>>18964143
There is no community around it. Nobody cares in the slightest about it.

[Anonymous No.18964322]

>>18964289
Sci-Fi? That's one of the biggest genres.

[Anonymous No.18964345]

>>18964322
Call of the whatever

[Anonymous No.18964347]

>>18964289
Honestly, starting with
>The morning of his execution, the psionic Abraham
Turns me off instantly. Feels very try-hard. Also reminds me of opening to 100 years of solitude, but worse.
Otherwise, the rest seems decent. Seems like trying too much to add personality. But good job for writing something, or whatever.

[Anonymous No.18964348]

>>18964289
There are literally daily CotC threads, Youtube videos about it, and so on. It's not mainstream. But it has it's insane fanbase.
>>18964143
To answer your question I don't know if it's repeatable. Just write your own book. If it's good people will read it. Marketing is exaggerated.

[Anonymous No.18964361]

>>18964038
Oldje

[Anonymous No.18964366]

>>18964345
That's just not true. That meme has been going on all year long. I haven't read the book yet I'm aware it has readers. It's pulp fiction. People eat that crap up. Even if it's utter crap.

[Anonymous No.18964373]

>>18964211
You have to go back

[Anonymous No.18964411]

>>18964348
Fuck off, Gardner or his 3 retard discord fags.

>>18964347
Are you interested in it in terms of plot/story, though? I didn't revise the prose, this is all prose blabber right now.

[Anonymous No.18964429]

>>18964411
>Fuck off, Gardner or his 3 retard discord fags.

This is worse than Trump Derangement Syndrome.

[Anonymous No.18964433]

>>18964429
His book has like 7 sales. You can check the stats on amazon.

[Anonymous No.18964435]

>>18964411
Keep seething you fucking pseud. You will never be a writer.

[Anonymous No.18964444]

>>18964038
Donaldbain McBastard

[Anonymous No.18964447]

>>18964435
I don't care. Just stop shitting up the board and other boards for fucks sake, I've gone to other boards and you make 0 reply threads that literally nobody cares baout.

[Anonymous No.18964451]

>>18964433
Now you're just making shit up. I know for a fact you can't tell how many sales books are getting. If you're basing that on the Amazon rankings charts that shit is meaningless. It changes every day and depends on the genres.

[Anonymous No.18964462]

>>18964447
F Gardener Derangement Syndrome.

[Anonymous No.18964492]

>>18964462
Why do you do this? I don't understand. Don't you have literally any better use of your time?

[Anonymous No.18964514]

>>18964492
I'm in /wg/ all the time. I find it hilarious that guy's fucking crocodile book has caused such rage and paranoia.

[Anonymous No.18964515]

>>18964514
Pseud just mad that an animefag made it

[Anonymous No.18964541]

>>18964514
There's no rage, just a mild sense of annoyance and confusion as to why such a small collection of autists are so dedicated to shilling this book.

[Anonymous No.18964599]

>>18964541
I don’t find it confusing.
>book by a /wg/ poster becomes semi-known.
>people inevitably talk about it because he buys ads on this board.
>>18964515
He’s from /a/ too?

[Anonymous No.18964649]

>>18964599
His work is juvenile. Literally something an eight grader could make, and it's not entertaining like how some people might enjoy reading sonichu fanfiction. It's just saddening knowing this dude has probably wasted hundreds or thousands of USD on advertising to shit nobody cares about.

[Anonymous No.18964656]

>>18964649
If it’s resulted in that many memesters it can’t all be in vain

[Anonymous No.18964665]

>>18964656
There is no "memesters". There are just shills. This is literally obvious as shit to anyone with eyes. My pic literally includes one of the 4 or 5 retards thinking it'd be funny to spam /v/ with crocodile garbage for a week before he gets bored and goes to shill somewhere else.

[Anonymous No.18964681]

>>18964649
Explain to my why Croc is the meme? Gardener has like 10 books. Why does no one ever meme the others?
>>18964665
Same issue here. It’s never the other books. Shills would shill the other ones. So why is it only Croc that’s talked about and spammed?

[Anonymous No.18964691]

>>18964681
That is a great question. Probably because the shills never read the books. You think since his books are so, uh "entertaining", people would be screaming about his hot new releases if the interest was organic.

[Anonymous No.18964703]

>>18964681
Because he got lucky and cotc ended up turning into an ironic meme. His luck hasn’t been repeated with his other books.

[Anonymous No.18964751]

>>18964703
It’s not luck he spammed the board for like three months and only stopped when he began spending money on ads. He did a little spamming on /tv/ too

[Anonymous No.18964760]

>>18964681
>Explain to my why Croc is the meme?
Because it’s Gardner’s Magnum Opus.

[Anonymous No.18964761]

>>18964681
Just look at this cover. It has meme written all over it. The title also rolls off the tongue. Also the premise is fucking ridiculous. If it was comedic no one would care. But his books take themselves so fucking seriously that it became memed. A combination of all of these things.

[Anonymous No.18964917]

>>18964435
>>18964447
>>18964492
>>18964515
>>18964541
>>18964649
>>18964656
>>18964665
>>18964691
>>18964760
>>18964761

Gardner you are incapable of fooling anyone.

[Anonymous No.18964936]

>>18964917
I am not fucking Gardner. Holy shit this really is derangement.

[Anonymous No.18964944]

>>18964284
is royal road a good website to publish on?

[Anonymous No.18964951]

>>18964944
Yes

[Anonymous No.18964965]

>>18964761
No, you are incorrect and a poor historian of shitty 4channel memes.
For your explanation to be correct, a bunch of people would have had to have read it before it became a joke.
Really he made a couple threads a day for a couple of months. It’s really that easy to brute force a meme on a slow board like /lit/.

[Anonymous No.18964974]

>>18964965
>Really he made a couple threads a day for a couple of months. It’s really that easy to brute force a meme on a slow board like /lit/.
This is the pseuds revisionist history.

[Anonymous No.18965382]

I'm writing the second part out of my book thats a gradual descent into madness/return into divinity and a judgement by God. the first part, which is the beginning of the sort of absorption by unreality and a "Death" of the author is followed by a gradual absorption of the "author" into psychosis and a overall disconnect from reality(based on my own experiences with psychosis)
I'm trying to figure out how to start it out and heres my current plan.
1. 3 scoops of dr hyde preworkout
2. recommended serving of nyquil
3. force myself out of the house from 1 to 6 AM in the darkness and force myself to not fall asleep and attempt to experience a half shallow exhaustion that can hopefully drive me to experience or feel something that will kick off the second part.
anyone got any better ideas? if you are going to suggest drugs id rather you not unless they are quickly home made because i have autism and i am afraid drug dealers will think im a federal agent because i talk funny

[Anonymous No.18965512]

>>18964761
I think he tried to AstroTurf it himself but it didn’t work. But he bought 4chan ads and everyone knows him on discord. Once it was found out that he has such funny personal beliefs like flat earth his book got memed unbelievably fucking hard. So it happened because anons thought it would be funny.

[Anonymous No.18965528]

Sometimes I daydream about my novel being made into a movie. I've gone so far as to picture who would be cast in each role.

[Anonymous No.18965536]

>>18965528
Sometimes, I even daydream of writing.

[Anonymous No.18965655]

>>18965512
Anon : [after F. Gardner wins a Pulitzer, much to the Pseuds' shock] Way to go, F. Gardner!

Anon : You're number one, F. Gardner!

Pseud : But his covers look like they're drawn by CHILDREN!

Anon : Yeah! And Gardner beats their brains out!

Pseud : [the anons all spam CotC and the Pseuds seethe] I can't stand it anymore, this whole board is insane! INSANE I TELL YOU!

>Holds his head and screams a few times as he loses his mind, then runs out to a random /lit/izen.

Pseud : I can be a terrible writer, too. Look at me! I don't know how commas work, just like F. Gardner! Give me a thread!

>Starts spamming Call of the Crocodile in The Greeks threads

Pseud : Oh, I write like a retard, but nobody minds...

>Spams several threads, then heads into /wg/

Pseud : I'm shilling Call of the Crocodile, buy my book! Now I'm going to publish another unedited manuscript to Amazon, *but* it doesn't matter, because *I'm* F. Gardner!

>Starts a new thread

Pseud : I don't need to edit my book, because everyone will spam it for me! Based! Based! Based!

Pseud : [to Mr. Janny] Oh, hey, Mr. Janny. I'm the worst writer in the world. Time to go home to my mansion and write another novel!

>Makes another Call of the Crocodile thread

Pseud: Oh what's this? "A warning for spamming?" Well, that doesn’t matter because I’m F. Gardn...

(User was banned for this post)

[Anonymous No.18965682]

>>18965655
10/10

[Anonymous No.18965710]

>>18964035
And what? Why are you here if you have no intention of writing?

[Anonymous No.18965734]

>>18965710
People write here?

[Anonymous No.18965768]

>my diary, desu
Tonight I went to M____ Pizza for the second night in a row. Last night when I went there, I left fuming at the asshole manager -- a classic New England working stiff who manned the register. I asked for a burger protein style, and he subtly mocked me for doing so. I told him that it's common in California, and I figured Massachusetts would be familiar since they share politics.
"Massachusetts does not share politics with California," he tells me bluntly.
"Oh fucking really?" I think to myself, silently. I hear him laughing at me as I walk out the door.
I return tonight because there is nowhere else to eat around this stupid place. The same asshole is working there again, along with some teenage boy. I try ordering two slices of pizza, but he tells me they don't do slices at night. I order the mozzarella sticks instead, sit down, and wait for my food. I feel like a fucking alien in public, and especially sitting there quietly. After last night I associate the place with humiliation. I hear commotion in the back, and the teenager walks out with my order and a smug smile on his face. I immediately know they were both making fun of me back in the kitchen.
"Here you go, chief. Have a good night," he says, with a stupid fucking smile on his face.
"You too," I try to reply, but the words barely eke out of my throat. I left tonight with the same anger and humiliation as the night before. Fuck meekness. My whole life I've operated on the harm principle, and now I'm a pathetic mouse as a result. For years I rejected my best friend's angry, alpha-dog persona because I believed it to be morally wrong. And how has that worked out for me? I can't order a slice of pizza without being made the bitch. The Christian ideal is for the in-group ONLY. Everyone else is dirt, lower than dirt. I imagined burning down that sanctimonious asshole's restaurant, with him and that twink inside it, as I drove home. Enantiodromia -- I vacillate between love and hatred. Nothing holds consistent value. Somehow I have become the Underground Man, with half the insight and double the neurosis; cursed to observe the world without taking part in it. I hate myself and my ineffectual ethic. The harm principle! What a joke. How about a new principle, a superior ethos: never let someone harm you, be it through social dominance or my own misguided attachment. Kill the weak man inside of you. Become better. Tonight I failed again -- shrank from a fight I could not win. If I am going to live on this planet, I must exert dominance over others. Yielding my whole life has made me weak. Instead of fighting, I took the slimiest retribution I could think of: a one-star review on Yelp, with a complaint about a hair in my food. I cannot continue to live a coward; will not continue to survive a coward...

[Anonymous No.18965780]

>>18965655
Well done. Screencapped.

[Anonymous No.18965812]

>>18965382
Take like 12 benadryl, it will induce straight-up psychosis. I'm talking full-blown visual/auditory hallucinations.

If that scares you too much, then about 50mg of melatonin mixed with a cup of strong coffee will put you in a dreamlike trance.

[Anonymous No.18965825]

>>18965812
ive definitely got melatonin around the house. I've heard large amounts of benadryl can incur brain damage so ill stray away from that one for now.

[Anonymous No.18965876]

Is there any place you can serialize fiction that isn't, you know, memey? Because when I look at all the standard options out there--Amazon, Royal Road, Wattpad, etc.--it's pretty clear, as these threads have said before, that only certain genres of fiction do well on them, and these tend to be largely unserious genres, without much literary merit.

If you wanted to serialize a larger story, but you had a certain idea of being actually, you know, good, what are your options?

[Anonymous No.18965883]

>>18965655
Legit keked

[Anonymous No.18965906]

>>18965876
Mine is one of those larger stories at 330k words and counting, and I'm only still in more or less the first act or so. I have it on RR, Scribblehub, and Spacebattles and success is what you make of it. Frankly, there are no platforms for that aren't "memey" whatever that means. Sounds like you simply just don't want to publish on webserial platform. Maybe you should just tradpub?

[Anonymous No.18965924]

>>18964289
Opening sentence sounds very forced and awkward. Don't just straight up tell us what Abraham is, show us, or describe it later. If you take out "the psionic" it would sound much better.

[Anonymous No.18965934]

>>18965906
I've tried. I've been querying literary agents without much success.

I'm not opposed to serialization at all, it's just that my story is a bit more literary than what typically gets published on these sites. It's science fiction but I draw a lot of inspiration from writers like Wolfe and Borges, as well as more literary writers like Melville. I just worry it will seem out of place, since it's not an isekai or military sci-fi or some fantasy yuri or anything like that.

[Anonymous No.18965940]

>>18965825
Literally every drug has negative side effects. Also, to be perfectly clear, I would not advise anyone looking for a good time to try tripping on benadryl.

[Anonymous No.18965945]

Any tips on pacing? I feel like as I'm writing, the scene seems perfect, but then I read it and it seems to go by far too quickly. That being said, I'm still on the first draft, so maybe it'll get better as I refine it, but I feel like it's evident of a large issue with pacing overall.

[Anonymous No.18965958]

>>18965945
We had a discussion on this a few threads back. It's a simple matter of the amount of words you use, which basically translates to describing images/actions with more detail.

The key is figuring out which images/actions to focus on, and which details about that given item are going to be relative to the reader. So if a guy is getting punched, and it's not a super violent story, then you'll want to describe that a lot. But the reader isn't going to be interested in a description of the puncher's fist or the room he got punched in, but rather the build-up, impact, and immediate consequences of the punch.

[Anonymous No.18965967]

>>18965958
New here? People ask the same trite questions.

[Anonymous No.18965970]

>>18965924
Man I literally said I am displeased with the prose. I did not revise a lick. I've already scrapped this entire section and decided to apply the "begin the story further in than you want to rule" anyway, though.

[Anonymous No.18965977]

>>18965934
Just do it. You have nothing to really lose.

[Anonymous No.18965986]

>>18965906
>>18965934
Wait, so you're telling me I can't just get accepted by a publisher and be the next JK Rowling?

[Anonymous No.18966034]

>>18963824

Are there any well-known books on writing poetry besides the ones in the sticky?

Those look great, but seem to be supplements for people who have already started writing. I'm starting from the ground up here and wondering if there are any other trusted books for beginners like me.

[Anonymous No.18966036]

>>18965970
>decided to apply the "begin the story further in than you want to rule" anyway, though.
My criticism was going to be that it didn't really get interesting until the last paragraph, and also I was confused. Was Abraham watching an actual fictional drama, or was that meant to be a clever way to describe a news report?

[Anonymous No.18966068]

>>18965977
You know what, Anon? You're right. I'm overthinking this shit. I'll just put it up on one of the sites and use my social media presence to share new chapters as they're posted. I have a decent social media presence, which should help boost interest.

[Anonymous No.18966074]

>>18965986
Maybe?

>>18966068
Doesn't hurt to crosspost it on multiple platforms. Increases your chances of noticeability and getting cross-readers to like it on the original platform.

[Anonymous No.18966076]

>>18966034
Pic related for what it's worth. If you're starting from the ground up—just write. The first 20-50 poems you write are going to be crap, and that's okay. Just keep writing.

[Anonymous No.18966085]

>>18966036
TV show that reflects the state of the world. It was going to be ommentary on how society treats psions with "pity gloves" even though they are indeed the root of so many problems and they still need to be routinely killed in order to maintain a stable society, but I was rethinking that last part in general since it just sounds like dystopian YA fiction.

[Anonymous No.18966188]

>>18966076
Cool, I'll check it out. Just writing is probable the best course of action yeah. But I'm curious about things like rhythm and meter, the technical side of poetry.

[Anonymous No.18966192]

>>18966188
>But I'm curious about things like rhythm and meter, the technical side of poetry
Then Fry's book is probably perfect for you, that's all he deals with mostly.

[Anonymous No.18966244]

>It's another "Anon is having more fun thinking up fictional creatures for his setting than actually fucking writing the story" episode

[Anonymous No.18966338]

He took me first, textured through with distaste though he never addressed it aloud (and I doubt, if pressed, he would even see it in himself), on tour through the fields. There was nothing but fields. I asked him where the rest of it was.

I had just then arrived, feeling clumsy within my skull, groping at the surroundings: swathes of color indigo to crimson which left no room for thought of earthy tones. Entirely bewildered; uprooted without context or anchor, as if this experience bore no relation to the rest of my experiences in life. I couldn't say even the time this whole strange excursion to place, it had such threadbare connection to the rest of my times, so few lines to draw, as if this were the story through another man's eyes--displaced, misplaced into my memory by a slip-up of the synapses. I accepted this, because what else could be done at the moment, and let myself build from a single axiomatic ship, some alien conception of these events. It could be moored to solid ground later. So I asked him.

He said to me that this was all there was. Not a hint of deferrence; he said it as one might wave drunkenly to the stars and proclaim the same. He didn't even pause in his step, tip-toeing the boardwalks that sprawled the horizons. Following that, following him and the rest is as follows to the best of my recollection.

We passed along the boardwalks over the fields. Light--I can't place now--I don't remember any sun, nor any artificial lighting, no lamps or flame. Nothing needed that light to be shone to be shown. It was as if the whole of it was only forms, no mediating senses, just a sense of this place placed (misplaced) into my perception. And maybe that was how it was meant to be (false sincerity, I wonder?). He walked ahead leisurely, but without turning back to look at me. I think he heard my steps behind him. Peering below, I could glimpse motion--a stirring in the fields which, when viewed from above looked now far less dense, and really more of an orchard--each plant was spaced several yards from the next nearest, but not in rows, and though it was difficult to distinguish from the height of the boardwalks, each bore some thousands of fruits on its branches. [CONT.]

[Anonymous No.18966343]

>>18966338
Tending each plant was a single caretaker. These caretakers were involved in every task; looking out at the thousands of plants, I could see the entire lifecycle of events sliced from time and transposed into space. Some were trimming their plants, some collecting berries, some squatted beside and rested. The caretakers ate the fruits and shit in buckets, the contents of which in turn were pressed into the red earth in small mounds at the foot of the plants. When the berries were collected, they were put into some small flying apparatus. This all I saw in a moment and assembled only in retrospect, my eyes passing from one plant to the next. Ahead of me, his eyes never left the horizons. I saw no man or woman moving from one plant to the another and no attendant relieved of his shift. I later learned that there was no night here, and have come to believe that one never left his plant, except possibly in death.

The first people we encountered was another small group: three strangers--to myself of course but also to my guide it seemed, who exchanged some technical talk with no hint of personal familiarity. Their discussion went completely over my head, but what interested me was what they held. Each of the three wore a sash carrying a maybe a hundred small vials. In pauses they would consult a gadget and pluck a vial from the sash to sip, make note, and then place back in its pocket. They spoke for a few minutes, then each as parting gift gave a single choice vial to my guide.

This passed for some hours, with a dozen such encounters, all beginning and ending the same. My guide as well wore a sash, more decorated, in time, till it weighed heavy as the others, though told only by the way it swung, now pendulously rather than floating, for it didn't slow his step and even seemed to invigorate his movement until, now fully ornamented with vials and mid skip, he paused at a crossing and for the first time turned to face me.

[Anonymous No.18966440]

>>18963824
today basically marks 1 year of writing non stop and i realized how much my high school education on literature and writing fucked me up.

my teachers really forced in how symbolism and themes were important in a story and how there needs to be MEANING or some moral message; even when i thought it was pure bull shit as a student. i got punished and treated like an idiot until i complied and wrote paragraphs of literal bullshit by over-analyzing every detail like they wanted. it made me hate writing and books.

i liked supposedly garbage stories like game of thrones and attack on titan (up until their rushed endings) and those are what sold the most around the world too.

so i'm trying to unfuck myself and trying to enjoy writing for a webcomic i'm trying to create, but so many articles i found early on kept pushing the same bullshit about how theme is so important, when it's looking more and more like it's an afterthought after the story is completed and looked on as a whole and entirely subjective. i felt like i wasted an entire year learning that i should have just written what i thought was fun, interesting and coherent than trying to wrap my head around some stupid message/moral i knew i'm incapable of delivering because i'm not some life guru or philosopher. i don't believe ANYONE is in a position to tell someone how to live their fucking lives and what decisions they make except maybe their parents.

tl;dr, how do i just relax and write what is fun instead of worrying about the theme meme?

[Anonymous No.18966473]

>>18966440
read call of the crocodile

[Anonymous No.18966517]

>>18966440
Just tell yourself that you'll work on reinforcing the theme in editing.

[Anonymous No.18966520]

>>18966440
Where the fuck were these English classes everyone else was taking, where the teacher is some drill sergeant shrew from before the industrial revolution, endlessly drilling their students in esoteric nonsense?

I took advanced classes in English all four years of High School, given they were in Florida but still, at no point was I asked to really interpret a text. At times there would be a question on the homework, like "Why do you think X character did Y?" but at no point did my teacher stab at a chalkboard with a riding crop and make us recite literary equations like "Green light=Envy"

But anyway, your teacher was right and you are wrong. Sorry, but writing compelling and meaningful fiction really is work, and if you're a repressed homosexual you will compulsively drop hints in the subtext that will be picked up by your audience. Your story should have a theme. You don't need to plan it out in advance, and it doesn't need to be profound or even original, but if you can't find one while you're revising then you will end up with a meandering pile of episodic garbage. Symbolism is a useful tool for packing extra meaning into a small space, which preserves rhythm and cadence in prose. The thing about moral meaning isn't an instruction, it's an observation. If you're writing a story, you will always either condone or condemn a given ideal, even if that ideal is that ideals are meaningless.

[Anonymous No.18966536]

>>18966473
This desu

[Anonymous No.18966547]

>>18966440
>those are what sold the most around the world too.
And that makes them good?

[Anonymous No.18966550]

>>18966473
>>18966536
It has a lot of one star reviews.

[Anonymous No.18966561]

>>18966473
unironically might help to read pure garbage free of thematic restrictions, thanks.

>>18966517
thanks, i'll try.

>>18966520
canadian education. i also took honors/advanced classes. we were literally forced to interpret every tiny little detail, stopping at each sentence to analyze every single word like why the author chose "red" hair instead of whatever other color and what it means and how it affirms the multiple themes of the story. i had to write a fucking full paragraph about a side character's red fucking hair. the book in question was gunter grass's "the tin drum" if you wanna understand just how fucky the entire shit was. what a stupid book, all it did was give me literary trauma and it's entirely forgettable even with its jewish nobel peace prize title.

i don't care if my teachers were right, they're teaching highschool while isayama wrote an epic at 28 years old that earned him a fucking onsen, a themepark and statues and it was cool as fuck until he made eren a cuck.

i find symbolism and theme to be extremely pretentious, it seems like everyone has a different interpretation of what a book's themes are anyways.

[Anonymous No.18966562]

>>18966550
No shit. The author thought it was a good idea to give it away for free on 4chan. Hence the shitpost reviews.

[Anonymous No.18966567]

>>18966550
Yeah it's pretty sad, you can tell there are a handful of non-4channers who read it and were trying to be encouraging to the author despite how bad it was. And then you just know the 5 star reviews are all not serious.

[Anonymous No.18966569]

>>18966547
i personally enjoyed it and clearly so did many other people.

[Anonymous No.18966590]

>>18966440
>my high school education on literature and writing fucked me up.
Note how the author subtly introduces his theme. Presented in a fleeting moment, "fucked me [up]" first appears to be nothing more than a flash of profanity designed to illustrate and highlight the narrator's frustration
>my teachers really forced in
This abrupt segue begins to peel back the narrative distance between author and narrator. We go, almost directly, from "fucked me" to "really forced in".
>pure bull shit
>literal bullshit
At first glance, this would seem like a mistake, both in structure and word choice. But note the contradiction. You would be inclined to consider this as unimaginative repetition of a stale cliche (bullshit) but the spacing in the first instance, followed by the compound word in the second, actually demonstrates a deft usage of subtext. By first describing the "bull shit" (juxtaposed with "pure") which he was forced into, the narrator begins to bring subtext to the surface. His purity was defiled by shit (a clear reference to the narrator's own anus) and a bull. Two separate concepts, later paired directly to simulate the sensation of a rapist reaching a feverish climax as he takes his pleasure with the narrator.
>over-anal
Through his clever usage of the hyphen, our author creates a phallic bridge between two sexually charged terms (over, indicating a position of sexual dominance) and anal (see previous note). He is literally using the shape and structure of punctuation to tell his story.
>(up until their rushed endings)
The narrator begins to elaborate on his ideal sexual encounter. Using "immature" fiction like fantasy and anime, he indicates his preference for less power-imbalance in his encounters, stating he would have preferred partners his own age, despite the fact that the "endings" are sometimes "rushed"
>so i'm trying to unfuck myself and trying to enjoy writing for a webcomic i'm trying to create,
And here the narrator presents his true inner conflict. How have his forced sexual encounters with his teachers possibly tainted his ability to functionally write his own webcomic (writing, of course, being symbolic of love, and the webcomic being the narrator/author's own children)
>i don't believe ANYONE is in a position to tell someone how to live their fucking lives and what decisions they make except maybe their parents.
It's not looking good

[Anonymous No.18966600]

>>18966590
By the way I'm trans, if it matters.

[Anonymous No.18966604]

>>18966590
This is the highest quality shitpost I've ever seen.

[Anonymous No.18966609]

>>18966440
theme is less important than style and structure. you don't need to write hundreds of pages expounding your beliefs, but at least write ideas that are relevant. Might be hard for you if you read dreck like game of bones and anime.

[Anonymous No.18966613]

>>18966609
> Might be hard for you if you read dreck like game of bones and anime.

here's what i don't understand, why is game of thrones and anime shitted on so much when they make much more money and memorable storylines than what anyone here has produced? is it cope or something?

[Anonymous No.18966624]

>>18966613
>money over everything nigga
philosophy of hylic idiots. 90% of popular media is rubbish made for no reason other to sell.

[Anonymous No.18966650]

>>18966624
>only muh intellectual equals understand my geeneus
cope some more faggot, wake me up when you have your own onsen so i can shit in it.

[Anonymous No.18966652]

>>18966613
Game of Thrones uses some pretty overt symbolism and theme. Take for instance, the wolf cubs found in the first episode, and the way they reflect the relationship to each of the character's Stark heritage. Arya's ends up being banished into the woods, Sansa's gets beheaded because her sibling stood up to Joffrey, Robb's ends up replacing his owner's head, and Brandon's dies as he's consumed by the spirit of the Three-Eyed raven. Jon's wolf is typically penned up whenever his duty to the Night's Watch is in conflict with what he believes constitutes honor as a Stark.

[Anonymous No.18966656]

>>18966650
go watch the avengers or whatever is you people do

[Anonymous No.18966675]

>>18966652
a child could come up with this shit though. themes and symbolism alone never make a work great. much like style, structure, plot etc. it must be done in a way that is creative and/or meticulous enough to be recognised as genius.

Peddling stories with cheap and easy prose and allegories is a surefire way to get money from the midwit masses, but no one ever influenced literature or storytelling by being simple

[Anonymous No.18966695]

>>18966656
i would but i can't watch with you loudly crying over your keyboard like a pathetic cuck.

[Anonymous No.18966727]

>>18966695
im on my phone m8

[Anonymous No.18966743]

>>18963824
>Shapes of stories
Which would you use, /lit/? I love the Beowulf one the most.

[Anonymous No.18966759]

>>18966695
>>18966727
with each and every thread, /wg/ ascends to a new zenith of innovation in literary composition

[Anonymous No.18966813]

>>18966567
CotC is unironically great if you are not a grammar nazi.

[Anonymous No.18966828]

>>18966813
Haha.

[Anonymous No.18966837]

>>18966813
No it’s even better if you are. That book is unintentional comedy gold. Pic related

[Anonymous No.18966866]

>>18966837
Please, just stop fucking shilling. Literally nothing you posted is amusing in the slightest. It's not The Room, as much as you want it to be.
>Woah he downed a beer in two sips!!! Lmao Gardner is so amusing
?????

[Anonymous No.18966896]

>>18966440
desu anon theme is just one of those things you weave in without much thought. don't worry too much about it if your work isn't all that serious or just meant for fun.

[Anonymous No.18966921]

>>18966866
Then why does google say it’s a meme

[Anonymous No.18966930]

>>18966921
Because Google's algorithm uses data mining to figure out the most plausible result, and "meme" is the most common word spouted on this shithole. Do you want me to also explain why cars move, or how humans maintain their center of balance?

[Anonymous No.18966936]

>>18966930
No but you could explain why crocodiles call.

[Anonymous No.18966947]

>>18966936
Because Gardner is a failure in life in a general sense, and apparently he enjoys writing despite being mediocre at best at it. So he decided the only path to not be a complete nobody would be to shill his book endlessly (going so far as to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars on advertising) so that a few morons would be like "lmao epic" and shill it endlessly, despite nobody else caring whatsoever.

[Anonymous No.18966981]

>>18966947
He’s written a ton of books. Meanwhile here you are being bitter.

[Anonymous No.18966983]

>>18966981
I think I've said this before but I'm the guy who's already made it financially. Writing to me is about status, respect, and achievement. By these criteria Gardner has nothing more than infamy. And financially, he may have well lost money with all his dumb ass advertising.

[Anonymous No.18966991]

>>18966983
Isn’t Gardener already rich or something? I don’t know that for sure. But I think I remember hearing that. Also anyone can claim they’ve “made it.” Unless you post your work I’ll assume you’re just jealous of Gardener. Judging by your posts that seems fairly obvious.

[Anonymous No.18966993]

>>18966921
>4chan
>reddit
Says a lot about this shithole website, doesn't it?

[Anonymous No.18967007]

>>18966991
Believe it or not, I'm not jealous of Gardner since I could easily achieve everything he's done save for getting a bunch of emaciated autists to shill my mediocre writing that I never even bothered hiring an editor for.

[Anonymous No.18967012]

>>18966947
After seeing Gardner’s post where he said he wants everyone from /wg/ to be a success I can’t really dislike him.

[Anonymous No.18967026]

>>18966947
Christ, I thank God everyday I didn't turn out like a pseud like you.

[Anonymous No.18967027]

>>18967012
Discussing this post would actually be a lot longer than I'm willing to type so I'll just say: even if he isn't virtue signalling like so many personalties love to do, who fucking cares what he has to say? I can write a post about how I love everyone and want everyone to be happy forever but those are just empty words that insult the sadness we all experience with their simplicity.

[Anonymous No.18967030]

>>18967026
We're talking about Gardner here. Nobody else.

[Anonymous No.18967032]

>>18967030
And you’re seething with rage at his success.

[Anonymous No.18967037]

>>18967027
Because like him or not he’s the most known author from /wg./ And he doesn’t seem to have a mean outlook like you.

[Anonymous No.18967047]

>>18967032
I don't think about Gardner except when you faggots bring it up. I'd love for you to never mention him again or at least keep it to your inner circles.

>>18967037
Gardner is a narcissist, and I can't believe anyone would genuinely appreciate such a narcissist. As a narcissist myself it confuses me greatly.

[Anonymous No.18967048]

>>18967037
>Because like him or not he’s the most known author from /wg./
He's the only author from /wg/

[Anonymous No.18967052]

>>18967047
>narcissist projecting
shut the fuck up, whether or not gardner's words were just empty platitudes, he went out and shared something he enjoyed creating, and he wins in the end because he's happy unlike a salty cope like you.

[Anonymous No.18967053]

>>18967047
>As a narcissist myself

Uh-huh. So now it makes sense. You really are just jealous of him.

[Anonymous No.18967055]

>>18967052
>he went out and shared something he enjoyed creating, and he wins in the end because he's happy unlike a salty cope like you.
Just because I enjoy shitting doesn't mean I should take it out of the toilet bowl and shill it on 4chan, much less sell it on (((Amazon)))

[Anonymous No.18967062]

>>18967055
you know what, i was just going to pirate gardner's book to read it, but now i think i'm gonna go buy it just to spite you.

[Anonymous No.18967063]

>>18967007
>I could easily achieve everything he's done

Then why haven't you?

[Anonymous No.18967067]

>>18967052
"Wins"? If Gardner won, then the game would be being happy, and that game would have been less of a competition and more of a unified struggle. The game is to be a successful writer, and while you may define success as "forced, unorganic infamy on a mongolian kazoo playing forum", I think otherwise.

>>18967053
As a narcissist I'm confident enough in my opinion to not give a shit about your bait, either.

>>18967063
Why would I WANT to "achieve" what he's done? A much better verb would be "repeat", because "achieved" implies he's done something desirable.

[Anonymous No.18967076]

>>18967062
What if I told you... I'm F. Gardner and I was using reverse psychology?

[Anonymous No.18967084]

>>18967067
>Why would I WANT to "achieve" what he's done?

Because you've made it painstakingly clear that you envy it. I wasn't sure at first. But since your cringepost declaring yourself an admitted "narcissist" everyone can see that much.

[Anonymous No.18967091]

>>18967084
I envy real, famous writers who are genuinely better than me and have widespread success. Gardner just annoys me.
Now I'm going to bed, I don't care anymore. Night, Gardner-shill.

[Anonymous No.18967101]

>>18967076
>>18967067
>What if I told you... I'm F. Gardner and I was using reverse psychology?
i don't care, it's worth the $11.08 plus $4.98 shipping if it means to piss off the narcissist anon who is without $11.08.

[Anonymous No.18967103]

>>18967091
It's probably one of the glow niggaz from discord, or himself.

[Anonymous No.18967105]

>>18967091
>I-I'm not jealous! F Gardner just annoys me! T-That's all!

Kek. Could you be any more tsundere? Also F Gardner IS famous. Just in an extremely retarded way.

[Anonymous No.18967106]

>>18967103
Keep seething, pseud.

[Anonymous No.18967108]

>>18967101
Aha. This is just my NFT net worth. I could afford to hire an agency to publish my book for me and advertise it, but I would never do that until I feel my work is worth being published.

[Anonymous No.18967109]

>>18967106
I just think Gardner needs a better editor.

[Anonymous No.18967112]

gardner general really heating up tonight

[Anonymous No.18967114]

>>18967108
>until I feel my work is worth being published.
Hope you like writing woke shit then.

[Anonymous No.18967115]

>>18967108
Lol that's nothing. I'm Jason Bryan and I'm worth several million just in real estate.

[Anonymous No.18967118]

>>18967115
Seek help

[Anonymous No.18967121]

>>18967115
And yet your book is still uninspired garbage, lol. If there's one thing I've learned from becoming a millionaire is that money solves a lot less than you think it does.

[Anonymous No.18967126]

>>18967121
I'm not actually Jason Bryan, anon... Do you not understand irony or trolling? By the way, if you actually need an editor you can contact me. I sign privacy agreements and whatnot so I'll never tell anyone about your project.

[Anonymous No.18967129]

Goodness. The mods need to perma-sticky a Gardner General to prevent this shit from happening.

[Anonymous No.18967130]

>>18967126
Ahah. No. Send me your eth address and I will gladly spend 30$ in unnecessarily high gas fees to send you 1$ just to flex on you.

[Anonymous No.18967131]

I think I could write my big story forever. I absolutely love all my characters and I love the world I have constructed for them to inhabit. I love playing around with prose and poetry in the process of telling their story. I have a definite beginning to the story, and I'm working through the middle, and there will definitely be an end. But I could literally dwell in this story all the days of my life. It makes me supremely happy to tell it and think about it.

[Anonymous No.18967133]

>>18967130
0x0f35efEECB8D103e7f8014046a7789bDe45CD7ea
Thanks man. Any change is appreciated.

[Anonymous No.18967140]

>>18967133
https://etherscan.io/tx/0xe3eaf8f50c3edb8ee4ba15a1e92382f6ceb5180f36155e474293dec4c62a59f4
Now I'm actually going to bed. Good night.

[Anonymous No.18967167]

>>18966983
>Writing to me is about status, respect, and achievement
more cringe than any drivel written by gardner

[Anonymous No.18967188]

>>18967140
>Wasting 1/2000 of your wealth to "own" me
You sound pretty insecure, as well as probably a shit fucking writer. Every millionaire I met cannot spell or string a sentence together.

[Anonymous No.18967198]

F Gardner's real time redemption arc is shaping up to be the most interesting thing from /wg/ in a while.

[Anonymous No.18967212]

>>18967198
This. Whoever made the thread should make this next thread an “Gardner edition” Imagine the seething from the that one guy.

[Anonymous No.18967228]

>>18964038
Herschel

[Anonymous No.18967238]

>>18967212
I'm financially secure and make 1million dollars in NFTs alone. You have nothing, I've no respect for you.

[Anonymous No.18967261]

>>18967212
That would go down in the history books.

[Anonymous No.18967262]

>>18967238
Nobody cares. And no I’m not Gardner. I’m the guy you were accusing of being his “shill.”

[Anonymous No.18967269]

>>18967238
I thought you went to bed. Did your Gardner alarm go off?

[Anonymous No.18967307]

>>18967262
>>18967269
I'm up because I have the writing itch. Now, I'm looking for crit.
https://pastebin.com/7gh2VqZy

[Anonymous No.18967328]

>>18967307
All this hype as proclaiming yourself to be better than Gardener. And this is what you post?

[Anonymous No.18967339]

>>18967328
What's wrong with it?

[Anonymous No.18967352]

>>18967339
It's no Call of the Crocodile.

[Anonymous No.18967357]

>>18967352
Kek. Literally made me laugh out loud.

[Anonymous No.18967369]

>>18967352
:( I could not shine a light to Gardner. Adieu. Back to my lonely, empty McMansion--where empty whores heat me artificially without love, where my libraries are full of rare books I never read, where publishers and academics only sneer in disgust at my lack of erudition.

[Anonymous No.18967375]

To the anon (if he sees this) who posted in the last thread with this:
>>18963522

https://docs.google.com/document/d/13juRQAs2dRcF9rkw_fyJAxcg0VLV9MOfnysQKtEvF4o/edit#

Really huge improvement, dude. The prose in general has a much better flow and it feels more characterful and alive. It's honestly pretty insane how much better it is even one draft later.
I still think parts of it have overly modern sounding vocabulary and syntax, of course. That issue takes a lot longer to solve, as you need to have an ear for what sounds anachronistic and what doesn't, which only really comes with experience.
One specific thing that occurred to me about this draft was this,
>She wore a silk summer dress and a ludicrously wide-brimmed straw hat adorned with the most elaborate bow Edwin had ever seen, but as usual had ditched her shoes.
Even more characterisation can be had from this with some adjustment, to imply that he's already seen her wear some pretty big hats and elaborate bows. That seemed to be the intent here, but I thought it could come across better and more memorably.

[Anonymous No.18967777]

As I sit here eating
Mackerel
I think,
The day may still hold many possibilities.

[Anonymous No.18968210]

>>18965945
Pacing affects the context of the ideas you convey. If you spend little words to talk about it, it feels fast, urgent and sometimes trite. If you lots of words it is slow but gives time for readers and characters to react to their dilemma. If there is white space or significant pause, you draw attention to the sentence as the last line will linger before moving onto tge next. Dean Koontz wrote a book called Intensity that is also scene, no sequel. It is unique writing experiment but insane as readers demand a break to interpret what is going on. Depending on the type of story, look at the importance or style of each beat/chapter and that will tell you what kind of pace it needs. There should be a variety, but fast chapters can get faster as you go on, and typically the last few chapters can fast because all the cards are on the table and you let the ending play out as the action falls after the climax.

[Anonymous No.18968392]

Did nearly 3k today, and all because I have an erection for a wholesome bellydancer waifu I made.

[Anonymous No.18968397]

>>18965734
Yes, unsurprisingly.

[Anonymous No.18968431]

Any tips for writing a historical romance novel ?

[Anonymous No.18968635]

>>18966675
Some people should walk before they run

[Anonymous No.18968697]

What’s the secret to writing poetry? What if I read a lot of it, but I just find my own comes out awful?

[Anonymous No.18968765]

I'm getting published in a short story anthology in a few months. Two years ago I sent an application for the best and most contested creative writing class in my country and I passed. I studied 10 months of creative writing with one of my country's "Man Booker" prize winner, let's say so. Now this writer and his students are organizing and publishing this anthology which I'm part of. This feels really great and an accomplishment to me, but I still feel like a hack that had the luck to go through all of that. How do I deal with this feeling anyway?

I'm currently writing my third novel (the other two were awful and I hope I never read them again). Next year I'll try sending this new novel to some literary contests and see what happens. Writing is absolutely suffering, guys.

[Anonymous No.18968819]

>>18968765
Everything is based on hardwork and luck. A mixture of the two. Brilliant men have died without having anyone know who they were because no matter how hard they work, they had no luck. We see people now who have all the luck in the world, but no substance because they didn't put in the hard work. Your achievement feels hollow because it is the same hard work you have put into all of your projects, but for some reason this one in particular was successful, not because it was any better than the rest, but because it was luckier. When you mix that arbitrary selection process of luck with a psychological framework that judge's oneself based on their physical, material success, then you are bound to feel like a total fraud. This happens with any and everything that you work so hard on and then finally works out. I won my first case, not because I am a good lawyer, but because I was lucky. I had a successful art show because I was lucky to pick those photos, not because I am a good photographer. I got my short story published in the lit quarterly because I took a chance and emailed them and got lucky, not because I am a good writer.

The problem is the fundamental way we gauge success that is completely disconnected from probability.

[Anonymous No.18968867]

>>18968765
well done, anon

[Anonymous No.18969041]

Is it dumb to think I can be a successful writer without going to college? I firmly believe that I can teach myself the necessary skills to both analyze and understand fiction and be able to write well. I already write as a hobby, but I want to take it further than that.

[Anonymous No.18969194]

I want to create something that packs a punch, you know like punchlines in Hip-Hop that goes "Some nigga named Dex was in the projects layin threats/ I jumped out the lincoln/ Left him stinkin/ Put his brains on the street/ Now you can see what he was just thinkin"

In short: how do I avoid writing sentences that leads to nothing and has no weight?

[Anonymous No.18969245]

>>18968819
Thank you for your words, anon. That was really helpful and made me think about all that's happened to me so far.

>>18968867
Thank you!

>>18969041
College will help you know a lot of different things but there'll be a lot of hardship too, like subjects you won't even like, boring professors. College will not make you a better writer per se but it will make you read things you'd never considered reading before. Also, it's good to know new people. In my experience (I did something similar to an English major), college made me write papers and articles about literature, linguistics and translation, but no one there thought about literary writing outside creative writing projects (in my country most of them are childish and silly). So I guess you can teach yourself how to improve your writing, but I suggest you could find a creative writing program or group to help you out. I don't see Gotham Writers Workshop course mentioned here very often (and I think it must be expensive), but I would recommend reading the book, it's very good. At least, try finding a group of people who would read each other's work. You'll learn a lot from this experience.

[Anonymous No.18969302]

>>18969245
You make some good points, new experiences are always good because they make you wiser, and therefore a better writer, but I'm wondering if it's worth the money and debt, honestly.

[Anonymous No.18969330]

>>18969302
If you think you can write, you could write a shitload of essays to get most of your tuition covered by scholarships and grants. One of the best things about college is that you are basically exchanging the debt/money for freetime with access to smart people and massive libraries. In law school I talked to the creative writing department and the photography department just for fun. You get to make friends with similar people who are youthful and interested in all sorts of things. You get to participate in a culture and environment that is walkable and community driven outside the major scopes of direct capitalist commodity fetishism. You are there to learn and grow as a person. It will make you a better writer and it will make the whole process easier if you do it right. If you don't do it right then it could be a waste. Who knows, that's up to you.

[Anonymous No.18969797]

How did you develop your style? I've come to realize that mine is too flowery and convoluted, leaning too heavily on melodrama at times. I'm trying to simplify it, but I'm afraid of rendering too cold and dry in the process.

[Anonymous No.18969814]

>>18969797
I honestly just bruteforced it

[Anonymous No.18969839]

>>18969814
Bruteforced it how?

[Anonymous No.18969851]

>>18969839
I kept writing. and reading in between chapters. until my prose no longer resembled some butchered english-translated LN.

[Anonymous No.18969867]

>>18969797
Chekov, Hemingway, then Carver. Read them attentively you'll see what you're doing wrong. I can almost guess your problem is related to adjectives and adverbs. Pic related.

[Anonymous No.18969882]

>>18969867
I'll take that into account, thanks.

[Anonymous No.18970102]

I've started crafting character sheets in preparations for my projects. How do you get to developing your characters?

[Anonymous No.18970263]

>>18970102
I might have a vague idea for them in mind, and generally, I write them as I go along. Sometimes I might take a seemingly background character with no name and elevate them to a recurring character with a name and some development.

Most of my cast have arbitrary character sheets. Sometimes I'm lazy with them, and other times they might be elaborate.

[Anonymous No.18970274]

>>18970263
Realized I posted the wrong image. Generally, I think I'm more of a mental note-taker so what I throw up on these (digital) documents doesn't fully reflect what I have in mind for these characters, so to speak.

[Anonymous No.18970342]

>>18965768
First half great, nice scene, I think perhaps too verbose for the conversational-almost first person narrator. Try dropping the "subtly" for example. It only slows you down with needless verbosity.

This problem gets worse about halfway through the latter paragraph. Unless you're trying to convey your character as an overly verbose, self aggrandising autist. He makes me subtly uncomfortable, both in the way you're clearly angling for but also in the sense that he feels a bit too captain autismo. In a sad, mildly disabled sort of way.

"Nothing holds consistent value" for eg. as well. Too few words, too precise, too many syllables. I could have taken aim at other examples which are more obvious but they felt more like deliberate choices. I wanted to critique in an enlightening way, not a confrontational one.

All in all though I was really drawn in by the tract. I did feel a palpable, interesting sense of disillusionment with the character and I empathise with him in some respects. I liked the exposition at the start. If you can replicate that with a show-don't-tell illustration of the relationship to the best friend you're on for a real winner anon. Good job.

[Anonymous No.18970385]

>>18966590
>Call of the Theme

[Anonymous No.18970603]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06d2F7Qe_1M

How do I get people to make videos about my book like how this guy talks about the Call of the Crocodile meme books? I only have 1 manuscript (halfway done.) Is the only way to achieve this to have a bunch of books like F Gardner?

[Anonymous No.18970608]

>>18970603
Money.

[Anonymous No.18970614]

>>18970603
Actually write, which you won’t since no one here writes.

[Anonymous No.18970682]

>>18965768
The first half is charmingly authentic and funny, the second half is too cliche IMO

[Anonymous No.18970707]

Under our feet the pale reflection
of incandescent cold moon
that drawned my leg in whirls
and knotted our knees upon.

In blurry solitude
our darkened bodies
were like elephants' ears
and troutes' mouths.

You reminded me of barren Lord's lands.
You reminded me of shut city lights.
Our irises converged and
you reminded me the taste of thy lips.

[Anonymous No.18970758]

>>18970614
Not true. F Gardner is from here.

[Anonymous No.18970819]

>>18964289
Seems pointless and inauthentic. I didn't like the description of sipping seltzer because it feels forced, like you're trying to make it sound colorful for no real reason. It felt redundant because you're not providing a new spin on drinking seltzer, you're just dressing it up in quirky language. Was it really like an "artillery shelling"?
I think you could find a better way to emphasize how refreshing it was to Abraham.
There's also some weird diction, like "sludgy taste of hops", "inert detectives" and "lethargic loose cannon". The way it reads I can't tell if it's deliberately quirky, it just seems awkward.
>what was left in his head,
Comma should be removed
>in front of him stood... drama
Why construct the sentence like this? Again it's like an attempt at quirk, but just seems clunky. The statement isn't interesting or important enough to merit the emphasis that comes from a nonstandard phrasing. Just say it in plain language.
Overall I think your style is amateurish, and separate from that, you need a more coherent sense of what's worth conveying.
Just my opinion, I'm no expert critic

[Anonymous No.18970832]

> write everyday
What do you actually write everyday? Do you actually try to write a piece of fiction every single day?

[Anonymous No.18970839]

>>18970819
Would appreciate if you could read my post for a second where I explicitly say I am displeased with the prose and just looking at a higher level. I did not revise that excerpt and I've already abandoned it anyway for something more immediate.
This is my latest work if you care, but I've only revised part of it so far. Genuinely just looking for opinions on the story/plot. Mostly whether it draws your attention and you want to learn more.

[Anonymous No.18970848]

>>18963824
I'm writing a fan-fiction based on Palpatine but he's the good guy and the entire system is ruled by the bad guy (not space jews, but jedi)

what do you think /lit/bros?

[Anonymous No.18970855]

>>18970832
I don't write every day though it is sometimes I do try actively doing. I'm only writing one fiction and try to make reach a word minimum of 500 words for it. I'm usually working on a chapter draft for it at any given time. A chapter for me means a culmination of about 3-4 days (not consecutive), then the first line edits, then further edits, and then publication.

[Anonymous No.18970869]

>>18970848
I think it would be really interesting to see a story play out where the evil dictator does absolutely awful things to gain power but then actually implements positive civil change within the institutions he now controls. That's kinda the plot of LoGH though.

[Anonymous No.18970870]

what is the best site for uploading short stories and getting people to read/critique them?

[Anonymous No.18970890]

>>18970870
Spacebattles and Royalroad probably have the best chances for readers to, well, read and provide feedback. I've heard Spacebattles can be kinda brutal but I haven't had any experience thus far with any comments other than a encouraging one to keep writing. There's also Smashwords, AO3 if it's fanfiction, and some other kinda-dead-community-wise ones that aren't really worth the effort. There's also Scribblehub but your experience may vary with getting people to comment on any online platform. Really just boils down to your genre and prose. Short stories are generally agreed to not do very well in webnovel communities; people like longer stories(which loops back to what you are writing in question/prose).

[Anonymous No.18970892]

>>18970869
that's sort of what I'm aiming for.
I loved the prequels and Palpatine but the movies did a bad job of showing just how evil the repulic and its servants really are, and that palpatine has to do some bad things to rise to power to cleanse it.

Imagine the entire prequel trilogy but palpatine is the good guys and Jedi are actually in control like how Anakin sees them.

Its my own OC donut steel, not literal star wars but its something I always wanted to see;
Palpatine uniting the galaxy and wiping out the Vhong and the horrors accross the unknown regions (like WH40K - star wars edition)

[Anonymous No.18970899]

>>18970603
Wow Gardeners books are getting more popular than I realized.

[Anonymous No.18970902]

>>18970890
so spacebattles is the one you use?
my stories would generally fall under the speculative fiction umbrella... horror, sci fi, fantasy... maybe once in a while a hemingway-esque historical slice of life type...

[Anonymous No.18970904]

>>18970892
the book is about him rising to power, not yeeting aliens. That's just the finale

[Anonymous No.18970912]

>>18970848

[Anonymous No.18970918]

>>18970342
>Nothing holds consistent value.
nice pick. It's too technical and oblique. It doesn't fit because the rest of the passage's style isn't that spergy, even though the substance is. (not the author)

[Anonymous No.18970921]

>>18970902
I'm cross-posting my story on Royalroad, Spacebattles, and Scribblehub. Mine is a sci-fi military space opera and I think Sci-fi is kinda in a weird spot for pretty much in general in webnovel platforms. There's no real readerbase around it compared to isekai/progressive litrpgs. Sci-fi is an oddity of itself because every other fiction has the sci-fi tag so I feel it's so diluted that you couldn't separate actual sci-fi from sci-fi that isn't, well... sci-fi.

[Anonymous No.18970925]

>>18970921
can I see your story? thank you for your detailed replies

[Anonymous No.18970931]

>>18970925
Sure https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/31062/saga-of-the-cosmic-heroes

[Anonymous No.18970944]

I have this overly elaborate fantasy about being a young acolyte of a temple who is given in tribute to a conquering Amazonian warrior after she defeats and kills the temple guardian champion to act as her slave. Do you think this would be a good book?

[Anonymous No.18970953]

>>18970944
If someone asked the same thing to you as you ask the thread what would you say? Would you read it? Would you be compelled enough to write what you want to read?

[Anonymous No.18970961]

>>18970931
Don't you ever get tired of writing for royalroad and shit instead of doing a real novel? I ask as a genuine question since I don't see the point of publishing on a site notorious for bad fanfiction.

>>18970944
Literally it's all about execution. Write whatever you think you can personally write best.

[Anonymous No.18970962]

>>18970931
JK-Sama, do you advertise your work? Have you thought about facebook/google ads? (facebook marketing data is insane for target demographics type stuff) Maybe even the RR ads themselves? Have you thought about uploading volumes to Amazon and then advertising there? Have you looked into their new platform for serialization? 98 chapters at 12k pages is quite a bit and I bet you could bundle them. Did you set up a patron? Have you licensed the art you bought to make t-shirts and coffee mugs? Have you made any direct printing copies of the first volumes to pass around at your local book stores? Have you tried sending your story to publishers/agents?

-ur bff

[Anonymous No.18970980]

>>18970953
Yes, that concept definitely interests me. I know I could write a Conan knock off with this concept

[Anonymous No.18970985]

>>18970931
why are some of the later chapters released before the earlier chapters?

[Anonymous No.18971007]

>>18970839
Lol sorry, I forgot about your disclaimer. In my defense, there wasn't much to critique other than style because of the low signal:noise ratio.
Sure, the concept was compelling enough. I wanted to know what he did, why he thinks psionics would be more "stupid" than normals, and what his deal is in general.
Skimming your new passage, I liked the old one better. This new setting seems too complex and as I read through I don't feel like putting in the effort to keep track of everything you're telling me. It's too dense.
Actually on a second read, this one has me interested as well. I don't like the writing but the story is drawing me in a bit. What's going on with the decay, who's this guy, etc.
Although, the fact that its his own mind makes the decay seem like a heavyhanded mental illness thing.
I think it depends on the way you convey Optimia. Even though it's in his head, it could have more of an "internal" feeling (thus under control, safe, boring) or "external"/exogenous feeling (dangerous, exciting). In other words, the less predictable it seems (to the character, not just the reader) the better

[Anonymous No.18971040]

>>18964444

[Anonymous No.18971042]

>>18970961
I'm writing for myself and for those that like what I'm reading too. I only got a little tired from burnout writing for a year straight but a little hiatus never hurt.

>>18970962
I appreciation you anon. I am not and will not ever commercialize because I don't want to lose an inch of my ingenuity, and I don't want to turn this into a second job any more than what it is now. I told all the artists I approached that I will use their work for anything commercial.

>>18970985
There was a messy start. I didn't want to lose what followers I had, so I restarted in the same fiction to some confusion at first. So technically ch9 is the beginning of the story and I gradually wrote in both directions.

[Anonymous No.18971057]

>>18971042
oops, meant a 'not' there, that I won't use their stuff for anything commercial.

[Anonymous No.18971058]

>>18970944
Why would a blurb tell me if it would be a 'good book'? It tells me the broad strokes of 300 pages in one sentence. Anything reduced like that has the possibility of being good your fucking troglodyte.

>DAE WANT TO READ A BOOK ABOUT PET DOG WHO DISCOVERS ALIENS ARE REAL BUT NO ONE BELIEVES HIM BECAUSE HE'S A DOG?

That sounds retarded, but you could turn that into the most heart wrenching Old Yeller bullshit with dripping character development and sorrowful swaths of tragedy. Imagine: the dog is best friends with the teenage boy, who knows something is wrong, but can't figure out what, gets distracted by girls and school, the parents are getting a divorce and fight because one has chemo brain and the other was military. The dog discovers aliens that are going to enslave the human race with technology that completely strips an individual of consciousness, but only after a perceived 1000 years of torture in a blink of an eye for the process to work. But this is a dog. He doesn't have opposable thumbs. He can't open doors. He barely learned how to play fetch. He can't talk to people or write. How does he warn them? Can he even warn them in time?

Why the fuck would you ask if a blurb idea is "good"? Anything can be anything when you haven't actually MADE THE THING. Go write the book you want to write and come back when you have a more detailed question besides 'should I write this idea?' Come to us when you need help fleshing that idea out or what should particularly happen next or what motif you want throughout the book or literally anything other than "IS IDEA GOOD?"

[Anonymous No.18971060]

>>18971007
Thanks for the replies bro, appreciate it greatly. Writing for me involves creating garbage then revising it like 10 times until it's unrecognizable from the original text and passable, so that's why you correctly think the stuff I've linked is odd.
I would think my original text would be rather boring though, since it's literally just describing a guy drink beer for three paragraphs before it gets into a bit about the world. Interesting. I'll have to rethink about where to start my story. I'm much weaker at story and plot than prose.

[Anonymous No.18971127]

>>18971058
Well, good point

[Anonymous No.18971232]

>>18971060
Yeah I like nitpicking things. And I need a lot of editing cycles too. I'm sure you'll iron it out

[Anonymous No.18971349]

>>18970603
Interesting. So these books were good along. I had a sneaking suspicion that the spamming against them was all just one jealous shitposter. Going to check them out now. Thanks.

[Anonymous No.18971371]

>>18964289
>>18970839

I like this overall, it seems like there is strong potential.
The way you have a supernormal person drinking alcohol and watching TV is good and sets a tone, and he's thinking normal thoughts about show plots and things which helps to describe more about the world indirectly.

I would repeat what others have said about the overly flowery descriptions. Some are ok but it is just way too many of them. The way he levitated a drink from the fridge and preferred an alcopop to a beer were good details, but yes the artillery shelling description made a clang when I read it.

[Anonymous No.18971400]

>>18969797
>How did you develop your style?
I write and steadily alter it as I receive feedback.

[Anonymous No.18971423]

>>18965768
Very well written in my opinion, I read it all in a continuous flow without thinking of any particular thing sticking out as bad.

[Anonymous No.18971502]

>>18969797
Posting on 4chan for years I suppose. And having a very discriminating taste when it comes to media or fiction.
>I've come to realize that mine is too flowery and convoluted
That seems to be an absolutely classic mistake that nearly everyone makes. There's this feeling that you need to capture peoples attention with stunts and conjure whirling fantasy images. It's like >IM FUCKING WRITING
and you think you need to cram in the talent.
Really a post on 4chan is often a better example of what constitutes something easily readable. It's informal but it isn't phrased exactly how someone speaks in real life, because it is a different medium. It has thought put into it to be interesting but also to be clear and to the point. It will often have just enough colour added to make an obvious or subtle joke, or otherwise hint at something.

[Anonymous No.18971527]

>>18970832
When I was drafting my novel I basically wrote every day. The two furthest apart progress pictures I have, one on September 30, 2020, at 25k words and the other on February 8, 2021 at 208k words. I was able to do this because covid made thanksgiving and christmas not happen, and aside from work I basically did little else. Its an average of 1400 words a day. some days much more, some days less, but I don't think I missed more than a day here or there, if any at all.

Drafting was a good time. it was no stress, pure fun. Now that I'm editing/releasing its more stressful because it needs to be polished and I find I have difficulty both editing one chapter and drafting a different one on the same day.

Basically writing every day made me want to write more because I was enjoying writing my story so much. I look forward to the next time I can purely draft again. That said being required to have a chapter out every week has been quite beneficial for editing, but it feels more like work. Still fun, but more stress.

[Anonymous No.18971584]

>>18971349
You’re just now realizing that?

[Anonymous No.18971721]

>>18971349
>>18971584
Shut UP gardner shills holy shit

[Anonymous No.18971749]

>>18965768
>protein style
gonna assume that's something I don't know
>he tells me bluntly.
just put "he said", I already know it was blunt
>I think to myself, silently
more redundancy
>I return tonight because there is nowhere else to eat around this stupid place.
Kind of a sudden time jump.
> I try ordering two slices of pizza, but he tells me they don't do slices at night. I order the mozzarella sticks instead, sit down, and wait for my food. I feel like a fucking alien in public, and especially sitting there quietly. After last night I associate the place with humiliation.
Can we get some sentence structure variety?
>That entire last paragraph monologue about being a coward
Cringeworthy at best.

[Anonymous No.18971833]

Interested in writing comedy, I can come up with wacky situations and scenarios, but have trouble giving them enough coherence to actually make them funny.
Advice? Resources?

[Anonymous No.18971843]

>>18971527
I can relate. I finally finished my novel's outline and now I fixed a goal to write at least 500 words a day until December before the holidays. After that, I'll spend January and February editing it and see what happens.

[Anonymous No.18972231]

>>18971721
>Shitting on gardener in /wg/

You do realize he’s from here and rooting for us?

[Anonymous No.18973205]

>>18966244
Thats the only episode, ever.

[Anonymous No.18973254]

>>18970931
this story is so excellently written that it makes me feel like what im writing is child's play in comparison. im not sure if im gonna make it. everyone who reads my story tells me its good but i still cant help but feel that its not good enough, not good at all. i just want to destroy it all

[Anonymous No.18973305]

>>18970944
plenty of authors have had success publishing their degenerate sex fantasies as works of literature. Yours is too niche to make you a multimillionaire like E L James, but it could pay some of your bills with coombux if you do a decent job of writing it.

[Anonymous No.18973371]

>>18973205
Last night we had “Gardnerposters vs. some anti-Gardner troll” It was really weird. He ended up announcing he was a narcissist and jealous of Gardner and ragequit.

[Anonymous No.18973592]

My prologue is in past tense, the rest of my book is in the present.
An editor would't take this as a sign of inconsistency, r-right?

[Anonymous No.18974256]

feeling like a big ol doofus since i just realized i can really only name like two or three different types of trees

[Anonymous No.18974557]

Another chapter done, another weekend of wating. Work, begone already, I wanna neet for a bit so I can just write.

[Anonymous No.18974616]

>>18974557
I have gotten so itchy to write lately, its nice to have a job but the timesink is real. I basically have two fulltime jobs now with writing and ignore almost everyone unless it's lunch when Id rather be reading anyways.
2nd draft coming along though, I am tackling each scene decisively.

[Anonymous No.18974618]

I want to write a novel about martial arts. Any tips?

[Anonymous No.18974816]

>>18974618
Take martial arts courses and watch Bruce Lee films.

[Anonymous No.18974860]

>>18974618
Rule of cool is more important to writing combat. If you wanna get technical, use it during training segments. Your fight scenes in writing should be fast and think of them as arguments where lots of ideas come at you fast. The reader wont care about the blow by blow, they want to know the feelings and motivations. If you lay those out, readers will understand why the fighters do what they do without them explaining or talking much. Characters can react to how the fight goes after that specific fight is over.

[Anonymous No.18974888]

>>18973592
I'm sure it will be fine if you frame it properly, so it isn't jarring or confusing. Test it against some beta readers to see if they get it.

[Anonymous No.18974976]

what do you do when events in your life that you could write about because they were the interesting events in your life clash with the public image that you think people have about you and would raise eyebrows if people you know read your work?
e.g. how can i write about almost dying in a whorehouse without people asking what i was doing in a whorehouse?

[Anonymous No.18975011]

>>18974976
You make it fiction and have a different character do those actions, couched in a story that has little to do directly with who you are. A whorehouse in space. A whorehouse 100 years ago. A whorehouse in another country.

[Anonymous No.18975068]

>editing the prologue.
>say I'm going to write through out the morning and day.
>five more days go by.
>nothing fucking done on my 2k word document.
>need inspiration to overcome the procrastination.
>look up the longest works in english literature.
>it's all fucking fanfics.
>mfw literal fanfiction authors write more than me.
>mfw there's fanfics that are over a million words in length.
>there's a fucking guy that updates with 20k chapters every week to five days.

AAAAAAAAAAAA FUCK! COPE! NEVER GOING TO MAKE IT!

[Anonymous No.18975102]

>>18975068
fan fic is shit quality and reduced imagination as they are literally copying others ideas, settings and characters. that is like coping as a gourmet chef cause mcdonalds made more burgers than u.

ngmi with that shit attitude

[Anonymous No.18975118]

Is it true that nobody has actually read Finnegans Wake, yet people claim so since "having read Joyce" is a status symbol?

[Anonymous No.18975136]

>>18975068
Quality over quantity. That being said, your first draft should be your outline or writing stream of consciousness. You'll know more of what to fix when the story is laid out in its entirety. Youre going to edit it alot anyways, that is half the project most of the time even for standard genre fiction. If its literature give yourself a break, you will need time to nail the prose on a line by line edit.

[Anonymous No.18975271]

>when that elusive sentence finally clicks into place
bros.......

[Anonymous No.18975375]

>>18975271
Yea part of the joy of writing is seeing all those dumb ideas begin to dovetail like a well-built house. Gotta love it.

[Anonymous No.18975452]

>>18975068
whenever i try to look at these threads i see something like this and i remember that you fags are hellbent on inventing fake problems, neuroses and anxieties for yourself so that you can boast to one another about your very special custom-made nervous breakdown instead of writing and then i have to close the thread so as to avoid catching whatever brain virus made you this way. see you next time

[Anonymous No.18975461]

>mfw after reading posts/reviews on royalroad for an hour
I really need to get away from that site and all the braindead retards who use it. Browsing it is a really bad habit. I think JK Sama may straight up be the only person there I like.

[Anonymous No.18975513]

How do anime writers have anime and manga influence come out in their prose?

[Anonymous No.18975539]

>>18975461
:(

[Anonymous No.18975546]

>>18975513
Look for the following: name endings with sama, chan etc, colorful anime hair, chuunibyou complexes, androgynous men describes as more cute than females, lots of porn fetishes, overt references to Japanese characters. Plenty more if you look for it.

[Anonymous No.18975550]

>>18975461
A lot of reviews arent worth reading but can help you acknowledge where a problem might be, but few people know how to actually fix them except you and even moreso an editor. This is one reason why the first line, paragraph and 13 pages are so critical to promise to your reader what to expect because some bad reviews are simply people who didnt know what they were about to read.

[Anonymous No.18975631]

>>18975461
I am also guilty of browsing the forums. It feels like it's just the same five faggots posting in every thread to try and get rep. Most of the discussion is either braindead, built on assumptions that even an outsider can see are shakey, or focused on self fellation.

[Anonymous No.18975639]

You guys are weird & making me think I should go back to law school rather than try and be a writer.

[Anonymous No.18975650]

>>18975639
I don't think anybody should try to "just" be a writer. Even if you publish the pay will have you slurping dollar store ramen the rest of your life. By all means find a career and keep on writing as a hobby. If you're lucky you'll hit it big and can retire!

[Anonymous No.18975652]

>>18975639
Por que no los dos, amigo?
I am an attorney as well as an awful shitposting never-gonna-make-it-/wg/-regular.

[Anonymous No.18975742]

>>18975639
Most writers have another career unless they are making literally millions. Every time I hear authors on writing podcasts they have a day job. Ive heard lawyers, editors, musicians, managers, accounants, marketers, athletes, hotel clerks and more. Im a research chemist myself, and I personally now a pharmacist and an marketer who have published multiple scifi books. Taking a risk by quitting your job and going full-time will get you there faster but realistically wont pay off until after 3 to 5+ years.

[Anonymous No.18975982]

>>18975546
That’s not really what I’m asking though. It’s easy to introduce tropes into literature. What I want to know is how something that’s an inherently visual medium gets translated into prose. That seems to me almost impossible. Writers can be evocative and in a way that suggests something almost like a movie or a play expressed through prose, but I don’t know if they can ever be evocative in the kind of way that expresses something like anime or manga.

[Anonymous No.18976028]

>decided to finally go into further education after going straight into work after leaving school 10 years ago
>haven't done any essay writing since then
>spent days trying to write a one-page biography of Tennessee Williams before I start my pre-university course on Monday

[Anonymous No.18976047]

>>18976028
Brah, just break it down. Essays haven’t changed. The prof just wants to go down the checklist to make sure you got it.
>intro
>importance
>childhood
>major works
>impact on society
>conclusion
It really isn’t that hard.

[Anonymous No.18976056]

>>18976047
yeah I know it's not hard, I'm just lamenting that I'm so out of practice.

[Anonymous No.18976067]

>>18975982
What do you mean 'expresses something like anime and manga'? What exactly are you looking for?

[Anonymous No.18976155]

>>18976056
You have been shitposting for years, anon. Arguing with autists is a more cut throat form of essay. You got this. It's gonna be like riding a bike. We believe in you faggot.

[Anonymous No.18976180]

>>18975271
>>18975375
>when you revisit the same sentence a few hours later and it's overwrought horseshit
fellas...................

[Anonymous No.18976184]

>>18976155
>You have been shitposting for years, anon.
this is my cope as well. those years of arguing that the ITAOTS lady's head is a potato better pay off

[Anonymous No.18976226]

>>18975982
I think I kind of understand what you mean. Like how Artemis Fowl reads like a movie as in it gives very little extraneous language so you can picture it line by line as a script?
I would say an anime novel would be like that but would have less delineation between the protagonist's voice, thoughts, and narration. For example

>"Of course I sleep in the nude," she replied.
>Is this chick for real?!

In this case the second line is narration. It isn't dialogue and it's not italicized to indicate thought, but it still reads as thought even though it is technically done by the narrator. I see it frequently in light novels. I guess a more technical term would be third person limited?

[Anonymous No.18976288]

My angst from my work placement written in a very average cutting style. I just poured out all my negative feelings into a short little story thing, I dont think ill write it into a fulll book. This sorta style will be exhausting past 100 pages I think

[Anonymous No.18976324]

I've noticed that too much of my characters' dialogue is questions. Any tips to help me avoid falling into these traps?

[Anonymous No.18976344]

>>18976324
Turn the questions into statements

[Anonymous No.18976417]

>>18976288
>I see the prosecutors at their little table on the side next to the jury box, laughing with poorly crafted cat memes on their county paid for laptops and third rung suits while a dozen defendants sit behind the bar behind them, waiting to throw away their rights and become obligations of society while these fucks sit around, disassociating their power hungry authority and calling it justice. I walk past the little flappy wooden gate and toss my bag into one of the few open chairs. Defense attorneys spread out all around. None wearing masks and the ones that are do the stupid nose thing where they defeat the whole point of wearing a mask but still get to pretend to be self-righteous rules followers. The docket box is nearly torn apart and just as shit quality as the rest of the office supplies around the court house. Whoever bought the chairs around here did it in different waves in different decades because none of them match and you can compare their time period appropriateness to the quality of the county budget over the past four decades. All the money went to the big TV computer no one but the most baby of attorneys even know how to use. The judge is admonishing a girl in a hijab about breaking her parole for the fifth time because she can't afford the check in cost, threatening the fact she could send her back to prison at any time. The girl is crying and I now put together the old lady in the hallway with three kids is this lady's mom and the kids are there because we all know this impotent judge hates children almost as much as they loved being a prosecutor for 20 years before getting elected. I sit down to look at the packet for my client. Another fucking family assault case, how exciting.

Okay, now that I tried writing in that style, I kinda like it anon. Yours made me keep reading it even though nothing really happened and I wanted to try it out. Thanks! Keep it up. I think it would be great for a short story or one of many character POVs.

[Anonymous No.18976444]

>>18976417
Is this anime writing?

[Anonymous No.18976481]

>>18976417
I would say that my style is much more self absored and neurotic whereas yours is a more cynical voice

[Anonymous No.18976506]

>>18976481
You are right. I suppose that is my normal take on things. My narcissisms only bleeds through on particulars, but my cynicism is painted on everything. I also just realized its in present tense. I fucking hate present tense first person.

[Anonymous No.18976525]

>>18975652
I owe you drink, law school was hell.

>>18975742
Does research chemistry get in the way of your writing?

[Anonymous No.18976547]

You know how art critics reviewed Adolf Hitlers work and said how the work demonstrated a lack of interest in people? I feel the same way when I write. I can write anything but people interacting with other people. How to fix?

How to write people interacting with other people and just being people in a way that lifts the story upwards and propels it forward.

[Anonymous No.18976559]

>>18976547
Communication theory. People interact for 3 reasons. Inclusion. Affection. Information. When your characters meet, what are they getting from each other and does the other character want to help that first character achieve those goals?

[Anonymous No.18976813]

if i write a collection of essays/stories and publish them, do i need to have established credibility first for people to take me seriously? especially if my writing is middle schooler edgelord tier?

[Anonymous No.18976830]

>>18976813
I think the normal advice is write short pieces that slowly get longer over time as a way to grind through practicing writing, just like filling a sketch book instead of spending 10x the time fully coloring something shitty. Use those short pieces as things to submit to places that take short work so you can possibly get published. Eventually, after enough are written you can make a collection and submit that somewhere too. Then start working on longer projects.

But again, that's what the generic blog post or book from the 90s about writing is going to tell you. I don't know what's actually the best practice.

[Anonymous No.18976834]

I have been mindbroken by the unscalable mountain that is traditional publishing. Once all five (5) books of my story are complete, I will be releasing it online.

[Anonymous No.18977050]

>>18973254
Don't think so low of yourself! Be more confident in your work. I'm flattered that you think mine is great but not so much that you should be hard on yourself.

[Anonymous No.18977085]

How do I learn to write characters better?

[Anonymous No.18977087]

>>18976067
Imagine how a writer might be influenced by movies or theater and how that might shine through in their writing. They might use prose to evoke literally a certain scene (or scenes) almost as if it were a script in prose form. Now, what I want to know is how anime writers plan to do the same with anime (or manga; manga seems more doable to me).

>>18976226
I haven’t read Artemis Fowl but I suppose that’s what I mean. What got me thinking of this is that I had several people say that they pictured a specific novel in their head as anime as they were reading. I would like to know what about it specifically made it end up that way but unfortunately I can’t ask them. Tbh e delineation thing is a good point. Also, probably dialogue heavy in general since almost all of the writing in manga would presumably be dialogue.