/wg/ - Writing General

[Anonymous No.21908124]

"Heated Prose" edition

Previous thread:
>>21894727

/wg/ AUTHORS & FLASH FICTION: https://pastebin.com/ruwQj7xQ
RESOURCES & RECOMMENDATIONS: https://pastebin.com/nFxdiQvC

Please limit excerpts to one post.
Give advice as much as you receive it to the best of your ability.
Follow prompts made below and discuss written works for practice; contribute and you shall receive.
If you have not performed a cursory proofread, do not expect to be treated kindly. Edit your work for spelling and grammar before posting.
Violent shills, relentless shill-spammers, and grounds keeping prose, should be ignored and reported.

Simple guides on writing:
>https://youtu.be/pHdzv1NfZRM
>https://youtu.be/whPnobbck9s
>https://youtu.be/YAKcbvioxFk

Threadly Theme:
>https://youtu.be/rbc_LxfhSoY

[Anonymous No.21908161]

>>21908124
Where is her lower half?

[Anonymous No.21908177]

what to do with old manuscripts i haven't managed to get published? i've moved on to write more books but they are just sitting here with no one to read them.

[Anonymous No.21908194]

>>21908177
Post them on Royal road for fun

[Anonymous No.21908210]

>>21908161
It was removed due to fear of offending sensitivity readers.

[Anonymous No.21908218]

>>21908210
Really? What was the issue? Her giant sized fat rump that could suffocate a full grown man? Her chocolate starfish that could crush stone? Or was it her cavernous fish market that drowned villages with its discharge?

[Anonymous No.21908305]

>Got rejected by a publisher again

I'm slowly coming to terms with the fact that my novel will never get published and it's demotivating me in such a way that I don't feel like trying to write another one.

And since I'm from a small non-english speaking country, it doesn't really look like an option to publish it online

[Anonymous No.21908311]

>>21908218
It could have been her sweltering subterranean sausage seducer. I could have also been her trunk was in possession of so much junk it had begun to stunk. But now the world will never know for its booty the ai doth not show.

[Anonymous No.21908347]

>>21908124
new miniMAG
new format for /wg/
send submissions to [e-mail]
full issues at minimag.space

[Anonymous No.21908382]

You did write your 2000 daily words today, right /wg/?

[Anonymous No.21908415]

>>21908382
It's only 3:11 right now. I'm 1000 in and I expect 3 to 4 thousand in output today since I will be moving past the connective tissue in stories that I have the most trouble with but I feel needs to happen to properly set things up and wind down after higher stakes moments.

[Anonymous No.21908427]

Anons, how do you develop a writing style? Better yet, what even is a writing style?

[Anonymous No.21908430]

>>21908305
The publishing industry is such crap.
I've never seen any other industry take months to respond to something, if they do at all, and survive.

Particularly when they have all the time in the world for Twitter.

It's a complete joke and you should look at self-pubing.

[Anonymous No.21908446]

>>21908427

Why would you want to intentionally develop a writing style if you don't even know what a writing style is? Just go write.

[Anonymous No.21908460]

>>21908430
I just think that self-pubing isn't as lucrative/ a good idea over here in my country, but you might be right.
My plan of action right now is to start writing short stories for literary magazines and enter some competitions in the hopes of networking

[Anonymous No.21908465]

>>21908427
Read a bunch of books to figure out what kind of styles you like and then write a lot. It's not really something that happens overnight. Your writing style is a synthesis of what you find important in prose as well as your personality.

[Anonymous No.21908471]

>>21908430
that part really pisses me off. agents whine and complain about how fucking busy they are and they just can't possibly give you any feedback or even respond, and yet they spend 10 hours a day on twitter like crack addicts. i wish everyone who uses twitter would die

[Anonymous No.21908489]

Is it okay to completely yoink a character I really like out of someone else's work? I dunno if I want to write a fanfic--I'm not that into the worldbuilding or main plot, I just really like this one character in particular. Can I just, like, steal it for my "original" work?

[Anonymous No.21908513]

>>21908382
I'm still on the day job clock, so only 490 words so far.

[Anonymous No.21908516]

>>21908489
Look at what traits you like about the character. Is it the way they speak, their attitude, history? It's pretty lame to just take a character, but you can use aspects of their character that you like to help create your own. Characters are unique, but the building blocks which make them a character aren't.

[Anonymous No.21908537]

>>21908460
Don't make the mistake of thinking you'll make money from writing. Even if you got a publisher chances are you'd make at most $10k over the lifetime of the book.

Write because you want to tell a story. Or, like me, so you can go into a book store or library and see it on the shelf.

>>21908471
They're absolute scum. Compounded by the fact that they are so incredibly untalented and lazy.

First, they want nothing that isn't trendy or woke. Second, they want you to have a massive online following that's ready to buy the book.

They literally do nothing but query publishers and editors on your behalf, then expect a 15% cut of any profits.

If I was an agent, knowing how few books make money, I'd be taking on almost anyone who sent a manuscript that's fairly legible and pushing them forward. Get a stable of hundreds of clients feeding measely profits to me. Rather than just complaining that your 5 or 6 clients aren't giving you an income and you need to do something else.

Agents are scum, and big publishers are retarded for making them the gatekeepers.

[Anonymous No.21908538]

>>21908489
Like the other anon said, take the aspects of that character to make your own. Nobody writes a unique character, we've been writing about heroes and villains, farmers and kings, for thousands of years. The circumstances and motives behind them changes, but they still have traits that connect them.

[Anonymous No.21908601]

>>21908382
No I wrote six small paragraphs.
They are however really good, and have loads of interesting places they can go.

One of them is the ending to the short story, so I can feel a little more secure working on the rest of it.

[Anonymous No.21908607]

>>21908516
>>21908538
So, what I really like about them is the mix of traits they have: they're very insecure about their abilities and smarts, cravenly and yet way too ambitious and proud for their own good. They're also knowledgable, quick-witted and curious.

So, unlike so many other cowardly or insecure characters, they get into dangerous situations where they have to prove themselves, not because of "fate" or "circumstance" or "plot", but because of their own actions, like curiosity killing the cat, saying the wrong thing to the wrong person, and the constant need to "fake it till you make it", which are created by the mix of their flaws and positive traits. All of this, while also not being the designated comic relief!

I dunno, I just think it's neat-o.

[Anonymous No.21908710]

>>21908382
2000 words!! I did 800 and called it a fat fucking W. I guess I could jot down some more notes or uh oh uh fuck shit okay 1200 words to go

[Anonymous No.21908778]

>>21908382
>did 10k words for a uni paper last night
>current draft of book I've been working on for a month is at 7.5k total
its so over

[Anonymous No.21908845]

>>21908124
How far should I go with my worldbuilding?
The map of my first book (it'll be one whole new region per book) is large, and filling it HARD.
The more I research about contries, cultures, religions, wars, and especially LANGUAGE, the more I realize how complex and interconnected everything is. Even very small distances on a map may be filled with numerous different people that may or may not interact with each other over many centuries, preserving their culture and language, each with their own whole unique history.
This is all very interesting and it fills me with inspiration to write, but at the same time I ask myself: how far do I even need to go?
It won't make a difference if my worldbuilding is 10/10 if with my story is boring, right? What does it matter to spend months creating a beautiful map filled with history/languages/geography if my readers won't even glance over it? I do feel motivated to write, but I don't want to waste time with something that won't make much of a difference in the end.

So, how far do I need to make the top of my iceberg for my readers to think it is massive underneath?
How are you doing it?

[Anonymous No.21908874]

>>21908845
>worldbuilding
Stop. Readers will tap out reading about the history of kaboodjaloo or whatever you’re writing.

[Anonymous No.21908914]

>>21908845
Under 1k words of worldbuilding if fine but you hit rapidly diminishing returns beyond that and a really basic doodle of the map for spatial awareness. Anything over like 2k words is probably an utter waste of time unless you've started practicing/mastering prose.

t. guy with an abandoned 10k word world building document rotting on his laptop but who went on to write a whole book on 300 word outline.

[Anonymous No.21908926]

>>21908845
Worldbuilding is really fun to write, but this usually doesn't translate into it being fun to read. I've done a lot of worldbuilding that I've memorized in my head, and am considering maybe turning it into a compendium or something, but I've set a rule that only story-necessary lore (which isn't much) can get included in my actual story. Certain things will get mentioned in passing, but that's it. Having a lot of your lore mapped out beforehand is good though, because you can apply it to make the passing utterances feel less stupid, such as having a character mention a quality inherent to a particular area, and then the character goes there much later and observes that quality. That kind of thing is better than having the passing utterances be completely tangential gibberish.

[Anonymous No.21908984]

>>21908305
>And since I'm from a small non-english speaking country, it doesn't really look like an option to publish it online
why not?

[Anonymous No.21908999]

How do I fix my pacing people say it goes too fast?

If I had to explain it this is my pacing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjkC-5l9uEw

[Anonymous No.21909076]

>>21908999
pacing goes too fast in that scenes move too quickly, or events occur at a breakneck pace?

[Anonymous No.21909108]

>>21908845
as far as you'd like
I like detailed and intricate world building because it makes the story seem so much more alive and well thought of to me, so I would enjoy reading about that aspect of your book
don't put it in all at once though, world building should be instrumental to the story, else you're writing an encyclopedia, and it's going to be next to impossible to make pages upon pages of world building read like they are useful if you don't give it context to make the reader understand, or at least have an inkling about, why what they're reading is useful, so I suggest being very detailed and rich a bit at a time

[Anonymous No.21909168]

>>21909076
Both

[Anonymous No.21909188]

>>21908845
I'm going to be honest. I've only got broad strokes in my head and I flesh it out from there. I know what I want the countries in my story to be, but until I really get to a place where I believe I should bring it up I don't really plan out the little things.
I'd say write a first draft, 5, 10 thousand words of a story, any story. After that, think about your world. Do you suddenly feel the need to change something because you think it could lead to a story you like better? Very little remains of my original document on the world after 400k words. I cut countries and planets and really focused down to my characters, because that is what is going to matter.

[Anonymous No.21909245]

“You do not write a novel for praise, or thinking of your audience. You write for yourself; you work out between you and your pen the things that intrigue you.” - Bret Easton Ellis

Is he right? But what good is a book if no one reads it?

[Anonymous No.21909253]

>>21909245
You can always read it, sometime in the future. There's no greater pleasure than reading something that you and maybe only you would enjoy.

[Anonymous No.21909271]

>>21909245
I don't hate people who write purely for profit, but I don't, I just can't imagine writing like that. I do it because I enjoy it, it helps me put my mind in order to play out events, however disconnected from my life. I have an audience who reads my story, and I will set up a patreon because I was asked by a reader to do so. But my story is mine, it is not dictated by anyone but myself.

[Anonymous No.21909339]

>>21908999
Go read Gormenghast for some glacially slow pacing and learn what you can do to slow it down a bit

[Anonymous No.21909377]

Can someone post the chart of books on writing that ISN'T on the litwiki. I saw a quite nice one but didn't get to save it.

[Anonymous No.21909385]

>>21909245
He's right
>what good is a book if no one reads it
you read it. there's value in the act of creation

[Anonymous No.21909392]

>>21909245
Chances are if you write what actually interests you it will be wayyyyyy more unique than you trying to go for mass appeal. That kind of uniqueness can end up very commercially successful (or not), it will attract people who like it.

[Anonymous No.21909422]

Hit that brick wall just after 10k.
Wondering about subplots right now, then wondering whether planned subplots are even worth it. Shouldn't it just be organic? When are unstoppable life forces ever planned?

There lies my other problem. Is there such a thing as too over the top? How much of what I'm writing is boring, or unbelievable? Pulling my fucking hair out.

[Anonymous No.21909429]

>>21909422
>10k words
so, like, 3 to 4 chapters in? you're barely anywhere far enough to worry about subplots. just keep writing and if something catches your fancy run with it

[Anonymous No.21909450]

I did it. I started writing in the morning again, in addition to after work.

[Anonymous No.21909458]

Aside from Steering the Craft, is there any known book around /wg/ with good list of writing exercises?

[Anonymous No.21909463]

>>21909429
Just started 5, yeah. A little worried about the pacing, I guess, but you're right, it is pretty damn early. Getting ahead of myself.

[Anonymous No.21909573]

> https://pastebin.com/PmE5jAsg
Start of the prologue to a fantasy story I've been getting the urge to write. Feedback welcomed.

[Anonymous No.21909658]

>>21908537
the only thing agents actually do is filter the 95% of pure illegible shit out, which they could get a fucking intern to do for them. i'd rather query the publisher directly rather than query some dipshit to query in my stead. and i don't need an editor, there is none more autistic than i, my manuscripts are immaculate.

agents are so retarded they barely figured out how to use email 10 years after the rest of the world did. and it's always some insufferable silver spoon from nyc. you go to their mswl and it's 80% them rehashing their life story like some gasbag narcissist and 20% actually talking about their ms wants. and even then, most of the time it's, 'lol idk surprise me'. they're the most unprofessional lot ever conceived. they make codeshitting pajeets doing the needful look like princes.

[Anonymous No.21909754]

>>21908124
>tfw reader tells you they like a character in an early chapter of your fiction.
>tfw the character dies a about ten chapters.
ohboneryoushouldn'thave.png

[Anonymous No.21909829]

>>21909658
How do you even get a job as a literary agent? It sounds like a fairly comfy job. Some of the ones I've come across even seemed like they were barely intelligent enough to tie their own shoes, so it can't be that hard

[Anonymous No.21909831]

trying to write comic piece on Waldun, should continue? each time I sit to write prose, write pseudopoetry

[Anonymous No.21909851]

>>21909829
nepotism

[Anonymous No.21909856]

>>21909831
I read it first without understanding your post, I'm too tired by this. But if it is so purple as a joke, then I do find it funny.

[Anonymous No.21909868]

>>21909831
Have you tried just writing normally? You know, simple sentences and descriptions, with artistic flourishes here and there to give you a unique voice. You're using a lot of words to say barely anything at all. You should stop trying so hard and go for something that feels more natural

[Anonymous No.21909870]

>>21909829
Connections.

[Anonymous No.21909900]

>>21909829
they attend an MFA and make connections, by what I gather. you as a private person cannot get in. they also have to start out as slushpile monkeys. lastly, you need to be a trust fund kid, because it's a fulltime job that doesn't pay enough to pay rent until you are senior.

[Anonymous No.21909917]

>try to record myself reading my novel out loud to see if making an audiobook by myself is viable
>sound like a retard, long pauses between sentences, sometimes pause in middle of a clause, making mistakes everywhere on words i use in day to day conversations fluidly
holy shit why is speaking so hard? it must take these fuckers 20 hours to get 20 minutes of clean audio recording

[Anonymous No.21909967]

>>21909917
I think there's AI you can use you automate the whole process. the name escapes me, unfortunately

[Anonymous No.21909995]

>>21909967
i've listened to ai generated audiobooks and they're bad. the production isn't hard (i already know how to use audacity) it's my reading that is surprisingly awful. i wrote the shit and somehow i still stumble over the words.

i think i want to try it, though, because my crappy voice is probably hindering me in job interviews. i'll never break six figs with a crappy wishy washy voice.

[Anonymous No.21909998]

>>21909917
Turns out voice actors actually have skills.

[Anonymous No.21910000]

>>21909856
>>21909868
thanks anons, I think I'm trying to paint Waldun eight ways at once and it's cluttering up the prose
>>21909967
elevenlabs does this, costs a dollar

[Anonymous No.21910049]

>>21909900
>Trust fund kid
Well, I'm fortunate enough to have that part down. Maybe I should look into MFA programs since I'll be finishing my undergrad soon. It's either that or law school, which will almost certainly not be as cozy

[Anonymous No.21910067]

Oh fuck it. I don't know what I'm doing with my Adah story. Good luck to the rest of you /wg/! My manuscript will never be seen by another soul, unless the CIA or some google employee decides to read my google doc account

[Anonymous No.21910074]

>>21910067
or i just sleep on it and keep trying. Someone point a gun to my head and force me to keep going

[Anonymous No.21910111]

>>21910049
>It's either that or law school, which will almost certainly not be as cozy
Cardozo opinions are peak comfy. Dude's a proper wordsmith.

[Anonymous No.21910125]

>>21910049
>law school
Then you can write legal thrillers like John Grisham.
They drive dump trucks full of money up to his door!
And if the writing doesn't work out, I hear lawyers get paid stupidly well.

[Anonymous No.21910162]

>>21910074
You will grow through the pain. You will let critique pass over you like howling wind over a stone, wearing off the imperfections until what remains is only the writer you were meant to be.

[Anonymous No.21910413]

Idea I have for a story about ancient powers that have sort of fallen out of use in modern era. Basically the leaders more or less have been convinced by their artifacts to just stalemate, and no new innovation has happened in ages (people are smart, but not creative, sort of like can only rote learn)

>In this world, magical artifacts forge all great legends. Tales of war are the tales of grand swords felling cliffsides with a single swing. Biographies of leaders are recounts of the wisdom their crowns spoke to them. And all great leaps in civilisation are said to be from the discovery and replication of automata, where they lay becoming sites of new kingdoms.

>Common era, the grand weapons have not seen...

[Anonymous No.21910467]

>>21910162
Just finished 200k word rough draft of third book.
Thank you for your relentless threatening Fitz's.
I Don't think I could have done it without you!
Now I just have to edit...

[Anonymous No.21910527]

>>21908465
Agree, it took me a long time but I think I'm finally figuring out my style of writing. It sounds cliche but it doesn't need to be rushed. Your writing style is a reflection of your character and your life itself, and be precise because words can't be unsaid for the most part

[Anonymous No.21910587]

>>21908427
>>21910527
I change my style based on the story I'm writing and try to make each work's expression a bit different from the last. Becoming formulaic and developing persisting mannerisms that would make readers go like, "yup, it's this guy's work alright" is my worst nightmare.

[Anonymous No.21910594]

>>21910587
>Becoming formulaic and developing persisting mannerisms that would make readers go like, "yup, it's this guy's work alright" is my worst nightmare.
Why? To me, someone being able to discern that you wrote something is the highest honor. It means that you write distinctly enough to stand out. I could most definitely pick out writing from my favorite writers amidst a bunch of random papers

[Anonymous No.21910635]

>>21910594
It only means you've stagnated. Your evolution as a writer has hit a wall. And when people get tired of your "style", you're finished.

[Anonymous No.21910666]

[Anonymous No.21910674]

>>21910635
Not that anon but yeah, partially true IMO
There's also 'too much of a good thing' with writing, if you put out too much work or keep everything similar they'll get sick of you

[Anonymous No.21910983]

Bros how the fuck do I proof read? If I made the mistake once surely I'm just going to do it again?

[Anonymous No.21910997]

>>21908601
>>21908778

ngmi

[Anonymous No.21911052]

>>21910983
Update: Just started reading my stuff but it's in my autistic fucking voice I HATE IT I HATE IT I HATE IT I HATE IT

[Anonymousn No.21911062]

>>21911052
Rookie mistake. You should've made the voice evoke charm and a natural ease.

[Anonymous No.21911079]

>>21910983
It starts with having a sensible idea that you then compose into a sentence. The particular words are important only insofar as they convey exactly what you want them to--exactly.

When, in revision, you come across an idea that doesn't fit right, go back to what the initial idea was and fiddle with the words to make them right. Don't expect the words to come easily, even though in many cases they will.

On a technical level, you ought to keep in mind that each sentence is composed of a subject and a predicate; that each sentence is a 'unit,' that it is an idea--one idea; and that the sentence serves to convey something about the subject, that is the purpose of the predicate. You may endeavor to study grammar so to grasp these points in better detail, but I'm sure that you have an implicit grasp of it already and it might not be worth your time. Just look to see how, if having done so, you might have violated these simple rules of the sentence.

[Anonymous No.21911165]

>>21910983
Proofreading is the cheapest kind of edit. Give it someone else and use that time to write more.

[Anonymous No.21911398]

I wish I had 6k to burn to hire an editor.

[Anonymous No.21911433]

>>21911052
Just use text-to-speech.

[Anonymous No.21911560]

>>21911398
waste of money. it rare for self-pub to make $600 let alone $6k. if you get successful *then* you can get an editor

[Anonymous No.21911692]

>>21911560
Hey anon, won't you buy my book? I haven't made $600 on it yet.

[Anonymous No.21911737]

>ctrl + f "i take a deep breath"
>5 results

[Anonymous No.21911776]

>>21911737
>"blinked"
>10 results

[Anonymous No.21911803]

Ive created moral conundrum in my story
>protag behaves selfishly, emotionally immature and generally has no regard for others the further into the story you are and she kills an innocent child at one point
BUT
>shes also a cute loli
The conundrum is whether or not you can forgive her for being the way she is, because after all is said and done, she is fuckable

I'll be on Oprah next month

[Anonymous No.21911816]

So apparently it's a thing on wattpad that no one will read your story until you mark it as complete. because so many people start stories and never finish them, that the entire userbase refuses to read any incomplete story due to having been burned so many times.

that's crazy. why are amateur writers so dysfunctional?

[Anonymous No.21911854]

>>21911816
Honestly, I can see where they're coming from. Just go on Royal road for like 5 minutes and see how many of the stories there are not only incomplete, but designed to never be completed in any kind of satisfying way. It's extremely easy to create the first act and then a series of second acts in a story over and over and over again until you get bored. It takes much more effort to create a story that actually has a conclusion.

[Anonymous No.21911872]

>>21911816
They are people who wrote because it seemed like fun, but then they lose the spark for any number of reasons. If I had a body that did what I wanted and I could work and go out like I could before, I would've likely never started writing, never started reading so much. If life gets in the way, I don't blame these people.
>>21911854
This too. It is easy to start a story, hard to end one.

[Anonymous No.21912328]

>>21909573
Trying to make us care for someone we don't know. It's never gonna work.

[Anonymous No.21912455]

>>21909573
I hate fantasy stories that try to be deep with their prose. It takes me out of the story. I don't care who "she" is.

[Anonymous No.21912471]

I'm nurturing an idea to build into some fresh cosmic horror. Good or bad, let me know your thouhts on the below. I'm not attached to it, it's just an exploration of the idea as written by the sort of occult professor that the genre thrives with.

>In the beginning, God said 'Let there be light.' and several days later, he created a light source. On the seventh day, after making the animals, God made man. I believe this shows that even God had to first construct the constituent elements of a complex thing like a human before the human can be constructed. That's perfectly fine for the physical body, you can see right there in Genesis that the earth was made then the animals, then humans. Evolution if you will.

>But what of the mind? What are the constituent elements of the human soul and mind that had to be made before humans were? And where are those primitive thought constructs now? Animals are still here, so where are they?

[Anonymous No.21912479]

>>21912471
Sixth day, not seventh day. Dumb mistake.

[Anonymous No.21912586]

>Not even 3 days in on Royal Road
>Over 1100 views on my novel and 9 followers, when before on Wattpad I got LITERALLY 0 views over the span of months, novel has jumped to top 19k on site already
>Comments with feedback, and people helping me out with things like catching small details I missed that need to be edited
>Even got favorited by someone

Holy shit I wish I knew about this site sooner. I basically have a permanent c: face right now.

Even though I'm writing more for myself than anyone, it still makes me happy.

[Anonymous No.21912594]

Crap. Can anyone here think of a non-perishable non-bread food that wouldn't be out of place in medieval society? I realized I put hardtack in one of my chapters, but bread not existing is an important plot point so I need to replace it with something.

[Anonymous No.21912603]

>>21912586
I know the feeling. First day after I uploaded I got a nice comment.
Now roughly 10 months later, though I did drop out for 3 months. Now I'm here.
>>21912594
Salted and smoked meats. Those are the first non-perishable, or rather, long to perish food items I think of. Nuts and dried fruits are also good options.

[Anonymous No.21912633]

>>21912586
https://www.royalroad.com/fictions/weekly-popular
it's all anime writing. i know wattpad is even worse, but still. why is this shit all that is available anywhere?

[Anonymous No.21912646]

>>21912633

Because people like it and it makes them happy, and therefore more people write it.

[Anonymous No.21912650]

>>21912633
>Free writing
>Kids don't have disposable income
>Kids like anime

Hmm...

[Anonymous No.21912652]

>>21912633
that's what people like to read
women tend to like romance
men like tend to anime power fantasies
both are pure escapism

[Anonymous No.21912695]

>>21912633
be the change you want to see in the world

[Frater Asemlen !XS8vrClKs2 No.21912730]

I’m gonna be writing three sonnets in dedication to the aesthetics of FFX 10, always found the aesthetics of the game very beautiful. What games do you anons find particularly striking, have any of you taken large inspiration from particular games in your prose or verse writing? If so which? did you enjoy the finished product, did you have success in replicating the aesthetic you wanted?

[Anonymous No.21912787]

>>21912730
Lost Odyssey. The various stories, titled thousand years of dreams, were instramental in my emotional reawakening after years of depression related to my health issues.
I can't even read some of them without crying still.
The first one you find, and it is mandatory, is about a terminally ill girl who the main character always tells stories too since she lives at an inn.
I hope that I somewhat captured that somber tone at times, not a bombastic tears are flying people are screaming sadness, but an acceptance of death, and that carrying on that memory of them is all that you can do. Along with the naive and hopeful worldview of a child who doesn't really understand, so they just live cheerfully as they can, listening to the stories of the places that they will never see.

[Anonymous No.21912823]

>>21908124
How do handle writing dryads and other plantfolk? And what have you done with them in your own stuff?

[Anonymous No.21912832]

>>21912787
my xbox red ring of deathed when I was maybe 75% through that game. to date there have been no decent emulators and it was never ported. feels bad

[Anonymous No.21912864]

>>21912823
sex

[Anonymous No.21912882]

>>21912730
>What games do you anons find particularly striking, have any of you taken large inspiration from particular games in your prose or verse writing?
MOTHER 1

[Anonymous No.21912897]

>>21908999
You should try typing in stuff from books you like. Probably want to focus on chapter/scene openings first. There are a lot of benefits to typing stuff in like this, but one is that it will help with your pacing

[Anonymous No.21912907]

>>21912730
Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs is known for being a pretty bad game but it has strong themes and would have been a great novel imo. This speech is kino and I think about it often as inspiration
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcsi3hU-rX8

[Frater Asemlen !XS8vrClKs2 No.21912910]

>>21912907
The music and scenery of everGrace, while the game itself isn’t looked upon fondly, I always found very inspiring also.

[Anonymous No.21912979]

>>21912832
Damn. I never finished it because I was 90 to 100 hours deep and I just unlocked the open world when I stopped. I liked the game, but boy was it ever long. I tried again on the xbone since, and it looked good, but I can't bring myself to replay all of it again, not sure if the 360 I had it downloaded to is dead or not. Not as bad as being 150 into Xenoblade X and having a HDD failure that wiped my save.

[Anonymous No.21912986]

>>21912823
I don't have any. Maybe if I ever finish this story and work on the far future sequel they will get in. The only plantfolk, and only by technicality, is the goddess of earth mana who chooses the physical form of what looks like a woman fused with a tree. But that form is just a form, she isn't really a tree person in the sense that she would be a species.

[Anonymous No.21913220]

>>21912823
The beefolk have all died off. Desperate for another to help pollinate to ensure their survival, they turn to the creatures that killed the bees in the first place, men.

Using their powerful vines and seductive nectar, the plantfolk find ways to entice and seduce men to pollinate them and each other.

Edward the Prince of Randar, now must find a way to work with the plant folk before they entrap men to pollinate them forevermore

[Anonymous No.21913317]

>rereading draft, preparing to write the last chapter
>keep crying from emotion

[Anonymous No.21913402]

>>21912633
There's a lot of talent in RR. I picked up a random story and it was grammatically correct, had good vocabulary, and written to clearly.

[Anonymous No.21913422]

>>21913317
I know that feel anon. I really hope I can elicit the tragedy I feel for my stories and I try to pay attention to stories that really moved me to understand how they did it.

[Anonymous No.21913469]

>Trying to write dialogue
>Comes off as stiff and awkward
>Try to spice it up a little
>Comes off as bootleg Marvel-tier quipshit
Kill me

[Anonymous No.21913557]

>>21912455
> I hate fantasy stories that try to be deep with their prose.
Everyone should write like Sanderson then?

[Anonymous No.21913699]

>>21913469
Have you tried reading it aloud

[Anonymous No.21913860]

>>21908382
Got my 2,000 in today. Elated.

[Anonymous No.21914018]

>>21912586
>not getting paid
ngmi

[Anonymous No.21914026]

>trying to conceptualize the right visual description for a particular monster design in a similar vein to the necromorphs or The Thing functionally
>failing because in my mind's eye it simply comes out as a dime-a-dozen pseudo-zombie, different forms of just masses of humanoid flesh
Trying to visualize something fresh and iconic sure is a pain in the ass. Is there a resource somewhere with a conglomeration of different monstrous designs? I need to have something really good in my imagination, an image that really grasps the reader beyond simply being gross.

[Anonymous No.21914046]

>>21913220
>beefolk
>before they entrap men to pollinate them forevermore
KEK

[Anonymous No.21914070]

I edited and rewrote my first page, but it now it's "hero wakes up to a boring world". Oh well.

[Anonymous No.21914094]

Rewrote my first pages. Hopefully it's a bit better.

[Anonymous No.21914122]

>>21914094
a seemingly boring first chapter can be fine if you put an exciting prologue as a hook

[Anonymous No.21914158]

>>21914094
Over-explaining things and info dumping. I don’t give a shit about your world. Tell me about the character. Ease into the world as you go.

[Anonymous No.21914214]

>>21914094
Wait, isn't the Sun also an orb?

[Anonymous No.21914216]

>>21914026
Hopefully you've read H.P. Lovecraft.
He does a pretty good job of describing otherwise unspeakable horrors.

[Anonymous No.21914225]

What do you guys think of a "coming of age" type story?

[Anonymous No.21914235]

>>21914225
I think it's a little weird you're asking that question as if there's something wrong with that type of story.

[Anonymous No.21914297]

>>21914094
holy fuck stop writing in the passive voice so much

[Anonymous No.21914315]

>>21914297
Not the author but I am asking you, begging you, to please highlight the passive sentences and share it with the class.

[Anonymous No.21914334]

>>21914297
his story is shit but passive voice is kino, mfamutt

[Anonymous No.21914418]

For some reason, whenever I write a sentence, I get the strange urge to “complete” it in spite of how complete the sentence may be as-is. For example, I’ll look at the sentence:

>They saw his face go gray.

or

>He tottered, caught at the door to keep from falling.

And I’ll think these sentences incomplete and unable to stand as-is, even if the fact of the matter is that they are complete. How can I stop myself from needlessly expanding sentences or get rid of the nigh unstoppable urge to think of a sentence as being a fragment when it is in fact a complete sentence?

[Anonymous No.21914440]

>>21914418
Those sentences are poorly written and it's probably triggering your brain into thinking something is wrong. Because there is something wrong. Their shit.

>His face went gray.

It is likely that the reader will understand that your characters are the ones seeing "his" face go grey, so there is no need to put "they saw" as it adds distance between the readers and the action.

>He tottered, caught the door frame, and kept himself from falling.

Bad sentence but serviceable.

[Anonymous No.21914453]

>>21914418
Dont edit until you finish your first draft.

[Anonymous No.21914458]

>>21914440
Huh. I took these sentences from a Weird Tales issue: specifically the August, 1935 one which was also the debut of Doctor Satan. I suppose some of Paul Ernst’s sentences were bad, but it was the overall tightness of the story and sheer creativity of it that kept me engaged no matter how many times I had to pause at these occasional sentences.

[Anonymous No.21914504]

>>21914315
anything with "was"

[Anonymous No.21914522]

>>21914158
>I don’t give a shit about your world. Tell me about the character. Ease into the world as you go.
Nah fuck that, I want to be immersed in the world before I know ANYTHING. Lord of the Rings, we were introduced to the Shire before we even had Bilbo take a massive shit. That's what fantasy readers want, not your hurr some faggot must suffer through a massive shit from taco bell. I want to know the coolness of the toilet, the smells of rancid shit, the color of the walls, the ply of the toilet paper before I meet the MC. Draw the reader into the world.

[Anonymous No.21914554]

The more I write, the harder writing gets. the more I push myself the harder I have to push. I've tried I've tried reaching out for help, I've tried taking breaks, I've tried exercising, meditating, word-vomiting and more. I've even tried taking pills for adhd and depression. Nothing works.

The more you practice the easier it's supposed to get. The smarter you are the faster you're supposed to learn. I can't give up anymore. I'd rather die than admit defeat. Still I have to ask: What sort of retard gets worse the more they practice?

[Anonymous No.21914558]

>>21914554

[Anonymous No.21914568]

>>21914554
Are you training yourself wrong, as a joke?
But, honestly, maybe you are being too hard on yourself. Have other people told you your work has gotten worse? Or are you trapped in the belief that you are getting worse and you can't view your own writing objectively?

[Anonymous No.21914583]

>>21914558
It's not dunning-kruger anon. The difference between my first novel and my second is as apparent as night and day. My first novel was better and easier for me in every way

>>21914568
It's not just worse, I'm writing at less than a quarter of my old pace, and frequently run into scenarios where I realize a scene I planned extensively is going in the wrong direction and if I don't scrap two weeks worth of work and start over I'm going to have to re-write the entire novel from scratch starting at chapter 3

[Anonymous No.21914587]

>>21914522
ASOIAF starts with Will beyond the Wall and explains in passing the world. So, I'm not sure ALL fantasy readers want world described first. I personally find LoTR dull and lifeless compared to the, albeit childish and somewhat...sloppy, ASOIAF.
Basically, ASOIAF > LOTR I tend of enjoyment, for me.
Anyways, carry on with your battle, good sir. You seen to be holding your own.

[Anonymous No.21914601]

>>21914554
>What sort of retard gets worse the more they practice?
A lot of people experience this. A lot. Sort of weird analogy, maybe, but ever played basketball? Like shot hoops just fucking around? When you start off it's easy, all net baby!, and then an hour in ..you can't hit a GD thing! Not sure why that happens but it happens to me every time.
I don't know exactly what to tell you but ... Is it your subject matter?
I bet if you were writing about how hard it is to write, but how you're not going to give up, etc, you could fill pages.

[Anonymous No.21914610]

>>21914214
sunorbs are lightbulbs. I just figured it'll be easy enough to connect with readers instead of throwing a something else together like Mechanical Torches.

[Anonymous No.21914618]

>>21914587
I think there's really two camps concerning a passive opening. Here's Gone with the Wind:

>Scarlet O'Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it when caught by her charm as the Tarleton twins were. In her face were too sharply blended the delicate features of her mother, a Coast aristocrat of French descent, and the heavy ones of her florid Irish father. But it was an arresting face, pointed of chin, square of jaw. Her eyes were pale green without a touch of hazel, starred with bristly black lashes and slightly tilted at the ends. Above them, her thick black brows slanted upward, cutting a startling oblique line in her magnolia-white skin-that skin so prized by Southern women and so carefully guarded with bonnets, veils and mittens against hot Georgia suns.”

It's passive as fuck, and a huge exposition dump, but it's considered a masterful opening.

[Anonymous No.21914634]

>>21914618
>and a huge exposition dump
which works because it's describing a character. that's what readers are interested in. not a character's innermost thought and certainly not the scenery. a character grounds the reader much more than anything else - and not even a human, you could wax eloquent about a dog for a few lines describing his breed, etc and that would work, too

[Anonymous No.21914653]

>>21914634
In Jack London's White Fang:
>Dark spruce forest frowned on either side of the frozen waterway. The trees had been stripped by a recent wind of their white covering of frost, and they seemed to lean toward each other, black and ominous, in the fading light. A vast silence reigned over the land. The land itself was a desolation, lifeless, without movement, so lone and cold that the spirit of it was not even that of sadness. There was a hint in it of laughter, but of a laughter more terrible than any sadness — a laughter that was mirthless as the smile of the Sphinx, a laughter cold as the frost and partaking of the grimness of infallibility. It was the masterful and incommunicable wisdom of eternity laughing at the futility of life and the effort of life. It was the Wild, the savage, frozen-hearted Northland Wild.

This one is also passive and a huge exposition dump. This time dumping scenery.

[Anonymous No.21914663]

>>21914583
Could it be the subject matter you're writing about?

[Anonymous No.21914667]

>>21914653
Farewell to Arms:

>In the late summer of that year we lived in a house in a village that looked across the river and the plain to the mountains. In the bed of the river there were pebbles and boulders, dry and white in the sun, and the water was clear and swiftly moving and blue in the channels. Troops went by the house and down the road and the dust they raised powdered the leaves of the trees. The trunks of the trees too were dusty and the leaves fell early that year and we saw the troops marching along the road and the dust rising and leaves, stirred by the breeze, falling and the soldiers marching and afterward the road bare and white except for the leaves.

That said, I think it's more important for the story to "read well" more than whatever rules of having a active voice, passive voice, hooks etc. What hooks one reader may not hook another. But I'm also just talking out of my ass.

Anyone else want to opine what makes a good opening paragraph?

[Anonymous No.21914686]

>wrote novel
>has romance subplot
>ending chapter
>have to write the romance resolution
>crawling up my wall and my head rotated 360 degrees about my shoulders
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[Anonymous No.21914695]

>>21908124
Needs feedback:
So this story is about two best friends making a trip to an island to gather up their buddies. This story is set up in 2070. We explore the absurdity of the world at that time, which was both tongue-in-cheek and poignant.
How am I doing?
I haven't been able to tell how good or bad my writing is for a while and I wonder what
does it really sound like.

Thank you.

[Anonymous No.21914697]

>>21914554
I have found that i improve from trying different projects and reading different styles. Sure i still have weaknesses with my prose and pacing, but i see noticeable improvements when i start reading a different style. Not because i mimic it exactly but i try to pick up at least one technique or trick from it i didn't know before...Also helps if you enjoy what your reading and writing.

[Anonymous No.21914699]

>>21914653
>>21914667
hemingway and jack london are both terrible writers

[Anonymous No.21914703]

>>21914663
It's a story that's deeply important to me, but other writing I've attempted has been similarly effected

[Anonymous No.21914708]

>>21914094
I would have the first sentence start:
>This wasn't what Adah envisioned when she joined the Pine Cantonment.
I would not add Knight of Valora. If you want to explain that later, fine. Not in the first sentence. And I would not include so many proper nouns so early, Knight of Valora, The Knight of Serenity or D-2. Make a note of them later. After the first line I would say:
>As a child it had been her dream to join the knights. Seeing the knight do [do whatever it is they do] made this her one true goal. Days of daydreaming had led to weeks of [something] which had led to months of [whatever]. She wanted to follow in their proud tradition as a protector of the peace. After years of grueling effort and she'd finally attaining what she had long been trying to achieve, and she'd been assigned her great task as a proud protector of the realm. A task monumental in nature and expansive in scope. Inglorious, neverending paperwork.
Also you have way too many proper names in the first page. Do we need to know the marquess's name or even the name of the mountain range this early? nope.

[Anonymous No.21914713]

>>21914653
I don't think that's a very good opener. ymmv

[Anonymous No.21914722]

>>21914708
>expansive in scope
ever expanding in scope

[Anonymous No.21914736]

>>21914699
Please, London's been praised as having some of the most vivid sentences describing scenery ever. And Hemingway's prose is also praised.

[Anonymous No.21914748]

Clark Ashton Smith’s prose most consists of passives and many difficult, obscure words, but is some of the most vivd and beautiful prose I’ve ever read. I don’t know why, but I can’t find a single sentence, no matter how long nor complex, in any of his works that do not read well.

[Anonymous No.21914756]

>>21914094
I can't read sunorb without my mind reconstructing it in some silly way like snourb

[Anonymous No.21914759]

>>21914708
Thanks anon.

[Anonymous No.21914771]

>>21914216
>Hopefully you've read H.P. Lovecraft.
>He does a pretty good job of describing otherwise unspeakable horrors.
No he fucking doesn't. Half the time his characters give a bullshit reason why they can't describe it (too horrible, too complicated, went insane) and the other half they don't even see it themselves.

[Anonymous No.21914776]

>>21914026
look at closeups pictures of insects, if that shit doesn't give you ideas nothing will

[Anonymous No.21914783]

>hey guys its me the guy who writes smut about dudes that bone their moms!
just wanted to let you all know it's going well, over 350 'products' sold in the last 3 months since I started, maybe about $1300 total made and it's actually semi-passive now. 8 copies of stuff sold today and I didn't release since 3 weeks ago.
Taking a break since the 4 concentrated months of writing was pretty hectic and all the hustle mode cortisol fried my brain, but I got a promotion for a job that's ironically easier so I'll be able to write more with less stress! Pumped out 1k words earlier for a non-erotica story I might put together later and it's nice to see how strongly the creativity flows. P big contrast between erotica and 'literature'.
Money news: since I have a tangible backlog now, any release tends to trigger a wave of $$ from new readers who want to buy the rest of my work. It's p exciting. Hoping I can use this to build some $$$ and maybe have the erotica as a sellable intellectual property right asset down the line, I'm sure it'll be worth something to the right enterprising smutlord. Or maybe it'll be worth more to me. Who knows?

If you want to write for $$ then writing erotica is a great stepping stone toward it. It gets you in the rhythm of creating stories, learning how to write creatively with limited inspiration, WPM faster, and a bit of $$ you can throw at covers, etc. down the line. Gets you thinking about marketing, and about the base and physical/mental things that people look for. Good prep for making books down the road since it gets you focused on what will appeal to the audience that will enjoy your stuff. I highly recommend it.

[sage No.21914793]

>>21914453
>Dont edit until you finish your first draft.
Don't tell other people how to write as if there's only one way. You can most certainly edit chapters as you go. People have wildly different preferences when it comes to the drafting process.

>>21914418
Whenever I can't stop thinking about changing a sentence, it's usually because I recognize that I could easily make it better. If you don't want to change it now and feel like doing so would hamstring your writing output, just mark it with a highlighter or something so you know to revisit it later

[Anonymous No.21914813]

>>21908382
Unfortunately not. I had 300 pages of a novel to read for school and a bunch of academic writing to do. I'll make up for it next week since I'll have plenty of free time

[Anonymous No.21914840]

What is the absolute maximum length for a debut novelist's first novel when trying to get traditionally published? I doubt They want to waste money on paper and ink.

[Anonymous No.21914842]

>>21914522
The world building doesn’t truly begin in The Lord of the Rings until Frodo leaves the Bag End. Because up until then, the world is an abstraction with no examples besides the hobbits. That’s bad technique. I don’t care that Frodo is beating off in Bilbos old house with his cock ring while Gandalf’s off doing whatever the fuck. I want to see characters do something.

[Anonymous No.21914843]

>>21914842
This is ignoring the fact that you already had a full novel (The Hobbit) beforehand.

[Anonymous No.21914849]

>>21914843
Yes, well you have to ignore the Hobbit, if you’re looking at the Lord of the Rings, because then there really is no excuse for why Frodo isn’t thrown out the door sooner. If we are already aware of the world, delaying is even worse imo.

[Anonymous No.21914880]

>>21914842
> That’s bad technique.
No it's not, it's a story-telling technique unused everywhere. Protagonist starts their journey in ignorance of the world and learn about it along with the reader. Every fantasy MC growing up on a farm, from the Belgariad to WoT, does this.

[Anonymous No.21914885]

>>21914842
> That’s bad technique.
No it's not, it's a story-telling technique used everywhere. Protagonist starts their journey in ignorance of the world and learn about it along with the reader. Every fantasy MC growing up on a farm, from the Belgariad to WoT, does this.

[Anonymous No.21914893]

>>21914842
>The world building doesn’t truly begin in
So establishing Hobitton, what hobbits are, what elves are, what drwarves are, the existence of dragons and dark forces, and the rings of power, just to mention few, is not worldbuilding?

[Anonymous No.21914897]

>>21914885
They learn about the world by leaving and exploring it, anon. I mean, which do you feel you would learn more from? Gandalf talking about Mt. Doom and how it’s a bad place or Frodo and Sam struggling up its side in a life or death situation?

[Anonymous No.21914898]

>>21914842
Man, some people in /wg/ really do not know what the hell they're talking about when it comes to writing

[Anonymous No.21914949]

>>21914898
So you’d rather be told Mt. Doom is a scary and bad place and just have it left at that, KEK, why even read a novel when you can go on Wikipedia and get summaries?

[Anonymous No.21914959]

>>21914783
How long are these stories? And how many words do you do a day/

[Anonymous No.21914961]

>>21914840
Long books are usually shit because they often have nothing to day and just ramble on about pointless lore and world building, get lost af and focus on unnecessary details instead of good character and storyline development. You might be the exception but i doubt people will want to risk publishing that. Why‘s your books so long? How can you make it shorter? Would you want to buy and read it? Would you want to publish it? Quality over quantity.

[Anonymous No.21914980]

Do you write from start to finish before editing?
Or do you edit as you go?

[Anonymous No.21914992]

>>21914980
I edit as i go because editing is called thinking before you write and then perfecting it before you move on. However, i believe that it is best to have a balance between not getting stuck by overthinking every word you write and be able to have a steady output to get your ideas and thoughts in writing and then go back a little later to revise and see if you can word something even better, if a thought didn‘t lead anywhere or if something needs to be added or taken away. Just do both but don‘t obsess over either.

[Anonymous No.21915038]

>>21914980
I write until I burnout then I flounder around with editing a few days before the fire returns

[Anonymous No.21915053]

>>21914980
I am trying to stop myself editing as I go because it slows down my writing.

[Anonymous No.21915064]

>>21914961
Most books I read are long...

[Anonymous No.21915162]

>>21914961
When it comes to epic fantasy that is not seen as a negative. There's a huge part of the target audience that love lore and world building.

[Anonymous No.21915167]

>>21915064
>>21915162
Ah i see. In that case, do whatever you want to. I do not understand the mind of such people.

[Anonymous No.21915184]

>>21915167
Maybe if you spent less time on your phone you'd be able to finally finish War & Peace

[Anonymous No.21915199]

>>21915184
The confessions and the kreutzer sonata were two of those books i inhaled. Anna karenina got boring real fast, so don‘t come at me with war and peace. I got my Tolstoi fill already.

[Anonymous No.21915202]

>>21915199
If only your attention span hadn't been destroyed by years of smartphone usage and tiktok, maybe you'd be able to finish Bleak House

[Anonymous No.21915213]

>>21914961

Look at like, Reverend Insanity though. It's by far the best book in the entire Xianxia genre and it's not even close, and one of the main reasons why is because every last small world building detail ends up being hugely relevant like 1000 fucking chapters after it was first mentioned.

[Anonymous No.21915223]

>>21915202
Such a lame meme. I can watch tt and shitpost and also read oliver twist and david copperfield. It has nothing to do with lacking attention span, and everything to do with what your brain sees as enjoyable input at any given moment.

[Anonymous No.21915226]

is it possible to strike the air so hard and fast you set it on fire? asking for fantasy oc superpower

[Anonymous No.21915231]

>>21915213
I have no clue what you‘re talking about. I once read the whole GoT series in one go and that was quiet enough world building and lore for me. Sure, maybe there‘s brains that get a thrill from such tricks like tony details that become relevant much later on and feeling oh so smart for remembering or predicting stuff but for some reason it does nothing for me.

[Anonymous No.21915234]

>>21915226
I mean, you could be superhuman and maybe break the sound barrier and get a nice boom out of it but other than that i don‘t think so. Everything is possible in fiction, especially in fantasy though.

[Anonymous No.21915237]

>>21915234
move so fast and get friction against the air itself to light your limbs on fire like a match or something lmao
thats sort of what i want to do but i wanna do it in a way that isnt complete bullshit

[Anonymous No.21915256]

>Main Character is short-sighted, selfish, and misogynistic at start of story because he needs character flaws in order to grow and not be a Mary Sue who is perfect in every way, and him learning about women and coming to like and understand them is a major plot point because he's a reincarnated incel who died at 30 as a khhv and really did become a wizard
>People complain about the very mild misogyny early in the story and stop reading
>They also would have complained if he was perfect

I hate readers a little bit already.

[Anonymous No.21915259]

>>21915256
most people are fickle and stupid just like the masses complaining about stupid shit within this defunct democracy
honestly just ignore them and keep going

[Anonymous No.21915274]

>>21915237
That could work
https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/mesosphere/en/

[Anonymous No.21915277]

>>21915259

The worst part is, I'm planning on giving the main character the ability to actually turn men into women later on in the story, and it becomes the basis for his social connections. The story I'm writing is obviously insanely progressive (despite me being right-centrist), but people are too short-sighted to see where the story is going, and it's really frustrating

[Anonymous No.21915279]

>>21915256
The trick is to make them like him enough before giving them a reason to hate him. It is like irl. You can tolerate a lot of flaws in someone once you are already emotionally invested but if they appall you right away, you just want nothing to do with them.

[Anonymous No.21915280]

>>21915277
Pls do not put your weird fetishes on humanity. We have plenty of that already.

[Anonymous No.21915286]

>>21915280

It actually makes complete sense in the context of the story. It's not fetish content in the slightest, it's related to Yin and Yang.

[Anonymous No.21915296]

>>21915286
How‘s it balanced if he can only form relationships with women if he knows they were men before? Sounds like misogyny with extra steps. Like being into traps.

[Anonymous No.21915311]

>>21915296

>How‘s it balanced if he can only form relationships with women if he knows they were men before?

When did I say this? I said this would form the basis for his social connections. It's how he becomes a well-known figure in the story, and how he gets people to reach out to him, instead of always being the one to reach out. He leverages it as his means of becoming a player instead of a pawn. I'm planning on having him end up with an elf cis-het female, not a man-turned-woman.

[Anonymous No.21915319]

>>21915311
>others should put in the work to be with ME
>elf gf
Damn that is a lot of inceldom oozing from this post
Anyways, your story sounds like it will be pretty epic so please proceed.

[Anonymous No.21915327]

>>21908427
An expression of perspective
Just be urself bro

[Anonymous No.21915332]

>>21915319

Is it tiring always taking everything in the worst possible way, and using the most bad faith for everything? Or is this just entertainment for you?

Do you really have a problem with a guy learning a valuable skill so that people come to him instead of vice versa?

[Anonymous No.21915349]

>>21915296
>>21915319

>If he ends up with a woman who was originally a man, that's misogyny!
>He doesn't, actually, he ends up with a cis-het female
>Incel!

Retard.

[Anonymous No.21915362]

>>21915332
>Is it tiring always taking everything in the worst possible way, and using the most bad faith for everything?
Not really, i an actually the most positive person i know
>Or is this just entertainment for you?
Admittedly, a little bit.

>Do you really have a problem with a guy learning a valuable skill so that people come to him
No, not at all
>instead of vice versa?
Yes, because it is disgustingly arrogant to think you are so important and special that you can just sit around and wait for people to flock to you. Ofc it is not an issue for that to happen, but for someone to rely on that for social connections is pretty gross. Human connection is supposed to be both giving and receiving. I‘d like your character more if he was humble enough to understand that others also can teach him valuable things and are worth for him to go to them instead of just telling on some weird magic trick to lure in the masses. But again, your goal might not be to make your character likable. If you want to make him a little more likable, maybe make him seek out the wisdom of someone at the beginning of the book.

[Anonymous No.21915367]

>>21915202
I've seen Bleak House mentioned nearly every day this week, while rarely seeing it mentioned before, so I'll take that as a sign to make it my next read

[Anonymous No.21915368]

>>21915362
>I‘d like your character more if he was humble enough to understand that others also can teach him valuable things and are worth for him to go to them instead of just telling on some weird magic trick to lure in the masses.

You're right.

You're still retarded for your other comments, but you're right here.

[Anonymous No.21915370]

>>21915367
Deus vult. I dropped it at the spontaenous combustion chapter myself.

[Anonymous No.21915397]

>>21908124
Is there a /lit/ writing discord?

[Anonymous No.21915398]

>>21915397

God I hope not

[Anonymous No.21915400]

>>21908427
Literally just be yourself and no one will be able to copy the finer details of your self-expression

[Anonymous No.21915406]

Imagine if you spent years writing and creating a magical world then trannies constantly abused you for your personal views and hijacked it for their own purposes?
it must be so depressing to be J.K.Rowling right now
This is also the reason why you should never aim for a wider audience.

[Anonymous No.21915420]

>>21915406
Yeah, I'm sure this literal billionaire is real depressed because mentally ill people are attacking her

[Anonymous No.21915436]

>>21915406
being know as the most successful author of all time, yeah, life must be tough for her

[Anonymous No.21915501]

>>21915406
Anon, I can't even aim for a narrow audience.

[Anonymous No.21915610]

>>21914504
Okay so you have no idea, I figured as much but wanted to confirm.

[Anonymous No.21915763]

>>21914771
He does in his later work.

[Anonymous No.21915767]

>>21915226
Yes...at hypersonic speeds, the air is literally incinerated.

[Anonymous No.21915842]

If you have to revise then you shouldn’t have bothered. Real writers write it right the first time.

[Anonymous No.21915871]

Any thoughts on "Plot: The Art of Story" by Amy Jones?

[Anonymous No.21916050]

>>21915842
Enough of your demotivational failed-crab gatekeeping.
You literally bring no value to this forum.

[Anonymous No.21916071]

If Sean Thor Conroe can do it, you can too!

[Anonymous No.21916122]

>>21916050
I’m like everyone else here. What’s your problem, then?

[Anonymous No.21916286]

>>21915397
anyone?

[Anonymous No.21916297]

>>21916286
This ain't an ice cream social.

[Anonymous No.21916307]

>>21916286
https://discord.gg/EkTcxHMz

I give and receive critique here sometimes

[Anonymous No.21916373]

>>21916297
i know, it's a group of writers. god forbid i get in touch with like-minded people

[Anonymous No.21916381]

>>21916307
thanks hun

[Anonymous No.21916425]

>>21908124
Ok so this is my first time here, forgive me if I sound retarded, but I need some advice
I plan to try and publish this novel I'm writing traditionally, and I'm worried I may be going overboard with the wordcount
I think the final product will be something like 120K words total, but if I can't control myself it can easily get to 150K
I know publishers are very strict on this sort of thing for debut authors.
Keeping in mind this is still the first draft, and that the genre is science-fiction (sort of), do you think I can be satisfied in that range or should I specifically aim to go as low as possible? Because some sources say debuts should never be above 100K, and others say that 120K (or even 150K) is fine for the genre

[Anonymous No.21916433]

Do I need to address every single tiny plot hole? If a character wants to do X but can't because Y, do I need to explicitly state that every single time? I feel like the readers will probably figure it out themselves, plus it seems like it would get really tiring, reading all those little explanations all the time.

[Anonymous No.21916561]

>>21913402
This.

Even though, the vast majority is kinda mediocre/nearly decent (and what's the deal with litrpg/system? Even though a story doesn't need to be realistic it still need to be believable enough, it really surprises me that this has a large audience)

[Anonymous No.21916578]

>>21916433
This kind of question is one of the infinite number of questions where the answer is:

-it depends

-or do as you feel
Not explaining anything will be as annoying as explaining everything, so look for a balance so that the final product is digestible

[Anonymous No.21916583]

>>21916433
Once stated, once mentioned is how I write.
If I said something 30 chapters ago, I might make passing mention, but I expect my readers to remember some things. I also don't think that I have any glaring plotholes since I rewrote everything near the start of the year. People can and will ignore small inconsistencies, and sometimes you can write it off as the characters in the story being ignorant of something and misunderstanding.

[Anonymous No.21916695]

>>21914959
novel at 80k
novellas 20k and 30k
several 'short stories' at approx 15k
Lots of people write shorts from 5-8k with minimal setup
words per day depends on what I have going. When I was blitzing full speed I wrote 3x day (before work, lunch break, after work) and could reliably get 2k final draft ready words on average. As burnout started to fuck me in the ass I slowed to 1k/day until I used a transcriber and went up to 2k/day average, but the quality wasn't as good.
Novels and novellas can also be broken up into multiple 'products' as parts of a series and if your work is good enough people won't mind.

[Anonymous No.21916705]

>>21914776
Not the right aesthetic.

[Anonymous No.21916721]

>>21916373
Looking to get discouraged on a personal
level, huh?

[Anonymous No.21916731]

>>21916561

litrpg is super fun as a genre

[Anonymous No.21916784]

>>21913220
Who the hell would support Edward?

[Anonymous No.21916851]

>>21916122
That's a strawman argument.
Be the change you want to see.

[Anonymous No.21916862]

>>21916705
Look at pictures of microscopic creatures?
Especially ones that live in water...their shape isn't as affected by gravity, leading to more diversity.

[Anonymous No.21916896]

>>21916862
Squibbly squibbly tentacle blobs also isn't the right aesthetic. More importantly these are also supposed to be of human scale (generally speaking), and be derived from humans. I like your thinking though.

[Anonymous No.21917055]

>>21916896
Well, obviously, take the aesthetics of microscopic aquatic creatures (or whatever your inspiration is) and blend them with human forms.
Are you sure you have the requisite amount of imagination it takes to write fiction?

[Anonymous No.21917093]

>>21917055
I'm just saying the look doesn't work. Too alien, too colorful, too weird. And all not in the regard I'm looking for, rather.

[Anonymous No.21917115]

>>21917093
I don't think you're trying very hard.
You may have to settle for your dime-a-dozen zombie.

[Frater Asemlen !XS8vrClKs2 No.21917131]

>>21914554
To be blunt, how hardly have you actually studying and analyzing who you consider the masters, contemplating your conception of beauty, and reading about aesthetic theory? It’s possible that in your first work you had a more natural spontaneous grasp of what you like and why because, you were acting calm and within your nature, not stressing but simply doing what you enjoy, but now that you’ve practiced so much, you cannot enter that resting flowing state of mind, that you are fighting what is natural, and while this is normal and what is supposed to happen, perhaps you just don’t have the theoretical grasp needed to replace that spontaneous style you originally had?

[Anonymous No.21917143]

>>21914980
before I start writing I always go back a read a little of what I'd written before to help get myself back into the mindset. if there's stuff I notice I'll do some spot editing but it's usually pretty light unless I notice something glaring. if later on an idea strikes me that requires a retcon I'll go back and make the appropriate changes asap or at worst I'll throw a note [in brackets telling my future self what to do] after the draft is done I go back and do full, extensive editing passes

[Anonymous No.21917159]

>>21916851
That’s not a straw man argument, you retard. You people really can’t read here. And you definitely can’t write.

[Anonymous No.21917177]

>>21917159
"I'm like everyone else here."
You invented this "everyman" out of thin air, a literal strawman, and used that invented person to justify being a jerk.

[Anonymous No.21917196]

>>21917177
Oh, you’re under the impression I’m new here. No, I’ve been around a while. I know you’re assholes. Keep deluding yourself into thinking otherwise.

[Anonymous No.21917211]

Hey I want you guys to give me some criticism but where can I post my story so far? I've got 4 chapters and it's about 9k words.

This is literally my first ever attempt at writing a story. I know it won't be much good, but It's so far been pretty good practice. I've been touching it up all morning but I'd like a few opinions.

I don't see myself putting it up anywhere, this is just a pet project of mine to improve my writing ability.

It's in 1st person. I was really going to with 3rd person but thought that the former might be able to get things across better for the protagonist and how he's going about things.

[Anonymous No.21917232]

>>21917196
False-consensus effect *and* confirmation bias.
You're really a piece of work, aren't you?
Brainlets like you are of absolutely no value, here or anywhere else.

[Anonymous No.21917242]

>>21917211
Royal Road, or you just put it on pastebin and link the first chapter here. I'll be happy to read it and give what advice I can.

[Anonymous No.21917283]

>>21917242
Pastebin says It's full of profanity and Royal Road tells me it'll take 48 hours to upload after approval.

It's not smut or anything, though... I don't get what the problem is.

[Anonymous No.21917290]

>>21917283
I've never used it, but wattpad might work. Though that site is full of garbage, if you just need a place to post something so you can link it it should be fine.

[Anonymous No.21917306]

>>21917283
Pastebin has gone woke; ignore its judgments.
RoyalRoad does that to everyone. Don't fret it.

[Anonymous No.21917313]

I hope this fucking works, I've tried using WattPad before and it wasn't working.

https://www.wattpad.com/1326192174-something-wicked-this-way-comes-prototype-for-a

[Anonymous No.21917393]

>>21917313
I read chapter one to three and then skimmed to 5. I don't see any major flaws but I did see that the line "making trips the girls dorm" is missing a to, but other than that your writing seems competent to me. But, it isn't something I would read. I am not interested in this story mostly for genre reasons, my interests in books lie primarily in fantasy and other more fantastical stories.
I'm not sure why I should actually care about this guy when he does seem like someone who just blames everyone else around him for his own lack of drive. I am going to suggest maybe doing a cold open of him in the woods, since I saw that in your description of where the story goes, and then jump back to how he got there.
It should give a reason for the readers to get past his moping and being a shitty person to Cordelia. I think I should also ask, do they matter in this story? His parents and her? If not, it might be worth just relegating them to explanatory lines as he talks to himself.

[Anonymous No.21917431]

>>21917393
So where I'm trying to go with the story is that he became so anti-social due to the sudden loss of his friend peter.
His parents are keeping the truth from him from back when he was 19 when his friend died but he doesn't know that until he makes it out of the woods and contacts his parents.
Currently i'm trying to flesh out Penelope's character before she ends up getting killed by the creature that is basically a human-shaped corvid that can use mimicry to lure it's prey.
I think I see what you mean. It might be a good idea to consider toning down how unlikeable he is on purpose and instead start the story with him running for his life. Maybe have his escape attempt bring him back at certain points to how he got there in the first place.
It's kind of difficult for me to structure this well, but I see what you mean.
I haven't decided if at the end the creature finds him and finishes him off, or if he gets to redeem himself and reconcile with his parents after the blatant lying out of fear that he would take his own life from hearing his best friend died years ago without him knowing because his parents heard first from the Ingrays and decided to keep him in the dark about it.

[Anonymousn No.21917525]

Keep thinking about the anon in the last thread who said that suspense and concrete detail are always the most important elements of a work; prose style is only secondary, and the mark of amateur writing is ambling on without any hook of suspense to invite and carry the reader. Rock solid advice.

[Anonymous No.21917630]

>>21915277
>ultra alpha male dominates other men to the point where he literally turns them into his loyal babymaking fucksluts
>insanely progressive
Emphasis on insane, right? I mean, considering the fag/tranny agenda you're not completely wrong about it lining up with progressive values, but probably not for the reasons you think

[Anonymous No.21917636]

>>21915277
That sound so fucking whack I would read it.

[Anonymous No.21917843]

I can't write antagonists or their dialogue to save my life. So I made the main villain of my story a cross between Anakin Skywalker and Sauraman

[Anonymous No.21917974]

>>21917843
A lot of writers start with fanfic. It's OK.
The goal is to learn enough from the experience to write your own characters some day.

[Anonymous No.21918074]

If I'm trying to commit to writing a longer story and putting it up on royal road or the like, will people care if I put up each chapter as I go or dump the entire thing at once? I feel like I have a hard time motivating myself already, I'm not sure if I would be able to finish anything of decent length without breaking it down.

[Anonymous No.21918096]

>>21918074
I've been putting up a chapter a day for a while now and it does help with motivation to see my numbers go up. I know someone mentioned in this thread or the last that dumping a bunch at once can be counter productive for building an audience because they want to follow stories that are updated regularly, not sporadically. But I don't know what you are writing for, money or just for writing.

[Anonymous No.21918138]

>>21918096
I highly doubt I would be getting money for this even if I was trying for it. Good to know that doing it in chapters has its perks, I'm trying to work on my discipline so having regular consistent deadlines is probably a good thing.

[Anonymous No.21918324]

I want to write Historical fiction
What is important for me is dialogue that flows naturally and the ability to describe environments and movement in a way that is very vivid and functional
Which authors should I study?
How do I go about studying author's prose btw?

[Anonymous No.21918378]

>Decided to commit to writing
>Starting next month, only working 4 days a week
>Try to write an opening page
>It's another false start
I'm wondering if I'm rushing headlong into this. Wrote some preliminary notes at least.

[Anonymous No.21918407]

>>21918324
I wouldn't worry too much about "studying" an author's prose. The only way to glean the information you need from the genre you've picked is to read more in that genre. I'm sure there's big titles but try and go for the smaller ones too. The more stories you dislike, the better. You're figuring out what *not* to do for your project.

[Anonymous No.21918418]

>>21918324
I don't know, obrian probably
but more importantly you need to study the time period you want to write about

[Anonymous No.21918511]

Some of my sentences sound clever to me, but I'm worried they'll turn out unintentionally funny.

[Anonymous No.21918534]

>>21917313
wanna be in the pastebin?

[Anonymous No.21918539]

>>21915400
What a load of bullshit

[Anonymous No.21918598]

Went into writing today pulling my fucking teeth out with this chapter I'm working on. Felt contrived and out of place, couldn't figure out what the fuck the problem was. Read it back aloud and was amazed at how retarded it sounded. Holy fucking shit. So happy I did that. Fixed it.

[Anonymous No.21918642]

>>21918324
Don't do it. nobody will read it!

[Anonymous No.21918683]

>>21918642
Enough with the demotivational failed-crab nonsense.
We're all oh so sorry you had an unhappy childhood & all that, but there's no reason to screw up other people's lives.
This ends here now...with you. No more links in the chain.

[Anonymous No.21918698]

The energy of hatred that has been developing is a fire being stoked by the perpetrators of our past crimes. Our traitors curse our name to virtue their separation from us. Establishing social warfare among the many. Importing every race en masse all while telling these migrants that their problems, the ones that caused them to flee their land, their hardships when they arrive here are due to the cause of the white man and his system because of our pure hatred for their existence. It’s our fault, the casual white man living in the Americas, not them, the only people who still have any capability of conducting mass trauma to the citizens of the world.

seanald.ca/hating-the-whites/

[Anonymous No.21918750]

>>21908382
Nigger I can barely function as a person much less get enough courage to face my horrible writing skills on a daily basis.

[Anonymous No.21918880]

>wrote all but the last chapter
>life events happened, then i wasn't feeling the flow to finish
>tried an abortive, forced attempt yesterday
>woke up, discarded all of it, and put down something perfect
It's back.

[Anonymous No.21918892]

>>21917115
I think your suggestions just weren't suitable. Insects is much closer than micro sea life however. For context the setting is an underground society, and a core idea I've had from the start is that they need to be cut and burned in order to be killed.

Thinking more, I'm leaning towards some kind of arboreal horror meshed with flesh, ala Darkwood. It's difficult because blood plays a major role in the story, as does the monsters' ability to mimic human appearance and behavior, so leaning too heavily into a "plant" vision of design is bad. That, and floral or leafy is essentially never something to be taken seriously in a threatening or scary regard. However "root" or "bark" is much more on the level. Maybe roots of flesh? That's good environmentally but it still needs to be individuated out, which leads back to the original problem.

[Anonymous No.21918936]

>>21917636

Sure, why not, I'll get crucified in this thread for my writing if anyone here actually bothers reading my work, but have at it:

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/67087/avatar-of-reincarnation

[Anonymous No.21918991]

When he found her, she was praying with the other women.

He hesitate for a few minutes on the door of the temple. Being as he was, he wasn't sure whether he would even be allowed in. Those folks really cared about class. Not everyone was allowed into the same public places.

He had heard a man once got beheaded for entering a temple for the noble caste.

But he was not in their land, and the laws didn't apply to Mages anyway. It took him a while, but he stepped in and to the altar.

He saw her in the middle of the room, along with the wives and mothers of the colony. She was barefoot, clad in the heavy gray flax garment they wore for sacred ceremonies. The ice cold room didn't seem to bother any of these women as they chanted sibilant hymns and walked circles around the sacred fires, naked feet stamping the floor in regular beats that sounded vaguely like a parade at slow motion.

Half an hour later, it was over. Her aunt let out a harsh staccato of a verse, and all the women ate something from the prayer plate. Then they dispersed as one, the common order all but forgotten as they hurried to get home in time to make dinner.

Erica's eyes widened as she saw him there.
"What are you doing here?" She hissed. She grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the altar and then the temple. "This is a woman's altar. You're not allowed in!"

"Well, this is important business. I think I found another of those creatures. It's in Asranya."

Her anger evaporated.

"How do you know this?" She asked sharply, running the numbers quickly. He knew what she was thinking. Assaulting that location would be out of the question with just the two of them. And telling the government could backfire.

"The god of the local shrine has not been taking prayers for a while." He said grimly. "The priests got the cops involved, but they can't find anything."

She sighed. This day just kept getting better.
_________

The key part is the ceremony in the beginning.

[Anonymous No.21919017]

>>21918991
>He hesitate for a few minutes on the door of the temple.
Hesitated*
>naked feet stamping the floor in regular beats that sounded vaguely like a parade at slow motion.
I'd change out regular beats to rhythm.
>The priests got the cops involved
cops sounds odd to me here, I consider it a more modern term. Maybe refer to them as the local guard or army or something else like that.
I'd look over every line more closely, but it is 3AM and these are just lines that stood out to me.

[Anonymous No.21919037]

>>21919017
>rhythm
Rhythm it is.

But the setting is "modern", you know. They've got AI and robots. They're practically Star Trek lite in some areas.

[Anonymous No.21919042]

>>21919037
I did wonder just due to the word cop being there, but hearing mage made me assume that I was wrong.

[Anonymous No.21919072]

>>21918991
>And

[Anonymous No.21919166]

>mobile version of the writing program I use becomes functionally unusable after I hit page 425

Well, shit. It's not the worst problem to have, I suppose, but it's still annoying.

[Anonymous No.21919273]

>the top 10 /lit/ poster guys is dead

[Anonymous No.21919279]

>>21919273
We're not that lucky.

[Anonymous No.21919281]

>>21919166
not sure what youre using but cant you just split it into separate files

[Anonymous No.21919284]

>>21919072
?

[Anonymous No.21919289]

>>21919281
I can, and I am going to, but sometimes I need to refer back to earlier points to make sure I am not creating duplications in the text (functionally the same scenes playing out, for instance) or I am doing a good enough of a job making sure that a character has the right voice and vocabulary. And a few other things. It's a minor inconvenience, but it's still an inconvenience.

[Anonymous No.21919324]

>>21916695
>transcriber
Which one would you recommend?

[Anonymous No.21919368]

>>21918991

[Anonymous No.21919425]

>>21919273
Good

[Anonymous No.21919440]

How do I get out of the habit of constantly inserting em dashes into my sentences? It just comes so naturally to me to describe things that way. I think it's just how my brain works.

[Anonymous No.21919459]

>>21919440
>How do I get out of the habit of constantly inserting em dashes into my sentences?
Why would you want to break a good habit? If anything, people should be using em dashes more. They were used very frequently back in the day because they work very well at making writing flow well

[Anonymous No.21919467]

>>21919459
If you're right, that would save me a lot of trouble. I feel like I often write as if I am reading the text out loud to the reader, which is why my sentences sometimes split up like that. Don't get me wrong, I will continue to keep using them, I just don't want to overuse them, is all.

[Anonymous No.21919471]

>>21919273
>&amp, top 10 poster and Unreal Press all die within the same month
Very sad. Well, the first two anyway. Unreal Press kind of deserves to go up in flames for doxing their contributors.

[Anonymous No.21919478]

>>21919467
>>21919459

em dashes are fine and can be used to great effect but because they are a conspicuous piece of punctuation and, if used repeatedly over a short space, stand out. Often a comma suffices, if you're trying to cut down. Commas and even just 'and' can be used to split up information very well.

Rushdie uses em commas well for a more recent example. Steinbeck is good to look at for using 'and' a lot.

[Anonymous No.21919502]

>>21919471
Now's a great time to start a new channel, right?

You're totally not going to dredge of that slander against me, right?

[Anonymous No.21919506]

>>21919478
Thanks, Anon. That is exactly my worry. It did get me thinking: at what point does irregular/poor grammar simply become an 'author's writing quirk'? Also, with things like making up words (Dr. Who, for example). I wonder where the line is.

[Anonymous No.21919518]

>>21919502
No one really knows what happened with that Unreal Press shit so it’s hard to blame anyone involved, but it’s also impossible to fully trust anyone involved either. If L.A started up a new press and a new channel tomorrow it would be pretty hard to recommend anyone contribute.
We need someone to come forward with a coherent storyline to explain that &amp thread.

[Anonymous No.21919571]

>>21919506
I would stay away from grammatical writing quirks until you've mastered clean, crisp writing. Look to the russians for this because many of them are great (Chekhovs short stories should always be on hand as far as I'm concerned). Many writers advocate for clean, simple writing, and if you chose to move away from it should be a choice--in my opinion.

/lit/ what do you think of this extract? Do you mind the flow of it, in terms of scentences lengths and how I've arranged the information? I guess it's also an example of how I use punctuation lol so we'll see if I'm full of shit :).

[Anonymous No.21919573]

>>21918991
>She was praying with the other women when he found her

[Anonymous No.21919585]

>>21919518
You literally don't understand what happened. The person who got doxxed was not a 'contributor'. They sent nothing, as far as I'm aware, to the anthologies nor was anything special sent in as part of planning the episode. Information that was already public is what was used, along with Google. It was entirely done with information any anonymous troll could have dug up.

Now, does that condone doxxing? Not at all.

But you're just being a bit unreasonable expecting any breakaway to be able to explain what other people did in different servers because of private interactions.

>I didn't dox
>I don't condone doxxing
>I left because I didn't agree with how the others handled the doxxing
>I have this new thing now

^That's as good as you can get.

[Anonymous No.21919734]

>>21919573
Yeah? The character is religious.

[Anonymous No.21919738]

>>21919368
The hell does that even mean? Speak in English if you've got a problem.

[Anonymous No.21920021]

>>21916425
I'm dealing with this problem right now, except I'm writing urban fantasy and my word count's 115,000. Trying to cut it down as much as possible, but don't see myself being able to get it down to the ideal 100,000 while maintaining a satisfying conclusion.

You've probably seen the same things I have about agents having filters to auto-reject word counts higher than that for debuts or just seeing it in the query and giving up. That said, I have heard some authors query lower, then are allowed to expand their books during the process. In your position, I'd aim to not cross the 120,000 threshold, and even then keep your eyes open for scenes you could potentially delete if the querying process goes poorly.

[Anonymous No.21920053]

>>21918892
The intent was to get you thinking, not to solve your problem for you.
I can't help you effectively if your only response is "no, I don't like that".
You have completely missed the point.

[Anonymous No.21920082]

>>21920021

>Publishers look by word count

Disgusting. If a story is good, if it takes 40k words to tell, so be it, if it takes 400k, so be it.

Thank god I'm doing this as a hobby and not for money.

[Anonymous No.21920100]

this came to me in a dream
https://pastebin.com/raw/b0DZa4nR
please critique

[Anonymous No.21920118]

New thread >>21920117
since our time here is short...

[Anonymous No.21920359]

>>21918936
>no cover
fix that. anything is better than nothing

[Anonymous No.21920365]

>>21920359

I have one on commission. its a work in progress.

[Anonymous No.21920429]

>>21919324
Dragon Naturally Speaking Pro -- some editions only work 'live', I don't think that's a good idea because it's a pain to sit at a desk and talk at it. I got the one where you can upload your files and it'll crunch at it until it's transcribed. The version I got was the newest one, $500, but the story I wrote with it has already half paid for it.

[Anonymous No.21920460]

>>21920365
Here's a free one, generated by Stable Diffusion.

[Anonymous No.21920463]

>>21920460
And another.

[Anonymous No.21920474]

>>21920463
And one more.
If you don't like these, use Stable Diffusion to generate your own.

[Anonymous No.21920513]

>>21920460
>>21920463
>>21920474
They all look like crap

[Anonymous No.21920680]

>>21920513
Then generate your own, asshole.
In the future, don't complain that no one wants to help you.

[Anonymous No.21920709]

>>21920680

For the record, I, the author you were originally talking to, did not make the post you quoted.