/wg/ Writing General

[Anonymous No.22188126]

The "stay positive" edition

Previous: >>22182047

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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.
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>https://youtu.be/YAKcbvioxFk

Thread theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_1RZCKwsXU

[Anonymous No.22188137]

Four more chapters left of this cursed draft.

[Anonymous No.22188141]

Are fat protagonists less likeable?

[Anonymous No.22188150]

returning to older works?

I have some projects that I worked on in the past and i'm curious how you guys pick up older works again and start writing them again after you've forgotten them

I have many of these cut story but i'm curious what to do with them.

what would you do anons?

[Anonymous No.22188154]

>>22188137
If you don't enjoy writing, why do you do it?
I can't imagine picking up a hobby, or profession, that I despised so much.

[Anonymous No.22188181]

>>22188150
I reread them, read through my notes, and either keep writing or start over while copy/pasting and referencing liberally.

[Anonymous No.22188191]

>>22188154
I love writing. I am just being dramatic.

[Anonymous No.22188203]

>>22188191
>I love writing
>not I love editing
NGMI

[Anonymous No.22188224]

It feels so good knowing you’ll be able to wake up and write tomorrow. Finally, my ungodly hand swelling has gone down and by tomorrow my hand will be usable. Any other anons have moments when they’re excited to be able to return writing?

[Anonymous No.22188256]

>>22188224
Yes, last Tuesday.
Work is usually a stressful, exhausting, soul-draining experience, leaving me unable to write.
But last week wasn't so bad.
I was able to write once I got home. Heaven!
I wrote several thousand words yesterday, too.

[Anonymous No.22188279]

Premise of my story is that a young expatriate student of seventeen years of age accidentally ends up in the middle of a battle in Fantasy Afghanistan. Mostly because Fantasy America tries to silence him after he finds out that they are trying to awaken an evil goddess.

He proceeds to manipulate the Fantasy Taliban into obeying his commands and becomes leader of a rebellion that drives the Not!Yanks out, overthrows the puppet Republic, and kills the evil Wizard that was secretly controlling the war.

He also gets a cute Fantasy Persian girlfriend in the ruckus, marries her, and settles down as the King of the liberated country.

[Anonymousn No.22188288]

>>22188141
This is the wrong way to keep your audience in mind.

[Anonymous No.22188292]

>>22188279
How does that sound as a premise? Does it interest anyone here?

[Anonymousn No.22188308]

>>22188292
I don't get what you mean by Fantasy Afghanistan and Fantasy America. Like they're basically the same as the real world modern-day countries but with wizards and goblins etc? Or they're medieval fantasy countries who are in an analogous geopolitical situation to the real Afghanistan and America?

As for the premise, it sounds very generic pulp adventure novel, which doesn't mean it's bad, it's just impossible to have much of an opinion on it.

[Anonymousn No.22188317]

>>22188154
>In a sense, every kind of writing is hypocritical. It has to be done with an air of gusto, though no one ever yet enjoyed the act of writing. Even a man with a specific gift for writing, with much to express, with perfect freedom in choice of subject and manner of expression, with indefinite leisure, does not write with real gusto. But in him the pretence is justified: he has enjoyed thinking out his subject, he will delight in his work when it is done.

'Writing is an ordeal' seems to be a very common sentiment among writers. I can definitely relate.

[Anonymous No.22188335]

>>22188126
Rate my back cover text, guys:

"Focus. Force. Physiognomy. Under this dire motto, the International Capital of Hatred towers ominously in the cold pampas of the southernmost Brazilian state. A festering wound in the diverse and progressive modern world, its days of rampant bigotry and prejudice may be fated to a catastrophic end when, during the winter of 2048, the city falls victim to an unforeseen pandemic of an HIV derivate disease. Unfortunate by-products of the ideological viral wars from the previous decade, the infected populace dies by the thousands on the crammed and twisted alleys, only to revive shortly after in a state of purulent undeath. Razed to the ground by the hordes, New Canaan metamorphoses into a colossal sacrificial altar, tarnishing the surface of the Earth with the innocent blood of its multicultural residents and forever dooming humankind with the extraordinary and unbelievable consequences of this act.
There is not much time left. The truth about Jesus Christ is soon to be revealed."

[Anonymousn No.22188348]

>>22188335
If you don't want this to be immediately apparent as A Novel with an Agenda, you need to do some more work to disguise it.

[Anonymousn No.22188363]

>>22188335
Very confusing. Is the city literally called the International Capital of Hatred? Is New Canaan another city in neo-Brazil? What does 'metamorphoses into a colossal sacrificial altar' mean? Why mention that the victims are 'multicultural'? What does any of this have to do with Jesus Christ, who appears without any warning in the last sentence?

[Anonymous No.22188377]

>>22188224
I can't wait to finish editing this book so I feel like I am allowed to read again. Then I can slowly start writing some other stories.

[Anonymous No.22188401]

>>22188279
>and kills the evil Wizard that was secretly controlling the war.
Gay and lame. It should be a cabal on both sides.
Besides that, I agree with >>22188308
How far are you in this story? If you're not far, I got some thoughts on how to go about writing such a story
You should try to juxtapose both sides by a lot, to really get an interesting dynamic between. Like fantasy America could have renaissance period, while Afghanistan is using dark age military, the Afghans are decentralized clusters compared to the rigid chain of command of the Americans (and you can exploit this: maybe have MC head hunt commanders and throw the troops into disarray on what to do), and Americans come from the sky and have weird, martian looking bodies, see picrel right), while Afghans look like humans and live in a desert.
Another aspect is for the Fantasy America armies, you can have bunch of diverse races. If you played the game Xenonauts, they had a race called Sebillian (they're the left one), who were genetically modified to be dumb, shock troops for the invader aliens. You could have an aspect like that: maybe Fantasy American takes over a people and turn them into malformed worker/fighting machines, and you can see some examples of non-taunted races in remote parts of Afghanistan.
How far are you into this story anyways?

[Anonymous No.22188412]

>>22188363
People are supposed to understand all of this after reading the book. But yes, I have to turn explicit that New Canaan IS the International Capital of Hatred.

[Anonymous No.22188438]

>>22188308
>I don't get what you mean by Fantasy Afghanistan and Fantasy America.

Respectively: Small tribal nation that once used to be a kingdom but got torn apart by civil war and invasions, and a vast federation of city states that is the most powerful and advanced nation in the world by a huge margin.

>>22188401
It's kind of like Star Wars. The Makra (fantasy USA) have airships, metal golems, firearms, and magical armor. The Gandhari (Afghhans) have....swords, magic arrows, and low scale divine magic that lets them fight like low level Shounen anime heroes.

It's really not an even fight, and the Makra are only kept from winning because the Gandhari refuse to give up no matter how hard they get pounded.

I love the idea of the Fantasy US looking and acting like aliens. They're supposed to be humans though, but armor can change that.

[Anonymous No.22188477]

>>22188317
Really? I can't imagine doing this unless I enjoyed it.
After all, the odds of me enjoying commercial success are low enough to qualify as playing lotto.
Just the difficulty in getting readers, much less ones that care enough to leave ratings or comments, would have driven me to distraction.
I write because I enjoy writing, and until now, hadn't considered the possibility of other writers not feeling the same way.

[Anonymous No.22188481]

>>22188377
Why does writing/editing a book mean you can't read?
Sounds like a recipe for burnout.
I write what I feel like, read when I feel like reading, and don't force myself to do anything I don't want to (aside from the obvious day-jobbery...but I get paid for that).

[Anonymous No.22188487]

>>22188335
Way too purple IMHO.
If I read that, I'd think I was holding a pretentious doorstopper in my hand.

[Anonymous No.22188488]

Trying to figure out if my protagonist is realistically flawed, or just stupid.

>high fantasy setting
>YA-aged protagonist baited into finding hide-out on fire, along with favorite mentor/knight injured
>fights way to knight, drops to knees to check on him
>gets KO'd while freaking out over knight

Not sure if RR critique about the protagonist being stupid is valid, or if this is a thing that would realistically happen. I'm leaning towards the latter, but I try to give every bit of critique an ear

[Anonymous No.22188492]

>>22188335
seems like Left Behind flavored shit
kill yourself, maybe. also, the prose is bad

[Anonymous No.22188506]

>>22188488
People get tunnel vision, or target fixation, and make mistakes when they're in a highly emotional state.
So your premise sounds realistic enough to me.
Also, remember that it's OK for the protagonist to suffer setbacks due to luck, but it's not OK for the villain to be similarly limited.
Other pearls of story-telling wisdom can be found in picrel.

[Anonymous No.22188534]

>>22187150
I can right away tell you this is neither unpublishable nor awful. I'm not going to read all that because I'm picky and I don't really like stories based on or inspired by real shit, but from what I read, man, you're going to have a hard time publishing. You'd do better if you'd apply a little more finesse with the title, not a whole lot of publishers would sign up to release a book titled that.

If you're really intent on publishing it, go ahead, you'll manage. Change the title though, and keep pushing. Literal garbage was published and this isn't exactly garbage. Whoever sent it to simply had a moral outrage due to a tiny brain.

[Anonymous No.22188536]

>>22188438
>It's kind of like Star Wars. The Makra (fantasy USA) have airships, metal golems, firearms, and magical armor. The Gandhari (Afghhans) have....swords, magic arrows, and low scale divine magic that lets them fight like low level Shounen anime heroes.
Now that's some fun pulp I wanna read.
Maybe have it so there's a gradient in human society, where it goes from regular joe, to more malformed people on the top? I think too many fantasy works rely on just "Elf Dwarf Human Orc" rigid species, when in nature, we can see gradients of a specific species. There's a bunch of dog breeds, why not human breeds?
This story sounds fun and if it's made by an anon I'll give it a read

[Anonymous No.22188543]

>>22188488
It's perfectly realistic, but RR doesn't want realistic. They want hyper competent main characters they can vicariously live through.

[Anonymous No.22188545]

>>22188154
I hate writing, I just like the stories in my head and I want to share.
If there was a machine that read my brain and formed a shareable story format from the raw source, you best believe I'd use that instead.

Basically, writing is just a tool, and I'm a lazy fuck that hates working. Means to an end when I just want the end result.

[Anonymous No.22188549]

>>22188335
Sounds like you have some "subtle" political messaging that you're so eager to show off that you might be willing to compromise on the story's quality. God help you if you think of them as "redpills". Watch out with that.
But I rarely read blurbs and it's not my genre so I can't say too much about it.

[Anonymous No.22188568]

>>22188126
Two questions:
How much of the plot can happen due to incompetence and stupidity, without the reader getting annoyed?
And do readers assume that whatever my lead character preaches, is what I preach? Even though personally I don't share the views that my leads have. They are their own people, and not my self inserts, and thus if they say something, I have nothing to do with it.

[Anonymous No.22188573]

>>22188279
>isekai
Gay.
>native isekai
Based.
There's my take on it. Go ahead and write your Lawrence of Arabia, just don't cripple it by making it yet fucking another litRPG isekai harem.

[Anonymous No.22188582]

>>22188568
>How much of the plot can happen due to incompetence and stupidity, without the reader getting annoyed?
All of it. Depends whether it is amusing, entertaining or forced.
>>22188568
>And do readers assume that whatever my lead character preaches, is what I preach?
Only if they're literal bottom of the barrel retards, which is who you should ignore.

[Anonymous No.22188586]

>>22188481
I normally do read about a novel a week. But I was so close to finishing that I had to put my longer reading sessions away for the time being because I was too focused on finishing. Trust me, that's not my normal way of going about things. I still read at lunch and before I go to sleep.
I know it sounds dumb if not amateurish to want to wildly sprint like that. I suppose I don't want to think of this novel as not being done any longer.

[Anonymous No.22188594]

>>22188536
Well, I want to make the Makra feel like a "superior species". Stronger, taller, smarter, healthier etc etc. The Gandhari are supposed to feel like a bunch of primitives that are far below their weight class.

The protagonist then manages to use this very arrogance to stage a Mao level insurgency campaign that grinds down their control of the countryside until they can just surge in and take the cities. Like the Taliban actually did in Afghanistan.

A Trump expy also appears. He's not the villain.

[Anonymous No.22188604]

>>22188573
He only has eyes for one girl, and he's not going to do anything until they're honorably married before the eyes of God. And she won't marry him until the infidel invaders are expelled.

[Anonymous No.22188614]

>>22188488
If the knight is like a parental figure and he's badly fucked up, it's absolutely reasonable for him to lose his shit. If I had to write it, I'd have him lose focus due to trying to treat the knight.

People being stupid is what makes them realistic. Even characters of extreme IQ can be "stupid" by being stubborn as fuck or stuck up. Simply do not overdue stupidity. There's a fine line between a character making a stupid mistake and the character being literally too stupid to live and surviving due to author's grace.

[Anonymous No.22188626]

>>22188604
I'm saying harem more in sense of multiple girls orbiting him. You'll find that most harem LN/anime/whatever end up having a bunch of girls orbit the MC even if he settles for just one.

[Anonymous No.22188628]

>>22188335
Kind of on the nose but also based boomer schizocore that has an audience.

[Anonymous No.22188634]

>>22188335
You had me interested until zombies, honestly.

[Anonymous No.22188642]

>>22188626
I want to minimize the number of female characters. Two are more than enough. One is the Makra Chief Executive (based on Hillary Clinton), and the other is said Fantasy Persian girl.

[Anonymous No.22188646]

>>22188642
>One is the Makra Chief Executive (based on Hillary Clinton)
Oh boy.

[Anonymous No.22188656]

>>22188545
Hmmm. I'm not naturally lazy, for whatever reason.
Maybe it's the copious caffeine consumption.
Oh well...TIL.
Not sure how to advise you.

[Anonymous No.22188669]

>>22188568
Scott Adams (of "Dilbert" fame) is notorious for reminding people that they have no idea what he believes.
So don't be too concerned about this.
If they persist, ask them if they really believe Stephen King is a psychopathic murderer.

[Anonymous No.22188677]

>>22188586
Glad to hear it.
If your monomania is recent and temporary, then I'm less concerned about you burning out.
Carry on!

[Anonymous No.22188685]

>>22188669
>Scott Adams
Clot Adams of Illbert fame is a notorious retard pseud though.
>ask them if they really believe Stephen King is a psychopathic murderer.
Honestly, he's probably a pedo.

I think the idea who the writer is and what he believes in comes in little trickles of experiences and beliefs. This can manifest in the themes, motifs, some individual components of a character, et cetera. Only a total retard would take one character statement and go "THIS IS WHAT THE AUTHOR BELIEVES??" so those dumbshits can be safely ignored.

[Anonymousn No.22188690]

>>22188477
I think it's what Beerbohm in the quote I posted calls 'the act of writing' than can be a very grueling experience.

It's like playing a game with no set rules (and in fact you sort of have to come up with the rules yourself), yet there's still a million different ways to lose the game and scupper your story and squander your sense of inspiration. You have to keep your rational mind and your subconscious working together in sync, which can be an anxiety-inducing tightrope act. And you have to keep chipping away at something that feels incoherent and arbitrary and flawed in the hope that, if you just keep chipping away with enough sensitivity and cleverness, things will all suddenly slot into place and the mess will become a meaningful whole.

That process isn't exactly enjoyable for me, but it feels intense and compelling and makes me feel like I'm using 100% of my mind. But I'm sure there are some writers who wouldn't recognise this as a description of their own writing process. I can never relate to people who talk about a story 'flowing' out of them, for instance.

[Anonymous No.22188698]

>>22188690
I've written 20k words and still have no idea what the plot is.

[Anonymous No.22188699]

>>22188690
>yet there's still a million different ways to lose the game and scupper your story and squander your sense of inspiration
This is what I'm afraid of and why I limit myself to short stories.

There's 2 stories I really care about in my head. I want them to be absolutely perfect, so when I drop them, I can safely say I did the source material justice.

There's literally quite possibly nothing worse for a creator to butcher the adaptation of his own work.

[Anonymous No.22188705]

>>22188698
>and still have no idea what the plot is.
Bad. Anon, do not even write before you have rough idea what the plot is. You should at the very least outline what's the beginning, the middle and the end. It's a good idea to also have characters outlined ahead of writing. You can do the rest as you go, but the more you have planned out ahead of time, the more consistent your writing will be, and the easier it'll be too.

[Anonymous No.22188706]

>>22188669
>Scott Adams (of "Dilbert" fame) is notorious for reminding people that they have no idea what he believes.
a) Sounds like it's a problem for him then?
b) This is what happens when you say "evolution is fake and ridiculous" and follow it up with "what, me, a creationist? of course not... stop making assumptions... I just think evolution will get disproved real soon now™ and replaced by, uhhh, something"

[Anonymous No.22188717]

>>22188646

Don't laugh.

[Anonymous No.22188887]

>>22188488
hi, kill list anon. I think that plot thread was actually well done. carry on

[Anonymous No.22188895]

delusional here. I'm somehow fully expecting to make at least 500k from my book when I finally finish writing it and publishing it. I can't tell you why I think that, I just do. I know the characters are well-thought out and that people are going to resonate with my protagonist or hate them.

[Anonymous No.22188906]

>>22188690
Hmmm. Maybe it's the decades of meditation, then.
My minds mostly act in sync; there's no anxiety or tightrope act for me.
My problems aren't internal, they're largely external. Dealing with the crappy people in this crappy world and all that.
Thanks for the insight. I'll have to ponder how to help people who are literally at odds with their own minds, but that can only help my mentoring.

[Anonymous No.22188912]

>>22188895
The problem is convincing anyone to pay attention to you or your work.
The lowered barriers to entry (e.g. Amazon self publishing) means that readers are drowning in content.
I wish you all the luck in the world in achieving your dreams.

[Anonymous No.22188916]

>>22188488
A few (vocal) RR readers will spaz out anytime a main character makes a suboptimal decision or faces any sort of setback. Ignore them.

[Anonymous No.22188919]

>>22188488
It's okay for characters to be stupid. It's okay for them to be dumb as fucking bricks. What's not okay is if their stupidity leads them to doing stuff that's totally out of character. Instead of writing them as knuckle dragging retards, write them as just people who see the world differently from everyone else. They have their own methods, their own way of doing things which probably isn't the most efficient or logical, but makes perfect sense to the character themselves.

So long as the stupidity isn't contrived, then a character acting stupid is completely realistic. And like the other anon said, even a genius character can do some really stupid shit because of the way his/her mind works, and it can work in universe perfectly fine. Always keep in mind that humans are not logical creatures whatsoever. We're things of high emotion, constantly running and derailing thought trains, and a million big and small prejudices and built in beliefs that make up how we interface with the world.

[Anonymous No.22188934]

>>22188912
I already make more than I need from my day job. I just want to be able to pay my house off lump-sum and not have to feel paranoid about the future and homelessness. Somehow I feel like I'll make it happen, parents don't understand my thought process and I'm sure it flies in the face of most traditional financial advice. I just want to be cozy and be able to work out every day and quit my job if I want.

[Anonymous No.22188944]

>>22188934
Don't we all.
I hope you beat the odds w/your book.
I certainly haven't with any of mine.

[Anonymous No.22188949]

>>22188919
>And like the other anon said, even a genius character can do some really stupid shit because of the way his/her mind works
I work with plenty of experienced and well-educated professional. Despite the familiarity they have with figuring out complex problems, they still make bad decisions often. Part of it is the nature of their work. But I think it goes to show that even a well-informed character can make an informed decision with disastrous consequences. Those kinds of mistakes I like. While a tragic mistake you can sometimes see coming the moment he makes a mistake, other times a mistake only appears obvious in hindsight.

[Anonymous No.22188955]

>>22188934
>I already make more than I need from my day job. I just want to be able to pay my house off lump-sum and not have to feel paranoid about the future and homelessness.
Same. We're all gmi.

[Anonymous No.22188973]

>>22188944
>>22188955
Again, it probably seems delusional. I almost feel like I have the check already in my hand and I just can't cash it yet because I'm paralyzed by this weird feeling (that weird feeling that's preventing me from continuing to work on it). A large part of it is down to the fact that I think my idea is pretty good, but I know that the odds that the first thing I put out there is going to be a hit are stacked against me statistically speaking. It's almost like not talking to a girl out of the fear of rejection, there's a certain purity that comes with the idea in my head that as long as I don't try I can't fail. Ironically I haven't had this problem with girls in years and I feel completely comfortable with who I am now. I'm having these insecurities over a book that I think might be something great, and I don't want to risk finding out that it's all in my head.

Part of why I say this is that I picked up a few books I happened to see doing well via "booktok" and instagram reels, just fantasy/romance stuff that gets pushed super hard by authors on social media. These people are securing deals for the rights to make movies/series/etc... I checked out the writing and it's mediocre at best. If they're doing it why can't I?

[Anonymous No.22188991]

It's really hard not to be a crab when reading posts like these

[Anonymous No.22189016]

>>22188973
That's just imposter syndrome because you think you aren't used to success. But if you already have a good job and a house, you probably should consider you are familiar with success already. Forge ahead.

You absolutely can do it, but keep in mind some stories don't always transfer well to other media. It's possible a screen writer could adapt it into a heavily inspired but very different thing. You also may not factor in how long it took for others to find someone who wanted to help them. It can take years.

[Anonymous No.22189060]

>>22188895
It's more possible than it seems. I'm in a private Facebook group for comicbook store owners and managers, and a couple months back someone asks everyone if they have retirement plans. One guy says during COVID he started writing litrpg on RR as a hobby and he just got a 40k-ish advance on the first two volumes from a publisher that picked him up.

[Anonymous No.22189086]

>>22189016
In my head this book almost works better as a movie or even a series, there's a lot I want to do in terms of story telling that I don't really quite know how to with writing alone. An example of this is attempting to show the passage of time via a sort of time skip where my protagonist has had a lot of meaningless sexual encounters in an effort to sort of "run from themself". In visual storytelling a director might show a character falling back onto multiple beds with different partners and it kind of conveys this idea of promiscuity as well as the passage of time. Combined with the tonality you can either sell that as a sort of triumphant or carefree thing OR you can illustrate that this is meant to be seen as self-destructive/self-defeating. This is a very relevant example of something I'm trying to do and also part of why I almost feel like my story is better suited for a visual storytelling medium.

[Anonymous No.22189143]

>>22189086
There are lots and lots of things you can do with prose. There might even be more options for what you want than in a visual medium because in text you can describe anything you want, even patterns and mental processes.
A minimalist solution is to list a bunch of names. Just women's names, separated by periods, no explanation, trust the reader to figure it out. Once you've established the pattern, maybe mix it up a little with an ampersand (to suggest a threesome), or a man's name.
After the list, describe some repeated element of the encounters, such as slinking away in the morning. Don't explain it or connect it, trust the reader. "In the morning I'd gather my clothing and softly close the door behind me", that sort of thing. Because you're writing text you have the power to describe every encounter at once, effortlessly penetrate to the essence, while a camera can visualize only one event at a time.

[Anonymous No.22189159]

>>22188126
any other good videos/guides on writing like these?

[Anonymous No.22189162]

>>22189086
That's not hard to convey at all. One simple way that would use repetition to get the same sort of pace as a visual montage is to just list the names. Throw in a couple like "Jane or maybe it was Jen," "the redhead from the bar, the redhead from the coffee shop," and "the one who did that thing with her pinky" and you can get it across in a paragraph.

[Anonymous No.22189214]

>>22189159
Unironically, watch reviews on awful books, learn from them.

I'm specifically saying watch, not read, because you'll get a feeling of what exactly was done wrong and how.

[Anonymous No.22189224]

>>22189086
>In my head this book almost works better as a movie or even a series
Anon, it may seem that way, but it's actually very easy to paint a picture without having visuals. You just need to figure out a way that works best for your story. Other anons already said it so I won't tl;dr, but you can do visuals in a book just fine, it's just done in a different way from actual audio-visual medium.

[Anonymous No.22189290]

>>22189214
mind posting an example? ive looked up some videos but it seems like they arent posting examples of how the writing is bad and rather just calling the books boring etc.

[Anonymous No.22189293]

>>22189143
>>22189162
>>22189224
I am drawing a bit from this being shown in visual media and I'm trying to sort of "reverse engineer" it into the written form. The problem I'm having is that I keep wondering if that's lazy of me.
>"In the morning I'd gather my clothing and softly close the door behind me"
I've had this idea, along with a few others. Again, one of the things I really need to do with this section is show the passage of time (nearly a year) and convey just how much sex this character has been having. I don't want to write smut/erotica any more than I have to, and if anything I find that alluding to it is almost more sensual than just spelling it out so I'd like to use it sparingly so that when there are romantic interactions on the page the reader feels like they've been begging to see this side of the character up close. The other thing I'm trying to do is convey the tone of the character's inner monologue changing over this passage of time, which I think I'm doing effectively. You're absolutely right about trusting the reader, I can only hope my ideas resonate with whatever audience I might find.

[Anonymous No.22189334]

>>22189290
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNwHQjOI56Q
Stuff like this, for example. Get a coffee and some toasts, much more pleasant than reading through garbage.
>>22189293
>I really need to do with this section is show the passage of time
Repeating events that blur into an outright timeskip. There's many ways to do this.

[Anonymous No.22189348]

>>22189293
>I am drawing a bit from this being shown in visual media and I'm trying to sort of "reverse engineer" it into the written form. The problem I'm having is that I keep wondering if that's lazy of me.
The problem isn't that it's lazy, the problem is that it's the wrong place to look. Many things that are perfect for movies are less effective on the page, and something that's perfect for a book may not even be possible in a movie.
You might need to read more and better authors. A good book can change your ideas about what's possible to write.
>Again, one of the things I really need to do with this section is show the passage of time (nearly a year) and convey just how much sex this character has been having.
One thing you can do here is use multiple seasons in your generic description, with an aside like "putting on my coat when it snowed, or lifting my chin to indulge in the summer drizzle". And in passing use a descriptor like "every other night", or in some other way make clear that it's happening regularly and continuously even as the seasons change.

[Anonymous No.22189509]

>>22188973
>Part of why I say this is that I picked up a few books I happened to see doing well via "booktok" and instagram reels, just fantasy/romance stuff that gets pushed super hard by authors on social media. These people are securing deals for the rights to make movies/series/etc... I checked out the writing and it's mediocre at best. If they're doing it why can't I?
are you writing a fantasy romance?

[Anonymous No.22189532]

>>22189348
This is helpful feedback, thank you. And to clarify I think when I meant “seems lazy” what I was thinking in my head was more that there’s probably a screenplay that just says something to the effect of “protagonist sleeps around, use jump cuts or something to convey their sexual promiscuity over x amount of time” and then a group of people hash it out and they decide how best to communicate that idea visually.
>>22189509
I am writing a fantasy “thriller” with a lot of romantic themes, the main character is a sex worker.

[Anonymous No.22189569]

>>22189532
In "The Rainbow Cadenza" by J. Neil Schulman, the "Federation Peace Corps" experience of the protagonist (where she has to serve 3 years as a sexual outlet for male citizens), much of it gets glossed over quickly, in what Dwight V.Swain would call a "sequel" as opposed to a "scene".

[Anonymous No.22189571]

>>22189532
>I am writing a fantasy “thriller” with a lot of romantic themes, the main character is a sex worker.
So, no. You aren't writing a romance/fantasy. The type of book popular among young women on booktok.
>>22188973
>If they're doing it why can't I?
There's your answer.

[Anonymous No.22189595]

>>22188594
>>22188642
You have my vote that this is a fun story.
>t. real life Gandhari

[Anonymous No.22189732]

>writing story
>Have terrible IBS
>Constantly need to shit
>Can't write a single sentence
>Story will never finish now
Help

[Anonymous No.22189756]

>>22189732
become a google docs phone writer

[Anonymous No.22189836]

is this anything?
im trying to be a screenwriter but have been trying my hand at short stories lately and cant tell if what im doing is nonsense or not. it really feels like im not describing enough but i dont know

[Anonymous No.22189888]

>>22188292
I've already read Dune.

[Anonymous No.22189907]

>>22189836
It's poorly written like another self insert schizo. I think writers should always try for third person before they tackle first

[Anonymous No.22189914]

>>22188568
>How much of the plot can happen due to incompetence and stupidity, without the reader getting annoyed?
LOTS of plots are progressed through stupid mistakes. Its almost a trope as long as its somewhat a believable mistake.

>And do readers assume that whatever my lead character preaches, is what I preach?
Yes. Well, some. I've read a lot of extreme horror and, from that community, I can tell you there are braindead readers (mostly on tiktok and mostly women..) still unable to separate the art from the artist. I wouldn't worry.

[Anonymous No.22189915]

>>22189907
poorly written in what way(s)

[Anonymous No.22189921]

>>22188279
this is literally dune. at least kill list guy is writing a desert story with an original plot

[Anonymous No.22189933]

>>22189915
>I hacked off a (one) finger today
>It were (plural)
No idea what's going on with the furnace and metal slab
>Wound and wounded.

Try reading it aloud. Everything sounds off, even after taking accents into account

[Anonymous No.22189939]

https://pastebin.com/0FKtvj9F
check the premise for my book. Not an english speaker and i don't write it in english too. can't find a good community to ask so i want to ask to you guys. let me know if this sounds kind of interesting or not. there are no different races. it's all humans.

[Anonymous No.22189984]

>>22189732
Write while sitting on the toilet?
How exactly do you live the rest of your life?

[Anonymous No.22189995]

>>22189836
This is not a story. It's merely an incident.
There are no goals, there is no conflict, there are no stakes
If you're that ignorant of basic story structure, you may want to check out "Techniques Of The Selling Writer" by Dwight V. Swain.

[Anonymous No.22190006]

>>22189939
Sounds like a typical pulp-fiction plot.
It all depends on what you do with it.

[Anonymous No.22190028]

>>22190006
>pulp-fiction plot
What do you mean by that? I saw you commenting it to the fantasy afganistan dude too. Since i have no way of taking criticism or don't know where to ask for, i'll just publish in wattpad and will try to get my book read by watty awards or something. Should i do that, or after editing my draft should i just sent to different kind of people to get their opinions(publishers only comes to mind). I am one or two chapters far from my first draft checking.

[Anonymous No.22190073]

>>22190028
Have you ever read any pulp fiction?
It refers to a simplistic, yet popular genre with black-and-white morality and an emphasis on action over deep characters.
Wattpad is mostly for trashy teen-oriented romance; they're not likely to give pulp fantasy a second look.

[Anonymous No.22190086]

>>22189995
this is just the first three paragraphs, i havent even gotten to the inciting incident yet, just wanted a critique on what i have so far
>>22189933
wound and wounded was inferring that she sterilized her wound with alcohol then took a drink herself (wounded). i actually thought that was clever but i guess not
and for the rest i was trying to give off that this person is uneducated and mentally unstable which is why i was using "it were" and other things.
i dont mean to explain every little thing i was going for though. thanks for reading it and letting me know your thoughts

[Anonymous No.22190097]

>>22190073
Thanks for answering. I'll just try to make into wattpad wattys bullshit anyway maybe they tell you how they feel about your story or something. I know the bar is just trashy teen oriented romance so a resurrection by a child king would never get their attention but i dunno man there is literally no writing contests going around even in uni. I am basically writing in an echo chamber with no feedback. Kind of bugs my mind, this will be the first book of a literal no one. Hope at least i can get a criticism out of shitty wattpad readers

[Anonymous No.22190125]

>>22189984
Very difficult. I can't even go out on dates anymore without excusing myself to use the restroom like 5 times.

[Anonymous No.22190227]

how is this? I think it's a bit too clunky and overwritten

[Anonymous No.22190239]

>>22190227
it's not too purple, but slightly thick prose. It's not bad, but I would adjust to your own voice as much as you need to to be comfortable. If you find it clunky, trim the fat.

I know that's not a helpful response-- but fwiw, if i was in the mood for thicc prose, i'd be fine reading it

[Anonymous No.22190243]

Tips for writing dialog and having a good balance of dialog, description and actions? I like to open with description of the room/how the character looks, dialog, sparse of actions and describe the actions/any characteristics of the characters. Such as in this little section, where MC is a charlatan going to "cast a spell" on a sick girl. I'm concern on how do I convey looks, cause the girl has reactions, but I'm not sure how to write them good

Girl shifts herself up. She eyes her dad, with a concern look
"I'm a bit of a magic man." the MC says "Maybe a little spell can help you out"
"Really? You can do that?"
"Maybe", MC says. "Maybe. Can't promise the world, but anything's better than nothing, right?"
Girl smiles, looks down, then pouts at MC
"You can't just, wave your arms to make me better, can't you?"
MC kneels down "You're right. The spell requires you as much as me, and it isn't instant"
"Do I gotta, you know, give up a finger?"
"Nah, just a nose". MC puts his hand to girl's face, with a nose in his fist
"What the" girl says "Give it back no-" girl puts her hand to her face. "oh."
"Heh, heh." MC says
"This isn't a funny matter, I appreciate the jokes to cool off" Dad syas
MC stands up, his height barely contained in the old room. Then says "I understand, but the fog of tension is choking me. For the spell to work, we gotta be happy. God doesn't like a prayer in misery. Why else he gave us the sun and beer, after all!" MC elbows Dad, in which the Dad softens up and shrugs.
"Now then", MC says "Me, you and your dad, need to be in prayer for a long time. Maybe till sun down. We are to repeat prayers, asking God to heal you".
The girl is puzzled, and the Dad says "That's no spell! That's just, prayer".
"And, need I remind you, that God is the source of miracles." MC puts his hand around the Dad's shoulder, and says "If you believe in him, with all your heart, he'll believe in you"
"But, I'm real..."
MC withdraws. "It's just a figure of expression. Now then, before we begin, Girl" MC looks at the Girl, "Do you want to start this? Remember, I can't promise the world, but sometimes, a faint promise is enough to satisfy a heart".
The girl looks at MC, then her Dad, then the ceiling, trying to find God inbetween the wooden cranks and rusty nails. Then says "Why not."
MC says "we'll start together, then do it silently by ourselves. Repeat after me.
Lord, help us in this trying time"

I feel there's too much dialog, and not enough filler.
Sorry if I fuck up on posting, I'm new here, so if I was rude, my apologies for being a newfag

[Anonymous No.22190250]

Tips for writing dialog and having a good balance of dialog, description and actions? I like to open with description of the room/how the character looks, dialog, sparse of actions and describe the actions/any characteristics of the characters. Such as in this little section, where MC is a charlatan going to "cast a spell" on a sick girl. I'm concern on how do I convey looks, cause the girl has reactions, but I'm not sure how to write them good

Girl shifts herself up. She eyes her dad, with a concern look
"I'm a bit of a magic man." the MC says "Maybe a little spell can help you out"
"Really? You can do that?"
"Maybe", MC says. "Maybe. Can't promise the world, but anything's better than nothing, right?"
Girl smiles, looks down, then pouts at MC
"You can't just, wave your arms to make me better, can't you?"
MC kneels down "You're right. The spell requires you as much as me, and it isn't instant"
"Do I gotta, you know, give up a finger?"
"Nah, just a nose". MC puts his hand to girl's face, with a nose in his fist
"What the" girl says "Give it back no-" girl puts her hand to her face. "oh."
"Heh, heh." MC says
"This isn't a funny matter, I appreciate the jokes to cool off" Dad says
MC stands up, his height barely contained in the old room. Then says "I understand, but the fog of tension is choking me. For the spell to work, we gotta be happy. God doesn't like a prayer in misery. Why else he gave us the sun and beer, after all!" MC elbows Dad, in which the Dad softens up and shrugs.
"Now then", MC says "Me, you and your dad, need to be in prayer for a long time. Maybe till sun down. We are to repeat prayers, asking God to heal you".
The girl is puzzled, and the Dad says "That's no spell! That's just, prayer".
"And, need I remind you, that God is the source of miracles." MC puts his hand around the Dad's shoulder, and says "If you believe in him, with all your heart, he'll believe in you"
"But, I'm real..."
MC withdraws. "It's just a figure of expression. Now then, before we begin, Girl" MC looks at the Girl, "Do you want to start this? Remember, I can't promise the world, but sometimes, a faint promise is enough to satisfy a heart".
The girl looks at MC, then her Dad, then the ceiling, trying to find God inbetween the wooden cranks and rusty nails. Then says "Why not."
MC says "we'll start together, then do it silently by ourselves. Repeat after me.
Lord, help us in this trying time"

I feel there's too much dialog, and not enough filler.
Sorry if I fuck up on posting, I'm new here, so if I was rude, my apologies for being a newfag. Also sorry for double posting, I had to transcribe this and I suck at spelling

[Anonymous No.22190262]

>>22190125
Have you tried shitting yourself?

[Anonymous No.22190264]

>>22188126
Looking for feedback on this new chapter opening. Strengths and weaknesses. I posted on Tuesday, got great feedback, wanted to post again.

https://pastebin.com/U3LUZ4z1

[Anonymous No.22190273]

>>22188154
I enjoy writing like with any type of work, but that doesn't mean you can't hate the hard parts.

[Anonymous No.22190283]

>>22190097
Since your story is more fantasy-oriented, maybe it'll do better on RoyalRoad.
ScribbleHub is the other option but is also mostly trashy teen romance.

[Anonymous No.22190292]

>>22190250
yeah so much dialogue with basically nothing happening. Or just might be me. take a look at how i would like to write but it's just me so take it with a grain of salt. (anon with bad english translated a few of my dialogue scenes.
https://pastebin.com/Cz5uaCCn

[Anonymous No.22190311]

>>22190227
I think it's fine, anon. Like the other anon said, it's a bit thick, but some people like that.

[Anonymous No.22190313]

>>22190292
My advice is basically just don't write dialogue. Try to liven the situation. Maybe after writing a dialogue change something, change the position of character but detail it in some sentences and not in others. Don't just write "Heh, heh." MC says.
write something like:
"What the" girl says trying to catch the unimaginary nose of hers i am holding. The squealing and jumping of hers makes me remember xx(subtle exampling of something unimportant but could give an impression about mc). When i open my palm and show her nothing she comes to realise and picks her nose and yelps with an "Oh!" Even after i try to keep my composure, i couldn't and had to give in to her childish behaviour. With her being embarassed and me dying of laughter dad comes to her rescue like a prince on a white horce. "Hey, that's no laughing matter. I appreciate the jokes to cool off" he says while mocking me.

I hope this kind of examples would be good enough or something dunno what kind of writing you are trying to achieve but these would be my final advice.>>22190250

[Anonymous No.22190329]

>>22190250
>I like to open with description of the room/how the character looks
Don't, unless it's at least partially relevant. Let people imagine the looks and leave only the bare and barren minimum.

>Girl shifts herself up
Props herself up?
>concern look
Concerned look?
>I had to transcribe this and I suck at spelling
Transcribe or translate?

You never want filler in your shit, ever, unless you are intentionally writing a slice of life bit.
Anyway, I thought despite massive issues that it was fine. You need to unfuck the punctuation and get a better vocabulary. If you're an ESL and the thing you're writing isn't in English, it's probably better in your own language.
There's a lot of dialogue but it really depends on the story; is there another block of dialogue, just like this one right up ahead? If there is, you might want to trim it down. If some action happens right after it, it's fine.

[Anonymous No.22190344]

>>22190283
But royalroad is only for english and weeaboo isekai anime writers

[Anonymous No.22190360]

>>22190344
>only for english
They outright say any language is accepted.

Isekai harem cultivation system trash floods every site unfortunately.

[Anonymous No.22190383]

>>22190329
>>22190250
What anon said rings true, but please don't write slice of life bits if they don't serve the story. There are plenty of webcam access sites we can use to people watch, fiction shouldn't be one of them if it isn't serving some grander purpose to flesh characters out.

[Anonymous No.22190400]

>>22190383
I disagree but not entirely. Slice of life can be nice if you are somewhat far into the story, established the characters, and people might want to see a normal, day to day life of those characters. Cramming in pointless bits does detract more often than not though.

[Anonymous No.22190443]

>>22190273
The only part of writing I find difficult is figuring out what is popular, so I can make an effort in that direction.
The second hardest part is watching people reacting to my writing with sheer apathy.

[Anonymous No.22190482]

>>22190443
I know what you mean on that second hardest part. One goal I look forward to is hearing that someone cried because of my writing. In a good way of course. That and influencing people who have more influence, that would be really something.

[Anonymous No.22190515]

Fuck it I'm putting lesbian rape in my story. If people don't like it then tough titty.

[Anonymous No.22190583]

I might write a short story about a low end wagie who has a nervous breakdown, so he decides to start growing opium for personal use. But a former wagie can't live on no income forever so he starts selling a little bit to cover his costs. This leads to him accidentally being voted supreme comrade in charge of a local anarchist commune, after becoming their biggest supplier. The only problem is that our MC is an esoteric “we must return” guy. So he tries to turn the commune into some racist utopia like his frens post about on twitter. Hijinks ensue and they most likely get slaughtered by the federal government. Should I do it bros?

[Anonymous No.22190600]

>main character receives life threatening injuries multiple times over the years but always pulls through
>some characters bring up how miraculous it was to survive them when they happen
>later on it's revealed the MC was unkillable the whole time unless certain conditions were met (and no one including the MC knew it)

Would it be a cheap reveal?

[Anonymous No.22190631]

>>22190443
>figuring out what is popular
Why follow a trend like a sheep?

[Anonymous No.22190639]

>>22190600
If you drop good foreshadowing and hints that this is the case, no.

I think best foreshadowing would be have the character literally go through something that you can't reasonably expect anyone to live through, like a plane crash, or pass out in a room flooding with water only to be discovered like few days later by rescuers.

[Anonymous No.22190650]

>>22190639
Yeah the scenarios I have in mind get pretty wild, and characters with medical knowledge comment how the MC should be dead, good to know

[Anonymous No.22190706]

>>22190227
>My ears perked upon hearing
My ears perked up on hearing...

[Anonymous No.22190749]

>>22190631
Because that's where the money is.
And I would like to ditch my soul-draining day job & do this for a living.

[Anonymous No.22190750]

>>22190650
>characters with medical knowledge comment how the MC should be dead
That doesn't really drive the point enough. A doctor saying something isn't really as clear as an everyman being able to obviously tell this shit is ridiculous.

[Anonymous No.22190756]

At the risk of pissing people off by basically asking to be spoonfed...
I want to spice up my (nsfw) art by adding something between "image captions" and turning a handful of drawings into a mini comic strip.
My goal is to be able to write "fluff" to support my drawings that is
short,
erotic,
not distracting from the art,
"bringing the shown characters to life",
and most importantly
make the viewer so horny they just have to jerk off.
Any tips?

With zero experience on writing, my first and only idea is to just create these kinds of short supporting paragraphs and keep iterating on the process / best practices and build intuition. However some tangible advice would be really cool for starting out.
Any and all feedback would be much appreciated!

[Anonymous No.22190758]

>>22190749
>And I would like to ditch my soul-draining day job & do this for a living.
Well then give up. If you do this with money in mind, you're fucked.

It would be nice to get published and earn decent buck just sharing stories I have in my head, but that's not why I write. I write to share stories in my head.

Basically, if you follow the sheep, you'll be a sheep. Do your own thing. What do you have to offer that's new and going to break through in a completely saturated market? Is YOUR harem isekai cultivation system really better than the other guy's? Do something new, or do something old in a new way.

[Anonymous No.22190761]

What to do when either path you could take in a story fits the themes and characters you've built up? Just follow the rule of cool?

[Anonymous No.22190768]

>>22190756
If you don't read, read.
Generally the bar is very low for smut. Find an audience and cater to it. Women are good at writing smut because they're very descriptive in the right way - learn how to write the absolute minimum while saying everything you want to.

[Anonymous No.22190769]

>>22190758
I can do both.

[Anonymous No.22190779]

>>22190761
The story I plan to write can end either soul-crushingly depressing or happy/bittersweet. I decided to go with the happy end because the sequel to it would be depressing enough by itself and depressing endings are overdone. Both of those would fit the theme.

Basically just go with whatever you feel like is the best for the story. It's up to personal taste and maybe the message you want to deliver. Just showing readers cool shit at no expense to story integrity is perfectly valid too.

[Anonymous No.22190813]

>>22190758
Uh ... not true? I started writing LitRPG for the money and it worked. Writing in popular genres is in fact how the majority of authors make living wages. That's why they're, you know, popular genres.

[Anonymous No.22190820]

>>22190768
That is a very short and very general piece of advice - yet for my skill level this is actually helpful.
Research similar stuff (even though nobody does it the way i envision it, maybe for a reason? lol)
Do not reinvent the wheel, just do what is expected of smut.
Focus on target audience, not on some lowest common denominator.
Figure out how to be "descriptive in the right way".
Write less say more - in other words high "density" of smut, less filler.

I appreciate it!

Also, should smut (in this, very short format) try to follow some sort of building up arc into the (hopefully) orgasm of the jerking off reader - or - should the smut just be as horny as possible from start to finish and the reader will naturally bust a nut at the point in the story / description that arouses them the most?

[Anonymous No.22190825]

>>22190820
frankly this is an extremely niche field u want to get into, so what you should do is find similar works that you think do it well then break them down and analyze why they work. nobody here can really answer those questions with authority, so your guess is as good as ours

[Anonymous No.22190827]

>>22190820
Don't know because I don't read coomfics. Though generally I believe people prefer at least some buildup so it doesn't come as a non-sequitur.

If you're writing smut and not romance I don't have much help I can give. If there's even a shred of romance, it should feature at least some gradual tension increase.

[Anonymous No.22190861]

>>22190583
Do it but change everything.

[Anonymous No.22190882]

>>22190227
Y'oughta give it a closer edit. Some clunky phrases and grammatical errors.

Beyond that: it's not my thing, but I don't see anything terribly wrong with it.

Oh, being first person, the descriptor "My eyes brightened" doesn't make sense. The narrator's awareness of the look of his own eyes threw me.

[Anonymous No.22190903]

Not trying to spam but I'm gonna go ahead and post the next chapter of my cringe jacket x hooker fan fic. Lemme know what you think, this is my first real crack at writing something that's not for a quest.

CHAPTER 4: HUMAN CONTACT

When she passed out, you felt fucking terrible. This chick is really afraid of you, huh. What are you supposed to do about that? After a moment of checking her over to make sure she’s not about to keel over, you return to your bedroom. Shit, shit, shit fuck shit. What were you really expecting to happen when you picked that girl up? Really. She’d thank you from the bottom of her heart, call you her knight in shining armor, fall in love with you then and there? Shit works like that in movies, maybe, but this is real fucking life. Of course you’re one of the bad guys, you stupid fuck. Why wouldn’t you be? You slink back to your bed, and though you try as you might, you just can’t fall asleep after that.

In the morning, you leave her a cold water bottle on the table, and write her a note. Carefully, you drape the blanket your ex got you right before your big break up over her. You’ve never used it. It still smells like her, and that makes you sick. You need to get the fuck outta here. You need to drive for a minute. Clear your head. Your note to her is simple, a little message apologizing and telling her that you're leaving and where the food is. Reluctantly, you clean up her puke as well. It’s the least you could do, you figure, even if the stuff smells like rotten cat piss. Hopefully she accepts the peace offering, but you doubt it. What are you supposed to do with this lady? Before you leave, you open the sink cabinet and pluck out a fresh Lucky Strike pack. Popping one in your mouth, you light it with the pack of matches that’s always in your jacket. Quietly, you open the door and make your way to the car. One of the neighbors is in the hallway, an old lady sweeping the floors like she always does. Mrs… Robinson, you think? She must not have heard what happened last night, as she flashes you a sweet smile before returning to her work. Nice old lady.

[Anonymous No.22190905]

Starting your car up, you take a sec to settle your breathing. Suddenly, you slam on the gas and zip outta there. Normally, you’re what your mom called a Sunday Driver. Meaning, you drive slow as shit. But you need a rush of some kind, any rush, to clear your head. There weren’t any messages on the answering machine. No jobs tonight. 40MPH… 60MPH… Keep going…! 70MPH… 85MPH… Tight swerves, quick turns, heart shattering moments when you think you’re gonna spin out into some fucking pastry store on the corner. 95MPH… FUCK! You didn’t realize, but you were screaming. Loud. Real fucking loud screaming, pure noise. You pull the car over, and shockingly, there’s no cops on your tail. Just a whole bunch of peds, looking at you. Scared. You rest your head on the steering wheel, and tears flood out unbidden. What the fuck…

Much slower, you pull out of there. An idea lights up in your mind, though, and you stop at a small feminine clothing boutique a couple blocks down the road. Checking the mirror to make sure it’s not totally obvious that you were just a crying mess a few minutes ago, you head in. 50 Blessings always leaves a small envelope of unusually crisp, clean bills the next day after every job. A flat 1000 every time. You got it in a roll in your pocket, and you figure since the lady still only has her underwear, you decide to pick her up something nice. You already know she’s gonna find it creepy as all fuck, but whatever. Your mind is made up. Before she walks out that door and your life forever, you figure you should at least give her something to wear so she’s not grabbed for public indecency.

Shit… You realize that you got no fucking clue on what she might like. After a moment's deliberation, you just decide to keep it safe. Functional. Gray. Comfortable. You pick out some sweatpants, a hoodie, a pair of sneaks and against your better judgment, a change of underwear. Now she’s definitely gonna think that’s extremely creepy, but whatever. It all totals up to 38 smacks, and the chick behind the register gives you a queer look as she rings it up, but she keeps her trap shut. Then, just like that you’re out of there. Back in the car. You don’t know why, but doing that calmed you down a bit. You’re back at the apartment before you know it, and it doesn’t take long for you to trudge up the stairs, unlock the door, and head in.

And there she is.

Digging through your shit.

[Anonymous No.22190910]

>>22190903
>Shit works like that in movies, maybe, but this is real fucking life.

Well, THAT happened

[Anonymous No.22190913]

>>22190910
Don't be rude. How would you rewrite that bit?

[Anonymous No.22190927]

>>22190706
up on isn't the same as upon. upon is a word all on its own.

[Anonymous No.22190934]

>>22190927
i.e. He gave a gift upon hearing it was her birthday.

Sure you can argue, your usage of the word such as
>He placed a box upon the desk.
but in the sentence's context, it's usage is based on "time" and not "place".

But correct me if I'm wrong.

[Anonymous No.22190935]

>>22190913
I say with complete conviction: I would never write it in the first place. Sorry for being rude, but it's just such a glaring cliche.
>This isn't the fucking movies you fucking fuckhead! Newsflash, fucknugget: the world is fucked and you're shit.

[Anonymous No.22190941]

>>22188545
just like me fr

[Anonymous No.22190946]

>>22190927
it's just clunky because the phrasing most are accustom to is "perked up." The writing as is isn't incorrect, but I think most readers would say it feels wrong.

"Perked up on" also makes sense and avoids rubbing against the colloquial usage most are accustom to.

[Anonymous No.22190957]

>>22190935
Here's the thing, cliches don't bother me at all. I don't care about how creative or unique a story is, what matters to me in fiction are the emotions and characters. High emotion, relationships, all that fun stuff.

But I actually agree with you this time. I'll give it the chop. Thanks anon!

[Anonymous No.22190983]

>>22190957
You're gonna have a hell of a time communicating and depicting all that high emotion and compelling character if you're committed to paying no attention to how you actually communicate your story.

Cliched language is cliched when it already exists in the background noise of our lives. It's static we're trained to filter out. It might as well be a blank space on the page, it communicates nothing.

If prose is nothing but a hinderance to your work, then why not just write in script format rather than writing lazy, beleaguered prose?

[Anonymous No.22190993]

>>22190946
fair enough.

[Anonymous No.22191000]

>>22190946
>"Perked up on
Perked up as.
t. as, while, when enjoyer

[Anonymous No.22191011]

>>22190983
Well now I disagree with that completely, and I also didn't say most of that stuff. Prose matters to me a great deal. Now my prose may be complete trash, but I don't consider it a hindrance at all. If you don't mind, let me give you a bit from the current quest I'm writing, and let me know what you think of that. What should I take away from this excerpt of mine to improve the fan fic? Or is this also tired lazy prose as well? Not trying to be snide, genuinely interested in your opinion.

https://pastebin.com/VywMG4VJ

[Anonymous No.22191037]

>>22191011
just write heavy prose like this guy but even heavier. Read tons of religious text from the 1200's.
>>22190227

[Anonymous No.22191062]

>>22190927
>up on isn't the same as upon. upon is a word all on its own.
I know. It's the wrong word here.

[Anonymous No.22191094]

>>22191011
I'm a bit tired, I should've been more clear. I was specifically talking about cliched language, not story cliche. So when you say, "cliches don't bother me at all" I took that as not caring about the language at all. Made an ass.

Another, less hostile response to your chapter 4 is that it's very sentimental. It's operating bombastically, giving me a second person internal monologue that feels like it's meant to give me a glimpse of a heavily conflicted person, but doesn't really let me in very far. He's speeding around, crying, smoking Luckys and feeling alienated. It's begging the reader, "Understand? Can't you see he's a man on edge! Look at him crying and being dangerous and sad and conflicted." And I'm like, yeah. He's a fucked up guy. You TOLD me he's a fucked up guy already.

Beyond these signifiers though, why is he all fucked up and conflicted? The girl, right? Even without the context of the previous three chapters it could be quite compelling, this strange woman causing our man so much distress. She's the whole reason for this tantrum we're having, but you not only leave her behind physically, but narratively. We just stop thinking about her once the apartment door shuts behind us on our speedy spaz out ride.

What's she look like to him laying there? Why does he feel like a jackass trying to take care of her? What emotions, memories, inconsistencies of character is her presence in his life engendering in him beyond just like bein all fucked up about it? How do we perceive her? Do I expect this girl to be digging through my shit, someone who's as much of an apparent scoundrel of myself? Do I like seeing my reflection in her? Is that why I took her home? Or am I agonizing over how I've done wrong to a perfect angel? Did I want/need her to be good, to fill the lack in myself aaaaaand oh the perfect angel is stealing my silverware?

We might not know anything about this girl, but who we THINK or IMAGINE she might be will tell us about our tweaked out emotional state.

I hope this is coming across as helpful as I'm meaning it to be. You laid a good table, the meal looks good. Fuckin cut into it, open that bird up. You're using arguably the most intimate perspective because it's not a story about someone else, it's ME (YOU) [US!]. Reader and character are the same, you put me in this guys head but I can't hear fuckall going on except for whats happening outside his head. The internal monologue is mostly just what he's doing. Feed me, motherfucker. I gotta know the psycho who's head I'm inside.

Your pastebin is private.

[Anonymous No.22191102]

>>22191094
Why does it seem outside of fantasy litrpg, we get first person Patrick Bateman stories all the time?

[Anonymous No.22191125]

>>22191102
You know how kids act bad to get attention?

[Anonymous No.22191143]

>>22191102
I like to use first person present tense I.

It gives you a lot of room to maneuver.

[Anonymous No.22191148]

>>22191125
Yea, but the schizo ranting doesn't even feel like a psycho. The narrators are always cursing up a storm and there's no nuance to it. Then they're killing someone and laughing about the pleasures of killing. Jeeze are these authors just trying to write shock ?

[Anonymous No.22191150]

>>22191148
Makes the narrator feel more like just some teenager that watched elfin lied one too many times

[Anonymous No.22191173]

>>22191148
It’s melodrama written by the boring. Not only have they not experienced much in the way of emotional range, they can’t even imagine it. The most emotionally compelling character they can grasp is “What if a guy was super fuckin twizted.”

[Anonymous No.22191182]

>>22191094
Apologies, apparently pastebin had a problem with the post in question so I had to make it private. Anyways, I'll just link you to the post itself. >>>/qst/5688768

Also it's late at my timezone so I'll respond to your post in earnest sometime tomorrow. Thanks for being straight up with me though, I appreciate it.

[Anonymous No.22191352]

>>22191102
wait is writing first person on fantasy lit bad? I was writing at first person all the time. I like writing in first person, it challenges me to write the story habbenings even though we don't know when stuff happens and get the idea through other sources throught the story.

[Anonymous No.22191400]

>>22190903
>>22190905
Reads like a badly written greentext story, but altered to be 2nd person perspective. I think instead of leaving her some water in the morning, he should leave her a bowl of eggs and insist she eat them all.

[Anonymous No.22191418]

Pardon if I engross onto your turf I'll mannered, but I've never been to /lit/ before.
I've decided to share my little worldbuilding project and short (for now) story.
English is not my mother tongue so if you see any grammar mistakes you are graciously allowed by me to ignore them under threats of violence.

World: https://www.mediafire.com/file/jyimq3lnrqd8os3/guide_to_the_supercontinent.docx/file

Story: https://www.mediafire.com/file/cowhxzzubmqluje/Knight_of_Red_Chimera.docx/file

I'm also an artist so these are made with illustration in mind. Never wrote much in life, decided to take on something creative (drawing is not enough suffering for me) after I dropped making music.

[Anonymous No.22191515]

>>22191418
Now, asking seriously, care to read and critique?
I am not exactly a literary genius.

[Anonymous No.22191581]

>>22191515
Some advice: no one on here is going to blindly download your stuff to their machines to read it. Either post an image excerpt or put it in a pastebin. Lots of people are also mobile posting.

Nice art btw, gives me hope that what you wrote might be good--but please make it easily viewable. Also, you'll get lambasted here for worldbuilding. Take it to /tg/ for feedback on that.

[Anonymous No.22191590]

>>22191352
OSC had a nice perspective on this. He said something like, first person pov is the hardest to write because it really requires a unique, engaging voice and perspective to sustain a work of novel length. To put it another way, third person is the default. Only write in first person if it's central to the novel to do so (e.g unreliable narrator, dramatic irony, retrospection, etc.) For short stories however, it's basically perfect (and its why so many short stories are in first person). He also said second person is essentially unusable except for very short fiction because it gets old fast.

[Anonymous No.22191628]

>>22191102
>>22191148
This makes me a little self-conscious about the next book I'm doing. It's more inspired by Gatsby if anything because the protag is trying to get a particular girl. The protag is a bit idiosyncratic and rich, but he's not rude and he doesn't really hurt anyone. He doesn't even hate women. I feel like I am still walking close to the line of edgy wish fulfilment but Im still gonna write it.
Are there other things I should avoid in writing 1st person?

[Anonymous No.22191657]

> literally me

micz.substack.com/p/20th-century-poet

[Anonymous No.22191686]

>>22191657
Not bad.
I want to complain it's fragmented but the futurist pic makes me think it's intentional.

[Anonymous No.22191762]

I am only writing <100 words a day lately pls help

[Anonymous No.22191773]

>>22191762
stop scrolling on tiktok and leave your phone on another room. close all tabs and only open word or text editor or whatever you are writing in.>>22191590
so you are saying first person pov is prone to failing? should i just change the perspective?

[Anonymous No.22191936]

>>22191657
I hate this. Despite baldly and openly stating your desire to carry the torch of Pound and fucking Blake, there's basically nothing else to grab onto in this poem. Sure, it's competently-written, but that's about it. There's no risk or exploration or much of anything except what amounts to the statement that you think you're hot shit. It's gross and neophytic and the most banal invocation of the Old Masters I can possibly imagine — it offers no new insight nor even any substantive reference to them... you just say that they were great and that you think you're like them.

Please don't fucking do this. Please don't just shill your fucking substack and then fuck off. I fucking hate this generation of "look at me!" social media faggots.

[Anonymous No.22191937]

>reading a good story
>lots of characters die and every death is done well
>suddenly one sticks out like a sore thumb and makes me mad
>try to figure out what makes this one worse than the rest
>previously characters died because of their flaws or flaws of those around them
>deaths always tied into their characterization, themes, arcs
>it always propelled the plot or other characters
>you could tell how differently things would've gone if they lived
>meanwhile this death felt random and had none of this
>like the author wanted to get rid of the character because they didn't know what else to do with them
>realize half the deaths in my story are like that

What the hell made me blind to this while writing? I reread my work dozens of times and nothing popped up at me like it did with this example, I basically had to strain myself to analyze my story whereas I was just naturally frustrated with the random death in the other story

[Anonymous No.22191938]

>>22189888
>>22189921
No, it's not. The only commonality is that both have Arabic aesthetics.

[Anonymous No.22192012]

>>22191657
That's not bad, I love the atmosphere. There is allot packed into this.
Solid. Would not regret seeing this in a lit mag, or even a real mag.

>>22191936
Fuken hell calm down.
I'm not gonna try and convince you it's good, but I'm sure this is not a sympathetic portrait.
The young man is clearly out of his mind

[Anonymous No.22192026]

>>22191936
>>22191657
LoL that comment actually made read the poem. Its not half bad BTW.

I think it's meant to be ironic. Leve it to lit to miss this.

[Anonymous No.22192080]

I'm listening to On Writing and King says to avoid adverbs and passive verbs, I get why he says to avoid passive verbs cause it takes away the focus from the main protagonist i.e "the bread was getting cut up by the chef" instead of "the chef was cutting up the bread", you'd never wanna use the former because it makes the bread the focus instead of the real star which is the chef. And I kinda understand why he says to avoid adverbs, he says to avoid them because they can make your writing feel redundant and based on the context of the situation you should be able to tell how things are without needing to be told, right?

[Anonymous No.22192107]

>>22192080
Pretty much. The fuss over adverbs can be boiled down to the generalized advice 'trim the fat'. Most adverbs don't add anything and can be removed. If they do change the context of the word they're applied to, then finding a new word that encompasses both is better (the cliched example here is "ran quickly" > "sprinted"). Saying more with less gives punchier prose, which is what modern readers (and critics) prefer.

[Anonymous No.22192113]

>>22192107
That's very informative, anon, thank you. Also, since I'm an utter retard, could you explain what prose is to me? Every time I google it the definition doesn't make sense to me.

[Anonymous No.22192126]

>>22192113
Prose literally means 'ordinary writing' in the sense that novels (and other works) are written in prose and not poetry. But in this context, talking about how to improve prose, we're talking about how to improve writing on the structural level--sentence construction, word choice, flow, and other such things. More generally, "writing" would include story arcs, characters, and all the other hundred aspects of the craft. But prose is concerned with sentences and paragraphs that are enjoyable for their construction alone. That's my understanding at least.

[Anonymous No.22192130]

>>22192126
Thank you once again, anon.

[Anonymous No.22192135]

>>22192080
As the other anon says, adverbs can become a crutch so it's often better to use a more specific verb instead rather than modifying a generic verb. But never think that adverbs are always bad. Sometimes people really do just walk slowly rather than "amble" or "lurch", in fact avoiding adverbs completely can come across as overly dramatic.

Passive voice is wondeful if you understand what it actually is: https://youtu.be/kcbHKbvwCnU

[Anonymous No.22192137]

>>22192107
I will never forgive Hemmingway for putting my most favored prose style out of fashion.

[Anonymous No.22192146]

>>22192107
I went to a writer's conference and agreed with
the speaker there about adverbs. Adverbs bring "flow" to the reader. When reading a story, adverbs lets a sentence drizzle away, rather than feel like an abrupt end.

From Gone with the Wind
>The smoke curled slowly to the ceiling and the red streams widened about her feet.

If we removed the adverb "slowly" it reads weirdly.
>The smoke curled to the ceiling and the red streams widened about her feet.

The sentence "reads" too quickly and doesn't provide the "mind's eye" a setting of a slow creeping danger. Without slowly, it feels as if the smoke just puffed toward the ceiling immediately.

So use it when you need to, but don't immediately remove every single adverb and adjective from your sentences.

[Anonymous No.22192151]

>>22192135
>avoiding adverbs completely can come across as overly dramatic.
Could you explain how it would come across that way?

>>22192137
Did he put it out of fashion or did he do it so well that anyone else who tries to replicate it will just look dumb? Or are they one and the same? I don't know.

[Anonymous No.22192271]

>>22191937
W-what story was that?

[Anonymous No.22192288]

>>22192151
My favorite prose style is the ornate, less punchy, flowy style of the mid-19th to early 20th centuries. In particular, Melville and Hawthorne are among my two most loved authors when it comes to prose.

[Anonymous No.22192325]

Once it was beautiful, I recall,
In days bygone
My tavern by the shore,
passion and wine in the air,
as if in in a dream, my heart laid bare

And every evening,
Iago would ponder and reflect
with his lute,
And with his wine upstairs,
lost in sad contemplation, embroiding this world,
with imagination

And Gianno over there in the corner,
for a pair of cherry lips,
is sipping away slowly,
reaching for water while he sings,
as Iago's lute,
his pain erases

And Myros starts dancing,
the ground his only foe,
recalling golden palaces, lost and profound
in some wide seas, he remembers,
his two eyes ablaze

[Anonymous No.22192354]

Each dawn I remember,
wishing the sun would never come out,
In your arms, a dream of boats and sails,
wandering the world in your embrace

My step slow and heavy,
your love, it could be fake,
in alleys I ask passerbys.
if they've seen hazel eyes like yours

How to judge a lifetime.
and a flickering morning star,
in my ruined tavern,
an old dream of mine has remained

[Anonymous No.22192358]

>>22192325
>>22192354
who asked

[Anonymous No.22192380]

>>22191686
I was hoping the frenzied, jagged structure could serve as a sign of madness. I'm glad you noticed.

>>22191936
I'm sorry you didn't like it, but as others have said it was meant as an evocation. Someone trained by the madness of poets like Blake and Pound carrying it fourth into next generation.

Regardless, thank you for reading.

>>22192026
>>22192012

Thank you both. It would have been a real disappointment if most people just didn't get it.

Always a pleasure to have attentive readers

[Anonymous No.22192418]

>>22192354
>>22192325
SING A SONG, YOU'RE THE PIANOMAN

[Anonymous No.22192566]

>>22192151
>explain how it would come across that way?
Avoiding adverbs, when pushed to its extreme, often results in people using obscure and thematically poor fitting words to avoid just using the an unmodified basic verb. The example that came to mind was I've seen a lot with new writers use funky diction to describe speaking and walking which changes the tone of the scene, for example someone's wife at a cocktail party "speaking loudly" carries different connotations than "yelling" or "exclaiming" (both of which imply far more intent to interrupt on the part of the speaker, and higher volume). I've also seen too many new writers talk about "ambling".

There are no "accidental" aspects of language. Adverbs serve a purpose of allowing shades of meaning onto the verbs they support which is why I get butthurt by writers who use adverbs all the time cavalierly saying never to use them to new writers.

[Anonymous No.22192612]

>>22188126
How do I write something that isn’t shit? I am no writer, but used to write a lot as a kid and teenager, and am looking to try my hand again.

[Anonymous No.22192632]

>>22192612
By writing something good

[Anonymous No.22192633]

>>22192612
First you write, then you remove the shit. Rinse and repeat.
Optionally you can post your writing here to ask for help.

[Anonymous No.22192635]

>>22192612
Read. Practice

[Anonymous No.22192644]

>>22188126
>https://pastebin.com/ruwQj7xQ
>This paste has been deemed potentially harmful. Pastebin took the necessary steps to prevent access
Is there a backup

[Anonymous No.22192646]

>>22192612
"How do I write well" is a question entire books can't answer, so what are you expecting from a forum post? Like, fuck off. Or if you wanted a general answer, do you really need to be told "you get better through practice and study"? NGMI

[Anonymous No.22192665]

>>22192646
You are a fag

[Anonymous No.22192669]

>want to quit writing
>remember Patrick S. Tomlinson exists and has been published
>grit teeth and continue

[Anonymous No.22192673]

>>22192665
"Hey guys how do I not write poorly"
Yeah, I'm the fag here.

[Anonymous No.22192685]

>>22192673
Looking for general advice on writing as someone with little experience from a board full of supposedly avid enthusiasts and you have to come in here and wag your reddit finger and act self righteous. Yeah, you are the fag.

[Anonymous No.22192693]

>>22192644
https://web.archive.org/web/20230327004352/https://pastebin.com/ruwQj7xQ

[Anonymous No.22192694]

>>22192685
pretty sure calling out a dumbshit retarded question as dumbshit retarded isn't being a redditor. If anything, you're the redditor for needing to be coddled. Look at all the stupid responses you got. Wanna know why? Because it's a question that can't be answered in a forum post. "How do I write well"? LMFAO. You practice and go read books on the subject. Really, what response did you expect? "Minimize adverb usage!" "Write what you know!" "Don't use filtering!" Those would be the reddit responses. Go away newfag

[Anonymous No.22192704]

>>22192694
Those reddit tips would’ve been more useful than your faggot posturing and attitude. Here, I wrote a haiku for you:

You suck on my balls
Choke on them you humungous
Gay faggot retard

[Anonymous No.22192718]

>>22192704
Pretty funny how you called me a redditor for being a dick. Because 4chan is known for treating retards with kid gloves and being helpful even when asked stupidly vague questions. Reddit, on the other hand, is the place where retards are called exactly what they are. That makes sense.
I'm guessing you actually are a redditor. Doesn't make sense why you'd even bring that shithole site up.
Anyway, have fun with your writing. I can tell you're totally gonna make it.

[Anonymous No.22192726]

>>22192718
I called you a redditor because the way you talk makes you sound like a fat pussy (you are)

[Anonymous No.22192733]

>>22192726
I can tell I hurt your feelings. So sorry about that.

[Anonymous No.22192739]

>>22192733
>writing general
>asks for general writing advice
>fart huffer fag has to come in and start an argument

[Anonymous No.22192742]

>>22192739
You really are a redditor, aren't you? You're having a full on melt down.

[Anonymous No.22192763]

>>22192739
What general advice can we give if you haven't written anything down?

[Anonymous No.22192788]

>>22192669
Whomlinson?

[Anonymous No.22192844]

>>22192354
nice

[Anonymous No.22192847]

how do you write "plotless" fiction?

[Anonymous No.22192854]

I have no idea how meterless verse works. I can't understand cadence. I mean compared to substitutions in metered poetry, I totally see how changing scansion has an effect. But outside of that idgi.

[Anonymous No.22192889]

I have 10-20k words written and outlines for like five different stories. I always run into a point where I stop, either I thought of another idea I want to outline and start, or I feel what I'm writing is shit/predictable/boring or lose the plot. Any suggestions on getting over the hump after your excitement for a certain idea wears off?

[Anonymous No.22192946]

>>22192847
Explain yourself. Depending on what you mean by plotless it can be impossible or doable with mild skill.

[Anonymous No.22192972]

>>22192889
so much this. after putting 60k words for a story i got bored for nearly a year without writing anything. i have left that story on hold and now writing a different story with 20-25k word count and still going. I will try to finish this one... i hope.

[Anonymous No.22192982]

>>22192726
Imagine caring so much about website allegiance that you think it’s an insult to imply some faggot is from the uncool site. I expected better insults in a writers thread.

[Anonymous No.22193062]

where to get ideas outside of books/movies, preferably any website you visit to get idea?

[Anonymous No.22193074]

I'm rained in for the next week. Anyone else need a cheap editor?

[Anonymous No.22193084]

>>22193074
>cheap
Unless you can do $0 I can't afford it.

[Anonymous No.22193093]

>>22193062
Nigger, get ideas for what?

If you mean books, go take a walk. Lay down in your bed and think. Take a long shit or a long shower.

If absolutely nothing comes to you at any of these moments, you are most likely creatively bankrupt and will be a successful litRPG writer.

[Anonymousn No.22193105]

>>22191936
Good post.

>>22192012
>Fuken hell calm down.
All honest aesthetic responses have something basically disproportionate about them. That's part of the Magic of Art.

[Anonymous No.22193119]

>>22193093
I just took a shower and got a cool sub plot setting. Extra ideas would be good, i will never EVER write litrpg fuck you

[Anonymous No.22193137]

>>22188126
Indescribable feeling to be truly inspired. I have more lines blowing through me than a sink in the 80s. Though I know there's a chance what I'm writing is utter dog shit, I also know I can guarantee it's dog shit if I don't finish it and gaze on it with fresh eyes. Anyone out there struggling with inspiration, put it down. Just put it down for now. Go read something, go listen to music, do what you need to do. Does it take the planets aligning to get the inspo high? Maybe. But it is truly unmatched.

I have no one else that gives a shit enough about writing to share this with. I hope you've all felt this at some point. I also hope your works are treating you well. Keep going. Whatever you love now will love you back, and whatever you hate will grow to teach you.

[Anonymous No.22193150]

My character is an unironic self-insert. I don't want to change it since it's actually important to the plot at hand, but every time I make him empathetic, I feel like I'm writing a Mary Sue. It just doesn't stop. It doesn't help that the plot isn't particularly literary either. I'm working towards a publication that'll be the end of my public life forever.

[Anonymous No.22193176]

>>22193150
In what way is it an unironic self-insert?

Is it an autobiography? Or are you just writing what you know and you're confusing terms?

[Anonymous No.22193234]

>>22193137
The thing that raised my inspiration was simply discussing the story with someone else. Until you really examine your story and turn it inside out, you may not been completely able to enunciate what made you like it. I don't necessarily explain it in terms of story but in hypothetical discussions, and sometimes will help reveal my feelings and spur new appreciation for what I am trying to do when I see people react to each idea.

[Anonymous No.22193246]

Hm? Do I write LitRPG? Why, yes, I do. Do I have money and fans? Of course. Completed works? Several, thank you for asking.
The pseuds are getting uppity again? Pay them no mind. Us genre chads stay winning.

[Anonymous No.22193257]

>>22193246
How many of your shitposts are getting adapted by starving koreans into manhwa.

[Anonymous No.22193403]

>>22192946
I'm not even sure if "plotless fiction" is possible, to be honest. Every story has some plot.

[Anonymous No.22193418]

For anons that post on RR and other similar sites, I have a serialization that I've been posting for about three months now with 150 pages, and it has a little under thirty followers with about 100-150 views per chapter. It was the first real thing that I wrote, and looking back, there are a lot of things I would do differently. I want to drop or at least postpone the series and start on something else that I'm more passionate about, but I feel guilty about disappointing the couple dozen people that follow the story. Does anyone else ever struggle with that? Or am I just retarded and need to do whatever I want without considering how the readers feel?

[Anonymous No.22193430]

>>22193418
Are they paying you, even in donations? If so, then the guilt is somewhat normal. Otherwise, it's *still* normal, but you should follow your passions. Projects are started and dropped frequently. I would argue that it's important to finish a project, but I've only ever finished short stories! I'm 150 pages into my own novel's draft right now, and I understand your desire to pick up a new project.

TL;DR, do what makes you happy, seriously

[Anonymous No.22193446]

>>22193418
It's reasonable to be a bit guilty, but move past it. Your launch period is far and away the best way to get any real (1k+ followers) kind of following, and if you miss out on that then that story will either forever stay buried or it will take years of word of mouth to find success, and that's assuming you have something special on your hands that for whatever reason didn't catch people's attention (maybe a very slow burn).
Ultimately, do what's best for your goals. Trying to get an audience? A decent Patreon? Then rapid chapter releases at the start, and if you don't get rising stars, drop the series and try again.

[Anonymous No.22193456]

>>22193418
>100-150 views per chapter.
Damn, I wish I had that many. That's like 10-20 times mine.

If you feel bad about your readers, put your series on hiatus and inform them you are writing a new story. Try your best to keep the other one updated.

[Anonymous No.22193457]

>short stories
haha i completely forgot about mine. here i posted it on RR. I can't find it on minimag anymore.

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/70608/the-might-of-zareth-short-story/chapter/1258928/the-might-of-zareth

[Anonymous No.22193481]

>>22193430
I'm not getting paid, no donations either. I really would like to finish it, but there are other projects that I'm more passionate about right now that I would rather write.

>>22193446
I see. Should I just put the current story I'm writing on hiatus then? Also, I'm not the kind of person that can write 3000+ word chapter everyday, so would you suggest I just write a big backlog and then post it daily once I have 30-40,000 ish words?

>>22193456
I get a decent enough viewership, but there's a lot I'd do differently in the next thing that I write. I certainly don't want to just drop it in the middle of its current arc though, so I'll probably finish it up and inform readers of the new story in a few chapters.

[Anonymous No.22193486]

when is it appropriate to use (parenthesis)?

[Anonymous No.22193489]

I seriously hope you guys aren't just writing litrpg because you saw some authors making cash from it... That might just ruin /wg/

[Anonymous No.22193497]

>>22192972
Good luck anon. I need to try to finish things, even if it's shit. It's difficult when you lose hope in the idea itself.

[Anonymous No.22193500]

>>22193481
>so I'll probably finish it up and inform readers of the new story in a few chapters.
That's the best thing you can do in my opinion anon. Put it on hiatus rather than drop it entirely though, unless you have absolutely no intent to return to it.

[Anonymous No.22193503]

>>22193486
Internal thoughts of a character. There's not a whole lot of parentheses you can do that I can think of.

[Anonymous No.22193528]

>>22193457
Wtf am I reading?

[Anonymous No.22193556]

>>22193489
Ruin /wg/ in the sense it won't be filled with pseuds who write 1000 words a week, have never been read, will never be published, and somehow still have a huge ego? Instead, there'll be career authors with readers, audio book deals, and an income? And thus industry experience? Oh, the tragedy.

[Anonymous No.22193566]

>>22193481
If you can't at least put out 3 2000-2500 words chapters a week, then the web serial game isn't for you. But yes, you should have a big backlog even if you do write fast. ~20 chapters in the first two weeks is what you should go for, then slow down to your actual pace. The launch to your story is legitimately everything, and you should do everything you can to maximize organic early follows.

[Anonymous No.22193582]

>>22193566
I'll believe this advice if you post your paycheck from web serial.

Or is web serial quality seriously so low that 2-2500 words isn't very quality checked?

[Anonymous No.22193610]

>>22193582
I am the anon who sometimes posts here about recently making it on RR, but if you don't want to trust me, then go read TheFirstDefier's guide to RoyalRoad/Web Serials, who I am ripping the advice from. (He makes like a mil a year AT LEAST from patreon + amazon. author of Defiance of the Fall)
And I'm not sure what you mean about 2-2500 words being quality checked. Are you saying 3x weekly of 2-2500 is too much to release and still have be high quality? People do way more than that. PirateAba (The Wandering Inn) releases some ridiculous shit like 30k words a week.
But yes. Quality (as in prose and proofreading quality) is low in web serials. What people care about is story, system, progression, characters, etc. The actual sentence level writing matters very little beyond being at least somewhat understandable.

[Anonymous No.22193618]

>>22193610
That's wild. I appreciate your candor and honest response, though. For web serials, how necessary is it to include blue box systems vs simple fantasy wish fulfilment?

[Anonymous No.22193627]

What are some interesting flaws I could give my mc? (thriller)

[Anonymous No.22193630]

>>22193618
Pure fantasy doesn't do well, but there's exceptions. There's examples of nearly anything having SOME reasonable success on RR. But if you want the easy path, then including a system + stats + so on helps massively, because then you can add [LitRPG] to the end of your title and it'll draw in a very consistent audience.
If you hate systems, get into cultivation. No blue boxes, but roughly equivalent in popularity to LitRPG. What RR really wants is clear progression paths for that sweet dopamine.
Start browsing Rising Stars and watch what's trendy. I did that for months before I started writing mine. You can't cater to the market + genre without knowing it.

[Anonymous No.22193637]

>>22193630
Thanks anon. I have a "real" fiction I want to write that has good reviews so far, but writing litrpg on the side to build an audience wouldn't hurt. Hell, maybe I can even twist the genre a little.

[Anonymous No.22193642]

>>22193489
Of course we all are. Someone wrote a litfic here and only two people gave a shit.

[Anonymous No.22193647]

>>22193637
I didn't read or like LitRPG before writing mine. I did read web serials like Practical Guide to Evil and Mother of Learning and enjoyed them, though. Definitely a genre nerd, just not a LitRPG one.
My LitRPG elements are pretty light and it leans way closer to trad fantasy than lots of stories on RR, though still clearly LitRPG. My mindset was pretty much yours. I write the characters + plot arcs I want to write and mix in some LitRPG stuff to pull in the audience.

[Anonymous No.22193655]

>>22193647
That's encouraging to read. How much have you had to lean into the perfect hero archetype? I have an idea that I don't want to expose, but it definitely involves the hero being fallible.

[Anonymous No.22193681]

>>22193655
I'm catering to the audience, so the mistakes my MC makes are usually reasonable and the MC faces very few truly meaningful setbacks. Progress should always be going up (if trying to maximize catering). It's not good storytelling, but, you know, it is what it is.
If you want a flawed MC, you can still get readers, but you'll have dozens of annoying comments and probably even bad reviews about it. RR has by far the worst readerbase I've experienced. Some of the comments I've gotten are braindead to a degree you wouldn't believe. But you get used to it. It's the nature of the beast. I only click open RR and check my comments when I'm ready to wade through the muck. Honestly, I don't even read half of them.
Again, it boils down to "the best way to get RR readers is a perfect MC, but it's not required". You don't have to meet EVERY criteria, you'll just get annoying comments and reviews for each one don't.

[Anonymous No.22193689]

>>22193630
>Pure fantasy doesn't do well
Thats discouraging

[Anonymous No.22193699]

>>22193689
I've said it before, but amateur trad fantasy is just miserable dogshit. Amateur LitRPG is like amateur porn. There's still something to be gotten from it, even if the quality is shit. Same for other dopamine-focused fiction, like romance (hence fanfiction popularity among young women). And so on and so on. Thus, it makes perfect sense why fantasy doesn't do well on RoyalRoad. The minimum bar to clear for enjoyment are way higher for that genre. The excellent fantasy writers go to amazon or tradpub (because that's where the readers are, and the readers are there because high quality works are filtered through publishing). The system makes perfect sense.

[Anonymous No.22193700]

>>22193681
Thanks for the insight anon. In a distant future where I have time to work on a litRPG for the plebes, I'd like to connect with you.

>>22193689
It still does well, to be fair, as far as amateur writing goes. My fantasy has 200 average reads per chapter, and has received 4.5< reviews. I don't fool myself though-- I won't make money with it there. It's a staging ground for whatevers next, whether traditional pub or self pub.

[Anonymous No.22193701]

>>22187150
read the first 2 paragraphs and stopped
not a single 12 year old is talking like this
dont make your characters mouthpieces for ideology it sounds retarded

[Anonymous No.22193716]

My second novel will be a young adult science fiction romance. My biggest sci fi influences are Star Wars and Halo as those are my favorite settings.

[Anonymous No.22193725]

>>22193716
Ok :)

[Anonymous No.22193728]

>>22193716
nice man. keep us updated

[Anonymous No.22193761]

>>22192612
As other anon said, this is a pointless non-question and you immediately received the only real response in the next post (a non-answer). In the event that you're actually that new, here's the rundown:

>Read (not a sports page, not a magazine, but a book, and with intent to understand why what you're reading is good or bad)
>Write (prose or poetry, with intent to write something that's not bad)
>Edit (your own work or the work of other people with the intent of making it less bad)
>Persist

Lastly, >>22190758 contains the best advice you will ever receive about writing:
>If you do this with money in mind, you're fucked.
I wouldn't bother trying to write beyond recreational fun until you internalize the above.

>>22190820
There are two categories of sexually explicit works (in my mind): smut and erotica. Erotica--a term often used to make said creative output sound more sophisticated or valuable than it is--is a work that has merit even when devoid of the explicit content, namely by
>telling an actual story
>being entertaining (to an appreciable degree, without the explicit content)
>and/or saying something worthwhile about humans (ditto previous qualification)
A generic story about nothing more than "some people have weird sexual fetishes, in case you didn't know!" is not erotica. A generic story about "coming to grips with having a weird sexual fetish" is significantly unlikely to be erotica. A generic story about "struggling to accept having a weird sexual fetish and contending with what it says about oneself" is starting to sound like possible erotica. And so on, until you satisfy the above conditions.
I write all of this because if you're intending to write erotica (doesn't sound like it, but I don't want to assume), you should write a proper story and THEN sex it up as much as you want. Conversely, if you're just making smut, it is extremely basic--just an endless loop of setup and payoff. The setup is usually brief (usually the bare minimum unless the setup is part of the eroticism of the work), with an extended payoff--just keep applying and ramping up the "tension" until it literally becoming boring and you run out of ideas. Then repeat. Don't even think you can anticipate when or if your audience is going to be "satiated." I suppose I can understand how that could be a gratifying thought to an author, but it doesn't work that way at all.

>>22192889
>>22192972
Writing is work. Any project, creative or otherwise, taken past a certain point loses its "fun-factor," and the project then evolves into simply being worth completing or not. A component of success (and genius) is filtering how you spend your time by what is and is not worth the investment, unless said projects are recreational or masturbatory, and likewise treated as such. With that said, determining if you're losing interest because your work is not bearing fruit or because you simply lack the desire to press on past the "fun phase" is the more important question.

[Anonymous No.22193765]

Kill List anon here. I'm approaching the end of what would constitute "part 1" of the novel. I believe it'll end around 170 pages, or 16-17 chapters.

I plan to dedicate time to editing this first "part" before continuing the story (and there is much story left to tell.)

When I do that, should I re-release it in the edited version, or simply edit old chapters in their current release? I'm leaning towards the former, simply for the chance to draw more readers in.

[Anonymous No.22193778]

>>22193761
Getting into writing in the first place for the money is questionable, of course, but if you're trying to become a career author then writing with marketability and money in mind is in fact excellent advice. Without getting into a shit-flinging fight, I'd like to hear why you think otherwise.

[Anonymous No.22193792]

>>22193761
>>22193761
It sounds like you just invented your own definition for erotica. The way everyone uses it, including amazon and other book stores, is for how you described smut. Just brief set up then lots of sex. Erotica doesn't really have a connotation of having deep themes or being artsy.

You do say "in my mind", but where'd you get the idea from, even? That's definitely not how the industry uses it, or a way I've ever seen it described.

[Anonymous No.22193809]

>>22193778
>getting into writing in the first place for the money is questionable
>trying to become a career author then writing with marketability and money in mind is in fact excellent advice
I agree, to both.

I'm assuming that you wrote both of these statement one after the other is because you understand that "with money in mind" means that you are highly unlikely to make any money, let alone a career, without landing somewhere on the spectrum of "God-like Talent" and "Cosmically, Divinely Lucky." If you are within that spectrum and truly understand what's involved in writing potboilers for the rest of your life, keeping up with trends, etc., knowing you are almost certainly only going to simply get by and will never experience significant wealth or success without making a much more difficult DC check on the "Luck & Talent" spectrum.

Concisely: You are not likely to succeed without strenuous and smart effort, and success is not likely to bring riches without even more herculean effort; there are much more efficient, easier ways of making money, hence don't do this "with money in mind." There must be more to it for you.

[Anonymous No.22193810]

>>22193716
>no cultivation or stats
Unreadable. Bet it's not even harem.

[Anonymous No.22193818]

>>22193809
>there are much more efficient, easier ways of making money, hence don't do this "with money in mind." There must be more to it for you.
This.
If you want money, just flip burgers for a few months then invest the savings into stocks. Really easy if you aren't fucking dumb.

Writing FOR money, is dumb. Writing, and getting paid is fine. If you write for money, you'll be shitting out litRPGs that you hate and hate yourself, while dropping your stories or abruptly ending them, only to chase next fad. I think for a writer, that's an awful fucking way to live.

Just write something you really, truly want to write and see if you can get paid for it.

[Anonymous No.22193820]

>>22193792
I apologize if I neglected to make it more clear that this categorization is my own literary analysis.
I had hoped
>There are two categories of sexually explicit works (in my mind)
would be sufficient.

[Anonymous No.22193826]

>>22193809
I agree, besides the exaggeration on how difficult it is to "make it" if you properly learn how to write to market. It's far, far harder than most careers, but not some mega millions lottery, either. Especially with the rise of Patreon and web serials and self publishing in general.

But yes, we're on the same page. I asked because I see people making the genuine argument that if you don't write from the heart without a care for money then you won't sell books. Because only the Holy Pursuit of True Art will result in works that people want to buy. The truth is that if you write exactly what is proven to sell, then you'll probably sell copies. Do it a few notches above the typical author, and you might sell pretty well, even.

[Anonymous No.22193831]

>>22193818
I suppose if you truly hate writing LitRPGs, then sure. But I liked fantasy and tweaked my plots to accommodate some stats, and now I get to write full time. I spend two hours a day fulfilling my quota, and while it drags sometimes, because I'd rather work on other stuff, it's only two hours a day. In my spare time I write other stories I intend to publish some day. I don't have a boss and get to work from home now. It's very, very far from miserable. Spoken from someone with first hand experience, friend.

[Anonymous No.22193839]

>>22193820
I know, I specifically addressed the "in my mind" then asked where you got the idea from. It was just a strange categorization I'd never seen so I wanted to ask about it. Assumed it came from somewhere and wasn't literally just you inventing it on the spot. Maybe it was the archaic way the word was used. Was just a question.

[Anonymous No.22193892]

>>22193826
I don't think it's an exaggeration, but I didn't take the time to explain.
If we consider the range of "Most Competent" to "Most Lucky," a highly-competent writer/creator will need a correspondingly less amount of "luck." You are right that mere persistence is sometimes all that is necessary for said luck to strike, but it must strike nonetheless. The inverse applies to a less competent individual. At the extremes, I will offer two contemporaneous examples from the music industry: Spin Doctors and Tool. "Two Princes" is an iconic, enduring song and was successful enough to make them a household name at the time. Tool has continuously sold out concerts for decades and was able to get away with not releasing an album for 12 years.

As for the "true art" crowd, as you mentioned them, that's idealistic nonsense, I agree, in terms of financial viability. The industry, like all mature markets, is almost exclusively commercial products for consumption. If you want to write something that will be remember in a decade or two, however, that's a different matter.

>>22193839
It's not so strange, actually. Consider:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erotica
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erotic_literature

I agree that words with definitions need to be functional, and I should have taken more care than a pithy, tacked on parenthetical. Furthermore, what constitutes "erotica" is debatable, even at the theory level, which is really what the "in my mind" bit was about. I'm obviously more familiar with the academic definition and that was my mistake--no hostility or insult intended.

[Anonymous No.22193916]

>>22193486
Think of paranthesis like the opposite of em-dash. When a character lowers their voice to de-emphasize the statement as an aside to the conversation. Stylistically people don't really do it so much.

[Anonymous No.22194130]

>>22193403
The only thing I imagine that would be plotless fiction is a series of completely disconnected vignettes. But that would be completely pointless.

[Anonymous No.22194149]

KIng says that you're either a good writer or a bad writer and that not everyone can be a good writer, some people are just bad writers and there's nothing they can do about it, how can I tell if I'm a bad writer?

[Anonymous No.22194160]

>>22194149
Do you think you're a bad writer? Why or why not? Answer that first.

[Anonymous No.22194168]

>>22194160
I'm not sure, I'm very new to writing so I'm going to assume that I'm not good but how do I know if I'm one of those people with natural talent? I very much doubt I am but I have no way of knowing.

[Anonymous No.22194236]

>>22194149
I assume you mean the spiritual "bad writer" and not "bad" in sense of inexperienced.

Bad writers use asspulls; have uninspired stories; boring, flat characters; and their worlds aren't worlds, they're just backgrounds for what is usually author's self insert being always right and getting all the girls.

Does this sound like you?

[Anonymous No.22194246]

>>22194236
It's not me saying that some people will only ever be bad writers. but what I think King was saying is that some people will never be skilled enough no matter how much they try, some people just don't have it.

>Does this sound like you?
Like I said here >>22194168 I'm very new to writing so I have no idea.

[Anonymous No.22194252]

>>22194246
>I'm very new to writing so I have no idea.
Well then write something and think about it. You haven't posted shit so I can't tell you shit. Write something, proofread it, fix all the typos and grammar errors, try to make it not clunky to read, then ask again.

[Anonymous No.22194268]

>>22194168
You know by doing and learning. More on that later, though. You made an attempt (I hope) at some self-reflection so I will, in turn, provide my personal answer to your question.

Before answering your question in any more detail, I need to write a bit about Stephen King. I am quite familiar with his work--it was basically all I read outside of assigned reading in high school. I liked that he wrote about weird and disturbing things, and even had a boldness about writing graphic and explicit content (most people know about the clubhouse sex in IT involving minors, but I've never read or heard anyone talk about the short story in which a pregnant black maid eats the semen of a racist white author from his bed sheets every morning to give her unborn child literary talent, lol). His prose was effortless to consume, and there was an edginess to reading his books as a teenager.

King is either a perfect authorial role model, or the worst example of a compulsive hack writer, depending on how you view writing. On one hand, he's a household name, extremely wealthy, beyond prolific, and will be remembered for as long as human history exists as a popular novelist of the 20th century. By the standards of many, that's ultimate success. On the other hand, aside from Carrie, The Green Mile, and a few short stories occasionally taught in undergraduate English courses, the overall quality of his work is mediocre to absolute trash, with plots that go wherever the fuck his brain is at when he's compulsively typing away, characters with the depth of a trope or two, and an embarrassing lack of creativity outside of the general premise (how many of his protagonists have been authors?).

With that said, what you think of King and anything he has to say about writing largely depends on if you want his type of success, or something else. King's writing tips (the "seed method," syntax methods, word choice methods, etc.) have worked for him in that they granted the success that he has. So if you want to be another King, sure, strive to be an acolyte of his gospel. If not, recognize that he might not be the authority others suggest that he is.

[Anonymous No.22194269]

>>22194252
I've got something that I'm working on at the moment, the plan is to make it a short story just so I can get the feel of what it's like to start and finish a book without having to invest in something as long as a novel. But how am I meant to tell if it's good? I like it but that doesn't necessarily mean it's good.

[Anonymous No.22194278]

>>22194268
Back to your question, after (maybe) suggesting that there is much more to writing than "On Writing," it is true that humans have natural talents and spend their lives developing (or not) such talents. That's what we do with our lives.

You say that you don't know if you're a good writer or not. That's a sign that you probably haven't read much, probably haven't written much, or both. I don't want to discourage you, but if you didn't spend your childhood reading and doing creative things, you are behind. Extremely, horribly behind. Good writers are almost universally good readers. Reading a shitload, especially when young, is going to mold you to think about writing, at least in some capacity, with the difference, as far as I can tell, between a consumer of literature and writer of literature is curiosity and creativity.

So do you really want to know if you're a good writer? Read something considered to be "good," something off some generic list of "Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century" that sounds appealing to you personally. Then write something. Then compare the two. If you cannot find anything good or potentially good about your work--a character, an event, a paragraph, a sentence, or fuck, a singular instance of a good use of a word--that might give you the answer you seek.

It is a great tragedy when a person has a passion for something but lacks any talent or ability. However, it is a worse tragedy when someone has a great talent but lacks the passion to develop it.

You will know by doing. Best wishes, Anon.

I'm >>22194160--just wanted you to know I'm following through with my answer.

[Anonymous No.22194280]

>>22194268
I take what he says seriously when it comes to writing because he has had such huge success which means he must be doing something right, right?

[Anonymous No.22194298]

I just wrote this in 15 minutes as part of some anons writing challenge thing in another thread, I'm no Charles Dickens but I was somewhat pleased considering it was completely random writing forced by a timer. It is quite small though for 15 minutes maybe:
Walking along the sidewalk close to the sea I reveled in the smell of the sea-air. The sun was beginning to set, and the tide was still somewhat far out. I tentatively climbed over the weathered wooden railings, and made my way closer to the sea. Apart from the occasional car driving past, one could almost forget they were so close to a busy town. Picking up a shell and admiring the patterns of nature that far too many ignore on a daily basis, I felt awakened from a zombie-like daze I see others in all too frequently. Looking over to a quaint bench that I wanted to admire the ocean from, I was disappointed to see it already occupied. Two friends close but distant, both staring intently at their smart phones whilst occasionally verbally throwing out a half baked comment aimlessly toward the other. I turned to my left and continued walking equally as aimlessly. A bird flew overhead, causing me to quickly capture a glance at it. I've always liked crows and ravens - are they the same thing? I never searched, maybe later I thought. It wasn’t an inky-obsidian creature of the sky though, it was your standard seaside seagull. I quite like them too. They always used to say don’t feed the birds, I never listened. As I came to a sand dusted stone set of steps, I took one last look at the vastness of the ocean, relishing the last moments of the setting sun bouncing on the steady waves.

[Anonymous No.22194302]

>>22194269
>I like it but that doesn't necessarily mean it's good.
You now have to realize that there is no metric to measure your own work with. It belongs to other people.

But if you like your own work, that's good. If you read through it, from start to finish, and you thought it was genuinely entertaining, without having to force yourself to read it, then you might have something there. Problem is finding people who will think the same.

Either way, I can't tell you because I don't know your prose, your writing style, the plot or devices, et cetera. It's very hard for an author to gauge his own work. As a rule of thumb, if you like it, and you can't think of any way to improve it; rest for a day or two, then come back to it and read through it again.

If you still don't know how to make it better, it's probably good enough to share. That, or you're a shit writer. Whether it's due to inexperience or just because you're a bad writer, time will tell - use what you learned from your work to improve.

[Anonymous No.22194305]

>>22194280
If you are motivated by money or fame, read my previous post >>22193761 and >>22193818 this Anon's post.

King's methods worked for King. He's a compulsive writer. Writing is his way of getting off. I don't think he could live without writing (read what he wrote after the car accident). If you are that consumed by writing that it literally dominates your life in such a demanding way, sure, his gospel just might be yours, too.

[Anonymous No.22194308]

>>22194278
Thank you for your well-thought-out and well-written answers, anon. I believe you when you say that you don't mean to be discouraging, but to say that what you pointed out wasn't a little discouraging would be a lie. I used to read a lot when I was a child, I remember the kids in my class would (in a lighthearted way) make fun of me because I would have a red circle on my forehead when I would lift my forehead off the table when I finished reading (I would hold the book in my lap and rest my forehead on the table) you could always find my face in a book. But when I started hitting my teenage years I dropped books and started focusing on other things, I've only recently got back into books after discovering audiobooks and how to listen to them for free (tokybook). I listen to audiobooks because they allow me to multitask while consuming something that I enjoy and because I have trouble reading, I often have to re-read sentences multiple times and it's very hard for me to concentrate with a physical book in my hands, the tiniest noise distracts me, forcing me to start either the page or paragraph over again. I've been listening to a few audiobooks lately (I just finished the Bill Hodges trilogy) and I even managed to read a full book earlier this year while I was in the hospital (Butcher's Crossing by John Williams).

[Anonymous No.22194314]

>>22194305
What I'm saying is that he must be a good writer because of his success, any motivated writer can pump out the number of books that he has but they won't become as big as him because of it, he must be doing something right.

[Anonymous No.22194331]

>>22194314
Refer to other anon's post about luck.

King could have been eating shit and some random guy's story could have made it big instead. Do not think of one writer as the measuring stick of success. It's better to think of them as a component of success.

The takeaway here is that King writing away like a schizo is his strong point.

[Anonymous No.22194345]

>>22194314
Melville was poor as shit when he died and nobody knew who the fuck he was. Now he's considered one of the greatest.

One day you're going to die, some cute girl is going to find a physical copy of your book at Goodwill, love it and recommend it on whatever app comes after tiktok, and Jeff Beezos V is going to print out millions copies.

But since you're dead with no heirs, Amazon will take 100% of all profits and rights.

[Anonymous No.22194354]

>>22194345
Honestly that'd be pretty cool as long as people like my stories.

[Anonymous No.22194363]

>>22194308
You read when you were a child; "a lot," as you wrote. That's the critical thing. It would have been nice if you had continued, but you spent some of the most foundational years of your life contending with written words on a page and stories that come to life only through your imagination. The seed is there. Now start giving it water. Don't be discouraged. You've picked up books again and that's great, so keep going.

Try to get back into reading written words often. Get some noise-cancelling headphones and find some nice, non-distracting white noise (whatever you like, rain, ocean, meditative sounds, just find something you like that will effortlessly drown any distracting noise). Write, keep writing, always strive to be better, and it's a hell of a lot easier when you allow yourself to be authentic to who you are and what you want to write--you can always find you own way to write in any genre.

Good luck. :)

>>22194314
Yeah, he became a household name, is a compulsive reader/writer, writes accessible prose, and usually starts out with decent premises for his stories. That's what he does right. You know about the Bachman books, right? Did you read "On Writing?" He has said several times what he thinks about his career and how he feels about it. I never accused King of not doing anything right, only that his methods work for him because of who he is, and for writing the kinds of stuff he writes. Have you read any of his work? I respect him for pursuing his passion, for his cultural impact, and I really do like some of his books. I don't, however, like seeing him enshrined, especially by aspiring authors, because King and his success is the product of his tireless work ethic, competency at writing, and sheer fucking luck (and he has said so himself, several times).

[Anonymous No.22194383]

So we've finally given up on all pretenses of writing here and moved to idolizing stephen king? Well, I guess that's natural evolution from litrpgs

[Anonymous No.22194395]

>>22194383
>idolizing
If that's what your retarded mind wants to take it as, sure, we're idolizing him.

[Anonymous No.22194398]

I have hard time resisting the impulse to insult my readers with long tirades about how my writing sucks.

[Anonymous No.22194406]

You all spend a lot more time bullshitting and arguing nonsense on /lit/ than actually writing. That is the vibe I get from this thread. Look at how many comment in this writing thread are actual workpieces, and how much is just anons having random convos about shit like Stephen King. A write thread on /x/ will get more actual writing, and less armchair writers that talk but don't show.

[Anonymous No.22194415]

If i make it I have to worry about my nudes getting leaked.
What do?

[Anonymous No.22194418]

>>22194415
Don't worry.

[Anonymous No.22194424]

>>22194418
I know, I know. Odds are so small.
Still, it's a fear that extends to all my creative activities which doesn't allow me to put all the effort I could into them.

[Anonymous No.22194430]

>>22194406
Just like r/writing

[Anonymous No.22194432]

>>22194424
Even if your nudes did get leaked for everyone to see, oh well, they're gonna see your dick and balls and then forget about it within an hour or two.

[Anonymous No.22194435]

>>22194406
>and how much is just anons having random convos about shit like Stephen King.
If you'd actually read what was written you'd understand that there's a lot of good shit in these conversations.

>Look at how many comment in this writing thread are actual workpieces
Luckily that's not what this thread is all about.

[Anonymous No.22194460]

>>22194435
>If you'd actually read what was written you'd understand that there's a lot of good shit in these conversations.
utter drivel

[Anonymous No.22194479]

>>22191657
I absolutely hated substack but this is a solid 7/10.
Stand tall anon.

[Anonymous No.22194497]

>>22194460
>utter drivel
Alright you pretentious asshole, why are you even here?

[Anonymous No.22194499]

>>22194424
Be ahead of the curve and post cock and balls.
Nobody can post your nudes if you post them yourself.

[Anonymous No.22194527]

>>22193489
No. I'm writing litRPG because I like it.

[Anonymous No.22194568]

downsides of writing dialogues like picrel? Flows better imo

[Anonymous No.22194598]

>>22194568
This is very VN-esque and while there's downsides, I think it's actually very preferable to the "norm" and whatnot in books. If you leave out quotation marks you'll shoot yourself in the foot and leave yourself unable to have characters act as they talk.

Well, not really, but you'd then have to use the next line to do that and it looks messy. Just keep that in mind.

[Anonymous No.22194606]

>>22191581
its literally a docx text file, it reads in the headline? I'd understand if it was a notepad file and you feared a loop script that could crash your pc but this is ridiculous.

Story I'm working on:
https://pastebin.com/KBkFecAm

Currently finished Lorestuffs:
https://pastebin.com/DNuYsdrK

It's not even close to done but now I've posted as you advised.
Pic unrelated.

[Anonymous No.22194636]

>>22194606
>this is ridiculous.
The point is people are lazy and you should make it easy for them to read it. Even a pastebin is too much for me right now since I'm sleepy as fuck.

[Anonymous No.22194649]

>>22194406
Last week I saw a lot of shared work, way more than usual. Let the anons have a talk.

[Anonymous No.22194662]

>>22194636
Just read it when you've got time and then critique. Untill now I've used AI to critique my stuff but it's very limited and I don't like it a whole lot.

[Anonymous No.22194853]

>>22194662
Even in limitation, which site do you use for that? Sounds like it may do me better than trying to shove my manuscript down someone’s throat

[Anonymous No.22194870]

>>22194853
AI pushes basic, woke scripts revolving around safe stories without action or conflict, quickly relegating all characters to the role of "good person" and defaces what little personality everything has. It cannot create anything violent or "risky" because it's programmed so to tell you a blunt formula every time you try to do so.

With that prefix said, I use personally ChatGPT -
because It has multiple channels and threads each of which can be used for world generation, asking for basic ideas, asking for naming ideas, asking for grammar correction and asking for help in writing coherent sentences.

[Anonymous No.22194983]

>>22194363
>Good luck. :)
Thank you, I'll try.

[Anonymous No.22195001]

What's an average working persons car? Someone that works at an office for example? I know nothing about cars and don't drive so I have no idea.

[Anonymous No.22195012]

New thread >>22195010

[Anonymous No.22195027]

>>22194415
Use AI image-to-image to modify your nudes, then leak those.
After that, if anyone tries to leak your real nudes, they'll be accused of being AI-generated.

[Anonymous No.22195034]

>>22194497
Because he has a brainlet zero-sum mentality.
He thinks any money spent on anyone else's book is money that won't be spent on his.
He thinks any time spent reading someone else's work is time that won't be spent reading his.
So he tries to shit on other writers in the hope of decreasing his competition.
I know that's stupid, but he's a brainlet.

[Anonymous No.22195653]

>>22193765
>should I re-release it in the edited version... simply for the chance to draw more readers in
this is how you piss off existing readers. what you should have done - obviously too late now - is written at least 100k words up front before you started releasing