/wg/ Writing General

[Anonymous No.22941669]

"What Does It Take To Get Noticed" edition

Previous: >>22925767

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

Please limit excerpts to one post.
Give advice as much as you receive it to the best of your ability.
Follow prompts made below and discuss written works for practice; contribute and you shall receive.

If you have not performed a cursory proofread, do not expect to be treated kindly. Edit your work for spelling and grammar before posting.
Violent shills, relentless shill-spammers, and grounds keeping prose, should be ignored and reported.

Simple guides on writing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHdzv1NfZRM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whPnobbck9s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAKcbvioxFk

Thread theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XJxFAoiWSY

[Anonymous No.22941718]

>>22941669
I took the advice of some people here who think my writing is good but lacks narrative drive. I have a hard time with keeping the story going because whenever I am in the zone I tend to ruminate on character ad nauseum. Whenever I have to tell myself to stop and to continue the narrative I lose that flowstate. But lately I've been trying to force myself to get the narrative down. It's led to the actual writing to lessen its quality, but that can be fixed with edits. Here's a bit from the opening where a character notices that a previously abandoned venue, notorious for live shows + human sacrifice, is suddenly lighting up again.

[Anonymous No.22941737]

>>22941718
here's the little bit that goes with this.

[Anonymous No.22941824]

It started as a shitpost but I was smitten with writer's joy and finished this lil' story. It's the first time I've written something in years, and it's the first time I've written a story in English since High School. I'm not too sure about the dialogue, I've yet to speak to an African American IRL. Anyways, enjoy! Constructive criticism welcome!

The Nigger, or the White man's burden by Hieronymus Thrax (that's my nom de plume)

The nigger left his hermitage and walked down the downtrodden path along ramshackle tincan dwellings and destitute fences and wired clothing lines on his way to quench his negro thirst among his fellow negros at the pumping station. Obsidian scion, cursed to wander the earth. 30 silver dollars slapping against his hip, witness of his grand betrayal yet the promise of salvation. The stale air of the river and its floating debris filled his wide negro nostrils. Yesterday they'd found a fresh body in it, how many unknown carcasses its murky waters knew was a secret kept between God Almighty and the crawdads. Nigger children played along the gravel road throwing dead rats at one another by the tails like Belaric slingers, ancient warfare reborn among the shanties of the modern world. A bellicose play repeated ad infinitum by the marching of callus bare feet on the amphitheater of imagination interrupted by the sound of dinner bells and shouting and the smell of cooking to be continued at another time. He kicked a dead cat with his worn boot, toe cap missing for half a year. He adjusted the brim of his new Stetson hat and he spat. From the negro Church he heard antediluvian chants out of place in a civilized age. Flittermice flapped about in their insane chase in the night sky, bringing about pestilence wherever they decided to fall dead. Halfway there. His throat was itching. The old pumphouse not only supplied water but cold beer and company and games of hazard and the tales of old niggers to the discorded negro tunes of jazz. An old generator kept the looted fridge running, the broken piano was found under the expressway. Blocks of ice and sawdust kept the rest of the stock cold in an icebox. They shared this establishment with roaches and rats and mosquitoes and the lice residing along their negro scalps. A structure of the white man appropriated by his charges in their own image. The white man's burden.

[Anonymous No.22941836]

>>22941824
(Sorry about the double post but I wrote it on my phone at work while taking a crap, so I can't screenshot it)
A fellatious nigger woman worked her ancient trade among dead bushes covered in toilet paper, its patron squealing niggerish insults in ecstacy.
"HOT DAMN MAMA, GYAT DAMN"
"Summon be hearing us, shut yo mouf"
"Yo's better be suckin' dat ol' pecker, bitch, or I's beat yo black ass!"
He walked past the bush of Eros. The mockery of lovemaking commenced. He sucked his teeth and he spat and he reached for the lone cigarette sequestered between his right ear and hat and put it in the corner of his big nigger mouth. He struck a match against a metal pole planted in the ground haphazardly its original function unknown but its base reeking of piss. He could hear the piano now. Before him the brick house appeared, windows broken replaced by cardboard cutouts the light if the interior escaping and uncovering two negroes leaning against the wall and the bottle of rotgut they shared with fraternal enthusiasm.
"Ooh-weee if it ain't that peculiar nigger from down river. That's a mighty fine hat you's got over there, yessir!"
He reached for a coin in his pocket and flipped it towards the duo.
"There's be more where that's be coming form. Especially if you's fixin' to be shutting yo mouths"
"Yes massa! Oh-wee"
"Yes massa boss nigger!"
Their nigger teeth shone in the dull light. He gave the remnants of his half smoked cigarette to one of the men, then reached for the bottle and took a swig of the liquid. A nasty taste, but the burning sensation filling his lung made up for it. With 30 silver dollars he could wash away his guilt and then his debt to the proprietor of this gilded establishment and then he could by some new boots and then have them polished by one of them shoeshiner niggers up Main Street. With 30 dollars he could live like some tribal chieftain for a couple of days. He was coming up in this world. But at the end of the day, he was still a nigger. He was still the white man's burden.

[Anonymous No.22941938]

>>22941661
Publishers are only interested in writing that has good ROI, be it financial or acclaim. That YouTuber likely only got the attention of publishers because they were guaranteed a certain level of ROI from his in-built YouTube audience. It’s all a business. A book being published is not necessarily an indicator of quality.

Tons of shit is published solely because of one’s name or Monday

[Anonymous No.22941973]

I asked this in the worldbuilding general already, but it isnt purely worldbuilding so I'll ask again here:
What's the largest sailship that can reasonably be operated by two people and can cross an ocean? What would some pre-steam examples be?

[Anonymous No.22941980]

>>22941973
>and can cross an ocean?
Absolutely nothing unless it's breadth of a pond.

[Anonymous No.22941998]

>>22941980
There's plenty of modern sailcraft that crossed the ocean with just one person. There's madlads who did it in inflatable crafts with outboard motor, but still. most of the solo crossings seem to be katamarans and trimarans, but I was looking for monohulled ships.

[Anonymous No.22942007]

I wrote a novel, but it was far too ambitious. Editing it is proving impossible. This year I'm going to write as many words as possible (in less ambitious stories) and hopefully end up a competent writer. Is this sensible/have you tried it?

[Anonymous No.22942319]

What do you think?
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PKBcGtjNclxMoIp_HFcBfG1C4ZXm4Y3UIxd966rTpwA/

[Anonymous No.22942407]

>>22942319
>request access
I was going to read it too.

[Anonymous No.22942431]

>>22942407
S-Sorry, I'm not too used to docs.

[Anonymous No.22942434]

>>22942431
Neither am I, how the fuck do I upload through docs? Pastebin is ugly as sin.

[Anonymous No.22942438]

>>22942407
>>22942434
Fuck, try this link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PKBcGtjNclxMoIp_HFcBfG1C4ZXm4Y3UIxd966rTpwA/edit?usp=sharing

>how the fuck do I upload through docs
I made a new document there than coypasted the text.

[Anonymous No.22942710]

>>22941973
>largest sailship
Even huge clippers only had like eight or so sailors. Merchant ships always tried to get by with the least number of crew possible. So you might be surprised. Navy ships carried lots of men for fighting and weapons, so they had way more than actually needed.

The limit would be lifting the sails, anchors, or other really heavy things. The sort of task you need several guys turning a capstan or hauling a line together.

Square sails would be the worst because you have to actually go up into the rigging to work the sails. A junk rig would be way better because it can be worked from the deck.

There's an element of risk. In good weather, two people might be fine. But in a storm or something, they might not be able to handle the extra work.

[Anonymous No.22942890]

>>22941980
There are people who have rowed across the Atlantic solo. Multiple pair sailors.

[Anonymous No.22943200]

>>22942434
catbox.moe is a common alternative around here, and allows formatted text (e.g. pdf).

[Anonymous No.22943218]

>>22941973
The problem with only having two guys is that very often you will only really have one. One will be sleeping, or pumping out, or fixing something, or otherwise not involved in handling the boat, leaving the other to do everything solo, so a two man boat can't be that much bigger than a one man. I would say a 50 foot single masted lateen rigged open boat would be about the maximum manageable with a crew of two. Crossing oceans would be possible in such a boat, if pretty uncomfortable.

[Anonymous No.22943254]

>>22942434
>>22943200
Don't forget rentry.org

[Anonymous No.22943289]

>>22942710
>>22943218
these sound like solid pointers, thanks. I was thinking about a single masted one lanteen rigged anyway because I read that square sails are unsuited for changing winds, even if they are faaster that triangular sails.
Junk rigging sounds neato, but the culture I am going for is not very jinese inspired and a lanteen sail is much easier to describe with less words and easy to imagine. The culture is also not very far developped, sog aff rigging and multiple foresails would be unlikely, a lanteen sail is primitive enough. I am also intruiged by crab sails, but they seem hard to pull off without outliers or multihulls.

[Anonymous No.22943537]

Is it just me or you also see that every reader is a writer or wants to be a writer? It's almost as if there's more writers on the markets than there's readers to read all these books. Because everywhere I go, basically everybody is writing something or publishing a book. The competition for writers is insane, I don't know how average guys like me or yourselvs can stand out in this environment.

[Anonymous No.22943615]

>>22943537
Youre in the literature community, of course you'll see a ton of writers.
It's like turn of the 2000s when every gamer seemingly made their own mods hoping to launch a game studio, but that doesn't mean they didnt consume games themselves.

[Anonymous No.22943901]

This year is definitely the year.

[Anonymous No.22943959]

>>22941669
do you guys worry if you show your work here, it will get plagiarized?

[Anonymous No.22944025]

>>22941669
I hate my own writing so much. I hate myself. How do I make the pain stop? Drinking doesn't seem to help

[Anonymous No.22944049]

>>22944025
Take your depressive whining to >>>/lit/wwyom/

[Anonymous No.22944085]

mini-poem:

sometimes I get lost in the puddle of ideas and don't come out until the parasympathetic system acts elegantly with a knife between its teeth and sweat on its eyelashes and I end up with a skull dripping with absolute and synthetic superlatives caged in pre-masticated trigonometric shapes.

[Anonymous No.22944097]

Out of all the odd things he discovered whilst bushwhacking, these were the strangest: a mound of about 200 semen-encrusted socks hidden under a blue tarpaulin, the smell of which he described only as, quote, life-altering; the severed hand of a timberwright that was, surprisingly, left mostly uneaten by animals; an immovable and unopenable steel box, about one cubic foot in volume, that, when struck with a stick, produced a frail, witchy sounding scream, as if a damned soul was incarcerated therein; and a set of footprints he identified as belonging to an extant and hitherto unknown-to-science race of gigantopithecus (identified as such because he, a rationalist at heart, doesn't believe in superstitious crap like cryptids and sasquatch).

[Anonymous No.22944123]

>>22943537
Yea, but only something crazy like 1 in 100,000 actually finish their first draft. then of those, 1 in 100,000 edit it, then 1 in 100,000 are able to traditionally publish, then 1 in 100,000 of those see actual sales

[Anonymous No.22944134]

>>22944123

how sad.

i hope to be recognized when my body is rotting in a coffin.

[Anonymous No.22944181]

>>22941718
Bump

[Anonymous No.22944190]

>>22944181

start writing poetry.

life will get better.

[Anonymous No.22944193]

>>22944134
I find making sales while still alive preferable, but you do you.

[Anonymous No.22944195]

>>22944193

this way it doesn't have the secular charm of writing.

[Anonymous No.22944208]

>>22941669
I enjoy ASMR.

The popular mainstream ones like Gibi don't seem to do anything for me and I don't understand why they have millions of followers. But man, when you find the ones where it actually feels like a bitch breathing down your neck or tickling your ears as they talk, it's amazing.

[Anonymous No.22944212]

I need to keep my writing a secret until I have something to show. I can't let my family know im trying this, it will ruin everything. it needs to be a secret. I need to keep it a secret to avoid embarrassment when I inevitably give up.

[Anonymous No.22944230]

>>22942007
I worry I'll end up like this. Tips to keep things concise? Every scene is taking more words than I'd originally guessed and/or planned.
>>22943537
It's more than just readers, I'm pretty sure. People that hardly touch books, physically or via a screen often have this idea that writing a book would be quite easy. I would know, I have had three IRL friends describe books they'd "planned" to write.
I was just like them until recently, but I did put 16k words into trying to write one of my friend's novel ideas for him. Alas I lost interest. This shit's hard, man.
>>22944123
Is it actually that severe? I wonder how many don't even start the thing. I'd wager that the biggest filter is writing the first draft, because after that you're pretty committed. Regardless, I must defy the odds.

[Anonymous No.22944232]

>>22944230
Oh, damn it. I forgot to give the update on my own work. I'm too used to posting on my phone, and keep messing things up.
>>22940051
I have broken 10,000 words! In theory, that means I'm about one eighth of the way through this draft, but we'll see how things pan out. The plot's finally getting going (Characters finally left the town they start in), and that might be too slow, but again, that decision will be made when I'm editing this. The words were just not coming today, but I squeezed 1,000 of them out anyway!

[Anonymous No.22944329]

It is 2024, you cannot write well and make sense to a readership at once, forget it. Be realistic. Multimedia is Fuhrer of this Reich. Serioud books are now objects purchased to self-signify meaning, not words to be read. Prepare for the era of gold-leafed 500 page marbled tomes with hand stitching and impressive prints (sorry, no engraving) all for 250 US dollars.

[Anonymous No.22944348]

As half the world surely knows by now, he began work onMy Struggle, which was published in six volumes between 2009 and 2011, as a means of overcoming writer’s block: “When I first started writing, I was incredibly self-conscious and self-critical. I somehow published two novels, but then I had five years of not being able to write. I had a set of pages that were just beginnings, beginnings, beginnings. WithMy Struggle, I learned to lower the threshold; to accept whatever comes; to continue and not to throw away anything; and to do it every day.” The process, he insists, isn’t any different even now, for all that his most recent books are fiction, with multiple narrative voices: “The writing is the same; you just put yourself in a different place. There are so many things I’m interested in.”
Whatever his subject, he works for five hours a day, and then he stops: “I’m the most privileged and lucky writer in the world. My editor [Geir Gulliksen] has done the job for 25 years now, and every day, I write my three pages, and I send them to him, and the next morning, I get a reply – and it has been like that from the beginning.” But if he isn’t interested in changing or rewriting anything, what on earth does an editor do? He struggles to explain it to me. “It’s not about correcting things. It’s more like an ongoing conversation.” What would happen if Gulliksen was to say he’d had enough? That he wanted to make a bid for freedom? Again, he smiles. “He could do that if he wants to.” And? Would he be able to write without him? “Yes, I think so.” From his tone, I can’t tell whether he’s confident or uncertain.

[Anonymous No.22944609]

>>22944329
you need to make a name for yourself first, then you can get gay. otherwise why should anyone expend the energy to get on your wavelength?

[Anonymous No.22944760]

So I have a story with a character who basically sails around extorting pirates.

He's a free sailor with no allegiance to anyone but himself. He went around annihilating pirate groups until they surrendered tribute to him, until eventually all the pirates in a region paid tribute to him whenever he appears. Sometimes some of them get uppity and he has to put them down, but usually not.

He doesn't consider himself the leader of the pirates (if they get attacked he gives 0 fucks) and he doesn't attack any vessels that are owned by the main powers of the world.

However I wanted him to have a negative and frightening reputation. What might be some reasons the main naval powers dislike his actions?

[Anonymous No.22944816]

>>22944230
>Is it actually that severe? I wonder how many don't even start the thing. I'd wager that the biggest filter is writing the first draft, because after that you're pretty committed. Regardless, I must defy the odds.
Just go to reddit writing and the "share your work" shut. Most works are under 1000k words

[Anonymous No.22944849]

>start writing a short story
>peter out, have no ideas, cant take it anywhere

ok i guess this one's a clunker

[Anonymous No.22944850]

iliazo.wordpress.com

[Anonymous No.22944859]

>>22943537
I'm glad most of those writers are actually hot garbage that will never amount to anything except self insert fanfics.

[Anonymous No.22944967]

>>22944849
what's the idea then?

[Anonymous No.22945031]

>>22944967
astronaut witnesses nuclear apocalypse on earth and has a radio conversation with the last survivor on the ISS as his ship shoots past her into deep space. fine idea but it just doesnt work in practice, probably because most of it would be dialogue which is my weakest area

[Anonymous No.22945099]

>>22944760
Maybe they are mad he also whoops their privateers? Or just butthurt because piracy was dubbed an unsolvable problem, then he shows up and dominates them all by himself thus humiliating the main powers?

[Anonymous No.22945144]

>>22941669
me behind the girl in the middle right

[Anonymous No.22945270]

>>22944123
You are very bad at math. You're claiming 1 in 100,000 finish their first draft, 1 in 10 billion edit it, 1 in a quadrillion tradpub, then 1 in 100 quintillion see actual sales. There are only 8 billion people in the world. By your brainless accounting, no one has ever sold a book. Take your brainless idiocy elsewhere.

[Anonymous No.22945274]

>>22944760
• They disapprove of his being a vigilante.
• They want to return the pirate treasure to its rightful owners.
• They wanted the pirate treasure for themselves.

[Anonymous No.22945643]

>>22944230
Anon who's trying to write as many words as possible here. I'm a natural underwriter, I don't have the problem of too many words. To be honest I can't imagine it, my first drafts are just hurrying through plot and character arcs without any meat on them.

[Anonymous No.22945652]

>>22943537
Writing a book has prestige and is something a single person can do without any assistance. No wonder people want to do it.

[Anonymous No.22945849]

>ADHD meds ran out
>Prescription isn't going to be filled
>Deadline coming in
What do bros

[Anonymous No.22945863]

>>22945849
https://youtube.com/shorts/kyPzl8M4yCE?si=AKVTmN4aRmym987d

[Vedavyasa No.22946267]

>>22941669
>bed time
>mind automatically thinks of dismembering and murdering in the most inhumane, barbaric way the cunt whore who once in an irl workshop rudely called my story “unpublishable“

[Anonymous No.22946272]

>>22946267
Dae?

[Anonymous No.22946301]

>>22946267
if you're that easily derailed by criticism, you're NGMI as a writer

[Anonymous No.22946322]

>>22946301
I am simply sharing my desire for vengeance and immensely violent retribution. No need to get your knickers up your titties

[Anonymous No.22946346]

>>22946301
nice hand

[Anonymous No.22946471]

>>22946322
>i'm just sharing
then get off 4chan and go to the lilith festival or something

[Anonymous No.22946510]

In my story, women somtimes flirt with the male lead in front of the female lead. She feels a twinge of jealousy whenever it happens, but I can't write the reverse. The idea of him competing with others for her makes me sick. I'm a huge hypocrite but it's my story.

[Anonymous No.22946620]

>>22945031
This is already a movie

[Anonymous No.22946660]

>>22946510
>The idea of him competing with others for her makes me sick
Is it because your male lead is a limp wristed faggot with no spine or personality meant to cater to self-inserters, and the idea of any woman preferring him when any alternative is available breaks the suspension of disbelief?
If so, you have a problem. Self-inserters are not real people and neither is your male lead. Change him into someone that can keep a hold on the female lead's interest on his own merit.

[Anonymous No.22946680]

>>22946660
Kinda yeah. He's tall, muscular, handsome, and a great fighter but massively insecure and nervous around women. It's meant to be a power fantasy/somewhat of a self-insert.

[Anonymous No.22946721]

>>22946510
That's too haremy.

I have my male lead get his heart broken by his childhood friend and told she never considered him a friend and then he gets groomed by an older woman who totally mogs the childhood friend

Then the guy the childhood friend likes breaks up with her and her old friend wants nothing to do with her and considers groomer to be his true love.

[Anonymous No.22946794]

Pic related is from something I've been writing for my own enjoyment at the end of everyday for the past week or so. I know it's poorly written, as I wrote it like how one eats junk food.
When writing it I would gen ai images alongside it for my own pleasure. Looking back on it afterwards made me think of adding some image decorating the sides like what monks would do in olden times.
So do the images make it more enjoyable to read? Also how should I improve this?

[Anonymous No.22946833]

>>22946794
Saved. The illustrations in the margin are called "illuminations," by the way. My advice to you is to ditch the longform novel and approach it more like a short story. Condense it way down. Write a chapter like it's a greentext story. This story is inherently comical but you write it completely straight. It doesnt fit, in my opinion. It'll make it easier to read.

[Anonymous No.22946844]

>>22941669
So, I finished my novel and revised it s gorillion times. What do? Where to go? Who do I kill?

[Anonymous No.22947073]

>>22946844

Post a sample

[Anonymous No.22947232]

>>22946680
As you said, it's your story. Do whatever you like.
But if his story is that he's a gigachad from the get-go and he just needs to realize it, that's fucking cringe bro.
Bonis point if he's super patient, selfless, caring and brave (when looking out for his friends but never to stand up for hilself) aka "nice" and that's the reason all the girls are in love with him. That shit's basic bro

[Anonymous No.22947267]

shitty notes poetry time
waddaya think?
Trynna write at least one poem a day

[Anonymous No.22947349]

>>22946620
WHat movie

[Anonymous No.22947483]

>>22947232
Yes to all those things. He gets over his insecurities and realizes he is worthy of love, friendship, family, etc. Women love how noble/caring/protective he is despite being an awkward weirdo at times.

[Anonymous No.22947612]

You fine gents got any interesting philosophical prompts for a medieval fantasy setting?

Heres a few I worked with:
>morality of slavery (probably doesnt go the way you'd assume)
>the importance of honor
>the flaws of democratic rule
>/crowd behavior

and many more.
I wouldve done one on religion, but it doesnt fit the setting obviously.

[Anonymous No.22947679]

>working on short story, 3rd person limitedish
>pov character comes off as (somewhat rightfully) creepy but not in the way I wanted
>change pov
>fixes everything and story is 100x better for it
I did not expect that to be so profound. It was like going from a half written draft to something I'd actually read.

[Anonymous No.22947909]

>>22947483
Personally I find that type of protagonist boring, condescending and masturbatory, but there's clearly an audience for that type of story so rock on self-insert bro.
I'd still advise you to try and give him a flaw. Take kazuma, from kono suba for example, dude's an asshole and all the girls give him shit for it but he's still the most (if not the only) likeable isekai/harem protagonist.

[Anonymous No.22947973]

Didn't write on any of the project's I have going so I threw together a quick 10er. Unedited. enjoy.

Used to be, if you could do any math at all, you'd do your little clothes folding exercises up in Great Lakes, then shuttle your ass out to Norfolk so you could learn a bit more math. And by the time you were done, you'd have a nice little signing bonus waiting for you if you sat on one of those six story underwater motels for about six months. That was back when you couldn't touch a ship until you've had at least one DUI.
Four hundred Macallan's later and you find out the Chinese made a nuclear jet. One of a kind they say, if you believe that shit. Hasn't landed in years. Only reason it ain't been shot down cause it belongs to entertainment royalty.
Scientists are sayin that jet alone takes us past the 3 degree armagegeddon and well up into the 4.5-5.5 range. By 2150 we're gonna look like Venus. Everything evaporates. Infrared gets in and gets trapped by water vapor. Average temperature goes up to about 350 American degrees. Nothing survives that.
They started callin her The Siren after that jet didn't land for a year.
Her fans, "Swifties" they call em, responded to worries that her nuclear jet was wrecking the planet by singing in unison "trouble trouble".

[Anonymous No.22947985]

>>22947612
>morality of slavery (probably doesnt go the way you'd assume)
Well I am assuming everyone in medieval thinks it's cool. Am I wrong and you wrote something gay about it?

[Anonymous No.22948013]

>>22947985
We're on /lit/ so I assume he will argue Aristotle's position

[Anonymous No.22948231]

A part of me wants to be popular, very very popular. Might be chasing a hit.
Although I worry when I practice, people could cancel me. Anons, if I made erotica and porn based on real life known individuals, how fucked am i should that ever be known?

[Anonymous No.22948360]

>>22947612
I like to come up with the back cover text when writing new ideas. Your post and the sentence about honor made me think of something.
>A bandit is getting old and can’t keep up with the young ones of today, thinks they lack respect for the craft and are unnecessarily brutal nowadays - he wants to go straight.
>His old life won’t let him catch a break: a lawman or former associate might clock him any day, used to living in the fringes of society, he finds it hard to trust the cityfolk around him, he can’t resist the urge to steal petty items, he is quick to start fights when disrespected and cheats/cuts corners almost as a reflex.
>This fish out of water that must learn how to behave in polite company, how to make a living with honor, the hard way, and deal with his long repressed emotions and longing for steady company that doesn’t want to rob him as soon as he falls asleep.
Sounds like a good pitch?

[Anonymous No.22948409]

The crescent moon rose in the sky as the sun fell, and the lights from the high-rise buildings came to life.

Cars drove up and down the street.

Footsteps of people drummed on the sidewalk.

Digital billboards on the skyscrapers gave off a light bluish glare.

But for me, Johnny Massachusetts, this place was an absolute hell-hole. Pushing these slowpokes out of my way, I couldn't afford to stop. It wasn't because I was late for an important meeting or showing up for some broad; it was something stupid; I pissed off a bunch of bikers.

It had been a long story. Thirty minutes ago, or I think it was thirty minutes, or maybe twenty minutes ago, it didn't matter. I'd walked into a restaurant and ordered hot wings, a burger, and some Coke. Munching on my burger, I noticed a guy.

Slick back black hair.

A goatee that looked like it belonged to a gay guy.

Leather jacket.

He was paler than paper. I couldn't stand looking at him. He walked to a table near the entrance and talked to some girl. This girl looked like she got into high school, and he made kissing sounds at her. To put this out in the open, I'm no comic book hero, but god fucking damn it — someone needed to do something. Dragging my ass out of my seat, I walked over to the piece of shit to give him a piece of mind.

And well, it ended in fucking rainbows and candy no, that wasn't what happened. From behind, I heard a bunch of men laughing. Glancing, I could only assume it was his pals, and they didn't look happy.

[Anonymous No.22948530]

All my ideas are bad and everything I want to write is dumb

[Anonymous No.22948568]

>>22948530
My diary desu. Oh and I have cancer

[Anonymous No.22948582]

>>22948409
The guy sounds like a faggot and I want him to get his face smashed in, so good job if that was your intention.

[Anonymous No.22948689]

>>22941973
Polynesians could said between the islands in the Pacific on tiny ships with crews of five or six.

[Anonymous No.22948798]

>>22948568
GL

[Anonymous No.22948885]

Why do I keep getting published and winning literary awards? Wanna save some for you bros

[Anonymous No.22948956]

Thoughts?

[Anonymous No.22948967]

>>22948956
You want overview thoughts or proofreading thoughts?

[Anonymous No.22948976]

>>22948967
Overview, thanks! I know there are mistakes since English is not my native language

[Anonymous No.22948978]

>>22948956
I have no idea what's going on, but it feels kind of gay

[Anonymous No.22948981]

>>22948013
>>22947985
kind of. I have multiple characters so they all have different views, the monks for example is an idealist

the character I agree with however recognizes that any civilisation needs people to do tthings nobody wants to do, and you might as well make them slaves.

>>22948360
its a take on a character I havent seen explored, I think its interesting. Id say however if this was the only main character it would probably get worn out after awhile, but it could work well if theres multiple characters with different struggles.

[Anonymous No.22948986]

>>22948978
It kinda is

[Anonymous No.22949000]

>>22946680
>He's tall, muscular, handsome, and a great fighter but massively insecure and nervous around women
See, here is the problem: Attractive people tend to get better treatment by their human group, and unless yours is an ugly duckling type of story and your guy went from quasimodo to brad pitt overnight, he would have been tall, muscular and handsome for most of his life.
There is also him being a great fighter. Skill comes from talent, training and experience. Maybe your dude goes by on talent alone (please don't do this), or maybe he has a mix of technique and combat experience. If this is the case, your guy has already fought other people and came out on top, given that he is, as you said, a GREAT fighter. Such a person would be accustomed to dominating other people.
Do you see where I am going with this? The male lead you described is a dude that should have been getting validation from an early age and that KNOWS he can shove you inside a trash can if push come to shove. This person has no logical reason for being insecure, it is incoherent with his description.

[Anonymous No.22949178]

>>22948231
anyone?

[Anonymous No.22949182]

>>22949178

[Anonymous No.22949199]

>>22949182
HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA
That's fair, a sound perspective on the issue. Well, if they are big names at least I doubt they would mind porn of them.

[Anonymous No.22949209]

>>22948582
Thanks!

[Anonymous No.22949338]

>>22948956
You're writing in third person limited, but not really capturing the thoughts or voice of a teenage boy. It's too distant and wistful.

[Anonymous No.22949344]

I did my daily wroitin' brahs, and it was all about breakfast.

[Anonymous No.22949470]

>tfw got a bunch of characters and events sorta planned out but can't really figure out a central question that ties it all together.
Literally putting the cart before the horse. All I've thought out is fucking worthless random noise

[Anonymous No.22949561]

>>22949470
Sounds like you've got a whole set of characters and events that you can cut out and place anywhere where it makes sense.

[Anonymous No.22949702]

Do you guys have any resources for writing plays and such?

[Anonymous No.22949771]

any good links to authors talking about their writing process. I'm starting The Pale King, and reading about DFWs process is pretty interesting.

[Anonymous No.22950129]

>>22949771
The OP should have some stuff like that. https://pastebin.com/nFxdiQvC

[Anonymous No.22950157]

>>22949182
I got fired from my job taking this advice. Don't do it. In today's world, you have to be extra careful about what you write.

[Anonymous No.22950246]

Trying my hand at some cosmic horror.

>>22949771

I'd honestly like to learn more about DFW's writing process I don't think he actually talks much about his writing routine. He always struck me as someone who just wrote copious amounts once getting in a good groove not stoppin until everything was perfected.

>>22949470

Just have everything be a coincence everyone loves coincedences. It worked for Dickens

[Anonymous No.22950250]

>>22941669
That pic says a lot about our society

[Anonymous No.22950262]

>>22950250
It made me think.
I should beat my bitch of a wife and spend my money on restoring a car from the 50s.

[Anonymous No.22950268]

>>22950250
>>22950262

Everyone always asks where is Bigfoot but nobody asks "how is bigfoot"?

[Anonymous No.22950312]

>>22950268
Bigfoot stole cattle from me in 76, back in Boulder, Colorado. I don't care how he is, if I see him I'll shoot him!

[Anonymous No.22950333]

I need to write a main quest line for a video game but can only think in arcs. I can successfully think about the begining of each arcs, the point of change, the big fight and the resolution. But everything in-between who will justify the list of quests before the big events, I have nothing but the void in my mind.
Any tips on that type of writing?

[Anonymous No.22950447]

>>22948956

The name Sissi is an unfortunate choice. It sounds just like sissy which makes it distracting. If you name another character Faggut it would be even worse.

[Anonymous No.22950586]

Curious about people's daily word count targets. Personally, I try to hit 300 words a day. It's not a lot but I'm a moron and I work full time so that is about the best I can do. Do you have a certain daily word count /wg/? and if you do what is it?

[Anonymous No.22950609]

>>22941718
Draw a line in a page, divide it into three. That is your map. You want to take the shortest route to the end without skipping, thus being objective and moving the plot

[Anonymous No.22950832]

You smell the flowers.
"HAAAPHMMHMH".
Simple flowers. White petals, many of them. Could be counted, you needn't. When did we stop counting the petals, and plucking them off. Another inhale - deeper than the last. The pollen enters your nose, irritating your insides much like a snorted line of black pepper. You hold the bunch. Why don't they escape your hands ? You look at the field around you - green. You look down at your flowers: white with a yellow core.
You wonder what meaning that holds.
Why are the flowers white with a yellow core. "Do such flowers even exist ?" you think to yourself.
Alas, the flowers do exist, for they exist in your mind - isn't that how everything else exists to you ?

Your irritated nose leaks. Leaking not thick mucus, but his watery cousin. Without a second thought, you drop the flowers, close your fist and punch the air in front of you.
You bring your arm back, and with a brush of the back of your palm you wipe the underside of your tooter clean.

Yet your hand feels like a rake. And your fingers, oh they feel like sticks. For without flowers all that's left are the stems, and without stems, all that's left are the bones.

[Anonymous No.22950896]

I won a short story contest in a small discord server full of teens mostly writing fanfics and genreshit
where do i go from here

[Anonymous No.22950900]

>>22950896
go back

[Anonymous No.22951172]

I worry that its over
>live in le banana republic techno wannabe 1984
>worried false charges might end my kino attempts
>cant even write about it cuz its a free ticket to the same fate

[Anonymous No.22951256]

>>22950246
>pioneered...no one else was ready to investigate.
>finds and developments
>dressed fairly casually...and dressing almost informally
>the general mainstream layman
>height of his peak popularity
>ease and finesse
>become captivated and listen with the utmost attention...taking in and paying attention...
>study under him and be in his presence
>obsolete and outdated
>thoroughly going over and double checking and even triple checking...
>clearly and coherently

[Anonymous No.22951321]

>>22946794
Really cool anon, the story and art make a good fit, 8.5/10

[Anonymous No.22951397]

>>22950312
Just because you gave some other human some green pieces of paper to call your ranch "yours" doesn't mean it was. You stole it from Bigfoot. So they were more his cattle than yours.

[Anonymous No.22951521]

>>22950832
>2nd Person
why?

[Anonymous No.22951577]

>>22948360
hey that actually sounds interesting.

[Anonymous No.22951817]

>>22950586
2000, but that's because this is my job. honestly can't imagine working fulltime and writing. seems so draining

[Anonymous No.22952174]

>someone bought my book I released 2 years ago
>no advertising since
Wow.

[Anonymous No.22952196]

Gonna get shit for this, but how do I actually sit down and write? Is there a way to reduce my anxiety about doing it?

I've always wanted to be a writer. I spend a lot of time planning stories I want to tell, but something about putting it to paper scares me. Maybe it's the fear that I won't be skilled enough to bring my ideas to life in the way I want or the way that I've built up the importance of being a writer in my head. It's one of the only things I've ever enjoyed doing.

I think I care too much about it.

[Anonymous No.22952211]

>>22952196
you sit down and put your hands on the keyboard and start typing away. You already wrote about 50 words asking this question, just do that on a word document.

[Anonymous No.22952234]

>>22944760
maybe he was formerly a member of their navy but deserted? maybe they disapprove of his savage and violent methods to put down unruly pirates, considered extreme even to them? maybe both?

[Anonymous No.22952239]

>>22952196
Unironically greentext it under the premise of notekeeping, don't think of it as writing. Greentexting cuts away everything that isn't pure story so you don't have to worry about literally anything else. While greentexting does require some kind of skill it's much easier to see what you need to work on.
Once you do that take every line of green and turn it into a paragraph.
Now you've got a story.

[Anonymous No.22952417]

>>22952234
well he was fostered in their home, but he is not a member of their navy or anything. However his people are traditionally a mountain dwelling folk and don't sail much typically.

Sort of like they feel he used the skills they taught him while fostered to line his own pockets?

[Anonymous No.22952509]

>>22942007
You should not write as many words as you can. Do not write for the words. Write for the thoughts. This is true of great novels and popular slop alike.

Develop a system for consistent writing. Learn about concocting story ideas, refining them, exploring them, and then outlining them for a first draft. Learn to write things knowing that you need to produce a slab of clay for molding in later drafts. Learn about the big picture editing down to the minor details that make every line count.

Do that and you will have a glorious level of output because published work are the most important words you will ever write.

[Anonymous No.22952516]

>>22943537
The nominal barrier for entry is low. You only need a word processor and somewhere to post your work. That alone is a big filter. Lots of readers also take up trying to write eventually but far more of them will just be failed writers, but still readers.

[Anonymous No.22952524]

>>22943959
Honestly yes. That's why you should not publish too much of your work here or anywhere.

Look at it like a big, industrial construction project. A lot of those projects hire multiple shops to do the same work but they work on different jobs. The point is that no one has the full picture so no one can snitch.

Do the same with your writing. If you want people to look at your work, don't share all of it everywhere you go. Share parts of it at different places.

[Anonymous No.22952532]

>>22944232
Just write it all out. You will likely figure out ways to cut down on everything. That's fine. You need to get the raw stuff out of your head first. The Statue of David was a block of marble that had to mined and cut into a slab before Michelangelo every hammered his first chisel.

[Anonymous No.22952543]

>>22945031
Figure out what the point of your stories are. You may have images and sequences in mind but if there is no resolution, no sense of closure that you have in mind then you only have ideas, not stories.

[Anonymous No.22952545]

>>22952524
do you have evidence of this ever happening?

[Anonymous No.22952550]

>>22943959
Not really.
I've rarely posted more than excerpts, but I'm not that worried.
The most I expect people will get are ideas, which while important, don't matter much compared to someones actual ability to write out those ideas well.
Granted, someone could also just read my story and get the same ideas, since I'm in the pastebin of /wg/ writers.

[Anonymous No.22952553]

>>22948231
“You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.”
- Abraham Lincoln

Don't go for the moon mission. Just get the satellite into space and make it orbit the planet. Or something.

The point is that you may wish that you make millions but what if only one of your books is that popular but the next is a total dud? On the other hand, what if you had a mere fraction of that in loyal fans? What if you had 1k or even 10k loyal fans who will read everything you release? What if you charged $10 per release? That's $10k-$100k with that many followers. What if you did that year over year with either a popular series or they just love your work no matter what?

Take the middle road fren.

[Anonymous No.22952563]

>>22952196
Get on your phone and open up a note app. Write down one sentence related to a story idea you have. Now put it down. Make that sentence count because now you cannot write for the rest of the day. No cheating.

Do it the next day. One sentence, on your phone, same story. No cheating. Do that for two weeks.

After two weeks, you are allowed TWO sentences. Same story. Make them count. No cheating.

Every two weeks, add one sentence. Keep working at the same story. Make every sentence count. No cheating.

[Anonymous No.22952565]

>>22952545
I do not. I just have the same fears is all. I would rather prevent it from happening than regret not having prevented it from happening.

[Anonymous No.22952786]

>>22952196
>the fear that I won't be skilled enough to bring my ideas to life in the way I want
You won't, at first, but you'll never get there without writing some amateurish slop so you might as well get it out of the way

>the way that I've built up the importance of being a writer in my head
I don't see what would be the point of being a writer who doesn't write, so this one answers itself.

Just try not to be too disheartened by how much you initially suck and focus on the positives. If your writing is imaginative and inherently attempts things that are beyond your current skill level, it is improving. Even if it doesn't feel that way.

[Anonymous No.22952823]

So I've been reading a pretty rubbish book recently - a debut effort by a genre author who never really made it in the end - that I found in a charity shop while looking for something else, and I think reading it is actually weirdly enlightening.
The biggest thing I've noticed so far is the pacing. The whole thing has completely flat pacing. Just chapter after chapter in a row dealing with wildly disparate settings and events all going by at exactly the same rate because that's all the author knew how to write. It makes it just astonishingly dull to read. Nothing stands out from the rest so significant scenes just fall completely flat. What I'm getting from it is that the need for variety is paramount for reader engagement, and that's not just limited to pacing. It's style, prose, and imagery too. Everything, in fact. If you want anything in the story to have an impact, it has to stand out.

[Anonymous No.22952831]

>>22952823
Thank you for your insights, Captain Obvious

[Anonymous No.22952846]

>>22952823
Yep. Consuming bad media for critical analysis is underrated. You can learn a lot about good media by seeing how they simply avoid being bad.

[Anonymous No.22953010]

>>22943959
No one will plagiarize your work here. If you post to Royal Road or some similar platform, bots might scrape the chapters and upload them to some Chinese aggregator site. But that's automatic, it's not like anyone is reading it and deciding to steal your precious ideas.

[Anonymous No.22953289]

>put first person story in third person
>made original pov character the object of the story
>he turns into a massive piece of shit
>story gets very dark and bittersweet
>ending isn't going to be happy
>character is based heavily on me like all first person characters inevitably are
Damn....

[Anonymous No.22953311]

E.B White has the number of every talking head on youtube and I need to stop writing like that. Hold me bros.

[Anonymous No.22953330]

where do I start on leveling up my writing?

[Anonymous No.22953334]

>>22953330
The utmost basics.

[Anonymous No.22953343]

>>22953334
Yuck

[Anonymous No.22953351]

>>22953343
Strunk and Charlotte's Web each spend an entire chapter on how to level up your writing outside of punctuation and proper use of words. You have to know what good taste and proper form is before masturbating in the street if you want the act to mean anything.

[Anonymous No.22953399]

>>22951172
Excuse, is there supposed to be a message under all that fucking zoomerspeak?

[Anonymous No.22953404]

>>22948956
it is very homosexual

[Anonymous No.22953513]

Got this for christmas and it's helped me a bunch with my writing. Writing by hand feels a lot more "immediate" than typing, and imo more enjoyable.
It's also easier to progress when I'd have to physically erase a paragraph or page I'm unhappy with instread of just selecting it and pressing delete.
Only problem is handwriting recognition. It's barely legible as is, and most available services struggle with it. Currently I'm trying this: https://readcoop.eu/transkribus/
because it's
>AI
driven, but early results have been disappointing so far.
Thank you for reading my blog.

[Anonymous No.22953537]

>>22952417
How does the navy feel about the mountain dwelling people? Do they look down on them as backward hillbillies? Dangerous savages?

Maybe the fear comes from him being a dangerous mountain dweller who has learned the ways of the Navy, making him dually dangerous?

[Anonymous No.22953545]

>>22952509
any suggestions for learning to concoct/refine/explore story ideas? where could I learn this?

[Anonymous No.22953556]

>>22942007
Want me to edit it for you?

[Anonymous No.22953639]

>>22951172
Try moving out of r*ssia.

[Anonymous No.22953977]

>>22952196
I also had this problem. My solution was realizing that all first drafts are terrible and no matter how shit my writing actually was I had as much time as I wanted to go back and edit it until it was good. The important thing is getting words on the page, once that's done you should worry about quality but not before

[Anonymous No.22954465]

>>22953639
Funny. From his description I assumed the UK.

[Anonymous No.22954533]

>>22953537
the mountainfolk are a beastlike people that can transform into a fullbeast form, based them off the demons of journey to the west

they have not interacted much with them and feel fear or scorn for the most part

he was fostered as a part of a military alliance and for him to learn more about the humans

[Anonymous No.22954797]

>>22954533
Maybe prejudice about transforming mountain men and fear that this particular guy has learned the secrets of the navy, something that they could hope to use against these beastmen if relationships got bad? Now there's a beastman that knows how to sail and it going around subjugating pirates and shit. Maybe they fear he will lead a united pirate army against them?

[Anonymous No.22954950]

Are there any general do's and don'ts when it comes to third person limited? I have two characters and I don't need to be in both their heads but it would help if I were, yet it feels wrong to write and a little odd to read. It's a short story so I don't want to do too much at once but the things I need to show aren't visible, so it's either pingponging or have an interlude following the other character around.

[Anonymous No.22955086]

What's the method for writing a House of Leaves style story?
>work inwards then out: navidson > Zampano > Truant
>out then in: Truant > Zampano > Navidson
Part of me thinks the former would be easier narration wise, but the latter's better for obscuring the themes and secrets.

[Anonymous No.22955106]

>>22955086
It's such a clusterfuck that I'd imagine you write the core story to some level of completion, then fuck around with the outer two together while editing everything together towards an emergent goal. A goal that probably won't make itself clear until you're way too deep to fix anything if you try to do it from the outside in.

[Anonymous No.22955234]

Going to write a 12,000 paged unfinished stream of conscious Bigfoot postmodern novel about a logger in the Alaskan wilderness who spots one while on the job and his whole sense of reality begins to crumble afterwards blurring what is real and what is not real

[Anonymous No.22955510]

>>22952823
So what book was it?

[Anonymous No.22955514]

>>22953334

>strunk and white

Remember my linguistics professor making fun of this book. Prescriptivism is for babies.

[Anonymous No.22955523]

>>22953639
>>22954465
Its a latin american country

[Anonymous No.22955610]

>>22955514
So what did your professor suggest instead?

[Anonymous No.22955617]

>>22954950
The big one is to not "head hop." Be clear about each chapter's POV and find ways to convey the behaviors of other characters through the chosen POV.

[Anonymous No.22955651]

>>22953545
Carry a pen and notepad around with you everywhere you go. Write your ideas down as they come to you. Do this on a regular basis. Once in a while, review your ideas. Your probably going to use a computer to do your actual writing so type up all of your ideas into either separate notes or one document - whatever works for you.

Expand and explore your ideas by thinking "What if?" Follow through on ideas with logic. Figure out what kinds of changes to the real world would be implied by your ideas. What kinds of conflicts could they create? Think of what kinds of characters could be involved. Try different character ideas out as well, see which ones appeal to you the most.

As you do this, some ideas will develop farther than others. You likely will gain more interest in these ideas through creative momentum. Keep developing these ideas with more realized settings, characters, conflicts, and themes that could emerge. Develop that further by envisioning a final takeaway, a conclusion, a resolution to conflict. Now you can figure out a proper beginning to set the story up. Then you can use cause and effect to make your characters drive the story towards either your planned ending or an ending that organically emerged and rings even more true. Before you know it you have an outline and a holistic vision of your story. Use that to guide you as your word your first draft.

[Anonymous No.22955705]

I only write for myself and a handful of internet friends, but I often vacillate between 'this is decent' and 'this is total garbage and I should banish it to the recycle bin'.

[Anonymous No.22955798]

>>22955617
That's the term I was trying to remember to not do, thanks. The more I've written and outlined, the less I need to but, fuck, it's either that, making it into a faggy letter, or having some third party come in with all this secret knowledge for no reason other than sometimes life works that way. I'm close to being able to eliminate it entirely and let context take over but there's a nagging issue I'm going to have to do something with.

[Anonymous No.22955815]

>>22955705
That's normal.

[Anonymous No.22955819]

I had kind of a crazy idea that I mulled over while listening to Mastery by Robert Greene. Humans mostly learn through observation and then mimicry and internalizing the observations of watching other people right? That's generally how apprenticeship works and learning from people older than you and a ton of other things. I think through reading that's partly what we're doing, though I think its only a part of the learning process.

I'm wondering if you could learn more by picking an author you like and replicating their work chapter by chapter in your own words. As your going through keep a book of observations and thoughts that you have while you're working through it. You won't be stumped for what to write, that's a separate creative muscle you'll have to exercise, but I've literally never heard anyone talk about doing something like this. Yet as a concept it exists in a lot of other forms of learning. I'm going to try it out regardless of what people say here because I think its worth it as an exercise but I'd like to hear peoples thoughts.

The main things I'd like to focus on are syntax, vocabulary, prose in general, and point of view. Character voice would also be a good thing to consider.

[Anonymous No.22955839]

>>22954797
>Maybe prejudice about transforming mountain men and fear that this particular guy has learned the secrets of the navy, something that they could hope to use against these beastmen if relationships got bad? Now there's a beastman that knows how to sail and it going around subjugating pirates and shit. Maybe they fear he will lead a united pirate army against them?
That's a good idea. Thanks!

[Anonymous No.22955840]

>>22955819
It's how most writers, both great and total hacks, start off. Either by copying the style and story of something great or working from the more metaphysical, thematic elements. I'm doing it right now with an author or two I'd rather not disclose, plus some greek drama. I didn't intend to but I keep referring to things I like to see how they handle way more dialog than I'm used to and conflict I'm not usually thinking about.

[Anonymous No.22955863]

does your family know you write? I feel I should keep it a secret until I have written something worth sharing, otherwise I would be stung with 'how's the novel coming nicky' every time I see them. yeah ill keep it to myself for awhile so I don't ruin it.

[Anonymous No.22955884]

>>22955863
One sister knows, my parents, and one of my brothers knows that I write.
My sister asked for a link and I texted it to her, but she's not said anything about it since, either because we haven't had the chance to talk, or because she only asked for the link as a gesture.
My brother hasn't read it and doesn't intend to.
He basically only watches anime, which I gave up years ago, and instead I sometimes read manga.
My mother has expressed interested in reading it once, but I know that she wouldn't like it and I dropped the subject, hoping she wouldn't read it.
My father is a little more hands off, and other than asking if I'm still writing and how much I'm making, he hasn't asked to actually read it.

[Anonymous No.22955903]

>>22955884
yeah nobody in my family reads anyway, so they wouldn't get it. damn, it's depressing they don't read. whateva.

[Anonymous No.22955944]

>>22955903
My story is partly an outlet for me, so I don't really feel comfortable bearing my soul like that to people I actually know and I'm glad that they don't read it.
The main character is manic, often falling into depression or homicidal rage depending on what's happening, he's also lonely, dependent on others emotionally even though he can do things on his own just fine.
I myself have anger issues, and though I'm past being suicidal, I'm still prone to depression due to my physical heal issues, and I'm a 24 year old kissless virgin who doesn't want a girlfriend unless I can have a real income because I don't want to be a burden on other people.
I don't think I've ever mentioned how lonely I am to them, though they know that I can be depressive even if I don't think I've ever told them that I had seriously considered killing myself in the past.
Right now they are actually out of state for the next week, along with my brother who still lives in the house, and I feel that loneliness quite strongly. It's odd, since I spend most of my day in bed anyway, and I can go the entire day barely saying a word to my father, but knowing that they aren't there, it makes me anxious.
I'm probably only writing such a long thing because of how lonely I feel at this moment, otherwise I try to avoid being open to people, online or not, friends or Anons.

[Anonymous No.22956093]

>>22955944
There is only one friend I would trust to interpret what my stories are about and how they relate to my own life. Family would be horrified.

[Anonymous No.22956127]

>>22955106
>the core story
Would that be Truant or Navidson? I find people disagree on what's the core story presentation aside.
>A goal that probably won't make itself clear until you're way too deep to fix anything if you try to do it from the outside in.
That's the fear. It'd be pretty funny that unless the notes are diligent that I'd get lost in my own story.

[Anonymous No.22956188]

>>22956127
Honestly, hell if I know. No single layer was all that good other than Zampano being Borges meets DFW. Shit it's been 15 years since I read it and tried to engage with it seriously, Whalestoe Letters made the whole thing even more schizo and fart sniffing. It seemed to me like a matryoshka doll of cheesy psychological horror stories that are in some sense, recursive oooh, spoooky. I honestly don't think that there is as much literary machinery as it appears to be and the referential nature involves a lot of smoke and mirror, a kind of literary sleight of hand that makes it appear to be more complex than it actually is, that writing it would be more about slapping a lot of shit in post facto.
>That's the fear. It'd be pretty funny that unless the notes are diligent that I'd get lost in my own story.
That happens with relatively simple plots that have a lot of thematic or psychological machinery. I'm 1500 words into a short story that will probably take about 5000, I hope, and I have around 500-800 words and a damn timeline keeping two(2) characters under the age of 23 consistent and on track for disaster.

[Anonymous No.22956204]

>>22944230
>>22944232
And still I endure! I only managed 600 words yesterday, as my friends *insisted* I play R6 Siege with them for five hours. I'm hopelessly bad at that game, and they're even worse. Progress is progress.

I wonder, would it make logical sense for a domesticated variety of an animal/creature to be far smaller than its wild counterpart? It would only affect two scenes, so I won't worry too much.

>>22944760
I'd go for a combination of brutal methods, as well as targeting of privateers over freelance pirates. Perhaps those freelancers could be a sort of support network for your character, to get them out of tight situations?

>>22948231
I'm certain every writer, and especially every wannabe writer, wants such things, at least on some level. The road to it is unlikely to lead there, but it can lead you somewhere good. "Chasing a hit" won't get you there, though. My understanding is that it is a combination of writing what you want, writing a lot, and a lot of luck.

>>22950586
I've been running with 1,000, although I don't always reach it. The most important habit I've been trying to force is to write every day. I've done so since the new year started without fail.

>>22952196
First, realize what I did back in December. It is not only oxymoronic, but pathetic, to fancy oneself a writer, but not write. Next, set an alarm for a period of the day where you'll likely always have free time. When that alarm goes off, you write. No exceptions.

[Anonymous No.22956278]

>>22946833
I'll try to work on the comedic side of things, and shorten my format up a bit more. Any other advice?
>>22951321
Thank you anon.

[Anonymous No.22956286]

>algos tell me I write for a 7th grade level
At least I'll be understood by a third of the population.

[Anonymous No.22956306]

>>22956286
It keeps shifting between 9th and college level for me. It's not very reliable. Also tune the transmission for the receiver.

[Anonymous No.22956310]

>>22950586
>Do you have a certain daily word count /wg/?
3k.
And yes, I do hit it. Every day.

[Anonymous No.22956372]

>>22956306
I'm going to aim for some slightly denser syntax and that clausal soup one, in traversing a novel written at any point within the 18th century, or even earlier for more daring and circumlocutious exemplars, often finds himself wading through (with asides and diversions the likes of which the James brothers are best known); such that the attention spans of contemporary midwits are taxed beyond their capacity---for that is how all things should be written and the closest to how stories are naturally related. No need to unduly flex vocabulary, that should come naturally as fits descriptions and mood, but even I am unimpressed with how terse my prose has become for this endeavor. I am beginning to doubt both its effectiveness in conveying anything of substance and my own ability to do similar.

>On his way home from work, Alex turned into the Qwik-stop. The night had a barren air about it---the heat of the day long gone save for the warmth still rising from the concrete and a single cricket made his presence known from the barren lot across the street. He pumped gas and thought of nothing in particular, feeling weightless and oddly prescient.
>As he finished, the door to the store opened and a greasy, disheveled young man with auburn whiskers stumbled out carrying two bags. He wore gym shorts that exposed ghostly chicken legs flourescing a sickly green-grey in the harsh light and an oversized hooded sweatshirt depicting some kind of foreign cartoon character of indeterminate sex and age making an esctatic expression. It took him a moment to realize: Alex recalled when the old sodium lamps would make this familiar stranger look like a rotting jack-o-lantern, deep socketed eyes and face both fat and thin completing the illusion.
>"Hey Schulk!" he called out, walking over to where Schulk was about to turn behind the store and cut through to the neighborhoods behind.
>Shulk turned to meet him. "H-hey man---" his vocal fry was overwhelming and he sounded shaky and unwell, moreso than before. His eyes were bloodshot and an odor both ripe and stale wafted off him in the imperceptible breeze of a summer night.
>Alex could not ask how Schulk had been. He shook off an approaching feeling---a freight train of immense and overwhelming sadness that threatened to wring his very soul dry of its vital and necessary essence---and feigned a yawn to keep the corners of his lips from curling. "Long day, sorry. Gene's back in town for the summer, he said he missed your sense of humor."

[Anonymous No.22956405]

>>22955884
>One sister knows, my parents, and one of my brothers

How can you really think that they don't talk to each other? If one sibling knows something, they all do. Trust me.

[Anonymous No.22956413]

>>22956405
My sister, maybe, but my brother? Nah.
Though, I guess my sister did mention it offhandedly because my father mentioned it. They are at least all likely aware that I do it, but nobody brings it up.

[Anonymous No.22956422]

>>22956413
>nobody brings it up.

It's kind of like the elephant in the room. They probably don't want to encourage you as they see it as a dead end.

[Anonymous No.22956473]

>>22955819
Have you considered starting a commonplace book?

[Anonymous No.22956691]

>>22955863
I was dumb enough to tell my grandmother I wrote a book and ever since then she's been blackmailing me to get her a copy by any means possible. I wouldn't mind, it's in English and she can't even read English, but I'm worried more educated visitors might come across it in the house and there's no telling what happens then. It's not a very family-friendly book.

When I mention to my mom I've written a new book, her reaction is always just "oh." and then she changes the subject.

[Anonymous No.22956723]

>>22956422
I once overheard my mother tell my father that you can't earn money writing (which is funny because she's constantly reading these Amish drama books) which was painful.
But my father, when he asks about it, sometimes gives me money and jokes about how I can pay him back when I'm successful.
I think that the rest of them just assume its a hobby or otherwise aren't that interested in it.

[Anonymous No.22956922]

Why is it that literary fiction seems to reject the concept of plot? The moment writing develops a cohesive storyline with a defined goal and steps to get there, it automatically turns to genre trash. Is being aimless and random a necessary component of art? Is there something inherently juvenile about assigning meaning to events and expecting journeys to end in real answers?

[Anonymous No.22956958]

>>22956922
>Is there something inherently juvenile about assigning meaning to events and expecting journeys to end in real answers
yes
and you're generalizing based on whatever few japanese deconstructions of western contemporary that 4chan tricked you into reading

[Anonymous No.22956964]

I honestly enjoy 90% of what is posted here and think the overall quality of prose is pretty good. The biggest problem most people have is not kicking on to finish their work, comparing themselves against writers like Joyce or Shakespeare etc. or letting themselves get pushed down by bitter or pedantic faggots. A lot of the works mightn’t be what I personally enjoy but it’s certainly readable, interesting enough to keep reading and have decent enough plots.

[Anonymous No.22956974]

>>22956922
The key is that you create an illusion of causality and that you have a sense of prosaic form. The reason that so much genre fiction is looked down upon is because it has no sense of artistry in its use of the written word and furthermore it is often plot- and trope- driven rather than truly character driven.

However, you can strive to be more literary than your peers. The key is that you know that people fundamentally want out of the genre(s) that your story belongs to but you pay attention to the sheer way that it reads and you have an eye for structure and form. This is why some genre writers are better regarded than others on literary grounds.

[Anonymous No.22957061]

>>22956964
The only things I don't care for are anons writing for some of the worst offenses fantasy can commit, which speaks more to youth than anything else, and "anon voice", which I suffer from as well.

[Anonymous No.22957090]

>>22957061
At the risk of sounding snobby, fantasy has always had awful prose apart from the obvious. Something like Mistborn in my opinion is complete dogshit, literal wattpad 13 year old tier. Then again it sells like crack so who the fuck am I to say anything? If people are writing with the goal to get published and they wrote fantasy it’s unfair to judge it the same way you would to someone writing literary fiction- or attempting to. I find cringe writing quite entertaining to read as well, it’s totally by accident on the authors part but some fanfiction can be amazing comedies

[Anonymous No.22957109]

>>22957090
I used to read a lot of fantasy through most of my early 20s, I agree completely that most of it is vile and I know exactly why. You're right that it's meant to sell, because it's a formulaic paint by numbers scheme designed to be binged. There's nothing wrong with using autism to cater to autism, but it's some terribly vapid shit and worse than pretty much all other genre fiction. I started appreciating literally anything that isn't an epic fantasy series, that's where all the creativity and people writing compelling stories are.

There's no snobbery there, anyone writing this shit should know this and take advantage of it, but also not expect any praise or attention from anyone doing something more literary or catering to equally formulaic but less juvenile and honestly better written genres.

[Anonymous No.22957245]

Reading the online conversations on dead internet theory is making me lose hope all over again for my ambitions to get my written stories out there, and I am not even talking about proper IRL publishing, just webnovel stuff.
If it is true that AI is accelerating the profileration of bots for engagement farming and such, where would you even go to get your story read?
If all social media is fake and gay, where to? Where to talk about writing, where to advertise your story? And even then, what means of advertising your actually published novel?
Fuck talking about "AI will replace the writer." What do we do about AI replacing the target audience?
Is my writing any valuable if it can only get the attention of engagement bots that follow the trendline?
Fuck that shit.

[Anonymous No.22957250]

>>22957061
>anon voice
what's that?

[Anonymous No.22957298]

>>22957245
sounds like a lot of excuses to not write

[Anonymous No.22957383]

>>22957250
A kind of snark, matter of fact tone that's attempting to be humorous in a very dry manner. Very Patrick Bateman. It tends to undermine the kind of tone that the story is ostensibly going for.
>Anon poured his third cup of wild bamboo column liubao tea from his bespoke teapot, the the packets of instant espresso failing to inspire him to write. The used motor oil color complementing a hand turned celadon bowl made of the same lizella clay blended with the taste reminiscent of the rather expensive and rarefied dirt found lining the paths of country clubs.
>Mmn, he thought, I reckon I'll write something after I finish this shitpost, his southern drawl permeating his very mentations. What he would write about he was still unsure, his last excerpt had no replies attached---no warmth of social recognition that he was dearly lacking in his life---instead of trying he was shitposting at a quarter to ten in the morning after a night of fitful sleep. He had left the nicotine patch on again and was accosted with strange dreams of a homosexual, pederastic and degrading nature---the ten cups of tea from the night before twisted his dreams into vignettes from latrines rife with the stench of open troughs and humid tile.
>He wondered if this urological diversion and self deprecating jest would be received as he intended, thinking of the tenets of Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, and against better judgement posted it anyway. Fuck 'em, this arid and bigified wit is exactly what the anon voice entails.

[Anonymous No.22957401]

>>22957383
I'm probably a totally lost cause if I don't really find what you wrote there to be "bad". Is the problem with this "anon voice" the contents of the text (like the references to chan-like character tropes) or is it more about the way you present certain facts, situations, thoughts? To put it another way, could you use anon voice to describe something """"universally""""" pleasant, like a sunshine or the smile of a beautiful girl? Or even those should be portrayed with the usual disdain and post-irony you find around those parts?

[Anonymous No.22957449]

>>22957401
It's not that it's bad in and of itself, it's that after you read enough anon stories, you start to hear the pacing and delivery again and again.
>could you use anon voice to describe something """"universally""""" pleasant, like a sunshine or the smile of a beautiful girl? Or even those should be portrayed with the usual disdain and post-irony you find around those parts?
Yes, and anons do. Not quite breezy, but diary-like and lacking in substance. Some anons write some pretty substantial things but it's lost in this vague, meandering wash of detached pseudo-levity. Normalfags in creative writing classes have a similar issue with voice, but anons have a more apparent flavor to it.

[Anonymous No.22957482]

>>22957449
so by anon voice you just mean greentexting without the meme arrows and the implicit paragraphs that come from it?

[Anonymous No.22957500]

I have 1635 words of my novel.

[Anonymous No.22957506]

>>22957482
Blended with a few contemporary authors: Ellis, Palahniuk, DFW, Murakami---that are about the only thing most anons have in common and informed most of us whether we wanted them to or not, by my reckoning. It's like when you meet another internet poisoned millennial IRL and start talking obliquely about old memes, filthy frank era youtubers, and your respective porn habits. You recognize it because you do it as well can talk about it without talking about it. Maybe you're of a different internet poisoned generation.

[Anonymous No.22957562]

>>22941669
This is half a shit post and half serious so I'll give you my equivalent answer. Write with a pen name and make sure it sounds Sub-Saharan African. You can deal with the consequences later when you become somewhat famous, just don't claim to be African. Once you become famous you will have to do something somewhat controversial like beating your wife, having a weird sex life, or do a Mishima and try to overthrow the government. People will have an easier time remembering you after that.

[Anonymous No.22958173]

start of my story

"The mountain was cold. Probably a lot colder than most other mountains.
And if you were to ask the two men climbing it, they'd probably of guessed something similar.

"I wouldn't fuck your wife if we died but I would use it as a play to get with her sister." said the smaller one.
"I would go to your funeral and tell everyone that your last words to me were that you're actually gay and then I would try to fuck your wife." said the larger one.

The scenery was pretty boring, lot of white. "

[Anonymous No.22958185]

>>22958173
>of guessed
ruined the joke, my friend. there is no rest of the story, what a shitty punchline.

[Anonymous No.22958190]

>>22958185
im writing it anon wym fuck nigga

[Anonymous No.22958199]

>>22958190
>wym
I have never once said that, ASSUME AND LIVE WITH THE CONSEQUENCES, who wants to read something by some fag who cares what other people think? I sure as fuck don't. I'm absolutely right about everything I say or doing a bit that serves some purpose only the blackest of gods can aver.

[Anonymous No.22958204]

>>22958199
I kneel...

[Anonymous No.22958222]

>>22958199
until you lose your career and livelihood and have no money to eat

[Anonymous No.22958237]

>>22958222
I have learnt from the best how to navigate the social jungle.

[Anonymous No.22958238]

>>22958173
NEVA SHOULD OF COME HERE

[Anonymous No.22958263]

I'm reminded suddenly of the book that broke me.

[Anonymous No.22958292]

>>22958238
its that bad huh

[Anonymous No.22958316]

>>22958292
https://voca.ro/1gNfhqgECMI0

[Anonymous No.22958330]

>>22958316
>https://voca.ro/1gNfhqgECMI0

>you cant do that

Why not, why do you need proper style and diction

im guessed earnt on that one

[Anonymous No.22958343]

OKAY
DROP YOUR WRITING MUSIC!

[Anonymous No.22958347]

>>22958330
Ye used the wrong word mistakenly, I made a try at giving a dialectical exemplar for why that wasn't intentional, no one intentionally writes should've as should of. The ('ve) should clue you in to what the contraction is. ESLs don't make these kinds of mistakes. You can't even represent spoken dialect your own language is so degraded.

[Anonymous No.22958354]

>>22958347
writing is gay because of rules

it reminds me when i read a bitches hinge and it's some pseud take on they're their there. isnt this just about conveying ideas and emotions

if u get what i mean then who gives a fuck

[Anonymous No.22958356]

>>22958343
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2yOpkIGTeg

[Anonymous No.22958360]

>>22958354
>if u get what i mean
There are thousands of letters from barely literate civil war soldiers half your age with more consistent and proper, as far as homophones, spelling. Think about that.

[Anonymous No.22958366]

>>22958360
ironically enough i dont think u get what i mean

post some of your writing

[Anonymous No.22958377]

>>22958366

[Anonymous No.22958381]

>>22958377
i didnt like it

[Anonymous No.22958385]

>>22958381
You cain't read it, don't lie little zoomie.

[Anonymous No.22958398]

>>22958385
is writing not about conveying emotions through words

if so, what the fuck is the point of any rule? shouldnt they be guidelines, the most bare possible to get a message across

everything else seems like a cope
>no u cant say would of
>spelling mistakes are so bad
>no the rules people made up 200 years ago need to be respected!!!

why

[Anonymous No.22958405]

>>22958398
If you have to ask, you may as well chop off your dick now because that's the only way you're going to get anyone to read it. Think on why that is.

[Anonymous No.22958415]

>>22958405
you're still not addressing what i asked

ok and i did think about
>most people who read are fucking boring
>they likely like a lot of rules
>theyre overly concerned with minutia and good boy points for catching minor errors

[Anonymous No.22958435]

>>22946794
>I chose a human-like form because the fortress is made to accommodate human shapes
Yet she still outfitted it with furniture and comfortable pillows?

[Anonymous No.22958474]

>>22958398
When I see someone use the wrong word it breaks my immersion in the story, and that means that you have failed in your ability to convey your emotions in your work.
We follow the rules because it makes writing easier to follow, and from the way you type, I guess you just don't care but want other people to care.
I am a highschool drop out, and until 18 or so I never even used punctuation. What got me to change was being in a friend's stream and him being unable to actually understand what I was actually saying. He was polite about it, but said that I needed to work on it, and I did.
It's not that hard to just write properly, or something that approaches properly, and it makes conveying yourself much easier to understand, since everyone was at one point taught these rules or absorbed them through osmosis.
Your own post here, using they instead of their before guidelines, failing to put a ' in shouldn't, these make you look stupid, even if you might not be. There is nothing wrong with being ignorant, but take the advice of people who are trying to help you with grace.
t. 24 year old Zoomer.

[Anonymous No.22958489]

>>22958474
I like you. I like shitty modernist poetry that tries to be retarded and also isn't trying to be retarded at all in other ways and I like you. Your post is musical beyond that metric because meaning was conveyed and any cringe was an intentional part of the story told.

[Anonymous No.22958555]

>>22958474
>using they instead of their before guidelines
let me guess, ESL? most likely not even European I'd wager. But at the same time, most European ESL types do have a fetish with "muh correctness", even if said individuals usually fall for some retarded pitfalls just as well.

[Anonymous No.22958568]

>>22958555
American, one without enough sleep.
That is on me, and it really messed up the message of my post because I made a simple mistake while trying to talk about proper writing.

[Anonymous No.22958595]

>>22958568
so I was right, not European :^)
jokes aside, I agree with your overall post but I still don't get what you're trying to say with that part I quoted. The original poster said "shouldn't they be guidelines" as in the rules are guidelines so they (the rules) should be guidelines. It does sound forced, but I wouldn't call it wrong. Unless my ESL ways and autism are showing.

[Anonymous No.22958616]

Stupid question, four thousands words or more per chapters are too much or not? I'm not padding

[Anonymous No.22958623]

>>22958595
It's not wrong on its face, since yes, most of the time general guideline are enough and the rules aren't actually super strict, which lets you have some style of your own.
My point was that even though he does have a point there, his spelling mistakes make that message lack weight.
There are things that you can change up, but capitalizing a word after a . or ? or ! and what have you isn't one, and neither is not putting a ' in the word shouldn't.
Also, I only somewhat agree with what he is saying, since they shouldn't be the most bare minimum.
If I break the rules for effect, it can only work if I haven't also ignored all of the other rules.
Let's say that I wrote everything in long run on sentences, then I wrote one character who actually talks in long run on sentences to the point where he is entirely breathless at the end. You wouldn't be able to actually tell that character trait by my writing because it just looks like I write in nothing but run on sentences.
>>22958616
My shortest chapter is around 1600 words, but I think my average is now around 3000.
If it isn't padded and there isn't a good point where you can stop the chapter, then getting to 4000 is completely fine.

[Anonymous No.22958650]

>>22956723

Your father sounds like a good man

[Anonymous No.22958939]

>>22958595
That was how I read it as a native speaker, for what it's worth. On that note, if I could eradicate one meme from existence it would be ESL accusations. Obese hillbillies and British football hooligans are pure native speakers, there is no prestige in it.

[Anonymous No.22958958]

>>22958939
>Obese hillbillies and British football hooligans are pure native speakers
Kek. It's funnier to me when American English and British English speakers (I speak AE) argue back and forth as if there is only one right English.
There is a channel called Lost In The Pond, a Brit who moved to the US a decade and a half ago and became a citizen more recently.
He has a bunch of shorts going over the origins of certain words, and more often than not, AE maintains more of the original words than BE, but you'll always find Brits in the comments complaining about how Americans speak English the wrong way even though it is older English.
Side tangent, but I tried to learn German for a few weeks before I learned that Amish people don't speak German, they speak High German, or Old German, or, as my father puts it, Slop Bucket Dutch. I gave up on German because the only reason I was trying to learn in the first place was because my family on my mother's side are Beachy Amish and sometimes they will start speaking Dutch.

[Anonymous No.22959119]

Recently got the idea to write a post-apocalyptic story that deals with the minutae of survival (getting food, clean water, medical treatment, people adjusting to life without modern conveniences) rather than some overarching conflict. I feel like most post-apocalyptic lit uses the setting as just a backdrop to enable a plot that has nothing inherently to do to with survival.
How do I avoid making this boring? In the worst case, it could be like removing Moby Dick from Moby Dick while leaving all the parts about whales and whaling techniques in. It'd still work as a read for people really interested in the topic, but I figure the majority of readers would check out after a description of the many challenges posed by farming without fertilizers/pesticides.

[Anonymous No.22959195]

>>22958173
I don't like your narrator's voice.
>probably a lot colder
>they'd probably
>of guessed
>something similar
Unless the narrator is a character recounting the story, they should know everything. Withholding information is fine but seeming unsure is a weird choice, especially when they're unsure of so much in such a short excerpt. Outside of the narration,
>they'd probably of guessed something similar
Should be
>they'd probably have guessed something similar
(Just because I'm correcting the wording doesn't mean I don't believe you should rewrite it)

And the first piece of dialogue
>"I wouldn't fuck your wife if we died but I would use it as a play to get with her sister."
Doesn't make sense. Surely,
>"I wouldn't fuck your wife if you died but I would use it as a play to get with her sister."
The smaller character speaks as if they were to both perish on the mountain, which doesn't fit what he's saying. The larger character's dialogue makes sense, but because it does, emphasises the mistake in the smaller character's words.

[Anonymous No.22959205]

>>22959119
Post-apocalyptic stories always perplexed me. They're beyond fantasy, they are outright delusion. There are people who think there would be anything romantic about the downfall of modern civilization but I always thought it sounds terrifying and despairing. I say this as someone fed up with a lot of current sociopolitical culture.

So if you are going to make a story about a post-apocalypse, start with immediate survival. Focus on the things that would be lost. You know how lots of older movie and television plots would be solved if the characters had smartphones? Use that logic except that the point is that those things are gone. Second guess everything. Make conflicts arise from mundane problems that no longer have mundane solutions.

[Anonymous No.22959242]

>>22958398
Anon, you're right to an extent. Writing is about conveying emotions through words, but you're wrong about the rules. There are no rules. Your work either reads well or it doesn't. The conventions of writing exsit because accurate communication is key to conveying whatever emotion you're trying to express. If you write it wrong (or unclearly), how is the reader going to interpret what you've written? Likely incorrectly. You're welcome to break as many traditions or "rules" as you like, as long as your work flows and reads well.

[Anonymous No.22959243]

>>22956286
5th grade level here! Even American adults will understand what I write!

[Anonymous No.22959365]

>>22959205
I feel that post apoc dystopian fiction had more appeal in the 90's and 00's at the End of History. The world stopped spinning. Nothing would get better, but not much worse either. Everyone was politically apathetic. Trapped in that kind of world, dystopian fiction was a sort of escape from the mundane.
Now that there's more anxiety about the world actually falling apart, it's less fun to think about.

[Anonymous No.22959415]

>>22958958
Anabaptism, and German Protestantism generally, was big in parts of what is now Germany that spoke (and, to some extent, still speak) their own dialects, which are nonetheless close relatives of the standard German that you would have been learning, so I would say you may have given up too early. Being able to understand standard German would help you considerably with learning their dialect.
This
>Amish people don't speak German, they speak High German, or Old German, or, as my father puts it, Slop Bucket Dutch
is not entirely correct. The Amish dialect is High German, but so is the standard German you began to learn. Neither of these is "Old German" but they are more recent offshoots of it. But this is not the thread for German linguistic history.

[Anonymous No.22959420]

>>22959415
Huh. I don't recall where exactly I read it, but Old and High German were used interchangeably. Perhaps it was some article about the Amish specifically.
Anyway, I have since started learning Spanish instead because I feel like it would be more useful in day to day life and my writing.
I'm not good at it, not even at a conversational level, but I can sometimes pick up the vague meaning of what someone is saying when I hear or read it.

[Anonymous No.22959491]

>>22959420
The confusion is probably around the term Old High German, which is ancestral both to amish German and standard German. The writer may have been distinguishing amish German from one of the Low German dialects still spoken by diaspora in America, of which I believe there are several.

[Anonymous No.22959682]

spit in my face and tell me my writing sucks

[Anonymous No.22959689]

>>22959682
s

Tell me how to write a short story that doesn't balloon into a novella.

[Anonymous No.22959737]

>>22959689
OK, but first, you have to tell me how to write a short story that balloons into a novella. I have huge troubles with expanding my writing without being really bored with the result.

[Anonymous No.22959795]

>>22959737
I start writing what should take maybe two or three scenes tops and then I end up with multiple chapters worth of ground to cover just to get the basic point across. I like dialog, it takes up pages of space where very little happens.

[Anonymous No.22959856]

>>22959795
>pages of dialog
Ah. Then you have the same problem I do.

[Anonymous No.22960011]

>>22959795

Reduce to one scene in that case. And tighten your dialogue to exclude anything that's not relevant or doesn't move the story forward.

[Anonymous No.22960487]

Where my poetry kings at?

https://iliazo.wordpress.com/2024/01/10/orientations/

[Anonymous No.22960565]

>person A receives tokens of affection from person B
>Splits up with them
>Sends a courier to return all the tokens of affection back to person B
What might be a reasonable motivation for person A to return the gifts with a courier?

I was thinking
>Person A feels they've hurt B a lot
>Thinks that their presence will simply wound them more
>Feels undeserving of the gifts and sends a courier to return them
>The letter enclosed is something that can be interpreted as a final insult, like "I cannot keep these anymore"

[Anonymous No.22960679]

“This is everyday of my FUCKING life.”
“This is everyday of my FUCKING life.”
“This is everyday of my FUCKING life.”
“This is everyday of my FUCKING life.”
“This is EVERYDAY of my FUCKING life.”

As I watch her go into meltdown, throw the contents of her bag across the train station concourse, drag fingers across her face, push thumbs into eyes, berate approaching security, get dragged out on heels; I think about how much I love her and how lucky I am.

Turfed out onto the street, the cold air does nothing to calm her down. I apologise to staff.

“These FUCKING people,” she says, now pulling on her coat like she is trying to rip it off. A street preacher bears the brunt of her rage as she pushes him over, screaming at the top of her lungs, scattering his religious tracts to the wind.

Admittedly, her temper has been getting worse. Less a short fuse and more a bomb that has been exploding for an unusually extended period. In fact, I don’t know the last time she wasn’t angry. It must be exhausting. Poor thing. Poor, glorious thing.

“And YOU just STANDING there, doing NOTHING.” It’s quite extraordinary to watch her. Every contortion of her body amplifying the vitriol of everything she says. My heart quickening as she punches a bus shelter until her knuckles bleed.

I cajole her in the general direction of our home. It has long been smashed to pieces. The obscenities carved into the walls read like flashes of poetry to me. The distant memory of internal doors like some unknowable wisdom that I’ve been honoured with.

I hear painful sobbing from the bathroom. She’s cut all her hair off now. The broken mirror reflecting her beautiful new look, like some wonderful kaleidoscope, all the while raving, stabbing an invisible assailant with scissors.

“Tea?” I ask.

She continues sobbing and does not answer, now peppering the wall with holes, each feeling like a gentle peck. I touch my cheek and smile.

With the oven out of commission following an unplanned fire and the kettle flung somewhere on the roof, I boil a pot of water on a small camping stove in the remnants of what I think used to be the living room.

As I enjoy the sounds of the gently simmering pot of water harmonizing with the background chorus of unbridled lunacy from upstairs, I noticed a photo in a broken picture frame on the ground. In it, there we are, together, smiling, happy.

Happy? Smiling? This couldn’t be. It sounds like she’s shattering the shower’s glass door now but the sound only punctuates my confusion looking at the picture. It cannot be denied. There she is. My love. Elated. Still. She’s coming downstairs now. I hastily take the photo from the frame and stow it in my jacket.

She appears behind me, “I think I know what will make me feel better,” more calm than I have heard her in a long time. The pot boils.

[Anonymous No.22960686]

>>22960679
I passed a man having a nervous breakdown in the train station this morning and quickly wrote this on the way to work. Hoping to gauge how interesting it is as an opener.

Ignore my grammar. I’m illiterate.

[Anonymous No.22960963]

Thoughts on ways to make a male main character appealing to female readers?

>>22960679
I'm a sucker for repetition. I'd be very interested to see why exactly the perspective character is so okay with her behavior.

>I hear painful sobbing from the bathroom. She’s cut all her hair off now. The broken mirror reflecting her beautiful new look, like some wonderful kaleidoscope, all the while raving, stabbing an invisible assailant with scissors.

My favorite line.

[Anonymous No.22961057]

>>22960963
Make him tall, rich, handsome, and ideally, a vampire/werewolf.

[Anonymous No.22961073]

>>22960963
Thanks. Excited to finish it up over the next few days. Will repost.

[Anonymous No.22961134]

>>22960011
I'm no Henry James but I have this uncanny ability to blather and circumlocute about absolutely nothing, circling around what may or may not be what trouble is at the heart of a character's malaise, all while presenting a mood that is intrinsic to the presentation with aesthetic decorations that suggest a kind of reality or realness that cannot be painted in broad strokes. It's a terrible disease.

[Anonymous No.22961244]

>>22961057
I would go with werewolf for the knot

[Anonymous No.22961303]

>>22960963
Intriguing surface elements that invite the reader to wonder about his hidden depths.
Examples:

>Big football jock that generally conforms to the stereotypes but is quieter than the others when he's not with them and occasionally says things that indicate he's well-read

>Classic cocky dynamic business guy who flies wildly off the handle over some small, specific trigger

They work because both show vulnerability in an otherwise confident and intimidating man and in a way that litchicks relate too, ie being kind of introverted and inclined to fantasy or sperging out over nothing like a female. The second one also has an element of potential danger, which is a big plus. There are a million variations of "confident guy shows his vulnerability" in literature and women gobble it up every time. The same basic principle can be applied to other male character archetypes. If he's more outwardly feminine (sensitive, empathetic, shy) then the subtle cues are more about giving him a sense of depth (particularly artistic or musical talents) and hidden strength.

Also make him like animals. The kind of animal depends on the kind of character.

[Anonymous No.22961368]

>>22960963
Link. Women like a Link, a kind of man they self insert as.

[Anonymous No.22961416]

I had a really vivid scary dream last night that I think could be written into a story.

Group of boys, 16-19, we have a rich friend who's parents died in a tornado. It destroyed their mansion. He needs to get some of his belongings from the basement, which should be untouched. For some convoluted reason, he thought it was better to take the 'secret second basement' from his parents' undamaged 2nd mansion to the 1st mansion, apparently there was a secret underground construction done all over the small town. So they get there and it gives you that "unfinished basement look" that scares you as a kid. It's also partially flooded, and rafts are there. Worse, there's monsters.

Periodically the PoV would cut to these two girls, who are trapped down below, trying to get in touch with us to no avail. One had ridiculously long, curly brown hair that reached her ankles. The other was large, oafish, and masculine- a somewhat "detransitioning MtF," though he was never trans, he got latched with a trap for several years on his leg and it pumped him with female hormones for years, but the damage is already done. I think they were cousins of the rich kid who got lost playing down in their basement.

Anyway we spend most of our time talking and preparing to take this raft, only to realize that one guy in our party had ran upstairs to go to the bathroom as soon as we take off. The long-haired girl tries to call the phone, but no one answers. A man appeared, then his limbs suddenly elongated and as soon as he touched me, I woke up. Shit was weird man.

[Anonymous No.22961617]

I have a basic concept in mind, but not much else. Where do I go from here?

[Anonymous No.22961633]

>>22961617
Iterative notes until you have something that moves on its own. Once you have an idea that has legs, things start flowing and you get to that point where you have to judge what is most appropriate for your goals and cut the rest. Sometimes it's a back and forth between what you've written and what you want to write.

[Anonymous No.22962020]

>>22959119
Watch the moive Threads

[Anonymous No.22963423]

>>22961244
That's more than I wanted to know.

[Anonymous No.22963452]

>>22963423
Where do you think we are?

[Anonymous No.22963497]

>>22961134
>word salad to sound smart while jerking myself off
>yeah that sounds good

[Anonymous No.22963523]

>>22956204
Two more days, two thousand more words! I've been abnormally quick about it both today and yesterday, but I'm not sure how to interpret that. Either I'm getting better at this, or these last two days were one-offs.
Either way, I'll try to do some outlining later, and edit my worldbuilding notes to reflect ad-hoc changes I've made (There aren't *too* many of those).

>>22955863
My sister does, and I'm thankful that she respects my wish to keep it a secret. I'll let other family know when I'm done with the first draft. That way I'll have something to show them, and an answer to the inevitable endless stream of "How's the book going?"
I also told my two most trusted friends about it, but they also both happen to be the most forgetful people I know.

>>22957500
>>22958173
Both of you, keep going.

>>22961617
Write down what you have, and then start asking questions about it. Any question, no matter how stupid-sounding, will do. Write down the answers to these questions. As you write more and more down, you'll think of more and varied aspects of your idea. Eventually you'll create a point of conflict and/or adventure in the setting, and there's your story.

[Anonymous No.22963672]

Didn't write today or yesterday on my real books. plotting new legbutt poc vampire story. Popslop women spend billions on every year. Not a poc. Not a legbutt. If I write this, someone will find it and try to destroy me for appropriation. part of me wants to be crucified.

[Anonymous No.22963811]

Is switching between first and third person tacky? I've seen it done well...twice, and done poorly much more than that.

[Anonymous No.22963886]

>>22963811

Try it out if you want. I find that wanting to switch from 1st to 3rd means I'm struggling to tell the story in one or the other. Other suggestions would be a close 3rd instead of 1st when you want to use 1st. Else, epistolary gives you all sorts of resources to change pov in a coherent way.

[Anonymous No.22964019]

>>22963886
I thought I would be able to do something on the more clever side with it but it read like shit, none of the characters are strong enough voices to be first person narrators. I initially had to switch to third person because the contrast between how retarded the protagonist talked and acted clashed with the higher level of narration.

[Anonymous No.22964036]

How do I know if my idea is shit before I start on it?

[Anonymous No.22964046]

>>22964036
Rarely is an idea bad, and execution can save even a bad one.
What is it?

[Anonymous No.22964263]

>>22958173
I'm stealing this.

[Anonymous No.22964409]

>>22964046
>Rarely is an idea bad
would love to read the trash you put out

[Anonymous No.22964501]

Crossed the 100k word mark of my first draft. Almost to the end. I hope to trim it down by 20k words when I edit it later.

[Anonymous No.22964515]

He woke up in the middle of the night, sweat poured down his face. As he got off the bed, he headed straight to his door and left his bedroom. He needed to figure out where that mist came from. Packing his stuff in a bag, he left his house.

[Anonymous No.22964559]

>>22964515
He punched a woman in the face. She smiled at him, begging him to hit harder. She moaned till his ears rang and exhaled from exerting his energy on her. He wanted to stop, but the lust within him proved to stronger than his will. God help him out, please?

[Anonymous No.22965065]

>>22964036
post a 5 word summary of your idea and let us be the judge of it

[Anonymous No.22965108]

Does anyone else ever go through TvTropes pages and try to apply certain ones you like to characters?

[Anonymous No.22965269]

>>22965108
It feels kinda inorganic. Like you're cobbling together something out of detached bits ala frankenstein.

[Anonymous No.22965281]

>>22965108
No, I just write and see what applies
I try to violate tropes when possible.

[Anonymous No.22965332]

>>22965281
What do you mean by violating a trope? Do you not apply it? do you subvert it? Do you literally violate it?

[Anonymous No.22965335]

>>22965332
Yes.

[Anonymous No.22965338]

>>22965108
No.

[Anonymous No.22965344]

>>22965335
Based trope rapist

[Barkon No.22965357]

>>22965335
He admits it.

[Anonymous No.22965374]

>>22965108
TvTropes is a great tool to read up on how other people's works are broken down and the character pages are usually thorough enough that I can get a really good idea of who they are just by that.
But when it comes to writing my own stuff I stay away from tropes. Tropes should be used to describe a character after their story is done, not as a checklist for who they should be while the story is being written.

[Anonymous No.22965376]

>>22965108
No, I daydream about what my breakout novel's trope page would look like

[Anonymous No.22965400]

>>22965376
That's pretty cringe. Me too.

[Anonymous No.22965817]

You can do it!

[Anonymous No.22965921]

>>22965108
Never. If I want a character to be a certain way, I just write them that way.

[Anonymous No.22965972]

>>22965817
Based motivation slut

[Anonymous No.22966177]

>>22964263
really :3????
big compliment if true

[Anonymous No.22966530]

>>22965108
based formulaic writer

[Anonymous No.22966570]

New bread
>>22966566
>>22966566
>>22966566