/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.4422226]

I want to write, but I don't know how, or what to write about.

[Anonymous No.4422233]

A post-modernist is born

[Anonymous No.4422251]

>>4422233

>A post-modernist is born

pls no.

I want to learn.

[Anonymous No.4422258]

>>4422251
No one can tell you what you want to write about anon. As a tip though, don't let "write what you know" get in the way, if you're interested in something you don't know much about do some research on it and use that

As for how to write, it depends on how well-versed in lit you are

[Anonymous No.4422267]

>>4422226
Get a cat!
I find cats solve any problem. For each one I encounter I get a cat.
You're fat? Get a cat.
Lost your job? Get a cat.
Feeling depressed because your cat died? Get a cat.
Have no dough for cat food? Get a cat.

[Anonymous No.4422271]

>>4422267
you fucked it up

[Anonymous No.4422272]

>>4422251
>pls no.
woah there kiddo - I know it's scary, but just try and stay strong.

[Anonymous No.4422276]

>>4422258

>As for how to write, it depends on how well-versed in lit you are

I used to read a lot as a kid, but I drifted away as I grew up.

Nothing really dense though, so I wouldn't say I'm well versed.

[Anonymous No.4422277]

If you have nothing you want to write about, then nothing you write will be any good. Practice your technique for now, and when an idea comes that you want to express, you'll have the skills to express it.

Change your perspective, start consuming all kinds of art, find inspiration somewhere. Or write about the lack of an inspiring grand narrative befalling Milennials.

[Anonymous No.4422304]

>>4422276
I'd say getting acquainted with the most important movements and genres, even if it's just a few books in each, will help you more than any books on writing. Read essays on some of the major books and/or analyze them yourself, try to figure out what makes them tick, why it choses certain elements over others. Do some research on the elements of writing and literary concepts.

My two cents anyway

[Anonymous No.4422320]

>>4422277

>Practice your technique for now.

Well, that is kinda what I want to do.

But I only have a rudimentary knowledge on literary structure, how to construct a narrative, that kind of stuff.

[Anonymous No.4422329]

>>4422320
Throw all that academic shit out. And write from your heart. As long as you like, fuck what everyone else says.

[Anonymous No.4422341]

>>4422226
Exercise your ability!

Write about what you think your cat does (from its perspective) when it goes out.
Or what some cop/criminal/politician's day is like.

Describe scenery.

Write something you know a bit about and word is as simply as you can.

Play with words and sentence structure.

Fall in love, get hurt, travel, observe, think, learn.

Do this indefinitely.

Oh, READ.

[Anonymous No.4422351]

You may not be able to do it, for what ever reason, but you could always just go on a Kerouac-style adventure with no plans and roman-à-clef-it up

[Anonymous No.4422372]

>>4422329
What if the OP doesn't like what he's writing and wants to improve

No it's okay he doesn't have to because all that matters is that he likes his own work <3

[Anonymous No.4422379]

>>4422226
You will be one of those shitty modern writers who have nothing to say but leech on some artist money they get from their welfare country.

I fucking hate likes of you.

>>4422233
+

[Anonymous No.4422405]

>>4422329

I know that writing shouldn't follow a by-the-dots rule set agreed upon by academicians, but I think it would help me to learn the basics.

If writing was sculpting, I'd be looking to learn what tools there are, how to use them, and how most materials behave, if that makes sense as an analogy.

Keeping with the idea, people have the general idea that to make a marble statue, you need to chisel it. But give them a chisel and a hammer, and they won't know how to use them properly.

I think the same idea apples to writing (among other things), so that's why I'm asking for help.

[Anonymous No.4422419]

Go live first, shutin, so you have something to write about.

[Anonymous No.4422424]

>>4422226
You don't want to write faggot, it's just that the notion of being a writer appeals to you.

>just me and my pack of camel straights, a glass of whiskey and my trusty typewriter
>see me brood
>intellectualism in action here
>i'm an author
>an accomplished author
>look at how black and white I am

People who want to write simply write. You never hear some brazillian slumcunt stand around with a ball under his arm going "i want to play a spot of footy loops but I simply can't begin to imagine how to proceed".

[Anonymous No.4422425]

First of all, you must understand that you're not supposed to write for anybody but yourself. People who write for others are writing self help book trying to earn millions. So get the spectator/reader completely gone of your mind. It's just you and the typewriter, the typewriter being the medium through which your abstract thinking is condensate into a writing. The process is what matters most, is the pleasure, the ecstasy, the hypnotic state of the mind in which you have no idea of what you are doing.

[Anonymous No.4422432]

>>4422419
What is Dostoievski

[Anonymous No.4422436]

>>4422432
A person who had a hard life.

[Anonymous No.4422438]

>>4422405
Ignore that guy, I'm the person you actually responded to.

Really, just read a lot, as often as possible. Workshops can be good but finding one where everyone in the class isn't holding discussion down to talk about their shitty vampire fiction is tough.

Hemingway said whenever you walk into a room, think about how you would describe it in writing, and if you actually have the opportunity, write it down. This can apply to situations, feelings, thoughts, whatever. Read tidbits of writing advice from authors you like. The more you write, the more you'll realize what you need to change. Don't write everything with the intention of letting others read it, Try and separate yourself from your work when reading it. Think about what you'd have problems with and what you'd like if you were a stranger reading your own work.

[Anonymous No.4422439]

>>4422432
a deranged gambler

[Anonymous No.4422458]

be the most trendy edgy motherfucker alive. stare into the sunset and shit. Hang out at starbucks. Leach off family. Teach english

[Anonymous No.4422469]

>>4422424

>"i want to play a spot of footy loops but I simply can't begin to imagine how to proceed".

you can't play soccer if you don't know the rules.

sure, you can kick the ball around, but it wont be soccer.

[Anonymous No.4422478]

>>4422469
>footy loops
>soccer by the rules

learn my idiolect next time pls

[Anonymous No.4422598]

>>4422379
Woah, slow down edgelord.

[Anonymous No.4422618]

>>4422438
This sounds like some really great advice. I'm not OP but thanks!

[Anonymous No.4422688]

>>4422226

>I want to write

then just fucking write.

[noko No.4422711]

I saw a similar thread like this on a /lit/ thread awhile back and i saved a few posts to keep handy so ill share:

if it doesn't come bursting out of you in spite of everything, don't do it.
unless it comes unasked out of your heart and your mind and your mouth and your gut, don't do it.
if you have to sit for hours staring at your computer screen or hunched over your typewriter searching for words, don't do it.
if you're doing it for money or fame, don't do it.
if you're doing it because you want women in your bed, don't do it.
if you have to sit there and rewrite it again and again, don't do it.
if it's hard work just thinking about doing it, don't do it.
if you're trying to write like somebody else, forget about it.
if you have to wait for it to roar out of you, then wait patiently.
if it never does roar out of you, do something else. if you first have to read it to your wife or your girlfriend or your boyfriend or your parents or to anybody at all, you're not ready.
don't be like so many writers, don't be like so many thousands of people who call themselves writers, don't be dull and boring and pretentious, don't be consumed with self- love.
the libraries of the world have yawned themselves to sleep over your kind.
don't add to that. don't do it.
unless it comes out of your soul like a rocket, unless being still would drive you to madness or suicide or murder, don't do it.
unless the sun inside you is burning your gut, don't do it.
when it is truly time, and if you have been chosen, it will do it by itself and it will keep on doing it until you die or it dies in you.
there is no other way.
and there never was.

-Charles Bukowski
-----------------------------
Each writer is different. There is no right or wrong - sadly - that would make the use of a reply quite sorcerous. There is only seriousness of the immensity that is the task of writing, and talent. Know that what you do is a combination of two things, rather impossible to perform, namely telling something great and telling it well. Both take a lifetime to touch on - advanti. Be honest. Read all the time, lock your door, and tell your friends you cannot see them anymore. Write what you know. Then write of something other that you know; do this all the time And mind you: never listen to persons whom tell you how to do this. Your head will be spinning off its pivot ere the day is up, and there will be nothing but its aching left talent spilling away all over the place

read some short fiction, poems, or essays regularly and then force yourself
to sit down and cover every single thing of any kind of importance from each one in half of a single page. it should be a struggle to cram everything into the summary so you're thinking carefully about what is important. it shouldn't take you more than an hour to summarize a single work. do this once or twice a week and by the end of the month you'll see yourself thinking much more clearly about what you read and doing so as you read it.

[Anonymous No.4422753]

meh I don't believe in souls or spirits or magic hearts

[noko No.4422760]

>>4422711
last one- just saved these since i was planning on taking up writing as a way to kill time more than anything

Be aware of what you are trying to do and why do you want to do it. Ask yourself what it means to write, both on an universal and personal level. No one can answer those questions except yourself. If others do it for you, you have skipped the very thing that can make you into a good writer.

Here's my process. I'll tell you the exact point where it stops working for me. Steps 1-3 are general writing. The rest are for novel writing.

1. Read a lot of books / Notice things that inspire you (neverending)

2. Write stories about situations you're in in real life in your head. (John opened the door, having forgotten his coat like a dumbass, shrugging it on as he rushed back out, the door slamming behind him.)

3. When you finally have an idea that can be a story (has a conflict, somewhat original, you want to expand on it), write it down. Even write down shitty ideas. Sometimes you'll look at them and realize how they can become good.

4. When you have a good amount of ideas written down and a day free, start writing. Start with the shittiest ideas. Trust me on this, you'll get better practice trying to turn something bad into something good than using a good idea to make yourself feel better about your writing skills.

5a. (here's where I fail) When you get to the first idea that can become something great, instead of writing the story itself, write an outline of how the story would progress in your mind. If you try to do this and realize it won't work, move on, but keep the outline and the idea. Do this enough and (I hope) you'll start to become better at novel-writing as opposed to just short story writing.

5b. (something I've just started to try and that works very well for Mr. R.R. Martin) Instead of doing an outline, write the first chapter of the novel. Every time you come back to that story when doing step 4, write another chapter. Let the story write itself. Sometimes this works better than the above method.

6. ???

7. Profit from your book money.

[Anonymous No.4422879]

>>4422438

>Hemingway said whenever you walk into a room, think about how you would describe it in writing, and if you actually have the opportunity, write it down.


The white walls had definitely seen better days, spots and stains peppered across their surface. It was a very functional room, compact even. Most of the space was used by the furniture in it; two beds clad in faded sheets, a bureau covered in dust, an IKEA closet filled with unsorted garments, and an ancient wooden desk, with countless blotches from humidity and other accidents. The floor was in dire need of a sweeping, with a various assortment of crumbs, paper clippings, coins, dirt, and other unidentified bits laying in quantities that were probably beyond what is normally acceptable.

[Anonymous No.4422945]

>>4422438
>Hemingway said whenever you walk into a room, think about how you would describe it in writing, and if you actually have the opportunity, write it down.
I see Hemingway at his typewriter going "he walked in the room fierce and broad shouldered, a look of determination on his masculine face".

[Anonymous No.4422989]

OP here.

Thanks for all the advice, will take it to heart.

[Anonymous No.4423023]

>>4422879
U fucking suck.

[Anonymous No.4423025]

>>4422226
Just take any basic story and shoehorn your philosophy into it.

[Anonymous No.4423048]

>>4423023

[Anonymous No.4423097]

>>4422879

>The white walls had definitely seen better days, spots and stains peppered across their surface. It was a very functional room, compact even. Most of the space was used by the furniture in it; two beds clad in faded sheets, a bureau covered in dust, an IKEA closet filled with unsorted garments, and an ancient wooden desk, with countless blotches from humidity and other accidents. The floor was in dire need of a sweeping, with a various assortment of crumbs, paper clippings, coins, dirt, and other unidentified bits laying in quantities that were probably beyond what is normally acceptable.

Instead, try:

>Spots and stains peppered the faded white walls. It was a compact, functional room. The furniture took up most of the space: beds in faded sheets, a dust-covered bureau, an IKEA closet fit to burst with unsorted clothing, and an ancient, blotchy desk, sighing in the humidity. Dust, crumbs, and debris covered the floor an inch thick.


Eliminate wordiness. Don't try to be quirky.

[Anonymous No.4423099]

Not OP, but I often run out of shitty ideas to sacrifice.
Where can I find prompts?

[Anonymous No.4423126]

>>4423097
Is it an idea to try and say as much as possible, with as few words as you can?
So avoid being verbose and be descriptive but concise?

[Anonymous No.4423141]

>>4423126

Precisely.

Cut it down, leave out what's not important.

>B-b-but muh Dickens

Charles Dickens was a) a master of the craft and b) payed by the word.

You aren't that good. You can't hold a reader's attention like he can. Cut the bullshit and tell us what we need to know.

[Anonymous No.4423232]

>>4423097
I like the first one better, it's got personality.
The 'revision' completely changed the room into a generic pig stye.
Too much description can be a bad thing, but in this case it breathes a little life into the setting

[Anonymous No.4423286]

>>4423232

I literally changed nothing but removed passive voice and streamlined.

[Anonymous No.4423324]

>>4423141
>>4423232
>>4423286

It's a balance, too much of either botches the writing.

It's also a matter of preference.

[Anonymous No.4423399]

>>4423286

Yes. And in this case, I, too, feel it took more away than it gave. Was the first perfect? Of course not. Was the revision? Absolutely not.

Like >>4423324 said, it's about balance. It's always about balance. Rules only apply if they maintain that balance, but following them too closely can just as easily topple the entire tone of the piece, which is precisely what the revision did.

[Anonymous No.4423404]

>>4422711
>hurr you can only do something if you have the same motivations as I do durr xD@@
fuck off, bukowski, you presumptuous faggot

[Anonymous No.4423406]

here's what I do: I write. Then I think oh god what have I done?

[Anonymous No.4423540]

Read widely and deeply; make writing your default habit.

[Anonymous No.4423592]

>>4423097
that was actually worse and harder to read

[Anonymous No.4423622]

>>4422405

Except that's just the craftsmanship, not the creativity. For writing the craftsmanship is how to physically write, form sentences, vocabulary, grammar, etc. which you already have. Now you just need to write creatively.

I know it's scary staring at that blank page and when I started out I was looking for all the "top ten tip for new writers" or the best book to help me. And when you start out everyone tells you to write but you just want to scream "I'm trying but I don't know how!!"

But every problem I've ever had related to writing has been solved by JUST writing.

[Anonymous No.4423704]

Writing feels thread?

>Why does everything I write read like erotica? Is it because I'm a virgin at 20?

[Anonymous No.4424965]

>>4423704
I always have to hold myself from describing everything about the women that are actually good looking on my stories, like all the fucking time.

Not sure if it's sex deprivation of just my fascination with the female figure but I always end up rambling about the shape of breasts, stomach, waist, ass, etc.

[Anonymous No.4424994]

When I can get over my fear and pull myself into the focus of creating, I am often pulled by a narrative in my head, and it is that that I always try to capture on the page. And, although this feels 'true', it does not satisfy me completely, because although it is focused in one way, it is not focused in the other, in that I have not ordered this 'inspiration' if you'll allow me that term. I do not necessarily have a problem writing, I think my problem is editing, or guiding that focus into something that contributes to a satisfying whole.

This is my biggest hurdle. Does anyone relate? Has any felt this and overcome it? If so how?

[Anonymous No.4425072]

>>4424965
Masturbate before writing.

[Anonymous No.4425076]

>>4425072
I always end up masturbating for hours.

[Anonymous No.4425079]

>>4425072

Unwise. Fatiguing yourself and discarding the testosterone that comes from abstinence is more likely to make you weak, content, and prone to distraction for quite a while afterwards.

[Anonymous No.4425129]

>>4425072
Whenever I get horny while writing, I begin to fap and write erotica that fits into the story.

I've had several dozen-paged sprawls, writing a fuck scene and fapping as I went along. Stopping before climax multiple times then finally busting a nut, feeling as if my soul left my body through my dick.

I've once fapped for 4 hours while I wrote.
It was like a drug-fueled writing session. Felt good.

[Anonymous No.4425135]

>>4425079
It's true however, that I was never able to continue writing for at least several hours after ejaculation.
I'm this guy >>4425129.

[Anonymous No.4425170]

>>4425129
>feeling as if my soul left my body through my dick
use that line when you write something next time
that will give you some prizes

[Anonymous No.4425212]

>>4425170
Yes, the sentence will manifest itself in physical form, assume sentience and give me prizes.

[Anonymous No.4425486]

>>4424965
I feel your pain so much.

It's helped me to try to describe characters only in indirect ways.

[Anonymous No.4425514]

>>4424965
Also would like to read something you've written, if you feel so possessed.

[Anonymous No.4425537]

>>4425514
I lost everything.

Can't do.

Sorry.

[Anonymous No.4425586]

>>4425537
probably sucked anyway.

[Anonymous No.4425684]

>>4425586
:(

[Anonymous No.4425804]

I transfigure routinely into the abyss below me- or is it above me? They, the arbitrary figures that rely on my bitterly consistent nature and committed punctuality, scrutinize me to the point of frustration for any conceivable threats. Do I scare them? Floating rubble often triggers an all so familiar epiphany about my needs, wants, and even insignificant luxuries like the direction i can ponder in. (Both metaphorically and literally.)

What am I?

[Anonymous No.4425826]

>>4425079
>implying masturbation consumes testosterone

[Anonymous No.4425827]

>>4425804
Teeth.

[Anonymous No.4425890]

>>4425684
You can still send me something if you feel like proving me wrong.

[Anonymous No.4425926]

>>4425827
No, but good idea.