[ 3 / biz / cgl / ck / diy / fa / ic / jp / lit / sci / vr / vt ] [ index / top / reports ] [ become a patron ] [ status ]
2023-11: Warosu is now out of extended maintenance.

/lit/ - Literature

View post   
File: 11 KB, 261x193, russia.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5957705 No.5957705 [Reply] [Original]

>your age

>your job

>your /lit/-related ambitions

>> No.5957714

18
college student
to read a book for pleasure

>> No.5957741

18
uni student
average a book a week this year
gain an understanding of fashion history
read books that deepen my view on life
eventually write a book im proud of

>> No.5957746

>>5957705
23
studying STEM
reading books
writing genre fiction for the purpose of gaining money and for fun

>> No.5957754

25

Warehouse worker (seasonal)/NEET

I want to write a novel.

>> No.5957759

>>5957754
Why don't you?

>> No.5957767

>>5957746
Any published?

>> No.5957770

Feel like I'm the only person on this entire board doing hard manual labor.
So not posting details, cause of the shame.

>> No.5957774

>>5957770
Age?

Also what line of work?

>> No.5957782

>>5957705
20
no job
hoping my offer comes through for my professional writing diploma this year, then go from there

>> No.5957783

21

Factory worker (was temp and looks like the contract is pretty much finished, so back to neetdom it is)

Mostly just to read all the good books i can. I don't have the work-ethic or talent for writing.

>> No.5957789

>>5957774
22.

Relating to animals. Go figure.

I have a couple of ideas for stories, some of them more unique than others, which I'm willing to write, but I work 8-10 hours a day, 5-6 days a week right now, difficult to find the time.
I'm ambitious, though.

>> No.5957790

>>5957754
>>5957783
Who knew there were so many Ignatius's on /lit/

>> No.5957791

>>5957783
Anon don't not believe in yourself, the more you read the better you will write, You have it in you man!

>> No.5957838

Age: [redacted]

Occupation(s): Vaudevillian exemplification

/Lit/ ambition(s): [omitted]

>> No.5957840

>>5957789
Yeah lack of time sucks, and when you have free time but are way tired from work it's just depressing

>> No.5957848

29
Linux/UNIX server administrator
To finish something ( beside poetry ) and enjoy it afterwards.

>> No.5957854

>20
>recycling plant worker
>read the whole bible this year

>> No.5957860

18

Quit school when I was 15. Hustle (I get by).

I'd like to write Europe's Howl.

Erase all the traces of postmodernism and focus on a new narrative.

Inspired by alt-lit, but imo they lack syntheses. It's a lot of good ideas and one-liners, but no greater story.

There must be a new way to perform poetry. Slam poetry isn't quite there yet. Hiphop has a negative connotation for a lot of people. I'm looking for new ways to bring performance poetry to a bigger audience.

Publish a printed literary magazine, focusing on debutants and new forms of poetry, getting them ready for a literaty career.

Organise spoken word events, paying performers well. Combining genres (comedy with slam, hiphop with academic poetry, punk with spoken word) in one event.

>> No.5957881

>>5957860
you sound pretty edgy brah

>> No.5957884

>>5957860
god I hope this is trolling

>> No.5957888

>>5957860
>Erase all the traces of postmodernism and focus on a new narrative.

so what do you think post modernism is and how could it possibly be replaced?

>> No.5957891

26
supervisor
write a book, become fluent in german, write another book

>> No.5957896

24
Barista/cashier/assistant manager
Playwriting. My ambitions have stalled out a bit. But I've been reading more and I'm starting to feel inspired again. Thankfully I live in one of the few American cities supportive of theatrical arts and there's a theater near me that takes pitches for just about anything. My roommate did a sketch show he wrote there so I think I'm going to try and stage a play of mine this year

>> No.5957906

>>5957860
>Hustle (I get by).
I don't know why but I lost it. Cheers.

>> No.5958007

>>5957705
19
Uni student
To read enough that I can produce significant literature myself

>> No.5958048

>>5957705
20
Student
Write a book that is both good and published. Too bad I have no ideas now.

>> No.5958079

>>5957705
30
Graphic Designer
Currently write short stories and short screenplays, have some published online and some made into short films. I also ghostwrite and have made money doing it. I'm always working on something and have several novels that I'm outlining/jotting down ideas for. I hope to get published in print at some point, consistently.

>> No.5958084

>>5957705
27
uni student (about to fail and drop out though)
i mostly wrote poems back then, later short stories. during my edgy teens i wrote gory song lyrics and a "book" about my thoughts on emotions, how they affect rational decisions and how punishment on an emotional level was ineffective for someone who "learned to disregard emotions" (i was a supreme edgelord, its extremely cringe worthy, but probably one of my best works). now as for my current /lit/ related ambitions, i dont really feel like writing anymore. my focus is on not just scraping the surface of literature, i much rather want to be able to actually understand what im reading.

>> No.5958089

21

History/philosophy student soon to graduate

I will get my PhD in African imperial history and be a prolific academic writer. I've also been writing a piece following a fictional Briton in the Crimean war in the form of a collection of letters.

>> No.5958090

>>5958089
boooooooring

>> No.5958097

>>5958089
>epistolary novel
>2015

>> No.5958098

>>5958090
What do you think is boring?

>> No.5958116

>>5957888

"If you will forgive us for the banality of the metaphor for a moment, the metamodern thus willfully adopts a kind of donkey-and-carrot double-bind. Like a donkey it chases a carrot that it never manages to eat because the carrot is always just beyond its reach. But precisely because it never manages to eat the carrot, it never ends its chase, setting foot in moral realms the modern donkey (having eaten its carrot elsewhere) will never encounter, entering political domains the postmodern donkey (having abandoned the chase) will never come across."

(from notes on metamodernism)

We should stop being so cynical about today's society. I might be better/worse then before, but that doesn't matter. We have never been here before.
I see a lot of people struggling with authenticity. It doesn't exist. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to write profound poetry/literature.

It's never been cheaper to travel and easier to move around. At the same time the internet erases the need to do so. The world moves fast, and we're behind. A lot of things happen for the sake of progress, without anyone asking questions or reflecting.

(this probably isn't an answer)

>> No.5958127

>>5958116
Oh man did you get the link for the Notes on Modernism essay on /lit/?

I have posted this essay on request a couple of times here but I regret having done so now. The whole sincerity Vs. postmodernism debate makes me sick. It's a symptom of DFWitus, of a bunch of arrogant fanboys associating their own mediocre talents with the talent of DFW, while failing to put in the required effort to understand postmodernism and thus discrediting it off-hand, idealizing the vague idea of sincerity instead.

The irony vs sincerity debate is essentially sarcasm vs honesty, and it is dull at this point that those pursuing it become dull in turn

>> No.5958136

>>5958127
Got it from a friend.

I'm not idealizing sincerity, there is no such thing. I'm trying to make peace with that fact.

"while failing to put in the required effort to understand postmodernism and thus discrediting it off-hand"

so, recommend me something.

>> No.5958138

25
currently neet
I want to get 3 of my short stories published in 2015

>> No.5958142

>>5957741
fagit

>> No.5958146

18
NEET (will enroll in a university soon)
None worthy of mentioning

>> No.5958155 [DELETED] 

>>5958136
My criticism was a general one, you may or may not be a target of it, though the fact you think people should not be so cynical suggests you are. Cynicism is a good thing. It is healthy to be cynical in a degraded culture. The fact remains that many if not most people essentially comprise the mob / herd / mass that would put the people who post on /lit/ in prison if they had a say in the matter, or would at least be dismissive of people . You want to be sincere to these people? Go ahead. You can be an authentic cynic, and profound literature has existed for hundreds of years, and has survived every school of literary theory, including pomo. Your comment about travel being easy and the internet negating the need for travel is irrelevant to any post-postmodern thesis, and the observation itself is something postmodernism would employ as a means of justifying its techniques and so on.

>> No.5958162
File: 60 KB, 344x345, 1391969916015.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5958162

1.) 22 going on 23.

2.) Student of Chemistry at shit-tier community college and seasonal NEET

3.) I would like to graduate in my field and create my own series of novels or non-fictional political analyses.

I have a few ideas that I think would be great for writing about but I don't feel like I have the skills that make a good writer other than perhaps abstract thinking and a dash of creativity.

Mastering organic chemistry is my Plan A. Should that fall through, then my Plan B is writing.

Contingency plan is kill self if none of the above work out.

>> No.5958176

>>5957754

Hah you're me. Every word matches.

>> No.5958181

>>5957705
29
software engineer
publish my novel

>> No.5958183

1.) 20
2.) studying economics in college
3) Be a real patrician

>> No.5958186

>>5958181
Is it finished?

>> No.5958189

>>5957705
>>your age
19

>>your job
Full time student, part time stocker at good ole Wally World

>>your /lit/-related ambitions
Get my doctorate and be a philosophy professor. I mean...."uh, lawschool for sure".....

>> No.5958195

>>5957705
32
Chef/editor
Own a second hand bookstore/cafe, and spend my life in there writing, reading, running adjudicated debates, life modeling classes, and hosting lectures once all the administrative stuff is done. Ahhhh to dream.

>> No.5958198

>>5958195
Chef / Editor

What does this mean? What do you edit? Are you Tao Lin's editor, that dude was a chef.

>> No.5958203

24
Civil servant
Hoping to get through 52 books this year

>> No.5958210

18
Student, graphic/graphic designer
To read books until I feel well read enough to write them

>> No.5958212

24
Vagabond(back of my small trust fund)
Write a book

>> No.5958213

and a half
gineer
itposting

>> No.5958215

>>5958162
Don't do it anon. I studied chemistry at a great University and nothing came out of it. If you are analytic minded, study CS with a lot of math.

>> No.5958227

>>5958215
How old are you and what are you doing now? What grade did you get?

>> No.5958230

>>5958227
I'm 22. I graduated this may and I work as a Clinical Research Coordinator. I graduated with a 3.4(Major GPA was 3.2ish). Wish I did something else.

>> No.5958236

>>5958203
>civil servant

What does this mean? Like what does your job involve?

>> No.5958259

24

bookkeeper

Have a short story published in the next year or two

>> No.5958264

>>5958236
I work in central government in London.

>> No.5958276

>>5958264
Do you enjoy it? Are you in the fast stream program? I work down in Borough, same age.

>> No.5958283

>24

>NEET (psych major [useless], I usually temp for 6 months a year and then coast on my savings [tfw I only have enough money for one more month of NEETness])

>Get something (most likely a short story or article) published this year. Ultimately find a job related to writing.

>> No.5958296

>>5958276
Nawh, got an internship and got in that way. I'm pretty lazy so it suits me.

>> No.5958298

>>5958283
Man that sounds ideal. Is this a long-term plan or what? What do you temp as and where do you live?

>> No.5958301

21

digital account exec

keep writing short stories and submitting to journals and competitions until 25~, complete a novella at about that time too, win a writing fellowship, finish first novel by 28~


I want Catton or Zadie Smith's career trajectory :(

>> No.5958304

>>5958296
What hours do you work and where abouts do you live?

>> No.5958307

>22

>data entry for a burgeoning health insurance sales firm

>I'm currently trying to write this one book, it's about the place insurance has in society and why it has to exist. It's fiction, involves an intense analytical look at morality, nature, and industrialization.

I'm writing it in sections each with their own meaning, similar to Pynchon

>> No.5958309

>>5958301
r u grill?

>> No.5958314

>>5958304
9-5 most of the time, live in Vauxhall, so i can literally walk to work. Life is good.

>> No.5958321

>>5958301

why don't you finish tis dick before ur over the hill lol

>> No.5958323

>>5958309

no my writing career would be so much easier if I was a girl tho (assuming my prose remained the same ie masculine)

>> No.5958327

>>5958314
Yeah I walk too, but my flat is loud as hell with traffic and it sucks living here. Sounds like a cool job man.

>> No.5958328

>>5958323
how so, you would sleep with publishers to get your works printed?

>> No.5958331

>>5957705

31
Policy Analyst
Would like to write something meaningful, and perhaps get it published.

>> No.5958334

>>5958331
You better get started soon boy else you're gonna be an old man in an industry looking for hot young studs

>> No.5958344

>>5958328

yes

also I come from an ethnicity (not white) that is severely lacking in female writers (particularly in the western sphere) and I'm reasonably certain one would get eaten up/feted hard

>>5958321

not sure what this means but assuming it's some like like take little steps then I am, I am happen to have long term plans too

>> No.5958347

>>5958344
What ethnicity bro?

>> No.5958360

>>5958298
I wouldn't say it's ideal. It's great for the 6 months when I'm not working. It's crazy how much more creative I can be when I'm able to wake up at whatever hour I want and just write. I've been doing this for two years now. The prospect of having to find a job soon fills me with dread.

Usually I'll take a contract with some insurance company doing phone/office work. Customer service is especially soul-sucking, but even regular office work makes me want to kill myself. I don't know how people do it their whole lives. It crushes my spirit.

My long term plan is [???]. Hopefully I can make this writing thing work. People have told me I'm funny. I've done stand up a couple of times and liked it a lot, although I bombed pretty bad every time. I've also written half a script for a comedy but it's pretty cringeworthy. I live on like 14 000$ a year. If I could only make that much by doing something related to writing, I'd be satisfied.

I live in Toronto and am bilingual (French) so it's not too hard to find work.

>> No.5958362

23
student/part time lawyer
getting my novel published while im still "young"

>> No.5958371

>>5958347

I'm Asian, and I write mostly about the major Asian/international/alpha city that I'm from

don't wna give too much details bout myself on this Vietnamese cartoon forum sorry

>> No.5958373

>>5958360
I envy your situation a little, though of course I lack any real sense of context. Good luck man. Have you read Leonard Cohen's first two novels?

>> No.5958377

18
In university in London doing history, reading about Imperialism and its relation to feminism.
To understand humans and get along with them better.

>> No.5958379

>>5957705
19
IT support intern thingy
starting with the greeks

>> No.5958382

>>5958371
No problem. Do you like Tao Lin?

>> No.5958384

>>5958360

to each his own I guess but that sounds miserable to me

I was unemployed for three months doing freelance work and I was prob at a creative low

can only really write when I have a full time job, even tho it's exhausting

>> No.5958388

>>5958377
Which uni?

>> No.5958389

>>5958388
King's College London, why are you here?

>> No.5958395

>>5958389
>why are you here?

That's a tough question and I can't provide any meaningful answer I'm afraid. You're not in the Great Dover street halls are you?

>> No.5958397

>>5958373
I haven't. I'm not promising you I will either. I read like 15 books a year.

>>5958384
Having to wake up everyday at the same time is unbearable to me. When I work full-time, I feel like I have only 2-3 hours per day for myself and I usually am too tired to write.

Anyway, I'm off to the library. I have to enjoy my freedom while I still have it. I told myself I'd get there at 10:30. I'm never gonna write if I have access to /lit/.

>> No.5958404

>23

>boring desk shit

>grad school next year
>read 40 books this year
>become actual goat

>> No.5958406

>>5958395
Hello Camus,
No I live in private near Stanford Street. I'm guessing you are. You doing history too?

>> No.5958409

>23
>assistant in a law office. Also going to grad school for a Masters (unrelated to law)
>I'd like to write something someday

>> No.5958411

>>5958397
Ok man just wondering. His first one is about a guy in your position in Vancouver

>> No.5958417

>>5958406
Nope I don't go there, the halls are just near where I live. I was hoping you were a qt3.14 patrician and that we could communicate via flashlights through our windows at night. Alas.

>> No.5958428

>>5958417
Pity

>> No.5958458

>>5958404
Grad school for what?

>> No.5958506

>>5958198
I mainly work as a chef, but often get work given to me through contacts for editing. The editing doesn't pay well, sometimes I do it for nothing, but I enjoy it.

>> No.5958536

22
At this moment jobless, about to take the hard way, my aunt offer me a job, prob next week ill start
Learn more and read more, hopefully one day ill write a book

>> No.5958540

>>5958536
What job?

>> No.5958585

>>5958540
accounting, we are not close sometimes my aunt can be shallow as fuck but fun at the same time

>> No.5958612

26
grad school, hopefully Dr. Annon by end of year then I have to try and find a job with an arts phd … fuck knows

too lazy to have ambition, ill just keep reading stuff

>> No.5958626
File: 92 KB, 425x432, 93274593475.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5958626

>26

>Soon to be jobless philosophy post-grad. I have a killer internship though, so I might still make something of myself.

>I want to get more short stories or poems published. Eventually a novel or a collection of poems. I've only gotten one poem published in a decent English small press journal.

>>5958301
I think of these career paths constantly, and how I always wanted to be way further in my writing career at 26.

I obsess over how old good writers were when they published their first (acclaimed) work, and when I see career paths such as that of Eleanor Catton, I get pathetically envious.

Why do we do this, anon? I hope you either achieve what you want to or grow to slowly accept that the reason we do this is not careers, or at least that's not the only reason. I'm starting to accept it at least.

Obsessing over career can be toxic to your writing, and importantly it's also toxic to your general well being.

>> No.5958643

>>5958626
Not that guy but same here. It seems most writers were published by their mid twenties, but the thing is many of their books (Nabkov's "Anna", Dusty's "Poor Folk", Dazai's "Schoolgirl"...many others) are like 100 pages long and would not be published in the current market. It's a tough industry to get started in and I understand why so many writers resort to cliched garbage

>> No.5958656
File: 34 KB, 500x521, image.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5958656

>30
>social worker
>quit and write for a living...a man has to have a dream

>> No.5958660

>>5958458
Philosophy. Have a BA in it. Spent some time away from school but realized it's really what I want to do after doing some other shit.

>> No.5958662

>28

>postdoc biology

>read >100 books this year, just like last year

>> No.5958672

>>5958643
>It seems most writers were published by their mid twenties.

Yeah, it almost seems to me that the latest for a really great writer is like 28. And before then they've usually been published in big journals - New Yorker, Paris Review, whatever.

The first novel is usually of "general" or "some acclaim," meaning it was decently received, decently enough to write a second one at least.

There are quite a few exceptions to this though. George Saunders for instance, though his case is rare. I can't be bothered to come up with more examples right now, but there are enough to keep writing at pretty much any age.

>> No.5958681

>>5958672
>the latest for a really great writer is like 28

I think that only applies to people who have been trying and failing for years prior to 28. Some people start later and subsequently get published later.

>> No.5958684

>>5958672
Some writers who only published in late life, with the help of Wikipedia:

Frank McCourt (born in 1930, first book published 1996)

William S. Burroughs started writing in 1945 after he shot his wife, he was born 1914

Bukowski published relatively little (poems and short fiction) until he got that famous full-time offer when he was 49, first novel published two years later

Helen DeWitt was 44 when her first book came out (The Last Samurai - read it, it's amazing)

Raymond Chandler started writing at 44 when he lost his job

de Sade wrote his first book in prison at age 47

Anthony Burgess was born in 1917, first novel published in 1956 (but did write and publish critical studies before that)

>> No.5958693

>>5958681
Of course, but it is none the less remarkable how many of the really good writers - or the ones I and many others consider good - get published in their mid twenties.

This post is a good case in point:

>>5958684
I don't like any of these writers.

Haven't read Frank McCourt though.

>> No.5958699

>>5958684
Murakami didn't even start writing until he was 29.

>> No.5958700

>>5958684
Is 4chan breaking or is reCAPTCHA breaking? I had to resubmit this post 4 times, it kept on telling me "Error: You seem to have mistyped the CAPTCHA. Please try again." while the green tick is clearly there

>> No.5958706

>your age
21

>your job
information systems engineering student
research assistant
teacher assistant

>your /lit/-related ambitions

Write something (short story, poem) that doesn't suck, something that manages to evoke some kind of emotion in other people. After all, art is a binary phenomenon.

>> No.5958730

>>5958684
Any in the last decade?

Market has changed rapidly since then. Nobody wants to read an old writer (unless they have connections)

The days of the older, working-class guy getting published are over

>> No.5958742

34
Acquisitions editor
Can't say for sure. Seeing the industry from the inside, I'm disenchanted by the world of fiction publishing. Mostly interested in the early days of the federal government, with an idea or two for serious histories kicking around in my head. Tough to find time.

>> No.5958748

>>5958730
The Last Samurai was published in 2000, so close-
Donald Ray Pollock published his first novel in 2011, was fairly hyped, born 1954.
Can't think of anyone more recent

>> No.5958751

>>5958730
It's been like that for decades though.

It culminated, of course, with the creation of what is now the total iron fist rulership of MFA programs.

>> No.5958762

>>5958748
Last Samurai chick
>It shouldn't be a surprise that it's taken so long. Her only previously published novel, The Last Samurai, was rejected for years as too difficult, until a lucky strike with Miramax Books made it a cult phenomenon.

Donald Ray Pollock
>There are just so many writers submitting and so little space open for stories. I've probably gotten around 200 rejections so far, and I'm sure there will be plenty more,

>> No.5958766

Age: 21

Part-time Job: Program/Project Assistant at my University

Ambition: Policy/Program Analyst at provincial government

>> No.5958767

>>5958742
Are you the guy working on the small press in the USA?

I know there are two people with a similar job that I've talked to a bunch of times on here, one of whom is you, but I sometimes mistake one for the other.

Also why are you disenchanted?

>> No.5958775

23
account manager at a marketing agency
no /lit/ related ambitions, i just like to talk about books with people

>> No.5958776

>>5958762
It's weird to just copying sentences from tumblrs and then pasting them into 4chan

Having said that, The Last Samurai was finished in 1998 (says Wikipedia [1]), 2 years of sending manuscripts around isn't unheard of (and these 2 years also include editing, printing, preparing advertising campagin etc.)

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_DeWitt

>> No.5958779

>>5958751
True, and also a culture which idolizes youth.

I recently heard about Elena Ferrante, an older Italian lady who published pseudonmously and whose books have spread through word of mouth. I think stuff like that is great. I understand why people like her and Pynchon do that, and I am considering doing that also if I receive an offer for my book (though it's very risky)

>> No.5958782

>>5958775
>account manager

Which city?

>> No.5958783

>>5958183
Are you me?

>> No.5958785

>your age
25

>your job
Craft beer brewer

>your /lit/-related ambitions
Write 2 non fiction books in niche brewing subjects that haven't been wrote

Become Fluent in german

Write a novel

Compile a list of the classics and read them

>> No.5958789

>>5958767
I don't think so, I post barely at all here. I'm at a midsize nonfiction house.

As for fiction, I should clarify I acquire not at all in the field, but a few folks I do know on that side just seem desperate and scared. Fiction is a hellish world to be in now, at least in the US, and it's just about killed any aspiration I have to dip my toe in. My first love was always nonfiction anyway.

>> No.5958791

>>5958785
>Craft beer brewer
That sounds awesome, are you on the East coast?

>> No.5958792
File: 65 KB, 780x278, R15ovVE.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5958792

>27

>Lab technician

>None. I just like to read.

>> No.5958800

>>5958789
Sorry for the confusion.

Would you be willing to explain the fears of those you know in the fiction industry?

Thomas Ligotti worked as an associate editor for some non-fiction company for like 25 years I think, but that's pretty much irrelevant I was just reminded of that today

>> No.5958803

>>5958782
detroit

>> No.5958805

>23
>useless piece of shit
>write a novel and get it published

I have no idea how to even start getting something published, though. Are you supposed to just send a couple dozen emails to publishing houses?

>> No.5958806

>>5958791
Yeah im planning on moving else where though because the laws in my state are fucked. Real hard to find a good paying job because they are so limited and so many people want them.

Love my job though

>> No.5958808

>>5958803
I thought Detroit was like Escape from New York for white people?

>> No.5958812

>>5958808
that's probably because you're an idiot

>> No.5958813

>>5958808
kek

>> No.5958815

>>5958805
Where are you from?

First write.
Then edit.
Then edit again.
Then seek an agent.
Also look up publishers that accept unsolicited manuscripts (i.e. allows you to send your submission directly)
Get rejected.
Get rejected a lot.
Convince yourself that you are worthless.
Become ashamed of your own confidence.
Keep applying.
Keep writing.
Apply again.
Feel worthless again.
Get published.
Realize it isn't a cure all for your depression.
Weedmoneyswagpussy
Suicide

>> No.5958819
File: 275 KB, 428x640, detroit library6.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5958819

>>5958812
Yeah, probably

>> No.5958822

>>5958815
Somewhere that isn't the US, which means I'm ultrafucked, presumably.
So publishers really allow you to just send them stuff with a 'lol pls publish' note attached?

>> No.5958827

>>5958822
Post your country faggot, this is an anonymous website.

And no, if you're not in the US you have more of a chance because your country is probably all fucked up and retarded, so you will appear like a genius in comparison.

Just please, PLEASE, don't write magical realism.

>> No.5958828

>>5958800
Sure, I can sum up what I've gathered over drinks and watching them. I gather it's the weight of shrinking resources and limited interest from their bosses, the consolidation of the big houses, perennial layoffs, the hard nosedive in literary sales, and such. These are probably not real revelations to anyone here, but the editors up top have no better answers. As I said, I don't envy them.

>> No.5958832

>>5958827
why are you so mean on the internet to strangers you don't know

>> No.5958833

>>5958827
>And no, if you're not in the US you have more of a chance because your country is probably all fucked up and retarded, so you will appear like a genius in comparison.

I would have sworn it's the opposite

>> No.5958840

>>5958832
>why are you so alpha
Fixed

>>5958833
I doubt it. There's a young Polish dude here who is getting his first book published and he said that literature just isn't all that big in Poland so the competition is week. In Norway, Denmark etc I looked up the major publishers and they all welcome submissions and even say they will correspond with you if they don't feel your novel is for them to explain why. In the US there is none of that. Also, post your country.

>> No.5958842

24
high school chem teacher
i have a novel i'm working on about time travel; looper meets the stranger according to some of my friends who have read parts of it.

>> No.5958843

>>5958827
But it's one of those poor countries that everyone makes fun of.
Yeah, no. Nobody cares for books so there's not much money to be made for publishers, so I doubt they take on a lot of randomly handed in debuting novels.

>> No.5958844

>>5958833
You are a fucking idiot, who probably is a slave to the english language. Learn to love your language.

>> No.5958845
File: 107 KB, 960x681, 03985703985.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5958845

>>5958779
>True, and also a culture which idolizes youth.

I think it has a lot to do with what that young age implies. It implies that you are reading someone who will one day be a great genius, and that you are now privy to the development and the work of a great writer.

I have not read Eleanor Catton, but I will bet my ass the cover and the general talk about her is a lot of stuff about her being "one of the greatest talents of writing today." I don't know if that's true of her, but it's hardly true of everyone that they write that stuff about.

Because literature is so pressured for both sales and, let's face it, to justify its cultural relevancy in the face of people who don't read at all, these are the kind of writers who generate buzz.

It's the same with Ivy League universities: Why do they always print that the author graduated from Harvard on the back? Because people need to feel that they are spending their precious time reading the best of the best, that they are not being cheated into simply reading just any old novel. This includes reviewers, who obviously create a lot of money and attention in the world of books, especially in modern fiction.

These MFA programs are a serious part of this. Literature has basically been departmentalized into tiers of MFA programs. With the Iowa-tier graduates at the top of course, who won't ever have to worry about getting published in the New Yorker.

It's a sad state, and for regular mortals, all you have to hope for is that you can defy you non-Ivy League upbringing (and therefore, of course, your perceived level of relevance to this system).

>>5958775
Man, that sounds nice. I realize it sounds condescending - that is not how I mean it - but I wish I didn't want to write. I wish I could just chill and read.

>> No.5958848

>>5958842
>looper meets the stranger

You need to find new friends guy. Were they high when they told you that? Did they end the sentence with an elongated "duuuude"?

>> No.5958850

>>5958730
>Market has changed rapidly since then. Nobody wants to read an old writer

I don't think people like Burroughs, de Sade, and Burgess were successful because of the market.

>> No.5958853

>>5958843
Who cares if people make fun of your country?

I bet there are some well respected writers from that country regardless.

Also stop being so self-defeating, it will get you nowhere, and I say that from bitter experience.

>> No.5958857

>>5958819
sure there are abandoned buildings, but there is still a great deal of commerce conducted in the city with plenty of high paying jobs to go around.

>> No.5958865

>>5958844
I'm German, our country is neither fucked up nor retarded, I'd guess it's really hard to appear like a genius in comparison

In America, though, I look like a genius. You guys can't even open a beer bottle with a lighter

>> No.5958866

>>5958853
But if I'm bitter about it now the crushing dissapointment won't hit so hard.
I've considered writing it in English rather than my native language(it's not one that has a lot of speakers) just because I thought because there was a big market, the odds of finding some publisher who will take it are higher.

>> No.5958877

>>5958845
All true, and in addition teenagers now are perhaps the most targeted consumers out there. They have tons of free time, purchasing power with mommy and daddys free cash, and access to the internet. So any young writer who seems like "one of them" will be more appealing than some "ewww old guy!!" like Henry Miller, who would probably have a real obscure blog with shitty flame graphics if he were alive and attempting to get published today.

Yeah I don't know too much about MFAs but I know a lot of people in my country have MAs in creative writing, with UEA being the most famous (Ishiguro et al. went there). It's partly why DFW did so well, he basically had four years to bum around and choose what to do, only got into Amherst because of his father (he admitted this in an Amherst magazine interview) and then did an MA where one of his teachers got his short stories published in large publications (the one about David Letterman, can't recall the title).

Also in regard to your response to that other dude, I know that feel, but I'm also glad I'm so autistically obsessed with literature and committed, in a personal sense, to writing only the kind of stuff I would be proud of representing, rather than selling out or trying to write in a way I know editors would find wacky or "fresh"

>> No.5958884

>>5958850
Burgess wasn't succeful until his late 50s IIRC, and then only because of the Kubrick adaptation. De Sade came from an era where only a small number of people were literate enough to write, and these were generally already so rich and content that they didn't bother. It was relatively easy is what I'm saying.

>> No.5958888

>>5958866
Will you just post which country you're from?

I fail to see any reason why you would hesitate to do this. Also there are plenty of Western publishing houses who eat up foreign stuff, like Arcadia Books. My advice would be to start off as a big fish in a small pond and hope that the attention gets you noticed internationally.

>> No.5958891

>>5958884
The idea that there aren't publishers who would publish literary fiction by older writers is bollocks, though. And getting published is the only measure of success we've been discussing ITT. Wealth from that publishing deal isn't likely even for young people.

>> No.5958898

>>5958877
>Also in regard to your response to that other dude, I know that feel, but I'm also glad I'm so autistically obsessed with literature and committed, in a personal sense, to writing only the kind of stuff I would be proud of representing, rather than selling out or trying to write in a way I know editors would find wacky or "fresh"

Amen, brother. This is my feel lately too. Who cares if I'm "old," I like reading and writing so I'll do that for as long as I'm financially able - or unable. Good luck with you and yours, anon.

>> No.5958902

>>5958891
I have to admit I was just joshing when I dismissed your list of older writers, and felt compelled, in a non-personal, vaguely humorous way of defending my (false) argument afterwards. I'm sure a lot of places take older writers, and there's no need to mention your age in a submission so there's no reason their work would be dismissed. But a mediocre work from a 24 year old is far more likely to be taken on than that of a 50 year old

>> No.5958907
File: 23 KB, 500x476, 1413396859593.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5958907

>>5958891
>tfw we'll all be failures

>> No.5958908

>>5958845
>It implies that you are reading someone who will one day be a great genius, and that you are now privy to the development and the work of a great writer.

That doesn't actually imply that at all. Why are humanitiesfags so awful at logic?

>> No.5958909

the problem is that you have dreams that are achievable
your dreams should be impossible dreams, impossible to achieve
your dreams should be like children's dreams, enjoyed for their own sake without any intention to realize them
instead of dreaming about being a published writer you should dream something like being a troubadour following knights around and singing to maidens, or being a French soldier that was part of Napoleon's campaigns singing poems about the victories of Napoleon to your imaginary French children.
then you will never be disappointed and will always be content, like a child.

>> No.5958911

>>5958909

that's not a dream that's a fantasy

>> No.5958912

Holy shit the amount of jobless losers on here is astounding.

>> No.5958921

>>5958908
This comment is laughable.

There are other implications than logical ones.

>> No.5958924

>>5958898
You too man. Personally I don't care, and to be honest - judging this by the comment sections in the 'books' sectionof various national newspapers I browse each day - neither do most others interested in literature. I adore the fact 4chan is anonymous and that the quality of a post is judged without reference to the author, and although it would be nice to be praised for being talented at a relatively young age, I would prefer it if the industry was entirely anonymous, with books judged entirely on their own merits. I assume it's possible, though there are so many things counting against the idea that it is nigh on impossible for it to work as I imagine it. But yeah good luck anon and be persistant. Stoner was written when John Edward Williams was 55, and he almost gave up writing because nobody wanted it for ages and ages. Post your work here if it ever gets published.

>> No.5958926

>>5958921
>There are other implications than logical ones.

If there are, that instance certainly wasn't one of them.

>> No.5958928

>>5958911
well then don't have dreams, have fantasies

>> No.5958930
File: 490 KB, 449x401, laughingwhores.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5958930

>>5958912
>"Oh my god alopecia he's a wageslave!"

>> No.5958931

>>5958084
why drop out?

>> No.5958939

>>5958926
My friend, I think you need to tune your reading comprehension.

I used the word "implies" in its most rhetorical sense: Something is implied without it actually being so.

Being a young published writer doesn't /actually/ imply that you are a great genius, it only implies it to the target audience, that is critics and readers.

Maybe read the post again.

>> No.5958944

If the publishing industry is really in that bad of shape, self-publishing isn't that terrible of an idea. Hold your fire for a second. It's not difficult, in theory, to imagine a group of talented writers publishing their work on a blog, gaining traction through word of mouth, and putting out PDFs of their finished work.

The variables are talent and chance, as always.

>> No.5958948

>>5958944
But nobody cares about blogs.

>> No.5958956

>>5958939
>it only implies it to the target audience

I'm sorry, but I really don't think "imply" is the best word to use here. Part of the reason a young writer is more likely to be published may be because of consumer desires to feel like they knew about a great artist before everyone else, but I don't think you can then say that the publishing of a young writer "implies" that even to the consumer.

>> No.5958957

>>5958944
But any small group of writers is prone to falling apart as people lose interest. Look at the bookclubs. The best example of your idea is Tao Lin's Muumuu House, where potential writers have to post on each others blogs and stuff to be considered part of the community and then published. It's fine and all but nobody reads the stuff published there and since there's little quality control pretty much any fanboy can get their 50 page existential novella published and maybe fuck a fat chick with a profile of virginia woolf on her arm as a result. Beyond that it's pointless.

>> No.5958962

>>5958911
nah dude, you don't get it
it is a dream
I mean you should really live life wanting to be a French soldier fighting under Napoleon. When someone asks you what you want to do with your life, you should say, "listen to Napoleon give a speech to my battalion", and live your life with this dream. The fact that it is unachievable will give your life an ironic twist that will be an endless source of amusement. while people around you are deeply afflicted because they aren't as clever or as pretty or as wealthy as someone else, you should be saying, "woe is me, for I shall never hear the voice of my Napoleon". This is a life worth living.

>> No.5958973

>>5958948
Nobody cares about blogs because there aren't any good fiction blogs. People routinely look(ed) down upon television, but many of us have been told about television shows that are "actually really good and well written", etc. Basically, if the quality is high enough, people will overlook the medium.

The same could be said of a YouTube channel show. They're mostly garbage, but the right people coming together could produce something of value despite that.

Also, it doesn't have to be a blog. It could be a stapled together manuscript attached to a brick and thrown into local supermarkets for all it matters. If it's good, people will (probably) notice.

>> No.5958980

>>5958973
Not true, it's just that blogs have died out. They're myspace-tier now. Tumblr is the place to post shit, like that BEE imitator did with his book Yours Truly, Brad Cena (alex kidaliki or some shit). But even tumblr is dying afaik.

>> No.5958987

>>5958980
>even tubler is dying now
Shit, so what's the cool new thing now? I'm starting to become painfully out of touch with this shit.

>> No.5958988

>>5958956
>2.a The action of implying; the fact of being implied or involved, without being plainly expressed; that which is involved or implied in something else.

It's a completely legitimate use of the word.

>> No.5958994

>>5958980
Tumblr is a blog, though. Either way, it doesn't matter. If the writing was good, people would read it and a reputation would develop.

>> No.5958995

>>5958987
No idea, but 4chan has remained popular, though the opportunities for self-promotion are limited, and if you do become a namefag there is a high chance of you being ridiculed and hounded out (for good reason)

>> No.5959001

>>5958987
>>5958995
reddit
pinterest
vine

are all popular now

>> No.5959007

>>5958995
4chan has lost about a third of its userbase since its peak somewhere around 2010. One day it will be gone and there will be nowhere for us to go.

>> No.5959011

>>5958987
>>5959001
Jesus.

What I'm talking about is something independent from all of that horseshit. A registered domain name and some text. That's all you need.

>> No.5959014

>>5959007
Oh, fuck. Before this happens, we need to talk about where to go.

This is the only place I go for literature, all the reddits are so fucking shit it's unbelievable.

>look at this article about ten words shakespeare invented omg xD xD

>> No.5959025

>>5959001
Yeah but only reddit is relevant to writing, and they are pretty much only interested in genre fiction.

Also, this is one example of the type of writing popular on tumblr:

http://nickmiller.tumblr.com/

He wrote a novel called "Isn't it Pretty To Think So" and he crowded funded it using his tumblrfans:

https://www.kickstarter.com/blog/dirty-realism-and-the-la-writer

Here's his faggy video thanking them:

http://vimeo.com/43284826

>> No.5959028

27
I work as an assistant in Hollywood
I have done some writing for TV and would like to do more, would also like to publish a novel

>> No.5959039

26
Assistant district attorney in Tx.
I read in my free time

>> No.5959041

>>5959025
>check out tumblr
>first post is this
>http://nickmiller.tumblr.com/post/107228827176
>stab my eyes with a pencil
>lose so much blood, they save my brain only
>they put it into a giant mecha robot
>now typing this post with my mecha fingers
>technically lying when I click on "I'm not a robot"

>> No.5959042

23
teaching assistant (western civ)
history professor (sort of related), eventually publish some fiction, read lots of books

>> No.5959047

>>5959028
Sephardic or Ashkenazi?

>> No.5959059
File: 779 KB, 1280x1280, ahahahahaha.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5959059

>>5959025
Oh my god the kekkles.

I may be a shit writer but at least I am not as fucking oblivious as this idiot.

It's like he's actually trying for cliches.

>> No.5959067
File: 105 KB, 640x640, tumblr_neudaoSOCY1qzd6kuo1_1280.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5959067

>>5959025
makes u think

>> No.5959077

>>5959059
That nigga be handsome tho

>> No.5959102

>>5959067
this would have been great misdirection if it said "nah" or "i don't remember" instead of "yeah" and then went from there

>> No.5959125

Just turned 19 today (finally legal)

Full time student, part time starbucks employee (it aint too bad)

I hope to write either a novel or a collection of short stories at some point in my life. I'm a very good academic writer, but as a fiction writer I fault.

>> No.5959139

23
University
Becoming the god of NEETs

>> No.5959157

22

MA student

Any kind of story telling through writing

>> No.5959198

20

Biology Student

White a novel, turn it into a screenplay, collaborate into making a short film out of it.

>> No.5959228

>>5959025
>http://nickmiller.tumblr.com/
I'm friends with that guy on Goodreads and I don't know why. I don't remember adding him or accepting his request

>> No.5959233

>>5958360
where in toronto do you live cause 14k a year isn't that much.

>> No.5959234

>>5959047
kek

>> No.5959238

>>5959047
Catholic motherfucker

>> No.5959262

>>5959233

yeah I live in downtown Toronto and my rent is like 9k/yr how is 12k even possible

>> No.5959273
File: 32 KB, 499x499, 13913896577051.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5959273

>>5957714
>>5957741
>>5957860
>>5958007
>>5958048
>>5958146
>>5958183
>>5958189
>>5958210
>>5958377
>>5958379
And I thought /a/ and /vg/ were the children's boards.

>> No.5959316

>>5959233
>>5959262

I never said I was living well. I rent a shitty room in downtown Chinatown. Rent is 6k a year and I spend the rest on food and booze. I'm not willing to upgrade my lifestyle until I find a job I can commit to. I'm only interested in a lifestyle I can afford by doing an occupation I like.

That being said, would you happen to know of a corporation which would pay me good money to compulsively look at memes on the internet?

>> No.5959330

>>5957705
24
Med student
>implying I have /lit/ related ambitions

>> No.5959335

23

restaurant

get money/get paid/get pussy

>> No.5959338

>>5958962
That makes no sense dude. How high are you right now?

>> No.5959496

>>5959228
That is fucking disgusting shit. For all the shit floating around about tumbler gaggles trying to free the world of gender preconceptions they sure like shit one liners that wouldn't even make halequins editorial cut. I had to stop reading when he didn't even know when to use her or herself. Fuck. It is times like these that I am glad that my writing goes unrecognised, because with popular examples like this I feel like I must be doing something right.

>> No.5959506

23
Electrical Engineer
Produce a long lasting work of art. Not sure the medium just yet. Need to find it. Thinking a piece of writing such as a novel or a classical song. It'll take at least ten years to be good enough at music or writing before I can even begin on this dream. I do have my whole life to finish it thought,

Positing to boot ego. Fuck me.

>> No.5960596

memes

>> No.5960633

21
Surprisingly successful online business owner

Read to inform and expand ideas and feelings for enriching self and inspiration for writing music

Plus this business allow me to live anywhere I want with an internet connection so read to learn languages and have dope times with locals

>> No.5960776

>>5957705
19
Translator, English to Spanish.
I'm planning to write a book about life in it's full meaning, the goods and bads, the amazing and awfully sad.

Like in that poem, "Like a field mouse, not shaking the grass."

I'd like to write a novel from the point of view of somebody who can't shake grass at all.

>> No.5960781

>22
>Teaching Assistant
>Critical pedagogy at either a policy or administrative level, probably within special education

>> No.5960784

23
College Student, Part Timer
Understand people a bit more.

>> No.5960796

>20
>Dairy farmer, log sawyer, furniture varnisher, and woodsplitter on a rural commune
>none

>> No.5960813

>>5957705
>20
>Student
>I have always seen myself as dumb, reading might help me become an intellectual and more valuable member of society.

>> No.5961370

>Age
20

>Job
Student/nightfill at local supermarket

>Ambition
Write a book using my own experiences of delusion and paranoia to frame a fragmented set of short stories all tied together somehow

>> No.5962110

>>5959041
underrated post

>> No.5962245

You people need to realize two things.

1. It is impossible to achieve anything of note without tremendous wealth and resources. If you do not come from wealth or power, or both, you will never achieve any of your artistic dreams in a capitalistic society.
2. Hence the only worthwhile thing to do in a capitalistic society is to find a way to increase your family's wealth as much as possible so that your descendants have the resources to pursue THEIR dreams. Everything else should be secondary to this goal. For example, you can continue to be interested in literature, but only to the extent that this interest aids and supports you in your pursuit of wealth by relieving whatever psychoses you might have or helping you perform your job better.

You're all (those of you that are discussing your far-fetched writing aspirations, that is) caught in a foolish fantasy that is as improbable as a peasant serf in 1890 Tsarist Russia hoping to marry a Romanov girl.

And don't give me this ungrateful shit about, "B-but I want to be the generation of my family that lives in leisure, able to pursue my real interests outside of the capitalist system." You should be grateful that you live in a world that allows advancement at all and potential for progeny to prosper, not complaining that you can't have everything you want when you want it.

Wake up and come back to reality or you will continue living depressed lives, regarded as worthless by your peers, family, and whatever friends you may manage to hang on to--the few who don't see you as the outcast that you are.

>> No.5962250

20
Commercial fisherman(summer), student+tutor(not summer).
Cultivating a horrid literature taste+writing even worse short stories.

>> No.5962281

>>5962245
decent bait but too obvious

>> No.5962354

15
None, but I'm planning to get a summer job when I turn 16
Read more high quality literature and find out the great things they have to offer

>> No.5962380

>>5962281
He's wrong about the first bit (mad middle-class bougies get fame and money these days), but everyone should be striving to acquire capital for the success of their descendants.

>> No.5962387

>>5962380
Don't achieve descendants, read books, problem solved.

>> No.5962392

>>5957705
20
Student

>your /lit/-related ambitions
Learn German, read German

Read a satisfying chunk of the Western Canon

Learn more about Eastern literature and religion

Become a teacher of English so I can go travelling

>> No.5962401
File: 603 KB, 1000x3794, accurat_novels_large2.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5962401

>>5958684
>>5958672
>>5958643
pic related

>> No.5962416

20
truck stop kitchen guy/neet
read a lot, write some essays

>> No.5962427

>>5957705
>your age
23

>your job
engineering college student

>your /lit/-related ambitions
read most of western canon/read most noterworthy contemporary books
write fiction/history/philosophy

>> No.5962498

>>5962401
Source?

>> No.5962504

>>5962427
Just read to Hegel and idealism

Then you've reached the end of it all

>> No.5962506

>>5962498
http://www.modernlibrary.com/top-100/100-best-novels/

>> No.5962522

>>5957705
23, math major, write a long novel that polemicizes against SJW in the best ways possible from a nihilistic structure

>> No.5962532

>>5962506
Thank you

>> No.5962536

>>5962532
No problem.

>> No.5962544

>>5962536
*blushes*

>> No.5962548

>>5957705
26
Graduate student in experimental astrophysics/part time Sysadmin
Continue enjoying books
Finally learn French for real
Go back to making zines with my friends, maybe more traditional publishing of fiction at some point, but I enjoy the freedom of writing on whatever weird idea just because it's fun.

>> No.5962558

>>5962522
*tips Fedora*

>> No.5962559

>>5957705
21
Private teacher (lit/english/history) and student (com.lit)
In this order of priority: PhD, cultural journalism, high school lit-teacher

>> No.5962561

>>5957714
>>5957741
>>5957746
>>5958007
>>5958048
>>5958084
>>5958089
>>5958162
>>5958183
>>5958189
>>5958210
>>5958362
>>5958612
>>5958706
>>5959125
>>5959139
>>5959157
>>5959198
>>5959330
>>5960784
>>5960813
>>5961370
>>5962250
>>5962392
>>5962427
>>5962522
why do you guys all put "student" under where op asked for job? being a student isn't a job so stop pretending like it is you fagots

>> No.5962566

>>5958907
Publishing nothing is a success compared to being so obsessed with the idea that you eventually end up adding more useless pulp to satisfy your vanity.

>> No.5962571

>>5958672
>>5958681
>>5958626

you would think that well educated well read people wouldnt be obsessing over their ego fantasies

>> No.5962576

>>5962561
Oh, I'm not just a student, I have a job too

But that doesn't make any difference to anything so who cares?

>> No.5962583

>>5962561
I put it in lieu of a job. Putting "unemployed" is a little mis-leading

>> No.5962592

>>5957705
>age
18

>occupation
Student/hospitality

>ambition
Incorporate some interesting spoken word stuff into my music. One day write a collection of pieces I'm proud of.

>> No.5962597

22

I recently graduated college, now Im helping my father manage his estate

Read the latest books on materialism (currently reading Stoff und kraft) and nihilism, eventually write my own work on philosophy

>> No.5962634

>>5957705
29
neet
I wrote my PhD thesis so I am done with my contribution to the world.

>> No.5962709

>>5957705
19
Student
High Court Justice.
>Fuck you, yes it is /lit/.

>> No.5962713

>>5962561
In Europe it is. Being student and meeting certain criteria allows you to have social insurance while studying.

>> No.5962731
File: 1.77 MB, 320x240, nahhh.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5962731

>>5962634

>> No.5962829

>>5958283
>>
>>NEET (psych major [useless], I usually temp for 6 months a year and then coast on my savings [tfw I only have enough money for one more month of NEETness])
>
>>Get something (most likely a short story or article) published this year. Ultimately find a job related to writing.
I do the same, but for science, not writing.

>> No.5962882

>>5957705
>22
>student
>i want to read at least once a week
>without losing interest or concentration during the first 30 minutes of reading
;_;

>> No.5962905

>>5962713
Welcome to Germany motherfucker
>Say whaaaat?
I love my country

>> No.5962967

>>5962829
What do you mean "for science"?

>> No.5963009

>>5962281
Keep calling it bait to avoid he devastating reality, kid.

>>5962387
The problem is that you'll never be happy that way. The only way to be happy is to better your economic position for the sake of your offspring.

>> No.5963010

>>5962387
I like you.

>> No.5963025

>>5962245
>1. It is impossible to achieve anything of note without tremendous wealth and resources.

Found the american.

>> No.5963075

27
Engineer at a semiconductor company
Write a novel/short story/whatever that people would enjoy. Bonus points if the work is surprisingly moving
Not /lit/: Return to academia, publish and finally finish my PhD. I can live or die happily afterwards

>> No.5963080

>>5962561
drop-out faggot detected

>> No.5963085

>>5957705
>22

>No job, poor if counts student (which is pratical neet)

>Read.
I wanted to write a book,but I realize that everything I write is pure shit.

>> No.5963093

>>5957705
19
Neet
Learn russian and be able to read Dosto and Pushkin in the original.
Finish /lit/ essential books and start with the greeks.

>> No.5963096

>29

>script editor

>take the next step into becoming a script writer

>> No.5963105

>>5962401
This is great.

Also, if I'm reading it correctly, there is hope for us 26 year olds without a masterpiece.

>> No.5963114

>>5962571
Right, you would think so.

But if you open pretty much any biography on any great writer - or any living human being - you'll find out that's really not the case.

>> No.5963130
File: 107 KB, 652x562, worst list.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5963130

>>5962506
This list always cracks me up.

Look at the fucking reader's list.

Who are the shit brains who are reading all this Ayn Rand (besides retarded 4chan'ers) and L. Ron Hubbard?

Was this list raided or something?

>> No.5963150
File: 144 KB, 800x800, 1418058773714.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5963150

20
Student
To claim a dream

>> No.5963151

>>5963130
>Who are the shit brains who are reading all this Ayn Rand (besides retarded 4chan'ers) and L. Ron Hubbard?

Americans.

>> No.5963249

>>5957705
19
Apprentice Carpenter
Freight Hop throughout the US.

>> No.5963414

>>5963075
>that people would enjoy.
I do not think this is path to a good literature. DO not hesitate to push around the reader.

>> No.5963417

>>5963150

Is that the white lodge?

>> No.5963425

>>5963417

>windom_earle_nightmare.jpg

>> No.5963554

>>5957790

i just started reading that.

>> No.5963631

19
Getting a job at my uni's library
My ambition is simple: I want to be the greatest director of all time. I will win the Palme d'Or at least once and I'm going to be talked about 500 years from now.

I feel bad for other people who will die never accomplishing anything. If I was anyone but me, I'd kill myself.

>> No.5963675

>>5963025
Have you ever heard of a successful author who didn't either attend HYP(S) or have wealthy/connected parents? Thought not. They don't exist.

>> No.5963690

>>5957790
>tfw you feel like Ignatius
Except I don't write as much as I used to, instead I draw these days...my art sucks.

>> No.5963695

>>5957860
>this post
Kek. I remember being 18.

>> No.5963703

>>5963675

Off the top of my head:

>Stephen King
>Michel Faber
>GRRM
>Dennis Lehane

inb4 you change the goalposts and pretend you meant good instead of successful and get into that whole debate

>> No.5963704

>>5957705
>34

>Debt Collector

>To write the great american novel

>> No.5963708

20

student

use my english degree from a sub par american college to get a job that allows me to live inside of an apartment

>> No.5963713

>>5958089
>prolific academic writer
No such thing...

>> No.5963715

>>5963675
Oh, I don't know, Raymond Carver?

There is no doubt it's easier as a HYP though. Pretty much everything must be.

>> No.5963716

>>5963703
>Uses King and Martin as examples

nice b8

>> No.5963722

>>5963130
The pools were obviously rigged and suffered from ballot stuffing.

>> No.5964722

21
Tree cutter
Get back into reading properly. Finish /lits reading list

>> No.5964824

18
Student
Read Ulysses and "get it". Any suggested reading before I start it? I'm pretty much new to books.

>> No.5964831

26

ESL teacher

to continue publishing articles in shitty little magazines and write things, fiction and non, that i can be proud of

to foster the creative/literary community in Saigon (tryna get a monthly book exchange/party off the ground, + literary quarterly, + writing group)

to be the William S. Burroughs of the alt lit movement

to spark the coming insurrection with my pen

>> No.5964852

23
Database Admin
I would like to write a book but probably won't happen

>> No.5964853

>>5957705
>18
>student
>get very "complicated" philosophy like Kant

>> No.5964861

>>5964824
Get the guide. "James Joyce's Ulysses" by Gilbert is the classic one, but Richard Ellman's "Ulysses on the Liffey" is worth reading after you've gone through it once.

>> No.5964868

>>5964824
like everyone reading it for the first time, you will "get" a lot but miss a lot more. Read Dubliners and Portrait first for sure, Odyssey and Hamlet if you want extra credit (note: this class does not offer extra credit). Power through the tough chapters like Sirens and Oxen of the Sun, most people don't understand shit from those anyway. Post threads here if you don't understand something or particularly like something else, the Ulysses discussions tend to be decent.

Have fun!

>> No.5964869

>>5959273
>being proud about your "mature" age
>on an anonymous chinese cartoon image board

>> No.5964886

>>5963093
Можно тебе делать что! Мне тоже девятнадцат лет и учуcь руccки язык.

>> No.5964920
File: 68 KB, 292x315, oblomov.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5964920

27
unemployed
become the perfect idler

>> No.5964931

>>5964920
Aren't you a little old to be buying into this NEET bullshit?

>> No.5964957

>>5964931
TruNEETism is a lifelong endeavour.

>> No.5965060

>>5964957
yeah, its more enjoyable than working.

>> No.5965078

>>5964957
i'm with this guy: >>5964931

it's like seeing an adult go trick or treating

>> No.5965089

>>5957705
1. 14

2. high school student

3.just for gain knowledge

>> No.5965110

>24
>Tea shop
>Become a well off lawyer who enjoys literature and art.

>> No.5965124

21
Magician (no really)
Read so much I float away

>> No.5965136

>>5965078
only because you let society define what an "adult" is. There is no objective way for one to act or do things.

>> No.5965293

>>5963631
if everyone was a winner, no one would be. faggot.

>> No.5965320

>>5965110
Five years ahead of you. We are same.

>> No.5965382

>19

>USMC recruit

>currently, to learn as much as I can about existentialism
>convince others to read
>inform others of my ideas inspired through reading

>> No.5965404

>>5965382
>pondering existentialism
>going to support the killing of innocent people in stupid wars

I think you already made up your mind on the value of life

>> No.5965514

>>5965404
I think you have already made up your mind on what it means to be in the military.

>> No.5965557

>>5965078
>unemployment is for kids

>> No.5965944

>18

>private high school student

my bucket list:
>solve the hard problem of consciousness
>spend some time in an intentional community at some point in my life
>write copyleft college-level textbooks for a variety of subjects, maybe start an organization to do that and get people from different academic backgrounds to help me. Make the scam artists go out of business.
>If someone else doesn't first, use http://www.mediagoblin.org/ to start a video hosting website to compete with youtube
>promote FOSS and anti-IP
>maybe try to write some decent pop-sci books on subjects that interest me and for which I think I have something important to say (there are a few).
>be politically active. Register as a Democrat (I live in USA) because spoiler effect. Vote in primary elections because people who vote in primaries rule the country (seriously).
>anonymously write a letter to all the remaining monarchs in the world asking them to step down and abolish their position (yeah yeah, I know how stupid this one is)
>help the worker-cooperative movement in some way
>donate to bay12games some day.
>be a respected social psychologist/sociologist/statistician/cognitive pyschologist in academia. Or maybe not.

>but mostly, just find and get to know as many people as I can who share my values

>> No.5965951

>>5965944
Oh yeah, and read all the books on my to-do list. There are too many to list them here.

Also, to all the NEETs in this thread: I respect you.

>> No.5966056

>>5965944

I've never read anything that embodies semi-educated, white upper class teenage rebellion and angst better than this.

Well done, OP.

>> No.5966157

>>5965951
thanks young blood

>> No.5966224
File: 7 KB, 250x246, 3r82u08.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5966224

>>5966056
>>5966056
Well if you are interested in knowing, I'm not rebellious at all and neither do I have angst. In fact I am probably the most optimistic person I know.

I do not participate in any edgy 'rebellious' subcultures. I get along well with authority and do not resent those in positions of power. I am known for rarely complaining about anything. I have a good relationship with my family.

So I think you are just prejudiced.

>> No.5966671

>>5957714
this