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/lit/ - Literature

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6347838 No.6347838[DELETED]  [Reply] [Original]

>your age

>your job

>your /lit/-related ambitions

>> No.6347841

24

security guard

career novelist

>> No.6347842

>>6347841
Where do you live?

>> No.6347849

16
Schoolboy/Part time cleaner
Read and write great novels

>> No.6347850

>>6347842

in dreamland, bb ;)

>> No.6347851

30

lawyer

finish writing at least one of the books i've started

>> No.6347852

>>6347851
>being a corporate drone
>being a lawyer (kek)
>thinking you'll be able to churn out anything of value in the weary after-work hours

>> No.6347855

>>6347852
>being bitter about people with more money/options than you
>he can multitask, props to him

>> No.6347859

>>6347852
>living at home with mommy and daddy
>shitposting on 4chan for a living
>thinking you're superior to any person in the world

I loved being 15 too.

>> No.6347860

>>6347855
>more money
>>/biz/

>options
Yep plenty of options when you work from 9 to 6 every day and commute for an hour. I guess you mean holidays etc. Well rushing to experience some happiness in the two dozen or so days off a year isn't my idea of "having options"

>> No.6347864

>>6347859
WIDF plz go

>> No.6347866

>>6347864
lel xD

>> No.6347868

>>6347866
;)

>> No.6347869

>>6347852
>>6347860
Ever heard of Wallace Stevens?

>> No.6347875

>>6347869
The Wallace Stevens example is so overused, same with TS Eliot. If you seriously think you can write a top-tier novel (not poetry like Stevens) or short stories while sacrificing 9+ hours of mental energy a day doing something you dislike then you're delusional. DFW never worked, Tao Lin barely ever worked, Don DeLillo only started writing after he quit his job, Mishima bailed from the Ministry of Finance because he realized writing required more dedication. The list goes on and applies to almost every great writer in history (many if not most of whom were from wealth families and could afford not to work, admittedly)

>> No.6347895

>>6347875
I'm not the lawyer above, but I am the one who brought up Stevens.

But anyway, I think it's probably usually delusional to think of oneself that one can write at the level of Eliot or Stevens (or whoever one thinks is a great writer) even given all the time in the world. This doesn't mean you shouldn't think that you can't write anything worthwhile, or that you shouldn't make an effort.

And similarly, just because it's probably delusional to think that anon above can write like Stevens in his/her time off from being a lawyer doesn't mean s/he shouldn't try, or that anything s/he writes will be worthless.

Now if your only goal in life is to produce the best writing you can manage, then yeah, maybe you shouldn't have a 9-5 job if you can possible avoid it. But that's not a reasonable way to live for most people, and it might not be reasonable for anyone.

>> No.6347899

>>6347875

tons of writers are/were working class and held jobs while writing, Faulkner and Pynchon are a couple examples

>> No.6347901

21

Student, freelance videographer and editor

Write and publish a novel at some point. Just got a short story published, so that's a good first step, I think.

>> No.6347907

>21
>Busser at a Jewish deli
>Writing and publishing a series of contemporary fantasy books centring on a family of denizens of the astral realm, from the perspective of an ordinary human who works for this family's patron god.

>> No.6347915

>>6347899
>Faulkner
Faulkner worked as a postman for a university and was often told off for reading all day, and then part-time on a night shift at a power plant where he read and wrote.

>Pynchon
Pynchon wrote a lot of V while living in New York turning down applications to become a film critic or take a scholarship and living the bohemian life from the money he earned on his story The Low Lands. He then worked an easy job at Boeing where he wrote a couple of research articles for the in-house quarterly magazine. Much of the research he did for these articles was on things he was interested in, and he could and did leave whenever he felt like since his educational background allowed him easy access to other jobs should he need to work

>> No.6347916

>wake up
>open laptop
>/lit/
>respond to thread
>say i'm a lawyer
>hop in shower
>come back
>shitstorm has ensued

>>6347852
>>6347855
>>6347859
>>6347860
>>6347864
>>6347866
>>6347868
>>6347869
>>6347875
>>6347895
>>6347899

Wow. Y'all really ran with that.

>> No.6347918

>>6347915

all i see is you demonstrating my point further

>> No.6347923

>>6347918
All that wageslaving is affecting your comprehension skills hombre. The point I made is that working as a lawyer or some other 9-5 jobs isn't the same as working part-time or some slacker job that you work for kicks and which allows you write during work hours.

>> No.6347930
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6347930

19

Working part time (on a zero hours contract) at a bookshop, as well as doing a few odds and ends. Dropped out of uni a few months back.

To make my way through the western literary canon & then after / possibly during, write a novel I can feel comfortable putting out there.

>> No.6347932

>Houellebeq wrote The Extension of the Domain of the Struggle while NEET
>JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter while NEET
>Tatuhiho Takimoto wrote Welcome to the NHK while NEET
>F. Scott. Fitzgerald wrote This Side of Paradise while NEET
>Harper Lee wrote To Kill a Mockingbird while NEET
>Don DeLillo wrote Americana while NEET
>Tao Lin wrote Richard Yates and Taipei while NEET
>H.P.Lovecraft wrote all of his works while NEET
>Bukowski wrote Ham on Rye while NEET

>> No.6347935

>>6347930
Where abouts and who do you live with?

>> No.6347936

>>6347915
I always thought Faulkner worked long and hard at the plant? It's also important to note Pynchon's job at Boeing was so easy he was able to finish his novel at the workplace. If someone has that luxury then it's way different than being a wageslave, imo. Borges wasn't a wageslave.

And one needs only to look at Kafka's diary and friend's comments to see what working as an artist really is like.

>> No.6347939

>>6347936
>long and hard at the plant

>"Faulkner finished the novel while working the night shift at a power plant? “His primary motivation was to have long periods of uninterrupted time for his own work” and he wrote the novel in only six weeks."
http://mfadayjob.com/2013/05/14/as-i-lay-dying-while-working-the-night-shift-at-this-power-plant/

>> No.6347940

>>6347935
London, currently shacking w/ my grandad, planning to stay here as long as I can considering the rent is next to nothing.

>> No.6347942

>>6347940
Damn, where abouts?

Bermondsey here

>> No.6347947

>>6347939
>This happened with As I Lay Dying. It was not easy. No honest work is. It was simple in that all the material was already at hand. It took me just about six weeks in the spare time from a twelve-hour-a-day job at manual labor.

http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/4954/the-art-of-fiction-no-12-william-faulkner

But of course Faulkner was known for embellishing (or even outright lying) and other sources do claim he was able to take naps at his "undemanding job."

>> No.6347948

>>6347942
Woah I'm in Westminster, are you a student or? Maybe we should exchange emails or something and gloat about our disenfranchised literary lifestyles.

>> No.6347949

>>6347838

>26

>medical technologist

>publish at least one novel and a short story collection

>> No.6347952
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6347952

24, Post Office (I wish I was kidding)

Perma-'I'll get round it it' attitude, just like most of the other people here.

The feels. ;-;

>> No.6347956

I want money and I don't wanna work for it. I want to drink all day and have sex with lots of women. I want a nice car that I can learn to maintain. I want to go to places people like me have no chance to go to. I want to be a writer and I dont want anybody to know it but me.

>> No.6347957

>>6347947
>"Faulkner's father secured him the job as night foreman, assisted by a fireman. [...] as the night wore on the sleeping town needed less power, so from eleven to four the firemen slept and Faulkner wrote"

Thinking Places: Where Great Ideas Were Born
By Carolyn Fleming, Jack Fleming

>> No.6347959

>>6347948
Nah I'm a wageslave unfortunately. I'd be down for "corresponding" over email or something though.

>> No.6347960

>>6347957
...right, which is why I said what I said. There's no use spouting quotes back and forth when there's evidence to both sides.

>> No.6347963
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6347963

>21
>rn volunteering at an NGO in West Africa
>get a professorship and write in my free time, full time if it takes off

>> No.6347964

>>6347952
What kind of job at the post office? Sorting or what?

>> No.6347967

>>6347960
*pushes you over*

"Do you even *know* who you're speaking to, kid?"

>> No.6347969

>>6347963
>being a neo-colonial
>being a fundbabby

>> No.6347970

>>6347959
yea sure, hit me up attackwithclause@gmail.com

>> No.6347972

>>6347952
>Perma-'I'll get round it it' attitude, just like most of the other people here.

This.

Nobody in this thread will ever accomplish their goals.

>> No.6347975

>>6347964
Nah, I am a supervisor/clerk on the front-end dealing with customers and generic P.O things. It's easy enough work; you just get really confused old people sometimes fucking up your shit.
Good thing is I only work 4 days and get up at 6am and finish at 3pm, so there's that, so technically I have plenty of time to write.

>> No.6347976
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6347976

>>6347972
>I-i'm different to all these other d-drones... m-my grandma said I was born to be a writer

>> No.6347978

>>6347970
Cool have sent.

>> No.6347980

>>6347975
Where do you live?

Sounds like a cozy job

>> No.6347988

24

no job / stock market

theatre/novels

>> No.6347995
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6347995

20

Prostitute

Read books and one day write one.

>> No.6348003

>25

>Supervisor in retail.

>publish a novel. Read as much as I can before I die.

>> No.6348011

>>6347995

>Prostitute

if this is true then you just scores some literary life cred right there. keep reading and finish that book, hookerbitch.

>> No.6348014

>25
>barely paid proofreader
>i don't even know anymore

i hate my job and hate my life. i need to find a career job and move out of my dad's house ;_;

>> No.6348047

>>6348011
I'm a dude

>> No.6348056
File: 836 KB, 1280x720, breakfast-at-tiffany-s-cast-breakfast-at-tiffanys-23180004-1280-720.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
6348056

>>6348047

>> No.6348080

>>6348047
Tell me of your customers, what kind of people are they?

>> No.6348090

>>6348080
A lot of middle-aged south east asian dudes, also older white guys. occasionally a young college student

>> No.6348091

>>6348080

GAYS

>> No.6348116

20

military

Reactionary

>> No.6348127

>>6348047

as i said, hookerbitch.

>> No.6348128

>>6348116

>EvolaKid
>barely out of teen years

Suddenly a lot makes sense.

>> No.6348135

>>6347838
>21
>bartender (college dropout)
>read Infinite Jest twice, start writing shitty YA fictiona

>> No.6348152

>22
>software engineer but currently working as some kind of jack of all trades in some mediocre ad agency, waiting for conscription
>hopefully I'll make a good enough walking simulator game one day

>> No.6348180

24

M.A. student

Become published novelist of fantasy, science fiction and horror

>> No.6348192

>>6347963
Where at? I'm in Mozambique.

>> No.6348239

20
College
Become patrician-level /lit/izen and probably write something

>> No.6348262

>>6348239
How do you maintain yourself?

>> No.6348269

>>6347875
>neet rationalization

>> No.6348271
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6348271

24

Graduate student, studying Architecture

Become published author of literary fiction

>> No.6348279

>>6348262
What do you mean? My parents send me to college. I'll be graduating in a year or so. For now, reading is my hobby.

>> No.6348281

35
Truck driver
Finish building time machine

>> No.6348282

>18
>Student/Unemployed
>Become a full time/paid writer and director of films

>> No.6348296

>>6348269
>wageslave's lament

>> No.6348307

>>6347838

22

neet/part time student

Publishing a short story or poetry in a magazine would be cool.

>> No.6348308
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6348308

>>6348296
meh, having a job and getting out is healthy for me. Pay sucks, but it is better than lying in bed all day being depressed and frustrated at life.

>> No.6348310

>>6348307
>NEET
>part-time student
>Not in Employment Education or Training
>part-time student

Get out

>> No.6348314

>>6348308
>meh

Stopped reading there

>> No.6348316

>>6347838
55

prophet

prophet

>> No.6348318

>>6348314
just saying I have some ambivalence about my job.

>> No.6348319

>>6347838
21
Warehouse Assistant/Bottom of the Chain do whatever I ask of you guy
I'd like to finish at least 3 or 4 novels. I have really ambitious ideas and visions for my work, but sometimes I wonder if my eyes are bigger than my stomach. I'd really like to at least make enough money not to have to have a real job.

>> No.6348320

>>6348308
i'm not depressed and i haven't spoken to anyone in the last three years

>having a job and getting out is healthy for me.
you're being killed by pure ideology you sexy clayboy

>> No.6348324

>>6348320
What ever works for you. Just comparing my life now to my neet years.

>> No.6348326

>>6347875

What is an artist? one who works! -the great helmsman

>> No.6348338
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6348338

39
Fueling and detailing attendant. (gas kun)

Publish sci-fantasy book series

>> No.6348339

>>6347930

19 uni drop out here too. Want to go to divinity school but no money and don't feel like wasting time at community college anymore.

>> No.6348340

>>6348338
>posting image macros

plz no

Also post a pic gas-kun

>> No.6348344
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6348344

>>6348340
Just started raining.

>> No.6348347

>>6348344
Did you go to that writers meeting or whatever at the bookshop like a month or so ago?

You were posting in a thread that day planning to making some contacts or something.

>> No.6348357

>>6348347
Yeah. Still working on the beta for the site. Don't have a date when it goes online. I'm even more motivated because a chick from one of my writers groups is getting fat paid to write erotica (name drop) Tiffany Reisz. She came in at the right time as all this 50 shades of grey stuff and now she has a fat book contract and can do whatever the fuck she wants. I'm So damn jelly. She has exactly what I want.

>> No.6348362

>>6348357
>She has exactly what I want

Except she doesn't, unless what you want is to be writing untermensch-tier eroticas

>> No.6348367

>>6348362
I meant the contract and exposure

>> No.6348374

29

Currently doing a qualifications course so I can start working as an online-marketing manager.

Working through the western canon. Currently I am more into ancient history and non-fiction though to get a sort of foundation.
I am also writing every once in a while, but currently I don't have much time for that.

>> No.6348379

>>6348367
Have you sent out your work to any more agents? Seems weird that you would have that amount of completed work and just let it sit there

>> No.6348384

>>6348374
>online-marketing manager.
Why would you want this?

>> No.6348400

22

Broadway actor.

I want to write and direct a television series one day.

>> No.6348406

>>6348384
I think you are far too young to realize that your wants doesn't really have to do with it.

>> No.6348415

>>6348379
It's been a rough 16 months of temping after getting let go from my last job. I've been struggling to keep my head above water and pay the bills. Look it's all one big sob story but shit has been like dominos for over a year. I'm pumping gas by day, selling bourbon by night, my dad had a psycho episode and tried to fight me because of the early onset of dementia, got tboned in my car by a bitch on a cellphone. Wife ignores me and won't read my work but belongs to writers groups where they read and discuss books... It goes on...
I'm trying dude, I'm really trying.
If I didn't have my books and the desire to make more I'd eat a gun. I'd pretend to go to work one day and come home after the wife leaves, pull the 12 gauge from under the bed and fucking end it.
There's no one to talk to here at work so I litk /lit/ and post where applicable to pass the time. Netbook was on the fritz but it's working so I'm going to try and start writing on the clock again if I can manage. Everyday I fell like Kevin spacey from American Beauty.

(big gay al voice) "I'm thuper! thanks for athking!"

>> No.6348427

>>6347916
Prejudice at its finest

>> No.6348445

24
Substitute Teacher
I just wanna keep reading. Not good enough to write.