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/lit/ - Literature

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6500082 No.6500082 [Reply] [Original]

>Be me
>Start writing my first novel
>Takes 5 minutes to find the first sentence
>Stop and read it
>It's utter shit
>Close the word doc and call it a great day of writing

G-guess tomorrow will be better, r-right guys?

>> No.6500094

pleb. I wrote the first draft of my novel in like 2 weeks. I'm working on a 12th draft right now, my agent keeps harassing me about it though.

>> No.6500099

It's not how it works. You keep writing no matter what. You edit it later. I started writing my novel today too. Don't give up, damn. (I'm saying this to me too)

>> No.6500102

>>6500082
no one cares, faggot.

>> No.6500103

>>6500094
You forgot to mention that you write books for dyslexic aspie kids, right?

>> No.6500107

>>6500094
turbopleb. I wrote the first draft of my novel in 48 hours. I'm working on a 25 draft right now, my agent is sucking my cock right now to get me to publish it.

>> No.6500111

>>6500099
Do you think what you've written so far is good or bad? If it's shit, how do you cope with it?

>>6500102
Your /b/ is showing, "m8"

>> No.6500119

>>6500103
nah m8 that markets a bit too broad for me
>>6500107
thats wierd, with me and my agent im the one doing the sucking, shes really nice though :^)

>> No.6500122

>>6500111
I ignore it. You can always edit later. The more you write the better you'll get.

>> No.6500128

>>6500107
uberpleb. I wrote the first draft of my novel in 23 hours. The first draft was so good they published it unedited and now I'm rolling in audience pussy

>> No.6500150

Have any of you faggots ever even published a book? I just finished my first draft after a few months of writing, and I feel like it's absolute unabashed shit. I almost don't even want to edit it and try to submit it somewhere. Is this normal?

>> No.6500155

>>6500150
Yes. Talents and no-talents alike feel insecure.

>> No.6500229

Nobody's first novel is good. I guarantee most successful published authors have 3-4 unpublished novels they're ashamed of now before they got the hang of what they're doing.

Geniuses excepted of course, but most of us have to learn by doing, and it's not an easy road.

>> No.6500241

>>6500155
>>6500229
Oh thank goodness. Well I guess I'll go back through it and edit, see if I can make it worth trying. If not, writing it was a good enough experience, and I assume editing will be the same.

>> No.6500251

Same thing happened to me OP.
Sit down tomorrow and do it again. Figure out what you want to write about. Pick a single theme or idea and stick to it. Try to formulate your entire book into a single sentence, or a blurb. Once you've captured the essense of what you want to write about, you start filling in the blanks.

Write down passages or general ideas and save them for later. Ponder off the main topic every now and then, but make it relevant.
Once you've gotten enough ideas down, you start writing your novel. Sit down and write uninterrupted for as long as you can. Don't touch it for a day or two, then come back and look at it. It'll look bad. but don't falter. Get rid of anything that's not working, and continue writing. Don't be too picky, if you like the idea of something, but can't make it right on paper, come back to it later. You're not going to pay too much attention to detail on your first draft anyway. Just get it done.

>> No.6500261

>>6500150
Publish it on Amazon. It's like half-publishing it. You may get a small kick from it yet no one cares if it's shit.

>> No.6500308

>>6500251
Wow, okay thanks, that is amazing advice! I'll try hard to give myself a disciplined schedule to write as often as I can. And not faltering at lookîg at what I will create. Thanks!

>> No.6500310

Does anyone actually plan out plots, characters, settings, and interactions beforehand or is that a meme for ultra anal organized people

>> No.6500335

It's like a video game. You'll never get good if you restart every time you lose a life because you want to finish the level perfectly.

>> No.6500353

>>6500082
Obligatory:

http://writerunderground.com/2011/04/28/ira-glass-on-creativity-or-the-gap-between-our-taste-and-our-work/

tl;dr

Your work is going to be shit for a long time, the cure is more work. I would also add personally that you need to sink some real time into learning writing from all the technical angles because you'll get huge leaps in ability that way: look into literary devices and theory. Start with M.H Abhrams glossary and an anthology of criticism like the Norton. I'd also personally suggest Mimesis and re-reading your favorite novelist's best novel 10 times.

>> No.6500371

>>6500310
Unless you're writing bullshit fiction, like a sci-fi novel, or high fantasy you actually need a plan before getting into it.
That or you need to be an absolute genius to make something good without planing.

There are some exceptions, but you'll find that throughout history, most great writers have some sort of plan they follow.
Pure genius isn't just created from thin air. It takes preparation and development.

>> No.6500424
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6500424

>>6500082
>close the word doc
Let me guess.
You're writing YA fiction?

>> No.6500444
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6500444

not OP but can we turn this into a beginner writer tips thread? Like stuff you wish you knew as a writer when you were beginning.

I've been planning to start writing a novel or short story or something. Not as a career more as a hobby, plus I think it'll help me appreciate the books I'm reading more

>> No.6500452

>>6500424
Why wouldn't anyone write fiction? It's a great experience, to write that is.
And fiction is something anyone can try to write and think about.
You are simply a pretentious cunt and you should probably drown yourself as soon as you put down that work of philosophy.

>> No.6500453

>>6500111
this entire thread is /b/tier as fuck, you fucking faggot
no one cares that you can't write
this whole board can't right
go start your feel threads somewhere else

>> No.6500455

>>6500452
kek'd

>> No.6500463

>>6500444
God damn I love fractales
also here is a beginner writer tip : if you have nothing to say you have no reason to write

>> No.6500469

>>6500444
>Like stuff you wish you knew as a writer when you were beginning.
If you can't write by fully relying on your influences and experiences, you can't write.
It doesn't matter if you've studied your ass off at a university. Basic English is already enough for you to start writing.
If you were one of those kids that couldn't make it interesting and fun with the little knowledge you had when you were still in middle school (even if it was complete shit), you will never be able to write anything, because you just don't have it.

>> No.6500471

>>6500371
George Martin isnt all of genre fiction

>> No.6500476

>>6500463
I agree with this, if the author is trying to write something at least a little special. If you're just churning out YA fantasy no.52 with mary sue and gary stu, having nothing to say won't stand in your way, just pick a plot and run with it.

>> No.6500483

>>6500371
Bullshit, write in whatever way you like. Plenty of great writers never planned.

>> No.6500487

>>6500469
Or you can go completely in the other direction and be so stupid you can't recognize what you write is shit, and get your book published purely on appealing to equally stupid people and have the editors fix your book for you, see: Twilight, lots of YA fiction, etc.

>> No.6500497

>>6500487
Yeah, that's also an option.

>> No.6500499

>>6500444
Practice everyday, write even if you don't have everything worked out fully. I've stumbled upon some great ideas and plot points for my book unintentionally while writing. Those ideas wouldn't have come to me if I just sat there hem hawing over not having the plot down perfect enough to write.

>> No.6502251

>>6500128
U̍̓̐̈́̆̄͌͢҉̢̮̠̣̺̻͔l͓̭̞̈́̈́̋͗̐͊ͣ́ṱ̨͖̮͎ͬ̇̒ͅī̵̙̺̝̹̩͇̌̈́̓͒̈ͩ͢ṃ͔̍͌̈́̓̍̀̚͡ͅa̙̤͕̝̬͓̼̳̝ͧ͒ͧ̑pleb, I wrote my first draft in the length of time it took for me to down my morning mug of coffee. It was so good that my agent got a sex change so I could fuck his/her pussy while he/she auctioned it off to publishers for the right to my novel and the right to get sex-changes and be my lassies as well.

>> No.6503909

Daily reminder that Faulkner wrote the Sound and the Fury five fucking times in order to get it right.

>> No.6506019

>>6500082
Gotta have a passion for the story bro.

>> No.6506111

Bunch of noob ass noobs in this shit.

Professional Ghostwriter here.
You can publish anything. ANYTHING.
You don't need an agent.
You don't need a publisher.
You don't need an advance.
You don't need an editor.

Look at the Kindle Short Reads on Amazon. Realize the highest selling ones are fat chick smut. Realize that the author made 8100$ last week selling a 40 page book about a chick banging a fucking tiger.

I have published 43 books in four years. All are less than 100 pages. All of them are drek. And I don't give a single fuck, because I make about 3k a month and not a single word of that shitshow has my real name on it.

OP.. never stop writing. Just push it out, and rewrite it later. When it's good enough for you, it's good enough. Christ, look at the horseshit El James called a book, and realize that she has more money than Ouiser from Steel Magnolias.

>> No.6506126

>Be me

THIS IS COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY REDUNDANT

WE ALREADY KNOW YOU'RE YOU

FUCKING NEWFAGS CAN'T INTO GREENTEXT

>> No.6506280

>>6506111
Self-publishing isn't the same thing as publishing. I've self published dumb shit on amazon under pseudonyms too. It's not the same thing at all.

Unless you're explicitly paid to write things that other people claim as their own, you're not a ghostwriter. Self-publishing dumb shit on amazon is fun, and all, but the fact of the matter is that there's no real filter.

>> No.6506299

>>6503909
Daily reminder that he wrote As I Lay Dying in six weeks and barely changed any of it.

>> No.6506319

>>6506111
how do you get anyone to buy them? surely the market is absolutely flooded?

>> No.6506346

I have this fully formed concept for a story in my head. It's essentially a exaggerated allegory for my perception of the world based on my philosophical and spiritual beliefs, with most of the characters representing different aspects of my personality and their character arcs expressing growth into my own idealized self image and my deep seated feelings of self doubt. I created this over the last two years or so because I'm an excessive day dreamer and taking myself through this story and piecing it all together is deeply satisfying and a bit cathartic.

I really want to actually write it out, but I can't take it past this outline kind of stage where it's just a blueprint with all of these bullet points of what could be cool, but it's ultimately just conceptual. I have such a strong and emotionally invested view of how this story should be that I keep stopping myself from actually writing it out of fear that it would be as amazing as it is in my head. I don't know how to bring it out of my imagination and put it on paper. I feel like I'm all conceptual and I don't really know my own voice to create the intimate scenes of human character interaction that I need to.

Has anyone else ever experienced something like this and over came it? Should I just emulate the voice of writers that I like or something? I've thought about it, but I keep coming back to the self doubt thing.

>> No.6506350

>>6506346
Just fucking write it already you fuck.

>> No.6506390

>>6506350
I'm afraid that I don't actually have the potential that I've always deep down needed to believe that I have when it comes to this. I couldn't handle it if I proved myself to be someone who lies to himself about what he could become just to make myself feel better about what he is.

In all of my life, I've never really been exceptionally gifted at anything. I've experienced a great amount of failure in my time. The one thing that I felt that I had was my capacity to understand and form imaginative concepts. It's hard for me to put that out there, even just writing by myself. I have too much personal emotion wrapped up in this.

>> No.6506428
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6506428

>>6500082

Your first draft is shit. Let it be shit. It's supposed to shit. It's shit. If you read and you actually think it's great, you have no fucking talent, and you should write technical manuals for a living. There's nothing wrong with technical manuals and I'd prefer that if I ever had to use one that it be well written. If you're the kind of person who needs every word of every fucking sentence of every fucking paragraph of each fucking page to be perfect on the first fucking go, the world needs you to write technical manuals.

>> No.6506442

Why do people even bother replying to these may-may threads anymore?

>> No.6506753

>>6506390
seems to me like you have a lot of preconceived ideas about who you are as a person. knowing yourself is important, but overly rigid conceptions of yourself could stop you from growing/moving on/experiencing more. you say you can't cant get this story out of yourself, can't express yourself, maybe it's because you are scared that once you've put down "you" on paper, it might not resemble the "you" you've always imagined yourself to be.

But that doesn't have to be a bad thing. One doesn't have to play a single character for their whole life. Once you've materialised yourself, you can analyse it more critically away from the muddiness of the inner mind. Then pick yourself(whoever that may be) up and continue from there. You'll find the way.

Good luck and happy writing.

>> No.6507245

I desire to write a story about a skeleton warrior. I feel that nothing good will come of it and that it will end up having a lot of humorous tones playing into it.

Should I even bother?

>> No.6507254

>>6507245
Your idea is always shit, you always have potential.

>> No.6507658

>>6507245
Fucking do it.

>> No.6507665
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6507665

>>6507245
yes

>> No.6507740

>>6506111
What sort of book are you writing?

>> No.6509206

>>6506280
I know what a ghostwriter is. I am one. I have been published under other people's names in textbooks, toilet tabloids, and medical journals.

Who gives a fuck about a filter? You sound like a legacy faggot. The agency model is censorship. Yes, there is a lot of absolute shit out there, but there are also many writers who were rejected by publishers, only to find quite acceptable sales through self publishing. Publishers only want maximum sales, and nothing else matters. But a regular every day writer can self publish and earn a living. Do a little more research.

>>6506319
It is flooded. You have to run proper promotions, get on the right emailing lists, and sometimes, you have to suck it up and pay for a bookbub ad. You also must be patient, you won't make shit with only one book out there. You try that, and you'll be eating Ramen and working at McJerkoff forever. I would recommend taking a class in basic marketing, or hiring a pro. I also VERY highly recommend paying for professional covers. That is the one thing so many people think they can do on their own, but it ends up costing them sales constantly if the cover sucks balls. (Check out Sam Sykes, his foreign covers rock the pussy and he makes money in France and shit. His US covers look like his publisher hired their cousin's retarded nephew, and his sales are shit here. And Sam writes fucking awful stuff. It's like "What if Lord of the Rings was just as long, but included 350 pages of people gruffly taking a shit." but if he had better US covers, he would be raking it in.)

Right now? I'm working on a popo procedural, a gay bromance, and a L'Amour style western. I have ADHD and refuse medication, so I have to skip around a bit.

>> No.6510569

>>6500229
>Pynchon

>> No.6510572

>>6500444
Nothing anyone here has to say about writing is useful, ever.

>> No.6510574
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6510574

>>6500082

>> No.6510577

>>6500463
> : ) Hey just have something to say man that's all it takes lol!

>> No.6510595

>be 13
>start writing my first novel
>generic globe-hopping spy thriller written in terrible prose and using borderline plagiarized characters
>stop writing it about 75% of the way through because I came up with a mystery I didn't have an answer to
Haven't started a novel since, and it's been eight years. At least I got something out of it: very few people can write a coherent, well-assembled novel without planning. I am not one of them.

>> No.6511854

>>6500082
why do you guys insist on writing your own novels?

Like, 70% of belletristic is shit thats not worth picking up. Why do you think yours is going to blow shit out of the water?!

>> No.6512044

>>6500310
They're called first drafts and the final book will be completely unrecognizable when you're done

>> No.6512135

>>6507245
I'd read it.

and if you can make it appeal to the YA audience but have references to Kirkegaard I'd recommend it to everyone I meet

>> No.6512216

>>6511854
No one worth shit goes in assuming theirs will do anything dumbass. They do it because they either can't do anything else or enjoy it and get lucky.

If no one tried then nothing good would ever be written.

>> No.6512298

lol like anyone is going to read your shit

>> No.6513102

good advice in this thread i think

>> No.6513281
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6513281

>Write a story/short novel.
>Let it sit a month or two.
>Reread it.
>It's generally good but always has stupid shit I somehow wrote without realizing its stupidity.
>Fix everything I see, let it sit again.
>Reread it a week later.
>Substantially fewer dumb mistakes, but they're still around.

I have no clue how editors endure this. I've edited two of my shorter stories into acceptable work, both of which I had enjoyed writing, and I am utterly sick of them now.

>> No.6513367

>>6507245

A shit idea on page is worth infinitely more than the greatest idea in the world in your head.

>> No.6513457

>>6513281
Do it again and again until there are no more mistakes

>> No.6513506

>>6500463
don't agree with this at all. In fact I think the opposite is true in most cases, else you risk sounding preachy.
and the only way you're going to improve your writing is by writing, even if it's about 'nothing.'

>> No.6513523

>spend 5 minutes writing something, it being your first piece as well
>surprised that it's crap

Do you guys expect to write a literary masterpiece in two hours on your first try?

>> No.6513544

>>6500082

>have 3 ideas for short stories that I want to write before summer classes start

>wrote 2 alright-ish sentences 4 days ago
>everything else reads like a sophomore high schooler trying to sound smart

End this suffering, god

>> No.6513564

Don't think you have the talent or the ideas to start by writing a novel of ideas.
Write a story, a story with a plot, and characters, and brief descriptions that are functional. Do no start by experimenting with prose, or conceptual shit. You'll do that later.

>> No.6514204
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6514204

>>6513281
It takes a special kind of perception.
>tfw born editor and can't read a single book or article without sentence fragments, swapped homonyms, and spelling errors jumping out at me

>> No.6514665

>>6513564
Nah. That's a retarded and defeatist attitude to have about yourself.

I'd say you should write whatever the fuck you want, however the fuck you want to, even if you know it'll be complete shit because you have no idea what you're doing.

It'll be a decent learning experience even if the resulting writing is completely worthless.

>> No.6515306
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6515306

>always liked adventure stories
>wanted to write one since i was younger and still want to, been writing the first and second edits so far for years, even if i haven't even got to half of the story
>been focusing more on how the characters act and stuff because i always liked those kind of interactions and reactions to shit happenning
>can't for the life of me think of a non-ultra generic plot because all i can think of is some dude that wants to have revenge on humanity for reasons, and the protags have to go through his five generals first, like some kind of RPG-maker-tier gamer

Welp.

>> No.6515319

Currently halfway through my first novel, about 70 pages. I like it so far. Closes a lot of chapters in my life by actually writing about them. I realized the second half would be a lot more difficult to write, as it will all be completely new to me. I wrote a semi-decent outline of it so I think I should be able to knock out 10 pages a day for another two weeks or so and finish it. I guess I'll figure out what to do with it after that.

>> No.6515372

>>6515306
You can just do it subtly

>> No.6515495

>>6502251
Infinipleb. I wrote my first draft quickly enough to violate causality, and my agent took out a 15 billion dollar loan to rent out every billboard in the english speaking world and put a photoshopped picture of me fucking him, his wife, and all of his children with the caption "Anon's book is grrrrreat!"

>> No.6515496 [DELETED] 

>>6515319

Your novel sucks and you're always going to suck.

>> No.6515500

>>6506126
">Be me" has been a common way to introduce a greentext for ages. Just keep quiet if you don't understand, k?

>> No.6515536

>>6506390
You just need to be drunk enough to not think of that self defeating shit and just write. Edit later.

>> No.6515544

>>6507245
It doesn't matter once 4chan gets wind of it they'll make it humorous anyway

>> No.6515559

>>6513281
Thats the reason why authors have editors do it for them