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/lit/ - Literature

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785675 No.785675 [Reply] [Original]

Unfortunately for me, I don't spend a lot of time here. Do we ever talk about writing books or only about books other people write? If so, I've got a few ideas for some books I might start working on that I would want to run by some people with experience on the matter (that's where you come in) first.

If not, well... I'll just delete this thread or something.

>> No.785683

unfortunately, /lit/ is filled with a bunch of "writers" who won't shut up about themselves.

>> No.785759

>>785683
Sorry to hear that. I wish I weren't contributing now but I'm afraid I am. I'll go away soon. :/
Going ahead with the ideas now, since no one else seems to be saying anything.

The first idea is something that just came to mind. It would be a comedy about a very intentionally cliche evil overlord's underling. Maybe like an accountant or jail guard - just someone who has a lot of very menial work to do. He would want to be evil, but really fail at it. I doubt there would be any kind of major conflict in the story past the guy trying to earn a higher position.

The second one is something that I've been building on for a few years. It would be more of a fantasy book centering around a group of people who find themselves on a new planet, trying to establish a functioning modern-day society in a world with much more... magical, I guess, elements. Not like having a society that uses magic instead of electricity and stuff, but one that's trying to use electricity in a world that doesn't.

I think both could use some work. What do you guys think of them? Be as brutal as you like, I can take it.

>> No.785771

First sounds like it'd mainly be a humour fantasy, I take it. Kinda new, but also makes me think of the ditsy Igor-type character in children's movies. Could be interesting in how you go with it.

Second actually reminds me of something I started writing a long time ago, myself. Mankind lands on, what is essentially, a fantasy world and brings technology with them. The world then adapts to this and it was my way of crossing sci-fi and fantasy and experimenting their co-existence.

>> No.785774

I am also in the process of writing a poem about my constantly itching asshole.

>> No.785779 [DELETED] 

>>785774
I'm proud to say that's the first time someone has ever impersonated me. Dick.

>> No.785809

>>785774
I feel the need to point out that this was not me.
Tripfagging from here out.

>> No.785851

>>785759

I say, the first one sounds like a reasonable challenge. If it were myself doing the writing, one of the underlings he'd have to get the leg-up on in order to get his promotion would be a nice guy in disguise, who happens to be a lot better at being evil.

>> No.785852

oshi- The last post was 20 minutes ago. OP is gone and /lit/ is slow.

>> No.785883

Oh fuck, it's almost 5 AM and I have to work tomorrow...
Time to sleep. Hope this thread is still here when I get back tomorrow. Keep opinions coming - I appreciate anything more than blatant trolling.

>> No.785935

>>785759
#1 has been done about a million times, but maybe you can make it your own. #2 See #1

>> No.785938

>>785883
its 5am and i has work in a few hours. you sleep now?

>> No.786177

Well, it's two hours later and I'm about to head out to work. Filling in some more information about the second one for the hell of it. Care if you want.

The people who are brought there are groups of 14 from different locations around the world (N. America, S. America, Scandinavia, central Europe, northern and southern Africa, Tibet, and the Middle East). An idea I'm tossing around now is giving a different sort of imbuing to each group, though I'm not sure that I like this. Naturally, some conflicts between these groups arise, shit like that. A very long time period later, I was planning to pick it back up with their descendants having built a city from the wreckage of what brought them to this planet. With that accomplished, I can show what the world is like by having them go out to explore/settle new land, encountering at least one civilization in the process. The original idea was to start it out with the focus largely on science fiction and blend it more and more into fantasy towards the end of the book.

>> No.786183

>>786177
And by imbuings I mean magic powers and shit. I like this idea even less now...

>> No.786203

I have to say, I didn't really care for either idea. Writing seems like one of the hardest things ever so...keep coming up with ideas i guess.

>> No.786257

i didn't like either idea, really. the first idea isn't bad but it needs a lot more "meat" to actually be interesting. it needs a conflict of some sort to make it more than just a collection of pointless scenes, which is what it sounds like it would be otherwise. and "trying to earn a higher position" is not a conflict. it's one half of a conflict that should be something central to the story rather than just tacked on.

second one sounds boring as fuck. there's nothing in there making it interesting. so some people go out and explore a planet and shit: so what? i mean, honestly. why should we care about this? and the correct answer isn't "because the magic is interesting" or anything like that. that's not enough to get someone emotionally invested in a story. you need to create characters and give them motivations, goals, fears, and yes, again, conflicts: even if those conflicts are internal or abstract.

>> No.786273

>>785675
I have a few ideas, but I haven't got the courage to write. I know that It will be bad. :(

>> No.786290

>>786273
Write a comic book instead, or a video game. Writing is writing, even in those mediums.

>> No.786302
File: 168 KB, 1280x1024, bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
786302

>>785675
Dat pen.
I need one.

>> No.786305

>>785672

iｓ ＰPＯOｐ ＳaUＳａＧｅ tＨＥ ＢｅsT ＦＯoＤ u ｃaＮ Ｅａｔｓ wyｆｓbBｍｈｂｇwＯYXｙｏAＧeuｑMacＯrＫｊXｖ

>> No.786308

>>786302
Go buy one. Holders are like $4, nibs are like $2.

>> No.786318

>>786308
Does this pen have a proper name?

>> No.786322

writers ideas thread?
sure I'll throw something your way.

Idea #1: set during the age of exploration, Europe has just discovered the Americas. a ship filled with aristocratic explorers and knights and working class sailors sets off across the Atlantic on a mission of trade and goods searching when a freak storm sends them thousands of miles of course from any colonial settlements, they find themselves stuck in a strange but inhabited paradise with no way of getting home, however it is a paradise filled with jungles, friendly natives and tropical beaches etc.. but as the Europeans begin to modernise their surroundings, they find the more complex things become the more problematic things become. introducing law leads to crime, introducing a ruler leads to revolt ect.
I want it to all end in a big bloody massacre and have a lone survivor or two escape the burning jungle and the civilisation they brought with them.

my inspiration came from the historical accounts of Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, but doesn't follow his journey as there is no escape from paradise.

>> No.786336

>>786322
idea #2 set in a fictional contemporary city somewhere in the western world. two people awake on a subway train after a horrible crash to find they are the only living survivors. they escape to find a mostly abandoned city centre. they find remnants of civilisation living without laws and scrounging all the svavenged resources they can. there's plenty to go around at first, but then scarcity arrives etc. The city will be an island like Manhattan connected to the mainland by bridges. The two survivors recruit some curious followers and discover every bridge off the island has been destroyed and there is no way to escape. they make their way to city hall and discover abandoned cars and tanks etc. and search though government buildings for answers.
I don't know entirely where this is going but I want it to be the kind of story with a slow burn, that slowly eggs you on that a possible solution is coming closer dropping clues and hints and ends in a big reveal.

>> No.786347

>>786336
the third idea I had was a fantasy set in a world made up of two warring continents nearing the peak of industrial revolution. weapons just got more deadly and mass produced, the government just executed a diplomatic king and replaced it with an autocratic military machine nightmare and the people are either scared as hell or teetering on the edge of revolution. The story from the ground up involves a group of scientists who discover nuclear power and open up the world to a possible nuclear age. (fantasy steam punk so historical accuracy isn't relevant) however the militaristic government wants to utilise their discovery as a weapon. these scientists are not action heros in the slightest so have a hard time escaping from the militarised cities, hilarity ensues, they join the cause of the pro-monarch revolution and through the power of science they pluck up the winning edge to defeat the military. or something, I'm not sure

so what do you think?

>> No.786374

>>786318
It's a dip pen.

>> No.786382

>>786374
Thank you!

>> No.788471

Okay, Okay. I've put too much effort into that second idea to just dump the whole thing, so I'll make some revisions based on what you guys said. When I started it in my senior year of high school, it was just an English class writing project, but I can use that to give a better idea. This is very long, so I had to break up the post.
Content following.

>> No.788473

It starts with a planet about three times the size of Earth appearing in the sky between Earth and Mars (this is explained much later on in the story; I have ideas, but I'm not sure about the execution yet). Naturally, this fucks shit up in the solar system. Mars is on a direct collision with Earth, so as a last resort (plot hole - will fill later) and those groups of 14 are gathered and sent to the new planet to preserve the human race. They struggle to establish any kind of building outside of their ship because of nearly constantly raging ash storms in the area. This causes problems later on as the population grows. Eventually, people are forced to leave the ship and attempt to find fertile ground. Instead of fertile ground, they discover another ship half-buried in the ash/sand that is most certainly not of human design. Once re-powered, the ship is driven to a location much to the north, where the ash storms aren't a problem. They lay the foundations for a city here, and using the wreckage from their first ship, build town.

>> No.788477

Years later, one of the people from Earth had naturally risen to power, and now his descendant becomes the main character. One of the native inhabitants (there's very few at this point) of this continent discovers what a society they had built and it disgusted to find it on his land. Dealing with this guy is the first major conflict in the story, and leads them to a much more progressive society when this is over. They begin expansion, as is only natural (who stays in just one city?), finding much older denizens of the planet. They claim themselves to be gods, and that there are thousands of them (the native was a follower of one of the more chaotic of these gods). However, they came to be gods through killing the previous holder of that position, and are in fact not divine beings at all. These provide the second major conflict, and I haven't really gotten any ideas for where to go after that. Though it focuses on certain characters for a great deal of time, the story is more about the whole civilization rather than about a few characters.

>> No.788518
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788518

I'm just going to hope this is a troll thread. This story is such a sorry excuse for writing, even for the sorts of ideas that usually come up on /lit/, that I'm concerned for the author's mental health.

Pic related. This is what I think of your story idea and this thread in general.

>> No.788981

>>788518
I'm willing to respect this if you're willing to explain yourself. I really don't understand why people are so against science fiction.

>> No.789083

>>788981

why do you assume that this anon is hating on your idea because it's sci-fi? most likely they're hating on your idea because it's boring and, well, bad. my previous comment about there being nothing interesting about the story that would encourage your readers to become engrossed, immersed, or invested in your world and characters still stands, despite your lengthy explanation of the plot. sorry.

>> No.789112

faggot you didn't delete the thread. i did when i tried to share some poetry and was told to fuck so i said fuck these lit bitches, they just want troll threads and homework threads and whatever bullshit fine. no one cares here OP, it may be lit, but it is STILL 4chan. remember that

>> No.789136

>>789083
All right, I can accept that. I'm not really sure where I'll go in this direction, but I guess I'll work on that.

>>789112
It seemed like one or two people were actually giving a shit. But yeah, nothing more to gain from this.