/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.8609939]

pleblit thread

[Anonymous No.8609951]

>>8609939
/r/writingprompts sometimes has genuinely interesting prompts but every single fucking response is either narrated from the perspective of an ineloquent, impoverished, Americanised college student and culminates in a predictably Hollywoodesque or pseudo-Lovecraftian sense, there's no exception

[Anonymous No.8609992]

>>8609951
The prompts are always the same shit. "You are a fuckstick really good at being a fuckstick. But this time, there's a twist." It's the twist parts that always trigger me. Without fail there's always a twist, which is guy you get these stupid hollywood stories. These people write as if they had only ever seen movies.

Real creative writing prompts, the kinds you do at workshops, are open ended and don't force you to write hollywood blockbuster schlock. If there is a twist it's the author who is in control. Not the neckbeard who comes up with his ideas in the shower and praises people as Faulkners for getting his idea of a Jawa fighting Verne Troyer right. Real prompts say as little about the concepts as possible, and mostly put you into an emotional space.

[Anonymous No.8609995]

>>8609992
that's because reddit is literally /tv/

[Anonymous No.8610005]

>>8609951
>Pseudo.
>Esque.

[Anonymous No.8610010]

>>8609951
I contemplated creating a gimmick account where I wrote super serious /lit/ responses to rwritingprompts, but then I realised that'd be the literal maximum of pseuditry.

[Anonymous No.8610023]

>>8610010
You're scared that your 'super serious /lit response' falls flat, scared of the realization that you're just mediocre like the rest of us.

[Anonymous No.8610027]

:^)

[Anonymous No.8610028]

>>8610023
>you're scared of mediocrity!
>that's why you want to do absolutely nothing at all
That doesn't even make any sense.

[Anonymous No.8610032]

>>8610028
Are you 12?

Most people prefer to keep their beliefs about themselves intact instead of owning up to what these beliefs actually entail.

[Anonymous No.8610038]

If you browse reddit you need to leave and never mention this place again

[Anonymous No.8610040]

>>8610032
Not doing anything equals mediocrity you dolt. That's the opposite of keeping your beliefs intact.

[Anonymous No.8610043]

>>8610038
Fuck you I do it for getting easy ego-boosts about my genre fiction.

If that's not /lit/ as fuck, I don't know what is.

[Anonymous No.8610046]

>>8610040
You clearly don't understand English, I'm out

[Anonymous No.8610049]

>>8610046
If you were out, why did you feel the need to say you were out?

You're not trying to save face on an anonymous image board, are you?

[Anonymous No.8610057]

>>8610038
can't help but get linked there sometimes, not a fan of the format so I don't stay long

[Anonymous No.8610062]

>>8610057
The format's the least of it's problems.

It's normie as fuck.
>waaah /r9k/ get out reeeee
Autism is a great advantage. Could you imagine a redditor devoting most of their life to doing one shitty hobby all the time? Could you imagine a community of redditors forged out of the collective will of a thousand autists unable to contain their sheer superiority over everyone else? No? There you go. Good taste comes from autism.

[Anonymous No.8610063]

>>8609939
nah

[Anonymous No.8610066]

>>8610062
always thought it was just a pissing contest and a place for people to stroke their egos/e-penis' over how much reputation or whatever they have there

like an entire website of tripfags

[Anonymous No.8610067]

>>8610066
That's almost the opposite of what it's like. You're thinking of forums.

Reddit is way too popular for personalities to develop any more than they do here. The sheer amount of usernames means none of them really matter.

[Anonymous No.8610071]

>>8609992
Was gonna say, that's less of a writing prompt and more of a (super) short story. A writing prompt should be a short idea, this is a synopsis of the entire story.

[Anonymous No.8610079]

>>8609939

Primo secondhand cringe right there.

>>8609951

The prompt in the OP is obviously inspired by watching Downey's Sherlock. Redditors are incapable of thinking outside of popular culture. It molds their entire worldview. It's fucking amazing.

[Anonymous No.8610083]

>>8610062
But reddit is the touchstone of autism. They're normies, but autistic in a worse sense. The STEM, circlejerk, internet points sense. Normies that, by way of autism, don't realize they are normies and think they are geniuses.

[Anonymous No.8610094]

>>8610027
>I'm going to invoke a white girl being fucked by a black man
>I somehow win/price my point

Why is the leftist brain like this.

[Anonymous No.8610096]

>>8610083
That's not autism, that's just being a normie.
>>8610079
It's about the difference between exploiting bodily strengths/weaknesses, and exploiting pure physics.

Pop culture is what Reddit lives on. These people are the people that say "it's okay; this show gets better after a few seasons". They're the people who buy those AAA games. They're the people who read IJ and think they've read the Bible.

Because they're normies.

[Anonymous No.8610098]

>>8610094
I thought you were talking about some /pol/ack using the word cuck for a moment there.

[Anonymous No.8610142]

I love these threads, its actually pretty interesting just how stupid and hive minded reddit is

[Anonymous No.8610146]

>>8610142

[Anonymous No.8610167]

>>8609939
that prompt actually sounds pretty interesting if done right. It might work as a light novel or something in an over-the-top death note kinda way.

[Anonymous No.8610176]

>>8609951
I wholly agree with this. There's some peculiar aspect to reddit's creative writing that makes it all sound as if it's by the same person. I thought it was a problem stemming from the upvote system only pushing a single style, but even the poorly voted pieces sound the same way. It's frightening how such banal conformity could be taken as innovative, creative, or entertaining.

[Anonymous No.8610177]

>>8610005
Better than -ish, at least

[Anonymous No.8610180]

>>8610142
Yeah not like us

[Anonymous No.8610181]

>>8610167
remember to kill yourself!

[Anonymous No.8610188]

>>8609951
>writes 'either'
>presents only one option

also

>browses reddit
leave

[Anonymous No.8610209]

>>8610032
>>8610032
>most people keep their beliefs about themselves intact

I definitely agree. I think there exists some form of sub-conscious knowledge that they aren't that good, so they shy away from making their works public. Then there are people, primarily women and faggots, who do not possess this inner knowledge. They go onto places like r/writing and r/writingprompts and attempt to make themselves and each other feel better about their (lack of) talent. They aspire to write like john green (because the romance in tfios was so realistic and heartbreaking ;_; and augustus was sooo perfect) or like sanderson (mistborn was such an epic right?). They continually seek out trash YA book after trash YA book. They never can, and never will, become good at their craft, because the authors who they aspire to be like are mediocre to begin with. The highest point in their lives will be a comment left on a post. On their 75th or 80th birthday, they will realize how little they have done, how little they have read and how limited their intelligence is. Perhaps instead of reading Eleanor and Park, they think, I should have read A critique of pure reason. Perhaps, they think, instead of reading John Green I should have read Wittgenstein. They will die without a trace of theirs surviving. Their names will last be spoken within a mere 7 or 8 years after their death.

You, Anon, are lucky to have survived all that. You may not become great (thought I dont doubt you can), you will definitely end up above the mediocre scum.

[Anonymous No.8610217]

>>8610181
why should I kill myself for having a different opinion?

[Anonymous No.8610238]

>>8610217
because you're a doritos eating pop-culture-guzzling weeaboo who probably orders well-done steaks

[Anonymous No.8610276]

>>8610005
>autism

[Anonymous No.8610289]

>>8609992
>Real creative writing prompts, the kinds you do at workshops

[Anonymous No.8610298]

>>8610142
>>8610180
I agree

[Anonymous No.8610321]

>>8609939
Eh, writing prompts are fun, but it's not writing. "A grand skyscraper made of glass and concrete" is not architecture and it's definitely not building the thing, even if you embezzle it with details.

Also, most prompts are unwritable - they lack an arc: for example, "in a world demolished by nuclear explosions three years ago, the only survivor descovers she's pregnant". Sure, cool twist, but you can't expand it thoughtfully beyond a page or two.

[Anonymous No.8610328]

>>8610176
You've never seen our crit threads, have you?

Gated little communities eat the same food and shit the same shit.
>>8610209
This is getting too layered for my liking.
>>8610321
>Sure, cool twist, but you can't expand it thoughtfully beyond a page or two.
That's the point.

[Anonymous No.8610345]

>>8610328
Sure, I get that. But this is not writing - if a story can be told while drinking beers with your friends, it's not literature. Borges is famous exactly because his short stories transcend a few little pages they are written on, and even he descend into hey-that-is-neat faggotry pretty often.

[Anonymous No.8610348]

>>8610328
/lit/'s writing quality varies, and is usually shit, but most of the voices sound different, at least. They might ape one another in content, but in actual writing and perspective they're generally diverse.

[Anonymous No.8610356]

>>8610345
it's an exercise you loon. no one said it was literature. just like how running high-knee'd through old tires isn't playing in the nfl.

[Anonymous No.8610378]

>>8610345
Imagine being this much of a pseud

[Anonymous No.8610386]

>>8610276
>ism

[Anonymous No.8610404]

>>8610345
>if a story can be told while drinking beers with your friends, it's not literature.
Oh my God! I genuinely liked this litmus test very much. These are some outstanding capabilities in the literary field like I've never seen in quite some time, and my friends all know that I'm a harsh critic and I say it like I mean it. Oh wow, Anon*! More! I'll be looking for your work in the NY Times bestseller section sometime in the near future, young xe :>

[Anonymous No.8610406]

>>8610356
A boy who plays DoTA with his friends all day also "exercises" for e-sport. There is a phase shift between what skills writing prompts develop and what you need for actual writing. I guess it can be helpful with prose, and even that is very limited.

The only exercise for writing literature is writing literature and, to a much lesser extent, reading. Posting bite-sized chunks of text on reddit and 4chan is detrimental, even, as it gives you an illusion of doing something.

[Anonymous No.8610414]

>>8610406
>Posting bite-sized chunks of text on reddit and 4chan is detrimental, even,

so gtfo

[Anonymous No.8610420]

>>8610404
You are the kind of guy who gets irrationally angry at this statement, so I can safely assume you think reading wikipedia page for a book is almost as good as reading it.

[Anonymous No.8610422]

>>8610420
why would it not be?

[Anonymous No.8610438]

>>8610414
>ever stepping inside a critique thread
>having such low-esteem to post even fragments of your soon-to-be NY times bestsellers on a anonymous board
This place is serviceable for discussing books and that's it.

[Anonymous No.8610441]

hey doodz
lets disscuss books n shite

[Anonymous No.8610610]

>>8610438
>To post even fragments of
Embarrassing

[Anonymous No.8610615]

>>8610238
>assuming to know everything about me just because of some random comment on the internet

[Anonymous No.8610620]

>reddit.com/u/PM_ME_finneganswake

ok which one of you fuckers is this troll?

[Anonymous No.8610622]

>>8610615
Your comment did reflect alot about you senpai.

[Anonymous No.8610630]

>>8610622
how would you know?

[Anonymous No.8610642]

>>8610630
You think that light novels can be interesting"if done right". You think that picture books for asocial, teenage, illiterate pedophiles can have any value, which says alot of things about the kind of person you are.

[Anonymous No.8610646]

>>8610642
you just disregard an entire medium because you cant name drop it in conversation to seem smart. says a lot about you too

[Anonymous No.8610661]

>>8610646
how are light novels a separate medium? nobody calls YA "a medium", and LNs are basically japanese YA novels.

[Anonymous No.8610663]

speaking of writingprompts... there are the regulars who consistently create safe and boring prompts and then advertise their twitter afterwards.

If anyone is bored I suggest trolling them. They're very sensitive to critiques as they usually get circlejerked over how amazing their stories are.

[Anonymous No.8610719]

>>8610180

When 4chan is terrible - which DOES happen very often - it's usually terrible in original ways.

[Anonymous No.8611049]

>>8609939
I like how the all time top writing prompt says "You" in an attempt to force the author to use the first person.

[Anonymous No.8611073]

>>8609939

[Anonymous No.8611107]

>>8610028
You're afraid if your work coming out as mediocre, so you don't write. Sounds like a common thing to me... I guess that's why I haven't tried either...

[Anonymous No.8611110]

>>8610663
Same shit happens on nosleep

Originally intended to be a place for creepy stories in general, real or not, as long as you at least tried to pretend it was real.

Later, the rule about not being sceptical in the comments got abused to justify downright roleplaying and short stories with links to the author's social media and subreddits at the end. Worst examples of this are EZmisery and iia. EZmisery is only mildly bad when it's a single story, and devolves into anime as soon as she writes a second part. Her writing always seems very juvenile either way. iia likes gross out, bugs and twist endings, with no much else

Far better is letsnotmeet, which is strictly for true stories and now asks you to submit a picture of your ID with your username somewhere in the picture and confirmation for the story's veracity from a third party

[Anonymous No.8611111]

Not reddit but it fits the thread

[Anonymous No.8611133]

>>8611110
To give an idea of EZmisery writing, there's one series that begins with the protagonist discovering police recordings of his father interrogating with a woman who murdered her sister and was implied to have been used on child pornography

As the series advances, it's revealed his father was not a cop, but rather a member of a secret organization which hunted demons called "Friends" who could take over people's bodies if you told them "yes"

[Anonymous No.8611421]

>>8610646
>Light novels are a different medium
Nope, they're just a shitty type of novel.

[Anonymous No.8611489]

>>8611111
check out those numbers

[Anonymous No.8611492]

>>8609992

You're forgetting the additional factor of popular culture being added. The twist is BATMAN.

[Anonymous No.8611595]

>>8611111

Reading the comment section of various books on goodreads made me feel nauseated.