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/lit/ - Literature

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888060 No.888060 [Reply] [Original]

How is that novel you've been working on going?

>> No.888068

As soon as I figure out how to get my thoughts to paper without using my hands, probably beautifully.

As of now, there is nothing.

>> No.888073

>>888068

No hands, eh?

>> No.888081

55,000 words so far. The process is both fun and agonizing.

>> No.888082

Pretty good. It's about aliens invading Earth and attempting to control the freedom-loving, liberty-craving population using a corrupt, evil idea called "Communism."

I expect it to be a best seller.

>> No.888087

Got a setting. Now all I need is a plot. And characters.

>> No.888101
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888101

>>888060
all right motherfucker, you better godddamned well tell us what novel you're working on

>> No.888506

But I'm not working on a novel! :O

>> No.888512

Pretty good. I've been ripping off the zwg mag and now my story is pretty kickass!

>> No.888516

>>888101
some one's jealous lord, kume by ya

>> No.888526

13000 words into it.

>> No.888536

>>888060
you know what stewart, i like you

>> No.888547

>>888087
I actually like that method of coming up with stories. Very systematically. Figure out the setting, come up with characters, give the characters a purpose for being in said setting. And then boom, you have a story to work with.

I haven't started on a novel yet. I've written about 10 give or take a few short stories, only one of which I'm particularly proud of, called "Bone Canyon". It will be in the next issue of ZWG. It's about a journalist going to do a report on some living dead guys that are hella cool dudes. They do peyote.

>> No.888575
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888575

6000 words and 2 chapters in 2 days.

Suck it apathy

>> No.888586

>>888547
like a math problem, huh?

i smell gEnIuS

>> No.888594

I write short stories because I know I don't have the attention span to write a novel.

>> No.888592

I have 10 pages of written story, and about 20 pages of scribbled notes on character, motive, theme, plot, ideas and self depricating statements jotted hard down into the page.

It is going pretty good man.

>> No.888610

>>888586
I guess you could say that. That sounds sort of robotic though. I've never actually used that thought process when coming up with a story (consciously, at least). But I might try it some time soon.

>> No.888663
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888663

going well.. about a whole lot of phonies. my target audience are hipsters.

>> No.888677

>>888663
>implying hipsters don't pull out Dostoevsky in coffee shops to appear well-read

>> No.888678

should be writing right now and stop trolling/lit/

>> No.888691

>>888594

This^...well, pretty much. I am trying to work on a novel, but I keep getting new ideas that I think are better. I have like 3 half finished novels. -.-

>> No.888705
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888705

15,000 words OP. Not bad for a week right? I do expect that I'll remove a fair chunk of it however when I go over it for editing.

>> No.888722

how do you guys write? meaning: do you set aside a specific "writing time"? or as inspiration comes?

this is the hardest thing for me, the discipline. i love writing, only it seems to come and go sporadically and i cannot just sit down and say "now is my alotted writing time".

>> No.888740

Not well, as I've been working on an idea for a comic book instead.

>> No.888750

>>888722

If I sit down before a virginal page in my word processor[DarkRoom], I usually find myself spitting out pages after pages of text easily.

People usually tell me to write -less- and stop over-describing everything.

>> No.888756

>>888722
Kingsley Amis, famously, would begin writing first thing in the morning, write 500 words before noon, and then immediately go to his club and get blind stinking drunk (he was one of the great alcoholics of modern times, in addition to being a very good writer).

I'm not sure if this helps but it is certainly awesome.

>> No.888787

>>888756

Alcohol and writing go hand in hand.

>> No.888793

>>888787
Alcohol and editing, however, do not.

>> No.888795

11th chapter.

This is the first draft however, so I'll have to do revisions when I'm done.

>> No.888797

>>888793
methamphetamines and editing, on the other hand....

>> No.888798
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888798

>>888722

I do it late at night when I know I won't be bothered by anything, people at my door, phone calls, friends, anything. I pop in some Vangelis and open a cold beer and then bam.

It's novel writing time.

>> No.888817

>>888793
>>888797

I don't take meth, so I wouldn't know about it. People have said that cannabis helps them write. It helps me dream up cool stories, but the instant I start typing or writing, I get stuck in editing and re-writing one sentence so that it's PERFECT. This ends with me not getting anywhere even after hours pass.

>> No.888820

>>888722

Set aside time to write, make it a routine. I am with you here, and with all the distractions that we face today, it requires discipline and determination.

I try to write an hour a day at least, sometimes I spend all day at Starbucks, smoking, reading, with a pad in front of me. Sometimes it comes, sometimes it doesnt, but for me now the routine jogs out some creativity.

>> No.888964

Been working on it, on and off, for about 2.5 years now. Probably won't finish it for another 2 or 3 years, and that's how I like it.

>> No.889025

>>888750
Sounds like you're a suck-ass writer.

>> No.889044
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889044

My cat fucking pissed on it.
NOT.
JOKING.

>> No.889067

>>889025

Tell me something I don't know.

That's why I always say I'd never take up writing as a job. Not only do I want to avoid alcoholism, but I work with my hands, and write down the cool stories I dream up every day for myself. I sure as hell won't be posting anything to the publishers anytime soon.

I have a 500gb external hard-drive filled with stories, poems, and entries from National Novel Writing Month. I also have about 70+ books on writing, manuals to the English Language, grammar...it's a nice little hobby that I keep myself busy with on the side. I've done enough studying to assure myself that writing is definitely not my vocation. So you won't have to fret about your little Icarus Arc trying to achieve the heights of getting published.

But I can't quite wrap my head around people who sit around agonizing over that one novel.

>> No.889086

>>889067
I stopped reading after that bit about avoiding alcoholism. Why would you want to avoid alcoholism? Everyone knows vices are like steroids for talent.

>> No.889110

>>889086

Runs in my family, most of its male member have had it. I wanted to avoid journeying down that road.

>> No.889117

>>889110
Pssh, my family's loaded with alcoholics. Drug addicts in general, actually, and that's why WE'RE NUMBER ONE

>> No.889132

Writing Habits of Famous Writers

http://writetodone.com/2008/09/04/learn-from-the-greats-7-writing-habits-of-amazing-writers/

Enjoy.

>> No.889166

Finished the first draft at 102k words and 178 single spaced pages. Editing and rewriting it now. On page 83, so about halfway done with a really good second draft I can have my friends critique.

>> No.889303

>>888610
>>888547

I've never written a novel off the top of my head. It just doesn't happen.

It always begins with some characters. How they grew up. What their parents were like. What they wanted to be. What they are, what their personal fears are, their strengths, their flaws, their favorite color, you know, all the tiny things that make characters rounded and easy to relate to.

Then I think about how I can make these characters get into some exciting situations where the stakes are high, and everything is on the line. Conflict-heavy situations, with lots of buildup.

Of course, conflict requires a world for their struggle to take place in, and I start designing one from the ground up. I draw maps, I write a mini-encyclopedia about the world's history, its accomplishments and achievements, which sometimes ends up with me writing several stories before completing the one at hand, just because I thought something was particularly cool, and would make a good tale.

Then I start fitting it all together into a plot, which is then supported by subplots. I've made it a rule to scrap stories that can't be summarized neatly - if it takes too long to explain or has a convoluted story with too many branches, I toss it out.

>> No.890237

>>889067
rapidshare those manuals plz.

>> No.890252

>>890237
>>890237


Can you handle .rar?

>> No.890264

It's going better now, OP...realized something about a character. He's not a villain, he's an anti-hero, eventually.

Anyone else amazed when you realize something about a character you thought you'd created entirely, and then they surprise you as you write about them?

>> No.890309

>>890252
yes.

>> No.890310

>>890309

Packing now.

>> No.890338

>>890310

Uploading. You have 20 minutes.

>> No.890364

Great thread is great.

>> No.890372

>>890310
>>890338
>>890309

http://rapidshare.com/files/405908969/70__English_grammar_and_writing_books.rar

Upload Complete.

>> No.890377

>>890372
AN HERO.
Thank you so much, sir.

>> No.890379

"Vladimir Nabokov[...] did his writing standing up, and all on index cards."

What. How... ?
So much about Nabokov just baffles me. It actually makes me uncomfortable knowing that someone is so much smarter than me that even his daily habits are beyond my comprehension.

>> No.890381

>>890377

Don't mention it.

I got about 50 books on Military Tactics/History if you want 'em to go with that.

>> No.890388

>>890381
Where the fuck do you download those things? Private trackers?

>> No.890392

>>890388

I don't have a single account on any private tracker.

I do use Bittorrent, though.

>> No.890394

It's just a stupid little novella that won't be much longer than 30,000 words, OP. But thanks for asking.

>> No.890742

>>890381

Can you upload those?

>> No.890746

I've started the work some days ago and I've already finished the first and the last chapter. The middle part will come whenever I feel like it. Yes, I'm a really slow writer.

>> No.890750

i have 3 going at once!

1st was written ages ago and sounds like it was written by a 13 year old

the second has no hitch to the next scene.

and the one i am on now is going fine, nearly finished the first chapter...

>> No.890758

>>890746
so essentially, you have written a short story

*an empty eclair* and you are waiting to find the right flavour of cream, to fill it with, and turn it, into a delicious treat...

>> No.890766

>>890758
You might say that. I already know with what I want to fill it, but not how.

>> No.890769

I keep coming up with ideas for a better story after coming up with an overview and I haven't been getting anywhere recently.

>> No.890771 [DELETED] 

http://tessatheslut.com?id=t9w65jyd9890t9ftme6wtwn976m230

>> No.890776

>>890766
This is both good and bad. Do you have an outline? The more detail you can put into your storyline before you do the actual write, the better. Really helps prevent block.

>> No.890778

Not writing one until I've completed a couple novellas. Always working on short stories. Most of my time writing is spent exercising until I develop a writing style that's better than what I write now and working out the worst of the kinks in my writing, which happens to be sustained narrative. Then I need an idea good enough to commit to.
Basically, shit.

>> No.890780

>>890776
That's why I'm waiting and collecting ideas at the moment.
The way I wrote the beginning and the ending is really helpful, since that allows me to stretch the middle part as long as I've got enough ideas that are good enough to use.

>> No.890782

I have four ideas I constantly switch between working on but haven't written down anything but an outline for each.

>> No.890783

I write short stories, at least for now.
I want to get better so that I don't waste time writing a novel that only I will like, and even then only for the effort I put into it.
Once I'm better at writing I will tackle a longer work.

>> No.890811

Still working on the concept for several of them. Only one of them has a (year old) draft of about 4-ish pages.

That, and I'm trying to come up for a name for a sci-fi fascist state that's controlled by a board of directors hand picked by a couple of very powerful corporations.

>> No.890821

>>890811
Former Universal Colonial Kingdom?

>> No.890823

>>890811
The Greater Echelon
The Conglomerate
Yonkers

>> No.890832

THE BEGINNING

THE MOTHERFUCKING BEGINNING

THE FIRST GODDAMN PARAGRAPH, HOW DOES IT WORK?

>> No.890836

>>890811
America

OH SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT

>> No.890882

>>890832
Skip it. Write some other part first. I never write fiction in order.

>> No.890993

Still contemplating ideas for mine...

>> No.891008

I can never get past three or four chapters before I get bored. It's like... it's already written in my head. And I feel like I don't feel like repeating myself. And then I just forget it.

>> No.891010

>>890832
It works the same way magnets work. Pure fucking magic, man. Miracles. Every day.

>> No.891012

Started one, got up to around 15 pages and dropped it. I have a bad habit of ending stories when I get bored with them or when I get a new idea that I really want to work on. There's a whole folder filled with ideas and unfinished books in progress on my computer. To combat this, I usually write short stories or poems to get myself in the mood. Hopefully when I go to Pennsylvania, I'll be able to write more because of the calm atmosphere and little distractions. Good luck on those novels, guys!

>> No.891058

It's not unheard of for geniuses to be "completely off their rocker", it really seems to go hand in hand. A large portion of them say they view the world much different than "everyone else" and as such causes them to act differently in comparison. Think about it for a minute. Look at someone and see what you see inside of them. You may see they're upset, maybe you think they're happy. Now imagine you look at them and you don't see any of that. Imagine you look at people and realise their life's story, know their weaknesses, strengths, thoughts, memories. If you saw the world not as exploration and bewilderment but as a flat plain of two-dimensional redundancy, you would be a bit "off your rocker" too.

>> No.891069

>>891012
You too, bro. Love you man.

>> No.891615

>>890372
>This file is neither allocated to a Premium Account, or a Collector's Account, and can therefore only be downloaded 10 times.

This limit is reached.

To download this file, the uploader either needs to transfer this file into his/her Collector's Account, or upload the file again. The file can later be moved to a Collector's Account. The uploader just needs to click the delete link of the file to get further information.

why ;_;?

>> No.892022

>>891069

Heh thanks.

>> No.892025

I'm not working on one.

I feel I have nothing to say that is worth writing down. Feels bad, man.

>> No.892039

I have the conception of a brilliant work of 'philosophical fiction' in the vein of camus or similar, got it all down, thought about it for a few months
I know what I want to write about and I could write at any time really, but I just haven't felt like it.
Depression I suspect, I don't know
having no friends and being all alone in a big city is a downer

>> No.892052

>>892039

It might be laziness, but I know what that feels like. Being alone and living in New York, and yet life kinda just goes by in a blur. Try out writing though, it may draw you in so you won't have to suffer all day.

>> No.892060

>>892039
Literature is art. Art and suffering go hand in hand.

>> No.892062

>>892060
>Literature is art.
Hah! Good one. Everyone knows Literature is an exclusive circle jerk.

>> No.892069

>>892062
If you want it that way, you can call almost every form of art an exclusive circle jerk.

>> No.892072
File: 2 KB, 115x126, oscarwildecloseup.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
892072

>>892069
Oh, baby, I do want it that way.

>> No.892074

>>892062
Would you care to justify that unjustified claim?

>> No.892077

>>892074
>arguing with a 12-twelve year old troll

are you new here, bro?

>> No.892101

>>892074
Would you care to justify that it's not?
It's more than obvious that canonical literature only became that way because academics found there was plenty they could bull shit about in it, and plenty that the general public "didn't get," which made the academics feel smarter than everyone else, which they like.

Run on sentence of the year.

>> No.892108

>>892077
you're right

>> No.892112

It's a short story compilation, actually.

I haven't written anything in a while, though.

>> No.892201

>>892072
>oscarwildecloseup.jpg

What.