/lit/ - Literature

Back then, "becoming an author" was actually possible. Now every person with literary talent is being wasted on some pointless IT job. Unless you're making sci-fi, fantasy, or shit for women, your chances of success are virtually zero and even in those genres your chances are astronomically low. Can you even compare the two eras?

Just read about the shit houellebecq went through to become famous
https://fragilekeys.com/2019/11/23/staying-alive-michel-houellebecq/
There is no pipeline to success now, only a truly masochistic/insane man like him would do it, and that was the 90s. But yeah. ...Look at these people man >>23206199
Have you encountered "literature people" in 20XX? They're so fucking boring. You think they could spot a Kafka in the wild?

Look. There's room for great writers -- look how popular Blood Meridian still is. But it won't be through the "old way". You have to understand the social apparatus that made these old guys successful is dead. Even McCarthy had infinitely more resources than we do. To become a successful writer in 2024, you need a following. You need social media. It's the only way. Write your stuff, shill it, cross-promote it. Fuck the publishing industry. Who needs them? You need direct support from your audience. There are countless people who'd enjoy your work online; you just have to find them. Use algorithms, use your brain, be smart. Talent's not enough anymore, you need savvy. Savvy?

>>23202945
>But maybe this kind of thing was never real.
My parents went to college in the 80s and had plenty of stories about camping or driving cross country with their friends to beaches and partying with random strangers, staying up drunk the whole night, they found a stray dog on the road and kept him, etc.

Post any quotes or excerpts you've found yourself dwelling on ITT.

“I never could have done what I have done without the habits of punctuality, order, and diligence, without the determination to concentrate myself on one subject at a time.”
- Charles Dickens