/lit/ - Literature

Upon reviewing my previous post I realize I made several typographical errors which I apologize for, my laptop keyboard sucks and I left my auxiliary in my office.

what's your gender

should i become a published author, are the chances of women like that throwing themselves at me good or very good?

>>2785468

I am a male.

Are you Aaron Dembski-Bowden?

describe the process of writing your first ever decent work

How important is experience really?

For example if I have a minor character, say, an upper middle class woman, who looks down her nose at the world, attends 'cocktail parties' with her other snotty friends, and maintains this superior attitude while maintaining a persona of being perfect to the world. She has a son who ran away from home and he now lives in a squat, taking every drug he can, and plays bass guitar in a punk band.

Now if I wanted to write that convincingly, how beneficial would it be to attend those types of upper middle class cocktail parties, become acquainted with some squat junkies, maybe even go to a few local punk bands? Or is this not necessary at all with a good enough imagination?

>>2785476

From my own experience, I've come across many good looking women, though I've only dated two, with the latter being my current girlfriend who writes book reviews in a northeastern newspaper. However, if you wish to become an author solely for the women, I would suggest seeking work as a daredevil or drummer, as they usually seem to have a larger following of women from what I've heard.

>>2785499

I never wrote in any conventional sense, I wouldn't set up schedules to write or mandate writing daily, I simply wrote what came to me, with these writings gradually becoming my first novel, which I would publish with help from a friend of a friend who was a literary agent.

>>2785505

Personally, experience is not essential in writing a scene, since many people have not shared these experiences either, as long as you use your imagination, but write these scenes in a convincing way, you can make your reader feel like they're in that cocktail party though they've never been.

>>2785454
I'm writing a fiction book. Do I bother purchasing an ISBN and becoming the publisher-of-record and having a print company print it (and then what?) or should I just find a publisher after I finish it.

What if I become the publisher but I find a distributor?

Thanks.

>>2785530
>which I would publish with help from a friend of a friend who was a literary agent.

So really, it's all about dem connections, right? Not to imply you don't have talent.

>>2785530
>I never wrote in any conventional sense, I wouldn't set up schedules to write or mandate writing daily
This is what I did to write. Any time I tried to force it, the writing suffered greatly. So sometimes I've have cold spots. Then I'd need to read some to get inspired again. A lot of my "writing" is me reading.

>>2785537
This is me

>>2785549
>Then I'd need to read some to get inspired again. A lot of my "writing" is me reading.

Not OP, but I do this too. I I have been reading for an hour I have a 20 minute window afterwards where I can write really well. It doesn't matter what it is as I don't seem to imitate the authors prose, but I can't write without doing that.

I actually do the same thing with music; I can compose music much better immediately after listening to a few tracks.

How many books do you have to sell to be able to live off of your writing and quit your day job? Not JK Rowling style, just make a decent living, barely above the poverty line.
Also, how much of an advance did you get for your first book?

>>2785537

Wait until you finish to find a publisher, not only does handing the publisher a finished copy of any work make you look good, it gives them exactly what they want, a copy of what they're going to distribute.

>>2785546

Not to discourage you but, in my experiences it does seem that way. Connections are fairly easy to get though, hell I met the mutual friend of my agent (the one who introduced us) in a Starbucks typing on the computer next to me.

>>2785549

Exactly how I am. On a personal note, having been diagnosed with clinical depression, I was prescribed a prescription for Cymbalta, which seems to almost block me from writing. On day's I don't take the pills I can write twenty or thirty pages of quality material, but when I'm on them, I can't put out a sentence worth anything.

Sup Mr. Author.

Firstly, what kind of book to you write? Does it include science-fiction?
Secondly, what suggestions do you have for a young dude who wants to write a lot of shit but just doesn't have any inspiration to do so? I just sit in front of my laptop, staring at the incomplete story for half an hour and then get up furiously.

>>2785561

Depends on the specifics of your contract with the publisher, for me I was able to write full time and quit my "day job" after publishing my second book, but I live a low life in a simple house in a rural area. For my first book I got a $1,000 advance, which I requested to pay off the last of my student loans, though my agent said I could have gotten more.

>>2785563
Don't take anti-depressants. They're bullshit. They're meant to be a temporary solution until you learn to deal with the issue; sadly, they get prescribed for long-term.

>>2785572

My first book was a stream-of-consciousness transgressive piece of fiction, similar to a work by Ellis or Palahniuk. My second book was science fiction as, with a degree in Physics, I've always been very interested in science fiction (specifically Stargate SG-1, nerd I know).

My suggestion to get you motivated, read! Nothing get's me writing faster than reading a good book by my favorite author, even if I've read the book a hundred times I always find myself writing my best quality works after reading something I enjoy.

What's your take on MFA's? Useful or not? Should I pay for one or use that money just to quit my job and write? Do you actually learn anything from it or is it just the time spent writing that makes you better?

>>2785583
are you pretending to be Michel Houellebecq because the teenage bikini pics are a nice touch

>>2785583

forgot pic...

>>2785585

Can you be more specific? I think your taking about a Master of Fine Arts but I just want to be sure.

Would you say that that the best way to improve one's own writing is simply read and write more?

>>2785596
yeah, MFA's in creative writing, they're really popular, sometimes expensive, sometimes you can get a schollarship.

>>2785606
Not OP, but in my experience, yes.

My favorite genre is fantasy romance, am I faggot?

OP I chuck P.

OP is a fag

>>2785609

Okay just wanted to make sure. Personally I don't have done, though publishers will ask and it will make getting published a bit easier. But if you don't have the money, lacking an MFA in Creative Writing will not mean you can't get published, just like having one won't guarantee you being published either.

>>2785606

Reading and writing as much as possible are essential in becoming a better writer. Personally, when I'm not watching television, which I only do to watch some sports, I'm reading or writing or reading on the net.

>>2785583
Thanks, a couple of more questions:

How do you understand a page/book is finished? Do you have that "feel" that makes you say "OK, that is a good page/book. I have done it."?

I'm a Jose Saramago addict. His work is like my bible. The problem is, when I read what I wrote down, it feels like I'm copying his style. Did you have similar troubles? How did you beat it if you had?

I'm very bad at describing areas. I just can't explain the place where the events are happening. I can't even describe a mountain range. Is this a unique problem or will it get solved by writing a lot?

>>2785623
Many thanks for the suggestion.

Secondly, although this has more to do with reading than writing, do you consider it a detriment to read multiple books simultaneously?

What the hell is a chapter?
When is it done?
What should I be encapsulating in each one?

Should I be setting up a goal and trying to hit that goal within each chapter?

How the hell do I draw out mundane events to being a page or two fucking long like professional writers? I'm way too concise.

What is your opinion on sitting down and copying someone else's work to get a feel for how a book should be written; the same way HTS did with Gatsby before writing the Rum Diary?

>>2785626

With my first book, I just had a feeling that the book could best be ended where I was at that time, though I could have gone on more. For my second, I planned out where I wanted to be at the ending and, once I got there, I stopped, though again I wanted to write more.

I had the same problem believe it or not. I was a huge fan of Hunter S. Thompson when I was younger, and everything I wrote always seemed to copy his style. To overcome this I took his style and the styles of a few others and made them into one to call my own. It's hard to have any type of style and not copy a previous author. Just know that your writing what you want to write and to hell with whose style it seems like your copying, because as long as the story is yours, your fine.

Try reading more authors, such as Fitzgerald or Follett, who describe areas in great detail, you'll find yourself picking up on they're description techniques and start using your own.

>>2785636

To copy from the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a chapter is, "a main division of a book." Though many authors use them differently. I use them for a change of scene, time, and narration, how you use them is unique to you. Usually I finish a chapter when I either can't think of any more material or I feel like the chapter should end there, i.e. not "drone on". What you put in a chapter can be anything you want, try not to follow the "English Teacher" guidelines when writing a story and try and branch out and "bend the rules".

>>2785637

I did the same with "Less Than Zero" by Ellis to get a feel for his stream-of-consciousness style. Even have the .pdf of my typed version on my laptop.

>>2785643
Thanks a lot man. Whoever you are.

>>2785651
Chapter person here. Thanks.

>>2785651
>I did the same with "Less Than Zero" by Ellis

How long did that take you?

>>2785635

Sorry I didn't see yours earlier. Personally I don't consider it a detriment at all. Currently I'm rereading "American Psycho" by Ellis, "Grendel" by John Gardner, and "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson.

>>2785454
>lurker here for several years.

/lit/ isn't THAT old, OP.

Holy shit OP, I applaud your taste in women. All of them are 9/10 or higher. Damn.

>>2785659

Few months of off-and-on typing. Wasn't exactly "devoted" to copying work for word.

Ran out of pictures by the way, only had a few on my hard drive.

>>2785673
>mfw americans clap at other mens taste in women.

>>2785676

Never mind, forgot I had another folder, disregard this last post, I am a faggot.

<< This one has a kind of ugly face but awesome titties.

>>2785680
>mfw american think this ho:
>>2785596
>to be 9/10

Might as well bump, still bored :l

Nothing?

The funny this is, if you had posted these on /s/, you would be banned rather quickly.

They are clearly jailbait.
Maybe 14 years old, who knows, maybe 12.

>>2785454
What do you write on? Be specific. Also what are your rituals?

Also how well read are you in the philosophy department?

May as well delete your thread before you get permabanned.
Probably no one is reporting it though.
Oh democratic enforcement.
It's like a jury where you are found guilty or innocent depending the jurors rather than the law.

>>2785454
How do you comunicate an epic battle or a war on a book, to make it feel the most exiting possible?

>>2785731
>Maybe 14 years old, who knows, maybe 12.

Nope.

>>2785731

Gee, does the big jailbaitgalleries.com icon at the bottom of them give it away? Why would I be banned? They're completely legal pictures of women who are above the age of consent.

>>2785734

Like I said earlier, I've written stream-of-consciousness and science-fiction books, with my latest one being a sequel to my first science-fiction novel. I also posted my rituals earlier in the thread.

I minored in Philosophy (useless I know), so I'm pretty well read, not to brag.

To appease the wishes of the first commenter I will not post any more pictures.

>>2785731
They're not even naked.

>>2785744

By focusing more on the actions and less on the dialogue, using it only when absolutely necessary. Descriptions of actions often speak louder than the dialogue of characters.

>>2785747
Ha, I was actually quite literal in my question. Do you write on paper? What kind with what kind of pen? On a computer? What kind? How? Rituals? Mannerism? Music? Everything!

>>2785505

What was the biggest obstacle you found in getting published, and how did you overcome it?

Just saying, some of the nude ones are bordering on CP.
All of which is automatically reported to FBI cyber crime.
I would be amused to see a headline, "Middling author arrested for CP" somewhere though.

That and this is a Blue/SFW board as well.

Feel free to ignore me, it's your life.

In case it isn't completely evident, we'll spell it out for you:

Do NOT post threads / images about "teens", "young girls", "jailbait", "questionable age", or anything that could be construed as advocating pornography involving minors.

This rule also applies to /b/. Don't take it there, don't even recommend that people post that shit there. We don't want it anywhere on this site.

>>2785760

lol, didn't think you wanted it to be THAT specific but alright.

I write first drafts on paper, then anything after on my laptop. I usually write with a Pilot G2-10 because the ink kind of flows out of the pen, allowing it to write more easily. I usually write during the day with the television in the background for something to listen to, but nothing too catchy like music so I don't focus solely on that.

nobody's buying it sunhawk

>>2785756
Irrelevant. Obviously you don't use /s/.
Pictures like these were everywhere until people were banned en masse and more. You won't find stuff like these on /s/ anymore. Go ahead and look.

That's all I have to say.

>>2785763

Before having an agent, not having an agent, lol. Usually without an agent you'll get rejected unless what your writing is spectacular which it usually isn't. Without a literary agent you really won't get your foot in the door, and since the agent will already be inside, he kind of opens the door for you. Makes it much easier, believe me.

Also, to appease the bitching trolls, I'll delete the pictures even though I know they are all one hundred percent legal.

>>2785774
How old are you?

How much do you write, on average, during a regular day?

How many words, roughly, do you think you've written in your career so far?

>>2785774

Well looks like I can't since the 4chan servers are being retarded, so either live with it or hide the thread. Don't care.

>>2785777

Twenty-seven.

>>2785778

Anywhere between one and five notebook pages of material.

Oh lord, I've published 148,000 words as of now, but I've written much, much more than that.

What's it like working with an editor? For some reason it seems like it would be either extremely debasing or the greatest experience of your life, or both.

How does your ephebophilia affect your writings?

Any tips for finding an agent? I know you found one via a personal connection, but I'm almost done with my first novel (have previously written and shelved dozens of short stories and a novella, only publishing credits are poems and translations) and am already getting anxious about the procedure and how to not waste time.

>>2785792

My editor wanted me to change a lot of my books before I published them. Some of them were warranted, others not, but unless you don't want to get published, you learn to live with the changes your editor wants to make. Usually they're nothing to big, or at least I've never had an editor want to change anything major in a book of mine.

>>2785805

I know this sounds obvious, but the internet really provides a great way to find an agent. agentquery.com is a good place to start.

What is highest sales rank any of your books have reached on Amazon?

ITT: Twilight fanfic writer who self-publishes on amazon.com shares his knowledge

>>2785818

To be very honest I don't really look because I don't want to get discouraged because, like I said earlier, they did well, but not as good as any writer hopes to do. I just checked my first one and it's highest sales rank was 437.

>>2785829
>it's
How can you be a proper writer without proper grammar?
Serious question.

>>2785829
at one time, you were the 437th most popular writer in the world

>>2785829
437 overall?
That is rather high, even for a peak.
Are you sure you don't mean something like #437 in fiction/subcategory/ subcategory/subcategory/subcategory
or you mean on the Kindle store only?

>>2785834

Like I said earlier, I'm using my laptop keyboard which I'm not used to, and I'm writing on the internet, where I tend to not write with perfect grammar. Even when I'm writing a book I don't use perfect grammar, just have the editor clean it up.

>>2785836

Yeah 437 overall, which I wasn't aware of until I looked a few minutes ago. Sales never seemed to scream "437th most popular book on a certain week" material but I guess it was.

I'm writing a SF book , did a lot of research , mainly because it hard/science-fiction.
What is the people's attitude towards such a genre , and is it a competitive market?And I need a goddamn publisher or someone who could help me.
Care to give me some suggestions OP?
Also , the point of writing "the book" as it is my first one , is not to become a successful writer , but more as a personal achievement.What do you suggest?

>>2785842
You do realize that that the overall goes into the millions and millions right?

Obviously I don't know the magnitudes of absolute numbers, but relatively speaking that would make you in the top 0.04% or so of top selling.

>>2785838
it's instead of its is dyslectic.

>>2785854

Well, being science-fiction, your going to attract a lot of nerds, so many people see sci-fi as a sort of nerdy genre. It's very competitive in certain sects, especially the "humans visiting other planets to find aliens there: sect, which has so many $2 clearance book burners that it should be illegal to write another one. As long as you stay away from that you should sell fairly well so long as you have a good story.

Writing as a personal achievement is always the best, this way if you don't sell you still accomplished your goal, great way to look at it :)

What I'm saying is, unless your novel sells for a couple of dollars at most, that's an obscenely high number. A lot of books on the front page, most recommend, summer hits and other promoted books and those by big name authors have lower.

So either you are lying, or you are far more than you letting on. So, double down or give up.

>>2785856

Just checked my second book and it's like 237,452 or something so yeah, I guess I did sell my first one pretty well. Never seen it talked about on here though.

>>2785866

437 on kindle, my bad my bad, didn't check the specifications, I was 437 overall on kindle sales.

>>2785860

It's a bit complicated but I'm gonna try and be very short.
Basically it's set within the SOlar System.No robots , no aliens , no hyper-space travelling.It's just far more technologically advanced than it is nowadays.But , I'm european , so I guess it's a dying project from the very beginning because writers here , are not so well guarded and helped.

>>2785866

And my book was on the Amazon front page for a week or so, it was a small advert but it was there. The only reason I even know that is because, of course, my mother sent me a screenshot in the mail *facepalm*.

>>2785876

Tell me some more. I don't want to discourage you or anything but I wanted to let you know that those space traveling sci-fi books are a dime a dozen.

>>2785883

I know that there are lots of books about space travelo and alien ancounter and stuff like that so I thought , hey , the lesser things you have , the harder and the better the book will be.So , give me a galaxy and I give you a saga , like Star Wars , Dune , Warhammer 40k.
Give me the Solar System and I come up with things that are even greater than those upper mentioned.It's like cooking a meal.It's good when you have lots of ingredients but it becomes confused.It's better when you have fewer ingredients because you must and you have to use everything at your disposal.

How do you get noticed by an agent? It's not obvious what to send them.

>>2785891

Send them whatever you think is your best writing. If you can't think of what's your best, send them both, they'll usually take the first one they grab and if they like it, read the other one.

>>2785890

To be very honest, I only used books from my college library as a resource, those and common knowledge that I had from studying Physics in college as well.

>>2785901
I've sent an into to a novel to many, but I gather without any history in some publication or it being short stories this is pointless. I'm just not sure where to start.

Do you use sex, violence, or generally arousing material as selling points to attract readers to your works as you have done with this thread?

>>2785905

So , anyways , could you give me some tips , about writing , and other things like?I would appreciate it very much.

>>2785909

Then you'll need a literary agent. I posted a link for agentquery.com earlier, good place to start if you don't have any connections.

>>2785912

What specifically are you having trouble with?

Are you the same cunt who made the thread over in /adv/?

>>2785922

Same as many I think , connections and tips.What do people like , what do they buy , are they willing to spend money on words written on paper , how come I write only when I feel it and cannot write everyday?