/wg/-Writing General

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/wg/-Writing General Anonymous Mon May 3 06:08:11 2021 No.18164958 [Reply] [Original]

Any progress on your novels?

Previous thread:>>18150645

For Prose:
>The Art of Fiction
>Story Genius: How to Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel (Before You Waste Three Years Writing 327 Pages That Go Nowhere)
>On Becoming A Novelist
>Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft
>How Fiction Works
>The Rhetoric of Fiction
>Steering the Craft
>On Writing, Borges

For Poetry:
>The Poetry Home Repair Manual
>Western Wind: An Introduction to Poetry
>This Craft of Verse, Borges

Related Material:
>What Editors Do
>A Student's Introduction to English Grammar
>Garner's Modern English Usage

Suggested books on storytelling:
>The Weekend Novelist
>Aristotle's Poetics
>Hero With a Thousand Faces
>Romance the Beat

Suggested books on getting your fucking work done you lazy piece of shit:
>Deep Work
>Atomic Habits

Traditional publishing
> Formatting manuscript
https://blog.reedsy.com/manuscript-format/
> Write a query
https://www.janefriedman.com/query-letters/
> Track your query
https://querytracker.net/

Other Resources
>General grammar/syntax/editing help
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/purdue_owl.html
> When/where/how should I write?
https://jamesclear.com/daily-routines-writers
> What software should I write with?
https://self-publishingschool.com/book-writing-software-best/
> Amazon Publishing to make that KDP monie
https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G200635650
> Be like Charles Dickens and write serially
https://www.royalroad.com/
> Basic overview of the Screenplay format
https://screenwriting.info/

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 06:10:40 2021 No.18164971 File: 82 KB, 655x509, fe6.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] Schoolwork has slowed down my writing and soon I need to talk to the lady at the unemployment office. Goodbye writing career.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 06:11:43 2021 No.18164975 File: 18 KB, 610x324, samwise_gamgee.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] If you write on more word, You'll be the furthest into this story you've ever been

Anonymous Mon May 3 07:22:04 2021 No.18165189

Is this a correct use of the comma?

Our sample of bond funds has statistically significant negative alpha using the CAPM and the Fama–French five-factor model, and non-statistically significant negative alpha for all other asset pricing models.

That is, should I have a comma here: "the Fama–French five-factor model, and non-statistically significant".

Thank you sirs.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 07:42:21 2021 No.18165245 www.dropbox.com/s/4f32mldhv12zgki/a.pdf?dl=0 Short 9 page screenplay final due tonight. This will be the last time I post, but I'm pretty disappointed that /crit/ merged with /wg/, zero feedback since all the good critiquers are driven away. Shame.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 07:43:56 2021 No.18165250 https://pastebin.com/s3Q8bWmg i wrote this while i was in a sick daze, dreaming of some girl taking care of me. i didnt want it to take a sexual turn so i never finished it because i got too erect

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 08:00:48 2021 No.18165295 >>18165250 You know, for a person who obviously doesn't know how to write dialogue your sentences were at least passable at a basic level. That's a plus in my book.

Anonymous Mon May 3 08:21:08 2021 No.18165379

>>18165245
Pardon me while I have a fucking mental breakdown.
Have you ever seen a screenplay? How does someone turning in a final even put in so low an amount of effort that they couldn't even be bothered to do this simple thing?
Or if you have, were you lobotomized as a hazing ritual? Did screenwriting 101 include strapping electrodes to your shaven skull and driving a thousand volts of current through your now mutilated brain? No? Then why am I seeing some novelized play-by-play nonsense instead of action and dialogue?

Also enlighten me here, where are the camera directions? How the fuck is anyone supposed to see how to frame a shot of your dogshit I, Robot romance facsimile? But don't fret, there's hope for you yet. If the person who failed to teach you so completely is at any fault, I'm sure he's so artistically challenged he won't be able to make the difference between Hitchcock and the back of a cereal box.

Have a good fucking day.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 08:36:25 2021 No.18165454 I love storytelling so much bros

Anonymous Mon May 3 08:37:34 2021 No.18165460

>>18165379
>where are the camera directions in a screenplay
Dude. Have YOU ever seen a screenplay? As I understand it that's the directors job, not the screenwriter. Go google "screenplay examples".
Now, calling my work an I, Robot romance facsimile isn't wrong, but you definitely sound like a pseud.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 08:39:47 2021 No.18165470 Any books on how to write humor and be funny?

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 08:41:32 2021 No.18165481 >>18165454 Another case of unrequited love. So sad.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 08:43:51 2021 No.18165494 >>18165460 >As I understand it that's the directors job You're wrong. What can I say, did you seriously still not take the effort to type "screenplay example" into google? I'm not wasting any more time on this.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 08:47:33 2021 No.18165513 Reposting cuz I wanna hear more thoughts: How do you guys judge what the appropriate length of a story should be? rn I'm caught between adding another story line to my short story and just cutting it down to essentials

Anonymous Mon May 3 08:47:45 2021 No.18165514

>>18165494
Sure man, I just googled it and found forrest gump's screenplay.
https://www.scriptslug.com/assets/uploads/scripts/forrest-gump-1994.pdf
No camera directions are ever explicitly stated, but a general sense of what's being focused on is easily implied from what is being discussed. Any other questions, or are you going to just try and flame on a topic you know nothing about?

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 08:49:13 2021 No.18165521 >>18165295 thanks i guess

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 08:50:45 2021 No.18165531 >>18164971 Nonsense. You always have time to write. It's whether you set aside that time or not that's up to you. It's literally the easiest, most accessible hobby out there.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 08:51:56 2021 No.18165536 >>18164975 I just deleted an entire passage

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 08:52:06 2021 No.18165537 >>18165521 i'm surprised you were spared the wraith of dialogue autist google dialogue tags and action beats, it'll help with your readability

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 08:52:36 2021 No.18165543 >>18165513 same way i judge when a loaf of bread is ready storytelling is all about rising action followed by falling action. If the bread hasn't risen yet, there needs to be more yeast. Also I don't know anything about baking.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 08:56:35 2021 No.18165572 >>18165543 FOOD ANALOGY But yeah it's all about feeling. There's no point in trying to quantify something that changes depending on the story.

Anonymous Mon May 3 08:59:04 2021 No.18165588

>>18165514
Don't listen to him. It wasn't that bad. A bit cliche with loads of similarities to I robot and Humans and all the other robot sci fi's but, overall, good. You started a story, built it up and finished it with a good ending that made me feel something. And that's more than I've been able to do for a while lad.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 09:00:34 2021 No.18165594 >>18165521 That made me cringe uncontrollably

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 09:03:32 2021 No.18165616 >>18165250 Adding to what others said, 'prey' seems too adversarial without previous indication of lust. Otherwise it's really good.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 09:06:53 2021 No.18165633 >>18164958 Have you guys ever published anything?

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 09:07:25 2021 No.18165636 >read good story >has a lot of potential >goes to shit and never recovers >decide to try to do it properly Anyone else's process went like this?

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 09:08:41 2021 No.18165645 >>18165636 You're describing the impetus for 99% of fanfiction.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 09:09:57 2021 No.18165648 File: 26 KB, 408x286, 830703.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>18165645 Is ASOIAF LOTR fanfiction? Genuine question.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 09:12:47 2021 No.18165662 Thinking of doing some Elder Scrolls or Harry Potter fanfiction. Yeah, that sort of fanfiction

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 09:14:03 2021 No.18165670 >>18165662 By volume only I'd have to guess gay sex. I hope I'm wrong.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 09:18:10 2021 No.18165694 File: 123 KB, 3840x2161, save-the-cat.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 09:19:15 2021 No.18165700 >>18165694 This seems restrictive and confusing more than helpful.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 09:19:53 2021 No.18165703 You all are festering, whimpering, loathsome bunch

Anonymous Mon May 3 09:20:08 2021 No.18165706
File: 421 KB, 600x389, 1618270907960.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]

>https://controlc.com/c37e757d
I only managed to get 150 or so words' progress onto what I'm more seriously working on, but I did write this little abomination. I really wish I hadn't but I did.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 09:21:21 2021 No.18165714 >>18165694 what is this seems bad

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 09:21:54 2021 No.18165718 >>18165714 It's every Hollywood movie of the last 20+ years

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 09:22:50 2021 No.18165723 >>18165250 get well soon

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 09:23:16 2021 No.18165727 >>18165670 You are.

Anonymous Mon May 3 09:28:52 2021 No.18165768

>>18165245
okay i looked at it. the characters are much better. wait a minute. if her emotions are not real then her 'love' is not real either, is it? surely the main guy knows this? anyway yeah saffron is much more fleshed out this time. good take on the drawing. that reminds me of the girl in ex machina. i actually felt some emotion this time. the dialogue with the chief is still weak.

Anonymous Mon May 3 09:31:58 2021 No.18165791

>>18165768
>if her emotions are not real then her 'love' is not real either, is it? surely the main guy knows this?
That's why I had the analogy with the drawing. Interpretations of the drawing are entirely in the viewer's head. Similarly, whatever Saffron was to him existed entirely in his head, but that doesn't invalidate those emotions. It's not as simple as her just being a machine, but she's definitely not a real human bean either.
And of course I've still got a good amount of work to do on it from here. I'm not happy with many places.

>>18165588
Thank you. The weird part is that the guy criticized me for my formatting, which just makes no sense.

Anonymous Mon May 3 09:41:10 2021 No.18165843

>>18165245
Did we go to the same /crit/?
Every time I went there it was full of highschool poetry and the number of actual crits doesn't seem to have changed much. /wg/ is a broader topic, so the threads have more posts in between crit requests, but it feels about the same I'd say.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 09:41:51 2021 No.18165847 >>18165189 You can use it like that but it reads better by taking the comma out entirely since the first clause is so long.

Anonymous Mon May 3 09:43:27 2021 No.18165861

There can be no more absolute waste of time than the attempt to prove, at the present day, that man, by mere exercise of will, can so impress his fellow, as to cast him into an abnormal condition, of which the phenomena resemble very closely those of death, or at least resemble them more nearly than they do the phenomena of any other normal condition within our cognizance; that, while in this state, the person so impressed employs only with effort, and then feebly, the external organs of sense, yet perceives, with keenly refined perception, and through channels supposed unknown, matters beyond the scope of the physical organs; that, moreover, his intellectual faculties are wonderfully exalted and invigorated; that his sympathies with the person so impressing him are profound; and, finally, that his susceptibility to the impression increases with its frequency, while, in the same proportion, the peculiar phenomena elicited are more extended and more pronounced.

Anonymous Mon May 3 09:54:27 2021 No.18165933
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Am I the only one here who maintains a folder of vaguely inspirational images? Whenever I'm at a loss for ideas I just scroll through my folder and I'm surprised at what I find.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 09:57:04 2021 No.18165954 File: 23 KB, 340x188, 478.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>18165933

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 09:57:12 2021 No.18165956 >>18165933 fuck yo that's a good idea. some images just stir something in you. can't believe that I haven't used that yet

Anonymous Mon May 3 09:58:02 2021 No.18165966

>>18165843
Well, for one /crit/ was specifically for /crit/ and had the critique to get critiqued rules that definitely resulted in more critiques being passed around.
There was a lot of retarded poetry but as far as I remember those just got 99% ignored. Meanwhile prose got a decent amount of feedback every time if you gave people critiques first.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 10:05:25 2021 No.18166021 File: 735 KB, 1280x1900, 1567306838115.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>18165954 Mien bruder

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 10:13:58 2021 No.18166062 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wM06z5lA74

Anonymous Mon May 3 10:15:36 2021 No.18166070

>>18164958
Wrote a short personal narrative for one of my masters classes and my professor really liked it. She said I should submit it somewhere and offered to have her novelist friend mentor me. I said I'd take her up on the offer.

Is there anywhere that takes personal essay submissions? Most things I've seen have been fiction orientated.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 10:18:15 2021 No.18166092 >>18165861 Please

Anonymous Mon May 3 10:45:44 2021 No.18166254

>reading/watching fiction
>plot hole comes up
>mind immediately races to tell me it doesn't make sense
>feel sense of superiority for noticing it
>reading my own story
>no plot holes come up
>mind keeps telling me "it's all good bro it's perfect stop thinking about it"

FUCK

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 10:48:15 2021 No.18166267 >>18165706 Can someone tell me if it reads authentically? It's a kind of George Floyd fan fiction.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 10:49:07 2021 No.18166271 >>18166254 This but also >reading/watching fiction >notice poor writing construction and faux drama >laugh at catching it, talk about it with my friends >open my own stories >think about the shit writing I just witnessed >start sweating

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 10:50:46 2021 No.18166280 >>18165531 But you can't write if you're working overtime for Mister Shylocksteinbergblom

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 10:53:54 2021 No.18166295 >>18166267 What the actual fuck did you just make me read?

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 10:56:23 2021 No.18166308 >>18166280 That's why you get a good career that isn't writing and make it your hobby.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 10:57:23 2021 No.18166315 >>18166295 Wish I had an answer for you

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 11:23:01 2021 No.18166468 I have repeatedly heard a simile I use doesn't make sense. but I like it. The character is watching these waves of dust and I describe them as approaching like a lobotomy.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 11:24:22 2021 No.18166477 >>18166468 What the fuck

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 11:25:49 2021 No.18166487 >>18166468 I think I get it but unless there's a good thematic/narrative reason for it you should can it

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 11:25:50 2021 No.18166489 >>18166254 what i do is that i leave my piece of shit story festering for about a month or two while i occupy my mind with not-writing. if i dont cringe after that one month its all good for now

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 11:32:32 2021 No.18166518 File: 151 KB, 1149x607, lobotomy-1.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>18166487 Agreed, thanks. >>18166477 pic related

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 11:36:05 2021 No.18166540 >>18166468 This post approached like a lobotomy It's your story, you can use whatever similes you feel like. I've heard dumber.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 11:38:40 2021 No.18166556 >>18166540 post the dumbest similes you've came across

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 11:46:14 2021 No.18166613 >>18166556 Waves of water approaching like an appendectomy.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 11:47:49 2021 No.18166625 >>18166613 Yeah that one is pretty dumb

Anonymous Mon May 3 11:55:01 2021 No.18166682

>>18166556
Fucking hell it's hard to remember since most of them are from critiquing literal highschooler's writing I come across because I help out at a summer camp for aspiring writers, so most of them are mundane similes like "The car was blue like a bluejay" and they leave my mind as quickly as they entered, leaving behind only the memory of how bad they were. The only one that really stands out in my head was one student who described a sewer or something similar as "A rushing cloaca." and when I asked he told me that cloaca meant opening in Latin and, very proudly, explained the cloaca maxima, the sewer system in Ancient Rome, and I'm like, "Great historical trivia, but do you know what it means in English?" and apparently he legitimately did not know and got embarrassed when I explained it to him.

Also I'm remembering some shit from one of the Jack Reacher novels I've been forced to read because my Dad loves Spy Thrillers and knows I like to read so he always sends me this shit, so of course I've got to read them because he always wants to discuss them at the next family gathering. Anyway, there was some part about his arm's muscles resembling a condom packed with nuts that's stayed with me, and considering it's stayed with me that long, I'm not even sure I can call it bad.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 12:01:47 2021 No.18166737 >>18166682 >Anyway, there was some part about his arm's muscles resembling a condom packed with nuts that's stayed with me, and considering it's stayed with me that long, I'm not even sure I can call it bad. Chuckled.

Anonymous Mon May 3 12:02:10 2021 No.18166740

>>18166682

How much good writing did you come across? I assume a camp for aspiring young writers mostly draws in mostly kids who plan to write the next hunger games or harry potter, but there must have been some talented ones too.

>muscles resembling a condom packed with nuts

This is brilliant. One of those that are so ridiculous that once they pop into your head, you can't leave them out.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 12:03:47 2021 No.18166753 >>18166267 I assume you are trolling, but in case you are serious and want an actual answer, no, it doesn't. It reads like a racist trying to make the inner voice of a black woman sounds as stupid as possible.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 12:07:32 2021 No.18166777 >>18166682 nice

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 12:08:34 2021 No.18166783 >>18166556 Socially maladjusted, anon was as effective at communicating as a writers first simile.

Anonymous Mon May 3 12:09:26 2021 No.18166790

I'm writing a novel where a guy sails to India from Britain in the 1870s, I need to figure out what type of ship would be most realistic for this
>commercial
>around 200 passengers at most in terms of capacity
>has space for leisure activities
>steam powered
anyone know any ship with a similar description?

Anonymous Mon May 3 12:20:58 2021 No.18166876

>>18166740
They're highschoolers, so it's important to tamp down your expectations and look for what's beyond the stilted grammar. Most of them are what you've described. It's obvious most of the girls are trying to imitate the style of their favorite female authors without any concern for "standard writing conventions" and actively ignore male authors. Also a lot of their short stories get strangely horny.
The boys are almost exclusively inspired by video games and tend to have read much less than the girls, considering most aren't even capable of copying an author. You get a lot of standard hero villain archetypes, lots of fights, lots of journeys and fantasy creatures or sci-fi "thrillers". Usually the boys that write more abstract or humorous stories like a doctor who turned into a cat or a man who's trapped in a room and forgets everything whenever he touches the doorknob, those are the types I end up pushing the most.
Also highschoolers in general are fucking weird nowadays. I've legitimately overheard some students discussing furry porn Discord channels with each other.

Anonymous Mon May 3 12:23:42 2021 No.18166896

>>18166790

I'm not sure you'll find long range ships that small by that time. Most steamship were much larger with well over a thousand passengers. After a quick look at the topic the closest I found is the SS President, which is partially sail and partially steam driven and is about the right size, but it's from 1940s.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 12:26:01 2021 No.18166908 >>18166753 >black people can't be dumb

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 12:31:34 2021 No.18166947 >>18166896 1840s

Anonymous Mon May 3 12:35:20 2021 No.18166979

>>18166876
>Usually the boys that write more abstract or humorous stories like a doctor who turned into a cat or a man who's trapped in a room and forgets everything whenever he touches the doorknob, those are the types I end up pushing the most.

Those are actually pretty interesting in light of the other stories. At least there's some creativity there and things to explore.

The horny stories ring a familiar bell. When I was in highschool, for the first two years we had a small group where we just showed each other stories we wrote and critiqued each other. It was mostly just telling each other that we liked the other's stories, because we didn't know what we were doing and I was trying to get in the girls' pants. All three girls wrote stories that often got really dirty after a few chapters, which I never understood. Things like a group of spies doing something, then the chapter ended with two people fucking out of the blue. I assume this only got weirder since then.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 12:35:24 2021 No.18166981 >>18166753 Thanks. I'll discard entirely your completely unfounded aspersions upon my character and assume that you are unhappy with how authentically stupid that black woman sounds.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 12:36:38 2021 No.18166987 >>18165706 All I can say is I regret being stupid enough to click this link.

Anonymous Mon May 3 12:38:17 2021 No.18167000

>>18166876
Sounds comfy, kind of, mentoring new authors who have no idea how to write good fiction. The boys paragraph makes me think about the shit I used to write in high school and I'm still just now breaking out of my genre writer phase and trying new stories. Do you have to be abrasive with your critiques or does suggestion work out?

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 12:47:31 2021 No.18167070 >>18166987 Is it really so offensive that nobody can even address the writing itself? Did I take a wrong turn and end up on Reddit?

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 12:54:24 2021 No.18167110 >>18167070 >>>18166740 It's not offensive just autistic. I don't want to read your weird RP

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 12:56:25 2021 No.18167127 >>18167110 It's not roleplaying... Is that the way you see everything written in first person?

Anonymous Mon May 3 12:59:26 2021 No.18167145

>>18167070

I regret reading that, but I'll take a crack at it.

It just doesn't feel authentic. The weird grammar and wording feels forced (and sometimes just not a good rendition of speech, not "I'm a guess" for example but "Imma guess", it comes from "I'm gonna". "You dig?" also feels out of place), you dwell too much on those expression compared to how you glide over the bits that seem important. The text is screaming that this comes from a dumb black woman, it's just too much.

I get what you are going for but it gets old very fast. Reminds me of Flowers for Algernon a bit, but the mistakes there were balanced out by the sentences being so simple that they were easy to follow. You can't seem to decide whether you want snappy sentences or ones that are too long.

There are also some minor issues, like why say George Floyd's full name three times? A nickname would actually make it feel authentic.

Anonymous Mon May 3 13:06:40 2021 No.18167195

>>18167145
Valid points, thanks. It was mainly an experiment in more esoteric voices and minds.
>sometimes just not a good rendition of speech, not "I'm a guess"
Believe it or not, that was an intentionally poor rendition of speech. In my head I was trying to evoke someone who is... trying to evoke their own speech patterns but from a deficit of knowledge/experience/whatever. I chose that carefully so I'm a little bummed it doesn't read with the degree of intentionality I was looking for. I don't know a better way to do that so maybe I'll give up on that particular technique, which I've been trying to use in other more serious writings. Same thing goes for the alternating choppy/verbose dynamic the sentence structure has. I really want to nail that dynamic down but I just don't see a way to make it work. Thanks again though, I appreciate the feedback.

Anonymous Mon May 3 13:16:09 2021 No.18167263

>>18167195

So like bone apple teeth. I get it, makes more sense that way. The variation in sentence length is something I'm not sold on. The snappier sentences would make more sense if you were transcribing speech, if this is just a person writing who's horrible at it, long sentences without punctuation, where everything is tied together with "and" feel more authentic. Those sentences feel better, still not pleasant to read but at least it feels more fitting.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 13:20:27 2021 No.18167301 So, should I read a bunch of guides and stuff like the ones in the OP or should i just wing it and write on feel/intuition alone?

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 13:22:56 2021 No.18167314 >>18167301 Write first, fix the form later.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 13:23:04 2021 No.18167316 >>18167301 depends on you if your an autist who lacks self confidence and drive then read self help meme books and then write a lot if you are capable of getting things done then write a lot

Anonymous Mon May 3 13:26:23 2021 No.18167338

>>18167195
>intentionally poor
This kind of response is my least favourite response to feedback. Regardless, have you seen the typing of people that speak like that? They usually go for the easiest way of rendering it ("imma guess" instead of "i'm a guess"). That's why it is most often seen like that and not the way you typed it. Uneducated people type like uneducated people, but yours is more like a caricature of uneducated. It's not like they don't know the alphabet or what words they are using.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 13:27:58 2021 No.18167350 >>18167301 If you're like all the high school dropouts here, then yes, read guides, read all of them. It may not make up for the lack of basic education, but at least you won't have to learn every little thing the hard way

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 13:29:15 2021 No.18167359 >>18167338 Literally this. Barely above caricature. Not worth reading at all

Anonymous Mon May 3 13:30:10 2021 No.18167367
File: 27 KB, 480x640, 1620018162216.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]

to the guy in the last thread who crit'd my work, thanks for reading it, its hard to post anything here with meaning due to the character limit but the punctuation recs are useful. It wasn't an eastern euro country, it was another planet, but it was a deep cut reference to eastern europe so I guess it worked.

Anonymous Mon May 3 13:32:16 2021 No.18167381

>>18167263
So this is a real question too. How do I get a reader to wonder why I did something like that instead of assuming I've made an error? Is this something I can even control? The piece might make even more sense when I say that Faulkner is one of my strongest influences. It also adds a layer of irony to anyone familiar with him, but that's unintentional and beside the point.
>>18167338
>This kind of response is my least favourite response to feedback
Yes, because it reeks of insecurity and ex post facto justification for thoughtless things. It sounds like an excuse. I've done the best I can to explain my thought process behind the decisions I made, but at the end of the day you're either going to believe me or you won't when I say it was intentional.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 13:32:38 2021 No.18167385 >>18167338 >i'm a guess holy shit

Anonymous Mon May 3 14:07:18 2021 No.18167620

>>18167381
I guess there's not much you can do other than stating it outright that someone is writing a memoir of sorts and she isn't good at writing, but that feels tacky. You just have to hope that they realize. Just watch out the actual words you are writing like this. "I'm a guess" doesn't make sense because some who is this bad at writing wouldn't write a more complex structure, they would far more likely write "Imma guess". If you want to do this, do it with more complex words that are simplified in writing rather than made harder to write. Rarely used words, expressions and foreign words also work better than common things.

Anonymous Mon May 3 14:16:59 2021 No.18167673

>>18167620
The feel I was going for was something more like "bad but trying" rather than just bad. I was imagining wanting to do the right thing but being tied down by both your lack of education and the vernacular of your culture. As I type that out it seems just ludicrously specific though and impossible for a reader to discern even if they wanted to give me the benefit of the doubt. At the same time, I could see extrapolations from that becoming their own kind of running theme with different instantiations --- not just "I'm a". I love playing with language but I've always struggled transmitting that sense of playfulness to a reader. Even though the solution is probably just "keep writing," this is still valuable, both in the feedback itself and in its capacity as a sounding board to cement my own thoughts. Cheers.

Anonymous Mon May 3 14:24:28 2021 No.18167722
File: 1.24 MB, 4000x2668, 1572905984760.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]

>>18167000
I'm just there to coach them, so I'm only really allowed to offer as much criticism as they want. I've had one of the kid's parents complain about me before, since I had to nerve to say that their bundle of joy's magnum opus wasn't very good. Some of them want as much criticism as I can give them, which I pretend to oblige and handle lightly, but if I turned it to full blast I doubt there would be many that would want to write again after that. Honestly I've been in these threads for a while and I'll occasionally get very savage with my criticism. It might be because I need to hold myself back so much.

I'd say the main thing highschoolers are lacking is an awareness of what a story *is*. They'll almost always have entire pages of content that could be removed with no effect on the story whatsoever. Characters walking around, spelling out the entire journey from A to B, pointless dialogue, etc etc—when a scene break would imply the same progression as 2k words in a big whopping zero. The main thing I try to point them towards is structure and to remove everything unnecessary. As far as I'm concerned, a mediocre book with lots of poorly-written action and scene changes is leaps ahead of a mediocre book with ten pages of lore dumps and "He went here and did this thing, followed by that, and then that, and then that."

Anonymous Mon May 3 14:52:22 2021 No.18167879

>>18167722
>As far as I'm concerned, a mediocre book with lots of poorly-written action and scene changes is leaps ahead of a mediocre book with ten pages of lore dumps and "He went here and did this thing, followed by that, and then that, and then that."
You're right about that. I think if there is any major travesty in the writing world, it's infodumps. They single handedly ruin every story they're in.
Kino picture. Makes me want to quit my job and be homeless in the mountains.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 15:12:14 2021 No.18168018 >>18165648 they're nothing alike as far as modern fantasy goes.

Anonymous Mon May 3 15:44:38 2021 No.18168234

>>18167722
>Characters walking around, spelling out the entire journey from A to B, pointless dialogue, etc etc—when a scene break would imply the same progression as 2k words in a big whopping zero.
I remember being in that phase. Makes me cringe out of my face to read my old stuff where they're all just walking around just for the sake of getting character from point A to point B.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 15:50:07 2021 No.18168270 >>18167722 >"He went here and did this thing, followed by that, and then that, and then that." And Cormac McCarthy shits all over your opinion

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 16:14:39 2021 No.18168455 >>18168270 He probably shits in a diaper at this point.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 16:15:35 2021 No.18168463 >>18168455 imagine the smell

Anonymous Mon May 3 16:56:40 2021 No.18168756

So I went and wrote a page of something. I intend it to be a relatively short story around 15-20 pages. I'm currently writing down some notes on what I want the story to include, characters, overall themes, etc. How should I go about sharing it here? Page-by-page? Wait until i have more pages so anons can see where it's going? Just write the whole thing and post it once I'm done?
Also, technical question, how critical are character names for you? I don't feel like giving the characters names, not out of laziness, more like they're not relevant to this story. It's gonna be written in first person so I'm thinking of just going with their relationship to the main character (i.e father, mother, best friend, etc). There's not gonna be a whole lot of them, so it shouldn't get too confusing.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 17:00:21 2021 No.18168777 >>18168270 >Cuckmac McLOLthy

Anonymous Mon May 3 17:06:05 2021 No.18168813

>>18168756
pastebin or the alternatives work if you don't want to reveal an account.
And character names don't really matter to me as long as they're distinctive enough to remember and don't stand out like a sore tooth. Also avoid hyphenated names, that shit drives me nuts. And remember that people use nicknames for ease of use, Wilbur becomes Will, etc...

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 17:26:38 2021 No.18168929 >>18168813 Alright, I'll post a pastebin or something when I gather some more material.

Anonymous Mon May 3 18:29:42 2021 No.18169277

>japanese authors online write literal garbage and delusional westerners translate it FOR FREE and think it's great literature
just be japanese and you can do literally anything and westerners will think it's the hottest shit
why is this a thing? how can you logically defend this? and then weebs have the gall to call it "webnovels" and act like it's a new genre or something like some literary breakthrough?

Anonymous Mon May 3 18:37:36 2021 No.18169315

I'm a patron of sorts for the boys who come into the city. They're just so scared when they first start out and are always looking for an in to the business, but there are so many and it's a tough world for even the best of us. Recently I met the cutest little thing named Aidan, he's from a suburb of DC and had just moved to the west coast with a few of his friends. He was working as a waiter at this new fusion place that I've been recommending to everyone, and he just had THE best smile, and if I'm being honest a tight little bottom as well.

All I had to say was, "Have you ever been interested in modelling?", and he was sitting down at my table getting glared at by his bitchy manager, who had the nerve to dress him down and get me a new waiter, like what a freaking Karen am I right? Anyway I've been showing him and sometimes his friends to a few parties and they were just getting eaten up by everyone, who doesn't like puppies after all.

Well they invite me to the place that they've been staying at and I was like, "Of course!", flash forward to me sitting cross-legged in this smelly hovel with 30 20 somethings, and a few more "distinguished" types, listening to some dumpy looking dyke's experiment with what poetry can be tortured into. I was bored to tears and got up to loudly announce that I needed to powder my nose. Guess they didn't know how to host someone like myself because they didn't make way and I had to pick my way though the little crowd. A tranny dressed like a 13 year old boy glared at me like I was the one ruining the atmosphere and not the girl abusing them all with slam poetics.

I was in a much better mood when I'd done my business and had come up with a great idea for where we could have an afterparty, but Aidan was mortified and had the saddest look on his face. Eventually I managed to coax him back into the car and we partook in some refreshments, after mine started to take effect I turned to him in the passenger seat and looked down to my lap, I hoped I wasn't going to have to spell it out. He reached over, and get this, grabbed it my little guy through the pants, I didn't have the heart to... instruct him, but it was over quick enough. I'd have to teach him better manners later.

I would have, but the next thing I knew he'd OD'ed at Eebe's house and he either went home to DC or died in the hospital. So many of them just don't have what it takes, it breaks my heart.

Anonymous Mon May 3 18:44:27 2021 No.18169344

>>18169315
I mean it's disgusting homo shit but the biggest issue is that it comes off as narcissistic but not what a narcissist would say.
I don't even know if it would sell to the diseased crowd of sodomites but you could always turn every character into androgynous anthropomorphic animals and pawn it off to furries.

Anonymous Mon May 3 18:45:52 2021 No.18169350

>>18169315
Great first sentence, everything else is a bit too "quirky", growing from "stop being so quirky" in the first paragraph to "please shut the fuck up" once you start using sex euphenisms.
Could be real good though.

>>18169344
You think Lolita only sells to pedophiles? If he's writing a story about an interesting personality in a fucked up field, it will sell. I'm interested, but the execution is off.

Anonymous Mon May 3 19:00:58 2021 No.18169426

>>18169350
Yeah I've never spent a lot of time in LA or really talked to any gay predators so I have no basis for a character except second hand descriptions. I got inspired after seeing an awful looking LA communal living space that someone posted yesterday, but am not that interested in developing a story beyond what I wrote.

Anonymous Mon May 3 19:07:44 2021 No.18169455

>>18169344
Can you elaborate on what you mean by "what a narcissist would say"? I'm genuinely curious because I didn't initially mean to write an explicitly narcissistic character (I mean it comes with the territory of someone who works in entertainment), like what dialogue is particularly jarring to you?

Anonymous Mon May 3 19:17:52 2021 No.18169520

>>18169455
The character's motivations are all over the place. Is it lust? Power? Image? Also it's in the first person but talking to the reader, and somehow it manages to tell me less about the character's mindset than if I were reading 3rd person. Is there any reason for that choice?

Also the writer bleeds through to the character too much. I can pick out the parts where you put down your own thoughts instead of the character's easily. It's jarring.

Anonymous Mon May 3 19:21:48 2021 No.18169551
File: 39 KB, 500x459, 1611353455287.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]

>>18169277
Serials have been around since at least the 17th-18th centuries. There's literally nothing new about it. They have merely as a medium for the internet. Stop trying to stir mundane shit.

Anonymous Mon May 3 19:26:10 2021 No.18169579

>>18169520
I hate to pull the ole, "I barely even tried, while wearing a blindfold, and it was actually my little brother writing with a steering wheel", but I wrote it in about 10 minutes. The choice would probably be I'm not that good at writing and should've edited before posting for a little bit of validation.

Which parts are you picking out as my thoughts? I feel like I'm being psychoanalyzed and I kinda like

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 19:26:31 2021 No.18169581 >>18169551 >on literature board >can't read anon, that's not the fucking point and you made that clear with your post

Anonymous Mon May 3 19:29:36 2021 No.18169594

>>18169579
>Which parts are you picking out as my thoughts
>>18169315
>like what a freaking Karen am I right?
and
>listening to some dumpy looking dyke's experiment with what poetry can be tortured into

And I have no intention of analyzing you, it was just that obvious.

Anonymous Mon May 3 19:37:23 2021 No.18169622

>>18169581
What you call said "webnovel"= another term for serials, which have existed for hundreds of years. I literally do not know anybody ever claim "webnovels" are a literary breakthrough or a new "genre" whatever the hell that even means. Maybe you need to rephrase your original message since it just sounds like mindless rambling because it feels like you're making two statements that have nothing to do with the other.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 19:39:08 2021 No.18169627 >>18169622 Jesus fucking Christ, stop taking the fucking bait you retard. How hard is that?

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 19:47:18 2021 No.18169670 >>18169627 You think somebody would do such a heinous thing? Simply go on the internet and dangle bait in front of starving fish?

Anonymous Mon May 3 19:48:56 2021 No.18169680

>>18169594
You picked out two of the things I've actually heard people say though. The commentary on slam poetry is a lit guy thing to think though, and it is out of place, but I've known gay men who are pretty hostile toward women.

Thank you for responding though, I think I know what you mean

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 20:56:12 2021 No.18170007 I just spent 15 minutes trying to look up how to do dynamic word count of a page in Scriviner instead of just the whole project before realizing that it's literally just on the bottom of the page. So going pretty well, I'd say.

Anonymous Mon May 3 21:14:02 2021 No.18170115

>>18165861
I normally enjoy purple prose but this is egregiously dense (not in a good way). As someone who has a tendency to overcomplicate his writing as well, I think muddling up words like this is more often than not an attempt to appear sophisticated than to communicate something. I am sure you have something to say, but right now it is hidden under a mountain of masturbatory verbiage. Trust me, I’ve been there—keep the complexity and writerly ambition, but try to manage it better.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 21:30:29 2021 No.18170215 File: 27 KB, 601x640, 17641765.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >write a paragraph, get stumped >pick up my phone >say no, put it down >write a paragraph, get stumped >reach for my phone

Anonymous Mon May 3 21:39:03 2021 No.18170268

>>18164958
1/3

Nancy was driving northbound when she reached the four-way stop. Erin was driving eastbound when she arrived. Steve was headed south when he came to a halt at the line. And the fourth man who braked at the four-way was Wesley, heading west.

"After you!" cried Nancy to Erin, out her open window.

"You first!" Erin replied. "I insist!"

"It's cold where I'm headed!" joked Nancy. "Up north! I'm happy to take my time getting there."

"Tell me about it!" shouted Erin. "I'm fleeing the sun, heading east. The farther I go, the sooner it sets for me. Perfectly happy to take my time. To cling to the daylight a touch longer. . .How about you, sir! Please. Go ahead."

Erin was smiling and waving Steve forward. Steve smiled and waved back.

"That's a really cool car!" he shouted.

"Thanks!" replied Erin.

"Red's great colour for it!"

"You think? I was actually headed to get a new paint job."

"What colour?" asked Steve.

"Blue!"

"An awesome choice! It'll look great! I wouldn't want to make you late for that, though. Please. Go on ahead. I'll wait."

"I left early," shouted Erin. "I wanted to have a nice, leisurely drive. No hurry for me! No chance I'll be late. Go on ahead. I insist!"

Steve didn't feel comfortable taking advantage when the other three vehicles had clearly stopped at the same time as his. But the women seemed inflexible in their open-hearted generosity. He saw adamance in their amicable chatter, deeply-rooted principles behind their friendly smiles. They would never budge before him. That left only the chap going westbound.

"Sir!" cried Steve out his window. "Please. Go on ahead! We insist!"

Wesley had a woman with him in the passenger seat. He had to put his car in park, unbuckle, and crawl on to her lap to get to the open passenger window.

"What was that, friend?" asked Wesley, poking his head out the window.

"I said you can go on ahead!"

"After you!" shouted Wesley.

"But you've got two in the car," shouted Steve. "The rest of us are singles! It's only right you go first."

Wesley whispered something to his wife. She gurgled a response. She looked terribly unwell.

"She insists you go first! Please! Avail yourself of the open road and drive! Nothing would please us more!"

"Hello, ma'am!" shouted Steve, waving at Wesley's wife. "You're a very kind woman! With a very polite husband!"

She gurgled something unintelligible. She was drooling. Her face was puffy and turning redder by the moment.

"She thanks you for the compliment!" cried Wesley. "She can't speak much at the moment. She's having a severe allergic reaction! Shellfish! She's going into anaphylactic shock!"

Anonymous Mon May 3 21:40:05 2021 No.18170271

>>18170268
2/3
All three drivers had been listening intently. Eavesdropping was impolite, of course, when the speakers were unaware of being overheard. But it hardly counted as eavesdropping when the interlocutors were shouting their conversations at one another.

This new revelation harrowed Nancy, Erin and Steve with terrible anxiety. They had all been eager to let Wesley pass from the start, because his car contained two people. But now that they knew his wife was actively drowning in her own saliva as her throat closed shut, they were positively obdurate.

"Please!" cried Steve. "You must go first! The hospital is only a block away from here. Due west!"

"Yes!" cried Wesley. "That's where we were headed! We left as soon as the fit began! But we insist. You must go first."

Steve could not tell if Wesley's wife were nodding in agreement with her husband, or if she were nodding in and out of consciousness. The woman's face was now red as Erin's car, red as a Canadian maple leaf in autumn.

"Sir!" cried Nancy. "Sir! Over here!"

Wesley scrambled off his dying wife's lap and retook his seat on the driver's side.

"Hello there!" shouted Wesley, waving cordially.

"I hope you're not offended with me having overheard about your wife's condition!"

"Not at all!" replied Wesley. "I shouted it, after all. If anything, I hope you're not offended by me shamelessly blabbing about my personal business at the top of my lungs!"

"Not in the slightest," called Nancy. "But, sir, you must drive on! You must save your wife! The three of us will wait our turns! Emergencies take precedence!"

"Oh, but we insist that you go first!" cried Wesley. "We won't move an inch til you do."

Nancy was tearing a napkin to shreds in her lap. Erin was chewing the inside of her lip so hard it bled. Steve was pulling his hair.

"She's dying!" cried Wesley. "My wife is dying! She needs urgent medical attention! But we can't get to the hospital without passing this intersection. And we can't pass this intersection until the three of you claim your right to drive through. Please! Go on ahead! My dying wife and I insist!"

The woman was scratching at Wesley's face now, pulling at his shirt, gurgling groans, convulsing.

"I can't in good conscience go before you!" shouted Nancy.

"With that decision, you're killing her!" shouted Wesley, beaming a charming, friendly smile. "You're killing my wife!"

"I can't go first!" cried Nancy. "None of us can! It has to be you!"

"You're killing my wife!"

Anonymous Mon May 3 21:41:07 2021 No.18170279

>>18170271
3/3
The napkin in Nancy's lap was confetti. Erin's lip was an open wound. Steve was close to tearing a literal chunk of hair from his head. But none would budge.

The woman's convulsions had slowed, though her arm, hanging out the passenger window, still occasionally jerked and twitched.

"There are two of you!" shouted Steve. "Please! The hospital is right there! It's so close you can see it!"

Wesley scrambled back onto his wife's lap. Their car was cramped and he was a large man, so he had squeeze and wrestle his way on. He poked his head out the passenger window.

"What was that, sir?" asked Wesley.

"It's only right you go first!" shouted Steve. "There are two of you!"

Wesley popped his head back inside and whispered to his wife. He brought his ear close to her lips, listening. He lifted his head back and looked at her. He pressed his two fingers against her neck, below her jaw. Then he popped his head back out the window once more.

"No, sir!" sobbed Wesley, beaming that charming smile, tears of genuine despair streaming down his cheeks. "Only one of us now! Only me in the car! Please, go on ahead! I insist!"

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 21:43:10 2021 No.18170286 >>18170268 First off, pastebin please. Second off, waaaaaaay too much dialogue. This is basically a play. Poor writers always fall back on dialogue to pad word count since it's way easier to write than narration.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 21:43:27 2021 No.18170287 >>18170268 >>18170271 I don't think this is appropriate for a written story, didn't feel like it, more like a YouTube skit or something straight out of Bojack Horseman. Made me smile though.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 21:47:20 2021 No.18170302 >>18170286 >>18170287 just a silly gag!

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 21:50:03 2021 No.18170317 >>18170268 >>18170271 >>18170279 What is this intended for?

Anonymous Mon May 3 21:52:18 2021 No.18170324

>>18170115
It's Edgar Allan Poe. I stumbled on it while reading his oeuvre and was reminded of some of the more egregious pseud excerpts. Thought /wg/ would appreciate
I'm 99% sure he was pseud shit posting with this short story. If finn anon still lurks I would suggest he reads Mesmerics

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 21:54:36 2021 No.18170339 >>18170317 haha nothing just something I wrote in ten minutes and thought was funny. would probably work best as a filmed short. The Canadian Standoff.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 21:55:36 2021 No.18170349 >>18170324 true redpill is that edgar allen poe is dogshit

Anonymous Mon May 3 22:05:31 2021 No.18170411

>>18170349
Yeah I was gonna read his oeuvre since /wg/ recommended his work for studying descriptive scenes but not only does he not often do descriptive scenes, he does them poorly. I'm maybe 30~ short stories in and have general impression that most of his stories being schizo 'my diary' tier contemporary shit posts. His prose is an american ape of victorian aesthetics that don't hold up to more skilled victorian era writers
Not as good as I remember him desu senpai. Maybe his poetry is better but I'm not really at the point where I feel ready to immerse myself in poetry so fuck 'em, I'm moving on

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 22:09:12 2021 No.18170434 File: 78 KB, 678x623, 1605057623181.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>18170286 >waaaaaaay too much dialogue.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 22:12:28 2021 No.18170451 >>18170411 I mean, do you want to write like a person from the early 1800's? He teaches you that very well, but most people opt for 1940~ish as the cutoff where writing is "modern" enough to be acceptable in the current day.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 22:13:23 2021 No.18170458 >>18170434 If all you want to do is write people talking back and forth, write a radio play or a TV pilot. Who knows? Maybe you'll be the next Quentin Tarantino!

Anonymous Mon May 3 22:16:03 2021 No.18170478

>>18170458
I think it can work out if he just added some descriptions of body languages to set speaker's tones. And combine a lot of these one-sentence paragraphs combing dialogue/actions. But that's just my stylistic take on it. But he admitted to being whimsical so whatever.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 22:21:06 2021 No.18170510 >>18170349 True redpill is you only get a pass for tryharding after you're dead

Anonymous Mon May 3 22:21:52 2021 No.18170515

>>18170451
It's pretty brainlet tier to treat reading practices as a direct link to copying a style. There's plenty to be gained from reading without trying to absorb their prose style 1 to 1. If you only read contemporaries then you'll end up with shallow sensibilities
That being said, maybe Poe is good and I'm just being filtered by his victorian prose but I doubt it. His stories are meandering and try to be passionate but his stilted language makes it all come across so hollow. The maelstrom is pre' gud, though I wouldn't recommend it to anyone and doubt I'll come back to reread it
Honestly he's at his best when he's shit posting. I wish I better understood the cultural climate of the time so I could better appreciate it

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 22:27:31 2021 No.18170547 >>18170478 doesn't change the fact that it's suuuuuuuper bad writing

Anonymous Mon May 3 22:29:36 2021 No.18170560

>>18170434
> man writes something on writing general, clearly expecting people to read what he wrote and comment about it
> different people posting literally seconds after each other do the same exact remark
> author takes it fine, it's just a gag, everyone is cool
> ha...ha no, how could you comment about what's wrong in this!!!

Anonymous Mon May 3 22:32:36 2021 No.18170580

>>18170434
>I post 600 words of almost pure dialogue
>/wg/ smiles
>you post 600~ words of dialogue
>/wg/ frowns
Amateur /crit/ givers should stick to addressing the symptom and not the cause. They probably disliked your writing because of some quality they can't identify and not because it has lots of dialogue
That said I don't like what you wrote and won't be putting in the effort to try to identify what's wrong and critique it

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 22:33:24 2021 No.18170582 >>18170547 I think it was mildly amusing if a little frustrating to read because everyone was dramatically stubborn. What's wrong with it exactly?

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 22:34:21 2021 No.18170590 >>18170215 Nevermind lads just finished my chapter

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 22:37:11 2021 No.18170597 >>18170582 if you can't see the obvious you're never gunna make it

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 22:37:18 2021 No.18170598 >>18170590 We’re not your blog, fuck off.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 22:37:43 2021 No.18170600 >>18170598 You don't know what that means.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 22:39:24 2021 No.18170604 File: 70 KB, 500x500, 756cb9c7a7f1449c52cad9a484d254fe3f2bf0506cbad834e2011a255df813b6.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>18170597 Okay hyper pseud, whatever you say.

Anonymous Mon May 3 22:40:21 2021 No.18170608

It's been 3 weeks since I stopped writing. I'm not sure how long it even makes sense to keep this going for

I want to be interested in writing again, but I feel like I'm missing some crucial factors that make the writing process rewarding. I'm certainly lacking inspiration, but I've also seen way too many people insult my writing and ideas. I've seen time and time again that the world doesn't reward the things I think are brilliant, and gradually I've stopped rewarding myself for them too.

This feels like a sick attempt at existence. I'm not sure what I need to do to bring it to life again

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 22:40:28 2021 No.18170609 >>18170598 progress posts are better than crab posts any day it's not like progress posts ever exceed a density where it'd be obtrusive to discussion, since no one here writes

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 22:43:35 2021 No.18170627 >>18170608 >needs external validation bro your problem has nothing to do with your writing it's all in you, just get it out and onto paper. don't be so cucked as to need to write to someone else's satisfaction just write

Anonymous Mon May 3 22:43:56 2021 No.18170632

>>18170608
That's a pretty boring story, I'd jazz it up with a gimmick. Maybe start adding footnotes, or endnotes, or asides, or make it an interrogation, or a documentary. Every time you run out of steam writing one way just completely shift gears and keep shifting until you get traction again (I don't drive stick)

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 22:46:19 2021 No.18170639 >>18170627 >Communicating anything for reasons other than external validation This man doesn't realize he lives in a society

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 22:48:00 2021 No.18170651 >>18170608 Not your blog, fuck off.

Anonymous Mon May 3 22:49:38 2021 No.18170661

>>18170609
>progress posts are better than crab posts any day
>it's not like progress posts ever exceed a density where it'd be obtrusive to discussion,
true
>since no one here writes
Wrong. It's just most that do aren't willing to share their works because of paranoia about being affiliated with 4chang. Then a good deal of others are pesudintellecticals on their high-horses who have nothing better to do than harsly critize and project. There's probably a decent amount of people who don't mind sharing their work but probably don't see any reason to make progress posts, myself included.

Anonymous Mon May 3 22:50:16 2021 No.18170665

>>18170608
stop hanging out on /lit/ mate. crabs in a bucket. many here are aspiring genius/failed authors who want to make you feels as hopeless and insecure about your writing as they do about theirs. find a different more supportive community and keep honing your craft and fleshing your ideas out.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 22:50:36 2021 No.18170668 >>18170627 >72 hour work >3 reblogs yeah right

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 22:50:40 2021 No.18170669 I've gone several days without someone angrily replying, "Not your blog, fuck off." to my post, lads. Feeling pretty good.

Anonymous Mon May 3 22:51:43 2021 No.18170675

>>18170627
a problem being "all in my head" doesn't mean I can simply make it vanish. My problem is that I'm not able to enjoy the process of creating. When I come up with a new idea I go "ok, okay. that's neat" and then go back to whatever it was I was doing. I don't have ideas sticking around in my head. I'm not spending hours a day obsessing over them like I used to. When I say I don't feel rewarded, I mean that when I have an idea it just doesn't excite me. I don't keep thinking about it. I just acknowledge it, then go back to being bored and hungry for mental stimulation

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 22:53:02 2021 No.18170682 >>18170675 God, you sound like a pathetic little shit. Just write and get off /lit/.

Anonymous Mon May 3 22:56:52 2021 No.18170705

>>18170675
>a problem being "all in my head" doesn't mean I can simply make it vanish
you'd be surprised how easy it can be with time
>My problem is that I'm not able to enjoy the process of creating
shit sucks sometimes, tough it or don't. passion is a meme the miserable old tell the naive young

wallow in your own bitch juice or own up. we can all make it but if you want to rot away into a soup that can only stew on the couch and commute to work then you should just leave rather than stink up the room
if you want to stick around then chin up and keep writing. I read 90% of what's posted here even if I don't reply

Anonymous Mon May 3 22:58:16 2021 No.18170711

>>18170632
Maybe that's what DFW did with IJ. That's a pretty good idea.
I'll say that I was running out of ideas to put into my current book so I started writing every new chapter in a different type of genre and it's worked wonders for my inspiration. So far I've hit absurd comedy, noir, romance, cosmic horror, and I plan on getting maximalist absurdity, erotica, and sports fiction in before the end.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 23:00:07 2021 No.18170718 >>18170661 It's comfy to post and share. I used to think the scared anons were schizos but since seeing my stories pop up in other threads I've become a believer Anything you post here will end up on someones hard drive

Anonymous Mon May 3 23:03:45 2021 No.18170728

>>18170718
What other threads, might I ask? I think it'd be pretty flattering but also a bit weird if anons were posting my stuff in other places. I already post my stuff publicly on some serial platforms, so it'd be a little like exposure if it ever happened to me.

Anonymous Mon May 3 23:06:45 2021 No.18170740

>>18170711
Hopefully you'll reach TFW DFW status

I was thinking more like just plopping a 4chan thread where you post your work and get shit on right into your book, or switch to how you've simulated the feeling of having friends by referring to podcasters by their first names while talking to your family, or fan-fiction you've written for something you are way too old to still be enjoying. That's mostly because I'm trash though and don't read anything but wiki entries for Dark Souls

Anonymous Mon May 3 23:07:31 2021 No.18170744

>>18170728
The poetry thread and the flash fiction general. I've been posting here for awhile and I don't usually check the rest of /lit/ since the board is a complete dumpster fire, but now that I've looked past the curtain I'm all paranoid that everything I've posted here has been saved
Bothers me because I've posted some stuff I'm kind of proud of. Some of which is pretty original and people found interesting for its originality

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 23:09:24 2021 No.18170750 >>18170740 >don't read anything but wiki entries for Dark Souls based and anime pilled will make it you get over your shame of boyish joy pseuds will shit on you for having fun, fuck em and use it as fuel

Anonymous Mon May 3 23:25:50 2021 No.18170824

>>18165470
It can be learned but not taught. A good starting point would be "yes, and" meaning that good humor (or, at least, banter) typically builds upon the previous statement, escalating the previous idea until it becomes absurdly unrealistic. What's important is that you not be too limited in this concept, in the sense that you need not literally say "yes, and" and the "add-on" need not refer to the literal concept you are discussing.

A good basic example. I was staying at a friend's house and he offered me a purple blanket.
>"Hey anon, I got you a blanket. Purple's your favorite color, right?"
>"No, my favorite color is pink."
Pretty obvious how that one works. He teasingly suggests that I like feminine colors (I am incredibly masculine, so this suggestion is inherently absurd), I jokingly negate the concept that I like purple, priming my friend to believe that I am rejecting his assertion that I like feminine colors and then I forward the notion that I actually prefer the *most* feminine of colors. I might also have reacted with extreme mock-rage, suggesting (as a joke) that I am so insecure about my masculinity (I am not) that even a joking suggestion to the contrary would make me panic (that would never happen).

A more abstract example from my time in basic training. A drill sergeant asked a private a trick question, for which either response might have warranted punishment.
>"Private, do you love me?"
>"Drill Sergeant! Do you not see the way my eyes light up when you enter the room?"
The private built upon the absurd notion that a man could love an authority figure who's entire job is to inflict stress upon him. Rather than search for a word stronger than love, the private instead began shouting tender words of affection. Heterosexual men make jokes like this all the time. It doesn't mean anything.

This concept comes completely full circle in the form of the anti-joke. One expects the joker to build upon some absurd situation, and the most absurd thing you can do in that situation is to make a completely straight-forward answer. A good example from when I stayed at my friend's house.
>Gonna take a quick shower. Care to join me, anon?
>Yes.
Didn't see that coming, did you? A platonic buddy shower can be a tense situation, but when you're in a time crunch, you do what needs to be done. You can lighten that tension with a couple jokes. >What would our wives think, if they saw us now? >They can see us, haha, I have a hidden camera in the shampoo bottle.
>Yeah, well let me just cram that up my ass. Save me some money on my next colonoscopy. Haha.
>Haha, what is that? Your tenth colonoscopy this year?
>Oh yeah, I totally love putting things in my ass.
>I got something for you right here!
>Wouldn't even feel that.
Get it??

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 23:30:27 2021 No.18170841 >>18167722 >"He went here and did this thing, followed by that, and then that, and then that." Isn't that the epitome of your advice to remove everything unnecessary? Point A to point B is the epitome of that style. No flair, no fluff, no soul.

Anonymous Mon May 3 23:35:34 2021 No.18170866

>>18170841
No that was meant to convey meaningless meandering of characters and extremely literal explanations of mundane motions like "He walked over to the table. He grabbed the salt shaker. He shook some salt onto his potatoes, then put it back. He began to eat." It's something beginner writers tend to do a lot instead of removing the whole section entirely or condensing it into something more interesting, but I can understand the confusion.

Anonymous Mon May 3 23:37:30 2021 No.18170877

>>18170824
Articulate and insightful. This method of viewing things as positive/negative space is pretty effective for most things
>>18165470
If you define positive space as the expected and negative space as the unexpected you get a very common and effective framework for considering humor. You can make laughs by manipulating this framework. Subversion is just the movement from positive to negative space

Of course this is only one kind of humor. Humor is pretty absurd and if you try to define it you lose a lot of what makes things funny
Just immerse yourself and build intuition

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 23:37:35 2021 No.18170878 I was thinking about this idea I had for a story, but then I got really interested in the character's backstory and got an idea for a story set before the original one. Which should I write first? The prequel or the original story?

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 23:39:12 2021 No.18170886 >>18165470 Look up Manzai comedy routines.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 23:40:23 2021 No.18170892 >>18170878 Jesus christ, just write, why are you asking strangers online for this shit.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 23:41:42 2021 No.18170900 >>18170892 Because I have decision paralysis and I always end up with muddled half-baked stories because I can't fucking commit.

Anonymous Mon May 3 23:41:46 2021 No.18170901

>>18170841
Not him, but very often this takes the form of rambling intros wherein a main character's incredibly mundane morning routine is described in loving detail. I think this comes from not knowing exactly where your story begins and from copying TV/movies, where this type of thing can be done in a few seconds.

Alternately, he may be referring to long travelogues in a story which is about something other than traveling. As if the writer doesn't fully trust the reader to fill in the blanks, and they'll be left gaping in confusion if a character is at their house one page and then at The Capital the next. So instead they count the cobblestones all the way, trading flaccid banter about the cost of bread.

And then, of course, there is the Cormac McCarthy method. "He steered his horse into the yard and dismounted his horse and handed the reins to the stableboy and looked at the innkeeper. I need a room, one night. Some tough hombres are tracking my trail, see to it I get early notice if they pass through. The innkeeper nodded and spit tobacco juice on the ground and wiped his mouth with his sleeve and then shrugged."
I hate the pacing in his books. Important things happen too fast, minor events take forever. For an amateur author, it is reckless to attempt this.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 3 23:43:16 2021 No.18170912 >>18170900 Just write you piece of shit. Stop being such a indecisive little bitch.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 00:01:45 2021 No.18171017 >>18170912 >Just write you piece of shit. I tried that! I've had years of failure to show for it.

Anonymous Tue May 4 00:17:04 2021 No.18171101

Be warned I've forgotten how to properly punctuate

Small office, no windows, plaster on cinderblock walls, overhead lighting, half turned off. Let's examine the clerks just before they go home: Two older, male, senior, one more senior, moving slow, avoiding family; One younger male, junior, wants to go home, wants to walk out with subordinate soon; One younger female, most junior, wants to go home alone. Just as the young clerk is about to announce that he and his subordinate should probably head out, in walks most senior, oldest, smiling, family lives elsewhere, office is family. Hits the light switch that kept things mercifully dim. Let there be light.
"What's everyone doing today?" Starts playing with things on a desk, oil dropper, moron magnet.
Baby voice, "I dunno." Young man thinks to himself, damn she's hot. Second senior thinks, wonder what my wife does all day? He shouldn't ask her but he does later. 3rd senior leans back in his chair and gets ready for story time.
"We get all the memos sent out? Any helmet fires need putting out before quitting time?" Looks to the young man, "Got a date?", before he can answer, "What's his name?" All around chuckling. What a ribbing.
Standing in the center of the room turning from side to side to address his full audience, "You remember how my wife is running for state legislature?" No one remembers. Senior 2 askes if most senior can draw a clock, more laughing, everyone knows their parts and lines. This is the end of the day play, but male junior wants to leave despite the story being ongoing, addresses most junior, "Think it's time to head out?", response with a touch of vocal fry, "I'm listening to Sam's story." Defeated he lingers by the door not able to find a comfortable way to lean on anything. She sits on a desk close to most senior and says nothing else.
"When I shook his hand I just knew, because you get to a point where you just get a feeling about these things and I said to him-", Senior 3 answers his phone and tucks into a corner to talk to his wife. Daughter at the hospital, doesn't seem serious, but he might not be able to go to work the next day. Supposed to have died 15 years ago, 20 surgeries ago, smarter than he is, does she deserve better?
"-and he looked at me like I'd just farted in his cocktail, but sure enough he got caught up in a scandal about an affair just this week. You really do just get a feel for these kinds of things from just a look in their eyes and a handshake." What did he think of the any of them from a handshake and a look in the eyes? Young man leaves, most junior stays a little longer, concerned father gets off the phone and logs back in to check for an email. Senior 2 gets up says his goodbyes and drives home to ask his wife what she does all day and doesn't have sex. Young man also doesn't have sex and instead lies in bed without turning his apartments lights on, he cooks fried rice for dinner and eats alone in silence.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 00:17:32 2021 No.18171106 File: 34 KB, 510x346, 48xyncpp9wo61.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>18170824 So humor is all about being a homosexual

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 00:26:40 2021 No.18171150 >>18171106 it s not about onegaine ?

Anonymous Tue May 4 00:28:30 2021 No.18171157
File: 557 KB, 932x1306, 1604578955393.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]

Hello poetrychads, what's the best way to format a poem?
>title case, caps, or sentence case for the title
>poet name after the title or at the end of the poem
>double spaced paragraph breaks or less

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 00:29:10 2021 No.18171159 >>18171157 How about you actually post on the poetry thread instead of here >>18141677

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 01:27:55 2021 No.18171368 File: 18 KB, 500x300, pepe.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] I just realized I write too much dialoug.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 01:30:40 2021 No.18171378 >>18171368 No such thing. Baffles me that people even say this.

Anonymous Tue May 4 01:40:50 2021 No.18171411

Last year I decided I would finally write a novel. I finished the 100k rough draft in October. Been working on editing it since then by reading through with my best friend once a week. It's quite polished now but probably still a turd in terms of narrative/structure. Still I hired a beta reader to read the first 40k words and I'm afraid of the feedback I'll get. I don't want to keep working on this book forever. Even if there's still a lot of problems I'll probably say fuck it, publish and get to work on the next one.

I plan to try doing heavy preparation on the next one. This one I just jumped in and went discovery mode.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 01:41:24 2021 No.18171416 >>18171368 are you this guy? >>18170268

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 01:42:36 2021 No.18171419 >>18171411 Tell us how it goes. Half a year for editing seems like a long time.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 01:42:45 2021 No.18171422 >>18171416 No, but the response to that post made me realize it.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 01:43:01 2021 No.18171424 >>18171368 There is such a thing as infodumps, not sure about too much dialogue though

Anonymous Tue May 4 01:44:28 2021 No.18171428

>>18171419

I think the main reason is because my friend and I only met once a week and we would be lucky to get through a chapter. We're about to finally get to the end and it's been about 6 months. I don't regret it though, I've learned so fucking much about writing it's incredible. I would say my manuscript has changed at least 40% from the original rough draft.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 01:46:11 2021 No.18171433 >>18171422 people love reading dialogue. I read shakespeare's plays more than I read anything else. Don't let grouchy /lit/ homos who don't even write stress you out. just keep doing your thing.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 01:47:48 2021 No.18171437 >>18171368 The problem with writing too much dialogue is it becomes more like a play. You're also likely to fall into white room syndrome as the dialogue goes on.

Anonymous Tue May 4 01:48:17 2021 No.18171441

>>18171424
You can easily fall into the mistake of having people word their every thought. Not even motormouth gossip maniacs do that, they just talk about inane shit all day. In daily life conversation is pretty banal, the goal in dialogue is to confer meaning through that banality.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 01:51:41 2021 No.18171449 >>18171437 >white room syndrome I like to describe little character actions during the dialogue. Isn't that enough avoid it?

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 01:52:12 2021 No.18171454 >>18171437 >white room syndrome I hate how you people just grab some term and then begin to think exclusively in terms of that term.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 01:53:05 2021 No.18171457 >>18171449 No, it fucking isn't. Jesus Christ, how retarded can you fucking be?

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 01:55:42 2021 No.18171469 >>18171457 tell that to the bardolators for whom a single word explaining where the characters speak is enough, and has been for centuries

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 01:57:16 2021 No.18171473 >>18171457 you don't read lmao self help articles on how to write don't count

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 01:57:23 2021 No.18171474 >>18171469 Someone should write an essay on White Room Syndrome in Shakespeare so people would stop putting that HACK on a fucking pedestal

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 01:58:29 2021 No.18171481 >>18171454 I love to describe new places so this never becomes an issue for me but yeah people tend to overthink this particular mistake. But at the very least you should have an image in your head of the surroundings when you're writing.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 01:58:41 2021 No.18171484 >>18171457 Why not?

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 02:00:24 2021 No.18171489 >>18171474 you should be locked in a padded WHITE ROOM for your obsession with a concept about which no one cares except you and hack writers who write about writing novels instead of actually writing them

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 02:02:42 2021 No.18171502 >>18171489 Anon I was being sarcastic, please calm down and consider why someone would refer to Shakespeare as a hack.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 02:04:12 2021 No.18171505 >>18171502 hehe fair I thought it was bait not sarcasm and I quite enjoy taking the bait for bantz

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 02:13:17 2021 No.18171546 >>18171505 No wonder this general is going to shit when we have retards like you shitting it up for something as stupid as bantz.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 02:14:50 2021 No.18171552 >>18171546 post your writing then faggot.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 02:22:31 2021 No.18171583 >>18171552 He’s right you know. You shouldn’t shit up the thread.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 02:24:39 2021 No.18171591 >>18171583 FUCK YOU! Christ. Surrounded by fucking mongoloids. What do you know about talent? About the generation of concepts or poetry? Zero.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 02:28:47 2021 No.18171611 >>18171591 This is just getting pathetic at this point, anon. Just stop.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 02:29:47 2021 No.18171612 >>18171611 You know nothing about anything. I'll stop when I please or never.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 02:32:11 2021 No.18171617 >>18171612 >I'll stop when I please or never. Welp, rip /wg/ then.

Anonymous Tue May 4 02:38:25 2021 No.18171632

Why is "sentimental" viewed as a negative?

I've seen this complaint made about stories a number of times and I don't understand why. Can someone give me an example of something like this for me to go check out? Preferably a short story already online so I can get a grasp faster.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 02:54:25 2021 No.18171678 >>18171632 haha what

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 02:57:06 2021 No.18171683 >>18171632 it's when a writer tries to tug on your heartstrings shamelessly to illicit certain emotions instead of remaining faithful to honest and authentic storytelling/characterizations

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 02:58:42 2021 No.18171687 >>18171683 That I understand. I guess my mind wouldn't have used that word. Fair enough. Thanks, bud.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 03:18:13 2021 No.18171733 >>18171687 What would would you have used if not sentimental?

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 03:21:03 2021 No.18171744 >>18171687 I also didn't realize sentimental meant excessive and shallow emotion I thought it just meant of having sentiment (emotional attachment) Language is such a meme

Anonymous Tue May 4 03:23:42 2021 No.18171751
File: 2.26 MB, 540x390, original.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]

Beginning to wonder if I can achieve more success getting published unconventionally than going the conventional route.

I don't even mean self-publishing. I wonder if I should serialize the first book in my series and put it up on Substack. I have a semi-decent social media presence, and some of the people who follow me are actually pretty interesting and have really compelling connections. If THEY got eyes on my story, they might share it with their similarly connected friends, and the awareness of my story could snowball significantly.

I wonder if that wouldn't ultimately be more productive for me than trying to get an agent, and then that agent sending my novel to conventional publishers, even big ones like Penguin.

Because what I want is to get as many eyes on my story as possible. I know it's good. I've had short stories and poems published and praised before, and I have received very positive feedback on the story to everyone I have shown it to. I know that this story will flourish if given a chance. What I'm left with is the question of how BEST to give it a chance? I don't necessarily care about a lot of money up-front. An advance from a publisher, that sort of thing. What I care about is as many people reading it as possible. Maybe going a very unconventional route is the best way to do that, especially because I do have a certain amount of social media presence.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 03:27:36 2021 No.18171764 >>18171751 Post it on Royal road. Or on multiple sites for the most exposure. Don’t limit yourself to one site.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 03:30:48 2021 No.18171774 >>18171751 post it here rn i wanna read

Anonymous Tue May 4 03:31:21 2021 No.18171775

>>18171687
>>18171632

I think what they mean to say is "corny" or "contrived"...I do the same thing. I'm a sensitive guy and I try to have tearjerking moments in my writing and *I* think it's very sweet/emotional/touching, but I imagine that's because I wrote it and I'm a narcissistic piece of shit. I've only shared my writing with one person and when we got to these parts he didn't seem affected (tbf he is kind of emotionally numb) but his response was that I need to "earn" those moments.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 03:34:41 2021 No.18171788 >>18171774 >>18171751 Don't do it, there are likely thief anons in the thread

Anonymous Tue May 4 03:35:53 2021 No.18171792
File: 1.07 MB, 2500x1471, 1614214159783.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]

>>18171764
That's a good point. I'd definitely want to expand where it's found.

I guess my really wild, really extreme dream is that it catches fire and becomes some huge meme that tons of people read. No publishing company ever touches it, but everyone in the world is reading it anyway, and it becomes culturally powerful.

That's probably what I would love more than anything else. That's how you live forever. And I dream of creating great art that endures the centuries.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 03:36:48 2021 No.18171795 >>18171792 you're a little basket of red flags gl anon but fuck you preemptively

Anonymous Tue May 4 03:37:18 2021 No.18171799

>>18171788
it's not an NFT. he's talking about posting it to social media for max visibility. who the fuck is going to "steal" it and what would that even mean? I just want to read. I know a lot of /lit/ has good taste but I have no idea what the decent writers here actually write like. The crit threads are usually a half-baked paragraph.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 03:42:56 2021 No.18171811 >>18171788 >thinking your writing is good enough for someone to bother stealing An optimist, I see

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 03:56:52 2021 No.18171842 >>18171811 I wouldn't suggest anyone post things here if they're afraid of someone stealing them them. There's actual people who cross-thread copy-paste stuff on this board so yes I only post snippets and writing exercises.

Anonymous Tue May 4 04:03:35 2021 No.18171873

>>18171799
My thing has always been that I want to be associated with 4chan, but only somewhat later. I'm happy to be known, some day, as someone who has spent more than a decade on 4chan. But only later, when I'm better known as a writer first.

So I'm a bit hesitant to post samples of anything I write here. I've sometimes posted screenshots of my writing here, as well as my poetry. But even with these, I'm hesitant.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 04:05:16 2021 No.18171878 >>18171873 nixox86839@ffuqzt.com email it to me at a throwaway email. traceless. you can postpone your coming out party and I can still read your work of genius

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 04:16:05 2021 No.18171909 >>18171878 You know what? Sure. I'll take your offer.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 04:20:32 2021 No.18171920 >>18171909 dope

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 04:30:34 2021 No.18171963 >>18171909 received it. is that an email you regularly access? would you like feedback after I eventually read it or just happy to send it around?

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 04:54:08 2021 No.18172056 >>18171751 >Substack Isn't that website only for newsletters?

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 04:57:46 2021 No.18172073 >>18171873 What theme/genre is it?

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 05:00:13 2021 No.18172084 >>18172073 Alternate history.

Anonymous Tue May 4 05:01:15 2021 No.18172088

>>18171963
I use it somewhat regularly, yes.

As for feedback, that's up to you. If you really hate it, let me know. If you really like it, also let me know. If you have certain things about it that stand out, let me know. You don't have to send me feedback, but if you do, I'd definitely take it to heart.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 05:01:30 2021 No.18172090 >>18172056 No. I have a series on there about a white Christian boy who gallops around on his flying magical pony, protecting local businesses from roving bands of feral n-words by swinging his machete at them. It's a riot.

Anonymous Tue May 4 05:03:46 2021 No.18172095

>>18172073
It's a little hard to describe. Ostensibly it is science fiction. However, what I would say is that it is sci-fi that takes place in an overtly Catholic universe. So it is sci-fi, but God Himself exists and is real, and very Christian things exert themselves into the story, in the form of miracles and similar things. Also, there is heavy involvement of metaphysics.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 05:04:08 2021 No.18172097 >>18172084 Cool, i guess we’ll all be suspicious when the next alternate history book blows up. Good luck! And fuck you animeposter etc etc.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 05:06:22 2021 No.18172101 >>18172097 Thank you, but why are you hating on me for being an anime lover?

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 05:09:37 2021 No.18172114 >>18172101 It’s the new thing in these threads you know, don’t take it personally. >animetranny gtfo vs >fuck off butthurt pseud/normie Etc. It’s just the zeitgeist these days.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 05:12:23 2021 No.18172121 >>18171751 >some of the people who follow me are actually pretty interesting and have really compelling connections what you need to do is get the president of the united states to tweet about your story

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 05:15:36 2021 No.18172132 >>18172090 would def read. brony bashes monkey menace

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 05:32:19 2021 No.18172186 >>18172090 Link it if its true.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 05:34:45 2021 No.18172195 >>18172186 I'm not ready for my brony serials to be linked with 4chan. not til they're well-established

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 05:35:37 2021 No.18172200 >>18172195 Just link it you fag.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 05:46:45 2021 No.18172252 I have to ask, but at what point does a story becomes unbelievable for the reader to suspend their belief?

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 05:47:46 2021 No.18172258 >>18172252 with respect to what aspect of a story?

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 05:48:48 2021 No.18172261 >>18172258 I supposed I should have been more clearer: but the characters, the setting or motives?

Anonymous Tue May 4 05:57:12 2021 No.18172295

>>18172261
It's a matter of staying within what is likely given your starting conditions. Your world can have talking gorilla-fish with feathers of fire if you make it a world that can accommodate such creatures from the beginning. Whereas "Great Expectations" probably couldn't have one.
As far as character goes, even that is flexible and there are no hard and fast rules. Basically, you have to move their arcs along a course of development that makes sense ON SOME LEVEL. One of my favourite stories is Kafka's "The Judgement." The character development of the father is completely unrealistic by realist standards--yet it is incredibly effective, because the change follows a kind of poetical/psychological/philosophical logic. As far as more normal character development/motives go, understand that if you're going to have a character change, you have to show why that change is probable and makes sense given what they were before. IDK. People change all the time, and some quite drastically. But in fiction you have to help the reader understand why that change makes sense and is the kind of change a real human being might undergo.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 05:59:10 2021 No.18172309 >>18172295 Great Expectations did have robot-monkeys and the Genesis Device

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 06:07:29 2021 No.18172346 I would like to reassure anyone in this thread who fears they have made a grave and terrible mistake tonight. You need not fear. The joke was a touch cruel but the joker is not. Your secrets are safe with me.

Anonymous Tue May 4 06:36:01 2021 No.18172466
File: 680 KB, 800x800, __yorigami_shion_and_yorigami_jo_on_touhou_drawn_by_ninniku_ninnniku105__953d1a14515269b46cd6c87b2c9eb0f9.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]

>One of the motives for a character is too keep her incestuous relationship with her younger brother a secret and discreet.
>Her interaction with her younger brother screams nothing but incestuous when in public.
Fucking hell, I genuinely hate myself for only trying to find cop-outs and not ways to amend it. Does anyone have any tips or any advice?

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 06:37:54 2021 No.18172477 >>18172295 Thanks, that was actually really helpful advice.

Anonymous Tue May 4 06:39:38 2021 No.18172485

>>18172466
No idea how far along you are and how necessary certain elements are to the plot/story. But I'd guess you need to choose: either change the public scenes or--and this is makes for a way more interesting story--cut the reveal out entirely. Make the reader suspect their relationship is a little more than strictly familial, and maybe even hint at it, but never explicitly reveal they're fucking.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 07:02:08 2021 No.18172582 >>18172295 embrace whimsy

Anonymous Tue May 4 07:03:30 2021 No.18172590

>>18172485
>No idea how far along you are and how necessary certain elements are to the plot/story
Got the outline done and I wrote a rough draft , heavy emphasis for rough, for the important events. Other than that, I'm about to write it. Just wanted to hammer out a few things before I start.

>But I'd guess you need to choose: either change the public scenes or--and this is makes for a way more interesting story--cut the reveal out entirely. Make the reader suspect their relationship is a little more than strictly familial, and maybe even hint at it, but never explicitly reveal they're fucking.
The story, for the most part, is written from one point of view, with the exceptions being for the interludes in order to expand on the story. So, the interactions and subsequently, the relationship between the siblings are filtered though that P.O.V. And not to mention, the relationship isn't all that consensual for the younger brother.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 07:18:34 2021 No.18172667 >>18172582 ? explain

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 07:23:08 2021 No.18172697 >>18172667 There's nothing to explain, anon.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 07:28:04 2021 No.18172723 >>18172466 >>18172590 Tell me, how receptive are people finding out about incest in the stories they’re reading? I always assume they were against it.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 07:29:44 2021 No.18172731 >>18172723 GoT is the most popular show on TV and it had lots of incest

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 07:32:15 2021 No.18172749 >>18172731 That’s because it’s a medieval society. That anon is writing a story set in the modern age.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 07:35:33 2021 No.18172766 >>18172749 Well in my Japanese animes...

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 07:39:33 2021 No.18172782 >>18172749 i don't see how the time period makes it any less hot

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 07:42:53 2021 No.18172802 >>18172723 The whole incest isn't even that much of a deal, its literally a backdrop for one (major) character's motive and that's it. Not much emphasis is put on it, other than the implication of the character's behavior.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 07:45:55 2021 No.18172819 >>18172802 Ah, my misunderstanding, never mind then.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 08:33:43 2021 No.18173076 >>18172802 I guess I have it easy, in my story nobody knows the two characters are even related (well except for them).

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 08:38:07 2021 No.18173098 >>18173076 I mean, I can probably have it easy if I rewrote it as well, but I really don't want to do that.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 08:49:37 2021 No.18173157 >>18172782 Anon, you should get out more.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 08:54:50 2021 No.18173186 >>18173157 Looks like I have to write my story in a YA manner. Don’t know how Inshould feel about that, but I’m rather relieved. I was becoming increasingly depressed in my inability to write my story in the way I wanted.

Anonymous Tue May 4 08:57:10 2021 No.18173197

In the grand schemes of things, I think I’ll rather publish my story in the form of a web novel. I’m not that interested in getting publish and this was nothing more than a hobby. But I have to ask, why do so many authors take down their stories and publish them on Amazon? Can’t they do both?

Anonymous Tue May 4 09:01:07 2021 No.18173217

>>18173197
>But I have to ask, why do so many authors take down their stories and publish them on Amazon? Can’t they do both?
Amazon has this weird has policy that if you want to be publish by them, they have to have sole ownership of the story. I never really understood why many web serial authors do it, they would earn more via patreon.

Anonymous Tue May 4 09:08:04 2021 No.18173256

>>18173217
>I never really understood why many web serial authors do it, they would earn more via patreon.
This so fucking much. It’s fucking stupid at this point. You got authors who haven’t written anything since the end of their web novel and are still making bank, while the fucking idiots who take down their story are now obscure and forgotten.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 09:10:37 2021 No.18173269 >>18173217 That's only if you sign up for the KDP select program, otherwise you can publish it elsewhere too.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 09:11:42 2021 No.18173272 >>18173269 Doesn't change my opinion, why earn less via amazon when you can earn more via patreon?

Anonymous Tue May 4 09:19:54 2021 No.18173311
File: 422 KB, 760x2048, 8 tips for screenwriters.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]

is there an overlap between how one would write for a screenplay/film and a book?
as far as telling a story is concerned, surely the fundamentals are the same?
it seems like a character wanting something and then having an obstacle that stops them from getting it is the basis for any good story
pic related

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 09:20:52 2021 No.18173315 I spend all my days trying to think of captivating premises

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 09:21:49 2021 No.18173323 >>18173315 What a waste of time, you should spend it writing instead.

Anonymous Tue May 4 09:23:51 2021 No.18173330

>>18173311
A book is the final product, a screenplay is written to be adapted to a different medium. It's product vs tool.
Obviously a good story is a good story, as seen in the many book adaptations.
>it seems like a character wanting something and then having an obstacle that stops them from getting it is the basis for any good story
That's really narrow a description, so much that you might misunderstand it, hence it becoming useless. From experience, it's much harder to get rid of obstacles convincingly. They come up naturally in the course of the story. You end up jumping from "how do I deal with this" to "how do I deal with that", without spending any effort imagining obstacles.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 09:43:26 2021 No.18173424 >>18173315 I spend my time looking at Half-Life analysis videos and lamenting how I'll never be able to make anything that engages people on that level

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 09:43:52 2021 No.18173426 >>18173424 you should spend it writing instead.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 09:45:47 2021 No.18173432 File: 108 KB, 900x600, Chimp grin.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>18173426 Writing what?

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 09:50:29 2021 No.18173453 How does a brainlet me get into traditional publishing. How and where do i approach a publisher. How do i write a best-selling YA series

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 09:51:20 2021 No.18173455 >>18173453 Use google and find out.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 09:56:46 2021 No.18173480 File: 26 KB, 331x499, fw.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] thoughts on this for a total beginner to writing?

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 09:58:27 2021 No.18173485 >>18173480 >From Where the Process of Writing Fiction You Dream Hmm stupid name for a book.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 10:05:13 2021 No.18173525 >>18173480 Why don't you read it and find out, or read the reviews?

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 10:09:54 2021 No.18173543 >>18165847 Shouldn't there be a comma there BECAUSE the first clause is so long?

Anonymous Tue May 4 10:10:12 2021 No.18173546

>>18173217
That's only if you take part in the KDP program or whatever, where they do some special promoting for your book. If you set it to global access so they distribute to other retailers, you don't have to take it down anywhere. It's just stupidity

Anonymous Tue May 4 10:11:23 2021 No.18173557
File: 2.03 MB, 1280x1280, freedom.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]

What is your opinion of self-indulgent power fantasies?

I've found myself thinking about one a fair bit lately and managed to write a crude set-up of a story around it. It'll never see the light of day, but I almost feel like the story itself has some merit if I could just think of a way to frame it correctly. The idea goes as follows:
>A race of hyper-pacifist aliens encounters a race of hyper-aggressive aliens
>The concept of war and killing are so foreign to the aliens they are unable to defend themselves effectively
>Realising they are facing extinction, they abduct a single member of the human race (a minor species within their realm)
>They hand this human the sum total of their knowledge and technology and ask only that he saves them
>The human goes on to commit total genocide against the aggressors
>Realising what they have done, the pacifists choose racial suicide
>Now alone, but armed with technology beyond imagination, the human returns to Earth...

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 10:11:38 2021 No.18173559 >>18173546 Does that shit even help? I genuinely feel it would be better if the authors leave their stories on their website.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 10:14:54 2021 No.18173587 >>18173557 Wow did he teach them crop rotation too? It honestly sounds awful, and I actually like the 40k-verse.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 10:18:30 2021 No.18173625 >>18173587 I know it's awful. I'm asking about power fantasies and you expected quality?

Anonymous Tue May 4 10:30:08 2021 No.18173688

>>18173557
writing aliens is tough, but if you made them and their setting vivid and cool enough to the point the reader really likes them, and really wants them to survive the aggressors then the read would be engaged.

Then if you make the human character interesting enough and the action/war scenes palatable you will have a good bridge and climax.

Then the big ending with seemingly cathartic total defeat of the aggressors, tragic racial death of the cool aliens we like, and the uncertain fate of Earth at the hands of this character would make a satisfying ending.

You should try to write some fish out of water scenes with this human and aliens and see if you can build the world up with the characters.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 10:30:13 2021 No.18173689 >>18164958 >>18170434 >>18170604 >>18171106 >>18171751 >>18172466 Fucking animefags manga isnt literature. Writing manga isnt literature. There is /a/ and /co/ for your picture books.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 10:30:49 2021 No.18173696 >>18173689 Oh god, it’s the pseud again.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 10:34:37 2021 No.18173727 >>18173557 So, like this story? https://sites.google.com/site/worldofserina/

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 10:38:18 2021 No.18173762 >>18173727 I remember reading that story, I really admire the author’s dedication.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 10:41:49 2021 No.18173777 >>18173762 speculative zoology is a really underappreciated genre, I really wish it got more love by authors.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 10:43:42 2021 No.18173785 >>18173689 I found out that if i write while envisioning how the scene would look drawn in manga format my creativity gets a significant boost

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 10:44:08 2021 No.18173789 >>18173785 Ignore him, his kind tends to shit up the thread.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 10:45:50 2021 No.18173798 >>18173777 You really need a really great understanding of biology to make a plausible story.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 10:47:19 2021 No.18173803 >>18173785 How? I really want to do it myself, but Incan understand how it would help in my writing?

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 10:47:56 2021 No.18173809 New thread >>18173808

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 10:48:27 2021 No.18173811 >>18167350 I'm a high school dropout myself and I just want to say fuck you. When I was twelve I scored higher than 98% of graduating seniors on the SAT. The fuck would I need a high school diploma for?

Anonymous Tue May 4 10:54:40 2021 No.18173842

>>18173803
>How?
It kinda started happening once i realized for some reason i was always trying to picture real people acting out the stuff that i was writing, and it was actually causing me some difficulties to imagine the scene properly. I guess i subconsciously kept some sort of division between /a/ stuff and "other" literature or whatever you wanna call it.
At the end of the day writing is writing no matter the format, so once i removed that division it started happening naturally and i became able to imagine everything more vividly.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 10:56:39 2021 No.18173854 >>18173842 I see, so how do I become an anime had?

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 11:01:28 2021 No.18173880 >>18173854 Maybe read some manga with cool art or engaging panelling? Stuff like Chainsaw man, Kusuriya no Hitorigoto, Houkago Insomnia, Sousou no Frieren, Vagabond/REAL

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 11:09:15 2021 No.18173912 >>18173811 >SAT waow

Anonymous Tue May 4 12:16:18 2021 No.18174348

>>18164958
Yeah! I've been working on a novel for two years now. I wrote a 50k one when I was a kid, but this is a proper one. It'll be done in a couple months. I know it won't be as good as what I make down the line, but I'm pretty chuffed and excited.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 4 13:01:34 2021 No.18174584 >>18171775 >need to "earn" those moments. this

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/lit/ - Literature