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/lit/ - Literature

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3365836 No.3365836 [Reply] [Original]

Does anyone have some suggestions to get started writing? Not a guide on how to go about becoming a writer, but how to motivate yourself to spend an evening writing. Once I get started, I have no problem writing. Getting in the mood is the hard part. I don't have any friends to handcuff me to my desk.

For example, does reading get you in the mood to write? Good tea? A really good idea that just popped into your head?

Are there any little routines you go through to get your brain in the right state of mind? Like writing about what happened in your day?

I haven't seen a thread like this, and I can't be the only one who needs a bit of motivation to start writing.


Also, pic unrelated.

(And for anyone who remembers the trainkid threads, I ended up not going to Memphis/Louisiana on account of me realizing the only person I drink with in Memphis is the one getting married and will probably be too busy to hang out with me at his wedding, and the girl I was visiting got some job teaching English to Elementary students in Mexico. So I just turned back around after Carrboro)

>> No.3365863

spend at least two hours w/o the internet beforehand. watch a movie or something. then start writing and write all night. entertain yourself by rewriting parts for better and better prose

>> No.3365864

Oh, to clarify, I'm not looking for things to write about. Unless it's some short little brain exercise.

I'm just wondering if there's any little tricks you people learned in college that I'm missing out on.

>> No.3365871

>>3365863

This makes a lot of sense. Every time I try to write right after being online, I get frustrated. Maybe because my brain is still in "ADHD interwebz" mode. Thanks.

>> No.3365907

Well I'm off to watch some movie I downloaded ages ago.

Thanks, to the one guy who bumped.

>> No.3365980

>>3365907
you're very welcome

>> No.3365997

Hey man, I'm an aspiring writer myself. To induce a writing mood I usually listen to some of my favorite tunes, and the moods they produce usually influence my writing. Also, I'll pick up a good book, turn to a random page, get a feel of the author's style and just attempt to emulate it. I'm starting to create my own writing style by doing this, and it may help you as well.

Hope this helps a little.

>> No.3366006

You should take a Christian McCandeless approach trainkid.

>> No.3366373

>>3365864
No tricks, it's all self-discipline. The poster who suggested a break from web makes a great point. You could try setting aside a block of time. I personally have to force myself and it feelsbadman.

>> No.3366378

>>3365997
This is good too but I often get so absorbed in what I'm reading that I do that instead of writing. Haven't been productive but man I do read a lot.

>> No.3366382

When I need to write because I've been fucking around too long, I put my laptop in my lap with my novel open. After that, I just start naturally. try it. just put the shit in your lap.

>> No.3366384

just fucking like observe your surroundings with all your senses and shit

like if you're traveling places keep your eyes and ears and nose and tastebuds and skin nerves open for what different places are like ffs you shoul dhave stuff to write about coming out the ass i don't understand this thread

>> No.3366385

i try and find ideas and something innovative to write about which takes time, thought and exposure to forms of media.

problem is the internet's my main source of exposure, and its insidious in that its a remarkable tool to educate yourself and a surefire way to flush your life down the drain into the muck of trivialities and embellished entertainment spots like 4chan/forums.

on that note i'm gonna take my leave and get to writing at 1 am in the morning. thanks for the thread OP.

>> No.3366485

just find a time to do it and DO IT. Go to a coffees shop, bring your laptop, order a drink.

Sit down and listen to some inspiring music. Something you know will inspire you creatively and keep you in the 'zone' so to say.

Then just start writing man. Don't worry about whether your opening sentence is good or not. Just start writing and hopefully you'll begin flowing.

>> No.3366518

>>3366006
I'm not familiar with that approach.

>>3366373
Yeah I'm trying to stay away from forcing my self for that very reason.

>>3366384
When I'm out travelling, I don't exactly just drop everything I'm doing and start writing. Although maybe I should. But I do get what you're saying, I'm in my home town though, and it's hard to emulate the feelings of a new place.

>>3366485
I hate to be "that guy" but sometime's I'll do this. Usually on a rooftop somewhere though. More peaceful, quiet, inspiring. I can't write while listening to music. Can't read to music either. I don't get to listen to music while on the road, so music takes a role similar to reading and writing. Also, I never worry about things like that. I'll maybe go back after writing a few paragraphs and edit just so I'm not faced with a TON of shit to edit at the end.

And I ended up having a conversation with a friend of mine, and we decided to collaborate on a comic zine once we found out we have identical scars from identical accidents in matching spots (me on my left hip bone, her on her right hip bone) so we decided to make some super ridiculous comic about two weird kids who travel around, when they touch their scars together they form together into a two headed, bilingual, rad wizard of awesomeness. It sounds REALLY fucking dumb, but that's the whole point. Kind of a take on Troma films, while simultaneously parodying tumblr sluts, /b/tards, redditors, swag daddies, etc. (but while being somewhat subtle. I don't plan on ever mentioning any of these sites, just using the stereotypical user) and reenacting experiences we've both had hitch hiking.
It's just going to be something to be given to friends.
Nothing serious. I almost feel stupid for mentioning anything of the sort on this board.
I just want to prove that the advice in here somewhat sort of worked.
(I started hashing out a plotline)

>> No.3366521

>>3366518
Fuck.
Accidentally used a trip from a different thread.

>> No.3366544

google "snowflake method to writing"

it'll motivate you

>> No.3366566

You sound lonely, OP. Like you need a network of support in order to allow yourself to write.

>>I don't have any friends to handcuff me to my desk.
>>I can't be the only one who needs a bit of motivation
>>the only person I drink with in Memphis is the one getting married and will probably be too busy
>>the girl I was visiting got some job
>>I'm missing out
>>Thanks, to the one guy

This isn't a bad thing, I just think you may be shooting yourself in the foot by focusing so much on the company you don't have or the feeling of being left out of some greater world of experience that others get and you don't.

It's cool you did find someone to collaborate with. If that doesn't pan out, you could join some kind of writer's group. Don't hold yourself back from people because you think they're too busy/you're too defective or whatever. If you can't force yourself to write alone, then don't hold yourself to an impossible standard of self-sufficiency just yet. Humans are social animals with social needs and it sounds like you haven't been getting those needs met.

Conversely, tap into this sense of alienation/selfconsciousness that has pervaded your posts and use it for writing. Because you've engaged my sympathies, however superficially, just by being yourself and that could probably translate well to character development in your art.

>>It's just going to be something to be given to friends.
>>Nothing serious. I almost feel stupid for mentioning anything

OKAY STOP BEATING YOURSELF UP. You have as much a right to be here as anyone else. Don't make excuses for what you do, you have nothing to apologize for. Don't negate your work. Let critics do that.

>> No.3367609

>>3366566
Hahahah, I swear I don't always sound this lonely. It's just this is the only demographic that's ever been as receptive towards my "life style", and I'm posting with a trip, so I don't want to fuck that all up. I was expecting a bunch of "take that shit to /co/" comments., as I was under the impressions that posting about anything other then classic novels/philosophy/deep poetry was some mortal sin.

I think all those sub conscious references to being lonely stem from my childhood, where I grew up on isolated farms with no friends or neighbors, and then on into highschool where what friend I did have fucked me over, and I ended up reading in stairwells all 4 years, and then onto college time, where everyone else is getting drunk at college parties and studying in libraries with friends, while I'm out wandering around the country by my self. So I feel kind of slighted out of a lot of human interaction that others take for granted, so when I actually find people that like me (to an extent) I try not to piss them off. Because honestly I have no idea where else I could go online to get writing advice without being shamed for having no writing training at all.

Reading back on my post, I do sound like a beta fag, but like I said, I didn't want to piss you people off with /co/ talk.

Luckily I actually know a hand full of "writers" (people like me, who write but with no training) but they all suffer the same problem as me (lack of motivation to get down to the writing). Maybe because none of us have ever had deadlines.

>> No.3367625

>>3366544
This looks interesting, but I have a feeling if I did this, the story would end up being horribly confusing. Maybe that could be my "gimmick". Plot lines that make no fucking sense, and characters that don't really have anything to do with anything.

I've always toyed around with the idea of writing insanely vague novels, leaving everything open for interpretation.

>> No.3367734

I know for me it's both a problem of motivation and energy which stems from other issues such as diet and poor sleep habits (long days of classes don't help either). I find when I'm fully awake I come alive with good ideas to write about, reading compelling literature can spark a writing session under as well.

I noticed that I feel very invigorated and creative after being exposed to second hand marijuana smoke. I don't smoke directly but I might start if it can continuously produce positive effects. Although I might just have a dopamine difficiency or something, not sure.

>> No.3367765

>>3366566
You don't truly know someone until they've handcuffed you to a desk.

>> No.3367766

>>3367734
You should start chewing coffee beans. Once you get over the taste, it's like crack. You don't dilute the coffee bean with water like you would drinking normal coffee, and you don't have to piss every 10 minutes either. Seriously, you can notice the caffeine kicking in way quicker then you would by drinking the stuff. Best decision I've ever made.

Go ahead and smoke some, worst case scenario you get "too high" and can't do a damned thing. But try rolling a spliff if you smoke tobacco, and slowly increase the amount of pot you roll with the joint.

>> No.3367772

>>3367766
Why not just get some caffeine pills?

>> No.3367781

>>3367609
>>I'm posting with a trip

Nah you're a namefag not a tripfag, trips have codes.

>>I was under the impressions that posting about anything other then classic novels/philosophy/deep poetry was some mortal sin.

Your internal critic is in overdrive fwiw.

>>honestly I have no idea where else I could go online to get writing advice without being shamed for having no writing training at all.

NaNoWriMo.org for some genres/styles, AbsoluteWrite when you're serious about publishing, also the shame is mostly in your own head.

>>they all suffer the same problem as me (lack of motivation to get down to the writing). Maybe because none of us have ever had deadlines.

Can you guys set weekly goals for each other? Or each person picks a goal and if s/he doesn't make it everyone gathers in a circle around them and points and laughs, chanting, "You're not a real writer!"

Sometimes it's cool to meet up weekly or biweekly and swap around pieces everyone's working on and everyone reads and comments on each other's work, either with pen/pencil if the work is printed or using the review/comment features on Word/OpenOffice.

If you can try to find a writing workshop in your area, just so you get some honest feedback about how people interpret your work. You're coherent on 4chan so I assume you're coherent in your writing and trust me, a lot of people at these workshops have abysmal written communication skills. If you feel worried about your lack of "writing training" just remember Stephanie Meyer got published and a lot of aspiring writers write like fifth graders.

Also anyone who is insecure will jump at the chance to put you down, people with real confidence won't really be interested in hurting you.

>> No.3367784

>>3367772
They cost way too much, (you can get a weeks supply of coffee beans, to be munching on constantly, for about 2 bucks) are probably much more detrimental to your health then coffee beans, and you don't get the oral fixation of cracking the bean in half, and chewing it whatever weird way you like you. Think: sunflower seeds that have a bitter taste for the first day you chew them, and keep you WIRED.

>> No.3367798

>>3367734
>>3367766
>/lit/: hedonists totally dependent on substance abuse for creativity
You are aware this is pretty much a textbook rationalization, right?

>> No.3367804

>>3367781

>>Nah you're a namefag not a tripfag, trips have codes.

Didn't know that, thanks.

>>Your internal critic is in overdrive fwiw.
Maybe. And I have no idea what "fwiw" means.

>>NaNoWriMo.org for some genres/styles, AbsoluteWrite when you're serious about publishing, also the shame is mostly in your own head.

I'll check those out. And I don't know, I've had nosed turned down towards me many a time for not having gone to writing school. People always just assume "oh he must be talking about writing a diary".

It's tricky, because one of us is in rehab in Memphis, the other is on a two week deployment with the National Guard to practice digging holes, one of us is too busy having sex with his new girlfriend to do anything productive in Carrboro, and I'm too busy wasting my time on the internet.
But I have been trying to find some college students who are taking writing classes, and convincing them to relate whatever assignments they receive to me, so I can practice, and build a body of work.
I'm in a really small town right now, but I'll give it a shot anyways. The college in this town isn't known for its writing program, so I assume if there IS a writing group it will be nothing but old retired ladies.

>> No.3367807

>>3367798
Who cares?
If it works, it works.

>> No.3367830

>>3367807
Because too many gullible suckers like yourself actually perpetuate and believe it, and the only thing that ever comes out of it is an endless barrage of "LOL UR DRUG OF CHOICE???" threads on /lit/ that doe nothing but shit up the board.

No you stupid fuck, there are no magic bullets for creativity. The only thing that can ever create something worthwhile is painstaking time and effort. And you're never going to get that if you spend your whole time high as a kite and busy wanking over "genius". If anything, creativity actually derives from intense lack of stimulus. Take your shitty pop-culture ideas and fuck off back to /420chan/

>> No.3367840

>>3367804

fwiw = for what it's worth

>>But I have been trying to find some college students who are taking writing classes, and convincing them to relate whatever assignments they receive to me, so I can practice, and build a body of work.

That's not a bad idea. Have you checked out creative writing textbooks? You can get them used and cheap as fuck on Amazon (just look for ones with high ratings), or you know, torrent. It doesn't replace having personal feedback but it might learn you somethin'.

>>The college in this town isn't known for its writing program, so I assume if there IS a writing group it will be nothing but old retired ladies.

Stop by and ask about demographics if you can. You are more likely to get virginal fanfic writers than old retired ladies.

>> No.3367843

>>3367830
Who said anything about creativity?
I was just asking what people do to motivate themselves. As in, what motivates you personally to get off 4chan and start writing?

Are you having frustration with creativity? Is that why you jumped to the conclusion we were saying coffee beans make you creative?

>> No.3367861

>>3367843
This is the standard line of reasoning and I just assumed. Very well.

Still, there really isn't much difference here. You're just mucking around with and clouding your reward system by adding an outside stimulus. The euphoria of good writing actually triggers dopamine release, so if anything you should be trying to cut yourself away from outside sources of reward.

>> No.3367862

>>3367840
Ah.

I torrented "the handbook of creative writing", and I've "flipped" through it. It seems okay, maybe one day I'll get down to reading it. Someone gave me their old poetry textbook they used in a creative writing class they took at the local community college, but I'm not really that interested in writing poetry, so It's just sitting there. When I get some money I may go down to the textbook buyback places and see if they have anything. Don't have a bank account or debit card, so Amazon is out the window.

http://writers.meetup.com/cities/us/nc/wilmington/
this is about all that came up on google. Not too promising.

>> No.3367869

>>3367861
Well what if I don't write for that kind of pleasure?

>> No.3367883

>>3367869
You'd be denying any notion of goal-directed behavior and I'd say you're lying. Whether for the esteem of others or pride in work, writing is a reward circuit behavior like any other

>> No.3367890

>>3365836
>how to motivate yourself to spend an evening writing. Once I get started, I have no problem writing.
I just sit down and go "Okay, I need to write". It helps if you close your browser and close your door.

>> No.3367891

>>3367883
Point was, there's pleasure derived from writing other than dopamine. So, if dopamine isn't what I'm looking for, what would be the sense in rejecting some other substance that helps inspire or motivate me to write?
From what I understand, writers tend to be drunks. How does that fit in with your theory?

I'm genuinely curious at this point.

>> No.3367920

>>3367890
This doesn't create a "forced" attitude for you?

>> No.3367948

>>3367891
My suspicion would be writers tend to be drunks because they're talented enough to get away with it and the personality type is predisposed. As Creativity is sometimes argued to have a lot to do with openness to experience, it would seem natural these sorts of people would be quicker to seek out various stimuli. As for writing, it is basically a reward-based behavior. Maybe if you're in it for the money you could say it isn't about chemical processes, but even then it still probably is. As for the fact that you say you're not motivated by these, this could very well explain the fact that you're not particularly motivated at all either.

Or at least these are my thoughts. Writers are either horrible egotists who do it for social reasons, or have very complex interior worlds they sometimes substitute for real life. But even still, why write anything down if it is all just going t be in your brain anyways?

>> No.3367961

>>3367948
I never said it wasn't a reward-based activity for me, I just said I don't do it to be rewarded by dopamine. If I wanted to play around with the chemicals in my body, I'd do something other then writing. I think writing to get high is like eating baby aspirin to get high.

Personally, I write because I enjoy reading, and I want to hopefully contribute to the material out there worth reading.

I'm stepping out for a bit to apply at this fucking pizza joint. Don't wish me luck. I don't want the job. I'll be back in about 20

>> No.3367977

>>3367961
if you enjoyed reading you would simply read. Writing doesn't make sense if you say it isn't being done for a reason- ultimately it has to be a reward of some kind unless you're being forced. You don't have to think of this in negative terms. All kinds of human activity come from this kind of behavior, and it is completely benign

>> No.3367986

>>3367920
What the hell is a "forced" attitude?
If you mean "don't you feel forced?" then no, it's me who's doing it. If I want to do it then I want to do it and there's no force involved.
If you mean "Doesn't that make the writing read as forced?" then to begin with sure, sometimes, but you get into the flow of it and can rewrite anything you're unhappy with.
I think you're procrastinating. Stop procrastinating and write something you tool.

>> No.3368205

>>3367977
Maybe I'm not conveying my ideas clearly enough, but people keep missing the point of what I'm saying. I NEVER said there wasn't a reward in it for me. For the longest time, I did just read. But then I realized it would feel REWARDING to give back to the community. That and I needed an outlet for my creativity. Writing accomplishes both of these things.

>>3367986
I feel like being forced (even by yourself) to write would somewhat limit your creativity. Like you're trying too hard, or something. But that makes sense that the writing would only seem forced in the beginning, and then become more fluid.

And I just needed an idea to get motivated last night, and I did, and started a story. Now the thread is just a conversation about substance abuse and people arguing about how some other peoples reason for writing is "wrong".

>> No.3368363

>>3367830
>734 here
I am aware of the distinction you mention, perhaps using the word "creative" wasn't the best choice. I'm aware that the ability to write well (or do anything well) does not simply happen, and I wasn't implying that drugs could be alchemic. I just meant it awakens the same creativity I get when I'm in a good mood, just read a compelling passage, just had a romantic experience etc. So far, it does make me feel more motivated by energizing me, I write about the same things I would without it. Obviously there may be better alternatives and possibly conditions that shouls be taken into account; it's just a possibility. That being said I've never done any "recreational" drug besides caffiene and occasionally sips of alcohol along with the exsposure to second hand smoke that I mentioned.

>> No.3368424

wrote ~4000 words today. a lot of it is shit, but some of it has a lot of potential. what has gotten me going is the fact that i need to fail a fuckton or i'll never get anywhere.

probability says that the more you try the more likely you will be to succeed.

tomorrow when you wake up just get on your laptop open notepad and ask yourself how many times can you fail today. if you don't try you won't fail or succeed, you will be nothing. it is better to fail a million times than to never have tried.

also stop coming here. i know that's rich coming from me, but i've been weaning myself off 4chan lately. besides it's not like you're missing much. look at this shithole.

>> No.3368855

>>3368363
You're right. Given the context of deprivation, it does seem plausible that simply being exposed could conceivably perk someone up: certainly caffeine has almost an exclusive used by writers for this purpose. But then again, if you're really so deprived in the first place,why aren't you caring for yourself?


I suppose I'm just using the opportunity to forward my personal agenda because I'm tired of hearing this shit. Oh well

>> No.3368893

>>3367843
God damn you trainkid, don't ever go into politics ok? Too scary.

>> No.3368907

>>3366566
I love you. You said this to him but I so desperately needed to hear it.

>> No.3369731

>>3368424
I like where your heads at, anon.

>>3368893
Yeah, because that's my fallback career if being homeless falls through.