Thread 24684535

"Anomaly" edition

Previous: >>24668754

/wg/ AUTHORS & FLASH FICTION: https://pastebin.com/ruwQj7xQ
RESOURCES & RECOMMENDATIONS: https://pastebin.com/nFxdiQvC

Please limit excerpts to one post.
Give advice as much as you receive it to the best of your ability.
Follow prompts made below and discuss written works for practice; contribute and you shall receive.
If you have not performed a cursory proofread, do not expect to be treated kindly. Edit your work for spelling and grammar before posting.
Violent shills, relentless shill-spammers, and grounds keeping prose, should be ignored and reported.
(And maybe double-space your WIPs to allow edits if you want 'em.)

Simple guides on writing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHdzv1NfZRM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whPnobbck9s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAKcbvioxFk

Thread theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h02a2HSB58M

had a super productive day of writing. i feel like im pivoting correctly into the middle arc of the novel. it was really difficult but I feel like I broke through.

I will write short stories throughout my twenties. The novel remains utterly daunting, and not just daunting, but outdated, half-extinct, a creature from another time, when the Earth harbored more oxygen and man and woman were capable of prolonged periods of concentration.

>>24684565
Granted, but what's your monetization strategy? The TV/movie rights to short stories are occasionally sold, but it's far more common for that to happen to a novel.

>>24684575
My "monetization strategy" is working as an educational consultant and writing in my free time. I'm not reckless / deluded / insane enough to hinge my income upon my writing, although I certainly respect those who do (like how I respect certain homeless crack addicts for their general chutzpah). I suppose I enjoy a conventional job. I still enjoy being "in the world", for now, although this will no doubt change.

>>24684588
Working a day job is a given. I was obviously asking about your monetization strategy for your writing.

>>24684248
No it doesn't, it tells you that he can eat a lot. It doesn't give any insight to his figure. How are people this retarded?

>>24684588
Man I don't know. I'll probably go to the drug dealer and casino and my ex's house in that order.

>Boggis, Bunce, and Bean
>One fat, one short, one lean
>These horrible crooks, so different in looks
>But nonetheless equally mean

/wg/ will tell you this is bad writing

>>24684625
>>24684611
Sorry I meant to reply to you. Making money from my stories, let alone making hollywood money, is completely inconceivable. But sometimes I daydream of being a fat pocket writer when I'm at the bar. What is your monetization strategy?

How am I doing? Stefan here.

>>24684651
Just reading the first sentence took a year off my life

>>24684651
Don't namefag on 4chan. Nobody cares who you are

>>24684651
Grim. The first sentence is so bad that I think this is some kind of a joke.

How does one go about writing a story or a novel? Do you just sit down and start writing a stream of consciousness, or do you sit around forming ideas taking notes and setting up a structure and list of characters? I have written a few paragraphs throughout my life, and have written some bad short stories by the seat of my pants at school as a teenager (which I somehow won a creative writing competition and £20 amazon voucher for). But I desperately want to write, and I have recently bought a typewriter, so far I have written family members letters but I have yet to write anything creative using it, but I would like to. Thoughts?

Young Adult / dystopian Sci Fi, if it's not obvious

>>24685219
Good question, I wish I knew. There's no one way to make art, you just have to do it. Preferably in moments of real inspiration as that's when your best work comes out. It should feel like you're discovering or remembering something already written because it's so good. If a line or paragraph or character or interaction you write makes you feel something - laugh out loud, sad, angry, in love, then you're probably on the right track.

I'm working on my own novel (see post below yours) and I went in with the plan that I would flesh out a whole 'encyclopedia' of characters, factions, places, historical events, technology, science etc of the world that the story would take place in first. This allowed me to brain dump for a few weeks and work out issues/ideas ahead of time. That way I could write from a place of knowledge instead of forging ahead into the unknown one line at a time. The upside was thousands of pages of clear, well understood notes. The downside was months of burnout because I had feverishly built a universe atlas for hours a day for weeks and now I don't feel like writing. So just try something and see what happens

How much sex should happen in story

>>24685219
I just started writing recently but I'll tell you how I've gone about it so far. Might not be the best way but it feels natural and fun for me so I'm going to stick with it.

My story ideas always start out as some weird dream I had that I can't get out of my head until I write it down somewhere. Then I start thinking about interesting scenarios for the characters and start drafting out those sections for a long as the muse whispers to me. Then I start losing steam and just write an outline of the event instead of a full draft. Once I'm out of ideas to write down, I read through everything I have and try to order it and think of ways to string them together and fill in gaps in the story. During this whole process, I'll have gained a better understanding of the world and characters so I'll pause throughout to write out sections of the "World Truths" and "Character Summary" documents.

That's as far as I've gotten with any of my ideas so far. The plan is to go back and flesh out the outline and brainstorming sections later, using the world truths and character summaries as a guide for what can/should happen.

>>24684651
>The minstrel started singing in the small spot they allowed him to perform the one tune he knew not only as being the favorite, for his admirers, but other songs that he didn't and never even heard of existing in the first place, denigrating at the same time the other men who had come prior to him and who made a fuss out of not being allowed to perform what they wanted to in front of a crowd that didn't even know who they were.

>>24685363
I've never read a novel where explicit sex scenes or similar passages contributed positively. At best it's a bit of fluff to get through before the author gets back to the point, at worst (more common) it feels like the neckbeard author stopped writing his book to jerk off to weird hentai with one hand and clumsily narrate his fantasy with the other.
Implied or referenced scenes can contribute, but graphic sex scenes just drag the entire work down.

>>24685363
It depends on what you're writing obviously. If you're not writing a romance or erotica, then it shouldn't be the focus

>>24685219
I always begin by the world the story takes place in. You don't need to directly go into writing the text itself but just descriptive texts about what goes through your head.
Once the world is well established enough, thinking of characters and stories become easier.

Time to query, bros.

>>24685363
None. Sex is immoral. Don't even allude to it. Children are delivered by storks.

>>24684651
Wtf am I reading lmao?

Everyanon wants critique but none want to give it, you notice this too, anon?

>>24684651
Chatgpt was a mistake.

>>24685363
The story should be told through the sex scenes. It should be all sex scenes

>>24684625
>he doesn't go to ex to borrow money so he can get drugs so he can get in debt and try to win it all back at an Indian mob casino, but he gets bankrupted and gets enslaved by the (((Natives))), and then write his magnum opus in jail which sold enough copies to earn his freedom, pay his debt and pay a pretty whore to fuck you while your ex seethes on what could have been then die due to speedball overdose
Keep your day job kid, you will never had a chance.

I dislike the way most onomatopoeias read. For example a clicking sound doesn't sound like click, it's only a single syllable long. When properly represented, sounds can add a deep layer of immersion. I'm well aware this endeavor would be more for my own self satisfaction initially, but how much am I hurting myself by making a custom glossary of sound effects I'd use to enhance or replace the usage of standard onomatopoeias with?

>>24684615
There are still many, many shortcomings when it comes to accepted writing practices that have not been fixed. AI is incapable of fixing this because it's never been trained otherwise and it's not going to be because people will dumb themselves down to serve the slop machine.

what if fantasy... but dark. a deep dark fantasy, if you will

>>24685363
Enough to filter out pseuds who whine it drags the work down without attracting coomers who whine it should only have sex.

More or less seriously, sex serves a very strong narrative purpose answering a deep question: What are these characters like in intimate situations? Show, don't tell. On that note sometimes the lack of detail can draw attention to a point you're trying to make, like a burned out gooner watching a sex video finally finding himself in that post orgasmic high and reflecting more on his surroundings while remaining too apathetic to even lift his cum-encrusted hand up to pause the video.

>>24685980
FuckYou

>>24685995
i thought it was a fitting time to post when i chained six onomatopoeias in a row lmao

>>24686009
How about you get out of that.. Microsoft wordio fit and let's settle it right here in the thread?

>>24686020
yeah, smart ass

>>24685960
It’s really a matter of considering the rhythm of your writing and the importance of these sound effects. Unusual sound effects will be a distraction for the reader, but maybe that’s what you are going for.

>>24686052
I'm aware it'll feel strange to a reader but for me it's always felt distracting reading an onomatopoeia. Ideally, I want a total revolution in the English language so sound effects mean something again. In the meantime, I've got my ideas for a compromise.

How do I write a visual novel

Let's be honest, we are all gays here

what's the point of asking for critique from /lit/ when anons secretly drop excerpts from some of the most respected authors of all time and it still gets shit all over?

>>24686558
for the keks

>>24685240
AI slop

Had to censor my last essay on Medium because they're word cop woke fucktards. Why did I ever bother with that website, I should just give up on it and only post to Substack.

>>24686558
when did this happen and where?

An excerpt from a science fantasy war story I'm currently trying to get representation for.

>>24686692
Boring.

A read streak appeared. It was coming for us.
"Get down!" I shouted.
A second later the world erupted all at once. I couldn't see, couldn't feel, couldn't smell, couldn't taste, I only could hear a ceaseless ring drumming in my ear.

My legs wobbled when I tried to stand. I didn't know how, but by some miracle, God or luck, I found myself stumbling over the debris.

I tripped over something, a corpse or fallen wall, I couldn't tell, but it didn't matter. I needed to keep moving. I turned into the hallway and someone grabbed me. A safe spot.

Stapig clutched my uniform tightly. "The fuck was that?"
I shook my head and saw a split of green and color. I laughed. The stifling helmet smelling like some Greg saved my life. I regained my focus and stuttered, "K-Kinetic bomb."

blah blah blah.

>>24686618
Any tips for sites to self publish to? I was looking over on /wng/ but it looks like they only like RR.

>>24686775
amazon

>>24686777
Those trips cannot be denied. Could I ask why you suggest going to Amazon right away?

>>24686808
It has the biggest marketplace.

That said, it's still the hardest place to market your slop

>>24686558
Maybe it's because they recognize the passages.

>>24686774
yes, this version is better

>>24685980
That was bretty gud.
Gonna have to agree about the chained onomatopoeia. That could've been better.

>>24684651
That first sentence feels like it could be used to torture prisoners. It feels like words are straight up missing in other sentences.

How is it even possible to capture the tension of this scene in writing?

How 's my start?

>>24686961
the sexual tension?

So, I'm having trouble justifying how a character fits into a setting where in all reality she must have been impossible to live with due to the values dissonance involved

>main characters were all isekaied at various points in the past
>they're all pretty sure they're dead
>one girl is extremely religious
>she takes it a step further and concludes they're in purgatory, and need to atone
>she isn't sure what she did wrong, but thinks the only thing she can do is help them find god
>the problem is, the fantasy world is super fucking deadly
>being able to use magic is a matter of life or death
>and magic is strongest when you make it look like witchcraft
>meanwhile, she's ended up shoving herself into a position of authority because all the people directly under her are either pushovers or new

>MC needs to find a photographer
>there is one in her class
>they don't know each other
How do I get MC to find out about him naturally? Only thing that comes to mind is he's seen photographing things on campus but that sounds lame and cliche.

>>24687043
Lol nobody knows or cares because if you the author can't figure it out, none of us can

With gusto, the man slammed his penis in the car door. Equally gustorrific was his scream of pain. That will show his wife not to complain about it being too big again!

>>24687049
They're both perverts and he likes photographing panties and she likes men to look. The twist? The photographer is her teacher, 20 years older

Does blasphemy have to be about God (or gods)? Is there a better word for speaking ill of, say, a king? Is that treasonous?

>>24687093
"Sedition," I think.

what do you do when your confidence is so bad you lose the ability to write?

Whenever I get stumped, my brain immediately empties. I don't just lack good ideas, I lack ANY ideas. I can't even fathom how to proceed, and the mere fact that I can't think of anything just massively exhausts and demoralizes me until I have to call it quits for the day

>>24687093
JFC why are you even here if you don’t know any words and are too stupid to use google?

>>24687127
i go on reddit

>>24687093
just jew out and call it chutzpah in the middle of your tense scene

>>24686963
the nature scenery seems a bit off tone with the rest of the creator's tone. there's a tension thats confusing there unless its a focal point of the narrative. despicable people have despicable thoughts, etc.
some of the word choice doesnt further what you want the reader to feel. "what... called a dwelling" is just an empty invocation.
overall though, i think you're making good headway. the bones are there and the structure flows nicely.

>>24684650
The closest I have to a strategy comes from a book I read about writing, called "Write, Publish, Repeat". It's a common refrain among most of what I read about writing, i.e. one has no idea what's going to work commercially, so all you can do it keep flinging your baited hooks out into the world and hope you get a bite. The other one is to be true to myself; readers will notice if you're being inauthentic. The downside there is I appear to be a remarkably unpopular person, and wonder how much that's destroying my chances of writing success.

>>24685219
There are as many methods as there are writers. Here's a handy infographic to give you an idea of the broad swaths of different styles. I appear to be a "chaotic plotter". I come up with an idea for a story, then I fill my outline-editor (in this case, TreeLine) with as many related ideas as I can. My experience is that, once that reaches a sort of critical mass, I find I can write the story. Another thing I've noticed is that, once I've developed the characters sufficiently, I can just put them into situations and, essentially, watch them from the outside, and simply write down what they do. But your experience may vary, and probably will.

>>24684651
It's too bad the Bulwer-Lytton contest has finally come to an end. I think you would have been a strong contender. https://www.bulwer-lytton.com/

>>24687043
If you're talking about how the extremely religious girl fits into the setting...she doesn't. She makes the setting fit her. Not everyone is a leaf blowing in the wind. Being "well adjusted" is a choice, and IMHO not a very respectable one.
>>24687068
On top of being a seething jackass, you lack breadth.

>>24687127
Unironically... I read bad writing, or watch bad TV/movies, that somehow became commercially successful. Once I reach a certain level of rage over how something so crappy could have made the creator so much money, I find myself motivated by righteous indignation, and become very productive.

>>24687364
>>24684651
Don't lose hope! Submissions for the Lyttle Lytton contest are still ongoing!
https://adamcadre.ac/lyttle/

>>24684651
https://pastebin.pl/view/fca49791

I also wrote this like 4 years ago....

god i got so little written today lol.
it took like 7 hours to do 3 pages (ew)

>>24687349
I used to be a neutral plotter, but have suddenly turned into a chaotic plantser

>>24687717
im a neutral pantser and the more i write of my story the more i realize the geography of this world is horrifically fucked lol

I can't be that bad...

>>24687792
I'm sure you could make the text smaller, it's still somehow readable

I wrote a short story and a professional literary editor liked it, how would I make it into a comic book? Do I have to hire one guy to draw it and one guy to color it in? Is there a directory of artists for hire?

>>24688273
Good luck finding an artist without corporate support. Any decent artist is either only taking work from companies or is absurdly expensive.

>>24688273
AI.

>>24686774
I bombed your mom last night.

Why is it so hard to write FUN? I constantly catch myself rambling paragraph after paragraph about some irrelevant bullshit that's not even interesting

>>24688392
do you let a computer fuck your wife, you Swiss space criminal

>>24688444
Simulation: It's the future!

About to query and was farming twitter and came across this chick author. No real following on twitter or anything, but I always follow their links. This chick has a million books on Amazon, several with 2-3k reviews. It’s the current thing that seems to walk the line on smut, mystery, torture porn, “reverse harem” and all this shit. How the hell did she do it? The marketing, the numbers. Word of mouth only?

>>24688486
>Word of mouth only?
Probably not, but there are some genres that have dedicated readers who crawl the archives for any new releases, and so "100% organic" success is technically possible
TikTok advertising is really big for that genre though, so I would be surprised if she has none of that (and no amazon ads either)
When youre making $ with your writing NOT advertising is pretty retarded

>>24688483
"I dindu nuffin. I ain't sink Atlantis. Galactic what? Let go of me, AAAAAA—"

>>24688273
>Is there a directory of artists for hire?
If only it was that easy.
You have to crawl artstation and twitter to find artists you like and hope they're taking commissions (most don't)
Like >>24688309 said, talented artists don't need to debase themselves and deal with the drooling, retarded public, so they only accept lucrative and consistent jobs with companies or other professionals
The rare few who do take commissions charge quite a lot and probably aren't the top, top talent, though there are definitely some very good ones out there if you look

>>24688494
Your meme has been stolen for the glory of the Holy Atlantean Empire.

>>24688491
I was just about to post this. Didn’t even consider that. It’s fuggin BookTok. Unbelievable.

>>24688509
>Unbelievable.
BookTok is absurdly, obscenely huge and the biggest source of traffic for books these days unironically so it's kinda funny you forgot about it

>>24688624
Is it all smut and Twilight werewolf handmaids tail shit?

>>24688764
seeing how that's all anyone actually reads, yeah

It's not fair... It's just not fair.

>>24689307
The trend is burning itself out. Once it has, these books will be forgotten.

>>24689307
i dont get these people one bit. isnt being trans a rather shameful part of your history? i feel like fiction is our escape to engage with reality on the terms we see fit. memoirs just resurface old wounds.

>>24689307
This faggot writes a book about being a troon and gets sold in-store.
I write military science fantasy, which I genuinely liked; my wife seems to like it, the AI I use as a sort of beta reader seems to like it.
All I can get is roasted by the crab-bucket philistines of /wg/.
Is there even a point?

I got too attached to this story. I've been daydreaming scenes from it for a long time. Now, my greatest fear is that everyone will hate it while they'll like the story I rushed. It's kept me from writing.

>>24686961
It's possible.

But you need to expand your vision more.

Unironically, I have found that sparser writing is much better at establishing tension.

Wordy mealy-mouthed massive paragraphs are the easiest way to destroy all tension.

>>24689322
How many more years of youth do I have left to wait my turn?

>>24689403
>>24689432
You may have to settle for becoming famous after you're dead. A lot of great writers had to settle for that. Herman Melville, Franz Kafka, Mervyn Peake, and Philip K. Dick, to name a few.

>>24689508
I'd rather not be famous, I want my work to be famous.

>>24689508
The darkness of the afterlife is all that awaits you now. May you find more peace in that world than you found in this one.

>>24689512
That's pretty much how it is when your work becomes more appreciated after you die.
>>24689514
Nah, I got lots more to write before I vacate this mortal coil. Gotta leave a potential legacy for my younger relations, after all! Maybe they'll figure out how to sell it, or maybe it'll be easier once my work is not so stupidly ahead of its time.

>>24689533
But I want money too.

>>24689597
You won't have anything unless you churn out a sizeable body of work.

>>24689638
I'll show you a sizeable body of work

i worked a sizable body with your mom last night

Why are firecrotches so popular as female MCs?

>>24689403
Have you let other people read it?

>>24689735
Red hair is exotic and is an easy way to make a female character visually striking / memorable.

>>24689426
>Unironically, I have found that sparser writing is much better at establishing tension.
Explain.

>>24690019
NTA - If you explain every feeling and every thought, you end up leaving nothing in the reader's imagination. Part of the tension in the EVA scene comes from not knowing what either Rei or Best Girl is thinking.

my storys so cheesy lmao. trying to decide if its time for the psychic coyote chapter or wizard al quaeda chapter. my book is so juvenile lol

>>24690025
>Rei
>thinking

>>24689875
Hope it’s out there somewhere. Mine’s in beta stage now, gonna try to query.

>>24690027
Psychic coyote immediately followed by wizard Al Qaeda. Sounds based to me.

>think it would be fun to write a variation of the "former soldier tries to adjust to normal life"-theme
>in practice, the mere mention of war automatically takes all fun out of the story and turns it into depressing rambling
I don't know how to do anything

How awful of a writer am I?
www.mongoldev.com

>>24690025
>Rei or Best Girl is thinking.
You listed the same character twice.

>>24690258
ty for the help, i know where the next bits going for now
psychic coyote turned the old village into his hideout cause everybody got killed by wizard al quaeda and hes gonna help the heros discover the truth afterhypnotize them to steal their food. sorta like a circe sequence

I think I had an idea for a story last night but then I feel asleep also I was drunk and now I can’t remember what the idea was what should I do

Should little Billy’s tragically dead father be a fireman or stuntman? Fireman is certainly more heroic and selfless, providing for Billy to be inspired by his example. However I think it would be more fun to have the stuntman father, since the movies he was in can provide a more direct connection for Billy, by admiring his works. Maybe it could give Billy a cockier attitude as opposed to just a stoic selflessness.

>>24691483
stuntman is infinitely more creatively interesting.

Do you ever do things IRL to help get a feel for your characters? Mine wears a leather bag around the belt, so I just bought a $72 leather bag off Etsy to simulate wearing and "get into" my character more.

>>24691695
Yeah. one of my characters is a Diviner and i use tarot to decide what happens to him

>>24685219
First have an idea. It has to be good, you cannot doubt your idea.
Ask yourself: is it a short story? Could it be a novel? You are going to know soon, but you can proceed to the next point
Develop it: plot, ending (even if you haven't decide it, it has to be your goal getting there), POV of the narration, characters, world building...This is head work and note taking
Write it: first structure: chapters, then work the scene structure for the first chapter.
You are going to make changes and you probably don't know how you are going to solve the plot...think a lot about your story, it has to live in your head.

>>24691940
>First have an idea. It has to be good, you cannot doubt your idea.
this is a mind virus
I always go through periods of during writing. the only times I don't is during a rush of inspiration when I pound out a short story
working through doubt is a part of the process. dropping shit every time you get hit by an impulse of uncertainty is terminal ngmi behavior

>>24685439
Pottery

>>24691777
That's pretty cool actually

>>24690855
What's the wordcount of this?

>>24691695
I was writing about a gay character. I went to a gay bar and serviced the glory hole for a night. Later some guys raped me. It was the worst night of my life. I have aids now.

>>24692244
No, you have empathy now. You have MDMAids.

>>24689875
I am still querying agents.
So far, five rejections, which is still fewer than "Dune" or "Harry Potter" got.

just spent 2 pages describing a character with a dance metaphor its fucking doomed

>taking a year to finish a story less than 30k words
It's over

Is it possible to write a tyrant who isn’t a clear Trump analog?

>>24692816
its just impossible i suppose

Man, I cranked out like 4 chapters in 2 days last week on my days off.
Now I am struggling to write 4 paragraphs.
God damn, where did the momentum go?

Just needed to bitch.
I am sure I can get locked in eventually before my days off are totally spent at at least get another chapter done.
Still, I haven't mastered myself so this inconsistently in output is a bit frustrating.

its so embarrassing to pour your soul out into something and find out your soul is mediocre.

>>24692920
go to church

>>24692816
I don't see the connection? Patriots aren't tyrants.

>>24692922
they dont let me into church after the things i did to ur mom last night

>>24690949
Why must you turn this thread into a house of lies?

>>24692932
Not Christian churches, anyway. I'm pretty sure that Santeria hall down the block would be okay with you dropping in, though.

>>24691695
I wrote a story where a shy girl has to get her vag waxed. I don't have one, but I got a home waxing kit anyway to try it on myself so I could write the feelings more authentically. More importantly, my balls are nice and smooth now.

>>24692945
im a broke bitch dont sweat me for a tithe

>>24692816
Tyrants don't normally cut down the size of the government they lead.

>>24693032
They do if they want nothing but foot soldiers who won't gum up the works. And if they're intent on effectively destroying the country they lead for the sake of their ego.

Besides, expanding the power of the government doesn't necessarily mean expanding its size. Look at how much power Congress and the courts have allowed to centralize in the office of the presidency.

But enough about politics, >>24692965 needs a church that won't get on his case for doing unspeakable things with someone's mother and a live chicken. (Why the mother was there, I'll never know.)

rape this garbage

it's the opening to my epic angsty cyberpunk deadmall 90s retrofuturistic novel where some loser gets revenge on corporations for making his manic pixie tomboy oneitis overdose, and it means something or something

>>24693129
at least you recognize that it's garbage

>>24693129
into *the corpse
he would never have a child. they made sure of that
dripping up

Writing a southern gothic horror, but I want it to start as immersive as possible.

How am I doing? Or, should I kill myself?

I await your replies with bated breath. Thank you.

>>24693129
>the sky was a brilliant custard
I hope they brought spoons.

>>24693210
i like it, anon. keep going, let's see where you take it

"The fire that had burned in my cheeks fizzled to embers."

the blazing itch in my crotch gradually dissapated with a few gentle nudges

the bacterial inferno that boiled beneath my pubic fluff doused our clumsy lovemaking to wet ash. outside the cocks began to crow.

>>24693210
It's nice, but please be vigilant to the malign influence of clichè. Especially with names: "Old Uncle Nick" and "Miss Mills" — show your characters some respect, give them titles more worthy of human beings and less like charactera from a variety show for FAS children.

The melancholy rhythm of my last August lovemaking had taken a turn for the worst; I feared that the syphillitic itch that had crept in from an Ellis Island ferry was going to prove itself an unnecessary hindrance to my sparsely scheduled meetings with my wife. A knuckle-dragging battle with my equally witless member ended in a draw after a long confrontation in a gas station bathroom: littered with the hypodermic needles and the piss that splashed the ground, a miniature replica of the world at large.

>>24693300
This sounds NTR-coded

>>24693355
what is NTR? i'm not from the USA.

>>24693307
What's wrong with "Miss"? That's a perfectly normal thing to call someone along with Mr. or Mrs.

>>24693377
Are you being willfully disingenuous or charmingly, innocently autistic ?

>>24693390
NTA but those names seem fine to me. Old Nick is a name used for the devil, so calling someone Old Uncle Nick creates his connotation that the line "He never did realize low was the only place he went, and it's where he stayed" fits perfectly with that.

>>24685441
I don't mind graphic sex scenes, but they usually come at a cost to the story, because they will be off a specific genre where people read it for sex.

>When I told her that her sex organ smelt like a vacuum cleaner, she became visibly agitated. What, she said, what, what. She kept asking this, in a taut voice. Yes, I told her. Yes, your sacred rose does smell like vacuum cleaner. But I love that smell. The fondest patches of sunlight in the shadow of my childhood were set to the music of the vacuum machine, you see. My parents were away, and I would sit high upon the great dining table, while Greta, our Swiss nanny, cleaned the floors. The smell, the safety of the height, and the opening and closing of Greta's mighty bosom all combined to create the greatest and warmest memory of my long life—and, dear girl, the most carnal. At this point I simply pounced on her.

What do you think bros ? I've spent three hours on this except.

>>24693480
WOW this is almighty good ! Bonafide prööhse! You should be published posthaste !

Does the prose sound fine?

>>24693492
WOAH
bro really pulled an othello lol

Im new to this whole writing thing, originally this was going to be an opening to a chapter but im unsure if its good enough and I might push it further in the chapter. (Apologies if its hard to read)

>>24693492
Lovely and funny.

I'm going to be a huge, utter-faggot and namefag again. But yeah. I'm trying my hand at flash fiction. I'm sorry but I've been diagnosed with a narcissistic personality disorder and SPD.

>>24693621
Don't worry, bro, I didn't read this one either

>>24693626
I wonder if Jesus had to struggle as hard as I have during these trying times.

How do I market my multi-generational existential dystopia series to all 10 readers in the market?

>>24693824
Have you finished it? Have you edited it? Have you become disgusted with it, have you rinsed it a thousand times?

I was developing a short story into a novel I thought, and I really liked the initial setup, days after starting this, fucking dogshit, this shit sucks. I'm lost. I want to develop on the short story but I don't know how

>the schtick is up for my smut career
Eh 2 years of success is good enough.

>>24689307
That woman is trans?

Should I use first or third person for a female MC?
From a writing standpoint I'm interested in the challenge of writing a girl's pov convincingly but from all other standpoints I worry I'm pigeonholing myself with modern audiences.

>>24694006
Everyone, including non-transfolk to some extent want to be a woman when it comes to their fantasies

>>24687349
I'm a plantser who's gone across both ends of the spectrum. I can say with confidence that I desperately need outlines and a strong idea of the character I'm writing or else I'll write nothing.

>>24694009
Thanks for proving my point about modern audiences.

>>24693138
any advice for being less shit?

>>24693176
the other 2 I get but what's wrong with something "dripping up" if there's artistic license involved?

>>24693480
Next Charles Dickens coming through

I sent a rejection letter to my acceptance letter. I ghosted my family and friends for a year. If I met God I'd ghost God too. I'd ghost the holy ghost.

>>24693492
>It was a hell of a day.
No. Refrain from using cliched stock lines like that. You can do better than a pre-made common phrase.

I've always been an awful writer. I never did well on any kind of creative writing assignment in school. Even more factual/technical writing was challenging.

But reading this post >>24684651 gave me hope. No matter how bad I am at writing, I will never in my life create such rancid dogshit. Even an illiterate schizophrenic ESL child from the poorest favela in Brazil could string together at least one semi-coherent sentence. This must be the work of some alien or monster attempting to mimic human language.

>>24694118
>any advice for being less shit?
unfortunately you just need to write more and develop a stronger intuition
you need to pay extra attention to extraneous words
>The pulsing of the concrete seemed to match his footsteps as he started jogging again.
if you want to write like Gibson, this sentence should fly by
>He started jogging; the concrete pulsed in time with his feet.
also, events should always be relayed to the reader in exactly the order that they occur. He starts jogging and only after that does the concrete pulse. Otherwise the reader gets whiplash and it breaks momentum.

>>24694381
>The concrete pulsed with each step, a small ripple emanating across the concrete as he resumed his jog.

>>24694392
500,000 words of practice, I'm afraid

how do you guys stay focused writing 8+ hours a day? after about 6 i feel like im completely exhausted

>>24694477
You can get up to 6!?

>>24694477
>8+ hours
which hellspawn from which hell pit told you such a thing? even the great mortals wrote for three hours a day on average. unless this is bait. regardless temper yourself before you burst into flame and ash. i wake each day with a limited amount of words inside of me. once they are spent, which usually is done within an hour or two or real work, i have nothing left, and no choice but to walk and drink and read.

>>24694483
i feel pretty tempered.
maybe im just spending so long because im such a slow writer and the words are all that matter. im trying really hard but i only get about 2000 words a day

>>24694477
Write less, relax more. Unless your actual job requires you to write for any more than three or four hours per day, you don't need to write for any longer than that.

>>24689307
>Stefonknee
who the fuck thinks this shit is clever or good

anyone with that kind of name - cis, trans, male, female, gay, straight, Christian, atheist, whatever - should be punched in the kidney, and any parent who names their kid that way should get a kidney shot as well

>>24693363
Normal Trade Relations

>>24694501
You should be getting 2k done in 20 minutes. For 8 hours that should result in 10k words you can keep.

>>24689307
>trans people: *exist*
>(you): NOOOOOOOO

>>24693363
Night Time Recycling

>>24694477
>>24694482
>not writing for 26 hours a day
ngmi

I want to write something about a girl who is very special.

>>24693363
IIRC it's a Japanese term for cuckold porn
>>24694596
>>24694620
wow so funny -_-

>>24694624
We once fed the special girl on my block a ton of acid and danced around her yelling NIGHTMARE NIGHTMARE NIGHTMARE

One of the twists in my story is that the protagonist's memories actually belong to their cooler, dead friend. That's their way of dealing with trau-
>that's just Final Fantasy VII.
But I want to add cool stuff, like the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and demon hunters who make pacts with demons in exchange for something precio-
>that's just Chainsaw Man.
And the protagonist gives up their voice to-
>that's Drakengard.
To summon a mysterious black entity who wields a scythe an-
>that's just Pandora Hearts.
But actually, God is just a supercomputer created by a previous iteration of humanity that controls fate like a Laplace dem-
>that's just the Xeno series.

How do you create something original?

>>24694618
>you should be talented instead of untalented
waow
>>24694636
i think you should make what you think is cool rather than what validates your own ego as an artist. you cant really escape dipping into archetypes. as long as you think the material conditions of your characters and story as you write, it will diverge to something extremely different by the time it hits the paper.

>>24694636
Write rip offs until you run our of rip off ideas.

>>24694642
Talent's got nothing to do with putting words on a page. Write a whole bunch of bullshit; you can always (and you should) fix it later.

>>24694636
>How do you create something original?
You don't. Everything is remix. What you should be doing is trying to remix your inspirations in a way that feels unique.

>>24694646
>Talent's got nothing to do with putting words on a page. Write a whole bunch of bullshit
why would i write a bunch of bullshit?

>>24694661
Because that's all you're really doing anyway. If you're writing a first draft, it's ALL bullshit. The point is to get the words on the page so you can go back LATER and edit them into being less bullshit. Nobody gets it entirely right on the first draft, so stop worrying about getting it right or being "talented" and just write a bunch of bullshit for yourself.

Hell, experiment with what you're writing, too. Not up to writing a story? Write a poem. And vice versa. The point isn't to write The Great American Novel in one sitting - it's to be creative and leave a bit of metaphorical blood on the page.

What you write is your business, but you don't have to write it good right out of the gate. Fuck, man, even Hemingway had to rewrite the ending to one of his books a few dozen times before he found the one that worked.

>>24694636
You dont.
Everything is derivative.

How do I have my two characters initiate sex? Of course I have no real world experience with this to draw from.

>>24694763
From my experience it starts after the guys handles her the money and she puts some generic spa music.

>>24694763
Then tension builds, then bubbles, then bursts! And they kiss, and paw at one another rousingly, this goes on for some time, finally one gains the upper hand, usually the man of course, and pounces upon the other convincingly now, trundles her upon a soft bed or hard floor, either one is fine, still kissing, quite excitedly now, until suddenly! There is a moment — they pull away, their eyes lock, the unspoken question, dangling from a thread, will they? won't they? he wants it, she wants it, but do they dare, is it worth it, the price of a shattered heart, what pleasure justifies such a terrible gamble? This goes on for some time, this silent deliberation, until finally the woman bites her lip, assumes a sheeplike-fuck-me-maybe, and cutely asks, "do you have any condoms?" From then the battle commences.

>>24694627
Not quite. All cuckoldry is NTR but not all NTR is cuckoldry, as seen with the phrase mom ntr

>>24694791
I've read smutty fanfiction that was better written than your post.

You're still a bit funnier, though.

>>24694636
first I'd stop consuming slop. Your problem is that you're thinking like an advertiser, not a writer. A snappy tag-line that intrigues the layman is never actually a sound foundation for a piece of literature. There's an ocean of difference in between the psychological effect that makes a person purchase something and the one that makes them say "this was good!" (Although a good amount of contemporary media is designed to cross those wires, to everyone's detriment.)

Why does it feel like everyone writes fantasy? But their fantasy isn't even all that unique. It's just dragons, elves, dwarves, sorcerer in some hero's journey.

>>24694844
And it's usually a sad boy from the country side learning to fight with a sword and a best friend that's cooler than he is or a girl. Then he gets some letter from some king to tell him to do some shit because he has secret bloodline powers.

Cmon give me some angry Stacy cunt that goes after the dark Lord because said evil villain didn't marry her or something stupid

>>24694844
My fantasy story is set on a volcanic island but with 1880s British style aesthetics. Magic only exists in the form of herbs you consume. Elves and dragons are not present because they're boring.

How do I become a creative?
I've always wanted to be a creative ever since I was young. I've day dreamed about being one and tried working my ass off trying to write ever since I was around 12. My parents tried pushing me towards it for school assignments. I also wanted to draw but never got into it seriously.

I've been wanting to write again for nearly 2 years now and have barely made any progress towards that goal. I've only done one little drabble like 2 years ago and haven't done any exercises since then. I've been trying to get myself to write, but all of it looks too complicated and exhausting for me. I've tried multiple different strategies, but they never seem to work. I've tried forcing myself to write, but can only make myself write a couple of sentences for barely 30 seconds before stopping and looking at my phone again.

I've never been able to complete a single multichapter story in my entire life and actually coming up with stories isn't much better. I can't think anything through and everything about trying to make an entire story looks too hard for me. I want to be a creative really badly, but nothing I've done seems to have amounted to much of anything. I want to become one so badly, and I want to stop wasting my life doing nothing.

>>24694844
My fantasy involves discovering the magical world that exists alongside modern society

>>24694956
Hi Howie. I've missed you, to tell the truth. Things haven't been the same.

Anyways, write a short story about this image. Even a petite one is OK. If you do this, you will officially, and eternally, have become a bonafide creative! I wish you every success.

>>24694968
>"Arabs could be here... "

>>24694956
you're just lazy, anon
sorry your parents never forced you to do chores as a kid
get a Ritalin prescription

Nude model story anon here again. I can't decide if I want my female MC to be nervous and terrified the first time she poses in front of the art class or if she should get highly aroused and fap in the storeroom during break. Both have their advantages, but I'm not sure which readers would like more.

>>24694981
I'm on adderall and have been for most of my life. Still nothing.

>>24694985
She should be a shy girl in public but a huge slut that loves it when dirty old men look at her. Have one of the old men be named Chris (me). 36, fat, bald, poor unshaven, haven bathed in two weeks, drinks energy drinks and onions milk, plays Magic the Gathering as a hobby, collects funko pops, and works part time at the public library. He also thinks the model and him looks match and has a chance with her

>>24694968
I don't care about making a story for that image.

>>24695012
Of all the wretches in this world, Howie, you are somehow still the most pitiful. Have you considered that your life is some kind of punishment for sins trespassed in a prior incarnation? Like Tantalus, you have been consigned to a life of desperately craving creativity, yet forever finding yourself unable to ever actually create?

>>24695045
But what was Tantalus's tax policy?

>>24695045
Are you going to give me advice?

>>24694381
>>24694392
>>24694402
Thanks anon, I've written around 400k words so plenty practice. Just dogshit and it feels like if I am getting mentorship or feedback I don't deserve to succeed because famous authors didnt do that (even though they did) so I need to have that feedback again. So thanks

Any point in editing this beginning or should I just chuck it and start over?

My premise is also, like I said, basically le epic 90s nostalgia cyberpunk where this guy is hacking into databases, infiltrating places, etc.. and he is actually trying to resurrect his oneitis from his early 20s who was a manic pixie dream girl party girl who represents his nostalgia for the past, and she died of an overdose. So once he gets the resurrection technology (not sure how to make it work quite yet) she'll come back and he'll realize she was just a drugged up annoying whore, he outgrew her, his love for her was a lie, and his nostsalgia gets BTFO, and he has nothing left. Don't know if at that point he will an hero or some other creative ending I have several ideas.

Pls let me know if this garbage is even worth writing, or if similar novels exist, and if so what they are called.

>>24694763
>>24693424
>>24685363
Since we're on the topic, I'll drop a sex scene I wrote over 10 years ago now for my autistic sci-fi story, back when I was still an IRL virgin. Now I'm not, and I still think whatever sex scene I wrote would be 10 times cringier. Also it is the only sex scene in the entire story and I don't know why but it was the most important one to include for me for some reason.

>>24695291
It seems like it was over pretty quick, but I like that it was romantic and not pornographic.

>>24695064
The advice I want to give you is this:

You don't have to write a giant fucking sprawling epic right out of the gate. In fact, I'm gonna suggest you try to write a single 500-word story. Write about literally anything you'd like, but write 500 words that amount to a coherent story.

And once you write it, put it away for a day or two. Don't look at it, don't edit it, don't do anything to it. Give yourself distance from what you wrote so when you look back on it, you'll have a fresh set of eyes on it. Then, and ONLY then, can you edit it into being a better story. (HARD MODE: Edit it so that it's still a coherent story even if it's 250 words. Trim that shit down to the absolute bare essentials.)

After you write it and edit here, you should put it away again. Then you should repeat the entire fucking process again with a different subject/idea. And you do it again and again and again until you've written 100 stories that are 500 words or less. If you can do that, you'll be well on your way to being a halfway decent writer.

...and that's what I would tell you if I thought you'd listen.

The advice you DESERVE to get is this:

No one is going to save you but you, and the motivation to write won't come until you're actually fucking writing. If you're not going to even try, become an hero and save everyone the trouble of dealing with your whiny ass.

>>24695309
yeah I don't know how to add more detail to it but it's fine I haven't worked on that story in ages.
I am curious what you think the age of the characters is?
Also the next page is the cringy part.

>>24695483
>You must think I'm a whore
>No
>I have pills
>Well yes, now that you mention it...

If they're that promiscuous I'm guess early 20s, 25 max.

I have a college degree. Should I write a nonfiction book about something related or unrelated to my degree?

>>24695555
Yes

>>24695452
NTA but I was interested. However, I'm very dumb about what constitutes a complete story in 500 words so I thought I'd ask for your help. If I want a story about a love triangle in an elevator that resolves when the doors open, is that a complete story?
Or maybe it should be a brief fairy tale of a prince kissing a frog who transforms into his wife, is that a story?
If the detective figures out the killer who kills him, is that a complete story?

>>24695567
>I'm very dumb about what constitutes a complete story in 500 words
Consider it a scene from a larger story. Even scenes have a beginning, a middle, and an end, no matter how long they are. All you have to do is figure out how to write a scene that, in essence, lasts maybe a few minutes at most.

BTW, I literally Googled "500-word stories" and this was the first result - https://www.freeshortstories.net/category/500-words/ - use that for a little inspiration/study to see how a story can be told in about 500 words.

Experiment with form. Maybe it's a long diary entry. Maybe it's a dialogue with no other exposition. Maybe the story uses no dialogue. Whatever floats your boat, try it.

Your first draft WILL be shit.
Your fifth draft WILL be shit.
Maybe by the tenth draft it will be passable.
By the twentieth it should be decent.
Don't stop there.

>>24695627
speak for yourself

>>24695619
Fucking terrifying!

>>24695619
JESUS FUCKING CHRIST

>>24695627
Nah, they call me One Draft Dick.

>>24694636
Go outside and live life. Stop basing your writing on regurgitated media.

>>24695567
There's a whole subreddit devoted to that: https://reddit.com/r/shortscarystories/

>>24695759
For sale: white pants (brown spots)

>>24695756
Most people's lives revolve around going to work, picking up McDonald's on the way home, then watching three hours of TV before bed.

>>24695452
I'm trying, that's the thing. I either can't focus, or get the right words out onto the page. I need everything to be perfect.

>>24695799
Are you being deliberately obtuse? Go outside, live life, travel, meet new people, and take risks. The great writes lived interesting lives before coming home and writing about them.

>>24695835
>I need everything to be perfect.
See >>24695627

>>24695866
You're talking about a different time with different people. These days you're the most interesting person to talk to.

>>24695879
Not at all. We just have a population addicted to comfort. Big surprise, nothing they write is interesting in the least.

>>24695530
They're both 26 in that.
He is basically like Paul from Dune, the whole "kwisatz haderach" chosen one type. She is a redhead woman from a seaside town who has a kid from an arranged marriage to a rich guy, who died when the enemy attacked, and her daughter went missing, and this guy rescued her daughter after he was exiled when his fleet was destroyed and wandering around lost. So she took him in and was attracted to him but didn't act on it til they were wandering alone in the woods after rescuing her daughter and their town was destroyed.

>>24695884
Marx was a NEET who mooched off of his best friend Engels and he wrote some interesting things.

>>24695866
You sound like a retarded boomer with this generic advice that is in no way actionable.

>>24695889
Are you admitting Marx wrote fiction? Also, if that's the best example you can come up with, you've completely lost the argument. I was thinking of Hemingway, Vonnegut, Fleming, etc.
>>24695895
Of course it's actionable. What's stopping you? Other than your addiction to comfort, I mean. You know you don't have a family to support.

>>24684535 (OP)
Currently 26k words into the first book of my 6 book science fiction saga, heavily inspired by the fall of the Roman Empire (I mean exact arcs/events and even some names for lesser known historical figures). Goal is 100-150k words for each book
Is this lazy writing? I find it a lot easier having a general outline to follow that I didn't need to come up with but also the flexibility to adjust and change it throughout to what I need.
Also hoping for this to get traditionally published, is that a realistic goal or should I just turn it into smut if I want to get it out on shelves?

>>24695835
>I need everything to be perfect.
You will never achieve perfection - not in your writing and not in how you set yourself up to write. Stop trying to be God and start trying to be a person. Write a bunch of bullshit, set it aside for a bit, then edit (and re-edit, and re-edit, and re-edit...) that shit into something less shitty.

And if you can't focus, either get some medication or look into some sort of non-medical way of getting your head together. You can find a way to focus and write if you really want to write; if you can't, you don't, and you may as well give up now and go find something you actually want to do.

She loosened the soft mass of golden hair which crowned her head. Like a shimmering waterfall turned to burnished metal by a dying sun it fell about her oval face; in waving lines, below her waist it tumbled.

>>24695912
Actually, I do. You know very little about me and you accidentally revealed yourself as a boomer. Also, Hemingway was a fraud. One of the best examples of someone who should've stayed home and improved his craft of writing.

>mfw the favorite part of my sci-fi story is my characters
>mfw they're a non-binary female, a woman, and a man with down syndrome.
and they're the best part I swear.

Trying to write an old style book like Morte D'Arthur in the world I've been autistically creating for a few years now. Trying to balance readability and "ye olde" writing.

Where the fuck do you get ideas from? I haven't had an idea for a story since 2016. I'm not exaggerating.

He dreamt of heliotropic ruins and a troop of naked schoolboys who mocked him for being naked and a universal judge wearing rhino horn wig and wielding a jellied gavel. He woke stinking of fear and mad with hunger. Halfway through breakfast he decided to kill himself. He fetched the .32 revolver and the box of ammunition from the safe and put them both on the table beside his cereal. He was still dazed from sleep. In his fever he confused cereal with live round and filled the six chambers with high-fructose fake fruit pellets, so that when he shut his eyes and smashed his jaw tight and brought the gun to his head and hit the trigger nothing happened, and by the time he woke up and figured out what happened he was so embarrassed that he decided life was too good for him and that he'd suffer a while longer.

>>24696199
Porn. I wrote a 35k story about the girl in one of the sets I saw. Doing the same now for a second story.

>>24696199
I'm sorry, I hoarded more ideas than my lifespan lasts to write

Jimmy's good eye looked out at me from deep within in his fossil face. The other sat half blind, just a marble of milk. His hat was falling apart in five places. Shit, Jimmy was falling apart in fifteen places. Still, there was real warmth in that eye. A real warm blackness. When I listened to him talk my gaze would move between his eyes. Back and forth. I'd spend a while on the warm black one, then a while on the milky white one. Felt like they could see different places while pointed at the same thing.

We were outside his little shed. The sun had just come over the building top. It was almost eleven. That's winter for you. He was telling me about the good old days, "Yah the fish were easy, you could passout shitdrunk in the bottom your rowboat, both hands trailing in the water, and you'd wake up holding a prize bass in one paw and a full bottle of brandy in the other."
"Yah and the women smelt like women should smell. These days they smell like compost." Jimmy was a gardener. I wasn't sure if he meant this as a compliment.
"And the light! Yesyah it used to be brighter! I used to see the whole damn way across the world!" He went on for a long time, listing the changes intrinsic in the modern age. I looked at his milky eye. Looking for something dear to me.

should i start by just jumping into writing novels, or should I write short stories first?

>>24696199
Smoke some weed dude

>>24696315
Start by writing Good Posts, and also writing short stories. Life is long. Novels are even longer. Let us first master the artpost and the short story. Attention spans are trending that direction anyhow.

>>24696236
my laotian uncle did this once too. woke up one day and decided he'd had enough. but he drank heavy and was often shambling around in a groggy state. and you know asiatic uncs — they like their pumpkin seeds. so he loaded up his little police snubnose with pumpkin seeds. and put the damn thing to his pumpkin-like head. and pulled the trigger. and he died. yes those seeds are sharp as fuck, the autopsics department was very confused, but this actually wasn't the first time that this had happened. search for 'pumpkin seed bullets laos', you'll see what i mean.

Who is Howie anyways?

>>24696320
Novels are longer than life?

>>24696390
Yes. Some novels have been known to live for a thousand years or more. Very long-lived organisms.

just had a brain blast and realized that the "robinson" novel trend i the 1800s is exactly the fucking same as isekai / transmigration today
humans are so fucking lame its incredible

Trying my hand at flash fic.

>>24696371
There are several theories:

A. Howie is a tragic individual, a modern Tantalus, as stated above. Condemned to a life of craving the fruits of action while being unable to act. He is given the spade, he is shown how to dig, but he cannot bring himself to strike the ground. Rather he cries out "How, how, how?" Until the spade falls from his hand, and he turns on his would be helpers, red in the face, and accuses them of sabotage.

B. He is a god-tier troll.

C. He is a mod, who is paid a thimble of sheckels per bump.

D. He is a kind of digital bodhisattva, who debases himself with uselessness in order to make us love ourselves. This is accomplished by even the most wretched among us, when encountering Howie, having the thought "at least I'm not Howie."

>>24696432
ok but like actually who is howie?

>>24696445
The question that nobody ever asks is: How is Howie?

>>24696447
What race is Howie?

>>24695923
>if you can't, you don't, and you may as well give up now and go find something you actually want to do.

I have ADHD and I've been told this about literally every hobby I've ever tried.

what's the difference in connotative shade between 'capricious' and 'mercurial'? I've gotten the sense that the former is closer to changing decisions on a whim whereas the latter is more based on emotions, but I'm not sure if that covers it or is even quite right

>>24696448
He's from Ashdod.

My only objective metric for good writing is sincerity. Everything else burns down to personal opinion.

>>24696683
>My only objective metric is subjective metric
what did he mean by this?

What’s not a lif?

>>24696315
If you can't write one scene you can't write a collection of 50 of them, i.e., a novel. Start small and build from there.

>>24696393
It remains to be seen if they can outlast poetry, those beasts have been seen roaming the wastes even longer

>>24696416
humans were meant to explore

>>24696424
dec'

>>24696416
>robinson
You mean The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, Mariner: Who lived Eight and Twenty Years, all alone in an un-inhabited Island on the Coast of America, near the Mouth of the Great River of Oroonoque; Having been cast on Shore by Shipwreck, wherein all the Men perished but himself. With An Account how he was at last as strangely deliver'd by Pyrates. Written by Himself, correct? The one that launched the Robinsonade genre. Wow, Robinsonade. An abbreviated version of the full title.

That's from the 1700s.
Or maybe you're a fan of Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships?
Also in the 1700s, written not long afterwards.

The modern trend owes itself to more recent stories such as Narnia.

People have always enjoyed reading fun stories. What you should be finding fucking lame is how the western publishing industry abandoned them and had the gall to say nobody reads anymore. Reading can be very fun, and should be fun.

What are some good writing improvement resources? I have started reading The Elements of Style but what other books are there that contain actually valuable information for writing literature? I don't want bullshit produced by Millenial women that will only serve to help one write fantasy or romance drivel. If there are also any YouTubers that have good advice/information in the same vein as the types of books I am looking for.

>>24684535 (OP)
Should I write before or after I successfully convince my parents to clean up our disgusting house? I've been having writer's block for years and I can't help but think this is part of the problem.

>>24684651
I lost braincells reading the first sentence and didn't go further.

Why do I even bother with /wg/?
It must only be out of habit; nothing useful has ever come from here.

>>24697449
Once in a blue moon I'll post a writing sample here and the absolute tear down I get really helps me improve my craft. And if I'm lucky I'll get someone who wants to email correspond and read my stuff.

It can be good but you have to want it.

>>24697449
For fun?

>>24696476
Pick a hobby and stick with it, then. If you want to write, write - and if you want to focus on your writing, you're going to have to give up most of your other hobbies. You can't write and play vidyagaems and shitpost on 4chan and jork it to porn at the same time, and you can't do all of those things separately without losing focus on all of them.

I've got ADHD too, and I'm still trying to get my shit together, and I've found that limiting my input - site blocking, tab limits on my browser, that sort of thing - helps a hell of a lot in calming my brain down so I can focus on something. Maybe that's what you need to do.

If you want to write, you'll write, and the motivation to continue will come as you write. If you don't want to write, you'll keep shitposting on 4chan and doing a whole bunch of other stuff to avoid metaphorically cutting your finger to put some blood on the page. ADHD is an excuse, not an explanation. Write or don't — it's as simple as that.

>>24697449
/wg/ can be pretty good
it's rare but it does happen

>>24697680
Not that anon, but

>ADHD is an excuse, not an explanation
Disagree. It's a valid explanation because ADHD is a genuine brain disorder that shows up on scans. It doesn't react to stimulants the way normal brains handle them.

>Pick a hobby and stick with it, then
This is much different from the advice you gave earlier. ADHD does require you to violate the idea of a hobby and turn it into a pseudo-job where you have to stick with it whether you're enjoying it or not. That's a critical component of ADHD management that most people do not understand, you must learn how to force yourself the right way that works for you.

You're also forgetting the executive dysfunction aspect of ADHD which becomes worse in adulthood. It's got nothing to do with how many potential distractions are available so much as it is avoiding upsetting situations. What looks like distraction is in fact avoidance. I can have 1,000 tabs open and focus on my writing. I can have 1 tab open and sit there feeling miserable and unaccomplished. It's too easy to feel barraged by intrusive thoughts and end up unable to accrue momentum. Without sufficient space to yourself it can feel simultaneously isolating and surrounded.

ADHD is a highly misunderstood disorder.

>If you want to write, write - and if you want to focus on your writing, you're going to have to give up most of your other hobbies
If you're a highly creative person who looks up to people who were writers but also managed accomplishments in other fields, it can be incredibly discouraging to know that you're so much lesser than they are.

>>24697437
I sincerely hope that's not your own photo.

>>24697680
>>24697750
Okay, so what should I do? I'm on adderall along with anti depressants and it's still this bad.

>>24697750
I also don't legitimately do anything other than sitting in my room, laying in bed, RPing, jerking off and going to sleep.

>>24696432
Please do not derail the thread with this Howie garbage

>>24697833
>>24697840
>RPing
This is the thing you absolutely have to quit, that entire social space is like a potent neurotoxin to people with ADHD. All you end up doing is focusing on RP while ignoring everything else. You might be able to get back to it at some point if you can heavily moderate yourself but right now you need to lose it. Consider getting a job.

>antidepressants
That's redundant with stimulants. Look for a new psychiatrist that's known for handling ADHD. Don't hold back explaining the issues you've had with it. You need more help than a vietnamese breadfishing forum can give.

>>24697864
How is it redundant with stimulants? Also, RPing is the only reason I'm still able to write.

>>24697864
Also I do have a job, I can barely focus in it.

>>24697869
Go talk to your insurance company or your doctor about your medication dude, if you keep double posting and replying like you think this is a chat platform you're obviously too hopped up.

>RPing is the only reason I'm still able to write
You think it is, but it's not. RPing takes a different mindset that consumes the same mental reserves.

>>24697876
I'm currently getting treated for my thyroid issue, because I don't want to change medicine until that's fixed since it affects all my other meds.

>>24697891
Then wait and maintain your current habits until your issue is resolved.

You don't want to change your medication, you don't want to change your habits, and you don't want to change your mindset. This is a waste of everyone's time and has nothing to do with writing at this point but your own blog.

I'm not going to ask you what you were thinking; all I want to say is that you need to stick to your doctor and therapist, not look for stimulation by arguing here.

>>24697908
I've also changed my stimulants numerous times to nothing happening.

/wg/ is the most useless thread on this board.
Nobody on it publishes anything, the vast majority never finish a WIP, those that do almost never bother to query.
Any excerpt that is shown is either ignored or dog piled by those same guys who never finish their WIPs (if they ever STARTED).
At this stage, I only come out of habit and typed this to shout into the void, knowing nothing would shout back.

>>24698304
but there' sa link that has a list of /wg/ finished self-published authors.

>>24698304
k
*continues writing*

>>24698304
I published mine with Kindle this year. No one's bought it yet.

>>24695984
Hemingway was more successful, and more influential, than many writers you would consider not to be frauds. Putting him down reveals you to be a failed bucket crab.

>>24696199
Live life. Talk to people. Read. Preferably in that order.

>>24697265
There's literally a HOWTO in the OP.

>>24698319
And here's another one: https://lampbylit.com/magazine/authors/

>>24698741
>>24698741
>>24698741

>>24698712
He made money and he tricked retards like you. And?
>>24698722
Try giving less generic boomercore advice.

>>24698762
Have you given any advice? Were you the "smoke week" idiot? Drugging yourself into a stupor accomplishes nothing. My advice is how writers have come up with ideas since time immemorial. Writers used to be people who lived interesting lives. Now we have NEET shutins with room-temperature IQs who want to write mostly because they have nothing going on in their lives, but they forgot to be interesting. I have a hard time comprehending people who say they want to write yet have no ideas of what to write. I'm drowning in ideas; I just need the time and energy to write them.
>hurr durr my seething opinions are objective facts
Never change.

>>24698795
I accept your concession.

>>24698797
That's not how any of this works. All you've done is demonstrate that you're schizo. Still waiting for your advice to >>24696199.

>>24696199
Dive into the ocean

>>24698821
Ew.

>>24698875
Did I stutter?

>>24698712
nta but Hemingway wrote like a grade schooler. No art to his writing whatsoever.

>>24698908
You're moving the goalposts. Hemingway led an interesting life, then wrote about it.

wow, look at this pile of crap: https://files.catbox.moe/d9sukc.zip
and these bundles of joy: https://files.catbox.moe/aw9gz2.pdf https://files.catbox.moe/rpuvnd.pdf

Just got in maybe 700 words just now. Feeling good, because I've been doing a lot of procrastination lately. This entire section is basically just an intermission, and the payoff is basically a dumb joke. But I'm going to go a few thousand words into this little side story to provide the backdrop for a joke.

What words can I use to refer to the protagonist in prose?
I can use his name and "he", but what else?
With other characters I can refer to them by occupation or by some characteristics. Eg "the wizard dropped the book" or "the red-head downed the cup". But I feel like I can't do that with the MC because he's the point of view character. So how else can I refer to MC in prose?