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No. 231750
Following the newly made author cows thread -
>>>/snow/516563, let's have a general writing life thread! Post your favorite writing tips, advice, inspiration, problems, questions, memes, and vents.
No. 231751
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>>231750I'll open this pit by saying that I've been working on a YA action thriller for the past seven years, and am getting close to finally finishing it. I like working on multiple books simultaneously, so seven years isn't really super autistic as it sounds lol.
I have a seperarte drive in (E:) just for my books, and folders with subfolders for each book. I collect images from the net, songs that vibe with each character or story, one big word document for general scenes and ideas, books that are important for research, and usually if the story is big enough a word document for each important character. I'm totally the architect type, and I need to have a very detailed outline and character backgrounds before I start writing the story fr. I admire pantsers but I just can't do it.
I love working with Scrivener, Write or Die, and Zen Writer. I have DramaticaPro but haven't tried it yet. But this is usually after I have like 300k words in .doc, Scrivener just helps me sort out my thoughts chronologically.
I have some really neat pics and screengrabs of tips and tricks collected over the last ten years that I'll compile into a list or something!
Happy writing!
No. 232156
I was really hoping someone would start a thread like this. In fact, I was pondering on starting it myself this morning, and then I stumble upon this… spooky.
What would be some tips and resources for absolute beginners? My goal is to write a book of my own, I'm aware that it will take years and practice but I'm determined to do it, I just don't know where to start.
>>231751That sounds pretty cool. I hope to have a dedication as strong as yours.
No. 232184
>>232178Is that so? If you don't mind me asking, what exactly did you feel was better about your writing back then?
As a question to every anon, what do you think are good habits to form for new writers?
No. 232199
>>232184I wrote through my heart and not my brain. Once you've been writing for a while you start to second-guess yourself, add more adjectives, and elaborate on scenes you really shouldn't. Soon your readers will be slogging through a paragraph and a half of unnecessary detail and drama they don't care about.
Just write what's on the surface of your brain; write like no one but you will ever see your story. But when you write, make sure that you are satisfied with it. If it is something you can see yourself clicking on and reading, and if you are happy with reading it by yourself according to your standards, then you know it's ready!
No. 232205
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>>232154I'll be querying agents sometime end of April, beginning of May. I have some really outstanding agents on my wish list. I don't really know when I'll be published tho, as soon as the agent sells my book, I guess :P (if I'm lucky)
>>232156Thank you so much! I'll be posting some tips from my notepad, if anyone wants tips on specific areas (characterization, plotting, suspense, dialogue, writing for emotional impact, how to show and not tell, etc.) just ask in the thread and I'll hook you up!
>>232160>>232164Solid advice! A scene in your head can be as short as a couple of seconds (a touch, a look, a brief conversation), or a single interesting action (a young woman driving a car down a highway alone at night). You can build around that scene by either thinking on what events could have led to this scene (she stole the car), or building on what comes after the scene (she gets pulled over by a cop). If you have a person in mind, what do they look like or what kind of person do they seem like to you? You could find some basic Get To Know Me questions helpful here. You don't need to know your characters' blood types, per se, but it's a nice starting point to get you thinking about what kind of person they are.
>>232176Anon your language can be as pedestrian or dry as you feel comfortable using. If the story is engaging, your readers won't care about which words you used to evoke it in their minds. It's also safer to stick to non-flowery language as purple prose can be quite jarring to the reader, not to mention distracting. Keep that in mind when editing, tho. You can write however you damn well please before that. It's so much easier to have a lot of pages written and then cut shit out if it don't feel right when re-reading. That's why I'll have hundreds of pages of cringe and bullcrap before I spin shit into gold.
>>232184Good habits to form for new writers: FIXED WRITING SCHEDULE. Keep that shit sacred, and do not let anyone infringe upon your writing sessions. It doesn't have to be every day. Fuck, I don't even write during the day. I write at night, exclusively, because it's much more condusive to my creativity, and I know that no one will bother me.
A couple of hours a day is excellent, but an hour before or after work will also do. John Grisham used to get up an hour before work to work on A Time To Kill. Not everyone is privileged enough to have nothing to do all day but write, so you work with what you have. Ritualize the shit out of your writing time. Get out of bed, get coffee, sit down, fire up computer, play some music, open a .doc, write trash, rinse and repeat. A ritual. Sacred.
Writing is obsessive. It's a solitary act. It's hours and hours of boring, hard work. But it's also magical, and worth it.
>>232185I am notorious for having lots of unfinished projects. Sometimes you lose steam, sometimes you lose interest. There's no shame in putting some projects on standby as you work on something that you like more. But just know that the story you're working on is going to naturally look different with every month or year you invest in it. It's going to take on a life of its own, the harder you work on it. You might not be feeling the story idea anymore, but out of it might come this one character you just love, or this one theme you're really into.
I'll look at my book from 2011/12, its beginning stages where I was so confident I knew everything about the plot, and be like WOW. This draft is so much different, so much better. I don't even like the foundations anymore, but I love this character that came naturally three years into working on this book.
Don't ever reget working on a novel, and NEVER EVER NEVER delete anything you wrote. I have a book I've been writing since I was TWELVE years old, and I really like the accidental zeitgeist, nostalgic feel to it. (I love how I pulled edgy myspace era pictures off the net and added them to the .doc to "spice up" my story, kek)
>>232186Thank you <3 It's also really nice to download songs you stumble upon that remind you of the book you're working on, and suddenly you have a folder with the book playlist, and it immediately puts you in the right frame of mind to continue writing.
A turn of phrase you can practically hear your character use in his/her speech, a screencap from a movie that has a bedroom that resembles/vibes with your character's taste, a map pulled off google maps of the cul-de-sac your characters could definitely live in, an oddity that suits x character perfectly.
THE HARDER YOU WORK ON YOUR STORY/CHARACTERS, THE EASIER THEY'LL CONNECT WITH YOU. They'll start coming to you, wanting to tell you their stories. They'll walk into your head with scenes you just have to write down.
BTW, I think NaNoWriMo is a great motivational tool for writers! Just remember not to get bogged down or overwhelmed by the tempo.
No. 232207
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>>232205To add on the NaNoWriMo bit - I failed every NaNo I started because the tempo was too much for me, and now I'm sitting here with a finished draft of the book that lost the last 2-3 NaNos. I don't work well under pressure, I get stressed out too easily.
WRITING TIPS/RANDOM INFODUMP! Sorry about the shit editing, this is literally years worth of tips I copy pasted into a notepad, so the experience ranges from beginner to expert. These are all so wonderful:
First and foremost, remember that writing is more than just creating cool characters. Some people like world building, others like to explore relationships, others prefer exploring a certain genre, others prefer to create something that comes from the deepest corners of their soul, while others prefer to make the audience cry, cower, feel happy, laugh, or pump their fists and cheer. Remember, cool characters don't make good stories; it's good writers who make good stories.
The real problem with books-turned-movies isn’t “omg they didn’t include every single word in the book” it’s “omg they completely overlooked the main theme, threw out any significant allegories, took away all the emotional pull, an turned it into a boring action movie with a love triangle in it”
Do the research. That's what the Internet is FOR.
You can't copyright facts.
A Crowning Moment of Funny that "A Touch of Glass" was written backwards to reach.
I want to see the heroines struggle and work hard to become powerful because that is interesting and seeing them work so hard to get what they want makes me feel warm inside.
Interquel
When there are already two or more completed works, an interquel can portray events that happened between them, bridging one story to the other.
The interquel is therefore a sequel to one work and a prequel to another.
Midquel
A midquel is a sequel which can take place during a chronology gap within a single previously completed work. For example, the Narnia book The Horse and His Boy takes place during the reign of the Pevensie children, which happens towards the end of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Steven Spielberg once said, "I like ideas, especially movie ideas, that you can
hold in your hand. If a person can tell me the idea in twenty-five words or less, it's going
to make a pretty good movie." This measure works just as well on stories featuring small
ensembles as it does on epics with casts of thousands.
Vignette: a sketch; brief literary or visual event; description; tableau
A short impressionistic scene that focuses on one moment or gives a trenchant impression about a character, idea, setting, or object.
"This type of ending is a special instance of deus ex machina, known as the folie adieu, which is French for “Are you fucking kidding me?”- Howard Mittelmark
Villain: dramatic or fictional character who is typically at odds with the hero
i’d love to see more women villains that are completely unsympathetic. no stupid “woe is me” backstory that hardly justifies their actions. no victim complex. no hesitation. just a love for carnage and head games and an insatiable lust for pain. mentally unhinged or fully in control. there aren’t enough female characters out there that are truly monsters. as much as it’s fun to see male characters do that, i want some iconic serial killer ladies in my life.
“You don’t really understand an antagonist until you understand why he’s a protagonist in his own version of the world.”
Write, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite… on and on until you have carved through your words with a scalpel, until you are telling the story exactly as you want it told. That is the way. It can be difficult, frustrating, even tedious. Tough cookies. That’s how it gets done. Not all in one great choking gulp, but in small bites, chewing slowly.
well-written villains with tragic pasts
well-written villains who are bad just because they are bad
well-written villains with sympathetic motives
well-written villains with evil motives
well-written villains with a chance of redemption
well-written villains with no chance of redemption
well-written villains
Once I have the idea for a story, I start collecting all kinds of helpful information and storing it in three-ring notebooks. For example, I may see a picture of a man in a magazine and say, ‘That’s exactly what the father in my books looks like!’
Do you ever look up from reading a book and get disoriented because you’re actually in your bedroom or class or somewhere that isn’t the story?
“The greatest possible mint of style is to make the words absolutely disappear into the thought.”
— Nathaniel Hawthorne
“Constructing a sentence is the equivalent of taking a Polaroid snapshot: pressing the button, and watching something emerge. To write one is to document and to develop at the same time. Not all sentences end up in novels or stories. But novels and stories consist of nothing but. Sentences are the bricks as well as the mortar, the motor as well as the fuel. They are the cells, the individual stitches. Their nature is at once solitary and social. Sentences establish tone, and set the pace. One in front of the other marks the way.”
Describe the full sensory experience. Try to avoid cliched description like, “His skin was like ice.” Instead, go for weird description and see how it works. Look for ways to connect your characters with things they experience or have experienced in their world. “His skin was cold to the touch like our front door’s brass doorknob in the dead of winter. I was afraid my hands would stick, afraid they would come away black and frostbitten.” Describe viscerally, jarringly even, and get your readers’ attention. Don’t be afraid to go for the strange metaphor. If you decide you don’t like it, you can always change it later!
Character description should stick, not dribble away like watery glue.
A character who espouses this value (loyalty) will gain respect from the reader.
Fictional characters — homo fictus
Imagine your OTP becoming canon.
seeing submissive characters in dominant roles
seeing dominant characters in submissive roles
The hardest part of writing witty dialogue is that I’m not as witty as the characters
"The writer of originality, unless dead, is always shocking, scandalous; novelty disturbs and repels."
these are real tears and real emotions put into this artwork
The roles have switched your antagonist has become your protagonist!
no matter what i watch/read i promise you i will fall in love with
a. the villain
b. the character that gets one scene
c. the morally ambiguous character that is only looking out for themself
the false protagonist
It could probably have been written to pack more of an emotional punch.
“For each person there is a sentence—a series of words—which has the power to destroy him” -Philip K. Dick
i like fictional ladies who scare me a little
A good writer knows that dialog flows from their characters, not the other way around.
Writing is a business for self-starters.
Cliches should be played with, not played straight.
a well-orchestrated plot
Their personalities relayed brilliantly through economic sentences and then reinforced with dialogue.
Scenes that send shivers down your whole body!
"The thing you have to ask yourself is: "Which are my big scenes?" and then get every drop of juice out of them." PG Woodehouse
What parts of your characters’ appearance is their choice (ex. dyed hair, tattoos, etc)?
polish your set-pieces like a jewel; make it the best domestic quarrel anybody ever wrote -something has happened completely
prepare for big scenes -half the fun of any holiday is looking forward to it
"invoke a state of altered consciousness"
vivid detail
add emotion and stirr vigourously
have conflict on every page
push your own original concepts far enough = worldbuilding
cool characters breaking their composure
detached characters being hurt
mean characters sobbing
Have a subplot suddenly turn supernova and expand catastrophically on the reader, like a guy that’s been turned down enter the room and start shooting at the important characters.
READER HAS TO SEE FIRST CHAPTER – open with an image, a scene in action, not with words. Use brief description and clear language, short sentences. The first paragraph sets up a scene, the second introduces the character. What they see, feel, hear, smell, taste and touch.
This book is one of those books that keep you turning the pages even when you have other things to do.
Character desperate for information, the reader will be, too
Plot a real story
THAT, my friends, is the ultimate villain. One who knows they’re evil and LOVES it.
Kurt Vonnegut:
1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way tht they will not feel the time was wasted.
2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.
3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.
4. Every sentence must do one of two things-reveal character or advance the action.
5. Be a Sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them-in order that the reader may see what they are made of.
You love your characters. You want the reader to love them, too; that’s only natural. But you can’t demand that the reader love them on sight. You have to show, you have to tell, you have to guide them into loving them. That’s what those 700 pages are for. You don’t need to squeal. Give the reader 100, 200, 500 pages of this character, and they will squeal for you.
In the stories we love, the stories we stay up late at night for, the ones for which we pay $25.99 in hardback, the ones we willingly spend hours of our life on, those stories very frequently put the reader into a state of hoping and fearing for a character. This starts as curiosity and quickly moves to sympathy. Very often it builds to an edge-of-your-seat worry that continues up to the end of the novel. At that point the reader experiences a cathartic release.
~
No. 232234
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>>232207> “His skin was cold to the touch like our front door’s brass doorknob in the dead of winter. I was afraid my hands would stick, afraid they would come away black and frostbitten.”If the thing being described isn't VERY important/the description VERY relevant, don't fucking do this. Just say cold.
No. 232259
>>232256NTA but they should have at least spaced it out in a readable manner.
Tumblr shit aside, if you're trying to give writing advice/technique you first need to learn how to make your basic typing somewhat readable. I know greentext is informal but this could of used some kind of break up other than spacing.
No. 232274
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No. 248735
This is something I read whenever I need a little boost.
"Manuscripts are unwieldy, but the real reason for that time ratio is that most of them are a fast reject. Herewith, the rough breakdown of manuscript characteristics, from most to least obvious rejections:
>1 Author is functionally illiterate.>2 Author has submitted some variety of literature we don’t publish: poetry, religious revelation, political rant, illustrated fanfic, etc.>3 Author has a serious neurochemical disorder, puts all important words into capital letters, and would type out to the margins if MSWord would let him.>4 Author is on bad terms with the Muse of Language. Parts of speech are not what they should be. Confusion-of-motion problems inadvertently generate hideous images. Words are supplanted by their similar-sounding cousins: towed the line, deep-seeded, dire straights, nearly penultimate, incentiary, reeking havoc, hare’s breath escape, plaintiff melody, viscous/vicious, causal/casual, clamoured to her feet, a shutter went through her body, his body went ridged, empirical storm troopers, ex-patriot Englishmen, et cetera.>5 Author can write basic sentences, but not string them together in any way that adds up to paragraphs.>6 Author has a moderate neurochemical disorder and can’t tell when he or she has changed the subject. This greatly facilitates composition, but is hard on comprehension.>7 Author can write passable paragraphs, and has a sufficiently functional plot that readers would notice if you shuffled the chapters into a different order. However, the story and the manner of its telling are alike hackneyed, dull, and pointless.(At this point, you have eliminated 60-75% of your submissions. Almost all the reading-and-thinking time will be spent on the remaining fraction.)
>8 It’s nice that the author is working on his/her problems, but the process would be better served by seeing a shrink than by writing novels.
>9 Nobody but the author is ever going to care about this dull, flaccid, underperforming book.>10 The book has an engaging plot. Trouble is, it’s not the author’s, and everybody’s already seen that movie/read that book/collected that comic.(You have now eliminated 95-99% of the submissions.)
>11 Someone could publish this book, but we don’t see why it should be us.>12 Author is talented, but has written the wrong book.>13 It’s a good book, but the house isn’t going to get behind it, so if you buy it, it’ll just get lost in the shuffle.>14 Buy this book." From:
http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004641.htmlI also like reading the blog Ms Snark, she's an agent from NYC and wrote the blog about ten years ago, answering tons of questions about what the publishing world is like and providing interesting snippets.
http://misssnark.blogspot.com.au/For those of you thinking about query letters to agent, Query Shark helps writers improve their letters. It's awesome to see the revision process.
http://queryshark.blogspot.com.au/ No. 248739
>>248735Huh, it's pretty encouraging to know I'd make it to the last 1-5%. Thanks for the post and links, anon.
I've been wondering how likely it would be to get published in a foreign country. I write in English exclusively despite living in a non-English speaking country, I can't for the life of me write in my native language. I have zero connection to my local culture, and that comes up frequently in my writing… I believe it could be an interesting theme for a foreign reader.
No. 249547
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>>248735>8 It’s nice that the author is working on his/her problems, but the process would be better served by seeing a shrink than by writing novels.
>9 Nobody but the author is ever going to care about this dull, flaccid, underperforming book.Wow, I'm terrified that my novel would get rejected because of those two. Then again, Sylvia Plath was writing about her own struggles with depression (in a thinly-veiled way) and that is why Bell Jar is a masterpiece.
Looking for a little of writing advice. I am the anon from Nicole Dollanganger thread who envied her ability to write about her life in an interesting way. Does anyone have any tips in regards to how to write personal diary entries/blog posts in a personal and engaging way? I suffer from AVPD so it is incredibly hard for me to write about myself, though I would like to chronicle my life just for my own sake. The problem is that I feel like everything I write about myself is so plain and unfinished. I can never capture all my thoughts and feeling. I know that the only way to change it is to make a habit out of writing diary posts, but I don't even know how to start. My self-doubt is killing me.
No. 261348
>>232234There's plenty of "bestseller" trash fiction that overuses this form of excessive metaphor and simile to unintentionally hilarious effect.
Writing tip:
Most books that people
buy are poorly written trash/drivel with expensive advertising campaigns and rich authors. Do not use current fiction as your bar. Use classics, search for the good stuff. If your writing is as good as a "bestseller" it's not good enough yet.
No. 261404
>>261344I wish I could, but I never drink! I hate the taste of alcohol. I might give it a go under boyfriend's watchful eye though. Thanks for the advice, anon.
I'll be trying to write an essay for a Rookie-like zine, wish me good luck.
No. 261752
>>261743If you feel awkward about even letting your editor see it, you shouldn't include it, in my opinion. Your insecurity might shine through and possibly ruin any character development you hoped to achieve in the first place.
Either that, or take a deep breath and understand that it's just sex. Be mature about it, and if your family find it awkward it's their problem, not yours. It's not like they have to read it just because they're your family.
No. 261844
>>261769Have you considered that your character development is lacking if you need sexual scenes to make it seem less "juvenile"?
I suggest taking the challenge and writing up a couple chapters with no sex and seeing if you can develop your characters and dialogue in other ways. If you get published there is a possibility of huge chunks of your book being edited out, and then the character development is out of your hands. It should be consistent throughout the story and not be reliant on specific events.
No. 261911
>>261844Its hard to explain without being too specific about the story, but no.
>writing up a couple chapters with no sex and seeing if you can develop your characters and dialogue in other ways.It’s not all sex. Just a few scenes which are pretty big moments in the story.
No. 262686
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>>261404You should smoke weed!
I always kick the shit out of myself when I get high, and the poems I've written while stoned are actually really exciting even though I can't remember a lot of what was between the lines.
No. 305714
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https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/traveler-ultimate-distraction-free-writing-tool#/Saw an ad for this little writing gadget and as gimmicky and pricey it is, I love it. Had I been making money in USD, I would purchase it. Otherwise it's too expensive for me.
Does anyone have an idea of what could be an alternative solution? Is it possible to buy a case for a smartphone with a keyboard?
I wish there was a budget version of this writer productivity computer, but as it's the first of the kind, I'm out of luck…
No. 305726
>>305714 You could probably buy a USB compatible Alphasmart for like $20
I knew a couple people who would use those before schools had laptops available for students to use
No. 305727
>>305726Thank you! Never heard about those.
How do you transfer your files? Via Memory Card?
No. 369562
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Is anybody interested in the Neil Gaiman Masterclass course?
You can get it on reddit or 4chan if you know where to look (would post link but not sure if I won't get banned for it lol).
Though I am not his biggest fan, I am very excited to watch this and take notes.
I have been really slacking with my writing and ~writer lifestyle~ in general and I want to get more in touch with the topic.
I wish I had a group of writer friends so we could meet, talk and work on our art together…sigh
No. 374936
>>369562I don't think it's against the rules. Please post it anon! Or at least a hint how to get them. I searched for the shonda rhimes one but all the links were dead, same with malcom gladwell.
Anyways, I didn't saw this thread but I'm so glad it got bumped specially since i'm struggling a little with the topic myself.
I love writing so I studied something related. The problem is I live in country where it's very hard to live based in art-related stuff, including writing. Even tho making cash for writing in blogs is rare. There is not pay-per-post knowledge either. One of the most common stuff you can do in my area it's winning state funds to finance your projects but still it isn't a stable income. Right now i'm a full time copywriter. It isn't my area but it's kinda related I think. Still is weird and I don't like the job but hey, money is money i guess. I miss having time to write random ideas for screenplays and small tales. Practice is key and I feel i'm losing my abilities because of my boring job. I just want to follow those motivational pictures and follow my dreams but i'm super scared.
Any anons feeling that their full time jobs affects their writing?
No. 375088
>>374936Choosing your passion as a career field isn't the best idea. After a while, it feels like a chore, and like a prison. I've done a writing-related job and I won't do it ever again; it took away all the joy for writing I'd had and I feel like I'm still recovering after it. Like I'm attempting to write and I immediately feel tired and annoyed. Wish I hadn't done that fucking job.
My problem is… I just don't have ideas. Everything I come up with, after thinking it over sounds like something else, something that's already out there. I make myself so angry, because I always thought I was creative but apparently I'm not. Seems like I can't come up with anything both original and coherent.
>>369562Would love to check it out too, anon. Do share, please
No. 375226
>>374936>>375088Hope piracy is not ban worthy here then kek
Have a torrent link. Hope you enjoy!
https://www.reddit.com/r/MasterclassDropship/comments/ao6p8v/neil_gaiman_masterclass_magnet_link_for_utorrent/I am listening to this right now and while I have not found many new or original tips in the first 4 parts, it's nice and encouraging to listen to Neil talk about the ups and downs of being a writer.
On another note, I relate a lot to struggling with work killing your writing. My job is completely unrelated and extremely mentally draining. It's impossible for me to do creative writing after I get home, I am too exhausted (my depression probably also does not help). I only do small bits and pieces of writing during my days off (to make matters worse, I am unable to write more than a paragraph or two at a time). I try to tell myself that I have all the time and what matters the most is that I keep fighting even though life is hard… shit sucks, but nobody is paying me for my novel draft and it's my personal goal to finish it.
No. 375262
>>375226I have the same problems with motivating myself, anon.
Maybe we could set something up where we all post bits and pieces of our writing? I know feedback helps motivate me personally, and I'd be down to read other people's stuff and give feedback, even if it was just "Great chapter! I liked the bit where this happened, and this character is cool."
No. 375542
>>375262I love the idea anon! I write in my native language, but I can translate to English no problem. TBH I would enjoy just being able to read others work and talk about writer things.
Only issue is that I worry that we do not have enough writers here. At times like these I wish lolcow had a bigger userbase because sometimes I feel like I am the only one interested in certain topics and I enjoy the women only community. I feel like if more anons came here certain threads could really take off.
No. 378685
>>375542>>375262I'm
>>374936 and I like the idea! I love reading other people stuff. Maybe we can start a discordchannel?
No. 398362
File: 1555206825520.gif (3.56 MB, 420x640, totoro.gif)
I want to start writing poetry but I've only ever dabbled in it a little and the times I did, I felt retarded because I kept googling synonyms for words to make my poetry sound better and more 'profound'. All I can hear in my head too is Morrissey singing "I didn't realize you wrote such bloody awful poetry" lol.
Anyone got any tips? I feel like maybe I should just stop giving a fuck and get on with it already since I don't plan on showing anyone anyway. It'll just be in a locked journal and based on my fantasies. I am constantly daydreaming and I think it would be nice to leak out some of these thoughts on paper even if its execution isn't great.
No. 398700
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>>398362You don't have to make your poetry sound more 'profound'. Just write how you feel like to, even if it sounds awkward. Of course reading what other people have written is really helpful. You'll find your own voice when you write, write and write. Trying different poetry styles works too: try sometimes a haiku or a limerick for example.
No. 398755
File: 1555285773420.jpg (92.88 KB, 500x416, tumblr_md3lp1auB11rpkenpo1_500…)
>>398726I don't know any books about this (maybe some other anon might know?) but I found this:
https://www.write-out-loud.com/how-to-write-a-poem.html and I thought that was kind of good 'instruction manual'. At least it's not a WikiHow article…
It's hard for me to give good advice, because I prefer writing poems that are not free verse. So that web page is a good lesson for me too, hah.
No. 405462
>>404063I think the most important thing about a story it's the purpose of the action. Sometimes I come up with stories full of rad characters in a nice setting. However, I lack an objective/purpose/goal for the story, so it isn't as appealing as I want it to be.
Try to write down what do you want in your story: the beginning and the end, the background, the plot twists, etc.
By the time you get to this point, I'm sure some good characters that fit the story would have come to your mind. Everything starts with the ending and storyline and then evolves from that. At least that's the easiest way I can think of writing a story without having different characters and backgrounds with no relation to each other.
Once you have the story, start writing the first chapters to see how comfortable you are with the setting and the personality of your characters. Since it's a graphic novel, writing with the speech people use on plays can help you (describing briefly the enviroment and composition of each scene, writing down dialogue, etc.).
Just try to be consistent and don't be insecure about writing down your thoughts, you can revise them later. Good luck!
No. 506065
File: 1579692041912.jpg (236.56 KB, 985x1139, IMG_20200122_121247.jpg)
I'm bumping this thread (my fave on lolcow, wish it was more active tbh) once again, this time to vent.
Yesterday I have found out about an instagram poet which is very popular in my country. He writes terrible garbage and is completely proud of his work. He has about 266 thousand of followers on instagram (mostly young women amazed with how ~deep~ his feelings are). It's like Rupi Kaur but worse as dripping with unwarranted selfimportance and testosterone (I like Kaur's poetry, but completely get why many people don't). The cunt is also constantly comparing himself to Hank Moody, like it's not tacky to say you are a fictional character IRL (especially when the character is considered extremely talented in the story).
Pic related is one of his 'poems'
>great poets write that love has many names.
>for me, it will always have only yours.
Here's another one:
>Title: Alone
>Loneliness.
>I hate you.
I have found out shortly that the doofus is not some random person that stroke gold with their tumblr-tier crap. He's been working for years in Polish private television and is currently dating a tv star.
I'm so angry and I guess envious. Not about his writing talent (which I don't think he has) but that people like him are selfconfident enough to write and publish such garbage.
His poetry and letters are the kind of content that teenage girls write in their diaries when they are in love. Everyone would laugh if they published those entries, but when it's a man whining about The One Who Got Away and having sad cummies, everyone calls him a genius when it comes to emotions.
Any time I write about something from my perspective, without hiding behind fiction I feel so goddamn stupid and unimportant. I wish I could publish my thoughts (even on a blog) without feeling like an worthless idiot. You would think that seeing crap poetry getting love would encourage me, but it's the opposite. Because I am a woman with mental health issues and no money or connections to famous people, I cannot propel myself into limelight by selfpublishing my crap and promoting it on instagram by posing as ~le sensitive male with tattoos uwu~.
I'm gonna talk about this during therapy, as my writing issue stems from my personality disorder. I wanted to get the writing side off my chest on lolcow tho.
No. 506087
>>262686>>261404Kek. I'm laughing at this because ironically, I also did my best writing when drunk. I am now sober but find that writing is a lot harder, I'm timider/more reserved about what I write now and suffer froms tons of writer's block. It really makes me wonder just how many writers, screenwriters, etc just write all of their shit completely fucked up.
>>506065Even the worst writers have fans. People typically don't have very high standards. I use this as motivation more than anything. Just think, if people can like his garbage, they can definitely appreciate something that's actually well written. Don't be so defeatist, anon. You won't ever know unless you try.
No. 506096
>>506087I'm planning to try drinking rose wine when attempting to write. I never drink and get drunk easily so I hope it will help me out. Keep your fingers crossed for me anons kek.
I hope I will stop feeling self-conscious all the time and just smash away.
Thank you for your kind words, anon. I wish I was not retarded at social media at least. I have no idea how to get people's attention.
No. 506137
File: 1579716865904.jpeg (126.56 KB, 638x479, kljljlj.jpeg)
>>506096I used to do that for essays in college. pic related
No. 538416
>>537404I wasn't sure if it would be construed as inappropriate shilling.
This is one of my first writing projects. My writing style has changed a lot since I started, and I would've rewritten several scenes I didn't like anymore. Out of the four chapters, chapter 3 is what I would've revised the most. Since there's no PDF upload, this is the AO3 link.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/18715999/chapters/44389918 No. 579321
>>579242Assuming that you're going to hand off this script to artists and won't be drawing this yourself, I wouldn't stress so much about how exactly you're describing things. As a comic artist, the most important things for me to know when adapting a script are the dialogue and any visual details that are important to the plot and/or setting. If you want a fight scene to be choreographed a certain way, specific background details to stand out, the facial expressions to be exactly as you're imagining, or a certain mood/atmosphere to a scene, then write those details down. Otherwise, trust your artist/s to handle things like pacing, posing, backgrounds, etc somewhat on their own. Working collaboratively with your artist/s and communicating along the way should work out any concerns you have!
So basically: as an artist, I wouldn't want to draw a script that has only dialogue. But, I moreso wouldn't want to draw a script with too many unnecessary details. Keep it simple! Also, Capeshit is a great name.
No. 579612
>>579321>capeshit is a great nameLol no anon. Different anon, but that's /co/ lingo for superhero comics.
>>579242Just curious, but are you the anon who made a thread about this on 4chan(nel)? I remember a couple threads asking about how much artists charge per page along with another anon mentioning them being more of an 'ideas guy' and wanting to pay artists but having trouble figuring out how they would go about writing an appropriate script for an artist.
No. 579631
>>579321I'm actually both writing and drawing it. But these were great tips to writing so thank you!
>>579612Not the same person.
No. 584973
>>579241Take my advice with a grain of salt (because I also struggle with pacing more than anything else) but the number one thing to do to improve pacing is to read. The more actual fiction you read, especially novels that are about the length you're aiming for, the more of a feel you'll get for it. It's hard because when you write it yourself you get this tunnel vision where you have no clue if it's too fast or slow since you know the story so well. Reading other books and seeing at which points you lose interest or at which points it feels rushed gives you more insight in what to avoid and aim for yourself. If a novel of a similar genre that you love takes way more pages before that much has happened, maybe take that into account when editing your own writing.
I assume that ideally you'd write the kind of story that you would love to read, so looking at other stories you love for comparison isn't a strange idea at all. Obviously that doesn't mean copying it, but using it as a reference point is fine.
No. 584977
>>538416I know this post is from three months back so I'm not sure if you'll see this, but I've read the first two chapters.
Your writing style is really nice. It's pleasant to read and your choice of words has a good amount of variety without sounding pretentious at all. The same goes for the sentence structures, it's all very easy to read and makes you want to read on. The world you created seems pretty complicated and rich already, so you also have the feeling of a deeper untold lore down.
Some points of critique though, is the pace and the amount of exposure you give early on. Some paragraphs describing the setting feel like they lean heavily on telling as opposed to showing. It's hard to really show details of the world, especially early on, but it might be something to take into account. Some interactions early on also feel like we don't know the characters enough yet to really care. Taking some more time to set a character up really pays off when later on you get a scene where their worldview or personality is being challenged or commented on. If stuff like that happens too early in the story, it doesn't have the intended effect as much.
No. 587812
This might be a weird one but I'm really nervous about getting rejected for publication because the subject matter of my stories and poetry is kind of harsh and edgy for a woman writer. I know that probably sounds really pickme-tier and stupid, but this is a genuine concern of mine and I don't know if it should be.
I know I'm a good writer but I feel like nobody is going to be able to handle the content of my stories. I'm not about shocking people or being gross/explicit just for the sake of it, but I don't write about nice people. My characters aren't just troubled; they're often straight up sociopathic. They hurt people. I feel like most magazines exclusively publish super flowery, feminine, introspective shit. I used to write screen plays and while I got a lot of good feedback in terms of realistically capturing people, most of the criticism tended to be that my characters weren't likable, or that the subject matter was too niche and unrelatable.
I'm almost tempted to go under a male pen name because I'm so concerned about this. I also feel like I may be absolutely retarded for worrying about this at all.
>>585193>How do you improve your speedI think this really depends on the type of writing you're doing. 500 words a day sounds reasonable for short stories and novellas. If you're trying to write a novel, it sounds like you're having some sort of a block, and that speed should no longer be an issue once you work through it. Could be that it's coming from something completely unrelated to the content of your writing, too, like general life stress with work, relationships, etc.
No. 588105
>>587812My practical advice is that you go by your initial and surname if you truly believe being female is hindering your opportunities. It's better for privacy as well.
But I'd also like to encourage you to use your name so whoever comes next and feels the same insecurities can look up to you.
I love truly dark stories so I would support you either way. You got this!
No. 590745
>>584977I definitely check back from time to time. Thanks, I'm glad to hear that my writing style is readable. About the points of critique, part of it is the constraints on the story and the way I thought to go about it. Both main characters are clones of historical figures in a scifi setting, so getting across the history explains the characters' interactions with the world in episode 2 (the present, non-retrospective). There's definitely more showing than telling in that segment since the prologue is out of the way.
Making a reader care about the character(s) is also a wall I hit. In this case, I might have to accept that flaw as the history being told is strongly part of the characters' setup. I could try to cut some portions so the story gets to the next segment sooner.
No. 597656
>>579405Bumping because I still want an answer to this. I'm subscribed to emails for multiple literary magazines at this point, and I always check out the bios for authors whose work gets published. I have yet to come across anyone who doesn't have previous publications, and most of them are professional writers, or part of an MFA program. I get that it's harder to get published without connections or concrete experience, but it frustrates/worries me how many of these magazines claim to want work for "emerging writers" yet the only work they actually publish is that of people who are already established in the field.
Are they any magazines out there that are truthfully more likely to publish work from writers who don't have previous publications? Like it is actually still possible to break into the field without a master's degree?
No. 598630
>>585395I made an account over there yesterday to get an idea of what it is and added a short story project I wanted to see finished for the past month. From what I get it's a writing community and kind-of/not-really social network (buddy system, no public timeline).
Do I try to add other anons who may have accounts on there as buddies?
No. 620900
File: 1599000294167.jpg (64.21 KB, 300x464, mnemosyne-cover_thumb.jpg)
>>535786>>537404I made this e-booklet now. Feel free to critique the typesetting or book design too.
5,100 words (20 pages of content).
https://u.teknik.io/MJCtA.pdf No. 620919
>>598635Thanks for the tips anon, this helps a lot. Tbh I'm experiencing a lot of anxiety and imposter syndrome about my writing lately and am going to hold off on trying to get anything published again for awhile. I just can't let go of the fear that a.) nobody is going to publish me without previous publications or an MFA, and b.) my writing is actually just shit. I'm just going to keep writing new stuff and revising old stuff as much as possible.
>You can also look at writers you enjoy that started out with short stories and see where they first submitted.I have two authors in particular that I use for inspiration when it comes to short stories. Both of them have had stories published in the New Yorker, so I think I'm kinda SOL there lmao
No. 620952
>>620900I read the first two pages. I like where it's going and some of your descriptions are great. There are a lot of grammatical errors, though, which makes it hard to follow what's going on. For example:
>René expected a world that was young with ambition but an untamed terrain and an undeveloped infrastructure characteristic to that of a frontier world.That first sentence is missing a preposition. Should be: "Rene expected a world that was young with ambition, but
with an untamed terrain and an undeveloped infrastructure characteristic to that of the frontier world."
Also, the phrase "young with ambition" is kind of confusing, given that he seems to be describing something positive in the first half of the sentence, and negative in the second. "Young" is practically synonymous with underdeveloped. If you changed it something like "teeming with ambition," it would make more sense. Otherwise, I'd remove the "but" and just make it: "Rene expected a world that was young with ambition, with an untamed terrain and undeveloped infrastructure characteristic to that of the frontier world."
>However, the level of common accommodations provided by the androids defied.Defied what? The scientists' expectations? Who/what is being defied here?
I think it'll really help you catch these issues if you start reading your work out loud to yourself, slowly. That always helps me.
No. 620963
>>620952I shared it with a few others before posting. If there's really a lot of grammatical errors, then it's strange for them not to catch it.
>Also, the phrase "young with ambition" is kind of confusing, given that he seems to be describing something positive in the first half of the sentence, and negative in the second.That's the intention. He expected the general downsides of being in an remote area or a 'frontier'.
>Defied what? The scientists' expectations? Who/what is being defied here?His expectations. It sounded awkward to put 'his expectations' again, and the paragraph was on his perspective without any mention of scientists.
>René expected a world that was young with ambition but an untamed>terrain and an undeveloped infrastructure characteristic to that of a fron->tier world. However, the level of common accommodations provided by>the androids defied [his expectations]. No. 620984
>>620963>That's the intention. He expected the general downsides of being in an remote area or a 'frontier'.Then I'd go with my second recommendation. Remove the "but" and add a "with." "But" is used to contrast something that's already been mentioned. If I'm understanding you correctly, then there would be nothing to contrast in this case. He expected a world young with ambition, untamed terrain and an undeveloped infrastructure. Yes?
>His expectations. It sounded awkward to put 'his expectations' again, and the paragraph was on his perspective without any mention of scientists.Isn't the main character a bioscientist? Rene was who I was referring to. "Scientists'" was a typo, I meant to say "scientist's"…kek. You could also say "defied all expectations" instead of his, since you referred to Rene already in the previous sentence. The issue specifically is that if you remove the sentence from the paragraph entirely, it doesn't express a complete thought. Without making it clear what is being defied, it's a fragment.
No. 620993
>>620984>given that he seems to be describing something positive in the first half of the sentence, and negative in the second.This was the point. The positive part being the world that's young with ambition. The negative part being in the frontier.
>However, >the level of common accommodations (, provided by the androids, ) defied.I thought it's a complete sentence.
E.g
Sally baked a cake.
Sally baked.
I was just going to focus on his expectations since he's the primary POV character. All expectations is a bit of a stretch. My grammar checker doesn't consider it a sentence fragment.
No. 620997
>>620996Not really. I write mainly genfic, which means about 600 views at best after years in the fandom. (Erotica gets 1,000 views and heaps of comments in the first 2 weeks.)
If I file off the serial numbers and make it original, I maybe can reach a wider audience. But I don't count on it.
No. 627627
File: 1599786820684.jpg (1.06 MB, 1100x3150, mnemozine.jpg)
>>620900I printed a physical copy as shown in pic (totally doable with a home printer and basic materials). This is the updated version.
https://likho.neocities.org/share/mnemosynes-heretic.pdfIt's also a link I can update in case I find anything wrong with the text again. But ideally, the editing is solid as I've already printed myself a copy.
No. 636474
File: 1600809012986.png (243.72 KB, 972x748, cer_bad.png)
I wrote something again:
https://archiveofourown.org/works/26588797I was trying to write in this gesture before, but I didn't know what to call it since "arm holding" can mean a lot of different poses.
No. 668195
File: 1604689051836.jpeg (61.1 KB, 750x469, NaNoWriMo-How-many-words-per-d…)
Is anyone else doing NaNoWriMo this year? I've tried it a few times in the past, but usually drop off after only a couple thousand words, but this year I really want to try to see it all the way through. I feel like I'm fine writing shorter one-off pieces, but it's hard to push an entire novel because of the urge to rewrite things as you go. Hopefully if I can do this, I'll be able to focus more in regards to writing longer works!
I'm also experimenting with writing horror, but I feel like it just sounds silly. Any tips for conveying suspense/dread?
No. 668209
File: 1604690667214.jpg (92.37 KB, 425x512, unnamed.jpg)
>>668195No, tbh I've always found NaNoWriMo cringe AF (the John Green fanbase screeching about it didn't help) and I don't feel that it would be helpful for me (at least not at this point). I'm sure it can be a great experience for some people though and it's worth giving it a shot if you are not sure. Keeping my fingers crossed for you!
I'm pushing myself to cultivate an everyday writing habit and free my voice from the inner critic. I'm doing the morning pages from pic related. So far, so good. I can finally write whatever comes to my mind without endless questioning if it's even worth it to write anything at all.
I recommend the book to everyone who wants to write but has some kind of mental block!
No. 788581
>>788570Same except I cringe rereading it the very next day, not even months later.
It's so weird too how I'll feel proud of it in the moment and hate it moments later.
No. 794385
>>794324> I think you could even get away with just mentioning the play of L4D, which isn't really using it's IP.There was a Tank in the women's bathroom in chapter 2 which made me unsure. He's not a main character like Ellis or Zoey, but he's not entirely generic.
I'm pretty sure Valve doesn't care though I'd like to use free culture licenses whenever possible. If I knew of a zombie shooter game licensed under GNU GPL with a stronk monster trope, I could just go with that but I don't.
No. 862724
File: 1627221978065.jpg (68.63 KB, 640x426, 87879.jpg)
Bumping this thread since I'm curious to know other anons' thoughts on handwriting versus typing your writing, and whether you think it makes any difference. I feel as though when I type, it's easier to get stuck in a rut and delete everything repeatedly as you try to get it right, whereas handwriting something probably prevents that to some extent. Of course, you can obviously write for longer stretches when you type without getting hand cramps and such. Do you have a particular preference, and if you type, do you find it hard to avoid distractions comparatively (internet for example)?
No. 862772
>>862724When writing on paper, on one hand it's nice that you can't just go erasing anything but keep going, and in this keep going, I feel like words come so much easier; on the other hand, I find typing better because sometimes you just have a million of ideas you need to write down as fast as you can, typing is much easier in this regard.
When I type now I don't erase anything anymore, but I had to stop myself from erasing my stuff. I wasn't going anywhere before that, always staring at a blank page.
My documents now are a mess but this way I'm not stuck anymore. The only time I erased something was when rewriting and polishing a story. (Also because my phone was taking some time loading a big document)
I also don't feel much of a pressure to write anything perfectly when typing (which I used to feel when handwriting). I don't care anymore if I only have stuff like "he sat down and eat lunch and discussed his evil plans with the henchman" because I can go back later and rewrite that in a readable way when my mind feels like doing it. I guess I just replaced the "I can erase it because it's bad" with "I can always rewrite it"
And yes I get easily distracted, I'm still trying to figure out some passages in my writing that end abruptly. I think that is the biggest drawback of typing, I'm always distracted. Start writing at 11am, suddenly is 11pm and I'm still at 500 words and a sentence that ends with "and he".
No. 869327
>>862724I prefer to write on my phone since it is the thing that I use to communicate with frequently anyway. I used to write at work so I got accustomed to using my phone.
Do you guys seek out feedback? I feel like there is something noble about writing for yourself, but getting someone else to respond to your work can be very satisfying.
No. 901559
File: 1630890630515.jpg (75.9 KB, 640x360, sexual_harassment_robot.jpg)
I wrote something (no fandom knowledge required).
https://archiveofourown.org/works/33444163/chapters/83080891>>869327>Do you guys seek out feedback? I feel like there is something noble about writing for yourself, but getting someone else to respond to your work can be very satisfying.I don't really control what I happen to write about. Some idea just pops up and I write it down and may or may not turn into a story. Feedback is always good though.
No. 956822
File: 1635808295586.png (8.61 KB, 261x380, Logo_of_National_Novel_Writing…)
anyone else doing Nano?
im writing a dark, gay teen romance about an arson mystery. about 3k words in.
No. 956828
>>956822Definitely going to give it a try! Anyone have any success stories of completing it?
Another question to any anons who are doing Nano well or just as a general writing question: do you tend to write the same amount every day or do you work in spurts (more one day, less the next)?
No. 956829
>>956827yes.
An australian teen and her new american neighbor fall under suspicion while investigating an arson in their neighborhood.
No. 972006
File: 1637289799562.jpg (80.39 KB, 736x867, 1000006_150802973271544[1].jpg)
Both a question and a vent, but it is possible to write a romance story between a human and a non-human without coming out as "furrybait" or like some sort of weird fetish thing?
I'd like to write a story about a monster girl and a human, on a sort of world where humans interact with monsters on the regular basis, but I keep fearing that people would think it's bestiality or something, I have already seen it with pic related (Wolf Children). Even if the director is not of my complete liking, I don't see anything particulary fetishy with this movie, it looks like a very soft family-focus slice of life, but I still see infighting about if the movie it's furrybait. I don't like when just the precense of animal-esque characters is seen as a way to attract furries into making porn, I just believe that there would be a lot of interesting things that could be done with a non-human character, like in desing and backstory, but now I'm paranoic of creating those things; so I would like to hear the opinions of the anons here.
No. 972012
File: 1637290410094.jpeg (78.69 KB, 630x713, DCECDD59-C9D4-47AC-8B3A-653211…)
>>972006anon are you me. I know I joked a lot with my friends about Wolf Children being furrybait too so I'm guilty of this as well.
I believe there's still a market out there for people who just want to read cross species slice of life. I'd read your work if you decide to write your story!! Putting disclaimers about your works can help somewhat, unfortunately the horny furry market is still overwhelming big and Everywhere, so I can't guarantee they won't get in contact with you ever. Set boundaries from the beginning and don't hesitate to block for any potential red flag.
One of the wholesome stories I read featured anthro was +Anima. This series will forever close to my heart.
No. 972017
>>972012I haven't read it but omg it looks so cute! I want to read it now.
>>972006I think most people won't bat an eye at nonhuman characters, it's the vocal minority that can make stuff like that seem off-putting. Just as long as your story isn't degen shit I think you'll be fine anon.
No. 972027
File: 1637292483497.jpeg (938.92 KB, 1125x1684, 37F26B1B-C7A1-45A1-AC01-CC8497…)
>>972017I cant recommend it enough. I read +Anima as a kid and loved how Cooro carried himself as a naive but strong protagonist. His cheerfulness isn't grating at all and it really spread to everyone he interacted with. The world building is incredible, and the circumstances you run into just pull the heart strings just right..! I should reread it again at some point.
No. 972103
>>972006I don't think this anime is furbait, but I remember being uncomfortable with the sex scene. I've seen the movie years ago so I may be wrong, but it did feel like she fucked an actual wolf. That or it happened too fast and out of nowhere.
I think you can write a love story that isn't a furbait as long as make the writing mature and avoid descriptions that would feel fetishy (focusing on looks, probably steamy sex if it doesn't contribute to plot). IDK if the second part would fit a romance book, though.
Maybe just forget about furfags and do your thing lol
No. 1000373
>>1000335As someone also experiencing this what worked for me was;
Getting out of my own way and writing. Why wasn’t I writing? I love it, it makes me feel happier and I feel sadder the longer I go without doing it. So why wasn’t I?
So I started taking notes on story ideas in my phone since I always have it on me, that way I had no excuses.
I gave myself a goal and deadline. 5 years. Within 5 years I’m going to write and publish a work of fiction!
Personal pleasure first, marketing later. Right now I’m working to unravel a lot of negative self talk and pressure that makes me freeze because “what if no one likes it” “what if it’s really bad” “what if no one buys it”. Don’t care! Doesn’t matter because right now my goal is to get the flow going. Writing every day without crying and deleting everything is the goal.
Building confidence has helped as well. I don’t know how you are with critiques lol but I’m terrible, so I’m slowly building up to sharing my stuff within a writing group.
And finally, recognizing I’m not unique or especially strange with the things I like. Classic lit may be out of popular demand in book stores but I’ll bet there are a lot of people starved for new content. I used to read fanfics like no tomorrow, I would run out of new ones to read! So I was always really happy and pleased when someone would post something new.
Ultimately though what got through to me was: a writer is someone who writes, so are you a writer?
No. 1000986
Do any other nonnies erotic roleplay online?
I feel that erotic roleplay, when done properly with proper partners, is a good way to quickly improve your writing. It forces you to be innovative (because you both have played out your shared kink many times and want variation), it forces you to power through roadblocks (because there's a 20-30 minute gap per post), and it forces you to make compromises with your partner.
I'm pretty shit at writing, my prose is clunky and sterile, like the sort of prose you find in a newspaper or an academic journal. But I can definitely see me improving in little ways due to my disgusting habit. I no longer get writer's block and I am more aware of avoiding cliches, nobody likes seeing things described the same way someone else described it.
I think that people can all improve to get a "working" prose, the same way anyone can learn how to direct a soap opera or a trashy netflix series. You learn the necessary structures to communicate your ideas across clean and crisp, and understand the basics of tempo and flow. But beyond it takes something more than an academic understanding, it takes something personal, it takes talent and introspection. Perceiving things in your own certain way and expressing it in a unique personal way, not strictly sticking to the formulaic conventions, having a more unorthodox flow. Not everyone is capable of this, I certainly think I'm not, I'm at the bottom end of having a working prose. It's like Cervantes, most people would say someone is "still as a statue" when they're shocked, the cliche route. But Cervantes perceived it more specifically, and uniquely, and wrote "He was like a garbed statue, for his robes blew in the wind".
No. 1001200
>>1000986No, but I'm pretty certain that a weirdo tries to rope me into it when I'm playing a certain character on a dead MMORPG. Got like a second PM from him begging me to roleplay. He doesn't care about my lack of knowledge of lore (forgot, I'm rediscovering it) and is extremely pushy.
It doesn't happen on my main (logged at the same time and in the same place), so I guess the alt is his type.
No. 1014464
File: 1641249915669.png (69.52 KB, 226x320, image_2022-01-03_224504.png)
Bumping this thread because I want to get back into writing this year. Anyone else have new writing goals?
>>375226I've also started watching this, thanks anon!
No. 1014472
File: 1641250569793.jpg (114.34 KB, 736x981, 38aa9eac8e6a1da3d8290c1c7e0739…)
>>1014464Yesss, I really want to start writing short stories. Even if I only keep them to myself, I just really want to get these ideas out of my head and onto a page. I was thinking of even binding my own book with recycled and handmade paper just for stories and little illustrations. A little project that's just for myself for no other reason than I want to do it. What about you anon, what are your goals?
No. 1014510
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>>1014464I'm an academic writer but I want to start producing more poetry this year. I have the creativity to use language in interesting ways, I understand rhythm and metaphor and theme, I have ideas that I want to talk about, I read a lot of poetry. Even my academic writing takes on a poetic quality sometimes. And yet when I sit down and say ok, I'm going to write a poem for fun, the outcome is very weak. I either get so concerned about style that I don't develop the concept enough, or I focus too much on the concept and it loses in style. I think the other challenge of writing for fun is that I don't have an audience. I'm writing to myself and it makes me feel trapped within myself, it's an almost claustrophobic experience that stifles my creative vision. I need to feel like I'm in an active dialogue with someone or some idea to give my writing a direction. I wonder if any other anons can relate or offer advice to academic writers that want to develop their creative work.
No. 1048667
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>>1048574I haven't hit the beta reading phase myself but I'm planning on doing it this year with my current novel. I'm probably going to use BetaBooks and maybe some mutual beta reading exchanges on reddit. I'm really nervous to have my writing ripped to shreds, but at the same time it's an exciting prospect to enhance your writing skills with direct reader feedback.
No. 1048811
>>1048767Focus on how good it feels to write, make the process really romantic. For me that's tea, mood lighting, perfect playlist, comfy clothes and a tidy space.
This whole "holding yourself accountable" is a bit intense for a hobby. Don't guilt and pressure yourself. It's OK to set goals but instead of saying
>I have to write for an hour tonightTell yourself
>I get to start writing at 8pmPersonally I'm happier when I don't track hours or words written. I make sure I have enough "start writing" times in my diary and when it comes, the hardest part is tricking myself into writing the first three lines
by pretending I'm a cute novelist in the opening scene of a slice of life manga. Nobody buys books because they're X pages long or took X hours to write. As long as you carve out enough time to make progress every week, you're doing the damn thing. It doesn't matter if it takes you 8 months or 8 years to create something if you find the act of creation satisfying.
If you have to bully and push yourself into it, maybe try another creative hobby for a while? Life is so short.
No. 1142045
>>1140681different anon but interested in the same thing. has any anons made a substack before? did you have to have an internet following to make one or did you start from scratch?
I'm thinking of just starting free. I want to write about subcultures.
No. 1155659
File: 1651281812276.jpeg (Spoiler Image,163.52 KB, 484x1116, 025B7BA1-EEEE-4F0B-80AF-64A6D7…)
the thread is dead so i’ll post some amateur mental illness poetry
No. 1160744
>>1160643nta but don't you need to have some html skills?
also do you have links to any neocities blogs, I want to take a look
No. 1161146
>>1160744I linked mine up earlier in the thread when I wanted to share a PDF I wrote.
>>627627Neocities appeals to a certain type of niche, and you probably won't be able to paywall people like with substack or medium if that is what you're going for.
If you want your plain html site to handle comments, here is an interesting example. It's done by email and most spam and junk would be handled by your spam filter instead of a moderator.
https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/about.html No. 1233824
>>1233800Have you thought about making a side insta to promote the book? Start with little snippets and you can make TikTok’s with characters if you’re into that. If you feel confident in your writing ability you can also try getting your other stuff into ezines and such to get your name out there and some give bios where you could list your book.
Good luck Noni!!
No. 1235682
>>1235574The most important thing is to establish the important events and where you want your story to end. With multiple arcs you want to write a convergence in the story, but it comes down to how you want to parcel out the information to make satisfying developments. I usually have more success in the long run when I plan each major scene and then fill in the gaps with development and worldbuilding. Sticking to a strictly to writing in chronological order can make the bigger picture of the story harder to parse, and for me makes the important details hard to streamline.
I use open office for big projects and scrivener for small projects, google drive seems to be okay at keeping data safe but I usually back up a draft copy to both google and dropbox because I have fears of overwriting my work through cloud sync. It's happened to me before so just be mindful of your backups.
No. 1242928
>>1242545Write what you want,
nonnie. As long as you do your research and write respectfully, you ain't gotta explain shit to the whiners online.
No. 1270788
File: 1658380644596.png (789.39 KB, 1107x623, dmitry.png)
>have pretty cool story idea gestating about a (female) knight who is doomed to fail/die over and over while protecting another girl who is an incarnation of a goddess and must stop the endless cycle of bullshit
>get excited and start sketching out character designs and plot threads
>only to realize i've just reinvented the Legend of Zelda mythos with lesbians
i really want to make this story happen but it's way too similar to existing media i like
No. 1272484
File: 1658496625182.jpg (5.47 KB, 106x138, IMG_20200729_103030.jpg)
good morning nonas! i also started writing, first time doing so. most of the time i've loads of concepts going around my head, but this year i decided to land one of them, mostly because it's kinda… pertinent to our current social environment. it's a sci-fi satire in the vein of Terry Gilliam's Brazil. originally i was going to do a webcomic, but i don't have time to do both art and story, so i decided to go the light novel route. what helped me start the development was a small intro to webcomic course i took at the beginning of the year. doing an abstract helped me to set the basics and tone. i did write 3 or 4 chapters of the comic, but the tone was getting to cartoonish for my tastes, so i'm moving everything to novel format now.
i took the advice of some nonas above and it helped me a lot when trying to start and keep a similar tone. the "just write like you speak" and then focus on editing has helped me a lot. this morning i've been doing the third pass of chapter 0, and it has improved a lot.
my main issues are mostly related to language, as i'm an ESL. i have some issues with grammar structure and the tool i'm using (google docs) doesn't help much. so i'm trying to make this hurdle a part of the humour.
i'm thinking about working the first 3-4 chapters until they are good to go. i don't have much plans about how to release the series, i just want to post them in wattpad and just keep releasing chapters, mostly just because i want to do it, kinda like a personal goal of sorts.
thanks nonies, hope yours turn amazing (how can we suggest ways of reading each other's work?)
No. 1272882
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>>1272484worldbuilding dystopian societies was always really fun for me- it sounds like you have a solid basis for your story going already. i also do webcomics alongside novels and I have to say learning storyboarding for drawing has affected my writing for the better, if that makes sense. makes the information delivery more efficient and subtle, imo, when you think about it visually.
your initial goal sounds very reasonable for a beginning writer, which is great! my first stories were written in a similar fashion, a short burst of writing to get the concept down and then finishing the story at my leisure. I think this is a good way to develop a healthy relationship with enjoying writing as well as editing (which I still loathe but at least I can bare it now)
No. 1272938
>>1272882thanks nona! i'm trying to approach it in a very… humble manner. as this project started as a webcomic, i scripted in a visual manner, but every time i pictured the frames in my head i just didn't like the result, it was too childish for my tastes (even if the actual humor is partly juvenile sometimes). i finished editing chapter 0, which is a very short intro to the main character and her circumstances, and tbh i do like how it turned out. i'm also kinda liking this no-hero approach to all the characters, since the main already described a load of vices and faults in 7 pages.
regarding the setting, it is not more dystopian than our current times, mostly because we currently live on clown world lol. i think i made it more apparent in my current step, which is a bit of world building, where the whole Brazil aesthetics is used to augment the qualities of the setting. i started laying down the base for chapter two, so i guess i'll have some fun for some days!
and btw, thanks for pointing the friend finder thread! maybe i'll give it a shot! good luck with your projects, dearest noni
No. 1272949
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I have talked this premise before, I really don't have a story yet, all I have is the world(that I'm constantly expanding) and couple of key characters that I have thought-out, my world started much like our own, but in this world magic exists but only women can use it, this leads to every society/civilization in this world to being matriarchal to varying degrees
magic however has one weakness, it takes considerable amount of time to use a spell, even the simplest spells require 5 minutes and some require years to use, so men's role in this world is still required, to 1)be the labor force and b)fight battles on behalf of their maidens
some of the nations of this world
>The Sturmlands(basically germany)
>a highly militarized society, where the petty kingdoms are in constant conflict with each other, the sturmmen all wear knight helmets and hide their faces cause its considered inappropriate for a man to show his face to any woman that is not his wife
>Etruscia(basically Medieval Italy)
>where I want my story to start form, a wealthy and prosperous state and essentially the center of the trade and diplomacy
>The Allatian kingdoms(basically arabia)
>both traders and raiders, who run this world's slave trade, they also worship three main goddesses based off pre-Islamic religion
No. 1273295
File: 1658529112677.gif (19.84 KB, 474x266, 4375430u5309.gif)
>have 3 manuscripts completed (edited thrice)
>can't get them published
Trying to keep calm and carry on but kind of frustrating honestly. I don't want to sound too negative but I often think there is a disconnect between what readers want and what agents want. I have a decent dayjob so I'm not starving to death at least, but I feel silly with perfectly good novels sitting around on my harddrive.
I'm fooling with a new novel that incidentally checks all agents' boxes so maybe I can get that one in the door and have the rest follow after.
No. 1273526
>>1273295The publishing industry can be brutal depending on which country you're in. Writing something that seems fit for agents to maybe get some of your more creative stuff across the line sounds like a good idea.
I managed to get published through a small publisher in my country, but their books, including mine, was pushed off the market by the bigger companies. They pay bookstores and online stores not to stock books from smaller publishers to make sure their own publications stay on the shelves. It's often a mix between what agents want and what the bigger publishers are allowing smaller ones to sell. It was a hard lesson. Made me stop writing for several years, and now I just do it for fun without trying to publish it anywhere.
No. 1273924
>>1270788don't worry too much, it's the execution of the idea that matters!
>>1273295>>1273526a bit ot but nonnies, I wish I could read your books so badly
No. 1276962
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Any anons here have experience with posting your writing on Medium? I feel like as a platform it allows you to publish about a variety of different topics. I would love for more people to read my stuff and get traction from my writing, but I can haven't been able to find a suitable platform for it.
I guess in the long run it's always good to have a portfolio of your writing and Medium seems like a good and accessible place for others to check our your repertoire.
Would you recommend utilising the platform?
What are the benefits and disadvantages of Medium?
Is it possible to start out as an author that has no following?
What type of content do you post on Medium?
Curious to hear about your experience on Medium!
No. 1321116
File: 1661864483390.png (66.62 KB, 889x507, skate.png)
this falls under the vent category, I guess. woman = frilly dresses!! seeing shit like this get published, especially for a middle grade audience, really gets me down
No. 1321118
>>1273295>I often think there is a disconnect between what readers want and what agents wantI feel this
nonnie, I think you're right
No. 1339195
>>1320203>Every time I come up with an idea, I get bored within a couple days because I don't actually like it all that muchDo you develop your ideas any further or do you start writing immediately? Try doing it the other way around. In general shake up your writing habits a bit and see what happens. Try to stick to that idea for a bit longer to see if you could develop it further to make it interesting again. Change the characters, change the POV, switch protagonist and antagonist the other way around. Add a dragon or two even if it initially doesn't seem logical in the story setting. Challenge yourself to cram a dragon into your story.
>Basically I don't know what I like anymore, and brief glimpses into my own tastes never materialise beyond an aborted idea or two.What kind of stories you love to consume? Start listing some books and movies and stuff and try to figure out what it is in the story you like the most. Is there a certain genre, theme, specific kind of characters, the time period, plot… I usually write stories that I'd love to read, it makes the process easier and more enjoyable to me. In general I think finding out what kind of storytelling you find interesting and being able to put it into words can push you forward a lot in terms of knowledge about storytelling. That knowledge in turn will help you to develop your writing as you know more about the rules and techniques of storytelling and it's easier to follow (or break!) them.
No. 1428189
>>1428020i know how you feel
nonny. by the time you'e done writing the chapters, you can go back and redo the beginning. i wrote two books and the first took years and the second took two months. youre improving and it does get easier. just even showing up to write the first draft is something you have to practice and youre doing it!!! keep going. and try not to edit anything until youre entirely done lest you get stuck obsessing over past sentences instead of making new ones
No. 1428198
>>1427995>>1428015>>1428025i made a throwaway discord account to do voice verifications with. ill keep it signed in on a spare device so we can have a quick 2second voice chat when youre free and then ill send you a link to the server.
i think if we can get like 5-10 girls in who are active it would be a nice enviornment. im trying to keep the channels really basic too cause i hate servers with 100 channels.
writingcat#5515
No. 1438561
>>1438481Think about how it contributes to the story and how it impacts the characters. Do they have any trauma from it, and if so how does it manifest? For example if they were physically abused as a child they might be very desensitised to violence or pain, but have panic attacks when someone is in a bad mood and they can't leave that situation. Trauma affects everyone differently, and people who've normalised situations like abuse or poverty might resent others who haven't been exposed to these things in the same way. Someone who grew up in poverty will probably not be sympathetic to someone who's just lost their job and now won't be able to afford to fly to a different continent for their annual Christmas family party.
Does this situation end at some point? How have the characters changed because of it? Does it impact their goals or future events? Does it change their relationship with other characters?
Avoid tumblr-style lectures. Your characters have unique perspectives and voices, as long as they react in a way that fits those it won't be jarring. If you're worried about it sounding exploitative re-read what you wrote and add 'Donate now to save a XYZ' at the end. If it now sounds like a script for a charity advert, rewrite it. Don't try to make it gritty or sugary, focus on how the character sees it, and describe it in the same way you'd describe any other situation.
It's not exploitative to write about unpleasant things unless it sounds like a Very Special Episode in a cartoon, so ignore any screeching autists who tell you to jump off a cliff for apropriashun and write your story.
No. 1439045
>>1438561Am the poster you replied to. Thank you for the tips
nonnie! Though I'm not really that worried of offending a bunch of autists and more on potentially not giving proper justice to the struggles my characters go through. Like, I have a character in my head who was abused as a child, and I really want the IRL audience who went through child abuse themselves to relate to what I'm depicting–to give them a sense a catharsis seeing someone else go through something similar to theirs (even if it's fictional lol).
My biggest fear is shoddily writing something I have no first-hand experience from–having little to no nuance. I made the mistake of doing A Very Special Episode types of stories in the past like you mentioned which I am veeeeery embarrassed about now. I'll try my hardest to improve more!
No. 1439763
>>1439045Read some Jacqueline Wilson books. Most of them are about children- mostly girls- going through difficult and sometimes
abusive situations, they're written with a lot of nuance and aimed at children so there's no disgusting coomer writing. She's written a million books so it's worth googling them to see which ones might be relevant.
No. 1440963
>>1438481I've been thinking about a similar issue. I really wanna write something (likely a short story) about a female serial killer who kills moids, but I need to make it work so that it won't sounds 3edgy5me or exploitative. I want to make her a whole complete person instead of a caricature, so that she's relatable in some ways but disgusting in others. I also would like to make it humorous, like maybe poking fun at the way moid serial killers are portrayed as uwu symphatetic wee babies in fiction.
ik it sounds cringy when I write it out like that, but I think I could make it work. I have a vivid idea of the milieu and setting, like the house she'd live in etc. I think I'll just let the story develop itself in my head, and eventually it may start coming out onto paper. It usually happens like that if I get an idea that's worth writing about.
No. 1445327
At the risk of looking a desperate idiot, which I am: that anon’s
>>1428198 temp account seems to be abandoned, anyone who managed to get in her writing discord could poke her or something? I’d be eternally grateful.
No. 1572247
I wrote a novel with a very specific historial setting. There is nothing with this setting and time period on the market, I'm the first one to write about it. It is complete but I have had difficulty getting it published because there isn't much of a market demand for this specific type of book (understandable, so I'm writing another one with more marketability).
Some really cringy self-masturbatory scrote just dropped a similar book, same setting and time period, but his is historical fantasy and has typical scrote power fantasies and eye rolling tropes, and is sloppy and self indulging. He self published and it shows. His bio is full of references how he's a "survivalist" and a master of this and that martial art, fitness trainer, meditation guru, and did tourist shit he wants to paint as heroism, like scuba diving with sharks, or doing a tour of a country currently at war. I'd post the bio but it's self-doxing if I ever get published. It has andrew tate vibes. He even looks like Andrew Tate.
And his novel looks like a total hunk of crap. He doesn't know anything about the time period, it's just a pile of cliches, he didn't do any research. But I'm still pissed that he wrote about the same period as I did. So I'm over here bitter but also smug that I'm a better author than this fart-huffing macho larper. Men who write historical always turn it into a cartoonish power fantasy of some shirtless guy on horseback waving a sword around and do the most paltry, shallow research to make it accurate. I hate them so much. I write fueled by spite.
Sorry to be such a petty bitch, just venting.
No. 1618735
File: 1687871859745.jpg (133.96 KB, 1125x995, cringe.jpg)
>>1578221If there are anons still interested in having a group, I'd be willing to organize it. Though I have to warn you I WILL overshare about writing.
No. 1619284
>>1619238I don't think that's a problem, I work mainly in my native language which is not English so I probably won't share longer texts as translating is a pain in the ass, but I'd love to share resources and tips, and maybe short excerpts I can translate. I recently found a book with very good prompts and advice.
If nonnies are interested I could set up a group and post the info in the friend finder thread.
No. 1634862
File: 1689470146631.png (151.25 KB, 904x860, Screenshot_42.png)
I've never really gotten actual critique on my writing. How's this? Wrote it in one go for fun. If this looks familiar, yes, you've seen it before – cross-posting from /lit/.
No. 1634925
>>1634862more like crossdressing from /lit/ amiright lmao
anyway your prose is passable but it needs refining, some parts have better clarity than others, such as the motion towards the end being difficult to visualize. it will also help if you format the dialogue, just sayin
No. 1652061
File: 1691004239619.png (193.66 KB, 500x509, IMG_5063.png)
the manic pixie dream girl trope is universally hated here (as it deserves to be) and i get why
but i’ve always enjoyed deconstructions and unique spins on popular character archetypes/tropes and was wondering if any anons have any tips on how to deconstruct the mpdg archetype
what are some interesting ways to deconstruct the manic pixie dream girl? do any specific characters come to mind?
pic related is a character who started out acting like a mpdg for the mc but ended up being a psycho who tries to kill him in the climax
No. 1652210
>>1652061i like how your lie in april used it, the mpdg was
terminally ill so she was just doing anything and everything she wanted to enjoy her life
before it ended and she was basically just manipulating people to achieve that
No. 1653645
File: 1691156938920.gif (1.84 MB, 498x278, IMG_5099.gif)
i’m making an oc who’s been through the same trauma and who has the same mental disorders as me but she’s not meant as a self-insert. she’s meant to be a main character, not the protag(tm) but part of the main group if that makes sense. i guess i’m making her as a vent but i still want her to be a character in her own right.
any tips on writing an cathartic character without turning them into a self-insert?
No. 1669174
>>1669141it sounds like the history of your matriachy would be very important in its transition to egalitarianism, but the question is why make said transition if the matriachy is sustainable? without the history of why the matriachy was formed you would not have the context on why women needed to defend themselves which would be an important aspect of the juxtaposition between the oppression of men vs the oppression of women, defining that and then getting rid of the matriachy could seem counter productive to the consitutents in power. trying to tread carefully in that premise is very difficult because you dont want to make the concept of a matriachy seem incompetent or implying women are subject to petty corruption as easily as men, the most important aspect would be to show why men need to be treated like chattel in comparison to women, how the misandry is justified. this could work with proper justification and demonstration but it would be a balancing act depending on how much you decided to flesh out.
that being said, your story might just work with le guins method of just having a seething misogynist be the pov character, but with misandry. you could either go very direct and short sighted, like left hand of darkness, or you could be extremely speculative with a lot of oversight on the situation, or you could do a mix of the two.
No. 1669213
>>1669144Lol noted, I should try not giving a fuck and just write a good story.
>>1669174That’s a really good idea, I will try writing like that. Maybe a mix of both or which works the best.
Okay to give more context to my story, they’re super humans so women are just a strong and even stronger than the men.
My concept is that in the beginning, women and men both ruled equally over their world. But at some point the women and men start fighting and going to war over who is the “better and stronger” gender and the women win. And forward to a lot of centuries later, men are growing tired being treated as inferior and some female leaders don’t see the men as lesser. So they’re trying to revert to equality, without men being revengeful (they tried but failed.) I hope that explained it a bit more clearly(?)
No. 1669756
File: 1692464892393.jpeg (1018.34 KB, 2327x2980, IMG_5826.jpeg)
what character traits do you enjoy in a male protagonist?
what character traits can’t you stand in a male protagonist?
No. 1669763
>>1669756>what character traits can’t you stand in a male protagonist?whorish behavior. idc what the female characters do sexually but if a man engages in casual sex or, even worse, buys sex from prostituted women, it's a no from me. i especially hate when it's used to display him as lonely, tortured, emotionally unavailable soul, like when the story starts with him trying to kick out a one night stand or something.
>what character traits do you enjoy in a male protagonist?absolute devotion. love for animals - especially horses, for some reason. i'm not even a horse girl kek. also when they recognize and trust in a woman's ability and strength and don't mind getting saved by her.
No. 1669834
>>1669756My answer would be too long, but this reminds me of a reddit thread I stumbled upon a while ago where guys were asked what sort of things female writers get wrong about writing male characters, as a retort to the "male writers" meme. Every commenter proudly declared that they could immediately tell that the writer was a woman by how deep and sensitive the male characters were portrayed. Comments like "we don't think that deeply about things" and "realistically, men are just more simple" were upvoted constantly. These are the same men who whine about male loneliness and suicide rates while admitting that they lack any depth, kek.
Honestly, as a woman you will most likely be able to write a great male character in spite of what traits they are given. There's a reason men go crazy when characters like Kratos are suddenly written more sensitive and emotional, or can't relate to a character unless they're Stubble Brown Hair Game Protagonist Number 202394 with no personality, after all.
No. 1669852
>>1669756>what character traits do you enjoy in a male protagonist?Slut but only for the protagonist. Acts snarky and confident in front of most people but is actually insecure in an endearing way.
>what character traits can’t you stand in a male protagonist?Anything that makes him feel too much like a real moid.
No. 1669872
>>1669756Character traits that I like (and that works both for male and female characters) is ambivalence, which is the main trait of any antiheroes.
Now I'd rather have only just a few characters that are that way because otherwise the books get very GRRM like and political intrigues is only ever interesting if some people loyal to one side or the other, or even neutral are thrown into the mix.
But yeah, I used to read Artemis Fowl and I really liked the way he was written.
Character traits I don't like is the "know it all" trait (and that works also for both male and female), especially when unjustified. Omniscience is boring. The only "know it all" characters that I tolerate have a prophet/sage role, and they usually don't reveal too much to the characters/the readers because the following events would be too predictable otherwise.
No. 1669959
>>1669141I just read a book (female author) in which the heroes have to take refuge in a matriarcal city. In the city women had all the jobs, while men "belong" to women and aren't allowed to go anywhere alone. Also note that all the women wore very little clothes, they walked around in what sounded like caribbean carnival costumes, which made it sound very moidy to me tbh.
For the men to go outside they have to wear a big heavy helmet that blinds them and the women lead them wherever they're going. The men got dropped off at a bath house/spa where they got to relax and get pampered for the day, the level of treatment depended on how much their woman was willing to pay for and it was typically a reward for how sexually pleased she was with him. The main male character (older man) got trapped there as a sex slave to an older woman, it was made clear he didn't want it and that it was rape but it seemed like it was fully intended to be seen as comedic for the reader.
Overall I thought the way men were physically limited when going out through the helmet was interesting and it's something that could be built upon and done better. But then the things like them being sex slaves and the women being scantily clad made it seem more like a male fantasy - being trapped by hot women and getting used for sex. Some details were also interesting, like how men defined themselves by who they belonged to like "I'm Mary's, whose are you?". If you belong to a good/rich woman you had more status, kinda like marriage for women in the old days. Don't know if this gives you any ideas at all on what to do/not do but it's all I got lol good luck nona
No. 1670375
>>1669959What book was that
nonnie?
No. 1672216
>>1669274Yeah I gotta face the facts, even if I’m making a point people (mostly men) are gonna pissed off, I should just do my thing.
>>1669959Some parts are interesting, but yeah I’m not gonna include the moid fantasy of course, because it’s a women’s power fantasy with the matriarch element. Too bad we can’t read that book, because I was intrigued lol.
Thank you nonnas for the advice!
No. 1674887
>>1674307usually something representative of the story, a kind of metaphor for the overarching plot, a key plot point, a theme or similar, or a reference to something important but subtle in the story
and i don’t name individual chapters
No. 1675802
>>1671539Women who have acquired a certain position in "a man's world" like a profession traditionally considered to be suitable only for men, to the point they're considered legendary or genius, and then instead of encouraging other women to be ambitious they concentrate on protecting
abusive moids and tearing women down. There are several irl cases, if you want to make it satisfying to kill her off just exaggerate it to the point she's actually evil, like doing it deliberately instead of out of ignorance.
This is a bit different because it's not as black and white, but when I was thinking about this I got the urge to write about a woman who has escaped being trafficked only to become a brothel owner herself.
>"You can talk so much during half a cig.">a scene where the now-brothel-owner-ex-trafficking-victim tries to explain to the police doing a raid, while smoking a cig, wearing her nightgown, that yes, all the girls are there out of their own free will (they are not) and that there's nothing illegal going on (yes there is)>set in Germany or something because brothels are legal there and I know the EU context well enough>proceeds to narrate her experience of being trafficked etc., including when she convinced her pimp not to kill her while smoking a cigarette (= an important motive in the story)Sounds like a shit synopsis but I'll try to make the prose work.
No. 1682424
>>1682331The marriage of a couch potato sports watcher and a passionate exercise nut who hates pro sport. I've been meaning to write something like that for a while.
Do you nonas ever struggle with the feeling that your plot ideas are shit and your writing sucks despite getting complimented for it? I guess I just have a hard time believing in my own stories and the feeling that I can't make up anything interesting plot-wise, despite the fact that I regularly enjoy reading essentially plotless prose if I happen to like the language, and that most "good" fiction is actually about pretty mundane things if you think about it.
No. 1684607
File: 1693598560350.jpg (91.69 KB, 925x466, ln.jpg)
>>1674307Takes cues from Japanese LN titles.
No. 1684621
>>1671539Just make them annoying and it's always a welcome development when such a character dies.
>>1669756>what character traits can’t you stand in a male protagonist?Hypocrisy, selective moralfagging, simping for another character after being rejected again and again, a bland 'guy just like you', retardation, insecurity, attention-whoring, close-mindedness, materialism, shallowness, being a whore.
No. 1684634
File: 1693599650561.jpg (66.17 KB, 412x600, Mirai.Nikki.full.51515.jpg)
>>1652061Make your MPDG a female Hannibal Lecter while the male love interest is pure as freshly fallen snow and his live gets progressively worse the more entangled with MPDG he becomes. Or write a yandere dynamic (pic-related).
No. 1684710
File: 1693604189960.png (32.71 KB, 420x342, 2ed4a0a1c032e26f08e979b0559d64…)
I want to write a short novel. I'm not planning on publishing it or showing it to anyone I just had this idea in my head for some time and I want to write it down for my own enjoyment.
I haven't done any creative writing that wasn't schoolwork so I have no idea how the process work. I know this is a stupid question but how do you write a novel? I know I need to make notes but what kind of notes? do i summarise the whole story and then divide it into chapters? so i make character profiles? how detailed should the profiles be??
No. 1684856
File: 1693615376314.jpg (63.73 KB, 851x627, 1640970195542.jpg)
>>1684710Step one is to start with a premise or idea you like. Then, design some kind of conflict or character limit, like man vs man / man vs machine / man vs nature. From there you can either start making characters or begin to decide where you want the story to end. For example, if you want a story about a magical girl who saves the world from a big demon summoned by some idiot- you have the basic steps, but now you have to fill in the progression of the story and start asking questions. Who summons the demon? Why can't the hero prevent it? Why can't the hero stop it right away? How does the hero fail? How does she gain the strength to fight it? And what does she have to sacrifice to win against it? When you answer these questions, you can start to brainstorm the midpoint scenes that feed up to the climax.
For character profiles, stick to things that make the character feel developed and unique, ie backstory, hobbies, personality, beliefs and wants. When writing random notes, you should try to think of dialogue bits, scenes and themes that really represent or push your premise and characters. Like if you think its silly that a magical girl never has her family involved with knowing about her job, having a heartwrenching conflict scene with her concerned mother would be a good way to subvert that trope and push your concept. Or you can brainstorm about cool ideas like "magical girls with machine guns and tiger mechs would be fun" and design compelling action scenes around that. Godspeed nonni
No. 1686615
>>1685093I love watching youtube videos on writing, but my god is it annoying when they give tips like
>gotta have minorities in your book or you're a racist and a bad writer>but of course if you're non-white you're allowed to make single race stories, only white people must include other races at all times>also you must include trans people or you're a bigoted transphobeI can't imagine anything aging a book faster and in a worse way than shoehorning in trans characters when it's the biggest medical scandal of our time. They advocate for mutilating and using experimental drugs on children even when other countries stopped because of the risks and how ineffective it is. If you write in trans people in your book all you're doing is making future people analyzing it go "the author had
problematic views and was pro medical experiments on children" much like they today do to nazi-aligned people of that time.
No. 1701067
File: 1695034924820.jpg (1010.96 KB, 2100x876, For-Sale-Baby-Shoes-Crop1.jpg)
Hi, writernonas. Do you have any advice on how to write good microfiction?
I have tried submitting my works to a contest a supermarket chain holds every year, but I can't manage to even be part of the finalists. I haven't been aiming at all to be a winner, because I know I'm an amateur, and plus there are many people participating from all over the country. I'm content with being part of the finalists, since they get to be published in a book with the three winners.
The first time I participated, I fucked up and completely misundertood that year's theme. So I understood that my work wasn't selected to be in the book.
But this year I thought I had finally nailed it, I followed the theme, I tried to tell a story in just 100 words. Yet my work wasn't selected. Looking at other finalists, I realized a lot of them didn't tell a story at all (no introduction, plot, ending), just… used pretty words or described a brief action. Some of them even felt more like poems than prose.
Do you have any tips for writing microfiction? I was under the impression I had to tell a story… but maybe not? In your opinion, what should I aim for when writing these types of stories?
No. 1701100
>>1685093Know your characters inside out. What they do and how they do it has to be in character for comedy to be entertaining instead of just plain cringe. Think of the situation the character is in vs the way they're handling it vs their personality and internal monologue. Telling the story from multiple points of view will give you more opportunities for comedy. Make the characters and their world as realistic as possible, otherwise it's easy to fall into lelsorandum comedy and it sounds like you're trying to avoid that. Don't shy away from social commentary but make sure it's not too on the nose or smug, the more subtle the better.
Read and watch as much comedy as you can, both good and bad, then write down what you do and don't like. When you come to write your story, take breaks, write scenes out of order if you need to, and then leave it for a couple of days before you re-read and edit it. Comedy is hard, which is why so many comedies rely on farts and dicks and cringe.
>>1701067Know who's judging and cater to them instead of being creative, unfortunately. Since everyone else writes flowery poetry, try that. Navel gazing with a plot twist and a thesaurus would be a good place to start.
No. 1701145
>>1701067I have to agree with
>>1701100 in that if you want to succeed in contests you have to cater to the jury, and if the jury wants flowery crap then you have to write flowery crap. Of course, most "successful" fiction is pretty mediocre in the end (just look at the stuff that sells the most) so I don't think it should be your ultimate goal to succeed in writing competitions.
It sounds dumb but seriously, you should write for yourself, or at least try. Some of my best stories in my opinion have been microfiction, and while I haven't gotten any of them published yet (one just got rejected although I had hopes for it), I think they're good, and I find a certain kind of satisfaction in thinking that I've written them, and honestly iy feels much better than the success of some of my more conventional stuff.
No. 1701149
>>1701100>>1701145Yeah, I guess next time I will focus more on evoking imagery over telling a story.
>I don't think it should be your ultimate goal to succeed in writing competitionsOh, yes, I know that, but still, since I'm amateur, I take this as practice and as way to learn how to write or appeal to others better through my writing. My mother told me that maybe the jury is "visual-type" whereas I'm more of "hearing-type" (?) and because of that I don't focus that much on flowery writing. Trying to appeal to the jury can make me go out of my comfort zone, it's a good opportunity to experiment with other styles of writing.
>most "successful" fiction is pretty mediocre in the end (just look at the stuff that sells the most)Sadly, this is true. But can also give you hope. "If this shit got published, why not mine?" kekw.
Thank you nonas fr your advice!
No. 1739009
File: 1698266367525.jpg (33.73 KB, 720x754, rt3ehaxjbxf31.jpg)
Im writing my first story and its hard. I know my first work isnt going to be a masterpiece but I have no idea what Im doing. Im reading up on writing advice but its weird. I keep reading that you should avoid using adjectives and pronouns and adverbs which makes it hard to construct sentences lol. I know i should take advice i read online with a grain of salt but I do overuse those words so its not bad advice in my case but im running out of ways to construct sentences.
I wanna try sticking to a simple prose because whenever i write long, descriptive sentences it becomes a incoherent mess but when i write simple my story ends up sounding mechanical. Most books I read have descriptive prose so i have no idea what good minimalist prose sounds like. maybe I should read more minimalist books to gain a better understanding? its not like i could pull off descriptive prose either btw.
I probably should finish my first draft before i start fuzzing over these details. Writing is a skill but im struggling with figuring out how to even make sentences that sounds good and makes sense
No. 1739104
>>1739009Start by writing what's in your head without counting how many adjectives are in your paragraphs or whatever rules you've decided to follow and then read what you've written after a few days. Is it shit? If it is, change it. If not, write more.
Stay away from writing advice until you know how to get words on a page.
No. 1739551
>>1739009The only writing advice you should always follow is never follow writing advice that tells you to always/never do X. Many different styles can work, and in my experience the only way to find out what works is to write write write and edit your texts until it 'feels' right. But don't stress about the editing part, either, because you can easily get stuck in it. You should first just write, you can name the first version "the shittiest version" and just write it out, don't edit, don't delete anything, don't think about whether it's good or not. Let it rest for a few days, then take a look at it again. This works at least for me.
Reading helps a lot, too, so you should absolutely read prose, and lots of different styles.
No. 1739848
File: 1698339282703.jpg (58.21 KB, 720x706, originals-1.jpg)
>>1739104>>1739551thanks nonnies! I honestly didn't expect to get good advice on my vent post
No. 1740310
I’m on the first draft and I just realized there are two giant plotholes that may require me rewriting huge chunks of the story
1. Why don’t they just drive back?
For context, the MC’s girlfriend whom she is meeting up with gets her car destroyed two hours away from the MC and doesnt have enough money for an uber that will take her that distance. So what happens is that since the main character can’t drive (all the characters are between the ages on 17 and 19) her friend drives her instead and brings along two other people whom they are hanging out with at that point (cuz yknow, nice little trip with a friend, they go to applebees cuz its around dinner, its whatever). Problem is, why don’t they drive back to the MC’s town? Well…
2. Comic-con tickets
They end up going to a comic con for a little bit after the gf gets her car back (not like the San Diego one, just a small one) since thats where all the other people went. This is crucial to the plot because it turns out that the gf used to be a somewhat well known youtuber and her fans creep her out causing her to run out of the building, directly leading to another scene that’s really important but I won’t elaborate on because its not relevant. But like, how did they get tickets on such short notice? Clearly, they weren’t planning on going if the car thing was a mistake.
Maybe her fans can see her near the building and stalk her down? I don’t want it to be that extreme though. Maybe they can just be in front of the building and someone notices her?
Yeah, that makes sense. Maybe they just ended up having fun where they were and didn’t care about heading back. They go to the mall first too.
Idk. Does it make sense?
No. 1741438
>>1740310Could she have just enough money to fix her car, but not an Uber? Mechanics prefer cash, she could have only cash on hand. Or she could have some problems with her bank or the app is glitching, or her battery dies after she calls her friend to pick her up, so she can't call an Uber regardless. They might plan to drive back to the girlfriend's house but lose track of time, it's easy if it gets dark late. Maybe they're all broke as shit and don't have the money for gas to get there kek. Or they start driving back but get a flat tire or something.
If the con is small they might have spare passes to buy at the door, or they might have long periods where nobody's checking for passes if it's disorganized enough. Since they go to the mall before they could get tickets there? Like if they complement someone's cosplay while they're at the mall, the cosplayer mentions it was meant to be a group cosplay but shit happened and now they have extra tickets they want to sell? I remember when you could sneak into cons by getting one person to pay for the stamp on their hand, copying the stamp, and getting in for free. Idk how old school this con is but if you're out of ideas it's something that a smaller low budget con might do to save money.
No. 1744056
I have two books I could possibly write for nanowrimo, or I could come up with something different. Both are related to feminism. They’re ideas I’ve always had but they’re both pretty negative so idk.
First option: the simplest story and would probably be only 50k words at its final draft. basically about a socially awkward girl who becomes a tif during quarantine but becomes worse afterward because she thought it would fix all her problems. Has a lot of shit about how social awkwardness can cause internalized misogyny and how capitalism fuels mental illness but you have to really read into it to see. Might sound overly preachy but I want it to be more like MYRR than a PSA (where you’re supposed to hate the mc as much as possible and see her situation as a bit ridiculous). The girl would be primarily based off a tif I met online as well as other tifs I’ve encountered. She’d also be autistic because it just makes sense (and I’ll know what happens in her head more easily).
Second option: actually, yknow what, I’ve decided the plot is too complicated for someone who hasnt finished a single story yet, but I’ll describe it anyway because I’m already here and I like to sperg. It’s a scifi where in the future women become the dominant sex, except they’re kinda not because men have basically become useless VR porn addicted neckbeards they need to take care of (theyre a burden and theyre not useful to humanity anymore, its almost exclusively women who are active in society and have jobs). Eventually what happens though is that three women begin to see through the propaganda about how women are truly independent now and overthrow the current government which has a corrupt bitch named Paisley as president. They form an oligarchy and a bunch of shit happens (idk yet, two of them disagree a lot). One of them also has an AI companion she built herself thats there the whole story but becomes especially important at the end. Basically theres this huge conflict thats the supposed end of the world but the woman (the last oligarch alive) becomes so influenced by the AI that she basically stops time by enforcing everyone to take these drugs that make them happy all the time (easily bc technology and shit). So the way the world ends is basically everyone locked into pods, so high that they can only feel happiness, and then eventually everyone just kinda dies out. MC (also preparing to drug herself) feels bad about her choice but at the same time doesnt because if the world was going to end, it might as well go in the most humane way possible. It’s not only about feminism but the concept of innovation as well and how far we can go with it before humanity has finished its journey. If that makes sense.
Sorry if this came off as self indulgent rambling or incomprehensible. It’s both of those things.
Third option: I might just go with that brainstorming sheet they have and just pick a fun, comforting story rather than trying to be dramatic and shit (even though I really wanna write the upper 2 someday). Maybe something romantic? Enemies to lovers? I’d have to figure it out.
I was leaning towards the first one, but now maybe not. May be a bit boring and could be a subplot for a different novel if I wanted it to.
No. 1785463
File: 1700765179262.jpg (66.29 KB, 561x374, dumped-library-books-264952797…)
Does anyone else here practice writing methodically the same way artists practice fundamentals? I've been doing this for a while, and also reading a lot of prose and trying to analyze it to maybe develop my own writing skills. A lot of writing advice seems really bad though, stuff like "don't write long sentences" or "don't use xyz adjectives" where it doesn't tell you WHY long sentences might be bad (imo nothing is bad by default, some things are just harder to do in a way that works). I've found it useful to listen to or read interviews where good authors talk about writing, they're less likely to give absolutely retarded advice.
No. 1785566
>>1785463I do that! I use prompt lists and pick an author at random, and write a short story in that style or setting. It's fun.
99.99999% of writing advice is retarded. Most of it originates from the sort of people who believe in extra genders and spend all day reading BTS coffee shop AU fanfiction, I'm convinced that half of the 'advice' out there is just the author's personal preferences. The worldbuilding advice is so autistic too, like United Koopas level of autism, but there's no story to hold the retardation together. You can immediately tell when an author is primarily published on AO3 because of the polished turd style. Everybody can write, but not everyone should publish what they've written.
No. 1792565
>>1792379One of my favorite books had a really shitty movie adaptation, it didn't seem to harm how anyone looked at the book or the author. Everyone just felt bad for them and lamented that it had been made so poorly.
If the series is that incredibly bad and unrecognizable from the book you could use it for your own gain, make social media posts explaining in humorous ways what/why they got things wrong, make titles like "netflix made a shitty adaptation of my book" etc. It would actually be great advertising because you're now the underdog who got your book exploited by big corp netflix
No. 1799016
File: 1701692785333.jpg (1.32 MB, 3000x4000, vl9c9dhlnty71.jpg)
>>1798537No, but I considered it. Ultimately I decided if I publish I will do it by myself, for the simple reason that I refuse to let anyone else choose a title and cover for my work. I'm an artist and making the cover myself is part of the appeal. If I don't make it myself I'd still want to choose which artist to commission to do the work for me. No agency (unless they're like run your uncle and helping you publish it just to be nice) is going to let you choose on your own, they will just pick what they think will sell, have their own designer do it and they WILL put ugly fake sticker blurbs (see picrel) and stupid quotes on it. Oh, and they take a chunk of your money too of course.
I will have to put money into it myself this way of course, but I don't mind since I love the artistry of it and don't expect to sell too much. If I could break even and have just 100 people enjoy my book I'd be thrilled. I'd want to see how far social media can take me, because there are so many options to self promote these days. I think self-publishing through platforms like amazon even helps advertise it for you too (selling more is good for the platform, so they advertize for you). I also love the idea of making special editions with different art, and if I self-publish I'd have all the control to do it when and how I want to.
You will have to learn how to format the book and such, but with the internet at hand I'm pretty sure I can do it myself or pay someone to do it for me without having to give up the rights of my book to a company. But if you JUST want to write and get it out there a publishing agency is still a good option. If I wasn't writing novels perhaps I'd consider a publisher too. If I wrote something informational rather than fiction I wouldn't feel the need to control the "art" of it all because it's not intended to be art.
No. 1810349
>>1809590It's hard to break into. You need to do A LOT of networking, putting yourself out there, and biting off more than you can chew while delivering everything you've promised on time and to spec. You have to compete with people who are 100x more competent and experienced and qualified than you, but you still need to be confident in your abilities. You'll have to freelance for a while, that's unavoidable in this day and age unless you get phenomenally lucky, but freelancing will get you connections and that's how you find more work and eventually a paying full-time job in writing.
Whatever you do, DO NOT be retarded. If you have social media, use it exclusively to promote your work, no personal opinions on anything ever. You can discuss research you've done and share snippets of your work if it's OK to do so, but that's as personal as you should get. If you ever have to see someone face to face or on camera, be clean, dress appropriately, and be normal. I guarantee that this will set you apart from 99% of the competition especially if you're trying to get into YA writing. You're up against gendies who have loli hentai posters on the wall in full view, do the opposite of what they'd do in any given situation and you're fine. Communicate and be straightforward about it, don't fish for compliments and don't be a drama-seeking bitch.
No. 1837653
File: 1704285843148.gif (2.16 MB, 498x370, 0213294e57d70cf3bef9f8965c052a…)
Is there any good sites to post your writing? I've heard Royalroad is good but I don't like the "competitiveness" where the most popular stories gets published. I don't want to get published and I don't plan on getting a huge audience I'm scared if I use a site that offers publishing deals it will subconsciously affect me and wreck my self esteem.
Is there a writing site that is aimed at amateurs? I like sites like ff.net and ao3 since it's less clout chasing since the authors know their work won't be published but I don't write fanfics so I can't post on there lol.
I have considered posting my writing on tumblr but it's not a good format for writing. Plus most of the writing on tumblr is poetry.
I have also considered making my own site but then I know no one will read my stuff. I don't expect a huge audience but it would be nice to get at least 5-10 internet strangers to read my stories and I doubt I can advertise my own site
No. 1838960
>>1837732Dumb question but is uploading OC on AO3 frowned upon? I don't want to break any etiquette lol. It's
technically against AO3 rules I doubt anyone including the AO3 staff cares but still
there are some exceptions to OC stories if they cater to a semi niche communities which some of my stories do No. 1853859
File: 1705242763774.png (2.15 MB, 2364x1700, antisex.png)
Do you ever take inspiration from the posts you see on LC or somewhere else? I'm tempted to write about the antisex ninjas that were posted here and screencapped some stuff for inspiration but then I started feeling bad, almost like I'm making fun of these people, which is pretty ironic if we consider that I found out about them through LC.
No. 1854135
File: 1705255240706.gif (3.41 MB, 278x405, rat boogie.gif)
>>1854071will do, thank you nonna
No. 1875783
File: 1706934065149.jpg (27.51 KB, 600x600, kot.jpg)
I'm in a writing course right now and we had to write poems and get feedback. The prompt was just "literally any poem" so I tried to come up with something creative. Just so we're clear, we were not instructed to write a scene.
The poem is written from the perspective of a narcissistic abuser and it's supposed to be about how he justifies and excuses his actions. Like there's a part where he defensively says that he's never behaved in a threatening way towards a woman, then adds that "that one time doesn't count," the whole point is that he won't acknowledge any of his garbage behavior upfront and you have to read between the lines to see that he's sketchy.
But my instructor took it on a literal face level and wrote criticism that the poem is too vague and abstract and doesn't specify what events happened. Like for one part where he hand waves away that ehh, he did some bad stuff, she marked it up saying "this poem needs to say what is this 'what I did' directly." And in other lines she's saying that I need to "show, not tell." Even though the whole point is that he's NOT saying what he did and that he's being suspicious about what's not being said. She also told me to refer to a certain poem to learn how to use imagery, which is really not applicable imo since that poem is describing a scene and mine is a character talking.
It also bothers me… A classmate commented on my poem saying that it was really well done and when I talked to her she seemed to really get it and understand the grossness it was trying to show. But my instructor publically replied to her feedback and basically criticized her for praising the characterization of an unreliable narrator. She didn't really say much besides authoritatively responding saying that it is NOT an unreliable narrator (it is…)
Now I'm supposed to cut out a bunch of lines and replace them with specific descriptions to "improve" the poem and resubmit it, even though it's totally contrary to the main theme. I'm honestly really frustrated that she took it so literally and I don't know what to do now. Should I try to argue with her about it? What do I even say when she totally missed the point?
No. 1876013
>>1875783Don't get into an argument with your teacher when they are on some dumb shit. If you want to try again with the poem, go to her office hours, explain politely what you were trying to do with the poem and ask her advice on how to achieve that. If she doesn't give good feedback, or doubles down on her wrongness, then you will know she's wedded to being a hater for literary devices she doesn't like. If that happens, just write stuff to her tastes from now on.
Also you should try to set up some kind of writing group with the classmate who did get it. Having someone who gets your work sounds like a good thing to have while you are in this class.
No. 1876023
>>1875783Is it a course you need to pass, like at college or something? In that case, it might be smarter to rewrite it according to instructions, but otherwise you could try to explain your intentions to her once more. Sometimes you just get bad advice when the person has a different taste from your or a very rigid idea of what 'good' writing should look like.
I haven't read your poem, but to met it sounds kinda dumb to say "show don't tell" in that situation, when it's direct narration i.e. literally telling. What you could try to do though, would be to bring the scene where the thing is narrated into the narration. Who is he saying these things to? To the judge? To a police officer? To his mom? To a friend, a new girlfriend he's trying to manipulate, or just alone to himself? Think of a scene in which the narration happens, then try to make the narration reflect it. This can be done very subtly, and it's not easy, but I personally feel like it makes a text a lot better if I know 'where' it's happening.
No. 1887024
>>1876013>>1876023Yeah, it's a course in university. I tried talking to her about it today and she remained firm that there "wasn't enough imagery," and when I tried explaining that I wasn't trying to set up a scene but was instead trying to showcase a character's mindset/personality, she said that "we don't usually do like characters in poetry," and just kept repeating that "we don't do this in poetry."
I feel like this is just a lost cause, honestly. She told me to email her about it later, which I guess I'll try as a last ditch effort, but if she genuinely believes all poetry needs to be concrete and imagistic (she very frequently tells people to "cut out abstract language") then I'll just trudge through the rest of it and try to develop on my own. Recently I submitted a very low effort last minute poem that simply described a cat without any frills, like just plainly stating what color it was and that it was laying down on a couch, and she highly praised that one for the "vivid imagery." So I'll keep doing that kinda stuff.
No. 1955982
>>1955905You could give him traits that HE thinks are redeemable and make him rant about them while working himself up into a rage. He could be one of those skidmarks that bought the MC a burger once and keeps bringing it up for years as an example of how he's being used for his kindness, or money, or how it doesn't matter that he doesn't cook because he did buy her that burger once, or how he's a feminist because he bought her a burger once and didn't immediately rape her. And when he's feeling particularly weak-chinned he rants about how women only go on lunch dates to get freebies from men and the burger he bought her like a million years ago is proof that she's a callous wench like the other hags.
Make his redeeming traits so shit that it makes him even less likable. For added realism, make his arguments completely incomprehensible. Get him to froth at the mouth over chin sizes because he saw a Mercedes. Make him work on his social ineptitude by learning crypto trading manuals by heart and say that if women didn't have the vote this would totally have gotten him a job as an astronaut by now. He needs to have hobbies and interests and an actual personality, but there's no reason to make him an unrealistic character by shoehorning in a redeeming trait.
No. 1957940
>>1955905Don't go out of your way to make his traits redeemable, but instead emphasize how bpdchan sees him and twists it to be excusable and admirable in her eyes. Make it clear how traumatized she is and how desperately she is trying justify his
abusive actions as "love" because she is so utterly desperate for it. Make the reader scream "no, you've got it all wrong! Please run away from him!". SHE is what is redeemable about him. That way in the end if she dies the story becomes a piece showing how men destroy the only good things in their lives, all through their own bitterness and stupidity. Or alternatively (my preference) she finally leaves or is the one who stops him by force, her rose-tinted glasses finally shattering.
No. 1973501
File: 1713686045502.png (224.03 KB, 609x675, Story_softwares.png)
Do any of you use any softwares specifically for story writing? Not all-around general ones like Google Docs or MS Word.
No. 1988246
>>1988198Depends on the context I guess, I think it may be possible, but you will always have an "I can fix him" crowd, specially if MC gets a LI that's an asshole that never changes and means having a bad end.
In a modern context it would be actually easier to make people be able to relate to what's going on that's hurting women.
In a fantasy context it's chalked up as some sort of "silly author making silly euphemisms and analogies, that never happens!!!".
In a historical context, people may think "Oh boy! I'm so glad I don't live in those times anymore! It sure was really bad back then!!"
You can add fantastic themes to a modern context but you need to be able to know when is it too much, when it's too much, people ignore the horrors and focus on the fantasy stuff too much, or try to build analogies that aren't exactly what are you trying to say, which is why there's always the most retarded theories and headcanons about popular media nowadays.
It's not impossible but you really need to think about what exactly are you trying to show people.
So say, in example:
You have this MC who used to have a shit childhood, she was constantly harassed by men, and ostracized by her peers because her friends and teachers would've rather support any boy than her, or would say the classic lines that we all have heard while growing up:
>boys will be boys>Maybe you provoked him>he just likes you, that's why he calls you ugly!>Maybe if you tried losing some weight they would stop bothering you!>you just need some make up to be pretty like the other girls!And so on, just don't try to put too much emphasis on that, you have to be subtle about it because then your MC will be put in the "NLOGs" box.
The MC will have to also be balanced, it's the pain in the ass of writing female characters because if it's too flawed everyone will hate her, if it's too perfect everyone will hate her. You need to give her a look that's pretty neutral, she must be the kind of character that could be you or me or any other woman, because in the end we all have gone through the same shit in different levels.
The love interests have to be some sort of vehicles for her to grow into //Something// maybe she learns that she doesn't really need a boyfriend, maybe she learns that she doesn't need to hate all men (I know, I know, but remember that there must be some balance or everyone will think your game is some ebil radfem muhsanddry-ist anti tranny game) maybe she learns that she just needs to have friends and family around in order to be happy and so on.
No. 1988899
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>>1988198Reconstruct a known fairytale, like Cinders did.
>>1988237>genre made 100% for women>unfeministYou can't turn straight girls into lesbians, stop seething already.
No. 2044598
>>2043903I only write as a hobby (and I don't post it anywhere online despite writing numerous novel-length stories), so this might not be super helpful. I think it's easy to be hyper-critical of your own work, especially because you KNOW your own weaknesses. I'd also assume you're also comparing your work to the best examples of writing out there. Often, I'll look at the work of an author I really admire, and I'll think to myself, "why can't I write like that? Everything I write sounds so childish and simplistic in comparison." I think it helps to remember that you're comparing yourself to the best people out there, and there's nothing uniquely bad about your work. This is going to sound kind of dumb, but what would get me out of a particularly bad rut is reading a published novel I consider to be awful, but is popular or critically-acclaimed (good examples include Ready Player One, The Manchurian Candidate, and The Mortal Instruments). I consider all of these books to be 'bad,' but someone out there must like them. In other words, looking at successful but poorly-written books can help put your own writing into perspective. You'll see ways those stories could be improved, and you may even feel like you could write some parts better than those authors. I also think starting by writing something silly that you know you'd never show another person is a good way to get back into the habit of writing. If there's no pressure to please anyone because the story isn't meant to be shown to another person, then you might feel less afraid of judgment or failure. I know this isn't super helpful, but I think it's normal to feel that fear of not being 'good enough.'
No. 2095358
>>2094907To me, it's less like writing and more like the
characters are controlling
me—like Ratatouille-style.
Said characters are born from my own as well as others's experiences, traits, quirks etc… which then get "shattered" to create different characters and plot scenarios.
No. 2240508
>>2238289Maybe try doing simple prompts? Something like
https://www.oneword.com/ is an easy exercise to sit down and do that might help you get into more of a writing habit, and you can easily just use the word prompt and take as much time as you like instead of the 60s, and you can impose other limits/goals like 'write 50/100/500/1000 words a day' as you go. Most importantly though, try and make writing something that is part of your relaxation/unwinding after work– you gotta find joy in the task, it shouldn't feel like a chore. Make it as fun as you can, however you need to, especially when you're just trying to get into the groove of writing regularly.
On the other hand, one thing that helped me a lot in improving my writing stamina was re-typing up old books lmao (they were falling to bits and I couldn't find better replacements, and I'd seen someone talk about how they did the same and it improved their writing, so I gave it a shot and ended up learning a lot– it's like a far more arduous version of a master study in art), but that's a pretty significant undertaking and probably a shit time for 99% of people kek
>>2240347Is there a reason why you feel you
need to write smut (obvs it's cool if you just want to kek, but I've noticed lately that the idea of smut being included is a must/given)? And what level of sex are we talking about– do you want to write lurid, graphic scenes that go on for multiple pages, or would a more subtle/'tasteful' scene focusing on abstracts or the intimacy of the couple that fades to black suit the story you're trying tell? Somewhere in between? I'm asking because sometimes figuring out a broad goal like this can help the sentence-to-sentence writing start to flow better.
When you try to write smut, what aspects are you focusing on (physical/tactile descriptions, emotionality, actions, using direct terminology vs euphemisms, etc)? What makes it feel like it sounds/looks like you talking? Are you relying on any common erotica phrases/stock actions, or trying to forge your own path? Both can be awkward and cringe to try and write when you're lacking confidence or find the task embarrassing.
The main advice I can give straight away is to just start small and practice until you begin to work out what you like about writing smut and what sounds good to you. If there's smut you've read that you enjoyed and didn't see the same problems with that you're having with your own work, pick it apart and figure out what works in it and how you could incorporate that into your own writing.
No. 2240571
>>2240508I don't just want to write smut, I am having mostly the same issues with any attempt at writing for any subject. For the scenes, I am unsure, both? Explicit and tasteful, equally into both. I am not exactly focusing on anything, mostly physical to poor results. I am clueless, not used to writing or communicating ideas to others.
As of now, I only have seeds of ideas, vague thoughts but I can't even start to translate them and write them, serious or smut. I cringe, I self critique, eventually abandon it. I tried yesterday with a scene, couldn't get past first sentence. I've never done this before, be it writing, rp, smut. Some attempts a while ago? Sure, but no proper experience.
The way I have been writing here is similar to the way I tend to talk online or irl, casual mood. I feel as if everything is written like this.
No. 2246882
>>2246649 To maximise your output, don't edit at all. If you're writing about 700 words at your fastest, write all the possible iterations of every sentence you're unsure of to add to your word count. If you can't think of what happens next, write something else. Having a few subplots going at once helps, you can hop between them and pump out a few paragraphs for each one, you feel like you barely wrote but when you check it's like 800+ words because you wrote like 200 words for 4 different subplots.
Write character studies. Pick prompts that probably won't happen in your story if you struggle with characterization, pick prompts for stuff you can add to the main story if you struggle with word count more than anything else. The unlikely scenarios will make you really consider how a character will act, how they feel, how they perform under pressure or in situations they're deeply uncomfortable with, and that makes it much easier to write your actual story.
Write worldbuilding stuff. What does the setting look like? What do the characters look like, what are their backstories?
Shit out the worst possible draft. Editing is for later, that's when you come back to your story with a fresh mind and patch together all the random stuff you wrote during November.
Set aside time to write every couple of days. If you force yourself to write daily you might get burnt out, but putting 15 minutes aside every other day gives you the space you need to be productive as well as being a very small commitment, you'll probably write a lot longer than 15 minutes once you get started.
No. 2312490
>>2312483Totally up to you, but the one I've stuck with is starting with a skeleton and build it from there. First write down the ideas you have in whatever way is comfortable, then start building the skeleton for the plot. The skeleton is a list of very short bullet points outlining the story from start to end (you just have to force it, once you've started writing down several bullet points more ideas will come) and do this until you have a whole plot from start to end in bullet points. My bullet points look like this: "This and this character meet for the first time", nothing more complicated. Doesn't matter how many or few there are, as long as you have a start and an end.
Next, you start filling in details underneath each bullet point, these are now starting to form the actual chapters of your story. You're now done with the foundations of your skeleton and can move on to flesh out your story in full. You can do this by building on the bullet points and texts even further, or put it to the side and use it as reference as you now write a full rundown chapter by chapter from start to end. Rearrange and add stuff as you please, by now you'll know your story well enough to trust your instincts. With every chapter outlined in detail, all you have to do is just write the story itself. I also like to keep little notes throughout my chapters (with a different text colour) where I write down things to keep in mind such as character themes or foreshadowing that must be included if you have plot twists and the like coming later in the story, so you don't forget to include this while writing the story. I think a lot of writers do a variation of this, but for me it helps to think "skeleton, foundation, meat" just to keep it simple.
No. 2312526
>>2246882Thank you for all the great advice anon, I got all the way up to 30k this year thanks to you! Usually I reach around 10k and stop for one reason or another.
Sorry for such a late reply, I thought I had
A surprise month of Hellmas is now in effect. For the rest of the month of December, VPN posting will be banned.