>no new thread before old one dies
/wg/ is dead.

>>25301232
You people shouldn't let me make the new threads, I only ever do it late and I usually shill something.

File: warning-sign-30915_1280.png (72.4 KB)

Remember to report this self-advertising spamming fag and don't post in his threads. He's spamming this thread to advertise his book.

>>25301246
Which book might that be?

File: watch.jpg (97.6 KB)

>>25301215
He fellow writers. I made that sandbox thread a few days back about the pruning being the end of the world for in thread characters. Well the thread got got. 404. Gone. But the characters made it out in time. And they live on below. If you invested in creating your character there, in the prunned thread, your character awaits. Mr Changchang Zhang, your chariot awaits. If not, then don't worry. Everyone dies in the end.

>>>/qst/6416839
>>>/qst/6416839

So a question to commercial, anons: what's the best, or at least a good one, structure for a first chapter? I've seen people say you need to start in medias res, use little exposition, and throw the reader right into the action, etc. One thing I've noticed myself is that the first chapter tends to be a taste of what the book is about, so, for example, if you're writing a crime story, then you need a detective and a body right at the start.

>>25301358
I always just put my ending right at the beginning of the book. So then the reader is captured and they read the rest thinking that something else is going to happen but no, by the time they realize it, it’s too late. They’re already 2/3 through and they have to finish because I’m such a good writer they can’t put it down.

>>25301393
>flips to the last pages
Heh, get raped.

Consumptive Cur is a horrendous title. It's both clunky to say and generally nonsensical.
Imagine saying to a friend, "Hey, have you read 'Consumptive Cur?'" and not having the conversation end with them losing your number.

it appears that dark triad is causing some seethe

>>25301418
It's the book's marketing that's causing the seethe, the book itself is inoffensive aside from being mediocre at best

>>25301409
It makes even less sense when you realize the book is actually about production and the main character is named "Kitty."

>>25301497
>mediocre at best
So... leagues above anything else posted here?

>>25301508
People here tend to not shill as shamelessly as you.

>>25301510
That's not true in the slightest. There's always at least one, from F Gadner to Boor the bore, to many more in the future.

>>25301508
No, most of anything is mediocre, you're just another in the mediocre majority

>>25301510
he is not shilling, he is just excited about his book. there is nothing wrong with that. if you ever wrote a masterpiece yourself, you would understand.

Looks like Maid in Four Parts has made the best ad we've ever seen here. Has anybody read it yet?

>>25301630
I don't like how many words you (the author and maker of that ad) like to cram into spaces meant to be carried by visuals. That ad is an ugly block of text. Why do I need to know that I can click it to learn more? I'm not a fucking retard. Is the writing in your book like this, too? Do you feel the need to cram in all the information you can into the text, overexplain, and underwhelm?
Also 4chan ads are a money sink since nobody smart enough to read is dumb enough not to use adblock on this porn website.

>There is a $25 fee when submitting a book for Publishers Weekly review consideration.
Imagine having the gall to advertise here with a paid """review"""

>>25301627
>isn't shilling
>advertises and talks it up constantly
no, that's shilling. have a spine
what kind of person sucks up to a literally who

File: no-place-for-idealists-aaaadwye6hm.jpg (44.9 KB)

Usually I draw comics in /ic/ but I decided to venture myself in making a novel. I never managed to write a novel longer than 20 pages so this will be quite a chalenge lol. I may use this as a base for a future comic like I did before btw

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/73759/no-place-for-idealists/chapter/1331723/the-dying-empire

File: Screenshot 2026-05-25 144356.png (133.9 KB)

Is my protagonist a convincing maniac?

>>25301710
In a similar boat to you. Used to write comics but paying for art and working with artist got super expensive.

Wtf sound do bullets make when they fly by?

>>25301758
anon there are literally terabytes of combat footage on youtube and other sites

>>25301762
Yeah but I need the onomatopoeia...

>>25301712
>uses turn signals
no

>>25301758
>>25301763
Snap. Or crack. Fwip or bzz if subsonic.

>>25301780
I think I'm just settling for "three bullets whiz by". It's sad, and pathetic, but it's all I got for now.

>>25301661
it was probably created by AI

>>25301744
>working with artist got super expensive.
hasn't that problem been solved by AI?

>>25301758
they go kajoom and splick splack

>>25301684
we try to support our writers here

>>25301795
I mean is the specific use of an onomatopoeia important in your context? bullets can fly, sing, whistle, blow past, cleave the air, trace a path, etc.

>>25301826
Thanks, I can use this later
>>25301834
It's a screenplay, so I was trying to get the sound effect right. But then I realized it doesn't really fucking matter that much.

Your book a shit

>>25301934
>>25301934
You can have it.

https://litter.catbox.moe/aekfrrbh9vqbcjzd.pdf

>>25301934
imagine if you had to book a shit whenever you had to do your daily necessities. this is kind of what boarding school was like

>the female characters need significantly more interiority

WHAT THE FUCK DOES THIS EVEN MEAN?

>>25302049
They're noticeably less deep than the male ones

>>25302049
It means if female characters are more competent than males, you made feminist yass queen shitslop.

File: concerned.png (5.5 KB)

>>25302067
Only after posting that I realized it said interiority and not inferiority.

Did 1100 words today.

>>25302064
So... real life?

>>25302067
But we love Victoria here

>>25302071
Just do what I do: write every single character as male and then go back and select some at random and make them female but don't change anything else

>>25301418
it's always the same, whenever something big drops, there's first astonishment and then seething. you all remember when f. gardner unveiled his CoC

File: Despair.png (58.1 KB)

I keep writing myself into corners.
>have MC return to his homeland to face trial
>need him to continue his journey
>his crime is sorta low key but still significant
>decide to have him transported to a different place for "not technically prison" and then make an escape because someone decides to kill him instead of letting him escape
>now realize that MC's honour would have him go to prison anyway
>have to rewrite the trial just to have have exile be his punishment
>but that just too conveniently fits his plans anyway
>so now have to decide on something different, like getting a prison break
Having an MC with flaws and past crimes but also an incredible sense of honour sucks.

>>25302098
Honestly, this year seems somewhat interesting in the sense that there’s a lot of anons publishing their own work in a short time span, Between Dark Triad, A Maid in Four Parts, Sinner’s Descent and Consumptive Cur, there’s been alot of known /lit/-adjacent releases this year.

Frankly, it’s nice to see some anons put their money where their mouth is and actually produce something. I’d say all of those works have more artistic merit than anything F Gardner put out, since he was just using /pol/-pandering as a mask for poor writing.

>>25302186
I need to stop writing erotica and write something worthwhile so I can join the published anons.

>>25302186
>all shit

>>25301824
I'd rather not. Working with an artist for proper paneling is still superior right now

>>25302213
Who do you think is getting published these days?
Just write the next "I walked into an alternate dimension where my childhood friend has a massive dick and was rich and abusive instead of just a nice guy."

>>25302237
>500-5000 USD - Get something I might be happy with, people will love you for excepting your 4th revision despite the artist not really understanding what you are asking for.
>Free - Completely custom and instantaneous, people will hate you for using it.

>>25301215
>same AI slop image again
fuck off

I'd surely make a living off my writing if I only managed to make myself write. Surely.

>>25302246
Yeah, if I could write fem porn I'd be doing it. Instead here I am liking incest.
I should just try to warn regular genre.

>>25302291
write NTR

>>25302291
>if I could write fem porn
>Instead here I am liking incest.
You're not gonna believe this.

>>25302098
it was an even bigger deal when honor levy unveiled hers. nobody had suspected what she'd been carefully hiding all that time down her pants, but finally she must have gotten the okay from her publisher. they were like, ok, you can let it out now, girl. and bam! she just slammed that big monster onto the table like that. like, eat that, gardner. everybody was like whoa! whoa, honor! there was immediate seething, but most people were just like "wow..." "wow!" and that was the day, if you all remember, when she became our queen.

>>25302277
Checked and felt

>>25302449
>honor levy
had no idea who this was, googled her, found out she grew up rich in LA, first book is titled "My First Book" and she's known for her "chronically online prose."
Truly vomitous stuff.

>>25302449
Is having a dick a fantasy of yours?

>>25302250
>Completely custom
Except it isn't. You can only cross your fingers and hope the autocompleter follows your prompt, doesn't throw anything extra you don't want in, and successfully avoids any egregious mistakes like weird hands. The only way you're going to get "completely custom" art is to acquire a new skill.

>>25302983
>doesn't throw anything extra you don't want in
This retard doesn't know how to use a negative prompt.

>>25303265
This retard knows more about whatever the fuck negative prompts are than how to draw

File: lips_1_1.png (542.4 KB)

>>25303289
post art

I will write today.

>>25302449
and that is also why we have a strict "no vagina" policy here. because our queen is a jealous queen.

>>25301215
I feel like the way Final Fantasy VII handled its character writing was really magical and I'm trying to break down why it worked so well so I can use it for my own writing
It feels like at its core, the character writing of that game is really grounded and realistic. Now by default, if you're writing for a mass audience, the biggest risk is that you bore people. To prevent this, they have extreme and intense plot events constantly happening. This allows your characters to have those intense emotional reactions that people love without breaking verisimilitude.
A lot of stories do this. What I think separates FFVII from the rest though is something else. It's how the writers are more than happy to stereotype and exaggerate their characters for things that don't matter. Each of the characters fit into an archetype: You've got your pure innocent maiden, your badass fun-loving fighting chick, your silly mascot, your brooding loner, etc. This is constantly played for laughs and entertainment, but when things get serious (like in Gongaga), all the stereotype stuff just completely disappears in an instant, and for a brief moment everything is dead serious and realistic. This is of course not unheard of; you see it pretty often in sitcoms and kids' shows where things get briefly serious to deliver you a moral lesson. But you rarely see this used to deliver very deep, serious, realistic writing. Almost always, if a story has some very deep, serious, and realistic writing, it is played straight the whole way through. I think this actually might be totally unnecessary. Like if you have a character whose stereotype is that they're bossy and rude, you don't actually lose anything by making them super bossy and rude in a funny way when important things aren't happening. So long as you don't go over the top with it like anime does (E.g. Bossy character slaps your protagonist and forces them to scrub the entire house, repaint the walls, powerwash the driveway, and do the dishes), you're good. You can exaggerate a lot of normal dialogue and gain a lot of fun and expressiveness without actually losing anything in your writing

>>25303413
No wonder you people write the shit you do when you're out here unironically lauding fucking Final Fantasy's writing

>>25303438
I guarantee you I write better than you, because I filled out the entire text box writing about something I'm genuinely passionate about and love, whereas you wrote a lazy, snarky quip about how anime is bad. This is why I barely post on 4chan anymore. I have that passion in me and most of you apparently don't. I have never responded to someone just being genuine about their interests and passions and going, "HEH. Did you know that thing that inspired you is actually shit?!?" Literally what is the point. I know you're just going to go, "Heh, well THAT was a bit of an overreaction :^)" and ignore what I'm actually saying, because I've talked to countless guys like you, you're all over 4chan, and it's actually why I've moved away from posting on this site over time. I remember when this was the cool counterculture site. You're basically being a Karen right now. "Umm, final fantasy?? How cringe!!!!" What, you wanna go on about hazbin hotel next? Let's hear your list of socially approved media, because surely that's what writers need right? We need to be more close minded. We need to only expose ourselves to certain parts of the world, and only be inspired by socially approved sources. Yeah, that's so based and vril bro. Good shit

>>25303473
replies like this are a signal that you're a massive faggot. take note, sweaty.

>>25303477
See if I'm scrolling Instagram reels and I accidentally scroll into, God help us, a My Little Pony reel, why then believe you me I'm averting my eyes immediately, I might even chuck my phone across the room, screen be damned! Because if for one second, I mean if my eyes catch sight of a SINGLE DAMN PONY and I get even the faintest drop of inspiration out of this heathen media, well then by god I'm going to step outside and pick up the biggest, nearest rock to my domicile and crack open my skull if I have to. Them's the breaks. See, you can't just be inspired by MLP. It's not allowed. Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't you EVER fucking do it, I swear. It doesn't even matter if it's how the ponies are named, or how they're written, or the color palettes or anything like this. Just avert your eyes you fucking chud. Open Rumble. Watch a good ol' Nick Fuentes clip. Just do anything but expose yourself to that bullshit, because it's just not allowed, mmkay?!?

>>25303413
Nobody gives a shit about your essay here. Now post your excerpt because its all about execution.

>>25303487
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImK6Xdu2CUs

File: 3456546435435.png (23.6 KB)

>>25303483
>See if I'm scrolling Instagram reels and I accidentally scroll into, God help us, a My Little Pony reel, why then believe you me I'm averting my eyes immediately, I might even chuck my phone across the room, screen be damned! Because if for one second, I mean if my eyes catch sight of a SINGLE DAMN PONY and I get even the faintest drop of inspiration out of this heathen media, well then by god I'm going to step outside and pick up the biggest, nearest rock to my domicile and crack open my skull if I have to. Them's the breaks. See, you can't just be inspired by MLP. It's not allowed. Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't you EVER fucking do it, I swear. It doesn't even matter if it's how the ponies are named, or how they're written, or the color palettes or anything like this. Just avert your eyes you fucking chud. Open Rumble. Watch a good ol' Nick Fuentes clip. Just do anything but expose yourself to that bullshit, because it's just not allowed, mmkay?!?

>>25301795
make up your own like wffzzzeerrrr or squerzoooned by, cmon guys be inventive!

Heh, he called me an ironic, jaded, dispassionate dork? I'll prove him wrong by..... quoting him with a basedjak

>>25303492
the irony is the basedjak is you in this case. he was making fun of YOU

>>25303499
Unfortunately, I'm not inventive though

>>25303592
wow bro, i don't stick little pony figurines up my ass. guess the joke's on me!

>>25303602
Just proving his point. And you’re wrong, btw. Don’t be so close-minded. Anyway, can we get back to the writing thread?

>>25301358
An editor I met at a convention once told me to start the first chapter with a dialogue. It will force you to be 'in the moment' at the start, and not lose yourself in exposition.

>>25303289
>>25303302
Getting mogged by an AI bootlicker is pretty sad

>>25303350
Source?

I might not write the trap elves novel, after all. After I write, then what? I'm not that invested in LGBT shit to build a brand over it, and if I write something else, the fans won't trust me.

>>25303739
Congratulations on choosing not to be a literary prostitute.

>For decades, across the North American wilderness, there have been sightings and reports of a strange, bipedal, ape-like creature roaming around. Nobody knows for sure exactly what these mysterious beings are, some experts have weighed in, saying they are nothing more than apparitions, brought on by exhaustion and dehydration from hikers over exerting themselves, while others claim a more esoteric origin for them, suggesting that they are possibly part of some long-forgotten, unrecorded chapter of humanity’s history.

I'm going to write the great Sasquatch novel, wish me luck friends, and rate my opening.

>>25303984
0

>>25303413
VIII is a far better game, with better characters, a better story, and a better memory/identity plotline.
and frankly the characters in games/anime like those are pretty cartoonish even during the serious moments.
with all of that being said, of course it’s a wildly popular game series and if you’re writing a commercial genre book then there’s much much worse inspiration to draw from than final fantasy.

>>25303984
Something about this paragraph is stilted. It doesn't even come off as "news-sy", rather just boring to read.
If this is the style the entire book is in, you might need to give less exposition.

>>25303984
This is the intro to a highschool essay on american folklore, not the opening paragraph to a novel.

>have to wait months for an agent to open query
>wait anotehr month for their rejection
>if accepted, wait a few months for them to try and sell the book
>if sold the book, wait another months for editor teams to look at it
>another year for their edits and return
>then another year to edit with the publishers request
>then another few months to market
>then finally, release the book
I give up. I'm going to self publish. Speed is far more important in today's world.

>>25304108
cope. your'e just bad and not good enough to be traditionally published

Berserk os fucking amazing. I'll never tell a story like this.

Only 600 words today, but I'm basically at the halfway point now> One of my characters just realized that killing is fun

>>25304144
>>25303413
I see... Anime and video games are the influences for todays writers.

File: Yea.jpg (22.8 KB)

>>25304227
My influences are my thoughts and life experiences, but what do I know?

>>25304227
What is your influence? Some anime fight against a whale with gay sailors?

>>25304227
>>25304279
Why you think LitRPG is so popular?

>influence
THEFT IS THE PATH AND THE LIGHT OF BLISSFUL STORYTELLING YE MONGRELS

File: 1000026624.jpg (58.9 KB)

>inspiration comes when I don't have time to write anything or am away from the computer
>inspiration fucks off the moment I sit my ass in front of the page
please tell me I'm not alone I'm fucking losing it

File: 1000002757.jpg (65.4 KB)

Stumbled upon this book and have had no urge to write but its kinda fun to maybe write some stuff down. Fatherhood or being a man are topics I like to read and think about. Or a love story because I grew up on romcoms with my mom. I like tenderness. Im not really broken as a person or dont have a big story to tell but I dont see a point in writing if others dont read it.

How do you write knowing that someone might not ever read what you write?

>>25304433
I know that feel.
>Start carrying around a pen and paper so I can always write the moment inspiration strikes
>Inspiration no longer strikes

>>25304433
I thought that was only for me.

>>25304437
That's not the question you should be asking. You should be asking how to write knowing you're not good enough to write something wroth reading.

>>25304279
for me its petty alcoholics that whine about hardships

>>25304433
I wrote a really good quote on a slip of paper at work. I hope someone liked it.

>>25304433
Start carrying around a small notebook

File: Fact.png (322.3 KB)

>>25304437
>How do you write knowing that someone might not ever read what you write?
By having something worth reading.
Nobody owes me their time. This does not take away the value of what I put down.

"The light was just beginning to fade when his eyes landed on a honeybee. Taking another long drag of his cigarette before focusing on it. The bee was buzzing about the weeds around his feet before finally settling on a decent sized dandelion. Something felt off. This image didn’t sit right with him. A bee landing on a flower, it would be picture-esq if not for the hundreds of cigarettes butts littering the ground around him. Natures industrial worker carrying out its tasks surrounded by the discarded trash of man. He ashed his cig, careful not to disturb the insect. He looked carefully at it, as if he saw something of himself in it. He was a worker bee of sorts after all. On his last break. The parking lot behind him was silent, only the drone of the manufacturing plant behind him could be heard over his tinnitus. The highway was unusually dead. He hadn’t seen a car pass by since he walked out to smoke. Even the birds were absent. Only the bee disturbed the stillness of dusk."

File: 1000002496.gif (1.8 MB)

>>25304456
>>25304497
Going to chew on this. Thanks.

File: 5467252.gif (20.1 KB)

>>25301956
first glance, and i'll peruse it, but 5 pages to start with? back story. Put that in the end for publication in this format. imho. get right to it. You can try writing to the reader directly like Stephen King does via, "dear reader". Of informally, use parenthesis. pic rel.

Your sentence structure is nice. Good flow. Decent meter. That background intro? sux. Makes it look official sure but I once submnitted a copy of my stuff for a contest, and it had a backstory like yours does. The alternate timeline thing. I got declined, of course.

I got some advice from them: Instead of telling us, this and that. Show us this and that. Character is in some different timeline. Ok. Instead of a preamble, make it a newspaper article he's reading.

One of the best advice I ever got was to use the weight of words or phrases to generate a back story. Look up 'gerund phrase'. Use it often for word effeciantcy. Write : "The crinkled mud smeared newpaper, dated 1775 read the headline: Local man discovers the gerund phrase. Instead of: The paper laying on the ground flipped to the front headline, the wind flipping it open. The type read: "Local man discovers a phrase".

More backstory per word. they actually measure that with some index thing. Fucking word nerds, you know? (anyways, that just between me and (you)). Another tip? To hone voice: This, [that], (the other thing). Once you get it proper, do it sans the voice tools. [ i hope everyone get this, including (you) ].

>>25304615
People have an near religious hate for backstory and exposition. Sometimes I wonder if people really like to read or if they'd rather be watching a moving but can't find one to scratch the itch.

File: Screenshot 2026-05-26 192538.png (90.8 KB)

>>25304615
What backstory?

File: 1779187857312927.jpg (150.0 KB)

>>25304626
5 pages of what the civil war did, before the writer shows us what the civil war does, is terrible. We all know what happened IRL. What happens in your world? What? the south was upset because the north's inner city youth had a beef over some horse shoes that got stepped on by a rival horse gang. Word in the barn is that the north's horse gangs hold their meat in the pot side ways, to show they aint' tripin'.

sorry, just wanted to use tripin' in a sentence.

One last point before getting back to a scene. :


'It wouldn’t be long now.'. That sentence is worthless to the story. What won't be long now? Coffee? I think they are making fresh turkey since thanksgiving wont be long now--just 4 months. Wont be long now.

Call me a fag, get your revenge on me: check out my writing here and if you want join in. No rush. that board is perfect for long term story writing with collaboration.
>>>/qst/6416839

4chan is were you can fuck up and no one will know that you are actually a dog on the internet.

>dell, glade, clearing
Why did the English decide to name every centimeter of a forest?

File: Screenshot 2026-05-26 195049.png (126.0 KB)

>>25304736
Wait, you're criticizing the Author's Note without actually reading the Author's Note? That's a new one for /wg/.

wg, the more I think about going back to my unfinished second draft the scarier it becomes. There's so many obvious things I missed that I took way too damn long to notice and now I'm in no way qualified to write it

>>25304830
Better to do something than to live in fear of it

>>25304830
I hope you read through part 7 of that blog post from previous thread.

if I buy a new laptop will it finally make me write?
what software would I have to install on the new laptop to finally be driven to write?
god I hate that I never have

I have noticed a have tendency for melodrama, which is strange because I've never read much of it; I haven't even read Pride and Prejudice. Is it a low skill thing or did that come with me?

>>25304747
Because they had a lot of experience surgically removing it all.

are y'all niggas big-brained english majors or just pretentious sissies?
i have a question about grammar and don't know where to ax it.

>>25304105
Kek, this exactly. Sounds like he’s writing a non-fiction essay.

>>25305779
I'm ESL and never studied English in my life.

>>25305779
Submit your question and we’ll evaluate whether it’s worth answering.

Also holy shit this is the single worst edition of /wg/ in all of /lit/ history. Who are these fags arguing about which MLP character they like most?

>>25305785
ok, evaluate this:
why come it's common to say "busy [verb+ing]" when neither present participles nor gerunds can be used as complements of predicative adjectives? it would only make sense if busy was an adverb but i don't see any dictionaries listing it as such; it's only listed as a verb that's used with reflexive pronouns.

>>25305800
is it really that common to say "busying?" i've never heard anyone say that and can't think of an example from a book.

>>25305805
???
nah, nigga. wtf? i meant shit like "busy working".

get busy working on this bussy

>>25305800
Busy is an adjective describing the state of someone or something. You could ask the same about idly. Where do you see busy listed as a verb?

>>25305822
Ok in the way you’re using it it’s an adjective, but yes it can be an adverb or a verb so idk what the question really is. The answer is it depends on the use?

>>25305822
idly is an adverb, lil bro. go back 2 skool.
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/busy

I want to write, but I have nothing to say or any stories to tell.

>>25305905
Literally me.

>>25305800
>I’m busy working.
Busy is still an adjective in that sentence because it’s describing I, not describing the kind of work I’m doing. If anything, working is a participle or gerund describing what kind of busy I am (am I busy shitting, busy working, busy scrolling my phone?). You can basically think of that sentence as
>I am busy with work.

>>25305905
You're supposed to make up stories

>>25305905
just adapt some classic that’s in the public domain, but with new settings and characters, like joyce did with ulysses.

>>25305905
If you can't even come up with a story to write, how the fuck are you going to come up with sentences to explain your story?
>i want write but no story
>i am write but no idea
>how continue story
>writer block bad guys how
I've never once had "writer's block".

>>25305785
Fuck you, you got me excited for MLP discussion but there is none

>>25305923
>Busy is still an adjective in that sentence
i'm not saying it isn't though. i'm saying that gerunds/participles can't modify adjectives. it's fine doe; i've already found out that type of structure's called an integrated participle clause.

>>25305761
No. I love melodrama and write it deliberately. It’s probably one of the most transgressive things you can do stylistically speaking these days since most modern writers have a fetish for naturalism.

I’ve decided to write a fantasy adventure about a a prophesied hero combatting an evil tyrant except the hero is actually a woman, a black lesbian, and she had two mothers and the tyrant is an orange pedophile who is stupid and childish but rules with an iron fist

>>25306073
congratulations, anon. your book will be published in 36 months, you’ll get a $2,500 advance, and the book will sell 12 copies.

>>25306073
Please remember us when you make it to big name publishing.

I overuse ellipses...

>>25306073
If you’re hoping to fool leftist retards you’ll need good sensitivity readers.

>>25306345
go on?

>>25302049
it means moids are not humans and foids are and your writing should reflect this fact

>>25306349
I guess there's something wrong with me

>>25302049
here’s a little nugget of writing advice: write every woman like a paranoid schizophrenic who’s good at hiding it.
or, just so the jack nicholson line from as good as it gets.

>>25306411
do* the jack nicholson line from as good as it gets
>how do you write women so well?
>I think of a man, then take away reason and accountability.

>>25306411
>>25306413
Or you could try not being misogynist.

>>25306411
>>25306413
Something else is that women do not take responsibility for anything as long as they can avoid it. Just an observation. Write it this way: some trouble happen and the woman finds a way to make it not her fault. Don't make it too obvious though, make it seem likes she might even be right though she absolutely isn't. Also, make she think she's smarter than everybody else. I read a great fem MC story once where she thought she was playing everybody for fools just be revealed at the end that people were on to her for a long time. These are two great flaws to make your female characters feel real and put won't be able to tell why.

File: 1220.jpg (7.7 KB)

>want to better my writing skills
>need to write to improve
>need ideas to write
>idea too good for current skills
>don't write
>don't improve

>>25306488
So apparently the main character of my story is a man. She’s motivated primarily by a sense of guilt over something that wasn’t her fault but she still feels responsible for.
I should kill myself.

>>25306559
There are exceptions, don't best yourself over it. And a lot of fem MCs are really just man with a female coat of paint. The MC from the Hunger Games for example, just a man with tits.

>>25306539
Just write, retard. Pingpong some ideas in your brain until you get something you like, then just start writing.

File: 1776620463602357.jpg (22.2 KB)

>>25305830
no, but idlly is. and i never went to no school, that's for faggots and homos. and i'm neither. i was too busy busily busying.

>>25305979
is this like jazz writing? you're learning the theory so you can break it?

>>25306355
you didn't use an ellipses... you're cured!

>>25306488
i only write men into my books. and any women are also played by men. this gets especially interesting if there's any romance involved.

>>25306704
I spent like a half hour going going back and removing a bunch today

what are the most popular online book communities and how do I become popular enough on them to get a following and a gf?

>>25306824
I'm also interested in an answer to this question.

>>25306824
booktok/tik tok

Just continuously comment and have some terrible takes. you also must read a lot of contemporary romance

Hello writing my old friend

>>25306926
is it you, bren?

>>25306706
it worked for shakespeare

File: Screenshot_20260527_195134_Chrome.jpg (395.4 KB)

>>25301215
I have been in a funk writing unpostable stuff for a bit but I liked this one.

>>25307072
>An Ode To Joy
Anon...that title's taken...

File: Screenshot_20260527_200129_Chrome.jpg (444.7 KB)

>>25307073
AAAAAHHHHHHH GOD DAMN IT FUCK NONONONONONONONONOOOOOOOO AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

500 words, lads.

>>25307145
I only got 400 today, but also did some editing/revising. I realized I was being inconsistent with some terminology, so went back and fixed a bit.

When I do write its like 3k words in a single day about once a week. Averages about 500 a day.

>>25307145
0 words

>>25301358
Writers often frontload their first chapter with external conflict, aka action scenes or a dramatic scenario or whatever; but if it isn't strongly tied to a protagonist's internal conflict, aka it doesn't directly challenge their ideals or perception of the world, it's hard to believe it matters much to the character and the audience by extension.

>>25301710
I want to first thank you for trying to write a book. I've been wanting to write one myself for over a decade now, but I've never had the motivation to commit to finishing it or even getting halfway there. I analyze storytelling and acting as a lifelong hobby, so here's my opinion on your first 1 1/2 chapters:

>"'It's over! It's over! The war has finally ended!'"
It's never easy to write an opening line, but it's easy to notice when it comes off as generic. To me, at least, the first image that comes to mind is WWI and WWII; I can see inspirations of both when you mention trenches, dueling superpowers, and the suicide of a national leader. The real problem for the reader is this: "how does this subvert my expectations/challenge my assumptions?" Because so far, I only know the world is different because the names are different. The real world can be different from my current knowledge of it, but the broad strokes I've read so far is nothing new.

If I can find a new or nuanced reason why the war ended, then my expectations/assumptions can be subverted/challenged. Let me offer a tool to do so. Starting from the first line, assume the character/reader who is hearing it. What statement(s)/question(s) could they feel compelled to respond with? Perhaps:

>"What does that mean for us?"
>"I don't believe you."
>"When did this happen?"
>"How did you hear about this?"

And then figure out logical replies:

>"My son's coming home."
>"Everyone's outside. They're dancing. They're dancing!"
>"We've been free for over an hour now."
>"The victory bells are ringing. We've won."

Now that you have this exchange, you can cut out the first two lines and simply leave the third one. Not only does this exercise allow the reader to know what the character cares about, but it gives them the mystery to hypothesize what made them say it. People naturally predict questions that come up when they say things, and preemptively answer them just like this. Instead of waiting for the question to pop up, if it ever does. It turns into: "It's over! It's over! The war has finally ended! My son's coming home," etc.

Keep up the good work!

>>25302119
If he cares about honor more than his journey, then his journey is probably shit from an ass and not worth caring about. Furthermore, he should be allowed to think honor can be restored in extenuating circumstance

>>25301710
/wng/ is over there
>>25302431

>>25302119
Give you MC a foil companion that is dishonorable for them.

>>25305924
Only if you don't care about stories.

If I become a famous writer, will I have to do... interviews?

Man my writing is pretty straight forward compared to others in this thread, I don't know of that's a bad thing

>>25307925
It's not, because contrary to the graphomanic masturbators in this thread, people who actually read prefer things that are easy on the eyes.

Nobody wants to read schizophreniac-esque "prose" that's "very deep" and "totally unique".

>>25307865
Almost certainly. If this is something that will prevent you from wanting to become well known, send them to me instead.

>>25307545
I’m sure that sounded smarter in your head. It should have stayed there.

>>25308096
>I’m sure that sounded smarter in your head. It should have stayed there
This must go hard if you are 14 and I am behind you.

Seriously though, where do I write if I want people to read it?

>>25308162
if you weren't smart enough to google this obvious ass question, your book will probably suck anyway.

>>25308162
Royal Road

>>25308162
>>25308199
This

The self publishing general was a good idea, too bad too few anons are writing. We could have some useful resources there like recommend artists for covers.

>>25308222
you have google and LLMs at your service to scour the internet for cover artists, and you want to take advice from some gooner retard on /lit/?

>>25308235
Victoria anon pointed out a lot are scammers.

File: genie.jpg (13.5 KB)

A while ago I read about a grammatical rule that says to omit the article in lists. For example, if you have three jobs and told them to someone, you'd say
>I'm a cook, barber, and bartender.
And not
>I'm a cook, a barber, and a bartender.
Which would imply you're masquerading as three different people.

But now that I wanted to check it again, I no longer find that story anywhere, or any reference to such a rule. Did I just fucking hallucinate the whole thing, or what?

>>25308427
depends on the list.
>I’m an accountant, a father, and the last sane person in this town.
looks and sounds better to me with the articles.

>>25308095
Send what to you?

>>25308222
If you're so shit at writing that self-publishing is the last course open to you, then you might as well quit and look into brainless career options.

>>25308732
>just give up your art to be entroonified by CA blue hair editors
No thanks.

should I, an adult man, even bother trying to write a supernatural thriller about teenage witches?
do publishers want books like that written by men or do they think only women should write those types of things?

>>25308222
I think most self pubbers hang out in /wng/
They talk about cover artists and KDP and whatnot fairly frequently

>>25307438
leave the queen out of this

File: image (2).png (99.2 KB)

>>25308732
>*points to the chart*

only like 200 words today...

>>25309102
Did 1100 yesterday, I need to do 1600 today.
As is the life of
>>25308824

>>25309091
KDP
20th percentile - 10 books sold
50th percentile - 75 books sold
90th percentile - 30,000 books sold
It is about 5-10 times more effective to self publish than use Penguin Random House, especially at the midrange. 99th percentile sales are about the same.

>>25309138
I guess there's really no point to trad pub these days. $5k advance won't change anyone's life, and if you bomb after getting that deal you're back to the agent mines anyway. Might as well save the headache and self-publish.

File: Rat pepe.png (290.7 KB)

I would self-publish on literally any platform other than webnovel and Amazon.

>>25309288
Stop making excuses. You're not gonna find some kind of saintly pro-creator platform.

>>25309291
>excuses
Amazon is not getting anything from me, lmao.
>b-b-b-but the money!
Oh no not the $20 I would get in a year!
I'm fine with my $20 off Patreon. I don't need to coerce anyone with stubs or twist anybody's arm, or sign a deal with the literal devil.

As soon as a non-shit publishing site appears that gives people better deals, OR, at least acts as a PUBLISHER and MARKETS for them, it will eat Amazon's lunch.

It would be extremely fucking hilarious if Valve decided to take a big chomp out of the literature business.

>>25309296
Don't publishing sites like that exist...?
Draft2Digital takes 10%. Better than steam. Good terms
Have existed for a long while

Don't become a business major anon. The issue is audience

>>25309288
When I see posts like this I just assume you want a fallback reason to explain your lack of success

>>25309303
lit.joke is born
he works as a professional pool player

Claude described my work as:

>Cormac McCarthy and a creepypasta got into a fistfight at a bluegrass festival, and this is the police report — written in dialect, by a genie.

I'll never be published

>>25309303
>Draft2Digital takes 10%
And they partner with Amazon to sell your shit. Next.

File: ASSOOOM.jpg (102.2 KB)

>>25309304
Why not just assoom the simplest option that I hate Bezos and his shit corpo?

>>25309359
You can opt out of Amazon distro
Next cope, please.

>>25309375
Really? Interesting.
I'll consider that when I'm finished with my next thing.

>>25309376
Doubt it
Takes all of 2 minutes to research a kdp alternative and you never bothered. Just assooomed everything was as awful as Amazon with 0 research

But all of these publishers with great contracts are shit for selling books because they have no audience.

No one will ever eat Amazon's lunch because Amazon has the audience. Only a monopoly breakup could save the day and that simply will not happen

>>25309380
>because they have no audience.
That was my central point, retard.

>>25309387
>As soon as a non-shit publishing site appears that gives people better deals, OR, at least acts as a PUBLISHER and MARKETS for them, it will eat Amazon's lunch.
Where did you make that point then, retarded monkey?

>>25309392
>It would be extremely fucking hilarious if Valve decided to take a big chomp out of the literature business.
Right here.

>>25301503
It's because they want the feeling of making sense of the horrible world around them you pretentious douchebag

>>25309412
Why the fuck would a video game distributor bring a massive audience of readers that could break up Amazon's monopoly? Are you actually dented in the head?

It needs to be significant enough to forego Amazon's exclusivity which is 90% of most author's earnings.

>>25309431
>why would a platform with significant audience and engagement break up Amazon's monopoly?
Okay retard.

>>25309436
I sometimes wonder how people like you even breathe
Valve doesn't have readers dipshit. They are a gaming distributor. They have gamers, and a total user base a fraction of a fraction of Amazon's. They would bring a reading audience 0.01% the size of Amazon's
You are truly, hopelessly retarded if you think thats a potential monopoly buster

>>25301712
I don't particularly feel the 'maniac' part. Is this from his perspective or hers?
Either way you should show more of his emotions as he talks, and again in particular in his laughter. Show her response too, to really sell it - a good way of doing it is to show her being visibly unsettled by his behaviour but he doesn't care and keeps going anyway. Maybe she shifts uncomfortably, shoots him a dubious look before looking away again.

>>25302070
Good work, anon.

>>25309484
Thanks, though Monday was a holiday so I worked most of the day
I reached 50 pages though, halfway finally
(it's a screenplay)

>>25308222
>self publishing general
>check inside
>3 anons trying to network to each other and shill
it's a good idea so far as being containment for the worst bad faith actors that creative spaces can generate

>>25309495
I said it was a good idea, not a good execution.

1000 words.
It's kinda fun trying to imagine the mannerisms of a people without the concept of sexes but culturally tied to women. Mass Effect didn't really go into a lot of details regarding this.

i got broken up with and possibly hexed maybe circa late february. i want nothing more than to get back to writing daily but my eating and sleeping have been fucked. hardly written in the time since then, and frankly since december. i miss writing hundreds and thousands of words a day. i don't know if i'm as sharp as i used to be and i struggle to have the same level of focus that i did.
i need something like cocaine but that isn't illegal. coffee doesn't do it for me. what i really need is to get over her.
i have one piece at about 400 pages that i left to hang dry circa december and i'd like to finish that by doing a hundred-or-so more pages. i have the plot outline, but i fear the possibly disparity between my prose from then and now being too jarring. i have another piece i've been slowly plucking away at at about 60 pages.
sorry for the blogpost, i just don't know what to do. i love you guys

File: 516792.png (280.0 KB)

How is this?

>>25309625
stop writing in present tense, fag

>>25309625
It's nice, paints a scene pretty well. I think it needs a few changes and clarifications in some places, though.

In the first paragraph, is the guy actually waking up and opening his eyes? I would mention that if so. If not, I would instead rephrase to have the daylight mentioned before the eyes to imply that it is what's affecting a change, and not the other way around.
>"The daylight greets my eyes..."

The last sentence "I begin rolling the blankets..." is phrased like two fragments. It either needs to be split or it needs something connecting them. i.e.
>"I begin rolling the blankets, and one by one...".

In the second paragraph, the first/second sentence have the inverse problem. These are two fragments, phrased like they're connected. You should either connect them properly, or split them properly.
>"I close my eyes and beg for forgiveness..."
>"I close my eyes. I beg for forgiveness..."

In the last paragraph, it jumps from place to place a bit. You go from the idea of shelter from the sun, to a cordial greeting, then back to the sun. You should either
>re-arrange it to have the MC start talking to the driver on a new paragraph after finishing up with his observations about the sun
>or segue back into writing about the sun with an action of some sort. i.e. checking the horizon with hand shielding his eyes, then looking up into the sun.
In either case the speech should go in its own paragraph.

>>25309625
pretty nice. it's difficult to create a sense of atmosphere in present tense but you pull it off well here

>>25309625
>8 consecutive sentences starting with "I"
I'm glad this is what my competition looks like.

>>25309671
Show prose, Hemmingway.

File: image_2026-05-29_071156544.png (96.7 KB)

Rate my writing, frens. 1/3

File: image_2026-05-29_071330584.png (84.2 KB)

>>25309920
2/3

File: image_2026-05-29_071441477.png (97.1 KB)

>>25309922
3/3

Someone releases a book that bombs and doesnt sell at all. Theyre considerably dejected to the point of withdrawing for society altogether.

Is "crestfallen" too weak for this?
Google says too weak but this being in a fantasy world I like the unique flavor of the word. Its a one off line, the author is never mentioned again

>>25301215
>AI
all chatgpt does is shit on me worse than any 4channer

>>25309930
Crestfallen is fine. Why not just use dejected?

>>25309930
I would go with something like devastated for more long-term suffering
Crestfallen to me makes me think of the instant someone takes that emotional hit, not the drawn-out pain afterward

>>25309930
crestfallen seems more melancholic. empty and drained rather than a strong negative feeling in itself
seems appropriate for a character that feels defeated and gives up on society

>>25309925
I’d rate it very high on realism but very low in terms of being interesting. then again it is a play so not much can really happen besides people sitting around yapping.

>>25309945
because i like the smell of my own farts

>>25309930
Me

>>25309983
Verily thou art the flatulent one, O, Crepitus.

>>25309719
Sure
>https://warosu.org/lit/thread/25187571#p25189197
Instead of
>"Tom opened the door."
Try
>"Thomas' hands shook as he grasped the brass handle. Cold from the winter air the metal bit into his flesh. "I knew I should have brought those leather gloves" he murmured under his breath. Quietly, quickly he depressed the latch and made his way in, closing the heavy maplewood door behind him. Hoping, praying that she wouldn't hear the latch close."
There I turned 4 words into sixty.

Day 4 of doing no-fap to improve my writing. I'm grumpy and irritated. I've beaten my wife twice. No improvements noticed yet.

>GPT, write me a thousand-page McCarthian epic about the art and practice of wifebeating

>>25310189
one of the best demonstrations i've seen in these threads, thanks for contributing. i have trouble with this immensely and only just recently started to be able to expand my dry directing into better prose.

>deleted all my drafts again cause my prose is too shit for human consumption
someone please give me a prompt, I need a prose check

>>25310372
Eating a chocolate donut

File: kneeling_pepe.png (1.9 MB)

>>25310189
>post is from /wng/
I kneel

>>25310272
>has a wife
>chooses to fap instead

>>25309920
>>25309922
>>25309925
Screenplay / 10

>>25310415
I take you're not married.

>>25310415
Unless she's up for a quickie after a while sometimes it can be
>spend a couple of hours making it happen, doing it, and not jumping up again to not be a dick
or
>just whip one off and get on with your day

>>25310426
I take you have a failing marriage because you don't fuck your wife.

>>25310432
Thanks for confirming it.

>>25310391

Anon was a simple man because he, unlike the rest of humanity had figured out how to live. In Anon's estimation, life was nothing more than a series of consecutive choices, and happiness was derived from always making the correct choice. Unfortunately, if he tried to explain his philosophy to his family, friends or girlfriend, they would make vague references to autism, neuroticism and medication, but he ignored them. They only said these things to him because they couldn't prove him wrong.

Currently, a choice somewhere between the simple and monumental faced Anon. Not one that he could exactly take lightly, but neither was it so consequential that it required exacting deliberation. That choice was whether to go to Krispy Kreme, or Dunkin' for breakfast.

You see, Anon's favorite meal to break his fast after he rose from his bed was the humble chocolate donut. The choice of "what" to eat had already been made, and had a long precedential history. All that mattered now was deciding "where" and it was on this exact question that he vacillated.

He struggled for a few minutes, tossing his car keys from one hand to the other as he pondered. On one hand, Krispy Kreme had the better chocolate donut. There was no question about it. On the other hand, he did prefer the coffee at Dunkin' and during the preceding evening, he had stayed awake late into the night to watch his favorite vtuber's stream.

Concluding his deliberations, Anon made two choices. First, he decided that he should do whatever gave him the most pleasure. Second, he decided that he would derive more pleasure from a mediocre Dunkin' donut and good coffee than he would from a good Krispy Kreme donut and poor coffee. As ever, Anon was a devoted Epicurean, though he was unaware who Epicurus was (and if you asked him he would have called you a faggot!). A self-satifsfied grin broke out on his face as he left his apartment and sped off in his 1999 Honda Civic hatchback. He had done it again, he knew. This was the correct choice.

The drive over to the local Dunkin' was uneventful and once inside, Anon stood in the line at the till to place his order. However, something was wrong, but what? It wasn't the clientele, which was standard for a chain donut shop at this time of day. Nor was it the décor, which was safe in it's corporate blandness as always. Though the issue was literally staring Anon straight in the face, he didn't realize it until he reached the front of the queue.

"Welcome to Dunkin' saar, may I please take your order?"

A wave of despair overtook Anon as he beheld the Dravidian creature in front of him and realized the enormity of his error. There were no chocolate donuts to be found here, only ones contaminated by the stench of the Ganges.

Anon had chosen wrong.

(I apologize for getting so far removed from the prompt, I would have gotten there eventually , but I hit the character limit. Also, I read the Camp of the Saints recently, can you tell? lmao).

>>25310525
How verbose

>>25310555
>less words are better

>>25310555
A valid criticism. My prose used to be more spare but it tended to be dull, and I was just describing things happening so I am trying to add a bit more flavor. I could be overdoing it so thanks.

File: Screenshot 2026-05-29 160425.png (53.7 KB)

Joke's on you, reader. I'm a failed normie and this never happened.

>>25310573
Do people really write like this?

Question (it's actually more of a comment): is it a bad idea to write about something you haven't experienced?
I've been thinking about writing about X topic or a character that does Y when I haven't done either, but I thought it was a bad decision. For example, the difference between the works of John Le Carre or Ian Flemming and those of Mike Herron is day and night. It boils down to the fact that the former two had experience as spies while the latter was an office worker. And I guess there are settings or genres that one doesn't directly experience, like fantasy, but even then writers still pull it off because they learn about topics that help them develop their settings. In this case a example of the difference between experience and no experience would be the works of Tolkien or Le Guin against literally any fantasy writer from the last forty years.

>>25310575
No one has ever written like that not even AI so you can’t be reading it now.
>>25310579
There’s a reason “write what you know” is common advice because everyone will be able to tell you’re full of shit otherwise and appropriately dismiss your unconvincing drivel. This is why the general only produces whiny bitchfests by incels.

Corndog Zen 2. WHEN?

>>25310596
Like I've experienced being hit by chain lightning, and having my HP restored by my accompanying cleric.

File: Screenshot 2026-05-29 162546.png (205.0 KB)

>>25310575
Yes

>>25310605
I think that you can get away with fantastical elements or making up your own systems by keeping it coherent and filling gaps in others departments, like how a character develops or how characters interact with themselves and their world.

Yes I suck at dialog

>>25310189
but I don't have a "Tom opened the door" in my book

>>25310710
Proof?

>>25310608
>he busted a move
hachacha chachaaa check me out now! this scene could only be redeemed if the dance was a distraction before he blew this other guy’s brains out onto the dance floor.

>>25310718
certified NPC

>>25310732
“I suck at dialog,” I said.
“Yes, you do,” the man said back.
Then I sucked his dick.

>>25310766
More like "I noticed you have no analytical or communication skills because you chose instead to give a vague example of what you think is good"

>>25310746
There is a death in this scene, but it's a cocaine-induced cardiac arrest.

>>25310800
ok nice!

File: Apustaja.jpg (265.7 KB)

>>25310189
>There I turned 4 words into sixty.
To say that Tom opened the door?

only 400 words today, but now ready to move on to the next big action scene.

>>25310600
I don't think I'll write a sequel, unfortunately. Although I have a new short novel manuscript that's finished and I'm in the process of editing. Might try a small indie press, but if no one bites i'll self pub again.

Did you like CZ?

>>25310843
based retard

is it gay to be writing a story structure thinking very deeply about subtext and ideas, like metaphoric ideas, should i be doing more plot and character work instead of thinking about the subtext?

>>25310843
You have to strike a balance.
a whole book written like "Tom opened the door, and went inside. He hope that she didn't hear the latch close" is fucking boring. You have to add a little detail, don't be afraid to purple up your prose a tad. I think the rewritten example took it too far however

>>25310890
It's called "exploding the moment" and only works if the moment is an important moment. Otherwise reading feels like swimming through concrete. Opening a door definitely doesn't demand that much

>>25310189
>>25310890
>>25310893
Well in the first example I learn:
>A character Tom, opens a door.
In the second example I learn:
>Thomas' hands are shaky.
>That it is winter time and the cold is why his hands are shaking.
>That he premeditated entry into this structure, and that he made a mistake in his planning.
>That there is a female that he is trying to not alert. Could be a wife, daughter, or dog. More importantly that his hands might be shaking due to nerves and not cold.
>"Quietly, quickly he depressed the latch and made his way in, closing the heavy maplewood door behind him."
This doesn't really add anything and is fluff. That's the only line I'd remove.

>>25310921
>"Quietly, quickly he depressed the latch and made his way in, closing the heavy maplewood door behind him."
nah I'd say that it shows that the door is heavy and will make a loud sound so its harder to close quietly

We really need a /nwg/ Novel Writing General, separate from /wg/. People here are writing poetry, short stories, and novella's and shit.

File: Screenshot 2026-05-29 6.44.25 PM.png (3.4 KB)

>>25310981
Not me, mine's officially long enough that it's no longer a novella. Too bad it'll never be published cuz I'm a garbage writer

>>25310981
Some of us write screenplays
There's /swg/ on /tv/ but that board is too fast

>>25310882
no, do what you like to do.

>>25311009
wait... really?
i can do that?

>>25311039
That's the fun thing about creating art: you can use whatever process you want! Sure, there will be lots of people out there saying you have to do it one way, and others saying to do it another... but you should try them all and see which works best for you.

File: 1766979642474856.jpg (33.9 KB)

>>25311048
oh my god
i get it now

>>25310882
>is it gay to be writing a story structure
this is the gay part
just write the fucking book
just make one good piece of art before you die

>>25310921
>When you tell the reader more things, the reader will know more things!
Great job. Now tell me why the reader needs to know any of this