I can think up good plots and ideas for stories, but I can't write for shit. I don't know how to start. How do you start a book?
I also have a hard time describing things and places. I don't know the names of geological formations, rocks, trees, flowers, birds, furniture, types of wood, clothes, brands... Good writers seem to know all these things. Do I have to be very knowledgable of the world before I can become a writer? Do writers research this kind of stuff or do they write only what they know from experience?
What about adjectives and adverbs? I've heard that it's considered bad taste to use too many adjectives and too florid a language, if you know what I mean. Is it true and should I care?
Final question. How do I write about a place I've never been to? Do I have to actually travel there and stay a few weeks? What if I'm not rich? Can I make stuff up?
Thanks in advance.
I want to write a book but i cant into plot, i get lost in countless digressions, and references etc, i wanted to wirte epic but i ended in writing memoir what do
>>7694857
For fuck's sake...
Dunno if you'll manage to be a "writer", bute you've written a ton of bullshit here amigo
The only good answer to this will always be:
Write.
>>7694857
The only thing you can really do is pay attention to what you're reading and try to understand what you like about it and practice writing every day.
You can do it if you just make yourself sit down at a particular time every day with out a computer or anything to distract you. Even if you don't write every time just sit there and think about what you're going to write and how you might write it.
Just read and write everyday. That's it.
>>7694857
>I also have a hard time describing things and places. I don't know the names of geological formations, rocks, trees, flowers, birds, furniture, types of wood, clothes, brands... Good writers seem to know all these things.
Because they do research. If you want to write about something obscure in great detail, you're making more work for yourself. Learning about these things can be fun if you want to know about them.
>Do I have to be very knowledgable of the world before I can become a writer?
You have to be knowledgeable about the world you want to write. This relates to your first question.
> How do you start a book?
You plot, you draft, you redraft, you fact check, you keep doing this until your eyes bleed, and then you get someone who is not out to eat your ass to tear it to shreds and repeat until you hate yourself.
>Is it true and should I care?
It's a matter of taste. Some people strip all of the adverbs and look for "better" nouns, some people slash all adjectives and adverbs and some do both and slowly re-insert details which are necessary. Some authors don't even use real words. You don't have to worry about this until after you draft it.
>How do I write about a place I've never been to? Do I have to actually travel there and stay a few weeks? What if I'm not rich? Can I make stuff up?
You either don't write about it or you research it. Check google, make friends with people in the area over the internet, save to visit, but fucking research it.
>>7694931
Outline, draft, redraft, rinse, repeat until you hate it and yourself.
>>7694968
>"better" nouns
"better" verbs.
This is why you redraft and proof, because you'll make mistakes you'll hate yourself for in the first run through anything.
write a thousand words a day. if this is 'too hard' then give up, because you will never have the discipline to be a writer. bear in mind you will spend months sluggishly writing just to fill the word limit, because you are a shit writer that needs to overcome this via practice. you should spend most of your day tapping at a keyboard, typewriter, whatever. always amazes me when people tell me they are a writer, then when i ask what they recently wrote it's always 'i've had writers block lately' or 'i don't write much, but i have plenty of good ideas'.
Literally just start writing in a notebook and go from there.
>>7694857
Read Immanuel Kant he's a great novelist.
>>7695241
Oh youre a riot you are. Slapping my knee so hard I'm kicking myself in the face
>>7695250
really really good writer
>>7695253
I can't tell if you're mocking me or correcting your post to say that Kant was a writer rather than a novelist
>>7695265
philosophy is wicked stupid and kant is the stupidest
>>7695265
Yes, but the other anon said "novelist," implying that he believes Kant's moral philosophy is, you know, "fantasy" or "science fiction" or something. Probably a Stirnerite
>>7695270
>probably stirnerite
i don't think school holidays have started yet though
>>7694857
>I don't know the names of geological formations, rocks, trees, flowers, birds, furniture, types of wood, clothes, brands... Good writers seem to know all these things.
What are you reading where the author showcasing his knowledge of nomenclature is the most fucking prominent thing about the book?
In the books I read and like, the authors will put in a detail or two there for immersion, but it's nothing compared to the actual emotions of the story and what the characters are going through. The only knowledge you need about the world is to know how events unfold and about how people work. You can get the details of any superflous shit can be easily research.
>>7695279
It's a Saturday, remember. I know, the terms "week" and "weekend" sort of lose their meaning if you: work service, are in the medical profession, or are a NEET. Or, if you're anything like me, you're an autist who spends all his time sitting by himself, putting his thoughts to digital record, and is somehow getting paid for it.
>>7694857
you are either a troll, 11 or mentally retarded.
>>7695292
>it's a saturday
not in the land down under. it's sunday, where i would expect all the stirnerites are despondently being forced to church by their parents, and wouldn't have time to be posting on 4chin
>>7695307
Are Aussies really that big a proportion of people who come on 4chan?
>>7695313
yes
Despite /lit/'s issues with him, I do think Stephen King's advice on the subject of how to become a good writer is the most important advice I've encountered: "you have to read a lot and you have to write a lot."
>>7695315
Well that explains a whole hell of a lot, thanks friend. Is it really still like "Wake in Fright" down there?
>>7695321
nah there are a lot more wogs and koreans here nowadays
>>7695261
I'm being entirely facetious due to the late hour and awfully disrespectful of you all and I'm sorry
>>7694931
Congratulations Victor Hugo. My suggestion is to read Victor Hugo. He manages to do what you're doing but also write novels with plots and characters. All you're doing is highlighting what you're good at. Look at what you're lacking. Find authors who are good at what you see as your strength (Hugo) but can also manage to do what you see as your weaknesses. Sorry I only gave you one author, but that should make the point clear. Hope this suggestion helps. I personally love that writing style if you can pull it off.
Writing beautifully well is 80% talent 20% reading good lit and writing as often as ideas come to you. Sorry anon.
>>7695320
That's the most basic shit though so it's worthless advice because anyone who has to be told that is borderline retarded.
What gets people like OP twisted is that they put too much thought into it before actually trying to do it. You don't start off writing an entire novel. That's just a waste of time because it's going to suck. Write a few short stories first to get a feel for what it's like. Then write a novella. You'll see that the longer what you're trying to write is, the more important an outline becomes. When it comes to novels, a good outline will make the process a lot more manageable even if you make lots of changes as you go along.
Successful authors always advise "write what you know," but what if the only thing I know is being a lonely beta male? I want to write about human life, people in relationships, the raptures of love, etc, but I know nothing about any of these things and could never write about them with an ounce of authenticity. The only thing I know about is loneliness. Is there any point in trying to fake it?
>>7696730
write that then. literally write what you know. write about the pains you experience being a lonely faggot that no woman finds attractive.
literally this is what the NHK is about just with a fantasy element of a 10/10 woman talking to you.
>>7696743
yeah, but then it's derivative. it's been done before. houellebecq, notes from the underground etc
I'm a professional writer. Well, not professionally, but I do get paid for my work. I mean I get paid for the job I do at the job I do and I write on the side. It's not hard to become a writer. It's about the soul, really. You need to have a good soul, and to be clear with your sentences. Probably the most attributative factor with it happens when it comes to being a writer is the right tools. You're going to want to pick up Microsoft Word and Final Cut and Photoshop and probably a good keyboard too, because you're going to be using it a lot. I use a Razer BlackWidow 2013, but that's because I also play video games. But the keys are good for writing too because they clickety-clack like that sound you want when you're writing like in the movie "Punch the keys for God's sake!" That's not what it was called, but it had that line in it, and that's the sort of intensity you want if you're going to be a writer. But honestly people ask me all the time how you become a writer. I mean I see threads like this all the time. There's no trick to it. Everybody is a writer. You write, I write. We're writing on our phones, composing text messages, sending our personality to other people via Wi-Fi, electric mail, photocopiers. The digital revolution, in my view, has made writing democratic. People are self-publishing their work and making it big. In the end, it's about trusting yourself. If you trust yourself, the words are going to come out right. Just listen to your heart, and let your heart find its way to your fingers, and the keys, and remember to stay hydrated. It's all in a day's work.
>>7696765
why does it have to be the same story because the protagonists share some base attributes? come on nigga that isnt even necessary
>>7696793
muh originalityfags give themselves aneurysms over that shit but dont realize everyone has a different approach to the same themes
>>7694945
Basically this
Chances are, even if you've had other people praise your writing, its likely still shit.
A lot of people immediately jump into trying to emulate their favorite literature and make everything complex and morally ambivalent.
But this is a crock of shit. Just read and write every day, but start off stupid. Write dumbass thriller short stories and bad erotica and horrible attempts at comedy. Don't be afraid to rip stuff off and plagiarize, nobody will read this anyway. Focus on basics like plot, creating suspense, and making characters that evoke reactions in the reader.
Then slowly build up from nothing. Take risks but don't pat yourself on the back for it because writing experiments will fail like 90% of the time.
The secret is just to swallow your pride and write often. Don't get attached to specific ideas. When you edit, do it mercilessly. Even if it feels like throwing your children off of a life raft.
>>7696730
>>7696793
>>7696797
"Write what you know" doesn't mean "don't write what you don't know". It just means don't try too hard to make your writing relate to some impressive-sounding theme that you don't actually relate to at all. Whether you've literally done or have been involved in the specific actions/events in your book is irrelevant.
