>Confessions of a Failed Writer
> I read day and night, and simply cannot fathom doing something with my life other than writing. Because I lack the enthusiasm for anything else, I'm afraid to take a regular job because I know self-loathing will eat away at me until I commit suicide.
>I've no money, live with my father, and spend the majority of my days locked in an airless bedroom surrounded by balled-up sheets of paper, empty coffee cups and books I'm trying not to rip off.
http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/i-spent-two-years-writing-a-book-that-nobody-read
He just reminds me to not be a bitter loser, but damn, the fact that this guy wants to herald some kind of New-Sincerity-tear-down-literary-artifice stuff is pretty telling. He's so fake he wants to be hugely sincere, and he's so narcissistic that he thinks he's the special snowflake that can do it.
I need to lie down.
>>7737141
2 years, please. You have to be ready to write 10 shit novels beffore a passable one happens, sometimes more sometimes less
>>7737148
wrong reply, whoops
>>7737120
Shit prose. Like a 14 yr old's diary.
>>7737120
I read & skipped part of that story. Did he say what his book was supposed to be about?
we're all failed writers compared to jk rowling fampai
>>7737298
>Did he say what his book was supposed to be about?
About him, ofc.
>i've been writing for 3 whole years
>why am i not the greatest writer ever
>>7737120
>books I'm trying not to rip off.
There is his problem. There is nothing wrong with copying basic ideas from a book
His prose
Life experience is an important part of writing.
His writing seems pretty good to me and I like his ideas. I'd read it.
>>7737120
He should just submit under the name of a woman like Meghan Johnston
>>7737120
I kinda dig his story, but no one forced him into doing what he is doing. He just seems sore about making the wrong decisions and I just cannot sympathize.
It's only failure if you give up. This article is needlessly melodramatic and I don't sympathise.
The reason Ireland produces so many potatoes is for the chip on that guys shoulder
>>7737540
lmao
>>7737316
Notice how exhaustively self-referential that passage is. All his talk of "books" and "writers" are a pathetic begging (whether or not he realizes it) for the reader to consider him a "serious" person with "serious" thoughts. Here he provides an "analysis" of literature that tells the reader exactly how he himself wants to be interpreted, complete with the pathetic disclaimer "I know I'm not being original!" as if pointing this out somehow excuses him, either by being "sincere" enough to admit a lack of skill, or by being self-referential enough to trick simple readers into thinking that he's clever. Of course, neither works. You would think an Irishman with pretensions of being a writer would at least have read At Swim-Two-Birds by O'Brien, which sharply satirizes the adolescent urge to write about a writer writing about writing, but this writer doesn't seem to be influenced by actual literature at all. Every reason he gives for wanting to write is ancillary to the literature itself: he wants to get revenge on people for his bad childhood, he wants money, he wants to live "the literary life," he can't handle working an actual job. Where in the essay does he even mention a love of literature, let along demonstrate a working knowledge of it? The posted excerpt mentions that he loves "a raft of quotes" (whatever the fuck his affected attempt at metaphorical usage is supposed to mean), and one would expect, in an essay by a man claiming profound influence by writers, that some word of theirs, some reference to their works, would at least be included to justify the pursuit of letters over less practical uses of time, but instead writers' names only appear when he's vomiting them up in lists in a vain attempt to convince himself that because there have been successful writers, he has a chance of being one. One thing and one thing only drives his production: narcissism. He sees literature as a great big game where if somebody writers a good enough story, they are rewarded with fame. The concept of writing a story just for the story's sake is completely alien to him. Over time, with enough practice and enough words written, the writer might become a competent typist, able to bang out a book or story or article that you can read over without finding it too embarrassing, but nothing will ever fix the fundamental lack of perspective that defines this man. I can say with near-clairvoyance that his writing "career" will end either in bitter resignation or suicide, and though in some sense I feel bad for him, he entirely deserves the awful future that is waiting for him.
>>7737120
The idea of being known before sending a novel to a publishing house seems interesting. Did you guys intend to do that? Like having a persona in the internet, posting excerpts from your stuff, interacting with people. I think it could help a first time novelist nowadays.
>>7737120
We've had this thread 3 months ago.
Stop reporting shit just cause people can't check the archive.
>>7737805
reposting. it was meant to be 'reposting'.
>>7737791
it's just freelancing, it's like essentially having a portfolio or resume to accompany your manuscript. makes sense to me
>>7737791
The best thing to do to be known is to publish short stories in decent magazines. This will help more than most web stuff, unless you have an extremely popular blog or youtube channel or something of the like. Also, most places don't even read unsolicited manuscripts. You need to find an agent first.
>>7737540
goddamn!
>>7737785
underrated post, good talk. The dude is a whiny fuck.
>>7737316
absolute garbage
>a raft of quotes
>merely seeking to emulate his heroes
>hoping no one will notice his lack of originality
sorry m8 we caught u
what a fucking cuck
>>7737120
I'm in a really similar situation right now but his attitude about it all is so grating. This is one long perverted humble brag. Fuck this clown.
i know jonathan lethem, he's a cool guy
>>7739884
Do you happen to have source for that image?
>>7737120
What can I do to not be that guy? To not fool myself to that extent? I doubt he's being consciously dishonest. It seems to me that he really believes what he's putting on paper.
>I maintain that the only way to express oneself in literature is through first-person narrative and use of the word “I”.
That sounds pretty autistic for someone who's supposed to love literature.
>>7737141
>He's so fake he wants to be hugely sincere
Good Old Neon.
Why are modern writers (including screenplay writers) always such meek, pathetic nerds? They never fail to mention their insecurity or their coffee addiction. Every single time. I'd take smug edgy assholes like Hunter Thompson or whatevver any day over this shit. Now redditors would prolly say it's "feminization" or something but I'm sorry, I don't see how being a human fluke is a particularly feminine quality. Most girls I've met are more lively than this
>>7737540
>>7737329
What did he mean by this?
>>7741720
>le 'why has society degraded?' meme
There have always been alpha writers and lots of 'meek, pathetic nerds'. It is no different today.
>>7737120
If he wishes do break away from the "system" which is pulling him away from his work, why doesn't he just move somewhere and live off the land? Completely free himself of these pressures, anxieties and restraints.
If he doesn't persue this, I am inclined to believe he just wants to mooch and be taken care of so that he can be in his room all day.
If the latter is the case, just commit a crime, be put in solitary and just read books for the rest of your life.
I mean, if you want to be a good author it's not hard, just write a lot. It helps if you aren't a fucking loser living with your dad, because you'll probably end up just writing about how you're a loser living with your dad.
What's the mystery here? You're alive in the most exciting era of discovery and anticipation ever. You could write about anything.
Most people who say they want to be writers don't really want to be writers, they want other people to see them as writers because they feel that will give them some status that they wont otherwise get.
Protip: Famous authors aren't particularly clever or special. They just wrote a bunch, and lived during pretty interesting times, so they used that as inspiration.
It would make sense if you're trying to write in 2016, to write about Facebook, the Internet, losing and merging identities with a crowd of people that are morphing into some weird plastic consumer demographic construction that looks like an empty souless monster.
Or you could write about the rise of new Islam and wars in the Middle East.
Or you could write about China and how there are 1.5 billion hungry and dedicated people willing to sacrifice everything for a slice of the pie most westerners are pushing away in disdain.
Or the ongoing civil war in India no foreign media wants to cover.
So much you could focus on, and so easy to research it all so it rings true, because you have the internet as the world's database of knowledge and history. Think of all the possibilities in Science Fiction or Fantasy with all that we know about Modern Physics.
>>7741864
>What's the mystery here? You're alive in the most exciting era of discovery and anticipation ever. You could write about anything.
Stopped reading there. Go back to redd1t.
>>7741794
>le 'society has always been the same throughout history, nothing even really changes' meme
you dont even deserve to be called a pleb
>>7741818
>why doesn't he just move somewhere and live off the land?
because that would actually take real life skills and a lot of manual work, something this human inchworm has never been exposed to, looking at his photos
>>7741869
how is that even a put down? reddit is a fantastic website packed with interesting content, much of which gets recycled here the next day.
>>7741880
nice
>>7737120
There's got to be at least a few people on here that have done this.
>>7737785
Brutal.
But I totally agree.
>>7737120
I was going to provide some feedback on how poorly he wrote the article, but then I saw at the bottom the confession to shill out as an internet blogger in the hopes of getting famous enough to get an easy publishing.
You're writing sucks, and you deserve to be a failure. I know you're a loser, because you went well the fuck out of your way to tell me so. Please don't ever publish anything you've written, because it's going to be drivel and garbage and reduce the quality of modern literature as a whole.
>>7741942
>You're writing sucks
I'm a girl and I'm literally pointing at my computer screen and giggling with my girlfriend (umm, no, we're not dating, eww.)
>>7741953
Why do women refer to their platonic female friends as 'girlfriends'? Isn't that what you would assume anyway?
>>7741957
Please stop talking to me. Thanks.
>>7741973
Your welcome.
what a cunt
>>7742255
Source is the film "best worst movie" a documentary about Troll 2
>>7737120
>simply cannot fathom doing something with my life other than writing. Because I lack the enthusiasm for anything else, I'm afraid to take a regular job because I know self-loathing will eat away at me until I commit suicide.
Literally me, except I don't care for writing.
>>7741720
Other ages had them too, they've just been forgotten because they never create anything worth remembering.
I've never tried writing but it's something I've always thought about doing. I really can appreciate good writing, when a piece of work is done well, I love to see that more than anything. I doubt that makes me a good writer though. People like this put me on edge. I really don't want to end up like this guy. Can I get some advice here?
>>7737120
Just got around to reading the article. What an arrogant little shite. From the mention at the beginning of his fucking macbook and his fucking moleskine, I knew I would hate this mooching little fuck. Why shit on teaching language so much if he fucking idolizes Joyce? Fucking wankrag.
>>7741880
It's refreshing to encounter another person who can casually browse 4chan and reddit without developing an irrational hatred for one or the other.
>>7741639
Seems more like The Depressed Person to me desu senpai.
>>7737311
Agreed. That's how I came up with my best story, "The Changing," which is about a man who wakes up one morning and discovers he is a gigantic goose.
>>7742646
Don't be a pathetic faggot? You may fail but there's no point in whining about it like a bitch
>>7741953
>I'm "le girl" meme.
Nobody gives a fuck what you are.
Who feels the need to state their sex. Fuck. Why?
>“I'm trying to fictionalise my childhood – by which I mean make it more interesting – because the writers I'm obsessed with are mainly autobiographical: Jack Kerouac, Geoff Dyer, Henry Miller, Marcel Proust, James Joyce. I maintain that the only way to express oneself in literature is through first-person narrative and use of the word “I”. All other styles bore me, and are avoidances, I feel, of the writer's foremost inspiration to write: his insecurity. I also hated my childhood and think writing a book about it will help settle scores and justify the trauma of having lived it.”
He was doomed to fail from the start.
I cannot understand how so many “writers” avoid (and even with pride) some of the greatest things in literature: the stories, the characters, the beginnings, middles and ends of the tales of other human beings outside your own belly button.
So here we have a guy with lower than mediocre looks, a guy who admits his life is of small interest and that he, himself, is a boring person: we have a guy who is completely savorless and grey deciding that he is going to write about…himself: really!? He thinks that the greatest theme of all is the writer himself and his “insecurity”? God, how stupid can this poor devil be?
He is also – and that’s hardly a surprise – a weak fellow, a low-self-esteem and ready-to-give-up kind of individual. I pity him, but he also makes me feel nauseated.
>>7742738
Good post. Would read again.
>>7741880
>reddit is a fantastic website packed with interesting content
I usually don't say this but, kill yourself.
>>7742658
Yeah, anyone who talks about their moleskine and macbook is a massive faggot with nothing of value to say about anything. The non-sequitur in the beginning where he juxtaposes himself with journalists who were getting killed in the middle east was also a tipoff about him being nothing but the worst kind of "oh look at me I'm so clever and self-deprecating" wanker.
>>7737785
sick post brah
Also, At Swim Two Birds. more of you people DO need to read this
>>7741871
>Meek, pathetic nerds have only came into being this generation
