How do I go about writing? I have a fantastic story idea, but I want to go through with it to the end and not fuck it up/give up midway.
What's some good prep/motivator to do it?
Story ideas (plot) don't really matter tb h
>>8000838
What matters then?
>>8001047
How the story is told. Which includes prose and other things. Despite what other anons tell you it isn't just prose.
>>8001047
Structure, prose and narrative imho
>>8000838
It does if you're writing a story. Writing a piece of """"literature"""" is different
>>8000838
>you can write about a man shitting into his own mouth if you make it pretentious enough and call it art.
No. Plots are part of the reason you read in the first place get the fuck outta here
>>8000821
You need to have the principle and discipline to finish the story.
You should write it at a work station and have someone keep you in line if you can't keep yourself in line.
Have someone read it occasionally as you progress.
I need someone to keep me in line, because I'm very fickle and defeatist, but I'm trying to work on that. I have like 30 plus ideas and none past the 1st chapter
>>8000821
I've always been looking for a writing buddy to tell me not to be such a lazy peice of shit but !ost people think its faggy to need help and so I just try to struggle along
>>8001118
What is it that you read for
>>8001123
>tfw
>>8001136
I know anonymity is the thing here but if we had a community where we build each other up we might make something
just write it you homo. it will be shit, but at least it will be on paper. and then leave it for like 2 months and come back and use that first draft as a backbone and rewrite the whole thing.
As someone's who's written a 400 odd paged novel, let me tell you that the key to getting that shit finished is to 1) always know what you're going to do next so that whenever you work you're doing something productive, outlining is a good tool for this, and 2) to make an attempt to write every single day. Doesn't matter if it's just one sentence or not EVERY SINGLE DAY!
Do this, and you'll eventually you'll have a story down.
>>8000821
Write it and tell us about it here once you finish. I have a very interesting story idea as well and I plan on doing so here.
>>8001097
Don't you know hamlet would be the same if it was all about a retarded peasant tilling grass? It's all about that dank blank verse mang, literally nothing else matters.
>>8000821
Outline. People who outline are have superior productivity compared to those who don't. But Outlining takes alot of skill to pull off.
>>8001186
Can't you argue without being ironic ? Lowest tier of discussion right here.
>>8001196
I don't think he's being ironic. He really feels that plot is so unimportant that hamlet could be about the politics of peasants
People who think plot doesn't matter are the type to make a millennial version of Romeo and Juliet with emoticons and hashtags
>>8001196
Not arguing or discussing, just mocking you.
>>8001221
THIS
>>8001224
You are so cool man.
>>8001221
But the plot still there with the emoji shit
>>8001240
It's not the same though.
At best its two teenagers from rich families, hardly the same as Romeo and Juliet in their context and the reason their families fought
>>8000821
I'm a themes guy. I start with some themes
>>8000821
Firstly you got to read some books
Then you've got to practice
Story doesn't matter that much, it's more about the themes and prose
>>8001297
What about both?
>>8001166
Will do
>>8001297
>Story doesn't matter that much, it's more about the themes and prose
While this is kind of true, story is still pretty important. When you have themes and a message, the story should complement them (or better yet, they should all complement each other). Doing this makes the novel far more comprehensive, intelligent, and powerful.
A book with lots of intelligent discussion and exploration of themes that follows any ol' path and setting is limited in how good it can be: however, a book with these things that are complemented by its plot, characters, and setting actually improves the depth of this exploration and makes the whole thing feel complete.
/lit/, how do I write good literature? Obviously the plot shouldn't be the focus. So how do I write a novel with a theme in mind without basically writing an Atwood novel, where it's obvious I started out with an idea and then just built stuff to support it?
Don't listen to these people. Of course plot matters. You have to learn how to construct a dramatic narrative and build up storytelling skills.
You have to learn the rules before you unlearn them, otherwise you're just imitating Pynchon, McCarthy, DeLillo, etc. without the core understanding of what makes the novels work.
Write a novel with little to no plot if you like, but if you are doing it because you are "coincidentally" shit at creating tension or drama, you are writing terrible fiction. Pynchon is a master of using plot to create drama, but he can subvert the reader's expectations. Lot 49 is a great example because it's a huge buildup of tension that is deliberately not resolved.
Ignoring plot completely guarantees that your fiction will be shit.
>>8000821
plan your story from start to finish before you start writing. if you just start writing hoping that one day you will connect start to finish then you are doom to failure or mediocrity.
>>8001186
Balance.
You can write good stories
You can be a good storyteller
You can be a master of language.
A balance between those. If you lack one of them you must provide with the others. If you lack all three of them you can still succeed thanks to shilling and blah blah.
>>8001989
>You have to learn the rules before you unlearn them
Pretty much this.
Should you ever write in third person present tense for a novel?
>>8002198
Sounds like a bad idea but if you have a reason to, why not.
>>8002212
not me, but a friend who sent me the first chapter of his book he's been writing
I find it very difficult to read as it is
>>8002217
Well, what was his reasoning to do it? I can't come up with a good one t.b.h.
>>8002229
I haven't asked, and to bring it up would be quite a big deal. It's 85,000 words rn and still being written
It's kind of makes the story from your perspective, as if you're there, but it's very uncomfortable because I know no other books that do this
It's more like you're narrating, or reading a script and it doesn't work as a book. I'll ask him
>>8002238
It sounds pretty awkward to read for sure, wonder why he didn't just roll with the first person. Changes for the sake novelty rarely work.
>>8001101
>>8002416
He's right though. Unless you're some autist who wants to impress other autists, you read because you want to know where the shit is going aka. plot.
>>8002238
>>8002269
Not either of these posters, but I like third person present tense done well. It's not common in L I T E R A T U R E but a lot of fanfiction and fapfiction uses it (comparatively) and once you get used to it it's great. It creates immediacy and can help involve the reader in the world. For example:
There is a building in Manhattan that is 72 stories tall. Seven of these floors are residential, twelve are technical, and the remainder are offices and services. Imaginoil owns the offices, and coincidentally also owns the building, and the building is its global headquarters, and a magnificent one it is. The company dominates the oil market and has since its inception in 1914, and commands the majority market share in crude and all refined products. The time is 3:21 AM and Leonard James Spencer Frederick Forthright falls from the penthouse balcony.
There was a building in Manhattan that was 72 stories tall. Seven of those floors were residential, twelve were technical, and the remainder were offices and services. Imaginoil owned the offices, and coincidentally also owned the building, and the building was its global headquarters, and a magnificent one it was. The company dominated the oil market and had since its inception in 1914, and commanded the majority market share in crude and all refined product. The time was 3:21 AM and Leonard James Spencer Frederick Forthright had fallen from the penthouse balcony.
>>8002543
In the example it's not too bad but when it's done over an entire book? Seems pretty tedious.
>>8001118
This anti plot 4chan rhetoric is autistic, you do realize that, right?
>>8002485
>>8001160
This man has the idea.
>>8002804
Nice argument.
>>8001047
Aesthetic bliss
>>8003946
Not as nice as "waaah, plot is bad, waaaah, I'd rather read about random things randomly happening"
>>8003964
I didn't say that.
Stop posting, you are embarrassing yourself.
>>8003987
Oh right you or the "lol plot" faction actually posted a compelling argument for writing without a plot. Must've missed it.
>>8000821
A lot of Anons in this thread are right about some things. Read books and take mental(or physical) notes on how they write, develop prose, learn sentence structure, and have some deeper themes in mind that you can incorporate into the narrative.
>>8002567
If you think that's tedious, you should read the 60,000 words of 2nd person I wrote for a NaNoWriMo.
OP here. I wrote a little over 300 words and I'm proud. If I get this done, it's going to be one great novel.
I hope you guys can help me get through this. I was writing a novel last Summer, and I couldn't get past 8000 words because I thought it was a self-hating and delusional piece of work. This is going to be so much better
Reminder that anyone who holds "prose" (conflating it with euphony) as the most important aspect of writing is suspect as fuck and most likely a pseud.
>>8001061
yes it's just prose
telling your story through:
- the POV of a retard
- or in sideways-reverse-oblique chronological fucktard order
- or in 2nd person POV
- or as a tale recounted by an unreliable narrator
doesn't make you a good writer
>>8005021
Keep up with us and share when you have something done
