I want to start writing but I suck ass at it. I always kinda wanted to be one but apart from the occasional poem or story in school I never acted on it. Needless to say I suck ass at making anything good and I've never written a book. Is there a way for me to learn how to write a decent novel? Would it make any difference if I said I wanted to write fantasy and science fiction specifically?
Also, how could I avoid making any original names sound stupid?
>>8076460
Start writing
Read more
Learn about etymology
to be competent at writing you have to write a lot, keep doing it and don't get overly attached to your ideas
you won't be writing anything worthwhile for a long time though so whether your names sound stupid or not doesn't really matter
>>8076563
>you won't be writing anything worthwhile for a long time though
implying
>>8076565
okay i guess if ur writing science fiction or fantasy the bar is pretty low anyway
Not OP, but I have this problem
I think about writing all day, I have all these ideas I consider cool clogging my cretive drive and making me want to finally sit down and write and get them out of my head.
the thing is, as soon as I sit down I lose all will to write, I come up with some excuse to stop and instead go take the dog for a walk or some bullshit like that.
another thing is that I cant stop correcting every single line when I finally get to it, people tell me to just keep going and get stuff done, that I can always come back later and make corrections, the thing is, again, that I cant stop this urge to rewrite sentences over and over until they please my autism, this makes the whole process nedlessly slow and frustrating, I can consider myself lucky if I get a page done after a three hour session.
I have no idea how to condition myself to write fast, I feel like Im not getting anything done even when Im actually doing something for a change.
>>8076460
Find an author you want to sound like and work to sound like them. I've personally liked the style of biblical texts and how sacred they seem, and tried to emulate that in my writing of short parables.
>>8076460
Keep a journal, sketch ideas throughout the day.
When you return home, try to write a couple paragraphs or pages on one of the ideas.
Go back and improve. Learn from mistakes. Every so often study an author you really enjoy and attempt to emulate their style.
>>8076460
>Would it make any difference if I said I wanted to write fantasy and science fiction specifically?
It would, in that my advice would be to do whatever the fuck you want if that was the case because genreplebs don't actually care how well-written something is so long as there are jetpacks, swords and/or magic, people getting stabbed, and sex scenes. Maybe all of those things in one scene too.
>>8076597
the more you write the better your thoughts will come out on paper. you wont improve if you never dedicate yourself to it.
rome wasnt built in a day etc
>>8076763
Someone's never read The Lord of The Rings
>>8076907
Someone actually thinks a glorified children's bedtime story is literature.
>>8076763
jesus fuck the amount of memespeak on this post could kill big horse
>>8076917
Someone thinks that if a book doesn't contain at least 30 pages about philosophy or the nature of mankind then it isn't good.
fuck off Ulysses
>>8076460
>Is there a way for me to learn how to write a decent novel?
Yes. Same way you learned to do anything else. Break it down into it's components. Practice writing. Learn about story, plot, and character. Learn grammar. Read books on composition. It's really hard. Everyone who does anything is taught how to do it.
Hemingway surrounded himself with writers.
Tolkein was incredibly sensitive to criticism and afraid to share his work with writer friends.
Michael Phelps has a swimming coach.
Please end this myth of spontaneous talent. It's destructive and silly.
>>8077051
Talent is what allows you to actually put the technical skills and knowledge to use though. Any brokedicker can learn about plot and character, it has very little do with creating plots and characters.
>>8076917
Not him but you stirred up muh feels since my dad used to sit by my bed and read the hobbit + lotr to me as literal bedtime stories. He'd add stuff in and make the characters sound funny, it was great.
>>8077296
That's how they were meant to be read. Not by neckbeards who will argue that they're high art.
Start off by reading a lot of non-fantasy, non-sci-fi books, or books of "literary fiction," and learn to enjoy them. This is an essential step to becoming a good writer. Literary fiction is the purest form of fiction. You will learn the most about the basic elements of writing from it.
Then start writing some non-fantasy, non-sci-fi short stories. Maybe try your hand at poetry too, and I mean poetry that actually uses meter. You don't necessarily have to go the route of "starting small" like this, but it could help. Maybe try taking some writing classes too, focusing on short stories and poems. You don't necessarily need to take these at a college/university. Getting feedback from others in a class setting is a great way to know how good your writing is.
Then you can maybe try a non-fantasy, non-sci-fi novel. Don't be too weird and don't try to rewrite the rules in the first one. After that you can try to be more ambitious. Or less ambitious if you want to.
Keep writing non-sci-fi and non-fantasy for a while. Preferably until you die. The world has enough sci-fi/fantasy garbage in it already.
>>8077513
I hate genreshit as much as the next guy, but not all literary fiction is good. Practically all the literary fiction from the past 20 years is pure unadulterated horseshit, for example. There are maybe 3 authors who are still worth reading after the 80s.
>>8077527
>There are maybe 3 authors who are still worth reading after the 80s.
Haha. Not that anon but there are far more than that; drop the hyperbole.
>>8077527
The point is that literary fiction tends to focus more on the important parts of the novel rather than the "lmao spaceships and swords and magic" stuff.
