Hey /lit/, I want to write stuff, probably short stories, but who knows what I want to write in the future.
That said, I never wrote anything in my life, except stuff that was required in school. Also, you can laugh at me, I understand, I haven't read that many books in my life, maybe about...5? It really is embarassing, I know. But sometimes, mostly late in the night, I get the urge to write something. Till now I haven't written anything, though, because I never wrote anything before and I'm afraid that it turns out to be total bullshit. I'm not an english native speaker either, and I don't know if I want to write in english or my native language.
So my question is, how do I start? Do I just start to write and let it flow from there, or do I plan it out beforehand? Are there any tips for someone who never wrote anything before, except for "read more books lol"?
Help a pleb out!
How old are you? What's your first language?
>>8214500
26, german. I believe I know more english words than german words, though. I don't quite know how that happened but yeah.
>>8214512
I am you.
I decided to simply write a lot first. I read some smut with the sole purpose of recreating smut under 100 pages and just grind a bit through it until writing doesn't feel much like a burden. Then I'd move on to real literature.
>>8214574
This is true, I'm also a pleb tier writer but started writing shitty smut for the sole purpose of writing. It's fun anyway.
Get loaded before you start writing, it'll keep you in your seat, you'll stop fidgeting and you'll be less inclined to edit as you go.
>>8214485
>Writing tips for a total beginner
d o n ' t
>>8214750
Why?
>>8214604
pen and paper.
what i do is i move my guitar, phone, and laptop into another room so i can focus. You can start a story and change your mind and move on, doodle off to the side if you're having trouble starting. Also, it's always a little satisfying when you've filled a notebook cover to cover. I have around fourteen sitting on my shelf right now.
Plus, you'll be less inclined to share it. And if you do decided to share it (post it on here for a critique, send it to your grandma, whatever) you'll be forced to revise an edit it when you type it out.
>>8214604
>>8214769
It's also nice to save your writing that way so you can go back in a few months and see how your style's improved and changed.
Also, what made you want to start writing? Are you just wanting to impress people by being that mysterious guy on the book flap smoking a cigarette, or does writing serve as a sort of release for you? If you're just doing it because you think its a good way to earn praise and respect, you should know it'll take years before your writing is to the level of a YA genre fiction writer. So you might want to humble yourself petty quick
Just read, keep reading, when you feel absolutely confident to write something, read a little more. Then when you think you have the greatest idea and you could write a masterpiece, put it down in paper and cry at how bad it its, then get back to reading. Repeat until you shit out something half decent
If it's boring to write, imagine how boring it must be to read.
"Real talent manifests itself not in a writer's affectation, but "in the exactness of his observation [and] the justice of his situations."
>>8214769
>>8214784
Those are helpful tips, thanks.
I don't know why I suddenly want to write. I draw and write lyrics, although pretty rarely these days. It seems to me that writing would flow much better than the other two methods, that it's easier for me to just realese my thoughts in than to draw a picture. Pretty much a quick release. And no I don't want to impress anyone or be that edgy myterious writer or become famous. I want to do it for me.
>>8214785
This is probably how it's gonna end up...
>>8214485
Consume more fiction in all forms. If something is receives high praise- even something you aren't normally interested in- seek to understand why it gets the praise that it does.
The fact that you come here at all means you likely know how to use symbolism and how dialogue works.
Read the Bible and Mythology.
I'm sort of a pleb too. Much younger than you, have never completed a novel or even short story, at least not a decent one. I have a few projects going but am extremely ADD and noncommittal. I've written many poems though, but would like to focus on prose more. Whenever you get that urge to write, then write. It dosnt have to be a complete work or thought, just get it out and flowing. Let ideas and inspiration come to you, but when you get ideas for short stories or even novels, take a step back and do some basic planning. Definitely read more and write every day if you can, even if it's not much. That's the best way to learn.
>>8214485
>how do I start?
>Help a pleb out!
Study Narratology
Narratology
narratology.info/narratology/
Narratology is the study of the forms, structures, media, functions, and evolution of narrative, with a special emphasis on Story.
On one end of the narrative spectrum lies a mere representational sequence of events that may or may not have a beginning, middle, and end (an Arc). At the opposite end lies Story, with an Arc, an indivisible and universal structural pattern called a Narreme, and meaning over and beyond the mere representational (a Theme).
Story = Arc+Narreme+Theme
General Introduction to Narratology
cla.purdue.edu/english/theory/narratology/modules/introduction.html
NARRATOLOGY EXAMINES THE WAYS that narrative structures our perception of both cultural artifacts and the world around us. The study of narrative is particularly important since our ordering of time and space in narrative forms constitutes one of the primary ways we construct meaning in general.
Notes on Narratology
units.muohio.edu/technologyandhumanities/narratology.htm
Bringing it All Together Into a Story
onlinemedia.rmcad.edu/AN1110/html/Week-8_Presentation%208.1.html
>>8214485
honestly if you're going to start writing i recommend you start reading extensively as well. don't feel pressure to need to read classics or big tomes of postmodern literature or whatever; seriously just read anything and everything. it's the fastest way to figure out what is good writing vs what is objectively bad. imitate those styles and genres. figure out your voice. pick up both smutty romance novels and high literature and figure out what works and doesn't.
