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/lit/ - Literature


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14789619 No.14789619 [Reply] [Original]

How's the writing career coming, /lit/?

>> No.14790032

>>14789619
lol I work in math and I read literature for fun

>> No.14790970
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14790970

well I think about writing sometimes, that counts... right?

>> No.14791047

i had an idea for this story that im pretty passionate about, but it wouldnt really work in a novel format

>> No.14791051

I am a brogrammer and read when I'm bored

>> No.14791235

Year 30, I'm about to start writing any day now.

>> No.14791332

:(

>> No.14791335

Just reading lots at the moment forcing nothing , I will write when I write (its going terrible desu)

>> No.14791354

I don't have it in me for creative writing, but maybe I should explore technical writing.

>> No.14791356

>>14791235
sigh :(

>> No.14791432
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14791432

Wrote about 50 poems in the span of two weeks and sent them to a publisher
Don't know if I lucked out or not but got accepted for publication and am waiting for the cover designers to finish their shit

>> No.14791470

Any non-Anglo anona here?

I wanna try my hand at translating a book from English to my native language, but I don't know if it'a worth the effort. I know for sure that it isn't worth the money, but would you say it helps with networking, at least?

>> No.14791474

>>14791470
whats your native language you cunt

>> No.14791475

>>14791432
Good job, anon. Hopefully it makes some sales.
>>14789619
>career
I'm 6,500 words into something that feels promising. Praying it works out.

>> No.14791483

>>14789619
I know I won't start writing because eventually I will quit, as I have always done with any other activity.

>> No.14791509

>>14791235
>>14791335
>>14791332
>>14790970
How can you overcome this state of mind? Are we just not cut out for it?

>>14791432
Congrats anon

>> No.14791532

>>14791474
I'm a third-world Europoor.

>> No.14791550
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14791550

>>14791475
>>14791509
Thanks for the kind words bros

>> No.14791574

>>14791474
Are you that ashamed that you still haven't specified it? Cmon, you're anon! My bet would be Romania for all that shame

>> No.14791586

>>14791509

everyone is cut out for anything it's a matter of your state of mind that makes it possible. I think a lot of blind faith in the process is required. whether consciously or not I think we are wired to "produce" when it's this very anxiety that propagates further procrastination.

>> No.14791614

I have a novel I'm trying to pitch to agents but it's just a long slow grinding process of demoralization watching all my submissions get rejected or more often ignored on the slush pile.

>> No.14791624

I'll maybe start writing when I have made some more life experience

>> No.14791640

>>14789619
Last year I had my first book published, a long epic poem, but it was too way experimental because I was in a 'fuck academics' mindset, so I did not use any constant meter; in fact I almost didn't include almost any meter at all.

Regrets? Maybe, but some university professor liked it and that surprised me.

Enough to live out of writing? Never, for that reason I'm studying fucking chemical engineering. I know I won't be able to live out of my avant garde shit

>> No.14791833

>>14789619
I do hasty translations of public domain work and stick that on the kindle.

>> No.14791976

I have a loose framework for a story but I don’t know how to come up with plot points

>> No.14791989
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14791989

Got everything plotted out, themes, motifs, symbols what have you but my prose is so bad. FUCK..... It makes me want to an hero myself because no matter what I do it's so fucking bad. So all I ever do is write detailed outlines for novels, with every chapter outlined and every character outlined and imagine it in my head.

>> No.14792001

>>14789619
Getting my second piece published in a few weeks, pretty happy about it.

>> No.14792030

Where do I go if I want to get a short story published?

>> No.14792034

>>14789619
Had a short play of mine published in an mixed anthology we did for a university course. Feels nice, but probably will get fuck all of a reception.

Else, I'm gonna meet my uncle on the weekend, who is a professional, but not wildly successful author, and I wanna ask him wether he has any tips or connections for me publishingwise. I have a few things in my catalog which I think are pretty neat, but as they are all rather short and all over the genres (drama, prose, lyric), I don't really know where to go with them.

>> No.14792043

>>14792030
Local lit journals are your best bet.

>> No.14792050
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14792050

Just published my vampire novel. Waiting on Paperbacks to arrive to have second meeting with bookstore. Radio interview in the next two weeks and ARC reviews are starting to get published.

>> No.14792106

>>14791047
In what format would it work, anon?

>> No.14792113

>>14791624
While you don't have that life experience why don't you acquire some writing experience too?

>> No.14792118

>>14792050
Are you the guy from the 15 vampire books?
Have you done any book presentations? What do you say in those? I'm gonna have some scheduled soon but I don't want to sperg on stage

>> No.14792130
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14792130

>>14791509
>How can you overcome this state of mind? Are we just not cut out for it?

>Pick up a pen
>grab some paper
>Sit down
>Bleed truth
>Pay attention
>...?
>Profit

>> No.14792136

Wrote a book about the fall to irrelevancy and disrepair and eventual abandonment of a small family owned Italian restaurant in a past-it’s-prime farm town. Nobody seems to care for it. Oh well.

>> No.14792213

>>14792106
ideally as a manga/comic. thats what i originally had in mind but i cant draw for shit

>> No.14792216

>>14792136
Is it the restaurant narrating the story?

>> No.14792217

>>14792050
god damn nigga, congrats

>> No.14792475

i wrote a zombie poem today

inspired by the song, beauty of annihilation

>> No.14792512

>>14792136
That's a shame anon, I enjoy those types of tales. Screenshot this and prove there is an audience and maybe you'll make more progress.

>> No.14792539

>>14789619
I don't write and I don't think.

>> No.14792609
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14792609

>>14792118
I’ve written 14 books but this is the first one to go to market

>> No.14792616

>>14792118
Just go out and point out what makes your story different and suggest that people are going to enjoy themselves by partaking if your work. Practice at home until it feels like your just reciting lines in a play

>> No.14792781

When I get myself to stop writing fillers and rush the end to my book.

I'm confident about it since I'm talented but my prose has yet to evolve.

>> No.14792968

>>14791989
This was me back in college. I would spend hours thinking up storylines, characters, symbols and inside jokes, had pages filled with scraps of random information, webs of symbols and references mapped out, but my writing sucked ass and I grew disillusioned with ever actually getting it down like I heard it in my head. I left college and started working full time for a few years, but I’ve just started getting back into writing in my late 20’s. Unpacking some of those old notebooks, it’s like looking at one of those old road maps where the corners have been torn and folded beyond legibility, I can’t even grasp what was going through my head back then.
tl;dr just work on improving your writing, even if you think it sucks, keep at it and try to get small scenes and passages of the whole on paper so you can refine them later. If nothing else, you can do what Beckett did and cannibalize the first attempt at a novel to use in some short stories.

>> No.14793005

>>14789619
Currently writing a stageplay for a competition set up at the local uni by some dead writer from the area. I'm a bit too abstract in how I write though so it'll probably go nowhere but maybe some twat will take a punt on me.

>> No.14793034

>>14789619
I think I've tapped into a unique voice, one that feels personal, however I keep failing to develop it within a story that makes sense with a solid plot. I'm still generating ideas, I've never written anything longer than 600 words before.

>> No.14793505

>>14792213
Most comicbook writers don't draw anon. Write something and get a artist that likes your story to draw it

>> No.14793515

Just write.
My prose isn't good either, I'm barely doing any effort, and yet I got a reader.
One single reader that reads every chapter and that isn't me nor one of my acquaintances.

>> No.14793617

I can't put my ideas in order and I have nothing to say. I'll never be an essayist

>> No.14793638
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14793638

>>14789619
Not too well. Wrote two poems today. About to defend my BA thesis in Linguistics. Will probably not see 22 though due to the coronavirus.

>> No.14793708

>>14792216
stealing this

>> No.14793715

>>14789619
Submitted to 9 agents on 22.2. Got 1 form rejection so far, from an agent who only takes one client a year. Wanted to wait a month or two until submitting 9-10 more but just not sure anymore.

I get they are busy as fuck but if they actually have a responding policy, why not be a slightly more precise with the form, whether they liked query/sample or disliked the query so much they didn't get into the sample pages. It's a bitch having to guess what could be wrong with so many variables.

>We appreciate your writing and wish you success in your publishing career.
Is barely better than no response.

>>14791614
How many did you send out, man?

>>14792050
Based. Are you doing any text interviews in blogs or something too? Never cared much for radio/podcasts but would love to read some.

>> No.14793755

I'm far too busy wasting time with video games and doing poorly on midterms. At least I've gotten into the habit of doodling like I've been wanting to.

>> No.14793757

I wrote a short story recently and also wrote a poem for a little book about birds my school is putting together

>> No.14793767

>>14793757
Bretty cool, anon. What is your story about?

>> No.14793793

>>14789619
Finished a 100k novel 3 years ago. Always come up with changes, better (or worse?) ideas,... It looks like I never really finish it.

>> No.14793811

>>14793715
It has only been 4 days, chill out

>> No.14793815

>>14793767
It's about two Japanese men who go into a city near Fukushima that was affected by the radiation to steal from the stores and houses there

I submitted it to an online contest but I that was just for fun, don't expect anything from it

>> No.14793824

>>14789619
Got two up currently. Editing through my third and plan to have it up at the end of April.

>> No.14793880

>>14793708
Bruh that's amply used in children stories, you ain't stealing shit from me

>> No.14793888

>>14793811
You're obviously right but the switch from constant working to being able to take it easy feels far worse than expected. And there is the worry that I'm being profligate with time, not doing the most I can.

>> No.14793895

>>14793815
Sounds interesting. Would be cool if you heard back from them.

>> No.14793897

>>14793715
I was once advised to send out 15 a month. I sent out my third round and to show for it I have a few firm rejections and one guy who asked for a manuscript 2 weeks ago and hasn't gotten back.

The aggravating part isn't form rejections, its that most agents send no reply at all so you have no idea if anyone's even looked at it. I've had submissions where I've gotten form rejections the next day and others 6 months later but most people tell you nothing at all.

>> No.14793961

/lit/ career has turned into a /tv/ career. Wrote a couple of books that very, very few people read (most of these books were self-published, the rest were published by very small, obscure publishing houses) One of the few people who *did* read them happened to be a showrunner who was staffing writers for a new tv show. She liked what she read and after a few Skype chats and some trial writing assignments I got a job in the writer's room. It's not a very popular show (just a little dramedy on a streaming network that most people haven't heard of it) but I think it's pretty good. This definitely isn't where I expected to end up, but shit, I'm not gonna complain. The money's good and it's a fun job. Maybe i'll get back to more /lit/erary pursuits later.

>> No.14794027

>>14793897
>one guy who asked for a manuscript 2 weeks ago and hasn't gotten back.
That one sounds encouraging enough, at very worst your query was functional and the sample pages promising. Besides, two weeks to read a manuscript doesn't sound like much given their schedules, best of luck, mate!

No responses obviously suck too but if it takes longer than 12 weeks, one can be pretty certain it's a no. Not great but at least it doesn't raise hopes too much. Seeing a mail from an agent hyped me the fuck up ... only to get a "yeah, no" with zero hints what could be the cause ... dunoo, I rather be ghosted than getting a "it's not you, it's me". Though hey, will probably get used to both soon enough.

>>14793961
>having a staffing writer discover you from reading obscure self-published stuff
Sounds pretty fucking /lit/. Are there any networking opportunities coming from it or is the site that small?

>> No.14794663

>>14790032
based
>>14791483
bullshit, follow your bliss Anon
>>14791989
run-of-the-mill "I want to be a writer" syndrome. Imagining your books without doing anything about it. Outlines can only get you so far, kid.
>>14792539
Based or Cringe, I cannot tell

>> No.14794851

>>14789619
I got my writing start in highschool, with fan-fiction.

I started what was supposed to be a big, sprawling novelesque examination of certain minor characters. I got through the first ten or so chapters back then, to moderate acclaim amongst the fanfiction community.

I know fanfiction talk is no bueno, but the reason I'm mentioning it is because I want to finish those stories before I write something publishable. I want to re-find my voice, and to get some practice in my composition before I submit something to a publisher. Work out the kinks in my writing-style, so to speak, with a work that I was passionate about and still needs to be written.

Is this a good idea? Wasting a few months to knock out a few dozen chapters of fanfiction, so I can be assured of my technical prowess before I work on something that can be appreciated by the literary public?

>> No.14794951

>>14793961
If you're getting paid to write fiction you're doing better than 99.99% of /lit/.

>>14794027
Im going on the principal that 2 months and no response just means no. Which means I can query another person at that agency.

>> No.14794976

>>14794851
Go ahead and finish it if you think it hones your technical skills.

My dark secret is that I write both litfic and fanfic. Writing fanfic keeps me distracted from looming despair while I wait for literary agents to reject me time and again. And to be brutally honest, unless you land a sweet publishing deal more people will probably read a half-decent fanfic than some artsy novel you put blood sweat and tears into.

>> No.14794989

I write constantly, love it, but it's not good yet at least. I wouldn't want to be published though, I just write for myself and it serves as my catharsis. I like reading too. The latter is more of a chore than the former only because there's so many books I want to read.

>> No.14795212

I'm umming and ahhing over sending an entry to a flash fiction competition, but I'm probably just wasting my time because the protagonist (not me) is a literal /pol/ack.

>> No.14795358

>>14792609
very happy for you gaskun, but I do miss the gas station.

>> No.14795577

>>14795212
Why would you write that if you aren't one? I don't get the appeal beyond it being easy and potentially funny, for a page or two.

>> No.14795678

>>14791509
I'm not speaking from experience but I'm guessing you would overcome it by getting rid of your phone and your computer first of all.

>> No.14795759

>>14789619
I've been reading a lot, and occasionally write on my existing project. I'm not sure how to end it. I'm deciding if I want to head in an odd ending where the protagonist accidentally kills someone due to circumstances outside their power and eventually overdoses/suicides to absolve themselves of their perceived impurity, or if I wanted to go for an absurd ending where life looks up and then he gets murdered due to the events of the story.
We'll see. I'm still on chapter one, but I've had multiple stories in my head along those lines, so I'm settling on one and making this as good as I can. I write when I feel like I can truly further it rather than add meaningless words.

>> No.14795767

>>14789619
Pbuh it's coming nicely.

>> No.14795793
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14795793

>try to write a poem
>take a break after three lines to eat
>read someone else's poem
>feel like a fraud and a pseud in comparison
>will to write poem is gone

>> No.14795802
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14795802

>>14789619
I'm a published writer working on my second poetry collection. I'm thinking of calling it "All of My Dreams in a Gatorade Bottle." I feel varying degrees of shame about my first work, often I think it was vulgar and juvenile. Sometimes I flip it open and everything gels in such a way that I'm overcome by positivity that my words have graced the page and that there's flow to it, a rhythm. The work is neo-beat style poetry with prose sections with a continuing story about video game programmers on a boat, if you're interested in checking it out. It's available here: https://expatpress.com/product/information-blossoms-ryan-bry/.. Publishing requires patience, more than anything else.

>> No.14796451

>>14789619
After a year of false starts, draft after draft of plotting, I've finally settled on a cohesive 18 chapter by chapter outline with a delightfully reflective past/present structure and song name themed chapter titles in three parts.
Best part is that I can easily adapt the latest drafts of the first two chapters into this vision of my great work.
...and then when it's finished I begin a painful process of figuring out how best to publish and market it and become disappointed in how few people actually read it, unsatisfied with one in a million prospects anyone will give a shit after I'm dead. After all, the successful dead do not rise to enjoy their acclaim, they rot as the ignoble ignorant all the same. Such may become my fate.
Enjoy my shitty book, 22nd century, you stupid cunts.
But hey, I have a good idea for a second book once I finish and publish the current project. Suppose I'll use my ongoing garbage as a point of interest on dates after I get the ball rolling. Might get a few lays I might not otherwise by easily impressed semi-nerdy zoomers in my 30s and 40s. The artful dead don't get laid but the fresh cunt of the living may be open to the spiritually rotten.

>> No.14797083
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14797083

>that wonderful feel when something triggers some sort of inspiration and you write another beautiful poem you like reading later
Is there a better /lit/ feel bros?

>> No.14797416
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14797416

>>14797083
That feel when you don't feel like writing, sit down anyways to just maybe edit a little bit, and three hours later you've written another few thousand words that you're really proud of

>> No.14797464
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14797464

>>14795358
Just for you, friend.

>> No.14797509

I was doing alright with getting published until about a year ago. I always thought of myself as a novelist who dabbled in short stories, had good luck getting the few I wrote published. Then, for some reason, I spent about a year doing nothing but writing short stories. Submitted about a dozen of them, not a single one got published.

So I've gone about a year without getting anything published, feels weird. I have one small piece getting published in September about my childhood in an ok sized web magazine, that's about it.

My books are still a mess. I have two completed novels sitting around I can't get published. Now I'm trying to re-edit them for the 40th or so time, Kinda hard to do when you've spent years editing and re-editing, to do it all again, it's a little demoralizing. I had an idea for something of a sellout novel, something that was sure to get published, and I got about 20,000 words in but quit. I started to notice the book was a serious downer, kinda depressing, it was even bumming me out as I wrote it. I'm sure I'll get back to it one day, but now I decided to start editing a few of my nonpublished short stories to try to salvage them.

Then, I got an idea for another novel that I think can potentially be a masterpiece. My only worry is it might be just a little too insane, but after I'm done dicking around with a few of these stories, I'm going to give that a go.

>> No.14797577

>>14797509
I think that, given the effort you're putting in your works, you're doing a good job

>> No.14797580
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14797580

>>14797083
>>14797416
>that feel when you wrote a paragraph for practice and it grew into a thousand words and a half and it became your first ever published piece
it keeps me going, lads

>> No.14797714

>>14792213
Guess you'll have to write it down then pitch it to agents that can put you in contact with artists, anon.

>> No.14797749

>>14789619
Started writing some fiction cause I'm a fag. So far, so good. On page 26. Wish I had more time to write

>> No.14797980

>>14797749
But fiction is the only true literary pursuit.

>> No.14798026

>>14797980
Kek. I would like to eventually write some history books or philosophy but I'm too lazy to look for sources. I enjoy writing fiction but I usually dont read it.

>> No.14798028

every day i think about killing myself because i've been attempting to start my writing career for three years and have not once had success

>> No.14798037

>>14798028

Well...have you actually tried?

>> No.14798045

>>14798028
What issues are you having?

>> No.14798055

>>14798037
yes. all i have to show for it are literally dozens of rejections

>> No.14798080

>>14798028
>every day i think about killing myself
i do the same, and channel those feelings into poetry, they never come out as suicidal though

>> No.14798087

I think I have some great ideas but my punctuation is fucking terrible.

>> No.14798089

>>14798080
So what do you write about?

>> No.14798098

>>14798087
Explain

>> No.14798101

>>14789619
I only ever write memoirs as I think my life is the most interesting of any life ever lived. I'll never publish in my own time but I'm going for a Pepys level of longevity.

>> No.14798111

>>14789619
I never realized writing philosophy wasn’t even about philosophy. It’s about sitting and editing, adding citations and worrying about every little claim you may be afraid you’ll get Pseud for, so you cite it too. You make sure the citation is done correctly, or you may get in trouble. You put together a list at the end of everything you cited. Worry about how it’s formatted. You check your grammar everywhere. Set up page numbers correctly. Etc. I have done this more than I have written any philosophy and yet I only see myself self publishing for a few people to read at most. It’s torment. I hate it. It crushes me and makes me feel inadequate with what I am doing. Perhaps Ted was right.

>> No.14798113

>>14798055

Well, you probably suck. Get better, take those stories that were rejection and think about them, find out what flaws they have that might be why they're being rejecting, and fix them.

>> No.14798123

>>14798089
lives i never lived

>> No.14798143

>>14798111
Sorry I’m a little schizo so typing errors are common

>> No.14798144
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14798144

>>14789619
60k words into my short novel, hoping to wrap up at 70 (only the first chapter left and some editing).
My writing club is coming along nicely; we're posting 2000 words every two weeks, practicing things outside of our comfort zone.
I have a job as a mechanical engineer but I still bust out 700 words each morning. It will probably never become a career, but the craft is enjoyable enough for me to be ok with that.

>> No.14798149

>>14789619
I refuse to pen a single sentence intended for publication, unless I am able to attain realization and be in direct communion with God.
Until then, nothing I could possibly write would be worth reading. It would all be derivative and speculative.

>> No.14798183

>>14798113
most of them are bad. the story I completed a few months ago I know isn't bad. I know it is a good story, much better than so much of the trite garbage I've read in literary journals. Obviously its literary fiction and mostly about anti-representationalism. It is harsh and cold and pessimistic. It doesn't conform to typical MFA-mill standards.

>> No.14798200

178k words into my commentary. About halfway done. Wrote consistently for one year to make this much progress, but for the last four months I've been busy with the woman I'm marrying in April and have hardly written anything. Have to get back in the swing of things. Really wonder if I can get this thing published--for the niche subject there's really only one publisher who would do it. In any case this project is mostly for my benefit and the monetization is secondary. After I finish I will finally write my novel, which will be L'Etranger but with a Kierkegaardian protagonist, Act II being the book of Job.

>> No.14798218

>>14798183
Have you thought of reworking some of them into a short story collection? I always take comfort in knowing Beckett couldn't find a publisher for his novel until he rewrote it into several short stories.

>> No.14798219

>>14798183
What about self publication?

>> No.14798224

>>14798183
>It doesn't conform to typical MFA-mill standards


That's a very good thing. Never conform to that bullshit. It's a good way to get your unreadable bullshit published, but it's never going to lead to anything more than that, you'll just be another typical starbucks working mfa asswipe who can brag of having over 100 publications and still not made a single dime at writing.

>> No.14798233

>>14798219
My goals are to use these publications on a CV of sorts. Despite my distaste for creative writing MFAs, getting into academia is my goal.
>>14798218
My original plan with some of the early ones was to put them in a short story collection. The piece I finished a few months ago has a companion piece I'm working on right now that is much longer and, I think, much better, more nuanced. I'd like to have a third story at the end as well. I have that one mostly sketched out, some of it written, but I'm devoting myself to the middle story I'm almost done with. Beckett is actually a big inspiration for me - my earliest stories, after I turned from writing poetry, were basically Beckett rip offs.

>> No.14798251

>>14798224
Thank you for that, anon. I'm in some ways proud of myself for pushing as hard as I can against those stupid standards, but I also realize I'm shooting myself in the foot in some ways. I've been writing a lot of flash fiction as well. That is new for me and I don't think it's excellent, but again, when I read some flash fiction that's been published I just ask myself why. All of it is unbearably overwrought and dramatic. So much of it seems to appeal to the lowest common denominator, as if it were written to be sold in a slim volume at Hallmark.

>> No.14798255

>>14798233
>creative writing MFAs

My big question with that whole field is...where's the creativity?

>> No.14798283

>>14798255
no one knows. they say the locus of creativity is iowa, but i'm not so sure. why do people want to write like raymond carver? to put people to sleep?

>> No.14798286

>>14798233
Why do you want to get into academia. Genuinely curious I dont see the benefit. I'm studying Business currently but I do writing on the side. I never understood mfas

>> No.14798296

18k/80k words on a novel so far.

I want to do it because I just want to.

>> No.14798320

>>14798286
heavily romanticized and gay, but becoming more involved and devoted to academia in college is the only thing that kept me from killing myself. despite my distaste and hatred for so much of it, i would not have made it through without the help of professors and like-minded peers. i want to be a professor because of that, basically. im a lowly food service boy now, but I chose to do that because going to cafes or delis and having pleasant experiences with the staff etc is something that legitimately brought me happiness when I felt low and alienated from society. i loathe people, and yet they are the sole purpose of my existence.

>> No.14798324

>>14798320

You might want to rethink it. I don't see much of a future in it when the whole student loan market collapses within the next 10 years.

>> No.14798329

>>14798324
making money is not my concern

>> No.14798332

>>14798324
>>14798329
im from a wealthy family. unlike the majority of people in this country, i can do something because I'm "passionate" about it. i dont really care if its privileged.

>> No.14798342

>>14798329

Well...it's not so much about making money, it's more about being 200k in debt, and having no jobs whatsoever available in a market that was already flooded with phd nitwits, and became even more flooded after the whole student loan thing goes tits up, and you end up flipping burgers again.

>> No.14798350

>>14798342
the only MFA programs worth going to fund you as well.

>> No.14798958

I'm currently working on what should be the first major piece of my masterpiece. It's a work that will contain multiple works, and this first part is coming along fairly well.

>> No.14799065
File: 13 KB, 300x241, RoXKNzi.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
14799065

Who amongst us is actually submitting to literary magazines?

I use submittable and I submit in batches to an average of five mags a week. I land at least one hit per week, but it still hurts to get rejected by mags who charge for submissions. I really hope that doing this will give me a better chance of appealing to actual publishers. I'm at around two dozen mags now.

It's very encouraging to get accepted every once in a while, though. More of you guys should try small lit mags before piling huge manuscripts on large publishers who really don't want anything to do with you.

>> No.14799090

>>14798958
im happy for you, anon.

>> No.14799104

>>14799065
what magazines are you submitting to where they get back to you that quick?

>> No.14799124

>>14799065
I'm actively submitting to literary magazines, both for prose and for poetry. The trouble is that I'm the guy up here >>14798958 and the attention I've been giving to this major work of mine means it's been a little while since I've banged out a new short story or poem. But I have some things in my backlog that I'm still submitting. There's one thing out for submission right now to multiple magazines, including one with a short story contest. I've got a good feeling about it.

>> No.14799181

>>14799104
You can pay for expedited responses, which typically cost $2-$5. They'll just get back to you in two days up to a week at most. I don't submit to these too much, though. My limit a week is $10. It's these ones that accept me the most frequently, though.

>> No.14799185

>>14799181
most of the prose expedited ones ive seen are more than that, irritatingly enough. are you doing poetry or prose?

>> No.14799200

A bit over 25k words and 38 pages so far, first chapter finished and working on the second. Let's hope I can work on something to get back on writing after an almost five years hiatus from it.

>> No.14799282

>>14799065
>who charge for submissions
What the fucking fuck. How is this even a thing?

>> No.14799426

>>14799181

I don't pay for submissions anymore at all. It kinda pisses me off if I pay $5 and just get a form rejection back. Fuck that, for $5 you better at least give some form of personalized rejection. I've also never once gotten a piece published at a place that charges, so that probably has something to do with it too.

I've never actually paid for expedited either, not sure what the point is, I'm in no hurry. Even if they accept your story, it's still going to take months, maybe even close to a year for it to actually appears in print.

>> No.14799525

>>14799426

The shortest I ever had to wait to get a story published from the time I submitted it to actually making the magazine was like 6 months, and at the time I was pissed because I thought that was forever and they must be fucking me over because they didn't think that highly of the story. But yeah, I later learned it usually takes around a year, I just got a story accepted that I submitted two months ago and they say it's going up in september.

As for fees, I don't ever submit to any place that charges. It's basically a way for magazines to take advantage of young writers who have no hope whatsoever of being published, they're basically just charging in order to sift through their unreadable bullshit. Which, honestly, makes sense.

>> No.14799563

>>14789619
well I can't get a day job so I might as well start trying to see if I can make a little money on writing. Probably won't, I'm a disaster and the world doesn't have a place for me at the moment
>>14799181
sounds like a scam to me. I'm not paying for my own rejection letter

>> No.14799572

>>14799426
>>14799525
Some of the contests seem like they aren’t even fucking real. There’s this one called Whales of Arcadia that has a completely bare website, is promising a $500 prize, charges $20 for it, and charges $3 for submitting not for the contest, but just for publication. Honestly it doesn’t seem like a bad way to make money, I can’t imagine Submittable is all that strenuous in reviewing the outlets it leads people to.

>> No.14799611

>>14799572

I don't bother with contests, all of them charge money, and some a hell of a lot. I saw one the other day that charged $90.

I've been published many times, but never once won a contest, closest I've come is 3rd place. If a contest doesn't charge, then I'm up for it, but I'm never that hopeful. Plus, they always seem to charge the blandest, least offensive, most mediocre piece of shit for 1st place, rather than the best, and I'm not that type of writer at all.

Quick tip: actually pay attention to who the judges are, read their writing, if you're not the sort of writer they are, you're not winning.

>> No.14799630

>>14799611
i've fallen for the contest meme twice.

>> No.14799691

>>14799200
25,000 words a chapter? Anon, why?

>> No.14799694

>>14799572

Yeah, I come across those a lot. Totally bare site, 100 followers/likes on facebook/twitter. $5 submission fee. Fuck off bobandy.

>> No.14799705

>>14799691
He must think he's writing some TV show or something.

>> No.14799786

>>14799282
In fairness to lit mags, most of them are barely financially solvent even with hundreds of people basically paying to get rejection emails.

Agents who charge reading fees are scammers though.

>> No.14799814
File: 250 KB, 680x638, 827.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
14799814

>>14799282
It's for mags who get too many submissions, so that means it's usually the better ones. Smaller and newer mags charge as well, but those guys will take just about anyone who can string together a few verses, anyway. They just need the money to start off.

>>14799185
I'm writing poetry, although the prices are pretty much the same for prose works, last I saw. These prices are for magazines, though, not for publishers looking for long manuscripts to print into actual books.

>>14799426
I pay for expedited responses so that I can know which poems to take out of my submission pool ASAP. A lot of mags don't allow for simultaneous submissions. They're really not going to know, but I don't want to take the risk.

It's funny because I'm actually recycling the prize money I won from getting accepted to a couple mags. It technically doesn't cost me anything since the money just stays in the same PayPal account I use to pay for submissions.

>> No.14800036

I’m working out again and cutting back on drinking hoping I’ll get back into it. I honestly thought I was doing really good in college, I was the professors favorite until he learned I was also going for pre dental

>> No.14800547

>>14789619
I write a mediocre fanfic that some people like as a way to work though my former social retardation, so, not great.

>> No.14800965

>>14800547
Sounds p chill otherwise. You don’t have to pursue writing to its fullest limits, whatever that means. You can use writing in that way and find it fruitful. I’d still call that writing fruitfully

>> No.14801332

Wrote 17 500 words for a dystopian story then stopped when I realised it was way too long for a first story.

I have the chapters planned out for another one but never started it.

>> No.14801343

>>14789619
one day... i will write that perfect novel.

>> No.14801351

>>14797083
>you like reading later
It's quite hard to write something that not only you won't cringe but you'd actually like if you read later. I'm proud to say I've done it a few times.

>> No.14801515

>>14799691
>>14799705
W-What's wrong with just a short chapter?

>> No.14801531

>>14801515
25,000 words a chapter isn’t that short

>> No.14801763

>>14801531
It'd be like 70-90 pages depending on formatting.

>> No.14801770

>>14789619
life is long and hard but i believe still
like a total fucking idiot, but if that hasn't stopped me for this long it won't stop me now

>> No.14801805

>>14801531
A short chapter is 1500 words. An average chapter should be 3 to 5k to prevent the reader from getting exhausted.

>> No.14801811

>>14801805 meant for >>14801515

>> No.14801899

Not getting anywhere career wise, but I am about to hit mastery. It feels good. Every time I hit my quota for the day, I feel a sense of peace fall over me.

>> No.14801934

I notice I write about disillusionment with the world. Probably stems from the fact that I lament the fact that I’m getting older, I’m filled with regrets, and no one wants to talk about it even though I can sense we all feel similar up to a certain degree.

My short stories focus on technology both enslaving and liberating is, and my poetry almost exclusively uses the second person. At least I can finish my poetry, though.

>> No.14802330

I pasted Utopia and replaced the word 'Utopia' with my own world.