/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.23294891]

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

[Anonymous No.23294897]

>>23294891
the bible

[Anonymous No.23294937]

To people who are majoring in literature
Learn SEO before you graduate
Writing SEO slop is the best job you can get with your meme degree and it's always in demand
t. knower

[Anonymous No.23295186]

>>23294891
I'm making it, slowly but surely i'm making it

[Anonymous No.23295203]

>>23294891
No one bought it yet: https://amazon.com/dp/B0D1L9R2JK

[Anonymous No.23295215]

Got promoted to Level 2 Editor on Fiverr and haven't made any money for a month even though I offer punch ups at 25% of the cost of everybody else

[Anonymous No.23295239]

>>23295203
>Foco. Força. Fisiognomia. Under this dire motto, New Canaan towers ominously in the cold pampas of the southernmost Brazilian state. A festering wound in the diverse and progressive modern world, its days of rampant bigotry and prejudice may be fated to a calamitous end when, during the winter of 2048, the city falls victim to an unforeseen pandemic of an HIV derivate disease.
>The metropolis derogatorily (but accurately) called the international capital of hatred is razed to the ground by the plague and metamorphoses into a colossal sacrificial altar, tarnishing the surface of the Earth with the innocent blood of its multicultural denizens. Mankind will be forever doomed by the unbelievable consequences of such an act.
>For there is not much time left. The truth about Jesus Christ is soon to be revealed.
Shaky prose and the description starts in a foreign language. Also the story description is like if death metal had a concept album, and is more conceptual than narrative.

[Anonymous No.23295244]

>>23294891
not great, brother. I did start writing a little story and got a few thousand words and it felt good doing it and I got decent feedback, but then I got depressed and stopped. I've been reading Kafkas diary and it's reassuring to see how much he struggled. I'm gonna keep going and try to finish this story and submit it to some magazines or competitions. It's very difficult. sometimes I think what I wrote is pretty good and the next day it's so embarrassing I delete everything and quit.

[Anonymous No.23295352]

>>23295239
>Also the story description is like if death metal had a concept album
Nigga, take a look at the cover art

[Anonymous No.23295360]

>>23295203
Do you want an editor to make it salable? The art is pretty cool

[Anonymous No.23295497]

>>23295360
Nah, I prefer unsalable, like an 80s Metal tape recorded with a toaster.

[Anonymous No.23295544]

>>23294891
My book by beta readers in terms of consensus, is that it's lows are a 6/10 and high as an 8/10 in terms of the story and writing. Most feedback is that it's "decent" "good" for scifi

Is that good? I'm a bit weary regarding the 6 rating but they've said that's how low it dips in writing storytelling quality.

Should I hire an editor? Or should I try and get an agent now?

[Anonymous No.23295546]

>>23295544
>Should I hire an editor?

Always. How much are you willing to spend?

[Anonymous No.23295548]

>>23295546
1000

[Anonymous No.23295556]

>>23294891
I've written some 8000 words for something I thought was cool and gave up because I couldn't think of anything for 2 of the characters and only focused on one. I also realised that the characters have like 0 motivation other than I SAID SO.
Tried writing some history on Marius and Sulla. Got about 4000 words in and I just wasn't feeling it anymore. Might return to it soon though since it's not actually bad, I just don't think I know enough yet to properly write it other than me just looking at the sources and write as I go along, which is terrible to do.

[Anonymous No.23295559]

>>23295546
The other guy isn't me. I'm willing to spend 2k max

[Anonymous No.23295563]

I have some ideas for a couple of short story collections, but I lack the motivation to even try starting to write.

[Anonymous No.23295582]

>>23295548
You're from /lit/, so I'd cut you a 10% discount. $900 alright? You can message us at https://www.fiverr.com/matthewg42

[Anonymous No.23295593]

the opening sequence of my novel is still pretty mediocre and ive been hung up on it for ages, so I finally decided that i will just move on and come back to it later.

today I went back and consulted some historical sources on events that the first main part following the opening sequence is inspired by and took some notes, and I have a pretty good idea of what I want to do, so i will probably resume writing tomorrow

I also ironed out some details for a character i was having trouble with, the final character in my main ensemble, so im feeling pretty confident now. things are really starting to fall into place

still a long long road ahead of em though

[Anonymous No.23295608]

>>23295544
Sounds good what's the concern? It's a 7. Most books are dogshit.

[Anonymous No.23295610]

Got 76 followers. Need much more.

[Anonymous No.23295664]

>>23295582
I'll keep you in mind if I ever finish (don't hold yo breath)

[Anonymous No.23295703]

>>23295215
Are you the editor who edited my short story about a guy who dies and goes to space?

[Anonymous No.23295773]

>>23295544
>editor

Yes. Even the best that hardly need one will have something pointed out that they'd desire to be altered.

>agent

Authors and their books are a dime a dozen-- publishers want significant social media follwer/engagement numbers. Wouldn't bother. You can self-publish to the point of getting noticed by one and solicited from there. The agent for that kind of money will fire off template emails you can do yourself but more targeted. On that note, may as well send that much in review copies to booktubers specializing in your genre, particularly smaller ones that are quality.

[Anonymous No.23295783]

>>23295703
Yes. I think about that story every day: easily one of the most compelling concepts I've ever seen. Don't forget to leave a review so we can give you positive feedback

[Anonymous No.23295792]

I’ve independently thought up of so many pre-existing plots I am afraid that anything I produce would be derivative and unoriginal. It may be over.

[Anonymous No.23295800]

>>23295792
im afraid writing is more about mechanical skill. being an ideas guy doesn't really do anything, you need a strong education to enter the art industry and the pay isn't that great.

[Anonymous No.23295899]

I ended up translating some Spanish poetry to English and made it a kdp book.

Still having difficulty getting the ebook approved, but the paperback has been doing pretty well considering I've done no advertising and have no social media presence.

Been selling about 20 books a month, which is way more than I was expecting.

But now I just wish I was less camera shy and knew how to use social media for creative content around poetry better :c

[Anonymous No.23295913]

imagine actually paying an editor money.

[Anonymous No.23295918]

>>23295913
He's good thobeit. I'll probably hire him again for my next draft.

[Anonymous No.23295929]

>>23295800
I wouldn’t agree with this. A unique voice and storytelling ability would trump whatever advantages most mechanical skills would provide. There’s a reason people have editors on stuff.

[Anonymous No.23295969]

>>23294891
I have forced breaks at work. They're quite long. I usually read, but I thought today that I may start writing during them.

[Anonymous No.23295973]

>>23294937
I would rather steal cans of beans to eat as my sole morsel, than write SEO slop (not that I'll have to, I'm a STEMcel).

[Anonymous No.23295979]

>>23295703
was that the one where the guy dies just to slingshot his soul towards... something. i forget now.

[Anonymous No.23295982]

>>23295203
ill buy it later if its a few bucks on kindle. ive been collecting anon self pubs.

[Anonymous No.23295987]

>>23294891
Finished the first draft of one novel, 1/5 of the way through another. Will start editing the 1st in May.

I have no clue how to even go about the publishing process, but I don't need to worry about that yet.

[Anonymous No.23295998]

>>23294891
>career

[Anonymous No.23296051]

I have a few short stories I am wrapping up for submission to journals. We shall see.

[Anonymous No.23296059]

>>23295783
>>23295979
Well damn. I sort of believe the second reply is the real editor but I sort of hope the first reply is the real editor
Anyways I took a lot of your input to heart and changed around some stuff. I am going to sit on it for a while and then do one more rewrite.
In the meantime I am a writing a story about a necromancer’s apprentice on a long hike through the mountains.

[Anonymous No.23296062]

>>23296059
Are you the dude who wrote about a guy dying and going to space? I like that concept.

[Anonymous No.23296063]

>>23296062
Yeah, thanks for remembering :]

[Anonymous No.23296257]

>>23295203
How much are amazon getting per sale?

[Anonymous No.23296259]

>>23294937
>>23295215
Isn't AI making this stuff more difficult?

[Anonymous No.23296260]

>>23295203
Also if you want anons to be interested, post the first page or a snippet of the most compelling prose in the book.

[Anonymous No.23296275]

>>23296259
For the SEO, no. AI can help you, but not do everything for you. SEO writers need to create content strategies and analyze readership too, but as long as you have knowledge of SEO shit you be hired and expected to learn the rest while working.

[Anonymous No.23296514]

>>23296257
6,80 dollars or so.

[Anonymous No.23296531]

>>23296514
so half? That's a really bad deal for you

[Anonymous No.23296838]

>>23295979
>>23296059
i was the reply asking about slingshotting a soul, but not actually the editor. i just skim everything shared when lurking /wg/
i could probably remember excerpt from like a year ago if someone jostles my memory

[Anonymous No.23296867]

>>23294891
I have decided I will become a mangaka.

[Anonymous No.23296910]

I’m starting a literary periodical and peddling it on the streets of Manhattan/Brooklyn starting in June. Unironically we’re gonna make it.

[Anonymous No.23296926]

>>23296531
More than half. But is a long book (488 pages of a long schizocore shitpost). I have to be reasonable.

[Anonymous No.23297057]

>>23294891
I am currently doing Writathon on royal road but got stumped at 22k words. Had an idea of the plot but just wrote, but I looked back and plot makes no sense. Went completely different direction then I planned. Will likely have to rewrite since its so different now. Should still be able to complete but I underestimated outlining the novel beforehand.

[Anonymous No.23297135]

>>23296926
You should add 1,000 pages, kek.

[Anonymous No.23297138]

>>23296910
You need to do it in assless chaps so we go viral. We are so back.

[Anonymous No.23297156]

I have been slowly grinding up from nothing. No crazy sales but I'm grateful for the interest people have shown.

https://www.amazon.com/Improvidence-David-Herod/dp/B0CWCF7J13

First 2 chapters free here: https://mansworldmag.online/improvidence-exclusive-extract/

[Anonymous No.23297286]

>>23295783
>>23295215
What's your info? I'm in need of an editor

[Anonymous No.23297304]

>>23294891
I have no delusions about myself as a writer. I enjoy reading and have developed my taste and discernment to a pretty high degree but I am an average writer of fiction on my best days. If I were ever to publish something it would probably be non-fiction, perhaps a book on civics and goverance, or maybe a series of essays on a variety of topics but no one would read them because I'm a literal 'who?'.

[Anonymous No.23297377]

>>23297286
https://www.fiverr.com/users/matthewg42/

[Anonymous No.23297383]

>>23294891
After years of writing conferences, workshops, pitch slams, and endless email querying for multiple complete novels....

I give up. I hate this shit so much. It's frankly hard to motivate myself to write at all knowing that nobody will ever give half a shit. What's the point?

[Anonymous No.23297390]

>>23297383
You need to write for yourself, not to get published. It needs to come from an authentic place to tell the story you believe needs to be told. That's the secret to getting published imo

[Anonymous No.23297412]

>>23294891
I need to write my phd dissertation first..

[Anonymous No.23297414]

>>23297383
>What's the point?
You write because you have fun, a message to share or a need to create perfection. Virgil spent the remainder of his life perfecting his Aeneid which got published posthumously, despite his desire to burn the manuscript due to his perceived imperfections. Gotta write for yourself like >>23297390 says

[Anonymous No.23297419]

I've only ever done technical writing. That's part of my job now, and I've done some freelance editing in the past, so I guess technically you could call that a writing career.

I wish I enjoyed writing more. I always admired the old school sci-fi writers who had day jobs as engineers and scientists and cranked out pulpy short stories on the side. I just have no idea how to write fiction at all.

[Anonymous No.23297425]

>>23297419
do you evver use chatgpt to do a lil of your technical writing? how is it?

[Anonymous No.23297447]

>>23297390
>>23297414
I already do write for myself, which is probably part of my problem getting published.

[Anonymous No.23297454]

>>23297447
Then what's the issue?

[Anonymous No.23297455]

>>23297425
>do you ever use chatgpt to do a lil of your technical writing?

No. I don't find it helpful.

[Anonymous No.23297461]

The grift never ends. The dark temptation of progression LitRPG is ever present but I shan't give in, because writing about how number go up and I win because big number is fucking gay

[Anonymous No.23297484]

>>23297135
I thought about ways to implement this joke when I realized the final product was 488 pages long, but nah.

[Anonymous No.23297545]

>>23297412
That said I've been outlining a few stories for the past decade while in uni, mostly setting and character ideas. I have broad ideas for the story as well as a few starting incidents but some I feel are out of my league for an amateur writer.

For example, one story has a protagonist who can remove his soul from his own body and into other people's bodies. But I want the reader's lens to feel different when he goes from one person to another, in the same way that he feels discomfort not being in his own skin. And I want his seizure of another person's body to be something of a morally sketchy event. Like he feels the body rejecting him, trying to push him out. He should feel like he doesn't belong there. But I'm not sure if I want it to be blatantly obvious like having the original owner as like a conscious entity that argues with him in is head or not yet. Do I want his soul to feel more alien if he possesses a woman's body?


I've told myself that I should prioritize writing my technical papers and dissertation because I've put off writing for that for too long and have probably dragged my PhD for an extra year because of it.

[Anonymous No.23297567]

After giving up on writing for like 4 years, I returned to my novel and found it to be far better than I remembered. Now I am working on it more consistently than I ever did before and at my current rate it's realistic to think that I can have it completely finished, including editing, typesetting, and cover design, by the end of the year. I'm at around 47k words out of an estimated total of 80-100k, so given that I have almost all plot details worked out and am producing a steady 500-2000 words a day, I actually feel like I am close to done.

Question for anons who know these things: is there ANY advantage to soliciting agents or publishers without just self-publishing first? My current plan is to self-publish and try to draw enough attention to myself I can attract representation that way, but if there's gonna be some autism around copyright laws or something, I'll at least try the hat in hand agent begging gamut before self-publishing. I do think the novel is genuinely entertaining and could find the right audience (namely: here), but it's "literary fiction" that gets more experimental later in the novel, and I'm a chuddy white guy who isn't going to have publishers lining up to suck my dick. Getting attention isn't my primary goal here, but I'm quite optimistic I'm hitting on something that's missing in today's literature so I do want to do what I can to get my work out there.

[Anonymous No.23297623]

>>23297545
>I've told myself that I should prioritize writing my technical papers and dissertation because I've put off writing for that for too long and have probably dragged my PhD for an extra year because of it.

I think most PhD grads can say the same thing. I struggled to write and delayed my defense unnecessarily.