Who /tryingtowriteabook/ here?

>have lots of fun planning out story arcs and character histories
>time to finally write this thing!
>.............................
>guess I'll just check 4chan for a bit...........

>>25556718
Right here.

Trying to write a story for an RPG but I still haven't come up with shit.

I like the Ursa bear Winnie the pooh

File: 1451763965901.jpg (49KB, 365x500px) Image search: [Google]

49KB, 365x500px

>>25556718
Always
>>25556778
Yeah, this is why I never get around to it, certainly not my lack of skill.

>tfw only 2 chapters that are only 25,000 words each.

>>25556718
What's your book about?

>>25556718
shouldn't you be on /lit/?

>tfw won NaNoWriMo this year :3
It's still only halfway done.

>>25556952
>he thinks 50,000 words is impressive
Get on my 200,000+ level desu kouhai

File: HorribleSubs-JoJos-Bizarre-Adventure-Stardust-Crusaders-Egypt-Arc-48-1080p.mkv0045.jpg (219KB, 1920x1080px) Image search: [Google]

219KB, 1920x1080px

>>25556952
LIES, god damn it, post an excerpt you faggot.

>>25557032
http://nanowrimo.org/participants/anonionknight/novels/take-the-sky

As someone said, it's not THAT impressive. At the same time, it's better than 0 as most people who say "I'm gonna write" end up with and I actually completed something like that in a month, so I was satisfied. Especially since just my luck, November ended up a pretty busy month.

I'm trying to write a screenplay. I have it plotted it out, then I realized the plot was shit, now I'm trying to think of something else.

I realized that I am terrible at filling in details, and writing female characters.

File: 1451071303943.jpg (238KB, 600x450px) Image search: [Google]

238KB, 600x450px

>>25557118
>http://nanowrimo.org/participants/anonionknight/novels/take-the-sky
You rusing me senpaitachi? Do I need to sign in to read it? This has a bad site design.

>probably not supposed to be able to read it and you're just fucking with me.

File: 1444840085851.png (65KB, 506x608px) Image search: [Google]

65KB, 506x608px

>>25557201
>writing female characters
This is also something I have difficulty doing.

>This is because I have never talked to a female.

File: there.png (23KB, 951x479px) Image search: [Google]

23KB, 951x479px

>>25557217
Fine, there.

>>25556911
So the main gist is that there is a knight who lives in exile. He was once part of a famous mercinary group but they were whipped out years ago by a king. His only real companion is a grotesque yet tame creature that possess human level intelligence. Eventually he finds his way to a kingdom lead by a naive but we'll meaning princess who, because of her parent's death, inherited the throne before she was ready for it. The knight then befriends the princess and her brother so he can use her as his puppet to get revenge on the king who killed his old mercenary group. He convinces the princess that the king has plans to invade her kingdom, and that she should launch a preemptive strike against him. She believes him and the two kingdoms go to war. The knight then kills the king after a long and bloody war. The princesses brother discovers that the knight essentially fabricated the war and tries to fight him in a duel. The knight kills the brother and as a result the princess vows revenge and sends assassins to kill the knight. The rest of the story is a cat and mouse chase, with the princess and her men casing the knight and the creature. plz doughnutsteel.

>>25556718
I'm trying to write a graphic novel, it would be comprised of about 3 or 4 different stroy lines all in the same universe, and all are heavily interconected, but i keep telling myself it's good and then telling myself it's shit, so i haven't even finished half of 1 story,

>Writing fantasy
>Trying not to be the most generic fantasy possible
>Everythings been done at this point

Writing advice - Just fucking write it. It doesn't matter how horrible your description is or you dont have full details fleshed out or you think your writing style is shit or you've never written before. That comes in the editing phase. Finish that first draft. Not one first draft has ever been the finished product for publishing except for self publishing and they're always the ones that never make any money because first drafts are always shit.

You don't write, edit along the way and then when you reach the end go 'done' You just write that first draft, get the thoughts, the story, down until it is complete. Then you revise, edit, revise, edit, revise, edit, constantly until it's in decent shape. Yes there'll be major changes to it but at least you'll have a complete story and a structure to go along.

I wrote a book, I've actually written two.

It's rewarding, in a way. But the first thing everyone asks after you tell them it's done is "Are you gonna publish it????"

How the fuck do I know? I really wish it would get published but that would involve me actually taking it to a publisher and getting shot down a few thousand times because it's shit.

I guess it doesn't mean anything until it's actually a published 'book'.

>>25557291
Just be a shill and write about the "strong indupenant blak womyn" rising against the odds after she was sold as a sex slave to some nordic looking people and becoming a princess or some shit. Cucks and sjws will eat that shit up

>>25557269
Like, half that plot is Nanatsu no Taizai

File: 1451625416831.jpg (110KB, 759x508px) Image search: [Google]

110KB, 759x508px

>>25557265
Pls just post story.

>>25557269
Seems neat.

>>25557282
I''m doing something similar, but much bigger.
>>25557291
>tfw re-writing for the 25th time once you realize you stole a character.

>tfw instead of brainstorming and writing you're still posting on /r9k/

>>25557269
terrible.
jsut terrible.

>>25557363
May as well try. Whats the worst that could happen? They reject it and you're in the same position as you were before? Nothing changed if the manuscript is rejected, but positive changes could happen if it gets accepted. There's no real drawback.

>>25557291
>Societies where humanity is the only race have been done
>Elves as graceful immortal beings has been done
>Elves as a fallen society of graceful immortal beings has been done
>Elves as woodland fae folk has been done
>Elves as tiny ugly pointed ear beings has been done
>Fuck elves then I'll do something else
etc.

Also when you come up with a great plot twist or idea for a culture or society, only to find out with a quick google search some popular series has already done it before.

>>25556778
I'm always stuck on this too. What I've heard is to get the chapter names down, write summaries for them, and then expand off those into your actual book. Although, I'm still a lazy butthole about doing that too, so YMMV.

>>25557512
>>25557291
Take an obscure culture's myths and extrapolate them. The generic Tolkein-esque medieval Europe fantasy has been done to death. Everything that can be done in those universes has been done.

>>25557269
Sounds pretty cool, I'd read it.

>>25557401
Not familiar with that can you explain

>>25557118
"Young adult".
I really needed the laugh tonight.
Thanks, lil one.

>>25556718
I've been writing short stories for a while and will more than likely publish a collection.
I'm waiting on the novel writing until I've secured a lot more experience so that I don't publish a BS teen fiction series and have to rely on idiots that read at a middle school level.

>>25557628
You're welcome, I liked what I wrote at least, was good practice.

>>25557512
I have this one:
>Most elves are frenzied, ghoul-like beings
>Only the nobility is still sane and controls the flocks of flesh-cravers

>tfw wanting to write an epic sci-fi about the creation of the human empire,it's spread through the galaxy and it's eventual downfall spanning decades
>don't know shit about science, politics or philosophy to even start

File: 7F5DAB1D3A1074908036776230912_1.3.2.mp4.jpg (12KB, 480x480px) Image search: [Google]

12KB, 480x480px

>>25557587
It's not really that important. Your story us still pretty original.
But, the main character of Nanatsu is named Meliodas, the ex-leader of a mercenary-like group of powerful knights.
They get accused of killing some important guy and get exiled by the king.
Meliodas wanders around with his pig with human level intelligence and can speak and all that.

I guess there weren't actually that many similarities now that I list them out. Oh well, your story is cool and I think you should continue with it. Good luck!

File: 7f65ad27b78d53609470dd1df74251df.jpg (18KB, 350x350px) Image search: [Google]

18KB, 350x350px

>>25556718
I guess it isn't really a book, rather a short story. Maybe a collection of short stories.
I was looking around for comfy stories about wizards just chilling innawoods or whatever and couldn't find anything really, so I decided to write my own. I think it'll go well enough.
I'm not planning on doing anything with it after I write it so I guess it won't be all that bad if it turns out to just be some generic fantasy schlock.

>>25557839
>wizards just chilling
Reminds me of that videogame Magicka

I'm 8,500 words. Looking to be round 95-100,000. I have a lot of Word documents with dialogue around that I need to transpose. Chapter 1 is nearly done. Last passage is nearly done. I hope to have a draft done by the end of the year. Novel writing is much harder than screen-writing. I knock out a Screenplay draft in a month.

>>25557839
Make them stoners.

>tfw pretty much done story
>only around 100 pages

FUCKING NORMIES WHY DO ENTRY LEVEL BOOKS HAVE TO BE 700 PAGES FUCKING REEEEEEEEEE I KNOW IT'S A GOOD BOOK BUT PEOPLE WILL LOOK AT THE SIZE AND JUST LAUGH

Already written a book. Working on a second while going through bouts of editing of the first.

lol@thinking finishing a draft is anywhere close to the end.

>>25557913
Yeah that's pretty much what I'm doing. He just chills with animals and stuff. Sometime do some magic shit, but mainly talks to trees and birds and shit

>>25557948
What's the name?
If you ever published it, that is

>>25556952
I thought NaNoWriMo was only in november? can you write in other months of the year?

I have a short story published from when I won a minor national contest, and about 40,000 words into a novel. It's tough. Ho many words should an entry short-novel be?

>>25558027
Shit yeah, still thinking its 2015 right now. I meant in November 2015.

They have something called Camp NaNo in April and June and a young writers program in July.

Camp NaNo you set your own word count anywhere from 10k to 100k. The Young Writers is only like 15k or something but hey its for 16s and under.

January is about editing your first draft. February is about publishing and final edits.

>>25557946
That's a novella senpai.

>>25557363
Start writing those query letters, nigga.

>>25558206
nobody wants to publish a novella :'(

Though it's 100 pages in microsoft word font size 11, what would that be in "novel" pages?

>>25558579
IIRC 250 words is a page in your average book. Average chapter of a book is 15-20 pages. Average Book has 25 chapters. So get the word count and start converting.

>>25558613
Aim for 125,000 words for anyone too dumb or lazy to do the math.

>>25558781
Shit. I'm not at half that.

Still around 150 pages though.

Just fuck my shit up writing is tough.

>>25558823
Do not force your story to be longer than it is.

Do you like reading chapters that shouldn't be there and add nothing to the story or characters?

The scenes in movies clearly inserted to pad out the run time to 90 minutes?

TV series that stretch out for two seasons more than they should?

No, you don't. Don't inorganically stretch your story into something it isn't.

>want to write a sci fi epic with interplanetary wars and terraforming
>have autistic urge to make it as scientifically accurate as possible

This is going to be impossible isn't it?

>>25558923
Nope. The guy who wrote the Martian was publishing chapters available for free online and scientists and the community were able to help him out with the accuracy.

Just remember that fantasy is that for a reason, actual reality is far more limiting than most people realize.

>>25558918
I know, I haven't made it longer than it needed to be, I'm just at page about 150, and don't know if I have it in me to finish the next 50 or so pages. I'm really struggling with this. I just need to get this fucking thing done. It's the perfect length and pace, I'm just too autistic to finish up because I keep getting distracted.

>>25559042
Hey man, 150 pages is still a monumental achievement for the average person. Most people are capable of far less.

In fact, I've been claiming to be a writer for 10 years and don't have one finished full length work, just some shorts and shitloads of outlines.

So stress less, be proud of what you've accomplished and you'll get there. I loathe tripfags by nature but if you finish, publish the book and post an amazon link online I promise I will buy a copy when I see your 'finished novel' thread.

>>25556847
That's 200 pages are you stupid

>>25559085
Oh shit. Sorry. I'm not a tripfag, I just post my music a lot on /mu/ and that's my artist name, so I usually have the trip on for those threads so people know it's me.

here' have a listen to some shitty music I made lmao. it sorta counts as writing?

https://ringostarwars.bandcamp.com/
And I know what you mean. it feels like I have thousands of unfinished drafts and ideas. To be honest, the book I'm working on at the moment was one of those ideas that I essentially just pulled out of a hat.

>>25559126
>To be honest, the book I'm working on at the moment was one of those ideas that I essentially just pulled out of a hat.

Some of the best known works of major authors are the stuff they hated or shit out simply for the money.

Yup.
Made some decent progress.
Did some editing.

It's finally coming together after putting it off for 5 or so years now.

2016 is my year.

Five short film screenplays.
Two feature screenplays.
One young adult novel.

Not biting off too much am I?

Seriously though, it would be great to actually finish the year with at least one completed feature screenplay.

>>25559146
Yeah, that's it.

I think it's actually one of my better works because I'm writing it out of spite. Like, once it's all done and it's died down, i can sit down and read it and actually enjoy it because I hated the fuck out of writing it. I'll be seeing it as a finished product for the first time, not an unfinished draft sitting on my hard-drive.

The stories I like writing I'm sad when i'm done writing. i'll be so fucking glad to have this shit done.

>>25559197
Nawh, i've been looking to start writing a screenplay desu.

>>25556718
thats ursa from dota 2

>>25559245
>Nawh, i've been looking to start writing a screenplay desu.

I find it preferable to writing prose.

File: Joseph.jpg (91KB, 1280x720px) Image search: [Google]

91KB, 1280x720px

>>25559096
It's not a lot for me, I want to write more and the universe of my story isn't even done.

I exaggerated on the chapter number, but it's still shit.
>75,000 words and it's still shit.

>>25559376
>I exaggerated on the chapter number, but it's still shit.

Don't worry about the quality until you get to the editing phase.

As Hemingway said, "The first draft of anything is shit."

>>25559387
Will keep trying my best Senpai.

File: 1448593610305s.jpg (3KB, 125x125px) Image search: [Google]

3KB, 125x125px

>trying to write a story
>normie convinces me to tell him about it so he can help me write it
>steals my idea completely and since he's a normie, everyone believes him and thinks I'm the impersonator
>tfw been cuc|<ed again

>>25559641
How did he steal your idea? And how could people believe it was his first?

Did you tell him the story, continue to sit on it and he actually wrote it down?

>>25556718
I'm set to write it, talent and all. I just don't see the point and want to kill myself because self-loathing

>>25559770
>I'm set to write it, talent and all.

I'm always skeptical of a person's talent when they are the one to suggest they possess it. You might be amazing which I wouldn't know, but I feel like most of the time it's just narcissism.

>>25559786
that's fair. i will say that i am slightly above average. guess that's what i meant

it isnt boastful to be objective of ones aptitude in things, especially if people have told you time and time again

File: 1412302405321.jpg (73KB, 924x571px) Image search: [Google]

73KB, 924x571px

I tried to write a book once.
The future then stole all my ideas.

Then I learnt about cryptomnesia and started seeing the threads.

We all watched the same shit, picked up the same crumbs, combined and formulated the same ideas.

That or someone has a time machine and a device to steal my thoughts.

Trying is a horrible experience, i'll never make that mistake again.
I don't wish it on anyone.

>>25559824
>it isnt boastful to be objective of ones aptitude in things, especially if people have told you time and time again

I understand that but I've heard the same shit over and over again throughout my lifetime and I think for too long it's been a crutch I've used to justify laziness: "It's okay I can put it on a half effort, I'm talented enough to get away with it."

I've only just started to realize that hard work beats out talent 95% of the time and maybe my "talent" isn't actually in line with people's perception of it. Or perhaps their opinion on what constitutes talent is simply of little merit. Hundreds of millions of people went and saw Transformers 4. Their idea of a talented artist might differ from mine, and if they're the people judging me as talented perhaps it means I need to re-evaluate my inherent talent.

>>25559910
the smart but lazy meme is complete bullshit.

Talent doesn't mean jack shit unless you have the will and patience to act on it too.

>>25559934
Agreed. 100% desu

File: 706.gif (16KB, 501x585px) Image search: [Google]

16KB, 501x585px

>>25559934
That doesn't mean jack shit either if you want to make money from it.

What matter is plagiarism and getting away with it.

>>25559854
have you consideres that perhaps nobody is stealing your ideas, but tapping into the same intuitive field of creativity? when i first came across KILL 6 BILLION DEMONS i felt like you. felt like my ideas werent wortg a shit anymore. but what actually happens is our generation has a distinct vantage point on things, and it affects our ideas. we know what we want to see in art and others like us, growing up enjoying the same mediums, authors, genres, etc. now feel as though they can add something to the body of work, even make up something new entirely.

you'd be adding to a corpus. we're not alone in this anon. your ideaa are uniqur only to the extent that you make them resonate with your own experiences, regardless of how similar they may be thematically to others

File: 1424908068697.png (319KB, 534x388px) Image search: [Google]

319KB, 534x388px

>>25556718
>person says they want to write a book
>It's an epic fantasy novel

>>25559934
that goes without saying senpai

>>25560011
You'd think that, but amongst young "writers" it really doesn't.

>>25559667
i had already been developing a thorough history for the setting, came up with major plot-arcs, characters, twists, major movements and developments. the notes and drafts were all kind of jumbled up and disorganized, but I could make sense of it in my head chronologically.

When the normie offered to help, I made a more organized form of everything and presented it to him, complete with concept art and the likes. It was a bare skeleton, but it was a strong enough skeleton to fill it with plenty of meat and maybe some fat in the places necessary.

we were a couple weeks into "filling the gaps" and had a good general sense of what would happen between A and B, B and C, etc. when the other guy suddenly stopped talking to me. He showed some of my concept art as "fan art" to someone else after I had supposedly been shown a draft of it. he completely denied any of my help in writing it and accused me of trying to "butt in" with the creative process.

>>25560023
we were all beginners once. the ones worth a shit will be known by the fruit of their labor

>>25559980
>We all watched the same shit, picked up the same crumbs, combined and formulated the same ideas.
I figured I summed it up with that.

The spectrum for creativity seems infinite, but it's pretty limited from what i've learnt.

You can make up something new entirely, you, and a hundred thousand other people with the same idea.

I'm probably just and uncreative retard and don't know it.

Good luck to you and your unique creations.

>>25560038
He's not a friend.

Compile everything you had with times and dates and sue.

>>25560004

I'm writing a postmodern psychedelic book about a druggie journalist in fictionalized 1970s sacremento

h e l p f a m

File: 1447973278626.jpg (71KB, 761x750px) Image search: [Google]

71KB, 761x750px

>>25560004
>the person describes the novel's fantasy world
>it involves a race of people with a made up name

>>25560046
Strange reply in regards to my comment.

>>25559934

Spoken like a true dumb but hard worker.

>>25560083
Spoken like a true narcissist.

Not even that guy. Work, faggot.

I'm always afraid of trying to get something published and then being sued for stealing from works I didn't even know existed.

I can write novels no problem. I can bang out a first draft in a month. But convincing myself to write to agents and/or publishers...that's where I fail every time.

My confidence is just shit. Fuck my shit up senpai.

>>25560100
>I can write novels no problem. I can bang out a first draft in a month. But convincing myself to write to agents and/or publishers...that's where I fail every time.

Why?

File: 1447973344928.png (333KB, 451x469px) Image search: [Google]

333KB, 451x469px

>>25560065
Sounds like you're someone who actually reads. Most of the people I see saying they want to write a book dont care about reading at all and just think they "have a cool idea for a plot"
>>25560072
>>25560004
>here's a sketch of my book's map

>>25557269
That sounds fucking awful
If you're just writing it for fun go ahead, but seriously dont expect anybody to think it is good. It sounds like middle school tier fantasy

>>25560111

Because I'm convinced it's a waste of time. I have no faith in what I write and disregard ten positive comments to zone in on the one piece of negative feedback.

As soon as I hit the editing process, I rip apart the first things I can find and implode, convincing myself it's all shit.

>>25560053
hey, if you want a write a book, do it because you want to. not because you want to be some unique little pulitzer prize winning faggot. at the end of the day it's about communicating a part of yourself. how and not what

>>25560122
thanks senpai. I'm a journalism/english student. Read lots of Pynchon, David Foster Wallace, and Hunter S. Thompson. It drives me crazy every time some greasy neckbeard waltzes into a creative writing class with some idea for a high fantasy novel.

Last semester I was a volunteer in an undergraduate class for one of my fave english profs. There was this one piece of shit who came in and plunked down 50 handwritten pages of erotic Eldar fanfiction. eldar as in from warhammer, though he swore "this is different!" Highlights included the name "Mathmasaur" and a 10 page forest sex orgy.

fuck "fantasy" writers.

I'm 20 pages deep. Going for a 100. If anyone wants to read some shit drop your throwaway.

File: seriously.png (314KB, 697x443px) Image search: [Google]

314KB, 697x443px

>>25560004
>>25560072
>>25560122
>so I have this really cool idea for a book. There's this kingdom that has been divided into orcs and elves and there's also a race of wizards and they are all fighting to get the five pieces of the Nardvictus key that will unite the kingdom under one ruler through magic and they speak in a language that I made up

>>25560161
you can't lump us all together with flagrant autism like that.

>>25560161
I think it's because writing is the only outlet they have for their stupid ideas (you cant exactly make a movie on your own) so they think that they will just be able to write a good book

>>25560150
The encouragement is appreciated, but no thanks. I would only disgust myself and flare up my schizophrenia.

File: struggle.jpg (96KB, 800x1243px) Image search: [Google]

96KB, 800x1243px

>>25560189
>in the north of the world there is a vast tundra referred to as the outer-realm.