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Anonymous09/16/26, 16:42No.25535531/wg/ Writing General
"dark night of the thread" edition
Previous: >>25532312
/wg/ AUTHORS & FLASH FICTION: https://pastebin.com/ruwQj7xQ (embed)
RESOURCES & RECOMMENDATIONS: https://pastebin.com/nFxdiQvC (embed)
Please limit excerpts to one post.
Give advice as much as you receive it to the best of your ability.
Discuss the written works below for practice; contribute, and you shall receive.
If you have not performed a cursory proofread, do not expect to be treated kindly. Edit your work for spelling and grammar before posting.
Expect critique, not praise.
Shitposters should be ignored and reported.
>Beginner guides on writing:
[YouTube] Improve your Writing: Show, Not Tell (embed) (Improve your Writing: Show, Not Tell) [6:08]
[YouTube] George Orwell's 4 Tips For Speaking Clearly (embed) (George Orwell's 4 Tips For Speaking Clearly) [23:00]
[YouTube] How to Show, Not Tell: The Complete Writing Guide (embed) (How to Show, Not Tell: The Complete Writing Guide) [27:19]
>Intermediate guides on writing:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48654.Story
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3097766-borges-on-writing
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23056.Image_Music_Text
>Advanced guide on writing:
Just do it.

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Replies
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Anon09/16/26, 16:45No.25535535
close this and write today
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Anon09/16/26, 18:29No.25535699
>The Story Grid
>Written by Shawn Coyne
>The Story Grid is a tool developed by editor Shawn Coyne to analyze stories and provide helpful editorial comments. It’s like a CT Scan that takes a photo of the global story and tells the editor or writer what is working, what is not, and what must be done to make what works better and fix what’s not.>The Story Grid is a tool with many applications:>1. It will tell a writer if a Story “works” or “doesn’t work.”>2. It pinpoints story problems but does not emotionally abuse the writer, revealing exactly where a Story (not the person creating the Story . . . the Story) has failed.>3. It will tell the writer the specific work necessary to fix that Story’s problems.>4. It is a tool to re-envision and resuscitate a seemingly irredeemable pile of paper stuck in an attic drawer.>5. It is a tool that can inspire an original creation.
Has anyone read this? It sounds like another formulaic writing style guide, but I could be wrong.
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Anon09/16/26, 19:56No.25535875
My brother has some extra laptops for me to use for writing. He has a Mac and one with Windows. Which should I take? I obviously have much more experience with Windows but I don't know, maybe the Mac would be better for writing. That could just be me falling victim to marketing however. Thoughts?
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Anon09/16/26, 21:52No.25536050
>Finished my little novella
What now? Do I just reread it a million times? Do I give it to people raw dog to see if the structure makes sense? Do I burn it? I think it's pretty good.

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Anon09/16/26, 22:47No.25536125
Am I really so bad a person for writing fantasy adventure?
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Anon09/16/26, 23:00No.25536146

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Anon09/16/26, 23:58No.25536216
Why did the last thread get deleted?
I was sleep, woke up and it was gone.Nothing seems that amiss in the archive.
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Anon09/17/26, 00:19No.25536244
thoughts on web novels?
or is that like the polar opposite of this general
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Anon09/17/26, 00:19No.25536245
I am done trying with outlining for creative writing.
I just end up totally ignoring the outline anyway. So instead I will reverse outline as I go.
Sort of like making a map as I go instead of a blueprint of what to build. A tool to assist in structural editing, rather than one to help with drafting.
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Anon09/17/26, 01:15No.25536332
I lost all motivation to write.
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Anon09/17/26, 01:33No.25536375
Here's the start of my novel. What can I improve?After a year of slavery in the Salt Mines of Endovier, Celaena
Sardothien was accustomed to being escorted everywhere in shackles
and at sword-point. Most of the thousands of slaves in Endovier
received similar treatment—though an extra half-dozen guards always
walked Celaena to and from the mines. That was expected by
Adarlan’s most notorious assassin. What she did not usually expect,
however, was a hooded man in black at her side—as there was now.
He gripped her arm as he led her through the shining building in
which most of Endovier’s officials and overseers were housed. They
strode down corridors, up flights of stairs, and around and around
until she hadn’t the slightest chance of finding her way out again.
At least, that was her escort’s intention, because she hadn’t failed
to notice when they went up and down the same staircase within a
matter of minutes. Nor had she missed when they zigzagged between
levels, even though the building was a standard grid of hallways and
stairwells. As if she’d lose her bearings that easily. She might have
been insulted if he wasn’t trying so hard.
They entered a particularly long hallway, silent save for their
footsteps. Though the man grasping her arm was tall and fit, she could
see nothing of the features concealed beneath his hood. Another tactic
meant to confuse and intimidate her. The black clothes were probably
a part of it, too. His head shifted in her direction, and Celaena flashed
him a grin. He looked forward again, his iron grip tightening.
It was flattering, she supposed, even if she didn’t know what was
happening, or why he’d been waiting for her outside the mine shaft.
After a day of cleaving rock salt from the innards of the mountain,
finding him standing there with six guards hadn’t improved her mood.
But her ears had pricked when he’d introduced himself to her
overseer as Chaol Westfall, Captain of the Royal Guard, and suddenly,
the sky loomed, the mountains pushed from behind, and even the
earth swelled toward her knees. She hadn’t tasted fear in a while—
hadn’t let herself taste fear. When she awoke every morning, she
repeated the same words: I will not be afraid. For a year, those words
had meant the difference between breaking and bending; they had
kept her from shattering in the darkness of the mines. Not that she’d
let the captain know any of that.
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Anon09/17/26, 02:00No.25536418
three months and none of my beta readers have finishedi should kill them

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Anon09/17/26, 02:49No.25536483
>French doors in a fantasy novel
>France doesn't exist
Do I go with
>Description of a French door without using the word france and take up a page or not-france country doors?
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Anon09/17/26, 03:03No.25536505
15 or so pages of fat fetish smut. I was gonna debut it at the 2027 Chicago writers conference but I'll drop it here first.https://rentry.org/a7wqvrq7
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Anon09/17/26, 03:23No.25536535
Is it okay to do this
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Anon09/17/26, 04:05No.25536569
Could /lit/ write something within these parameters or would you all get kicked out?

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Anon09/17/26, 12:15No.25537007
.
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Anon09/17/26, 12:59No.25537052
I think writing YA or children's literature will fix my problem of writing unclearly. Because with these genres that is the first thing one needs to consider. Everything needs to be communicated clearly and in just a few basic words. I've been reading the Warriors series lately and find it refreshingly easy to digest.
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Anon09/17/26, 14:18No.25537125
What does your organizational process look like for writing? How do you structure time? Do you make road maps and writing goals?
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Anon09/17/26, 16:17No.25537298
If it's going to work, then it needs to be not just funny but hilarious. Otherwise, he just becomes another shitty Holden knockoff.

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Anon09/17/26, 17:15No.25537385
wrote a thing about ai chuds for a journal

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Anon09/17/26, 17:47No.25537432
Sent my novel to more than 80 agents this year
0 personalised responses
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Anon09/17/26, 18:11No.25537470
>slave
>No slavs in my fantasy world
What other word can I use? Goyim?
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Anon09/17/26, 19:32No.25537594
Should authors review the work of their peers overtly or covertly?

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Anon09/17/26, 22:09No.25537847
>finish first draft
>start editing
>cringe
>stop
>start another novel
>finish
>this one is the one!
>start editing
>cringe
>stop
>start another novel
I've spent 6 years that way. 3 first drafts but I feel physical pain whenever I try to edit them - ashamed of the quality and overwhelmed by the amount of changes it would need.
Has anyone gone through this?
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Anon09/17/26, 23:17No.25537971
I think pantsers might be on to something. I have been trying to keep to my outline, and it legitimately just makes the story less fun. I think I may have to just start winging shit from this point on.
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Anon09/17/26, 23:21No.25537977
I named my characters Alice, Bob, Cameron, Danielle, and Eve because I can't think of better names yet.
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Anon09/17/26, 23:37No.25537992
How do you guys cope with knowing everyone else's excerpts and writing are better than yours and you'll never have even an iota of their talent? Even reddit writers. I'm competing with so many talented writers and their works shadow mine with such beautiful prose and plot. Do I take the bottle or the rope?
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Anon09/18/26, 02:32No.25538235
It’s impossible to get published, isn’t it?
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Anon09/18/26, 02:37No.25538247
The man inserted his penis into the woman’s vagina and they came.
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Anon09/18/26, 02:40No.25538255
What is the best way to integrate the fact that I am a queer POC into my story I don’t want to make the protagonist also a queer POC because that seems too obvious.
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Anon09/18/26, 04:33No.25538382
I read part one of Borges on Writing. Why is it recommended here? It's so personal, I can't find anything to extract about the craft. What did you guys get out of it?
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Anon09/18/26, 05:10No.25538419

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Anon09/18/26, 10:22No.25538640
> be about 3k into writing on Google docs, Google docs being what I've used for the past several years
> Shift + I to use italics
> Mustve fat fingered some key
>Entire document gets wiped to a blank page
> Undo doesn't work
> Closing and loading the file doesn't work
> Not in trash bin
> Not in Google drive
> Only recovered my work because I happened to have copied the text shortly before and could therefore paste it back in
What the fuck was this? And don't any of you insolent bootlicking faggots go blaming me either, like redditors who defend a product like a good goy.
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Anon09/18/26, 12:31No.25538752
Decided to shift things around in the story I am writing to have a "in medias res" beginning instead of the chronological one I started with.That said my brain is still drained from going all out on the true inciting incident so I am debating on just rewriting the chronological first chapter now to give myself something easy to work on while I get my groove back, or if I should push ahead and write the "in medias res" chapter and establish the framing device for what will become flash backs.What do you guys do when you ain't feeling up to your A-game?
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Anon09/18/26, 13:36No.25538829
>”No what do you mean you didn't edit the pacing?!?!! Noooo you can’t just refuse to make the pacing correct no! it’s not fair! Now I’m angry! Noo what about accessibility!?!!"
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Anon09/18/26, 15:21No.25538944
>You have to be a good critic to be a good writer or artist in general in any mediumIs this really true? From my own personal experience, critics tend to be really bad at creating things. Every single time I've seen a prolific critic getting into writing things of their own, they always end up making something terrible, often with the very same things that they critique other works for.All of the best artists that I've ever met tend to be absolutely dogshit at critiquing things or they're milquetoast at best. They have a basic idea of what makes something good or bad, but not much real insight into it beyond that.My point being that I've rarely, if ever seen anybody be both prolific as one and the other simultaneously.

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Anon09/18/26, 15:34No.25538970
Just reached 100k words on my story, bros
I'm about 3/4 way through my plan, I think roughly
Maybe I should start looking into getting some art commissioned for it or something
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Anon09/19/26, 02:30No.25540163
To get more readers, I decided to add stats and LITRPG elements to First of the Rus. I'll need some skills for her as she progresses through the story.

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Anon09/19/26, 02:32No.25540168
>you can navigate the internet all the way to the writing thread on /lit/ but you need some fucking retard to link you some writing books
yea that's how this works actually
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Anon09/19/26, 02:40No.25540197

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Anon09/19/26, 03:39No.25540343
>I'm sure it was him
>I'm sure you're him too
>OPs are all around me
I'd say you've gone schizo, but I don't think you have the brains for anything that complex.
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Anon09/19/26, 04:16No.25540396
You're right, I made no effort to parse through your schizo seething. I don't see the point. You're too dumb to realize how dumb you are, and I've chosen not to engage you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dawR-dPdkY
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Anon09/19/26, 04:25No.25540412
>watching youtube writing advice channels again
>notice that every single one insists on writing first drafts that are basically unreadable without extensive editing
>insists all good writing is actually revision and editing
>all just so happen to sell editing services or be professional editors with less than a handful of books they have personally written
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Anon09/19/26, 04:39No.25540435
>u linked 2 a utube video
>no one else on all of 4chan has ever done that before REEEEEEE
You're adorable.

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Anon09/19/26, 06:12No.25540523
So many words typed on 4chan and not in the story you're meant to be working on.
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Anon09/19/26, 14:16No.25540984
Can someone help me with the dialogue?
I'm not too dissatisfied with the first page, but the dialogue on second page got no sauce in it. It gives useful information about the main character and the dog, but that's it. There's nothing interesting in it, no sauce.

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Anon09/19/26, 16:44No.25541203
How do I know if I have an idea good enough to write? I don’t want to waste my time.
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Anon09/19/26, 16:53No.25541226
>be thinking of story for months
>write a document about it
>come up with characters and scenes and world building
>open word processor and sit down for an hour
>50 words come out
what do
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Anon09/19/26, 17:21No.25541267
I have done it, I have self-published my book, (Burgess O'Bannon's Superhero Saga). Working on Volume 2's second draft currently. Wish I had a decent way to advertises the book, but paid ads don't have good targeting, and nobody with a platform wants to be spammed from yet another author about wanting their book read.
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Anon09/19/26, 18:16No.25541382
Well I made it, I signed a contract and sold a 4 page short story for 200 euros. I'm now a professional writer. Smell ya later, losers!
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Anon09/19/26, 22:33No.25541850
Do any of you use NovelAI in your writing workflow? How has it helped? Any advice for optimizing results to someone starting out with this tool?

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Anon09/20/26, 00:03No.25542001
What's that trope called where near the end of Act 2 (or, beginning of Act 3) the story slows down and the characters seemingly have a breather (or they follow even a sub-plot) before the climax? The closest I can think of describing it is "the calm before the storm" or a "false ending", but the latter is situational.think of red dead redemption, where you, the player, quietly settle down as Marston thinking you've achieved your goals, or the small detour of L and Light teaming up in death note, or the aftermath of the battle of the Pelennor Fields in ROTK
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Anon09/20/26, 01:08No.25542100
Apparently Spotify is offering indie authors free eleven labs AI audio book versions of their manuscripts.https://youtu.be/6hgc9ZaMPOg?si=23_EVlCVOXf1uXITI would have to see the contract conditions, but if the contract is good it would basically be a additional audience for your book for free with very little effort on your part.
Obviously not as good as getting a proper audiobook done by a professional, but that shit cost a few thousand dollars or signing your rights away to audible.
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Anon09/20/26, 01:19No.25542112
any experiences with
>write drunk
>edit sober
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Anon09/20/26, 04:05No.25542297
why is a kk wing ad flashbanging me on 4chan?
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Anon09/20/26, 04:18No.25542328
Why even but ads? Nobody is going to click the link and buy whatever crap you wrote
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Anon09/20/26, 09:39No.25542565
What should I write to become rich and famous?
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Anon09/20/26, 09:59No.25542579
More Fat fetish work. I wanted to try something in the vein of those 90s kids horror Goosebumps stories, so the characters are underage by necessity. Random House can mail me the acceptance letter.https://rentry.org/4vap6x43