/wg/ Writing General

You start with a man, and take away reason and accountability.
(h/t to Jack Nicholson's character in "As Good As It Gets")

There are stories in genres and settings I really want to write but I know I don't know nearly enough about those genres and settings. What should I do? Wait and research even if the passion to write a story cools? Or write the story and research as I go along, then revise/rewrite the whole thing later with my new understanding?

First you acknowledge that men and women are different, mentally as well as physically.

His favorite day is the 4th of july. Not because of patriotism but because he loves playing with fireworks. The little things. The stink of sulfur compounds, the little burns you get on your finger when the fuse catchs. The smokes, the sparks. That surreal feeling you get when you walk down the suburban street after dark and there's bright lights and loud noises coming from every driveway.

The watermelon and the cookout burgers and the long summer day are all just icing in the cake.

Not bad but a few suggestions.
>the action, the action, the action
Needs for more specificity to ground us in the scene, even in the case of sex if you're trying not to get hot and heavy there are ways to make it goofy/lighthearted

I liked the cheeky humor but it didn't hit as well due to crowded Dialogue tags - too much description especially for a conversations between just two characters.

Also make sure all those emphasized words are italicized in the actual document rather than asterisked in case that want just for clarity when posting here.

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Write and research as you go along.
If you write without research, you might have to discard all of it.
In general, don't treat fiction writing (especially long-form) as if it's linear. It's the exact opposite.

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>In general, don't treat fiction writing (especially long-form) as if it's linear. It's the exact opposite.
I know, but I'm worried about not knowing the rules because then I won't know how to bend or break them properly.

Two things. Depends on the profession but a lot of labcoats come in different colors now to show utility and profession. A lot of synthetic chemistry labcoats are grayish blue to show anti-flammable properties. White labcoats are better for small scale or generally nonhazardous work. There are some other colors but thought I'd let you know.
Since you wrote that section on a hanging I recommend you read Ambrose Bierce's "Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge".

>There's always a g/fur thread on Yea Forums waiting for you.
ftfy

>action/dialogue
I only had 2000 characters. Damn Yea Forums limits.
I assure you, the final work will be far more than 2000 characters, and involves more than just dialogue.
It's up to 58k words as of this morning.
>asterisks
I write in Markdown format, in a text editor; the asterisks will get converted to italics once run through pandoc.

But thanks for reading and responding!

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How do I stop myself from writing scenes and stories in my head? It sucks all the joy of discovery out from writing for me.

>start writing a story about two characters' religious ideals being challenged, their crisis of faith and eventual reversing of said religious positions with one losing their faith entirely while the other finds his
>29k words in I discover I'm writing about one of them having his relationship sabotages by his fiancé's two-faced best friend while the other protagonist is evolving into an intelligent but ill-educated man trapped in circumstances that lead to increased cynicism and only the faith he was supposed to lose is comforting him
Well, shit. That wasn't supposed to happen and yet it do, Vladimir.

Let me tell you a secret.
When it comes to the "right" way to produce fiction...
...THERE ARE NO RULES.
Do what works for you.

I embrace the nonlinearity by making notes in an outline editor. I use TreeLine; it's open-source and does everything I want.
Although I strive to complete a work, I don't get hung up on it, because there's no value in that.

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You will write every day.
Even if it's a sentence, it's a sentence more than you had yesterday.
You will iron out your characters, plot, setting, and themes.
You will not settle for mediocrity.
You will not allow yourself to say, "Good enough".
You will improve no matter the cost.
You will make it.

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I'm lost. Where else would they start, except in your head?

based
This thread has become a breath of fresh air ever since the seething pseud took a vacation.
To think ONE person could be responsible for so much lameness.

Very good, sir.

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They would start as I was writing the work, like this guy .

>Although I strive to complete a work, I don't get hung up on it, because there's no value in that.
I wish I understood this years ago. So much time wasted procrastinating figuring out the "right way" to finish something.

Library of America mid-career FS Fitzgerald collection is finally out. Havent read him since highschool when I had no critical thinking skills.

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I meant characters as in the super hero and the camera guy were the only two characters speaking...

How do you get better at writing description of areas? Right now I'm trying to figure out the right way to describe a courtyard that in my head looks like pic related.

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My characters all sound alike. Totally unique and original problem, I know. What can I do to differentiate their dialogue so they sound like individuals?

Mine sound differently because their characters are entirely different, if that makes any sense. When they are sounding the same its because I don't understand the characters well enough to know how their personalities affect the way they talk.
But I'm also fine with characters sounding the same occasionally, not every dialogue has to have two completely different sounding characters every time.

Enclosed by lush trees all around, the ground was covered in red tile, with a fountain in the middle. Yellow lamps lit the low buildings and their glass doors. It was evening, the sunset already reddening the lower clouds, and the birds that stirred in that time before true twilight filled the air with their song, a sound almost as soothing as the trickle of water in the fountain's basins, falling from top to a lower basin, then another and finally to the bottom, whence it once again climbed to the top.
There was a scent of frying cheese and chicken in the air, the evening meal being prepared. Cutlery clinked somewhere, the table being set. Time for one last cigarette in the cooling air.

give them traits that would affect their speech. smart characters sound smart, dumb characters sound dumb, characters that never shut up go on adhd tangents and then the more stotic types tend to reply with shorter sentences.

now you have a cast of one dimensional characters that sound different. next step, twist it. the smart character who talks smart has trouble pronouncing certain words, or the dumb character has random depths of knowledge here and there about weird things. the stotic might get more chatty with a girl he has a crush on, etc.

basically, start with personalities and how said personalities would affect their speech. think of real life people as well, i'm sure you know a few people who talk wildly differently and you can tell them apart in person or even over text

based
Maybe you need to explain what's wrong with writing scenes and stories in your head.
I write however it comes to me; I don't impose rules on my muse.
Glad I could help. Now go write something!
Again, length limitations...it was the nature of the snippet, not the whole novel.
Just write a description of picrel, and continue to improve it. Practice.
At the core of any character are a set of values.
Those values lead to one or more priorities.
Differing priorities between people lead to conflict and drama.
A character arc is when one of someone's values changes over time.
These simple rules can of course be expanded and colored in, but they are the basics.

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New Year's Eve, because I get shitfaced drunk every NYE, and my MC's a ravenous alcoholic.

Refer to books youve read with great lanscape description and analyze why it worked well. I was reading Chekhov this morning and it described how the windmill seemed to move left as their cart traveled and how it was like was shiny, waving midget. It described colors, sounds, smells, animals, how the scene changes as the dew dries. It described one side of a hill also and inevitably a pack of sheepdogs come running over it later and you can just see it happening as the sheep theyre protecting scatter. Setting can and ought to tie into characters, events and ideas. For example as they pass the white crosses of the cemetery it relates how when grandmother died her eyes wouldnt close so they covered them with coins.

How the FUCK do I write long sentences? And why should I?

Ask the guy a few threads back who claimed to have 500+ word run-on sentences.

You don't. Write as much as you need to get your point across.

didnt ask

I used the pepe noir image to talk about my detective story a while back, please don't lump me in with him

picrel is the guy who wants you to believe he's an expert.
>youtube.com/watch?v=rzaShoD2kUY
this is his youtube channel and an example of his voice and how terrible his taste is.

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OOF

FUCK IT WAS YOUR STORY? I wish I hadn't been so polite now about your reddit marvel shit.

>Again, length limitations...it was the nature of the snippet, not the whole novel.
You may be retarded. You are completely not understanding my point. The length of the sample has zero effect on my comment around dialogue tags

I guess the 3-day ban is over.

hold on, i may have overstepped myself. i'm too lazy to do an archive search right now, but do see before we draw and quarter him.

samefag

pls no

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Don't. Just write guys with tits.

troll
you dis his advice but dont offer any of yr own

Lurk on crystal cafe.
Women are equally deranged as men, sometimes in different ways.

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>Another 1k in most recent daily editions.
>Also hav burger farts.
>I will stop to edit sometime, maybe.

I will be the dude to say I told everyone so, generals on Yea Forums always have those cycles of "GOD THIS GENERAL SUCKS" replaced by a return to form. It's hard to believe I've been here long enough to see posters come through, become recognized, and eventually stop posting like in every other general I've been in.

pastebin.com/wuxqXLA7
"You're a tight little unit, aren't you?"

Some people make a forum a better place...by leaving it.

Wrote a short story around a writing prompt that was basically "You character recieves a letter that changes their life, what is it?"
Got cucked by pastebin, so I'll post a snippet of it, crits appreciated:

Right there.
Paul had definitely found what was causing his whole house to smell like a barbeque of cheap plastic dolls and barbershop hair clippings; it was an envelope, edges singed, on the back in dark red: "IMPORTANT NOTICE."
Well. His house isn't burning to the ground around him and that's all that matters. He is going back to bed and the envelope can sit on the table by the front door, it can wait "important" as it may be. He'll just have to get used to the smell. Crack open a window, spray some air freshener, something.
He starts to set the envelope down, it starts to heat up.
Reflexively he brings it closer to his body: cold. Closer to the entryway table: warm. Closer still: hot. He finally sets it down: red hot. Fire.
"Fuck!"
Paul's hand is on fire.
The envelope sticks to his hand as he flails around, the flames spread up his arm and lick at his shoulder, biting at his skin.
'What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?'
He stops. He drops. He rolls.
…
Paul's carpet is on fire.
“Oh, come on!"
He tries to suffocate it with a nearby throw blanket which only serves to sear the fabric and spread the fire even further; the room becoming further saturated with smoke.
On his knees he pleads to the popcorn ceiling, "What do you want me to do?"
The smell of burning flesh stings at his nose and the smoke from cheap polyester blended fabric stings his eyes. Fresh pain shoots up his arm, the envelope seems to glow brighter than the rest of the flames.
"The letter? The letter! Yes– f-fuck– I'll read it in a minute–"
Paul writhes as he feels the heat gnaw at exposed bone, his arm blackening and crisping, difficult to tell skin from cloth, his roasted tissue and semi-melted clothing melding together. Screaming in pain, his body screams with him.
He can barely begin talking, but after he starts, he keeps begging, "Fine, fine, fuck! I'll read it! I'll read the letter now! Just stop! Stop! Stop! Please!? Please, please, please?"
The fire on his carpet slowly fizzles out, leaving nothing but smolder. His arm remained aflame, but the pain was reduced to intermittent dull aches.
He lets out a few more pained sobs that bubble from his throat, coughing between heaving breaths. He tries to compose himself, but as the envelope begins to warm he rips it open with his teeth, through tear-blurred vision and smokey haze, the letter reads: "Welcome to Hell, Paul!" in bold, sans serif font.
He clutches the notice in his hand and reads it over again and again; just one more time, he doesn't understand completely yet. The letters begin to morph: “That’s all. You can stop reading.”

Paul's favorite holiday is probably Labor Day, day off with no expectation to celebrate anything. If you asked, he'd say he doesn't know.

Substack Gods, here we come!

>cucked by pastebin
the story of my life.

Where do I find him now?

What if the point is that 'I could make long sentences if I wanted?'

>Where do I find him now?
In the nearest sewer

Oh, you can do better than that.
He could be writing drafts of proposed laws for Congress.

I can only think of holidays my characters hate. One kills himself in New Year's Eve.

Do that grammer/reading level check on your piece- it has an average sentence length tracker. How low are you? I'm curious what quantifies "short sentences" specifically.