/lit/ - Literature★

1. One faithful reader whose life you changed is worth more than a thousand casual readers who kinda enjoyed your work.

2. Practice, don't be too afraid to show yoir work to others, and consider every criticism whether you ultimately reject it or not.

3. No one can tell your story like you can. Be open to challenging conventions, "being autistic", and writing weird shit. Just don't be a snowflake and don't forget at least some of your audience should understand and enjoy your book.

Those are my two cents. Sadly, I'm not very experienced myself yet.

Just write whatever you feel like writing. It's unlikely you happen to be one of the few with any actual inspiration, so there is no point in not enjoying the writing itself because you feel the need aim for "quality". Who knows, maybe you end up writing some good shit after all, but I wouldn't count on it.

>>13391

>don't be too afraid to show your work to others

Never ever show unfinished work to anyone, or you will lose your drive to finish it.

Writing is heavily competitive and drowning in shit. Any idiot can open up a word processor and write shitty Sonic fan fictions, and just about every idiot does. Unfortunately this also means the bar for entry is also lower for truly creative and talented writers, which means there are a shitload of those wandering around too. Considering that art is ultimately a popularity contest, this means that the vast vast majority of writers will die poor without their work ever being appreciated or published, regardless of its quality. If you want to write, you need to make yourself comfortable with that, because that's really intimidating.

You have to believe that the story you want to tell is worth telling. You have to believe that in an ocean of shit, your story will stand out like a brilliant light. But believing is not enough: You have to be able to prove it. You need to know that you're good enough to tell this story. You need to be prepared to make compromises, accept the harshest of criticism, in order to make that light shine through the iron curtain, because if you don't believe in your story, and your ability to tell it, it never will.

>>13415

I have nothing to say about what this poster has said, only a little to add. Ahem.

"In a nation that has developed to a high art advertising, the creator who refuses to advertise himself is immediately suspected of having no product worth selling." ~Vidal

He also dropped a hint about not bothering to ask where are the great writers. Ask instead, where are the readers?

Where are your readers?

If you are going to lay down some new and creative first class Sonic fanfic ablatheration, you also want to find the people who read this stuff. What do they like? What stories are popular? Why? Analyze.

Can you do that?

It's all quite humbling.

It's all the same for journalists chasing whatever gigs, and neophyte freelancers hunting their first rag fix.

This is also why you want to start with short stories. Until you are able to identify techniques properly used by other writers, and take them out for a thorough test drive of your own, you are not ready to be read.

As for self-promotion? Go buy some 8Chan advertisements and ….

Finish complete a written something, first.

>>13417

Fuck off with your Reddit spacing, this was painful to read.

>>13398

agreed