What are the previous books you've had published?

You will tell me what books you have written or I will flood this thread with shit no one wants to read.

Write about that Ventguy, rapidsearch for r9klovestory, he's made 2-3 threads in total, last one was about a month ago when the girl died. Build something around it and give him credit.

What are the books that you've already written called?

>>2408753
this.

you want our help, fess up bitch

Wait, what exactly are you looking for? Do you want plot ideas? Because I can't give you plot ideas. Because they're mine.

I like a book with a sense of humour, that can move me, and is also quite awesome. As such, I'm a Christopher Moore fan.

how long's it been since your last book? how much have you earnt? just wondering.

+ a little lol
readers are readers and not writers because they want someone else to decide all that shit for them and make a good story out of it. if had a list of perfect characters, dialogue, setting and plot they'd write the book themselves.

19, m

Uh, never really desperatley wanted to read everything.

however
I think it might be intresting if you wrote something about a character who is the typical image of a 4channer-lives alone, does webdesign, ect.. and have all the other characters be people he interacts with. I dunno what the plot would be - he gets an online girlfriend, but something's not right, mabye..

18
Male

I like science fiction.

18, Male

Something about the intelligent race who lived on Earth before humans existed, but then left after covering their tracks with false evidence of history and religion

Age: 21
Gender: Male
What I desperately want to read in a book: Highbrow adolescent lesbian incest in a Victorian steampunk setting

Read C.G. Jung's Psychology and the Paranormal. It'll give you ideas.

>>2408744
i want your job. advice please

>>2408792
Sounds like 'Welcome to the NHK'.

Write something like that, but from a western perspective.

>>2408784

Also, I am 22, male, and am on a Creative Writing degree

Fifteen; female. I guess I'm not quite your demographic, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who wants to read something about gender roles.
Fiction/nonfiction, doesn't matter. As long as it provokes thought and doesn't consist of regurgitated "75 CENTS TO THE MAN'S DOLLAH" bullshat. Oh, and for the love of the sweet baby Jesus, no vampires.

(USER WAS CANNED FOR THIS HOAX)

>>2408805
>>2408805
>>2408805
>>2408805
>>2408805
>>2408805
MY KINGDOM FOR THIS BOOK

>>2408832

almost reported. but then you said some truth.

man I want more like Danielewski's first book..

Also GOOD FANTASY. Have a world built.

Can you rewrite the 7th dark tower book and not make it suck?

24 - Male - BOSTON

A blog of story ideas, hope it helps you out, anon, and gives you inspiration.

http://t.hru.st/

ITT:

50% will be literature fags who will recommend that you will write something beautiful, well-written and meaningful. As in a book that will not sell.

49% will be retards who will recommend you write a science-fiction/slasher/steamy erotica novel with the intellectual content of a lump of wet shit.

1% will describe the demographics.

YOU BETTER NOT BE STEPHANIE MEYER

>>2408776
No. absolutely not. I'm glad you brought that up. Plot ideas are not what I'm looking for at all. I'm asking everyone to simply point me in the direction that they'd love to follow an author in. I'll give an example to clear up any confusion there might be.

"26, female:

I love a novel that's not a mystery story, but still has a good mystery in it to solve. Something that serves as a back plot that drives one of the main character's journey. Maybe she lost something, maybe she's looking for someone, but whatever it is, it's not your typical Hero's Journey where everything is laid out in the first 15 minutes or first 20 pages. Something complicated that manages to hook you right away, but takes a while to unravel.

On top of that, I also enjoy seeing major emotional changes in the main character as they finish their development arcs. I'm not talking about just facing their fears. I like seeing weak female narratives that grow to become powerful leaders. Or charismatic male narratives on a downward slope that moves them to become desperate and irrational by the end of the story. All scenarios have to be relatable to the reader though, to the point where anyone could imagine themselves doing the same crazy things if they had been in the same crazy situations."

See? No plot ideas to steal. Just story making steps that you don't see often, and would like to see more often. Hope that helps.

Male. 23.

Prefer books set in the real world, examinations of one character. The nature of most pieces of writing is in change or progression, but I wouldn't mind a story where the progression is all internal or very low key.

I like stuff that's written in unconventional ways, particularly books written entirely with a first person unreliable narrator.

I don't particularly like fantasy/sci fi books because they tend to focus far less on characterization and much more on huge battles and stuff. I would love to see a fantasy/scifi book which breaks this mould, however.

I want robots fighting talking cacti for control over the Milky Way Galaxy.

anyway right
keep this bumped for 7-8 hours while i get some sleep

OP - please answer my little questions? how long have you not written anything for? and how much have you made ... like, how much was your first contract or whatever as well? i'd just really like to know, if you wouldn't mind.

oh, also, how many rejection letters did you collect before someone picked you up. agent / publisher? my pile is growing steadily

Are you Kenneth Eng?

Stop writing about dragons.

Write a book about the Irish Dragons fight against the Leprechauns.

Female, 18

I love to be shocked. Appalled. Disgusted. To a certain extent, of course. I like books that invoke a multitude of emotions. Reading makes me feel alive because even though the situations aren't happening to me or even someone I know, somehow by feeling through the main character I can relate, no matter how different they are from me. It helps if the main character is as detached as I am and therefore is experiencing new emotions at the same time as I am. I think a lot of people are that way when they read books.

Writing something controversial is always fun and it stretches your creative limits. Just how far are you willing to go? Enough to entice the general public into reading it, but maybe not to disgust the bulk of our society? I like to read books that point out our faults and how they can be our downfall, but not necessarily encouraging us to recognize our faults before they can destroy us.

I hope this helps. Write a dark book.

>>2408989
Like Twilight?

>>2408989
Male, 19

I was about to write the same thing as she did.

Male, 24

I would love to see an American adaptation of Battle Royale. Maybe not a complete copy, but something inspired by the ideas of it. The great thing about it is that there are so many characters that the reader can latch onto one and follow them through the story. Everyone's happy... Except most everyone dies. Yay.

>>2408932
I don't like talking about those kinds of specifics. I'll make you a deal though. However, it's probably not one you'll like. Would r9k enjoy a start-to-finish author's book writing documentation? Using the advice I get from this thread, I'll start my next novel and keep everyone posted while I ferociously try to have it finished in the next three-ish months, so I can continue to live comfortably. In return for the free self-promotion in mid 2009 when it's on shelves, I'll also be completely up-front about how much I make on the book.

Thanks again for all your help, guys. I really do appreciate it. All your recommendations are being noted, no matter how ridiculous they may sound to other posters.

How about a plot where there's a big plot that seems pretty decent, but it moves like a sloth. Then there's a small "subplot" or two that slowly unravels, and doesn't actually seem to carry any significance until very late in the book.

Actually, start with the small subplot, abandon it for a larger one early in the book, then return to it later. Something negligible happened early on that the central protagonist completely ignored, but it comes back to bite him in the ass. Have both plots advance quickly and at the same time.

Oh yeah, 15/m/Wisconsin.

Male, 20.

Something realistic and slightly dystopic. Like a Scanner Darkly.

What type of books do you usually write?

Anyway, 18, female, and I like books about adventures and pirates. There's never enough pirate books on the market.

>>2409046

no offence but ... come on! fair enough don't talk money if it makes you uncomfortable but at least give someone a little advice on how you got along in your life, how you got where you were, how long it took to get published and everything? help a brother out

>>2409048

>Something negligible happened early on that the central protagonist completely ignored, but it comes back to bite him in the ass.

You got that idea from Earthworm Jim, didn't you?

>>2409020
No, never touched Twilight. I prefer reading GOOD books, thanks.

>>2409048
Books like that are either really fantastic or horrible because they're too slow.

>>2409048
Sorry I forgot to mention this: make sure that NOBODY WINS. Neither side of the conflict comes out on top. This kind of thing makes the reader slightly confused at the end, so they think about it until they get it (the best kind of book IMO).

>>2408989
"I like to read books that point out our faults and how they can be our downfall, but not necessarily encouraging us to recognize our faults before they can destroy us."

Thank you, that was exceptionally helpful. Noted with a plus next to it.

m/20
Involving, deep characters, whatever the specific sub-genre of fiction. Exploration of motivations and relationships between the characters. Yeah, it's common to most great works. If you can pull if off, it's a great skill to have as a writer. But let's see.

>>2409027
I love it


cocks

anyway while i'm here ...

p.s. good ending suck. everything getting perfectly wrapped up in a pretty bundle? bollocks.
i don't mean everyone should die horribly but at least some middle-ground. bitter-sweet is much more touching.

okay how's this for a book idea:

there's these vampires, right...except that THEY'RE VEGETARIANS!

OMG i just had another amazing idea: what if instead of burning in the sun, the vampires just ~sparkled~?!?!

i even have a great title: DUSK.

>>2409085
...No, that's stupid. I've never even played Earthworm Jim, or even know what the plot is (I had to skim through a synopsis on Wikipedia to know what the hell you're talking about).

>>2409138
WOW THATAS A GREATIDEA VAMPERS SHOULD ALWAYS SPARKLEY SPARKLEY

I want to read something slow but interesting about some guy rebuilding his life after something catastrophic, like a suicide or a crippling disease, only to find out that the people who loved him only loved him for what he was, before he realizes that the people he used to love were using him, and then he leaves town starts over somewhere else, to have his old life come back for him, and then goes back and tries to fix everything, only to fuck it up more and realize that he can never really leave because he's trapped there by his friends, or some shit.

Do it.

>>2409068

The demographics say space pirates. FUND IT.

Male 20,

Here are the list of novels that I've thoroughly enjoyed.

The Broker - John Grisham
Runaway Jury - John Grisham
The Pelican Brief - John Grisham

That's actually the list of fictional novels that I could think of so far. The kinds of books I mainly read are political philosophy essays (Strauss, Kristol, Plato), non-fictional books on the history of the computing technology and business (Dot Con, Start-Up), and other interesting non-fictional books.

To quote from the movie "Sideways." I never read fiction books, they're a waste of time. Reading stuff that somebody made up, waste of time.

On a sidenote, I suggest you watch "Sideways" which is an adaption of the novel of the same name. It's a great movie and the main character in the movie is an author that's going through life. I would actually read a book similar to Sideways. Actually, I might go ahead and check that book out tomorrow.

>>2409165
do it yourself IRL rather than fantasize about it =/

you will never be happy if you just live on like you do

Male
19

I've been thinking about how the world could end and then there would be survivors and how they would live and life would be like going around looting anything they needed because of course no one was alive to say anything otherwise.

>>2409110
Yeah, your idea isn't bad, but it usually does end that way. Sort of a, "we just got screwed over real bad, so now it's not even about the prize. we're happy to just friggin' end off where we started at this point."

Noted though, with a plus.

>>2409083
I forget the name of the book since I rented it from the library and never ended up buying it, but it's something like "Publishers List ___th Edition."

First you have to write and write and write. Then throw all of it out because it's garbage. Then pick something that speaks to you, and choose that for your book. Then you have to get a big publisher's contact list book and pretend you're broke and desperate (which wasn't hard for me to relate to at the time) and contact every name of the list you can think of. Although, please have a trusted friend or two read your story first. If it's not good or extremely unoriginal, then don't even waste your weeks or months of waiting for a single rejection letter.

>>2409068
This is one of the few topics that I will probably reject outright. PotC movies are still too ingrained in most minds, and they're done rather well, so I'm not even going to try and compete.

I prefer to choose my own adventure.

my reading list for the past few weeks includes Ian McEwan, Nabokov, Saramago, Smith.

McEwan: Good - honed prose, excellent characterisation, brutal, macabre plots, very clever and reflective and offers some reasonably profound insights into the way we think and make decisions. Bad - nothing.

Nabokov - unassailably win

Saramago - unique, lovely authorial voice, wonderful sweeping ideas and the intelligence to follow them to their interesting and weird conclusions, and also humanity and great compassion, and the ability to move stories from focussing on broad society to a singular, intense love story within a few pages.

Zadie Smith - pretty shit. painfully flat characterisation, terrible attempts at 'insights', especially when trying to characterise the opposite sex, obviously struggling to get away from autobiography, painfully conspicuous narrative voice that makes me want to reach through the pages and strangle her, terrible, awful, god-christ-all-fucking-mighty-bad dialogue. how this women wins acclaims I have no idea.

Does that help?

>>2409144
Oh please lord robot9000, ban this faggot.

Anyway, if you're not going to tell us specifically what books you've written, tell us what STYLE you've done. Because there's no way in hell that someone who has written only romance novels for 60 year old women can write a decent story for 90% of the stuff that we have in mind, and we'd rather you not try.

Not insinuating that you're writing romance novels, of course, but rather, just asking for your experience in each field.

18 year old female.

I took a Creative Writing class with the best teacher I've ever had this semester. I strongly suggest you look into Polti's 36 Dramatic Situations for reference and ideas. This is a website for them, but there is also a more detailed book available on Amazon.

http://www.gamedev.net/reference/articles/article255.asp

As for personal reads, I love satire. I love everything about satire. I would love to see satire injected into a graphic novel which manages not to border on kitschy. If you can do this, you get my full approval for whatever you do.

>>2409134

I agree, but a bit of advice: unhappy endings can win big awards, but they don't usually pay the bills. Most writers save those stories for after they've hit it big. That's why it's actually not enough to read an author's first book and then dismiss him or her. They might have just given in a posted a formulaic book to get the cash rolling to support the story they care more about. After all, would you rather have your best work be first and have a smaller audience reading? Or wait until you're well accomplished to have more people appreciate what you feel is your "best" work. It's definitely tricky, it just bugs me when people say they've read one book by an author and think it's enough to write them off.

On the flip side though, the majority of writers don't ever change their styles up, which is equally frustrating. It's one thing to stick to what you're good at, and another thing to admit your character and plot development skills only fit one area. I wish more writers would switch their genres up a bit.

Keep the suggestions coming, there's a lot of good ones so far. Any others interested in me documenting my book from start to finish?

>>2408832
Explain further please.

I'm not OP but was thinking of writing a book basically summarizing the differences men and women and how they conflict because of it.

Is that more of less what you wanted?

Elaborate.

>>2409320

Yes, I would be interested. How would you do this?

i would be interested in your "writer's diary" thing. r9k needs more threads like this imo.

22

Male

I like a book where an individual is made aware of a world that was right beneath them all along. Not necessarily "OH WOW WE'RE WIZARDS" but something with a fantasy lean isn't bad. Very "Alice in Wonderland", but dealing with philosophical notions about the absurd things the character witnesses. The character finds something new about themselves in light of this absurdity, something that doesn't come about when you're stuck in the routine. It's that little bit that has separated them from being alive and truly living.

In before Neil Gaiman. Maybe a little less absurd than that, but the same sensibilities. Not all book fly, but perhaps books on flight do. And it's an excellent way to travel.

18, m

Don't write a book, write a character, no, four characters, yeah, that's a good number, then put them in some fucking crazy shit scenario and elt the characters organically play out. The worst thing in books is when a characters are just plot devices, that's for niggers and kids, but not both, as nigger kids can't read.

>>2409320
very interested

21, Male

I like action and adventure in my books. This causes me to gravitate towards fantasy/sci-fi. Sometimes regular fiction in the real world can be interesting. For it to be so to me usually has to involve some outlandish and crazy situation. For example, a chair that grants the person sitting in it the ability to read minds.

As for something I would like to see, a fantasy novel or series that doesn't have a main character who is the chosen one with ridiculous powers. The genre's overrun with this shit.

>>2409412
great advice

>>2409165
Interesting. Noted with a plus. I wouldn't be able to relate to suicide though, so it'd have to be some other catastrophic event. Reminds me a little of Steve Carell's character from Little Miss Sunshine. It also makes me think of the movie "Reign Over Me." Great film.

>>2409199
Wise words. And yes, I have seen Sideways. Stories with a side character being more vivacious than the actual main character are always interesting, and I must admit, I can relate to them. I have complex thoughts, but not a complex life.

>>2409437
the concept of the hero still pays off tough

>>2408805
FUCK YEAR

blockin' teh mootz

>>2409112
Glad I could help.

Also, I'm interested in the writer's diary thing. Writing has always interested me greatly but I sort of do it on a whim rather than do anything with a deadline, which would probably not work out for a writer who wanted some steady income, like yourself.

Well, OP, if this actually goes down with /r9k/ helping with the book and deciding heavily the plot and storyline, you have my word I will purchase a copy. I won't even steal it if I find it in stores in my area.

I guess I like reading books with good characterization, that show how humans act and think (a bunch of psychology type of crap I guess), and anything like Johnny Got His Gun. Maybe a first person book with the main character slowly regressing into psychosis (the more drug use the better) but not with some lame ass ending where they come back and everything is all happy and normal again. 21/m/D.C.

i think you should write a vampire boook about EDWARD he is soooooooooooo sexy

>>2409392

I was thinking about you as I took a piss.

You know what else works out well with little investment. Clean up someone else's poorly told story. There was a thread in /co/ about a Doc Frankenstein comic where it details God as El-Shadai, Yahweh, and finally God.

I'm reading it and thinking "Now that you mention it, yea, those early Hebrew were goat farmers, so why wouldn't El-Shadai be a glorified hick?" Plus, the "tree tending" to "wood working" to "carpenter" translation for Jesus was a great twist. Stuff like that.

>>2409250
You know, I often wonder if one done in a large-scale, serious manner would work. I'm not joking, I think even adults could enjoy their whim, even if it does rob you of the feeling that there's one ideal and real ending that you long for as you read.

>>2409273
Sure does! "insights into the way we think and make decisions" This is definitely something I try to incorporate into my stories. Noted with a plus.

>>2409286
It is my belief that all good stories need a dab of romance, humor and mystery in them. My stories' settings usually end up defining them more than their genres. Have I done purely romance? No, although I do have one I wish to do later in life, because it's one of those unhappy endings stories that I talked about earlier, that would be a bad decision to publish at this point in my career.

>>2409462
Very true, but its still possible to have a clear hero without having them be "super powerful chosen one with prophecy heralding their coming and deeds." For some reference look at Conan or Chronicles of Amber.

>>2409313
Don't we all :) I've actually seen that site's list before, but thank you. Some people like to break it down to a list of just 16, others just 9, but they all serve beneficial purposes. I also agree with you about satire.

>>2409358
>>2409378
>>2409420
>>2409483

Good to hear. Would you mind telling me how to make one of those tripcode things? I realize they're unfashionable, but I wouldn't want someone posting garbage in my name to make me look bad. I'd rather make myself look bad myself!

21/M

Have you ever played No More Heroes? Well, I'd fucking love that in book format. By that I mean a little nonsensical comical social satire with fast paced action, colorful characters and lulwut plot twists. Seriously, the plot of No More Heroes is my favorite video game plot ever.

>>2409313

Also from what I understand, the commercial artist tends to be divided into 3 main sections:

1. Arch - Your classic, typical story. It involves an action, hero and resolution. It's associated with the Western world and tends to be a classic Hollywood story. Also tends to be the pinnacle when it comes to making money.

2. Art - Your "indie" story. The main character tends to be an anti-hero, and the plot is typically not resolved.

3. Ensemble - Purely character-driven (like Friends or most TV sitcoms). Tends to be low-budget.

What you're probably trying to aim for is a balance of all of these. A great example is Tarantino's first film "True Romance." It's mainly an art story with a classical bent, and it's ensemble-driven.

In the end, if you're really scrambling for stability, you can try referring back to the Writer's Market (although I'm sure you know about it) and writing articles for whatever catches your interest.

I don't like books where the author writes about things they clearly have little understanding off. Like talking about science and medicine when all they know is history of shipping or something. Facts facts facts. They don't have to be completely right technically but as long as they are not outlandishly false or pulled out the authors arse than that's ok.

18 male.

Please avoid the anticlimax.

An example: I was reading some novel, one of those modern-day terror thrillers, and there was this Palestinian assassin whose personal mission was to bring about a two-state solution, which he sought to accomplish by killing a ton of Palestinian leaders and pinning the blame on Israel. He stabbed an Iraqi general to death, blew up a room full of terror organization leaders, and sniped a diplomat in New York City, all the while this CIA guy was closing in on his tracks. In the end this assassin gets betrayed by his financier and unceremoniously executed. The CIA guy, who was expecting a showdown much like the reader, even felt disappointed.

I know that novels are supposed to be different from Hollywood in this regard, but you can still have a resolution without making it into a Die Hard style bloodbath helicopter chase scene or some shit. Even if the two of them had talked about it for a while I'd have been satisfied.

Thanks for reading and posting your advice, it's cool to see it from the view of a pro.

Need moar druggie stories ala "Trainspotting".

I'm not a professional writer but I occasionally write shit that people seem to like. I don't know how much my advice should be worth but I'm a fag so I'll give you my advice anyway. I think a writer should focus on telling himself the following very often

>Is this something that somebody would want to keep reading? Would he put the book down right now?

It is often tempting to write something without double-checking if it's a good read. We feel it's important for the story, we feel it *should* be there, but it's actually boring. We refuse to acknowledge once it's written that it's not worth reading. I think it's better to punch yourself in the dick and change it. For example you want to depict a character falling into a depressed mood. You write a chapter about him feeling bad about various issues which bother him. NO! Punch yourself in the dick! Delete it and write a short cocky anecdote that shows he's depressed. It gets to the point in a more efficient manner. It grabs attention. The glue that makes your story stick together has to be of the highest quality. Even the shittiest plot can be a good read if it's written with that idea in mind.

>>2409608
http://www.4chan.org/faq#trip

>>2409619
That is actually something I tackled in my last book. Instead of just writing what I knew, I did some research and fact checking for something more ambitious. Was fun and fulfilling, but also time consuming and tedious.

>>2409651
I've considered it. People have been wanting another Trainspotting and Requiem for a Dream for awhile now. There's definitely demand for it since A Million Little Pieces fell on its face so abruptly. Not a topic I know much about, but I'll consider it.

I read The Perks of Being a Wallflower not too long ago and I was really moved by it. Just like everyone else, I also loved The Catcher in the Rye. Anything that peers into some of darker parts of growing up (say the main character is depressed or an emotional genius.)

15/m - I needs me a growan up book ;~;

>>2409644
When it comes to action stories, I write anything but anticlimaxes. I'm much more of the "die hard blood bath ending" over the top ending kind of writer when it comes to action plots, but I don't dabble in that genre often.

so many underageb&s make anon sad

19, male.

HARDBOILED PULP ACTION IN THE FAR FUTURE.

Write a book about us. What, it hasn't been done before? Damn right it hasn't.

If you can't write a book about us, then just quit.

What I would do is come here daily, and just record what happens, talk about the extravagant conversations, the general hatred toward everything, the indiscriminate racism. Write a book about humanity, about people, about us.

Write a book about us, and the book will write itself.

>>2409711
It's people like this that should be banned.

>>2409561

In the name field, type Sigh, then, with no space separating the two, a #, the a password. The end result will look like this:
Sigh#yourpassword
then when you post:
Sigh02750fgdfiusrg

22, female

I enjoy heavily character-driven works with either philosophical/psychological or fantasy elements. I like it when the author has something to say. I read books hoping the author leaves me with something to think about. I think that this is most important. I dislike mindless things.

19/penis

I want a story about a boy who becomes a girl(through magic, or whatever), it seems simple, but there are so many directions you could take with that.

20 male

scifi book about some cult and their actual god powers

think of the fountain, but more of a dont give a fuck attitude.
think of a bunch of kids traveling through multiple dimensions doing crazy drugs, fucking with alternate time lines, and getting lost in their minds.

also: use the original myst book for reference.

tl;dr: crazy interdimensional travel, drugs, sex, violence, ffVII and the original myst book.

>>2409697
Thank you. Well, keep suggestion ideas. I'm going to get a snack and then I'll be back. I'll continue to document the book making process from start to finish. Glad to see some are interested, we need more young writers out there.

>>2409323
Hi, >>2408832 here.
I think making conflict the primary focus would be a good idea to get more people to want to read it (everyone loves a good battle of the sexes), but I want to read something compelling about why traditional gender roles are actually GOOD and should be used to humanity's advantage instead of spat on (feminism etc.)
Something that includes the benefits it could have on the economy (the sex trade, for instance.) and why/how the roles work even after thousands of years.
Basically, I'm sick of everything in the bookstore screaming FEMINISM FEMINISM EMPOWERMENT, because empowerment can result from embracing one's natural place rather than battling it.

Sorry; didn't mean to shit out a textwall.

>>2409788
go read "Time Enough For Love", then, by Robert A Heinlein

rich old guy in the future doesn't want to die, so arranges to get brain transplanted. His female secretary meets an untimely brain death with a salvageable body.

>>2409792
here. Forgot to mention that I would fucking love some Heinlein-level philosophical shit along with it.

19/M

I like weirdness in books. Not to the extent of being fantasy, more like magical realism. I like shock content, even if it's for its own sake. A lot of my friends are the same way. I like plot-driven novels, a lot of stuff has way too much dialog and pointless description it just feels like the author is jacking off onto my face. Extensive 1st person narrative stuff can be okay as long as it is interspersed with things actually happening.

I like existential or otherwise philosophical themes when they're actually expressed through the plot and characters' actions. I like characters who are "outsiders", in the sense that Ligotti described in that one essay. I don't like books as monotonous as this list.

Anyway, I don't read that many novels, probably about 1.5/month. More of a math/science type of person. Actually, I really like mad scientist type characters, but they don't appear much other than as boring cliches. Doing something new with them would be awesome.

>>2409711

Your unbearable lameness sadens me. When I was 15 I had to read that crap. I hated it's "give-up" style. The only advice you need for growing is this: Lie, cheat and steal whenever you can get away with it and use drugs responsibly and wisely.

If you do that, you should get through life easy.

19, female.

I'm a sucker for humor and I'm sick of the pussyfooting females that wallow around passively. Not calling for a female main character, just, you know, not..dumb females.

>>2408832
>no vampires.

And this.

I think that's all I got.

>>2409771
Noted, thank you.

>>2409788
Unless it happened to be for a small scene within the book, such as the scene where Huck tries to pretend to be a girl in Huckleberry Finn, then no thanks. Not something I'm interested, nor is any Freaky Friday body swap combination of ideas.

19, M

I'd like to read something new in Science Fiction. Something that doesn't get lost in all the fuckin technobabble and tries to do a real examination of the human nature, but seem from a different perspective, seeing from the point of view from someone with totally different experiences than your average normal person.

Oh. And awesome fights. Everything is better with awesome fights.

19, male.

You do Science Fiction?

Write a book about a grup of survivors of a nuclear holocaust. Make sure it's remotely realistic.
They continuously figure out the cause of he war, and at the end they figure out who caused the war that killed earth.

This is an excellent thread . . . I'm very interested in writing in the future, and this is very informative. Thanks anon. Goodluck, OP.

>>2409862
"Time Enough for Love" by Heinlein already did the full scale novel of that idea anyhow, and it was an OK book, but Heinlein is a much more awesome writer than you are (no offense), so you probably couldn't make it work out better than he did anyhow.

>>2409866
go read Stranger in a Strange Land

>>2409795
Actually, I've considered something similar to that before. Not the druggy edge to it, but the higher dimensional lifestyles of adolescent other worldly beings. It'd be interesting, but damn hard to write and make interesting for great lengths. I haven't ruled it out, but I won't have enough time to develop it any time soon.

>>2409823
The book I have in mind for my this current project is right up your alley of interests. If I go through with it, it will be my first science fiction novel. While the setting would undoubtedly be cliche, it would definitely not contain your typical topics. The ideas I have for it mesh with some of your suggestions already. Keep 'em coming!

requesting a cross between snow crash and altered carbon.

if you dont know those two books, then GTFO

23/m

I love reading about people with personality disorders. LOVE. Not suggesting you include one, just thought you'd like my input.

Characters with quirks are always fun as long as it's not shoved in your face.

>>2409860
Couldn't agree more. Whatever I end up writing, it will invariably have a female character along these lines. Instead of the weak and submissive woman character who has moments of outspoken clarity and dominance, I prefer the women characters who are inherently strong and hard shelled, but have moments of weakness to make them feel more real and relatable. It helps to make the romance in the story feel more exciting and real, since it causes both characters to change who they are for one another.

>>2409896
Fallout 3 much lately? :)

>>2409866
Mind elaborating slightly? On both more of what you prefer and also that which you despise?

Tony?

Anyway, 20, female

I like Lovecraftian tales with a dash of Jane Austen.

23, Male

Hi, I'm an English major in a large university. The books that I enjoy reading the most are not fantasy, or sci-fi. I enjoy books that are down to earth and speak to the nature of the human condition. I would suggest, for this purpose, a book replicating the realism of Charles Dickens without all that fancy crap. I do think a novel where the main character feels a sense of anomie in a society where individuality is either over-expressed, or undermined would make a great book. Something along the lines of 1984, but not the police state. Though it might be telling of the future, I'd like to read a book about the present.

Another good idea might be writing about the evolution of technology. I think there are a lot of different places you could go with that. Body modification has us putting LCD screens in our genitalia and demon horns coming out of our foreheads. What's next? A flash drive in our thigh? These things are not happening (I don't think) but they're readily available. They're working on technology to help blind people see. In 10 years they will adapt a new MMO to it I'm sure.

>>2409911
stranger in a strange land is shit and simply an opportunity for heinlein to spout his polygamy ideal society martian jesus bullshit and self insert into orgies

the actual aspect of "completely alien creature dealing with earth" is barely explored.

>>2410074

How about a character who is... not abnormal in any real way, but struggles with his normality through the company he keeps. He hangs out with punks or druggies and changes out of his suit and into a leather jacket. Set in some metropolis obviously. The dialogue could be genuine. Something that people actually say. I don't want to read, "Yo mang, joo spahkin dat shit ah what yo?" but I would like to read something down to Earth. Try building the setting with companies capitalizing on the youth of today. One company takes over another, monopoly laws get broken and people are so desperate for change in class structure that riots break out. Part of the book could be the destruction of the monetary system and the reliance on old technology now that there's no batteries for our dick-LED's. Companies up and leave America and it returns to a 3rd world country where bartering is our only trade. We no longer have exports except by land, and the rest of the world fights amongst themselves in an attempt to control the American Waste Land.
I'd like to see it eventually. I was going to write it myself :P but then I wouldn't want to read it :).

Enjoy!

>>2409849
It's not that I need it; it's just I like it. I'm fine emotionally but when it comes to books I'm a faggot and I want something that potentially makes me cry.

Also, fuck year drugs. I've smoked weed, LOLO I'M COOL NOW HUH GUYS!?

>>2410053
Jane Austen?!
Enjoy your passive voice.

>>2409911
Ah! See? A great writer can tackle any topic in any genre. That's why I wish more authors would broaden their horizons. I don't claim to be a better writer than most household names. I do claim to have a better imagination than most people, but transfering ideas into words is never as easy as you hope, so I would imagine that most authors feel that their ideas are more profound than their writings as well. I've read one of his works, I'll try some others.

>>2409993
People often say Winnie the Pooh is made around that very concept, and it's easy to see to some extent. I would also like to see a story run with that idea to a larger scale with more adult themes that could appeal to a larger audience. That topic would also include lots of research as well though. Noted with a plus. Will consider.

Crazy things happen but not really. Samuel Beckett, Tao Lin. Absurdity.

>>2410115
Ooh, I do love Beckett.

23 m,

I like books about dads who lose their new york apartment but still take care of their son on the street as they look for a new job. And by books I mean movies.

19, female

This might be a little too avant-garde for your tastes, but how about a novel written entirely in dialogue? I'm not talking about Heart of Darkness where it's mostly a guy telling a story to bored listeners but a fully engaging talk between two people who don't know each other but are intensely lonely. They pretend to be interested in one another to the point of being facetious because they are physically attracted to one another but slowly because of their trust that the other is interested in them as a person they start revealing more and more of themselves, things better left unsaid. Could lead to a violent ending, but like you said before, sad endings are award winners but don't produce much cash. They could both walk away from one another, unchanged by the conversation. Or a new direction. They could fall in love, have sex. You name it.

It's an idea I've had for awhile, maybe some people here could use it, not just you. Not sure this is exactly what you're looking for.

>>2410078
fine then, go for this other book I read about some paralyzed dude getting transferred to the body of a native of Jupiter. Forgot the name of book and author, it has a yellow cover though. Something about manta-ray maybe?

>>2410074
"I enjoy books that are down to earth and speak to the nature of the human condition."

I believe all books should strive to do that, regardless of their genre. I'll just say Animal Farm and leave it at that. As for your second paragraph, one of my other story ideas is very similar to that, but it's also the opposite in some ways. A grim but trendy upbeat future where instead of a police state, America grows more apathetic and lax, and sees an uprising in gangs once again. Where the gangs welcome the fast moving technology in open arms to always keep them one step ahead of the law by obtaining their needs through their black market ties. The other main focus is the merging of technology and fashion. This wasn't the one I was going to go with this time though . . . any others interested in this specific topic?

Or would you prefer an action space mystery elsewhere in our solar system in the future. That's what I was considering for my first science fiction novel, but I'm still not set on anything. I'm also wary to pick it at all because of how close to cliche it sounds, but a one paragraph plot description for the back cover would put all your worries to rest, it's pretty original.

I'll save picking a topic for another thread on another night though. The purpose of this thread is only to collect research data. Great incite so far, keep it coming!

16
Male
Do some altrenate history
like if hitler won WWII
or if the south won the civil war
something like that except dont use those they have already been done

>>2410200
And then, it's revealed... It's actually a man having a conversation with himself!!

What, too Fight Club?

18, female.

Write about the downfall of a fictional nation due to corporate greed and government incompetence. Have the background be sometime in the future. Not far enough to be unbelievable, but far enough not to parallel real life.

I'm willing to bet that a lot of people will be interested next year.

Also, if it's not vampire bullshit, I'll buy it. Promise.

I hope after all this, Sigh doesn't turn out to be Dan Brown. I'd be seriously disappointed in r9k if they were responsible for him writing another book

i want to read a book about a self sabotage female who pretends to hate everyone because really she cares about them but can't show it and in the end she kills herself.

yes. go now.

23, Male.

A film-noir inspired mystery in a sci-fi setting with a dry sense of humor.

>>2410244
do you mean insight? are you really an author?

Please spam /r9k/ when your book is published so I can check it out.

I'm 18/m/PA.

I'm looking to get into the authoring business at some time, and I want to tell you: whatever you write, make sure it makes people think or has a point. This is why I hate Twilight or Harry Potter or any other stupid book series; they don't make you think at all. That is all.

20, male.

A decent fantasy novel. I've been trying to find one not written by George R. R. Martin and failing.

>>2410267
oh, you mean Asimov's Foundation series?

>>2410200
Interesting. I'm assuming there's already half a dozen anime soap operas that have already done it well though?

As for dialogue -- keep in mind that some books you read that have bad dialogue, are bad because it's not as easy as you'd think to write spoken words at great length. There's no excuse for it if an author has a few books under their belt, but again, cut new writers on the market some slack and give at their second book a try as well.

>>2410246
%100 no. Sorry, but back when I was in college I heard this plot pitched more times than I fell asleep in class, which was a lot. Not only that, but the idea itself would require so much research that it's mind boggling. I just don't have the time or interest. Remember people, three months is all I really have to work with.

>>2410078
If i do anything with aliens at all, it won't be the harsh duality of two tribes of existence that do not understand each other but go to war anyways. I don't have much desire for an alien plot at this time though.

OP, I would be genuinely interested in reading a book that didn't follow Campbell's monomyth. If you could find a way to make it work, do so.

>>2410336
>>2410267
Hahaha, thanks for all the preemptive support guys! Really, I appreciate it. Your thinking is spot on, you'd make a good agent if you can read fast and like to pester people. :)

>>2410288
Quick! Suggest a book for me to rip-off! ;) He was still very entertaining, people harp on him too much. There's better well-accepted pieces of work to complain about.


>>2410377
Then just reread them in anticipation of their HBO debut.

I want to read an erotic fantasy book full of faeries, crossdressers and bisexual action.

Oh and saving the kingdom from collapse or something.

>>2410379

Haven't read.

As a start does it lay out the effects of central bank manipulation and the transfer of wealth/flow of assets that occurs beneath the surface?

I don't think I've seen a book that accurately describes the technicals in a way people would understand.

Please archive this thread, I have to go to sleep now.

Also I would be interested by the "start-to-finish" thing.

Thanks again for all the advice. I'm glad I started this thread, it helped me gather a lot of different opinions from different directions. Since a few of you are interested, I'll try to post around the same time each night when I have something worth posting. See you all tomorrow.

>>2409939

not really.
just add magick shit in it.
imagine twilight + battle royale + hyperdimensional lifestyles of the young and priveledged.

its got legs, dude.

just make sure there is interdimensional violence.

27/M/West coast US

I LOVE alternate history. Especially when it's well researched, eg: Harry Turtledove. I also really enjoy S.M. Stirling's "Dies the Fire" series, even if he does seem to jerk off to Paganism and the SCA a bit much.

>>2410779
Welcome to a few years ago. My suggestion, don't be so obvious because in a way this is a personal army request to profit. Certain people get pissed off by this and to make your name known makes it that much worse. Just a little history lesson not just from this site but from others I've helped rape over the course of the history of the series of tubes.

22, Male

Honestly I go back and forth between what I enjoy. Overall, though, I enjoy something that has a fairly simple concept or story that's played out really well. I find it allows the characters and settings to develop a bit better.

I like books that focus mostly on the world they are set in.

Tbh I have a hard time finding any good ones. :S

>>2408792
>>2408818
19, male. I'd like to read something dealing with emotional issues other than romance. As a big fan of "Welcome to the NHK", I haven't come across many other works of fiction that deal with the issues of social isolation and loneliness so effectively. I'm not really looking for a "western NHK" as I don't think the issues the series deals with apply exclusively to Japan in the first place. I'm looking for a character I can identify with as a lonely nerd.

19. Male.

One thing I've tend to notice is books that start with 'the', 'he/she', 'it' etc. are boring shit (I'M LOOKING AT YOU DAN BROWN). One thing I've been told in my Creative Writing class is never be afraid to go against the grain - shit on the grain and then insult its mother by all means.

As for a story, gonna whack something off of the top of my head:

Typical lone wolf/recluse type kid (but not fat/obese/glass wearing kid), more like a Solid Snake type of character without the METAL GEAR. He's in his teens, goes to college etc., isn't bad looking, even had girls show interest in him, but he continually shuns everyone to be by himself (in a non Capitalist sort of way though). Something should happen to him (you decide what) and he somehow becomes a reluctant hero saving his community from something.

I'd love to read that.

ok so imagine this, there is a species of tiger and a species of tree seperated by a contenent...

all text thread C-C-C-C-C-COMBOBREAKER

18, male, steampunk or closely related setting

make it about an inventor

20 M

Character development and being able to create a setting so vividly it doesn't take me any effort to see it in my mind. My favorite book of all time is The Stand by Stephen King. I don't know what specifically (in terms of writing) he did, but whatever it was it engrossed me entirely in it's world for all of its 1000+ pages

Id love to read a good "thinking book" if you know what i mean. like catcher in the rye or of mice and men. somthing that just keeps you up at night, all authors today are concerned about are emofags(twilight) and tv movie rights. we need somthing truly introspective and thought provoking

18, male

STEAMPUNK *Cough.*

Okay, in all seriousness, I am a lover of romance with incredible circumstances. Time travel, too. Time Traveler's Wife was a great book.

Try this: Time traveler goes back in time to secretly warn humanity of its coming destruction without fucking everything up too badly, falls in love with a girl in the past, and is forced to choose the love of his life or the future of humanity.

If that's not already a plot of something...well, steal it all you like.

>>2413898
That's like Sherminator's pickup line.

Fuck you and your steampunk. If you're looking to target "today's audience", I'm sure you'll find that 75% don't even know what steampunk is. 4chan is a clusterfuck of slightly smarter than average shut-ins with niche interests.

But as for what I love in a book:

1. Personally I love a good post-apocalyptic story. I think with the economy going how it is and the success of movies like Cloverfield and games like Fallout 3, it's not a bad time to reinvent the wheel with this genre.

2. Deep character detail. Think Hannibal Lecter. He was a fascinating character even before Hannibal Rising, but adding that backstory about his sister Mischa added that much more depth to him. Instead of saying "Hannibal kills and eats his victims in a refined way because it's his way of getting back at the killers that ate his sister, but doing it in a refined way to show them that he's the better man", you have to make that cognitive leap. Having your hand held through a story sucks.

3. Non-linear plot progression. I like stories that jump around a lot, but do it seamlessly enough to make it easy to follow. Easy way to break up the monotony of cause and effect all the way to the end of the book.

My two cents.

>>2413953
Get out of my mind!

In all srsns, kill main characters, I love a good BAWWW, but only after you make them loveable. But don't kill as many as George R.R. Martin, he just went crazay.

>>2408744
Reiterating what has been said before, a story like >>2413572 would be perfect for you. You could start with a miserable mess of a character, and go on to mold him into whatever you want by the end.

Oh, and 4chan would supply you with a abundance of NEETs and ronery shut-ins that would be more than glad to help.

I like books that have no plot or direction. I don't like reading about the same character for an entire book. I like things to be described as they are in life-- without a true beginning or end. Tell me about your characters, show me an important part of their life, then leave them and go somewhere else.

I like worst case scenario's if they are original, secondly i like a little psychology in books, not the serious weepy kind but logical paths people can follow to weird/unorthodox moves.
And unless your plot is 100% airtight it will need some humor to patch it up, a correct dosage of quality wittynes is always win.

I'm sure you know that forcing writing doesnt work, you really need inspiration and brainstorm moments that work out or you are doomed to a few mediocre books that are boring to write followed by getting fired, never getting work published again because your name is ruined and working at wallmart for the rest of your life.

(tip: use drugs and alcohol, then check for errors and incoherentness the next day)

I'm a 23 year old male, and am most interested in cyberpunk. I yearn for more futuristic settings in which technology has advanced faster than humanity can govern it. Characters struggle with moral dilemmas arising from transhumanism, cloning, and a general dystopia of a future. I most enjoy imagining a few powerful corporations taking over land masses for themselves, toppling the old world governments and enforcing their own laws with private armies.

TL;DR give me some more William Gibson.

>>2408744

>Would you kindly

You guys fell for his subtle trap. I'm ashamed of you, 4chan.

18 / f

- i like magic with a darker twist. Something like Holly Black's Tithe series (kids getting addicted to faerie dust, using magic to steal and have sex with random people in a drugged up haze)

- some steam please. Not like "he grabbed her lucious titties" omg gross no one cares. But seductive writing or careful sexuality maybe once or twice in the whole book. I hate it when the main char is supposed to have a boyfriend / girlfriend and they act like NUNS the whole time.

i'll probably think of more later, and I wanna hear about your process.

I'm a 19 year old male. I enjoy stories which feature characters I can relate to. Like the egoism of Patrick Bateman in American Psycho (when he is fucking the two prostitutes and he is posing in front of the mirror self-satisfied, that scene is priceless).

>>2414131

Sex in novels is so boring and pointless.

>>2414155
I enjoy the part where he forces a staving mutant rat to eat a woman's vagina.

no moralising. just character collision and the results that arise.

historical awareness. towns, cities, instiutions and states do not arise without a reason or without a context.

failure to do either of these things leads to implausibility and the failure to suspend disbelief.

good prose. you're there to tell a story, not impress people with your verbosity and vocabulary.

if you were a writer, you'd no all these things.

28, male.

No matter where your book takes place, make sure it has a rich backstory. I love a good backstory, and even if you don't use every single detail of your backstory, it gives a book a heft and weight when you can tell that the author took the time to craft a well-made world.

Please, please, DO NOT do that thing where all your characters talk like you do. I mean like in Kevin Smith movies, where you can totally tell that he just came up with these awesome analyses of social situations that he probably stroked his ego to in his bed at night, when he couldn't sleep and he came up with it, and then he just wrote the whole thing into his movie and completely ignored the personalities of the characters that were saying it. Don't do that. Please. You're not Robert Heinlein, so you really can't get away with that shit, he was genius enough to make his crazy social ideas interesting, but NO ONE ELSE IS.

Ignore those above things if the main focus of your story is a symbolic, metaphorical journey, like a myth or a fable. But don't be too pretentious if you do this. If you write one of these it's actually better to have a sense of the unknown pervading the characters and surroundings, like in a dream.

That's all I can think of right now.

>>2414169
Well in actual fact, rats don't find human meat tasty./

Go read Catch-22.

Come back.

Cry because neither you, nor anyone else, will ever write anything even a quater as amazing as that book.

Try anyway.

21 male
Don't read paper books. Make sure you use a multitude of media. Maybe make like an interactive book using digital technologies. w8 wat shit sux

>>2414035
CALVINO ANYONE?

Male 21, write a faustian novel. Pact with the devil, yaddayadda.

Hey guys, I'm back. Good to see the thread still alive and healthy.

>>2413953
I agree with your views on the desire for another big post-apocalyptic story, although I think whoever steps up to the bat next will first need to start the story in a "mid-apocalyptic" manner that paints the picture of the actual downfall.

As for non-linear storytelling, that's something I enjoy doing. Noted with a plus.

>>2413999
Agreed.

>>2414021
Tempting. I've considered it, but not to the point of choosing an exact setting and direction to go with. I have a few ideas for how I would like to set it up, but I don't think they'd be accepted well by most readers. I wouldn't want to use a setup I'm not comfortable with just to appease the larger audiences. Not sure about this one yet.

19, M, I judge the quality of a book on the depth of its subtext.

I'm a horribley needy and whiney consumer, but here goes.
Age: 18 enough
Gender: Male
I'd like to see some originality, and when a female character does well nowadays it seems almost patronising as if it could only happen in fiction, I don't know how you could balance that out, but I'm no writer. I want a story with sex, I'm not talking a scat scene half way through, but when an author ignores sex altogether it feels un-natural. Characters don't have to quiver in each others love muffns all the tinme either, if it fits with the story it should be there. I want to read a book that seems like it was fun to write.

No more of this Narnia fetches the ring from harry potter's zelda copy.

ITT: we do a writers job for him/her

>>2414035
That's an intriguing point of view. Usually slice-of-life stories that use erratic plot and directions only do well when the characters are vibrant. Stripping out the characters at random times as well might be a death sentence for that story. I'll think on it though. Noted.

>>2414043
I'll pass on the drugs, but bring on the alcohol! Coffee is definitely a writer's best friend, but alcohol isn't without its merits. Just as it can facilitate dialogue in real life situations, it is often also a big help in writing dialogue for scenes that just aren't playing out the way you'd like on paper.

As for your worst case scenario affinity, that's the backbone of one of my secret projects, that I probably will be too frugal and over critical with to publish until much later in life.

Also, what you mentioned about writing is true, but I think it omits what's most important. I think everyone should write, no matter what their circumstances. Writing should not be about reaching the masses and being highly acclaimed and heavily wealthy. In my opinion, storytelling is entirely about the relationship between the reader and the writer. If what you write reaches just one person in a way that sticks with that reader for their entire life, then you've succeeded. I don't think that goal is too hard for most people to meet, which is why I'm surprised more people out there don't want to be writers.

Speaking of coffee, I'm going to get some tea. I'll be back to read what everyone else wrote in a short while, I can't thank you all enough for your helpful input.

>>2408744

M, 18.

I don't know if OP is still active, but I really like depth of character roles in novels and stories. For instance, when the you question the validity of the protagonists quest, or feel sorry for the antagonist. (If anyone has read the Epic of Gilgamesh, this is what makes it so awesome, when the kill the forest-guardian etc...)

25/f

Anything with good, detailed character development. I want to get inside the head of character and be exposed to new insights and perspectives. Lolita comes to mind as an example, but only because it's the most recent fiction novel that I've read that satisfies this desire.

I've also been reading a lot of biographies lately for the same reason.

>>2414066
The book I'm currently considering -- my first science fiction piece -- is partially similar to the latter half of your interests. I must say though, I'm almost afraid to choose a science fiction or cyber punk story for this project due to all of your input. It seems like most of r9k is biased towards those genres, and would be too lenient on whatever I might write in those areas. Or maybe you all would be overly critical with high expectations?

>>2414097
I'm glad someone finally noticed :) It wasn't unintentional. That single premise of the game, with its twist on the player's role in games, was one of the more applause-worthy ideas of the last few years.

>>2414131
Funny you should mention that. While I do not have a story in my back pocket that fits these descriptions, a friend does. I wish he wasn't so lazy and would write it already, he'd have to try hard to not make it a page turner.

When it comes to sex in stories, I usually draw a line in the sand. If it's even remotely a story for children, then I keep the heat out of my book. If it isn't, then there has to be a romance, whether it be the main focus, a subplot, or even just a means for transition. I usually include sex, although you shouldn't underestimate the power that "blue balls" have on the male reader audiences :) A seductive girl can tease the reader for a long time, you just have to make sure to deliver in the end.

Science fiction is a good genre, but it's hard to write something that hasn't been overdone. Same with fantasy.

In this case, it might be better to blend it with more real-world aspects, or alternate universes instead of the future. I don't mean alternate universes like revisionist history, but something along the lines of the Golden Compass where technology is still based on our physical laws, but it progressed differently through the ages.

Depending on how outlandish you want to be, you could make your characters really out there and crazy, like the ones in Snow Crash, or more realistic and believable. People tend to think more of "awesome" characters, so long as you give them a sense of humour, at least.

>>2414252
That's exactly the type of response I was looking for in this thread, thank you. Noted.

>>2415111
The project I'm considering doesn't flip all the rules on its head, but it does have a twist on conventional storytelling through books. There's no scratch-n-sniff stickers or pop-up pictures, and I'm not trying to be a Shyamalan, but I think my outside of the box concept will work well.

>>2417998
I've heard several similar opinions to your views on female characters at various cocktail parties, but none quite the way you put it. Noted. Also, "if it fits with the story it should be there" and "I want to read a book that seems like it was fun to write." -- I couldn't agree more. Thanks for the suggestions. Noted with a plus.

i got high and started thinking about the concept of death. the absoluteness and the fact that i wont be able to experience everything around me worries me, but the fact that death is inevitable mortifies me even greater.

how about a story about a person who is about to die (cause of death can be anything) and their thoughts and actions during their last days/weeks/months. e.g. they chose to reconcile with certain people or choices they have made throughout their lives or something like that. add some deep psychological insight about the concept of death.

>>2418004
By all means, if you have ideas you feel strongly about, I urge you to write them. That goes for all of the people reading. As I said earlier, I wish more people would write. I think publishing a book is something most people should strive to do before they die. Everyone has at least one thing they feel strongly about in life, usually far more, so why not document your thoughts and share them with the world to be remembered after you're gone? I'm not kidding. I urge all of you to write books.

>>2418089
Oh wow, I haven't read the Gilgamesh story in years. It's amazing how instinctive it is and always has been for humanity to tell stories. As for your suggestions, stories where the readers feel sorry for the antagonist is something I've given a lot of thought to in the past. Something I plan on exploring in one of my stories down the line is the concept of an antagonist continually suffering the consequences of someone else's actions.

19, m
I'd like a book with an identifiable male protagonist, who is average but smart and somewhat emotional (not boohoo sensitive, just, has emotions), a romantic, you know? And he should have some existential angst. And maybe some unrequited love with a really good female character, "good" as in, returning it but having some other obstacle, or maybe something to have happened where she stopped returning it. but they'd be a pretty good match. cousins is always nice.

please write this, OP.

>>2408766

OMG, she died? Fuck... fuck :(

Peter Rabbit in space

>>2418113
I feel like you have more suggestions to offer. Do you mind elaborating on what kind of character developments you have and haven't enjoyed in the past?

Also, how do you like characters to develop the most? Slow and steady changes? Fast and drastic ones? Do you prefer them making their own choices to define who they are? Or do you like it better when events beyond their control force them to make choices they normally wouldn't?

>>2418311
Yep, there's definitely a reward of a steady and dedicated readership to that genre, at the risk of being drowned out by the competition.

My contemplation of science fiction is mainly because, for the first time, I'm considering the idea of writing a book with my main intention for it being to have it turned into a movie or even videogame. The gaming industry is only growing larger despite the struggling economy, and since I'm already in a "go big or go home" situation where all or nothing is being required of me, I figure I might as well try to reach outside my comfort zone for the biggest profits possible.

>>2418648
Actually dang since you are an author I will serious post.

19/M
I actually really, really, really avoid science fiction. It always takes itself way too seriously. I'm intelligent but I'm not a self-indulgent prat so I don't like pages of made up physics, and I always find it obnoxious when they're all about these cool, weathered space assassins and whatever else. You've said you're going for mainstream sci fi, dunno what that entails, but 99% of the time I don't care for it.

I like books that are metaphors for historical events (and not ones that take them too seriously like you'd be brilliant for recognizing the allegory -- Animal Farm is very obviously about the USSR), I recently read The Plague and it's one of my favorite books now. The atmosphere in books like Catcher in the Rye and Seize the Day, mundane day in the life where it isn't TOO mundane so as to be entirely boring but not so exciting that it would never actually happen, I enjoy.

This might even get taught English classes, but narrative style can be more appealing to me than the plot itself. House of Leaves was fun to read -- and I'm thinking about the essay format rather than the more absurd narrative nonsense it did, as was anything by Vonnegut.

write some sci-fi that's like farscape

>>2418389
Well, the problem with writing about death is that it's a frequently visited topic for story themes throughout history. Obviously it's something everyone inevitably thinks about. To focus solely on it, without even having much knowledge of other examples off the top of my head, I'm certain that I'd simply be rehashing someone's thoughts on death from decades or centuries ago.

For those same reasons, yes, a death theme can also intrigue just about any reader, but I would prefer to have this sort of thing be a subplot more than anything else. That being said, I do have a book about death, it was one of the first stories I ever wrote, but I've written myself into a corner with it and haven't gone back to salvage it ever since. Part of it was that I wasn't talented enough back then to organize a whole novel, but even now I'm not sure there's enough meat on its bones to turn into a full book. I'd have to do heavy revamping and it's something I just don't want to deal with for this project.

>>2418505
Since most box office stories -- even the comedy ones -- about existentialism don't get received well, I'd prefer to avoid it.

I'm 16, male. For the love of God please write something along the lines of Douglas Adam's work. If you can't write in the manner he does, then perhaps Orson Scott Card will suit you better, he's another great author (Ender's Game = Brilliant).

Besides those two specific authors, I enjoy a book with questions into morality while questioning social norms like your typical teenaged faggot.

Mark Danielewski's "House of Leaves" was also one of the better books I've read.

A variation upon NASA/TREK, like USA/Disney or /b//Yahoo- mmm.

& of course your books are "not very good" - good books do not come from writing to target audiences.


20/m/straight/usa.

22/m
I like a story. So tell a story. Don't give me a hook, don't give me a lot of development, if you have to make it so many pages just give more detail in the story, but tell it how it is.

>>2418747
Hahaha. Well, a few of the things you said hit home with me. Your gripes with science fiction, that "It always takes itself way too seriously" is literally taking the words out of my mouth from a few weeks ago. I was going to reply that I felt the need to draw a fine line with where I planned to take my story, but you took the words right out of my mouth once again with this: "mundane day in the life where it isn't TOO mundane so as to be entirely boring but not so exciting that it would never actually happen." That was the exact route I had planned on going about this project.

For what it's worth, I think you might really enjoy my story if I can pull it off in the way I'm hoping. Although, I'm still not set on anything yet, I'm just heavily leaning in that direction. Perhaps later tonight I will start a new thread with a checklist of genres asking everyone what types of stories they love to read the most, to help me in making my decision. This thread is growing long and a bit tedious.

Again though, thanks so much for everyone's input. I've got a notepad full of your suggestions now.

>>2418882
*rarely come from

Write books that have refrences to other semi-known works and authors in it. Maybe jokes that only people who read said works would get, or a meaningful saying one of the characters in your books iterates. It will add depth to your story and make the reader feel smart for knowing it.

Make the story "ficiton", but plausable. Like a tom sawyer or huckleberry finn. Not like those content or humor-wise, just saying no sci fi shit that only fags will want or fantasy bull shit that only CS Lewis can pull off and get paid. Make it real, make it deep, make it have a direct point or moral. Maybe something about the downfall of America's culture and intelligence from 1900-2000, but make the story focus on a characters life, experiences, etc.

A good book that comes to mind is "In God we trust, all others pay cash" Make it like that.

>>2419023
20/m/usa*

Forgot that shit.

18/f.

There really aren't enough lesbian fantasy (or lesbian anygenre) stories out there.

>>2418654
If you want easy money, make some shitty romance with a gimmicky plot that'll easily ensnare the retarded youth and soon become famous and you'll even release a movie or two despite the fact its total shit.

Sorry to say this, but FUCK THE READERS. The modern man is an idiot, fuck him. You might get big like JK Rowling following what 'the readers want', you probably wont though. But one thing you can know for sure: if you follow the herd, your writing wont be remembered one second after it's out of print, and you'll just be a glorified office worker.

>>2418851
Yes, I've read Douglas Adams and Orson Scott Card novels before, as I'm sure most readers of this thread have. Imitating either would be a bad idea, although I do really like the idea of starting off each chapter with an email or quote of some kind. It helps add flavor and/or background information to the story casually.

>>2419023
Good suggestions! I'm all for the inside jokes -- I even had one in my original post -- and I'm also a fan of malapropism as a way to reward the intelligent and extra attentive readers.

I also think an overall message of America's decline is called for, I'm just not sure how much I want to lambast my country yet.

Also, while my setting would be science fiction, the characters would not be what you'd expect from such a story. In many ways it would be a science fiction story that didn't cater to the science fiction readers. The characters would all be directly relatable to today's people and the story would explore both sides and interest groups surrounding a disaster in space.

Given its circumstances, I suppose being a social commentary on global warming and pollution would be the most fitting, but that's getting ahead of myself. I'll hold off on being specific for now, since I'm still nailing out the characters for it while also considering a few other stories. I plan on starting it this weekend though.

I fear I might have already given too much away, you might have already figured out what my main source of inspiration for this project is. There's a few, but mainly one in particular.

4chan has an inteleligent cornoror?

18/ female/ usa

I want a horror/suspense book. Something like Stephen Kings Misery. Political books are interesting, like as in a satire. Funny is good to, but its hard to make a book funny...

>>2419428
Yea... this guy is right. Write what you want.

>>2418822
It's not my fault that you don't have the confidence to be widely acclaimed or whatever. Write something deep, damn it.

Write dozens of books and have them all subtely tie into one central series about mystical gunslingers.

Write a story where all events and people interact with each other in a way where the final product seems brilliantly played out and calculated, as if all the pieces seem to fit perfectly like in Donnie Darko, where everything seems to fit together except it's on a much grander scale. I don't know what kind of scenario I'd fit this into though. You'd have to work hard to eliminate any plot holes or paradoxes to make the story flow seamlessly though.

I think allegorical re-tellings of biblical/epic tales is so fucking overrated though. PLEAAAASE don't do that.

That's my only real piece of advice.

>>2419447
I have very little experience with writing horror material, so I'm going to stay away from that area of entertainment for now.

>>2419770
For the most part, I don't want this project to be like that. As someone said earlier today, it would be better if my science fiction story didn't come off high and mighty, but instead is just a fun story. Has greater messages, but it doesn't shove them down your throat. It has some epic and imaginary scenery, but it doesn't pause and proudly make you look at it.

>>2419882
I hadn't considered it yet for this project, but I'm sure I would have before too long. Noted, thank you.

21/f
I want some fucking Nazi romance, son. Delicious uniforms. And maybe some dinosaurs. Nazis and dinosaurs shit yeah

And good luck with the project. Even though I was half-kidding before, I'm being sincere now. I do hope things work out for you.

Oh, I just thought of something else. I like books that have a really interesting universe. Like, the setting is a big part, with new inventions, a new language, etc. I don't think I'm describing it well enough, but take Dinotopia for example. It's got its own alphabet, history, cities, the dynamics between humans and dinosaurs and how they've adapted is interesting, etc. I like books where I can get fully immersed in the setting, preferably not-so-futuristic.

Also a murderous doctor would be cool

>>2420118
wow you're the kind of girl who wants to be fucked while being surrounded by dinosaurs and wearing uniforms.
Awesom.

>>2419975
ok writefag, here's an idea i've had that i will never follow through on. south korean hacker hooked on meth stays up for days at a time writing code. he winds up writing a program that turns the computer into a sentinent 'living' being. because of the internet, the brain or soul of this program can enter anything that is connected to the net. of course, due to his meth addiction, the hacker isn't sure if it's real or he's hallucinating and when he realizes it is real, he has difficulty convincing others because he's an obvious addict.

16/Male
I want to read a coming of age book, I know it sounds cliche, but that's just what I want. It doesn't have to be in modern time, as long as it is relevant to today's problems that young men have.

I want to become a writer, could you list the steps you took t get published and what college courses you took etc?

Write a political thriller.

I heard they're all the rage.

Write a book about a heroin-addicted hooker who uncovers a goverment conspiracy.

15/m

Write something about doppelgangers. Those fuckers are scary. Make me paranoid.

ALSO WHAT BOOKS DID YOU WRITE MOTHERFUCKER.

>>2420118
I know little of the Nazis and World War ___ stuff compared to most people, so none of those topics are ones I plan on visiting any time soon, sorry.

I also enjoy worlds that go so far as to develop their own languages and tools and fashion. Not something deep enough to severely limit your target audience to a large group of convention goers, but a good example I can think of would be the videogame Riven. They did a great job of fleshing out that world without going too far, although I'm assuming the rest of the series did indeed go too far. I wouldn't know, I stopped after Riven.

>>2420246
>>2420196
There sure are a lot of drug related suggestions around here! I would say your suggestion is one of the better ones though, have you ever seen the movie The Fisher King? I think you'd enjoy it a bit.

>>2420197
It's the most often given piece of advice, but it's definitely the most helpful. Write every day. Since you're still young, strive to be in honors English classes in your future, so you're actually forced to do so, and don't have the option of being lazy and backing out of daily writing. Plus you'll read way more kick ass books than the rest of your grade will, and will probably have way less tests.

>>2420270
No. Especially because it would just come off as me self-advertising my books. Besides, the demands in my line of work got the best of me on my last few novels, I'm only really proud of my first one. That's why I'm trying to return to my roots with this recent project, in how it's structured.

stories where the main character dies in the end for the greater good. 20/m

24/m
I'd like a heart-wrenching, bleak, desolate ending - an ending that will leave me sobbing like a little girl. Something like the end of the His Dark Materials trilogy.

I fucking love anti-heroes.

You should write Moby Dick. That was an awesome book.

>>2422284
Yeah man, great ending...so heartwrenchingly frustrating. Neither of them died, they're both still alive and well....but can never ever be together, and they're so young and innocent.
Fuck you Phillip Pullman for ruining their lives!

Endings like this are good.

A similarly tragic/frustrating ending was at the end of Jodi Picoult's "My Sisters Keeper".
Is anyone reading this book because if I say what happens it totally ruins the whole thing, but if no one says they're reading it in the next 5 mins I'm going to tell the ending cos it's just so ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffuck*baw*.
Only book to EVER have made me cry at the end. (female too, if that counts for anything)

I lo
sef[fmSO{ma MAp]
aad
ad
ada
d

My idea for a book was always for the book to be centered around the hero's best friend.

Hero/Saviour type guy guys into coma, and the friends has to wake him up and re-teach him his past/present/future, shit like that. And the friend is conflicted between totally re-arranging his life or keeping it the same, all while some apocalyptic shit is going down.

18/M

18/M

Something like H2G1/Dirk Gently. Mostly comedic but not mindlessly so.

22/m

Write a fantasy that isn't either a tolkien rehash OR a neuromancer rehash OR is set in a faux-mediaeval European setting

Ok, so here's my list of demands.

That's a title too, if you dare to write from a female perspective, "His List of Demands."

The story should appeal to both men and women without talking down to either. It isn't a mushy love story, and it should have substance.

The story should have a recognizable beginning, middle, and end. Don't be afraid to remove what doesn't belong, nobody wants to read filler. It kills the pacing and RUINS a story.

Drama derives from some sort of conflict, so keep that in mind. The self-interests of the characters is a good way to bring this about, not only does it seem more plausible than a life-threatening meteor, but it makes the characters seem more human. Flesh them out, damn it. They should not be endless variations of the same person.

Though I love to read, I am not a writer, but if I even THINK I can write a better book than one I just read, the author failed. You don't want to be that author.

If you can get away with actually writing suspense, that's a plus but don't get hung up on it. If you try anyway knowing you can't, It'll show.

Write what you know, though, and make it smart. Robin Cook, like him or hate him, sells because people accept that he knows what he's talking about.

There are no vampires in the book or any of its sequels, tie-ins, or canonical universe.

Don't bullshit me, invent too many terms (you'll know if you have to explain how things work), rely on other people's fictional tropes, or dare to write a fan service or status quo ending because I will find you and I will hang you by your intestines.

Look to Steinbeck for form and Joseph Conrad for style (as long as you understand I don't mean Heart of Darkness).

Avoid sounding like Ayn Rand or Chuck Palahniuk.

The rest is up to you. Only you know your strengths and weaknesses and those should be your guides.

>>2410200

They made a movie. It's called Before Sunrise. You've also described True West, a play about two brothers.

what in thee hell?

how is this thread still alive?

18/m

Something about killing infidels and destroying America.

OP,

21/m

Write about suicide, simply because you'd rather skip the time you'll have to suffer working and sustaning a society you find loathsome.

Maybe spend a little time on seeing how the world you leave behind reacts.

Then move on to hell. Make it real. Make it like the bullshit you learn in the bible and the worst stories are true. Make the most horrific and depressing book imaginable. Make people believe in your world and feel they are trapped in life simply to delay arriving in hell.

Put all kinds of interesting people in hell from throughout history and have lots of dialog with them.

Above all don't give us a million pages of shitty description text. Give us dialog!

Don't try to write Finnegan's Wake. I know you're thinking about it, but I'm telling you right now to just put that idea to bed.

M26

>>2408805 Yes, absolutely

>>2408989
You must read American Psycho, my dear.

>>2422210
>>2422284
>>2424572
>>2424595

Noted. Tragedies definitely sell.

>>2424785
I definitely have a good fantasy story in mind that I've been working on in small steps for years, although I'm not sure if I should go forward with it at this point in time. It seems like George R. R. Martin is finally about to shine in the media with his HBO show, which is long overdue. Can't compete with that kind of competition :) Every time when I'm reading on of his books, and I think "Yeah, okay, I see where he's going, I could do twelve rounds with this guy," it's not long before he delivers a big K.O. punch out of nowhere right to me and most other readers. His stories are as humbling as they are entertaining.

>>2424801
Plenty of good input here, thank you. Noted with a plus. I especially agree with your method of judging reading material. When I walk out of a movie theater, I usually give a film a rating based on how much I liked it, mixed with how much I thought I could have improved it, and finally how much it will leave a lasting impression on me, or if it has changed how I think on something. It's very disappointing where you pay money to have someone tell you a story and end up spotting many details the creator failed to address or evolve or resolve. You can't make everyone happy, but you should certainly try.

>>2424957
The bible and religion in general is not a topic I know much about. Even if I did have a good idea for a story in this area, I don't think I'd be able to do it justice.

>>2424840
I agree, it would probably be best if we let this thread die. It has served its purpose and I'm very grateful for all the help and input I got from everybody.

Since many of you have mentioned an interest in me continuing this as a series of "author's development diary" posts, I'll start a new thread so we can all move on to the next phase.

Again, thanks for all of your help. Aside from the great insights you've all given, this is also very uplifting and motivating for me.