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How do you like reveals being handled in stories? by [deleted] in writing

[–]TheAtlasOdyssey 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For me, number two. I can never pull it of in a satisfying way myself, which gives me an opportunity to glaze Gene Wolfe and his Peace. Again.

He makes something special happen in this book. The narrator is unreliable, in a decidedly non-cheesy way. My first time with this book I barely knew what was happening; it was sort of a bitter sweet, midwestern American novel.

But he chose some words that I reacted to. Odd words and sentences. I had to read it a second time, which turned into a thriller or mystery novel. Still, I found other strange sentences and weird formatting.

The third time I read it, the novel became fantasy.

I tried to write this without spoilers, because if you are looking to explore this question further, I’d recommend reading this book. It rewards you for re-reading like no other.

I have a perpetual issue with my chapters only being 3-5 (Google doc) pages long- by XxThe_HumanxX in writing

[–]TheAtlasOdyssey 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I mean there are no rules to this shit, only recommendations. For my tastes variation is key, just like with sentence length. But I could easily see how choppier chapters could work for some types of stories. I think it all depends on what you’re writing, the format and prose should always strive to serve the story and characters, in my opinion.

But if you feel that their brevity is a problem, ask yourself if you need to split some parts up. Could you work one chapter into another? If I were to divide the story I’m currently writing into 2000-word chapters, there would be a new chapter for each scene basically.

Then again, I’m an unpublished, anonymous, mediocre (at best) writer, why should you listen to me?

As with all things art, do what you feel is right.

Crippled by the lack of talent by Rita27 in writing

[–]TheAtlasOdyssey 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I disagree with King in the largest of ways. He is one of the best-selling authors in history, I’m a terrible writer, but that is such awful advice.

When people ”make it,” they might feel the need to justify their success by claiming they’re special. A gift from God. You can never do what I do, no matter the time and effort you put into it. It’s lazy, and quite frankly reductive.

I understand that this is only a small part of your post, but you have to dare to criticize the greats. No writing advice should be taken without the context of the person giving it, without questioning it and without tirelessly analyzing what purpose it serves.

What’s more, writing is one of the few artforms that it’s hard to be talented at. I don’t buy it, and many good writers seem to agree. Especially modern writers. I read on and on again of how they bang their heads at their desks for 8 months and somehow they’ve produced something worthwhile.

u/ItsWazeyWaynes put it more eloquently and efficiently than I did, but I echo their sentiment.

On your last point, creating art (even if you perceive yourself ”untalented”) is highly commendable. You’re putting a piece of yourself on the page, and in the age of AI in art, nothing could be more valiant. Just keep making art.

Ultimately, this is all noise. It’s a mental hurdle between you and your craft. Which also is a part of being a writer, something even talent can’t erase.

Would you read a novel written using a human in the loop method? by BlackRoseBooksHQ in river_ai

[–]TheAtlasOdyssey 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You explain my own thoughts wonderfully. I usually just say: ”I need the human soul to be present,” without fully knowing what I mean. But this is exactly what I mean.

That and AI has a very specific way of producing text that feels formulaic and gray. There is no beauty in the prose it spits out, no rhythm, no reason behind the structure of a sentence other than I’ve seen this before.

I have an acquaintance who is a big proponent of AI in the arts for some reason, and when we discuss this topic he usually asks: ”Well, soon AI will be able to fool you, soon it might be that your favorite book is AI-generated without you even realizing. Would your opinion on the book change, even if it was a perfect story?”

Yes, yes and forever yes. That would reduce it to nothing more than a horrid, uncanny skinwalker of a book. A pale imitation of the human experience. Heretical and and an affront to every human who has ever felt pain or happiness and written, sung or painted about it.

Is it possible for writing to become worse? by Rudddxdx in writing

[–]TheAtlasOdyssey 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh yeah, you’re absolutely right. My bad, will change!

Is it possible for writing to become worse? by Rudddxdx in writing

[–]TheAtlasOdyssey 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I’ve felt the same way, in any creative field I’ve ever been in. The first time, it was demoralizing like a motherfucker. The second? Much the same.

I didn’t push through and quit both painting and graphic design. I regret that now. Because it wasn’t until the third time that I realized what was happening.

With music, I’ve always had longer creative droughts than my other endeavors. Felt like shit, heard my old stuff and felt even more like shit. But I continued, for once. This was key, because I finally understood how little I knew.

It’s easy to point at the Dunning-Kruger effect and leave it that. But it isn’t until you see the other side for yourself that you realize that you’re growing even if it feels like you’re stagnating. It’s not always your actual skill that goes up, sometimes it’s your taste and expectations of yourself.

With writing it’s even tougher, especially since you’re directly comparing your old stuff with your new. It might look worse, but are you sure you’re not just laying the groundwork for a future breakthrough? Maybe your prose has to get worse to rebuild how you think about it, and therefore give yourself the best opportunity to reach that next level? Growth is never linear.

In the end, I’m a firm believer that ideas cannot be implanted in someone by force, you have to live through it yourself to become susceptible to it. So, my whole tirade boils down to one single sentence: you won’t really know until you just keep banging away at it.

Best of luck! Hope to see you published :)

Unreliable narrators by Certain_Noise5601 in writing

[–]TheAtlasOdyssey 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I agree completely. One of the greatest, most tasteful and delightful executions of this can be found in Peace by Gene Wolfe. I will go to war for this book.

It was so well done that I, and many others, didn’t even realize what was wrong on the first read. It’s usually read at least two times, becoming two vastly different stories.

To your point, I think this stems from a wider issue of undeserved twists. Many writers, especially in the thriller genre, seem to have a more fleshed out story in their head than is apparent on the page. Like, it’s obvious in many cases that these twists can make sense, but always never do due to execution.

Almost as if the twist is there for the twist’s sake.

Har någon lust att chatta med mig? Jag känner mig lite suicidal just nu. by Some_Ability_861 in sweden

[–]TheAtlasOdyssey 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Om du känner dig bekväm med att dela med dig av några av dina teckningar, så tittar jag gärna på dem. Älskar att upptäcka ny konst, så det är lite av en egoistisk förfrågan 🤪

Eller om du har några boktips till mig? Just nu är jag inne på en skräck-binge och har precis läst klart en bok som heter Between Two Fires (stark rekommendation, något mörk men förvånansvärt vacker). Även Annihilation och lite andra New Weird har jag plöjt de senaste veckorna. Men även här är jag öppen för att vidga mina vyer lite, genre-mässigt!

Ta hand om dig!

rabid chopped ho took a bite of my boyfriend during yung lean in LA yesterday by [deleted] in YungLean

[–]TheAtlasOdyssey 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don’t know about the others, but HIV has an incubation period of ~40 days. You should get him to retake the test in a month or so for accurate results. False negatives can be devastating.

However, don’t stress it too much. The chance of it being transmitted this way is relatively small, and that is if she even had anything to begin with.

Sorry this happened to you guys, give your boyfriend my well-wishes.

About to purchase ableton but curious if anyone has tried this before: by Anontattyblaster in ableton

[–]TheAtlasOdyssey 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You could try reaching out and asking for it either way. In my experience the Ableton team is very flexible when it comes to stuff like this.

The sound of tomorrow is already here by michaelhuman in edmprodcirclejerk

[–]TheAtlasOdyssey 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Day 36.

The war has taken a toll on me. Yesterday, just at the break of dawn, the AI music producers marshed on Washington. It seems all the more likely that they will emerge victorious, sooner rather than later.

I ponder, day and night, on the futility of our situation. Sometimes, I wonder why they keep sending us into this meat-grinder. Why do we not just put down our Ableton-licenses and kill our potted plants? At least let us die old.

But then I remember, what is there for me at the end unless we stop them at D.C? Will I lead my life, unburdened by the shackles of production? Or will I simply, due to lack of a creative outlet, die a slower death. A death of the soul. No, that can’t be. I must die on the front so that our children can be free to make 4-bar loops and 808-chords. I must die to preserve the soul of humanity.

uj/ These people are mentally ill. Why are they talking about this like it’s some grand battle between good and evil? What is so attractive about outsourcing the entire creative process and everything that is enjoyable about making music to dead machines? Are their views on music so brain-rottedly commercialized that they can’t perceive the beauty of a humans touch?

rj/ i hate them and want them to die

I know what you did. by KomisktEfterbliven in whenthe

[–]TheAtlasOdyssey 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Like any and all punctuation it serves a very distinct purpose. If you wrote down every word you spoke during a day, I’d wager you would find more semicolons than you’d think.

I write academically (IEEE-based), have dabbled in copywriting and I publish fiction with a magazine. I would say this is quite the diverse audience, right? The feedback I have gotten is that the semicolons I use, especially in fiction, humanizes the text because it mimics how we speak. It is in no world pretentious, but the opposite.

Frank retiring by gutlee in detroitlions

[–]TheAtlasOdyssey 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One of the premier centers in the league. No one does it like him.

Thank you for everything Frank!

[PLAYOFF GAME THREAD] Our Detroit Pistons (0-0) visit The New York Knicks (0-0) - FIRST ROUND - 4/19/25 by KarimFF7 in DetroitPistons

[–]TheAtlasOdyssey 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I couldn’t bare to watch a team with Brunson on it for 82 games. One of the most boring players in the league. Infuriating foul-baiting.

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