How do you know if your own writing is shit?

How do you know if your own writing is shit?

You read and you read and you read good literature.

and what about epic memes?

nobody wants to read it

anybody know what anybody wants to read?

the bibble

Post an excerpt il tell you for free

i avent read it yet, is it any good? what version should i start with? i read scandinavian

“Alright, let's get to work”, he started the car again, drove off while Lucy also finished what she started, working her hands to prepare taking his member in her mouth.
She was good at it. In fact, so good, driving was getting dangerous. She kept teasing, and building up the tension, on and on. He had underestimated her skill, thinking he'd just let it happen. Now he was incapable of concentrating on anything. He had to stop and let her finish.
She stopped as well, but only to start moving over him.
She had one arm around his neck and balanced over his lap, the other hand positioning him for penetration, as if handling a gearshift. She prodded it like a tool to push her panties aside.
For some reason she jerked and swirled her hips before coming down on his tip, moving it around. For the longest time she just hovered over his lap, electrifying his penis. He held her waist for some time, before moving his hands over her back to undo her bra, pulling it down enough to expose her.
She lunged her chest forward, enveloping his face with her breasts, while powerfully but delicately easing down.
She began working her hips like a crankshaft driven by a con-rod, his dick, up, and down, and back and forth, and there was plenty fuel to keep them going. They had struck oil and would keeping pumping to the very last drip.
He studied the shock-waves traveling through her entertaining breasts, satisfied with the pace with which they thrust their bodies.
She arched her back, stretched her arms leaning on his chest, staring him down, irrevocably humping.
Marvin picked up the pace, she slowly leaned back over the steering wheel, until she was curled up, her breasts peaking up like mounds, and Marvin leaned in, into her arms, getting a better foothold to penetrate her, and started thrusting fast.
It was as if the car was pushed to new limits, shaking like never before.
She still clung to him when they gradually caved in, still coming. He leaned back with hers attached to his face, inseminating her, her tongue deep in his mouth like it belonged there.
For a minute they sat there observing each other, while the ecstasy wore off.
Marvin thought he did good allowing for this to happen. Now they could focus on the important things and not be distracted by their frustration anymore.
Except she wouldn't get off.
He tried to push her up by her waist, which is when she took his hands and eased them on her breasts, moaning.

He tried to push her into the air by raising his pelvis, which is when she pounced back.
And up, and down. And there they were going again.
He didn't say anything. He was just too baffled, she kept surprising him.
He was still leaning back into his chair, looking at her bouncing up and down, just observing her diabolical nymphomania. It was beautiful, yet even though he wasn't physically worn out, he felt no more emotional attachment, except maybe objectively admiring her determination. Maybe she wasn't ready yet? No, she was she insatiable.
At this point, he became more aware of his environment. Instinctively he glanced through the mirrors.
Somebody's watching.
“Stop.”
“Never.”
“No, there, we're being watched.”
“So you noticed. Why don't you deal with it? Looks like we got company”.
He saw someone approaching from the car that was parked behind them.
The person came up to the window, and knocked.
Lucy began to lick and nibble his ear, and gently rock her hips with subtle motions.
Marvin rolled the window down.
“Busy here.”
He was about to come. Lucy began panting into his ear and suddenly moved very quick.
“Not anymore you're not”, the stranger said, and removed one side of his jacket to reveal a holstered gun, “we've had enough of this.”
And with that, they both came, and by the sudden turn of events he almost threw her off too early before waiting to completely drain into her.
“Now you have two options. Get shot or get in our car. Missy here's gotta stay.”
Good riddance.
“Be smart”, he took his phone, handed it to Lucy and winked, “watch yourself”. Everything she needed to know was in there.

"tell"

rip

different user here, but yeah it's not terrible. i assume this is your first work and as such it's natural for it to be quite rough around the edges. it'll get better with time, though. just don't go in expecting to write your magnum opus on the first try. nothing good will come of that.

op here
thanks user and your analysis is correct

You know it's shit when people have to clarify what you mean, or they don't understand why your characters are written a certain way.
You get better with that with practice.

agreed. it might make sense to you because you invented it.

...

This book is unironically good for introducing children to the bible. Bough two copies, one for myself and one for my kids.

Bad but not as bad as most of the stuff posted on lit. You have no future as a writer.

go on

reread it as if it had been written by someone else. if you cant do it then it is shit.

awesome advice

my wifes son loves it

If you think it's shit, it's probably shit. If you think it's not shit, it's definitely shit.

>is my writing shit
No

Stop making references to a car, unless you want to mechanize sexual intercourse (which I am sure you don't), let the reader deduce how it is happening unless you need this specific event. The gear shift part made me think of a car and nothing else. Yes they are in a car, don't remind me. Also, words such as "member" aren't too arousing.

Other than that it is bad but not so bad.

I appreciate the feedback just to clarify this is an excerpt of an otherwise not erotica wip, so emphasis isn't on the sex necessarily more so on the scenery. I can still use detailed descriptions, this is about the only sex scene in the story, and to be honest I don't think sex scenes can go without metaphors easily.
to put things in perspective the MC is on the run, and he's also practically being held hostage in a rape situation by his co driver who happens to be a mafia daughter looking for adventure.

I'd happily share the part where she gets in the car, but at some point I can just keep on posting excerpts for more much needed context, won't I

i hate myself so everything related to my own self is awful

It's really bad. Probably the worst thing I've read this week. You don't seem to have any clue about what makes good writing. The most obvious problem is that you use a ton of unnecessary commas. It's one of the most common problems in amateur writing.

>You don't seem to have any clue about what makes good writing
Not true. I might not be able to display those qualities I like to see in renowned and skillfull writers, but that doesn't mean I'm blind to literature. For example someone might be a art critic and excel in MS paint doodles. Just because they produce crap doesn't mean they think crap. But this is indeed the line of thought of this thread: how do you really know your creative expression is just shit when at some point you must have clearly felt it was worth the effort for it to come to fruition in the first place. It's an interesting thing to think about isn't it? Some people will never realize they're shit, and it's even difficult for me to see, even when most people here tell me my writing is beyond a doubt shit. Maybe it's that I'm just mentally challenged, but nothing else in my life shows that that might be the case, so it must be a very specific sort of retardation then.
When your attempts are sincere, how do you really know that your own work is shit?

I'll say it again. Read more. If you've read enough, if you've read deeply enough, and if you've read enough, and if you've read deeply enough, and if you've read enough, then you would have an eye that tells you that this is not good.

>When your attempts are sincere, how do you really know that your own work is shit?
I can generally tell what my own work is lacking, since I have a good grasp on what makes writing good. Reading the stuff you've written aloud can be a good tool, because if it sounds awkward to say there's probably a problem. And beyond that, I have friends that look over my stuff before I send it to an editor or submit it to a contest. I'm sorry, but anyone that is genuinely knowledgeable when it comes to literature/writing would not have made the exceptionally armature mistakes that you did...many times in just one paragraph. Just read more. There's nothing wrong with accepting that you need to read more before you attempt to do any serious writing.

Well erotica or not, you do have an erotic scene. I don't think you should consider it ok to have the erotica part to be lesser than the rest of the book, if anythinf it should be one of the memorable parts. Your book seems to be action oriented and a good sex scene would be a good touch to it. As for the metaphors, I'll admit I am no pro, a novice really, at it but I think it is better if you, the author, dictate where everything is going but let the reader imagine the details. Keep working and send more if you wish. I would definitely check it out again, if I see more posted.

Alright. Im gonna critique alll you guys writing right now. All of it. You know when youre reading about a medical condition and people say see a doctor irl we can't diagnose you over the internet? Im literally going to diagnose you over the internet

Here we go

It sucks. Sorta good, but mostly it's shitty. I dont care who is reading this. It sucks. Dont ask your family or friends. They dont know fuck about it or what to fix. Dont ask anyone. Even if the ghost of dfw or joyce appears in front of you, dont show them. Dont ask what needs work. It all needs fucking work. EVERYTHING NEEDS WORK. DO NOT ASK ANYONE. It SUCKS i am telling you and it always will suck. It can always be better. You right now? Sucks. Delillo, murakami? Sucks. It can all be better

Dont ask. You will be led astray by everyone. If they knew how it SHOULD be, they would do it themselves

If you actually have taste in literature (I'm skeptical that you do), then eventually if you keep writing your abilities will catch up with your taste.

But honestly your first sentence has a grammar issue so you have a ways to go.

I feel like I stumbled into the middle of something.

Part of it feels like you're trolling me.
Part of it feels like this is a detour in a high-paced action comedy.
I can't really say anything from the excerpt given.
Would probably be easier if you gave me a setting with some background info, and explained the purpose of the scene.

I've given a little background in this comment below responding to a critique. Read that first, maybe then come back for more if you want and I'll see what I can do.
I enjoy writing, it's a way to convey a story, maybe I'm not as good at word choice and grammar....
I think whether the story sucks is an important factor for the writing. You can properly write a shit story and that will make it bad. You can poorly write (at my level) a fun story and that will make the writing acceptable. no need to be an expert writer if you can tell the story..

its not that bad, in a kind of breezy raunchy action movie way. you can tell it's not total shit because so many people replied - if it was really total shit the reaction would be indifference

imo your ability to keep the action of the story moving is solid, but your diction is inconsistent and clunky at times, and there are some grammar issues that impede flow.

>e.g. "he leaned back with hers attached to his face, inseminating her"

'inseminating' is an odd choice - its the kind of word that can be used to describe sex but there's no sex in it, if you catch my drift. A 5 syllable clunker like that needs to be justified by unusual circumstances.

And "hers attached to his face" is an awkward construction. I had to think for a second about what the hell "hers" refers to.

her being pregnant will matter later on in the story.. anyway thanks for the feedback. Writing is a challenge, I might not enjoy it so much if it were easier. I don't even know why I didn't say "her face attached to his", silliness of that phrase aside.