What do you do when you know you have a really great story to tell, but over time become increasingly unsure about your ability to write it? Sometimes I put something down and can't feel satisfied with it. I know it's in me, and I know I'm a good writer but I struggle with my own insecurities. So as a result, I generally stop writing! I'm afraid I will never finish anything because of discouragement. Help!
From what I've seen of your writing, it's pretty good, so I wouldn't feel discouraged. I don't know how new this is for you or anything like that, but based on what I saw in the review room, every issue you have appears to be easily correctable with a bit of dedication. Join a local work shop, focus on writing something different when you're not feeling your main project, and obviously easier said than done, keep a positive attitude and don't be so hard on yourself. We all face these same situations. I flat out quit screenwriting because I felt insecure about it, and it honestly was a mistake. Hopefully, the writing I'm doing now will be a better fit for me in the long run. I have a slightly thicker skin now, and that alone makes a huge difference in my personal progression. Also remember that we ALL take a beating when we put our work out publicly. But it's not you that is being criticised, it's your work. We're here to help each other out, and 95% of what I've seen here has been in the spirit of helping rather than harming.
Well I have this problem too so I probably shouldn't be giving advice (but too bad, I'm gonna anyway lol). Something I learned from playing chess is to treat every lost game as an opportunity to recognize mistakes and not repeat them in the future. Of course you want to play perfect, but even the most gifted champions became the best only through many years of examining why they lose games. So just try and have the mindset that you may have to write many crappy stories until you gain the skill to express those great ideas you have in you (I think many people have great ideas, but few have the combination of skill+idea). Or in other words don't dwell on writing great stories, just focus on making each one better than the last.
Thanks Savory. Don't worry, I haven't just acquired these feelings after joining this forum! It's something that I've struggled with for some time and I suppose I will continue to struggle with it. The joys of being creative I guess. I've started to read some of your work - The Awakening. Impressed. I don't have time to read it all now but I'm going to be following you to see what you pump out! Thanks for the feedback. Vapor - I love your advice. I think for a while now I have been so bent on writing 'great stories' that the pressure has overwhelmed me. No one can write an epic from the get-go! I've just got to learn to take it slow I think. Thanks again
Thank you, but I haven't written anything called The Awakening. Maybe it was a piece I reviewed at some point...
Hi there. Where do you think your insecurities come from? Is it that the stuff you're writing isn't good enough for you, or are you worrying about how it will be received by others once it's finished? If it's the former, that's a toughy. All I can say is, do your best to look on your work with an objective eye, and keep in mind that we are sometimes our own worst critics. If it's the latter, well that's a great deal more common. And it's natural, of course. Who wants to pour hours of themselves into a piece of work that doesn't get praised? I have this problem from time to time, and here's what I tell myself: Firstly, worrying about the end result of a piece of work can be totally paralysing. Try to shake off those thoughts - if you must, comfort yourself with the knowledge that there'll be plenty of time to worry once it's done! Secondly, if the worst should happen and you complete your novel to find it's poorly received, then isn't it better to have a novel than no novel at all? It's an achievement! Relax. Don't expect it to be perfect first time - that's what revisions are for. Most of all, have confidence in yourself! Sounds like the people on these boards already do. Hope this helps! </pep talk> x
Jessicalaurenking, Really, what you have to do is simply write, realizing that you will improve as you do. I think everyone to some extent feels the story could come out better. Realizing that, you have to do what it takes to write and finish a project. And then write and finish another, and the next. Depending on your goals, maybe submit them and see what happens, always learning from the experience. What is the worst that can happen if you submit a piece? That it'll get rejected? Happens all the time, so no reason to be insecure. You'll be one of the crowd. Completing a project to the best of your ability is the only way to succeed in writing, whatever your goal. Hang in there. Terry
i don't have the problem, but if you do, there are only three things you can do about it: 1. go ahead and write it anyway 2. have a good writer write it for you 3. give up trying to be a writer and go sell ties, or something
I agree with maia on this one. Even when you're unsure...just go ahead and write it. The novel I'm working on right now puts me way outside my comfort zone because my MC just isn't a person I'd be comfortable even being around (and I write in first person which makes it harder), and I was having the same challenge you're facing. Then I realized that I love being challenged, and writing outside my comfort zone (morally outside) will be its own reward, whether it turns out good or not. I don't have much doubt in my writing skills, and even though I'm uncertain as to whether or not I can pull off the character, I'm determined to do it. So I guess I overcome discouragement by becoming determined to prove to myself that I *can* do it. Even when I thought I couldn't. ~Lynn
Well then just keep writing. You're probably just being to hard on yourself, but keep writing anyway. If you're not satisfied now, maybe you'll be satisfied later, and even if you're not satisfied later, maybe you'll be satisfied in the far future. Maybe soon, you'll actually exceed your own expectations without realizing it. But you should also know when something is good enough instead of continuing to push it even farther. You'll never get anything done that way since you'll be aiming for an unreachable goal. /rant. Andway, the point is to just write what you want to say and ignore everything else. Maybe you're just too caught up in expectations.
I think this is a problem most of us have. We get this 'perfect' story in our heads and expect it to turn out exactly the same way when we put it on paper. It very often turns in a way we didn't anticipate, and I think that's when we start to get discouraged because our writing doesn't match the ideal we hold in our minds. ~Lynn
Sometimes I get discouraged with my writing. I don't always know where it comes from either. I just get the thought in my head, "This is terrible, you'll never get this finished, your characters are terrible, your plot is flawed, etc..." How do you combat this, if it has happened to you?
Sometimes it's worth it to take a break. Other days, you just say, "Well, too bad that it sucks, I'm gonna write it anyway." For me that usually depends on whether pushing through still gives me a sense of accomplishment, at least - when I was working on my last novel, I wrote almost every day, and believe me some days I hated every minute of it and was sure it was trash. But at the end of the day, I had still finished something, and that was encouraging. On my break days, I found it was important to stress to myself that I wasn't not writing because I thought it was crap and felt bad about myself, but because I'd earned that day off due to my other hard work or was sick or exhausted from other life stuff. Not writing because you think it's bad is letting the discouragement win
Hello, Glitter. I am never happy with my work. Even my stuff that people praise I think sucks. If you are truly passionate about writing, you will be driven to keep pushing yourself further and further; this thirst will never be quenched. Take your fear and worry as a sign that you have the potential for greatness. My first writing teacher told me this: "Only those willing to fail, and fail often, are capable of succeeding." I hope you take my encouragement to heart. -OJB.
I once heard Neil Gaiman say "As a writer, you have to write on the bad days, not just the good.", I'm paraphrasing but since hearing that its really stuck with me. Just like in life I have days I feel down, but I know it wont last . I try and look at writing the same way, some days I might write knowing it's crap, but sometimes you might be able to find a diamond hidden in that crap when you look back on it another day.
When I get that discouraged I find it helpful to: A: Take a break and let myself rest. B: Take a break to evaluate if I'd gone off on a bunny trail in the story. I've discovered bunny trails get me stuck and cause me to hate the story and/or character. C: Work on another story, even if it's just a short one that I'll toss once it's finished. Sometimes I just get tired of one story or character set and need something new. D: Read the forums and how-to-write articles. If I feel that my writing sucks, researching how to write better can encourage me because I can say to myself, "Now when I rewrite it, it'll be so much better!" It always is, too. E: Experiment. Write anything--even a rewrite of the current story--where I just go crazy. Throw the rules out the window and write whatever and however I feel like. This has gotten me out of a lot of funks. Sometimes a person just needs to have FUN. F: Force myself out of it. Say, "Screw those thoughts! I'm going to write whatever I want, and it's going to be good even if it takes a thousand drafts to get there!" Sometime we just need to make ourselves listen to encouragement. It helps to know that I can just fix the issues I see in the next draft(s). G: All of the above. Rarely does one trick work for me, so I tend to use several or even all.
My cure for this is Rum. This may be a horrible answer to most, but a few rum and cokes when I start to feel disappointed in my writing, and I can write with Thor's swagger.
I read a chapter from any Tim Lahaye novel. They're all those things you fear above, but still best sellers. It gives me hope. Cheap shots at Lahaye aside, I suggest a writing circle. They often have ground rules about how to provide feedback in a positive manner, it can really help give perspective on whether one's 'bad' is really all that bad, and it helps break the pattern of negative rumination to interact socially. Sometimes negativity is the result of too much time in one's head. Artists are vulnerable to getting locked into this cycle.
I call that "The Hemingway Method (TM)" (another version is "The Ian Fleming Method" - this variant involves gin martinis) Tragically, it doesn't work for me. Alcohol amplifies whatever mood I went in with.
