Is there a writer whose work you particularly like? Read some of that writer's work. Preferably aloud. Get those rhythms and sounds into your head. That will influence your own work in a positive direction.
I can totally relate. I actually really like a lot of my stories and their characters/twists, but hate the writing style.
Move on for a while, and come back to it later. This is where your practice in critique can serve you well. With some distance (in time and emotion), you can try to pin down exactly what isn't working with what you wrote. By later, I would suggest weeks, if not longer. It could even happen thatthe additional writing experience you accumulate in that time will make it immediately bvious what you need to do to fix it.
I'll try to make this more than a me too post but.. I too am having the same difficulty. I have a scene that I know certain events have to happen during it, as they are required for later parts of my story, but they just aren't fitting in with the current flow of the scene. It may take me going back a few pages and changing something so we can get a logical progression from point A to B.
I agree to just get words down on paper. My first drafts are almost embarrassing, but it gives me something to edit later, and shows one scene leading to the other. Don't put high expectations on that first draft or you'll never write anything!
You say you have ideas and most of the story worked out, but the moment you sit down its gone. Familiar, yes. Problem, not really. By having those ideas you have the story, and really you don't have to sit down in front of a blank computer screen and try typing it out, you can sometimes scratch it out on paper, and you really don't have to start at the beginning of the story. I once wrote a story off the ending chapter, which was the first thing I thought up. Basically, you can just write what you have, work off the scenes you have then like a puzzle, figure out where they'll go in the story. And you don't have to use a computer to do it. I find that writing it down on paper will help you figure out where all the scenes will go later on, because you can move the papers around and see where it works in the story. Yes it's choppy and unorganized at first, but in the end it could turn out to be a masterpiece.
DO NOT FORCE IT. Forcing a scene when you're in a bad mood is the worst thing you can do because it'll come out to be complete crap sometimes and make you hate it even more. So what do you do? You take a break, go read or watch tv or something. Fix your mood, make sure you're nice and relaxed and feel like you're worth a million dollars. Then you go back to the scene and write it.
^^^ yea that's what i did. i don't know about writing different scenes out of order though. it's too late for that anyways because I'm at the end of the book.
Thanks for the tip, Cog. I'll just write new scenes and push forward for now, and go back to it next week or something. I actually just fixed a major scene last night, so for me it's not really a matter of time, but more a matter of having the right mood or whatever when I'm writing it.
I struggle with this all the time. I can see the scene in my head and I know what I want to happen.... then I write it. It used to happen to me when I was little and liked to draw. I would have this awesome image in my head and start to draw it and just say, "Wow, that's terrible." Of course, I think I have more talent in writing than I do in drawing and I find that Cogito's advice really does hold true. I wrote a scene about six months ago that I found pretty ugly when I first looked at it and I just looked at it again recently and saw exactly what I was doing wrong. I was able to fix it up to sound much better. Like Cog says, you need to detatch yourself from your writing before you can really look at it with an objective eye and see what's not working.
Our ideas, can come easily to us, when we are in our own wee world, the thought of sharing that wee world can be daunting, treat it like any other art form, relax and warm up, and then imagine a deadline, nothing quite like a deadline to get those words flowing.
I usually write down a scene list and scenario list, and then that gives me motivation to write the actual story.
IMO plain white is very uninspiring to look at. It's like stepping into a creative vacuum and trying to fill it with nothing to start with. I'd feel about the same walking into a plain white house trying to figure out how to what to do with it. I think I'd need to do the writing equivalent of throwing buckets of paint around which is basically total random rambling if that's what it takes to break up the plain boring white.
I believe a particular issue you may be struggling with is your voice. Namely, the way you project yourself and your perspective through your writing. This is something I constantly struggle with as well since I'm often a very technically minded person who feels confident in accurately illustrating ideas but not expressing them with the desired emotional effect. I feel my writing serves a greater service to the intellect than to emotions even though I know that it is an emotional impact I'm often aiming to achieve. To overcome this I've tried listening to music that inspires me, getting outside, or simply distancing myself from the section in question for a while. I often find that if my writing sounds too precise or forced that it's often the result of subconsciously writing to impress. I have to frequently remind myself to write what I’d enjoy reading and not worry about impressing an unknown reader. Obviously, if you plan on getting published you’ll eventually have to concern yourself with the latter, but first and foremost you should write for yourself. If your problem is truly one of failing to describe your vision as you wish then I’d suggest what others have already said; continue to practice and revisit your work at a later time.
If you have identified the problem, you just have to rewrite it..... it happens to every writer and they are lying if they say otherwise. I mean, every writer admits writing several drafts of a story even though they might not say their first drafts were horrible. The key is the ability to identify the mistakes and correcting it. If you got that ability then you are doing fine. But if you are unsure of what the mistakes are then it will help you immensely if you get a second opinion from someone who has the ability. It will help you identify your problems in future. And yes, as Cog said, critiquing other's work will help you too.
I used to have the problem, when I first started out the scenes in my head where never the same as the scenes I was writing. I am no talented artist quite the reverse lol put I find drawing my scene out on paper or using google images or creating a scrapbook of images helps me with my descriptions. Also my drawing is so bad that my written description may not compare to what is in my head but its usually miles better than my artistic endeavors lol
I typically have the exact opposite problem, a wonderful scene that doesn't fit in my plot (I tend to go off and write in random tangents). Even for parts of my story that do fit the plot I sometimes rewrite them four times before I can even bear to call it part of my story. For you I suggust continuing with your story before your frustration becomes a writer's block (that has so happened to me). You seem to not have your style down. Do some exorsizes. Write in a journal. Describe items around you. Write an action scene in a movie. Just practice writing. As you write more you will find you are better able to express things. Good luck!
Thanks for the tip! I can definitely agree with you on the point of just writing it, and not putting it off so it becomes writers' block. I've written lots of short stories and essays and stuff, and I have a writing style that I'm proud of with those. I've even had an essay win a competition. But on this particular novel, idk, I love my ideas and my plot but my writing style isn't as dominant the first time I write scenes. I normally don't have this experience, so it is a bit weird. I spent a lot of time today going back and tweaking some scenes, now I'm a lot happier with them. I guess sometimes it just takes some editing to get the voice you want to really show itself. I should just be happy that I don't have WB for once in my life, I guess.
I find classical music helps. It helps me relax and I write at my best that way. Blank pages also seem to be a help. Clean sheet of paper or a fresh word document, I don’t know there is something about a blank bit of paper that gets me all excited and full of ideas. Maybe I’m just a geek... but I hope that my geekyness helps a little
When I have a writer's block, it's usually because of stress. What I do is take a nice walk, get some fresh air, and think about all the things I like, what I would do in the situation my character is in and consider as much options as I can think of, and try too choose the most fitting to the situation. Then, I take a good night's rest and try again the next day. The most important thing: Stay positive! As I said, stress can be a major factor in having a writer's block.
Writer's Block can last for five minutes, or five months - it happens. Go out, eat, go to the toilet (not for five months though), do anything but the book. It'll come to you. Anyone who says that Writer's Block is the fault of the writer, who has no imagination, is simply wrong.
Subplot writers' block My story's spinal chord is coming along fine, but it needs more development in the way of subplots. This is where the writer's block kicks in. What are some techniques you use to unstick yourself when you have this problem? More specifically, when the purpose of the subplot is to introduce some other characters and their conflicts in such a way that tie them to the M.C. and her main conflict. Are there brainstorming techniques or something out there? I'm NOT looking for subplot ideas, more for a way to get my own flowing.
