I am grasping your concept in the nature of thy words Garball; though you may be confounding the psychological pathways of others and turning them to a twisted maze on which they stand at the edge, grasping at the railing but unable to move for fear of falling, much like a child when they first begin to skate. I also agree with your words -quoted so that we who speak and tell stories in words instead of script may seek some relation to thine situation, but... SPEAK ENGLISH! Garball indeed you confounding bundle of mental fluff you Edit: Also you can do it. I pretty much gave up for a few months now (yeah... despite my last thread...) and then my brother suddenly tells me that I can make that story amazing and that it could be really famous or something when published.That made my jaw drop since he'd always told me to shut up whenever i talked about the book! Hmm... something tells me he was saying shut up and write it. Not just talk.
Maybe it's still too early in the morning, or maybe it's the head cold, but I don't understand why someone who can verbally tell a good story cannot write it down. It's just dictation.
The only one who can tell you to stop writing is yourself. There are a lot authors out there: some bad, some atrocious, some bestsellers. But all three are out there, selling books, displaying their tomes on the dusty decks of dilapidated store fronts. Critics give praise. Critics give raspberries. But writers write. Are you doing it for art's sake or for your sake? A craftsman works on their craft, hoping to profit, but still honing his craft by making furniture for his use. He keeps these for himself, to ornate his humble home, and until one day, he asks himself, "this chair sucks." So he goes back to the shop, starts anew and crafts a new chair. And he improves the other furniture he owns. Why? Because why not. It could be a meditation while he sets up the tools on his bench and feels the wood to be worked on. It could be a mantra with every stroke of a knife, shaving off stumps, communing with the tool and the object. A prayer to himself, a chant to center his being, reminding himself that this is right, this is who I am. Is it art? Hobby? Passion? Yes.
Aha. I figured a margarita-like substance was probably behind that OP! But I thought the better of suggesting it. As to your question ...well, heck. Take a look at all the writers out there, the ones who are published. Some are phenomenal, some are the kind you'll read again and again, and read their next book too. Some are okay, but you won't read them again. Some are bad writers who can't string sentences together very well. Some create perfect sentences but tell stupid stories. Yeah, I think there's a gene for genius—although there's a link between genius and knuckledowntoititus that sometimes makes a difference. But don't let the lack of that genius gene stop you! I'm not letting it stop me. We'll all end up somewhere on that spectrum, if we finish and publish.
I understand the frustrations, truly I do. Then I stop for a moment, usually it's something stupid or pointless that makes me pause, and I realise what I write is drivel, but it's my drivel. I ask myself: Am I sorry I wrote this? No. Did I enjoy writing this? Yes. Did I learn something while writing this? Um, sort of... Would I destroy this piece if I could? Probably not. Just remember that you're writing for a reason; it isn't always clear why you're doing it, but there is always a reason.
Oh I got that from your original post already, and I agree that some are better storytellers than others, but being able to verbally tell a story isn't the same as being able to write enjoyable prose. And being able to write enjoyable prose doesn't mean you have a story to tell. All that is fine. However, this is probably why writer's block is so prevalent. Who said anything about wanting to be part of the elite? First, be realistic about yourself - are you actually good at it? If you're not, admit as much (not you personally, just generally), and keep on writing for your own pleasure without ambitions to publish that writing. If you are good at it and wish to publish, keep on writing for your own pleasure with the aim to publish it one day. And now, if you are good at it, who honestly cares if you're in the elite or not? I just care that people like what I write. I make no pretence to be the next Shakespeare, nor do I want to be. And perhaps that's why I've yet to hit a writer's block. That's not to say I don't get stuck and don't need breaks - that's simply to say, when I actually have something to write, I have no problem writing it, and I think that's why.
Remember kids, dont drink and type. Sorry you're having a rough go of it. Hope the rant freed our mind of the angst so you can fill it with more productive stuff. Good luck.
I couldn't verbally tell a story to save my life. Vocal cords and keyboards are very different tools, each hard to master. We all have low points like this. Soldiering on is the best medicine. I write because stories are my way of expressing feelings I'm too dumb articulate. Why do you write, @Garball? Is it honestly just to be one of the elite? There must be a part of you that simply needs to put the words down. Some question! Thank you, @nastyjman, you made my morning.
Why do I write? I write because I have to. I am a faithful servant to the story. Sometimes it is enough to simply discuss an idea of a story to set it free. Other stories need more; they need to be expressed in physical form.
Oh yes! That and some pretty hard pain pills after he got hit by a car. The sad part is that some of his best work came from that state. The very good side to that is he's sober now, and as prolific with words as ever. There's also Jack Kerouac, who didn't write horror, but was a popular writer who died thanks to excessive drinking. ...and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
Before I get permanently labeled a whiny titmouse, my frustration is not suddenly born out of a day or two of writer's block. I didn't sit down one day and say, "I'm going to be the next Bill Faulkner. This should only take a day or so." The frustration and doubt stems from years of wondering why I cannot get my thoughts from my brain to my fingertips. I can almost physically feel the traffic jam of words in my forearms, starting around two inches distal of my radial head (maybe around radial tuberosity) and wrapping over to the styloid process of the ulna. It is just a hump I have to get over/around/under/through.
What goes wrong? Is it that you can't write what your thoughts are, or that what you end up writing isn't what you envisioned?
More or less, I can't write what my thoughts are. Something about sitting down to write makes me freeze even when I have my dictation recorder.
Are you trying to write fiction? With characters who are not you, etc? Or is it some other form of writing that you're trying to do?
Just write down those thoughts even if they are grammatically wrong, incorrect, stupid. inane. You're writing the first draft, eh? The first draft is your own private quarters, the place where you can be a bad boy, a naughty Nancy, a wily wordsmith. Or if you are a revise-as-you-go, write down everything and let if flow. Once you're done with your session, revise. In the end, just get those thoughts out. It's like exorcism. Actually, it IS exorcism. Let your pen (or keyboard) be the crucifix, the word as demons, your mind as Linda Blair.
I've said this time and time again, but nobody ever seems to want to listen. Writing is a muscle . Don't expect to sit all your life and suddenly run a marathon. In the beginning it's going to be HARD, and from the untrained perspective, maybe seem impossible. That is why you need to read, write short stories, and spend some time in the workshop critiquing others. To build those muscles so you can write that novel you've been itching to get off your chest.
So I guess my question is, where do you want your thought to come in? You're telling a story. Do you mean 'thoughts as philosophy?' Or thoughts as in 'I just thought of an idea?' It's kind of hard to get to grips with your dilemma because I can't quite envision the problem. You freeze up ...but does that mean you freeze every time you sit down to work on your stories, or only when certain things happen (or don't happen) in your stories? Do you expect your characters to voice your thoughts? Or just exhibit behaviours that make your readers think the same thoughts as yourself? It's interesting what you said about every character having a part of you in them. That is so true, at least for me. However, sometimes, if you give your characters enough rope, they will surprise you. I ended up with more of 'me' in the character I least expected in my novel. It just sort of got skewed that way, although it wasn't the way I'd originally envisioned things. But geez. And some of 'me' that turned up in that character is not stuff I'm proud to own myself. I mean, not ashamed really, but just surprised I let it get written that way. Even when I deliberately fought against that ...no no no, I don't want him to behave like THAT ...he did anyway. And it's me. It's exactly what I would do under similar circumstances. It was fun getting other characters to react, actually.
Agree with characters. Sometimes they take life of their own, apart from the author's. If you force them to conform, they might act like robots, pre-programmed, awaiting orders from master...beep...boop...beep.
Sometimes I feel like I have to write a circling glob of words. Round and round trying to get at the idea I want. It's always hidden in something. It never consciously comes out. I don't sit there going aha - brilliant. I usually have to search the scenes going - what the hell have I got here? - and then I go oho when I see something that I can work with. Sometimes things also need a connection. Scenes apart from themselves can sometimes be written off as trite but what if they're just missing their context? What if they're just laying foundation for the big point being made. And there's no grand speech to let you know it's the 'moment' it usually just a scene of a handful of sentences in which the reader gets it. And you never know in a book where that major scene will be. I've seen major 'it' moments in Atwood show up early and midway in Nabokov or like the Great Gatsby at the end. I'm reading an interesting book right now called From where you Dream. He's got some interesting techniques in the book. I'm not jazzed about all of them. I doubt I could go into a trance like state but I daydream to the point of tuning out everything. But I agree with some of his ideas about staying in the moment with the character ( not getting ahead to make sure you include what you want to say ) applying sensual detail and rebuffing generalizations and summary. He's one of those true believers that the subconscious if you let it will give you the details you need. Don't give up. Just keep writing and working through it. Above all don't take an idea too seriously. Take the characters seriously. By honoring their viewpoint the idea will get more respect.
@Garball Try not to sweat that kind of stuff too much or worry about it but know that it shouldn't make give up, look I'm not always fully satisfied with my own writing if ever but I still do it. A lot of us just do it and heck stuff we write a lot of other people might actually love. But still that might not be fully what you want. And yeah it’s frustrating when you feel as though you’re not mastering a craft you've felt like you have been at for ages but sometimes maybe one writer's destiny is not to master the craft but to change it, innovate or to forever expand their skill as they go on. Please don’t give up or ever consider it. It would be an honest waste; you might have a hard time doing certain things but don’t try to write like the elite man, Let the best of the best influence and inspire you, but at end of the day just write like you! Because you write a better YOU then anybody else. Right? You might not best the best now and you might not ever get to that level you see as the best but you'll be a better Garball then anybody else can . And if you don't dig that.....then just do it cause its FUN! Better to say that you went and did it then to have not done it at all.
