I've been writing steadily for three years now, with only a few hiatuses, so it is safe to say that I am still very much a novice. In the beginning I tried writing novels, but they never got finished. Since then I've written a dozen short stories, the next better than the previous, and recently I tpicked up poetry. Still, a novel trumps them all. You cannot beat the feeling of reading a well written novel where thinks transpire into something much greater than you could ever have imagined. I view myself as an intuitive writer. I don't spend much time on planning, and I often find that when I plan, I end up writing something entirely different anyway. So I came to the conclusion that I'm not so much interested in telling a story as I am in love with the language. Written words are a beauty. Thus, I've spent a lot of time trying to paint pictures with words, instead of telling stories. So my descriptive language isn't what is lacking, I just simply lack the idea to properly tailor a story. I attribute it to my lack of life experience, as a lot of great works are heavily influenced by personal experience. Has anyone been a similar position, and did you get out of it?
Hmm. That's an interesting dilemma. Some novels are very lyrical rather than plot-driven, so you might get away with it if you get to be an expert at the beautiful language thing. However, having a great story enhanced by beautiful language and careful word choice and sentence construction is a thing of beauty and joy forever. Is that what you hope to achieve? So where are you now, on this scale? Great language, boring story that goes nowhere? Or just a story that got lost in the language? Or ...are you worrying for nothing, and you're already on the right track? Have you had any feedback from others about your writing? If so, what did your readers tell you?
This isn't a bad thing as long as you can come up with a marketable idea. It's good that you're considering poetry since I was going to recommend it based on your post. Also, I would suggest starting small. Maybe focus on writing a short story. Think of a scene to write about. Then gradually expand on it until you have a story to tell. Think of it as a series of building blocks; you're essentially piecing together bits of beautiful language.
First don't look to make something great. I battled that mindset for years. It's defeating. I pushed projects aside because they weren't good enough, or if I did power through, I ruined them with a lot of pretentious hoopla. Greatness is merely about interpretation not the experience. You don't need to experience a lot to be a great writer. I read a book called Opal by Opal Whiteley, it's a child's diary and it's amazing. The girl doesn't experience a lot but her interpretation of the events, what she feels, the way she sees things, make everything powerful. Where is the story having it's problem - a plot that falls apart, boring characters, an unclear theme? My novels always battled pretension, contrived situations, and clutter - ( fifty sentences when two would do ). Even though I still battle these issues it's lessened considerably by refocusing on the characters. I've learned to push aside theme, plot, everything ( though I battle beauty - I love descriptions and quirky sentences ) and concentrate on the characters allowing them to bring out the other things. It's really helped my writing and I've even been surprised by some of the power I've managed to create in seemingly daffy ideas - Big Bad Zoof.
I'm currently writing a short story that I really like so far. I can write a short narrative quite easily. My weakness lies in telling a story that unfolds to something greater. I'm basically the opposite of Quentin Tarantino.
I'm running into some of same issues. Most of the novels I read have an ending that wraps up all the little threads throughout the story in some great finale. I've been looking back through sections and wondering if it will be possible for me to do the same. While the overall plot will end with a satisfying conclusion all the little subplots along the way are tripping me up. I keep finding places where I introduce something in one chapter and then wrap up the topic two chapters later. Most of this is to bring up issues that I want the reader to think about in the overall story but I'm not sure how well this will work in the end.
