Why is it that you can express yourself so effectively right now, but have trouble doing it when it comes to fiction? Don't wait for mood swings and muses, be the boss! When you don't feel like writing, sit down and write until you're exhausted.
No writing gets done unless inspiration, motivation, and free time align. That's how it's been for me too. Don't let people make you feel ashamed for not writing, for how little you may have been able to get done in a long period of time. I'm sure there is a lot whirring inside your head. Ideas for worlds, plots and characters that become just that little bit more refined the more you are thinking about them. Also, think about all the life experience you've had in the meantime. That, too, will surely serve your writing. As for losing confidence, (addressing the OP now, just to avoid any misunderstandings) this has only come about because you learned that there were things you didn't know you didn't know. Now you know there are things you hadn't considered before. But now that you know, you can do something about it. I think you're just disheartened, and perhaps daunted at the prospect of learning all these things. Someone moved the goal posts, as it were. There's a supportive community here. Just keep working at it, ask for help/feedback when you need it, and you'll find your skills improving just by keeping yourself immersed in a culture of writing.
I could write that about myself exactly because I'm not in my creative mood, but my analytical one. If you would like me to write essays & papers discussing my stories, breaking down each of my characters, and going into critical analysis of my themes, motifs, symbols, et cetera, I could blow you away. Unfortunately, I just can't write the stories in this mindset. I have three voices: My speaking voice, which has threadbare vocabulary & no ability to articulate myself or my ideas. It's all "ya-know" "um" sorta like" and all sorts of vague nonsensical ramblings. I do not use nor can seem to access without much struggle what comes so naturally & without thought to my writings. I believe my dichotomy of diction came about from being taught to read from Shakespeare, the King James Bible, and works of antiquity & classical literature far beyond my years by my mother, and then learning to speak from my peers. But I think my brain tried to make sense of these two extremes of the same language by storing them separately: written language & spoken language. I have my academic voice, which is when I write in my critical analytical moods. I have an excellent self awareness & a fairly astute discernment of others, and I'm a fair hand at breaking down art, literature, & creative mediums technically and/or symbolically/thematically. This post here is the sort of writing my academic voice produces. And lastly is my creative voice, which tends to be playful, have a poetic flare, and--while having access & making use of all the same diction of academic voice--has a very different tone & style. I think the poetry & flowery prose also goes back to the Shakespeare/King James experience & my brain deciding that was what written works ought to be. It's like opening different apps in my brain, and the apps don't have or share the same features, even if they seem to be of a similiar sort. Maybe my creative-voice app is just in the midst of an update or something to fix a software glitch? At any rate, I have forced myself to write--unfortunately it all had to be binned as garbage, and even worse the sort that can't even be recycled. Such a pity, as I do hate being wasteful. But I'll keep on keeping on. I have to figure this out; like perhaps a way to turn on my creative-voice manually, or else find some thing or other to lure to muse for visit on my schedule. There's gonna be a trick, and I'm gonna keep working at it till I've discovered it then utilize it to pieces. I'm so grateful to everyone giving me advice & various things to try (although I do feel guilty as though my problem is hijacking this thread when I really only meant to relate on some level to original poster's issue).
Wording. Sentence structure. Me I want to send it to an editor to be able to see what they'd suggest to cut or word differently. I want to learn from that experience but I'm nervous it will cost the earth. Also, what editors do I trust. I know nobody that I can talk to about it and I'm petrified of spending a lot of money and ending up with the same mess.
@Crybaby If you can find a grad student or two in Uni that is majoring in English or something related, they might edit it for you for a small amount. (Just an idea) To the OP. If it helps to take a break from your main WIP, try writing short stories to keep your mind and writing skill active. It may help you gain back your confidence to get you back to your WIP. Just a thing that I have found useful when I am unsure of how to continue my WIP. If anything else you will have a collection of shorts you can publish if you like.
This is a good idea. Just make sure the person knows the finer grammar mechanics. I sailed through my lower division English courses without knowing much of anything about grammar. Don't assume that just because someone is an English major that they know that kind of stuff, haha. I'm building my grammatical knowledge outside of school in my personal writing.
Thanks for your suggestion and your 'we can't stop here, this is bat country' it did make me smile. You always make me smile, you crazy person. I don't know any grad students? I lead such a sheltered life. Thanks to you, too. I was having a proper melt down today.
Thing is all of the dos and don't are guidelines not firm rules - do what you want. If you read a lot you'll see that many great authors regularly break all the so called 'rules' and their work is better for it ... consider for example 'the moon is a harsh mistress' by Robert Heinlien , he starts breaking grammatical rules in the first line and continues in that vein making up words and mixing languages as he goes to reflect the nature of the mixed penal colony he is writing about If you wrote "My old man taught me two things, always cut cards, and mind own business" you could virtually guarantee that some beta who thinks that everything has to be in the queens English would correct it to "My old man taught me two things, always cut the cards, and mind your own business" which would totally miss the point that a character called Manuel Garcia O kelly Davis living in a penal colony on the moon probably doesn't speak BBC English in received pronunciation
Listen to this guy on YouTube, Andrew Stanton (screenwriter/director) talk about the artistic process and what every story should do. Take special note of the first bit, about McGregor... a Scotsman sitting at a pub sulking over a warm beer, with a story to tell. It's hilarious... but it encapsulates the art of storytelling, or in my field, the visual arts. The only rule you need to adhere to, is engage the audience and make them care. It's the art of manipulating expectations and emotions. Just as I learned to draw and paint, the technical aspects of writing will come with practice. That's not so much "art" as it is craft. You're making the artistic process all mushy and more complicated than it need be. It's not about right-brain/left-brain, or finding that quiet time to create. That's bullshit. Inspiration should be everywhere you turn. The artistic process doesn't have an *off button*. The organ that resides between your ears is perhaps the most complex mechanism in all the universe. There is no such thing as writer's block.
@Crybaby Try using Craigs List, it seems like an ok place to hire people for small stuff that you might need help with. Just put in your add the specifics of what your looking for and what you offer as compensation.
@Crybaby, sounds like you are focusing to much on the mechanics of writing and editing, someone else's idea how that sentence should sound. Nothing wrong with "Learing how to structure sentences and all that stuff but all the tips and advice doesn't want to stay in my head." (except for the minor spelling error "learing"). Sure, it is grammatically incomplete, but I do that a lot, if it sounds good. Edit with your ear, not your brain and a someone else's guidebook.
