I first tried to write a novel when I was 16. God, it was bad, but I got further into it than with any other novel project I've tried. I generally pants stuff, but this time, I've plotted it all the way to the end, so I might have better luck. I wish I had the time I had when I was 16 though.
Poems are short stories with more hard line breaks and soft wrapping turned off. Its the CR-LF fomat.
Ah, we're just getting silly now. Short stories are clearly failed poems and poetry is failed silence.
Confused now. If short stories are failed novels AND failed poems, and poems are failed silence, then why is a raven like a writing desk?
Closer, but novels are failed short stories and short stories are failed poems and poems are failed silence and that last part is the question we all ask ourselves and dread to find the answer.
My writing style is quite visually-oriented. I barely narrate any information, and my prose mostly describes character actions (and the environment around them, of course). This is a side effect of constantly coming across the Show Don't Tell phrase during my developing years as a writer. This is something that I need to let go off, probably. I'm way too visual and this is simply not how most prose is written. Occasionally, I will go for single-lines like "I hated him" to make punchlines but it's mostly for purposes like this. I think if I can learn how to effectively narrate information, I can take my writing to the next level. I've tried it numerous times but I always hate the result. My first ever short story does good narration to a degree, funnily enough. But there is too much narration, so in this case, it's an extreme on the opposite side of the spectrum. If only I could merge my old and current style together to make something more moderate and balanced, it would be great. But it isn't that easy... I guess I'll solve this someday.
I'm kind of caught in the middle in this. I CAN just release the free flow of words and let it all out. But then I get scared. Because half way through, things get messy. I ask myself, is the thing I wrote even good? Or is it just a random mess of words beyond repair? And then I stop writing that novel all together for several months until natural curiosity for the subject matter gets me back to continue writing it again. I haven't worked out yet which way is better; complete perfection that demotivates me and as you said slows down the writing process or letting it flow, but then no longer being in control and making a lot of mess. The answer must surely lie somewhere in the middle? Or at least in theory. In practice the middle road is just as big of a random mess as the other options. Wait, what was the subject again? That's right, letting go. I'm trying to let go of trying to please an imaginary reader and concentrate instead on writing something that I find interesting or is of interest to me. I reason that if the reader is on the same wave length as me they will naturally find what I write interesting. And if they're not, well that's too bad for them. Because my writing is fascinating. (I realize that this might not be the best approach if I ever hope to get paid for my writing)
Letting it flow is where you want to be while writing, and keep writing while it flows. The questions about it being good enough, etc. Are things you need to set aside until the appropriate time, EDITING.
I reach that point not too far into every story I write! I started a short story yesterday with a pretty good idea of what I wanted to write about - not exactly an outline, but a general idea of the characters and how they would interact. I've put about 8 hours into the story and I am only up to about 600 words! Those first few paragraphs - yes! - have to be perfect for me. It has to settle in my bones with a veracity I cannot deny. I've heard many writers say to just barrel through and pour it all out and edit later, but I don't know how to do that. This brings us to the age-old questions: Are you just writing for yourself? Are you the reader you are writing for?
I think the truth is somewhere in the middle. Yesterday I let it all flow and wrote a story for the competition. It looked fine as I was writing it, then I read it beginning to the end and I think I'm going to bin it. It's not worth editing. I should have probably put more thought into it before writing it.
I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle. (at least for me) I need to know the direction of the story, the character motivations and have a genuinely intriguing subject matter before I begin writing, but if I dwell on these things too much I tend not to write for fear of "spoiling" what I have already written. I think the way forward is finding a careful balance between the two. (I think I found that balance with the last two competitions I entered into) I'm definitely the reader I'm writing for at the moment. I need to personally like what I write before I show it to others. I'm not sure if that's the best way forward if I want to sell my work in the future. But I find the moment I try to please others the quality of both my writing and my storytelling tends to drop quite a bit and I no longer feel inspired.
