I have a question for my fellow writers, have any of you ever gotten really frustrated with a writing project? The reason i ask is because i am working on a story about a texas ranger in the year 1880 and i am currently really frustrated because i can't pick the handgun he will use in the story.
I'm frustrated with a science fiction short story I'm writing right now. The MC is on a distant planet along with the rest of the scientific exploration team, and they all get desperately sick. The MC encounters an almost-miraculous cure for the disease and is healed, but he doesn't know precisely what the cure actually was. I'm struggling with the scene in which he is depicted as healthy, recovered from the disease, and everyone else is wondering why and how it happened. I, of course, have all this sorted out, but a scene in which a previously-sick character is suddenly depicted as healthy is a bit hard for me to write. Why can't you pick the handgun your character uses? It's 1880, and there are only a few handguns available - do your research and pick one! Don't worry about the specifications of the guns, and whether the MC demands the best gun. He might be using anything - a gun his father or friend gave him, or a gun his cousin, who works for a gunmaker, made for him, or a gun he took from the first man he killed, or something like that.
I'll gladly throw my 74,000-word story out the window right now. Yes, I'm frustrated, very frustrated, and I just discovered that to fix my stupid novel problem, I probably have to delete like 3 chapters of really good scenes. I HATE THIS! I stare at my MS and I think my face turns like this: @_@ ;_; @~*&&^*@@~@~**!!!!!
I can't imagine there is anyone who has tried their hand at writing and hasn't been frustrated before. For me the problem is finishing novels. I always get off to (what I think) are great starts, and then get stuck. Then I go and start another project and get stuck with it!
Frustrated? Often. Though I've got to admit it's usually because the plot isn't working as well as I thought it would, or a character's dialogue just doesn't seem quite right no matter what I try... not because I'm forced to use a different item brand. Does the make of handgun matter that much?
The most frustrated I ever got was when I was taking the intro to fiction course at the college. My professor only allowed literary fiction (he absolutely hates any other kind!) I had a hard time coming up with a topic he wanted to read, he kept telling me my stories had no conflict at all whatsoever yet they were it just wasn't his idea of conflict which is violence. It was required we have a meeting with him one-on-one after the first or second draft, during my meeting he told me to use my past, a very specific event in my recent past that I was not ready to write about, even worse was having to workshop it in front of the whole class and much like any workshop I had to sit quietly while my life is on display. I only used my past to inspire but it was still close to the surface so it felt like it was my own life being picked apart. In the end I received an A+ on it but my short story went through 5 edits where as everyone else only got two. The biggest issue was trying to make the fictional part believable.
Oy, I couldn't tell you how many times. Usually, about ideas that sound cool in my head, but end up being pure rubbish when I write them down. However, I usually realize my writing abilities are to blame, so I calm down and try again. And again. The most frustrating part for me has to be the fact that said abilities aren't improving faster.
For this specific project my main character's revolver is important to me since the story is a historical story.
Frustrated - oh yes, I think the word was invented by writers. Sometimes I feel like Don Music from Sesame Street - you know when he starts bashing his head on the piano, laymenting I can't do it I can't do it. Of course that's when inspiration strikes - lol.
What writer hasn't been frustrated? Characters do things they shouldn't, saying things they shouldn't, or simply stare back at you trying to make your head explode...(No wait. That last portion is merely the cat...)
I have deleted 1000's, tens of thousands of words before after convincing myself they were shit. Strangely I have never really regretted it. Perhaps they were.
Ugh, all the time. It becomes very discouraging. I think the best thing to do is just spit out what you're trying to say, have fun with it and try to convince yourself you're not writing garbage. A good tip I've found is to stop writing for a bit and read. It really inspires me to read something by my favorite author and creates a newfound excitement for my own writing.
I am sorry you are frustrated, I hate when things in my story get so complicated that I just want quit. Try to remember what is important in the story. Is the type of gun going to matter on the outcome of the story? Or is it just another detail? You have to pick and choose what objects, people, place, etc. need a detailed description or is the object, person, place, etc. just fluff? And those are all my words of wisdom. Good luck!
You probably have an answer already but in case you don't look up; John Taffin's sixguns.com. life is too short to spend itwith an ugly gun.
