Thanks, Tesoro. My family is predominantly Scandinavian, Norwegian specifically. Also I've loved mythology almost my whole life, so I thought it was doubly appropriate.
If I adopted the gardening theme, I could've said "buried the original and then reaped/farmed/harvested/etc." or use a mechanical theme like salvage with the scrapped. Quite appropriate since I copy pasted large portions into the new document with some minor edits.
I was speaking to a bestselling novelist about my writing aspirations, and he said that writers block is a sign that you're trying to write something that's not natural for you. He said it indicates that maybe you're just not a novelist, or at least not one that can be commercial, because you'll never be able to keep to deadlines. I don't think he ever gets writers block - he writes about 15,000 words a day, which is about 3 months work for me (admittedly it's his full time profession and currently only my hobby, which I have limited time to indulge). But still, it did make me doubt whether I'm a natural writer, because I get writer's block ALL. THE. TIME. Then I just shrugged, said screw it, I AM A BLOODY WRITER and got back to writing. I think the fear of not writing - or not being a writer - was an effective tool to dismantle the wall ;-)
Nicely done! Way to turn a negative comment into some positive motivation. I think the only qualification for being a writer is... writing.
I'm new so big 'HI!' Say you lost your confidence with writing and even when you tried to write you just couldn't. You get ideas easily but you can't write anything. How would you get over it?
You adjust the storyline. Or adjust anything that feels right. You know, mix it up a little. That's how i kept my fantasy project going.. i changed a few things and sorted them out.
try journaling, just to get in the habit of writing again. write for you, your confidence will come back!
Also, try branching off to follow other creative impulses. I started writing for my films and I was very good. Then I started to suck. Then I really sucked. So I got frustrated and depressed. So I picked up the guitar. I danced. I sang. I wrote poetry, blogs, stories, facebook updates, in journals, on forums. I drew. I followed every and any impulse. I paid attention to the process and I saw similar mechanics and themes in how I progressed in all these different mediums. I got comfortable with failing and I saw some amazing things I was capable of. I regained that sense of pride of looking back on a piece, knowing it's not perfect, but really enjoying it nonetheless. I lost that - that sense of pride. Then I watched this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI23U7U2aUY This interview by Ira Glass let me forgive myself, and as a result, produce much better work. Confidence is earned, but it's also learned. Learn to be confident that if you dive in, you'll get it and if you don't get it, you'll recognize it and you made a step towards getting it someday. The more work you'll do, the more good work you'll find yourself doing, I swears.
Though I definitely agree with the posts above me, I have another suggestion: inspire yourself to write again by immersing yourself in a world of literature. Force yourself to go for, say, a whole week without writing; but, on this week, during the time you would spend writing and maybe more time, read more than you have ever read in your life. If it is possible for you, a book or more a day, and I mean good books, good works of literature. In doing so, you will regain such an appreciation for literature that it will be hard for you to not write, for you will feel such a strong impulse to do so. But if a week or two of this still hasn't helped enough, I also encourage that you start reading books on writing from other writers, such as On Writing by Stephen King.
In all honesty, you've just gotta write. Even if it's hard, even if you're just writing down the first thoughts that come to your head. Even if you're writing: "I have no confidence, and I feel that I can't write. It's too difficult. Ideas are filling up in my head, so much so that I feel it might explode..." ...Writing really is the best cure. Aside from that, I would take walks, listen to good music, and read. Also, frankly, at some point you just have to get over it and realize that it doesn't matter. All lack of confidence does is hold you back. I'm not quite sure if that's what you were looking to hear, but hopefully that helps you. : )
If the beginning is hard to write, write a scene that you can picture in the middle, or the end. Do some exercises like writing detailed descriptions of things you see or scenes from your life. Blog. Anything to get words down will help them come when you need them. Really, blockage often doesn't go as deep as it feels. If you force yourself to put down a paragraph or two, regardless of whether or not you think it's good, then you might find things starting to flow.
Hey there, newbie! Hope you like it here so far. I lose confidence in my everything very frequently, but I learn to regain it through perserverance. If it doesn't work out the first time, keep trying to do it and don't lose hope. As long as you've got ideas, you plough through with them, confidence or no confidence. If you feel that you didn't write it properly, go back to it and look it over.
Hi again! Everyone made some really good suggestions, and i already started to read when i couldn't write hoping it might inspire me! I read a lot of Classical literature and find that always helps me. So today i got up with an idea in my head and instead of not bothering i wrote it. It turned out to be a five page short-story so i'm really, really pleased i managed to write something. But i'm going to do something now i've never done which is to actually edit my own work. It's really bad that i don't but maybe working with a small piece and improving it will help. I love this Site so far and have found everyone really helpful and welcoming. So i wish everybody well with their works at the moment and thank you again. xxx The Newbie
So.. I've been writing for about 6 months, I've managed to get about halfway through a story and clocking up about 40 000 words. The thing is, I've starting to doubt whether its any good... Not so much the quality of the writing as the plot. A few people have read through it and I recieved some great feedback, but I can't seem to shake the feeling that it's just missing the mark. I go hot and cold, somedays I love it and others I hate it so much I want to set it on fire. I'm at the stage where I either commit to finishing the novel or start a fresh.... Previously I have aways written short stories, which have only taken a few days, I never felt like this writing them, I never doubted myself! Is this common when trying to write a novel? Are Should I risk wasting another year on it? Any Advice?
Finish your work, try your luck with it, if it doesn't get accepted put it in a box and keep it in the bottom of your cupboard. When you look at it about a year later, you'll probably understand why it didn't get published. Hopefully, you'll also realise how much finishing it taught you--because you must finish it, if it's the last thing you ever do. It is not a waste, it's a step nearer success. Or so I've always told myself. I've stopped asking people I know for feedback because they just say it's great. Like you, I think now it's my plots that are the problem--still too complicated but not enough central idea to them. Short stories don't really do it for me. Unfortunately, I have very little free time, so finishing anything takes ages, but I really love it, so, hey--it's just as 'pointless' as sitting watching TV or something, isn't it?
two pieces of advice: 1----finish it! 2----never doubt yourself, it just gives you a reason to discontinue your story and that would go against advice no.1 good luck charlie
i feel exactly the same way - about ALL my stories! i always have the feeling the plots are really poor and that no one will ever pay to read them. or if they do, they won't enjoy them as much as I do writing them. I think many writers feel that way. besides I read something an author said about writing yesterday, re: the thread on poor writing advices: "only the bad writers think they're actually good" or something like that.(the link I posted leads you to the article) I think one can only trust his own instinct on the stories, if it meant enough to you to start writing it and get this far it must be worth something. As long as you write a story you yourself would like to read I'm sure there will always be an audience for it. Just keep writing anyway. Don't let you inner editor take over, let the publishers/agents decide if it's publishable or not. Or if you have a writer friend or someone that knows what sells. Just believe in your writing and your story, that is all you can do. PS I decided about my current project that even if it won't be publishable I will at least have learned something (even a lot) from writing it that i can bring to the next project, so I'm doing my best at finishing it as good as it can be.
We should sticky a couple of your threads so people can go there for self-help advice on how to not be so down on themselves. haha.
It's been said before, but I will say it again. Finish the story. Then, put it aside and let it stew. A few months should be sufficient for this. Then, read through the whole thing again. I've done the above not only with finished stories, but also with those stories I've abandoned as being utterly "shite" and have surprised myself with how good they actually were. Needless to say, the doubt I had in my ability to write soon evaporated.
Doubt happens a lot when an idea gets stagnant, especially when you've been reading the same paragraph or part of your story over and over for a while trying to finish it! That's why Batgoat's advice is so good, you really do need to let it "stew" for a while and come back to it another time.
Writing short stories vs. writing a novel is like sprinting vs. a marathon. I've written a few short stories, but I enjoy writing novels more. You enjoy writing short stories, but the novel is getting you down. You're worried about the time investment - unless you're a fast writer, even with an advance of say, 15,000$ [which gets paid out in three years], you won't earn that much on your novel to qualify the time investment... So why do writers still write novels? Because, while short stories are great, they tend not to last like a novel does. Unless you have enough short stories to collect them [Orson Scott Card's Maps in a Mirror comes to mind] or if people greatly revere your short stories [Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected], you won't make much money on short stories either, but on the other hand the time invested in much less. A quandary. Don't sell yourself short if you turn out to be a great short story writer, but no good at novels. The long form is not for everyone, just as a lot of novel writers cannot write a short story. They're different beasts, altogether. As to the quality of your novel, I cannot judge that, but most 'first drafts' suck. First drafts are meant to get the whole novel on the page. It's mainly in the editing process that the novel is shaped, and, yes, that can take a few months to a year also. Writing for money is a fool's game anyway - it's nice if you strike it rich, but it's like sifting a river full of mud in the hopes of finding gold. Some find gold, most don't. That doesn't mean you shouldn't do it, but don't do it because you hope to strike it rich. Do it because you love it.
