I almost started laughing when I read your post . . . because the same thing's happened to me a couple times. I took it as a sign that I was maturing in my writing - even though I've only been writing for about a year and a half.
Whatever you do, DON'T WIPE YOUR FLASH DRIVE! I've deleted things over the years that I wish I could recover. Just buy another 8GB flash drive (they're like, $10) and start fresh from there if you must. You can't go wrong just keeping your stuff on file in case you need to go back and look at something.
Put the flash drive away in a cool dry safe place (preferably backing it up so you have two copies stored in two different places) and trust that a later version of you will know how to turn some of that material into better work. Then get a new drive (and a second one for backing it up too!) and start fresh, without feeling the baggage of your old writing right in front of you. For most people, writing is not about innate talent that will show itself easily, it's about working and working and racking up one improvement after another.
I had the same problem when I first started writing almost ten years ago. Every time I put it down and then picked it up a year later, I would look at it and say, WTF? The more you write, the older you get, and the more experience, real life experience you get, the early work will seem like its not up to snuff. When I really started to write in earnest about a year ago, there is still a difference in the way i write from then up to now. Your writing will evolve and change as you age and mature. Don't look at your old work as garbage, or sewage to flush. Look at it as raw data, ideas that will find new life later on. You may find your writing will be missing that one unique character, but if you erase your stuff, you'll never find the template. You'll have you rebuild that person from memory or scratch. Ever see a movie where a car crash, or traumatic event seems to be in slow motion? Ever experience it in real life? You don't have infinite time to contemplate life, or your life does not flash before your eyes. Its an event that hurts, but the impact of the car doesn't get through the trauma at first. Your body reacts. Your mind reacts to stimuli, and your thoughts seem to disappear as you try to react to that trauma. That's where life fills in the blanks that is missing from previous work. The details that were missing in your first round will get filled in by your mind in how you react to those events now. You may end up rewriting entire scenes in order to make the event work, and even change the flavor of what you were saying originally. There is nothing wrong with that. The crime would be in thinking that what you wrote originally was trash and sewage. its raw material. Save it, and refer back to it. if anything, remember that your work now will reflect your maturity and how you've grown as a writer. It might even become a sort of writing timeline. This is how my style was in ....., followed by my style in 2012. This is how I write now in 2020.
Yup. It happens all the time. I wish I could go back and rewrite EVERYTHING. But you know what? Every once in a while, I'll pull out something I've written, polish it a bit, throw in a different character, or scene, and it comes out pretty good. I liken it to cello playing (yes, I'm a cello geek). It has taken my whole life to learn how to just draw a note without creating mass mayhem. Why should writing be different? Those who are really good don't just wake up and say, "I'm going to write a spy novel and make a million bucks." Successful writing is in some ways more demanding than recent decades. Yes, there is a bunch of crap out there. But readers have become quite sophisticated. The old Perry Mason mystery just won't cut it anymore. You really need a clever trick, down trodden characters, and really rotten devious villains to differentiate yourself from the pack.
Have you,ever read a series where the books seem to keep getting better and better? The more you write, the better you get at it (usually). The older you get, the more experienced you become. Experience and maturity are lenses through which we view our work. What you're feeling isn't abnormal. I'd say it's a good sign. It shows your work is developing over time
I've felt the same way. I think most writers do. Sometimes I wonder if it has to do with mood. Sometimes I will go back and read something and this is great, I am proud of myself, then I will go back and a few weeks later and read it again and think, this kinda sucks!
I want to thank everyone for the replies. I've decided to just buy a new drive and starting from scratch. I'm so glad to hear I'm not the only one who has gone through this. The worst part is when people tell you they like what you've written but you just can't get over how much you dislike the piece. Maybe I'm over critical. It's nice to know I'm not alone, though.
I received a rejection from an agent once that said "You write well, but I can't sell what you sent me." he followed up with a very detailed critique of my style. It was more than I could ever hope for from a big LA. Writing well is half the battle. Maybe the story doesn't resonate here and now. Put it in a drawer. maybe in ten years it will be a commercial hit. During his lifetime, Van Gogh was considered a nut who lobbed off an ear. Now just try to buy one of his paintings. Sometimes the story you are trying to tell just doesn't match up with the time period or geographic setting in which you are trying to tell it.
I agree with what they others have said - I'll just add that I am sure there will be a couple of gems in your past writing so do hang on to it.
OH God yes!! I wrote my first book, read back through it a month later and nearly burst into tears it was that devastating. So I rewrote it, and then again (probably done 300+k words for a 89k book). Now, I think it's OK, but still has some damn work to be done. It really is a real b*tch to be honest. Writing is a hard slog! However I've come to the conclusion I'll never be 100% enamoured with it. Perseverance is what separates writer wannabes from the writers.
But it's an encouragement to be able to look back and say "Hey actually, that isn't so great" because it means you've improved. Few of us love our old writing. The ideas themselves may still be good, it just means they need a little developing, if you can be bothered instead of creating something new altogether. Heck, I read stuff I wrote just 1 years ago and I cringe. It's just a fact of constantly improving and moving up In short, don't give up.
Hello everyone, I'm in quite the predicament - I believe I've lost the ability to write fiction. It's been roughly 6 months since I've been able to write anything of substance. About a month ago, I was able to force out 5 pages of, well, forced writing. It was nothing more than a context-less scene. Something related to a killer being forced to kill or something along those lines. I got 18,000 words into a story in 3 days back in February, but got burned out quickly afterwards. There was something beautiful during those 3 days, however. I couldn't stop writing. It was like the ideas had to get out, and each new idea spawned even more great ideas. As I said above, though, since then, it's been very dry. Like, very dry. I'll occasionally get the inspired pair of sentences and jot them down, but it's missing so much context that when I try to write, I just stare at the screen. Honestly, I think my problem might be lack of proper planning? The story I got 18,000 words deep into over a few days was the first story with solid planning beforehand. I spent the week prior to that nailing out major events, minor events, character bio's, etc. and the "block" only occurred once I got to a point that wasn't thought out enough to make sense. In my mind, it's like running. You stretch, limber up, mentally prepare, then go. The first few steps are tough, but once you get in stride, your momentum keeps you going. If you stop, though, your momentum is gone - as is some of your energy, making it tougher to re-start than it was in the beginning. In my case, I didn't continue on after stopping. It seems I decided to take a 6 month sabbatical instead -___- Anyone have any ideas what I can do to become inspired again? I'm beginning to think I've just lost the ability to write..
Step One: Think of an idea. It doesn’t have to be a well developed idea. It doesn’t even have to be a good idea. You could just rewrite a scene in your favorite movie or write a short story about your cat taking over the house and making you her slave (though that may already be true). Step Two: Write. Turn off your computer. Turn off your phone. Seclude yourself in your room where no one can bother you. Sit back, relax, and grab the old-fashioned pen and paper. Notice that I said PEN – not a pencil. Writing with a pen makes it harder to erase and edit as you go. Right now what I want you to do is just sit and write whatever comes to mind. Start with the simple idea that you started with at Step One, but don’t worry if you branch off into a different idea. Just go. Get your momentum back. A nice trick? Set a timer for a half an hour and see how much you can dish out. Set yourself a goal. Meet the goal. Exceed the goal. You haven’t lost the ability to write. You’re just worrying too much about the process. You’re making it too complicated. Too structured. That simile you had between running and writing? Brilliant. But you know what? Sometimes you don’t have time to stretch and limber up. For instance, say you take a long road trip. You sit. And sit. You drive. Miles pass, hours pass. It sucks just sitting there. Doing nothing. Your back hurts, your butt hurts, your legs hurt. Everything is sore. Then you step out of your car at a rest stop. No one else is around; miles of road lead through nothingness. It’s just you and the empty air, your legs aching from lack of use. You don’t bother to warm up. You just go. And it feels amazing.
I never truly plan out my plots ahead of time. I'll get a basic idea of the premise, and roll from there, letting it develop naturally. I, honestly, had no idea that PR would end the way it did, it just came to me 75% of the way through, while my MC battled her way through to her goal. DaD I've got an idea already, and it makes me feel forced. I might let the ending change on its own. I'd say let things flow on it's own, that being so rigid might be hurting your creative process. Writers, as a whole, like to fantasize a lot, and when you put limits on them, then you lose the ability to let them flow.
To me, that's like telling a square to stop having corners and be a circle. Not saying that I can't let my "imagination flow" or what have you, but, without some structure, I find myself unable to write more than 3-5 pages of story without context.
Everyone has a different process, I usually can't force myself to plan ahead, if i do, it kills all my creativity and makes my writing feel dead to me. I know others can't write without planning ahead. If you've found that that works for you, stick with it. Also, if you're in a dry spot, try reading more. I mean really read, observe things that the writers are doing, take note of the main ideas, character development, etc. It might help you find inspiration again!
Writers block! There are those that suggest it doesn't exist, but I beg to differ. Some days I write with great flow and the ideas keep spawning like guppies. But then I have the days when my brain doesn't function in the sense of creation. The dots don't connect. What helps me is I only right when I feel like it, if I write when I don't want to, it ends up forced and stilted. I say start a new idea, but keep the idea of your story alive by pondering it just before sleep time. Ideas my flow. However, I'm sure you haven't lost your abilities, they're only lost.
But isn't it possible that that's something that should be faced and worked through? IMO, there's no harm, none at all, in writing some forced and stilted prose, or otherwise bad prose. There's nothing wrong in writing hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of words that are going to be thrown away. Just as a pianist spends countless hours playing music that isn't concert-quality, a writer will spend countless hours writing words that aren't publication-quality.
Your other thread concerning writing/editing may have the answer to this thread. I'd suggest a start on editing the 18,000 words you've written so far, and as you go over the piece you may well find that ideas are revitalised through even the smallest of revisions. Whether the story is planned to the last nut and bolt ahead of time or left to find its own way, we all get stuck from time to time and instead of looking outside the story for inspiration the answer can often be found inside it. Good luck.
I'm in the midst of something similar; I've really had this struggle to turn out some chapters in my story. I think the issue for me is that because in a novel, the writer has to live with the characters and plot for a long time you get fed up with it. You are delving into this world of your own invention much longer than anyone who will ever actually read your story for pleasure. I've reread some of the chapters I've struggled with, and I think they are as good if not better than some of the others that came easily. So I know my ability to write is still there. Furthermore, writing a chapter that is really good can make it hard to write the ones that follow because you're always trying to live up to that self expectation. I know some published writers who have been called geniuses and their work sublime, who have real issues writing anything else after that.
How To Remove the Blank from a Blank Page Step 1: Look at the bank sheet intently until your eyes go numb. Step 2: Keep looking. Step 3: Give up and go try something else. Step 4: Get bored of something else and write some gibbering codswallop on the page. Step 5: Do a backflip. Step 6: Read through what you’ve written. If you don’t experience dizziness, keep writing. Step 7: Do another backflip. Step 8: Hopefully now someone has spotted you completing a set of instructions on how to write something of no constructive value. If no one has, make a loud noise until somebody does. Step 9: Hogtie that person Step 10: Put them in the trunk of your car. Step 11: Drive the car off a cliff. Step 12: Make pretend that you’re a turkey.
Some writers flow best when inspiration strikes - they grab their lap top and knock off page after page - without planning out anything. Others though, thrive on more structure. They set aside a time to write, they plan out each scene. Neither way is right they each have there bonus' and flaws. The trouble with planning everything is it can create boredom - things aren't changing you feel like you're going over everything again and again. The trouble with not planning is your story can spiral off into uncharted bounds with no end in sight. Not sure if you're trying to get back into a project or start a new one. Why not leave the old project for a while and try something on a smaller scale - a short story. Something with a beginning , middle , end. Something you can admire, tweak and feel proud that you've finished something. I've experienced a great moment in writing when I couldn't stop for an entire year - I carried around a clipboard and knocked off 20 pages a day. Haven't ever got that back - but it balances out - a lot of that writing wasn't very good. I might write slower now but the writings better. Don't give up so easily. Everyone has a dry spell. My cure -eliminate distractions - no t.v. , if your a gamer - cut out the games. Focus on reading it will inspire you and keep you in the world of writing.
