I've kind of hit a wall with my writing, but I know it's largely because I'm trying to tell a story without really having a story-arc in mind. But otherwise I just try to write as drunk as possible. It's bad, bad, bad prose, let me tell you, but when it's good the pages fly by.
Different people plan differently of course. I prefer the planning stage because it's then that I am most creative, so I'm never limited by my plans because that would mean my imagination is limited by my imagination (which, I suppose, is true!) Bringing it back to topic - I get writer's block when actually turning the ideas into prose - I never really have ideas block, unless I'm trying to fill in a hole. Even then it doesn't normally take too long to fill in. The first paragraph when trying to get into a chapter for which I've already prepared in detail is always the hardest. The other problem is trying to fit in, for example, a section of dialogue written many weeks before, into the flow of the chapter. That can sometimes require a re-write, but finding a way of making it fit can be very very satisfying.
Any plot holes in my piece would indeed be an accident, and probably a product of me taking too long to write the thing. If It takes too long, then I'm prone to get new ideas which could throw something I'd written earlier off balance. Maybe I'll surprise myself and not make any mistakes? Here's hoping. Stubeard, that's cool. I also have that problem as a result of planning; when I have a specific passage, or piece of dialogue that needs to be included, I end up writing the whole piece around getting to that section, instead of just finishing the novel. It's at times like this when I start to stumble, and eventually get writer's block. It's frustrating, but I think patience and alot of thinking is the key. Somtimes the simplest things take an irritating amount of time to get around, lol. Some writers, like R.L Stine, plan their work so specifically that they're able to write the actual thing in less than a week, because most of the hard work has already been done. I guess writer's block can't occur if you've already detailed it down to the letter, heh.
My hints... I have a few things I do; music seems to be the most helpful. I go for a drive or sit at the computer and listen to music that I think might be played as a 'soundtrack' to the scene I'm trying to write, and just let the scene 'happen' in my head. That often helps. I also try going for a walk or some other light exercise, reading a favorite book, or just putting the whole story out of my head for a little while, maybe even a day or two, and focusing on something else. Watch some TV, work on a different story...sometimes just sleeping on it helps, and letting my unconscious mind do some of the work for me. Lastly, I will go back and do some editing on what I've already written. Sometimes catching the odd mix-up, grammatical error, or random plot-hole will get the juices flowing and help me see where the story wants to go.
I've been working on something for almost a year, and I haven't had writers block that entire time. I've had off days, when I wasn't disciplined enough to sit down and work, I've had off weeks when I've felt my forward momentum slowing to a crawl, but when I actually take the time to create and write something, no matter how bad it is, I can always get back on track. Writing is not all about being inspired, or waiting for a muse to gently alight on your shoulder and whisper in your ear. Writing is work. It's wonderful work, it's artistic work that feeds our souls, but it's still work. You have to write, even - especially - when we don't feel like it.
"For those who have told me that they have writer's block, I tell them this: Go out, travel the world, fall in love, and then write some more. It's not like the elves are going to finish it for you in the middle of the night."
For those who have told me that they have writer's block, I tell them this: Don't go out; stay home and write. Don't travel the world; stay home and write. Don't fall in love (unless you absolutely have to); stay home and write. Even if you can't write the project you're working on, write whatever you CAN write - children's stories, pulp Westerns, erotica, limericks, whatever it takes to drano the pipes clean and get you into the habit of sitting at your desk every day and typing or scribbling or whatever you do to get the words down. Those midnight elves are waiting, eager to read your stuff.
I’m a young writer (only eighteen) and I do it primarily as a hobby for now - although it’s something that I would be interested in pursuing in the future. So far I’ve had a few articles published - three in a young people’s magazine and one on a well-known movie blog. I have also interviewed an author who I admire and entered (and won) a few writing competitions. I would really like to add to this resume and get a few more pieces published. My main issue is that I’m a total perfectionist - in every aspect of my life. Unfortunately this stretches over to work and I have a desire to make everything as perfect as it can possibly be. I realise that this is good, in some respects, as I’m always pushing myself to work harder and harder. And yet, at the same time, I feel it’s holding me back because I never have the courage to submit anything for publication. My main concern is what if it does get published, but it’s not as good as it could be? How will I feel if I look back on it in twenty years and find it terrible? At my age, I feel I’m changing as a writer all the time and what seemed good to me last year, seems atrocious this year. I only entered the writing competitions because my parents practically forced me to (they’re not pushy parents in the slightest, but they know I’d never have entered of my own volition.) On the one hand I tend to think that I must at least be decent enough as a writer to be published by those that have printed my work. On the other hand, however, my insecurities come back at me - the fact that I’m only eighteen and know that I could improve so much in years to come; the fact that I know I may look back and cringe at my work in a few years. But in doing so, I am also holding myself back and missing some potentially great opportunities. It’s a self-perpetuating cycle. Is there any way of getting out of this negative frame of mind? I know that I will always be a perfectionist in some ways (it’s behavioural,) but I need to find a way to break the cycle so that my self-doubt won’t hold me back any longer. Replies appreciated.
You know, it's funny. I read your post, and wondered, "Did I maybe post under this username and simply forget?" When it doubt though, you simply look at the time stamp. Unless I was rendered unconscious seventeen minutes ago and my hand was simply possessed and acting on its own accord, I couldn't have posted this. This is something I still go through, and still struggle with somewhat. You see, I'm a horrible perfectionist too. I write... or wrote... news stories, and still write poetry from time to time, yet I won't publish, so I'm working on a side project instead. That side project won't see the light of day, under international copyright laws (it's sort of a spin on fanfiction,) but then writing makes me happy, so I'm doing it anyway. I've been stuck in the same rut you're in though. I didn't quite know my style until recently, and simply wrote, wrote, and rewrote until something was perfect... and even then, I had maybe a page of work that I never picked up again, simply because it was too much of a hassle to keep that perfection going. So I had a perfect page? I just figured I'd screw that up. You and I have similar writing styles as well... almost identical, in fact. I guess I'd say I was right where you were two years ago. I won various awards throughout high school for my poetry, took first in state in news writing... etc. The fact was that I had ridiculous expectations for myself. That desire for perfection goes away, or at least compromises itself, enough that you can work. You probably won't have the same mindset in a month that you do now. Wil Wheaton, who portrayed a character in Star Trek and the Guild, had some nice advice. At first, what you write will always be crap. Then you allow yourself to revise it, and it becomes something worthwhile. You can find the link here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lxs9k1MsrmE The point is that I realized that nothing I write will ever be perfect, and that I'm not going to write the next Great American Novel just by sitting still (though I'm not sure I still have that dream.) I can't will myself to write the greatest thing ever- different people will see what you write differently. I can tell you, however, that your fear is probably irrational, since mine was too. I was a good writer, even if I didn't see it, and still doubt myself more often than not. As long as you exercise that desire for perfection with decisive moderation, your work will never be terrible. You know what you're doing. Give it time. The desire to write something worthwhile will drive you to write just that, but you need to be patient. Write well and often, but write for yourself for now. Maybe what you write for yourself will be so good that you won't even have to think about the publishers... some of the best stuff I've written I did without thinking about it.
I am vehemently anti-perfectionism. Unfortunately, I'm _so_ anti-perfectionism that I suspect that I have trouble even speaking a language that a perfectionist can understand. Many times, I've deliberately misquoted the old saying to be, "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing badly." And that's absolutely my belief. Skills are developed by taking risks and pushing your ability. And taking risks and pushing your ability means that occasional mediocre performance or even failure is not only possible, but _likely_. And that's good. If you fail occasionally, you're pushing yourself enough to grow. So, sure, what you write today won't be as good as what you write in twenty years. If you looked back after twenty years and _didn't_ see how much you'd grown and improved, wouldn't you be disappointed? That difference doesn't need to be a source of shame ("Look! When I was a beginner I wrote like a beginner! Woe!") - it should be a source of pride. ("Wow, I am _so_ much better now.") If you spend those twenty years trying, and stretching, and sometimes failing and sometimes succeeding, you're going to be much better at the end than you would have been if you'd spent them nervously polishing everything to the point that you never make a move. Is there any chance that it would help to have a sort of "middle ground" level of committment? For example, you could start a blog, and have the experience of releasing your writing to the whole world, regularly. You could submit pieces to the Review Room here. You could go out of your way to get more people to view your writing in a less-than-complete state, and experience that it didn't hurt as badly as you thought it would. Because I would bet that a lot of the problem is fear - that your fear of how you'd feel if you were caught in imperfection, is probably worse than the actual experience would be. But you can't find out until you actually have - even _embrace_ - the experience. There's a book about perfectionism, called _Too Perfect_, that I've often seen recommended. I don't know if it would be helpful, but it probably couldn't hurt. ChickenFreak
You learn a thousand times more from a failure than you learn from a success. Perfectionism is a curse. Get a pen-name and go wild, making all the mistakes you can, incognito.
Actually, that's a great idea, and that's how I found confidence as a writer. I always wanted to write from when I was in high school, but didn't write anything till I was 30 because I always thought what I write won't be good enough. Then I started blogging anonymously and the response I got took me by surprise. I even got offers to write articles from major magazines. Now, I am making up for the lost time and I am writing as much as I can. How I wish now I started writing in high school, because, then I would have become a much better writer than I am today.
I've never had self-doubt before... some of my friends say it's the other extreme. Now, the whole story is complicated, including mistaken beliefs of immortality and such, so I won't bog you down with the details. However, my tactic for countering self doubt is to think,"So what if they hate my story. They can deal with it." This is usually followed by visions of sunglasses sliding over someone's eyes, and one thing leads to another, ending with me laughing and resuming my story.
Hi the Nightingale. This is exactly how I felt months ago. I felt so lost, unsure, and I doubted myself every step I took to get back to writing. Every attempt I made just didn't seem good enough. Every idea that popped into my head didn't seem stream-lined enough. I kept trying to just put my pen down on the paper, but found myself completely incapacitated by perfectionism. But amazingly, my fears went away. Joining this forum has helped me to become less timid. I've pushed aside all those crazy thoughts in my head, pushed aside my own feelings of being inexperienced, and pursued on. By your resume, I can see you’re better off than me. I had not such guts to enter into competitions or post articles to blogs. You’ve got experience, and knack for this. Don’t give up. Just when you feel like you can’t go on any further, that’s when inspiration will strike and carry you off into another great direction Keep writing!
What makes you a writer is your perseverance in that which is your passion. Writer's block might be an excuse, a name given to something that shouldn't have a name. I still beleive that something can deter a writer but if you actually want to be a real "writer" then nothing should be able to rob you of your passion. Look around you, listen, watch, think and you'd surprisingly move on.
Blogging is a great place to start. Anonymously or not. The best part - you can see your growth. Even stuff I posted a few months ago is flaming garbage compared to the stuff I turn out now. And I'm pretty sure what I'm doing now I'll see as flaming garbage in a year. You start when you start. No sense in beating yourself up, Manav. You probably are ramping up faster and in a totally different direction than if you had done it in HS. Know how you have to run water in the tub for a while after you've been on vacation for a couple of weeks? That gets out all the brown stuff so you can have good water. Writers have brown stuff in their writing, too. If you don't write, though, you can't purge the brown. Get out there, Nightingale, and start writing. Get the brown out!
I have never been a confident person, but at least it never affected my writing. Now, every time I try to write something, I start to panic. Sometimes, when I'm sitting in class I can jot down a couple of lines, but when I get home and try to develop an idea further its like a there is a brick wall in the way. I have an idea, I have characters and I want to write. But I'm not sure if I can get past this mental block.
One helpful piece of advice I've learned is... Separate your creating from your editing. Granted, it's much harder than it sounds. It's going to take a long time to be able to turn off your inner editor while you write words down on paper. Most fear, when writing, comes from the question, "Is this really good enough?" But writing has an advantage that most other activities don't: you can revise as many times as you want! I would suggest the following: set a timer for 10 or 15 minutes and sit down in front of a blank word processor. Also, make sure to turn off all distractions (maybe pull out your internet wire). Until that timer hits 0, do not stop typing. Just type, type, type about anything that comes to your mind. This is a throw-away exercise so it doesn't matter if it's good or not, just type! This will get you into the habit of turning off your editor when the creator within you is working.
That's a great suggestion, Tyro. Hey, Reaper. Your predicament completely describes who I was months ago. I was hypercritical. I procrastinated. I was a perfectionist in every single minute way. Everything had to be "really, really good." But nothing the first time is "really, really good." It's the first try! The first time you drive a car won't turn out to be perfect. Or maybe the second time. All that really matters is that you're practicing, getting into the routine. In my mind, it's that evil little man peering over your shoulder. He has to just butt in and voice every single opinion of his, making your life completely miserable. If you can get to a point where that obnoxious little voice is no longer heard, you're on your way to breaking down that wall of bricks. Where doubts, fears, and despair stand in your way. My suggestion: it may seem unconventional in a way, but try scribbling at night. For some reason this always helps me. I think that's when my editor just decides to hit the hay after a grueling day of bothering me Good luck, happy writing
I was going to suggest what Tyrolancer has. We actually edit our writing before it even hits the page. A solution to this is to just write down everything that comes to mind for say ten minutes every day. Even if you don't know what to write, write that, write that you don't know what to write and eventually you will have an idea. I've been doing this for a while and it's great. Also, from what you write, you'll see what kind of stories and such you write. Stop worrying so much over it and just write it. Basically, get the quantity down, and then worry about the quality later. Good luck!
I agree with the aforementioned... to an extent. If you find yourself stuck, crashed in a loop of self criticism, then yes, make yourself write without concern for what it is or where it is going. Don't worry that it does or does not belong to any project, that you start in the middle, end, beginning, etc. Doesn't matter. Your process is stuck and you need to unstick it before you can begin to use it again. I don't think this is a particularly productive mode in which to write once the process is working again, but as an "app" to get the process running again, it has a use. Sorry for treating your situation like a computer program, but I'm sure you can see the analogy.
John Steinbeck started each writing day when he was working on his novel East of Eden by writing a letter to his friend (who was also his editor). In these letters he'd just let himself ramble on about anything - the novel he was writing, his family, his house, the weather, the politics of the day, whatever. He did it just to warm up and relax - "getting his mental arm in shape to pitch a good game", as he put it (I'm quoting from memory; that might not be verbatim). I've found that this helps. Start by writing a letter to someone, even if they never see the letter. Start by writing a blog post or something. Unclog the pipes and get the words flowing.
