I used to hate everything I put to the page. A few years back I got drunk and smashed my computer to pieces, killing hundreds of thousands of words... I can't remember half of those stories. Now what am I going to learn from them? Shity stories are good lessons, brother.
I think what you descibe right here is why it is advised to let things sit for a while before you edit.
I can relate completely. i have been working on a fantasy novel for several years and have restarted it 4 times. i occasionally skim over the older versions and its funny how quirky and dull they are. the first version being a rude rip off a late 90s video game and lord of the rings. i was probably 11 at the time though so im not totally ashamed. six years later some major scenes still occur and its exciting to compare them. im writing on a phone right now because my computer has no internet. i dont know how to get capital letters since the shift key shuts the phone apparently...
As long as the story was good, I consider it good. The writing can always be improved on. If it's just my writing, I am horrified by stuff I wrote less than a year ago, and I've been writing almost everyday for thirteen years now. You'd think I had improved enough to go longer without it changing THAT much. The first stories I ever wrote do make me cringe a little though. They were all about ME and my sick little childhood fantasies.
For me it works both ways. Sometimes I realize it is crap and leave it with a feeling of frustration, only to come back to it later and reconsider it. and then there are early things I wrote that make me think "how could I write something like this?" with a sense of shame. but it is also a little funny (the last option) because it makes me aware of how much I have grown since then, and THAT is always a pleasant thought.
As a new writer, I can't help but ask a lot of questions to try and help my work and also to validate my potential as a story teller (even if my writing needs infinite improvement.) I have started a lot of stories, but I often stop before finishing. Sometimes I lose that spark that first got me interested in the story. Sometimes I second guess myself, thinking that what I'm writing is total crap. Sometimes I just get re-addicted to World of Warcraft (my guilty pleasure). I really enjoy telling stories, so I WANT to finish what I start, but I don't know how to overcome these issues of mine. Right now, I've started a blog and am posting the rough draft of a story as I write it, hoping that by having an audience will keep me moving. Last night I got that familiar feeling of "is this crap?" Some friends who are reading along as I write tell me they really enjoy it, and I don't think they're just saying that for my benefit, but just because they like it doesn't mean it's GOOD. Am I the only one who has these bad habits / worries? Is there some kind of mental exercise to get me through it? I know that most first drafts are pretty sketchy any way and that the revisions are what make them shine, but how do you push through all your doubts and keep moving?
All lies. If your friends like it, and not because they say it to make you happy, that means that it's a legit written piece. Granted, it may not be the audience you're writing for (Or it could be), but unless if they're all chronic liars, then you should have confidence. As for how I keep myself motivated (which I struggle with also), I try and change the mediums I use for writing. One day I'll type, another I'll hand-write, and sometimes I'll even illustrate a storyboard, map, et cetera. It's all meant to motivate yourself, and so whatever gets you into the story will work. And on a side but completely serious note, try joining a LARP, or something like that, with a character you write about. It may seem a bit geeky, but in all honesty it's a blast to do it with friends, and also you'll have the ability to work with your character and physically connect to his story.
Thanks. I'll try the change in medium thing. I used to RP with friends all the time, but not larping. Not a bad idea though.
Be wary. RPing is cool. LARPping is....eh....that really depends on you, your friends, and the medium. I still shudder at a demonstration I saw one time. A guy was LARPing as a wizard. He kept throwing foam balls at everyone and shouting 'LIGHTNING BOLT! LIGHTNING BOLT!" It proved more annoying than fun.
lol. I know, we've made fun of plenty of LARP videos, but for someone of one geek culture to call another geek culture... uh, geekier... sounds more pretentious than I want to get into
I dressed up and worked at reenactment fairs when I was in high school and college. That was awesome. LARPing events, I don't know, maybe it is just how ridiculous it looks. Live Action Role Playing. You can look up some laughably bad examples on youtube.
Of course there will be the ridiculous examples, but honestly that's very much a stereotype. It mostly is dependent on the people who run it, though, and everybody who participates. One of my high school teachers participates (I won't answer who or where, mostly because it could get him fired) in one, and he's not the sort of geeky nerdy teacher one would picture. But that's a topic for another forum. Where I was going with this: You get a feel for what challenges people could face and the limits of their abilities. An activity like fighting a battle seems like a bloodbath in many novels, but swinging at an endless score of enemies isn't as easy as it seems, especially when they overpower and outmatch you. And that's just wartime. Beyond that is the challenge of hunting, camping out, et cetera, which you may not be able to get a feel for in a LARP, but those are fairly simple to understand. And I realize this is absolutely useless to writers of sci-fi, fiction, et cetera, but there are sci-fi LARPs out there, and for historic fiction, there are groups that recreate famous battles. Basically, I'm saying that actually doing something will help you write about it, and maybe give you ideas on larger-than-life problems for your characters.
You would be strange if you didn't have doubts. Everyone has them, even the people who don't seem too. I think it's helpful to remember that your writting isn't you. You may put your heart and soul into it but when someone says something negative about your work it's not a direct attack on you. And for the times that people are completely rude I have to wonder what their hair looks like on a good hair day because they are obviously having a bad hair day.
Severe Writer's Block I have had severe writer's block for almost a year now. I was hoping others in this forum might have ideas to push past this writing barrier. It began after I self-published. While my book was considerably successful for a first-time, self-published work, I still feel like I failed miserably. I so badly wanted it to do better. I am depressed that it is so hard for self-published authors to gain recogintion, and that traditional agents rejected me to begin with. Ever since, I've struggled to take on other writing projects. I think it may be because I have this feeling that no matter what I write, it needs to be out-of-the-ballpark good. All the story concepts I come up with feel like they are just not inventive or original enough. I am terrified that whatever I write next will end up like my first book did ... that it won't live up to my expectations. I have written dozens of outlines, only to stop at the point where I should start writing. I want to make a living from writing ... don't get me wrong; I don't have a lot of hope in becoming a famous writer. I just want to get by in the world by doing what I love. It is the only thing I've ever been good at. My writer's block depresses me. Please, if anyone has any bright ideas to help me through this, feel free to share!
Hey, I read your post and thought I'd reply - I can see your frustration it is hard for self-published authors to make ends meet, but I think your focusing too much on trying to make this work for a living - this is why you've got so a bad writers block because your forcing the ideas through, rather than letting them through. You need to kick back, relax and just focus on the joys of writing, what I like to do is unwind on my bed with my headphones and listen to some inspirational music (I highly recommend 'Immediate Music' they are brilliant for inspiration) - Usually the ideas coming flooding to me. Lots of people want to write for a living but it won't happen without good ideas, hard work and patience - lots and lots of patience. You can't rush writing, its like a brilliant work of art, it will require alot of time to finish.. I hope that was helpful to you
ooooooooooooooooooo immediate musics great!! i just listened to some of it. i likeee can really get that it would give u alot of inspiration. thankyou for sharing. but yeah i agree with karl your worrying to much and your focus is focusedd on that andd not allowing your creativity to come through. why dont u have a break, go to a spar or something and relax, dont think about writing at all andd then come back to it feeling fresh, and instead of thinking about the knew peice as something that does well when u come to publish it, just say to yourself your gona have a bit of fun with it, enjoy the experience and write from the heart. and maybe you need to work through that feeling of failing miserably. bring it to the surface and analise it. if it did well then why are you worrying? maybe itss not the story or the inspirationn thats the problem but withh your own confidence about yourself. you should pat yourself on the back, most people dont even get to the stage of publishing. and even the most recognised authors didnt get it all at once. as Karl said have patience.
You write because you enjoy the art of creating fiction, not because you want to get published. You construct a story and cherish the journey you have taken with your characters. You want the journey to be memorable, to be exciting, so you do your best to weave a tale that's as fresh and evocative as it can be. Once you've completed your first draft you sit back and revel in the accomplishment. That's what writing should be about. A writer's gratification should primarily come from the act of writing, not in seeing their work published. The reason is that sadly very few writers will see their novel published. The publishing industry is harsh and incredibly difficult to break into. If you're aware that less than one percent of completed manuscripts become published novels, that even if you write a breathtakingly brilliant book the odds are still heavily in favour of it never being published, if you can accept this and still want to write a novel then you really should be a novelist. If you're slogging through the creative process with the publishing light at the end of the tunnel being your only motivation, then I'd seriously consider stopping now. There are far better ways to invest your time. To put it simply, if your only reward for writing is to see it in a bookstore, then you have a greater than 99 percent chance of never being rewarded. Writing is the reward. Don't get me wrong though. Every novel you create should at least have a shot at being published. This means rewriting draft upon draft, and honing to perfection. But enter the process with hope, not expectation and if you fail, do so with wistful disappointment, not disillusion and regret. Now make your choice, OP. This is not a question of writer's block, it's do you have a writer's heart?
Joker is correct. You don't have writer's block, you are cutting yourself off from the creative process because you want to be brilliant. You are stopping yourself from writing. When you decide that writing is more important than being brilliant, you will allow yourself back in. Your call. Good luck.
1. Writing Block- My main issue. I have great ideas I want to write down, but whenever I do it I don't have passion. I feel like I'm not good enough to write it and every time I contradict myself whether I'm telling the story right or not. 2. Multiple Plots- I have multiple plots, both reaching different audiences (yet connected). One of these plots starts out as a strong humored love story then will die down to a sub-plot. The other plot starts out as sub-plot (school) and emerges to a larger plot which leads to an epic adventure. I guess what I'm asking is how to effectively manage these two plots and keep the audience engaged throughout. 3. Description- when to describe and not to describe? Should I describe the basic everyday things or just the unusual ones? How about rooms and places, especially if they are reminiscent of places we see everyday? 4. Characters- I have 5 characters, but only as the true two main characters. Still, the minor characters play a role and I often find myself shifting to their perspective every now and then. It's also nearly a three-way love fest between three girls and one guy. How can I manage this complexity? It eventually becomes a two-way love fest instead of three. Thanks for any and all help. I appreciate it. If I remember more, I'll post it here.
Each of these questions has come up many times before. There is a stickied thread for Writers block alone. None of these has one simple answer, or even exactly the same answer for two different writers. But a little browsing of the various threads under Writing Issues, and with a little help from the search function, should yield you quite a few perspectives on each question.
