Need Some Encouragement

I can't think of a single person I've ever talked to about writing that hasn't gone through the same thing. It's happened to me many times. My favorite method for breaking through the doldrums is to build a scene in my virtual railroading program or go flying. Both hobbies will keep your mind so busy you don't have time to overthink a particular roadlbock in your novel.  Often enough your subconscious will provide a clue--the very key you need to turn your negatives into positives.

The writing I've done as little as a year ago is subject to my staring at it and wondering how the heck I managed to write such drivel. I gleefully rip out whole paragraphs, slash every adjective in the story, cream comma splices, and turn all tells into shows. Other times, I'll stare at it for ten minutes, then go have a cup of tea.

Trust me, you'll get through it.

Bill

Temple, thank you. I will think about the idea that maybe I am not meant to write. I have other passions. As for submitting, I submitted them about 4 years ago, and they were fairly well received. No one said they were drivel. Although a recent one got panned. My friends love them. I have had a woman who publishes offer to publish them. They have "potential". I sat down last night and started working on "setting". Figuring out the cities where the stories would take place. There are 13 stories. I noted which ones have weak endings based on feedback, and those will wait until I have a muse.

Douglas, you have given me pause for thought. Slash, burn, fix, re-write. I think I am afraid to do that without a muse. But I will think about it.

I appreciate both of you for taking the time to respond.

Thank you.

I think the secret is accepting that you suck and not taking yourself too seriously. Even if you don’t objectively suck, you’ll always feel like you do. The question is not whether you’re meant to write. The question is whether you enjoy it. If you focus on the pleasure of it istead of the pressure to be good at it, you might keep your interest in a story long enough to improve it. At the same time, the only way you can improve is practice.

For me, the secret for getting a first draft out is to write “like no one’s watching” (because no one is), and accepting that it will be utter crap (first drafts are meant to be), and then pretending it’s someone else’s writing and seeing if I can salvage it. Accepting that things will need to be sacrificed and the final might look completely different, that some ideas are meant to die young. Accept that it may never actually be good, just getting it to the best version it can be.

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