Why can't I write?
Every day I think about writing. I have so many stories I want to tell. I sit down, start writing, write a good chunk (sometimes between 2,500 and 5,000 words+) but then I just can't go on.
I'll either think that I need to revise what I've previously written or that it's too bad to continue, or I'll just start over. A thousand excuses get in my way.
But no matter what I do - write, not write - I feel this urge inside me telling me to write everyday. I can't make it stop. I feel guilty for not writing because I know I could have something finished by now if I only kept going.
I just can't seem to go.
I've tried taking tips from other writers - change stories, just keep going, read more, set a daily goal, set an end goal, etc, but for some reason I am struggling so much with this.
At the end of the day, I just want to be a writer! I want to finish books, I want to write at least ten books. And I want to be good. I want to write good books.
but I just feel like there is this major block in my brain. I don't know what to do about it.
Sometimes I'll feel really inspired and I'll start writing and it will be good. But I end up writing too much and it doesn't turn out to be clear and cohesive. It's just a stream of writing and I get lost in the revision process.
I just don't want my dream to die.
twosocks wrote:
Sometimes I'll feel really inspired and I'll start writing and it will be good. But I end up writing too much and it doesn't turn out to be clear and cohesive. It's just a stream of writing and I get lost in the revision process.
1) This ^^ is GOOD. Do that more. Just let it flow. Don't worry about spelling, grammar, or anything like that.
2) Never delete ANYTHING. Go back and revise to your heart's content, but do NOT delete anything. If you feel like it's bad/awful/whatever, throw some notes on the page for future self- stuff you don't like, things you missed out, WHY you feel it's bad, then save & quit.
3) Agreed with the other writers- jump around! Don't feel the need to focus on a single story. That's how you get burned out/experience writer's block.
You want to write? Write. Stop trying to write the most amazing, perfectly written story you've ever heard. It takes practice. The best thing you can practice is just writing. You'll notice as you practice more and more, you'll start to hate your stories less and less. You'll revise less and less. (You'll still probably revise a TON- that's just how humans are.) Then you can go back to those old stories you had, and you can revise them and improve on them. (Still don't delete them though.)
You don't have to be published next month. Just jot stuff down. Let all of your ideas pour onto paper. Let them all out of you. And keep doing that. Do your best to organize them, but don't get hung up on that. Just let it all come out. Then come back and organize later.
When you're feeling especially passionate/motivated, just explode. Don't hold yourself back or "set goals" to try to work on a single story. Just write it all out. Then come back later and clean it up.
Forget about the goal, just put it down in black and white and keep going. Journal. Nobody has ever said to write only non-fiction. Let it spew out like an eruption on Mt. Edna. And I agree with Rockster. Don't delete anything or nitpick spelling and grammar immediately after. That makes you loose focus.
Help me with: We have another hurricane coming this way.
Progressive story-telling (free form, free style) is more difficult than formulative story-telling.
If you have multiple stories to deal with, you may want to switch to a more formulative approach - for the sake of the finish line.
So, get a good idea of what the beginning, middle and end is going to be like - even if the ending seems totally unrelated to the beginning.
Then start filling in the gaps. Connect the dots, build the bridges, etc - you get the point. Then, you get a complete frame to hang your story on.
Also, don't revise (or edit) before its time. That comes after you have a completed story - making an adjustment in the story is one thing, but you're wearing yourself out with revision.
Hope this helps.
Write out a plot outline first. I have talked to many authors, and they unanimously agree that you need to decide on the plot before writing the first word. If you don't you will find that your story meanders all over the place, and will be about three times longer than a cogently written story that follows a predetermined plot line.
Everybody's presented excellent solutions.
Would like to note that good ideas are quite volatile, you could spawn & elaborate a whole intricate scene in your mind only to lose or confuse them once pen hits paper; I like to associate parts of these constructs with special keywords (either written down or recalled), so I can backtrack through the thought soup later, keeping them written ahead breaks down the writing task into paragraphs.
Write to yourself, in order to tone down speculative criticism.
Reading others' works helps with finding a preference for style, but I think a creative process might begin with observation or recognition, of how abstract concepts might interact, or reaching a certain end result, and pick a (probable) route to follow thence.
Besides knowing the plot, I've read that it helps building and remembering the characters' voices, motivations, values. So the plot isn't arbitrarily pushing them forward, rather their plans & reactions set events in motion.
Help me with: [quote]Test.
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If it's that much of a struggle to do it, maybe this isn't the right time.
Anonymous wrote:
If it's that much of a struggle to do it, maybe this isn't the right time.
There is no "right time". There is now. Period. Just do it. Tomorrow is never promised.
Help me with: We have another hurricane coming this way.
Anonymous wrote:
If it's that much of a struggle to do it, maybe this isn't the right time.
NaCtHoMaN wrote:
are you a moron or something.. because .. you need a pen and paper. thats how you write .. cursive is a *****
C'mon guys... This is called Help. If you can't help than just don't post.
Thank you.
Help me with: We have another hurricane coming this way.
I have learned that tomorrow is never promised, indeed. You learn that over time in ordinary living. You learn it very quickly in war.
Yes, just start writing. Do not subcribe to any theory about writer's block.
You have a story inside you that wants to be told. Sit at the keyboard and just let it out!
People write different ways, there is no wrong or right way to do it. Some people make a list of characters and try to figure out who they are and what they are motivated by before they start. Some people write the beginning and ending and then fill in the middle. Mark Twain said he would re-write everything dozens of times. Write it once, then write it again, then again and again until he was finally happy with it.
Help me with: I need help.
DocteurRalph wrote:
People write different ways, there is no wrong or right way to do it. Some people make a list of characters and try to figure out who they are and what they are motivated by before they start. Some people write the beginning and ending and then fill in the middle. Mark Twain said he would re-write everything dozens of times. Write it once, then write it again, then again and again until he was finally happy with it.
I feel like I could rewrite something forever. To a point where I'm just shifting it around, like food on a plate. I just need to get over it and actually finish something...
There was no attitude until that guy soco attacked.
There was nothing wrong with my comment about it not being the right time.
Remove me, see if I care.
I'm out a here.
You want to have a go at the innocent party, not the one that started it you are welcome to each other
That guy soco is pretty opinionated and kind of a jerk, I wouldn't let him worry you. He's a leftwing snowflake that never misses a chance to diss the president too. Basically he's not much help himself...
Help me with: I need help.
Anonymous wrote:
There was no attitude until that guy soco attacked.There was nothing wrong with my comment about it not being the right time.
Remove me, see if I care.
I'm out a here.
You want to have a go at the innocent party, not the one that started it you are welcome to each other
Still, not helping the poster.
DocteurRalph wrote:
That guy soco is pretty opinionated and kind of a jerk, I wouldn't let him worry you. He's a leftwing snowflake that never misses a chance to diss the president too. Basically he's not much help himself...
And ditto...
Help me with: We have another hurricane coming this way.
Neither are you.. you're just attacking other people here.
Help me with: I need help.
soco wrote:
Forget about the goal, just put it down in black and white and keep going. Journal. Nobody has ever said to write only non-fiction. Let it spew out like an eruption on Mt. Edna. And I agree with Rockster. Don't delete anything or nitpick spelling and grammar immediately after. That makes you loose focus.
Must have missed this one. Ooops!
Help me with: We have another hurricane coming this way.
Sometimes good music can help bring the creative forces of writing, out.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Arena.
DocteurRalph wrote:
Neither are you.. you're just attacking other people here.
Well said that man.
Soco goes through phases of attacking people, then claiming to help.
Mostly he is just adding smut to posts.
Big-Al-One wrote:
Sometimes good music can help bring the creative forces of writing, out.Ladies and gentlemen, the Arena.
Thank you! I mostly use spotify for music because I don't have a lot of Cd's and don't like itunes or radio. It makes custom playlists based on artists or songs that are similar sounding. I've been introduced to a lot of awesome bands in the process. ๐
aeolian wrote:
Why is she a he when she has all these sexy female pics up and leads us to believe its a her ???
Who knows why people do the things they do.....
Two Socks wrote:
Thank you! I mostly use spotify for music because I don't have a lot of Cd's and don't like itunes or radio. It makes custom playlists based on artists or songs that are similar sounding. I've been introduced to a lot of awesome bands in the process. ๐
According to my list, I have 15,177 songs in my MP3 library. Carefully selected through the years. If you want a copy of my library, let me know and we can make some arrangements.
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