What about your writing has really surprised you?

Danalynn · Apr 25, 2008

Just curious what about your novel writing has really surprised you?

For me, it's been a good reaction to something I wrote that I originally thought no one was going to like.

There have been a couple times in particular when I've written something in my novel that I think: There is NO WAY anyone else is going to like this. This isn't any good at all.

I'll be sweating, pulling my hair out, gritting my teeth, and cringing in disgust the whole time my Muse is forcing me to keep on typing.

Then once I'm finished, I'll spend a couple days agonizing over it. I can't believe I just wrote that. It's crap. I'm gonna get flammed by anyone who critiques this for writing such drivel!

AND THEN!

My readers come along and tell me, "I really liked this part. This is great stuff! Good character work! Some of your best writing in this novel!"

:Jaw:

Has this kind of thing ever happened to anyone else?

What have your experiences been?

MoonWriter · Apr 26, 2008

When I write a short, 91K-word middle-grade story about baseball and my beta reader tells me that I should delete the first ten chapters. That surprises me, Dana-Lynn.

BTW - You were right!

Bruzilla · Apr 26, 2008

I've thought about writing novels since 1987, and I always let that inner voice talk me out of it. In 2004, my son, who was 14 at the time, decided he wanted to be a guitar player. I bought him a used guitar at the flea market for $40, and said here ya go... thinking he would quit after a month. He taught himself how to play, how to write music, formed his own band, and still has that old Yamaha I bought him, but now plays on high-end Schecters that he has bought himself.

About three months ago, he and his band decided they were ready to move from the garage to the stage, and got themselves booked at a club here in Jacksonville. I walked in that night, and said "these guys are just a garage band and are going to get creamed when they try to play for real." I sat there and thought those Daddy thoughts of how to console your kid after their dreams have been dashed. Then they took the stage and rocked the house. All they played were songs my son had written, that I knew by heart but everyone else was hearing for the first time, and they were the stars of the night.

That was when I realized my inner voice was wrong, and that if I was going to be a success as a writer I needed to tell the inner voice to take a hike and get the job done. I got halfway through, and sent samples out to agents, and now I have one interested in my work. I finally finished that novel I had been fighting with my inner voice about for 20 years, and now that it's in the mail and on the way to the agent, that inner voice is nowhere to be found.

seun · Apr 26, 2008

I don't think my novel writing has surprised me (apart from coming out with stuff that seems crap and is actually not bad a little later), but I have been surprised by a couple of my stories. I wrote one about two years ago which I recently re-read. It was a strange mix of stuff I wrote in my early twenties and stuff I write now.

And I still can't decide whether I like it or not.

triceretops · Apr 26, 2008

I guess I'm surprised, or even confused by the fact that the agent subs to the majors have so far met with resistance, but that the smaller houses, who have offered many contracts, have done nothing but rave about my work and singled me out for all kinds of flattering remarks. I don't get it. But hey, I'll take that ride and continue on.

My agent has a P.H.D. in literature. He's German, and man is he tough! I will never understand why he dosen't think my prose is complete shiet. It boggles.

Tri

sunna · Apr 26, 2008

Depends. If I've just finished and am doing my first editing pass, I'm usually surprised by how much it sucks, and how I managed to think up a plot that looks a bit like swiss cheese.

If I've just gotten through the 5th pass and have taken a 2 week break because I'm so farking sick of the thing, I'll be surprised by how good it is when I get back to it.

Mr Flibble · Apr 26, 2008

Sometimes I'm surprised when I read something I wrote ages ago and think 'I wrote that? No way'

And sometimes I'm surprised when I sit to write a particular scene about meeting an old friend, and then things take a sudden turn and I end up with unexpected corpses all over the place...I should keep my characters in chains -- they keep running off with the plot.

Feathers · Apr 26, 2008

I'm always surprised how much I suck

But seriously, often, I'm just as surprised to realize "wow, I'm really good. I'm great. When did THAT happen?"

I've given up trying to judge the quality of my writing because I simply can't do it. I just rely on my readers and fellow writers. And then I'm always surprised.

-Feathers

maestrowork · Apr 26, 2008

I was surprised that I could actually finish a manuscript, let alone publish it.

Erin · Apr 26, 2008

My current WIP is an urban fantasy written in 1st POV. When I started it, I didn't think I could pull off 1st person POV and that it stank. So I submitted it to a first chapter contest, ended up winning 1st place and had the full MS requested by a NY publisher (where a partial is still sitting--since I didn't have a full ready!). It was a pleasant shock to say the least.

Sassee · Apr 26, 2008

Just yesterday I was pleasantly surprised to find my chapter 9 didn't entirely suck. It was fantastic, as a matter of fact! I love having those days. I would love to have them a little more often!

Captshady · Apr 26, 2008

Bruzilla said:
I've thought about writing novels since 1987, and I always let that inner voice talk me out of it. In 2004, my son, who was 14 at the time, decided he wanted to be a guitar player. I bought him a used guitar at the flea market for $40, and said here ya go... thinking he would quit after a month. He taught himself how to play, how to write music, formed his own band, and still has that old Yamaha I bought him, but now plays on high-end Schecters that he has bought himself.

About three months ago, he and his band decided they were ready to move from the garage to the stage, and got themselves booked at a club here in Jacksonville. I walked in that night, and said "these guys are just a garage band and are going to get creamed when they try to play for real." I sat there and thought those Daddy thoughts of how to console your kid after their dreams have been dashed. Then they took the stage and rocked the house. All they played were songs my son had written, that I knew by heart but everyone else was hearing for the first time, and they were the stars of the night.

That was when I realized my inner voice was wrong, and that if I was going to be a success as a writer I needed to tell the inner voice to take a hike and get the job done. I got halfway through, and sent samples out to agents, and now I have one interested in my work. I finally finished that novel I had been fighting with my inner voice about for 20 years, and now that it's in the mail and on the way to the agent, that inner voice is nowhere to be found.

Fantastic story, thanks for sharing!

Don Allen · Apr 26, 2008

That has hard as I worked on it, 6 days, 8-12 hours, 6 continuous months, 322 pages 108,000 words, That it's not good enough.... After putting it away for 6 months I've finally started the revisions and I can't believe how good some is or how bad a lot still is.

HeronW · Apr 26, 2008

When things come out very nice, I find I'm less a writer than a chronicler for someone else (fill in the name of the muse). A good story is a good story, thank you muses!

Danalynn · Apr 26, 2008

MoonWriter said:
When I write a short, 91K-word middle-grade story about baseball and my beta reader tells me that I should delete the first ten chapters. That surprises me, Dana-Lynn.

BTW - You were right!

donroc · Apr 26, 2008

How some of the characters take over and write themselves.

Keffington · Apr 26, 2008

When I realize that the novel I started because I thought it would be easy has five different interlocking plots, despite being written in first person. Oops.

Bruzilla: I liked your the story about your son. That's really cool!

Dale Emery · Apr 26, 2008

What's surprised me is how easy and fun it is to write a scene, as long as I know what the POV character wants at that exact moment and what's in the way.

And how hard it is to write a scene when I don't know those things.

Dale

darrtwish · Apr 26, 2008

Recently, I was looking over some of my older short stories that I have yet to finish/edit and re-write, and I found myself comparing it to what I write now, and realised that I don't base my characters off me and what I want from life at that moment, which is something that is almost always found in my older pieces. It surprised me that I'm really improving over time.

BlueLucario · Apr 26, 2008

What surprises me about my writing?

That I reached 40,000 words. I'm 44.444444444% done with the book. Despite that, I'm trying to write but I only get story ideas that i'm going to use later. At this point, I lost my pep that I had when I first started writing and I'm trying to figure out how to get it back.

Shady Lane · Apr 26, 2008

I'm always surprised by how much I've improved. I was reading something I wrote two years ago--something casual, just for myself, to be fair, but only two years ago nonetheless--and my POV was all over the place and I seemed to be having some sort of love affair with adverbs. Improvement is so sneaky.

Aggy B. · Apr 26, 2008

I'm always surprised at my inability to write stories about normal people. My characters insist on being really f'ed up emotionally/psychologically/physically. All this in complete contrast to my own whitebread background.

I also find myself surprised at the older stuff I've written. Sure, there's a ton of shite but there's a pretty good chunk of pretty-damn-good too.

jbryson · Apr 26, 2008

donroc said:
How some of the characters take over and write themselves.

Tell me about it. My POV turns out to be almost cardboard. have to work on her, some more.

The mole at the school, however, nagged me. The heroines were gonna turn her around, get the information they needed to thwart the Conspiracy, then go do it. But no, Paisley kept ranting I was ignoring her, that she was more important than that. She ends up being really flakey, on the brink of insanity in fact; but she brings on the turning point in the final shoot-out.

And the antagonist. He also started as a minor character with an honest opinion that the Conspiracy was doing the Right Thing. He's ended up being really, really vile. Paisley stomps him in the shoot-out, though.

Cranky · Apr 26, 2008

What sometimes surprises me is the lack of perspective I have on what I write. What feels horrible, really isn't. And stuff I think is just fabulous - not so much.

The worst part is that it's never consistent. Sometimes I'm right about it being horrible or fantastic, but I can never tell which way it's gonna go...

SPMiller · Apr 26, 2008

Although I haven't begun revision on my first novel--I'm not allowing myself to touch it yet--I must say what surprised me most was the fact that I actually finished it. And it really wasn't too hard. I just had to work.

Even in the event that no one wants it, I'm still proud to have gotten something done for once in my life.

What about your writing has really surprised you?

NEVER give up!!!!

practical experience, FTW

Horror Man

They've been very bad, Mr Flibble

emerging from the writing cave

Fear the Death Ray

Listening to my other selves

Momma Wolf

What happened to my LIFE?!

Seeking a Sanctuary of Intelligence

Down Under Fan

NEVER give up!!!!

Historicals and Horror rule

Kiss me, I'm a prince!

is way off topic

Blood Elves FTW

my name is hannah

Not as sweet as you think

Prodigiously Hanged