Is it normal to feel this way? (Disoriented, un-confident, incompetent etc)

You're absolutely right that you just need to push through. Keep writing and moving forward. If the words don't work later, you can cut them.

I'm not always a linear writer, however. When I get stuck in a scene, I make notes about what I want to have happen at that point, then just skip ahead to what I'm more confident about plot-wise. I always come back and, for me, bridging those scenes is much easier afterward because I've broken the "I hate this. I hate this. I hate this." cycle.

Good luck!

Most writers experience a mid-novel sag. Once you get through it, you'll probably finish just as enthusiastically as you started.

If you know where you are going, and what you need to do, but simply feel a mixture of boredom and inadequacy, it may help to shake it up. Switch the gender of a character. Give a character a different voice or attitude. Drop one plot idea for a better, but crazier one. Change the whole setting to someplace far more interesting. Et cetera.

This has helped me out of the middle slump--I've done all of the above in a single MS, and ended up with something I really like.

Also, help your brain piece things out. Personally, I find that grinding away at metals at my day job, while listening to epic music on my ipod, gives me radical ideas. After work, I go home and jot them down.

Do you know where the book is going two or three chapters from where you are now? If so, write those now and then go back and connect the dots. I know everybody's process is different, but for me, it helps to have a big "something" that I'm writing towards when things start to sag. And it can help generate ideas and details for the parts you're stuck on. Hang in there!

Do you know what comes next in the story?

For me, the writing is like pulling teeth only when I no longer know what I'm writing toward. I've learned the cure is to stop trying to write, grab my notebook, and start brainstorming the plot instead.

Give that a try, if only to give yourself a break from staring at the screen!

ScienceOfFiction said:

This is about my third run in starting a novel. This time I have a lot going for it, with a plot worked out and some characters really starting to become people, at least compared to previous characters. Other stuff like themes, motifs, etc are developing too.

So, I'm about 10,000-11,000 words in (I cut a major infodump out recently, not sure what the WC is at the moment.) At first it felt really great, the story was pouring out. The last 1000 -/+ words have been like pulling teeth. I sit down, start writing, and just get really mad-I hate my words. Even if I catch a flow, it runs out faster than it had at first. Sometimes I figure out that something didn't make sense previously-I know I'll catch it in the rewrite, but I feel my confidence being tested. I'm working on BIC, which is usually successful for me, but I'm looking at the page and feeling disoriented, frustrated, kinda lost. I know a first draft is supposed to be crap compared to a final, but seriously, I'm hating the crap that I'm writing.

I imagine/hope these are pretty normal feelings, especially for a first novel. Any thoughts, advice, experiences folks could share? I know I can do this, I have to push through, but... a little lube would help!

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What you're experiencing is extremely common, in fact I think that most authors feel this way sometimes, especially with their first novel.

Just keep with it. Before you know it, you'll be at the end thinking about your next headache: editing it!

Ah, yes, I know the feeling well!

I'm about 8,000 words in my novel (not my first) and I'm starting to feel it a little bit. I'm pretty sure every word I've written from the first word to the last is crap and I feel like I don't have a plot and I think my main character's too distant and... I'd better stop there, haha.

But don't stop writing! That's the best advice I have for you. It's hard advice to follow (at least for me), and I've quit many novels at the 10,000 word mark because I didn't tough it out and slog through the doubts and insecurities about my writing. Embrace the crappy writing and keep repeating, "First drafts are crap, first drafts are crap, first drafts are crap." That's how I deal with it, at least.

I wish you good luck! Believe me, a lot of other writers have gone through your same experience and come out alive... along with their completed first draft! It just takes some perseverance.

Every morning when I wake up.

caw

Yup, totally normal. I tend to start writing, plow through to about 40K words...and then FULL STOP. That's my magic number for figuring out a lot of things- character motivation (even if I thought I knew what it was before, it often changes as I spend more time with these people and learn more about what makes them tick), major plot changes, my emotional connection to the story (that was huge deal with my WIP. I was blocked for a while until I realized my problem was that I didn't much care about my character. I needed to find a way to connect with her, and once I put some real thought into it and started to understand why she kept running away from this seemingly great guy- and it's not the reason she tells everyone- I got it. I understood, and it made me cry, and it made me able to commiserate with her and write her story in a way that felt honest), etc. And hell, sometimes I still sit and go, "WTF am I doing? I have no clue what I'm doing here..."

But you can't edit what you don't write. If it sucks, you can go back and delete it or change it up. Even if you delete everything you write, you might get a really great sentence or two out of it that you can save for later. Push through it, keep thinking about what you want to happen (or what should happen, sometimes the two are different!), and eventually you'll get there. Good luck!

10,000 words in on the first draft of the first novel?

Think about it.

Why on earth should anyone feel disorientated, frustrated, lost, lacking confidence or incompetent simply because they reach a stage in the first draft of a first novel that has caused them to pause and 'review the situation' or sort out where the story is going.

Good grief - and one expects folk to pay for the privilege of reading what one is writing?

Writing novels is a craft that has to be learned.

Hurdles have to be crossed.

Those venturing into the world of writing and attempting a first novel are better off reading than writing blogs about writing.

If it's not normal, then I'm fecked.

CAMueller said:

I'm not always a linear writer, however. When I get stuck in a scene, I make notes about what I want to have happen at that point, then just skip ahead to what I'm more confident about plot-wise.

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I've started doing this as well. I'm writing a novel in 3rd person omniscient POV. I'm rather irritated with a character right now so I'm just jumping ahead to a character I like.

Hill

I think this is one of the things I like about the Snowflake Method of outlining. I have a pretty good sense of the scenes I'll be writing, so if I'm stuck (and I am in a couple of places) I can skip ahead because I have a pretty good sense of what happens next (even if I'm not exactly sure how I'll be getting there).

ScienceOfFiction said:

This is about my third run in starting a novel. This time I have a lot going for it, with a plot worked out and some characters really starting to become people, at least compared to previous characters. Other stuff like themes, motifs, etc are developing too.

So, I'm about 10,000-11,000 words in (I cut a major infodump out recently, not sure what the WC is at the moment.) At first it felt really great, the story was pouring out. The last 1000 -/+ words have been like pulling teeth. I sit down, start writing, and just get really mad-I hate my words. Even if I catch a flow, it runs out faster than it had at first. Sometimes I figure out that something didn't make sense previously-I know I'll catch it in the rewrite, but I feel my confidence being tested. I'm working on BIC, which is usually successful for me, but I'm looking at the page and feeling disoriented, frustrated, kinda lost. I know a first draft is supposed to be crap compared to a final, but seriously, I'm hating the crap that I'm writing.

I imagine/hope these are pretty normal feelings, especially for a first novel. Any thoughts, advice, experiences folks could share? I know I can do this, I have to push through, but... a little lube would help!

Click to expand...

No, its not normal.

It can only mean one thing. You... got... CANCER!



Jokes aside. It is natural to feel that way sometimes. My best advice is to put on youtube or play a little on newgrounds.com until the feeling has disappeared. ^^

Feelings are not normal or abnormal, they just are. Just keep writing and do the best you can.

Lucas, "Maybe it's a tumor"



Seriously, SoF, it's something that I'm absolutely 100% positive that every writer, professional, amateur, newby, and wannabe has experienced off and on, now and then throughout their careers.

Here's something I want you to do for yourself. Go out to the store and get yourself a stack of 3x5 index cards. White is okay, but multi-colored will work too. Get yourself a good pen or a box of pencils with them (I like pencils because sharpening them and watching them reduce in size also helps with that sense that you're making progress). Go home, break out the index card, grab a pencil, and take 3 cards one-by-one. On each card at the top left-hand corner write "Chapter" # and any title of the chapter in sequence (meaning, if your next chapter is "Chapter 6: Revenge of the Geewillikers" that's what you write on the first card, then "Chapter 7: A Hankering for Hamhocks" on the next card, and "Chapter 8: The Power of Beans" on the third card).

Below this chapter heading write a simple description of what you want to see happen in that chapter. It doesn't matter if this is a long description or a short one. You can add cards at will. You can throw out cards at will. You can resequence cards at will.

As you finish writing a chapter, always add another card to the stack so you're always staying at least 3 chapters ahead of yourself on your current work. You can add more chapters ahead as you feel the need or the inspiration strikes you, but always, when one chapter is finished, write the card for a chapter 3 chapters ahead of where you currently are.

What this does is give you a pseudo-roadmap, a rough guide to where you're going next in your story. Many, many writers dislike even the idea of the term "outline" and resist it furiously, but if I was setting out on a cross-country journey, I'd want at least some kind of itinerary and a road atlas sitting beside me in the car (well, in addition to my dog or girlfriend, neither of which I have at the moment, but that's beside the point) when I set out.

In a car you can cross the whole United States in 3 days if you take the fastest, most direct routes and don't worry about little things like sleep, weather, gas, oil, coolant, etc. You get on the highway and head east or west and when you hit the ocean at the other end you're there.

But very few writers can write a book in 3 days. Writing a novel is cross-country endurance test over terrain where there are few roads, few landmarks, no compass to get your bearings with, and enemy snipers and IEDs waiting in ambush. It's up to the writer to take along a compass, know the terrain ahead, set his own landmarks, and figure out where the snipers and IEDs are most likely to be lying in wait. Thinking and planning just a few steps ahead can make all the difference.

Good managers thinks steps ahead. Good chess players think steps ahead. Good soldiers think steps ahead. Good writers should (and do) think steps ahead as well.

Now, put everything aside, right now, and go get those index cards and that box of pencils (standard #2 yellow work just fine). You might need a pencil sharpener too if you don't already have one.

When you get back, start working through some pencil lead.

You asked for thoughts... That's what you got, but minus either of the words 'you' or 'offensive'.

Glad you got over your hump, Science.

ScienceOfFiction said:

I disagree entirely on that point. If I can show other writers along the way that they're not the only ones making mistakes, going through the shit, and struggling and learning, I think that's valuable. It's better than feeling as though only super special people can break into writing or write a first novel. Also, I'll write whatever the fuck I want, thanks

I'm fully aware that writing is a learned craft and takes work. There are obstacles to overcome. Saying that I have these feelings doesn't make me ignorant, or whiny. It means I'm a real person, and reaching out is not a weakness, no matter how much you try to imply it is so.

P.S. I created that blog to have a social networking presence, and if in a year or two I get Googled by an editor/agent/etc, I want them to find something that shows a simple profile, so they can get a feel for my "brand" or themes, work, etc. I decided to fill the space with words and share what I'm learning along the way. I cannot fathom how this could be offensive.

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Normal to feel dis— and un— and in—?

Who told you writing novels is easy? Writing is like life, but more intense—like a life that if all you do is ride a ferris wheel crossed with a roller coaster that breaks down a lot and the only mechanic you know can only be accessed by psychic smoke signals and the only ink available consists of your own blood mixed with stomach bile and the sweat off your forehead. Kinda . . . but harder than that many times. Also, it's more fun than real life sometimes because you get to make it all up from your own imagination. Although if you don't have one of those, give up right away. LOL. But it's all those hard, sad times that make the good ones so great. Also, it makes for a unique book, and that's the main point. Enjoy the ride.

What you're going through is very common. I agree with what others have said: if you know what is coming next in the story, write those scenes for a change. I am going through what you are with my first novel. Keep going and don't give up!

Writing, especially novel writing, used to make me utterly miserable. I still wanted to do it, of course, but felt overwhelmed by the task and disappointed in the product, regardless of the quality of the writing.

Sticking to schedule, oddly, seems to be helping me a lot. By writing every day, a set but manageable amount of words, writing is starting to feel like something I do instead of something I fight.

Maybe the same would work for you?

For a first draft I wouldn't cut out the info dumps. They are great to pick apart later and redistribute through the story.
Remember the first draft is suppose to be crap. You don't know where you are going until you get there with the first draft.
Put words on the page.