What's wrong with me?

I just went through all of my old files in the process of switching from my old computer to my new laptop. What did I discover? Files and files of one-page starters, stories I began but never took anywhere. Things I abandoned, things I just didn't "love."

Hasn't stopped me from finishing several novels and a load of short stories, though. As long as you finish something, sometime, I think you're okay.

You could have many ideas... If that's the case you're just like me.
What could be stopping you from writing on those stories you start, is that you don't have much on them. You haven't thoguht about them.(Why not?)

Would this fit your case? Because this is what I notice with mine.
I kinda have images of what I think would be cool for a story to have, but obviously I'm not gonna write it from beggining to end right away.
It takes time. And you shouldn't give up because of that. First of all, you should like what you're writing.

What's wrong with you?
Nothing, in my opinion.
The only thing that I see is a mind capable of having lots of ideas.
That's all you need to expand on the little images in your mind and little scenes that grow out of a dialogue you create.

Have you thought about joining two stories, for example?
Because having stories for each little thing you come up with is kinda too much and you never start accumulating depth.
As you come up with new stuff try to incorporate that new thing into a story you've already thought about a lot.
If even so it doesn't fit, THEN create a new story around that small little thought you had.

That's how I create my stories.

In my case I tend to go for really big stuff, like epics, so I'm kinda used to, now, to the biggness of an idea. I don't feel like "Oh, God! Forget it!"
It's actually a challange that I want to explore and try to make the best of it that I can.

All my stories are about stuff that I would want to read about. The story goes the way I want and all of that.

Don't think to yourself "I have to write a story with vampires and teenagers because that's what published at the moment." or something of the sort.

Go for YOUR OWN stories and interests.
It could be that you feel bored of an idea because it's not really using what you like.
And the good news about being a writer is that EVERYTHING in the story you write goes YOUR way.

When you like the stuff in the story, it's hard to let go, lol.

I understand completely. I'm having the same issues. I've just finished my third novel and now I have no idea what to do for my next. I've started one, but I'll admit I'm dragging along and not really into it. It's really, really frustrating!!!

I think what I'll try is just pushing through. Passion is capricious - I guess I'll just type until it comes back. It will. It's just hard for me to transfer my mind from one story to the next.

I do but I have a fix as well.

I have one focus story that I am absolutely not allowed to give up on. I can play around with other stories, but so much of every writing day goes to that one story. I have dozens of partially finished stories, hundreds of scratched down idea.

However, I also have over 24 completed stories. Editing gets the same priority as my main story when it comes down to it. It's the only way I can force myself through a story, especially when it becomes difficult.

If you find yourself losing interest, stop and read a book. Enjoy it. Savor it. Then talk to someone you can trust about your idea, get fired up about it again, think of the pleasure reading that last piece gave you. Then start writing again.

Don't give up, you won't learn hardly anything with a thousand beginnings but you will learn more lessons than you know with one completion.

My advice is to put together a plan of your work from start to finish, like a detailed outline or some other map to follow. You can always decide to detour on your way but it will give you something to come back to when you are lost (it can also be amended as required). I'm writing my first novel and there have been times when I've faltered just as your describe. My outline and notes have grounded me. They've reminded me where I'm going and have inspired me to continue on when my attitude waned.
One other thought: putting down your ideas in some organized way before writing helps to reinforce the belief that your idea is a good one - you can see if it works or not because it is in front of you. That confidence will help when times get tough. I realize there are writers who hate such organization, seeing it as something that kills spontaneity, but for those of us who hit a wall now and then I think it works.

I had this problem too.

But are you sure it's just "Eh why bother"? I think I kept abandoning stories because I had cool beginnings and cool endings and big gaping holes in the middle. "I can't do this" came up when I didn't know whwat the hell was supposed to happen next, or why.

In my case, my solution's been to focus on short stories. They are unforgiving of big gaping holes, so I've really had to focus on my plotting and storytelling, but they're not so complicated that I lose track. Plus it's easier to force myself to finish, if the story's only 6000 words or less.

I've also surprised myself with the discovery that I love short stories

I think when I try another novel, I'll end up (at least) getting much further in than I have before, and I think I'll be making fewer newbie mistakes.

I, too, had this problem. I'd get in three, ten, fifteen pages and give up. Then one day I said: "You know what? I'm just going to focus on a single book and write it from start to finish, no matter what, and not write anything else until I get there."
I spent three years and got about seventy pages. That one burned down, fell over, and then sank into the swamp.
I didn't stop, though, until I was forced to write a 'short story' (there was no maximum length) for a class. It had a one-week deadline - it was nearly forty pages long when I was done.

That's when I realized I can finish something, and seven months later I had my first completed novel. Give yourself a deadline - maybe join NaNoWriMo next year or try to finish in time for a short story contest - and just write something that you think you can finish and finish it. It doesn't seem nearly so hard after you've done it once.
Good luck!

I know what you mean. My newest ms I got tired of real fast. But I don't think that I'm necessarily bored with it. I just don't think I have an exciting enough start. It's like being a reader. If you pick up a book, read the first pages and it just doesn't capture your hold, you're most likely going to put it down. Perhaps the same can apply with writing?

Have you guys seen this? From here.

It's really difficult. It takes discipline to write, edit. It takes fortitude to face rejection. It takes courage to show the work.

Your feelings are natural. At some point your desire has to be greater than the difficult moments you'll face. With that said, if you have a dream it's worth giving it your best.

I had the same problem...my solution?
Start writing short stories...

Shweta, the link you posted has a double http in it and doesn't go to the correct page (it takes you to www.http.com instead).

Ack, sorry. Fixed.

aspiringwriter said:

What's wrong with me? I start out writing a story--and a few pages in I grow tired of it...It's like I loose interest. Maybe It's because I have SO many ideas...or something.

But I can't figure it out. For instance, I get really excited and all of a sudden I'm like, "eh forget it. I can't do this." And thus I'm scratching yet another potential best-seller.

Click to expand...

Have you tried taking a day or two off from the novel then coming back to it? Sounds like you just may have "tired brain syndrome". Sometimes you just need a rest for a bit and then push forward.

Persistence is almost as important as talent in this business.

Must be that "loose interest." Chuckles aside, take it from a late bloomer - it can happen. I never finished anything until I found a setting and characters that tickled my fancy and came to life in my head. I cared about these people! It was a silly, useless, non-publishable thing besides, so it didn't matter. I didn't have to take it seriously. I went into obsession mode for the fun of it and finished it, whackety-bang.

Don't try to write a novel, just write your heart out.

You're not alone.
Hang in there.

There's a saying that people use about training for a marathon.

"The goal for your first marathon isn't to run fast, or place well. Your only goal should be to finish".

More and more, I find that novel writing is an endurance sport.

Oooh, I like the analogy, Allister.

(aspiringwriter: actually I'm evil, I just hide it well )

On Monday I sat down and sorted all my works-in-progress. Everything with less than 5 pages went into the "scraps" folder. Maybe later I can salvage some of the writing. (There were some great paragraphs in there! Maybe I can write! ) Or at least some of the ideas. I still have a lot of stuff left to work on, so I prioritized the ones that I think are the best work.

What I realized looking through all that work is that I'm dividing my attention between too many projects which I think reduces the overall quality as well as exponentially increasing the time it takes me to get one to completion.

Instead of starting a new "story" for every great idea, I've been writing those snippets down in a journal with the idea that when I reach the point where my "to do" list has been dealt with, I can go back and see what still grabs me.

I also put shortcuts to the things I've decided to focus on in my menu. Instead of opening the word processor and getting a nice blank sheet, I am dumped right back into an existing project.

Besides the ideas, I think sometimes I stop on something because it's just not working and I need some time away from it. It's extremely difficult to make things come out the way I envision them and very often I find that plot elements I thought were solid fall apart and I don't know how to either rebuild or replace them.

One other thing I do sometimes, and I've been trying to focus this into my journal as well, is that I like to just put together descriptions or scenes, but they don't really stand alone. It's usually good writing and I have the notion that at some point I may be able to incorporate it into other stories, so I don't want to ignore it or just throw it away. But I don't want to invest too much time and energy working on something that has no context, no plot, etc. when those resources could be spent on actually completing something.

So I don't think there's anything wrong with you. It seems like everyone has that kind of problem to some extent, you just haven't discovered what "tricks" help you get past it yet.