The hardest part to write?

Mythica · Mar 19, 2008

What do you think is the hardest part of a book to write? For me I think it is falling in love. That is really hard to do, but it's fun.

Claudia Gray · Mar 19, 2008

Romance is hard. Setting up plot points so that they will make sense later but without giving the whole game away is hard. Introducing most characters is difficult for me.

Valona · Mar 19, 2008

Mythica said:
What do you think is the hardest part of a book to write? For me I think it is falling in love. That is really hard to do, but it's fun.

Query and synopsis. If you're having trouble with the falling in love part, read some romance novels. They do it pretty well.

Andrhia · Mar 19, 2008

I think the hardest part of a book to write is the middle. You're done with setting the stage, your characters have waltzed in, and then... stuff... has to happen to get to the end. A lot of it. And it has to keep happening. For dozens, nay, hundreds of pages!

None of my work has falling-in-love as a necessary element so far.

But in terms of content, I do worry a lot about walking the line between too much description and white room syndrome. It's so squishy and subjective, you know?

MoonWriter · Mar 19, 2008

The part I'm working on - that's usually the hardest.

It's probably because I don't like conflict. I'd like for all of my characters to get along - be friends or fall in love or work together to solve problems, but that would go against the advice of having conflict on every page. I'm getting better - I now have conflict on every other page. I'll add the rest when I begin editing.

Sex scenes are difficult for me to write, too. Being married with two kids, I'm really forced to use my imagination.

sheadakota · Mar 19, 2008

MoonWriter said:
The part I'm working on - that's usually the hardest.

It's probably because I don't like conflict. I'd like for all of my characters to get along - be friends or fall in love or work together to solve problems, but that would go against the advice of having conflict on every page. I'm getting better - I now have conflict on every other page. I'll add the rest when I begin editing.

Sex scenes are difficult for me to write, too. Being married with two kids, I'm really forced to use my imagination.

I'm the exact oppisite- I love writing conflict, the hardest part for me is what to do between the conflicts- I love angst-

sex scenes are hard for me too- ditto on the married with two kids thing

Wolvel · Mar 19, 2008

MoonWriter said:
Sex scenes are difficult for me to write, too. Being married with two kids, I'm really forced to use my imagination.

The trick I use is to set the scene up then let it trail off in a way that the reader can fill in the blanks. Kind of leave it as to where they know what's about to happen without having to detail it.

Mr Flibble · Mar 19, 2008

MoonWriter said:
Sex scenes are difficult for me to write, too. Being married with two kids, I'm really forced to use my imagination.

So am I ( married with two kids). It doesn't stop me being fruity! Ofc the Old Man gets the benfit after I've spent an evening thinking of interesting ways to errrr play hide the sausage

dawinsor · Mar 19, 2008

Beginnings are hard to get right because they have to accomplish so much and do it quickly. But oddly, sometimes the hardest thing is the simple stuff--getting a person out of a room, a few lines of dinner table chatter that sound natural, stuff like that.

Matera the Mad · Mar 19, 2008

The hardest part is whatever part I am trying to get right-sized

L.R. Currell · Mar 19, 2008

The hardest part for me is writing the direction of where I want the story to go and also keeping things interesting

Hollan · Mar 19, 2008

Andrhia said:
I think the hardest part of a book to write is the middle.

Second that. I love writing beginnings, but once I get over the initial excitement, and I have to keep making it interesting I get bored. I just want to get through all the middle stuff and get to the end. Plus, I usually only have ideas for the beginning and end with only a vague notion of the middle.

I also have a prob. w/ description. Should I describe what they are eating for dinner or not?

Snowstorm · Mar 19, 2008

My toughest part is the expounding, fleshing out an item, or philosophy in a character, like a thought or feeling. My writing is TOO tight, so I've been told. I'm jealous of writers who can write a paragraph that's relaxed but not to ad nauseum.

Chasing the Horizon · Mar 19, 2008

The hardest part for me is the beginning. If I had my way, every book would start with chapter 2 and readers would telepathically be informed of who's who and why what's happening. Fantasy beginnings are the worst, because you have to introduce the world on top of introducing the characters and setting up the plot. AND the beginning is supposed to be INTERESTING on top of it all! I think one reason I like writing continuing storyline series so much is because I don't have to write a true beginning for the sequels. I can handle introducing the plot if readers already know the characters and setting.

I'll join the group that finds sex scenes difficult too. I've gotten pretty good at writing them, but I still hate doing it. But I love writing romance elements, so I can't just skip the sex scenes.

It's funny how many people find the middles of books difficult. That's always my favorite part and usually where my best scenes end up too. In fact, the middle of my first novel was so good it was really hard to make the ending not seem anti-climatic by comparison, lol.

maestrowork · Mar 19, 2008

Transitions... and the in-between scenes from key scenes to key scenes. You can't just jump, but you don't want to linger either, and they usually come out really bleh.

Middles are always the worst for me. I'm in mid-book now, and I'm definitely having the blues.

Michael Davis · Mar 19, 2008

writing the romance - a big guys view

Actually, writing the story for me is a breeze. I see all the scenes evolve in my head and just let er rip. If I don't like where it went, I rewind and let the mind run free again. The only problem I have with romance scene is just how explicit to I get. I'm a guy whose primary audience is woman (I'm a big alpha male that likes the charm of man/woman relationships so I write romantic suspense and thrillers).

As I guy, I know what guys like, and will tolerant, but I had no idea what women would accept. So I conducted an experiment in my early days of writing fiction. I took about a dozen close female friends/family, showed them three different romantic passages, and asked them to rate each depending on whether they wanted more or less explicit description (its my analytical side to study things).

I was amazed by the result. The responses were all over the board. Some wanted to know everything, some wanted a closed door policy, there was no generally acceptable norm or pattern, except that younger women seemed to want a little more explicitness then older women. I decided to go with what I was conformable with seeing in print. Its clear whats happening but its stated with respect, grace, and a literary flow. From the reviews, seems that to have worked and I haven't upset anyone so far, so I'll stick with it.

Big Mike

Michael Davis
Davisstories.com - “Stories that touch the heart and mind"
TheWritersVineyard.com
[FONT=&quot]Tainted Hero[/FONT], “Sometimes good people do bad things for the right reasons.” Champagne books,Dec 07
[FONT=&quot]Forgotten Children[/FONT], “Greed is blind to human suffering.” Champagne books,July 08
[FONT=&quot]Blind Consent[/FONT], “Where the heart and mind collide.” 09
[FONT=&quot]The Treasure[/FONT], “A lonely heart can impair one’s judgment.” Forbidden Speculation paperback, Dec 07

JoNightshade · Mar 19, 2008

The beginning. I rewrite these over and over, particularly my WIP. I'm still struggling over how to make it hook the reader. Originally it just started slow, but that was "too slow." Right now it begins with a surprise, a bang, but a couple of people have noted that they expected more of a thriller or suspense... but the genre is contemporary fic / romance. Argh! I need to figure out how to set just the right tone.

willietheshakes · Mar 19, 2008

The next part.

Brighid · Mar 20, 2008

The end - it's difficult to say good-bye to those wonderful characters that I've spent so much time with during the previous months.

triceretops · Mar 20, 2008

It's always been the middle. Trying to keep up that intensity to the end is difficult. Beginnings and endings are wonderfully easy. The mid-filler is the bummer.

Character background and history is always a chore. Trying to describe a city or location where the scene/action takes place.

Tri

Stew21 · Mar 20, 2008

I'd say the hardest part is during editing when all the stuff I let flow and to get my story out needs to be cleaned up, added to, cleaned up again and polished.
As for scenes during editing - my most edited, revised and disected scene is the first one. that first sentence has to really be good. That first scene has a lot to accomplish. I have worked hardest on it, I believe.

StoryG27 · Mar 20, 2008

Beginnings are by far the easiest for me. After that, different things take turns being hard. The middle can bog me down, or I can fly right through it. The end can fly from my finger tips or be tapped out one little apprehensive letter at a time. Just depends. I know a lot of times I'll be spinning my wheels a bit when I'm trying to build up to something BIG happening, and then when it's time for the BIG to happen, I'll sometimes freeze, knowing I built it up so much that I have to make it amazing. But all my hurdles are all fairly easily overcome by BIC time.

donroc · Mar 20, 2008

Showing not telling. This former educator can be too wonky with facts and didactic.

angeliz2k · Mar 20, 2008

So far I haven't written a heck of a lot, but it seems to change depending on the story I'm writing. Sometimes I have a really good idea where to start, so the beginning is no problem, such as in my last WIP. But then the middle might become a problem, such as in my last WIP! On my current work, though, I'm having trouble finding the right place to begin so it's the beginning that's the problem.

The ending seems to work out just fine, though, because I almost always have an ending in mind.

sportacus · Mar 20, 2008

The Hardest part for me to write is all the necessary exposition amongst a really good beginning. It's stuff that needs to be said, but it takes away from the pace and flow.

The hardest part to write?

Expert Gerbil Wrangler

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