What's On Your Mind About Your Writing?

[Reservoir Angel]

I really need someone to sit me down and force me to actually commit to either high fantasy, urban fantasy, or science fantasy. And then force me to stick to it so I could actually get down to the important business of writing instead of constantly batting myself back and forward like an elaborate game of idiot's tennis over which genre I prefer writing.

 

[WriterDude]

I really need someone to sit me down and force me to actually commit to either high fantasy, urban fantasy, or science fantasy. And then force me to stick to it so I could actually get down to the important business of writing instead of constantly batting myself back and forward like an elaborate game of idiot's tennis over which genre I prefer writing.

You could just lose the genre down the back of the sofa while you write the story you're itching to tell.

High fantasy, urban fantasy, science fantasy, the lines are blurred to high heck anyway, subvert them some more.

 

[Simpson17866]

I really need someone to sit me down and force me to actually commit to either high fantasy, urban fantasy, or science fantasy. And then force me to stick to it so I could actually get down to the important business of writing instead of constantly batting myself back and forward like an elaborate game of idiot's tennis over which genre I prefer writing.

Is this one story that you can't figure out how you want to write, or multiple stories you're having trouble deciding between?

 

[Reservoir Angel]

Is this one story that you can't figure out how you want to write, or multiple stories you're having trouble deciding between?

One vague story concept with different possible interpretations based on genre that I can't decide between. Honestly it's mostly between urban fantasy or science fantasy right now, high fantasy's been left out of the lurch on this one.

Basically it's down to whether I want to write the central conflict as an open conflict with big bombastic kind of magic in a high-tech world, or write it as a quiet underground secret war with subtle magic bubbling underneath our own world.

Some days I want it one way, then I wake up the next day and want it the other way. It's infuriating.

And writing both simultaneously is not an option. I can barely stick to writing one thing let alone two at once.

 

[Punk28]

Don't think I got anywhere today. Mostly wrote muck, but hoping to maybe turn it into something (possibly tomorrow, if not the next day).

 

[heykatydid]

I'm taking a short break from writing the second installment of my two-book novel set to write a romance novella, and I'm feeling so very far out of my genre (I never write anything that's pure romance). I'm hoping to get some new ideas that will spark an improvement in the draft since I'm struggling with basic romance story-telling elements.

 

[brandenburgdm]

I don't know if this is a thing, but I keep finding myself worried about either starting two sentences with the same word, or (this one is probably crazy) the same word in one line is in almost the exact same spot on the line below it.

 

[rwm4768]

I don't know if this is a thing, but I keep finding myself worried about either starting two sentences with the same word, or (this one is probably crazy) the same word in one line is in almost the exact same spot on the line below it.

I know what you mean. Those kinds of things bother me too.

Usually, I try to keep sentences from starting with the same word (unless I'm doing it specifically for emphasis).

 

[Reservoir Angel]

How do you know when it's just time to give up even trying to write? Because I just can't make this work. The only thing I've written in ages was today, and it's just over 1000 words of a self-indulgent fanfiction that I have zero plan for, and I don't even think it's remotely good writing anyway.

 

[rwm4768]

How do you know when it's just time to give up even trying to write? Because I just can't make this work. The only thing I've written in ages was today, and it's just over 1000 words of a self-indulgent fanfiction that I have zero plan for, and I don't even think it's remotely good writing anyway.

I'd say it might be time to take a break. Or you can shift your focus with writing. If all you want to write is self-indulgent stuff, then go ahead and write that. If you still don't enjoy writing anything, then maybe it's not for you.

 

[Punk28]

I don't know if this is a thing, but I keep finding myself worried about either starting two sentences with the same word, or (this one is probably crazy) the same word in one line is in almost the exact same spot on the line below it.

Found myself concerned over the same word occurring right after it was written a few times. If it works, and you can't figure a way to change it, then it might be for the best that it stay there. Some words are stubborn.

I finished the chapter that I was working on yesterday, and am now facing the ones that feature plots that have year-gaps in them. Naturally, with this alien disease running 189 years, I can't write the events of what happen during all of them years (the story would get boring and fast), so I'm keeping myself to featuring bits and pieces of it before the cure's put out.

 

[SKStark]

Last week, I thought there were a few key areas that I really needed to work on, but otherwise I had this whole writing thing figured out.

Then I joined this forum.

My understanding of punctuation is about all I feel solid about now.

It's not a great feeling, but I'm trying to remind myself that knowing one's weak spots is the only way to improve them.

 

[edutton]

Last week, I thought there were a few key areas that I really needed to work on, but otherwise I had this whole writing thing figured out.

Then I joined this forum.

My understanding of punctuation is about all I feel solid about now.

You're not the first! I suspect that's happened to a lot of us... I know it did for me. And most of the time, it seems that initial "OMG I don't know ANYTHING" feeling settles down after a couple of days.
Good luck, and welcome to AW!

 

[Undercover]

I'm done with the copy edits! YAY! The next stage is the proofreading and I'm done (I hope. lol)

Haven't been doing much writing. I updated my blog and wrote a poem recently so that's something right? Still feel bad in a way that I'm not writing a novel. Hopefully after all this publishing stuff is done and over, I could start something fresh.

 

[rwm4768]

I had a dream last night in which my book sold over 1000 copies on its release date.

I was very angry when I woke up.

 

[Cindyt]

The front stuff of WIP1 is ready for publication. Haha. Seriously, I'm on Draft 8, reading sections over and over until they are ready to fly into Draft 9 and--I hope--publication. But. It just hit me between the eyes a few moments ago. I've failed to write a scene involving Mimi's wedding dress. It should be hanging on a body form in her room the day before the dreaded event. So, I'll have to stop everything and write a short bit.

 

[Punk28]

Made the decision to stop what I'm doing then go back to chapter 14 and read through it again. I'm still struggling to get what needs to be written on a document, and feel that it's still based on what was written in chapters 14-18. I will never begin a story only to leave it for favor of editing the previous three again -- there's a dust trail, and I remember how it's suppose to be swept and then built into the castle that I want it to be, but I'm so far out of it that my writing is starting to lack what it did in chapters 1-13.

 

[Cindyt]

WIP1: Draft 8. Read through and edited Prelude: Reptilian Eyes, which I may change back to The Watcher. Hmmm...

WIP2: Today is the day to continue writing the first draft--after I go back and change a few things. For one, Billy's yacht, which I think I mentioned somewhere upthread, and will change the first line indent from .05 to .02.

WIP3: I'll continue writing the first draft Sunday, after which I'll start changing it's first line indent.

 

[Taylor Harbin]

I'm getting closer to the end of my science fiction novel. I've spent so much time working on it I'm so ready to be done. But whilst finishing I'm reading "Tailchaser's Song" and had an epiphany on how to fix my own animal fantasy, which I abandoned after finishing the first draft last year. At the same time I've been contemplating a children's book and I can't make up my mind which would be more worthy of my time, which one might have more market potential. Some days I feel like I won't have the physical strength to write everything I want, no matter how much life I've got left.

 

[Dysnomia]

Can't tell if it's procrastination of other work I've to do making me absolutely love this new draft, or that I actually love, love it unlike the previous one that I'd started to detest...

 

[nickisnotes]

In response to the question about how to know when to quit writing:

I've asked myself the same question so many times, and the thing that brings me back to writing is always one of two things. Either 1) I go a few months without writing and realize how much I miss it, or 2) I remember that my head is full of half-made stories that will never exist if I don't write them down. I feel like if you have a true writer's brain, you can't quit for long because the stories start screaming at you, begging to be written.

I heard a quote once (can't remember who said it) that went, "I don't like writing. I like having written." The process of writing kinda sucks sometimes. You get caught up on how to word a sentence and then the whole paragraph ends up getting cut. You struggle through writer's block, or you know what you want to happen next but you're afraid no one will like it. But nothing compares to the feeling of accomplishment you get from holding a finished piece in your hand and thinking, "I wrote this."

Sometimes taking a break is necessary to clear your head, but if you find that you miss it, don't hesitate to start writing again. Be proud of little accomplishments. Print out something you wrote that you like and hold it in your hand. If you're a writer at heart, it's the best feeling in the world.

 

[Punk28]

Once again, changed my mind on going back to edit through what I've previously written. This is draft 1 for chapters 14 through 18, so a lot of changes will take place with them when the time comes to edit them. With chapter 19 taking place 15 years after the previous chapter, I just got a bit of cold feet and frustration over continuously writing out how it starts but scrapping it because it don't sound/read right.

 

[ManInBlack]

I'm seriously considering the idea of writing the backstory for one of my side characters (think a Neville Longbottom, Ginny Weasley, or Lando Calrissian-level supporting character). The question is whether I should try to make it fit the age group of the story (it would be set when she's about 13) or just write it for adults/myself.

 

[TaylorSaville]

Right now I'm trying to get motivated to work on Book Two of my fantasy series. Book One will be coming out within a month, so I feel like I need to get cracking on that second book! I'm just too obsessed with researching how to promote this book when it comes out, because my first novel really bombed due to my lack of knowledge. I released it a month ago and want this new project to be more successful. My mind just feels really chaotic at the moment. I have other books in the works, but I feel like I need to finish this trilogy before I devote to something else.

 

[WriterDude]

Its not working out with my MMC. He is just, nondescript. Can't picture him, can't click with him, not even sure what he wants, or if what I've said he wants is strong enough to carry the plot. The other characters are more interesting, by a county mile, but their stories don't match the main plot and I have a different fate for them. I need a viable counterpoint to the FMC, and that just ain't MC Matt.

In the original draft he was a sort of a lovable rogue, much as i hate that term, but who did the right thing at a push, but by the umpth draft he's become sterile, domesticated, dull.

Back to the old drawing board me thinks.