Why do you fail?

KTC · Jun 18, 2009

Me? I don't make an effort. I'm the laziest writer I know. Oh, I can write forever...non-stop...but the editing process kills the shit out of me. My lack of effort will always be the weight around my neck.

Why do you think you fail as a writer?

dolores haze · Jun 18, 2009

Me, too. Love writing; hate editing.

Travis J. Smith · Jun 18, 2009

Though I love editing, I am still rather lazy about it.

And, while I write at a great clip when I am in the proper head space, I end up letting myself get sidetracked from writing too often. Even now, when I am excited about what little I have churned out (2K) of my rewrite, I am finding excuses not to write. I must say that this problem is new, however.

blacbird · Jun 18, 2009

Lack of ability, evidently.

caw

C.bronco · Jun 18, 2009

I never fail. I just haven't succeded yet.

Mumut · Jun 18, 2009

I edit too much. If I find I can't write, it's usually because there's something not quite right in what I've written recently. So I look back over the work and straighten the problem out. I re-read friom the start to make sure the whole is in good shape. Then I write a bit more - and come to a full stop again. Si I'd write as much in a year as most people write in a couple of months. But that's how I write. I wouldn't feel happy doing it any other way.

dnic · Jun 18, 2009

Mumut said:
I edit too much. If I find I can't write, it's usually because there's something not quite right in what I've written recently. So I look back over the work and straighten the problem out. I re-read friom the start to make sure the whole is in good shape. Then I write a bit more - and come to a full stop again. Si I'd write as much in a year as most people write in a couple of months. But that's how I write. I wouldn't feel happy doing it any other way.

I do the exact same thing. :tongue

I like editing. I edit along the way. I finish and I edit the whole thing. I get irritated at my edits and spend hours just staring at it, wondering how I can get myself out of the mess.
A lot of time wasted right there.

Cassiopeia · Jun 18, 2009

I'm editing by chapter. I get too lost otherwise. So I write a chapter, edit it as best I can and move on to the next. I know I'll edit it again when I get the book done but I also know, this helps me to remember what I wrote last.

Cranky · Jun 18, 2009

Too much self-doubt. It fuels my naturally procrastinating nature, and stuff just doesn't get done, because I always think, "Oh, well, it just sucks anyway. No big loss."

Ugly cycle, I know. Occasionally, I can break out of it, though.

Salis · Jun 18, 2009

It's those damn kids!

DamaNegra · Jun 18, 2009

I fail because I don't even try.

himynameisamanda · Jun 18, 2009

I write quickly, get it all out, and then leave it alone for a week, and then edit the hell out of it. I’ll read my own book like 30 times, but I think that’s where I fail. When you read something too much, you can’t tell what’s good or what’s bad anymore.

And then I start to researching agents and publishing (again) and getting incredibly overwhelmed, because of how impossible it all seems.

My stupid little book that I wrote has to go up against a bad economy, a changing market, make it past a slush pile of thousands of query letters to get an agent, who then has to beat out lots of other eligible titles to get a publisher, who has to try and get my book on shelves so people will actually buy it, and then somebody has to look at it and go, “Yeah. This is worth $6.” There’s too many steps to fail.

It seems like even the greatest book ever written hardly stands a chance, and I can guarantee that my book is not the greatest book ever written.

So then I write my book, get as perfect as possible, send off query letters, and declare that it will never, ever be published and I’d better learn to live with that.

Cassiopeia · Jun 18, 2009

himynameisamanda said:
I write quickly, get it all out, and then leave it alone for a week, and then edit the hell out of it. I’ll read my own book like 30 times, but I think that’s where I fail. When you read something too much, you can’t tell what’s good or what’s bad anymore.

And then I start to researching agents and publishing (again) and getting incredibly overwhelmed, because of how impossible it all seems.

My stupid little book that I wrote has to go up against a bad economy, a changing market, make it past a slush pile of thousands of query letters to get an agent, who then has to beat out lots of other eligible titles to get a publisher, who has to try and get my book on shelves so people will actually buy it, and then somebody has to look at it and go, “Yeah. This is worth $6.” There’s too many steps to fail.

It seems like even the greatest book ever written hardly stands a chance, and I can guarantee that my book is not the greatest book ever written.

So then I write my book, get as perfect as possible, send off query letters, and declare that it will never, ever be published and I’d better learn to live with that.

OH wow...you soooooooooo need a hug... :Hug2:

bettielee · Jun 18, 2009

My self-doubt eats giant holes in my ego.

Cassiopeia · Jun 18, 2009

bettielee said:
My self-doubt eats giant holes in my ego.

We need to kill those self-doubt demons that follow us around.

Death! Death to them I say!

himynameisamanda · Jun 18, 2009

Cassiopeia said:
OH wow...you soooooooooo need a hug...

Lol, probably. Thanks.

I'm just having one of those days where I feel tremendously overwhelmed, and incredibly naive.

Cassiopeia · Jun 18, 2009

himynameisamanda said:
Lol, probably. Thanks.

I'm just having one of those days where I feel tremendously overwhelmed, and incredibly naive.

Ya know, we all do. So welcome to the club and btw...Welcome to AW.

Izz · Jun 18, 2009

I'm overenthusiastic. I send pieces out way before they're ready. Can't help it. It's like a drug... 'oh, i love it, i love it, i love it, let's send it somewhere, let's send it somewhere, where should i send it, oooh, let's send it here, let's send it here, it's sent, it's sent, it's sent, wooohooo.' And then a rejection comes back (we're talking short stories here) sometime in the future and i look over the story again and think 'what the hell was i on?' And then I edit and then the process repeats.

Epiphany · Jun 18, 2009

I'm impatient and very self-conscious. Every rejection means I have to spend more time on this step, and also puts a damper on my fragile ego.

Cassiopeia · Jun 18, 2009

Isaac Espriu said:
I'm overenthusiastic. I send pieces out way before they're ready. Can't help it. It's like a drug... 'oh, i love it, i love it, i love it, let's send it somewhere, let's send it somewhere, where should i send it, oooh, let's send it here, let's send it here, it's sent, it's sent, it's sent, wooohooo.' And then a rejection comes back (we're talking short stories here) sometime in the future and i look over the story again and think 'what the hell was i on?' And then I edit and then the process repeats.

*giggles* I wish I had some of that!

Izz · Jun 18, 2009

Cassiopeia said:
*giggles* I wish I had some of that!

Ah, but the kicker is when the rejection comes back and i look over the story again and spend a whole lot of time slapping myself for being such an idiot and sending it out before it was ready--'i'm a fool, what was i thinking, am i a complete moron, look at it, this doesn't make sense, the pacing of that section is totally off-kilter, this character isn't even necessary, and now i've just wasted a perfectly good market who've probably blacklisted me for life, arggghhh,' and so on. Though possibly with more pirate noises and expressions--'yarr, you stupid landlubber, you should be keelhauled for this, arrrrr.'

Cassiopeia · Jun 19, 2009

Isaac Espriu said:
Ah, but the kicker is when the rejection comes back and i look over the story again and spend a whole lot of time slapping myself for being such an idiot and sending it out before it was ready--'i'm a fool, what was i thinking, am i a complete moron, look at it, this doesn't make sense, the pacing of that section is totally off-kilter, this character isn't even necessary, and now i've just wasted a perfectly good market who've probably blacklisted me for life, arggghhh,' and so on. Though possibly with more pirate noises and expressions--'yarr, you stupid landlubber, you should be keelhauled for this, arrrrr.'

Ahhhhh...I have an inner editor like that. I end up covering my ears and screaming ...shut up-shut up-SHUT UP!

Izz · Jun 19, 2009

Cassiopeia said:
Ahhhhh...I have an inner editor like that. I end up covering my ears and screaming ...shut up-shut up-SHUT UP!

The worst thing is when the pirate's parrot gets involved...

Cassiopeia · Jun 19, 2009

Isaac Espriu said:
The worst thing is when the pirate's parrot gets involved...

do i want to know?

Izz · Jun 19, 2009

Cassiopeia said:
do i want to know?

Barrrk, you call that a story? Polly wants a crackya head...

*runs off back to terrible punville and hides amongst the overgrown one-liners*

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