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and_so_on

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I'd like to introduce myself by telling you about the major long-form work of fiction I've been plugging away at, but I can't because there isn't one.

What I am is a [unintelligible mumbling] year-old, unpublished quitter who used to write a lot when he was young, then somehow managed to lose the ability to finish anything. That's my main project right now: working on grit. Lately I've been throwing little nonfiction essays and satirical pieces up on my website, but my ultimate aim is to write mostly fiction. Short stories, then someday longer short stories, and then someday a n... I can't even say the word right now. Don't want to get ahead of myself.

My parents met over a discussion of Breakfast of Champions, so that makes me somehow related to Kurt Vonnegut, right?

--
Clint
 

Maryn

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A pleasure to meet you, Clint.

As you wander to the various corners of Absolute Write, you're sure to find references to BIC writing. It's what works for a lot of us. It's your butt in your chair for a set amount of time daily, no excuses (well, we'd accept being in a coma, I suppose--but not super-busy, on vacation, feeling awful, or other lame cop-outs), where you have two and only two options. You write, or you sit there not writing. You may not do anything else during BIC time, even if it's writing related. Most days you'll write, and if time permits, you may go past your time. Yippie, but you cannot amass credit. You owe your usual BIC time the next day.

I like knowing your parents met over Vonnegut. Mine met when my mom got caught in the rain waiting for a bus and my dad had an umbrella. It's not as good a story.

Maryn, whose married friends (now divorced) arranged for her to meet Mr. Maryn
 

The Urban Spaceman

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Welcome, Clint! Since you have a problem finishing, might I suggest partaking in some friendly flash fiction here on the forum? You write for 90 minutes, then submit your story. It isn't finished. But the secret very few people will ever tell you is, no story is ever truly finished. What you "finish" now, you will come back to a year down the line, or five years, or ten, and realise there is so much more that needs to be done to it. In the meantime, close your story arcs, bring the book to a satisfactory conclusion, edit the hell out of it, and learn to live with the fact that your inner-critic will always find room for improvement.

We flash over here: http://absolutewrite.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?137-Flash-Fiction-Challenge

...and the password is flashed. Hope to see you around there, as it's a great way to find your feet and work up to longer stories/novels.




There is zero innuendo in this post.
 

regdog

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read2live

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Welcome, Clint! Since you have a problem finishing, might I suggest partaking in some friendly flash fiction here on the forum? You write for 90 minutes, then submit your story. It isn't finished. But the secret very few people will ever tell you is, no story is ever truly finished. What you "finish" now, you will come back to a year down the line, or five years, or ten, and realise there is so much more that needs to be done to it. In the meantime, close your story arcs, bring the book to a satisfactory conclusion, edit the hell out of it, and learn to live with the fact that your inner-critic will always find room for improvement.

We flash over here: http://absolutewrite.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?137-Flash-Fiction-Challenge

...and the password is flashed. Hope to see you around there, as it's a great way to find your feet and work up to longer stories/novels.




There is zero innuendo in this post.

Came here to welcome the new member, but I think I may have to take a look at the flash forum myself because I have a similar issue to the OP. I have been in such a writing rut lately, I can start a ton of stories, but never seem to find the end of it.

- - - Updated - - -

Welcome Clint! My best suggestion for you is to dive right into the forums and take advantage of the tips and experiences of others here. I may not have posted a whole lot, but I have read a ton and there is so much helpful info here, and so many amazingly helpful people.
 

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Welcome, Clint :banana: The longest journey starts with a single step (Lau Tzu). You've taken that. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other. Good writing.
 

and_so_on

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Thanks, everybody. Glad to have found a forum that seems stocked with some decent folks.

Some clarification, just to let you all further in to my particular brand of writing psychosis: by "never finish anything," I mean I tend to not even finish first drafts. I'm a serial abandoner, not an over-tweaker.

Once I get a draft down, I'm actually pretty okay at editing and getting to the point where I'm satisfied enough to call it "finished." I love tearing into my own work with edits...I need crime scene tape and chalk by the time I'm done marking them up. It's that initial rush of determination that eludes me. But that's why I'm here...to hang around people who do the work. Maybe I'll make myself useful at some point, too. It's been known to happen.

--
Clint
 

Helix

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Hi there, and_so_on

:welcome:

I know exactly what you mean about serial quitting. The way I get around it is to either a) break down projects into a series of very modest goals and tick them off as I go, or b) get a contract in my sweaty little mitts, so there's the lure of real, actual money at the conclusion. Both work for me, but a) is by far the most frequent method!