I lost my writing juices again.

CaroGirl · May 28, 2008

You don't need to wean yourself from crits, you need to stop cold turkey. There is NO point in receiving criticism for work that is unfinished. I believe that firmly, to the core of my being (not that I've never asked for feedback on an unfinished work myself

).

Take a break from the novel and write some shorts. And FINISH them. When you write a short story, complete, done, edited, finito, you can ask for criticism. Perhaps that will feed you while you work on your larger project. Be private about unfinished work. Hold it close, baby it, and don't let anyone see it until it's fully formed. Pretend it's a fetus. No one meets her til she's born.

DWSTXS · May 28, 2008

Blue, you HAVE to finish something. Even if it is a short story.

You have to FINISH something.

Just write it, all the way to the finish. THEN worry about editing, and getting opinions.

BECAUSE, if it's not finished, you'll never know just how close to publishable it is. Once you finish it and get some crits on the work as a whole, then you'll be able to break down, into little manageable chunks, the work you need to do to get it published.

If you don't know where you're going you'll never know if you're on the right track, or not. And if you have no ending planned, you'll never know how to get there anyway.

tehuti88 · May 28, 2008

BlueLucario said:
I know I shouldn't be asking for feedback, but I just can't write without someone reading it. My beta reader is taking a vacation. I sent my manuscript to over 10 betas months ago and have never got any responses back. I need someone to read my work.

I know that feeling all too well.

My problem is, I'm not looking for CRITICISM (I have never in my life had a "beta reader"...the mere concept is weird to me) so much as just READERS, hence my reasons for not posting any of my writing to boards like this. You have more guts than I do.

Speaking as somebody who has never learned how to get over that feeling, I know that reading work that is related somehow to mine often makes me feel inspired. I don't know what subject you write, but is there ever anything you research or a subject you're interested in which works its way into your writing? E. g. I write about mythology, and about a certain nearby location, and I find that reading about those things really jazzes me. Especially when I learn something new. There's an "OMG!--have to work that into my story!"-type of feeling.

I'm afraid that's no solution to the problem of actually getting people to read and respond to your work, but maybe it could spark some writing ideas...?

Bubastes · May 28, 2008

BlueLucario said:
I know I shouldn't be asking for feedback, but I just can't write without someone reading it.

You're going to HAVE to learn how. Feedback is useless until you have a finished product. I will say this again: the way you're trying to write right now is like driving with one foot on the gas and the other on the brake pedal while getting different directions from five people. How far do you think that will take you?

Finish your WIP, then ask for feedback (and maybe not even then). Writing cannot be done by committee. The answer to your writing problems is not "out there" in feedback-land. You need to shut the door and just write.

Marian Perera · May 28, 2008

If you absolutely cannot write without having someone reading it and praising you, consider posting on www.fanfiction.net or where you previously posted stories, before finding AW.

There's no shame in writing for a certain easy-to-please audience. It's not the real thing, but it works for lots of people. Decide what you want when it comes to writing. Then decide what you're willing to do - or willing to sacrifice - to achieve it.

geardrops · May 28, 2008

You can't write for two days and you call that losing your juices? Wait until you can't write for three years. Then we can talk.

And if you really want people to instantly respond to what you write and gush over it (and this is not me being cruel, this is me being utterly sincere) go cut your teeth on fanfiction. Seriously. You'll get reviews per chapter, depending how active the fandom is. Hell, you may even develop a following.

It's been known to happen to some people.

>.>

<.<

BlueLucario · May 28, 2008

Stew21 said:
I have more quotes!

“The first draft—the All-Story Draft—should be written with no help (or interference) from anyone else.” Stephen King

“You’ve finished your first draft. . . . If you have someone who has been impatiently waiting to read your novel . . . then this is the time to give up the goods.” Stephen King

Do you have any more quotes?

I'm not writing for praises. It's just for people to read, I only wanted honest opinions, good or bad. What did I do wrong in my writing? Did it bore you?

Phaeal · May 28, 2008

dempsey said:
You can't write for two days and you call that losing your juices? Wait until you can't write for three years. Then we can talk.

And if you really want people to instantly respond to what you write and gush over it (and this is not me being cruel, this is me being utterly sincere) go cut your teeth on fanfiction. Seriously. You'll get reviews per chapter, depending how active the fandom is. Hell, you may even develop a following.

It's been known to happen to some people.

>.>

<.<

But if you want a lot of reviews (Like: "ZOMG, squeeee, I want to have your babies!!!"), make sure you write fan fictions starring whatever the popular funky ship is in that fandom. Harry-Draco, for HP, for example.

Marian Perera · May 28, 2008

BlueLucario said:
I'm not writing for praises. It's just for people to read, I only wanted honest opinions, good or bad.

Blue, if a writer posts an excerpt and I critique it and the next thing I know the writer's started a sad thread about how she cried over negative feedback and how she can't write now, do you think I'll believe that writer when she says she's not writing for praise?

You got honest opinions in that thread. What more do you want from us than you've already received?

BlueLucario · May 28, 2008

Queen of Swords said:
Blue, if a writer posts an excerpt and I critique it and the next thing I know the writer's started a sad thread about how she cried over negative feedback and how she can't write now, do you think I'll believe that writer when she says she's not writing for praise?

You got honest opinions in that thread. What more do you want from us than you've already received?

Errr....Nothing, just honest opinions.

Marian Perera · May 28, 2008

BlueLucario said:
Errr....Nothing, just honest opinions.

Well, then, you got them, and if they made you so upset, that's something you need to work on.

mscelina · May 28, 2008

Blue. Turn off the internet. Sit at your computer and WRITE. Don't write to please anyone but yourself. JUST WRITE. Screw feedback! You don't need it! You just need to WRITE THE DAMN STORY.

Then, after you've done this process until the story is finished, DO IT AGAIN. Write the whole darn thing over, rectifying the mistakes you made.

When you've done that PM me and I'll tell you the next step. Until then, JUST WRITE.

*why do I have a feeling of deja vu...*

Stew21 · May 28, 2008

BlueLucario said:
Do you have any more quotes?

I'm not writing for praises. It's just for people to read, I only wanted honest opinions, good or bad. What did I do wrong in my writing? Did it bore you?

Hold off. Instant gratification is not the way to go. You need to make yourself wait for it. Step away from the crits!

p.s. - I used the quotes because I thought maybe if Ernest Hemingway and Stephen King said it you would listen. You seem to have a hard time believing us. Maybe they could help.

BlueLucario · May 28, 2008

Stew21 said:
Hold off. Instant gratification is not the way to go. You need to make yourself wait for it. Step away from the crits!

p.s. - I used the quotes because I thought maybe if Ernest Hemingway and Stephen King said it you would listen. You seem to have a hard time believing us. Maybe they could help.

I liked the Stephen King one.

It's not that I won't listen to you, I'm just too afraid to write stink and i have over a dozen readers emailing me when the next story update would be(I went a bit overboard with the readers.). Now I know how Rowling felt when she was writing her last book.

Other than that, I'm afraid to write stink. If I did, it's going to eat me alive later on.

(p.s That was a rhetorical question.)

mscelina · May 28, 2008

JUST WRITE THE STORY.

Stink is good. Stink makes you better. Stink inspires you to do great things. Embrace your stink.

JUST WRITE THE STORY!

BlueLucario · May 28, 2008

mscelina said:
Stink is good. Stink makes you better. Stink inspires you to do great things. Embrace your stink.

JUST WRITE THE STORY!

I get it. I was about to leave anyway.

Sigh. You gave me a heart attack.

Stew21 · May 28, 2008

BlueLucario said:
I liked the Stephen King one. It's not that I won't listen to you, I'm just too afraid to write stink and i have over a dozen readers emailing me when the next story update would be(I went a bit overboard with the readers.). Now I know how Rowling felt when she was writing her last book.

Other than that, I'm afraid to write stink. If I did, it's going to eat me alive later on.

(p.s That was a rhetorical question.)

Don't be afraid to write shit for a first draft. And it IS that you won't listen to us. You're making excuses for continuing to do what we tell you maybe you should not. You are trying to justify actions after you ask for advice on how to stop doing it. You are looking for ways to have us agree with you and getting our permission to do things the way you are doing them. Stop it.
Don't worry about the readers. Cut them off. Tell them you aren't ready for them to read more. Tough shit for them. Wait. This is not about THEM. It is about you and if you want to make a go of being serious about writing. Tell them you won't be sending anymore until you get it finished. They are cluttering your head with crap you don't need. all you need to write the story is writing your book and reading other books.
Write. the. story.
Then rewrite the story.
Readers come WAY later.

blueobsidian · May 28, 2008

Stew21 said:
Don't be afraid to write shit for a first draft.

I just wanted to post this again because you need to listen to it, Blue. A first draft is just a draft! Everyone's first drafts stink! That is why you have to rewrite and revise. All you have to do right now is get the story down on paper. Once you have the whole thing written down, THEN you can worry about making it good.

At the end of the day, if you don't believe in yourself then no amount of praise from readers is ever going to be enough. Trust me when I say that it is not worth it to live your life based on what other people think. Stop worrying about it and write the story you want to write. Believe in yourself. You have written much more than most people your age could do. You need to learn to depend on yourself for determination. People aren't going to give it to you forever.

Stew21 · May 28, 2008

Another quote: courtesy of www.Authorscoop.com

“I have never thought of myself as a good writer. Anyone who wants reassurance of that should read one of my first drafts. But I’m one of the world’s great rewriters. I find that three or four readings are required to comb out the cliches, line up pronouns with their antecedents, and insure agreement in number between subject and verbs…My connectives, my clauses, my subsidiary phrases don’t come naturally to me and I’m very prone to repetition of words; so I never even write an important letter in the first draft. I can never recall anything of mine that’s ever been printed in less than three drafts. You write that first draft really to see how it’s going to come out.”

- James A. Michener

ChaosTitan · May 28, 2008

Stew21 said:
Hold off. Instant gratification is not the way to go. You need to make yourself wait for it. Step away from the crits!

This is great advice, you know. If you can't show your story to anyone UNTIL IT'S FINISHED, it is a great motivator to FINISH IT. One of the things that always helps me get to the end of a project is knowing that I have at least one loyal reader waiting to get her hands on it. And I don't want to keep her waiting. But I also don't want to show her an incomplete story. I won't.

Tell your readers you won't be sending them anything else until the story is finished. Then they'll start bugging you to finish. Great motivator, that.

James81 · May 29, 2008

BlueLucario said:
I liked the Stephen King one. It's not that I won't listen to you, I'm just too afraid to write stink and i have over a dozen readers emailing me when the next story update would be(I went a bit overboard with the readers.). Now I know how Rowling felt when she was writing her last book.

Other than that, I'm afraid to write stink. If I did, it's going to eat me alive later on.

(p.s That was a rhetorical question.)

Do you use that google docs for all your writing? If you do, then DON'T. lol Use a word processor of some kind. I think they are right that you have to just finish the story.

You're afraid it's going to eat you alive later on...well, I can tell you that it won't. I say that from EXPERIENCE. My first finished novel was written in 41 days. I didn't go back and edit what I wrote. I didn't re-read anything (other than to skim for a detail that I had forgotten). I just wrote.

When I was finished, I thought "Dear God this is going to be complete trash". So I read it. And I was absolutely amazed at how well it DID turn out. There are mistakes here and there and like ONE minor plot inconsistency (from what I've found anyway), but it's no worse than most of my other first drafts that I labored over intensely for the right words.

You're going to surprise yourself the day you finally let go. The day your writing becomes truly YOURS and the day you write for yourself, not the validation from others.

I believe you'll get to that point someday.

tehuti88 · May 29, 2008

Queen of Swords said:
There's no shame in writing for a certain easy-to-please audience. It's not the real thing, but it works for lots of people.

Not to hijack the thread...I won't post to it further...but this comment kind of niggled at me. Is it saying that writing purely to entertain and not for publication isn't "real" somehow...? Because I find that kind of a strange thing to say. :/ I struggle myself with the fear that because I'm not seeking publication, I'm not a "real" writer, yet people are always quick to insist this isn't so. Now this seems to contradict that. ?...

BlueLucario, you have people (over a dozen!) BEGGING you for the rest of your story?? I would die for something like that! The thought that there are people you are actually entertaining should help to stimulate your desire to write again. If they're begging to read more, then at least those readers can't think that what you write "stinks." At least you're trying to improve, which is more than what many writers do. Just keep writing it and they'll read it. Otherwise...they might get tired of waiting.

Stew21 · May 29, 2008

tehuti88 said:
Not to hijack the thread...I won't post to it further...but this comment kind of niggled at me. Is it saying that writing purely to entertain and not for publication isn't "real" somehow...? Because I find that kind of a strange thing to say. :/ I struggle myself with the fear that because I'm not seeking publication, I'm not a "real" writer, yet people are always quick to insist this isn't so. Now this seems to contradict that. ?...

I think you misunderstood the comment, but I will let QoS clarify for herself.

BlueLucario, you have people (over a dozen!) BEGGING you for the rest of your story?? I would die for something like that! The thought that there are people you are actually entertaining should help to stimulate your desire to write again. If they're begging to read more, then at least those readers can't think that what you write "stinks." At least you're trying to improve, which is more than what many writers do. Just keep writing it and they'll read it. Otherwise...they might get tired of waiting.

This goes against what many of us have been saying, and I'm curious why you think this is wise. Can you explain?

Marian Perera · May 30, 2008

tehuti88 said:
Not to hijack the thread...I won't post to it further...but this comment kind of niggled at me. Is it saying that writing purely to entertain and not for publication isn't "real" somehow...?

No. What I'm getting at is that part of what I consider real writing (whether one is paid for it or not) is having it criticized so that one can learn from one's mistakes and improve. This may not be working for Blue. Therefore, she may want to consider settling for fanfiction or for some other audience, like the one she had previously, which will provide her with less critical feedback.

For me, what a person seeks to achieve from their writing isn't as important as how they approach said writing. If they have Golden Word syndrome and react badly to criticism, they can be an author with ten novels on the NYT bestseller list and I'll think less of them than I will of someone who wrote a short story never intended for publication, but who accepted criticism graciously and did her best to learn.

BlueLucario · May 30, 2008

I got my juices back now. I started writing again. I don't know what happened it sudden;y came back. Don't get me wrong, I really want to improve. That last one I posted wasn't for critiquing, I just needed it for school. It had to be good enough for a good grade and I am not good with humor.

I did write something for the May challenge though.
http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2399457

I really want to participate in the challenge though.

I lost my writing juices again.

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