So I'm about 65 thousand words and several months into the WIP and suddenly convinced that it's awful, that I'm wasting my time and that I should throw my computer out the window. Please tell me this is normal??
Convinced WIP is awful
- Thread starter speirbhean
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It's normal. My latest novel is either the greatest thing since Harry Potter or the worst thing since [insert favorite novel to disparage]. Hang in there! 
It's normal for me.
I'd go work on something else for a bit. Writing something completely new, or taking a break for a while always clears my head. Come back to it with a fresh mind. Good luck
I'd go work on something else for a bit. Writing something completely new, or taking a break for a while always clears my head. Come back to it with a fresh mind. Good luck
certainly for some people. Others never look back. On the flip side, those folks tend to be less likely to learn, and at least some of them are the folks you will see have very public meltdowns in SYW periodically, because they are unable to fathom the possility there's something wrong in their work.
Of the 2, i would rather be a second-guesser.....
that said (happy thought time), maybe it is. Maybe not even fixable. Hard to say, but if it is, so what? Write some more. Read some more. Learn some more. Very few people sell their very first book, this is a marathon event. Do what you can, and be willing to listen and learn. But don't let the fear you've failed pre-emptively stop you from finishing.
I usually wait until I'm done and ready to revise before I start hating my WIP. If it's frustrating your productivity, try switching to something else for a little bit.
If it's frustrating your productivity, try switching to something else for a little bit.
I regularly fall into and out of love with whatever I'm working on. If I start rereading my WIP and cannot connect to the words, I've learned it's better for me to step away and work on something else. Later, once I get some perspective, I can come back to the WIP and feel what fired me up in the first place.
Another thought: sometimes my resistance on a WIP tells me that I took a wrong turn somewhere. If I'm suddenly reluctant to continue, I might have taken the story in a direction that something inside me recognizes is a dead-end.
Another thought: sometimes my resistance on a WIP tells me that I took a wrong turn somewhere. If I'm suddenly reluctant to continue, I might have taken the story in a direction that something inside me recognizes is a dead-end.
Yep. I get this all the time. In fact today I have become convinced that everything I am writing, have written and will write is awful which is why I have done no actual writing today and instead did my word count quota on a guest post rather than anything creative. I also think the guest post is awful but I can cope with a guest post being awful. It's stuff that I intend to try to sell to publishers for actual money that I am embarressed about.
Oh, and by the way, this post is also awful. I wish I'd never written it.
If anyone can ever find the cure for this I would be grateful. I may even refrain from inflicting my awful writing on you all as a reward.
Oh, and by the way, this post is also awful. I wish I'd never written it.
If anyone can ever find the cure for this I would be grateful. I may even refrain from inflicting my awful writing on you all as a reward.
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Very normal
Oh gosh yes, that's perfectly normal. One thing nice about writing is anything can be fixed and everything can be revised, so don't pitch that computer yet. And if you do, remember to open the window first.
Oh gosh yes, that's perfectly normal. One thing nice about writing is anything can be fixed and everything can be revised, so don't pitch that computer yet. And if you do, remember to open the window first.
Thanks for all the comments! I guess I'm freezing a little because this is kinda the last chance saloon. Iv written two previous novels, both of which made it to full submission stage but no further. This time round a Big Name Agent has seen the first 20k and has agreed to read the rest. I'm a mother, work full time in a busy job and am stealing time to pursue this dream, so tbh I'm scared, and if this one doesnt work I don't think I'll have #4 in me. But I will finish! Basically I love the plot if this book, just not sure if I'm telling it well. Will finish though!
I'm 107k in and on the final chapter and am convinced the whole thing is a load of tosh. It's funny isn't it, how one day you read it and think it's darn good if you don't say so yourself, and the next day, you read the exact same chapter and it's as if it was written by complete moron.
And I so know what you mean about being afraid you're not telling it well. I love my characters, love the story, but am I doing it justice? I know I've got plot wobbles that need fixing but what starts out as a plot wobble rapidly turns into a complete waste of time in my mind. Very frustrating.
Good luck with it - hope you get some better luck with this one - sounds like you've already got some interest going at least.
And I so know what you mean about being afraid you're not telling it well. I love my characters, love the story, but am I doing it justice? I know I've got plot wobbles that need fixing but what starts out as a plot wobble rapidly turns into a complete waste of time in my mind. Very frustrating.
Good luck with it - hope you get some better luck with this one - sounds like you've already got some interest going at least.
Never give up! Never surrender! I'd say getting full submissions is a sign to keep on going until you hit the one that gets the yes. You can do it!
I thought I'd done pretty well with my second novel (All my betas loved it and came back with some very helpful critiques. Four full requests so far.) until an agent who read the full said the plot was "too familiar."
Now this is a big-name agent who isn't taking on any more clients and, despite this, still wants me to submit my next manuscript. She even emailed me twice to make sure I understood that she was serious about wanting to read my next one. I should feel good --even thrilled -- about this. She pretty much takes on only potential best sellers at this point.
Yet, my reaction? I just want to sit down, tear the whole thing apart and rewrite it piece by piece until it's the most unfamiliar thing in the world. I resist that urge every moment of every day because I know it would never end.
So I hope your reaction is normal.
If not, mine is just insane.
Now this is a big-name agent who isn't taking on any more clients and, despite this, still wants me to submit my next manuscript. She even emailed me twice to make sure I understood that she was serious about wanting to read my next one. I should feel good --even thrilled -- about this. She pretty much takes on only potential best sellers at this point.
Yet, my reaction? I just want to sit down, tear the whole thing apart and rewrite it piece by piece until it's the most unfamiliar thing in the world. I resist that urge every moment of every day because I know it would never end.
So I hope your reaction is normal.
If not, mine is just insane.
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You just quoted Captain Peter Quincy Talbert, Galaxy Quest.
But seriously, when I was writing Storm Rising, I had the same feeling. I wanted to toss the whole project. Looking back, I'm glad I didn't, as it's gotten some very good reviews. Take a break, as others have suggested, work on another project, or whatever you need to do to get your mind clear. The main thing is, don't give up on it. There has to be something good in it, or you would never had started writing it.
2.5k into my NaNo novel and I think it sucks. I have good idea but I think what I have done sucks. Absolutely sucks. Who knows, maybe it does. Or maybe it doesn't. As stated by everyone else here, it's totally normal. Sometimes it's a valid feeling and other times it's just your brain (and I am convinced characters) turning against you.
Heh, it's not even my word. I'm an Aussie living in England and that's what the natives say. They also call a large container that collects water a water butt. Now that's cute. Sorry for being off topic.
I think most of what I have now sucks but yet I love it and don't want to change it. I guess it's the weird thing of writing for yourself, I have no idea whether anyone else would find it entertaining, but how you write to fit everyone else's taste I do not know.
But I have no idea how I could send any of this out for others to read, I'm just so nervous about what they think, even if it's a total stranger. I'm worried about finding out what I find entertaining noone else would ever want to read, but how likely is that?
But I have no idea how I could send any of this out for others to read, I'm just so nervous about what they think, even if it's a total stranger. I'm worried about finding out what I find entertaining noone else would ever want to read, but how likely is that?
That's what beta readers are for I use mine to keep telling me I'm fantastic (well, she does more than that but a lot of the time she motivates me )
I use mine to keep telling me I'm fantastic (well, she does more than that but a lot of the time she motivates me )
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I'm only 15K into mine and I know it's awful, and I'm making all the same mistakes I usually make in my WIPs and it would bore the hind legs off a donkey with a really really high boredom threshold. But I read on here ages ago this comment that said 'you can't edit nothing', so I'm keeping going in the fond hope that maybe, with revision, it could be something. It probably won't, and will probably end up in my folder of trunked novels with everything else I've ever tried, but I won't know until I've tried.
So yeah, I'm with the 'just keep swimming' school of thought.
Z (Also having a major confidence crisis today, and a little cry too)
So yeah, I'm with the 'just keep swimming' school of thought.
Z (Also having a major confidence crisis today, and a little cry too)
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Whenever I feel like you are, I step back. Go read a book and realize that my writing is actually quite good by comparison. Then I go back with fresh eyes, read what I'm writing and pick it up again with the understanding that I've got a story to tell. Even if that's just for me at that point.
One of the things we must get over as writers is that it must be perfect out of the gate. Very few and I mean VERY few writers, can produce something that's perfect the first go at it.
So breathe, go read a book and come back to it tomorrow.
And one more thing, get over beating up on yourself as to whether your story is bad or boring. (eyes everyone in the thread) Seriously, if you aren't excited about what you are writing, put it aside and start something new and come back to it when you can be nicer to yourself and your story.
We do not have to loathe our writing. We can get up in the morning and say, HEY, I'm a pretty damn good story teller. Self-depreciation is not the way to go here.
Oh! and one more thing, writing is meant to be fun. All of it.
One of the things we must get over as writers is that it must be perfect out of the gate. Very few and I mean VERY few writers, can produce something that's perfect the first go at it.
So breathe, go read a book and come back to it tomorrow.
And one more thing, get over beating up on yourself as to whether your story is bad or boring. (eyes everyone in the thread) Seriously, if you aren't excited about what you are writing, put it aside and start something new and come back to it when you can be nicer to yourself and your story.
We do not have to loathe our writing. We can get up in the morning and say, HEY, I'm a pretty damn good story teller. Self-depreciation is not the way to go here.
Oh! and one more thing, writing is meant to be fun. All of it.
The above advice depends on which book you read... some I read and I think 'yeah, I can do that'. Others I read and think, aaargh! How do they do that?
What you think about the quality doesn't matter. No matter how bad you think it is, agents, editors, and millions of readers might love it.
How many bestselling books have you read that you thought were so bad they made you want to spit?
All we can do is write them. It's always up to others to judge the quality.
mirandashell
Banned
Go to your nearest library, pick up a book that looks crap (chick lit is often good for this) and read a few pages. And you'll know you can write better than that! And they got published so there's nothing stopping you.