Does discussing a WIP with others dull your desire to finish the WIP?

leversandpulleys · May 19, 2013

I've read advice from several authors urging one not to discuss a WIP with friends or family until you have, at least, completed your first draft. To do so, they explain, diminishes the urge to finish the WIP.

I've tried both methods. Sometimes it's nice or helpful to get some very early input. I'm not sure what camp I am in, but I am curious to hear what some others here have to say about that theory.

Craig

Putputt · May 19, 2013

Erm, no, and I'm not sure why it would...When I'm working on a first draft, I often hit roadblocks and don't know how to keep going, so I like to ask Mr. Putt for suggestions, bounce ideas off him etc. It's extremely helpful just to be able to talk about it. Would be interesting to know why it might diminish the urge to write for some people!

Elaine Margarett · May 19, 2013

leversandpulleys said:
I've read advice from several authors urging one not to discuss a WIP with friends or family until you have, at least, completed your first draft. To do so, they explain, diminishes the urge to finish the WIP.

I've tried both methods. Sometimes it's nice or helpful to get some very early input. I'm not sure what camp I am in, but I am curious to hear what some others here have to say about that theory.

Craig

What? Huh? That's a new one. <G>

I don't discuss my writing because I don't see the point until I can say, "Hey, I have a book contract." But that's just me.

Snowstorm · May 19, 2013

I can't imagine why anyone would make such a blanket statement. I think it all depends on the writer and who the author is talking to. If the writer had some real negative family/friends that might suck the juice out of the writer, then that writer shouldn't discuss it. For my circle, they're happy and inquisitive, which only fuels my fire.

leversandpulleys · May 19, 2013

The idea is that by bottling it up one is burning with desire to share it, motivating the writer to finish the draft. Have you ever had an idea or heard a rumor or came across an interesting article, shared it with someone and then found yourself satiated, later sharing it only in passing and with much less fervor? I think that's the foundation of the concept.

Kerosene · May 19, 2013

I don't discuss my stories with friends or family. It's like listening to music with them; overly awkward, and you're always trying to explain shit for no reason.

But with like my critique buddy, or people on the forums, or people in my writing groups. Writers, pretty much. Or heavy readers. I like to get it out and in the process I discover my own plot holes (which I would find if I wrote it, but I hit them early) and problems.

I think the person who said this would also say plotting dulls the WIP too.

SpinningWheel · May 19, 2013

I used to find that telling the story out loud diminished my desire to tell the story on paper, so it did make me less likely to finish it.
Now I just have a better work ethic and I wouldn't dream of stopping a story just because I didn't feel like it or got distracted by a better one, and as I'm writing historical it helps to be able to discuss ideas with people who know about the period, so I discuss as and when needed.

leversandpulleys · May 19, 2013

Will, I think you're at least half-right about the plot comment. Here's a quote from Alan Watt:

OK, you've talked about it. To everyone. They will ask you how it's going. Say nothing. Carry your story with you like a delicious secret. Oftentimes artists who have had their first creative breakthrough want to proclaim it to the world. This is called self-sabotage. Keep quiet and keep writing. Which sounds better? "Yeah, I just finished writing a novel," or "I'm writing a novel."

Watt, Alan (2010-10-07). The 90-Day Novel: Unlock the story within (p. 18). The 90-Day Novel Press. Kindle Edition.

folkchick · May 19, 2013

For me, yes. I don't like to talk about the specifics of my work until it's done, because too many times before I've lost the drive. I think something happens, like a childish enthusiasm dies upon a recipient's bored reaction to a storyline or whatever. I really do it's something akin to passing the magic off when you ask for another person's approval.

Elaine Margarett · May 19, 2013

WillSauger said:
I don't discuss my stories with friends or family. It's like listening to music with them; overly awkward, and you're always trying to explain shit for no reason.

.

A perfect description. <g>

LJD · May 19, 2013

I have heard that telling people about your goals can make you less likely to accomplish them. (eg. See When telling people about your goals compromises them.)

I talk very little about my writing, so I couldn't tell you what it does for me personally.

BethS · May 19, 2013

leversandpulleys said:
I've read advice from several authors urging one not to discuss a WIP with friends or family until you have, at least, completed your first draft. To do so, they explain, diminishes the urge to finish the WIP.

I've tried both methods. Sometimes it's nice or helpful to get some very early input. I'm not sure what camp I am in, but I am curious to hear what some others here have to say about that theory.

It's one of those your-mileage-may-vary issues. For some people, talking about the WIP can bleed away the energy needed to write. They always want to discuss it but never seem to want to write it.

Me, I don't mind discussing what's-happened-so-far with critiquers and readers--in fact, I find such conversations very helpful--but I never discuss future plot developments with anyone, for the same reason that I don't outline or sketch out plans: I lose interest in writing the story.

Jamesaritchie · May 19, 2013

You can talk about it, or you can write it. Seldom both, unless you write it first, and talk about it once it's written. There are always exceptions, but for most writers, talking about it often means it never gets finished.

thothguard51 · May 19, 2013

I tend to get excited talking about my writing, but only with those who show a real interest in what I am doing...

tko · May 19, 2013

if only anyone would listen . .

I have imaginary conversations with others about plot directions. When I get stuck I have the characters discuss what to do. I'd love to have a real person to discuss it with, but they run screaming when they see me.

I don't see how talking about your novel could possibly slow you down. Just the opposite.

dangerousbill · May 19, 2013

leversandpulleys said:
I've read advice from several authors urging one not to discuss a WIP with friends or family until you have, at least, completed your first draft. To do so, they explain, diminishes the urge to finish the WIP.

Perhaps it's not a problem for others, but it can kill a story dead for me, even if the comments from others are favorable. It just lets the air out. There are two and maybe three novels that will probably revolve forever in a dark corner of my hard drive as a result of talking about them too much.

Susan Coffin · May 19, 2013

I might mention what a story is about, but I don't bounce story ideas off anyone, not even writer friends. Talking about it does not/would not kill my desire to write, it's just that I have other things to chat about. Everybody is different.

SianaBlackwood · May 19, 2013

I find talking about my writing actually increases my desire to keep going. Most of the time, I come up with solutions to story-related problems in the process of trying to explain the problem. Massive plot hole? Try writing a long forum post explaining the problem and if you're me, the solution frequently turns up either at the end of the post or a short time after hitting 'submit'.

benbenberi · May 19, 2013

For some people, telling a story (at least to the point of a completed first draft) is sort of a once-and-done business. If they talk about the WIP with other people, they are in effect telling them the story, and once it's been told they lose the drive to tell it again on paper. It's the same sort of creative issue that makes some people unable to outline a story before they write it - all the creative juice goes into the initial presentation, and if that's not the actual writing then actual writing doesn't really happen for them.

For other people, it works differently.

millymollymo · May 19, 2013

I only discuss my plots once I get to a sticking point or after the first draft is out of the way, and only then with the one person that I trust enough not to go...'whaa?'

JFitchett92 · May 19, 2013

The moment I get an idea, I explain it to my wife. Nine times out of ten, she will say:

"What?"

Doesn't dull me in the slightest

And I like running through an idea with friends, because they tend to ask me the questions I haven't thought of. They help me fill in the holes in my plot

Beachgirl · May 19, 2013

I don't talk to family or friends about my WIPs. I will, on occasion, mention a sticky plot point to Mr. Beach, but only if I'm stuck up to my armpits and can't drag myself out of the quagmire. Otherwise, if someone asks me what my current WIP is about, the most I'll divulge is something vague, like "It's a romance" (duh!).

sovermonter · May 19, 2013

As others have said, it depends on the writer. For some, seeing enthusiasm in someone's reaction might be a spur. I rarely talk about my own writing even after it's finished, but for me, trying to discuss a work in progress is like answering the question I occasionally get: "So, how's your writing going?" I mean, where does a coherent answer even begin?

flapperphilosopher · May 19, 2013

I don't know-- I've never talked about a story until I've written a first draft, beyond very vague things like "it has a WWI pilot in it" to explain the fifteen books I have piled up about aviation in WWI, or "I have a bipolar character" to explain to my psychiatric nurse mother why I want to ask seven hundred questions about it, and that it's not because I'm worried I have it. I don't give details or even names. I don't think it's because it would dull my desire to write, though--I think it's more that I want to have confidence that it works before I even mention it, because I'm often super self-conscious. Maybe it would be bad because of that-- if someone reacted even with a "meh" and I was in a sensitive mood, it might be harder for me to believe in it and actually do it. I don't know.

mfarraday · May 19, 2013

I often find that talking about my WIP helps me work things out, plot-wise, that I hadn't previously considered, or helps me get past emotional blockages that I've bottled up inside, or helps deflate my excitement so that I can see how to proceed more clearly. I've heard/been warned that talking about it is the wrong thing to do, that it can lead to my ideas being stolen, that I'm missing the whole point about how a story is constructed, that it will lead to me not finishing. I seem to be doing ok, though. Whatever works, you know....

Does discussing a WIP with others dull your desire to finish the WIP?

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