bloody bloody scrapping it all!

Don't discuss it with your other half.

Ah, the inner editor at work. Tell it to STFU and GTFU.

So he thinks it's a bad idea? So what? If you like the idea, write it. Maybe you'll find it's a bad idea, and think of a way to make it AWESOME! But you have to work on it to find out.

The mid book blues-the 'OMG this is a bunch of pants'-happens to many writers., Trick is to just keep going, because I've had it happen with every book I've written. If I gave up at that point, I'd never finish.

You can do it. Turn off the inner editor, write it for fun. You can go back an edit later (the first few chapters will probably need the most editing anyway,when you've finished)

STOP RIGHT NOW! STOP STOP STOP!

I've been caught like this. It's the devil messing with your head and trying to stop you.

Throw nothing away, your other half means well but is probably too close to you to give a valuable opinion.

You gotta be better than me.

I'm not a good writer yet, but I figure this, I want to be a good writer. To achieve that I unfortunately have to be prepared to produce lots of crap - because that's the only way anyone ever learns anything. I don't think it's crap, but every time I write I'll get a teensy bit better. Like polishing a diamond.

Every time you do it wrong you're one step closer to doing it right, but never leave work unfinished at this stage because you and me, we have to learn to fight through, hit that second wind after the wall.

When you come to a stop and can't write any more, write anyway. Forget starting again, you can do that ONLY after you finish the one you're on.

No-one can speak in your voice, you need to say what you have to say or it just won't ever get said.

You can do it. Your partner - stop showing him stuff! I wouldn't dream of showing my family anything I do - I've learned from hard experience that they don't mean to crush you but they do.

People you care about are the wrong people to get criticism from.

Have you tried throwing away your other half instead? Just kidding lol. Bad joke, but I couldn't resist.

I know that personally when I'm in this situation, it's because there's something wrong with the story that's nagging at me. If that's the case, it might help to outline a bit more and see if you can sort out what might be a problem. If it's just the writing getting you down, then really the only thing you can do is keep toughing through it until you get to the end. I occasionally go back and edit chunks that I don't like, but it's really easy to let that get away from you. Think of the rough draft as a skeleton that you'll flesh out and clean up later, you know?

I understand the being criticized thing, though. My best friend really hated one of the major plot points in one of my books, and that was pretty devastating. He thought it was a terrible idea and that it would ruin the book. I was confident, though, that this was the way it needed to happen, and it ended up being the best section of the book. Sometimes we just have to say "I'm the writer and I know what I want to do." Other people will always have different visions of it than you do, even if they do like it, so learning to shrug off unhelpful comments is just part of the game. It gets easier, though. Good luck.

You can do it! Where's that little cheerleader smiley? Well, you can imagine it.

BunnyMaz said:

Ah, thank you guys.

Okay. I'm going to ignore what the other half said and just write the plot I want to write. Somehow. Yes.

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Good for you! I never, never, never show my other half what I'm writing. Or have written. It's too easy for me to be crushed. Even a raised eyebrow, or a flaccid "That's nice, sweetie" can kill it. I have some friends that read my stuff; there's enough distance between us that if they don't like it, and I disagree with their analysis, I think--"Pfffft. What do they know?"

And never, never, never, never throw anything away. I've tossed what I thought was absolute s**t into the drawer. When I pulled it out six months later, I found it was really quite lovely. Engrossing. Funny. Marketable.. well, almost.

Have you considered not starting at the beginning of the story? Write the middle of it and use that to build the rest. That sometimes works for me.

BunnyMaz said:

Okay. I'm going to ignore what the other half said and just write the plot I want to write. Somehow. Yes.

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And don't discuss it with him, yes? Not until it's finished.

BunnyMaz said:

I have spent months developing a world in my mind and on paper
...
Every time I start writing, without fail, I get no further than five thousand words, usually less, and run out of steam. I go back to it two or three more times, manage a few words, and then end up scrapping it and starting over.

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Are you me?

no, srsly - i had exactly that problem. I tried 3 times to write 3 different novels. Lots of thought went into it, but once I started actually writing it... well, in my case I got about 7 or 8 pages into one, and about 2 pages into another, ah maybe 2 or 3 pages each for the other two before grinding to an absolute halt. srsly, like one stop short of 'allworkandnoplaymakeshjackadullboy'. For the last one, I started crying because I got to a point where I could only write one sentence each day - and it was the same damn sentence - just different words. It was pretty awful.

So I figured I had to try a different approach. I guessed that the first thing I needed to do is figure out how to make up a story. Some people say shorts and novels are two different kinds of animals, that's true, but you do get the satisfaction, if you can figure out how to write a short, of getting a sense of completion sooner rather than later.

I'd reccomend studying some short stories, and then trying to write a few. I'd even reccomend writing some stories set in the here and now, to avoid the potential procrastination pitfalls of worldbuilding and research. i also reccomend writing your first story, at least, by hand eg pen(cil) and paper. its a good way to keep the critic off you back. You can't fight the critic, but you can trick him.

good luck

BunnyMaz said:

...mentioned he felt one aspect of the writing - actually THE MAJOR PLOT THEME CARRYING THE WHOLE THING ALONG - was a bad idea. After he told me that, I couldn't get past it

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I would recommend that you keep your writing to yourself or share it only with people who are 100 % supportive. You may find that you have 0 people in the real world with whom you can share it. that is what i discovered. I just stopped talking about it. I expect that some day I'll meet some real-world people who are genuinely supportive. Till then, this is a pretty good place to communicate with like-minded people.

IdiotsRUs said:

Turn off the inner editor, write it for fun.

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Easier said than done. Much easier said than done.

I'm really glad I read this thread. My family isn't very supportive of my writing, and they often treat it like it's some big joke. Reading this has helped me realize I need to ignore the criticism that isn't helpful. Constructive criticism is a good thing; it's when people say things that break our confidence that we need to shrug it off, get back up, and keep writing. If I give up, I won't ever write something that's publishable. If I write something--anything--I've proven to myself I can do it, and that eventually I'll improve my writing until I can be satisfied with it.

BunnyMaz said:

How do I actually get myself to put pen to paper and just get on with it?

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Would it be reasonable to suggest writing a series of short stories, all set in your carefully built world?

BunnyMaz said:

Ah, thank you guys.

Okay. I'm going to ignore what the other half said and just write the plot I want to write. Somehow. Yes.

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And what you might want to do, if he's bugging you, is not work on the script, but compile notes on your world, make a big wikipedia of it for yourself. That will give you something to do on the days the other half is rampant, and provide excellent documentation to go back to in the future.

dangerousbill said:

Would it be reasonable to suggest writing a series of short stories, all set in your carefully built world?

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That has helped me. I went out to the fringes and did a simple boy meets girl story. It was amazing how it let me see the world more clearly, because these two had pretty common desires, but had to frame them and work them out in terms of this world. It will never be printed, but it was well worth the time.

BunnyMaz said:

Okay. I'm going to ignore what the other half said and just write the plot I want to write. Somehow. Yes.

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Good for you!

Don't be afraid of editing. Most often it's not as terrible as it seems and can be done in a rather easy way.

The worst edit I've made was when I killed a character in chap 6 and realized that I needed him in chap 21. I felt like tossing it all, but the edit wasn't all that hard to do.

Perhaps you should write a very basic version of the story first. Making it a "stick-man" version of the story. That way you don't spend much time on a story you feel you have to edit later on and you know before hand how to move on to the next scene. (Or you'll have an idea about it at least.) Once you're happy with the story you write it for real and dress it up in nice clothes.

Your world is large enough for many stories, so tell a few short ones. You can write "folklore" from the world and one day you might be able to use part of it in a longer story.

Most important of all, never let someone stop you from writing. If you like what you do and believe in it then you will be able to make it work. Showing someone part of the idea is not the same thing as showing the finished packet. Constructive criticism is good to get on a work in progress so that you can get a second opinion on something, but in the end it's your opinion that matters.

Here's a thought. (I only read your original post and not the responses to it. I don't usually do this, but I want to give my opinion fresh without being influenced by others, which I quite often am.)

Is it possible that you overdid the planning? Is it possible you really aren't an outliner? Perhaps you created too perfect a world, one with too-rigid a concept? And now that you're writing in that world you need to stay tightly within the lines - of that world?

In other words, you've left little room for creativity, for discovery, for learning things as you go. It's just a suggestion and I may be far off-base. Of course, when you create this world you have to have certain guidelines and rules: once you set the castle on such-and-such hill, you can't have it in the valley by the river, not unless in your world you already have a magic system or something that can move large edifices about...

Seriously, you might have written yourself into a corner if you constructed a world with such detail that it constricts you. Some of us are 'discovery writers' and some of us are 'outliners and planners.' Some of us do a little of each. If you are a discovery writer at heart, and made your world too rigidly-planned it can certainly sap your creative energy.

Just one thought.

ConChron said:

Perhaps you should write a very basic version of the story first. Making it a "stick-man" version of the story.

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I like that analogy of the "stick-man." Clever.

I am going through this same thing. I showed it to the guy I am with and he was like "that's nice". When I said "nice?? thats all??" He was like well I think your going into too much detail about her because no one needs to know what she is eating for dinner... however I felt that it went along with the part of the story I was telling. The only reason I put it in there was for a visual. Then I got angry at him and now I dont want to share anything. I deleted 4 pages because of him and now I am rewriting pretty much the same thing over!

I completely agree with Jaksen.

He's right. You cornered yourself. Part of your problem might be that your more psyched about "the world" that than the actual story.

You poured your motivation into the world and now you're completely tapped out. You lost steam because you waisted it all on the "world".

It's hard to get out of a rutt like this because its happened to me. I haven't necessarily gone back to the 70,000 word manuscript, but...

All I can provide is the aforementioned observation and the following if it makes you feel better: Tolkien often wrote and wrote and wrote, and when he saw that he didn't like what he wrote, he scrapped and started from the begining again.

Granted, it took him something like 12 years to finish the LotR, but he did finish.

Just a thought: maybe you just don't have the right story. It happens to all new writers. If this story doesn't work for you, than maybe its not meant to be told... perhaps not yet, anyway.

Don't be to discouraged about it not working out. I'm almost 100% positive that it has happened at least once to practically everyone at AW. But they keep going, and that's the most important thing.

DanielaTorre said:

I completely agree with Jaksen.

He's right.

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Off-topic: I think Jaksen's a she.

Ruth2 said:

And never, never, never, never throw anything away. I've tossed what I thought was absolute s**t into the drawer. When I pulled it out six months later, I found it was really quite lovely. Engrossing. Funny. Marketable.. well, almost.

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Seconding this. I've saved just about everything I've ever written. Most of it is god awful but sometimes there's a forgotten scene or character from an old abandoned story that fits perfectly in a WIP.

It's hard for me to talk about writing with hubby. I know he doesn't mean to be a Negative Nick, but sometimes his comments have stopped the muse dead in her tracks for days. The inner editor is hard enough to fight so I just don't talk to him about writing all that much.

When I'm stuck and hate everything on the page I take a break and scribble on some fanfic. Takes away the pressure big time. The worldbuilding and characters are already in place so all I have to do is make them do something. Sometimes it's simple short scene of them drinking beer and playing pool. A few pages of that and the muse is back.

akaria said:

Seconding this. I've saved just about everything I've ever written. Most of it is god awful but sometimes there's a forgotten scene or character from an old abandoned story that fits perfectly in a WIP.

It's hard for me to talk about writing with hubby. I know he doesn't mean to be a Negative Nick, but sometimes his comments have stopped the muse dead in her tracks for days. The inner editor is hard enough to fight so I just don't talk to him about writing all that much.

When I'm stuck and hate everything on the page I take a break and scribble on some fanfic. Takes away the pressure big time. The worldbuilding and characters are already in place so all I have to do is make them do something. Sometimes it's simple short scene of them drinking beer and playing pool. A few pages of that and the muse is back.

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When you love something - really, really, really love it - it can hurt and come as a shock when the people you love don't at least 'like' what you love. But it's part of becoming an adult when you realize this is how it is, and you still love these people who just don't see what you see in ...

Football. Or gardening. Or deep-sea fishing. Or writing.

You love them anyhow and you hope at some point, they at least say, hey, this is real for you. This is serious stuff. You've got your whole heart in this, don't you? Sometimes that moment comes when you make your first sale. And sometimes it comes from the very beginning; there are always people who will cheer you on.

(I am a she, but don't mind being mistaken. That's how I sold my first stories. )

RobJ said:

Off-topic: I think Jaksen's a she.

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Thanks RobJ.

Sorry Jaksen!

BunnyMaz said:

Ah, thank you guys.

Okay. I'm going to ignore what the other half said and just write the plot I want to write. Somehow. Yes.

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Atta girl! YOU know what you want to write, so write it.

I don't show my hubby anything that's first draft as he doesn't understand a first draft can be all messed up. I learned that the hard way...