death by writing

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lissapup

Whenever I write something, I plan it out mentally. I know exactly what to say. It's a great story. Until I start to put it on paper. It seems dull. It's almost as if putting it on paper kills it. What should I do?
 

detante

Practice, practice, practice. And read as much as you can.

It is a sad truth that the perfect story in your head will never make to the page unscathed. But the more your read and the more you write, the more you will learn about the craft. Eventually you will get there. Persistence pays off.

Jen
 

reph

You've noticed that happening with fiction? It's worse with humor. By the time you've polished a paragraph, you've looked at it so many times that you can't tell whether it's funny anymore.
 

Jamesaritchie

You should keep writing. This happens with every new writer I've ever known, and even with many seasoned writers. Thinking and writing are different skills, and only a lot of writing time will make the thoughts in your head translate into good stories on paper.
 

debraji

Experiment. Play.

--Try planning only half of the story, and see where it takes you when you write without a plan.

--Or plan only the beginning and the end.

--Or only plan the most general details, and let the specifics come to you as you write.

--Or only plan a scene at a time, so there is always mystery ahead of you.

Often I plan out the story and, when I'm in the middle of it, it comes alive and decides to go off in a new direction. I just go along for the ride, amazed at where my imagination is taking me. That's part of the fun.

I only use the plan to get my imagination started. Don't let it be a straightjacket!
 

maestrowork

Keep writing... it can be hard, but it can be very rewarding.

I know it's a cliche, but it's really true and writing is about the journey, not the destination. It's sweet if you do reach your destination and it's glorious. But it's also great if you can just enjoy the ride.
 

Euan Harvey

Keep writing.

What you're describing was exactly the way I felt when I started. Fourteen months and 300,000 (ish) words later, the stuff that goes on the page more closely approximates what's in my head. It's still not the same (and it's still not publishable), but it's much closer than it was.
 

Summonere

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death by planning

lissapup:

Next time you get a notion for a story, ill-formed, half-formed, unformed or deformed, why not simply sit down and write it? And do so as long as the idea excites you.

Sometimes the more you plan out a story the more certainly you kill it. All the energy and excitement that would have otherwise propelled you through writing the thing then becomes expended upon planning it. After all that planning, there's often a feeling of so what? Why bother? I've already told it. The process of discovery has been used up, and all the surprises, too.

Something to keep in mind: words never fully capture the vision.
 

jwschnarr

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It's known as "Organic Writing", and it's basically writing without a plot. Personally, I try not to plot, I just try to make notes to keep things in my head.

The other thing i DO keep track of are character sketches, so I know who I'm dealing with in the story. to me, the people are more important anyway. I start with a general idea, and figure out who the best people would be to play a part in my little drama. Then, instead of plotting until the cows come home I simply write about the people I've thought of. The rest falls into place by itself.

Remember that first drafts are for this exact thing. go back the second time and clean up your scenes, add your thematic components, and refine the dialogue. Then do it again, just to be sure. Oh, and don't forget to trim it down to the bone, that always helps.

Working as an editor I can't tell you how much I'm impressed by good word management. there simply aren't enough people out there doing that these days.

B.
 

John Ravenscroft

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Yup, keep on writing, lissapup.

In my experience many new writers simply don't appreciate how long it takes to master even the basics of fiction-writing. Writing a story that works isn't something you just decide to do one day, and by the end of the day it's done.

Unless you're that rare beast - a true genius - it takes years (and probably a million words) to become capable at this game.

And there are very few short cuts.
 

CindyBidar

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jwschnarr said:
Working as an editor I can't tell you how much I'm impressed by good word management. there simply aren't enough people out there doing that these days.

Could you elaborate on what you mean by "good word management"?

curious cindy
 

Anatole Ghio

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John Ravenscroft said:
Yup, keep on writing, lissapup.

Unless you're that rare beast - a true genius - it takes years (and probably a million words) to become capable at this game.

I wrote when I was a kid. I wrote as a teenager. I wrote many things: comic books, stories, and even a couple of novels. None of them counted.

I went to school to learn my craft from people who had spent many hours and many years learning how to do this. I spent many hours and many more years working at getting the words down.

Even now, I still work at getting the words down... but there did come a point where I had passed many of the markers I had set down for myself when first starting out: published a few times in a couple of repectable places, able to write first drafts where I kept more than 50% of the prose, a feeling of more satisfaction than dissatisfaction from my finished pieces.

Time elapsed: 6 years after my first real short story was written. Those were 6 years filled with much study and much writing. 6 years of slowly inching forward, word by word.

I wouldn't trade those years for anything.

As far as word counts go, all this is very subjective and every person has their own alacrity at picking up a new skill set. However, it's safe to say for most the first 100,000 words don't count... basically, your first novel isn't going to be a masterpiece, but will instead serve as the begining of your formal education in writing.

Welcome!

- Anatole
 

jwschnarr

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This could probably best sum up good and bad word management:

Bad word management is using 50 words to explain something that could have been done in 20.

Good word management is finding a way to say it in 10.


B.
 

CindyBidar

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Thanks jwschnarr. I'm afraid I'm usually guilty of bad word management, myself. :Ssh:
 
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vegiboy

I'm not sure if there's a neat answer for this, but, let's say you have that great idea in your head, but when you write it out it's just mediocre. You continue to practice writing. Eventually, you have many mediocre ideas, though there are still sparks of interest there.

What do most writers do with these? Do you abandon them as a learning experience? Do you try to rewrite something that's mediocre into something that satisfies you?

I realize this probably varies by case, but curious to know people's general experience.
 

Anatole Ghio

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vegiboy said:
I'm not sure if there's a neat answer for this, but, let's say you have that great idea in your head, but when you write it out it's just mediocre. You continue to practice writing. Eventually, you have many mediocre ideas, though there are still sparks of interest there.

What do most writers do with these? Do you abandon them as a learning experience? Do you try to rewrite something that's mediocre into something that satisfies you?

I realize this probably varies by case, but curious to know people's general experience.

Yes, chalk it up as a learning experience and move on. You could try to polish up something that is mediocre at best, just for the exercise, but you'll more likely expend more time and energy than it's worth. Move on to the next idea, and the next idea, and the next idea. You'll be improving your craft as you do and moving closer to finding your niche; there is where you hit a vein of good ideas and build positive momentum for yourself.

Good luck.

- Anatole
 

Thekherham

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Whenever I write something, I plan it out mentally. I know exactly what to say. It's a great story. Until I start to put it on paper. It seems dull. It's almost as if putting it on paper kills it. What should I do?



That's exactly what happens to me. I have a delivery job, so I do a lot of driving, and I plan my stories when I'm driving. When I think I've found a story that might look good on paper, I write it down (or work on the computer) and then... *sighs. Then I think, Why did I ever start writing this.
 

Jamesaritchie

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Mediocre

vegiboy said:
I'm not sure if there's a neat answer for this, but, let's say you have that great idea in your head, but when you write it out it's just mediocre. You continue to practice writing. Eventually, you have many mediocre ideas, though there are still sparks of interest there.

What do most writers do with these? Do you abandon them as a learning experience? Do you try to rewrite something that's mediocre into something that satisfies you?

I realize this probably varies by case, but curious to know people's general experience.

If writers abandoned everything they wrote that was mediocre in first draft, almost nothing worthwhile would ever get written.

I don't think there is such a thing as a mediocre idea. Ideas are a dime a trainload. It's what you do with the idea that makes it good or bad, and many a classic has been produced from a first draft that was horrible. I can't work this way, but many writers do.

I'd also say that the writer is often the worst possible person to judge the merit of his or her own work. What seems mediocre at best to the writer just might seem wonderful to an editor.

I've said this before, but it bears repeating. I have a piece of writing that I think is one of the best things I've ever written, and it simply will not sell. It draws rejection after rejection after rejection. But some years ago, I wrote a piece I thought was horrible. Lousy. Rotten. But it sold the first time I submitted it anywhere, and it sold for extremely good money. And it has sold again and again and again. It's still making me money all these years later.

I also wrote a story that was rejected fourteen or so times, even from magazines that paid nothing. Then I changed the first and last paragraphs, and next time out it brought a check for $1,000.

When you think there's something wrong with a piece of writing, then fix it. If you can't get it into what you consider great shape, submit it anyway. An editor, or a dozen editors, just might surprise you.
 

Ella

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Lissapup, why do the words seem dead to you? Do you have vivid images in your head? Why are they vivid? Are these details missing from your writing? While it seems labourious to explain a great setting or event or whathaveyou, the reader is looking for some of that imagery in your words. Try blurting more of that onto your paper, and if you've blurted till it's soggy, go back and clean some up. ;)
 

Rosebird

Simply Write

This is a commonly shared issue that I am sometimes confronted with too. However, it is rather like the problem of procrastination ('writers block') in which the writer (mostly but not always, subconsciously seeks out reasons to not write!)
Try changing narrative voice/point of view, set aside that which you are writing and write a poem or go for a short walk, add something ( an aspect or quality of character mood or setting etc..) Try using more symbolism to give the sotry life.
Whatever you write is valuable.
Occasionally I may write something and feel similar to you. I take a brief break or work on another project for a time. Read...then go back to the first piece of writing.
The Best
 

Rosebird

Short Story Writing

Make the story fit the end
Not the end fit the story!
 

Julie Worth

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lissapup said:
Whenever I write something, I plan it out mentally. I know exactly what to say. It's a great story. Until I start to put it on paper. It seems dull. It's almost as if putting it on paper kills it. What should I do?

I’ve noticed the same thing. If I plan out what I’m going to say, when I finally say it, it doesn’t spark. So I do better writing without mental rehearsal, just letting the words flow for the first time, and so discovering the material.
 

stormie

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reph said:
You've noticed that happening with fiction? It's worse with humor. By the time you've polished a paragraph, you've looked at it so many times that you can't tell whether it's funny anymore.

Very true. I had a passage all thought out, and it had me laughing. Got it down on paper and the humor was totally gone.

Put it aside and revisit it another time. After a few tries, it should gel. If it doesn't, well, I have a folder for those.
 
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