I know *what* to write, but I forgot *how*

[DestKitAero]

So. I know what to write. I can see the characters, I can hear the character's voices and my plot is very clear for me.

However, I remember my prose formerly being VERY good. I remember my writing last year being good. I remember being able to write very, very well in the middle of the school holidays. But now? Starting my story now has -10% X factor/has the personality of an AI trained on scholarly articles/just overall, very bland, or extremely cringey, or has too many plot holes to count because of too many details.

Does anyone have any ideas? Is it the fact I'm trying to start from the start when the other scenes are much better vivdly in my head? You can see it in real time in one of my fanfictions lol. It's absolutely horrid.

 

[CMBright]

For some, BIC works. Butt in chair. For x amount of time. Just write/type or stare at blank page/screen.

Write. It doesn't matter if it's great, horrible or in between. You can fix it when you edit. If you ask Unimportant, you will get a coupon to write utter garbage. Use it. Fix it in edits. You can't edit a blank page.

You got this.

 

[Unimportant]

So. I know what to write. I can see the characters, I can hear the character's voices and my plot is very clear for me.

However, I remember my prose formerly being VERY good. I remember my writing last year being good. I remember being able to write very, very well in the middle of the school holidays. But now? Starting my story now has -10% X factor/has the personality of an AI trained on scholarly articles/just overall, very bland, or extremely cringey, or has too many plot holes to count because of too many details.

Does anyone have any ideas? Is it the fact I'm trying to start from the start when the other scenes are much better vivdly in my head? You can see it in real time in one of my fanfictions lol. It's absolutely horrid.

There's no law that a story has to be written chronologically. Why not write the scenes that are vivid in your head, and make a note of where other unwritten scenes will need to go? It may be that when you've downloaded the scenes dinning at your ear, it'll make space for the other scenes to come to life in your head in turn.

 

[halloweeencat]

If you ask Unimportant, you will get a coupon to write utter garbage.

lol I wanna see this coupon now

There's no law that a story has to be written chronologically.

100% this

You don't have to start at the beginning. I actually think it was @Unimportant that said most writers delete their first chapter or something.

If you can't even sit down to write those vivid scenes, then start writing an outline instead. Write who your character are, their names, their good and bad sides. Write what the setting and world will be, the timeline, the year. Write what you want the plot to be.

That's still technically writing and it will help get your juices flowing.

 

[Unimportant]

Everyone here has my permission to write utter garbage in their first draft. Utter garbage can be rewritten, and revised, and edited, and trimmed, and tightened, and polished, and perfected. A blank page cannot.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

PERMISSION TO WRITE GARBAGE

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

[kaitie]

So. I know what to write. I can see the characters, I can hear the character's voices and my plot is very clear for me.

However, I remember my prose formerly being VERY good. I remember my writing last year being good. I remember being able to write very, very well in the middle of the school holidays. But now? Starting my story now has -10% X factor/has the personality of an AI trained on scholarly articles/just overall, very bland, or extremely cringey, or has too many plot holes to count because of too many details.

Does anyone have any ideas? Is it the fact I'm trying to start from the start when the other scenes are much better vivdly in my head? You can see it in real time in one of my fanfictions lol. It's absolutely horrid.

I will say that I personally always struggle at the beginning of a story. I inevitably question whether any of it is working, and usually it takes me a couple of chapters to start getting a feel for the characters and voice enough to be confident. Then once I feel like I have a good handle on it, I go back through the opening and make it fit more with what I've already established.

One of the things that really helped me with this more than anything else, though, is just giving myself permission to write something that isn't that great. Sometimes I'll know a scene isn't as good as it could be. Sometimes I know I want a funny/clever line and I can't think of it and I literally write "think of something clever to go here" in my draft. Sometimes I write a description that I know sucks and write "Make this better later." The first draft is just about getting words on the page, and once they're there, it can be redone.

Anytime I've had to stop writing for a bit, I have that sense that I'm just not as good at this as I used to be, and I think it's a lot like muscle memory. You still know how to do it, but it's not as refined. I used to play the flute, and I can still play the flute even though I haven't in ages, but I don't play it well anymore, you know? But if I did it every day, I'd also get better everyday and pick it back up quickly. That's how writing is. You haven't exercised that muscle in awhile and it's going to take some time to get it working again. So in the meantime, know that even if you aren't happy with what you're writing now, you're getting that muscle memory back and you can always fix it later.

 

[FlightlessBird]

So. I know what to write. I can see the characters, I can hear the character's voices and my plot is very clear for me.

However, I remember my prose formerly being VERY good. I remember my writing last year being good. I remember being able to write very, very well in the middle of the school holidays. But now? Starting my story now has -10% X factor/has the personality of an AI trained on scholarly articles/just overall, very bland, or extremely cringey, or has too many plot holes to count because of too many details.

Does anyone have any ideas? Is it the fact I'm trying to start from the start when the other scenes are much better vivdly in my head? You can see it in real time in one of my fanfictions lol. It's absolutely horrid.

1) I would suggest, yes, write the scenes that are already in your head.
2) I'm wondering if your taste has improved, so that now your first-draft writing doesn't fulfill your standards.

 

[lizmonster]

Oh, all my first drafts are rubbish. Repetitive, inconsistent, long scenes of incoherent nonsense.

I see a first draft as running the faucet until the water comes clean. It all has to come out - even the subpar stuff - before you can make it shine.

It’s one of the things I found hardest to learn - to just let the thing suck for a while. First drafts are for figuring out what doesn’t work, as well as what does.

 

[Sarashay]

The way I saw it explained once, the first draft is the downdraft--you get it all down. The second draft is the updraft--you fix it all up.

Oh, and the moment you find out your writing is not as good as you remember is actually a good sign. I call it the Dunning-Kruger Threshold: https://sheilaoshea.blogspot.com/2010/03/dunning-kruger-threshold-or.html. It means you're getting skilled enough to effectively judge your writing. Keep learning, and you'll get even better at it.

 

[matt writes]

So. I know what to write. I can see the characters, I can hear the character's voices and my plot is very clear for me.

However, I remember my prose formerly being VERY good. I remember my writing last year being good. I remember being able to write very, very well in the middle of the school holidays. But now? Starting my story now has -10% X factor/has the personality of an AI trained on scholarly articles/just overall, very bland, or extremely cringey, or has too many plot holes to count because of too many details.

Does anyone have any ideas? Is it the fact I'm trying to start from the start when the other scenes are much better vivdly in my head? You can see it in real time in one of my fanfictions lol. It's absolutely horrid.

( Wattpad...its been a while... gosh I wonder what's going on in the trenches of fanfiction (Tumblr user here))

What I do is I keep a Google doc, and notebook, and I write out all the scenes I either really really want to write, or little blurbs for scenes I've been thinking about a lot. And once Im done, I'll go backwards. 'Okay, Im finished with this scene, mc and characters x y and z are at this location, but how did they get there? What events led them to be at this place together?'
You could also try an outline. Just crappy bullet points of all the things you wanna hit. It doesn't have the be awesome because its just for you. As long as you know what you wanna write about, your bullet points can be vague with ideas you're still working on, or ideas you have fully fleshed out.

 

[engmajor2005]

You're not alone. Nearly all of my first drafts require massive amounts of editing before they turn into a coherent, readable story. The key thing is, as so many have said, to have a first draft that you can improve. Just write. You can worry about making it look pretty later.

When I first started writing seriously, I encountered this idea of "a million words of crap," or that the first one million words you write will always be horrible. While the number one million was meant to be more of a guideline than an exact measurement, the idea is that your earliest writing is ALWAYS going to be bad. Very few people are born with the natural ability to write well and tell good stories. The rest of us have to learn and writing is the ultimate learn-by-doing experience.

Reach out to family and friends and see who is willing to read your work and give honest feedback. My wife is my primary editor. She's worked professionally as an editor and she's not a particular fan of my primary genre (horror), so I can count on her for honest reactions. Use the Beta reader forum here to find somebody you can share your work with. You'll absorb the feedback and you'll auto-adjust your writing in future works. Your writing will improve, but only if you actually write.

 

[butterfly]

Well, if you can see them, and you can hear them, talk to them. Start a conversation with them. They will ignore you of course because they don't know you, but step a little closer. Squeeze yourself into their world for a minute, tell them something, then let them tell you something, then casually walk away, and write it all down.

 

[DestKitAero]

Well, if you can see them, and you can hear them, talk to them. Start a conversation with them. They will ignore you of course because they don't know you, but step a little closer. Squeeze yourself into their world for a minute, tell them something, then let them tell you something, then casually walk away, and write it all down.

Would, but they'd prob throw a bong at me then tell me to go get fukouna girl'd /j

 

[Infinimata]

I can see the characters, I can hear the character's voices

I'm late to this party, but really, this is where you want to start. Give your characters the freedom of speech and movement they deserve on paper for a little while, and see how that gets the ball rolling. Don't worry too much about writing something that's going to be THE thing for now. Just write A thing.

 

[Nonimoon9]

Are you perhaps judging your current rough first draft with what your second or third drafts used to be? Or maybe you're not giving your writer brain enough warmup before getting into the writing practice?

I don’t think your being totally fair to yourself.

Try to remember what got your creativity buzzing in the brainstorming stage.

 

[Sage]

Hey, Noni, just pointing out that the OP is no longer on AW.