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sticking with it/figuring out what to write

satyesu

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I've never finished a book. I haven't finished a story in years. Every time I find something I'm interested in writing I either lose interest in the topic or lose confidence in what I thought was worth writing. I don't want to start something and commit if I'm just going to be bored finishing it, but I can't figure out what I can write that I'll stick with. I've done this all my life. What am I doing wrong? What do I need to do right?
Note: I feel most confident writing nonfiction. I tried for years to write fiction, and when I was younger, I was told I was a good writer [for a kid, I guess], but months ago I started a novel and the first 80 or so pages were rotten. I was told so (in a hyperbolic fashion).
 

Carrie in PA

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It's very common for the middle of a project to suck. As writers are wont to do, it's a prime time to be lured to a new, shiny project and abandon the one that's not fun at the moment. But what the pros have figured out is that if you can wade through the slog of the middle, it gets fun again. (or if not fun, at least interesting.)

Who told you the first 80 pages were rotten? I personally don't show anybody works in progress because other people generally eff things up in my head. Much better to write without those influences.
 

Brightdreamer

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Part of finishing is committing to stick through the dull/boring bits. There are very few pursuits without those bits - it's a life skill, not just a writing or creative skill, to push oneself to persist through them, to enjoy the process or believe enough in the end result (or just plain need the end result - especially if money is involved) that one doesn't give up the moment things look sticky or bland.

As for what to do about... it's gotta come from within. Setting up schedules and deadlines and concrete goals can help, though one often needs accountability of some sort to fix a habit change. Holding an image in your mind of the end result, the feeling you'll get when it's Done, can help, too. Though part of it's just the plain "butt-in-chair" habit of Sitting Down and Doing It, even if it doesn't come out quite as shiny and perfect as you might have worked. (And it probably won't, at least not until you've worked at it for a while. As the saying goes, the way to carve an elephant from a block of marble is to chisel away everything that's not part of an elephant... but you're going to burn through a few blocks, first getting gravel, then something vaguely quadrupedal, and finally ending up with an elephant. Procrastinating on picking up the chisel in the first place isn't a shortcut to the elephant, it's keeping you from learning what you need to know to carve that elephant. Nobody's born knowing how to hold that chisel or carve that elephant, and every carved elephant you see out there - by people who make it look easy - stands on mounds of shattered marble and mistakes.)

It may also be, since you claim this problem affects the rest of your life, an issue that needs extra help. Issues like depression can seriously mess with one's ability to focus and finish, and don't go away on their own.

Good luck!
 

sandree

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I can certainly relate, in terms of writing, if not the rest of my life. I am muddling along in the middle of my first novel (3rd attempt at the same idea) and feeling that it is quite a mess. But this time, I have gotten farther, and this time, I intend to muddle, muddle, muddle my way to the end and then revise.

I used to make lampwork glass beads with a torch and hot glass and I can clearly look back at the steep learning curve that took. My first beads were wonky as hell. Years later, they were beautiful! I can almost enjoy the learning process and the journey - almost! But the writing learning curve is so different and I am in a place where I can’t really evaluate my own work. I have no idea if it has kernels of good writing or a good idea or if it is rubbish. It’s a lot easier to evaluate a wonky bead than to evaluate a piece of writing.

I would encourage you to muddle through the boring parts and the “I’m writing rubbish” parts so you can get to the revision and polishing to see if there is something there...
 

satyesu

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It's very common for the middle of a project to suck. As writers are wont to do, it's a prime time to be lured to a new, shiny project and abandon the one that's not fun at the moment. But what the pros have figured out is that if you can wade through the slog of the middle, it gets fun again. (or if not fun, at least interesting.)

Who told you the first 80 pages were rotten? I personally don't show anybody works in progress because other people generally eff things up in my head. Much better to write without those influences.
It was my best friend, so I trust him. I just gave him the first 50 pages. I read somewhere that's a good thing to do.

Thanks, all.
 

Elle.

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It was my best friend, so I trust him. I just gave him the first 50 pages. I read somewhere that's a good thing to do.

Thanks, all.

Was it a first draft or a polished finished version? I would never give my first draft for anybody to read. The way I see it, first drafts are just the process to get it all out on paper without worrying if it's good or bad, and the real writing process (rewrites and editing) can start. In my book, first drafts are supposed to be terrible, I'm not ashamed to say that mine are. I have seen so many people who were so worried about producing a good first draft that they kept going back and editing the beginning and never finishing it.

It is good to have a beta reader to get feedback, but I find it best/most productive to give it to them once you have your draft polished and in the best shape possible and you can't see how to improve anymore. Then, they can point out ways and areas you didn't think of to improve on.
 

satyesu

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Was it a first draft or a polished finished version? I would never give my first draft for anybody to read. The way I see it, first drafts are just the process to get it all out on paper without worrying if it's good or bad, and the real writing process (rewrites and editing) can start. In my book, first drafts are supposed to be terrible, I'm not ashamed to say that mine are. I have seen so many people who were so worried about producing a good first draft that they kept going back and editing the beginning and never finishing it.

It is good to have a beta reader to get feedback, but I find it best/most productive to give it to them once you have your draft polished and in the best shape possible and you can't see how to improve anymore. Then, they can point out ways and areas you didn't think of to improve on.
Ah. Makes sense. Thanks. :)
 

lizmonster

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It was my best friend, so I trust him.

So, you have to make your own choices.

But one person didn't like your first 50 pages. One.

Opinions are subjective. Even the opinions of best friends.

It's perfectly all right to stop working on a particular MS. Personally, I have to really love something to be able to finish it, no matter how much discipline I've got. I have a lifetime of partial stuff behind me.

But the reason I have to love something is because there will be people who hate it. There will be people close to me, people who love me, who won't read my work, who'll say kind things like "Well, that was a book, wasn't it?" and change the subject. No book is going to be universally beloved. If you want to finish a novel, you've got to love it enough to ignore all the people who don't.
 

PNW_Michelle

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I want to second what both Elle and lizmonster said! Rough drafts universally suck, and it's very important to love your stories because there's no guarantee anyone else will.


I would also ask ... do you want to write? . Do you enjoy the act of writing, do you feel a need to do it, or do you just feel like you should be a writer for some reason? I'm assuming, since you keep coming back to it, that you DO want to write, that you enjoy the process, but I've known people who liked the idea of writing and had to come to realize they didn't actually like the process, and that's totally okay! You are the only one who knows if it's writing itself that you love. There aren't any wrong answers to that question, either, so that's nice. ;)

It's also totally okay to love writing but not be a novelist. You could blog or write social media posts or informative articles or nonfiction books or short stories or poems or limericks or essays or scripts for plays or ... really just anything. It could be you haven't yet found the kind of thing your heart wants to write yet. If you know for sure you love writing, but your enthusiasm for novels just doesn't stick ... write something else! The world needs things that are written with enthusiasm and delight far more than it needs more novels written by ambivalent authors. (Obviously I don't know if that's you! Just a suggestion in case you're putting too much pressure on yourself to be a specific thing you think you ought to be, instead of allowing yourself to enjoy being the thing you are. If that makes any sense at all!)

ANYWAY, I hope you figure it out and get to have fun with writing! It can be so very SATISFYING, even on hard days or days when it feels boring or tedious ... if it's part of you who you are, I hope you can find a way to revel in it.
 

Putputt

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Mybe for some people, sharing their unfinished drafts helps them. For myself, it’s a lose-lose situation. I’ve shown the first few chapters to my agent and my beta readers, and when they love it, I’m crippled by the fear that the rest of the book is just going to let them down. When they don’t love it, I feel sad and floppy and all “Waaahhh why bother continuing buhbuhbuh”. So my personal preference is not to show anyone until you’ve powered through to the very end.

I also agree with what Carrie said about the middle bit being the hardest to write. For myself, the first and last 10K are a breeze. But the bit in the middle...that’s the seemingly never-ending saggy part I just have to slog through. How do you do it? I find writing buddies immensely helpful. I don’t know if word sprints are possible when you’re writing NF, but I swear by them. And some days it’s really a matter of forcing yourself to keep typing, word by painful word. Turn off your Wifi, give yourself a word count goal for the day, and don’t let yourself do anything until you hit the goal.
 

screenscope

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Perhaps indulge your non fiction writing preference - playing to your confidence - and write some short articles. After completing a few it might give you the confidence and interest to tackle something more ambitious.
 

BethS

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It was my best friend, so I trust him. I just gave him the first 50 pages. I read somewhere that's a good thing to do.

Sharing your work with friends or family is rarely a good idea. There are exceptions, of course. But in general, when you're ready for feedback, it's better to do it through some place like SYW.

As to your original question, I don't know whether you're an outliner or a discovery writer (also known as a pantser), but either way, if you're not being entertained by what's happening in your story, then change where it's headed and write something that does entertain you.
 
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