I give up.

The excerpt reads a bit clunky but that's ok for starting to write a year ago.

Honestly, you sounds like you need to take a break. Do something else for a few months or even a year. If you still feel the urge to write then you can start again. It sounds like you are putting too much pressure on yourself to be good and it's getting into your head. You need some time apart from your writing.

Who knows. Maybe in a year you'll find your spark. Or you'll completely forget about writing and be happier for it. And you know what? That's perfectly fine.

You can't force artistic output. And it sounds like you've reached that point. So take a writing vacation. And if/when you get back remember that writing should be fun and to write for yourself, especially in the early stages.

Writing takes time. I have probably been writing since I was a 6 year old and now I'm 28 years old and it isn't until now that it all finally started to click. The best practice is to write as much as possible, edit, rewrite and start all over again. I have written 4 novels that are never going to see the light of day and probably hundreds of half-finished and short work. Saying that, however, there are some things that can be helpful when trying to improve your craft and that is starting with the basics. Forget everything you have learned and just study the basics of grammar, characterisation and plot. Trust me, this would really help you. Also, read a lot and try to study other author's work to figure out what they're doing right. Then, try to get some feedback from other people, whether that's a writing group (online or offline). Just put your work out there for critiques. I don't read much writing books but if there's one book you should get if you're serious about writing would be "self editing for fiction writers".

Writing should be a matter of heart, the skills can come later. Is there a story in your head you just love? Then write it down. Not for pay, intending to sell it to anyone, but just for yourself. If there is no more enjoyment in writing, and you do not love your stories or their characters, then perhaps you're right to quit.

This really isn't the place for critting - SYW's better for that. So I'm not going to crit.

On top of that, though, is the contradiction. Are you quitting, or are you not?

It may be, as the previous poster said, you need to take a break. During that break, I suggest reading. A lot. Read new stuff. Reread old favorites. As you read, stop yourself now and again and think. How is the author drawing you in (or failing to draw you in)? What, in those courses you took and writing books you read, is the author using, what tools or techniques? What does the forest look like? What trees are growing in that forest... and what trees aren't? Moreover: do you like what you're reading, or are you forcing yourself to eat it like a brussel sprout casserole, because Mom told you it's good for you? (Hint: being an adult means you don't have to choke down that lousy casserole if you hate it... and if you're writing, you can write all the danged ice cream desserts you want, 'cause adult!)

Good luck!

Questioner said:

But, you have to admit, if you had tried developing a skill for a year, a whole year, twelve months and three hundred and sixty five days, without much result, you would feel at least a little dishearted, wouldn't you?

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Disheartened? No. A year is hardly any discovery time at all, but think of all you've learned. Here's a tiny lesson for next year: And, or, nor, but, for, yet, and so are coordinating conjunctions. Commas usually precede them for compound structures, but when they begin sentences, a comma shouldn't automatically follow.

Questioner said:

She couldn’t remember the last time she had seen the town as such: tiny. Emily looked down at the photo again, as if she had hallucinated. Wow. It had really grown over the years, hadn’t it? It was almost nostalgic seeing the old town again, when it had just been a couple few houses with a hundred, give or take, citizens who traded wares and gathered each Friday in the village’s around a campfire.

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Another lesson for next year. Five "hads" is a bit on the repetitive side for a short paragraph. After the first "had" establishes past perfect, it can be less boring to slip back into simple past.

Sage, quick question. What proper place to get critiqued are you alluding to? Are you thinking writing groups or perhaps something else? As a first timer I have no clue whether what I write is bad or terrible, but would love to find out

Do you enjoy fanfiction, OP? If yo'uve never tried it, give it a go.

I hope that doesn't sound condescending. But fanfiction was massively helpful to me. It's got a difficulty that naturally scales because *you* choose how much to deviate from the plot, the established characters, the established setting.

The other bonus--you're writing in a world you already love, so it's already interesting.

It does take time. And it can't be pushed imo. I couldn't write a birthday card five years ago, and no amount of "forcing" myself to learn writing made any difference. One day it just clicked. Like that whole time my brain had been downloading a Writing file and I just had to wait for it to finish ;-)

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Share Your Work, loaderbot: https://absolutewrite.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?26-Share-Your-Work

password is vista

I felt like that, too, during my first year of writing. I expected too much from myself, quick, easy success, just because I'd had a short poem and other work accepted. Slowing down and not worrying so much helped me. Like others mentioned, maybe you just need to take a break or focus on enjoying your own writing, rather than worrying about being successful (right now, when you've just started).

LoaderBot said:

Sage, quick question. What proper place to get critiqued are you alluding to? Are you thinking writing groups or perhaps something else? As a first timer I have no clue whether what I write is bad or terrible, but would love to find out

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Sage is probably talking about the Share Your Work forum that's near the bottom of the AW's forum. It has its own password and members have to have a minimum of 50 posts before they can share their work for critique. But you can browse, even though you don't have 50 posts, to help you learn the ropes.

LoaderBot said:

Sage, quick question. What proper place to get critiqued are you alluding to? Are you thinking writing groups or perhaps something else? As a first timer I have no clue whether what I write is bad or terrible, but would love to find out

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Sage is referring to the Share Your Work (SYW) forum here at AW. The password is vista.

You need 50 posts to be able to post your own work for critique, but you can head there now and look at other people's work. You may even want to try your hand at offering a critique or two.

Thanks for the information, I'll check that section out. Might be a while before I offer critique though as I fear it would be worthless at this stage.

Sorry for hijacking the thread Questioner. Although I know little of writing I know much about pursuing skills/projects. What matters is enjoyment. As long as you enjoy yourself, everything else will fall into place given enough effort and time. Best of luck!

It doesn't hurt to take a break, OP. Do something else for a few weeks or a couple of months. The best way to 'learn' writing is to read and critque others.

Head over to SYW to see what other people are writing. It's quite fun.

For scrambled together I thought that was fine. You've got character with a problem and a setting.

As far as the twelve month thing, it may be down to your sensibilities. Let me rephrase that. I can bring 20 books home from the library. This is twenty books I picked out intentionally at the library because I thought they were all worth trying. Not to beat a dead horse, but these are twenty *published* books.

And every time I do this (or worse, drop a hundred bucks at the store on a bunch of titles) I get home all excited ... and one by one, as I read more than the opening page, my hopes fall. Until I have a stack of twenty books -- none of which I had any desire to dive deeper into.

Some books I could live inside of. Finding those books is sooo haaarrrrrddddd.

What *this* means is that you have written a fantastic book that someone (and maybe many someones) will love.

For any book. Any single book. 98% of people will never read it. There have been 100 million copies of the first Harry Potter book sold. There are eighty times that many people on the planet. Roughly 98% of people have never read it. Of those of us who have, some people actually don't care for it or think it should be done differently.

There's a huge push right now to have The Last Jedi re-done. Why? Because people like to complain.

You should write because it fulfills something in you. You should stop writing if it hurts you to write.

You should not stop writing because you think other people don't 'like' what you have written.

Second Harlequin's idea of writing fanfiction! Find the fandom you most love and write something! It's a great way to get your chops going and get some practice. And while you're doing that, keep working on your original stuff. Most things worth doing in life take longer than a year to master. I know sometimes I feel discouraged when I see people churning out 2-3 books a year (and I LOVE reading their books!) and think how goodness, I have not managed to publish one yet, but comparing myself to what others can do is just not useful. Every year that I have pursued this, I have gotten a little better, and I take pleasure from it. And for me, that is what is most important.

You mention having taken several courses and bought some books (I presume you mean writing instruction books). What else do you read? The best way I know of to improve narrative skills, other than writing a lot, is reading a lot. Of good narrative writers, in a variety of genres. You don't even need to get heavily analytical when reading good writers. A process of subliminal osmosis tends to take place, and you develop sensibilities about what works well in narrative writing. So, to repeat, what narrative writing do you read?

caw

I have some experience with this feeling OP. I've only been at this a bit longer than you (about 20 months). A few comments about what I've learned along the way:

1. As others here have said - take a break. That's hard for me to do because I tend to be very narrow-focused. But we have to realize, no learning process is linear. There are always ups and downs, setbacks, and periods of discouragement. You must accept that. And actually, it's a good thing in a way - if the path to success was easy, nobody would ever give up, and there would be nothing special about persevering. Many, many people quit when they're at the stage you're at. If you push ahead, you've beaten them all, and have taken the next step whether you know it or not.

2. A year is nothing. There are people on here that have been writing for decades. It's very humbling to people like you and me, but again, we have to accept reality.

3. I have found that writing is very, very lonely. Here's why: Nobody who doesn't write has any clue how hard it is. I'm 20 months into my first WIP which is only 70k words. I wouldn't dare admit that to anyone except my incredibly patient and supporting wife, and the wonderful people on this site. Even my wife must be secretly wondering why the hell it takes so long to write so few words, and still have a such a mediocre product. People. Don't. Get. How hard this is.

4. Writing is unique in that nobody will ever level with you and tell you that you should quit. If I were to tell my family and friends I was suddenly going to dedicate myself to becoming the next QB for the Dallas Cowboys, they would all tell me I'm crazy. But writing? Oh sure, anyone can do that! Everyone's a writer! You'll get better! Keep at it! You'll never get an honest assessment that hey, maybe writing just isn't your thing. So, you have to decide on your own, and like I said in #3, it will be lonely. I say for now, take a break and recharge.

-- Just my musings for the day. Hope this helps.

(edit) Oh, one other thing - In my (very humble) opinion, classes and books on writing aren't going to help. At least for me, my only learning has come from the process of writing itself, reading, and engaging in discussions with others such as on this site. I just think writing is an art, and you can't teach art. I know there's a lot more nuance involved than that, but, that's just my feeling.

Toto Too said:

In my (very humble) opinion, classes and books on writing aren't going to help.

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They might help with certain specific issues, but I agree that they won't teach you how to write a good story for the enjoyment of a reader. There is no cookbook. And even in cooking, apprentice chefs learn a hell of a lot more by watching good experienced chefs cook than they ever will by reading recipes.

caw

Right. And I know I can be a bit extreme on this issue, but aside from the basic techniques like you allude to, I really believe that practice (hours and months and years of practice), and absorption coming from being around or observing experts, are the real keys to learning. There isn't a professor out there that can take credit for giving us Ernest Hemingway or Stephen King. I mean, which came first? Great writers, or classes on how to become a great writer?

I guess that depends on your definition of great.

Sanderson is my answer to Stephen King. (Bear in mind, I don't enjoy either writer). He studied creative writing and applies technique/craft rigorously. Although he doesn't, for me, have "the spark" in his writing, it's very readable, and he works INCREDIBLY hard at his career.

Mastery takes about a decade, unless one is a Mozart in one's field.

And only started really owning my style on the 9th And it still it needs like twenty edits to stop being too clunky.