What's your writing struggle ?

I'm horrible at descriptors. I can usually pace out my writing, well? No one has looked at it but I often am able to pace with the use of sentence variety (despite loving compound-complex). But descriptors man, those are tough for me. Either it sounds off, childish, or purple-y, I never feel like my descriptors are any good.

My sentences are too long. I think they place a burden on the reader I don't fully appreciate

Tagging dialogue.

Proofreading. That's like my major Achilles' heel. Slows me down times ten

Scythian said:

Proofreading. That's like my major Achilles' heel. Slows me down times ten

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It is exceedingly difficult to proof something we wrote ourselves.

Some things that help with proofreading:

• Put the text aside and don't look at it for several days; a week or two is even better.
• Change the context: By that I mean the visual context; a lot of proofing is processed by the visual cortex in terms of how the page/words "look". So try changing the font to something you didn't use while writing. Try also changing the leading; i.e. if you single spaced lines of text, try double. If you double-spaced, try changing the margins a little, and slightly increasing the space.
• Proof in hard copy.
• Read it to yourself (or a patient friend) aloud. If you're reading to yourself and you're uncomfortable actually voicing the words, read silently but move your lips as if reading aloud. This helps in proofing because you're kicking the other language processing parts of your brain into gear.
• Use a proofing guide. If you're a professional proofer you likely use a proofer's ruler. Using a straight-edge as a guide (a ruler, a second piece of paper) helps slow reading speed and increases focus on a single line of text.

Apart from my loooooong, ouroboros-like sentences that always eventually eat themselves, which I usually but not always catch in revisions, and please don't make me look at those early drafts again?

Melodrama. I always have to chop out melodrama when I revise. I grew up on soap operas; it's way too easy for me to get seduced by my characters' interpersonal angst. These days I fight to write happy people, or at least people who know how to laugh at themselves a bit.

MindfulInquirer said:

Descriptions are sort of a "gift", or more tangibly an innate sort of psychological trait. You either "have it or you don't".

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I disagree with this. You may start off with the innate ability to do it well (or not), but any of us can learn how to improve our descriptions. It takes a little studying.

When I hit a plot hole, the whole story dies. I'm notorious for letting stories sit for a year without fixing the plots.

In regards to technical writing, I sometimes get too caught up in explaining the physics of what's going on, instead of character's feelings. My first drafts are fairly void of inner thoughts and deep psychological reactions. It's a lot of "he gasped." "She sighed." "He broke eye contact and stared at the floor." I like going back and expanding on those surface physical reactions, and make them deeper.

I don't know if this thread is meant specifically for "physical" writing flaws (if you get what I mean by that, and I'm not sure I do), but then again, if not for this flaw I'd know my "physical" writing flaws...

Confidence. That feeling of "you're doing a poor job of [idea/event/character]". Thinking "no one will want to read about [subject/protagonist]". Second-guessing the choices I make for my stories. The feeling of wanting to share what I write with people yet being overwhelmingly terrified of what they might think.

I have to go over my chapters three or four times to remove all the filter words and phrases that don't need to be there. Nothing I write is quality writing on the first pass. But I get there eventually.

Descriptions are hard for me too but I found Pinterest files called 'boards' to be very helpful. Search for the images you have in mind like "future cities" and create a file. Describing what one is looking at is easier than pulling it directly from your head. Don't forget to add touch sensations, smells and sounds.

Definitely plot and world building. The plots don't make much sense, and events are all over the place. Worldbuilding, because I'm not very good with details and keeping track of all the information.

Lack of discipline.

AW Admin said:

It is exceedingly difficult to proof something we wrote ourselves.

Some things that help with proofreading:

• Put the text aside and don't look at it for several days; a week or two is even better.
• Change the context: By that I mean the visual context; a lot of proofing is processed by the visual cortex in terms of how the page/words "look". So try changing the font to something you didn't use while writing. Try also changing the leading; i.e. if you single spaced lines of text, try double. If you double-spaced, try changing the margins a little, and slightly increasing the space.
• Proof in hard copy.
• Read it to yourself (or a patient friend) aloud. If you're reading to yourself and you're uncomfortable actually voicing the words, read silently but move your lips as if reading aloud. This helps in proofing because you're kicking the other language processing parts of your brain into gear.
• Use a proofing guide. If you're a professional proofer you likely use a proofer's ruler. Using a straight-edge as a guide (a ruler, a second piece of paper) helps slow reading speed and increases focus on a single line of text.

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Very good list!
My favorite online text-to-speech place is this one http://www.fromtexttospeech.com/ Listening to robo-voice, Brit and American, helps too.

Scythian said:

Very good list!
My favorite online text-to-speech place is this one http://www.fromtexttospeech.com/ Listening to robo-voice, Brit and American, helps too.

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That is a great resource, thank you.



(is it weird that I now want to meet "British-English Emma"...?)

Pacing. Too many of my readers make "Get on with it!" comments. When I try to revise it, then they tell me it feels like I'm rushing to get to the next part. I can't see where the sweet spot is.

getting stuck. Usually right at the beginning.

Mindful - in 10 years of writing I've only been able to finish three stories. I do believe that is the best estimate. I decided not to give up an a story again so for just about one year I have been writing every day about my character in her situation. The book "No Plot, No Problem" says that if you keep doing that you *will* eventually stumble upon a workable story. I still haven't figured out how the story goes after the arrival of the two main characters at the opening location. (Really not kidding)

Gateway said:

Lack of discipline.

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Yeah. It's there for awhile and then it vanishes.

Scythian said:

Proofreading. That's like my major Achilles' heel. Slows me down times ten

Click to expand...

The biggest thing that helps me with proofreading is time. Most of the time, when I proofread, the draft has been sitting on my computer untouched for months.

I write the first draft of an entire series before editing and publishing any of it, so it gives me plenty of time to forget the story.

I was going to say the biggest flaws are the ones I don't know about, because if I know about them I do my best to correct them. But after thinking about it, the biggest difficulty for me is finishing the bloody thing. Like not just getting to "the end" but tidying everything up as well. I edit as I go so they're mostly finished when I get to the end but they're not finished finished. And quite often I never get to "the end" at all. But I'm working on it! Planning to actually finish both my current projects and do my best to get them published.

Being able to commit.

Too many words. My (fantasy) books come in at 160K and then some.

Descriptive prose is definitely not a strength. If it weren't required, I would skip descriptions of rooms, barns, towns, countrysides, etc., etc.

My architectural vocabulary is somewhat limited, uh . . . very limited.

Getting the ending right is always a chore, and then I'm not confident of it. So maybe it isn't right. So I go back. Again, and again.