Woe Unto The Writers

abdall

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... finding the motivation is tough.

I, personally, think that finding motivation during any point of the writing process is hard. Like, can't we just be death eaters instead??
 

pharm

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Motivation comes in waves for me. I go weeks and weeks of intense productivity, writing every free moment throughout the day (not counting internet dawdling) and feeling guilty and anxious whenever I try to do anything else. Then eventually I burn out and crash into some form of escapism that eats up my time. During burnout periods I’ll have to force myself to sit at the desk staring at the blank page, and hitting my minimum word count each day can feel like pulling teeth. The moment I hit my minimum I’ll run back to whatever my current preferred escape from the grind has become.

Then eventually something sparks my creativity again, and bam, I’m back at the crest of the wave ready to ride it as far as it will take me. So the cycle continues.
 

abdall

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Motivation comes in waves for me. I go weeks and weeks of intense productivity, writing every free moment throughout the day (not counting internet dawdling) and feeling guilty and anxious whenever I try to do anything else. Then eventually I burn out and crash into some form of escapism that eats up my time. During burnout periods I’ll have to force myself to sit at the desk staring at the blank page, and hitting my minimum word count each day can feel like pulling teeth. The moment I hit my minimum I’ll run back to whatever my current preferred escape from the grind has become.

Then eventually something sparks my creativity again, and bam, I’m back at the crest of the wave ready to ride it as far as it will take me. So the cycle continues.

My motivation is kind of like that as well. When I get in a place where I've burned out I don't even both trying to write. Not for the project that I'm burnt out on, I mean. I have like 3 different projects I tend to hop around between those so I'm always writing, but it's impossible for me to write for one of my stories when I'm burned out on it. It's not IMPOSSIBLE, but I know from experience that if I do then what I write is basically guaranteed to be bad so I don't even bother. And then I get mad at myself for hopping from story to story because I'd rather just finish it in one go, but that is just not how it works for me. That's just me, though.
 

zahra

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Queries--so much anxiety
Synopses--tell the story? If I tried to tell my stories around a campfire I'd be skewered and roasted
Middles--I suck, this sucks, why am I doing this, why do I ever do this
The 10,000 words before the last 3,000--this. will. never. end.

Basically, I like the feelings in the beginning. The new idea, the rush of oh! what if? and then she can...wouldn't that be fun... Yup, I love writing those first 20,000 words, especially the opening scene.

Synopses. Yes. They are hell with a side-order of aaaarrgh! I know they're supposed to be good for the writerly soul (hey, you should be able to pinpoint the important points of your story) but I want to bite synopses on the arm with an infected tooth.
 

mrsmig

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Querying and blurbs. My knee-jerk response is "Oh, just read the damn book!" Which falls solidly into the realm of Not Helpful.

I also hate writing transitions. Sometime the shift in setting, character, mood, etc. comes naturally, but sometimes it's just...bleah.
 

Coddiwomple

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My least favorite part of writing is the emotional roller coaster it takes me on. Finishing something gives me a kind of bi-polar syndrome. At first, I'm all "This is great! I loooove this! It makes me so happy and I want to share it!" followed inevitably by the crash. "This is the dumbest thing ever. It's overwrought garbage. No one will like it. I suuuuuuck."

And then after a while, I achieve some distance and am able to view my writing with more objectivity. It's not Most Brilliant Thing Evah but also not Pile of Steaming Crapola.

But the pendulum swing until I gain some perspective? Ugh, why does this happen every time?

I've also never queried, so I may have no idea what I really hate about writing. :)
 
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Chris P

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I've also never queried, so I may have no idea what I really hate about writing. :)

Haha! Good point. Maybe I'm really going to hate working with an agent, or signing with a publisher, or seeing my book in stores, or all the extra tax stuff from the royalties, or the whirlwind book tours, or. . .
 

Lou Trent

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My least favourite thing about writing is doing the first spellcheck. My spelling isn't awful, just highly individual at points. It is a little embarrassing when the spellcheck can't find the correct way to spell a word I've written and that happens more than I'd really like to admit. I used to spellcheck as I went but found I was stopping all the time because of that horrible red underline. Although computer spellcheck has helped as before I had a computer I threw my dictionary out of frustration more than once.
 

Kathella

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My least favourite thing about writing is doing the first spellcheck. My spelling isn't awful, just highly individual at points. It is a little embarrassing when the spellcheck can't find the correct way to spell a word I've written and that happens more than I'd really like to admit. I used to spellcheck as I went but found I was stopping all the time because of that horrible red underline. Although computer spellcheck has helped as before I had a computer I threw my dictionary out of frustration more than once.

I have a very unfortunate tendency to write with more UK English than US English (grey instead of gray, realise instead of realize, colour instead of color) and it bites me in the butt come editing time. Sometimes Word's autocorrect fixes it, but most of the time, it does not.

My favorite part of writing is the world-building. I love delving into a character's construction and thinking up new ways to incorporate their personality, or defining them with historical moments in their life. I especially enjoy crafting the societal aspects of fantasy worlds, and creating odd traditions or house-hold practices that seem bizarre or unearthly.

Least favorite part? Editing. Hands down. I've not attempted publishing so I've been spared the pain of drafting a query letter, but man, do I hate trying to find selective imagery without detracting from the scene. I know I get too florid, but I have such a hard time cutting the words down without losing the scene in my head. It's rough.
 

WriteMinded

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Everything that is not writing or editing is a woe. Everything that follows writing and editing is a woe. Anything called query or synopsis is a woe. Woe be gone.
 

abdall

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Querying and blurbs. My knee-jerk response is "Oh, just read the damn book!" Which falls solidly into the realm of Not Helpful.

Does anyone like writing queries? I mean, never once while writing a query (I've attempted to write five or six so I'm clearly an expert) have I posted it for peer review thinking 'This is gonna be amazing! They're all gonna love it!' It's more like 'here's that ball of dirt I've been polishing for you. maybe it's better this time? Maybe? Oh no, it was better the first time, okay.' Don't get it twisted, I'm grateful to the people who peer review for queries here, but that doesn't mean that I don't want to set myself on fire at least a little bit. I"m pretty sure there's someone out there who actually likes it and if so like...what drugs are you on and where can I get them?
 

laynecalry

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My biggest hang up to date about my writing is not so much about my writing as much as it is about myself. I love to write, but hate sharing. I literally self doubt myself so badly that I can't share it with anyone. Then once I do all I can think is oh my gosh they are going to hate it. Then they like it and i'm still like, they are just saying that to make me feel good, they really hate it. I also hate query letters and synopsis, I feel like I can never fully describe my characters or my back to make it enticing.

I used to hate editing, but I have found that process now strangely cathartic.
 

EvilPenguin

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For me, it's the time it takes to write. I don't necessary hate the writing process (all the time, anyways) but I HATE how long it takes me to finish something. I am a slow writer. I am also a very distracted writer. And I am VERY impatient. It takes me 8-12 months to finish a rough draft normally, and nearly every day when I open my novel document I spend a good 5 minutes internally whining about how I'm never going to finish this thing.

I'd love to be able to double or triple the amount of quality words I can do in a day, but I seriously suck at focusing. It's probably the biggest thing I need to work on right now.
 

abdall

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For me, it's the time it takes to write. I don't necessary hate the writing process (all the time, anyways) but I HATE how long it takes me to finish something. I am a slow writer. I am also a very distracted writer. And I am VERY impatient. It takes me 8-12 months to finish a rough draft normally, and nearly every day when I open my novel document I spend a good 5 minutes internally whining about how I'm never going to finish this thing.

I'd love to be able to double or triple the amount of quality words I can do in a day, but I seriously suck at focusing. It's probably the biggest thing I need to work on right now.

I don't really have that problem (most of the time). One of my WIPs I've been working on for more than 10 years now (it's harrowing to think about, honestly) but I was also 16 years old and a shitty writer when I started it. It's really a labor of love and has taught me patience.