Didn't give up on my WIP

yoshinocho

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Hey all.

I feel kinda dumb writing here for this, since everybody is already so accomplished and talking about larger accomplishments, but I want to share somewhere. I admit I'm less than 5000 words in, and a comparatively new writer fiction-wise, but for me this is an important point in the process.

I've recently gotten back into writing and started up a new novel that's been brewing in my head for a while. In the past few years when I've tried to write I've always reached this moment where I think: "this isn't the book I want to write. This isn't really worth it. Shouldn't I really be writing X idea instead? Y idea is way better and this one is stupid. I should write something that actually matters--not this" ~ kind of stuff. And then I usually try to switch ideas, or try to (disastrously) merge all of my ideas in one grotesque frankenstein-of-a-kitchen-sink. And then I usually quit.

In any case, yesterday, that same doubt and urge to quit and write something "that really matters" hit. Hard.

I went so far as to draft up a new word document for a different project, started preparing to jump ship.

But I didn't.

Today I went back to my WIP and wrote 1000+ words in a single sitting (the most I've done in a single day yet for this project).

I'm really proud of myself for sticking with this novel, and wanted to share, even if it's a very minor accomplishment compared to many of the things I read on AW.

Thanks for listening!

P.S. Any advice or ideas for fighting off these doubts in the future would be appreciated!
 
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Kat M

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Good for you! That is an accomplishment.

And just so you know, we're all over the board here. Folks like you and me and who haven't got a publishing cred to their name, folks who have multiple published books, and everyone in-between.

Sadly, I don't have advice as I kind of fall in the same pitfall. :)
 

Tocotin

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Hello,

First off, please don't get disheartened! This is a huge site and there are a lot of us here, and we are all in different stages, from people with several books under their belts, to people who started yesterday. (I haven't finished my first novel yet.)

Second – congratulations! Getting any amount of words on paper or screen IS a big thing. Keep at it, because it will take time, and you will not stay in the same mood throughout; you will be tired by what you write, disgusted by it, proud of it, in love with it, and so on and so forth. What matters is that you'll feel absolutely ecstatic when you finish. I just wrote a novella in a genre I don't usually write, and my feelings about it are very mixed, but 1) it was a good lesson, because now I know that the genre is not for me, 2) I have a finished thing! I can see it in its entirety, I can edit it, I can be happy with what I did well...

Writing anything is a bumpy and almost-solitary* ride. But if you have this idea nagging at you at the back of your head, write it and see how it goes. If it gives you any measure of happiness, it's worth it. If it matters to you, it matters. If you are passionate about it, your passion will shine through your writing, believe me. It doesn't matter how insignificant the idea looks to you; if you have fun with it, and can please your readers with it, is there anything more important?

Also, this is what helps me, maybe it will be helpful to you too: try to read books in your genre and/or with similar themes/plot elements to yours. You'll see what other writers do well, and not so well; and you will enter into a silent discussion of sorts with the book, which can be quite stimulating.

Good luck!

*we are here!

:troll
 

DanielSTJ

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Hey!

Sticking with it is half the battle. Good on you for keeping going when it's tough. I feel that seeing pieces through to their completion, regardless of being published or not, is a feat worth recognizing and appreciating and it's always the first step.

Congrats, and welcome! :D
 

The Second Moon

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I feel the same way about my projects. I have one project that I am defiantly going to write, but when I get stuck (or bored) on that project. I look for something else to write. I've bounced through so many projects It's insane.

Anyways congrats!

EDIT: I forgot to say that no accomplishment is too small not to celebrate. Celebrate the little things, because when writing every little step counts.
 
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