Is it normal to feel apprehensive about approaching complex stories?

Jadeyn M · Jan 13, 2013

I'm 20 y/o and have been writing since elementary school. I'm not an exceptional writer, but I understand my strengths and my weaknesses, and that helps me make the best of my abilities. I write mostly short stories, but for the last 4 years, there's been a world growing in my head, with characters I've given so much mental attention that I feel almost obligated to write. Like, it's not right for them to lounge around in my brain. So I've decided to stop picking my butt and get serious. About two months ago, I began developing the basics of a language which will be featured in the story. I connected loose ends. I started timelines of the various characters' lives, seeing where their actions intersect, where major events occur. Every day, I feel I'm getting closer and closer to turning this idea into something that, were the circumstances right, could happen outside of my head (which was my original intention, four years ago: to reflect on real political, social, and identity crises in a fantasized world). About a week ago, I spent three hours describing to my (very patient) roommate the one completed timeline, two of the incomplete ones, and how the major events flow together. I've still a long way to go, completing the other timelines plus a composite one, getting the languages up to snuff, but I expect within the next year (summer or fall) I may be close to actually beginning the story.

But I'm kind of anxious. I'm confident in my short stories, which have received awards at my college, but this is different. I'm nervous about my main characters, who start out fourteen and sixteen. Originally, I predicted the plot to span around 10-15 years. Now it's closer to 20-26 years. And while I'm not surprised by the amount of time it takes for the main characters to mature, I had always recognized them by their emotions, their desires and fears, their growth, etc., and it's strange to visualize them as men in their forties. That's over double my age.

The story is broken into three parts. The first part spans about 10-15 years, following one character. The second part covers the same time span, only told from another character's perspective. At the end of the second part, the two storylines converge. The second part (as a whole) then spans 15-20 years. In the third part, the characters separate and their stories are told individually for about five years. During this time, a third character is introduced, one who had died at the very beginning of first part. He remembers what life was like when he and the other two characters (brothers) were children. I may have this character narrate his POV (vs. the rest of the POVs, which are third-person). He eventually brings the other two characters back together.

I'm thinking that this semester or over the summer, I will start researching historical figures who have faced the same or similiar issues faced by the characters in my story, so I don't feel so hopeless or inadequate when writing. I was also thinking I could ease myself into the writing of this longer story by first writing short stories (my forte) about some of the minor characters or main characters as children (which could be used in the third part, potentially). If anyone else has felt apprehensive or nervous about getting close to writing something big, how did you deal with it? Is there any other way I can approach this?

Thanks.

Violeta · Jan 13, 2013

As with everything big and overwhelming in life, take it one step at a time.

Definition of overwhelm: you don't do ANYTHING because you can't do EVERYTHING. (Matthew Hussey).

Start small (and I don't mean write all those other short stories you mentioned -because if
you have time to write them down, then my guess is you have time to write your big story, too).
Just start writing. Start with the first part, since that's the beginning.

It's all about momentum. Once you get into the routine of writing, the apprehension disappears.

dawinsor · Jan 13, 2013

Holy crow. I'm overwhelmed just reading that. Violeta is right. Pick a piece of the story and start writing. You may keep all that planning you've done or you may change your mind. What matters is that you bite off a chewable bite and work on it.

And of course it's normal to feel apprehensive. You'll feel better once you start and have a limited goal for what to achieve today.

Kerosene · Jan 13, 2013

Fuck it, write it.

Whenever I sit here going, "Oh no, I don't think I can write this." I slap myself and get to writing. "Fuck it, do it," see what happens.

So just start writing it. The first draft will show you how everything goes; no amount of planning will prepare for the first draft's evident horror that will make you reflect and start fixing things. Then you have something you can work with.

And, with every complicated story, if you can't verbally explain it to a person, writing it and making the reader understand and fully feel the situation will be very hard. It might be too complex because it might be too confusing. Try writing 40/500/1000word synopses that fully encapsulate what the story is about.

dawinsor · Jan 13, 2013

Also, can I just raise a caution about the languages? Tolkien was a linguist. Languages were his main interest in life so they shaped his story. But I heard George R. R. Martin speak in 2007 and he said he'd had a letter from someone saying they'd learned Tolkien's languages and also Klingon, and they'd like to learn High Valerian. Could he please send them the rules and vocabulary? He said so far he had seven words and when he created an eighth, he'd let the letter writer know. That's a more common route for most of us.

frankiebrown · Jan 13, 2013

WillSauger said:
Fuck it, write it.

This.

Also, when I first joined this board I had just gotten the idea for my current WIP. I remember worrying that the plot was too complicated, that the conflict was too big for my MC. Someone told me, "So make your MC bigger." That's what I did. And now I'm almost finished.

Just write it.

Jadeyn M · Jan 13, 2013

Thanks, everyone, for the advice. And I'm not so worried that the plot is too complicated to write or is too big...I'm more worried that perhaps I'm not mature enough to write the characters realistically (or that my character become too big!). I mean, I don't have to put a microscope to the plot, but I would like to find first-hand accounts of people who have gone through scenarios similiar to those in my story, so that I can get a feel of what it is really like rather than just writing blindly.

As far as languages go, I've always had an intense interest in them. When I was a kid, I used to keep a notebook of all the words I had learned in other languages and how to say them. I took Spanish in high school and am currently taking German. I love discussing language with my friends (two have taken Spanish, one French and Chinese, one Chinese, and one Japanese), comparing different rules and even how singular and plural are expressed (according to the friend who took Japanese, there are no singular/plural forms of nouns in that language). You spend years of your life speaking one language without really understanding how it works, then you learn how it works and how it compares/contrasts to other languages, and it's like these doors have been opened. I have all of this new space to make my own language with its own rules. There's a freedom to it that's hard to describe, like floating in space after you've spent your whole life on earth. I understand that the language I'm working on will be (for the most part) limited to the structures and sounds I have observed in English, Spanish, and German, and that it will be pathetic compared to Tolkein's work, but by doing this, I find that the culture is growing with the language. For example, the word for "neighbor" and "brother" are the same; the only difference is that, when addressing a sibling, the speaker will add a suffix that implies familiarity. I love this, because it suggests the closeness of the community, and even if never use the words "neighbor" or "brother" I could still reference this closeness through other actions, words.

Say, I decided to start writing the first part tonight, I could do it. In fact, I might start as soon as I get off here. For now, I have a good grasp of the characters; I would not feel intimidated. And maybe I'll find, as I get further in, I'll be more comfortable than I anticipated. I guess I'll never know unless I try.

Thanks again, everyone.

Dorky · Jan 13, 2013

I got beat to saying it, but anyway

Don’t worry. Just write.

Jadeyn M said:
As far as languages go, I've always had an intense interest in them. When I was a kid, I used to keep a notebook of all the words I had learned in other languages and how to say them. I took Spanish in high school and am currently taking German. I love discussing language with my friends (two have taken Spanish, one French and Chinese, one Chinese, and one Japanese), comparing different rules and even how singular and plural are expressed (according to the friend who took Japanese, there are no singular/plural forms of nouns in that language). You spend years of your life speaking one language without really understanding how it works, then you learn how it works and how it compares/contrasts to other languages, and it's like these doors have been opened. I have all of this new space to make my own language with its own rules. There's a freedom to it that's hard to describe, like floating in space after you've spent your whole life on earth. I understand that the language I'm working on will be (for the most part) limited to the structures and sounds I have observed in English, Spanish, and German, and that it will be pathetic compared to Tolkein's work, but by doing this, I find that the culture is growing with the language. For example, the word for "neighbor" and "brother" are the same; the only difference is that, when addressing a sibling, the speaker will add a suffix that implies familiarity. I love this, because it suggests the closeness of the community, and even if never use the words "neighbor" or "brother" I could still reference this closeness through other actions, words.

This is very true. I love learning about all the differences in different languages and how the words and the culture can be so tied together at times. Good luck with the languages

Gynn · Jan 13, 2013

Jadeyn M said:
Thanks, everyone, for the advice. And I'm not so worried that the plot is too complicated to write or is too big...I'm more worried that perhaps I'm not mature enough to write the characters realistically (or that my character become too big!). I mean, I don't have to put a microscope to the plot, but I would like to find first-hand accounts of people who have gone through scenarios similiar to those in my story, so that I can get a feel of what it is really like rather than just writing blindly.

As far as languages go, I've always had an intense interest in them. When I was a kid, I used to keep a notebook of all the words I had learned in other languages and how to say them. I took Spanish in high school and am currently taking German. I love discussing language with my friends (two have taken Spanish, one French and Chinese, one Chinese, and one Japanese), comparing different rules and even how singular and plural are expressed (according to the friend who took Japanese, there are no singular/plural forms of nouns in that language). You spend years of your life speaking one language without really understanding how it works, then you learn how it works and how it compares/contrasts to other languages, and it's like these doors have been opened. I have all of this new space to make my own language with its own rules. There's a freedom to it that's hard to describe, like floating in space after you've spent your whole life on earth. I understand that the language I'm working on will be (for the most part) limited to the structures and sounds I have observed in English, Spanish, and German, and that it will be pathetic compared to Tolkein's work, but by doing this, I find that the culture is growing with the language. For example, the word for "neighbor" and "brother" are the same; the only difference is that, when addressing a sibling, the speaker will add a suffix that implies familiarity. I love this, because it suggests the closeness of the community, and even if never use the words "neighbor" or "brother" I could still reference this closeness through other actions, words.

Say, I decided to start writing the first part tonight, I could do it. In fact, I might start as soon as I get off here. For now, I have a good grasp of the characters; I would not feel intimidated. And maybe I'll find, as I get further in, I'll be more comfortable than I anticipated. I guess I'll never know unless I try.

Thanks again, everyone.

My advice to add to this thread is to "sprinkle" your world throughout the story, so that the reader isn't overwhelmed too quickly! Introduce it through the action and by character observance.

It's disheartening to pick up a Fantasy/Sci-fi novel and see giant walls of text listing races, treaties, architectural intricacies, etc.

Good luck!

jeffo20 · Jan 13, 2013

Jadeyn M said:
I'm more worried that perhaps I'm not mature enough to write the characters realistically

AT what point would you be mature enough? Two years? Three? Five? If you let it go until you're 'mature enough' you might find yourself right back here in fifteen or twenty years' time saying, "I can't write my characters as sixteen-year-olds because I can't relate to them anymore!"

Just start. You might surprise yourself at what you can relate to.

Manuel Royal · Jan 13, 2013

Violeta said:
Definition of overwhelm: you don't do ANYTHING because you can't do EVERYTHING. (Matthew Hussey).

I know that feeling, all right. Paralyzing.

Jadeyn, I'm 32 years older than you, and making a second try at my first novel. (Having almost but not quite completed one in my teens.) I'm apprehensive about it, and I think that's normal.

But -- what I wouldn't give to be 20 again. Don't wait to be "more mature". If you think you're not matured as a writer, the only way to get there is to write. Don't be paralyzed with self-doubt for several decades like I was; don't be afraid of making mistakes. (Because you will. In fact, it'll be remarkable if your first big project doesn't come out as kind of a mess, at least in first draft.)

This is a great time in your development, both as a person and as a writer. You've got so much interesting stuff ahead of you, if you're bold enough to try doing things you're not sure you can do. Best of luck.

Jadeyn M · Jan 13, 2013

Gynn, I know what you mean. Incidentally, my story isn't science-fiction or fantasy. The geography and cultures are different, but everything else is normal. I didn't want a whole new world; I wanted something that, when viewed closely, looks like a hidden part of our own world...or even a reflection of our world through several mirrors. So while everything might be complex in my head, I don't mean it to be too much on paper. It needs to be familiar.

"Sprinkle" is not the way I would put it, but I agree totally. I see it more as a long layer of rock, covered with dirt and grass and the reader walking on top. The...density of the world is always there beneath the reader, even if he is unaware of it, and once in a while the rock breaks the surface, and the reader notices something completely unfamiliar or invented. And with the language -- it's not featured in the story as frequently, but one character works as an interpreter for a few years, during which it would be easy for the language to be inserted and explained naturally within the text (because others are learning or something is being translated). I hope it's not too much to digest.

Gynn · Jan 13, 2013

Jadeyn M said:
Gynn, I know what you mean. Incidentally, my story isn't science-fiction or fantasy. The geography and cultures are different, but everything else is normal. I didn't want a whole new world; I wanted something that, when viewed closely, looks like a hidden part of our own world...or even a reflection of our world through several mirrors. So while everything might be complex in my head, I don't mean it to be too much on paper. It needs to be familiar.

"Sprinkle" is not the way I would put it, but I agree totally. I see it more as a long layer of rock, covered with dirt and grass and the reader walking on top. The...density of the world is always there beneath the reader, even if he is unaware of it, and once in a while the rock breaks the surface, and the reader notices something completely unfamiliar or invented. And with the language -- it's not featured in the story as frequently, but one character works as an interpreter for a few years, during which it would be easy for the language to be inserted and explained naturally within the text (because others are learning or something is being translated). I hope it's not too much to digest.

I like the sound of that!

Putputt · Jan 14, 2013

Yes, I got verrrry intimidated writing my current WIP because it's so different from anything I've ever written. I think it's great that you're planning your book with such great care, but at some point, try just writing the first chapter or something. Once you get started, you'll have a better feel for the story and what it needs. When that evil inner voice starts telling you it's too hard, it's too complex blah blah blah, cover your ears, go "LALALALA" and keep writing.

Just listen to Dory, my life guru.

Becky Black · Jan 14, 2013

Definitely normal to be anxious about any big project. But don't let that anxiety stop you writing. It stopped me for, ooh, roughly 25 years. And by the time I started writing it wasn't the two big projects I'd had going around in my head for years.

So do it. Do your research and planning and world building, but don't do them forever. Give yourself a date you will start actually writing the thing, which will motivate you to get all that planning work done for then, rather than letting it go on indefinitely.

And of course, once you start writing then your planning and worldbuilding will have to be continually updated to keep up with how the story actually goes once it's prose and not an outline. And new things to research will pop up as you go. All of that is normal. You think Terry Pratchett knew everything about the Discworld when he wrote the first in the series?

So don't think you have to "finish" the planning work before you start. That's a continual process!

_Sian_ · Jan 14, 2013

Huh. I got to my third chapter (I'm a pantser, so no planning), had something happen that extreamly complicated my fantasy world, and went "Oh craaaaaaaaaaaaaap."

I'm just going to have to keep slogging through it, I think.

allmywires · Jan 14, 2013

Jadeyn, I'm also 20, and I know what you mean about not feeling 'mature' enough -- god knows I look back on stuff I wrote 2 or 3 years ago and think, 'what even was I thinking?' But you'll never learn if you don't just write the damn thing. I have a big fantasy project brewing in my brain at the moment - it's only 15k words at the moment, but I'm taking it slow. The first version I wrote of it was 100k of rubbish, utter crap, but I took it as a learning curve. Now I know my world better, I know my characters and most of all I finally have a plot that I think works. But yes, it's so complex it sometimes scares me a bit, but I always have other, less complex things on the side.

Plus, whenever I'm bored on the bus I do a little worldbuilding in my head, which is always a welcome distraction!

My advice is don't rush but paradoxically, don't not start out of worry you're not ready. Go slow and steady! Good luck with it

A Long December · Jan 14, 2013

Hi Jadeyn,

The only type of 'maturity' that matters is your writing maturity. It's scary jumping into something like this, but there's only one way to get better at writing - and that's to write it.

I'm feeling something similar at the moment; my 2nd novel's nothing like my first and I'm afraid I'll screw it up if I get it wrong, but I also know that a first draft is just that - a first go, so I can always come back to it.

At the very least, you should write what you think you should write; you can always leave it for some time while you work on something else, improve your writing and mature, and then come back to it.

Jadeyn M · Jan 14, 2013

jeffo20 said:
AT what point would you be mature enough? Two years? Three? Five? If you let it go until you're 'mature enough' you might find yourself right back here in fifteen or twenty years' time saying, "I can't write my characters as sixteen-year-olds because I can't relate to them anymore!"

Just start. You might surprise yourself at what you can relate to.

That's a good point, and not something I really thought about. I suppose, when writing for characters who are younger than you, you at least have experienced at one point in your life what it is like to be that age and/or in that situation. Also, adults who have children of their own or work around children would be able to write younger characters with more ease. It's slightly different when you are trying to write for characters who are significantly older than you. I can still model off people I know personally, and even fictional characters, but everything based off observation and theory, not experience.

My hope is that, as I write and the characters gather more experiences, their growth will be very natural and I should follow it, like feeling my way through a dark tunnel which widens and widens. I may not see everything, but I will have (in a secondhand sort of way) experienced the story alongside my characters. Right now it seems daunting to write about forty-year-old men...but I imagine after I have written about thse characters in their teens, then their twenties, then their thirties, it will be much easier.

And it's absolutely true; I'll never know until I try. Which is why I decided what the hell, just go for it. The first part is the most concrete -- the only complete timeline. I have no real reason NOT to work on it.

Thanks everyone for your advice, your input. :Hug2:

You've been tremendously helpful.

dkamin · Jan 14, 2013

allmywires said:
Jadeyn, I'm also 20, and I know what you mean about not feeling 'mature' enough -- god knows I look back on stuff I wrote 2 or 3 years ago and think, 'what even was I thinking?' But you'll never learn if you don't just write the damn thing. I have a big fantasy project brewing in my brain at the moment - it's only 15k words at the moment, but I'm taking it slow. The first version I wrote of it was 100k of rubbish, utter crap, but I took it as a learning curve. Now I know my world better, I know my characters and most of all I finally have a plot that I think works. But yes, it's so complex it sometimes scares me a bit, but I always have other, less complex things on the side.

Plus, whenever I'm bored on the bus I do a little worldbuilding in my head, which is always a welcome distraction!

My advice is don't rush but paradoxically, don't not start out of worry you're not ready. Go slow and steady! Good luck with it

I get the same feeling when I look back at things I have written. You'll realize the best way to go about it is to just write it. In a few years, you might look back and think it is a steaming load, but if that time ever comes (and you are still in love with the book), then you have the chance to rewrite it (something I am doing now).

Wilde_at_heart · Jan 14, 2013

WillSauger said:
Fuck it, write it.

Whenever I sit here going, "Oh no, I don't think I can write this." I slap myself and get to writing. "Fuck it, do it," see what happens.

.... It might be too complex because it might be too confusing. ...

This is great advice. I'll only add that I wouldn't worry about maturity vs writing older characters. As the story progresses and your characters find their way along their arcs, any 'maturing' they do will probably develop anyway.

Trust me, just because people age doesn't mean they mature ;D

Mr Flibble · Jan 14, 2013

I posted this in another thread, and thought it might be better here

For the OP, you have one timeline complete. There is nothing to say you can't noodle the other timelines in your head as you bash out the first scene of the one that IS complete. (I quite often brainstorm projects I will write, while I am writing this project.)

The thing is this: Whatever advice anyone here gives, it is up to you to decide what works for you. Because there are as many different ways to write as there are writer - perhaps more, because not every book works the same way.

If you feel apprehensive, then perhaps writing a scene or two will help to settle you in. Perhaps you'll find what crops up makes the otehr timelines deeper. Maybe not. Then again, maybe you're the kind of writer who needs it all down first and it won't work.That's cool. But you won't know that until you try. Try everything, until you find what works for you

cmi0616 · Jan 14, 2013

Violeta said:
As with everything big and overwhelming in life, take it one step at a time.

Definition of overwhelm: you don't do ANYTHING because you can't do EVERYTHING. (Matthew Hussey).

Start small (and I don't mean write all those other short stories you mentioned -because if
you have time to write them down, then my guess is you have time to write your big story, too).
Just start writing. Start with the first part, since that's the beginning.

It's all about momentum. Once you get into the routine of writing, the apprehension disappears.

I can't imagine my own words would be much better than this. Good advice, and well-put.

jaksen · Jan 15, 2013

And don't over-research because (sometimes) you can get into the research so deeply your feelings of being overwhelmed will magnify, like 100X. At the very least, write some of your story. Try writing one of the shorter, smaller or more manageable 'events.' Say a dialogue between two people, or a short description. Or some narration. This will, at the very least, give you a sort of foothold or anchor into the tale itself.

Overthinking can be as big an obstacle to writing as overplanning. But every scene you write is one step forward in the goal of completing that book, which I assume, is a goal you have.

Michael Parks · Jan 17, 2013

You'll either "just write it", or you'll take a measured approach.

If you choose the measured approach, I recommend using yWriter5 (free). Construct your world in that... it may help solidify your world, characters, plots, etc, in a way that when you finally start to write, it will all be there - you just do the writing, not the engineering.

If you just write it, beware. Complex stories require much extra care and time. Ten years ago I was in your exact shoes and "just wrote it". I just finished it last month.

My advice: write a basic story for yourself first. One main character, a few minor characters, and an Antagonist. Throw in the main character's goal and the main conflict. Give him a Major Weakness and his Greatest Strength. Give the Antagonist a really good reason to be bad/against the main character and make it something we can sympathize with (at some level - even if it's as simple as revenge). Build your world as you like and make it feel real. Know your ending, if not also how it comes about. Then write it - cap it at 50k-80k words. Remember, simple.

Then polish the heck out of it and give it to a beta reader or three. The idea is to do your learning/crafting on something that you can go back and "fix" and polish without it taking half a year. You will be proud of that story and fond of it for what it teaches you about writing.

And remember every day to enjoy the process of learning to write as much as the thought of becoming a writer. Being able to build worlds that readers want to spend time in is a great honor and a goal to be aspired to.

Is it normal to feel apprehensive about approaching complex stories?

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