Chel
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2010
- Messages
- 368
I started writing a reply to this yesterday, but then I felt I didn't have much to add when so many experienced people had already replied. But, as you can see, I changed my mind.
Montero already gave the advice to put the story aside for a time and then read it with new eyes. I can only second this (and third, and fourth, if needed). A week or so ago I read something I wrote in November, and thought was, well, if not completely hopeless, then at least quite bad.
I knew I had 30k words to read, and I more or less remembered where I had stopped writing, but I actually managed to get so immersed in my own writing that I was both surprised and disappointed when I came to the end of it.
That felt as strange as when I re-read another story of mine after not having touched it for months. I had forgotten so much that I surprised myself with a plot twist in a sideplot. You would think when you've poured your heart and soul into writing something, you'd at least remember it yourself! But no.
Are you sure it's as bad as it feels to you right now? Or does it only feel that way because it was a struggle to write it? Writing IS difficult. You want your readers to see and feel what you see and feel in your mind's eye, and if it isn't perfectly spot on, it's not good enough?
That's what it's like for me sometimes. Not all the time, though, or I wouldn't still be writing. Sometimes - very rarely - I seem to be able to bypass my consciousness and channel words onto the page in some kind of near-trance.
Another thought that came to me when I considered (for the second time) to, if nothing else, commiserate a bit with you, A. Fare Wells, was this:
Are our role-models, the books we love to read, the authors we wish we could write as, always that good?
I personally love Guy Gavriel Kay and his poetic style of prose. But now that you made me think about it, I started suspecting that he doesn't write that way all the time. Because, if he did, I wouldn't have to pause and re-read the passages that stand out. So now that I really think about it, most of his writing must be more "normal" - words after words that tell a story. (I'll be sure to check if that theory is correct. It's been a couple of months since I read one of his books, so I might be wrong.)
Finally, I wanted to share a couple of things that help me when I start thinking this writing lark is just some silly dream I have. It's not strictly about prose, mind you.
One is to follow some authors you like on Twitter and to read their blogs. These famous authors have bad days as well, and some of them are very open and honest about it. I don't know why I find it encouraging that it doesn't necessarily get any easier!
The other thing that helps me is to remind myself that only I can tell the story that is in my mind. Even if the end result may never be read by anyone else than my closest friends and family, it may still deserve to be written. If for no other reason than my own peace of mind.
Montero already gave the advice to put the story aside for a time and then read it with new eyes. I can only second this (and third, and fourth, if needed). A week or so ago I read something I wrote in November, and thought was, well, if not completely hopeless, then at least quite bad.
I knew I had 30k words to read, and I more or less remembered where I had stopped writing, but I actually managed to get so immersed in my own writing that I was both surprised and disappointed when I came to the end of it.
That felt as strange as when I re-read another story of mine after not having touched it for months. I had forgotten so much that I surprised myself with a plot twist in a sideplot. You would think when you've poured your heart and soul into writing something, you'd at least remember it yourself! But no.
Are you sure it's as bad as it feels to you right now? Or does it only feel that way because it was a struggle to write it? Writing IS difficult. You want your readers to see and feel what you see and feel in your mind's eye, and if it isn't perfectly spot on, it's not good enough?
That's what it's like for me sometimes. Not all the time, though, or I wouldn't still be writing. Sometimes - very rarely - I seem to be able to bypass my consciousness and channel words onto the page in some kind of near-trance.
Another thought that came to me when I considered (for the second time) to, if nothing else, commiserate a bit with you, A. Fare Wells, was this:
Are our role-models, the books we love to read, the authors we wish we could write as, always that good?
I personally love Guy Gavriel Kay and his poetic style of prose. But now that you made me think about it, I started suspecting that he doesn't write that way all the time. Because, if he did, I wouldn't have to pause and re-read the passages that stand out. So now that I really think about it, most of his writing must be more "normal" - words after words that tell a story. (I'll be sure to check if that theory is correct. It's been a couple of months since I read one of his books, so I might be wrong.)
Finally, I wanted to share a couple of things that help me when I start thinking this writing lark is just some silly dream I have. It's not strictly about prose, mind you.
One is to follow some authors you like on Twitter and to read their blogs. These famous authors have bad days as well, and some of them are very open and honest about it. I don't know why I find it encouraging that it doesn't necessarily get any easier!
The other thing that helps me is to remind myself that only I can tell the story that is in my mind. Even if the end result may never be read by anyone else than my closest friends and family, it may still deserve to be written. If for no other reason than my own peace of mind.
