The Thrill Of It?

[PrincessErin]

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[maggot420]

You are not alone.

 

[amicus]

There is nothing better than getting a story written, edited and gone!

Even worse when you are 150,000 words each into three different novels and your muse is out watering the turnips...sighs...

welcome to the torture chamber, all writers are self abusers!


Amicus

 

[damppanties]

See his is why I cannot work beyond maybe two 'edits' of a story. I simply do not compute fiddling with it indefinitely and then putting it away and getting it back out and all that. Maybe I am just too impatient a person. But maybe its just the way I write and my limitations.

ps. This is also the reason why I thinks editors are next to Gods.

 

[TheeGoatPig]

All of the stories I have released are first drafts, and it shows.

 

[PrincessErin]

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[PrincessErin]

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[_Lynn_]

I blame the way I write on my OCD. There never is a 'first draft' that I go back and do a big fix on. If I'm not happy with a section, that's where I stay until I am. It's almost impossible for me to just let it be until later. I'll change sentences/phrases while I'm writing. If there's a typo, I stop and correct it right away. A sentence with a passive voice gets rearranged before I go on. Darn OCD anyway.

 

[amicus]

Oh, no, not at all! You must edit! and edit and edit and edit....but thank you for your comment; a series of medical problems over the past year have interrupted everything and I hope to regain the spirit soon....thanks again...

amicus...

 

[JamesSD]

I just started writing a new story today. I haven't written anything new in a few weeks. I love it. It's so enjoyable for me to sit down and create these characters and scenes.

So what I realized is that the joy of writing comes from the first draft and only that. Afterward it's tedious and boring.

Am I the only writer who feels that way? Is it bad that the only enjoyment I get is from writing and the next stages are so tedious that I'd rather pretend they don't exist?

This isn't unusual at all.

Really, if you don't want to publish and dont' care as much about sharing your work with others, there's nothing wrong with just doing this kind of writing. It's sort of like fantasizing, but recording your thoughts.

 

[PrincessErin]

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[PrincessErin]

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[_Lynn_]

It depends on the story. If I have it straight in my head I can stop and fix things but if I'm not sure how things are going to go I have to write until it's done.

The only time I just write is for NaNo, and I still fix things even then. As for having a story straight in my head, that doesn't happen. I let the characters tell me where it's going next, so I often don't know until I'm typing a specific scene what they'll do.

 

[DeeZire]

I've been getting frustrated at how I'm not improving with my writing.

I think improving at our writing only happens in the second draft. It is then when we must assess what we've written. Like Dr M(?) posted recently, the mechanics of writing involves a different part of the brain than allowing the creative flow to escape unfettered.

Speaking for myself, I have probably 20 stories written, ready to be posted, but I can't get through a single one of them without stopping to fix things. I'm also constantly second guessing myself, thinking about the "show don't tell" mantra, the repetitive dialogue slug dilemma, all the things we read about in the how-to books and the writerly threads in the other forums.

In this frame of mind, it's hard to start something new. It's like, what's the point? If I start a new story, I'll just end up in the ever-expanding edit pile. Perhaps the Earth Day contest will break the log jam. I mean, looking at it realistically, will it really matter if what I post is a little ragged? Will I lose my writing contract? Will my fan (s?) be disappointed?

I guess we all set our own bar. The hard part is living with it.

 

[mandy8]

welcome to the torture chamber, all writers are self abusers!


Amicus

Have truer words ever been spoken? Wow... I HATE editing anything I've ever written (well, I've never written anything for here, but college papers and things of the such count, right?). I always convince myself that the whole thing sucks, and needs to be scrapped. I never like the wording of AT LEAST once sentence per paragraph.... suffice it to say, it's an absolute mess.

Nicely said.

 

[Jack_Samuel]

Yeah you are definitely not alone. Editing is hard

But i think part of becoming a better writer is building up the mental strength to do the first or even second edit.

 

[damppanties]

I think improving at our writing only happens in the second draft. It is then when we must assess what we've written. Like Dr M(?) posted recently, the mechanics of writing involves a different part of the brain than allowing the creative flow to escape unfettered.

Speaking for myself, I have probably 20 stories written, ready to be posted, but I can't get through a single one of them without stopping to fix things. I'm also constantly second guessing myself, thinking about the "show don't tell" mantra, the repetitive dialogue slug dilemma, all the things we read about in the how-to books and the writerly threads in the other forums.

In this frame of mind, it's hard to start something new. It's like, what's the point? If I start a new story, I'll just end up in the ever-expanding edit pile. Perhaps the Earth Day contest will break the log jam. I mean, looking at it realistically, will it really matter if what I post is a little ragged? Will I lose my writing contract? Will my fan (s?) be disappointed?

I guess we all set our own bar. The hard part is living with it.

I don't mean to pick on you but your post is the one that started me thinking on what I am about to say, which is why I am quoting you.

Why is it the majority opinion that the first draft cannot be good? I know a lot of authors who just write a first draft with cursory edits whereas the majority of people believe that 'good' writing can only be achieved with exhaustive edits. Now, I'm not saying that I am a 'good' writer but I can think of at least one AH writer, Liar, who is very good and the way I know it, he doesn't edit much. He can correct me if I'm wrong, but my point is that the mainstream opinion about writing good stuff is that, it needs to go through some hazing phase before it can be good enough to be put out there. Always.

Is the kind of author (the one whose first drafts are the ones posted) very rare?

 

[PrincessErin]

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[Safe_Bet]

I blame the way I write on my OCD. There never is a 'first draft' that I go back and do a big fix on. If I'm not happy with a section, that's where I stay until I am. It's almost impossible for me to just let it be until later. I'll change sentences/phrases while I'm writing. If there's a typo, I stop and correct it right away. A sentence with a passive voice gets rearranged before I go on. Darn OCD anyway.

Yeah, that's cuz even when you are "OCD'ing" your work, you knock out 8K - 10K words per day. I can't even keep up with you when I "million monkey" type!

BTW, what "passive voice"??????

 

[_Lynn_]

Yeah, that's cuz even when you are "OCD'ing" your work, you knock out 8K - 10K words per day. I can't even keep up with you when I "million monkey" type!

BTW, what "passive voice"??????

Only for NaNo do I knock out that many.

Passive voice here

or here for a couple places to look.

 

[Safe_Bet]

Passive voice here

or here for a couple places to look.

Whatever! That's what an editor is for!

 

[SweetPrettyAss]

Maybe I shoud get an editor It might make me write more.

 

[PrincessErin]

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[_Lynn_]

Whatever! That's what an editor is for!

It is?

 

[Boxlicker101]

That's an interesting question and I do know of a few very good writers who admit they don't have an editor. They just proofread their stories, post them, and they are amazing.

I guess the issue is that when you read a story you either know that it's a good story or it's not. If it's not it is because it is not edited properly.

Of course my frustration comes from the fact that I do try to edit and the result still looks like it needs editing.

I don't know if you would call me a good writer or not, but that is much the way I write. I don't use an editor. I finish the first draft and, the next day or two, I proof read and make corrections of typos, etc. and change some wording. Rarely do I make substantive changes. At the same time, as I write, I am constantly going over what I have said, so I edit as I go.