Hardest part about writing for you authors?

[SuperWriter]

For me without a doubt, it's forcing myself to write every day. What about you guys?

 

[SimonDoom]

Yep. The discipline. I'm constantly coming up with ideas that I think are the best thing ever. But my actual writing mood changes constantly. Sometimes it comes easy, often it doesn't. I can go long stretches of being unproductive because of the failure to discipline myself to just write. I wait for inspiration, but sometimes inspiration takes a long time to come around.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Aside from finding the time?

Pushing 'Submit', 'cause I know it's not perfect yet. Won't be tomorrow or next week or 10 years from now, either, but it still isn't right now.

 

[LoquiSordidaAdMe]

Aside from finding the time?

Pushing 'Submit', 'cause I know it's not perfect yet. Won't be tomorrow or next week or 10 years from now, either, but it still isn't right now.

Yep, that's me too. Every time I read something I've written, I see something I want to change.

 

[Voboy]

Nope. I don’t write for a living, least of all on Lit. No such thing as “forcing” myself.

I love to write, and I want to keep on loving it. So I do it for enjoyment, which means I do it when I’m inspired. It also means I can make sure it’s done before I hit submit. No such thing as a deadline. No changes, no edits, no regrets, typos be damned.

My hardest part? Realizing there are some stories, even finished ones, that might be quite good... but just ain’t right. Those stay on my hard drive.

 

[soul71]

Dialog. Definitely the dialog. Plots, character background etc etc are easy to me. It's the subtle nuances of the way each character's manner of speaking needs to be different.

 

[TxRad]

Before I retired, it was hard to find the time. Now that I am retired, it's easy. Well, setting aside three hours in the morning to write is easy. I get my morning stuff done, and carry my coffee into the office area. This is usually 5-6 in the morning. No TV, no radio, nice and quiet. Perfect for writing.

I usually work on my young adult novel but some mornings my Lit stuff calls to me. In either case, I try to do at least 3k words every morning. I usually add another 2-3k in the afternoon or evening. It comes natural after a while. Some of the time is ate up with research and some by running the coming events through my head. That sometimes leads to an impromptu nap.

You just need to get the habit established. If one thing you are writing isn't working, move over to something else. A minimum of three hours a day, at least five days a week. A young adult novel is around 50k words so you do the math on how long it takes to knock one out.

I did a ten book series last year in around 13 months. That includes wrestling with my editor and other joys of publication.

 

[lovecraft68]

These days its balancing writing smut and writing my more serious erotic horror novels I put into print.

The issue is mind set. Smut is fun, my other books are very dark so sometimes when I've been into it for awhile its hard to lighten up and get down and dirty.

I'm staring down the barrel of a deadline to get the latest done and to the editor to have it in print for three cons between Oct-Dec....and of course the mind is full of smutty plot bunnies.

 

[Carnevil9]

The hardest part for me is getting bored with a story. When I'm still developing it, it's fun. Once I have all the details ironed out in my head and then in an outline, I'm left with the tedious task of writing it all out. And since it isn't going to pay my rent or anything, it's hard to push through that boredom to finish the writing. That's why I have dozens of half-written stories on my hard drive!

 

[KeithD]

Keeping up with the ideas dropping on top of me.

 

[Kantarii]

Saying good bye to the all the wonderful characters I created, developed, and got emotionally attached to by the time the storyline is complete. Sure, I can continue on, but other ideas for different characters enter my thoughts, longing for the same desire to live out their own adventures. Letting go and embracing something new is the hardest for meKant

 

[lovecraft68]

Saying good bye to the all the wonderful characters I created, developed, and got emotionally attached to by the time the storyline is complete. Sure, I can continue on, but other ideas for different characters enter my thoughts, longing for the same desire to live out their own adventures. Letting go and embracing something new is the hardest for meKant

Its never goodbye, they'll always have a place in your head and heart. They're just retired now.

 

[ChloeTzang]

The hardest part? Staying focused on one story until it's done! I keep getting side-tracked by the other ones or by ideas popping into my head and I end up writing about four times as much as I should while I'm working on one story - if I just stayed focused, I'd get each one done so much faster!

I better eat more fish oil!

 

[ElectricBlue]

Finding time amongst the other things that take time and demand time. It's a juggle. It's why I never give myself deadlines.

 

[Sara2000Z]

Publishing it - in whatever form that takes. I write (totally different stuff) for work too, so sometimes it's the agony of appending the word 'FINAL' to the document before sending it to the printers. For here, it's that hold-my-breath-tight, scrunch-my-eyes-up moment of pressing the 'Submit' button, not least because that word in itself seems rather full of meaning to me (is that just me, though?). Which is really about the fear of what people will think when they start to read what I've written. My head is full of scenarios where readers are like 'Who the fuck is this idiot who thinks she can write/has things to say/thinks she knows anything at all???' Professionally I've had hot vitriol poured on my head from on high by colleagues and members of the public alike for what I've written - sometimes anyway. Here (the first time I've ever shared anything fictional I've written since I was at school) I've been astonished at how kind (most of) the comments and messages have been.
And also - like for others here - putting my characters out there into the big world. It's painful, because they are real for me, and I can't bear the thought of any harm coming to them out there. Hm.

 

[_Lynn_]

Nope. I don’t write for a living, least of all on Lit. No such thing as “forcing” myself.

I love to write, and I want to keep on loving it. So I do it for enjoyment, which means I do it when I’m inspired. It also means I can make sure it’s done before I hit submit. No such thing as a deadline. No changes, no edits, no regrets, typos be damned.

My hardest part? Realizing there are some stories, even finished ones, that might be quite good... but just ain’t right. Those stay on my hard drive.

I agree. Writing isn't something I do to meet a deadline. I do it because I enjoy creating the stories. If inspiration hits, I sit at the desk and let the words flow. If not, I find something else to do.

 

[SuperWriter]

Before I retired, it was hard to find the time. Now that I am retired, it's easy. Well, setting aside three hours in the morning to write is easy. I get my morning stuff done, and carry my coffee into the office area. This is usually 5-6 in the morning. No TV, no radio, nice and quiet. Perfect for writing.

I usually work on my young adult novel but some mornings my Lit stuff calls to me. In either case, I try to do at least 3k words every morning. I usually add another 2-3k in the afternoon or evening. It comes natural after a while. Some of the time is ate up with research and some by running the coming events through my head. That sometimes leads to an impromptu nap.

You just need to get the habit established. If one thing you are writing isn't working, move over to something else. A minimum of three hours a day, at least five days a week. A young adult novel is around 50k words so you do the math on how long it takes to knock one out.

I did a ten book series last year in around 13 months. That includes wrestling with my editor and other joys of publication.

Establishing a routine sounds like a very good idea!

The hardest part for me is getting bored with a story. When I'm still developing it, it's fun. Once I have all the details ironed out in my head and then in an outline, I'm left with the tedious task of writing it all out. And since it isn't going to pay my rent or anything, it's hard to push through that boredom to finish the writing. That's why I have dozens of half-written stories on my hard drive!

I totally get like this too, but the feeling you get once it's done is so worth it.

The hardest part? Staying focused on one story until it's done! I keep getting side-tracked by the other ones or by ideas popping into my head and I end up writing about four times as much as I should while I'm working on one story - if I just stayed focused, I'd get each one done so much faster!

I better eat more fish oil!

Don't fall for the trap! Much harder to return to an old story because you forget so many details

 

[TheeGoatPig]

I have to be turned on to write erotica. I have to find that balance of inspiration and being turned on, but not climaxing.

It's difficult

 

[Blind_Justice]

Ironically, it's the sex scenes. It's not that I don't have the images in my mind, but putting them into words to match said images is tough for me. Not an issue when I write fight scenes or other descriptive text, but I lack that gushiness which transforms a mechanical motion into somethibg worth getting hard (or wet) about.

 

[FaeLissa]

Taking the time to make words out of thoughts.

Y'all know I babbles in a odd way at times. I does it cause it's faster. I can make a post here in five minutes. If I tries to make it readable or even tolerable, which is needed for a story, takes much longer. A short story like "Pragmatic" - 890 words - taked me about 6 hours of actual writing time, not including editing over and over again, just making a readable document. (thinking times doesn't count, right?)

Imagine trying to read a story I writed the way I talks.
I'd want to hit me.

(timed this post - taked me seven minutes and I knowed awready what I wanted to say. Words is hard.)

 

[Zodia195]

Definitely on how much I write. I did discover a link between how much I write and how often I write too. I find that I am able to work on a story faster when I get to an exciting major plot point I get to or when I finish a chapter. This applies to another thing I have a hard time with at times, connecting major plot points so there are no loose ends in the end. Even though coming up with a Story outline prior to writing helps, there's always those little things that still pop up.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Hardest part?

Trying to sort out which story to start, to continue working on, to put aside for another day, to even do anything related to writing.

Right now I have six pieces of work going on at the same time...which one will I work on today? *shrugs shoulders*

 

[BiscuitHammer]

Finding uninterrupted time where I also happen to be in the mood to write. When I'm feeling prolific and inspired, I can knock out 30,000 words in a day, left to my own devices. there are other days when I'm lucky to put out 30 words because there's so much happening or going on inside my noggin.

There's endless quotes from authors of days gone by, saying that 'writing is torture', and that 'you just have to keep chipping away, no matter what', and all that goodly stuff. Writing is like blasting words out of rock with firecrackers. I'm assuming that song-writers, music-writers go through this Hell as well. My friends who are so-gifted certain;y make it seem so.

Buuuuut for my two cents, it's finding quality time to actually write, and then being in the headspace for it. I'm only a part-time hermit, after all.

 

[KenNicottii]

Working through the editing process is the toughest.

I’ve always worked with volunteer editors. Of course it’s very difficult to find reliable VEs. Even when you think you’ve gotten in the groove with one, they can eventually get burned out or real life issues can intervene (or maybe they don’t want to work with me anymore). Since I find myself writing novella length stories, the quest can be even more challenging.

I’m now doing the final proofing of a manuscript I plan to submit this week. To address the length issue (26K words, 7 Lit pages), I split the story at a natural break and had two VEs work on separate parts. These were both VEs whom I was working with for the first time. (They were both given a chance to take a quick look at what the other editor worked on before finalizing the m/s.)

As was the case with all my prior Lit submissions, I got back their first pass edits and opened up my ‘perfect’ m/s that maybe has a typo or two they found, but instead I saw there were a lot of corrections, rewrites, and comments—way more than I expected. After skimming through their edits and closing the file, that’s when I find the writing process sinks into an unpleasant grind. But I know a much better story will ultimately come out the other end.

It often takes me several days before I’m able to get the motivation and mindset to tackle the “accept / reject / rewrite” chore. Thus begins the tricky task of trying to see the flaws through their eyes, or trying to strike a diplomatic balance so that they won’t be offended when I pass on some of their fixes. This is especially true when working with a new VE. I never forget that the VEs are doing a lot of tedious work for free, and using the ‘author’s voice’ override too often can make a VE wonder why they took on the project in the first place.

However, when I compare what I originally sent out for edit to the finished product, there were a lot of improvements. This has been the case for all the stories I’ve submitted. I never want to submit a finished story without the help of an editor.

 

[Jada59]

I don't write every day. Only when I feel like it or have to. Probably the hardest part is thinking of different words with the same meaning. Sometimes I'll write a few paragraphs and realize that I used the exact same word several times.