Your biggest writing weakness?

[AchtungNight]

More than what I said before, it’s pressure and time. And the need for feedback, of which I will never have enough.

 

[DarkWhispers2U]

I have many weaknesses. My biggest, I think, is the total lack of life experience. I don't want to write what I know because my life is simple, boring. i want to write to escape my life.

 

[Cagivagurl]

Well
I do struggle with decisions....
Should I use: To.
Or: Too.
Or even: Two.
Or if I'm really panicked: 2.
I know, it's easy for some.

Cagivagurl

 

[SimonDoom]

I have many weaknesses. My biggest, I think, is the total lack of life experience. I don't want to write what I know because my life is simple, boring. i want to write to escape my life.

It doesn't have to be a weakness. JRR Tolkien never fought a balrog, and he never met an orc. But it didn't stop him from writing about them.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

My biggest weakness is keeping the narrative in past tense. I do okay until I get to the dialog, which can be in present (or even future) tense, so when I switch back to the narrative, I sometimes forget to switch back to past tense. My worst bad habit is using "it's" which is a contraction of "it is" or "that's" which is a contraction of "that is" in the narrative when I should be using "it was" or "that was."

I am getting better but some of my earlier stories make me cringe.

 

[alohadave]

My worst bad habit is using "it's" which is a contraction of "it is" or "that's" which is a contraction of "that is" in the narrative when I should be using "it was" or "that was."

Why is that a bad habit? Contractions are a normal part of English.

 

[alohadave]

Trying to get past the overuse of “I did” this or that. A phrase I see a lot in stories. I kind of drives me nuts… the repeated use of “I did” this or that.

Like:

I spread her legs and settled down between them. I kissed her naval then along the insides of her thighs, enjoying her squirming a little at my touch. I licked her pussy lips lightly, feeling the heat of her arousal on my face. I used my thumb and flicked her clit, and she sucked in her breath sharply. I looked at her and grinned, then licked up her slit long and slow this time.

Instead:

Gently spreading her legs and settling down between them my tongue probed her naval then along the insides of her thighs, enjoying her squirming at the light touch. Licking her pussy lips gently, feeling the heat of her arousal on my face my thumb flicked her clit. She sucked in her breath sharply. With a quick look, her grin told me to keep going, as the tip of my tongue slid up her open slit long and slow this time.

Are you me? Because it's like I'm reading my own writing.

 

[32aa]

Why is that a bad habit? Contractions are a normal part of English.

It's also the way most people normally talk in everyday conversations.

 

[R. Richard]

My biggest writing weakness is relatively low sales in for pay sites. I have found no practical solution.

 

[lovecraft68]

My biggest writing weakness is relatively low sales in for pay sites. I have found no practical solution.

You need to write in a niche and build a library within it. Milf,. Hot wife, taboo(for smashwords who allows it) dub con....writing different genres and 'tame' genres doesn't work there

 

[BrightShinyGirl]

I have a bad tendency to write characters “starting” or “trying” to do something instead of just having them do it.

I agonize over every “that”.

I use “just” and “all” too much.

I use too many participles.

I can write banter in my sleep, so my characters often bicker for no good reason.

Transitions are hard. I perpetually feel compelled to justify why my characters need to do the next thing instead of just letting them do it.

 

[MillieDynamite]

AADD, Adult Attention Deficit Disorder. That's self-diagnosed. But really, it isn't that. I work on a story, get a new idea, and can't keep my mind on the first story, so I start the second. I end up switching between many stories, and of course, one or two get lost and not finished in a timely manner.

If I posted this before, forgive me, my mind jumps around a lot. Oh, look, look, a pretty butterfly.

 

[billrokra]

AADD, Adult Attention Deficit Disorder. That's self-diagnosed. But really, it isn't that. I work on a story, get a new idea, and can't keep my mind on the first story, so I start the second. I end up switching between many stories, and of course, one or two get lost and not finished in a timely manner.

If I posted this before, forgive me, my mind jumps around a lot. Oh, look, look, a pretty butterfly.

Likewise.

 

[MelissaBaby]

It doesn't have to be a weakness. JRR Tolkien never fought a balrog, and he never met an orc. But it didn't stop him from writing about them.

True, but there was no one who could tell him that he was wrong. No, "I'm a Balrog and you don't don't seem to have any idea about how a Balrog would really react" comments.

It's not uncommon to read erotica and wonder if the writer had ever had an actual conversation with an adult of the opposite sex.

 

[MelissaBaby]

I have a bad tendency to write characters “starting” or “trying” to do something instead of just having them do it.

I agonize over every “that”.

I use “just” and “all” too much.

I use too many participles.

I can write banter in my sleep, so my characters often bicker for no good reason.

Transitions are hard. I perpetually feel compelled to justify why my characters need to do the next thing instead of just letting them do it.

I have to be mindful of that myself. I always find myself editing out a lot of "started to", "began to", "then", "that" etc.

I usually do a word search through my manuscript and ax most of them.

 

[Voboy]

It doesn't have to be a weakness. JRR Tolkien never fought a balrog, and he never met an orc. But it didn't stop him from writing about them.

He later said explicitly that his descriptions of the Dead Marshes and the land before the Morannon were based on his memory of the Somme battlefield. So there's some "lived experience" even in LOTR.

 

[emme8]

I usually do a word search through my manuscript and ax most of them.

Thank you for the suggestion. Now I can relax and just start to write and try to get more story out instead of agonizing over the 'then's.

 

[TadOverdon]

Adverbs. Truly.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

Why is that a bad habit? Contractions are a normal part of English.

I'm sorry I didn't make myself clear. I'm using "it's" (contraction of it is) when I'm supposed to be writing in past tense.

Unless "it's" can also be a contraction for "it was" or "it has"?

Edited to add: after asking the question I decided to look into it and found that "it's" can mean "it has" if followed by a past participal like "been." So it looks like I can use it's while writing in past tense.

 

[emme8]

My weakness is I add too much detail.
I love to add the details or comments that make my characters real. But I overdo the background.

Or my characters meet and have a page of dialogue but nothing happens.

 

[BobbyLaker]

I work on a story, get a new idea, and can't keep my mind on the first story, so I start the second. I end up switching between many stories, and of course, one or two get lost and not finished in a timely manner.

Oh... yes.

 

[theWollstonecraftWoman]

It doesn't have to be a weakness. JRR Tolkien never fought a balrog, and he never met an orc. But it didn't stop him from writing about them.

And how would you know he never fought a balrog or had tea with an orc? Perhaps he did. Perhaps they told him about Middle Earth.

 

[TxRad]

I have two weaknesses. Three finger typing and a mind that runs too fast.

 

[lovecraft68]

I have two weaknesses. Three finger typing and a mind that runs too fast.

I'm slightly more advanced, I use two fingers on each hand. I have good dexterity, and also a lot of strength in my fingers from years of the sandbox exercise(I'm sure you know that one) and hand grips so I have a heavy touch and type like the keys personally offended me, Gone through a few keyboards

 

[theWollstonecraftWoman]

I'm slightly more advanced, I use two fingers on each hand. I have good dexterity, and also a lot of strength in my fingers from years of the sandbox exercise(I'm sure you know that one) and hand grips so I have a heavy touch and type like the keys personally offended me, Gone through a few keyboards

My nasty mind took this a different direction than typing. LOL