I've been staring at this draft so long it's utterly uninteresting to me, help?

[joy_of_cooking]

What do you do when you've lost perspective like this?

I can't tell whether it's interesting any more. To me, it's not. I can barely even stand to look at it any more. The twist is obvious. The sex bores me. The characters seem overwrought. Etc. Because I've been staring at this 100x longer than any reasonable reader.

I gave up and sent it off to my beta readers. Didn't even bother to proofread one last time.

 

[Euphony]

Time away from a particular project is my usual next step.

I'd probably see what my beta readers say (careful not to poison the well by letting on my frustrations.) Sometimes our calibrations are off and others give us a different lens.

Then there's the nuclear option of abandoning it for good. It's an "only pull as a last resort" but last resorts do happen.

Just be honest in your assessment before you do it and, if old yeller needs to end his suffering, do what you must.

 

[Rustyoznail]

Pretty much the same. I left a story sit for a year because it wasn't going anywhere.

I was lucky, and a new angle hit me on the head, which made the story work. Naturally, it was late at night so I had to try and remember.

 

[MrPixel]

I seem to only do that... so far... with scenes. I have a sequel I'm working on right now that I want to get done in time for Nude Day, and the last 1000 words or so are going to see the <delete> key as way overwrought. Characters and the overall plot haven't gotten old yet, so there is hope.

 

[Seadog777]

Put it away and bring it back later.

I'm experiencing the same thing with writing Part 2 of "My Sneaky Wife Jennifer".
I just can't seem to get it figured out.

 

[lustychimera]

Can you exaggerate a characteristic or shift a perspective to make it more interesting character-wise?

My crutch is twisting the story darker or more absurd or both to keep myself interested.

I would say take some time away like everyone else is, but it seems like whenever I do that and come back a week or two later with a fresh set of eyes, my story appears to be even more shit than when I gave up. And if I take too much longer than that, it goes in the never-to-be-completed pile because better ideas will come along before that trashed one seems like a good idea. That just comes down to what kind of a writer you are.

Worst case, power through, get it done, get that good feeling of accomplishment even if you think it's generic and uninspired, and publish it. People like their beats and predictability. I'm definitely that kind of a reader. The feedback might surprise you.

 

[mirafrida]

Personally, when I reach that point, the main thing is just to remain confident in my earlier assessments of the quality of the work, and not lose hope/motivation. If I do that, I can normally focus in on improving particular passages or scenes that I have already judged to be rough, or on doing general technical edit and polish work. Then, once I've spent a while doing that sort of targeted, detailed work, I'm usually ready to step back and reconsider the big picture again.

 

[oneagainst]

I write like hell, get it all done, and then put it into a folder for sometimes months without ever reading it again, pretty much everything I've done to date. That way, you come back to it after forgetting all the little things and get to go through it as a reader would. The story soon either stands up or falls down and you publish or not. But, it's the "cellaring" process that I find necessary - otherwise you don't get that objective perspective

 

[ElectricBlue]

If it's that dead in the water, I'd delete it, on the basis that you can't resurrect a corpse. If the idea has a glimmer of goodness, you'll start again, and hopefully get further next time.

 

[gunhilltrain]

What do you do when you've lost perspective like this?

I can't tell whether it's interesting any more. To me, it's not. I can barely even stand to look at it any more. The twist is obvious. The sex bores me. The characters seem overwrought. Etc. Because I've been staring at this 100x longer than any reasonable reader.

I gave up and sent it off to my beta readers. Didn't even bother to proofread one last time.

I've collected at least ten of these over time, including the first three chapters of a series. Some may be resurrected eventually, others I'm sure have no chance. I never delete them for some reason. From the way you describe it, this story has to go back into the freezer. Your other four submissions have done well. Do you have something else ready to work on?

 

[Djmac1031]

I wouldn't suggest deleting it. There's always a chance you find a way to make it work later.

Get a second opinion from your Beta reader; tell them to be honest about it.

But fresh eyes can often see something we don't.

I struggled with my Nudist story for months. And yes, after awhile, I was sick of reading it.

But I got fresh opinions, fresh eyes, from friends here I trust, and eventually I found a way through it.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I wouldn't suggest deleting it. There's always a chance you find a way to make it work later.

Folk keep saying, "Don't kill your darlings," but I'd be intrigued to know how many actually get resurrected stories out of their stalled starts. I'm inclined to think, not many.

 

[Djmac1031]

Folk keep saying, "Don't kill your darlings," but I'd be intrigued to know how many actually get resurrected stories out of their stalled starts. I'm inclined to think, not many.

The way I see it, it doesn't hurt me at all to keep an unfinished story in my Google Docs.

Even if you never finish it, there might be a section, a scene, a turn of a phrase you can pull from it to use elsewhere.

 

[Emilymcplugger]

What do you do when you've lost perspective like this?

I can't tell whether it's interesting any more. To me, it's not. I can barely even stand to look at it any more. The twist is obvious. The sex bores me. The characters seem overwrought. Etc. Because I've been staring at this 100x longer than any reasonable reader.

I gave up and sent it off to my beta readers. Didn't even bother to proofread one last time.

Yeah. You’re clearly shit and should quit!

(Me waiting for Joy_of_cooking to work out I was being sarcastic )

After all none of us have EVER been through this self-doubt.

(Me, doing the same thing again )

Look, if you feel so miffed about it you have ABSOLUTELY done the right thing handed it over to your proofreader, because you need space away from it. It can get to the point where you feel you’ve not created a narrative but just words on a page because you know how your strings work and so it just feels like…noise, but if you have fans and followers they will probably really enjoy it because they enjoy your style.

My advice, write something short for fun (like the OGG Hero bit) just to step away from the sauce for a bit, and cut yourself some slack.

Have a good day.

 

[NotWise]

I often do lose interest in my stories before they're done. It's just a side effect of reading them over and over. I don't think it has much at all to do with how good the story is.

I've learned at least a little about recognizing when that state is approaching, and I try to stop before it reaches that point, because when that happens I'm way past the point of diminishing returns. A good beta reader will give you a new outlook on the story, and that should help. Otherwise, just set it aside for at least a couple weeks and work on something else.

Getting burnout doesn't mean the story's bad. It probably just means you read it too many times.

 

[oneagainst]

It's a good story. Do something else for a while then come back and do some trimming. It'll work itself out...!

 

[gunhilltrain]

I often do lose interest in my stories before they're done. It's just a side effect of reading them over and over. I don't think it has much at all to do with how good the story is.

I've learned at least a little about recognizing when that state is approaching, and I try to stop before it reaches that point, because when that happens I'm way past the point of diminishing returns. A good beta reader will give you a new outlook on the story, and that should help. Otherwise, just set it aside for at least a couple weeks and work on something else.

Getting burnout doesn't mean the story's bad. It probably just means you read it too many times.

They can tell us for sure, but I got the impression it is something merely beyond reading it too many times. That can happen too, but this seems like something different - true discontent with the story.

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/S...4a6e94e8.__CR0,0,1940,600_PT0_SX970_V1___.jpg

 

[NotWise]

They can tell us for sure, but I got the impression it is something merely beyond reading it too many times. That can happen too, but this seems like something different - true discontent with the story.

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/S...4a6e94e8.__CR0,0,1940,600_PT0_SX970_V1___.jpg

If @joy_of_cooking has read the story too many times, then they probably can't say whether it's good or bad. At any rate, the point of burnout would be the worst time and (mental) place to make that decision.

 

[joy_of_cooking]

Hey everyone, thank you all for your kind words. I'm going to put this one away for a bit. Yes, I do have a few other ideas to play with!

Yeah. You’re clearly shit and should quit!...After all none of us have EVER been through this self-doubt.

They can tell us for sure, but I got the impression it is something merely beyond reading it too many times. That can happen too, but this seems like something different - true discontent with the story.

No, sorry. I'm feeling a bit sheepish now: I was hamming it up a bit, not realizing how poorly the tone would carry over text and how plausible it would be for a new writer to really feel bad about a story. It's a good story, or at least it has a good story in it, and I'll finish it someday when I can stand to look at it again.

 

[joy_of_cooking]

Since it seems like a certain degree of topic drift is acceptable on this forum, any advice for cranking out "plot, what plot?" kind of stories?

I kind of want to write something short and mindless, but every time I try I start thinking about relationships and characters and all that stuff I want to learn how to do.

Where do you get your ideas for "stroke material," if that's the right word? And how do you force yourselves to stick to stroke material?

 

[Emilymcplugger]

Hey everyone, thank you all for your kind words. I'm going to put this one away for a bit. Yes, I do have a few other ideas to play with!



No, sorry. I'm feeling a bit sheepish now: I was hamming it up a bit, not realizing how poorly the tone would carry over text and how plausible it would be for a new writer to really feel bad about a story. It's a good story, or at least it has a good story in it, and I'll finish it someday when I can stand to look at it again.

Don’t worry about it. We ALL often have rants like this on this forum from time to time and our responses VERY much depends on our moods when such a rant comes in.

Catch us on a good day and we’re super-supportive.

Catch us on a bad day and it’s “go f*** yourself, and put that in your story”.

I can’t help but think you got a mix. Certainly though I definitely think getting it down is more important than getting it right. At the minute THE PROCESS (my next story) is robotic in terms of its sex with passion and fun failing to materialise, BUT, I know I can get myself in the mindset and get that right with a second and third pass.

Step away for a bit, write something different and allow your brain to rewire.

Have a good one.

 

[alohadave]

Since it seems like a certain degree of topic drift is acceptable on this forum, any advice for cranking out "plot, what plot?" kind of stories?

I kind of want to write something short and mindless, but every time I try I start thinking about relationships and characters and all that stuff I want to learn how to do.

Where do you get your ideas for "stroke material," if that's the right word? And how do you force yourselves to stick to stroke material?

Write a stroker that has no story or plot to it. Whenever you start thinking about relationships or realistic reactions, throw it out the window and have your characters mentally say 'fuck it'. They have no doubts about hooking up and having sex with a stranger, they are horny and they make it happen.

Boy meets girl, fucks the shit out of her at work, on a bus, in a club, etc. It's not realistic, and the series of events that lead to it can be ridiculous.

 

[NotWise]

Since it seems like a certain degree of topic drift is acceptable on this forum, any advice for cranking out "plot, what plot?" kind of stories?

I kind of want to write something short and mindless, but every time I try I start thinking about relationships and characters and all that stuff I want to learn how to do.

Where do you get your ideas for "stroke material," if that's the right word? And how do you force yourselves to stick to stroke material?

I hit a drought a few years ago and decided to write a short (two Lit pages), simple story to break out of it. What came out wasn't quite a stroker. It had a simple plot (woman finds younger boy, woman seduces younger boy, woman moves on to the next boy), and simple characters to understand (she's a petite milf,ex-cheerleader, well-off widow) secondary characters are all either sycophants or early college kids.

Something like that--simple plot, tropy characters, lots of sex--is an alternative to a full-on, no-plot stroker. For me, also a little more satisfying to write. I ended up formulating the story right down the the word count for different parts of the story- and cranking out six of them. Some of them went from start to finish in two days, and three of them even scored over 4.5 in EC.

 

[oneagainst]

Girl walks into a strip club. Go!

Seriously, take a scene from a story you like and imagine what you wanted to happen next. No set up, just: the door opens and....

 

[gunhilltrain]

Hey everyone, thank you all for your kind words. I'm going to put this one away for a bit. Yes, I do have a few other ideas to play with!



No, sorry. I'm feeling a bit sheepish now: I was hamming it up a bit, not realizing how poorly the tone would carry over text and how plausible it would be for a new writer to really feel bad about a story. It's a good story, or at least it has a good story in it, and I'll finish it someday when I can stand to look at it again.

You don't have to apologize. I think most of us have gone through something like this, more than once in fact.