What's your worst fear about your writtings?

[rikaaim]

Okay. Let me say this. I have many things in my writtings that I don't think are very good. So, I want to try and start a support thread. One where we can all come collectively (I'm trying to be a serious writer for a minute so leave the lude jokes till later) and share what we feel is our greatest writting flaw. Then, as others read, feel free to share a possible solution to the posted flaw.

For example, I may say that my greatest flaw is not writting diaglouge accurately. Then a possible suggestion could be to tape record some conversations and listen to the subtle ways the words are spoken.

Something like that. So, my greatest fear/flaw is that I tend to use the same words over, ramble, and loose focus while I'm writting.

Any suggestions? Any questions? This is an all out thread to try and fix what we think may be wrong, or what we don't like, about the way we write. This is support only. Only post what you don't like about the way you write, and advice for others whose problem you may have an answer to.

EDITED: to add...always feel free to support and lift one another's spirits.

 

[Lucifer_Carroll]

Okay. Let me say this. I have many things in my writtings that I don't think are very good. So, I want to try and start a support thread. One where we can all come collectively (I'm trying to be a serious writer for a minute so leave the lude jokes till later) and share what we feel is our greatest writting flaw. Then, as others read, feel free to share a possible solution to the posted flaw.

For example, I may say that my greatest flaw is not writting diaglouge accurately. Then a possible suggestion could be to tape record some conversations and listen to the subtle ways the words are spoken.

Something like that. So, my greatest fear/flaw is that I tend to use the same words over, ramble, and loose focus while I'm writting.

Any suggestions? Any questions? This is an all out thread to try and fix what we think may be wrong, or what we don't like, about the way we write. This is support only. Only post what you don't like about the way you write, and advice for others whose problem you may have an answer to.

Write stream-of-consciousness style stories of either first-person or third-person voicing.

No, I'm serious. If there is one style that not only is more forgiving of rambling, but encourages and nurtures it, it's stream of consciousness and the best part is that if you're getting off track, you can blame it on the main character like it was his thought train and continue with plot.

I'd have to give more thought to my own greatest flaw.

 

[BlackShanglan]

My greatest fear is that my problems are unfixable. I practice and edit, and I always find much to improve. When I am finished extensive revisions, I often have something that I think much better than what I started with, and I sometimes have something with which I am relatively happy. But I have learned in the past that happiness with one's own work can be deceptive. Sometimes it only takes a more practiced eye to point out the glaring flaws.

I fear that I will never learn to recognize them.

I fear that I will never learn to tell a tale that anyone else wants to hear.

Shanglan

 

[rikaaim]

Re: Re: What's your worst fear about your writtings?

Write stream-of-consciousness style stories of either first-person or third-person voicing.

That's a great idea. I may do that until I get some more story experience and then go back to my inate descriptive style. You've never read anything of mine have you? Of course not, nothings been submitted, but a few people have gotten a glimpse of my style. I'm working slow right now. That's about the best I can do to stay focus. I'm also a little burned out, so a few paragraphs a night seem to be doing me good. I take little chunks and work with it until it's just right.

 

[Lucifer_Carroll]

Ah, got it.

My greatest flaw is that I really fall in love with my turns-of-phrases. Whenever I write a section with a great joke or turn-of-phrase and later learn that it's overall just doesn't fit or isn't congruous with the story, I end up languish for hours debating everything and trying to extricate the one stupid phrase out of the gobbdlegook until I have wasted about a week's worth of work for one stupid paragraph.

Another problem I run into is the dreaded "this is all rubbish" writer's block. That's when you're on a role and then suddenly stop and yell at something you just wrote and end up having to shelve the work for a later day so you can see what you fucked up or as has been the case lately, that what you thought was crap wasn't as bad or unsalvagable as you thought.

 

[BlackShanglan]

Interesting repsonse, Luc. I personally would give precisely the opposite advice to Rikaaim, but then I am a bad old unreconstructed Yeats fan. Yeats suggested (warning: drastic reduction ahead!) that we grow and develop best by embracing that which is most unlike us. Thus, he said, William Morris was best at writing dimly colored medieval romance pieces in which people seemed to have no purpose but to be exquisitely polite to each other, while in real life Morris was so irascible that he threw a Christmas pudding through the window because he felt it was poorly cooked.

I feel that Yeats is right. When we work on what we think are our strengths, we cut ourselves a great deal of slack. When we do what is most difficult for us, we are critical and active, and we temper our excesses by striving for goals to which they may help us without overriding the rest of our work. Thus I strive to cut back my verbiage ruthlessly, as I know that by nature I am florid. Were I to attempt to write floridly, God only knows what might happen. I also enjoy writing screenplays because they force one to construct very tightly and speak very sparsely. It sharpens my wits and makes me think more about things that I need to learn.

Shanglan

 

[rikaaim]

My greatest fear is that my problems are unfixable. I practice and edit, and I always find much to improve. When I am finished extensive revisions, I often have something that I think much better than what I started with, and I sometimes have something with which I am relatively happy. But I have learned in the past that happiness with one's own work can be deceptive. Sometimes it only takes a more practiced eye to point out the glaring flaws.

I fear that I will never learn to recognize them.

I fear that I will never learn to tell a tale that anyone else wants to hear.

Shanglan

My friend I have the same fear and know what you mean. Just tonight I deleted half of my current story, not the one you read. I saved what I cut into a notepad for future reference and started writting again. I just wanted a different feel, but didn't want to loose the content that I had. I may not like the new way the story is going, but I can always go back. I know what you mean about the glaring flaws. Everyone points them out to me, and I'm like, "Hey, where were you hiding?"

On Lisa's thread someone (so sorry to the person who suggested this, I can't remember your name) said to find flaws, I.E. spelling, grammer, etc... to change the font size bigger and use Arial. Even colors. Just anything to break up the monotony of what you've been staring at. As for someone liking your story, first you have to like it, then once that happens, you have an audience. Someone out there has always wanted to read the story you wrote, but they never knew it because it never existed before. If only one person reads what you write, and truly enjoys it, then you suceeded.

 

[rikaaim]

Ah, got it.

My greatest flaw is that I really fall in love with my turns-of-phrases. Whenever I write a section with a great joke or turn-of-phrase and later learn that it's overall just doesn't fit or isn't congruous with the story, I end up languish for hours debating everything and trying to extricate the one stupid phrase out of the gobbdlegook until I have wasted about a week's worth of work for one stupid paragraph.

Another problem I run into is the dreaded "this is all rubbish" writer's block. That's when you're on a role and then suddenly stop and yell at something you just wrote and end up having to shelve the work for a later day so you can see what you fucked up or as has been the case lately, that what you thought was crap wasn't as bad or unsalvagable as you thought.

Recently I've been cutting and pasting what I thought was garbage onto a notepad file. That way I still keep the content, but can try to re-write it with a different approach to see if I like it better. If I don't, I can just go back to the original. The bottom line is that at first, get the thought out onto paper, then work with the way it is presented. Even if it's just a few words to remind you what you want to do, get it out, get it down, then work with it.

 

[rikaaim]

I don't really know how much help I am, but you'll always have my support, everyone.

 

[carsonshepherd]

This is a nice thread. Maybe I'll post on it tomorrow when I sober up.

 

[cloudy]

Okay. Let me say this. I have many things in my writtings that I don't think are very good. So, I want to try and start a support thread. One where we can all come collectively (I'm trying to be a serious writer for a minute so leave the lude jokes till later) and share what we feel is our greatest writting flaw. Then, as others read, feel free to share a possible solution to the posted flaw.

For example, I may say that my greatest flaw is not writting diaglouge accurately. Then a possible suggestion could be to tape record some conversations and listen to the subtle ways the words are spoken.

Something like that. So, my greatest fear/flaw is that I tend to use the same words over, ramble, and loose focus while I'm writting.

Any suggestions? Any questions? This is an all out thread to try and fix what we think may be wrong, or what we don't like, about the way we write. This is support only. Only post what you don't like about the way you write, and advice for others whose problem you may have an answer to.

I'm not sure how correct this is, but I've been told by several folks that I have a knack for dialogue. The only problem I run into while writing it is that my characters tend to get into these long conversations that go off on a million tangents....rather like friends will do at times. Then, I have to go back, and cut out what isn't relevant.

My suggestion for writing dialogue would be to read some authors that are recommended by others as being good with dialogue.

I write dialogue almost exactly as I speak, so, unintentionally, most of my characters wind up with southern accents.

My biggest fear? Hmmm, there's so many...how to choose just one.

I lack confidence in my work...in a HUGE way. Sometimes I'm pleased with something, and then the flaws are pointed out, and then I fall to pieces, convinced it's nothing but garbage.

 

[JRaven]

Just finish the dang thing!

My biggest flaw is that I write and write and write...
My entry for the Winter Holiday Contest is a good example. Originally, it was twice as long. Finally, I just read it through and drew a line. That was were the story ended.

It's all a matter of structure for me, or the severe lack of it. Sometimes I'm in the middle of writing something that is dependent on something that happened earlier in the story. So I go back reading (and a little editing) and this time, I make an outline of what I had already written. Once I'm done with that, I try to outline the rest of the story. Only thing is, by then I've forgotten what direction I was going.

Sorry if this post is confusing. Probably the structure.

Jenny

 

[wishfulthinking]

Spelling, mistakes, unintentionally using the same words over and over (guilty, guilty, guilty!) - I don't view these as big flaws. Actually, they don't even make it onto my 'flaw' radar. These things are easily fixed. I just consider I lack a (good) editor.

I'm my biggest critic, and would have to say I lack confidence in my writing. But this doesn't worry me, I think this will just come in time.

If I'm writing something, and hate how it sounds, I just keep going and come back to it a couple of days later to figure out what it is I don't like - it could be tone, direction or something tiny. If I decide to cut it, I don't throw it out, I just paste it into my 'extras.doc' and may recycle it at a future date.

What I percieve to be my flaw (and if you check out my submissions page you will see!) is that I don't know if I can finish a story. Each time I try, I seem to raise more questions than what I started out with. Now that is a FLAW!

 

[Liar]

I have many flaws. My greatest one? Procrastination. I don't fucking write when I should.

 

[oggbashan]

I think my next to worst fear is of repeating the plot and detail of a story. I come close to it several times with my uncompleted stories.

There are other fears as well:
- confusing characters' names
- overusing a word or phrase
- cliches of writing or plot
- losing direction in a story

My worst fear is losing what I have written. I am paranoid about saving, copying, backing up. I have lost hundreds of words from several stories in the past because of system or software crashes. Although I can repair the loss I feel that what is gone was better. I have Word set to produce back-ups frequently and I save the first draft almost from the end of the first paragraph and every half-A4 page thereafter. I save to floppy every hour or so.

Og

 

[impressive]

My worst fear is losing what I have written. I am paranoid about saving, copying, backing up.

Oh, gosh YES!

I "backup" by sending the file to myself via e-mail after each editing session. Plus, I send completed works to myself via e-mail and store them online -- sometimes redundantly.

As for the dialog discussion. I used to be intimidated by it -- so I made myself do it (a la Shang's post). First dip was one of the encounters for my Rainy Day Story Challenge story. From there, I went on to publish 3 pieces that are pure dialog. They were REALLY fun to write. While each has an H, I'll occasionally get a PC along the lines of: "So fucking STUPID!" I'm sure I'll be doing more in that series.

~Imp

 

[CharleyH]

Fear: That work will collect dust.

Flaw: Obsessive-compulsive, comma, fetish.

 

[Guest]

Fear: That work will collect dust.

Flaw: Obsessive-compulsive, comma, fetish.

ah... love that comma fetish. i have the same fetish but with elipses...
i blame Al Gore for inventing the internet...*snicker*
chat rooms have ruined any semblence of correct grammah.
howevah...ive begun another language and i am reveling in it.

my fear? hrm. im not afraid. i shall boldly write. i shall boldly post. what happens, happens and if im lucky, someone will actually like my bizzare sense of irony. that would be my joy.

 

[Guest]

 

[rikaaim]

Re: Re: What's your worst fear about your writtings?

I lack confidence in my work...in a HUGE way. Sometimes I'm pleased with something, and then the flaws are pointed out, and then I fall to pieces, convinced it's nothing but garbage.

I have the exact same problem. I think with me it's just lack of writting. Remember to always write for yourself first. If you're happy with it, then just relax and don't worry about what other people say. Write it out, let it sit, and then later, when you're not so involved in the story, correct it. After just writting, if you're like me, I tend to still be deeply connected to the story and take personal offence to the mistakes that are pointed out. But, if I let is sit for a while, enjoy the story in my head, and remember that it is good, but needs some corrections, then I feel better about it being a GOOD story with some flaws. Just like us humans. Good people, but with some flaws. Just try to correct the flaws as best as possible and then enjoy the story for what it is.

 

[rikaaim]

I don't know if I'd call it fear, more of a shortcoming. I just don't have as extensive a vocabulary as I'd like, and as others have said, I find myself using the same words or phrases too much. Then I read other authors' works and find myself thinking "excellent, why couldn't I have done sometihng like that.."

I also have that same fear. I was going to buy a dictionary and look up 1 new word a day and try to use it at least 3 times that day so it sticks. I may do that in the new year.

 

[rikaaim]

I have many flaws. My greatest one? Procrastination. I don't fucking write when I should.

I tend to feel that way too, but writting is just fun. At least for me it is. I don't get paid to do it and have many other things I have to do, so I use writting to relax.


On a tangent, if you feel like there is several things you need to post, go ahead. Just kinda vent what you don't like about what you write and then you'll feel better and we can try to help. This is as much support as it is a help thread.

 

[rikaaim]

One of my problems is that I like to write really long stories. The only problem with that is that I never finish them. I get bored, sidetracked, confused about the plot, etc...

So, I think what I'm going to do is write short stories, ones that are under 2,000 words. This will force me to develope the plot right away and leave out some of the description. I tend to describe the environment more than show the action of the story. The secret santa grab bag story was a good excercise for me and the gloveslap challenge will be too. I think I'm going to keep in that style for a while until I get my feet grounded as far as direction in my stories go.

 

[carsonshepherd]

One of my problems is that I like to write really long stories. The only problem with that is that I never finish them. I get bored, sidetracked, confused about the plot, etc...

So, I think what I'm going to do is write short stories, ones that are under 2,000 words. This will force me to develope the plot right away and leave out some of the description. I tend to describe the environment more than show the action of the story. The secret santa grab bag story was a good excercise for me and the gloveslap challenge will be too. I think I'm going to keep in that style for a while until I get my feet grounded as far as direction in my stories go.

You know what? I had exactly the same problem and that is what I did, just wrote short ones for awhile. Now I feel ready to take on a longer one again.

 

[rikaaim]

You know what? I had exactly the same problem and that is what I did, just wrote short ones for awhile. Now I feel ready to take on a longer one again.

How you feeling today? Better I hope. I'm still working in my long one. But I'm taking it in small chunks now. It's the one where you saw a preview. I'm going to be rather detailed with it I think. I've never really stuck to something this long and hope it works out okay.