When the damned words just won't come

[minsue]

You don't know how much that touched me....but thats what I fear sometimes, that my work is too complex.

How on earth can that be something to fear, hun?

 

[yui]

Where do I send the flowers?

Just give me pretty words, only a few, and I'm happy.

Does that make me easy?

 

[she_is_my_addiction]

How on earth can that be something to fear, hun?

Because if no one understands what the hell I'm writing, then what's it worth?

 

[minsue]

Because if no one understands what the hell I'm writing, then what's it worth?

Christ, it's hard enough to write for myself. If I wrote for others, I'd implode.

Yui, I can't offer pretty words. Can I give you some of Sima's?

 

[she_is_my_addiction]

Christ, it's hard enough to write for myself. If I wrote for others, I'd implode.

Yui, I can't offer pretty words. Can I give you some of Sima's?

You really don't know how much that means hon right now. Both of you just made my day better by about a thousand marks.

 

[minsue]

You really don't know how much that means hon right now. Both of you just made my day better by about a thousand marks.

Then it was well worth submitting the crap that prompted this poll.

 

[she_is_my_addiction]

Then it was well worth submitting the crap that prompted this poll.

 

[Amy Sweet]

Have you ever submitted substandard work, AKA crap , just to submit something as though that would make the writer's block give up and move on? Or am I the only one?

Du! Of course I have.

Stop being o hard on yourself.

 

[yui]

Christ, it's hard enough to write for myself. If I wrote for others, I'd implode.

Yui, I can't offer pretty words. Can I give you some of Sima's?

Don't write for others. I mean, eventually, if you do more than journaling, I think you begin to understand that you need to communicate with people in some way. Writing for an audience doesn't mean altering what you were going to say to meet their expectations. They are still your words. To me, it means making sure what you write is accessible on some level. Some will hate what you say, some will love what you say, and some will be indifferent. Writing is very selfish; ultimately, you are writing for you. But, if you want it to be read, I think, you have to touch your reader in some small way.

SIMA, I think you just need a little faith your audience. Everyone might not understand what you are trying to say, but the more you write, the more skilled you will become at saying what you want to say, and saying in a way that doesn't compromise your creativity, while still communicating itself to others.

I think I have just written in a circle. Sorry.

Minsue, I think it would be illegal for you to give me SIMA's words, but let me do some research and get back to you.

Luck to all,

Yui

 

[BlackShanglan]

I think I have the antimatter version of Dr. M's authorial self-flagellation. I punish myself as well, but the internal monlogue is something like "Fine! Fine! No one will ever fucking read at all! Won't that make it wonderful? It will sit on the hard drive until hell freezes over!"

At least I'm not the only one arguing with and punishing an imaginary self-construct.

Shanglan

 

[carsonshepherd]

I think I have the antimatter version of Dr. M's authorial self-flagellation. I punish myself as well, but the internal monlogue is something like "Fine! Fine! No one will ever fucking read at all! Won't that make it wonderful? It will sit on the hard drive until hell freezes over!"

At least I'm not the only one arguing with and punishing an imaginary self-construct.

Shanglan

That whole post made me laugh myself sick.

 

[rikaaim]

I think I have the antimatter version of Dr. M's authorial self-flagellation. I punish myself as well, but the internal monlogue is something like "Fine! Fine! No one will ever fucking read at all! Won't that make it wonderful? It will sit on the hard drive until hell freezes over!"

At least I'm not the only one arguing with and punishing an imaginary self-construct.

Shanglan

That's what I'm saying right this moment. Whenever I get really down about a story that just doesn't seem to be working, I start a new one. It's really running away from the bastard story and admiting that it won, but I try to just keep writing and hope that in the end perhaps one or two out of maybe one hundred starts makes its way to the finish line.

 

[logophile]

I had to vote Yes on this one. My Christmas story was definitely sub-standard. And I submitted it anway.

And occassionally I have to turn in my parenting column when it's substandard as well. Last month my managing editor called me and asked when I would be turning in my stuff. I told her that it was just about done, but that it sucked. She told me to stop being so hard on myself. There was no way to acheive perfection every time. Just turn it in. Someone out there would think it was the best column ever. I turned it in. I still hate that fucking piece of shit column. Flush with embarassment whenever I think about it.

In my other job (homebirth midwife) there is no room for error. I can't call someone and say, "Yeah, I'll be there for the birth tonight, but I just can't say it's going to be my best night ever. Parts of what I do just aren't going to turn out right, but we'll make it through anyway." That's not really an option. And I feel the same way about my writing, although the stakes are so much lower that I realize it's a laughable comparison.

Grr, no real point I guess. Just rambling.

Not my best post ever, either. Ah well... maybe next time.

 

[carsonshepherd]

I suddenly realized, Min. I have done this after all. I did it for a reason, though.

My holiday contest story, the one that won 1st place? I never really loved it. I wrote it because it appeared in my mind complete and it had to be written that way. But I know it wasn't the best story I could have written. I'm not ashamed of it; upon re-reading it's actually better than I thought it was in fact. But I've done better.

 

[BlackShanglan]

Whenever I get really down about a story that just doesn't seem to be working, I start a new one. It's really running away from the bastard story and admiting that it won, but I try to just keep writing and hope that in the end perhaps one or two out of maybe one hundred starts makes its way to the finish line.

I do this as well, but I do keep coming back to the ones sitting there gestating. I firmly believe that in the end I can make them work. Some of them just need more time for me to mull them over; some may be waiting for me to develop into a better writer.

Shanglan

 

[oggbashan]

Who defines 'crap'?

What you may think is crap, readers might actually like.

Feedback and comments might identify what is wrong and give you the opportunity to edit and re-submit the revised story.

Some giants of literature considered all or a significant part of their output to be substandard and tried to destroy it, or left instructions with their executors for it to be destroyed.

Perfection is an unattainable goal. How far do you have to fall short of perfection before deciding that the story/poem is not up to standard?

Publish here on Literotica. What have you got to lose? If it really sucks you can always delete it.

Once posted you can forget it except for the shudders when you see its current rating. Some of mine are consistently below 3.00 yet I leave them as a warning to myself.

Og

 

[impressive]

I do it just to get it out of the damned "pending" folder -- where it is a perpetual annoyance. I tell myself I'll "fix" it later. "Later" never comes.

 

[carsonshepherd]

Re: Who defines 'crap'?

What you may think is crap, readers might actually like.

Proven by my holiday contest story.

 

[minsue]

Ahhh The yeas have finally overtaken the nays. I love you people.

 

[rikaaim]

I do this as well, but I do keep coming back to the ones sitting there gestating. I firmly believe that in the end I can make them work. Some of them just need more time for me to mull them over; some may be waiting for me to develop into a better writer.

Shanglan

Exactly. It's not fair to a complex story not to be told just because I'm not capable, yet. If I can the opening, despite how bad it may be, the idea is still there for me to go back to. Then, after gaining more experience, I can better form some of the more complex ideas.

 

[Op_Cit]

That's all I post is substandard work. So far it's all I write. Whenever I get to the point that I suspect it's not substandard I'll send it to a publisher so that they can tell me it's substandard.

But hey, substandard is a great place to be: I can try doing new and different crap without being restricted by some self image or needing to please others that have a different or higher image of me.

It allows me to learn and improve certain in the knowledge that there's still road left to travel.

(People don't realize it but it's the pessimists of the world that fix things and make things better; the optimists are the tourguides of decline.)

 

[minsue]

That's all I post is substandard work. So far it's all I write. Whenever I get to the point that I suspect it's not substandard I'll send it to a publisher so that they can tell me it's substandard.

But hey, substandard is a great place to be: I can try doing new and different crap without being restricted by some self image or needing to please others that have a different or higher image of me.

It allows me to learn and improve certain in the knowledge that there's still road left to travel.

(People don't realize it but it's the pessimists of the world that fix things and make things better; the optimists are the tourguides of decline.)

Yes, but when it's substandard compared to your own already substandard work, do you submit it then?

 

[Op_Cit]

Yes, but when it's substandard compared to your own already substandard work, do you submit it then?

Sadly, that is exactly the story of my latest story. It was a pure writing experiment and I struggled with keeping it and polishing it and hugging and petting and never let him go... "Tell me 'bout the rabbits George..."

Sorry cartoon flashback.

 

[minsue]

Sadly, that is exactly the story of my latest story. It was a pure writing experiment and I struggled with keeping it and polishing it and hugging and petting and never let him go... "Tell me 'bout the rabbits George..."

Sorry cartoon flashback.

They did a cartoon?!

 

[Op_Cit]

They did a cartoon?!

You know the old Looney toons where the spoofed the "Mice and Men" line... Now my Alzheimers sets in as I struggle to remember which characters were involved...

You know, all you need to know about life can be learned from looney toons.