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Young Writers Society


It's getting harder and harder...



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Thu Jan 02, 2014 2:52 am
Bumpeh says...



I really love writing. I started writing when I was about 9, and ever since then I've always loved it, I also love reading(As long as the book is good). Something's happened lately, however, and it's increasingly difficult to write. I don't know how to explain it. I started working on this novel I had for NANOWRIMO last november(OMG it's 2014). I got 40K words in, the farthest I've ever gotten when it comes to writing a novel, I was so proud of myself. Then I just stopped writing, it's as if it was too boring to write anymore, or something else, and it's felt pretty much that way with every other idea I had or every other story I've been working on. In the case of the NANOWRIMO story, I knew where it was going, I had an idea of the plot, a good idea of how things would be resolved... But I just couldn't continue.

It feels the same with everything else, I get really cool ideas, but they're not whole stories. I sit there and think about them and never actually write them... It's so hard, I can't tell if it's just difficult or if I'm lazy or if everything is boring.

And I've heard the old, if it's boring to write it's boring to read. Okay then, so I try to think of ways to spice it up and get nothing.

I feel like the passion I start out with only lasts 300 words in, then I just give up, I'm no longer interested in writing the story or the idea or even thinking about. I get a day where I'm super interested and then it just disappears...

I REALLY want to write, yet somehow it's difficult, I can't quite do it for some reason... I don't understand, can I PLEASE get some help. Thank you.
  





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Thu Jan 02, 2014 4:36 am
MooCowPoop says...



You, my friend, have developed a case of Writer's Block, something most writers get when they've written too much. It's like a fuse just blows. You can't really force it back, or from my experience you can't. If you do, you'll just end up with crappy writing. It's hard though. Just keep looking out for inspiration and don't give up. It'll all come back to you.

Perhaps if you said a few exercises like, journaling or writing every single thing that pops into our head the desire and ideas will come back. Still, don't given up. :-)
  





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Thu Jan 02, 2014 5:31 am
JohnLocke1 says...



I had the same problem until very recently, my friend. I would sit down to write and the passion simply would not appear. It frustrated me, angered me, and caused me a great deal of pain. You want to write, but the words will not appear. For me, I found that the reason lay in my personal life. I was feeling a lot of stress in my life, and it carried over into my writing. I found that, when I tried to relax and stop growing frustrated with myself over the fact, the words and the passion came back. However, that is merely my experience. Writer's Block is different for each writer. I am positive that it will all come back to you.

Good luck, my friend. :)
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Thu Jan 02, 2014 5:53 am
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niteowl says...



Hey Bumpeh,

I feel your pain, as I suspect many of us do. Some tips that may help:

1) If you do have an idea, write it down, even if you're not sure how to make it a full-blown story. You just might want to work with it later. I have an idea bank full of ideas and fragments I might want to play with later.

2) Try writing something different. It's okay to set aside your NaNo project. Look up some writing prompts and just write a quick story or something. Heck, write a poem (I mostly write poems, so I might be biased :P). Enter a contest on YWS to try something different.

3) Live a little. Do fun things, talk to cool people, go places you've never been. Observe the world around you. You never know what might inspire you!

Writer's block sucks. Hope this helped!
"You do ill if you praise, but worse if you censure, what you do not understand." Leonardo Da Vinci

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Thu Jan 02, 2014 6:28 pm
Tenyo says...



Hmm...

Support Systems

The reason I work much better during Nano than any other time (and I imagine the reason for a lot of other people too) is that you have people alongside you encouraging you to keep going and meet your target. You also have someone to answer to, and people to angst with.

One of the most difficult things about writing as a profession is that for most it's a solo career and that's much harder than some people anticipate. When you sit down at your computer to write, it's just you, a vast stretch of blank screen, and a whole lot of literary constipation.

You could get a writing partner or a mentor, set a deadline of one week to write a short story and write it regardless of the quality. Then there's YWS Chat which I find really useful. It's a good place to make friends who you can talk to, and there are always Wordwars and other challenges going on and people to keep you motivated.

Adopt a Sketchbook

Sketchbooks are awesome because it gives you the chance to let your ideas explode across the page in a multitude of colours. Then when you get another idea, you let that explode too and watch the two conflict with each other, and keep adding and adding until there's no space left on the page.

A story isn't based on a single thread or idea- it's made from hundreds and thousands of them. Some are eureka moments when we think of something that fascinates us, and others are every day thoughts that we don't even realise we have. You can have an idea of a character who eats lizards for breakfast, or you can have an idea of a character who eats toast for breakfast.

When you put them in a sketchbook and return again and again to add a little or just to doodle, without the chore of going back and editing every scene or plotting or replotting. You're just adding. Let your mind play and mull on them until they start to group together and weave and grow in the back of your head until you have something sturdy that you can make a story with. If possible, avoid using words or trying to draw detailed character sketches. Instead use pictures and colours and scribbles and bubbles.

No life is based on a single idea that you can put into three hundred words, and your story is a thing with a life of its own. It needs to grow before you put it on the page.

Like Niteowl said...

Third piece of advice I would give is to try other forms of writing. Poetry is great because you can fit big things into small packages, and if you loose passion after three hundred words then that doesn't matter because you'll have finished by then anyway.

Alternately I would recommend scripting. When I get really excited about an idea I try scripting the first few scenes- that way I'll know if it's got enough substance to make a plot, or if I've just gotten carried away with a single strand of thought. It takes a lot less time, you can add notes along the way, and it'll give you a better grasp on the dynamics of plot and structure and what to actually do once you get past the opening.

Hope this helps. It's good to see that you found your way around the forum =D
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A person is a fool to become a writer. His only compensation is absolute freedom. He has no master except his own soul, and that, I am sure, is why he does it.
— Roald Dahl