Help! I think I'm afraid to write.

Okay, I know that sounds ridiculous, and maybe I'm not exactly "afraid" of writing. But lately, writing's lost all it's fun for me. Every time I try to write something, I'll get 1 or 2 pages down. Then I'll look at what I've written, realize it's absolute junk, and rewrite it a dozen times before finally tossing the story. It's gotten to the point where I haven't written anything for months, because what's the point? I know I won't get very far into the story, because I find myself constantly having to edit and re-edit everything I've written. Even if I know that no one else will ever read the story but me, I still have this urge to perfect it. And it takes forever for me to write something in the first place, because I have to make sure each and every word I write is just right, and if it's not, the entire story must be rewritten.

It's become rather pathetic. Does anyone have any tips to at least motivate me to write again? On one hand, I want to write, I really do, but on the other... I don't know. It's just become such a frustrating ordeal to write, because I want to make it good, but I'm sure it's not healthy to spend hours rewriting your prologue. Help!

Even if I know that no one else will ever read the story but me, I still have this urge to perfect it. And it takes forever for me to write something in the first place, because I have to make sure each and every word I write is perfect.

Hey there! I have to admit that I'm going through the same thing that you are with my main novel. It's sitting in my room right now, festering because I know that if I revisit it, I'll have to edit it all and I'll lose steam by the time I get done with editing what I have.

The thing we have to learn is that there is a time to write and a time to edit. We /can/ write complete crap and let it slide, because we're going to go back through it and edit it /later/. You've just got to force yourself to keep writing and going with the story. I think what would be helpful for BOTH of us is if, instead of editing at that moment, if we think of something important we need to change in the first part, we can write it on a to-do list in another window or something, but keep our focus on the writing part and keep going.

That's all I can offer you. You just have to keep writing. If you don't have the power to keep at it at the moment, try exploring some different mediums, like short stories, poetry, or scripts, just to get some writing out, but not necessarily on the same project.

In any case, GOOD LUCK! I wish you all the best in overcoming this. And I hope I do too. xDD

-Hannah-

And thus, writer's block was born.

Okay Magnus, I know exactly how you're feeling right now.

What's going on is your heart, your mind, and your fingers aren't in harmony. Why they're no in harmony? Well simple, because you're pressuring yourself too much.

Of course your first draft isn't going to be "oh-so-fabulous" because it's just to get the original thoughts down. Also, you shouldn't be forcing yourself to write. You should be MOTIVATING yourself to write

Also ask yourself this: why do you want to write?

After you answer that question, everything will be clearer.

Sometimes what is I look at bad writing, crack up over it, and then get writing. I also like to challenge myself because I'm really competitive.

Just remember that writing is like any other skill. The more you practice, the better you'll get. But even more so, good practice will reward in the end. Believe in yourself more because the pen is in your hands

-Shina

-Shina

Ah, the rewriting bug. How annoying it is once you have it.

Hard as it may be, Do Not reread what you've just written. You only want to look ahead. Don't look in the rear view mirror to see what ground you've covered. You know it's going to be a bumpy road. Instead focus on what you can see in the headlights in Front of you. Your writing will be much better from it.

As those before me have said, you can edit later. Focus on writing now. ^_^

~Rosey

I had the same problem! When I was doing Diary of a Villain I started off fine, and then after a certain point I started revising the plot (because I'd just been writing without a real plot in mind) and started revising it a lot until I was sick of it.

On the other hand, I did finish one draft. It was Kidnapped (a romance) and I wrote the whole thing by hand during class. It was about three books of 80 pages. I accomplished that because I was focused on seeing it through to the end. I didn't worry about if it made sense (Rule one: Don't look back. You can only look back over the story when you're done.). And in the end, I reviewed it and found it was seriously in need to changes all over the place. But it was done.

So my advice to you is follow these simple rules:

Think of writing like a race. You can't turn around half way through, you just have to keep going until you pass the finish line. Keep writing and don't look back. If you realize what you've done so far isn't great, then instead of going back to make it better, focus on making what comes next as good as you can and keep going. You can always go back to make the beginning match the rest, but if you go over the beginning over and over there is no 'rest'. Don't worry so much about the quality, it's only a draft.

Or in another sense, think of it in layers. Your first draft is the bones (mostly just plot). So don't worry about how good the descriptions are or that kind of stuff. Just focus on getting through the plot. As you go along, you can take notes if you change things (like if you change the characters name half way through, simply make note of it and go back to change the beginning later). When you've done that, you go through and add the next layer (descriptions). Then you let it sit a while and review the piece as a whole, and then add whatever you feel is missing and make the changes you want.

As for motivation, just find a plot you like and tell yourself you want to see how it ends. Like a movie. You don't watch the first scene over and over until you have it memorized, you watch the whole thing and then watch it again later when you're ready.

Hope that helps a bit.

edit: Another thing. get people to read it. One thing that really motivated me to finish was that my friends liked the story and wanted to know what happened next, so I was motivated to continue so they could read it.


^_^ Keek!

Just don't care so much! If it sucks, so what? It's not the end of the world. I know you have high expectations for yourself, but repeat the mantra,

"I DON'T GIVE A F***."

You should learn to love yourself unconditionally. The only reason you're afraid of writing badly is because you believe that if your writing is bad, that makes you a "bad writer". Honey, there is no such thing as "bad writers". There are only writers and nonwriters. To love yourself unconditionally as a writer means to believe in yourself-- to believe that no matter how many people judge your writing as "bad"-- no matter if you yourself judge it to be "bad" -- it matters to you. It means that you will continue regardless because you must. You don't even need to believe that you have something special to say or something special to contribute, but that you are a writer because that is who you are. The fact is beautiful in it's simplicity and circular reasoning (fyi, while most Western philiosophies reject circular reasoning, Eastern philosophies embrace it because it is whole and natural and inherently beautiful).

You need to believe that your writing is beautiful because YOU wrote it. It may not be original. It may not be good. But it should have value to you because it is yours.

Love your writing since it's the one person in your life that you can change when it doesn't suit you! So, just keep on going, DO NOT read back until you've done a chapter or the whole thing, if it's a short story, otherwise you'll be tempted to change the whole thing until you're sick of it and you delete it.

Also, make sure you have your plot clear in your mind and written down on a seperate document before you begin so that you can refer back to it if you need to change it. Only change it if necessary, don't spend hours agonizing over it, writing is supposed to be fun, like you say. [:

So, get your plot clear, go and edit after!

This is practically the definition of Writers Block. *screams in fear* What you have is a very basic case of a writers block and we all get it. Ask around. Really, the only cure for this particular form of writers block is to press on. Write and write and write and flat out refuse to make changes. Hide the red pens and press on. When you have a story going, it’s important that you don’t stop to make corrections for the fact that when you do this, you loose your momentum and the story goes fwump and has a *story/brick wall* moment.

It may seem difficult, but don’t focus on the errors. Over analyzing the story can kill the soul that you’ve put into it.

So just sit down and write, simple as that.

If you don’t, you’ll have nothing more then a bunch of scrap ideas lying around. Then one day, out of the blue, a stranger will walk by, read that scrap of an idea, and become a multi billionaire for telling the story you couldn’t get down on paper.

~lilymoore