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Advice Needed: Getting My Writing Groove Back



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Wed Aug 11, 2021 2:59 am
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Riverlight says...



I've noticed recently that my writing quality has dropped severely. I've gone from something like this:
Winthrop slowly started to move forward, gingerly stepping towards the sitting room. She pushed open a pair of doors and entered a t-shaped room. It was furnished with red carpet and dark wooden furniture. Much of the cloth was cream-colored, and the scarlet curtains went well with the color palette. A man and a woman sat next to one another on a love seat. A small table with a glass top sat in front of them. Fine china, a pot of tea, and a coffee pot were all nestled at the center. On the other side, Winthrop's favorite armchair sat neatly perched between two end tables.

"I apologize for keeping you waiting," Winthrop said as she approached the pair. "I think that the staircase got just a little longer over night." She reached out to shake the man's hand.


To this:
After speaking to the ticket seller, Warbeck sauntered to one of the movie rooms, ignoring the pain as best she could. Slipping into a showing of Fast & Furious 9, she took a seat about a third of the way up, several seats away from the aisle. As the moviegoers around her settled and the previews began, Warbeck pretended to stretch, checking to make sure that no one was behind her. Then, saying mi scusi (excuse me), she stood and moved out of the aisle, making her way down to the front before turning towards the entrance doors.

Warbeck felt another jab of pain in her side, and her lungs constricted, moving part of that pain to her chest. Her head began to spin; she leaned against the wall for support as she began to cough and wheeze, grasping at her chest. Air was leaving her lungs, but it wasn't going back in. She pulled the bottom of her mask up just ever so slightly, feeling the sweet relief of nice, cool air against her tongue. Her lungs jolted to life once more, oxygen flooding through her body like a tidal wave.


To me, that's a downgrade. Yes, points for creativity, but... My writing isn't as good as it used to be. I'm really starting to wonder if I'm just past my figurative prime... if I'm out of date. Writing does give me the joys or the thrills that it used to give me. I just don't know how to get it back.
The politics of the world may be corrupt, but that does not mean that we must be corrupted ourselves.
  





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Wed Aug 11, 2021 10:29 am
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IcyFlame says...



I always find it harder when there's no interaction between characters, it makes me feel more like I'm just filling space. Maybe it's just that you're writing a difficult section, rather than being past your prime?
  





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Wed Aug 11, 2021 9:52 pm
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Riverlight says...



IcyFlame wrote:I always find it harder when there's no interaction between characters, it makes me feel more like I'm just filling space. Maybe it's just that you're writing a difficult section, rather than being past your prime?

I was thinking that maybe that it was just a difficult section, but all of my writing (barring nonfiction) has just been... bleh.
The politics of the world may be corrupt, but that does not mean that we must be corrupted ourselves.
  





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Fri Aug 13, 2021 7:24 am
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Dossereana says...



Have you tried listening to music while you write, that mostly helps me a lot of the time.
Also don't beat yourself up for it, not everyone's good at writing, I mean I suck compared to my sisters. Also have you tired to write different stiles of writing. for example doing poetry instead of a novel, that's what I'm doing now, and I'm much better at Poetry. <33 :wink:
Oh you just have to wait, and peace will come to you!
  





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Fri Aug 13, 2021 2:11 pm
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Stori says...



I was thinking that maybe that it was just a difficult section, but all of my writing (barring nonfiction) has just been... bleh.


Maybe this is a sign that you should write more nonfiction.
  





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Fri Aug 13, 2021 7:07 pm
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Riverlight says...



@Dossereana Lately, music has tended to leave me lost in thought rather than helped me write, though I am planning to try more different kinds of music to see if there's one that clicks.

@Stori I certainly hope that's not the case; I've dedicated almost a decade of my life now to fiction writing and done what I believe was a good job.
The politics of the world may be corrupt, but that does not mean that we must be corrupted ourselves.
  





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Fri Aug 13, 2021 9:32 pm
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HikariHateke says...



Hmm maybe you need to change something? If a scene feels off or bad often times changing something small helps a lot

some things that help me:

Changing the weather. (change the atmosphere to fit your scene)

Change the start of your scene to earlier or later.

Change the dialogue slightly if something seems off perhaps something the oc did a few lines back wasn't in character or was just not what they needed to do to make the scene your writing now flow.

And if everything is feeling off that's not non-fiction then take a break from those genres heck maybe write for a genre you've never written before, as long as you enjoy what your writing then write that! And you can always come back to Other genres just take a small break for now:

Other things to do:

Lower your word goal and here's a link that explains why better then I probably could

https://kari-writes-stuff.tumblr.com/po ... kwriting-i

Make it a game! Set a timer for 10mins (or 15 or 20) and write without stopping. then see how many words you wrote. Then next time try to get more words down in That amount of time. (You can always edit it later)

and There are a lot of blogs on tumblr that have great resources and advice about these sort of things (and some with even more games or writing events! -if you want I can give you names of a few-)

Also you probably already know this but first (and second and third) drafts suck so even if what you wrote isn't up to your standard you now have it written down and can always revise it until it is!
  





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Sat Aug 14, 2021 12:03 am
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Riverlight says...



@Hitkari_Hateke it's not an individual piece, really, but just a total loss of... joy.
The politics of the world may be corrupt, but that does not mean that we must be corrupted ourselves.
  





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Sat Aug 14, 2021 10:25 am
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Dossereana says...



Have you tried writing about different sort of sense, like action/adventure, or teen fiction, or humor, there's also fantasy,

There's lots of things, you might just have to try a different sort of writing.
Oh you just have to wait, and peace will come to you!
  





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Sun Aug 15, 2021 12:04 am
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Riverlight says...



@Dossereana I write all of those (except humor; I tend to sprinkle that into my characters rather than explicitly write humor itself). I did change my style a bit, though, and was actually successful in writing something that actually looked/sounded good.

Thank you to everyone that gave advice of any kind. I'm so sorry if I sounded unappreciative. That was never my intention. <3
The politics of the world may be corrupt, but that does not mean that we must be corrupted ourselves.
  





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Sun Aug 15, 2021 1:46 am
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Dossereana says...



<33 That's fine I'm real happy to here that your writing something that your happy with!!
Need anymore help just ask. :)
Oh you just have to wait, and peace will come to you!
  








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