Young Writers Society

Sometimes I don't even know where to start with an open Word document and a dozen unfinished pieces, which makes me unmotivated to continue... I have about five novels going on in word and seven more short stories, not to mention the other thirteen novels going on in my head.



Then, when I finally settled on a novel. I write a paragraph and decide to reread it a thousand times and edit it another ten thousand times. And then sometimes I'll even hit delete in a full panic, thinking that it's not good and jump to something completely different that's more fun AKA another novel.



Now, when the story is actually going somewhere and I have settled on names and settings, I work better with role models. So I like to scroll through and find the best actor or actress to use as a model for my character. I not only look at their visual appearance, but also what films they have been in and if they fit my character. Then I like to choose three or sometimes four.... No, definitely seven.

Thirdly, how do I find the perfect role model for my character?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. If you have any tips other than these specific questions, but in general how to stick to ONE novel, feel free to share!

Thank you,
Rinisha

That was my problem but then I joined NaNoWriMo and I'm sticking to the same novel. That's probably because it's like a race to get huge goal finished in a short time. That works for me.

A couple of things...

1. Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good

My husband taught me that phrase... basically, it means that if we expect to have perfection constantly, we can sometimes freeze up so much that we end up having nothing. At some point, we get good enough in our writing that we're able to see our errors so prominently that we realize that we're terrible writers. And that's good! Because you can get better. But understand this... you will get better. All you need to do is practice more. So practice! Write okay things. Then, as you practice more, the okay things will turn to good things. Then maybe even wonderful things. But you need to practice! So let yourself write things that aren't perfect and it'll get better.

2. The first draft is always going to be rough... and that's okay.

First drafts are often called "rough drafts" and for good reason! You're just trying to get the words out. You're whispering a story into existence. Don't worry about making everything perfect... if it's rough, that's okay! Just get the words out. You can worry about editing later.

3. Stories are made up of many paragraphs.

I used to get hung up with nitpicking every sentence and fine-tuning it, but like... you know what? If you focus on every sentence, then every sentence becomes an insurmountable obstacle and every paragraph is a Herculean task. Stories are made of many paragraphs. Just write! Don't focus on editing every paragraph as it comes out. That will kill the story. Occasionally, you may have to rewrite a paragraph, but try to let it come out!

4. Write something that you like writing

Focus on projects that tickle your fancy and that you find joy in writing. There will be some days that you might not like writing and it's okay to take breaks from projects occasionally. But don't feel like you have to finish an idea that you just don't like. It'll be a lot easier to write if you actually like what you're writing, haha.