Young Writers Society

Whenever I sit down to write, I write about a page or two of a story and I stop. Either I decide what I've written is no good, or I lose intrest in it. Does anyone have any tips of how to overcome this? It's so frustrating!!

Just keep writing. I make it sound easy, but it's not. Writing isn't easy. You have to keep plugging at it. If you gave up a sport after five seconds because you couldn't play very well, you'd never be very good. It's the same with writing. Just keep going. Force your way through. Finish. Edit. Repeat.

Like jack said, only I have an add in.

Shut off your internal editor and crap radar. Just write it. Keep in mind that no matter what you put on the paper it came be changed, and made better, later.

My best advice would be, write something you're passionate about.

If you don't like fantasy, don't write about dragons. Write something you would want to read.

And if you start to dislike it, push your way through it, it'll be worth it to be able to say 'Yeah, I finished!' Even if the end product isn't going to be published. A lot of really good writers first books weren't publishable. Writing takes practice, don't expect perfectionism to come easy.

Another thing would be to set a goal, and complete it EVERY DAY, no matter what. For example, every day sit down and write a page a day, in a year you'll have a 365 page book, edit at the same rate, and in as little as two years, you'll be done. If you don't write your goal, write down why you didn't, eventually you'll get tired of your excuses and write more.

Also, writing gets easier as you get futher into the book, the beginnings aren't always the most exciting parts of the books, but then you reach page fifty, and get proud of yourself, 100 and you pretty much go crazy...and so on and so forth. The futher you go, the more into the story you should ultimately get =D

hehe, hope that helped a bit =D

-JC

You're making me want to stop doing geometry and actually write...*whines*

I do the same thing. I've stopped worrying about it. I try to push myself, but sometimes the best thing to do is walk away. Write something else, but go back to the first thing in a week or so, and work on it more.
I'll have to second Claudette, too: send your inner editor packing.

What Jack said. Just sit down, and force yourself to write.

You have to suffer for your art.

Just like everyone else says, don't give up

I struggle with the same thing, and I find that it really helps to take a break and work on something else. For example, I usually have at least three stories kicking around in my head at a time, so when I get frustrated with what I'm working on, I grab another notebook and scribble down a few ideas for another story. It helps me to look at things from a different point-of-view, and gives me a goal, because I won't let myself start this new story until I finish the one I'm working on, which drives me bonkers, but motivates me.

Second, I search for inspiration. www.thinkexist.com or another quotations website can offer a lot of inspiring quotes to get you inspired. That is where I got my signature. Also, Chicken Soup for the Writer's Soul has so many inspiring stories. It's like a second Bible to me

If you get really desperate, talk to another writer and vent. PM me if you want. (Just make sure this writer is not an arrogant jerk who will try to show you that he's a better writer than you. That happened to me, and it was so depressing. Don't worry, I wouldn't do that ) There's always someone to talk to, and from my experiences, everyone on YWS is amazing!

Anyways, gotta run, hope I helped!!

Personally, it actually takes me a while to actually get to writing. I make pages and pages of notes and possible scenes, figuring out as much as I can before I even sit down. I work a lot of things out ahead of time. Ideas of mine evolve into better ideas often before they reach the computer. Try to do some planning ahead of time, then start, then just remember what plot you've written and keep going. Like almost anyone here will tell you, edit later.

Well, okay, you can do some editing ahead of time, but put yourself on a tight leash. And if you do decide to edit, make a separate file called "title(clipbaord)". Try not to actually delete anything. Maybe the new idea will play out, maybe you'll like your original idea better. All I know is that I can't fly blind when it comes to writing. If an inspirational idea strikes you, write down the idea: DON"T START THE BOOK. You'll run out of steam and start beating your head against your desk, because then you're just putting in random bits for the sake of continueing then there's no consistancy and the project is more or less shot. And some ideas all on their own simply do not make books; short stories at the most.

Other than that, you're either being way to hard on yourself and/or your only writing for the sake of writing. That can be good practice, but that can also lead to having very little passion in your work, leading to boredom with an idea. You know, there's probably enough people like you (like myself), that we could start a usergroup on it. Or a self held group. Kinda like AA or something. Anyway, write down any ideas, mull over them a while; tweak, fiddle, and daydream with them; add ideas together, and eventually, you'll have a project that just nags at the back of your mind to get done. That more than anything will drive you through the pages. And what everyone else said. Anyway, good luck.

My problem is that I'm a perfectionist, so when I can't get it right the first time, I often quit writing.

So, I'll have to echo what's been said about inner editors. Tell them to shut up! The only thing you can't edit is a blank page. At least write something, even if it ends up being the most pathetic thing you've ever put on paper or computer screen, it can always be improved later.

Writing fast is a good way to do this. The faster you write, the less time you have to really think about what you're writing, and while a lot of junk might come out, some really good stuff usually accompanies it. Give it a try; you might be surprised!

I usually just force myself to keep writing until I'm done, and then go back later to revise it (heavily.)

After a page or so, it helps me to start outlining.

Simple Solution: Keep writing

Discipline and perseverance - two key traits of a writer.

Don't stop to edit; what matters is finishing. After you have finished, you will have a better grasp on the big picture of the story and you can edit parts of your story to fit into that overarching theme or overarching picture. Once you have the first draft of something, you can edit and rewrite as much as you want.

One book I would like to suggest is A Story is a Promise by Bill Johnson - it deal with why writers write, how a story is like a promise, persevering in writing and even gives some hints on the specifics of storytelling. Awesome book.

I don't think I've ever actually finished anything I've begun (unless it's actually intended to be under 5,000 words). Outlining is always a good buddy to fall back on.