Do You Like Writing

[pelwrath]

This was asked of me and I thought about it, and came up with; yes I do. I dread elements of writing but I like it.
Then, as the question thrashed about my brain like a tornado, I had a slight change.

I don’t hate writing. I’m a storyteller who writes. I need to write to tell my stories.
Look at the progress, lack of or even my inability to noticeably improve my writing.

My contest stories consistently get hammered, and rightly so for an almost complete lack of writing skill.
Many of my ideas, some of my shorter submissions, and poems do very well. THEY receive good compliments and comments.

Pel, that’s true, all good stories share that. The difference is that good writers receive compliments. They care about their writing and that of others. Several here and not here have really tried to help me improve. IMHO, I reward that with inconsistent writing, I seem give off an attitude(?) of flippancy or nonchalant caring about my writing. Back to the original question. Do I like writing? I don’t hate it, I’ve improved but yet I don’t love it. I accept it as necessary to telling a story. 

Recently, I received, to the best of my knowledge, the first ever compliment about me as a writer and it meant the world to me.
I know my deficiencies would make for a great King horror movie. I’ll never be a lover of writing. Bards and skalds have traded mandolin and voice for ink and quill. I will be more appreciative of writing and of writers who perfect their craft and give unto others.

[ScintillaMyntan]

Pelwrath, you are being too hard on yourself. I have complimented your writing before. I especially liked that story with the alien ship where the power goes out. That was a beautiful and emotional story, just weighed down with a few very fixable issues.

I think your harshness on yourself is holding back your writing. From my perspective it looks like you react strongly and rashly to criticisms instead of just seeing them as ways to improve. Though I might be projecting because I know I have that problem. I might say "That last paragraph seems too understated" to someone just because I wish they would rewrite it to be less understated, yet if someone said the same to me, my instinct would be to go "No, they think my writing is bad! Why can't I get it right like everyone else?"

With your spaceship story, people didn't like your decision to use lots of conlang. When you were writing the piece, you must have made the judgment to use it, just as we all make lots of judgments when we write, wondering whether we've judged right or wrong. You were trying it to see if it would work. When people criticized it, you shouldn't see it as your writing being bad. They just meant that particular judgment out of the many judgments you've made was the wrong one in their opinion. So then just take it out in the next version. It's not a big deal.

Likewise, you said that you try to convey a lot of things through dialogue because someone in the past told you you're better at dialogue than narration. To me at least, it looks like instead of calmly thinking about how to improve the narration, you took it harshly and rushed to say, "my narration is terrible and I must minimize it!", a rash decision that has led to awkwardness in some of your stories. It's such black-and-white thinking. You were too quick to think a suggestion for improvement means your writing is bad and you must take drastic ill-advised action.

[pelwrath]

Scintilla,

I pretty much agree with what your saying. The only problem is, this thread isn’t about me. It was supposed to be an opportunity for all of you to answer the same question and explain why, that’s all.
It’s an excellent tribute to the person you are that you took the time to help me out, love ya for that. Though my inability to make that clear means I shouldn’t post such questions during my dinner break at work.

So, how would you answer that question?

[Mazulla]

I enjoy writing. I like finding the words to better describe scenes and understanding how to better structure sentences/stories for it to flow well. I like the challenge of arranging and rearranging words so that others will see what I see. However, I don't practice as much as I should and that can and does make writing frustrating. Completely and 100% my fault. I go through "bursts" of writing, then weeks and sometimes months of no writing. I have many started but mostly unfinished projects. I write formally for work (mainly instructions and "how to"), and for me, it does make it more difficult to switch gears and swap to creative writing after so much formal writing.

In creative writing, the biggest thing I struggle with is feeling as if I've hit a wall and that I'm lacking inspiration. Today, for example, I sat and looked at a mostly blank page for about 2 hours (except for what I wrote weeks ago), then finally, finally got some inspiration to write what happens next and jotted down another 500-600 words. That is a win for today, but do I want to and do I have the time to stare at a page for 2 or more hours before something comes to me every time?

The cycle leaves me feeling defeated at times because I don't have great habits to write consistently yet and inspiration doesn't come quickly or easily. Also, what I do write, I think it's either not good enough to share and/or can't be shared until it's finished (hence: mostly unfinished projects). This is definitely "imposter syndrome" -- I saw and read about this again on a few threads recently (thanks, Raveneye!) and so, I have to remind myself, share it anyway.

In short: I enjoy writing, but the process of writing and all it entails can drag me down sometimes. But, I imagine that is a daily or at least occasional struggle for most/all writers. It's a push and pull, it's good days and bad, and it's all about getting through it and trying to develop good habits.

[havekrillwhaletravel]

pelwrath, I think you’re being unnecessarily hard on yourself. I’ve read plenty of your stuff that I liked (like, that recent Gumshoe entry you did was amazing). I agree with Scintilla, I think you take an all-or-nothing approach to critiques and I think that hurts your writing.

To the question: I like writing, but I love reading. I write because I read. I love watching how the sausage gets made.

Jul 28, 2022 23:53:56 GMT -6 Mazulla said:

I enjoy writing. I like finding the words to better describe scenes and understanding how to better structure sentences/stories for it to flow well. I like the challenge of arranging and rearranging words so that others will see what I see. However, I don't practice as much as I should and that can and does make writing frustrating. Completely and 100% my fault. I go through "bursts" of writing, then weeks and sometimes months of no writing. I have many started but mostly unfinished projects. I write formally for work (mainly instructions and "how to"), and for me, it does make it more difficult to switch gears and swap to creative writing after so much formal writing.

In creative writing, the biggest thing I struggle with is feeling as if I've hit a wall and that I'm lacking inspiration. Today, for example, I sat and looked at a mostly blank page for about 2 hours (except for what I wrote weeks ago), then finally, finally got some inspiration to write what happens next and jotted down another 500-600 words. That is a win for today, but do I want to and do I have the time to stare at a page for 2 or more hours before something comes to me every time?

The cycle leaves me feeling defeated at times because I don't have great habits to write consistently yet and inspiration doesn't come quickly or easily. Also, what I do write, I think it's either not good enough to share and/or can't be shared until it's finished (hence: mostly unfinished projects). This is definitely "imposter syndrome" -- I saw and read about this again on a few threads recently (thanks, Raveneye!) and so, I have to remind myself, share it anyway.

In short: I enjoy writing, but the process of writing and all it entails can drag me down sometimes. But, I imagine that is a daily or at least occasional struggle for most/all writers. It's a push and pull, it's good days and bad, and it's all about getting through it and trying to develop good habits.

You’ve stolen the words out my mouth, give them back

Yeah, I like that buzz when the words pour freely, but I just nope out whenever I hit a hurdle. Like you say, I know I can probably squeeze something out if I sit down and stare at the screen for an hour. Sometimes that’s fine, but sometimes I don’t want to do that. So yeah, writing consistently is def a challenge for me too.

[RAVENEYE]

Yeah, I feel ya. All of you. I don't LOVE writing either, most days. On the hardest days, putting words on the screen feels like an Everest to be climbed. It's so daunting to get started, and so exhausting along the way. Progress is ridiculously slow on the hardest days, if I can force out more than a couple words at all. 

Those days where words flow like water from a burst pipe are soooooo rare. On normal days, writing is like sorting through jumbled puzzle pieces and focusing on one piece at a time to make sense of the mess.

Now, that said, I love the challenge of a 1000 piece puzzle. I love solving a mystery. Those are the things about telling a story that get me high -- when it's going well. Otherwise, it's the most frustrating tangle of strings in the universe and it makes me scream on the inside (sometimes on the outside). Why don't they make mental laxatives for story constipation???? 
Maybe they do, and it's called LSD, but I'm not that desperate. 

[Sundrinker]

Aug 8, 2022 9:55:49 GMT -6 RAVENEYE said:

Yeah, I feel ya. All of you. I don't LOVE writing either, most days. On the hardest days, putting words on the screen feels like an Everest to be climbed. It's so daunting to get started, and so exhausting along the way. Progress is ridiculously slow on the hardest days, if I can force out more than a couple words at all. 

Those days where words flow like water from a burst pipe are soooooo rare. On normal days, writing is like sorting through jumbled puzzle pieces and focusing on one piece at a time to make sense of the mess.

Wow. This is word for word my own experience. It makes me feel better about my own process to know writers far more seasoned and competent go through the same thing.

[RAVENEYE]

Aug 8, 2022 18:40:30 GMT -6 Sundrinker said:

Aug 8, 2022 9:55:49 GMT -6 RAVENEYE said:

Yeah, I feel ya. All of you. I don't LOVE writing either, most days. On the hardest days, putting words on the screen feels like an Everest to be climbed. It's so daunting to get started, and so exhausting along the way. Progress is ridiculously slow on the hardest days, if I can force out more than a couple words at all. 

Those days where words flow like water from a burst pipe are soooooo rare. On normal days, writing is like sorting through jumbled puzzle pieces and focusing on one piece at a time to make sense of the mess.

Wow. This is word for word my own experience. It makes me feel better about my own process to know writers far more seasoned and competent go through the same thing.

Aw, thanks for that, Sundrinker.

One of the most wonderful things I learned at writing conferences is that we isolated writers are definitely not alone. It's refreshing to hear even the "experts" and professional authors groan and wince through stories of burnout and horrible writing days -- and to hear their methods of coping and recuperating. Nearly every single one said that the adage to "write everyday" is a mistake. In fact, it's a great way to exacerbate the burnout. Resting the brain is so vital to productivity. So now I don't let myself feel guilty about those days when my brain demands rest. Amazing how the words flow after a day or two of it. (Or in extreme cases, a couple of months)