Writers Block...

[power to the J]

Originally Posted by Triceratops

Even JK Rowling admitted that she found herself actually hating her books in just about every stage of the process.

This happens to literally everybody, from what I've gathered. From Stephen King to Francis Ford Copolla, people loathe their work either while their writing it or afterwards. The world would be missing a lot of classic literature if everybody quit when this kicked in, so just keep pushing, no matter what.

[Hilarious Joke]

Well that's encouraging! I just finished a chapter from a new POV in my story that I started about a week ago and though I thoroughly enjoyed writing it I read it back and thought that it needed a lot of work and had only moments of the mood and the character I was trying to create. Rather then dwell on it though, now I think I'll just plough forward.

[Nik]

"...realizing you simply haven't got the writing chops to be able to write your story well."

Thanks, Lith, very well put...

Yup, been there, done that. I've been lucky, 'caught the wave' with some tales, but incidentally set bar so very high for others...

Sure, I've got 'writers block'. Both my fantasy *and* space-war tales are log-jammed. Also, I've got the 'Winter Glums', family are clawing clear of 'flu-like lurgies, I can't make my 3D Apps do what I want, and there's a tunnel-war in my sinuses...

Give it a couple of weeks, and I may wake up grabbing for notebook...

[alternicity]

What 3d apps do you use Nik?
I'd pm you but I'm too new here as yet.

[Lith]

Give it a couple of weeks, and I may wake up grabbing for notebook...

Heh, yeah, it's the dead of winter. Our house has been so cold that writing is a very unpleasant activity right about now. I've half put off writing anything until it warms up a bit. But give yourself a definite restart date, and a definite goal. Ambiguity can be your friend within the text, but not in your schedule.

I just finished Orson Scott Card's How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy, and one of his useful bits (among a whole book of useful bits) was that a writer must hold two beliefs simultaneously: 1. That your novel is the best ever written. And 2. Your novel is the worst drivel ever. He says it's highly useful to be able to remember one, then the other. And I can agree wholeheartedly, from experience.

[Triceratops]

Yep, we hold a love-hate relationship with our prose. I'm trying to convince myself that because this current work is so difficult to write, and it finds me blocked often, that perhaps it's one of the better stories I've attempted. It might be a false sense of security, but at this juncture I'm willing to try any psychological means to goad my progress on. Whatever floats the boat, I guess.

Tri

[Lith]

And if it turns out that you've simply got thematic or plot issues that you haven't understood yet, it'll be okay, because of rule number two. Some days, writing's a !!!!!, isn't it?

My current one is about 160,000 words, and it was only within the last 15k that I finally realized where I was taking it. Which means that yup, there's more "filler" and "not so interesting stuff" than most novels contain in their entirety. But it isn't waste, either, since I think I needed to explore the world and find out what I was really trying to do. And of course, I've realized why balancing four types of symbolism isn't such a good idea; the marvel is that it works at all.

But in all, I think it's important to keep the gears turning, even at low speeds. You're still moving through a learning process that way, even when (or perhaps especially when) you don't realize it.

[Ursa major]

It is often the case that writing is our best tool to explore our own imagination, Lith. We cannot always be blamed when our discoveries do not arrive in the correct order.

[Hilarious Joke]

I've recently tried the GRRM technique of having multiple stories happening across the world and it is really great for keeping interest up. One of the (many) things I admire about GRRM's writing is the way each chapter ends in a cliffhanger. Writing in this way keeps me excited about the characters and let's me explore my world through lots of different eyes.

[alternicity]

...I admire about GRRM's writing is the way each chapter ends in a cliffhanger.
Hilarious Joke

If I remember correctly, the Necrosope books did this too, or frequently at least.
Martin is the King though, of Fantasy, imo, and the one chapter/pov thing does rock.

regards,
Stuart