posted
Sorry for such a non-descript topic. I couldn't really think of something more appropriate. But yeah, maybe the oh-so-mysterious thread title may get more of you to click. Or something.
Anyway, I've always 'wanted to write'. It's always been in the back of my head. I'd start writing often. I'd finally start.
It's been like that for ages, now. I have sat down and started to write, a few times. But in total, I've written maybe half a dozen short stories (about half of which I never even managed to finish) during the past four to five years. Yep, that's about it.
I've always got this feeling. I guess it's hard to explain, but I worry that I just don't know enough. That I don't know enough about... well, anything. I've never really taken any classes in writing, I don't know how I'm supposed to just start. Sometimes I get the notion that if I read more, it might eventually help me start writing. It really hasn't.
Don't get me wrong, I do read, and I read quite a bit. But I get the feeling that I just haven't read enough. I don't just mean quantity, it's hard to describe, exactly... but part of me feels like I need to read the far majority of 'classics' out there before I can try to convince myself that I should be writing. Or trying to write.
I suppose none of that really made any sense, and there's not a whole lot you can say in response to it... so I'll make it easier.
How did you start? Where do you get your ideas? How much planning do you do before starting to write?
Oh, and utterly off topic... Survivor, do you happen to be the same Survivor from the Young Writers' group, ages ago?
posted
Thismay not be much help---I start with whatever scene is playing out in my head. I do about zero planning and most times have no idea where the story will end. As the story comes out I do some back story, keep a book bible (to keep track of back story and characterizations ect.)
But I simply sit down and write---then edit. Groan on edits. They take a lot of time. And I sure wish the story could come out perfect but I don't think any amount of pre-planning could make it do so.
posted
Ideas are out there -- I can find half a dozen of them on a Sprite can -- you just have to train yourself to notice them.
Reading does help, and reading classics helps tremendously. But not because you have to pay any dues, but because many of them were great writers who knew the craft. Reading from them is to learn from them.
I started when I was maybe 10 or so, but before that, I had always thought about it. Short stories I typically start with a concept, and I just run with it. But if I don't have at least an idea of how I want it to end, I'll get stuck somewhere around the middle. Longer pieces I do a little more prewriting before I sit down at the keyboard.
I think your intuition is telling you something important here.
Experimentation is a usual part of writing. It's not about finishing projects or goaling for publishing - it's about focussing creativity in different areas - having fun with it, learning to use it, etc.
So if your intuition says it's not time - then don;t worry about it. Experiment, read, etc, until your intuition starts to focus on something in particular.
posted
I began to really learn to write my freshman year of college. It had nothing to do with any classes I took. I simply started reading a whole bunch of mostly bad submissions to a student publication I volunteered for. Pretty soon I started noticing things that don't work. I would read a story and think, "Man, I hate this. Why?" The next step was starting to notice stories that were pretty good but slightly annoying. And finally, I started paying attention to authors I love and trying to find out why they catch me so well. I learned what kind of story I love to read, and then I tried to write it.
Over the past three years, I have written, like you, perhaps three finished short stories. I also have written a truckload of story beginnings that didn't work out, I tired of, or I learned enough through to realize I couldn't save. I wrote about 150 pages of a novel that taught me so much about writing that I finally gave it up and started with a new one--one I think is pretty strong, and definitely much more mature.
Experiment. I suggest joining a writing group or reading some of the stories up on the "Fragments and Feedback" section--simply because doing that worked so well for me (I'm not saying the stuff you find there will be awful, but you'll almost certainly find flaws).
Also, if it's history/science/philosophy/sociology/economics/whatever that you feel you are lacking, research is always possible and helpful, and often fun. Decide what kind of story you want to write, and gear your reading toward that end. Good luck, and don't be afraid to try and fail. You will. But maybe among all the falling you'll learn to fly...
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I don't mind at all, Brinestone. I asked some pretty stereotypical questions, it's hard to avoid giving cliché advice in return. I really don't mind. Thank you all, for responding. I know it's a bit odd to show up and ask for advice when I don't even post here, sorry about that.
Rahl, how exactly do you suggest I 'train myself to see them'? If you could elaborate a bit, I'd really appreciate it.
Chronicles, again, thanks for your advice. But the thing is, it's never really 'felt any different'. When I have managed to pump out a fraction of a story (which really hasn't been in what seems like eons), nothing feels different. I still feel like I shouldn't be trying, not yet. Despite the fact that I know it's really the only thing that will significantly improve my writing... I guess it's hard to explain.
posted
I started in 6th grade with a fiction-writing assignment, prior to which I'd never thought about writing--though I loved reading. But that assignment hooked me.
It may be a bit of an extrapolation, but since you sound so unsure about it all, maybe a creative writing course would help. You'd be compelled to finish something and then have some immediate feedback.
It might also be a test to see if the desire to write survives the hard work of writing. I know I've always wanted to play the piano, but have never done anything about it. I guess I didn't want it badly enough. How badly do you want to write?
posted
it sounds like your problem is mainly a lack of confidence. been there. you have an idea you want to communicate, but don't think you know enough about the subject matter to tell a believable tale. in the end the only real way to fix this is research research research (which, of course, could turn out to be only reading similar works to what you want to write and figure out the minimal "facts" about your world you have to include to make it believable, or it could mean going to the local library and setting up camp there). however, in the mean time my advice is to write what you know. what have you done? where have you been? create a character and stick them there. you may not think the finished project is very profound or classic-quality, but that's really not the point. the point is that you wrote something.
as for my personal experience, i started out writing in elementary school (fantasy shorts were my first pieces), and back then i didn't fret about believability, which i think was a big help. i would make people ride a horse 300 miles in a day and sail across an ocean in a week and it didn't matter. i could focus on the story i wanted to tell. now, i take the time to get the facts straight, but if i'm not in a research mood, i write anyway, filling in whatever facts i want with the promise that i'll go back and get it right later.
I'll speak directly from my own experience, being someone who has been into writing since before I could write, and having had the goal of writing a novel since I was in ninth grade. Through a great deal of that time, I've had the same feeling of "shouldn't be writing yet" as you have. The feeling of not knowing enough about anything. It's been a horribly difficult thing to live with all these years.
I do write, in spurts, no matter how little I believe in my own knowledge of... well, anything. I write when I get the bug and try to force myself to produce everything I possibly can. When I'm not writing, I'm trying to come up with ideas, either for my current project, or for a new one. Sometimes I go months with no ideas and no confidence in my ability to write anything worthwhile at all.
During these periods of downtime, my brain doesn't just turn off. I am cursed with an overactive imagination, and it's got to be focused on something or I go a little nuts. I focus in on books and games of all kinds, and my imagination is satiated that way. But while I'm doing these things, none of which seem really to be important at all, I'm always learning little things that I'm not even aware of at the time that show up unexpectedly when I get back to the keyboard and I realize "hey, that made me a better writer".
What I'm getting at is that downtimes are not for nothing, especially not if you actually do go back and write as soon as you get the bug to do it again. You'll find that the strangest and most trivial things will make you a better writer, when that's not what you were focusing on at all.
As far as feeling that I simply don't know enough about anything to write... I don't think that'll ever go away, because no matter how much I learn, there'll still be far, far more that I don't know. I'm starting to settle on knowing just enough to write what I'm currently focusing on, and alot of time that takes research. I hate doing research. I find it tedious and distracting most of the time. But it is valuable.
So... um... yeah. My three cents. Inflation, you know.
posted
Just write. Don't think about how it will end, how it will turn out--just write. Don't think abouthow good it will be or if it will sell--just write.
All of the above come with time if you ---Just write.
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