What do you struggle with?

[Ann]

Is there any part of writing that you dread? One thing you dislike writing about or find it difficult to?

Is it something you can skip over? Or do you always end up writing it anyway?

[Dawn]

I dread the research, because it feels like it always hinders how much I can write at any given setting. It's not something I can ever skip, so I do it begrudgingly and quickly. If I didn't research or spend an obscene amount of time on things like names of characters, I wouldn't feel like the story had enough depth. I'd end up with characters named "Bob" or "Bill" or "Susie" that would make the story fall incredibly flat.

I also feel like I spend way too much time picking the right words for any given situation. I reference thesaurus.com on a regular basis, and end up getting myself pretty twisted up over one stinkin' word.

I suppose, though, those things define my writing style. Without those hang ups, my novels and stories wouldn't be what they are. :)

[Lauren]

@Dawn: I dread research too. It feels like something I have to get through before I can start writing (probably why I don't writing historical fiction), and all I want to do is dive into the writing. If I have something I need to research in a story, I usually insert fillers and go back and plug research in later. It gets kind of sloppy, but it's the only way I can get it done.

What I dread most are summaries. When I send a query and have to include a one page summary - sheesh. I can do it, but it's painful. I psyche myself out and spend hours working on a handful of paragraphs. Writing the backs of my books isn't much fun either. I always want to say, "Just read it," and leave it at that. :)

[Ann]

I was contacted by a small indie publisher for A Dance With Fury, they took the first five chapters and wanted a summery/synopsis. In the end it stressed me out so much that I turned them down. I wasn't expecting to have to write one so I didn't know where to start .__.

[G.G.]

I have to agree; blurb and synopsis are the worst nightmare!

[Lauren]

There's something so cold and artless about having to cram your whole story into a few-page synopsis.

@Bisky: Been there, and that sucks :( I've always wondered if my lackluster synopsis was what made a publisher pass on a project of mine. I need a professional synopsis-writer. Lol.

[J. David]

I struggle whenever a scene hasn't fully formed in my mind. If I've had scenes pop into my head and play out for me, I can write them down no problem, but if there's say, a connective part from one scene to the next, I struggle with it. It never feels "right", and I used to just give up on things when that happened. Now I try to fight my way through it and rewrite it later if need be, but it's hard and I hate doing it.

[Carl]

First drafts typically become ordeals from the pit of hell. Editing is hard but fun as that's when a story comes together. Overall, I love the process whereas the finished piece makes me think about what's next.

[Topaz]

Editing. Hate it. Never know when to stop, when the piece is done, if I can make it just a LITTLE bit better in that ONE spot.

[Claire]

Beginnings, endings and the sagging middle... (hah! that sounds like everything.)

[Ann]

I can write tens of thousands of words in a day. No problem for me at all.

In the same time I can only edit 10 pages :I

[Ann]

As in today... *scratches brain* work faster dammit >.<

[G.G.]

Well 10 pages is better than I do. Lately, on good days I've been averaging about a page a day. At this rate I'll never have it done on time. :p

[Ann]

I was hoping to have mine done by christmas but me thinks it won't be a good idea to rush the final draft :I

[Rick]

Time!
I just run into things all day long that distract me from ever getting anything done, and then the next thing I know the entire day is eaten up and I haven't been able to sit down and write a thing.

[G.G.]

@Rick I am so with you on that! I've been sitting on the computer almost all day and I have done nothing but reply to emails so far... And I thought I'd have a nice day to edit my manuscript... That was an appealing dream. /sigh

[Ann]

I had the entire day to edit today but I ended up getting headache and having to nap -_-

[Molly]

The nit-picky part of editing, like sentence starts and overused words, it's too analytical for me and I have to force myself to work.

[Carl]

Molly, nit-picking is where my mss. come to life. But it's tedious. It's fascinating how different we all are.

[Rick]

Editing is easy for me because at that point I'm just being a reader and if something doesn't read right I just change it. Now all the punctuation stuff I leave to someone else, but the actual wording that part I'm cool with.
Once again having the time to do anything at all is the most difficult problem I have...