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Covers, Blurbs, 1st Line, Query
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Struggling to Write And Keep Writing
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Is it your first chapter? It usually happens
Moshe wrote: "Is it your first chapter? It usually happens"Yes it is! I just feel so overwhelmed by it. It's almost as if I'm too focused on getting it perfect??
Forget about how it sounds for now, And focus on what you are achieving for the reader, what promises are you fulfilling in the plot as you, what conflict can you add etc.
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In my mind, the most important thing is to have something to edit. If you're writing a short story, then, yes, stop at the end and start obsessing. If you're writing a novel, then I don't feel you have any reason to start obsessing until you're done with the whole thing. You could very well reach the middle and lose interest, so why obsess over the opening? You might get to the end and realize you've told a completely different story than what you thought you were going to write, then have to completely rewrite the opening.I expect every writer goes through periods of self-doubt. The ones that get published are the ones that brush that aside and grind through. Once you've reached 'the end', you're only starting the writing process anyway, there is plenty more self doubt to come. Then, when you get your MS back from the editor and it seems dipped in blood, you'll most likely have yet another crisis in faith. Beta readers may like your story, yet provide no meaningful information on your weaknesses. Conversely, they may hate your story and you wonder if you've wasted all this time (keep in mind you cannot please all the people all the time; better to have a small, but very loyal, core of readers than a bunch that forget your story as they lay the book down). Some people who critique can do so in a way that fires up your imagination, yet the exact same information from someone else causes you to wilt in self-doubt.
I've come to believe that, once you've mastered the basics of the craft and have put your story down on the page (and been willing to accept useful input while ignoring useless input), publishing boils down to persistence. Querying might as well be random, based on my reading of successful query letters. Self publishing drops you in an ocean of noise, so rising above to get that loyal core of readership can be harder than finding the right agent and publisher.
So, long story short (too late!), write, write some more, then keep writing. You are a writer if you write, no matter how much your prose sucks. If you stop writing, then you aren't a writer, no matter how many stories you tell to yourself. Your prose can be improved along with your plotting, pacing and character development, but only if there is something to work with. Can't edit a blank page!
Having been trained to write essays [introduction (thesis statement). topic A, topic B, topic C, conclusion (proving thesis statement)], I start more in the middle of Act I or Act II (perhaps even the climax of Act III) to see what needs to be developed [backstory, character arc, foreshadowing, etc.] so the reader can have the necessary information to understand the importance of this scene.If you liked your chapter and someone else agreed, then the chapter is fine for now, so continue with the next chapter(s). Do not second guess yourself or edit your writing until you have a completed first draft.
The best thing to do is just write the parts of the book that strike your fancy at any given moment. It's messy and fun and it's a great way to get yourself out of the linear thinking that that's holding you back.I recommend writing an outline of everything that is going to happen from beginning to end. Not details, just start with the skeleton of the story.
Once you're satisfied with that, things will go much smoother. Having a map to follow can really keep you going.
And don't look at your first chapter. Maybe re-visit it in a few months when you have a bunch of other chapters. But ignore it for now. First chapters are annoying as hell and really shouldn't be written until the end.
If it is your first draft. It's going to be crappy. That's just the way it goes. In the first draft you're telling yourself the story. You can fix crap. You can't fix a blank page. I know some writers tell you to fix it first and then move on, but for me and for other writers I know you need to keep writing. Maybe if you're unhappy with what you've written keep a notebook to remind yourself where you need to go back and fix plot holes, and other problems.
Totally agree with everyone who said to not stop to perfect the first chapter. Just to extend that argument a little further...The first chapter of the first novel that i finished 2 years ago (oh wait, that was 3 years ago) was crap. In fact, the entire novel was crap and it's still crap. But I still had to write it to get it out of the way. For most authors, that's the way it is. YMMV. Even Stephen king's Dark Tower series was one of his first books that he only only published after decades. In my most recent short story, I threw out the first scene. Many first scenes get thrown on the cutting room floor.
Barry Lyga has an amusing and instructive commentary on writing 1 million words. His other advice on becoming a better writer is also useful.
http://barrylyga.com/2009/05/writing-...
Concerning the amount of time to wait to come back to a written work, I'd say that for most writers, 24 hours isn't enough. For me, Maybe a few days at least or even a week or two to get distance. Ive got to let it ferment like miso or worse, natto. In the meantime, I work on other stories.
Advice: Just finish the novel. Do something like NaNoWriMo where you force write a book in a specific amount of time. Once it's finished, then go back and edit and edit and edit... but the first draft isn't supposed to be shiny. But know this, you'll get nowhere without finishing the first draft.
I know just how you feel! When I first started writing I felt so overwhelmed with all I had to learn and all I wanted to write. But feelings aren't going to kill you. Put your inner editor in a closet and lock it tight. Don't let her out again until you write "The End." Then she can come out and edit all she wants.
Constance wrote: "So I've written my chapter. I read it aloud to myself, I have somebody else read it aloud. It sounds good and I'm happy with it. Fast forward no longer than 24 hours and I wake up convinced that ..."
You know deep down that the writing is fine but at the same time you think it's rubbish. What does rubbish mean? It might mean that the ideas are stale and trite. That nothing new has been brought to the writing. Or it might mean that the sentences and paragraphs are poorly constructed. Both? But then somehow down deep it's fine. What is there about it that's fine? If the ideas are stale and trite then you're kidding yourself that the writing is fine. If it's just flawed grammar and syntax, there still could be something fine about it. Of course, the writing could contain all of the necessary ingredients and still lack life. The words just sit there dead. I hope that helps.
Fast forward no longer than 24 hours and I wake up convinced that everything I wrote the night before was utter rubbish, and no amount of reading it aloud again will help, even though I know deep down there's nothing wrong with my writing.
Does anyone else have this problem? It's really hindering me. I've never been able to get past two or three chapters before I'm completely adamant that I must begin my novel again... Is there a way of getting round this??