Young Writers discussion
note: This topic has been closed to new comments.
Archives
>
Should you write when you don't feel like it?
message 1:
by
L
(new)
Jun 11, 2011 11:09AM
Hello. Well, I talked to my teacher who says she writes when she feels like it. I read one time it is recommended to wrote every two pages a day. I struggle wondering. Is it better to write only when you feel like it? --And if so, how can you feel like writing all the time? (Maybe inspirations? Or steadfastness?) Or write even when you don't feel like it? Hmmm. Thanks.
reply
|
flag
Sometimes, writing when you don't want to gives you an idea that makes you realize you do want to write. The human mind is funny that way.
Mod
That's exactly what I was going to say.
Mod
Then I realized that really great crazy inspiration is some dang rare stuff, and Scott Walker can just wait for it to come because he spent the better part of his life practicing making music constantly and so KNOWS he can make something worthwhile. I am not great.
In conclusion, I try to write a little bit, at least once a week, even if I don't feel much like it, just so that I can continue to practice and hone my writing abilities.
Mod
I'm doing a writing challenge this summer, and I think it's going great! Inspiration can come from pretty much anything. Like, yesterday, I was thinking about freedom, which somehow led me to think of flying, which led to a start of a story about shapeshifters :)
That's pretty much how my mind works also.
Yeah. I guess loving it makes writing alot easier. I guess the panacea is to write about what you love, like or things your familiar with. Anyone disagree?
Emily the Zepik [The Freak Nobody Cares For] wrote: "That's pretty much how my mind works also."Good. We were starting to worrh that we were insane. *cackles evily*
message 12:
by
Brigid ✩, No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader.
(last edited Jun 15, 2011 07:49AM)
(new)
Mod
If I don't really feel like writing, and I write anyway, I just write whatever pops into my head because there's no pressure for it to be great. Then I read it later and I'm like, "Hey! This is pretty good ..."
If you are inspired, you aren't trying. It'll come naturally.
♥ Brigid ♥ wrote: "I disagree. If I only write when I "feel" like it, I feel more pressure for my writing to be good, because it's like, "I feel inspired! This has to be great!" And then I end up trying too hard, and..."You took the words right out of my mouth.
I think that poetry never should be forced like so many people do sometimes and call it "poetry." But writing. That's kind of a different matter. I think writing can be forced if you have some plan to your story. If you don't, you might end up hating what you wrote. This is only when continuing a novel though. New ideas are just endless in my opinion. If you're still starting a story that you thought off long back, inspiration is a better way to go unless inspiration only comes to you once a year. If that is your case, I suggest reading. Reading always gives me more inspiration and such. I don't if anyone else finds this acceptable, but I suggest watching TV shows. TV shows have this magical capability to improve writing. Basically, TV shows rely on "show, don't tell." They can have great characterization. And plots can be amazing as well. Only some TV shows succeed in these categories though.
My only warning is that you probably shouldn't get addicted to it too much. You know you're addicted if you're watching episode after episode for hours and hours.
Rambling mess= me
My theory is sorta weird...maybe it's just weird little Shreya...So basically, my school schedule is messed up, so I have some gaps of free time, and the rest of it has either little time or no time at all. So I tend to write a lot, then stop at one point and leave it there.
When I start writing and force myself to keep going, I get more and more enthusiastic as I go on and end up writing like...5 pages. And then I can't wait to look at it again and write more. But then I may have to leave it to do my homework or practice my violin. And then I just keep leaving it and leaving it.
When I leave it for that long, the spot where I stopped tends to get "dry". I don't see its potential to continue and I'm like, "Ugh, I'm stuck...I don't wanna write." And I leave it until I get together my discipline and write again.
Lately, as school is out, I've tried to adopt a more normal pattern, so that my spots don't get dry, and so that I don't overdose on writing. So, adopt a normal pattern, write a page or two a day (maybe more if you like LONG stories like me) and yeah...
But again, don't FORCE yourself to write when you really want to do something else. That just leads to bad, dead, stiff writing.
I am so weird.
Well, when I feel like I should write, but don't really have ideas for moving a plot foward, I write songfics or oneshots. In fact, most of my writing is songfics or oneshots, because it helps to get a better handle on the characters/situations. So, when I'm feeling stuck, I put on some music, hear a song, pick a character/couple/situation and write about it, based on the song. I actually wrote down the title of every song on my Zune, and I keep a list of what song fits what character/fandom, so when I hear a song, I can refer back and have a start somewhere. It help boots my writing and I can get back into the swing of writing for that character or fandom.
I wrote a short story broken up into fifteen parts posted on GR. I wrote it while listening to my John Williams' film scores, and since they were in such a random order, it turned out.... O.o
I didn't feel like writing yesterday, but I forced myself to since I really wanted to get to a certain point in the story. By mid-afternoon, I was on a roll and had finished with 2,022 words.
Force yourself to write now and then. It's good for you.
Force yourself to write now and then. It's good for you.
When I forced myself to write, it always ends up crappy.
Sometimes my writing ends up that way, too, but you can always edit crap.
With me, you can't. When I try, it ends up with even more crap.
I suppose it depends on the person. But what I've read of your writing is pretty good. :)
NO IT'S NOT ASOREIRULSANGOADHRLAJRLDSJGHlwj.
Ah makes sense. Its tough to keep up. William Faulkner said: "I only write when I am inspired. Fortunately I am inspired at 9 o'clock every morning." Ah that'd be nice.
I don't... I just... can't. There are even times when I WANT to write that I don't, because I can't. Sounds weird... I just have to be in the mood to write and actually have the words to put on paper.I really should get back to writing, though... My goal was to write a book this year and all I did was complete my NaNoNovel from last year. Does that count for my goal?
Anyway, I go through these phases - I prefer reading over writing, or vice versa. Right now I'm in that reading stage where I'm reading a million books at once (not literally, of course) so I'm too focused on that to write. Plus, all of these stories get stuck in my head and make my work completely unoriginal.
I'm rambling now...
Mod
I really didn't reach my writing goals this year either. The only thing I finished was something I finished in February, which I'd started like a year before. I started a few things but didn't get very far into any of them. Blarghs. This year I need to be a lot more motivated. >_<
Slightly off-topic, but I got a NaNoWriMo sweatshirt for Christmas! I'm so happyyyy! XD
*hugs*I feel the same, girl! I need to be much more motivated this year. I'm determined to write at least two books - one at the beginning of the year, and one for NaNo. AND to finally send out queries for Rebel, which I still need to work on. I just don't even know where to start, with my query :( I like writing more than trying to publish :P I'd LOVE to be published by Little, Brown or McElderly Books since they both have some huge books published, but I don't want to be pressured into writing a series... that just doesn't work, I don't think. Hmmm... maybe I'll write writing a sequel this year and see what happens!
Whoa, rambling again :P
AHHHH! I would be so happy too :D That is AWESOME! :)
Mod
Mod
Ahh I feel the same way about series. I feel like YA authors only get popular by writing series, and I don't like writing sequels. I've only written one but then I didn't feel like I had enough material for the third book. Even writing the second book was kind of a stretch. Argh. How do authors crank out like five-book series? I don't get it!
Mod
Brigid *Flying Kick-a-pow!* wrote: "Oh yeah queries... I should probably get back to those eventually. Probably after ABNA ends. That's usually what I do. Ahh I feel the same way about series. I feel like YA authors only get popula..."
I'm seriously considering ABNA... I just don't know how I'd pitch my book without giving too much away D: UGHHHH. I'm horrible at summarizing my stories because I don't want to give too much away, but I need to give enough away to get readers interested ya know?
I feel the EXACT same way. I can write series if I put my mind to it and have the idea from the start... I've written a series, which was five books, but I only wrote half of the fifth book before I got tired of my characters. The fourth book killed me because it was so short and whiny... too much like Twilight. I'm thinking of rewriting the series because I love the idea... it's just how it's all put together ya know? But yeah, series are hard for me... I think I could make Rebel into a big series if I planned it all, but that'd be hard for me to want to do. I feel like Rebel is so good as a stand-alone, and I feel like if I even planned out another book I'd be betraying the fact that I meant it to be a stand-alone. :/
Mod
Ahh I feel the same way about series. I ..."
You should try out ABNA! It's funnn! :) But arrrgh yeah. The pitch is the worst. I'm having a lot of trouble writing one for this year. It's kind of hard to explain, but like ... the whole story kind of revolves around the ending, and it's hard to describe the plot without giving it away. But without hinting at the ending, it just kind of sounds like a sappy, boring teen drama type thing. :P
Exactly! Like, if I have the sequel planned out in advance it's a lot easier. Sometimes I've tried to write sequels to things I intended to be stand-alones, and ... it does not tend to work out very well. And I know what you mean about loving the idea but not the execution. I feel that way about just about everything I've ever written. Except maybe my very first novel ... that stupid thing will never see the light of day again. lol. XD
Can you explain how ABNA works? Is it kind of like this Seventeen Magazine contest? Which, by the way, I doubt I'll get to the next round. I only have like 61 hearts. I'm having a hard time getting people to help me out :/ But anyway, awww that stinks! I hate when that happens :P I feel like Rebel is a lot like that... there's so much craziness at the end, that that's the best part. But I can't give any of that away... Hmmm... Oh, but if you win ABNA is it just an ebook, or is it a book with physical form, too?Yeah, exactly! I mean, I think I might just go ahead and try for a sequel, but I almost doubt it would work out. I can think of the direction I'd take it in, but 1) I don't even know what would happen in between, or if it'd take more than one book, or whatever and 2) I don't even know if I killed off one of the main characters at the very end...
Hahahaha! Your first book was really that bad? I don't know... I feel like my first book was actually really good, for being my first book. I'd only written short stories before. I mean, I wrote a chapter book when I was 9 but that was in a notebook so it'd really be a short kids story or something :P But THAT one was HORRIBLE.
Mod
Anyway, how ABNA works is that you submit a pitch for your book, the first 3000-5000 words (the excerpt), and the entire manuscript. In the first round, editors read the pitches and select their favorite 1000 in each category. (There are two categories; Young Adult and General Fiction. I assume you would be choosing the Young Adult category. ^_^) If you make the pitch round, you then move on to the second round ... which is when Amazon Vine Reviewers read the excerpts and review them, and give them a score in overall strength, style, plot/hook, and originality. The 250 entries (per category) with the highest overall scores make it to the quarterfinals. If you reach the quarterfinals, you receive a review of your entire manuscript from a Publishers Weekly reviewer. The reviewer also gives your book a score based on different aspects of your manuscript. The 50 manuscripts with the highest scores move on to the semifinals. In the semifinals, Penguin editors read all the manuscripts and select their favorite 3 from each category to move on to the finals. Excerpts from the finalists' entries are posted online, so that Amazon customers can vote for their favorites. (So in that sense, it is a little like the Seventeen contest but only in the very, very last stage.) If you're unclear on anything, this is the full rules: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html...
Errrrm well, I assume they sell the book in physical form. :)
Hmm yeah. Planning series is quite tricky... For me, the hardest part is like, trying to decide on an overall arc for the whole thing. O_o
Haha, yeah. It was pretty terrible. I mean, for a 12-year-old the writing was all right and at least I seemed to understand how a story arc works. But otherwise, it was not good. The premise didn't even make sense. It was about, like, a king who wanted to kill a cat because he didn't like her. So he would burn down forests and stuff. It just wasn't logical enough. This king had like absolutely nothing to do. lol! And the stuff I wrote before that was even worse. Oh, man.
During pretty much all of fifth grade, I was writing this story about a girl whose parents were getting divorced. And then ... her stuffed pig learned how to talk. And there was a part where another girl hit her in the face with a lunchbox and she got a concussion. I don't think I really understood how a concussion happens back then. Hahaha. XD Anyway, I was convinced at the time that this story was the bee's knees. And I was so proud because I wrote 72 pages by hand or something like that. But in reality it was only like 30 pages since I had very large handwriting. :P
Brigid, you just got me really excited about ABNA :P I think I'm going to do it, if I can put together a pitch in time! How long can the pitch be?Hahahahahahahaha! That plot totally cracked me up :D That was awesome :) Hahaha. Aww, well you and I sound like we were really alike when we were younger :) Both trying to write stories that aren't super great. My first "novel" that was like 90 pages long was about my friends and me going to Egypt and finding this secret tunnel in the tombs of the Pharaohs or something, and there were all of these traps and I don't know how they got out alive.. like they had to walk through this tunnel that was dripping acid, but somehow they made it to the end without getting hurt. And they ended up rich because they stole riches from the secret tomb... So dumb :P
Mod
Mod
Hahahahahahahaha! That plot totally cracked me up..."
SWEET! Well, you have until January 23rd. Haha. :) I believe the pitch can be up to 300 words, but you might want to double check that. It's in the rules somewhere.
lol! That's great. XD I wrote some story about Egypt in sixth grade for a project, and I thought it was totally awesome. It was about this lady going on her first archaeology mission and they found some secret tomb that had evil snakes in it or something. Errm. It didn't make a lot of sense. Hahaha.
Mod
Hehe, that's true.
And that's awesome. lol XD
finalcathedral [yo] wrote: "Hello. Well, I talked to my teacher who says she writes when she feels like it. I read one time it is recommended to wrote every two pages a day. I struggle wondering. Is it better to write only..."Well...Stephen King once said you should write at least a page a day to keep up the practice, then becoma awesome when you're both experienced and inspired...
Mod
Hahahahahahahaha! That plot totally..."
I've read some children's adventure novels that go along those lines. Who knows? You could have a new bestseller hidden away in your old writing archive. xD
Mod
I'm pretty sure we (we being all the "unpopular kids") overthrew her in the end. It was a very satisfying story. :3
Mod
..."
Hahaha, I doubt it. I don't think it was very original. :P
Mod
Mod
With me in a case like Nanowrimo I mean smoetimes I was really tired and didn't feel the most inspired but by forcing myself to write, i BECAME inspired and so yup, I feel you should just keep writing no matter what. I'm sure authors get tired but they have deadlines
Mod
Mod
This topic has been frozen by the moderator. No new comments can be posted.
