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What's On Your Mind About Your Writing?

Silver-Midnight

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There's absolutely no harm in trying. For some people, writing short stories does not work at all. For others, it does. It might be exactly what you need to kick start your writing again. Or, the answer could be taking a break for a while and coming back to it fresh and ready. I know sometimes I get burnt out and if I leave it for a few days or up to a couple of weeks, when I come back the words fly out of me and I enjoy it much more than if I forced myself earlier. I'd say if you are considering writing a short, try it and see how you go.

Thanks. I mean this is my first time really trying this genre. So, it's really new for me. I think I'm still just trying to get used to everything.
 
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Solunar

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Rushing for a submission deadline tomorrow. Then I'll have to put writing away for a while to prepare for exams. :(
 
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sparnols

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Fustration.

Whats on my mind... Fustrated! Finished my MS and am in editing stages. This one just kinda fell onto the paper. I usually write poems and Greeting cards. And have never thought as my work as publishable. Well in the process a friend was reading my MS the whole time. And granted we read alot. So now I have decided to give it a try at getting this MS published only I am clueless as to what I am doing. Dont get me wrong I would love to be a published author I am just one of those people who second guesses my self. Even in college english class I would write three papers before I decided on which to submitt. Well cant exsactly do that in this circumstance. I love this MS, but it is very diffrent from what is out there so I wonder if publishers will back away from it just for that reason alone. My friend thinks I think too much lol.. In the midst of writting a quiery and going to try my luck..Whats the worst that could happen.
 
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Chumplet

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I'm feeling rather discouraged. The new WIP is stalling, the novel I'm querying has gone through so many face lifts it looks like Cher. Between "your writing is lovely" and "I just didn't connect with the pages" I want to scream.

I know my attitude could change within days, or weeks, or months... but right now I feel like I can't keep fooling myself that I'll get an agent and move up to the next level.

Okay, rant over. Thanks.
 

SomethingOrOther

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Why can't I settle on an idea and get started on a novel?

You are searching for a "serious" idea and ignoring the silly but fun idea* stowed in the back of your mind, an idea you've probably tossed around for a while but never taken seriously. But novels can feature both silliness and seriousness, as some of the best novels of all time have done, which mirrors the fact that life is a combination of work and play, the tragic and the comic.

*That or a very personal idea.
 
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sparnols

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I think your only a failure if you allow yourself to be. If this is what you really want then you find a way. Theres always a way. You just have to keep your head up and believe it for yourself. For if you dont believe who will...
 

flapperphilosopher

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I am thinking along the lines of Homer Simpson: trying to make a work of art, he beats garbage going "why won't you be art???". Except for me, it's "why won't you be a query letter???" AHHHH. At least obsessing over this is keeping me from obsessing about my current love interest..... :p
 

Dreity

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"February spoils for a fight, and by the middle of February, you want to start fighting back. You want to insult February's mother. You want to kick February in the knee. You want to give a party and not invite February." ~Ed Weathers

I'm having a bad case of the Februarys - thank God this month is almost over - which is joining forces with my perpetual case of "This sucks and I'm a horrible writer". Despite the fact that I'm so close to the end, the part I've been able to imagine most clearly since the beginning, I haven't touched my MS for almost a week. I know everyone needs a break sometimes, but I can't decide if this actually is mild depression or just plain ol' laziness. Either way, showering daily has been my greatest accomplishment this month.

And now that I have typed all this out and seen what a baby I am, I leave now to kick myself in the pants most soundly.
 

Solunar

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Just sent a short story submission in. *crosses fingers*

No more writing after this though, have exams to prepare for. :(
 

SomethingOrOther

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How hard is it to find writers whose prose style fits this description.

I've been asking around for a couple of weeks, and combing through excerpts on Amazon, but nothing. It's just very frustrating.
 

Marumae

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Feeling better about my writing in such a long time. I did some hard soul searching the past few weeks (for my life in general not just my writing) and realized I shouldn't compare myself to other writers and how they work or the stories they tell and I should just be happy about who I am. When I stopped focusing so much on trying to get published (if that ever happens,I realized if it doesn't I didn't care), as long as I can tell stories? I'm good. That is some quality peace of mind I haven't had in a long, long time.

Finally settled on which of my ideas for a novel (finally)that I'm going forward with and am toying with a strange short story I always wanted too but didn't have the confidence to write. Now I think I do. Once I stopped stressing the creativity came back!
 

Draíocht

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That I appear to have a terrible case of writers block...on the synopsis. :(
 

Cacophony

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I'm sitting here trying to figure out why I'm crawling AW when I could/should be writing. I've taken three weeks off work to finish this damn book and I'm not getting as much done as I should be. Damn internet.
 

Undercover

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I just finished my 5th novel and now I feel lost. I have too much time on my hands is what it is.
 

joeyc

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I've let the novel sit long enough I can get back to serious "editing".

But it's still driving me crazy, only because I don't like being back at the beginning again.
 

Isilya

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At some point during the day editing devolved into cutting and pasting, over and over and over again.
 

joeyc

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I seriously feel like revising is harder than writing the actual book. Ugh.

Maybe I need a longer break.
 

bearilou

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That I appear to have a terrible case of writers block...on the synopsis. :(

If this is post-novel synopsis, try breaking out some index cards and writing highlevel descriptions of the chapters. Once you get the high stuff down, transcribe that to your page and see if that helps move you past the block.

/unsolicited advice


I just finished my 5th novel and now I feel lost. I have too much time on my hands is what it is.

Yay for finishing! Get started on the next book! Write a short story! Try your hand at poetry! Take a walk! Learn a new hobby! Pick up an old hobby!