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The hardest part about writing?

XeroshiXeroshi Member Posts: 182
To all of the writers on this forum what is the hardest part about writing to you? To me personally its Coming up with original names and not procastinating.
Lilura

Comments

  • joluvjoluv Member Posts: 2,137
    Well, there's always fantasynamegenerators.com, but I think not procrastinating is far more difficult.
  • mf2112mf2112 Member, Moderator Posts: 1,919
    I can write but only when the muse slaps me (always deservedly so). I am badly in need of an editor though.
  • NimranNimran Member Posts: 4,875
    Finding the time to write.
    sparkleavsemiticgoddessdeltagololien
  • OlvynChuruOlvynChuru Member Posts: 3,075
    For me, the hardest part is figuring out what to write, so I have a hard time writing long pieces. Pretty much every paper that I've had to do in school has ended up being shorter than the minimum length expected. It's extremely rare for anything I write to be more than two pages. By far my longest work is a Microsoft Word document that details lots of fun facts and other things that aren't often said but should be said (for example, that sound travels at different speeds through different mediums, so the vehicles that people say "travel faster than sound" would have a hard time outracing sound going through diamond, in which sound travels at 12 kilometers per second). It is currently 35 pages long in single-spaced, size 10 Tahoma font, but I've been working on it for over a year.
    lolien
  • FinneousPJFinneousPJ Member Posts: 6,455
    Procrastination by a lightyear
  • elminsterelminster Member, Developer Posts: 16,315
    Combination of procrastination and character writing. Doing the dialog for a one off npc that you only talk to a few times is pretty easy, but making an NPC for instance that is interesting is a lot more work.
  • NonnahswriterNonnahswriter Member Posts: 2,520
    1. Procrastination.
    2. Finding time to write.
    3. Revision.
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    Every once in a while, I'll get stuck, and almost every time, it's because I want to get from A to C and can't figure out the best way to write B. It's much easier to make it up as you go along.

    But I have the next five books already written (if not fully revised), which means I have to follow the existing plan rather than try something new. Otherwise I'll have to rewrite those books--and I already did that once.
  • deltagodeltago Member Posts: 7,811
    writing close to 3000 words and forgetting to save it before the tablet dies :angry:
    (and only having word auto-save the other three stories you are working on.)

    Then not being able to recreate those words exactly how you had them before deteriorating the story you were attempting to tell. :disappointed:

    OR not doing proper research before you start writing and realizing an important part of the story's narrative is wrong having to do a full rewrite because of it.

    OR getting distracted and writing something else, like a well thought out forum post about the difficulties of writing.

    ~

    editing my own work is also difficult.
    semiticgoddessNonnahswriterlolien
  • abacusabacus Member Posts: 1,307
    Staying ahead of my own doubt... i.e. managing to write more than a couple of consecutive paragraphs without going back to ruthlessly analyse it word by word.
  • GodGod Member Posts: 1,150
    As an author of over 50k uncredited lines of really cool in-game text, 3 tomes of love poetry and a single novel still unpublished because of being too politically incorrect, I can only say that the hardest part of writing is actually keeping the nether regions of my anatomy in check while describing certain scenes. And by hardest I mean really, really hard.
    semiticgoddess
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    @God: ...Go on...
  • VallmyrVallmyr Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 2,457
    edited August 2016
    To not scrap your work after writing 13 or so pages only to find out you wrote your elves to just be humans with pointy ears and that's not what you wanted and so you go off making your own Homebrew D&D setting and DM for a party to run through your story for your novel and then once that's finished you'll go back and actually write the novel using your own characters with inspirations from the improv used in D&D.

    Edit: Also changing protagonists from your Drow Necromancer to your Gnome Bard which changes the feel and tone of the whole thing.

    Edit the second: I love writing but I suffer from rerollitis even in my writings. Arrghh.
    semiticgoddess
  • NonnahswriterNonnahswriter Member Posts: 2,520
    abacus said:

    Staying ahead of my own doubt...

    This is another huge one for me: self-doubt. Fear. Anxiety. All of these things hamper a writer's ability and should be banished from the mind.
    Vallmyr said:

    Edit the second: I love writing but I suffer from rerollitis even in my writings. Arrghh.

    The affliction! IT SPREADS! D:
  • FardragonFardragon Member Posts: 4,511
    For me, the hardest part of writing is the self discipline to sit down and get on with it without getting distracted.
  • GodGod Member Posts: 1,150
    Fardragon said:

    For me, the hardest part of writing is the self discipline to sit down and get on with it without getting distracted.

    Why sit down? There are many stimulating positions. And no reason to be still, either. Without bodily motion, your brain is nought but a fleshy sponge. Try writing while in a trance of psychotic tribal dance, like the very best writers I've ever known. I mean, they didn't even have any thing to write on back then and yet you can still find their words echoing loudly throughout the spine of all human cultures.

    Another important lesson I learned from animators, of all people, is that if you are any good, you can just focus on drawing the important frames and have an inbetween, or underpaid employee, fill the easy, mundane parts for you.
    Remember that your lifetime is (very) limited and there are more enjoyable things to do than describing a lavatory brush. It's only logical to go enjoy the sunshine on the beach while you still can, preferably with a couple of young bodies that strike your fancy reclining next to you, and just let others do your work. And this, actually, is how you succeed in any walk of life, not just writing. Outsource and profit, ad infinitum.

    Unless you are somebody's inbetween.
    No success for you, sorry.
  • DeeDee Member Posts: 10,447

    Finishing and letting it go. The latter is even harder in videogames than other media because patches make it technically feasible to go back and fiddle with things forever.

    This, so much this.
    Vallmyrlolien
  • GodGod Member Posts: 1,150
    Dee said:

    Finishing and letting it go. The latter is even harder in videogames than other media because patches make it technically feasible to go back and fiddle with things forever.

    This, so much this.
    Actually, that is feature (definitely not a bug) which is not at all exclusive to writers and quɪte kømmønlï found in humans. It is normally induced by nutrient deficiencies. Unless you want to have the doc prescribe you with something really nice (ðɪs kan bï køøl, øbvɪøslï), all you need to fix this is a bunch of vitamin supplements. What you need is the fat-soluble vitamins, as well as some zinc and magnesium and perhaps a few other minerals depending on what your sustenance provides. Take them with a serving of, preferably, animal fat (otherwise it all goes straight into the lavatory) and witness your brain just miraculously change and-
    Nah, I won't bother to finish this one. Or fix it. Or-

    o:)
  • joluvjoluv Member Posts: 2,137
    I read a really amazing short essay of writing advice yesterday that I wanted to share here, but I can't find the text anywhere legit online. If any of you can find a copy of "Furor Scribendi," by Octavia Butler, I recommend it.
    Nonnahswriter
  • LiluraLilura Member Posts: 148
    Hi guys, what a great idea for a topic!

    For a lowly blogger like me the hardest part is when you sit down to write and you just can't find the words. Sometimes I can write an entire page in one sitting; other times, it could take me an hour just to churn out one paragraph.

    What I have learned is: don't force it! Let it come naturally. If the words don't come out think and fast, go out for a walk in fresh air and sunshine. A stroll, a brisk walk, it's up to you. On the beach is great, though. The sand massages the feet. When you do this, it clears the mind, and you will be able to write better when you return. Walking is also a great idea if you want to provoke original thoughts. It's to do with blood circulation, I guess. I have strung many good words together by walking, without even trying. Jot them down before you forget.

    Never being satisfied is another thing. Bloggers can go back and edit their work until the cows come home, even after it's posted. I haven't cured myself of this yet.

    Proof-reading is boring and time-consuming but it has to be done. It's better if you get someone else to do it, too. Because what can happen is, you know what you meant to say so you just read over the error.

    Another thing is having the confidence to write. When you publish your work you are opening yourself to criticism, both constructive and otherwise. This can be hard for some people. This is why I have respect for most writers, it takes courage.

    Good luck, and enjoy!

    lolien
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