Andrew
I've been writing for about 15 years now, here and there, mostly poetry, mostly for myself. I've always wanted to write a novel. Always wanted to write something that has substance and can last for more than a few paragraphs, but it seems that I start to lose steam after about a thousand words or so. I can see it all in my head, every turn, every feeling, I just can't get it out.
I think a lot of the problem may be due to my lack of habit. I don't have a routine, I don't have a schedule. I just sort of jot things down over the course of the week and when the feeling strikes me, I pound out a few thousand words, but that's all I ever do.
I can't seem to link everything together!
I think that I have a lot of potential. I've been told so since middle school. I just can't do it. I've read all the books, I've watched all the videos, I've taken all the classes and seminars...
I've tried giving it up so many times during the years, chalking it up to delusion, trying to tuck it away with some other hobby's I've had like collecting baseball cards and watching sports, but it keeps pulling me back. At times, it's all I think about.
The words seem stuck and it's been like this forever.
In fact, I've been sitting at the computer for two hours and this question is the most I've written...lol
Someone help me out!!!
I'm not looking to be the next great author, I just want to finish something. Anything!
Answer
If you have it plotted, then you just need to discipline yourself to sit down and actually do it. No one who's good at their craft ever got anywhere, no matter how much "potential" they had, without hard work and practice.
And anyone who tells you that writing is easy? That it's not hard work? Is selling something. Of course it's hard work. Anything worthwhile is hard.
Writers get stuck. It happens. If you truly want to get unstuck, then, like the poster above me said, vary your routine. Switch rooms. Put on a movie soundtrack. Do Word Wars with fellow writers--there are writers on Twitter that do this all the time (@NaNoPals is one who does this every day). Use Write or Die-- http://writeordie.com/ --it's an incredibly handy tool.
But in the end, the only one who can make you sit down and write? Is you. You're the only one who can determine if you have the drive necessary to finish something.
Also, maybe you're not a novelist. You know what? There's nothing wrong with that. I'm not a novelist (I hate the amount of time it takes to write one of the things, and then there's the whole soul-sucking agent hunt you have to do once you're done. Ugh); I'm a short story writer, and that's okay. Maybe you should try taking a smaller bite first and see how that works out for you.
If you have it plotted, then you just need to discipline yourself to sit down and actually do it. No one who's good at their craft ever got anywhere, no matter how much "potential" they had, without hard work and practice.
And anyone who tells you that writing is easy? That it's not hard work? Is selling something. Of course it's hard work. Anything worthwhile is hard.
Writers get stuck. It happens. If you truly want to get unstuck, then, like the poster above me said, vary your routine. Switch rooms. Put on a movie soundtrack. Do Word Wars with fellow writers--there are writers on Twitter that do this all the time (@NaNoPals is one who does this every day). Use Write or Die-- http://writeordie.com/ --it's an incredibly handy tool.
But in the end, the only one who can make you sit down and write? Is you. You're the only one who can determine if you have the drive necessary to finish something.
Also, maybe you're not a novelist. You know what? There's nothing wrong with that. I'm not a novelist (I hate the amount of time it takes to write one of the things, and then there's the whole soul-sucking agent hunt you have to do once you're done. Ugh); I'm a short story writer, and that's okay. Maybe you should try taking a smaller bite first and see how that works out for you.
I'm 13 and writing a book...I really think I have a great idea...any tips?
Skylar Sca
Any tips? I really have trouble knowing what setting to start it in, it's about four 12 year old friends (Bonnie, Ava, Veronica, Giselle) who move to Westchester, New York and go to an all girls private school and start a popular, snooby, pretty, rich clique. Where can I start it and do you have any book writing tips or any advice/ tips?
Thank you so much and I am working so hard to write it, it has been my dream to write a book ever since 1st grade!
My book is called The Pretty Coterie
Answer
I just went to a writers' workshop on the weekend.
The speakers had published 110 books between them.
First new tip for me was:
Draw a map.
That sounded dumb until I tried it. By getting creative with forests, classroom layout, pool, bus stops, etc, you can easily tell how long someone can get from one place to another and get inspired about other things that happen along the way.
Second:
Character chart. especially for the 4 main girls.
(Kids didn't read 3400 pages of Harry Potter books because of the spells, but because they cared about Harry and his friends) So make the characters as real to you as you can.
Their likes of music, Actors, colours, sport, desserts. Do they have little brothers they hate or pets they love?
By knowing Ava, Bonnie, Giselle and Veronica well, they may take the story in a direstion you never imagined. Don't pull them back. Keep writing that new story line. You can cut it later, but you will know more about them by writing about them.
Good luck ... and if anyone tells you a 13 year old can NEVER publish a book, tell them an auther said, Never believe anyone who says Never.
I just went to a writers' workshop on the weekend.
The speakers had published 110 books between them.
First new tip for me was:
Draw a map.
That sounded dumb until I tried it. By getting creative with forests, classroom layout, pool, bus stops, etc, you can easily tell how long someone can get from one place to another and get inspired about other things that happen along the way.
Second:
Character chart. especially for the 4 main girls.
(Kids didn't read 3400 pages of Harry Potter books because of the spells, but because they cared about Harry and his friends) So make the characters as real to you as you can.
Their likes of music, Actors, colours, sport, desserts. Do they have little brothers they hate or pets they love?
By knowing Ava, Bonnie, Giselle and Veronica well, they may take the story in a direstion you never imagined. Don't pull them back. Keep writing that new story line. You can cut it later, but you will know more about them by writing about them.
Good luck ... and if anyone tells you a 13 year old can NEVER publish a book, tell them an auther said, Never believe anyone who says Never.
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