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Post by havekrillwhaletravel on May 19, 2021 23:53:45 GMT -6
2) Forgetting that the reader is just that: the reader. They don't have the insight that I do into the story. There's a difference between letting them figure things out for themselves and flat-out never dropping enough breadcrumbs for them to do so, and I always end up on the wrong side of it. I think this falls under my issues with pacing because I'm trying to rush the story.
I'm guilty of this one. I'll realize I'm being too vague, then over-compensate and bog the story down with explanations. Hmm... I feel like my bad habits are more "meta" ones. I guess it's a process, like always! 1. Not writing enough. I don't make enough time to regularly write or engage with writer-ly things. I'm working to change that, though! I definitely don't write enough. If I'm reading a really good book or if I've had a really busy week at work, I'll get completely put off writing. 3. Not rewriting and editing enough. Drafting is super hard! I do a lot of editing as I write, but there's a lot that's easy to miss when you're 'producing' your work. It's great to have a few days in between sometimes too, to give yourself some head space and distance from whatever you're writing. But all too often, I find it hard to go back and fix things later. Or, the fixes that I propose would involve rewriting huge chunks of story and then I 'drown' in uncertainty and overwhelm. XD I think I have the opposite problem! I rewrite too much. Once I've laid down a chunk of words, I won't be writing anything else for days. I'll just spend all my writing time re-reading and re-writing that section over and over again. I'll take out paragraphs, stare at the screen and after what seems like an awful lot of time ... put those paragraphs back in. |
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Post by RAVENEYE on May 20, 2021 14:45:58 GMT -6
3. Not rewriting and editing enough. Drafting is super hard! I do a lot of editing as I write, but there's a lot that's easy to miss when you're 'producing' your work. It's great to have a few days in between sometimes too, to give yourself some head space and distance from whatever you're writing. But all too often, I find it hard to go back and fix things later. Or, the fixes that I propose would involve rewriting huge chunks of story and then I 'drown' in uncertainty and overwhelm. XD I think I have the opposite problem! I rewrite too much. Once I've laid down a chunk of words, I won't be writing anything else for days. I'll just spend all my writing time re-reading and re-writing that section over and over again. I'll take out paragraphs, stare at the screen and after what seems like an awful lot of time ... put those paragraphs back in. Ah, yes. This can be so deadly to progress and confidence. It's painful to resolve to leave a draft as a mess and just move forward and get the entire idea out before revising. But I think it's healthier for writers to finish a draft rather than get bogged down in the mire too early on. Reason being, are you really fixing it? By the time you reach the end, you may decide that much of that early material needs to be scrapped or a character completely deleted or something else major, yet you've spent days editing rough-draft material. So what happens? We get attached to it. Makes it harder to make tough decisions that benefit the story, b/c we want to keep all that hard work. So I definitely advise forward momentum, sitting on those itching fingers and not letting them overhaul squat until they've typed the last word. Your brain will be mulling over the things that need to change in the meantime. Maybe make notes about those changes, but integrating them before the whole story is out might be a waste of time. |
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Post by Alatariel on May 20, 2021 17:23:53 GMT -6
I think I have the opposite problem! I rewrite too much. Once I've laid down a chunk of words, I won't be writing anything else for days. I'll just spend all my writing time re-reading and re-writing that section over and over again. I'll take out paragraphs, stare at the screen and after what seems like an awful lot of time ... put those paragraphs back in. Ah, yes. This can be so deadly to progress and confidence. It's painful to resolve to leave a draft as a mess and just move forward and get the entire idea out before revising. But I think it's healthier for writers to finish a draft rather than get bogged down in the mire too early on. Reason being, are you really fixing it? By the time you reach the end, you may decide that much of that early material needs to be scrapped or a character completely deleted or something else major, yet you've spent days editing rough-draft material. So what happens? We get attached to it. Makes it harder to make tough decisions that benefit the story, b/c we want to keep all that hard work. So I definitely advise forward momentum, sitting on those itching fingers and not letting them overhaul squat until they've typed the last word. Your brain will be mulling over the things that need to change in the meantime. Maybe make notes about those changes, but integrating them before the whole story is out might be a waste of time. SO MUCH THIS. Okay, so I was definitely the type to over-edit and to obsess over small sections for an eternity. I also became attached to sections or pieces of description or whole scenes of dialogue. It was bad because then in my next draft I would keep these portions of writing just for the sake of nostalgia or like... I felt like because I'd written it then it must stay. I had this mindset that if I didn't keep anything from the previous draft then it wasn't progress forward. Which is silly, but there you have it. Sometimes we don't even realize we are doing this until we realize we are doing this, if that makes sense. I just realized it for my own writing! I kept trying to force my story to go the same direction as it did before just so I could include certain scenes from the previous draft. When I let go of that and told myself "I don't need to keep ANYTHING if it no longer serves the story or helps me move forward" it was like this huge burden lifted from my shoulders. Freedom! And the only person holding me back is me! Now, I write and try not to look back too much. I do start my writing day by reading what I wrote the previous day and letting myself slightly edit or hone just that section and then move on. It helps me get back in the mood. |
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Post by RAVENEYE on May 21, 2021 9:06:01 GMT -6
Ah, yes. This can be so deadly to progress and confidence. It's painful to resolve to leave a draft as a mess and just move forward and get the entire idea out before revising. But I think it's healthier for writers to finish a draft rather than get bogged down in the mire too early on. Reason being, are you really fixing it? By the time you reach the end, you may decide that much of that early material needs to be scrapped or a character completely deleted or something else major, yet you've spent days editing rough-draft material. So what happens? We get attached to it. Makes it harder to make tough decisions that benefit the story, b/c we want to keep all that hard work. So I definitely advise forward momentum, sitting on those itching fingers and not letting them overhaul squat until they've typed the last word. Your brain will be mulling over the things that need to change in the meantime. Maybe make notes about those changes, but integrating them before the whole story is out might be a waste of time. SO MUCH THIS. Okay, so I was definitely the type to over-edit and to obsess over small sections for an eternity. I also became attached to sections or pieces of description or whole scenes of dialogue. It was bad because then in my next draft I would keep these portions of writing just for the sake of nostalgia or like... I felt like because I'd written it then it must stay. I had this mindset that if I didn't keep anything from the previous draft then it wasn't progress forward. Which is silly, but there you have it. Sometimes we don't even realize we are doing this until we realize we are doing this, if that makes sense. I just realized it for my own writing! I kept trying to force my story to go the same direction as it did before just so I could include certain scenes from the previous draft. When I let go of that and told myself "I don't need to keep ANYTHING if it no longer serves the story or helps me move forward" it was like this huge burden lifted from my shoulders. Freedom! And the only person holding me back is me! Hurray! Freedom from obligation to keep those darlings, freedom from the mindset that what we write is set in stone. So critical. At that point, the revising process becomes an exhilarating adventure, b/c there's room for new magic to happen. Yes, definitely. This is one of my favorite parts of the day. To discover "What did my brain puke out yesterday, b/c I don't even know. Does it make sense? Do I feel good about it? Ooo, that needs a stronger verb. What the heck is that even saying? Delete. I don't like that phrasing, but I'm not gonna worry about it yet. Highlight in yellow." It's a fun, lighthearted exercise that gets words flowing and gets the brain back into that space. |
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Post by HDSimplicityy on May 22, 2021 1:20:12 GMT -6
1) Bad posture while typing. IN order to aleviate sore hands and carpal tunnel, for writing and gaming, I need to practice stretching and taking breaks. Too often I just drive on and forget to take a breather. On that note, jumping straight in to writing without any sort of mental preparation. 2) Inserting author voice. But, I do that on purpose. I need the flow of my mind at that time to merge with the story. Then Ill cut later. 3) Not liking writing only a few hundred words at most in a week rather than over a thousand. A work in progress. 4) Balancing physical movement with narrative voice that lets the reader play the scene in their head.
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Post by havekrillwhaletravel on May 22, 2021 1:26:30 GMT -6
Ah, yes. This can be so deadly to progress and confidence. It's painful to resolve to leave a draft as a mess and just move forward and get the entire idea out before revising. But I think it's healthier for writers to finish a draft rather than get bogged down in the mire too early on. Reason being, are you really fixing it? By the time you reach the end, you may decide that much of that early material needs to be scrapped or a character completely deleted or something else major, yet you've spent days editing rough-draft material. So what happens? We get attached to it. Makes it harder to make tough decisions that benefit the story, b/c we want to keep all that hard work. So I definitely advise forward momentum, sitting on those itching fingers and not letting them overhaul squat until they've typed the last word. Your brain will be mulling over the things that need to change in the meantime. Maybe make notes about those changes, but integrating them before the whole story is out might be a waste of time. SO MUCH THIS. Okay, so I was definitely the type to over-edit and to obsess over small sections for an eternity. I also became attached to sections or pieces of description or whole scenes of dialogue. It was bad because then in my next draft I would keep these portions of writing just for the sake of nostalgia or like... I felt like because I'd written it then it must stay. I had this mindset that if I didn't keep anything from the previous draft then it wasn't progress forward. Which is silly, but there you have it. Sometimes we don't even realize we are doing this until we realize we are doing this, if that makes sense. I just realized it for my own writing! I kept trying to force my story to go the same direction as it did before just so I could include certain scenes from the previous draft. When I let go of that and told myself "I don't need to keep ANYTHING if it no longer serves the story or helps me move forward" it was like this huge burden lifted from my shoulders. Freedom! And the only person holding me back is me! Now, I write and try not to look back too much. I do start my writing day by reading what I wrote the previous day and letting myself slightly edit or hone just that section and then move on. It helps me get back in the mood. It's a bad habit that I'm definitely trying to get over. Mainly because I realize it's a lot of butt-in-seat time spent not actually writing anything. I never thought about how over-editing would lead to getting attached! Another reason to work on fixing this. |
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Jib
Spark
Posts: 64
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Post by Jib on May 22, 2021 14:19:28 GMT -6
Ah, yes. This can be so deadly to progress and confidence. It's painful to resolve to leave a draft as a mess and just move forward and get the entire idea out before revising. But I think it's healthier for writers to finish a draft rather than get bogged down in the mire too early on. Reason being, are you really fixing it? By the time you reach the end, you may decide that much of that early material needs to be scrapped or a character completely deleted or something else major, yet you've spent days editing rough-draft material. So what happens? We get attached to it. Makes it harder to make tough decisions that benefit the story, b/c we want to keep all that hard work. So I definitely advise forward momentum, sitting on those itching fingers and not letting them overhaul squat until they've typed the last word. Your brain will be mulling over the things that need to change in the meantime. Maybe make notes about those changes, but integrating them before the whole story is out might be a waste of time. SO MUCH THIS. Okay, so I was definitely the type to over-edit and to obsess over small sections for an eternity. I also became attached to sections or pieces of description or whole scenes of dialogue. It was bad because then in my next draft I would keep these portions of writing just for the sake of nostalgia or like... I felt like because I'd written it then it must stay. I had this mindset that if I didn't keep anything from the previous draft then it wasn't progress forward. Which is silly, but there you have it. Sometimes we don't even realize we are doing this until we realize we are doing this, if that makes sense. I just realized it for my own writing! I kept trying to force my story to go the same direction as it did before just so I could include certain scenes from the previous draft. When I let go of that and told myself "I don't need to keep ANYTHING if it no longer serves the story or helps me move forward" it was like this huge burden lifted from my shoulders. Freedom! And the only person holding me back is me! Now, I write and try not to look back too much. I do start my writing day by reading what I wrote the previous day and letting myself slightly edit or hone just that section and then move on. It helps me get back in the mood. This makes me think so much about writer advice that I've heard... which is to just write as many books as you can. Some stuff in the writing process doesn't become as clear until you've written more than one book. Mind you, I haven't actually written any books beyond academic things, but this is what I've heard. I do see it happening a lot with illustration and art related things though too. Like, there's something that happens in the process of just finishing things that helps. AKA having the courage and determination to just get through the entire "cycle" of writing. More food for thought, I guess? |
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