Hi everyone, I'm new here and just wanting some insight into others' work.
Time and time again, I have the "ah-ha!" moment, where I think I've got it, a fantastic idea for a book. But always, it can be 20,000 words in or before my fingers even touch the keyboard, I lose faith in the idea and cast it aside. The doubt can be because it's a fantasy theme and I think people will deem it ridiculous, or because my plot twists don't tie up convincingly, or because my characters develop issues and don't know where they're going.
It's so frustrating, I've wanted to be a writer all my life but apart from twice, I've never finished a full length piece of work.
I recently read Stephen King's On Writing and I loved it, he says he doesn't plan his books or write character references and this was music to me because I find that trying to plan it all out before I start just makes me completely fall out with the idea.
Does anyone else experience what I've detailed, or have you experienced it and managed to get past it?
Any advice much appreciated.
Sophie
Timothy, you hit the nail on the head! I love your answer and relate completely!
Khan, I think I didn't explain myself properly, when I've planned a story it just grinds to a halt because the twists don't tie up and my characters suddenly don't follow my plot and I'm just stuck. I much prefer to just write write write without a plan, but that's when the self doubt creeps in and I think my idea is stupid.
I think I'll just outline a brief story and then just go. An author (it may have been SK) said that the first draft should be self indulgent and will probably be shit. But that's when you then go back and edit edit edit. I think I'm too afraid of the self indulgent first draft. I think it should be perfect first off and I think this is an impossible goal.
Thanks for your answers, they've given me lots to think about before I get going. Again!
Sophie
I’ve cast away many ideas and manuscripts in very much the same manner as you describe. The most I have ever cast aside was about 27,000 words and, more recently, around 3,000.
While I can’t speak for you, I do wonder if you’re really all that concerned about what other people think and that the real problem is your idea is not developed enough in your mind. I don’t believe that your issue of getting words written has anything to do with the fantasy genre at all.
You mentioned that it is frustrating not knowing where you’re going with your story and that you’ve never completed a full-length manuscript (apart from twice? Sorry, I didn’t understand this), but you then go on to cite Stephen King’s method as though it justifies your preferred writing style. Clearly, however, it seems that his method isn’t actually working for you.
I think a common experience among many writers is that after a premise catches their imagination they start writing without having dedicated much thought to the idea (ie. Can this idea sustain a novel-length work? Do I know how the story will end? Etc.). Once that initial steam runs out, be it at the first or thirtieth chapter, the self-doubt begins (Where am I going? Who is going to read this? etc.). The writer will then probably do one of the following: give up on writing, plod on, rewrite from scratch, or begin another story altogether.
My reason for casting aside a work in progress has been more or less due to a lack of planning. I’m not talking about a lack of detailed plot graphs, character maps, scene summaries, and the like; my fundamental problem was that I wasn’t really sure what my story was actually about apart from the premise that got me started.
I don’t want you to think that writing is as clear-cut as “plotters” versus “pantsers”, but I think a certain degree of plotting would prove beneficial to you. There is, of course, no one way to write a novel. You will always be able to find a published author who contradicts the advice of their peers (and mine). After all the advice you read, however, I believe that you will really find your own style through simply writing.
Sophie,
You are not alone. We are called "Pantsers" (great that there is even a nice technical name for us, isn't it?).
We write by the seat of our pants. We watch helplessly as the world on the page grows out of our control. Then, we are forced to make sense of everything that happened while we were blissfully out of our minds.
Then comes the doubt.
We suspect, that because this is 'not the way it should be done', that whatever we wrote MUST be garbage. Even though when we read it ourselves, we smile, shiver, laugh and cry right along with the ghosts that our mad typing breathed into being.
My advice? Keep reading King. Not the books, the interviews. You will find many more little gems of vindication that you can hang on to.
Above all else, keep writing! Make a valiant attempt to squelch that irritating part of your mind that causes doubt. Even better, write a story about an author who struggles with the same problems. Write it first person and let the story flow. Then sit back and read and see what your character did while you weren't looking.