Has anyone here tried writing and then given it up?

[Folkly]

Looking for some advice here.  I know plenty of people here write fiction – I’ve enjoyed reading it – and plenty don’t.  Has anyone here tried it for a while, found it wasn’t for them, and given it up?

I started trying to write fiction a year or two ago, but I can’t do it.  I can’t usually think of any plots, for instance.  And instead I get hopelessly bogged down in thinking out characters.  And then, whatever ideas I do come up with, I get a nagging feeling that they’re “not really what I had in mind”, and the more I do the worse that gets until I give up.  It’s just not worth the aggro for me, and I’d like to give it up.

But the trouble is, I can’t stop thinking about it all the time and trying to work out better ways of doing this thing I don’t want to do.  It spoils everything I read, for instance, because I’m always thinking, “I should do more of that”, or more often, “Aargh, there’s another thing I can’t write properly”.

So, does anyone recognise any of this, and has anyone stopped writing and gone back to doing something else?  And if so, how?  Sick of this!

Folkly

[jskyba]

Of course!

That happens all the time. I start writing, then after I actually finish and actually look at it I’m just like what is this? Sometimes it takes not too many bad ideas while another time I wrote something so bad it actually turned me off from writing for a while.

All you can do is take a break from what you were doing and come back to it later.

The more you write, the easier it will get and the better you will get as well.
Just don’t give up for good.

 

[Folkly]

Hi Jskyba, just wanted to say thanks for replying.  (I haven’t checked this forum for weeks, and then I log in, and there’s your reply just arrived.  Weird coincidence.)  I can’t relate what you said to my question, though – it seems as if you’re answering a different question?  I’d like to give up, and taking a break (probably a permanent break) was the one thing I was trying to do, I was just having trouble doing it – couldn’t get ways and means of writing off my brain, even though I had no intention of writing anything!

Anyway, it’s a bit less on my brain now, thank goodness.  Seems that all that was actually needed was a bit more patience!

[Herr D]

. . . I’ve FAILED to give it up. I actually hate the process of longhand, typing, dictation, etc. Unfortunately, I have a compulsion to continue. Occasionally there’s a glimmer of enjoyment in a scene or two, but the only thing I can do to almost completely avoid writing and getting sucked into spending an unhealthy amount of time on it (forgetting other responsibilities) is to do other art forms. Like hm3. Even then, I sometimes have to write, but I can limit length by type of project.

Experience can tell you how many pages you’re stuck doing or how many other projects you must substitute to successfully avoid writing novels, etc. –Good luck.

 

[Folkly]

Hi HerrD, sorry I didn’t get on to replying to this before, I’ve been ill.
Are you joking, or are you serious? If so, sounds rather like me in some ways!
I have to say, when you do decide to write your writing is pretty darn good, so you have the advantage over me in that way!

[Herr D]

Glad you’re better. Being ill makes the backlog worse sometimes. Unfortunately, I am just dead serious. Don’t worry about it not being as good as you like yet. Writing (art forms) is the only horse you can flog until it DOES get moving. In my experience, when your skill improves, your expectations rise. Sorry for the bad news, but the way to become good is just to never become too happy with your work.

About the best news I can give you is that there are moments of happiness, like you just gave me when you complimented my writing. (Thanks.) About the best advice I can give you is to use your best medium to improve the ones you can’t give up. (companion pieces, co-inspiration, etc.) About the nicest thing I can say to you is: I’m sorry you are similarly afflicted but not above enjoying the work you put out. (I can as much see Maxim 5 in Pratchett’s work as that I use too many parenthetical notes. Like illustrating one of the chapters about that cleric apprentice who listened so well he saved the l—?)

[Folkly]

Cheers HerrD, thanks for the reply. What a weird thing it is.

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