you were saved by the good book, i was saved by the half full glass

[muir_wolf]

I'm kind of...stuck with something I'm writing. I just feel uncomfortable with how I'm writing, and over-thinking everything, and generally being an idiot and completely blocked when it comes to putting words on paper.

What I'm looking for is any sort of constructive criticism on anything I've ever written, or just general concrit on my writing as a whole. Just tell me what I do wrong, and what I do terribly, and what just doesn't work, so I can try to fix it rather than staring glumly at my screen, knowing something isn't working but at a complete loss as to what.

Be as specific or broad as you're comfortable with, and Anon commenting is on, and IP logging is off.

Seriously, please, anything would help, I'm driving myself insane. And look at it this way - you can't make me feel worse than I already do! ♥


(A list of my fic is here, if that'd help.)

Comments

[secretpianist.livejournal.com]

This isn't a comment on your writing, but maybe it will help :)

You mentioned that you feel like you're "over-thinking" everything. Do you try and edit while you write?

For a couple of months recently, I struggled with really bad writer's block (I don't post much to my journal but I like to write just for fun). I could only get a few sentences down before I started to over-analyse them, and because I wanted everything to be 'perfect' as I went along, I ended up writing nothing. Because I never let myself write anything without picking it apart almost immediately, I started to distrust the way I was writing - feeling as though I was trying to aspire to a different style than came naturally to me. The process of writing started to feel like a chore rather than enjoyment, and I got bored with it.

In the end, I decided to follow a tip I'd read on a writing blog: just start writing, about anything, and once you start, you're not allowed to use the delete button for anything but typos. Even if you write something and think "that sounds rubbish, must delete!", just leave it alone and keep going. It was strange at first, but the first time I tried it I ended up writing 2.5k words. And it wasn't the finished article, nowhere close, but it was the most I'd written in a long time and I actually enjoyed reading it back to myself. I had to (and still have to!) seperate in my mind the concepts of writing and editing, when I'd previously treated them as the same thing.

This may all be basic to you but when you said "I just feel uncomfortable with how I'm writing, and over-thinking everything, and generally being an idiot and completely blocked when it comes to putting words on paper" it felt as though you were describing me!

Personally I would start with how you view your writing. What do you feel like you're trying to achieve that you can't?

[foes-of-reality.livejournal.com]

I honestly have absolutely nothing useful to say right now. D: But, I do feel your pain.

Because this: I just feel uncomfortable with how I'm writing, and over-thinking everything, and generally being an idot and completely blocked when it comes to putting words on paper.
That has been my life.

Seriously, I cannot even tell you how much I agonized over editing my last fic, and it was so ridiculously short for the amount of effort, not to mention a complete bust. 6__6

So yeah, writer's block. Join the club. You can be co-president with me. 8D

Also, we should make t-shirts. \o/

And, by the way, I think you're awesome. <3

Edited several times, because I realized there was a random # sign at the end instead of a heart. Which I failed to fix. I don't understand why. So, I've had to insert a pseudo-heart instead of a legit one. But the sentiment's the same! :D Also, SCREW YOU, LJ. WTF. WHY DO YOU FAIL SO MUCH LATELY?

[muir-wolf.livejournal.com]

I think you're awesome, too! And LJ's been a royal pain lately, especially with the notifications, which arghhkajhdf;klaf

But the writing. Ohhh the writing. I'm managing it a bit better, now, but I swear I go through this every few months, and it's ridiculous and it gets me stressed and I don't know how to not go through it. =/

[foes-of-reality.livejournal.com]

DUDE, THE NOTIFICATIONS. AIFLAK;SJGLKDSJGKLJEWTOIAJEWO;JAJL. *GRUMBLES* It's driving me insane. It's just so hit and miss, and I feel totally out of the loop, and I don't know if people are receiving notifications when I post to comms and akkjaflkjoiejjabngnskldjfpw.
.../rant.

Perhaps that's just part of the writing process? Or at least, part of your process. Looking on the bright side, at least you eventually get through it. =] Maybe it's just your mind's way of sorting itself out every once and a while.

[(Anonymous)]

I read two new to me fics. Apples on Pomegranate Trees and the Convergence Conclusion. I liked both but I'll tell you why I liked Convergence better. Convergence is a nice tight story with a very cute premise that is well executed. I found it easy to follow and the scenes were super cute and I actually laughed. I went where you wanted me emotionally the whole story.

With Apples, I enjoyed the musing and I liked the Sheldon Penny scenes, but I found Leonard being the point of view character confusing because I was unclear what he saw himself. The Doctor Who subtext convo is very cute, but I found myself out of the story wondering did Leonard witness this kiss?

I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt that you may actually be right about rewriting something will be motivating, and possibly less intimidating that starting a whole new story. It makes some sense to me, actually.

So as an exercise, if it interested you to explore, you could clarify exactly what Leonard sees or doesn't. I got the sense you wanted Leonard to start frustrated and end accepting, but I think it could be made clearer why he makes that switch. I suspect you may want him flashing to his own courtship, or moments with Sheldon.

Of course I'm posting this kind of late, so I may just be making you feel bad to no good end when you've already moved on. I'm risking it anyhow in hopes of more fic.

[muir-wolf.livejournal.com]

Ah, I see through my confusing, jumbled sentences that I was both awkward and unclear. I'm not rewriting a fic (although you're right, I should do with that one), but with concrit on past stories, I'm looking to break down where I screw up with my writing. And thank you! You're completely right about the POV - and that's not something uncommon in my stories, either, it's something I should definitely work on. It's tricky working with only one POV, but I've rarely managed a smooth transition from POV to POV within a story, and that specific story I was trying to do an outside POV but just sort of...let it drag at the end? The formatting of that fic is terrible, too, haha, I just checked it. I should edit/rewrite that fic, actually. But seriously, thank you for your comments on POV.

And no, this isn't late at all! I go through issues every couple of months, so even if I were miraculously cured (I'm not, although I just finished something small, so yay?!) writing is something I'm completely determined to work at, and maybe in some small way get decent, or better than I am. SO THANK YOU. <3

(I'm not sure if you're tracking this or not, so you'll probably never get this, haha)