: Re: Can't write, can plan I can plan all sorts of specific aspects in a novel such as characters, locations, and the plot in general, but I struggle to actually write it the way it is in my
There are really two distinct challenges to writing:
emotional
technical
Emotional Challenge
If you are stuck emotionally, then you may feel as if everything you write is just a waste of time. If this is your challenge, then you simply must change the way you perceive the writing that you do.
Not Writing Is The Only Failure
Instead of considering it a failure to write poorly, begin to consider "not writing" your only failure.
The truth is that no matter how poorly you write, if you do in fact write, then you can begin to learn how to make things better. Of course, if you do not ever write, there will never be a way to evaluate whether or not you write well.
Many writers love language and have read great books and the emotional problem they have is that if they write and it turns out poorly then they have an idea in their mind that they will only have proven to themselves that they are not the actually great writers they dream of being. All day long they dream of sitting and writing but are crippled by this fear of failure. They start and stop continually without ever achieving anything significant in fear of proving to themselves that they are not great writers. This is too bad and is summarized beautifully in a great quote:
No one ever became perfect by doing nothing. ~Anonymous
Much writing advice often concentrates on (and often becomes distracted by) emotional difficulties and unfortunately does not provide very much technical help.
A Great Thought Experiment
Imagine if a publisher contacted you and said,
"I'm writing up a contract that guarantees you ,000 if you'll
simply complete a 250 page novel. I don't care how good you believe
it is. All I want is a completed text of 250 pages. Can you please
churn it out in 6 weeks?"
I'm betting that you'd at least start in the 5th week and churn out 250 pages of something.
Well, why do you need that motivation? Why not write 250 pages just to see how it feels?
Why is it that the money would make you feel as if you weren't wasting your time?
For Help, Try This Book
There are a number of books over the last 20 years that I've read that have actually helped me become a better writer. I may not be the greatest writer, but I am far better than I was 20 years ago, so it must be something. I must've learned something.
One of those books is very old but has some great information that the author stumbled upon about how your brain works with writing. It's Becoming A Writer, by Dorothea Brande. Am I allowed to add links to books here? I hope so. Amazon link to Becoming A Writer, by Dorothea Brande
That book walks the reader through a lot of the emotional and has you set up Writing Appointments. You determine an exact time each day to write and then you watch yourself to see if you follow through. Basically, she says, if you never show up, your not a writer. Interesting and much more.
Technical Difficulties
Now to the technical difficulties. If you are worried about your writing not being good and learning that you are not the Great Writer of Our Time, then you need to work on your technical ability so that you can be a better writer, so that people will actually enjoy your writing.
The first problem however, of getting technical help, is the problem of defining what great writing actually is.
I define it here as:
Writing That Works (more in a moment on the inspiration of this phrase)
But, what does that mean? That seems very loosely defined.
That is why I further define Writing That Works as:
Clarity
Writing that is appropriate for the context
Stimulus / Response Writing
Smooth transitions
Music
Style
If you were to successfully achieve all of these with your writing, then it would be great writing -- and, of course, great reading.
Some quick notes on each of these.
Clarity
If readers cannot tell what you're saying and are forced to re-read your sentences they will not suffer your writing long. Make it clear.
Appropriate
If you are writing about the mating habits of the swallow tail butterfly in your novel about a bank robbery you are not writing a novel about a bank robbery. If you show a gun in the first scene, have it go off in the third scene - ala Chekhov's Gun. Show the reader, only what is appropriate for your story. Consider this at every moment as you edit your story and you'll get something done.
Stimulus / Response Writing
Learned it from Jack Bickham's book, Scene & Structure (at Amazon). Once I learned this little gem I understood what to write and what not to write. Make things happen. When it happens follow the natural response. Continue on. A story will break out and your readers will be able to follow what is going on.
Smooth Transitions
When you write the next thing that the reader is thinking because you've led the reader to think that, then you know you are writing great.
Music
I hope you know that the sound that the words make in your readers' heads actually matter.
That's why some people can write anything and you want to read it. It's about phrasing and sentence lengths and more. You can learn this stuff.
Style
Many authors have such a strong voice you can tell it is them writing even without knowing who wrote a piece. Write like you talk. You can learn style by reading various authors and counting the words in their sentences, examining closely what types of words they use. And then finally learn like the artists of old, by copying what they've written. Try to get your sentences phrased so they sound like their sentences. It's a fun game and you'll learn a lot.
Desert Island Book
Finally, if I were marooned on an desert isle and could only have one writing book it would be the one that teaches all of this: Make Your Words Work, by Gary Provost - Amazon link.
Solve Technical, Resolve Emotional
Finally, as you concentrate on the technical you will find much of the emotional just slides away. Most likely that is because you are distracted by the work and learning but it is also because you'll become a better writer and you'll know it. As Norman Mailer famously said,
Writer's block is only a failure of the ego.
Once you trust yourself you'll probably find the block falls away.
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