why is it so easy to write about not being able to write but so hard to actually write

[Arctangent]

help

[Memfis]

Easy? You only managed to write one word.

[Nine Inch Heels]

If I were to guess it's because not being able to write something one would like is more common than being inspired enough for the other thing?

 

Wasn't there a pop-song, that sold literally millions of times, which was based on not being able to write something "elaborate"?

I think this was the song I mean:

 

 

[Neurosis]

Most things are like exercise. You just have to keep writing every day, even if it's only a little bit. 

 

Also, not to mention...usually we want to write big grandiose things like we're the next Shakespeare but sometimes effectively getting a point across in just plain English can really help the story along. 

 

I've been polishing about 50 pages of a book I'm working on for about a year now. It helps to write, re-write, and re-write some more, and it takes time. Love every word but don't be pretentious about it. Sometimes simplicity is key. 

 

Most importantly...HAVE A PLAN IN PLACE. I never saw the need for them in school but there's a reason they teach you to plan out your story. It helps tremendously and gives you a sense of where you're going rather than just "making it up as you go along".

 

Here's a simple plan for character/story development based on the Hero's Journey Circle brought to you by Dan Harmon himself (who is an amazing writer btw)

 

in case you can't read the chicken scratch:

Spoiler

Act I.

1. the reader is in a zone of comfort

2. but they want something (the driving force behind your character's actions)

 

Act II.

3. they enter an unfamiliar situation

4. they adapt to the unfamiliar situation

 

Act III.

5. they get what they want 

6. but pay a heavy price for it

Act IV.

7. They return to their familiar situation

8. Having changed 

 

and Act V would be the epilogue 

 

Edited December 29, 2017 by Neurosis

[Urthar]

Rule 1: Write about things which you know.

Rule 2: If you don't know about it, research it.

Rule 3: Seclude yourself away from distractions.

Rule 4: Knock back a litre of margarita while banging away on a keyboard for four hours.

 

[40oz]

33 minutes ago, Urthar said:

Rule 4: Knock back a litre of margarita while banging away on a keyboard for four hours.

This looks like a joke on the surface but is actually very useful advice. Just articulate everything that comes to mind with the purpose of simply filling the page. It doesn't matter if the sentences are fragments, or if they don't make sense or work in a cohesive way. Just write in a steady stream of conciousness. Once you have a whole bunch of noise, you can edit out what you don't like and improve what you like.

[reflex17]

If you are having trouble to write, it's like reeling in a fish before the lure is properly set. Some people love to just hit the page, others take a very long time thinking on the topic or doing research. Just as many authors as there are, there are as many methods, but it seems as if you are wanting something to happen before it is time.

 

Some like Stephen King say to set aside a certain amount of time every day and eventually it will just become habit. He has said that he aims for about 10 pages or 2000 words a day. When you're just beginning something though it's easy to get wrapped up in the frustration of 'writer's block' because everyone has a pre-determined idea of how things are supposed to be done. If you are really stuck I would even recommend stepping away from it (as long as you have no deadline ehehe) because this can give your subconscious time to roll the ideas around in your head. You can set yourself up for eureka moments. If straight mechanical writing is not effective you can try brainstorming, like those webs you see drawn out to connect ideas. Often this kind of visualization can bring to light deficiencies that you weren't even aware of, and it can open up new avenues of thought. If you have spent a lot of time thinking of specific parts like plot, setting, or characterization, try to think of the areas that you have paid less attention to. Small details in setting or character interaction can open up new ideas as well.

 

There is a method I found online called 'the snowflake method' that I've always wanted to try. Basically you build the story in an exponential and self-referencing way, like the crystals of a snowflake expand from the center and eventually create a nexus of inter-crossing points. You begin by taking your story and reducing it to a single sentence or "log-line" as they call it. Describe your story in a single sentence ONLY. Then make it 3 sentences. Then a longer paragraph, and then a few, like you might see in the back of a movie or videogame. Each time fleshing out more details and expanding. Starting something is the hardest part because it's getting the gears turning, trying different things or visualizing your ideas in a new way can be helpful.

[Cruduxy Pegg]

Writing what? That's a very important detail.

[Neurosis]

41 minutes ago, 40oz said:

This looks like a joke on the surface but is actually very useful advice. Just articulate everything that comes to mind with the purpose of simply filling the page. It doesn't matter if the sentences are fragments, or if they don't make sense or work in a cohesive way. Just write in a steady stream of conciousness. Once you have a whole bunch of noise, you can edit out what you don't like and improve what you like.

 

Yeah, basically: write when you're drunk, and then edit when you're sober. 

 

Although personally I've tried this and just ended up with a giant mess so I scraped the story and started over

[Battle_Korbi]

1 hour ago, reflex17 said:

There is a method I found online called 'the snowflake method' that I've always wanted to try. Basically you build the story in an exponential and self-referencing way, like the crystals of a snowflake expand from the center and eventually create a nexus of inter-crossing points. You begin by taking your story and reducing it to a single sentence or "log-line" as they call it. Describe your story in a single sentence ONLY. Then make it 3 sentences. Then a longer paragraph, and then a few, like you might see in the back of a movie or videogame. Each time fleshing out more details and expanding. Starting something is the hardest part because it's getting the gears turning, trying different things or visualizing your ideas in a new way can be helpful.

This is me writing replies on Doomworld. Main reason why I stray from posting on threads. I just cannot stop once I start.

 

This reply is also the shortest one I ever made. Took up tons of willpower to sum into five sentences.

[Tristan]

Writing is quite hard.

Sometimes writing is easy.

Unleash the leopards.

[Fonze]

Writing about not being able to write is still writing, just with a different subject that interests you more personally, as in the moment you are more emotionally invested in that subject. Find personal interest in the subject you wish to write about, put the pen to the paper, and write as if you are having a 1-sided conversation with a friend, or some moron here on DW; let your thoughts take over and only stop at the end for proofreading; don't interrupt your muse when it comes. But do keep in mind that our muse can take many shapes, sometimes it is there when we want to disprove something, thus requiring a thought against your own to trigger, and sometimes it takes the shape of showing a friend something cool; either way, my best advice is to write about something like you are having a conversation about it with somebody. You're a smart person Arc and I've seen you write many intelligent things over the years.

[wallabra]

And don't forget - one does not simply write while in the Nightmare difficulty!

[quakis]

Writing used to always be a difficult affair until I figured out a decent workflow for myself by applying similar methods I learnt from my drawing, the same methods I have also applied to mapping. The creative process doesn't differ much and can boil down to a similar workflow each time. Often starting something is the hardest part. I begin by just throwing stuff on the page. Drawing a simple expression. Rambling absolute bollocks leading into what I wanted to write. Stitching together random shapes to spark the mapping process into gear. Simply having something tangable to work from no matter how nonsensical it may seem is better than staring at an empty canvas. Block out your intentions worrying little on the smaller details and then build upon this in layers upon layers over time. From here on its an iterative process reworking that nonsense into sense.

 

Writing reviews became a less stressful process as a result. Using my notes as a basis, the review tself starts out as a constant stream of consciousness focusing on each point regardless how awful it may read, then being parsed into paragraphs. Going forward is an interative process of rewriting and restructuring each sentence and paragraph until it creates a tangable flow and ensures my thoughts have been articulated as desired.

 

Lessons learnt here is the main reason I even managed to put out this indepth review of Going Down. The reason I find myself having less trouble regarding level editing as of late. The reason I manage to draw something everyday. Don't get caught up in perfection. Aim for your best and lessons learnt should be applied to your next work.

[seed]

Neurosis already gave a pretty professional answer but I'll share my take on the subject anyway. How it works for me, well, when I'm unable to write about something it's generally due to lack of knowledge on my part on the matter, after I learn enough about what I want or am supposed to write the task becomes significantly easier, but it's not necessarily always like that. I found inspiration to be my main trigger, once I'm inspired by something or an idea simply pops up in my head I could probably write or talk about it for hours (this is usually also reflected in my posts, be them with more or less sense, off topic, boring, occasionally dumb, etc). It's also how most of my conversations go, whenever a good subject to talk about is opened by someone else or I start one. It sometimes takes longer until I can order my ideas a little and put them on paper, if anything, the start is usually the most difficult, but once that's done a large amounts of ideas come and everything flows well, very similar to what's known as a stream of consciousness. So, ideas and knowledge on the subject, paper and pen (or Word and keyboard), start writing, and the rest should come gradually. I'd also advice against stopping/pausing until everything is done, unless re-reading what you already wrote brings back the ideas.

[Impie]

Practice.

[Flesh420]

Use a notebook and write as poorly as you want for as long as you want.  The most important thing I've learned (or read years ago) is to allow yourself to scribble complete shit, a whole notebook of it.  You will at least feel good you just wrote a book. Then, you take all that shit and transcribe it to a document in your favorite software, and edit and rewrite the fuck out of it.  The editing part is what polishes a turd.  It's also much easier at that point because you set up a skeleton to build from and/or smash.  If you didn't have a plan for your story when you started scribbling, you now have a whole notebook of an outline/plan that's much much easier to work from than when you started from nothing.

 

After you've transcribed the turd, don't look at it for a month—repeat the process after every edit pass until you're happy with the final draft.  Completing a whole notebook will separate you from thousands of wanna-bes.  Yes, it's all scribbled and most of it probably doesn't make sense, but most people can't even make it half-way through a notebook though they're certain they're great writers. 

So be proud of your notebook full of shit, it's a very important piece of shit that will lead you to greatness.

[Angry Saint]

Why is it so easy to write about not being able to write but so hard to actually write?

 

Simple. As long as you're writing on "not being able to write" you are not really writing. You are more avoiding to write what you should really write (an essay, a novel, an email). The first thing to do is wondering why you don't want to write. Then starting from there.