The New Intimacy

In Your Opinion, What Do You Think Is The Hardest Part About Writing?

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Contributor: Ansley Ansley
Either professionally or recreationally...what do you find is the most difficult part of writing for you?

For myself, I find I am hyper-critical and it's really difficult for me to just not delete it all and say screw it. I know I've got it in me, but the first chapter feels very daunting. I end up procrastinating instead.
07/11/2011
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Contributor: Ghost Ghost
Coming up with ideas that don't seem played out or stupid.
07/11/2011
Contributor: Redboxbaby Redboxbaby
Professionally, I have to keep my writing concise, but then when I turn around and write for recreational purposes I find I have a hard time getting out of the technical aspect of writing and into the descriptive, story telling aspect. Flip flopping back and forth is difficult.

My husband gets annoyed with me when I am telling him something that happened sometimes. He says it takes me forever to get to the point because I want you to "feel like you were there". However, if I turn around and tell a female friend the concise version, by the time I get done answering all her questions I should have told it my way to begin with. If only writing for work could be so simple.
07/11/2011
Contributor: Errant Venture Errant Venture
I don't always have a problem writing, but I do have a problem with forgetting words. When that happens, it screws up my mind to no end, so that it becomes torturous to write descriptively. For example, I'm writing a little story on a man's first orgy, and everything was going well until the final part, where he actually has sex, and my mind blanked on all descriptive words. Now it's like walking through quicksand.
07/11/2011
Contributor: El-Jaro El-Jaro
For me it's focusing my thoughts on a particular topic. I have lots of ideas and thoughts bouncing around in my head and I have to get them straight for the reader.

Also, starting is a hard part for me too. You have an idea for a cool scene or section of your writing, but how to get there is the problem.
07/11/2011
Contributor: P'Gell P'Gell
Quote:
Originally posted by Redboxbaby
Professionally, I have to keep my writing concise, but then when I turn around and write for recreational purposes I find I have a hard time getting out of the technical aspect of writing and into the descriptive, story telling aspect. Flip flopping ... more
OMG, the same here. When My Man relates any story to me, I feel like I am grilling him, because he doesn't include any details. "Yeah, Bob got hit by a car." WHAT? HOW? Is he OK? Where was he? Who hit him? etc. He just shrugs and says something like, "I don't know, that's all he told me." WTF?

My Man says I go on and on about "simple" things. I tell him women "relate and communicate." He uses about 30 minute a month on his cell, if that's any indication. And a good 10 of those minutes are him calling his best buddy, insulting him and then hanging up. LOL!
07/11/2011
Contributor: P'Gell P'Gell
As for the hardest part; I have a hard time staying in the allotted word count. I have recently been doing Standard Format reviews, because I can do them on my Word Files and then edit them and transfer them to the site. I always go over and then I have to unmercifully cull and cut so my review fits into the allowed number of words.

I do have actual clinical OCD, so I have a tendency towards hypergraphia, so it's hard to be brief. I am always afraid I'm going leave out that one piece of information that someone will decide makes the toy for them.
07/11/2011
Contributor: Redboxbaby Redboxbaby
Quote:
Originally posted by P'Gell
OMG, the same here. When My Man relates any story to me, I feel like I am grilling him, because he doesn't include any details. "Yeah, Bob got hit by a car." WHAT? HOW? Is he OK? Where was he? Who hit him? etc. He just shrugs and says ... more
LOL! That sounds like my husband and his father! They call each other to tease each other (usually over sports) and hang up sometimes.

When I ask all those questions (about like Bob getting hit by a car) I get the, "If he'd wanted me to know all the details he would have told me." My standard response is, "Are you sure? Maybe he thought you would rather only the point of the story."
07/11/2011
Contributor: P'Gell P'Gell
Quote:
Originally posted by Redboxbaby
LOL! That sounds like my husband and his father! They call each other to tease each other (usually over sports) and hang up sometimes.

When I ask all those questions (about like Bob getting hit by a car) I get the, "If he'd wanted ... more
I get the same type of responses. "He would have told me if he wanted me to know details." OR, someone tells him details and he decides to EDIT the story to make it easy to tell in 10 words or less. LOL!

"Marisol said she can't go shopping with you." Uh, why? Is she sick? Are one of her kids sick? Is something wrong? Did she tell you? I get, "I don't' know, she said something, but she's always going on and on about stuff. Something about one of the kids and strep or staph or something. I don't know. I didn't ask."

Which then necessitates my needing to call, and get the details, and often there are MANY!

We communicate in such different ways. He never asks for details or gives them. UNLESS its something from his (boring) work. Last night, I'm trying to watch the JayCee Dugard interview, and he comes in and starts with details about what he's going to do at work today. I totally blocked him out, (which he proudly admits he does to me) and just "Uh huh" ed him. He didn't like it. LOL! Details where I don't need them, and none where I require them. Men.... gotta love them.....
07/11/2011
Contributor: Ansley Ansley
Quote:
Originally posted by P'Gell
I get the same type of responses. "He would have told me if he wanted me to know details." OR, someone tells him details and he decides to EDIT the story to make it easy to tell in 10 words or less. LOL!

"Marisol said she ... more
Oh boy do I feel you P'Gell. (My husband is sig. older than I am, too btw.)

I like to talk about the reality tv shows I watch all damn day while I'm waiting for him to get home or how someone spun off their rocker and went psycho on a forum I participate in (sometimes here, sometimes elsewhere) and he just "oh really, that's fucked up" and then launches into "Soandso at work did yadda-yadda" and we just uh-huh our way through some of it sometimes.

It was different when I knew more about what he does for a living. He's still in the same industry, just a completely different portion of it and there are lots of little numbers that don't equate in my head and don't mean anything because I haven't seen the product. He rectifies this by bringing home things he's produced and says "Ok this is what I mean when I say..." and then I get it and everything is fine.

He's the one that gives tons of details and I'm the one who holds back information so he'll ask me questions before I launch into something he may not be interested in. I also talk in circles and go off on tangents. We're a great pair! I love that man more than life itself!
07/11/2011
Contributor: Chilipepper Chilipepper
I can start and get into a lot of writing, but the finishing up always catches me. Sometimes, I've become so attached to the characters or story that I don't want it to end. Or major life changes get in the way (I quit my Dr. Who fanfics when I had my breakdown and moved from Montana to Florida). I've written a few novels and have finished them, except for one I started right after Mulder dumped me ... I sort of lost steam with that one when I began college classes again. But I rather like it so I go back and read it sometimes.
07/11/2011
Contributor: Rin (aka Nire) Rin (aka Nire)
I write recreationally, and hope to be published someday. I've got two major problems for the latter: one is that I have trouble focusing on one project for extended periods of time (though I've been getting better with that). The other is that while I can write small scenes fairly easily, I have great difficulty with extended plotlines.

I'm also really self-conscious about my work, and I hate to show it to people until I feel it's, if not perfect, then at least very close to it. I've got a friend who's offered to beta for me, though, so that's awesome.

I'm participating in NaNoWriMo this year (national novel writing month), wherein the goal is to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. The idea is that you write now and leave editing for the other 11 months. This'll either be the boost I need or break my head.
07/11/2011