Feeling like trash

[EffulgentFirefly]

I've written probably more than I've done anything else since I've been very young, and I've been published a couple times here and there. It's been many years, maybe a few since I've started writing bigger stories, and I feel like everything I put on paper is absolute trash. I've been told that this is a widespread problem with writers, but I can't get past it-for all I know my writing is that bad. I can't see any improvement at all in what I'm producing, and it just feels like I've wasted years of my life. It's just a crappy feeling overall.

[midsummer_feast]

I think that is, as you say, a widespread problem not only for writers but for everyone that is creative somehow.

I also think that it can be something that is hard to get pass.
Since all creators has a vision of how we want it to be, and we know every little flaw in the "trash"...
But i believe that one of the great ways to get passed it is to put you heart into the creating, and love it just because it is "trash". Our own "trash". The "trash" no one else can create. the "trash" that almost is dripping of our own individuality.

There is no wasted time if you love to "waste" time at what you do.
Enjoy your writing, enjoy your time doing it. Enjoy what it is teaching you. And most important, hold you head high.
Because you are the only person that can give your work the individuality it is drenched in.






 

[Robin Rain]

I've seen this passed around and it seems to be true. Nothing will ever reach perfection, but we try.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xm7awfl6hYA

But as for what I will say it is this. If you can identify that you have flaws, then that means you are improving. In order to improve our creative ability we must first improve our sense of, and formulate our own opinions on, what makes something good vs what makes something bad. An important point is that good and bad are subjective so don't think you can please everyone (still it's good to get the basics like grammar down so you can be understood despite a person's preferences).

When I come to a stop, I think carefully about what the main thing that I am dissatisfied with is. Then I ask myself what would satisfy me and work to get it there. Of course there are many problems, and one by one is slow, but if you try to tackle everything at once you will be overwhelmed and discouraged. Set smaller more realistic goals that you can do in steps. It should be more manageable and give you a sense of progression.

[Coryn]

I want to say the YouTube channel Big Think once did a very good episode on this topic, but I'll give my own opinion.


If you're feeling like this, go and dig up the absolute oldest piece of your writing you can find. Read it, cringe really hard, and then compare it with the most recent thing you've written. Now, I can only speak from personal experience, but I'm pretty confident you will not feel the same way about the two. Becoming a good writer is a slow process. Becoming a great writer takes even longer. And I don't think even the greatest of them ever thought of themselves that way. None of us are ever going to be perfect, but we can always be 'better'. As long as you can look at your work, and say that what you wrote today is better than what you wrote a year ago, then you're on the right track.

But above all, remember that it's not ultimately about us. I don't know how you feel about the death of the author theory, but no matter what side of that debate you fall on, it can't be argued that writing is ultimately a product. It's a product made for the readers, not for ourselves. If people enjoy reading your work, then it's good to them. If it's good for them, then take satisfaction that you brought something to their life that they did not have before.

Ever onwards. Ever upwards. And to share a quote from Mark Twain: "Experience is an author's most valuable asset; experience is the thing that puts the muscle and the breath and the warm blood into the book he writes."

In other words: the more experience we have, the better we become. I find it to be an unconscious thing personally. Just always know that if you feel your writing is lacking something, it is not because you lack skill. It is because you have not yet experienced that which will propel you to knew hights. But you will. Keep moving forward through life, and you will.

[TEA]

I've written probably more than I've done anything else since I've been very young, and I've been published a couple times here and there. It's been many years, maybe a few since I've started writing bigger stories, and I feel like everything I put on paper is absolute trash. I've been told that this is a widespread problem with writers, but I can't get past it-for all I know my writing is that bad. I can't see any improvement at all in what I'm producing, and it just feels like I've wasted years of my life. It's just a crappy feeling overall.

I have been writing for a while too and I can say for certain that this is a widespread problem for a lot of people, especially those who have been doing it for a while. Take it as a sign that you've evolved as a writer, you can recognise when your writing isn't as good as you want it to be. I've had the same problems as well.

"There's no such thing as good writing, only good re-writing."

I can assure you no great writer was happy with their first draft. Just focus on getting words on the page, even if you think it sucks don't worry about it. Just keep your flow going. It's all about output. Then, when you've done, set it aside for a while and do something else. Come back to it with fresh eyes.

You're at that pit of despair where most people give up but keep pushing through it and eventually you'll break out of the other side. It's the worst part of your evolution as an artist but once you push through you'll be part of that small percentage that didn't give up and are now excellent writers.

[JustHANO]

If you written more than anything else you done that means your writings obviously have merit. I feel sometimes i write a story and the words on the sheets are so different than what i had in my head. What you have to realise is since you know you're a good writer, don't throw that paper in the trash no matter how worst it is than you wanted it to be. Same way with music, i can write a song and not like it in the end, but i can always comeback later and use it as a reference, for example, you might not like the whole piece you wrote but theres a metaphor you used that's really good. Maybe even going back and seeing what you didnt like about that piece. For stories im taking really serious, even tho i might not like it, making multiple drafts and picking part the piece i like. I feel like making suggestion like this is really agressive, but this really helped me; try writing multiple drafts, but for each draft take a writing technique and pump it up to cringeworthy levels of use. Like first make your regular story, then redo it and make ever other line a metaphors  then where you're being over descriptive. After you've made a few, take the best uses of those techniques and put them all into one final one. That was basically me rambling, i hope it madr sense and /or helped. Don't get too down on yourself.

[EffulgentFirefly]

Thanks for the advice, guys. I've taken a lot of it to heart in the last couple months, and though I still don't see any change in my perspective or my writing, nothing changes overnight, I suppose. Hopefully I'll figure something out soon.

[Coryn]

That is an excellent lesson there "nothing changes overnight". You will have no sense whatsoever of your improvement until you suddenly do. As long as you keep trying to improve, you surely will.

It's like weight loss. You don't notice day to day. But a month in, you'll step in front of that mirror on the way to the shower, and think "damn, I am looking a little better aren't I?" It's always incremental changes that add up to a great total.

[Thurtin13]

Not going to tell you roar to be strong. But just like our favorite shounen characters, I am sure it will work out in the end.

[Crackhead Johny]

I've written probably more than I've done anything else since I've been very young, and I've been published a couple times here and there. It's been many years, maybe a few since I've started writing bigger stories, and I feel like everything I put on paper is absolute trash. I've been told that this is a widespread problem with writers, but I can't get past it-for all I know my writing is that bad. I can't see any improvement at all in what I'm producing, and it just feels like I've wasted years of my life. It's just a crappy feeling overall.

I'm trying not to die.
According to test readers. What I write sober is as dry as trying to eat 50lbs of felt. What i write when I'm lethally drunk is amazing, magical, gold, beyond comprehension.

Sadly I can see what they are saying when I'm editing as I get to the "Oh %$#@!, another sober part". So I know what the gift is and I know it is killing me (been hospitalized once). So do the amazing for a short time or do the bland for a long time?

[legomaestro]

I'm commenting on a thread that is technically answered, sue me.

@Crackhead Yikes, one of the booze writers huh. Hemingway would be proud. Seriously though I wish I could make great work like that. It'd be a bit worth the tradeoff.



My two cents is this: I've seen a marriage get KOed because a prodigous guitarist wasn't getting as accepted as he felt he shouldve been by the market, and it made him completely ignore everything else. There are lots of tweaks and even more advice that can get you tolerating or loving your work down the line, but the even worse alternative can happen: It doesn't sell as it should.

There comes a point where you just have to aim for the basic readibility and grammatical correctness of your works rather than for lofty goals, and add other hobbies or interests to your life rather than trying to improve your writing. Sometimes things will not click despite all the ingredients, so the secret is not being blinded by the obsessive wish to feel and be great at one thing. I'm glad I can procrastinate with video games and picked up the guitar - It made my inadequacies that much easier to tolerate.

Also, post stuff like this when you can. Venting works sometimes, and helps other people open up.

[Crackhead Johny]

I'm commenting on a thread that is technically answered, sue me.

@Crackhead Yikes, one of the booze writers huh. Hemingway would be proud. Seriously though I wish I could make great work like that. It'd be a bit worth the tradeoff.

Each piece I wrote in the colab was fueled by between 2 and 5 liters of vodka. The character Loa will not ride me until I get there. I'm not writing it any more, the Loa are.
In the colab I found that when I was far enough in, other writer's character's Loa would ride me.
You drink, you feel more energetic, you drink more, you feel more social, you drink more and you glow, you drink more and if you do not die the Loa show up... though from the tales people have told me about my being dead (cold, no pulse)  it is possible the Loa ride until dawn and then give your life back.

It does remind me of the questionnaire to Olympians. "If you could take a pill and win gold but would not live out the year, would you?" "Yes!" was ~100%

I do not love it like that. I have written in the past for flavor for games. I'm not a writer. The stories come out because I cannot escape them and the Loa will not be denied.

My book needs work, will it kill me this time?
The pain wizard scratches at the door and says he needs a book too. Will that book kill me? He tells me the story until he meets the 7th son of the fire god but he will not tell me more.. unless I let him ride. That could be death.. but I want to know what happens.

[Crackhead Johny]

I'm commenting on a thread that is technically answered, sue me.

@Crackhead Yikes, one of the booze writers huh. Hemingway would be proud. Seriously though I wish I could make great work like that. It'd be a bit worth the tradeoff.

Want the money? Want the fame? Want to sell your stuff?

I will give you one.
All you have to do is look at what the hyper popular zombie genre does wrong 100% of the time(these days) and fix it.

What I'm saying is that once bitten they should not look like they have been horribly dead for a long time. When they die/return they should look almost normal until they have rotted. That is days/weeks before it shows. Cover a bite and eat people when/where you can. Serial killer zombies for a few days. Then they sort of get drunk, then they sort of get senile, then they are just drive.
Their brain works great to begin with and only goes with the decay. If you want to sell to the high crowd say your work was designed to talk about Alzheimers
You get fast zombies to start out, to please the brain dead drama crowd. They deteriorate down to slow and plodding to please the Romero "it talks about the inevitability of death you morons!" crowd. The whole time when talking to the high crowd you get to explain how it... Well you have to keep that secret, otherwise they will not argue about it forever and keep it famous.

Zombie Loa wanted me to tell you this.

[JackOfArtAndProse]

I've noticed that I write bad content when I'm extremely tired. My trick may not work for everybody, but I eventually resolved to only write when I'm not feeling tired or down on myself. Haven't had too much trouble with feeling like trash(concerning my writing) ever since.

I'd recommend trying it, at least. And regardless of anything, if you notice faults and actively research what is wrong and how to fix it, you'll make progress(even if it's just one day at a time). The masters of any craft have honed their craft for five years, perhaps even a decade or two. To accurate portray what is in our mind, you need to let yourself make mistakes and be trash so that you can learn. But it's more fun to be trash when you do something that love, and when you do something that you love you desire to be... well, less bad. Thus, a healthy cycle of learning is formed.

[Suuper-san]

I've noticed that I write bad content when I'm extremely tired. My trick may not work for everybody, but I eventually resolved to only write when I'm not feeling tired or down on myself.

I 100% agree with this. My resolve was slightly different in that I try and go to sleep at a sensible time so that I don't feel extremely tired in the first place. (meaning if I'm tired I should be sleeping, not drawing!)