Why Writing Stopped Being Fun

Рет қаралды 4,007

Күн бұрын

Пікірлер: 36

@r.e.holding 2 ай бұрын

Anyone reading this, if you join the Discord, you can get involved in the writing challenges that occur every once in a while to help stir up those creative juices! It's a great way to look at things from different angles, write on a topic not in your comfort zone, and also take a break from your main work in progress 😊 oh, and there's some pretty cool people to connect with ❤

@BadGuy_Bigby1217 2 ай бұрын

Where's the link?

@JustKittenAround589 2 ай бұрын

Lots of channels have advice on how to get motivation back, but a lot of the time it’s deeper than that. You’re right, writing is sometimes tedious and not enjoyable at all. You are the only channel I have seen that actually recognizes this.

@upg5147 2 ай бұрын

I think that "sometimes" comes from a lack of skill most of the time. Not trying to bash anyone, but I see it like this: Some people don't like writing dialogue, they will call it tedious and tough. I love writing dialogue, it's probably my favorite part. Personally, I find describing characters or new scenes the most time consuming and for me, that's because my brain doesn't bother thinking of that stuff. I write like I'm going to be making a visual medium which means I expect the heavy lifting of descriptions to be done for me. Obviously for a novel, that's not going to happen. Writing descriptions is tedious because I don't like doing it and I don't like doing it because I'm bad at it. I have no sense of fashion and a pitiful eye for color theory. None of that is interesting to me whereas dialogue is the easiest thing in the world because I have an ear for it. Why do you think a lot of people say writing the middle of their novel is the worst part? It's not because that is inherently harder than the beginning or the end, it's because a lot of authors don't plan out the middle part of their story nearly as much as the start and end so it ends up feeling much harder to find the plot because you forget that piece of the map.

@mamischdinne5297 2 ай бұрын

I lost my fear for writing when I started painting. Yes this sounds weird, but here's the thing. When you paint there are always a few extremely sucky phases, during which I think: "How is this ever going to turn out to look good?!" Deep breath in. Add another layer. And another one. It looks good for a moment, but unfinished. Layer by layer, after a a lot of patience it finally looks... not totally like what I'd imagined (that's impossible), but it looks like what I never could have imagined, and I'm pleased with that. Doing this a hundred times over has made me trust the process and apparently all other creative processes as well. Before things look good, they must first look terrible. When I feel like my writing is wonky and weird and I wonder how it's ever going to turn to be something that I'm satisfied with, I just take a breath and continue to the next layer (step). I trust that so long as I continue to be a person who can take the next step, things will turn out fine. All in all it's become a very meditative process for me haha

@Writing-Theory 2 ай бұрын

So well said!! And such a good point. I try to make those sort of comparisons in my videos but I’m not a painter 😭 thanks for picking up my slack

@mamischdinne5297 2 ай бұрын

@@Writing-Theory I actually loved it when you made the sketch comparison ^^ It's very true!

@laoaganlester1728 2 ай бұрын

I am a writer/author from the Cordillera Region of the Philippines, where the majority of the population belongs to the Igorot tribe. (one of the major ethnic group of the Philippines) My first novel delves into our family's experiences in the 80s-90s, living with a family member who has non-verbal autism. This was a challenging time as autism was not well understood in the Philippines, a developing country or poor country as compared to the more advance countries in the era. Despite my passion for writing, the arts are not highly valued in our community, where practical jobs like farming take precedence. This made it difficult to garner support from relatives and friends who viewed writing as a mere hobby rather than a serious career. Consequently, I faced challenges in finding book editors, legitimate publishers, and writing companions (beta readers and critic partners). The book my publisher (vanity publishing I found online) eventually published on Amazon had numerous errors (topographical and grammatical), but my intention was to convey the complexity of living with a family member with non-verbal autism, a situation that I still struggle to fully comprehend. Thank you.

@Momo-dv3ix 2 ай бұрын

I love outlining, thinking of story, plot, character, world building but the actual act of writing is so tedious and hard

@futurestoryteller 2 ай бұрын

Just dialogue for me, it's the only part I actually have fun writing, and for that reason my fixation on it tends to impede my progress overall. Scenes tend to be fairly dialogue heavy, and I resist action scenes even when they're planned in advance. Adding action _lines_ ostensibly disrupt the flow of dialogue, while visualization and interiority suffer. I'm fairly good about knowing what I'm going to do ahead of time though.

@NorisSpecter 2 ай бұрын

I'd like to add one thing - the trap of "the only proper way to write". For most of my life, I thought I didn't like reading until I found the right type of books and suddenly couldn't stop. Hyped, I wrote a few scenes, then tried to learn how to write the proper "pro" way, wrote a few more, and... got bored. After a few months, I read my first scenes, and although they were written poorly, I loved them. I laughed out loud while reading them. I found out, a lot of "improper" stuff that I got rid of in my learning process was part of the novels I loved to read. After that, I had to do a lot of fixing to my half-written novel, but I got my fun back. What I mean, don't be a prisoner of rules. Remember what you love.

@MadailinBurnhope 2 ай бұрын

I enjoy editing MUCH more than initial drafting; editing is where the magic happens

@futurestoryteller 2 ай бұрын

This does assert that it was ever fun to begin with. George RR Martin said he and a group of writers had gathered at a convention, and when the subject came up, they all talked about how much they hated it. All except one, he said. And that, to the surprise of no one there, it was the one the rest agreed was the least talented. Harsh, but it's a pretty common sentiment among writers, and some other artists. To clarify, while I can't speak for George Freakin' Martin, I'm certain he doesn't mean this because him and the others see it as a job, it's really more of a compulsion, I think. He said himself "It's not something a sane person does"

@raina4732 2 ай бұрын

This definitely tracks with what some of my favorite authors have said. That it’s an exhausting process and in the best circumstances you feel relieved about finishing it, but that it never feels done or perfect. One of my favorite books (Daughter of the Forest) the author said she can’t even read or think about it again because she wants to fix a million things and it isn’t as good as she hoped. She said it was an incredibly difficult process to write it. In my opinion it’s perfect. Then there are the authors (won’t name names but one of them even makes KZbin writing advice videos that are far too popular considering their lack of useful content) who say they had so much fun writing their book, it’s excellent and they can’t wait for everyone to read it, and their books usually read like teenage fanfiction. It might be something to do with the level of respect an author might give to their craft. How seriously they take it. I don’t know anything, I’m only halfway through (and four garbage drafts) with my first novel. All I can say is that it is not easy.

@BigToody 2 ай бұрын

2:36 "Constraints limit the possible pathways the story can take and usually fall into one or more of the following categories -- happenings, actions, moves, time, rules, and setting" - P.E. Rowe. The Mechanics of Fiction Writing Happenings: A storm forces Mace to climb down the tree. Opens the possibility for Ju-bee to get a banana without fighting. A storm rains down bananas for everyone to eat. Ju-bee can't starve to death. Actions: He limps away from the tree. He is motivated to reduce the possibility of escalating Mace's aggression. An all-out fight scene is prevented Moves: Ju'bee goes to groom Sisco's back. Mace and Ug-o don't like this. Isolation is prevented, interactions with the community are opened up Time: He hasn't eaten in four days. How long does it take for a chimp to starve to death? He needs to eat and it needs to happen soon Rules: You assume the fictional world you're reading about is your own world until cued otherwise. Yes, anything can happen in fiction, but you ought to stick to consistency. In this cognitive simulated reality, chimps can't fly, chimps can't talk, bananas don't fall from the sky, etc. Wizards don't appear in L.A. cop dramas. Archers don't bring rocket launchers to the range. Setting: The bananas are on a tree. Ju-bee is on the ground. Mace is on the tree. Ju-bee can't just eat the bananas can he?

@Kelnillan 2 ай бұрын

Those reasons are why I never finished any of my manuscripts despite getting great contract offers.

@PsychOnlineAldrian 2 ай бұрын

Editing is hell. Accept that truth. All growth is hard. Keep in mind that you are getting better at writing with each draft, each change. And you get better the more you do it. Write on, y'all. 🎉🎉

@Writing-Theory 2 ай бұрын

Write on 🤘

@futurestoryteller 2 ай бұрын

I usually edit as a I go, despite the advice. I can't help it, and it doesn't bother me any more than the rest of it does.

@norfangl3480 2 ай бұрын

As Hemingway said; "Write drunk, edit sober."

@YUSUFFAWWAZBINFADHLULLAHMoe 2 ай бұрын

usop here. THank you, carson for blessing us with these vids, I'd never have gone this far without you :)

@jayemover_16 20 күн бұрын

One way I get myself to write is to keep going even if I've lost all interest. I'd never finish anything ever if I didn't. My writing has literally no perceivable difference between if I'm motivated or not, the only difference is how long it takes. I used to just delete the work if I knew I wasn't going to continue it, but now I just continue even if all the sparks are lost.

@vCoralSandsv 2 ай бұрын

It's so true. Writing is hard work, and it's not always fun. We have to push through all our insecurities and doubts. Writing with a community really helps amp up the fun aspect. This way it forces you to take breaks where you aren't writing, but when you are writing, you have a competitive component where you have to shut off your inner editor and just write. That's why I enjoy the discord so much. Lots of new, exciting writers and a growing community!

@bluejayblaze1180 Ай бұрын

One of my issues is that I can't write or type nearly as quickly as I can think. So no matter what I'm imagining, I can't get it down fast enough, and sometimes I lose bits of it by the time I go to write them, which is infinitely frustrating. I've learned, though, that the only way to get through this is to write down the bits I can, then come back to that scene again later and try to remember and fill in things that escaped me the first time. I'm lucky enough to actually be a professional editor, so going through my own draft isn't too bad for me. However, I have a secret weapon---my dad. Oh, I never let him touch grammar or style or structure; he's a computer scientist, not an artist or lit major, and can't help with any of those. But he's very good at telling me if I need to explain some bit of worldbuilding better, or if a scene isn't enjoyable, or if one of my characters needs elaboration from a *reader's* perspective. He's been reading my attempts at novel writing since I was six.

@V_2077 22 күн бұрын

10:56 There are some people who want to see you fail as well. Choose who you take advice from carefully

@jeffj4440 2 ай бұрын

IMO, your best video yet. Very encouraging and motivating. It came at a critical time for me. I'd fallen away... Taking a deep breath and getting back into it. Thank you.

@Writing-Theory 2 ай бұрын

Do it!! I believe in you!

@WhatDoesEvilMean 2 ай бұрын

I’ve never understood writer’s block or being afraid of a blank page. All a story is is a memory of yesterday. Are you scared or writing down what happened yesterday? No. Then there’s no reason to be scared to write down whatever the story.

@futurestoryteller 2 ай бұрын

I don't have a great memory, and my descriptions of yesterday are boring.