Lack of skill and inspiration
Moderator: Spectrum Strike Force
I've found it increasingly difficult to come up with my own original idea and every time that I've thought I have, I've found that the same idea has occurred to somebody else and they've already done it better than I would have.
The stories that I have written hardly compare to anything else on this site, despite all my best efforts and an English A level, which just goes to show that qualifications don't mean much in the real world, and I just feel that this is for the best. I'll still be around, I'm sure, but very much behind the scenes.
-
Scarlet Lady
Speaking for myself, I primarily write for my own amusement and enjoyment and have done ever since I can remember being able to hold a pencil and make wobbly letters on a piece of paper - which is over 50 years ago now. Until I got the courage to send my first story to Colonel Chris, no one - apart from the teachers who marked my 'compositions' at school - had ever read anything I had written, and apart from the stories on Chris's site, they still haven't and probably never will. I am still not 100% comfortable with the thought that what I've written is actually available for people to read and try not to think about it much, because if I do I end up asking Chris to remove them all...

But if YOU enjoy writing for its own sake - whatever it is you want to write - don't give up just because you don't think you can be the next JK Rowling. It's a nice thought, but it doesn't happen often.
I think it was Sir Terry Pratchett who described writing as 'the most fun you can have on your own' and however frustrating it is trying to find the time to write and then find the exact phrase to make a scene come alive, I have to agree with him.

-
Marion
- Cloudbase Captain
- Posts: 2970
- Joined: Mon Jun 21, 2004 10:21 pm
-
Scarlet Lady
I think most of us lack a certain amount of perspective on our own writing, which means it's easy to become discouraged. It can be hard to evaluate your own work because you're just too close to it, with the result that everyone else's stories look so much better than your own. I think most of us feel that at some point and the reality is that everyone writes differently, so it's impossible to make comparisons.
I personally find the job of writing enormously difficult. It's rarely a joyous experience for me - unlike Marion, I don't think it's "fun". You may wonder why I do it in that case and the answer is I really haven't a clue, except I know that I have all these characters in my head and they seem to want me to tell their stories.
Getting them out of my head and into readable format is the hard part and I never feel up to the challenge of doing my characters justice. My forte is not convoluted plots and like you, I struggle for ideas. I am deeply envious of the clever and prolific writers on this site who can always rise to every challaenge with aplomb and originality! For instance, I've never been able to submit anything for Halloween because my mind just doesn't go in that particular direction and this year will be no exception.
I have been in the writing doldrums myself this year and like you, had made the decision to stop putting myself through the wringer. I too, was relieved by this - for about a week. Then I felt ashamed, as if I'd abandoned something of value just because I was too lazy and cowardly to work through my insecurities. Consequently, I've spent most of this year wanting to write, finding I can't and then fretting because it's not working for me.
Sometimes all you can do is put it all to one side for a while. Don't beat yourself up, go away and read a lot, or watch good drama. Leave yourself open to inspiration and somewhere down the line it will hopefully come up and greet you again. Friends on this site have been enormously helpful to me, with both encouragement and practical advice about plotlines, etc. ( I'm still fighting with a story I started five years ago and thanks to a few special people, I think I'm now in a position to finish something that will hopefully make sense. No timescale on that, though!)
Even if you don't write again, you can take pride in what you've achieved so far. Thank you for providing entertaining fan fic that has certainly given me a lot of pleasure and good luck for any future endeavours.
-
Skybase Girl
- Major
- Posts: 648
- Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2007 10:06 pm
- Location: Newcastle England
I have had stories 'on the go' for years and in order to forget them, I have flounced off to write something else. I know deep inside that the unfinished one is going to come back and nag at me - sooner or later. I used to have something called 'my comfort story' which I went and added to when I got stuck with the one I was supposed to be writing - now I hardly have time to write anything, I don't have that luxury any more.
Fan fiction is, IMHO, by its nature limiting. We are, after all, all writing about the same TV show - 32 x 25 minute episodes - or whatever it was - and the various annuals and comics that contradicted each other and make very little sense most of the time. As well as that, everyone who likes the show, and is therefore likely to read the fanfiction, will know most of what there is to know, so there's little chance to spring a surprise on them. There is even less information for NCS, which might give some room for innovation, or might not if you feel you have to adhere to what little is known.
So, given that we are in this finite world there are bound to be similarities between plots and situations. Scarlet and Blue are always going to be field partners and Scarlet's always going to be the one who gets injured or killed - unless you want to be so cruel as to kill Blue off...

The fun, for me, anyway, is in seeing how people handle these basic building blocks and reading how the characters cope with each other and their situation. For me, the pleasure is always in the characters - I am useless at plots and quickly lose interest in car chases and such like - and there is nothing better than reading someone else's story and thinking: flipping heck, why didn't I see that?

But I guess if the writing has ceased to be fun, then you close the notebook, put the lid on the pen and move on to something else. Thanks for all the enjoyment you've given me over the years, Scarlet Lady, and enjoy whatever it is you decide to do next...

-
Marion
- Cloudbase Captain
- Posts: 2970
- Joined: Mon Jun 21, 2004 10:21 pm
At the risk of saying too much... I'm presently going through other struggles, which I won't go into, and writing is most certainly an extra burden that I can't manage at this moment. Perhaps when things improve I'll feel differently, but I have no way of knowing when that might be or whether that will be the case. Time will tell.
Perhaps a good illustration of where I am will be to say that my site has had to be completely handed over to my sister to manage, with my responsibility only being in the forum (with her backing me up when I can't even cope there) and the Facebook page.
-
Scarlet Lady
Scarlet Lady wrote:I've been using it since I was sixteen, so yes, I expect you would have been eleven. Time flies, doesn't it?
Too right it does! Right out the window!! Blimey I was a youngster when I first came on here. My last online story dates back to 2010.
-
Intensity Angel
- Major
- Posts: 1105
- Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2008 5:34 pm
- Location: Wolverhampton
-
Scarlet Lady

As for me, my writing has improved a lot so I'm working on something new whilst I'm not inundated with assignments.
-
Intensity Angel
- Major
- Posts: 1105
- Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2008 5:34 pm
- Location: Wolverhampton
That's the best way - work when you have to, play when you can! Well, if you call working hard on a story playing...
-
Scarlet Lady
-
Intensity Angel
- Major
- Posts: 1105
- Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2008 5:34 pm
- Location: Wolverhampton
I always did most of my writing either while I was on holiday or if I was ever ill in bed with nothing else to do. Admittedly, I probably should have been sleeping, while I was ill, but we young people are indestructible, aren't we?
-
Scarlet Lady
-
Intensity Angel
- Major
- Posts: 1105
- Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2008 5:34 pm
- Location: Wolverhampton
I normally use chocolate to wake up my imagination.
-
Intensity Angel
- Major
- Posts: 1105
- Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2008 5:34 pm
- Location: Wolverhampton
Return to Fan Fiction - General Board
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 0 guests