I have some writing project questions for my fellow forum members, have any of you had an idea for a writing project that begged and pleaded with you to be written? But know matter how hard you try to write it you end up producing garbage? I have been through this experience and i was just wondering if any of you had been through the same experience.
Yes, my current project is probably garbage right now lol Remember, when you try write it first time, it's going to be garbage. That's only the first draft. You will most likely not get it perfect first time so why just keep deleting it? Write on and edit as you go along or come edit it at the end. Just write it and stop over-thinking
My book has seen various stages of garbage over the last two years, haha. Most published writers like to tell you that it will take writing a few books before you write a good one (which is true). But, I took a different approach--instead of writing multiple things--I have instead re-wrote my current work numerous times with what I have learned, continuing to evolve and improve it. So yes, this book has definitely seen its fair share of garbage in its numerous early iterations. You just gotta keep on truckin', either with new material, or re-writing your current stuff. The key for me is to keep studying and reading, while writing at least five days a week.
I have had two projects like that. In both cases, I put the loss of forward momentum down to inadequate planning. Both were begun when my method was to start with a basic idea of the plot and characters and write "wherever the story took me". After all, my completed novels had been written that way. It was only when I started my current project - a historical - and I realized I couldn't write it that way, that I had to plan it very carefully, that I figured out that the reason that the completed projects were not of publishable quality was that same lack of planning. One of my shelved projects was a dystopian novel that I wanted to make sure "said something". I was so wrapped up with the message that I didn't bother working out the story. The other one was a novel about middle-aged musicians who form a band, and in that I knew what I wanted each of the characters to be like, but again, didn't work out the actual story. On that one, I actually finished the first draft and started editing before I realized how far off the tracks I'd gone. I ripped out about half of it (mostly flashback material) and started again, but then I realized that I couldn't just do this all on the fly. So, just like I used to do when I was a kid, building model airplanes, I put it away and did something else for a change of pace. When I came back to the keyboard, I decided that my current project, the idea for which had been with me for a long time, needed to be written. It has taught me a lot. As Jhunter says, you have to keep working, keep open to critique, keep studying. Good luck, and don't lose heart.
I only write one 'draft', but I've gotten to a certain point with a couple of stories where it just wasn't working. I didn't trash them, but put them on the back burner. It happens. Either I'll go back and rework them, or I'll cannibalize them for other stories.
