I like to write short stories, which I then post online. Mostly fan fiction. But I don't know what it is. I'll start a story, but I can never seem to get it just right. Parts of it will be good, but there will always be parts that I just can't get my head around. I'll type a line and then be in a constant state of indecision whether that line can be better or not. And that's a big problem when you're writing hundreds or thousands of lines. Often I'll try moving on to something else and then come back to it at a later date, but that never seems to help. Anyways...just needed to rant. I'm a beginning writer. Is it always like this? Will it get any better?
Indeed I used to have the same problem. The key is to stop re-reading everything you write and just burn away at the keys. Even if you know what you wrote doesnt really make sense just carry forward with your train of thought and don't look back till you finish the whole thing.
Destin's right. I use to be the same way, but I would become obsessed with outlines and research. One day I had a loose idea in my head for a story and just starting writing, and writing... After several weeks it turned into one of the best short stories I ever wrote. I only did research when I absolutely had to and I kept the outline in my head, which is as far as it needed to go. So my advice is, just keep writing and don't sweat the small stuff. You do that after you're done and you are revising. Then you can get nitpicky and what not.
If you expect every line to look perfect before your done your first draft, you will never finish anything. Let the story play out. Finish it and then go back and revise and see where you can make things better. Write, take a break, write again, take a break. Being in a good mood is essential for me to write in large doses. I make some tea and drink some while I write, helps everything look better because as a writer, you will always second guess everything you write
Not to get off topic but I haven't written anything (fictional) lately because I'm never in a good mood. I find it best just to start writing and shut the world out, otherwise I'll never get anything done.
Learn to ignore the editor in your head. Plow through the first draft, even if it is only a page. Then you can rewrite that page 20 times if you want. Then move on to the next page. This is how Koontz works. But don't stop until you have at least finished a page.
Talent and imagination isn't enough on its own, you need to be stubborn and disciplined too, because all stories will have weak points, all stories will bore you after long enough time, and all stories will need revision after they're "done". As a writer you're like a one-person builders team. After you have imagined that amazingly fantastical house of your dreams, you'll have to don the workers clothes and start laying bricks one by one, and that's the hardest part.
I have this issue with having the entire story in my head and not having the desire to finish it on paper because I'm already satisfied with what I played out over and over already in my imagination.
