Why Did I Stop?

[smokedragon]

I was writing my soon to be multi award winning novel that'll make Stephen King go 'Hmmm, I better go back and re-write all the shite I wrote, make it better, out write smokedragon. Oh! The humanity!"

Then, I stopped.

I don't know why. I just stopped. Before, I'd write a few chapters, go to bed, think about how the story was going, think on what comes next, and

always, always, just before I practice dying, or sleep as it is known, I write the final pages in my head. Gotta get to the end. Write the end. Write THE END!

Thing is, most times, the ending is different to the night before. It was maddening. I tried to force myself NOT to even give two fucks about the end, but,

hell, my mind never listens to me. Just like life, actually.

So, I stopped writing it. It languishes, laughing at me, making me angry and depressed. If I had the balls, I'd delete it all, see how fucking funny it feels now.

I tried writing another chapter just recently, but it seemed off. It didn't have that flow, that similar style, it didn't seem natural. Now, I'm not a writer per

say. I wish to god I was. I'd give my left nut to be a good writer. Or, hell, I'd give up something that actually works in my body to be an average writer.

Just write something, they say. Anything. It'll come back to you. So, on the way to work, and on the way home, little ramblings will pop in my head, and I'd

go home and write them down. Pop them up on the blog. Flush the fucking things out of my head, because I have some weird thoughts. And, I don't even

do drugs. Damn, just imagine if I did. Holy Lord, would my mind be cleansed. Be writing about rainbows, and precious pugs, not rabid, raping Chihuahua's,

and Bendy Barbies.

I've been reading the book on my kindle, and you know, it's not bad. Of course, that's me saying it. I'm sure Pierce Nace was saying the same damn thing.

But, I'm fucking stuck, in some sort of fugue state. I've reached some sort of plateau. All I want to do is take a long run, and leap into the abyss, get back

to finishing the book. That's all I want to do. Finish it.

Anyone out there care to give this poor, depressed, stain of a human being some advice? I sure would appreciate it.

Some one offered to have his wife read the book, but, I chickened out. I was so afraid of feedback, even though I crave it. Does that make sense?

Goddamn coward, I am.

I was gonna print out the book in it's unfinished state, and see how it reads on a page, but it was gonna cost some money at the library, and it's money I

don't have. Gonna have to wait and save up for a black ink cartridge, then print it. And being computer illiterate doesn't help because I can't fucking format

in Scrivener to save my life.

Anyone have help for a newb in that software? I've watched some YouTube video's but it seems more for the Mac version, rather than the PC one.

Thank you.

[JJ123]

I'm not sure I can give you much advice, but I will say the thing about not being a good writer and wishing you were hits a chord with me, because that is how I am as well. At one time I thought I was a really good writer, and now I realize I'm not. I do, however, come up with great, commercial ideas that have incredible marketing-potential built into them -- I just do, I would go against anyone on that. However, when I actually write out one of those ideas, as in a screenplay for instance, I can tell my scenes are too long, the dialogue not snappy, etc. I have an extreme problem with creating characters, although that's not such a bad thing, as I mostly like to focus on concept/plot -- sort of like Asimov was said to do (haven't read much of him, but what I have read does ring true in that regard). At the end of the day, what I've found is I probably want to be a writer because I have a hard time in life doing anything else...climbing a ladder in work is not possible given my social anxiety and other handicaps. I used to think I was a big writer--type, but seriously, it was so funny and odd when it dawned on me that I was writing probably because it is difficult for me to not attempt to write for a living. Weird, huh?

Here's the best I can do. I don't know what the word count is on the story to which you refer, but I would say that you should try just doing shorter works. Don't write a novel; write a collection of short stories. Each one with a great hook to them. If you can, try to find an artist friend who can help you put out comic books. That's the best advice I can give...go short for now. Best of luck...

[bugen]

Anyone have help for a newb in that software? I've watched some YouTube video's but it seems more for the Mac version, rather than the PC one.

Scrivener is boss on the Mac--it was ported to Windows because the program's useful and demand is pretty high.

(edit): Undoubtedly some features were lost or moved to different areas after the port, so hopefully the below applies to your setup. Scrivener's got a nasty learning curve, no doubt.

One thing you could try is exporting the entire manuscript in Scrivener to a Word document, which will give you the whole thing as one file instead of the fragments Scrivener uses. Then edit in Word, removing any large chunks that exported but you don't actually want. On the Mac the export option is under the File menu, and from there you choose Word (or another word processor).

Hope this helps a bit, and good luck with your novel!