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To write or not to write?

Amanita

Maester
Hello everyone who reads this,

At the moment, I severely lack motivation to continue with my story. I've been working on this story for about three years now, the current one is my third version begun because I wasn't satisfied with the versions before at all. (The first one has been "finished", the second hasn't.)
Now, I don't really like the current one anymore either, however. Way too much info-dumping plus everyday dialogue and actions. This is nothing which can't be remedied via good editing of course, but this knowledge doesn't motivate me either.
My ability to put emotions from my head to the paper is severely lacking as well, for whatever reasons.

Browsing through all the forums dealing with the subject, it's clear that the likeliness of getting this published is close to 0.000001 % or something along those lines. My story is so far off (chemical elemental magic, modern setting etc.) that it's extremely unlikely that many people will ever be interested in it. Writing something more "mainstream" instead isn't an option however, this is what I want to write if anything.
On the other hand, work for university takes plenty of time, and putting in more might actually yield results which are still better.
Therefore I'm wondering if I'm not completely wasting my time struggling to write down a story which hardly anyone will ever want to read. Time better spent doing something else.
My dreams of becoming a professional author have died off quite a while ago because there are way to many people who want this as well. (Just look at NaNo). Many of them probably are much closer to the tastes of other people than I'am and therefore much more likely to get there.

At the moment, I'm bringing myself to write on a bit whenever I have free time, but I'm wondering if it would be better to make a final decision and if necessary bury this idea.
 
Hello everyone who reads this,

At the moment, I severely lack motivation to continue with my story. I've been working on this story for about three years now, the current one is my third version begun because I wasn't satisfied with the versions before at all. (The first one has been "finished", the second hasn't.)
Now, I don't really like the current one anymore either, however. Way too much info-dumping plus everyday dialogue and actions. This is nothing which can't be remedied via good editing of course, but this knowledge doesn't motivate me either.
My ability to put emotions from my head to the paper is severely lacking as well, for whatever reasons.

Browsing through all the forums dealing with the subject, it's clear that the likeliness of getting this published is close to 0.000001 % or something along those lines. My story is so far off (chemical elemental magic, modern setting etc.) that it's extremely unlikely that many people will ever be interested in it. Writing something more "mainstream" instead isn't an option however, this is what I want to write if anything.
On the other hand, work for university takes plenty of time, and putting in more might actually yield results which are still better.
Therefore I'm wondering if I'm not completely wasting my time struggling to write down a story which hardly anyone will ever want to read. Time better spent doing something else.
My dreams of becoming a professional author have died off quite a while ago because there are way to many people who want this as well. (Just look at NaNo). Many of them probably are much closer to the tastes of other people than I'am and therefore much more likely to get there.

At the moment, I'm bringing myself to write on a bit whenever I have free time, but I'm wondering if it would be better to make a final decision and if necessary bury this idea.

All my life I have enjoyed writting stories. Ever since I could first read and write, I created stories. My favorite memories that I cherish most are of me and my grandfather, before he died, sitting in his backyard and we would write plots and draw pictures and we made dozens of books when I was a child. I write with the goal to get published but I truly write because I enjoy it. Don't write a book jsut to get published. Write because you want to. If writting is something you love, it won't matter if you get published or not. Sure, I have doubts if I will get published, but that never stops me.

I too have a problem of postponng things. I have only recently organized my plot but i feel I have leeft it untouched for far too long. The main point it, don't give up. If you have truly lost your drive and want to pack up and stop, than that's your choice and you can do that if you wish, but if you push on and strive to make your book, then I'm sure you will be very proud to look down at your completed work and say, "I made this."

Hope this helps and good luck to you!
 

Telcontar

Staff
Moderator
The industry is changing, Amanita. I'm still pursuing traditional publishing but I'm going to be trying ePublishing too. It has energized my writing, knowing that I can get my work in front of some people regardless of approval by the mainstream (of course, that means I need to be extra careful to make it good). Since making the decision to self-publish I've written more and generally been more upbeat than before.

I suggest you look into it as well. It's true, niche novels such as yours may be won't likely sell thousands upon thousands of books. If you love the story, though, I should think you would be happy having it read by a few hundred, or whatever the eventual number is. Somewhere out there are some people who desperately want to read a book like yours. Do them the favor of helping get it to them. :)
 

Legendary Sidekick

The HAM'ster
Moderator
I've spent some time in the challenge forum and have been involved in other writing contests outside of this site. One this I'm learning about myself is that I can whip up a few hundred or a couple thousand words and come up with an interesting little story that ends, but leaves readers wanting more.

I've also noticed that other members are e-publishing short stories. If finishing a long project is difficult for you, you might wnat to consider starting small. That's my advice to you, but I;m also taking my own advice.

I'm currently rewriting my debut (er...only) novel as a series of short stories. It's actually a collaborative project that I'm working on with a fellow mythic scribe. We've been in the planning stage for a couple weeks, and are now doing a "test run" to see how successful we are at transitioning the two main POV characters. (Each episode will have 2 or 3 POV characters, the 3rd being an important character for a specific episode if we feel his/her POV is necessary/interesting.)
 

Devor

Fiery Keeper of the Hat
Moderator
In college they taught us, if you're not sure, do what's called a "feasibility test." Along those lines, I would suggest setting aside your work and writing a short story - the kind of thing you can bring to completion and feel satisfied with. And if you can get yourself to be "happy" with your short story, then I think there's probably still hope for you to find some kind of benefit with a longer work.
 

Amanita

Maester
Thanks for your encouragment. I'm probably really going to write a short story now. ;)
 

W.k. Trail

Scribe
+1 to Devor's post. He is right on the money - and I'd like to add that if you're having problems with structure, emotional depth, dialogue, et cetera, the absolute best way to work that out is by writing shorter stuff. Go nuts! Let your imagination chew the scenery for a bit, and before long I guarantee you'll know EXACTLY what kind of author you are.
 
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