Dissatisfaction in my work

[TheokinsJ]

It's something that has plagued me for the last few weeks, I only began writing my story a month or so ago, and now a couple of chapters in, I am constantly wrestling with the idea to scrap and rewrite. I think the stuff I write is good, I read it and it needs a bit of editing but on the whole it seems ok, yet I still feel the need to rewrite it. When I'm writing, I have this mentality of "This is not the final result, it doesn't have to be perfect", and this hinders me, especially when I AM try to write a flawless, final result. Example, I write chapter one a week ago, and it seems perfect. I wake up today, read it and think to myself "I need to rewrite this, it's ok... but it could be better". I don't mind doing this, it can only help me improve my writing, but it hinders me because I'm getting nowhere, I write a chapter and then decide to rewrite the past three, it's a continuous circle of writing then rewriting, any suggestions on how I could make progress and stop constantly questioning my own abilities?

 

[teacup]

My advice would be to just keep writing until you finish your first draft. Then go back and rewrite.

For me I only had a vague outline of the plot when I started writing, but I just kept going, and now I've finished the first draft. The characters developed well, the story progressed greatly etc etc. Now though, looking back, the beginning half is just terrible. So I'm rewriting it, and actually enjoying it as much as I did the first write through.

This worked for me, so that's what I'd do.

 

[Butterfly]

Just write the book and get it done. Pretty much ignore what you've already written and don't go looking back in any serious way until it's time for a second draft.

Then make revision and restructuring notes on a read through, then rewrite the wotsit out of it.

That is, of course, if that works for you.

I've spent years doing what you've done and really not got very far. Until, I learned to ignore the inner editor until it was time for actual editing. Now book one is nearly finished (needs a bit of restructuring of the ending) and book 2 is half done, in about 7 months as opposed to 7 years.

 

[ndmellen]

I think everyone has the same problem to one extent or another. Honestly, the thing that helped me the most, simple as it is, was to tape "Create first, Edit second" right at the top of my laptop screen. In particular, looking at that little saying helped me force through many sticking points.

As for liking/ disliking your work, I think that that is fairly natural, too. It seems like, to have a good product, you have to have a fine balance of both. Supreme confidence in your work has to somehow coexist with hating it/ seeing nothing but flaws.

I'm inclined to agree with the opinions above: just finish the outline, write the draft, edit it once, then take a break. During the break, have someone else read it. You already know the story back and forth, and will have a tendency to focus on the imperfections. A fresh set of eyes will provide more insight that your own weary ones.

 

[PaulineMRoss]

One piece of advice I've seen which might help you is to keep track of the number of words you write each day - in a spreadsheet or just a graph on a piece of paper - and plot the cumulative numbers. As the numbers build up, it might encourage you to keep bashing out new stuff instead of rehashing the earlier chapters.

 

[Guru Coyote]

I agree with what has been said here. The key is to finish the story before you rewrite it. Only if you have the whole thing before you can you really judge what works and what doesn't.

Another advice - something that helped me lately - is to work in smaller chunks. Write short stories. That way you can get a structure, plot, characters etc all in order and get it before other people's eyes. One key to satisfying work is *feedback* ... and you can only get meaningful feedback on a complete story. I've found entering the Iron Pen Challenge each time extremely helpful and educational.

 

[Addison]

Just keep writing until the first draft is DONE. Not almost done, not "one more scene", completely done. Then you can go back with a happy red pen. But editing, deleting and all that as you go, constantly bouncing back and forth, not a good idea. If you have a nagging for a revision or how something should change, write it down on a different piece of paper or document and save it.

The first draft has one goal. To get black on white. It's not supposed to be neat and perfect, that's why they're called Rough Drafts.

 

[Jabrosky]

It's something that has plagued me for the last few weeks, I only began writing my story a month or so ago, and now a couple of chapters in, I am constantly wrestling with the idea to scrap and rewrite. I think the stuff I write is good, I read it and it needs a bit of editing but on the whole it seems ok, yet I still feel the need to rewrite it.

If you actually don't see that much wrong with what you've written so far, I would concur with previous posters that you should continue. Exactly what is making you want to rewrite everything all over again?

I definitely have my own history of scrapping and re-writing stories over and over again, but in my case there usually is something majorly wrong with what I've written before. I know the people here would give me the same advice they're giving you, but I can't progress on a story if its foundations are not solid. Besides, even if I did finish a first draft, I'll probably have to rewrite the whole thing all over again anyway.

 

[Penpilot]

I've been in the same boat, and from the responses, it's obviously a common thing.

Here's how I handle it. If I come up with ideas on how to edit a previous chapter. I go into that chapter and make notes using the commenting function either in word or in my case Scrivener. These are in depth notes describing what I would change and why, then continue writing as if I'd already made the changes. That usually satisfies my need to edit.

I don't go back and edit before finishing the draft because you learn more about your story as you progress through its writing, so there will be an accumulation of needed changes. It's better to do all those changes at once rather than one at a time. Why? Because one change may erase another, which results in wasted time. Imagine if you spent hours revising a a paragraph only to realize later that a change makes that paragraph redundant or unnecessary, or worse you spend a week revising a chapter only to realize that chapter isn't needed any longer. Other times, I realize after getting distance from the chapter the change isn't needed at all and the chapter works as-is.

Also all that time spent on a chapter/paragraph makes it all that much harder to discard. It becomes a bit of a darling and can cause you to want to shape the story so you can fit it back in, which is not always best for the story.

 

[Velka]

I've been in the same boat, and from the responses, it's obviously a common thing.

Here's how I handle it. If I come up with ideas on how to edit a previous chapter. I go into that chapter and make notes using the commenting function either in word or in my case Scrivener. These are in depth notes describing what I would change and why, then continue writing as if I'd already made the changes. That usually satisfies my need to edit.

I don't go back and edit before finishing the draft because you learn more about your story as you progress through its writing, so there will be an accumulation of needed changes. It's better to do all those changes at once rather than one at a time. Why? Because one change may erase another, which results in wasted time. Imagine if you spent hours revising a a paragraph only to realize later that a change makes that paragraph redundant or unnecessary, or worse you spend a week revising a chapter only to realize that chapter isn't needed any longer. Other times, I realize after getting distance from the chapter the change isn't needed at all and the chapter works as-is.

Also all that time spent on a chapter/paragraph makes it all that much harder to discard. It becomes a bit of a darling and can cause you to want to shape the story so you can fit it back in, which is not always best for the story.

It's been a long and hard lesson to learn this, but you're totally right. I do the same thing in Scrivener; the notes function lets me satisfy my need to FIX IT NOW, without actually investing the time and effort into actually fixing it.

The shape of your story will change and you will murder your darlings. Spending time refining paragraphs or chapters that in the end will need to completely change, or end up in your graveyard folder, is a waste of time and creativity.

 

[Jamber]

Do you know what really helped me? Jettisoning Word.
I'm not sure what program you're on, but Word always opens a document at the beginning of your story or novel. It's very easy to get trapped reviewing and editing what you've done so far, because you have to scroll to the end before you can continue the draft.

By contrast Scrivener is terrific for a creative writer -- you open it, and it kicks off at the place you were at when you shut it down. I expect many of the purpose-built writerly programs have a similar feature, so it's worth downloading and trying some free ones to see if they help.

I agree with everyone above: writing forward is the key.

However one other thing I've noticed myself, not sure it applies to you, is that much of that early drafting (at the very start, I mean) is about finding the right voice, tone, point of view/character, etc to tell a particular story. If those things weren't set perfectly early on they can make the writer uneasy with the work as it continues, which brings on episodes of tweaking and fiddling. It doesn't sound like that's your particular issue, but worth considering maybe.

Another (stray) thought on the edit-trap: it's really tempting when stuck or slightly uninspired at a later point in the novel to go back and tweak... One technique I've heard is to stop writing for the day before you clinch or end a scene. I don't do that personally, but it makes sense to try to leave some forward momentum in your writing at whatever point you withdraw fingers from keys. Try to leave a question in your mind that only tomorrow's writing can answer!

You'll feel so great when the first draft is done, I promise--no matter what the flaws.

cheers
Jennie

 

[ThinkerX]

To mangle a famous quote:

'Full speed ahead and d*mn the grammar.'

Make quickie notes or cludge fixes of the brilliant revisions, but no more as you do that first draft.

Of course, it helps knowing how things will turn out in the end and at key points along the way. Those issues deserve careful thought and/or outlining beforehand; otherwise you could reach the mid point in your epic and find you've written yourself into a box. That used to happen to me quite a bit.

 

[Alex Beecroft]

I agree with everyone else. This is a common trap for writers. I know from my own process that around five chapters into every novel I write I will suddenly start thinking the entire thing is crap. The truth is that it's just your mind, trying to get you to stop doing something which is no longer an exciting novelty but which is starting to look like a hell of a lot of work. Ignore the feeling and carry on writing until the end. Then put the first draft aside for two or three weeks. When you get back to it I guarantee you'll read it and think "you know what? This is actually pretty damn good!"

Actually I've just written a blog post on this very subject, which you might find reassuring:
Alex Beecroft – Author of Gay Historical and Fantasy Fiction » Blog Archive » Write On: write on.

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

I addition to all the great advice above, consider you're daily improvement. By writing every day you're writing will get better & better.

It never fails that the last half of anything I write is better than the first. Part of that rests in what others already said...you know the story, the setting, and the world better after writing for awhile. Also though, you've improved as a writer.

Considering my second half is going to be better quality writing than the first, do I really want to spin my wheels perfecting an early scene that will, more than likely, require greater revision than recently written scenes? No, I don't.

Great books are written during revision.

 

[BWFoster78]

I've read a lot of advice above saying, "Just finish your work."

I'm inferring that this admonition is meant to be heeded regardless of circumstances, and I'm not sure I agree.

To the OP:

Where are you in your writing career? Are you good enough to know that what you're producing is or isn't complete crap?

At some point, your focus needs to be on finishing new material. Until you get to a stage where you can produce good material, finishing, imo, isn't any better than not finishing.

I've long advocated that:

1. Write something
2. Get feedback
3. Revise based on that feedback
4. Go back to step 2

is the path to improvement.

Basically, to me, your initial post didn't provide enough information to answer the question. Do you need to focus on finishing or on improvement?

 

[skip.knox]

And just about the time I think what I've written is pretty damned good, I put it out for critique and am humbled.

I've concluded that I can tell whether or not I like it, but I can't tell whether or not it's good.

 

[Penpilot]

I've read a lot of advice above saying, "Just finish your work."

At some point, your focus needs to be on finishing new material. Until you get to a stage where you can produce good material, finishing, imo, isn't any better than not finishing.

I disagree with this. How do you get to a level of producing "good" material if you never finish anything? If all you're ever doing is starting a story and never finishing, then all you ever do is practice starting a story. You may get better at starting the story but you'll never get practice at pushing through the mid-point sags or pulling story elements together for the big finish, so you'll never get better at developing the middle and end of a story.

That's why people recommend writing short stories. It's a way for a writer to go through the process of starting a story, going through the middle, ending it, then editing, without having to produce a novel length work.

Not finishing is like only working out the left side of your body. The right side will remain weak.

 

[BWFoster78]

I disagree with this. How do you get to a level of producing "good" material if you never finish anything? If all you're ever doing is starting a story and never finishing, then all you ever do is practice starting a story. You may get better at starting the story but you'll never get practice at pushing through the mid-point sags or pulling story elements together for the big finish, so you'll never get better at developing the middle and end of a story.

That's why people recommend writing short stories. It's a way for a writer to go through the process of starting a story, going through the middle, ending it, then editing, without having to produce a novel length work.

Not finishing is like only working out the left side of your body. The right side will remain weak.

I get what you're saying, but you're making assumptions about the underlying problem/level of the writer's ability. My contention is still that we don't have enough information really to advise him.

1. The only way to truly learn to write a novel is to write a novel, not a short story. If someone doesn't want to produce short fiction, I see no reason to try to learn by writing them. If you want to learn how to write a novel, learning to create a complete chapter seems more important than the ability to write a novelette.

2. Writing well involves a lot of learning, both from a technique standpoint and a storytelling standpoint. I feel you can learn an awful lot about both of them by looking at an isolated part of your story. Frankly, I you have no idea how to convey tension and emotion and how to set up scenes or what information needs to be included for your story, finishing a work is simply a huge waste of time. You end up having squandered months producing material that is pretty much worthless.

Maybe the OP would benefit from finishing a story; I don't know enough to tell him. At the same time, I don't think the rest of the posters have enough information to tell him that the best use of his time and effort is to finish.

 

[Penpilot]

1. The only way to truly learn to write a novel is to write a novel, not a short story. If someone doesn't want to produce short fiction, I see no reason to try to learn by writing them. If you want to learn how to write a novel, learning to create a complete chapter seems more important than the ability to write a novelette.

Isn't this a bit of a contradiction to your second statement? Here you're saying that you can only learn to write something big, like a novel, by writing something big, instead of focusing in on something small like a short story, but in the second statement you say you should focus on the small, like a scene, before going on to something larger.

Writing a short story won't teach you how to write a novel, but it will help you develop some of the skills needed as you mention, tension, emotion, etc, but it has a broader focus than just writing a scene. In a short story you learn to deal with a complete story instead of a fragment. In a short story you have to learn how to connect story elements up so they mean something at the end. In a scene those connections don't have to be made, so the writer doesn't ever get practice in that. If an author is going to write 3000 words as practice, why not practice bringing up your skills in a broader sense instead of being so narrowly focused?

2. Writing well involves a lot of learning, both from a technique standpoint and a storytelling standpoint. I feel you can learn an awful lot about both of them by looking at an isolated part of your story. Frankly, I you have no idea how to convey tension and emotion and how to set up scenes or what information needs to be included for your story, finishing a work is simply a huge waste of time. You end up having squandered months producing material that is pretty much worthless.

This supports why some should practice on writing short stories. One common thing for new writers is they always have a cool scene in mind. They write that scene but don't know how it fits into a the story as a whole. IMHO too narrow a focus is one of the big issues of new writers. They focus in on the small, cool elements when they should be looking at the big picture. When you know the purpose of a scene and what it should be doing within the context of a novel, all the little things that were problems become easier to fix.

Tension and emotion aren't isolated to a single scene. In a novel those things carry over to the work as a whole. If a writer doesn't learn to deal with those connections, then it's just random scenes set next to each other, and as a whole they won't function very well, if at all. That's why it's important to finish. Finishing lets you deal with big picture things like the story telling. Finishing gives the author a greater understanding of their story and what true flaws and strengths it has. Perceived weaknesses on the micro level can turn into strengths on the macro and vice versa when you can see the whole story in front of you.

From my experience, others peoples may differ, I learned a lot more from finishing a crappy novel than I ever did writing story fragments, scenes, parts of scenes, etc. because of the reasons I stated above about having a narrow focus.

This is why I think finishing matters, even if what you finish is crap.

 

[BWFoster78]

Isn't this a bit of a contradiction to your second statement?

No. It's an acknowledgement that writing short form and writing novels require two different skill sets. Writing a short story isn't necessarily going to do anything for a novel writer, and I wouldn't advocate anyone write other forms unless they want to for personal reasons.

Tension and emotion aren't isolated to a single scene. In a novel those things carry over to the work as a whole. If a writer doesn't learn to deal with those connections, then it's just random scenes set next to each other, and as a whole they won't function very well, if at all.

I agree; I never say that you should never finish. I just think it's extremely inefficient to start composing whole novels before you're ready. And, as stated above, I don't feel that anyone should try to convince a novelist that writing short stories is somehow good for them.