How do I learn to not throw away the stories I write?

Question

Like, I really want to be a great writer but every time I even START a story, I just end up throwing it away. I think it's easier to read stuff by other people than to write it yourself.

I guess I'm just waiting for an; "OMG, best idea ever" story because I can't come up with anything good to write about.

I usually just end up going on writing forums and getting jealous of the people on there and thinking; "why can't I write like that?" I never add details or explain things good. Should I just give up my dream of becoming a writer? You can't really be one if you're not good at it.

Ah, now I'm being all negative. =P
Help?

Answer 1

Hah, never give up!



Firstly, everyone who writes come across the horrible plague that infects our minds... writers block.

Secondly, everyone has an idea, somewhere cooked up in their brain... it's just a matter of finding it.

And finally, no writer is the best. When you read other pieces of work, and it's super, learn from it.



The only advice I could give you is to never give up your dream. Just, don't rush it. What I do, (I'm in a situation like yours), is read other's work, learn from their techniques. I visit the Library often, I jot down the ideas I get whenever they come to me. I doodle out characters while in class, I think about things that excite me personally (genre wise), at night... build up your imagination.



Oh, and study your genre of choice.



Sooner or later, out of nowhere, you will get an idea that will stun even yourself, one that fantastic writers will be jealous of. You just need to work on building your imagination to get to that point.



Good luck, never give up.



P.s- Don't trash your work! As much as you'd love to... it could come in handy one day.

Answer 2

Everyone is giving you great advice! Mine is to write the part you are excited about first. Is it the hero or the heroine? The ending? The conflict? That is what you see in your head and is the driving force behind getting the story on paper so go with it first and once that is down it becomes like a puzzle to make it work rather than getting stuck on the perfect opening sentence!! I have written the same stories ten times because I am a character driven person and my biggest problem with all the authors I read is that they aren't writing ten books a year and giving me more of the people I want to read about. So I keep working my characters in different situations and one of the stories begins to take off and is 500 pages before I can tear the pen out of my hand. Writing should be fun and satisfying and you are going to be the harshest critic of your own work so if you write one that you actually want to read again......or it makes you laugh or cry then you have a home run!!

Answer 3

Wow, throw them away?

Keep them, even if they are small and finish them. Just starting with a short story is good. Then you can edit it, change it. Get someone else to read it. Structured criticism and advice is always a bonus when writing.

Practise. Write more and then read it at the end. That way you can see your work and see what you don't like. Fix it then remember next time.

And keep reading, it's probably the best way to improve your writing.

Take notes if it helps and write in chunks. For each chunk remember always describe settings, people, speech, and thoughts. Put everything in, make every detail. Then go back and take out what you don't need. Then do the next bit.

Keep a thesaurus handy, it's your best friend when writing, you can find great words you wouldn't have thought of before, it helps vary your word choice and expands vocab. The more you try the easier it gets. You can write for fun if not for career.

Best of luck.

Answer 4

It takes a lot self discipline to be a writer. You have to just write and keep writing doing a freewrite thing where you just write for the sake of writing. It could help you become a more focused writer in the future. Don't through it away even if it sucks as You may come up with an idea to make it better later.

Answer 5

Haha, hello, Fuzzy Moo Moo. Again.



I use a site called Fictionpress.com. You post your work, there are different genres, and you'll get reviews. You shouldn't necessarily depend on the amount of reviews you get, or sometimes what they say; a lot of times, you will get people who say nothing but "Great job, update soon!" My second suggestion is to find a beta reader on Fictionpress. It's kind of a new addition to FP. I'm a beta reader, myself, on FP. You don't *have* to contact me specifically if you don't want to (I'm Olivine), because it depends on what genre you write and what exactly you're looking for- you can find that in the Beta Profiles, what the beta readers are all about. (In case you didn't know, and before I lose you completely, a beta reader is essencially a proof reader/ editor.) And I don't know if you're touchy about it, but you don't have to give out your email to do this beta reading thing. You can do it through FP.



Since you're having troubles with your work and how you feel about it, I think this would be good for you. And as for the throwing things out... just don't delete them. Or throw them in the garbage, whichever. I know you can get frustrated, believe me I'm constantly there, and to the point where you just want to throw the things out, set fire to them if possible and otherwise destroy the evidence of your "terrible" writing. Ha. I know. But really, saving it would do you good. Like I said.



And as for the "OMG best idea ever," that's is my MAIN problem. And that's where I get frustrated, and impatient and feel like "yeah, I'm never going to do this, why am I wasting my time?" Well, I've recently devised a little plan type of thing. I bought a notebook that looks really cool from B&N and in it, I write down anything that comes to mind. I don't force it. Anything that inspires or intrigues me, for instance the movie The Illusionist got me thinking about magicians and magic as more of a casual thing, in the video game Final Fantasy XII, there was a breakout from this one place and the main character meets up with this girl whom I believe him to be in love with or something, that inspired a "break out of captivity" scene. Absolutely anything that gives you an idea. Of course, this also takes patience and I know you're pretty impatient and get frustrated easily. This is actually a better thing to do when you *don't* have a lot of time to write, like now when there are finals and stuff for school because then you're over thinking a little less, which might be good for you, haha. Anyways, these little snippets I write are only about a half a page to a page and a half. I don't force it. And then later, I could combine some scenes or think about them more and/or the characters. I've kind of decided to go with the flow, again using S. Meyer as an example (it is quite fantastic how I always bring her up, huh?).



Anyways. So, there are a ton of things you can do. I'm guessing you'll like the beta reader idea more than the one involving patience, hehe. But either way, I hope you look into them both and see what happens.



PS. You *do* have to sign up on FP to do the beta reader thing. Just before I forgot, I thought you should know.

Answer 6

I would type your stories out on your computer and save them. That way if you get disgusted or tired with a story you can just put them in separate categories. You can make different folders to separate what stories you have given up on at the moment or ones that you are stuck on and that way you still have them if you need them. Sometimes you could be writing a different story and get stuck and look at your older ones in another folder and you might be able to combine and use different elements from that story to throw into your new one. It's also fun to keep a record on how your writing improves through the years, so for your future self's sake, don't throw out any more!

Answer 7

one element that I try this relatively facilitates me I constantly have a laptop with me whenevr I arise with something no matter what it incredibly is I placed it performed in there. I additionally take notes on human beings and how they act whilst i'm out. department shops and airports are the final places i hit upon do try this at. additionally i'm going to easily sit down performed for like 20 minutes at a time and merely write not complication approximately spelling grammar merely write. then you definately piece the tale mutually later when you have an concept the type you desire it. anymore questions you may email me.

Answer 8

ok thats me exactly :]

i just started writeing abook

it kinda came t ome while i was lying in bed

but i have started prob over like 10 books but never went past chapter 5

but now im actually starting to

my advice is read alot for like a week and then take notes on how they describe it . always has a dictionary like dictionary.com and then use describing words. its actually funny in 3rd grade a wrote a book that was 26 pages long and it was just like this :



the girl was an old hag. she was old. the locket was gold. it was in a gold pile.



but now im learing to write descriptive ly and i have my friends critique me each chapter i do .. so do one chap let you friends read it then have them tell you how to make it better and no ideas a bad one unless its playgerized lol



good luck and never ever give up your dream :]

Answer 9

practice practice practice, and never throw away or delete what you write. just take some time away form it and come back to it later. Good Luck

Answer 10

You have to REALLY want to write well. and, not to be mean, but some people just aren't ment to be good at writing, even if they want to :P