# Greetings from a writer - wannabe published author



## suzyq (Jul 17, 2007)

Hi everyone

I decided I was going to write a novel and have it published. That was 7 years ago. Since then, I've started and stopped writing the novel, started and stopped another one, started and stopped yet another one... anyway, you get the picture. 

So I've joined this forum to help get myself 'unstuck'.

What else? I seem to be able to give out advice about writing all the time - which other writers follow and get great results with - but I'm not so great at following my own advice. Why is that?

Seeya around!


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## Voodoo (Jul 17, 2007)

Some great people here, and some people still learning, like this young little german.

Great community here, if you don't take things personally.

Great to have you, love. You need anything, don't hesitate to ask.

As for me, I'll offer some esoteric advice- stop writing a novel and start writing short, for a while.


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## Baron (Jul 17, 2007)

Hi Suzy and welcome to the forum.


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## Nickie (Jul 17, 2007)

Hello there, Suzy, and welcome to Writing Forums. I think it's always easier to offer advice than to follow it yourself... have the same problem! Guess that is because I'm a teacher, so I'm always ready to offer advise, critique, etc. - but I need someone else to have a look at my own work and point out the problems. Luckily for me I have such a person. 


Nickie


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## Shinn (Jul 17, 2007)

Hi Suzy and welcome to the forum!


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## suzyq (Jul 17, 2007)

Thanks for the welcome!

I guess we're all still learning, doesn't matter how old we are, otherwise we wouldn't be in this forum. Making mistakes is part of the process.

To think young little german - great advice. I should've started by writing short stories and should be writing them now. But I still wanna write a novel!


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## Voodoo (Jul 17, 2007)

I have already said this elsewhere, but a connection between writing and sex can be found.

Start short.
Go long.


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## Linton Robinson (Jul 17, 2007)

Doing short stories and novels are two very distinct types of writing and not everybody has an aptitude or desire for both.
If you want to write a novel, write a novel.  Want a smaller task, write a chapter.

Ever write a screenplay?   I have found that no one thing I ever wrote (after a lifetime of writing about anything you can imagine) nothing improved my novel ability like screenwriting.  Just a thought.

Is there any certain area where you are having problems with this project?


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## suzyq (Jul 18, 2007)

lin, I've never had a desire to write a screenplay. I admire anyone who can - I think you need to be highly "visual" to write one. I'm more kinesthetic - I like to desribe how things feel .

My problems are more about time management. I jump into a story and work on it to the point of exhaustion. I take a break to rest and I gotta get on with other areas of my life (I love writing but if I don't get on with the business of living then what the hell do I have to write about?). It's hard to then get back into the story after a long absence and by then I'm excited about something else. I think that about sums it up.


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## Linton Robinson (Jul 18, 2007)

Been there, done that.

I think the only solution is to grow up.  I'm still working on that.


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## Baron (Jul 18, 2007)

suzyq said:


> lin, I've never had a desire to write a screenplay. I admire anyone who can - I think you need to be highly "visual" to write one. I'm more kinesthetic - I like to desribe how things feel .
> 
> My problems are more about time management. I jump into a story and work on it to the point of exhaustion. I take a break to rest and I gotta get on with other areas of my life (I love writing but if I don't get on with the business of living then what the hell do I have to write about?). It's hard to then get back into the story after a long absence and by then I'm excited about something else. I think that about sums it up.


 
Try and discipline yourself to a period each day, feel like it or not.  It reaps benefits.

Rob


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## Mister Barfly (Jul 19, 2007)

German Voodoo said:


> I have already said this elsewhere, but a connection between writing and sex can be found.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## Mister Barfly (Jul 19, 2007)

Baron said:


> Try and discipline yourself to a period each day, feel like it or not. It reaps benefits.


 
I agree with you to some degree, Baron, but there's been times when I haven't been able to devote any time to my writing for fairly lengthy periods (example: lost my job last year, so spent a month more concerned with writing covering letters and filling in applications than adding to the latest chapter). I hate the idea that you HAVE to write every single day to be a "proper" (or, God forbid, "Serious") writer -- I'm sure most of us who write because we love to write would love the luxury of being able to do so every day, but sometimes the real world interrupts and we can't. 

Personally, SuzyQ, I think the biggest thing you have to get over is the idea of starting a project and then stopping it. Don't say that you've stopped it, just think that you've postponed it, or put it on ice, or however you want to phrase it. Once you say you've stopped it then that's it, its game over. As long as the project is ice then you can always return to it....


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