# Why Is Writing Hard?



## luckyscars (Mar 19, 2019)

Everybody knows _making __it _in writing professionally is not easy. 

What is less clear is why writing itself is considered 'hard'. A common observation/complaint on this forum and beyond. And a curious one.

Why is writing generally considered difficult? Why do _you _find it difficult?

- Is it the physical toil of the word count? But how? Anybody who participates on this forum with any kind of frequency and has racked up a post count in the high hundreds has probably accomplished roughly the same word count as a typical novel without breaking a sweat. And if brevity is your thing, of course there are shorter forms.

- Is it the formation of an idea? Why? Aren't ideas easy for any creative mind? _Dost thou not dream?_

- Is it the execution of an idea into a story? Sculpting it into imagined perfection through the fearsome medium of written word? Seems more reasonable.... but is it? _What is so difficult about writing it down_? We don't have the same level of difficulty in expressing ourselves in words the rest of the time, do we? Most of us can tell a story perfectly competently when talking to a friend or relative about something that happened. With that in mind, what makes writing in a language most of us are fluent in about an idea that is _ours_ so agonizing for so many?

- Is it something else entirely? Perfectionism? The wall of ego? External pressures? Pathological laziness? Trumpian bone spurs?


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## Phil Istine (Mar 19, 2019)

Writing isn't hard, but writing well to captivate a wide audience who are prepared to pay a little of their hard-earned money can be tricky.
I take the view that if I like what I write, there's a half-decent chance that some others will like it too.

Ideas come to me frequently.  When I write them down I can construct scenes.  Stretching the idea into a longer story can be trickier, which is why I've restricted myself to poetry and short fiction so far.  I did write a long, rambling autobiography, but that won't see the light of day in that form due to its deeply personal nature (even after all these years, it might be possible to be locked up for some of that stuff).  I do draw on it sometimes, with heavy editing, to fictionalise some of my old realities.

However, I also learn a bit by reading.  Take Stephen King's _Carrie_ for example.  The entire core story takes place over a very short time period.  Some back story is worked in, where appropriate, and there are even places in the future from the core story that look back at it and the aftermath.  He achieves this by quoting fictional newspapers and periodicals.

I'm currently writing a prose piece for a competition (max. 2,000 words), and I will probably enter a poem too (max. 300 words).  Entrants are allowed to submit one of each.  There are cash prizes, and mentoring prizes too.  I'm in it to win it 

I suppose being in my early 60s and knackered from full-time manual work slows me down on the writing front, but I do what I can.  Fatigue and writing are a poor mix for me which is why I do most of it very early in the morning.


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## Sir-KP (Mar 19, 2019)

Processing the scene in my imagination into words so people can picture it the same exactly as I imagined it as they read, is hard.

Everything else other than that is fun.


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## Tim (Mar 19, 2019)

Consistency. I've just started to write and I couldn't understand why I could do it reasonably well one day and terribly the next. Then I came here and read about writing stamina. Learning new techniques and using them takes time. There are so many, I reckon It'd take a lifetime, or more, to learn them.


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## Olly Buckle (Mar 19, 2019)

An oral story comes and is gone before it can be considered, written work is always there and can be looked over carefully, you need to do more than simply get the sense across.


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## luckyscars (Mar 19, 2019)

Sir-KP said:


> Processing the scene in my imagination into words so people can picture it the same exactly as I imagined it as they read, is hard.



But presumably when you orally relay a story you can do so in a way that people can understand and, presumably, that isn't something that takes a great deal of thought or mental toil? So what is the difference between casually relaying a story in a conversation and writing it down? Or do you suppose a written story is always to be more intricate or detailed than a verbally-told one? 

How about a conversation? Plenty of people antagonize endlessly over dialogue and yet most of us can hold a conversation no problem. Granted in a real-life conversation you only have to worry about dictating one side of it...but surely writing both sides of it should be easier as you assume greater control? Why the block?




Tim said:


> Consistency. I've just started to write and I couldn't understand why I could do it reasonably well one day and terribly the next. Then I came here and read about writing stamina. Learning new techniques and using them takes time. There are so many, I reckon It'd take a lifetime, or more, to learn them.



What techniques exactly? I don't know if I know any.




Olly Buckle said:


> An oral story comes and is gone before it can be considered, written work is always there and can be looked over carefully, you need to do more than simply get the sense across.



There are plenty of spheres where an oral story may be considered at great length, on a par with how a reader might look at a novel at least. In a police interview setting, for instance, the accuracy of description and detail would be important. One might argue such a situation would present its own high levels of stress but the stress would not necessarily come from the quality of the discourse but rather of the extraneous circumstances? Point being that when it comes to an ordinary 'granddad tell me about the war' type of storytelling most people, even those with basic education, can do it convincingly. But when they start to write somehow it becomes a bigger challenge?


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## ppsage (Mar 19, 2019)

For me, writing 5k words of commentary posts in a day is a cinch. Well, if I'm editing enough to be sure they contain a modicum of sensible communication, then maybe quarter that. Still. Doing 1k on a fiction project seems usually very difficult for me. But not always. Sometimes I get myself in a mood. But not very often anymore. It interferes horribly with learning to paint. ........ I sort of feel like I don't want to live the life I reckon I would have to in order to regularly complete works of fiction. But that's just me.


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## luckyscars (Mar 19, 2019)

ppsage said:


> I sort of feel like I don't want to live the life I reckon I would have to in order to regularly complete works of fiction. But that's just me.



Definitely not just you. IMO, it's just most people aren't honest enough to admit it.

Overall it's far better to write less and be happy than write more and be miserable. Just don't go pretending you're going to come out of it as a professional author. Professional authors have to have regular high quality output.


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## Sir-KP (Mar 19, 2019)

luckyscars said:


> But presumably when you orally relay a story you can do so in a way that people can understand and, presumably, that isn't something that takes a great deal of thought or mental toil? So what is the difference between casually relaying a story in a conversation and writing it down? Or do you suppose a written story is always to be more intricate or detailed than a verbally-told one?
> 
> How about a conversation? Plenty of people antagonize endlessly over dialogue and yet most of us can hold a conversation no problem. Granted in a real-life conversation you only have to worry about dictating one side of it...but surely writing both sides of it should be easier as you assume greater control? Why the block?



Telling something orally is easier because you are helped by many different things that a written one is lacking, such as the tone. It helps a lot conveying the emotion. Not only that, if both listener and speaker are present, then the speaker can also use hand gestures, facial expressions, body languages to help listeners capturing the message. Most importantly, when you are speaking verbally, you can also skip some words, easily correct what you just said, or even go back to fill in the information you forgot to say 30 seconds or a minute ago.

Speaking is an abstract form to express your mind, that will be listened and absorbed into the listener's mind, that even with all those helps, people may still have a chance to misunderstand your message or even completely lost.

Meanwhile, writing produces text. Text is visual. It becomes an art form, a medium that carries your mind expression. The reader produces the sound in their head on their own. This is why it needs details, because text lacking what verbal speech has and we have to make it up. Text is also an important part in visual arts in general because of this. With text, we are using the reader's eyes before it gets absorbed into their mind and so we definitely want our writings to carry the message as perfect as it is in our mind, while also as comfortable and as clear as possible in people's eyes.

For example, some people in another forums would write _a long big wall of text without punctuation and paragraph breaks wtf when I asked them why they said its easier to write like how they talk verbally I told them its hard to read its unclear but they say they like it its easier write like this dont matter im like wtf u think its funny hurts peoples eyes whats the point in writing when its so unclear ignorant farking dumbass you write not talk


_That's why text takes time to process. In fact, I'm taking a while to write this post, because I want to make sure the message gets to you clearly and also comfortable for you to read, and without bringing negative feeling or remark such as sarcasm and insult.


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## luckyscars (Mar 20, 2019)

Sir-KP said:


> Telling something orally is easier because you are helped by many different things that a written one is lacking, such as the tone. It helps a lot conveying the emotion. Not only that, if both listener and speaker are present, then the speaker can also use hand gestures, facial expressions, body languages to help listeners capturing the message. Most importantly, when you are speaking verbally, you can also skip some words, easily correct what you just said, or even go back to fill in the information you forgot to say 30 seconds or a minute ago.
> 
> Speaking is an abstract form to express your mind, that will be listened and absorbed into the listener's mind, that even with all those helps, people may still have a chance to misunderstand your message or even completely lost.
> 
> ...



Gotcha.

To be honest, I'm not (seriously) saying writing is as easy as talking. Of course it isn't, for many of the reasons you correctly articulate. 

What I'm saying is that writing, logically, should not be significantly more difficult since it's more or less just a textual representation of what even most not-very-educated people can do with relative ease. 

All of the things you mention require thought. But none of them seem like they warrant a huge deal of consternation, which they do for many. Of course there is such a thing as writing that is sublime and we can leave the Shakespeares, etc. out of this.  But simply telling a straightforward fictional story in a clear, consistent and seamless way without having to pearl-clutch over whether it works or not seems like something that _should be _really, really straightforward.


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## ppsage (Mar 20, 2019)

luckyscars said:


> Definitely not just you. IMO, it's just most people aren't honest enough to admit it.
> 
> Overall it's far better to write less and be happy than write more and be miserable. Just don't go pretending you're going to come out of it as a professional author. Professional authors have to have regular high quality output.


Fair enough, although I tend not to use the word _professional_ which to me entails academic entanglements. I feel like _commercial_ generally presents more accurately. I certainly don't consider I could, on my present course, ever be that.


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## Tim (Mar 20, 2019)

luckyscars said:


> What techniques exactly? I don't know if I know any.



You do, I can assure you. It's just that you may do it naturally. I can tell a good yarn around the campfire and people will listen because they are friends. So I don't need to use a 'hook' in the first line of the story.That's the kind of technique I meant.

Perhaps talking and listening uses less energy than writing.


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## MichelD (Mar 21, 2019)

In fiction making something out of nothing from scratch is hard. 

Particularly if you have no training and no one to consult to inform you if you're on the right track or not.


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## Olly Buckle (Mar 21, 2019)

ppsage said:


> Fair enough, although I tend not to use the word _professional_ which to me entails academic entanglements. I feel like _commercial_ generally presents more accurately. I certainly don't consider I could, on my present course, ever be that.



The thought of a 'commercial' ppsage made me smile, I would love to see his rendition of Romance and bodice ripping; his detective stories might be decidedly devious; I wonder about his Westerns; does he do Comedy?


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## Ralph Rotten (Mar 21, 2019)

I agree with Phil: writing is easy. Writing well is the hard part. Writing well enough to go pro requires dedication, attention to detail, and a lotta practice.

When you post in a forum you are chatting with friends.
When you write professionally, you are competing with other professionals.


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## SueC (Mar 21, 2019)

I don't think writing is hard. And when I think of writing, I don't think of telling stories orally or conversations that I have had or will have, or how skilled I may be at verbal communication. I'm just thinking _writing._ I think  writing for yourself, to make yourself happy, to find joy or comfort in your own written word, is much different than writing for money. 

The mother of a dear friend passed away, and I could think of nothing to do or say to help her in her grief. So I wrote her a story. I had known her mother well, so I put the main character right in her mom's bedroom, walking around and looking at everything that was special to her. I described it all, everything I could remember from when I had visited - pictures, cherished memento's, how the room looked the moment she died, the moment before her body was taken away. The sun pouring in through the gauzy curtains, with just the lightest breeze lifting them away from the window. I even wrote about the smell of her robe, hanging on the bathroom door, her powders and lotions, gifts from grandchildren who thought their grandma should always smell like strawberries.

I gave it to her reluctantly, afraid it wouldn't help. But she said it did help. She told me she would cherish it always, because she felt as if she was actually the one _in_ my story, and looking at her mother's bedroom one last time. My friend lived in New York when her mom passed away in Florida. 

For those who write, writing is the answer to almost everything. It is my first impulse when I see anything that brings out an emotion; fear, love, hate, and sadness. Put it down, get the words out, and once in a while there's actually something worth reading! LOL. Good discussion. Thanks Luckyscars.


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## Stormcat (Mar 21, 2019)

Personally, I always get hung up on the little things. I could be writing a scene just perfectly, but then I'm not sure which word to use or how to portray a little thing and a bit of writer's block stops me outright.


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## moderan (Mar 22, 2019)

Ralph Rotten said:


> When you write professionally, you are competing with other professionals.



Man, that's the best part.


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## Sir-KP (Mar 22, 2019)

Stormcat said:


> but then I'm not sure which word to use or how to portray a little thing



Spot on for me.


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## EmmaSohan (Mar 25, 2019)

I find oral story-telling just as difficult as writing. Choosing exactly the right word or phrase, working out what context is needed. Telling the story to different people to improve it. Finding the right audience -- I will sit down and think who will enjoy my story and who will not.

My writing has actually helped my story telling -- I will insert shrugs, ellipses, italics, etc. Well, that's how I think of them. I made someone laugh the other day only because I added italics to the phrase I wanted to have a double meaning.

I am constantly frustrated in my errors in talking. Probably because I go over them in mind afterwards. People who produce words easily usually aren't that interesting, right? I suspect a good story teller would not say that oral story telling was easy.

I don't think I'm disagreeing with anyone, I'm just saying I have the same agonies with oral as written.


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## gene (Mar 27, 2019)

When it comes to writing, I don't know, maybe its just me. I only do it because I enjoy it, so what if it never gets published, I don't care. I am not doing it for money. I do enjoy others reading it and letting me know what they think, but even that is hard to do. I have asked others to read some of my work but they never really do, they may read a few lines or a few pages, and I hear, "Its ok." So I stopped even trying and still I write. When I write I lose myself in my own imagination, enjoying my own make believe world, not unlike a child with an imaginary friend. Writing is a good way for me to escape the world, and enjoy a place no one else has ever gone.


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## Chris Stevenson (Mar 27, 2019)

Writing is a solitary venture and it is also a craft that can/must be learned and practiced. You are on your own. It is not a team effort (unless you have a co-author). But you are the master of your output--you determine when you wake and begin the task. There is no one to remind you to get busy. You have no actual time card to punch, you have no scheduled breaks unless you make them. You have no help, no personal advice, there is no one standing next to you offering support. You are face to face with the nothingness of a blank page. It's all up to you, and the task seems so overwhelmingly immense that it vsm make you comatose or turn you into a blithering idiot. All distractions must be put aside and you must focus with all your attention and energy on one goal, and you have no idea where you are going or how you'll get there. And then you must start and finish a large or small segment of your project. Quit, Wake up--rally--and begin again, day in, day out until it becomes routine. 

You are a slave to another world for three months, six months, a year or however long it takes. During that time you will be lost in another world--your world. This world does not play by any set rules. And you have to live there and hopefully love it, or at least tolerate it. You must do all of this for one project with NO hope that it will bear any fruit at all, or mean anything to anyone besides yourself. After that, you must send this thing out into the world and be prepared to have it ignored, snubbed and rejected 99.999% of the time. That is a lot of times to be told "No." Then you must begin again from the start.

That is really only the beginning...then it gets harder...

But I have to say that I'm so proud of the sacrifices; it's made me a stronger individual. And I would do it again, over and over in multiple lifetimes. It's has all been WORTH it to me. I think writers are a special breed, sensitive, caring and intuitive people. My types. So Yay for us!


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## Gamer_2k4 (Mar 27, 2019)

luckyscars said:


> - Is it the execution of an idea into a story? Sculpting it into imagined perfection through the fearsome medium of written word? Seems more reasonable.... but is it? _What is so difficult about writing it down_? We don't have the same level of difficulty in expressing ourselves in words the rest of the time, do we? Most of us can tell a story perfectly competently when talking to a friend or relative about something that happened. With that in mind, what makes writing in a language most of us are fluent in about an idea that is _ours_ so agonizing for so many?



Though you ultimately questioned and disregarded it, this right here is why writing is so difficult for many.  In real life, most of us DO have difficulty expressing ourselves, at least properly.  In real life, most people DO have trouble telling stories.  I'm sure it happens to the average person several times a day; for my own part, I often struggle for the perfect word, often repeating words (as I just did with "often" here), or defaulting to "stuff" instead of using something more descriptive, or using "like" far more often than I should, or even just having all sorts of "ums" and "ahs" as I try to form my thoughts.  Communicating is hard.  And I'm sure we all know plenty of people who just cannot get to the point when they're telling a story or even just asking a question or relating a fact.  There's very little pressure to be good at conveying our thoughts to others, and as a result, most of us aren't.


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## gene (Mar 27, 2019)

In past years I have signed into and became a long time member of several different forums with several different interests, about motorcycles, aquariums, etc. What I have found is that on occasions someone starts a thread that takes on a life of its own, ending up not having anything to do with the original reason the op started the thread with his/her post. I believe that is what is happening here with this thread. This to me is very enjoyable that keeps me reading the thread. I myself have been a moderator of a gaming website that I and two other friends started years ago. That entire website took on its own life. About a year ago on an aquarium form, I had an argument with a moderator. She was threatening everyone about deleting their posts if they didn't stay on topic. I just couldn't figure out why she would do such a thing, with harmless posts.


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## moderan (Mar 27, 2019)

Thread drift is a reality. 
I think it's okay to write for yourself...totally. But most of the advice here is aimed at people who want to write professionally but don't quite know how. And making the act all mystical and shit is in the way of that instruction. Writing isn't that hard -- it's managing expectation that's difficult.


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## Kyle R (Mar 27, 2019)

luckyscars said:


> What I'm saying is that writing, logically, should not be significantly more difficult since it's more or less just a textual representation of what even most not-very-educated people can do with relative ease.
> 
> ... But simply telling a straightforward fictional story in a clear, consistent and seamless way without having to pearl-clutch over whether it works or not seems like something that _should be _really, really straightforward.



In my opinion, most of today's oral stories, told in casual conversation, would get quickly rejected by most agents/editors/publishers, were they to be transcribed into print and tossed into a slush pile. :grief:

It's simply not on the same level as written fiction, in which the words are toiled over and honed for deliberate effect. It's like comparing beat poetry to written poetry. Beat poetry is spontaneous. Written poetry can take years (!) to get a single poem right.

What makes writing hard is that all the extra work that's put into it, taking it far past the realm of spontaneity.


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## moderan (Mar 27, 2019)

Oh noes! The dreaded WORK!


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## luckyscars (Mar 27, 2019)

Gamer_2k4 said:


> Though you ultimately questioned and disregarded it, this right here is why writing is so difficult for many. In real life, most of us DO have difficulty expressing ourselves, at least properly. In real life, most people DO have trouble telling stories. I'm sure it happens to the average person several times a day; for my own part, I often struggle for the perfect word, often repeating words (as I just did with "often" here), or defaulting to "stuff" instead of using something more descriptive, or using "like" far more often than I should, or even just having all sorts of "ums" and "ahs" as I try to form my thoughts. Communicating is hard. And I'm sure we all know plenty of people who just cannot get to the point when they're telling a story or even just asking a question or relating a fact. There's very little pressure to be good at conveying our thoughts to others, and as a result, most of us aren't.



But communicating isn't hard. _We are doing it right now_. Unless you have some disability, communication is the most natural and effortless thing in god's green earth.

I don't mean that to come across flippant. I _know _a novel or even a bum short story requires more skill. If arguing verbosely on a forum was symptomatic of literary acumen, I would be richer than James Patterson by now. 

But it's still written communication. There has to be a good reason why people are able to come on here and wax lyrical _about _writing but somehow, mysteriously unable to _actually _write. Cue the excuses why 'it isn't that simple'. And I say it friggin' is.

I do have a theory on that, by the way. I did not share it yet because I wanted to get other opinions and didn't want to fan flames, but here goes...

I think, for many people, it has zero to do with writing/communicative ability and everything to do with plain laziness. Most 'writers' don't really _like_ writing so they pretend it's difficult so they have an excuse. Society enables this through the tortured artist or erratic creative stereotype. *But they don't want to actually do it*. 

Those people should absolutely be helped...when they deserve it. When it is a legitimate confidence issue or some temporary wall. That's okay. But they should also be viciously ignored for the cancer they are when they piss and whine and distract while gradually eroding away the space for people who genuinely enjoy the craft. 

/rant



Kyle R said:


> In my opinion, most of today's oral stories, told in casual conversation, would get quickly rejected by most agents/editors/publishers, were they to be transcribed into print and tossed into a slush pile.
> 
> 
> It's simply not on the same level as written fiction, in which the words are toiled over and honed for deliberate effect. It's like comparing beat poetry to written poetry. Beat poetry is spontaneous. Written poetry can take years (!) to get a single poem right.
> ...




That's true, Kyle, however it sounds you are talking about professional-grade, making-some-real-money writing, which I mentioned in the original post I believe to be (hell, I know to be) difficult. What I am referring to here is simply the act of putting pen to page and telling a simple, coherent story.


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## Megan Pearson (Mar 27, 2019)

luckyscars said:


> Everybody knows _making __it _in writing professionally is not easy.
> 
> What is less clear is why writing itself is considered 'hard'. A common observation/complaint on this forum and beyond. And a curious one.
> 
> ...



Okay, I'm jumping in without having read anything but Luckyscars' prompt. Mostly b/c I don't have the luxury of time to do so. I am writing the most difficult thing I have ever written right now. It doesn't seem like it should be that hard, it's just the longest & most in-depth piece of academic writing I have ever attempted. In the past three days I have gone from 21 pages on my latest draft (half-way point) to starting over on page one. (Oh, and I am so getting a finished draft out of this by this weekend.) Except for the anxiety, it's not so bad. I've got three other drafts, so now I'm just perfecting my arguments. Cut, past, print-cut-tape. Retype. (Well, figuaratively. It's already typed. It just needs some rearranging & editing.) Okay, so the anxiety is a creativity killer. I came to a dead stop today for a whole hour because of it. 

I highly recommend avoiding anxiety!


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## Chris Stevenson (Mar 28, 2019)

Why is writing so hard is really such a broad question that could involve every darn aspect of it from creation, to submission, to rejection/acceptance to promotion and marketing and so on and so on. I think there are equally easy and fun parts to it as well. There was a question like this that popped up in Quora. The answers were all over the place, but it was a fascinating study, wot?


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## Kyle R (Mar 29, 2019)

luckyscars said:


> That's true, Kyle, however it sounds you are talking about professional-grade, making-some-real-money writing, which I mentioned in the original post I believe to be (hell, I know to be) difficult. What I am referring to here is simply the act of putting pen to page and telling a simple, coherent story.



Ah—my mistake, then! :05.18-flustered:


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## buck06191 (Mar 29, 2019)

I think it might be because you're squeezing a creative process out of your brain and into a structured, permanent form that has to stand up to repeat readings. So many emotional and physical cues have to be translated into language and the choice of words and form has to perfectly (or as near as) encapsulate all of that, including context.
I imagine the critical nature of it also has something to do with it. When I'm talking day to day, what I say doesn't have to stand up to a critical gaze/ear. It just _is_. If I write something and I put it out there for others to read, the very act of sharing it has opened it up to other people's interpretations and critiques. Suddenly something that made perfect sense to you is being misunderstood and reinterpreted and, even if you're the most self-assured and self-confident person ever, your thoughts don't belong only to you.


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## Olly Buckle (Mar 29, 2019)

True buck06191, but there is also the fact of instant feedback in verbal communication. People indicate their understanding or lack of it whilst they are listening and the talker will cut a sentence short or elaborate as seems necessary. There is none of that luxury of feedback from reader to author, normally they will not even meet. One is writing for varied people one does not know and who give no feedback, that is mega compared to chatting face to face with an individual.


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