Status update: FiMFiction · 2:26am Jan 6th, 2014
You may have noticed I haven't really been updating lately. This is for three reasons:
1: Holidays. I've been traveling and doing things with family.
2: Reviews. I've been focusing on doing reviews for authors a lot lately. I understand there are a few people who I've promised reviews to that I haven't delivered on yet. They are in the works, though.
3: My writing style. This is the big one. While I'm led to believe I can spin a decent story, my writing is encumbered and slow because there's always something in the back of my mind telling me that something is wrong. What this means is that while I'm writing, I'll get hung up on something for absolute eons that I know is wrong, but I don't know why. Thus begins a vicious cycle where I'm simply bogged down with no clue as to how to get out. It would behoove me at this point to learn more about writing fiction in general so that I can become faster. Now, this could be a long process or a short one depending on my own personal retardation/awesomeness, but for right now it just means that updates are going to be slow.
In regards to reason #3, let me read you a quote from one of my favorite books "On writing" by Stephen King. Page seventy-seven, last paragraph.
t from a sitting position."
"The most important (lesson) is that the writer's original perception of a character or characters may be as erroneous as the reader's. Running a close second was the realization that stopping a piece of work just because it's hard, either emotionally or imaginatively, is a bad idea. Sometimes you have to go on when you don't feel like it, and sometimes you're doing good work when it feels like all you're managing is to shovel s
These words, and many others from this book, sustain me and help me move forward with my writing. I hope they work as well for you.
1687730 Thanks, Eskerata. Let me go ahead and reassure anyone reading this post that I am by no means quitting. I recently received word from some thoroughly-vetted critics that my writing could be better, and when they explained themselves, I decided I agree. My abysmal writing pace has harried me from day one on this site, and I'm determined to ensure it isn't a problem. To that end, I'm redirecting my focus to developing good writing habits and improving what I already have.
Updates are coming. They'll just be erratic and probably slow.
One thing I've learned about critics: They're all biased. They all have a certain set of mental criteria they look for in writings, no matter who writes them. Some authors they expect more of than others, usually because they feel certain ones have a very good grasp on storytelling. There in lies the rub; it's a certain type of writing that a lot of critics like or dislike. Where one can fall in love with an author's story, another one can find a myriad of wrongs with it.
It's the readers you should worry about. They'll tell you if you're writing good or bad stories by the little like and dislike buttons.
That being said, writer's block is any author's bane. I know your pain. I've spent the last three months banging my head against a brick wall on how I want to start my third book of my trilogy (thank goodness that monster is on its last third!).
The best thing to battle writer's block...is more writing! It doesn't have to be the same story, but by working on other stories, you can work your way through what's bugging you on a particular chapter you're stuck on.
Give 'em hell, kid!
1689515 Thanks for the support, Scarheart.
While I agree that all critics have their likes and dislikes, I don't think that makes them wrong. My readers are great and have been very supportive of my efforts, but I'm after improving myself and my writing. I want to give everyone the best I can no matter what it takes. If I let popular opinion guide me, then I'll only ever be stuck writing and telling stories at the level I am right now, and I'm not satisfied with that on a personal level.
I know this blog post sounds like a cry for help, but it really isn't. It's more about informing everyone that I'm taking steps to improve and the stories might be a bit rocky for a while.