Observation: Why do I have such a hard time writing even though I have so many ideas I want to explore.

First off, I really enjoy writing. As of late, I have put it upon myself to start writing more. Writing has always intrigued me, yet I do so little of it. So I have set a plan to get in motion, write more, get better, and just really enjoy this medium for all it has to offer. This is a step of that plan.

As I was sitting here viewing my profile on Fim, I noticed the blog option, albeit I already knew it was there for a long time. Though this time I thought to myself: I should write a blog post. I had never thought of making a blog on this site for the sole reason it would be pointless. Someone like me, who has done barely anything on this site, making a blog post. Ha, silly idea, or is it?

You see, I felt like the only reason to blog was for others to see and view. Never did it occur to me that I can easily just write it for myself. Now I know you may be saying things like: If you're writing it for yourself, why here on FimFiction? And yes, I could simply do this on Google docs and such. But I feel it applies well here and hey, who knows, maybe someone will read this. That would be cool, you're a cool person if you are reading this.

So what I feel like writing about today is something that I personally have always had a hard time with. It's the fact that even though I have these grand and wonderful stories in my head, I never seem to write them. I'm going to be looking into the many reasons why this is. This way I can get a better understanding of why It's so hard for me to just sit down and write.

Time

Let us begin with time. Time is an interesting one, so I'll be splitting it into two parts. The amount of time you have, and managing the time you do have. Let's first talk about how much time you have.

As for me, this is not one of my problems as I generally have loads of time to spend. But for many people this probably is a big reason why they never write. They simply don't have the time, and it's a shame. Whether it be because of school, work or whatever life is throwing at them at the moment. It just wouldn't be smart to write when there seems to be many more important things to be done. Though I feel like most people can get around this with something I feel I'm rather bad at, managing your time.

Managing your time is very, very important, and It's something I don't do enough. Too long, do I spend simply browsing the many websites I go to. So much time is just sunk into the void known as the Internet. My addiction to the obstructive leads me to be unproductive. So be careful with your time, because if you wait too long to write. By the time you actually want to, you'll be in your bed, staring at a dark ceiling.

The way to probably help with this would be to make a daily schedule, set up goals, and limit what you're spending too much time on. Making a schedule will help you with commitments with yourself. Without commitments, it's honestly too easy to brush something off, and commitments without a set time attached can be procrastinated. Goals are also a great help with achieving progress, or rather feeling like you're moving along your desired path. It's important to set goals at your pace rather than just some large-scale goals. You can sill have large goals, just have smaller ones to achieve along the way to continue to feel motivated. And of course, try to pinpoint what you seem to be spending excess time one and tone it down.

Lack of Skill

Oh boy, this is probably the biggest one for me. I'm pretty sure a lot of us just feel like were not good enough. We get frustrated with ourselves. And people always simply say, "You just gotta practice!". But it becomes difficult when you feel like anything you write doesn't do justice to the ideas in your head. But write we must, because most of the time, no matter how skilled you get, your writing never seems to satisfy the image in your head. Practice, practice, practice. It's a simple phrase, but it's true.

Now let's talk about something I feel I struggle on and should practice.

Grammar is the first. Ah, grammar full of so many rules and guidelines. I personally always feel like I could brush up on grammar because of how uncertain I am with writing. I've probably already made plenty of grammar errors in this blog, simply swooshing over my head. Commas especially give me a hard time, along with dialog.

Flow and style are something else I feel is lacking in my writing. As a new writer, I don't have a distinguished style. This leads me to feel like my writing is bland and rigid. I also seem to have a hard time linking ideas together giving my writing a rather choppy feel.

And for something more exclusive to fan fiction: doing a character justice. This has given a lot of trouble as I try to write a story involving the main 6 from My Little Pony. I spend so much time doubting my characterization of an established character. I'm constantly thinking if this is an appropriate action, thing to say, or trait to have. Maybe I should have more confidence in my characterization. Studying up on the character is always a good idea if you're not sure about something.

Negative space

What is Negative space? It's simply what I call everything you have to write to link together those awesome scenes in your head. It's when you sit down and realize, there is a lot more to write then you thought. This can be a problem, for one, it can turn someone away from writing. And second, it can get you creatively blocked. I can not tell you the times I have had an awesome idea, sat down, and stared at a blank screen until giving up. It's what separates the people who think writing could be cool, from the people who actually write and complete their work.

I feel I can deal with this in two ways. One, write the scenes in your head before anything else then link them up later. Second, outline the story/plot. I've heard a lot of people say if you have a hard time getting started, just write the parts you want to write. This way you get started quickly instead of staring at a blank screen. I think this idea is alright, but just bear in mind you are still going to have to write the negative space sometime. And then you could be in the same situation, an empty screen. One I find to be better is outlining.
Outlining is really good, and I should do it more often. The few times I have done it, it's really helped. Not only does it make it easier to come up with that negative space, it lets you see the whole picture. This will help you make your story into one coherent journey rather then some patched together events. Always outline, it always helps.

The Fear of Criticism

We all enjoy when what we do is excepted and praised, but far too often do we shun criticism. And in some cases, we can take it the wrong way. For me, I know criticism is good, I know it's what I'm looking for to move forward, but goodness does it hurt sometimes. And that's just the way it is for me. I am personally scared to death to show someone my work to critic/proofread. The idea of someone pointing out all my mistakes makes it seem it's only going to bring me down. Guess maybe I need to be brought down to better see how to get higher.

Dealing with criticism the right way is something that we must all strive to do. Dealing and understanding criticism is another topic that many have discussed, so I'm sure there are many things you can find and read up on. Realize good criticism is there to help no matter how hurt you may feel from it.

Lack of Confidence

Quickly before I finish, some people might be fine in many of these area's, but don't have the confidence to show their work. I personally hate my writing and think it's horrible. But do I have confidence in it? Not really, I feel like your confidence grows as you grow. So don't fret if you're not too confident in your work. Because the more you write and share, the easier it becomes to be confident in it.

Conclusion

So in conclusion, these are the things I wrote to help me write more and understand how to improve. This may be all wrong and stupid, but that's alright. I wrote for myself and if anyone got anything out of it, cool. That's awesome. Writing is such a great medium, and I feel bad for ignoring it for so long. I hope to write many more stories on here, maybe more blogs too. This was a really fun experiment, thanks a bunch for reading if anyone did!

~ William