Do you ever start writing and just feel silly?

[intim8]

I feel like I've gotten better the last two years

That part is worth the silliness.

Yeah, writing here can feel silly sometimes. There's not really any money in it (though it sounds like a few make that work), and by the nature of it, it won't ever be considered "serious" work. Though some stories I've read here definitely qualify.

But, if you have any thoughts of someday doing "serious" writing, this place is great practice. Both for writing skills and some of the aspects of managing an audience. And it sounds like that is working for you.

The other thing is, one of the best pieces of writing advice I've seen, from an actual selling writer, is (my own paraphrasing):

Don't aim for great. Aim for good. Nobody does anything great when they are trying to be great. But sometimes something intended to be good turns into something great. Sometimes it turns into garbage, but you have to be willing to accept failiing if you want to be good and have a chance at being great.

There's a lot here that is good. And a few things that are great. Even by the standards of "serious" writing. This might not be an audience prepared to give "great" work that is "serious" the reception it deserves, if it happens, but a few people will know it.

 

[SimonDoom]

I wouldn't put it quite this way. Do I feel silly sometimes writing what I'm writing? Definitely. But I have no problem with silly. It's like Paul McCartney's anthem "Silly Love Songs." The song was a paeon to his fondness for writing that kind of song. I feel the same way when I'm writing a mom-son incest story. There's a place for silly. "Some people want to fill the world with silly smut stories. What's wrong with that, I'd like to know, cause here I go, again."

I hit the wall sometimes, but it's more because I'm having trouble figuring out where to take the story in a way that's satisfying to me. Since silly can be satisfying to me, silliness isn't the issue.

 

[nice90sguy]

I often start writing, and then I just end up feeling willy

 

[MillieDynamite]

When I get wrapped up in my writing, I feel most alive. I feel the least silly, the most confident, and the most creative when I write.

 

[lovecraft68]

Not silly, but there is a point in every story I write where I think..."what the hell am I doing? This is a lousy idea and it sucks."
I always keep going, and when I finish and read back through its much better than it seemed while writing it.

At which point other people can now tell me it was a bad idea and really sucks.

 

[EroticCupcake]

Being madly in love with something you wrote then realizing later it is not great is a pretty terrible feeling, and makes me question how I evaluate other things which may be "good."

I have a sort of odd respect for people who continue to confidently write stuff that is bad. I don't want to read their writing, but I appreciate the spirit. I need to find the sweet spot of enough self awareness to improve, and enough oblivion to be content. Is this what alcohol is for?

 

[intim8]

I have a sort of odd respect for people who continue to confidently write stuff that is bad. I

Sometimes I wonder if I'm that guy and don't know it.

 

[EroticCupcake]

Sometimes I wonder if I'm that guy and don't know it.

If you ever wonder whether you are that guy. You are not that guy.

 

[Zootonius]

Sometimes I wonder if I'm that guy and don't know it.

It's sort of, "publish and be damned." I've finished a few and felt 'this is mediocre as best,' but published anyway. Then found readers felt otherwise. On the other hand, it could be the quality of my readers.

 

[intim8]

It's sort of, "publish and be damned." I've finished a few and felt 'this is mediocre as best,' but published anyway. Then found readers felt otherwise. On the other hand, it could be the quality of my readers.

I made a rule when I started writing seriously to never blame the audience for failing to connect.

For one, it is too easy a cop out. Even if it is true, it doesn't help me get better. Second, I get to feel good with a clear conscience when they do connect with something.

 

[nice90sguy]

I made a rule when I started writing seriously to never blame the audience for failing to connect.

Rule number one, in my opinion

 

[StillStunned]

I have a sort of odd respect for people who continue to confidently write stuff that is bad. I don't want to read their writing, but I appreciate the spirit.

Half the authors reading this are wondering whether you mean them. The othet half know that of course you can't mean them, their writing is great!

 

[tenyari]

Writer's block is one thing. and that can hit me at any time. Other times, like this past year - life itself can get in the way.

But I've never felt silly (as in degrade or lacking respect) about my stories.

Then again, while there are certain genres here that I find "silly", I don't write in them.

And I rarely feel that way in reading either. There are in fact, numerous authors here who are much more enjoyable to read than "polite society literary or genre fiction" authors. Many more than the number of authors who claim to be established in 'both worlds'.

 

[luv2custrip]

I have 49 stories published so far. A fair number have the fun red "H" next to them and I get comments, all that. I know people read my writing, or at least inadvertently click on a story so I'm somehow in front of them. And I know people enjoy what I've written based on most comments and emails.

I feel like I have a dozen stories or so kind of floating around and they all feel silly now. Like, no matter what I'm doing, it's ridiculous and not worth the effort and just 'blah.' It's confusing because I feel like I've gotten better the last two years and I've taken time to write and develop and really bring characters to life with what I've submitted.

Does anyone else ever hit a wall like this? I feel like I should take a break because it all just seems so silly to me right now.

I’ve written 43 stories in a year and I keep saying that I’m done, I’m going to stop, nobody’s interested. Take a second look at some of your old stories: would a sequel that goes in a whole new direction interest you? I had a sleeper story at 4.3 to 4.4; then it suddenly went over 4.5. I tried to figure out what I liked about it and I ended up turning out a whole series based on it.

 

[alohadave]

I'm in a funk right now. My first draft is garbage and it's really bumming me out.

Besides feeling like everything is clunky and grade school drivel, my last story keeps getting low votes. I'm at the point now where I wish readers would just not vote if they don't like it.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Do you ever start writing and just feel silly?​

Me? Silly? No.

I just published my most sensible and serious work to date.

Em

 

[Euphony]

I'm in a funk right now. My first draft is garbage and it's really bumming me out.

We all go through it. Sorry it's seemingly your turn but that portfolio of yours has plenty of stick to it-ness showing so you should see higher tides soon.

Besides feeling like everything is clunky and grade school drivel, my last story keeps getting low votes. I'm at the point now where I wish readers would just not vote if they don't like it.

Which? The 11.11 750 word story? That limitation ain't for the faint of heart and I'm convinced voting is quietly unforgiving b/c it feels more like a "serious writerly challenge" and some voters treat their scoring as a commentary on craft or proper "art."

Others somehow miss the clearly stated imposed limitation and treat you like you just didn't bother to write more.

It's an exercise worth undertaking but feels like caveats need to be considered if you are making any quality judgements from scoring.

 

[alohadave]

We all go through it. Sorry it's seemingly your turn but that portfolio of yours has plenty of stick to it-ness showing so you should see higher tides soon.

Thanks. I get this way because I feel like my prose and storytelling is rudimentary and not really where I want it to be. Maybe I'm too critical for only having written for a year.

First draft feelings and all that.

Which? The 11.11 750 word story? That limitation ain't for the faint of heart and I'm convinced voting is quietly unforgiving b/c it feels more like a "serious writerly challenge" and some voters treat their scoring as a commentary on craft or proper "art."

Others somehow miss the clearly stated imposed limitation and treat you like you just didn't bother to write more.

It's an exercise worth undertaking but feels like caveats need to be considered if you are making any quality judgements from scoring.

That's the one. I knew it wouldn't be popular, my other 750 stories are also in my lowest scoring stories.

I get that readers either don't understand, or just don't like them. But it was also a style experiment that I'm happy with, so there is that. Still, it is hard to see your work voted low.

 

[Voboy]

I hit walls periodically, but writing never really feels silly. If I start a story that runs out of steam, I just kill it and start another one.

This is, in every sense, a hobby for me. I wrote commercially for awhile, then stopped because it felt like work. I don't want my writing to be that way. So if I'm not enjoying it, I'm doing it wrong.

Walls aren't a problem; they eventually crumble. Always.

 

[JakobKings]

"Silly" maybe the word sometimes. Like: "is this just another story? It doesnt have anything new, fresh..."
But, you're kind of "got there". At least from my perspective. I'm still struggling to have some feedback, comments and never got an email. So, I have to keep writing. Maybe, I haven't found my audience (or my audiece havent found me) yet.

 

[countdowntolov3]

Being madly in love with something you wrote then realizing later it is not great is a pretty terrible feeling, and makes me question how I evaluate other things which may be "good."

I've been having some luck lately listening to my rougher drafts on a text-to-speach reader. It helps me gauge how off the mark they really are. And in a couple of cases I think I've found I can kind of massage the text into correctness better when I'm critiquing someone else's voice, rather than my own words on the page

It is frustrating though. When you have a story that just won't launch. I have one, that I know needs to begin with a girl meeting her rockstar idol backstage. Every time I write the intro it feels right! Until I reread it the next day, and realize it's rubbish. Ugh!

 

[alohadave]

Every time I write the intro it feels right! Until I reread it the next day, and realize it's rubbish. Ugh!

Keep writing and revise it when you've finished the first draft. It's okay to have clunky sections in your text. I use notes like [clunky] or [fix this] so I know to give that a double check.

Sometimes you'll find that given a little time it won't seem as bad.

 

[EroticCupcake]

I've been having some luck lately listening to my rougher drafts on a text-to-speach reader. It helps me gauge how off the mark they really are. And in a couple of cases I think I've found I can kind of massage the text into correctness better when I'm critiquing someone else's voice, rather than my own words on the page

It is frustrating though. When you have a story that just won't launch. I have one, that I know needs to begin with a girl meeting her rockstar idol backstage. Every time I write the intro it feels right! Until I reread it the next day, and realize it's rubbish. Ugh!

If you want to tell that story, leave your intro as is and keep writing. By the time you finish the rest of it, you'll have a better idea specifically how you need to polish your intro.

 

[Wildfly11]

When I get wrapped up in my writing, I feel most alive. I feel the least silly, the most confident, and the most creative when I write.

I enjoy the writing process..the visualization the excitement but never that confident in my writing.

 

[intim8]

It's why I have 5 or 6 stories started for every one I've finished. Silly might be too strong a word, but I'm the kind of writer that just starts writing from the merest germ of am idea, then see where it goes. Most don't, though a few of them I've come back to with fresh eyes after a year or two and saw something in it I didn't see before. The last story I posted was one of those.