What is your toughest challlenge as an author?

[Kumquatqueen]

My biggest challenge is whittling interactions between characters down into an actual story. I can make my characters chat shit for 20,000 words, no problem, but an actual storyline that isn't just X happened. then Y, then Z, and involves emotional development, and pruning down the various discussion and anecdotes? Yeah. give me an extra year or so.

Sometimes I come up with good story ideas but they're too emotional for me to enjoy writing about, so I mostly don't. This explains why a fair few of my contest entries end up in the year after they were written for.

 

[EdgySubMic]

I'm going to be an odd one out on this... My current biggest problem isn't writer's block or whatever else authors may/can struggle with. Rather, it's translator's block.

Back in September of 2024, I promised somebody that I'd write a specific story in German (which I speak fluently, but which takes me a bit longer to write). He said that English was OK as well, but because his English really is not good, I insisted that I'd use German.

Had I done just that, the thing would already be on his website for ages by now, but I stupidly opted to write in English with a plan to translate it afterwards. I did that because: 1) I write faster in English; 2) I wanted a specific non-German friend to be able at least to proofread the storyline; and 3) I ended up deciding I'd like to send my original contact both versions, since his website does have an international audience (as long as they can read some German, that is).

And exactly that choice of order is now mightily blocking my progress.... While writing the original, I already had specific German idioms and sentences in mind that I wanted to use, but even then I still opted to proceed in proper English, which now: 1) makes translation proceed very slowly; and 2) causes me to frequently slightly change the semantics or the tone of certain sections, which then makes me go back and try to reword the English version to say the same without sounding like a literal (or even just bad) translation from German. And then the cycle just restarts again. This effect just kills my motivation to pick up the damn job again and keep going until I get it over with. Especially as there's nothing creative going on anymore...

I should have used German to begin with and then just have done a quick and dirty translation to English (maybe even using AI) for my friend to proofread. Lesson learned. Sometimes, speaking 4 languages fluently and constantly switching between them is not helpful...

 

[lovecraft68]

I keep calling my characters Emily, for some reason.

Samantha is the one I keep wanting to use. Two of my most read stories feature that name

 

[Erozetta]

Housework and work work.

They really get in the way.

 

[StillStunned]

I'm going to be an odd one out on this... My current biggest problem isn't writer's block or whatever else authors may/can struggle with. Rather, it's translator's block.

Back in September of 2024, I promised somebody that I'd write a specific story in German (which I speak fluently, but which takes me a bit longer to write). He said that English was OK as well, but because his English really is not good, I insisted that I'd use German.

Had I done just that, the thing would already be on his website for ages by now, but I stupidly opted to write in English with a plan to translate it afterwards. I did that because: 1) I write faster in English; 2) I wanted a specific non-German friend to be able at least to proofread the storyline; and 3) I ended up deciding I'd like to send my original contact both versions, since his website does have an international audience (as long as they can read some German, that is).

And exactly that choice of order is now mightily blocking my progress.... While writing the original, I already had specific German idioms and sentences in mind that I wanted to use, but even then I still opted to proceed in proper English, which now: 1) makes translation proceed very slowly; and 2) causes me to frequently slightly change the semantics or the tone of certain sections, which then makes me go back and try to reword the English version to say the same without sounding like a literal (or even just bad) translation from German. And then the cycle just restarts again. This effect just kills my motivation to pick up the damn job again and keep going until I get it over with. Especially as there's nothing creative going on anymore...

I should have used German to begin with and then just have done a quick and dirty translation to English (maybe even using AI) for my friend to proofread. Lesson learned. Sometimes, speaking 4 languages fluently and constantly switching between them is not helpful...

I've worked with quite a few translators down the years, and the more I know, the more respect I have for what they do. Just knowing two languages - even fluently - isn't enough. It takes practice, practice, practice. One woman I've worked with says it's like muscle memory: you see a particular sentence structure, and you automatically know the corresponding structure in your target language. Or two structures, or three, and you choose which is best.

They also say not to translate at the level of words or sentences, but paragraphs. And I know this is true, because I edit for lots of non-native English speakers. Different languages have different logic and thought sequences. So look at what information a paragraph conveys, and then think how you'd say that in your target language.

Also, if you think you're going slowly, remember that even the most experienced translators will quote about 300 words an hour, and 2000-2500 words a day. And that's if it's their fulltime job.

 

[Writer61]

Different languages have different logic and thought sequences. So look at what information a paragraph conveys, and then think how you'd say that in your target language.

I know the basics of a second European language, but even after twenty years in the country, I still find myself translating the English phrase word for word rather than the local equivalent.

That said, I am pretty good at code switching between different varieties of English as she is spoke around the world.

 

[StillStunned]

Housework and work work.

They really get in the way.

The UN should set up a fund to pay a living wage to anyone who can make a plausible case that they're a writer.

 

[Erozetta]

The UN should set up a fund to pay a living wage to anyone who can make a plausible case that they're a writer.

Getting people off with writing should be considered an act of humanitarian service.

 

[dirk2024]

Self doubt is the demon I can't slay.

I've got mental hacks for most other challenges. Writer's block? Spend some time world building. Not motivated? Give myself permission to stop after writing one sentence. Draft is wandering? Challenge myself to get to the next interesting beat in as few words as possible. Bored with my story? Add the most ridiculous, but vivid, side character I can and see what happens. I trust myself to clean it all up during the first few rewrites.

But self doubt? That feeling that I'm not good enough to write something beautiful and meaningful, my voice will never be heard, that I'll never be included ... that's been my only constant companion since I wrote my first story as a little girl.

What makes this so insidious is that it's not directed at the writing, it's directed at me. I love, especially during drafting, when people come in and chop my work to pieces. None of that feels personal, and my brain understands that it's useful information. It's the off-hand comment someone makes about me in a conversation or a forum post that sends my brain into a multi week downward spiral and paralyzes my writing (actually, it's not the comment itself, it's my tendency to overthink that kind of thing).

Yeah, self-doubt is a difficult thing to live with. The only "cure" I can think of is to keep pushing through it and engaging with others to keep out of your own way.

 

[TheLobster]

The UN should set up a fund to pay a living wage to anyone who can make a plausible case that they're a writer.

Applications only accepted if they're written in iambic pentameter.

 

[Erozetta]

Apartment searching and planning a move isn't helping with the writing, either.

 

[dirk2024]

Samantha is the one I keep wanting to use. Two of my most read stories feature that name

That's a good one. I like Sam and Sammi as nicknames for women.

 

[StillStunned]

Applications only accepted if they're written in iambic pentameter.

For English? Nah, you need alliterative poetry. The natural poetry for the language, not that foreign stuff that the Renaissance poets imported.

 

[StillStunned]

Getting people off with writing should be considered an act of humanitarian service.

Right? Think of all the happiness we spread! People read our stories, feel good, have an orgasm, have a nap and wake up feeling better.

I nominate @Laurel and @Manu for the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of all us writers.

 

[madelinemasoch]

My biggest challenge has become finishing things. I think this is because I find staying in the zone where I can channel the ideas and their vibes more challenging now than I did, say, three years ago.

It’s not that I find it hard to fill in the material until the ending or writing the ending itself, it’s that I can’t tell when something is ready and done. I could sit there for thousands of hours tinkering with something it seems and not be able to tell when it’s complete.

 

[Writer61]

For English? Nah, you need alliterative poetry. The natural poetry for the language, not that foreign stuff that the Renaissance poets imported.

You are forgetting Vogon.

 

[StillStunned]

You are forgetting Vogon.

And today was the perfect day for "Ode To A Small Lump Of Green Putty That I Found Under My Armpit One Midsummer's Morning"!

 

[TheLobster]

And today was the perfect day for "Ode To A Small Lump Of Green Putty That I Found Under My Armpit One Midsummer's Morning"!

You gotta admit, there is a certain ineffable quality to those idiosyncratic coinages like “micturations” and “lurgid”.

 

[Writer61]

You gotta admit, there is a certain ineffable quality to those idiosyncratic coinages like “micturations” and “lurgid”.

They beat loquacity every day of the week!

 

[lovecraft68]

That's a good one. I like Sam and Sammi as nicknames for women.

I think that's why I get hung up on it. I also like Toni and Nikki, any guy name you can add an I on and it becomes a cute name for a young woman

 

[JenniferSmithJones]

This might sound strange, given the nature of this site, but what I find hardest is writing sex scenes.

I like getting characters from A to B(ed), it is what happens then that I struggle with. My challenge is to give enough detail without it becoming 'Insert tab A into slot B' (which doesn't appeal to me as a reader or writer) and keep it sufficiently different from previous scenes.

"... hardest to write sex scenes ..." Unintentional double entendre, there? Well done!

 

[JenniferSmithJones]

Self doubt is the demon I can't slay.

I've got mental hacks for most other challenges. Writer's block? Spend some time world building. Not motivated? Give myself permission to stop after writing one sentence. Draft is wandering? Challenge myself to get to the next interesting beat in as few words as possible. Bored with my story? Add the most ridiculous, but vivid, side character I can and see what happens. I trust myself to clean it all up during the first few rewrites.

But self doubt? That feeling that I'm not good enough to write something beautiful and meaningful, my voice will never be heard, that I'll never be included ... that's been my only constant companion since I wrote my first story as a little girl.

What makes this so insidious is that it's not directed at the writing, it's directed at me. I love, especially during drafting, when people come in and chop my work to pieces. None of that feels personal, and my brain understands that it's useful information. It's the off-hand comment someone makes about me in a conversation or a forum post that sends my brain into a multi week downward spiral and paralyzes my writing (actually, it's not the comment itself, it's my tendency to overthink that kind of thing).

If it's any consolation, you're not alone!

 

[JenniferSmithJones]

And today was the perfect day for "Ode To A Small Lump Of Green Putty That I Found Under My Armpit One Midsummer's Morning"!

NOOOO! No Vogon poetry!

 

[Cagivagurl]

As a writer, each of us hits a stumbling block sooner or later. Are you great at writing the beginning of a story, and struggle with it after that? Or the opposite: great at writing an ending, now how do you get it set up for that?

My greatest challenge is keeping the story moving. I tend to get way in to excruciatingly minute detail. Like I don't even understand the concept of brevity. I've got a quote on my desk by Mark Twain: "A story is typically best told in as few words as possible."

I've had to cut bits that I really liked how I wrote them, but they had to go because they were stalling the story. I fight this battle constantly in my writing.

My only solution has been my own ruthless editing. If it isn't serving the story, out it goes. I save those passages, because they might be useful for something else.

Anybody else? Character names, describing outdoor settings (or indoor settings)?

Ah, the road to literary greatness is littered with roadblocks.
Sometimes my biggest impediment is time. Not to write, but the gaps between when I do... Maintaining the consistency of character... On occasion, it could be weeks between getting back to a story. Keeping the characters voice strong and in character can be difficult...
There's also another problem for me.
The passionate fervour of the opening... The words flowing easily and smoothly. Then as the story sinks into the more mundane, that desire to press the keys subsides, and it becomes a little tedious... More work than love...
It is still a joy though, untangling the words, and sentences, trying to tell the story in your head. Translating thought to story...
I'm slower these days, because I am aware of the craft, searching to get better, improve, grow and actually convey the story.

Cagivagurl

 

[Gamblnluck]

As a writer, each of us hits a stumbling block sooner or later. Are you great at writing the beginning of a story, and struggle with it after that? Or the opposite: great at writing an ending, now how do you get it set up for that?

My greatest challenge is keeping the story moving. I tend to get way in to excruciatingly minute detail. Like I don't even understand the concept of brevity. I've got a quote on my desk by Mark Twain: "A story is typically best told in as few words as possible."

I've had to cut bits that I really liked how I wrote them, but they had to go because they were stalling the story. I fight this battle constantly in my writing.

My only solution has been my own ruthless editing. If it isn't serving the story, out it goes. I save those passages, because they might be useful for something else.

Anybody else? Character names, describing outdoor settings (or indoor settings)?

I don't worry about brevity. I tell the story. I might skip or not go hard into descriptions. That is not a sticking point with me. In fact, when I read an overly descriptive passage, I tend to skim past it. I want a well developed plot. I want bases covered, holes filled. I want a logical progression of the story. Yeah there is often the 'who the hell is gonna sit and do the Columbo explanation? The bad guy giving the monologue before he shoots his victim, only to have the bad guy turn the tables." I hate it if it goes too far.
But making a story brief? Nope. Tell the story in its entirety.