Register | Log in | FAQ | Search | Memberlist | Usergroups
Profile | Log in to check your private messages | Blogs |

ARWZ Forum Index
    > Writers' Zone


 
Post new topicReply to topic
View previous topic :: View next topic
Author Message
Violanthe
Webmaster


Joined: 24 Jul 2003
Posts: 5903

PostWhen do you give up?

Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 12:32 pm
Reply with quote

So your story, novel, or poem just isn't working like you'd hoped. When do you give up? Or do you ever actually give up, but rather just put one project aside to work on later?
_________________
Violet "Violanthe" Kane
[email protected]
ARWZ.com: A Magazine of Alternative Reality Fiction
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Blog
Nik
Senior Member


Joined: 07 Dec 2006
Posts: 805
Location: UK

PostWhen the muse fails...

Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 2:11 pm
Reply with quote

I've had a tale where I'd written half the first page, stopped in mid-sentence then put it aside for a decade. One day, I picked it up and wrote the rest of novelette 'Autumn'...

I've driven others into the ground, writing and re-writing until I despaired of making progress. Another seemed to be going well, before I glanced through it, exclaimed, 'WHAT A LOAD OF ***! TOSH' and discarded entire ~30 k words. Another got stuck when the planning program I used to map the set became obselete.

At present, I must refrain from commenting on covers, openings & synopses as my exasperation over my stalled space-tale makes me sound like a thoroughly jaundiced Critic, defined as, Can't Write, Can Moan'....
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
DougGogerty
Moderator


Joined: 29 Mar 2006
Posts: 418
Location: Minnesota

Post

Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 4:01 pm
Reply with quote

Never quit! Never give up! Okay, that is not exactly true. I usually write the first draft to the end, and then give up if it doesn't go where I want. I always hope that it'll get better, and mostly it doesn't.
_________________
Douglas E. Gogerty
-----
Around the Campfire
"No, I'm from Iowa. I just work in outer space."
-James T. Kirk
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Blog Visit poster's website
Richard H. Fay
Senior Member


Joined: 07 Sep 2007
Posts: 523
Location: Upstate New York

Post

Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 12:10 pm
Reply with quote

I've heard that you should never give up on a piece of writing. However, I do think there are times it's best to set it aside and work on something else.

That's what happened with my fantasy novel. I wrote it, revised it, and then sent it out, but got no interest in it whatsoever. After being told by a few people who offered to read the first part that I should cut quite a bit out, and perhaps change the whole storyline, I decided to set it aside. I wasn't willing to change the story that much. Revision for clarification and tightening would be one thing, but changing the whole premise would be quite another.

So, the novel remains sitting in a binder. I did decide to work on poetry, to get my name out there and build some sort of list of publications. I know what some people feel about that - some have an "all or nothing" attitude, claiming that only novels are worthwhile. However, my poetry publications have led to illustration publications and now a publisher offering to publish a collection of my art and poetry. So I feel moving on to poetry right now was the right thing to do.

Basically, I didn't just move on to another project, I completely switched gears from prose to verse. Now I'm slowly moving back to prose. I even attended a local fiction writer's group recently, and got some decent feedback regarding one of my short stories. It's made me realise that the story could be great if I work on revising certain aspects of it.

As for poems that don't really work, I've had a few. Often times I can set them aside for a while, then come back to them and rework them and develop them into something that does work. At times my poems fully develop in one writing session, while at other times it might take days, weeks, or even months to complete a certain piece that just isn't coming together. That's why I typically have more than one poem "in the works" at any given time.

There are also a few completed pieces that probably don't really work, that I've stopped submitting. Some of these remain sitting in a folder, and might stay there until I can take a grain of an idea from the original concept and develop it into something better. At other times, pieces that might be decent but a little weak for submission go onto my blogs and onto forums.

Getting feedback regarding our weaker works can be more useful than receiving praise for our strongest works.
_________________
"I'm going to do what the warriors of old did. I'm going to recite poetry!"

Richard H. Fay - Azure Lion Productions
https://azurelionproductions.com
See cool stuff featuring my art at the Abandoned Towers Zazzle Store:
https://www.zazzle.com/abandonedtowers
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Blog Visit poster's website
Violanthe
Webmaster


Joined: 24 Jul 2003
Posts: 5903

Post

Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 11:45 am
Reply with quote

DougGogerty wrote:
Never quit! Never give up! Okay, that is not exactly true. I usually write the first draft to the end, and then give up if it doesn't go where I want. I always hope that it'll get better, and mostly it doesn't.


You mean for short stories, yes? That would be tough with novels.
_________________
Violet "Violanthe" Kane
[email protected]
ARWZ.com: A Magazine of Alternative Reality Fiction
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Blog
Peter1968
Member


Joined: 09 May 2008
Posts: 87

Post

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 12:17 am
Reply with quote

Tough choices need to be made occasionally. I've just nixed three different full-length versions of a story because I was painting myself into a corner where I couldn't get out.

I've discussed why at these two entries, if anyone cares.
https://peter1968.livejournal.com/26512.html
https://peter1968.livejournal.com/29206.html
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Violanthe
Webmaster


Joined: 24 Jul 2003
Posts: 5903

Post

Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 11:22 am
Reply with quote

Painted into a corner, plot-wise?
_________________
Violet "Violanthe" Kane
[email protected]
ARWZ.com: A Magazine of Alternative Reality Fiction
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Blog
DougGogerty
Moderator


Joined: 29 Mar 2006
Posts: 418
Location: Minnesota

Post

Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 1:41 pm
Reply with quote

I do mean for short stories. You burn through it, and set it aside. Perhaps with a few edits later on, you can save it. After all, a good idea is a good idea.
_________________
Douglas E. Gogerty
-----
Around the Campfire
"No, I'm from Iowa. I just work in outer space."
-James T. Kirk
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Blog Visit poster's website
Peter1968
Member


Joined: 09 May 2008
Posts: 87

Post

Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 11:39 pm
Reply with quote

Violanthe wrote:
Painted into a corner, plot-wise?


Like I said, I explained why I thought I'd done that in the two entries I listed.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Violanthe
Webmaster


Joined: 24 Jul 2003
Posts: 5903

Post

Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 11:53 am
Reply with quote

DougGogerty wrote:
I do mean for short stories. You burn through it, and set it aside. Perhaps with a few edits later on, you can save it. After all, a good idea is a good idea.


What's the analog to novels then? Always write at least the first chapter?
_________________
Violet "Violanthe" Kane
[email protected]
ARWZ.com: A Magazine of Alternative Reality Fiction
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Blog
Ian
The King of the Swing


Joined: 30 Mar 2006
Posts: 231
Location: Kent, England, U.K.

Post

Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2008 4:23 pm
Reply with quote

It depends how passionate I am about the project. If I am having problems with the story I will put it aside and come back to it later. I have several projects I have been working on for years.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail AIM Address
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic All times are GMT - 4 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum





Alternative Reality Web Zine: ISSN# 1559-3037


All materials on these pages (including fiction, poetry, essays, articles, interviews and opinion pieces) are copyrighted to the original authors and may not be reproduced without permission.




View Page Stats
ARWZ topic RSS feed 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group