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Adolencent writers: how to move on from the waste basket phase.
Well, Hello, I'm new here and not entirely sure how to go about this.
As the title implies, I'm a 17 year old would-like-to-be-able-to-be writer and I have a question:
How do you move on from the phase where you start three projects at the same time and finish none of them or have so many ideas at the same time all of them amount to nothing at all?
What I'm trying to find out is... is there a way? Or do you wait patiently for your personal motivator to come along, for some kind of big eureka moment in which you can uniform your thoughts and form coherent ideas that end up being something... well, less than 10 percent of the time would be good, in my case. It's a step up from starting and never finishing things.
Is it a state of mind issue, are there factors in the life of an adolescent that just work against productivity or... should you just be patient and wait for the time things align themselves naturally?
I've been wondering about this ever since I caught sight of all the unfinished documents I have on my computer and this seemed like the place to ask because there are a lot of experienced and productive writers here. Some people don't take young writers seriously and I recognize that there are a lot of kids out there who think anyone could be a poet if only it's depressing enough, anyone could be a writer when you can describe 'characters doing stuff'. But the grand masters of old have once been young, so have you, so I think this question still stands.
If you have a view on this, I'd like to hear it,
Comments
It also helps to identify what kind of writer you are, horror, romance, etc etc. For me, I'm a horror writer, and there are quite a few of us on here.
Personal things can get in the way, like, school, for me. I just find that when the flow isn't with me, I do something else and wait for it to come back. I don't like it, but you need to do it.
Although, when I do get going, I get quite a lot of stuff done. Within a year, I have been published in an online e-zine seven times, I'm due to be published in two anthologies, and I'm working on a novel.
I'm 16.
You need to have time, focus and discipline, and motivation. If you wait a few days, the One Word Challenge (The sticky thread on the board) will be open again, and it'll be a great exercise to get you writing. It helps me.
Oh, and welcome to TB.
If you want to take a look at my blog (Or one of them) it's here: http://theworksofpixiejking.blogspot.com
Sometimes, you just have to wait. All part of the apprenticeship.
I've been writing for well over 15 years now (and I'm only 25!) and I still havent moved on from that "ooh a new idea, let me just pencil it in my...ooh new idea, now where is that...ooh new idea" phase. I hope I never do :D
There's nothing wrong with expressing/compiling a variety of ideas, no matter what you're working on. All you have to do is be careful not to let each new idea take the place of the last one, or you'll never get anything finished. In my mind, there is usually a difference between an idea and an idea for a book. The little ideas may be a piece of dialogue, a particular scene or opening or even the beginnings of a character. I make sure I write each 'flash' down and sometimes even expand on a few or manage to work them into my current WIP. The key is to come up with an idea so good that you can focus solely on that premise and be quite happy to put these other 'flashes' to the side for now.
Age has nothing to do with the quality of writing (wait till you read Pixie's stuff, she's young but a very talented writer), although it is true that 'older' (carefully phrased) members may know more (not necessarily true though), this doesnt mean they are better writers it just means they have had more time to learn certain things.
Take it as a good sign that you have the desire to work on several items at once. No matter what these ideas or flashes are, they are all chances to improve your dialogue, setting, pacing, character building skills and much more. Your desire to write just has to be focussed on manageable projects.
Good luck with your writing!
There's plenty of places online and antho's once you've finished that short story, perhaps getting something small published might spur you on for the bigger things. As for taking younger writers seriously, people would be foolish if they do. Take TB's Pixie, she's just turned 16 and has had a few things published.
It's very easy to be distracted by other work other thoughts. Right now, at the bottom of my screen, is one of my books which I am scanning into the computer, the original file having gone missing, and the publishers want to put it out again. Natch. I also have a (paid for) editing job sitting there. I also have a reading to do (I am a medium) and last but not least, I began a new book this week for a spirit author and he is coming by any time now to carry on. Somewhere in that lot I need to sort my priorities.
This is what you need to do. Write down every flash of inspiration but concentrate on what is started, by looking at them and seeing which one excites you the most, and finish it. Then, with that sense of achievement in front of the mind, go look at the rest. Age is immaterial. We are all ages here and we all have the same writing problems. Good luck!
I can never focus to begin with, I don't know what it is... I've noticed myself getting better lately though.
As said write all these ideas down for later. Pick one thing you want to finish and set a personal deadline-well try to:)- and do what you can when you are writing.
Do you like to read particular genres?
You will not be alone here, there is St Force and Pixie around your age, and anyone who writes is welcome.
Write it all down. every idea or flash or sentence you like the sound of. (Tut, such syntax). One day something will stick with you even though you might want it to go away - follow that one.
Never throw anything away.
Good luck.
I wouldn't wait for a state of mind or a eureka moment either. Just write and see what comes out!
Sorry, Dwillinger, we're digressing. A not unusual occurrence. Just yell at us if we do it too much.
Have I any more thoughts on the relevant subject? Well, don't be put off by anything or anyone. Like most things, writing needs practice. And, at seventeen, you simply haven't experienced some things. On the other hand, you've got a fresh eye. (Hmm. Hand and eye?) Some people write bestsellers in their twenties. Others have to wait until their seventies. On which cheerful note I'll shut up. For a while.
Welcome Dwilinger, btw.
Virtually anyone can learn to write, some have talent already there, some are geniuses and what they write first off is a work of magnitude, some need to learn their craft, but it can be learned.
What cannot is the generation of ideas, you either have lots of them, or you don't.
I did read Pixie's comment and I think she is quite right re doing something small... take one idea, and make it into flash fiction, it's manageable, you won't get bored, you can send it somewhere straight away and find even get feedback quickly. Have you seen the 6 sentences thing?
There's nothing like achieving something for spurring you on to do it again, trying harder, for longer.
Good luck!
I am old by the way.
Anyway as I said an idea will always just be that unless you sit down and put in the graft of actually developing it into a piece.Good luck and welcome.
Don't worry about have three projects on the go at once - that's pretty normal. So is having lots of different ideas and finding the new ones more appealing than the old. These things are no problem as long as you can discipline yourself to finish some of them.