I Have Considered...

[scribblemyname]

It's been bugging me at the back of my head for a long time. Sometimes, I think I'm the classic example of this:

http://rantingravingwriting.blogspot.com/2011/03/work-hard-and-finish-what-you-start.html

It nags me. I hear the little whispers saying I skip out when the going gets tough, but then I have to sit back and think, I have finished things.


ORIGINAL:
1. In This Wood: 24,000 words (middle-grade novel).
2. "Paraphernalia": 4,000 words (short story).
3. "Notes on Grace": 2,000 words (short story).
4. "Patience in the Cup": 1,000 words (drabble series: short story).
5. "Letters from My Father": 1,200 words (drabble series: short story).
6. "The Alchemist": 2,200 words (children's short story).
7. "The Bird Caller": 800 words (children's short story).
8. "All Things Through Christ": 600 words (short story).

Not counting any drabbles or anything I don't think ever deserves to see the light of day.


FANFICTION:
1. Whispers: 10,000 words (drabble series: novelette).
2. Moments: 10,000 words (drabble series: novelette).
3. "He is Fire; He is Pain": 4,400 (chaptered short story).
4. "Dances": 4,800 words (chaptered short story).
5. "Fritz": 4,100 words (chaptered short story).
6. "Fire": 1,000 (chaptered short story).
7. "Breathing": 1,000 (chaptered short story).

Again, not counting any stand-alone drabbles, unposted items, or frankly, one-shots. (I write a lot of one-shots.)

NOTE: My FF.net profile has 58 stories posted: 40 complete, 18 incomplete.


So maybe my original theory of my muse simply requires permission to play wherever she desires is true. I do finish things. Just not as many novels as quickly as I would like. And I start a lot of things a long time before I figure out where I really want them to go, writing other things while the first batch percolates.

And you know, I really can't decide whether this is a good thing or not.

Anybody else out there start more than they finish, but eventually, still get around to finishing? Is this normal? Good? Bad? Indifferent?

Thoughts?

Comments

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

Who's to say if it's good or bad or indifferent? Writing something is a highly personalized experience for each person. Everyone has their own methods, their own reasons for writing, their own habits, their own goals. Someone may say they won't call themselves a writer until they finish something and that's all well and good; they can classify themselves however they want. I've seen a lot of one-upsmanship between writers-slash-authors, and you know what? the experience that matters is yours.

In a lot of cases, writing is like trying on clothes. How do you know a story fits if you don't try it out? Maybe the ones we discard along the way are the ones that weren't meant to be written, speaking philosophically, or maybe we'll grow into them some other time. It doesn't mean that having tried and decided not to use them in the moment is a bad thing.

People hold themselves to all sorts of standards. I don't really mind starting something and deciding it's not for me. I won't self-judge on oh, wow, I really slacked off at the tough part because face it, all parts of a story are tough parts to write. Sometimes, ideas just need to germinate. Sometimes we really do need to kick ourselves in the asses to get jump-started.

To me, the more valid question is what is it about this piece of work that's causing me to stop, and do I want to fix it enough to continue? It's not a fault or a flaw, it's a perfectly good question to ask. If I don't want to know what happens next, odds are no one reading will care either. And if I do, then I'll find a way.

[scribblemyname]

Hmm... Interesting thoughts. Good ones. I've always just accepted that it's my process: I write on dozens of stories at once and finish at irregular intervals. If I STOP writing on a bunch of stuff, trying to jam all my attention on a single fic, usually nothing flows at all.

But hearing this stuff all around over and over—finish what you start—it gets to me, and I wonder if I can shut it out, or even if I should.

Thanks for chiming in. I starting thing I really should find a way to shut it out.

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

See, so your method is the way that works for you. I've read a lot of books on writing, on how to write, on the best way to write. There's something to be said about the discipline required to sit down every morning and write for a certain amount of time. I have nothing against it; I've worked that way. The schedule I have now doesn't allow it, but that's all right.

Sure, finish what you start, if you want to finish it. For me writing is such an organic concern that forcing it never really produces anything other than something that looks and feels forced, and that's nothing I'm ever going to be particularly proud of. To me it matters less to say "I finished this!" than "I'm happy with this." Your mileage may definitely vary and it probably should. I just get so tired of anyone assuming that the way it works for them is the way it needs to work for me too. I can guarantee it most definitely does not.

[chris4short.livejournal.com]

wow. I feel like I am reading the inside of my head!

I have more starts, one shots, things that never see the light of day/my own fancy stories then finished, but my finished I feel is the final count. I'm writing a novel/short story that I stared back in '05 and never touched there after. I think sometimes getting away from things you write gives you a certain perspective. I sometimes go back to my "WIPs" and nibble on them - putting a scene down, rearranging sentences... but not finishing. not posting. and not sure when it will be postable... but I have come to be OK with that.

Writing is for US first, and audience second - well that is if we are talking fanfic/fic we will not sell. I find writing my form of release - even if it never goes beyond a silent conversation between me and my computer.

my 2¢

[scribblemyname]

Thanks for the vote of confidence. It's good to know I'm not alone and that this process does work. I've never had anyone read their head in mine before. :giggles: My first kindred spirit! :hugs:

[chris4short.livejournal.com]

I think any process that works - meaning that if the stories get done or not - is our path to getting things out.

Aww... good! :hugs back"

[scribblemyname]

Oh. Also LOVE the icon.

[chris4short.livejournal.com]

thanks! the blocks are old movable type set. I love anything old and writing/journalism-esque. :-D

[simoneybologna.livejournal.com]

perfectly normal. I've started like 12 stories in my life (I feel like an amateur compared to you :P) and I've finished 2 of them. And one of them was co-written! But I always get around to adding another chaoter to each one eventually :) I think it's normal. FRUSTRATING but normal.
cough*finishWhispers*cough*

[scribblemyname]

:giggles: Working on it. I actually am going to yank down Remy's chapters and go over them again. Usually, when I'm having trouble with a story like I do on Whisper, I have to find where I first started having trouble and FIX whatever the problem is. I found the problem. Too claustrophobic. He's extremely popular with the guys and it took me too long to include them from his POV.

And soooooooooo glad to learn I am really not alone on this. Apparently, it's okay as long as we do keep writing.