I have to admit, I'm one of those who likes a good plot. It's not that there's anything wrong with a quick character piece or a 'slice of life' snippet, exactly... but quick character pieces and 'slice of life' snippets are relatively common. Fully plotted stories do take more time and call for holding interest in the work for a lot longer. I know I have difficulty keeping my attention on a subject for that long, so I assume other people do as well.
But at least you can still do the short works! I seriously can't. I find it virtually impossible to sit down and write anything unless I have a full plot to go with it. If I try to sit down for a brief character piece, slice of life snippet, conversation, more often than not I find myself drawing a mental blank. This is part of why I never do writing memes and fic claims.
But then the fully plotted things are so intimidating that I'm afraid to start, or if I start, I loose interest partway through and they're never finished. The end result is that I get nothing written at all, and surely that's not preferable. :/ What's worse, I write at such a snail's pace... in order for me to start gathering words together, I need to have run through a scene more than once in my mind (this part usually takes a couple of days), and then when I finally sit down to write it'll take me all evening to do one short scene. Ugh.
I won't lie and say I pretend I don't have a strong love for a fully plotted story, although I will note that there is a difference between leaving an ending open and flat not ending something (personally, I'm rather fond of stories that basically end by saying, directly or indirectly, 'This is the end of this story, but stories still are.' I loved Neverending Story for that). On the other hand, I have to say that I really envy your ability to write so much and so well, short or not. You and a couple of others on my flist post snippets so regularly that I'm left bewildered, wondering how you manage it. I'm sorry to hear that you don't feel your stuff is good enough, but seriously, writers never do.
And the point when someone says, "I'm good enough," is the point when someone stops striving to improve, and I'm not really sure how preferable that attitude is, anyway.
And the point when someone says, "I'm good enough," is the point when someone stops striving to improve, and I'm not really sure how preferable that attitude is, anyway.
True, but there's never feeling you don't have anything left to improve (which is good), and then there's saying "I suck at writing; I'll never be any good" and being disheartened (which isn't good). After all, what is a good writer if not a former sucky writer who silenced the "I'll never be any good" voices long enough to keep practicing?
But at least you can still do the short works! I seriously can't. I find it virtually impossible to sit down and write anything unless I have a full plot to go with it. If I try to sit down for a brief character piece, slice of life snippet, conversation, more often than not I find myself drawing a mental blank. This is part of why I never do writing memes and fic claims.
But then the fully plotted things are so intimidating that I'm afraid to start, or if I start, I loose interest partway through and they're never finished. The end result is that I get nothing written at all, and surely that's not preferable. :/ What's worse, I write at such a snail's pace... in order for me to start gathering words together, I need to have run through a scene more than once in my mind (this part usually takes a couple of days), and then when I finally sit down to write it'll take me all evening to do one short scene. Ugh.
I won't lie and say I pretend I don't have a strong love for a fully plotted story, although I will note that there is a difference between leaving an ending open and flat not ending something (personally, I'm rather fond of stories that basically end by saying, directly or indirectly, 'This is the end of this story, but stories still are.' I loved Neverending Story for that). On the other hand, I have to say that I really envy your ability to write so much and so well, short or not. You and a couple of others on my flist post snippets so regularly that I'm left bewildered, wondering how you manage it. I'm sorry to hear that you don't feel your stuff is good enough, but seriously, writers never do.
And the point when someone says, "I'm good enough," is the point when someone stops striving to improve, and I'm not really sure how preferable that attitude is, anyway.
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True, but there's never feeling you don't have anything left to improve (which is good), and then there's saying "I suck at writing; I'll never be any good" and being disheartened (which isn't good). After all, what is a good writer if not a former sucky writer who silenced the "I'll never be any good" voices long enough to keep practicing?
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