*thunk*

[dmacabre]

Summer disappeared overnight. While I don't miss the 90+ degree days, I can't help but feel a sense of dismay that it's already getting fairly dark by 8:30pm. Firefly season is over, and it's been rainy and chilly for the past couple days. And dammit, I am just so tired. I wish I could sleep for days and wake up refreshed again

Comments

[wiccarowan]

This is how I feel about "Home". It's all in there, somewhere. It's not as though I don't know what's meant to happen. I've stopped wondering if I'll ever finish it and started to wonder whether I'll ever write ANYTHING again.

[dmacabre]

Oh yes, that's what's so deadly about being stuck in limbo. You start feeling like maybe that's it, maybe there ARE no more decent words left. I don't think that's the case, but it feels so damned discouraging. :(

[lauraw]

I am by no means an expert writer but I hope you don't mind if I offer my opinion.

If it's really between writing something that isn't as good as you hoped and not writing any thing at all... I would think writing something less good would be the preferable option. We are our worst critics and even if it really is a steaming pile... well, now you can move on to something else and Keep Writing. I would just hate to see any of you stop writing for good if it is something you still ultimately enjoy.

I mean, that all being said, I don't write a lot because it is just not my top priority. Drawing is hugely important to me, though, and this is a battle I fight with myself ALL of the time. Sometimes I hate everything I make and I become all emo and mopey about it all... but once I break past that I love it again and all I can do is just try to hold onto that feeling when I hit a rut again.

So, in short. It really doesn't have to be good. It just has to be.

[dmacabre]

Not to worry, I don't intend to stop writing in general! I'll always write, even if it's just fanfiction or stories to amuse myself. I think it's the only way to get past being unhappy with what you write, because if you don't write, your chances of improving are pretty slim.

But it's pretty disappointing when what you turn out isn't as good as you think it can be. I'm always saddened by that.

[ex_misplace]

All this, I understand. This morning there was that damp layer of cold dew on the windshield, and I thought, "Summer is really over." It's time to clean out the garage so we can park in there. (We live where it snows in the winter.)

And I also know about headdesk writing. It's so frustrating. A friend shared this video (Ira Glass on Storytelling) a few weeks ago, and it sums up my problem. I suffer from the gap between the quality of writing I want to do and the skill level I'm currently at.

But, I keep trying. Over and over and over and over and over. No matter how much my head hurts from banging it against the wall.

[dmacabre]

I know summer's over when I finally admit it's too dang cold and must put on socks before I freeze. :-}

That's a good video, and I agree. Neil Gaiman once said something similar:

""Normally, in anything I do, I'm fairly miserable. I do it, and I get grumpy because there is a huge, vast gulf, this aching disparity, between the platonic ideal of the project that was living in my head, and the small, sad, wizened, shaking, squeaking thing that I actually produce."

~ Neil Gaiman"

I'm familiar with the concept that there's always going to be a gap between what I'd like to produce and what I actually produce. I just hate it when the gap is biiiiiiiiiiiiiig.

But you (and Ira Glass) are right. The only way through it is to keep trying, and one day you'll narrow the gap.

[dmacabre]

It was a short firefly season out here! We had a long, cool spring, then a short, hot, dry summer. It's not uncommon for Labor Day weekend to be chilly, but more often than not, the temperatures stay fairly high until early October or so. And now it's been drizzling nearly nonstop for the past three days. :-/

In this particular story, I'm on my third rewrite of the ending. Two nearly-complete versions were laid on the table, dissected and probed, and then I forced myself to admit that this corpse was never going to reach the, "It's aliiiiiiiiiiiive!" stage. Staring at it through bleary, sleep-deprived eyes was only making me grumpier, and any editing I do in that state is a bit dodgy, anyway.

"...now I'm off to stare at a story of mine that's late, and a scene that I hate, and words that are messy and don't say what I feel."

This, exactly. :-}

[slobber_neck]

I totally understand this. This has been happening to me for a while now, too. Just recently I was able to tap into some golden words again...but it's hit or miss (take my labyfic as an example har har har). Uhg, so frustrating!!! :( May the words come to you soon!

[dmacabre]

I know what you mean by hit or miss. There are definitely things I've written which are... adequate, I guess. But I wasn't feeling it at the time, and am afraid that readers can tell. I can, anyway, and I don't like feeling like I'm phoning it in.

Arrghhhh. Well. We'll both get through it eventually, that much I know. :)

[dmacabre]

Oh, I'm very relieved for the break in the heat. It feels greats to be able to open up a window again! But I always feel a bit blue when the days get so noticeably short. I'm hoping for a long fall season, with lots of cool, sunny weather. *crosses fingers*

I've had short stories like that, too. The idea is there, but I can't quite make it work on paper. :-/ Hope your words unstick themselves, too!