Life Advice

Coming out of this damned shell. Well... Shit. Here goes. Some of you have heard my sayings that I wish to be an author. The thing in life that I'm afraid of most is being seen as incapable, incompetent, unworthy, even smaller things like being seen as clingy. It gets to me, right in the Alberts too. That fear has formed a bad habit that translates criticism into doubt. Which so far has successfully kept me back from making any of my books public. I want to freely associate my imagination with my work. How much of that would be taken from me? My fear is that enough would be changed that, if I had read and edited version, I couldn't recognize it. Any of you Got some kinda advice? Yeah. I know all the "Just do it" crap. Details, please.

The question you must ask yourself then would I rather feel safe or to be immortalize by my works and even better move someone with these works as I had intended when writing. I like to write short poems to deal with my thoughts but they are written with goal of never coming to light. We're you works done so with same intentions? If no, then give them the life you so desire for them.

@forgetmenot This isn't a good way to be time efficient, but normally what I do is write several versions of the same story before even leaving the rough draft phase. When you have nailed down the characters, themes, and concepts of the world, and you know what story you want to tell, you go through your first rough draft, then save it. No one is meant to see it other than you, the first draft is meant to be the story you want to tell. From there, think of different ways to tell the story that still include the same plot components and themes. I'm the kind of writer who gets very explanatory about the world, so usually my second story is meant to be more character driven rather than world driven. It helps me to understand them and fine tune their place in the story for another telling. The third version will be a much more plot heavy take, where both the world and the characters are tuned down more to make room for a sharper, more focused version of the story. By now, you should truly have all three down to a science. If time permits, write a fourth one that combines and balances the best elements of all three, making sure that attention is given to stitching them together with out the seams showing, so to speak.. It may have a very different narrative layout than the first draft, and that's by design. It helps to see as many versions of the same story as I can lay out in front of me before I can decide where I am truly heading. Once you have a few versions of your story, look at what's popular in the market, as that's likely what publishers will want to be selling. Pick the version that most closely aligns with that, and start editing it down. And of course as you may know, the first chapter is a promise to the reader as to what the story is about. I usually write that after I have decided what version of the story I want to tell. An experienced editer will always know whether or not its a good story just from the first chapter alone. Understanding plot and narrative structure, character arcs and portrayal, and setting are each a science in and of themselves. They aren't exact instructions, and it's easy to get so caught up in them that you may be tempted to scrap a story entirely. I generally only care about writing technique enough to know how well parts of a concept will work. Or rather recognizing what doesn't work as well as I thought it would when I view the work as a whole. It's easy to get caught up in a lot of opinions out there that people pass for gospel. But let me just say, I absolutely hate Chekhov’s Gun. I'm a world builder at heart. If I describe a gun above the fireplace, that is environmental story telling, not a plot component. It's more of a show, don't tell thing, ya know? So don't get too obsessed about a single one of these things. There are times where they get in the way of how you tell your story. Only the reader can tell you whether or not that's for the best. I should also note that I am not published, nor do I ever care to be.

@chocopyro Tell me if I'm wrong, but the summary is that if I'm afraid to publish, with the thought of incompetence in mind... I should write as many versions as possible, in order to perfect my piece. Though at the same time, to be sure the process doesn't take too much away from my day, and my mind. Correct? I shorten it so it's easier to keep in mind.

Basically. Likewise, it's a way to practice being capable of changing around a story without truly changing the story you wish to tell. That's a skill that a lot of hobby writers or beginners aren't taught in any meaningful way. It kinda helps to mitigate the anxiety of being told something needs to change.