Panda said:

I'd like to read your novel when you finish it. Sounds like my kinda story. Hope you get it worked out.

I appreciate the encouragement. Some people may not like her, but I heard Mary Higgins Clark was rejected at least 20 times before her first book was published. Stephen King hated Carrie and threw the manuscript in the trash. His wife got it out and had it published. My son's an artist and he's never happy with his work. You should see some of his art. It's amazing! I just get discouraged easily.

Code9 said:

Well, I know what you mean about the ideas flowing freely and then just going blank. I've run into that with the novel I'm working on now. Really frustrating. It's an occult crime thriller and it was going along really well until about a week ago when I suddenly realized I had overlooked a crucial detail in the plot. Progress has come to a grinding halt and I'm struggling to come up with a solution. The thing is, I have so much time invested in it now and the basic premise is too good to give up on it. I have to figure it out somehow.

Don't stop believing in your talent just because things don't always work out the way you wanted them to. Contrary to what some people believe, writing isn't easy. Sometimes it's terribly frustrating. But, like any craft, it takes time and experience to learn the "tricks" of the trade, so to speak. I doubt if any "great" writers ever started out as great writers. If you have even a modicum of raw talent that talent can be nurtured and can grow into something you can be proud of. It takes time, perseverance and dedication but it can be done.

Panda said:

I'd like to read your novel when you finish it. Sounds like my kinda story. Hope you get it worked out.

I appreciate the encouragement. Some people may not like her, but I heard Mary Higgins Clark was rejected at least 20 times before her first book was published. Stephen King hated Carrie and threw the manuscript in the trash. His wife got it out and had it published. My son's an artist and he's never happy with his work. You should see some of his art. It's amazing! I just get discouraged easily.

Code9 said:

Yeah, I love that story about Stephen King tossing Carrie into the trash.

I think most creative types tend to be perfectionists. That's a problem because perfection is really an unattainable goal. In addition to being a writer I'm also a graphics illustrator and I learned from years of suffering from the perfectionist syndrome that the best you can do is the best you can do. We're often our own harshest critics.

readsalot said:

What started as paper or computer has turned into some inreresting stories.Last week, I had just finished typing in over 8000 words of a novel of around 175,ooo. Suddenly instant updates came on before I could save, half gone. My son retrieved 4500 of the words, but I had to retype again 4000. If it had not been in a journal, what a mess. Even so, I had made many changes in the original. I cried, retyped, but looking at the book is painful. It had corrections from my editor and I'm so overwhelmed. Paper is always first with me. Too many mistakes on the comp and I rewrite as I type in. I'm still upset.

Panda said:

Jazz, I thought that happened weeks/months ago. Did it happen again? If so, that's terrible. I'm very sorry. You mentioned having 27 journals. Do you delete them? I know you've had a lot since I joined in April.

Panda said:

Oh, I thought you were talking about that time you posted about losing something you were working on and didn't save. The members were trying to help you figure out how to get it back.

blackfoot1964 said:

It is just too sterile for me to write/create.

Liquefied said:

Sometimes I find more creativity when using pen and paper. Yet then the challenge and most arduous challenge is transcribing it to the computer. YUCK!

readsalot said:

Then like me auto updates come on before you notice and save, and it all goes down the tubes.