Bisky's Twitterling's Scribbles! discussion

I know when I wrote my first novel I felt alittle strange, like, this is how to do it. That moment when I realised just how to ride a bike, I didn't forget it and it's mostly because of the intial feeling.

I'm about to start writing again soon, and I was wondering, has every book you've written been easier to write than the last? Do they stay at the same level? Or do they become more difficult for you to write?

I've written a few different plots (not really a complete book yet) so maybe I shouldn't be weighing in here, but my limited experience says that every book is different. I think some aspects must get easier, like avoiding passive phrases and sloppy writing, simply because you're more aware of the mistakes to avoid.

Yeah, it's just like riding a bike haha ^^ I get right back into the grove (actually starting book three soon, since i just finished editing book two for now xp) and, for me, I can always see how I've grown as a writer since I've written the last thing ha. I don't know if i'd call it "easier" though, because there's still those pesky little problems that pop up here and there (that I don't think will ever go away), like making sure my story is straight, and other things, but I guess that's particular to series writing.
Hmm, I wonder if writing a series is "easier" or not because of that. I kind of think it is because you stick with the same characters and really get to know them and how they react to the plot, so that's convenient I think, but at the same time keeping the story and backstories and subplots can be difficult for that same reason. Anyway, that's off topic…I'm just gonna shut up and go to bed lol

Well I've only written a few, and one was for NaNoWriMo, but all 3 have followed a basic pattern. I start out strong out of the gate, then I get stuck in the middle somewhere for a while, and then the last few chapters come out blazing hot. I've yet to have a novel be "easy" to write. I'll let you know if I ever do. ;)

Yeah, I think it really depends on the book. Its interesting to see how other people find writing ^-^

@Nicole I'm rewriting the first in a series I'm doing, (not sure what Im gonna do with it yet) its actually been easier to write once I split the series into 8 books instead of three. It has, and continues to be the easiest thing for me to write. My next ebook is alittle harder, maybe because that is a stand alone.

I've only been actively writing for the past year on this one series that I was contracted for, but I have to say yes, it got easier for me as I went. Now that the first draft has finished production and finally gone to print, my time has been on the draft for episodes 2 and 3.

I'm finding it much easier, the characters more developed, and myself able to better grasp what the heck I'm doing. But, this remaining within the same realm. I imagine writing an entirely different story might be like entering on the ground floor again.

Writing has been getting more difficult for me.
Not so much the writing itself as finding time, and sometimes motivation, to do it. But the speech to text app on phone makes it easier. I can say what I want to write, save the document and email it to myself.
But man, writing science fiction is tough!

@Bisky 8 book series? Holy cow, that's awesome! ^^ That's so funny though, because I'm also redoing the first book in my series haha I'm letting two of my good writer friends take a look at it in 4 parts, so now i'm waiting (patiently) for the first part and then I get to go through their critiques and edit again! Just when I thought I got off that train xp But, while I'm so patiently waiting, I decided to go ahead and start book three (like i've said before, sorry for being a broken record xp).
But I wasn't sure exactly what to do with it, so I gave it off to them and asked for their opinions on things like, 'does this scene work?', 'which scenes should I cut?' (I can't help but make my books on the long side…that's prob why I haven't got an agent yet xp I'm a writer darn it, i can't help it!)
I have a couple of stand alone idea, but I think the hardest part of writing those will be to not make them have sequels haha Also, when writing a stand alone, i think personally, it's a little more difficult to make the readers fall in love with your character more quickly. It's a very special skill to have to be able to do that.

@Misses I can't write sci-fi xp

@Jennifer Lukeman's book sounds interesting, I'll check it out. Thanks :)

[EDIT] You can see a sneak peak of the book Jennifer recommended on amazon, if anyone's interested (The First Five Pages: A Writer's Guide To Staying Out of the Rejection Pile) and also another good writing advice book is Stephen King's "On Writing" (On Writing: 10th Anniversary Edition: A Memoir of the Craft) and you can also see a sneak peak there too :)

The answer is YES if you keep at it and it takes years then writing well becomes natural to you. You read what you have written and you think FUCK did I write that it's good. Revising comes easier and you just write well anyway the big problem comes if you get big headed after a success or two you start to think that you are pretty bloody good and that is a death trap then you start to write badly. The thing you need most in life as a writer is a good honest editor whom you can trust. Cheers Anthony E Thorogood.

@Nicole I think it really helps to redo. I had a good long look at my first book and thought, damn, there really is alot I can work with here XD

Sorry to inject a dose of pessimism into the discussion but I have to be honest. No, as a matter of fact it get harder and harder as you age. Keep in mind I am not referring to skill and knowledge of craft and storytelling abilities. The more you write the better you will get at all of those things. But the actual physical process of engaging and focusing the brain for long periods of time gets harder and harder. It is a matter of physical science. Intelligence diminishes as you age after peaking at certain age (around 25, but it can vary widely). This is not about knowledge and wisdom, that does increase, but the brain's performance abilities and the speed of the neural connections slows down with age, as does the ability to retrieve information including memories.

James wrote: "Sorry to inject a dose of pessimism into the discussion but I have to be honest. No, as a matter of fact it get harder and harder as you age. Keep in mind I am not referring to skill and knowledge ..."

I wrote my first novel at 42, so I guess I'm doomed. ;)

@J lol well I am more doomed than you are since I started mine I was 50+ but it's ok, us 'old farts' still have some juice left. :P

My two cents: everybody is different. Some people blossom when they're older and some are like squeezed out lemons when they reach 40. If you're writing and enjoying it, rock on.

James I'm 47 and I hope to hell that I haven't peaked yet because i have a lot more I'd like to accomplish.
Yes, Bisky it does get easier.
The more you write, the better you get, and the only unfortunate thing about that is that you start to look back at what you wrote when you first started out and squirm as you think about how much better it would be if your did it today.
Misses is right in fact that you'll never have the same enthusiasm you did for getting that first book done because it was a barrier that you needed to cross, but you'll always have some excitement for anything you write, because it's yours and you get to share it with the world.

I've kind of said that same thing in other discussion lines, because I completely agree, in my twenties I would have been horrible writer, not only because I was having the time of my life partying it up and enjoying myself, but also because i really didn't have the accumulated life experience that I do now, that allows me to look at situations through remembered events that I've gone through. Now considering I write Thrillers where way too many people get killed I should point out that no I have not in fact been committing murder in my spare time as novel research, but I have been through enough relationships, situations, and read enough that I can inject my actual experiences in and around the fictional ones. Although I have to admit throwing people who have upset me throughout my life into my books just for the fact that I get to kill them off, is one of the wonderful upsides to writing.

I'd say once you've found your process, it's easier simply because you're not learning how to write a _book_. Learning the process is the toughest part, in my opinion.

Thats a good way of putting it :3

I tried to write when I was younger and my ADD would get in the way. I used to always take on any project that popped into my head, and work hard on it for a couple of days. I would then get bored and move on to something else. Now I have the discipline and focus to stick with a project until completion. There are a ton of distractions now though. My Android phone alone could keep me busy until the battery runs out. Oh look! A shiny icon blinking at me.. *wanders off*

I'm laughing so hard it hurts! Only because the whole shiny objects thing is way too familiar... Oooooooo Guitar center.... Gotta go

The world is generally too distracting.

I wrote lover of fluffy things on my bio for a reason...

Remember that episode of the simpsons where Homer chases the poodle?

Thats me ._. And why i dont leave the house very often.

I am a victim of distractions. haha xD -- *points at my 3DS with Pokemon X*

Throughout the semester, it seems that academic writing has gotten easier for me. I think fiction writing's gotten easier, too. :3

I think writing does get if not easier, better. I find that my works are stronger as I write more and as I read more. Trying to shape my style into something that is both unique and engaging is quite the challenge. I believe that once you've found your voice it's easier to use it.

I find that it's not the writing that is hard, but rather the editing/proof-reading step that's always impossibly slow and uninteresting to me. I know I should care about it more, it really does take a good idea and polishes it into something that's a good read, but I also feel like I have already wrote this before, why do I need to do it again?

John wrote: "I think writing does get if not easier, better. I find that my works are stronger as I write more and as I read more. Trying to shape my style into something that is both unique and engaging is q..."

Yes, the pain of editing. But all must endure it! :)

I like the editing part. That's when I see it take shape. Of course, it could go faster, but I spend more time here than in my manuscript...

Haha G.G xP put it in the guise of promotion and its all good :p

I wouldn't have it any other way. :)

I see what you mean about it taking shape. I guess for me by the time I'm editing it, it has a shape, it's just not exactly what it is in my head. That's where the editing comes in.

Do you find you are cutting/rewriting large parts during your editing?

It has a shape but what I mean is that it finally reads like a book and less like thoughts.
When I first started to write, I wasn't paying attention to word count. I didn't know that feature even existed. I ended up with a difference of around 8k words, but the final manuscript looks nothing like the original one.
By the time I finished my sequel, I had learn a lot. Even though I still have a lot to learn, the editing seems too easy. Still, I have cut down a little over 8k already with around 15% of it to do.
I cut/rewrite a lot. I cut the things that I feel unimportant, and rewrite for stronger words, which also lower the count.
(Both books are over 100k long. 107.5k for the first and 108.4k so far for the second.)

I noticed you write novellas, so the process must be quite different. How do you go around doing yours?

The better my writing has become the less scared I've been to edit my work. My novel was a complete rewrite of the first manuscript I had ever written and it's so funny looking back at the progress.

G.G. I agree with you about the thoughts bit. Like you're trying to write a novel and it's turning out to be a stream of consciousness piece that no one can follow.

I think the more you write the more familiar you become with your process and ergo avoid a lot of the pitfalls you get into when you're trying to figure it out in the beginning. This in turn leads to less time wasted and easier revisions.

Anywho...those were my two cents.

I guess I have a kind of strange writing system. I start writing with the goal of writing whatever the story wants to be. I sometimes have a plot or at least a start of a plot and an end goal in mind, but I don't have the details. Because of this, I always write in chronological order (or at least in the same way the reader is going to discover the writings). I think part of my pleasure in writing is the same as the reader would get reading. I'm discovering the characters and creating the plot as I go.

When I'm done writing, I then go back and reread what I wrote. I'm not aiming for any word counts (although I do keep that on so I know how long the story is) I'm just trying to tell my story as best as I can. Then I go back an reread it. At that point it's just really getting the language right. If I've completed the story I'm often happy with the plot so then it's just making the words as good as the plot.

Sometimes I will cut something, sometimes I'll add something, but often the main plot is untouched it's really just about language and readability.

That's just my process.

John wrote: "I see what you mean about it taking shape. I guess for me by the time I'm editing it, it has a shape, it's just not exactly what it is in my head. That's where the editing comes in.

Do you find ..."

Everyone goes through the pain of large swaths being chopped, re-worked. But when you're done-- oh so good!!

A.J. wrote: "The better my writing has become the less scared I've been to edit my work. My novel was a complete rewrite of the first manuscript I had ever written and it's so funny looking back at the progress..."

Absolutely agree! Well put:)

It's funny. I'm worried about editing because my sequel seems so clean and easier to do that I'm afraid I'm doing something wrong, or missing something. Now,I realize it might just be experience?

Absolutely experience takes some of the annoyance out:) Edits are always hard, but the frustration isn't there once you learn your process, in my opinion. I think having a really good editor also helps a lot!

Not only has it not gotten easier for me yet, each chapter I write in my WIP seems to be getting harder. I think this is because I'm just coming up to the climax and am trying to not screw everything up.

At the moment, writing itself isn't hard. Sticking to one project is though! *whips self* Stay on task Bisky! Yah! Yah!

Sometimes you -have- to stick to one to get it finished :x but atleast I have lots of postit notes :p

Yeah, I find that if I have too many works started at once, I get overwhelmed and never finish any of them. I just have to power through one and then reward myself by letting me write another.

That being said, it doesn't mean that I can't think of more than one plot at a time and so when I'm not writing, I'm crafting other stories.

I agree with John. While I've never personally tried taking on more projects at once, I see my friends do it from time to time and they end up getting nothing done :( one friend and I started our projects around the same time too but he keeps jumpin around to different projects, while I force myself to focus on my main series. He hasn't even gotten halfway done with any of them and I'm 100pgs into the third book of the series =\
To give him credit though, it's hard for anyone to compare to my freakishly fast pace. And also, I suppose some people, if in the right mindset, could handle multiple projects at once. Just depends on the level of dedication and discipline I think ;)

I think discipline has alot to do with it. I just can't get into a good routine with my stupid back stopping me from sitting upright >:[

Sorry to hear your back is hurting you Bisky. I could see how that could hinder your writing.

Do you write by hand, or do you type it directly into the computer?

I can juggle 5-10 stories in various states of composition. But a novel demands all my writing focus. Books are high maintenance.

While writing my 2nd book I'm also thinking of the 3rd one. My mind is always reeling with something new, but I don't think I can write more than 1 book... I'm new at this, so things could change someday

No, not if you do it right. Every time one aspect becomes easier, it's time to re-define your challenges.

It took me 10 years to finish my first novel. No, really ten ^&$%ing years. Now I am writing my 8th book. :) It gets wayyyyyyy easier. <3 I think if it didn't, we would all quit.

It does get easier, but I find only if I hold myself accountable by making a plan of words per day, what exactly I will edit for in each draft, a due date for myself. I make it a priority and that way I make myself put quality into it.

I'm currently at the 500,000 word count with five manuscripts on my computer.

I have noticed it is easier now. Even better than that, my writing has improved.

But, as with anything worth while, it all takes time.


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