Sock

I feel like everything I write is trash, and I can never finish anything. I am fifteen years old, and I think that I am just not mature enough to really begin serious writing.

Do you think I should continue to read and grow intellectually, then try my hand at writing? Or should write now and build up my skill?

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At least I think... so...

Mike C

I think it was Ray Bradbury that said you have to write a million words of crap before anything worthwhile comes out. You're just getting that million words out of your system. Keep writing, keep reading.

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Lemex

I say you should do both.
i'm sure you'll have some good things, Just keep on writing!
We all feel like that some times.

Kyrie

I had the same problem at that age. I think you should read and grow as you say, but don't neglect writing. Try writing short, simple pieces, and listen the advice given, eventually you'll feel ready to write something more serious.

That's just my advice from my own experience, maybe someone else can give you a different point of view.

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DavidGil

I would do both as well. I think I would be ashamed to show my earlier works at high school.

Though I've had breaks in between writing, during the years. Only now I'm really ready to start writing seriously, practising. You may not want to, but maybe it might be an idea to post something? Worst someone can do is point out the mistakes and if they say you have no chance at writing, I'd ignore them. (Though I doubt they would.) All it takes is practise.

Suggesting it because it may help you see where you're going wrong if you indeed are and you can then rectify it.

That said, I've never really read full books, I tend to skim through them. (I do reccomend you read them though)

Rob

What is it you're trying to finish? Novels? Short stories? Poems?

Cheers,
Rob

almostfamous1286

If you love writing, keep writing.
I'm fourteen, so I guess I sort of know what you mean.
I feel that way most of the time, or I'll like what I write at the time, and then, later on, go back to read it, and I won't like it.
Most people probably don't truly appreciate your work.
But keep at it!
Practice is the only way you can improve!

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Azmakna

that alone tells me you are going to be a GREAT writer. Kudos fella, keep practicing

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Patrick Beverley

Some advice:

Write really short things: character sketches, single-incident stories. Maybe only about 500 words long to start with. Then, either move on to longer things, or realise your talent for short things, write a hundred of them and become the most celebrated short-short-story writer of your generation.

Read as if you were getting paid to do it. Read novels by young men and old women. Read short stories by celebrated novel writers and novels by famous poets. Read translated works from other languages. Read untranslated works from other centuries. Get fascinated by the semi-colon; renounce it like Kurt Vonnegut or get obsessed with it like Virginia Woolf, but notice its existence. Learn to love your language like a child, a parent and a companion, all at once.

Don't forget to live. Seek out new experiences; live them to the full, but always with a part of your brain observing yourself and those around you. If no fiction is suggesting itself, write the fact of what you are doing with your life. Practice wording it in a way that suggests your experiences, and how you feel about them, in ways beyond the simple meanings of the words.

Realise that I don't know any of the answers, and that not following my advice could have outstanding results, just as following it might.

Good luck to you. Oh, and Azmakna is right: a self-critical streak, so long as it doesn't turn masochistic, is a great asset in any area of life, writing in particular.

Azmakna

take the advice above

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don't count me a blank page
waiting to be written on,
see me as a written page
waiting to be photocopied.

http://www.writersbeat.com

Sock

This is all really great advice. I think I am feeling so discouraged lately because I have in a way just snapped out of this trance wherein I thought I was begging to have it all figured out.

A recent experience has showed me how little I actually know, and inspired me critically reevaluate all of my writing.

The problem is I am in the midst of writing a "practice screenplay". Do you guys think I should finish this screenplay, or am I just setting myself up for shame or disappointment with the final product?

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At least I think... so...

wmd

I think you should follow the above advice with one added tip...

save everything you write. I would save both on disk and a printed hard copy. And save it for no one except yourself. There are so many things that I remember writing when I was younger that I wish I could look at again. I am sure that so much of it was utter crap, but it would be fun to read it and remember what I was doing/thinking/going through when I was writing it.

As for the practice screenplay... finish it. Even if you are dissappointed in the quality you can be satisfied in the fact that you have a finished piece of work. Many people dont even get that far.

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Foxee

Hiya, Sock,

I think most of us know exactly how you feel...and it's not age related, really. It's a matter of learning a new skill. Believe me, as far as writing goes I'll be learning till the day I die, and even then I may direct them to put "I still can't write well enough!" on my tombstone.

I agree, write the screenplay. A good friend of mine wrote stories that he winces and laughs at now in high school. But those same stories are turning out to be fodder for writing his whole new world and it's great! Like you've been told...save everything!

You've been given some great advice. I'd add one thing about writing...


Sounds so simple. But I think it's easy to get all serious about writing and decide to buckle down and really write some 'literature'...and you stop enjoying it.

Make up characters, act them out in short stories, daydream about what they'd do in certain situations. (Well, don't do this in class...I did but it really doesn't please your parents when the grades come out!)

Play word games and take writing challenges.

Read all the good books you can get your hands on.

Take a writing course (I can point you to a free online one that I liked if you want)

Talk to other writers about writing...sharpen your wits against the minds of others.

Try all kinds of writing. Don't buckle down to one genre or limit yourself to one world until you've written all kinds of things and see what works.

Don't give up, Sock. You can't expect a vision for a painting to spill out perfectly onto a canvas without a few drawing lessons first. And you can't expect your writing ideas, no matter how good, to jump out onto the page perfectly either.

I hate to say it. Everybody does. Just write. Write. Write. Write.

But have fun doing it!

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Arin

Writing might be painful, but it shouldn't be burdensome. Write as much as possible and then you may look back at the piles of stuff you've done and realize there's something really amazing there. Good luck!

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The brightest heaven of invention,
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And monarchs to behold the swelling scene!

Storm Eagle

hey sock, join the club. Same here. It's your personality.

I personally think anyone can write. I began to write little 10-page long stories with drawings when i was five about my Pokemon adventures. Around nine years old I began to write a comic books off of Robo-Pac-Man(yes im creative). once i hit junior high, however, i began writing grade B+ novels. Now I feel at 14 going on 15 I could make some novels that i read better. And i do. So what I am trying to say here man is that everyone can write, and everyone can do things to put you down. hell, i was suicidal for a few years, and that seriously influenced my writing. But, you can write. just think of this message that has made me write by a friend of mine:

if you won't write it, who will?

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Work in Progress...The Quill...I'll be sure to post it once finished rereading it for the seventh time and revising.