I Quit!

[squidtender]

"May my haters live long to see my success"

Never give them the satisfaction of quitting. Don't write for anyone else . . . write because you want to tell yourself a story. Who cares if anyone wants to read it?

Writing is the only way I can let out my demons. Well, that and mass murder. But my parents seem to frown on that last one. So, I'm a writer . . .

[TKent]

LD, how about sleeping on it buddy. EVERYBODY here has had days like that. I guarantee. Anyway, you know how I feel about this idea Noodle on my pm a bit and hope to see you here this weekend.

[Plasticweld]

The guy singing in the shower gets to fantasize about being on the radio and singing in front of an adoring audience. For a brief moment as the sound echoes off the bathroom walls he can be all of those things. Does it really matter what he sounds like to anyone but him?

[TJ1985]

None of us are great writers at this moment. Random House isn't cold calling any of us as far as I know.

If you let one or two critics/critiques tear you down, I can guarantee that they will never call you. If you carry on, you'll improve and they might, but if you walk away I know they won't. I'm pretty sure every writer who's ever wrote for others has felt like giving up because the work they thought was a masterpiece wasn't seen as such by others. Because they became great writers I know they didn't let it get to them.

Write for yourself. Who gives a crap what somebody says? Improve yourself, but don't let a critic make you question doing what you know you should be doing. Somebody else would have written something differently, So? I'd have taken about 200 pages of boring detail out of Moby Dick, you think Melville would have given a crap what I said? No, he'd have taken it under advisement, which is code for "So says you, dimwit".

Critics will crit, haters will hate, potatoes will potate. Keep doing what makes you feel good. Some advice may improve your skills, other advice isn't going to help you, that's why we humanoids can select what we give heed to in our minds. Drive on.

[Deafmute]

value is subjective. Saying your work is not good simple cannot be true, because good is not a real thing. Does writing make you happy? Do you enjoy writing? The obvious answer to the questions was at one point yes if you have spent 10 years working on the craft. Now if you are asking if you will ever make loads of money on your work or receive widespread fame and adoration then that is a different question. It takes a lot of things to become a famous rich or even just published writer, and the BIGGEST thing out of all those is luck. Never write to be accepted by others write for yourself. If other people wind up enjoying it along the way well that's great.

It only takes one thing to be a good writer, and that is for good to come from your writing. If the only you ever get from your writing is a small pleasant escape from world around you into your own private oasis, then you are a rich man. If the only person who ever praises your own work is you then you are famous. Don't give up, take a break. Decide why you write, if at its core its for yourself then I doubt you will stay away long.

Be seeing you.

[Sam]

Well guys it looks like this is gonna be my last post because I am done with writing. I think I'm this is the final time I decide to close this door and I think I'm gonna slam it. I know I have great ideas but I think I'm the last to realize I have no talent in this business. If you've enjoyed my previous work I'm sorry you won't see anymore. If you saw I had potential and couldn't move past the first stage of a writer then I'm sorry to disappoint you.

I feel as if I've capped and was never destined to be a writer.

I'm happy to have realized this now than 30 years down the line. I mean I've only wasted 10 years of my life.

It was a lot of memories to look back on but now maybe I can be free from this whatever the hell it is I thought I had. That took a lot to say but I'm happy I said it.

What's next of me? I have no idea what's next of this talentless hack, but my life always takes weird turns.

Enjoy the forum without my horrible topics guys. I enjoyed my time with you and I hope you enjoyed mine.

If you were really serious about quitting, you would just walk away. You wouldn't give a toss about starting a thread to say you wanted to quit, which leads me to believe that this is a cry for help.

So let me help you, because what you have above is a combination of being too hard on and expecting too much of yourself. Ten years is a long time, but time doesn't equate to becoming better. What you do in that time does. For instance, in the last ten years I've written approximately 1.5 million words. With every 100,000 words, I've seen myself improve (sometimes fast, sometimes slow, but the improvement was always there).

If, in the last ten years, you've only written 50,000 words, that's your problem. I'm liable to be pilloried for what I'm about to say, but it doesn't make it any less true: the only way you get better at writing is by writing. A lot. I dare you to try to master any discipline in the world by doing it sporadically. A person of exceptional talent may (unlikely) get there on the back of their natural ability, but almost everyone else will not. You only get out of writing what you're willing to put into it.

What is the 'first stage' of a writer? What's stopping you from moving past it? If you expect to produce exceptional prose without putting in the time and effort, you're going to be automatically disappointed. No one ever masters English. I had a professor who was 78 and came out of retirement to be a substitute for my English class in college. When he read one of my papers, he said he had never seen such creative use of language in 50 years of teaching. This was someone who had published multiple articles in multiple journals over the years; who had written six academic tomes; who had been teaching English before I was born -- and he learned something new that day.

Stop being too hard on yourself and, most of all, stop expecting so much of yourself. One of the main reasons why some writers become paralysed and unable to write is because they read the masters and think they can emulate them in two seconds. By comparison, everything that person writes feels like rubbish. Of course it does! What else would it be when you try to compare yourself to the masters? You don't start taking martial arts classes and compare yourself to the late Bruce Lee, do you? You may aspire to be like he was one day, but you don't compare yourself to him.

But I don't know you. I've never read anything you've written, so I can't give you advice on that end of things, but I don't think that's where your problem lies. Take a step back, relax, stop being so hard on yourself, and just start writing.

[mrmustard615]

Well, if your mind is made up, then so be it, and we wish you the best of fortune on your chosen path.

Of course, not everyone at WF is here for the writing*, and not everyone in writing is here at WF. Both are choices you can make.

*some stay for the cookies, but most stay for the friends they've found.

Like me. Yes, I'm still writing too (note my infamous duel with Schrody), but I'm really here for the camaraderie I feel at WF.

As for the writing, it's easy to have some self doubt,. I think all of us have gone through it at one time or another. I don't have a magic cure for it. All I can say is keep plugging away. Sooner or later you'll some up with something you'll really like.

And if someone else doesn't like your work (and you do), you can always give them this

[jenthepen]

I've never felt absolutely compelled to do anything but write.

You've received a lot of good advice here, LD. You obviously have a good many folk who care about you. The thing is, no advice will keep you writing and no criticism will make you stop. You are a writer. Your words in the quote above prove that. Just like the rest of us, you are 'absolutely compelled to write.' That's who you are. Crits hurt, but they'll never beat that compulsion. Be true to yourself and write what you enjoy. Don't concern yourself beyond that.

[Bishop]

I've always been of the mindset that anyone who is good at anything does it for themselves. So if getting published was the only reason you're writing, then... yeah. You might not want to write. If you were writing for you, it wouldn't matter how long it's been or whether or not you've been published... you'd just have to write to tell the story. It's never been a concern of mine enough to where I would stop writing if I never got published. Who cares? It's your craft, it's your passion. I also love playing guitar and video games, both of which have professionals doing it full time, neither of which I will stop doing if I don't become the next Van Halen. They're part of who I am, and while sometimes to improve at any of my hobbies/crafts I have to work my ass off, like writing 2000 words on a day I really would rather just watch funny cat videos, I do it because I can't fathom a world where I'm not doing that. I do it to get better, to make a good story, and to be able to sit down and reread my own novel six months later, surprising myself with how much I improved over the novel I'd written previously. I grow just to grow, I suppose...

Publishing will just be a nice bonus if I ever get around to it.

[Morkonan]

I've never felt absolutely compelled to do anything but write. For years I've attempted to to get better. At this point I've barely gotten a bit better. I feel the writing is on the wall. Now I'm a kid without a passion and who wants that. Maybe my work would be better posthumously, because it sucks now.

Thanks again.

Ya know...

This is the moment that comes to many writers and it's why many writers call it their "turning point." The look to what they've done, examine the criticisms they've faced, then realize "Yes, that sucked." Almost all of them crash, experiencing new lows and frustration. Then, it dawns on them - "I think I can make it not-suck."

Writing can be learned. Writing well can be learned. You can learn how to write well. You can even learn how to look at your own writing and truly see through the self-criticism in order to discover those things you actually did well! Don't let the haze of frustration and self-condemnation blind you to the fact that, though many feel intimately attached to and a part of what they write, writing is simply the act of putting words in a logical order that can be understood by someone else. Yes, it's complex, but you managed to express yourself well here, didn't you?

Didn't you?

You wrote a compelling plea, a scream in the jungle that writers must navigate. You expressed your frustration and your contempt for what you've valued so highly for so long. You wrote a post that was obviously created by someone who is facing their demons...

If you can write that and if you can communicate that in the posts you have made in this thread, you can apply that very same sort of passion to crafting the stories that you want to craft. It's that simple. It will take work, but everything worth doing is hard. This may be your own personal turning point. Open your eyes and see it and open your hands to grasp it if you truly desire it.

If you don't want to write anymore, that's fine too. You are your own master, you determine what it is that you value. For myself, I try not to do things that I feel I am not good at doing. For me, that works out pretty well and it also means that I have a lot of practice faking my own incompetence so I don't have to do what I don't want to do. If you ever call me to help you repair your house, fix your car or, heavens forbid, to write poetry, you'll see this special skill in action!

Whatever you decide to do concerning writing, know that there are others who have been where you are, felt what you have felt, and have overcome it to journey on, doing whatever it is that they find enjoyment in. Writers are naturally empathic - We know what you're feeling.

Best wishes, no matter where you go!