20 / 47
Apr 2018

I think we can agree that writing is pretty awesome. We get to put the ideas and stories that are born in our minds and let them grow and develop through our writing. It gives us a chance to express ourselves in ways we might not otherwise and gives us an opportunity to share that with others. We get to bring something into the world that wasn't there before! But I think we can also agree that, at times, we want to bang our heads on the keyboard.

So what's your favorite and least favorite aspect of writing?

For me....

Favorite: An idea and story blossoming as I type and building that story into something that will (hopefully) will cause the reader to feel the emotions I've written.

Least favorite: Those days where you couldn't even write about someone walking down the street and you just stare at the screen questioning your life decisions. Also, when a great idea comes to my mind and I forgot my notebook to write it down. :fearful:

  • created

    Apr '18
  • last reply

    Jul '18
  • 46

    replies

  • 3.7k

    views

  • 27

    users

  • 140

    likes

  • 1

    link

I’m not even a writer, but...
Favorite: you can choose to make any action or scene sound “beautiful”. When you’re drawing a scene there’s a limit to what you can do. But with words there’s an endless possibility. You can express emotions in much better depth if you’re writing it out than if you’re drawing it. For instance, a person who’s grieving and sitting down probably won’t strike your audience as heart wrenching because it’s just some guy sitting down with a frown on his face. But you can make that scene as emotional as you want it if you really write out the scene and what the person is thinking at the moment..
and also, when you look at a painting you get a huge load of information all at once. Sure you can incorporate entrance and exit lines in your piece but either way it’s kind or “fast paced”. But with writing you can ease your readers into a scene, or slam it in their faces depending on what you want.

Least favorite: you can’t write silly faces in a novel :stuck_out_tongue:

Favorite: I like how easy it is to do? Like I can write out a whole story in a matter of weeks but to actually draw it all would take years.

Least favorite: Limitations to how I think and say things. Not just vocabulary, but syntax and semantics too. Like sometimes I'll read a passage and think, "wow, that was beautiful. There's no way I'd ever think of saying it like that."

I feel the frustrations are greater for comic creators. You literally have to draw the emotion properly or it won't have the impact you what the reader to have! Also, drawing is hard :joy:

@joannekwan I've felt the same way! Sometimes I read something and I can't imagine how someone came up with golden words.

Favorite: I like how different everyone does it. Like, I think writing is literally (ha, got my joke?) putting a piece of you on paper. They are your thoughts, your words and, in a way, your soul. So your mood is translated to what and how you write.

Least favorite: when you somehow feel that the original quality and/or mood is no longer the same, and it's hard to keep writing, because you feel it's not as nice anymore. Am I making sense? Like, I think beginnings are easier than the middle part.

Favorite: I like when the story goes somewhere I hadn't expected it to go, like, today I was writing and I meant to go one direction and instead went the total opposite.

Least Favorite: The slog. when you know you need to get it out but it's brain sludge. Although when it finally does get out it feels pretty awesome.

@laiscnogueira You are making total sense! Sometimes you get stumped one how to get from one point in the story to another! That can be frustrating.

@JackRasputen Yes to both of those! :grin:

My most favorite is creating characters and plot! For me, I try to think of my characters as real people, and so I bring them to life in my mind. And then when I'm writing the overall outline and plot details, I think about what they would do in the situation.

For me, my least favorite aspect of writing is when I'm writing a story and I realize that the plot is going way to fast, so I have to put in more dialogue, background information, character thoughts, etc. So that it goes at a slower pace, while again, making sure that it's not slow paced either :joy: I also hate describing the background.

Favorite: At any part of the day I am just thinking about my story and a scene comes to mind and it's such a good scene and I get all excited, but they always come at the worst moment like when I'm in a four hour lab lol. But afterwards when I write it down I'm like "Wow, amazing did I actually write that?"

Least Favorite: When you realize you can't add that scene anymore to your story...lol that ties with not being able to get one scene down right no matter how many times you rewrite it.

My favorite: I love creating worlds and making them a Dystonia or even a false Utopia. But it isnt like hyper fantasy worlds, its worlds that are against the MC and make them struggle in more than one way. Also I really enjoy it when stories honestly head south instead of north like I want them too. Its like Ah...I see. So you have a mind of your own then.

My least favorite: When my brain gets fried XD Or when my attention span on a story is so short I forget about it the next day.

@x4ever Developing characters is really awesome! I know how you feel about the plot, you get on a roll and then realize you're rolling too fast!

@MariMontoya I think about scenes all the time too! But then it's the challenge of, "how to do I get to that awesome scene in my mind?"

@375 I hate the brain frying feeling too! You wanna write so bad but your brain just won't cooperate. It can be interesting to see your plot take a different direction that what you planned. I like to think of that as your story really growing on it's own

@nycanth :laughing: I feel you

Favorite: Characters. I love characters and building them and just agh! They're my favorite part of stories like the plot could be boring as all hell but if I love the characters I'm here to stay.

Least: Editing.

Favorite: Witty dialogue, coming up with the atmosphere and the world even when I'm not writing my draft, and the sense of adventure, whimsy, and wonder, and feeling the emotion from the stories as I write them.

Least Favorite: When you get writers' block and you can't fully write said ideas even though you're still imagining them.

Favorite : finally getting all those words out of my head. They plague me all day asking to get out, and arranging them in sentences and paragraphs feel really good.

Least favorite : not being able to find how to say what I want to say.

Its so terrible! And it happens during the times when I need to update or turn in my creating writing thesis D: And haha it really is growing. Right now Im growing a spearmint plant that cant touch the sun or else it'll burn like last time. But its trying to touch it and so its growing off to the side and I just look at it and go, "This is my story isnt it?" XD

Favourite: Use my imagination to create rich and elaborate worlds, characters and stories that I enjoy and getting to that part I thought months ago.

Least favourite: Being blocked, not knowing how to continue the sotry or the fear of the possibility of never finishing it.

Favorite: Worldbuilding and character interactions
Least Favorite: Actually writing in general

@onyefrankie Oh editing :expressionless: I know I'm going to find grammar errors and typos

@mrtoontastic I love all those feelings too :heart_eyes: It's the best high

@minerrale Yes! not being able to word properly is so frustrating!

@Leon the idea that you'll never finish is so real! Especially when you dedicate so much time and energy to it and you get stuck!

@CremeChronicles I can understand the actual writing part being the least favorite part. For me there is some sanctification seeing the words come to life before me.

@JenniferBourne That comic says it all! Thank you :laughing:

I love the research part of writing the story.

The re-writing part when you have to throw away good for better is the least enjoyable.

Favorite: When I make a theme for a story and make specific moments in that story follow a theme on purpose, but then another part of the story that I didn't mean to make go with the theme goes with it anyway and then I think to myself "my god... I'm accidentally brilliant!" XD I also just love when I stumble upon that perfect idea that I want to make into a story and when I first get to put that idea to paper. Character building is also a blast, too while world building has always been less important to me.

Least favorite: When I lose steam on a long-form story because I'm so used to writing short and simple short stories.

Favorite, coming up with the scenarios and major moments. Least favorite coming up with the details of the world and the moments leading up to the major moments. In a way that makes sense at least. I forget some of my own plot elements TOO MANY times.

@vicar_comic It can be hard to change scenes you really had your heart set on :pensive:

@ratscout of all the ways you could be brilliant, being accidentally brilliant probably feels the best :laughing:

@fighterxaos I tend to forget things too so I keep a notebook to write everything down in it when I think about them.

Wahahaha. I think we're opposites, then. I like editing the most, and my weakness is... writing that first draft. Guh. But that's just the literal "writing" part.

My favourite part of writing(as a whole) is doing all the puzzle work to figure out how the plot should go, and seeing the pieces finally click together in a satisfying way. When a story that consists of multiple pieces becomes a coherent whole, you get this immensely rewarding feeling. It's quite awesome to see your plot become the thread it should be - instead of a haphazard collection of events.

And my least favourite part of writing as a whole is... being unable to write as often as I want..

Coming from a comic writer who has also written stories, my favorite part is coming up with an idea that really works for me -- maybe just a basic concept or something similar; just an idea that really inspires me and makes me think and resonates with me. This also includes tying up and connecting events in a story, particularly when these events work better with previous events that I had at first expect.

My least favorite would be getting stuck. Trying to tie two events together and not being able to get past that mental block; lacking inspiration and being unable to motivate myself to get beyond that.

@xanedis I am beginning to like editing, it gives me a chance to reexamine my work and look at how I could improve it

@spooktacularprize I can completely understand trying to motivate yourself past mental blocks!

Favourite Aspect of Writing
Writing the main frame, especially the detailed ending, and imagining how awesome it all is.

Least Favourite Aspect of Writing
Filling in the rest and struggling to keep facts and plot details consistent.

This is especially true when it comes to writing mystery stories - for those that are doing so, I salute to you.

Trying to fill that space between the awesome scenes in your mind can be the most frustrating part for me! Though sometimes it leads to a scene developing better than you thought!

I used to have that same problem, but it mitigated over the years by practice. Now I'm feeling relatively confident in writing those middle parts. You just have to make sure that your every paragraph feels like they're tightly connected to the main story, instead of having some just loosely hanging on to the general story structure.

That said, I speak from the viewpoint of an outliner(not a full-blown one, I tend to discovery write my characters and those "middle parts" you mentioned). It might be that your writing method is a bit different, but the same principle from the first sentence applies - just write. You'll get better. If you feel up to it, I would recommend reading about writing(but if that puts you down, just write), however, even with all that knowledge that you could gather, you'd still have to learn to put it into practice. And I can't stress enough how much a good night's sleep will help you to write better on the next day...

sighs Sorry. I got started on a rant. Just keep in mind that writing is a holistic art - a lot of things influence your performance. XD

I agree with the "good night's sleep" part. Sleeping is extremely important when writing. Not only are you better focused when you're really awake, but dreaming helps your brain process the informations of the day (including your story) and piecing it together to make sense. That's the main purpose of dreaming, in fact. And it helps a lot with finding plotholes and filling them up!

Ah, no, that's not what I meant ^^" all of this is done by your subconscious while you sleep, you don't have to remember your dreams for this!
Well it's better if you do, mine gave me the basis of Abby's Hope AND of the other book that it talks about :smiley: but it's not necessary at all for this process.
It's basically your brain working while you're looking away

I might not have been very clear either ^^" sorry, I'm still not very comfortable with english, especially when I'm talking to people and not writing a story since the style is not the same

No worries! I appauld anyone who takes on English as another language. It's difficult (especially when someone doesn't read get you said right :laughing:)

I like that I can just pour my imagination to my writings when I'm unable to draw it.

But what I hate is that I need to go back and fort to a couple of dictionaries just to find the 'right' words. Even if I do, my tenses is all over the place, so it's frustrating at times. Plus, if the things I searched on Google for reference doesn't exist or simply lacking, that's gonna put me on edge at times.

I also someone that have low motivation, so when my stories doesn't go well, I usually will lose my interest at that moment until I'm able to go back up again. Somehow it feels pathetic :stuck_out_tongue: .

But hey, I still love to do it.

Thesaurus.com is becoming a close friend of mine :laughing:

It can be hard to keepmotivation high! It takes a lot of write well and it can be exhausting! Sometimes you just gotta take a break.

I usually use the online Macmillan thesaurus though. XD

And if I were to take a break... I take a break for a long, long time...