What is the most frustrating part of the writing process for you?

[althewriternyc]

“Hey writers out there, what part of the writing process do you absolutely dread doing?

This can be anything. Some examples could be

-A particular part of the editing process
-Brainstorming/ outlining a story
-Worldbuilding rabbit holes
-Just sharing your work with strangers.

For me it’s line editing, making my pros sound stronger.

When I’m crafting my first draft, and getting in the zone, that's when I have the most fun. Even when I’m developmental editing, doing story revisions, I’m still in the zone since it's much more creatively stimulating. Finding plot holes or dealing with character arcs are interesting puzzles that are challenging but I leave them feeling fulfilled.

Line editing depresses me. Making sure my sentences flow, or crafting a line that actually sounds dope is super difficult & demoralizing after your 15th rewrite. I saw an interview with Geroge RR Martin where he talks about rewriting lines over & over until he realizes he's only done a paragraph & wonders if he ever had any talent. What about you guys? What's your monster you end up having to slay every time you start a new project?

[fsarbolaez]

For me it's writing to get to the good parts. I so want to write those bits, but I have to bridge the scenes and it can get difficult and slow. It can be discouraging at times because they can become mental blocks. Luckily, I can usually use the juicy parts as a reward for writing the more boring stuff.

[DokiDokiTsuna]

Line editing depresses me. Making sure my sentences flow, or crafting a line that actually sounds dope is super difficult & demoralizing after your 15th rewrite.

Oddly enough, ^that's actually my favorite part of writing a story. ^^ I love coming up with cool lines, AND going back and improving dull lines to make them cooler and better. It's one of the reasons I like editing more than first-drafting, because that's 90% of what I do at that point.

As for what actually frustrates me: after all these years, I gotta say I still hate setting scenes. o(≧口≦)o I can't stand it; I think I enjoy drawing backgrounds more than I like describing them in prose.
I know it sounds silly, but I just don't care most of the time...and the rest of the time I just run out of things to say.

There's one novel I wrote that's in such a weird location that the backgrounds are actually interesting for me to write about...but it's still a chore because I have to find something different to say about the same environment every time I need a chapter intro or a scene transition or just a slightly longer sentence. There's only so many ways to describe the same gray sky and dark earth and glowing lava flows...I've spent hours researching volcano ecosystems merely to find more words to use; more features to mention. Even though it's a pretty slow-paced novel, I often find myself speeding through some of the scenic parts just to spare myself the agony...

[EncryptedWriting]

Actually writing.

I struggle with getting some sort of writing going, but once it is there... it's there.

[TheLemmaLlama]

For me it's writing to get to the good parts. I so want to write those bits, but I have to bridge the scenes and it can get difficult and slow.

Haha I just write the good parts from the get go, because it's already playing out in my head so why not Unfortunately that means I can't use them as motivation to write the bridging scenes, which I also struggle with XD

As for what actually frustrates me: after all these years, I gotta say I still hate setting scenes. o(≧口≦)o I can't stand it; I think enjoy drawing backgrounds more than I like describing them in prose.

Big mood XD This is why I think visual novels is the most prosey-medium I will ever want to work with; they need fewer drawings than comics but I need illustrated backgrounds to make up for my inability to describe them :'D

[KhanSpring]

I'd say that for me they are:
- Switching between languages while I'm writing - I write in my native tongue, but sometimes as I write I would suddenly switch into English and then it is like "Great! Now how do I write it in Bulgarian?"
- Coming up with names for the characters and places.
- Falling too deep in world building research - I learned many new things I didn't know about my culture, history, traditions we do not practice anymore, the meaning behind ones we do, etc. Same goes for the cultures of others. But the choice of what to include became more difficult - I always think "Is it too much?"

[Spectorium_1]

I'd say motivation and focus. Theres so much I want to write, but sometimes I just need some motivation and inspiration to write it. Also the focus, cause I just jump around things like sketching, edited composition, and writing most of the times.

Also the paranoia that I'm editing my own story wrong. Like, it feels much easier to do editing commissions and be confident in the final product, but it's nerve-wracking to do my own.

[darthmongoose]

The "bridging gaps" part. I tend to plan out my story based on story beats I want to happen, so I'll have a list of things that need to happen by the end of the chapter or storyarc... and also things I want to set up, establish or foreshadow for much later.... and unfortunately all the things I've planned later that came out organically, which didn't feel like a huge list at the time, is suddenly a lot of stuff to juggle.

So then I'm in this situation where I need to manage spinning plates. I know all the things that I need to bring up and have happen.... but also I can't just have the characters stand around and talk it all out; there need to be action scenes, jokes, set pieces.... aaaaaagh.

It's been really hard this chapter, because I knew Rekki needed to go to Camelot to talk to Urien, both to maintain Urien in the audience's mind as a threat and to give Rekki motivation, and I also knew Rekki needed to meet up with Subo so she could explain her backstory with Sarin before she inevitably runs into her. Then on top of that, the audience needed to be reintroduced to Sarin as an adult, and to see her getting the wrong idea about Jules.... Plus I needed to establish that Jules is part of a plot to overthrow Urien.... and then, oh crap, did I forget to fit Rocket into this story aaaaagh.... better fit Rocket in there somewhere.... and the concept of demonic possession... and changelings... this is fine...this is fine....heeeeelp!

[Lensing]

The part where I have to show it to someone or where I publish it feels uncomfortable.
Everything else is not frustrating. And that only refers to story writing.
I don´t feel like that when I write songs, I love to publish songs and present them
even when people don´t like them.

I think it is because stories show more of a very private side and my songs are
superficial. There is also a difference between reading something someone
wrote and listening to a song that someone wrote. There are listeners who
don´t even listen to the words, that´s especially the case because I live in
germany and I have the feeling that only 3% of the audience actually knows
what the song is about. You can play a song which is called "smokin meth"
and people wouldn´t really care about it when they like the groove.

[BrianBrennon]

What’s often frustrating for me is when I have to edit my scripts and cut the redundant bits out. Even when it’s necessary this part always hurts a little bit. Writing the first draft of a story is fun, like getting all your toys out of the toy box and playing around with them. But the second draft can feel like cleaning up after yourself.

[BOMB]

The endings. Starting, planning, editing, all of those things are typically like butter (they take effort yes, but i get through them easy enough). But ending a story is like pulling teeth because I either don't want to end the story or I'm never satisfied with my ideas for ending things. Most of my stories end on cliffhangers because I'll probably continue them later, but also because I just couldn't think of an organic way to cut things off.

[powerplantanimations]

Okay, so this is the first time my story got THIS big. It's gotta be keeping things consistent. Little details that you need to iron out and all that.

Another annoying thing is controlling yourself humor wise. You wanna get away with stuff, but you're not sure it's suitable for the audience, but you STILL wanna do it.

Tone can be an issue as well. I remember having this really bloody scene in That Stick Figure Isekai and I'm like "Yep... this could be rated M... I don't want that".

Another another thing is that you end up doing what you think may make fans angry, but you're hoping they see the direction. I thought fans were going to hate this twist I made in my current arc of That Stick Figure Isekai, but they ended up loving it.

[authorvicomara]

Getting detailed/quality feedback on my novel is the toughest part for me.

I had requested for help in several writing groups but had no luck in a sense that no beta had the time to read everything (mine is a long 100K+ gay romance novel). I was lucky that a handful of betas were willing to read through the first few chapters (the feedback was generally good with some valid suggestions here and there).

I cannot afford to hire a pro editor, so in the end I gave up and posted the bigger portion of my novel here on Tapas.
I'd love to self-publish it, but I don't have the confidence to do that until I have someone to provide feedback on my whole story (don't want to ask potential readers for $ in case it's riddled with mistakes I'm blind to spot on my own).

[candiedcotton]

I have the exact same issues. Exactly the same, lol.

One thing I've learned over the years is to write out my major plot points on a white board or something big, and then I'll make a crap ton of post-it notes with briefs of the gap filler bits and figure out where to put them. Then add more post-its to fill in the gaps of those. Visually seeing the arrangement helps a lot for me.

[darthmongoose]

One thing I've learned over the years is to write out my major plot points on a white board or something big, and then I'll make a crap ton of post-it notes with briefs of the gap filler bits and figure out where to put them. Then add more post-its to fill in the gaps of those. Visually seeing the arrangement helps a lot for me.

Yeah, I take a similar approach now, but using Miro like a digital whiteboard with post-its. Being able to rearrange the storybeats and write things out in a less linear way really helps!

[kyupol]

Naming characters. I hate that part.

[korivernon]

Actually getting myself to do it. Once I've got going, I'm fine.

[1SickPuppy]

To me, that's always the start of a blank page. So I usually just write things and ideas down and then paste them to a blank page. Then I try to connect them like a puzzle.

[Freemints30]

The actual writing.

Editing I got something to work off on to improve. Line editing is honestly my favorite part. Planning is fun cus I got infinite possibilities and it's also fun.

Actual getting the jumble mess of thoughts on to paper however....

"This is awful"

Especially when I'm at a block point and have to rush through it with notes to come back and heavily edit later. Pain in the behind

[NellieVP318]

Keeping up with my outline since I'm not a huge outlier and trying to keep track of previous plot points is tough for me too. It's probably why I often hit into writer blocks at times.

Also, editing is a pain as well since I'm not the best with grammar. I'm lucky to have a friend look over my mistakes sometimes. I also have to the tenacity to tense switch which annoys me.

Lastly, world building. Not my biggest strength as a writer since I focus way too much on story.