Writing is a lonely and arduous task

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Serious writing sucks. It's tedious and lonely. No one is there except you and your imaginary people. I want to finish this novel more than anything. I'd even cheat to do it. So, anyone out there up for lending a helping hand? Sure I'm grasping at straws, but how do novelists do it? I don't have time for this and when I do I get ADD. Describing just one scene is painstaking sometimes.

I'm sure it's not tedious and lonely for everyone....

If you don't have anything useful to say then don't say anything at all. Nothing is always the same no matter what you do and even if you love what you do and do what you love you gotta hate what it is that you do sometimes in between.

Unless of course, you are on a high dosage of meds which flatlines you to a point of continuous equilibrium, sometimes you will feel lonely and will feel like you are struggling uphill. What was the point of your comment?

Really...What was the point of what you said? Think about what you just said and please get back to me on it.

Why there are so few writers.

It is a mental construct that cannot be just put together, it is a collection of parts, each must be a whole, then they have to flow together.

My method is write a lot, most of which will not be used, but the bits that are are good.

A character stands alone, so write only about them, get to know them so well that the parts you use carry the parts that are only background.

Having developed several characters, then put them in a set interacting, where do they agree? Conflict? How do they adapt to deal with each other?

As each is a person, they do get along or conflict, so a three person group can have both.

It takes many ends, stopping points, print it out, bind it, let it gather some dust, then come back pen in hand and mark out the wrong directions, loose ends, where the plot stumbles, or gets totally lost.

There is a plot line, the reason for a book. This line runs through locations, characters gather and play scenes, chapters, which are each a stand alone story.

The story is the middle, the start leads to the story, introductions, motives, location, and the end is often hard to find. A murder mystery is resolved in the last chapter, but a novel often peaks in the middle chapters. Sci Fi takes a quick lead in to the world of the story.

It is all taking the reader on a trip, and they have to be able to follow, identify, for it is about people like them who have adventures.

Editors are hard to find, they have to not only be well read, but also understand what the writer is trying to do.

Beyond that is the business, what shelf will the work sit on, who else is already there, how many of those books sell, who are the buyers, all needed to place a work on the market.

Nothing is new, seven basic plots, seven characters, Austin starts the Novel in English, Poe the Detective, Verne sci fi, Dickens and Alger social morality, good will rise.

Location, plot, characters, all lead to educating the reader, so you must understand your subject well, and teach the reader something.

They will invest time and money in reading the work, see that they get value.

This is very general, shaping a story to fit the market for that type of work is another story.

Getting done, in print, listed, does not sell books, that takes promotion, the writer on tour.

I do tedious and lonely well. One person does the research and frames the knowledge for thousands.

It is a lot of work before any reward, so it takes persistance over time.

Uff...
The tedius part for me is the dialogues and motivation. I'm writting a novel and the dialogues and motivation of characters are very hard for me. I have knowdegles about psychology (true psychology, not Freud, Jung and similars) and this help me a lot.
The organization of history is another matter. My argument have two timelines: one in present continous and lineal. the two is in past, unlineal and chaotic; only a few words links the first timeline with the second...
is a very dificult organizate a history like this, because the chaotic nature of the second timeline

I am writing a novel and I try to aim for at least 1,000 words every day. It is as some say, a marathon and not a sprint. I love fiction and writing, so the motivation isn't really the hard part. It's trying to write a good novel. It is a long road, but not a lonely one I find. The love for the story and writing keeps me company. With zero friends, what have I got to lose?

I understand exactly how you feel. Serious pursuit of any art is a lonely and painful experience. An artist undergoes many stages of evolution that most others couldn't comprehend, like going through the pain of birth over and over again in one lifetime. Having to deal with the loneliness, disappointment with one's own abilities, and the stresses of infinite varieties of moods requires immense strength.

I know all about problems with paying attention. School was hell. I've spent most of my life in a completely unfocused state, managing to discipline myself just long enough to get a few important things accomplished.

I don't really know what to tell you. This stuff is weird.

I jot down ideas throughout the day as they pop into my mind, and then late at night, with no distractions devote time to exploring those jottings. Most of the time, what I scribbled down sparks something larger and more interesting.

Writing is indeed an arduous task, if you are trying to write something good. I have completed several novels, but so far, only one, as far as I'm concerned, is good enough to publish.

I can normally think of a setting and/or characters, but I can't think of a good plotline. Or I think of a plotline, and then discover that there's really not a bookful of things to say about it.

Writing like many art forms is a lonely persuit. My writing is reserved to poetry as the thought of a short story or novel is too much for me to sustain although I love reading both genres.
I paint and that is both a solace and a challenge.... continually making decisions, experimenting etc. as I do not paint directly from nature/life in terms of "form", "colour", "space' etc. I paint from within so there are no external reference points apart from the canvas, paint and the marks I've made. I suppose it could be said to be self referential!

This manner of creating paintings is difficult to discuss with most other artists unless they are tuned in to a similar way of expressing, that is the process of creating, rather than concentration on a predetermined , drafted end product.

Some people make products and others express themselves due to a need within that has no bearing on the purpose being geared to consumption, the market, or the current "styles".

It is easy to find oneself once again an outsider...... non conformist not by design but rather by nature.

Do what you love, follow your passion!The process is the journey and the reward, despite the anguish, frustrations and lonliness. Without the lonliness there would be no room for creation.

That is how it is for me! We all have to find our own way and our own solace!

Don't lose spirit!

Motivation can be rough. I got very lucky in that a friend asked me to collaborate on a play that she'd already worked out the premise and concept for, as well as a number of characters, but didn't really have any text on yet. I kind of brought the process to it, as we needed a way to progress the piece quickly (we were on a submission deadline) but with limited time to work together directly. Basically, we used our face-to-face time to hash through plot, getting a good sequential list of everything notable that happened, then passed the script back and forth putting the actual text around the plot. Once we had a full script, we met a couple times to discuss changes and corrections to make, and hash out any disagreements over the fine points.

It worked well enough -- the script was accepted, and the play opens later this month. That rush gave me the push to go forward with my own play, which I used essentially the same structure on -- I listed out everything that happened before putting text around it. It was harder without a partner, since a partner gives (more or less) immediate feedback and refinements before you build dependencies on something that may be better off changed, plus a sort of motivating factor.

I've found my third script a much rougher go, largely in terms of just DOING it. I'm working on getting #2 picked up right now, and hoping that if that goes well, that'll give me the push to get back at it.

My writing goal is just to get something on paper every day.

The research is the fun part....