What's your greatest challenge in writing?

[Auticorn]

For me, it's being able to finish my stories. I can never seem to get any of them done. It's either because I get better ideas for other stories, or I get bored of the current story I'm trying to write at that moment. I've been trying to work on this more, but it's really hard when you have ADHD. D:

Another thing I struggle with is whether I'm a very good writer or not. I worry about what others think when I shouldn't. I try to tell myself to write more for myself than others, but it really bothers me that people won't give me any feedback or tell me I'm doing a good job. I thrive on people's words. It gives me the inspiration to keep going with the story.

So, enough about me... what are YOUR greatest challenges in writing?

 

[Nolafus]

My greatest challenge definitely the actual writing part. I can come up and flesh out ideas all day long, but once it gets to the actual words, I struggle. Sometimes it's from lack of motivation, other times it's writer's block, and sometimes I just don't think I'm good enough. Once I actually do complete the story, I feel absolutely amazing, but during that process, I wonder why I do this to myself, haha.

 

[Pendraflare]

I don't really know what mine would be, but when i'm writing essays in my college classes I always find myself having a tricky time attempting to word the facts that I want to. There are points where what I write out starts looking awkward. Once when I was getting one of my essays from last semester looked at, there were a handful of points that my tutor pointed out where she thought I had a lot of sentences with unnecessary words or ones that should be remade.

 

[Auticorn]

My greatest challenge definitely the actual writing part. I can come up and flesh out ideas all day long, but once it gets to the actual words, I struggle. Sometimes it's from lack of motivation, other times it's writer's block, and sometimes I just don't think I'm good enough. Once I actually do complete the story, I feel absolutely amazing, but during that process, I wonder why I do this to myself, haha.

Other than completing the actual story. This is exactly how it is for me. I can also be a huge perfectionist. I'll redo stories over and over because I feel they aren't good enough. I'll reuse old stories, and redo them thinking I'm making them better too. I can never finish my stories, so that's usually my downfall because I got bored of my ideas very easily.

 

[SirRidge]

Actually sitting down and doing the work is what gets me. I have a lot of great ideas, but the process of actually setting down and doing something with them can be troubling for some reason.

 

[Bay]

Another thing I struggle with is whether I'm a very good writer or not. I worry about what others think when I shouldn't. I try to tell myself to write more for myself than others, but it really bothers me that people won't give me any feedback or tell me I'm doing a good job. I thrive on people's words. It gives me the inspiration to keep going with the story.

Pretty much this. Part of this is I would see other people get praise for their writing and when I compare myself to them I go, "I'm just not good enough." I mentioned this dilemma in another forum, and someone told me one may to combat that is to comment on works that you think deserves more feedback. I did a few comments here and there and while it doesn't necessarily help me get more feedback on my works, it's a good feeling letting someone else know you appreciate their work. Maybe try that?

 

[Aisu]

Characterization. I can't give my characters that kind of three-dimensional depth.

 

[Arylett Charnoa]

My greatest challenge definitely the actual writing part. I can come up and flesh out ideas all day long, but once it gets to the actual words, I struggle. Sometimes it's from lack of motivation, other times it's writer's block, and sometimes I just don't think I'm good enough. Once I actually do complete the story, I feel absolutely amazing, but during that process, I wonder why I do this to myself, haha.

That's me all right! And add to that my inability to finish a story... and well, you have a right train wreck. I think I'm just... horrible when it comes to the process itself. There are so many notes and documents I have left over from old stories full of ideas that I've spent so many hours writing over the years... but what about the actual stories I've attempted? Very few. I have countless pages upon pages of world building and concepts only.

Execution is always my issue. What do I do now that I have this idea? Where do I go? Oh, now I have another idea, I'm bored now, let's move on to the next story.

This is why I don't work on a story by myself anymore. I find it impossible and an absolutely unscalable obstacle. Not to mention, it's boring as hell. Instead, I simply do roleplays and collaborations with my chosen partner. With him, we have written a story that whilst it isn't as long as I'd like, it's definitely the one I've worked on for the longest consistent amount of time. It's started in around July and it's still kicking! I'm so happy that I've found that way of resolving my issue. Having someone else work with you helps a lot. There are times where I've wanted to quit and just drop it like all of my other stories, but he keeps us going, by telling me that even though we don't work on it as consistently as we'd like to, we'll always go back to it. And we WILL finish it.

Dialogue is a huge weakness of mine as well. I find it so difficult to write even though I prefer it. Another thing solved by roleplaying.