Like, I know I'm supposed to hate the writing process, so I must be doing something wrong. I was doing good for most of the year--forcing myself to write at least a couple hundred words per day, sometimes more. It was appropriately awful and I hated every second of working to that end goal.
But then something happened after I finished my last project. I started another story and, to my horror, enjoyed writing. The new setting is refreshing, the characters more authentic, and the plot actually cohesive.
Writing this has been fun.
What do I do? Should I stop and go back to writing something that I know sucks?
You should be writing at least 10,000 words per day. Asshole.
But wouldn't that increase the amount of pleasure I'd derive from writing?
Welp, it's time. Take it behind the barn.
If you liked it, then it's your darling. You know the rules
And so do I.
/uj Genuinely I get so sick of people who whine about the process of writing. Like dude unless writing is your job, nobody is forcing you to write. It's a hobby YOU chose to do and if the process hurts you so bad, PICK ANOTHER HOBBY. It's really that simple.
I sometimes feel like I'm the crazy one for actually bloody liking to write, but nah. The people parodied in this post just want free martyr points for shit that nobody asked them to do.
/uj to be honest, there are things I don't like about it. And it's easy to get burnt out when you're making yourself do it everyday to form a habit.
I definitely don't hate it, but there have been times where I questioned if it was truly for me. The feeling of accomplishment when finishing something is unmatched though. And when I get that spark of an idea, I don't think there's anything more fun than forming the idea into a story and putting it on the page.
The process is definitely work, it does require sustained effort, but I simply despise people who act like the process is this horrible, unavoidable torture that is never enjoyable. Because my first thought is always: Why not do literally any other pastime?
Yeah, a lot of that feels like melodrama from young folk trying to fit a tortured artist image.
The times when I don't enjoy doing this, I won't pretend like it's always supposed to be this way.
Honestly, it might just be that, unlike some of my other hobbies, writing seems to demand consistency of practice or I find the skill degrades quickly. When you do something every day, you're bound to not always feel up to it.
I write for fun, often just world building or writing short stories.
I love coming on reddit to see people trying to gatekeep that the process MUST be miserable or else you're not a "true" writer.
Ok well what you should do is start yapping to everybody you know about your great story ideas. I mean you gotta verbally hash out every beat and every twist, do it to as many people as possible. This will neuter you of your disgusting urge to put "words" on "paper".
Weird conversation looking at the answers but I may don’t get the jokes… congrats AustNerevar! Maybe you found out what really speaks to you. That’s why you have to explore different styles of writing. So what was your old and what is your new project ?
This is the writing circlejerk sub, it's a parody of writing communities. This post is parodying the sorts of 'writers' who act like the process must be miserable 100% of the time to the point that you wonder why they're even choosing to write. This post is mocking such people by acting like the mere thought of enjoying the process is blasphemous.
/uj As mentioned, this was primarily a joke, but there's some truth to it. My previous project was a 110k word epic fantasy.that took 15 months to draft, rewrite, and revise. By the halfway point, I was burnt out on it and just wanted it to be over. I did a lot of unrelated short stories in this time to have a change of pace.
Now I'm doing a sci-fi story that has a neat "magic" system and I've gotten 40k words into the first draft within just a month. It's a change of genre and setting, so that helps. But also the pacing is a lot faster.
Write mooooore !
https://preview.redd.it/3hjme9g1kx9g1.jpeg?width=600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f0f1dddec8ebd0bf0afa7d06bafe1d1e70216a9a
Have you considered simply not writing? It's not too late to get help.
Of course you hate it. You have no confirmation as to whether it has any value, even if you get positive comments. Professional writers submit for publication. A yes or no is connected with someone paying them to publish the work. If I spend six months researching, writing and editing a book, I do it because I believe a publisher out there will pay me for it. Of the four books I have written, I was correct on all of them.
Who ever said you're supposed to hate it?