Discouragement

[TechKnow]

Any suggestions regarding becoming discouraged?

I am writing a sci-fi novel right now and I have become discouraged. I don't want to invest a huge chunk of my life on something that doesn't go anywhere...

Sigh

[StephenKingman]

There are many useful books out there on how to write your first novel with tips on finding the right publisher and avoiding al the pitfalls that are common to people in your situation, check out amazon.

[TechKnow]

Yeah, but it all seems a bit of a bother... Frankly, I just want to write. I don't want to muck about in the nonsense of the business...

Tell you what, I will put a few pages on here and you tell me... Do I continue, or should I just save myself the time and go to the beach...

Please keep in mind this is unedited...

Code: Select all

Never get out of the mech. That is the rule. I hate getting out of the mech. It is bad enough going into that crumbling old city. There are just too many ways to die there. To get out of the mech is to add stupid to dangerous. Still, that hydraulic coupling must have come loose again and unless I tighten it, I will be walking home and that is adding insanity to stupid and dangerous. 

At least I was on the outskirts and there were no buildings looming overhead. I ran a diagnostic that unsurprisingly showed a slight drop in hydraulic pressure in the right leg. After moving the mech into an old abandoned garage, I powered down all non-essential systems to cut down on the sound. I scanned for nearby life forms and another for bots and mechs as I pondered whether or not to just turn back and fix it in a safer place. Of course, I knew the answer already. I probably was not going to get very far and then I would not be able to choose my ground. At least here I had a bit of cover.

The scans both came back clear. Still, a simple cloaking device would fool either one. I doubled checked to make sure my cloaking device was on, and then I turned on the acoustic analyzer and listened for a few minutes. Not a sound. It was almost too quiet. It was getting dark and that did not help matters. I flipped the switch on the auto sentry and hit the hatch release. The hiss from the hydraulics was an unwelcome contrast to the crushing silence. 

I cursed my luck. That blasted linkage would be the death of me. It was a great mech, fully armed and armored with short range jump jets and everything. It ran on solar fission that gave her plenty of power. Most of the electronics still worked and all of the weapons systems were tip top. Still she was showing her age and the battles fought took their toll. A simple flange bolt would solve the problem once and for all. With luck I could find one in the city.

I eased out of the cockpit and opened the maintenance hatch on my mech. I grabbed the tools I would need and proceeded to remove the panels covering the hydraulic linkage I needed to tighten. Working as swiftly and as quietly as I could, I cranked it as hard as I dared. If I stripped the threads on that bolt that would be catastrophic. Okay, so far so good. Now all I needed to do was button it all up and I could get underway.

I was almost finished when I heard the auto sentry warning. The hair on the back of my neck was standing up. I put the last bolts on the panel and quickly got back into the cockpit. The auto sentry was picking up some electronic signals. They were weak RF signal; probably an older mech doing a radar sweep. Wave analysis confirmed this and gave me a bearing. It was probably an old Mark IV. Fortunately there was no way that it would pick me up. Those old dinosaurs used a Doppler radar and since I wasn't moving there was no way it was going to pick me up. Besides, judging by the lack of signal strength it was probably out of range for a return anyway.

Unfortunately, the old Mark IV gained the attention of something else. My sensors picked up a pulse ray burst scan. Pulse rays do not give bearing information; so I had no idea where he was, but I did know he was probably close. He must have been cloaked. He probably picked up my earlier scan and was hunting me. 

Adrenaline surged though my body and my pulse was racing. He was moving, acoustics were picking him up and now I had a range and bearing. He was a couple blocks away to the North. If I had not moved into the garage he would have seen me for sure. I could not get a type on him, but I was guessing he was a Victor Class or even worse and Echo. The last thing I wanted to do was to go toe to toe with either one. 
I waited as each second hung in the air. I figured there was a good chance he saw me on thermal. If it was a Victor then I might have a chance if I was quick. With luck, I could rush out to the street and get a salvo off and get to cover before he could react, but if it were an Echo… I was just about to commit to the attack when he began to move away from me down the cross street. He was apparently going after the old Mark IV. I was lucky because judging by the speed at which it was moving it was probably an Echo.

I quickly powered up my mech and cloaked it. I proceeded to get out of the area as fast as I could in silent mode. It would have been faster to use the jump jets, but flying above 200 feet could attract unwelcome missiles. I do not really like unwelcome missiles and although I have a full array of flares, jammers and chaff I generally like to avoid them altogether.

The hydraulics were reading a bit lower then I like, but they were not dropping. As long as that monkey rigged bolt held together I would be okay. Finding a replacement would be like trying to find a needle in a stack of needles… 

I could hear the plasma bursts and gunfire from what must have been a surprisingly fierce battle between the Echo bot and the Mark IV. The Mark IV pilot must have been pretty good to put up such a fight. Never the less, he was probably going to get fragged soon. He would have to be more than good to survive an encounter with an Echo bot. 

Echoes were bigger, faster, quieter, better armored with more advanced weapons and sophisticated sensor arrays. They had state of the art plasma weapons, anti-grav jump jets, positronic shielding. All of this with sensors that could pick up a gnat fart at 300 yards and probably tell you what it had for lunch.

So tell me... Do you want to read more, or should I become a plumber?

[StephenKingman]

Very promising stuff there and i would certainly want to read more, but may i suggest trimming it down a bit and maybe using less paragraphs-you repeat yourself a bit and the crux of the plot could have been a page shorter but other that i liked it.

[ResearchScholar]

It is easy to get discouraged when writing. But you have to motivate yourself in certain ways. One way to do so, and also to avoid investing too much time and energy, is to set yourself a deadline for an initial full draft manuscript. You can set a realistic timetable of several months.

When you have completed the initial draft you should take some time off before reviewing what you've written. When you get back to the manuscript you can decide whether it is worth the effort refining it for publication or leaving it unpublished. Even if you opt for the latter it would not be considered a failure. In fact the whole process of having written an initial draft is an achievement in its own right. Also, you never know, at some stage in the future you may re-visit your work and decide the time is more propitious to bring it to publication.

[Shasti]

I've found a lovely way of avoiding getting discouraged when writing - especially when it is something you love - is to sometimes 'set aside' your larger projects and keep a journal, or notebook handy. This is to just 'jot' down casual or interesting thoughts, ideas or concepts when out and about. Even a dabble in prose, or a response to a visual image can stir up the writing urge. And you are also left with a lot of nice little 'scraps' or 'snippets' of writing that you can refer back to. Sometimes even your idea for a larger work can come from a few short lines jotted down (I sometimes accompany these with stimulus visual images from magazines or photos).
I've got 2 novels 'on the boil'... the first one was really cooking, and then I hit a wall. I went back to my journals (after a bit of discouragement) and found an idea for another novel - completely different direction - and it's brought me back. I now love turning to my book after a day when I'm devoid of anything inspiring occuring...
Hope this helps in keeping you motivated. Don't worry about publishing if you don't want to - do what you love and the rest will follow in it's own way!

[TIGERSPRITE]

If you get discouraged, especially from someone reading your work, just ignore them. Even if you read your own book and get discouraged because you think it's absolute tosh, push on. Here are some quotes that can help:

Only bad writers think that their work is really good, and

Write whatever way you like. Fiction is made of words on a page; reality is made of something else. It doesn't matter how "real" your story is, or how "made up": what matters is its necessity.
-Anne Enright

Trust your reader. Not everything needs to be explained. If you really know something, and breathe life into it, they'll know it too.
-Esther Freud

Remember: when people tell you something's wrong or doesn't work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.
-Neil Gaiman

If you get stuck, get away from your desk. Take a walk, take a bath, go to sleep, make a pie, draw, listen to ­music, meditate, exercise; whatever you do, don't just stick there scowling at the problem. But don't make telephone calls or go to a party; if you do, other people's words will pour in where your lost words should be. Open a gap for them, create a space. Be patient.
-Hilary Mantel

You know that sickening feeling of inadequacy and over-exposure you feel when you look upon your own empurpled prose? Relax into the awareness that this ghastly sensation will never, ever leave you, no matter how successful and publicly lauded you become. It is intrinsic to the real business of writing and should be cherished.
-Will Self

These quotes, and other from the Ten Rules For Writing Fiction at the Guardian.co.uk, helped me finish my first book. Push on.

[lukebodell]

I've always said the issue should never be forced. You are at your creative best when relaxed, not when pressured into pouring out words.

If ever you are not feeling that great, you cannot force the issue. Take a break from writing, until you feel a little more enthusiastic; but never, ever write when you don't feel like writing, as the quality of your work will reduce drastically.

[Perrywinkle47]

Its obvious to get discouraged because it is not that we come up with an idea, write it down and get it published. The whole process is very cumbersome and exhausting. But at the end of the day its your passion for writing that would get you there. If you get discouraged, a good idea is to take a break, relax and then come back to your task.

[Carla Hurst]

Above all remember YOUR STYLE is YOUR STYLE. Had an ex (friend) on the outskirts of my life refer to my writing style as the (dot dot dot style) and NOT in a good way. Often in my writings I write the way I think...and it is MY style...immediately recognizable...the same way e.e.cummings avoided capital letters.

Well...I am published and soon to be published again...and she is STILL just a font of negativity. Those who can't, often put down those who DO. Ignore them.

[Perrywinkle47]

Above all remember YOUR STYLE is YOUR STYLE. Had an ex (friend) on the outskirts of my life refer to my writing style as the (dot dot dot style) and NOT in a good way. Often in my writings I write the way I think...and it is MY style...immediately recognizable...the same way e.e.cummings avoided capital letters.

Well...I am published and soon to be published again...and she is STILL just a font of negativity. Those who can't, often put down those who DO. Ignore them.

I agree! Also your style is what you get named for like you talked about e. e. cummings.

Awesome to know that one of your books have been published! All the best!

[Career Novelist]

Getting discouraged is part of the writing process. Every writer goes through it and if they say otherwise they're full of crap. I have been writing for 17 years now with two completed novels and lots of short stories and the thing I found is that being discouraged is like your soul giving you hints.

Hint one: Step away from the book and give your mind a break. I like to read my favorite authors during this time--it could be a day or a week or a month--but step away to recharge your creative batteries.

Hint Two:You subconsciously know your writing isn't good enough so the best thing to do now is immerse yourself into the study of writing. Learn your craft. Read a book a week on writing--it could be a book on characterization, or plotting, or creating conflict. Go to the bookstore and read magazines on writing techniques, just learn. Become a diligent student of your craft.

My advice:Write because you love it. Write because you love the story, the chance to fully be in control of the world, to evoke emotions from words and phrasing, from pacing and from creating great characters. If you're not enjoying the writing process, then you will in fact be wasting your time.

Good luck.

[Perrywinkle47]

Very well put..