fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #3019 ]

⌈ Secret Post #3019 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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[CSI: NY]

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[All Creatures Great and Small]

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[Peter Dinklage]

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[The Flash]

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[Person of Interest]

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[Arrow, Felicity Smoak]

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[Shin Megami Tensei]

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(Kirby Buckets)

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(Pretty Little Liars)

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[Fantasia]

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27. [ SPOILERS for Rage of Bahamut: Genesis ]

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28. [ SPOILERS for Better Call Saul ]

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29. [ SPOILERS for Umineko no Naku Koro ni ]

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30. [ WARNING for suicide ]

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31. [ WARNING for rape ]

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 00 pages, 000 secrets from Secret Submission Post #431.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 1 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 1 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I've been thinking a lot about how everywhere I go I see people talking about how scary the blank page is. But I love the blank page. I love starting something new and all the infinite possibilities that come with it. When I want to put pressure off myself and just have fun, I start something completely new that I have no expectation to finish. This is apparently a sacrilege to a lot of writers who say you should always aim to finish what you start.

For me it's not that the blank page is *scary*, so much as it reminds me of how hard it is to start something, for me anyways.

I think that's what people usually mean by it. I'm just not like that at all.

AYRT

IDK, I used to not have a problem with it. Then some stuff happened, and I'm only recently started dipping a toe back into writing.

I hope you're having fun now that you're coming back to it. I always think that's the most important thing.

Hmm, I think you might be misunderstanding/misrepresenting what people are saying. I don't think anyone is saying you can't just write something and not intend to finish it. What they're saying is that if you are writing a novel or something you do intend to finish, it is generally better to have a finishing point in mind (and of course that won't be true for everyone but it is good advice for many authors who are just starting out).

I would be shocked if any mature author thought that you absolutely had to finish anything you started. Starting things, discarding things, fiddling with things to see what works is how you figure out what you want to say and is crucial to a good portion of writers (I wouldn't say all or most since I have no idea on that side but I would say a good chunk from all the how-to-write books I've read).

I will admit to exaggerating but the people I'm talking about tend to be a bit hyperbolic about this too. I don't know how many times I've now read Chuck Wendig say "finish your shit!" or some variation along with a rant, and he's not the only one.

I'm not familiar with Chuck Wendig but if he is like a lot of people who offer writing advice, it might be worth considering who the advice is intended for. For instance, when I was a young author, I started tons of stories and never finished any of them. Seeing how many WIPs exist from young fanfic writers, I feel like I'm not alone in this. Learning to stick with something is a valuable tool and a key step to being a successful writer.

But, for more established, confident writers, you can start something as an exercise to free your mind or challenge yourself or for fun, and it won't interfere with your ability to write other stuff to completion - you've figured out the secret on how to write.

If you are looking for advice, chances are you are more likely not a confident writer, in which case the best advice is usually "write, write, write", and "finish your shit" is another obvious but really useful piece of advice. And, the more confident writers who listen for the love of writing will generally know what pieces of advice apply to them and this would not be one of them.

Of course, as I said, I do not know what context this comes from for your example but that's generally how I've seen it.

/2 cents

I agree with this. I think it's just that I see hints of a kind of all or nothing attitude in it and that sort of attitude always bothers me. Like it's assumed that you're either finishing nothing or you have to go in planning to finish everything. I don't know, my mind is probably just going weird places again.

No, I can see that. I mean, sometimes someone will say something sweeping and I know that it doesn't apply to me and it's probably not meant to be sweeping but I just get cranky about it.

And, of course, some people are idiots and think their way is the ONLY way. You can't always know which it's going to be when listening to someone, so you get defensive. That seems fairly reasonable to me.

DA

Hyperbole is unhelpful, but really, the advice to finish projects really isn't. If you're planning on writing for professional submission, on writing anything involving deadlines, or even seeing through a fanfic idea, then learning what it takes to actually finish something is pretty important.

A lot of WIPs in fanfic especially peter out not because, as people assume, writers find some new shiny to write about (though that does happen too), but often because they have no concept of what it actually means to write something complete. That means closing off plot holes, satisfying character arcs, how to get the story from Point A to Point B. So many writers get stuck in the middle, or when the plot starts to fizzle out, and they have no idea how to write their way out of that, or how to structure well enough to avoid it happening to any unsalvagable extent in the first place.

Unless you stick at something until it's finished then you're never going to gain and hone the skills required to get over the inevitable hurdles involved in writing anything lengthy. If all you ever do is give up and start something new when things get tough (or, more often, boring), then you're not doing yourself any favours as a writer.

I agree. I like finishing things and I'm glad I've pushed myself to do it so many times. But I think there's also room to play with things that you know you're never going to do anything with. There are people who act like I should feel guilty about having so many unfinished stories sitting around on my laptop, but I don't. It's not like I don't have finished ones too.

[ SECRET POST #3019 ]

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