So... I'm working on my first novel.

[EK WAFFLR]

Have been working on it for two years actually, on and off.
I just can't seem to get it right.
I have written sixteen drafts (ranging from 5 to 200 pages in Word), and I have scrapped all of them.
I still have the files somewhere, but I printed out every single page, and threw them in the garbage can by my desk. I missed with almost every piece of paper.

Now I'm stuck.

And I want to kill someone. Very badly. Preferably until they die from it. Twice.

/rant

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Have been working on it for two years actually, on and off.
I just can't seem to get it right.
I have written sixteen drafts (ranging from 5 to 200 pages in Word), and I have scrapped all of them.
I still have the files somewhere, but I printed out every single page, and threw them in the garbage can by my desk. I missed with almost every piece of paper.

Now I'm stuck.

And I want to kill someone. Very badly. Preferably until they die from it. Twice.

/rant

May I make a suggestion? Write a draft, then give it to 2-3 capable friends to read. Once they read it and make suggestions on revisions, dive into revising it. Let them read it again. Repeat cycle until your friends are satisfied.

USE PICKY, CRITICAL PEOPLE FOR THIS PROCESS. The last thing you want are people who will praise you. You do not want praise, you want highly-literate assholes.

[EK WAFFLR]

Good suggestion.
Now I just need to figure out how to start it again, then I'll pester my my friend who knows one of Norway's best-selling authors. He's an asshole.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Have been working on it for two years actually, on and off.
I just can't seem to get it right.
I have written sixteen drafts (ranging from 5 to 200 pages in Word), and I have scrapped all of them.
I still have the files somewhere, but I printed out every single page, and threw them in the garbage can by my desk. I missed with almost every piece of paper.

Now I'm stuck.

And I want to kill someone. Very badly. Preferably until they die from it. Twice.

/rant

Start over.  If you haven't got the story in 16 tries, you aren't going to.

Or just hammer out a draft, refuse to reconsider any of it, and have some friends - who are honest enough to shit on you if need be - read it.

Either you're your own worst critic, or the story sucks.

Probably the former, but best to have an outside opinion.

[Placid Dingo]

Yeah if you're stuck get someone to criticize.

I got stuck until I found out everyone thought my character was 20 not 40. Changed everything until that happened and victory!

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Yeah if you're stuck get someone to criticize.

I got stuck until I found out everyone thought my character was 20 not 40. Changed everything until that happened and victory!

See? Peer editing can be AMAZING.

[EK WAFFLR]

Thank you all.
I think I have to get over my fear of showing my work to others.

You have been VERY helpful! (why isn't there a luv emote?)

[Luna]

Thank you all.
I think I have to get over my fear of showing my work to others.

You have been VERY helpful! (why isn't there a luv emote?)

That's a hard one.  I still struggle with that, myself.  Just suck it up and do it...  try a short piece here and see how it flies.

[EK WAFFLR]

Very true. I cringe by the very thought of it. Still. When I finally manned up and showed people my poetry, the response was positive.

[Luna]

Very true. I cringe by the very thought of it. Still. When I finally manned up and showed people my poetry, the response was positive.

Amazing things can happen here when people get creative...  Anybody got a link to the Nessie thread?  I'm on my phone and don't have it handy.

[LMNO]

Thank you all.
I think I have to get over my fear of showing my work to others.

You have been VERY helpful! (why isn't there a luv emote?)

We do.  You have to type in the code 

Code Select Expand

:love:

[Suu]

I just finished my rough draft 2 weeks ago.

I saved and closed the file, and haven't reopened it since.

During the course of my writing, I had several beta readers which gave me consistent feedback on the flow and content, and now, the entire drafts are in the hands of 3 people who are ripping it apart constructively, including my mother, who is my best and toughest critic for ANYTHING. They're due to give me back their noted files before I fly to Florida, in which I will sit and work on my 2nd draft and add in what I've thought of adding since I closed the file.

After I made the necessary fixes (one of the big gripes is that I need a glossary for foreign terms, so that'll be getting made first.), I'm going to narrow the field, send it to 2 people. Get their edits. Go in, again, fix, and then give it to my final proofreader, who is my boss at the newspaper, and she is going to read it forward, and then backwards, do my final fixes FOR ME, and then I give it one more once-over before we go to print. It's not a fast process.

But I will tell you to not give up. It took me...um...Well this is my 3rd TRUE novel attempt to get to something I actually felt worth finishing. It's not massive, but it's a complete tale, and the fact that I even got that far made it awesome. I don't plan to make millions on this. I highly doubt I'll even get an advance that covers a semester's worth of school, but the fact that I'm getting my words in print is enough to make me happy.

Support is key. That's for sure. I would have given this up a month ago if it wasn't for friends who told me to keep going. So if you want to bounce some ideas to me via PM or email, let me know. I'll give you some advice that I've gotten these past few months. Not to mention people here at PD are insanely receptive and helpful when it comes to writing, so don't be afraid to post anything.

[Cain]

I just finished my rough draft 2 weeks ago.

I saved and closed the file, and haven't reopened it since.

I believe Stephen King gave that as advice also.  He said don't look at it for at least two weeks, kick back, read something entirely different from what you've been working on, and if you're writing something else, write something different too.

Then go back and look at it with fresh eyes.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I wrote a book, and then my best friend told me that my protagonist was completely unsympathetic. Since the protagonist was based on me, I figured that was a good indication I should scrap the whole fucking thing. 

[EK WAFFLR]

I just finished my rough draft 2 weeks ago.

I saved and closed the file, and haven't reopened it since.

During the course of my writing, I had several beta readers which gave me consistent feedback on the flow and content, and now, the entire drafts are in the hands of 3 people who are ripping it apart constructively, including my mother, who is my best and toughest critic for ANYTHING. They're due to give me back their noted files before I fly to Florida, in which I will sit and work on my 2nd draft and add in what I've thought of adding since I closed the file.

After I made the necessary fixes (one of the big gripes is that I need a glossary for foreign terms, so that'll be getting made first.), I'm going to narrow the field, send it to 2 people. Get their edits. Go in, again, fix, and then give it to my final proofreader, who is my boss at the newspaper, and she is going to read it forward, and then backwards, do my final fixes FOR ME, and then I give it one more once-over before we go to print. It's not a fast process.

But I will tell you to not give up. It took me...um...Well this is my 3rd TRUE novel attempt to get to something I actually felt worth finishing. It's not massive, but it's a complete tale, and the fact that I even got that far made it awesome. I don't plan to make millions on this. I highly doubt I'll even get an advance that covers a semester's worth of school, but the fact that I'm getting my words in print is enough to make me happy.

Support is key. That's for sure. I would have given this up a month ago if it wasn't for friends who told me to keep going. So if you want to bounce some ideas to me via PM or email, let me know. I'll give you some advice that I've gotten these past few months. Not to mention people here at PD are insanely receptive and helpful when it comes to writing, so don't be afraid to post anything.

Thanks so much, Suu. I'll definitely take you up on that one!