Ever write something and absolutely hate it?

[Dog Moon]

Okay, so I wrote a story. I feel partly relieved that I actually managed to finish it. It took a long time and went through long periods where I did nothing with it and others where I simply went back and rewrote stuff.

I was reading the thread about the George R. R. Martin series going to TV and was thinking about my story when it hit me: I keep going back and rewriting things not because I really want to improve it, but because I really don't like it. No, I kinda hate it. I have a feeling that if I simply deleted it, it would change nothing and I would continue my life without any regret.

Anyone else done anything like this? Written something and become totally unsatisfied and unhappy about it?

 

[Harmon]

Yes.

Few years back writing was one of my great loves, course none of it was worth having anyone else read, the spelling, grammar, etc stucked because I never got beyond about fifth grade reading and writing but I loved it.

During that time I would write anything, crap or something I loved, it mattered not, I would write all day if I could and once or twice a year I would write for twenty plus hours, but it was great, and relaxing to me.

One thing I did realize is never, ever throw out anything, keep it all, years later you might come back to it and say- "wow, this is good," course I will never do that but you might.

 

[megamania]

All of the time.

I don't write a lot anymore but I remember writing something and hating it because I would later read a proffesional writer whom had the same ideas as me but it was so smooth and not forced.

I hated Stephen King for months because of The Stand. Before I knew what the book was I had tried writing an "end of the world ultimate good vs evil" type of story and too much of it felt forced.

Oh well......

 

[awayfarer]

Anyone else done anything like this? Written something and become totally unsatisfied and unhappy about it?

All the time. I can't think of a single paper I handed in last semester that didn't have me cringing. I also did not get anything lower than a "B+", and nothing lower than an "A" in any class related to my major, which is English. I've heard more than one person say that I'm really hard on myself and I suppose thats true. The important thing is to go ahead and do these thigns anyway. If I stopped doing things just because they made me nervous that would limit me quite a bit. I think I'd be reduced to sitting very still and trying not to blink offensively.

I sent some things to the lit. magazine at school a couple of days ago and was nauseous and shaky for a good half hour afterwards. I still have not heard a reply and I'm trying not to think about it too much.

Lately I've been trying to get myself into the habit of setting aside a certain amount of time every day to write things out. Even if what you write now isn't perfect it is a way of excercising your thought muscles and that ain't a bad idea.

 

[Dog Moon]

Lately I've been trying to get myself into the habit of setting aside a certain amount of time every day to write things out. Even if what you write now isn't perfect it is a way of excercising your thought muscles and that ain't a bad idea.

Well, I do try to write a little bit each day on one of like three other stories which have been 'in progress' for a while. I actually like two of these better than my original though the third one doesn't really mean much too much. Too futuristic-like while I enjoy fantasy is the problem, but I liked the idea enough to write about 75,000 words on it. Oh well.

 

[Kurashu]

I absolutely loathe anything I write. Fiction, news paper articles, essays. However, everyone I show just eats it up. Like it's crack for their mind or something.

But this is more of a function of me being extremely hypercritical of myself. I'm like that with pretty much anything I do. Music, writing, calculus.

 

[Tinker Gnome]

I am usually proud of what I write, even if it is not too good. I know I at least tried, and there will always be at least ONE person who will like what I wrote.

 

[Mycanid]

I sometimes find myself dissatisfied with what I write.... In the past I would write something that I loathed, but that has been much less so in recent years.

Journaling and active letter writing has helped me to write more slowly and carefully, trying to consider each word before writing it. Once this becomes more of a habit one is able to scribble a little faster.

The physical act of writing for me often is a catalyst for organizing my thoughts as I actually write, as I am sure it is for many people - just as the act of speaking may also be a catalyst for organizing one's thoughts and/or articulating one's feelings or inspirations, etc.

Interestingly I find this much less so with typing on the computer keyboard. Guess I just got used to the other way. :\

 

[takyris]

Yes and no.

When I'm in the middle of a story or a novel, I usually can't stand it -- I'm in the guts, looking around at more guts, and I can't see that it forms into anything resembling a coherent whole. I'm just focusing on ugly individual bits.

When I finish and am able to get input from outside sources (reader buddies), some of my love will start to come back. That's always a nice experience, because it lets me begin to like the story again.

I just sent my novel out to friends on Thursday. Intellectually, I knew that this one was pretty tight, but emotionally, I was in so close to everything that all I could see were the places where I'd tried to ram two scenes together, or the places where I'd done a clumsy workaround to try to cover a plothole.

Now word is coming back from people. They're quoting the lines that they liked, and I can read those and go, "Wow, I DID have some nice bits in there. This might be worth holding onto."

I guess it comes down to two different problems, with two corresponding solutions:

1) If you hate it while you're writing it but start liking it once it's done, then your issue is with your editor self, not your writer self. You need to tell your editor self to shut up and let you write when it's time to write, confident that you can come back and edit later. (While I don't love NaNoWriMo, I do think that it's good at helping people get rid of their editor selves and write for a bit, and that's important.)

2) If you hate what you write even after you've finished and rewritten and touched up and made it as good as it can possibly be, than either you're being too had on yourself, or not writing what you ought to be writing. (I went through something like this some years back when, in an effort to impress my local writing group, I started writing more and more literary stuff. One day I looked at what I was writing and went, "You know, this is impressive and intellectual and deep and nuanced, and if I hadn't written it, there's no way I'd want to read it." I started writing more goofy fun stuff -- stuff that I'd choose to read given the choice between reading it and watching TV or playing a video game after a long day at work -- and I've been much happier with my writing ever since.)

Good luck!

 

[babomb]

I don't think I've ever liked anything I've written, although some I hated more than others.