Discussion Why is it so hard to write a novel?

Despite reading a ton of novels , when I tried to write one I got horribly stuck. I felt like I was poking myself to get a chapter done.

You know when you read novels and you think, this has so much potential but the author ruined it! and they could've used that more and did this and that. But then you write and the ideas and feelings you felt, Just come out as lame.

Reading a novel was to me a sort of escapism, but writing feels like I'm somehow lying. So I could believe what I'm reading but not what I'm writing.

Give it a try and write about the Yandere who's obsessed with the MC , and you'd be like. Nah he could just find someone else , who does that !

Or write about MC making delicious food and people trying it and having over the top reactions. But you'd be like Yeah so the food is good , how does one portray humans like hungry hyenas who've just seen meat for the first time in decades.

Did any reader try writing and come to face this problem, that they can believe in stories that they read , but can't write them bec. it feels too unrealistic ?

 

@Fictionaddiction
It comes with experience, with years of practice. Or never in some cases...
You might give your writing or excerpts from it to your friends or some people online you have made connection with. Sometimes having feedback from different people might help you to see your own shortcomings or get enough confidence, develop new ideas and plot twists

 

Writing well takes time, even the most generic webnovels are still difficult to write in a compelling way. A lot of experienced professional authors still take years to write good books, just because it takes a lot of thought and planning.

I think as a reader its easy to notice the things you don't like, but not notice all the things that are working well. You might think "what if a story did this instead" and it seems simple, but developing it and going through the steps is a lot more complicated than the initial inspiration. When you first start to write, it will also change how you read, because you'll notice a lot more things you took for granted yet. So yes, writing at first will be a bit painful and slow, but it will also make you a better reader and you can better discern what other authors are doing, and slowly learn to write better.

 

Its... a bit more difficult than you would expect. But easier than what it appears to be.

Writing an original novel from scratch is indeed difficult. But if you were to just try to write a generic isekai/harem it can be easier than you might think it is.

They have the same template, way of interaction between characters and evolution.

Its just trial and error till you find a good way to copy that template. It will feel off at first, but if you don't give up and actively engage in reader feedback you will eventually get better.

Putting the cart before the horse might be what you are failing at. You tried to jump from learning how to write to directly master how to improve something you found lacking.

No one expects you to succeed at your first try. Don't give up bro.

Source: Dude who ripped off Arifureta and still has around 1k people reading his shit.

 

i know the feeling. i'd love to write a story for my fav author's compilation books(Worlds Of Honor) but i suck terribly. as i read, there's a space opera going on in my head. when i try to write, there's this white void. so i feel your pain. FIGHT ON!!

 

It is very easy to write a novel.
Get yourself a teacher
That is the trick to success in any part of life
Instead of stumbling your way across and using trial by error.
Writing is easy.
Don't insult my intelligence

Writing a successful/profitable story now that is difficult
then again it is not so difficult to be profitable given the poor grammar crap that trends on Webnovel.com from Amateur authors.
So I rephrase: Writing critically acclaimed novels is difficult but anyone can write a story.
Fun fact: Even medical doctors were self taught previously. There is a reason standardized teaching is available for most professions: it works. It is better than spending years bumbling around like an idiot and making elementary mistakes.
Imagine if doctors were still self taught or came to a forum thread like this one on how difficult it to be a doctor. Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it?
You also sound ridiculous to me
Cheers!

 

Q: Writing is hard. I can't get a chapter done. What should I do?
A: Turn off your internet.

 

The way I see it, writing a good novel is same as playing at being pseudo god. You would need 4 dimensional view point. It's not just the past and future of MC, but the branching out of events, may or may not due to their actions, that have their own time lines that interact and produce changes in the MC's environment, without his/her knowledge.
You need to come up with explanations for every little thing, even if you don't put it in writing, just to make sure there are no hidden contradictions. The MC is simply the one the story focuses on, but every character has essentially their own story.
Finally, biggest issue are the characters themselves. Any author is limited by their own imagination, and understanding of the people being used as templates. No one can create something out of nothing, every imagination is basically a reinterpretation of something existing. You can't create a believable character, if you haven't the faintest idea about its real life counter part.
My advice on writing a novel: create character cards , starting from mc, write their backgrounds, their characteristics, and reason for said characteristics, as in why they are the way they are. This way you can choose which ones to stick to and which ones can be shed off later on to suit the plot. Or you can start building the base world first to give you an idea of what kind of characters can exist. After that you just need to find people you know who are similar to your characters, and just ask them about what they will do in certain situations. The rest is all about how you arrange the info.

 

You are taking it onto different level. I suppose he isn’t trying to make a novel that will be listed among classics. I guess his purpose is to get one on site like Royal road or scribblehub. In such case he will still need someone to point out mistakes but he won’t need neither to hire a teacher nor spend long time being taught

 

I know that I guess I should rephrase, he needs a mentor

 

It's not writing that's hard, it is editing that is hard. As for how writers get into writing ridiculous situations? The answer is simple, once you get into the zone, you start losing those aspects, and that is a BAD HABIT and should NOT be done.

I noticed after I started writing, my views on even reading have changed. I started to notice unrealistic things more and be more critical about everything I read. And that isn't a bad thing (unless you are trying to read for mindless enjoyment only, then it can suck).

So you are asking the wrong question, you shouldn't be trying to write what you read. You should be trying to learn from the mistakes of things you read and write a more well thought out story. And whenever you get into the zone of mindless writing due to hype, you need to sit back and reread and edit it to do it right.

And that is why editing is much harder than writing.

 

It may seem like mindless novels and I do want to do a better job than them, but I want the enjoyment aspect as well.

The one you get when there is intense love that you know couldn't possibly be in real life, or when an underdog performs a great achievement that has people reacting to for 10 chapters ahead.

As an example: If you know the manga "Glass mask" It's about acting. And most of the enjoyment comes when people are shocked that she could act so well into character and one actor actually falls for her when she was acting bec. he felt she was so passionate.

While if I were to imagine writing about an actress, Conjuring the feelings I felt while reading glass mask is very hard I feel bland.

 

I focus on writing and don't aimlessly wander. But I liked your reply nonetheless

 

It's not like you can't do that, you simply have to refine the process. There is absolutely nothing wrong with using tropes, but you should deconstruct the tropes and make them your own. It takes more effort to do it right, but the result is well worth it.

 

Thank you, this is actually a very good advice, bec with time I start to notice all the characters have just become the same as me ! Like I'm putting myself id diff situations and acting on them.

 

It really is hard, especially when describing something or events. How do authors come up with those descriptions?

 

OP, try pomodoro for writing a few paragraphs an hour a day. Write them all down then edit later.

 

it's not hard to start, it's hard to continue. plus the editing trap is eeeeeeevvvvvvvvvviiiiiiillllllllllllll

 

The hardest part of writing is turning off your inner critic while you're trying to write the first draft. You have to find a way to shut it out until you have something written that you can work with.

There are various ways you can achieve that, such as writing when you're too tired to care anymore or enjoying the scene you're writing (and thus not caring about it at that time).
I sometimes find that playing music that matches the scene while I'm writing helps me zone in on the task and forget about the editing.

I also tell myself that first drafts don't need to be perfect, they just need to be finished.
You can practice writing without editing through various tasks and tools. For example, there's a game over on Scribble Hub forums where you write for a set number of minutes without stopping, deleting anything, or looking at the keyboard. There's also programmes like "Write or Die", which punishes you for stopping by deleting your work.

Just remember that you can fix anything in the editing stage and nothing is set in stone. It can also help to remember that the work you read from others (especially published authors) has already been through extensive editing, so you can't compare your first draft to those finished products.

(As a last note, I also find that everything feels horrible and forced when I'm writing it, but it actually reads fine when I'm done. You're harsher on your work because you're the one making it. You might feel like there's a problem when there's none.)

 

theory and application is two different thing hmmm not right, what you wish and reality is different...

this cat wrote fanfic long time ago so yeah kinda know how hard it is cuz this cat have no drive to hone writing skill~ even with pre exist character, background and such create story still on question mark~ put ideas together, execution, diction, off track from initial idea or concept, lack of goal ect there plenty distractions add with lack of ability and or knowledge about writing on general~ plus wish blablabla turn da product a bit bakabakabaka~

that this cat experience wrote a fanfic~