What difficulties have you come across when writing a novel?

Jump to Last Post 1-6 of 6 discussions (12 posts)
  1. davidlivermore profile image92
    davidlivermoreposted 11 years ago

    What difficulties have you come across when writing a novel?

    After my apprenticeship program ends, I plan to start my novel again.  However, with a possible new job coming up and house projects, I found reasons/excuses to delay it.  What reasons, excuses, or difficulties have you come across when trying to write a novel?

  2. profile image0
    CroftRoanposted 11 years ago

    I've had so many I don't think I can remember them all. I'm still a college student and often can't work on my stories because of class work. This isn't the worst, however. I used to be in charge of taking care of my parents house (cleaning, helping cook, running errands, feeding animals, doing every little thing my parents told me to do). I couldn't handle that, school, and a writing career. It's been alleviated because I stopped doing at that for them. I just do what directly concerns me as well as taking out the trash every week. I also can't work around my boyfriend. He's a big distraction because he talks to himself while playing video games or he just gets hands like boys get.
    I'm managing with these obstacles, though. I try to get as much done while no one else is around and I'm planning on taking a break for a while after this semester so I can put every effort into my writing.

  3. Karmallama profile image70
    Karmallamaposted 11 years ago

    I have been working on mine for years. I am a mom, I have a couple jobs. I get tired of taking care of a menagerie of people and animals. I have school to finish. I have writer's block. I could think of a million more. Each one seems to bring me just a bit further from completion.
    The twist is that I have had it completed several times. Each time I wind up feeling that it isn't perfect and I re write it/edit it. So, it seems that even completion is not a way to finish the novel. Still, through all of this, I haven't given up. If you're a writer then you will write. I wish you the best of luck!

  4. lburmaster profile image73
    lburmasterposted 11 years ago

    Finishing the novel. I can start it just fine, continuing is a little difficult, but finishing... I have no clue how to end the story. Just drop the story, act as if it is going to continue on but not give them a second story? That seems like I'm giving them false hope... OH! I'm at a loss!

    1. profile image0
      CroftRoanposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I've had that same problem over the years. i still haven't really figured it out but what I think works best is if you stop either right after a major point (if it's in a series) or just let everything wrap itself up.

    2. davidlivermore profile image92
      davidlivermoreposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I already have the end of my novel written.  It's everything before that which is hard.

    3. lburmaster profile image73
      lburmasterposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Really? That's sounds like an interesting process. Haven't heard of that before...

  5. Savio Dawson profile image91
    Savio Dawsonposted 11 years ago

    My biggest challenge started after I finished the novel... I have sent the manuscript to five publishers and hope to hear from them soon ... Let me talk about the challenges while writing:

    1. The ideas flow when I think of the character and plot but when I put pen to paper, I tend to miss the main points... This was resolved by carrying post its with me..

    2. To stick to the plan of writing. I realized that even if I did not have much to write or not really inspired to write a particular day, it still made sense to put down 100 words at least. The 100 words maybe not much, but it makes you stick to a plan... I have written a hub on this topic. Also, sometimes when we just plan to write the 100 words, more ideas and thoughts start to flow, as if by divine intervention. I have found myself ending up writing 5000 words when I had actually started to write only 100.

    3. Self criticism - I tend to find that mid-way through the novel or whatever we write, we end up criticizing our work.. This could be only with me, but that puts a brake on the progress.. The criticism if constructive is fine, since it makes us modify the plot but if the criticism is negative we will end up procrastinating... Solution: Check if your criticism is constructive or destructive.... Ask yourself what is that you find not right about your work? The answer will tell you all..

    I hope these points were useful.

    1. starstream profile image43
      starstreamposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for your helpful answer.  It should assist writers who are getting lost in their work or those who are sidetracked.

    2. davidlivermore profile image92
      davidlivermoreposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Completely agree, especially about the third point.  I pick myself apart all of the time.

    3. Savio Dawson profile image91
      Savio Dawsonposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Davidlivermore, Starstream,

      Glad I could be of help and thanks for your kind words!

  6. M. T. Dremer profile image85
    M. T. Dremerposted 11 years ago

    My two biggest problems were editing and publishing. I don't seem to have any problems writing a new story, but editing existing ones is no fun. It doesn't help that I'm too hard on myself. I could look at a final draft of something and still agonize for twenty minutes over one sentence. And, getting into the traditional publishing industry is awful. You could master query letters and summaries, and it still doesn't mean someone is going to like your concept or that your genre is going to be marketable. And since you will rarely, if ever, receive feedback; you'll never know what you're doing wrong. I still recommend that people attempt the traditional publishing methods first (because e-publishing is still experiencing growing pains) but it is a discouraging and unforgiving endeavor.

 
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)