Six Common Writing Obstacles
Sub-Title
My most common writing obstacle has to do with structure. Outlining seems to be the go-to strategy for dealing with it. I don’t outline. Sometimes I wish I did, or rather could. I’ve tried doing it several times, but so far, I’ve been unsuccessful in making it work. My problem is that I have limited forward vision. I’m a shoot from the hip writer, a pantser, and while there are arguments both for and against that, the bottom line is, outlining simply doesn’t work for me. With that said, there are six obstacles I typically face, mostly during the first draft phase of a novel. Read on to see what they are and how I deal with them.
One: Weak Structure
With a weak structure, ideas feel scattered. Nothing flows, and much of the work seems disorganized. This is a first-draft issue for me. I typically address these types of issues during later rounds of edits and rewrites. Fortunately, there are several ways I can deal with it. Here are a few things that work.
Create an Outline: My thoughts on this are in the intro. I list it here because I don’t disagree with it, I keep trying, and I’d be remiss not to.
Topic Sentences: Get the main thought out there in the first sentence. Use everything else to support it. It helps readers stay focused. I’m always conscious of this, but sometimes during a draft, the ideas come faster that my ability to keep up with best practices.
Use of Transitions: Use transition words like however and therefore. Transition words keep your writing smooth and allow you to avoid jumping around. This again is something I check for and apply post-first draft.
Two: Poor Grammar and Sentence Structure
Poor grammar makes your writing hard to follow, or worse, hard to take seriously. Readers often comment that their tolerance of this is lower than most anything else. I approach this issue using the following strategies.
Read Regularly: Read often and widely. I don’t mean just reading books. I constantly read blog posts, articles, just about anything that catches my attention.
Observe Grammar Rules: figure out what you struggle with and focus on those areas. I struggle with passive voice, but since I’ve identified it as a problem, I’m getting better at catching mistakes ahead of time. Subject-verb agreement ranks right up there with my passive voice issues. Then, of course, there’s punctuation.
Use simple sentences: I always start out using short sentences with a simple structure to get the basics on paper. Then, I’ll fancy it up during subsequent rewrites. Overall, I write what feels natural to me, and then cater it to my core audience. Again, I address these types of changes after the first draft.
Practice makes perfect. I write all the time, but not just novels. Occasionally I journal and submit articles and short-stories to various publications. I write blog posts and publish newsletters. Basically, I do most anything that keeps me writing. One of the scariest things I’ve ever done was go back and reread an earlier published novel. It was an eye-opener, but it gave me a good measure of how my writing has progressed.
Three: Scattered Ideas
This occurs when you scatter your ideas, or present them in bits and pieces. While this is not as bad for me as the first two topics, I do occasionally fall into this trap. I’ll find things that don’t flow in a logical order. Arguments are competing with one another. I present too many thoughts at once, usually fueled by things such as distractions. Scattered ideas become obstacles when one or more of the following are present.
My writing doesn’t follow my ideas or argument.
Writer’s block has taken hold, and my writing has stalled. In desperate attempts to get back on track, I’ll throw crap against the wall hoping to break through the block.
I’ll get into a loop of constantly revisiting and/or rewriting scenes/chapters. It can quickly become a hindrance to progress.
I’ve found that my best shot at dealing with this is when writing in small chunks. It helps tremendously in keeping me focused.
Four: Wordy Sentences
One obstacle I occasionally create for myself is using more words than necessary to get my point across. For instance, I might say something like “do to the fact that” when I could just as easily say “because.” See how I just uncomplicated that? I’m also guilty of adding words like “very” and “really” that are unnecessary as they add little meaning. If I don’t address this type of obstacle, it presents problems like the following.
Cluttered sentences, making my writing hard to follow.
My intended message uses unnecessary words.
My readers miss the point of my message.
It makes my writing less polished and lacking in professionalism.
I’m still learning how to use the minimum words necessary to get my point across. I catch myself using wordy sentences more often than I care to admit, but I’m getting better by reducing filler words.
Five: Underdeveloped Writing Style
I sometimes catch myself introducing an idea, but doing little to support or explain it. That tells me I need practice. And the only way to get that is to write more. I’ve seen this advice given over and over—the more you write, the better you’ll get. Ditto for adhering to the basics like these.
Be conscious of sentences that are vague or confusing.
Reduce wordiness.
Increase your vocabulary.
Know your audience and write to them.
If I don’t address this obstacle, I risk my readers losing interest, which can hinder my professional growth. I’ve learned I can combat this by reading more, writing more, polishing my drafts and asking for feedback. Though my wife hates giving me feedback, she’s the best at it, even if saying nothing. I use her level of reluctance to say anything as a gauge of how badly I’ve screwed something up.
Six: Writer’s Block
The dreaded phenomenon that hounds us all. I’ve written several articles about this subject. Writers swear that outlining reduces the chances of experiencing this annoying obstacle. I don’t disagree with them, I just suck at outlining, but vow each new year that I’ll try harder.
Conclusion:
There are several tools I’ve used to overcome obstacles. Grammar checkers are high on the list. But I’m mindful not to lean on them too heavily. One of my favorite tools is the text-to-speech app built into my macOS. I’m always surprised at the number of mistakes I find by having my words read back to me. I hope you’ve enjoyed this article. Drop me a line if you'd like to see more like it.
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