Maybe it's just a bad day but I feel like packing writing in today.

I've been trying to describe a fall of snow and I'd been putting it off, convinced I would keep falling into cliche - it's so easy to do with snow, I think. Well, by the time I'd written it several different ways and then cut out all the adverbs and similes, it basically read 'it snowed'.

Suddenly, I wonder what I'm doing. The story I was so keen on up until yesterday - well, I'm resisting writing it at all today, afraid I'm not up to it.

Maybe I should forget it and 'get a life'. Or maybe I'll feel different (and write better) tomorrow?

Anyone else ever felt this crappy about their writing?

Anyone else ever felt this crappy about their writing?

Yes, regularly!

If I encounter a problem with a particular scene, or section, I usually write "Add in poetic snow description here" and move on to something else.

Either that or go and do some housework: that always sends me scurrying back to my computer!

SG

yes, frequently. Comes with the territory of being someone who takes their writing seriously, I think.

I agree, if it's really being awkward, make a note and carry on, rather than sticking. It's not because you can't write, it's because it doesn't want to be written today.

Alternatively, sometimes, if something won't let itself be written - if you've tried it upside down and inside out and you still can't find the right voice, pace, angle, PoV, - it's because it shouldn't be there, or maybe not in the book at all. The reason you can't find the right way is because your instincts are quite correctly telling you there isn't a right way, given the rest of the novel. But you may not know that until you come back to it.

Emma

As the other two said, stick in a note and move on. At some point you may come across a relavent passage in a novel or non-fiction book that inspires your own; Or even, with Winter coming over the horison, an image may pop up on the news or in the papers which inspires you.

How about forgetting about words altogether for a moment and concentrate instead on imagining yourself going out when it's snowing - sort of recreate the experience in your mind & how it looks, feels, smells, sounds etc - and then see if any words or phrases force their way through after you've done that.

Thanks, everyone, great advice and much appreciated. Will go back to it another time, although Emma may well have hit the nail on the head:

The reason you can't find the right way is because your instincts are quite correctly telling you there isn't a right way, given the rest of the novel.

I had convinced myself that this descriptive scene was necessary but I'm not sure it does fit with the style of the rest of the novel. Having had a rethink overnight, I think I might lose it. But will still have another go at it some time even if I don't eventually use it, to improve my descriptive writing skills if nothing else.

How about forgetting about words altogether for a moment and concentrate instead on imagining yourself going out when it's snowing - sort of recreate the experience in your mind & how it looks, feels, smells, sounds etc - and then see if any words or phrases force their way through after you've done that.

I love snow, so the words and phrases were coming but they were not working. I couldn't get down on paper what I could see in my mind.

I ended up with the following, prior to the adverb cull. The ??? are there because I don't yet know the name of the house and the . . . because I know it needs more in those gaps.

I can't really judge it anymore but it doesn't seem quite so bad as it seemed yesterday (but perhaps it is!). Can it be improved, or should I ditch it?

"The snow came stealthily, discreetly. Flakes fell like tiny feathers, uncertainly and sparsely, speckling the countryside with white-and-green, white-and-brown and left the fields slick and shiny.

. . .

As the afternoon wore on, it grew in confidence and fell thicker, faster. The fields around ??????? ??????? whitened and lost form. Only the patchy bronze sides of the beech hedges kept the landscape from collapsing into neverending whiteness.

. . .

The dark, bare trees propped up the sky as it pressed down over the house."

Thanks.

<Added>

Sorry, that reads quite jumbly - I'm rather confused at the moment.

And sorry to get so angst-ridden over six bloody sentences.

(Perhaps writing is like photography; it's not just what you put in, it's what you leave out?)

I liked the second one, although I would lose the 'it grew in confidence' bit.
- less is more.



<Added>

With the first one, fix one image in your head and describe it, rather than trying to describe a changing scene.

I also liked the last line. Because the trees are dark and therefore bare of snow, I would imagine the scene would come before it starts to snow.

Thanks for your comments, Naomi.

I liked the second one, although I would lose the 'it grew in confidence' bit. - less is more.

I wasn't sure about the 'grew in confidence' bit myself. I was trying to describe the snow starting small and getting worse.

With the first one, fix one image in your head and describe it, rather than trying to describe a changing scene.

I don't really get this - what do you think is wrong with describing a changing scene?

I also liked the last line. Because the trees are dark and therefore bare of snow, I would imagine the scene would come before it starts to snow.

I saw them as darker than usual because of their outlines against the snow. I tinkered with trying to describe lines of snow along their branches but couldn't describe it without it becoming cliched and decided they would still be dark against the snow even if they did have snow on them and so that bit of description became irrelevant.

Incidentally, it's supposed to be one piece of writing (with gaps as described) rather than Version One, Version Two which is how you seem to have read it.

I left it and worked on the next scene this morning and got on much better.

Thanks again, your comments are very useful.

With the first one, fix one image in your head and describe it, rather than trying to describe a changing scene.

In Naomi's absence, could someone else explain this to me? Thanks.

Sorry for abandoning you, (I've been working,) but to get back to my earlier comment:

the patchy bronze sides of the beech hedges kept the landscape from collapsing into neverending whiteness.

- That is an excellent image.

The snow came stealthily, discreetly. Flakes fell like tiny feathers, uncertainly and sparsely, speckling the countryside with white-and-green, white-and-brown and left the fields slick and shiny.

This is too 'busy', too much going on in too short a sentence so the reader's attention flicks from one image to the next: feathers/speckling/slick/shiny/white-and-green/white-and-brown. - the imagination loses the plot and starts to wander, possibly picking up on word association (mine wandered to 'ham-on-rye' ).
It would be better to treat it as you did with the 'copper beach' and the 'dark trees' and pick one image to fix on. eg. Settling like tiny feathers, speckling the countryside and turning it [insert phrase here].


- NaomiM

Thanks for coming back, Naomi - especially as no-one else seems to want to comment!

That is an excellent image

Thank you, that's very kind of you. It's funny, I thought everything I wrote on Monday was tosh but when I go back to it, I start to see the good bits and I think this line is pretty good. I think some days we can't see so clearly as on others.

This is too 'busy', too much going on in too short a sentence so the reader's attention flicks from one image to the next

Yes, there is a lot going on, which is why I was so fed up on Monday - I could see the problems in the line but was unable to edit it properly. Your fresh eye has done what I couldn't! It is so hard to 'murder my darlings' as I've seen it described on here (great phrase ). Must sharpen my editing hatchet - the cuts do make it a much stronger line.

Cheers.

<Added>

Regards the business of 'describing a changing scene' which you say is a no-no, I still don't quite get it.

My wordy sentence does cover the way the snow falls, how it changes first the colour of the fields and then the look of them so I am describing a changing scene, even after the edits. But I don't get why this is wrong. Is it still wrong to do this, after the sentence has been tightened? Why?

<Added>

OK, bit slow this morning. You say because the reader's mind flicks from image to image, but the images are related. Edited down, I'm not sure this problem remains - do you?

Lastubbs, I so relate to this! There are just some days (which come regularly round) when I question everything and don't know where I'm going and... For me, it seems to happen in what is now becoming a recognisable pattern: I really fear beginning a new section, feel like I'm stepping out into nothingness, can't see how it will work. This usually gets worse before it gets better, as I try things and discard things. Then, as long as I stick at it, something happens. Something drops into place, like a clue. After that I start to enjoy it!
One way I find that does help is by just letting myself write a lot of rubbish. Usually, here and there, I find the odd phrase or word that feels right. Then I discard the rest.
As to the pieces you wrote: I actually liked them very much. I felt the snow, felt the silence of the place, where the snow is the only living 'character', and its moods dictate. You have some very strong images.

"The snow came stealthily, discreetly. Flakes fell like tiny feathers, uncertainly and sparsely, speckling the countryside with white-and-green, white-and-brown and left the fields slick and shiny.

Loved the opening line, and the first half of the second. I think it stands by itself, and you could lose 'and left the fields slick and shiny'. I like the speckling bit too, though would drop 'with': 'speckling the countryside white-and-green, white-and-brown.'

As the afternoon wore on, it grew in confidence and fell thicker, faster. The fields around ??????? ??????? whitened and lost form. Only the patchy bronze sides of the beech hedges kept the landscape from collapsing into neverending whiteness.

I also wondered about 'grew in confidence' - though it does depend on how much you are establishing the snow as a 'character' in the story. I like that.

God, we writers do beat ourselves up, don't we?
Hope you're feeling better now,
Susiex

Thanks for your comments, Susie - we do beat ourselves up, don't we?!

One way I find that does help is by just letting myself write a lot of rubbish. Usually, here and there, I find the odd phrase or word that feels right. Then I discard the rest.

This is sort of what I was trying to do but I was in such a negative state of mind I couldn't see the good bits.

I felt so sick about it on Monday that the story just seemed to shrivel up before my eyes. When I sat down yesterday to write the next scene, I was surprised by how clearly I could suddenly see the room it was set in and how (relatively) easy the writing came. I can still only half see my characters, but I'm getting to know them better as I write.

Thanks also for your kind words about my snowy lines. You are somewhat in agreement with Naomi although I think you might each keep and discard different phrases, which shows just how subjective is the whole matter of writing. What is certainly true is that something has to go to make it tighter. I have to remember that we must throw things away, knowing that we can always create more and better work.

You're right about dropping 'with' - much stronger, thanks. But I like my slick and shiny fields.

I think the 'grew in confidence' phrase is iffy and I can find a better expression. The snow is important to the story and I want it to be a sort of character, as you say. I said earlier in this thread that a descriptive snow scene wasn't right but that was my lack of confidence speaking - it's not only right, it's essential.

Thanks again to you, Susie, and to Naomi for your support. I feel quite boosted by your positivity. Thanks.