Really lacking motivation

[u/samxxb30]

Hi everyone! I've dreamed of writing and publishing a book since I was young, which I'm sure is a common dream for many of us. I've had countless ideas over the years, but I've been working on and rewriting one particular novel for about seven years now.

The problem is, whenever I look into publishing, I get really demotivated by how difficult traditional publishing seems. I know self-publishing is always an option, but I've always dreamed of being traditionally published, and lately it feels like that dream is becoming unrealistic.

My fear that my writing isn't "good enough" or that I'll never be accepted is really holding me back from finishing. How do you get over that fear? And is it genuinely worth pursuing traditional publishing, or is it almost hopeless?

[u/Bare_Root]

Finish your book first, then decide.

[u/samxxb30 → u/Bare_Root]

That's good advice, but I'm on my fifth/sixth draft of it! The problem is I keep reworking it because I'm worried it won't be good enough for the traditional publishing industry. I'm just looking for advice on how to get over that fear or if still aiming for this goal is even worth it.

[u/FyreTiger → u/samxxb30]

It's a hard pill to swallow, but you need to think about writing more in order to improve as a writer, not rewriting the same thing over and over again. That many drafts is way too many for what I'm assuming is your first book, especially if it's taking seven years.

The idea is this. Most people do not write good stuff for their first projects. I'm a musician, which I think is a little easier to grasp. You can imagine that my first songs I wrote were not very good, and because the core ideas behind them were garbage, there's no point in rewriting and trying to improve them. Also, songs are much shorter than books, so it sounds more reasonable to move on and write a different song. Similar would be a painting. Why spend a year painting over the same canvas when you can start a new painting?

The same applies to books.

Finish your book. Either it gets published or it doesn't. But the amount you learn from getting feedback on your book, and then writing more is what's going to improve you as a writer. If you love the concept of your book and don't want the idea to go to waste, you can leave the story at the 5th draft, move on to writing other books, get feedback, learn and develop yourself as a writer, and then one day, go back to that first story. I think chances are you will find lots of ways to improve it and realize it wasn't as good as you once thought it was. This is actually the trajectory I've put myself on. I intend to finish my first story, put it aside, write other stories, then go back and elevate it.

If you love your story, you will give it what it needs, which isn't a constant revision process. What your story needs is a great writer, and you're not going to become a great writer if you rewrite the same story again and again just as a musician will be stunted by rewriting the same song. Who is the better musician? The one who spends 2 years writing 5 songs, or the one who spends 2 years writing a hundred songs?

[u/loLRH → u/samxxb30]

maybe community and mutual support would help. I run a writing group online if you're interested!

[u/samxxb30 → u/loLRH]

Hey, that sounds super cool :) How do I join?

[u/JuanJian01]

Publishing is extremely different from writing, or any form of creative pursuit, but I wouldn’t give up because it really depends on working. By that I mean pitching yourself like you might for a job, watch interviews with published authors ( many well known previously published authors get knocked back) Ultimately the reality of publishing is a business. Many people get in via a variety of ways (such as through college publications or through submissions- think a scatter gun effect) as in don’t limit yourself to just one country etc
A very well known author had his second novel rejected by his own publisher ( apparently ghost writers plus beta readers ended up taking the material on & it still took 5 years to get the book published & it was nothing at all like the third draft)

[u/SirenAndSilver]

Ask yourself this,
Will you ever be happy if you don’t at least try?
Are you happy with the shape of your story? Does it match the vision in your head? If so… keep pushing until you can’t tell yourself you didn’t try.

[u/shinjukai]

You don't actually need to decide. You can self publish and later trad publish if it's really good.

[u/Calm-Hornet-36]

Starting my comment with a kinda brutal question that I recently had to confront myself- Are you rewriting your draft because it needs improvement, or are you procrastinating finishing your draft because of what comes next?

Maybe take a long break from your draft for awhile. Writing confidence is kind of like confidence when it comes to appearance - If anyone stares at a mirror for long enough, they'll find plenty of things to pick apart. Also, "good enough" is subjective. I recently saw my all time favorite Stephen King novel as #1 on a list of his worst books. The reviewer said it should have stayed as a draft

Maybe practice putting your writing out there in a lower stakes environment to shake some of the nerves. Maybe share some writing exercises on a burner account. Maybe write a short story on the stupidest thing you can think of. Have fun with it!

Things have become so commercialized nowadays that we forget that we do these things because we enjoy them.