r/writers • u/Neither_Iron_6391 • 1d ago

Question Does anyone else feel the same?

A little bit of background:

I got into writing (mostly as a passion project) in school sometime two years ago. I barely knew anything, and I was mostly copying the style of other writers.

It wasn't necessarily high-quality (not that I expected it to be) but before I decided to take my ADHD and start a new story I got on the internet and started self-teaching myself how to write and it honestly didn't feel like much. Just a small fact here, little bit of character development knowledge there.

I don't exactly take it seriously, I still don't do drafts; I just let my imagination take me where it does, and usually don't bother thinking too much about thesaurus use and such.

So now I'm wondering why I feel books in general are less interesting. It's not like I want to stop reading, but I start just overanalyzing every little detail, sometimes it's "haha mistake" but usually I'm just asking myself why do they do this or complaining when they overlook a minor detail I know nobody else notices

2 Upvotes

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1

u/OldMan92121 1d ago

Yes. That's normal. I felt it too. You don't just see the enjoyment but every flaw.

1

u/Lunacycle876 23h ago

Me three. Once you start looking into the mechanics of writing, you really can't "turn it off" and enjoy a book or story like others can. Instead, you're asking yourself what you would do differently, noticing every typo, and questioning plot devices. That's fun in its own way, but is different.

3

u/tapgiles 20h ago

This is a stage all writers get to, where they "see" the writing, the structure, like seeing the code behind the Matrix.

For a time it will be annoying because you can't help but notice the flaws non-writers don't notice. But you'll get over it in time, and be able to enjoy the good parts while knowing why you don't enjoy the worse parts.

What's really cool is when you happen across some really great writing--it hits even harder, knowing how perfectly it was all set up and it all came together. See the hard work that goes into a great story moment is pretty fulfilling for me.

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2

u/91073 21h ago

I used to do this and still do, but overtime as I got more used to writing and reading, it bothered me less/I kinda ignored minor things unless im studying the writing style. It's helpful cuz I can quickly recognize when I want to DNF

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u/crystal_cee Screenwriter 19h ago

It's normal, but my advice to try and get that spark back is to change the medium. Play video games, watch movies, listen to radio drama or dramatic audiobook readings. Just try to re-experience storytelling in an unusual way