I have been writing for years, long before I entered high school. Around eight years old was when I picked up my pen and wrote my first little novels. My inexperienced pride led me to believe things would be easy. I fantasized about being a bestseller before I graduated. Well, it turns out, writing isn't as simple as I thought it would be. If I could speak to my younger self, I would warn her about a few issues I encounter every day as a novelist.
1. Get acquainted with your thesaurus. As soon as I hit Control + F for the first time, my quest to expand my vocabulary began. I noticed that I tended to use the same words too many times, so I learned to cherish each word and set out on a search for new ones. The biggest challenge for me are dialogue tags. Words like 'mumble,' 'demand,' 'whisper,' or 'exclaim,' are very effective in describing dialogue, but aren't built for repetition.
Most of the time, when I can't write, it's because I can't find the right verb or adjective to avoid overusing certain words. I often pause for hours, trying to perfectly describe the way a person behaves, or how an object moves. Writing grand monologues or sweeping scenes is easy. Describing the mundane is not.
2. Don't get distracted. I'm someone with an attention span of around 20 seconds. I occasionally like to have music playing in the background when I write. The only problem is, I spend more time choosing what to listen to than the time I actually write. Most of the time, though, I like to watch videos on one browser window while writing on another. Obviously, this leads to a lot of distraction, but it does satisfy my need to fill any empty space while I'm working.
The other day, I was in the middle of a writing marathon. As the night went on, I switched from my laptop to my iPad and a bluetooth keyboard. Because of the limited capabilities of a different device, I couldn't watch videos with my writing application open. I ended up writing over triple what I usually do. This surprised me. Yes, it's common sense that introducing distractions to your work will slow you down, but I thought this rule didn't apply to me because I didn't pay attention to the distractions, just my writing.
I was proven very wrong. As it turns out, I'm not the exception to the rule, I am the rule. Since then, I've been improving on my writing habits and trying to make sure that the only thing that holds my attention.
3. Stick to a plan. The novel that I'm currently working on is called Twenty-Seven Towers. It's been in progress for over four years. In that time, almost every character has gone through an incredibly drastic change in their arcs, or remade entirely with different names and different backstories, and the country the novel is set in has seen several name changes, and three over-hauls of how their government works. The plot has been reshaped at least a dozen times, starting as the story of a young but military officer and ending as the story of a thirty-year-old woman with a lot more responsibility, and a lot more baggage.
The journey to get to this plot was more than a little difficult, and if you're the kind of writer who writes by the seat of their pants, it's a good idea to make a plan.
Writing is a difficult art form, and like every art form, it's an act of creation. Good writers make it look easy, but of course, there are some odd challenges to face.