question about writing/author. thank you in advance for anyone who answers! (:?

[Jen]

ok when i was younger [i am 17 right now] i used to write stories ALL the time, and i just loved it! i was convinced that i wanted to be an author when i was older. however now i have a much harder time writing stories, whether that be because now that i'm older i realize people have different expectations for what they read and therefore i am afraid i won't live up to them, or because i always think it doesn't sound smart enough, & that i have become very critical with any work i do... but either way, i can't seem to write anymore! i always start a story, and then never ever finish it. and i hate it!

i guess what i'm asking is, how can i make sure i finish what i start?
and how can i become less critical and actually like my stories, and just write for fun without getting so stressed over how other people will like it?!

thanks!

 

[No sh*t Sherlock.]

People are always most afraid that they will think something is good, but other people will hate it, and they'll end up sounding conceited or self-obsessed or something. This is, realy really really really tough to get over, but it helps if someone else tells you.
I got this "Ten Commandments for a Happy Writing Life" taped to the wall aboe my desk, and my favourites are number 4 and 8. "4. Shut out the inner critic" and "8. Expect success".
Because someone else wrote them, it gives me the ok in my brain to say, well, I can think that, they said I could. It's probablynot a good way to live my life, but for now, it works. Mostly, to write, you have to, well, write. Write if you don't want to. Write even if you have NO ideas, if you don't feel the vibe or your muse or whatever. I'm in 10th grade, and I've discovered even if I just write in the time it takes my math teacher to go over our homework each day in math, which is liek 30-45 minutes, I can write like 2-3 pages, (I write by hand), but in 5 days a week, every week... it stacks up.
How to be less critical... thats a hard one. Everyone has an inner critic constantly bitching at them for sucking. We all suck on some days, and everyone has moments of greatness others. The mroe you practice, the more you'll have great days versus sucky ones. Everythign you write, whether you burn it, publish it, throw it away, or show your friends, is practice. No page of writing ever goes to waste, becaus eyou have that much more experience than you started.

But mostly, just write. In fact, I'm procrastinating rigth now not writing my novel, and i am SO close to finishing. So I am goign to get off Yahoo! Answers and write in your honor.

WRITE!!!!

 

[MUSIC=LIFE!]

Remind yourself to write for you and you only. Don't think about what other people would want from your story, write what you want. I too stress over my story ideas, and tend to never finish a novel, but I have to remember to write for me, and nobody else. You don't have to worry along the way about how some things don't sound right, keep writing all the way to the end, then go back and correct and do research. Remind yourself why you fell in love with the idea, the plot, the characters. It may be hard, cause you could forget, but change things up to get you back into it. And search websites for writing tips to help you out. I hope you finish your story and get published one day.

Hope I helped.