Paralysis

[Geomatzen]

First let me say that I feel like a whiny moron for bothering anyone with this and if this duplicates a previous topic a link there too will be appreciated.  I did a few searches but it's really easy to miss something similar but not the same.  

 

For years i have been writing a thousand words a day and I've felt pretty good about it.  I did NaNoWriMo a couple years ago and that went pretty well.  For a several years I've been using Google Docs for my writing and it is very convenient and works pretty well except that I can't seem to get my ideas into a usable format.

 

I just end up with a massive block of text but I don't have the first idea of how to parse it.  I've tried different documents.  I've tried sections of a single document.  I've tried physical note cards.  Given that I'm asking for help it's safe to say I've tried everything I can think of.

 

Recently I decided to try a different medium.  Something that would make creating blocks of information easier.  So I tried Gingkoapp and Bibisco and have been considering Scrivener.  Only now I can't get ANYTHING written because I'm flitting from place to place and format to format and I've hit Tool Paralysis.  I know that the way past it is just to write but I want to actually finish something and my current methods haven't worked and... and I'm just really frustrated.

 

Thanks for any help you might be able to provide.

 

Have a nice day,

Geo

[Robinski]

Hey Geo, interesting post. I'm not sure how helpful this will be, I know absolutely nothing about any other packages. I use one novel-formatted Word doc (double-spaced; page number footer with name and title; margins; etc.) and a separate Word file for notes, ideas, excerpts, etc. plus (often) an Excel sheet if the time-line is especially important or complicated.

 

If I might venture to suggest, it sounds a bit to me as if the package might be a block on your process, but it is not the thing that it preventing you from finishing.

 

I would suggest joining us over at Reading Excuses (the strand next door), and submitting some of your work (up to 5,000 words per week). That way you will get free and friendly advice (okay, not free, the quid pro quo is to critique the other submissions - largely painless!!) from an enthusiastic and positive bunch, most of which are more perceptive than I am - who would be very pleased to offer impressions, suggestions and advice.

 

Edited March 4, 2016 by Robinski

[Shadowfax]

I'm in your same boat. I have tool paralysis as well. I have tried SO many different ways to organize notes and ideas, programs for writing scenes... it's a headache. 2 days ago I started my own wiki, and now I'm distracted trying to learn how to format the pages >.< I have a trial of Scrivener and I'm scared to use it up (when I owned a Mac, I had bought the program and liked it), but the flip side is that I also spend all my time trying to organize and not enough actually writing.

 

ATM I'm doing my writing in a Word doc. I keep the navigation pane open and use headers for various sections. All my "scenes" at at the top (and I give each one a name to describe the scene, so I can find it easy) and all my notes are at the bottom (also with headers), and the navigation pane lets me click a header to go to that point in my document. Absolutely nothing is actually "organized" but I CAN find all my info and I can write scenes within easy access of my notes. It's horribly messy, but I've written more in that document than I've managed in years...

 

And I agree with Robinski. Come join us in Reading Excuses! I just joined and tomorrow is my first submission, after feedback I'll start writing again and hopefully come up with a good app/program/method/etc. to move forward with my novel in a way that isn't messy as sin.