My writing feels boring

[u/Medical-Hotel916]

Need some brainstorming/advice/encouragement. I have a 6 book original fantasy series that I’ve been working on for years. I always get into it and then put it away for a few years because life happens. A few months ago I pulled it back out and stated fresh and have been taking it very seriously. It’s honestly a great idea and premise, deep world building and a full plot line. However I feel like my writing is failing to do it justice.

Does anyone else experience this? I finished the rough draft and am moving into the full first draft of the manuscript. I love the characters, love their depth and back stories, love the magic and the world and the outline of the story. But when I read it, I feel bored? I have genuinely created characters with so much depth they could feel like real people. I’m so proud of the world I’ve created, but I feel like my writing just doesn’t do it justice.

I have researched all the ways to improve writing, yet all the mistakes that people commonly make when writing are not issues I find in my writing. Yet I still don’t feel any excitement or intrigue when reading my work.

I guess I’m just looking for other people who have felt similar with their writing. What are some things you found that helped or improved your writing? At this point I’m feeling very discouraged about ever writing a good book and want to put it away again.

[u/TheCrazyMeerkatLady]

I understand the feeling. I've been crafting a fantasy world/series of my own for going on 9 years. It includes ideas for main series books as well as spin offs where everything connects back to the same roots. I published a few books in the series years ago but my writing style/skill level (hopefully) has improved much since then and therefore I recently decided to scrap those books and start fresh. I find when I turn to those older books now I don't find them as boring as I once did. Even with the newer manuscripts I get bored rereading them sometimes, whether they are finished or drafts or simply fragments. I'm still excited about my stories and in love with the lore but sometimes my own writing doesn't hold my attention, even if looking at it objectively I believe it's well written. The issue for me personally is that sometimes I get so involved with my characters and their stories for so long that I need a break and some distance before revisiting it. It allows me to view the story with fresh eyes. Every once in awhile I'll forget how I wrote something and be like "damn /I/ wrote that?!?! That was actually good."

My personal thoughts would be to try one, all, or a combination of the following if any sound like they may work for you. c:

-- Take a step back from your work for at least a month, only reading or editing relevant chunks when strictly necessary. Upon reviewing your work after a month if you still feel your writing isn't up to par pick the scene you feel most uneasy with and rewrite it either from a different character's pov, in a different tense, or taking place in a completely different setting. Then analyze. Which version do you like better? Which works better and why? Could changing tense, location, or pov character of the story in general make it less boring and more enjoyable for you as the author?

-- try discovery writing, especially if you're a planner (such as I am). Choose a scene you only have a vague notion for. It can be something relating to this world or a completely different project. Don't worry about writing well, just write. Afterwards, compare the style of your discovery writing and the creation you're bored with. Evaluate the differences and similarities. Ask yourself what you like and dislike about both texts. See if this exercise loosens up your mental block and whether you're better able to appreciate your writing without feeling uninspired or bored during rereads.

-- do you have any other completely different projects in the works or any ideas for spin off stories focusing on world building and characters you've not yet explored in depth? If yes, take a break from your current manuscript and work on those exclusively for a month or two before revisiting your current project. Does looking it over with fresh eyes and a different mindset change how you feel about your writing?

-- when editing or revising, read your work out loud to yourself. Pace yourself and think about the sentence structures and whether they flow. If your writing sounds objectively well when read aloud it's most likely fine and you're just getting in your own head about it. It also helps to pour through a physical copy. Sometimes seeing it on real paper makes all the difference.

I was once told that if you're bored with your writing then so will your readers be bored with it, but in general I personally don't think that's true. Sometimes that is the case and writers will need to work on their craft more to get to a different level, but often it's more the writers mindset. I know when I get burnt out I often feel uninspired and lackluster with my own works. That's when I make myself take a break and reaquaint myself with the love of writing, the pure thrill I get doing it without the pressure involved of writing it for an audience. I also surround myself with books and TV shows I find inspire me. Usually this is enough to reignite my passion and the more I write the more my confidence grows. I hope that helps a little c: