Rob Barba/Ashita wrote:

---Dustin Goeller <stinky@azstarnet.com> wrote:

I HATE FANFIC WRITING!!! Nothing I write comes

out the way I want it too! I

can NEVER capture the mood or feeling I want

the fic to have. It never

looks like anything I had originally intended!

You're simply going to have to accept this.  All writers face that feeling
constantly.  Eventually there comes a point in which you say the story is
"good enough for now" and move on.  

Here's a quote from J.R.R. Tolkien on _The Lord of the Rings:_ 

     The most critical reader of all, myself, now 
     finds many defects, minor and major, but
     being fortunately under no obligation either
     to review the book or to write it again, he 
     will pass over these in silence.

True writing comes from the heart.  You cannot
simply BS your way through something.  You must
search deep down into your soul to find what it
is that is there, then channel that into your
works.

No.

Writing is a skill, like riding a bicycle, and the only way to improve it is
to practice it.  Soul-searching will not improve your grammar, your grasp of
character, your use of metaphor, or your ability to structure a story. 
Practice your writing, even if it seems like garbage, even if you throw it all
away.   

Life is the ultimate power source for writing.
Unless you've done the research and have a knack
for words, nothing can compare to your personal
translation of a lover's kiss, or the stars at
night, or getting punched out. 

Again, no. 

Experience is the ultimate power source for writing.  Those who write well are
those who write often.  No one ever wrote a brilliant novel the first time he
picked up a pen, no matter how deeply he searched his soul beforehand. 

Find what you know, what you feel, then pour it
into your keyboard...or perhaps, maybe a pen
(then type it later).  What you will find is
your soul in 12-point Courier New font...and the
makings of a classic story.

Once again, no.  Waiting for inspiration is a waste of time.  Writing will
only improve through practice.  

Martial arts are a popular topic on this mailing list, so I'm going to draw an
analogy between it and writing.  No one would expect a beginning martial
artist to be skilled and powerful.  Good martial artists have spent years of
effort perfecting their skills.  Why would anyone expect differently of
writers?  Just as a beginning martial artist must accept that he or she must
struggle to improve his or her fighting ability, a beginning writer must
accept that he or she must struggle in order to improve his or her writing.  

-- David.