Sometimes I Get So Discouraged

Question:

     first off, your books are amazing. your books are what got me into reading when i was younger. ive read evey alice book, they’ve helped a lot. so thank you for writing them. now i have a question to ask you. when you first started writing did you have everything planned out, like very situation, every event? or did you keep changing your mind? also, did you get discouraged while writing or was it easy? does it get easier over time to write? im sorry i asked so many questions, but i want to write a book and even though my friends all give it a 9 out of 10 im not sure its good. i keep changing my ming a lot about the events taking place in the book and sometimes the whole situation too. sometimes i even get so discouraged i consider quitting. i just wanted to know if this is normal? thanks.this will be a great help

Phyllis replied:

First I need to ask you a question:  Are you actually writing a book, or are you talking over the plot with friends?   There’s a difference.  I never discuss a book with anyone until I’ve written a draft that is the best I can do at the time.  Then I let my husband read it, I may read it chapter by chapter to a critique group, and it’s only then that I let other people look at it, or hear it, and make comments.   When I first think of a new plot, I’m obviously very excited about it or I wouldn’t put in all the work it takes to write a book.  But if I talk about it to someone else, and she says, “Yeah, but didn’t somebody write a book like that two years ago?” or “Are you sure you want it to end that way?” or any other kind of criticism, it bursts my bubble and I’m not as excited about it any longer.  I need to keep thinking that it’s going to be a good book as long as I can, but once it’s down on paper, ALL of it, then I’m ready to accept criticism.  When I start a book, I know the plot, I know the characters, I know the climax, I know how it ends, and I know a number of major things that happen along the way.  But that’s all.  I don’t know all the little twists and turns, and it’s the things that surprise me while I’m writing that makes it fun.  Yes, sometimes I do get discouraged because it’s not going as well as I thought it would.  Then I put it away for a while and work on something else.  But it seems to keep playing around in the back of my mind, and eventually I get a new angle on the book that was giving me trouble, and go back to it feeling enthusiastic again.