Nathan Bransford - The Forums

Microphobia. No matter where I am in the novel, I am always afraid I'm 15K from the end. I don't start to relax until I get to 80K, when I am actually 15K from the end.

OCD. No matter how many times I clean it up, it still looks dirty to me. This word can be deleted; that sentence can be reworded; what's the point of this paragraph.
Is it clean enough yet?

I really am Type I Bi-Polar with rapid cycling and also am OCD. This really is noticeable in the way I tend to approach my writing. I'm either in a depressive state and nothing I write is good enough to make me happy, preventing me from making much headway, or I'm manic and EVERYTHING I write sounds like the best thing I've ever written. During these manic episodes my writing becomes rather lengthy and sometimes overly upbeat (regardless of the situation). Most of the time, I'm happily on my meds and on an even keel allowing me to write along happily, editing appropriately, and rewriting the stuff that turned out oddly.

Thankfully, the OCD in me monitors it all and won't allow me to believe anything is complete unless it's been picked over with a fine-toothed comb and reviewed by several outside sources to be sure the novel itself doesn't sound Bi-Polar like its author.

Mine is sort of an OCD. I cannot concentrate or get any other ideas while working on a project. The story consumes me entirely and nothing else can distract me until it is done. I am at a loss when I see people have more than one book they are working on. Mine is a series and I have THOSE books in my head, but I can't see any other plot outside that one, no other characters cropping up out of the blue with something else to tantalize me.

Schizophrenia.

Being in my own head is bad enough, but then switching back and forth from my characters'... Nuts, I tell ya...

Obesity.

I like words. A lot. I like to gorge myself on them until the novel gets fat and bloated…currently I am editing, and desperately trying to get my novel to go on a diet. I supervise the words it eats, but I suspect it binges on adverbs and passive voice while I am asleep.

*headdesk*

A semi-colon fetish.

Addiction- Specially dependence.
I tend to look at writing as a way to heal myself, or as a way to escape the reality when reality clashes my dreams. I’m haunted by it.

I'm a control freak. I tell you way more than you ever wanted to know. I have to add beats everywhere because I want to be sure you know what all my characters are doing all the time. By the time I finish revising, I think I will have cut about 100 pages of this stuff.

Oppositional defiance.
Whenever I hear, "Well, whatever you do, don't write about (fill in the blank)!" or "The one rule I always follow in writing is to never (fill in the blank)" I am compelled to immediately write about said topic or write using said method.

I'm commitment phobic.

I type my draft with so much formatting it looks like a mural - I use bold for wording I dislike and want to change later, underlining for plot points that may change or which need fleshing out/foreshadowing earlier in the plot, and italics for parts of sentences which aren't absolutely necessary and which may (will) be deleted later. I use slashes like the scoop at a pic'n'mix counter, so I can write one thing/and the other, and choose which to use in the 'real' editing process. Nothing is written with any sort of dedication, because I'm too scared I haven't written something as well as it could be said, and want to make sure everything will be picked up in revision.

Also, OCD on the obsessive saving - I press command + S every three seconds.

The "you're an intelligent and sensitive writer but we don't know how to market you" speech.

The kitchen sink satire syndrome.

Diarrhea of the Fingers. I literally pull scenes out of my-well, out of thin air! With absolutely zero self-control. I can't help but laugh uncontrollably at the idea of outlining my novel ahead of time because it always ends up going in an unplanned direction... I'm doing better though!

When I think about my wang for too long and get writer's block :(

Elizabeth Poole wrote:Obesity.

I like words. A lot. I like to gorge myself on them until the novel gets fat and bloated…currently I am editing, and desperately trying to get my novel to go on a diet. I supervise the words it eats, but I suspect it binges on adverbs and passive voice while I am asleep.

*headdesk*

We should trade. I have trouble with details and places where I need words. I'm great at cutting them out. I could probably cut LotR in half without losing the plot. >_>