stunt_muppet

In looking over my writing these past few days, as I'm wont to do whenever I can't actually write anything, I've noticed a trend I'm not sure I like. 

I've found that my writing is, or has become, far too plain for my own tastes. In both fanfiction and original fiction, my favorite writers tend to be those who stun me with beautiful imagery or a particularly brilliant turn of phrase. Those tend to be the works that stick in my mind the longest. That's what I aspire to when I write, but I find I never really achieve it.

Sure, there's the occasional line I'm proud of, and sometimes I'll be able to go imagery-happy for an entire 500 words or so, but for the most part, I just write what happens without too much elaboration. And I don't really want to write like that. I don't want to write on a strictly functional level. There's not a lot you can evoke with that. (Or at least not a lot that I can evoke with that - others have managed to do very well with plain language.) But whenever I try to be more descriptive or elaborate, my fics quickly become overwritten, burdened by too-heavy similes and frills like so many Gothic frou-frous (Gothic here referring to the architectural style, not the subculture). And, if I have to make a choice, I'd rather write plain, functional prose that overwritten, purple prose; at least plain prose is not a hallmark of bad!fic. 

I want to change my style, but at the same time I'm not sure I can consciously do that without my "new style" being unnatural and forced. I mean, 'style' is supposed to be an organic thing, growing with a writer based on their experience; if I try to force it one way or the other, I'm worried it will just feel fake.

Of course, this is all a moot point if I can't work up the drive or energy to write at all. What's that about, anyway? Why does my desire to write or inspiration to write fluctuate like this? And why do my best ideas come at the precise moment when I can't write them down (i.e. when I'm showering, before I go to bed)? It's quite inconvenient, and it doesn't bode well for any possible future I might have as a writer.