Aw, AnJL, I feel for you. I can see you, surrounded by all the ideas, floating in the air, waiting for you to pick them out--like Jayne before he went crazy and fell asleep--and write them down with some sense of order.

I've been there, am there. Except I haven't found my way out of the cubicle. (How did you find your way out?) At last count I have 12 works under construction, the oldest of which is nearly 38 years in the making. My first novel on the other hand is a mere 24 years old and counting.

Whatever else you do--and I've heard it mentioned on the board before about some of us collaborating on a project of some sort (which sounds very exciting; sharing in the creative process is a self-feeding proposition) and that would serve the same function as a writing group--whatever else you do, never stop. Never quit. Never give up. If it's in you, it will make its way out in it's time. Coax it, sure, plead with it, beg. But ya can't force it.

I have pages and pages of stuff and I imagine an equal amount of fluff. I cannibalize parts all the time. Someday it will all congeal. And if not, I have created wonderous unfinished symphonies for people to argue about and try to intuit my intents and vainly stab at finishing.

But don't ever stop. It's the signal, you know.

You are a good writer. It takes most writers years to be published. Maybe you could get a biography or two of a writer and highlight the sections about their struggles to get published and how long it too... pick writers your parents like and then show it to them and say " wouldn't it have been a shame if they'd quit after a year?"
HUGS and hang in there darlin!!!

I'm with safeat2nd re sharing. It takes a huge amount of time and concentration to come up with a unique and realistic verse full of characters and plot, and that's hard to initiate purely on your own. A class or writer's group will give you a push - when you have to share, have deadlines and input from other writers, stuff gets done.

As for admitting you can't write - BS! I ain't falling for that! Just do yourself a favor and don't expect the first thing you set on paper to rock the world. Give it time to develop.

Good luck!

I took a workshop on exectly what you are going through (haven't used a lick of it, but it was good advice).

Put some time aside each day solely for writing. Sit and write...ANYTHING... no matter how good or bad you may think it is. Once you start...

Another option, that I'm finding helps, is find a local writing circle. Sometimes just being around other writers helps. Plus the group I go to has little exercises. This weeks is to write a piece using the phrase "are we there yet" in it somewhere.

I've come up with several short pieces that I've submitted to contests and such as a result.

Hope that helps. Just never give up on it.

slap! snap out of it! snap!
of course you can bloody well write!