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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/31783
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

The cause of your problem is difficult to diagnose on the information given, so I'll explore a few possibilities. You'll need to experiment to see what helps you.

Do you have access to what you wrote when you were rarely disappointed with your work? If you re-read it now, you might find you've developed higher standards for your work that your old work no longer meets. If so, the problem may be that you're judging your work while you write it, rather than letting a first draft form and then improving it into a second and seeing how good that is.

Another problem may be that writing "according to a previously planned plot or story line" isn't the right approach for you. That may sound ridiculous, but I can think of two reasons it might be true. One is the [architect-gardener distinction](http://99u.com/workbook/20520/there-are-2-kinds-of-writers-architects-and-gardeners) (see also [this](https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/31710/22216) answer). The other is that you might have more luck if you plan your characters instead of your plot. This can lead you to forming a plot that feels natural by exploring what your characters would do in their situation.

Original score: 3