The Opposite of Writer's Block

[VenusButterflies]

What do you do when you're writing a story and had planned on taking it in one direction, but all of a sudden you come to a fork (or a few forks) and see that you could potentially take it in multiple directions? Do you write all possible versions? Do you just mindfuck it until you settle on something? Do you write what you'd planned to write all along first and then go back and see if you like it?
How do you handle this dilemma?

Thanks!

 

[sr71plt]

I go where fancy takes me. I don't remember having to backtrack. I sometimes have to backtrack to tweak the threads, but nothing earthshattering. I'm doing this as an alternate to working, not as an onerous chore in itself.

 

[slyc_willie]

I once wrote two versions of the same basic story that happened to come to a diverging point in which I liked both outcomes. One had a happy ending, the other didn't. I posted the one with the unhappy ending and had readers yelling at me because they were "supposed to be together." I thought about posting the other one, but that would have seemed like I was letting the readers dictate my writing. I still kind of wish I'd done it, though.

For the most part, I don't have the problem of a story evolving away from my original intent. What often happens with me is the temptation to add in more than I originally wanted, because certain scenarios or ideas occurred to me that I liked. Trimming the fat afterward is sometimes a painful process.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

What I do is stay on the trail then write the alternatives down the road.

 

[soflabbwlvr]

I write the version that will produce the best story. I generally know exactly where I am going with a story, but sometimes an alternative presents itself midstream that is better than my original concept. When that happens, I adapt.

 

[Cruel2BKind]

Deliberation helps.

Plot out where the story will go from every fork. Just go by elimination. If you like two or more forks a lot, you could do a 'choose your own adventure' type thing. Or just an alt ending. I know a few people who have done an alternate ending thing, and it works pretty well.

 

[loquere]

What do you do when you're writing a story and had planned on taking it in one direction, but all of a sudden you come to a fork (or a few forks) and see that you could potentially take it in multiple directions? Do you write all possible versions? Do you just mindfuck it until you settle on something? Do you write what you'd planned to write all along first and then go back and see if you like it?
How do you handle this dilemma?

Thanks!

I always tend have a chill run through me when an idea aligns.

 

[VenusButterflies]

Hmm . . . it looks like I'll probably go where fancy takes me, trim the fat afterwards, and write different versions when i'm done if I'm still interested in doing so.
Sometimes my mind gets in the way of my gut. Or maybe my ADD, more specifically, gets in the way? I can't tell.

Thanks all for your suggestions!

 

[Zeb_Carter]

In the teamwork challenge I wrote an alternate ending to our (Blind_Justice and mine) story...

Alternate Ending…

(This starts at the FBI office, just after Special Agent in Charge Alex Carmichael takes the Semtex from Jason)

“So do you still have it?” Agent Carmichael asked.

“What? The necklace?” Jason asked back.

“Yes. I hear it’s very beautiful. I’ve only seen pictures. Do you think I can get a look at it before you drive off?”

“I don’t see why not. You know I haven’t seen it either,” Jason said pulling the wooden box from Janet’s tote bag.

Placing it in his lap, Jason, with both Janet and Alex leaning over him, flips the latch up out of the way. His fingers are slippery with sweat as he lifts the lid…

* * * *​

The Countess sat in a comfortable chair looking out the window of her suite, well it wasn’t really a suite, she had to purchase the entire floor to be comfortable. She sat looking out over the city. Most people would have been at the other end of the floor over looking the bay. The majestic Golden Gate Bridge was visible from where she sat. The always present television set was yammering away in the background. As she gazed, a plume of smoke erupted close to the hotel. Anxious, she called for Mister Scarletti.

“Antonio,” she cried out.

“Coming your grace,” Scarletti yelled, quickly running down the hallway to the lounge in which the Countess sat. “What do you need your grace?”

“Did you happen to use all that Semtex I gave you?”

“Of course your grace. I put two bricks in the wooden case…”

“Idiot!” the Countess screamed. “And the rest?”

“In the briefcase. What is the matter your grace?”

“Look,” the Countess pointed to the thick column of smoke not all the far away from the hotel.

They both turned as the television flashed a red banner across the top of the screen.

“We interrupt our broadcast to bring an special report. Just minutes ago a large explosion was reported at the Federal Court House in San Francisco. It is said that a large portion of the west side of the building has collapsed, killing perhaps hundreds…”

The Countess turned off the TV. She turned to Scarletti glaring at him, an anger in her eyes that would burn holes through him if he stood still to long.

“Rule #29, If you want a man to do something right give him explicit instructions. You imbecile! Well, I hope you have somewhere to hide,” the Countess said turning and walking down the hall. “Jeffery, start packing, we are leaving immediately. Call the airport and have them ready our plane.”

“Yes mum,” Jeffery answered back.

Scarletti’s eyes widened with realization of what he had done. By now he was sure that the authorities knew he was the one that requested the shipping of the necklace. Turning on his heels, he ran down the hall to the elevators.

“I really did want to meet those two. I bet they would have been a lot of fun,” the Countess said as she entered her bedchambers.

The End​

We decided not to use it.

 

[Hypoxia]

I find myself dealing with such situations in various ways, none especially rational.

* In my 3-part BRIDE OF KONG series, I liked everything EXCEPT the ending. So I added a 4th part that is nothing but cascading alternate endings.

* In my second BOOK OF RUTH story, COMING FAST, a piece of tale (pun intended) seemed superfluous in detail but worthy in general, so I (as narrator) broke the 4th wall and just told readers what I had left out, with a brief summary of the action. I've pulled similar stunts in other pieces.

* I started writing a sequel to JENNY BE FAIR but found myself with at least two 3-way intersections of storylines. I still haven't decided which I like best, so it just sits there, awaiting inspiration and/or hard work. I *might* cheat, issuing the first part as one chapter, and the others as separate, alternate chapters. Hmmm, no, that sucks. Ratz.

So what are the options? Hard decisions, or hard thinking, or writing alternate beginnings to accompany the alternate endings. Yeah, sure.

 

[VenusButterflies]

In the teamwork challenge I wrote an alternate ending to our (Blind_Justice and mine) story...

Alternate Ending…



We decided not to use it.

Yeah, I mean, you could have . . . it actually made me giggle.

 

[VenusButterflies]

In the teamwork challenge I wrote an alternate ending to our (Blind_Justice and mine) story...

Alternate Ending…



We decided not to use it.

You know, maybe you can help me out with something, since I noticed your story involves the FBI. Would you happen to know how far an undercover FBI agent can go with doing something illegal before getting reprimanded in some way for it? Can they be granted immunity if they do something highly illegal while undercover?

 

[VenusButterflies]

So what are the options? Hard decisions, or hard thinking, or writing alternate beginnings to accompany the alternate endings. Yeah, sure.

I knooowwww! It seems to be all options. Finding the most efficient way of dealing with this is tough. Do I waste time on something I'll ultimately hate? How will I know if I hate it unless I put time into it and go with that flow? It could be better than the original idea. Something might strike me down the road to make me say "Yessss!"

Writing is not a chore, but it's definitely not for the lazy.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

You know, maybe you can help me out with something, since I noticed your story involves the FBI. Would you happen to know how far an undercover FBI agent can go with doing something illegal before getting reprimanded in some way for it? Can they be granted immunity if they do something highly illegal while undercover?

Uh, I'm not an expert, but I would guess there is a limit to what any government agent is allowed to do while undercover. I only know from what I read and see on the news or in stories on the TV.

Sample/do drugs? Probably.

Have sex with a suspect...would they want too? But probably.

Kill someone? Doubt it, unless they already have approval from on high, but highly unlikely. If they do it had better be in the line of duty.

As I said, I'm not an expert. I'm sure there are other here who would disagree/agree with me.

In a lot of cases it would depend on the circumstances and what the goal of the operation was and how public things would be. But there are not only legal boundaries, but ethical ones to consider. Not all federal agents are cold hearted, uncaring son of a bitches.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

RULE OF THUMB:

Law enforcement pulls any stunt it can get away with, especially when the judge covers the cops ass in court. I had a creepy fuck whine to the judge after I threatened to cut his balls off. He knocked up a girl and was coming around to see her when her mom was at work, nights. So he says to the judge, MISTER JOHNSON THREATENED TO CASTRATE ME IF I DIDNT STAY AWAY FROM JEWELL.

The judge says, MISTER JOHNSON, DID YOU TELL THE DEFENDANT YOU'D CASTRATE HIM?

I said, YES I DID.

So the judge says to the defendant, IF IT WERE ME I'D BELIEVE MISTER JOHNSON.

Another judge let the creep marry the 15 year old. The the creep molested their little girl 3-4 years later. Two nuns from the Guardian ad Litem thought marriage was wonderful.

But you can get away with murder, and liberal judges tend to fuck cops if they can.

 

[VenusButterflies]

RULE OF THUMB:

Law enforcement pulls any stunt it can get away with, especially when the judge covers the cops ass in court. I had a creepy fuck whine to the judge after I threatened to cut his balls off. He knocked up a girl and was coming around to see her when her mom was at work, nights. So he says to the judge, MISTER JOHNSON THREATENED TO CASTRATE ME IF I DIDNT STAY AWAY FROM JEWELL.

The judge says, MISTER JOHNSON, DID YOU TELL THE DEFENDANT YOU'D CASTRATE HIM?

I said, YES I DID.

So the judge says to the defendant, IF IT WERE ME I'D BELIEVE MISTER JOHNSON.

Another judge let the creep marry the 15 year old. The the creep molested their little girl 3-4 years later. Two nuns from the Guardian ad Litem thought marriage was wonderful.

But you can get away with murder, and liberal judges tend to fuck cops if they can.

Ugh, my god! That makes me so angry! Shoulda castrated him.

 

[VenusButterflies]

Uh, I'm not an expert, but I would guess there is a limit to what any government agent is allowed to do while undercover. I only know from what I read and see on the news or in stories on the TV.

Sample/do drugs? Probably.

Have sex with a suspect...would they want too? But probably.

Kill someone? Doubt it, unless they already have approval from on high, but highly unlikely. If they do it had better be in the line of duty.

As I said, I'm not an expert. I'm sure there are other here who would disagree/agree with me.

In a lot of cases it would depend on the circumstances and what the goal of the operation was and how public things would be. But there are not only legal boundaries, but ethical ones to consider. Not all federal agents are cold hearted, uncaring son of a bitches.

Yeah, I think I might have to bend the rules a bit. Maybe put a note at the top reminding people it's fiction.

God, but then I hate that. It really gets to me when even a fictional story doesn't follow certain logic. Like in Gravity. Sandra Bullock would have never passed the psych tests to go into space. Hmm...

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Ugh, my god! That makes me so angry! Shoulda castrated him.

He even had a raincoat he wore all the time.

 

[49greg]

In most of my stories I had an idea for one small scene or sometimes just an general idea of two people getting together. The stories unfolded as I worked. The ones I liked the best generally were done in one or two sittings.

Others I worked on long and hard. Wrote internal notes suggesting alternates or revisions, then went back and forth and gradually worked my way through to the final version. I usually kept a copy of what I call the original version with the side paths and alternates, and have used snippets in other stories, both some I've posted and some I'm working on. But I still didn't plot things out ahead of time.

Using that method I sometimes tended to go in way weird directions. In one, that started as a continuation of an incest series, I ended up going dark, way dark. I don't know where the cruelty and sadism came from. I toned it way down and posted it. Then regretted it. Needless to say I got a lot of negative comments, and some liking it.

In the next story in the series I used a tag line something like "The 'Dallas' cop-out, or it was all a dream" and re wrote the story as if the dark one was a dream, and to fit in better with the tone of the previous stories. Oddly it was then I got some email comments asking to continue with the dark version, so I eventually did do a spin off of the dark version, and still get emails asking me to continue further.

My last two stories were planned out, plotted in advance and I really really worked on them. In different ways both were experimental for me. One especially was very awkward for many people to read, and they told me about it. I'm not happy with either, although one is sitting there at 4.49 just waiting for a few "5 star" votes to push it to an H.

For stories that I'm working on, I'm generally using a rough plan, but letting things develop as I write and get ideas. Lately I've been touching up stories that I started as much as four or more years ago and can't remember where I wanted to go with them. Had I had a rough outline or plan written down I wouldn't have that problem.

 

[49greg]

RULE OF THUMB:

Law enforcement pulls any stunt it can get away with, especially when the judge covers the cops ass in court....

That's what I thought. Human nature being what it is, there are a lot of people out there who will grab what they can if they can get away with it.

How many of us go back to the store to return that extra 25 cents or a dollar we got in change.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

That's what I thought. Human nature being what it is, there are a lot of people out there who will grab what they can if they can get away with it.

How many of us go back to the store to return that extra 25 cents or a dollar we got in change.

Over twenty years I occasionally had to remind young cops they were shit in state business, and had no jurisdiction. YOURE HERE TO ASSIST ME. Sometimes it was fun, like when you'd sit on the sofa with the prisoner and the cop is busting the guys old ladys head to back her off. They love to call 911 and say MY OLD MAN GOTTA WARRANT DOWN IN OBAMA COUNTY AN I WANT HIS SORRY ASS OUTTA HERE. Then when you go to the house she goes apeshit, screaming po-leece brutality..