Removing the writing block

[avengiline]

So, this thread has been dead for almost two years, but who says dead threads cannot be revived?!

I am having a problem writing my second chapter of my book The Kissing Thief. Originally it was going to be a one and done for me, but I did leave some few readers wanting more and now have the issue of giving them closure and consolation. I don't want to become one of those Authors that disappear leaving a story unfinished. *cough*.

With that being said, I do feel as if I HAVE to give readers a sex scene with every chapter all though at this point I am really trying to build the characters more. I also am having difficulty sticking to the plot of the story while trying to create daily lives of my characters. HOW ON EARTH DO I DO THIS?!

Please help!

Sincerely,
One of the youngest Authors on Lit!

 

[Athalia]

With that being said, I do feel as if I HAVE to give readers a sex scene with every chapter all though at this point I am really trying to build the characters more. I also am having difficulty sticking to the plot of the story while trying to create daily lives of my characters. HOW ON EARTH DO I DO THIS?!

Why do you feel that the two have to be mutually exclusive? A lot of my writing entails what's going through my characters' minds while they are having sex, and discovering how the act changes them.

Spend as much time as you want or need in creating their daily lives. There doesn't have to be sex all the time. Just anticipating sex while living their everyday lives can produce its own erotic tension.

There are a lot of writers on this forum who excel at this. I suggest you seek them out, using the "Best of" lists, and see how they do it.

 

[Jada59]

I have three novels that are unfinished. One only has a few chapters and I'm not sure where to take it next. Not sure where one went. It was handwritten and seems to have gotten lost during one of the many moves that we made after I started it. I may well get back to that one because the plot is still in my head. The third one just kept going and going and I couldn't seem to end it. The fact that these are unfinished is not a problem for me.

As for my Lit. stuff... I go through periods of time when I don't write. Maybe it's not exactly writer's block. I just get caught up with other stuff.

My best/easiest writing just seems to come to me. There's no thinking it through. I just sit down and the words just come flying out. I wish it could always be like that, but it isn't.

Sometimes to get those creative juices flowing again, I'll start with a short poem and work my way up.

 

[ElectricBlue]

With that being said, I do feel as if I HAVE to give readers a sex scene with every chapter all though at this point I am really trying to build the characters more. I also am having difficulty sticking to the plot of the story while trying to create daily lives of my characters. HOW ON EARTH DO I DO THIS?!

Well developed characters have sexual lives, with emotions and intimacy, drama and tension and stuff. Cardboard outputs place tab A into slot B. Decide what it is you're writing, and apply the appropriate model. There can always be more chapters .

 

[Hypoxia]

...I do feel as if I HAVE to give readers a sex scene with every chapter...

No you don't. Do so if you wish, don't if you don't. I've a high-rated 8-LIT-page mature Romance, divided into several internal 'chapters', with one brief blowjob as the only explicit sex. I've other tales, multi-chapter or standalone, with much graphic sex on every page.

Do what you must to tell your story. Maybe warn readers of a paucity of sex in THIS chapter but expect mega-orgies in the NEXT chapter.

Meanwhile, unfinished series. I'm ashamed to admit to two, plus a few others that could stand sequels or spinoffs. But the unfinished ones... I must devote myself. Or await the voices in my head to drive me there. Or take mescaline.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

It sort of depends on who you are writing for. If your audience, the ones pressing you for a followup chapter, are going to expect nonstop shagging, then yes. But as the wiser ones above have noted it doesn't have to be non-stop sex. A husband can see his wife in the kitchen and run his hand over her bottom as he walks by (or vice versa). That can build sexual tension and internal thoughts good for quite some time. A wife can leave a sexy thong in his suit pocket or toolbox or laptop case, knowing it will be discovered sometime during the day. She spends a lot of time thinking about what he's feeling and he gets a rush discovering it. It's not sex, it's buildup and thinking about it. Such things are easier to slip into your plot than a full-blown sex scene.

Good luck.

 

[GroverLang]

I have three novels that are unfinished... The fact that these are unfinished is not a problem for me.

As for my Lit. stuff... I go through periods of time when I don't write. Maybe it's not exactly writer's block. I just get caught up with other stuff.

My best/easiest writing just seems to come to me. There's no thinking it through... I wish it could always be like that, but it isn't.

I have a series that has been awaiting the final chapter for several months. I know where it’s going to end, I have several sections written, but I want it to be a blockbuster ending and a fitting climax to the previous chapters. But it’s not right in my head so I just think about it occasionally, putting down words/phrases as they come to me, and one day it will be done but only when it is, in my opinion, a proper finale.

I get times, days - sometimes a week or two, when I can’t be bothered for some unknown reason. Sometimes I’m involved in something else. Sometimes it’s just lethargy. Sometimes, like now, I’m in the doldrums for no reason and haven’t put finger to keyboard for quite a while. But it’s not life and death. I’ve got a life apart from Lit and, if I never write again, it’s not a big deal. I have no desire to be a great writer or have my stories published. I’ll leave that to others more ambitious and more capable.

 

[Hypoxia]

I have a series that has been awaiting the final chapter for several months. I know where it’s going to end...

My main unfinished series is right there. Setting, players, action, ending (HEA) -- but I just don't feel impelled to write. It's the 'action' part -- there's a kidnap and rescue, but how? Maybe crawling through tight spaces freaks me. No, it's *which* tight spaces that stumps me.

Writing block? Or just unwilling to exert myself on this one? More coffee...

 

[Bramblethorn]

No you don't. Do so if you wish, don't if you don't. I've a high-rated 8-LIT-page mature Romance, divided into several internal 'chapters', with one brief blowjob as the only explicit sex. I've other tales, multi-chapter or standalone, with much graphic sex on every page.

Seconding this advice. It probably varies by category, but I've found readers to be very receptive to low-sex/non-graphic stories, at least when there are themes like love or desire.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I have three novels that are unfinished. One only has a few chapters and I'm not sure where to take it next. Not sure where one went. It was handwritten and seems to have gotten lost during one of the many moves that we made after I started it. I may well get back to that one because the plot is still in my head. The third one just kept going and going and I couldn't seem to end it. The fact that these are unfinished is not a problem for me.


Sometimes to get those creative juices flowing again, I'll start with a short poem and work my way up.

I think this applies to the OP too: writing a longer work, a novella or novel, is a challenge. It can be a time-consuming "long game." I have attempted a long multi-chapter work and it will be a while before I can submit some on it.

Writing shorter pieces (including stories) is a indeed good way to get things done in the meantime.

 

[Hypoxia]

...writing a longer work, a novella or novel, is a challenge. It can be a time-consuming "long game." I have attempted a long multi-chapter work and it will be a while before I can submit some on it.

Writing shorter pieces (including stories) is a indeed good way to get things done in the meantime.

Pro writers will tell you salable novels are easier than good short stories. A novel has room to recklessly swing about. A 'short' requires more focus, discipline, trimming. Each word weighs more.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Pro writers will tell you salable novels are easier than good short stories. A novel has room to recklessly swing about. A 'short' requires more focus, discipline, trimming. Each word weighs more.

I guess I'm not a pro. I have no doubt that novels are more salable. But I've found that attempting to write one is a long haul.

 

[Hypoxia]

I guess I'm not a pro. I have no doubt that novels are more salable. But I've found that attempting to write one is a long haul.

Novels have markets. I'm not sure how open the current short story market is. Back in the day were pulps that fed many fast typists. And publishers sold collections of shorts. But I'll bet a novel took less time to write than collected shorts of equal word count.

Simenon churned out a novel every two weeks. I sometimes churned out a chapter every two days. I don't know how close our word counts would be. Danielle Steel says her secret of success is 22-hour writing sprees. But she gets paid for that.

 

[KeithD]

I actively write both short stories and novellas/novel. I invariably can produce the same or more wordage in short stories quicker than I can a novella/novel. It's also true with me that words individually are more precious in short stories than in longer works.

 

[8letters]

I am having a problem writing my second chapter of my book The Kissing Thief. Originally it was going to be a one and done for me, but I did leave some few readers wanting more and now have the issue of giving them closure and consolation. I don't want to become one of those Authors that disappear leaving a story unfinished. *cough*.

With that being said, I do feel as if I HAVE to give readers a sex scene with every chapter all though at this point I am really trying to build the characters more. I also am having difficulty sticking to the plot of the story while trying to create daily lives of my characters. HOW ON EARTH DO I DO THIS?!

My advice is to not to try to force things. If you've got a second chapter in mind to write, then write it. If you don't, write something else.

Sequels to me are hard, particularly if the main characters have had sex. The dramatic tension is gone. Your story is different in that they aren't a couple at the end. You could write several chapters of Laura pursuing Nicholas. Each chapter wouldn't have to have sex, but should take Laura closer to wherever she's going. Nicholas could be a villain and Laura at the end winds up with the hero.

 

[SimonDoom]

So, this thread has been dead for almost two years, but who says dead threads cannot be revived?!

I am having a problem writing my second chapter of my book The Kissing Thief. Originally it was going to be a one and done for me, but I did leave some few readers wanting more and now have the issue of giving them closure and consolation. I don't want to become one of those Authors that disappear leaving a story unfinished. *cough*.

With that being said, I do feel as if I HAVE to give readers a sex scene with every chapter all though at this point I am really trying to build the characters more. I also am having difficulty sticking to the plot of the story while trying to create daily lives of my characters. HOW ON EARTH DO I DO THIS?!

Please help!

Sincerely,
One of the youngest Authors on Lit!

I second what 8Letters wrote. Don't force it. Readers always want more chapters. Or, at least, they say they do, but if your story originally was intended to be a one-and-done then perhaps it's better that way. I've come to the conclusion that it's better to leave a few loose threads at the end of a story than to over-tie everything.


If the muse isn't working for the sequel, get it cracking on a new story.

 

[Hypoxia]

I am having a problem writing my second chapter of my book The Kissing Thief. Originally it was going to be a one and done for me, but I did leave some few readers wanting more and now have the issue of giving them closure and consolation. I don't want to become one of those Authors that disappear leaving a story unfinished. *cough*.

Write a story that ends with everybody killed off -- the orgy ship sinks or whatever. Some readers will still want sequels. Ignore them... unless you want to write of ghosts, or a magic undersea realm, or a prequel.

Besides my one or two series that ARE unfinished, I've many stories with deliberate hanging or ambiguous endings. Sometimes I invite readers to write their own sequels. None have as yet. But, absent obliteration, time and events always continue past a story's conclusion. Closure is a myth. Even if your last words are The End.

I've also responded to reader requests for more. Sometimes it works.