How do you decide where to go with a story?

[CoffeeWithMonkeys]

I have an end goal for my current story, but right now I'm at a part where I can go two different ways to get to that end goal.

How do you decide which way to go?

Write out both and see which one flows better? Seems like that would waste a lot of time, but might be what I end up doing.

 

[yukonnights]

I can only say what I might do, which would be; Work the two paths out in my mind to the desired completion—then just choose the one that seems more interesting.

Most all of my stories...actually, all of my stories, begin as mental movies. Not all the details are in the mental movies but the basic bones of the story are. Once the characters begin to develop and "come alive" there will be new details that get written. But it usually always stays on course to my predetermined ending.

 

[CoffeeWithMonkeys]

That's how I develope stories too! I see them as movies and that sometimes works against me since I write in first person POV I feel like I sometimes am writing like a movie script :/

The way I was leaning towards would probably play out as boring but the end result would be more of an impact. My daughter said I can't do that to my MC, she said she'll die if you go that way!

The other way also might be kind of mundane, but right now I feel like my whole story is stuck in a boring rut and maybe I need an impact.

I think I'll at least start writing both out and see which way seems to be going better.

Thanks!!

 

[NotWise]

Write out both and see which one flows better? Seems like that would waste a lot of time, but might be what I end up doing.

I wouldn't waste the time.

I'd take the route that is most fulfilling to me.

 

[KeithD]

Yeah, I just pick one option and go with it, which one depends on the specific story and the options I see. It's not a big deal. Story creation is a renewable resource.

 

[Hypoxia]

Encounter a story divide? Which way to go? Take the least likely path. Much fun there.

 

[Rustyoznail]

High road or low road, safe or more interesting? if safe route is going give you a better result, go that way.

I just let the alternatives play out in my head before I write down. It usually resolves itself fairly quickly.

 

[SamScribble]

That's how I develope stories too! I see them as movies and that sometimes works against me since I write in first person POV I feel like I sometimes am writing like a movie script

An old Elmore Leonard trick: see your story as a movie, but not a movie seen through your authorial eyes, a movie seen through the eyes of one of the characters. In some of Mr Leonard's stories, the character changes with the scene. But the character can only ever know and see what is in front of her (or him).

 

[Jada59]

Don't overthink it Free your mind and let your fingers do the talking.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

I find writing start-to-end is difficult. Instead, I generally have a number of scenes in my head. One story I am working on now has a good beginning, a pretty solid end and two or three scenes in the middle. Now what I must do is knit them together.

 

[SimonDoom]

An old Elmore Leonard trick: see your story as a movie, but not a movie seen through your authorial eyes, a movie seen through the eyes of one of the characters. In some of Mr Leonard's stories, the character changes with the scene. But the character can only ever know and see what is in front of her (or him).

I love this idea. I hadn't thought of it before but it makes so much sense.

Re the OP's question, I usually have the end worked out before I get very far in my story. So this problem doesn't really arise for me. I may make minor changes to the ending, but nothing major. The challenge for me in writing isn't figuring out how to end the story but in figuring out how to draft my way to the end I want.

 

[ThisNameIsntTakenYet]

As yukonnights (and some others) have said, I tend to work out both potential directions in my head. Writing them down helps too, but I tend to keep it to a pretty strict outline format rather than full-on writing. Usually by the time I have a general idea of how each different direction will end up going, I already have a clear preference. I often don't even need to write out all possibilities, as one just will feel right. If I do struggle even after working out the plotlines I tend to ask someone which one they'd prefer. I won't always agree, but I've found that it does help me decide. Sometimes just by asking someone you might realize you hope they'll pick one over the other.

 

[LexxRuthless]

When I have a particular scene in mind and am working toward it, I try to make it feel like a logical outcome of the story. Occasionally I get sidetracked en route to that goal and wind up writing a completely different story than I intended.

If the new story is still decent, I finish it and put it on the site. Then I make new characters and try to write that initial story again.

 

[MelissaBaby]

Everything I have written, I knew the ending, and worked out how to get there.

 

[8letters]

I have an end goal for my current story, but right now I'm at a part where I can go two different ways to get to that end goal.

How do you decide which way to go?

Write out both and see which one flows better? Seems like that would waste a lot of time, but might be what I end up doing.

I'm guessing this is about your series "No Such Thing as Time". You're on Chapter 13 and are getting some great ratings. You seem to be doing something right.

As I get more experience as a writer, I like chapter series less and less. I'm going to write my stuff as one story, and I don't care how big it gets. One advantage of doing that is that if I'm not liking how a story is going, I can shelve the story until I get an inspiration for how to continue. I've got one story that I was about to give up on because I didn't like how a key scene was turning out. But last week, I got an idea for changing up that scene so that it works better, and I'm back to writing that story.

Can you hold off writing more on that series? Give yourself some time to come up with something better than the two choices you're currently considering?

 

[Paul_Chance]

I'd pick one route (which ever appealed to me the most in the moment) and go that way. If it didn't work, then I would hit delete and go back and take the other route. I doubt I would write both routes at the same time - I think that would more likely get me bound up being unable to decide which worked better. Pick one and go.

 

[NightSailor]

I have an end goal for my current story, but right now I'm at a part where I can go two different ways to get to that end goal.

How do you decide which way to go?

Write out both and see which one flows better? Seems like that would waste a lot of time, but might be what I end up doing.

I just write what interests me so there usually isn't more than one option for the story line.

 

[8letters]

Yeah, I just pick one option and go with it, which one depends on the specific story and the options I see. It's not a big deal. Story creation is a renewable resource.

I really disagree with this. I have a very limited number of good premises, and I want to make the most of each of those. I want every story I publish to be the very best it can be. When I've poured a lot of time and sweat into a story, the story is a big deal to me.

 

[KeithD]

I really disagree with this. I have a very limited number of good premises, and I want to make the most of each of those. I want every story I publish to be the very best it can be. When I've poured a lot of time and sweat into a story, the story is a big deal to me.

Nearly every story I can think of writing turned out to be not only good (to my trained eye), but better than it was when I conceived of what it could be. I write professionally, have training in writing, and I don't write by committee. Actually, when I see threads like this, I think that not enough preparation has gone into being a writer yet--that the writer hasn't reached the level of self-confidence enough to be called a writer. Creative writing isn't work by committee for very long in a writer's development.

Maybe just writing a few stories makes them all a big deal to someone but when you've written and published well over a thousand, here on Literotica alone, you stop thinking of them in terms of human babies. That doesn't mean each and every one isn't an excellent story in what is being offered where it's published. If you are trained and experienced in writing, you are steeled in a method that kills stinker ideas and writing before you sit down to write them. That doesn't mean they each are pabulum for the lowest common denominator in search of nearly meaningless ratings and comments from those who don't know any more about writing than you do.

And on surfacing ideas yourself rather than relying on a committee to do it for you--in my case, I wake up nearly every morning with a number of good premises dropping into my mind. My training and experience tells me which ones to go with and how to do that. It also tells me not to treat them like human babies. Just because you don't think you generate good ideas quickly, doesn't mean that no one else can generate their own good story ideas in abundance.

 

[Hypoxia]

Everything I have written, I knew the ending, and worked out how to get there.

That's one or two of my basic writing strategies.

1) Know the whole story, like visualizing a video, and transcribe it.
2) Visualize an ending; devise setting and characters to get there.
3) Create setting, some plot points, and players, then set them loose.

#3 creates surprise endings. #1 and #2 support decisive storylines. My sorta-sister the NYT-BS lister says #3 tales are usually pretty obvious; she has #1 in mind when she signs a book contract. If it's business, draw up your plans first.

 

[Voboy]

I start with characters and a situation. The situation is, at times, far fetched, but the characters are always fully drawn human beings to me. My job is to make them as real to my readers. I’ve found that well-drawn characters will usually tell me where they want the story to go, if that doesn’t sound too weird.

If they don’t, I interpret that as a flaw in that character, or in my interpretation of her or him.

My endings typically come to me when I’m at the halfway point or so, if not sooner.

 

[KeithD]

I don't start writing without an ending in mind. It may not be the ending of the final story.

 

[CoffeeWithMonkeys]

I'm guessing this is about your series "No Such Thing as Time". You're on Chapter 13 and are getting some great ratings. You seem to be doing something right.

As I get more experience as a writer, I like chapter series less and less. I'm going to write my stuff as one story, and I don't care how big it gets. One advantage of doing that is that if I'm not liking how a story is going, I can shelve the story until I get an inspiration for how to continue. I've got one story that I was about to give up on because I didn't like how a key scene was turning out. But last week, I got an idea for changing up that scene so that it works better, and I'm back to writing that story.

Can you hold off writing more on that series? Give yourself some time to come up with something better than the two choices you're currently considering?

It is No Such Thing As Time. And honestly I'm surprised so many people have stuck by me for so long with this series since sometimes life gets in the way and my updates are slow. And the fact that there hasn't been any sex in it for a long while.

I know the ending, and thought I knew the middle, but a few days ago while writing I had a new idea come to me and thought, that would be way more interesting than going to easy road. When I told my daughter though she was like, You can't do that to your MC, she won't survive. She will, it just won't be easy for her.
In the long run though i think the detour is the better idea story wise to keep it interesting.

And thanks everyone, I really do appreciate everyone taking the time to give me their thoguths and how they work through problems.

 

[Maeven_quinn]

Everything I write, I outline first. So I already know the ending, and I already know how the characters will get there.

Often though, I'll get to a scene and think "This might not work as well I thought." I'll write out an alternate scene too, and then keep going from there. Most of the time, I found out that the alternate scene works better.

In the editting process, I'll go back and clean up previous scenes, make small changes in character actions, so that everything is still tied together casually.

I'm trying to get better at that last part.

 

[ThisNameIsntTakenYet]

For the way I approach a story, it really depends from story to story. Like hypoxia, I have several different ways of writing. Some change based on the type of story (like its category) and some on the idea I have. Generally I like to have the story outlined because it keeps me on track and prevents me from rambling on and on while exploring side tracks and unnecessary distractions.

But the story I'm working on for the summer contest has a heavy romance theme going for it, in which case I tend to just set the characters loose. There's not that much to get through when it comes to critical plot points in this story, so letting the characters lead me where they want to go isn't a problem like with others as I mentioned above. I've found that if I approach it this way it leads to more realistic interactions between the characters and (hopefully) a better story. I do have some critical plot points worked out though, and I'll be working towards them, nudging my characters where needed. It's quite a different experience from how I usually write, but a very enjoyable one.