HALP! I'm stuck. :(
- Thread starter GinaTina
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soflabbwlvr
Literotica Guru
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Do you know how the story ends? If so, skip ahead and work on a section that you have conceptualized more definitely.
If you are stuck on plot, then figure out how you want the story to end. Work out how to get to your ending from the point where you are stuck.
If you are stuck on plot, then figure out how you want the story to end. Work out how to get to your ending from the point where you are stuck.
GinaTina
Literotica Guru
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Gahhhh!
Ok so I went ahead and wrote some future chapters - quite a few really.
But the problem is that I still can't quite figure out how to continue the part I'm stuck on to get my characters to those chapters..
You savvy?
I'm in need of some ideas - please. It's been three days and I'm still stumped. I'm willing to let someone have a sneak-peak of the next part of my story in return for some help.
Who wants to be my muse? Anyone? I really need another person to bounce some ideas off of - I NEED the story to flow smoothly and I just can't quite see it.
HALP!!
Writings are in my sig.
Thanks in advance,
Ginnnnnna!!
Ok so I went ahead and wrote some future chapters - quite a few really.
But the problem is that I still can't quite figure out how to continue the part I'm stuck on to get my characters to those chapters..
You savvy?
I'm in need of some ideas - please. It's been three days and I'm still stumped. I'm willing to let someone have a sneak-peak of the next part of my story in return for some help.
Who wants to be my muse? Anyone? I really need another person to bounce some ideas off of - I NEED the story to flow smoothly and I just can't quite see it.
HALP!!
Writings are in my sig.
Thanks in advance,
Ginnnnnna!!
CWatson
Not in a band.
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2003
- Posts
- 1,653
Give yourself permission to not write.
There can be a lot of pressure when you've invested hopes, dreams and effort into a story already; Stephen King has talked about what a pressure cooker it was to hit writer's block on The Stand, which at that point was something like 600 pages already. But the simple fact is that not all stories go somewhere, and you wouldn't be the first to give up on a tale that was halfway published. (I've done it three times--twice on the same story.) We're not getting paid, we're doing this for free; it's okay for us to be ADHD. Or, at least, nobody can stop us.
Having a sense of obligation hanging over you can really mess with your vibe. So get rid of it. Take a deep breath, take a chill pill, and decide you're going to write what you can. And if it goes nowhere, it goes nowhere--that's cool too. Don't write for others. Write for yourself. And if your self is telling you, "I'm bored with this, let's move on," then you can.
(Also, speaking only for myself, I would never write chapters out of order... But that's because my details are constantly shifting and mutating, so that things written out of order don't fit together anymore. Amy Tan has talked about her characters as being completely controllable and completely predictable; they never step out of line. If my characters were like that I would kill myself. I love it that they surprise me. But the price I pay is that she can write her chapters out of order, and I can't. Your mileage may vary.)
There can be a lot of pressure when you've invested hopes, dreams and effort into a story already; Stephen King has talked about what a pressure cooker it was to hit writer's block on The Stand, which at that point was something like 600 pages already. But the simple fact is that not all stories go somewhere, and you wouldn't be the first to give up on a tale that was halfway published. (I've done it three times--twice on the same story.) We're not getting paid, we're doing this for free; it's okay for us to be ADHD. Or, at least, nobody can stop us.
Having a sense of obligation hanging over you can really mess with your vibe. So get rid of it. Take a deep breath, take a chill pill, and decide you're going to write what you can. And if it goes nowhere, it goes nowhere--that's cool too. Don't write for others. Write for yourself. And if your self is telling you, "I'm bored with this, let's move on," then you can.
(Also, speaking only for myself, I would never write chapters out of order... But that's because my details are constantly shifting and mutating, so that things written out of order don't fit together anymore. Amy Tan has talked about her characters as being completely controllable and completely predictable; they never step out of line. If my characters were like that I would kill myself. I love it that they surprise me. But the price I pay is that she can write her chapters out of order, and I can't. Your mileage may vary.)
mokkelke
Experienced
- Joined
- Sep 29, 2007
- Posts
- 64
i find having a proofreader such a must. the first few chapters of my own went rather well writing wise. i think i must have been on cloud seven because of the positive feedback i was getting. over time you get to talk to a few more often, build up some sort of friendship and it grows to be more. more in terms as helping each other out. that's how jazcullen became my proofreader before i send anything of for final editing.
when i get stuck with a part i go into semi whine - mode(grins). it's hardly writers block, but the story is there in my mind. as some say write parts up front but i'm one of those that isn't capable of doing that, my chars have a will of their own, they control me when i write about them.
i try to explain what my issue is, where i'm stuck, where i want it to go. 9/10 she's able to provide me with good advise or a good kick in the butt and get me back on track.
it's in my opinion always easier to help others with their story then sometimes moving forward with your own. you can have such set ideas in your mind on which you focus so much that it becomes a struggle to focus and get anything done.
i find it helps to have another project in the works then, it helps distracting a bit from the other one.
when i get stuck with a part i go into semi whine - mode(grins). it's hardly writers block, but the story is there in my mind. as some say write parts up front but i'm one of those that isn't capable of doing that, my chars have a will of their own, they control me when i write about them.
i try to explain what my issue is, where i'm stuck, where i want it to go. 9/10 she's able to provide me with good advise or a good kick in the butt and get me back on track.
it's in my opinion always easier to help others with their story then sometimes moving forward with your own. you can have such set ideas in your mind on which you focus so much that it becomes a struggle to focus and get anything done.
i find it helps to have another project in the works then, it helps distracting a bit from the other one.
Make it rain.
It's been pure chucking it down these past few nights/mornings, and one of the things I found myself thinking of was, would it help the plot if there was bad weather? No, worse than that, what if it poured so bad that rivers started to flood?
Staring at a screen waiting for an idea to pop into your head is inherently inferior to looking outside while you're making a cuppa. But even if you glean nothing from the murky rain-soaked outdoors, you now have a steaming cup of wake-up juice.
Your writing process may vary.
It's been pure chucking it down these past few nights/mornings, and one of the things I found myself thinking of was, would it help the plot if there was bad weather? No, worse than that, what if it poured so bad that rivers started to flood?
Staring at a screen waiting for an idea to pop into your head is inherently inferior to looking outside while you're making a cuppa. But even if you glean nothing from the murky rain-soaked outdoors, you now have a steaming cup of wake-up juice.
Your writing process may vary.
Last edited:
TheGatekeeper953
Virgin
- Joined
- Sep 27, 2010
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- 26
Just a thought for later
I'm so inexperienced that I should probably keep my mouth shut, but I was never known for doing what I should.
I've already decided that I will not release any chapter until I'm 2 chapters beyond it. That way, if I write myself into a corner or block up, I have plenty of material to adjust to get around it. That's happened so many times already that I don't even want to talk about it.
I'm so inexperienced that I should probably keep my mouth shut, but I was never known for doing what I should.
I've already decided that I will not release any chapter until I'm 2 chapters beyond it. That way, if I write myself into a corner or block up, I have plenty of material to adjust to get around it. That's happened so many times already that I don't even want to talk about it.
bashfullyshameless
Literotica Guru
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- Sep 7, 2010
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- 516
Look to your original sources of inspiration
There are doubtlessly things that inspire you to write your story(ies). You get thinking about what you want to write while watching films or television, or from books you've read or songs that inspire you.
Go back to those. They'll likely get you jazzed and thinking about what you want to do in your *own* project while you enjoy someone else's work.
My current Literotica project has kind of shoved aside a space opera novel that I've been working on. I've gone with that, as I'm really enjoying my smutty fantasy epic... but I am well aware that the second I find myself watching the DVD of the last "Star Trek" movie again, it's gonna be less sex and more space for me for a little while...
There are doubtlessly things that inspire you to write your story(ies). You get thinking about what you want to write while watching films or television, or from books you've read or songs that inspire you.
Go back to those. They'll likely get you jazzed and thinking about what you want to do in your *own* project while you enjoy someone else's work.
My current Literotica project has kind of shoved aside a space opera novel that I've been working on. I've gone with that, as I'm really enjoying my smutty fantasy epic... but I am well aware that the second I find myself watching the DVD of the last "Star Trek" movie again, it's gonna be less sex and more space for me for a little while...
