Just *finish* it already!!

[Chicklet]

Who has one of those stories in their folders that just won't complete itself? You sit down, you stare at it, you write...but you just *can't* write the ending? Anyone? Anyone? What do you do?

My "ice queen" story feels unfinished. Every time I would sit down to finish it, I would add a new complication, or a new section, and now that I finally spat out an ending I'm very unhappy with it. But I can't just delete the ending and start over, no, because I'm so happy that the story is finished.

Share experiences, please.

Chicklet

 

[ffreak]

I have a horror novel with that problem. The first scene is very sexy, the plot is too melodramatic, and everytime I visit it, I make it worse instead of better. I would submit the first scene as a story here, but even that is not a complete story. So I visit it at least once a year convinced that if I could finish it, it would be a best seller. But for now its just a best celler.

 

[destinie21]

I've done the same thing on non lit related stories and also on the "chapters" of some of my stories. What I do is use the completed one and then go back weeks months or sometimes years later when a better ending presents itself. In my head a story is never done, unless all the characters some how die in a horrible mishap.

 

[Quasimodem]

When I can't write the end, and this goes on for a considerable length of time, there is something I will finally resort to doing.

1). Read it back carefully, to see if perhaps I missed the proper end, and kept on writing past it.

If so, it is a matter of starting from where the story was on track, and then rewrite it, working toward where I am now planning to end it.

2). Read it back carefully, to see if perhaps I misjudged where the end should come, and if I am trying to end it prematurely.

Then, I must identify everything which must happen before the story can be brought to an acceptable conclusion. This usually means going back no little way to rewrite, inserting and melding the elements previously missed, with those previously included.

I have never been completely certain which is worse, to re-write a story I tried to end too early, or to rewrite a story I tried to continue after its natural conclusion.

In either case, it means tossing out some elements that I was quite happy with, in order to reach the new objective.

This, by the way, is why I save every version. I can toss out things which it seems I will never need, a lot easier if I am aware that, if I am wrong, they are not forever lost.

 

[Svenskaflicka]

I have a story that was on ice for 2 months before I could make myself pick it up again. It's running smoothly now - except every now and then, my characters talk back to me and refuse to do what I tell them to do.

Ungrateful brats... atleast they're getting laid, what are THEY complaining about..?

 

[SlaveMasterUK]

I don't so much have this trouble with stories, but I must have 20 songs on my HD which are 'finished' in that they start and they end and they have all the tracks recorded, but I haven't given them official titles and saved them away in my 'finished songs' folder because I keep thinking I want to do something else to them. But every time I play them back I can't find what else to do with them...

I'm almost at this stage with my latest story. The more I wrote, the happier I got with the plot, and [SMUG]now I'm convinced the last half of the story is absolutely brilliant[/SMUG] but the first half seems thoroughly boring... I was working to an end of Sept deadline, but now I'm wondering if I should take another month to re-write the first 3 chapters...

With regards to a solution, I have none, but I know how you feel.

ax

 

[ffreak]

Quasi - great advise. I'm going to try to apply it to that stack of paper in my drawer.

 

[oggbashan]

At the last count I have more stories unfinished than I have posted.

I think there are about 30 which are part-completed which for me means anything from 20+ A4 pages. Anything less than 20 pages I count as barely started.

Then there are the plot drafts and outlines, the sequels, the prequels and the spin-offs which might get beyond the basic plot and bullet point stage.

If I count every "planned" story that has some text written then the total must be over a hundred.

Some will never get any further but most are viable stories.

Og

 

[ffreak]

Maybe we could create a collection of unfinished stories. Since a lot of people are attracted to books and stories by the opening lines, maybe it would sell without having to finish any of them.

We could call it the Literotica unfinished symphony.

Or maybe we could turn them into those reader directed things. You know, if Suzy cums first, turn to page 18. If George cums first, just close the book because he'll fall asleep.

 

[pop_54]

Yeppers

I have about 5 unfinished tales, all up to about threequarters done and than no more time to write due to work.
Then of course the inspiration goes after a few days and another tale is begun, that too remains unfinished for similar reasons and so it goes on.

pops................

 

[Icingsugar]

It's not the ending. It's the god damn middle.

I write in chunks. I often have the whole story arch done first, and then I write snippets almost randomly. The beginning and end are usually done first, so that I know where I am when I start, and where I have to finally take it all.

So I'm currently stuck with stories with big holes in the middle that I don't have the inspiration to fill.

 

[Icingsugar]

So I'm currently stuck with stories with big holes in the middle that I don't have the inspiration to fill.

And I LIKE filling holes.

Sorry, had to be said.

 

[The_Fool]

I have one that is a halloween story, every time Halloween gets close I think to myself that I need to pull it out and finish it. So close. I've been working on it for years. Oh....Shit....It's close to that time of year again.

I had another one that I wasn't sure whether it was done or not. I am still not sure. I also wasn't sure whether it was prose or poetry. I still don't know. But I posted it anyway. You be the judge. Is it done or not? Is it prose or poetry? Do I suck or what? (The last question is rhetorical.)

shameless plug:

Dance

 

[ffreak]

Icing: Grab a look-see at Jon Franklins' Writing for Story. He has won two pulitzers for writing real-life stories in the papers.

You're going in the order he advises, ending, then beginning, then middle.

His approach is to have a few try and fail scenes as the middle. You know, in the end boy gets girl, it began as boy thinks he gets girl. Then boy loses girl, boy tries to get girl back - and fails, boy tries again and fails, then the light bulb goes off an here we are at the original ending.

-FF (who needs to quit wandering around here and finish off some of his own middles).

 

[Alex De Kok]

My problem is that I keep getting ideas for stories before finishing the one I'm on with. Ergo, I have a couple of dozen unfinished shorts and the start of three novels (well, they're long enough...)

Mid-year resolution. Pick one and finish it!

Alex

 

[oggbashan]

Maybe we could create a collection of unfinished stories.

I used a couple in my Chain Story. If I'd used them all the story would be over 100 Lit pages long.

Og

 

[MathGirl]

I used a couple in my Chain Story. If I'd used them all the story would be over 100 Lit pages long.

Dear Ogue,
Oh, one of your shorter pieces.
MG

 

[sirhugs]

my longest, most complicated story sits in purgatory. I just can't get the protagonist and his lady love in bed together. You see, he's not quite a virgin, but wants a nice girl. And she IS a nice girl. But at what point do nice girls DO? I've had them dating since Christmas... I return to them every few months to find them stil holding hands....

*sigh*

 

[Guest]

Good god, Hugs, send the girl to me. I'll teach her how to be good and naughty (the best kind of girl).

Perdita

 

[destinie21]

Good god, Hugs, send the girl to me. I'll teach her how to be good and naughty (the best kind of girl).

Perdita

lol I'm good and naughty.

 

[Guest]

lol I'm good and naughty.

Dest, all Catholic girls are good and naughty. It's what makes us special.

Perdita

 

[ffreak]

Dest, all Catholic girls are good and naughty. It's what makes us special.


And here I was being too much of nerd, walking home from school everyday right past an all-girl Catholic school. Damn - when I think of all that I missed.

I've been deprived (that's with an i folks, not an a - that happened much later in life).

Hey, I'm from California, maybe I can sue my school for not teaching me about the finer things in a young life.

 

[SlickTony]

I have that problem. When my last story seemed to be ignored for a while after it came out, I wondered if people were tired of the gang of characters I've been using in most of my stories and I started a new series. But I ground to a halt after a while and have been unable to continue. OTOH, I am working on a story with my old gang and I'm about 3/4 of the way through it.

 

[ffreak]

Hey, there's nothing wrong with the old gang (how old you talking?) I liked your stories about Lot's daughters a lot, of course your story about the movies and the ice cream, yum.

We just gotta market you better, hon. Get the next one ready then we'll spread the word. (or the ice cream, or butter, or wherever the next story goes).

 

[The_Fool]

Good god, Hugs, send the girl to me. I'll teach her how to be good and naughty (the best kind of girl).

Perdita

*L* I always heard that there were good girls that didn't, there were bad girls that did and there were nice girls that everyone though didn't but did....