Looking for help

[tony butler]

I have been trying for several months to get stories started, but I can't get anything close to respectability.
The ideas are there, but for some reason they can't be placed on the paper/screen for writing.
And when I do get something started, it always seems like a bunch of loose pieces I just sewed together.
I think this goes way beyond the typical "writer's block" but what do you think?

 

[minsue]

Maybe try just getting it all down, out of your head and onto the page, as a start? You can always go back to edit, chop, slice, dice after. Just write to get past your block.

Good luck.

 

[Colleen Thomas]

I have been trying for several months to get stories started, but I can't get anything close to respectability.
The ideas are there, but for some reason they can't be placed on the paper/screen for writing.
And when I do get something started, it always seems like a bunch of loose pieces I just sewed together.
I think this goes way beyond the typical "writer's block" but what do you think?

Pick a story idea. Think it through, even use a cheat hseet if you need to, with relevant character information you want to impart, plot devices you will use and an outline of the action. then write it, no matter how bad it sounds or how wrong it feels, just buckle down and get it out on the page.

Let it sit a day or three and then reread and begin refining, correctiong typos first, then grammatical flaw, work up to making the small changes in word choice that you feel are best. Spell check it.

Once it's "done" take advantage of Lit's volunteer editor program or get a friend you trust to proof it for you. Post it.

Getting the first one done is something akin to scoring the first points in a football or basketball game. The first ones are always the hardest to get. Once you have one posted, each succeeding one will be easier in some way, though perhaps tougher as you learn to define your own touch.

good Luck

 

[tony butler]

Pick a story idea. Think it through, even use a cheat hseet if you need to, with relevant character information you want to impart, plot devices you will use and an outline of the action.

I think that's one of my problems.
I put so much thought into developing the story idea and characters and spend little time on the book itself.
A current story I have going is not based in erotica (sorry) but I have the smallest details laid out for each character--such as their personality, physical description, and background. But when it comes time to writing the story, I fall flat on my face and can't get it started.

 

[gauchecritic]

From what you say I'd guess that it may be one of two things. One is easy to fix, the other impossible. We'll go for easy first.

It may be that the ideas you have aren't complete. For many writers this is a must for them to even begin. For other writers this doesn't even come into the equation, they sit down and simply start writing. From the immense amount I've learned since joining Lit. I'd say that most writers are probably somewhere in the middle.

None of the above starting points are wrong or bad, also none of them are absolute or good. We are all different writers and we all write different stories and most of all we all have our own way of writing.

It sounds to me like the middle is not a good place for you. A few scenes, a couple of variable characters and how it all begins (and maybe where it ends) as far as I can tell, is the basic frame from where most Lit. writers begin. It sounds as though you require a definite outline, probably quite fixed characters and knowing where it all starts, what happens in the middle and the final outcome.

The fix. Take someone else's story and re-write it. I don't mean go plagiarise someone's story here on Lit, I'm talking about fairy stories, folk tales even celebrity parody or fanfic.

When I wrote Fairy Story (the true tale of sleeping beauty) I managed to write three and half Lit pages, one of my longest on the site. I invented and introduced various characters, scenes, even a sub-plot or two because however far I veered from the original I always had the basic story to come back to. I must confess, it was the easiest story I ever wrote for Lit. and that was to a competition deadline.

When I write fully invented stories however they take forever depending on how little storyline I have.

So if you have a go at that and find it comes naturally or more easily, because you have a plot line to follow then that may be why you feel you can't get anywhere. Which may indicate that you too are in need of a fuller outline before you begin.

Now the impossible. It's really not as bad as you may think. It may be that the parts, scenes, characters that you can't complete are simply not as good as you want them to be. This is something that affects a large part of this AH community. A great many of us (not me by the way, my ego knows no bounds) think or feel that the work we produce isn't as good as say... The Great Gatsby or perhaps... Return Of The Native. The point here is that there is absolutely no reason why they should be the same as any "great work". There is no comparison to be made. Your oranges are never going to be the same (or as good as) someone else's apples.

There is a fix for this but it is a long and difficult process. One that is so great that many hopeful writers give up before they start. Even when you follow it, it may be that your result is something that you would never have dreamed of as being a 'good thing'. It's called practice.

One of the essential elements of practice is having someone who isn't you look at your work and tell you what they think. That's the great thing about Lit.

Write your story as well as you can. Post it. And then you'll have thousands of people who aren't you letting you know (in a very subtle and actually valueless way) what they think. The value of these 'readers' as we like to call them comes in three flavours.

1. Volume. Thousands and thousands of people (sometimes 10s or very occasionally hundreds of thousands) reading, or at the very least opening your posted story.

2. Voters. A tiny fraction of those that have opened your story will be moved enough to leave a voiceless remark in the form of a score (from 1 to 5)

3. Feedbackers. The public comment variety have been moved enough by your story to tell you, and other readers, what they feel about it. The E-mail feedbackers are the life-blood of us AHers. These are the even smaller fraction of readers that will take the trouble to send you a personal message as to how or why they think your work is a load of tripe that will see you spend eternity in the flames of purgatory or that was so hot they cummed three times before the end of the first paragraph.

Secret flavour 4. Those readers that will tell you why you are great/average/rotten and exactly how that twist at the end didn't quite come off, these are the readers we title 'invaluable'.

These readers, with the aid of the AH community and that forum that requires a little work before seeing results on our own work known as the 'Story Discussion Circle' plus the story ideas forum, how to... forum and feedback forum, are the ones that can (and will) let you know just how much better (or worse) your story really is than you think. From which we can all learn and grow, as writers, as critics and as readers

 

[tony butler]

I know I'm in there somewhere.
The problem for me is I can't even write out the first line.
The folks in the story have been set and the plot is in my mind, but I can't write/type it out.

I hear people say "Just write and don't worry about what it looks like" or "Don't worry if it's right, just write" but for some reason, those theories are not very helpful to me.

 

[impressive]

I know I'm in there somewhere.
The problem for me is I can't even write out the first line.
The folks in the story have been set and the plot is in my mind, but I can't write/type it out.

I hear people say "Just write and don't worry about what it looks like" or "Don't worry if it's right, just write" but for some reason, those theories are not very helpful to me.

So dictate. Record your ideas -- and find a ghost writer. Maybe after your cherry is popped, it'll ... um, come easier next time.

 

[lil_elvis]

I know I'm in there somewhere.
The problem for me is I can't even write out the first line.
The folks in the story have been set and the plot is in my mind, but I can't write/type it out.

I hear people say "Just write and don't worry about what it looks like" or "Don't worry if it's right, just write" but for some reason, those theories are not very helpful to me.

So when your story opens, what's happening? Hopefully, they're not already to full blown monkey sex.

Are they talking?
Acquainted w/ each other or strangers?
Where are they? (Bumping into each other in front of the zucchini in the produce aisle?)
What time of day?

etc....

Ask yourself some questions, then answer them.. lo and behold, you've started writing.

 

[gauchecritic]

I know I'm in there somewhere.
The problem for me is I can't even write out the first line.
The folks in the story have been set and the plot is in my mind, but I can't write/type it out.

I hear people say "Just write and don't worry about what it looks like" or "Don't worry if it's right, just write" but for some reason, those theories are not very helpful to me.

OK then, just for practice, write out the fairy story you know best. Write something that you know well, in your own words. Have look through the back pages of the AH and find those exercises that were prevalent a while back. Try those. Write short things like a scenery description or a conversation. Try a sex scene, you might be surprised by the amount of stories on Lit that are just that.

[teachermode] On this page, in your next answer, describe or explain why, the guy in the expensive suit, is sitting on the kerb side with tears streaming down his face holding something close to his chest which we can't see (unless you tell us)[/teachermode].

Any one else wanting to perform this task are welcome.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Based on the fact that your posts are written in one-sentence paragraphs, and that you say you have no trouble in planning things out but lots of trouble writing the story, that you have problems with writing a narrative. In other words, you can't get the words and images to flow when you start to write, but instead end up with something that reads like a list of things that your characters are doing. Is that about right?

It would help tremendously if you could post a little excerpt here so we can see what the problem is, otherwise we're just shooting in the dark.

--Zoot

 

[tony butler]

I would like to give you guys and girls an idea of what my writing looks like, but sadly I can't get anything started.

Another issue I have is that I can watch a TV show and do a story using those characters with no problem, but I can't write anything using my own characters.

I know my characters and what they look like, what they do...but I can't get them down in words (like I said, I can write anything using other characters).

 

[Weird Harold]

I know my characters and what they look like, what they do...but I can't get them down in words (like I said, I can write anything using other characters).

Perhaps your problem is you know your characters too well?

Your question provided the clue to a problem I've been stuck on for a couple of years now:

I'm stuck in the middle of one story because I know the characters and I know what the plot says they're supposed to do, but they simply refuse to do it. I could write the necessary scene with other characters, but the characters I have in the story simply would NOT do what I had planned for them; I'd have to change their personalities to make it work an that would destroy the rest of the story. Your question helped me to realize that my subconscious is refusing to write the scene because it simply isn't going to work as planned with those particular characters.

You might consider writing a different story with those characters or just start writing the story you want to tell without predefining the characters -- let the story build the characters for you instead of trying to force-fit predefined characters into a story they aren't suited for.

 

[tony butler]

It would help tremendously if you could post a little excerpt here so we can see what the problem is, otherwise we're just shooting in the dark.

This is by no means the story I want to write, but it's just an example. It's about this point on every occasion that I stall...

This morning is a calm and peaceful beginning to the day. From my office window, I can hear the sounds of birds chirping and the distant sounds of a train whistle across the river. It certainly differs from last night with the constant barage of thunder and lightning with the line of storms we had to go through. But in an instant, the serene nature of the morning is shattered with the sound of the office door opening and the loud, demanding voice of my assistant named Lauren.
She busts through the doorway and slams her purse on my desk while looking at me straight in the eye, "This had better be good, boss"
That was typical for Lauren. She felt she had to behave in an outlandish fashion to justify her fiery red hair. Besides being my assistant, she is also my sister-in-law.
She sits down across from me, "What is up with Tony?", she says, "one bolt of lightning and we don't have sex last night!"
Tony (my brother) always had an adversion to storms and last might was up there with the best of them for severity.
Lauren pulls a brush from her purse and continues to talk, "I mean, c'mon! I know my moans could have drowned out the thunder. Don't you agree?"
I wans't sure if I wanted to answer this one. Instead, I began to discuss our current situation with her, but she kept talking about it for a while.
"Does it have to be perfect weather for me to get fucked?" she blurts out as the door opens again. Not one to be ashamed about anything, she turns around to see her partner, Nicole standing there with a stunned look on her face. Lauren smirks a bit and looks at Nikki, "Let me guess. You got some last night didn't you?"
She throws her arms up in disgust, "Do I have the only guy that doesn't fuck when it rains?"

 

[gauchecritic]

Well Tony, for better or worse, now that you've given an example I think I can see why you call it "a bunch of loose pieces I just sewed together."

For hook and intrigue (from this example) I'd say you have a pretty good grasp of being able to draw the reader in. You've set the motive for the story as a whole and followed one of the first rules exactly; make your reader want to know what happens next.

In my opinion, the problem that you're having is that you don't actually like what you are writing, it's not as 'good' as you'd like it to be. The only remedy is practice.

I think most authors here would admit that their first posted stories at Lit are 'poorer' than their latest. That's because they've learned as they wrote, why some thing don't work, why layout is important, how to make a work flow.

Now I don't know all the technical names for things like dangling participles or the subject of an adverb I just know when it looks wrong, to me, and your piece looks wrong in quite a few ways.

Layout: spacing really, between paragraphs and when including speech.

misspelling: adversion for aversion.

awkward sentences: I wans't sure if I wanted to answer this one. Instead, I began to discuss our current situation with her, but she kept talking about it for a while. (plus typos)

I think you probably need a good editor who can point out why something doesn't work or where it's 'wrong'. One who has lots of time to correct the things that matter piece by piece, without re-writing (which is why I'm not a good editor)

The thing that's drying you up as you write is what you've already written. It's grammatically poor, difficult to read and sounds like your trying too hard to write well. It doesn't flow, there's no rhythm, it lacks description.

That may sound harsh and offputting but it's what I see. I do hope you won't let that discourage you though or that it makes you think "right, I'll show 'em", because the things I see are almost all technical and can be trained with practice.

The other thing I see is that you seem to have the 'knack' for plot and by-play and making your reader want to know more.

Keep writing and like the rest of us you'll keep learning.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Okay, so what's the problem?

Personally, I'd go with past tense rather than present, but that's just a matter of personal taste. What you have so far is pretty good, and the touches about Lauren's having to justify her red hair and not being ashamed about anything in front of Nikki are very nicely done. They paint a vivid picture of a characater by showing us her actions, and the story's moving right along.

What's next? She comes up to the narrator and gives him a salacious little grope and says, "I'll bet you wouldn't let a little thunder bother you..." and you're off. An office 3-way. One of my favorites.

--Zoot

 

[tony butler]

Well Tony, for better or worse, now that you've given an example I think I can see why you call it "a bunch of loose pieces I just sewed together."

For hook and intrigue (from this example) I'd say you have a pretty good grasp of being able to draw the reader in. You've set the motive for the story as a whole and followed one of the first rules exactly; make your reader want to know what happens next.

In my opinion, the problem that you're having is that you don't actually like what you are writing, it's not as 'good' as you'd like it to be. The only remedy is practice.

I think most authors here would admit that their first posted stories at Lit are 'poorer' than their latest. That's because they've learned as they wrote, why some thing don't work, why layout is important, how to make a work flow.

Now I don't know all the technical names for things like dangling participles or the subject of an adverb I just know when it looks wrong, to me, and your piece looks wrong in quite a few ways.

Layout: spacing really, between paragraphs and when including speech.

misspelling: adversion for aversion.

awkward sentences: I wans't sure if I wanted to answer this one. Instead, I began to discuss our current situation with her, but she kept talking about it for a while. (plus typos)

I think you probably need a good editor who can point out why something doesn't work or where it's 'wrong'. One who has lots of time to correct the things that matter piece by piece, without re-writing (which is why I'm not a good editor)

The thing that's drying you up as you write is what you've already written. It's grammatically poor, difficult to read and sounds like your trying too hard to write well. It doesn't flow, there's no rhythm, it lacks description.

That may sound harsh and offputting but it's what I see. I do hope you won't let that discourage you though or that it makes you think "right, I'll show 'em", because the things I see are almost all technical and can be trained with practice.

The other thing I see is that you seem to have the 'knack' for plot and by-play and making your reader want to know more.

Keep writing and like the rest of us you'll keep learning.

Yeah, I agree with all of that.
I would also say that I'm trying to either write about stuff that I shouldn't or trying to place things where they don't belong (chracters not doing what they are supposed to be doing). Almost seeming like I'm trying to write about things I don't know much about???????
Hmmm.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

The beginning is almost always the hardest part of writing a story, and when you get to this point, disgusted with your opening, you can do one of two things: (1) go back and try to make the beginning perfect, in which case you'll never finish the story, or (2) hold your nose and write through it, then go back and try and fix it on the editing run.

Personally, I often don't even know what a story's about when I start writing it, so my beginnings always have to be heavily revised as the plot and characters take shape. There's no sense in me worryiing about my crappy openings, because I know they're going to be ripped up and redone once the story's done.

Gauche's points are well taken, but if I were you, I'd push ahead and write the damned story. You may find things clearing up as you get to the parts you enjoy writing, or the whole thing might be like pulling teeth, in which case you're probably just not cut out to be a writer. In either case, you'll have a story under your belt rather than just a bunch of aborted openings.

 

[gauchecritic]

Yeah, I forgot to mention that. Good point Zoot. It's a bit pointless writing beginnings and not doing anything with them.

I saw one regular at Lit who said that they often began stories, wrote through and finished them and then simply removed the beginnings. Maybe that would work. Use your beginning as a kick off point and then decide afterwards if it's worth leaving in.

Like a great many things in life, the beginning isn't the always the best part, the fun happens once you've got going, like riding a bike I suppose.

You have to have a beginning but in writing you don't necessarily have to show it to anyone.

 

[nushu2]

Maybe you just have to organize all those ideas before you start writing. You may be overwhelmed by all the details. Consider an outline.

An outline is not formal and doesn't need to be strictly followed. Just start jotting some ideas down. Some people are uncomfortable doing this on a computer but this stage can change so much that a 'puter screen would end up a lot clearer. An outline does not have to be a hierarchical (points, subpoints, etc.) or even sequential, except if you're truly anal. Double spacing is easier.

I started many stories this way, espescially those that require research. Sometimes, it's just some notes to remember until I can get around to it. After awhile, you'll find the writing comes easier and the notes to yourself become smaller.

 

[Guest]

You have to have a beginning but in writing you don't necessarily have to show it to anyone.

Good grief, that's nearly the most profound truth about any art in general that I've read on this board. Probably the most, but I hesitate going overboard in praising Gaucho (his head was just normally swollen the last time I looked) .

I daresay the likes of James Joyce, Jean-Luc Godard or even Shakesbloke would love that sentence.

Now I'm really off (I only came on to check on Svenska).

Perdita

 

[tony butler]

This may be a bit over-the-top, but I find it most disturbing that I can have a story in my mind, but not put it in writing.
Where does the writing aspect start?
You have to come up with an idea first (and that's the main thing) and that is no problem. My issues stem from putting it visually.
Plotting out a story is as important as putting it down for people to see. Why can I do one and not the other...

[I could own a world record for most stories started without continuing them]

 

[gauchecritic]

Maybe you're constricting yourself. Having a plot and characters and things that should happen could actually be too much of a straight jacket. Perhaps you could practice some top-of-the-head stuff, so-called stream of consciousness. Maybe you only need one character to start with, or just the circumstances rather than the full blown plot.

You seem to place a lot of emphasis on ideas and pre-writing preparation and thereby place a lot of pressure on yourself to get down to writing.

Try just writing. Vague outlines work for a lot a people.

Instead of character notes, plot lines and all the other paraphernalia you think you need try preparation as 'the whole thing'. Don't jot down a list of character traits but write a description of the character. Don't start a timeline flowchart, write down the story as simply as possible.

Don't tie yourself, just let it flow.