Story wears you out?

[Ray Dario]

Has anyone ever started a story and found that the it just sapped your will to write? I started a story that I thought was a great idea, but the farther along I get in the story the more "Tired" I become. Lately I have even started to see a decrease in my productivity on other projects.

I need to either finish this story or toss it aside I think, but neither is happening. Has anyone else had this happen to them and if so how did you deal with it?

Ray

 

[nitengale]

I have a story sitting unfinished in my document file that I cannot seem to end. It has been sitting there looking back at me for over a month. It makes me very tired every time I open it. I'm not sure why I cannnot end it. It's really nerve wracking to be honest. I just keep putting it aside hoping one of the characters will push me to end it. So far they are just as uninterested in having sex, as I am about writing it. <sigh>

Maybe I should pass it along to you Ray...maybe you could end it for me...sparking your creative flow to ...well, flow again. =)

 

[MaxSebastian]

Tired? Then take a break, amigo

here's what I'd do if I were you: put it in a drawer (or a folder if your stuff is just a collection of binary bits) and LEAVE IT. Forget about it completely.

Start something entirely new and different. Then, a few weeks (or months if you're REALLY tired of it) later, you can pick it up again and you'll discover the same feelings you felt when you thought it was a wonderful idea and you'll have enough juice left to finish it and post it up on the information super by-pass.

that's what I do. Sometimes I have five or six different stories on the go at any one time

 

[MorganHawke]

Beating the Dead Story

Hi,

I have a folder in my 'Documents' files entitled 'My Work in Progress'. It contains the bits & pieces of roughly 8 unfinished stories. (Not including a small collection of unfinished Adult Fairy Tales I'm trying to sketch out.) The trick for me is to just write as much as I can & then stop when it lags, saving it in its own folder. Then I open another half-written story & wrestle with that for a while. A day or a month later, I go back to the first tale & wrestle with the plot & characters some more.

Sometimes I just can’t find anything I want to write & I’m too frustrated to fight with any of my unfinished stories. I then use this lag time to read all the erotica I can get my hands on (I'm Really fond of the 'Black Lace' novels,) for fresh inspiration. I also search out all the articles on How To Write Erotica the Internet can cough up. I have quite a collection of 'How To Write Erotica' including (especially?) the wonderful stuff by WhisperSecret.

Don't try to pop off a story all in one sitting - unless you’re Really inspired. It CAN happen though, it has even happened to me! 'Full Moon Rising' my werewolf tale, was written in one night & consisted of 8 typewritten pages. (Then I sent it to an editor & he expanded it to twelve!) A full month of rewrites later, it was sent in to LitErotica & won an Editor's Pick too. On the average, it takes me two months to write a story with an added month for editing, so three months altogether.

'Snow Moon', the story that follows 'Full Moon Rising', has taken me almost a full year to write. (I've discovered that sequels are harder to write than original pieces!) I had started writing 'Snow Moon' right after 'Full Moon Rising's appearance on LitErotica and started fighting with the characters right away. I had to shelve it several times before I could complete it. In the mean-time while I fought & sweated over 'Snow Moon', LitErotica published TWO other stories of mine! ‘Snow Moon’ is currently in to the editor right now.

So I don’t worry about putting my stuff aside and going onto other things. Just as with any lover, sometimes you need space, time apart to help you rekindle the flame you thought had fizzled out.