Hi everyone. Is anyone out there having problems writing real life stories? I mean because they are real events it either gets boring or hard to translate into words at times. Also I started out writing pretty hot and then got burned out fairly quickly writing stories. I was wondering if anyone has any good advice on how often I should write my stories without burnout but also without going long periods without writing. Any help would be appreciated.
Writer's Block on True stories.
- Thread starter LadysMan
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oggbashan
Dying Truth seeker
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Put the draft away and do some other writing.
Even exercises can help e.g. walk through the nearest door and think how you would appear to someone who saw you come through the door. What do you look like, how did you walk, what was your body language, your expression, how would you greet them?
Go back, write all that down, then walk through the door again expecting to meet a friend, an enemy, a lover, someone you want to impress, or someone you can't stand.
Write down the different ways that you would appear from each other person's viewpoint.
When you have done that, look at your draft again.
Og
Even exercises can help e.g. walk through the nearest door and think how you would appear to someone who saw you come through the door. What do you look like, how did you walk, what was your body language, your expression, how would you greet them?
Go back, write all that down, then walk through the door again expecting to meet a friend, an enemy, a lover, someone you want to impress, or someone you can't stand.
Write down the different ways that you would appear from each other person's viewpoint.
When you have done that, look at your draft again.
Og
raphy
Dum Vivimus, Vivamus
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If I'm writing a section of a story that's grinding and going slow, I skip it and move onto the next section of the plot. I either come back to it later and write it again with a fresh perspective or I drop that part out of the story altogether and look for a different way to say what I was trying to say...
That is, if it needed to be said at all. Normally I find that if part of a story is dragging, it's because it doesn't add anything to the story or plot at all... So it's more than acceptable to me if I chop it out.
That is, if it needed to be said at all. Normally I find that if part of a story is dragging, it's because it doesn't add anything to the story or plot at all... So it's more than acceptable to me if I chop it out.
ffreak
old man
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Or you could use Steinbeck's approach: each day he would sit down at his desk and write the day's events thus far - emptying his mind onto paper to get all those extraneous thoughts out of the way. After awhile, he could begin to think about his story - and he would reread yesterday's work, marking it up with edits. Then he started writing on his story from that point.
Writing 'real life' stories is still writing story. To keep the reader engaged they need to hear the elements of a story - faction or fiction. Try Jon Franklin's Writing for Story he's won two pulitzers for 'true stories' and teaches at Columbia.
-FF (When I can't write, I read. When I can't read, I post.)
Writing 'real life' stories is still writing story. To keep the reader engaged they need to hear the elements of a story - faction or fiction. Try Jon Franklin's Writing for Story he's won two pulitzers for 'true stories' and teaches at Columbia.
-FF (When I can't write, I read. When I can't read, I post.)
wildsweetone
i am what i am
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Read and work through the exercises in the book 'The Artist's Way', by Julia Cameron.
Icingsugar
peas o kayk
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ffreak said:
That's why there are so many "based on a true story" tales out there. But there are not many 100% accurately told true stories. Probably because even though reality is a pretty exciting place to be sometimes, retelling reality as it really went down could easily bore the daylight out of the readers.
pop_54
The young Aviator LOL
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Yeppers
Got to agree with the ice man, I write fact based stories also at times, but without a liberal bunch of fiction and spicing up, (or down), they'd be even more boring shit than they are now.
Don't try pure fact in sex/erotic stories it's hell, I did try it once the story never got finished.
pops.........
Got to agree with the ice man, I write fact based stories also at times, but without a liberal bunch of fiction and spicing up, (or down), they'd be even more boring shit than they are now.
Don't try pure fact in sex/erotic stories it's hell, I did try it once the story never got finished.
pops.........
Thank you all for the wonderful advice. I've just been stuck in a rut lately. Too much going on. Too little time to spend writing my stories. I think a lot of you are right though. Maybe I am trying to be too true. It is a lot more fun when I make things up and mix it with the truth. I think a lot of fans get off on knowing a story is true, but it is hard, and boring, to write the complete truth.
I am going to take all the advice given to me. I think this forces me to see the truth in why I have been having trouble writing lately. The answer lies in my storytelling. Storytelling is one of my strengths in writing. I have been trying too hard to be "true" for my fans that I am sacrificing my storytelling abilities. Not that I can't tell the truth in some of my stories but I need to weave it into a story instead of writing it exactly as it happened. That would explain why I am getting bored trying to write my real life experiences lately.
I especially liked the one post that says I should write down my thoughts and what is going on during my day before moving on to writing my stories. I feel that might also be part of my problem. I have too much on my mind and it is getting hard to concentrate on my stories. If I could get all that garbage out of my head, and do away with all the distractions, I think the writing would come a lot easier. Thanks a lot for all the wonderful advice. I appreciate the help.
I am going to take all the advice given to me. I think this forces me to see the truth in why I have been having trouble writing lately. The answer lies in my storytelling. Storytelling is one of my strengths in writing. I have been trying too hard to be "true" for my fans that I am sacrificing my storytelling abilities. Not that I can't tell the truth in some of my stories but I need to weave it into a story instead of writing it exactly as it happened. That would explain why I am getting bored trying to write my real life experiences lately.
I especially liked the one post that says I should write down my thoughts and what is going on during my day before moving on to writing my stories. I feel that might also be part of my problem. I have too much on my mind and it is getting hard to concentrate on my stories. If I could get all that garbage out of my head, and do away with all the distractions, I think the writing would come a lot easier. Thanks a lot for all the wonderful advice. I appreciate the help.
damppanties
Tinkle, twinkle
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LadysMan said:I especially liked the one post that says I should write down my thoughts and what is going on during my day before moving on to writing my stories. I feel that might also be part of my problem. I have too much on my mind and it is getting hard to concentrate on my stories. If I could get all that garbage out of my head, and do away with all the distractions, I think the writing would come a lot easier. Thanks a lot for all the wonderful advice. I appreciate the help.
Was anyone else reminded of the Pensieve while reading this?
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