I have been looking over the dozens of my story ideas stored on my computer, some of them years old and never likely to be started, never mind finished, and trying to work out why I never took them any further.
Most of them show the protagonist getting into an interesting, complex (and almost believable!) situation. But I now realise one particular fault is shared by many of them. In future, I'm going to rigorously ensure I don't fall into the trap again by applying "Charlotte's Test".
For each story idea, I have to answer the simple question: How does the story end?
Of course, before I can answer that question, I have to answer an even more important question: What is the story?
A story needs some kind of conflict and its resolution before it can be considered a story, and all too many of my ideas (and many of those I've seen suggested on this site) simply involve a situation without conflict.
If others have this same problem with their story ideas, I recommend the use of Charlotte's Test. I'll let you know in a few months whether it's working for me.
Comments
Story Ideas
why not have a rough idea and start the story in chapters and let it take on a life of it own and come up with and ending as you get closer to the end,just trying to be helpful HUGS & KISSES RICHIE2
This is....
This is a good way for her to end up where she currently is. Lots of ideas, but no clue how to finish them.
There's nothing wrong with a bunch of problems and interesting ways to resolve them. You never know when a story can take advantage of one you've written up... :-)
You're correct in noting that a story that doesn't have an ending is rarely "satisfying" to the reader. There ARE exceptions. Angharad's Bike is one, though she does have mini conclusions regularly in her ongoing saga. But, that's not what you're describing, I don't think.
Have fun and good luck. Don't stop coming up with those ideas. Just don't think they're "stories" all by them selves, unless they actually are. :-)
Anne
Don't get me wrong
This is the way I've written almost every one of my stories, and on the whole I am proud of them. I do find that many of the things which happen in my stories are as much a surprise to me as to my readers. I certainly couldn't get into writing out detailed plots, as some authors do, as I find it makes the whole process incredibly boring.
BUT, I do want to reduce the incredible number of story ideas which fly around my head for a few days, after which I either manage to forget them or I jot them down for later attention.
Often, when I try to turn them into a story, I develop a superb start, only to founder after, say, twenty pages with nowhere really to go. By forcing myself to ask the "How does it end?" question, I have to have some basis for a story plot, rather than simply an interesting situation, which is how I have generally started.