Just a general complaint.
I hate it when a story doesn't gel correctly in the brain.
If you can't tell, I'm having a problem with the next installment of the Sissy stories. Trips to the mall and some history revealed and it's just NOT coming together for me. I only have one page on this segment so far (normally I have four before posting) and it just doesn't feel right.
< deep sigh > Maybe I'll just go back to bed for a while.
Comments
Some Things to Try -- Maid Joy
What is the general theme of your story? How can you best show the reader the truthiness in that theme through your story? What needs to happen to make the reader believe?
Who are the central characters in your story? How does the conflict between each of your charaters further the belief in the general theme? How can you raise the level of conflict? What resolution must be acheived to satisfy the contract you've created with the reader?
Do you have too many characters or too few? Has your story been told through the right narrater? Do you need to change narraters?
Perhaps you need to write the final chapter so you have a concrete idea of where you need to go to get there.
Maybe you need to set aside that project and work on something else.
Stories can be as ephemeral as dreams. Have you ever had the most fantastic, wonderful, creative dream and then tried to tell someone about it. The average dream lasts seconds. It is filled with non-existent back story that we accept without question. Back story that is needed in the light of day. Sometimes the best thing to do with a story is to leave it die a natural death rather than to punish it forever by forcing a non-story to a conclusion.
Remember the rule of three. We are happy, content readers when things happen in threes.
I hope something in this rambling helps.
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Dreaming of Stories
I agree. I am going out on a limb, but I would guess that the majority of people who try to write have many more failed stories than they have finished stories. It is not a difficult thing to come up with an idea, cool scenes and characters are always popping into your mind, but an idea does not make a story. You have to know the tone, the characters, the conflict that drives the story, the back story, the flow, and the logic has to pass your own smell test. Sometimes I also find myself making a judgment that the energy required is not worth the payout at the end.
Every time I finish a story I revisit a number of these idea (some of which have 10K or more words written) and see if I have a better handle on the story that will make the idea live. Rarely am I not defeated once more.
Options to a Story line
Without any intent on speaking to you as though this were an easy thing, I can only recommend that you drop the story line for the present and do something else. Some projects just aren't ripe for completing. Allow it come to fruition when it is ready.
Writing things that have little to do with the one you are working on isn't therapy to complete the original so much as it allows you to experiment with other ways and means by which you can communicate thoughts and ideas. As I see it, the principle is to maintain fluidity and facility with your words so that they don't become impacted along with your original story line.
I have always suspected that this is what happened to Hemingway when he couldn't write the way he wanted any longer. It's always a danger with writers, but forcing it almost always produces a far inferior product. No one needs another Steele, Sparks, Ludlum or Grisham.
Love may be all we need, but many of us only know it by its shadow.
Love may be all we need, but many of us only know it by its shadow.
I Know How You Feel
Joy,
I've got two like that right now. They just won't go where they are supposed to. The advice from others is good. Just wait and think and try something else in the meantime. It will either come or it won't. Your "Sissy" story is nice, so don't force it. We can wait,
Hugs,
Joanne