McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft
A Writer who can't Write
AverageGuy:
I see people complaining about this a lot. They never get farther than thirty pages into their story...if they even start it. So, one of the most common recommendations to get through it: use an outline. Hopefully you've figured out more than your backstory and your beginning, and you've probably got those down well enough that you don't need to work on them anymore. Make your outline, one sentence per scene from beginning to end. Then expand each sentence into a hundred words or so that highlight important events in the scene - who says what, who does what, etc. Then write from the expanded outline. Set a daily word goal, even if it's just five hundred words, and stick to it (daily word goals are easier when you have an outline to tell you exactly what you're supposed to be writing). And no matter how much you think it sucks, don't stop. You can rewrite later. Yes, events may change a bit, characters may do something unexpected, and that can actually lead to some great storytelling. But stick to the outline as much as possible and you'll get to the end.
Also if you're really blocked, skip ahead to a scene you really want to write. You'll have to fit in the middles bits eventually, but no reason to make the whole experience torture.
Finally, good luck with your writing :)
Cyclone Jack:
Here's something I've recommended to quite a few people that actually worked wonders. I myself thought it was common sense, but I guess not.
Don't leap right into writing novels! Even if you only want to be known as a novelist or etc. Start with short fiction. Become proficient with telling a complete story, with beginning middle and end. While short fiction is by no means easy to write (some consider it to be more difficult than novel length), by its very nature it allows the beginner a very helpful thing: a reachable goal while that white hot 'oh-lordy-I-gotz-a-great-idea' passion is burning brightly. :)
Short fiction allows you to practice, in miniature, all the important tools of novel writing: structure, character, plot, dialogue, integration of backstory with action, etc.
And the best part of this as a training technique is this: your short fiction doesn't have to really be all that good! It just has to be completed and analyzed and what you learn from it used to better your next story.
Give it a shot. :)
GWiz:
--- Quote from: Cyclone Jack on March 06, 2008, 02:06:20 AM ---Here's something I've recommended to quite a few people that actually worked wonders. I myself thought it was common sense, but I guess not.
Don't leap right into writing novels! Even if you only want to be known as a novelist or etc. Start with short fiction. Become proficient with telling a complete story, with beginning middle and end. While short fiction is by no means easy to write (some consider it to be more difficult than novel length), by its very nature it allows the beginner a very helpful thing: a reachable goal while that white hot 'oh-lordy-I-gotz-a-great-idea' passion is burning brightly. :)
Short fiction allows you to practice, in miniature, all the important tools of novel writing: structure, character, plot, dialogue, integration of backstory with action, etc.
And the best part of this as a training technique is this: your short fiction doesn't have to really be all that good! It just has to be completed and analyzed and what you learn from it used to better your next story.
Give it a shot. :)
--- End quote ---
Exactly what I'm working on now. I have several ideas bouncing around in my head, and actually finally completed one short story, and on my way to the second. My whole problem was (and still is, really) that I could start a novel length story but only get about eighty pages done before I started blocking. So I started with smaller stuff. So far, it's working ok, and the itch to go back and finish some of my bigger stuff is getting stronger.......and BTW, I'd like to thank all of you for really getting me back on the "writing bus"; interaction with other writers (published or not!) is some of the best inspiriation, bar none!
KevinEvans:
Another thing to remember is that writing a novel is a lot like making a movie. It does not have to be done in sequence. If you bog down, jump ahead (or behind) to the next plot focus and put some work in on it. Often times this will get your muse to define the "How did I get here" path.
Just a thought,
Kevin
Guardian 452:
Another thought about short fiction (I'm focusing on it right now as my novel work has bogged down)...
Over the past few years, an awful lot of excellent speculative fiction (to cover most of the genres we're discussing) novels have actually been novels that started out as short stories. I tend to read a few "best of" anthologies every year, and you can just tell which ones will become novels. I just seem to get excited over some of the stories, and then they eventually make their way into novel form.
It's also a good way to get some more coverage. If you can sell a short story that you plan on spinning into a novel and then you approach a publisher, it'll assist you selling the novel. At least, I think that's a good thing for first-time novelists!
Oh, and if anyone's wondering why I post so rarely here, it's for one simple reason. I find if I discuss the projects I'm working on I fall into a trap of discussing them more than working on them...anyone else go through this?
Keith
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