Having trouble developing my short story. Tips for writers block?
I’m having problems writing the outline for my short story. There are things I know I want to include for sure and other elements I’m not so sure about. How do I know what works and what doesn’t? How should I be feeling about the story through every step of the way? I feel like I can’t settle on one idea without questioning wether it works or not.
- T-Mac
Tags: Elements, Short Story, Story Tips, Writer's Block
June 5th, 2009 at 8:42 am
Think about it write a draft when you are done with that make a final copy
June 8th, 2009 at 5:45 am
Most writers have trouble silencing their inner critic, but they have to to get the work done. There’s a saying: “Make a mess now and clean it up later.” Give yourself permission to write badly. Once you get your ideas down, you can revise, revise, revise until you get it into shape. James Thurber once said that his wife thought his first drafts looked as though they had been written by a first grader. He considered a story finished after the eleventh revision. So all writing starts out badly… because it has to start somewhere.
June 8th, 2009 at 10:34 pm
You’re in luck! I’m right in the middle of writing a novel. Here’s the thing; you can’t know whether or not it’ll be good by just reading it yourself. If you’re going to try to critique yourself on plot elements or writing style, read it slowly, like any other person would. Every now and then, I actually doubt my own work. I have a stop-go style of writing, because, even though I enjoy writing longer pieces of work, I take more pleasure and pride from my poetic work. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, you know, but, even with a world of individual preferences, for or against me and my ideas, I’ll keep writing to make my work mine. Three; more of an awkward state of mind. Two; a betrayal of senses. Derangement and inconsistency; one.
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The previous is an example of a type of rough draft you might look back on and feel bad about. In reality, most people would be fine with it, so long as it flowed with the story. Being overtly critical of your work is the best way to hit a writer’s block. (Another way is to have someone ask you something along the lines of “Have writer’s block?” So annoying.) Here’s a list of short answers to your questions:
1: Some people can pick up a notebook or laptop and start their story with little to no planning. Some — the nefariously thorough story composer(s) — demand a perplexity of charts and graphs; the like of which I’m unfamiliar. It’s up to you, however. If you write better by starting from scratch, and you know you can include all of the elements you’ve deemed necessary to telling the story as you go along, do it that way. Then again, if you don’t believe you’re able to keep everything bottled up for the period of time you expect to be writing in, keep organized. Something that can kill your drive for writing is reading over something near the beginning to figure out you’ve left a lot out. You know? So, whatever you do, keep the key details in mind.
2: If you find yourself in doubt, do not toss, do not shout, hold it as your shining ray, pride your work as your own way. (A writer doesn’t work to make anything right. A writer is right to make things work. In other words, you can make a crossword puzzle out of your story, and, if it’s good, no one will complain. A comparison between old literature and new reading material will show that it’s not so much about the rule, but the delivery.)
3: If it’s your first story, you might feel down about your writing or the plot. Give up on your feelings for a while. Slip into the world of your characters, write everything you feel needs to be written, and review it when you’re ready to review the whole thing. I wouldn’t pick every piece apart as I go, if I were you. It’s like picking at a beautiful face to spite the bump on it! Give it a rest; let the story progress, then worry about “minor” revision later on.
4: You’re being hypercritical, in my opinion. Step back, allowing your intuition to bring forth inspiration. If you don’t think something is a good idea, scrap it and try again. If you think that others will dislike or shun your ideas, solidify them to such a degree that they can’t help but like them.
It’s your story. Regardless of who or what it’s for, these are your ideas, and your thoughts on paper. It’s your world, and not everyone is going to like everyone else’s world. (Could this be why people argue and fight over misunderstandings?)
So… Get to writing, and remember that many great writers have had doubtful thoughts about their work. I’m sure they found that their most comfortable style of writing was the best for them, even if they didn’t think so at the time.
Edit: Props to Malo; the fellow above me.
June 11th, 2009 at 8:58 am
Hi there
Well I’m an author of a novel, and have got two in process at the moment.
I know only too well what it’s like when you have so many ideas to consider. The best thing you can do is write down ALL your ideas, and start gathering plans for the chapters you are confident on. Then other areas of the book will start to fall into place. As for the ones you are not sure about, try working with them and see how they develop. Some ideas have real potential when they are actually started.
So don’t give up on any ideas, write them all down and see what works best. I hope this helps xx
June 14th, 2009 at 5:49 am
There’s one method called the Snowflake method with plotting, starting with only the barest of plots such as ‘conflict’ and ‘resolution’, then you add to that by asking yourself what is the subplots, who are the other characters, and how do they tie into the storyline?
Write your story without your inner editor, without concern with what works or not. When finished, then rewrite and edit and only then.
Ultimately, however, you must find whatever works for you.
June 17th, 2009 at 1:32 am
A thing that helps me is:
don’t think about what your writing and don’t stop to think about it, just keep writing. You can go back and edit later.
answer mine please, it would be a great help?
June 19th, 2009 at 5:07 am
Well, first off, I always create my characters first. Why? Because they’re the main theme of the story. Now, what you do is talk to your characters and discuss. After you think you know your characters well, then start writing the story. Don’t think about what’s going to happen. Let the characters do that for you. All you need to do is tell their story.
Answer mine: