How to get unstuck on a story?

4 posts
User avatar
Gender Other
Points 0
Reviews 17
I've been having a hard time adding to my story lately because I can't think of fresh ideas, and when I do write scenes, they're short snippets of dialogue that I wish were longer and more descriptive.
I haven't posted any of it on here yet, but my story is about a disabled superhero and his band of villains he fights. I've been trying to avoid writing fight scenes because they don't interest me and I'm not super confident in my ability to write them. I want to focus more on the relationships between the characters and how they deal with their differences.
Does anyone have tips on how to spark new ideas or how to write longer scenes?




User avatar
Gender Female
Points 187518
Reviews 1657
I find a lot of my inspiration comes from reading, so the more I read the better I write!

It's also really easy to get caught up in trying to make things perfect in a first draft where actually it's often better to power on through and just make it to the end. If you need a fight scene, put one in, however rubbish you might feel it is at the time! Then take a little time away from it and come back to edit :)




User avatar
Gender Male
Points 35831
Reviews 587
Hey Krypton! I second everything Icy said. Perfectionism is a trap that I fall into a lot as a writer. I've had to let go of that and just focus on putting words on the page. I can edit them later or even completely rewrite them. First drafts don't have to be good, they just have to be done. And reading books (preferably books in the genre you're writing) will also help!

Something else that's been helpful for me is to write an outline. Some writers like to plot literally every single curve of their plot, but that's not me. I just like saying "Here's what I want to happen in this chapter", basically giving my story some type of direction. It keeps me on track as I'm writing and helps to guide me when I sit down to write.

Hope this is helpful!
[he/him]

"tiktok and giving children meth are my passions" ~ @ShadowVyper
"carinas long foretold chaos protege" ~ @veeren
"smol bean, future of chaos" ~ @carina




User avatar
Gender Female
Points 13534
Reviews 263
There are literally so many writers on Insta that you can follow for regular writing tips and advice. I know that's not really a professional source or whatever, but like I said, there are tons of tips and inspiration if you follow the right writing accounts.



Follow your inner moonlight; don't hide the madness
— Allen Ginsburg