Young Writers Society

Okay every time I get into a story for some reason I stop! Its like some unknown force that prevents me from getting beyond one hundred pages! I either get a new idea, think it sucks, or just lose all interest in it. What do I do?!!! I need help!

NaNoWriMo. Once you find that yes, you actually can do something crazy like that, you can do anything.

But yeah, NaNoWriMo is something everyone should have going in their minds- or rather, the pressure of it. Most writers [I hate to stereotype, but I fit neatly into it] are very free-flowing peolple- they like to try this, do that, then maybe come back to something or leave it for something better. It's just the way we are. But with a structure to it, writing can become something that you finish.

A few things you'll need to consider:

- Motivation. Really, think about it- do you like this story, or are you writing it "just 'cause"? If you're not absolutely 100% in love with your story, it's probably not something you should be writing.

- Are you in for the long haul? Good stories (by stories, I mean novels) take years to create, since it takes time to write a draft and polish it up and possibly start over and repeat the process. Really. I think Snoink's FREAK took around five years, and my current project is two, going strong. It just takes a lot of work.

- Are you a short story person, or a novel person? Do you fantasize about being able to show a world or a point of view in small space, or do you salivate over being able to draw your readers into that world and wander around for awhile?

- Do you know what your voice sounds like? Not your singing voice, silly, but your writing voice! This can take awhile to develop, and when you do- as Brad's said, in Squills- it's not always a joyous discovery. [Horror story: one of my friends told me, "Your voice sounds like Nabokov. You know, at four o'clock in the morning on the fifteenth cappuchino? Yeah..."] But! If you can find your voice (how you naturally write, in your own way that's as different from other peoples' like a fingerprint), you'll be a lot more comfortable writing. It may actually become fun, and eventually satisfying.

If you haven't- don't worry! But now's perhaps the time to try all sorts of new things out that maybe you don't finish. It's not an excuse to not write though, since the only way you're going to find it is by working like a crazy woman. Write, write, write, and don't stop writing.

Know your answers, and still want to finish? Ooer! Poor you...you must be deranged, like most of us.

Here are a few tips:

- Do word wars. These are a little remnant I've picked up from the NaNoing world, in which you grab a friend and pick a specific amount of time- ten minutes, an hour, a day, you pick- and see who can get the most words in. This'll pressure you in the off-NaNo season to just get stuff on paper and not worry about how great or artistic it is.

- Get in touch with your characters. For me, personally, this is a must- if you don't know who you're steering around your world, it's like riding a bike, blindfolded. It's simply not a good idea. Learn to love 'em. Know all you can about them, and really get inside their heads.

- Outline. Have a vague idea of how your story's going to end and at least a few of the steps of how to get there, otherwise...back to the riding-a-bike-with-a-blindfold metaphor. Having an outline to refer to can also give you a good kick in the pants when you're having a bad writing day and don't know what to put down on paper.

- Find out how you write best. Consider where you like to be writing, and with what- and if you work better when people are reading as you go, or if you should spread it around when you're done and editing. I've heard from a lot of sources that it's a bad idea to show people the first drafts of novels, but for a lot of people, the extra pressure from readers wanting more and more chapters helps them get it written.

- Hug a critiquer. Really, they're the people who are going to help you with your big hefty mass of text when you're through- or whilst you're writing.

NaNoWriMo is what exactly?

http://www.nanowrimo.org/

Basically it just challenges writers to finish a 50,000 word novel in one month.


As far as finishing a story goes, I agree with what Sam said. I've had the same problem you have for years, but if I can find that one idea that really sticks with me, I can write it no problem. Also, for me at least, there are always those stages in writing where it gets boring, I don't feel like writing, etc., but I force myself to keep going and I end up sucked into the story again in no time.

The only way I finished stories was I got completely obsessed with them. So you'll see plenty of ramblings on FREAK on my blogs, lol. For you, you might want to give yourself rewards or something... or maybe go with short stories. That way you can deal with lots of new ideas!

Snoink wrote:The only way I finished stories was I got completely obsessed with them.

I echo Snoink. Being emotionally engaged in a story (to an obsessive degree) is very important for a story. However, it takes more than obsession. It takes determination and perseverance. It takes not letting yourself be sidetracked.

It is harder to become sidetracked if you have engaging characters and an interesting plot. It is also harder to become sidetracked once you have seriously started writing and made a commitment to write. Once I started Flames and decided to see it all the way through, it became a conviction - my characters would haunt me when I did not write, and I would feel guilty for not writing. It became a habit.

I have found that when my stories include themes that I feel I have an obligation to write about, it is much easier to continue writing. Then I feel like I am doing something much bigger than myself, so finding a topic you are passionate about also helps.

I may have just wasted three minutes of your time, so I'm sorry if that is the case. Still, I hope this helps. Listen to everyone above and good luck!

I feel your pain. Finishing things is like a phobia. I sometimes don't even finish books I'm reading. XD. I have to agree with Snoink and WD. What you have to do is find a good friend of yours and let them have you just talk about your novel idea. Good friends will go crazy over it and they'll beg you to keep writing so they can read it. I find that just talking about my idea and how I'd like it to sound makes me incredibly excited and ready to write.

Music is also a good thing to keep you on track if you don't get distracted by it. If you find yourself losing momentum, just change the song to one of your favorites, let your hair down and type!

I'm more of a poet, and I've never much liked writing prose. Finishing a short story is painful for me. I've found that you just have to force yourself to do it. Just plain write--even if what comes out is crap, it'll give you something to revise. The first time I ever felt successful about a prose piece I wrote was when we did short-shorts in Creative Writing class. I had to sit down and write that one, because I didn't exactly want to fail the class. My first ending was total crap. I started to hate the story. But I still liked my character and I wanted to do her justice, so I just kept revising until I got an end I liked, and now I like the story.

Sam wrote:NaNoWriMo. Once you find that yes, you actually can do something crazy like that, you can do anything.

Unless you're like me, and you write 55,000 words and still don't actually FINISH the story.

I have the same problem. I'm trying to just teach myself to chug through it and keep writing, even if I'm not happy with it. As long as I'm producing something salvageable, I just try to keep going. Make a word count goal for yourself - say "I want to write 5000 words this week," and stick to it.

Write! Keep on writing! You have to end it, that's how I got through Script Frenzy, I just forced myself to write, it actually made it better! That's my tip. Like I said, when I forced myself to keep writing, it was better than when I just wanted to.

author13 wrote:Okay every time I get into a story for some reason I stop! Its like some unknown force that prevents me from getting beyond one hundred pages! I either get a new idea, think it sucks, or just lose all interest in it. What do I do?!!! I need help!

(emphasis added)

Psh. I can barely make it to five.

I always end up abandoning stories because I don't know how I want them to end, or if I know how I want them to end, I don't know how to get them there in a realistic, interesting manner.

My suggestion to you is to post what you have as you have it and find some people to give you feedback. Having a beta reader helps a lot, especially if s/he is interested in your story. I'm a comment whore; feedback is a sure way to keep me going. It might not work for you, but it's something to try.

I found that before you even start writting, have your story nerly finished in your mind. Sometimes I don't feel like writing i think about what will happen in my book so I write so I can get to that point. Now if i can only type it on the computer I'd be fine.