Young Writers Society

Blessed be everyone!

Ummmm, since I don't know where to do this, I'm writing it here. By it, I mean spilling my guts to complete strangers about having writer's block and blah blah blah, and hoping not to be judge so brutally.

Okay, okay, I'll explain better. *sights*

*Looks down shyly and plays with feet*

I don't know if any of you have the same problem that I have; that is, begining to write a story and then just...stop writing. Not finishing it at all, not having a clue about what else to write about, or simply forgetting about it. Then, somewhere along, get an idea for another story and...well, the same thing happens again.It's like a addictive cicle, but this one I hate it and want to get out of really soon and alive. No, I am not an addict of any kind...wait, does eating a lot of chocolate count? *crosses fingers*

Anyways, I got many unfinished stories, ones that I love and like to occacionally read. Sometimes, when I begin to read them I edit them and get a few more ideas, but nothing more comes. I do research a lot for my stories, I read plenty of novels, and try to get my hands on "how to write" books and articles to better myself and get more ideas. Nothign happens. I LOVE WRITING AND READING, I really do!

I have to explain first, since I think it's important, well not THAT important, but it'll help you guys understand. English is not my first language, spanish is. I decided to write in english cause all the books I read and the movies I watch are in english; I like english. English is easier for me to write than spanish. Now back to what I was talking about.

I don't understand why I can't finish a story of mine; I've come close to it with three of them, but I can't seem to finish them. It's so frustrating! Usually I get ideas from dreams, when I'm reading something, daily life; the thing that bugs me is that they are new ideas and don't fit into my stories.

Ummm, I think I'm using the word "story" wrongly; I TRY to write novels. Why? Cause they are long and have many characters that I can play with their development, yeah, stupid of me. Right now, I bet you're thinking "write a short story", BUT short stories don't agree with me. Ha-ha as if stories are food. *rolls eyes*


What I am trying to say and ask is "Does anyone else have the same useless feeling and if you have gone through it, how can someone make it go away?"

I hope I'm making sense, usually I ramble and stuff or get easily distracted and forget what I'm taling about. Hmmm, maybe that's my problem!

Haha, aww.

This illness of which you speak unfortunately has no cure, and a name that you must only whisper, because that's all it takes to pass it on to another writer.

The important thing is that you love writing. Just write for fun, open your mind and let it wonder, at least that way writing will always be a passion. One of my favourite phrases is the term 'literary constipation,' which is when you sit for hours trying to force out a story, and all you end up with is... you can finish that sentence off yourself Always write for passion.

A remotely useful tip, though, is that it's good to get into the habit of things. When you realise a story has died, spend an extra hour or so writing an ending to finish it. The more works you abandon, the better you get at abandoning them. The more works you finish, the better you get at finishing them.

The thing you are describing is the beauty and horror of writing. The ebb and flow of literature. Many stories, more than there should be, are started, stopped and forgotten. Many of my novels have suffered the same fate. That is the process of writing. It is not until, however, you find a story you can not stop. It is then that you know, you have found the one. Im lucky to have experienced this on exactly 1/1/11

I know exactly how you feel. Exactly. I get the same thing all the time. Sometimes I get bored with ideas before I've even had a chance to write them down! I have yet to write a novel, or even a novella because I either get sick of what I'm writing about after a few pages, or I get a sudden burst of inspiration to write something completely different. So, I've been writing short stories my entire "career." I used to write really, really short ones (about 1,000 words--flash fiction, basically) but recently I've found myself wanting to write longer ones. I've been constraining myself so long, telling myself that I have to write short things, that lately I've find that I really want to embark on something longer.

Anyway, I'm not sure if that little story was useful to you or not, but my point is that maybe you should try short stories. I know you said you don't want to... but I think you should give it a try. If you have a realistic length goal in mind when you start out (less than ten pages, or something like that) then it may be easier to train yourself to meet your goals. You'll also get the satisfaction of having completed something, which is an awesome feeling.

So hate me if you will but I really think writing short stories will help you with this. Heck, even write flash fiction. Yes, it's important to have fun writing, but in my opinion a lot of that fun is in holding the completed piece before you, reading it over, and tweaking it.

Let me know if you find a remedy to this terrible disease!

a

I know the cure.

I too used to have this disease. I wrote 2 sort-of-novels before I found out what the disease was. Then, I stopped writing. I thought about the disease was and finally found the answer to it.

Plot.

If you have not planned almost everything out about your story you will not get a story. I learned that the hard way. Twice.

So, every time that you want to write something, before you start writing make the plot!!! I promise that will help.

It also helps a ton if you have chapter outlines. Really. It may feel like a hassle to write an outline for every chapter but once you're done you're totally revved up to write and you have tons of awesome ideas pouring onto the page that your writing on. Trust me.

Although short stories can sometimes bottle up what you actually wanted to write, usually they aren't what you actually wanted. It feels as if there's something missing if you make a short story when you actually wanted to make a novel. I know the feeling.

I too, know the feeling of a short story "disagreeing" with me. It always happens. ALL THE TIME. Very annoying, yes it is.

So try to write a novel instead! But remember, plot, chapter outlines, and most of all inspiration!

Hopefully this has helped you.

Keep writing (I know you can do it!),
Alzora

I used to have the same thing. It helps to think of a conclusion beforehand -- it's so fun to go off with a great premise, but it needs a plot. However, long meandering setups are fine if they help you build and get into the world of the characters -- you can edit out all the backstory and introduction in a later draft.

Forcing yourself to finish something might help, as would writing short stories (which go from start to finish faster).

Happy writing!
Kibble

You say that short stories don't settle well, but my logic is that a novel is a series of short stories. The ONLY difference is that you give more background in a short story than you would a single chapter because you can't give that detail later on. So, here's my test to see if you should write a novel or not. First, write a short story that involves your main characters. If you finish and want to keep writing, make it a novel. If not, move on. I haven't written a novel.

Actually, my main problem is that my novels are all science fiction and I HATE science fiction. So, I like to write it, but hate to read it. Thus, interest is lost. On the other hand, I love my short stories and want to keep writing but I feel like I've finished their story. School doesn't help as we have dossier where we have to hand in short stories so I can't actually get to work on my grand adventure until after graduation.

You say you love to write and read? Same here. My advice, though, is to stop reading, at least for a while. Don't read while you are in the middle of the story. Don't read while you are starting off. What you read will change what you write. You can't afford to be focused on two different stories. It's also discouraging. You see that they finished and crafted great things that you can't even imagine creating. So, you stop. This is a huge problem.

Sorry for the long post, but don't get caught up in the little details. My favorite failed story, Binding Darkness, failed because I simply couldn't make a tower of heads appear from under the ground. My fingers would not do justice to what I envisioned, so I decided I would envision no more... That and there were terrible inconsistencies but enough on that.

Just finish everything. Even if you hate it. Make it into a novella if you lose interest. Just finish the story.