I have one of the worst writing habits in the world. I come up with an incredible idea with a good plot, but once I get into the middle of the story I can't figure out how to end it... I already had tons of short stories gone completely unfinished because I can't figure out how to finish it. One of my projects I had planned to submit to Asimov Magazine in my freshman year of college is still currently on hiatus... Any way to break this damnable cycle?
Posted by Phanto (Member # 5897) on :
Yes.
Butt on chair.
Cut the freaking internet off. Sit down on the chair. Work harder. Keep writing. Set a numberic goal for each day. Do not miss the goal. If you do, evaluate. Was it a one-day backslide? Was the goal too high?
Then get your butt back on the chair and get back to work.
Work harder.
Posted by Sterling (Member # 8096) on :
One writer I've read suggested to write even if you think that what you're writing is awful, even if you're essentially going "no, no, no" all the way through it. You can always go back and edit.
To someone like me, who hates revisions (especially the house-of-cards kind where you realize, having changed one thing, you're going to have to go back and change a whole lot of things) this can be painful. But even dross tends to have something worth saving, if only the kernel of a salvagable idea.
Posted by Earendil18 (Member # 3180) on :
No exceptions other than sitting down and writing.
If you have one exception, it soon becomes the norm.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
Perhaps you ought to figure out how the story ends before you start writing it all down. You know, if you know where you're going, you might have an easier time finding your way there.
Posted by Irami Osei-Frimpong (Member # 2229) on :
Some of my favorite writers start with the end. They figure out the last decision the character is going to make, then spend the entire book setting up that decision.
Posted by The Reader (Member # 3636) on :
Great advice Tante and Irami, but what if you are writing The Neverending Story?
I had the same problem, NeRve, until recently, when I did the "butt in chair" thing.
Posted by Will B (Member # 7931) on :
I think Tante's write. If you don't know how the story ends, I think you're too early for the Butt In Chair strategy. I go walking, and use the Thousand Ideas in an Hour technique from OSC's Characters & Viewpoint.
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