posted
I was reading another post and I wondered something. I have a number of great (though I say so myself -- and I am notoriously humble) short stories, and two novels of 20,000 words that have 'died' on me.
I always plan my stories so it's not about running out of ideas -- SO WHY DO THEY DIE? Why do I look at them, and then write a new story instead. I do finish stuff -- so I know I can.
I sometimes kid myself that it's because I intuit that there is something lacking in the story, and I will continue when I know what is wrong and how to correct it.
posted
I remember a novel by Robert Sheckley, not science fiction. Two thirds of the way through the book a chapter beings with something like, "I'm bored with writing these characters, so the rest of the book is going to be the ending of another novel entirely." Sheckley somehow got away with it, not many writers could. One of my favorite Sheckley novels, "The Man in the Water", also not sf, has a great first two thirds, and then totally falls apart at the end. Some people just don't like to write endings.
On the other hand, Alfred Bester, James Blish, and a few others knew how to rekindle the fire. You up the ante. Have the hero possessed by the shade of Lucretia Borgia, kill off a major character, have the sun go nova, anything to jerk the reader (and yourself) out of a false sense of knowing what will happen next.
Another suggestion. You think you know where the novel is going. Set your characters free. Allow them to do whatever they want to do, and watch them surprise you.
Steven Saylor did that in a book called "Last Seen in Massilia", and blew me away.
posted
Hitting the doldrums halfway through a novel (or just after the first section) is a well documented phenomenon among writers.
I know I hit it every single time, whether I've planned out a novel (which I rarely do) or if I'm writing on the fly.
I'm sure anyone who's experienced this has their own reasons for feeling this way. For me, it's a combination of losing some of the initial "crush" feeling for my novel. Sometimes the plot or character emotions just get complicated and I'm hesitant to write because it's weighty and difficult. Sometimes it's because the path I've plotted isn't the right one, and my characters are resisting.
I also routinely lose faith in myself at that point. I feel like my characters are juvenile and vapid, my plot ridiculous and improbably, my prose not worthy of a six year old.
One thing I have learned, though, is that if you push through it, it does end, and it is possible to regain faith in oneself and love for one's characters. The passion returns, and at some point you get excited for the ending. But learning to push out of the rut is the key.
posted
Learning to push out of the rut is a really good thing to do. Another thing you can do is to skip over the "hard" or "sticky" part and pick up the story where you have ideas you want to pursue. Write from there to the end (or to where you get stuck again) and when the first draft is finished, go back and fill in the holes. You may need to do a major rewrite of the beginning to make it fit together, but once you've pushed through your first novel, you may find it easier to push through others.
I, on the other hand, have trouble writing short stories - the characters keep coming up with other interesting things they want to do! Argh. And I always want to follow them . . .
When I do get stuck, if I do the "skip past this part" method, I nearly always find the writing goes faster and easier, and I don't have any trouble filling in the gaps, once I've written what comes after the gap. Good luck!
posted
I have such trouble writing short stories. I've only finished ten in my entire life. I have dozens of snippets that after I got a few hundred words I knw would not work. The short stories I have finished probably would be better if they were novels.
posted
It's interesting to hear the "push through" advice. I have three unfinished novels, from 50K to 100K written on each. I've stopped writing due to lack of confidence. You know: I write 100 pages then go "Who am I kidding? This sucks." I've thought about just pushing through just to finish, and then I think, "if you aren't excited about this, write something you *are* excited about." I think, however, the "push through" advice is good. Maybe I should get back to work on one of those lousy things.
My short stories die all the time, but I don't mourn them.
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I've resolved, as a personal goal, to hold off on another stab at a novel until I can master writing a short story/novelete. One step at a time.
However, be it novel or a shorter work, it goes back to Heinlein 2nd Rule: Finish what you start.
As Mur Lafferty says in her I Should Be Writing podcast, and pardon the French, "Allow yourself to suck."
Once you've finished the story, then you can go back and fix it. The second pass you might restructure the plot, merge characters, drop subplots until you have a workable frame. Maybe on the third pass you can concentrate on style, the writing itself. On the fourth, typos, ect...
[This message has been edited by ChrisOwens (edited November 12, 2007).]
posted
Well, a lot of my writing is inspiration...I'm inspired to write...I'm writing at a white-heat temperature...then the temperature goes down and the inspiration is gone. Sometimes I get it back on that particular project (some of my finished novels sat for months / years at one point or other), but more likely I turn to something else.
Of course the inspiration dies with short stories, too...but, somehow, if it dies after a page or two it's not as traumatic.
And none of that tells me what the inspiration is...where it's from, where it goes, how do I get it back, and all that...
posted
Argh! It breaks my heart to hear about all these folks who have half-finished novels. Here's my feeling--you felt passionate enough about the story to start it. I think you owe it to yourself to see it to the end. From experience (well, okay, 3 first drafted novels) I can assure you it _does_ get better. The passion does return. Think of it as a relationship. After the initial attraction wears off, you might have to work a little more on the relationship, but the rewards are that much better as you enter a new phase of commitment and sharing (okay, totally cheeseball, but whatever). Posts: 2185 | Registered: Aug 2007
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posted
Gag, your internal editor. DO NOT review, edit or critique your work in progress. Just write it.
If you have "writer's block" odds are you need some more research. If you have your heroine surrounded by the police and the bad guys in a skyscraper and can't figure out how she's going to escape, go visit sky scrapers and see it for yourself.
If the "writer's block" is doubt. Stuff a rag in its figurative mouth and keep writing. If the doubt is coming from other people, stop showing them the story and ignore them. At least until it's done and you are ready for critiques. Even them make sure the person giving you feedback is worth listening to.
posted
OSC says this is caused by starting the story in the wrong place.
I tend to agree.
quote: If you have "writer's block" odds are you need some more research.
I think this can be fit in with OSC's statement. You've got to formulate each part of the story (characters, sub-characters, milieu, plot, and genre) before you can decid where to begin.
OSC and David Wolverton discussed this, and came to the conclusion that the more they knew about the story's parts the easier it was to write, and the less they had to rewrite.
When I'm as far along as they are, I'll confirm or dispute. One piece of advice that has always worked for me is: the more often you write, and regulate your writing hours, the less likely that you are to draw blanks during that time.
posted
Well, I regret the short stories because I would very much like to be able to write short stories, but that's another topic.
In the case of novels, I think Heinlein is correct. Just finish the thing. How do you know it sucks until you finish it and edit it? You don't. You don't feel inspired? Most of life is not feeling inspired. Mostly life is doing the grunt work. Hopefully you start feeling inspired again, but if you don't you still end up with a novel WRITTEN.
Edit: And if you find that planning your novel extensively doesn't work try planning a bit less. Some people are organic writers and others are outline writers and some of us fall kind of in between. I plan the main plot points but otherwise when I start writing I don't have a CLUE what is going to happen. If nothing else, curiousity keeps me going.
[This message has been edited by JeanneT (edited November 13, 2007).]
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Freeing your characters to do what they want is a good way to push on through. But beware. If the characters lean too far in a direction you don’t want to go, they can also cause writer’s block.
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posted
I think after a while if you aren't truly in love with the subject and characters of your novel it loses its novelty... ha pun
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Another factor in the dying-off of one's novels is time. My first finished novel took about a year to finish...it was a comparable time-frame for all but one of the others for the next, oh, eight years...then my last two completed novels took three years and five years, respectively. And my last incomplete novel took a year to write a hundred thousand words, longer than any of the others, but is by no means finished or even close to a conclusion.
(The "all but one"? I tried my hand at a Harlequin Romance...fifty thousand words in one week...but I couldn't duplicate the effort on any other project.)
posted
I've also found that some folks have the "shut up and write problem" that Harlan Ellison has written about... where talking too much about an idea, or rather the parts of it that have yet to be written, destroys the internal drive to actually write it down.
Not everyone has that issue, but it it seems to be common among "organic writers." Susan Kearney said that's why she doesn't like to write outlines. When she does write an outline, the novel she produces from that outline is completely different. Once she has outlined it, she is "done" with it. She has already told that story, even if it was in abreviated form.
Again, authors vary widely on this one. I know David Drake does incredibly detailed outlines and has no problem with that at all.
[This message has been edited by JFLewis (edited November 14, 2007).]
posted
I am the queen of letting novels "die" on me.
I finally realized that for me, it was because I never truly cared about the story to begin with. I was trying to come up with something that I thought others would want to read, and I had the entire story outlined out, all the characters planned ahead of time- everything. But it wasn't FUN.
For my current work, I did it all different. I started by creating one character, then writing out scenes I cared about only. After I had a dozen or so of those I pieced it together, then made up the rest of the characters... and have been filling in the gaps. Finally- the actual plot became apparent and I have an actual story.
It's a little all over the place, but I am having so much fun writing it. Truly, my best work to date. The first story I have ever had confidence in.
quote:Anyone ever try to write multiple novels at the same time?
Sort of. I'm writing two novels right now. One's my nano project, the other is a book I've been working on for a while now. When I lose inspiration on one I pick up the other. I'm not sure it's the best strategy, though, since it takes me a while to get back into it.
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posted
I call it "The Wall". If you look at your novel in the light of a three-act play (opening, middle, ending), it always hits me right after the middle. For me, it's a self-confidence thing. My novel sucks. I suck. With my last WiP, I was ready for it. I hit it, and didn't take my foot off the accelerator. I wrote right through it. It kept nagging here and there, so I kept writing.
Once or twice, I wasn't sure what to write, so I just kept writing. I'd start off with a new PoV, unconcerned if it was the right thing to do, if it was necessary, and I'd just pushing right through the wall. I'll catch the useless parts in the revision process. I'm not worried about it.
Keep writing. Let yourself suck. Finish. Revise. Start your next one. Repeat.
posted
As for writing more than one novel at a time, I have done and am doing that, but it's difficult to manage. The best way for it to work is for one of the novels to be finished and at the "editing/polishing" phase while the other is at the "first draft" stage, perhaps. I'm nearly finished doing a final read-through on one novel, nearly finished with a first draft (but it's a well-polished draft except for the last few chapters) of another, I have a short story started that's a total departure and a lot of fun (so far, anyway) - I'm hoping I can keep it to short story size, since I'm normally a novelist and think in long form. The trick is to either work on things that are all in the same world (such as my first two novels, which are part of a series) or COMPLETELY different, such as the novel I'm doing the final polish on, the one I'm nearly finished with in first draft form, and the short story - all three are TOTALLY different and don't confuse me. The series ones don't really confuse me either, but I left the second novel in the series in first draft form while I got the first one polished to publication quality. What works for me may not work for you. I'm a "seat-of-the-pants" writer, and only keep notes on incantations, locations, and a list of characters complete with their relationships and personalities and/or descriptions. No outline. Outlines make me crazy, but my plots work, which is what matters, after all, right? :0
posted
I like to refer to "putting something on the back burner." It means I'm not working on it right now, but it's still in my mind. (When it's forgotten, then it's off the back burner and cold.)
Sometimes I've started another novel before I've completed another. I was only halfway done with my first novel when I started my second...at least those ones, I completed...
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