Lily

All right, I'm sure this topic has been discussed to death, but I couldn't find any threads on it . . . so if someone could direct me to an already existing thread, I'd be extremely grateful!! But anyway, here's my question:

How do you get through to the end of the story?

Sounds stupid, right? But if you read my post in the 'Introduce Yourself' section, you'll know that I have trouble finishing my stories. I'll start something, go on a bit with it, come up with a new idea, start writing that, and so on and so forth. I guess a big factor in it is that I'm writing to relax and enjoy myself rather than to make money, but I'd still like to have the satisfaction of finishing more than one story. For the current story I'm working on, as I've mentioned before, I'm attempting a new technique, of starting from the end and finishing at the beginning. For those of you who've tried it before, how has it worked out? Do you have any ideas on how I can not let myself get distracted by the other ideas that keep on coming into my mind?

This is soooooooo aggravating!! I'd really appreciate any advice

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Insufferable Know-it-all.

JenJoyful

I certainly have this problem as well.

Right now I'm writing two novels at the same time and have outlines for three more waiting for me.

When I get new ideas for novels while I'm already writing one, I do one of two things;

1. write them at the same time. go back and forth between the two but be sure not to abandon one to the other. - does anyone else do that? or am i strange?

2. Write an outline for your new idea while plugging away at your current project. - i find this the most helpful because the distraction is really fear that you're going to loose your idea further down the road. I right outlines for each chapter just highlighting the key points that must occur to propel the story forward. Then when I have time to write the piece I will have a clear reminder of my original intent.

Hope that helps

Elphaba

Lily, I would say not to worry about it too much. This is a problem even the most established, polished writers can have from time to time. Eventually, it all works itself out. I used to have the problem, too, and my cut-off seemed to be about 140 pages into a novel, where every thought and all my energy just seemed to fizzle into nothing, and I'd get stuck. It really was depressing for me. One of the things that helped me was reading something from one of my influences, Robert McCammon (whom I had the pleasure of meeting last year-- Whee!!). In an addendum to one of his books, he wrote that he got stuck at *200* pages and had to stop, thinking he'd never finish it. He actually turned around and re-wrote the same story, with a lot of changes. It really inspired me, letting me know that I wasn't alone, and I have finished several novels since then (although I'm only trying to get one of them published right now).

My advice is to leave whatever you're stuck on alone for a while, then come back to it later with fresh eyes; re-read it, and let the story build up again in your mind. It may take up more time to write than you'd planned or wanted, but it's okay. There really is no way to keep yourself from getting distracted with ideas-- if you're a writer, you have an overflowing imagination, and there's nothing short of pumping yourself full of drugs to stop them (not that I'm recommending that, heh). If they just "grip" you more than what you're working on at that moment, by all means write them down, try to bring them to fruition. But like I said, go back to what you were working on before with new eyes. Relax about it, too; I'm not so sure how much I believe this cliche, but if it's meant to be, eventually a completed work will come out of you. I think a big key is actually relaxing.

AFA writing from end to beginning, I've never tried that, and have no advice. I'm not so sure how well it would work, because for *me*, even the vision I have in my head changes from beginning to end (I don't work from outlines because of that). Unless it's something like "Memento" or "Betrayal", where end to beginning is the hook (although I realize that's not what you're doing).

This was too friggin' long. Shutting up now.

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"Strange things are afoot at the Circle K..."

AdamR

I actually wrote an article on this awhile back. Short and not to much of a big deal, but may be of help.

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The Ending: What's Important?

by Adam Reyher - 8/07/03
Copyright © 2003 Adam Reyher. All rights reserved.

You've written 35 excellent chapters; you keep the suspense up high and the plot dripping with excitement; you become more excited as you realize that this story and writing is excellent! So, you throw together one last chapter, and sum it all up!

What's wrong with this picture?

The answer: You let your excitement get the better of you. This is something you should never do, especially at the end. By letting this happen, you end up with the ever common, and always every boring "Calvary comes to the rescue" ending. I've seen it many times--even in published books, and it ruins everything else the author has written.

People are dripping with excitement and can't wait to turn the last page, and they see, "But wait! Johnny forgot that he had a gun hidden in his boot, so he pulled it out, shot down the enemies, and lived happily ever after." The reader will pull their head back, shrug, and think
"What was that?"

I know you are excited, and want to get to the publisher as soon as possible, but hold on! You are no where near complete yet! Be twice as careful and conservative when brining your heart-pounding story to an end. You want it to be something the reader would never expect, or even something that the reader can see boiling up to the end where they say, "See! I knew I was right!" This brings much satisfaction to a reader, and they will have successfully enjoyed your story.

But once you find that perfect ending to your perfect book, you are not done yet. Read your entire book over and improve on it. When something doesn't seam to fit at the end of Chapter 3 and into the beginning of Chapter 4, find out what you can change. Whenever you read something that makes you, the author, uneasy, it probably signifies that what you previously wrote won't work properly. It is at this point that you must figure out another way of writing it.

Remember, editing is your best friend in this situation, and it's the thing that will turn your work from a 'good story' into a masterpiece.

Good luck you future Classic writers!

--End of Article--

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"Excellence in all things, and all things to the glory of God."
- Motto of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church

Lily

Thanks so much, guys . . . these ideas'll definitely help in the future!

Elphaba, writing from the end to the beginning works out for me because then I can include little hints in the beginning that'll clue the reader in towards the end, which I couldn't do otherwise, because I'm something like you- whenever I start at the beginning, I always change my mind about where I want the story to go, and almost always the way it ends up is bad, so I end up ditching the whole thing. By starting from the end, however, I'll actually finish the story (I hope!) and plus I can look clever (haha, like that's ever gonna happen ).

__________________
Insufferable Know-it-all.

JenJoyful

I can completely understand that! I'm only on Chapter seven of my novel and already I've made some changes that are going to require extensive reworking for my first two chapters
But actually, that's the fun part. Letting the story change as you go along.

I find my best ideas have come from reworking previous chapters. Just barf it all out (hehe. lovely thouht ) and come back to it later. The hardest part of writing is just getting words on the page. Frustrate yourself afterwards for fixing inconsitiencies and plot holes.

stonewall

I've never had this problem. However, there comes a time when you can't stand to go near the MS. Thus, good time to stop. I often end with a cliff-hanger since some mysteries don't get solved in the book. I finish them in my next mystery. Really now, if you can write 80,000 woeds you should be smart emough to write a 5,000 word finish.

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Mae West said; Charlie, is that a gun in your pocket or are you just glad to see me.