Lara

I know the answer to this will be different from everyone but how long does it take you to plan a short story and how do you go about it?

This is my problem, I have had an idea for a short story for quite a long time (over a year). I have tried to put down all my ideas into a notebook, what the characters are like, what conversations could take place between them. I have tried to make a suitable beginning, middle and ending. I can't even begin to write the story. This is awful. After all this planning I just don't know where to start. The story hasn't changed much but everytime I read over something I felt quite pleased about I change it again. I haven't written anything in a long time. Maybe I am just not cut out to write a good story.

rashadow

Your first mistake is that it seems you let the planning take over the writing. It's easy to plan, but what you should have been doing is writing. You can plan outline and brood over a story idea forever (from experience). You can make notes jot down ideas make mock scenarios to figure out the characters, anything. But if you're not writing, nothing is going to happen.

My advice -=WRITE=-
if you write and write often, even when you have nothing to write about, your story will start to shape into something special, something different. Do not just plan, write. Plan while you write, outline while you write, jot down notes and ideas...as you write.

If you cannot write from the beginning, start from the middle or even the end. You see, while you're writing, you will notice that your mind will always strive to be one step ahead of you, sometimes two.

You can begin by writing a rough draft. Just write it straight through. Do not worry about punctuation and the flow of your sentences (I know it's hard) just write the whole story. You see, that will give you a springboard to then begin to really start writing. Then you can change things and then you can go back to those notes you jotted down (while you were writing) and you can implement those ideas.

But if all that fails, just remember this -=WRITE=- even if you have absolutely nothing to write about...

just an opinion

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Lara

thanks rashadow. I think my problem is I only write little snippets of this story. I am critical of what I write, very critical. I always leave it a dayor two before reading over what I have written and I end up hating it.

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Nazareth

Lara- I sent yuo a pm on this topic - You should know before hand what scenes will represent what themes yuo want to portray - stories do take some thought first - how much is up to you- but once ya got the basics of story construction learned, it goes much smoother & you're free to improvise.

Watch your movies- almost all of them have central themes or 'acts' (usually 3)

Act 1: Hero is going about their own business when wham- they get caught up innocently in a problem they want nothing to do with usually- in this act, the antagonist is hinted at.

Act 2: Hero starts to try to solve problem- Antagonist gets mad- attacks hero somehow and forces hero to continue the case whetehr he/she wants to or not.

Act 3: Hero overcomes bad guy/antagonist/society to win the day and hero grows somehow- maybe from being scared to being brave, maybe from being selfish to being kind and giving etc.

This is a very basic break down of most stories- it gets much more detailed, but not overwhelmingly so. Your character should go through some type of 'life changing' metamorphosis - he/she should have some sort of basic flaw that almost everyone see but him/her & in the end, they should have overcome this flaw. (Sometimes stories have the main character hold onto their 'flaw' while the other characters change their view of hero's flaw- but this is harder to accomplish sometimes)

Once ya got the basics, you can think of how your story should progress alot easier

These 'acts' don't apply to just action novels, but to almost all types of writing-

safari invasion

Keep in mind, you shouldn't feel constrained to any set styles that have previously been used. Write your story however you want to. Don't think you have to conform your ideas to any set way of doing things.

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Nazareth

While it's true you don't have to- there is a reason some movies make it and some do not (Though it's also true some terrible moviews make it as well)

What I posted is sound. All great novels contain these teachings for the most part- A break down of almost any novel you can think of will show these structures in place. The artistry comes in presenting it in subtle ways so it isn't obvious & the audience can enjoy the story.

Alot of study went into finding out what makes for great stories & these elements IO mentioned & others were key factors. While you can write anything you want, without any structuire, I'm willing to bet that it won't hold together throughout in a satisfying way. You have to know things like not putting scenes in just for the sake of filling up pages- it has to relate to the main problem or quest otherwise it's distracting and confusing. I can't tell you how many times I've read a book only to get 1/3 the way through & been lost because there were so many irrelevent scenes and characters that had nothing to do with the story goal. They were like rabbit trails that lead nowhere.

It's like writing in a forum- You don't really respond to a question by going in forty different directions- You address the question head on- Everything you write pertains to the question usually.

When I get to the middle of a book, & the character slays george- I expect to know a little about George & why he was slain & how his death relates to the overall story. There's gotta be coheherance.

Wether you like it or not, a story that works has patterns and rules it has followed- wether consciously or not- Better to know the structures well than to guess and work through it by trial and error.

You talk of constraints- I'm sorry, but having a structure Frees me to explore scenes without losing the goal I'm shooting for- Everything throughout my story will cohere to a central theme Yet as I'm writing the story, My characters evolve just as free and naturally as anythign- they are free to go where-ever. do whatever, as long as it stays coherent

safari invasion

I understand what you're saying and agree with you for the most part. However, just because you don't follow one structure, that doesn't mean there isn't any structure at all. I agree that everything must be relevant to the overall story. If it isn't, get rid of it. I've done this to my own story several times. I've asked myself, "Whys is this character here at all?" I couldn't satisfy myself with a reasonable answer, so bam, got rid of the character altogether.
I'm just trying to say that the set standards of structuring a story are not set in stone. You can change them, play with them if you want or feel the need to do so. Trial and error isn't always a bad thing. If someone finds something that fits their story better, then good for them.

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TempterOfFate

Lara... it is simply time to flesh out your designs. It sounds like you've put all the necessary planning into your story, so now you have to simply sit down and write it.

Take those snippets of conversations and scenes and fill them out; string them together; lead up to them; provide a solution. These are what writing is all about.

My book (or extremely long story) had no fore-planning and has been stuck somewhere in the middle for years now. I just sat down and started writing and creating characters and weaving them into an intricate web, but I didn't know where I wanted the story to go until I was several chapters in. You are a step ahead of the game as far as I'm concerned.

Now stop reading this claptrap and start writing your story!!

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stillness

I have a very similar problem. I suppose cuz I'm a newbie at this is the reason that I draw a blank whenever I go to begin. Ideas, situations, dialog seem to come easy, but i feel like i don't know where to start whenever i go to start writing.

Does anyone have any example or guidelines of what you need to cover when starting a story. So you know of a view critical points that need to made right off the bat?

I feel like the main substance fo the story is easy to come with, and its the simpe stuff in between that seems to be the most difficult.

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Emma LB

I'm not sure really, I mean as I've never written a whole book myself, but as a reader I think basically the beginning of a book just has to be entertaining and catch the readers interest. Depending on what sort of book you're writing you'll be having different audiences in mind. If it's got a central theme, for example if it's a politcal novel or a romance or whatever, that should become apparent in the first chapter. If your audience is expecting some deep thoughts in your book they'll want to know that there are some there. Otherwise it depends on your story really. If there is some central conflict, I'd at the very least hint at it in the first chapter, better still to introduce it. Don't worry about characterising your main characters, that can happen throughout the book.

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Nazareth

Stillness- I sent ya that guide in pm

stillness

I got it, sweet. Thank Naz.

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