tcaptain

I wondered if someone else had the same problem I've been having lately (on and off over the years too).

I'm trying to follow Anton Chekhov's advice to writers "practice, practice, practice" and while I'm trying to work on a novel slowly, I'm also interested in doing short stories as well to get more practice in. Here lies the problem:

I find that I come up with ideas all the time, but these ideas aren't about storylines or character arcs, they are more concepts like "ohh wouldn't it be cool to write a story about a man in the future who's rebuilt into a cyborg after an accident and gets to choose his vocational programming..." or maybe I'll just have a very vivid image in my head about something (yesterday it was of an old, grizzled warrior, stalking a dragon)...however these ideas do not suggest a story. They only suggest an image, or environment, at most a theme and when I try to build on it, I get stuck every time. Its very frustrating, I have dozens of opening pages to things I find yet no stories anywhere for these.

Anyone else run into this? Any suggestions?

eleutheromaniac

Sounds like you should try doing the same thing that filmmaker Stanley Kubrick did:

Create seven great, independent pieces. Then find a way to tie them all together and you will have one great movie (or in your case, book). '2001: A Space Odyssey' is the probably the best example of him using this technique. Hope that helps.

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Wyndham

I always have several pieces in my Word files that I started but never finished.When I'm going through a period where I just can't seem to force myself to write anything, I often clean out my files. That is, I open old things with the idea of seeing what's worth keeping and what I should trash. Many time as I'm going through I come up against something that I thought was going nowhere when I wrote it, but now sounds pretty good. Maybe I'll get inspired to finish the whole thing, or maybe I'll just add to it.

I know that common wisdom is to write every day, but for some people that doesn't work. I try to do something writing related every day. It could be editing, submitting, or researching markets, but I find it's no use to force myself to write when there's nothing there. I have enough things I have to force myself to do, so why take the pleasure out of writing.

tcaptain

Well I'm not exactly forcing myself to write. In the situation I describe (which is too often these days) I just try and start to see if it'll go anywhere...in some rare times it does, most of the time it doesn't. However, the writing itself is pleasurable so its not really forcing myself.

However I hadn't considered until now really going back over those pieces with the intent of editting/cleaning up...I'll try that! Thanks.

Wyndham

I think that it works out that way because my goal is not to write. My goal, in fact, is to "not write." If you see what I mean. It's like knowing you have only one hour to take a nap. Sometimes you'll lie there tossing and turning, just because you are trying to force it. But, sure enough, when you want to stay awake for something, that's when your eyes start to close.

My real goal is to clear up space on my computer, but in the end I end up with more stuff to keep than throw away.

Chris

When you think of an idea that you really like, do you plunge head first and start the story? If so, that may be the reason why you're finding yourself stuck. Try brainstorming first, ie get out a piece of paper, write your idea as a heading and then just jot down anything that comes into your head whether it be plot points, characters, twists, backstory, themes, conflicts etc etc. Then keep the ideas you like, chuck out the ones you don't, organize it into some sort of structure and then use that as a road map for your story.

I find that plotting out a story before you write it helps a great deal in preventing writer's block. I hope my advice helps and I wish you the best of luck with your stories.

- Chris

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sully474

I find that a good thing to to after you get a really good idea, is to get a piece of paper and writedown every imaginable attribute about your main character. Then get some of your secondary characters attributes, and then figure out where they could meet, and invent scenes before you are about to write them like Chris said.

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xayaxos

What works for me, when I get a vague idea about something great to write about, is to keep asking myself questions like:

What is the accident that injured the guy?
Was it really an accident?
What is the process of becoming a cyborg?
Who owns his cybernetic parts?
What are the problems with the technology?
What vocations can he choose from?

or

Why is the man stalking the dragon?
Who does he work for?
Does he have to kill it or just get something from it?
Was he hunting it originally, or was he on another quest?
What is the reward?

Each time you answer a question it suggests many more that you need to answer. Any one of them can give you a story to tell. Here's an example of working if you say that "no, it wasn't an accident" to the cyborg questions:

What exactly happened that he doesn't know about?
Who was behind it?
Why?
How does he discover the truth?
What does he do about it?

Then come up with a sentence or two to describe the general story. Something like:

After a horrific accident, Don Sykes barely remembers his own name - but that's all he can remember. His only chance of survival is to enter into a contract with a security organisation, where he hunts down criminals for money. While chasing the war-criminal, Mustav, he stumbles on the truth behind his past ... and his future.

Sure, it reads like a bad blurb for a sci-fi book, but from that you can ask yourself some more questions, about his past, his destiny, the war-criminal, the organisation, etc. and how it all links into a coherent whole. Then rewrite your blurb, making it more of an outline of the events.

That's how I work, but I usually keep coming up with novel-lenth stories from this approach than short stories. *shrug* Whatever works for you I suppose.

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stiltzkin

I completely sympathise with you tcaptain!
A lot of the ideas I get for stories begin with one vivid image. The hardest part is actually creating a story to surround the image I get. I find the best way to tackle the issue is to consider the story/plot/idea before pen touches paper (unless you're brain storming). Personally I like to map out a vague story in my head first - like xayaxos said keep asking questions!

You said that sometimes you get ideas for environments - well that's probably the best way to start a story. Consider your main character, for example the grizzled Warrior. Create the environment, play God, then put the Warrior in it - how does he react to it? All stories have some form of disruption to the equilibreum so what will the Warrior do when the world around him begins to change? I find that if I delve in to the characters minds I can find what affects their emotions most - and create a story that will have the most effect on them.

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River1034

You can write a story about anything, if you found a picture of a tree lying on the sidewalk, you could write a story about it, what i suggest you do is get a spiral notebook, with each idea you get, you should write it down as clearly and vividly as you can, leave room for interpretation. Now, rather than just use a scene, get a main character, any kind of character, develop him a little in your head, get his name, a little physical description, and use one of the scenes you thought of if you want. ( you my friend, are a situational writer, i can tell by the way you said "what if i could..." I am also a situational writer) so put the character you just made up in a scene or whatever that you just came up with, let him go, if you give him a situation he will work his way through it, or he will fail, you just record what happens. Tell me how ya do!
-River.
p.s. I hope this helped.

srhalfwaythere

That's not a block in my opinion. You just need to build on those ideas. Take a specific image that seems amazingly awesome, then just build a story around it. Old warrior stalking a dragon: anyone else follow him? What did the dragon do to deserve a good stalking? Is the dragon fat? Things like that in which you think other people would ask about what would happen next, what happened before that. Jop[e that helps.

Sean

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