I can write. But I can't write what I tell myself to write. - Writers Forum

agracebella · 08-12-2005, 08:50 PM

Like I said, I can write. Thing is, again, like I said, I can't give myself a plot or a starting sentance. I've got ideas that I like, but they end up making me frustrated beyond my belief because my stories bore me. I've thought about saying to my friends "Hey, give me a plot and a first sentance!" but none of my friends are writers. This may sound very, very pathetic, and I know it won't get me anywhere if I get ideas from other people, but right now the only place I need to get is to a better level of writing. I've been writing since I was 8 (now I'm 13, big shocker) but I've never been able to finish a story because the plot is boring. Sometimes I can't even start a story because I can't think of what to say at first. But most of the time I get stuck after the first page. Any suggestions, or even (

) give me a catchy one liner story starter and a plot, just to keep me writing until I'm old enough to get a publisher?

journyman161 · 08-12-2005, 09:11 PM

Hi, agracebella. Not to worry, I think most of us have the problem where the ideas don't seem to translate into words on paper the way we see it in our minds.

You could try using the snowflake method to sort out your ideas & give the story some substance. I've been trying it & found I sorted out some things on a novel I've been 'playing' with for many years.

Are you re-reading your work as you go? If so, perhaps try just writing. It's probably a good idea anyway, start your story or go back to one of the pages you've started & not gone on with, & just keep writing no matter what comes out.
Take the idea & just let it develop, not so much as a potential end product, but just to see if you can type (say) 10,000 loosely related words.

But the best thing to try first is to put some of your work on WF & see what suggestions you get. Remember to have a look through other people's work & comment for them.
If you don't feel able to critique on a pro level, contribute what you can, whether it's point-of-view or hwo the story affected you.
People will respond in kind, quite often going from reading your review to looking to see what you've done.
Mentors can also help with aspects of writing.

So, a couple of things to try, I wish you luck & longer writing!

midlandsmuse · 08-13-2005, 02:40 AM

This sounds silly but write anyway. Even if you don't like it. Even if you can see the plot holes. I learnt more from writing, finishing and analysing my bad work than my good.

You are only 13. You've got plenty of time.

mammamaia · 08-13-2005, 08:05 AM

it's not 'old enough' to get a publisher, but 'good enough' that counts...

what makes someone 'a writer' in the professional sense, is not just being able to come up with ideas, but then being able to develop them into finished works that others will want to read enough to pay for the privilege...

if, even at your young age, you have a drive to write and the determination to develop the patience it will take to get good at it, you'll more than likely improve as you go along... meanwhile, just write anything at all, for practice...

don't think everything you write has to be good enough to sell... if you truly have the talent and you hone your skills, you may get to that plateau eventually... but, for now, just concentrate on learning to write well and then better and finally, better than most...

and, don't forget to do what is the most vital requirement for any writer... READ!... the more you read [by the best writers, not the most popular], the more your mind will develop the ability to come up with full-fledged stories of your own...

love and hugs, maia

Oracle · 08-14-2005, 12:06 AM

Heh, I'm the opposite. I've got plots and ideas coming out of my butt, but finding the right way to arrange them into prose is difficult for me.

My advice would be pretty much the same as everyone else's. Write as often as possible, and hone your talent. Eventually, that amazing plot idea will come to you, and then you'll be able to do it justice.

I'd recommend finding an idea generator. They're great for writing practice. www.seventhsanctum.com has a bunch, and if those are no good, then they've got links to plenty of other sites.

While no generator can take the place of artistic inspiration, they're a nifty tool when you just want to practice.

silverwriter · 08-14-2005, 10:02 AM

Don't dismiss asking friends to help come up with ideas. They may not be writers but they are readers. When I was your age I used to get a couple friends together and get ideas from them. I never used a complete plot from any of them, but the process got my mind going.

agracebella · 08-14-2005, 10:09 AM

Thanks all! I really appreciate all the help!

suzakugaiden · 08-14-2005, 01:33 PM

Find something about the status quo you want to change and write an allegory. Near psychotic desperation, restlessness, and a certain madness about the stuff you hate is the best inspiration. Look at Roger Waters!

Tunkpirate · 08-14-2005, 03:28 PM

Sometimes when I find myself without a starting place, I will focus on one tiny aspect that I want to include in the piece. Perhaps there's a quote you've wanted to work into your writing, maybe you wanted to try first person perspective, maybe its just something as silly as the main characters hairdo, but whatever the idea is just go with it. Once you start writing you will find that one simple idea can turn into another and another and before you know it you will be filling up pages. Some people, myself included, will say they don't know how a story will end until they get there. Maybe your so worried about that great twist ending or that amazing plot that you sabotage yourself from the beginning. Just write, and see where it takes you. Its easy to go back and change a first sentence, and most of the time if you get to know a piece enough...you will.

Robgb · 08-23-2005, 02:57 PM

The trick is to sit down and write. If it doesn't make sense, if it stinks, if you really hate what you've written -- that's okay. REWRITING will always make it better.

So just get it down. The great thing about writing is that you can always fix it.

Avarice · 08-23-2005, 08:42 PM

Ya I agree with Robgb, you notice a massive difference when you re-write a chapter even twice, just to be able to compare it to the first piece of rubbish that you spat out. Richard Preston said he can re-write a chapter up to 40 times, his work is still basic but I suppose it gets him published so he has to be doing something right.

Jaideska · 08-25-2005, 12:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tunkpirate

Sometimes when I find myself without a starting place, I will focus on one tiny aspect that I want to include in the piece. Perhaps there's a quote you've wanted to work into your writing, maybe you wanted to try first person perspective, maybe its just something as silly as the main characters hairdo, but whatever the idea is just go with it. Once you start writing you will find that one simple idea can turn into another and another and before you know it you will be filling up pages. Some people, myself included, will say they don't know how a story will end until they get there. Maybe your so worried about that great twist ending or that amazing plot that you sabotage yourself from the beginning. Just write, and see where it takes you. Its easy to go back and change a first sentence, and most of the time if you get to know a piece enough...you will.

I would agree fully and completely to exactly what you said!

Also, like Oracle mentioned earlier, I too am a master at beginning stories lol, it's finishing them that's the trick

First of all I'd like to say that everyone has given you great advice, but the idea isn't weither or not their advice is great, it's weither or not their advice is great for you.

For some people, they can just sit and write, and every block will fall into the right place, they don't even have to go back and change anything (I'm usually like that)

Other writers find it hard and are perfectionists who will destroy ideas that the previous type of writer would have simply kept going with. I know a few of these and they find it hard to write because they lack the confidence in their artwork, they don't think it sounds good or makes sense even though a reader would probably drool over it.

The point is that you have to find YOUR own method of creating ideas.

As Tunkpirate stated, the way I do it is I concentrate on a cool part of the story that I want to have. I don't have a beginning, I don't have an end, I don't even have a plotline yet, I just have a sequence in my head, something that I think is wicked.

I'll use an example.

I wanted to incorporate a sequence where a character was a great fighter, but I wanted him to die in a really cool way. The idea was that he was so great, that he could see the entire fight before he would fight it, in his mind. So from that I constructed a reason for him being so great. I gave him an identity and a nationality. He became a character, he became real from his history.

His name became Hiro which means sun in Japanese, his background was asian and the reason he was so good is that his people were a race trained for nothing more than to protect another sect of their government, however, that government had disbanded ages ago and regardless, these people stayed with their training and continued their society the way their previous government had created them. After thousands of years their people had become the best at what they do.

However, the entire reason I created this character was to kill him off. Why? Cause readers hate it when you kill off a cool character, and killing off cool characters gives your story humanity and emotional pull.

The sequence I had originaly conceived became an epic sequence were the secondary character Hiro was fighting to protect the main character. He was pitted up against another very powerful character.

Just before the fight, Hiro breathed the words "So this is it." and began to fight.

Later you realize he said so because before he began to fight, he saw that he would lose, and be killed. His selfless sacrafice would give the main character just enough time to escape the enemy.

I got all that, and an entire story, out of one single sequence, one single Idea, that idea was that I wanted a great warrior to die in a cool way.

The reason why I found it so cool is that Hiro knew he was going to die if he began the fight. He had a concrete choice, one that was black or white, and he chose to die for a cause.

Anyway

Try it out.