A Short…..Write unplanned opening, no idea what’s next, finish successfully? Yes/No - Writers Forum

The Backward OX · 05-14-2008, 05:50 PM

I decided to write something brief. Didn’t really have a clue beyond the idea that “restaurant review” might figure in it somewhere. So far all I have is the MC in through the front door (300 words). Still don’t have a clue where it’s going. And those first 300 just sort of happened. Now I need some encouragement. Has anyone else ever sat down to dash something off with no preconceived story line in their head and made a success of it?

edropus · 05-14-2008, 06:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Backward OX

I decided to write something brief. Didn’t really have a clew beyond the idea that “restaurant review” might figure in it somewhere. So far all I have is the MC in through the front door (300 words). Still don’t have a clew where it’s going. And those first 300 just sort of happened. Now I need some encouragement. Has anyone else ever sat down to dash something off with no preconceived story line in their head and made a success of it?

I didn't know that there were other options.

Not that I've ever made a success of it.

Tiamat10 · 05-14-2008, 06:20 PM

Yeah, that happened to me earlier in the week. Well, sort of. I can't say it was a success because I refuse to read my story over until next week.

Anyways, it started with my desktop wallpaper. A girl's sitting in a boat, but it has a slightly fantastical look to it. (The girl has green hair, for instance.) I liked it, so I wanted to write a story about a girl in a boat. I didn't know what the conflict would be, where it would go, or how it would end.

So I started it, wrote about a page and a half, and hit a wall. I ignored it for a day or two and decided to scrap what I had and take the character that I created in those 700 or so words and write a completely different story. It doesn't involve a boat, but it does involve the sea. I wrote all 3,000 words in one go. It was kind of exhilarating.

But, it might suck. I don't know yet.

The Backward OX · 05-14-2008, 06:23 PM

Foxee · 05-14-2008, 08:31 PM

Ox, I do that all the time. Beginnings are the easy part, the middle turns into work, the ending is usually an unmitigated pain in the tail. However, if/when I manage to make it that far and then go back and edit it, yes, quite often I end up with something I think is pretty good.

Congrats, you're pretty normal. Keep your head into what your MC is seeing/experiencing, let stuff happen, write it down. I'm really glad you've got something in the works!

Lost in Some Story · 05-14-2008, 08:36 PM

I read once that Flannery O'Connor wrote "The Life You Save May Be Your Own," beginning with only one sentence, about two women talking. It built itself from there. I'd say that story is one of her funniest and best. Where else can you read about a traveling Bible Salesman who runs off with his lovers prosthetic leg? So yes, it can happen. But Flannery O'Connor was also, well, Flannery O'Connor.

It's never happened to me that way.

Lost

Mike C · 05-15-2008, 12:51 AM

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Originally Posted by The Backward OX

Has anyone else ever sat down to dash something off with no preconceived story line in their head and made a success of it?

Every time. All the shorts I've had published started out as either just an opening sentence or a title. I saw a documentary on Monarch butterflies once, and the narrator was talking about how predators gathered "To feast on the flesh of butterflies". I thought it sounded cool, so I used that as a title, the story followed. Again, with "Strange Love, Doctor" I started with a title I liked because of the play on words. All I knew beyond that was that I wanted a warped love story. Sometimes I just type a sentence at random to see what happens.

Of course this can be pretty hit and miss - I have a stack of stories that never went anywhere, but they all at least contain characters, situations and phrases I can cannibalise elsewhere.

Raging_Hopeful · 05-15-2008, 02:02 AM

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I saw a documentary on Monarch butterflies once, and the narrator was talking about how predators gathered "To feast on the flesh of butterflies".

By the way Mike, I read that story last night and I gotta say, was VERY impressed. You did an excellent job with that. Creepy in a satisfying kind of way.

Mike C · 05-15-2008, 05:16 AM

Thanks, it's still one of my favourites.

05-15-2008, 06:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Backward OX

Has anyone else ever sat down to dash something off with no preconceived story line in their head and made a success of it?

I do that for relaxation, to milk some of the bees out of my brain, but only with shorts. I have files of them and occiasionally polish the odd one to the point I'd put it out. I plopped out a poem the other day, but that was an accident and I am now guarding against it happening again.
B

The Backward OX · 05-15-2008, 07:05 AM

quarterscot · 05-15-2008, 01:22 PM

I once dashed out a 10 page story before breakfast during an overnight stop in Berwick-on-Tweed. It was basically the contents of a very odd dream I'd just had. (The other members of my party also had strange dreams. Funny place, Berwick-on-Tweed.) The resulting story is still one of my favourites. It's also, by some distance, the worst thing I've ever finished. Not sure if this helps.

Damian_Rucci · 05-15-2008, 02:17 PM

You won't know if its a success or not unless you finish it. I do this often for when I write for school I just write. Pretty much the story unfolds itself. Some were good, some were terrible. I just let it play before my eyes and hope for the best.

Raging_Hopeful · 05-15-2008, 10:43 PM

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Berwick-on-Tweed.

That in of itself sounds like a great place to start a story