Yuffie's Writing How-To's

How to STICK WITH A STORY

Do you always start writing something and then move onto something else without finishing?

I know it's very exciting coming up with a story idea initially, but then as you start writing, you get bored of the idea. There is a very easy way to avoid this, which I'll outline in this How-To.

If you have problems sticking with a story all the way through, the biggest thing is to spend a lot of time with the story before you start writing. (Though keep in mind, only follow this advice if you have trouble sticking with a story. If you're one of the people who can come up with an idea and immediately start writing it and stick with it until the very end, then don't let me stop you.)

As writers, I'm sure we all have hundreds of plot bunnies hopping around our heads. How do you know which one is THE ONE?

Before I go to bed and when I wake up again in the morning, I always play out scenes from my stories in my head. I know I have a potential idea if I keep mulling over it for at least two weeks. I don't write a single word about it before that.

Not a single word! Don't do it! Don't worry about having the ideas stick. If you are really invested in it, you'll remember it. If you write anything while you're still coming up with the concept of the story, you'll limit yourself to what the story can be, and you'll get trapped in the mindset of “THIS IS HOW THE STORY HAS TO BE.”

Just think Meyer and the sparkling thing. It came to her in a dream, and she stuck with it. Generally, never use exact ideas from dreams, for fear of turning a character into a disco ball. Dreams spark ideas, but usually dreams are so screwed up, there's no way they can mimic reality. All of my stories sparked from dreams, but they are grossly different now. (Cleon was originally a Mafia boss, Darren was an art thief, and Hero was a racecar driver.)

Once I've got an idea in my head for a couple weeks, I keep thinking about it for at least a month until I'm absolutely obsessed with it and enraptured by it. Maybe I'll jot down a few, VERY LOOSE, ideas. Don't be too detailed at this point. When I was coming up with the idea for SuperHero, my first idea was, “guy in a mask saves girl.” That's it. While I was thinking about it, I thought of slavery. The main character could be a slave. Masked guy can save her.

Keep going like that. Play around with the loose plot. Remember, do NOT NOT NOT write down anything detailed right now. Continue to play around with the ideas in your head. I believe JK Rowling was on a trip when she thought up Harry Potter, and she didn't write down any ideas for a while. Let your imagination have reign, rather than your analytical mind. ENJOY the ideas in your head.

So the MOST important piece of advice to sticking with a story is to think about it for a very long time before you write anything down. Any time I do this, I end up sticking with the story. When I didn't and just started writing, I got maybe a chapter done at most, and then it rotted in the back of my writing folder.

Now that you've got a story going and are getting into more detailed plans, you can really have fun with the story. Remember what I said back in the World Building How-To about making things to go along with your world? That will help motivate you with the story as well and get you even more excited about it.

Find some songs that relate to the story, and that will really motivate you to write when you listen to them (I did that with SuperHero and Skillet's "Hero"). Draw out maps if it's a fantasy world or draw out the characters/landscapes/settings if you're good at that stuff. You can really do anything—play-doh sculptures, huts out of twigs, cook food from your story—anything that gets some concrete product that you can look at. Or if you're not kinesthetically/visually oriented and are more of a verbal learner, write a song or talk out loud about the story and record yourself. Write a poem. A short story.

Do ANYTHING but write the actual story. I'm serious, it gets me so excited for the story itself, I can't help but write it.

I'm not going to go into how to deal with writer's block. There are thousands of articles and sites dealing with that, so just Google it. Oh, and Google inspirational quotes for writers. Those are awesome.

Another form of motivation: REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. Force yourself to write 1000 words every day. If you don't, you make yourself run a mile. If you do, treat yourself to ice cream. (...erm. Darn. I'm promoting unhealthy eating habits and lack of exercise. Whoops. Switch that around if you're a health buff like me. Ice cream punishment and running as reward.) Or the reward can be watching your favorite TV show, going on Tumblr, calling a friend, going out with friends. Punishments--whatever you don't like that isn't physically or mentally harmful. Like eat a bowl of spinach. It's good for you.

If you have your own tips and tricks for sticking with a story, post below in the comments.