I’ll be blunt, this discussion is coming on the heels of some excessive head banging on my part, as I’ve spent the last week or two trying to bring my own writing back from the dead like some sort of Frankenstein’s monster.
I have found some success, though, in tackling my problems. Here’s some of what I’ve learned (call it amateur advice):
How can we determine if something’s ACTUALLY wrong with our story?
This isn’t easy. It depends on your ability to diagnose problems, which leads to a scary thought – your story might be dying, but you don’t even know it. Others might see the problems before you do, which means they’ll avoid your story like the plague.
If you can’t spot the symptoms, you can’t cure the patient.
Maybe there’s something wrong with your story, but you can’t put it into words. You just feel it. I’ve had this issue. Sometimes it’s nerves and you have to push on – always try this first if you can. But, in those rare cases, perseverance might not be enough.
Don’t try to wash your patient’s dirty feet while they’re going into cardiac arrest. Confront the biggest problems that present themselves to you, even if fixing them could irreversibly change the whole story.
Here are some questions to get your brain in motion when trying to diagnose your story’s sickness:
- What is the CORE CONFLICT of my story?
- Can I state what my story is about in one or two sentences?
- Where is my conflict coming from?
- Am I searching for the hook/tension/conflict in each scene?
- Does my protagonist have wants? Needs? Stakes?
- Is my Point of View (POV) character in a scene the one with the most at stake?
- Is my protagonist driving the plot forward?
- Are all my POV characters necessary?
- If I replaced any of my protagonists, would it change the outcome of the plot?
- Is my protagonist making choices? Taking action? Are they compelling?
- Is this plot boring me? What would make it interesting?
How far should we be willing to go to cure a dying story?
Depends. How badly do you want to write it?
Anyone can write, but not everyone should. It’s okay if writing’s not your thing. For the rest of us, though, who want to stick through to the end, we’ve got some tough choices to make.
Last year during November, I tried to start a novel. It failed. I quickly discovered that I lacked the technical knowledge to write the kind of story I envisioned. But I haven’t let the idea truly die. I still keep the novel’s pickled remains in my Dropbox, hoping one day I might be able to use them.
Never abandon a good idea. You just might not have the proper host for it yet. Sometimes it’s a matter of finding two ideas that mesh well together to produce something new and fantastic.
With the current story I’m writing, I’ve invested a few months. As far as 'first novels' go, I'm confident this is the one I'll complete.
When I began to discover fatal flaws in my plot (mostly stemming from observer protagonists), I knew I couldn’t afford to abandon it like the last story. So I took it to the operating table. I’ve since managed to brainstorm a lot of ideas that change major aspects of the story, making it better and more coherent. I had to change character backstories, re-arrange geographic locations, and alter the main antagonist (among other things).
If I’d have caught my story’s problems near the beginning, it sure would have saved me some headache. I simply lacked the knowledge to spot the symptoms, even though now they seem obvious to me.
Granted, my operation’s not done yet. I’m still writing. There may be other ills lying beneath the surface that I’ll run into. But in the end, done is better than perfect. I’m not trying to write a flawless story on the first try. I just want to get it finished.
I’ll be blunt, this discussion is coming on the heels of some excessive head banging on my part, as I’ve spent the last week or two trying to bring my own writing back from the dead like some sort of Frankenstein’s monster.
I have found some success, though, in tackling my problems. Here’s some of what I’ve learned (call it amateur advice):
How can we determine if something’s ACTUALLY wrong with our story?
This isn’t easy. It depends on your ability to diagnose problems, which leads to a scary thought – your story might be dying, but you don’t even know it. Others might see the problems before you do, which means they’ll avoid your story like the plague.
If you can’t spot the symptoms, you can’t cure the patient.
Maybe there’s something wrong with your story, but you can’t put it into words. You just feel it. I’ve had this issue. Sometimes it’s nerves and you have to push on – always try this first if you can. But, in those rare cases, perseverance might not be enough.
Don’t try to wash your patient’s dirty feet while they’re going into cardiac arrest. Confront the biggest problems that present themselves to you, even if fixing them could irreversibly change the whole story.
Here are some questions to get your brain in motion when trying to diagnose your story’s sickness:
- What is the CORE CONFLICT of my story?
- Can I state what my story is about in one or two sentences?
- Where is my conflict coming from?
- Am I searching for the hook/tension/conflict in each scene?
- Does my protagonist have wants? Needs? Stakes?
- Is my Point of View (POV) character in a scene the one with the most at stake?
- Is my protagonist driving the plot forward?
- Are all my POV characters necessary?
- If I replaced any of my protagonists, would it change the outcome of the plot?
- Is my protagonist making choices? Taking action? Are they compelling?
- Is this plot boring me? What would make it interesting?
How far should we be willing to go to cure a dying story?
Depends. How badly do you want to write it?
Anyone can write, but not everyone should. It’s okay if writing’s not your thing. For the rest of us, though, who want to stick through to the end, we’ve got some tough choices to make.
Last year during November, I tried to start a novel. It failed. I quickly discovered that I lacked the technical knowledge to write the kind of story I envisioned. But I haven’t let the idea truly die. I still keep the novel’s pickled remains in my Dropbox, hoping one day I might be able to use them.
Never abandon a good idea. You just might not have the proper host for it yet. Sometimes it’s a matter of finding two ideas that mesh well together to produce something new and fantastic.
With the current story I’m writing, I’ve invested a few months. As far as 'first novels' go, I'm confident this is the one I'll complete.
When I began to discover fatal flaws in my plot (mostly stemming from observer protagonists), I knew I couldn’t afford to abandon it like the last story. So I took it to the operating table. I’ve since managed to brainstorm a lot of ideas that change major aspects of the story, making it better and more coherent. I had to change character backstories, re-arrange geographic locations, and alter the main antagonist (among other things).
If I’d have caught my story’s problems near the beginning, it sure would have saved me some headache. I simply lacked the knowledge to spot the symptoms, even though now they seem obvious to me.
Granted, my operation’s not done yet. I’m still writing. There may be other ills lying beneath the surface that I’ll run into. But in the end, done is better than perfect. I’m not trying to write a flawless story on the first try. I just want to get it finished.
