i’m working on a new story, this one for the end-of-year-holiday anthology for Dreamspinner. I have a great concept, but as I’m writing it, something just isn’t right.
What do y’all do when a story just isn’t flowing the way you thought it would? What are your tips and tricks for getting things back on track?
I’m totally character driven, so this is what I do …
I usually sit with my character(s) for a little heart to heart. What do they want? What are they doing to get it? How does that interact with the world around them and the other people?
Usually in that process, I discover that I’ve been trying to shove them in one direction, but their internal motivations disagree with my vision. At that point I either have to go back and tweak their character, or gracefully yield to whatever the hell they want to do. (Most of the time I feel like a journalist … running around behind them, taking notes as their stories unfold, lol.)
Good luck~! :3
Thanks! I’m having trouble with the story itself. I pre-plotted its course, and it’s not wanting to go where I want it.
I try go over the story itself on my head. Basically mulling over everything. What I wanted. What I was trying to convey. How I wanted the characters to progress. All those lovely things. Something is being forced.
Either by a character not fitting the idea you had in mind or something in the plot not jiving the way you thought it would. It’s better not to force it and break down the problem and rework it.
I had a character that I wanted to be an architect but as I wrote-getting to the point where I was going to introduce him into the story-I realized the profession I had picked for him didn’t help my story or help the plot and he ended up a vet-someone who had the power to heal-and once I had that the story’s flow came back.
Good luck with your story! I hope you figure it out.
Thanks, Freddy!
I have found when the story wants to go somewhere I never intended it’s better not to argue with the story and things get written so much more easily.