I have a writing problem. If it's happened to you too, maybe you can suggest a fix...

I think a lot of people feel this way.

It sounds to me like part of the problem might be that you've written out of order. Is it possible that the original plans you laid out don't work for the characters anymore? I find that a lot of times even when I outline and plan something, the characters end up doing things (sometimes amazingly surprising things) that I never accounted for. It's pretty easy to pick up on this if you're writing chronologically, but not so much otherwise.

Is the problem that you don't have enough plot? Or is it that you have the plot but just can't figure out how to write it in?

I'd suggest maybe putting it in chronological order and then start rereading from the beginning and trying to fill in holes when you get to them, paying special attention to the characters and their motives and the reasoning behind it. I might be able to give better advice, but I'd need more details to do so. I'm sure other people will have some great ideas though.

First of all, welcome, Sox.

You have just discovered what writing is really about for the majority of writers. And its a real face slap to those new to the business. Writing is hard work. Not all of it, of course. There is the euphoria of a new idea, and the immediate and speedy productivity that comes from that euphoria. And that can be duplicated in each new scene or segment of writing. However, there will come a time and place in each story that will require some serious intellectual work and some equally serious grunt work.

What you've done is all the easy stuff. Very few stories can be constructed of only easy stuff. You have to realize that a great idea will get you writing, but that idea, by itself, isn't guaranteed to hook the readers. What hooks the readers is the PRESENTATION of the idea, and that is the part of writing that goes beyond the easy stuff and requires the hard intellectual and physical work of writing. For some of that work, you will just have to sit down and force yourself through it because it can be tough. Getting a bunch of cool scenes together is worthless unless you can lasso those scenes together in a way that not only makes the reader want to turn page after page but also presents a seamless progression of the story. This aspect of writing typically doesn't just fall off a writer's fingertips.

We get spoiled by the euphoric side of writing and expect that it all should be like that. But it isn't. Not even close. Creativity isn't defined by the writing down of ideas. It's defined by how an author weaves the ideas together into a coherent and enticing story for the readers. All you've done so far is write down your ideas. Roll up your sleeves and get to ready to sweat a little (or a lot). And use your brain as much as you use your fingertips. This writing business is much more cerebral than most new writers realize.

Well, first it's pretty common for this to happen. Writing a novel is a lot of hard work and has a huge learning curve. It's not as easy as getting a great idea, jumping right in, and writing a masterpiece.

Here's the deal: Get something finished. Don't worry about length at this point. Don't worry if it's garbage and has holes you could drive a tank through. Get the bones of a book done so you can have something to revise. If you're stuck, put PLACEHOLDER in and skip ahead to the parts you can write. And, along the way, if you have any realizations of what the problem is, start working the correction into the story at the point where you're at. So what if your first draft is woefully short? It's a lot different having a completed book with The End on it and trying to figure out why it didn't work then it is to stay stuck on page 120. I've literally jumped ahead in the middle of scene because I got so stuck I wasn't going to stay there a while or finish it. That's okay. Revision is where the hard work comes in, but you can't revise without a finished book to start with.

What they said.

Writing words is easy. Designing good fiction is hard. Especially, a novel is much more complex than a short story, with more places to go badly wrong in design and execution.

Things you might try:

• Reduce scope. Write shorts for a while. Some authors can do this; some don't understand shorts, and only get novels. Writing shorts doesn't teach how to write novels, but it does teach how to write; the rest is plotting.
• Read books on writing novels. There's a tonne of these. Most are pretty good, but I've found anything by Sol Stein and James N. Frey to be outstanding. Others have other favourites.
• Submit your outline to the Sandbox if it's partial, or Share Your Work if it's complete.
• Check out Learning to Plot in this forum.
• Check out just about anything stickied in the Novels forum.

Even if you have a strongly-plotted outline, middles are often hard. They're the place where characters take stories off the rails, or what seemed like a good idea in design looks trite and hackneyed in manuscript. I think that a lot of what goes wrong is that the real design has been emerging in manuscript -- where the real emotions are. And it's not the design we thought we had.

My answer is to go back and review the design until the design ideas and the real design become the same.

Hope that helps.

I think a new novelist has two problems to contend with, and this is the analysis of another new novelist, so take from this what you will...

The first problem the new novelist has is that they respect the first draft. What I mean by this is that the new novelist wants the first draft to be absolutely spotless, ready to send out to the agents. So, you start to check back and seeing he flaws and the holes and the horrid writing, and you start to second guess yourself, and you get trapped and lose forward-momentum.

The second is getting around to the idea that the first draft is just word-vomit, and that the real work comes in the revision. It's counter-intuitive. You're supposed to be a good writer so you should be able to write, right? It takes some getting used to the idea that most of the shiney in a text comes from months of going over an already written text, and changing it.

So, basically, what they said. Get it out - even if it feels like pulling teeth. When you're finished, that's when the magic starts. Just write, even if what you write makes a three-year olds attempt at literature seem like fine literature in comparison. You're giving birth. It's supposed to be hard and painful.

No one ever tells you that writing isn't nearly as easy as it seems to be. While it is simple to sit in front of a computer and type words that seemingly have meaning, to actually get your mind in the right state to create something of worth is a task far greater than what you would believe before you actually try. I know that for me, writing a book was an eye-opener in every way. It sounds simple, to write X number of words each day until you have a book. Unfortunately, books are like pyramids, if they aren't carefully constructed with the right amount of dedication, they will crumble under their own weight as your motivation realizes the result is not going to be up to par.

Let me tell you something. I don't outline. Its not because I don't want to or that I'm stubborn or lazy. I CAN'T. Its not in my nature. The story does not appear to me fully-formed so that I can create an outline. So if you were able to create an outline prior to starting, you are already one step ahead of me. You already have an idea of what each chapter will contain and where the story is going.

So now comes the hard part. Writing isn't done pacing. It isn't done brainstorming. It isn't done procrastinating. It isn't done by taking breaks. It isn't done worrying or beating yourself up.

It's done by physically writing. You have to sit down at the typewriter and type.

For me, the story forms as I write, not in my head prior to writing. It forms in 500 or 1000 word blocks, page by page, a day at a time.

Ask me about ideas, I don't have them.

But I have a lot of stories written down.

well, every already has given you great advice. All I can do is encourage you to keep at it. (Kind of like getting a new exercise machine or gym membership is fun at first, then....)


Cella

I find it helps, when i get stuck exactly as you have, to re-write my Query letter. This helps me re-see the arc of the story in a new and re-focused light.

Good advice from everyone.
I'd put the WIP aside and read, rearrange a room, paint or write or otherwise do something else creative. You've gone through the process by which everything comes naturally - now you're getting into a stage of forced creativity - that's never good. Not to say that it should all be breezy - writing a good, publishable novel is very difficult - but the process should never be forced, at least not on the first draft when the mind is truly working in wondrous ways to bring the book together.

Maybe you have some plot issues that you've been avoiding, which is why you wrote the chapters that came easily and are now struggling to make it all come together. That's actually where I'm at now. It takes a lot of hard thinking ... so my advice is still the same. Walk away for a while, think hard about it and then come back when your mind has given you the answer.

Shadow_Ferret said:

Let me tell you something. I don't outline. Its not because I don't want to or that I'm stubborn or lazy. I CAN'T. Its not in my nature. The story does not appear to me fully-formed so that I can create an outline. So if you were able to create an outline prior to starting, you are already one step ahead of me. You already have an idea of what each chapter will contain and where the story is going.

So now comes the hard part. Writing isn't done pacing. It isn't done brainstorming. It isn't done procrastinating. It isn't done by taking breaks. It isn't done worrying or beating yourself up.

It's done by physically writing. You have to sit down at the typewriter and type.

For me, the story forms as I write, not in my head prior to writing. It forms in 500 or 1000 word blocks, page by page, a day at a time.

Ask me about ideas, I don't have them.

But I have a lot of stories written down.

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Not to derail, but I don't outline either and what I've realized now that I'm heading into the home stretch of my WIP is that the whole first draft has more or less been my outline, but not written as an outline, but as a first draft. Does that make sense?

Because I agree, events unfold and I don't want the presence of an outline to interfere with anything.

I'm a randon chapter writer. I am at a stall due to a situation similar to the one you are going through. If you have written random chapters, are they "meeting"? Do you have gaps or holes? If you do, then outline the place between the two areas and concentrate on that problem area. As far as getting more words, look at main characters who might not be rounded. Sometimes the story is too one-sided. I realized that my antagonist did not have much motivation and realized that I needed more of a sub plot for him. There goes 10K words right there. I echo-- writing is hard work.

I use an outline, but I never feel that I am 'stuck' with it. I realize that it is more of a guideline of where I want my story to go. If the story progresses and strays outside the lines of the outline, then I'll re-write the outline.

I think every writer has to face this question. Sometimes a story spills through your fingers onto the screen. Most times, I think its more like pulling it out of your brain with fishhooks ... painful.

Speaking as an unpublished someone who does good when she writes 500 words a day -- and tried to outline her last manuscript -- an outline is just a guide. Maybe like Columbus sailing across the Atlantic to India, the Indies, and points east. You never know what you might discover along the way.

Whatever, the basic point or drafting a novel is to get an ending on you first draft -- then, you get the joys of rewriting.

The Bawlin Sox said:

The odd thing is, when I began writing the story I was like a bride on her honeymoon. I went at it hammer and tongs. Today, I’m like a dried-up old spinster. I don’t understand what’s changed.

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This is me right now, except that 'ball' moment happened about two years ago and ever since i've been pushing, struggling, resting etc. (all the WB advice out there) so i too, am interested in responses

Sox - you are not alone

For the hundredth time, I will direct everyone to The Great Swampy Middle, by Jim Butcher. A wee excerpt:

Every writer runs into this, generally in every single book. The middle. It lurks between the beginning of your book and the exciting conclusion, and its mission in life is to Atreyu you right down into the yucky, mucky mire in order to prevent you from ever actually finishing.

The Great Swampy Middle (or GSM) knows no fear, no mercy, no regret. It doesn't come after you. It darned well knows that you're going to come to it. It knows that you're going to be charging along, sending up the spinning plates, ripping out the strong character introductions, planting cool bits into your story for the future, and generally feeling high on life. And just then, as you get all that fun opening-story stuff done, it pounces. And suddenly, you're staring at a blank word processor screen trying to figure out how to get your story through the next paragraph.

And it laughs at you. It laughs and dances on the ashes of your enthusiasm. It knows full well that you are going to be its bitch from now until you somehow finish the book or else give up in despair and slit your wrists with the edge of one of those index cards you're using to try to figure out the rest of the plot. It rejoices and dances around a primal bonfire, howling its glee at the uncaring stars.

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I had a similar problem recently. I'm going to try a beta reader. I'm hoping this person will volunteer his thoughts on what should happen in my holes, and even offer advice on the sequence in which the bits I have already written should appear.

I'm betting you could find a beta reader willing to do these things for you, too! Probably several!

I'd be willing to take a crack at it myself.

Sometimes you're too close to the piece and others can identify logical things you can't.

~Sasha

Also, don't call it writer's block. Call it "thinking about things," and start on a short story or something to put your creative energy into. The worst thing you can do is give up.

I write things out of order, too.

Look at everything you've written so far and try to put it in a rough chronological order. You might have done what I do- done about 5 different versions of one scene/event.

Ask yourself:
- Does this flow? Does it sound like a story is progressing?
- What is the story that is progressing here? Or is it just rambling?
- Where's my drive? What pushes the reader to read on?
- Do I really need this scene? Does it work as part of the whole?

You'll probably lose a lot of great scenes here. Remember, the scene may be brilliant in isolation but it has to work in context of the novel.

By 'Where's my drive?', I mean 'What interests me as a writer about this work that means I want to persue with it?'. Once you've worked out this, this will give you a focus, and you can start writing a draft which is actually going to go somewhere. Because once you have that focus, you can trust your instinct and you learn where the story is going.

The Bawlin Sox said:

I have a writing problem. If it's happened to you too, maybe you can suggest a fix...

Background:
I decided to write a novel. In my head, I created an outline. Next, I scribbled out a list of brief descriptions of the contents of individual chapters, in chronological order. Then I began writing.

In the beginning, I had a ball. The words just fell off my fingers. But even so, I found I was not always able to continue writing those chapters in their chronological order. The words wouldn’t always come. So, to give myself something to do, I began writing random chapters where the words would come, where they would continue to fall off my fingers.

Now to the problem :
I have around 30K words written. And my mind has shut down. I need to triple that word count, to make something novel-length, and my mind is refusing to generate more ideas.

I’ve done other things, both on and away from the word-processor, to give myself a break.

The odd thing is, when I began writing the story I was like a bride on her honeymoon. I went at it hammer and tongs. Today, I’m like a dried-up old spinster. I don’t understand what’s changed.

Thanks for any suggestions you might have.

Sox

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If you want to work from an outline, then make sure that the outline itself reads as a story, e.g. "X steals Y, but Z appears. X shoots Z, but loses the getaway car in the process."

Each chapter itself to be a story, with a conflict and a resulting complication.