When a story dies on you

seun · May 4, 2007

Ever had this happen? I came up with an idea that really excited me a few days ago - a small story that probably wouldn't be more than a few thousand words. I started it, liked the intro and then it died. It's become flat, boring and uninspired. I might be able to save it by restarting it and changing the angle. If it works, the story will be very short but I can live with that.

It's the first time this has happened to me in a while and it's left me a little deflated, to be honest. Probably because I thought the original idea was quite cool.

DragonHeart · May 4, 2007

That's exactly why I don't yet have a novel written. I'll start with an idea for one that sounds awesome and I'll be all excited about it, but by time I get to the second or third page I'll suddenly lose all interest in it. I currently have false starts for about a dozen novels that died on me at the starting gate.

I write short stories instead.

~DragonHeart~

johnrobison · May 4, 2007

Don't worry. If it died, you must not be ready to tell it. One day, that may change. Until then, keep thinking of beginnings and working on them. One day, one will surprise you by continuiing on.

DragonHeart · May 4, 2007

That's what I figured, actually. I'm not going to push it; I'll just keep working on the stories I can tell. I'm sure I'll know when I'm ready for the big N. Until then I'm just not going to worry myself about it.

~DragonHeart~

seun · May 4, 2007

I'm not going to push mine, either. If it works as a very short story, then grand. If not, I'll leave it and work on something else.

ccarver30 · May 4, 2007

I haven't had this happen... yet!

ChaosTitan · May 4, 2007

johnrobison said:
Don't worry. If it died, you must not be ready to tell it. One day, that may change. Until then, keep thinking of beginnings and working on them. One day, one will surprise you by continuiing on.

I'm with John. I have dozens of story ideas and half-starts buried on my hard drive and in a filing box under my desk. For the most part, these stories aren't abandoned. It's just not their turn to be written. Many of them I still want to tackle one day, but I have to go where the muse takes me.

maestrowork · May 4, 2007

I usually think on an idea for so long that by the time I get around writing it, either it's already frizzled out or I've decided it's a workable idea.

kristie911 · May 4, 2007

I have several openings, first chapters, etc on my hard drive. They seemed like a good idea when I started them but they quickly fizzled. But I always keep them at hand in case I come up with something different that may jumpstart the idea again.

TsukiRyoko · May 4, 2007

maestrowork said:
I usually think on an idea for so long that by the time I get around writing it, either it's already frizzled out or I've decided it's a workable idea.

I do this all the time. I tend to avoid formal outlining, so I just let the ideas stew for a bit instead. Problem is, what seems like a good idea in my head either dies down quickly once I put it to paper, or is too complex to make a decent story out of it. I have WAY more fizzles than I do decent stories. But, at least I'm writing.

Jersey Chick · May 4, 2007

With my current WIP, I had to rewrite it completely from scratch because when I did the read through, I realized there was no plot. I'm still not entirely sure what happened. How can you write 400 pages without a plot????

On the other hand, the new version does have a plot - maybe the gremlins ate it the first go-round

Soccer Mom · May 4, 2007

I have many false starts. The idea in my head is flat and cold on paper, so I toss it in the rubbish heap. Some ideas for novels have been reborn as short stories for me. Others remain in the trash, because that is where they belong.

Don't obssess over it. Move on to the next idea. If it's really a good idea, it will start bugging you until you come back to it. If it isn't,...well....oh well.

Jamesaritchie · May 4, 2007

Dead

I'm a firm believer in finishing everything I begin. Good story or bad, alive or dead, I think finishing is important. Sometimes stories that seem dead come alive right near the end.

And if it really is dead, I can always bury it after it's finished.

Namatu · May 4, 2007

I have a story I've been gathering research on and generating ideas about for more than ten years. I've tried several times to write it, but haven't figured out the right approach yet. Usually I just let it lie and talk to the characters in my head. After I finish my WIP, I'll try again.

Sassee · May 4, 2007

When I get a new idea for a story it's usually because I've thought up a really cool action scene or shocking character revelation... so I'll write down the "exciting" part while it's still fresh in my head, and then leave it alone or keep writing on it depending on how I feel after the initial idea is written. I've got notebooks full of little blurbs that catch my interest again every time I read them. If I gather up enough blurbs about the same character(s) or idea(s), I start piecing them together.

Never had an idea "die" on me. They go into stasis for a while or change into something else, but never had one die completely.

DeadlyAccurate · May 4, 2007

I'm still trying to figure out how to write a post-apocalyptic chick-lit. I got eight pages into it and found it boring. But I want to write one.

Namatu · May 4, 2007

DeadlyAccurate said:
I'm still trying to figure out how to write a post-apocalyptic chick-lit. I got eight pages into it and found it boring. But I want to write one.

Please do. I'd probably buy it.

Nakhlasmoke · May 4, 2007

I get this with writing novels (not much of a short story writer) but I plough on because it's normally a stage I go through - some times it lasts a few thousand words, some times more, but I have to get past it, and then things start pulling together.

If I gave up every time I lost the fizzle, then I would finish nothing. This would make it rather hard to call myself a writer.

cinders23 · May 4, 2007

When this happens to me, I think about the conflict because that is usually the reason a story fades out...lack of or dwindling conflict.

ink wench · May 4, 2007

Nakhlasmoke said:
If I gave up every time I lost the fizzle, then I would finish nothing. This would make it rather hard to call myself a writer.

Ditt. My stories don't die, they just occasionally slip into a coma. I've found that if I just plod away at it, I can almost always revive it. In fact, I sometimes get my best writing from those uninspired moment, maybe because I'm focused more on the words than on getting everything down in a mad rush.

Chasing the Horizon · May 4, 2007

I don't think I've ever had a story 'die', but I do have a number of first chapters for novels sitting on my hard drive. I don't consider them dead because I either intend to continue with them one day, or will probably take either characters or plots from them and incorporate them into other pieces.

Well, one story is almost dead. The only part I intend to keep is the title, because the characters and plot all suck. But the title's really cool!

I'm not going to force any of them, though. If I'm not inspired to continue them, then I won't. *Note this rule doesn't apply once I've exceeded the 20k word mark on a piece. If I can make it that far, then I'm gonna finish.

TrickyFiction · May 4, 2007

I think a lot of people lose their fire for a story about halfway through writing it. At least, that's what I found on this site. There seems to be this halfway mark, for novels at least, where you just burn out. I've learned to keep on trucking anyway because, eventually, I'll get into it again. Either that, or I move on to another project and come back to the one that died later to try and see what killed it.

JamieFord · May 4, 2007

Before I begin, I have to have an ending that I LOVE. If I love it, I'm motivated to get to it, no matter what.

Also, how much do you write at one time? If I write too much at one sitting, I burn out. But if I find a nice rhythm, maybe 1500 words a day, I'll live in the story and stay there until it's done. For some people that rhythm is 500 words, for others it's 3,000+. Everyone has a different pace.

Raven Dane · May 4, 2007

My advice? Dont worry, when the idea is right it will flow and flow. There won't be enough hours in the day and night to get it out of your head onto paper! I spent years juggling work with struggling to write a massive sci fi epic. It was rubbish! Utter tripe. Ended up in the bin. Then I switched to dark fantasy and havent stopped writing since.
One day your personal muse will give you an idea to fall in love with....

seun · May 6, 2007

Jamesaritchie said:
I'm a firm believer in finishing everything I begin. Good story or bad, alive or dead, I think finishing is important. Sometimes stories that seem dead come alive right near the end.

And if it really is dead, I can always bury it after it's finished.

This stuck in my head for some reason so I went back to the story yesterday and worked on it for a couple of hours. Same today.

I've just finished it...it's f*cking terrible.

But the first draft is done which is a good start. I'll leave it for a week or two and see if I can build on what I've got. If not, then at least I got it finished.

When a story dies on you

Horror Man

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