How Do I Write If I don't Have A Story To Tell?

Escape Artist said:

I swear sometimes that you and I are the same person. That, or that we're somehow quantumly-entangled, because most everything you say, I can so relate to. I don't know how many times I've written a 15,000 word beginning that is just what you described - set-up or just an event that doesn't really have any sweeping effects, doesn't carry me naturally into the rest of the story, doesn't suggest any further story at all - which sucks because I've no idea how to get past it.

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It's nice to feel kinship, even if it doesn't directly help either of us with our problems. Do you also have difficulty with creating villains and conflict? They often seem arbitrary to me, philosophically unnecessary to my story world, but I have difficulty coming up with directly relevant problems which would be useful for exploring the theme and allowing the character's personal growth.

Immortal said:

Yet I feel the urge to write? Does anyone else have this conundrum? I stare at a blank screen and nothing comes to mind, but I feel as though I need to write. And if I force myself to write then I end up getting bored with it and never returning to it again. It must be pure, the idea has to be organic. And even then, I still end up trashing it. The only stories I have ever finished were shorts.

I truly feel as though I just don't have something to say. Maybe I just don't have a voice. I have nothing profound nor important to state and I think my brain recognizes this. But, my ambition to write clouds the fact I just don't have any ideas worth caring for. They say "write from what you know". Well, what if I know nothing? I don't leave the house. i don't have a job, or school, or any social activities. Is this my problem? Is loneliness drowning my creativity?

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I think you sort of answered your own question...and not. If you don't leave your house for whatever reason (haven't read the whole thread) then there's no stimulus, nothing to see, no one to interact with and therefore draw ideas from.

However, all is not lost. There IS YouTube, and there are other social/networking sites. I refuse to believe that anyone out there does not have some sort of link to the outside world.

As for writing what you know best, only you can answer that. There must be something that excites you, gets you interested in life itself, and it could be the most mundane thing around...but if it turns your crank, then write about it and see what turns up.

You said you finished some short stories. Okay, that's a start. What were the stories about and how did you feel about them? If they were about people or animals or events and how they stirred your emotions, take it from there. I draw my inspiration from the Net and from clouds (yes, I actually watch clouds and discern the shapes in them) and from my children.

I saw a picture of Jenna Talachova--it inspired me to write Twisted. I saw the movie Paul and it gave me the very odd idea of writing Lindsay versus the Marauders. Both of these novels will be out next year. I watched a video of Shoujo Jidai doing their song "Mr. Taxi" and guess what happened.

I watched a cloud formation one day and got the idea for Master Fantastic. All you need to do is think about what means most to you and you'll find it within yourself to write something. It may be good or bad--I don't know. But it will come from you. Best of luck and keep writing.

This may not be on-topic, but I have my WIP that I am working on and I am constantly finding news articles that support my ideas and positions. Some of them I have been able to use indirectly in my story, but also placing them in the Bibliography.

This shows me that the ideas for my story are SOOOOOOOOOO close to reality that it is almost a present-day story instead of a future science fiction story.

One of my characters would say, "That's just how it happened in the game."

When it comes to writing a story or novel, I prefer to use the Stephen King method: write the damned thing. I can worry about perfection when I reach the words "The End" on the first draft (which I call the chaos draft). So can you.

I'd say the first obstacle to overcome is to develop a better understanding of how stories work. One can have all the willpower in the world, but without a viable sense of direction it will be hard to proceed.

Immortal said:

Yet I feel the urge to write? Does anyone else have this conundrum? I stare at a blank screen and nothing comes to mind, but I feel as though I need to write. And if I force myself to write then I end up getting bored with it and never returning to it again. It must be pure, the idea has to be organic. And even then, I still end up trashing it. The only stories I have ever finished were shorts.

I truly feel as though I just don't have something to say. Maybe I just don't have a voice. I have nothing profound nor important to state and I think my brain recognizes this. But, my ambition to write clouds the fact I just don't have any ideas worth caring for. They say "write from what you know". Well, what if I know nothing? I don't leave the house. i don't have a job, or school, or any social activities. Is this my problem? Is loneliness drowning my creativity?

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I think part of it might be the pressure you are placing on yourself to write that important work. But the very thing you're trying so hard to do is eluding you because you are trying so hard to do it.

Or maybe I'm projecting.

Thinking of the last four novels I wrote, I knew I wanted to write something. I felt like I needed to, can't explain it beyond that. That's kind of how you're feeling, right? But I had no effing clue what to write about. Zero. So I'd go for rides and kick around this and that or just drive, enjoy the scenery, not think about too much of anything.

My last novel's idea came to me as I was driving past a road, Cherry St. A vision popped into my head of a kid, a young male prostitute named Cherry. A couple of days later, my husband and I were sitting in our van at the beginning of a dike, two feet from this iron gate, looking out over the marsh. We were talking about something, I can't remember what, and he said, "Some people just wanna die." I wrote it down right then, I knew that was Cherry's story, I knew it. Those words, that road, the van, that gate, that dike, all became integral to my novel.

My point is, I knew I wanted to write something but I wasn't shackled by that. Instead I was looking, kicking stuff around, open to whatever came my way, and something did.

When I'm in this situation I just try to expose myself to as many different possible influences as possible. I listen to music, watch movies, look at paintings, and read all looking for ideas.

It's extremely difficult to force an idea to appear, but you can improve your odds by letting all possible sources of inspiration sift through your creative filters.

When I don't have ideas, I read. I find stories/books I love on topics I love and then I write on topics like those but with things I love.

For example, I LOVE Heroes but it was missing color and queerness for me. So I'm writing a book right now about superhumans the way I want to see them.

1. Grab a book of folk tales. Italian Folktales by Italo Calvino would be a good one to pick.

2. Read the book and find a story that you like. Folktales are the distilled essence of story. You can mess with the details as much as you like and they still retain their structure and the kind of feeling they contain.

3. Retell that story in your own way and in your own words. Explore the bits that feel like they would be interesting to flesh out. Think about how the story changes if you tweak the characters a bit. (Is Jack the Giant Killer a hero, or just a murderous burglar?)

You'll be writing - which is always good - and at some point you will likely find the shape of a story to tell. Then you can get on with your own stuff.

I haven't read other replies, so forgive me if I am merely an echoing fart on someone else's wind.

But, IMO, it is very difficult to create output without sufficient input. One needs to eat to poop something out. Reading other books, mythologies, etc. can help generate sufficient input and turn into something else inside the special excreta-factory of your imagination-filled intestines. Don't neglect nonfiction, as well. Some of the oddest and coolest things come from nonfiction, and I get most of my ideas (which, it is perhaps worth mentioning, have not yet borne anything publishable, but I think this is the result of deficiencies in execution) from reading some article or book on, say, ancient China or jellyfish or parasites or the effects of lack of sleep on the brain or feral children or whatever. Sometimes the smallest thing can make a spark. Sometimes a very basic overdone skeleton of a story can be given fresh life.

And once you consume, you can poop out something that is all your own.

Torgo said:

1. Grab a book of folk tales. Italian Folktales by Italo Calvino would be a good one to pick.

2. Read the book and find a story that you like. Folktales are the distilled essence of story. You can mess with the details as much as you like and they still retain their structure and the kind of feeling they contain.

3. Retell that story in your own way and in your own words. Explore the bits that feel like they would be interesting to flesh out. Think about how the story changes if you tweak the characters a bit. (Is Jack the Giant Killer a hero, or just a murderous burglar?)

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This is great advice, though I would caution against being too goal-oriented about it. Learn from my mistakes!