Tips for writing a story. - I need help.

[VolareMIRCantare]

Are there any story writers in this forum??

I need tips on how to write a story, anytime that I have tried to write I never finish because my stories never seem to go anywhere.

I really like to write so any tips, advice or good books on the subject would be helpful.

[canikickit]

ha! I'm not a story writer but I'll throw some advice out there.


my stories never seem to go anywhere

write out an outlay of the story (i.e. the beginning, middle and end in a couple of sentences) before you start anything.

If you are looking for advice on ideas, I don't think anyone can help you except yourself.

Try making up stories when you are talking to your friends, just make up bullshit lies, like if your friend says, "what happened to your man, I haven't seen him in ages?", make up some crap about how he got sent to his uncles gaff for smoking hash......Making up stories on the fly is good for your brain it helps your cognitive thinking.

How's that for the worst advice you've ever heard?

[VolareMIRCantare]

Its not bad advice, thanks.

[Conghaileach]

I've written a few short stories.

I'd start with the characters, and how their personalities are similar or different. You can then create a story based on these people, by creating a plot device and trying to think how this character would act differently than that character in whatever situation.

It's not necessary that you know where you're going in the story. Having it all planned out could restrict any good ideas that may pop into your head while your writing, so it's a good idea to have the basic story written down roughly, but always ready for different tweaks and improvements you may want to add.

Not sure if that's helpful, but it's all I can think of at the moment.

[suffianr]

Hey, VolareMIRCantare, I'm a computer lab at college and I thought I'd throw in a few suggestions whilst I'm killing time...

Writing fiction can be difficult if you are not familiar with the basics. Of course, anyone can write fiction, you don't have to be particularly inclined to literature or anything, but here's a few things that I consider important when attempting to write fiction:

1. Structure.
2. Form.
3. Stlye.

Firstly, your work must have a central theme. Call it your thesis statement, if you want to sound academic, but your fiction must be embodied with a key idea that involves an individual, a concept, a place or even an occasion. Jurassic Park is about dinosaurs on an island that break loose because of a hazardous chain of events that happen over the period of a few months, which includes a detalied narrative on evolution, genetics, the nature of man, the chaos theory, invention...blah, blah, blah...but what is the central theme of the book? Don't fuck around with nature just because you think you know everything. Well, that's my guess, anyways...

Once you have sorted out who, what, where, when, how and why your story needs to be told, you progress to the next stage; chronology.

Most books rarely start at the beginning of a tale. For example, let's look at the Lord of the Rings:

The story starts in Hobbiton, as it did in the Hobbit, and intrroduces the reader to the Hobbits, Gandalf, Bilbo, as well as Frodo, Sam, Pippin and Merry, the four hobbits who will eventually be accompanied by the others. The first few chapters prepares the reader for the long journey ahead, warns the reader of the danger of the Ring, convinces the reader that the Hobbits must leave Hobbiton and travel to the Council of Elrond, surprises the reader with the appearance of the Ringwraiths....you get the idea. This is called buildup.

Later on, through a series of narratives from other charcters and events, Tolkien delves into background; the history of the Ring, the life-stories of Aragorn, Saruman, Sauron, Golem and others. Tolkien does flashbacks, he cuts to events of the past that have direct bearing on the future of the narrative.

Form can be acheived through narrative. There's the first person narrative, the thrid person narrative, historical narrative, abstract narratives...Tell the story through any of the characters or none of them at all, depending on what sort of "voice" you choose to use.

Style is ultimately your own style of writing, your own imagination, your own thoughts and ideas. There's the Economists Style Guide for grammar and editorial guidelines, use a thesaurus always, not to substitute short words for long sentences, but to have a look at all your options, use free association to make up a connection between two random concepts or ideas, just try looking at anything you can think of for inspiration!

You seem to be experiencing writer's block. Take some time off, read some books (try Stephen King's On Writing, that helped me a lot), go for a walk, get some fresh air, or anything else that comes to mind... :)

And good luck. Writing's fun.

[VolareMIRCantare]

Thanks Suffinar and Ciaran. Suffinar yo seem very informed on the subject, you sound like a teacher.
Now its time to write a classic......maybe....

[suffianr]

I'm just a writer... :)