1. Bongo Mongo

    Bongo Mongo New Member

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    Massive plot ideas, but bored with writing.

    Discussion in 'Plot Development' started by Bongo Mongo, Nov 10, 2009.

    Every day of my life for the past 2 or 3 years I've been thinking of an idea for a book to write. Not a trilogy, saga, etc., just one single book. I have the beginning, middle, and end set up just how I want it in my mind. I love all my characters and think the plot is good.

    Now my problem: I really just don't like writing.

    I've tried writing this book multiple times. I've always finished the first chapter, revised it, and then try to continue, but I just get too bored. I don't have enough motivation to keep going, I feel absolutely nothing for my characters and plot, so I scrap it and tell myself I'm never writing again. Day by day the characters would swarm into my head and I try to write it again, with a little bit of new so I don't get too bored. I just finished writing the first chapter, and I'm sick and tired of my plot and characters again.

    I've tried to keep going, but I just can't. This story needs to come out, or I'm going to go insane, what do I do?
     
  2. WaltzElf

    WaltzElf New Member

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    Give it to other people to read. Nothing inspires me more to work than to know that my stuff is getting read.
     
  3. Radvermin

    Radvermin New Member

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    just write it to get through it. I've written stuff that I hated just to get to the next chapter. Then the plot changes and voila, I have to change the chapter to match the plot and it's good, not because I wrote it better but because it had purpose.
     
  4. HorusEye

    HorusEye Contributor Contributor

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    Coming up with a story is like telling it to yourself. You entertain yourself.
    Writing the story is like telling it to someone else. You entertain them.

    Think of someone beside yourself that you want to entertain, impress or confide in, and then write it for them. Share your story.
     
  5. ManhattanMss

    ManhattanMss New Member

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    Paint it or draw it or build it. Or find somebody who can write it for you. Stop trying to write it and go do what you enjoy. I can't imagine a really great book coming from an author who doesn't like writing. Either that or pitch your idea to someone who buys ideas (maybe filmmakers or TV producers).

    Whatever you do, don't think for a minute that forcing it onto the page is going to produce a fabulous outcome. There're way too many competing writers who are not bored with the stories they tell--and most of those won't get published, even some that are pretty good.

    You can't really pretend to be a writer if you aren't one. So, just figure out what you are instead, and go for it.

    As a final alternative, though, feel free to take my position as a personal challenge, and set out to prove me wrong.:)
     
  6. bluebell80

    bluebell80 New Member

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    Have you tried just writing the outline of the story down? Rather than starting at Chapter 1, sometimes plotting out the entire book, chapter to chapter, scene to scene, can let you pick and choose what sections you want to write right now.

    Under each Chapter heading number how many scenes will be in it. Each scene gets a descriptive line about what happening. Just one sentence. Then move on to the next chapter. As you do this you may find places that just naturally inspire you to start writing. And by having it all plotted out you can just insert them into the story, then go back and write the not so inspirational scenes, or even make them less boring to you once you have other scenes around it written.

    You don't have to write in a linear path. You can jump around as long as you have some sort of outline to follow so you don't get confused about the scenes and events.

    You can also do something else if writing is just boring to you but you feel this story is clogging up your brain. Rather than writing it, speak it. Use your recording feature on your computer or a digital recorder and tell the story that is stuck in your head. Later, once you have some documentation of it in voice files, you can go back, listen to it, and transcribe it into written form. I actually do this, usually just for little tid bits I think of when away from home, on my cell phone. I have a voice memo feature that I use all the time. It beats carrying a pad of paper and a pen around with me. :)

    Edit: I just read your last paragraph a little more thoroughly. If you feel nothing for the plot or the characters, if it doesn't give you the spark, then something isn't right. It might not be that you dislike writing, but that you dislike this story. I've had that happen several times. Started out with gusto, then after writing a chapter, thinking about the story for months, I find I really just hate it and can't write it anymore. This is usually a sign to me that the characters suck and the plot line is nothing special. When this happens to me I put the writing I already have a way, usually in a folder of Book Ideas, and forget about it. I move on. I start reading or watching things in a totally different direction. Like when I was working on a drama that I came to loath, I started watching and reading Sci-Fi...a total 180 from what I was working on. It sparked things. I'm working on a couple projects right now in that genre. This might also be your problem. Or like MM suggested, maybe you aren't really inspired to write. Maybe your creativity actually lays somewhere else.
     
  7. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    No insult intended, but this seems to be the key point:
    Given the commitment to hard work entailed in writin g a book, this seems an insurmountable obstacle.

    But by all means, prove me wrong.
     
  8. Operaghost

    Operaghost New Member

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    I agree with Cog here, if you simply don't like writing then no amount of advice we can give you would be of much use. I agree it can be difficult to get otivated sometimes, but at teh end of the day you really need to enjoy what you are doing or it just won't ever seem right, novels and stories aren't just written, they are experienced, and you need to be part of that experience to get it across
     
  9. TWErvin2

    TWErvin2 Contributor Contributor

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    Writing/completing a novel has to come from an internal drive to continue. While it can be fun and enjoyable at times, it also invloves long hours of work and effort. It is easy to sit and imagine, it is harder to sit and write.

    If you really want to do it, you'll have to have the self-discipline and internal motivation to write the novel. Find a writing method or routine that works for you. If you don't enjoy writing, then I suspect getting it finished in the long run will be very very difficult.

    Not everybody is a novelist.

    Terry
     
  10. tonten

    tonten Active Member

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    I think I'm probably one of the only people on these forums who can offer you some advice, as I have the same problem as you.

    I really really loathe writing. It's a tedious task which sucks the life out of you. I mean, I'd rather be fishing (not really, but just using it as a figure of speech)

    At one point in your life, you have to ask yourself, why, why do you want to write if you do not like it?

    If you can find the reasons, then this will become your motivation to write.

    This thread is perfect for you to get started:

    https://www.writingforums.org/showthread.php?t=4054&page=54


    Yes, writing can be tedious, but sometimes, you just have to bite your lip and do it.


    (And for those who doubt that a person who loathes writing cannot write or get anything done, I am 3 chapters away from completing my 1st novel. It took years of research to learn the craft of writing and to develop my own voice, and another few years to plan the plot and everything for the series. Writing is serious business - Yes, lots of hard work involved)
     
  11. Sonic

    Sonic New Member

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    I have autisim, which makes it hard for me to get the ideas from my head onto the page. It also makes writing very tedious. It took me almost a year to finish a five page short story.
     
  12. apathykills

    apathykills New Member

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    Dyslexia here.

    Can't spell worth a spit and if i use hand writing i can't read anything i've written down.

    Have you tried typing? (Both to sonic and to op) it's much easier then writing for me, it allows you to disregard things like hand writing and it's faster. Without the comp i probably would have given up on writing a long time ago.

    As for the problem op is having about a lot of plot ideas but no effort in writing them. Well maybe the plot isn't good.

    One of my biggest mistakes was trying to jump right in to writing novels. I never got passed chapter 4.

    I'm now taking my time writing short stories and enjoying the feeling of completion when one of them is done.
     
  13. madhoca

    madhoca Contributor Contributor

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    The problem you have with the plot ideas could be that this...and that...and the other... happen to the MC but they are just a slew of events when it comes to the crunch.
    Perhaps if you try and make the MC drive the plot forward with his/her actions, resolutions, and striving after a goal? You could try planning in 'scenes' where each time the MC does something, with resulting consequences (insert a few 'cool down' scenes or scenes featuring the other players from time to time to let the reader catch breath!)
    Just a thought.
    P.S. I'm guilty as hell as contriving elaborate 'plots' where the MC just balances on the back of the events like a trick rider!
     
  14. Robert Lipscombe

    Robert Lipscombe New Member

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    I think your problem may be that your inventive imagination is a bit disconnected from your heart, and so your characters will lack the necessary emotional significance for you - and you are trying to tell yourself this, it seems to me. So I would do this: take each individual character and ask yourself..is this character in its right setting? ..is this character doing anything for me emotionally? ..if not, what could he be doing for me? How much I change his basic nature, and his situation in order to get him to do something for me. What I want from him is that he embodies some of my energy, my spirit, my heart... so what is he doing for me?
     
  15. madhoca

    madhoca Contributor Contributor

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    That seems a good point, Robert--but sometimes if you're into elaborate plots the characters can be less emotionally involving--do you read Robert Goddard at all? But I guess ideally speaking if you're trying to be the ultimate writer you'd have gripping plots AND emotional connection.
     
  16. Bongo Mongo

    Bongo Mongo New Member

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    I might have to clarify, I love the feeling of writing when I am really into it, but for the most part I am bored with the story and characters so I get bored with the writing. That is probably why I'm so bored with writing as of late (I just figured that out as I typed it, funny)

    This is really good advice. I have been trying to write a full blown novel, and I haven't even finished one short story. I think I'm going to have to try to finish a short story first.

    Thanks for all the replies!
     
  17. architectus

    architectus Banned

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    I agree with the first post. Having people read your work is a huge inspiration. I am greateful for every reader I get on webook to my private projects. Knowing they are reading, often keeps me going.

    Here is an alternative. If this story must be written, then perhaps higher a ghost writer?
     
  18. Edward

    Edward Active Member

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    My own clone!

    Actually, you seem to have actually written something...
    I 'like' writing, except for that part where I have to get down and build dialogue and sentences and all that...
     
  19. Okay, I didn't read everyone's post, but I have a take on this. Firstly, if you hate writing, why are you doing it...?
    Secondly, if you want to do it but you say you hate doing it, I think you actually don't hate doing it but either have a short attention span (like me) or you may be lazy (like me). Don't take any offense to that, I'm trying to help.

    The remedy? I've told a countless amount of people on these forums the same thing, and that is to just force yourself to write (yeah, it sounds bad, but can you think of anything else to do?). I was in your position some time ago. What did I do? I wrote for a month straight, a chapter a day, looking back ever so often, until I arrived at an ugly first draft with an inconsistent plot.
    So then, ignoring the word count, you have something to begin with. It's your outline, it's a scrap you have to improve. You need to start doing what most writers enjoy, which is writing. Then you will have to start what most writers hate, which is re-writing and revising. Writing is just the first step, so get out there and scribble down some words!
    good luck, hope I helped
     
  20. Unsavory

    Unsavory Active Member

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    Several months ago I came up with an idea for a short story. I conceived the beginning, middle, and end much like you. I knew exactly what I was going to do, the point I was going to make, and I even had a good idea of the approximate length. It was a good idea for a story.

    Since then I have written eight short stories from start to finish and have only written the first page of this one. The problem is that I know the story too well. I know it so well that I'm not so much writing as I am transcribing, and that's incredibly boring. It doesn't feel creative at all. In fact I'm taking a break from that very story to write this message.

    If I have a point it is that you may not dislike writing, you may have just grown tired of your own story. Write something else and prove to yourself that you can write. Or at the very least allow your story to evolve, change, and adapt to any new direction you want to take it. This way the writing is still fun and you still have that sense of discovery.
     
  21. sprirj

    sprirj Senior Member

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    I would suggest make it a short story, as you are being put off by writing an epic. It may seem EPIC in your head but the mind works differently to a book, it jumps around a whole lot and uses sounds, smells and pictures rather than words, which is the bit you seem to not like. I'm only assuming of course, but going by your avatar I would say a Graphic Novel would be a better approach for you. Just come up with the story boards, character designs and the dialogue and then work on the layout of the whole thing. If you can't draw you can always work with an artist and it may be worth looking around various art/comic forums for an artists work you like the style of and/or is cheap/free :)
     
  22. Dermit

    Dermit Member

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    Not everyone writes for the same reasons.

    For some people it seems that writing is an outlet, a joy, something they absolutely need to do or they'll go stark raving mad. You see a lot of people passionate about the act of writing on here, and why not? It's a place for people passionate about writing. But it doesn't always work that way for everyone.

    For me, writing is work. It's effort. It's a grueling, headache inducing exercise, and I'm miserable during the process. I cannot wait to fill my word quota every day and move on to something else.

    So why do I do it?

    Because on the odd day when I write something and it comes off particularly well I get this warm happy glow and I feel like superman. Best feeling in the world. I've taken a blank page and turned it into something with value - something worth reading. I love THAT aspect of writing, and it makes the rest worthwhile. And I don't consider myself one jot less a writer than my peers simply because I don't have the same passion for the process they may.

    Take heart, OP! You're not broken. Hope is not lost. There are others out there, scribbling away, who cannot wait to be done with the bothersome writing part and have a finished product in their hands. It's just harder for us, is all :)
     
  23. Fox Favinger

    Fox Favinger New Member

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    I would recommend trying short stories for a change, but for me they are just too difficult. I find that limiting my detail to those strict word counts is just not the most effective way of expressing my ideas. I love a challenge and that's why I have completed several, but in the end novels are just easier to work with for me. The high word counts allow me to stretch my legs and expand every aspect of the story I wish to tell.

    I t may be time to put the idea down and either change it or just forget about it completely. I recently decided to completely change around the plot for the novel I am writing and I like it so much better. Better to a point where I can finally continue! Plus all the ideas I scrapped ended up in a short story I recently finished.
     
  24. bluebell80

    bluebell80 New Member

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    This is what I figured was the problem...boredom. You hate the boredom that comes with a flat story, not the actual act of writing words onto a white page.

    I can't tell you how many half started stories I have floating around on discs, usb drives, and my two laptop harddrives! More than I can count on both hands and feet, I know that much.

    Short stories...I can bust those out in an afternoon, have them polished in the course of a week. But novel length stuff seems to, at some point in the process, bore me to death and then I stop. What I find is the initial gusto with writing this great story idea that has popped into my head, seems to wane anywhere between 7k and 30k words. Once I start rereading parts, or get stuck in a place that just seems to not be flowing, I know there is a problem. Usually the problem isn't my own laziness, it is the flatness of the characters, lack of excitement in the plot, or being stuck at a brick wall that I have written my self into.

    I like to practice short stories just to feel like I have actually finished something! I couldn't imaging enjoying writing if I never finished anything...I'd feel like a total loser. I have to write short stories every now and then just to reaffirm my ability to complete a story from beginning to end. Even if at this point I haven't stumbled across a plot idea that can motivate me throughout the entirety of a novel, I know it's in my brain somewhere and I will be able to finish.

    You should probably explore writing some practice short stories, just to see how it feels to finish something and not feel bored before the end. Check out the short story idea thread in the contest section of the site. There are plenty of prompts there that you could turn into a short story. Even try submitting something to one of the weekly contests. It sometimes feels good, even if you don't win, to post something that you've actually finished and didn't hate.

    The other thing that helps me when I get to a low point in a story...reading other people's fiction. I buy new books, look for short stories online, anything I can do to take my mind off being frustrated and bored. Usually it leads to another idea I try out. Reading is one of the best cures for boredom I've found.
     
  25. Fox Favinger

    Fox Favinger New Member

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    ^^^
    I agree heavily with the above post.

    I was getting bored lately with my current novel so I changed the conclusion and some of the sub-conflicts. I'm 20,000 words in but I've decided to rewrite since I feel that I could flesh out the characters better and make it more exciting.

    It's still the same story, but I'm refreshing it and in turn I've made it enjoyable once again!
     

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