I don't think I know what fundamentally makes something a story. My writing leads nowhere.

Definitely warmer!

Start simple. Keep it simple. Exercise with something short.

Write a story about a man going to buy gas, and then going home. Maybe he stops along the way to buy flowers for his wife. It doesn't need to be long or complex.
In fact, it could just be a car commercial.

Don't load yourself down with a story about a hero saving millions. Stories can about world shattering events, or just someone going home as the goal.
Write something only a few pages long and end it. Do it a few times, get a little folder of them and see that you can write a story that goes somewhere.

 

Dave, I have the complete opposite problem that you do. I am able to create stories, plots, and themes but I get stuck in “writing” all the time. I’ll come up with a story but when I start to write, I get all tangled up in the words, sentence structures, grammar, diction, syntax etc. It’s like I know the destination but don’t have the tools to get there.


While I don’t know what advice to give you, I can offer help if you ever want to work together. Maybe we can gain more from each other’s strengths and get better through the process. If you’re interested, feel free to PM me.

 

This was definitely one of the tools that helped buckle down and write effectively. I use something similar for each character, and break it down into acts, chapters, and scenes. This exercise allowed me to see the story and scene much more clearly. Doing this for every character in a scene allowed me to drive everything to one common goal.

It was like trying to play chess blindfolded before I adopted this exercise. Once I was able to see the pieces on the board (story, characters, goals), I was better able to guide my team to the finish line with a sound strategy.

I'm really glad you shared this. Thank you.

 

Just wanted to say thank you to those who have posted above. Even though I’m not the original poster, I’ve found what you’ve said to be extremely helpful and allowed me to develop a good plot within 30 minutes this evening (I’d been struggling to decide on which path my well developed characters should take). Again, thank you!!

 

What really helped me was downloading a Scrivener template and sticking to it mostly. I was doing romance, so I found a free romance template, downloaded the free trial of scrivener, and used that. It broke down the story in twenty parts and labeled each part with a specific goal. I began writing with that and it developed my ability to craft a story. I learned how to move a story from one place to the next, and the basic goals my genre had within each act.

 

You ever make potluck. It's like that, except with words.

 

Not all of us, no. My first goal as a writer was always to develop a writing voice that does not emulate my favorites. I've never really understood the point in copying someone who would ultimately still do it ten times better, because it's theirs.

As for the OP, keep it simple. What does your character want, what's keeping them from it, and how are they going to get it? That's a story.

 

What you’ve described here is the single most frustrating thing about story and plot development. I used to suffer the exact same problems, so much so I eventually gave up and turned to poetry. I don’t have any advice, because if I did I’d have applied it myself, but suffice to say I know exactly where you’re at.