Hello! I've been working on a new story for the past two days non-stop. I usually write down what I want to happen on the chapters but I have no idea how to make the story move forward. What do you do when your inspiration has drifted away? I'd like to apologize for my English in advance since it's not my first language (and no, my story will not be written in English either)
Firstly, why are you apologizing for your English? It's perfect. As to the question: Inspiration drifts away from me all the time. I almost always find that it's because I've not given thought to the character motivation. For things to move from one thing to the next thing to the next, you have to understand why your characters are making the choices they make. When I hit a snag, I think about why my character is doing what he or she is doing. Why this rather than that? This tends to give me the next logical thing that happens. Not always, but usually.
Thank you so much for saying that and for your advice! I haven't thought about that before. I will read everything I've written so far and I'm sure inspiration will hit me eventually. Thank you, again!
I'm trying to parse those things I bolded. It sounds like you have some kind of draft or outline. And now you struggle to turn that into written chapters. If that's correct, I don't understand what you mean by inspiration. If you are a new writer and you have a story (whether it is fully fleshed out or not) then what it sounds like you need is to learn how to write. Nothing wrong with that. That's where I was six or seven years ago. I sat down with my lack of skill and my fairly fleshed out story outline and wrote. I knew my writing was not the best, but I took that to a critique group (I went to several before I found one that fit). I told them, I have a story but I know I don't know how to write. No reason to be embarrassed if you tell people from the start you are there to learn. From there I kept writing. Whatever their feedback was, I read everything I could on that technique, (in writer's blogs and how to write books). Now I have a book that's almost finished. The story changed and developed along the way. And what I hoped might be two years turned into seven. I still learn with every critique but I love this story and how it's turned out. Of course, if you meant something else by "inspiration", never mind.
When I get stuck I start to think of the character in a different situation, what they might say or do. For instance my mc leaves her husband and waits outside a diner for someone. She never goes in, but what if she did, how would she act, would she talk to someone or hide in a booth at the back? Whether it it's something ridiculous they would never be doing it (fight space aliens with a mop) or normal and boring (sitting in a diner) it is a good way to get to know and understand your characters. You might just write the best bit of your story.
I was talking about the outlining of my story. I'm stuck right in the middle of it. But your advice was really helpful, I just wish there were critique groups in Argentina but oh well, I have this forum and so far everything I've read has been helpful!
Does Meetup Argentina have much presence there? What city are you in? https://www.meetup.com/cities/ar/buenos_aires/ If you can't find a group you can offer to start one and see if there is any interest. Online forum critiques can be just as useful as in person critiques. There's a different skill set for sorting the good from the bad critiques. First step, read other peoples' critiques, get a feel for who you think is giving good advice and who isn't. Give your own critiques. You don't have to be a highly skilled writer to critique, critique from the level you are at. One with less knowledge can say whether they liked a piece or not. Try to say good things too if you have negative comments to make. Keep in mind though when getting and giving critique, negative comments are how we learn.
As for being stuck in the middle, I take walks in the park where my characters talk to each other to work scenes out. People think you are talking on your phone and don't notice you are talking to yourself.
I can barely talk to myself in my own apartment. One of the reasons I have a cat. I could never talk to myself out in public. Though if it works for your - go for it!
My protagonist talks to herself, too. It works well when you want your character to be alone, but you also want dialogue, not just inner thoughts.
I didn't know about that website! I'll check it out right now! Thank you so much for that and for your advice. I have never talked to myself in public since I'm afraid someone might hear me, but my bedroom's put up with my speeches since I was born, basically, hahaha.
If you are stuck with filler content, it means that you have no active story arc. To start a story arc, you'll need an opening. (meeting old friend, making a promise, getting in trouble...) Always look for places where openings can be inserted in a natural way and keep an upper limit in number of arcs and time without being mentioned to the reader. When I am out of idéas for a plot, I just write a long draft in a messy style (10 pages per day at home) where I throw in any crazy idéa I get without ever reopening a previous chapter for editing. If I slow down, watch television or browse the internet, I will not be completely in the world. If I edit, I get confused by everything that I erased. Then I can pick out the best parts for the real story once I know which arcs works in the long run and which ones that won't last more than 20 pages by consuming the plot resources. (Trust, mystique, obstacles, sanity, respect, tension)
Pixar recommends that you think about what can't happen as a way to jog your story along. I could never get that to work for me, but it works for them. Personally, I think the best advise I saw on the issue was from comic writer Chuck Dixon that he published in El Cazador #6. He stated some following: 1. Learn what to take out of your story to keep it moving. It's possible that your lack of motivation comes from the fact that your story might have bogged itself down with the pointless. Try rearranging things. Make things a little different. 2. This one I'm just going to quote: "Relax! Don't sit in front of a blank monitor and pray for the muses to come. When it's not working you should go do anything else. Bike riding, walking, nap. You can talk yourself into writer's block." 3. Don't put your last ideas of the day. It helps where you're going to start when you pick it back up. Also, I found that when I lack motivation for my story, it's usually because I made a turn in the plot that put me in the wall. For that reason, you shouldn't be afraid to backtrack and change something up.
