...thought 'i dont like it'. im not sure why i thought this, because i was really excited about the idea and started writing sections and planning out the plot, then out of nowhere i get this thought of 'it doesnt seem right', 'it doesnt quite work'. does this happen to anyone else? i dont know what to do, should i just forget the whole idea or should i try to change it so that i like it again...problem is i cant quite pin down what it is i DONT like about it.
You're not alone. I once had a concept for a story that I really liked, and I worked on it a lot to develop a story. Yet the more I worked on it, the more stupid the entire idea seemed. I tried coming up with a different story, but it still seemed stupid. In the end, I just kind of gave up on it. Not saying you should definitely give up on it, but if you in the end really don't like it... it might not be worth writing.
My latest project suffered from this. I finally found a reader who could see what my problem was. I thanked her and started over.
I think my problem with it is that when i initially thought of it I thought it would be unusual, unpredicatable and kind of suprising. However as I've been planning it out, its starting to seem like a much more predictable story with nothing particularly unique about it. I dont know how to regain the feeling of 'unique-ness' I thought it would have.
actually to be more specific, i think the reason im finding im not liking it is that its starting to seem quite full of cliches, even though when i first thought up the ideas it seemed very un-cliched. im not sure how to get rid of the cliche's and the predictability without messing up the story.
It sounds to me as if you might be overplanning. My advice is to sketch out a very bare-bones outline, maybe a quick character sketch or two and then start writing - not just sections here and there, but the actual story. Don't be afraid of the fact that at some point you may have to rewrite large segments of it, or even start it over. In my current project, I started with a vague idea of what I wanted to accomplish, then stopped to write out some backstory for my own reference, and then went back to writing again. When I did, I realized that it had evolved into something quite different from what I had started with, and so I stopped. I took a break from it for about two months, then went back and started over. My enthusiasm is back, and I now have a much more focused idea of where this is going.
That depends on what kind of cliché you're talking about. I personally believe you need plot/setting/character clichés just so readers are in familiar territory. The creative part comes in where you put your own spin on the clichés. The surprising thing is when you give them a cliché when they're not expecting it. Hunger Games, where the government throws kids together in an arena and forces them to kill each other, was already done in Japan with the movie "Battle Royale", but Collins put her own spin on everything. You still have to be careful, though. I tried reading Eregon once, and it was so full of fantasy clichés I couldn't stand it. But really, I couldn't stand it because they were predictable clichés. In sum, it's okay if you have clichés, it is not okay if the story is extremely predictable. By the way you talk about it, it sounds like it might be a pretty original idea overall, and I bet a few clichés will only make it more grounded, so people will actually be able to follow along.
This keeps happening to me. If you forge ahead, regardless, you might think of something great that you can add that answers some of your own questions about your writing and reignite your interest. Please, don't give up! Write a story as far as you can, formally or not, so you don't miss out on an idea that could be super fun!
Never been there but then never planned a story - my stories are unpredicatable and unusual because not even I know what is happening next - I know I have murdered someone in my detective story don't yet know who it is. If was to summarise some of my plots I suppose they would feel predictable.: Mayhem: Seventeen year old scruffy Prince is made king overnight What About Us: Queen gets kidnapped. Socrates' Children: Universe is about to be destroyed MC must take action to save it. Stoned Witches: Couple of old people and their grandson solving mysteries. Coffee Killer: Two detectives uncover a prostitute ring in a twelfth century market town. I've read each and everyone of those stories before. It is the things I discovered whilst writing them that makes them uniquely mine.
Hi Elgaisma, you have a good point there; its highly unlikely that ANYONE can come up witth a truly original story anymore, as pretty much everything has already been done. i guess the thing that makes a story unique is not the actual plot but the details, how it is written etc.
I think its pretty common, be happy that you found out while planning rather than after having spent hours with it and written 50K (or something) words... try to analyze what you like and dislike about it and you might get a clue how to make it better.
Try choosing a random point within the story, and just sit down and start writing from there. Don't worry about editing, just sit down and write, and see where that takes you. You may find a direction that you like, or you may find that it won't work after all.
I've run into this. I started writing a story and ran into a brick wall. I could not make myself believe in the background of my own story! I like the story, so I'm trying to work out the background issues, but I beat my head against the wall trying to write these characters and this plot against a toxic background and it just wasn't working. I hated what I was writing and I couldn't see a way to finish the story. I abandoned it and went on with something else. I hope I can come back to it in the future when I find a way through the barrier, but right now it seems hopeless.
