When your story sucks

Discussion in 'Fantasy' started by Lea`Brooks, Jun 22, 2015.

  1. Selbbin

    Selbbin The Moderating Cat Staff Contributor Contest Winner 2023

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    Me? I'd scrap it and call it a loss. If it's meant to be I'll end up going back to it anyway. So maybe dump it and see what happens. The act of removing expectations might free your mind up to find the answers. See if you get drawn back.
     
    peachalulu likes this.
  2. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Not to be simplistic, but have you thought about why you are writing this story? Not the why of the characters or the plot. Not their reasons for doing things or the reason things happen in the order they happen within your story. I mean your why for writing this story. Do you have something you want to say with this story? If the answer is yes, have you maybe lost track of that thing? Did the events take over from your original goal? I often take a lean back in my chair and think about the why of my story. What's the point? What's the purpose of me doing this thing called novel? I often find that when I'm starting to feel the sand less and less beneath my feet as I wade into the story, it's because I've lost track of my why.
     
  3. The Mad Regent

    The Mad Regent Senior Member

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    Don't delete/bin it. Just put it to one side. Even if it never gets finished, you can use it as a comparison against the quality of your future work to measure your learning progress.
     
  4. Selbbin

    Selbbin The Moderating Cat Staff Contributor Contest Winner 2023

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    Absolutely! NEVER bin it. NEVER delete.
     
  5. 123456789

    123456789 Contributor Contributor

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    Talents.
     
  6. Aaron DC

    Aaron DC Contributor Contributor

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    Do you mean in the same way anyone can write, anyone can take a photo?
    Or are you saying it's easier to be a good photographer than a good writer?
    Or??
     
  7. The Mad Regent

    The Mad Regent Senior Member

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    Ignore this post. I'm just a retard. :p
     
    Last edited: Jun 23, 2015
  8. Aaron DC

    Aaron DC Contributor Contributor

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    I'm kind of confused. 123456789 wrote something and I am trying to understand what he wrote. I am mystified what your post has to do with the albeit off-topic subject of photography being easier?
     
  9. The Mad Regent

    The Mad Regent Senior Member

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    Oh, shit. I just reread the posts and I misunderstood. Nevermind me. :p
     
  10. Aaron DC

    Aaron DC Contributor Contributor

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    Phew! :D All good :agreed:
     
  11. 123456789

    123456789 Contributor Contributor

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    That's exactly what I'm saying. It's like comparing thumb war to Greco wrestling.

    FYI I am using the world talent interchangeably with the word skill.
     
  12. Aaron DC

    Aaron DC Contributor Contributor

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    Photography is to writing as thumb wrestling is to greco roman wrestling in terms of skill required?
     
  13. 123456789

    123456789 Contributor Contributor

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    Yes.
     
  14. Lea`Brooks

    Lea`Brooks Contributor Contributor

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    I tried some of the suggestions listed.

    I did my character interviews (in my head mostly) and figured out who I want to use. So that was a plus.

    I tried flipping the story on its head. I thought about my MC's heritage and how that would change the story. I thought about changing the bad guy up. I thought about a lot of things. And none of it worked. Maybe I just didn't change enough. It's hard for me to make my story do a 180. Because I always go back to, "Well that wouldn't work for what I have planned..." It's so hard for me to separate what I've already built vs. what I could build. So I probably just failed there.

    I even went back to why I wanted to write it. Reading fantasy stories growing up, I always loved stories about young average girls thrust into a different world where they were important. It gave me hope that even the most mundane people can become spectacular. So that was the motivation for my story... to take an average girl and make her extraordinary. I also loved scenery in stories. I loved feeling like I was in the setting when I read. So I wanted to make my world beautiful and magical. There were so many other things I wanted to make this story. A story about choices and right vs. wrong and love at first sight and magic. But even going back to those things, to the very beginning of my world building.. I just couldn't do it.

    The magic of my story is lost. I almost wonder now if I've only been working on it so hard because I've been doing it for so long. I've put in so much work into this story, and I didn't want to just let it go. It's been years. Years. How could I just abandon it after everything I've worked for?

    But nothing it working. I've tried so hard and it just isn't paying off. There doesn't seem to be any saving this story. So I think it's time. Sometimes you just have to let things go. And I'm heartbroken.


    Thanks for all your help.
     
    GuardianWynn likes this.
  15. GuardianWynn

    GuardianWynn Contributor Contributor

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    Jannert been working on a book 20 years.

    My story is 7 years old myself.

    I don't know how many years you have but never give up. If you think there is something there. This forum is full of people who support you. Including me. :)

    I mean if you really want to stop, none of us will fault you.

    Sometimes you do just need a break. A moment to cool off and let the memory of why you love it and why you want to keep and it and why you have kept at it return. When that happens I would be more than willing to discuss it with you until we are both old and gray if it comes to that. :)

    I believe in you. :)
     
  16. wellthatsnice

    wellthatsnice Active Member

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    My suggestion is to take what you have written so far, including your notes and lock it all away. Then step away and dont touch anything in relation to this concept for a few months. Next time when you have a inclination to work on this piece, start over from scratch and write out the story. Only break out the original notes and transcript once you have completed the rebooted first draft.

    My feeling is that you likely have a major case of needing to kill your babies. Those sections of the story you are attached to but are weighing down the narrative and making your work "suck".
     
  17. 123456789

    123456789 Contributor Contributor

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    @Leabrooks


    What specifically is it about your story that you don't like? Is it just that you're older now?
     
  18. drifter265

    drifter265 Banned

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    I know where you're coming from. I've said something along these lines myself on these forums and remember myself quite angry. What I meant, though, was I was trying to be encouraging. Of course most people don't know how to write a story or can write well. What I was trying to say was that anyone can, if given enough time, not necessarily that they will or are. The point, I think, is just not to give up and that if you want something bad enough you can do it. I don't think you can or would want to disagree with that.
     
  19. Lea`Brooks

    Lea`Brooks Contributor Contributor

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    I honestly don't know. I think mainly it just feels hollow. I've always liked my characters and felt their relationships were strong. But now they just feel pointless. Everything I try to plan feels contrived. Maybe I've just outgrown the story and the queen storyline.
     
  20. 123456789

    123456789 Contributor Contributor

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    I think this is why its important to set realistic time frames for completing a story. I have had this happen to me as well At one point in my life, most of my ideas for novels were fantasy. Needless to say, I didn't get around to writing them, and for better or worse I've outgrown them. Those ideas aren't ever getting written. I'm not suggesting you follow my lead, just letting you know you're not alone.
     
  21. Link the Writer

    Link the Writer Flipping Out For A Good Story. Contributor

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    Believe me, I'm in the same exact boat with my fantasy. You feel like, 'No, no this time I've got it! This time I know what to do!' but it falls flat; nothing seems to work. My fantasy's so broken now that save for a few characters, I'm considering just trashing it entirely.

    I hate to sound like I'm encouraging you to just quit on this, I never want to encourage people to just quit their projects. Yet also, I'm not sure how sensible it is for folks like you and me to spend years banging on a project that won't get anywhere when we could be exercising our creativity elsewhere. So here's what I'm going to tell you: put this away. Not necessarily for forever, but just for a little while. Put it away and go work on an entirely different story.
     
  22. Lea`Brooks

    Lea`Brooks Contributor Contributor

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    Yeah that's my plan. I'm not throwing it away, but I'm not holding onto hope that I'll revive it either. I may use the world in a future novel, but the story I created is very likely gone forever. :(

    I'm going to start working on a different one alongside my urban fantasy. I like to have two stories going at once at all times. That way when I get burnt out or stuck on one, I can just switch over to the other. I think I need this, to stop worrying about this one and work on something simpler. It'll be good I think. :)
     
  23. 123456789

    123456789 Contributor Contributor

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    Why don't you try something in a more realistic setting, just to see what happens?
     
  24. Lea`Brooks

    Lea`Brooks Contributor Contributor

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    Yeah, I have something like that in mind. It's still an urban fantasy, but there's only one magical creature and a bunch of humans. The story is much more character focused than I've done before, and it's much, much darker. It's basically the complete opposite of the high fantasy story I'm ditching. lol So I'm hoping a change in scenery will do me some good.
     
  25. Lea`Brooks

    Lea`Brooks Contributor Contributor

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    Hmmm.... So I was laying in bed last night, and for some reason, an idea came to me regarding this story that I had planned on ditching.

    Originally, the story was going to be very... sweet, I guess. The MC is an orphan who grew up with a witch. The MC becomes the queen of the country and figures out she was the daughter of the last queen. She was going to change some bad laws and start helping the people more. Then she was going to take down the bad guy and become a goddess.

    Typing it out all over again makes me cringe. Because it's so incredibly dull.

    But last night, I don't know what happened.. But a thought popped in my head. What if.. I do what jannert suggested and take a major element and flip it on its head? So instead of being this nice, pretty world full of happy people who are excited about the new queen.... I could make it this dark, ugly world full of scared people who know that the new queen is going to die?

    I haven't worked out all the details yet (obviously, since I just thought of it last night). But for some reason, this idea is sparking my interest in the story again.

    I would make the world cruel and unforgiving. It USED to be pretty and happy, but some "evil" (placeholder word) force has invaded and is turning the world to dust. The trees and grass are dying, the animals are becoming more violent because they have so little food. The country is spending so much time and effort on trying to keep their food supply stocked that all the buildings are falling into disrepair. The queen is still chosen like I had originally planned, but instead of it being a big celebration, it almost feels like a funeral.. Because the queen is often sent on a mission (somewhere) to overcome the evil (somehow), but she always fails. So she dies. So every citizen knows that no matter who becomes queen, she'll always die early and never complete her full term.

    So my MC would be the one character that would win. It would be a small win, because there's a bigger source to take out. But she'd still win. And it'd bring back just a little bit of hope to the people, enough so that more people will join their military to help in the fight, the council members would do more to help train my MC to fight better, etc. And then eventually, she'd take out the full bad guy who was killing the world, and everything would be alright again!


    I'm not going to think too much into it for now. I'm already focused on two other novels, so throwing a third in there would just be too much. But I wanted to get it down before I forgot, and this is the only place where I know I won't lose it. :p
     
    Link the Writer and GuardianWynn like this.

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