*weeps with frustration*

[serai]

Herein you shall find a cry of pain, from the depths of a soul who really WANTS TO BE CREATIVE GODDAMMIT.

I know I have a few new friends on my list from the newly minted ST fandom. (SIDE NOTE: Hi, guys!! So glad you're here. You are welcome in my house. Do me a favor and keep the cat off the altar if you see her up there. She just WON'T leave it alone.) And I know that, along with my pals from the LOTR and actor fandoms, at least a couple of you are fic writers. I'd like to hear from those of you who write (if you're inclined to respond), especially those in the ST fandom, since you're involved with the stuff I am these days. (Readers too if you have any thoughts!)

This problem has come up before, but I'm feeling it acutely right now. Have you ever been working on a story, you know the shape of it, the currents running between the characters, where the eddies and rapids ought to be, and you're banging away at it...and it changes? Either a character does something unexpected, or an emotional shift happens that pushes the narrative in a different direction, or something else equally disconcerting? What do you do in that situation?

I'm working on a fic that I really love (but which I'm not sure anyone else will, LOL), and I've found myself in just such an impasse. The problem is two-fold: the aforementioned emotional shift, and a very sudden ending. Not that the story ends, but the fic seems to. The words come to a close, and I'll be damned if I can see how to write past it.

And it's LONG! This is a long fic ! (For me, anyway.) I'm on my fourth page, and I'm dead certain there's more to this thing. ARGHARGHARGH

What would you recommend here? Has this happened to you? How did it affect you, and what did you do about it? Should I do anything about it? Maybe I should let it sit. But I lose fics that way! I'M ON A GODDAMN ROLL HERE.

HEEEEELLLLPPP!!!

Comments

[biting-moopie.livejournal.com]

Keep writing. If you know that there's more to the story but the words/ideas just won't come, then what I do is keep writing. Sometimes I change the setting, like going to a cafe, and I take out my pen and start. It can mean that the first paragraph will be something like "Well, I'm here to write this fic and I really don't know what's going to happen and it's driving me crazy because I know Character X should do this and Character Y should do that..." and I just keep going. Sometimes I'll start by writing down the lyrics to a song that's in my head. But I keep my pen moving and don't stop. Then what happens is that you just start getting into the story and before you know it, you've written the next section.

What can also happen is that you find yourself writing about something else but that just means you had all that extra stuff in your head that was getting in the way of the story. So don't worry if this happens.

I've used this technique on fanfic, original stories and presentations/projects for work. If I need to write something but am not inspired, I just start writing anyway. The first words you write might not have anything to do with the subject at hand. But once you relax and get into the flow and let the words come, you'll be amazed at what comes out.

Hope this is helpful! If you're on a roll, stay with it. Good luck writing! *sends happy writing energy*

[serai1.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the suggestion! While thinking about what you've said here and rereading what I had, I realized that what ended was one character's words. I now suspect the way to unclog this drain is to do a flip-around and continue from the other character's viewpoint. Which actually scares me a bit because the way it's bucked me means I have no idea what he's going to say or reveal. Or what will happen next. EEK

I'm going to take some time this evening and just hack away. Thank you so much!

[biting-moopie.livejournal.com]

Sorry for the extremely late reply.

You're welcome. I'm so happy that this technique worked for you!

It's so funny, that exact same thing happened to me. I'm working on a Snarry fic and part two was giving me a lot of trouble. I'd written part 1 from Harry's point of view and was doing the same thing for part two. Then I just got stuck and was not progressing. One day, I made myself sit back down and write and then I realised that the reason it wasn't working was because the story should be from Severus' point of view. Now the story is coming along and it might actually be finished soon! (I've been working on and off on this series for four years and the thought that it might be finished in the next couple of months makes me dance with joy and then get back to writing :)

Can't wait to read your fic, bb!

[serai1.livejournal.com]

I've written another piece of it, and it looks like it's going to flip back and forth between the two characters involved. I'm enjoying it, though I'm still not sure what it'll end up being, and whether it'll make sense to anyone that reads it. But it's EXCITING!