*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

[lindmere.livejournal.com]

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?

YES. I admit I'm brand new and supremely naive about this writing thing, but I have read interviews with authors where they say the characters "spoke" to them or had minds of their own and....yes.

For the abrupt ending...is there a way that you can continue without making the next paragraph the very next thing that happens? Maybe jump forward in time, or put a frame story around it, or switch to another characters POV? Or it could be that your ending is fine. Maybe you've said all you need to say.

I find shifts in mood/tone more problematic, because it seems my narrative voice changes when I write at different times. It can be hard to keep the tone consistent throughout the fic (unless you're lucky enough to be able to finish it all at one sitting). In that case I tweak what's already there instead of writing new stuff, and often I fall back into the rhythm. But it's scary--I presume professional writers have REALLY good control of their voice and style to make it all the way through an novel without changing midstream.

[serai1.livejournal.com]

Thanks for your support, and I'm so sorry for the late reply. I'm working on this fic, having decided to use switches of viewpoint to help it along and it seems to be working. The emotional shift ended up opening a whole new issue in the way these two relate to each other, whee! As an added bonus, one of them is garrulous, while the other doesn't talk much, so I have to deal with how to get him to tell me what he's thinking. He doesn't really want to.

Yeah, I'm one of those crazy writers that treats characters as real people. I've never been able to make stories happen; they happen without me, and I have to find out what's going on, usually either by watching and listening, or by conversing with the characters. It's strange, but I enjoy it, far more than writing where I'm actively making things up. This feels more alive.

Finding your voice is the main craft in writing, I think, the one you're learning all your life. I always tell new writers that in order to do this, at whatever level, you have to be a reader. A writer's style doesn't appear out of thin air; you have to learn from those who've been at it longer. The more you read, and the more widely you read, the better you'll be when you write, because you'll start out by imitating what you've read, and then work towards your own insights. Reading widely, in many different fields and genres, is especially helpful, and not something everybody does, but it can bring unexpected spice in that won't be available if you limit your reading to only your favorite stuff.

Also, the ending - no, there's more. In fact, now that I've figured out the key to bridging in this thing, the ending I had may turn around and have its tone changed by what comes next. I'm having fun. Can you tell?

[lindmere.livejournal.com]

It's fascinating to hear that, as I assumed when writers talked about having dialogues with their characters, it was metaphorical. I suspect it varies widely from person to person, and has to do with how your brain is wired. Another fan fic writer I talked to about this talked about having "cinematic" visions and building a story around them. I admit (with some embarrassment) to acting out some scenes, partly to provide a reality check so the dialogue doesn't sound too writerly and partly because that's how I told myself stories long before I wrote them down.

I suppose more elaborate plots have to be puzzled out in a more tedious way; I know JK Rowling kept masses of notebooks and mystery or thriller writers presumably have to map the whole thing out before they start to write.

I'm glad your story is no longer giving you fits and that you're enjoying it. I am truly looking forward to reading it.