Does anyone have some writing tips that can help me?

Question

I would like to write a short story, but I can't seem to start a good story or finish a good story I began. I don't need ideas, just some help. I think I am the kind of person who does better when I write small random snippets and piece them together instead of writing straight through. Is this a bad method? I guess I might just have writer's block. Does anyone have advice? Or at least has anyone gone through the same thing, and can give me a little hope?

Answer 1

Very often I start a story with an idea, sometimes just a line of dialog, and I let it take me where it wants to go.  Allowing for this type of free writing lets me think through the concepts that I want to address in the story and helps to flesh out characters and situations.  I would suggest putting together a time line or plot outline of what you want to happen (or build it out of your snippets) and then use your rewriting process to create a solid through-line and tighten up the story.

No method of writing is wrong.  If short snippets work for you, then great.  Just remember you might have to devote some "drudge" time getting those snippets to flow together.

Good luck and keep writing.

Answer 2

Most writers have to piece their writing together. It is rare for any writer to start a story from the beginning and write straight through to the end of it.

Often I get an idea while I'm asleep and it wakes me up and I have to write it down or I can't get back to sleep cause it nags me.

Normally the ideas don't arrive with head and feet on them they arrive someplace around the shoulders or midriff and it's up to me to flesh it out.

Writer's block is when you don't have any ideas at all.

A great way to come up with new ideas is to read about a diversity of different subjects and leave the way you use the information up to your  vivid imagination.

When you watch a movie or read a book take notes. How would you have written it differently? What changes would you make?

For fresh ideas take a walk, look for interesting scenes or look at pictures and create a story from it.

Have an interesting dream? Write about it. Expand it and flesh it out.  Dreams often make great stories.  

Answer 3

Well I just got done myself finishing a book I have been working on.What I did for me was let the main characters dictate how the story goes.Like instead of yourself write everything from your imagination let who ever your writing about write for you.See everything your characters are seeing.word perfect helped me alot too or some kind of grammar and spell checking.

Answer 4

Yes. Write what you want, when you want, but if I were you, I would just write ten pages at a time.  

Answer 5

Tips on plot

I will start first by going into plot-engines. A plot-engine is what gets the plot up and running and keeps it in motion. There are 2 main ones.

Event Driven : These are plots that advance because of a sequence of events. They change about everything included in your story-the setting, action, mood, tone, and your character's reaction. One thing to note is that your protagonist doesn't need to undergo any drastic changes.

Character Driven: The events all spring from ongoing changes within your character. If your character is driven to make things happen, they will probably happen.

You need plot components to have a good plot. They are problem, complication, and resolution.

There are 4 main types of problems. Man against society:

These are the stories in which your protagonist is an individual who sees the world differently from those around him.

Man against man : A highly recognizable problem is the tale of two rivals. You create two dynamic characters who are totally different.

Man against himself: These are more complex, and probably requires a good understanding of psychology. These are the inner struggles of a protagonist who must decide upon a particular path.

Man against nature: These are the stories where the protagonist has to dive to the bottom of a trench, climb a mountain, defeat the animal, or survive a disaster.

Complications

Complication is what make plots interesting. It's not enough to just have a problem, you need to have complications ot make it worse. Keep 2 basic things in mind.

1. Things must look bad as they can possibly be, and then get worse.

2. Complication create change.

Resolution

It is the way you decide to wrap up your plot. There are 3 main resolutions.

Protagonist wins: This is the most popular, because he is the main one the audience has been pulling for throughout.

Protagonist loses: This takes the audience in a different turn. You need to make sure even in defeat, the protagonist has become a better person.

Antagonist wins: The audience isn't gonna accept the bad guy winning unless he goes some sort of transformation, maybe shedding his evil persona.

Plot Requirements

It needs direction, changes in points, and obviously, suspense. It also needs a clear beginning, middle, and end.

Tricks

Multiple viewpoint, narrated from more than one person

In Medias Res, meaning in the middle on things, because it starts off right in the middle of action. The reader is yanked in and doesn't get a chance to really come up for air, and that's when you throw in a few chapters that 'back-fill" the events.

Your plot has to make sense. 3 examples of bad illogical plots are:

The Idiot Plot, when everyone acts like an idiot, like in the horror movies where they split up and get picked off one by one.

Nothing that just happens for no reason, author convenience.

Rabbit out of hat: Related to author conscience, it is totally unexplainable and no reason for it to happen.

Sorry if It's long. Good Luck