Frustrated with novel-writing

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For many years now I've wanted to write at least one fantasy or historical novel, but despite countless efforts I have never gotten around to finishing one. I've managed to finish a few short stories and many non-fiction essays, but success with novels always eludes me. I believe my fundamental problem is that I have a hard time finding plots or character developmental arcs that really resonate with me enough to commit to them. The mechanics of prose and description are easy for me, but I always end up dissatisfied with my characterization or plot after getting a chapter or two into my novels. After reflecting on why I have these difficulties, I have come to question whether I really want to become a novelist at all.

Don't misunderstand me, I've always had a strong creative streak. Most of the time I express this streak through drawing, but sometimes I think up a visual image for which my rudimentary drawing skills can't really do justice. In those events, I write the scene down in the form of prose. Almost all of the short stories I have managed to finish actually started out as drawing ideas. However, as much as these mental visualizations inspire me, I can never stretch them out into novel format. I enjoy drawing what my characters look like, but I can't give them life or personality in a story longer than one scene. In fact I don't even care that much about character or plot development relative to more sensory stimuli.

I seriously doubt I will ever write that novel. A non-fiction book perhaps, but not anything in the realm of fiction. What am I to do instead?

I have issues with writing. I usually do erotic and/or fan fiction type stories. I really want to write, but I have a hard time finishing. I get an idea, start it, usually get about 3 chapters in or so, then the problem arises. Hope I can explain this... I get to a point where the details are confusing, like I could go one way with a character or this other way, then I want to write another story similar so I can have both. THAT gets tiring lol. I hate having to choose. Plus, I am WAY better at adding things to a story or editing than making up a whole story. I wish I had someone with similar interests that could help me.

Novels are relatively big stories. Generally, your protagonist has several challenges along the way until he reaches his goal. You don't "find" plots. You create them. If there's no conflict when your character walks to the store to buy a bottle of milk, create one. While in the store it gets robbed. On the way to the store a car careens off the road and flies uncontrollably into the store. Standing outside of the store are thugs you'd rather not encounter.

Your protagonist has something to do or somewhere to be. Don Quixote is out to prove he is a great and chivalrous knight so he has several adventures (conflicts) along the way.

Say I want to write a story about an Ethiopian girl who comes to America. Okay. Where's the conflict? Language is one. Finding a boyfriend and eventual husband is one. Hell, make the boyfriend Anglo. That in itself creates numerous issues. What does our heroine want? To have a good life. How does she get there? Create a year by year outline and fill in all the blanks.

One exercise in creative writing could be to write a short story about leaving your house and going to the store to buy a gallon of milk. Where's the conflict? You have gout and have to rely on a cane or walker. The store is far and just getting a ride is a tremendous effort because no one wants to drive you. Walking to the store is dangerous because it's on a corner where drug dealers congregate. It's the middle of the night and now going out to the store is as daunting as staking out Bin Laden in Afghanistan. The store itself is a problem because the last time you were there the clerk accused you of trying to rob the joint. Everybody in the house wants you to bring them something back from the store, but since they forgot your birthday the week before, you're having seconds thoughts.

See? You don't find conflicts. You create them. Keep the reader turning the page.

And I like idea of having a couple of projects going at once.

redrobin62 makes some good points.

I'm taking a break fro writing myself. I had too much going on, and it was just a distraction. I also had no idea what I was going to write about for a while. I think I'll keep working on it tomorrow.

I've often said that writing is easy. Good writing is hard. Alan Dean Foster, when I met him last year, put it another way: the first and last pages are easy, it's everything inbetween that is hard.

Just keep trying. Believe me, it takes me a long time, and a lot of frustration, to write a book. In fact, I have writer's block now.

I have problems with writing in general, largely due to a fear of getting torn a new orifice by somebody who loathes my work. I guess that you could say that I am paranoid.

@ RedRobin

Thank you so much, I find plotting a lot easier once I think of it as throwing a series of challenges or problems at the characters I conceive.

A classic approach to screenwriting is that someone wants something badly and has a hard time getting it. And if what the person wants changes somewhat during the course of the story, you can have an arc of character change.

And most important, if there are glitchy parts or flat out mistakes, that can add texture and actually end up being a good thing! (This is so effective, you might be tempted to add mistakes on purpose, but that can come across as artificial. But if you've already made a mistake(s), consider letting it stay in and rolling forward.)

And remember, many comedians have joke generating notebooks, with a ton of ideas, many only partial, and that's probably a good thing.

I've written about 31,000 words so far in this one novel but am stuck now.

Edgar Allen Poe said that writing should be done in way that a reader will finish it in one sitting. He only wrote short stories. Maybe if we approach a chapter like a short story instead of getting overwhelmed with the long story then it can be easier to finish. ???

I'll experiment with that. Break down the next chapter with a beginning middle and end instead of looking at the long term project as a whole.

The cool thing about my "fill in the blanks" (in a timeline) idea is, at any given moment, if you're stuck in the development of one section, you can just skip it and work on a later section then come back to that stuck section later. That way at least you're still writing and your book doesn't get shelved for lack of ideas.