I can't seem to start a story...

Post Reply New Topic

I truly want to write but I have this problem with getting started. When I have the time to write I usually feel drained of all creative thoughts. When I'm ready to write and have thoughts buzzing in my head, I have other work to do. If I write the beginning for the story down, then later on I will read over the beginning. I erase the whole beginning and start over. This is my only hope for the future and I can't let it go!

I've been trying to write for years. I have been published once by a major publisher. Okay..okay..it was a chapter in an academic text...but the editor told me something that has helped me with my writing every since. She said she liked my voice. Since that time I have struggled to figure out what the hec a "voice" is in the context of a written text. I've finally figured it out...


Try to write EXACTLY as you would speak to someone in conversation, only with the necessary description added in so that you also convey the visual and other sensory elements.

1: DON'T ERASE ANYTHING. Not even the most trivial dribble.

The rest: A good story consists of four elements, setting, characters, plot and theme. Think of each of them as potential starting points.

Exercises: Describe a setting, no characters, no action, just sights, sounds, smells, ambiance. Lots of details.

"There were lovely patches of greensward all about, with stately trees bearing rich and luscious fruits. Banks of gorgeous flowers were on every hand, and birds with rare and brilliant plumage sang and fluttered in the trees and bushes. A little way off was a small brook, rushing and sparkling along between green banks, and murmuring in a voice very grateful to a little girl who had lived so long on the dry, gray prairies."

Describe a character. Again, lots of details, make them live in three or more dimensions.

"Three were men and one a woman, and all were oddly dressed. They wore round hats that rose to a small point a foot above their heads, with little bells around the brims that tinkled sweetly as they moved. The hats of the men were blue; the little woman's hat was white, and she wore a white gown that hung in pleats from her shoulders. Over it were sprinkled little stars that glistened in the sun like diamonds. The men were dressed in blue, of the same shade as their hats, and wore well-polished boots with a deep roll of blue at the tops. The men, Dorothy thought, were about as old as Uncle Henry, for two of them had beards. But the little woman was doubtless much older. Her face was covered with wrinkles, her hair was nearly white, and she walked rather stiffly."

Outline a plot. What will the conflict be between the protagonist/antagonist? What will the climax be? What are the possible outcomes? Few details.

Think about themes. What's on your mind? What do you have to say? Be broad and general.

Finally, join a writers group. You need peer feedback. I'll be glad to critique anybody's work. I’ll provide a good balance of positive and negative feedback.

Writing is really hard I think- but it's my SP Interest along with Drawing. The thing I wanted to say is that a real 'sense of place' is a good thing to start. Maybe try little pieces of writing that help to show what a place is like: little pieces of description; a character remembering the place maybe; something about the weather there.

The 'sense of place' thing is useful because it's a little like putting together a scrapbook of bits and pieces. Eventually one of the little bits you've written will suddenly absorb all the other bits (but it's usually a bit you never thought would be so important.)

It's really hard to say what to do about characters talking to each other -that's something I have a lot of trouble with, because I don't know how people manage to talk to each other. I'm not sure that writing which is full of people having a great social time is going to come out of me, but it doesn't mean that I have to only write about loneliness. Places simply belong to themselves, that's why they are a comfortable start.

Also writing is only about joining words together, just like the poet William Carlos Williams said:

"A poem is a machine made of words - when you read it, works."

i don't erase everything just the writing that doesn't seem to fit the story. I have all my other bits of the story on floppy discs. Believe or not but I have no floppy disc drive now. It's just cd-rom drive. I guess i am doing everything right since i'm writing little parts of the story down. I keep adding in little plots to the story that seem more interesting. I can't seem to just write the story write then and there. Thanks for feedback!

An important thing to note is that you should try to write straight through to the end/ an end before looking back at what you've written. Also writting should be enjoyable, you should like doing it and you should write what you like to read/write about. Anything else doesn't really matter when your starting out.

Good Luck!! !!

I would suggest not going back and rereading the beginning, unless you've stopped for a while and need to remember where you were. It tends to throw me off when I do this. I aim to go all the way through to the end (or until I get an idea about some other story and start that one ) and then go back for revisions and such.

The other thing is... if you get the urge to write, try to stop and write then if you have that chance. Sometimes it just strikes you. I have had a hard time writing since I started working 8-5, because when I'm writing something, I need to just sit down and write for hours at a time, at any hour of the day, until I get it out. Needing to go to sleep at a certain hour so I can wake up and go to work throws it off.

Like cloudchaser, I have trouble with the dialog between characters as well, becuase it sounds unnatural to me, but I try to plow through it to get the main ideas down and then rework it more carefully later. The longer I am able to write at one time, the more I can get into the character and the more easily the dialogues flow. It also helps to jump start "writer's block" by having somethng that triggers a relation to the story. This could be a picture, an object, a rock, a song. I sometimes use something like this when I am writing so when I stop and start writing again I can get back into the "mood" of the story without having to reread it all, so I don't feel I have to start editing bits of it too soon.