Trouble with writing stories?

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Does anybody here have trouble writing stories due to difficulty staying on topic, keeping the personalities of the character the way you made them, seeing into the minds of other characters, etc.?

Always staying curious,

-LegoMaster2149 (Written on September 14, 2017)

More often than not, I never finish the stories I start writing. If I try to make an outline, I end up deviating completely and discarding the story because I have no idea what to write anymore. So I guess that's related to staying on topic.

I have written loads and loads of stuff, but never finished anything. My latest fantasy novel I got to 250 pages and I'd hardly got started... everything got so diverse and complicated and so many characters. It always happens. I keep trying to limit my ambitions... but...

Same, when I try to write a story, I never finish anything...

As one who's never written an outline for any work of fiction, may I suggest you let the story go where ever it's leading you. After all, it's not really the story that's deviating from pre laid plans, but it's your unconscious self - that very part of you where all your dreams and imagination originates.

That's exactly what I've done for 50 years and I always end up with a massive sprawling unfinished saga.

All I can say about that is - - it worked for Tolkien and George R.R. Martin, and maybe it can work for you. Maybe it's your unconscious self urging you to write a sprawling epic.

It was Tolkien who got me into the sprawling epic in the place. From a positive point of view, I think I always wanted to write a sprawling epic, but it wasn't until I read Tolkien at age 16 that I first saw how it was possible to do it.
I am now wondering about writing a few short stories about my main fantasy character... just for the discipline and the practise... and maybe even working them into the sprawl.

Anyway... thanks for the reply, because it's encouraged me quite a bit.

I never could do a forced creative project in school. My mind would just freeze up in terror at the thought of just plain not being able to think of anything to write.

I'm in the process of heavily editing / practically rewriting a 1000-ish page book I wrote as a teenager, and yes, as I noted here somewhere, I'm concerned about the ability to an autistic person to write non-autistic characters properly. Getting the emotional notes is especially hard for obvious reasons. The first one was a shambles - teenage me had even less of a clue that adult me, if that's possible.

I don't think that's autism-related.

There are few people who are able to consistently keep all the information with regards to a particular object from start to finish. In the process, the writers may also rewrite portions of the work because "it doesn't feel right for the character to do like that". Look around and you'll see many cases, Star Wars for one.

If you feel lost and your stories don't seem coherent enough, I suggest you to stretch to surrealism. Look into your subconscious mind. Don't limit yourself and you'll find your inspiration. Dive into an infinite sea of creativity and feel limitless.

You're more than welcome.

I didn't say anything about it being autism-related, I just wanted to see what other people think about this.

Going back to your OP, because I missed some points. I have to keep copious notes on characters... and places and notable events. I have to keep reminding myself on key points and trying to stay consistent.
Sometimes I find the characters and events evolve and even take on a life of their own... so I have to go back to frequent re-writing. I believe constant re-writing is not a good thing. Some people say to go on to the end and then re-write the whole thing.
I find difficulty in depicting emotional scenes sometimes. This may be as much to do with my own repressed upbringing rather than my mental wiring.

Sorry then but this is an Asperger forum, I understood the question in that given context. Anyway I apologise and would like to say I mean no harm.

When I said that, I mean that I orignally posted this, I wasn't thinking of it as autism related. My original intention was to see if other people had the problems that I posted, which I have. But now I realize that it is autism-related. My apologies if my post seemed vague, and I hope I cleared this up.