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Hello, everyone! I wanted to ask for some advice about a problem I have with a short story. Right now, I mostly do short stories, but this has been a big problem for me with novels as well.
So, here’s the problem: I’ll usually start a story with a clear idea of the direction it’s taking, the feeling I want the story to have. I’ll follow that direction for a while, and then, all of a sudden,
usually when I’m halfway through the story already, I’ll look up and realize that what I’ve written feels almost nothing like my original vision for the story. I won’t like what I’ve written because the tone feels completely off, even though I’ve technically been sticking to it the whole time. I’m not really sure why this happens other than sometimes, my inner editor pressures me to include a theme and that really shuts off my creativity with my first draft, or I’ll be scrambling to figure out what to write next and I’ll just include the first idea my brain comes up with. Those first ideas are usually not very good hahaDoes this happen to the rest of you guys? What do you do when it happens? I have a story I’m trying to write right now, and the original feeling of it was kinda fun but also pretty emotional, but now it’s just…blah, like every attempt to get back to my original vision makes the story sound worse and less like what I imagined it to be. I guess I’m just not sure how to fix this in the middle of writing a story. I usually completely start over, but I don’t know if I should do that this time.
I’m gonna tag a few people…feel free to jump in if you aren’t tagged!
@joy-caroline, @gracie-j @devastate-lasting, @keilah-h, @writerlexi1216, @nanisnook, @issawriter7, @mkfairygirl, @abigail-m, @lydia-s, @daisy-torres, @scripter-of-kingdoms, @seekjustice, @lewilliams, @not-so-secret-secret-assassin, @elfwing, @relia, @molly, @godlyfantasy12, @nova21, @lydia-s, @faith-q, @madelyn, @anyone @everyone
@jodie-maile oof I almost never end up keeping my original ideas in a story, everything changes constantly until I write one I like, but everything plays like a movie scene in my head, so if I don’t like the scene, ‘cut!’ Lol
If I have to stick to something, then once I realize I don’t like it, I leave it alone for a bit, an hour, a day even, and think about what it is I want. I play it out in my head. Other than that I don’t plan or stick to plans with writing
Sorry if I’m no help
I'm 'a homeschooler' because cookie-making writing artistic animal-whisperer isn't a job title
I struggle with this too… I can’t give you much advice, but I’d be happy to see what everyone else has to say!
@jodi-maile I’m pretty sure that’s happened to me more than once.
What I did with one story was I copied it to another Word document (that’s what I use to type up stories) and saved the original one, then I deleted what I didn’t want from the copy and re-wrote it. So if you are writing and find you like some parts of a story but not others, make two documents–the revised one and the original, so you don’t lose your work but you have a better solution!
Where'd I get ya this time? The liver? The kidney? I'm runnin' outta places to put holes in ya.
Ah, the all too familiar dissatisfaction. This is pain in many forms. This is the point where I would’ve given up a couple years ago XD
But since then I have been taught perseverance! So when I’ve found my idea/theme shifts and am unsatisfied with it, I usually have to go back and read it and really just delete a lot. It hurts so much sometimes. I just got to find my original theme again, and really get invested. When I’m in the zone I find caps smothering my creativity is really what makes me tend to loose focus, interest and drive.
Hope that may have helped! Most of the time, I don’t have to delete a ton, however. Just enough to curve it back to the original sight that I fell in love with.
@jodi-maile Girl sameee!! It’s sooo hard to keep on track of an original idea. In fact, I often have to draw my characters, make pinterest boards, and much much more to keep the original aesthetic and themes in my head.
One thing that helps me is if I write the edit I’m thinking about in a comment to myself on google docs, and then think on it for a few days before I act XD Not sure if it helps but at least it keeps me thinking about it!
"It's easy to be caught up in stardust and whispers when reality is so dark and loud."
@elfwing You did help! Thank you! I think the thing is that I have to probably cut some of these scenes that are bugging me…
@faith-q Haha yes let’s get some much-needed advice XD
@keilah-h That is a good solution! Thanks!
@anatra23 Yes *cries* I think that’s what I have to do, cut a bunch of new stuff that I’ve written until I get back to the original idea I liked. Or just start over entirely, since I was trying out a random idea I had and I don’t think it works for the tone of the story. Thank you!
@daisy-torres Yes the comment thing definitely helps! Especially with longer pieces, at least for me. For this short story, I’ve tried that, but it’s making me think I either need to cut a lot of new content I’ve written or just start over entirely, since it’s only about 2K words at the moment and it wouldn’t be a terrible loss…yet lol XD Thanks again!@jodi-maile You’re welcome!
Where'd I get ya this time? The liver? The kidney? I'm runnin' outta places to put holes in ya.
Hey there! Although I’ve never really put my finger on it, I think I’ve struggled with a similar problem.
Here are some thoughts:
Thought #1
It sounds like what you’re saying is that you start with this dream/vision/feeling for a story, but writing it down doesn’t feel like it captures that feeling. Maybe the issue is that the feeling for the story needs to be explored before you begin writing? Instead of starting the story right away, what if you dived deep into this vision for the story and wrote that on a separate doc (or the same one, if you like to keep it all in one place like me 😉 ). If the problem is that you forget your feeling for the story, maybe writing about it will give you a concrete grasp on the tone and purpose of the story. And then you can always go back and read what you wrote when stuck in a rut! Also, remember that the story always changes a little as you develop it, and that’s just part of the refinement process.
Thought #2
I often expect the first draft to look like that amazing story I had in my head, and get discouraged when it doesn’t. But the truth is, what I’m writing is still the story I had in my head, it just looks a bit different up close. I can see all the details, both good and bad, but that doesn’t mean it’s not still the same story.
The idea in your head looks perfect from a distance, but having it in your hands is far more rewarding. It’s a thousand times better to go through the sweat and labor of actually writing the story than letting it stay that vague idea in your mind.
Thought #3 (I promise this is the last one ;P )
I find I need to keep my writing mode on and my editing mode off. They don’t play nice together ;P The inner editor constantly critiquing what’s being written turns into this tug of war, and I end up writing without enjoying it and trying to change it as I go along (thus, not sticking to the original vision). Editing and writing can be fun on their own, but together they fight like cats and dogs.
I hope I could be of service!! And thanks for asking that question and tagging me, because most of the things I just wrote I hadn’t even thought of beforehand (isn’t it funny how it works that way?) ;P
~In Christ Alone My Hope Is Found~
@jodi-maile So sorry for being late, but I completely relate to you about the tone struggles, since I’m having them for one of my current works. I guess what I would say is either:
a) leave it alone for a very long time and start anew or something at some point
b) finish it, decide what you like or don’t like about it, and restart
c) leave it and come back
Hopefully these will work…
Lately, it's been on my brain
Would you mind letting me know
If hours don't turn into days@madelyn Thank you!! Honestly I think my biggest problem is turning off my inner editor, since because I listen to it, I end up adding things that I think would sound good from an editing perspective but that creatively fall flat and sound pretty boring when compared to the fun and unexpected things I’d been writing before. I’ll be sure to keep your advice in mind as I’m fixing this story
@devastate-lasting No worries! Glad to hear I’m not alone in tone struggles haha. I’ve been leaving it alone and hoping to either restart the whole thing or cut the parts that were bothering me, and so far I think this approach will work, since it’s just a short story and I’m not too stressed about restarting. Thanks for your thoughts about this! 🙂Welp, I’m very late to the party, but I thought I’d pop in anyway.
I think that when things like what you’re experiencing happen, drafts show their beauty. 🙂 I know with every draft of my novels/short stories, they become better. Perhaps if you tried finishing the story, taking a bit of a break, and then diving in again, you’d be able to catch the theme you were going for as it twists through what you’ve already written. Then, you can go through and rewrite it, coaxing the theme back into prominence. I don’t know if this is any help, but I hope your story turns out great!!! 😀
@lydia-s so sorry for the late reply! And thank you so much for your advice, I’ll definitely keep it in mind next time I’m faced with something like this. I ended up trying to rewrite it a couple times and on about the third try, I got something I really liked! So I’ve finished that short story now 😁
Hi! I also struggle with turning off my inner editor when free writing, it’s one of the reasons I’m finding it so hard to write my sequel now that I’ve finished my first book. Swapping back to creative writing from conscientious editing can be really hard.
That being said, I’ve found that when I get new ideas for the story, they’re not necessarily bad. My story has changed a lot from its original vision — but in the end, I decided that the new, different idea was more impactful. My advice would be to sit down (or walk around outdoors) and image the end of your book in your head like a movie. What’s impactful about it? What’s so beautiful you yearn to write it? Once you know what your ending is, or what your most strongly desire that ending to be, you can write the rest of the story to that ending.
And yes, in the first draft there will always be rabbit trails and whole chapters that you hate. In my first draft, I once got so stuck that in the end I just wrote a bunch of stuff that felt like filler that I really hated, but it got me from point A to point B, which was the next big scene, and then I was able to edit it to my heart’s content in the second draft.
I reckon you should finish your book, but if you don’t like the course it’s taking, just write it as if the stuff you didn’t like never happened. You can always fix up the first half of the book when you edit to match the second half.
That’s just my advice, cause I know that if I constantly restart my books to edit, I never get it done, and usually end up procrastinating.😅 Feel free to do whatever works best for you, though.😊
— Tráhia the Minstrel
The end of a story, a beautiful picture; a feeling of longing yet hope~
That’s my wish to create.
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