What YOU can do to get better stories

Kathy in FL

Administrator
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I was writing a lot for a while and it seemed that I was just not doing any good work. Stopped to do a little editing on my three completed attempts at books. Now I just can't get back into the groove. Any suggestions from this group of great writers?

Set a series of small goals.

1) Go back and write down a character list with their attributes, talents, personalities, connections to other characters to help you get back their "voice" in your head.

2) Write one paragraph, just one to start.

3) Go back and edit a chapter or so

4) Add to and/or create a timeline of your story

Once you start, once you get that "voice" back in your head it will start to flow. It may not flow to the finish but you at least get something going.
 

ComCamGuy

Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Think of the characters. Don’t get too many of them. Then try and think what they would do in a certain situation. Then it’s as simple as describing what they would do or act or think. The rest of the writing is to get the characters from one scene to another
 
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Voortrekker

Veteran Member
The groove has many aspects, one just needs to "get into it." To get back into it, I reread my story and then look for relevant movies, television shows, magazine articles, etc.

Instead of a stall, use it as a break and then read your stories as if you were reading them for the first time. The story will get back to you and if it is a mood thing then the frame of mind is what must be revisited. That's what I do, but I write some sci-fi, historically based fiction and a combination of mystery, suspense, action conspiracy operations and go with that.
 

cuanabear

Inactive
To the readers:

Would you like to improve the quality of the stories that are available here in the Members Stories forum?

If you would then here's what you gotta do.

As an author of several stories here in this forum and having read similar comments from other authors here I can tell you one of the most difficult things for a story author to get is meaningful feedback about a given story that has been written.

It's always nice to hear that you liked a story but I do not believe that any of us here think we've written the perfect story. There is nearly always room for improvement so post a note in the commentary thread for a given story and tell us where we need to improve!

Now, I'm not talking about critiquing grammar and spelling but rather these kinds of things:

Did we botch a name somewhere? Start out calling a character one thing then call them something else later in the story?

Maybe a character has appendicitis and I put the appendix in the wrong place?

How about character development? Does a given character seem real to you? Wooden? Two dimensional?

How about interactions? If I'm writing about a female character and you see something that you think a female would be unlikely to say or do then speak up! Maybe I'll think you are right or I may explain why I did what I did.

Plot development can be a real chore to smooth out. Does a given story plot work for you? Seen implausible? Tell us what you think.

How about semiautomatic revolvers? Technical glitches about all kinds of things creep in and sometimes don't get noticed.

Time travel happens a lot in stories too. Sometimes we just get the dates and/or times messed up and don't see it, but you might.

I hope you are getting the drift of what I and the other story authors are looking for. None of us think we got it perfectly right the first time. Many of these stories are written on the fly so to speak in that you often get to see a story post just minutes after it was written! Very easy for mistakes to creep in and it's pretty common not to find them until long afterwards, sometimes so long afterwards that it's not possible to correct them without major rewrites to smooth everything out again.

It's always nice to get positive feedback about how well you liked a story, but what authors really need is meaningful feedback. If you like it then please do say so, but at the same time tell us where we could improve too. The more we here from you the better the stories will gradually become.

.....Alan.

thanks for this
 

cuanabear

Inactive
Think of the characters. Don’t get too many of them. Then try and think what they would do in a certain situation. Then it’s as simple as describing what they would do or act or think. The rest of the writing is to get the characters from one scene to another
thanks
 

mikeabn

Finally not a lurker!
I hope I'm not causing a thread drift or being off topic but how would people feel about non-fiction history articles being posted? Trying to break into that field.
 

ComCamGuy

Remote Paramedical pain in the ass

A couple of authors I have read normally talk about knowing their characters well enough to mentally sit down and have a simple dinner with them, and knowing what they would have cooked and how the dinner conversation would go. If you know your character's mind that well, it doesn't matter what situation you put before them, you know how they would react, so then all you have to do is describe what you saw them do in your mind.

sounds simple, but it takes a ton of thinking about them and within them.
 

Lake Lili

Veteran Member
A thought from one author to the other authors... re: clothing

I came across this video this evening from Bernadette Banner, a historical costumer on YouTube, and she is talking about Designing "Historically Accurate" Costumes for Fantasy: Game of Thrones Case Study -
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7aBLEio6J8

What she is talking about and how it applies to PAW stories if three fold.
(1) Outset: How do you clothe your characters from the start? What have you chosen for them to have in their drawer, cedar closets, prepped?
(2) Scavenge: What clothing do you have them take from the existing survived items? How much of it location/climate related, cultural, visibility...
(3) Future: Where are they going to get fabric, leathers, etc for clothing and shoes in the future? Who is raising the animals? Who can process the materials, spin, sew, weave, knit? Do they have the dyes, patterns, the implements, what is the level of technology? Do they have the time? Do they deem it to be a good use of their time? Do you as an author understand the time lines involved in making cloth and wearable leather? Do your characters view it as a trade good and how is that trade managed and what is the assessed value? How do they clean it once the washing machines are gone – who makes the cleaning materials and from what?

This may be back ground, but it is as important as reloading, and planting the garden. And it is one of those subliminal elements on which stories stand or fall. The break down of this story element done by Bernadette Banner is one of the better assessments of the need to get this element right that I've heard in a long time and is worth the time to watch.

Happy writing,

Lili
 

Griz3752

Retired, practising Curmudgeon
What would help me tremendously would be that people use the comments thread for comments. I may want to go back and read my story, before posting the next one, in hopes of keeping things strait. Now in my story, Downgrade, I have readers comments in between chapters. If I answer the comments, it looks like I have posted a chapter. I am extremely flattered that people read and take the time to post an atta boy, but please use the comments section for the "where is the next chapter" comments.



Thanks!
Not to be a nag but its been a while since you posted on Downgrade. ......

If you have anything in the hopper, I'm sure you'd find an appreciative audience

Just saying. .....
 
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