Non-threaded

Forums » The Lounge » Read Thread

A place to sit back, hang out, and make monkey noises about anything you'd like.

Advice

5 years ago

Does anyone have some ideas for how to stick with a story idea. There are some that I really like I just don’t ever get the time to stick with them and I lose interest.

Advice

5 years ago

Discipline is the main thing.  We all get distracted by plenty of ideas, it's the discipline that carries the successful authors through.

This is why I recommend starting with a smaller project.  Without a giant commitment, you can explore an idea without having to shelf other interests indefinitely.  Don't be overly ambitious on the scope for your first project.  Just make a small (I think playlength 4/8 minimum, though), well-polished storygame to test out how it works for you, as the author.  You might be surprised that what you enjoy writing might not necessarily be what you think.  Play around with the idea and when you feel like you have a well-composed plot, proofread, edit, and publish.  The process can go at whatever pace you like.  Maybe even set a deadline for yourself for the different phases.  Just be sure that you give yourself as much time as you need for the polish.  So long as you don't become a half-assed storygame factory, I don't think you'll have any problems.

Advice

5 years ago
Write a little bit every day. Even if it's just a sentence.

You build a house one brick at a time.

Advice

5 years ago

Tease the story out of you. I find when I overthink an idea and think out every aspect of it, or plan it too extensively, I just end up knowing everything that's going to happen and have the ideas established in my head, so all that leaves is the laborious writing of it all, and I often go off the idea.

And of course, make sure you find something you're actually interested in and its a unique idea, otherwise there's no hope.

Another important idea is just get words out on a page. Stressing over what to write never makes great works, it just leaves blank pages. Just write naturally, and see what comes out. To quote suicidal bitches, the worst enemy of creativity is self-doubt.

Advice

5 years ago
Why stick with one? Why not write more than one at a time? Maybe it's not the most efficient way, but sometimes I'll write on one story for a few weeks, then I'll switch over to another one until my interest in the first one appears again.

Advice

5 years ago

I think that's fine once you've published at least one story. Usually the first is the hardest to actually finish, in my opinion.  Much easier once you get past that.  

Advice

5 years ago

Does that work? Most I've seen is that that always ends with fifty different unfinished stories.

Advice

5 years ago
It works for me. Some of my stories have been written basically at one sitting, while others have been written over a longer period of time because as the OP mentioned, I get bored with that one setting for a bit, but I come back to it later. Spy Mission was actually started almost a year and a half before it was finished, but I wasn't writing on it for most of that time. Of course, this process won't work for everyone!

Advice

5 years ago

Ok thanks guys. This does help alot and if you have any suggestions for a story let me know as my imagination isn’t exactly cooperating right now.

 

Advice

5 years ago

Well, I suppose it depends on what kind of writing you're looking to do.  If you're into the fantasy genre, you could do a more tried and true type of story: the usual hero saving the kingdom type of story.  Take the usual setup, good guy vs. the big bad and make it your own.

 

Hero is sent on a noble quest to defeat an evil monster that raises the dead and attacks the small villages.  You could create your character and develop his concept twice:  the main concept which is how you see the hero at a given point and the secondary concept, which could be how the hero starts in the beginning or how the hero changes in the end.  This will give you an idea for how to direct character growth throughout the story.

 

After traversing the perilous lands and defeating countless foes, the hero squares off against the evil monster, triumphing and saving the princess.  True love blossoms and when you return to the king, he grants you her hand in marriage.  You live peacefully, having a son with your new wife.

Then you go edgelord as fuck.

 

The powerful demon wizard whom the monster served returns to find his plans have been delayed.  Seeking revenge, it binds the aging king's soul in a pact in exchange for immortality, corrupting him in the process.  The king summons you to his castle, while the demon slips into your home while your wife sleeps.  Whispering madness into her ear, he shatters her mind, convincing her that the baby is a cursed hellspawn that will destroy her new husband.  In her delirium, the demon compels her to cannibalize the infant and mid-chew, releases his control.  With the few fragments of her sanity now fully destroyed, she plans to reunite your family in the underworld, preparing a poisoned meal for your return.

 

Meanwhile at the castle, the king draws the sword gifted to him by his new master and attacks you.  The demon's treachery goes further, however, as the sword turns out to be cursed, turning on its wielder, slaying the king as the guards witness your fight.  Now wanted for the murder of the king, you flee from the castle, and return home to warn your wife.

 

You return home to find your wife waiting, eager smile on her face.  As you eat, your wife faints, succumbing to the poisoned stew.  You feel queasy as you rush to her aid, the sub-lethal dose of poison only starting to take effect.  As your wife dies in your arms, she says now you can all be a part of each other.  You see the unusual carcass butchered in the kitchen is in fact your son, causing you to vomit violently as you hear shouts from outside.  A crowd of villagers led by the king's guard have followed you and set your home on fire.  Unable to escape the mob, you are dragged and summarily hanged as you watch everything you have worked for, your home, your wife, your son, burn to ashes.

You know, something pretty straightforward.

Advice

5 years ago

Woah, okay. 

Advice

5 years ago

Just spitballing.

Advice

5 years ago
Well I can't top Clamurai there so I'm just going to be boring and suggest that if you don't have any ideas for a story, then there's no pressing reason to write one and it's unlikely you'd be able to see it through anyway. Go read a good book or watch a movie (or review some storygames here) until you feel more motivated.

Advice

5 years ago

I have a lot of ideas I just get frustrated because with all the other things I have planned it is hard to maintain motivation.

Advice

5 years ago

That's exactly the reason why in my original (and serious) advice, I recommend starting small.  It's easy to come up with a million grand ideas and end up with a giant scope for your project.  It is the easiest thing to keep adding to the pile until it becomes unrealistic and discouraging.  So stay small, develop your skills prior to taking on  that big 8/8 play length project that looms over us all.  Keep the focus until you can complete the smaller project.  Just like developing your ability to write, you can develop your discipline to stay on task.  It will be a huge boost, as well, to actually publish.

 

And add a profile picture.