A question to the writers here

[AllyDoodle]

How do you do it? How are you able to type your ideas into a coherent story ready for posting. I have tried and tried but even trying to type the simplest thing is a lesson in futility and it is incredibly frustrating. The thing is, I usually have the idea of how I want to start something and even lines for scenes that could be written, but I just can't get it to come together into something readable. Even the one chapter of the Fallout 3 SI I posted in the NSFW section took me nearly five hours and that was when I was in the mood to write.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[CptTagon]

I tend to have an idea for what's going to happen in the story before I start writing. From there, I write in two hundred word bursts, filling in the details and dialog as I come up with them. As for motivation, I don't take commissions I don't like.

 

[Biigoh]

How do you do it? How are you able to type your ideas into a coherent story ready for posting. I have tried and tried but even trying to type the simplest thing is a lesson in futility and it is incredibly frustrating. The thing is, I usually have the idea of how I want to start something and even lines for scenes that could be written, but I just can't get it to come together into something readable. Even the one chapter of the Fallout 3 SI I posted in the NSFW section took me nearly five hours and that was when I was in the mood to write.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Click to shrink...

One word at a time. This is the greatest secret of all time.

You put down one word, and then you put down another word, and you keep going... you don't stop, you don't edit... one word becomes a sentence, one sentence becomes a paragraph, one paragraph becomes a chapter... that is the greatest thing, you start typing and you keep typing.

Don't look at the empty space, don't get distracted by other stuff like videos or radio, or even random surfing (this goes double if you're pausing to check up something online for what you're typing).

Once you find a good place to pause or things feel organically ended, take a break... go outside, breath, drink some water, and then go back over what you typed with a refreshed eye... read it and then make edits like spelling or grammatical corrections.

And before you say "not in the mood", have a quote by Patrick Stewart on such things...

 

[TheGrumpiest]

For me, I usually start with a series of strong images. Most recently, with my self insert, I had an image of the lewd magical girl pulling her body back together with tentacles of blood and darkness. Then I'll just keep adding things in my head until I get something more coherent than a single image.

Once I've got something pretty fleshed out, I'll create an outline. Then I just keep filling it in and revising until I've got a story I'm comfortable with.

If you're asking how to get started, well, the best advice I can give you is to set time aside every day to write, if you can. Four hours is the best, I find, and then just do whatever you can do in that time frame. If it's one word, great! If it's six thousand, even better! If you can do it every day, eventually it'll just become natural. It isn't easy, especially if you're on your own and working.

 

[sunandshadow]

Five hours is actually short for one of my chapters; I generally can't write a chapter in one sitting, it takes at least two.

 

[molemole]

I base a hell of a lot of what I write off history. For instance Age of Reason (see sig) is explicitly historical, and so it's easy to think 'how would this unfold' since the worldbuilding is mostly done for you courtesy of mankind. So generally sit down for a couple of hours and turn on the music and write.
Drawing from history and similar material can cut down on the worldbuilding and the need to fill in detail, since the setting is one intimately familiar to us.

 

[Biigoh]

https://www.imgur.com/a/EffGZF3

 

[MizMahem]

This is the song that always that inspires me on this subject.



However, that's not very concrete, so let me try and give you some more concrete advice.

The key insight I think into writing is that storytelling is just that, storytelling. As in, you are literally telling someone a story. There is obviously a lot of nuances in the different techniques that can be used in doing this. But they are just edge details, the essence of writing is simply telling someone a story.

So approach it like that explicitly. When you can't think of what to write, think of how you would explain the events you want to happen to a friend. And then write that. You don't have to worry about the techniques and artistry of it yet, just put digitial pencil to digital paper and write it. You can go back and fix the details later.

 

[Altenativefuturefan27]

I suffer the same thing.My problem comes in starting the story I always start writing the setting, create background for the world and characters, terminology used and Plot Devices before doing the fist chapter.

To write this story https://m.fanfiction.net/s/11915741/1/Irony-Second-Chances-or-The-Bastardized-Joke
My only motivation were wanting to write Guts screwing monsters like the first pages in chapter 1 of the manga but instead a horribly sexy thing he screws adorably sexy things in a harem.
The mood inducers

 

[Heaven Canceler]

I have an idea and start writing whatever comes to mind, then I stop writing, then I start again whenever motivation returns.

The main problem is the breaks between these actions, which can take anywhere between days to years.

It helps if others poke you every so often and give you ideas and critique.

Though I haven't written a serious coherent story in a long time so take my rambling with a grain or a sack full of salt.

 

[Pef]

Everything you write will be bad. That's a certainty. But there are degrees of bad writing.

Still, if you take time to prepare and document yourself, your work will suck a little less.
Use some kind of grammar check, at least cover your shame that way. Most new writers have glaring grammar errors, due to insufficient education or other more medical reasons.

Whatever characters you write, give them each at least three flaws. Of course, real humans have hundreds, but let's be realistic. You'll never be able to write a lovable character if you allow it more than three flaws.

Whatever story plot you have, add in at least one plot hole. There will be more, but at least this one you'll know about it.

Never ever write in 2nd person.Telling your readers directly: "You are a hero, go chop wood and make soup. Then dig a latrine!" It doesn't go well. Sure, in life you did suffer such humiliations, but as a reader you want to relax and be entertained, not be ordered around by some illiterate fanfic writer.

Post what you've written on multiple sites. Maybe under different pen names, if you can.

Keep in mind that moderators and literary critics on the internet are worse people than anyone you know. They will harass you, ban you, delete your works or your avatar, for whatever reason they want.

They have power over you, and they will prove it. Maybe your works are illegal in their country or religion. Maybe they are just asshholes or high on power. Be prepared to be censored and abused.

Still. There is Hope. Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake for his works. You will be fine.

 

[John_Oakman]

With help, lots and lots of help.

 

[RoasterToaster]

Well, for the project ideas I'm very interested in and not thinking of doing for laughs, the big part of it is having an outline. Write down what you want in the chapter, then let it flow from point A to point B as you write. It starts to come naturally, but as with all drafts you'll find something you want to change or re-visit.

I was trying to jump on the SI bandwagon recently. (Not actually a real SI, more of a lewd parody) Still going to write some more on it, but I was distracted by Netflix and the like. It's one of those projects I'm doing just because it's silly and I'm not taking very seriously, but as I wrote I found more and more stuff to fill the chapter with. Not to the point of bloating it, but simply fleshing stuff out. Some proper story filler, with the MCs thoughts and feelings, comments on the environment and such. You can really end up geting bogged down by the amount of details you start obsessing about, as was my case, but if you're the type to spend hours upon hours unable to finish the chapter, try to reconsider how you're writing it.

For example, I'm writing a SI. I hate writing in first person. but that's I went about doing it. Still feel like going back to third person, as I know I'm faster at writing when I don't have to pretend to be the character. Same for any first person text.