Tortured by story ideas, but unable to do anything with them

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RightersBlock

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Still having a block/rather I am trying to find a compelling idea to write about. But I have all of these ideas/themes/events that I want to write about but every time i even think of sitting down to write nothing comes to mind. Sometimes i literally stop myself because I am trying to find a story within myself with a good and original plot. Every plot that comes to mind is either weak or not it for me. Not sure if I am being a perfectionist or not. But whatever, I haven't written anything but notes for months. Its gotten so bad that I cant talk about anything else to my relative. Is this normal? if so how do I deal with it? Do I just have to wait it out?
 
I always think my story ideas are derivative and original. No one else agrees with me. Besides, there are no original stories out there, they're all derived from something. I bet it's lots better than you think it is. :)
 
If you don't already do so, keep something close that you can take notes on. At all times. If you're close to a computer at work or school, have a running .txt or .doc file for your random thoughts. When travelling or late at night, have a like notepad app on your phone. Whenever something comes to mind, jot it down as fast as possible.

Before you know it, these ideas will become characters, and the foundation of a plot. From there, create a basic outline of the story. Even if you don't love it, get it on paper. Trust me, it'll change over time. Look at all of these (notes and outline) and build on it.

Open a word doc and don't get intimidated by the white space you see. Just start writing. Like your outline, just get it on paper. You will find that you will read and reread what you wrote, and edit over time.
 
So you have lots of ideas and you are writing them down, and the issue is that you can't come up with the plot rather than character or setting. You haven't said if you are aiming for a short story or a novel, but if you are aiming for a novel, ask yourself if you could write a short story instead. You can always use the ideas from it to fuel a novel later.

If you are having problems coming up with a plot, try coming up with a character or two instead. Ask yourself who might be affected by your idea and why. Put yourself in their shoes. What do they think of your idea? How might they use it, or oppose it? Anything other than indifference should do. Have you got conflict yet or do you need an antagonist? Hopefully thinking through this sort of thing might give you the inklings of a plot.

Should you write it anyway even with a weak plot? Tough question, that one. I'd say yes, because as you are writing it you might get better ideas for wrinkles that will make the plot more interesting, and if it comes out lousy, what have you lost? On the other hand Bob Shaw says of his Hugo and Nebula short-listed story Light of Other Days, that he sat on the idea for years waiting for the right plot to come to him. So it's a common problem and it's up to you which way you go.
 
RightersBlock said:
Still having a block/rather I am trying to find a compelling idea to write about. But I have all of these ideas/themes/events that I want to write about but every time i even think of sitting down to write nothing comes to mind. Sometimes i literally stop myself because I am trying to find a story within myself with a good and original plot. Every plot that comes to mind is either weak or not it for me. Not sure if I am being a perfectionist or not. But whatever, I haven't written anything but notes for months. Its gotten so bad that I cant talk about anything else to my relative. Is this normal? if so how do I deal with it? Do I just have to wait it out?
Click to expand...

Well there's your problem. Two things. 1. Stop talking about it. You're getting your release by talking about it instead of writing. 2. Stop over-thinking it. Nothing is original. Just write. Just stream of consciousness something. Get the words flowing first, the rest comes later.
 
I've never had an original idea. I thought I did once, but I was mistaken. Some of the best things I've read have taken several ideas from other stories and turned them on their ear and then spit them out with some interesting characters.

So here's the key. Find the character that you want to portray and then when you get the idea or plot for the story you insert that character and tell the story from their voice and their POV. Don't worry about the originality of the idea just make the character believable within the framework and when you finish it will all become yours.

Also don't obsess over originality and absolutely do not obsess over finding a great name for your character.

None of that matters near as much a learning the tools and finding or creating a voice or narrator for the story.

Most of all though start writing and keep writing while you worry about all of this because right now the worry and anxiety is preventing you from applying your knowledge into a skill that comes in time as you write.

Write:write:write and when all is said and done keep writing.
 
I felt I had a similar problem. Every time I would sit down to write I would come up with a new and interesting story idea. The ideas were just scenes, no story or plot to them. I tried to force a story out of these ideas, but it wouldn't come.

What helped was to start writing those scenes. Turn the notes into something. Not a short story, but just the specific scene I had in my mind. It was difficult at first as I was writing from the middle of the story. I was worried the characters would change once I got to know them.

It all helped and I've been able to work my way through two thirds of a novel (first draft).
 
Hi,

When I'm stuck I use questions as the basis of my plotting. So I start with a scene - say a man riding a horse. And maybe I give a little bit of description about him. From there it's all questions. Who is he? Why is he riding? How is he riding? Is he in a hurry? Where's he going to? Why? To rescue someone? Being chased? Day out shopping? Every question should lead to new questions, and at some point you'll have the basis of a book. It's a simple open ended system.

Cheers, Greg.
 
According to agents I have had an original idea and it's why they don't want to take a chance on my book. Personally, I suspect it isn't original but others have been rejected as well.

The basic story is jaw achingly normal and has been done before many times before: a rebellious, unprepared prince has the throne thrust upon him when his father, the king is assassinated and his older siblings are missing, presumed dead. Along with his father most of the government were taken out. He finds himself being tutored by the wise, mentor type old man until he has the skills to be the greatest king in generations.

When writing I continually ask myself "How can I make this worse?"

My latest book came about when the name Cece Garrett came up on a random renamer and cried out for a character to go with her. It sounded vaguely 1920s. Also knocking around in my head was the thought "What would Miss Marple have been like as a teen?"

The Edwardian era, to me, has always seemed to be an extraordinary time to be a woman. So I set it in 1912 (big mistake in terms of historical research).

When writing a story I begin by asking myself what I want to say or show in the first scene and how can it be shown.

In the Edwardian era the best way to show the change in women's rights to me seemed to be a Suffragette riot. So I threw my wealthy, prissy teen into the centre of fire bombing and window breaking etc.

Then I start asking "How can I make this worse?"

The natural conclusion to that seemed to be arrest. But I had to work out how to get her out of that situation whilst still making the situation even worse - her father seemed a good way of doing that so I introduced him.

What was one of the worst things that could happen to a wealthy, pampered young woman? Her father is a self made man who is horrified she harmed shopkeeper's livelihoods and prevented assistants from making a wage so he busts Cece down to scullery maid for a week. She meets a young woman who is moonlighting as a "model" for some seedy photographers.

And I continued from then on to ask "How can I make this worse?"
 
Yes once it can't realistically or believably get any worse then I start making it all better. No drugs just a boyfriend below her social status and two bonks on the head. She solves the murders and although she ends up ill she is sent to the seaside to recover.
 
I was thinking about this and realized I worry more about finding a character than I do an idea or a plot. Find an interesting character and follow them for a while and something is going to happen. You don't even have to give them a great name.
As I was writing that I thought of my second wife and realized an interesting character.

Daisy McMillan stepped off the curb for the last time that morning, without the slightest thought about her underwear. Despite all her mothers careful years of instruction about wearing clean underwear; because one never knew what might happen. She understood that when waiting tables in one of LA's poshest restaurants that cater to all sorts of celebrity you didn't have to be the prettiest girl on the block or the smartest or have the trimmest of figure; you just had to appear a bit naughty, to make a minimum of a hundred dollars a day in tips. That's why she had gone commando. Well technically not quite if you count the nylons, which she'd debated much about because of how warm today would be. She decided the nylons wouldn't make much difference since she'd be wearing the thin frock-like jacket for the trip there, because it was long enough to cover the fact that the skirt of her work outfit was tiny enough to ensure the naught effect. If she'd been heading straight to work she might have left off the jacket. However, she needed to talk to her physics professor an hour before work and hadn't given much thought beyond the jacket as to what impression that might leave. She knew she didn't have enough time after to get ready at work. And now she was almost late. It was as warm as one might expect for an average LA afternoon and the sky was as clear as it could get, and there was the smell of ozone in the air indicating it might sprinkle or already had, but no evidence of clouds either way. The street was bizarrely quiet for that time of day. Daisy was distracted by continuing recollections of the unexpected flirtation of her professor and she wondered if she'd've had as much problem if her legs weren't so long. But all the McMillan women were tall and that's why her sisters all pursued sports rather than men. She had the blond hair, so she didn't have as much of a problem even though when she wasn't looking down on men she was seeing them eye to eye. Her professor was more midway. She wasn't certain if she'd dipped lower for the coat to cover more or she'd tried to get to his eye level. Had she not been wondering about all of those things she may have noticed the slight distortion when she stepped down the 20 centimeters onto the tarmac of the crosswalk. It wasn't until an unexpected gust of cold air swept her coat apart and what little there was of the skirt upward that she looked up to the cloudy sky and snow. She'd seen snow at least once before. The crunch of gravel beneath her boot caused her to look down and then back across the panoramic view of a strange horizon. Her first thought was 'Toto we're not in Kansas anymore.' When reality kicked in Daisy realized this couldn't be LA or anywhere she knew of.
"Frack. I'm gonna be late for work." A cold chill set in and she was thankful for the nylons.
 
Tinkerdan has just reminded me of something else I do. When I am stuck I begin like this:

Dear Reader,

My name is Cecille Garrett and I am seventeen years old. My papa wants me to be a débutante but that announces my availability for marriage and I'm just not sure I want a life on the arm of a fat Earl who has fallen for my father's money. I haven't told papa yet but today I am going to a suffragette demonstration.

I know it is dull but soon the story emerges.
 
Thank you for your responses everyone. Very helpful ;)

Chris Guillory said:
If you don't already do so, keep something close that you can take notes on. At all times. If you're close to a computer at work or school, have a running .txt or .doc file for your random thoughts. When travelling or late at night, have a like notepad app on your phone. Whenever something comes to mind, jot it down as fast as possible.

Before you know it, these ideas will become characters, and the foundation of a plot. From there, create a basic outline of the story. Even if you don't love it, get it on paper. Trust me, it'll change over time. Look at all of these (notes and outline) and build on it.

Open a word doc and don't get intimidated by the white space you see. Just start writing. Like your outline, just get it on paper. You will find that you will read and reread what you wrote, and edit over time.
Click to expand...

This is a very good idea, and not the first time I heard it tbh. About time I listen. Thank you. :)
 
I was in the same boat for decades, RightersBlock. I collected a large Tupperware box full of scraps of paper with notes and ideas on them and resolutely failed to take them anywhere. Every time I got a bit of energy to 'start' I'd last a few days then it all break down and collapse. I couldn't plot and I was ludicrously embarrassed by my characters a day after they had 'sprung into life'. But I would think about the ideas and the scenes all the time.

It's a complicated issue but I found a number of things switched me on to writing.

Firstly the ideas - I won't repeat all the sage advice and thoughts given above, (I too strive for originality, but now recognise Anya's comment on it being a two-edged sword with regards to tackling publishers). However there will be a point when reading other peoples work where, how shall I put it, you start going "Well, this is great and I'm enjoying this immensely but I see exactly what happening here plot-wise and actually I'd take it this way..." i.e. the edge is taken off (even a great) book because well you've read a lot and your ego is starting to itch to try and write something better.

--> So keep reading. Preferably Loads and lots of different genres, I found that helped a lot.



Secondly finding your habit - how was I to know that I love writing at about 5-6am in the morning, fresh and awake just sleep and shower, pink skies as the sun rises and mist on the ground? (Also even London is actually quite quiet at that time - it's a lovely still time.) However there can be other things that might be blocks i.e. for some reason I found that I can't write regularly unless it's on a computer with a keyboard, the thought of me scribbling out a novel by hand feels me with dread (as a left-handed doctor of physics cum software engineer cum Investment banker my handwriting is now as hard to decipher as cuneiform - and that's just for me myself :) )

--> Habits are important for you to find the time, because you are going to need lots of it and getting into a groove really helps. This really depends on your circumstances - but the good thing about trying to find this is that finding good timeslots doesn't cost - just needs a bit of willpower.



Finally there was the 'hook' that was the final push for me. The thing here is it's different for everyone. Perhaps you need to find that 'How to...' book that speaks to you clearly and gets you started. Perhaps you find a mentor somewhere that can push you into finding how to structure your thoughts. So when I feel a bit jaded just reading other writers in websites such as Chrons helps to reinvigorate me. But to start everything off I personally needed a bit of structure - I took a dirt cheap correspondence course in creative writing: a set number of exercises that you worked on in your own time and then sent them off to get evaluated by a published author. The feedback was pretty vital - it really helps, but the focusing of your efforts in order to produce some work was probably the thing that really gave me my breakthrough. I realised that my problem was that I had never got to the end of writing something! (Also the fact that the correspondence course had an upper limit on the number of words you could submit was a blessing in disguise - quite a few of the assignments were write a short story in up to 1500 words. It's a challenge but I think it teaches you a lot about a whole host of writing issues.) When I had understood that and more importantly actually written a fistful of completed short stories my confidence was much higher and I found myself on the path of aspiring writer!

--> My advice here is to try as many different approaches as possible (and stick with them for a good bit to try them out) till you find the one that works for you.




Ok, ok there's a lot up there that had to come together at the right time so there was an element of luck (perhaps explaining why it took me decades!) and I can't give you a structured-this-is-the-way-to-do-it, because well you'll be different and need different techniques and insights to get you started no doubt, so I'm afraid I can only give generalisations and my own experiences.

Hope you get something of value from all that ;-)
 
Firstly, I've never wanted to give up writing since I started being interested in it at about 12. For one thing, it's about the only thing that I do especially well, and to stop it would seem to be admitting defeat on a scale that my brain probably can't handle. I am much better at writing about imaginary things than I am at a lot of real-world stuff. For another, I really enjoy it. It's hard work, but the process is enjoyable and the results very satisfying indeed.

Secondly, a lot of good points have been made already. I would add that not only do a lot of good novels (and I'm talking about real classics like 1984 here) have quite weak or familiar plots - or very little plot at all - it's often easy to have the ideas, and hard to cram them into a story. The First Law has a pretty derivative plot, and A Song of Ice and Fire has only a vague idea of one as far as I can see, but that doesn't stop them being very successful, because they're pretty well-executed. So, I'd recommend forgetting about the concept of having an "original" plot, and just avoiding certain plot twists and situations that have been done to death within your story. Your version of "Man is wrongly accused, goes on run, defeats villains and proves innocence" might be totally different to that of The Fugitive.

I've wanted to write one story for about a year, have had the people in it and the events all lined up, and have only recently realised that I wasn't telling the story from the right perspective for it to work properly. Now I am, and it's coming together. Quite often you just have to wait until the ideas fall into place in your mind.
 
tinkerdan said:
I've never had an original idea. I thought I did once, but I was mistaken. Some of the best things I've read have taken several ideas from other stories and turned them on their ear and then spit them out with some interesting characters.

So here's the key. Find the character that you want to portray and then when you get the idea or plot for the story you insert that character and tell the story from their voice and their POV. Don't worry about the originality of the idea just make the character believable within the framework and when you finish it will all become yours.
Click to expand...

This. Very much this.

From experience, I had basically this problem.

I had many ideas, a whole history/timeline of a world, twisty plots, clever reveals, hidden agendas, etc etc, and I genuinely believed (and still do!) that it's good stuff, BUT... it's nothing without the characters to ground it in.

It took three different starts of 50-60k words over the space of half a dozen years with variations on the core theme before it finally clicked what was missing. (I know... I'm slow ;P)

In short, I had characters, but they weren't PEOPLE. They were vessels that carried the events of the story. They weren't people that lived in my world.

So I rewound 20 odd years in my timeline, picked them up in their childhood (which I had already mapped out at least vaguely in their history) and then started to tell THEIR story within the plot... rather than tell the world story using them.

I still write at a rate that molasses would be ashamed of, and I still doubt my capabilities and whether it'll ever be finished/published/read/etc, BUT... I have no doubt any more that it's the right way to tell a story.
 
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