Limitless Stupidity
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Welcome to the contest. It sounds like you're pretty good at finishing longer stories... any advice for us 100-beginnings-0-endings sort of writers? What sorts of things inspire you to work through less exciting parts of the story or just to keep going in general? If you don't mind my asking. =)
Lol, I don't mind you asking, though I consider myself to be FAR from an expert, since I do start stories more often than I finish them, haha. I have finished a few novel-length stories though, so I suppose the question's fair.
razz
The trick I do is mainly to figure out roughly where you're trying to go with the story right away. Try to figure out more or less where you're going to end it, though don't force yourself to end there if it goes off on its own tangent later. ((Stories tend to come alive and do their own thing. Just let them do it and surprise you. The story will be a lot better for it.)) All the same, knowing more or less where you're going will help you see your way through the rugged terrain of the middle, and give you strength to keep trying because you just HAVE to see the characters make it through to the end!
I also do my best to try and make the "less exciting" parts just as interesting as the "exciting" parts. They don't have as much action or anything, but you should never have a scene in your story that you don't need. It should either move the plot forward, or develop character. If it does neither, then you'll have to either cut the scene or not write it in the first place. I usually manage to avoid writing those scenes in the first place since they're dull as heck, but some people go off on a tangent for a while and then wind up in a dull scene and think they have to finish that stupid scene. You don't have to finish it. It's going to get cut anyway if you hate it, so why not cut the sucker now while you still have a little strength left and get back to a more interesting scene? If you think the scene is vital because it reveals something important about your story, find a way to tell that information in a way that won't bore you, or it'll end up boring the reader too.
Last, but definitely not least, know your characters intimately. If you can picture them doing strange things and then start laughing because that just sounds so much like that character, then you're probably starting to get to know them pretty well. Your characters should be fully fleshed out and completely human ((at least in the way they think and feel, even if not physically.)) Make sure you know in detail all their good traits, bad traits, and as many quirks as you can figure out. Knowing all of these will propel your story forward without you even trying, because you'll just know what your character would do next, regardless of the situations you stick them in. It may not be the choices you yourself would have made, but if it's believable for your characters to make those choices, then you're doing the right thing with them. Writing what comes next will just be automatic since the characters will be acting of their own free will because you know them so well.
wink
Anyway, I hope that helps a little. Feel free to ask me any questions you might have, and I'll do my best to answer. I've studied for a long time on writing technique, so I'll try to help if anyone asks. ((Writer's block is a big struggle of mine though, which is why I'm frequenting the Gaia writing forums, since the contests kind of give me a kick in the pants, haha.)) Everyone has their own struggles.
razz
Thanks for asking. It's nice to be asked about something I know about once in a while. I appreciate it.
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