How do you finish a story?

Question

you know how it goes, you come up with a great idea and start ploughing throught it, words flowing effortlessly through your fingers. it's fun and it's easy and you're getting through it pretty quick.
then, bam. something happens are you're left stuck for words.. suddenly the scene you've written seems all wrong, suddenly your characters are stiff and unconvincing. you press on for a bit longer, writing and rewriting it, but it's no use. it's over and you know it. you label it untitled71628 and let it rot with the rest of your 1000's of unfinished pieces.
HELP. unfortuntely this has been happening to me for a number of years. I love to write, I love the process of writing and the thrill of seeing where the story takes me, but it's next to impossible to actually finish a story in a way that doesn't make me want to scrap the whole thing! does anyone have advice? thanks in advance!

Answer 1

I already know when I start a story how it is going to end. I visualize my writing like screenplays. I find if I see my books visually, I have no trouble finishing them just the way I visualize them. If you are one who has trouble finishing, start with an outline.

I have starred a lot of great Q and A on writing and publishing on my profile. Search through and find some that interest you to print out and study. I add more all the time. A lot of novice writers are using them as help with their writing.


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They're, Their, There - Three Different Words.

Careful or you may wind up in my next novel.

Pax - C

Answer 2

Usually what happens to me is I'll have a beginning and an ending. I go with that, I know where i want to go and then I write. When I get stuck I usually let it sit for a bit and mull the story around in my head. There are also times where I write out ideas of what's to come next on paper, just points, ideas. Try that. Hope that helps.

Answer 3

I have read books that have no direct conclusion. You could consider the alternative of a book/report that makes you think. I read a book about an alcoholic lawyer who never pursued anything except waitressing to pay for her next drink. The plot here is to get on her feet and see the big picture. Many great books tell a story but don't have that strong ending. Do you know what I mean? They still are great books but they have power by the descriptive analysis of the characters and their situations. The ending just melts and makes sense.

Answer 4

Read Anne Lamott's book, Bird by Bird. It's one of the best books I've ever bought. There's a chapter in there called Shitty First Drafts. What it says is to just write the story. Don't worry if its good or not. Everybody writes cruddy first drafs. Me, Robert Frost, Dorothy Allison, and even Shakespeare have written some real drek for first drafts. The first draft is the all-story draft, where you get everything down and on paper.

Answer 5

Paula,

It depends on what you're writing. Are you trying to write a novel? Are you talking about writing a short story? The best thing to do is to write short stories before going on to writing a full novel. Try to stick to about 3,000 words.

Put yourself in the shoes of one of your main characters. What would you do or say in his or her case? Argue just like you would in real life. Then STOP!

Let the other character have their say. Jump right into that character's body. There's no script, just you and your subconscious mind, which can be any one of the characters.

Try it. Take your time. Stick to a short story and you'll see how much easier it is to finish.

I wish you luck...

Answer 6

try writing the end first...thats what jk rowling did and look at the success of harry potter. if you know how its going to end then it be a bit like knowing your location before you get to it instead of going for a drive and end up in the middle of nowhere.
before you start wright a plot and a detailed summary of all the important charcators and fictional things and locations, so this way you give the charectors a history and personlity

Answer 7

Write....."The End"