Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Fanfic Related Writing advice for a longer fic?

Help! I've been working on a longer (non-L&C) fic that has me stumped. I'm excited about the concept and have managed to write several chapters but I've hit a point where I can't figure out how to continue. I know how I want to end it but I can't figure out exactly how to get there. I've written longer (80-100 page, no epics like Virginia!) fics before and managed. I have more plot lines than I've dealt with before. I'm having trouble figuring out how to make them work together. I was going to try and brain storm each plot line, writing out more details.

Any suggestions? What works for you?

Joan

It's one of the most fun aspects of writing.

Sometimes a secondary/tertiary character can help you through a sticky situation. Depending on the type of story you are writing, a call from Bobby or an appearance from Henderson can help provide key information in an investigation (for a-plot heavy).

If it's more b-plot heavy, then a talk with Perry, Martha or Jonathan or a call from Lucy can help provide Lois or Clark with the right kind of insight as to how to solve whatever quandary you've put them in.

B

Thanks for the advice VirginiaR and BJ!

Joan

You could try writing what you do know - the ending. That will get things clearer in your mind which will hopefully make writing the 'bridges' easier.

My early stories started as a series of important scenes - not always written in order. Move them around, fill in some detail, and - after a lot of hard work - the story is written!

When a story is long and there are a lot of threads, it often easier to work with small pieces first.

Corrina.

Joan,

I tend to agree with Corrina.

The story I'm currently working on is going to be possibly, potentially, probably, maybe, HUGE. Those 50 pages will have grown to possibly 500 by the time all is said and done.

I agree with all the advice given above, but there's another tool in your utility belt you can use.

Outline the story.

Typing what you already have in your head, like the ending, is a great idea, even if it's not the next thing that happens in the story. If you write something that changes that later part, you can always fix it. But if you don't have a plan to get from where you are to where you're going, it will be extra difficult to get there.

That doesn't mean that you have to slavishly follow your outline. If a different path opens up to you that makes more sense, by all means follow that path! If a minor character jumps up and demands to be heard, listen. An outline is a guide, but it's not a prison.

The main advantage in using an outline is that now you have a road to follow. You can always change your route as you go, but with the outline you have a plan, and the story of a thousand chapters begins with a single step.

Hope your muse helps you, too. I'd loan you mine, but they're pretty tempermental and sometimes even dangerous. (Check out this story for more on them.)

Female Hawk and Ken, those are good suggestions that I actually already do. I've already written the final chapter of this story with the idea that if things evolve differently, I'll update/revise as needed. I tend to just brainstorm and write scenes as they pop into my mind too.

I have a feeling I'm getting intimidated by the potential length of the story. Outlining, like Terry suggested, might be a great way to keep things better organized.

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions!

Joan

I'd like to add my support for the outline idea. I have an alarming tendency to write really long stories. My current project has been in process for two years. It's over 600000 words (that's about a 2600 page novel, for reference), and I still have 1/3 of the story left to write.

Before I start writing a story, I like to outline the whole thing. I decide what I want the story to be about and exactly how I want it to end, and then I decide on a first scene. After the first scene, I keep adding scene descriptions until I've made my way back to the last scene.

The outline doesn't have to be a perfectly written outline. You can always change it. You don't even have to use it in the end. But it really helps to have at least one road to the end mapped out. I find myself wandering off into what-if? detours and new ideas all the time, but when that happens, I always pause to retool my outline and make sure I can still connect where I am to where I'm going before proceeding. In fact, my current story is on outline version 8

I used to have repeated trouble with starting stories and not being able to figure out how to end them. It's easy to get overwhelmed, and it feels terrible when you've spent so many hours on something, only to realize you have no idea what the hell to do with what you have, which only compounds the anxiety of trying to figure out how to proceed. Since I started outlining in full prior to beginning my first draft, I haven't run into that problem again.


My other recommendation is, even if you're stuck, force yourself to write for at least an hour an evening until you get unstuck. It doesn't matter what you write, just write, even if it's gobbledygook. You want a scene with Lois & Clark? Try stream-of-conscious dialog without stopping to think about it too much. See what pops out of your brain. I find a lot of times, the mere act of sitting down and typing the first paragraph is all I need to get out of the grips of writer's block inertia.

For instance, start with,

"Clark," Lois said, "What the hell are you doing?"

Well, what does Clark have to say to that?

Set your timer for 60 minutes, and tell me

I always start with a general outline. It's almost never detail heavy, but it gets me going in the right direction.

Sometimes, that can lead to difficulty, however. Currently, in the Vampire Murders, I have a series of scenes, and I transition from one to the other. When one character went a little off script I ran into some trouble getting to the next one. To do it, I had to take a detour by completely shifting what I wanted to do temporarily to guide the characters into what needed to come next. That took me a couple of extra weeks (and then I had a hard drive crash and had to re-do it. And then they managed to save the computer after all, but I didn't want to give up the new stuff, so I've had to re-work it again to include everything. So now, I'm within one page of posting, and hopefully will manage sometime in the next few days. Whew!)

The point is, however, that if you run into a transition problem, stop, and see if you can detour your way into it. You may need to add a little to get there, or change what you intended to do slightly, but sometimes that's a plus, because you end up with more story, which is almost never a bad thing.

Hi Joan

I thought of something else that might be helpful.

*Every* time I've found myself stuck, the solution has come by going back - sometimes to the previous chapter and sometimes right to the beginning of the story. As I re-read, it becomes clear that I've missed something vital.

My analogy is that writing a story is like building a wall. You can't build on air, and building on something that is flimsy isn't going to be successful.

Therefore, go back, fill in the hole (my holes are almost always due to my impatience to move the story forward), write the detail, add in another scene; give yourself something solid to build on.

Then, when you get back to where you were stuck, there is a very good chance that the way forward has become clearer.

Hope this helps,

Corrina.

Good points Aria and Nan. An outline doesn't have to be set in stone. But having one helps give you a sense of direction. And if the story takes a different direction, then you go there.

I especially liked this suggestion of Aria's:

I know I'm guilty of walking away just because I'm stuck. Just writing, any type of writing, can be very helpful.

This is another excellent suggestion Female Hawk:

I've actually started doing that - going back to earlier chapters. It's been very helpful.

Thanks again everyone for the great suggestions!

Joan

Female Hawk has a very good point, but that's one of the advantages of writing here on the Message Boards. Sometimes I want to add something that wasn't in the general outline because I didn't think of it until later, and when that happens, I can always go back and add it at the relevant point in the story to lay the groundwork, so it doesn't suddenly become a deux ex machina. (I've done it a lot, and nobody ever seemed to notice, although they might simply have not bothered to mention it.) Anyway, there's nothing to prevent you from doing that to help your story along. And even if it isn't a Lois and Clark story, the same principle applies.

Nan

Outlines are one of the best ways to go, but there is another path.

Try dictating a scene into your iphone or Blackberry. Once you start listening to the voice or your characters or the atmosphere of a scene, matters become clearer.

Some of my worst roadblocks have been breached at 4:30am while walking my dog.

Hope this helps!

My stories tend to have rather convoluted multiple plot lines. I always have an outline sketched in my head so I know where I'm going to end up. To keep the different plots going, I find it's best to work on one until you run into a roadblock, then switch to another. Usually by the time I've run that course, I can pick up the trouble spot and move one. When I've finished with the different plots, I weave them together and reach the conclusion. It sounds weird, but it usually works for me. However, I've been trying for five years to finish the final story in The Circle Game trilogy, and it's still sitting there waiting. Guess I need to take my own advice.

Jude