Finishing Stories and Sparse Prose

[globalbergonzi]

I have recently developed a habit of not finishing stories. I have two completed first draft stories that I wrote around my first year of college (~5 years ago). That's far enough in the past that I'm worried about this habit. I know I'm not alone in this matter.

For me, what I've noticed is that my prose is now sparse and lacks an immersive quality. Brevity is something that comes naturally to me, but being concrete I feel is a weakness. I rarely, if ever describe setting. I know that some authors aren't very descriptive either.

I easily get bogged down with word count. Because I'm brief in my prose, the word count is low. The most I've written for one story is a little over 31,000 words. At that point of the story, I was already at the end of act II. I had some ideas of what to add to the story to lengthen and foreshadow some scenes, but I get worried that it won't be enough and I go back to the beginning and write it from there. I've done this three times now for my fantasy novel and I'm getting further along in the story each time. I just feel that if left unchecked it could be a problem later down the line.

Any thoughts, similar experiences, or pieces of advice are greatly appreciated.

 

[Devora]

I'm gonna try giving advice.

Description
I used to not describe settings, mainly because i didn't know how; but when i began doing it, got better as I kept writing descriptions for various things. you just got to get used to writing more vivid descriptions.

It's okay to be brief at times (the cloth hung over the edge table), but sometimes it helps to be a little more elegant when when you want to paint a more vivid picture (the scarlet cloth hung from the edge of the large oak table).

Word Count
My advice is to not give a damn about how many words you use in a story. You should only worry about the word count when you're trying to sell your story (if you're trying to go professional) since most publications use, for the most part, a word limit (some publications are more stricter than others).

In terms of short stories, if you got a 6,000 word story and the publication ask for 5,000 word story, you're gonna have to either cut 1,000 words from the story or lower the word count to where the publication will be lenient about publishing the story (though for most publications this won't be the case).

Time to Write
It's all a matter of discipline. You have to get yourself into the habit of making time for writing stories. Sit in front of the story if you have to, and be sure to eliminate distractions (me being a person with ADHD, it's easier said than done). It's okay to let a story sit for a bit as it let's you be able to come back to it with a fresh pair of eyes, but you got to put the discipline to be able to pick the Draft up again and begin to edit it.

I hope my advice helps you in anyway. if you don't necessarily agree some of it, or maybe all of it, then that's okay: try to find what's best for you.

 

[globalbergonzi]

Thanks for the advice. Just a few things to clarify.

Sitting down to write isn't usually a problem. Like you, I have ADHD and it is easier said than done. I recently discovered 750words.com and have been using that as a motivator. I'm a whore for earning badges/achievements of any sort.

I'm not worried about the word count in terms of what you're describing. It's more like I sense the overwhelming revision process of adding so many words, when I don't have any idea of what to add. (I'm assuming that this would happen after adding all the scenes I had planned to add). Obviously I've never made it past the first draft stage. I'm more worried about not having enough words. I guess I'm worrying about the future too much and not thinking about the here and now.

I recently wrote an action scene that I enjoyed the heck out of writing. I used more description than I ever had in recent years. Writing had been a chore all the time and it was nice to have fun. I wasn't bored when writing previous scenes, mind you, but I didn't feel that much excitement while writing those bits in a long time.

Another piece of info that might be helpful is that my scenes rarely go over 500 words.The fight scene mentioned above is a little over 1,000 words. Again, it's that adding words part that really makes me paralyzed with anxiety.

 

[wordwalker]

One thing you might try is adding bits of description after you write things. Another is to first make lists of what's there to describe (all directions, including sounds and smells) and look for moments to fit them in as you go.