Story Crash and Burn Loop

[Jerry]

This may seem like a broken record to many, because it is at least to myself. My issue is this: Simply, I've been working and reworking my story that has dramatically changed in scene and characters, though the story and premise, for the most part, remains. I'm a slight bit of a pantser, but as well, do faithfully outline... but hence - there's the problem. As with all writer's - stories seem to guide themselves, write themselves, evolve on their own, and in my case - I begin to write and the story wants to rewrite itself. I find myself self-editing constantly, never allowing me to finish. I write constantly. But, I do criticize the path, and usually scrap scenes, which then lead to scrapping entire plots, etc in favor of new directions. I find that I can hone in on my story without editing (grammar, etc) but I seem not able to commit - as I, or the story itself, the damn muse, relentlessly finds a different approach to tell the story, and then, I'm back at square one, retelling, and rewriting. I've gone from different POVs to help, but it doesn't help, and feel I just keep crashing and burning, hitting that point, where I just decide to find a better direction to get to my end point, thus, redirecting everything else. I can't seem to make peace with my own work and move forward (usually just before the midpoint I crash and burn - even as I can't wait to tell the rest of the story. It's been years that I've been working on this (even posted portions here many a year ago). I don't feel it's too disconnected. MC has a driven goal, but the world/prose around it falls apart, and I am in constant repair of scaffolding the story, only to rebuild again and again. Could be the inner critic disease, or simply non-committal... but I feel its something else that I'm contributing too to cause this destruction on repeat. Advice please...!

 

[pmmg]

My advice is rule 2...finish it.

Even readying the above was a jumbled mess of 'what is really the problem here'. I suspect, If I looked at what you have, it would be a jumbled mess. Deleting scenes which leads to losing whole plot pointes--how many times can I do that before my story is a wreck with a lot of holes torn into it.

What was the original concept for this, and how far away from it are you? I would suggest going right back to the beginning and writing the original concept, with the MC and POV character you started with. Go right at the moment things changed for them and write with a mindset and a resolve of everyday new text is hitting the screen. Everyday it is moving this story forward. Everyday it is closer to the end. I would heavily think on any tangents, any time one popped up, I would ask, what is the story arc for this and how does it get me closer to my goal of having a finished work?

Aim at that finished work and only that finished work, and dont stop until you get it. Then, and never with the thought if tearing it down, you might go back and edit in some of those side stories -- or not.

You have to write to the end, no matter what, otherwise, all you ever have is experience writing the beginning. We have enough of that. Muster up the discipline to stay on target.

Its for people like you, that I wrote my rules:

Goldie's Rules
1) Write Everyday.
2) Finish it.
3) Don't seek feedback till its finished.
4) Don't beat yourself up.

Follow those, and you will get a finished work. I promise you.

 

[ThinkerX]

Finish the initial draft, ignoring all issues of quality or grammar.

Set it aside for a month or three and do something else.

When you get back to it, it will 'read fresh.'

 

[skip.knox]

Also ignore issues of continuity, plot holes, and arcs. Just get a draft down. Anything is better than nothing, and there is nothing better than a finished draft. I learned massive amounts by finishing the first draft of my first novel, including realizing that "first draft" was itself a fuzzy term. But I would not know that if all I had were fragments. I know this because all I had for thirty years were fragments and I never learned a thing from them.

 

[Prince of Spires]

One of the risks of pantsing is following all ideas and throwing in anything that passes by and seems like fun. It's starting a medieval fantasy, but then adding in a vampire because you just watched Interview with a Vampire, then focussing on the love triagle because Romantisy is a thing, and then switching your setting to Middle Eastern because who doesn't love 1001 Nights.

Individually, each of those is fine. However, if you keep switching, you'll never finish anything.

I agree with pmmg in saying finish it. Two things you could consider. Firstly. Try figuring out which story you want to tell with this novel. Just because you chose one direction doesn't mean you can never write the others. There are always more stories to tell. However, pick one for this story and write that. And write it to the end. No going back and switching things.

I personally have a rule for my first draft that I only write forward. If I figure out I missed something in an earlier chapter, I just make a note to myself and continue forward pretending to already having fixed it. It can take some mental gymnastics, but it keeps your forward momentum going. And you can fix anything during your second draft.

Also, while it's nice to let characters have a personality of their own and completely do their own thing, sometimes you just have to nudge them in the right direction. Nothing wrong with that. Give them a kick, tell them to stop misbehaving, and get them back to the adventure. Again, if at the end it really bothers you, then you can always add something to motivate them or slightly change their personality in the second draft.

Second thing you could try, though with a great deal of caution, is to write multiple projects. Normally I would advice against this, since it's a great way to never finish anything. However, if you keep finding that you have to use some idea in your story, even if it completely changes that story, then consider writing a second story with that idea.

Some writers do great with multiple novels going at the same time. But you can also write a short story or a single chapter for a different project. Just keep the big novel on track.

 

[minta]

Sometimes the only way out is to just write it however it comes out, even if it’s messy or feels off. Don’t stress about making it perfect right now. Just get it on the page and let it be.

 

[black magic]

I tended to view my first draft as like an extremely detailed plan. I tried to put off my research until the first draft was complete otherwise I just got bogged down in tons of research with 90% of it being unnecessary.

I'd just leave myself notes that research on swords was needed there.

Sometimes you just have to get it all down no matter how it feels because otherwise you'll get nowhere.
You complete it then you take a break for a few months and forget about it. Then come back to it with fresh eyes.

When I start every novel I like to write a paragraph or two about the story. What's the point? What themes are being explored? Who is the main character and what is their story arc? Things like that just so I don't lose sight as I write.

 

[xena]

Don’t stop to fix anything until you’ve got the full story down. Once it exists on the page, you can start shaping it without feeling like the story is rewriting itself in your head.