Draft moving very slowly... any tips?

So I've been working on a story, and so far the draft is moving slowly. I know everything I want to write, it just doesn't come out, if anyone gets what I'm trying to say. Anyone been through this and have tips? ETA: The first page is on the "See if the above poster hooked you" thread

edited 5th Jul '12 2:53:01 AM by MorwenEdhelwen

Try writing a different format. Like an outline. Writing something, even if it is a skeleton is better than sitting stagnant.

That.

Basically, write out everything you want in your story on a piece of paper, and think about how to connect the dots between each plot point.

Thanks. Have started one.

edited 5th Jul '12 4:19:05 PM by MorwenEdhelwen

My problem is a step before that: My outline is moving very slowly.

What kind of slow is your outline suffering from? Does it just have too many scenes between each plot point, or too much introspective scenes versus "action" scenes with more externalized conflict?

My best advice is just write.

and The problem is I don't know where I want to go. I have my point A, and I don't know what my Point B is. And so I keep building up many Points Right After A, but none of them seem to advance things.

Try starting with point B next time? Or apply the classic formula: if your point A has a conflict, takes steps towards resolving it. If it doesn't have a conflict, you've probably done something wrong.

My writing moves incredibly slowly, a few paragraphs can quite easily take me an entire evening, and that's when I even get around to it. Some of it is perfectionism, but most of it is just a complete lack of ideas, which sounds different to Morwen's thing.

edited 7th Jul '12 10:52:28 AM by Kesteven

I'm just lazy.

If you're unsure where to take the story, write the story in the most natural direction. How would your characters naturally deal with the conflict in front of them?

I've found that when I can't write anything, I try to figure out what the problem is. That is, start thinking on paper/notepad/word/etc. Write out a question, a thought, a problem, something that has to do with what your writing. Essentially, having a conversation with yourself on paper.

i.e.

• I know that Mr. S has been missing for two years and nobody knows where he went. The problem is, if he were really missing or thought he was in danger, he would have told somebody he trusted before he dropped off the face of the earth.
• Obviously, the reason was, something happened to him before he could do so.
• So why didn't his friends/comrades look for him?
• They did. They couldn't find him.
• Why couldn't they find him?

Etc.....

I've found sometimes this is exactly what I need to clear a logjam or something like that. It doesn't always work but at worst, you've wasted maybe ten minutes and a couple sheets of notepad paper. Carrying around a small notepad helps a lot with this.

Another method is to write the ending first, and then the beginning, and figure out how to get from the beginning to the end. And if you find out the ending you first wrote doesn't fit with the story you've been writing, change it. Because if you have to change that intial ending, it means you've written enough that your story has obviously evovled in a different direction.

If nothing else, it gives you something to strive for.

edited 9th Jul '12 4:16:29 PM by hpl

Thanks everyone.

I tried writing a short story set in my universe. Once I established one detail, another came into play, then another, then another. I'm not done yet, but I already have much more of a feel for how my lead characters talk, how the society is as a whole — how "future-y" it is, etc.