ANSWERS: 6
  • Reasons for not being able to finish stories are perhaps because, as you say, you only come up with beginnings. When thinking up a story think of: a) the whole story (i.e. "the story of a man/woman who does x" and then expand it) or b) the ending (it's better to know your destination and then work out how to get there rather than just leave the house and wander). Another good thing to do is to write down your story in a paragraph or in short notes. Once you know how your story begins, develops and ends, *then* you start writing it.
  • I used to do the exact same thing but if you plan everything out before you begin it really helps!
  • You should make an outline before you start assaulting your poor keyboard.
  • before you start writing the beginning make a plan and think about what you want to happen in your story and think about how you want it to end. then you can go onto write the beginning. i find this method easier when i write stories. i hope my advice has helped. :)
  • I suggest that you write the idea down when you get it and then make a plan following a diagram similar to the one below; you can use it if you like. This is the method I was taught in English class at Secondary school I'm not sure if this is, the kind of advice you want, but it sure helped me before The most important thing to remember when you are writing is that every good story has a beginning, middle, and an ending. if you are writing fiction the first thing you need to do is create a character and a life for that character then you plan what's going to happen to the character by following the plan below If you are writing non-fiction then you should just follow my plan below Stage 1 notes Beginning: Middle: End: Stage 2 notes to paragraphs Beginning Middle End ok Stage 1 is pretty straight forward, first you get your idea and then you make as many notes as you can relating to the idea, once you have this part you can go back and work out the characters as that is an ongoing process if it's a novel you can go off at different tangents from the idea just as long as when you come to write the end you tie up all the loose ends. when you put your notes down, write about a page of ideas first and then either highlight them with highlighting markers in 3 different colors one for each section of your story or you can write beginning at the top of the page, middle in the middle of the page and end or ending near the bottom of the page and work out where the story is going to go from there by putting the ideas under each heading. Stage 2 is what one of my English teachers at school described as "putting the flesh onto the bones of the story" Take your notes from stage 1 and work out which of your notes will go into which paragraphs try to keep it to one idea per paragraph, as it is less confusing this way. when you have completed both of the stages above then you should make a checklist using the paragraph by paragraph plan from stage 2 and write one paragraph at a time (I usually first draft in pencil and double line spaced) as you write each paragraph check it off from the checklist Set yourself a deadline and write it in a notebook or journal e.g. "2 weeks from today I will have finished the first draft (do this in either pen or pencil) of my story and I will have typed it out double line spaced and printed it. When you have finished the first draft and the typed draft of your story, you will need to edit it To do this you will need: 1 red pen 1 pad of post it notes 1 short stack of scrap paper Keep these materials to hand First read the story right the way through from beginning to end Next, read the story all the way through again and using the scrap paper and the red pen make notes on the scrap paper about your story. finally, read the story through one more time and make notes on your post-it notes an stick them to your first draft, so that when you come to redraft it you have notes to refer to, some people prefer to make notes on post-it notes and then copy the story out by hand and then edit it but because I have a learning disability and writing by hand is such a huge task for me, I usually first draft and then type. When you think you have tied up all of the loose ends ask someone you trust to read over your story and give you their opinion
  • It's easier to start with thinking about what your ending is . Once you've decided , everything will flow well as you know which direction you are walking to , not any other path . All the best !

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