Finishing Longer Fics

[dreamshadow]

hi friends! so i posed this question to twitter, but i figured it was a good one to ask here as well.

i've always had a problem finishing fics. that's why a lot of my more recent stories have been one-shots, or no more than 3 chapters long (but written in one-shot form). i tend to get bored pretty quickly, even if i'm stoked about an outline, a story concept, or writing about it in general. it's almost like i'm in love with the idea of writing, but actually writing... it's hard, fam. i've tried outlining, i've tried skipping ahead (then i don't want to backtrack to fill in the gaps) and nothing seems to work. don't get me wrong, i love a good one-shot, but i also want to just... be able to finish something. and i can't help but feel like if it's boring for me, it's gonna be boring for you guys, even if the reviews contradict that. i think the last fic i actually finished was a fic i wrote in high school, which was the original original seeking normal, back when i was dreamgazer220 and it was titled sweetest goodbye (doubtful anyone remembers that painful version with aly and fred, but shoutout if you do ) that had 27 chapters and a 'complete' checkmark back on hpff. 

so i'm asking for your advice, tips, tricks, anything you've got. because right now i can't even seem to focus on a single story/chapter, let alone an entire novel. (this is also the case with reading, but that's another topic for another time.) and that just seems to be the case year round, not with the current circumstances. if anything right now, i actually have even more time to write, and i want to, i just... don't.

thank you!  

[Guest pookha]

I struggled with this, and the thing that is working with GULP is that I promised to myself that I wouldn't post any of it until I had it at least halfway done. I had originally planned it for 14 chapters and when it reached 8 in my draft I started posting. This gave me impetus to keep up writing it and also gave me time to edit and go through chapters more before posting. Not saying it's the best idea, but it's what worked for me.

[Guest Noelle Zingarella]

i think it's important to figure out what motivates you. i also often enjoy 'having written' more than i enjoy 'writing' and so acknowledging it as work (even if it's work for something you theoretically want to do) is important. 

do you work well with a reward system? if so, make sure you reward yourself every time you finish a chapter--or even every time you finish a scene. 

when i'm struggling to write, i like to do it in short, 10-15 minute bursts. even if i only do one of those a day, over time they add up.

i think another important thing is to accept that the writing will never be totally perfect. at some point (and often before we're ready) we have to let the stories go out into the world and do their thing.

and sometimes an accountability partner helps. someone to help keep you on track and cheer you on.

you can do this! 

[dreamshadow]

On 5/22/2020 at 8:48 PM, pookha said:

I struggled with this, and the thing that is working with GULP is that I promised to myself that I wouldn't post any of it until I had it at least halfway done. I had originally planned it for 14 chapters and when it reached 8 in my draft I started posting. This gave me impetus to keep up writing it and also gave me time to edit and go through chapters more before posting. Not saying it's the best idea, but it's what worked for me.

oh, yes, that's a very good point. that's probably why i did well with crash into you, i decided not to post it until it was finished. it was easier because i had intended that to be a one-shot before it shot over 10k. the struggle with that is that i crave validation, but i'm definitely gonna try to create more of a backlog. 

21 hours ago, Noelle Zingarella said:

i think it's important to figure out what motivates you. i also often enjoy 'having written' more than i enjoy 'writing' and so acknowledging it as work (even if it's work for something you theoretically want to do) is important. 

do you work well with a reward system? if so, make sure you reward yourself every time you finish a chapter--or even every time you finish a scene. 

when i'm struggling to write, i like to do it in short, 10-15 minute bursts. even if i only do one of those a day, over time they add up.

i think another important thing is to accept that the writing will never be totally perfect. at some point (and often before we're ready) we have to let the stories go out into the world and do their thing.

and sometimes an accountability partner helps. someone to help keep you on track and cheer you on.

you can do this! 

these are all excellent points. the problem with reward systems and me is that i tend to get distracted very easily, so i'd probably have to think of a longer goal, like finish a chapter or whatever. 

accountability partners do help! i'm currently writing an OF collab, and we have chapters that come out weekly, so bi-weekly, i have a chapter due. having that hard deadline definitely motivates me, especially knowing that someone is planning on reading it/is excited about it.  i've struggled with finding a way to translate this into fics, because i know that's a method that works for me. 

on the flip side, short bursts usually work for me for fics. so like, a good 20 minute sprint is better than nothing. 

oh, yeah, my writing is usually crap on the first go around i've learned to love editing

thank you for the encouragement & advice!  

[shadowycorner]

Hello, if I can weigh in...

I've had the same problem for ages. I was always so in love with the idea of having a long, sprawling fic which I'd write and update regularly, but it never lasted. I think that before you start really writing and posting, it's helpful to come up with an ending or some specific significant scenes toward the end that you'd love to write. I've never had an ending, in FF and OF, and so the fire would always fizzle out because I got all tangled up in my pantsing, paint myself into corners, lose interest because I didn't have a real goal to reach.

I'm now getting back to a fic I started years and years ago and never finished because I got to a point where I didn't know for the life of me how to end it. Or I did, but it would mean having to go back and rewrite and delete scenes, which I also didn't want to do. Then one day recently I just sat down and wrote the final chapter. I thought it was just something small to do for myself to get closure, but the story suddenly opened up in a new way to me and I wanted to fill that giant gap between it's middle and the ending, and from then on the writing has been exhilarating and I'm truly so so close to finishing.

Personally, focusing on reviews was also a huge stopper for me, but I think that I've stopped doing that now   So yeah, my advice would be to figure out an ending, make it really exciting for you. And until you have at least an idea of an ending, focus on different things and then the idea may come when you don't even expect it.

Don't know if this was too helpful, but regardless, all the best of luck with your writing! I find it it's always a thing of trying and trying and keeping on keeping on until whatever you want to make work works.

[dreamshadow]

3 hours ago, shadowycorner said:

Hello, if I can weigh in...

I've had the same problem for ages. I was always so in love with the idea of having a long, sprawling fic which I'd write and update regularly, but it never lasted. I think that before you start really writing and posting, it's helpful to come up with an ending or some specific significant scenes toward the end that you'd love to write. I've never had an ending, in FF and OF, and so the fire would always fizzle out because I got all tangled up in my pantsing, paint myself into corners, lose interest because I didn't have a real goal to reach.

I'm now getting back to a fic I started years and years ago and never finished because I got to a point where I didn't know for the life of me how to end it. Or I did, but it would mean having to go back and rewrite and delete scenes, which I also didn't want to do. Then one day recently I just sat down and wrote the final chapter. I thought it was just something small to do for myself to get closure, but the story suddenly opened up in a new way to me and I wanted to fill that giant gap between it's middle and the ending, and from then on the writing has been exhilarating and I'm truly so so close to finishing.

Personally, focusing on reviews was also a huge stopper for me, but I think that I've stopped doing that now   So yeah, my advice would be to figure out an ending, make it really exciting for you. And until you have at least an idea of an ending, focus on different things and then the idea may come when you don't even expect it.

Don't know if this was too helpful, but regardless, all the best of luck with your writing! I find it it's always a thing of trying and trying and keeping on keeping on until whatever you want to make work works.

please feel free to weigh in! i can use all the advice/tips i can get

oh man, are we the same person?? i usually have a general idea of the ending, but actually writing out the last chapter before anything else... i really might have to try that! maybe like, the beginning, middle, and end, and then i'd have something to work around/build to. it seems like such a "duh" thing but i too get tanged up in pantsing. (btw, love that phrase) 

that's so awesome that closure has opened up new possibilities for you! good luck with yours