Quote:
Originally Posted by MV64
Can anyone give me some pointers for writing? For years, I've started a million stories and outlined even more, though I can't recall having finished a book since I was a teenager, and those have since been lost due to not being properly backed up on another hard drive.
But my problem is that with fiction, I never seem to have a story that is long enough. My outlines are pretty good and very, very detailed, yet when it comes down to writing the book, I always rush through it. Sometimes I have a very terse, Hemingway-style prose, which I'm fine with, but my outlines are usually better suited for a lengthy novel than a short story. I usually crap out around 20,000 words, if I get that far even.
Does anyone else suffer from having stories end up way too short?
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You sound just like me!
I also struggle with length and pacing at times, always ending up too short, and I have similar problems with outlines - it always seems like I've already written the story once I'm done with the outline, so I no longer have any interest in writing it a second time.
Honestly, the biggest thing that helped me with this was to toss away the outline and then give myself a deadline. I started doing National Novel Writing Month (
http://www.nanowrimo.org) in 2005, and every time I do it... well, except for the second time, in 2006... which I outlined, incidentally - I end up with a work that's over 50,000 words and usually at an 'end point'.
The best advice I could give would be to make yourself finish a piece, to see how long it really turns out to be. Doesn't matter if you write it short, or terse, just write it to see it through to the conclusion. Once you've got the entire story arc down (in prose form, not in outline) you can go back and flesh things out during the editing/revising process if you see fit.
You won't know how it's really going to turn out until you actually write the concluding paragraphs and type 'THE END'.
Now that I'm actually in the habit of finishing stuff, instead of giving up on it after 15,000-20,000 words, I'm starting to find the rhythm that allows me to flesh things out as I go along, because I'm no longer quite as interested in hammering down to the end line as fast as I can go. My current WIP is at 47,000 words, and I'm not even halfway done.
As a side note, it is true that for trade publishing, you will need your work to fall within their wordcount zones. I decided to go independent with my work precisely because I'm a terse, short writer, and my first novel is only just over 50,000 words. Wordcount matters a lot less in the indie world - all that matters is what your long-term goals are as a writer.
Good luck!