Ever been stuck?

[Heartless-Star]

Hi, Has there ever been a time where stuck about how you're story is going to go/be? If so, how do you solve it?
PS: Just some random question

[Obscura]

I usually try to map out the entire story before I start writing. If I don't have the beginning, middle, and ending mapped out yet, I don't start writing. I am not a stream-of-consciousness kind of writer. Some people are successful with that method, but every time I write without an outline, I end up writing myself into a corner.

Once I have my outline, I start writing. And rewriting. And rewriting some more. I actually never stop rewriting until I hit (or sometimes pass) my deadline.

[Lumen_Astrum]

^ Just as how Obscura said it.

But then, if you're a "write-what-I-feel-like-writing" person, you can try looking back at your scenes, then try to map out if there's something wrong, ask yourself what do you exactly want to happen, then edit and write as you go. If you focus on just the scene at hand, you really won't be able to write anything!

Maybe you can try writing backwards? Try to think up of what ending do you want, then relate it to the scenes you've written so far. Are your scenes efficient enough to make your ending occur? Then write and add stuff as you go~

I don't know if it works with you, but it worked wonders for me.

[Heartless-Star]

Thank for the answer. The ideas is really good and i can really use it so i can get the structure of the game. Since this is my first time doing a VN i usually get some hinder. But this is quite an experience and i can always improve the mistakes i have done. And Once again thanks for answering Lumen and Obscura. But i have another question, what does usually inspire you to come up a story?

[TheGuraGuraMan]

Same, I decide what will happen at first, in the end and the importants parts. Then when I write it I add details.


And for your last question nothing in particular

[dramspringfeald]

Always Know how your going to end it. It helps you have a finish line and keeps the scope of the project "local"

[LateWhiteRabbit]

I find that if I ever get stuck writing a story, then something is wrong with my story. Either the plot isn't working, I'm not "really" happy with what I've already done, or I've written the story into a different direction than I should have. I have to re-evaluate the entire thing and see what works and what doesn't with a critical eye. Maybe I really liked that one scene, one character, or one plot twist, but it's derailing the rest of the story, so it needs to be removed. Or maybe I find I've been using the wrong viewpoint or main character, and really the story is best told through the eyes of another character.

Like others have said, I use an outline to plot the entire story, and I always know how it is going to end. I have a theme in mind for what I want to convey, and then I go in and outline each scene in the plot. Basically I work macro to micro, getting more granular as I go along, so that by the time I'm writing the actually finished scene and dialogue, I know exactly where I'm going. Even though this is my traditional workflow for traditional stories, I find it works very well for VNs, because I can see at a glance of my outline how much "screen time" each character is getting so I can balance routes. It also lets me know very quickly if one character's route is trying to dominate all the others - that usually means I haven't made the other characters interesting enough or important enough to the plot and they need a rewrite or redesign. (Because if they aren't exciting and interesting enough to make me, their creator, write about them, who would want to read about them?)

[MarineScripter]

I reread what I've written so far, and usually end up pulling my hair out, but rewriting usually gets the flow back in order. I agree, it's much harder to write and easier to mess up if you don't already know what you want to happen.
If it's a block, then usually reading something in which I love the writing style, also helps.

[Hooves]

I usually think of the "beginning" and "ending". Then work towards what will be included in the middle. How things affect the characters, what happened. It's a good way to finalize things before you decide to change how you end or begin something.

Edit: Then again, I get stuck whenever trying to come up with "middle" things.

[Greeny]

I chop up the story into three Acts. Then, I assign each Act a central Theme, several Objectives and a Conflict.

The theme determines what this act will be about. Generally, this should be more or less consistent throughout the story in broad terms, but each different act may have a more specific focus.

The objectives determine what the Act is supposed do for the characters and for the reader. This both helps you figure out if a scene is necessary or can be rewritten into a different act, and helps you tie everything together at the end so your branches don't go in wild directions you can't handle. This isn't what the characters themselves are trying to accomplish: it's what you, the reader, need to accomplish by the end of this act.

The conflict is what the characters themselves have to deal with in this Act. By having at least some sort of conflict in each act, you keep things interesting.

If you have these things clearly in mind, you won't get stuck because you generally have an idea of what's left to do and where to go next.

[TsukiShima]

I'm not really a writer, and my statements here won't solve this 'being stuck issues', but more like I also often find myself stuck. I do like making up ideas and stories and build them up slowly.

But because I'm not a professional, and I am not as creative as anyone can be, so my usually builds up like this:
-The beginning
-Climax
-Ending

Do you feel something strange? I do. It's too... weird. And usually I would think of the beginning first, how everything would start, then go on to how the characters would be, and how they would interact with each other. And somehow, after I'm satisfied with everything, I jump to make an idea for the story's ending. My climax is usually near the ending as well.

Now what's missing? Conflict.
The cause of everything, the most important thing that would make the story go on. The thing that makes the character's lives complicated. But it's hard for me to think of a good one. The only way I solved it is by looking again at my character, study their personalities and create an event based on them.

Err.. do you get what I mean?
No? I don't either... nevermind then.

So I guess I'm going to study what others answers are (especially Greeny's and LWR).

[Azariah]

Hi, Has there ever been a time where stuck about how you're story is going to go/be? If so, how do you solve it?
PS: Just some random question

I end up doing another story..MWAHAHA

[squark]

I revise the script. Change aspects here and there and it usually ends up deeper than before, and this rekindles my interest.
I've done this three times since I started my current project.