How do you keep going?

[englishnospeak]

There’s this point in the middle of writing where it just sucks. At first, the setup is fun you're laying the groundwork, building that tension, and the first few sex scenes are like a rush. Then somewhere along the way it starts to feel like a drag. You know you can come up with ways to keep the heat going and the plot moving, but after a while it just feels, repetitive? like you're writing for the sake of writing not because you're genuinely into it anymore. You know the ending coming but it feels so far off.

So what do you do to push through that wall?

 

[StillStunned]

It can help to write the ending first. Then when you go back to the middle, you're actually writing towards something. This can make your writing more focused.

 

[englishnospeak]

Good idea because sometimes I keep circling back to the beginning stuck in an editing loop instead of pushing forward

 

[pink_silk_glove]

If you love to write, you push through because you know that getting it done and putting it out there is more than worth the grind. ; )

 

[sinfantasy]

The should not be an issue with a stroke story or smut, so I assume you are writing erotica. If you are looking for more structured approach, have a look at this. Story Structure.

You dont need to get it exactly right, but it helps to see the next chapter / Scene in the story.

 

[Ssbbw4u1974]

I thought I was the only one that got stuck in the middle of writing.
Though I'll be honest, my stories are all less than 1.5k (words), and most always just to get the reader hard or sexually charged!
But when I get frustrated with how my story is going, I take breaks, and return to writing later.
I've written a 1k story in 2 hours before..
And 750 words in 2 days.

 

[gunhilltrain]

There’s this point in the middle of writing where it just sucks. At first, the setup is fun you're laying the groundwork, building that tension, and the first few sex scenes are like a rush. Then somewhere along the way it starts to feel like a drag. You know you can come up with ways to keep the heat going and the plot moving, but after a while it just feels, repetitive? like you're writing for the sake of writing not because you're genuinely into it anymore. You know the ending coming but it feels so far off.

So what do you do to push through that wall?

How long is this thing? Are you planning it as a series? It sounds like it's already pretty long.

I've written a lot of stand-alone stories that are about 6K to 8K words. One sex scene in such a thing is enough. If the same characters in that have a second encounter (which is rare for something that short), then briefly mentioning it may be enough. You probably don't have to write it all over again unless something really different or significant occurs.

If it's a series (so far I usually have less than ten chapters) or a series of unplanned sequels (an "unintended series"), then I have on qualms about having chapters with no explicit sex at all. Some other aspect of the plot will be in there.

 

[gunhilltrain]

The should not be an issue with a stroke story or smut, so I assume you are writing erotica. If you are looking for more structured approach, have a look at this. Story Structure.

You dont need to get it exactly right, but it helps to see the next chapter / Scene in the story.

I thought everybody here was writing erotica, not smut or porn. I suppose in a series, each chapter has something like this structure, while the entire thing (one hopes) has an overarching theme like this.

 

[ronde]

There’s this point in the middle of writing where it just sucks. At first, the setup is fun you're laying the groundwork, building that tension, and the first few sex scenes are like a rush. Then somewhere along the way it starts to feel like a drag. You know you can come up with ways to keep the heat going and the plot moving, but after a while it just feels, repetitive? like you're writing for the sake of writing not because you're genuinely into it anymore. You know the ending coming but it feels so far off.

So what do you do to push through that wall?

Writing is about like anything in life. It requires at least a basic plan involving where to start and where to finish. In the middle are the possible ways to get from the start to the finish.

A couple of your statements could be the source of your problems relative to that middle section, i.e., the plot.

"...the first few sex scenes..." - are you trying to write a story about the relationship between people, both sexual and otherwise, or is your story just filler between sex scenes? This is an erotic story site, but usually, a little good sex is better than a lot of sex. Fit the sex scene(s) into the plot, instead of trying to fit the plot into a bunch of sex scenes.

"...can come up with ways to keep the heat going and the plot moving..." - again, this sounds to me like your goal is to cram as much sex into a story as you can instead of fitting some really good sex into a viable plot. A viable plot will tell you when, where, and how the sex happens.

Check out some of the highest rated stories in the genre in which you write. I'm not talking about just anything with a "Red H". Read a few stories that are in the "Hall of Fame" for the genre in which you write. I think what you'll find is the better the rating of the story, the more the story is a plot seasoned with some believable sex rather than a series of sex scenes with a plot trying to hold them all together.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

There’s this point in the middle of writing where it just sucks. At first, the setup is fun you're laying the groundwork, building that tension, and the first few sex scenes are like a rush. Then somewhere along the way it starts to feel like a drag. You know you can come up with ways to keep the heat going and the plot moving, but after a while it just feels, repetitive? like you're writing for the sake of writing not because you're genuinely into it anymore. You know the ending coming but it feels so far off.

So what do you do to push through that wall?

This may or may not be why I have like sixty stories in various stages in my WIP folder...

 

[sinfantasy]

This may or may not be why I have like sixty stories in various stages in my WIP folder...

and I thought my ten half-done and parked aside stories were too much

 

[StillStunned]

and I thought my ten half-done and parked aside stories were too much

 

[TheWritingGroup]

The forum needs a button for "This thread made me smile today. Thank you all."

-Annie

 

[PennyThompson]

This thread makes me think maybe my workflow is super weird compared to everyone else...

I've never worked on more than two stories at a time, I just don't ever get past the "messy notes" stage of a story unless I'm confident that I know what the key plot points are going to generally look like, and I'm excited by it enough to see it through.

And if I get another idea that seems exciting, I park it in notes until I finish my current story, and it motivates me to keep moving forward.

It probably helps that I've never written more than 6k words at a time, I don't think I have the attention span for longer-form fiction

 

[KittyOfSteele]

There’s this point in the middle of writing where it just sucks. At first, the setup is fun you're laying the groundwork, building that tension, and the first few sex scenes are like a rush. Then somewhere along the way it starts to feel like a drag. You know you can come up with ways to keep the heat going and the plot moving, but after a while it just feels, repetitive? like you're writing for the sake of writing not because you're genuinely into it anymore. You know the ending coming but it feels so far off.

So what do you do to push through that wall?

First of all, welcome to the Valley of Death, the place where the diminishing returns finally hit rock bottom, the place where the honeymoon high ends. It sucks to climb back up, but it's not impossible.

My go to for that is just to push through. Sometimes it's just writing a sentence between brackets, and if I'm really stuck or things are getting boring, I just grab two miniatures of men with guns and put them behind a door, and then I ask my players to roll for Perception, wait, what?

What I'm getting that is that I just grab the sledgehammer and plow through the plot without any care about making something good, or even if the entire building falls right on top of me. Destroy the draft first, then rebuild. The most important part is to get the job done, even if it is horribly, but done is better than perfect.

However, there are times in which the writer's block is indeed caused by exhaustion, so I forget about the story for the rest of the day and focus on something else.

Writing is about like anything in life. It requires at least a basic plan involving where to start and where to finish. In the middle are the possible ways to get from the start to the finish.

Pantsers be like: am I a joke to you?

 

[VerbalAbuse]

This is a serious issue when writing longer pieces.
So how to go at it?
You could write shorter pieces...
or you could write them fast...
or...
I guess what I want to say is that I don't know. And neither George R.R. Martin.

 

[mirafrida]

As others have said, I generally have a rough outline in my head before i begin. But they joy of writing is that this scaffolding still leaves so much room for development and exploration and sheer unknowns.

I start in with lots of things I want to learn, some big and some small - about the characters, feelings, situations, etc. And normally, more things I want to learn emerge organically, during the writing process. I discover some elements weren't quite what I thought they'd be, and that pushes me to find out more. That's what keeps me going: wanting to discover the answers. If I had no questions left, the story would be done.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Writing is about like anything in life. It requires at least a basic plan involving where to start and where to finish. In the middle are the possible ways to get from the start to the finish.

A couple of your statements could be the source of your problems relative to that middle section, i.e., the plot.

"...the first few sex scenes..." - are you trying to write a story about the relationship between people, both sexual and otherwise, or is your story just filler between sex scenes? This is an erotic story site, but usually, a little good sex is better than a lot of sex. Fit the sex scene(s) into the plot, instead of trying to fit the plot into a bunch of sex scenes.

"...can come up with ways to keep the heat going and the plot moving..." - again, this sounds to me like your goal is to cram as much sex into a story as you can instead of fitting some really good sex into a viable plot. A viable plot will tell you when, where, and how the sex happens.

Check out some of the highest rated stories in the genre in which you write. I'm not talking about just anything with a "Red H". Read a few stories that are in the "Hall of Fame" for the genre in which you write. I think what you'll find is the better the rating of the story, the more the story is a plot seasoned with some believable sex rather than a series of sex scenes with a plot trying to hold them all together.

I'm not sure you should read highly-rated stories here. Maybe it's better to develop your own style.

Except, you can read my stories! Even there, I'd guess that half of them are only so-so at best. Also, there were a few stories that I still like but the readers didn't, and the scores on those were really low.

 

[TiberiusPrime]

It can help to write the ending first. Then when you go back to the middle, you're actually writing towards something. This can make your writing more focused.

This is essentially what I did with my 12-parter. I didn't have a complete ending, but I knew exactly how each character was going to end up. It made each chapter easier for me to construct.

 

[NuclearFairy]

Pantsers be like: am I a joke to you?

Most pantsers I personally know still have a general basic idea of how the story most likely will end.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Sometimes nothing keeps me going. Sometimes I can't stop no matter what.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Sometimes nothing keeps me going. Sometimes I can't stop no matter what.

Same here. The one thing I do though, is set aside time to work on my stories every day. Sometimes, as Millie said, the words just flow. Other times, I spend all my time reading over works in progress, searching for my muse.

 

[Voyeurkenneth]

Good idea because sometimes I keep circling back to the beginning stuck in an editing loop instead of pushing forward

I’ve been there! I keep chipping away at other parts which help me return to the beginning with a clearer focus on how to write it.

 

[ronde]

First of all, welcome to the Valley of Death, the place where the diminishing returns finally hit rock bottom, the place where the honeymoon high ends. It sucks to climb back up, but it's not impossible.

My go to for that is just to push through. Sometimes it's just writing a sentence between brackets, and if I'm really stuck or things are getting boring, I just grab two miniatures of men with guns and put them behind a door, and then I ask my players to roll for Perception, wait, what?

What I'm getting that is that I just grab the sledgehammer and plow through the plot without any care about making something good, or even if the entire building falls right on top of me. Destroy the draft first, then rebuild. The most important part is to get the job done, even if it is horribly, but done is better than perfect.

However, there are times in which the writer's block is indeed caused by exhaustion, so I forget about the story for the rest of the day and focus on something else.



Pantsers be like: am I a joke to you?

I don't believe there is such a thing as a "real" pantser, "real" meaning that the writer just starts writing what comes to mind and keeps going until he or she gets to a convenient place to call "the end". Every writer starts a story with an idea for the beginning. It may not be when the writer writes the first line, but at some point, the writer develops at least some idea of how the story is going to end. I suppose there are writers here who try to do that, but I can't understand how a writer can have any continuity in the story or characters without at least a broad idea of where the story is going to go.

 

[KittyOfSteele]

Most pantsers I personally know still have a general basic idea of how the story most likely will end.

I don't believe there is such a thing as a "real" pantser, "real" meaning that the writer just starts writing what comes to mind and keeps going until he or she gets to a convenient place to call "the end". Every writer starts a story with an idea for the beginning. It may not be when the writer writes the first line, but at some point, the writer develops at least some idea of how the story is going to end. I suppose there are writers here who try to do that, but I can't understand how a writer can have any continuity in the story or characters without at least a broad idea of where the story is going to go.

My joke







You