Enjoy Writing

Keeping your story on the road

Have you ever read a book, but felt it would never come to an end? The story just keep going around in circles an not forwards?

Or does the story get out of consept? The plots just don't fit together.

If so, this could be some tips who could change the problem.

Tips number one:

Make it easy.

A good story is a story who takes you from A to B

Think of the story as a roadtrip, where you, the writer is the driver, and the readers are passengers.

Your goal is to get the passengers to their destination, the end.

During the trip, you'll have to make sure the passengers gets a good experience.

To do that, you would probably take the shortest wellbuildt road, and not that old long bumby road that takes an hour longer to drive.

This doesen't mean you, as a driver, won't cross roads, meet traffic, or swing onto new roads to get to the destination.

As a writer, you have to think about the same. Do it simple, drive fast on the wide highway. You'll still make turns in your story, and meet obstacles, but you'll reach the end before your passenger gets tired of the long bad road to end.

So how do you make it simple?

First, you can see if there's some irrelevant information you can get rid of.

For example, you don't have to describe a characters look twice. A reader will make a picture of the person after you have introdused him/her.

When you describe someone, or an area, leave some details to the readers fantasy.

Use maximum three sentences to describe something, a person, a feeling, or a place.

Shorten your sentences. You don't have to write "he nods with his head". What else is he supposed to nod with? It's enough to say "he nods".

If you do so, you'll make the story mich lighter, for you, and your readers.

Tips number two:

Overwiew over your story.

Some writers plans from beginning to the end before they start writing, while other writers like to let the story lead them and don't know where it would end yet.

None of these methods are wrong. Remember, whats method working for one writer, doesen't work for another.

Rather you use the one or another method, you probably have an idea about where you want the story to go.

Still it can be hard to keep the story moving on the road, but why?

Usually, when the story don't seem to move on, the problem is very often that the writer gets too obsessed with outbroading details, characters routines, or the scenes that they allmost forget to push the story forwards. As a reader you'll feel like the same scene is coming over and over again.

A quick brainstorm before you start writing can be good. Either you start on a new story, or continiue on one.

A brainstorm can help you sort out thoughts and help you decide what's best road to choose for your story.

Think of what you want your characters to achieve, how, at what cost, and when, but don't make it too complicated!

To be three steps in front of your story will help you lead the writing to the right direction.

Remember, we don't need twenty chapters of the same routine before we gets to the actual point of the story.

Tips number three:

Controll over the story.

A story can easily gets out of hand. It's like the writer is losing control over the story. Like they forgets about the actual

And when the story contains a lot of words, the more messy it gets.

What about writing a list? Read what you have so far. Sort out the good ideas and plots, scenes that you like in your story.

Get rid of the parts you don't like. Don't edit them, rewrite them. Maybe you'll find a better solution than the past.

Take notes of what you want your story to contain.

Have a list of the important plots and the central parts. Connect your story to them. Then you'll keep your story organized.

Tips number four:

Keep facing the end of the story.

Have you thought about a potential ending to your story? If so, you can look at the story ending as a goal you'd like to achieve.

When you're writing, you're running a marathon, where the goal is to reach the end.

A marathon is not about boosting to the finishline, it's a race where you'll have to keep your endurance up. By taking your time, you'll keep it enough to finish the race.

Sometimes, you'll need brakes while you run. Take them, so you don't fall out of the road.

By time, you will achieve your goal, that is the very end of the story, but it's important to face the direction where your goal is. Then your story won't go in circles or take another way, but after a long run on swingy bumpy roads, reach the finishline.