My Wattpad Journal

How I Stick with a Story

I found that the best way to stick with my story ideas, is to create them in such a way that I am SUPER excited to write it. As I plan more and more parts of the story, I try to make it so that I get more and MORE excited about it. The more I discover, the more I (should) fall in love with them. If I don't like the story, if I don't even want to write it, something needs to change. 

When I create characters, I try to do it so well that I know them even better than my best friend. I spend time with them... a LOT. I like to interview them, or put them in various situations and see how they react. Another thing I like to do is find a picture of what I think they look like online, print it out, and stick it on my wall. This gives me lots of inspiration for my characters. 

One thing I ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS have to keep in mind: I are writing for myself. I write the stories I want to read. That I really want to read. If I write the story like I'm reading it, it helps me a lot. 

Sometimes I get bored as I start plotting the story.  This is not working, I say. Something is wrong. But that doesn't neccesarily mean I give up. Sometimes I just need to change something in my story to make it work. Add something that gets me excited again. This can be hard, cause it often means tossing out brilliant ideas.  I HATE that. I have to rewrite and rewrite the plot until you get something that works. 

Some of my favorite quotes: 

“You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.” Madame L'Engle

“If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.” 

― Toni Morrison

“No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.” 

― Robert Frost